Digital Foundry Direct Weekly

Nintendo Direct rounds off the big summer gaming events and... well, it's a mixed bag for sure. What have we learned about the Ocarina of Time Remake? How well are the third party ports holding up? John, Rich and Oliver have some thoughts on that before moving on to reactions to the 30 minute Fable gameplay demo. Meanwhile, Nintendo is planning a new Switch 2 revision with a replaceable battery and... somehow, the RTX 3060 has returned.0:00:00 Introduction 0:02:12 News 1: Nintendo Direct: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 0:09:29 Xenoblade Genesis, Xenoblade 1-3 Switch 2 Editions0:17:40 Kingdom Hearts 4, Kingdom Hearts 1-3 0:22:21 Third party games: Dragon’s Dogma 2, Onimusha, Metaphor Refantazio, Space Marine 2, The Duskbloods, Devil May Cry 5, Rise of the Tomb Raider 0:35:47 News 2: Fable previewed in 30 minute demo 0:42:55 News 3: Switch 2 gets easily repairable EU edition 0:50:46 News 4: Is the RTX 3060 coming back? 1:03:51 Retrospective: Five years of FSR 1

Taped before we produced our Xbox Showcase coverage, it's John, Rich and Oliver at their respective microphones to discuss all the big games at the recent Summer Game Fest. Geoff came good - as this excellent line-up of titles reveals. 0:00:00 Introduction0:02:28 Final Fantasy 7 Revelation0:10:35 Resident Evil Veronica0:19:20 Stellar Blade: Blood Rain0:24:35 Mighty Cuphead Adventures0:29:25 Alien Isolation 20:33:21 Gen Atlas0:40:23 Clutch0:45:12 Crossfire0:52:42 Virtua Fighter Crossroads0:58:14 Other games: Haex, Star Wars Galactic Racer, 1666 Amsterdam, Star Wars Zero Company, Hot Wheels Infinite Rush, Guild Wars 3, Super Yooka-Laylee Kart

It's Xbox's time to shine with the latest in the big summer showcases and Team Green certainly delivered. Gears of War: E-Day finally breaks cover, Halo Campaign Evolved impresses, while Senua, Metro 2039 and Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy look phenomenal. But what's the deal with Microsoft's exclusivity strategy and will it actually work?0:00:00 Introduction0:00:46 Gears of War: E-Day0:13:36 Clockwork Revolution0:16:21 Is Xbox returning to exclusive games?0:29:30 Halo Campaign Evolved0:34:24 Persona 4 Revival and Persona 60:38:52 Senua0:43:21 Spyro: A Realm Beyond0:46:02 Metro 20390:49:35 Crazy Taxi: World Tour0:53:20 Doom: The Dark Ages | Revelations0:57:57 Wo Long 2: Wings of Ember1:00:48 Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy1:04:40 Xbox 25th Anniversary Series X

At the time of publication, it has been one year and one day since Nintendo launched the Switch 2 console - so, as is DF tradition, it's time to look back over the last year and assess the system's track record so far. Strong back compat, impressive first and third party support, actual ray tracing and game-changing DLSS results - has Nintendo managed to put a foot wrong at all?00:00 Overview01:10 Is Switch 2 a generational leap over Switch 1?11:40 What are the worst and best Switch 2 ports?21:46 Has Nintendo extracted the most from Switch 2 in their own games?27:34 Have we accepted Switch 2’s hardware flaws?33:27 What do we make of GameChat, GameShare, and mouse controls?37:51 How do we rate Switch 2’s backwards compatibility?44:08 Concluding thoughts

With the welcome announcement of Call of Duty coming to Switch 2, the question is... can the hardware handle the series' signature 60fps? Meanwhile, what does Nvidia aim to achieve with its new RTX Spark processor? In the wake of the shock Steam Deck price rises, could a self-built PC potentially offer superior value? What's the fate of Xbox Series S in the Helix era? All this and more in the new DF Direct Q+A show.00:00 Introduction00:40 Supporter Q1: Do you think Modern Warfare 4 will be good on Switch 2?09:38 Supporter Q2: Is the Nvidia N1X an expensive, niche chip?24:25 Supporter Q3: Is a custom PC a better deal than Steam Machine?31:00 Supporter Q4: Are review embargoes becoming more strict?37:50 Supporter Q5: Will Microsoft ditch Series S when Project Helix arrives?42:07 Supporter Q6: Are high hardware prices a boon for game optimization?

The summer games showcase event season is upon us and Sony is first off the mark with an excellent showing. God of War Laufey and Marvel's Wolverine are the highlights of the event, but there's plenty more that caught our eye here. John and Oliver share their thoughts on the event.00:00 Introduction 01:13 God of War Laufey 08:44 Marvel’s Wolverine 16:46 Rayman Legends Retold 20:50 Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve 25:09 Stuntman Hollywood 28:55 Until Dawn 232:24 Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis 35:30 Kemuri 37:45 Omimusha: Way of the Sword 43:07 Concluding thoughts 

The shock news of +40% price rises for Steam Deck kicks off a BIG Direct this week, swiftly followed by the team's first impressions of the PC version of 007 First Light - and its ker-azy upscaling issues. The new Call of Duty coming to Switch 2 is a topic of much interest, as is the announcement of a brand-new expansion for The Witcher 3. Rich is dismayed by the presentation of bare buttocks in Metal Gear Solid 4's PS5 remaster, the panel reminisces on five years of Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart - and we deliver an explainer on why it's getting more difficult to cover Xbox Series versions of third-party multi-platform games.0:00:00 Introduction 0:01:04 News 1: Valve restocks Steam Deck with massive price bump 0:20:26 News 2: 007 First Light suffers DLSS issues on PC 0:39:39 News 3: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 announced 0:47:13 News 4: New Witcher 3 expansion announced0:53:27 News 5: MGS4 PS5 port demoed! 1:04:33 News 6: Xbox whitelisting woes derail game coverage 1:14:08 Retrospective: Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart 5-year anniversary

The team sit down once more to discuss the latest questions from DF Supporters. What do we make of Unreal Engine 6's debut in Rocket League of all places? Has Epic delivered a version of Lumen that is performant enough for lower spec kit? Is Sony's quality control to be blamed for lower than expected PC sales and finally, the big one... if Steam is a monopoly, why do we like it?00:00 Introduction01:09 Supporter Q1: What should we make of the Unreal Engine 6 announcement?16:48 Supporter Q2: What does the new “medium Lumen” preset mean for Switch 2?21:52 Supporter Q3: Which UE5 game got closest visually to The Matrix Awakens?25:58 Supporter Q4: Has the RTX 4090 aged like fine wine?34:10 Supporter Q5: Should Sony’s declining PC port quality be blamed for poor sales?42:05 Supporter Q6: If people don’t like monopolies, why do they like Steam?