Since VGC has a news post on SE "releasing" Strangers of paradise on Steam early next month, I thought I'd check the website link to the game's website.

Clicked on "buy digitally", met with just the now pointless "PC" icon (pointless because ever since Epic showed up they made it redundant to use due to exclusivity bs), clicked on that and it only showed EGS.



But if you go to the top of the page, you get this:


Says it's going to hit Steam on April 6th. I've seen quite a number of games over the years host their game pages on Steam months ina dvance, mostly for wishlisting or pre-ordering, yet SE has a link to Steam that only takes you to the storefront's main page, not the game itself...

So basically, you can't pre-order or wishlist it on Steam, because the page apparently does not exist, yet they provide you with a link that is half arsed, and then you have the "order game" down below which only lists EGS.

Like, SE, my man, if you really didn't care this much, why even fucking bother putting the Steam icon up and slapping in the link in the first place?.

Fr, no excuse, I've seen indie devs that have even left their store pages up, even when they went to EGS exclusively for 1 yr, yet SE can't even do that. Pure lazy shit.

It's not like I was ever going to buy the game, I'm done with SE, I just wanted to take a look into just how lazy they are being in regards to platforms that aren't Sony. Also the "permanent" discount is expected, not a thoughtful "we love you" token of appreciation, they actually have to discount or face more mockery/shit from those they ignored for a year (only insane smug stuck up people think it's worth delaying other customers and keeping the prices high).

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (Ti) Founders Edition has been pictured as well

https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidia-geforce-rtx-4060-ti-founders-edition-has-been-pictured-as-well

"As a reminder, the RTX 4060 Ti is alleged to feature an AD106-350 GPU with 4352 CUDA cores. It is to feature 8GB of GDDR6 memory and only a 128-bit memory bus. Furthermore, the TDP will be reduced on this model to 160W, from 200W on the upcoming RTX 4070.

Meanwhile, the RTX 4060 is to use entry-level AD107-400 GPU instead. This would be the full implementation with 3072 CUDA cores. No changes to the memory config are expected, but the TDP should drop even lower to just 115W. Both models are to feature PCIe Gen4 x8 interface."

Looks like Jensen is learning from Radeon on how to save pennies on their lower end cards. Ampere 3060 had PCI-E x16 while 6600XT had PCI-E x8. Now Lovelace 4060 Ti has that x8 nonsense. It also has 8GB of vram with 128 bit bus which is yuck even if it does have comparatively more L2 cache than 3060 Ti to help. The pricing will be key of course.

At this point, it would be very easy for AMD to win a ton of marketshare by simply launching their new cards with a ∼20% performance increase gen over gen at the same price points those cards were.

As imagine a 7800XT that's ∼20% faster than the 6800XT, making it faster than a 3080 in everything but ray tracing, for $649. That would make it $100 cheaper than the 4070, if the rumor is true, while giving roughly the same performance (if not more) in all but RT escenarios.

Oh, well, we can dream.

That sucks, but I'm sure you were quite happy when you got £40 a piece back then.

We've had so many articles comparing the scaling of the 4090 on different PCIe situations, all coming to the conclusion that x16 PCIe 4.0 lanes are more than enough for it, that I don't think a card that's 1/3 of its power will be bottlenecked by those x8 lanes.

It sucks, of course, but I don't think it will matter much unless you put it into an old system with PCIe 3.0.

As a side note, you're on holidays with the family! Don't post hardware news!

By the way, and as expected:

I will take a look at the sale later I think I will pick up a few things to play through the year is prices are right.

Redfall Bite Back Edition with GeForce RTX 40 Series | NVIDIA

Oh Nvidia are bundling the £83.99 Redfall Ultimate Edition with 40 series GPU purchases.

It's nice that they're going with the expensive SKU instead of the base one. Great upgrade opportunity for those that want a 40 series and the game.

AMD is also giving away The Last of Us with their cards, but I doubt it's nothing more than the base game.

But hey, it's good to see them both doing game bundles again.

It's never really ok, but in Nvidia's case, when you need a giant leap in tech and haven't really been able to make that happen, or have stronger competition now, how else are you going to keep your shareholders happy?

Lot's of tricksters these days. Way too much? How about a little less or a free something relatively cheap? Like this game? Keep paying if you want to keep playing (without getting pwned). Hooked by the story so far? Just wait until you see what it's really about, if you even notice.

It's surprising how many people don't see this (besides kids), or those who do and just go along with it. Then there's those who wear rose colored glasses and think it's all just mistake after mistake, bad and poor decisions, or coincidence. How many wrong's before they become a right?

I guess just be thankful you're not one of those getting screwed, or screwed less royally hopefully. People. Can't live with them. Can't play multiplayer without them.

And this is why over the past decade, that I've started to see Shareholders as becoming a vastly growing problem to this industry, because we have stopped being people who buy and make a company what they are, to cattle that gets farmed, and tricked into doing what they want, while Shareholders are now the main customers, the ones who don't even play the games.

I honestly find shareholding problematic, because at it's deepest core, it's basically you playing another more intricate form of the lottery, only instead of buying a few tickets, you're buying shares in a company, in the hopes you'll win big payouts, and well, that's rng, and rng isn't exactly a reliable thing to base your entire life on, if you really want to get somewhere (you know, like companies that stop taking risks, and instead rely on random dart throws at a board to see what sticks, instead of being steadfast and doing something new and sticking to it).

Ultimately, we're being used, and the shareholders aren't fully getting psyched like we are, and that's what I find twisted, because although we're not buying shares in the hundreds or thousands, we're still paying over the long-term with these newly added boxes, MT's, increase in prices and such, and it all goes back to shareholders wanting to be appeased over us, which is just pure selfish greed.

I know the function that shareholders provide, but really, we've not had shareholders like the modern era in the old ages, which proves we did survive and thrive without them before, it's just that now they are stupidly and heavily relied upon more than the customer, and I feel like that's where we've messed up.

I just wish we could go back to the days when we were the real and true customer, and not taken for granted and psyched/mocked into buying what is sold to us. 

Time for the Friday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

The Humble Store has four new sales:

• Bethesda puts its games on sale with up to 85% discounts during 5 days. The keys are for Steam: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/bethesda-publisher-sale/
• The SEGA Publisher Sale features up to 80% discounts during 6 days. The keys are for Steam: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/sega-publisher-sale/
• Konami puts its games up to 90% off during 6 days. Once again, all the keys are for Steam: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/konami-publisher-sale/
• And Playstation puts its PC games up to 75% off during 13 days. Yet again, all the keys are for Steam: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/playstation-studios-publisher-sale/

Fanatical has two new 24 hours flash deals:

• The first one is UNCHARTED™: Legacy of Thieves Collection, 42% off: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/uncharted-legacy-of-thieves-collection
• The second one is DEATH STRANDING DIRECTOR'S CUT with a 53% discount: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/death-stranding-director-s-cut

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

INTEL Arc & Iris Graphics 31.0.101.4148
https://videocardz.com/driver/intel-arc-iris-graphics-31-0-101-4148

Highlights

• Intel® Game On Driver support on Intel® Arc™ A-series Graphics for:
  • Deceive Inc.
  • Diablo 4 (Beta)
• Game performance optimizations on Intel® Arc™ A-series Graphics for:
  • Sons of The Forest

Fixed Issues

• Intel® Arc™ Graphics Products:
  • The Riftbreaker (DX12) may exhibit black line corruption with the Xbox Game Pass version.
  • Resident Evil 4 Remake Chainsaw Demo (DX12) may experience lower than expected performance during gameplay.
• Intel® Core™ Processor Products:
  • Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection (DX12) may exhibit texture or striped corruption during gameplay.
  • Warhammer 40,000: Darktide (DX12) may exhibit texture or striped corruption during gameplay.
  • Dirt 5 (DX12) may exhibit texture corruption in the skybox.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Half-Life 2: VR Mod – Episode One releases tomorrow, Episode Two in April 2023
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/half-life-2-vr-mod-episode-one-releases-tomorrow-episode-two-in-april-2023/
The SourceVR Mod Team has announced that the VR Mod for Half-Life 2: Episode One will release tomorrow, March 17th. Moreover, the team revealed that the VR Mod for Episode Two will release in April 2023.
Half-Life 2: VR Mod – Episodes One and Two are community-made adaptations of Valve’s episodic continuation of Half-Life 2, transformed into a fully roomscale Virtual Reality experience.
>> There's a trailer of the mod.

This Resident Evil 4 Remake Demo Mod allows you to explore more hidden areas
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/this-resident-evil-4-remake-demo-mod-allows-you-to-explore-more-hidden-areas/
ScoovyHD released a pretty cool out-of-bounds mod for the Resident Evil 4 Remake PC Demo that allows you to explore more hidden areas. This mod is only for the demo version of RE4 as these areas will be available in the final version.
For those unaware, the Resident Evil 4 Remake Demo restricted players from exploring numerous areas of its village. These “other” areas are available after the Church incident, which is why they weren’t fully functional in the demo. By using this mod, though, you can lift that restriction and visit them.
>> There's an almost 8 minutes video of this mod. Be warned, tho, the player has put a maid costume to Leon.

GAMING NEWS

New gameplay trailer for Remnant 2 shows off the Handler Archetype class
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/new-gameplay-trailer-for-remnant-2-shows-off-the-handler-archetype-class/
Gearbox Publishing and Gunfire Games today released a trailer featuring the Handler Archetype class in their upcoming action-survival shooter, Remnant II.

Here are 36 minutes of new gameplay footage from Diablo 4
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/here-are-36-minutes-of-new-gameplay-footage-from-diablo-4/
It appears that a Chinese player has livestreamed Diablo 4, showcasing 36 minutes of brand new gameplay footage from it. The video packs a lot of action and I’m certain that some Diablo fans will find it interesting.
>> You won't find the video in the article, but there's a link to it... but the video has been removed. You may find it somewhere else.

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Patch 1.04 improves mouse controls, fixes bugs & crashes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/wo-long-fallen-dynasty-patch-1-04-improves-mouse-controls-fixes-bugs-crashes/
Team Ninja has released a new patch for the PC version of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. According to the release notes, Patch 1.04 further improves the game’s mouse controls, resolves some crashes, and fixes some bugs.

Forspoken Patch 1.11 released and fixes a major game crash issue
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/forspoken-patch-1-11-released-and-fixes-a-major-game-crash-issue/
Square Enix has released a new patch for Forspoken. According to the release notes, Update 1.11 fixes an issue where the game crashes in certain scenes or by certain actions.

Here are 11 minutes of gameplay footage from the Unreal Engine 5-powered Layers of Fear
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/here-are-11-minutes-of-gameplay-footage-from-the-unreal-engine-5-powered-layers-of-fear/
Bloober Team has released a new video, showcasing 11 minutes of gameplay footage from Layers of Fear. Layers of Fear will be using Unreal Engine 5 and while this gameplay footage does not represent the quality of the final game, it will give you an idea of its art style.