Digital Foundry Direct Weekly

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A packed Direct this week as the panel discuss the pros and cons of DLSS for Nintendo first party games like The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Meanwhile, HDR experts aren't too impressed by Nintendo's HDR implementations, Rich takes time to test out the Xbox FSR demo on PC and God of Way Laufey gets a three month delay. And looking back in time, the panel has praise for EA's 30th anniversary game package, it's 20 years since the launch of Nvidia's 8800 GTX and a decade since John posted his epic Tomb Raider DF Retro episode. And finally, hilarity as Rich discovers how old Oliver was when Tomb Raider first released...

0:00:00 Introduction
0:00:57 News 1: Should Ocarina of Time have used DLSS?
0:18:02 News 2: Does Nintendo need to step up on HDR?
0:29:30 News 3: Frame-times released for FSR 4 on Xbox Series
0:48:25 News 4: God of War Laufey delayed
0:52:52 News 5: GeForce 8800 GTX turns 20!
1:03:52 News 6: EA remasters 7 classic PC games
1:11:06 Retrospective: 10 years since John’s Tomb Raider DF Retro!
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How will history regard the current console generation: success or failure? The panel decides! Meanwhile, will Chinese fabrication tech solve the AI hardware crisis? Is using the RTX 5090 in our videos baiting the audience at this point? All this and more in the latest DF Direct Q+A show.

00:00 Introduction
00:42 Supporter Q1: How will history judge this console generation?
17:41 Supporter Q2: Will Chinese RAM save the PC market?
27:00 Supporter Q3: Will PC hardware price spikes cause developers to target ‘potato’ PCs?
31:54 Supporter Q4: Should DF stop testing the RTX 5090, because of its poor availability?
41:11 Supporter Q5: Why is Anthropic blocking game decompilations from Claude Code?
48:40 Supporter Q6: Why didn’t Sega use their arcade hardware team for home console designs?
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In a packed new Direct, Rich dissects the PC version of Phantom Blade Zero - does it run well on mainstream hardware? What about RT and path tracing? Meanwhile, Oliver discusses the latest Apple hardware, there's conjecture on a potential Switch 2 Lite, Rich gets to grips with the more efficient FSR 4.1 for handhelds, while John looks to get an "anti PS5 Pro patch" fixed for Castlevania: Belmont's Curse. The show reaches a crescendo with the team celebrating ten years of PS4 Pro - and the Digital Foundry Supporter Program!

Looking for an ad-free Direct experience? The DF Supporter Program has an ad-free private RSS feed along with high quality ad-free video downloads: https://www.patreon.com/digitalfoundry

0:00:00 Introduction
0:02:02 News 1: Phantom Blade Zero tested on PC!
0:20:02 News 2: Apple announces OLED touchscreen MacBook Pro
0:33:45 News 3: Switch 2 Lite rumours emerge as new Samsung process unveiled
0:43:36 News 4: FSR 4.1 tested on ROG Xbox Ally X20!
0:56:11 News 5: Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse suffers low-res rendering bug on PS5 Pro
1:01:43 Retrospective: 10 years of PS4 Pro, 10 years of DF Patreon
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Ever wondered why game coverage often neglects Xbox consoles? It's an issue we've highlighted before and after Call of Duty failed to register on Metacritic, Microsoft is finally doing something about it. In the new Q+A, the team discuss the issue, its impact on DF and hopes that things will genuinely improve. Meanwhile, what to make of the reported Project Helix delay to 2028? Will new CPU releases get caught up in the hardware crisis? Was Sony's QSSR a direct response to a potential FSR 4.1 on Xbox consoles? And will Nintendo update its Switch 2 DLSS tech?

Looking for an ad-free DF Direct? The DF Supporter Program offers a private ad-free RSS feed and high quality ad-free video downloads: https://www.patreon.com/digitalfoundry

00:00 Introduction
01:03 Xbox attempts to solve creator/journalist review code problems
11:08 Supporter Q1: Why is Xbox Helix suffering an apparent delay to 2028?
24:56 Supporter Q2: How will Xbox Helix offer hardware expandability?
32:08 Supporter Q3: Will CPUs continue to stagnate, or will they advance further in 2027?
38:07 Supporter Q4: Was QSSR designed to counter FSR 4.1 on Xbox Series?
43:37 Supporter Q5: Will Nintendo revise their DLSS tech for Switch 2?
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Big news this week from Fortune, with an insider feature on Xbox that combines deep access to senior management along with a range of big reveals: a Helix console costing between $1200 to $1800 coming 2028? A handheld in 2027? Disagreements between the Xbox and Microsoft OS teams? There's a lot to discuss here. Meanwhile, the team lament the end of BioWare and mull over the leaked Mass Effect trailer, and there's good news for RDNA 2 GPU owners - and Xbox Series console users - as FSR 4 arrives ahead of time. A potential PlayStation frame generation technique is discussed and finally, five years of Oliver Mackenzie at Digital Foundry! The panel look back at his first video and discuss his approach to working on the channel.

Looking for an ad-free Direct experience? Join the DF Supporter Program for an ad-free podcast feed and high quality, ad-free video downloads: https://www.patreon.com/digitalfoundry

0:00:00 Introduction
0:01:04 News 1: Article lays out Xbox next-gen plans
0:21:26 News 2: EA shutters BioWare, Mass Effect Universe trailer leaks
0:31:33 News 3: AMD ports FSR 4.1 to RDNA 2, handhelds, Xbox
0:45:51 News 4: Sony patents frame extrapolation technique
0:59:30 Five years of Oliver!
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