Digital Foundry Direct Weekly

In our second spin-off Q+A show, we tackle the gaping hole in DF Direct Weekly #252 - the gigaton news that Phil Spencer is retiring from Xbox, Sarah Bond is leading and Asha Sharma is in as EVP and CEO. The team share their initial reactions to the next and wonder what happens next. Beyond that, Sony's strategies are under the microscope, there's a focus on PS5 Pro's fortunes when PS6 appears and finally, will the RAM crisis go as far as impacting game design?

00:00 Supporter Q1: What do you make of the sudden departure of Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond from Microsoft?
20:09 Supporter Q2: Should Sony change their PC strategy and offer a game launcher?
27:12 Supporter Q3: Will the PS5 Pro prove its worth in the PS6 era?
33:23 Supporter Q4: How will Sony more aggressively monetize their install base?
37:20 Supporter Q5: How will RAMageddon impact game design?

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This Direct was recorded pre-Phil Spencer retirement news, but we'll be on that imminently. In the meantime, Rich, John and Alex talk Bluepoint Games, a prospective PS6 delay, Steam Deck stock issues, Square-Enix's plans for FF7R Part 3 multiplatform deployment, DLSS winning blind tests against native rendering and FSR 4 and some bizarre IQ issues with Xenoblade Chronicles X on Switch 2. And finally, Alex tells all about his back issues and his journey towards a healthy, pain-free recovery.

0:00:00 Introduction
0:01:25 News 1: Sony closing Bluepoint Games
0:25:25 News 2: Report: Sony considering 1-2 year PS6 delay
0:36:10 News 3: Steam Deck goes out of stock in multiple regions
0:45:03 News 4: Director: FF7R part 3 won’t be compromised by multi-plat strategy
0:52:53 News 5: ComputerBase blind tests peg DLSS 4.5 as upscaling champ
0:58:50 News 6: Xenoblade Chronicles X has bizarre Switch 2 image quality
1:06:08 Content Discussion: Alex’s spine struggles and new standing desk

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In our first spin-off Q+A show, it's pretty clear what the community is discussing: what's going on with Unreal Engine 5 games in terms of image quality and performance? Are compromised experiences now "part of the furniture" or can/will something be done? Beyond that, we discuss how YouTube quality issues impact our work, whether gaming laptops serve any purpose in the era of the handheld, whether you should play Death Stranding 1 before Death Stranding 2 and if Nvidia really has left the gamer behind. And finally, if we could bring back/remaster/remake any old game, what would it be?

00:00 Introduction
01:05 Supporter Q1: Should we challenge Unreal Engine performance issues more often? 
23:14 Supporter Q2: Why do people mistake YouTube issues for game issues? 
31:03 Supporter Q3: Do gaming laptops make sense in an era of Switch 2 and PC handhelds? 
39:04 Supporter Q4: Is Death Stranding 2 a good point to jump in if you haven’t played the original? 
41:50 Supporter Q5: Why is Nvidia skipping new consumer GPU releases this year? 
52:02 Supporter Q6: Which game would you rescue from obsolete hardware?

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It's a big State of Play reaction video as Sony spills the beans on a colossal range of games across a 72 minute magnum opus. John, Oliver and Rich share their thoughts on all the key games that were revealed or showcased in more depth before moving on to other matters. Rich gets a look at DLSS dynamic multi frame-gen and starts to get more of an idea of where graphics technology is heading, while Oliver and John discuss the Unreal Engine 5 image quality/performance comments raised by the audience in the wake of the High on Life 2 review.

0:00:00 Introduction
0:01:17 News 1: Sony’s jam-packed State of Play: God of War Trilogy Remake, God of War: Sons of Sparta
0:09:46 Saros
0:15:59 Death Stranding 2 PC
0:22:31 Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Vol. 2, Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse
0:36:38 Silent Hill: Townfall
0:42:01 Star Wars: Galactic Racer
0:48:40 Kena: Scars of Kosmora, Control Resonant,
0:58:08 Crimson Moon, Yakoh Shinobi Ops, Project Windless, Rayman: 30th Anniversary Edition, Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered, Rev. NOiR, Untitled John Wick Game, 007 First Light
1:07:56 News 2: Rich tries DLSS Dynamic Multi Frame Gen!
1:20:13 DF Content Discussion: Did we go too easy on High on Life 2?

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In a slightly extended 250th episode, Rich is joined by Oliver, Alex and John for a huge discussion across a range of topics. Valve's still not able to tell us when Steam Machine is coming out, but the projected Q1 release now seems to be H1 instead. Meanwhile, AMD's Dr Lisa Su says that the next-gen Xbox SoC is on track for a 2027 console release... but will the console actually release in 2027? Beyond that, all the reaction to the big Nintendo Direct Direct, Rich reveals that Intel Panther Lake can beat Xbox Series S at 30W, while Alex's tests on the latest Resident Evil 4 update for PC suggest that new DRM can have an impact on game performance.

0:00:00 Introduction
0:01:38 News 1: Valve: RAM and storage shortages will affect Steam Machine
0:15:51 News 2: AMD: we can support a 2027 Xbox launch
0:32:54 News 3: Nintendo Partner Direct: Oblivion Remastered
0:39:27 Fallout 4: Anniversary Edition, Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
0:50:13 Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth
0:58:51 Pragmata
1:07:36 Rave Racer, Goemon, Orbitals, Granblue Fantasy: Relink, Tales of Arise
1:11:09 News 4: Co-op Horizon game breaks cover
1:21:34 News 5: Intel Panther Lake tested at 30W!
1:33:55 News 6: New Resident Evil DRM hurts performance
1:44:47 Supporter Q1: Could the UE5 denoiser issue affect other upscalers like PSSR?
1:50:15 Supporter Q2: Could path tracing trample on a developer’s artistic vision?
1:53:59 Supporter Q3: Is Genie 3 the end of game development?
2:00:12 Supporter Q4: What are the rules of the OptiPlex challenge?
2:11:52 Supporter Q5: What’s hiding in the 61K unread emails in Oliver’s inbox?
2:15:20 Supporter Q6: Happy 250th episode!

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