DF Direct Weekly on PSVR2, State of Play and Nintendo Direct
With special guest Ian Higton.
It's a shorter DF Direct blog this week - it's supposed to be a public holiday - but our weekly show goes live on YouTube as normal and it's a special one on two accounts. First of all, there's well over two hours of discussion to wade through, covering the latest Sony State of Play, last week's Nintendo Direct and the biggest news from the Tokyo Game Show. The second factor that makes this one rather special? That'll be a 40 minute (!) guest slot for none other than Eurogamer's Ian Higton!
You may have watched and read Ian's excellent PlayStation VR 2 content last week - but we had questions about the new headset. Lots of them. As we didn't get to see the hardware in person, we pinned down Ian (not literally) and bombarded him with our queries. Rather obligingly, Ian was very forthcoming and his segment is the centrepiece of this week's show. Beyond that, it's about State of Play as we mull over the likes of God of War Ragnarok, Tekken 8 and Rise of the Ronin, while Alex has much to say about Capcom's ExoPrimal, which wasn't in the State of Play but ended up as a discussion point anyway.
We also talk about the latest Nintendo Direct with titles including Octopath Traveller 2, Pikmin 4, Bayonetta 3, Radiant Silvergun and GoldenEye to look forward to, while there's also the matter of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Alex gets sweet, sweet revenge on his critics (on the matter of, um, volumetric clouds) and we ponder whether the game is still 'too big for Switch'
- 00:00:00 Introduction
- 00:00:41 News 01: PSVR 2 hands-on impressions!
- 00:48:22 News 02: Sony’s latest State of Play
- 01:10:05 News 03: New Nintendo Direct showcases 2023 games
- 01:25:46 News 04: Suikoden I and II remasters announced
- 01:28:41 News 05: Uncharted PC collection finally dated!
- 01:32:51 DF Content Discussion: John’s upcoming DF Retro project
- 01:34:51 DF Supporter Q1: Could AI techniques be used for more exotic real-time image enhancements?
- 01:39:44 DF Supporter Q2: Why does John still like split-screen when he could just play on two consoles in the same room?
- 01:42:53 DF Supporter Q3: What is one of the biggest changes you’ve made to a video before release?
- 01:48:28 DF Supporter Q4: What’s the best cheap alternative to OLEDs with similar picture characteristics?
- 01:51:17 DF Supporter Q5: Is it really worth it to target 4K at 30 FPS?
- 01:55:40 DF Supporter Q6: When playing a PC game at 30 FPS, why not play at 30Hz instead of 60Hz with a frame-rate cap?
There are satellite topics outside of the big shows/streams to consider too. What should we make of Capcom's decision to make a PlayStation 4 port of the Resident Evil 4 Remake, but not for Xbox One... which automatically rules out an Xbox One X conversion? Meanwhile, we start to get quitely excited about the arrival of the PC version of the Legacy of Thieves Uncharted collection. Since we recorded, it's been announced that Nvidia DLSS is going to be added - which adds further to the intrigue. Post-news, John reveals the next DF Retro episode - and it's going to be a big one, centring on the Final Fantasy 13 trilogy!
As usual, the show ends with supporter Q+A - could AI be used for more than resolution upgrades? Could it improve texture quality or shadow detail on the fly? What's the big deal with split-screen if you can just put two consoles in the same room... and is there actually a way to get an OLED-like experience without having to shell out the big bucks? Finally, we have a brace of questions tackling the thorny 30fps question: with the new wave of consoles arriving, is it finally time to bid goodbye to 30fps for good? Our hearts say yes, but the Unreal Engine 5 demos we've seen thus far say no! It's a big show this week and I hope you enjoy it - and yes, remember there's early access to this and a wealth of DF content via the Digital Foundry Supporter Program along with more DF Retro and a big bunch of bonus material. Join us!