Yep, on the 21st.

Intel launches Core Ultra 100 “Meteor Lake” series, up to 16 CPU cores, Arc GPU with 8 Xe-Core and improved AI performance

https://videocardz.com/newz/intel-launches-core-ultra-100-meteor-lake-series-up-to-16-cpu-cores-arc-gpu-with-8-xe-core-and-improved-ai-performance

While the title of the video is a bit clickbaity, his conclusion is correct. While Intel no longer seems to require copious amounts of wattage to perform with this new series of CPUs and the GPU performance is close to 780m... That's the problem... They only really caught up to AMDs current gen. Apple is still more efficient under light loads and AMD will be releasing Zen 5 based laptops soon enough. While MTL might be good enough alternative against Ryzen 8000 series laptops since they are basically just rebranded 7000 series chips with an NPU, the performance and such is simply... Meh. Should have been a lot more with the way they were hyping this.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 40 SUPER launch scheduled for January 17, 24 and 31 with RTX 4070 SUPER leading the way

https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidia-geforce-rtx-40-super-launch-scheduled-for-january-17-24-and-31-with-rtx-4070-super-leading-the-way

4070 Super and 4070 Ti Super should have launched with these specs to begin with. Oh well, hopefully the pricing is good.

NVIDIA Fires Back At AMD, Claims H100 AI GPU Delivers 47% Faster Performance Than MI300X With Optimized Software

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-fires-back-at-amd-claims-h100-ai-gpu-faster-than-mi300x-optimized-software/

First party benches vs First party benches so take it with a grain of salt. But the fact does remain true that AMD did not use TensorRT with H100s during their presentation so H100s were nerfed one way or another.

AMD Publishses Full FSR 3 Source Code For DX12 & Unreal Engine 5, Making Integration In Games Easier For Devs

https://wccftech.com/amd-publishses-full-fsr-3-source-code-dx12-unreal-engine-5-integration-games-easier/

Intel 5th Gen Xeon CPUs Official: Emerald Rapids Compatible With Sapphire Rapids, Up To 64 Cores, 320 MB Cache, Prices Detailed

https://wccftech.com/intel-5th-gen-xeon-cpus-official-emerald-rapids-up-to-64-cores-320-mb-cache-prices/

NVIDIA To Discontinue All GeForce GTX 16 GPUs By Q1 2024: Include 1660 SUPER, 1660 Ti, 1660, 1650 Ti, 1650 & 1630

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-discontinue-all-geforce-gtx-16-gpus-q1-2024-1660-super-1660-ti-1660-1650-ti-1650-1630/

The Thursday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Streamers, we're giving away a Loupedeck Live S stream controller and Streamlabs Ultra subscription
https://www.pcgamer.com/streamers-were-giving-away-a-loupedeck-live-s-stream-controller-and-streamlabs-ultra-subscription/
We've joined forces up with Loupedeck and Streamlabs for a mighty streaming giveaway. We'll be handing out a Loupedeck Live S customizable livestream controller and a full year's Streamlabs Ultra subscription to one lucky winner.
The Loupedeck Live S is what we often call a desktop thingumajig, or more accurately a swiss-army knife for shortcuts. It's essentially a custom console made up of buttons and dials that sits on your desk and offers access to key functions on a per-app basis. It's a great solution for streamers, as a way to adjust your stream on-the-fly, but you can also access swift shortcuts for podcast, video editing, and a heap of other applications.
A Streamlabs Ultra subscription takes care of the software side of things. It comes with access to premium features across all of their premium creator apps, which cover live streaming, podcasting, recording, editing, sharing short-form content and more.
>> Check the article for more details. Good luck!

Destiny 2: Legacy Collection is free to own on Epic Games Store
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/destiny-2-legacy-collection-is-free-to-own-on-epic-games-store/
Bungie and Epic Games are currently giving away free copies of Destiny 2: Legacy Collection on Epic Games Store for a limited time. Until December 20th, PC gamers can visit the game’s EGS page and acquire their free copy.
Destiny 2: Legacy Collection includes The Witch Queen, Beyond Light, and Shadowkeep. Players can enjoy three epic campaigns, and unlock 37 Exotic weapons, and 15 Exotic pieces of armor. You will also unlock the power of Stasis, allowing you to lock down and control the battlefield.
>> You can claim it here.

Daily free games are back in Epic's 2023 Holiday Sale, live now
https://www.pcgamer.com/epic-games-store-2023-holiday-sale/
The Epic Games Store has kicked off its 2023 Holiday Sale, and once again the daily free games are back—17 of them in all, beginning today with Destiny 2: Legacy Collection, a bundle of the Witch Queen, Beyond Light, and Shadowkeep expansions for Destiny 2.
Destiny 2 is free as a normal thing, by the way, so it's a whole lot of Destiny for a whole lot of nothing.
Daily free games are always the big attraction in the Epic Store's Holiday Sale, but Epic is also bringing back its reusable coupons, and as it did in the previous Black Friday sale, the discount amount is being bumped to 33% off eligible purchases—that means games, but not DLC, in-game items, or currency. Everyone gets the coupon automatically, and it automatically renews each time it's used, effectively making it a standing 33% discount.
>> PCGamer talks about daily free games, but the timer of the next free game says 6 days. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

Steam has two new deals:

• The Early Access title Blackout Protocol gets a 35% discount until December, 20th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2111870/Blackout_Protocol/
• And Outward Definitive Edition will be 80% off until the same 20th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/794260/Outward_Definitive_Edition/

The Humble Bundle has launched the Spaced Out Encore Bundle, with 8 items to get during 27 hours: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/spaced-out-encore.

Fanatical has a new bundle an a contest:

• The BYO Quest VR Bundle features 26 titles to choose from for your 2, 4, 7 or 10 games bundle. Keep in mind that it's for Quest owners: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-quest-vr-bundle
• And there's a new contest to win a HyperX Mousepad Fury Ultra RGB: https://gleam.io/nkBEt/chance-to-win-a-hyperx-mousepad-fury-ultra-rgb

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

New Steam Workshop update pilfers a bunch of your favourite features from managers like Mod Organizer, including load orders and automatic sorting
https://www.pcgamer.com/new-steam-workshop-update-pilfers-a-bunch-of-your-favourite-features-from-managers-like-mod-organizer-including-load-orders-and-automatic-sorting/
To me, the Steam Workshop has always seemed like a neglected aspect of everyone's default PC game launcher. It's useful for installing a couple of must-haves, but it doesn't hold a candle to more full-fledged software like Mod Organizer 2 or the Vortex Mod Manager. The fact you can't adjust your load order—meaning you can't ensure that certain mods are loaded before other mods that depend on them—pretty much makes the system useless for managing big mod lists all by itself.
But someone at Valve must have heard my gripes, because a hot new Workshop update just hit the Steam beta client ahead of a full release. Detailed in a post on the Steam Workshop blog, the update means Steam's mod management tools are better able to hold their own against the other mod managers of the world, even if it's still not all of the way there.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

First-Person Resident Evil 2 Remake Demo Available for Download
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/first-person-resident-evil-2-demo-available-for-download/
Resident Evil fans, here is something special for you today. PerroAutonomous has released a demo of a Resident Evil 2 Fan Remake in first-person mode. This is truly amazing, so be sure to check it out.
Now contrary to the official remake of Resident Evil 2, this fan remake attempts to stay faithful to the original 1998 version. The art style and the environments are similar to it. The sounds and dialogues were also taken straight from the original game. As such, this fan project feels exactly like RE2. And, honestly, this is the way to go. Yes, its graphics are a bit blocky. However, they are still charming.
PerroAutonomous has also recreated the first CG cut-scenes. In a retro way, they look cool. I mean, look at Leon’s face. That’s a priceless shot.
From what I know, the artist does not plan to remake the entire game. So no, don’t expect a full free game of it. Still, you can download and try its demo from this link. And if you are fans of the first RE game, you can download a similar free first-person remake demo from this link.
>> The article has a 35 minutes video.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora gets Disk Cache Enabler Mod for better performance
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/avatar-frontiers-of-pandora-gets-disk-cache-enabler-mod-for-better-performance/
Modder ‘archost’ has released a Disk Cache Enabler Mod for Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora that aims to improve the game’s performance. Moreover, this mod will make the game playable on HDD. Now I don’t know why someone would install, in 2023, a game on an HDD, but there you go.
The modder claims that Disk Cache Enabler can also improve loading time and reduce pop-in issues even on SSD. To be honest, I never really had any major pop-in issues with Avatar on my main PC system. Yes, there are pop-ins of distant objects. However, I’m not sure this mod can resolve them. After all, this is more of an engine issue. Still, Disk Cache Enabler may lower the game’s disk storage requirements. Thus, those with slower SSDs may benefit from it.
>> There are no screenshots nor videos.

Dead Space Remake DLSS 3 Frame Generation Mod Released
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/dead-space-remake-dlss-3-frame-generation-mod/
Modder ‘LukeFZ’ has just released a must-have DLSS 3 Frame Generation Mod for Dead Space Remake. As the title suggests, this will allow all owners of RTX40 series GPUs to use Frame Generation in this title.
This mod is currently available on LukeFZ’s Discord server. To gain access to it, you’ll have to join his Patreon. Now before cursing him for releasing a “paid mod“, LukeFZ does plan to release it for free on NexusMods. So, a free version of it will become available in the coming days.
>> Once again, there are no screenshots nor videos of this mod.

GAMING NEWS

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown gets a gameplay overview trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/prince-of-persia-the-lost-crown-gets-a-gameplay-overview-trailer/
Ubisoft has released the gameplay overview trailer for Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown. This trailer explores the gameplay and key features of this new PoP game, and gives us an in-depth look into its new adventure.

2K Games has removed Denuvo from LEGO 2K Drive
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/2k-games-has-removed-denuvo-from-lego-2k-drive/
Now here is a pleasant surprise. 2K Games has just released a new update for LEGO 2K Drive that removed the Denuvo anti-tamper tech from it.
LEGO 2K Drive came out on PC in May 2023. This means that it took 2K Games around seven months in order to remove it. From what I know, this is also one of the few games for which the publisher has removed Denuvo.

Thursday news, part two:

Fallout 4's big 4K 'next-gen update' is delayed until 2024
https://www.pcgamer.com/fallout-4s-big-4k-next-gen-update-is-delayed-until-2024/
Remember the big 4K update for Fallout 4 that was announced in 2022 as part of the 25th anniversary celebration of the original Fallout? The good news is that it's still happening, but the bad news is that it's not happening until sometime in 2024.

Starfield design director calls out unfair game criticism: 'Don't fool yourself into thinking you know why it is the way it is'
https://www.pcgamer.com/starfield-design-director-calls-out-unfair-game-criticism-dont-fool-yourself-into-thinking-you-know-why-it-is-the-way-it-is/
Starfield did not land with quite the positive thump that just about everyone expected, and lots of people have thoughts about why—and that has apparently inspired Starfield design director Emil Pagliarulo to muse about how confident some of those critics are in their opinions, despite how "disconnected" they are from the process of actually making games.

The mellowest social game I've ever played is getting a sequel: 'There aren't enough online spaces where strangers can be fearlessly open and caring'
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-mellowest-social-game-ive-ever-played-is-getting-a-sequel-there-arent-enough-online-spaces-where-strangers-can-be-fearlessly-open-and-caring/
It might not be entirely sensible to refer to Kind Words—full name Kind Words (lo fi chill beats to write to) — as a "game," but we argued about that distinction enough in the 2010s that I think we can sideline it for the remainder of this decade. I only mention it as context for what Kind Words is: a cozy bedroom environment equipped with the chill beats promised by the title, and an indiscriminate virtual post office that delivers anonymous notes and letters to random strangers, message-in-a-bottle style.
Miraculously, I've never seen a rude or inappropriate message in Kind Words, which released in 2019 and has seen 5 million letters sent, according to developer Popcannibal. I guess those chill beats really work, so they're making a sequel. Kind Words 2—full name Kind Words 2 (lofi city pop) —was announced last week, but I missed the news amid all the Game Awards hubbub.

WoW's game director says he's keen on organising its scattered story for new players: 'that is a weakness ... Chris Metzen and I chatted [about it] a bunch'
https://www.pcgamer.com/wows-game-director-says-hes-keen-on-organising-its-scattered-story-for-new-players-that-is-a-weakness-chris-metzen-and-i-chatted-about-it-a-bunch/
In a recent interview with WoW's community council (thanks, WoWhead), the game's current director Ion Hazzikostas was asked about the current state of the story, and how dang hard it is to introduce new players to its extensive lore.

I like the Steam Workshop improvements. Most of the improvements are not anything I've been wanting, but this one, this I've yearned for what feels like forever: 'Added previous and next buttons to the image viewer'. Now it's actually possible to look at multiple screenshots per Workshop item in a practical way!

Yeah, some of the improvements were... let's say long time coming. But at least they're here, in Beta.

Anyway, if any of you had hopes to get the new 140mm Noctua fans soon (and maybe the new NH15 that will likely use them), I have bad news for you:

'Still a slight risk of critical deformation': Noctua isn't happy with its next-gen 140mm fan so it's pushed until Q2 2024 at the earliest
https://www.pcgamer.com/still-a-slight-risk-of-critical-deformation-noctua-isnt-happy-with-its-next-gen-140mm-fan-so-its-pushed-until-q2-2024-at-the-earliest/
You're going to have to wait a little longer for Noctua's next-gen 140mm fan. Despite positive signs out at Computex this year that had suggested the fan would head to mass production by the tail-end of 2023, that plan has been scuppered by late issue. This means it has to go through a lengthy validation process all over again, and now we're looking at a Q2 2024 release, if not later again.

^ That sucks. Already bought some high quality fans for my PC so I'm good but really they should just take a L and shave off a bit off the frame for margin of error. If they can't make it to that spec. The delays are getting pretty ridiculous and affecting several products in their line including their next gen coolers. I mean by the time they releases these fans, competitors might even have something on par or better. Like from Lian-Li or Phanteks.

I understand you, but the problem of "shaving off a bit of the frame" is that it may create other problems like more noise and/or less static pressure, neglecting their own existence by offering little improvements over Noctua existing fans.

But well, it's Noctua. It has to be perfect and they'll have a price that matches that attitude.

True. Its just they've been at it for years now lol. And it seems to be the same issue/stumbling block. Hopefully they'll get it sorted. Be interesting once it does finally come out though and should be one of the best if not the best 140mm's. But coming probably late 2024.

Also surprised no-one really looked into thicker fans. Most are still 25mm and from what we've seen from the Phanteks T30's (30mm), you can get much more airflow and pressure from adding an extra .5mm height to them. Compatibility aside.. its not that much thicker and they could always supply longer screws.

There's also Alphacool that has launched fans with a metal frame, but until someone takes them for a spin (pun intended) an reviewa them, we don't know if that helps or is kind of a gimmick.