Very impressive uplift for Ryzen processors. On average 10% with upto 35% in some titles by simply updating windows! This doesn't change the scaling with Zen 5 vs Zen 4 however as the difference is still very lame. But against Intel, the 4-5 games Steve have tested, only one showed improvement with the new update but he will be doing an Intel video in the near future.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 “Laptop” GPU To Consume Lower Power Than Ada, Features GDDR7 & RTX 4070-Level Performance

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-geforce-rtx-5060-laptop-gpu-lower-power-than-ada-gddr7-rtx-4070-performance/

Grain of salt

AMD Radeon RX 8000 “RDNA 4” GPU Leaks Out: 56 Compute Units Clocked at 2.1 GHz & 16 GB VRAM

https://wccftech.com/amd-radeon-rx-8000-rdna-4-gpu-leak-56-compute-units-2-1-ghz-16-gb-vram/

AMD Ryzen 9 9950X drops to $623, 9900X now $449 in the US, with prices slashed up to 12% in Germany

https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-ryzen-9-9950x-drops-to-623-9900x-now-449-in-the-us-with-prices-slashed-up-to-12-in-germany

Another week, another round of news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Black Myth: Wukong is already one of the fastest-selling games of all time, moving almost as many units in one week as Elden Ring and Cyberpunk did in their first months
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/black-myth-wukong-is-already-one-of-the-fastest-selling-games-of-all-time-moving-almost-as-many-units-in-one-week-as-elden-ring-and-cyberpunk-did-in-their-first-months/
Black Myth: Wukong's first week of sales numbers are in, and they firmly inhabit "Don't take a big sip of coffee before you look at them" territory. 10 million units sold, which, as industry analyst Daniel Ahmad pointed out on X, "The Everything App," is a record-breaking performance that leaves some of the biggest releases of the past few years in the dust.

Players seem to like Concord, but its $40 price tag has led to a tepid first weekend on PC
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/players-seem-to-like-concord-but-its-40-price-tag-has-led-to-a-tepid-first-weekend-on-pc/
The PlayStation Network doesn't have public player numbers, so it's hard to say what the complete picture is, but things don't look great for Concord on PC. The $40 hero shooter is sitting at mostly positive reviews on Steam, but according to SteamDB, has so far hit a high water mark of just 697 PC players on its opening weekend.

This $10 bundle is incredible value on 7 modern detective games
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/this-dollar10-bundle-is-incredible-value-on-7-modern-detective-games/
A new bundle over on Humble Bundle has me gobmsacked for the sheer value on display for a minimum of $10: The Humble Detectives Bundle is a cornucopia of delightful games about detectives and mysteries and killers from the last few years.
The bundle's made up of film-world-focused mystery Immortality, serial killer thriller Killer Frequency, a fantastical world of dark secrets in Paradise Killer, cosmic horror in Call of Cthulhu, a double-dose of pixel jokes in The Darkside Detective and its sequel A Fumble in the Dark, and a whodunnit where you did it in Overboard.
$10 is pretty convincing as a price for many of those, frankly.
>> It will last 18 days.

GOG starts the week with two sales and an extra:

• The Isometric Sale features up to 90% discounts during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20240826_isometric_games_sale
• It’s hated by kids and loved by parents, but everybody can enjoy the Back to School Sale, with over 5800 games up to 95% off until September 10th: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/2024_back_to_school_sale
• And a new sale brings a new GIVEAWAY: Tropico 4 will be free during 70 hours: https://www.gog.com/en/game/tropico_4

Steam has three new deals:

• Death's Door will be 75% off until the 1st of September: https://store.steampowered.com/app/894020/Deaths_Door/
• Swarm Grinder will be half its price until September 8: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1375900/Swarm_Grinder/
• And PHOGS!, that has a demo, features a 65% discount until September, the 8th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/850320/PHOGS/

And Fanatical’s new Star Deal is Resident Evil 4, 34% off during 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/resident-evil-4

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

INTEL Arc Graphics 32.0.101.5972 driver
https://videocardz.com/driver/intel-arc-graphics-32-0-101-5972
Highlights
Intel® Game On Driver support on Intel® Arc™ A-series Graphics GPUs and Intel® Core™ Ultra with built-in Intel® Arc™ GPUs for:

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 Beta
• SMITE 2
• Star Wars Outlaws
• Visions of Mana

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Fallout 4 gets a large-scale “zombie apocalypse” fan expansion, set in the State of Vermont
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/fallout-4-gets-large-scale-zombie-apocalypse-mod-set-in-the-state-of-vermont/
Fallout 4 fans, here is something for you today. Modder ‘Yogibird111’ has just released a pretty cool fan expansion that adds a brand new world map to Fallout 4. And, since this new free content to the game, we highly recommend downloading it.
Going into more details, Fallout Vermont is a large-scale “zombie apocalypse” mod that is set in the State of Vermont. In this expansion, players will help the locals combat the ferals and slowly unveil a devious conspiracy lurking in the shadows.
Players will be able to explore the world and talk to people to figure out what to do. You’ll meet many interesting characters and factions. Moreover, all characters are fully voiced and lip-synced.
To get to Vermont, you’ll have to use a secret tunnel just north of Sanctuary hills. Thankfully, there’s a marker on the map. Thus, you’ll be able to easily find it.
You can go ahead and download Fallout Vermont from this link. Do note that the mod works with the downgraded GOG version of F4. It will also require the Far Harbor DLC. In theory, it should also work with the Next-Gen Version.
>> The article has an over 30 minutes video.

Super Mario and the Rainbow Stars is a free Mario game for PC
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/super-mario-and-the-rainbow-stars-is-a-free-mario-game-for-pc/
PC Mario fans, here is something cool for you today. We all know that, at least for now, Nintendo does not plan to bring its Mario games to the PC. As such, fans are doing what Nintendon’t (only retro gamers will get this). So, yesterday, a demo for Super Mario and the Rainbow Stars just became available for download.
Super Mario and the Rainbow Stars is a project that aims to bring the unique traits of the Paper Mario and Mario and Luigi series into a fun 2D platformer. In the full game, players will explore 7 different chapters, discover new partners and unique worlds, and stop Starnox’s evil plans.
Super Mario and the Rainbow Stars features new moves, cutscenes, 3D world map, and tons of powerups. Moreover, it comes with a 3 hp life system, partner system, original songs and more.
To celebrate the demo release, Starshi also shared the following gameplay trailer. And as you will see, this free Mario game actually feels like a… Mario game. The game already looks polished and plays great. So, if you are a Mario fan, you should definitely get it.
Now I don’t know whether or not Nintendo will shut it down. I mean, we’re talking about Nintendo. The company that has shut down dozens of free projects. Therefore, I suggest downloading it while you still can.
>> Use the mirror link. Google Drive says that too many people have downloaded it, which is both good (people are interested in it) and bad (Nintendo may get involved faster). Good luck with your attempts.

Black Myth: Wukong just got an in-game map thanks to this mod
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/black-myth-wukong-just-got-an-in-game-thanks-to-this-mod/
Black Myth: Wukong fans, rejoice. One of the biggest issues a lot of players had with this title was the lack of an in-game map. Thankfully, though, a modder was able to address this and released a mod that does exactly that.
Created by modder ‘wmm555’, this mod adds an in-game map. As such, it will be easier now to explore the game’s environments. This is a must-have mod for pretty much everyone. So, make sure to get it.
You can download the mod from this link. Once downloaded, you’ll have to extract it to the “b1” folder to the game root directory. Then, you’ll have to add the “-fileopenlog” command to the Steam startup options. This is a crucial step. If you don’t do it, the mod won’t work.
Once installed, you can press “m” to enter the large map mode, and “n” to switch the camera view. You can use the directions keys to move the map, and your mouse wheel to zoom in or out. You can also use J to mark a location. Finally, with “O” you can Cancel/Resume Pause. Do not open the backpack while paused, though, as it will cause the game to crash.
>> The article has three screenshots.

Doom E1M1 remade in Doom Eternal is honestly kind of quaint
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/doom-e1m1-remade-in-doom-eternal-is-honestly-kind-of-quaint/
The first level of Doom 1993—E1M1—is of course legendary for a lot of reasons. One of those reasons is because a whole, whole lot of people have played it over the years. Even more now that that new little collection of Doom and Doom 2 have released.
Now, a modder going by Bloodshot1 has released a cute little remake of E1M1 using Doom Eternal and its Pistol Restoration mod. Here's a full playthrough by a YouTube channel.
Frankly... E1M1 holds up when you're playing Doom—but ported into Doom Eternal's modern graphics and engine and models it just looks kind of barebones and quaint. A very promising game design student's first project with a boatload of assets from a free store—or something like it. Don't get me wrong, it's still a solid level design... but these days so much more bombast goes into the opening of a big, expensive, generation-defining game, whereas just 30 years ago the design preference was to ease you in with something simple.
>> The video is less than 6 minutes long.

A super fan of Dungeons & Dragons' Githyanki made a Baldur's Gate 3-infused Doom map where you can just hang out and talk to them
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/a-super-fan-of-dungeons-and-dragons-githyanki-made-a-baldurs-gate-3-infused-doom-map-where-you-can-just-hang-out-and-talk-to-them/
If you're anything like me, Baldur's Gate 3 knocked your life off-kilter and sent you on a long and winding personal journey through computer and tabletop RPG history looking for the same magic. Brazil-based indie developer vikintor took the lingering BG3 mania to the next level, though, creating a custom Doom map for his and others' Githyanki tabletop characters to hang out in, built with assets from Baldur's Gate 3 and serving as a bit of an extended, tertiary epilogue to one of its endings.
Baldur's Gate and D&D connection aside, the Githmap's an interesting experience on its own. Totally combat-free and defaulting to a third person perspective, it feels like a hub area from an RPG, maybe the prologue to a Githyanki-themed full game that doesn't exist. Doom's look makes for a nice pairing with the Planescape-y-ness of the whole endeavor, which weaves open cathedral interiors, wood-paneled living quarters, and surreal industrial structures together under an alien sky.
>> There’s a short video in the article.

GAMING NEWS

Avowed and Monster Hunter Wilds may support 60fps only on PC
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/avowed-and-monster-hunter-wilds-may-support-60fps-only-on-pc/
It appears that two highly anticipated triple-A games may support 60fps (and higher framerates) only on the PC. These two games are Avowed and Monster Hunter Wilds. So, from the looks of it, PC gamers will get the best experience in them.

New Dragon Age: The Veilguard video gives a glimpse at high-level combat
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/new-dragon-age-the-veilguard-video-gives-a-glimpse-at-high-level-combat/
EA and BioWare have released a new video that gives us a glimpse at the game’s high-level combat system. Or at least that’s the devs claimed. And, thankfully, it does not contain any spoilers.

Here’s Star Wars: Outlaws at 4K/Ultra with all Ray Tracing effects
https://www.dsogaming.com/articles/heres-star-wars-outlaws-at-4k-ultra-with-all-ray-tracing-effects/
Ubisoft has lifted the review embargo for Star Wars: Outlaws. As such, we’ve decided to share some 4K screenshots from the PC version, running on an NVIDIA RTX 4090 at Ultra with all its Ray Tracing effects. So, go ahead and take a look at them.
>> That doesn’t make it a good game.

Monday news, the second part:

After Borderlands comes crawling back to Steam, Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford responds to people mocking his old predictions about Steam being killed off by the Epic Store: 'Epic is not pressing their advantage'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/after-borderlands-comes-crawling-back-to-steam-gearbox-boss-randy-pitchford-responds-to-people-mocking-his-old-predictions-about-steam-being-killed-off-by-the-epic-store-epic-is-not-pressing-their-advantage/
The inevitable return of Borderlands 4 to Steam, following the third game's Epic Store exclusivity, was the cause of some amusement this week. After the announcement of Borderlands 4 at Gamescom, Gearbox boss Randy Pitchford received a light ribbing over some, uh, bold predictions he made five years ago about how the Epic Store would kill off Valve's omnipresent distribution service. Now, Pitchford has responded to the mockery (which my mum said you should never do as it's just giving them what they want), lamenting the lack of competition for Steam, and claiming that 'Epic is not pressing their advantage.'
>> For God’s Sake. Can’t he shut up?

After four months, hundreds of leaked gameplay videos, and everybody you know having played it, Valve finally admitted Deadlock exists
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/after-four-months-hundreds-of-leaked-gameplay-videos-and-everybody-you-know-having-played-it-valve-finally-admitted-deadlock-exists/
Ever since the first leaks about Deadlock came out in May, Valve's next game has been in a bit of a weird limbo: It has hundreds of gameplay videos in the wild, a public subreddit, and a peak player count of over 44,000 thanks to invites getting passed out like candy⁠—including to Steam tracking website, SteamDB. But the studio itself refused to acknowledge the game's existence until today. Deadlock has a Steam store page, and we're finally allowed to talk about it and share clips, as if that stopped anyone before.
>> Not only that, but a Valve developer has shared a previous version of the game, with Half Life 2 and Left 4 Dead assets.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle devs say an Indy game 'could never be a shooter, should never be a shooter,' so they're embracing his signature whip, improvised brawls, and disguise-based stealth instead
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/indiana-jones-and-the-great-circle-devs-say-an-indy-game-could-never-be-a-shooter-should-never-be-a-shooter-so-they-re-embracing-his-signature-whip-improvised-brawls-and-disguise-based-stealth-instead/
In a conversation with PCG global editor-in-chief Phil Savage at Gamescom, MachineGames developers went into more detail about how Indiana Jones and the Great Circle builds on their prior games like the new Wolfensteins and Chronicles of Riddick: Escape From Butcher Bay. Their emphasis on rollicking, scrappy improvisation has me way more excited than I was before for this adventure.
"Indiana Jones, he's not a gunslinger, right? He doesn't go guns blazing into situations," said Jens Andersson, design director at MachineGames. "So it could never be a shooter, should never be a shooter. But hand to hand combat, that makes total sense."

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle will have challenging puzzles, but also a creative hint system through Indy's camera: 'We don't want you to go to YouTube to look up the solution, because that's immersion-breaking and bad'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/indiana-jones-and-the-great-circle-will-have-challenging-puzzles-but-also-a-creative-hint-system-through-indys-camera-we-dont-want-you-to-go-to-youtube-to-look-up-the-solution-because-thats-immersion-breaking-and-bad/
In addition to improvisational brawling and sneaking, there's another pillar of the Indiana Jones experience MachineGames wants to lean into with the Great Circle: Puzzle solving. Giant stone gears turning improbable ancient machinery, assorted cups and whether a carpenter would be caught dead holding them, I would expect no less from an outing with Dr. Jones. 

Sekiro was so influential, even the next big BioWare and Obsidian RPGs are adding parries and stagger meters
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/sekiro-was-so-influential-even-the-next-big-bioware-and-obsidian-rpgs-are-adding-parries-and-stagger-meters/
I don't know if we'll ever get another Sekiro game, but FromSoftware's 2019 ninja sim lives on in everybody cribbing off its notes. We've already seen fellow soulslikes Wo Long and Lies of P borrow its signature moves, and the Resident Evil 4 Remake used a Sekiro-style parry system to great effect. But it feels like a whole new frontier altogether to see RPG old guards BioWare and Obsidian spice up their upcoming games with some of Sekiro's signature moves.

After years of speculation about whether Avowed takes place before or after Pillars of Eternity, Obsidian casually revealed it's a sequel through a preview quest poking fun at the events of Pillars 2
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/after-years-of-speculation-about-whether-avowed-takes-place-before-or-after-pillars-of-eternity-obsidian-casually-revealed-it-s-a-sequel-through-a-preview-of-a-quest-poking-fun-at-the-events-of-pillars-2/
In a 31-minute Gamescom preview of Avowed by GameSpot, Obsidian has finally revealed when in the Pillars of Eternity timeline its upcoming action RPG, Avowed, takes place. The first-person Pillars spinoff begins at some point after the end of Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire.

Here's how a martial artist created the motions for Baldur's Gate 3 monks
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/baldurs-gate/heres-how-a-martial-artist-created-the-motions-for-baldurs-gate-3s-monks/
A recent video from Larian Studios shows how the motion capture movements of the Monk class in Baldur's Gate 3 were performed by an experienced real-world unarmed martial artist. Michael Li is a French martial artist with 15 years of experience in Wu Dang and Shaolin styles. In addition to the Monk's unarmed combat, Li portrays the combat animations for Elf characters.

I am so here for this zombie game set in a medieval market town
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/i-am-so-here-for-this-zombie-game-set-in-a-medieval-market-town/
One peasant and his pitchfork versus the zombie horde looks to be the concept behind God Save Birmingham, the recently-announced survival crafting game from Ocean Drive Studio. With a short alpha trailer dropped this week at Gamescom and a recently-posted Steam page, God Save Birmingham will be a "physics-based" game set "in a painstakingly recreated medieval market town."

Click Click Dig is a charming little pixelated idler
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/click-click-dig-is-a-charming-little-pixelated-idler/
Okay, idle fans, I've got a new clicker for you: Click Click Dig dropped a new demo this week, and it's looking pretty much like your kind of thing. In it, your little guy ("Diggy") and his friends are tunneling toward the center of various planets in search of special and rare materials. Special and rare materials you'll obviously use to dig deeper, faster, on even more planets.

Flip patties with friends to fill orders in cozy cook-em-up Galaxy Burger
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/flip-patties-with-friends-to-fill-orders-in-cozy-cook-em-up-galaxy-burger/
A new indie will have you flipping burgers for astronauts, aliens, and space cats in a tongue in cheek sci-fi fast food restaurant. Galaxy Burger, the second game from developer Galactic Workshop, is a "relaxing cooking simulator" that's desgined to be no-stress whether you're playing alone or doing online or LAN co-op.

Gloomwood, aka Thief with guns, is getting cutscenes 'done in an early 1900s animated horror style' to introduce major areas and encounters
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/gloomwood-aka-thief-with-guns-is-getting-cutscenes-done-in-an-early-1900s-animated-horror-style-to-introduce-major-areas-and-encounters/
There are few games I enjoy watching the development of as much as Gloomwood. Not only because New Blood Interactive's Thief-inspired immersive sim is one of my most anticipated games, but also because the developers keep adding wonderful little extras that I never would have expected. The most recently announced addition is a wonderful example, with New Blood revealing that Gloomwood is getting cutscenes.

Descending is a free Iron Lung-style horror game where you drill a giant borehole for the glory of your country
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/horror/descending-is-a-free-iron-lung-style-horror-game-where-you-drill-a-giant-borehole-for-the-glory-of-your-country/
I love a shortform horror game about doing a practical job under impractical conditions, by which I mean I loved David Szymanski's terrifying submarine adventure Iron Lung. The procedure, the claustrophobia, the fact it wrapped up in less than an hour, it's a fantastic example of surgically precise game design (and how to scare the bejesus out of me).
Naturally, therefore, I was drawn to Descending like a wayward minnow to the light of an anglerfish. This is a free "experimental horror game" made by indie developer Eugene Radaev, in which you play a new recruit to some government run industrial organisation, tasked with operating two large drills as they bore deep into the Earth. Taking place over several days, you're required to meet a daily drilling distance quota each day, with you retiring to a bed in an adjacent room once your work for the day is done.

WTF Microsoft!? How the heck was Windows 11 kneecapping Zen 4 & 5 so hard. That HUB video was wild. You could hear the astonishment in Steve's voice.

They're so focused on AI and Copilot that they donn't seem to care about anything else.

And this is on a gaming focused SO, as they said when they first launched W11.

Searching it up - FFXVI uses a in house built engine that isnt the Luminous engine.

Unreal Engine is only used for Kingdom Hearts III (and IV) and the FFVII Remake games.

Steam has posted the best launches of July, and that made me realize that I didn't do the post with the June ones. Ups!

I'll have to make them both sometime this week.

Ryzen keeps winning while Intel keeps getting massive Ls. Hopefully they will do better with arrow lake but I'll be keeping my 7800x3d + 4090 probably till 2028 at this rate

When the Windows 11 update finally drops but you and I will be getting generational uplifts from our 7800X3D's. It's be like downloading a new CPU generation. It's funny and sad at the same time.

So I reset my MB to factory settings. Then updated with the most recent stable Bios update and replaced the HDMI cable. No issues anymore, knock on wood. I still don't fully understand what the problem was, but whatever. Seems fixed.