https://store.steampowered.com/category/multiplayer_coop

It's even better than on a PC, it's twin-mouse gaming

You can... if you're an alien with hands of different sizes and fingers of different lengths, as shown in the bottom right pic.

That said, mouse aiming plus joystick movement *may* be the best combination possible.

That would have been awesome for Metal Gear Solid V, which missed a really useful movement speed on keyboard. Basically you could either sprint (with a button held down), run at normal speed (no buttons held down), or sneak at snail pace (another button held down), but it was missing a walking speed that was kind of silent but possible with a controller. On the other hand, aiming sucked with a controller just as much as in any game where you have to aim with a controller.

NVIDIA Had Up To Four 16-Pin Connectors on Its GPU Prototypes For RTX 5090 & RTX 4090, Up To 2400W Power Delivery

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-four-16-pin-connectors-gpu-prototypes-rtx-5090-rtx-4090-up-to-2400w-power/

NVIDIA’s RTX 50-Series Laptops Will Launch For Pre-Orders Starting February 25; Retail Launch Expected By March

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-rtx-50-series-oem-laptops-will-launch-for-pre-orders-starting-feb-25/

Der8auer shows GeForce RTX 5090 FE cables with uneven power distribution, finds 150°C hotspot

https://videocardz.com/newz/der8auer-shows-geforce-rtx-5090-fe-cables-with-uneven-power-distribution-finds-150c-hotspot

AMD confirms Radeon RX 7650 GRE name stands for “Great Radeon Edition”

https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-confirms-radeon-rx-7650-gre-name-stands-for-great-radeon-edition

The Tuesday news:

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

Steam’s Top 10

(Click here for the top 100)

Steam has all these deals:

• Dead Space will be 75% off until the this Thursday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1693980/Dead_Space/
• Mouthwashing gets a 20% discount until next Monday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2475490/Mouthwashing/
• Jackbox Games has launched its Couch Co-Op Fest, putting its titles on sale with up to 45% discounts until the 17th of February: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33030169/sale/JackboxGamesCouchCoop
• Because not all Valentines need to be romantic, WB Games presents the WB Bloody Valentine Sale, featuring up to 90% discounts until the 17th: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/WBBloodyValentinesSale
• The Guildford Games Festival features lots of games with up to 90% discounts until February 17: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/GuildfordGamesFestival2025
• There’s also the Yorkshire Games Festival, with games up to 90% off. The length of the discounts vary, with some ending next Monday and others lasting until the 24th, if not more: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45343992/sale/YorkshireGamesFestivalUK2025
• The Early Access title Project Unknown will be 50% off until the 24th of February: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2115390/Project_Unknown/
• The Samurai Warriors franchise is on sale with the games up to 60% off until February 24: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33016879/sale/sw2025
• The Atelier franchise is also on sale, with the games up to 70% off until the 24th: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33016879/sale/atelier25
• We can also find the Indie.io NextFest. with games to check before the upcoming Steam Next Fest. It’s mostly full of upcoming games with demos, with barely any discount: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/38394018/sale/indie_io-nextfest-feb2025
• And there are new Weeklong deals.

The Humble Store has finished its Winter Sale, but the 2K Winter Sake will still run for another 9 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/2k/.

Fanatical has three deals:

• The new Star Deal is CONSCRIPT, 52% off during 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/conscript
• Funcom Games puts its titles on sale with up to 64% discounts during 5 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/publishers/funcom
• The BYO Capcom Bundle (BundleFest 2025) features 21 titles to choose for your 2+, 3+ or 4+ games bundle during 19 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/build-your-own-capcom-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

INTEL Arc Graphics 32.0.101.6559 driver
https://videocardz.com/driver/intel-arc-graphics-32-0-101-6559
Highlights
Gaming Highlights:
Intel® Game On Driver support on Intel® Arc™ B-series, A-series Graphics GPUs and Intel® Core™ Ultra with built-in Intel® Arc™ GPUs for:

• Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii

Intel® Game On Driver support on Intel® Arc™ B-series, A-series Graphics GPUs for:

• Avowed

Game performance improvements on Intel® Arc™ B-series Graphics GPUs versus Intel® 32.0.101.6262 software driver for:

• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II (DX12)
  • Up to 5.9% average FPS uplift at 1080p with High settings

Fixed Issues
Intel® Arc™ A-Series Graphics Products

• Adobe After Effects may exhibit flickering in the preview window during playback.

Intel® Core™ Ultra Series 1 with built-in Intel® Arc™ GPUs:

• Adobe After Effects may exhibit flickering in the preview window during playback.

Intel® Core™ Ultra Series 2 with built-in Intel® Arc™ GPUs:

• Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered(DX12) may experience crash during gameplay with frame generation enabled.
• Adobe After Effects may exhibit flickering in the preview window during playback.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Experience Morrowind in Skyrim With These Three DLC Mods
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/experience-morrowind-in-skyrim-with-these-three-dlc-mods/
Last month, modder ‘pancake’ released a new update for the amazing Morrowind-inspired DLC Mod for Skyrim, Journey to Baan Malur. And a couple of days ago, modder ‘Caenraes’ released a new add-on for it, called Silgrad.
Let’s start with Journey to Baan Malur. This fan expansion allows all Skyrim players to explore the north-west of Morrowind in the Julan-Shar region. In a way, it “remakes” that region using the Skyrim engine. It’s not as advanced as Skyblivion or Skywind, but it’s at least a mod that you can play right now.
Journey to Baan Malur comes with fully-voiced NPCs with unique daily schedules, completed interiors, new locations, and full LOD. To be more precise, the mod has over 100 NPCs. It has two main areas, the Cormar Valley and Baan Malur.
Silgrad is an addon to Journey to Baan Malur that adds several new towns. It also has several skill trainers, a bunch of merchants, a bunch of new followers and one Daedric dungeon. Plus, it comes with a working jail system.
You can download the latest version of Journey to Baan Malur from this link. Then, you can download the Silgrad add-on from this link. Journey to Baan Malur is not the only Morrowind-inspired mod for Skyrim. Nyhus and the border of Cyrodiil is another similar mod that was updated this month. The mod expands the game world to Cyrodiil, Morrowind and Solstheim. It offers four new towns with NPCs, two dungeons, and six quests. It also comes with a player house near Solstheim, a Castle south of Riften, fully voiced followers and more.
Finally, we have the Fat Skyrim Mod. This mod adds new landscapes, interiors, items, settlements, and NPCs in small areas of Hammerfell, Morrowind, and Orsinium. This is another cool DLC-sized mod for all our Morrowind fans.
>> The article has a close to 10 minutes video that covers those three mods.

Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines RTX Remaster looks insane in these new screenshots
https://www.dsogaming.com/screenshot-news/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-rtx-remaster-looks-insane-in-these-new-screenshots/
Modder ‘Safemilk‘ has released some new comparison screenshots between the vanilla and the RTX Remaster Mod for Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines. These screenshots will give you a glimpse at this highly anticipated mod’s current state. So, let’s take a look at them.
In these screenshots, the modder focuses on the diner environments. Right now, Safemilk has completed 49% of the Diner Props and 65% of the Diner Environment Textures.
In other words, there is still a work of work to be done. Still, the new textures and materials look phenomenal. I know, I know, it will take a while until we get our hands on a newer version of this mod. But then you have to remind yourself that this is made by one person. So, cut him some slack.
This RTX Remix Remaster Mod is among the best we’ve seen so far. You can try an older version of it, however, you should temper your expectations. That was an Alpha Version that came out in November 2024. Still, if you are curious about it, you can go ahead and download it.

GAMING NEWS

Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii Gets PC Requirements
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/like-a-dragon-pirate-yakuza-in-hawaii-gets-pc-requirements/
SEGA and Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio have revealed the official PC system requirements for Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. So, let’s see what kind of PC you’ll need to run this new Like a Dragon/Yakuza game.

Delta Force – Black Hawk Down Campaign Launches on February 21st
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/delta-force-black-hawk-down-campaign-launches-on-february-21st/
Back in December 2024, TiMi Studio Group claimed that the campaign mode for Delta Force would come out in January 2025. Sadly, that didn’t happen. Thankfully, though, the campaign is right around the corner as it will come out on February 21st.

Tuesday news, part two:

Former WoW designer tips hat to Marvel Rival's shifting meta as an antidote to MMOs with stale class design 'you have to change the meta continually'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/former-wow-designer-tips-hat-to-marvel-rivals-shifting-meta-as-an-antidote-to-mmos-with-stale-class-design-you-have-to-change-the-meta-continually/
MMOs—at least, the big boys that have endured from the massively multiplayer golden age—can sometimes be considered a smidge stale. Many design elements are, in a sense, solved. The Holy Trinity took over years ago, dungeon finders are a must, and heaven forbid if you're running something suboptimal in a pick-up group of hypervigilant strangers, with insults about your mum already bound to a macro and ready to go.
(...)
A former WoW designer, Chris Kaleiki, who has 13 years of Blizzard under his belt, reckons that the only real way to keep classes fresh is to take a leaf from MOBAs and Hero Shooters like League of Legends and Marvel Rivals. That's as per a recent interview Kaleki conducted with GamesRadar+, (...)

PSN crapping out means we all get an extra day of the Monster Hunter Wilds beta, even us on PC
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/psn-crapping-out-means-we-all-get-an-extra-day-of-the-monster-hunter-wilds-beta-even-us-on-pc/
This past weekend saw a bizarre, still largely unexplained outage of Sony's PlayStation Network service, effectively rendering a bunch of folk unable to access digital games and online servers. (...)
It was quite frankly terrible timing, too—as if there's ever a good time to be almost completely offline for an entire day—considering Capcom was running its second Open Beta Test for Monster Hunter Wilds. The PSN outage meant that would-be hunters were left in the dark for almost half of the beta's runtime, leaving folk pleading with Capcom to extend the Forbidden Lands' opening times.
(...)
"Hunters, we're pleased to confirm that due to the PlayStation Network outage that occurred during the first week of OBT2, we're extending the second week of OBT2 by +24 hours on all platforms," a follow-up post from the Monster Hunter X page read.

TennoCon 2025 sold through all 3,000 tickets in about 30 minutes, presumably off the back of massive demand for last year's customisable mums
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/at-peak-popularity-after-last-years-customisable-mums-reveal-tennocon-2025-tickets-sold-out-in-35-minutes-to-the-worlds-warframe-and-soulframe-lovers/
I have a confession: I think I might like Warframe. (…)
Lots of other people seem to love it too, which must be why there have been nine TennoCons so far: events where Warframe fans and devs pile into a venue to mix, mingle, give updates, reveal things like last year's customisable Soulframe mum announcement and collectively try to figure out what the hell Warframe is about, probably.
This year I reckon they'll crack it. Tickets for 2025's TennoCon—held as ever in London, Ontario—went on sale at about 11 am PST / 2 pm EST / 7 pm GMT last Friday, per an announcement from Digital Extremes on Bluesky. Per a subsequent announcement, they were completely sold out 35 minutes later. That means all the $50 General Admission tickets, the $150 VIP tickets, and even the two (count 'em: two) $1,000 Legendary tickets.
>> In an update, the article states that there were 3000 tickets.

Hearts of Iron 4's new DLC lets you cast off the Brits as India, cast off the Brits as Iraq, resist the Brits as Iran, or ignore the Brits as Afghanistan
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/hearts-of-iron-4s-new-dlc-lets-you-cast-off-the-brits-as-india-cast-off-the-brits-as-iraq-resist-the-brits-as-iran-or-ignore-the-brits-as-afghanistan/
If history teaches us one thing, it's this: it's always a great idea to invade Central Asia. It just can't go wrong. Honestly, if this games journalism thing doesn't work out, I'm thinking I might head over there with the lads and establish some kind of thousand-year imperium. That or back to SEO writing.
Ah, wait, I'm learning from the title of Paradox's upcoming DLC for Hearts of Iron 4 that I'm mistaken. Graveyard of Empires is the next country pack for the studio's WW2 sim, announced last year, and offering all-new ways for your imperial ambitions to crash into the rocks of a region that's got a habit of putting paid to that sort of thing. It's now got a release date: it's arriving March 4, for $15 (£12.79).

LocalThunk had made hobby games in the past, but realized Balatro was something special when a friend revealed he had played it for '20, 30, or 40' hours
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/roguelike/localthunk-had-made-hobby-games-in-the-past-but-realized-balatro-was-something-special-when-a-friend-revealed-he-had-played-it-for-20-30-or-40-hours/
In a recent Bloomberg interview with Balatro creator LocalThunk, the notably private, anonymous developer opened up a little bit about the roguelike card game's origins, including how he first realized he was on to something special with what had started as just another hobby project.

Take-Two chief says PC has become a 'more important part of what used to be a console business,' but he's still not committing to a Grand Theft Auto 6 release
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/take-two-chief-says-pc-has-become-a-more-important-part-of-what-used-to-be-a-console-business-but-hes-still-not-committing-to-a-grand-theft-auto-6-release/
Take-Two Interactive CEO Strauss Zelnick said in a recent interview with IGN that PC has become a "much more" important part of the gaming ecosphere than it was in the past—one that generates a significant portion of sales for multiplatform games. And if you think that means he's ready to commit to a PC version of Grand Theft Auto 6 anytime soon, well, you'd best think again.

Civilization 7's new patch temporarily disables crossplay between PC and console so Firaxis can 'expedite updates to the PC'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/civilization-7s-new-patch-temporarily-disables-crossplay-between-pc-and-console-so-firaxis-can-expedite-updates-to-the-pc/
A new update for Civilization 7 aims to address "some player feedback" from the advanced access release of the game, and promises "larger, more substantive updates" on the way in the future.

Inzoi's game director teases plans for ghost Zois getting shackled to the mortal realm, karma-starved and seeking redemption if they die with a bad rep
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/inzois-game-director-teases-plans-for-ghost-zois-getting-shackled-to-the-mortal-realm-karma-starved-and-seeking-redemption-if-they-die-with-a-bad-rep/
The early access launch for fresh new Sims competitor Inzoi is just about six weeks away and information about its features—those coming in time for early access and those planned to be developed later—are arriving at a weekly pace now. Over the weekend we got yet more details about Inzoi's life sim features, this time revolving around the afterlife.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 has a secret dark ending for Bohemia's worst criminals
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/kingdom-come-deliverance-2-has-a-secret-dark-ending-for-bohemias-worst-criminals/
PC Gamer's Morgan Park treated us to a story last week about the downsides of a life of crime in Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2—specifically, a very conspicuous brand that did not improve his standing with the local folk. He was also warned that if he continued behaving like a jerk, he could end up being executed. As it turns out, the threat is serious.

This long-running cozy tavern life sim on Steam just added online multiplayer, so now you can design and run a medieval pub with your pals
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/life-sim/this-long-running-cozy-tavern-life-sim-on-steam-just-added-online-multiplayer-so-now-you-can-design-and-run-a-medieval-pub-with-your-pals/
Every so often I poke my head into the subreddits dedicated to life sims and cozy games and farming sims to see what people are recommending, and one game keeps coming up over and over again: Travellers Rest.
(...)
In Travellers Rest you've inherited a run-down old tavern and set to work turning it into a cozy inn, where you cook meals, brew drinks, and serve customers, using the gold you earn to expand your tavern, farm crops, and unlock new recipes. As you build your business you can design and decorate new rooms, hire servers to help out, and employ bouncers to keep order, all while experimenting with new drinks and dishes to keep your visitors happy.
Travellers Rest launched into early access on Steam in 2020, and it's been steadily adding new features since then like beekeeping, farm animals, and fishing, along with regular patches and fixes. Back in 2023 it added support for local co-op, and now online multiplayer is now underway, too: you can try out the new multiplayer beta and start running your pub with up to three other pals right now.

Don't fred! There's a third post of news, yes, but it's short:

Judging by the demo—out now—Ruffy and the Riverside might be one of this year's best platformers
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/judging-by-the-demo-out-now-ruffy-and-the-riverside-might-be-one-of-this-years-best-platformers/
We've had no shortage of great 3D platformers these past few years, but I reckon that Ruffy and the Riverside might be one of this year's best already—if its new demo on Steam is any indication. It certainly has me convinced that its core gimmick—the ability to copy and paste the textures and physical properties of its environment—is one of the most intriguing puzzle mechanics I've seen in the genre for a while.

Dragon Quest 12 is still coming, says Yuji Horii, but they're determined to make a game 'worthy of the posthumous work' of the late Akira Toriyama and composer Koichi Sugiyama
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/dragon-quest-12-is-still-coming-says-yuji-horii-but-theyre-determined-to-make-a-game-worthy-of-the-posthumous-work-of-the-late-akira-toriyama-and-composer-koichi-sugiyama/
When I was a young journalist, I had the opportunity to interview Yuji Horii at Square Enix HQ in Tokyo. This would've been around 15 years ago, and my abiding memories are the great man chain-smoking throughout the session, and getting visibly irritated when the Square Enix translator was turning his long answers into short English snippets: He prodded them to go again several times, magisterial in his smoker's cloud.
Horii seemed like a man who had all the time in the world, and was going to enjoy it. Dragon Quest fans may well agree, because they've now been waiting eight years for the next instalment in the much-beloved series, the longest gap by far between releases, with no indication of when Dragon Quest 12: The Flames of Fate may be coming, or even if it still is. The series has lost two of its key creatives since Dragon Quest 11: Akira Toriyama, Dragon Quest's main artist, died in March last year, while series composer Koichi Sugiyama died in 2021.
Yuji Horii is of course the creator, director and main writer of the Dragon Quest games and, speaking on a recent livestream with his group KosoKoso Hōsō Kyoku (thanks Automaton), sought to reassure players that Dragon Quest 12 remains very much a going concern.

The Human Torch, the Thing, and a rank reset are coming to Marvel Rivals next week
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/the-human-torch-the-thing-and-a-rank-reset-are-coming-to-marvel-rivals-next-week/
NetEase has announced that the remaining members of the Fantastic Four—the Human Torch and the Thing—as well as a mid-season rank reset will arrive in Marvel Rivals on February 21. The two superheroes will be joining their Fantastic coworkers, Reed Richards and the Invisible Woman, who were added to the game in the first half of the season.
Update: NetEase has now rescinded plans to release a mid-season rank reset after an overwhelmingly negative response from fans.

I'd be a nervous wreck, but Monster Hunter Wilds' producer is 'very confident' following up Capcom's bestselling game ever
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/id-be-a-nervous-wreck-but-monster-hunter-wilds-producer-is-very-confident-following-up-capcoms-bestselling-game-ever/
A year ago, longtime Monster Hunter producer Ryozo Tsujimoto celebrated some major series milestones, including one very big number: 23 million. That's how many copies of Monster Hunter: World Capcom had sold by early 2024 (including copies bundling in the game's expansion, Iceborne). If you take a look on Capcom's website, where it maintains a leaderboard of its bestselling games, World's tacked on another 5 million sales since then. 28 million copies! That's Capcom's most successful game ever, across its 42-year history.
(...)
"We're very confident, and we do have high hopes that this game will do very well," he told me through a translator in a recent interview. I asked Tsujimoto if he was nervous or confident with Wilds' launch looming over him, and it didn't seem like bluster when he said the latter.

"Great Radeon Edition"

For God's sake. AMD's naming marketing team needs their butt kicked. Repeatedly.

They could at least be consistent and call it the 7650GSE. AMD needs to do to their marketing department what EA did to the Veilguard writing team...