Digital Foundry Direct Weekly

Reports that Nvidia's RTX 5090 gaming flagship would be discontinued gathered pace, with Nvidia finally denying cancellation of the card. But in a world where a 5090 can cost $8000, is its presence in the gaming market all but over? Can Nvidia do anything about it? Meanwhile, DF Supporter have questions about GTA 6 on PlayStation and in the absence of actual information, we can only offer our thoughts and speculation. Finally, what would actually constitute a Switch 2 "impossible port"...?

00:00 Introduction

00:35 News 1: Nvidia refutes RTX 5090 discontinuation rumours, but questions linger

22:46 Supporter Q1: With the high cost of memory, should Sony have used a larger GPU in PS6?

34:10 Supporter Q2: Could the ROG Xbox Ally X20 screen be used in a Switch 2 OLED?

37:20 Supporter Q3: How will Rockstar configure GTA 6 on PS5 and PS5 Pro?

42:45 Supporter Q4: How long will GTA 7 take to develop?

48:22 Supporter Q5: Why are so many UE5 games shipping with hardware Lumen and MegaLights now?

53:09 Supporter Q6: Which Switch 2 ports meet the criteria for an impossible port?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A year on from its initial launch, Xbox Ally gets a brilliant OLED upgrade for the new X20 edition but are we any closer to an actual Xbox-like experience? Meanwhile, Nvidia delivers faster frame-gen and DLSS 5 while Epic acts like a lightning rod for all the AI hate with its latest pivot. Oliver tests out The Crew Motorfest on Switch 2, while John has thoughts on Castlevania: Belmont's Curse.

Looking for an ad-free experience? The DF Supporter Program offers private RSS feeds for all of our podcasts along with high-quality ad-free video downloads: https://www.patreon.com/digitalfoundry

00:00 Introduction

02:07 News 1: Nvidia debuts faster frame gen, DLSS 5

18:13 News 2: Asus ROG Xbox Ally X20 tested!

32:44 News 3: Epic embraces AI coding for new Epic Games Launcher

48:22 News 4: The Crew Motorfest tested on Switch 2 54:39 News 5: Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse impressions

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the new AI era, it seems that decompilation, recompilation and unofficial ports are child's play - so what are the chances of an unofficial GTA 6 PC port before Rockstar delivers the real thing? And adjacent to that, how is Sony going to react to the massive impact of the recent PS5 jailbreak? Meanwhile, the panel are asked about the importance of PS5 Pro as it nears its second anniversary and questions are asked about the support level for the recently released QSSR.

Join the DF Supporter Program for a private, ad-free RSS feed and high quality ad-free video downloads of all DF content, including DF Direct.

00:00 Introduction

00:50 Supporter Q1: Will Rockstar move up GTA 6’s PC release date because of PS5 emulation?

15:22 Supporter Q2: Will Sony adjust their policies in response to PS5 jailbreaks?

21:09 Supporter Q3: Have you changed your opinions on PS5 Pro over the past couple of years?

26:36 Supporter Q4: Will Sony abandon QSSR?

32:56 Supporter Q5: Can Nintendo force VRR to work on Switch 2 games?

38:05 Supporter Q6: Why do PC graphics vendors not implement upscaling with DRS as a default?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Dragon's Dogma 2 launched with problematic performance on current-gen consoles, making a Switch 2 port seemingly impossible. But the game improved and now the Switch 2 version is here and it's almost brilliant. The panel discuss the new port in depth, before moving on to their thoughts on the PC version of Star Wars: Galactic Racer. Then it's on to a remarkable native PC port of Hideo Kojima's P.T - complete with ray tracing! - before the show ends on a more sombre note with Sony selling off its VR patents to Meta. And presumably that means the end of PSVR.

Looking for an ad-free DF Direct? Join the DF Supporter Program for ad-free audio and video downloads a private RSS feed: https://www.patreon.com/digitalfoundry

00:00 Introduction

01:37 News 1: Dragon’s Dogma 2 on Switch 2 tested!

15:14 News 2: Star Wars: Galactic Racer PC impressions

25:18 News 3: Star Wars: Galactic Racer documentary discussion

38:31 News 4: Kojima’s P.T. ported to PC

48:33 News 5: Sony sells off VR/XR patents as PS VR3 hopes dwindle

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

After the out-of-the-blue, completely unleaked release of QSSR upscaling for PlayStation 5, Digital Foundry supporters and the panel attempt to provide some answers, while tackling the question of whether Xbox Series consoles will receive a similar technology. Meanwhile, what are the chances of The Witcher 3 on Switch 2 getting VRR support - and what dead franchises would the DF team like to see returned and rejuvenated for modern and next-gen hardware?

00:00 Introduction

02:36 Supporter Q1: Why did Sony make QSSR?

14:11 Supporter Q2: Which games would benefit most from QSSR?

19:17 Supporter Q3: Will Microsoft release an INT8 version of FSR 4 for Xbox Series?

26:18 Supporter Q4: Should The Witcher 3 get VRR support on Switch 2 when docked?

31:47 Supporter Q5: What dead franchise would you like to see resurrected?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

DF returns to QSSR coverage with a closer look at Ghost of Yōtei, with John weighing in with his opinions on Marvel's Wolverine too. Rich reveals that Sony isn't the first to port an AI upscaler to a non-AI based GPU, showing FSR 4 running on the RDNA 1 Radeon RX 5700 XT. Meanwhile, John's very happy with the PC version of Gears of War: E-Day. And after sharing some stories on anniversary DF content, the Star Wars Galactic Racer review embargo hits in real-time - and John's got a lot to say about it...

0:00:00 Introduction

0:01:13 News 1: QSSR tested in Ghost of Yōtei

0:25:19 News 2: FSR 4 port on RDNA 1 RX 5700 XT

0:35:36 News 3: Gears of War: E-Day PC impressions

0:53:27 Retrospective: Switch OLED

1:00:13 Retrospective: Mantis Burn Racing 4K60 on PS4 Pro

1:06:46 Star Wars: Galactic Racer review reaction

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

A surprise to be sure - and a welcome one. Out of the blue, Sony has released QSSR - Quick Spectral Super Resolution - a refactoring of PS5 Pro's PSSR for the standard PlayStation 5. In this video, Rich and Oliver share their initial thoughts on the technology. We've got image quality comparisons from Marvel's Wolverine, we've got early performance testing from a PS5 dev kit, comparisons with PSSR and much more.

00:00 Introduction

01:29 What is QSSR?

05:28 QSSR vs IGTI

11:13 QSSR vs. PSSR

16:51 QSSR performance

26:04 Will QSSR be in GTA 6?

28:35 Concluding thoughts

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The progress in PS5 emulation for PC is becoming extremely rapid - so just how viable is it and should Sony be worried? Meanwhile, Rich, Oliver and Will discuss a range of topics: can PS5 Pro run PSSR and FSR frame gen together? Will PCs eventually replace consoles? Can a Project Helix console replace both a gaming PC and an Xbox console? And... would the Project Helix concept have changed if Xbox had won the console generation?

00:00 Introduction

00:41 PlayStation 5 Emulation on PC gathers pace

13:55 Q1: Why can't PS5 Pro run PSSR and FSR 3.1 frame gen together?

21:27 Q2: Will PC eventually replace console gaming?

27:25 Q3: Will Halo move onto the Call of Duty engine?

34:02 Q4: Will Project Helix replace both PC and console?

39:09 Q5: Would Project Helix be different if Xbox Series won the console generation?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

An extremely busy week at the Foundry but the Direct cannot be stopped - the team discuss the latest news as the "Xbox Reset" enters Phase Two and Halo is shipped off to Activision. Meanwhile, Rich, Oliver and Tom join forces to run the rule over Silent Hill Townfall, becauise the show moves on to discuss the implications of the next-gen consoles' respective GPU TFLOPs numbers. And finally, ending the show on a high note, Rich revisits 007 First Light path tracing, finding a night and day improvement in performance over the original release.

00:00 Introduction

01:12 News 1: Halo Studios decimated as Halo moves to Activision

17:26 News 2: Silent Hill: Townfall tested on PS5, PS5 Pro, and PC!

36:54 News 3: Rumour says PS6 at 40 teraflops, Xbox Helix at 56 teraflops

48:28 News 4: 007 First Light gets path tracing performance boost

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Stellar Blade on Switch 2 enforces the use of frame generation to target 60fps - and Capcom is offering the same feature with a toggle in the upcoming Dragon's Dogma 2 port. So how does it work and what have we learned from testing it in Stellar Blade? Beyond that, Tom, Rich and Oliver discuss whether next-gen hardware should be delayed, why Nintendo is avoiding DLSS in its own Switch 2 titles and whether Valve should release an ARM-based handheld. And finally, what's the point of chromatic aberration?

00:00 Introduction

00:44 Supporter Q1: Is frame gen a good fit for Switch 2 games like Stellar Blade?

17:18 Supporter Q2: Could a next-gen hardware delay be a good thing?

25:03 Supporter Q3: Does Digital Foundry need to produce a “frame health” reference?

32:28 Supporter Q4: Is Nintendo avoiding DLSS so they can switch to AMD for Switch 3?

37:44 Supporter Q5: Should the next gen Steam Deck be ARM-based?

43:15 Supporter Q6: What’s the point of chromatic aberration?

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.