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Call For Questions For DF Direct Weekly #238

Hi everyone, welcome to the latest Call For Questions post, this time for the 238th episode (not including specials) of DF Direct Weekly. It'll be Rich (ie me), John and Oliver at the mics this week, with a special guest appearance from a certain Thomas Morgan.

What's on the docket? Quite a bit actually, so we'll be pruning down the topics somewhat but we will be looking at the latest patch for Metal Gear Solid Delta, which To...

Coming This Week to Digital Foundry (Week 44 2025)

Hello there and welcome to the latest weekly update from Digital Foundry. Sorry it's a bit late. Rich here and beyond the background admin stuff you'll see the fruits of in due course, I've spent the day adapting our automated benchmarks for handhelds on a separate Steam Library on an NVMe SSD within a USB-C dock - the idea here is to be able to take the pain in setting up the mods/patches just once and then swap the SSD between hand...

DF Direct Weekly #237: Halo Campaign Evolved Reaction, "Premium" Next-Gen Xbox, New DF Retro Show!

A gigantic new episode of DF Direct Weekly sees the team's reaction to the big Halo Campaign Evolved reveal - and some unfortunate Unreal Engine 5 issues already coming into view. Meanwhile, what does Microsoft actually mean by its "very premium, very high-end" next-gen comments and is the Xbox Ally X interface really the best way forward? Meanwhile, John and some familiar faces reveal our next big project - the DF Retro Sup...

DF Direct Weekly #237 Is Now Available

A gigantic new episode of DF Direct Weekly sees the team's reaction to the big Halo Campaign Evolved reveal - and some unfortunate Unreal Engine 5 issues already coming into view. Meanwhile, what does Microsoft actually mean by its "very premium, very high-end" next-gen comments and is the Xbox Ally X interface really the best way forward? Meanwhile, John and some familiar faces reveal our next big project - the DF Retro Sup...

Ninja Gaiden 4 - DF Review - Xbox Series X|S, PS5/PS5 Pro, PC - Superb Action, Great Performance

Ninja Gaiden 4 sees Team Ninja co-develop with Platinum Games for a highly entertaining, super-smooth action game. Barring a visually deficient Xbox Series S port, this is an attractive, technically sound project that works on all systems - but is most recommended on PC and PS5 Pro.

h.264: 2025-10-25 14:00:16 +0000 UTC View Post

PS5 'Power Saver' Mode Tested: A Taster Of The PlayStation Handheld Experience?

A new power saver mode is added to select first party PS5 titles, with Demon's Souls, Day's Gone Remastered - and more - gaining compatibility this week. This eco-friendly mode is part of Sony's drive to reduce green house emissions first and foremost, and involves each developer custom-tuning each game to run at a lower power profile - often chopping power usage by 50% as a result. However, curiously, this mode's throttled CPU, GPU ...

The Outer Worlds 2 PC Review - Double Performance With Optimised Settings

The Outer Worlds 2 on PC isn't quite as solid technically as the Xbox versions of the game, proving to be particularly heavy on console-equivalent CPUs in particular. Alex looks at the usual stuff: menu quality, shader compilation/stutter issues, GPU performance and - of course - optimised settings. Suffice to say that using max settings on this one is a gigantic waste of your GPU's resources.

h.264: 2025-10-23 17:46:36 +0000 UTC View Post

The Outer Worlds 2 - DF Review - Xbox Series X|S, PS5, PS5 Pro - Impressive on Xbox, PS5 Needs Work

The Outer Worlds 2 fully leans into the Unreal Engine 5 feature set, even if the stylised art style isn't typical of the engine. The results are impressive on Xbox with three different but very solid visual modes. However, the experience on PlayStation 5 consoles definitely needs improvement in a number of areas.

h.264: 2025-10-23 17:05:09 +0000 UTC View Post

Call For Questions For DF Direct Weekly #237

Hello there - you know the score by now, surely? Every Thursday this post appears in your Patreon feed, outlining what we're going to be doing in the next episode of DF Direct Weekly, along with an appeal for your topic suggestions, comments and questions!

Topics on the docket? Well... Sarah Bond's comments about a "premium", "high-end" next generation Xbox come into focus. So, what's the play here? An admission that subsidise...

Coming This Week to Digital Foundry (Week 43 2025)

Hi everyone and welcome to the latest update from Digital Foundry - first up, we didn't publish DF Direct Weekly #236 today as the benchmark comparisons for the Xbox Ally X were incorrect. Thanks to the Supporters who pointed out that the OG Ally benchmarks didn't quite stack up. Although the 3DMark score matched the official database, game performance was lower. I've nuked the install, reset from scratch and the numbers now look clo...

DF Direct Weekly #236: Xbox Ally X Review-In-Progress, Next-Gen Spec Leak Comparisons, New PS5 Pro!

ROG Xbox Ally X is "in the house" and Rich describes his first couple of days in the review process. Alex answers the big question as to whether new PC games stutter more than older ones, while Oliver gets to grips with Black Myth Wukong's latest patch on PlayStation, complete with Lumen-free performance mode. Finally, next-gen Xbox and PlayStation spec leaks are gathering pace - so what do we make of them?

0:00:00 Introduction...

DF Direct Weekly #236 Is Now Available

UPDATE #2: Final video downloads attached!

UPDATE #1: Thanks for the reports on lower than expected (R)OG Ally results - we have rebenched with a fully fresh install and the corrected Direct will go public tomorrow, along with new downloads here.

ROG Xbox Ally X is "in the house" and Rich describes his first couple of days in the review process. Alex answers the big question as to whether...

Battlefield 6 PC - DF Review + Optimised Settings - +72% Perf Boost For Little Visual Loss

Lauded for its phenomenal performance, the truth is that Battlefield 6's ultra and overkill settings are exactly that - opening the door to some phenomenal performance boosts with barely noticeable visual differences via optimised settings. Alex takes you through his thoughts on the game, how to improve performance, how CPUs scale and much, much more.

h.264: 2025-10-17 18:30:29 +0000 UTC View Post

Control - PS5/Pro/Series X Update 1.30 - PSSR Upscaling and RT at 60FPS Tested on PS5 Pro!

A brand new patch 1.30 lands on all current-gen consoles, with PS5 Pro in particular reaping the spoils with a new PSSR toggle, and also increased 60fps performance while using its ray tracing 'graphics' mode. The advantages speak for themselves, as Tom covers here, but there are a few limitations to consider also.

h.264: 2025-10-16 18:42:02 +0000 UTC View Post

Call For Questions For DF Direct Weekly #236

Hello there, and welcome to the latest Call For Questions post as we "prep" for the next edition of DF Direct. And here's what we're going to be doing. First of all, I've had to take some time recently to look after my elderly parents, so I'm running well behind on my ROG Xbox Ally X review (Microsoft didn't send the non-X). I'll have initial impressions, benchmarks vs (R)OG Ally and some gameplay tests to show what Z2 Extreme can do...

Battlefield 6 - The BIG Console Face-Off: PS5/PS5 Pro/Xbox Series X|S - Every Mode Tested!

We've already looked at the PlayStation 5 version of Battlefield 6 to give our overview of what this game is, how well it works and whether we recommend it. Now we go into the weeds with a detailed breakdown of every mode in every console version of the game.

h.264: Downlo...

Leaked FSR4 INT8 Test: RDNA 3, RDNA 2, Steam Deck, Asus ROG Ally, Nvidia + Xbox Series X Simulation

Update: This video has been updated - the strobe warning is more pronounced, an error in voiceover has been corrected and individual frame-time charts have been added to the Alan Wake 2 test.

Original Post: Hi everyone, as mentioned earlier - some All-Supporter early access action, as what was initially going to be a pretty simple test for FSR4 INT8 on the RX 6700 turned into something hugely m...

DF Retro: Nvidia GeForce 7800 GTX - 20th Anniversary Retrospective - A Generational Leap [Sponsored]

Content sponsored by Nvidia. 2005: a pivotal year in gaming, with the arrival of a new generation of titles, enabled on PC with the arrival of Shader Model 3, supported by Nvidia's cutting-edge GeForce 7800 GTX. 20 years on, Alex powers up a period-appropriate PC equipped with the 7800 GTX, showcasing how the hardware delivered more performance and new features over its predecessors in a range of classic PC titles.

h.264: 2025-10-13 13:13:37 +0000 UTC View Post

Coming This Week to Digital Foundry (Week 42 2025)

Hi everyone, just completed sundry tasks and can now report on the contents of the #content meeting from this morning! All team members in attendance and plenty to discuss, so let's get straight into the thick of it.

• Rich (ie me) has finally completed the FSR 4 INT8 breakdown. Sorry for the delay, there's been a lot going on here and the video itself ballooned out of control, as you'll see. This content...

  2025-10-13 10:51:05 +0000 UTC View Post

DF Direct Weekly #235: Microsoft Re-Confirms Next-Gen Xbox, Red Dead 2 Remaster Heavily Rumoured

In this week's DF Direct, Microsoft deny rumours that its next-gen console has been cancelled - but to what extent are its statements credible in the wake of the infamous "four games" messaging? The existence of ports of Red Dead Redemption 2 for PS5, Xbox and Switch 2 are confirmed by the most reliable leaker in the business, while John shares his impressions of Yooka-Replaylee. And to what extent did Nintendo underclock the SoC for...

DF Direct Weekly #235 Is Now Available

Note: Due to scheduling conflicts, there's a strong possibility that the public version of DF Direct Weekly #235 will quote-unquote drop on Sunday, not Monday. We'll be arranging another early access opportunity for all Supporters to compensate.

The blurb: in this week's DF Direct, Microsoft deny rumours that its next-gen console has been cancelled - but to what extent are its statements credible in the wake of...

Sony/AMD Project Amethyst Update - Next-Gen Tech Revealed + Mark Cerny Q&A

Could this be the foundational GPU technology for the PlayStation 6? Mark Cerny's latest Project Amethyst update describes the building blocks of future graphics technology, with a strong focus on ray tracing and machine learning capabilities, along with bandwidth-enhancing features designed to reduce the need on massive memory controllers. John, Rich and Oliver discuss the tech and share more information from Mark Cerny via an email...

Sony/AMD Project Amethyst Update - Next-Gen Tech Revealed - DF Direct Special + Mark Cerny Q&A

Hi everyone, this was originally going to be the main news topic for the latest edition of DF Direct Weekly. On reflection, as it contains new information from Mark Cerny, the Direct would have almost certainly leaked, so we spun out this segment as a standalone video running now. We'll be getting Direct #235 to you as quickly as possible.

The blurb: could this be the foundational GPU technology for the PlayStation 6? Mark Cern...

Battlefield 6 - PlayStation 5 DF Review - Rock-Sold Performance, Excellent Multiplayer

Battlefield 6 is here - and this is our initial video on what is an excellent release. Focusing on the PlayStation 5 version for now, Oliver goes into the plus and minus points of the campaign before moving onto a multiplayer focus, including 120Hz VRR performance. And what's with all the content download options and menu selections? In our next video, we'll be looking at the full range of consoles and modes and how they compare.

Call For Questions For DF Direct Weekly #235

Yessssssss Supporters - it's Thursday, and I've just caught my breath after putting Oliver's excellent Battlefield 5 video live, so let's get straight down to it. We'll be "taping" DF Direct Weekly #235 tomorrow and while topics for discussion are still brewing, we'll be talking about Microsoft's need to shoot down the rumours behind it completely pulling out of next-gen console hardware. I stress "console" hardware as I've got a fee...

Coming This Week to Digital Foundry (Week 41 2025)

Hello and welcome to the latest weekly update from Digital Foundry, posted hot on the heels of our weekly #content update. Plenty to be discussing, so let's get straight to it, eh?

• Tom is taking a look at the freshly launched patch for Control Ultimate Edition on consoles, which delivers various improvements - chief amongst them being PS5 Pro support, improved anti-aliasing on all systems and an unlocke...

  2025-10-06 13:42:46 +0000 UTC View Post

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Review: Big Gaming Performance Improvements, AAA Titles Finally Tamed

This one's going live later today - all Supporters can watch now.

The new Apple iPhone 17 Pro promises - and delivers - big performance enhancements, the upshot of this being a highly significant improvement in triple-A games that prior iPhones have struggled to handle. Oliver Mackenzie gets to grips with the new phone, benchmarks the A19 Pro SoC and stacks it up against prior iPhone generations in this exhaustive review.

DF Direct Weekly #234: Huge Game Pass Price Hike Causes Outrage, New PS5 Teardown

The latest DF Direct is dominated by discussion of Microsoft's gigantic price hikes for Game Pass - proof positive that the previous prices were unsustainable, or a greedy cash grab from Xbox? And who exactly wants the new content added to the top-end tier? Meanwhile, the team share their thoughts on the new Austin Evans PS5 teardown video, while Rich reports on a brace of native Steam Deck ports: Baldur's Gate 3 and Cronos. The form...

DF Direct Weekly #234 Is Now Available

The latest DF Direct is dominated by discussion of Microsoft's gigantic price hikes for Game Pass - proof positive that the previous prices were unsustainable, or a greedy cash grab from Xbox? And who exactly wants the new content added to the top-end tier? Meanwhile, the team share their thoughts on the new Austin Evans PS5 teardown video, while Rich reports on a brace of native Steam Deck ports: Baldur's Gate 3 and Cronos. The form...

Call For Questions For DF Direct Weekly #234

Hi everyone, apologies for the lateness of the Call For Question post, but here we go. It's going to be a big one, I guess, as Microsoft's reorganisation of its Game(s) Pass offering is our lead discussion point in the next show. I'm sure you have lots of opinions about that, of course, but let's try to have some non-GP questions too!

Other topics? Hopefully we'll have some time to look at two Steam Deck native ports - Baldur's...