In today’s computer gaming news, learn more about gamers outraged by the fact that Nvidia’s latest gaming GPUs can cost up to $1,599. Meanwhile, charges have been filed against the 17-year-old boy who was arrested on suspicion of hacking and who is largely believed to be the person behind the horrific GTA 6 leaks that occurred over the past weekend. Lastly, the most recent fixes for the BioShock titles added an unnecessary launcher, which is wreaking mayhem for users working on Linux desktops and Steam Decks.
Nvidia’s New $1,599 GPUs Anger Gamers
Original Source: Nvidia’s new gaming GPUs, up to $1,599, prompt user outrage: ‘Capitalist greed knows no limits,’ gamer posts on Twitter
Electronics prices matter.
Pricing is crucial to IT pros buying servers. It’s important for automakers building next-gen vehicles. Thousands of OEMs can’t afford a new dollar in product.
Often, IT procurement managers say, “The higher price is worth it if it gives me higher performance, a better user experience, and a lower TCO — eventually.” Fintech procurement officers have been known to justify a more expensive system if it gives them a temporary competitive edge.
For consumers of electronics, and especially gamers, pricing for a new graphics card or high-end system is a concern. However, serious gamers and creators will almost always admit they want blazing speeds and better lighting and shading than previous generations. Historically, they’ve paid more for later generations.
Nvidia, which began with GPUs for gamers, knows the buying psychology of gamers better than any company. They know some gamers will put off expensive electronics purchases to keep playing. They know they’re young, mostly male, and don’t see a mortgage as a top priority. If one believes Nvidia’s pricing rationale, buying psychology isn’t affecting its ability to innovate and provide faster acceleration.
But something just happened that’s not typical of gamers. At 8:23 a.m. PDT on September 20, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang unveiled the GeForce RTX 4090 GPU at GTC Fall.
It is the high-end entry in the third-generation GeForce RTX 40 Series and is powered by Nvidia’s Ada Lovelace architecture. It is up to 4x faster than Nvidia Ampere architecture GPUs. It’s four times faster than Racer X, Huang said.
The GeForce RTX 4090 is $1,599, said Huang. A few sentences later, Huang said Nvidia’s older 30 series GPUs start at $329 for the RTX 3060, intended for “mainstream gamers.”
Many gamers and creators focused on the 4090’s $1,599 price tag rather than its long list of specs (76 billion transistors, for example). The $899 and $1,199 4080 cards also raised eyebrows.
On Twitter, deeb wrote, “I hope nobody buys the 4080 cards…
The 3080 was $699 (expensive) Two years later, Nvidia wants to charge pandemic and crypto-inflated prices of $899 and $1199? Nah.”
Twitter user Psybernetic called the RTX 40 series prices “gouging.”
Capitalism’s greed knows no bounds.
Don’t buy the cards.
Also on Twitter, Grummz said, “The boom in buyers for 4000 series cards is over.” When it’s a GPU vs. food and rent, no way… This is huge for AMD… Nvidia fumbled.”
Huang responded to the criticism one day after announcing the 4000 series at GTC in a Q&A with 250 reporters.
PC World Executive Editor Gordon Ung said, “The reaction [to 4000 series] is universally ‘Oh my god. It’s costly. Is there anything you’d like to say about pricing on new generational parts? Can they expect better pricing and address all the screams?
Here is Huang’s response, with a few edits:
First, a 12-inch wafer costs more today than it did yesterday. And it’s not just a little more expensive, it’s a lot.
The Moore’s law is dead. And Moore’s law can no longer deliver the same performance at half the cost every year and a half. Done.
“So the idea that chip prices will fall over time is a thing of the past.
The future is fast full stack. New architectures and chip designs must be created. Also, computing isn’t a chip problem.
“Computing is a software-and-chip issue.” The challenge is a full stack. We innovate across all layers. I’d like all of our gamers to remember and hopefully notice that at the same price point, our materials cost is less than it used to be. At the same price point as Nvidia’s $899 or $599 GPU a year or two ago, Ada Lovelace is much faster. Unmatched.
“So look at it at the same price point. The numbering system is simple. Compare 3080 to 1080, 980, 680, and 280. In the past, a 280 was much cheaper.
“So we must create over time to pursue advances in computer graphics, deliver more value at the same price point, and expand and [go] deeper into the market with lower and lower price solutions.
If you look at our track record, we do all three.
“We’re pushing computer graphics to new applications.” And look at all the great things GeForce has led to. Our generational value is off the charts at the same price. And it’s still crazy.
“So if they remember the price point compared to price point to price point, I think they’ll love Ada.”
To sum up, Huang said pricing is higher because performance is higher. Whether gamers and creators spend the money or heed the advice of louder critics, their intentions may become clearer after the RTX 4090’s Oct. 12 release.
Ada Lovelace, the first computer programmer who died in London in 1852 and is the namesake for Nvidia’s new architecture, would be amazed.
Police Charge GTA 6 Leaker
Original Source: Alleged GTA 6 leaker has been formally charged by police
The 17-year-old suspected of hacking and behind the GTA 6 leaks has been charged with the crimes.
A UK teenager was arrested on suspicion of hacking on Thursday, September 22. An emerging report links the individual to the recent Rockstar Games breach that resulted in over 90 GTA 6 videos and screens leaking online last weekend (opens in new tab).
Though the police haven’t confirmed that the arrest is related to Rockstar’s security breach, journalist Matthew Keys tweeted that the 17-year-old was “arrested in Oxfordshire for the cyber attack on Rockstar and Uber.” The same teenager was arrested earlier this year for hacking Microsoft and Nvidia, he said.
According to Keys, he’s been charged with “two computer crimes and two bail violations.” It’s believed the teen is part of the hacking group Lapsus$.
In a weekend update, City of London Police (not the Met) said:
“City of London Police arrested a 17-year-old in Oxfordshire on Thursday (September 22) on suspicion of hacking in an investigation supported by the National Crime Agency’s National Cyber Crime Unit. He is charged and in police custody.
The teen is charged with two counts of bail violation and two counts of computer misuse.
The teen appeared in Highbury Corner Youth Court yesterday, September 24. There is no update on the outcome.
And Rockstar? It admitted the leak Monday.
“An unauthorized third party illegally accessed and downloaded confidential information from our systems, including early development footage for the next GTA,” the studio said on Twitter.
“At this time, we do not anticipate any disruption to our live game services or long-term impact on our ongoing projects,” Rockstar says, addressing concerns that a leak of this size could force the studio to scrap and redo non-trivial portions of GTA 6. Rockstar says work on the next GTA game will continue as planned.
“The GTA 6 leak helped nobody,” Austin wrote in his feature, I’m glad developers are celebrating game bugs (opens in new tab). ” It did indirectly result in game developers talking candidly about how games are made, which is always a treat.
“Many developers shared in-progress builds to counteract criticism of unfinished games and graphics. It’s rare for the games industry to rally around something like this, and even rarer for so many developers to explain how the sausage is made.”
Bioshock is No Longer Playable on Linux
Original Source: 2K’s ‘quality of life’ change for BioShock is that Linux users can’t play it anymore
BioShock 1 and 2, plus BioShock Infinite, are unplayable on Linux after recent updates. The patches add 2K account linking and force games to run through the 2K launcher “which includes a Store to purchase new content” after booting from Steam.
It’s the launcher that’s causing problems for people using Proton on desktop and Steam Deck, and it’s broken Infinite’s native Linux build. Linux gamers are angry that an update broke their game by adding another launcher between Steam and the game. Recent reviews on the games’ Steam pages criticize the update. Some users say they’ll pirate a pre-patch version of the game to avoid the hassle.
Your mileage may vary if you want to play these games on Linux. While the Linux version of Infinite was dead, the games worked on Proton 7.0-4 on Steam Deck. Sometimes they wouldn’t run on a Linux desktop.
Even if the updates didn’t ruin a platform’s game, they’d be annoying. Calling your patch a “Quality of life update” and then adding a redundant launcher in the hopes that a player will buy something from it is absurd. Doing all that and breaking the game is annoying.
Hopefully, 2K will realize it accidentally removed an operating system from BioShock and issue a patch (hopefully without QoL improvements) to fix the problem. Maybe the company is just redefining “quality of life” 2K wants us to put down our Steam Decks and touch grass.
Summary of Today’s Computer Gaming News
Overall, on Tuesday September 20 when Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang held up the new Nvidia GeForce RTX 4090 GPU during his keynote address at GTC Fall. He said that the GeForce RTX 4090, the new heavyweight champ, is $1,599. This causes outrage on the gamers side because the price is too much. ‘Capitalist greed knows no limits,’ gamer posts on Twitter. Huang responded to this by saying that the pricing is higher because performance is much higher. Whether gamers and creators shell out the cash or take the advice of some of the louder critics and hold off, their intentions may become clearer after the RTX 4090 becomes available Oct. 12.
On the other hand, on Thursday, September 22, a UK teenager was detained on suspicion of hacking, with a report linking the guy to the recent Rockstar Games breach that leaked over 90 GTA 6 videos and screens last weekend. The police haven’t confirmed that the arrest is related to Rockstar’s security breach, but journalist Matthew Keys tweeted that the 17-year-old was “arrested in Oxfordshire for the cyber attack on Rockstar and Uber.” He further confirmed that the same teenager was also arrested earlier this year for hacking Microsoft and Nvidia.
Finally, recent updates to BioShock 1 and 2, plus BioShock Infinite,have rendered the games unplayable for Linux users. The “Quality of life improvements” just add 2K account linking and force titles to run through the 2K launcher “which includes a Store to purchase new content” after they boot from Steam.
