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Weekend Gamer: Daymare 1998

Read More GOG As you know, I’m a huge GOG (Good Old Games) fan and was very excited about the news of GOG Galaxy 2.0 in June 2019. I have been using the GOG Galaxy …

My favorite gaming e-retailer, GOG, is giving away their sixth, and final, free game giveaway in the next few days: Daymare 1998. I’ve been a big fan of GOG, or previously known as Good Old Games, as they were the only company that sold their games DRM-Free, which means you can take your game anywhere, without restrictions. Unfortunately, big Triple A game companies, like Sony and Xbox will not allow their games to run without DRM… so, as a result, GOG was never a big hit with mainstream gamers.

Sure the free games like Worms Revolution Gold Edition and Broken Sword: Director's Cut, aren’t going to impress anyone… but they’re part of PC history and I’m happy to have them in my library.

PS, I have tried to run GOG on the Steam Deck using the Heroic launcher… but I can’t seem to get a game to run correctly on Steam OS (which is based on Linux). I wish GOG would make an effort to make an official launcher or something… I would love to run my GOG games on the Steam Deck.

Yours,

- Weekend Gamer

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vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Weekend Gamer: Epic's Christmas Game Giveaway

Death Stranding Read More Epic Games I guess all that waiting was worth it, as currently, the game is free on the Epic Game store. I know a lot of people hate on Epic, saying they’re a bully, saying that they’re …

It’s that time of the year. Epic Games is doing their annual 12 Days of Christmas giveaway… well, it’s more like 15 days of Christmas.

Already, I’m very happy to now own Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role-Playing Game (includes Fallout 1, Fallout 2, and Fallout: Tactics) on Epic. I’ve previously own these classic Fallout games on GOG and Steam… so it’s nice to see it on my game list on Epic as well.

Last year, Epic ended their Christmas giveaway with all three Square Enix’s Tomb Raider games on December 30th… which was amazing.

Encased

Currently, the free game is Encase. I don’t know too much about the game, but it looks like it was inspired by that Fallout gameplay… so I’ll check it out.

Update: Wow, can you believe it? For Christmas Day, Epic gave away Death Stranding for free. This is a $60 triple A title. The game is by legendary game creator Hideo Kojima and stars Norman Reedus, Mads Mikkelsen, Léa Seydoux, and Lindsay Wagner.

I’ve always been curious about the game, but never bought it because all the reviews said it was kind of boring and the game was a “walking simulator”.

Hey, for free, I will check out the game someday.

So far, these are the free Epic games giveaway:

12/15 – Bloons TD6

12/16 – Horizon Chase Turbo

12/17 – Costume Quest 2

12/18 – Sable

12/19 – Them’s Fightin’ Herds

12/20 – Wolftenstein The New Order

12/21 – Lego Builder’s Journey

12/22 – Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role-Playing Game

12/23 – Encased

12/24 – Metro: Last Light Redux

12/25 - Death Stranding

12/26 - FIST Forged in Shadow Torch

12/27 - Severed Steel

12/28 - Mortal Shell

12/29 - Dishonored - Definitive Edition and Eximius: Seize the Frontline

Update: The Epic giveaway officially ended on 12/29 with a double free game. The next free games (Kerbal Space Program and Shadow Tactics - Aiko's Choice) will be given away on January 5th, 2023.

Yours,

- Weekend Gamer

PS, Greak: Memories of Azur is the free game over at GOG.

Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role-Playing Game

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vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Steam Winter Sale 2022

Read More Steam There’s no more waiting… You can now buy Steam Deck, right now, without reservation. According to steampowered, it’s been more than a year since it was first announced, but due to numerous supply chain issues and …

Here are three reasons why you would want to invest in buying games on Steam:

1. You can play your games on any PC or Linux… this includes my PC, laptop, and Steam Deck. If you buy your games on Xbox, PlayStation, or Switch, you’ve locked your games on their system.

2. All “Exclusive” games on the PlayStation and Xbox will eventually be available on Steam. This means the PC is the only place you can play both Halo and God of War. Note that Sony only decided to make their games available on Steam starting last year… which is the smartest decision they’ve ever made. Even exclusive games on the Switch can be played on your PC through emulation. It’s not legal, but it’s the only way you can play Nintendo games on your computer.

3. Games are dirt cheap, as evident in the Steam Winter Sale that kicked off today (December 22). You can get hundred of games for less than $3. On top of that, you can also get packages, like from Humble Bundle which will save you even more!

Anyway, this year, I’ve barely keep it under $100, but here are some games I would recommend:

The Witcher® 3: Wild Hunt - $7.99 (80% off)

DOOM Eternal - $9.99 (75% off)

Halo: The Master Chief Collection - $15.99 (60% off)

Horizon Zero Dawn™ Complete Edition - $16.49 (67% off)

God of War - $29.99 (40% off)

Elden Ring - $41.99 (30% off)

Yours,

- Weekend Gamer

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vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

EmuDeck: Emulators on Steam Deck

Read More Steam There’s no more waiting… You can now buy Steam Deck, right now, without reservation. According to steampowered, it’s been more than a year since it was first announced, but due to numerous supply chain issues and …

Since upgrading my Steam Deck to include 1TB of internal storage, I’ve had more space to play around with.

I started dabbing into emulation to see how well it works… and no surprise, the Steam Deck can emulate almost everything! You can do this officially using RetroArch on the Steam storefront … for other emulation software, such as YuZu, you are going to have to manually install it using the desktop mode of Steam OS.

There are too many emulation software... so the best and easiest way to install all of them, you are going to want to use EmuDeck (via their website emudeck.com).

Follow the instructions on their website... but it’s pretty easy. Once you install it, find the ROM folder and add your ROMs. It might be hidden, so you’ll need to change your view.

Next, run Steam ROM Manager and click on “preview”. This will automatically download artwork and index your ROMs. Click on “save”.

Now, when you start your Steam Deck, you should be able to see all your ROM games in “Non-Steam Deck” folder. You can launch each game individually… or as I prefer, I use Emulation Station, which is an all-in-one launcher.

So far, I’m having a good time testing out old games to see how they run. Most will run, some might take some tweaking. I can’t see myself spending too much time on these old games… but I like the idea of carrying around all these games in your pocket!

I wish Nintendo would just make their old games available for purchase on Steam… as of this writing, this is the only way of getting these games on the Steam Deck. Before you rage, Nintendo doesn’t even make their old games on their Switch (which I also own) without paying a monthly fee. There’s no option of paying for a game.

Yours,

- Weekend Gamer

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vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Game of the Year: Elden Ring

Read More Elden Ring Yes, I’m finally playing Elden Ring, the game that literally everybody was playing in February 2022. The game went on sale on disc, so picked it up. I popped in the disc, expecting to play the game. Guess what? You can’t just put in a disc and play the game. ....

Ever since I started playing Elden Ring in September 2022, I knew this game was special. At first, you might get discouraged, but as you build up your character, you feel accomplished when you finally take down that boss!

Of all the games that came out in 2022, I really felt that Elden Ring was my personal game of the year.

As it turned out, the Game Awards also agreed with me, and gave Elden Ring the “Game of the Year” award as well. The game also won three other awards: “Best Game Direction”, “Best Art Direction”, and “Best Role Playing”. Its biggest competitor, God of War Ragnarök, the sequel to my game of the year 2018 God of War, won “Best Narrative”, “Best Score and Music (Bear McCreary)”, “Best Audio Design”, “Best Performance (Christopher Judge)”, “Best Action/Adventure”, and “Innovation in Accessibility”.

I personally haven’t played God of War Ragnarök as the game is on PS5 (which I don’t have) and it was only released in November 9, 2022. I’m sure the game is deserving of those awards, but it just seemed really unfair to release the game only weeks before the Game Awards… so it’s so fresh on everyone’s mind.

With the Game Awards over and done with, I’m excited to see how everyone loved Elden Ring … that it’s almost guaranteed to get a sequel. Of all the Souls-like games, I felt that Elden Ring is the best among them, thanks to the open world nature of the game.

If you follow what I have said in the past, I have disagreed with Sony and their greed. In additional to raising the PlayStation 5 prices, they’re releasing their new games at $69. New games on Xbox are $59 (or in some cases, free via Game Pass), and games on PC are $59 new. Sony wants $69 to be the normal price for “next gen” games. Let me speak for everyone, no one wants to pay $70 for a new game. Since I refused to get a PS5 (and being locked in that $70 per game pricing), I’m glad to see that Sony decided to release their PlayStation exclusive games on Steam, starting in Jan 2022 with their PS4 game God of War. I think the trend is good for Sony, as they’re seeing even more profit from having their games on the PC.

Since these PlayStation games are now available on Steam, I have purchased God of War, Horizon Zero Dawn™ Complete Edition, Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered, UNCHARTED™: Legacy of Thieves Collection, and Days Gone. Besides from GoW, I wouldn’t have bought or played these other games, if those games remain exclusively on their PlayStation … so, yeah, I’m glad Sony is moving their games outside of their PSN.

Even though I own The Last of Us on my PS4, I’ll probably re-buy it on Steam, as the game is now available for pre-order for Mar 3, 2023.

Returnal also has a listing, but no release date is set. I’m probably less interested in this game, but will likely pick it up if it’s on sale.

In other gaming news, Ubisoft has come back to Steam, with its game Assassin's Creed Valhalla on Dec 6, 2022. Ubisoft wanted to make money by force PC players to buy games directly from them, using their U-Play launcher. Unfortunately, PC gamers refused to buy it on U-Play, so Ubisoft has decided to bring their game back on Steam.

Enjoy,

- Weekend Gamer

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vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Weekend Gamer: Warhammer: Vermintide 2 free on Steam

Read More Warhammer 40,000 I got the free promotional game Warhammer 40,000: Darktide - Imperial Edition when I bought the Lenovo Legion. At first, I thought the game code is inside the box, but that is not the case ....

Weekend Gamer here. Just a reminder that the Warhammer 40,000: Vermintide 2 is free until November 7th. The giveaway is due to Fatshark’s next game Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, released seven years ago.

In addition to the free game, Steam is also giving away a free DLC Trail of Treachery, starting November 8th (mark your calendar!)

This is exciting, considering that if you bought a NVIDIA 3060, 3070, 3080, or 3090, you were also given a free copy of Warhammer 40,000: Darktide - Imperial Edition (which I happily redeemed Nov 2).

There’s never been a better time to be a Warhammer 40k fan.

Additional details:

November 30th marks the release of Fatshark’s next game Warhammer 40,000: Darktide, an intensely brutal cooperative game set in the Warhammer 40,000 world. This release will be the 3rd installment of “Tide” releases over the past 7 years and adds to the already critically acclaimed Vermintide series.

Throughout November and leading up to the release of Darktide, there'll be activities and updates from Fatshark for all "Tide" players to celebrate its launch. This includes a free copy of Vermintide 2*, a free update to Vermintide 2 (Trail of Treachery DLC), access to play Darktide early for pre-order players, and a free download of the Devoted Rejects DLCfor all Vermintide 1 or 2 players who jump in and play Darktide.

For a limited time only, you can download Vermintide 2 for free and keep it in your library forever

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vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Lenovo Legion Gaming PC

Specs Intel Core i5 11th Gen 11500 2.7GHz Processor NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12GB GDDR6 16GB DDR4-3200 RAM 512GB SSD+1TB HDD Microsoft Windows 11 Home 10/100/1000 Network 2x2 802.11ax WiFi 6 Bluetooth 5.1 400 Watt Power Supply Free game: Warhammer 40,000: Darktide - Imperial Edition (must be redeemed by 11/10/2022) Read More Lenovo With Lenovo Smart Display, it’s pretty much free. If you want music, you can upload all your MP3s to Google Music and access them via the Smart Display. Of course, if you prefer, you can subscribe to Google Music, YouTube Music … iBuyPower Since owning the new iBuyPower’s Fallout computer, I’ve been spending a lot of time on the computer. I’ve been really into RGB lighting for my computer and recently purchased …

Since I got the the Straight Talk Home Internet, which promises 10-100mbps 5G speed, I’ve been enjoying fast downloads of games for my Steam Deck and Xbox Series X. I average about 30-50mbps. Unfortunately, my aging Fallout iBuyPower Computer could not enjoy the same download speed. This is because the Wi-Fi chip in the system is old (2017) and uses old protocol. Plus the computer was downstairs, far from the router. Whatever the reasons is, it has trouble connecting to the network and the speed it was getting was often under 1-4mps. I suspected it was the Wi-Fi card because the Xbox, sitting right next to my computer, was doing 80mps!

As I’ve previously mentioned, I’ve been looking around for a new gaming computer, and this was just the final straw. There are numerous problems with the Fallout computer, first the fan is starting to rattle and prevents me from doing audio recording because it was so noisy. Next, in order to upgrade the video card, I would have to replace the power supply. Also, the old computer would just not upgrade to Windows 11. Plus, it was just getting slow.

So, it was time. I bought the Lenovo Legion T5i 26IOB6 Gaming PC for $850 today from MicroCenter. This is a great price, it’s about 40% off the original asking price. Most of that money probably goes to the Nvidia 3060 video card. Just a quick Amazon search, shows that the average 3060 card is $400-$500. The 3060 card will be a massive improvement over my old 1660 card.

Download Speed

The key thing for me is the WiFi 6 card, which is the latest protocol. Of course, the first thing I did when I started up the computer was doing a speed test… and yes, it’s now fast and on par with what my Xbox was getting, in terms of download speeds.

With the fast internet connection, I’m able to re-download all the software that I need. All my movies and music are on external hard drives, so physically moving them to the new computer was effortless. I’m just afraid that with so many hard drives (6 in total), that the 400 Watt power supply might not be powerful enough. The first game I’ve re-downloaded is Elden Ring, which I am enjoying on the Steam Deck.

The new computer does have one USB-C, which is great. I’m going to have to get a USB hub to take advantage of it.

This is my first Windows 11 machine, so, at first, I’m not used to it. At first I wish it was Windows 10, as it’s what I’m familiar with… but I suppose over time, I will learn to understand and get used to Win 11.

Otherwise, I’ve zero complaints about the new computer. It’s fast, and it runs whisper quiet, which I absolutely love.

Yours,

- Weekend Gamer

PS I got the free promotional game Warhammer 40,000: Darktide - Imperial Edition when I bought the Lenovo Legion. At first, I thought the game code is inside the box, but that is not the case. If you buy it, look for the game code on your receipt. The promotion ends 11/10/2022, which is in about a week. The game official comes out November 30. You’ll need both an Nvidia and Steam account… but if you’re into PC gaming… you’ll already have one.

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vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Weekend Gamer: Fallout 3 free on Epic

Read More Fallout Fallout 3. Obviously, I'm still playing the game. At one point in the game, you have to go into Vault 112's virtual environment and it's seriously straight out of the Twilight Zone. You need a high Charisma or Speech skill …

Sure, you already own Fallout 3. If you don’t own it, it’s practically on sale all the time. If you’re still super cheapskate, you can finally get it for free on the Epic Game Store for free, starting October 20th.

I bought the game in 2008, not exactly convinced that the Fallout series will benefit from a first-person view. You see, I came from the original games, which is turn-based and top-down view. I love those original games! I didn’t think Fallout would work in 3-D, but I was wrong!

What I am right is that Fallout should be a single player game… taking it online in Fallout 76 is a disaster, and fans would agree with me. We don’t want an always-online game.

Anyway, if you have not played Fallout 3, there’s no reason not to play, especially if it’s free on October 20th on Epic.

Also, if you are wondering, yes, people have gotten Epic to run on the Steam Deck, using the Heroic launcher. I have Heroic, but after I couldn’t run some GOG games, I just gave up.

The other problem is that while Steam Deck can run Fallout 3, it’s not a good experience because of the controller scheme. It’s meant to be played with a mouse and keyboard, so you have to compromised when you play it on the Steam Deck, because obviously you don’t have a keyboard. However, you can always get the Steam Dock and hook up a keyboard and mouse to it… at that point, why not just run it on a dedicated computer or laptop?

So speaking of the Steam Deck, this is my only device that I’m using for gaming currently. That is because it’s so easy to start and stop, especially if you only have a few minutes on your break or waiting for something. With the Xbox, you have to sit down by a television, you have to turn it on, etc. The same can be said for my gaming laptop, I would have to log into Windows, I would have to find the game to launch, and so on. With the Steam Deck, you just wake it up and it’s good to go.

Yours,

- Weekend Gamer

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Weekend Gamer: You can buy the Steam Deck and Docking Station right now

Read More Steam I’ve put down my $5 to preorder my Steam Deck. I decided to get the $400 entry model. I think that is a fantastic price, considering that I looked at similar handheld PCs, such as the Aya Neo and OneXPlayer, and they are usually $1,000 or more …

There’s no more waiting… You can now buy Steam Deck, right now, without reservation.

According to steampowered.com, it’s been more than a year since it was first announced, but due to numerous supply chain issues and component shortages, they couldn’t deliver on all the demand. If you wanted one, you had to wait up to a year to get your device. I personally had to wait a little over a month… but as of today, there’s no waiting.

With that announcement, they are also releasing their official Docking Station, which is shipping in one or two weeks. The price is $89, which is more expensive than all the third-party docks out there… but I don’t mind getting the official docking station, because I wanted to support Steam, and for reasons, which I will address below.

The official docking station has DisplayPort 1.4, HDMI 2.0, Ethernet Port, 3 USB 3.1, and a USB-C pass-through power input. The best part is that it comes with a 45-Watt charger (this by itself is $30 alone).

I did previously bought a third-party dock for $33, but I had to spend another $25 for a 65-Watt Charger, so when you add it up, it’s about $60. You do run the risk of buying a cheap/terrible unofficial product… so I don’t think it’s that unreasonable to ask for $89 for the official one, especially if you know the product was especially designed for the Steam Deck from Valve.

I’ll probably set one up by the television and one closer to my work desk.

Yours,

- Weekend Gamer

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com

Steam Deck: First Impressions

Read More Steam I’ve put down my $5 to preorder my Steam Deck. I decided to get the $400 entry model. I think that is a fantastic price, considering that I looked at similar handheld PCs, such as the Aya Neo and OneXPlayer, and they are usually $1,000 or more … Elden Ring Yes, I’m finally playing Elden Ring, the game that literally everybody was playing in February 2022. The game went on sale on disc, so picked it up. I popped in the disc, expecting to play the game. Guess what? … Cyberpunk For some odd reason, Best Buy, allowed me to pick up my pre-order for Cyberpunk 2077 video game for the PC. The game is not officially out until December 10, 2020, on a variety of platforms: Windows …

I’m so excited to finally get my hands on the Steam Deck

Downloading queue

As soon as I opened the case, I immediately booted it up and started downloading Elden Ring. On my slow hotspot connection, it was going to take 11 hours to download 50GB. In the meantime, I did download some smaller games to test out the unit, particularly older games like Galaga or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge. Those ran as I would expect: amazingly well. What I’m more interested in is if the Deck can handle modern graphically-intense games like Elden Ring and Cyberpunk (which does not run well on the PS4).

What I’ve experienced so far, it’s a really good system. As you may or may not know, the SteamOS is actually running in Linux. What that means is that anything that can run on the Linux desktop mode, you can run it on the Steam Deck. So there are a lot of enthusiasts that have created various software to modify how Steam function and look.

I did briefly explore Desktop mode by changing some themes and downloading Firefox. It’s not a great experience on Desktop mode because the Steam Deck wasn’t designed to run in desktop. For example, after downloading Firefox, I couldn’t get the touchscreen keyboard to load up, and it was generally slow and not as responsive.

For most people, I suggest just sticking to the SteamOS. That’s what I’m going to do from now on (although it’s good to know that I can muck around with Linux if I get bored in the future).

The Steam Deck screen looks great. Games looks great on it. The audio is very loud and very good for its size. Controllers is good too. I like the D-Pad, I like the buttons. Some people complained that the Deck has a very loud fan. Maybe it’s just their device, but mine didn’t make that much noise. The Deck does get hot, and you can feel the heat leaving the vents on top and on the back.

The AMD Zen 2 CPU, combined with 16GB DDR5 and custom GPU, it’s very fast. Much faster than the Switch and better than the PS4. All this power needs a super fast charger, which Valve included out of the box: a 45-Watt charger.

The ability to use any hardware or software that is supported on Linux, you can truly use the Steam Deck as a desktop/laptop.

There are some minor complaints I have about the Steam Deck. I’m just nit-picking, they’re not really complaints, but more like what I hope can be improved in the next generation Steam Deck. I think the device is very big. Holding it, looking at it, I don’t really think it’s meant to be a pocketable handheld gaming device. It’s almost double the weight and size of the Nintendo Switch, and certainly much, much larger than the portable Switch Lite or the PlayStation Vita.

My Steam Games

I own over 300 games on Steam, but only about 80 of them are Deck Verified… which means they will run on the Deck without any issues. Some games will run on Steam Deck, but it’s not optimized for it. For example, some text might be too small to read on a small screen. So the problem is that developers needs to update their games to run on Steam Deck - and on older titles, that might not be possible.

I wish there was a cover over the MicroSD card reader. I accidentally ejected the card a few times, which I’m very worried about damaging my expensive 1TB SD card. It’s a valid concern. On my camera and one any phones that accepts MicroSD cards, there is a cover that keeps the card safe in its place.

I absolutely hate the two mousepads/touchpads on the Deck. I hated it on the Steam Controller, I absolutely hated it on the Deck. If they got rid of it to make the Deck smaller, I will co-sign that.

I also wish there was another USB-C on the bottom of the device. Right now, there is one USB-C port on top, so all the Docks designed for the Steam Deck looks … ugly. On the Switch, the USB-C is on the bottom, so you just “dock” it in the stand and voila, it’s charging and in its stand. Since the Steam Deck has the USB-C on top, it’s not as elegant. You have to bring up the chord and manually locate the USB-C and plug it in. Not great.

I wanted to buy a third-party Steam Deck Dock, but I’m waiting for the official Docking Station to be release. Valve is having some supply issues so they haven’t announced or released the Dock yet.

Yours,

- Weekend Gamer

vu ([email protected]) ♥ weheartmusic.com ♥ twitter.com