Off The Console

This episode of Off the Console… it’s Nintendo Week! The biggest gaming news of the week… maybe even the biggest news of the year? #OffTheConsole #podcast #Nintendo, #Switch2, #NintendoSwitch2 #Tariffs, #CristianoRenaldo, #PriceIncreases and more!

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Link: https://www.ign.com/articles/nintendo-direct-march-2025-everything-announced

Interesting move by Nintendo to unveil a Switch focused Nintendo Direct, especially when we’re supposed to get a Switch 2 Direct in a few days…7

Link: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/ubisoft-carves-top-games-unit-164015707.html

Perhaps it was always the plan, even if AC Shadows was a financial success.

Link: https://www.thegamebusiness.com/p/major-publishers-plan-to-delay-games

Announcing GTA VI’s release date will be cataclysmic for game releases as no one wants to release alongside GTA VI, as it’ll look especially bad.

Link: https://www.ign.com/articles/gamestop-plans-to-close-a-significant-number-of-stores-and-invest-into-bitcoin

The bitcoin plan was in unanimous agreement from the top level execs of this sinking ship.

Link: https://www.ungeek.ph/2025/03/rgg-studio-directors-explain-their-approach-to-reusing-assets-in-like-a-dragon/

Perhaps it was always the plan, even if AC Shadows was a financial success.

Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbeEWm4%5Fqeg

This was announced a while back but we couldn’t have possibly imagined Ronaldo being an actual playable character in the new Fatal Fury.

Link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eoVfBvxKdm0

Game Informer is BACK!

Link: https://automaton-media.com/en/news/japans-aaa-game-industry-performs-strongly-as-5-out-of-8-major-companies-hit-record-breaking-share-prices/

Japanese Gaming is back! Not that it ever left or anything but people seriously underestimate how important the Japanese are to gaming as a whole.

Link: https://steamdb.info/app/1030300/history/?changeid=U:60144384

Silksong’s Legal Line was changed from “Copyright Team Cherry 2019” to “Copyright Team Cherry 2025”. Now I’m not saying Silksong’s coming out this year…. but I’m saying it’s coming out this year.

Link: https://www.videogamer.com/news/hp-doesnt-want-windows-on-its-steam-deck-competitor-but-valves-simple-steamos/

HP does not want to make a Windows handheld, but would be far more interested in making one with SteamOS on it.

Link: https://www.techtimes.com/articles/309791/20250327/google-makes-android-development-private-will-os-no-longer-open-source.htm

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Theme song composed by Gardiner Bryant

In this episode of Off the Console, we dive into the latest gaming and tech news! From Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ historical controversy and Steam Deck performance insights to the rise of home labs for game streaming and Nvidia’s latest GPU reveals — we’ve got it all. We also explore handheld gaming trends, Ubisoft’s DRM concerns, and the future of gaming interfaces. Tune in for insightful discussions, hardware breakdowns, and the evolving landscape of game development!

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Link: https://www.windowscentral.com/gaming/xbox/xbox-hardware-report-project-keenan-next-gen-xbox-2027

Dubbed Project Kennan, it appears to be a handheld made not inhouse by MS but in collaboration with a PC manufacturer. Currently unknown who this player is. It is however said to be unmistakenably “Xbox” in an era where everything is an Xbox.

Link: https://onlineservices.epicgames.com/en-US/news/windows-on-snapdragon-support-is-coming-to-epic-online-services-anti-cheat-and-fortnite

So they’ll support ARM but not support Linux on x86?

Link: https://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamworks/announcements/detail/751641001553035272

I think it’d be a more fun surprise if we read this on the show without knowing any specific data points.

Link: https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/1675200/view/529841158837240756

Read the changelog

Link: https://lemmy.world/post/26731033

Niantic has sold their rights to the games they developed with Nintendo to the Saudi crown. No word on if that deal includes sold all their consumers’ historical data but it will definitely mean anyone who continues to play this game will have Saudi spyware on their devices.

Yet another reason to not play these types of games.

Is this yet another attempt by the Saudi’s to sportswash their image?

Link: https://iii-initiative.com/

The Triple I Initiative was an indie only showcase that surprised us last year with some crazy announcements! This year they’re set to return bigger and better than ever! With no ads!

Link: https://universal-blue.discourse.group/t/introducing-the-bazzite-developer-experience-alpha/7342

Bazzite’s latest innovation? Two new spins of their operating system focused on the Developer Experience.

Link: https://www.pcguide.com/news/we-are-supporting-steam-deck-at-launch-ubisoft-changes-stance-on-assassins-creed-shadows/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HInwdVFWvVs

Ubisoft initially stated that the game would NOT be supported on Deck due to the high spec requirements… but now it seems they’ve reversed this stance. As of the making of this document it’s still Unsupported… but I’d be surprised if it ran at a decent framerate on Deck.

Link: https://www.eurogamer.net/disco-elysium-is-being-reimagined-for-mobile-devices-to-captivate-the-tiktok-user

“We intend to captivate the TikTok user with quick hits of compelling story, art, and audio, ultimately creating an all new, deeply engaging form of entertainment,”

Link: https://store.steampowered.com/

No more Steam Catgirl

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Nvidia vs AMD… Who will reign supreme in the GPU wars? We also discuss Steam’s rapid growth, the impossible PC port, modern day graphics, and how Discord may be selling out?!

What’s this all about? Only one way to find out, by checking out this episode of Off The Console!

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Theme song composed by Gardiner Bryant

In this episode of Off the Console, the hosts dive into the exciting world of gaming, focusing on the Next Fest event and the plethora of game demos available. They discuss their experiences with various demos, the performance of the Steam Deck, and the competitive landscape of the GPU market, particularly between AMD and Nvidia. The conversation also touches on the impact of AI on the GPU market and the potential of the Framework desktop for customization and performance. In this conversation, the hosts delve into various topics surrounding the latest advancements in motherboard technology, gaming consoles, and the implications of data privacy practices by companies like Mozilla. They explore the potential uses of a new motherboard, the future of gaming consoles, and the impact of AMD’s new architecture on gaming performance. The discussion also touches on the controversial practices of Mozilla regarding user data and the state of game development, particularly focusing on the implications of software patents.

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Theme song composed by Gardiner Bryant

This week, we cover Microsoft’s latest AI abomination–this time targeting the gaming industry. Plus, we deep dive into the new state of matter that Microsoft claims to have “invented.”

Link: https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/blog/introducing-muse-our-first-generative-ai-model-designed-for-gameplay-ideation/

https://news.xbox.com/en-us/2025/02/19/muse-ai-xbox-empowering-creators-and-players/

Microsoft’s Muse project is an AI model designed for gameplay ideation. In their examples, they’ve trained their model one 1 second of real footage from a Ninja Theory game called Bleeding Edge. It’s… something alright.

But one of THEIR biggest claims is that they “believe this could radically change how we preserve and experience classic games in the future and make them accessible to more players”. Using AI to… preserve older games inaccessible? I mean… we have a thing. It’s called Emulation, and it’s pretty fucking good.

Link: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/19/technology/microsoft-quantum-computing-topological-qubit.html

It’s not Solid, Liquid, Gas, or Plasma… it’s something new entirely, as per Microsoft. MS dubs it… the “topological qubit”. All of this to fuel a quantum computer. Personally I can’t wait for a quantum GPU to fit in my PC powered by this mysterious state of matter.

Link: https://gameworldobserver.com/2025/02/19/why-amazon-failed-to-compete-with-steam-store

“We never validated our core assumptions before investing heavily in solutions”

Link: https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/ps5-japan-studios-closed-because-the-double-a-market-has-disappeared-says-shuhei-yoshida/

Former President of Sony Interactive Entertainment, Shuhei Yoshida spoke about the death of Sony’s former “Japan Studio”. He chiefly attributes the death of the studio to the evaporating AA market, where AAA games got bigger and bigger and indies came in to fill in the void. Are AA games truly dead? Is the middle class of gaming dead?

Link: https://github.com/YuZhouRen86/VxKex-NEXT

https://github.com/i486/VxKex

https://x.com/TheBobPony/status/1891308340837249317

“VxKex NEXT is a set of API extensions for Windows 7 that allow some Windows 8, 8.1 and 10-exclusive applications to run on Windows 7.” Quite a few programs that no longer support Windows 7 (most notably, Steam) runs on Win7 using VxKex NEXT. Quite impressive really, though VxKex isn’t made for games. Still curious about them effectively bolting forward compatibility onto an older version of Windows… and how far one could feasibly take it.

Link: https://www.teamfortress.com/post.php?id=238809

https://github.com/ValveSoftware/source-sdk-2013

Team Fortress 2 is a beloved game that’s sort of fell to the wayside many years ago. But today marks a day when Valve did the TF2 community a massive favor, by effectively open sourcing TF2. In theory, this change allows gamers the freedom to essentially create new games based on TF2. Any game made using the Source SDK must be free however. Valve is also updating their back catalogue of multiplayer games including 64bit support, HUD scaling, prediction fixes, and more.

Link: https://digiday.com/media/rockstar-games-talks-with-top-metaverse-creators-with-an-eye-on-making-grand-theft-auto-the-next-creator-platform/

Grand Theft Auto VI is heavily speculated to feature the ability to create custom experiences in GTA VI, ala Fortnite or Roblox. In fact, Rockstar is said to be in talks with top creators in Fortnite/Roblox and GTA content creators for this explicit reason. Not much else has been revealed about it but the game is also speculated to ALSO have a budget of $2 BILLION. Good chance user generated content may fit the quota. Having users generate the content while R* takes a bit off each sale.

Link: https://x.com/JakeSucky/status/1891565780283617631

https://x.com/FNCompetitive/status/1891564240604999725

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XouE9KalIVA

Epic Games has taken action against a player who account shared to qualify for the Fortnite Championship Series. On top of legal action, they’ve also permanently banned that player from entering any Epic sanctioned tournaments indefinitely and forced the prize money to be donated to charity. On top of that, they also made the player post a public apology on YouTube. Is public humiliation a good anti-cheat strategy?

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Welcome to another episode of Off The Console with Gardner, and James, and Hi-Tech. This week we dive deep into Sony’s State of Play, updates from Nintendo vs PalWorld, and Steam’s newly implemented policies. We also celebrate hitting 300 YouTube subscribers and discuss some exciting game news including Borderlands 4, Digimon Story Time Stranger, and a new collaboration between Gearbox and Sega. Don’t miss our top tips on avoiding scams, especially involving fake Elden Ring playtest invites. Plus, we explore the impacts of AI on critical thinking and touch on Scarlett Johansson’s call for deepfake regulations. Join us for all the latest in gaming and technology!

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Theme song composed by Gardiner Bryant

This week, we’re talking about the potential return of E3 in the form of IICON! We also talk about EA doubling down on their live service rhetoric and how Linux gamers are SUPPOSEDLY all cheaters, as well as Sony’s DMCA actions against fanmade Bloodborne projects combined with the very recent PSN outage (which is up as of the uploading of this video. And lastly, how S&box may change the gaming industry by letting people publish their own S&box games as standalone games!

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This week, we’re talking about the impact of potential tariffs on TSCM–the world’s largest chipmaker–and the negative impact it will have on everyday prices. We’re also talking about the future of PlayStation and Microsoft’s strategies. We explore the buzz around GTA VI’s rumored price tag and the surprising fall of live-service games like Multiversus. Whether you’re a hardcore gamer or just love staying up-to-date on all things nerdy, this episode is packed with fresh insights and lively debate—don’t miss it!

Link: https://www.pcmag.com/news/trump-to-tariff-chips-made-in-taiwan-targeting-tsmc

Submitter: Hi-Tech Lo-Life

The Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (or TSMC for short) is quite the prolific chip manufacturer, manufacturing chips for MANY many big hardware companies like Apple, AMD, Nvidia, Qualcomm, and yes, even Intel now starting with Arrow Lake. While it isn’t guaranteed to be 100%, any form of tariff would drastically increase the price of just about anything technology related. Anything from computer components, to modern cars, to video game consoles, TVs, and much much more that we can’t even begin to imagine.

Link: https://www.ign.com/articles/gta-6-at-100-would-be-a-bridge-too-far-even-for-grand-theft-auto

$100 for a video game. Would you buy it? Would you do it if it was GTA VI? Would you do it for anything else?

Link: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250128118356/en/New-Leadership-at-Sony-Interactive-Entertainment

https://sonyinteractive.com/en/press-releases/2025/new-leadership-at-sony-interactive-entertainment/

Hideaki Nishino and Hermen Hulst were both co-CEOs of Sony Interactive Entertainment, and now Nishino will be the sole CEO of SIE. Hulst will continue to serve as the CEO of the Studio Business Group, which means he will still be heading PlayStation’s portfolio of first-party studios. However, he will now be reporting to Nishino, rather than leading PlayStation alongside him.

Link: https://x.com/thomasmahler/status/1883273827284599091

Thomas Mahler, CEO of Moon Studios (developer of Ori and the Blind Forest) believes that Sony will follow Microsoft’s example, eschewing the traditional console market instead opting for a similar structure where they will STILL sell their own hardware, but they will also sell games on whatever platform you want to game on.

Link: https://steamdeckhq.com/news/playstation-drops-psn-account-requirement-on-pc/

PlayStation initially required a PlayStation Network (PSN) account for PC games like Helldivers 2, restricting purchases in over 170 countries. While they removed this requirement for Helldivers 2, the restriction remained for other titles. However, PlayStation has now reversed this policy for upcoming releases like God of War Ragnarok, The Last of Us Part 2, Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, making account linking optional and offering in-game rewards instead.

Despite this positive change, there’s no confirmation on whether restricted countries will regain access to these games. The article also notes that the PSN requirement hasn’t significantly impacted Steam Deck compatibility, aside from Ghost of Tsushima’s multiplayer. Lastly, it highlights the quiet lead-up to Marvel’s Spider-Man 2’s release on PC

Link: https://old.reddit.com/r/pcgaming/comments/1iejj36/sony_has_filed_dmca_to_lance_mcdonald_to_remove/?share_id=T8cZoaAPO3fBECEKHZF02

Submitter: Hi-Tech Lo-Life

Bloodborne on runs on PC via ShadPS4, but still runs at a capped 30FPS unless you patch the game. With the patch, you were able to run the game at a 60FPS limit. Sony however has decided to DMCA the patch, so to speak.

Link: https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/23/598045/nvidia-rtx-5080-review-test-benchmark

https://old.reddit.com/r/nvidia/comments/1i85jwg/geforce_rtx_5090_review_megathread/

As far as I’m aware, none of us actually own a new 5000 card. And many sources cite VRAM as being a bottleneck for newer titles and that 16GB may not be enough. Reviews for the 5080 are especially scathing with a content creator, Optimum, claiming he saw a literal 0% increase over the 4080 Super in Cyberpunk 2077. But of course the optics are different if you’re upgrading from say, a 3080. Some have observed that the 5090 is 50% more performant than the 5080.

Multi-frame-generation, the new Halo feature of the 5000 series cards, is also subsequently seeing mixed reviews. Much like the previous FrameGen tech Nvidia has, it works a LOT better with a higher base framerate as it doesn’t magically reduce latency and has increased overhead meaning your base framerate might actually be lower than normal and result in worse latency. Artifacting is also an issue. I’ve seen some videos of it in action and man… it is TERRIBLE.

Link: https://www.eurogamer.net/ubisoft-announces-studio-closure-as-it-lays-off-185-staff

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/newsletters/2025-01-31/electronic-arts-slashes-bioware-after-dragon-age-sales-miss?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTczODM1MTgzMSwiZXhwIjoxNzM4OTU2NjMxLCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJTUVlXVThUMEFGQjQwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiJCMUVBQkI5NjQ2QUM0REZFQTJBRkI4MjI1MzgyQTJFQSJ9.91ztnslkcG02JwTwRRfVCXIJp8FOdqGBjCNQgz-bE8k&leadSource=uverify+wall

Ubisoft closes down a UK based studio of theirs. A support studio formerly known as FreeStyleGames, Ubisoft Leamington assisted with development on Tom Clancy’s The Division series, Star Wars Outlaws, Skull and Bones and Far Cry 5 among other games.*

And Ubisoft isn’t alone. EA is also in on it, with Bioware employees effectively being relocated into other studios and the studio being halved from 200 to 100 while Mass Effect 5 is still in pre-production.

Link: https://multiversus.com/en/news/multiversus-update

Season 5 of Multiversus will be the last season of the game and starts on February 4th, and will last until May 30th. Starting from January 31st, all real money transactions will be disabled. The game WILL be playable offline, so long as you download and log into the game before the end of the season. They also say the game will no longer be downloadable after May 30th, but it is unknown if they mean the game will no longer be claimable or that you cannot redownload it if you ever decide to uninstall it.

Link: https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/graphics-cards/today-i-learned-i-can-run-my-very-own-deepseek-r1-chatbot-on-just-usd6-000-of-pc-hardware-and-no-megabucks-nvidia-gpus-required/

https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/jen-hsun-huangs-net-worth-dropped-by-a-reported-usd20-800-000-000-after-deepseek-fears-shook-the-ai-market-to-its-core-earlier-this-week/

https://github.com/deepseek-ai/DeepSeek-R1

A Chinese based AI LLM that trained off of the OpenAI o1 LLM. It has removed about 1 trillion from the tech stock market. On the bright side, it puts million dollar AI into the hands of the common folk. It Democratizes AI. With a dozen Mac Pros, you can have a large (68GB) DeepSeek r1 LLM that competes with OpenAI’s o1.

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Theme song composed by Gardiner Bryant