Digital Foundry Direct Weekly: Recent Episodes
Digital Foundry
The Digital Foundry team combines forces each and every week to talk about the latest gaming and technology news.
A packed week of news as John, Rich and Oliver discuss the shock Switch 2 tech demo leaks - what should we expect from the system in the wake of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and The Matrix Awakens leaks? Meanwhile, John's excited about Daytona 2's upcoming arrival via emulation, while Oliver shares initial impressions on the new Star Wars Jedi: Survivor patch that improves the 60fps performance mode. Rich shares RX 7800 XT impressions, while it quickly emerges that corrective lenses are the unsung heroes of the whole Digital Foundry enterprise.
0:00:00 Introduction 0:00:42 News 01: Next-gen Switch demoed with BOTW, Matrix Awakens 0:23:30 News 02: Daytona USA 2 re-release incoming! 0:32:51 News 03: Paid, DRM-laden DLSS 3 Starfield mod cracked 0:40:40 News 04: Jedi: Survivor patch improves performance mode 0:52:19 News 05: AMD releases RX 7700 XT, RX 7800 XT GPUs 1:14:20 News 06: Interviewer asks: why didn’t Todd Howard optimize Starfield on PC? 1:21:58 Supporter Q1: Will the Switch successor rely on the same cartridges as Switch 1? 1:26:03 Supporter Q2: Will Nintendo do “next-gen” patches for existing Switch games? 1:29:38 Supporter Q3: Do you think Nintendo could use a discrete dock-only GPU for the new Switch? 1:33:28 Supporter Q4: Why hasn’t Bethesda switched to Id Tech for all their games? 1:37:86 Supporter Q5: Have you considered reporting GPU wattage when benchmarking PC games? 1:40:29 Supporter Q6: Are corrective lenses the unsung heroes of Digital Foundry? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
With Rich, John and Alex meeting up together at Gamescom for the first time since 2019, this one is a very different, very special DF Direct Weekly. The team discuss Starfield at Gamescom and their meeting with Phil Spencer and Todd Howard, before ploughing on into their reaction to the FSR and AMD Fluid Motion Frames demonstration they saw at the show. Meanwhile, Nvidia takes things to the next level with DLSS 3.5 ray reconstruction, there's reaction to the latest PlayStation Portal disclosures, STALKER 2 hands-on and much, much more.
0:00:00 Introduction 0:00:45 News 01: Gamescom Starfield impressions! 0:12:06 News 02: AMD shows off FSR 3 0:27:54 News 03: AMD demos Fluid Motion Frames 0:36:54 News 04: DLSS 3.5 Ray Reconstruction revealed 0:56:12 News 05: PlayStation Portal named, detailed 1:00:09 News 06: MGS Collection targets 1080p, 720p 1:06:31 News 07: STALKER 2 demoed at Gamescom 1:14:24 News 08: New Nightdive remasters unveiled 1:23:51 Supporter Q1: What are the benefits for DF to go to Gamescom? What does a typical Gamescom day look like? 1:30:10 Supporter Q2: Could XeSS be viable on current-gen console hardware? 1:31:11 Supporter Q3: How do you feel about your various signature phrases? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Another big DF Direct Weekly 'drops' as John, Rich and Alex look forward to visiting Gamescom 2023, a range of big Intel news is discussed and new information emerges on Immortals of Aveum in the wake of a extensive tech interview. Meanwhile, the mooted demise of the Xbox 360 store is lamented, while John raves about Bomb Rush Cyberfunk - a 'spiritual successor' to Jet Set Radio.
00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:20 News 01: Gamescom: what to expect! 00:19:07 News 02: Intel update: Arc DX11 driver, PresentMon Benchmarking 00:39:28 News 03: Xbox 360 store shutting down 00:51:35 News 04: Immortals of Aveum tech interview 01:00:52 News 05: Bomb Rush Cyberfunk launches 01:08:36 Should we expect most UE5 titles to struggle with performance? And are upsampling technologies just a crutch in lieu of optimization? 01:23:40 Are you pleased or dissatisfied that the rumoured RTX 4090 Ti may not be getting a release? 01:27:26 Could path tracing be beneficial or highly stylized games? 01:31:25 The end of the year will be loaded with titles, so how are you planning to keep up? 01:35:55 There’s a wide price difference between Microsoft’s Xbox storage cards and regular SSDs. Should Microsoft try to lower their prices? 01:40:03 Would moving gaming towards a single platform be beneficial for the industry? 01:44:54 What are the best phrases to use for a Digital Foundry drinking game? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In the latest DF Direct Weekly, John, Rich and Alex discuss the controversy surrounding the Red Dead Redemption conversions, Mark Cerny gets in touch to reveal more about PlayStation 5's Dolby Atmos support, a brace of leaks look set to confirm a new PlayStation 5 model with detachable optical drive - but it's not looking particularly slim. Meanwhile, RDNA4 rumours are discussed, while John shares impressions on the Quake 2 Remaster and new 4K retro scaler, RetroTink 4K.
00:00:00 Introduction 00:03:36 News 01: Red Dead Redemption ports announced 00:20:04 News 02: Mark Cerny on PS5 Dolby Atmos 00:34:00 News 03: Revised PS5 model appears in apparent leaks 00:48:53 News 04: RDNA 4 to skip high-end GPUs? 01:11:35 News 05: Sony starts testing PS5 cloud streaming 01:20:16 News 06: Quake 2 remaster released! 01:30:56 News 07: RetroTink 4K: John’s impressions 01:42:41 Supporter Q1: Has John recovered from Sonic 2006 yet? 01:47:27 Supporter Q2: With limited competition and a lucrative server market, will Nvidia GPUs become a worse gaming value in the future? 01:54:48 Supporter Q3: Why are PC game frame-rate limiters often so poor? 02:04:38 Supporter Q4: Could older 3D games prove unsuitable for ray tracing upgrades? 02:11:40 Supporter Q5: Given that DLSS 3 works best at high frame-rates, might it prove unsuitable for a hypothetical Switch 2? 02:15:47 Supporter Q6: Rich is in the credits for Panzer Dragoon Saga! Is anyone else at DF in a game’s credits? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this week's DF Direct Weekly, the team discuss EA's announcement of a last-gen version of Star Wars Jedi Survivor, wondering how this new development fits in with the fact that the current-gen versions still need work. Meanwhile, an amazing-looking path-traced version of Skyrim is trailered - and the RT upgrade could work on all DX9+ games. John shares his thoughts on PS5's beta firmware Dolby Atmos support, while Rich reveals the results of a new PS5 exploit - showing Gravity Rush PS4 Pro running at 60fps for the first game. Finally, news of The Last Hope's departure from the Switch eShop causes all manner of amusement.
00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:56 News 01: Jedi: Survivor coming to last-gen consoles 00:21:17 News 02: Skyrim modded with path-traced lighting 00:29:29 News 03: PS5 exploit allows modded PS4 games to run 00:39:58 News 04: Beta PS5 firmware features Dolby Atmos support 00:48:36 News 05: Switch 2 to launch in 2H 2024? 00:56:57 News 06: The Last Hope removed from Nintendo eShop 01:05:28 Supporter Q1: Doesn’t targeting 8K with a hypothetical PS5 Pro benefit 4K displays through downsampling? 01:10:49 Supporter Q2: What could the PS5 Pro’s rumoured AI acceleration enhancements mean? 01:18:12 Supporter Q3: Mark Cerny suggested that the PS5 could load in high quality assets as the player moved the camera viewport. Will this actually be implemented? 01:21:27 Supporter Q4: Is it time for Microsoft to let developers skip certain features on Series S? 01:28:39 Supporter Q5: With Sony aggressively discounting the PS5, are they trying to bury Microsoft’s ninth-gen console hopes? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A clean sweep of Sony news stories this week, as John, Oliver and Rich react to the alleged PlayStation 5 Pro specs and discuss the apparent debut of the Project Q handheld device in the flesh in the least flattering manner possible. At the same time, Sony is slashing the price on PS5 consoles... so could a new, replacement model be arriving soon? After that, there's more footage from Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart running off a launch PlayStation 4 hard drive. Plus: are GPU teraflop metrics now essentially useless?
00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:50 News 01: PS5 Pro detailed in new rumours 00:29:08 News 02: Big PS5 summer discounts: what could they mean? 00:37:48 News 03: Project Q handheld potentially leaked 00:46:09 News 04: Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart vs PS4 HDD! 00:59:13 Supporter Q1: Why don’t developers include an uncapped mode in games, for the benefit of more powerful future consoles? 01:03:58 Supporter Q2: Are teraflop figures for GPU hardware pointless nowadays? 01:08:53 Supporter Q3: Could Rich be given the high-end PC version in system comparison videos for once? 01:10:49 Supporter Q4: Oliver operates in a totally different timezone to everyone else at DF. Is this ever helpful? 01:12:26 Supporter Q5: What are the benefits of playing on original hardware if the console can be emulated very effectively? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this week's DF Direct, John, Rich and Alex share their thoughts on the latest Spider-Man 2 trailer and its accompanying custom PS5, sort (likely) facts from the fiction surrounding the upcoming Switch 2, and lament the total lack of review coverage for the RTX 4060 Ti 16GB. Meanwhile, there's clarification on the Dolphin emulator's no-show on Steam and discussion on the lack of a Saturn mini retro console - and the end of the mini console phase in general. And did you know that Digital Foundry is actually 18 years old?
00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:58 News 01: Spider-Man 2 story trailer released 00:20:48 News 02: Beware fake Switch 2 leaks! 00:35:09 News 03: RTX 4060 Ti 16GB launched 00:44:31 News 04: Sega Saturn mini console unlikely? 00:50:15 News 05: Dolphin emulator skipping Steam 00:58:01 Supporter Q1: Have you considered benchmarking CoD on Steam Deck to gauge whether it is “too big for Switch”? 01:00:49 Supporter Q2: Should Sony include a wired option for their streaming-based Project Q handheld? 01:03:13 Supporter Q3: Could Intel break into the console market? 01:08:12 Supporter Q4: What Japan-only Sega Saturn games would you recommend for someone who can’t speak Japanese? 01:13:58 Supporter Q5: What piece of old gaming media would you like to see re-released in higher quality? 01:21:25 Supporter Q6: Digital Foundry is 18 years old! How do you feel about DF after all these years? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
With the recent legal challenges to the deal failing or crumbling as we speak, it's time to discuss the realities of Microsoft's acquisition of Activision, Blizzard and King. Where does the deal stand right now? What are/were Microsoft's business objectives? Can Call of Duty actually run on Nintendo Switch? Does the recent Sony deal mean Microsoft gets early access to PS6? And to conclude, what final words does the panel have for Xbox boss Phil Spencer?
00:00 Introductions 01:50 Acquisition overview and legal proceedings 10:02 Microsoft’s business objectives 25:44 Can Call of Duty work on Switch? 31:47 Would Call of Duty be compromised on PS6? 34:43 Current CMA proceedings 40:58 Discussion and final thoughts Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This week, the team take a look at the specs required to run Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart on PC and discuss how crucial DirectStorage is to the future of PC gaming. Meanwhile, the AMD Starfield partnership sees specs reveals turned into an awkward marketing exercise that confuses gamers. Classic cut content is coming to Halo: The Master Chief Collection, while Rich reveals initial results using the world's first full HDMI 2.1 capture card. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:48 Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart PC requirements drop 00:29:11 Halo cut content returning to Master Chief Collection 00:35:40 X68000 Mini retro device has issues 00:38:26 Limited Run Games shows off new and old titles 00:47:02 Leaked document details Sega of America’s struggles 01:05:40 What’s up with the new HDMI 2.1 capture cards? And can’t PCs record 4K120 internally? 01:12:10 Does console software receive system-wide performance boosts over the course of a generation? 01:15:42 Why has Nvidia, besides the Switch, checked out of consoles? 01:23:24 Why was the Digital Foundry Twitter account in a Twitter Spaces event on UFOs? 01:26:32 Do you have plans for more conference commentary videos? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In this week's DF Direct Weekly, the team discuss potential PS5 Slim and PS5 Pro hardware as revealed by... Microsoft? Meanwhile, Final Fantasy 16's motion blur is revised via a new patch, John tells us about a bunch of excellent PSVR2 games you may not have heard about - and the team chat tech concerning a potential Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag remake. Finally, CD Projekt RED's opinions about the Cyberpunk 2077 launch have caused some minor controversy... but why?
00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:25 News 01: Microsoft expects $400 PS5 Slim, sub-$300 “Project Q” handheld 00:19:24 News 02: Final Fantasy 16 gets motion blur options 00:28:17 News 03: John’s PSVR2 game roundup! 00:41:57 News 04: Assassin’s Creed 4: Blag Flag remake rumoured 00:46:59 News 05: CD Projekt claims Cyberpunk reception was overly harsh 01:01:14 Supporter Q1: Now that RT is here, what’s the next big real-time graphical breakthrough? 01:14:20 Supporter Q2: Why can’t DLSS be added to the Nvidia Control Panel? 01:15:41 Supporter Q3: Now that gamers are used to 60fps, will it be hard for developers to go back? Is it smarter to target 60fps even if it means cutbacks to resolution? 01:23:51 Supporter Q4: People often claim that game updates improve performance, when they often don’t. How can gamers get over the placebo effect here? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A packed 89-minute DF Direct Weekly for you this week, as the team discuss the controversy surrounding AMD's technology partnership with Starfield. Does the deal mean that AMD is paying to block competing DLSS and XeSS upscalers from appearing in the game? AMD says: no comment. Meanwhile, the team mull over the week's FTC vs Microsoft revelations, Rich is excited by huge Assassin's Creed Unity perf improvements on Intel Arc, Red Dead Redemption seems to be getting a remaster, while amazing new footage of the GameCube launch in Japan at Spaceworld 2000 emerges.
00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:04 News 01: Starfield to skip out on DLSS, XeSS? 00:22:28 News 02: FTC vs Microsoft court fight continues 00:46:02 News 03: Red Dead Redemption remaster incoming? 00:52:08 News 04: Assassin’s Creed Unity gets huge performance boost on Intel Arc GPUs 00:57:42 News 05: New Space World 2000 footage unearthed! 01:08:55 Supporter Q1: If I run a 60fps game on an 85Hz CRT, will there be judder? 01:10:19 Supporter Q2: With the next-gen Switch rumoured to have PS4-level power, what specs would it have? 01:15:19 Supporter Q3: Is there something special about the Steam Deck’s refresh rate changing capabilities, or could a new Switch offer it as well? 01:18:31 Supporter Q4: Could a temporal upsampling system integrate high resolution keyframes to improve image quality? 01:21:09 Supporter Q5: Would there be space in the gaming market for a high-end $1000 PS5 Pro? 01:26:22 Supporter Q6: Which gaming executives would you like to see duke it out in a cage match? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
This week, John discusses the reaction to the Final Fantasy 16 reviews, the focus on the 720p-1080p performance mode and whether the game was actually targeting 30fps all along. Meanwhile, the team are impressed by the latest Nintendo Direct, Xbox raises prices, while the lack of DLSS in AMD sponsored PC titles once again comes to the fore. Also: to celebrate our 117th edition, the team share their favourite Halo memories.
00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:49 News 01: Final Fantasy 16 review reaction! 00:23:19 News 02: June Nintendo Direct impressions 00:47:37 News 03: Microsoft raises Series X, Game Pass pricing 00:56:26 News 04: AMD blocking DLSS in sponsored PC titles? 01:04:32 News 05: Quake 2 Remastered leaks! 01:08:14 Supporter Q1: Could GPU makers offer cards with user-expandable VRAM? 01:10:27 Supporter Q2: Could a ‘PS5 Pro’ come in at a boundary-pushing price, like $1000 USD? 01:15:14 Supporter Q3: Would automatic frame-rate capping for games on VRR displays work? 01:18:10 Supporter Q4: Of the Halo games, which is your favourite? And which impresses most from a technical perspective? 01:25:29 Supporter Q5: How exciting is it that Todd Howard praised DF in a recent podcast appearance? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
The latest DF Direct Weekly 'drops' with John, Rich and Alex reuniting at the mics after a massive week of not-E3 showcase news and fallout. Phil Spencer appears to be ruling out a mid-gen 'Pro' console update for the Xbox Series machines, Matt Booty says that Xbox One first-party game development is finally over, while Sony reveals that PS5 game streaming is coming to its subscription service. Meanwhile, the Starfield 'storm in a teacup' 30fps discourse continues, while Alex comes face-to-face (in a figurative sense) with his more youthful, optimistic self, posing yet more 'Battaglia time travel' discussion.
00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:05 News 01: No Xbox mid-gen enhanced machine planned? 00:21:17 News 02: Microsoft no longer developing for Xbox One 00:32:08 News 03: TLOU PC patch 1.1 analysed! 00:44:47 News 04: Sony announces PS5 cloud streaming 00:55:41 Supporter Q1: Should Starfield have an uncapped VRR mode on consoles? 01:05:19 Supporter Q2: I didn’t like the 30fps option in FF16, but Tears of the Kingdom seems fine - why could this be? 01:07:26 Supporter Q3: Alex was once excited about the possibilities of DX12 several years ago. Does he miss that version of himself? 01:12:05 Supporter Q4: Could systems with unified memory setups be a solution to VRAM woes on PCs? 01:15:32 Supporter Q5: Are FSR 2’s image quality concerns an issue for console software going forward? 01:22:20 Supporter Q6: If you could alter one thing about game development, what would it be? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
It's the impressions/reactions video you've been waiting for - and it took time because we wanted to investigate what was shown more deeply. John Linneman and Alex Battaglia share their notes on the Starfield Direct, discuss why the game is 30fps on consoles, what 4K on Series X actually means (and the implications for Series S) before moving onto the rendering tech on display and what they think about the actual game.
00:00 Overview 00:53 Why is Starfield 30fps on consoles? 12:31 Visual impressions and real-time global illumination 17:15 Reflections and motion blur 23:31 Screen-space shadows and terrain rendering 28:06 Volumetric lighting, fog, and bokeh depth of field 32:40 Character rendering 36:01 Gameplay impressions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
A company revitalised based on the latest Ubisoft Forward, we saw a big bunch of excellent games and a couple in particular that look set to deliver proper 'next-gen' rendering - Star Wars Outlaws and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. Beyond those 'bangers', the likes of AC Mirage and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown also caught the eye of John Linneman and Alex Battaglia. Plus: a quick look at the Capcom showcase, including new footage of Pragmata...
00:00 Overview 01:05 Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora 15:23 Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown 20:22 Skull and Bones 23:00 The Crew Motorfest 28:08 Assassin’s Creed Mirage 33:50 Star Wars Outlaws 48:02 Pragmata Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
In a special episode of DF Direct, John Linneman, Oliver Mackenzie and Alex Battaglia share their reactions and impressions to the excellent Xbox Showcase 2023, going through the event game by game with analysis and insights. Has Microsoft delivered the best event of the summer season so far?
00:00:00 Overview 00:02:32 Fable, South of Midnight 00:11:32 Star Wars Outlaws, 33 Immortals 00:17:30 Payday 3, Persona 3 Reload 00:25:35 Avowed, Sea of Thieves 00:31:31 Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 2 00:42:12 Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess 00:47:27 Forza Motorsport, The Elder Scrolls Online, Overwatch 2 00:56:35 Jusant, Still Wakes the Deep 01:01:09 Dungeons of Hinterberg, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty 01:08:13 Cities: Skylines 2, Metaphor ReFantazio 01:12:24 Towerborne, Clockwork Revolution 01:18:04 Series S 1TB 01:20:58 Starfield first impressions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Geoffcon aka Keigh3 aka Summer Games Fest is back, kicking off with a mammoth show crammed with new games of varying quality, Nicolas Cage and a big bunch of obvious ads. In this DF Direct special, John, Rich and Alex mull over the various reveals and wurld prm'ears, debate the inclusion of the letter 'i' in 'mobile', dive deeply into Spider-Man's symbiote lore, get excited about the new Sonic game and ponder the big question - how many of the games in the show were running on Unreal Engine?
00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:08 News 01: Summer Games Fest 2023 reaction! Prince of Persia, Mortal Kombat 1 00:10:48 Path of Exile 2, Exoprimal, Dead by Daylight, Witchfire, Crossfire: Sierra Squad, Remnant 2 00:18:22 Sonic Superstars, Lies of P, Sand Land 00:27:27 Throne and Liberty, Party Animals, Crash Team Rumble, 00:31:51 Alan Wake 2, Space Marine 2, Yes Your Grace, Toxic Commando 00:42:42 Baldur’s Gate 3, Palworld, Black Desert Online, LOTR: Return to Moria 00:51:44 Final Fantasy 7: Ever Crisis, Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden 00:55:51 Like a Dragon Gaiden, Under the Water, Fae Farm 01:04:18 King Arthur, Stellaris Nexus, Star Trek Infinite, Lysfanga 01:09:47 Immortals of Aveum, Fortnite, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth 01:24:19 Supporter Q1: Will DLSS 3 evolve in the same way DLSS 2 did? 01:28:14 Supporter Q2: What’s up with DF getting Diablo 4 code late? 01:29:22 Supporter Q3: Is there an ideal frame-rate target for games? 01:32:41 Supporter Q4: Do recent PC gaming woes stem from the relative strength of console hardware this generation? 01:41:09 Supporter Q5: What old console or graphics technology would you like to see get a few years of active development? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
We join John, Rich and Alex in the immediate wake of the PSVR2 review period, further discussing the hardware, talking games and answering supporter questions. Rich and Alex investigate a tip-off that DLSS is accessible on select Nvidia non-RTX GPUs in Cyberpunk 2077, while John and Rich discuss issues with games they looked at outside of work hours - Wild Hearts on PC and the new Tales of Symphonia remaster. Spoilers: there's disappointment.
00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:11 News 01: PSVR2 Post Mortem 00:28:38 News 02: Cyberpunk exposes DLSS support on Nvidia Turing GTX cards - but is it the real deal? 00:36:01 News 03: Wild Hearts suffers PC performance woes 00:46:32 News 04: Tales of Symphonia remastered disappoints 00:51:10 News 05: Nuon DVD player console gets new lease on life with controller adapters 00:55:52 DF Supporter Q1: Can DF still capture direct-feed footage off an undocked Switch? 00:59:51 DF Supporter Q2: Why do PC games do a poor job of optimizing settings for your specific hardware? 01:06:53 DF Supporter Q3: Could frame generation technology be used to offload game animation onto the GPU? 01:08:36 DF Supporter Q4: Could DLSS 3 double the frame-rates of emulated retro games? 01:10:54 DF Supporter Q5: Would FSR 1 style upscaling work for backwards compatible titles on consoles? 01:12:51 DF Supporter Q6: The RTX 2000 series had a bit of a slow start with few RT titles, so should the RTX 3000 series have been the first to support RT instead?
A big week for news as the first phase of Sony's PlayStation VR2 embargo decloaks, meaning we can take the hardware out of its box and offer first impressions on the headset and controllers! Meanwhile. the latest Nintendo Direct turns out to be a bit of a banger - Pikmin 4 takes centrestage, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom gets a new trailer and the brilliant Metroid Prime Remastered gets a surprise 'shadow drop'. Also: why are PC VRAM requirements becoming so bloated?
00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:07 News 01: PS VR2 hands-on impressions! 00:14:25 News 02: Nintendo Direct reactions: Pikmin, Zelda, Metroid Prime 00:41:46 News 03: Hogwarts Legacy coverage plans 00:45:57 DF Supporter Q1: Avatar 2 mixes 24fps and 48fps footage - is this a good idea? 00:50:37 DF Supporter Q2: What can we expect in terms of timing for a Switch successor? 00:55:08 DF Supporter Q3/4: CPU performance is bottlenecking modern games - can developers work around this? Plus, ninth-gen games haven’t shown the expected bump in simulation complexity, so are the additional CPU resources just going towards draw calls and RT? 01:02:58 DF Supporter Q5: Will PC VRAM requirements continue to steeply increase throughout this generation, or is this a short-term phenomenon? 01:09:25 DF Supporter Q6: Why don’t console games support 50Hz output, given that nearly all TVs support it?
It's time for another round of Digital Foundry Direct Weekly, on this occasion featuring the technical stylings of Sam Machkovech, John Linneman and Alex Battaglia. On the docket this week: layoffs at Halo developer 343 Industries amid a rumoured switch to Unreal Engine 5, a new PS5 beta firmware and is it 'safe' to move to Windows 11 on a gaming rig?
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:53 News 01: Halo developer suffers layoffs, switching to UE5
00:17:37 News 02: Major live service games canceled
00:27:11 News 03: DLSS 3 added to Cyberpunk 2077, Dying Light 2
00:36:21 News 04: The Witcher 3 gets RT performance boosts
00:43:11 News 05: Goldeneye launches on Xbox, Switch
00:53:56 News 06: PS5 beta firmware adds 1440p VRR support
01:05:04 DF Supporter Q1: Sam, you called the RTX 4090 a bargain. What other bargains do you recommend?
01:09:04 DF Supporter Q2: Have you tested copying the shader cache from one PC to another to eliminate shader stutter?
01:10:08 DF Supporter Q3: Could Square Enix be in financial trouble after Forspoken’s poor reception?
01:13:51 DF Supporter Q4: With PS VR2 pre-orders reportedly lower than expected, could the VR2 go the way of the Vita?
01:18:58 DF Supporter Q5: Do you think that it is safe to move to Windows 11 on a gaming rig?
At Digital Foundry, we've been complaining about gaming events - and the way games are shown - for years... but you know what? Microsoft's Developer_Direct cracks it, with only one more aspect required to make the format almost perfect. But what's not perfect? The release of Forspoken, especially on PC. John, Rich and Alex are at the mics to discuss all of this - and more.
00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:44 News 01: Microsoft "Developer_Direct" reactions! 00:41:50 News 02: Forspoken released- and there are issues 00:58:12 News 03: Dead Space: our early impressions 01:06:03 DF Supporter Q1: Will you be covering the RTX 4050 at launch? What are your pricing expectations? 01:08:55 DF Supporter Q2: Could generative AI power an “auto-remaster” feature to upgrade game graphics in real time? 01:14:08 DF Supporter Q3: What kind of performance leap should we expect from a Switch sequel? 01:20:10 DF Supporter Q4: When will DirectStorage support become the norm for PC developers?
A packed week of news as John, Rich and Alex discuss the elevated min specs for the PC versions of Forspoken and Returnal, which beg the question: ARE MIN SPECS OUT OF CONTROL?!11 Meanwhile, Stadia finally dies, while GeForce Now 4080 arrives to demonstrate that high-end cloud gaming can actually work.
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:58 News 01: Forspoken and Returnal PC requirements detailed
00:21:55 News 02: Layoffs at Microsoft: 343 and Bethesda affected
00:29:20 News 03: PSVR2 launch titles announced
00:38:16 News 04: Stadia dead, RTX 4080 Geforce Now launches
00:49:11 News 05: Suicide Squad leak reveals games as a service components
00:56:24 News 06: The Callisto Protocol falls short of sales expectations
01:01:08 DF Supporter Q1: Why did Unreal Engine 3 games have that ‘wet’ look?
01:05:57 DF Supporter Q2: What are your CPU recommendations for demanding games?
01:09:05 DF Supporter Q3: How do your computers and consoles affect your home heating and cooling?
01:12:23 DF Supporter Q4: If you have a 120Hz screen running 60fps content, what is the best way to get a good experience?
01:15:29 DF Supporter Q5: What is the most memorable show you’ve attended?
The big topic of the moment - has Nintendo Switch hit its limits? Is performance not good enough anymore and do we need a next-gen successor? John, Rich and Alex share their thoughts on the current Switch and a prospective replacement model. The team also discuss Microsoft's new Developer_Direct initiative, Xbox's 'carbon aware' credentials and finally... what on earth is happening at Ubisoft?
00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:37 News 01: Does the Switch need to be replaced? 00:30:33 News 02: Xbox “Developer_Direct” to showcase first-party games 00:39:30 News 03: Xbox becomes “first carbon aware console” 00:49:43 News 04: Ubisoft has financial difficulties, cancels several upcoming games 00:57:01 DF Supporter Q1: Should Microsoft switch to rechargeable batteries for their controllers? 01:03:31 DF Supporter Q2/3/4: Any thoughts on the PS5 liquid metal console damage story? 01:09:42 DF Supporter Q5: Could shader compilation be handled with a separate app while the PC idles? 01:14:52 DF Supporter Q6: In 10 years, will high-end PCs be able to brute force their way past compilation stutters? 01:18:19 DF Supporter Q7: What do you think about gaming laptops? Is their negative perception just because of price for performance, or is there more to it? 01:23:03 DF Supporter Q8: What does DF think of producing the weekly DF Direct show at 4K?
DF Direct Weekly is back for 2023, kicking off with the reactions of John, Rich and Alex to the big CES keynotes, discussing Nvidia's latest innovations and the RTX 4070 Ti backlash - plus the latest enhancements to OLED TV technology. And as always, DF supporters provide a wealth of excellent questions for the team.
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:25 News 01: Sony at CES 2023: PS VR2 and Gran Turismo
00:15:37 News 02: Nvidia debuts RTX 4000 laptop GPUs, RTX video upscaling at CES
00:50:27 News 03: AMD announces new CPUs, discrete RDNA 3 laptop GPUs during CES showcase
01:01:02 News 04: Upcoming OLED TVs get brightness boost
01:06:42 DF Supporter Q1: Could modders add shader precompilation to a game?
01:09:09 DF Supporter Q2: Are path traced remakes of classic games feasible on consoles?
01:11:22 DF Supporter Q3: Would DF produce a video covering ray tracing games on Series S?
01:12:39 DF Supporter Q4: What do you think DF has done right over the years to survive - and to keep growing?
The end of the year draws closer and as the Digital Foundry crew prepare to take a well-earned vacation, John, Rich and Oliver have just enough time to cram in one more DF Direct Weekly, looking back over a challenging 2022, looking forward to the New Year - and cramming in more supporter Q+A than we've ever done before!
00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:35 DF Supporter Q1: What does Epic’s delisting of classic Unreal games say about the preservation of older titles? 00:08:24 DF Supporter Q2: What was the most successful cross-gen release of the year? 00:12:40 DF Supporter Q3: Could an Xbox One X set to 120Hz output 24fps game content without judder? 00:14:28 DF Supporter Q4: Why do PCs have to compile shaders while consoles don’t? 00:19:23 DF Supporter Q5: Can you name some positive developments in gaming this year? 00:26:37 DF Supporter Q6: What was your surprise game of 2022 - and your most disappointing game of 2022? 00:32:33 DF Supporter Q7: What was the most technically complete game of the year? 00:37:22 DF Supporter Q8: With TAAU a common sight on consoles, why exactly were we waiting for FSR 2? 00:41:04 DF Supporter Q9: Does Oliver have any thoughts on his time with DF so far? And does the team have any ideas to improve or shake up future content? 00:47:25 DF Supporter Q10: With so many big 2023 games and hardware releases, what are you looking forward to most in 2023? 00:50:26 DF Supporter Q11: If the Switch 2 launches in 2023, what kind of hardware is it likely to have? 00:58:06 DF Supporter Q12: Do you think Nintendo would add an option to Switch to allow it to run at docked settings in portable mode? 01:00:05 DF Supporter Q13: Could FSR 3 run on current-gen consoles? If it could, would it be worthwhile? 01:03:45 DF Supporter Q14: Would DF members ever make videos about their all-time favourite games? 01:06:05 DF Supporter Q15: Will Tears of the Kingdom have a significant graphical upgrade over Breath of the Wild? 01:09:21 DF Supporter Q16: Will DF do more frequent live streams next year? 01:11:40 DF Supporter Q17: With the year of the PS Triple almost over, any chance of a “Best PS3 Game” in your game of the year lists?
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is slated for release in 'Fall' 2023, Kojima's helping to make a movie, Steam Deck is set to get a successor - and Returnal's recommendations include a mammoth 32GB of memory. All this, plus discussion of the RDNA 3 review aftermath in this week's show.
00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:00 News 01: Spider-Man 2 to launch in fall 2023 00:08:51 News 02: Death Stranding film in the works 00:14:45 News 03: Valve discusses Steam Deck successor 00:26:45 News 04: RX 7900 XT/XTX review follow-up! 00:51:34 News 05: Returnal PC requirements announced 00:57:39 News 06: High on Life launches with major issues, quickly patched 01:06:54 DF Supporter Q1: Which games would you like to get RTX Remix enhancements? 01:10:51 DF Supporter Q2: Why doesn’t DLSS significantly lower VRAM use? 01:12:22 DF Supporter Q3: Would you ever release the DF performance analysis tools to the public? 01:17:05 DF Supporter Q4: Alex, would you prefer to play a game with great ray tracing with PSO stutters, or a game without ray tracing with no stutters?
The Game Awards - aka 'The Geoffs' - are back once again, bringing a deluge of new trailers and announcements for Rich, John and Alex to pore over in the latest DF Direct Weekly. Meanwhile, Stadia devkits are starting to emerge and Microsoft is raising game prices - but before all of that, the team takes a look at a dramatically improved build of The Callisto Protocol on PC.
The Game Awards - aka 'The Geoffs' - are back once again, bringing a deluge of new trailers and announcements for Rich, John and Alex to pore over in the latest DF Direct Weekly. Meanwhile, Stadia devkits are starting to emerge and Microsoft is raising game prices - but before all of that, the team takes a look at a dramatically improved build of The Callisto Protocol on PC. Join the DF Patreon for EARLY ACCESS to every DF Direct Weekly, pristine video downloads, behind the scenes content and much, much more: https://bit.ly/3jEGjvx Podcast RSS Feed: https://digitalfoundry.podbean.com/ Subscribe for more Digital Foundry: http://bit.ly/DFSubscribe 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:59 News 01: Callisto Protocol PC updates 00:09:12 News 02: The Game Awards game reveal rundown! 00:50:33 News 03: Stadia devkits dissected, analyzed 00:54:03 News 04: Microsoft increases game prices to $70 01:01:21 DF Supporter Q1: Is Alex doing better this week? Has DF considered doing numbered ratings to send a message about certain issues? 01:04:37 DF Supporter Q2: Would you consider giving a “seal of quality” to games that meet technical standards? 01:05:44 DF Supporter Q3: Would you prefer to play on a huge projector screen, or a top-of-the-line OLED TV? 01:08:46 DF Supporter Q4: Portal RTX demands DLSS, so is Quality, Balanced, or Performance the best DLSS preset? 01:13:04 DF Supporter Q5: Rich, do you still think that Xbox OS and PlayStation OS will become interchangeable on consoles?
After a challenging week reviewing The Callisto Protocol and awaiting various performance patches, Alex, John and Rich unload about the triumphs and tragedies of the launch period, while reflecting on how good the game actually is. Meanwhile, Nintendo's promising improvements to Pokémon Scarlet/Violet, modders tackle Sonic Frontier's shortcomings - and Jesus Christ himself appears, rendered at 4K60 on RTX 4090.
00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:37 News 01: Callisto Protocol review aftermath 00:33:04 News 02: Poké-patch arrives for Scarlet/Violet, Nintendo apologizes 00:36:06 News 03: Fixes arrive for Sonic Frontiers 00:41:23 News 04: I am Jesus Christ Prologue: biblically-accurate graphics! 00:46:53 DF Supporter Q1: Which Switch games look better than you would expect? 00:50:54 DF Supporter Q2: Given the success of the Steam Deck, should Valve do Steam Machines again? 00:54:03 DF Supporter Q3: Who will implement a Nanite-style virtualized geometry system next? 00:58:28 DF Supporter Q4: Why do some games have broken physics when you increase the frame-rate? 01:03:14 DF Supporter Q5: Could Nvidia offer new tech as a paid subscription in the future? 01:06:54 DF Supporter Q6: If you could bring back a dormant Activision/Blizzard IP, which would it be?
Will we have to wait until 2028 for new consoles from Microsoft and Sony? And how are the two companies at war over Call of Duty? Audi, John and Rich discuss, also covering news on The Witcher 3's upgrade plus the latest news about The Callisto Protocol. Meawhile, what on Earth is the Boner in Berlin?
00:00:00 Introduction
00:02:31 News 01: Next-gen consoles to launch in 2027/2028?
00:13:41 News 02: Microsoft and Sony engaged in Call of Duty value dispute
00:27:01 News 03: Witcher 3 current-gen + PC upgrades revealed!
00:37:34 News 04: Callisto Protocol leaks and reveals
00:46:45 News 05: The Game Awards nominees announced
00:55:39 News 06: Warzone 2.0 tested!
01:07:17 DF Content Discussion: What has Audi been up to?
01:10:43 DF Supporter Q1: Given the performance woes of the new Pokémon games, does the industry need to re-evaluate yearly franchises?
01:18:10 DF Supporter Q2: How does being multilingual help the DF team?
01:24:05 DF Supporter Q3: With GPU/CPU stock still on store shelves, have AMD and Nvidia misjudged the market?
In the latest episode, John, Rich and Alex share observations, thoughts and hopes for The Witcher 3's forthcoming re-release and there's discussion on Epic's improvements to Unreal Engine 5, plus thoughts on RTX 4080/4070 Ti pricing. Meanwhile, what on earth is happening with Pokémon Violet and Scarlet polish and performance?
00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:48 News 01: Witcher 3 next-gen patch incoming 00:12:48 News 02: Unreal Engine 5.1 delivers big improvements 00:27:29 News 03: RTX 4080 released! 00:44:35 News 04: Gamers Nexus solves 4090 power connector mystery 00:50:35 News 05: DLSS 3 gets frame-limiter to overcome vsync issue 01:00:42 News 06: Pokémon Violet and Scarlet suffer serious tech issues 01:07:33 DF Supporter Q1: Why don’t we ever get anisotropic filtering above 16x? 01:10:03 DF Supporter Q2: Why does the PS5 reserve 1.5 cores for the OS, leaving only 6.5 for games? 01:16:51 DF Supporter Q3: Is Elden Ring a good candidate for game of the year, given its performance problems? 01:18:34 DF Supporter Q4: Are game developers relying too much on DLSS? 01:24:21 DF Supporter Q5: When will Audi be released from Rich’s basement and appear in videos again?
There's been a lot of debate recently about whether Xbox Series S's limited performance is 'holding back' the other consoles from being everything that they can be - so Rich, John and Alex weigh in with their opinions based on developer discussions and two years' worth of gaming data accrued by the channel. Meanwhile, it's all about the patches as Forza Horizon, Sackboy PC and Halo Infinite receive important updates.
00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:18 News 01: Is Series S limiting next-gen gaming? 00:23:32 News 02: Forza Horizon 5 patch brings DLSS, FSR 2, improved RT 00:34:13 News 03: Sackboy PC updated to eliminate #StutterStruggle! 00:43:26 News 04: Halo Infinite gets animation fix… but many issues remain 00:52:44 News 05: “Unlaunched” 4080 12GB to become 4070 Ti? 01:01:40 News 06: Mega Drive Mini 2 released! 01:08:42 DF Supporter Q1: With AMD focused on raster performance, is this an indication most gamers don’t care about ray tracing? 01:17:08 DF Supporter Q2: What’s the most impressive game to play on a new high-end PC system? 01:22:09 DF Supporter Q3: Should developers include advanced modes in console games to enhance future backwards compatibility? 01:25:07 DF Supporter Q4: How do you think the current economic environment will impact next-gen consoles?
A big, big week for PC and console gamers as AMD emerges to showcase its new RDNA 3-powered RX 7900 XTX and RX 7900 XT graphics cards with Rich, Will and Alex delivering their verdict on the reveal. Also, what to make of the PSVR2 launch line-up and pricing? Meanwhile, the realisation that new gaming tech is going up in price hits home as it's discovered that Microsoft is losing $100-$200 per console sold.
00:00:35 News 01: RDNA 3 unveiled! 00:24:15 News 02: FSR 3 frame-rate boost tech teased 00:31:26 News 03: How does RDNA 3 measure up against RTX 4000? 00:45:18 News 04: RT upgrades in Halo Infinite, Forspoken, and Snowdrop 00:51:31 News 05: PS VR2 release details announced 00:59:33 News 06: Microsoft takes $100-200 loss on Xbox Series consoles 01:03:51 News 07: Sackboy PC Stutter Struggles + shader compilation questions 01:11:47 DF Supporter Q1: What’s the best value CPU + motherboard + RAM combination for a PC? 01:15:41 DF Supporter Q2: Was FSR 2 really worth it for the Series X version of Scorn? 01:18:09 DF Supporter Q3: IS ALEX GERMAN OR AMERICAN? I MUST KNOW.
John, Rich and Alex re-convene to share first impressions on the new God of War and the extent to which it leverages PlayStation 5. Meanwhile, rumours start to gather pace on AMD's RDNA 3 offerings, Microsoft hints at price increases - and what should we make of the Modern Warfare 2 PS4 Blu-ray with just 70MB of actual data on it?
00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:37 News 01: God of War Ragnarök impressions! 00:16:54 News 02: AMD RDNA 3 GPU reveal incoming 00:26:05 News 03: Xbox price increases hinted by Phil Spencer 00:35:33 News 04: Original The Witcher game gets UE5 remake 00:40:18 News 05: Age of Empires makes console return on Xbox 00:44:23 News 06: MW2 uses just 70MB of data on PS5 disc 00:49:33 DF Supporter Q1: Is it feasible to launch a current-gen game at 30fps and later patch in 60fps support? 00:52:42 DF Supporter Q2: With most games supporting high frame-rate options, was cross-gen a good thing? 00:58:16 DF Supporter Q3: Why do 30fps games look so much better now than they used to? 01:02:37 DF Supporter Q4: What retro genres should be brought back? 01:06:10 DF Supporter Q5: Will DLSS 3 be on the next Switch? Could it be enough for 4K60? 01:10:35 DF Supporter Q6: I loved Rich’s shirt last week - any other shirt ideas?
Will the end of the cross-gen console era also see the end of 60fps as the standard for gaming on Xbox Series and PlayStation 5? It's the big topic for this week in the wake of the arrival of Gotham Knights and A Plague Tale: Requiem. Also, the team shares its enthusiasm for the return of Silent Hill, Resident Evil 4 and the latest Final Fantasy 16 trailer.
00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:05 News 01: Gotham Knights and Plague Tale run at just 30fps on consoles 00:26:39 News 02: Silent Hill returns! 00:40:33 News 03: Resident Evil 4 remake gameplay trailer released 00:48:16 News 04: Final Fantasy 16 gets impressive new story trailer 00:55:33 DF Content Discussion: Uncharted PC: Review Code vs Day One Patch 01:05:39 DF Supporter Q1: What performance should we expect from consoles once FSR and SSDs are maximized? 01:10:00 DF Supporter Q2: How much performance loss will I see by using a 4090 in an older system? 01:12:47 DF Supporter Q3: If an emulated game has an improved frame-rate, should gameplay be adjusted to compensate? 01:14:04 DF Supporter Q4: Why don’t developers offer higher bitrate versions of game video files as an optional download? 01:18:53 DF Supporter Q5: With many PC gamers on 144Hz displays, why not do benchmarking at 72Hz instead of 60Hz? 01:20:58 DF Supporter Q6: Was Gotham Knights sabotaged just to spite Rich?
Nvidia delivers a massive u-turn, 'unlauching' the RTX 4080 12GB. Rich, John and Alex discuss the reasons why and mull over the bizarre benchmarks revealed by the firm last week. In the meantime, with the RTX 4090 launched with coverage aplenty out there, the team discuss the reaction to the new GPU flagship and answer a bunch of supporter questions. Meanwhile, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is set to receive even more RT upgrades over the PS5 version - just how far could it be pushed?
00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:24 News 01: Nvidia “unlaunches” RTX 4080 12GB 00:21:21 News 02: RTX 4090 launched: our coverage + supporter questions 01:10:30 News 03: Spider-Man: Miles Morales gets big PC boosts 01:06:58 News 04: Two unique unreleased NES games listed for sale 01:10:32 DF Supporter Q1: Was it a good idea for CD Projekt Red to announce so many new games at once? 01:13:59 DF Supporter Q2: Why can’t I disable TAA and upscaling on console games? 01:17:16 DF Supporter Q3: Is an Nvidia/AMD/Intel GPU market sustainable? 01:23:57 DF Supporter Q4: Modern GPUs are 200x as powerful as the best GPU in 2007, so do modern games look 200x better than Crysis? 01:26:04 DF Supporter Q5: Could future LG OLED TVs offer 4K/240Hz to suit high-end GPUs? 01:29:05 DF Supporter Q6: John: give us a eulogy for Google Stadia!
The leak of a Sony document suggesting the existence of a remake for Horizon Zero Dawn kicks off our discussion, which encompasses PSVR2 mass production, rumours of Half-Life Alyx for the new headset, path-traced Quake, the new Need for Speed - and much, much more.
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:58 News 01: Horizon Zero Dawn PS5 remake leaked!
00:12:00 News 02: PSVR 2 enters mass production
00:18:53 News 03: Ray-traced Quake 1 released
00:25:10 News 04: New gameplay trailer for Dead Space remake
00:31:31 News 05: Need for Speed: Unbound revealed, dated
00:38:59 News 06: Nintendo shows first trailer for Mario film
00:45:45 DF Content Discussion: Intel ARC review follow-up and questions
01:01:30 DF Supporter Q1: Is there a project that was just too big for DF Retro?
01:03:39 DF Supporter Q2: Will Unreal Engine 5.1 fix the #StutterStruggle?
01:04:55 DF Supporter Q3: What’s a game you love that is largely unknown?
01:10:35 DF Supporter Q4: What potential RDNA 3 feature could get people to switch to AMD?
01:16:27 DF Supporter Q5: Is there any reason to use last-gen hardware instead of current gen backwards compatibility for PS4/Xbox One games?
01:18:43 DF Supporter Q6: Why don’t developers use DLSS 2/XESS/FSR 2.0 to upscale RT effects?
01:21:43 DF Supporter Q7: What game would you like to see remade that will never happen?
The upcoming demise of Google Stadia dominates discussion, but we find plenty of time to discuss a range of topics: PS5's new 6nm processor, the arrival of XeSS and the imminent deployment of Intel Arc, the quality of Ryzen 7000 CPUs and the challenges of CPU reviewing in general, DLSS 3 reaction and EVEN MORE.
00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:48 News 01: Google Stadia is shutting down 00:20:00 News 02: PS5 gets a die-shrink! 00:23:31 News 03: XeSS debuts, Arc A750/A770 priced 00:37:13 News 04: New Ryzen 7000 CPUs reviewed 00:57:49 News 05: Sony PC game announcements, leaks 01:02:18 DF Content Discussion: DLSS 3 reactions and follow-up 01:07:48 DF Supporter Q1: Is latency a big issue with DLSS 3? Could a future version have unnoticeable lag? 01:10:22 DF Supporter Q2: Could tech similar to DLSS 3 come to consoles? 01:11:40 DF Supporter Q3: Would a slower version of DLSS 3 be able to run on Ampere cards? 01:13:48 DF Supporter Q4: Is vendor-agnostic frame generation tech similar to DLSS 3 possible? 01:16:40 DF Supporter Q5: How does DLSS 3 cope with RT effects? 01:19:14 DF Supporter Q6: Would DLSS 2 Quality mode work better as a base for DLSS 3 than Performance mode? 01:22:15 DF Supporter Q7: What do you expect from AMD’s new graphics cards? 01:28:47 DF Supporter Q8: Thoughts on EVGA leaving the GPU market? 01:32:45 DF Supporter Q9: Is 8K excessive? Shouldn’t we focus on visual features and not pixel count? 01:35:13 DF Supporter Q10: Could PCs move to unified memory instead of two discrete memory pools?
In this week's show, the team discuss the Nvidia RTX 4000 reveal, the new tech on offer and the backlash over RTX 4080 pricing. The new RT Overdrive rendition of Cyberpunk is discussed along with the rich potential of RTX Remix. Elsewhere, PS1 Classics' first European 60Hz release proves to be fundamentally flawed, John has issues with the new Star Ocean demo - but it looks like there's good news about improvements to Xbox's restrictive DRM.
00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:43 News 01: Nvidia announces 4090, 4080 graphics cards 00:21:59 News 02: DLSS 3.0 revealed! 00:42:19 News 03: RTX Remix modding tools impress 00:47:33 News 04: RT “Overdrive” patch teased for Cyberpunk 2077 00:52:38 News 05: Xbox DRM scaled back for disc games 00:58:48 News 06: NTSC/PAL switching for PS+ classic games introduced 01:02:05 News 07: New Star Ocean demo suffers performance woes 01:06:21 DF Supporter Q1: Given the leak of the Tegra T239, a likely Switch SOC, when is the new Switch going to be released? 01:12:32 DF Supporter Q2: How much difference does memory speed make in games? 01:14:07 DF Supporter Q3: Do you think Konami will go back to developing new big games? 01:16:51 DF Supporter Q4: What are your thoughts on the GTA 6 leak? 01:22:49 DF Supporter Q5: Rich, did you imagine yourself doing this sort of work 20 years ago? And what’s one game you need to have a physical version of?
Digital Foundry is joined by Eurogamer's Ian Higton to discuss PlayStation VR 2 in extreme detail, followed up by John, Alex and Rich discussing the week's gaming and technology news - with a strong focus on the Tokyo Games Show and its surrounding Sony State of Play and Nintendo Direct mini-events.
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:41 News 01: PSVR 2 hands-on impressions!
00:48:22 News 02: Sony’s latest State of Play
01:10:05 News 03: New Nintendo Direct showcases 2023 games
01:25:46 News 04: Suikoden I and II remasters announced
01:28:41 News 05: Uncharted PC collection finally dated!
01:32:51 DF Content Discussion: John’s upcoming DF Retro project
01:34:51 DF Supporter Q1: Could AI techniques be used for more exotic real-time image enhancements?
01:39:44 DF Supporter Q2: Why does John still like split-screen when he could just play on two consoles in the same room?
01:42:53 DF Supporter Q3: What is one of the biggest changes you’ve made to a video before release?
01:48:28 DF Supporter Q4: What’s the best cheap alternative to OLEDs with similar picture characteristics?
01:51:17 DF Supporter Q5: Is it really worth it to target 4K at 30 FPS?
01:55:40 DF Supporter Q6: When playing a PC game at 30 FPS, why not play at 30Hz instead of 60Hz with a frame-rate cap?
The team discuss the arrival of a brand new PlayStation 5 revision, the arrival of 1440p support for the console - and the ongoing war over COD between Sony and Microsoft. Meanwhile, Halo Infinite's campaign co-op split-screen cancellation provokes frustration... and who is 'Jim Mattrick'...?
It's been a rocky road to market for Intel with its Arc range of graphics cards... and just over a year since Intel talked to us about it. In this extended interview, Alex and Rich talk to Intel Fellow Tom Petersen about the state of play with Intel Arc, what's going on with DX11, DX12, Vulcan and Resizeable BAR, plus there's new information on XeSS upscaling (which we're currently testing) and what Intel says is best-in-class ray tracing performance.
We've looked at how the Last of Us Part 1 compares with prior TLOU versions, we've detailed all of the various performance modes, what they do and how they work. Now, we get down to brass tacks. Is this a game that actually required a remake? Is it worth the money? John Linneman and Oliver Mackenzie share notes and come to the conclusion that yes, it is.
What should have been a celebration of gaming with the arrival of Gamescom 2022 is marred by a bunch of bad news - including price rises for PlayStation 5 in multiple territories that are not the United States of America and the mooted arrival of Denuvo DRM for... Nintendo Switch? As John and Rich seem to continually remind us the episode... it's not great.
00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:37 News 01: Sony bumps PS5 prices! 00:16:17 News 02: Denuvo DRM launches on Switch 00:27:26 News 03: “Super Mario RTX” UE5 demo footage released 00:32:32 News 04: Impressions from Gamescom! 00:52:14 News 05: Intel showcases XeSS in new video 00:59:33 News 06: Pac-Man World Re-Pac packs 50Hz physics 01:01:56 DF Supporter Q1: Should I get an RTX 3070 now, or wait for RTX 4060/4070? 01:09:01 DF Supporter Q2: Which older proprietary engines do you wish were still being developed on? 01:12:59 DF Supporter Q3: Could 360/PS3 have gotten mid-gen enhanced consoles? 01:15:59 DF Supporter Q4: If Japan had gone with the PAL television standard, would 25fps/50fps have been the gold standard for games?
DF Weekly reaches its three-quarter-century this week, with John, Rich and Will discussing evidence of Sony creating its own PSN launcher for its PC titles, a fascinating inteview with Astro's Playroom developer Team Asobi, more GPU price madness and Intel video card discussion - plus, a remarkable new voxelised version of Doom!
00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:41 News 01: PlayStation PC game launcher to come? 00:11:10 News 02: Team Asobi interview hints at new game 00:19:03 News 03: Sonic Mania decompiled… and ported to Vita! 00:25:19 News 04: Intel ARC GPUs finally for sale outside of Asia + A380 performance discussion 00:37:53 News 05: GPU prices collapse! 00:46:14 News 06: New DOOM mod replaces sprites with 3D voxels 00:49:44 DF Content Discussion: New DF website launch 00:54:26 DF Content Discussion: DF Retro on the Klonoa series 00:59:21 DF Supporter Q1: Do 240Hz OLEDs have good enough motion clarity to match CRTs? 01:04:41 DF Supporter Q2: Could the Steam Deck be sold in mass-market retail stores? 01:09:08 DF Supporter Q3: Why do Insomniac’s VRR modes get high praise, given their inconsistent performance? 01:13:26 DF Supporter Q4: What are some examples of high-end PC game options that never run well, even with new hardware? 01:16:46 DF Supporter Q5: Will Rich ever go back to doing unboxing videos?
It's been a challenging week for Digital Foundry as the review process for Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered was set back twice owing to patch updates. So what actually went on, why was some of the embargoed review content out of date on embargo day, how was the game improved and where do we stand right now on day one - the day this Direct was filmed?
00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:57 News 01: Spider-Man Remastered released on PC! 00:27:05 News 02: Boneworks gets Metal Gear Solid mod 00:35:30 News 03: RTX 4070/4080 power consumption less than expected? 00:42:48 DF Update: DF site upgrade + Half-Life charity stream 00:46:01 DF Supporter Q1: Is Rich surprised DF Direct has run this long? 00:47:52 DF Supporter Q2: Was the Xbox BC program cancelled for licensing reasons or technical issues? 00:52:54 DF Supporter Q3: Could Microsoft introduce lower-feature OS modes to free up more performance on Series S? 00:55:37 DF Supporter Q4: How much will RT improve with efficiency improvements alone this generation? 00:59:23 DF Supporter Q5: What are your favourite methods of implementing complex graphical effects in retro games? 01:06:54 DF Supporter Q6: Would Sony ever release a new portable PlayStation system?
PlayStation icon Kratos arrives on ALL Xbox consoles in one of the most unlikeliest stories we've ever seen, while Xbox Series S gets more memory delivered to game-makers via a development kit update. Meanwhile, John, Rich and Alex discuss the seemingly incredible perf boosts we should expect from the next-gen Nvidia GPUs, while Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origins gets a PC AA/DLSS upgrade. All this - AND MORE - in this episode of DF Direct Weekly!
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:57 News 01: War Gods Zeus of Child hits Xbox consoles!
00:13:59 News 02: Xbox Series S to receive memory boost in new GDK
00:25:28 News 03: Lovelace GPUs reportedly very, very fast
00:35:59 News 04: Stranger of Paradise gets DLSS upgrade
00:38:58 News 05: Return to Castle Wolfenstein gets new PC release
00:51:59 News 06: Analogue Pocket gets beta 1.1 firmware
00:55:39 DF Content Discussion: Upcoming DF Retro projects!
00:57:44 DF Supporter Q1: What does John think of the new RetroTINK 5X updates?
01:02:59 DF Supporter Q2: Does HDR impact game performance?
01:04:22 DF Supporter Q3: How do low-power systems like the Steam Deck slot into DF coverage?
01:11:25 DF Supporter Q4: How did you enjoy your vacations?
It's the DF Direct Weekly "Hot Beast" Edition as John and Rich return from holiday to join Alex Battaglia for an extended discussion on the week's news, covering the surprise reveal of 1440p display support for PlayStation 5, an official look at more of The Last of Us Part 1, the highs and lows of VR - and Alex's Core i9-12900K PC upgrade!
00:00:43 News 01: 1440p output support in new PS5 beta firmware
00:13:49 News 02: TLOU Part 1 gameplay showcase video released
00:20:31 News 03: PSVR 2 features detailed, Quest 2 price increased
00:34:10 News 04: Xbox boot times shortened with faster boot video
00:39:07 News 05: Returnal port updated with Steam Deck support
00:43:38 DF Content Discussion: Alex’s i9-12900K upgrade
00:59:28 DF Supporter Q1: Given the stutter issues on Unreal Engine, is it better to just play UE games on consoles?
01:07:45 DF Supporter Q2: Is there a way to get pre-cached shaders for EGS games on Steam Deck?
01:09:39 DF Supporter Q3: Why do so many Switch games lack anti-aliasing?
01:13:55 DF Supporter Q4: DLSS has a fixed cost, so have you ever seen a scenario where DLSS was slower than regular rendering?
01:15:43 DF Supporter Q5: If the next Switch can achieve performance similar to Series S, will major third party games come back to Nintendo?
01:19:46 DF Supporter Q6: When playing on PC, what is your personal target frame rate?
It's something of a DF Direct special this week, as regular co-host Alex Battaglia is joined by two insightful guests: Sam 'samred' Machkovech of Ars Technica and Addie 'EposVox' of... YouTube. The trio tackle the week's news - including the first details on the Spider-Man Remastered PC port, leaked footage from the upcoming The Last Of Us Part 1 remake and early reviews of Intel's Arc GPUs - and answer an unparalleled 12 DF Supporter questions.
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:09 News 01: Spider-Man Remastered PC port details revealed
00:09:57 News 02: The Last of Us Part 1 leaked footage and impressions
00:16:30 News 03: Intel Arc GPUs get benchmarked and reviewed
00:34:50 News 04: Activision gets official Steam publisher page
00:40:28 News 05: Classic PC titles available for free via Xbox Insider
00:48:22 News 06: John Romero to make new UE5-based FPS game
00:52:07 News 07: Bloodlines 2 development resumed at new studio
00:55:01 DF Content Discussion: Sam’s new release roundup
01:02:33 DF Supporter Q1: Could Series S run some One X-enhanced games?
01:07:57 DF Supporter Q2: Why don’t PC games compile shaders in advance?
01:15:59 DF Supporter Q3: Using a One X as “extra storage” for a Series X library - is it a good idea?
01:19:21 DF Supporter Q4: Will other manufacturers produce Xbox Series SSD expansion cards?
01:22:57 DF Supporter Q5: How good is Windows HDR for games?
01:26:53 DF Supporter Q6: What games or tech releases is Sam looking forward to?
01:30:50 DF Supporter Q7: If streaming had been around in the 90s, what games would have been popular to stream?
01:35:37 DF Supporter Q8: What is the best way to get high quality game capture for editing using OBS?
01:36:48 DF Supporter Q9: Would a stream deck or other specialty input peripheral be helpful for general office use?
01:39:19 DF Supporter Q10: Is desktop Linux bound to be a UX headache for new users forever, or is there a way to fix it?
01:44:31 DF Supporter Q11: Sam, do you still use your Playdate?
01:46:11 DF Supporter Q12: What’s a game you liked when you were younger but don’t look back on as fondly?
It's the DF Skeleton Crew! With Rich, John and Alex away, it's time for Will, Tom and Oliver to escape Rich's basement and step into the limelight for a Direct. In this episode we cover the new Skate and Bayonetta 3 announcements, react to the delisting of the Matrix Awakens and explain why Nvidia is discounting its higher tier graphics cards. Also: what secret projects would we like to work on, and what Prime Day pickups did we each make?
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:49 News 01: Is FF7: Rebirth too much for Xbox?
00:08:21 News 02: RDR 2 current-gen ports reportedly cancelled
00:13:08 News 03: New Skate game announced, old build leaked
00:16:53 News 04: Bayonetta 3 trailer and release date announcement
00:24:37 News 05: First footage of redone Ark: Survival Evolved Switch port
00:30:13 News 06: The Matrix Awakens demo delisted!
00:34:27 News 07: High-end RTX 30 series GPUs get price drops
00:39:42 DF Supporter Q1: Console showdown: PS1, N64, or Saturn?
00:47:28 DF Supporter Q2: Any projects to look out for, or special interests you’d like to explore on the channel?
00:50:23 DF Supporter Q3: How do you split your work between DF and Eurogamer?
00:53:13 DF Supporter Q4: With Prime Day concluded, what pickups did you make from the sales?
00:56:24 DF Supporter Q5: What gaming-related things are banned in your household?
00:59:44 DF Supporter Q6: If Alex came from 2026 and told you a future Steam Deck had more powerful RT hardware than a PS5 or XSX, would you believe him?
Hitting the 69th episode milestone, Rich gets to grips with Horizon Forbidden West's excellent VRR/40Hz date, while Alex and Tom join him to discuss topics as diverse as the apparent cancellation of GTA4 and Red Dead Redemption patches, more heavy-handed Take Two legal threats, and yet more issues with Capcom PC ports - this time with a furless DLSS patch. Meanwhile, is it really wise for Rich's gaming hardware to be situated next to a big radiator? And do Alex and Tom assess the rendering features of reality itself?
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:55 News 01: Horizon: Forbidden West patch brings VRR, 40Hz support
00:11:25 News 02: GTA IV and RDR remasters cancelled?
00:20:15 News 03: Take-Two issues VR mod takedowns
00:32:36 News 04: DLSS patch removes fur in MH: Rise
00:44:48 News 05: Biomutant PS5, Series S/X update incoming!
00:47:49 DF Content Discussion: FSR 2.0 deep dive
00:54:23 DF Supporter Q1: Why are we still seeing reduced-rate animations on distant characters?
01:01:07 DF Supporter Q2: Do you ever ponder the rendering features of reality itself?
01:04:59 DF Supporter Q3: Can developers use unrealistic RT implementations to create surreal environments in games?
01:08:45 DF Supporter Q4: Can bad frame-pacing occur with 60fps games set to 120Hz output?
01:12:26 DF Supporter Q5: Console showdown: Sega Genesis or Super Nintendo?
01:16:45 DF Supporter Q6: What does Rich aim to achieve by overclocking a PS3?
01:17:45 DF Supporter Q7: Does Rich have a custom radiator cooling setup for his Switch?
01:19:11 DF Supporter Q8: If Rich is taking a vacation, that must mean Microsoft will be announcing new studio acquisitions
Not exactly a week for 'gigaton' news but plenty to discuss nonetheless. Portal and Portal 2 arrive on Switch, with Half-Life 2 mods appearing less than 24 hours later. There's joy at the news of a Switch Nier Automata port but confusion about how to actually pronounce it. Meanwhile, Sony unveils a new range of hardware - but is it aimed at PC or PS5 players? Also: FSR 2.0's open source nature brings about a new Cyberpunk 2077 mod - and we've spoken to the person who did it. Join John, Rich and Will for this one - but Alex Battaglia's Force Ghost is never too far away...
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:47 News 01: Half-Life 2 modded onto Portal for Switch
00:09:10 News 02: Nier: Automata Switch port revealed
00:13:55 News 03: Cyberpunk 2077 modded with FSR 2.0
00:21:20 News 04: Sony launches PC headsets, monitors
00:36:39 News 05: Valve doubling Steam Deck production
00:43:42 News 06: New Star Ocean: The Divine Force trailer
00:46:55 DF Supporter Q1: If Alex came from a time warp and said the Switch 2 had better RT hardware than PS5/XSX, would you believe him?
00:52:30 DF Supporter Q2: Nintendo has been stockpiling materials - possibly a sign of a new Switch?
00:56:05 DF Supporter Q3: Which gaming industry figure would you most like to interview?
01:01:30 DF Supporter Q4: Which retro CRTs are a good pick - that aren’t crazily expensive?
01:05:12 DF Supporter Q5: Could spatial upsampling like FSR 1.0 be integrated into displays?
01:08:47 DF Supporter Q6: Now that Alex is away, can we agree that Crysis isn’t a particularly good game?
A packed week for news! YouTuber DIY Perks reveals a fascinating PS5 'Slim' model while Sony finally unleashes PlayStation Plus in the EU and UK - and yup, the classic games are 50Hz - but the platform holder promises to address the situation. Nintendo delivers a beautiful reveal for Xenoblade Chronicles 3 on Switch, Forza Horizon 5 gets TAA - but only on PC, while John has much to say about a scrappy demo of the Klonoa remaster on Switch.
It's the final push for the E3 that wasn't quite an E3, with John, Rich and Alex talking through Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and their favourite big game reveals from the last couple of weeks' festivities. Meanwhile, some happy-ish news for PS+ classic game subscribers in the US, plus the awesome reveal of Jak and Daxter as the latest decompilation project. Meanwhile... could it be? Could Alex's #StutterStruggle soon be over?
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:58 News 01: Square reveals FF7 Rebirth and Crisis Core remake
00:13:56 News 02: "E3" Aftermath and thoughts
00:32:16 News 03: PS1 Classics are proper NTSC in the US
00:34:55 News 04: Jak and Daxter reverse engineered
00:41:28 News 05: Unreal Engine Forum Q&A
00:55:45 DF Supporter Q1: How long do you think Forza Motorsport has been in development?
01:04:43 DF Supporter Q2: What could be the unique selling point of Switch 2?
01:08:13 DF Supporter Q3: Do you think 4k gaming is relevant? Is it worth the effort?
01:12:37 DF Supporter Q4: Are you guys aware of the RGB-Pi?
01:13:36 DF Supporter Q5: Would you rather play a single-player game at 60 fps with DLSS quality or 90-120 with DLSS performance.
01:15:19 DF Supporter Q6: What type of milk do you all like in your tea?
01:16:48 DF Supporter Q7: What country would you guys like to visit soon, that you may not have had the chance to visit in the last 4 years?
Not one - but TWO - Microsoft/Xbox/Bethesda shows aired this week, so we decided to watch both of them before passing comment. John, Rich, Oliver and Alex share their thoughts on the games on offer from the technical brilliance of Forza Motorsport to the next-gen BGS title, Starfield. Plus: what to make of the Kojima announcement?
Geoff Keighley rolls into town, meaning only one thing - Summer Game Fest, aka Geoffcon aka Keigh3 is finally upon us. The Last of Us Part 1, Modern Warfare 2 and The Callisto Protocol headline the proceedings alongside a whole host of other great-looking games. Meanwhile, 343 Studios announces Halo co-op preview flighting in July and Apple reveals the M2 chip, smart upscaling and a new focus on gaming. Finally, what is T-LOO and will it forever dominate our destinies?
00:00:00 Introductions
00:01:04 News 01: Summer Game Fest
00:42:33 News 02: Plucky Squire looks fabulous
00:47:08 News 03: Halo Infinite Co-Op in public beta
00:50:05 DF Supporter Q1: What are your thoughts on Apple's MetalFX Upscaling?
00:50:25 DF Supporter Q2: What are your thoughts on Apple's MetalFX and the new M2 SoC?
00:54:31 DF Supporter Q3: Can you see Sony making their own PC client for Playstation games?
00:56:04 DF Supporter Q4: How much in contact are the MS and Sony console divisions?
00:57:33 DF Supporter Q5: How do you maintain your launch day PS3?
01:00:36 DF Supporter Q6: Is there any chance we can get more DF Retro E3 presentation watch-alongs?
DF Direct Weekly reaches its 'landmark' 64th episode, automatically making it as good as the Nintendo 64, Commodore 64 and Mega 64 (?). John, Rich and Alex team up to discuss the Sony PS5 State of Play, including Resident Evil 4 Remake, Spider-Man's PC port and PlayStation VR2. Meanwhile, there's confusion and disappointment surrounding Sonic Frontiers' gameplay reveal, and anticipation for God of War PC's FSR 2.0 update and Horizon Forbidden West's new patch.
00:00:00 Introductions
00:59:00 News 01: State of Play June 2022
00:41:38 News 02: Sonic Frontiers gameplay underwhelms
00:48:25 News 03: PS+ Japan gets NTSC classics
00:52:08 News 04: God of War and Horizon PC gets updates
00:55:31 DF Content Discussion: DF Retro PS3 1080p video update
01:01:53 DF Supporter Q01: Any thoughts on breathless tech site stories saying RTX cards are "back to MSRP"?
01:07:41 DF Supporter Q02: What do you guys think AMD needs to pull out of the hat to surpass or at least be on the same level playing field as Nvidia on the PC market?
01:20:31 DF Supporter Q03: How about a comprehensive tech terms and techniques explanation video?
01:22:46 DF Supporter Q04: Why do most US, Canadian and Euro Genesis / Mega Drive games just sound so much worse musically than their Japanese counterparts?
01:26:32 DF Supporter Q05: With all the games that you guys have reviewed all these years, which post-processing effect is the one that makes a great impact in a game, or which is your favorite?
Much to discuss this week as the silly season brings us unconfirmed rumours of new consoles, plus a wealth of new information from Sony on its PC strategy and its future plans for PS4. Meanwhile, Windows Central reveals news on Microsoft's xCloud streaming stick, but can the technology actually become viable for all? Also - the PlayStation Plus classics emulators. They're not great and John's not happy about it. Finally, Alex has been spending 'quality time' with Steam Deck but what does that actually mean?
00:00:00 Introductions
00:00:46 News 01: TCL anticipates new consoles by 2024
00:13:07 News 02: Sony doubling down on PC
00:21:55 News 03: PS4 Cross-Gen here to stay for a while.
00:25:42 News 04: Next Xbox is a cloud streaming stick?
00:29:34 Supporter Q: What's your take on whether the big obstacle for making game streaming more attractive being the problem with Internet infrastructures, or something the streaming software can solve by itself?
00:35:42 News 05: PS Classics on PS+ isn't great
00:36:39 Supporter Q: PS Classics questions
00:50:42 Supporter Q01: If FSR 2.0 is providing comparable quality to DLSS, don't you think Nvidia is wasting precious silicon area that could be used on more shaders on tensor cores?
00:53:16 Supporter Q02: Any thoughts on DLSS, FSR, or XeSS being used to upscale streaming services like Netflix?
00:59:52 Supporter Q03: Do publishers update the versions of their games on physical discs for later print runs?
01:02:48 Supporter Q04: Can you see yourselves potentially using Steam OS on your non-work PCs once it's seen a proper release of version 3?
01:07:34 Supporter Q05: Do you think we could see cross-gen games that ditch the base last-gen consoles but work on the enhanced consoles?
01:09:11 Supporter Q06: Will Knack 3’s inevitable announcement (or release) coincide with a PS5 firmware update to enable its promised 8K output?
Is The Last of Us really being remade for PlayStation 5 and if it is, is it really coming out in 2022? Or has the news void drove journos to desperation? Rich, John and Alex discuss this, the controversial PlayStation Plus games line-up - and of course, the big Starfield/Redfall delay. Also: Hitman 3's ray tracing seems to require an RTX 3070 and DLSS for 1440p - just how heavy is this game?
Nintendo's worried about the next-gen transition, Xbox Online DRM causes a major outage, Gotham Knights gets an unconvincing gameplay reveal and the legendary Duke Nukem Forever build from 2001 has leaked! Let's just say that there's plenty to discuss for John, Rich and Tom!
This week, Oliver makes his DF Direct debut alongside familiar faces John and Alex. They discuss the news that Square Enix has sold its Western IPs and studios, including Tomb Raider and Deus Ex, Halo Infinite's Season 2 fixes and the early development of the TINK4K. Plus: does the Steam Deck suffer from high input lag? And most importantly, what's Oliver's superhero-style origin story?
00:00:00 Introductions 00:01:20 News 01: Square Enix sells off Western studios + IPs 00:10:10 News 02: Halo Infinite Season 2 launched 00:18:53 News 03: Is Forza Motorsport 8 cross-gen? 00:24:08 News 04: Prince of Persia Remake woes 00:29:17 News 05: Xbox VRR HDMI woes on AV receivers 00:36:23 News 06: 100TF Nvidia Lovelace GPUs? 00:45:35 DF Supporter Q1: Does the frame limiter in Steam Deck increase input lag? 00:55:27 DF Supporter Q2: My friends say Elden Ring "runs great" - does this vindicate From's decision to not focus on technical performance when only the enthusiast crowd notices? 01:00:20 DF Supporter Q3: Do you think we'll see GameCube emulation on Switch? 01:04:05 DF Supporter Q4: Mike Chi teased a TINK4K on Twitter - what do you think? 01:10:20 DF Supporter Q5: The games that best use Switch hardware tend to be from Nintendo or developers that work (almost) exclusively for Nintendo platforms. Will the Series S get into a similar situation where Microsoft / Bethesda make the best Series S titles? 01:15:35 DF Supporter Q6: Is HDR more trouble than it's worth? 01:24:12 DF Supporter Q7: What kinds of games are best suited for Black Frame Insertion (BFI)? 01:28:05 DF Supporter Q8: Oliver, what's your professional background?
It's been a barren few weeks for gaming and technology news, but it looks like things are finally picking up! John, Rich and Alex share initial findings on PlayStation 5 VRR, discuss Valve's new 40-60Hz display support for Steam Deck... and what to make of the PlayStation "Preservation Group"?
00:00:00 Introductions 00:01:02 News 01: PlayStation 5 VRR support released 00:23:03 News 02: Steam Deck VRS, 40-60Hz updates 00:32:26 News 03: PlayStation "preservation group" revealed 00:35:33 News 04: Time-limited game trials on PS5 00:38:46 News 05: Shader compilation stutters resurface in Chernobylite 00:52:58 DF Supporter Q1: 900W Nvidia Lovelace GPU rumours 00:58:12 DF Supporter Q2: Forcing V-Sync on consoles? 01:01:08 DF Supporter Q3: Plans to cover Switch emulation? 01:04:43 DF Supporter Q4: Is digital the best way to preserve games? 01:08:56 DF Supporter Q5: Would a streaming service for emulated games be a good idea?
As the dearth of news continues, the silly season breaks out with DF caught in a 'too big for Switch' crossfire. Even so, there's still some cool stuff to discuss - Playdate is in our hands, Steam Deck's getting 40Hz display support and Sonic Origins looks cool. But we've got bigger fish to fry: fundamentally, has next-gen actually happened yet - or are we still mired in a seemingly never-ending cross-gen transition period?
00:00:00 Introductions 00:01:04 News 01: Has "Next-Gen" happened yet? 00:27:52 News 02: DF says BOTW 2 is too big for Switch 00:32:54 News 03: Playdate has arrived 00:40:52 News 04: Steam Deck at 40hz 00:49:31 News 05: Sonic Origins details emerge 00:56:16 News 06: Jet Set Radio and Crazy Taxi to return in big budget form? 01:01:24 DF Supporter Q1: What are your thoughts on Sonic Jam on Saturn? 01:03:07 DF Supporter Q2: What are your favorite RTS? 01:08:16 DF Supporter Q3: What's John take on CRT shaders such as CRT-Royale 01:10:22 DF Supporter Q4: Any chance we can get a video on Cyberpunk's next gen comparisons to PC? 01:12:41 DF Supporter Q5: Am I the only one who looks at Ghostwire and thinks LICHDOM BATTLEMAGE?
With the glut of triple-A releases over, the games industry continues to lull into a state of near-hibernation - not great when you're looking to produce a weekly chat show on the latest gaming and technology news. But we have a bunch of reports/rumours to respond to! The Witcher 3's next-gen upgrade has been delayed and news is starting to emerge of Criterion's new Need for Speed. And we did get an actual announcement: Kingdom Hearts 4 on UE5... so what does the team make of all this?
00:00:00 Introductions
00:00:55 News 01: Kingdom Hearts 4 revealed
00:07:50 DF Supporter Q: What games do you hope are real from the Nvidia leak?
00:09:33 News 02: Next-gen Witcher 3 delayed and reorganized
00:16:24 News 03: Rumors of Criterion NFS in November
00:25:24 News 04: LG C2 TVs have issues
00:34:59 DF Content Discussion: Unreal Engine 5
00:53:00 DF Content Discussion: Motorstorm and PS3 emulation
01:04:08 DF Supporter Q1: What is your opinion on Deck's night pitched fan whine?
01:05:40 DF Supporter Q2: Would the Steam Deck (or other platforms) benefit from games having a native resolution UI with the 3D graphics at a lower resolution scaled up?
01:05:56 DF Supporter Q3: What are your thoughts on the upcoming technologies regarding upsampling via FSR 2.0 or Unreal engines TAA solution regarding the Steam Deck's resolution?
01:08:36 DF Supporter Q4: Why didn't UE5 release with direct storage to begin with?
01:11:08 DF Supporter Q5: How do you guys think the increased focus on CPU power in current-gen consoles will affect game design trends going forward?
01:19:36 DF Supporter Q6: Do you think we’ll ever see a FPS AI driven optimization built into game engines, perhaps to push a 30fps title to an AI-interpolated 60fps without a noticeable sacrifice to quality and latency?
01:24:05 DF Supporter Q7: What exactly does the PS5 have in hardware to support ray tracing?
01:25:33 DF Supporter Q8: Which games would you consider technological highlights on the "OG-Xbox"?
Let's say you're a bunch of tech journalists producing a weekly show based on gaming and technology news... and there's not really any worthwhile gaming or technology news to speak of? In an ideal world, we'd give ourselves the week off but #content must never sleep. And to be fair, we think we've managed to deliver a decent show nonetheless. Enjoy!
00:00:00 Introductions
00:01:23 News 01: Minecraft RT leaks onto Xbox Series, promptly removed.
00:05:27 DF Supporter Q: Why do you think MICROSOFT seemingly doesn't care about Minecraft on its own console?
00:09:46 News 02: Remedy to remake Max Payne 1 & 2
00:18:14 News 03: Unreal Engine 5 out of early access
00:36:36 DF Content Discussion: DF Retro Motorstorm
00:45:49 DF Content Discussion: Doom RT
00:54:14 DF Supporter Q1: How do you feel about the Steam Deck LCD display after some regular use now?
00:58:17 DF Supporter Q2: What's your thoughts on the potential of the Analogue Pocket 4 months on since release?
01:02:18 DF Supporter Q3&4: How long do you give it before owning a VRR display for current gen consoles becomes a necessity? / Do you have any thoughts as to why it took so long for Sony to implement VRR?
01:10:23 DF Supporter Q5: Jurassic Park Trespasser DF Retro WEN?
01:12:32 DF Supporter Q6: Can variable rate shading replace dynamic resolution scaling?
01:16:21 DF Supporter Q7: If my geforce 1070 ti dies, what do I get to replace it? Assume a $500ish budget.
01:18:24 DF Supporter Q8: Is there ever a conflict about who gets to review a certain game?
A week of hot news - Sony scrambles to take on Game Pass (or Games Pass, as Alex would more correctly call it as it has more than one game), The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild 2 is delayed but showcased with footage that looks significantly beyond Switch's capabilities - and Intel launches its first Arc GPU products. RTX 3090 Ti also debuts. And... could it be? Is Knack finally returning? And if not, why not?
00:00:00 Introductions
00:00:40 News 01: PlayStation reveals new subscription service
00:10:32 DF Supporter Q roundup
00:22:37 News 02: Breath of the Wild 2 delayed till Spring 2023
00:28:30 News 03: Nvidia RTX 3090 Ti details
00:35:38 News 04: Intel Arc launches on laptops
00:43:08 News 05: KNACK ALERT
00:45:45 DF Supporter Q1: What's your opinion about Steam Deck possibly utilising FSR 2.0 or XeSS using DP4A?
00:56:36 DF Supporter Q2: Do you think Steam Deck will stop being a niche product?
00:59:42 DF Supporter Q3: What's your take on DirectML?
01:04:04 DF Supporter Q4: John has mentioned he believes PS2-era or earlier games look best on a CRT because many effects were meant to render at a lower resolution. Isn’t that more of a game-by-game assessment, though?
01:10:36 DF Supporter Q5: Do you feel manual transmission adds anything to the gameplay experience in racing games versus just sticking with automatic?
01:13:55 DF Supporter Q6: Do you think BFI (Black Frame Insertion) is a dying technique now that LG has removed BFI 120hz from its newest generation OLEDs?
01:19:56 DF Supporter Q7: When did you start building PCs, and what started it?
This is the news! John, Rich and Alex take to the mics to discuss the end of CDPR's REDengine, image reconstruction via FSR 2.0 and XeSS, plus the long awaited confirmation of VRR (variable refresh rate) support coming to PlayStation 5. In short, there's a lot of 'hullaballoo' to sift through this week.
00:00:00 Introductions
00:00:36 News 01: CD Project RED announces UE5 powered Witcher game
00:18:26 News 02: VRR is coming to PS5
00:28:19 News 03: AMD's FSR 2.0 presentation at GDC
00:33:34 DF Supporter Q: Do you think FSR 2.0 could be used on console as they are AMD powered?
00:45:36 News 04: Unity releases new "Enemies" real time cinematic showcase
00:52:54 News 05: Zelda Ocarina of Time has been decompiled and released publicly
00:56:56 News 06: Nintendo Switch gets "Groups" folder support
00:59:03 DF Supporter Q: Would you still play new PC releases if you didn't review them for a living?
01:03:21 DF Supporter Q: What type of video or content do you dream of making?
01:12:27 DF Supporter Q: Does it make sense for Nintendo to target 4k on the next Switch even with reconstruction?
01:18:03 DF Supporter Q: Can AMD and Nvidia do something to fix the shader compilation issues on PC?
01:22:46 DF Supporter Q: Will you review GTA 5 when it releases on Playstation 6 and Xbox Series XL?
A packed show this week! Alex shares his impressions on Grand Theft Auto 5's arrival on the new wave of consoles, the Elden Ring performance saga continues with the arrival of patch 1.03, AMD reveals the impressive-looking FSR 2.0, while AMD also aims to take on Intel at the more budget-orientated end of the market.
00:00:00 Introductions
00:01:09 GTA Fünf releases on PS5
00:09:48 Elden Ring 1.03 console performance boost?
00:21:36 FSR 2.0
00:31:39 AMD New CPUs taking on Alder Lake
00:37:48 GT7 servers down for 24 hours
00:44:05 Microsoft "releases" DirectStorage
00:46:28 UK sales physical vs digital
00:50:01 DF Content Discussion: Steam Deck
00:52:46 DF Content Discussion: DF Retro Gran Turismo
00:56:47 DF Supporter Q1: With the reality of console supply shortages isn't crossgen the more responsible course?
01:02:39 DF Supporter Q2: If you didn't have to use them for coverage purposes, would any of you ever touch a PS4/Xbox One system ever again?
01:06:07 DF Supporter Q3: How close are the two horizons (Forbidden West/Forza) to Nanite/UE5 in terms of geometric density/complexity?
01:07:52 DF Supporter Q4: Steam Deck has this very useful 30 FPS option built in. Do you think, the console manufacturers could implement such "half refresh rate" feature into their own SDK?
01:10:28 DF Supporter Q5: How do you keep CRT TV's maintained and going?
01:13:52 DF Supporter Q6: What went wrong with Microsoft's Windows Experience Index score as a replacement for system requirements?
In a packed show, it's Rich, John and Alex at their respective microphones, sharing their thoughts on the Japan-focused State of Play, what tweaks to image quality Guerrilla Games has delivered for Horizon Forbidden West, plus a quick look at Dying Light 1's 60fps patch. Meanwhile, Alex is raging about stutter in PC games... but we're not going to let him talk about it. Not just yet.
00:00:00 Introductions
00:01:05 State of Play reactions
00:14:04 Horizon Forbidden West 1.07 patch
00:20:26 Dying Light next-gen patch
00:25:44 F-Zero X comes to NSO
00:29:55 Media.Vision announces 5 games in development
00:31:38 Switch OLED 3600 hour burn-in test
00:38:31 DF Supporter Q: Do you think the "burn-in crisis" is overblown?
00:42:37 DF Content Discussion: Guardians of the Galaxy on GamePass / DF Retro update
00:51:02 DF Supporter Q1/2/3: Elden Ring performance questions
01:02:57 DF Supporter Q4: What would you prefer? Locked 60fps or 60-80fps VRR?
01:06:22 DF Supporter Q5: Why is it so hard to produce OLED-Screens for the PC market?
01:14:32 DF Supporter Q6: Do you hold out much hope for improper frame-pacing being addressed in the next Switch?
01:16:42 DF Supporter Q7: Do you think Super Switch will be capable of matching or even surpassing the visual presentation of the new Sony and Microsoft machines?
01:19:07 DF Supporter Q8: The Bubsy Curse rumor
A gigantic week of news, covering Elden Ring, the Switch Pro leak and reaction to Steam Deck... and yes, we take more user questions than ever before in covering these massive stories.
00:00:00 Introductions
00:01:27 Steam Deck coverage and thoughts
00:10:38 Steam Deck Q1: Do you think the Deck passes the “significant other couch test”?
00:12:28 Steam Deck Q2: What happens if you put in a aftermarket NVMe or install Windows without proper drivers
00:15:42 Steam Deck Q3: Is there a danger of developers being held back by Steam Deck?
00:19:38 Steam Deck Q4: Will issues with AMD GPU drivers hold back emulation on the Steam Deck?
00:22:06 Steam Deck Q5: Do you think it would be feasible for Valve to integrate the functionality of a 50Hz mode in the Steam Deck via a software update?
00:27:06 Elden Ring coverage and thoughts
00:33:19 Elden Ring Q1&2: Is the 10/10 warranted for Elden Ring / What is causing the poor framerate in Elden Ring?
00:42:25 Elden Ring Q3: Should From Software have reached out to Bluepoint to inherit some of their expertise?
00:47:25 Elden Ring Q4: What can be done with hardware and software to mitigate the issues in lieu of a proper fix?
00:51:38 Elden Ring Q5: Elden Ring would be a DX12 game on the Xbox Platform of Consoles, which all use DX12 anyway, so why doesnt it seem that any of them suffer from shader comp issues in any game really?
00:52:43 Elden Ring Q6: Are there more things companies like AMD, NVidia and Valve can do to help improve the experience for users?
00:56:05 Nvidia leak suggests new Switch hardware specs
01:02:55 Resident Evil 2, 3 and 7 gets next-gen patches
01:05:15 DF Supporter Q1: Do you think that GT7 was held back by its cross-gen nature? And to what degree?
01:12:09 DF Supporter Q2: Would you consider an enhanced PS5 that’s more XT than pro to be worthwhile?
01:13:48 DF Supporter Q3: Is it fair to say that raw compute is becoming an increasingly less relevant factor in the performance equation?
01:17:12 DF Supporter Q4: Do you think that rasterisation performance will be less important in the PC GPU space in the future?
01:20:42 DF Supporter Q5: What are your thoughts about the no doubt inevitable push for 8k next gen?
It's been one of the busiest weeks thus far in 2022 for the team, but nothing stops this train! Audi Sorlie, John Linneman and Alex Battaglia are here to serve up early impressions on Elden Ring, give some Steam Deck predictions, discuss various visual issues with Sol Cresta and of course, dish out the pain with the announcement of Street Fighter 6. All this and more for this week's DF Direct Weekly!
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:13 Elden Ring impressions
00:18:44 Steam Deck review imminent
00:20:52 Bethesda launcher is no more, moving to Steam
00:25:41 Sol Cresta has issues
00:34:54 Street Fighter 6 has been announced
00:44:46 Unreal Engine 5 leaves early access
00:47:26 DF Supporter Q1: Does your mechanistic understanding of how video games and graphics work get in the way of experiencing the games you play?
00:50:53 DF Supporter Q2: Were you suprised by the strong negative backlash from console gamers regarding the image quality in Horizon Forbidden West?
00:58:15 DF Supporter Q3: When do you think PCIE 4.0 will show large GPU performance gains over 3.0?
01:00:26 DF Supporter Q4: Do any of you have any idea why AMD are dragging their feet on a DLSS equivalent?
01:02:52 DF Supporter Q5: What do you guys think about the graphics between Elden Ring and Bluepoint's Demon's Souls remake from 2020?
01:05:15 DF Supporter Q6: Do you think the fighting game genre can still impress in the age of ray traced gaming?
The somewhat unlikely scenario of DF Direct Weekly making its way to a 49th instalment has somehow come to pass! Tom, Alex, Will and Audi are all consigned to Rich's basement this week, meaning that it's just John and Rich to tackle the big news of the week - Cyberpunk 2077's 1.5 update with next-gen features landing, Dying Light 2 receiving VRR unlocked frame-rate support on Xbox Series X and - yes - there's reaction to the reaction of Horizon Forbidden West's release.
00:00:00 Introductions 00:00:55 Cyberpunk Patch 1.5 is out 00:17:07 Dying Light Xbox VRR Mode 00:20:07 DF Bonus Supporter Q: Hey guys, did you have any chance to look at the Dying light 2 VRR mode for Xbox? Seems like it now runs at 80-100 fps on average in performance mode, as far as I can tell through LGs built in VRR info screen. Do you think DRS with a locked 60 would have been better instead? 00:22:28 Nintendo announces the death of 3DS and WiiU storefronts 00:27:52 Chrono Cross Remaster filters can be disabled 00:30:14 Final Vendetta - Bitmap Bureau's new game 00:31:52 Elden Ring Recommended Specs are bizarre 00:37:11 DF Content Discussion: Horizon Forbidden West 00:41:31 DF Bonus Supporter Q: SkillUp's review for Horizon Forbidden West showed significantly more noticeable pop-in than Digital Foundry's. Any idea why that might be? 00:45:16 DF Bonus Supporter Q: Do you think there is enough headroom for a 40 fps mode? 00:46:20 DF Bonus Supporter Q: Do you think AMD FSR would be the better choice for the performance mode of horizon forbidden west? 00:49:12 DF Bonus Supporter Q: What do you think about the fact that all Decima games we've seen so far only lightly utilize TAA? 00:50:30 DF Bonus Supporter Q: What graphical elements of Horizon Forbidden West could benefit from an eventual PC port? 00:56:49 DF Supporter Q1/2: Would it be possible to make a kind of generation comparison video? 01:01:00 DF Supporter Q3: Is there a setting on LG C1 that is suitable for 30 fps games? 01:03:21 DF Supporter Q4: What are some great hdr implementations in games to really convince somebody that hdr is as amazing as some people say it is? 01:06:13 DF Supporter Q5: Who would you recommend to buy AMD GPUs assuming the cards are available at MSRP? Do you think AMD can catch up with Nvidia in RT/ML and does the coming XeSS help AMD? 01:12:42 DF Supporter Q6: Do you think we're going to start seeing larger and larger gaps between 30fps quality modes and 60fps performance modes? And do you expect some games to drop their performance modes all together? 01:15:08 DF Supporter Q7: What do you think is responsible for the lack of four- and even two-Player split-screen multiplayer on modern consoles? 01:19:27 DF Supporter Q8: How do you decide which platform to buy a game on?
In the week where a favoured few posted their Steam Deck hardware reviews, and where Nintendo posted a new Direct, it's down to John, Rich and Alex to sift through the revelations and present their views and opinions... of which there are many.
00:00:00 Introductions 00:00:41 Steam Deck review reaction 00:01:09 DF Bonus Q1: Did you receive a Steam Deck and what are your initial anecdotal impressions? 00:11:09 DF Bonus Q2: Do you think display cost is the (only) reason for the Steam Deck not having VRR and do you believe there's a chance we will get a revision with VRR anytime soon? 00:15:02 DF Bonus Q3: What do you think about Steam Deck having a system level FSR, so that the games don't actually have to support it? 00:23:04 DF Bonus Q4: Do you think the Steam deck as a platform would benefit more from frequent (yearly) iterations? 00:25:44 Nintendo Direct 2.9.2022 00:36:46 Call of Duty will stay on PS "beyond the existing agreement" 00:39:51 Google Stadia shifts focus to Google Stream 00:46:18 Crysis Remastered gets last patch 00:53:53 DF Supporter Q1: Alex, are you excited for Total War Warhammer 3? 00:55:46 DF Supporter Q2: Will a fast quad core like an Alder Lake i3 last for the rest of the generation since it out performs a similar 8 core to what is in the new consoles? 01:00:58 DF Supporter Q3: Are there any types of GPU cards that made a particularly strong impression on you? 01:09:23 DF Supporter Q4: Why don't the new consoles use 16x anisotropic filtering? 01:11:02 DF Supporter Q5: Do you think next-gen came too soon? 01:18:03 DF Supporter Q6: Do you think we will see Pro consoles again this generation? 01:23:25 DF Supporter Q7: Do any of you typically go in for collectors editions of games?
The Digital Foundry team amass to discuss Sony's acquisition of Bungie, Destiny remaining multi-platform, DLSS arriving for Flight Simulator along with the phenomenal success of the Nintendo Switch. And what's the score with Dying Light 2's resolution reaction?
00:00:00 Introductions 00:00:33 Sony buys Bungie 00:15:22 DLSS coming to Flight Simulator 00:19:56 Switch is the fastest selling console of all-time 00:27:25 Bloodborne "PSX Demake" releases 00:31:50 Team17 pledges support for NFT, cancels support for NFT 1 hour later 00:40:51 DF Content Discussion: Dying Light 2 00:50:26 DF Supporter Q1: Do you believe that games on the next generations of consoles from Sony and Microsoft will rely mostly on ray tracing for rendering graphics? 00:52:56 DF Supporter Q2: Do you think the Steam Deck would be capable of becoming a portable 60fps PS3 thanks to the emulator RCPS3? 00:55:55 DF Supporter Q3: How does id Tech 7 avoid the shader compilation stutter issues we see in Unreal Engine games? 00:58:36 DF Supporter Q4: Does DLSS work with Dynamic Resolution? 01:02:05 DF Supporter Q5: When developers get a idea of what hardware will be in next-gen consoles? 01:07:58 DF Supporter Q6: Local hardware combined with cloud based hardware = Super hardware?
What's going on with Call of Duty on PS5 following the Microsoft acquisition of Activision? What actually happened when Alex Battaglia discovered that Crysis 4 is in development? Just how good does the Resident Evil 4 HD mod look? The answers to these questions and many more are to be found in DF Direct Weekly #46 with Rich Leadbetter, Alex Battaglia and John Linneman on mic duties.
00:00:00 Introductions 00:00:31 Activision/Microsoft continued 00:08:12 Crysis 4 announcement 00:12:57 DF Bonus Supporter Q: Crysis 4 get its own "parallax sand" moment? If so, what are your predictions on what Crytek will bring to the table? 00:16:13 New Black Myth Wukong dev diary 00:20:27 Resident Evil 4 HD Project will see release Feb 2 00:24:18 Epic Games Incubates New Studio in Poland 00:28:00 DF Content Discussion: Uncharted PS5 00:39:41 DF Supporter Q1: Would Sony be able to shrink the PlayStation 4 into a handheld form and have it play the entire PS4 library? 00:43:23 DF Supporter Q2: If Nvidia released an RTX 40xx series graphics card tomorrow, which games or tech demos in your current library would you want to test first? 00:52:54 DF Supporter Q3: Rich, when can we expect more 4K on a budget? 01:02:23 DF Supporter Q4: I've seen rumors that Sony is looking to add backwards compatibility of some sort for PS1, PS2, and PS3 to the PS5. How would you like to see Sony handle this? 01:09:28 DF Supporter Q5: With our move to a post-resolution future, what are some games that you think do benefit from a native resolution? 01:12:06 DF Supporter Q6: Do you think another player could (or even should) enter the console market as it is today?
Audi, Alex and John take on this dramatic week of news as we further reflect on the ongoing Microsoft/Activision rumblings, the dreadful AMD RX6500 XT launch, Cloud only gaming on the switch, Diablo II DRM and even a bit of Netflix and chill. All this and more in DF Direct Weekly!
00:00:00 Introductions 00:00:56 Microsoft/Activision 00:16:11 Horizon Forbidden West Story trailer (no spoilers) 00:20:27 Diablo II Remastered DRM troubles 00:26:22 AMD RX6500 XT 00:35:30 Kingdom Hearts on Switch, could only, $90 00:43:16 Cuphead coming to Netflix, Shenmue The Animation debuts Feb 00:48:13 Final Fantasy 7 classic version gets native 60fps support 00:54:30 DF Content Discussion: John's Big Rig 01:08:37 DF Content Discussion: Patreon content plans 01:11:27 DF Content Discussion: PC Time Capsules 01:14:53 DF Supporter Q1: With the upcoming Steam Deck I fear that it will flop because of availability issues. What are your thoughts on this? 01:17:23 DF Supporter Q2: Is there any hope for Xbox in the Japanese territory? 01:22:59 DF Supporter Q3: What are the chances that old Activision titles like Deadpool, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles™: Out of the Shadows and the Transformers games by High Moon Studios will be relisted for PC again? 01:26:19 DF Supporter Q4: Take a favorite game of any genre, now have it remade in a completely different one. 01:29:50 DF Supporter Q5: Anything you guys looking forward to with HDMI 2.1a? 01:31:10 DF Supporter Q6: Do you think that Microsoft's acquisitions will eventually include major tv and film content? 01:33:28 DF Supporter Q7: Alex, what is the game box to the left of the white Quake box behind you?
Huge news shaking the core of the games industry today as Microsoft seemingly out of nowhere announced their acquisition of Activision/Blizzard/King, hot on the heels of them already adding Bethesda to their Xbox family. Audi Sorlie, Alex Battaglia and John Linneman enter the war room to discuss what this could potentially mean for Microsoft and the video game industry itself.
Rich, Alex and Will take to the mics for DF Direct Weekly #44, talking about extended lifespans for last-gen consoles, a lacklustre patch for Final Fantasy 7 Remake on PC, more woes from the PC hardware market and an interesting solution for getting Fortnite back on iOS devices...
00:00:00 Introductions
00:00:38 Is Sony Dealing With PlayStation 5 Shortages by Making More PS4s?
00:04:59 Square Patches Final Fantasy 7 Remake PC
00:13:21 GeForce 3080 12GB is causing problems
00:21:16 Fortnite back on iOS via GeForce Now
00:26:42 DF Content Discussion: Will's Weird Tech
00:34:18 DF Content Discussion: Quake Remastered
00:37:17 DF Content Discussion: God of War PC discussion
00:45:30 DF Supporter Q1: Recent reports suggests Series S sales may be outpacing Series X. What does this mean for the future development environment of the Series X?
00:52:06 DF Supporter Q2: Hypothetically, if VRR was to become the norm and every modern display had support for it, what sort of frame rates do you think developers should target?
00:58:13 DF Supporter Q3: Hi DF, do you expect the continuing chip shortages to result in cross gen releases persisting for the majority of major releases through to the end of 2022?
01:02:43 DF Supporter Q4: Have you ever had discussions about colour grading in games with devs?
01:06:10 DF Supporter Q5: How plausible is Half Life Alyx on PSVR2 according to your crystal balls (of steel)? Any inside knowledge, rumor confirmation?
01:07:04 DF Supporter Q6: Why do more PC games not just do the shader compilation in advance?
01:12:00 DF Supporter Q7: Would the DF team consider exploring the topic of integrated graphics for gaming in a future episode?
01:15:04 DF Supporter Q8: What title coming out in 2022 are you looking forward to the most from a tech perspective?
DF Direct Weekly is back for 2022, with John Linneman, Alex Battaglia and Rich Leadbetter emerging from the holiday break to regale you with almost eighty-seven minutes of the latest tech and gaming news.
00:00:00 Introductions
00:00:34 CES 2022: OLED & QDLED News
00:11:25 CES 2022: AMD & Nvidia Conferences
00:23:48 CES 2022: BMW iX colour changing car & Sony Vision
00:28:08 CES 2022: Intel Conference
00:32:11 Square Enix announces intent to go into NFT and blockchain
00:40:59 Xbox Dev Mode gets "shut down", though not really.
00:45:25 Alan Wake Remastered Adds Auto HDR Support on Xbox Series S|X
00:49:31 DF Content Discussion: 2022 plans and resolutions
01:00:27 DF Content Discussion: GOTYS
01:02:56 DF Supporter Q1: Why do you feel gaming has never taken off on Mac?
01:08:47 DF Supporter Q2: I'm curious if we'll ever see a DF Retro H20 part 3?
01:16:18 DF Supporter Q3: What are your thoughts on the current state of AAA gaming, and what are your thoughts on the future of AAA gaming?
01:19:57 DF Supporter Q4: Is it possible that PSVR2 could be the leading platform for the most cutting edge VR experiences for the next few years?
01:22:26 DF Supporter Q5: From listening to the DF crew talk about ray tracing I gather that it is somewhat of an endgame in terms of real time lighting techniques. I wonder, is there anything that raytracing fundamentally can't do?
Rich Leadbetter, John Linneman and Alex Battaglia sit down at the end of 2021 to discuss the first full year of the new console generation. Have PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S lived up to expectations? What to make of the platform comparisons one year in? Does Series S deliver?
Join Alex Battaglia and John Linneman for an extended discussion on the best game graphics of 2021. There've been some amazing visuals this year - remarkable achievements from the first year of the 'next-gen' consoles, and all delivered in the Covid era, no less. Please note: Flight Simulator would definitely have made the list, but remember that it was first released in 2020 - and we talked about it in depth in the Best Game Graphics of 2020!
Join Alex Battaglia, John Linneman and Tom Morgan for Digital Foundry's last DF Direct of the year! The team share their views on first media assets of Horizon Zero Dawn on the base PS4, there's reaction to the brilliant new Xbox documentary, Nightdive Studios shows off their System Shock remake, plus of course, there's more DF content discussion and Supporter questions!
00:00:00 Introductions
00:01:14 Horizon Forbidden West PS4 version revealed
00:06:24 Colour plates for PS5
00:09:44 Xbox Documentary impressions
00:24:43 Nightdive shows off System Shock
00:28:50 Psygnosis co-founder Ian Hetherington passes away
00:34:33 PC Gamer lists 18 games not available digitally
00:48:16 Splinter Cell is back, BABY
00:52:32 DF Content Discussion: Game of the Year videos
00:54:02 DF Content Discussion: 12 Days of Phoenix Games
00:57:22 DF Supporter Q1: How much better do you think DLSS can get over time?
01:00:25 DF Supporter Q2: Any backlog games that you guys are planning to play/finish during the holidays?
01:04:33 DF Supporter Q3: John, you've been preaching about using the BFI-mode on the LG CX and setting it up properly using ColorControl PC software. Do you have some sort of walkthrough at hand on how to set this up?
01:08:20 DF Supporter Q4: Do you think the emergence of more super detailed and realistic game worlds we'll see the emergence of titles that centre around virtual tourism and simple exploration?
01:12:44 DF Supporter Q5: When will we get the next big leap for rendering foliage?
01:19:12 DF Supporter Q6: I’d like to ask if you thought of adding a film grain filter percentage as a new way to measure clarity?
01:23:40 DF Supporter Q7: Why is Genesis/Mega Drive audio so hard for emulators to get right?
01:29:31 DF Supporter Q8: Is Parasite Eve a Christmas game or is it a game that's set during the Christmas season?
In the immediate aftermath of The Game Awards, it's John Linneman, Alex Battaglia and Rich Leadbetter at the mics to talk about the new trailers, the continual evolution of Horizon Zero Dawn on PC plus... what's going on with Sony's plans to compete against Microsoft's Xbox Game Pass?
00:00:00 Introductions 00:00:33 The Game Awards reaction 00:21:18 Horizon Zero Dawn gets DLSS 00:32:22 PlayStation rumoured to make new subscription service 00:44:23 Bulk Slash English translation releases 00:46:08 DF Content Discussion: Halo Infinite and the physical disc situation 01:03:00 DF Content Discussion: Christmas content 01:05:56 DF Supporter Q1: Tom's videos say "XBOX ONE" while everyone else goes with "XBOX ONE S". Is it fair to assume Tom's the only one using OG Durango? 01:07:12 DF Supporter Q2: What is the general level of support for surround sound setups in modern games? 01:11:09 DF Supporter Q3: How useful is dynamic resolution scaling? 01:14:16 DF Supporter Q4: Why do devs tend to limit dynamic resolution bounds so much? 01:20:19 DF Supporter Q5: Do you foresee more developers making use of or at the very least allowing users to play their games at above 60fps in cases where perhaps 120fps is not feasible? 01:23:23 DF Supporter Q6: Do you think poor response times of commercial LCD televisions at the time helped standardise 30fps during the Xbox 360 and PS3 era? 01:28:37 DF Supporter Q7: What is everyone's favourite ever controller?
This week, it's Rich Leadbetter, Alex Battaglia and Will Judd at the mics, talking Halo Infinite coverage plans, GTA Definitive Edition patches, RTX 3080 Ti and Ryzen 6000 mobile laptop tech - and what's up with the RTX 2060 12GB? It should be noted that subsequent to recording, Nvidia did indeed confirm that it is real. Plus: DF content talk and more supporter questions to answer!
00:00:00 Introductions 00:00:56 Halo Infinite coverage incoming 00:03:47 GTA Definitive Edition gets patched 00:13:36 RTX 3080 Ti and Ryzen 6000 updates rumored for CES 00:20:25 RTX 2060 12GB Specs look odd/good? 00:27:50 Innovision Fantasy One GPU Line 00:33:27 Zelda Ocarina of Time reverse engineered and decompiled 00:38:20 Valve Confirms That There Won't Be Steam Deck-Exclusive Games 00:40:26 DF Content Discussion: Windows 11, vlogs and Black Friday 00:59:49 DF Supporter Q1: Pick any game, any time, any system, that you could be there for every step of development in. 01:04:10 DF Supporter Q2: Do you think that this semiconductor shortage, GPU prices skyrocketing that all this will go back to the 'good old days' in a year or two? 01:10:13 DF Supporter Q3: Why the heck did framerates for my PC (1700X / GTX1080) double when I added a second stick of 8GB RAM? 01:14:48 DF Supporter Q4: Should I limit my RTX 2080 to 40FPS based on my specs? 01:19:56 DF Supporter Q5: If using last-gen systems, do you think an external (or internal for PS4) SSD is now approaching a necessity? 01:24:05 DF Supporter Q6: Which gaming headsets are you using and what are your recommendations in that regard? 01:25:29 DF Supporter Q7: Would it be worthwhile to develop a DF performance rubric?
This week, it's Rich Leadbetter, Audi Sorlie and John Linneman at the mics as they discuss Mark Cerny's latest PS5 video, Hitman 3 in 2022 with RT reflections... and an apparent end to Microsoft's excellent FPS Boost program?
00:00:00 Introductions 00:01:22 Cerny & Sony visits Wired 00:13:03 Hitman 3 gets DXR reflections in 2022 00:19:50 Xbox 20th Anniversary Museum 00:32:20 No More FPS Boost? 00:40:19 Square Enix's "big" remake is supposedly Chrono Cross 00:49:31 Crazy Frog returns 00:50:37 DF Content Discussion: Bright Memory Infinite 00:56:34 DF Content Discussion: Evercade vs. livestream 00:59:39 DF Content Discussion: Black Friday deals 01:04:50 DF Content Discussion: DF After Dark 01:06:33 DF Supporter Q1: With XBOX's backwards compatbility updates and the GTA "remaster" debacle, do you think remasters are even necessary? 01:13:16 DF Supporter Q2: In your opinions, will reduced power draw and battery limitations prevent the production of more powerful portable devices? 01:17:19 DF Supporter Q3: With Intel's XeSS being somewhat GPU agnostic, do you have any thoughts about the technology being implemented in PS5/X Series consoles? 01:21:17 DF Supporter Q4: "Hi DF, would like to know your thoughts on the on-demand Texture Streaming used Call of Duty." 01:24:40 DF Supporter Q5: "I am personally not fond of “open world” games. However, I have come to like “wide linear” games. What are your opinions on this?" 01:36:13 DF Supporter Q6: Did you ever cover the demo scene or are you planning on it? 01:39:41 DF Supporter Q7: You often say that the DF Patreon program changed a lot for the whole team. Can each of you go more into details?
With John hunkering down to complete the latest DF Retro episode, it's Rich, Alex and Tom at the mics for this week's DF Direct Weekly - and this week, there's a strong Xbox focus in the news. #Xbox20 discussion, new FPS Boost, Nvidia gets into spatial upscaling and launches a new visual comparison tool, Age of Empires 4 is patched to great effect - and is the Hellblade RT patch for PC any good?
00:00:00 Introductions
00:00:38 Xbox 20th Anniversary, Backwards compatibility update + more
00:15:50 Phil Spencer calls for wide support of emulation
00:20:21 Elder Scrolls VI will only appear on Xbox Series and PC
00:24:20 Nvidia launches new upscaling algorithm
00:30:05 Age of Empires 4 gets update based on feedback
00:33:16 Hellblade patch brings RTX and more
00:41:57 DF Content Discussion: Elden Ring network test
00:48:41 DF Content Discussion: Guardians of the Galaxy post launch update
00:53:57 DF Supporter Q1: Why do so many games release with incorrect frame pacing?
01:00:58 DF Supporter Q2: The saga of conflicting cloud gaming experiences
01:11:05 DF Supporter Q3: If a current gen game is displayed in a 1080p, will the game potentially perform better?
01:14:13 DF Supporter Q4: UE4 DX12 HDR doesn't always work on but DX11 HDR works. Is there any way a user can fix this?
01:16:40 DF Supporter Q5: With the limited availability of PlayStation and Xbox consoles do you think this will lead to both companies having nearly equal amount of console sold?
01:21:01 DF Supporter Q6: Do you expect Sony or Microsoft to come forward with handheld versions of their consoles anytime soon?
01:24:13 DF Supporter Q7: @Tom: recommend me somewhere to eat in Brighton.
Not the sort of week we'd care to repeat really, but here we are. Full discussion of our takeover by Russian crypt-currency scammers, PS5 getting hacked not once but twice, the Steam Deck delay, the latest Halo Infinite reveal and... could it be? Will the Windows Store actually get properly fixed?
Chapters:
00:00:00 Introductions 00:00:36 We were hacked! 00:08:40 PS5 was also hacked! 00:18:48 Halo Infinite IGN first look impressions 00:26:21 Steam Deck delayed until Feb 2022 00:31:38 Windows Store finally gets an update 00:37:03 Unity aquires Weta Digital 00:39:38 DF Content Discussion: GTA Definitive Editon early impressions 00:54:56 DF Content Discussion: Patreon content updates 01:01:02 DF Supporter Q1: Nearly a year in, what do you think of the Series S experiment? 01:07:08 DF Supporter Q2: Forza Horizon 5 seems like an excellent candidate for the inclusion of a 40fps/120hz mode. Would this be difficult for developers to implement? 01:11:23 DF Supporter Q3: Is there any advantage to using my Xbox in 120hz mode outside of games that support a 120 fps mode? 01:15:32 DF Supporter Q4: Would DLSS work well in Forza Horizon 5 and could their MSAA work with it as well? 01:18:33 DF Supporter Q5: I've noticed CPUs are often tested at or around 1080p High settings these days but are we missing the longevity aspect of CPUs in reviews? 01:24:03 DF Supporter Q6: Does the team perceive ARM architecture as a viable option for future console generations given Apple's commitment to the technology is starting to deliver some impressive performance?
While Forza Horizon 5 fills most of the week here at Digital Foundry, there was still a bit of news and happenings to discuss. This week, Audi Sorlie, Alex Battaglia and John Linneman convene to talk about the Battlefield 2042 RTX trailer marking a second week in a row that Alex has some choice words on trailer showcases, Sony listened to the community and provides fixes for the CMOS issue, Netflix enters the gaming space in unexpected ways and a classic adventure game sees its source code made public after 25 years. All this plus the reveal of the next DF Retro and your supporter questions!
Halo Infinite's campaign re-reveal, Far Cry 6's email shaming program and the Sony PC and State of Play reveals are discussed along with in-depth chat on the new 12th Gen Intel Core architecture. And what's up with N64 emulation on Switch?
The weekly DF Direct returns once again! This time, John, Alex and Rich tackle the recent MacBook Pro reveals and what it means for Apple and gaming, there's discussion on CD Projekt RED's next-gen patches for Cyberpunk 2077 and The Witcher 3, while Half-Life 2 gets upgraded for Steam Deck.
This week, Alex raves about Star Citizen, John has an emotional moment playing Forza Horizon 5 and... what on earth's going on with Metroid Dread performance on some Switch consoles?
John, Rich and Alex share their thoughts on Halo Infinite's Big Team Battle mode and their overall opinions on the game's flighting process, the internals of the Switch OLED Model's dock are discussed and Valve's video showing the insides of the Steam Deck proves as frustrating as it is illuminating. All of this and more in the new DF Direct!