DF Direct Weekly returns, with Rich, John and Oliver discussing the latest chapter of the Xbox multi-plat transition saga, the release of LEGO Horizon Adventures and Intel's pledge to improve Arrow Lake CPU performance. Meanwhile, Sony is bullish on PS5 Pro sales as discounts begin in the UK and the team has concerns about the mooted Stellar Blade …

There's post PS5 Pro clarity in this week's Direct, with Rich, John and Alex discussing No Man's Sky at 8K resolution (tested!), God of War Ragnarök's patch on PS5 Pro - and the surprise arrival of Death Stranding on Xbox Series X/S. Rich does some performance testing there, leading to fascinating results. Meanwhile, John has a special moment with …

Rich Leadbetter, John Linneman and Oliver Mackenzie combine their impressions and tests to deliver the Digital Foundry verdict on the PlayStation 5 Pro. How does the console improve PS5 and PS4 games? How good is PSSR based on testing across a range of games? And what of the enhanced RT features? Everything you need to know is right here. 0:00:00 O…

Even though most of the team are concentrating on PS5 Pro content, we still managed to find the time for another episode of DF Direct Weekly. Tom joins Rich and John to discuss the death of Concord and the shuttering of Firewalk Studios, Indiana Jones and Mario & Luigi: Brothership, while Alex joins the fray later to talk Star Citizen, Squadron 42 …

Another bumper Direct sees John, Rich and Oliver discuss Shawn Layden's call for a reset on game development practises and his comments on the console/teraflop war being over. Remedy's impressive roster of upgrades for Alan Wake 2 on PS5 Pro come into focus, while the team can't help but wonder if Guerrilla Games' most recent comments really do spe…

It's all very Xbox-heavy this week, as Austin Evans reveals that the latest Xbox consoles have finally transitioned to 6nm silicon. There's plenty of reaction to Microsoft's Xbox Partner Showcase, including the reveal of FBC: Firebreak, while John gets very excited about the new Analogue 3D - an FPGA-powered N64 clone with cutting-edge video and ov…

In a rather jovial DF Direct, John returns from Japan having played PS5 Pro and visited a big bunch of developers, there's curiosity around Nintendo Alarmo and mysterious online tests it has in the offing, there's much anticipation for Alien Isolation 2 and some degree of confusion surrounding Intel's Arrow Lake-S CPU line-up. 0:00:00 Introduction …

October 11th 2024 marks the 25th anniversary of the GeForce 256, the original Graphics Processing Unit (GPU). With cutting edge technologies like hardware-accelerated transformation and lighting (T&L), combined with what was - for the time - brutal performance, GeForce 256 was a game-changer. In this DF Direct special hosted by Alex Battaglia, we b…

Another packed Direct sees Oliver, Rich and Alex tackling Nintendo's various takedowns - on the Ryujinx emulator and YouTube emulation content. Oliver spends some time with Until Dawn on PlayStation 5 offering up impressions that range from the good, the bad and indeed the ugly. Alex talks us through the UE5 MegaLights technology and the new God of…

A new State of Play quote-unquote drops, giving Rich, Alex and Oliver much to discuss in this latest edition of DF Direct Weekly. Ghost of Yotei, Horizon Zero Dawn Remaster and the new Dragon Age dominate discussion, before the team move on to talk about the latest PS5 Pro title reveals. RTX 50-series specs come into focus - with leaks revealing a …

In the wake of the PlayStation 5 Pro reveal, press had the opportunity to go hands-on with the hardware - and a wide range of games - at an event in Sony's San Mateo HQ. Oliver Mackenzie was our man on-site, and he's come back with a wealth of gameplay impressions, b-roll of the event and the titles tested and on-camera developer interviews. Is the…

Another massive Direct sees Rich, John and Alex convene to discuss the huge Switch 2 prototype leak, the revelation that Intel and AMD battled it out for the PS6 contract, while the team shares notes on the quality of Capcom's Dead Rising remaster. Meanwhile, the actual nature of AMD's FSR 4 AI upscaling is discussed - along with continuing bafflem…

In our DF Direct Special in the wake of the PlayStation 5 Pro reveal, we had much to say about the hardware, the pitch and the price - but not much to say about the games, owing to the poor media quality. Now, armed with a 65GB ProRes file of the Mark Cerny presentation, we can go deeper - much deeper - into the software that was shown and how good…

It's finally happened. PS5 Pro is real, announced and detailed by none other than lead system architect, Mark Cerny. John, Rich and Alex sit down to discuss the reveal, how Sony chose to market it, the Big Three tech innovations - larger GPU, ML upscaling and RT enhancements - and of course, the shocking price-point. 0:00:00 Overview 0:01:20 How is…

The inevitability of Sony's PlayStation 5 Pro increases still further as the firm 'leaks' the new design in a 30th anniversary artwork. Meanwhile, there are highs and lows for PlayStation: Concord crashes and burns, resulting in its withdrawal from sale - and yet spirits are raised by the frankly incredible Astro Bot. Elsewhere, RTX 5080 performanc…

Another week of exciting news as reputable sources reveal that PlayStation 5 Pro is incoming - and we've even got a sketch of the (possible!) design. Meanwhile, the Black Myth: Wukong Xbox no-show continues to command attention - as does the decision to release Avowed on Xbox consoles at 30fps. John, Rich and Oliver are on the mics this week - but …

Rich returns from Gamescom 2024, bringing with him hands-on impressions of STALKER 2 on Xbox and the incredible Black State on PC. Alex and Oliver share notes on the Final Fantasy 16 PC demo, while the team discuss the highlights - such as they are - of Geoff Keighley's Opening Night Live. But the big story is the news that Indiana Jones and the Gr…

On the eve of release, the team ponder the dearth of Black Myth: Wukong PS5 reviews - and then some last-minute footage emerges. Will Judd joins the team to discuss the latest AMD Zen 5 problems, more rumours of Xbox exclusives coming to PlayStation 5, while The Verge bravely talk about the game nobody's supposed to be talking about but everyone's …

Another packed edition of DF Direct Weekly sees Rich, Alex and Oliver discussing a range of topics. Why is it so difficult to get PSVR 2 working on PC? Why are the AMD Ryzen 9000/Zen 5 reviews to contentious? As Star Wars Jedi: Survivor breaks cover on last-gen consoles, what exactly is the point - and will the PC version get fixed? Meanwhile, the …

With John and Alex either on holiday or otherwise unavailable, Rich is joined by Tom and Oliver for our weekly show discussing the latest gaming and technology news. The team take a look at the recent Star Wars Outlaws previews, Tom gets to grips with Nobody Wants To Die and Visions of Mana, while also taking a look at the RT upgrades to EA Sports …

Once again, the PS5 Pro (which doesn't exist apparently) dominates the news, with RDNA 4 ray tracing features revealed - said to be integrated into the upcoming Sony console... but what do these features actually do? Meanwhile, PS5 Pro (which isn't real) has a settings profile in the new No Man's Sky update, so how is Hello Games utilising the enha…

Another big DF Direct Weekly sees John, Rich and Alex discussing PS5 Pro release date uncertainties, the unprecedented support from Hello Games on No Man's Sky and the alarming stories surrounding stability issues on Intel's 13th and 14th Generation Core processors. Alex has much to share in terms of Unreal Engine and GPUOpen presentations, while J…

As we begin to approach the tail-end of the Nintendo Switch era, Oliver Mackenzie and John Linneman get together to discuss their personal selection of the most technically impressive games of the generation - absolute marvels bearing in mind that the core hardware is based on a 2015 Nvidia mobile chipset. In this first video, the emphasis is on fi…

In this week's Direct, Microsoft says you don't need an Xbox to play Xbox - but if they're talking about streaming on a Fire Stick 4K, we'd beg to differ. Meanwhile, Alex talks about a 1.4GHz CPU overclock for the OG Xbox and shares his thoughts on the new Black Myth: Wukong full RT assets and benchmarks. Oliver tests out Ace Combat 7 on Switch, wh…

In the new DF Direct, the team discuss the growing importance of VRR in console gaming - but are we reaching the point where it's becoming essential for good performance? Meanwhile, Rich has some positive things to say about Microsoft's Auto SR upscaling technology, John has much to share on the new Crazy Taxi, and there are some interesting discus…

In the latest DF Direct Weekly, we take a very early first look at FSR 3.1's improved spatial upscaling, which 'dropped' just prior to recording. The team discuss Capcom's reveal of a NEW Dead Rising remaster/remake, while we have first impressions on a potentially game-changing patch for Dragon's Dogma 2. And just why is PlayStation 5 so technical…

Some practical tests in this week's episode of DF Direct as Rich examines the modded performance modes cropping up for the Xbox Series S version of Starfield - while his £2,000 investment in a Surface Laptop with Snapdragon X Elite translates into some truly awful gaming. Meanwhile, John's been checking out the new PlayStation 2 and PSP emulators f…

Just when we thought the summer festival of gaming events was over, Nintendo comes out of nowhere with a brand-new Direct featuring a wide rage of excellent titles - not bad for a system reaching the end of its life cycle. John Linneman and Oliver Mackenzie team up to share notes on the Direct, including a tech-orientated argument about how it's de…

John, Alex and a freshly returned Rich deliver a 'come down' Direct that's a little more relaxed after the mania of the summer showcase events. The team bemoan the state of the Ubisoft Forward stream quality, ruining the visual quality of some great games, then move onto the discourse surrounding the Gears of War: E-Day cinematic. John's excited ab…

Microsoft's Xbox 2024 Showcase turned out to be an excellent presentation, with banger after banger. In this new DF Direct Special, John Linneman, Alex Battaglia and Oliver Mackenzie break down the show with their reactions to each of the key games before moving on to discuss the somewhat underwhelming hardware line-up - plus comments on Phil Spenc…

The summer game showcase events are now in full swing and in this new episode of DF Direct Weekly, it's John, Oliver and Alex at mics, discussing the games of Summer Games 'Fest', along with other big new stories of the week. What's going on with the removal of the 8K label from the PS5 box? What do the team make of the PC adaptor for PSVR2 - and w…

With the DF team meeting up with IGN this week, this Direct comes to you straight from IGN's UK studio. Rich, John and Alex talk Sony State of Play, from the sublime Astro Bot to the distinctly unimpressive Concord. Meanwhile, the team discuss Sony's intention to sell PS5s from its PC ports and the big news that COD Black Ops 6 will be day one on G…

FSR3 frame generation comes to consoles and Rich and John have tested it! That's the lead story in a new Direct that covers the controversy surrounding Hellblade 2, the upcoming launch of Snapdragon X Elite laptops and much, much more. Tom Morgan also joins the panel this week to discuss the arrival of TopSpin 2K25, the latest in the Paper Mario Sw…

Another massive episode kicks off with the team sharing initial hands-on impressions of Ghost of Tsushima's impressive PC ports, while big changes are PlayStation are discussed - along with the revelation that half of Sony's monthly active users are still on PS4. Grand Theft Auto 6 is pushed back to later in 2025, and there's the enticing possibili…

There's anger, bafflement and frustration this week as John, Rich and Alex discuss Microsoft's decision to close one studio that created one of the greatest immersive games ever made and another studio that's just delivered a BAFTA-winning, critically acclaimed rhythm action game... so what is going on at Xbox right now? Beyond that, the team discu…

The latest DF Direct Weekly sees Rich, Oliver and Alex at the mics (John returns in the next episode!) discussing Bethesda's unique approach to Starfield's upcoming display mode upgrades, while there's concern about the health of console gaming in the wake of poor AMD gaming revenue. Rich talks PS5 Pro GPU details - including caches, clock speeds a…

In this 160th edition, it's Tom Morgan joining Rich and Alex to discuss the latest gaming and technology news. There's good news and bad news with Fallout 4's new 'next-gen' upgrade, Rich is impressed with Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora's new 40fps mode for PS5 and Series X, while Alex talks us through the latest path-tracing innovations revealed at …

PS5 Pro... ultra boost mode? Rich, Oliver and Alex discuss the possibilities of how Sony's new console can improve existing games, before moving on to discussion of Ghost of Tsushima's PC specs and the 'PlayStation Overlay'. The team mull over the highly attractive Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 trailer, Oliver tests emulation on Apple while Rich gets…

What's going on with Microsoft's new game preservation team and commitment to forward compatibility? Alex, Rich and Oliver rake over the details - such as they are. Meanwhile, there's discussion over Fallout 4's upcoming current-gen upgrade, while the new Star Wars Outlaws story trailer gets the DF breakdown. And with FSR 3 frame-gen coming to cons…

A wide range of Hellblade 2 previews emerged last week, but what have we learned about the game and is the dynamic resolution 30fps revelation in any way surprising? John, Rich and Alex share their thoughts while also sharing reactions to the latest chapter in the PS Portal hack story and Nightdive's POed remaster non-April fool. Alex shares news o…

This week's show is dominated by Xbox news in the wake of a new interview with Phil Spencer strongly indicating a big change in direction for the Xbox platform and by extension, its hardware. There's also talk of what form an Xbox handheld may take, while leaked photography of a white Xbox Series X 'All Digital' console brings about bafflement from…

By Digital Foundry

In a brand new, DF Direct Special we find Alex, Rich and Oliver confirming the leaked technical specifications for Sony's upcoming PlayStation 5 Pro console, we talk you through what the various spec points mean in terms of the gameplay experience, we go deep on ray tracing and machine learning-based upscaling and we reveal some new information abo…

Rich is still trapped in a white room with two plants, but the Direct discussions continue regardless. Oliver's been checking out Rise of the Ronin on PlayStation 5, Alex has much to say about Nvidia's DLSS-based GDC reveals, while Rich is intrigued by Intel's latest PresentMon 2.0 features. Meanwhile, the surprise release - and withdrawal - of the…

Trapped in a plain white room with only two plants for company, an on-location Rich dials into the next DF Direct Weekly for salvation. Joining him this week as John and Alex, discussing the shutdown of the Yuzu and Citra emulators, the latest Sony PC ports from Nixxes, the Xbox partner showcase and hints of machine learning-based upscaling from AM…

Another big DF Direct Weekly sees John, Rich and Alex tackle the massive issue of lay-offs in the industry along with the welcome response from some developers in taking back control of their own destinies. Meanwhile, the team reacts to THAT Kingmakers trailer, while assessing Nintendo's legal action against the Yuzu Switch emulator. Finally, what …

The news comes thick and fast this week as John, Alex and Rich discuss topics as diverse as the Switch 2's mooted 'delay' until Q1 2025, the fall-out of Microsoft's multi-platform strategy in the wake of the first releases, and Nvidia finally doing something about its ancient control panel with its new app. The implications of the PlayStation Porta…

This week, Xbox finally responded to the rumours and speculations surrounding its multi-platform plans, while Sony boldly announced that we are entering the latter stages of the PlayStation 5's lifecycle - and that new initiatives are required to increase profit margins. John, Rich and Alex share their thoughts on the announcements and strategies b…

The week in gaming news was dominated by Xbox Multi-Platform Game debate, outrage and meltdowns - and we can't quite believe what we were seeing. John, Rich and Alex share their views before moving to other topics: we go hands-on with Helldivers 2, check out the FF7 Rebirth demo and John shares his excitement over Penny's Big Breakaway. Meanwhile, …

Another big, big episode of DF Direct Weekly as the team share their positive views on Sony's State of Play January 2024 presentation. Meanwhile, John and Rich have been playing Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League and have much to say about it. The team also tackle the mounting evidence that Switch 2 will ship with an eight-inch LCD. The lack of…