DXVK – a translation layer that converts Direct3D calls into Vulkan, and a major component of Valve’s Proton project – was recently updated this weekend to 1.10.1. This adds video playback support in a few Koei Tecmo games (particularly for the Atelier series and Nioh 2), and apparently supports the D3D11-based UI in the Windows version of Black Mesa (note that Black Mesa is natively available on Linux). DXVK 1.10.1 also includes a series of bug fixes and improvements.

It’s been said plenty enough: the Nintendo Switch is in dire need of a hardware upgrade. That’s for sure. Fortunately, passionate programmers and modders out there have made playing Nintendo Switch games via emulation a much better experience. In the case with Kirby and the Forgotten Land, the framerate is capped to 30 FPS. In a modern day and age where we’re used to ultra-fast speeds of 60, 144, or even higher framerates, that 30 FPS cap can be headache-inducing.

In an effort to be as transparent with the community as possible, I wanted to inform you all that earlier today I had incorporated Plausible Analytics. This is an open-source alternative to Google Analytics that respects both your privacy and mine. The purpose for the analytics is twofold: I can see what articles get the most clicks and therefore allows me to determine what type of articles I should prioritize. It also allows me to see from what source the most traffic is coming from (which, at the moment, is Reddit) and use that platform to advertise my articles.

Steam Deck On the desktop, users can now get an alert on the Steam client when their pre-order is ready to purchase It won’t be long before we reach the 2,000 mark for Steam Deck verified/playable titles. So far we’ve got over 1,700 It seems Bandai Namco is the company that has the most Deck verified/playable titles out of any other publisher. They have 20 at the time of writing this The Steam Deck client got an update with bug fixes, performance improvements across the Steam store, and new features Discord Overlay now works on the Deck Users can now report whether a game was correctly verified or not.

Time to shake things up a bit and talk about a Nintendo Switch game: Kirby and the Forgotten Land. If you prefer Linux-exclusive news, just let me know in the comments. But do note I played the entirety of this game on Linux, thanks to Ryujinx. Haven’t played a Kirby game in a long time. I think the last one I played was Kirby Air Ride for the GameCube. Something struck out to me when I was watching the trailer for this game though.

Here’s the logo, courtesy of a Fiverr artist by the name of bykai2: Eventually I’ll figure out how to put it directly on the top of the page…yeah, I’m a bit rusty when it comes to web development, but at least you can see the updated favicon, rather than the ordinary, square red icon on your tab from before. It’s also there on my Twitter account and the Matrix room.

Itorah is a metroidvania-style platformer developed by Grimbart Tales and published by Assemble Entertainment. You’re in control of a purple-haired girl who has the same name as the title of the game. She can’t talk, but her axe sure can. If you’ve played Indivisible, this game is a lot like that. Itorah is the only human being left in the world of Nahucan. Everyone else is an animal or a masked organism.

Numerous media outlets had reported about the fact that System76 – one of the most prominent Linux-based computer manufacturers out there – was going to tackle an enormous task. That would involve creating a new desktop environment, written in Rust. That was a little over four months ago. Fast forward to yesterday, Destination Linux interviewed Emma Marshall, vice president of customer care at System76. In the episode, Emma was asked what the purpose of this ambitious project was.

Proton GE. You might have heard that name tossed around somewhere, maybe seen some benchmarks done with it, but don’t know what it does. Well, this article will explain just that and the advantages it has over vanilla Proton. It also explains how to easily install it on your system and make use of it. What is it? The “GE” in Proton GE stands for “Glorious Eggroll.” Per the interview from Boiling Steam, the name came about from the developer playing “off the card of being Asian and really liking eggrolls, and being a generally lighthearted person.

Today marks the release of Linux kernel 5.17. Doesn’t seem to offer much of anything in the gaming landscape, but there’s hardware support for a bunch of new motherboards and processors. Here’s a basic rundown of what’s new: support for AMD’s new P-State driver for AMD Zen 2 APUs – this is particularly good news for the Steam Deck as that is the APU it’s using and P-State delivers better power efficiency.