Thanks for sharing those.

The Bethesda remasters don't surprise me given how long it takes them (well, and anyone else nowadays) to launch new games. By the time TES VI launches, we'll be in the verge on a new gen of consoles, and I'm sure MSoft would like to have more Bethesda games per generation.
But well, now that they also own Obsidian, they could give them the Fallout franchise to play with...

The hardware details, while very vague, are mostly the expected. With that said, I'm surprised they're considering going with ARM cores. That would rule out the possibility of going with an APU/SoC design, complicating the design of the console. And that's without counting with the trouble to make the games compatible with the new machine.

In any case, that Acti-Blizz acquisition is giving us a lot of unexpected info.

After reading that AC Mirage was like a return to the origins of the AC franchise, I had hopes for it. Then I saw that 30 minutes video I posted about some days ago and not even 5 minutes into it, we see Basim go head on into a battle with 3 enemies and slashing them like in an action game. That pretty much killed all my hopes for a comeback to the original formula and also most of my interest in the game.

Also, kudos to Ubi for mananging to get Intel's money to add their features. Not that I think this will help Intel will sell any more GPUs, but at least they're trying.

The news!

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

GOG has three new Deals of the Day and a new sale:

• These are the new DotD, available during 46 hours:
  • The first one is Divinity: Original Sin - Enhanced Edition, 65% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/divinity_original_sin_enhanced_edition
  • The second is Galactic Civilizations III: Ultimate Edition, with a 70% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/galactic_civilizations_iii_ultimate_edition
  • The last one is Deus Ex: Mankind Divided - Digital Deluxe Edition, 85% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/deus_ex_mankind_divided_deluxe_edition
• And publisher Apogee Entertainment puts its games on sale with up to 90% discounts during 5 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/2023_apogee_entertainment

Steam has two new deals:

• Mato Anomalies will be 50% off until the 26th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2024390/Mato_Anomalies/
• Filament gets a 77% discount until the same 26th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1137350/Filament/

Fanatical's new Star Deal is Klonoa Phantasy Reverie Series, 79% off during 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/klonoa-phantasy-reverie-series.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

AMD Radeon Software Adrenalin 23.9.2
https://videocardz.com/driver/amd-radeon-software-adrenalin-23-9-2
Highlights
Note: Polaris and Vega GPUs are supported through a different package. You can download the driver for these GPUs by clicking on this link.

• New Game Support
  • Lies of P
  • Party Animals
  • The Crew™ Motorfest
• Additional SDK Support
  • Microsoft® Agility SDK Preview Release v1.711.3 including Shader Model 6.8 functionality for GPU Work Graphs (GWG)).
  • Microsoft® Agility SDK Retail Release 1.610.5 including Enhanced Barriers and Vulkan on DX12 compatibility features.
• New AMD Radeon™ Anti-Lag+ Game Support
  • AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 23.9.2 introduces Anti-Lag+ support for Starfield, Witcher 3, ELDEN RING and Immortal of Aveum™.
    • Up to 45% decrease in latency across select titles when AMD Radeon™ Anti-Lag+ is on, using AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition™️ 23.9.2 on the Radeon™ RX 7900 XTX GPU in select titles, versus when AMD Radeon Anti-Lag+ is off.RS-597
  • AMD Radeon™ Anti-Lag+ features an onscreen overlay that can be used to display the system latency of supported games. When Anti-Lag+ is enabled, the onscreen overlay can be toggled on using ALT+SHIFT+L hotkey.
    • Toggling the hotkey will first enable the status indicator of Anti-Lag+ (a white triangle), and then display latency in ms or number of frames.
    • To compare the difference between Anti-Lag+ and Anti-Lag, hold the DEL key. To compare the difference between Anti-Lag+ On and Off, hold the right CTRL key.
    • Use the ALT+SHIFT+F hotkey to monitor FPS when Anti-Lag or Anti-Lag+ is enabled in the game.

Fixed Issues

• Application crash may be observed while playing Baldur’s Gate 3 with Vulkan® API set on some AMD Graphics Products, such as the Radeon™ RX 7900 XTX.
• GPU Clock may be artificially limited to 2700 MHz when performing manual tuning on Radeon™ RX 7700 XT and RX 7800 XT graphics.
• Display may not reach correct brightness with certain games on select SAMSUNG™ FreeSync Premium Pro monitors or TVs with local dimming setting enabled.
• Application crash or driver timeout may be observed while playing SMITE® on some AMD Graphics Products, such as the Radeon™ RX 7900 XTX.
• Intermittent application crash or driver timeout may be observed while playing F1® 23 on some AMD Graphics Products, such as the Radeon™ RX 7800 XT.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Quake 4 Hi Def V3.3 is now available for download
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/quake-4-hi-def-v3-3-is-now-available-for-download/
Modder ‘y2keeth’ has released Version 3.3 of his Hi-Def graphical overhaul mod for Quake 4. This new version improves the quality of numerous textures and 3D models, brings full shadows map files, and improves the sikk phong shading.
In order to showcase Version 3.3 of the Quake 4 Hi-Def Project, the modder shared the following video and screenshots. These should give you an idea of what you can expect from this graphics overhaul mod.
>> The video is over 5 minutes long.

Starfield hero adds New Atlantis map to New Atlantis
https://www.pcgamer.com/starfield-hero-adds-a-new-atlantis-map-to-new-atlantis/
Starfield may have over 1,000 planets and moons but it has precisely zero local maps, a choice that starts out confusing and becomes a frequent annoyance. Trying to find your way around the sprawling city of New Atlantis or the winding walkways of Cydonia would be infinitely easier if you could pull up a map to figure out where you're going and drop a pin so you can more easily find your way to your destination.
Alas, Bethesda neglected to include local maps like you'll find in games like Skyrim and Oblivion, which means if you don't have a specific quest marker pointing you to a location in a city you're probably gonna have trouble figuring out where stuff actually is.
Thankfully a few heroes have arrived to save the day—at least when it comes to New Atlantis. First up, map fanatic Wojtek Antonowicz of Game-Maps.com created a huge and lovely labeled map of New Atlantis with all the districts, shops, elevators, and locations clearly marked. Then modder JustOkayGamer (with Antonowicz's permission) took that map and added it to kiosks found around New Atlantis. Rejoice.
This isn't a map you can pull up in your menu: the map and legend are placed on physical objects around the city, so you need to walk right up to them in-game and look at them, making it feel like the sort of map you find at a shopping mall. But that's exactly what New Atlantis needs.
>> The article has a couple of screenshots.

Baldur’s Gate 3 gets a DLSS 3 Mod that doubles its performance in CPU-bound scenes
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/baldurs-gate-3-gets-a-dlss-3-mod-that-doubles-its-performance-in-cpu-bound-scenes/
Modder PureDark has released a DLSS 3 Frame Generation Mod for Baldur’s Gate 3 that can double the performance in CPU-bound scenes.
In order to showcase the performance boost that this mod brings to the table, PureDark shared the following video. In this video, we get to see the most CPU-bound area of the game, running with over 60fps at all times.
What’s also interesting is the PC system that PureDark has used. With DLSS 3 Frame Generation, an AMD Ryzen 7 5800X with an NVIDIA RTX 4090 is able to brute force its way and offer framerates higher than 60fps.
Now as with all of PureDark’s DLSS 3 mods, this is only available to his patrons. However, I seriously hope that other modders will share free alternatives to it. After all, we’ve already gotten free DLSS 3 mods for Starfield.
>> There's an almost 4 minutes video of the mod.

GAMING NEWS

Assassin’s Creed Mirage gets PC requirements & PC features trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/assassins-creed-mirage-gets-pc-requirements-pc-features-trailer/
Ubisoft has revealed the official PC system requirements for Assassin’s Creed Mirage, and shared a PC features trailer for it. And, from the looks of it, this new Assassin’s Creed game will only support Intel’s XeSS, and not AMD FSR 2.0 or NVIDIA DLSS 2.
>> I find it amusing that it lists the Intel, Nvidia and AMD recommended GPUs for each target until it reaches the 4K Ultra preset, where there's no Intel card X-D.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth will release on January 26th, gets first gameplay trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/like-a-dragon-infinite-wealth-will-release-on-january-26th-gets-first-gameplay-trailer/
SEGA has announced that Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth will release on January 26th. In addition, the team has shared the first gameplay trailer for this new Yakuza/Like a Dragon game which you can find below.

One hour of gameplay footage from the Unreal Engine 5-powered Souls-like game, Lords of the Fallen
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/one-hour-of-gameplay-footage-from-the-unreal-engine-5-powered-souls-like-game-lords-of-the-fallen/
YouTube’s ‘KONSOLOWE.info’ has shared a video, showcasing one hour of gameplay footage from the Unreal Engine 5-powered Souls-like game, Lords of the Fallen.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Zombies Cinematic Trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-3-zombies-cinematic-trailer/
Activision has released a cinematic trailer for the Zombies Mode that will be featured in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. In this mode, a team of multi-national Operators assist the members of Task Force 141 against vast undead hordes brought on by a second major enemy threat.

Persona 3 Reload gets a brand new gameplay trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/persona-3-reload-gets-a-brand-new-gameplay-trailer/
Atlus has just released a brand new gameplay trailer for Persona 3 Reload. This new trailer showcases some of the game’s environments, as well as its main cast. And, since I’m a big fan of its Japanese version, I’ve decided to share that one.

The short part two of the news:

Ed Boon wanted every fighter in Mortal Kombat 1 to be played by a famous actor, with Keanu Reeves as Kenshi
https://www.pcgamer.com/ed-boon-wanted-every-fighter-in-mortal-kombat-1-to-be-played-by-a-famous-actor-with-keanu-reeves-as-kenshi/
I've loved the recent Mortal Kombat games, but if there's one thing they have not been good at, it's celebrity cameos. From Ronda Rousey as Sonya, to the Dimitri Vegas skin for Sub-Zero, to most recently Megan Fox as Nitara, more often than not the appearance of a famous face in these games means that you're about to be subjected to voice-acting more grisly than the fatalities. So I'm frankly a little horrified to find out that Ed Boon's dream for Mortal Kombat 1 was for all the fighters to be played by different household names.

Microsoft would buy Valve 'if opportunity arises,' said Phil Spencer in leaked email
https://www.pcgamer.com/microsoft-would-buy-valve-if-opportunity-arises-said-phil-spencer-in-leaked-email/
The FTC and Microsoft are presently in court over the FTC's desire to block Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and as seems to happen every time a big gaming company goes to court, there's been an accidental leak of confidential documents.
One of the documents is a 2020 email from Xbox chief Phil Spencer (via The Verge) in which he said that Nintendo is the most desirable gaming company Microsoft could acquire. Tucked into the end of that email is the comment that the Microsoft Board of Directors has seen "the full writeup on Nintendo (and Valve)" and is "fully supportive on either if opportunity arises."
>> And who wouldn't, right?

Microsoft dismissed Baldur's Gate 3 as a 'second-run Stadia PC RPG' before it released—Larian doesn't blame them
https://www.pcgamer.com/microsoft-dismissed-baldurs-gate-3-as-a-second-run-stadia-pc-rpg-before-it-releasedlarian-doesnt-blame-them/
After it launched, Baldur's Gate 3 hit a phenomenal 800,000 concurrent Steam players and received PC Gamer's highest review score in 16 years, but during its years in early access, it wasn't widely expected to be the next big thing. Take as an example this May 2022 document accidentally leaked by Microsoft as part of its lawsuit with the FTC which dismissed Baldur's Gate 3 as a "second-run Stadia PC RPG" that Microsoft figured it could get onto PC Game Pass for about $5 million.
>> This is also part of the leak. A leak that, according to the FTC, it's MSoft's fault.

CD Projekt recommends starting a new game when Cyberpunk 2077 Update 2.0 drops: 'starting fresh will enhance your overall gameplay experience'
https://www.pcgamer.com/cd-projekt-recommends-starting-a-new-game-when-cyberpunk-2077-update-20-drops-starting-fresh-will-enhance-your-overall-gameplay-experience/
Cyberpunk 2077 is getting a mammoth-sized update, titled Update 2.0, tomorrow, September 21, and it promises to be a bit of a game changer. A police revamp, a progression overhaul, a new cybernetics system, vehicular combat, DLSS 3.5—it's vast, and thankfully separate from the Phantom Liberty expansion due next week, so you'll get all of this for free. With so many changes, the developer is naturally recommending that you experience it all on a fresh save, starting a new game rather than continuing an existing one.
It's entirely possible to just carry on with an old save, but making a new character will ease you into all of the big changes, most notably the skill system, which might be a bit jarring if you have to rebuild an existing character. "Due to the number of changes, starting fresh will enhance your overall gameplay experience," reads the tweet from CD Projekt Red.

Intel Arc GPU Drivers Add Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty Support & More, Up To 27% Improvement In DX11 Titles

https://wccftech.com/intel-arc-gpu-drivers-cyberpunk-2077-phantom-liberty-support-dx11-performance-boost/

First Intel Meteor Lake Laptops To Be Very Expensive, Expected To Cost Around $1500 US

https://wccftech.com/first-intel-meteor-lake-laptops-very-expensive-expected-cost-around-1500-usd/

Intel CEO Highlights Potential NVIDIA Op For Its Foundries, Bringing 3D Stacked Cache To Multiple Chips

https://wccftech.com/intel-ceo-potential-nvidia-op-for-foundries-bringing-3d-stacked-cache-multiple-chips/

Intel confirms 2024-2025 client CPU lineup: Arrow Lake, Lunar Lake and Panther Lake

https://videocardz.com/newz/intel-confirms-2024-2025-client-cpu-lineup-arrow-lake-lunar-lake-and-panther-lake

Intel Core Ultra “Meteor Lake” CPUs officially launch on December 14th

https://videocardz.com/newz/intel-core-ultra-meteor-lake-cpus-officially-launch-on-december-14th

Hopefully this doesn't become it's own trend after all the drama with Starfield. Not that I'll ever buy another ubisoft game until they get rid of Uplay.

Studios/publishers working with Nvidia or ATI/AMD has been a common practice since... well, kind of like forever. Nvidia used to run the TWIMTBP program for years while AMD tried to counter that with their Get In The Game alternative.

This, the Starfield thing or the close partnership between Nvidia and CDP with Cyberpunk 2077 (and also during the launch of The Witcher 3 with their Hairworks tech) are nothing new, and people only tend to complain about it when they're on the other end of the bargain.

The only difference is that now Intel has joined the game, and Ubisoft is more than happy to be bought in order to get more cash.