By the way, those of you with Nvidia's 4000 cards should start paying attention to your card thermals and performance. There are cards with problems with the thermal paste used:

https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/graphics-cards/nvidias-third-party-rtx-40-series-gpus-are-losing-performance-over-time-thanks-to-rubbish-factory-installed-thermal-paste/

The original article is from Igor's Lab, but the PCGamer article checked his cards and found the same results.

Pat Gelsinger: My new update on the CPUs make them lose 9% performance.

Jensen Huang: Hold my leather jacket

The Crowdstrike incident reminds me of that scene from T3, only it doesn't involve a rogue AI trying to genocide mankind.

Time for the Tuesday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Steam’s Top 10

(Click here for the Top 100)

Steam has new deals, sales and a bunch of weeklong deals:

• Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden, that has a demo, is going to be 20% off until next Monday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1493640/Banishers_Ghosts_of_New_Eden/
• Publisher Chucklefish puts its games on sale with up to 80% discounts until July 29: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/chucklefish2024
• The Sim Fest brings up to 85% discounts, and also demos, on simulation games until the 29th: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/simfest2024
• Publisher The Behemoth puts its games on sale, up to 90% off until Monday, July 29: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/TheBehemoth2024
• The Quarry will have a 75% discount until the 5th of August: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1577120/The_Quarry/
• Road 96 is going to be 75% off until August 5: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1466640/Road_96/
• And here’s a very small sample of the weeklong deals:
  • POOLS, that has a demo, is going to be 20% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2663530/POOLS/
  • The Faraway Land gets a 40% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1617270/The_Faraway_Land/
  • Pixel Cup Soccer - Ultimate Edition is half its usual price: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1620540/Pixel_Cup_Soccer__Ultimate_Edition/
  • Call of the Sea gets a 60% deal: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1042490/Call_of_the_Sea/
  • Fantasy General II features a 75% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1025440/Fantasy_General_II/
  • And the last one, Do Not Feed the Monkeys, is 82% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/658850/Do_Not_Feed_the_Monkeys/

The Humble Store has four new sales:

• Publisher Annapurna puts its games up to 75% off during the next 6 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/annapurna-summer-spotlight/
• The Chucklefish Publisher Sale features up to 80% discounts during 6 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/chucklefish-publisher-sale/
• Publisher Playstack outdo the other two with up to 90% discounts during the same 6 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/playstack-publisher-sale/
• And Koei Tecmo celebrate its Summer Sale putting its games up to 77% off, but during 13 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/koei-tecmo-summer-joy-sale/

And last but not least, there’s Fanatical, that has a Koei Tecmo Publisher Sale featuring up to 81% deals during 13 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/koei-tecmo-games-co-ltd.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

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MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

This mod adds functional ships to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/this-mod-adds-functional-ships-to-the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim/
Modder ‘Enneal’ has released a pretty cool mod that adds functional ships to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. This mod, alongside the Animated Ships Mod, aim to overhaul the game’s ships. As such, they are a must for all those who want to replay this classic TES game.
Going into more details, the Functional Ships Mod adds to point-to-point travel. Ships will reflect quest progress, as well as world events. Not only that but players will be able to access the interiors of a moving ship. The mod also brings real-time(-ish) travel while inside ships.
As said, this mod should be compatible with the Animated Ships Mod. For those unaware, that mod allowed NPCs to sail their ship through ports, beaches, and sea. Furthermore, players are able to ride on these ships.
You can download the Functional Ships Mod from this link. And, if you are interested in the Animated Ships Mod, you can download it from here.
Do note that these mods are only for the Special Edition of Skyrim. If you have the Legacy/Original version, you won’t be able to use them. Oh, and remember to read their requirements as they may also need some other mods to work.
>> The article has two videos.

A modder has recreated the 1999 PlayStation version of Quake 2 into Quake 2 Remaster, and will release it for free on October 5th
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/a-modder-has-recreated-the-1999-playstation-version-of-quake-2-into-quake-2-remaster-and-will-release-it-for-free-on-october-5th/
Now here is something really cool. Modder ‘Paril’ has recreated the 1999 PlayStation version of Quake 2 into Quake 2 Remastered, and plans to release it on October 5th.
For those unaware, the PlayStation version of Quake 2 had numerous changes to the PC version. For instance, the PlayStation version had 20 levels spread across 5 Units (called missions in the port), compared to the PC version’s 39 levels across 10 units. Most of these levels are modified versions of the PC version’s with reworked geometry to fit the console’s limitations.
The PlayStation version also features two new enemies, the Arachnid and the Guardian. Moreover, it packs some visual changes, although its story follows the one for the PC version.
In short, this is a really cool mod that most Q2 fans will appreciate. Since it takes advantage of Quake 2 Remastered, this fan remake will also look better than the original PSX version.
What’s also cool here is that PC gamers will be able to enjoy all three different versions of Q2. Quake 2 Remastered featured both the PC and the Nintendo 64 versions. And now, thanks to this mod, we’ll be also able to play the PSX version. This right here is why we love mods.
>> The article has an over 1 minute long.

GAMING NEWS

Ubisoft is once again lying to its customers after the latest Assassin’s Creed Shadows controversy
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/ubisoft-is-once-again-lying-to-its-customers-after-the-latest-assassins-creed-shadows-controversy/
A lot has happened these past couple of months after the announcement of Assassin’s Creed Shadows. Now as you all know, we are not interested in politics, which is why we haven’t touched the subject of Yasuke. However, we can’t turn a blind eye to Ubisoft’s latest lies and excuses.

Tuesday news, part two:

Epic's bringing the joy of mocking a passing Cybertruck to Fortnite
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/battle-royale/epics-bringing-the-joy-of-mocking-a-passing-cybertruck-to-fortnite/
If you're playing Fortnite tomorrow and find yourself wondering why that vehicle model in the distance won't fully load in, it's not a graphical bug. That's just the handful of polygons composing the chassis of the Cybertruck, arriving in Fortnite tomorrow in an official collaboration with Tesla. Unclear if Tesla's marketing team was aware that this Fortnite season's slogan is "Wrecked." Happy accidents?
>> That tomorrow is now today.

Who needs College Football 25? The 'fastest growing sport' in the US is now a PC game
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sports/ppa-pickleball-tour-2025-announcement/
Well, we may not be able to play College Football 25 on PC, but never fear—an even more exciting sport, pickleball, has a new "official" videogame that's taking itself very seriously. 

Stardew Valley creator swears 'on the honor of my family name' that he'll never charge money for DLC
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/stardew-valley-creator-swears-on-the-honor-of-my-family-name-that-hell-never-charge-money-for-dlc/
Players have been enjoying Stardew Valley's massive 1.6 update since it arrived back in March—but only if they're playing on PC. Months later, the update that brought the new meadowlands farm type, several new festivals, support for 8-player co-op, and tons more features and fixes still hasn't appeared on other platforms like PlayStations 4 and 5, various Xboxes, the Nintendo Switch, and mobile phones.
(...)
Not everyone is complaining. There are members of the community expressing support, such as one Twitter user who posted: "As long as everything you add is completely free, with a bunch of new content, qol, etc, people won’t complain for the wait." I should point out that this tweet is not actually true—there are players complaining, and there will always be players complaining. (Plus, saying you won't complain as long as you're given "a bunch of new content" for free isn't exactly a ringing statement of support, really.)
But Barone was quick to point out, and in a surprisingly dramatic fashion, that yes, the update is free, and updates to Stardew Valley will always be free, so long as his lungs draw breath.

Warner Bros acquires MultiVersus devs as it shifts focus to free-to-play
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fighting/warner-bros-acquires-multiversus-devs-as-it-shifts-focus-to-free-to-play/
Player First Games, the developers of MultiVersus, has been acquired by Warner Bros. "We have worked with Player First Games over several years to create and launch MultiVersus, and we are very pleased to welcome this talented team to Warner Bros Games," said David Haddad, president of Warner Bros Games, in a statement to IGN.

Your Dragon Age: The Veilguard character can be voiced by the guy who did all the Baldur's Gate 3 sex noises
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/your-dragon-age-the-veilguard-character-can-be-voiced-by-the-guy-who-did-all-the-baldurs-gate-3-sex-noises/
BioWare has revealed the voice talent it's enlisted for Dragon Age: The Veilguard, including the performers who've provided the various voice options for Rook, the game's customizable player character. As pointed out by Eurogamer, one of the voice actors has a particularly carnal credit in their recent history.

Despite its magic and monsters, Dungeons of Hinterberg's developers 'wanted to show a real place' that could explore 'all the layers' of overtourism
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/despite-its-magic-and-monsters-dungeons-of-hinterbergs-developers-wanted-to-show-a-real-place-that-could-explore-all-the-layers-of-overtourism/
Since Dungeons of Hinterberg is a game about a vacation, it's fittingly also a game about tourism. People flock to the imaginary Austrian village not to ski or sightsee but to explore dungeons, fight monsters, and use magic, which appeared seemingly randomly in Hinterberg a few years before the beginning of the game. Protagonist Luisa comes to Hinterberg to destress and have some fun, but by the end of the game she is knee-deep in questions about the impact the commercialization of magic has had on the city.
"It was for sure an angle that we wanted to explore, right from the start," said Phillipp Seifried, cofounder of Microbird, in an interview with PC Gamer. "There's this huge debate about tourism going on in places like Barcelona, which gets millions of tourists a year." 

ColdRidge is a cowboy exploration game that's like playing just the exciting first turns of a Civilization campaign
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/coldridge-is-a-cowboy-exploration-game-thats-like-playing-just-the-exciting-first-turns-of-a-civilization-campaign/
A team of veteran strategy game developers gone indie is working on a neat new concept to release this year: ColdRidge, a game about lone explorers prospecting an ever-changing frontier with a delightful American West aesthetic and also singing French cowboys. Each year in ColdRidge you strike out from a central town to finish missions for the guild, prospecting the area around you for what you need. 

Yep, that'd do it: The Baldur's Gate 3 Patch 7 closed beta is delayed because 'passive dice rolls literally stopped working'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/baldurs-gate/yep-that-d-do-it-the-baldur-s-gate-3-patch-7-closed-beta-is-delayed-because-passive-dice-rolls-literally-stopped-working/
If you're wondering why the closed beta for Baldur's Gate 3's seventh patch is delayed, picture this: You've sat down to play D&D with your mates. You're all excited to toy with some new homebrew content your DM has organised. You go to make a Wisdom (Perception) check to spot anything amiss in the room when, unprompted, your DM reaches across the table, grabs your dice, and throws them out of the window.
That's basically what's going on with Baldur's Gate 3 under the hood right now, as revealed by Larian Studios on Twitter. "The Patch 7 Closed Beta has been delayed. Why? While fixing bugs, passive dice rolls literally stopped working," the post reads. "We’re trying to figure out how we got here, so while we do that, we’ll be pushing the planned Closed Beta back to later this week."

Helldivers 2 announces a massive new update: The Escalation of Freedom, bringing over 3 new enemy types, fresh objectives, a new difficulty, and votekick protection
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/helldivers-2-announces-a-massive-new-update-the-escalation-of-freedom-bringing-over-3-new-enemy-types-fresh-objectives-a-new-difficulty-and-votekick-protection/
Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead Games announced earlier this year that it'd be slowing down its update cadence to deliver bigger, beefier patches—and they certainly meant it.
Announced earlier today, The Escalation of Freedom is a major free update arriving next month that'll be bringing new enemies, mission objectives, a fresh biome, an even harder difficulty, and a clever take on votekick protection.

Looks to be more like a case of "Nvidia is crushing us with their rates, let's see how cheap we can make the GPUs to make as much profit as possible". And, to be honest, it wouldn't surprise me if AMD cards were also affected by this given how some of the manyfacturers caught in this also make AMD cards.

Looks like with Jizz on holidays, there's no one posting hardware news. So, here are some that may interest you:

Intel addresses 13th/14th Gen Core instability: elevated voltage to blame, microcode update incoming
https://videocardz.com/newz/intel-addresses-13th-14th-gen-core-instability-elevated-voltage-to-blame-microcode-update-incoming

It was a problem with their own microcode that pushed too much voltage in some scenarios. The fix should arrive sometime in August.

Intel introduces 14th Gen Core SKUs without E-Cores: 125W Core i9-14901KE features 8 P-Cores, 16 threads
https://videocardz.com/newz/intel-introduces-14th-gen-core-skus-without-e-cores-125w-core-i9-14901ke-features-8-p-cores-16-threads

Alleged AMD Strix Halo appears in the very first benchmark, features 5.36 GHz clock
https://videocardz.com/newz/alleged-amd-strix-halo-appears-in-the-very-first-benchmark-features-5-36-ghz-clock

If this beast came with GDDR6 or 6X, we would be talking about a console SoC.

Italian Zen 5 Review: Ryzen 9 9900X falls short against Ryzen 7 7800X3D in gaming
https://videocardz.com/newz/italian-zen-5-review-ryzen-9-9900x-falls-short-against-ryzen-7-7800x3d-in-gaming

Oh, no! A processor behaving like AMD already said during its announcement would do. Shocking!

Leaker reveals new AMD RDNA4 Ray Tracing features, expected in upcoming PlayStation 5 Pro
https://videocardz.com/newz/leaker-reveals-new-amd-rdna4-ray-tracing-features-expected-in-upcoming-playstation-5-pro

To someone like me, those read as fancy words and empty descriptions that do nothing to tell me what to expect. But your mileage may vary.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50 announcement may slip to 2025
https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidia-geforce-rtx-50-announcement-may-slip-to-2025

And with AMD and Intel also looking to launch ita cards in 2025, it seems that we won't get new cards this year.

Called it with Intel's CPU's. Lower the voltages to prevent electromigration.
They are running the chips way close to the edge of their capabilities... And poorer silicon just can't maintain it, Intel has failed on it's binning and chip validation processes in order to maximize profits by selling poorer performing (electrically) chips at a higher tier.

AMD 7800X3D beating the 9900X is just the same predicament we had with the 5800X3D beating the 7900X... In gaming.
Comparing to a chip that has 2x6c clusters is not ideal anyway.

I wonder if this really solves the problem or just pushes it further down the road.

Also, what is already damaged will not get fixed with that fix, so there could be some CPUs where degradation was close to the threshold of failure that will then die a couple months later. Or not work at all anymore because it already needs those higher voltages to even work anymore.

Also coming with a windows update until you get a Bios update... yeah, that might take a while until everyone is really fixed.

Steve from Gamers Nexus has a video about this btw:

I actually think that the Strix Halo (or more precisely, a Strix Halo variant with RDNA4 GPU) could be the chip in the rumored PS5 Pro, just with different CPUs. It doesn't even need GDDR6 for the bandwidth thanks to quad-channel DDR5-8000 support.

One thing it says is that AMD doubled either the RT cores or their throughput and adding more RT-specific commands to make RT calculations more efficient. In other words, AMD should lose their deficit in RT compared to NVidia unless they also increase their RT capabilities per tensor core.

The Thursday Wednesday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

GOG has quite a few new deals:

• These are the new Limited Time Deals, that will last 46 hours:
  • The first one is 1000xRESIST, 10% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/1000xresist
  • Kenshi gets a 60% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/kenshi
  • Empire Earth 2 Gold Edition features a 67% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/empire_earth_2_gold
  • The Walking Dead: The Telltale Definitive Series is gong to be 75% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/the_walking_dead_the_telltale_definitive_series
• The new Strategy Promo features up to 90% discounts during 6 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/2024_strategy_promo
• The new Weekly Sale is live, with up to 95% off games during 6 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20240723_weekly_deals_3_july
• A Medieval Fantasy Sale called Of Legends & Tales Promo will feature up to 95% discounts during 6 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/2024_of_legends_fantasy
• And the last one from GOG, the All Your Favorite Heroes Promo, has games up to 90% off during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/2024_all_your_fave_heroes_popculture

Steam has three new deals:

• Patron is going to be 80% off until July 30: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1538570/Patron/
• Loop Hero gets a 75% discount until the 5th of August: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1282730/Loop_Hero/
• And Scars Above will be 80% off until the 6th of August: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1196090/Scars_Above/

And Fanatical’s new Star Deal is Slayers X: Terminal Aftermath: Vengance of the Slayer, 50% off during 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/slayers-x-terminal-aftermath-vengance-of-the-slayer.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

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MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Someone is working on a fan remake of the 1993 Star Wars: Rebel Assault in Unreal Engine 5
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/someone-is-working-on-a-fan-remake-of-the-1993-star-wars-rebel-assault-in-unreal-engine-5/
YouTube’s ‘UnrealWars’ appears to be working on a fan remake of Star Wars: Rebel Assault in Unreal Engine 5. Although there is currently no ETA, you can find below the first trailer for it.
Star Wars: Rebel Assault was a 1993 rail shooter that came out on MS-DOS and old consoles. From what I remember, the game can be finished in an hour or so.
Unlike other fan remakes, this one will most likely see the light of day. After all, this is a rail shooter. So, in theory, UnrealWars should be able to finish it.
In Star Wars: Rebel Assault, players will join Rookie One as they pilot iconic starfighters, engage in intense dogfights, and embark on daring missions against the Empire.
>> The article has a short video.

GAMING NEWS

Former EA devs are making a 3v3 basketball game without all the 'GM modes and micromanagement and opening packs' of modern pro sports games
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/sports/former-ea-devs-are-making-a-3v3-basketball-game-without-all-the-gm-modes-and-micromanagement-and-opening-packs-of-modern-pro-sports-games/
Each year's slate of new pro sports games comes with a goofy set of new proper nouns to describe their cutting-edge animation and physics systems: Madden introduced "FieldSENSE" a few years ago, for instance, and now Madden NFL 25 promises "FieldSENSE powered by BOOM Tech." You can't make this stuff up, unless you're EA of course, in which case you literally have.
A group of former EA developers have left that technical arms race behind to make a different kind of sports game, one they think has been missing from the scene. Announced today, The Run: Got Next is a 3v3 arcade basketball game with quick matches for our hopelessly corroded attention spans (and no BOOM Tech). And unlike certain other sports games—EA's new college football game comes to mind—it's getting a PC release as a priority.

'Our resolve is unwavering and should not be tested': Major union SAG-AFTRA breaks glass on big red strike button as negotiations continue on voice actor AI protections
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/our-resolve-is-unwavering-and-should-not-be-tested-major-union-sag-aftra-breaks-glass-on-big-red-strike-button-as-negotiations-continue-on-voice-actor-ai-protections/
(...)
Aside from the fact we've now got to worry about Google's new features recommending we drink our own wee, generative AI has been a nightmare for voice actors, and videogame companies haven't been doing enough to protect performers according to SAG-AFTRA. As an announcement statement reads:
"Our resolve is unwavering and should not be tested. Our membership voted more than 98% yes to authorise a strike of this contract should the employers not come to the table with a deal that includes our critical provisions—especially in A.I."

Ubisoft's live-service pirate sim Skull and Bones pulls into port on Steam this August
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/adventure/ubisofts-live-service-pirate-sim-skull-and-bones-pulls-into-port-on-steam-this-august/
Skull and Bones! Ubisoft's pirate sim wasn't great when I tried it: A hodge-podge of not particularly thrilling systems that were anyway obscured by all sorts of live-service stuff. Our Shaun Prescott scored it 68% in his Skull and Bones review, while Tyler Wilde found that it just made him really want to see what was going on in Sea of Thieves. Not glowing recommendations, in general.
And yet, to its credit, Ubisoft keeps trying. In the wake of a free week and the game's second season, the company has announced that Skull and Bones will finally be making the long voyage over to Steam, where it'll launch on August 22. The Steam page is live now, in case you'd like to go and marvel at it.