I thought Jimbo was one of the more reluctant on PC releases and wanted to keep stuff on their own plastic kind of guy so I'd expect the next person to improve speed games arrive on PC if anything not to slow it down or stop it.

I dont think it'll change.

This is that point in time where companies shouldn't be replacing one higher up with another bean counter. That old guard should be dying off as we get older (I know it won't indefinitely, but it should still lessen to a degree where we start to eventually see gamers running the show, instead of boomers who know nothing about gaming like Bobby).

I feel SOny dropped the ball this gen because they were coasting on last gen's outright success (that and MS heavily tripped up). This gen they seem to just be copying what MS was doing partway through the gen (MS seems to be correcting this and somewhat trying to put out at least the odd few SP instead of live services, but they are still releasing more MP based games).

I think the one thing that really stood out to me though, was that letter Phil spencer had wrote on "AAA not really doing much of anything innovative", and that does ring true. There are a lot of AAA's the past gen or two that are copying a trend setter, instead of taking bold risks and trying to set trends themselves (like hoe we have a stupid amount of Souls-likes, because that crowd is safe and big, or BR games, because that's always a flavour of the month, or live services, because there's always some guppy buying £30 skins at the cash shop/Battle pass).

For me personally, I think the Switch is the last console I'll ever own tbh. I wasn't a fan of how over time, I was getting less and less investment out of my Switch and I just wasn't happy with how Nintendo basically washed their hands of the drift issue (no one on my island repairs stick drift, and I'm not paying postal to any company that can, because that defeats the point, I shouldn't have to pay to have my joycons fixed, when it is Nintendo who should be paying for the damage).

I've even recently started to start looking into physical emulation via the Analogue pocket handheld (that device looks like both a godsend and a nice throwback to the GBC days, and I'm all there for that), and I feel like the Steam Deck would be a nice complimentary system to my literal Steam account, because it means I just have to pay for the Deck, not having to pay £60-70 a pop all over again for the games (like Nintendo wants me to with the Switch, and that is such a missed opportunity for Nintendo to pass up on giving customers past BC on their previous purchases. 

These days I just feel like owning a console isn't worth it, because I already own a machine that's capable of running games (maybe not the latest games the way I want, but still better than how current gen is getting fps locked to 30/60 and less), and I'm not gaining access to games from other systems, so I feel there is less incentive to buy the other systems, but that's not because they are "losing" the games, it's because they aren't being innovative with their systems and they charge for online, or tie discounts to subscriptions and that's just not a good deal to me (also I really don't like the idea of bringing renting back to gaming, like MS is doing with GP, I rpefer to own or at least have the games I want on my SSD at all times and not having to pay to keep them there constantly). 

These are the Thursday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

The Epic Store gives away two games:

• Model Builder: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/model-builder
• Soulstice: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/soulstice

Next week, they'll give away Godlike Burger.

Well, GOG hasn't launched new Deals of the Day like I thought. I hope they have ones tomorrow.

Besides the Bioshock Sale, Steam has another deal: Perfect Heist 2 will be 40% off until October, 4th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1521580/Perfect_Heist_2/.

Humble has two new deals:

• Humble Bundle has the Awesome Indies from Humble Games Bundle, with up to 11 items to get during 20 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/awesome-indies-from-humble-games
• The Humble Store features the Humble Games Celebration Sale, with up to 80% discounts during 5 days. All the keys are for Steam: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/humble-games-celebration/

Fanatical's new Star Deal is SuchArt: Genius Artist Simulator, 78% off during 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/suchart-genius-artist-simulator.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Cyberpunk 2077's core mods have been updated to support 2.0
https://www.pcgamer.com/cyberpunk-2077s-core-mods-have-been-updated-to-support-20/
Witcher 3 players will be familiar with the frustration of a big overhaul coming along and suddenly all your favorite mods are incompatible or buggy. That game's next-gen update made a lot of work for modders, and Cyberpunk 2077 2.0 is no different. CD Projekt disabled mods completely for the Phantom Liberty DLC launch, and only now are modders getting their work back online.
>> The article talks about some of the mods that have been updated.

New Starfield Mod improves the quality of all major NPCs
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/new-starfield-mod-improves-the-quality-of-all-major-npcs/
Modder ‘SavrenX’ has released a must-have HD Texture Pack for Starfield that improves all of its major NPCs. This mod basically improves the Diffuse and Rough maps of the major NPCs, resulting in much better-looking characters.
Now when we say all major NPCs, we mean the ones you can talk to or fight. We’re not talking about the random NPCs that you can find roaming the streets of the game’s cities.
Going into more details, SavrenX has improved over 2500 textures. According to the modder, rough Maps are very important because, with good-quality maps, NPC facial expressions can be more realistic and natural, especially when talking. So, the modder has overhauled in 2K all the diffuse and rough maps of the major NPCs.
>> The article has some screenshots.

GAMING NEWS

SEGA has canceled Creative Assembly’s multiplayer sci-fi FPS, HYENAS
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/sega-has-cancelled-creative-assembly-multiplayer-sci-fi-fps-hyenas/
Remember Creative Assembly’s HYENAS? You know, the multiplayer sci-fi FPS that looked like nothing you’d expect from a Creative Assembly game? Well, SEGA has just announced its cancelation.

Here are 30 minutes of new gameplay footage from Alan Wake 2
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/here-are-30-minutes-of-new-gameplay-footage-from-alan-wake-2/
GameInformer has released two videos, showcasing a total of 30 minutes of new gameplay footage from Alan Wake 2. The first video focuses on the FBI Agent Saga Anderson whereas the second video focuses on Alan Wake himself.

New trailers for Lords of the Fallen, Assassin’s Creed Mirage and EA Sports WRC
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/new-trailers-for-lords-of-the-fallen-assassins-creed-mirage-and-ea-sports-wrc/
CI Games, Ubisoft and Electronic Arts have released new trailers for Lords of the Fallen, Assassin’s Creed Mirage and EA Sports WRC. As such, we’ve decided to share them in one big post (you know, instead of spamming you with separate articles for them).

Thursday news, the long sequel:

The next game from Dave the Diver studio Mintrocket is… a 16-player PvP zombie survival game?
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-next-game-from-dave-the-diver-studio-mintrocket-is-a-16-player-pvp-zombie-survival-game/
I'm not sure what I imagined would come next from Mintrocket, the studio that brought us the delightful and surprising fishing and restaurant management sim Dave the Diver—but a 16-player PvPvE zombie stealth extraction survival game wouldn't have been it.

EA Sports FC 24 isn't even out yet and FIFA 23 has already been removed from Steam and other storefronts
https://www.pcgamer.com/ea-sports-fc-24-isnt-even-out-yet-and-fifa-23-has-already-been-removed-from-steam-and-other-storefronts/
With EA Sports FC 24, the first game in Electronic Arts' post-FIFA world, just a few days from launch, last year's FIFA 23, and all other games in the FIFA series, have been removed from sale on Steam, Epic, and other digital storefronts.

Yes, Phantom Liberty and patch 2.0 really are Cyberpunk 2077's 'last big updates' and it's finally time to start the sequel, director confirms
https://www.pcgamer.com/yes-phantom-liberty-and-patch-20-really-are-cyberpunk-2077s-last-big-updates-and-its-finally-time-to-start-the-sequel-director-confirms/
Cyberpunk 2077 is, finally, having its big launch moment. On Tuesday, buoyed by the 2.0 patch and expansion Phantom Liberty, the game hit its highest peak playercount since 2020. We loved Phantom Liberty, saying in our review that it's "CD Projekt firing on all cylinders to tell a great RPG story." It's been a long but impressive comeback for Cyberpunk, and the fact that the game is finally getting universal praise made me wonder if CD Projekt was reconsidering its plan to move on to a new game. After all, The Witcher 3's Hearts of Stone was good, but Blood & Wine was even better…
But no, this really, truly is it, game director Gabe Amatangelo said in an interview with PC Gamer on Wednesday. "2.0 and Phantom Liberty are the last big updates. We'll do a little something more, but those are the last big ones," he confirmed.

CD Projekt removes consequences for punching Cyberpunk 2077's most punchable character in the face
https://www.pcgamer.com/cd-projekt-removes-consequences-for-punching-cyberpunk-2077s-most-punchable-character-in-the-face/
When a videogame lets me dramatically punch someone in the middle of a conversation, it takes a lot of restraint to resist the urge. The opportunity arises a couple of times in Cyberpunk 2077, and nobody is more deserving than Fingers, Night City's scummiest ripperdoc, who V encounters during the main story.
Despite his extremely punchable face, for years it was actually a better idea to play nice with Fingers. Cleaning his clock meant locking him out as a vendor, which sucked if you wanted to nab his unique stock of legendary cyberware. Luckily, Cyberpunk's recent 2.0 update changes things.

Activision cites 'organizational changes' as the reason for Hearthstone layoffs
https://www.pcgamer.com/activision-cites-organizational-changes-as-the-reason-for-hearthstone-layoffs/
Activision Blizzard has confirmed that a "small number" of employees on its Hearthstone team have been laid off.
Word of the layoffs surfaced late yesterday in LinkedIn posts by former Blizzard employees. "After 18 and a half years at Blizzard Entertainment, I've been laid off without notice as of today," tools engineer Hunter C. wrote. "The Hearthstone Team is apparently being restructured and my Tools Engineer role is no longer needed."

Some Starfield players are trying to solve a mysterious puzzle that might not actually be a mysterious puzzle
https://www.pcgamer.com/some-starfield-players-are-trying-to-solve-a-mysterious-puzzle-that-might-not-actually-be-a-mysterious-puzzle/
Everyone loves a little mystery. Heck, players have been trying to solve a puzzle in Cyberpunk 2077 for almost three years. And now some Starfield sleuths are trying to solve a puzzle in Bethesda's space RPG.
Well, maybe. A strange cube covered in dots found in Starfield vexed one player enough to ask for help determining what it was, and now others are joining in to help solve the mystery… if there is indeed something to be solved.

Starfield's infinite weapon glitch is your path to farming epic guns
https://www.pcgamer.com/starfields-infinite-weapon-glitch-is-your-path-to-farming-epic-guns/
We pretty quickly learned that the fastest way to make money in Starfield isn't by harvesting resources or scanning planetary data or pawning stolen spaceships. It's from selling all the guns you collect while shooting your way through hordes of space pirates and serpent fanatics.
So what if I could give you a quick shortcut to spawning tons o' guns in mere seconds without ever once putting yourself in danger? Not only could you sell the guns for extra cold hard space cash, you could wind up with some epic or legendary weapons in your holster for your next big fight.

Stardew Valley's 1.6 update was supposed to be for modders, but it's adding 8-player support, three festivals, over 100 lines of dialogue, and more
https://www.pcgamer.com/stardew-valleys-16-update-was-supposed-to-be-for-modders-but-its-adding-8-player-support-three-festivals-over-100-lines-of-dialogue-and-more/
When Stardew Valley creator Eric Barone announced back in April that his life-consuming farm-life sim would be getting another update, he described 1.6 as "mostly changes for modders (which will make it easier & more powerful to mod)", saying the number of new additions would be "much less than 1.5." He's got Haunted Chocolatier to work on, after all.
Then he tweeted a picture of some kind of JojaMart gold parrot, suggesting the less-popular pro-capitalism side of Stardew would be getting a little love in the update. And now he's shared a sneak peek of what the 1.6 update will contain, and it's a lot more than just changes for modders.

Mortal Kombat 1 planning to fix bug that was unintentionally making Player 1 way stronger
https://www.pcgamer.com/mortal-kombat-1-planning-to-fix-bug-that-was-unintentionally-making-player-1-way-stronger/
NetherRealm Studios says it's planning to patch a Mortal Kombat 1 bug this week which was leading to certain players gaining a significant advantage over their opponent. The issue allows Player 1 to execute combos that were impossible to pull off for Player 2.

Take all those damn pencils out of your Starfield inventory, Todd Howard tells overencumbered pack rats
https://www.pcgamer.com/take-all-those-damn-pencils-out-of-your-starfield-inventory-todd-howard-tells-overencumbered-pack-rats/
If there's one thing I love in this world, it's trinkets. Tchotchkes. Doodas and thingamajigs. Nothing enables this desire for collecting crud more than a good old-fashioned Bethesda game. Forks, mugs, spoons, bowls—you name it, it's probably in my inventory.
Yet now I sit here as the king of crud collection himself is telling me I'm doing it all wrong. Yep, as GamesRadar reports, Todd Howard has singled out me and my fellow over encumbered adventurers for hoarding all random junk you can pick up.

Astarion can literally get blood from a stone in Baldur's Gate 3
https://www.pcgamer.com/astarion-can-literally-get-blood-from-a-stone-in-baldurs-gate-3/
Baldur's Gate 3 keeps giving me little surprises. In Act 3, you're able to purchase a statue from Boney and Stoney from the Circus of The Last Days for your camp. Doing this will run you a costly 5,000 gold, but that's a small price to pay for an immortalised tribute to your handsome hero, surely?
(... some scrolling down...)
(...) If you buy the statue from Boney and Stoney, Astarion can use it as a proxy for your character's neck. I have Angry_Stranger of the Baldur's Gate 3 subreddit to thank for this discovery—though I did load up my own save and test it, just in case, and yep. Disturbingly, Boney and Stoney's statue of you has blood in it.

Cities: Skylines 2 has been delayed until 2024, but only on consoles
https://www.pcgamer.com/cities-skylines-2-has-been-delayed-until-2024-but-only-on-consoles/
Prospective urban planners looking forward to Cities: Skylines 2 will need to get the PC version if they want to play this year. While a simultaneous launch was previously announced, Colossal Order has now pushed back the console release date, targeting a spring 2024 launch instead.

MSI Readies An Army of QD-OLED Gaming Monitors: DQHD 144Hz, UHD 240Hz & WQHD 360Hz Panels

https://wccftech.com/msi-readies-an-army-of-qd-oled-gaming-monitors-dqhd-144hz-uhd-240hz-wqhd-360hz-panels/

NVIDIA announces CEO Jensen Huang keynote at AI Summit on October 16

https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidia-announces-ceo-jensen-huang-keynote-at-ai-summit-on-october-16

CEO Jensen Huang Visits Denny’s, The Beginning of NVIDIA’s Trillion-Dollar Journey

https://wccftech.com/ceo-jensen-huang-visits-dennys-the-beginning-of-nvidia-trillion-dollar-journey/

Intel Arrow Lake-H CPUs Feature Lion Cove P-Cores, Skymont E-Cores & Possibly Crestmont LP E-Cores

https://wccftech.com/intel-arrow-lake-h-cpus-feature-lion-cove-p-cores-skymont-e-cores-crestmont-lp-e-cores/

AMD CEO Is A Non-Believer In AI ‘Moat”, Says Next 10 Years To Be Very Different From The Last 10 Years

https://wccftech.com/amd-ceo-a-non-believer-in-ai-moat-says-next-10-years-to-be-very-different-from-last-10-years/

That's a lot of people to be firing. EGS is probably be the cause if I had to guess.

That, the acquisitions and the court costs of all the issues they had (Fortnite lawsuit and Apple).

I never understood why Epic bought the music coimpany, soI'm not surprised to learn that they're selling it.

As for the people fired, I wish them the best.

The reasoning was they were trying to put the music into their hands for creators to use in a marketplace. That didnt pan out well because they ended up paying the creators more than they were making back from it - at least from what I heard.

Youtube started doing something like it you can say recently with Youtube Shorts.