I'm pretty much convinced at this point that the positive reviews and 10/10's I'm seeing from people on Steam reviews and forums for DL2 are those wearing rose tinted glasses or have completely forgotten what DL1 used to look like and play, because man does DL2 look like utter garbage without RT.

The modded version looks like what the game should have been on release, instead of the above image of what it actually looks like. At least without RT mode on with games like Cyberpunk and Metro, their versions don't look nearly as bad as DL2's non RT mode. I swear Techland just thought "man fuck putting in effort for all those not sporting 20-30 series cards".

Also I'm not really fond of how Dune, an IP that pretty much kicked off the RTS genre, is being turned into a hodge podge X4 game. I was really hoping for a throwback to what the OG game was, instead of "Civ's on the rise, let's just go with the popular trend". Yes I'm salty and yes I'd rather RTS get another shot in the arm over another attempt at Civ/X4 style games.

Cyberpunk 2077 1.5 Next-Gen Patch Now Live; Adds AMD FSR Support on PC, Reworked Perk Trees, Improved Enemy AI & More

https://www.cyberpunk.net/en/news/41435/patch-1-5-next-generation-update-list-of-changes

Sounds like PS5 and Series X are only getting Ray Traced local shadows which is actually pretty disappointing. Maybe they will add in the other effects later?

Intel to acquire Tower Semiconductor for $5.4 billion

https://videocardz.com/press-release/intel-to-acquire-tower-semiconductor-for-5-4-billion

AMD supposedly only focusing on full-die Navi 2X Radeon RX 6X50XT refresh, no RX 6850XT planned

https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-supposedly-only-focusing-on-full-die-navi-2x-radeon-rx-6x50xt-refresh-no-rx-6850xt-planned

Very minor refreshes as the only bump up seems to be with memory bandwidth.

Samsung Exynos 2200’s AMD RDNA2 GPU tested, up to 30% slower than Snapdragon 8 Gen1

https://videocardz.com/newz/samsung-exynos-2200s-amd-rdna2-gpu-tested-up-to-30-slower-than-snapdragon-8-gen1

Cool. Maybe it's time for me to finally jump in.

I think they focused so much on RT that they "forgot" to pay enough attention to the lighting system we've seen for years, resulting in that bland result.

In response to Gamers Nexus, Newegg will now offer "no questions asked" refunds of "open box" CPUs and motherboards

https://www.windowscentral.com/pc-parts-vendor-newegg-has-bit-scandal-its-hands

This is pretty great news. Too bad they did something only when a bit outlet got screwed by them but better than nothing. Personally, I only started to use newegg back in 2020 in order to get my hands on my Strix 3080. One of the big issues in Canada is that we don't have a major retailer like Microcenter. We do have Canada Computers and Mikes Computer Shop but both are worse than newegg. Memory Express is great but they aren't all that big and Amazon/Best Buy canada doesn't really care much about PC components.

So because newegg is big and they sell both in US and Canada, they have been the best bet for me which certainly paid off. I got my Strix 3080 when it was hard to get as well as the rest of my PC components. I did have to return the first Strix 3080/3090 that I got to newegg and they were hassle free as it was automated but it's clear that with open box items and needed to deal with support in general is pretty terrible. So this is a step in the right direction since I'll probably be forced to use them to buy Lovelace as well.

Them admiting that they did wrong and stating t hat they'll change and improve is always a positive and should be celebrated. But we also have to remember to not take their word for a fact and check if they actually implement it or if it ends being just nice words and nothing else.

The news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Dying Light 2 has reportedly sold over 2 million copies on PC
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/dying-light-2-has-reportedly-sold-over-2-million-copies-on-pc/
A few days ago, we informed you about Dying Light 2 surpassing one million sales on PC. And, according to the latest data from SteamSpy, Techland’s latest zombie FPS has now surpassed two million copies on Steam.

GOG has a new flash deal: House Flipper gets a 50% discount during the next 46 hours: https://www.gog.com/en/game/house_flipper

Steam has two new sales:

• The new daily deal is Project Highrise, 75% off: https://store.steampowered.com/app/423580/Project_Highrise/
• And Dealer's Life 2 will be 20% off until February 22: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1343670/Dealers_Life_2/

Fanatical has two new sales:

• No Man's Sky will be 50% off during the next 11 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/no-man-s-sky
• And the new Mystery Crate Bundle comes with up to 10 unknown games to grab: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/mystery-crate-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Nothing-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

-Empty-

GAMING NEWS

Wanted: Dead gets a “Valentine’s Day” gameplay trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/wanted-dead-gets-a-valentines-day-gameplay-trailer/
110 Industries has released a brand new gameplay trailer for its upcoming action sci-fi game, Wanted: Dead. Dedicated to Valentine’s Day, this new trailer packs some new gameplay sequences from the game.

Sci-fi survival horror game, On Air, gets a new Ray Tracing trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/sci-fi-survival-horror-game-on-air-gets-a-new-ray-tracing-trailer/
RainStyle Games has released a new Ray Tracing trailer for its upcoming sci-fi survival horror game, On Air. According to NVIDIA, On Air will feature ray-traced reflections and shadows, and will also support the DLSS tech.

Brand new screenshots for STRANGER OF PARADISE FINAL FANTASY ORIGIN
https://www.dsogaming.com/screenshot-news/brand-new-screenshots-for-stranger-of-paradise-final-fantasy-origin/
Square Enix has released a new set of screenshots for STRANGER OF PARADISE FINAL FANTASY ORIGIN. These latest screenshots look significantly better than the game’s announcement screenshots that the publisher shared back in June 2021.

The news, part two:

Assemble a crew and rip off the king in this new Thief-style stealth adventure
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/assemble-a-crew-and-rip-off-the-king-in-this-new-thief-style-stealth-adventure/
The developer of 10 Second Ninja has unveiled a new project called Abermore, a first-person stealth game about a notorious thief named The Unhanged Man who's aiming to commit the heist of the century by busting into the Royal Palace and stealing everything that isn't nailed down.

Find out when Total War: Warhammer 3 unlocks in your time zone
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/total-war-warhammer-3-release-time-unlock/
With the Total War: Warhammer 3 release time not far off, you don't have too long to wait before you can start marshalling your fantastical armies of beasts and men into epic, over-the-top battles. And if Fraser's Warhammer 3 review is anything to go by, when Thursday, February 17 turns up, you're in for quite the treat.

Elden Ring reveals the Confessor and Samurai classes
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/elden-ring-reveals-the-confessor-and-samurai-classes/
In the runup to the game's release, FromSoftware is gradually revealing Elden Ring's playable classes: Today we got two more, the awesome-looking Confessor and a facemasked Samurai.

Ubisoft employee group calls out company leadership for failing to address demands
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/ubisoft-employee-group-calls-out-company-leadership-for-failing-to-address-demands/
In July 2021, hundreds of Ubisoft employees signed an open letter calling on company leadership to respond to four demands, including "a collective say in how Ubisoft as a company moves forward." 200 days later, it seems that no progress has been made. In a statement released yesterday, the A Better Ubisoft employee group said its demands remain unmet, and that the company's leaders "refuse to engage."

Destiny 2: The Witch Queen launch trailer is here
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/destiny-2-the-witch-queen-launch-trailer-is-here/
Destiny 2: The Witch Queen arrives on February 22—that's just one week from today. We already have a pretty good idea of what's in store, largely thanks to a lengthy vidoc Bungie dropped last week, and that means there's not much more to do at this point except, as the kids say, to get hype.

Destiny 2 players are ruining the final mission of the season for each other by skipping the big cut scene
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/destiny-2-players-are-ruining-the-final-mission-of-the-season-for-each-other-by-skipping-the-big-cut-scene/
Destiny 2's next big expansion The Witch Queen is now just one week away—here's the launch trailer, in case you haven't seen it. But, and I'm sure this will come as a big surprise, the leadup to launch isn't going perfectly smoothly. There are bugs in the new Exorcism mission that dropped today that are keeping some unlucky players from seeing the post-mission cutscene that's meant to wrap up this season's narrative and cue up the next one. In some cases, the issues are actually preventing the mission from being completed.

Baldur's Gate 3 has barbarians now, but Larian expects it won't leave Early Access till 2023
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/baldurs-gate-3-has-barbarians-now-but-larian-expects-it-wont-leave-early-access-till-2023/
The latest Baldur's Gate 3 patch brings 30GB worth of additions to Larian's RPG, including a new playable class—the barbarian—as well as expanded systems for improvised weapons, meaning that even NPCs can be turned into missiles and thrown at other NPCs. There are also overhauls for stealth and exploration, upgraded cinematics, UI tweaks, extra magic items, and more. Less excitingly, Larian has also announced the full game probably won't be ready this year after all.

If Roblox's daily users were a country, it would be bigger than Canada
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/if-robloxs-daily-users-were-a-country-it-would-be-bigger-than-canada/
If you're over a certain age, Roblox probably isn't of much interest. The audience for this gaming megaplatform skews overwhelmingly towards the young: More than two-thirds of kids aged 9 to 12 are playing it in the US and around 1.5 million children in the UK. Developer the Roblox Corporation has just released its report for the fiscal year 2021 (that is, October 1, 2020 to September 30, 2021), plus its estimated metrics for January 2022, and if anything this juggernaut is only gaining momentum.

Witcher 3 director and Cyberpunk 2077 veterans announce new studio and 'AAA dark fantasy' RPG
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/witcher-3-director-and-cyberpunk-2077-veterans-announce-new-studio-and-aaa-dark-fantasy-rpg/
Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, director of the Witcher 3 and producer / secondary director on Cyberpunk 2077, has today announced a new studio formed up of CD Projekt Red veterans: It's called Rebel Wolves. Based in Warsaw, Poland, the press release rather pointedly notes that Tomaszkiewicz "envisioned a new studio with a united goal of doing things differently while also putting the team first at all times."

Nintendo Switch Sports might support AMD FidelityFX Super Resolution

https://videocardz.com/newz/nintendo-switch-sports-might-support-amd-fidelityfx-super-resolution

Certainly is a bit ironic of Nintendo using an AMD feature on a Nvidia platform. But as the switch doesn't have tensor cores, DLSS was out of the question. Hopefully Nintendo understands the importance of upscaling and will include Tensor Cores/DLSS with the Switch 2.

Atomic Heart Q&A #3 – RTXGI Confirmed, Multiplayer Not Ruled Out for the Future; Won’t Switch to UE5

https://wccftech.com/atomic-heart-q-wont-switch-to-ue5/

Nintendo using DLSS on their next machine will greatly depend on what Nvidia can offer them, both in terms of price but also power consumption. But well, we'll see in a couple years at best/worse.

With that said, isn't it surprising that, of all the games Nintendo is working on (like Metroid or Zelda), they've decided that they need FSR for Switch Sports?