That was the main problem, yes. They tried to reinvent the game and the end result was worse and not fun to play, ruining the game and maybe even the franchise.

It's a problem that happens a lot in the videogame industry. The whole "If It Ain’t Broke Don’t Fix It" idea doesn't go well with some creative minds that always try to bring something new, without stoping to think if the changes improve or worsen the game.

I'll buy Blade Runner Enhanced Edition. After that I'll browse through my wishlist.

I'm hoping they will focus most of their efforts on ideas they've mentioned in the article and not waste time and money chasing AAA wrapping and parlor tricks - A/AA level of production is more than enough for such game to have great success if they manage to pull off what they've set to achieve (AI Game Master alone is dream come true).

TAA in the FH5 update is nice... no more flickering trees:

The Thursday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Fall Guys' Steam player count skyrockets a day after it becomes an Epic exclusive
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/fall-guys-steam-player-count-skyrockets-a-day-after-it-becomes-an-epic-exclusive/
Fall Guys went free-to-play yesterday, alongside a move to Epic Games Store exclusivity and delisting from Steam, and the change was a big success—so big that it wreaked havoc upon the game servers, which struggled (and, at times, failed) to deal with the sudden new load.
The first sign of trouble appeared yesterday morning, when developer Mediatonic said on Twitter (in typical Fall Guys fashion) that some players were unable to access matchmaking services following the free-to-play changeover.

The Epic Store is giving away two titles:

• A Game Of Thrones: The Board Game Digital Edition: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/a-game-of-thrones
• And Car Mechanic Simulator 2018: https://store.epicgames.com/en-US/p/car-mechanic-simulator-2018

Next week, the free games will be Geneforge 1: Mutagen and Iratus: Lord of the Dead.

Steam... well, you know what's going to happen.

There are two new Humble deals:

• Humble Bundle has the new The Complete Talisman Collection, with up to 54 items to get during the next 13 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/complete-talisman-collection
• And the Humble Store has a new Playstation Studios Publisher Sale, with up to 75% discounts during the next 14 days. All the keys are for Steam: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/playstation-studios-publisher-sale/

Fanatical has two new flash deals:

• The first flash deal is Assassin's Creed Valhalla - Complete Edition, 58% off during 24 hours. The key is for UPlay: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/assassin-s-creed-valhalla-complete-edition
• The second flash deal is Unrailed! , 85% off during the next 24 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/unrailed

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim gets new highly detailed 8K/4K Texture Packs
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/the-elder-scrolls-v-skyrim-gets-new-highly-detailed-8k-4k-texture-packs/
A few new 8K and 4K Texture Packs surfaced for The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim this week. As such, and instead of dedicating separate articles to each one of them, we’ve decided to collect them and share them in one big article.
Starting with the 8K Texture Packs, XilaMonstrr released two packs that overhaul the game’s dragons. The first pack cleans and upscales Bellyache retextures of dragons from Skyrim and DLCs to 8K resolution. The second 8K Texture Pack adds 13 new Dragon species at 50 spawn points. Both of these packs were originally created by Bellyache.

GAMING NEWS

First gameplay footage surfaces from the canceled Scarface 2 game
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/first-gameplay-footage-surfaces-from-the-canceled-scarface-2-game/
In May 2022, we shared some in-engine and concept arts from Radical Entertainment’s canceled Scarface 2 game, Scarface Empire. And yesterday, YouTube’s “Mafia Game Videos” shared a new video with gameplay footage from it.

HYENAS is a new multiplayer sci-fi FPS from Creative Assembly
https://www.dsogaming.com/news/hyenas-is-a-new-multiplayer-sci-fi-fps-from-creative-assembly/
SEGA and Creative Assembly have announced a new multiplayer sci-fi FPS, called HYENAS. In addition, the teams shared the game’s announcement/reveal trailer that you can find below.

Thursday news, part two:

Final Fantasy 16 isn't open world so it can have a 'global scale', according to producer
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/final-fantasy-16-isnt-open-world-so-it-can-have-a-global-scale-according-to-producer/
When Final Fantasy 16 drops next year, it won't have an open world setting, according to an IGN interview with the game's producer Naoki Yoshida. Instead, it'll shorthand the game's large scale by jumping between locations around the world.

Steam reviewers love Neon White despite its horny anime nonsense, or very much because of it
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/neon-white-steam-reviews/
The Steam reviews for Neon White are "Overwhelmingly Positive," but within those positive reviews is an unusual amount of division. Almost everyone who's reviewed it loves the first-person platforming and shooting levels, but only a portion of those players also want to be stepped on by an anime character. It's nice when two groups find common ground, isn't it?

Open your Overwatch loot boxes or Blizzard will do it for you
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/open-your-overwatch-loot-boxes-or-blizzard-will-do-it-for-you/
Overwatch 2 will automatically crack open all your stashed loot boxes, so get to spamming that space bar if you want the satisfaction of doing it yourself.
The sorta-sequel is less than four months away and with it, some pretty big overhauls to the way players obtain cosmetic goodies. Loot boxes are being ditched in favour of nine-week battle passes and new currencies are replacing the original game's credits.

Overwatch 2 is getting a guild system, apparently
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/overwatch-2-is-getting-a-guild-system-apparently/
AMA, or ask me anything, may just be the most informative subreddit out there. It's the place for notable people of all kinds, from authors to scientists to game developers as a means of casually informing their audiences. For the Blizzard developers of Overwatch 2, it was an opportunity recently to speak candidly and answer questions about the upcoming shooter now we've got a taste of the full experience with the beta.

Wrath of the Lich King is where WoW Classic starts diverging from WoW
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/wrath-of-the-lich-king-is-where-wow-classic-starts-diverging-from-wow/
World of Warcraft Classic will soon be receiving the Wrath of the Lich King expansion, which is a big deal because for some folk (and I'm one of them) this was WoW's greatest era. But the expansion also introduced some features, most notably the 'Looking For Group' option, which have long been blamed for WoW losing that early sense of community (rightly or wrongly).

Sonic creator confirms Michael Jackson's long-rumoured involvement in Sonic 3
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/sonic-creator-confirms-michael-jacksons-long-rumoured-involvement-in-sonic-3/
One of gaming's longest-running rumours has finally been put to bed. Sonic creator Yuji Naka today confirmed that yes, moonwalking music icon Michael Jackson did, in fact, compose the soundtrack to Sonic 3—and that's probably why Sega seems to have replaced a bunch of Sonic 3's bangers inside of Sonic Origins, a remastered collection of the first three games released today.

With all due respect, I doubt they have the budget to make it an AAA game, so yeah, their best bet is to focus on the gameplay and try to make it look good enough.

Intel Arc A380 officially debuts in China, it’s slower and more expensive than Radeon RX 6400

https://videocardz.com/newz/intel-arc-a380-officially-debuts-in-china-its-slower-and-more-expensive-than-radeon-rx-6400

If the 6400/6500XT weren't such shitty products from AMD, A380 would have been an easy DoA. Now budget users get to decide whether to buy a GPU that's slower in gaming but have modern encoders and such or get a 6400 which is essentially a scam but faster.

This doesn't bode well for their higher end GPUs. Any GPU they release that competes against a 6600 or above is essentially DoA. I wouldn't be surprised if the age of meme about Raja can't beat a 1080 Ti continues.

Beware! Several Used NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 Graphics Cards With Defective Memory Modules Being Sold After Being Abused In Crypto Mining

https://wccftech.com/beware-several-used-nvidia-geforce-rtx-30-graphics-cards-with-defective-memory-modules-being-sold-after-being-abused-in-crypto-mining/

Watch out of scams like this if you plan on getting an used GPU. But since retail prices are coming down quite heavily, (I have seen a 3080 Ti nearly for the price of a 3080 from retailer), you should just get one brand new.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090/4080/4070 get new rumored specs, RTX 4070 with 7168 cores and 10GB 160-bit memory?

https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidia-geforce-rtx-4090-4080-4070-get-new-rumored-specs-rtx-4070-with-7168-cores-and-10gb-160-bit-memory

Would be lame if Nvidia went this route with the 3070. Not only 10GB but 160 bit memory bus? They are essentially forcing what otherwise could be a (rumoured) 3090 class GPU to 1440p.

Intel XTU gets Raptor Lake update with “Efficient Thermal Velocity Boost” & per-core/package OC TVB support

https://videocardz.com/newz/intel-xtu-gets-raptor-lake-update-with-efficient-thermal-velocity-boost-per-core-package-oc-tvb-support

"Interestingly, one of the hardware leakers recently mentioned E-TVB in regard to the upcoming series. Raichu is claiming that 6 GHz frequency could appear in one of the upcoming SKUs, but this could be a part that launches later as a special edition."

6Ghz blow up your power supply edition!

Anyone looking to get a CGPU on the low end right now is between a rock and a hard place. Personally, and despite the lack of new features, I'd still choose the 6400 because what matters the most is the gaming performance, and the 380 falls short. Sure, it could get better in the future with new drivers but, right now, that's far from a safe bet.

The new rumored specs for Nvidia are a bit sad. Not because they fall short or anything, but because you can clearly see the room Nvidia is leaving for the inevitable Ti models that will appear in the future.

Bonus article for those that have jumped to Windows 11:

Microsoft's released a quick check to see whether your PC is ready for DirectStorage and next-gen gaming
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/check-your-pc-for-directstorage-support-today/
You can check if your system is ready for DirectStorage (opens in new tab) right now thanks to a new preview of the Microsoft Game Bar feature in Windows 11. The Gaming Features tab in the settings menu will tell you whether your system is ready for DirectX 12 Ultimate, allow you to enable HDR and Auto HDR without diving into the myriad Windows settings screens, and now shows which parts of your system are and aren't ready for the next-gen DirectStorage feature.

Oh, and we can't forget about something, right?