What do you mean? It's not even out yet?

Let's go with the Friday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

The Humble Store doesn't have new deals, but it will in a couple hours, in case you want to check them out during the weekend.

Fanatical's new Star Deal is Dying Light 2 Stay Human, 60% off during 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/dying-light-2-stay-human.
And be warned that next Monday will start Fanatical's Easter Eggstravaganza Sale.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Half-Life: Alyx NoVR Mod Update #4 is available for download
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/half-life-alyx-novr-mod-update-4-is-available-for-download/
The “GB_2 Development Team” has released a brand new version of the No VR Mod for Half-Life: Alyx. Moreover, the team released a brand new gameplay video that showcases the mod in action, and we highly recommend watching it.
According to the team, Version 4 allows you to fully play the first six chapters without having to use noclip. If you choose to continue from there, there is quick access to noclip with one button to continue on.
Furthermore, the team will be adding some new cool features in future versions. For instance, you can expect Combine Fabricators (for weapon upgrades) and a Secondary weapon fire. Moreover, we’ll get No Gravity Gloves (for manual pick up/drop/throw) and HLA HUD.
All in all, HL: Alyx’s NoVR Mod looks better than ever. What’s also cool here is that the mod is compatible with Steam Deck. Oh yes, you can run now Half-Life: Alyx on a Steam Deck.
>> The gameplay video is almost 45 minutes long.

Slightly Hotter Wizard makes Stardew Valley's wizard hotter, slightly
https://www.pcgamer.com/slightly-hotter-wizard-makes-stardew-valleys-wizard-hotter-slightly/
With Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone hard at work on spooky chocolates rather than new farm stuff, the job of expanding Stardew Valley now falls to the ineffable mod community. And this time, they have made the wizard hotter.
Slightly.
Slightly Hotter Wizard dropped on Nexus Mods earlier this week, and it does exactly what it says on the box: it makes the wizard slightly hotter. With customizable facial hair and color palettes, if you've ever been trudging up to the wizard's tower with some pizza or a basket of cherries to work on your relationship with him and wondered, "man, why isn't this guy just like 3% hotter?' then this mod has you covered.

GAMING NEWS

The Last of Us Part I March 30th Update released, full patch notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/the-last-of-us-part-i-march-30th-patch-released-full-patch-notes/
Naughty Dog has just released the second hotfix patch for the PC version of The Last of Us Part I. According to the release notes, the March 30th Update addresses some bugs and packs fixes that improve memory, performance, and more.
>> And for your interest, it appears that the game can use up to 16 cores.

Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty Update 1.05 released, adding new features & fixing numerous bugs
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/wo-long-fallen-dynasty-update-1-05-released-adding-new-features-fixing-numerous-bugs/
Team Ninja has released Update 1.05 for the PC version of Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty. According to the release notes, this latest patch adds some new features, and fixes numerous bugs.

Friday news, the long part two:

This Japanese grand strategy titan celebrates its 40-year anniversary with a western release in July
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-japanese-grand-strategy-titan-celebrates-its-40-year-anniversary-with-a-western-release-in-july/
Nobunaga's back, baby, and he's as ambitious as ever. Koei Tecmo has announced Nobunaga's Ambition: Awakening, the "culmination of the series' 40-year history," set for release on July 20 this year. And yes, it really has been around for 40 years. God help us.

The Foxhole devs are making a medieval warfare MMO that supports 1000s of players at once
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-foxhole-devs-are-making-a-medieval-warfare-mmo-that-supports-1000s-of-players-at-once/
Foxhole developer Siege Camp has unveiled a new project called Anvil Empires that promises to let players take part in massive medieval battles of up to 1,000 people at a time in an open-world sandbox "with no safe zones or other artificial barriers to combat."

CD Projekt CEO says Polaris 'is Witcher 4,' company quickly takes it back
https://www.pcgamer.com/cd-projekt-ceo-says-polaris-is-witcher-4-company-quickly-takes-it-back/
Back in March 2022, CD Projekt announced that a new Witcher game was in development, which we eventually came to know as Project Polaris. We immediately called it The Witcher 4—it's the one coming after The Witcher 3, so it just made sense—but CD Projekt made a point of saying it had not announced "a game called The Witcher 4."
(...)
But that was then and this is now, and now CD Projekt has—for the first time, as far as I know—referred to Polaris as The Witcher 4. The statement came during the company's year-end financial call, in response to a question about CD Projekt's move to Unreal Engine 5.

E3 2023 is cancelled
https://www.pcgamer.com/e3-2023-is-cancelled/
The planned big return of E3 in 2023 has been cancelled, as the ESA says it has been forced to pull the plug due to a lack of interest.
E3 used to be the videogame industry's premiere showcase event, but it was brought low in 2020 by the Covid-19 pandemic. That led major publishers to hold their own online events instead, and that actually worked out pretty well, leading to serious questions about E3's relevance in the streaming era.

Cyberpunk 2077 devs announce that they'll announce something about Phantom Liberty in June
https://www.pcgamer.com/cyberpunk-2077-devs-announce-that-theyll-announce-something-about-phantom-liberty-in-june/
(...)
We haven't heard much since a pretty sick trailer at the Game Awards last year, but the official Cyberpunk Twitter account revealed the "exciting news" today that we'll learn more about Phantom Liberty in June.
>> I hope they weren't planning to do it during E3.

The Australian government wants to slap games with loot boxes—like FIFA—with a mature rating
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-australian-government-wants-to-slap-games-with-loot-boxeslike-fifawith-a-mature-rating/
Australia may introduce harsher age ratings for games with loot boxes—including the likes of FIFA, and the NBA 2K games—if changes proposed by the federal government are passed. The Albanese government announced yesterday its terms for a modified National Classification Scheme, and among the changes include a minimum M rating for games with paid loot boxes, and a minimum R18+ rating for games containing "simulated gambling".

Dark and Darker studio fires back over DMCA takedown fiasco: 'We hope that Nexon will stop making baseless claims'
https://www.pcgamer.com/dark-and-darker-studio-fires-back-over-dmca-takedown-fiasco-we-hope-that-nexon-will-stop-making-baseless-claims/
Dark and Darker developer Ironmace has released a four-part response to its legal challenge from Maplestory publisher Nexon, including an overview statement, a written rebuttal and asset comparisons from Ironmace's character concept artist, a list of in-game assets and their origins, and the reportedly full, only partially-redacted git log (a sequential history of changes to the game's code) of Dark and Darker's development thus far.

Vampire Survivors beats out Elden Ring and God of War to score Best Game win at BAFTAs
https://www.pcgamer.com/vampire-survivors-beats-out-elden-ring-and-god-of-war-to-score-best-game-win-at-baftas/
Folks, I'm afraid we've gotta hand it to the BAFTA Game Awards. After a night in which prestigious, expensive Sony titan God of War: Ragnarok swept six awards and Elden Ring took home two, it felt like the Best Game trophy was a dead heat between the pair of them. But the judges went and surprised us, giving it to Vampire Survivors instead.

All Genshin Impact codes from the version 3.6 livestream
https://www.pcgamer.com/genshin-impact-codes-3-6-livestream/
Genshin Impact codes are a way you can get some free Primogems before each new version of the open-world RPG drops, providing you with a few extra wishes with which you can pull the new five-star characters. This time around we've got two Dendro-users: Kaveh and Baizhu.

Players collectively spent over 7000 years in Diablo 4 in its two beta weekends
https://www.pcgamer.com/players-collectively-spent-over-7000-years-in-diablo-4-in-its-two-beta-weekends/
Diablo 4 concluded its second and final beta period last weekend, and the numbers are in. The two beta weekends—which ran from March 17 to March 20 and March 24 to March 27—made up the largest beta in Diablo history, with over 2.6 million players hitting level 20 and earning themselves a coveted wolf puppy backpack.

Vampire Survivors is getting a new DLC incredibly soon, and it's definitely not basically Fire Emblem
https://www.pcgamer.com/vampire-survivors-is-getting-a-new-dlc-incredibly-soon-and-its-definitely-not-basically-fire-emblem/
Our best roguelike of 2022 and the BAFTA jury's game of the year is getting new DLC. Vampire Survivors has announced Tides of the Foscari, a "never heard before tale of a warrior, a mage, and a thief venturing into a forest," due out on April 13, a mere two weeks from now.

Bubsy the Bobcat creator & Bend studio co-founder Mike Berlyn dies at 73
https://www.pcgamer.com/bubsy-the-bobcat-creator-and-bend-studio-co-founder-mike-berlyn-dies-at-73/
Mike Berlyn, the designer, programmer and writer best-known for the creation of Bubsy the Bobcat, has died at the age of 73. Berlyn had a long career in the games industry, starting with 1981's Oo-Topos, before going on to work at storied studios including Infocom and Accolade, as well as co-founding Blank, Berlin & Co (also known as Eidetic, and which would become Bend Studio). Berlyn's other pursuits included writing novels, founding a book publisher, and starting a jazz band called Hot Mustard.

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

+GOG

• There's a new GIVEAWAY: Deep Sky Derelicts will be free during the next 70 hours: https://www.gog.com/en/game/deep_sky_derelicts
• And there are eleven new Deals of the Day, available until Monday::
  • Steel Division 2 - Blood Feud in Transylvania, a DLC, will be 10% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/steel_division_2_blood_feud_in_transylvania
  • Noelle Does Her Best! gets a 20% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/noelle_does_her_best
  • Wavetale gets a 25% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/wavetale
  • UNSIGHTED is 40% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/unsighted
  • Inferno - Beyond the 7th Circle gets a 60% deal: https://www.gog.com/en/game/inferno_beyond_the_7th_circle
  • Hero of the Kingdom: The Lost Tales 2 also gets a 60% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/hero_of_the_kingdom_the_lost_tales_2
  • Alwa's Legacy is 72% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/alwas_legacy
  • Attentat 1942 gets a 75% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/attentat_1942
  • Hogs of War is also 75% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/hogs_of_war
  • THIEF: Definitive Edition sports an 85% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/thief_definitive_edition
  • And the last one is Phantom Doctrine, 90% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/phantom_doctrine

+Steam

• The first deal is Across the Obelisk, free to try during the weekend and 30% off until April 6: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1385380/Across_the_Obelisk/
• JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: All-Star Battle R, that has a demo, will also be 30% off until April 6: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1372110/JoJos_Bizarre_Adventure_AllStar_Battle_R/
• Builder Simulator gets a 40% discount until next Thursday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1120320/Builder_Simulator/
• Oxygen Not Included will be 66% off until Thursday, April 6th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/457140/Oxygen_Not_Included/
• Midnight Ghost Hunt, still in Early Access, will be free to try during the weekend and 66% off until the 6th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/915810/Midnight_Ghost_Hunt/
• Golf With Your Friends will also be free to try during the weekend and 67% off until Thursday, 6th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/431240/Golf_With_Your_Friends/
• And the London Games Festival brings demos and up to 80% discounts until April 9th. Be careful, tho, some deals will end sooner than that: https://store.steampowered.com/developer/FireshineGames/sale/londongamesfest2023

And that's it. Until next time, I wish you a happy and gaming weekend.

Budget PC Builders Rejoice! AMD’s A620 Motherboards Are Here For Affordable AM5 Systems

https://wccftech.com/budget-pc-builders-rejoice-amd-a620-motherboards-are-here-for-affordable-am5-systems/

Fake & Shady GeForce Graphics Cards Doing The Round In Retail, NVIDIA Begins Crackdown

https://wccftech.com/fake-shady-geforce-graphics-cards-doing-the-round-in-retail-nvidia-begins-crackdown/

Gigabyte Refutes Statement That Next-Gen AMD Ryzen CPUs Are Launching This Year, Says It Was A Mistake

https://wccftech.com/gigabyte-refutes-statement-that-next-gen-amd-ryzen-cpus-are-launching-this-year-says-it-was-a-mistake/

G.Skill announces 2x24GB DDR5-8200 memory kit

https://videocardz.com/press-release/g-skill-announces-2x24gb-ddr5-8200-memory-kit

Some of those A620 cards may pose a serious thread to low end B650 motherboards because they also lack any PCIe 5.0 capabilities, and so, the only difference that most will see is that the B650 boards have more USB ports.

Sure, you won't be able to overclock with the new A620 motherboards and the USBs are also slower (even if many won't notice a difference between one and another) but, at the end of the day, I can see consumers either going low end with these new boards, or spending a bit more to get at least some form of Gen 5.0 capabilities, thus putting those low end B650 boards in no man's land.

But I may be wrong. We'll see.

I have to say that Asus and BeQuiet have put a lot of effort into their April Fool's announcements:

https://videocardz.com/newz/best-2023-april-fools-tech-jokes-consoles-gpus-rgb-cat-beds-fanless-fans-and-mouses-with-razors

I think the Murder of Sonic from Sega is pretty creative and it's free:

https://store.steampowered.com/app/2324650/The_Murder_of_Sonic_the_Hedgehog/

Yeah, it's a nice touch from Sega to its fans.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 specs and $599 pricing confirmed, 186W average gaming power

https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidia-geforce-rtx-4070-specs-and-599-pricing-confirmed-186w-average-gaming-power

Certainly checks a lot of the right boxes

AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D is 7% faster in gaming on average than Core i9-13900K according to new AMD data

https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-ryzen-7-7800x3d-is-7-faster-in-gaming-on-average-than-core-i9-13900k-according-to-new-amd-data

AMD Radeon RX 7600M XT GPU matches GeForce RTX 4060 in 3DMark TimeSpy

https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-radeon-rx-7600m-xt-gpu-matches-geforce-rtx-4060-in-3dmark-timespy

I do wonder where the rest of Radeons lineup is. Nvidia already has 4090/4080/4070 laptop GPUs out yet Radeon has only announced 7600XT