AMD RDNA3 Navi 31 GPU with six MCDs to feature 384-bit wide memory bus

https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-rdna3-navi-31-gpu-with-six-mcds-to-feature-384-bit-wide-memory-bus

This one comes straight from AMD's Linux drivers so it's probably legit. I am glad to see RDNA 3 having a much higher memory bus as that should help with higher resolutions as RDNA 2 struggled against Ampere at higher resolutions. That along with 192mb/384mb of Infinity Cache should make it a force to be reckoned with. Of course, one disadvantage with both high end Lovelace/RDNA 3 will have is that they both will be great for mining while high end RDNA 2 was meh for mining.

VALVE wants to optimize Steam OS for AMD Ryzen 7 6800U powered consoles, GPD confirms

https://videocardz.com/newz/valve-wants-to-optimize-steam-os-for-amd-ryzen-7-6800u-powered-consoles-gpd-confirms

It would be great if this were to happen as similar to the Steam Deck, the 6800U's CPU/GPU are fixed. So in theory if Valve does optimize for them, the 6800U handhelds could down pre-compiled shaders for games like Elden Ring to alleviate the stuttering issues.

Intel Arc gaming bus coming to LANFest Colorado, new desktop Arc GPU design teased

https://videocardz.com/newz/intel-arc-gaming-bus-coming-to-lanfest-colorado-new-desktop-arc-gpu-design-teased

Intel Arc A380 Gaming GPU Review & Benchmarks vs. AMD RX 6400, GTX 1650, & More

Certainly a video worth watching as there's a lot of interesting tests done. The A380 basically requires Re-sizable Bar to be enabled at all times as it can give a massive 30%+ performance uplift in most games vs it being disabled. There's also massive stutters when ReBar is disabled. Not even RDNA 2 sees that big of an uplift with SAM enabled with so many games. With that being said though, in most titles, it is still slower than a 6400. In some titles, it can compete against 6500XT but it's rare. The biggest kicker is Direct X11 titles such as GTAV as that is where Nvidia GPUs continues to punch above their weight where the A380 loses to a 1050 Ti. But also note that RDNA 2 also starts falling behind against Nvidia as a 1050 Ti is now on par with a 6400 which shows that even with RDNA2's so called DX11 driver fix, Nvidia's driver optimization for DX11 titles continues to be insane.

A380 is also more power hungry than 6400 at 82 watts vs 52 watts.

I got that notice as well and I saw the refund on my paypal account yet I am still able to fully play AoE IV. I can't tell if GMG did a double whoopsie and gave me a free game or if it's just a matter of time till it gets deactivated on Steam loll.

The new discovery queue looks quite good.

There's a name I haven't heard in a while. Hopefully it's good. Now that we have AoE IV back and now Company of Heroes 3, hopefully EA will continue with C&C and Blizzard will get the message to make a proper sequel to Warcraft 3/Starcraft 2. A man can always dream can't he?

You can dream, but I fear that's all you'll be able to do.

Mike Ybarra did an interview some days ago where he basically said that PC only titles are no more for Blizzard:

https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/story/2022-07-06/blizzard-mike-ybarra-navigates-controversy-changing-gaming-culture

Where Ybarra is critical is the length of time between 2012’s “Diablo 3" and “Diablo Immortal.” He says the company missed out on nearly a generation of gamers. He says that Blizzard teams are being realigned to deliver content more consistently across devices, including PC and console and, today, mobile. A pipeline of “Diablo” product is in development, with the fourth core edition arriving next year.

Blizzard recently acquired Boston studio Proletariat in an effort to expand its “World of Warcraft” team and content. Blizzard says it intends to hire “hundreds” of developers in the wake of the purchase.

“My hope is we evolve these franchises to deliver great experiences to players on a more regular basis but also expand our universes across devices,” Ybarra says. “Just releasing games on PC doesn’t serve people playing games today.”

We should expect more mobile, or mobile+PC, games from them from now on.

^ That from the new telescope?

Social media the last couple days:

Yep. Hubble on top with James Webb at the bottom.

Yeah, I#m currently playing the free Amazon Prime game "GRID Legends". It runs fine with 4K 60 fps in highest settings and my GPU only takes 100 watts.

When I start recording with Nvidia shadowplay, that doubles to 200 watts. I'm glad that I'm not a Youtuber.

These are the Thursday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge sells over a million in its first week
https://www.pcgamer.com/teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles-shredders-revenge-sells-over-a-million-in-its-first-week/
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge picked up a handsome 79% in our review, not bad for what is essentially a '90s arcade brawler in 2022, and any shellhead will probably want to add a few points onto that for the warm fuzzies of seeing the boys back in action. If you're of a certain age, this game's like a '90s kid's fever dream come true.
The audience clearly thinks so too. Turtles may be an enormous franchise but that doesn't mean the games always do gangbusters numbers (RIP in pepperoni, Mutants in Manhattan). Shredder's Revenge has done very well, with developer Tribute Games announcing that the game sold over one million copies in its first week on sale.

The Epic Store gives away two titles:

• Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/idle-champions-of-the-forgotten-realms
• Wonder Boy: The Dragon's Trap: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/wonder-boy-the-dragons-trap

Next week, the free game will be "Shop Titans" and "Tannenberg".

GOG has a new Deal of the Day: SOMA will be 90% off during 22 hours: https://www.gog.com/en/game/soma.

Steam has two daily deals:

• The first one is Trigon: Space Story, 30% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1226510/Trigon_Space_Story/
• The second one is Baldur's Gate II: Enhanced Edition, 85% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/257350/Baldurs_Gate_II_Enhanced_Edition/

There's a new Humble Bundle: the Focus Entertainment: Legends & Visions, featuring 7 games to get during the next 13 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/focus-entertainment-legends-and-visions.

And Fanatical has a bunch of new sales and deals:

• The Star Deal is MONSTER HUNTER RISE, 57% off during 24 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/monster-hunter-rise
• The former deal is part of a Capcom Sale with up to 85% discounts during 6 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/capcom
• Warner Bros also puts its games on sale, up to 86% off during 10 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/warner-bros-games-inc
• The Gaming Legends Sale features legendary franchises on sale. Check them out here: https://www.fanatical.com/en/collections/gaming-legends-sale
• The new bundle with Rimworld with all expansions, 3 items in total, will be 12% off during 10 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/rimworld-with-all-expansions
• And the Batman: Arkham Collection, with 3 games, has a 86% discount during 10 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/batman-arkham-collection

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

Unity is merging with a company who made a malware installer
https://www.pcgamer.com/unity-is-merging-with-a-company-who-made-a-malware-installer/
Unity, the company behind the multiplatform game engine of the same name, announced it has entered into an agreement to merge with IronSource. "If you don't know ironSource," Unity's statement reads, "they bring a proven record of helping creators focus on what creators do best – bringing great apps and user experiences to life – while enabling business expansion in the app economy."
IronSource is also well-known for another reason. It developed InstallCore, a wrapper for bundling software installations. If you've searched for a popular program and seen a link to a third-party site with a URL that ended in something like "downloadb.net" or "hdownload.net" it may well have been InstallCore. If you made the mistake of downloading it, you'd be offered the kind of extras with generic names like RegClean Pro and DriverSupport an unsophisticated user might click OK on, which is how you end up with a PC full of toolbars and junk that's as slow as your parents' is. InstallCore was obnoxious enough Windows Defender will stop it running, and Malwarebytes too.
(...)
Game developers who use Unity are less than thrilled about the merger. Andreia Gaita (opens in new tab), who runs game porting studio Spoiled Cat, tweeted that, "A game engine is the thing that you use to build and distribute games to devices. The vendors of those devices, like Apple, need to trust that the engine is not bundling bad things along with the game. Merging with a company that specializes in bundling malware is… WTF". Or as Maddy Thorson (opens in new tab) of Celeste fame succinctly put it, "Man, fuck Unity".
>> First they lay off a lot of people and now this. I guess that Unity's days are numbered.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Elden Ring gets an impressive Halo Mod, allowing you to play as Master Chief
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/elden-ring-gets-an-impressive-halo-mod-allowing-you-to-play-as-master-chief/
NexusMods’ member ‘asmartcowmods’ has shared a pretty cool Halo Mod for FromSoftware’s latest title, Elden Ring. As the title suggests, this mod allows you to play as Master Chief from the Halo games.
Now what’s really cool here is that this isn’t just a character swap mod. Instead, this mod includes the Gunnery Mod which allows you to handle guns in Elden Ring. Additionally, it replaces the m16 with the Battle Rifle from the Halo games.

Here is how you can enable AMD FSR 2.0 in Diablo 2 Resurrected (and other DLSS-powered games)
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/here-is-how-you-can-enable-amd-fsr-2-0-in-diablo-2-resurrected-and-other-dlss-powered-games/
In June 2022, we informed you about a mod that introduced AMD’s latest upscaling tech, FSR 2.0, to Cyberpunk 2077. By using this code as a base, we then got AMD FSR 2.0 mods for other games like Dying Light 2 and Red Dead Redemption 2. However, it appears that you can tweak any game that has DLSS 2.0 to enable FSR 2.0 yourselves, and below we’ll show you how you can do it..
Theoretically, this method should work in all games that support DLSS 2.0. From what we’ve seen, this method works in Diablo 2 Resurrected and Metro Exodus.

Halo 3: ODST Fan Remake/Demo in Unreal Engine 5 available for download
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/halo-3-odst-fan-remake-demo-in-unreal-engine-5-available-for-download/
Gearshift Media has shared a demo of their Halo 3: ODST Fan Remake in Unreal Engine 5 that everyone can download. Titled Dropzone, this demo offers a 15-30 minute narrative and exploration experience that allows you to explore a piece of New Mombasa.

This 1GB Mod for Valheim brings realistic HD textures to the game
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/this-1gb-mod-for-valheim-brings-realistic-hd-textures-to-the-game/
Last month, we shared an HD Texture Pack for Valheim that added new HD textures to it. And today, we are bringing you another HD Texture Pack, this time adding some more realistic textures to the game.
Created by OneSingleKnee, this HD Texture Pack attempts to make Valheim a bit more realistic. However, and as you may have guessed, this pack will most likely have compatibility issues with other HD Texture Packs. In other words, you may not be able to use it alongside the other packs we’ve already shared.

GAMING NEWS

RENNSPORT is a new sim racing game using Unreal Engine 5, first gameplay footage
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/rennsport-is-a-new-sim-racing-game-using-unreal-engine-5-first-gameplay-footage/
Competition Company has shared the first gameplay video for its upcoming sim racing game that will be using Unreal Engine 5, RENNSPORT.

Thursday news, part two:

Lollipop Chainsaw producer tries to quell fan nervousness around remake
https://www.pcgamer.com/producer-tries-to-quell-fan-nervousness-about-lollipop-chainsaw-remake/
Since it was announced that Lollipop Chainsaw was getting a remake, there's been a mixture of excitement and apprehension amongst the community, myself included. (...)
Yoshimi Yasuda, producer on the original and at the helm of its remake, has attempted to put to rest some of the lingering anxieties from the community. He shared a lengthy statement on Twitter containing the team's "thoughts and intentions" regarding the Lollipop Chainsaw remake.

Army of Darkness comes to Evil Dead: The Game as a free update
https://www.pcgamer.com/army-of-darkness-comes-to-evil-dead-the-game-as-a-free-update/
I think Saber Interactive's Evil Dead: The Game caught us all by surprise. In fact, we even said so in our review, noting that B-movie franchises tend to be grist for quick, lazy cash-grabs. But it turned out to be really good: "The game is absolutely exhilarating—one of the true left-field sleepers of 2022," we declared, slapping an outstanding 85% score on it.
It was a nice surprise for sure, and now here's another: Today's rollout of the free update that will send players to Castle Kandar, the setting for the cult classic zombie flick Army of Darkness.

Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3 are returning to sale
https://www.pcgamer.com/metal-gear-solid-2-and-3-are-returning-to-sale/
The very first Metal Gear launched on July 13, 1987—exactly 35 years ago today. As part of its big anniversary celebration, Konami has announced that two of the oldest games in the series—Metal Gear Solid 2 and 3—are going back on sale.

Immortality, the new cinematic mystery from Her Story creator Sam Barlow, is delayed
https://www.pcgamer.com/immortality-the-new-cinematic-mystery-from-her-story-creator-sam-barlow-is-delayed/
Immortality, the upcoming "interactive movie trilogy" from Her Story and Telling Lies creator Sam Barlow, has been delayed. It had been slated to arrive later this month—July 26, to be precise—but Barlow said on Twitter today that the launch has been delayed until the end of August.

EA kills off BioWare Points, making old Mass Effect and Dragon Age DLC free
https://www.pcgamer.com/ea-kills-off-bioware-points-making-old-mass-effect-and-dragon-age-dlc-free/
(...)
In an email EA seems to be sending people with BioWare Points still in their account, the publisher has announced the system is finally ending: "We're reaching out to let you know that starting October 11, 2022, BioWare Points will no longer be available as a form of currency in the Origin store. Other currencies like Crystals and Platinum in other BioWare titles remain unaffected."
Some of the add-ons for classic BioWare RPGs that could previously only be bought with BioWare points are now available for free. You can log into Origin and grab DLC for Dragon Age: Origins, Dragon Age 2, Mass Effect 2, and Mass Effect 3 by selecting the games in your library, clicking on Extra Content, then selecting Get it Free for each one.
>> Awesome news from EA! Guess I'll have to play them again in the near future, but now with the DLCs.

This D&D inspired game's AI image generator is now free for all
https://www.pcgamer.com/ai-dungeon-image-generator/
I love me a good AI Dungeon session, and I'm happy to announce the devs have just made their AI image generator free to use with the base AI. At the same time though, it looks like the free version now includes ads so, swings and roundabouts.