Tbh I don't see them switching any time soon. Even factoring in performance in RT. Both current consoles are architeched around AMD's APU's containing RDNA. With both console manufacters relying on their subscription models that contain a lot of legacy content; each using their own respective BC software. It doesn't make much sense in changing vendor for new hardware, which would be a huge undertaking and will affect backwards compatitbility accross the board.

RDNA 3 looks to be a stepping stone for MCM design for future GPU designs. And in future consoles I definately can see a scaled up versions used for it. Whether it is a gen or two from RDNA 4 or something new entirely.

It certainly won't be until ps6, that's for sure if it even happens. Backwards compatibility won't be too big of a deal because they are going from x86 to x86 and they have access to Apis and such. This won't be like going from cell to x86 or powerpc to x86.

MCM design won't come into affect for ps6 generation imo. MCM has it's own set of quirks that only makes sense if you are scaling up very high end GPUs. While the GPU inside of the ps6 will be leagues better by todays standards, I don't think it's likely that it will be using MCM design similar to how the CPU inside of the PS5 is monolith despite the desktop Zen CPUs being all chiplets. But we will see since it's too soon to tell.

Yuri, the PS5/Xboxwhatever launched two years ago, yet we're still seeing cross-gen titles, and not only Fifa and the like. Go with another brand and devs will have an even harder time jumping from one gen to the other.

And, to be honest, you're jumping the gun. Both next gen consoles are still far away and there are so many things involved that the RT performance of current GPUs is the least problem for them, at least right now.

Besides, if RT is so important to jump from AMD to Intel, why not go the same route as Nintendo and go with Nvidia with a Tegra SoC? Better graphics and RT than Intel, plus we've seen how the ARM cores aren't a big deal for the ports that reach the Switch. Plus it will use even less power than both AMD or Intel, leaving more room for a more powerful GPU. It's a win-win scenario if they go with Nvidia that, unlike Intel, has shown interest to enter the console market.

But even with all those pros, it's very difficult that any of them leave AMD, because they've treated with the otehr two in the past and it didn't work well for them, plus AMD has been a very good partner for them that has been willing to tweak and modify their designs to suit the needs and demands of both Sony and MSoft, and in business that openess to work together is very welcome and important.

But well, as I said, in my opinion it's way too early to worry for any of that.

Well other than it being too big of an architectural change, no one really likes to work with Nvidia. Whether it be Apple or Sony or many other list of companies, a lot of them got burnt in the past by going with Nvidia. And Nvidia as a company isn't in the same desperate position to get design wins as Intel is so even if they went to Nvidia, Intel would undercut them severely. Unlike RDNA, Arc as an architecture can actually go toe to toe in feature set against Nvidia but the problem in the PC space is driver support.

I do agree that it's very early to call it but honestly, this is their third attempt and I think the strengths and weaknesses for RDNA is clear. But yes, a lot can change by the time ps6 comes out.

Don't get me wrong. They may change vendors, its not impossible for them to do. I just don't see either Sony of MS jumping ship due to numerous disadvantages of swapping to a manufacturer like Intel. Whether it be from a hardware/software POV to manufactering, assembly costs and shipping. Atm, with Intel's plans to build Fabs across Americas and Europe which will take time and with their press will take up to a decade to come to fruition.

Besides that I doubt it'll be as efficient nor as cost effective as going to TSMC and getting the latest tech from AMD fabbed in Taiwan and then having that line passed and assembled in China with other parts and accessories bundled, packaged then shipped WW.

If we talk about hardware and possiblity of its uses of MCM in future consoles. We can see the cost savings from AMD's 7XXX series so far by vastly reducing the main die size with the use of MCD's. With this method they can offer chips way more cost effective than those who can only do huge monolithic dies. With better yeilds and chips per wafer and use of smaller dies to boot.

But yeah all this is hypothetical. And we're probably 4+ years away from either a PS6 or Xbox (?) xPP

Japanese PC gaming has had incredible growth in the last few years Link: https://www.pcgamer.com/japanese-pc-gaming-has-had-incredible-growth-in-the-last-few-years/
"Japan's PC gaming market has roughly doubled in three years, growing to nearly $896 million US between 2018 and 2021. The user base of active PC gamers has increased by 5 million from 2015 to 2021, with 4.5 million of those playing exclusively on PC—up more than 100% from 2015's 2.2 million PC-exclusive Japanese gamers."

Wow, that means that the is now more japan gamers playing exclusive on a PC than a PS5 or XBSeries?. And thats just ones that play exclusively on a PC not including the ones that game on a Pc and a console. No wonder Pc is now getting so many Japanese games. Guess no one can say they a niche.

I can see Steamdeck doing well in japan, heck valve even have their own japan mascot

I never knew that .

Instructions can change drastically generation to generation and break compatibility.

Case in point... 3D Now! is no longer a thing in modern AMD CPU's... So those instructions dedicated to those vector and floating point operations cannot operate or require emulation.

GPU's also undergo significant ISA shifts over the generations which can also break compatibility if you don't abstract.

The reason why Sony and Microsoft won't leave the AMD nest is actually rather simple... Price.

AMD simply offers a package that has overwhelming benefits in regards to price/performance that simply cannot be matched by an Intel/ARM+nVidia equivalent.

Consoles also use drivers.

I would be surprised if RDNA is a thing as we enter the next-gen.
AMD is trying to iterate a little faster and more significantly compared to the GCN era... And they need to in order to keep pace with nVidia.

Microsoft and Sony had a deal with AMD for the current consoles when all they had to offer was Vega vs. Pascal and Zen 1 was still to launch and the company was much smaller than it is right now. There's 0% chance they'd change now with Ryzen and RDNA.

Even if they were going to use current architectures nothing stops a custom AMD GPU from doubling the RT cores per CU, for instance, as they did with the FP32 units, if Sony and Microsoft asked for a better ray tracing solution or w/e.

The Monday news, part one:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

Steam's Top 10

Huge sale sends 6-year-old Battlefield 1's player count into the stratosphere
https://www.pcgamer.com/huge-sale-sends-6-year-old-battlefield-1s-player-count-into-the-stratosphere/
Six year old Battlefield 1 is having a mini renaissance on Steam right now, breaking into the top-selling games list and peaking at nearly 51,000 players today following three prior days of big player counts. That 51K is nearly 10 times bigger than the 24-hour peak of the much more recently released Battlefield 2042. This data comes courtesy of inimitable stats-tracking site SteamDB.

GOG starts the week with several new deals and sales:

• There are four new Deals of the Day, that will last until Wednesday, but they're a game and 3 of its DLCs:
  • The game is Battle Brothers, 67% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/battle_brothers
  • The first DLC is Battle Brothers - Beasts & Exploration, 10% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/battle_brothers_beasts_exploration
  • Battle Brothers - Blazing Deserts is the second one, also 10% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/battle_brothers_blazing_deserts
  • And the last one is Battle Brothers - Support the Developers & Nordic Banner, also with a 10% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/battle_brothers_support_the_developers_nordic_banner
• The Weekly Sale features isometric RPGs with up to 80% discounts during the next 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20221107_weekly_sale
• And there's a Special Made in Poland Sale, with up to 90% discounts during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20221107_weekly_sale

Steam has two new deals:

• Surviving the Aftermath will be 30% off until Sunday: https://store.steampowered.com/app/684450/Surviving_the_Aftermath/
• Poly Bridge 2 gets a 70% discount until November 13: https://store.steampowered.com/app/1062160/Poly_Bridge_2/

We'll find three new sales at Humble:

• At Humble Bundle there's the The Complete 11 bit Collection, with up to 9 items to get during the next 11 days: https://www.humblebundle.com/games/complete-11-bit-collection
• And at the Humble Store we can find:
  • The Plat-Rogue-Vania-Like Sale, featuring games that mix those genres with up to 90% discounts during 4 days. There are keys for Steam, GOG, UPlay and 1 for the EGS: https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/platroguevanialike/
  • Publisher Hypertrain celebrates its anniversary with a sale featuring up to 90% discounts during the next 6 days. There are keys for Steam, GOG(1) and EGS(1): https://www.humblebundle.com/store/promo/hypetrain-anniversary-sale/

Finally, we have Fanatical, with two flash deals and three new bundles:

• The first flash deal is the Idea Factory RPGs Pack, featuring three games with an 80% discount during 24 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/idea-factory-rpgs-pack
• The second flash deal is Red Faction Guerrilla Re-Mars-tered, 85% off until tomorrow's refresh: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/red-faction-guerrilla-re-mars-tered
• The first bundle is the Star Wars Collection, with 14 games and a 78% discount during 6 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/star-wars-collection
• The second one is the Miraculous Rise of the Sphinx Ultimate Edition, with one games and one DLC with a 30% disocunt during 7 days: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/miraculous-rise-of-the-sphinx-ultimate-edition
• And the last bundle is the Birthday Favorites BYOB, with 17 titles to choose for your 2, 3 or 5 games bundle: https://www.fanatical.com/en/pick-and-mix/birthday-favorites-build-your-own-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

Fallout 4 gets a 43GB HD Texture Pack for the main game & all DLCs
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/fallout-4-gets-a-43gb-hd-texture-pack-for-main-game-all-dlcs/
Modder ‘luxor8071’ has released a new HD Texture Pack for Fallout 4, covering the main game and all of its DLCs. This pack comes in 15 parts, and weighs around 43GB in size. And, as you may have guessed, this pack overhauls all of the game’s textures.
Now what’s also cool here is that the modder has shared an optional HD Texture Pack for LODs. Furthermore, you can find an optional pack for the debris ground tiles.

Metal Gear Solid 2 Third-Person Mod available for download
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/metal-gear-solid-2-third-person-mod-available-for-download/
In September 2022, we informed you about a third-person camera mod for Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance. And today, we are happy to report that this mod is available for download.
Created by modder ‘oct0xor’, this mod allows you to play MGS2 with the 3rd person camera (and game controls) from Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence.
As the modder stated, the code to have a normal third-person camera was never present in the game. Thus, and in order to implement it, he had to reverse-engineer and rewrite many things in the game engine.

Mass Effect 3 Legendary Edition gets a 6GB major overhaul mod
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/mass-effect-3-legendary-edition-gets-6gb-major-overhaul-mod/
A team of modders has released a major overhaul mod for the Legendary Edition of Mass Effect 3, called Project Variety. Project Variety aims to touch most of Mass Effect 3 in one way or another in order to provide a better gaming experience.
According to its description, Project Variety adds new hubs, diversifies the Citadel population, and restores cut content. The mod is extremely customizable with hundreds of options that are changeable in-game via Mod Settings Menu.
For those wondering, there is also a version of Project Variety for the original version of Mass Effect 3. That version came out in 2019,

GAMING NEWS

Here are ten minutes of brand new gameplay footage from Atomic Heart
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/here-are-ten-minutes-of-brand-new-gameplay-footage-from-atomic-heart/
Mundfish has shared a new video for Atomic Heart, showcasing ten minutes of brand new gameplay footage from it. This video introduces us to Hedgie, a giant mechanical ball boss that players will fight.

UNCHARTED: Legacy of Thieves Collection November 4th Update fixes its mouse movement issues
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/uncharted-legacy-of-thieves-collection-november-4th-update-fixes-its-mouse-movement-issues/
Iron Galaxy has just released the second PC patch for UNCHARTED: Legacy of Thieves Collection. Although the team has not shared its release notes, we can confirm that the November 4th Update resolves the game’s mouse movement issues.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Week One Patch Release Notes
https://www.dsogaming.com/patches/call-of-duty-modern-warfare-2-week-one-patch-release-notes/
Infinity Ward and Beenox have revealed the release notes/changelog for the first patches that came out for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

The Monday news, part two:

The Sims 4 glitch is turning everyone's Sims into total a-holes
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-sims-4-glitch-is-turning-everyones-sims-into-total-a-holes/
The Sims 4 must have woken up on the wrong side of the bed every day for the last month, because ever since a patch in early October, sims have been a whole lot meaner than usual.

Activision relents, will give double XP tokens to Modern Warfare 2 players who missed the fine print
https://www.pcgamer.com/activision-relents-will-give-double-xp-tokens-to-modern-warfare-2-players-who-missed-the-fine-print/
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is available for purchase as a couple of different versions: The basic box for $70, and the Vault Edition, which goes for $100 and includes extra stuff like extra operator skins, the first season battle pass, and 50 battle pass tier skips. There was also an offer of 10 hours of double XP and double weapon XP tokens for anyone who preordered the game—but only if it was preordered through the in-game store of Call of Duty: Warzone, Vanguard, Black Ops – Cold War, or Modern Warfare.
>> And some players are so eager for XP that they steal codes in beef jerky.

This ambitious farming life sim is also trying to be an a open world fantasy RPG
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-ambitious-farming-life-sim-is-also-trying-to-be-an-a-open-world-fantasy-rpg/
Fans of Disney Dreamlight Valley, Stardew Valley, and other farming life sims should put down their pickaxes and watering cans for a minute and take a look at the new trailer for Meetlight. The life sim (via GamesRadar) just began a Kickstarter campaign, and along with the expected activities like growing crops, crafting tools, decorating your house, and flirting with the town cutie-pies, it also has aspirations of satisfying fans of fantasy RPGs like Breath of the Wild by providing a big open world full of secrets to explore.

Final Fantasy 16 is the latest game to use the historical 'realism' excuse to exclude Black characters
https://www.pcgamer.com/final-fantasy-16-is-the-latest-game-to-use-the-historical-realism-excuse-to-exclude-black-characters/
In a new interview with IGN, Final Fantasy 16 producer Naoki Yoshida said the sequel won't have many Black characters or people of color because it takes place in a geographically isolated realm inspired by medieval Europe, and it wouldn't be realistic to have an "ethnically diverse" cast.
>> I guess the creative freedom some people demand doesn't apply when it comes to not include characters of X or Y skin colour.

Warren Spector's next immersive sim will be multiplayer
https://www.pcgamer.com/warren-spectors-next-immersive-sim-will-be-multiplayer/
We reported back in March that Warren Spector, the famed producer of games including System Shock, Crusader: No Remorse, and Deus Ex, has returned to the business of making immersive sims. Today we learned a little bit more: It's got a title, Argos: Riders on the Storm, and it's multiplayer.

Cut down trees to build a rideable rollercoaster in Farming Simulator 22's new expansion
https://www.pcgamer.com/cut-down-trees-to-build-a-rideable-rollercoaster-in-farming-simulator-22s-new-expansion/
Much as I enjoy Farming Simulator 22, I find portions of the game a bit impenetrable, and when Giants Software adds something new to its complex agricultural sim I'm usually not sure how excited I should get. (...)
But here's something I can get excited about, and I suspect other casual sim fans can too. Farming Simulator 22's Platinum Edition includes a new map set in the Pacific Northwest, full of magnificent trees to cut into logs and transport into town, and when you deliver enough lumber you'll be able to build a rideable rollercoaster.

More datamined evidence points to Elden Ring DLC in our future
https://www.pcgamer.com/more-datamined-evidence-points-to-elden-ring-dlc-in-our-future/
Sekiro Dubi, a FromSoft dataminer who's previously investigated Elden Ring's cut quests and coliseums, has recently shared data from the game's files that implies planned DLC. This information seems to have been buried in Elden Ring for longer than the datamined evidence of potential DLC areas uncovered by Lance McDonald and Zullie the Witch we reported on previously.

Overwatch 2's newest hero is a transforming tank that 'you're gonna want to get away from'
https://www.pcgamer.com/overwatch-2-ramattra-reveal/
Overwatch 2's latest hero has been announced during the Overwatch League grand finals, and lore fiends will instantly recognise this omnic tank. Ramattra made his debut back in Overwatch 1, during 2019's Storm Rising PvE event. He appeared at the end of the closing cinematic, talking to now-fellow tank hero Doomfist. We've not heard much about the Null Sector leader since or even known his name—until now. He'll be joining the tank pool, with his kit revolving around the fact that he sports two separate forms.

John Wick will be a big-budget game if Lionsgate gets its way
https://www.pcgamer.com/john-wick-will-be-a-big-budget-game-if-lionsgate-gets-its-way/
Film studio and general entertainment juggernaut Lionsgate wants to make a big-budget videogame based on the John Wick movies, and has been getting active proposals for it from game studios. Studio executive Jon Feltheimer told investors that Lionsgate was excited about the project in an earnings call.

Running a cafe using the undead isn't sanitary, but there's a game about it
https://www.pcgamer.com/running-a-cafe-using-the-undead-isnt-sanitary-but-theres-a-game-about-it/
Necromantic cooking and restaurant manager Bone's Cafe released this past week, and while that's not a genre to theme pairing I'd expect it's pretty adorable, pretty fun, and profoundly concerning if you're a member of the health department. It's a quick-moving game for 1-4 couch co-op or Remote Play Together players to get stuck in on, designing and automating their own kitchen and restaurant.