MSI GeForce RTX 40 Series Laptops Listed By US Retailer: Fully Decked-Out RTX 4090 Laptops Cost Over $4500 US

https://wccftech.com/msi-geforce-rtx-40-series-laptops-listed-by-us-retailer-fully-decked-out-rtx-4090-laptops-cost-over-4500-us/

Oops they did it again, GALAX ‘teases’ GeForce RTX 4070 graphics card

https://videocardz.com/newz/oops-they-did-it-again-galax-teases-geforce-rtx-4070-graphics-card

Gotta love AMD sponsored games with their last gen graphics with nonsense vram requirements lmao

The future is becoming the present:

HDD Shipments Almost Halved in 2022
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/hdd-shipments-almost-halved-in-2022
A new report from Trendfocus shines a light on the carnage in the mechanical storage industry as we start 2023. The Storage Newsletter shared an excerpt from the Trendfocus research work, which spans 2022 and covers the largest HDD storage providers, their shipments, and their market shares. All suffered dramatic declines in shipments over the past year, with Seagate and WDC seeing their shipments almost halve.

According to this data, the worst market performer is the biggest member of the HDD industry triumvirate. Seagate’s HDD shipments dropped as much as 43.7% last year, and WDC was almost as bad, with a 43.0% slide over the same period. However, Toshiba was by no means unscathed by 2022, with the scale of its HDD shipments declining in the same ballpark as its rivals, with shipments falling at as much as 39.3% YoY.

The Wednesday news:

SALES /PLAYER COUNT & DEALS

GOG features 6 new Deals of the Day and 3 new sales:

• These are all the DotD, available until Friday:
  • Re-Volt gets a measly 12% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/revolt
  • Strange Horticulture is 35% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/strange_horticulture
  • Alan Wake gets a 74% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/alan_wake
  • Jagged Alliance 2 is 80% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/jagged_alliance_2
  • The Testament of Sherlock Holmes features a 82% discount: https://www.gog.com/en/game/testament_of_sherlock_holmes_the
  • And FlatOut 2 is 85% off: https://www.gog.com/en/game/flatout_2
• The Midweek Sale comes with up to 90% discounts during 4 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20230118_midweek_sale
• And Old World and its DLCs go on Sale with up to 27% discounts during 5 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20230116_old_world
• Toge Productions joins the Indie Sale and puts its games on sale with up to 70% discounts during 7 days: https://www.gog.com/en/promo/20230118_fresh_indie_toge_productions

Steam has two new deals:

• Cursed to Golf, that has a demo, will be 25% off until next Tuesday; https://store.steampowered.com/app/1726120/Cursed_to_Golf/
• And Toge Productions also put its games on sale here, with up to 90% discounts until January 24th: https://store.steampowered.com/publisher/togeproductions/sale/togesale2023

Fanatical ha a new Star Deal and a new bundle:

• The new Star Deal is Resident Evil Village, 58% off during 48 hours: https://www.fanatical.com/en/game/resident-evil-village
• The new Mystery Star Bundle features up to 10 unknown titles to get: https://www.fanatical.com/en/bundle/mystery-star-bundle

SOFTWARE & DRIVERS

-Empty-

MODS, EMULATORS & FAN PROJECTS

New Fallout 4 HD Texture Pack overhauls all of the game’s Feral Ghouls
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/new-fallout-4-hd-texture-pack-overhauls-all-of-the-game-feral-ghouls/
Modder ‘Blackwolf24’ has released a new HD Texture Pack for Fallout 4, overhauling the textures of all Feral Ghouls. This HD Texture Pack covers the main game, as well as its two DLCs (Far Harbor and Nuka World).
>> There are some screenshots.

The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Fan Remake – Unreal Engine 4 vs Unreal Engine 5 Video Graphics Comparison
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/the-legend-of-zelda-ocarina-of-time-fan-remake-unreal-engine-4-vs-unreal-engine-5-video-graphics-comparison/
As we’ve already informed you, CryZENx is currently working on an Unreal Engine 5 version of his The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Fan Remake. This version supports Lumen which by default overhauls the game’s lighting system. And thankfully, we finally have a video graphics comparison between its Unreal Engine 4 and Unreal Engine 5 versions.

This modder won't stop adding Wallace from Wallace & Gromit into random games
https://www.pcgamer.com/this-modder-wont-stop-adding-wallace-from-wallace-and-gromit-into-random-games/
The stop-motion duo Wallace and Gromit are one of the UK's finest exports and, even if it's been 15 years since A Matter of Loaf and Death, remain as beloved as ever. Wallace is a semi-bumbling inventor who loves cheese, while Gromit is his dog and the real brains of the operation. And now, for reasons known only to the mod's creator, Wallace is in Sonic Adventure 2 (among others).
>> There's an almost 4 minutes video of the mod.

Elden Ring Mod attempts to fix the stuttering issues on Intel’s latest CPUs
https://www.dsogaming.com/mods/elden-ring-mod-attempts-to-fix-the-stuttering-issues-on-intel-latest-cpus/
Modder ‘DevourerPi’ has released a new mod for Elden Ring that attempts to fix the game’s stuttering issues. This mod basically resets CPU affinity each and every time you run it, and is based on a solution discovered by YouTube’s ‘thsea4021’.
Now as I’ve said numerous times, I never experienced any stuttering issues in Elden Ring. And the reason why I haven’t experienced such issues is because the Intel Core i9 9900K only has performance-cores.
As ‘thsea4021’ claimed in an update, disabling the e-cores on the latest Intel CPUs can completely eliminate the stuttering issues. Thus, and if you don’t have the e-cores enabled, you won’t need this mod. Similarly, you won’t experience any stutters if your CPU only has performance-cores. In other words, older Intel CPUs and all AMD CPUs do not suffer from this issue.
>> I thought Intel fixed those problems after the launch of the 12th Gen CPUs, but I guess there are still games affected by this problem. Anyway, there's a 3 minutes video showing the stutter and the fix.

GAMING NEWS

Hogwarts Legacy gets an official in-engine cinematic 4K trailer
https://www.dsogaming.com/videotrailer-news/hogwarts-legacy-gets-an-official-in-engine-cinematic-4k-trailer/
Warner Bros has released an official cinematic 4K trailer for Hogwarts Legacy. This in-engine trailer follows an owl, and showcases some of the game’s environments, enemies and characters.

The news, part two:

Stellaris' latest DLC offers new ways to mess with pre-spaceflight societies
https://www.pcgamer.com/stellaris-latest-dlc-offers-new-ways-to-mess-with-pre-spaceflight-societies/
Stellaris' new story pack has been announced, and presents players with a whole new avenue for profoundly unethical behaviour. Focusing on pre-spaceflight civilisations, the First Contact pack includes new origins, new ways to interact with species that haven't reached the stars yet, and (if you really want to screw with their heads) cloaking technology for your ships.

Ubisoft Paris employees are going on strike to protest CEO's 'catastrophic' comments
https://www.pcgamer.com/ubisoft-paris-employees-are-going-on-strike-to-protest-ceos-catastrophic-comments/
Ubisoft announced last week that it is not having a good 2023 so far. Skull and Bones was delayed again, but more seriously, the company's inability to release games that anyone cares about has caused serious financial bleeding. Now Ubisoft is facing even more headaches, as the Solidaires Informatique union has called for a strike at Ubisoft Paris on January 27.

More restricted military intel ends up on the War Thunder forums
https://www.pcgamer.com/more-restricted-military-intel-ends-up-on-the-war-thunder-forums/
A lengthy War Thunder forums discussion about the history and performance of the F-16 Fighting Falcon has resulted in—you guessed it!—yet another public leak of restricted military intel.
This latest incident is actually a little different from all the previous leaks of classified intel on the War Thunder forums, which is pretty funny when you think about it: This happens often enough that we can refer to "all the other times these guys committed acts of treason" and be 100% serious about it.

I made a terrible fantasy series called Ring of Thrones in this TV studio strategy game
https://www.pcgamer.com/i-made-a-terrible-fantasy-series-called-ring-of-thrones-in-this-tv-studio-strategy-game/
The rise of prestige TV has elevated not just the medium of television but the status of the people who create it. These days we commonly read headlines about "showrunners," producers and directors we maybe wouldn't have given much thought to years ago but who now can wind up receiving as much attention as the shows' actors.
(...)
But as a TV fan, there's no reason to restrict yourself to sniping at showrunners from the sidelines. Why not run your own show and see how hard it really is, smartypants? As of today you can become a showrunner yourself, sort of, in the aptly-named Showrunner, a TV studio strategy management sim that just launched into Steam Early Access.
>> It's not like Molyneux's The Movies, but it doesn't look bad.

The Sims 4 is getting DLC undies and messy bathrooms in two new kits
https://www.pcgamer.com/the-sims-4-is-getting-dlc-undies-and-messy-bathrooms-in-two-new-kits/
The Sims 4 is getting two new kits (the smallest and cheapest tier of DLC it offers nowadays) this week: some lacey and be-printed underwear and a collection of items for making your Sims' bathroom vanities as cluttered as your own. Both will be available for purchase (presumably for $4.99 like other kits) this Thursday, January 19.

All the times Ubisoft has said that Beyond Good & Evil 2 is still in development
https://www.pcgamer.com/all-the-times-ubisoft-has-said-that-beyond-good-and-evil-2-is-still-in-development/
Ubisoft has always been developing Beyond Good & Evil 2. Since the beginning of my life, since the beginning of videogames, since the beginning of history, the development of Beyond Good & Evil 2 has continued without a break.
>> 29 times since 2008. Given its current state, Ubi should seriously consider cancelling it and put the team(s) to work on other titles. But I'm not a hardcore fan of BG&E.

Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 is finally getting rollback netcode after six years
https://www.pcgamer.com/guilty-gear-xrd-rev-2-is-finally-getting-rollback-netcode-after-six-years/
More than six years after its release, Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 is finally getting rollback netcode on Steam.
The feature for Arc System Works' 2D fighter first went into public beta testing back in October 2022, lasting for a few weeks. It clearly went well, as it'll be officially rolled out into the game on January 20, bringing it in line with its newer sibling Guilty Gear Strive. It'll allow for a much smoother experience online, bringing it a little closer to how playing offline feels. It can be one of the biggest make-or-break features for a fighting game—bad netcode can kill a game's community faster than anything else. Just ask the remaining three SoulCalibur 6 players. (Kidding!)

Is Apex Legends making the biggest overhaul of a matchmaking system ever?
https://www.pcgamer.com/is-apex-legends-making-the-biggest-overhaul-of-a-matchmaking-system-ever/
As with every single competitive game out there, the developers of Apex Legends have to deal with player perception of what's wrong alongside the realities they see behind the scenes. A persistent thread in the Apex community's grousing has been about the game's matchmaking system, and specifically how it measures skill and forms squads and matches around it.
(...)
This has been going on for basically as long as the game's been out, but developer Respawn has now posted what I can only describe as a comprehensive response to the community. This thing is absolutely enormous and goes into detail on how the game's matchmaking works, recent changes made, the problems that the developers acknowledge, and what's being done to fix them.

NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti specs updated to 160W TDP, now less power than 3060 Ti

https://videocardz.com/newz/nvidia-geforce-rtx-4060-ti-specs-updated-to-160w-tdp-now-less-power-than-3060-ti

The annoying thing is that similar to RDNA 2, as you go down to these class of GPUs, the low cache and low memory bandwidth really start hampering the cards if you want higher resolution gaming even if the GPU is plenty capable of it. While the cuda cores is lower than a 3060 Ti, as we seen with other Lovelace GPUs, the GPU should be faster than a 3060 Ti regardless but the price is likely gonna suck.

NVIDIA Revised AD103 & AD104 GPU Silicon For RTX 4080 & RTX 4070 Ti Resolves Fan-Speed Bug

https://wccftech.com/nvidia-revised-ad103-ad104-gpu-silicon-for-rtx-4080-rtx-4070-ti-resolves-fan-speed-bug/

AYANEO NEXT 2 gaming console to feature ‘next-gen’ AMD Ryzen 7000 CPU and ‘new DISCRETE graphics’

https://videocardz.com/newz/ayaneo-next-2-gaming-console-to-feature-next-gen-amd-ryzen-7000-cpu-and-new-discrete-graphics

MacBook Pro comparison: How the new M2 Pro/Max improves over the M1 versions

https://9to5mac.com/2023/01/17/macbook-pro-comparison-m2-pro-max/

If there's one thing this shows is that x86 is here to stay. It seems that Apple has hit a wall in terms of improvements where the only way they seem to be gaining more performance is by adding more cores. Now that AMD is on 5nm, I think we will see the true battle that will showcase the efficiency and performance between the two architectures. While I have no doubt that Apple will still likely win in performance per watt, considering the insane transistor count they are pushing, I doubt it will be reasonable for the industry to adopt the Arm route and replace x86 for anyone but Apple.

Returnal To Release On PC On February 15th; Detailed System Requirements Revealed

https://wccftech.com/returnal-to-release-on-pc-on-february-15th-detailed-system-requirements-revealed/

While we do see that 6700XT vs 2070 Super pattern and we do see that it is Raster performance, the rest of the GPUs do seem fair enough.

One thing is for sure though, the era of 32GB of ram is upon us. Hogwarts Legacy, Returnal, Forspoken all require 32GB of ram if you want to go up the settings. But unless you get a new GPU, there isn't much point in looking to upgrade your Ram anyway (unless you need it for other things not gaming related). Also considering the abnormally high CPU requirements, I doubt this game is using Direct Storage.

Its going to be another generation of meh midrange before we get another GTX 1060 or 3060Ti.. if we ever get one again.

1060 - Good
2060 Super - Crap
3060 Ti - Good
4060 Ti - Crap
5060 Ti - ??

Why was the 2060 Super crap? Or do you mean the 2060 non-super?

Either one :P The mid-range then was fine but from a value standpoint it wasn't a huge uplift vs cost from the previous generation. Turing wasn't a great architecture, but looking back retrospectively it wasn't that bad. At least compared to the market today. Iirc near 2x increase in performance from 1060 to 2060 Super, which is quite impressive for gen on gen uplift.