NVIDIA CEO, Jensen Huang, To Deliver CES 2025 Keynote on 6th January: Next-Gen GPU Announcements Imminent

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-ceo-jensen-huang-ces-2025-keynote-6th-january/

Foldable keyboard with built-in AMD Ryzen 7 8840U Mini-PC debuts at $579

https://videocardz.com/newz/foldable-keyboard-with-built-in-amd-ryzen-7-8840u-mini-pc-debuts-at-579

Samsung Purchases $20 Million Worth of AMD MI300X Data Center GPUs for AI Development

https://wccftech.com/samsung-amd-instinct-mi300x-ai-gpus-data-center-ai-worth-20-million-usd/

Fun little video about the state of things and how we got here.

So, mid-to-end of January for the 5000 series launch?

When I first heard about that keyboard-Mini PC I thought it was cool but not really useful. But it turns out that it has a battery?! Now it's certainly a lot more useful.

And I've watched the video. It's not too bad, but he makes some very intentional jumps in the story to justify his own vision of how things went and why.

I have no expectations but hopefully Halo will go back to being a flagship title. Sony needs xbox to keep them in check as much as Nvidia needs Radeon and AMD needs Intel. Otherwise we get joke of a console like PS5 Pro costing $700 without a disk drive.

This gen might actually be one of the worst generations in gaming history.

I wish I could hit the agree button even harder. This console generation has been absolutely awful if you care about value. I haven't feen following numbers very closely, but it also sounds like Sony's gaming profits match this assessment.

MSoft messed it up (again) with that awful memory configuration, as well as making the series S so less powerful. Forcing devs to also launch their games on it doesn't help, but it's not like MSoft had another choice there, why launching a console that has no games?

Anyway, going with UE5 will allow the team to spend more time focusing on the story and gameplay and less working on making the engine work, which apparently was a problem with Infinite.

I always knew we would end up being where we are right now.

I remember being laughed at for thinking games like Final Fantasy would make Steam a major platform for the series.

Lo and behold.

So Metaphor requires a CPU that supports AVX. What is AVX? I assume my rig will run it fine, but I'm curious.

Advanced Vector Extensions. Supported by Sandy bridge or newer. The steam listed minimun is an Intel Core i5-3470.

Thanks, much appreciated.  I have a gen 13, so I'll be good.  I hadn't seen that requirement previously.

The Tuesday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Steam’s Top 10

(Click here for the Top 100)

GOG has the Craft Away Promo, featuring up to 93% discounts during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20241008_craft_away_promo.

Steam has several sale and also new weeklong deals:

• The Digital Board Games Autumn Sale 2024 has up to 80% discounts. The length of the discounts vary, between the 12th and the 14th (as far as I’ve seen): https://store.steampowered.com/developer/Acram/sale/digitalboardgamesautumnsale2024
• The Ada Lovelace Day Sale has demos and also games up to 85% off until October 14: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/AdaLovelaceDay
• Publisher Aerosoft GmBH puts its games up to 90% off until the 14th of October: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/AerosoftPublisherSale2024
• Publisher HypeTrain Digital puts its games on sale with up to 90% discounts until October, the 21st: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/hypetrain_sale2024
• The Thunderful Publisher Sale has games up to 94% off. Most games don’t list when the deal will end, and those that do list one, have a different one. All I can say is that some deals will end the 10th while others will last until the 21st: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/ThunderfulSale2024
• And these are some of the weeklong deals:
  • Kingdom, Dungeon, and Hero, that has a demo, will be 20% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2572400/Kingdom_Dungeon_and_Hero/
  • Antioch: Scarlet Bay gets a 45% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1919140/Antioch_Scarlet_Bay/
  • Palindrome Syndrome: Escape Room is half its price: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1374290/Palindrome_Syndrome_Escape_Room/
  • Tales of Symphonia has a 75% discount: https://store.steampowered.com/app/372360/Tales_of_Symphonia/
  • And Magrunner: Dark Pulse is 90% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/209630/Magrunner_Dark_Pulse/

I’m sure you’ll be as shocked as I am, but the Humble Store also features the HypeTrain Digital Publisher Sale, with the same up to 90% discounts. The sale will last during 13 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/hypetrain-publisher-sale/.

And Fanatical’s new Star Deal is The Wild Eight, with a 96% deal during 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/the-wild-eight.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

INTEL Arc Graphics 32.0.101.6083/5736 driver
https://videocardz.com/driver/intel-arc-graphics-32-0-101-6083-5736
Highlights
Intel® Game On Driver support on Intel® Arc™ A-series Graphics GPUs and Intel® Core™ Ultra with built-in Intel® Arc™ GPUs for:

• Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred Expansion
• DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO
• Silent Hill 2

Game performance improvements on Intel® Arc™ A-Series Graphics Products versus Intel® 31.0.101.6079 software driver for:

• God of War Ragnarök (DX12)
  • Up to 9% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Ultra settings
  • Up to 34% average FPS uplift at 1440p with Ultra settings

Fixed Issues
Intel® Arc™ A-Series Graphics Products:

• FC25 (DX12) may exhibit intermittent green corruption in the game menu and during gameplay

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Baldur’s Gate 3 Real-Time Combat Mod Available for Download
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/baldurs-gate-3-real-time-combat-mod-available-for-download/
Baldur’s Gate 3 fans, here is something special for you today. Last month, a mod was teased for BG3 that aimed to implement a real-time combat system to it. And today, we are happy to report that its first WIP version is available for download.
In its current state, the Brawl – Real Time Combat Mod is only meant to be used with standalone game modes, like Trials of Tav. For those unaware, Trials of Tav is a roguelike mod for BG3. With these standalone game modes, the mod appears to be working ideally. So, if you want a bug-free experience, I suggest using it with that roguelike mod.
The modder is also working on making his mod work with the game’s single-player campaign. However, right now, you might encounter a lot of bugs and issues with it. But hey, who am I kidding here? Despite these warnings, I’m certain that a lot of Baldur’s Gate 3 fans will try it with the SP campaign. Just make sure to back up your save files.
>> There’s an over 7 minutes video in the article.

GAMING NEWS

A sequel to Alien Isolation is officially in early development
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/a-sequel-to-alien-isolation-is-officially-in-early-development/
Now here is a pleasant surprise. Creative Assembly has just announced they’re working on a sequel to one of the best Alien games ever, Alien Isolation. This is something Alien fans have been asking for over the years. And now, after 10 long years, we’re finally getting a new survival horror Alien game. At last.

DRAGON BALL Sparking! ZERO can easily hit 60fps at 4K/Max Settings on PC, but suffers from shader compilation stutters
https://www.dsogaming.com/articles/dragon-ball-sparking-zero-can-easily-hit-60fps-at-4k-max-settings-on-pc-but-suffers-from-shader-compilation-stutters/
DRAGON BALL Sparking! ZERO is now available to those who have pre-ordered its Deluxe/Ultimate versions. The game is powered by Unreal Engine 5, and it will be available to everyone on October 11th. We’ve tested this new DB title and we have some good and some bad news for you. And yes. As the title implies, the game suffers from major shader compilation stutters.

Red Dead Redemption Remaster is coming to PC on October 29th and here are its PC Requirements
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/red-dead-redemption-remaster-is-coming-to-pc-on-october-29th-and-here-are-its-pc-requirements/
And it’s finally official. Rockstar has just announced that Red Dead Redemption Remaster will be officially coming to PC on October 29th. Moreover, the team has shared its official PC system requirements which you can find below.