Now imagine me trying to follow the election and the gaming news yesterday evening, especially with the election having not one but two major surprises in my country. Let's just say that I didn't quite spend the evening quite like I thought I would.

Yeah, too much stuff going on at the same time.

In my opinion, the industry isn't doing itself any favors having so amny announcements together. With E3, we usually only got big reveals... because going there was expensive and smaller studios couldn't afford it. Smaller games were left having to go to other expos or conventions to show what theywere working on, giving them time for some exposure.

But now that E3 is gone, everybody has decided to do their own showcase during the same days, giving us a ton of announcements that, for the most part, will mean that a lot of games will be overlooked. And that's sad because there's no need for it.

I think the issue is that there's just too many games in general, and the annoucements are just a consequence of that. I have more than 1,500 games on my Steam wishlist. Occasionally I try to drop games I'm not that interested in from my wishlist, but I just can't make a notable dent. There actually are over a thousand games I'd like to play at some point (which I know is 100 % not going to happen, unless maybe significant lifetime extension becomes widely available during my lifetime), many of which are fairly small or low-budget games. It wasn't always this bad, I think it's that there's just too many games these days.

It doesn't help that some people are seeking games dev to make money due to a rise in trends. Take for example the recent slew of factory based tower defence games, there's quite a few of those now and that train only seems to be picking up speed (This tells me indie devs are taking notice in sales trends/popularity and seeing an emerging/growing market segment).

I still feel like though we are seeing a lot of games, we are still having to deal with the fact that there are genres still being ignored or left to the wayside, in favour of booming markets (like turn based and CRPG, I'm seeing far more of those these days from the indie side).

I also feel like some indie devs cannot afford to take more time with their games, or at the very least trying to take the time to make something the neglected side of the market would want/has been asking for, and instead opting for more and more early access/"beta sign ups" (which I've seen a lot of now since the PC gaming summer show).

At least it's not as bad as when Steam opened the floodgates, and all we got was an avalanche of literal asset flipped games, and some mobile devs deciding to cash in (when Switch opened their gates the same thing happened). I do think indie devs should try slowing it down a bit and trying to actually make games that actually stand out and play/look very unique, rather than platformer/turn-based/card game/Rogue-like/factorio/extraction game #25067. There's far more than just those genres to aim for, and I wish they'd open their eyes a little more.

I too have a load of games on my wishlist, but now I just use that system as a bookmark one, not a "I will definitely buy this", but more of a "I'll take a look back in a year or two to see if said games have changed and still hold my interest". I often end up having to clean my list semi yearly because of this, and a load of games on that list often get wiped from my list/put on ignore (A few indie devs do change their gameplay styles and I'm not a fan of mid-way drastic shift changes and that has happened a few times to me already to put me off). 

Though I play far more indie games now than I do AAA these days, I do feel like the indie dev scene has become more of a watered down version of AAA market, where it's all about what "sells" and what's the "most popular", and indie devs 100% will tell you "I'm super interested in this genre", as if that's a unique thought to have, and totally not because they want to make lots of money/cultivate a following. 

Tuesday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Steam’s Top 10

(Click here for the Top 100)

GOG has launched four new sales:

• The new Weekly Sale has up to 90% discounts during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20240611_weekly_deals_2_june
• The Family Friendly Sale also brings games up to 90% off during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/2024_family_friendly_sale
• The DIgital Holidays Sale has open world games with up to 91% discounts during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/2024_digital_holidays_sale
• And the Platformers Sale has games up to 95% off during the same 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20240611_platformer_sale

Steam has a bunch of deals, including new weeklong deals:

• I hasdn’t seen it, but there’s a Latin American Games Showcase that has games up to 80% off and will last until June 15: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/latinamericangamesshowcase
• The Little Nightmares franchise is on sale with up to 78% discounts until Monday: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/LittleNightmaresFranchiseSale
• Urbek City Builder will be 60% off until June 20: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1411740/Urbek_City_Builder/
• The Capcom Mid-Year Deals features up to 84% discounts until the 21st: https://store.steampowered.com/developer/capcom/sale/midyear
• Insurgency: Sandstorm is going ot be 67% off until the 24th of June: https://store.steampowered.com/app/581320/Insurgency_Sandstorm/
• And here’s a verys mall sample of the weeklong deals:
  • Hunt the Night, that has a demo, is 30% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1649740/Hunt_the_Night/
  • Please Fix The Road gets a 40% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1383250/Please_Fix_The_Road/
  • The Tale of Bistun is half its price: https://store.steampowered.com/app/916140/The_Tale_of_Bistun/
  • Koral has a 66% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/896750/Koral/
  • Gremlins, Inc. Is 75% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/369990/Gremlins_Inc/
  • And the last one, Mekabolt, with an 80% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1096210/Mekabolt/

Fanatical has two new deals:

• The new Star Deal is Youtubers Life 2, 70% off during 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/youtubers-life-2
• And Slitherine Ltd. Games puts its titles on sale with up to 84% discounts during 5 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/slitherine-ltd

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Ha, ha.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Half-Life 2: Episode 3-inspired mod, HL: Interlude, gets new gameplay trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/half-life-2-episode-3-inspired-mod-hl-interlude-gets-new-gameplay-trailer/
Modder ‘PegaXing’ has released a new trailer for the upcoming total conversion mod for HL2 that is inspired by Half-Life 2: Episode Three, Half-Life Interlude.
Half-Life Interlude will attempt to recreate the events of HL2: Episode 3. The mod is based on Marc Laidlaw’s Epistle 3. In Interlude, Gordon Freeman awakens amidst the wreckage of a downed helicopter as the Combine is ruthlessly hunting him down.
From what I’ve seen so far, this is the most ambitious Half-Life 2: Episode 3 Mod that is currently in development. Moreover, PegaXing plans to release a demo for it really soon. In case you’re wondering, there is no ETA on when this will happen. As soon as it comes out, though, I’ll be sure to let you know.

A modder has already brought Doom: The Dark Age's new 'Shield Saw' to the 1993 original, and it's pretty close to perfect
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/a-modder-has-already-brought-doom-the-dark-ages-new-shield-saw-to-the-1993-original-and-its-pretty-close-to-perfect/
The OG Doom community has done it again: Less than 24 hours after Bethesda announced Doom: The Dark Ages at the Xbox Games Showcase, modder Craneo has added a functional Shield Saw—it's a shield that is also a saw—into the original Doom.
The mod converts the famous Doom chainsaw into the soon-to-be-famous Shield Saw. It's essentially the same as the original lumberjack tool, with a couple of significant upgrades: It looks really cool, it will protect you from incoming damage (it's a shield, after all), and yes, you can throw it to mess up the bad guys Captain America style.
I tried out the Shield Saw myself and if anything, it's a little too good: When the shield is raised (via the right mouse button) it blocks all incoming damage, no matter where it comes from. I allowed myself to be surrounded by zombies and imps, and took zero damage, even after moving to stand beside an explosive barrel, which did eventually explode—no harm done. Turning my back on a notoriously aggressive pinky demon returned the same result: Shield up, no damage. In your face, Pink!
I mention that point not to complain, but simply to point out that the Shield Saw mod isn't perfectly refined yet. (...)
>> The article only has one screenshot of the mod.

GAMING NEWS

Star Wars Outlaws gets a 10-minute gameplay showcase video
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/star-wars-outlaws-gets-a-10-minute-gameplay-showcase-video/
Ubisoft has released a 10-minute gameplay video for its upcoming Star Wars game, Star Wars Outlaws. This extended gameplay video shows off some of the game’s environments and general mechanics. So, make sure to watch it.

Prince of Persia The Sands of Time Remake now targets a 2026 release date
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/prince-of-persia-the-sands-of-time-remake-now-targets-a-2026-release-date/
Ubisoft has announced that it now plans to release Prince of Persia The Sands of Time Remake in 2026. Moreover, the French company released a new teaser trailer that you can find below. This trailer does not show much, so don’t expect to see what the game will look like.

Official 13-minute gameplay video for Assassin’s Creed Shadows
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/official-13-minute-gameplay-video-for-assassins-creed-shadows/
Ubisoft has just released the official 13-minute gameplay video for its upcoming AC game, Assassin’s Creed Shadows. In this video, we get to see the combat mechanics when using Yasuke Samurai and the stealth mechanics for when using Naoe.

Unreal Engine 5-powered Empire of the Ants will be released on November 7th
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/unreal-engine-5-powered-empire-of-the-ants-will-be-released-on-november-7th/
Microids has announced that its upcoming Unreal Engine 5-powered strategy game, Empire of the Ants, on November 7th. To celebrate this announcement, the publisher shared a new gameplay trailer that you can find below. In this trailer, we get to learn more about the game’s story and gameplay mechanics.

Avowed will have a third-person mode and here’s our first look at it
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/avowed-will-have-a-third-person-camera-and-heres-our-first-look-at-it/
Microsoft has advertised Obsidian’s upcoming game, Avowed, as a first-person RPG. However, it appears that the game will also have a third-person camera viewpoint, and here’s our first look at it.
>> And Ovsidian’s CEO is confident that it will launch in 2024.

Free PC demos for Riven Remake, Steel Seed, The Alters, Cat Quest 3, Metal Slug Tactics & more
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/free-pc-demos-for-riven-remake-steel-seed-the-alters-cat-quest-3-metal-slug-tactics-more/
Valve has launched the Steam Next Fest June 2024 event. During this event, PC gamers can try free PC demos for a lot of upcoming games. As such, I’ve decided to share those that deserve your attention (at least in my opinion).

Atomic Heart Patch 1.14.4.0 finally adds Ray Tracing on PC
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/atomic-heart-patch-1-14-4-0-finally-adds-ray-tracing-on-pc/
Well, better late than never I guess. Atomic Heart was one of the first games that showcased the benefits of Ray Tracing via its pre-release tech videos. However, when it finally came out in 2023, it did not support any Ray Tracing effects. And today, over one year after its official release date, Mundfish has finally added support for Ray Tracing on PC.

Tuesday news, part two:

Dark and Darker developer is 'looking to make amends' because its free-to-play model is 'not well designed'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/dark-and-darker-developer-is-looking-to-make-amends-because-its-free-to-play-model-is-not-well-designed/
Dark and Darker's return to Steam should have been cause for celebration. After a legal dispute with Nexon saw it removed from the platform in 2023, developer Ironmace was finally able to get it back on the store last week. Unexpectedly, it also shed its price, relaunching instead as a free-to-play deal. And that's where the trouble began. 

Streets of Rogue 2's dizzying open world sandbox will debut in early access this August
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/streets-of-rogue-2s-dizzying-open-world-sandbox-will-debut-in-early-access-this-august/
The open world sequel to indie hit Streets of Rogue is coming to Steam early access on August 14.
Announced in 2022, Streets of Rogue 2 multiplied the size of the original game's procedurally generated levels by 10,000—yes, 10,000—and has stuffed everything in one big open world. There are no loading screens; just one big world that reacts to whatever you want to do in it.

OutRage: Fight Fest is a nifty 16-player brawler that's trying to do punch-'em-up Fall Guys, but I'm just not sure there's enough depth to get people hooked
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fighting/outrage-fight-fest-is-a-nifty-16-player-brawler-that-s-trying-to-do-punch-em-up-fall-guys-but-i-m-just-not-sure-there-s-enough-depth-to-get-people-hooked/
It's Steam Next Fest—which means there's gonna be a whole bunch of demos to whet your little gamer teeth on over the next few days. Included in the free-for-all is OutRage: Fight Fest, a party-game style brawler being developed by Hardball Games Ltd. The demo actually came out over the weekend, but it's still part of the festivities nonetheless.

Bungie's surprise showcase did not announce Destiny 3, but Destiny 2 is getting vampire hunting, the return of the Dreadnaught, and something codenamed 'Frontiers' in 2025
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/bungies-surprise-showcase-did-not-announce-destiny-3-but-destiny-2-is-getting-vampire-hunting-the-return-of-the-dreadnaught-and-something-codenamed-frontiers-in-2025/
Last weekend, Destiny 2 capped off a decade-long saga with an absolutely astonishing finale. Based on the community's reaction in the days since, it's an absolute triumph for Bungi. But now the obvious question: What's next? Today Bungie lifted the lid on the next year of Destiny 2 in a brief showcase trailer.

Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will not depict 9/11, Treyarch confirms
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/call-of-duty/call-of-duty-black-ops-6-will-not-depict-911-treyarch-confirms/
Treyarch has shot down speculation that Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will depict the September 11, 2001 attack on the US.
Rumors of a possible depiction of the 9/11 attacks began to swirl shortly after Activision began teasing Black Ops 6. One live-action pre-release trailer in particular focuses heavily on prominent political leaders from the 1990s including George W Bush, Bill Clinton, Margaret Thatcher, and perhaps most notably Saddam Hussein. 

I'm slightly less panicked about Dragon Age: The Veilguard after seeing 24 seconds of gameplay
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/dragon-age/im-slightly-less-panicked-about-dragon-age-the-veilguard-after-seeing-24-seconds-of-gameplay/
I wasn't expecting to see Dragon Age: The Veilguard turn up at the Xbox Games Showcase over the weekend ahead of the gameplay reveal it had already planned for tomorrow. But turn up it did, with a CG trailer that had a lot of fans, including me, very nervous about the plastic-y, poreless character designs. Partly to quell that public panic, I'm willing to bet, BioWare just gave us a "sneak peak" at 24 seconds of the planned 15+ minute gameplay reveal tomorrow. Everyone take ten deep breaths. It looks better—probably.
>> That tomorrow is today.

A new Anno city builder is coming in 2025, this time set in Ancient Rome
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/city-builder/a-new-anno-city-builder-is-coming-in-2025-this-time-set-in-ancient-rome/
Ubisoft Forward showed off a bit more than just what we expected today (such as Star Wars Outlaws and Assassin's Creed Shadows), like a new entry into its long running Anno city builder series. Anno 117: Pax Romana was announced, and that's exciting news since it's the first Anno game to tackle Ancient Rome. Anno 117: Pax Romana is planned for release in 2025.

WB Games promises Suicide Squad 'will complete its currently announced roadmap'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/wb-games-promises-suicide-squad-will-complete-its-currently-announced-roadmap/
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League flopped badly when it launched earlier this year, and it hasn't shown any signs of turning things around. At the moment, SteamDB indicates that 161 people are currently playing the game on Steam, and while that isn't the whole picture—Suicide Squad is also available on Xbox and PlayStation—it's sure not a sign of good things happening.
The persistently near-subterranean player counts has led to worries that WB Games might do a Redfall and pull the plug on planned future updates—although hopefully without pulling the plug on the entire development studio in the process. From a business perspective, it's not an unreasonable suggestion: Why put however much money a full year of content takes to create (presumably a lot) for the benefit of a few hundred (or even a few thousand) diehards?
But that is apparently the plan: A WB Games representative has confirmed with Kotaku that "Suicide Squad will complete its currently announced roadmap."

One of my top early access games is finally getting a second level: a 3-hour underground factory-city with an overhauled, Thief-style stealth system, a new RPG hub area, and an explanation for where all those FPS crates come from
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/one-of-my-top-early-access-games-is-finally-getting-a-second-level-a-3-hour-underground-factory-city-with-an-overhauled-thief-style-stealth-system-a-new-rpg-hub-area-and-an-explanation-for-where-all-those-fps-crates-come-from/
I've been a Fortune's Run freak since first playing its bafflingly good demo level two years ago, and after launching into early access with a single, sprawling space station playground, we're finally seeing what comes next: an underground factory and settlement with a projected three-hour runtime and accompanying sneaking overhaul set to arrive in August.

XDefiant will get team deathmatch in 'a couple weeks' because we hassled them about it lots
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/xdefiant-will-get-team-deathmatch-in-a-couple-weeks-because-we-hassled-them-about-it-lots/
For decades now, FPS developers have been doing everything they can to get us to play their thrilling new objective modes. And also for decades, they've heard us reply: Cool, cool, but what about TDM?
Ubisoft free-to-play shooter XDefiant is the latest to be badgered into including boring old team deathmatch.
"One of the things players have been asking for in the two-and-a-half weeks that we've been live is a TDM mode,"  XDefiant executive producer Mark Rubin said in an IGN interview on Sunday. "So we'll be seeing that in a couple weeks."

FOMO is alive and well—Life is Strange: Double Exposure has a 2-week early access period if you cough up some dough for its Ultimate Edition
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fomo-is-alive-and-well-life-is-strange-double-exposure-has-a-2-week-early-access-period-if-you-cough-up-some-dough-for-its-ultimate-edition/
I was a little hard on Life is Strange earlier this week, but it is still a game I overall liked—which is why it's a shame to see Square Enix shooting itself in the foot with a publishing decision which, on the face of it, doesn't make a lick of sense.

Fans are afraid they'll turn Snake into a walking corpse after Konami announces that any injuries will 'leave their mark permanently'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/fans-are-afraid-theyll-turn-snake-into-a-walking-corpse-after-konami-announces-that-any-injuries-will-leave-their-mark-permanently/
This week has been a pretty great one for Metal Gear Solid fans. The Xbox Games Showcase showed off the first gameplay trailer for MGS Delta, which actually looked promising, and Konami has finally given us a bit more information about the remake. 
The upcoming game's introduction page details a couple of interesting tidbits, like how Konami rendered the characters and setting with Unreal Engine 5, and that players can now opt for a "more modern control style," which will hopefully make getting around more intuitive. However, one new feature has grabbed the attention of players: any injuries inflicted on Snake will leave scars behind. 

GeForce RTX 50 Blackwell GB20X GPU specs have been leaked

https://videocardz.com/newz/geforce-rtx-50-blackwell-gb20x-gpu-specs-have-been-leaked#disqus_thread

NVIDIA’s Data Center GPUs Shipments Crossed Reached Almost 4 Million in 2023, Gained 98% AI Market Dominance

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-data-center-gpus-shipments-crossed-reached-almost-4-million-in-2023-ai-market-dominance/

AMD Navi 48 XTX graphics spotted alongside four different board designs

https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-navi-48-xtx-graphics-spotted-alongside-four-different-board-designs

AMD Ryzen 5 9600X engineering sample gets overclocked to 5.7 GHz across all cores

https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-ryzen-5-9600x-engineering-sample-gets-overclocked-to-5-7-ghz-across-all-cores

AMD launches Peano, an open-source LLVM compiler for Ryzen AI XDNA and XDNA2 NPUs

https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-launches-peano-an-open-source-llvm-compiler-for-ryzen-ai-xdna-and-xdna2-npus

Got to give it to Nvidia to be brazen enough to release another Turing/Ada Lovelace-like generation. Basically upselling the top end SKU, yet again.

Here's hoping that the 5080 is on GB202 instead of GB203. I thought the gap between AD102 and AD103 was nuts but the gap between GB202 and GB203 is insane.

Yeah, unless they raise the number of cuda cores per SM again, only the top two cards might see hardware bumps, with another two actually seeing lower specs. Higher clocks would help, but only to a certain degree.

By the way, it's been confirmed:

AMD has preemptively dropped support for Windows 10 on its new Ryzen AI 300 Series chips
https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-components/cpus/amd-has-dropped-support-for-win-10-for-the-ryzen-ai-300-series-chips
Perhaps in another attempt to convince us that  "AI PCs" are somehow fundamentally different from the PCs we're already using, AMD has officially dropped support for Windows 10 from its new AMD Ryzen AI 300 Series platform. This can be observed by glancing at the official AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 specs page, which now only lists 64-bit versions of Windows 11, Ret Hat Enterprise Linux, and Ubuntu as having official support.

While this sucks, I wouldn't jump to conclusions right away. Since it's a mobile chip, you'll get it with a system that will come with Win 11 installed so, unless you plan to buy a new laptop to replace the OS, it shouldn't be an issue. Also, since the 9000 series desktop parts do suport Win 10, I wouldn't be surprised if MSoft encouraged them to make that move. We know how much MSoft wants to push AI down our throats.