This week the team discuss the arrival of Star Wars Jedi Survivor, share first impressions after EA delayed sending review code, then move onto 'The Power of the Cloud' seemingly blocking Microsoft's Activision acquisition. Rich shares a conversation he had with the Xbox Sustainability Team on improving in-game efficiency, while benchmarks finally emerge on the impressive looking Asus ROG Ally handheld. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:45 News 01: Star Wars Jedi: Survivor impressions! 00:23:57 News 0...
May 02, 2023•1 hr 19 min
This week, Rich is joined by Alex and Oliver to discuss a range of topics, including the Unrecord footage that's gone 'viral', the launch of the first Unreal Engine 5.1 title outside of Fortnite to use Lumen and Nanite, and the arrival of the Horizon Burning Shores DLC - which looks amazing. Meanwhile, discover why Digital Foundry won't be doing another office tour and learn about Rich's 'cone of respectability'. It's all here in this 68 minute show! 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:45 News 01: Unrec...
Apr 24, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 108
Rich, Alex and Oliver sit down for the latest DF Direct Weekly, discussing the controversial move for Microsoft to ship Redfall at 30fps with a performance mode to follow, along with confirmation that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justive League is getting a length delay. The team muse over the implications of Cyberpunk 2077's RT Overdrive changing the face of PC graphics in future games, while the third - and last - Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom trailer is also discussed. Do we still think it's 'too bi...
Apr 17, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Season 1Ep. 107
Rumours of a new PlayStation portable streaming device dominated the news this week, supplanting the actual reveal of the ultra-powerful Asus ROG Ally, first revealed on - believe it or not - April Fools Day. Meanwhile, John is seriously unhappy about Microsoft blocking emulation on Xbox Series consoles, while the applications of AI tools and the concept of affordable GPUs prompts further debate. And finally... Tekken 8 is on UE5 but is it actually using Nanite and Lumen? 00:00:00 Introduction 0...
Apr 09, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Season 1Ep. 106
We're not angry, we're just disappointed. And a touch baffled. Stupefied even. And actually, yeah, maybe a bit angry too. Just how did The Last of Us Part 1 launch on PC in the state it did? John, Rich and Alex discuss their impressions on the game, what went wrong with the port - and whether Sony should have launched it in this state at all. Meanwhile, it's a sad, sad day as E3 2023 is cancelled and the entire future of the Electronic Entertainment Expo looks bleak. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:...
Apr 03, 2023•1 hr 24 min•Season 1Ep. 105
It's GDC week, with Alex, Rich and John discussing the big news from the latest events, including some exciting new Unreal Engine 5 developments, plus Nvidia's latest innovations in real-time path-traced gaming. Meanwhile, the team isn't that impressed by Elden Ring's RT upgrade, while EA's decision to delete a bunch of excellent Battlefield games doesn't go down particularly well either. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:58 News 01: Epic makes UE5 announcements at GDC! 00:35:20 News 02: Elden Ring RT...
Mar 27, 2023•1 hr 29 min•Season 1Ep. 104
John, Alex and Will take to the mics this week to discuss the possibilities of some exciting iterations on gaming favourites. Do the recent reports of a PS5 Pro make sense? What about an OLED Steam Deck? And if Counter-Strike is so great, why isn't there a Counter-Strike 2? 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:24 News 01: Resident Evil 4 impressions! 00:13:53 News 02: PS5 Pro - is it coming? 00:25:01 News 03: Valve says Steam Deck OLED refresh unlikely 00:32:02 News 04: New Counter-Strike imminent? 00:44...
Mar 20, 2023•1 hr 17 min•Season 1Ep. 103
A big week of news to discuss, with Oliver, Rich and Alex talking about Starfield's latest announcement and 'delay', plus the story that Suicide Squad will be pushed back in order to address the negative reaction to its State of Play gameplay reveal. Meanwhile, the COD war between Microsoft and Sony continues - and Halo Infinite on PC receives RT support. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:52 News 01: Starfield gets a release date, Suicide Squad delayed 00:11:18 News 02: The Last of Us Part 1 PC featur...
Mar 13, 2023•1 hr 9 min•Season 1Ep. 102
Baldur's Gate 3 isn't exclusive to any particular console, but right now, the Xbox versions are facing a unique problem that could impact the future of Series S. Meanwhile, John, Rich and Tom discuss the latest FF16 footage, the fate of Luminous Productions, Nvidia's new video AI upscaler and the impressive Humanity demo on PS5. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:45 News 01: Baldur’s Gate 3 hits Series S snag 00:16:27 News 02: Nvidia AI video upscaling tested! 00:24:06 News 03: Humanity demo impresses ...
Mar 06, 2023•1 hr 16 min•Season 1Ep. 101
In a massive 100th Special Edition, DF Direct Weekly delivers the biggest show to date, with all current serving members of Digital Foundry at the mics. John, Alex, Rich and Audi take point on the main news stories of the week, joined by Tom, Will and Oliver for a gigantic supporter Q+A 'AMA' special. Thanks for watching and listening to the show over the last couple of years! 00:00:00 Introduction 00:03:00 News 01: State of Play impressions! 00:32:15 News 02: Microsoft makes Nintendo, Nvidia ga...
Feb 28, 2023•2 hr 22 min•Season 1Ep. 103
We join John, Rich and Alex in the immediate wake of the PSVR2 review period, further discussing the hardware, talking games and answering supporter questions. Rich and Alex investigate a tip-off that DLSS is accessible on select Nvidia non-RTX GPUs in Cyberpunk 2077, while John and Rich discuss issues with games they looked at outside of work hours - Wild Hearts on PC and the new Tales of Symphonia remaster. Spoilers: there's disappointment. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:11 News 01: PSVR2 Post Mo...
Feb 20, 2023•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 101
A big week for news as the first phase of Sony's PlayStation VR2 embargo decloaks, meaning we can take the hardware out of its box and offer first impressions on the headset and controllers! Meanwhile. the latest Nintendo Direct turns out to be a bit of a banger - Pikmin 4 takes centrestage, Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom gets a new trailer and the brilliant Metroid Prime Remastered gets a surprise 'shadow drop'. Also: why are PC VRAM requirements becoming so bloated? 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:07...
Feb 13, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 100
It's time for another round of Digital Foundry Direct Weekly, on this occasion featuring the technical stylings of Sam Machkovech, John Linneman and Alex Battaglia. On the docket this week: layoffs at Halo developer 343 Industries amid a rumoured switch to Unreal Engine 5, a new PS5 beta firmware and is it 'safe' to move to Windows 11 on a gaming rig? 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:53 News 01: Halo developer suffers layoffs, switching to UE5 00:17:37 News 02: Major live service games canceled 00:27...
Feb 06, 2023•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 99
At Digital Foundry, we've been complaining about gaming events - and the way games are shown - for years... but you know what? Microsoft's Developer_Direct cracks it, with only one more aspect required to make the format almost perfect. But what's not perfect? The release of Forspoken, especially on PC. John, Rich and Alex are at the mics to discuss all of this - and more. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:44 News 01: Microsoft "Developer_Direct" reactions! 00:41:50 News 02: Forspoken released- and th...
Jan 29, 2023•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 98
A packed week of news as John, Rich and Alex discuss the elevated min specs for the PC versions of Forspoken and Returnal, which beg the question: ARE MIN SPECS OUT OF CONTROL?!11 Meanwhile, Stadia finally dies, while GeForce Now 4080 arrives to demonstrate that high-end cloud gaming can actually work. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:58 News 01: Forspoken and Returnal PC requirements detailed 00:21:55 News 02: Layoffs at Microsoft: 343 and Bethesda affected 00:29:20 News 03: PSVR2 launch titles anno...
Jan 23, 2023•2 hr 30 min•Ep. 97
The big topic of the moment - has Nintendo Switch hit its limits? Is performance not good enough anymore and do we need a next-gen successor? John, Rich and Alex share their thoughts on the current Switch and a prospective replacement model. The team also discuss Microsoft's new Developer_Direct initiative, Xbox's 'carbon aware' credentials and finally... what on earth is happening at Ubisoft? 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:37 News 01: Does the Switch need to be replaced? 00:30:33 News 02: Xbox “De...
Jan 16, 2023•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 96
DF Direct Weekly is back for 2023, kicking off with the reactions of John, Rich and Alex to the big CES keynotes, discussing Nvidia's latest innovations and the RTX 4070 Ti backlash - plus the latest enhancements to OLED TV technology. And as always, DF supporters provide a wealth of excellent questions for the team. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:25 News 01: Sony at CES 2023: PS VR2 and Gran Turismo 00:15:37 News 02: Nvidia debuts RTX 4000 laptop GPUs, RTX video upscaling at CES 00:50:27 News 03: ...
Jan 09, 2023•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 95
The end of the year draws closer and as the Digital Foundry crew prepare to take a well-earned vacation, John, Rich and Oliver have just enough time to cram in one more DF Direct Weekly, looking back over a challenging 2022, looking forward to the New Year - and cramming in more supporter Q+A than we've ever done before! 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:35 DF Supporter Q1: What does Epic’s delisting of classic Unreal games say about the preservation of older titles? 00:08:24 DF Supporter Q2: What was...
Dec 27, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 94
Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is slated for release in 'Fall' 2023, Kojima's helping to make a movie, Steam Deck is set to get a successor - and Returnal's recommendations include a mammoth 32GB of memory. All this, plus discussion of the RDNA 3 review aftermath in this week's show. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:00 News 01: Spider-Man 2 to launch in fall 2023 00:08:51 News 02: Death Stranding film in the works 00:14:45 News 03: Valve discusses Steam Deck successor 00:26:45 News 04: RX 7900 XT/XTX review f...
Dec 19, 2022•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 93
The Game Awards - aka 'The Geoffs' - are back once again, bringing a deluge of new trailers and announcements for Rich, John and Alex to pore over in the latest DF Direct Weekly. Meanwhile, Stadia devkits are starting to emerge and Microsoft is raising game prices - but before all of that, the team takes a look at a dramatically improved build of The Callisto Protocol on PC. The Game Awards - aka 'The Geoffs' - are back once again, bringing a deluge of new trailers and announcements for Rich, Jo...
Dec 12, 2022•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 92
After a challenging week reviewing The Callisto Protocol and awaiting various performance patches, Alex, John and Rich unload about the triumphs and tragedies of the launch period, while reflecting on how good the game actually is. Meanwhile, Nintendo's promising improvements to Pokémon Scarlet/Violet, modders tackle Sonic Frontier's shortcomings - and Jesus Christ himself appears, rendered at 4K60 on RTX 4090. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:37 News 01: Callisto Protocol review aftermath 00:33:04 N...
Dec 06, 2022•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 91
Will we have to wait until 2028 for new consoles from Microsoft and Sony? And how are the two companies at war over Call of Duty? Audi, John and Rich discuss, also covering news on The Witcher 3's upgrade plus the latest news about The Callisto Protocol. Meawhile, what on Earth is the Boner in Berlin? 00:00:00 Introduction 00:02:31 News 01: Next-gen consoles to launch in 2027/2028? 00:13:41 News 02: Microsoft and Sony engaged in Call of Duty value dispute 00:27:01 News 03: Witcher 3 current-gen ...
Nov 28, 2022•2 hr 30 min•Ep. 90
In the latest episode, John, Rich and Alex share observations, thoughts and hopes for The Witcher 3's forthcoming re-release and there's discussion on Epic's improvements to Unreal Engine 5, plus thoughts on RTX 4080/4070 Ti pricing. Meanwhile, what on earth is happening with Pokémon Violet and Scarlet polish and performance? 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:48 News 01: Witcher 3 next-gen patch incoming 00:12:48 News 02: Unreal Engine 5.1 delivers big improvements 00:27:29 News 03: RTX 4080 released!...
Nov 21, 2022•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 89
There's been a lot of debate recently about whether Xbox Series S's limited performance is 'holding back' the other consoles from being everything that they can be - so Rich, John and Alex weigh in with their opinions based on developer discussions and two years' worth of gaming data accrued by the channel. Meanwhile, it's all about the patches as Forza Horizon, Sackboy PC and Halo Infinite receive important updates. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:18 News 01: Is Series S limiting next-gen gaming? 0...
Nov 14, 2022•2 hr 34 min•Ep. 88
A big, big week for PC and console gamers as AMD emerges to showcase its new RDNA 3-powered RX 7900 XTX and RX 7900 XT graphics cards with Rich, Will and Alex delivering their verdict on the reveal. Also, what to make of the PSVR2 launch line-up and pricing? Meanwhile, the realisation that new gaming tech is going up in price hits home as it's discovered that Microsoft is losing $100-$200 per console sold. 00:00:35 News 01: RDNA 3 unveiled! 00:24:15 News 02: FSR 3 frame-rate boost tech teased 00...
Nov 07, 2022•1 hr 21 min•Ep. 87
John, Rich and Alex re-convene to share first impressions on the new God of War and the extent to which it leverages PlayStation 5. Meanwhile, rumours start to gather pace on AMD's RDNA 3 offerings, Microsoft hints at price increases - and what should we make of the Modern Warfare 2 PS4 Blu-ray with just 70MB of actual data on it? 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:37 News 01: God of War Ragnarök impressions! 00:16:54 News 02: AMD RDNA 3 GPU reveal incoming 00:26:05 News 03: Xbox price increases hinted...
Oct 31, 2022•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 86
Will the end of the cross-gen console era also see the end of 60fps as the standard for gaming on Xbox Series and PlayStation 5? It's the big topic for this week in the wake of the arrival of Gotham Knights and A Plague Tale: Requiem. Also, the team shares its enthusiasm for the return of Silent Hill, Resident Evil 4 and the latest Final Fantasy 16 trailer. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:01:05 News 01: Gotham Knights and Plague Tale run at just 30fps on consoles 00:26:39 News 02: Silent Hill returns! ...
Oct 24, 2022•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 85
Nvidia delivers a massive u-turn, 'unlauching' the RTX 4080 12GB. Rich, John and Alex discuss the reasons why and mull over the bizarre benchmarks revealed by the firm last week. In the meantime, with the RTX 4090 launched with coverage aplenty out there, the team discuss the reaction to the new GPU flagship and answer a bunch of supporter questions. Meanwhile, Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales is set to receive even more RT upgrades over the PS5 version - just how far could it be pushed? 00:00...
Oct 16, 2022•2 hr 33 min•Ep. 84
The leak of a Sony document suggesting the existence of a remake for Horizon Zero Dawn kicks off our discussion, which encompasses PSVR2 mass production, rumours of Half-Life Alyx for the new headset, path-traced Quake, the new Need for Speed - and much, much more. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:58 News 01: Horizon Zero Dawn PS5 remake leaked! 00:12:00 News 02: PSVR 2 enters mass production 00:18:53 News 03: Ray-traced Quake 1 released 00:25:10 News 04: New gameplay trailer for Dead Space remake 00...
Oct 10, 2022•1 hr 26 min•Ep. 83
The upcoming demise of Google Stadia dominates discussion, but we find plenty of time to discuss a range of topics: PS5's new 6nm processor, the arrival of XeSS and the imminent deployment of Intel Arc, the quality of Ryzen 7000 CPUs and the challenges of CPU reviewing in general, DLSS 3 reaction and EVEN MORE. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:48 News 01: Google Stadia is shutting down 00:20:00 News 02: PS5 gets a die-shrink! 00:23:31 News 03: XeSS debuts, Arc A750/A770 priced 00:37:13 News 04: New R...
Oct 03, 2022•2 hr 40 min•Ep. 82
