I just realized I'm like Tim the Toolman Taylor.... I want to upgrade my PC to more power for no good reason.
I just realized I'm like Tim the Toolman Taylor.... I want to upgrade my PC to more power for no good reason.
This may have been posted previously, so apologies if I am posting known information:
“To continue the excitement of the Stellar Blade IP, we are preparing for its release on PC in the near future, and we expect better results on PC than on consoles,” Shift Up replies in a second-quarter factsheet from Thursday August 14"
I'm excited, likely day 1.
Valve Releases Steam Deck OLED: Limited Edition At $679, Featuring An All-White Exterior
https://wccftech.com/valve-steam-deck-oled-limited-edition-679-usd-an-all-white-exterior/
Nvidia has reportedly killed production of all RTX 40 GPUs apart from the 4050 and 4060 as affordable 50-series GPUs could arrive earlier than expected
Intel To Reportedly Outsource More “Arrow Lake” Orders To TSMC; Team Blue No Longer Confident In Its Foundry Business
https://wccftech.com/intel-outsource-more-arrow-lake-orders-to-tsmc-no-longer-confident-in-foundry/
AMD Positions Ryzen 7 9800X3D As The Competition Against Intel’s Top Core i9-14900KS Gaming CPU
AMD Makes Big Gains In DIY Korean Market, Reaching 60% CPU Market Share While Intel Arrow Lake Sales Plummet
https://wccftech.com/amd-big-gains-diy-korean-market-while-intel-arrow-lake-sales-plummet/
TSMC “Forbidden” To Manufacture 2nm Chips Outside Taiwan; Raising Questions On The Future of TSMC-US Ambitions
AMD Mobile CPU & GPU “2025-2026” Update Includes Ryzen APU Refreshes, Strix Halo, Fire Range, Krackan & Radeon RX 8000 Series
It has officially released!
Last edited by Jizz_Beard_thePirate - on 12 November 2024
PC Specs: CPU: 7800X3D || GPU: Strix 4090 || RAM: 32GB DDR5 6000 || Main SSD: WD 2TB SN850
The Tuesday news:
SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS
Steam’s Top 10
(Click here for the Top 100)
Final Fantasy 14 is still the load-bearing, reliable breadwinner for Square Enix, even with Dawntrail's bumpy post-launch reception
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/final-fantasy-14-is-still-the-load-bearing-reliable-breadwinner-for-square-enix-even-with-dawntrails-bumpy-post-launch-reception/
Final Fantasy 14 has a bit of a problem—it's made by Square Enix. Alright, maybe that's a little harsh, but it's sort of bearing out in the financials year after year. Back in August, it was observed that, even before the launch of the MMO's recent expansion, Dawntrail, the game was carrying the weight of the company on its shoulders, keeping the company as profitable as it can be.
A recent set of financial results for the past fiscal year has continued to show that, yes—even with Dawntrail's mixed, bumpy reception, Final Fantasy 14 (and Dragon Quest 10, to a lesser extent) is still the breadwinner, putting on its little tie and suit before going off to break its back and fund the company's other ill-advised projects and underperforming AAA games (thanks, Automaton).
You can read the report yourself, which goes over the first half of the fiscal year 2025 (which'll confusingly end in March 2025 for Square, but I don't make the rules) but here's the summary: While net sales are down, operating income's up, due in part to "the expansion pack release in the MMO sub-segment".
The "HD Games" sub-segment, which includes those big mainline releases like Final Fantasy 16 and Final Fantasy 7: Rebirth, was down ¥16.2 billion year-on-year in terms of net sales, while there was a ¥3.6 billion loss in terms of operating income. Meanwhile, the "Games for Smart Devices/PC Browser" sub-segment was down ¥16.2 billion in net sales, with a ¥4.9 billion loss in terms of operating income.
In saunters the MMO sub-segment, presumably wearing a glittering pair of shades and dumping a fat sack of money on the table, which had a ¥8.5 billion increase in net scales, and an operating year-on-year bump of ¥3.8 billion. The total numbers are also bonkers, too—while that HD games segment actually lost Square Enix ¥1.2 billion, the MMO one raked in ¥13.1 billion in operating income. When it comes to cost-efficiency, Square's MMOs are doing laps around the most recent entries in Final Fantasy.
Astarion has breached the Vatican—Baldur's Gate 3 has sold 2 copies in Vatican City, says Larian's director of publishing
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/baldurs-gate/astarion-has-breached-the-vatican-baldurs-gate-3-has-sold-2-copies-in-vatican-city-says-larians-director-of-publishing/
The Vatican now has exactly two Baldur's Gate 3 copies being played inside its hallowed walls, according to Larian's director of publishing, who took to X today to share his findings. This marks a second notable instance of gaming behaviour by the Catholic Church this year, as in July, it ordained its first gamer saint.
"Sold 2 copies of Baldur's Gate 3 in The Vatican, with 1 wishlist," writes Michael Douse. "I'd like to think the latter is just the Pope waiting until he has a free minute. Wish I could see their mod list. Bet it's absolutely gnarly."
While two copies doesn't sound like a whole lot, it's important to remember what Vatican City actually is— a 121-acre patch of land in Rome that's its own sovereign entity, and the seat of the Catholic Church. It has a population of about 764, half of which don't even live in the place. Just over 100 of that number includes the Papal Swiss Guard.
GOG has two new sales/promos:
Steam has new deals and, of course, new weeklong deals:
Today Fanatical only has two 24h Flash Deals:
SOFTWARE & DRIVERS
NVIDIA GeForce Game Ready 566.14 driver
https://videocardz.com/driver/nvidia-geforce-game-ready-566-14
Highlights
Game Ready for S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2: Heart of Chornobyl and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024
This new Game Ready Driver provides the best gaming experience for the latest newgames supporting DLSS 3 technology including S.T.A.L.K.E.R 2: Heart of Chornobyl and Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024.
Fixed Issues
Fixed Gaming Bugs
Fixed General Bugs
Steam's latest update promises better betas, barely a bundle of broken save games
https://www.pcgamer.com/software/platforms/steams-latest-update-promises-better-betas-barely-a-bundle-of-broken-save-games/
Pop quiz, hotshot: How do you install a beta version of a game on Steam? That's right, you right-click the game you want to em-beta-fy, hit properties, go down to betas, potentially enter some kind of complex password that unlocks the branch you want, then select the correct build from a drop-down box.
A nightmarish process of almost dizzying complexity. Kind of. Okay, not really. It's actually totally fine, but Valve is making it even easier nonetheless. A post on the Steamworks blog last Friday alerted devs to the fact that they could now get their players into and out of beta versions of their games with ease. Smoother, faster, downright expeditiously.
(...)
Plus, if you've ever gotten deep into an early access game, you'll know the sheer pain that can come from a sudden update making mincemeat of your saves, forcing you to restart from scratch or—if you're me—wander off forever, never to return to the game again. As Valve puts it, "trouble can arise when players with dozens or hundreds of hours of playtime find that their save file no longer works with the latest version of the game."
To put a stop to that, a new API will let devs "add some logic to your game to check if there is an existing save file, and for which version of the game that save file is for. If the game the user is running is newer than that version, you could prompt the user." Essentially, if the game realises you're running a save that's going to get broken by a patch, the devs can use the new tools to flash up a warning and let you opt to stay on the older, compatible version of the game, which I expect to pop up as an addition to Crusader Kings 3 any day now.
MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS
-Empty-
GAMING NEWS
Indiana Jones and the Great Circle gets an official gameplay deep dive trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/indiana-jones-and-the-great-circle-gets-an-official-gameplay-deep-dive-trailer/
Microsoft and Bethesda have released an official gameplay deep dive trailer for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle. This trailer details the key gameplay features of this new Indiana Jones game. So, if you are looking forward to it, I suggest watching it.
Rogue Point is a new game from the devs of Half-Life: Black Mesa
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/rogue-point-is-a-new-game-from-the-devs-of-half-life-black-mesa/
Crowbar Collective, the devs behind the amazing remake of Half-Life, Black Mesa, has announced its new game. This new game is called Rogue Point, and it will be a co-op tactical roguelite first-person shooter.
Please excuse my bad English.
Currently gaming on a PC with an i5-4670k@stock (for now), 16Gb RAM 1600 MHz and a GTX 1070
Steam / Live / NNID : jonxiquet Add me if you want, but I'm a single player gamer.
Tuesday news, part two:
Overwatch: Classic brings the 2016 game back as a limited-time event and promises to 'capture the charm' of its original heroes and maps
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/overwatch-classic-brings-the-2016-game-back-as-a-limited-time-event-and-promises-to-capture-the-charm-of-its-original-heroes-and-maps/
It's almost like all the popular shooters got together and decided that what they really need is a little bit of nostalgia. Fortnite brought back its original map last year, Apex Legends is doing the same thing right now, and tomorrow, Overwatch will rewind time in its own throwback mode.
Blizzard calls it Overwatch: Classic, a limited-time mode in Overwatch 2 that will attempt to recreate the original Overwatch experience as it was the day it launched. It won't be a 1:1 remake—maps, UI, and sound effects will remain as they are in Overwatch 2—but the heroes will all play like they did eight years ago: D.Va's exploding mech will take her out with it, Torbjorn will hand out armor packs, and Mercy will once again be able to resurrect her entire team at once.
>> That tomorrow is today.
Holy cow, Stalker 2 needs 150GB of SSD space, and you've got 9 days to figure out where you're going to put it
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/holy-cow-stalker-2-needs-150gb-of-ssd-space-and-youve-got-9-days-to-figure-out-where-youre-going-to-put-it/
Stalker 2: Heart of Chornobyl is out in just over a week, which makes this a good time to remind all you eager Zone hunters out there that if you're hurting for storage space, it might finally be time for a new (and, more to the point, bigger) SSD.
Take-Two boss gets philosophical about 'entropy' and life after Grand Theft Auto: 'If we're not trying new things ... we're really running the risk of burning the furniture to heat the house'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/take-two-boss-gets-philosophical-about-entropy-and-life-after-grand-theft-auto-if-were-not-trying-new-things-were-really-running-the-risk-of-burning-the-furniture-to-heat-the-house/
Nothing lasts in our garden of Earthly delights, not even hit videogames, and that's why it's vital to try new things—so says Strauss Zelnick, chairman and CEO of Take-Two Interactive, the man who's presided over the sale of more than 205 million Grand Theft Auto videogames, one of the biggest and most consistent hit series of all time.
Zelnick's philosophical musing came during last week's Q2 2025 investors call, in response to a question about whether consumers are receptive to new things as opposed to old things. Take-Two, the parent of Rockstar Games, is at first blush very much known for its "legacy IP"—most obviously Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead Redemption. But Zelnick is seemingly envisioning a future in which those games aren't quite the behemoths they have been over the past two decades.
>> Surprising words from someone that has just sold Private Division, that focused on new, albeit small scale, games.
Following Arcane's season 2 premiere, Riot drops our first look at Jinx's moves in fighting game 2XKO
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fighting/following-arcanes-season-2-premiere-riot-drops-our-first-look-at-jinxs-moves-in-fighting-game-2xko/
Following the release of the first set of Arcane season two episodes this past weekend, Riot has revealed some of the moves that sympathetic series antagonist Jinx will be working with in 2XKO, the League of Legends fighting game currently in closed beta testing.
Sony says it should've gotten more feedback before launching Concord, but it isn't done with live service games despite 'a certain amount of risk'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/concord-sony-live-service-strategy/
Sony says it should have solicited more internal and external feedback before launching Concord, the multiplayer shooter that sold so poorly the publisher canned it just two weeks after it launched. Next time, Sony will need "more detailed confirmation, or validation" that a given live service game can be successful, executive Hiroki Totoki said during a recent Q&A with investors.
Eric Barone warns that Stardew Valley's hat mouse has gone missing, but only in Spanish games
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/eric-barone-warns-that-stardew-valleys-hat-mouse-has-gone-missing-but-only-in-spanish-games/
Stardew Valley's 1.6.9 update has arrived with a few hiccups, including missing chickens and a sudden announcement to remove all hats from pets to avoid performance issues, and these peculiar problems aren't slowing down. Fortunately, ConcernedApe has reassured us with various responses that things will be taken care of in the next update, but when that will be remains a mystery.
The newest issue raised by a player on X states that the hat mouse, the beloved character responsible for selling you new hats, is completely missing from its usual location southeast of the Wizard Tower. But rather than stopping players from buying hats, the door to its shed can still be interacted with to open the shop menu. Bizarrely, the issue is only affecting players with their language set to Spanish, which ConcernedApe warned in response to the bug being flagged, alongside the confirmation that it will be resolved in the next update alongside everything else.
Proposed class action lawsuit claims The Crew players were 'duped', bizarrely comparing the game shutting down to Ubisoft breaking into your house and stealing parts of a pinball machine
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/racing/proposed-class-action-lawsuit-claims-the-crew-players-were-duped-bizarrely-comparing-the-game-shutting-down-to-ubisoft-breaking-into-your-house-and-stealing-parts-of-a-pinball-machine/
Two Californians are suing Ubisoft over fraud, and several other complaints, due to the publisher's shutdown of The Crew in April, which left players unable to access even the singleplayer portion of this online-only racing game. While the lawsuit (spotted by Polygon) only includes two plaintiffs, the claims are also being made on behalf of other players as well, with the plaintiffs hoping the court will approve it as a class action.
Final Fantasy 14's latest patch gives one of Dawntrail's most critically panned scenes a do-over
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/final-fantasy/final-fantasy-14s-latest-patch-gives-one-of-dawntrails-most-critically-panned-scenes-a-do-over/
Final Fantasy 14's first major patch since Dawntrail's release is finally here, with some much-anticipated changes and those more questionable in nature. Among the preliminary patch notes last week, I noticed it mentioned that "English voiced dialogue in certain scenes has been adjusted," specifically for the latest expansion.
Some endgame Dawntrail spoilers below, you've been warned!
Please excuse my bad English.
Currently gaming on a PC with an i5-4670k@stock (for now), 16Gb RAM 1600 MHz and a GTX 1070
Steam / Live / NNID : jonxiquet Add me if you want, but I'm a single player gamer.
Chrkeller said: "We expect better results on PC than on consoles" |
So they expect (or even secretly plant) nude patches?
Zkuq said: Wow, Sony found a way to make the PSN account requirement even worse - by blatantly lying about it. I used to like Sony the best among the console companies, but it has somehow managed to become the worst by far. I'm sure Microsoft would like to be worse, but it's not in a position to be, so it's not, so that dubious victory goes to Sony instead. What a despicable company (and no, I'm not saying this just because of the account requirement, it's actually a lot of things across the years - among which GaaS games aren't actually a major thing). |
I'd still call Nintendo the worst with all the things they're doing, like going after youtubers for playing their games (and I'm talking about the released games, not piraed and leaked ones), going after Smash or Mario Kart tournaments and, of course, all the lawsuits and the dirty tricks it's triying with Pocketpair.
But i understand you, Sony isn't doing anything towin the heart of gamers, quite the contrary.
Maybe this will cheer you up as it hurts both Sony and the f*cking scalpers:
Break out the world's tiniest violin: PS5 Pro scalpers are having a tough time reselling units because it's in stock basically everywhere
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/break-out-the-worlds-tiniest-violin-ps5-pro-scalpers-are-having-a-tough-time-reselling-units-because-its-in-stock-basically-everywhere/
In news sure to have you crying in your cereal, it seems that Sony PlayStation 5 Pro scalpers have forgotten basic market economics, and as a result, they're struggling to shift the new console at anything close to the ridiculous reseller markups we saw around the launch of the base model.
(...)
However, a seemingly smaller demand for the PS5 Pro, alongside widespread availability among many retailers, means that resellers have been spotted dumping PS5 Pro stock for the same $699 MSRP as retail (via Techspot). Some have even been spotted selling for slightly cheaper, suggesting that this is one product that's become bad news for the reseller market.
The console is available everywhere also means that Sony has shifted more consoles than there are customers wanting to buy them. It could be like the PS VR2, that had a good launch but died shortly after.
Please excuse my bad English.
Currently gaming on a PC with an i5-4670k@stock (for now), 16Gb RAM 1600 MHz and a GTX 1070
Steam / Live / NNID : jonxiquet Add me if you want, but I'm a single player gamer.
...I think I'd personally call Nintendo just old-fashioned. I don't like what they're doing to earn that assessment, but at the same point, Nintendo isn't pulling off too much nonsense either. Definitely not a fan of Nintendo either, but they still have a good amount my respect - probably mostly for not being terrible.
Scalpers not getting their win always brings me joy. The PS5 Pro not selling out also brings me joy, because that console is absolute nonsense and terrible value and only going to get worse as tech evolves.
And Steam says goodbye to Windows 7 and Windows 8.
https://www.tomshardware.com/video-games/pc-gaming/steam-drops-windows-7-and-8-support-with-the-latest-client-users-told-to-update-to-a-more-recent-version-of-windows-to-continue-gaming
Not the end of the world, Windows 10/11 is very usable... And definitely not a massive impact like when Steam stopped supporting Win9X taking a whole heap of compatibility with it.
--::{PC Gaming Master Race}::--
How do I get invited to the Steam VG group? I'd like to spend more time there and less here. My user name on Steam is Chrkeller. Any thoughts?