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Congrats! So, are you waiting something else or can you finally build your new PC?

I didn't know that. Thank you.

*** NEW CONTESTS ***

• Guru3D 2020 December 17th contest - Win an ASUS ROG Strix X570-E Gaming Motherboard https://www.guru3d.com/news-story/guru3d-2020-december-17th-contest-win-an-asus-rog-strix-x570-e-gaming-motherboard.html

Here's a better pic, and here you'll find more info about this mobo.

• HEXUS EPIC Giveaway Day 3: Win a Cherry gaming peripheral bundle https://hexus.net/tech/features/peripherals/147098-day-3-win-cherry-gaming-peripheral-bundle/

Sadly, this contest is for UK and Europe ONLY.

The Thursday news:

Let me tell you that the PC Secret Santa thread is open! If you want to join, come here: https://gamrconnect.vgchartz.com/thread/243930/the-11th-semi-annual-pc-secret-santa-event/

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Steam has two new daily deals:

• Killsquad, Still in Early Access, is the first daily deal, 30% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/910490/Killsquad/
• The other one is SYNTHETIK: Legion Rising, 75% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/528230/SYNTHETIK_Legion_Rising/

The Humble Store has two new sales:

• Headup Games has a Pre-Xmas Sale with up to 80% discounts for the next four days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/headup-publisher-sale/
• And the Kojima Productions Anniversary Sale puts it's only game 50% off for the next 19 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/kojima-productions-anniversary-sale/

Fanatical has two new deals:

• The new Star Deal is Shadow of the Tomb Raider: Definitive Edition, 77% off for the next 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/shadow-of-the-tomb-raider-definitive-edition
• And the new Nitro Bundle comes with 6 racing games plus 6 DLCs with a 98% discount: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/nitro-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

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MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Free Mortal Kombat 1 & 2 Arcade Mugen 2020 games bring new life to Midway’s classic fighting games
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/free-mortal-kombat-1-2-arcade-mugen-2020-classic-fighting-games/
Mugen developers Fabian Arispe and Billie Rodriguez have released two new updates for Mortal Kombat Mugen and Mortal Kombat 2 Mugen. These updates bring some balance tweaks, new movements and various improvements to these free MK games.
Both of the MK1 and MK2 Mugen games bring major gameplay improvements. For instance, they introduce combos for all players and add the Run button from MK3. Additionally, they add new fatalities for all characters.
(...)
You can download Mortal Kombat Arcade Mugen and Mortal Kombat 2 Arcade Mugen from here. Also note that Mortal Kombat Komplete 2020 features a 2D version of Mortal Kombat 4.

This Mod for Skyrim Special Edition overhauls the grass and ground textures of all regions
https://www.dsogaming.com/pc-performance-analyses/this-mod-for-skyrim-special-edition-overhauls-the-grass-and-ground-textures-of-all-regions/
Modder ‘Velanimus’ has released a brand new HD Texture Pack for Skyrim Special Edition, overhauling its grass and ground textures for all regions. This pack also provides a complete set of landscape and LOD textures on top of the grass models. Thus, the transition between the detailed and the LOD textures will be seamless.
Going into more details, this HD Texture Pack comes with dozens of new high-resolution grass textures, complemented by matching ground textures and pre-crafted, fitting LODs. In addition, every region of Skyrim has its own look with different grasses and colors. To offer optimal performance, the grass models are mostly simple meshes and make use of hand-edited mip maps. As such, the grass fields now have a denser look (with even moderate density settings).
>> You can get it from Nexus Mods.

GAMING NEWS

CRSED, Enlisted, Mordhau and Warface now support NVIDIA Reflex
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/crsed-enlisted-mordhau-and-warface-now-support-nvidia-reflect/
NVIDIA announced that four new first-person shooter games now support its NVIDIA Reflex tech. These four FPS games are Warface, Enlisted, Mordhau and CRSED.

Marvel’s Avengers Update 1.4.1.7 available for download, full patch notes revealed
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/marvels-avengers-update-1-4-1-7-available-for-download-full-patch-notes-revealed/
Crystal Dynamics has released a new update for Marvel’s Avengers that is available for download on Steam. According to the release notes, Update 1.4.1.7 brings two new Minor Artifacts (two ISO-8s and two Norn Stones).

Halo The Master Chief Collection December 2020 Update released and detailed
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/halo-the-master-chief-collection-december-2020-update-released-and-detailed/
343 Industries has released the December 2020 Update for Halo The Master Chief Collection, which brings numerous tweaks and improvements to all Halo games.

New Death Stranding Update brings Cyberpunk 2077-themed free content
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/new-death-stranding-update-brings-cyberpunk-2077-themed-free-content/
Kojima Productions has released a brand new update for the PC version of Death Stranding, that brings to the game some new free Cyberpunk 2077-themed content. This content is exclusive to the PC, and adds six new missions featuring characters and lore from Cyberpunk 2077.

Sperasoft and CCP Games are working on a brand new game
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/sperasoft-and-ccp-games-are-working-on-a-brand-new-game/
Sperasoft has announced its partnership with CCP Games, the creators of EVE Online, for a brand new game. According to the press release, this new game will be an online shooter that will be set in the EVE universe.

Crysis Remastered PC Update 2.0 adds the Ascension level, brings further performance improvements
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/crysis-remastered-pc-update-2-0-adds-the-ascension-level-brings-further-performance-improvements/
After a rocky launch, Crytek has done its best to improve the PC version of Crysis Remastered. And today, the team released a new update that brings back to the game the Ascension level. Yeap, Ascension is now available in Crysis Remastered.

Thursday news, part two:

You're not going to believe this but Conan Chop Chop is delayed again
https://www.pcgamer.com/youre-not-going-to-believe-this-but-conan-chop-chop-is-delayed-again/
Remember Conan Chop Chop? It began life as an April Fools joke in 2019, but a couple months later Funcom announced that it was actually a real game that would be out in September of that year—a quick turnaround for a simple, silly game. But then it was delayed, to early 2020, so the development team could add online multiplayer.

Calm down, everyone: Destiny 2's old Supers are not being vaulted
https://www.pcgamer.com/calm-down-everyone-destiny-2s-old-supers-are-not-being-vaulted/
The Destiny 2 expansion Beyond Light introduced an all-new element to the game called Stasis. It's a manifestation of the Darkness, the opposite of the Light that powers all the super-stuff that Destiny's other Guardians can pull off, but for practical purposes it's ice: Stasis-wielders can use it to slow, freeze, and even shatter enemies.

Ubisoft is selling Assassin's Creed Valhalla XP boosts now
https://www.pcgamer.com/ubisoft-is-selling-assassins-creed-valhalla-xp-boosts-now/
(...) First spotted by Game Informer, you can now spend 1000 Helix points ($10) for a permanent 50 percent increase to acquired XP. For 1500 Helix points ($15) you get that, as well as a 50 percent increase to acquired money.

Hades now supports cross saves between PC and Nintendo Switch
https://www.pcgamer.com/hades-now-supports-cross-saves-between-pc-and-nintendo-switch/
Hades didn't have cross save available at launch, which at that time mostly meant that Early Access players had to start from the beginning on Switch. Now the cross saves are here, and you can move PC saves to Switch and vice versa. This update also brings a number of post-launch patches from the PC version over to Switch.

Invisible players are slaughtering everyone in Call of Duty: Warzone
https://www.pcgamer.com/cod-warzone-invisible-glitch-players/
Call of Duty: Warzone's much-hyped Season One has now launched, and sadly it wasn't long before players identified a new exploit. The update added an attack helicopter to the game, and following certain steps around this allows players to trigger a state of invisibility for themselves. They can still see, move and shoot as normal but, outside of audio cues and the minimap, other players just can't see them.

Devotion's developer vows 'we won't stop striving' after being dropped by GOG
https://www.pcgamer.com/devotions-developer-vows-we-wont-stop-striving-after-being-dropped-by-gog/
(...)
PCG has contacted GOG to ask for further details on the decision not to list Devotion, and will update with any response. The game's developer, Red Candle Games, has now responded to this latest setback.
"Though regretful but we are willing to understand and respect GOG's decision," reads the statement. "For the players looking forward to Devotion's re-release, please accept our most sincere apology. This is a difficult predicament to overcome, but we won't stop striving."

Blizzard says to expect more Overwatch 2 info at Blizzcon in February
https://www.pcgamer.com/blizzard-says-to-expect-more-overwatch-2-info-at-blizzcon-in-february/
During the latest Overwatch developer update video, game director Jeff Kaplan briefly mentioned that news on Overwatch 2 will be forthcoming during Blizzcon in February 2021, which will be held completely online. This is the first life sign for Overwatch 2 since the sequel's reveal back in November 2019, likely due to the coronavirus pandemic which also caused the cancelation of Blizzcon 2020.

Frontier offers a more in-depth look at Elite Dangerous: Odyssey's FPS combat
https://www.pcgamer.com/frontier-offers-a-more-in-depth-look-at-elite-dangerous-odysseys-fps-combat/
In the latest Elite Dangerous: Odyssey dev diary, you get a longer look at the all-new FPS combat. Previously all we had to go by was a short teaser shown at the Game Awards, as well as the dev diaries released throughout the year, which focused on mission design and overall gameplay possibilities. This video actually shows you some of the ol' ratatat, and how it fits into Elite Dangerous on the whole. Frontier emphasises that suddenly finding yourself in the role of a squishy human, devoid of the safety a spaceship offers, is going to "force a mentality shift from bold and daring star pilot to vulnerable on-foot troop."

One of Call of Duty: Black Ops - Cold War's new maps is a Back to the Future tribute
https://www.pcgamer.com/one-of-call-of-duty-black-ops-cold-wars-new-maps-is-a-back-to-the-future-tribute/
A new multiplayer map called The Pines has been added in the Season One update for Call of Duty: Black Ops - Cold War, and it's a tribute to one of the key locations in Back to the Future. The map is set around a building called the Mall at the Pines, with an M-like logo formed from two abstract representations of pine trees. In Back to the Future, the first time Doc shows his time-travelling DeLorean to Marty is at Twin Pines Mall, which has a logo formed from two pine trees.

Thanks! I am just waiting for my O11DXL case before I can start!

Given that they'll only last one day, at least in theory, I think it's worth telling you that Epic's new free game is Cities Skylines.

We'll see which one comes tomorrow.

Epic is trying to inflate the paid gaming market, so that they can sell more of their free to play games.

PC Chad Henry Cavill upgraded his 2080 Ti to a 3090

How so?