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! Subscribe on YouTube Follow our RSS Feed: podcast.subscribeto.me Engage on the Fediverse: @OffTheConsoleShow@podcast.subscribeto.me Trump wants to issue tariffs to Taiwanese Chip makers like TSMC, up to a 100% tariff supposedly. 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. The $100 Video Game 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? New Sony Leadership 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. Moon Studios CEO believes Sony will ALSO follow MS’s example 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. PlayStation Drops PSN Account Requirement on PC 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 Sony has filed DMCA to Lance McDonald to Remove the Bloodborne 60fps Patch 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. Nvidia RTX 5000 Launch - Better but maybe not worth the price? 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. The Layoffs Begin Anew 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. Another Live Service Bites the Dust - Multiversus going offline 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. DeepSeek r1 Destroys The USA AI Tech Market 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.
