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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast 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•Transcript available on Metacast In this week's show, the team discuss the Nvidia RTX 4000 reveal, the new tech on offer and the backlash over RTX 4080 pricing. The new RT Overdrive rendition of Cyberpunk is discussed along with the rich potential of RTX Remix. Elsewhere, PS1 Classics' first European 60Hz release proves to be fundamentally flawed, John has issues with the new Star Ocean demo - but it looks like there's good news about improvements to Xbox's restrictive DRM. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:43 News 01: Nvidia announc...
Sep 26, 2022•1 hr 28 min•Ep 81•Transcript available on Metacast Digital Foundry is joined by Eurogamer's Ian Higton to discuss PlayStation VR 2 in extreme detail, followed up by John, Alex and Rich discussing the week's gaming and technology news - with a strong focus on the Tokyo Games Show and its surrounding Sony State of Play and Nintendo Direct mini-events. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:41 News 01: PSVR 2 hands-on impressions! 00:48:22 News 02: Sony’s latest State of Play 01:10:05 News 03: New Nintendo Direct showcases 2023 games 01:25:46 News 04: Suikode...
Sep 19, 2022•2 hr 1 min•Ep 80•Transcript available on Metacast The team discuss the arrival of a brand new PlayStation 5 revision, the arrival of 1440p support for the console - and the ongoing war over COD between Sony and Microsoft. Meanwhile, Halo Infinite's campaign co-op split-screen cancellation provokes frustration... and who is 'Jim Mattrick'...? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 12, 2022•1 hr 22 min•Ep 79•Transcript available on Metacast It's been a rocky road to market for Intel with its Arc range of graphics cards... and just over a year since Intel talked to us about it. In this extended interview, Alex and Rich talk to Intel Fellow Tom Petersen about the state of play with Intel Arc, what's going on with DX11, DX12, Vulcan and Resizeable BAR, plus there's new information on XeSS upscaling (which we're currently testing) and what Intel says is best-in-class ray tracing performance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit mega...
Sep 05, 2022•55 min•Ep 78•Transcript available on Metacast We've looked at how the Last of Us Part 1 compares with prior TLOU versions, we've detailed all of the various performance modes, what they do and how they work. Now, we get down to brass tacks. Is this a game that actually required a remake? Is it worth the money? John Linneman and Oliver Mackenzie share notes and come to the conclusion that yes, it is. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Sep 03, 2022•46 min•Ep 77•Transcript available on Metacast What should have been a celebration of gaming with the arrival of Gamescom 2022 is marred by a bunch of bad news - including price rises for PlayStation 5 in multiple territories that are not the United States of America and the mooted arrival of Denuvo DRM for... Nintendo Switch? As John and Rich seem to continually remind us the episode... it's not great. 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:37 News 01: Sony bumps PS5 prices! 00:16:17 News 02: Denuvo DRM launches on Switch 00:27:26 News 03: “Super Mari...
Aug 29, 2022•1 hr 21 min•Ep 76•Transcript available on Metacast DF Weekly reaches its three-quarter-century this week, with John, Rich and Will discussing evidence of Sony creating its own PSN launcher for its PC titles, a fascinating inteview with Astro's Playroom developer Team Asobi, more GPU price madness and Intel video card discussion - plus, a remarkable new voxelised version of Doom! 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:41 News 01: PlayStation PC game launcher to come? 00:11:10 News 02: Team Asobi interview hints at new game 00:19:03 News 03: Sonic Mania deco...
Aug 23, 2022•1 hr 20 min•Ep 75•Transcript available on Metacast It's been a challenging week for Digital Foundry as the review process for Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered was set back twice owing to patch updates. So what actually went on, why was some of the embargoed review content out of date on embargo day, how was the game improved and where do we stand right now on day one - the day this Direct was filmed? 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:57 News 01: Spider-Man Remastered released on PC! 00:27:05 News 02: Boneworks gets Metal Gear Solid mod 00:35:30 News 03:...
Aug 15, 2022•1 hr 13 min•Ep 74•Transcript available on Metacast PlayStation icon Kratos arrives on ALL Xbox consoles in one of the most unlikeliest stories we've ever seen, while Xbox Series S gets more memory delivered to game-makers via a development kit update. Meanwhile, John, Rich and Alex discuss the seemingly incredible perf boosts we should expect from the next-gen Nvidia GPUs, while Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy Origins gets a PC AA/DLSS upgrade. All this - AND MORE - in this episode of DF Direct Weekly! 00:00:00 Introduction 00:00:57 News 01:...
Aug 08, 2022•1 hr 21 min•Ep 73•Transcript available on Metacast It's the DF Direct Weekly "Hot Beast" Edition as John and Rich return from holiday to join Alex Battaglia for an extended discussion on the week's news, covering the surprise reveal of 1440p display support for PlayStation 5, an official look at more of The Last of Us Part 1, the highs and lows of VR - and Alex's Core i9-12900K PC upgrade! 00:00:43 News 01: 1440p output support in new PS5 beta firmware 00:13:49 News 02: TLOU Part 1 gameplay showcase video released 00:20:31 News 03: PSVR 2 featur...
Aug 01, 2022•1 hr 25 min•Ep 72•Transcript available on Metacast 
