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Captain_Yuri said:

perfectly sums up my hate for the whole BR genre and the uneeded feel for devs going out of their way to follow multiplayer trends, instead of setting their own and being creative.

Like when's the last time we had a smash hit Minecraft clone?. Before that it was Terraria, and Starbound tried, but the devs gave up. Everyone just seems hyper focused on PeeVeePee or PVPVE (my most hated sub genre).


Thank god we've got some devs out there who cater to SP players and co-op cosy types. I just wish we had devs like that who put more into RTS/ARPG's (totally not super jealous of TBS and TB RPG's making a huge ass, spammed comeback).



Step right up come on in, feel the buzz in your veins, I'm like an chemical electrical right into your brain and I'm the one who killed the Radio, soon you'll all see

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Chazore said:
Captain_Yuri said:

perfectly sums up my hate for the whole BR genre and the uneeded feel for devs going out of their way to follow multiplayer trends, instead of setting their own and being creative.

Like when's the last time we had a smash hit Minecraft clone?. Before that it was Terraria, and Starbound tried, but the devs gave up. Everyone just seems hyper focused on PeeVeePee or PVPVE (my most hated sub genre).


Thank god we've got some devs out there who cater to SP players and co-op cosy types. I just wish we had devs like that who put more into RTS/ARPG's (totally not super jealous of TBS and TB RPG's making a huge ass, spammed comeback).

Not sure if it's the devs or more like their publishers or other business partners asking for this.

It remembers me the interview the Vampire Survivors developers gave about their then-planned mobile port, and how business partner after business partner wanted to include some aggressive predatory monetization schemes to the game, which the devs absolutely refused, and so had to do it alone.

https://kotaku.com/vampire-survivors-free-iphone-steam-mobile-smartphone-1849955308

As for minecraft, I think they are just taking different idols now, like RimWorld or Dwarf Fortress.



Here are the Monday news! And take it easy, because there's a lot of them.

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Steam's Top 10

Why four of Steam's top five sellers are Hogwarts Legacy
https://www.pcgamer.com/why-four-of-steams-top-five-sellers-are-hogwarts-legacy/
Steam has released its sales charts for the week just gone, broken down here by SteamDb, and Hogwarts Legacy has sold extremely well. It was clear from the game's early access period that there was a big appetite for some open-world wizardry, with the game even breaking Twitch records for viewership in the runup to release, but even so it's striking to see that Hogwarts Legacy occupies four of the top five slots in Steam's best sellers for the week.
The reason why is that Steam treats each SKU, which is to say version of the game, as a distinct product. Thus the top seller is Hogwarts Legacy: Digital Deluxe Edition, which puts the previous week's best-seller, plain old Hogwarts Legacy, down to second position. But then both products seem to appear again in the third and fourth spots. This is because, for whatever reason, Steam categorises the pre-order sales and the release sales as distinct products. So the top two sellers are people buying the game before release, and the next two are those who bought it once it was out.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive smashes all-time player record 11 years after release like the boss it is
https://www.pcgamer.com/counter-strike-global-offensive-smashes-all-time-player-record-11-years-after-release-like-the-boss-it-is/
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive launched on 21 August, 2012, and on 11 February 2023 it has just surpassed its all-time record of concurrent players: At the time of writing, 1,320,219 players are in-game, while the previous record was 1,308,963 players around three years ago.

'Trans Witches Are Witches' game bundles raise over $79,000 in protest of Hogwarts Legacy
https://www.pcgamer.com/trans-witches-are-witches-game-bundles-raise-over-dollar79000-in-protest-of-hogwarts-legacy/
While gamers are fighting over whether or not it's OK to play Hogwarts Legacy, a group of LGBTQ+ indie designers have pooled their efforts and put together a bundle of 69 games (nice) that you can buy to, as the tagline puts it, "Reject Hogwarts Legacy's bigotry and support indie devs".
The Trans Witches Are Witches bundle, which costs $60, has raised more than $70,000 at the time of writing, while a smaller, sister bundle, the Apprentice Edition, goes for $10 and has raised more then $9,900.
>> You'll find these bundles at itch.io

GOG has a very strong start of the week:

Steam has two new deals:

There are three new deals at Humble:

And Fanatical brings a new Star Deal and a new BundleFest:

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Cyberpunk 2077 gets new 4K Texture Packs for clothing, stickers & vending machines
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/cyberpunk-2077-gets-new-4k-texture-packs-for-clothing-stickers-vending-machines/
Modder ‘XilaMonstrr’ has released three new 4K Texture Packs for CD Projekt RED’s latest game, Cyberpunk 2077. These new packs aim to improve the game’s clothing for NPCs and characters, as well as those for stickers and vending machines.
As usual, the modder used AI techniques in order to enhance and upscale the vanilla textures. Therefore, these improved textures retain the art style and aesthetics of the original textures.
>> There are also 2K versions of those mods, and the article has a bunch of pics and a gif.

This Skyrim Special Edition Mod adds over 7000 voiced lines via AI
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/this-skyrim-special-edition-mod-adds-over-7000-voiced-lines-via-ai/
Mathiew May has released a must-have mod for all Skyrim fans out there. As the title suggests, this mod adds over 7000 voiced lines to Skyrim Special Edition, making your character voice over the dialogue lines.
Now what’s really cool here is that Mathiew May used an AI in order to pre-generate all of these voiced lines. Currently, the mod features a female voice. Furthermore, the modder claims that the mod is highly versatile and that adding more voice lines will be very easy.
In future versions, the modder will improve the response time from an NPC after a line is spoken. Furthermore, they will add more voice lines, and allow other content creators to make their own voice packs.
>> Since screenshots wouldn't work here, there's a 3.5 minutes long video of the mod in action.

This mod that lets you fight your Morrowind character in Oblivion is one of the coolest I've seen in ages
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-mod-that-lets-you-fight-your-morrowind-character-in-oblivion-is-one-of-the-coolest-ive-seen-in-ages/
Lord knows there are a lot of Elder Scrolls modders out there, but I think Nickies might be my favourite. The modder, who once gifted us the creation that lets you order a real-life Domino's pizza from inside The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion, put a new mod out last month, and it's as creative as ever. Cross-Game Invader Add-On for Oblivion and Morrowind lets you transfer your Morrowind character to Oblivion and vice versa, giving you an opportunity to finally confront your true enemy, yourself, in one-on-one combat.
You don't have to fight, of course. If you prefer, you can use your character from one game as a follower in the other, or even just play as your character from one game in the mean streets of the other. To make the transition more seamless, the mod also lets you import spells and enchantments that are specific to their respective game.
Given that Oblivion pared down Morrowind's broken and beautiful magic-creation system (though not as much as Skyrim did), that sounds like a great opportunity to smuggle some profoundly overpowered magic into the game.
>> There's an almost 3 minutes long video.

Finally, after 21 years, Morrowind meets my exacting standards of realism and immersion with this mod that adds footprints
https://www.pcgamer.com/finally-after-21-years-morrowind-meets-my-exacting-standards-of-realism-and-immersion-with-this-mod-that-adds-footprints/
Despite being a game full of chunky, blank-faced weirdos with awful hair that makes you swing at an enemy 20 times before you can land a single hit, Morrowind is an incredibly immersive game, sucking you into Vvardenfel and making you feel like part of its world. Modder abot over on the Morrowind Nexus has now, finally, torn down that last barrier between Morrowind and a perfect simulation of reality: with abot's new mod, the Nerevarine leaves behind footprints as they walk.
Okay, maybe a little silly, but it's such a great idea⁠—just one of those little details you forget about while running up your eighteenth snowdrift in Solstheim with a train of awful little max-level goblin men chasing you down. And really, obsessive detail like this absolutely fits in a game that actively drains your stamina while you slowly jog around its alien moonscapes.
>> And, to showcase this new feature, there's a 8;19 minutes video of it.

STAR WARS Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II Remake in Unreal Engine available for download
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/star-wars-jedi-knight-dark-forces-ii-remake-in-unreal-engine-available-for-download/
Now here is something for our Star Wars fans. Earlier this week, Ruppertle released the first version of a remake of STAR WARS Jedi Knight: Dark Forces II in Unreal Engine.
The first version of this remake features two official levels from the original game and 4 Survival levels. Furthermore, it comes with a Sandbox Mode and a 3D Model Viewer. Additionally, there is a bonus level for testing, as well as some secrets that players can uncover while playing.
In order to showcase the graphical improvements that this remake brings to the table, Ruppertle released the following comparison video. As you can see, the graphics in this fan remake look absolutely amazing.
>> The video is barely 1 minute long. Also, since we're talking about Disney, I'd download it quick before they make a move.

20 years on, this mod adds new lightsabers, character models, and quality of life fixes to one of the best Star Wars games
https://www.pcgamer.com/20-years-on-this-mod-adds-new-lightsabers-character-models-and-quality-of-life-fixes-to-one-of-the-best-star-wars-games/
Most recently updated in July of last year, Jedi Academy Enhanced might just be my new go-to for nostalgic replays of the classic FPS-come-lightsaber duel simulator. The mod primarily adds new character customization options and quality of life additions, all while building on prior open source mod work for Jedi Academy.
>> There's a 7 minutes video of it.

First Hogwarts Legacy Mods bring SSGI, VR support and 60fps FMVs
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/first-hogwarts-legacy-mods-bring-ssgi-vr-support-and-60fps-fmvs/
Hogwarts Legacy officially came out last week and it has already gotten some cool mods that we highly recommend downloading. These first mods add support for SSGI, VR, and 60fps for FMVs.
>> There is a very long video of the VR mod (94 minutes).

Hogwarts Legacy arachnophobia mode arrives just in time for launch
https://www.pcgamer.com/hogwarts-legacy-arachnophobia-mode/
In a fantastical world where people get turned into all sorts of animals and objects, the modder behind Hogwarts Legacy's arachnophobia mode chose to turn all the spiders into red cubes. It's not the most creative solution, but it's also their first mod and it's ready to go for the game's full release today. The Hogwarts Legacy arachnophobia mode does exactly what you'd think it would do: it removes all the spider enemies in the game and replaces them with much less threatening red boxes. Its creator, Norskpl, says the mod works in the late-game Tomb of Treachery location. The assumption is that all the spiders in the game—including the bosses—use a similar model throughout.
>> There's an almost 4 minutes long video.

Players are modding Hogwarts Legacy to make their characters paler
https://www.pcgamer.com/players-are-modding-hogwarts-legacy-to-make-their-characters-paler/
Character creators are frequently criticized for lacking dark skin tones, or for lighting dark skin awkwardly and unrealistically. "Black skin is still a radical concept in video games," Vice said in 2017, for instance. So it felt like waking up on Opposite Day to discover that Hogwarts Legacy is being criticized for its paleness limits.
With an air of self-awareness, a number of commenters have complained on Reddit that the lack of particularly pale skin has kept them from recreating themselves as Hogwarts students.
"I'm Nordic and pale to the point where people sometimes ask if I'm sick or something," one poster said. "A bit disappointed that I can't recreate that."
>> There is no video, onlya couple of screenshots.

Hogwarts Legacy modders wasted no time adding VTubers to it
https://www.pcgamer.com/hogwarts-legacy-modders-wasted-no-time-adding-vtubers-to-it/
You're racing to class in the labyrinthian halls of Hogwarts and look up on the wall to see a framed portrait of an anime girl doing the 🥺 emoji. That's right, Hogwarts Legacy has VTubers now.
The Moving Frames - Anime VTubers - Hololive mod replaces the school's magical, moving paintings with GIFs and clips of popular Hololive VTubers, streamers who use animated 2D avatars.

This mod creatively revives a long-forgotten Mass Effect 2 feature in the Legendary Edition remaster
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-mod-creatively-revives-a-long-forgotten-mass-effect-2-feature-in-the-legendary-edition-remaster/
Mass Effect has some of the best worldbuilding in any RPG, period. Seriously, even with the impending Reaper invasion it still seems like it'd be fun to live in that version of the Milky Way. One of the coolest bits of background flavor BioWare included in the series was the Cerberus Daily News, a little ticker on Mass Effect 2's home screen that provided short news bulletins about the galaxy's happenings. Now modder Cirosan on the Legendary Edition Nexus has brought these stories forward into the Legendary Edition re-release.
The original CDN was really ambitious for how much of a minor addition it was⁠—Mass Effect 2's main menu was updated with a new story every day from January 26, 2010 to January 24, 2011, with short revivals later in 2011 and 2012 to promote ME2's DLC and, eventually, Mass Effect 3. Some of these stories would foreshadow later developments in Mass Effect's main story, while others simply added to the texture of the setting.

GAMING NEWS

New trailers for WILD HEARTS and Wanted: Dead
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/new-trailers-for-wild-hearts-and-wanted-dead/
Electronic Arts released the official story trailer for its upcoming monster hunting game, WILD HEARTS. Additionally, 110 Industries has released a Game World Overview trailer for Wanted: Dead.

CDPR is looking into improving The Witcher 3 Next-Gen CPU core utilization & DX12 performance
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/cdpr-is-looking-into-improving-the-witcher-3-next-gen-cpu-core-utilization-dx12-performance/
CD Projekt RED has revealed that it’s currently looking into improving CPU core utilization and improving overall DX12 performance for The Witcher 3 Next-Gen.
The company is also looking into addressing some Ray Tracing issues. For instance, it’s working on reducing global illumination lighting leaks. Additionally, it’s also investigating the RT shadows pop-in issues that we’ve reported. Not only that, but the team also plans to restore horizon-based ambient occlusion on PC.



Please excuse my bad English.

Currently gaming on a PC with an i5-4670k@stock (for now), 16Gb RAM 1600 MHz and a GTX 1070

Steam / Live / NNID : jonxiquet    Add me if you want, but I'm a single player gamer.

Monday news, part two:

Minecraft's archeology feature is finally getting dug up for 1.20
https://www.pcgamer.com/minecrafts-archeology-feature-is-finally-getting-dug-up-for-120/
Mojang has just announced that the long-awaited and much-delayed archeology feature is finally coming to Minecraft. A new tool, type of sand, and several different types of items to unearth are all coming in the Minecraft 1.20 update this year.

Hi-Fi Rush, which was helmed by The Evil Within 2's director, sure seems to be teasing The Evil Within 3
https://www.pcgamer.com/hi-fi-rush-which-was-helmed-by-the-evil-within-2s-director-sure-seems-to-be-teasing-the-evil-within-3/
We were caught completely by surprise when Tango Gameworks announced Hi-Fi Rush back in January, and not just because it came completely out of nowhere. The bigger surprise was that it's a colorful, cartoony rhythm action game from a studio best known for The Evil Within and Ghostwire: Tokyo games—not exactly cheery, upbeat stuff. But a recently discovered Easter egg could indicate that the studio will soon return to more familiar territory.

Remedy plans to release a new game each year from now on
https://www.pcgamer.com/remedy-plans-to-release-a-new-game-each-year-from-now-on/
Finnish studio Remedy Entertainment was founded all the way back in 1995, 28 years ago, and in that time it's released seven games: Death Rally, Max Payne, Max Payne 2, Alan Wake, Alan Wake's American Nightmare, Quantum Break, and Control. That works out to one game every four years, which isn't bad for a smaller, independent studio. But Remedy has plans to ramp that rate up considerably, beginning this year.
>> Ha-ha-ha!

Square Enix developer lets slip that yes, a Final Fantasy Tactics remaster is probably on the way
https://www.pcgamer.com/square-enix-developer-lets-slip-that-yes-a-final-fantasy-tactics-remaster-is-probably-on-the-way/
Diehard Final Fantasy Tactics fans waiting patiently for a remaster (or, you know, just official word that one is going to happen) have a new reason to be cautiously optimistic. In an interview with fan site Finaland, Theatrhythm Final Bar Line producer Ichiro Hazama let slip that "the Tactics team [at Square Enix] is incredibly busy at the moment."

Hollow Knight: Silksong playtester encourages patience, says it's a 'glorious game worth the wait'
https://www.pcgamer.com/hollow-knight-silksong-playtester-encourages-patience-says-its-a-glorious-game-worth-the-wait/
After seven months since we've last seen the game, a playtester on Hollow Knight: Silksong took to the game's Discord to assure fans of its progress after a disappointingly Silksong-free Nintendo Direct this week.

Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick says Sony is 'not returning our calls'
https://www.pcgamer.com/activision-blizzard-ceo-bobby-kotick-says-sony-is-not-returning-our-calls/
With Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard continuing to run up against regulatory resistance, Activision Blizzard CEO Bobby Kotick is now taking to the airwaves to defend the deal. In a new interview with Fox Business, Kotick said regulators are reluctant to approve the deal because they're not familiar with how the videogame industry works, and implied that the real anti-competitive behemoth in the market isn't Microsoft, but Sony.

I'm loving this chill city builder with storybook looks and fairytale charm
https://www.pcgamer.com/im-loving-this-chill-city-builder-with-storybook-looks-and-fairytale-charm/
The great thing about Steam Next Fest is there are literally hundreds of free demos to play. The downside comes when you find one that you want to keep on playing long after the bite-sized demo is done.
That's where I'm at with Fabledom, a charming and laid-back city builder with storybook looks and loads of charm. In a medieval-inspired fantasy world, become the founder of a tiny little town, then put your cute little peasants to work chopping down trees, mining stone, farming vegetables, and building homes. Your goal as ruler isn't just to grow and oversee a bustling little village but contact other kingdoms out in the world, establish diplomacy and trade with them, and eventually find yourself a prince or princess to share your castle with.

Guns and spells clash in real-time cooperative RPG Dark Envoy
https://www.pcgamer.com/guns-and-spells-clash-in-real-time-cooperative-rpg-dark-envoy/
Hands up if you like it when there's magic and also a gun. Right, then, y'all get on over and check out Dark Envoy, a game with an hour and a half demo out now in the Steam Next Fest that's an ismoetric, real-time with slowdown and pause RPG with the interesting twist of being available both for single-player and online cooperative play.

EVE Online's far-future boardroom sharks are using their powers for good with an in-game charity drive
https://www.pcgamer.com/eve-onlines-far-future-boardroom-sharks-are-using-their-powers-for-good-with-an-in-game-charity-drive/
For so many of us, I reckon EVE Online remains a distant curiosity: "oh it's the space spreadsheet game where cold-blooded operators are always Enron-ing each other." And you know what? God bless the corporate samurai of EVE Online, it'll never not rule when they pull off another Heist of the Century amidst a supernova (opens in new tab) or alien invasion.
First reported by Massively Overpowered, EVE developer CCP is giving its boardroom sharks of the far future another opportunity to prove they really do care though, reactivating its PLEX for Good initiative. For those not in the know, PLEX (short for "Pilot's License Extension") is one of EVE's two in-game currencies. PLEX is the premium option, purchasable with real-world money or EVE's other currency, ISK. PLEX can also be traded as an in-game commodity, and is a key building block in EVE's famously intricate and reactive virtual economy.

Wandering Sword may be the wuxia RPG I've been waiting for
https://www.pcgamer.com/wandering-sword-may-be-the-wuxia-rpg-ive-been-waiting-for/
A young swordsman is caught up in a feud between rival martial arts families, and must take to the road in order to improve his skills and become a hero. It's the delightful plot of so many fantasical wuxia stories, and Wandering Sword, a forthcoming tactical RPG from Chinese developer The Swordman Studio looks to create that rich world in beautifully-lit 2.5d style.

Broken Arrow is a convincing attempt at a modern warfare RTS
https://www.pcgamer.com/broken-arrow-is-a-convincing-attempt-at-a-modern-warfare-rts/
One of the hotter demos out in this year's Steam Next Fest is for Broken Arrow, a large-scale RTS set just about in right now, this moment, using cutting-edge military equipment and technology. It's a setting often left to either less-realistic shooters or stodgy ultra-realistic but low fidelity wargames, but developer Steel Balalaika is giving it a convincing go that has me interested in the final product.

Fatshark details upcoming changes to Darktide's gear acquisition and crafting
https://www.pcgamer.com/fatshark-details-upcoming-changes-to-darktides-gear-acquisition-and-crafting/
At launch, Fatshark's game of trying not to accidentally shoot a big friendly ogryn in the back while he protects you from a swarm of people with scabies was missing a few things. Of particular note was that three-quarters of its crafting system appeared to have been left out.
(...)
The developers have been working on a new crafting system for Darktide ever since, as well as patching bugs and tweaking progression, even delaying other features to focus on them. In a recent dev blog, they outlined some upcoming changes that will be coming as a result.



Please excuse my bad English.

Currently gaming on a PC with an i5-4670k@stock (for now), 16Gb RAM 1600 MHz and a GTX 1070

Steam / Live / NNID : jonxiquet    Add me if you want, but I'm a single player gamer.

And yes, the guys at PCGamer have been so busy that a third part of the news is needed:

Total War: Warhammer 3 DLC planned for April release
https://www.pcgamer.com/total-war-warhammer-3-dlc-planned-for-april-release/
Last year Total War: Warhammer 3 received two DLC add-ons. The beta of Immortal Empires was a free expansion of expansive size, while Champions of Chaos was a paid expansion with four legendary lords leading Warriors of Chaos factions and a snappier campaign. Fans have been rabidly awaiting news of more, especially after data miners found voice files suggesting Chaos Dwarfs were on the way.
In a video message posted to the Total War Twitter feed, game director Rich Aldridge gave an update on what's planned for 2023 and why it's taken longer than planned.

Resident Evil 4 is partying like it's 2011 with a deluge of day-one DLC
https://www.pcgamer.com/resident-evil-4-is-partying-like-its-2011-with-a-deluge-of-day-one-dlc/
As reported by GamesRadar, eagle-eyed users on ResetEra noticed a Microsoft Store listing for a "Resident Evil 4 Treasure Map Expansion," seemingly part of the game's Digital Deluxe Edition. The content pack's description reads: "Discover the hidden treasures that await! With this map, additional treasures will be placed throughout the game. Some of these treasures can only be obtained by this method."
A quick perusal of RE4's Microsoft Store page reveals a total of 13 different content packs, presumably available separately in addition to being bundled in the $70 Digital Deluxe version. These packs include mostly outfits and cosmetic options, but also two new weapons and the aforementioned treasure map.

A remake of the first Atelier game is coming to Steam in summer 2023
https://www.pcgamer.com/a-remake-of-the-first-atelier-game-is-coming-to-steam-in-summer-2023/
The original entry in the now-quite-widespread Atelier series is being remade for the latest generation of gaming, as Atelier Marie Remake: The Alchemist of Salburg will be released in Summer 2023 by series developers Gust and Koei Tecmo. Like many games in the series recently it'll be coming to Steam.

EA Originals to publish more big-budget games as well as small indies
https://www.pcgamer.com/ea-originals-to-publish-more-big-budget-games-as-well-as-small-indies/
(...)
Speaking to Gamesindustry.biz, Jeff Gamon, the general manager of EA Partners who oversees EA Originals, said he is "hugely proud of that relationship we have with all of our partners, regardless of how things worked out. With [Velan Studios founders] Guha and Karthik, I am still very close to them. Every step of the way we were by their side. Completely transparent. These things are built in collaboration from day one."
(...)
"We've discovered a desire for bigger, better and more innovative titles that complement the EA portfolio," Gamon said. "So where we started off with smaller, indie games we are now graduating to independently created games of all shapes and sizes and scope and budget. We are moving away from niche, and towards bold and audacious."

Here's a management game best described as 'terraform and chill'
https://www.pcgamer.com/heres-a-management-game-best-described-as-terraform-and-chill/
You've got a big, barren world with lots of resources to make use of, and all the tech to change it into a lush cradle of life: So get to it. That's the concept of Plan B: Terraform, a management, automation, and simulation strategy game that has you in charge of setting up a terraformed Plan B for a humanity that's struggling to keep Earth habitable. Its big selling point? The planet is absolutely huge, composed of "more than a million hexagons" to build on, with simulated atmosphere, temperature, vegetation, rain, and water cycle.

Rebuild after Ragnarok in roguelike city-builder Roots of Yggdrasil
https://www.pcgamer.com/rebuild-after-ragnarok-in-roguelike-city-builder-roots-of-yggdrasil/
Traditionally if someone asks "Can you survive the end of the world?"—implying by The End of the World of course the metaphysical destruction of all things and a return to some kind of void-state—the answer is a resounding "No."
ManaVoid Entertainment, however, is releasing Roots of Yggdrasil, a roguelike city-builder about the Vikings that survive Ragnarok, the end of the world, and just... keep on keeping on. Actually, sorry, they try to find their scattered clans and rebuild the world.

Here's when Wild Hearts releases in your timezone and when you can start the EA Play First trial
https://www.pcgamer.com/wild-hearts-release-time/
Wild Hearts is EA & Koei Tecmo's take on Monster Hunter: smash giant mythological beasts with giant swords, then use their body parts to make even better swords to smash their friends with. Nature's beautiful, isn't it?
Wild Hearts releases today, February 13—but with a catch. Only EA Play subscribers get early access, while everyone else has to wait until February 13 for the full release. And that full release will vary by timezone and platform, too. It's a bit complicated, so here's what you need to know to jump into Wild Hearts as soon as possible.

Double Fine just dropped a 22-hour documentary series on the making of Psychonauts 2
https://www.pcgamer.com/double-fine-just-dropped-a-22-hour-documentary-series-on-the-making-of-psychonauts-2/
One of my favourite things in my Steam library resides in the client's dormant-if-not-dead 'Videos' section. There, arrayed in neat rows, lies my collection of Double Fine's Amnesia Fortnight 2014 documentaries, which cover a two-week game jam held at Double Fine's offices almost (oh my god) ten years ago. It was one of my first, fascinating insights into how games actually get made, and I'm ready for another. Lucky me, then, that Double Fine's just dropped a 32-episode series on the making of Psychonauts 2.
>> You have to be a really, really big fan to watch it in full.

EA on verge of $600 million deal to be the Premier League's 'lead partner'
https://www.pcgamer.com/ea-on-verge-of-dollar600-million-deal-to-be-the-premier-leagues-lead-partner/
Electronic Arts is about to seal a £488 million ($590 million) commercial deal with the English Premier League, the most-watched and commercially lucrative football league in the world. This may well be the most important commercial partnership EA has for its upcoming re-branding exercise with EA Sports FC, which is the new name for the series formerly known as FIFA.
>> That name change is going to be costly.

The Day Before devs say a calendar app stole their trademark, YouTube is delisting their videos, and no doubt the dog's eyeing up their homework
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-day-before-devs-say-a-calendar-app-stole-their-trademark-youtube-is-delisting-their-videos-and-no-doubt-the-dogs-eyeing-up-their-homework/
Fntastic, the studio behind The Day Before, has released yet another statement regarding the state of the game and its ongoing trademark dispute. In a short post on Twitter yesterday afternoon, Fntastic said that its trademark has apparently been snaffled by a calendar app, that its videos have been taken down from YouTube as a result of trademark issue, and that the current holder of the trademark has offered to discuss things with the studio. The studio followed up its tweet with a link to a delisted YouTube video which—per the https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CHvJkU5ILg">Wayback Machine—used to show a clip of someone playing The Day Before on PC.
>> This won't end well.



Please excuse my bad English.

Currently gaming on a PC with an i5-4670k@stock (for now), 16Gb RAM 1600 MHz and a GTX 1070

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Around the Network

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop “AD107” GPU Tested, Up To 65% Faster Than RTX 3060 Laptop

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-geforce-rtx-4060-laptop-ad107-gpu-tested-up-to-65-percent-faster-than-rtx-3060/

While the time spy score isn't very impressive, the uplifts in actual games looks to be quite impressive

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Laptop Pre-Orders Show Similar Prices As RTX 3070 Laptops

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-geforce-rtx-4060-laptop-pre-orders-show-similar-prices-as-rtx-3070-laptops/

"GeForce RTX 4060 laptop pre-orders will start between the 7999-8999 RMB range which is $1200 - $1300 US. But these prices aren't for the best options but rather the base tier models. The higher-end models featuring the same GPU will start at pre-order prices of around 8999-9999 RMB or up to $1500 US"

NVIDIA AD104-250 GPU For Upcoming GeForce RTX 4070 Graphics Card Pictured

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-ad104-250-gpu-for-upcoming-geforce-rtx-4070-graphics-card-pictured/

SSD & Memory Manufacturers To Lower Production & Focus On Price Increases As Demand Slumps

https://wccftech.com/ssd-memory-manufacturers-to-lower-production-focus-on-price-increases-as-demand-slumps/

Get the ssds while they are still cheap

Raptor Lake-HX knocks Apple M2 crowd off PassMark single-thread perch with only Ryzen 9 7945HX threat remaining

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Raptor-Lake-HX-knocks-Apple-M2-crowd-off-PassMark-single-thread-perch-with-only-Ryzen-9-7945HX-threat-remaining.693024.0.html

"Raptor Lake-HX TDP Up: 157 W; Dragon Range TDP Up: 75 W; M2: CPU part limited to 25 W"

It's a victory to be sure but perhaps one that won't matter to the Macbook crowd who really care about battery life



                  

PC Specs: CPU: 7800X3D || GPU: Strix 4090 || RAM: 32GB DDR5 6000 || Main SSD: WD 2TB SN850

Yuzu progress report has some interesting notes which could be important if you want to play switch games on PC as the shader compilation stutter is essentially non existent ever since their async update so it's a really good way to play switch games.

https://yuzu-emu.org/entry/yuzu-progress-report-jan-2023/

"NVIDIA, forgetting about their old cards.

We previously mentioned that the 527.XX release of drivers solved issues we previously had with Pascal and newer cards. While this was true for most issues, Pascal is still hitting some of the old problems, like crashes with ASTC texture decoding enabled. We recommend Pascal users to either disable ASTC texture decoding, or revert back to 512.95 drivers. We hope NVIDIA backports the fixes Turing and newer cards got to the old guard too.

AMD, custom drivers are not good

The recently released RX 7000 series, or RDNA3, are not particularly compatible with emulators right now, with yuzu not being an exception. Broken rendering and crashes were reported by early adopters.

Sadly, we can’t focus on these products while they run a custom driver branch. Until AMD merges the RDNA3 driver with the regular Polaris to RDNA2 one we’re all used to, it’s impossible to focus efforts on trying to solve any particular issues of this new release. Sorry early adopters, you will have to wait.

Having access to hardware that doesn’t cost NVIDIA-stupid levels would also help. AMD, please don’t take a year to release the mid and low end.

Now, regarding unofficial custom drivers, we received reports that Amermine Zone drivers break rendering in many games. Regular drivers are perfectly fine, so just stick to official AMD releases."

They also have an essay regarding Intel GPU but we all know those drivers are far from perfect even in pc games. It is interesting that RDNA 3 is on a custom driver branch but it does make sense. Perhaps that is why the older Radeon products have such delayed updates. Hopefully and assuming it's possible, they will unify them. It's also lame that Nvidia isn't taking care of Pascal cards the way they are taking care of RTX cards but I suppose emulation isn't Nvidia's top priority. There's also a lot of other interesting tid bits if you wanted to take a look.



                  

PC Specs: CPU: 7800X3D || GPU: Strix 4090 || RAM: 32GB DDR5 6000 || Main SSD: WD 2TB SN850

I have no words that can explain as to how good this video was lmao



                  

PC Specs: CPU: 7800X3D || GPU: Strix 4090 || RAM: 32GB DDR5 6000 || Main SSD: WD 2TB SN850

Captain_Yuri said:

Raptor Lake-HX knocks Apple M2 crowd off PassMark single-thread perch with only Ryzen 9 7945HX threat remaining

https://www.notebookcheck.net/Raptor-Lake-HX-knocks-Apple-M2-crowd-off-PassMark-single-thread-perch-with-only-Ryzen-9-7945HX-threat-remaining.693024.0.html

"Raptor Lake-HX TDP Up: 157 W; Dragon Range TDP Up: 75 W; M2: CPU part limited to 25 W"

It's a victory to be sure but perhaps one that won't matter to the Macbook crowd who really care about battery life

157W in a mobile chassis???

Think we can count the battery life on this in "seconds left after Windows fully booted up"



Captain_Yuri said:

I have no words that can explain as to how good this video was lmao

I love this so much, this whole guilt by association thing has become beyond ridiculous (and some time ago at that).