Just do what I do which is legally allowed here... Crack it. You own the legitimate copy.

Ignoring the fact that wccftech is an aggregate site for rumours, regardless if they are real or fake... Just like when they wrote an article claiming that the MOBILE R9 M295X will be rebranded as the DESKTOP R9 380x... Which never happened.
I am surprised how often individuals on vgchartz shares "information" from questionable sources. - In this instance, Jizz labelled it as a rumour, which is good.

The 9950X3D2 would be the perfect CPU for someone like myself... For it to work, AMD must have some cracking yields on the CCX with low leakage in order to maintain clockrates and TDP levels at an acceptable level.

From what I have been able to understand is that Mass Effect Legendary Edition actually had good sales... (And is currently on sale on Steam if anyone doesn't have it.)
So I am remaining optimistic that we get a Dragon Age: Legendary Edition at some point... But the pain point there is that the Dragon Age games didn't all stick to the same game engine, so it's not just a simple matter of porting assets to the latest version of Unreal and dialing up the image quality settings.

Origins used the Eclipse engine which was also used for Neverwinter Nights.. Dragon Age 2 built on the Eclipse engine and dubbed it "Lycium" engine.
Inquisition and Veilguard used Frostbite.

Maybe the approach would be to take Origins+Awakening and Dragon Age 2 and throw it on an enhanced Lycium engine as a package... And then port Inquisition and Veilguard to the latest frostbite engine and add in some RT effects as a second package.

To be fair... I have personally not had many issues running any of the Dragon Age games... But I also have multiple PC's which run period correct hardware with the appropriate operating systems anyway.

The issue with a DA Remaster is that there are few people left at Bioware that are familiar with the games engine. This article is almost a year old but there were around 20 people at that time and I imagine that numbers dropped because this was before Veilguard related layoffs. 

https://www.gamesradar.com/games/dragon-age/bioware-dev-says-maybe-20-people-left-at-the-studio-have-used-an-old-dragon-age-engine-so-its-harder-to-remaster-than-mass-effect-never-say-never-i-guess/

Honestly, I've thought Bioware wasn't long for this world after the launch of Veilguard. I can't imagine that the recent sale of EA will improve the situation.

That DOSBox Pure looks fantastic, especially for having CRT filters, since I hate playing anything old without them.

Steam just launched a new feature: https://store.steampowered.com/personalcalendar

Basically it's a personal calendar that shows recently and soon to be launched games that might interest the player. More info here.

I wish it had more filtering options. like tags to filter out.

A demo of the latest capabilities of RTX:

Samsung Goes Head-to-Head with SK Hynix and Micron as It Unveils HBM4 Memory to the Public for the First Time

https://wccftech.com/samsung-set-to-compete-with-sk-hynix-micron-as-it-showcases-hbm4-memory-to-the-public/

Intel Core Ultra 200S Plus “Arrow Lake Refresh” CPUs Leak: Flagship Is Ultra 9 290K Plus, Ultra 7 270K Plus Benchmarked

https://wccftech.com/intel-core-ultra-200s-plus-arrow-lake-refresh-cpus-leak-9-290k-plus-7-270k-plus-benchmark/

Intel Is Reportedly Increasing Prices Of Raptor Lake CPUs By 10% Due To AI PC “Underperformance”

https://wccftech.com/intel-is-reportedly-increasing-prices-of-raptor-lake-cpus-by-10-percent/

SK Hynix Second-Gen 3Gb DDR5 “A-Die” Chips Spotted; New AKBD Bin Suggests Native 7200 MT/s Speed

https://wccftech.com/sk-hynix-second-gen-3gb-ddr5-a-die-chips-spotted/

Intel’s ‘Make-or-Break’ Jaguar Shores Rack-Scale AI Lineup Expected to Be Finalized in H1 2026, With Talks Underway With Alchip

https://wccftech.com/intels-jaguar-shores-rack-scale-ai-lineup-expected-to-be-finalized-in-h1-2026/

Rumour that is

NVIDIA’s US-made Blackwell GPUs still need to go to Taiwan for packaging

https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidias-us-made-blackwell-gpus-still-need-to-go-to-taiwan-for-packaging

Xbox President says next-gen console will be “very premium”

https://videocardz.com/newz/xbox-president-says-next-gen-console-will-be-very-premium

Broadcom unveils WiFi 8 chips for access points and clients

https://www.cnx-software.com/2025/10/22/broadcom-unveils-wifi-8-chips-for-access-points-and-clients/

AWS crash causes $2,000 Smart Beds to overheat and get stuck upright

https://www.dexerto.com/entertainment/aws-crash-causes-2000-smart-beds-to-overheat-and-get-stuck-upright-3272251/

Here come today’s gaming news:

SALES/PLAYER COUNTS & DEALS

Steam has the following deals:

• The Early Access title A Webbing Journey, that has a demo, is going to be 30% off until the 28th of October: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2073910/A_Webbing_Journey
• Starship Troopers: Terran Command gets a 45% discount until Ocotber 28: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1202130/Starship_Troopers_Terran_Command
• Pic-Me! will be 50% off until the 28th: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3265280/PicMe
• Midnight Murder Club will have a 20% discount until the 3rd of November: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2698870/Midnight_Murder_Club
• And then there are these sales/events:
  • Roguelike Celebration 2025 is full of games of thies (sub)genre and wil have games up to 90% off until the 27th of October: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/41222044/sale/RoguelikeCelebration2025
  • Difficult Games Bash 2025 is full of upcoming and available titles wit hup to 90% discounts. The deals will end between October 27th and November 4th: https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45047482/sale/DifficultGamesBash2025

The Humble Store presents the Koei Tecmo Halloween Sale which, right now, only has two editions of the same Ninja Gaiden game with a 50% discount. The Sale should last 12 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/koei-tecmo-halloween-sale

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

New Dark Souls 2 Mod Adds Weapons, Shields, Armor, and Two Miracles
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/new-dark-souls-2-mod-adds-weapons-shields-armor-and-two-miracles
Modder ‘Moonlight Ruin’ has released a new cool mod for Dark Souls 2. Firelink Edition is a mod that comes with new visuals, items, enemy placement, and changes to the progression. Previously locked doors are now open, and key items are now in different locations.
Going into more details, Dark Souls 2 Firelink Edition adds new weapons, shields, armor pieces, and two whole new miracles. It will also allow players to sell the Soul items at their actual soul value. Soul items display their soul value in the descriptions, and we get some buffed ring effects.
Arrows and bolts will now deal more damage. Moreover, Homeward Bone, Aged Feather, and Darksign can now recover health, flasks, and spells when used. A new bonfire has been added in Throne of Want. On top of that, Straid will now only sell spells, and Ornifex will sell all boss weapons.
In short, this is a fun mod that can change how you experience the game. If you’ve already finished it and want to play again with some new surprises, this mod is perfect for you. You can download it from this link.
Speaking of Dark Souls 2, you may also be interested in this other mod for it. The First Sin InfiniDetail is a mod that aims to eliminate texture LOD pop-in. It will also greatly increase the game’s draw distance. In theory, it should work with the Renewal Project.
(...)
Both of these mods are for the Scholar of the First Sin version. If you are still playing the first/vanilla version of DS2, you can use this mod to overhaul its graphics.
>> The article has no media.

GAMING NEWS

Cronos: The New Dawn PC Demo Available Now For Download
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/cronos-the-new-dawn-pc-demo-available-now-for-download
Bloober Team has just released a PC demo for its latest horror game, Cronos: The New Dawn. This demo will let you experience the first mission. You will find the Predecessor, test the Traveler’s gear, and face your first encounters with the merging enemies.

The Sinking City 2 Delayed to 2026 — But These New Screenshots Look Great
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/the-sinking-city-2-delayed-to-2026-but-these-new-screenshots-look-great
Frogwares has announced that The Sinking City 2, their upcoming Lovecraftian survival horror game, will be shifting its release window to the first half of 2026. To make up for the delay, the team shared a new set of screenshots that you can find below.

MOUSE: P.I. For Hire has been delayed until early 2026
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/mouse-p-i-for-hire-has-been-delayed-until-early-2026
Fumi Games has announced that MOUSE: P.I. For Hire has been delayed, and that it will now release in early 2026. According to the devs, we’ll get a specific release date on October 23rd at the Galaxies Gaming Showcase.

Part two of the gaming news:

Jackbox Party Pack 11 is the first to not include sequels to earlier Jackbox games, but there's still plenty of familiar DNA in the all-new offerings
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/strategy/jackbox-party-pack-11-is-the-first-to-not-include-sequels-to-earlier-jackbox-games-but-theres-still-plenty-of-familiar-dna-in-the-all-new-offerings/
Jackbox Games is poised to deliver its 11th Jackbox Party Pack this week, so how are they keeping things fresh after all these years? Well, by literally keeping things fresh: every one of the five games in Jackbox Party Pack 11 is an original.

Brace yourself for yassified Homer Simpson as leaks say an entire Springfield map is headed for Fortnite
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/battle-royale/brace-yourself-for-yassified-homer-simpson-as-leaks-say-an-entire-springfield-map-is-headed-for-fortnite/
(...)
That's per Fortnite Nostradamus/Deepthroat/leaks-person-of-note NotPalo, who wrote that Fortnite would be getting a cel-shaded map with separate sections for areas like the Springfield nuclear power plant. There'll also be Simpsons character skins (with, it's said, their own Lego versions for use in Lego maps), and a Simpsons-themed mini-season.

'The freedom we have with this sci-fi space is a bit terrifying': upcoming FPS Den of Wolves is laid bare in a new studio documentary
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/the-freedom-we-have-with-this-sci-fi-space-is-a-bit-terrifying-upcoming-fps-den-of-wolves-is-laid-bare-in-a-new-studio-documentary/
Don your RGB hockey mask, tool up, and get ready to dive into peoples' very minds in Den of Wolves, the upcoming sci-fi FPS co-op heist game from Payday 1 and 2 veterans. PC Gamer went to Stockholm to chat to the developers at 10 Chambers and get a behind-the-scenes look at what makes Den of Wolves tick.

Starbreeze hands off Payday 2 to another developer as it goes all-in on trying to salvage the beleaguered Payday 3
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/starbreeze-hands-off-payday-2-to-a-another-developer-as-it-goes-all-in-on-trying-to-salvage-the-beleaguered-payday-3/
Things are not going well for Payday 3 but, conversely, Payday 2 has never looked in ruder health. Payday 3 launched in 2023 and has struggled to find anything like the audience of its predecessor: at the time of writing SteamDB shows just over 500 players on 3, while around 27,000 are on its 12 year-old predecessor.
It's an issue for Starbreeze, which has a long history of great and interesting games but for the past decade has been basically a Payday studio. Thing is, Payday 2 is so popular that it's had to continue to support the older game, which now has so much DLC that last month saw the launch of a subscription service (which is actually a pretty good deal, though some groused about it anyway).
Now Starbreeze has announced that Payday 2's maintenance and future content is all being handled by Sidetrack Games, which has previously created several pieces of Payday 2 DLC.

Former Bethesda designer says Starfield fell flat because of its reliance on procgen planets: 'I don't think it's in the same calibre as the other two, Fallout or Skyrim'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/former-bethesda-designer-says-starfield-fell-flat-because-of-its-reliance-on-procgen-planets-i-dont-think-its-in-the-same-calibre-as-the-other-two-fallout-or-skyrim/
Since its launch in 2023, Starfield has cemented a reputation as Bethesda's okayest game. While Skyrim has been honored with what felt like 800 re-releases and Fallout's enjoying its time in the TV adaptation spotlight, Starfield hasn't managed to foster the same level of fondness—even with Bethesda leaving sneaky little teasers in its spacefaring RPG's birthday card.
In an interview with FRVR, former Bethesda designer Bruce Nesmith said that while he thinks it's "a good game," Starfield failed to live up to its potential because its reliance on procedurally generated content didn't align with what players expected from a Bethesda RPG.

Former Battlefield 6 campaign boss calls out EA for leaving him and other developers out of the credits after closing his studio in 2024
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/former-battlefield-6-campaign-boss-calls-out-ea-for-leaving-him-and-other-developers-out-of-the-credits-after-closing-his-studio-in-2024/
Former Bungie longtimer March Lehto, the art director on the original Halo games among others, launched a new studio at Electronic Arts in 2021 called Ridgeline Games, with the express purpose of developing a "narrative campaign" for the next Battlefield game—the recently-released Battlefield 6, as it turned out. Ah, but it didn't work out: A few years later he left EA, and shortly after that EA laid off the entire team and closed the studio.
Lehto said at the time that he was "incredibly upset and very sad" about the layoffs and closure, adding that he didn't "have anything positive to say about EA" in the wake of his departure. And now, with Battlefield 6 out in the wild, EA has let him down even further.
"I’m disappointed to see that many of my former teammates from Ridgeline Games were not properly credited in the recent release of Battlefield 6," Lehto wrote on LinkedIn (via VGC).

Battlefield 6 officially nerfs XP farming servers into the ground, draining them of nearly all XP
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/battlefield-6-officially-nerfs-xp-farming-servers-into-the-ground-draining-them-of-nearly-all-xp/
Battlefield Studios has followed through on its plan to discourage XP farming servers in Battlefield 6. As of this morning, many servers advertising themselves as "XP farms" or "all bots" have had their XP privileges taken away—you can still play on them, but you'll only earn a pittance of precious experience. Some noticed the XP purge actually began on October 17, the same day BF Studios announced other XP changes, but now it's official.

'Controller players are winning slightly more in close-range engagements': Treyarch throws a live grenade into 'controller vs mouse' debate, says aim assist will be less forgiving in Black Ops 7
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/call-of-duty/controller-players-are-winning-slightly-more-in-close-range-engagements-treyarch-throws-a-live-grenade-into-controller-vs-mouse-debate-says-aim-assist-will-be-less-forgiving-in-black-ops-7/
I don't know who among you asked for it, but you're getting it: Treyarch is looking at making changes to aim assist in Call of Duty: Black Ops 7.
Treyarch touched on a number of adjustments to Black Ops 7 multiplayer being made in the wake of the recent beta, including an increase in footstep volume, decrease in sliding speed and distance, and speeding up mantling. But it's the promise of changes to aim assist that's the real centerpiece.
"We're looking very closely at the data, and the data says that controller players are winning slightly more in close-range engagements, and then keyboard-mouse players are winning slightly more in those long-range engagements," Treyarch design director Matt Scronce said in today's developer update.

This minimalist platformer's mouseclick parkour is singlehandedly curing my 2D platformer phobia
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/this-minimalist-platformers-mouseclick-parkour-is-singlehandedly-curing-my-2d-platformer-phobia/
We all have our blind spots, and mine is 2D platforming—which made diving into Silksong particularly painful for me last month. In the games I was raised on, movement either happened in three dimensions or while watching from a birds-eye view. When I'm expected to run and jump sidescroll-ways, my brain responds like a cornered animal. My hands can't be trusted, and nobody is safe—least of all me.
Today, that's begun to change thanks to This Is No Cave.
It's a minimalist sci-fi platformer, where you play as a charming little yellow-suited astronaut attempting to escape their crash landing on an alien planet by using their boot thrusters and grappling hook to fling their tumbling body through a labyrinth of subterranean tunnels. (Those tunnels, I'm told, are not a cave.)

Palworld studio Pocketpair says its new publishing division won't handle games that use generative AI: 'We don't believe in it'
https://www.pcgamer.com/software/ai/palworld-studio-pocketpair-says-its-new-publishing-division-wont-handle-games-that-use-generative-ai-we-dont-believe-in-it/
Palworld developer Pocketpair kicked off 2025 by launching a publishing division, and was immediately swamped with interest: It received more than 150 pitches for publishing deals in its first week alone. Pocketpair Publishing boss John Buckley said at the time that the new division "will respect the autonomy and vision of developers and work together to make great games for people all over the world," but it turns out that there is one kind of vision the company isn't interested in: The kind that relies on generative AI.
"People are going to say I'm lying, but these are just the hard facts," Buckley said in a new interview with Game Developer. "We don't believe in it. We're very upfront about it. If you're big on AI stuff or your game is Web3 or uses NFTs, there are lots of publishers out there [who'll talk to you], but we're not the right partner for that."

***sigh*** And here’s the now usual part three:

Effulgence RPG is a game made entirely of ASCII art where you convert your enemies' raw parts into new weapons, and if that doesn't convince you to give its demo a look I don't know what will
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/effulgence-rpg-is-a-game-made-entirely-of-ascii-art-where-you-convert-your-enemies-raw-parts-into-new-weapons-and-if-that-doesnt-convince-you-to-give-its-demo-a-look-i-dont-know-what-will/
You know what I worry about? I worry about the lost artforms of the early internet. Time was, every game guide out there would come prefaced with some lustrous bit of ASCII art—an unfathomably complex picture made up solely of characters on your keyboard. Now it's gone the way of ancient basket-weaving and the spinning jenny.
(...)
Anyway, I was glad to see—amid the latest glut of Steam Next Fest demos—one game keeping the old ways alive. Effulgence RPG is a rather striking turn-based, um, RPG that pits you and your party against gauntlet after gauntlet of monsters. Also, you and the monsters and the world and everything are composed entirely of ASCII characters.

Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 is sitting at Mixed reviews on Steam: 'It's not a Bloodlines game'
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/rpg/vampire-the-masquerade-bloodlines-2-is-sitting-at-mixed-reviews-on-steam-its-not-a-bloodlines-game/
A decade after Bloodlines 2 was pitched to then-new Vampire: The Masquerade owner Paradox Interactive, we're finally able to sink our fangs into the undead sequel. Unfortunately absence has not made the heart grow fonder, and it's currently sitting at Mixed reviews on Steam.
The consensus among the user reviews, even the positive ones, is that Bloodlines 2 doesn't really earn the name, and that it has a surprising dearth of RPG systems for something that calls itself an RPG.
>> Others may complain about the performance, which is what you’d expect from a UE5 game: “Stuttering Like Starved Bloodsuckers” says a WccfTech article (link).

A publisher nobody's heard of has 'unintentionally' re-released 2006's Scarface: The World Is Yours early, and I'm not so sure 'bout this one, boss
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/third-person-shooter/a-publisher-nobodys-heard-of-has-unintentionally-re-released-2006s-scarface-the-world-is-yours-early-and-im-not-so-sure-bout-this-one-boss/
The year is 2025, and there's no better indication that we live in an increasingly meaningless and absurdist hellscape than the fact I read the news "They're re-releasing a 2006 videogame based on a 1984 movie, but with upscaled graphics, but also they might have just bundled mods into it without anyone's permission" and thought anything other than "Sure, why not, pile it on".
In fairness, Scarface: The World is Yours achieved some solid commercial and critical success—it was developed by Radical Entertainment, the auteurs behind The Simpsons: Hit & Run three years prior and, later on, the Prototype games. There were even plans for a sequel, though that got canned in 2009.
EC Digital, a publisher I could find nothing about (more on that in a moment), accidentally pushed the game to the Epic Store early. This is confirmed by its Steam page, where you can find a news post that reads:
"Due to a technical issue during backend configuration, the game was unintentionally pushed live on a different platform earlier than planned. We want to clarify that our intended long-term release platform includes Steam, and we're now accelerating our efforts to finalize this version."

Ninja Gaiden 4 reduces DLSS to a mere on/off toggle with no built-in options to tweak it, which is a new one on me
https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/ninja-gaiden-4-reduces-dlss-to-a-mere-on-off-toggle-with-no-built-in-options-to-tweak-it-which-is-a-new-one-on-me/
One of the best things about DLSS, or any upscaling tech for that matter, is the ability to adjust it to your preference. The image quality difference between Performance and Quality can often be dramatic, as it substantially changes the resolution of the game running underneath. The more pixels for the upscaler to work with, the better the graphical quality overall, for the most part. But if you want more performance on less-powerful, yet still-supported hardware? Simply back it down towards a lower setting.
Which is why it's pretty astonishing that Ninja Gaiden 4, the latest entry in the long-running series, has reduced it to a simple enabled/disabled option. As spotted by X user @Sebasti66855537, a thread on the Steam discussion page highlights the issue—and has received a disappointing response from the developer.
"At this time, DLSS options aren’t adjustable directly from the in-game graphics menu. To tweak DLSS modes (e.g. Performance/Quality), please open the NVIDIA App/GeForce Experience and adjust the DLSS settings there" say the devs.

Blizzard tackles World of Warcraft Legion Remix's tank infestation by doubling healer and DPS health, with a little defensive buff on the side
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/world-of-warcraft/blizzard-tackles-world-of-warcraft-legion-remixs-oops-all-tanks-woes-by-doubling-healer-and-dps-health-with-a-little-defensive-buff-on-the-side/
World of Warcraft Legion Remix—the second in Blizzard's limited-time experiments with old expansions—is trying to fix its oops! All tanks issue by throwing an absurd amount of HP at healers and DPS. And a hefty defensive buff on the side, as a treat.

Former Riot exec and WoW vet side-eyes the 'gigantic investments' and flubs of major studios as his MMO scrambles for funding: 'Please indulge me in feeling salty for a moment'
https://www.pcgamer.com/gaming-industry/game-development/former-riot-exec-and-wow-vet-side-eyes-the-gigantic-investments-and-flubs-of-major-studios-as-his-mmo-scrambles-for-funding-please-indulge-me-in-feeling-salty-for-a-moment/
Things are dire in the game industry at the moment. Which is, unfortunately, a sentence I've been writing for a lot of moments—two years of moments, actually. I am now writing it again, wincing in sympathy, as former Riot executive Greg Street has taken to LinkedIn to have an (understandable) moan about his studio's lot.
For context, Street worked on World of Warcraft (you might know him as Ghostcrawler) as well as Riot's still-fermenting League of Legends MMO, before heading out to form his own company in 2023. Fantastic Pixel Castle has been working on Project Ghost for a minute, before having the funding rug pulled out by NetEase earlier this month.

'Pacifist Battlefield completed': A Battlefield 6 player has already managed to hit a 1 million score with just 8 kills and 5,077 revives
https://www.pcgamer.com/games/fps/pacifist-battlefield-completed-a-battlefield-6-player-has-already-managed-to-hit-a-1-million-score-with-just-8-kills-and-5-077-revives/
One of the best parts of Battlefield 6 is that you can pretty much play however you want. You don't have to go in guns blazing all the time, you can focus on fixing vehicles, jetting through the sky, and oftentimes patching up allies.
The Support class has always been my go-to in Battlefield games and now it seems like the same goes for tons of other players as well. Supports in Battlefield 6 can fully revive teammates with a charged defib hit and can also dish out regular ammo refills, making them the most self-efficient and reliable class to play.
Over the last few weeks we've seen plenty of medics jump into the line of fire to save comrades in arms, but one has managed to stand head and shoulders above the rest. ThatFriendlyGuyTTV shared the impressive news of reaching 1,000,000 score with just eight kills, a 0.006 K/D, and a mighty 5,077 revives: "Pacifist Battlefield completed."

Three games in the Soccer Manager series will be retired from Steam. Thankfully, the games are free to play so they can be claimed easily and the news announcement states that they will continue to function.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1078730/Soccer_Manager_2020

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1448530/Soccer_Manager_2021

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1777760/Soccer_Manager_2022