DF Direct Weekly #229: Xbox Ally X Hands-On, Sweeney Defends UE5, id Software Doom TDA Deep Dive!

Rich, John and Alex are back in the Direct hotseats for our 202nd edition, discussing the range of enhancements coming (for free) to the PC version of Grand Theft Auto 5. Meanwhile, clues start to emerge about the make-up of CD Projekt RED's Cyberpunk sequel, while Alex talks about Microsoft's MUSE AI game generation research. Finally, there's disappointment with Nvidia as the 5070 Ti launch is accompanied by entirely predictable chaos, while Alex demonstrates starkly how the deprecation of 32-bit CUDA support impacts legacy PC PhysX games for even the most powerful RTX 50-series cards. 0:00:00 Introduction 0:01:04 News 1: GTA 5 slated for PC upgrade 0:15:32 News 2: Microsoft announces game generating AI 0:32:49 News 3: Cyberpunk 2 job listing suggests ultra realistic crowds 0:44:53 News 4: 5070 Ti launches to price hikes and scalping 1:06:35 News 5: Nvidia deprecates 32-bit PhysX on 50 series GPUs 1:19:16 Supporter Q1: Couldn’t frame extrapolation solve input lag for PC games? 1:24:20 Supporter Q2: Why are so many people underwhelmed with current-gen graphics? 1:36:32 Supporter Q3: If Microsoft is giving up on console market share, where does Sony’s primary competition come from in the future? 1:42:45 Supporter Q4: With FSR 4 delivering good results, why should Sony continue to develop PSSR? 1:47:53 Supporter Q5: How can we prevent digital licensing issues when PSN is offline? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

23 Feb 1h 55min

It's a gigantor-scale DF Direct Weekly as Oliver, Alex and Tom deliver a 155-minute show kicking off with the verdict to Sony's latest State of Play, followed up by the sad news of layoffs at Crytek and a highly uncertain future for Crysis 4. Beyond that, Alex shares his thoughts on Assassin's Creed Shadows PC specs, while Oliver tests out the PS5 Pro patch for Astro Bot. And in the background, a flu-stricken Rich does nothing much except to write this description. 0:00:00 Introduction 0:01:11 News 1: State of Play: Tides of Annihilation 0:09:37 MindsEye 0:16:38 Days Gone Remastered 0:22:28 Saros 0:29:12 Dreams of Another 0:36:59 Lost Soul Aside 0:41:39 Other games: Borderlands 4, Sonic Racing Crossworlds, Onimusha, Midnight Walk 0:59:34 Overall impressions of the State of Play 1:06:43 News 2: Crysis 4 put “on hold” as Crytek lays off employees 1:16:24 News 3: Assassin’s Creed Shadows PC specs revealed 1:36:32 News 4: Astro Bot gets PS5 Pro upgrade 1:42:59 Supporter Q1: After 3 months, what do you think of the PS5 Pro and PSSR? 1:52:53 Supporter Q2: Why don’t more developers use CryEngine? 1:59:40 Supporter Q3: Will Nvidia “gate” new AI features to their most recent hardware? 2:09:17 Supporter Q4: Does RTX Mega Geometry eliminate the need for proxy geometry for RT? 2:15:17 Supporter Q5: Could Oliver address some of the recent state of the art AI tech? 2:26:52 Supporter Q6: How much do you need to spend on a GPU to have a good experience? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

17 Feb 2h 37min

Through a combination of the passing of time and regularly turning up every week to do the same thing, DF Direct Weekly 'celebrates' its 200th edition! We reminisce over the creation of the show before moving onto the news at hand - Switch 2 pricing and some intriguing new Nintendo patents, along with our first look at the new Battlefield. Meanwhile, we're not particularly enthused with Monster Hunter Wilds performance, Star Wars Outlaws on PS5 Pro gets a PSSR upgrade and the RTX 5080's overclocking prowess plays havoc with RTX 4090/4080 Super performance differentials. 0:00:00 Introduction 0:02:07 News 1: DF Direct celebrates episode 200! 0:32:01 News 2: Nintendo sets Switch 2 price expectations 0:46:17 News 3: Next Battlefield shown in brief teaser 0:55:45 News 4: Monster Hunter Wilds beta, benchmark tested 1:09:05 News 5: RTX 5080 overclocking tested 1:26:52 News 6: Epic admits Unreal Engine has a #StutterStruggle problem 1:34:17 News 7: Star Wars Outlaws updated with new PSSR version 1:41:07 Supporter Q1: Could you test the 5090 with no AI features vs. the 5080 with all AI features? 1:47:23 Supporter Q2: Could DF establish a latency rating system? 1:54:41 Supporter Q3: Would increasing resolution and AA quality be enough for Nintendo Switch 2 games? 1:57:53 Supporter Q4: Is a Bloodborne remaster imminent? 2:03:32 Supporter Q5: Could 1080p actually be preferable to 4K for Switch 2 games? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

10 Feb 2h 12min

Join Rich, Alex and Oliver for another huge Direct, covering off the 'no red lines' Xbox news and the Forza Horizon 5 PS5 announcement, hints from Phil Spencer about next-gen Xbox, along with early impressions on Marvel's Spider-Man 2 on PC. Meanwhile, the team field questions about the controversial RTX 5080 release, while Alex tests out the surprise new feature - Nvidia Smooth Motion. Finally, Oliver is very, very excited about DeepSeek - but does it spell the end of Nvidia's AI dominance? 0:00:00 Introduction 0:01:00 News 1: Forza Horizon 5 headed to PS5 0:12:04 News 2: Phil Spencer: Xbox hardware will be the differentiator 0:30:37 News 3: Spider-Man 2 PC disappoints 0:44:44 News 4: RTX 5080 review reaction 1:11:48 News 5: Nvidia Smooth Motion adds frame gen on all games 1:18:46 News 6: DeepSeek R1 LLM impresses! 1:32:51 Supporter Q1: Does AMD have a big opportunity with the RX 9070 series? 1:40:31 Supporter Q2: Is there a risk in shipping console hardware ML acceleration too early? 1:45:00 Supporter Q3: What kind of techniques do you think will be accelerated by ML in the future? 1:51:02 Supporter Q4: Should GPU reviewers test different upscalers at “equivalent image quality” settings? 1:55:28 Supporter Q5: What would Apple need to do to compete in AAA gaming? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

3 Feb 2h 6min

As we close in on the 200th edition of DF Direct Weekly - where we currently have no special plans whatsoever - Alex, Oliver and Rich discuss Microsoft's brilliant Xbox Developer_underscore_Direct, and get highly excited about Doom: The Dark Ages, before moving on to discuss the reaction to the RTX 5090 reviews, the problems of GPU reviewing, Sony's baffling live services strategy - and the mysterious delay of AMD's RDNA 4 cards. 0:00:00 Introduction 0:00:56 News 1: Developer Direct 2025 - Doom: The Dark Ages 0:17:36 Ninja Gaiden 4 0:22:54 Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 0:27:55 South of Midnight 0:32:38 News 2: RTX 5090 review reaction 1:14:39 News 3: Radeon 9070 cards arriving in March 1:27:53 News 4: Sony cancels Bluepoint and Bend Studios live service games 1:36:27 Supporter Q1: Could the Switch 2 pack unanticipated custom hardware? 1:42:18 Supporter Q2: Will GTA 6 cost $100 US? 1:48:11 Supporter Q3: Should the PS5 Pro be supported with new games for longer than the PS5? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

27 Jan 2h 4min

Nintendo Switch 2 has finally been revealed in a somewhat detail-light two minute presentation, showcasing renders of the new hardware, some details on backwards compatibility and a teaser for what may well be Mario Kart 9. John, Rich and Oliver sit down after the reveal and discuss the reveal - along with some intriguing leaks about the clock speeds of the main processor. 0:00:00 Introduction 0:01:12 Switch 2 hardware 0:16:42 New Mario Kart analysis 0:28:32 Only partial backwards compatibility? 0:36:44 Rumoured Switch 2 clockspeeds 0:47:52 Supporter Q1: Can Switch 2 use transformer model DLSS? 0:50:32 Supporter Q2: Can DLSS salvage Switch 2’s output on 4K screens? 0:52:19 Supporter Q3: Will Nintendo release performance patches for Switch 1 games on Switch 2? 0:58:21 Final Switch 2 thoughts and impressions Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

21 Jan 1h 5min

The embargo has lifted on the Editor's Day material Nvidia shared with the press during CES 2025. In this DF Direct Special, Oliver and Alex share their thoughts on the architectural improvements to the RTX 50-series cards, the laptops, the new AI features, DLSS 4, price and projected performance. 0:00:00 Introduction 0:01:08 Blackwell architecture: Blackwell SM design 0:03:39 Updated Tensor Core and RT Core 0:09:37 AI Management Processor and Max Q power management 0:15:13 Display Engine and video encode/decode 0:18:32 Hardware specs: RTX 5080 and 5090 0:29:16 RTX 5070 and 5070 Ti 0:34:23 RTX 50 Series laptops 0:40:14 RTX Software: Neural Shaders 0:44:24 SER 2.0 0:47:06 RTX Mega Geometry 0:50:15 RTX Hair 0:53:13 Neural Radiance Cache 0:55:58 RTX Skin 0:58:01 DLSS 4: Super Resolution, Ray Reconstruction, Frame Generation 1:06:18 Generative AI demos 1:10:03 Wrap up discussion: RTX 50 series price and performance 1:17:36 Nvidia’s software package and features 1:22:38 How should we review graphics hardware? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

15 Jan 1h 30min

Yes, it's true - not only do Oliver and Alex have full torsos and legs but they have now actually met in person at CES 2025! The duo discuss their reactions to the Nvidia keynote and the RTX demos that excited them the most before moving on sharing further impressions on their AMD, Intel, Asus and Razer visits. Also, the pair's critical eyes land upon the latest generation of displays showcased at the show. 0:00:00 Introduction 0:01:47 Nvidia CES demos - RTX Mega Geometry 0:14:25 RTX Neural Materials 0:21:24 RTX Neural Faces and RTX Hair 0:31:37 ReStir Path Tracing + Mega Geometry 0:36:49 Black State with DLSS 4 0:42:47 Alan Wake 2 with DLSS 4 0:46:01 Reflex 2 in The Finals 0:53:22 AMD at CES: AI denoiser demo, Lenovo Legion Go handhelds 1:03:51 Razer at CES: Laptop Cooling Pad, new Razer Blade 1:11:30 Asus and Intel at CES 1:17:29 CES displays: Mini-LED, Micro-LED, OLED + monitor sins! 1:30:07 Supporter Q1: Will Switch 2 support DLSS 4? 1:32:22 Supporter Q2: Did you see the Switch 2 mockups at CES? 1:33:56 Supporter Q3: Could you test DLSS against an ultra high-res “ground truth” image? 1:37:52 Supporter Q4: Why would a developer use Nvidia-developed rendering techniques over their UE5 equivalents? 1:40:38 Supporter Q5: Will multi frame gen solve game stutters? 1:42:05 Supporter Q6: Will multi frame gen make VRR obsolete? 1:44:27 Supporter Q7: Is Sony regretting sticking with AMD for their console business? 1:49:49 Supporter Q8: What do you think of the FF7 Rebirth PC specs? 1:52:37 Supporter Q9: What’s the craziest thing you’ve seen on the show floor at CES? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

13 Jan 2h