This week we talk about CES 2025 including Valve’s presence and other details. Plus, we chat about the outrageous pricing of the RTX 50 series cards, the Half-life 3 rumors, FFVII Rebirth going multiplatform, the resurrection of Tango Gameworks and more!
Hi-Tech:
Grinding Balatro
James:
Half-Life 3 Copium Game
Gardiner:
Dome Keeper
Link: https://www.ces.tech/
Technology of Tomorrow…. TODAY! CES is a trade show where tech companies from all around the world come to showcase their new hottest tech. Sometimes they’re products that are basically ready for production, and sometimes they’re high concept devices and machines made by companies that desperately need investors. While not explicitly gaming oriented like E3, Gamescom, or Tokyo Game Show, there ARE always companies showing off gaming hardware.\n\nAll of this… in a few days. Who’s gonna be at CES? What companies? What content creators? What SHOULD we look forward to?
Link: https://x.com/sadlyitsbradley/status/1874899690464198753
We already know Valve’s going to be at CES with Lenovo… the big question is what ELSE will Valve do there?
The RTX 5090 is listed for 18,999 Yuan ($2600) & the RTX 5080 listed for 9,999 Yuan ($1350). As per this source, China employs a 13% VAT. After adjusted for VAT the prices end up being $1200 for the 5080 and $2200 for the 5090. A 37% price hike for the 5090.\n\nPrices MAY be different over here but the prices for the 4090 have remained somewhat similar between the US and China when adjusted for VAT.
Link: https://x.com/mikeshapiroland/status/1874213952680607922
Mike Shapiro, best known as the voice of The G-Man from Half-Life posted a mysterious video with mysterious hashtags. The Half-Life 3 rumor mill begins once again…
Link: https://x.com/Knoebelbroet/status/1873115322032787872
Yoshinori Kitase, producer for FFVII Rebirth did an interview with IGN Brazil. Kitase says the sales are doing good but it is clear that modern games cannot be exclusive anymore… that they need to offer the game to as many players as possible. FFVII Rebirth’s PC port comes out later this month, nearly a year after it was released as a PS5 exclusive. Still no word on if FFVII Remake or Rebirth will come to Xbox.
Link: https://wccftech.com/tango-gameworks-lives-again-thanks-to-krafton/
Today, at the dawn of the new year, Tango Gameworks has resumed social media communications with the following message to all its fans:
A New Start\nTango Gameworks studio has been reborn as Tango Gameworks Inc., proudly joining KRAFTON Inc.\nWe’re excited to continue crafting games that bring joy to players around the world.\nThank you for your continued support as we embark on this new journey!
As a reminder, the Japanese studio previously also released The Evil Within, The Evil Within 2, and Ghostwire: Tokyo. Those franchises have stayed with Microsoft for now, but they don’t appear to be used for the time being. As such, it’s not inconceivable that Tango might ask for the license at some point in the future, though the current focus is undoubtedly on Hi-Fi Rush 2.
Link: https://steamdeckhq.com/news/emudeck-adds-ps4-emulation-support-shadps4/
PS4 emulation is now easier than ever on the Steam Deck thanks to EmuDECK.
it is possible to play some of these on the Steam Deck
Link: https://blog.trampolinetales.com/luck-be-a-landlord-might-be-banned-from-google-play-2/
Another game being scrutinized for gambling aesthetics (in this case, literal slot machines). But like Balatro there are no real money transactions beyond the game itself.
Link: https://x.com/Recettear_EGS/status/1873564667366506965
Recettear: An Item Shop’s Tale was a doujin title released in 2007 at the 73rd Comiket and historically one of the first independent games from Japan to be released on Steam. It has inspired quite a few games, like Moonlighter, Potionomics and even the likes of ConcernedApe’s upcoming game, Haunted Chocolatier. One of the most capitalist games of all time where the goal is to make a shitload of money from the loot you find in dungeons. Possibly the antithesis of Disco Elysium.
It’s getting an HD remaster in 2025. Capitalism Ho!
