Digital Foundry Direct Weekly

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 Introduction00:00:58 News 01: Spider-Man 2 story trailer released00:20:48 News 02: Beware fake Switch 2 leaks!00:35:09 News 03: RTX 4060 Ti 16GB launched00:44:31 News 04: Sega Saturn mini console unlikely?00:50:15 News 05: Dolphin emulator skipping Steam00:58:01 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 Introductions01:50 Acquisition overview and legal proceedings10:02 Microsoft’s business objectives25:44 Can Call of Duty work on Switch?31:47 Would Call of Duty be compromised on PS6?34:43 Current CMA proceedings40:58 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 Introduction00:00:48 Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart PC requirements drop00:29:11 Halo cut content returning to Master Chief Collection00:35:40 X68000 Mini retro device has issues00:38:26 Limited Run Games shows off new and old titles00:47:02 Leaked document details Sega of America’s struggles01:05:40 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 Introduction00:01:25 News 01: Microsoft expects $400 PS5 Slim, sub-$300 “Project Q” handheld00:19:24 News 02: Final Fantasy 16 gets motion blur options00:28:17 News 03: John’s PSVR2 game roundup!00:41:57 News 04: Assassin’s Creed 4: Blag Flag remake rumoured00:46:59 News 05: CD Projekt claims Cyberpunk reception was overly harsh01:01:14 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 Introduction00:01:04 News 01: Starfield to skip out on DLSS, XeSS?00:22:28 News 02: FTC vs Microsoft court fight continues00:46:02 News 03: Red Dead Redemption remaster incoming?00:52:08 News 04: Assassin’s Creed Unity gets huge performance boost on Intel Arc GPUs00:57:42 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 Introduction00:00:49 News 01: Final Fantasy 16 review reaction!00:23:19 News 02: June Nintendo Direct impressions00:47:37 News 03: Microsoft raises Series X, Game Pass pricing00:56:26 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 Introduction00:01:05 News 01: No Xbox mid-gen enhanced machine planned?00:21:17 News 02: Microsoft no longer developing for Xbox One00:32:08 News 03: TLOU PC patch 1.1 analysed!00:44:47 News 04: Sony announces PS5 cloud streaming00:55:41 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 Overview00:53 Why is Starfield 30fps on consoles?12:31 Visual impressions and real-time global illumination17:15 Reflections and motion blur23:31 Screen-space shadows and terrain rendering28:06 Volumetric lighting, fog, and bokeh depth of field32:40 Character rendering36:01 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 Overview01:05 Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora15:23 Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown20:22 Skull and Bones23:00 The Crew Motorfest28:08 Assassin’s Creed Mirage33:50 Star Wars Outlaws48:02 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 Overview00:02:32 Fable, South of Midnight00:11:32 Star Wars Outlaws, 33 Immortals00:17:30 Payday 3, Persona 3 Reload00:25:35 Avowed, Sea of Thieves00:31:31 Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024, Senua’s Saga: Hellblade 200:42:12 Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess00:47:27 Forza Motorsport, The Elder Scrolls Online, Overwatch 200:56:35 Jusant, Still Wakes the Deep01:01:09 Dungeons of Hinterberg, Cyberpunk 2077: Phantom Liberty01:08:13 Cities: Skylines 2, Metaphor ReFantazio01:12:24 Towerborne, Clockwork Revolution01:18:04 Series S 1TB01:20:58 Starfield first impressions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices