DF Direct Weekly

[@recordatron]

Probably sounds a bit cheesy but I really do look forward to DF direct each week. It's such a pick-me-up. It's just a really easy to listen to and always makes me chuckle and has something I'm interested in hearing about. Keep up the good work people 👍

[@caiomarastoni1031]

I don't think it's cheesy at all... In fact DF Direct and Skill Up's "This week in videogames" are the only shows i watch regularly.

[@thedude8128]

It's a proper podcast with multiple individual personalities. It's still obviously sometimes an echo chamber. Can't avoid that in podcasting. However, I still think they because each member brings a different skill which provides a different perspective on the subjects is what makes them unique. Most podcasts are just echo chambers with everyone agreeing on the same thing and fanboy.

[@mz-hv2vh]

It's fun. It's such a niche thing when you think about it and it's nice to hear some people who know a lot and follow all the developments talking about the news every week. Makes you feel very connected with the games tech developments

[@jZamora87]

Ole cheesy cornball

[@akel135]

Cheddar or Stinking Bishop?

[@Inverse_Midas]

Tom has that perfect voice for reviews and technical breakdown. Nice to see him on the DF weekly. Overall, I think the small team they have really gel well together. Cheers.

[@WaffleCake]

Honestly yeah: pretty sure I've been watching every episode on release for the past year or so. This show is always such a bonus for us of the Monday troupe. :)

[@bpcgos]

Tom is the OG...

[@RealJeffTidwell]

Tom is the guy that initially attracted me to DF, super professional.

[@Inverse_Midas]

@@RealJeffTidwell A professional man, with a professional hair-care routine!

[@GuiltyBystander8]

he looks like a model too

[@cactoidpinata]

Wow John, you really nailed it about what changed about multiplayer games. It's extra interesting to me because I had a very recent experience where this just describes exactly what was wrong with the situation. I was trying to play Plants vs Zombies Battle for Neighborville with a friend. I asked him how we get into the game and start playing. He immediately brings me over to this slot machine that you spend money on and cosmetics or something comes out. And I told him I wasn't interested, I just want to start having fun. He said, "This is the fun of the game." I almost just rage quit and ditched him right there. I just don't care about the meta games (xp bars, accumulative gold, whatever). Luckily, I was a little more patient and found the game to be pretty enjoyable. I never touched the slot machine. It just shows how differently people think from gamer to gamer.

[@EhEhEhEINSTEIN]

Had a similar-ish experience with a friend playing halo infinite awhile ago. Guy that we got into a random game with starts asking us about our basic armor and if we wanted help power leveling to get all the battle pass stuff and blah blah blah. We were both like... We're just here to play some halo.. We don't need cat ears to smash these kids, we've been playing halo longer than some of them have been alive. He was astounded. As am I at what some people place "value" on..

[@aggies11]

They have been pavlovianly conditioned. Those mechanics prey upon human psychology and brain chemistry. It's not that far off from the tests they did on drug addicted rats. Imagine a world where this is the only type of multiplayer gaming you knew. So depressing.

[@gerboog]

You may need anger management unless you were exaggerating.

[@TheAxebeard]

Sounds like you need better friends.

[@uncleurda8101]

@@gerboog Right it's not something to "rage quit" over lmao

[@artofwar420]

The RTX AI upscaler is a bit too smooth for some content, but where I found it's amazing is in animated or cartoony videos. Watching a 480p anime look really sharp at 4K is a little mind blowing. Of course, it does get rid of small granularities like drawing lines and imperfections. So if the video you're watching relies on those small imperfections to give it character, you may lose that detail. If it's just straight lines though, it's amazing stuff.

[@SaigonBrit]

Nice to see Tom back. Alongside Rich he is my favorite DF'er.

[@thepadster123]

Do you (or anyone) know which account Richard despises that he keeps saying he's being subscribed too?

[@hansolo6831]

@@thepadster123 Alleyway Jack

[@hansolo6831]

it's an insider joke. You wouldn't get it

[@thatguy4632]

A Digital F*****?

[@SaigonBrit]

@@thatguy4632 Digital Foundry (DF)

[@p5rsona]

John nailed it with the modern warfare rant

[@TheChristriton]

He really did. I often feel like John is speaking my mind for me. Only difference is, he can word it a whole lot better than I can, haha

[@aoiyozoraa]

Just for the point on COD4 alone, this podcast is already a classic to me. So many good arguments throughout it.

[@anabang1251]

I agree with him even though I love playing Cod, even the modern ones. It really did effect the multiplayer landscape big time!

[@shaecouture7480]

The real question is does Tom use Nvidia Hairworks? And what is the hit to performance?

[@leoni7649]

Maybe his sexual performance drops FPS significantly.

[@lilgohan]

Tom has switched to console this gen, so no nvidia here, though his framerate seems to be stable even with Hair Quality on Ultra

[@JaimeIsJaime]

@@lilgohan yeah some nice console optimization has went to his hair

[@slackjaw10]

@f35suarezjgmail Lower strand count/quality, but only noticeable in close-ups.

[@g33xzi11a]

​@@slackjaw10 With more modern texture-rendering techniques, shading, materials simulation, and post-process clean-up it ends up holding up better in all but a few edge cases. For example, Digital Foundry have created a clever technique to render larger hair cluster strands via clumping as a single strand. Almost like a clothworks bag with finely texture hair glued on. And all of this is happening dynamically according to the context of the scene. This is beautifully demonstrated when the hair is in wet conditions. *cuts to shower* As you can see here, the hair gathers and acts almost a single object with only a few strands moving independently. And look closely at the way the hair slicks to the skin on the arms, chest, and p- *Tom notices John hiding in the bathroom vanity and grows irate shouting `Not again, John! This has to stop` while John quickly exits the vanity and sprints out of the flat* and that's gonna do it for this video. *huff* Thanks *huff* for watching *chhh chhh huff*, and we'll see you next time *HUHHHGGH*

[@PatrickJanz]

Larian has had splitscreen on both Divinity games and both Baldurs Gate Games had Multiplayer. It is a requirement for them.

[@ulrichleukam1068]

They could make a XbSeries S version of the game without a split screen but MSFT requires gameplay parity across consoles in order to ship.

[@Lo-Kag]

oAnd they are one of the only non-indie developers that still have this. I'd be devastated if they skipped it. DOS1&2 are one of the best local co-op games out there, it's amazing you can play them in local co-op.

[@LucDutra92]

​@@ulrichleukam1068Yep. Series S was promised as a cheaper machine which can do everything Series X can on a more constrained scale. Pared back visuals and performance is one thing but missing features is another one altogether. Suddenly MS could find itself being sued by customers.

[@PatrickJanz]

@@Lo-Kag absolutely!

[@MrWizardGG]

I think Series S should get splitscreen for gaming couples sake.

[@dannystaten5701]

The common narrative I hear is that minimum PC specs are typically lower than series S. Is BG3 just targeting higher PC specs, or just living without split screen on lower spec PCs?

[@Ccagesniper]

As some one who has played Baldur's Gate 3 early access, 700 hours exclusively multiplayer only, I'd say the multiplayer experience is the main draw of the game and the exclusive reason Larian was chosen to make this game. Their experience making in Divinity original sin multiplayer which make the game much more fun. It is essential to the experience of bringing your table top players together to play a DND video game. Plus they are making a dungeon master mode so one could potentially host a campaign in their engine. This is something they introduced in Divinity OS 2.

[@Shantara11]

It’s very obvious no one among DF crew has played D:OS 1 or 2 multiplayer. They are completely unaware of the role of multiplayer in those games

[@Booneface]

I played DOS 1+2 solo and loved them... I'm also a Series X owner, so I would really want it to be released if at all possible!!!

[@yewtewbstew547]

Now I just feel sad that I have no friends lol. I enjoyed DOS2 solo, but I can definitely see how it would be fun in co-op. The amount of absolute fuckery you can get up to in DOS2 rivals some immersive sim games. Like the whole "barrelmancy" thing. It's a game that wants you to break its rules. I haven't touched BG3, holding off for the full release, but I hope it is similar in that respect.

[@xBINARYGODx]

or maybe the number of people who will do local coop on a series S is vanishingly small and network coop of various kinds is more than good enough for the vast majority of customers.

[@TheAxebeard]

They had DM mode in Neverwinter Nights. Even that older Vampire the Masquerade PC game had it.

[@hldave]

This baldur Gate 3 topic makes me wonder if Series S is why Halo Infinite dropped local coop?

[@kevboard]

nope, the glitched splitscreen runs just fine even tho it's not even a finshed mode

[@MrIndex67]

@@kevboard it runs so well that it makes you wonder why they dropped it. Maybe one day we’ll get the story.

[@liamflan9553]

No it wasn’t, it was the Xbox one. I think someone talked about it

[@yomamasohot6411]

Ding! Ding! Ding!

[@ApotheosisDivine69]

Awesome episode!! It's always a great pleasure seeing Tom in these D.F. weekly episodes! Tom is my favorite reviewer on the team, he is very well-spoken and a great writer too!

[@SaigonBrit]

Agree entirely. He is just a total gent and he doesn't bring his personal politics into DF. He just talks about games and graphics. The best of them all.

[@ApotheosisDivine69]

@Saigon Brit Exactly! I feel he doesn't get the appreciation level that the other members are given. He deserves to be seen and heard more in future D.F weeklies. His reviews are always a pleasure to listen to as his style is unbiased towards Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, or PC. He has a great voice also that just sounds right when he is speaking!

[@SaigonBrit]

@@ApotheosisDivine69 Agree entirely. I actively seek out Tom videos because he has superb delivery and he is simply about games. I have followed DF for years and love the work they do but increasingly frustrated with totally inappropriate and utterly off-topic political positions being taken by certain members of the team. We just want graphics and game analysis- LEAVE THE POLITICS AT HOME!!!!!!! Thank you:)

[@ApotheosisDivine69]

@Saigon Brit Agreed! All the members of the D.F. team are awesome! But Tom is just simply the best! His style and focus on the games are much appreciated! I hope we see more of Tom's reviews and especially more of Tom in these D.F. weeklies! He is just great 👍

[@SaigonBrit]

@@ApotheosisDivine69 Agree entirely. Of all the DF'ers I would love to buy Tom a pint 'cos he just comes across as 100% genuine- no agenda at all. Just wants to love games, review games and analyse graphics. I so dearly hope some of the others can stop their cringe politicking and just get back to games- what brought us all together in the first place:)))))))

[@saelesbonsazse9919]

Nice to see you, John, on the Double Fine documentary!! PsychOdyssey is such an amazing testament to all the incredible talent, love and dedication they put into their games.

[@dingo535]

Love seeing Tom on the direct! I think something that could help with Alex’s optimized settings would be a time stamp to where the optimized settings appear.

[@leonbarker1433]

While Rich was talking about that I was thinking that it's already kind of taken care of itself because people in the comments section tend to timestamp the optimised settings part. Sometimes it's even the "most watched" part of the video.

[@mbsfaridi]

Somebody always timestamps it in the comments.

[@TylerHNothing]

also i'm kind of fascinated with how much Rich loves the Series S, but the market seems to think otherwise considering their price on Facebook market as he mentioned

[@Stanjara]

Yes, it's amazing tech for a $150, but sadly...it is a subscription device.

[@clementrousseau3571]

It’s not so much proof that the Series S is disliked by consumers, it’s proof that the Series X and PS5 are still very expensive, even second hand, due to the supply issues that are just slowly coming to an end. It doesn’t say much about whether consumers like the console or not. The PS4 was a beloved console and I got mine for nearly half its retail price two years after its release. The market in 2023 is just complete chaos.

[@RubMySweatyThighs]

I'm seeing them 200 that cheap in the west coast

[@TylerHNothing]

@@clementrousseau3571 you raise a good point. I’m not economist and don’t have any data, but supply = demand. If the supply of those Series S is plenty, it might be that there was no demand for the system to begin with, hence people need to dump it for a much lower price than retail. Series X are starting to do the same, and they’ve been plenty available thru the end of 2022, id recon there was not as much demand for that system than the PS5. You can look internationally as well for a more astonishing confirmation

[@clementrousseau3571]

@@TylerHNothing yes, it is supply and demand. Except supply hasn’t been equal across the market since the release of the consoles. The Series S has almost never had supply issues, hence it’s low price on the second hand market. The Series X has been readily available for almost a year and the PS5 since January, and these two see their price decrease progressively. These figures are not as telling as sales figures, as they are completely dependent on supply. But even sales figures are a bit tricky in the case of the Series S has it served as a buffer for people waiting for a Series X… because of low supplies.

[@Cody-th6gw]

You guys are the BEST. Side note - John seems to use an auto-mute feature on his mic that cuts off the beginning of a lot of his statements. Please disable, I want to hear his reviews in their full awesomeness

[@soundthatyoucansee123]

He's likely using RTX voice and I agree he needs to tune it a bit.

[@azazelleblack]

The game for the "gen 7 remakes" question is Heavenly Sword. That game was SUPER ambitious on the PS3, and it's awesome... and it runs at about 12 FPS most of the time. A current-gen remake of that with all modern technology could be incredible.

[@Dragonfury3000]

It deserved better but Id vote for Warhawk remake

[@Loundsify]

Didn't Ninja theory make that and Sony Published it? So chances of it ever being remade are slim unless Sony uses Bend Studios to remake it like dark souls.

[@arsonal3]

As a Series S user, having features turned off is fine. Just getting it to 30FPS is all I would like. A 60FPS mode is considered a plus, but I get that it isn't always an option. To be honest, the biggest concern is that there are games that show they take the time to make a game look good on the Series S whereas a lot of games just turn all features off and run away from it. Knowing the specs of the lower system would help developers target a good midground. If some games can look good, it makes me think developers don't want to take the time to make things work. It is more work, but it is work that gets you a new audience, which is always a good thing. Lazy ports to the Switch and Series S are simply annoying. They want our money. They simply don't want to work for it. Maybe I should start sending an apology letter to developers that do a good job, I mean it is my fault for owning a Series S after all.

[@MrWizardGG]

If I were series s I'd personally want it delayed because I play all Divinity games from Larian with my girlfriend, since they're turn based she loves it and doesn't require any reflexes.

[@wodensthrone5215]

You bought a series s/potato, congratulations

[@gregoriolorenzo8771]

​@@wodensthrone5215 L comment

[@wodensthrone5215]

@@gregoriolorenzo8771 Yeah, I don't know why you would make a L comment.

[@arsonal3]

@@wodensthrone5215 I bought a system within my budget and accessible. Plus, I like Game Pass. PS5 now has its own service, but the Series S was the best option when I was looking for a system in my budget. All I'm asking is that developers try and scale their games for degrees of PCs and try to factor those settings in when looking at the Series S. You can tell when a developer spends time making it work versus the ones that don't

[@TheAccuphasefan]

Agree with John on multiplayer focused on numbers… I miss just having fun

[@uhurunuru6609]

Why? I have fun in every game I play, if it's not fun, I stop, and fix the game my way to remove the NOT fun, but I'm a PC gamer using mods, and cheat engine for FUN.. Haven't done multiplayer in about 15 years, as soon as it became clear that multiplayer gamers were going to give Micro{Trash}actions a free pass, I GTFO, no regrets. Single Player Gamers held it off for about 10 years, but the slow creep from Ubicrap got worse, You lot let it in, I changed my stance to no in game purchases at all. Put a game in your cash shop, and I GTFO, my gaming is better than ever, because fun = No Micro{Trash}actions, No Excuses Accepted, No Exceptions Allowed, Just say No.

[@dangelo2728]

I mostly agree with John on people holding out on buying games on day 1. You can count on one hand how many games I bought on day 1 for $60-$70 in the last 3-4 years. It has more to do with my interest in the title relative to the price more than anything, but a distrust in stability also plays a factor into that decision as well. But its undeniable that being 6 months behind the curb for game releases can save you a ton of money. Even for Switch, I can’t remember the last time I paid $60 for a Switch title. I usually wait for a decent sale. I really wanted Mario Party Superstars at launch but knew i’d be disappointed in it for $60. Waiting a few months to pick it up at $40 made the lack of content easier to swallow, but still a bit sad at the lack of boards.

[@malta071]

Brilliance of Sony offering cheaper version of their console while not effecting the performance

[@ToadyEN]

I'm glad Rich brings the baldur's gate topic back to the consumer, in the midst of an economic downturn the series s is perfect for people who want to play next game games on a budget. Microsoft really do need to send in their team to help get the coop working on the S.

[@joefawley9264]

Series S is a blatant ripoff, not only being a worse machine but forcing people to buy expensive Xbox memory cards.

[@alostcause4035]

​@@joefawley9264 yes, proprietary memory cards on xbox as well. Which regularly makes them twice the price of ssds on other platforms.

[@ToadyEN]

Of course it's going to be a worse machine if it cost less 😆 I don't disagree with you on the proprietary memory cards.

[@liamflan9553]

It’s NOT Forcing anyone to buy extra memory! You keep what your playing on it, delete a game or 2 when you need room. Xbox downloads and installs games way way faster than ps5 so it’s not an issue at all. You have plenty of room and absolutely do not have to buy extra storage

[@odedra01]

@@liamflan9553 making up bullshit now, Xbox does not install or download games faster than a ps5 & file sizes are a lot smaller on ps5 compared to Xbox install sizes but 300gb is enough for games 🤣. The series s is a piece of shit & will only lead to the the ps5 continuing to wipe the floor with Xbox in game’s technically & quality wise throughout the gen as it goes on.

[@Alex_Logan22]

The solution is simple, just let split screen be a PlayStation/PC exclusive feature.

[@HenryMarkV]

I'm using Nvidia's video upscaling to watch this. It just wrecks havoc on human faces, erasing detail if the video is even a little bit low quality. It kind of looks like the fastest pass of any other AI upscaling program, which makes sense if it is trying to do it 30 times per second

[@theoldpcgamer77]

But does it A.I enhance John and Richs hair back ?

[@Anon1370]

I found it's not as good as the Nvidia upscaling on the Nvidia shield tv box...it's much worse

[@Davitron_87]

Interesting hearing Tom talk about getting over the day 1 release fomo that so many people have. In the past year, I’ve tended to hold off on buying games day 1, and just wait a few months. Most of the time, it’s on sale, and in a much better state.

[@neonix01]

Maybe this feature parity requirement is what killed split-screen coop in Halo Infinite also? It was there, but was still ditched. Maybe it simply wasn't performant enough on Series S, so the feature was scrapped completely. If so, the Series S is really holding the Series X back.

[@raisinmancereal]

Removing split screen mode to release the game is unacceptable IMO. It may not seem as relevant with Baldur’s Gate, but imagine Halo 1-3 without split screen coop. That’s really why among many other reasons 343 bungled the franchise. It’s that important to keep split screen mode.

[@MrIndex67]

Split screen was an integral part of the Halo experience for many. Going by what John said, that doesn’t seem to be the case here. It really should be on a game by game basis.

[@shayanali8771]

Halo infinite also didnt got split screen if you remember. It was said that there were technical difficulties within the game engine and developer incapabilities. I always thought that the series s bottleneck played a big part too in not making the mode altogether possible on series consoles

[@raisinmancereal]

@@MrIndex67 Not sure what happened to my original reply, but I don’t agree. Local coop on the PS2 version of this series was some of the best times I’ve had in gaming. It’s absolutely integral for this franchise as well.

[@Lo-Kag]

Spiltscreen is just as similarly relevant for Larian's previous games, Divinity Original Sin 1 and 2. They are phenomenal games as local co-op games.

[@lordxboss5700]

@@shayanali8771 Halo Infinite splitscreen most likely boils down to running on Xbox One not the SeriesS 🤷🏻‍♂️I wonder if developers were using the full RDNA2 toolset to run games more efficiently if that would lighten the load and make splitscreen and other demanding features possible on SeriesS 🤷🏻‍♂️Hardware Acceleration, Mesh Shaders, Sampler Feedback Streaming, Variable Rate Shaders etc are meant to help with demanding games

[@DeathPSN]

It’s funny because they were just saying that the series S IS NOT holding back the generation. PlayStation has ONE version. Easy to optimize and get running to target. Having to have the Series S have all features of the series X version when it is weak is ridiculous.

[@joefawley9264]

It's going to hold back next gen as a whole.

[@OrtadragoonX]

@@joefawley9264 It’s one of two possibilities. It really depends on what system is the target hardware. With worldwide PS5 sales blowing up it’s likely that it will become the target for all current generation games. Microsoft will have to budge on Series S requirements at some point. I’m suspecting that by 2026 (assuming this generation lasts a long time; like 7th Gen did) I think they’ll be forced by developers to drop the true intent that all games run on Series S. So basically im saying that it won’t hold back the entire generation, but it will hold back the Xbox platform on third party titles unless Microsoft budges.

[@joefawley9264]

@@OrtadragoonX I agree, and I do believe this generation will last til 2026. Pro versions? Who knows, but that puts series s in a tougher spot.

[@awsomeboy360]

@@joefawley9264 It will for third parties for sure. Glad that the Sony exclusive exist and not only will they have the natural advantage of being developed for just one console, they won't have to deal with the Series S weak ass.

[@MassiveHappyClapper]

Agreed 👍

[@baccyfromrc]

Holding a console generation hostage is not cool even if it means some people will save a few bucks on it. Hated the Series S from its inception and the fact that it sells for £100GBP is a good indicator of what the owners think of it. The ps5 sales figures on the other hand are a good indication that people can afford good tech when it's worth it

[@Fuchsfeuer]

That's the problem. You can't create a product for everyone, because everyone is different. It's not even a question of whether you people can afford it, but whether they want to afford it. I see the right decision by the developers. who just skip the system when it comes with a compulsion to co-develop for a console that is underpowered and you have to do extra work to make a few 'happy'. Some you just have to leave behind and everyone should always be free when and who they want to leave behind.

[@billybadass7718]

100 percent agree

[@Blitzz1907]

Can't wait for FFXVI. The game looks really crazy

[@tommybull6578]

That Next gen quality

[@LRon-ef7ni]

I really love the focus on one platform and that it’s got a beginning and end. I’m so excited.

[@BattleBrotherCasten]

@tommy Bull It looks pretty,but somewhere in between boring and going to give me a seizure with so much shit going on the screen at once.

[@cruelwraith2games926]

Here are the Baldur's Gate 3 System Requirements (Minimum) CPU: Intel i5-4690 / AMD FX 4350 RAM: 8 GB VIDEO CARD: Nvidia GTX 780 / AMD Radeon R9 280X DEDICATED VIDEO RAM: 3072 MB PIXEL SHADER: 5.0 VERTEX SHADER: 5.0 OS: Windows 10 64-bit FREE DISK SPACE: 150 GB

[@plushquasar653]

I think the Series S memory bandwidth might be the issue, it’s a huge cut down from the Series X. 560/336 GB/s vs 224/56 GB/s

[@xtr.7662]

yes it has the same as the ps4 pro

[@TheAustin007powers]

@@burntoutgamer2457how many of those run 2 instances of that game at once?

[@tominatorxx]

@@burntoutgamer2457 Rendering visuals is one thing. Rendering visuals twice from different perspectives is obviously way more taxing on hardware.

[@tominatorxx]

​@@burntoutgamer2457 Most games that you're thinking of weren't PC first titles. Those were all titles that most likely had a console version planned right from the start. Basically, they had the "worst" version always in mind. Larian always puts the PC game first and later looks at possible console ports. They did that with both DoS games, and they are doing that now as well. There is a reason why the console ports of DOS II came out a year later. Now they are trying to release everything at the same time, which is a unique experience for them. Also, visually comparing a self-published title with tons and tons of systems in it vs titles that are backed by huge companies and have all the money in the world. Also, making a 6 - 10 hour long game... kind of easier than a 100+ hour game with an insane amount of permutations in narrative, gameplay, world interaction, etc. The games you mentioned have the depth of a puddle compared to Baldur's Gate 3 or focus on one specific thing like Flight Simulator does. Dirt 5 had a studio that has like 700 - 800 full-time employees working for it. Larian has 250... and let's not talk about the other titles you mentioned because those teams were even bigger... But again, easy to do if you have a huge publisher behind you.

[@tominatorxx]

​@@burntoutgamer2457 They don't have the talent... They made one of the best RPGs in the form of DOS II since the early 2000s. None of that graphics over actual RPG elements kind of stuff. Proper roleplaying in a ROLEPLAYING game. The fact they are now combining that with cutscenes is a huge and ambitious goal (Simply not done before on that scale). Even if the graphics aren't the top of class, they still look totally fine. They clearly show to have more ambition and passion than any of the studios that worked on the games you've mentioned, simply because they aren't shackled to a publisher that loves to screw over studios and sucks any form of originality out of games. And come on, did Codemasters really need 800 people to bring such a mediocre piece of crap like Dirt 5? It's by far the worst in the series. Battlefront and Battlefront II had no depth whatsoever. COD hasn't had a single flash of originality since the first Modern Warfare. Fortnite... what an incredibly original idea... oh wait no... they basically ripped off another game and forced it into a COOP horde game that they were making at the time. Also, publishers love to focus on graphics, because they sell. Result? Mediocre gameplay, broken games on launch and no originality whatsoever because it might impact sales. The "games" you mentioned, I would honestly not call games. I call them templates that get re-used into oblivion. For once we have a developer that has more resources than a typical indie or AA developer, that has some ambition and can self-publish it. The first thing we complain about? "But... But... my Graphics". This is exactly why we don't get anything unique or ambitious anymore from bigger studios And lastly, the reason why Larian mentioned this at all, is because they have announced the PC and PS5 version to be released on August the 31st. And people were already accusing them of lying (because you know... that's the internet for you) about the fact that they said, there would be no console exclusivity. Hence, why they gave a reason why they didn't feel comfortable in already announcing the XBOX versions. It doesn't mean that they aren't going to make it work. It's just that they don't want to lie to people about it definitely being ready on August the 31st. You don't even know if the companies that you mentioned had issues with the release of those games or with something like the splitscreen. Why? Because they don't talk as openly about their development process. All those companies have meticulously made trailers, dev diaries and vertical gameplay slices that only show exactly what they want to sell. Larian actually had the balls to come up on stage when they first announced the game with a very rough alpha version and just play it instead of making an alpha version look like a polished game. Kind of refreshing really, a developer that's actually being honest about the state of their game or what hurdles they have encountered. But I guess you rather have them lying to you in telling that everything is going perfectly smooth. Like that company that made your Star Wars games, Dice. I do seem to recall that everything was indeed perfectly fine and on track with the last game they made. Yeah, Battlefield 2042 sure was a masterpiece... 700+ employees and all the money in the world, and they brought that out. And you are talking about Larian's lack of talent... oh dear...

[@LuchsYT]

I'd love to hear you guys talk about the technologically fascinating game "The Finals" from former DICE devs

[@6reen6uy]

That humanity game looks amazing

[@leonbarker1433]

I'm surprised nobody has compared it to the similar sections in Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart. Where Clank directs projections of his probabilities (or something) through puzzles. Those parts even had stuff like altered gravity, speed up and other switches. I also think Humanity looks great, by the way. Just surprised more people haven't mentioned the simiarlties.

[@overtherenowaitthere]

I remember saying when the series s was announced that it’s going to hamper the series x in the future because of Microsoft’s insistence on parity between two different platforms. A bunch of people were pissed that I even brought it up

[@pixeljauntvr7774]

Yep and those people seem to be absent from the comments section of this video.

[@ddp5406]

Exactly

[@uptown710]

Those same people have a minimal understanding of how hardware works. As most who said something similar always would spout “But PC has worse hardware!!!” It was common sense that the gap btw the series would only become more noticeable as the 9th Gen exclusives started coming out. MS shot itself in the foot releasing what are 2 different pieces of hardware for its 9th gen slot.

[@overtherenowaitthere]

@@uptown710 that’s pretty much exactly how I worded it, Microsoft was shooting them selves in the foot and man were people pissed. To be fair I’m only talking about their dumb policy for forcing parity between basically a console that was a half gen behind the series x. It’s barely better than the Xbox one x and that’s only because of the newer hardware features it supports.

[@Hmmm4688]

Tom is a great addition. Should be on every episode! Cheers!

[@metaldiceman]

1:05:47 "Crucially the storage issue has finally been addressed." Unintentional pun?

[@ramzaleonhart7436]

would have been interesting if you’ve covered the technical reasons you think are impacting xbox series S in baldurs case

[@spenny2cents]

Who said it was just Series S? Series X has proven to be hard to develop for as well. Guess the tools haven’t matured yet…

[@KarlDag]

@@spenny2cents they claimed the opposite last week, the tools have matured a lot apparently

[@BattleBrotherCasten]

@Spenny because they are reliant on DirectX it’s not the Series X itself. It is a beast,but it’s obviously a directX issue.

[@ghost085]

The game Humanity reminds me the most is the lastest Ratchet and Clank, especifically the Clank hacking segments, where you try to get the Clanks to the end.

[@Lotus_on_YT]

Re 14:10, friends and I have played through both the the D:OS series co-op multiple times. It's tons of fun, highly recommend! That being said, I don't know if I'd recommend it split-screen; we did our play through online. Honestly, for a game like this, the limited screen space would be the larger issue.

[@oliverteigaga4843]

I think gameplay mode parity is really important for Microsoft to maintain. They sold the Series S as a just a graphical/resolution drop and it'd be aweful for owners of that system to suddenly start getting cut out of gameplay features. The solution is really just for the developer to spend more time optimising the series S version, whilst also accepting that the splitscreen may run very poorly on the system.

[@robreich6881]

They should have included more than 10GBs of Ram then.

[@Siemova]

To get around the parity requirement, perhaps Larian could remove split-screen co-op from the Xbox version altogether, and instead package it as free DLC for the Series X only. I don’t know whether MS has a policy against machine-specific DLC, but we’ve seen that Sony doesn’t, so there’s some precedent here.

[@ChrisOfSDUB]

Correct, see Halo Infinite

[@JaimeIsJaime]

I don't think MS would allow that. other developers could get away with delivering a potato paired back minimum effort Series S version and just deliver a proper series X release through a "free DLC"

[@mandrews6282]

That seems like it would just be an extra step that would essentially just be the same as shipping it with the feature. Only now users would need to download it after launch at some point instead of receiving it at launch. And the same concern would be present I guess. How many games after that would ship features later after launch to Series X to get around the S requirement and PS5 gets it at launch in the main game. Personally I think they should just remove the requirement. What’s the point of having a more powerful console if it needs to be held to Series S specifications. And it only makes Sony’s platform more appealing to players. There are plenty of core gamers who grabbed an S when stock was low, but the S still seems like a more casual game pass machine and I’d be curious how many S users would actually care if full parity wasn’t there. Considering entire visual modes are not offered on Series S the requirement is kind of already broken. I get gameplay is different. But if this continues we’ll end up in the 360 era but reversed. In the 360 era there were games that shipped on XBox as the primary, and sometimes a year early with no exclusivity deal because the PS3 was hard to develop for. This could be another situation like that where the X gets subpar versions to get features to run on S, or it doesn’t get the game at all, or it gets it a year later or something. It’s definitely a net negative for the platform if this continues. Maybe it will be an issue with more games and maybe it won’t, but it does raise an interesting problem XBox has this gen. They push the power narrative with the X, but if that power is never able to be used than what’s the point of having it.

[@Siemova]

@@JaimeIsJaime Do the same on PS5, then. The vast majority of players won’t ever touch split-screen, so why force them to download it? It’s not a key or integral feature.

[@JohnSmith-bt4lf]

Sony only has one 9th gen console in terms of specs - the digital and disc PS5s are identical on the inside. Their machine-specific DLC excludes the 8th gen (e.g. HFW Burning Shores). This sort of exclusion has been done before with games like GTAV (the 360/PS3 versions received almost no updates compared to XB1/PS4/PC) and Payday 2 (360/PS3 basically abandoned after launch, PS4/XB1/PC got all the good stuff). I'm sure MS doesn't have a problem if XB1 gets excluded from gameplay features that the Series S/X get, but if it's between the Series S and X alone, I'm not so sure.

[@LalysSweets]

I agree! They should go ahead and launch on Series X and leave split screen out on Series S until they think its ready and then patch it in.

[@leoni7649]

They can't because of the platform policies. Unless Microsoft opens an exception for them, the only thing they can do is remove split screen from all Xbox consoles.

[@joefawley9264]

Series s is going to ruin 3rd party next gen.

[@princenick6130]

​@@leoni7649 then they'd have to remove it from playstation too cause it would give playstation a advantage of having it over the series consoles

[@leoni7649]

@@princenick6130 they don't have to do that because there's no rule or law for that. Microsoft can't force such thing unless they have an exclusivity deal.

[@uptown710]

@@princenick6130that would be, rather stupid. You’re holding another platform to its competitors requirements? MS is gonna have to bite the bullet and retract their statement about gameplay features being 1:1 between series x and s.

[@BishopNelson]

Does anyone else hear a weird issue with John's mic? It's like the gate is set too tight and it cuts off sound at the end of his sentences and a tiny bit of the start of his first word.

[@CasperEgas]

Wow, John, you hit the nail on the head why I don't like most online versus multiplayer games anymore.

[@barnuner]

If it’s anything like the Divinity OS games where multiplayer is freaking amazing it should be a killer feature of Baldur's Gate 3.

[@xBINARYGODx]

what percentage of DOS players did coop local on the same exact machine?

[@TheHAMMER91]

Wasn't this the same reason 343 decided to drop co-op on console? Weird...

[@lordxboss5700]

Xbox One 🤷🏻‍♂️

[@TheHAMMER91]

@@lordxboss5700 and now it's series s

[@donkeydelux640]

My first thought was, is this why they didn't ship halo infinite split screen coop?

[@BrotherO4]

S being an issue? Man who would have guessed?

[@ITNoetic]

Games get exceptions for cert requirements all the time. Oftentimes, the unpatched or gold version of a game doesn't pass cert, but they're able to ship with the exception that the day 1 patch will meet the reqs. But sometimes, for things like disk space usage, they just get an exception indefinitely.

[@branbran2295]

Why does digital foundry rate the Series S so highly? It appears to nearly obsolete already, and we’re still in a crossgen period? Low cost does not equal value.

[@mandrews6282]

I think another concern with the Baldur’s Gate thing is that if they allow the exception then you essentially cannot sell an X/S version, and you now have an XBox game that is not compatible on both consoles. You can’t start a game on the X and pick up and play on the S presumedly. And they would, I assume, need to sell separate X and S sku’s. So there is definitely a potential can of worms there. But remembering how hard the PS3 was to dev for, which resulted in a few big budget titles, with no exclusivity deal in place, being developed for the 360 as a primary and sometimes not even ported to PS3 until the following year. This is not an enviable position for XBox to be in. And if it does result in pairing back the X version moving forward for parity, then the power of the X is basically wasted.

[@robertforster8984]

MGS4 is a masterpiece. I would expunge Mgs5.

[@robertforster8984]

MGS4 is a masterpiece.

[@GFSCN69]

I tried the Nvidia video enhancer with 480p content of like super old footage. Looked great.

[@Grief111]

The road to the 500th DF Direct begins...

[@purebaldness]

1:04:18 - I don't see this as a bad thing, as this 8th gen extention that is the 9th gen seems to be about pushing frames and resolutions. I'd take this approach over cutting edge graphics that can barely maintain 30fps.

[@jamrah8713]

Yeah I agree. The last gen pushed for the graphical detail with a somewhat stable framerate, this gen is about getting that at a high res and high frame rates, getting 1440p60fps / 120 across most titles, and even 4k60 in select titles. The extra horse power can probably be used to create more densely detailed areas of worlds (not necessarily graphical Detail but I mean more in terms of art direction)

[@BlindTrustProject]

Yeah but it's because 4k stucked us for almost 10 years graphically wise. Suddenly having to push 4 times more pixels when we could barely finally do 1080p is such a waste of power...

[@purebaldness]

@@BlindTrustProject Yeah, true...

[@ihatusernams]

Remember that Series S was able to run 'The Medium' which had split screen features. I think the devs are not utilizing the next gen features.

[@PantsaBear]

"Not Mason's numbers" Lmaoo, Rich chuckling made me laugh

[@Winnetou64]

1:13:32 YEAH, JOHN! TITANFALL 2 - best FPS ever, especially in multiplayer! 🤘

[@davidjames605]

Best part of my Monday let's goooooo

[@Mr.Pepperss]

Cujoooooooooos, Eat that ass up! - MarkOfJ

[@AcidDotDrop]

Not to sound like a dick but I'd say, most people owning an S are probably not the ones who play this type of game in a split screen co-op fashion.

[@peterkevintaylor]

Everyones hair looking top notch.

[@sean70729]

The knowledge of these guys is downright comforting.

[@KIGamin_]

Damn sounds like the series s is holding the gen back. You know...... like people were saying from day 1.

[@DeathPSN]

Exactly. Before they came out I said it was a dumb idea.

[@joefawley9264]

3rd party next gen as a whole will be held back as a whole.

[@lordxboss5700]

Developers need to take advantage of the full RDNA2 tools and features 🤷🏻‍♂️ PS5 not being capable of using them is a real deterrent PS5 is holding games back 🤯

[@KIGamin_]

@Lord XBoss lmaooo ok

[@AndyGilleand]

Of course it's a technical requirement to support Series S to ship. As far as game code goes, Series S and Series X are not two different platforms. They're the same platform. The same executable, the same disc, the same files. It's impossible to make a Series X game that the Series S wouldn't be able to open, because it's literally the same package. The only difference between them is a difference in settings that get loaded after the game is loaded. Like the kind of settings you can change on PC. The code itself detects whether it's running on a Series S or Series X, and then applies the correct settings configuration. The game itself can not prevent a Series S from running its code. So yes, in order to ship an Xbox game currently, it by default needs to support all configurations of Xbox Series hardware. Just like an "Xbox One" game must by default support all Xbox One hardware. It's not an Xbox Series X game or an Xbox Series S game, it's an Xbox Series game, and runs on any hardware that uses that platform.

[@joefawley9264]

Is holding back 3rd party next gen games worth it when Series S only makes up 10% of the gaming market share? Xbox themselves said they only make up 20% so series s is even less.

[@alostcause4035]

It is for xbox as the series s is the primary console. Over 50% of this gen sales are series s over x for ms.

[@joefawley9264]

@@alostcause4035 so what are we dealing with? 11, 12% of the market share? Is gamepass PC included in that 20% chart?

[@alostcause4035]

@@joefawley9264 idk. I'm only speaking of ms console market and the s outselling the x. I dont think ms is willing to give the majority of their this gen console userbase the shaft. This is going to turn into a big problem for them

[@joefawley9264]

@@alostcause4035 yeah that's true, it would be a bad idea to abandon their main source of gamers, even if I disagree with the idea of an all digital console.

[@jamrah8713]

@@alostcause4035 yup, when we start seeing series x / s and ps5 exclusive games more, I reckon in the next year or so this is going to fuck over the series S extremely hard. I would argue the series S’ saving grace is the fact that we’ve moved off so slow from the last generation and we are only getting started

[@R4K1B-]

The bandwidth is abysmal. 10 GB total but only 8 GB 128 bit bus with only 224 gbps bandwidth shared between the cpu and gpu. Its on par with the old ps4 pro and slower than a Xbox One X. Not to mention it's horsepower is also low Last gen hardware right there

[@leoni7649]

It's like Xbox engineers forgot to communicate and test their projects together with Xbox first party studios to make sure the console would be competitive.

[@biophobe1989]

That's why I don't like it when DF calls it a "next gen machine". If memory bandwidth/Ram size/GPU power are more similar to last gen then next gen, then it's not a next gen console is it.

[@leoni7649]

@@biophobe1989 it's like a Hybrid console

[@xtr.7662]

in reality it doesnt too much it has proved very scalable cpu matters more for more advanced simulations than push for graphic fidelity, matrix awakens runs just fine on the series s and exclusive next gen games on ps5 dont look too impressive

[@RurouTube]

The main problem in allowing S and X have different gameplay feature is that MS ended up needing to treat S and X as 2 different console. If MS allow it to happen, then you might encounter a dev tried to make a game which almost impossible to run on S but they still want to release in on Xbox. Will MS allow it? One possible type of games that is probably almost impossible on S without major cutbacks (thus making it look like a different game) is a game that use raytracing as a gameplay element. Imagine utilizing RT reflection as a part of gameplay where you need to spot your enemy from the reflection. Of course it is probably can be done on S, but again, the downgrade is probably going to be really big. Anyway, this is what I've feared when MS announced they were going to have S and X, which is basically S ended up being a roadblock. As a tech enthusiast, I don't like the existence of S, it is a stupid move from MS than ended up holding back gaming. On the other hand, I do like S simply because it means I don't have to buy mid to high end GPU for my PC but instead low end GPU should be capable playing modern games at a good performance level.

[@DribbleP]

Phil has mandated that you make a game for the x it has to be released on the s to which some devs have already complained to phil to drop the s mandate

[@xBINARYGODx]

@@DribbleP "some devs" you mean devs that were whining about having to support it when their game also had to run on a ps4 and xbox one launch consoles? Cry me a river. A minority of devs complaining still pales in comparison to the widespread belly aching around the ps3.

[@xBINARYGODx]

@OP It's a niche feature that most players won't engage with, not a core part of the gameplay loop. This is not "coop doesn't work" this is "local coop issue". If its MS pushing this, they are being really stupid, it's the dev, they THEY Are being stupid. Ms could greenlight this and not others and tell other to pound sand - we know Sony and Nintendo would. IF this is MS, then Phil needs to dump the constant-nice-guy routine. Whats worse? local coop not on S and that convo doesn't really go anywhere, or no game at all? This has more legs.

[@SOLDIERTECHGAMING]

Hey digital foundry team. I believe that this could have been the reason why Halo Infinite eventually dropped its split screen co-op feature from the game. Maybe they couldn't get it working on the series x and decided to drop it. Could the limitations of the series s be the reason why? I find this quiet interesting and was wondering if this came up in your own internal conversations. What are your thoughts?

[@leburn98]

Halo Infinite is also on Xbox One. If any platform is to blame, it would be the one that came out in 2013.

[@SOLDIERTECHGAMING]

@@leburn98 I would actually blame the next generation platform that seems to continuously be holding back next gen gaming in the form of parity. The series s, has now become an issue for getting games released day and date with Sony. No offense, but no one is talking about the xbox one.

[@leburn98]

@@SOLDIERTECHGAMING You were the only who mentioned Halo Infinite. The point I was making was Halo Infinite was a crossgen title. It was designed to be a crossgen title with content/feature parity across Xbox One/X & Series S/X. Therefore, the more rational reason for Halo Infinite's lack of split screen co-op it would be the decade old Xbox One. Now, if Halo Infinite was a next gen only title (Series S/X) or 343 had announced that split screen would be a next gen only feature, then you could be on to something. However, that is not the reality in this situation.

[@robsworldofgaming8212]

@@leburn98that’s y we think it’s the s because these problems have never came up before. Stop thinking more powerful because ps5 is showing y’all now that power doesn’t mean better graphics sometimes it’s just the parts and how they mesh lol think Westbrook with the lakers

[@ZackVapa]

I wonder if Series S is one of the reasons why 343 canceled Halo Infinite's split-screen.

[@overtherenowaitthere]

Probably

[@leoni7649]

It's all due to low ram memory. It's like Xbox engineers forgot to ask their own development studios about whether the amount of RAM would be enough or not. This console feels so rushed

[@xtr.7662]

who plays split screen

[@thelazyworkersandwich4169]

I think one thing that is important to note is that the rules just require any game on Series x has to run on Series s with all the gameplay features,but their is no requirement saying that you have to make it run well.

[@TristanTheVRGamecat]

The used market for the series s is so cheap because no one wants them

[@kenroyforrester156]

But its most sold console did you think when typing this?

[@discodan2265]

An easy fix for Alyx' optimised settings is to time stamp it. People can then search straight to the section then screenshot. Easy peasy!

[@MsNellyuan]

BG3 looks really good for a cRPG though , DF needs to make an analysis of it as soon as it is released :D Also I miss you 3 in a weekly direct, I still remember back in the days there were only you 3 and the other guy who has quitted , DF only had like 7k subscribers lulz .

[@vincentvoillot6365]

Yes and keeping in mind that they use their own game engine. Compare to DOS2, it is a huge step.

[@Squiesh]

This is what I was thinking when I heard their light criticism of the graphics in their last video a few days ago, I can't think of another game in the genre that comes close, DOS2 might even look better than all others.

[@G00N3R7883]

The last game I preordered or bought on day 1 was Aliens Colonial Marines. I always wait a minimum of 3 months for patches to fix bugs or performance, the gameplay experience is much more enjoyable. Cheaper prices on sales is an added bonus. Its not even hard to wait because my backlog is quite large.

[@snaek12]

Loving to hearing you guys! Thank you as always!

[@oi118]

It's worth noting that one developer of the game (Baldur's Gate 3), in response on Twitter, said that the allegations of hardware issues are not true. About parity, I think it has to do with content, not technical issues, as well as other games that have already been released.

[@Stanjara]

That doesn't make sense at all.

[@IrvGotti-Savage]

How John responded to Support Q6 was deep. Super fire

[@Ettdutubkonto]

Great hearing Tom and John talking about JRPGs!

[@branbran2295]

By the end I of the generation, the Series S will be Microsoft’s biggest console blunder yet.

[@bubmario]

"Do you think trust has been eroded on day one purchases?" Dude, trust was eroded for me a while ago.

[@squand3r]

For weekly recaps its you guys and Skill Up - it doesnt get any better. Oh it actually does: invite Tom more often, this guy is golden

[@Daniel-yz3zf]

That's the combo my friend! This week in gaming for the general news, DF for some extra tech stuff

[@BDreGameplay]

We need a weekly Tom's hair direct. Where they discuss Tom's hair and hair care at length.

[@maunzquisitorfd9987]

The next results will be shown with Starfield, the Xss will definitivly struggling with Starfield.

[@yomamasohot6411]

You bet! Since even the powerful consoles have a problem with big open-world games can you imagine Series S?

[@maunzquisitorfd9987]

@@yomamasohot6411 You know the Xss is maybe the reason why Starfield was delayed, and there will be another delay into early 2024 🤣.

[@P_OmSa]

*RE: Final Fantasy XVI.* Yoshida's been saying publicly since last year that the game was already playable start-to-finish. What happens is that he, unlike just about every other dev, *KNOWS* that polishing, optimizing, and debugging a game of that size takes about a year. He's an exceptional project manager. The man cried literal tears when he made the decision to delay the release of FFXIV: Endwalker for *two freakin' weeks.* That's the *only* delay he's ever had, and each FFXIV expansion has come out with fewer bugs than the last. His team is experienced at PC development, as it's the lead platform for FFXIV. They will knock the PC version out of the park when they finally release it. In the meantime, I'll enjoy it on PS5.

[@Kubose]

I personally found the RTX video enhancement to work pretty well on Twitch live streams, specifically Apex streams, but while the game itself looks sharper and less pixely most of the time, the streamers face was blurred in a weird way whenever they moved, which was pretty much 100% of the time because humans faces move when they speak. Its weird, wish it worked better but it also used 50+ percent of my 3090 somehow, it certainly doesn't look like it is working THAT hard.

[@sean70729]

Props to you having a 3090.

[@Kubose]

@@sean70729 Thanks, it paid for itself :)

[@mattcy6591]

24:53 man I loved chu chu rocket. i put in many hours of multiplayer with my family and friends.

[@Morden97]

The thing is.. I'm almost certain that it's not up to the devs... games MUST have feature parity on series S because Microsoft demands that. And that's.... rough... because you're selling the series S under the promise of a cheaper next gen console... but is it really if you're losing important game features due to that?? What about all the people.that ALREADY bought a series S under that promise... do they get refunds?? It's not nearly as simple as it sounds.

[@speedracer2please]

Wow, I loved CoD 4 and 6, but fully agree with you on its effect on the industry, until Titanfall 2

[@dylanhendley5003]

Me and my wife started our relationship with playing splitscreen on Divinity 1 and then 2, so splitscreen is a must for us. But luckily we have a ps5 to meet that need for BG3.

[@liamflan9553]

People still use a ps5 in 2023 Yikes. Xbox is king

[@pixeljauntvr7774]

​@@liamflan9553 Yes people still use PS5 you mong. Twice as many people that own Xbox's.

[@yomamasohot6411]

​@Liam Flan95 Mr. Liam, ps5 is the lead console for developers because it sold twice as much as the Xbox s and x put together.

[@dylanhendley5003]

@@liamflan9553 cool man, enjoy it. I don't think I need one unless they release a must play game on it I can't play on my pc.

[@Lo-Kag]

Same! We've played DOS1 and 2 in total for hundreds of hours with my partner. I've been dying with anticipation as Larian did say it wasn't 100% certain that we'd get local co-op as they weren't sure if its possible. You can just imagine my excitement when it was suddenly revealed!

[@bern9642]

The thing about waiting for a sale is that most of the time by the time the sale comes around you're already looking forward to another game.

[@ToadyEN]

If Meteor hits Japan, Final Fantasy doesn't get released. If Godzilla attacks Tokyo, game still get released. 🦕

[@johnsmith-v9t8o]

I always thought Series S was a bad idea. Sony effectively having one system just with or without a disc drive seems much simpler and offers higher quality games.

[@Magnific0giganticus]

“I think, over the generation, our expectation would be that price really matters and that you would see the Series S sell more....Over the long run, in most cases, price wins out'" Phil Spencer

[@MasterCraftX8]

$400 for a disk less PS5 is also a major driving force behind their sales. No graphical down grade like the Series S and a perfect middle ground price between the 2 systems.

[@michaelstewart7541]

Exactly. Sony weren't being disingenuous and desperate to sell units

[@leoni7649]

Anyone who makes a quick research will get into the conclusion that the $400 PS5 is a better purchase than series S.

[@MrSancezzio]

DF - First of all, thank you for your excellent content. Second; I'd like to add my thoughts to day one patches. I'm one of those people who buys everything on disc where possible; I buy a game I'm looking forward to playing (bought day one or not, doesn't matter) and it goes in my Xbox and then.....patch. I have a 32mb connection. Sometimes I can't play the game until the next day (unless I disable the internet connection which I actually did for Overcooked! All You Can Eat as we wanted to play it immediately and the patch WAS BIGGER THAN THE INSTALL GAME ON THE DISC). But if we do this, the chances are we are going to play a broken game. Regardless of whether you have a good internet connection or not, day one patches introduce massive friction. We already need to wait for installs; and then we have to wait for a patch as well? Yes - Xbox allows you to download the patch at the same time but in my experience it's quicker and causes fewer issues if you disconnect your console, install, then update.

[@fh5kskalf]

51:20 You are thinking way too cautiously on the Optimized Settings Database issue, Richard! Just ask the community to gather the data, they'll have it done it no timre! Someone on resetera or something will probably have it ready in a day if you just ask them for it :P You don't need someone you employ, who should rather make new videos instead, to do it.

[@Alcatraz760]

Microsoft really overestimated how much textures takes up space in memory it seems.

[@euj0]

Overestimated?

[@biophobe1989]

@@euj0 I think he means underestimated.

[@Alcatraz760]

@@euj0 No, i meant it. They assumed that the amount of memory from 4k to 1080p would be massive, through lower quality textures i presume, so they cut the Series S memory too much. Had they remembered that stuff like RT takes up memory regardless of resolution, they wouldnt reduce it as much

[@yomamasohot6411]

I think then you would have to phrase it differently like " MS overestimated the drop in the amount of memory consumed by textures at a lower resolution"

[@lordxboss5700]

Microsoft probably thought developers would take advantage of the full RDNA2 tools and features available on Series consoles to run games more efficiently but with PlayStation being the market leader while not being capable of using the more advanced tools on a hardware level developers seemingly skip using them 🤯