In today's overkill digest newsletter, we take a look at a modded Steam Deck, a $100 price tag for video games, and Nintendo's odyssey against a pirate.
Hi, hello, and welcome to a new edition of the overkill digest newsletter, your go-to-source for everything handheld Gaming, and then some. Because there's always something else in the world of Gaming.
It's a slow week handheld-wise, but let's dig into it.
🗞️ This Week in Handhelds
🚀 Big Handheld Moves
- A modder has turned a Steam Deck into a console. We still don't have any news as to any potential fresh Steam Machine hardware, so a modder took it on himself, gutting his Steam Deck and turning it into the Steam Brick. I mean, that's one way to do it?
🎮 Platform Updates
- Nintendo is still trying to hunt down a Switch pirate. Chris reported about this ongoing case at the end of last year, but now, Nintendo has hit a roadblock as the defendant continues to dodge being served. Despite multiple attempts — including reaching out to his family—Nintendo must now prove he’s officially received the lawsuit before the court will grant a default judgment.
- Sony drops PSN requirement on PC. This has always been a weird choice. By requiring PSN, even on games sold through Steam, Sony basically limited the countries it could sell their games in. Well, they finally dropped the requirement, but if you still sign up, you get some in-game bonus perks.
💻 Hardware Corner
- A single bot bought up all 5090 and 5080 Founder Edition cards. Well, if you live in Europe and planned to buy a new 5080 or 5090 straight from Nvidia, you‘re out of luck. Because, as it turns out, scalpers bought up all available cards, even before they officially launched. So not only is this a paper launch, but Nvidia didn't even bother to fight scalpers. It remains to be seen, if all these orders will get cancelled.
🎲 Gaming News
- The next God of War might be set in Ancient Egypt. Take this with a grain of salt (or sand maybe), but rumors are pointing towards an Egyptian Mythology setting for the next God of War.
- GeForce NOW turns 5, adds 17 more games. I’m still a big fan of GeForce NOW, especially for playing high-end AAA games on handhelds. Since getting my 4090, I’ve been using in-home streaming more often when I’m… at home, but when I’m out and about, GeForce NOW is still my go-to. And now we'll get upcoming games like Kingdom Come: Deliverance II, Avowed and Sid Meier’s Civilization VII.
- Forza Horizon 5 is coming to PlayStation. If it wasn't obvious by now, long-term Xbox exclusivity is dead. The game launches in Spring on Sony's console.
- Yet another No Man's Sky update brings massive amount of content for free. The Worlds Part 2 update adds, I quote, "billions of new stars and planets" and "this huge quest that ties together some strands that we’ve been building for years. We’ve got an expedition that takes you on a tour of all the new worlds that we’re building and it’s got some incredible rewards." I seriously don't know how Hello Games can keep releasing these massive updates for free.
📌 Quick Hits
- Nintendo might make their Switch 2 game cases bigger. Bigger hardware, bigger cases? As someone who likes his physical media, I already know I will be annoyed by the Switch cases not looking identical in my drawer. Also, way too much wasted plastic.
- A 60 FPS mod for Bloodborne was taken down by Sony. The mod was originally released in 2021, which to me sounds like maybe, just maybe, this points to a remake???
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🔒 Premium Deep Dive: Are games going to cost $100 soon?
Since I can remember, game prices have barely budged.
When I had the cash to buy games (and didn't have to ask my parents anymore), big-budget games were $60. Then the PS5 launched, and games went up to $70. Since then games, haven't moved, despite everything else around us going up in costs, thanks to inflation. And if you look at how much money flows into game development, you'll see game budgets skyrocketing.
But now, the latest talk is that GTA 6 might start at $100. And some people are … happy about it.