PC Gaming

Could the MSI Claw 8 AI Plus salvage Intel and MSI’s gaming handheld reputation? Well, MSI now claims its handheld averages 7 percent faster than its chief rival at far less power, or 20 percent faster at the same 17 watts.

Lots of YouTubers just got to try the new handheld, but haven’t validated that claim quite yet.

Microsoft had stopped offering 24H2 to gamers with certain Ubisoft games installed, but now it will for Avatar: Frontlines of Pandora and Star Wars Outlaws, Microsoft writes in an update spotted by XDA Developers.

Windows Update will offer the download within 48 hours of applying a “temporary” patch, the company says. Assassin’s Creed games like Valhalla remain affected and would preclude your system, though.

I’m still working on my GPD Win Max 2 review, and there’s now a more powerful model on sale. It’s pricier at $1,500 — but the 8840U version I’m using is now discounted to $1,000, so that’s great!

This is the best tiny Windows machine I’ve used, though I find I want a mouse. It’s also an OK handheld.

Steam Box? Gaming Chromebook? Take your best guess — but it sure looks like Johnny Deng, a Valve electrical engineer, is testing to ensure a powerful new “AMD Lilac” can properly control your TV (or vice versa) over HDMI.

It’s fascinating to think about. Why would Valve use ChromeOS instead of SteamOS? Valve did tell us it’d “love to work with third-parties” on living room extensions...

Nvidia has just released its latest driver (566.36) and it’s the first to include the optional Nvidia app instead of the GeForce Experience. It also includes Game Ready support for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and a fix for Forza Horizon 5 and God of War Ragnarök crashes. You can download it over at Nvidia’s website.

We pointed out yesterday that Bethesda’s original grid included some processors that don’t exist. You can see the corrected grid on Bethesda’s website.

Jim Kjellin, MachineGames’ CTO, also explained to The Verge why hardware ray tracing is required even at minimum specs:

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle uses a technique called global illumination to light the environment and characters. Our engine MOTOR, used by MachineGames, uses hardware raytracing to calculate this. While this isn’t what players may typically think of as “ray tracing,” the compatible hardware is required to do this is in a performant, high fidelity way.

Update December 5th: Updated quote attribution.

AMD could be about to announce its next-generation GPUs at CES 2025 in January, and now AMD’s own ROCm library is referencing two unannounced GPUs. The RX 8800 and RX 8600 have both appeared in the ROCm code, just as AMD’s graphics boss Jack Huynh has confirmed he’s holding a CES keynote. Nvidia is also rumored to be launching its RTX 5000 series GPUs at CES.

Lisa Su confirmed she’d launch the first RDNA 4 GPUs in “early 2025,” and now AMD graphics boss Jack Huynh will officially host a livestreamed press conference on January 6th at 11AM PT / 2PM ET. It will “discuss how AMD is expanding its leadership across PCs and gaming.”

The rumor mill is expecting the unannounced AMD RX 8800 XT:

Since December 2021, I’ve never had to think about charging my Logitech wireless gaming mouse. It charges just by sitting atop this pricey mousepad. No alignment necessary. And now, that pricey mousepad is the best price it’s ever been: $87 at Amazon. That’s still cash, but seriously: I’ve never looked back.

Note: If you buy something from the link, we might get affiliate revenue.

The Claw 8 AI Plus and Claw 7 AI Plus have appeared on Amazon for $899 and $799 respectively, and will ship Dec. 25th and Dec. 1st respectively, per Videocardz... but the listings seem to have been stripped of those crucial details now.

MSI already announced both handhelds in June as quick followups to the embarrassing original. Lunar Lake could bring better performance and battery, but apparently not pricing.

I have a hard time believing this OneGx2 could be comfortable to hold, but major kudos if OneXPlayer can figure it out! I’m currently toying with a similar GPD machine that hides its joysticks beneath little covers, but a split keyboard and sticks beneath a full keyboard is something else.

If you read my Lenovo Legion Go review and thought “that but less expensive and cumbersome,” Videocardz may have good news: the unannounced smaller “Legion Go S 8ARP1” now has a firmware update for its unannounced AMD Rembrandt APU. That’s a last-gen architecture that should be more affordable than AMD’s “Extreme” line.

Also, though: the original Legion Go is its best price ever right now.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 has had a pretty rough launch, and now Microsoft has put out a hotfix aimed at addressing some of the performance and stability issues. “We will continue to investigate any issues and keep the community informed,” says game lead Jorg Neumann.

Based on a trailer, a lot of great games are getting discounts — might be time for me to finally pick up Animal Well.

The sale runs from 1PM ET on November 27th to 1PM ET on December 4th.

Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 launches on Xbox and PC today, and in addition to hot air balloons and firefighting planes, Joby Aviation has announced that its electric air taxi will also be available to fly in the game.

Joby worked with the game’s developers to digitally recreate its air taxi, including its interior, exterior, and unique vertical take-off capabilities.

You can buy it starting at 6PM ET /  3PM PT. It will be available “everywhere Steam Deck ships,” Valve says, though at $679, it’s $30 more expensive than the highest-end OLED in black. The white version comes with a special white carrying case, too.

Ratatan doesn’t just look and sound like Patapon, it even has Hiroyuki Kotani, the designer of the PSP original, working on it.

Oh, and it’s a four-player co-op roguelike? Okay, that’s it — I’m dead. Someone please res me when this launches in 2025.

Epic spokesperson Brian Sharon confirmed to The Verge via email that “people are free to independently link to and play these versions” of Unreal and Unreal Tournament, as Game Developer reported. (You may want Old Unreal’s custom installers to get them running, though.)

Between this and the Half-Life 2 update, it’s a good week for classic FPS fans.

At the bottom of the page, there’s a gravity gun that you can pick up with your mouse — and actually use. Have fun!