Captain_Yuri said: Grand Theft Auto VI Will Have Female Main Character for First Time In Series' History (scheduled for FY 2024/2023, taking place in Vice City) https://www.neogaf.com/threads/grand-theft-auto-vi-will-have-female-main-character-for-first-time-in-series-history-scheduled-for-fy-2024-2023-taking-place-in-vice-city.1639531/ "Developers are also being cautious not to “punch down” by making jokes about marginalized groups, the people said, in contrast with previous Grand Theft Auto games." There's other details that makes it sound like they are going woke

Part of me was like "oh, this could mean dick jokes and still being able to switch between characters right?"

>Latina female protag

>cracking down on jokes

>"frat behaviour"

yeaaah, I think I dodged that bullet when the R* launcher became mandatory, because R* is joining the ranks of pandering shit. 

Why couldn't they have just pulled a SA instead of having to mention this shit beforehand?. This just reeks of brownie point wanting from a PR perspective (which I can already see in the twitter comments of a load of SJW's showing up, who don't really come off as core GTA players).

I'm surprised they're going to do this with GTA VI, while they let RDR 2 online rot in hell, and RDR2 has jokes about the whole Women's right movement and they let that slide, but with their big money maker baby (GTA), they suddenly won't let it slide for that?, c'mon R*, stop being such a sales asshat.

GTA's entire gig has been rude jokes and crude humour. Sure Saints Row started stealing that over the years, but even now that series has abandoned that sort of humour in favour of wouldn't ya know, zoomers and social warriors (funny how both are now trying to pander towards that group as if they think those are the majority). 

It's Thursday and these are the news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

This week, the Epic Store gives away Lawn Mowing Simulator: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/lawn-mowing-simulator
And next week, the free game will be Unrailed!.

Steam has a new deal: Rise of Nations: Extended Edition will be 75% off during 6 days: https://store.steampowered.com/app/287450/Rise_of_Nations_Extended_Edition/.

There's a new Humble Bundle: the Summer Sims Bundle, featuring up to 18 games and DLCs to get during the next 13 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/summer-sims-bundle.

And Fanatical has three new deals/sales:

• The Star Deal is Assetto Corsa Competizione, 73% off for 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/assetto-corsa-competizione
• The former is part of a Racing Deals Sale, featuring up to 91% discounts on different racing games. Be warned that some deals finish sooner than others, so check it out carefully: https://www.fanatical.com/en/categories/racing
• And the new Bento Spirit Bundle comes with 7 games split into two tiers of 5 and 7 items: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/bento-spirit-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Wildly ambitious Half-Life 2 mod sees you play as a Combine soldier with a Portal turret companion
https://www.pcgamer.com/wildly-ambitious-half-life-2-mod-sees-you-play-as-a-combine-soldier-with-a-portal-turret-companion/
There's a lot going on in the Half-Life 2 mod scene at the moment. From reboots of Ravenholm to Opposing Force sequels, Valve's brilliant FPS sequel is getting a lot of love from its community. But none of these projects are as wildly ambitious as Entropy: Zero 2, which seeks to tell a brand new story from the other side of City 17's factional fence.
Entropy: Zero 2 puts you in the role of a combine Civil Protection officer, on a mission to capture Half-Life 2's double-agent scientist Dr Judith Mossman from a frozen facility far to the North of City 17. It sounds like a standard HL2 mod scenario, but Entropy: Zero 2 is shaping up to be way more than another HL2 side-campaign.
To begin with, the mod brings Half-Life 2's City 17 and Portal's Aperture Science directly together, with your journey to capture Mossman bringing you to what appears to be an abandoned Aperture facility. Here, you'll gain access to new weapons like warp grenades, and join forces with one of the quirky malfunctioning turrets from Portal 2.

Half-Life: Through The City is a fan sequel to Opposing Force, demo released
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/half-life-through-the-city-is-a-fan-sequel-to-opposing-force-demo-released/
Kajlo has released a demo for the upcoming fan sequel to Half-Life: Opposing Force, Half-Life: Through The City. Half-Life: Through The City is a mod for Half-Life 2: Episode Two, and this demo features the first chapter with 20-40 minutes of gameplay content.

This Sailor Moon Stray mod eclipses all others
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-sailor-moon-stray-mod-eclipses-all-others/
Earlier this week I gushed to all of you about how a ton of Stray mods were people's real cats that they were putting in the game. I lamented that my own cat, Luna, was yet to receive an accurate enough likeness for me to play through the game as. While I don't know if that's changed since, I do know that I can now play as her namesake, which is even cooler.
Thanks to modders ILikeDetectives and SkylightGlare, all three of the fantastic and adorable Sailor Moon cats are available to replace the standard orange protagonist: Artemis, Luna and their daughter Diana. There are even some nice variations on Artemis and Luna. You can grab the OG anime Luna with red eyes, or opt for a softer lavender or cute purple. Artemis has his standard dark bluey-purple eyes, or you can download a version where he has green eyes.

GAMING NEWS

FIFA 23 gets an official gameplay deep dive video
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/fifa-23-gets-an-official-gameplay-deep-dive-video/
EA Sports has released an official gameplay deep dive video for its upcoming soccer game, FIFA 23. This new video showcases some of the game’s mechanics, and will give you a glimpse at its graphics. And, as we’ve already reported, the PC version will look identical to the current-gen console version.

New screenshots released for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl
https://www.dsogaming.com/screenshot-news/new-screenshots-released-for-s-t-a-l-k-e-r-2-heart-of-chornobyl/
GSC GameWorld has released three new screenshots for the highly anticipated S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl. These new in-engine screenshots showcase what the team has been able to achieve with Epic’s Unreal Engine 5.

Genshin Impact lookalike RPG, Tower of Fantasy, launches on August 11th
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/genshin-impact-inspired-tower-of-fantasy-launches-on-august-11th/
Level Infinite and Hotta Studio announced that their open-world RPG, Tower of Fantasy, will open pre-load on August 9th and launch globally on August 11th. Tower of Fantasy is a shared open-world RPG with a vibrant, anime-inspired art style that looks similar to Genshin Impact.

Disney Dreamlight Valley gets a gameplay overview trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/disney-dreamlight-valley-gets-a-gameplay-overview-trailer/
Gameloft has released a new trailer for Disney Dreamlight Valley, detailing its gameplay mechanics. Disney Dreamlight Valley is described as a hybrid between a life-sim and an adventure game rich with quests, exploration, and engaging activities featuring Disney and Pixar friends, both old and new.

Chernobylite now supports AMD FSR 2.0, gets new free DLC
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/chernobylite-now-supports-amd-fsr-2-0-gets-new-free-dlc/
The Farm 51 has released a new patch for Chernobylite that adds support for AMD’s latest upscaling tech, FSR 2.0. In addition, and in order to celebrate the game’s first anniversary, the team has released a new free DLC for it.

Thursday news, part two:

MultiVersus confirms no more progress resets following open beta launch
https://www.pcgamer.com/multiversus-confirms-no-more-progress-resets-following-open-beta-launch/
With the MultiVersus open beta now in full swing, Warner Bros has detailed how the free character rotation will work, and reassured players that there will be no further progress resets in the future.

Dig for treasures and dark secrets in Wadjet Eye's new 'folk horror' adventure
https://www.pcgamer.com/dig-for-treasures-and-dark-secrets-in-wadjet-eyes-new-folk-horror-adventure/
Wadjet Eye Games, the publisher of acclaimed retro-adventures including Unavowed, Shardlight, Technobabylon, and Strangeland, has unveiled its next big thing: a "folk horror game" from indie developer Cloak and Dagger Games called The Excavation of Hob's Barrow. Set in the quaint countryside of Victorian England, the game follows the gloomy adventures of Thomasina Bateman, an antiquarian who finds herself embroiled in a dark mystery in the small village of Bewlay.

One of Warhammer 40,000's best games is adding even more demons
https://www.pcgamer.com/one-of-warhammer-40000s-best-games-is-adding-even-more-demons/
Do you like demons—or daemons, as the case may be? Because Warhammer 40,000: Battlesector, number 10 on our ridiculously long ranking of every Warhammer 40,000 game ever, is getting them. Specifically the Daemons of Khorne, a new minor faction is coming free for all players in the new Daemonic Update.

The new Dwarf Fortress animal people look beautiful
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-new-dwarf-fortress-animal-people-look-beautiful/
The forthcoming revamped Steam version of Dwarf Fortress is one of my most anticipated games, despite having spent only five minutes playing the original before I shut it down, terrified. For anyone intimidated by the original game's stern ASCII art, the more approachable pixel art of the Steam version should eliminate some of the difficulty of getting into Dwarf Fortress.

The hidden Nier: Automata church mystery keeps getting weirder and weirder
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-hidden-nier-automata-church-mystery-keeps-getting-weirder-and-weirder/
For the past few days, the Nier: Automata community has been absolutely shaken by a secret room that nobody can seem to find except one mysterious Reddit user who goes by the name "sadfutago." The church, as sadfutago called it in their original post a little over month ago, contains even more mysteries that can't be explained, sparking debate (and memes) over whether any of it's real or not.
Update: Sadfutago, the original church poster, has dropped another video on Reddit that shows him entering the church as 9S, hacking a chest to obtain a text document of Nier: Replicant character Yonah, and fighting the shrouded figure (AKA "bloby") as an enemy.
According to recent tweets by Nier modder Lance McDonald, none of the assets in the video except the document about Yonah and bloby exist in "any known datamined build of the game across PC or PS4 and can't be replicated by known modders yet."

Limit Theory dev releases source code of the cancelled space sim, officially ends project
https://www.pcgamer.com/limit-theory-dev-releases-source-code-of-the-cancelled-space-sim-officially-ends-project/
Limit Theory, the ambitious space sandbox which ceased development in 2018, has written the final chapter in its long-running development saga. Creator Josh Parnell released the source code for the beleaguered project, allowing the community to play what exists of the game.

A Sims 4 bug is making Sims speedrun the aging process
https://www.pcgamer.com/a-sims-4-bug-is-making-sims-speedrun-the-aging-process/
Here's a warning for anyone dashing back to The Sims 4 after yesterday's ree update. The patch apparently shipped with a bug that can make your beloved Sims abruptly auto-age into the next phase of their life after just a few minutes of playing, even if it's not their birthdays. Toddlers suddenly become kids, teens skip the awkward years and turn into adults, and adults blast right into their midlife crises.

A very unfortunate bug is making Sims want to date their family
https://www.pcgamer.com/sims-4-family-dating-bug/
The Sims 4 introduced a free patch ahead of the High School Years expansion, finally bringing back wants and fears, curved walls and a broader selection of orientations. Those are the intended additions, of course. Some rather unfortunate side effects of this patch appear to be your sims rapidly aging and, uh, wanting to date their relatives.
>> It's not a bug, it's a special feature...

You won't upgrade your legendary gear in WoW Shadowlands Season 4
https://www.pcgamer.com/you-wont-upgrade-your-legendary-gear-in-wow-shadowlands-season-4/
Shadowlands Season 4 arrives next week, and Blizzard has confirmed that there will be no upgrades for our legendary gear items in this final update for the current World of Warcraft expansion. The maximum item level will stay at 291.

You have to keep in mind that humor and satire aren't the same thing either, and that if you aren't allowed to make humor about a theme, you're stepping into censorship and against freedom of speech.

That's the saddest part of this. Political correctness is utter bullsh!t. It's a term, probably brought by an adviser from a polititian, that simply means lie to everybody telling them what they want to hear so they'll vote for you.

And yet, instead of reporting and shaming it, it has spread like aon oil spill that has reached every part of our society, to a point where if you aren't politically correct, by the definition of some group of another, then you're a thread for the society.

It's sad how simple and stupid we, as a society, can actually be.

Intel A380 Ray Tracing performance

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/intel-arc-a380/35.html

It is actually surprising as to how good Intel's first attempt is. This is slower than a 6400 in Raster but in Ray Tracing, it is doing well above 6500XT. Now obviously, these aren't playable framerates but it is exciting to see that Intel's first attempt is pretty good after RDNA2's disappointing Ray Tracing performance. I'll be interested to see the A770's RT performance.

PS5 Beta introduces 1440p support, Gamelists, and more

https://blog.playstation.com/2022/07/28/ps5-beta-introduces-1440p-support-gamelists-and-more/?sf259200275=1

Never thought I'd see the day but since Sony is now getting into the PC gaming monitor business, I suppose it makes sense. This does mean that those people that have a PS5 and are thinking to buy the Alienware QD-OLED will now have an option to play at native 1440p resolution instead of getting it upscaled from 1080p. What would really be fap worthy is if the consoles would get 1440p Ultrawide support for Bluray playback but alas, that is a pipe dream.

Linus runs A770

Now there aren't any benchmarks or anything other than it can run a game but there is one interesting point of note. Arc basically has 3 tiers in terms of performance. Tier 1 = DX12/Vulkan games that are optimized for Arc. Tier 2 = Every other DX12/Vulkan games that will run fine on Arc. Tier 3 = DX11 games that will run like arse. But apparently, Intel will be pricing Arc based on the performance of DX11 titles. Now while Arc certainly has a lot of growing pains because it's a first generation product, it is certainly refreshing to see a GPU manufacturer caring about value instead of releasing shitty products like the 1630 from Nvidia and 6500XT and below from AMD.

Intel Core i7-13700K and Core i5-13600K tested, higher performance with higher power consumption

https://videocardz.com/newz/intel-core-i7-13700k-and-core-i5-13600k-tested-higher-performance-with-higher-power-consumption

"In test such as CPU-Z the i7 sees a 10% boost in single-core test and 32-34% better score in multi-threaded. The i5-13600K, in other hand has 5% 39-41% uplift respectively."

Take it with a grain of salt. I will say an i5 going up to 178 watts is a bit nutty though.

ASUS unveils ROG Strix 4K HDMI 2.1 gaming monitor, up to 160Hz refresh rate with overclocking

https://videocardz.com/newz/asus-unveils-rog-strix-4k-hdmi-2-1-gaming-monitor-up-to-160hz-refresh-rate-with-overclocking

So they took the PG32UQ, made the default hz 120 instead of 144, then allow you to overclock the panel to 160hz while PG32UQ can overclock to 155hz? Hopefully it will be no more than $600 USD.

if can kill hookers i dont care

I don't recall the fascist regimes of history making a habit of NOT mocking the marginalized. Just the opposite, in fact.

Where does it say they aren't allowed to joke about certain topics? All I see is a mention that they removed some transphobic jokes from GTAV. You can make jokes about being trans or whatever else so long as you do them well. That often comes down to whether said jokes come from a place of love or cruelty.

Political correctness is indeed bullshit in that it's a ginned up term by conservative media to silence criticism. Same thing with the 'sjw' craze of some years ago and the whining about 'wokeism' now. It gets repackaged whenever the current term gets stale but it's all the same principle of ignoring criticism you don't want to listen to. This can straight up turn into doublethink when people act like not taking potshots at trans people is fascism when that completely ignores the history of basically every actual fascist regime we've ever seen.

And this is the problem that I have with Rockstars new direction of toning things down because now they open a whole new can of worms of... Where is the line? Lets say some tragedy happens in real life where a bunch of sex workers gets killed or something, well now does Rockstar no longer allow you to kill hooker cause someone makes a twitter tag of #HookersLivesMatter? Where does racism jokes stop? Etc.

It's all subjective to the tolerance level the person or group of people that will decide this. If someone tells me a yo mama so fat joke, I can take it and laugh it off. If someone tells the same joke to a person who's mom died... Well they may not be able to take it.

It's why I don't like this particular direction because it really opens up this can of worms of what's appropriate vs what isn't and that will probably be left to some focus groups or committees they hire who have zero idea of what GTA even is. It wouldn't surprise me if one day, Rockstar does prevent you from killing hookers.

You wanna know what's really funny about the past 5-8 yrs of the political movement that's been going on?, real old gen feminists actually don't like what the new wave of feminists are doing, because they are pretty much making shit look bad for the older gen who spent years trying to fight for what they believed in.

She's possibly the one Feminist I can respect, the new gen are just "gimme gimme gimme" and "adhere to my rules" bs. 

When some of us say "woke", it's just pointing out that a corp is clearly pandering to a smaller group for brownie points. Look at each time of each yr where the corps put up Gay pride icons/flags, and yet in countries like Russia/Middle East, they don't use them, because it's always about getting those easy brownie points, the corps don't actually care about what feminists/JW's want.