Digital Foundry Direct Weekly

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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A bit of a quiet week, where even the launch of the new CPU gaming champion doesn't quite live up to its billing. Rich talks 9850X3D, John talks 9800X3D system building, while a custom-built handheld PS4 perhaps gives us a hint of the PlayStation handheld to come. John's been playing the Banjo-Kazooie decompilation project and memories are shared on the event of Duke Nukem 3D's 30th birthday. And a current-gen console upgrade for Kingdom Come: Deliverance? Sounds like a good idea!

0:00:00 Introduction
0:01:32 News 1: AMD releases chart-topping 9850X3D processor
0:19:19 News 2: Can you build an affordable PC in 2026?
0:41:58 News 3: Banjo-Kazooie recompilation released
0:52:17 News 4: Modder builds portable PS4 handheld
1:00:04 News 5: Kingdom Come: Deliverance current-gen enhancement leaks
1:08:08 News 6: Celebrating Duke Nukem 3D’s 30th anniversary
1:25:10 Supporter Q1: Why doesn’t AMD release an RDNA 4 based SoC for handhelds?
1:30:48 Supporter Q2: Why might Rockstar delay a physical GTA 6 release?
1:36:56 Supporter Q3: If PS6 is delayed to 2029, will Sony improve the hardware?
1:43:21 Supporter Q4: Will cross-gen PS5/6 titles run at 30fps on PS5?
1:49:59 Supporter Q5: What are your expectations for Nvidia’s 6000 series GPUs?

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The best gaming showcase event returns - Xbox Developer_underscore_Direct has a proven track record of delivering excellent presentations of impressive games, and the latest is no exception. Rich, John and Oliver discuss Forza Horizon 6, Fable, Beast of Reincarnation and Kiln, before moving onto a brace of Switch 2 enhanced titles, plus a look at the Xbox versions of Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade. And yes - Sega Saturn ray tracing. It's real and it's spectacular.

0:00:00 Introduction
0:01:00 News 1: Developer_Direct 2026 - Forza Horizon 6
0:16:00 Fable
0:31:27 Beast of Reincarnation
0:37:27 Kiln
0:45:50 News 2: DKC Returns gets fixes, Switch 2 boosts + Animal Crossing’s odd Switch 2 Edition
0:58:49 News 3: Final Fantasy 7 Remake tested on Xbox Series!
1:06:43 News 4: Modder builds 3-in-1 Switch/Xbox/PlayStation
1:17:41 Supporter Q1: Why hasn’t Microsoft announced more Switch 2 games?
1:22:03 Supporter Q2: Should Rockstar give PS5 Pro a 40fps mode in GTA 6?
1:27:58 Supporter Q3: Could Microsoft pull out of gaming hardware in favour of cloud gaming?
1:33:52 Supporter Q4: What’s a game everyone loved, but you hated?
1:41:22 Supporter Q5 Is RDNA 5 hyped too much?
1:45:46 Supporter Q6: Now that the Saturn can do ray tracing, should we ditch our current-gen machines?

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