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  • Re: The AI News Digest -- all the bitching about AI in one convenient location!

    From Spalls Hurgenson@spallshurgenson@gmail.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Fri May 8 18:33:31 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    Continuing the AI bubble saga:

    * Can't get a GPU? AI can... even though they don't use it https://venturebeat.com/infrastructure/5-gpu-utilization-the-401-billion-ai-infrastructure-problem-enterprises-cant-keep-ignoring

    GPUs are hard to get, because the AI-bros are scooping them up. But
    despite the cost --both to them and the gaming community-- they aren't
    actually putting all those GPUs to good use. The industry is heavily over-provisioned and the average GPU utilization is 5%. But because
    GPUs are so expensive to replace, these same companies are reluctant
    to release any of that capacity to other use, in fear that a sudden
    burst of activity might require more GPU processing. Similarly, the AI companies are hesitant to stop acquiring new GPUs, because the prices
    of hardware keep rising; it's better in their eyes to buy more
    hardware today than wait until tomorrow when it will cost more. It's a
    nasty loop.

    And meanwhile, all that hardware sits mostly idle, depreciating in
    value and occassionally providing service that doesn't make them money
    (or, at least, nowhere near enough to pay back the expense of building
    all those servers), sucking down electricity, and generally being
    awful for the world.

    And that's why you can't afford a new GPU. Make it all worth it, eh?
    ;-)




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  • From Spalls Hurgenson@spallshurgenson@gmail.com to comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action on Sun May 10 15:10:06 2026
    From Newsgroup: comp.sys.ibm.pc.games.action

    On Tue, 05 May 2026 11:27:36 -0400, Spalls Hurgenson <spallshurgenson@gmail.com> said this thing:


    * And an non-AI story: GTA6 looks to be an $80 console exclusive >https://www.rockpapershotgun.com/please-rockstar-and-take-two-push-gta-6s-price-up-to-80-for-the-good-of-the-entire-industry-bank-of-america-beg
    Well, maybe. Nothing is confirmed yet, but there are
    hints. Industry financiers are begging TakeTwo to release
    GTA6 at an $80 USD price-point, "for the good of the
    industry".
    Meanwhile, TakeTwo and Rockstar are hinting
    that -once again- the PC version will be an afterthought,
    released long after the console versions.

    Furthering up on this story (and still having nothing to do with AI
    despite this thread's title ;-), it's hard to blame Take-Two and
    Rockstar for their hesitance to release on PC on day one, given a
    release of a new analysis that indicates that PC gamers trend more
    towards less expensive games ($30USD and less) than their console counter-parts. Or, to put it another way, console gamers are more
    willing to pay higher prices for their games.*

    So while there are many, many more PC gamers than console gamers,
    per-capita you get more cash from the console players, both because
    they aren't spending all their free dosh on cheaper games (so the
    games market is more limited for console players) and because they're
    willing to buy an $80 game than players on PC.

    And given recent news that Grand Theft Auto is going to set back
    Take-Two at least a couple billion dollars, targeting your games at
    the group that is less picky with their dollars only makes sense.

    I'm not that concerned though. The PC market is too large for Take-Two
    to ignore entirely, and if GTA6 comes to the platform later, it's
    still coming. And in the meantime, I'll just buy more cheap games.
    It's win-win for me!



    ====
    * story here https://www.gamesradar.com/games/pc-gamers-buy-way-more-games-that-cost-less-than-usd30-at-launch-compared-to-playstation-and-xbox-players-analysts-say-and-its-reshaping-the-pc-market/



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