Digital Foundry Direct Weekly

When it comes to video games and the hardware and tech we play them on, the team at Digital Foundry are unparalleled experts. Each week, DF Direct breaks down the latest breakthroughs in video game visuals, sound, and performance happening on PlayStation, Xbox, the most powerful PC setups, and more. If you’re a geek for graphics, GPUs, or just video games in general, DF Direct will help you get the most out of your gaming setup. DF Direct is a part of the Geek Media Podcast Network, an IGN Entertainment Brand. Visit Geek.com for more information.

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DF Direct Weekly #203: AMD RDNA 4 Reveal, Fable...
108 min
27
DF Direct Weekly #202: GTA5 PC Gets RT Enhancem...
112 min
28
DF Direct Weekly #201: State of Play Verdict, C...
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.
154 min
29
DF Direct Weekly #200! Switch 2 Pricing, The NE...
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.
129 min
30
DF Direct Weekly #199: Forza Horizon PS5, Next-...
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?
123 min
31
DF Direct Weekly #198: Doom The Dark Ages React...
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.
122 min
32
DF Direct Weekly #197 - Nintendo Switch 2 React...
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.
64 min
33
DF Direct Special: Inside Nvidia RTX 50-Series:...
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.
89 min
34
DF Direct Weekly #196 - CES 2025 Special! - Nvi...
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.
117 min
35
DF Direct Weekly #195: Switch 2 Motherboard Lea...
DF Direct returns in the year of our lord, 2025! Rich and Oliver mull over the leaked imagery of the Nintendo Switch 2 motherboard. Is the SoC on a sub-standard Samsung process? Does it really matter? Can we expect PS4 Pro levels of performance? (Spoilers: no). Meanwhile, a higher quality version of GTA 6 Trailer 1 reveals new details, and Game Science has issues with console optimisations on Xbox Series S - so is this why Black Myth: Wukong isn't on Microsoft's consoles? Finally, Rich wonders why the staff keep referring to the year of our lord - and Oliver's getting rather excited about the latest breakthroughs in AI technology.
103 min
36
DF Direct Special: Digital Foundry's Best Game ...
As another year comes to a close, Digital Foundry unleashes its traditional holiday video, celebrating the best game graphics of the year. Outside of some highly honourable mentions, ten games are lauded for their phenomenal visuals. John, Alex and Oliver share their thoughts in a massive 108-minute long celebration!
108 min
37
DF Direct Weekly #194: Switch 2 Leak Overload, ...
With an official announcement for Nintendo Switch 2 due in the next month or so, it's perhaps no surprise to see the leaks coming in thick and fast - but how believable are they? Meanwhile, Oliver gets to grips with the latest patch for Alan Wake 2 on PS5 Pro - is there genuine improvement? Rich tries to piece together the latest RTX 50-series rumours into something coherently plausible, while John examines the latest Switch IP-abusing shovelware: the mighty Monkey Kong in New-York.
124 min
38
DF Direct Special: Mark Cerny's PlayStation 5 P...
PlayStation lead system architect Mark Cerny has just 'quote-unquote' dropped a big new deep dive into the technology of the PlayStation 5 Pro. Oliver Mackenzie had the chance to see the presentation several weeks ago and we have an interview on the channel - but the Digital Foundry team have much to talk about based on the presentation - and here they are to do just that.
40 min
39
DF Direct Weekly #193: The Witcher 4, Intergala...
Alert status is elevated to GEOFFCON 1 as we react to the major reveals - and other games that caught our attention - at The Game Awards 2024. What can we learn from The Witcher 4's cinematic trailer and the RTX 5090 that powered it? Is Intergalactic from Naughty Dog really rendering in real-time at 4K 60 with ray tracing? How good does Mafia: The Old Country look and just how wonderful was Split Fiction? Does Elden Ring Nightreign exhibit any evidence of technical progression whatsoever? All this and more in the new Direct, plus Oliver's analysis of the new PS5 Pro updates for Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora and Star Wars Outlaws.
130 min
40
DF Direct Weekly #192: PlayStation 30th, New St...
In a new, gigantor-scale edition of DF Direct Weekly, John and Rich celebrate PlayStation's 30th Anniversary, Alex joins to discuss Indiana Jones on PC with its 'actually quite reasonable' specs, while Oliver and Tom discuss potential Steam Machines, Lenovo Legion Go S, the latest Intel GPU announcements, Warhammer 40K Darktide on PS5 and Pro and... much, much more!
145 min
41
DF Direct Weekly #191: PlayStation Handheld Rea...
Another gigantic edition of DF Direct Weekly sees Rich, Alex and John tackle the PlayStation Handheld rumours (no, it won't run native PS5 games), problems with Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora's PS5 Pro patch, updates to Star Wars Outlaws and the outrageously 'familiar' Light of Motiram - featuring the four horsemen of the gaming apocalypse. Rich and Alex have high hopes for Intel's B580 GPU, while John has much to say about Half-Life 2's 20th anniversary and the recently released Dynasty Warriors Origins demo.
142 min
42
DF Direct Weekly #190: PSSR Issues, Silent Hill...
PSSR on PS5 Pro: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly - what's actually going on? Rich, Oliver and Alex discuss, before moving on to a look at Silent Hill 2's latest Pro update... which removes PSSR in its performance mode. Rich has some interesting findings from Assassin's Creed Syndicate's new 60 frames per second upgrade, along with a look at the latest iteration of PlayStation Portal - including direct cloud streaming support. And Oliver has some favourable impressions from the unexpected but rather cool Pro upgrade for The Callisto Protocol.
140 min
43
DF Direct Weekly #189: Xbox Ports: "No Red Line...
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 PC port. And finally, John has a forum for telling you all about how great the recently released Halo 2 E3 demo is - and why he loves the ModRetro Chromatic.
123 min
44
DF Direct Weekly #188: God of War Ragnarök PS5 ...
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 a new PC monitor, while Alex and Rich prostrate themselves before AMD's Ryzen 7 9800X3D. And yes, why DIDN'T the team do a full specs breakdown of the PS5 Pro's actual packaging?
103 min
45
DF Direct Special - Sony PlayStation 5 Pro Revi...
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.
79 min
46
DF Direct Weekly #187: Concord DEAD, Indiana Jo...
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 and Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered on PC. Meanwhile, in his spare time, John's been testing out a couple of alleged 'disaster remasters'...
116 min
47
DF Direct Weekly #186: Teraflop War OVER, Killz...
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 spell the end for the Killzone franchise. John shares first impressions on Sonic x Shadow Generations, while Oliver REALLY wants to tell you all about Wayfinder on the PlayStation 5.
118 min
48
DF Direct Weekly #185: Xbox Series 6nm Upgrade,...
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 overclock features. The team 'pour one out' for the cancelled Halo battle royale - and Nightdive has done it again with Killing Time: Resurrected.
127 min
49
DF Direct Weekly #184: Red Dead PC! Nintendo My...
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.
125 min
50
DF Direct - Inside GeForce 256 - The First GPU ...
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.
47 min