Pretty much the worst case for the PS5 Pro but also very much a "put your money where your mouth is." Gaf has a pretty good summary if yall wanna read. But at 30fps with the internal resolution of base ps5 1270p + FSR2 vs ps5 pro 1224p + PSSR, the results are a mixed bag where in some situations, FSR2 is better while others, PSSR is better. Comparing 60fps mode, 864p ps5 pro and comparing against DLSS at the same resolutions, Nvidia continues to show how it's done but certain aspects continues to be worse than even FSR 2 for PSSR. Certainly needs more time in the oven with this low of a resolution since traditionally, DLSS has shown to dominate lower resolutions so you would think PSSR would easily beat FSR2 like DLSS does but doesn't seem to be an easy win as of now.

https://www.neogaf.com/threads/digital-foundry-alan-wake-2-ps5-pro-tech-review-pro-vs-ps5-pssr-vs-dlss-pro-rt-vs-pc.1677407/

Intel Hints At Dedicated Cache Tile For CPUs But Not For Desktops

https://wccftech.com/intel-hints-at-dedicated-cache-tile-for-cpus-but-not-for-desktops/

Corsair confirms 12V-2X6 power connector and 450W+ for next-gen (NVIDIA RTX 50) GPUs

https://videocardz.com/newz/corsair-confirms-12v-2x6-power-connector-and-450w-for-next-gen-nvidia-rtx-50-gpus

Half Life 2 celebrates 20th anniversary, RTX edition now listed on Steam

https://videocardz.com/newz/half-life-2-celebrates-20th-anniversary-rtx-edition-now-listed-on-steam

Lossless Scaling beta now features “Snapdragon Game Super Resolution 1” option

https://videocardz.com/newz/lossless-scaling-beta-now-features-snapdragon-game-super-resolution-1-option

The game that started my Steam collection...

One of my last retail imports (because I liked the G-Man cover of the PC Big Box better):

Of course there's a free weekend for Left 4 Dead 2 when I'm travelling. The problem? There's an achievement you get by helping free weekend players survive a campaign. Obviously you can't do that unless there's a free weekend going on, and I want that achievement. Oh well... Maybe trying on Sunday evening when I get back works.

When did that happen?

I know the installers don't work with those old operating systems but I have some old DOS games I got on GOG about 10 years ago that work perfectly fine on my old PC

Also, how did you get an SSD work under Win98? Are there SSD drivers for those old OS?

Despite me being a cheapskate and my aversion to early access titles, I have bought Ghost Master: Resurrection. A remake of one of my favorite games, it looks a little rough around the edges, but I'm happy that it even exists.

No drivers needed. Just used an IDE to SATA adapter.
Obviously there won't be anything like TRIM available, but it's a non-issue considering how much data Win98 swaps around anyway. Just don't do a defrag.
Also patched the OS for USB storage support.

The Monday news are here:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

More people are playing Half-Life 2 now than at any point since Steam started keeping track
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/more-people-are-playing-half-life-2-now-than-at-any-point-since-steam-started-keeping-track/
Taking a look at SteamDB, the hullabaloo around Half-Life 2's 20th anniversary has sent fans coming back to the single player FPS in droves: With a 24 hour peak of 52,027 players at the time of writing, that's more people playing Half-Life 2 than at any point since Steam started keeping track of concurrent players (or at least the data became available) in 2008.
Now that is a big asterisk, missing both Half-Life 2's original release in 2005 and the launch of the Orange Box in 2007. All the same, it's still an impressive showing for a 20-year-old singleplayer game. While pure nostalgia and hype from the release of Valve's 2-hour anniversary documentary are definitely big factors, the main driver is likely Valve's beefy new update to Half-Life 2.

GOG has two new promos:

• The Bargains Bazaar Promo is full of all kinds of games up to 90% off during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20241118_bargains_bazaar
• Meanwhile, in the Gore & Violence Promo you’ll games up to 95% discounts during the same 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20241118_gore_violence_promo

Steam has two new deals:

• The Oregon Trail, the new one, is going to be 50% off until the 25th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2013360/The_Oregon_Trail/
• Godhood has a 75% deal until December 1st: https://store.steampowered.com/app/917150/Godhood/

Two new deals from Humble

• Humble Bundle has The Telltale Collection, featuring up to 8 items (6 games + 2 DLCs) during the next 18 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/the-telltale-collection
• Humble Store presents the Thunderful Publisher Sale, with up to 95% discounts during 3 more days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/thunderful-publisher-sale/

Fanatical’s Star Deal is Saints Row. It started yesterday but will last another 24 hours and features an 80% deal: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/saints-row-gold-edition.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines RTX Remix Remaster Alpha 0.0.1 Released
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-rtx-remix-remaster-alpha-0-0-1-released/
Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines fans, here is something for you today. Modder ‘Safemilk’ has just released an alpha version of his RTX Remix Mod for this classic RPG.
As with all the RTX Remix Mods, this one will add Full Ray Tracing/Path Tracing to Bloodlines. However, since this is an alpha release, it may have numerous visual glitches. Also, it’s not representative of what RTX Remix can achieve. At least in its current state. I mean, even the modder calls it a “rough” release.
For instance, VTM:B uses the alpha channel as an emissive mask for many textures in the game. So, the modder did a rough pass of converting these to emissive maps and applying them to their corresponding textures. So now the things that should light up, should light up.
In short, you should temper your expectations. This mod is still in a very early dev stage. So, don’t expect it to look as polished as some of the other Path Tracing Mods we’ve shared. Still, this is a start.
>> The article has no media.

You can now play Portal 2 with RTX Remix Path Tracing
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/you-can-now-play-portal-2-with-rtx-remix-path-tracing/
In December 2022, NVIDIA released Portal RTX to the public. This enhanced version of Portal had Full Ray Tracing/Path Tracing, allowing you to experience this Half-Life puzzle game with amazing graphics. And, from the looks of it, a modder has figured out a way to bring RTX Remix to Portal 2.
Surprisingly enough, this RTX Remix Mod works like a charm with Portal 2. There are some visual issues but most of you may not even notice them.
For instance, a lot of effects in Portal 2 are rendered using shaders. Effects can get glitchy the further away you are from the map center. Their performance is not the best either.
Anyway, this is one of the best RTX Remix mods you can use right now. So, go ahead and download it from this link. At the end of the article, you can also find a video for it. This video will give you an idea of what you can expect from it.

GAMING NEWS

Half-Life 2: Episode Three Prototype Gameplay Footage
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/half-life-2-episode-three-prototype-gameplay-footage/
Yesterday, Valve shared a documentary for the 20th anniversary of Half-Life 2. And, in that documentary, we got to see some prototype gameplay footage from Half-Life 2: Episode Three. Not only that, but Gabe Newell shared his thoughts about why Half Life 2: Episode Three never came out.

First official gameplay trailer for ARC Raiders
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/first-official-gameplay-trailer-for-arc-raiders/
Embark Studios has released the first official gameplay trailer for its upcoming title, ARC Raiders. This trailer features gameplay footage from the recent October 2024 Tech Test, so it will give you an idea of what the game looks in its current state.

Alan Wake 2 Patch 1.2.4 Released & Fully Detailed
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/alan-wake-2-patch-1-2-4-released-fully-detailed/
Remedy has just released Title Update 1.2.4 for Alan Wake 2, and shared its full patch notes. Although this new patch mainly focuses on the game’s latest DLC, it still packs some tweaks for the main game. So, let’s see what it brings to the table.

Monday news, the sequel:

Uh oh—Helldivers 2's state-owned missile platform players voted into existence is blowing them up, with Arrowhead giving players free shield generators while it figures out what happened
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/uh-oh-helldivers-2s-state-owned-missile-platform-players-voted-into-existence-is-blowing-them-up-too/
I said a lot of nice words about the Democracy Space Station added to Helldivers 2 yesterday, and I want to clarify two things. Firstly, I still think it's a really cool concept, but secondly, I also said that before players had bought any of the station's "actions", such as the planetary bombardment. Now the planetary bombardments are online, players are realising that they've just voted in a synthetic meteor shower that's killing them as often as it's killing bugs and bots.
Update: Arrowhead has applied an emergency patch, presumably while its devs figure out what the hell happened. While the barrages continue, the action in question also increases reinforcements by one per active squad member and gives everyone free shield generators.
>> Talking about Helldivers 2, bottom barrel guns seem to be the new top dogs.

A Forbes 30-under-30-er involved in at least 2 Disco Elysium successor studios has sued the lead dev at a third, blocking him from working on a new game
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/a-forbes-30-under-30-er-involved-in-at-least-2-disco-elysium-successor-studios-has-sued-the-lead-dev-at-a-third-blocking-him-from-working-on-a-new-game/
Argo Tuulik, Disco Elysium writer and co-founder of new RPG studio Summer Eternal, says he's being sued by Riaz Moola, the founder of competing RPG studio Longdue, with an injunction preventing Tuulik from working on or promoting his new studio's work.
>> Why is there so much drama surrounding Disco Elysium’s legacy? It’s like it’s cursed or something.

This cute but spooky farm sim starts unlike any other: in a town where you don't remember all the locals who somehow already know you
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/this-cute-but-spooky-farm-sim-starts-unlike-any-other-in-a-town-where-you-dont-remember-all-the-locals-who-somehow-already-know-you/
As it is in Groundhog Day, so it is being a farmlife sim fan. In many lifetimes I have woken up as the inheritor of an overgrown property, been given a watering can, hoe, and five carrot seeds, and been the new-in-town novelty to a bunch of rural neighbours. Everholm isn't different there, but it does come with its own extra layer of surrealism. Because everyone in Everholm already knows your name.

Diablo 4's next patch hands out courtesy buffs to the poor fools who aren't playing its overpowered new class
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/diablo-4s-next-patch-hands-out-buffs-to-the-poor-fools-who-arent-playing-its-overpowered-new-class/
Earlier this week, Blizzard said 63% of all Diablo 4 players are spending their time with its newest class, the spiritborn. The other 37% of players who choose to play lesser classes are probably standing off to the side as their new sibling wipes out entire dungeons in seconds. It's rough out there for non-spiritborn players, but the next patch will at least make life at the bottom of the meta a little more fun.

Gabe Newell ponders the future in new Half-Life 2 documentary: 'I think that Half-Life represents a tool we have and promises made to customers'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/gabe-newell-ponders-the-future-in-new-half-life-2-documentary-i-think-that-half-life-represents-a-tool-we-have-and-promises-made-to-customers/
To celebrate Half-Life 2's 20th anniversary, Valve dropped a few surprises in our lap on Friday afternoon, like putting together the original dev team to record in-game commentary for the legendary FPS, which is free for the weekend on Steam. Awesome! Valve also posted a two-hour documentary on the making of Half-Life 2 on YouTube. Also awesome—unless you had something else to watch tonight like a ridiculous boxing match.
(...)
Is there confirmation of Half-Life 3 in the Half-Life 2 documentary? Or confirmation of Half-Life: Alyx 2? Or confirmation of anything specific at all? No. But in the closing minutes of the documentary, there are some hints that the Half-Life saga isn't over.
>> They also talk about why they didn’t go with Episode 3, and you may not like the reason.

Steamworld Dig developer lays off 80-100 employees and cancels some in-development games to ensure 'long-term sustainability and resilience'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/steamworld-dig-developer-lays-off-80-100-employees-and-cancels-some-in-development-games-to-ensure-long-term-sustainability-and-resilience/
Thunderful, the studio formed in 2018 through a merger between Steamworld developer Image & Form and Fe developer Zoink, has announced a "strategic restructuring program" that will see an increased focus on third-party publishing, a cutback on internal development, and the games industry's favorite tool for weathering "tough economic headwinds": mass layoffs.

BioWare's art director reveals eight pieces of decade-old concept art for the earliest version of Dragon Age: The Veilguard
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/dragon-age/biowares-art-director-reveals-eight-pieces-of-decade-old-concept-art-for-the-earliest-version-of-dragon-age-the-veilguard/
First reported by GamesRadar, BioWare art director Matt Rhodes has shared the earliest concept art for Dragon Age: The Veilguard to X: "The Everything App." The eight pieces date back to 2014, before Dragon Age: Inquisition was even on store shelves.
>> He has also shared concepts for Dragon Age: Inquisition0s multiplayer mode.

Rogue Prince of Persia overhauls art style and doubles game size in its biggest update yet
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/roguelike/rogue-prince-of-persia-overhauls-art-style-and-doubles-game-size-in-its-biggest-update-yet/
The Rogue Prince of Persia has an updated early access build coming next week that'll overhaul its art style and shovel loads of new stuff into the roguelike platformer. Most notable for many people is that the team at Evil Empire has decided to change its art direction, swapping the color palette for one that means the prince is losing the distinctive purple tone that once characterized his skin.
>> That next week is this week.

Space Marine 2's latest patch adds a death ray laser pointer
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/space-marine-2s-latest-patch-adds-a-death-ray-laser-pointer/
Following patches that have spent more time walking back unpopular difficulty changes than adding new things, Space Marine 2's 4.5 patch finally gets to add something shiny: the Neo-Volkite pistol.

Three years on, monster-huge RPG Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous' final major update will overhaul its end-game dragon god abilities to finally live up to the hype
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/three-years-on-monster-huge-rpg-pathfinder-wrath-of-the-righteous-final-major-update-will-overhaul-its-end-game-dragon-god-abilities-to-finally-live-up-to-the-hype/
Owlcat Games has revealed the final major update coming to Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous: A big overhaul of the Gold Dragon endgame Mythic Path. Though WotR will continue to see minor updates and bug fixes in the near future, Owlcat has said this upcoming major patch will be the final content addition to the game.

If those weren’t enough for you, here are even more news:

Classic map Train returns in a Counter-Strike 2 update
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/classic-map-train-returns-in-a-counter-strike-2-update/
A "small update" for Counter-Strike 2 this week reintroduced classic map Train with a brand new modern look. Train is a staple of the early shooting days that has been kicking around in various CS incarnations since about 1999.

12 years on, Star Wars: The Old Republic is still kicking, with revamped graphics and new story content coming soon
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/mmo/12-years-on-star-wars-the-old-republic-is-still-kicking-with-revamped-graphics-and-new-story-content-coming-soon/
Star Wars: The Old Republic has revealed the changes players can expect in its upcoming updates, with weapons, armor, mounts, new overworld missions, and continued graphical upgrades coming in December's 7.6 update, while the continuation of The Old Republic's 12-year ongoing story seems due in early 2025.

Five years in, chill exploration-crafting game Astroneer gets its first paid expansion
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/five-years-in-chill-exploration-crafting-game-astroneer-gets-its-first-paid-expansion/
Sandboxy exploration and crafting game Astroneer has released its first paid expansion after five years of free releases and development. Glitchwalkers is a change of pace for Astroneer, a story and character-focused expansion that takes the varied mechanics of the old game onto a new planet with its own separate progression and save file.

The Patapon designer's new rhythm-action roguelike is coming to PC
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rhythm/the-patapon-designers-new-rhythm-action-roguelike-is-coming-to-pc/
The creator of famous PSP rhythm game Patapon, Hiroyuki Kotani, is back with a new design, Ratatan, set to release on PC among other platforms in 2025. A combination of rhythm and side-scroller, Ratatan will take up to four players in online co-op. Players will defeat enemies by sending rhythmic commands to their troops in battle. Ratatan will also be a roguelike, meaning your powerups and rewards will be randomized each time you play through it.

Yakuza/Like a Dragon creator Toshihiro Nagoshi says his studio's new game won't be that big after all: 'it's not modern to have similar experiences repeated over and over again'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/game-development/yakuza-like-a-dragon-creator-toshihiro-nagoshi-says-his-studios-new-game-wont-be-that-big-after-all-its-not-modern-to-have-similar-experiences-repeated-over-and-over-again/
In 2021, Toshihiro Nagoshi, who began his videogame career with Daytona USA before creating the Yakuza/Like a Dragon Series, left Sega to found his own studio at Chinese tech giant NetEase. Nagoshi Studio has yet to announce the name or much of anything else about its debut game, though Nagoshi has previously compared it to Yakuza by saying, "the scale of the game will be bigger".
Even that vague statement seems to no longer apply. In an interview with Famitsu (machine-translated by VGC), Nagoshi walked back that boast, saying, "the current version is so large that it's almost too large. This time, while researching existing games, we started by making a fairly large map with roads and highways. Now we are gradually shrinking it down and exploring the best balance for the game."

After having to buff event rewards 4 times in a year, WoW director Ion Hazzikostas admits there's 'a pattern' and that 'we may tend to err on the conservative side'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/after-having-to-buff-event-rewards-4-times-in-a-year-wow-director-ion-hazzikostas-admits-theres-a-pattern-and-that-we-may-tend-to-err-on-the-conservative-side/
World of Warcraft: The War Within has been a blast to play, but it's not been without its issues—Delve tuning has been wonky, and while most of the game's events in recent memory have been a good time, it's taken a minute for them to get there.
The same story has played out four times in a single year: Plunderstorm, MoP Remix, the pre-patch event and the 20th anniversary celebration all saw their rewards buffed after release. In an interview with GamesRadar, game director Ion Hazzikostas admits it might "seem like a pattern".

Intel In Trouble: AMD Pushes Intel Out Of The Top 10 Best Selling CPUs On Amazon, 9800X3D Tops Newegg Charts

https://wccftech.com/amd-pushes-intel-cpus-out-top-10-best-selling-cpus-on-amazon-9800x3d-tops-newegg/

NVIDIA’s First Blackwell GB200 NVL72 Server Racks Shipped Amidst Reports of Thermal Issues

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-first-blackwell-gb200-nvl72-server-shipped-amidst-reports-of-thermal-issues/

TensorWave Plans To Build World’s Largest AMD GPU Clusters By 2025, Utilizing Instinct MI300X, MI325X, MI350X AI GPUs & Gigawatt Capacity

https://wccftech.com/tensorwave-worlds-largest-amd-gpu-clusters-2025-instinct-mi300x-mi325x-mi350x-gpus-gigawatt-capacity/

NVIDIA To End Production of GeForce RTX 4070, 4070 Ti & 4070 SUPER By End of 2024 To Make Room For RTX 5070

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-end-production-geforce-rtx-4070-4070-ti-4070-super-end-of-2024-for-rtx-5070/

Intel’s Next-Gen Arc Battlemage Gaming GPUs To Debut Next Month In December

https://wccftech.com/intel-next-gen-arc-battlemage-gaming-gpus-debut-in-december/

LG launches UltraGear GX7 27-inch 480Hz WOLED monitor with DisplayPort 2.1 at $999

https://videocardz.com/pixel/lg-launches-ultragear-gx7-27-inch-480hz-woled-monitor-with-displayport-2-1-at-999