You keep yourself busy, Basil.

I play a variety of games for sure - dont want to get burnt out from playing the same 1-2 games.

It might be seem like I'm playing a lot but I'm fine with it.

Hey, it was nothing more than a simple comment. You can play as many games at the same time as you want.

Personally, I don't go above two different games at the same time to keep a balance, but there's nothing wrong doing it with more if you can.

Oh I know! Just trying to have a conversation....y'all talk about hardware and stuff but I prefer talking about the actual games or stuff like this lol. So just wanted to throw out a comment at least to be somewhat active on here.

Yeah it can be overwhelming at times because there would be periods where I wont have anything beaten in a month or so. But I'm just casually playing through and recording stuff as well.

Got it. Sometimes we get carried away when it comes to hardware stuff, land the same goes for the consoles. The difference is that we get to talk about it more of then than them.

And c'mon, there's nothing wrong if a month goes by and you don't beat a game. As long as it's because you're having fun playing it, doing side missions or just exploring the whole map, it's time well spend.

The Monday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

GOG brings three new Deals of the Day and a new Weekly Sale:

• The first DotD is Potion Permit, 20% off during 46 hours: https://www.gog.com/en/game/potion_permit
• The second one is Neon Abyss - Deluxe Edition Bundle, with a 66% discount until Wednesday: https://www.gog.com/en/game/neon_abyss_deluxe_edition_bundle
• The third, and last, one is Galactic Civilizations III: Ultimate Edition, 70% off until April 26: https://www.gog.com/en/game/galactic_civilizations_iii_ultimate_edition
• And the Weekly Sale features up to 85% discounts during the next 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20230424_weekly_sale

Steam has two new deals:

• Partisans 1941 will be 85% off until the 29th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1227530/Partisans_1941/
• Cloudpunk gets a 65% discount until the 6th of May: https://store.steampowered.com/app/746850/Cloudpunk/

We find 4 deals at Humble:

• Humble Bundle has the Fight 4 Your Friends: Co-Op Shooters Bundle, with up to 6 games to get during the next 11 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/fight-4-your-friends-coop-shooters https://www.humblebundle.com/games/fight-4-your-friends-coop-shooters
• The Humble Store has three new sales:
  • The Ubisoft Strategy Sale features up to 75% discounts during 4 days. There are keys for UPplay and 2 for Steam: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/ubisoft-strategy-sale/
  • The Earth Day Sale comes with up to 90% discounts during 4 days. There are keys for Steam, GOG, EGS and UPlay: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/earth-day-sale/
  • And for those that got the Humble Bundle, or already have one of the games in it, here's the Fight 4 Your Friends DLC Sale, with up to 75% deals in 9 DLCs. All the keys are for Steam: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/fight-4-your-friends-dlc-sale/

Fanatical has three new deals:

• The new Star Deal is A Plague Tale: Requiem, 37% off during 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/a-plague-tale-requiem
• Devolver Digital puts its games on sale with up to 80% discounts during 6 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/devolver-digital
• And Focus Entertainment has also put its games on sale, up to 89% off during 6 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/focus-entertainment

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Fallout 4 gets a 4GB 4K Texture Pack that overhauls all robots
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/fallout-4-gets-a-4gb-4k-texture-pack-that-overhauls-all-robots/
Modder ‘Blackwolf24’ has released a 4GB 4K Texture Pack for Fallout 4 that overhauls the textures for all robots. Contrary to other HD Texture Packs, this one brings brand new textures to the table. As such, all of the game’s robots are now more detailed than ever.
>> The article has 6 screenshots, each one from a different robot.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake gets an 8K Texture Pack for Cloud Strife
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/final-fantasy-7-remake-gets-an-8k-texture-pack-for-cloud-strife/
Last month, we informed you about an 8K Texture Pack for Final Fantasy 7 Remake that overhauled Tifa Lockhart. And today, we are happy to present you with a similar mod, this time for the game’s main protagonist, Cloud Strife.
Created by modder ‘SweetFluff3D’, this 8K Texture Pack will significantly improve the textures of Cloud. Now most of you won’t be able to notice these improvements while playing the game. However, during the game’s cinematics, you’ll be definitely able to spot these upgraded textures.
>> There are some screenshots and a 2 minutes video.

Red Dead Redemption 2 gets a 4K Texture Pack for its story/main characters
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/red-dead-redemption-2-gets-a-4k-texture-pack-for-its-story-main-characters/
Modder ‘Instanity’ has released a 4K Texture Pack for Red Dead Redemption 2. This pack is similar to the one released for Assassin’s Creed Unity and Black Flag. In other words, the mod attempts to improve the textures of all story/main characters.
But which characters are the main/story ones? Well, according to the modder, all the characters that appear in the game’s cut-scenes are considered story characters. So, this pack improves the faces, bodies, and hair/beards of these characters.
>> There are only some screenshots.

GAMING NEWS

The Last of Us Part I Patch 1.0.4 releases next week with framerate optimizations and graphical improvements
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/the-last-of-us-part-i-patch-1-0-4-releases-next-week-with-framerate-optimizations-and-graphical-improvements/
Naughty Dog has announced that it will release Patch 1.0.4 for the PC version of The Last of Us Part I next week. According to the team, this update will include framerate optimizations and graphical improvements.
>> It should launch this week.

Forza Horizon 5 April 25th Patch will address PC performance degradation issues
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/forza-horizon-5-april-25th-patch-will-address-pc-performance-degradation-issues/
Playground Games announced that a new update for Forza Horizon 5 will release on April 25th. According to the team, the April 25th Patch will address some performance degradation issues that affected the game’s PC version.

Resident Evil 4 Remake April 24th Update released and detailed, full patch notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/resident-evil-4-remake-april-24th-update-released-and-detailed-full-patch-notes/
Capcom has released the April 24th Update for all versions of Resident Evil 4 Remake. This patch brings some fixes to the PC version, and you can find its complete changelog below.

The Monday news, the long part two:

Alone in the Dark, Trine 5, and more to be shown off at THQ Nordic's summer showcase
https://www.pcgamer.com/alone-in-the-dark-trine-5-and-more-to-be-shown-off-at-thq-nordics-summer-showcase/
THQ Nordic's Digital Showcase will grace our screens again this summer, and promises to "not only include world premiere announcements but also updates and reveals for previously-announced games". It'll run on August 11 at 12 pm PDT / 3 pm EDT / 8 pm BST / 9 pm CEST / 10 pm EEST on the company's YouTube and Twitch pages, and also its Steam page, if you're really keen to watch it there for some reason.

Victoria 3's first gameplay DLC lets you invite Marx and Lenin to your place for tea and revolution
https://www.pcgamer.com/victoria-3s-first-gameplay-dlc-lets-you-invite-marx-and-lenin-to-your-place-for-tea-and-revolution/
Victoria 3 has announced its first piece of gameplay-focused DLC, and it sounds radical. The Voice of the People immersion pack releases on May 22 alongside Vicky 3's 1.3 update, and adds a whole roster of historical troublemakers and rabble-rousers to the game in the form of agitators, "a new kind of character that rally your pops to support Political Movements that align with their Ideology".

Garry's mod wrestles with the complexities of just outright banning Nazi stuff
https://www.pcgamer.com/garrys-mod-wrestles-with-the-complexities-of-just-outright-banning-nazi-stuff/
Eighty years later the shadow of World War 2 still looms large over our world, and remains an enduring obsession for some, but on one thing nearly all are agreed: The Nazis were complete pricks, and any contemporary hint of their ideology and symbolism must be met with the greatest possible pushback.

Dark and Darker lawyers fire back at Nexon: 'nothing more than anti-competitive bully tactics designed to put a small indie firm out of business'
https://www.pcgamer.com/dark-and-darker-lawyers-fire-back-at-nexon-nothing-more-than-anti-competitive-bully-tactics-designed-to-put-a-small-indie-firm-out-of-business/
Dark and Darker developer Ironmace may be the "punk hero of PC gaming" right now, but it's also making some power moves in the strait-laced chambers of the law. The studio has now fired back at Nexon with a full-throated defense of its game, saying that Nexon is just mad that some of its former employees have struck out on their own.

Over a million people have played the XDefiant beta
https://www.pcgamer.com/over-a-million-people-have-played-the-xdefiant-beta/
Ubisoft's upcoming 6v6 shooter XDefiant is doing pretty well for itself in closed beta. According to the publisher, it's attracted a million players so far. For a while, it was even beating Modern Warfare 2 on Twitch, although viewership has fallen off as the beta has gone on—it's got about 12K viewers as I write this.

The cute cozy cat game we've been watching for 6 years is finally coming out
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-cute-cozy-cat-game-weve-been-watching-for-6-years-is-finally-coming-out/
Mineko's Night Market, a game about earning a living, playing with cats, and hanging out with the Sun God, really impressed us when we first looked at it in July 2017. We remained impressed when we checked it out again in November of that same year—and for the record, that's not a typo, it was 2017. Now, six years down the road, it's finally got a release date: September 26, 2023.

Four more Ubisoft games are headed to Steam this summer
https://www.pcgamer.com/four-more-ubisoft-games-are-headed-to-steam-this-summer/
Ubisoft's return to Steam continued today, as store pages for four more games slated to arrive this summer—Far Cry 6, Rainbow Six Extraction, Riders Republic, and Monopoly Madness—are now live.

'We're running at a f**king wall, and we're gonna crash'—CD Projekt's lead quest designer on big budget RPGs
https://www.pcgamer.com/were-running-at-a-f-ing-wall-and-were-gonna-crashcd-projekts-lead-quest-designer-on-big-budget-rpgs/
Recent PC Gamer editorial "The cinematic BioWare-style RPG is dead, it just doesn't know it yet" caused quite "a commotion" between the lead designers at developer CD Projekt Red, Cyberpunk 2077 quest director Paweł Sasko said in a recent PC Gamer roundtable interview. "Everyone actually, after reading this article, said: we mostly agree, actually, with the thesis. At least when it comes to triple-A, we are just running at a fucking wall, I think, and we're gonna crash on that wall really soon."

Zero-gravity FPS Boundary is quietly one of April's coolest new releases
https://www.pcgamer.com/boundary-early-access-release/
Boundary is a game about astronauts—sorry, astroperators—who float around in space having gunfights with each other, and if space sounds like a challenging place for shooting guns at people, you'd be right. Space is really not the ideal location for anything humans do, nevermind tactical infantry battles, but it is quite a lot of fun.

Sony likes this studio's unannounced service game so much it bought it
https://www.pcgamer.com/sony-likes-this-studios-unannounced-service-game-so-much-it-bought-it/
Sony is so pleased with work done by external developer Firewalk Studios on an as-yet unannounced game that it has decided to acquire the development studio part and parcel with its in-progress game. We don't know much about Firewalk, which was founded in 2018, but we do know that it was working on some kind of live service game—you know, your eternal games, your Destinys and all that.
>> the-pi-guy made a thread about this days ago.

Josh Sawyer: 'The most compromised games I worked on were Pillars of Eternity 1 and 2'
https://www.pcgamer.com/josh-sawyer-the-most-compromised-games-i-worked-on-were-pillars-of-eternity-1-and-2/
At GDC this year, PC Gamer hosted a roundtable in which a group of veteran RPG designers came together to discuss topics ranging from whether the cinematic BioWare-style RPG is dead to the impact of Elden Ring's success. When the conversation came around to the subject of how much their games were based on what the RPG audience was looking for, versus their own personal taste, Obsidian's design director Josh Sawyer—whose design credits include Fallout: New Vegas, Pentiment, Alpha Protocol, and plenty more—went all the way back to the beginning of his career.

Immersive sim Consortium delisted to make way for a remaster, free to owners of the original
https://www.pcgamer.com/immersive-sim-consortium-delisted-to-make-way-for-a-remaster-free-to-owners-of-the-original/
In his deep dive on the history of the best immersive sims, Rick Lane called 2014's Consortium "a dynamic murder mystery that takes place inside a giant military plane" that was "rather rough around the edges". Some of those edges are about to be sanded smooth, with indie developer Interdimensional Games announcing via Steam blog post that it's developing Consortium Remastered.

Toasterball is kind of like pong but with toast instead of paddles
https://www.pcgamer.com/toasterball-is-kind-of-like-pong-but-with-toast-instead-of-paddles/
Have you ever asked yourself "What if The Brave Little Toaster was a sports movie? " No? Me neither, but here's Toasterball anyway, a hysterical-looking little party game about toasters competing in a professional tennis or pong-like sport by shooting toast in the air to deflect balls. It's a physics-based sportslike that's definitely laser-focused on the delight of local multiplayer—either in person or via Steam's Remote Play Together.

16-year-old LOTRO invites you to go loot the Witch-king's house for its anniversary
https://www.pcgamer.com/16-year-old-lotro-invites-you-to-go-loot-the-witch-kings-house-for-its-anniversary/
Lord of the Rings online is celebrating its 16th anniversary this year, releasing this past week update 35.1 (wow) and adding a cool new raid alongside a bunch of upgrades and gifts for players. While players long-ago plundered the Witch-king's citadel at Angmar and deposed the wraiths dwelling there, it turns out that like every other evil in Middle-Earth they probably should have just gone and chucked everything there in a volcano for good measure.

Diablo 4 will have a a 'pinnacle boss' intended to be your character's final challenge
https://www.pcgamer.com/diablo-4-will-have-a-a-pinnacle-boss-intended-to-be-your-characters-final-challenge/
The endgame of Diablo 4 sure does sound like it includes a bunch of MMO dailies in disguise, but not to worry: Blizzard has said the latest incarnation of its action RPG hasn't been designed to devour your entire actual life. After all, that's what World of Warcraft is for.

And yes, today there's also a part three of the news:

This retro-futuristic platformer about rescuing spacemen on an alien moon might be the perfect Steam Deck game
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-retro-futuristic-platformer-about-rescuing-spacemen-on-an-alien-moon-might-be-the-perfect-steam-deck-game/
The escort mission is one of the most reviled of videogame tropes, but solo-developed platformer Moons Of Darsalon boldly leans into it as its whole deal. Darsalon is a puzzle-platformer in the vein of Lemmings, tasking you with hunting down hapless "Darsonauts" in its sprawling levels, then shepherding them to safety.

Square Enix's free 'AI tech preview' has a Steam user rating of Very Negative and deserves it
https://www.pcgamer.com/square-enixs-free-ai-tech-preview-has-a-steam-user-rating-of-very-negative-and-deserves-it/
Square Enix's AI Division released an updated version of adventure game The Portopia Serial Murder Case as "an educational demonstration of Natural Language Processing (NLP), an AI technology," according to its announcement. The original 1983 game was a significant influence on visual novels and graphical adventures in Japan, as well as inspiring a generation of game designers. The 2023 version, which is available for free on Steam, doesn't seem likely to have the same effect. In fact, it currently has a user rating that's 92% negative.

Mike Laidlaw explains how the Dragon Age writers' room tackled companions
https://www.pcgamer.com/mike-laidlaw-explains-how-the-dragon-age-writers-room-tackled-companions/
Companions are a defining feature of BioWare's RPGs. The band of NPC followers who join your party in games like Baldur's Gate and Dragon Age weren't just a collection of yes-elves who quietly went along with every decision you made. They pushed back and disagreed, and would sometimes leave to go do their own thing. Each of those companions had a distinct personality and voice. That's why there's still no better argument-starter among BioWare's players than asking who the best and worst BioWare companions are. (Jacob defense squad, represent.)
And so, when a group of veteran RPG designers came together for a recent GDC roundtable hosted by PC Gamer, the question of how the writers managed their casts came up. Obsidian's Josh Sawyer took the opportunity to ask Mike Laidlaw, "At BioWare, was there a standard method for the development of the cast of companions and individual companions?"

The gloves come off as NetEase sues Blizzard for $44 million
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-gloves-come-off-as-netease-sues-blizzard-for-dollar44-million/
Blizzard's games were published in China by NetEase for 14 years, until that licensing agreement came to an end in January. It was not a harmonious break-up. Both sides blamed the other for both the collapse of their agreement and the inability to work out a way to transfer player data to any new partner's servers (Blizzard still lacks a new Chinese publisher). The end came with the in-your-face symbolism of NetEase employees smashing up a giant Gorehowl statue (a legendary World of Warcraft axe) in front of their offices, before drinking "Blizzard green tea", the latter essentially a Chinese insult implying Blizzard is greedy and impure.
So that all went well, and today brings the news that NetEase is filing a lawsuit against Blizzard that's looking for 300 million Chinese Yuan ($43.5 million / £35 million) made up of various claims (the suit was first reported by Chinese media Sina Technology, via WoWhead).

Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski isn't bringing back LawBreakers after all, and he's 'kinda over the whole making games thing'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gears-of-war-creator-cliff-bleszinski-isnt-bringing-back-lawbreakers-after-all-and-hes-kinda-over-the-whole-making-games-thing/
Turns out Gears of War creator Cliff Bleszinski's mysterious tease about the future of his flopped FPS LawBreakers may have been a bit premature. Two weeks ago, he tweeted "Just got a text from my lawyers about… LawBreakers. Stay tuned" (before launching into a rant against people who "were rooting for the game to fail"), implying some kind of return for the now long-dead game. It's now looking like that was based on a misunderstanding of who holds the game's rights in 2023—a more recent tweet says "Well, turns out Nexon does own the rights to LawBreakers." before appealing to Nexon's CEO to DM him about a resurrection.

Vampire survival game says screw it, let's add Frankenstein's monster
https://www.pcgamer.com/vampire-survival-game-says-screw-it-lets-add-frankensteins-monster/
Almost a year after launch V Rising remains in early access, and is planning to celebrate its anniversary in the most electrifying of ways: Sod it, thought someone at Stunlock Studios, let's add Frakenstein's monster to our Dracula game. The Secrets of Gloomrot expansion is set in "a land twisted by the tortured ambitions of a scientific genius", hello Victor, who in this incarnation has a legion of followers and a civilisation built around his works and "the pursuit of evolution".

If you die in PvP while playing Diablo 4 hardcore, you're dead bucko
https://www.pcgamer.com/if-you-die-in-pvp-while-playing-diablo-4-hardcore-youre-dead-bucko/
Dying in PvP in hardcore mode in Diablo 4 will mean permadeath for that character, Blizzard has confirmed. Before you say "well duh" this is actually a change in hardcore policy, with Blizzard indicating several years ago in interviews that hardcore characters would be exempted from permadeath in PvP.

Intel confirms “Adamantine” L4 cache for Meteor Lake

https://videocardz.com/newz/intel-confirms-adamantine-l4-cache-for-meteor-lake

Very interesting as we haven't seen L4 in consumer since like Broadwell I believe?

AMD Ryzen 7000X3D Processors Prone to Physical Damage with Voltage-assisted Overclocking, Motherboard Vendors Rush BIOS Updates with Voltage Limiters

https://www.techpowerup.com/307703/amd-ryzen-7000x3d-processors-prone-to-physical-damage-with-voltage-assisted-overclocking-motherboard-vendors-rush-bios-updates-with-voltage-limiters

No one caught this in QA? The X3D chips have been out for over a month.

AMD AICs To Showcase Custom Radeon RX 7700 & RX 7600 Graphics Cards At Computex 2023

https://wccftech.com/amd-aics-to-showcase-custom-radeon-rx-7700-rx-7600-graphics-cards-at-computex-2023/

It's about dang time

AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT With GPU Specs Similar To Pro W7800 Could End Up Faster Than NVIDIA RTX 4070 Ti

https://wccftech.com/amd-radeon-rx-7800-xt-with-gpu-specs-similar-to-pro-w7800-could-end-up-faster-than-nvidia-rtx-4070-ti/

Considering how small of a gap there is between 4070 Ti and 7900XT, it would be slightly faster at best.

Arm Planning To Make Its Own Chips For Mobiles & Laptops Using Intel’s Fabs

https://wccftech.com/arm-planning-to-make-its-own-chips-for-mobiles-laptops-using-intel-fabs/

If AMD done that and used Navi 31 for 7800XT that would actually be quite interesting release. Assuming they launch it at $600-650 GPU at 4070 Ti level of performance would be a winner. Now, I'm thinking whether or not to keep the 7900XT when it arrives or wait it out lol.

And about the AM5 and chips frying due to overvoltages from Motherboards and vendors, jees. Really want to see Gamers Nexus's deep dive into that.