Digital Foundry Direct Weekly

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"?

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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?

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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?

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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?

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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?

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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

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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?

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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?

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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?

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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?

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