The Thursday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

You've got one week to nab 69 games for $30, and for a good cause too
https://www.pcgamer.com/youve-got-one-week-to-nab-69-games-for-dollar30-and-for-a-good-cause-too/
Humble Bundle has put together a sprawling package of games and comics to help out relief efforts in Türkiye and Syria after last month's devastating earthquake, and it's a doozy. The Türkiye-Syria earthquake relief bundle features 69 games, including the likes of Ghostrunner, Pathfinder: Kingmaker, Payday 2, XCOM 2, Euro Truck Sim 2, and, well, 64 others. You'll also get a couple of Starfinder TTRPG books and ten volumes of Saga, a beloved graphic novel series. All of the games are redeemable via Steam.
The bundle runs until March 8 at 2 pm ET / 11 am PT / 7 pm GMT. Getting them all costs $30/£24.92 (or more, if you want), with 100% of the proceeds going to three charities doing relief work in Türkiye and Syria: Direct Relief, International Medical Corps, and Save the Children. Nearly 23,000 bundles have been sold at time of writing, raising $736,959/£611,014 for relief work in affected communities.
>> While less exciting, at the Humble Store you'll find a PLAION Sale, with up to 70% discounts during 4 days. The keys of the four games are for Steam: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/plaion-sale/

The Epic Store gives away Rise of Industry: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/rise-of-industry.
Next week, they'll give away Call of the Sea.

GOG has added two more games to its Deals of the Day and has a new sale:

• The first DotD is Red Faction, 83% off during 22 hours: https://www.gog.com/en/game/red_faction
• The other new DotD is Red Faction 2, also 83% off during 22 hours: https://www.gog.com/en/game/red_faction_2
• And the new PLAION & Friends Sale features up to 85% discounts during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/2023_plaion_friends_sale

Steam has a new deal: The Medium will be 50% off until March 8: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1293160/The_Medium/.

Fanatical has a new Star Deal and bundle:

• The new Star Deal is Warhammer: Chaosbane - Slayer Edition, 90% off during 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/warhammer-chaosbane-slayer-edition
• The new Platinum Collection BYOB for March is now live, featuring 18 titles to choose for your 3, 5 or 7 games bundle: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/platinum-collection-build-your-own-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

First-Person Mod released for Dead Space Classic (2008)
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/first-person-mod-released-for-dead-space-classic-2008/
ReverseEngineeringGamer has released a pretty cool first-person mod for the original/classic 2008 version of Dead Space. In order to provide this first-person perspective, ReverseEngineeringGamer used CheatEngine, and then fine-tuned it.
As the modder claimed:
“The fine tuning of this mod is what took several months. I have to locate functions, compare variables, stabilize pointers, write bug free scripts, play-test, etc.
Although initially started out of curiosity as to see what else I can do other than create a free cam and player fly mod for Dead Space (2008), this quickly grew into a first-person mod project.”
>> There's an over 10 minutes long video of the mod in action.

GAMING NEWS

NVIDIA’s latest drivers hint at Counter-Strike 2 or Counter-Strike Source 2
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/nvidias-latest-drivers-hint-at-counter-strike-2-or-counter-strike-source-2/
It appears that NVIDIA’s latest drivers may have leaked a new Counter-Strike game. According to new profiles, there is a new Counter-Strike game in development, called Counter-Strike 2.

BLUE PROTOCOL PC Benchmark is available for download
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/blue-protocol-pc-benchmark-is-available-for-download/
Amazon Games and Bandai Namco have released a PC benchmark for their upcoming online action RPG, BLUE PROTOCOL. This benchmark will give you an idea of how the game will run on your PC, and a first look at its graphics and visual style.

Tchia Official PC System Requirements
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/tchia-official-pc-system-requirements/
Awaceb has revealed the official PC system requirements for its Unreal Engine 4-powered open-world adventure game, Tchia. Moreover, Kepler Interactive revealed that the game will release on March 21st, exclusively via Epic Games Store.

Fantasy Action RPG, Atlas Fallen, will release on May 16th, gets new screenshots
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/fantasy-action-rpg-atlas-fallen-will-release-on-may-16th-gets-new-screenshots/
Focus Entertainment has announced that the fantasy action RPG from Deck13, Atlas Fallen, will release on May 16th. In addition, the publisher has shared a new set of screenshots that you can find below.

Dead Island 2 gets an extended gameplay trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/dead-island-2-gets-an-extended-gameplay-trailer/
Dambuster Studios and Deep Silver have just shared an extended gameplay trailer for Dead Island 2. Today’s extended gameplay video kicks off the action at the very beginning of Dead Island 2 in Bel Air, Los Angeles.

Thursday news, part two:

Activision fired two testers for 'profane' language, now a major tech union is filing charges
https://www.pcgamer.com/activision-fired-two-testers-for-profane-language-now-a-major-tech-union-is-filing-charges/
The Communications Workers of America (CWA), the labour union behind several recent organising efforts at Activision Blizzard development studios, is filing charges directly against Activision CEO Bobby Kotick. Spotted by Kotaku, the CWA alleges that the company violated the law when it fired two QA testers last February.
Update: Since this piece was published, Activision has provided PCG with two extra statements. A company spokesperson clarified further that Activision feels it is "focused on building a culture of inclusiveness. We have a workplace Code of Conduct policy that has been consistently shared with employees, and when that policy is clearly violated, we take appropriate disciplinary action".

Tekken 8 continues to go incredibly hard with new Jin Kazama trailer
https://www.pcgamer.com/tekken-8-continues-to-go-incredibly-hard-with-new-jin-kazama-trailer/
February really was the month of extreme Tekken 8 hype. First, we had the Tekken World Tour Finals giving us a better look at the Heat system and revealing that Nina Williams would be returning to the roster. Last week saw Kazuya Mishima receive a character trailer, showing off flashy particle effects and muscles galore. This week it's the turn of his son, Jin Kazama, to receive a bombastic trailer and hints of a retooled moveset.

New Deep Rock Galactic spinoff is a Vampire Survivors-style auto-shooter (with mining)
https://www.pcgamer.com/new-deep-rock-galactic-spinoff-is-a-vampire-survivors-style-auto-shooter-with-mining/
The world of cooperative horde shooter Deep Rock Galactic is getting adapted to a new setting: A survivors-style auto-horde-shooter where a single dwarf takes on the buggy hordes all on their own. The trailer for Deep Rock Galactic: Survivor dropped today alongside a Steam page and a loose Early Access release date of "2023."

Kerbal Space Program 2's unfinished features may have been unearthed by dataminers
https://www.pcgamer.com/kerbal-space-program-2s-unfinished-features-may-have-been-unearthed-by-dataminers/
The rocky launch of Kerbal Space Program 2 into early access this past week has been met with a flurry of commentary, disagreement, and strife among the game's community. (...)
Some players blamed this on the decision to launch the game into early access, theorizing that it was a corporate decision by publisher Private Division after a change of studios and three years of delays. These flames were fanned for some, dampened for others, by the information that dataminers and modders started finding inside KSP2's code. One dataminer reported finding "most of a ... modding API, multiplayer synchronization code, colony management and supply route setup, research, aero heating" and more among the code.

Sons of the Forest hotfix stops you from accidentally eating severed arms
https://www.pcgamer.com/sons-of-the-forest-hotfix-stops-you-accidentally-eating-severed-arms/
(...)
Cannibalism is a feature in Sons of the Forest, but you should still be able to choose for yourself whether or not you want to indulge. Thing is, a little bug in yesterday's hotfix was turning some players into cannibals without their say-so.

Rainbow Six Siege player hacks drone that hacks drones to somehow kill player with their own claymore
https://www.pcgamer.com/rainbow-six-siege-player-hacks-drone-that-hacks-drones-to-somehow-kill-player-with-their-own-claymore/
There was a time when the most complicated device in Rainbow Six Siege was an iPad that detects heartbeats. I imagine all of the CS:GO players who bounced off of Siege after getting spotted through a wall in 2015 would run for the hills if they knew what was possible in 2023. Thanks to Siege's newest attacker, Brava, you can't even trust your own claymores not to kill you.

And the award for the saddest patch notes ever goes to Babylon's Fall
https://www.pcgamer.com/and-the-award-for-the-saddest-patch-notes-ever-goes-to-babylons-fall/
Babylon's Fall was not a good game by most accounts: we gave the co-op action RPG a 45% in our review, and the best it could muster on Steam was 482 "Mostly Negative" user reviews. Still, its final update is a heartbreaker.

First person shooters have been getting perspective wrong all along
https://www.pcgamer.com/first-person-shooters-have-been-getting-perspective-wrong-all-along/
Linear perspective is the overarching method of representing 3D objects on a 2D plane, just like how games show up on your gaming monitor. It encompasses the one, two, and three point perspectives you probably learned about in school, and has been the major leading perspectival schema in art since it's conception, way back in the fifteenth century.
Now, Robert Pepperell of the Cardiff Metropolitan University in Wales (via New Scientist) is making us question everything we understand about how perspective should be represented in video games.

'I was deranged'—Half-Life writer's regret at publishing Episode 3 story
https://www.pcgamer.com/i-was-derangedhalf-life-writers-regret-at-publishing-episode-3-story/
Back in 2017 Half-Life writer Marc Laidlaw published a real oddity: a wibbly-wobbly short story that was once intended as Half-Life: Episode 3. It's a weird old thing. Eli Vance is dead, Dr. Mossman tracks down the Borealis, Gordon and Alyx head off to Antarctica, and everything of course goes wrong. Laidlaw made some cursory attempts at disguise like gender-swapping characters and slightly altering their names, but it was clear this story was once intended as a resolution to a series famous for its lack of them.
Big mistake, apparently. "I was deranged," said Laidlaw in a new interview with RPS. "I was living on an island, totally cut off from my friends and creative community of the last couple decades, I was completely out of touch and had nobody to talk me out of it. [Publishing the story] just seemed like a fun thing to do… until I did it.”

Telltale delays the Wolf Among Us 2 till at least next year, because if it's half-baked 'we're going to get torn to shreds'
https://www.pcgamer.com/telltale-delays-the-wolf-among-us-2-till-at-least-next-year-because-if-its-half-baked-were-going-to-get-torn-to-shreds/
In news that possibly everyone saw coming, The Wolf Among Us 2 has been delayed beyond this year. In a post to Twitter yesterday evening, the newly-revived (minus most of its original staff) Telltale Games announced that it had "made the difficult decision to delay The Wolf Among Us 2 out of 2023". But given that it's been nearly a decade since the last episode of the first series released, I can probably stand to wait a little longer.

'There is no doubt that I knew the facts'—Sonic creator admits insider trading guilt on first day of trial
https://www.pcgamer.com/there-is-no-doubt-that-i-knew-the-factssonic-creator-admits-insider-trading-guilt-on-first-day-of-trial/
Yuji Naka had his first day in court today, but he might not need many more. The Sonic and Balan Wonderworld creator appears to have admitted guilt in the insider trading case brought against him last year, concerning ownership of shares worth $1 million and $20,000, respectively, in ATeam and Aiming Inc.(...)
As reported by NHK (via TimeExtension), Naka told the court that "There is no doubt that I knew the facts about the game before it was made public and bought the stock," which is about as straightforward an admission of guilt as it's possible to get. Given that Japan maintains a 99.9% conviction rate in all cases brought before its criminal courts, it's likely that playing ball is Naka's best bet here, and he's probably hoping to earn himself more lenient treatment by cooperating.

Looks like on one has found any interesting hardware news to share... Ok, I'll post these two I've found:

GamersNexus has tested the 7900X3D

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PA1LvwZYxCM

Kind of meh.

Global DRAM Revenue Fell by More Than 30% for 4Q22 as Suppliers Made Large Price Concessions to Drive Shipments, Says TrendForce
https://www.techpowerup.com/305391/global-dram-revenue-fell-by-more-than-30-for-4q22-as-suppliers-made-large-price-concessions-to-drive-shipments-says-trendforce

"According to TrendForce's research, global DRAM revenue fell by 32.5% QoQ to US$12, 281 million for 4Q22. The QoQ decline for 4Q22 is larger than the QoQ decline of 28.8% for 3Q22 and comes close to the QoQ decline of 36% for the final quarter of 2008, when the global economy was in the midst of a major financial crisis. The main cause of the steep revenue drop in 4Q22 was the plummeting overall ASP. DRAM suppliers experienced a rapid accumulation of inventory in 3Q22 due to a freeze in buyers' demand. Subsequently, suppliers were much more energetic in price negotiations for 4Q22 contracts as they were struggling for market share."

From the benchmarks I've seen, either the R9 7900X3D or the 7950X3D will be almost useless (depending on one's opinion). The difference in performance seems negligible, which leaves mostly pricing to consider. The CPU space is looking kind of like the GPU space right now.
And then there are the new 5.0 m.2 drives with their ridiculous coolers clamped on, I'm thinking gaming rigs will be too heavy to lift by next-gen! :P

Finding the best setup for my next rig is only becoming more difficult by the day.

I'd say that if you're interested in gaming, your best choice would be the 13600K over the 13900K or any of the current X3D processors. It's just as fast and massively cheaper. The 7800X3D could be a good alternative, but we won't know until it launches as AMD hasn't revealed its final clock speeds, and some games still prefer faster clocks over more cache. But well, that one also has the advantage of being on a platform that will get two (maybe three?) more CPU launches, so you could get an upgrade later on without breaking the bank (unless you want to).

As for the new 5.0 NVMe drives, I'd wait to get one until we get several reviews. From what I've seen, there are drives with reasonable coolers from several brands (TeamGroup, MSI, ADATA) that use the same Phison M26 controller as the ones with fans, but until they get tested and we see if they struggle with the heat, I'd take a cautious approach.

I think the 7950X3D makes sense for those who want productivity + gaming instead of only productivity. 7900X3D doesn't make any sense because they are priced so close but only 6 out of the 12 cores have access to Vcache. For a product so expensive and only $100 off from 7950X3D, it just doesn't make any sense to buy it. 7800X3D will be the CPU to get if all you want is gaming performance but want the longevity of AM5. Otherwise as JEMC said, a 13600k is all anyone really needs for this generation for an all rounder CPU with the only problem being it's on a dead platform.

Sounds like good advice, allround. I haven't even considered 5.0 drives, I think I'll get proper functioning 4.0 ones, they're still plenty fast (going for about 7000/7000), the diminshing returns alone are enough to turn me away from the double price and extra hassle with new controllers.

Still, it's a real pain selecting parts right now. I rounded up my optimal build parts last week, just to check totals, it's a bit stiff budget-wise. I can afford it easily enough, but it's still a debate whether it's worth it at these prices.

AFAIK the cached CCD should have about the same clockspeeds across all three processors, and it's just the cacheless CCD that's faster across the 79xx3D parts?

In the TechPowerUp review you can see the CCD1 alone has significantly higher clock speeds.

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/amd-ryzen-9-7950x3d/27.html

The Friday news!

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

I forgot to put it yesterday, but here are the:

Steam's Top 10

Check this link for the top 100.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Casting spells with my voice in Hogwarts Legacy is very silly, kinda cool
https://www.pcgamer.com/casting-spells-with-my-voice-in-hogwarts-legacy-is-very-silly-kinda-cool/
Today I learned that I'd probably be a terrible wizard in the Harry Potter world. As appealing as flying brooms and getting wasted on butterbeer sounds, I'd unfortunately fail step one: say the spell correctly. I've been trying out a new Hogwarts Legacy mod that lets you cast spells with your voice, and it's a real stickler for pronunciation.
Just like Hermoinie in that one part from Harry Potter that is stuck in my brain forever because it'd play over and over again on ABC Family, the VoiceSpells mod for Hogwarts Legacy is keen to remind me that "it's Leviosa, not Leviosaaaaaa". As I sat at my PC desperately yelling "Confringo" into a mic while goblins impaled me with axes, I felt for Ron.

GAMING NEWS

Like a Dragon: Ishin! Patch 1.03 released, fixes shader compilation stutters
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/like-a-dragon-ishin-patch-1-03-released-fixes-shader-compilation-stutters/
Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio has just released Patch 1.03 for Like a Dragon: Ishin!. This update is 1.9GB in size and fixes the game’s shader compilation stutters.

2012 Concept Trailer leaked for Doom 4’s canceled “Call of Duty” version
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/2012-concept-trailer-leak-doom-4-canceled-call-of-duty-version/
A new concept trailer from the canceled version of Doom 4 has surfaced online. This is a more action-packed trailer, showcasing some of the enemies that this “Call of Duty” Doom game would feature.

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is a complete mess on PC for K&M gamers
https://www.dsogaming.com/articles/wo-long-fallen-dynasty-is-a-mess-on-pc-for-km-gamers/
Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is a game I was really looking forward to. And, when KOEI Tecmo reached us so they could provide us with a review code, I was kind of hopeful. Surely the PC version would be in a better state than other KOEI Tecmo games, right? Well, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty is a mess on PC at launch for K&M gamers.

First gameplay trailer for The Thaumaturge, the new RPG from The Witcher Remake developers
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/first-gameplay-trailer-for-the-thaumaturge-the-new-rpg-from-the-witcher-remake-developers/
Fool’s Theory and 11 bit studios have just released the first gameplay trailer for their upcoming full-fledged RPG, The Thaumaturge.

The Friday news, part two:

The Future Games Show returns March 23, featuring over 50 games
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-future-games-show-returns-march-23-featuring-over-50-games/
The Future Games Show Spring Showcase returns this March with a game-stuffed lineup of some of year's most exciting titles, including Sega's upcoming Hyenas and The Expanse: A Telltale series. The show, which is being put together by our sister site GamesRadar+, will be broadcast on Thursday, March 23 at 3PM PDT / 6PM EDT / 10PM GMT, and hosted by... Cloud and Aerith?

Microsoft's charm offensive with COD deals has reportedly paid off with the EU
https://www.pcgamer.com/microsofts-charm-offensive-with-cod-deals-has-reportedly-paid-off-with-the-eu/
Microsoft's been on a tear recently, offering anyone and everyone 10-year Call of Duty contracts like it's going out of style. (...)
But it turns out that might be enough for the EU. Three sources tell Reuters that Microsoft's deal spree will probably be enough "to address EU antitrust concerns" surrounding the Activision acquisition, clearing the way for European regulators to greenlight the deal at some point in the future. Of course, it's still likely that Sony will do whatever it can between now and then to change that.

Skate's janky playtest videos are making unfinished games look cool
https://www.pcgamer.com/skates-janky-playtest-videos-are-making-unfinished-games-look-cool/
Skate has posted yet another video of insider highlights from its closed playtests, all of which makes me want to play the skateboarding game because of how hard I'm laughing at these skaters absolutely eating it. I cannot play it, however, because I have not been deemed worthy by EA to be an insider. That's a shame, because these insiders look like they're having a lot of fun.

Co-op fantasy tavern sim Innchanted is coming out this month
https://www.pcgamer.com/co-op-fantasy-tavern-sim-innchanted-is-coming-out-this-month/
Every fantasy inn seems to be run by a retired adventurer, and more than one tabletop RPG I've played involved the players deciding they wanted to spend their accumulated loot on buying a pub. Innchanted lets you live out that dream with up to four players in local or online co-op, or solo with an AI companion you can delegate tasks to.

No Vampire Survivors sequel for us unless its creator comes up with something 'radically new'
https://www.pcgamer.com/no-vampire-survivors-sequel-for-us-unless-its-creator-comes-up-with-something-radically-new/
Our favourite roguelike of 2022 isn't likely to get a sequel any time soon. In a chat with GameSpot, Vampire Survivors creator Luca Galante said that, unless he devised some way to "offer something radically new" with a potential Vampire Survivors 2, a sequel would remain "unlikely".

And here are the GOG and Steam deals for the weekend:

+GOG

• The first of the three new Deals of the Day is The Inheritance of Crimson Manor, 60% off during 70 hours: https://www.gog.com/en/game/the_inheritance_of_crimson_manor
• In case you didn't had enough with the last DotD's Red Faction deals, here you have Red Faction: Armageddon, 83% off until Monday: https://www.gog.com/en/game/red_faction_armageddon
• The third, and last, DotD is the Red Faction Guerrilla Re-Mars-tered, with an 83% discount until March 6th: https://www.gog.com/en/game/red_faction_guerrilla_remarstered
• And the new Weekend Sale features up to 90% discounts during the next 3 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20220303_weekend_sale

+Steam

• The first Weekend Deal is F1 Manager 2022, free to try during the weekend and 70% off until Monday, if you want to keep playing it, of course: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1708520/F1_Manager_2022/
• Warhammer 40,000: Darktide gets a 20% discount until March 9: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1361210/Warhammer_40000_Darktide/
• Shredders will be 25% off until next Thursday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1874170/Shredders/
• Tavern Master gets a 50% discount until Thursday, 9th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1525700/Tavern_Master/
• The Ubisoft Publisher Sale brings up to 80% discounts until the 9th of March: https://store.steampowered.com/publisher/ubisoft/sale/UbisoftPubSale
• The PLAION (formerly Koch Media) Publisher Sale also comes to Steam with up to 89% deals until Thursday: https://store.steampowered.com/publisher/deepsilver/sale/plaionpublishersale
• I'm not sure when it started, it likely has something to do with its 7th anniversary, but Black Desert is free to keep if you claim it before the 9th of March: https://store.steampowered.com/app/582660/Black_Desert/
• And the last one is Deep Rock Galactic, 67% off until March 16th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/548430/Deep_Rock_Galactic/

And that's enough of news. Until the next time, I wish you a happy and gaming weekend.