Friday news, part two:

Annapurna reveals Storyteller, a compact, clever puzzle game about telling tales
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/annapurna-reveals-storyteller-a-compact-clever-puzzle-game-about-telling-tales/
In 2013, Daniel Benmergui posted a video showcasing some alpha gameplay from his puzzle game project Storyteller. In 2018 he really committed to it, announcing a partnership with Annapurna Interactive that meant, among other things, that "we *have* to finish it." And now, in 2021, we're finally getting a look at how far it's come in a new trailer revealed today during Annapurna's online showcase.

Sci-fi exploration game Outer Wilds is getting a surprise expansion in September
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/sci-fi-exploration-game-outer-wilds-is-getting-a-surprise-expansion-in-september/
Released in 2019 by Mobius Digital and Annapurna Interactive, Outer Wilds is a game about exploring a solar system a few minutes before its sun goes supernova and wipes out everything—only to wake up and do it over and over again, thanks to a time loop that only you seem to be aware of. It's excellent—we gave it an 89% score in our review—and in September it will come back yet again with a surprise expansion called Echoes of the Eye.

Valve responds to antitrust lawsuit, defends Steam's 30% cut
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/valve-responds-to-antitrust-lawsuit-defends-steams-30-cut/
In April, Wolfire Games filed an antitrust lawsuit against Valve, alleging that it uses Steam's dominance of the PC game market to suppress competition and extract "an extraordinarily high cut" of sales made through its storefront. In a response filed earlier this week, Valve has asked that the lawsuit be dismissed outright, because it "fails to allege the most basic elements of an antitrust case."

Ubisoft CEO says 'important progress' has been made since 2020 harassment scandal
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/ubisoft-ceo-says-the-company-has-made-many-improvements-since-2020-harassment-scandal/
Yesterday, Ubisoft employees signed an open letter criticizing company management for failing to address widespread complaints of "systemic discrimination, harassment and bullying" at the company that were made public in 2020. (...)
Ubisoft said in a brief response that it has "deep respect for the engagement of our teams who are pushing for changes within our industry," and supports efforts to create a safer and more inclusive workplace for all employees. It didn't get into details about what's been done, or how it plans to effect further change in the future, but in a more in-depth message shared with employees today, CEO Yves Guillemot touched on some specifics.

Forza Motorsport 7 is being removed from sale only four years after release
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/forza-motorsport-7-is-being-removed-from-sale-only-four-years-after-release/
Forza Motorsport 7 is a very good racing game: "One of the most expansive, beautiful driving sims ever," we said in our 2017 review, marred only by a "regressive reward system" built around prize crates. Yet less than four years after it's release, Microsoft has declared that it has reached "End of Life status," and thus will be removed from sale on September 15.

Microsoft Flight Simulator patch improves performance but causes more crashes
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/microsoft-flight-simulator-patch-improves-performance-but-causes-more-crashes/
A major update came to Microsoft Flight Simulator this week, with improved performance as one of its main focuses. According to the release notes, it added "improved multi core support for CPU" as well as "better memory and GPU usage" and "faster loading times". In addition, "stutters have been significantly reduced". That all sounds like great stuff, but unfortunately the update has also been causing the game to crash to desktop for some players, even in the menu. That's not so great.

Try not to get guillotined in Ambition: A Minuet in Power this August
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/try-not-to-get-guillotined-in-ambition-a-minuet-in-power-this-august/
Back in late 2017 developers Joy Manufacturing co. ran a Kickstarter for Ambition: A Minuet in Power, a visual novel/dating sim about wining and dining your way through decadent Paris in the final days before it all comes down and the heads come off. It raised $61,503, just clearing its $60,000 goal, and has been in the works ever since. After a delay, it's now ready for an August release.

Ubisoft staff say they're waiting for 'real, fundamental change' at the company
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/ubisoft-staff-say-theyre-waiting-for-real-fundamental-change-at-the-company/
Ubisoft staff who signed an open letter have criticised CEO Yves Guillemot's response, saying the "majority of our demands were sidelined and few of our points seem to have been addressed."
>> This won't end well...

And these are the weekend deals at GOG and Steam:

+GOG

• The first one is the Weekly Sale with its classics up to 86% off: https://www.gog.com/promo/20210726_weekly_sale
• The Special Sale featuring Humble Games up to 75% off will also last until Monday: https://www.gog.com/promo/20210726_humble_sale
• The Midweek Sale and its up to 90% discounts will last another 22 hours: https://www.gog.com/promo/20210728_midweek_sale
• The Weekend Sale features games where you're the "bad guy" up to 90% off: https://www.gog.com/promo/20210730_weekend_sale
• And there are also two new releases:
  • No Longer Home arrives with a 20% discount until August 6: https://www.gog.com/game/no_longer_home
  • And Banners of Ruin launches with a 20% discount until August 12: https://www.gog.com/game/banners_of_ruin

+Steam

• The first weekend deal is Golf With Your Friends, free to try during the weekend and also 50% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/431240/Golf_With_Your_Friends/
• Publisher Snail Games USA puts its games up to 80% off until Monday: https://store.steampowered.com/publisher/SnailGamesUSA
• Next comes the World Nature Conservation Day Sale, with up to 90% discounts until August 2: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/WorldNatureConservationSale
• The Sonic 30th Anniversary Sale features up to 90% discounts until the 4th of August: https://store.steampowered.com/sale/Sonic30th
• Days Gone gets a 20% discount until August 5: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1259420/Days_Gone/
• Paint the Town Red will be 25% off until August 5: https://store.steampowered.com/app/337320/Paint_the_Town_Red/
• Banners of Ruin is getting a 20% discount until August 12: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1075740/Banners_of_Ruin/
• And of course, there's also the weeklong deals.

And we're done! Until next time, have a happy and gaming weekend.

Next-Gen flagship GPUs NVIDIA AD102 and AMD NAVI31 might both draw more than 400W of power

https://videocardz.com/newz/next-gen-flagship-gpus-nvidia-ad102-and-amd-navi31-might-both-draw-more-than-400w-of-power

Maybe I should have bought a 1600 Watt PSU instead

Intel Xe-HPG Graphics Cards With DG2 GPU Rumored To Launch at CES 2022

https://wccftech.com/intel-xe-hpg-gaming-graphics-cards-dg2-gpu-to-launch-ces-2022-rumor/

Would have rather had it launch this year but that will hopefully mean more GPU supply for next year.

AMD Ryzen 7 5800H vs Intel i7-11800H - Best 8 Core Laptop CPU?

One of the more Apples to Apples comparison.

Non gaming tests only for now.

In Single Threaded tests, 11800H beats the 5800H
At 45 Watts, the 5800H beats the 11800H
At 80 Watts, the 11800H beats the 5800H
On Battery, 5800H beats the 11800H in multi while 11800H beats 5800H in single
Battery Life is better on the 5800H than 11800H
11800H does have PCI-E 4.0 and gives you more lanes for the GPU
11800H has much better cooling but neither CPUs were thermal throttling

These cards will make nice and comfy heaters in the winter xD

I'd be interested to see how Xe discrete cards compare, if they release too late they'd be too late the the party. But then again they could price them well since AMD and Nvidia forgot about offering any value in the lower product stacks.

And that's probably just the Founders Edition cards. Imagine how much power a Strix or Kingpin would draw. 600 watts? 700 watts?

And a living Hell in Summer.

Now seriously, they have to be insane to release such power hungry GPUs. It's not only the power consumption, completely bonkers, but also size, cooling and PSU requirements would make those cards halo products for a select minory.

I honestly hope they can slash at least 100W of that by release.

Sweating thinking about it lol.

Totally going to see that though and huge four slot coolers on them (particularly on the Strix), if true xD

@JEMC

Yeah I mean I'm all for pushing performance but it gets to a point of ridiculousness and going 400W and over is that point. I'd rather have slightly lower performance for better efficiency instead of crazy power draws to squeeze every last bit out of a silicon.

And let's not forget that, thanks to DLSS and FSR, you no longer need so much power to be able to play the latest games.

I'd say most people could get away with a 3060Ti/3070 class GPU to last a whole generation (of console ports), depending on what you play and what resolution. And like you said more games are using some sort of upscaling tech and lets not forget things like mesh shaders, VRS and other DX stuff which will give cards more performance. Something like a 3080 would be absolutely fine for several years too for 4K gaming.

Don't get me wrong, it be interesting to see how these cards will perform and I'm clearly not in the target audience for a XX90 class GPU anyways so there's that. As long as the 80 class cards and 70 aren't clearly overpriced and take nuclear reactor to run all is well xD

To showcase how powerful the 3090 is, Nvidia used 8K gaming benchmarks. Who the f*ck games at 8K? And now think of the successor to that beast that is rumored to deliver 2-2.5 times more power. Why would you need that? Sure, sure, game requirements will increase as the console generation goes, and there must be someone out there that games with two or even three 4K monitors, but it feels like we've reached a point where hardware has, once again, outpaced the needs for it.

And you mention the 3060Ti/3070, but what about its successors? With a 4060Ti that could deliver close to 3080 performance (only with 8GB because Nvidia has to cripple them somehow), you'll be served for years to come for a fraction of the price and power consumption of those leaked monsters.

It's like both AMD and Nvidia are so obsessed on having the performance crown that they don't care about the sacrifices to get it.