It's what, three weeks until Nvidia finally announces their 5000 cards? I wonder if we'll get a leak with all the specs before that but, with things like thos Acer prebuilds leaking out, it's likely.

And it must feel nice for Intel to be in that position for a change, having such demand for one of your products that you can't keep up with it.

Well, it's happening!

https://store.steampowered.com/

I don't really agree with those prices, since I know it's a Sony type deal, and Sony is the one likely putting forth the price of value, since KZ is their own IP 9I imagine they have a say in it's pricing, rather than just handing their assets and saying "do what you want" and not expecting any profits from someone using their assets).

Also "free content" needs to stop being used as a marketing/gambling tactic, it's becoming increasingly obnoxious that devs are using updates as if we were somehow meant to pay for them, when we all know that in the past we had always gotten updates for free with no real strings attached. Case in point Bioshock 1-2 remasters, on PC if you owned the og copies, you would receive the remasters completely for free, and no "extra bonus just for you" jargon to make it sound artificial.

As for CDPR, they need to tread carefully, seeing as how they must have a bible of sorts for their Witcher mythology, so using a side character like Ciri as a possible main, despite what happened with her in the previous game is going to have them treading waters some fans may not agree with. Also we already know what she's fully capable of, so no need for some artificial "Rey Skywalker" approach to making her strong (also no DEI crap and making her gaunt faced either, I know what she looks like and no engine change is going to define that).

We also know CDPR has been hiring only women and that of teens/those in their early 20's recently, so there is definitely some bias they aren't denying, but at the same time trying to make excuses for why it is that they decided upon that. If they want to calm the people down from their DEI fears, they need to not push back at all and instead try to calmly show us that they aren't being riddled with activism within their company. Show, do not just tell. 

I don't know much about ZZZ, but I do know their animation quality is pretty excellent, and it's often best to not mess around with the husbandos/waifus, and I generally despise censorship, so in this case, don't mess with what already pleased fans before. 

While I am excited and waited many yrs for Zomboid's B42 to finally come about, it is still only being released in an unstable state, meaning it is still nowhere near completion and is in more of an Alpha state, which also means current modding will not function with B42. I guess I'll be waiting at least another year or two until they finally release B42 stable, but I am really looking forward to the new lighting/physics/mechanic changes the most.

Gonna be the same as last gen I guess...

I shouldn't expect them to just slim down the models to 4-5, because why bother when they could just skim off the top and call it another model line instead?. So far they've zero incentive to stop making multiple Ti/S models, even though that annoys the crap out of me and muddies the market even more for choice (because we all know it's going to end up with 5090 at the top, then 5080/5080s/5070/5070ti/5070s).

It’s time for the Friday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

The Humble Store has the New Game New Years Sale, featuring up to 90% discounts during the next 13 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/new-game-new-years-sale/.

Fanatical has one new deal:

• The Star Deal has been extended for another 24 hours in what it now looks like more the norm than the exception.
• There’s a new BYO Winter Superstars Collection has 16 titles to choose from for your 2+, 3+ or 4+ games bundles during 41 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-winter-superstars-collection

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

You can now play the leaked Wii build of Star Wars Battlefront 3
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/you-can-now-play-the-leaked-wii-build-of-star-wars-battlefront-3/
A few days ago, a Wii build of the canceled Star Wars: Battlefront 3 game from Free Radical was leaked online. However, that version was not playable without proper instructions and a certain dolphin build. But now, a small team created a build that you can download and play on PC with the Wii emulator, Dolphin.
To download this playable Wii build, you’ll have to head over to Free Radical Archive’s Discord. On its channel, you will immediately find the download link. I won’t be sharing a direct link as it will be a shame for the team. They deserve your follow.
Once you get the download link, you’ll see four files. The one you’ll have to download is Star Wars Battlefront 3 r2.91120a (Nov21st 2008).rvz. This is the main build of Star Wars Battlefront III dated November 21st, 2008. This is the latest known build and the most functional of the 2.
And that’s it. After downloading it, you can play it using Dolphin. Thus, you will be able to enjoy Free Radical’s canceled Star Wars: Battlefront 3 game. Pretty cool, right?
Now if you don’t want to go into all this trouble, you can simply watch the following video. The video shows off Mission 2 – The Battle of Coruscant. And, since it’s running on PC, you can enjoy it at 4K.
What’s really surprising is that there are proper cut-scenes. However, as you will see, there are a lot of visual issues and placeholder graphics. This shouldn’t surprise anyone though. After all, Free Radical Games never finished it.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle just got an AMD FSR 3.0 Mod
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/indiana-jones-and-the-great-circle-just-got-an-amd-fsr-3-0-mod/
Indiana Jones fans, we have some good and some bad news for you today. The good news is that a new mod came out that adds support for AMD FSR 3.0 Super Resolution and Frame Generation. The bad news is that it’s a paid mod.
Created by no other than PureDark, this mod brings support for AMD FSR 3.0 Super Resolution and Frame Generation. As such, PC gamers will now be able to use AMD FSR 3.0 FG to boost their performance. This will be essential for those who want to see whether their GPUs can handle the game’s Path Tracing effects.
For those wondering, MachineGames is already working on adding official support for AMD FSR 3.0 via a new update. However, there is no ETA for when this patch will come out. So, until that happens, this mod is your only solution for enabling FSR 3.0.
This mod will work for AMD GPUs and non-RTX 40 series Nvidia GPUs. It will also work on both the Steam and Game Pass versions.
>> The article has some screenshots of the game, not the mod.

Painkiller RTX Remix Path Tracing Demo Released
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/painkiller-rtx-remix-path-tracing-demo-released/
Painkiller fans, get ready for a treat. Modder ‘capzor’ has released a demo for his RTX Remix Path Tracing Mod for Painkiller. This demo adds Path Tracing support to the first four levels of the game with upscaled PBR textures.
To showcase this RTX Remix Path TRacing Mod, capzor shared the following video. This video shows off the four levels that have been enhanced. As such, it can give you an idea of what you can expect from it.
You can go ahead and download the mod from this link. As capzor said, the mod is compatible with both the GOG and Steam versions of Painkiller: Black Edition.

PC VR wizard is gearing up to weave his magic on Ubisoft's 2023 open-world adventure
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/pc-vr-wizard-is-gearing-up-to-weave-his-magic-on-ubisofts-2023-open-world-adventure/
In the absence of publishers doing what is right and porting their finest games to VR, we have Luke Ross. The modder has taken it upon himself to convert some of the biggest PC games into VR over the years—Elden Ring, Cyberpunk 2077, Far Cry 4-6, Marvel's Spider-Man, and Star Wars Outlaws, to name a few—and he's now revealed that the next game to get his special VR treatment is Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora.
Ubisoft's open-world adventure, set in James Cameron's universe of colonial metaphors, has been a tad divisive here at PCG—some of us loved it, others really didn't—but there's no question that its alien landscapes of floating mountains, bioluminescent flora, and dense jungles looks beautiful, and would be a joy to wander around in, even in the game's dedicated Exploration Mode. "The game looks incredible in VR, while at the same time being very resource-intensive," Ross told PC Gamer. "So we think that it will be a great showcase for the new improvements to the framework."
That brings us to the other big development with Ross' VR mod, which is the drastic improvements in image quality and performance. "Lately I introduced radical optimizations to my conversion framework that have made it possible to squeeze out about 55-60% more performance from the same hardware, with no perceivable loss in image quality," said Ross, referring to his FOV optimisations update that he released in September. 
>> It’s a paid mod you can get from his Patreon page, and you can check what you’ll get thanks to an almost 2 minutes video.

GAMING NEWS

OMEGA PHENEX COMMENCED PROJECT SIX feels like a mix of Armored Core 4 & Ace Combat
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/omega-phenex-commenced-project-six-feels-like-a-mix-of-armored-core-4-ace-combat/
Now here is something for all our mecha fans. Surume Manju has just announced a new mecha game that feels like a mix of Armored Core 4 and Ace Combat, called OMEGA PHENEX COMMENCED PROJECT SIX.

Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter Remake is coming to PC in Fall 2025
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/trails-in-the-sky-1st-chapter-remake-is-coming-to-pc-in-fall-2025/
Nihon Falcom and GungHo have announced that their 3D remake of The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter, will come out on PC in Fall 2025. To celebrate this announcement, the teams have also shared a new gameplay trailer that you can find below.

Sword and Fairy 4: Remake in Unreal Engine 5 is in development
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/sword-and-fairy-4-remake-in-unreal-engine-5-is-in-development/
It appears that an official remake of Sword and Fairy 4, using Unreal Engine 5, is currently in development. And although we don’t have enough details about it, you can find below its debut in-engine trailer.

Star Citizen Alpha 4.0 Preview Released & Fully Detailed
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/star-citizen-alpha-4-0-preview-released-fully-detailed/
Cloud Imperium has just released Star Citizen Alpha 4.0 Preview. This new preview version of Star Citizen will contain all the new technology, locations, features, and ships that the devs have added. At the same time, it will run alongside the previous Alpha 3.24.3 version. As such, those who do not want to preview it can still play the older version.

Friday news, the second part:

'Fallout wasn't designed to have other players': Fallout co-creator Tim Cain was extremely wary of turning it into an MMO
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fallout/fallout-wasnt-designed-to-have-other-players-fallout-co-creator-tim-cain-was-extremely-wary-of-turning-it-into-an-mmo/
Fallout 76 was not the first attempt to splice the retro post-apocalypse with an MMO. Years before, Fallout's original owner, Interplay, had taken a crack at it. This was actually after Bethesda had purchased the rights to the series, but the two companies came to an arrangement: one that would ultimately devolve into a lawsuit, an out-of-court settlement and the cancellation of Fallout Online.
The concept, though, goes much further back. Bethesda acquired Fallout in 2007, but Interplay founder Brian Fargo had been mulling over the idea since the late '90s. He pitched it to Black Isle Studios, but founder Feargus Urquhart, now CEO of Obsidian, rejected the idea. An MMO just didn't seem very Fallout. Tim Cain, Fallout's co-creator, felt the same way.

Arrowhead Games' heart grows three sizes as it swerves away from its controversial crossover plans for Helldivers 2's Killzone collab, offers the second half for free
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/arrowhead-games-heart-grows-three-sizes-as-it-swerves-away-from-its-controversial-crossover-plans-for-helldivers-2s-killzone-collab-offers-the-second-half-for-free/
Ah, Arrowhead Games, never change—in the continual, eternal cycle of "it's so over" and "we're so back", the Helldivers 2 devs have done a 180-degree turn on their current Killzone collaboration, which was incredibly unpopular for a few important reasons. Namely, because it was a bunch of weirdly expensive kit that's only available for purchase on the FOMO-creating Superstore, which is decidedly out of character for the game thus far.
Well, after hearing the community out, the heart of Arrowhead's team has grown three sizes, just like the Grinch. After dealing with an immediate and terrifying series of cardiac arrests, they've proceeded to announce that they'll be giving away the second half of the Killzone collaboration for free.

My favourite extraction shooter, The Forever Winter, adds a playable character with a functional gun for a head, tackles its most divisive mechanic and introduces its biggest region yet
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/my-favourite-extraction-shooter-the-forever-winter-adds-a-playable-character-with-a-functional-gun-for-a-head-tackles-its-most-divisive-mechanic-and-introduces-its-biggest-region-yet/
The Forever Winter is one of the few extraction shooters I've clicked with—a post-apocalyptic warzone where you play as insignificant scavengers scurrying across desolate battlefields, trying to find loot while soldiers, cyborgs and building-sized machines duke it out all around you. It's tough, intense, and keeps on impressing me with its exceptional art design and oppressive atmosphere.
It's also a bit rough, as early access games often are, but today's huge December update looks set to address its biggest issues and expand it considerably, bringing with it a brand new playable character, significant changes to the controversial water system, the largest region so far, in-game VOIP and performance improvements.

My worst fears of a PlayStation-exclusive future for FromSoftware have been averted for now: Sony is forming a 'strategic alliance' with parent company Kadokawa, but hasn't bought it outright
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/my-worst-fears-of-a-playstation-exclusive-future-for-fromsoftware-have-been-averted-for-now-sony-is-forming-a-strategic-alliance-with-parent-company-kadokawa-but-hasnt-bought-it-outright/
Sony has increased its stake in FromSoftware parent company Kadokawa to 10%, becoming the largest shareholder in the business, while the two corporations have entered into a "strategic capital and business alliance" according to a joint press release. It had been rumored for several weeks that Sony was in talks to fully acquire Kadokawa and thus its subsidiary, FromSoft, as well as a vast library of manga and anime properties.

Only 15% of all Steam users' time was spent playing games released in 2024
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/only-15-percent-of-all-steam-users-time-was-spent-playing-games-released-in-2024/
The Steam end-of-year review always throws up some interesting numbers, and with 2024's stats now out, it prompts some interesting reflections on how we game, both individually and en masse. On a personal level, it turns out I've played about 50% fewer games on Steam than last year (I blame Game Pass, emulation, and my overpriced but utterly captivating Nintendo 3DS XL), while turn-based, stealth, and detective games made up a big part of my 2024 jam.
But the really interesting stuff is on the macro scale, as it shows that Steam users spent just 15% of their total playing time in games that launched in 2024. 47% of the total playing time on Steam was spent on games released in the last one to seven years, while a sizeable 37% of time was spent in games that have been out for eight years or more.

Frostpunk 2 developer 11 bit studios cancels unannounced project and lays off employees
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/frostpunk-2-developer-11-bit-studios-cancels-unannounced-project-and-lays-off-employees/
Less than a week after Frostpunk 2 won Best Sim/Strategy Game award at The Game Awards, developer 11 bit studios has ended development on a game known internally as Project 8, and laid off a number of employees.
Project 8 had been in development since 2018, according to a statement released on December 17 (via Insider Gaming), and was intended to be 11 bit's first-ever game "designed specifically for console gamers." But the project ran into trouble, particularly during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the most recent progress review found "unresolved issues and challenges that would require further extensions of the production timeline and corresponding budget increases to address."

A bug's letting Warframe players summon their newly-added motorcycles in more areas than intended, but the devs say it's 'rad and cool' enough to stay—as long as the bikes aren't in outer space
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/a-bugs-letting-warframe-players-summon-their-newly-added-motorcycles-in-more-areas-than-intended-but-the-devs-say-its-rad-and-cool-enough-to-stay-as-long-as-the-bikes-arent-in-outer-space/
There's a lot to love in Warframe 1999, the latest major update for the free-to-play scifi action game about magic space ninjas, mutant biotechnical horrors, and more pregnancy than you might expect. The free expansion launched last week, sending players back in time to an alternate-history 1999 to battle alongside—and potentially romance!—a squad of misfit, proto-Warframe-wearing supersoldiers. It also added sick motorcycles, which quickly proved to be even sicker than intended.

Rocksmith 2014, the one people actually like, is back on Steam due to popular demand
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rhythm/rocksmith-2014-the-one-people-actually-like-is-back-on-steam-due-to-popular-demand/
"Long live rock, be it dead or alive," the man once said, and for a little more than a year now, Rocksmith 2014 has indeed been dead. But now it's alive again, and back on Steam in a slightly retuned format as Rocksmith 2014 Edition Remastered Learn and Play.

WoW's Warband system is getting a facelift soon, with new campsite backgrounds and the ability to sort your alts into cute little themed groups
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/wows-warband-system-is-getting-a-facelift-soon-with-new-campsite-backgrounds-and-the-ability-to-sort-your-alts-into-cute-little-themed-groups/
World of Warcraft's Warbands system has been a pretty solid win for the aging MMO, adding a whole layer of alt friendliness to the game—I've particularly enjoyed being able to huck loot at my alts willy-nilly, and the stacking XP bonus you get for hitting level cap on each of your characters isn't bad, either.
Well, there's some more functionality coming to the system with Patch 11.1. As per Blizzard's own patch 11.1 PTR notes, two major upgrades will be arriving alongside Undermine(d), which'll be here early next year.

All Genshin Impact 5.3 livestream codes
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/genshin-impact-codes-5-3-livestream/
The Genshin Impact 5.3 livestream codes are now available. These Primogem bonuses are a regular incentive that miHoYo uses to get people to watch each upcoming version's livestream preview. In the stream, it shows off new events, quests, and most importantly, characters that are dropping in the next Genshin update.

Well, here come the third part of the news:

Ubisoft releases new Blood Dragon game... with NFTs
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/ubisoft-releases-new-blood-dragon-game-with-nfts/
Between the abrupt game cancellations, lay-offs, and ongoing buyout talks, Ubisoft is going through a bit of a PR storm at the moment. The beleaguered publisher could really do with something to regain a bit of goodwill, so what with neon-soaked Far Cry 3 spin-off Blood Dragon being so fondly remembered by fans (as well as Captain Laserhawk, the perfectly decent Netflix show set in the same universe), you can see why they'd look to this IP as their saviour.
Enter Captain Laserhawk: The G.A.M.E., a top-down shooter set in the Blood Dragon universe, and starring Rayman as a commentator (via Polygon). Here's the catch: it's a Web 3 game that requires you to buy an NFT to play. This NFT takes the form of your very own 'Niji Warrior' card that improves as you play the game, presumably making it gain value over time so that one day other players/NFT believers buy it off you.

XDefiant's closing-down content dump is enormous, unprecedented, and bleak
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/xdefiants-closing-down-content-dump-is-enormous-unprecedented-and-bleak/
Following on from the recent announcement that XDefiant servers would be closing down in June 2025, Ubisoft released one final massive content patch for the game yesterday. The patch not only contains all Season 3 content but, in what may be a world-first for a live-service game, it also contains all future content they had already developed. That includes 13 new maps, three new factions, and all future-planned skins for the game, some of which don't even seem to have been fully finished before being chucked onto the XDefiant funeral pyre.
(...)
It's all a bit bizarre. On the one hand, it's very cool for loyal fans of the outgoing shooter to get one of biggest content updates in a live-service game ever, and the fact that there are characters and skins without proper labelling suggests that maybe devs just threw in-progress stuff on there that might otherwise not have seen the light of day. On the other hand, for a game that was criticised for a lack of content, it's frustrating to see how much great stuff was just sitting there on the backburner.

Cyberpunk 2077 goes Santapunk with a cheeky holiday gift for the chooms, tucks the starter set 'Easy Mode' for the TTRPG Cyberpunk RED into your Steam files
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/cyberpunk-2077-goes-santapunk-with-a-cheeky-holiday-gift-for-the-chooms-tucks-the-starter-set-easy-mode-for-the-ttrpg-cyberpunk-red-into-your-steam-files/
Welcome to the future: The world is ruled by corporations headed by invincible tech billionaires with an iron grip over our political processes, our lives are driven by mindless work with precious little economic mobility, and mysterious AI programs threaten our very way of life. These also happen to be things that are happening in Cyberpunk 2077, which had its recent 2.2 update released earlier this month, and as it turns out, there's a free gift in it. Yippee!
As noticed by Polygon CD Projekt, seemingly seized by the holiday spirit, has tucked a little gift into your program files with the latest update—a set of quickstart rules for Cyberpunk RED, a new version of the system that was released in 2020. This is not to be confused with the Cyberpunk 2020, which was originally released in 1990, yet came packaged as bonus content with Cyberpunk 2077 in the actual year 2020. Cyberpunk RED, which was released in 2020 (my head hurts) is the latest version of the TTRPG.

The maddest shooters of 2024 and 2020 join forces, as Ultrakill crosses over into Mullet Madjack
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/the-maddest-shooters-of-2024-and-2020-join-forces-as-ultrakill-crosses-over-into-mullet-madjack/
You can keep your CODs and your BLOPSes and your live-service shooters that could poof out of existence at any moment. Give me a lurid cyberpunk world, comical killing animations, and a protagonist with the retro sensibilities of Duke Nukem (minus the outmoded attitudes towards women), and you've got my attention. Mullet Madjack ticks all those boxes, amplifying its intensity via a roguelite structure and the jaw-clenching hook of having to kill an enemy every 10 seconds, lest you drop dead. 
It's good vicious fun, and it's just gotten even better, thanks to an update that includes a crossover with fellow super-speedy shooter Ultrakill. The crossover comes as part of Madjack's new Boss Rush Mode, which sees you trying to obliterate its procession of mechs, cyber-samurai, and other 'billionaire robots' that run the show in this dopamine-driven world. The Boss Rush mode is linked to a global leaderboard, so you'll get to compare your robo-bliterating feats with other players around the world.

The Illuminate in Helldivers 2 appear to be inching closer to the black hole we left at Meridia back in June, which is also looking a lot scarier, but I'm sure it's probably fine, stop worrying about it
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/the-illuminate-in-helldivers-2-appear-to-be-inching-closer-to-the-black-hole-we-left-at-meridia-back-in-june-which-is-also-looking-a-lot-scarier-but-im-sure-its-probably-fine-stop-worrying-about-it/
The Illuminate have been terrorising the galaxy and, for the most part, have sort of been sucking at it so far. At the time of writing, Super Earth's finest have won their first major order against the squid scum, and are on track to win the second, punting them out of the Galaxy whenever they rear their tentacled heads.
However, there's a problem: Each time they pop up again, they move a little bit further space east (like east, but in space. Don't ask me how that works). In fact, here's a little mock-up I made of them doing just that—their warpath taking them from Calypso, to Genesis Prime, to Mog, and now to the planets of Skaash and Bashyr.
This is concerning because, well, uh, that's where the black hole players left back in June is. To recap, players were instructed to inject "dark fluid" into the ex-planet in the summer of 2024 in order to combat the Terminid threat, which had a nasty side effect of doing, well, this.

Finally, let’s take a quick look at GOG and Steam:

+GOG

• The Winter Sale is still going on.

+Steam

• It’s also Winter Sale time! Enough said.

And that’s it. Until the next time, I wish you a happy and gaming weekend.

Intel Arc B570 ships one month ahead of launch: gamer mods drivers to make it work

https://videocardz.com/newz/intel-arc-b570-ships-one-month-ahead-of-launch-gamer-mods-drivers-to-make-it-work

Intel pivots away from its X86S initiative

https://videocardz.com/newz/intel-pivots-away-from-its-x86s-initiative

ASUS ROG gaming laptops with GeForce RTX 5090 and RTX 5080 GPUs listed online

https://videocardz.com/newz/asus-rog-gaming-laptops-with-geforce-rtx-5090-and-rtx-5080-gpus-listed-online

5070 laptop version getting 8GB of vram is insane. No vram capacity improvements for the 70 class since Pascal lol

Insane...but completely expected from nGreedia.

Given that Nvidia's mobile chips are usually based on the same desktop parts but from one tier lower, that 5070 laptop would be based on the 5060 desktop. If that holds true once again, I hope the 5060 is cheap, like $200 or less cheap, otherwise Intel will eat them alive.