ARCONATCME: A Random Collection Of News Articles That Caught My Eye
(I'm sure that acronym will catch on!)

Anyway, didn't feel like posting separately for each article, so
here's a digest. Some of you liked that format, some of you didn't;
I'm not making a statement of intention by doing it again. I'm just
too lazy to do anything different.



* Nvidia stuff
Nvidia's been in the news recently. There have been rumors that it
is discontinuing a number of its line of video cards this month,
including the 4070, 4090 and even its new 5070 lines (Nvidia disputes
the latter). But it has slashed delivery of its GPUs by close to 20%
for 2026.* This even as it grabs an even bigger share of TSMC's
production line (they're the ones who actually fab the chips that
Nvidia designs), to the point where Apple has lost the
most-favored-customer prize from TSMC.* All this indicates that while
business is going great for Nvidia, they're increasingly less
interested in being that "GPU company" and are going all in on being
the "AI chip company". Hopefully ATI, Intel and others will not only
take up the slack but surpass Nvidia both in production and
performance. Nvidia has treated its customers pretty shittily over the
years; I'm not crying if they leave the consumer gaming market
entirely.



* Crunch is gone, they say!
"The company is trending away from crunch".* Well, it makes good
marketing copy, but I'll believe it when I see it. Because despite
workers becoming more aware of the problem, and a few feel good
stories about how employers are taking steps to avoid it, we also keep
hearing about how it's still happening all the time. The problem is institutional, built into the attitudes of the industry, and push-comes-to-shove, publishers will insist on 100-hour work weeks if
that's what it takes.



* 007 First Light revises specs to need less RAM
A few days ago, the specs for the new James Bond game were
revealed, and it demanded a computer with 32GB RAM. Now, that's been
revised down to 16GB.* Were the first specs just a mistake? Has the
game been supremely optimized in the past few days? Or has the
industry taking a look at the ridiculous RAM prices and said, "Fuck,
we've just cut our customer base in half by demanding 32GB." I'm
betting on the last. Then again, the PS5 only has 16GB (and the XBox-S
only has 10GB!) so who knows.



* The Steam Machine's real competition?
Valve's new Steam Machines are supposed to bring PC gaming to the
living room... but it could be the real competition will be Amazon's
own Fire TV sticks, since Amazon and Nvidia are working to turn that
little device into a streaming gaming platform.* Of course, that
assumes Nvidia can ramp up support for that many customers (last I
heard, Nvidia GeForce Now wasn't accepting new customers because they
couldn't handle the load already). Still, if they could, between the
choice between paying for a $1000 PC that doesn't fit anywhere or a
$100 tiny stick that nobody will notice? I think most people will
choose the latter.



* GOG stuff
Just two minor bits.
1st, a month ago GOG premiered its "GOG Patrons" program, where
you could pay them a monthly stipend to help them 'keep classic games
alive'. It's not a bad idea, except I objected to GOG being the
recipient of that money as opposed to something like a non-profit.
Apparently so did a lot of other people, since so far only 5000 people
have signed onto the program.
Meanwhile, GOG's marketing director now seems to be arguing
/against/ preserving games;* that expecting developers and publishers
to keep games accessible online forever (the 'Stop Killing Games'
movement) might just cause them to develop fewer new games. Which,
first of all, is nonsense. Publishers aren't going to stop making new
games. And second, the call isn't for publishers to keep them online themselves, but to ensure that the publishers can't keep OTHERS from
keeping the games accessible. Whether this means making the source
code available, or stop suing modders who revive games through their
own hard work, or just making it so games have built in local
networking, publishers have alternatives. And even if they make FEWER
games, with close to 20,000 new games hitting Steam each year... is
that really so much of a threat?



----
* Links to articles because they're too messy to embed in the actual
article
- Nividia cuts production
https://www.pcgamesn.com/nvidia/gpu-aib-supply-2026
- Apple no longer apple of TSMC's eye https://www.pcgamer.com/hardware/apple-is-no-longer-the-apple-of-tsmcs-eye-with-nvidia-taking-centre-stage-in-the-supply-of-wafers-according-to-one-report/)
- Industry is trending away from crunch https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/the-industry-is-trending-away-from-crunch-ubisoft-naughty-dog-and-remedy-devs-discuss-the-origins-of-overwork
- Game revises RAM requirements https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/3768760/view/207861706114728344
- Amazon Fire TV sticks + Nvidia https://www.techradar.com/gaming/pc-gaming/ram-prices-are-terrifying-so-nvidia-wants-to-turn-your-amazon-fire-tv-stick-into-a-gaming-pc
- Preserving Games Is Bad, Says GOG https://www.gamesindustry.biz/gog-md-warns-fewer-games-may-come-out-if-developers-are-forced-to-keep-them-online-forever




--- PyGate Linux v1.5.2
* Origin: Dragon's Lair, PyGate NNTP<>Fido Gate (3:633/10)