I've said it before and I'll say it again: I'll believe it when I see it. And by that, I mean reviewers confirming those claims with their reviews on the final product.

So after a few crashes and a 4gb memory patch updater later, I'm finally playing Generals Evolution, and I gotta say it's pretty much close to what I expected it to feel like with OG generals.

Some content is missing (like Chinese hackers and certain infantry/hero characters), and the maps are few, but since it's using RA3's engine, the performance is fine, no slowdowns or hiccups (though I have had a few CTD's randomly happen, but I save my matches at important stages in each game anyway, so I get back into the action quickly).

The visuals alone are pretty great and even look slightly updated vs the OG models from generals. The explosions and sound fx tho, ho man do they look and sound sexy. Here's a clip of me launching the new and improved US Particle Cannon (and yes, you can still guide/control it to where you want it to go, but you can only build a max of 3 SW's):

I'll be uploading the Nuke SW animation shortly, and I'll get around to playing some GLA and using their SCUD missile SW.

You can also play as the specialist generals too, but again, some units are missing, but you do get respective upgrades (laser general's power plans can be upgraded to produce more power, etc). 

Thanks to C&C online app, people are also able to play this mod together for some PVP/FFA's as well:

Modders and server owners make PC gaming great like this at times. 

The Best PC Gaming Monitor. PERIOD.

New Monitors In 2022: What To Expect

https://www.displayninja.com/new-monitors/

Seems that we have gotten pricing and availability information regarding Samsung's Neo G8 monitor. It's a 32 inch 4k 165hz or 240hz Mini-LED monitor that costs £1100-£1300. Now while I have been hyping up Alienware's QD-OLED, for many people, a 32 inch is what they really want even if it is Mini-LED and with that many zones, it certainly won't be a bad option. The only issue is that it's curved and with that aggressive of a curve in a 16:9 display, it's not for most people. Still a monitor like this last year costed $3000 so it really shows that Samsung has come to revolutionize the PC gaming market! Granted it still costs over $1000 but other monitor manufacturers will now be seeking lower prices.

Cooler Master Has Lost Its Mind: Overpriced HAF 500 Case Review

It's $100 case that is priced at $170. Coolermaster claims it's due to tariffs and such but many of it's competitors don't have this pricing issue that CoolerMaster is experiencing. So because it's $100 case priced at $170, you get a case with a number of issues such as mismatched colors and such. But the biggest problem is that it is now competing against something like the Fractal Torrent which is significantly better case.

The PC case market is interesting in the sense of how there doesn't seem to be a dominant manufacturer but rather, it keeps changing. We had Antec with the Antec 900, then we had the Coolermaster Haf, then it went to NZXT with H500 and now the current trend is Lian Li with 011 Dynamic. Maybe the next one will be the Torrent but I haven't been seeing used that much even though it is quite unique. But I am sure we will see lots of builds when Lovelace/RDNA 3 come out.

RTX 3080 Ti | 12900K | Ryujinx Kirby And The Forgotten Land 4K 60fps Patch

I have been playing this on my Switch OLED and the 30 fps is pretty lame. But doing emulation means you get the initial shader compilation stutter. Decisions decisions!

More news I suppose!

Ghostwire Tokyo PC Tech Review: PC vs PS5, Performance Analysis, Optimized Settings

This is the first time we see the use of Unreal Engine's TSR which is supposed to be their new generation of temporal up-scaling. While a pretty good showing, in comparison to DLSS, still not quite as good but it does get to the point of good enough. Surprisingly, PS5 uses FSR 1.0 instead of TSR which makes no sense as there is a huge difference in image quality. Regardless here are some side by sides:

One thing to note about image upscalers is they do intend to look the best when upscaling to 4k so your mileage may vary if you are targeting a lower resolution. It sadly has the good old Shader Compilation stutters on PC. Hopefully they will fix it.

U.S. Lifts Chinese Import Tariffs Hitting GPUs, Motherboards

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/us-lifts-chinese-import-tariffs-hitting-gpus-motherboards

Another step into going back to normal prices

Just in time for next gen. Hopefully we can get these at reasonable prices.

A phone specifically designed to be hidden and smuggled. Wowzer.

Learned more about things than I should have watching that video. I like how they are trying to test for radio signals when the phone is in the "melon" but they never ask the simple question of... Why would you not just turn it off if you are gonna sneak it into prison in your... "melon."

I also didn't know we could bring shit into prison in Canada in the first 30 days as long as it doesn't have access to the outside world. Bringing a handheld emulation device and spending the rest of your time in prison going through games from nes era to psp era wouldn't be the worst thing in the world... Considering it's a prison...

I do like how that generals mod has no online lag, that killed it for me when me and a friend picked it up 2 years back for old times sake

The Monday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

GOG's Game Festival will still run for another week, and there's a new flash deal: Kentucky Route Zero: PC Edition will be 40% off during the next 46 hours: https://www.gog.com/en/game/kentucky_route_zero.

Steam features the War Child Re-Play 2022 Sale, with up to 75% discounts during the next 5 days: https://store.steampowered.com/publisher/WCUKGaming/sale/re-play2022.

The Humble Store has four new sales:

• The Monster Hunter franchise sale features up to 50% discounts for 4 days. All the keys are for Steam: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/monster-hunter-franchise-sale/
• The Private Division Publisher Sale features up to 67% discounts during the next 4 days. There are keys for Steam and EGS: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/private-division-publisher-sale/
• CD Projekt Red puts its games up to 85% off during 4 days. Obviously, the keys are for GOG: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/cd-projekt-red-publisher-sale/
• And Publisher Devolver puts its games up to 90% off during 4 days. There are keys for Steam, GOG and EGS (1): https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/devolver-publisher-sale/

Fanatical has two deals:

• The Star Deal, that started yesterday, is Barotraume, 84% off for another 24 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/barotrauma
• And Paradox puts its games up to 81% off during the next 6 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/paradox-interactive

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

This Fallout New Vegas Mod introduces a playable Android race
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/this-fallout-new-vegas-mod-introduces-a-playable-android-race/
Allnarta and Tomminfinite have released a new mod for Fallout New Vegas that adds a new playable Android race. This is a really cool mod that will change the way you play Fallout New Vegas, so we suggest downloading if you have already finished the game.
Going into more details, this mod features a unique android model traits system. After choosing your race, you will be able to choose between eight developed models of Apollo androids line. Each of these androids has unique traits and unique upper plates color.
The mod also features a dynamic spine which indicates your current HP level. Not only that, but there is a dynamic visual body destruction that is dependant on your HP level.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake gets an 8GB AI-enhanced HD Texture Pack
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/final-fantasy-7-remake-gets-an-8gb-ai-enhanced-hd-texture-pack/
Last month, we shared an HD Texture Pack for Final Fantasy 7 Remake. Created by modder ‘Alezein’, that pack overhauled the textures, inside and outside 7th Heaven. And last week, the modder released a new HD Texture Pack that improves all of the textures of the Sector 7 Slums section.
Needless to say that we highly recommend downloading this HD Texture Pack. After all, it will improve the game’s visuals. The modder will be now focusing on improving the textures of Sector 5 and 6. So yeah, expect the game to look even better in the future.

Elden Ring message system modded into Fallout: New Vegas
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/elden-ring-message-system-modded-into-fallout-new-vegas/
You can't walk more than a few feet in Elden Ring without tripping over messages from other players. These messages can be helpful, harmful, or silly, they can encourage players to leap off cliffs to their certain death or search for secret doors where there are none or alert them to a dog that is certainly not a dog. After 60 hours of playing, these messages can even get a bit exasperating, but they're a beloved tradition carried over from earlier Dark Souls games.
But now Elden Ring isn't the only open world RPG where you can find messages from other players that say "Try jumping," "Liar ahead," and "Try finger but hole." A modder has added an Elden Ring-like message system to Fallout: New Vegas so couriers can now communicate with each other.

Be the monsters in Slay the Spire fan expansion Downfall, out now
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/be-the-monsters-in-slay-the-spire-fan-expansion-downfall-out-now/
In the works for a few years now Slay the Spire mod-turned-fan-expansion Downfall is finally out—it even has one of those fancy full-on Steam pages like a proper game, but for a mod. I do love those.
Card game Slay the Spire is one of the absolute best games to come out in the past decade, an elegantly designed (our words) deckbuilder and roguelike that fuses the best of the genre's tabletop origins with the kind of surprise you can only get in a digital format.
And Downfall deserves it, a massive loving tribute to the base game that adds a nicely-balanced new character: The Hermit, whose clever gimmick is that the position of some of their cards in their hand matters. A card in the exact center is Dead On, so it gains a bonus effect.

Portal 2: Desolation is giving the classic puzzle game a huge graphics overhaul
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/portal-2-desolation-is-giving-the-classic-puzzle-game-a-huge-graphics-overhaul/
Portal 2: Desolation is a fan project that's currently in development, a whole new singleplayer campaign in the Portal setting. It's basically a community-made Portal 3, or at least Portal 2.5, being made "in tribute to Valve's Iconic series", as Emberspark Games puts it. The developers have spent the last year getting Desolation's graphics to look slick, which has meant totally replacing the Source Engine's rendering and lighting pipeline.

GAMING NEWS

Mirror Forge is a new Silent Hill-inspired game, PC demo available for download
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/mirror-forge-is-a-new-silent-hill-inspired-game-pc-demo-available-for-download/
MystiveDev has informed us about a new game that is inspired by Silent Hill and Parallel Dimensions, called Mirror Forge. Mirror Forge is coming to PC on September 30th, and there is a demo that you can download right now.

New gameplay trailers released for Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/new-gameplay-trailers-released-for-vampire-the-masquerade-swansong/
Last week, Nacon released two gameplay trailers for Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong. The first one is the official gameplay reveal trailer, whereas the second one is the one presented during the Future Games Show Spring Showcase event.

Project RYU is a new great looking Unreal Engine 5 indie game
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/project-ryu-is-a-new-great-looking-unreal-engine-5-indie-game/
RYU Production, a six-person indie team, is currently working on a brand new game using Unreal Engine 5, called Project RYU. Project RYU will be a single-player game that is set in Korea, and below you can find its debut in-engine trailer.

Extended gameplay trailer released for Forever Skies
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/extended-gameplay-trailer-released-for-forever-skies/
Far From Home has released an extended gameplay trailer for Forever Skies. Forever Skies is a post-apocalyptic action survival game that will support co-op with up to four players. This extended gameplay trailer shows a lone scientist on a mission to discover the location of a specific virus sample.

Bandai Namco announces One Piece Odyssey, coming to PC in 2022
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/bandai-namco-announces-one-piece-odyssey-coming-to-pc-in-2022/
Bandai Namco has just announced a new One Piece RPG, called One Piece Odyssey. One Piece Odyssey is coming to PC later this year, and below you can find its announcement trailer.

Monday news, part two:

Forza Horizon 5 update adds PvP progression system and custom races
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/forza-horizon-5-update-adds-pvp-progression-system-and-custom-races/
Forza Horizon 5 receives a major update on March 29, which makes a bunch of improvements to multiplayer, including a new progression system and custom racing option, and naturally adds a few metric tonnes' worth of highly desirable rides.

Valheim's new Mistlands concept art has my Spidey-sense tingling
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/valheims-new-mistlands-concept-art-has-my-spidey-sense-tingling/
In Valheim, the Mistlands is an unfinished biome that originally featured tall trees covered in massive webs which heavily implied the existence of some sort of, for lack of a better word, megaspider. Gross.

Dying Light 2 devs are working on new game difficulties, a photo mode and new game plus
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/dying-light-2-devs-are-working-on-new-game-difficulties-a-photo-mode-and-new-game-plus/
With enthusiasm around Elden Ring still permeating the gaming consciousness, it's easy to forget that Techland's zombie adventure hit physical and virtual shelves in early February. Time flies, eh? In any case, the team at Techland has already committed to supporting the game for years, and a new interview reveals some planned content including new difficulties, a photo mode, and new game plus additions.

Elden Ring's bugged PvP shield spell is mightier than any sword
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/elden-rings-bugged-pvp-shield-spell-is-mightier-than-any-sword/
When FromSoftware buffed the efficacy of shields in the latest patch for Elden Ring, it surely didn't mean to inadvertently create a new exploitable PvP build. But as is often the case for game developers, just as you whack one exploit-mole, another one emerges.

GTA Online is getting a new monthly subscription service, but only on consoles
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/gta-online-is-getting-a-new-monthly-subscription-service-but-only-on-consoles/
Rockstar is adding a new membership option for GTA Online, exclusively on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S consoles, that will grant players a monthly deposit of GTA$500,000, plus access to special vehicle upgrades, in-game discounts, a chance to claim property that will unlock missed gameplay updates, and more.
>> konnichiwa made a thread about it.

Call of Duty: Warzone can't have more maps because install sizes are 'f**king crazy'
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/call-of-duty-warzone-cant-have-more-maps-because-install-sizes-are-fking-crazy/
I don't know if you've heard, but Call of Duty: Warzone is big. For a while, it was so big that it consumed over 200GB of my PC's SSD. Conditions have improved over two years of optimizations (my Warzone folder is currently 80GB), but Warzone's hunger for disk space is apparently holding it back from adding a feature increasingly common among battle royale games: map rotation.

Amazon Games boss Michael Frazzini resigns
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/amazon-games-boss-michael-frazzini-resigns/
Michael Frazzini, the head of Amazon Games, has stepped down from the position and is leaving the company after 18 years (via Bloomberg). Frazzini cited a longstanding desire to take a mid-career break as his impetus for making the decision in a post on LinkedIn.

Vampire Survivors will get 9 more characters, 5 new stages, and 16 new weapons before release
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/vampire-survivors-will-get-9-more-characters-5-new-stages-and-16-new-weapons-before-release/
Vampire Survivors, a game we called "the best pocket change you can spend on Steam", has a proper development roadmap now. In a post on Steam, game creators poncle have outlined what they want to do with the game moving forward. It's pretty exciting if, like me, you're mesmerized by the $3 game about killing skeletons and ghosts with weapons you can't really control very well.

Among Us servers taken offline after DDoS attack
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/among-us-servers-taken-offline-after-ddos-attack/
Players of popular social-deception-in-space game Among Us began having difficulty connecting to its servers on March 24, after which developers Innersloth had to take servers offline to deal with the problem, which is apparently the result of a DDoS attack. Or, as the charmingly informal Among Us Twitter account put it, "we have a sabotage going on lol".

Wardens turn the recent Minecraft beta into survival horror
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/wardens-turn-the-recent-minecraft-beta-into-survival-horror/
Minecraft is a survival game, but developer Mojang is apparently not above making it into a survival horror game. The profoundly spooky and very murderous Wardens are horrors of the upcoming Deep Dark underground biome, eyeless creatures that seem to want to keep the deathly quiet of the underground pristine.

Coffee Talk creator Fahmi has died at 32
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/coffee-talk-creator-fahmi-has-died-at-32/
Mohammad Fahmi, creator and writer of the excellent visual novel Coffee Talk, has died at the age of 32. No cause of death has been provided.
The Indonesian developer's death was announced on the official Coffee Talk Twitter, as well as a post from Fahmi's sister on his own personal account. "Today we received devastating news that Fahmi, the creator and writer of Coffee Talk, has passed away," the game's Twitter post read. "May his soul rest in peace, and our hearts are with his family and loved ones. May all the good things he shared, story he wrote, live on with us forever. Thank you, Fahmi." Toge Productions, where Fahmi worked on Coffee Talk, said it was "absolutely devasted by his early departure."

Epic and Fortnite is now the single biggest corporate donor to Ukraine
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/epic-and-fortnite-is-now-the-single-biggest-corporate-donor-to-ukraine/
Epic Games and Microsoft have, through Fortnite in-game purchases, raised over $70 million to be donated towards humanitarian relief in the ongoing Russo-Ukraine war. And it's still got a week to go.