Digital Foundry Direct Weekly Digital Foundry

There's anger, bafflement and frustration this week as John, Rich and Alex discuss Microsoft's decision to close one studio that created one of the greatest immersive games ever made and another studio that's just delivered a BAFTA-winning, critically acclaimed rhythm action game... so what is going on at Xbox right now? Beyond that, the team discuss the latest Switch 2 revelations, the new Asus ROG - or R.O.G. - Ally, Hellblade 2 PC specs and Sony's massive Helldivers 2 own-goal.

0:00:00 Introduction
0:01:38 News 01: Microsoft shutters Tango Gameworks, Arkane Austin
0:44:37 News 02: Nintendo confirms Switch sequel, potential components uncovered
1:03:42 News 03: Asus announces new ROG Ally
1:16:13 News 04: Sony backtracks on Helldivers 2 PC PSN requirements
1:25:25 News 05: Ninja Theory reveal Hellblade 2 PC specs
1:36:15 News 06: Sand Land released!
1:44:17 Supporter Q1: Could the Switch 2 connect to a TV wirelessly?
1:46:52 Supporter Q2: How much longevity will video cards with 8-10 GB of VRAM have?
1:53:41 Supporter Q3: Should next gen consoles have much larger RAM allotments?
1:57:40 Supporter Q4: Do you think mouse and keyboard support will become more common on consoles?
2:00:49 Supporter Q5: How feasible is it to update an older UE5 game to UE 5.4?
2:03:50 Supporter Q6: Could Intel beat AMD in discrete GPU sales by 2029?
2:06:40 Supporter Q7: What’s your favourite immersive sim, and why is it Prey (2017)?
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The latest DF Direct Weekly sees Rich, Oliver and Alex at the mics (John returns in the next episode!) discussing Bethesda's unique approach to Starfield's upcoming display mode upgrades, while there's concern about the health of console gaming in the wake of poor AMD gaming revenue. Rich talks PS5 Pro GPU details - including caches, clock speeds and features - while the latest Switch 2 rumours and reports are assessed for their plausibility. There's genuine excitement over AMD's new Strix Point and Strix Halo APUs, while Alex goes into depth about all the path-tracing features now unearthed in Capcom RE Engine games.

0:00:00 Introduction
0:01:41 News 01: Bethesda announces big Starfield update
0:23:05 News 02: AMD sees massive gaming revenue decline
0:40:14 News 03: New PS5 Pro GPU details!
0:58:27 News 04: Switch 2 rumour roundup
1:07:40 News 05: RTX Remix getting DLSS 3.5 Ray Reconstruction
1:16:02 News 06: Resident Evil titles get path tracing!
1:27:14 News 07: AMD Strix APUs pack great integrated GPU performance
1:35:06 Supporter Q1: Could Nintendo games use DLSS 2 to reach 4K output on Switch 2?
1:40:23 Supporter Q2: What features would you add to Switch 2, if you could pick anything?
1:45:25 Supporter Q3: Could the potential merging of Xbox and PC development hurt Xbox?
1:50:13 Supporter Q4: Could developers run a game’s logic at high rates to improve responsiveness, while keeping frame-rate untouched?
1:54:19 Supporter Q5: Gaming handhelds theoretically seem as fast as a Series S. Why are they slower in practice?
1:57:40 Supporter Q6: Could Valve build a viable console platform to compete with Sony?
2:03:16 Supporter Q7: If you had to pick between #StutterStruggle and FSR 2 artifacts, which would you pick?
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In this 160th edition, it's Tom Morgan joining Rich and Alex to discuss the latest gaming and technology news. There's good news and bad news with Fallout 4's new 'next-gen' upgrade, Rich is impressed with Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora's new 40fps mode for PS5 and Series X, while Alex talks us through the latest path-tracing innovations revealed at GDC and GTC. Tom shares his impressions on Paper Mario for Nintendo Switch, Rich tests frame-gen on ROG Ally - and are Lords of the Fallen's tech issues resolved in the newly released patch 1.5?

0:00:00 Introduction
0:01:57 News 01: Fallout 4 gets mixed current-gen upgrade
0:22:14 News 02: Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora gets 40fps mode
0:38:07 News 03: Lords of the Fallen receives performance boost
0:49:12 News 04: Alex dives deep into game tech
1:11:56 News 05: ROG Ally updated with AFMF tech
1:22:08 News 06: Paper Mario preview!
1:29:31 Supporter Q1: Could frame gen be used to scale a game from 40fps to 120fps, and then decimate it to 60fps?
1:34:07 Supporter Q2: Why are some Microsoft games exhibiting different settings on PS5 relative to Series X?
1:42:49 Supporter Q3: Do you prefer Doom 1993 or Doom 2016?
1:47:11 Supporter Q4: Is sampler feedback the Series S savior? And is the PS5 API better than Microsoft’s?
1:53:07 Supporter Q5: Is the PS4’s continued developer support a problem for Sony?
2:00:13 Supporter Q6: Could the Switch 2 have an image quality advantage over PC gaming handhelds?
2:05:35 Supporter Q7: Are 13900K and 14900K processors really unstable?
2:10:54 Supporter Q8: What would a Republic of Gamers look like?
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PS5 Pro... ultra boost mode? Rich, Oliver and Alex discuss the possibilities of how Sony's new console can improve existing games, before moving on to discussion of Ghost of Tsushima's PC specs and the 'PlayStation Overlay'. The team mull over the highly attractive Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 trailer, Oliver tests emulation on Apple while Rich gets to grips with GeForce Now's G-Sync support. And as for Alex? How about a 20-minute monologue on Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora's remarkable tech disclosures?

0:00:00 Introduction
0:02:16 News 01: PS5 Pro to receive “ultra boost mode”
0:15:50 News 02: Ghost of Tsushima PC requirements announced
0:31:05 News 03: Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 revealed
0:38:38 News 04: Avatar devs disclose game tech
1:00:17 News 05: Hands-on with GeForce Now G-Sync
1:09:56 News 06: Apple opens the emulator floodgates!
1:18:45 Supporter Q1: What does a more PC-like console look like? Would it be worthwhile?
1:28:25 Supporter Q2: How could a 5090 improve on today’s gaming experiences?
1:36:16 Supporter Q3: Why can’t Nvidia obtain an x86 license and create x86 CPUs?
1:40:38 Supporter Q4: Will The Last of Us Remastered get a PS5 Pro remaster?
1:42:32 Supporter Q5: What are your most anticipated PS5 Pro patches to existing games?
1:48:36 Supporter Q6: Will Sony release their exclusives on PC on the same day as PS5?
1:55:07 Supporter Q7: Can FSR 3.1 save this console generation’s image quality?
2:03:36 Supporter Q8: If DF released a console motherboard shirt, would Alex wear it?
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What's going on with Microsoft's new game preservation team and commitment to forward compatibility? Alex, Rich and Oliver rake over the details - such as they are. Meanwhile, there's discussion over Fallout 4's upcoming current-gen upgrade, while the new Star Wars Outlaws story trailer gets the DF breakdown. And with FSR 3 frame-gen coming to consoles with Immortals of Aveum, what sort of expectation level should be set?

0:00:00 Introduction and DF Merch
0:01:39 News 01: Xbox establishes game preservation team
0:20:26 News 02: Fallout 4 getting current gen upgrade
0:30:03 News 03: Star Wars Outlaws story trailer drops
0:46:10 News 04: Dead Space is dead!
0:53:56 News 05: Immortals of Aveum gets FSR 3 boost on consoles
1:08:29 Supporter Q1: Can you get console-like convenience on a PC?
1:16:12 Supporter Q2: Is the PS5 Pro’s CPU boost enough to bring a 30fps game to 40fps?
1:20:23 Supporter Q3: Are modern games too ‘fake’, with their reliance on upsampling and frame gen?
1:26:40 Supporter Q4: Could RT be losing traction with upcoming games?
1:34:38 Supporter Q5: Could Microsoft launch a Series S-matching handheld this holiday season?
1:42:06 Supporter Q6: What does Microsoft mean when they claim the next Xbox will have the biggest tech leap in a generation?
1:52:06 Supporter Q7: Should we be happy that more games are targeting 30fps on the consoles?
1:57:57 Supporter Q8: How powerful will the Switch 2 be relative to the Steam Deck and Series S?
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A wide range of Hellblade 2 previews emerged last week, but what have we learned about the game and is the dynamic resolution 30fps revelation in any way surprising? John, Rich and Alex share their thoughts while also sharing reactions to the latest chapter in the PS Portal hack story and Nightdive's POed remaster non-April fool. Alex shares news of his experiments with Intel's PresentMon 2.0 - and how it will change our PC games and hardware coverage - while there's intrigue and some level of excitement surrounding Intel's latest XeSS news.

0:00:00 Introduction
0:01:04 News 01: Hellblade 2 previews drop!
0:26:53 News 02: PS Portal hack patched before release
0:34:41 News 03: 90s FPS PO'ed getting Nightdive remaster
0:41:07 News 04: C-Smash VRS hits Meta Quest
0:52:03 News 05: Alex’s PresentMon experiments
1:06:57 News 06: Campaign demands: stop killing games!
1:16:19 News 07: Intel updates XeSS with revised modes
1:22:04 Supporter Q1: Would it be more practical to target 1440p than 4K for performance modes?
1:28:11 Supporter Q2: Dragon’s Dogma 2 has unimpressive NPC density, so why can’t it hit 60fps on consoles?
1:35:17 Supporter Q3: Why do some developers implement incorrect 30fps frame-rate caps?
1:43:36 Supporter Q4: Why isn’t low frame-rate compensation the default with 120Hz and VRR on PS5?
1:50:05 Supporter Q5: Could the PS5 Pro be powerful enough to run advanced path traced games?
1:55:04 Supporter Q6: With Microsoft potentially opening Xbox to third parties, was the 3DO approach right all along?
2:01:21 Supporter Q7: Would it have been better to forgo the PS5 Pro and instead shorten this console generation?
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