The second part of the news:

Ultron being a Strategist in Marvel Rivals makes perfect sense when you disregard his hatred for humanity and realise that he's a changed AI
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/ultron-being-a-strategist-in-marvel-rivals-makes-perfect-sense-when-you-disregard-his-hatred-for-humanity-and-realise-that-hes-a-changed-ai/
The first thought that comes to mind when I think of Ultron is: Toaster that got access to the internet and immediately formed a hatred of all humanity—valid. This hatred is the most defining feature of Ultron's character, which is why some players are a little confused as to why Marvel Rivals may assign him the role of Strategist.

It's happening again: Oblivion Remastered is selling new horse armor like it's 2006
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/its-happening-again-oblivion-remastered-is-selling-new-horse-armor-like-its-2006/
The Elder Scrolls 4: Oblivion Remastered is out now, and it costs $50 ($67 CAD in my country!) for the standard edition of the game—a hefty price tag for an update of a 20-year-old RPG. But if you want to give Bethesda even more of your money, there's also a deluxe edition available for $10 more—and you better believe it's got horse armor.

RPG Tenderfoot Tactics removed from Xbox Store in solidarity with pro-Palestine boycott: 'We call on others in our community to do whatever they can to fight this historic injustice'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/rpg-tenderfoot-tactics-removed-from-xbox-store-in-solidarity-with-pro-palestine-boycott-we-call-on-others-in-our-community-to-do-whatever-they-can-to-fight-this-historic-injustice/
(...)
The developers of Tenderfoot Tactics, a strategy-RPG about a world being destroyed by corrupting fogs, has joined the protest. "The Tenderfoot Tactics team has decided to remove our game from sale on Xbox in solidarity with the Palestinian-lead Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions campaign," designer/programmer Badru posted on Bluesky, "which added Xbox to their priority boycott list earlier this month."

Praise the Nine, Oblivion Remastered doesn't make you grind your minor skills to level efficiently, and increasing Endurance boosts your hit points retroactively
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/praise-the-nine-oblivion-remastered-doesnt-make-you-grind-your-minor-skills-to-level-efficiently-and-increasing-endurance-boosts-your-hit-points-retroactively/
"We've changed the approach to leveling," Dan Lee, art lead at Bethesda Game Studios said during the Oblivion Remastered reveal video, "which I think will make a lot of people happy."
That's an understatement. The original Oblivion leveling system was busted beyond belief. You could easily level in an inefficient way, gaining less stat boosts than the game expected you to, and then be outmatched by the random bandits you used to be able to beat up thanks to Oblivion's aggressive level-scaling.
(...)
Describing the leveling in Oblivion Remastered, Lee simply said, "It's inspired by the leveling systems of both Oblivion and Skyrim, so it's the best of both worlds." Which sounds great, but doesn't actually tell you anything. Now that I've played a few hours, got out of the sewers and done some quests, I've seen it in action. And yes, it's a huge improvement.

Oblivion Remastered could never 'hold up against modern masterpieces like Elden Ring', according to Ex-Blizzard boss, 'I would love to be proven wrong, but I'm not'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/oblivion-remastered-could-never-hold-up-against-modern-masterpieces-like-elden-ring-according-to-ex-blizzard-boss-i-would-love-to-be-proven-wrong-but-im-not/
It only took a few hours for Oblivion Remastered to sail past 120,000 concurrent players on Steam, and even hit an all-time peak of 182,298 earlier today. But despite all the hype and excitement surrounding the remaster, ex-Blizzard boss Mike Ybarra doesn't seem to think it's a winner.
"I'm sceptical about 20-year-old remasters," Mike Ybarra, former Blizzard president, says on social media. "What was once fantastic, now remastered, will never hold up against modern masterpieces like Elden Ring. The bar has simply moved from safe open-world RPGs to what Elden Ring brought us all. I would love to be proven wrong. But I'm not."
>> Will he ever get over the fact that he was fired or will he be butt-hurt forever?

AMD probably doesn't have enough faulty chips yet for the GRE.

As for the 9060XT, maybe they know more about the 5060 launch date than we do?

Since the 9060XT will have launched already by then, I wonder what key gaming products they want to announce?

Maybe an official announcement of the GRE? or the specs of the 9060 non-XT? Or maybe something with Strix Halo?

I'm not naive enough to not realize that this will also affect the rest of us, it's already happening with Sony's move to raise the PS5 price in other countries to offset part of the losses driven by the tariffs in the US, but there's no f*cking way I'll watch a 3 hours video about it.

Thanks for the effort and patience.

Why it's always Gigabyte? 3090s breaking in some games, PCIe connectors cracking and now this. I'm amazed people still buy their products.

And, on an unrelated note, Igor's Lab has found something about the 5000 series AIB cards:

Thermal imaging seems to show there are 'weak point' hot spots in some RTX 50-series graphics cards
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/graphics-cards/thermal-imaging-seems-to-show-there-are-weak-point-hot-spots-in-some-rtx-50-series-graphics-cards/
After extensively poking and prodding RTX 50-series AIB graphics cards, veritable tech demigod Igor Wallossek of Igor's Lab has discovered that there are potentially concerning hotspots on many RTX 50-series AIB partner cards.

These hotspots seem to essentially and most directly be caused by power delivery components being placed too close together on the PCBs and connected via too few traces, although it seems that at least some of this density could in part be a result of an oversight in an Nvidia guide for board partners.

That's because, according to Igor, who references an RTX 40-series Thermal Design Guide due to an NDA looming over the one for RTX 50-series ones, the guide is "far too imprecise and incomplete", especially concerning the specific area where the hotspots are occurring.

It can be the Z2 chips we've heard rumors about that will power a few of the new handheld PCs.

By the way, I didn't post it in the regular news because it's off-topic, but if any of you have a 3D printer, or access to one, and like fantasy figurines, Fanatical has a bundle with 100 models for you, with the first tier of the bundle, containing 7 ones, is free:

https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/100-3-d-printable-fantasy-models-collection

Ah, you mean those AI versions of the current lineup? Well, let's see what we got there:

1. The Z2 AI Extreme is most probably just a Z2 Extreme, which is just a Ryzen AI Pro 360 with a fully unlocked GPU (16 instead of 12CU), but this time with it's NPU not deactivated. AMD could opt for a stronger CPU version, but in a handheld environment, that isn't very useful.
2. Meanwhile, the Z2 A is probably just a Z2, a rebranded Ryzen 7 8840U, with it's little NPU activated this time around - although they could switch to the Ryzen 5 8640U instead for this one, which would probably actually be a better fit for a handheld with it's smaller CPU and GPU.
3. Another rumour that I saw is that AMD is potentially willing to start selling Steam's custom-built Van Gogh to other handheld makers - though it's aging hardware will probably not be too popular amongst OEMs unless it brings them some "Steam Machine" or similar branding in the process.

So yeah, this seems probable to be officially announced there now.

For anyone playing Oblivion Remastered, informative video on resolution scaling when changing graphic preset.

TL;DW - if you're not using upscaler (DLSS/FSR/XeSS) and running native, game will change its internal rendering resolution scaling as part of graphics preset - so Ultra is @100%, High @87% and so on. If you're using upscaler, resolution scale will be greyed out and let the upscaler do the job (as expected), without graphic preset influencing uspcaling.

Pretty idiotic, but at least it's not locked so you can change scaling back to 100% regardless of graphic preset.

I still haven't gone down that rabbit hole, I honestly don't trust myself that I'll know when it's enough (as with buying minis, I think I'm at 500+ now), especially since I don't paint them, so I have to pay for that extra (which is actually where the most money goes when it comes to minis), but it is very satisfying to see them on the table in actual play.

NVIDIA’s Tegra239 SoC Is “Confirmed” To Be Present In Nintendo’s Switch 2; Chip Shot Surface For The First Time

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-tegra239-soc-is-confirmed-to-be-present-in-nintendo-switch-2/

Chinese AI Firms Are Reportedly Dumping NVIDIA’s RTX 4090D GPUs Into The Market To Capitalize On The Rising Prices

https://wccftech.com/chinese-ai-firms-are-reportedly-dumping-nvidias-rtx-4090d-gpus-into-the-market-to-capitalize-on-the-rising-prices/

GeForce RTX 5070 is now 10% below launch MSRP in Germany

https://videocardz.com/newz/geforce-rtx-5070-is-now-10-below-launch-msrp-in-germany

Intel prepares 32-core Grizzly Lake platform for 2027 auto market, reportedly based on Nova Lake

https://videocardz.com/newz/intel-prepares-32-core-grizzly-lake-platform-for-2027-auto-market-reportedly-based-on-nova-lake

Interesting read. I'd skip to the summary of recommendations section to get the jist of it.

Let’s go with the Thursday news:

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

These are the games the Epic Store gives away this week:

• CHUCHEL: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/chuchel-203808
• Albion Online Free Welcome Gift: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/albion-online-epic-launch-promo-bundle-fd0e2a

Next week, they’ll give away Super Space Club .

GOG has two new deals/sales:

• There are new Weekly Deals available, with up to 92% discounts during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20250424_weekly_deals_4_april
• Publisher Microids has launched the Amerzone Release Celebration Sale, with ganes up to 90% off during 10 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20250424_amerzone_release_sale

Steam has three new deals and two sales/events:

• Hidden Through Time 2: Discovery will be 40% off until the 30th of April: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1094680/Hidden_Through_Time_2_Discovery/
• Behind the Frame: The Finest Scenery, that has a demo, will have a 47% discount until the same April 30: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1634150/Behind_the_Frame_The_Finest_Scenery/
• Beasts of Bermuda, still in Early Access, is going to be 40% off until the 3rd of May: https://store.steampowered.com/app/719890/Beasts_of_Bermuda/
• And these are the sales:
  • Publisher GRAVITY GAME ARISE launches its Golden Week Sale, with up to 70% discounts until the 8th of May: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/42499832/sale/GoldenWeekSale2025
  • And Microids has also launched the Amerzone Sale here, but so far there are no discounts: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/33126618/sale/AmerzoneFranchise

Humble Bundle has launched the new id & Friends Bundle, featuring up to 11 items (games, DLCs and coupons), during 16 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/id-and-friends.

And Fanatical’s new Star Deal is Metaphor: ReFantazio, with a 40% deal during 48 hours or until they run out of keys: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/metaphor-refantazio.

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

INTEL Arc Graphics 32.0.101.6737 driver
https://videocardz.com/driver/intel-arc-graphics-32-0-101-6737

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:

• Clair Obscur: Expedition 33
• The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered

Game performance improvements on Intel Arc B-series Graphics GPUs versus Intel 32.0.101.6734 software driver for:

• Infinity Nikki (DX12)
  • Up to 7% average FPS uplift at 1080p with Ultra settings
  • Up to 5% average FPS uplift at 1440p with Ultra settings

FIXED ISSUES
Intel Arc B-Series Graphics Products:

• Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 (DX12) may experience an application crash while loading to gameplay.
• Cyberpunk 2077 (DX12) may experience an intermittent crash on certain motherboards with Ray-Tracing on.

Intel Arc A-Series Graphics Products:

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (DX12) may exhibit darker than expected shadows in certain campaign scenarios.

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

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 (DX12) may exhibit darker than expected shadows in certain campaign scenarios.
• Users may experience less than expected performance while screen recording during gameplay on certain devices.
• Video playback on external display may experience intermittent freeze while performing certain operations.

Steam's gonna start listing 'adjustable difficulty,' 'save anytime,' and other accessibility features right on a game's store page soon
https://www.pcgamer.com/software/platforms/steams-gonna-start-listing-adjustable-difficulty-save-anytime-and-other-accessibility-features-right-on-a-games-store-page-soon/
It feels like videogames are getting better at realising that, you know, a whole load of different people play videogames these days. Pretty much any modern release will run you through a set of accessibility options the first time you launch it, and those options usually seem pretty expansive, at least to me. But I don't need them, so I could be overlooking some obvious missing options—the writers at websites like Can I Play That? look for everything from difficulty options to adjustable text size to sound navigation to determine how accessible games are.
The problem, of course, is that if you need a particular accessibility option in one of the thousands of games on Steam that hasn't gotten a detailed accessibility review, there's often no way to find out what's in store other than buying it. But it looks like Steam's on its way to rectifying that. In a recent Steamworks update (via GamingOnLinux) Valve announced a "new accessibility-support questionnaire for developers to better describe the way their games support accessibility."
In essence, anyone publishing a game on Steam now has access to a questionnaire where they tick boxes for the accessibility features their games have. Got adjustable text size? Tick a box. Got narrated menus? Tick a box. Colourblind options? Tick a box. And so on. You can find a full list of accessibility options devs will be able to choose from below.

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Sword Heart Shura is a total combat overhaul mod for Elden Ring
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/sword-heart-shura-is-a-total-combat-overhaul-mod-for-elden-ring/
Modder ‘RuntimeQAQ’ has released a new total combat overhaul mod for Elden Ring, called Sword Heart Shura. This mod completely changes the combat system of Elden Ring. As such, it’s the perfect mod to use to experience Elden Ring in a completely new way.
By using this mod, players will be able to block enemy onslaughts, counterattack swiftly, and switch between offense and defense seamlessly.
Basically, this mod will make Elden Ring feel similar to The First Berserker: Khazan, Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, Rise of the Ronin, and Black Myth: Wukong. So, if you are fans of these titles, you should definitely download and try it.
You can go ahead and download the mod from this link. At the end of the article, you can also find a video for it. This video will give you a pretty good idea of what you can expect from it, so be sure to watch it.
Do note that in order to use the mod, you’ll need to install the ‘ELDEN RING ALT SAVES‘ MOD. Otherwise, it won’t function properly. You’ll also need to install the “MoEngine2.1.0” Mod.
>> The article has an almost 4 minutes video.

This Oblivion Remastered Mod brings back the colors of the original
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/this-oblivion-remastered-mod-brings-back-the-colors-of-the-original/
A lot of people were disappointed by the color grading of Oblivion Remastered. Well, good news everyone, as this Reshade Mod attempts to bring back the colors of the original version.
By using this mod, you will get a richer palette of colors than before. Plus, the game will no longer have that “brown” filter. So, this should be music to the ears of all Oblivion fans.
You can go ahead and download the Reshade preset from this link. Do note that you will also need to install Reshade, otherwise, the mod will not work.
>> The qrticle has some comparison screenshots.

GAMING NEWS

Frostpunk 1886 is a remake of the first Frostpunk, coming to PC in 2027
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/11bit-studios-announces-frostpunk-1886-coming-to-pc-in-2027/
11 bit studios has unveiled the first glimmer of a brand-new title in the Frostpunk franchise, called Frostpunk 1886. This game will revisit and expand upon the beloved city-builder and society survival experience of the original Frostpunk. So, this is basically a remake of the first Frostpunk game.

RoboCop: Rogue City – Unfinished Business releases on July 17th
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/robocop-rogue-city-unfinished-business-releases-on-july-17th/
NACON has announced that RoboCop: Rogue City – Unfinished Business will be released on July 17th. To celebrate this announcement, the publisher shared the game’s story trailer, which you can find below.

Thursday news, part two:

Marvel Rivals' heroes 'leap off the page,' thanks to the devs meshing 2D and 3D together to make the eye-catching art style
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/marvel-rivals-heroes-leap-off-the-page-thanks-to-the-devs-meshing-2d-and-3d-together-to-make-the-eye-catching-art-style/
Before playing Marvel Rivals, I was suffering from a serious case of MCU fatigue. I'd gone from watching every film on opening night to actively trying to avoid whatever slop they were trying to shove out as quickly as possible after Endgame. But it took all of two seconds after booting up Marvel Rivals to get excited about all the superheroes again, and its comic book art style was a big reason why.
"In the early stages of defining the overall project's style, our aim was to create a distinctive artistic style," the art director known as Dino says in a YouTube video. "Therefore, we drew inspiration from various aspects such as animation, film, and graphic design. We infused our style with bold colours and rough brushstrokes, emphasising primary colours and the vitality of hues. We call it 'dynamic comic style.'"
>> By the way, there is, or will be, or not, a strike of strategists because a streamer said dumb things.

The new Monster Hunter Wilds cherry blossom festival brings some of its best-looking armor sets yet
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/action/the-new-monster-hunter-wilds-cherry-blossom-festival-brings-some-of-its-best-looking-armor-sets-yet/
Monster Hunter Wilds kicked off April with Title Update 1, adding new monster hunts, challenge quests, and a new Grand Hub as a central base of operations and socializing space for hunters to hang out between quests. It's also the venue for Blossomdance, the first Monster Hunter Wilds seasonal event, which kicked off last night in a blizzard of cherry blossom petals and sakura-themed armor sets.

Swen Vincke and Larian celebrate the last major content update for Baldur's Gate 3, and say now they'll 'focus on making our next big thing as good as we can'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/baldurs-gate/swen-vincke-and-larian-celebrate-the-last-major-content-update-for-baldurs-gate-3-and-say-now-theyll-focus-on-making-our-next-big-thing-as-good-as-we-can/
Baldur's Gate 3 recently received its eighth major patch and, pinky promise, this time Larian Studios says it's done. All those other times it said it was done were just plain fooling: it's really, properly done with the game now.
(...)
While Larian will obviously continue to issue bug fixes and maintenance where necessary, this really is the end of active development. And the team is understandably now looking back on what it achieved with pride, and a determination to focus on the next thing.

The company behind the Wheel of Time series on Amazon is now working on a Wheel of Time open-world RPG
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/the-company-behind-the-wheel-of-time-series-on-amazon-is-now-working-on-a-wheel-of-time-open-world-rpg/
A Variety report says a new videogame based on Robert Jordan's massive Wheel of Time series of books is now in development at a newly established game division of Iwot Studios, one of the production companies responsible for the Wheel of Time TV series on Amazon.

If you dig into Oblivion Remastered's files you can find almost the whole original game like a set of dinosaur bones
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/the-elder-scrolls/if-you-dig-into-the-oblivion-remasters-files-you-can-find-almost-the-whole-original-game-like-a-set-of-dinosaur-bones/
If you're anything like me, the first time you laid eyes on Oblivion Remastered, you wondered why it was called Oblivion Remastered. 'Surely,' you mused to yourself in an urbane, handsome, charmingly mischievous sort of way, 'this is a full-on remake? This is far too much work to just call a remaster.'
Well, it's because it really is a remaster—that 2006 game wrapped in a few lovely looking layers of Unreal Engine 5. If you delve into Oblivion Remastered's files, you'll eventually find pretty much all the files for the original game in the exact same structure they were in when they hit your hard drive in 2006. Head to [Drive Letter] > SteamLibrary > steamapps > common > Oblivion Remastered > OblivionRemastered > Content > Dev > ObvData > Data and, if you ever spent any time shuffling mods around an original Oblivion install, it'll be like seeing an old friend.
>> Maybe that’s why the NPC are still “charmingly ugly”

Oblivion Remastered kept the acting gaffe where its master speech trainer says 'Let me do that one again' and repeats their line—It's even lip-synced now
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/the-elder-scrolls/oblivion-remastered-kept-the-acting-gaffe-where-its-master-speech-trainer-says-let-me-do-that-one-again-and-repeats-their-line-its-even-lip-synced-now/
I was convinced Oblivion Remastered would satisfy my childhood nostalgia when, in the middle of its official reveal, Todd Howard declared with a slight grimace that the devs had made sure to preserve its "charm." That is to say, those baffling bits of jank and strange NPC behaviours that still make the original one of the funniest games ever made.
But even I'm pleasantly surprised by just how much jank Virtuos and Bethesda left in. Fans have been very excited to find that the devs have even left in a now-legendary flubbed take, where High Elf actor Linda Kenyon speaks, says "Wait a minute, let me do that one again," and then delivers the line a second time. Bonus irony: the line comes from Tandilwe, the Imperial City's master speechcraft trainer.

'We want you to be a part of it': Subnautica 2's Early Access is about to begin, and the devs want players to experience all the new vehicles, craftables, and leviathans first-hand
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/survival-crafting/we-want-you-to-be-a-part-of-it-subnautica-2s-early-access-is-about-to-begin-and-the-devs-want-players-to-experience-all-the-new-vehicles-craftables-and-leviathans-first-hand/
2025 is going to be a great year for anyone who likes building elaborate underwater laboratories or is just a fan of crustaceans, thanks to Subnautica 2 coming into Early Access, which soon players will be able to be a part of.

Fortnite's latest update has semi-resurrected Harmonix's undeservedly short-lived DJ rhythm game
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/battle-royale/fortnites-latest-update-has-semi-resurrected-harmonixs-undeservedly-short-lived-dj-rhythm-game/
Harmonix's Fuser was an excellent game that had a regrettably short tail. It released in late 2020, offering a flexible DJ experience that let you mash together layers from all kinds of different songs… or, y'know, just dropping Smash Mouth into everything instead.
Unfortunately, the game was delisted a mere two years later, leaving wannabe DJs/inappropriate Smash Mouth users with no outlet for their song smash shenanigans. Until now. Kinda, anyway.
In case you weren't aware, Epic actually snapped up Harmonix back in 2021. Since then the developer has lent its musical expertise to a sort of diet Guitar Hero in the form of Fortnite Festival. Music tracks get added pretty regularly, and they can even be used outside of Festival mode to create jams—where other players in close vicinity can contribute different tracks and instruments, and they'll all sync up together to create a new banger or some auditory horror.
Usually you need other players to come along for a full jam, but this week's 34.40 update has changed that: You can now solo jam by selecting different instruments and songs, and it's basically a semi-resurrected Fuser.