DF Direct Weekly #88: New Consoles in 2027/2028? Microsoft/Sony's War Over Call of Duty

[@Kolton88]

Digital Foundry should produce their own "Awards Show" video at the end of the year. Have the whole DF team + DF supporters submit their picks/votes, have it run 60-90 minutes. I'd watch the shit outta that. Best Performance Best Visual Quality Greatest Technical Pioneer Best Launch Version Best Audio Design Best Post-Launch Support Best Ray-Tracing Implementation Best Scalability The list could go on...

[@subjectivereviews]

True

[@Tzero12]

Don't they already do that, every one on the DF team have a top ten list each year if I recall.

[@kosmosyche]

@@Tzero12 They absolutely do this, that's why it's weird to see this sort of comment. Moreover most of gaming or close to gaming youtube channels do this. It's basically the default mode of operation for a gaming focused youtube channel. "You guys should do what you and everyone else already does every single year since forever". lol

[@floatinggoose9197]

They do

[@Kolton88]

@@Tzero12 They do a top ten games list and sometimes a "best graphics of the year" video, but those are much smaller/more focused in scope I believe than a categorical "awards show". Additionally, I believe DF brings a much higher pedigree of empirical data and technical knowledge to the table than John Doe KZbinrs that just list their favorite games.

[@tayjn]

“If there was a ball-sucking death animation I think I’d be all-in on the Season Pass” and “Alex’s boner would’ve quickly diminished” are truly amazing quotes from Richard

[@p5rsona]

Gotta love Rich, his humour is chefs kiss

[@boukm3n]

Rich, we’re gonna need to have a word with you 🗿😂

[@XhoowieX]

@@enterchannelname4929 Briddish humor

[@thavage]

timestamps please

[@bevanmcnicholl2525]

Time stamp please XD

[@TakaChan569]

Whats funny is most people on PC are on Mid to low end rig's and with the bs in pricing, gaming is getting expensive af lol.

[@subjectivereviews]

True

[@SavagexRaccoon]

Ey atleast the games are free 🏴‍☠️

[@joaocanabrava1412]

Even the consoles which are technically cheaper are also expensive as fk in some countries. Here it costs almost 4 minimum salaries, over $800 dollars

[@chrisr529]

Haha wow that's funny

[@edge21str]

I'm sticking with my 1070 until it breaks. Even when it does, I still have my old 660 to tie me over and to play older games untile prices normalize.

[@jonathangarmuth8975]

"Boner in Berlin" is the sequel to "Flaccid in Frankfurt" and the prequal to "Lubed in Luxemburg" and the sister show to the spin-off "Perky in Prague"

[@TheManWhoTypes]

Don't forget about the French adaption "Pegged in Paris"

[@Naessie]

Really happy to see Audi again!! I’ve always vibed with his sense of humour, so happy he is back. 🤗 😁

[@antonkirilenko3116]

"This acquisition will make Microsoft a market leader, which will lead them to increasing the prices of games and hardware!" - said Sony, a current market leader, after successfully pushing the increase of the price for "next-gen" games and raising the prices of PS5.

[@captaincrunch1707]

Yup, Sony is beyond greedy. On ps5 console during the Thanksgiving sale. You can’t find the PS4 version of HFW for $29 with the free PS5 upgrade. The store only shows the $39 ps5+ps4 version. You have to use the app or web browser to actually buy the digital ps4 version as a ps5 owner. Sony are absolute scumbags(Japan Corporate + Jimbo Ryan). Shameful behavior

[@Nesformers]

Only makes the argument more believable

[@Millicente]

@@Nesformers believable but not any better. Saying “they shouldn’t be allowed the chance to do what we do now” is a terrible argument when you’re trying to play the “fair and level playing field” card

[@johnwhite2890]

They won't become market leader with this. It'll just give them a chance to compete. Nintendo will still blow them out of the water and ps will still be 2

[@zakattak5361]

Audi: I'm not going to get political on this newscast. Richard: Hold my beer.

[@rodrigosantosrodrigues2857]

this is one of the funniest episodes I've heard. Richard is amazing

[@Dionyzos]

"Best Technical Achievement" would be a great category for the Game Awards

[@TheTrashman147]

That'd be great but it's pretty much always going to be something released by capcom, idsoftware or insomniac

[@themightyant.]

@@TheTrashman147 I’d add several top Sony first party studios to that list, Naughty Dog, Sony Santa Monica plus a few others like playground games and on PC at least CDPR & Rockstar.

[@mattm5672]

I work in the sound for TV/Film industry and we're regularly looked over or treated as second class respective to any of the visual arts. So I find it really ironic that in gaming of all places, there's a best sound award but not a "Graphics" award.

[@ParadoxalDream]

@@TheTrashman147 A technical achievement can be relative to the targeted hardware, it wouldn't have to only be for balls-to-the-wall technical marvels. Nintendo has plenty of very good games, technically speaking, even if they don't run on the most recent hardware. The level of optimization should be one of the first criteria for such an award.

[@борисрябушкин-з9н]

@@TheTrashman147 Its DICE awards and dominated by Sony last decade.

[@fourlights]

Lord Audi has returned.

[@ctestdummy83]

He's no lord. And I know your not serious, and neither am I and yes its funny

[@SHGames97]

As we like to call him, Laudi

[@_TheElMan]

@@emerson354 in your face? Sounds painful

[@fourlights]

@@emerson354 Glad you enjoyed his lordship's offering

[@AndyGilleand]

"Alex's boner would have quickly diminished" - Richard Leadbetter well this show certainly went in a different direction than I was expecting 🤣

[@ScrapKing73]

If you’re really into video game music Audi, then you really need to check out the Commodore 64 version of the 1985 Blade Runner game. They got the license only to the soundtrack, so the game is a video game interpretation of the soundtrack, not the movie itself. It’s a really odd thing, worth experiencing!

[@andre_ss6]

Didn't know Audi could speak Brazilian Portuguese! Now I wanna see you do that 😅 And yes, every time we see someone speaking BR/about BR, we all come out of hiding

[@dildojizzbaggins6969]

Still a better love-story than Germans :'D

[@slickrat]

Insert "Brazil, huehuehue!" meme here 🇧🇷

[@hurgcat]

BRAZIL MENTIONED

[@emiami458]

All the DF guys are multilingual polyglots it seems.

[@pferreira1983]

He still can't speak regular Portuguese! 😂

[@GoodGamingMemories]

Callisto Protocol is the game I'm looking forward to the most. I hope the game is as good as the original Dead Space...

[@IronMan-jj2fd]

Atomic Heart ?

[@parasolo89]

@@IronMan-jj2fd It got delayed to next year.

[@ironbran12]

The fact the review embargo isn't up has me worried. Hope I'm wrong

[@nbaumg]

i hope its good too but... dont preorder. cant trust modern gaming. ill wait patiently for reviews and patches if needed (i hope they arnt)

[@nayyarrashid4661]

I feel like it is the first time I would be buying and playing a horror game since The House of the dead and Blood. It looks that good.

[@fensoxx]

Audi is back!!! Good to see you man! You were missed.

[@MassiveHappyClapper]

I am quite happy for both Series X and PS5 to be around for a good while. Not enough people have been able to get one yet.

[@SITSIndustries]

Great to see Audi again and hear what he's doing in the here and now.

[@MichaelLudden]

Spicy podcast this week guys - very entertaining! Thanks

[@mclarenrob2]

still feels like PS5 and Series X have yet to truly arrive...

[@jonathanlee726]

Loved the discussion on languages! They mentioned that Alex is “incredibly fluent” in German, as if it wasn’t his first language. I always assumed it was his native language! Anyone know which is Alex’s native tongue? 😅

[@SvenSvenApfel]

It's german and that's the joke I guess :D

[@andre_ss6]

Wanna know that as well!

[@matsui90]

He sounds American to me so I assumed he was originally from the USA then moved to Germany at some point and has become fluent.

[@Danje1-MX5]

He studied in Germany, he lives in Germany, he works from Germany, he has a German first name, he has a very German nickname (Dachsjäger). I think it’s safe to assume that he is German. His English is astoundingly well. As a German myself I just hear a very small German accent.

[@chrisbent5734]

I am german and I can guarantee that Alex is German. No non-native speaker can speak german 100% accent free - as a german you can always hear it. Alex does - he's german for sure.

[@swido16]

Just waiting on a Digital Foundry "Alex's Space Needle vs Audi's TV Tower" comparison. Height, diameter, how fast are the elevators to the viewing decks.. Maybe the last one doesn't work as well 🤣

[@wrusst]

Nvidia have stated already they will protect the 30 series prices by constraining supply

[@kusayfarhan9943]

Leave it to Nvidia to screw the customer over 😂

[@alistermunro7090]

Only possible due to no competition.

[@Loundsify]

I mean they're only doing that to protect their over inflated share price. Which will absolutely crash over the next 12 months.

[@FifthOfNovember_Original]

Source?

[@wrusst]

@@FifthOfNovember_Original search jayztwocents Nvidia laid out it's plan proof

[@bevanmcnicholl2525]

31:52 for Boner Joke 39:15 for Ball Joke

[@OMjosh123]

Digital Foundry is the Top Gear of the gaming industry.

[@MitchSage]

I still think we see mid gen upgrades but at the 4yr mark rather than the

[@neighborofthedevil]

I agree I think a mid-gen refresh is more likely to focus on incremental gains/efficiency over huge jumps in resolution. I would love to see a mid-gen Series S with a bump to memory & bandwidth. I'm also really looking forward to seeing what features like variable rate shading come into their own.

[@Millicente]

But with all these improvements you’ll pay much more. Everything is rising in price and no shot any new update is under $650

[@TheProphegy]

All I want for these story games on console like the Witcher 3 which is one of the best games I’ve ever played is 4K/60. Give me the 60fps and something that looks 4K. Shooter games however I want that 1440p/120fps.

[@DarkReturns1]

One thing I've noticed with the new Witcher 3 update is that they haven't shown any Nvidia Hairworks yet. I can take or leave it on Geralt but the creatures look SO much better with it on. I hope they didn't remove this feature.

[@kelownatechkid]

Rick is off the chain this episode lmao

[@mikesalami7]

Missed opportunity Audi to overlay Dr. Evil's head on Rich's when he said "Million...Billions dollars!"

[@defeqel6537]

I too would rather see independent companies, or "home grown", first party, IPs instead of these corporations buying up everything. We have to remember that Microsoft buying up companies doesn't just affect console gaming, but Mac and Linux gaming too. In that sense it's them protecting their PC monopoly.

[@stprinz]

"We all need to slim down after pandemic" 😂 true words, Audi.

[@turrican4d599]

So, in 30 years time?

[@fullauto86]

Agreed for sure

[@pferreira1983]

I think Audi needs to get some sleep. 😆

[@iamastrangeloop96]

Audi saying ray tracing means we can expect “Boners in Berlin” had me cackling lol

[@senseihEnRY16]

this is the funniest DF Direct i've ever watch!

[@Erlaxis]

I'd prefer if game companies in general, not only MS, spent their money on creating new stuff to add more value into their platforms, rather than spending it on removing value from their competitors.

[@imo098765]

Xbox tried that and failed with the dumb marketing they had start of Xbox 1 generation but if we really think about it, Xbox did try to be creative but the choices for the Kinect, no sharing/2nd hand games, the always online drm(which is now normal something like GT7 etc but they turned up the water temp too fast). If you look at the first 2 years of the Xbox one vs PS4 generation, I would say Xbox had a better lineup but the above screwed them over and PS got the CoD marketing While PS closed down driveclub, killzone, infamous(a bit harsh but is Ghost series taking over like Horizon did?), Jak and Daxter, Sly Cooper They just gone and replaced by very cinema like experiences(amazing stories) but where are the over the top, just fun game games. Its all these serious brooding drama's even God of War has become that, brilliant game, yet to play Ragnarok so I cant say anything about it. Edit: But then again all companies remove games from others, PS did that with 2 Zenimax games, FF7 remake isnt on Xbox but crisis core remake is, FF16 probably the same not a hint of an Xbox release. Forspoken where? Then Octopath Traveler 2 but Octopath Traveler 1 was on Xbox not PS. Then Wo Long from Team Ninja is multiplat but Rise of the Ronin is PS exclusive Its very normal for PS to pay publishers/studios to keep games off Xbox, its one of the reasons why they sold 2:1 last gen because you had the games first party and 3rd party exclusive, anyone buying an Xbox as their primary box must've really liked Forza and Gears

[@smokeemifyagotem8851]

@@imo098765 ps games don’t all have amazing stories lol

[@emlyndewar]

Never really matters who the line-up is on DF Weekly. It’s always the dream team. 👍

[@Foko851]

So with over 2 years of corona, and all that stuff, I think we could put a good year away from the current gen, in my opinion.!? So we are much more, likely to be in the second as in the third year from this generation!.

[@665Iron]

I missed Audi's editing on this podcast where he added silly things to make a bit fun. Not that I enjoy It as it is but that extra dankness is always welcomed. When Rich used to say "In the here and now" he echo it to make it sound funnier

[@OneSmallStepWeb]

Great to see Audi return. Miss him. Proud of him and look forward to his future successes. Always a DF legend. x

[@cody3335]

For Callisto protocol they did separate the game from PUBG it was initially planned to be intertwined but as of now it is not.

[@plastikman7788]

Something is wrong when Best Narrative game doesn't have Xenoblade Chronicles 3. What is up with that?

[@LotusKay36]

A Pro is not out of the question, we still don’t have 4k, 60fps. We don’t need to worry about 8k right now.

[@JMartinni]

Always great to see Audi on DF. Was a nice episode to listen to.

[@MooseheadStudios]

I love you guys. After 10 plus years on this platform DF is the gold standard

[@attemptityourself5662]

I feel like the reason they focused on console is because most of these "upgrades" have been mods on the PC versions since 2 months after the game came out. Console never got that love lol.

[@kcmsterpce]

1:19:00 the discussion about foreign languages, and trying to ensure that you make notice of cultural "comforts" is a huge deal. Being fluent in Vietnamese, extremely educated in Mandarin, as well as having a solid background in Japanese, Korean, German, and Spanish, the biggest factor of learning any of these languages was paying attention to the way each of these languages' cultures react to your overall disposition. I currently live in Belgium, but I don't speak French at all (my brain is tired of trying to learn new languages haha). Regardless, I try to focus on how people stand, how they react to comments and interactions in a day to day environment. That has a lot of influence on how people respond to you, regardless of your grasp of their language versus your own.

[@sellingacoerwa8318]

cool story bro

[@qualitygaming7169]

One of your best shows…..so entertaining and informative👍

[@snakebebop]

Yeah sure, a show with Audi is informative? lol

[@qualitygaming7169]

@@snakebebop You must be well informed, I gess.

[@MarstedR]

I feel like nobody is picking up on the sheer brilliance that is Audi's opening to this episode. John and Rich chime in with great responses, but Audi got the ball rolling.

[@matsta177]

I want more level of detail in games. There’s a reason RDR2 was an absolute treat.

[@alexv5581]

You do realize that game took a long time to make and cost millions of dollars right ? Not every company has that luxury. Just like any R&D project you need to balance production vs perfection.

[@KarlDag]

@@alexv5581 not every game can be like that, but come on it’s Nintendo and Pokémon we’re talking about. It should be much better. At least BOTW level

[@ancientflames]

@@KarlDag botw took what 5 years? Pokemon churns out a new game every year or two.

[@KarlDag]

@@ancientflames then they need to fix that. Or have 3 studios in it like COD does. Either way this quality is not acceptable at the price they charge.

[@capsel22]

Audi does look like he works in game dev, no sleep gang

[@elche8461]

They said nothing about raytraced reflections and shadows in their presentation they even said on pc there are ssr..so from where DF has this info?🤔

[@BDreGameplay]

Even though John is the one who's read up on the Activision deal, Richard you talk about it since you sound the most like a lawyer 😂

[@manostororosso2364]

We all still on PS4... PS5 is a myth

[@dontomaso11]

They added "improved Screen Space Reflections", not ray traced ones.

[@Thelango99]

Yup, said as much during their stream.

[@TerraWare]

Yup, rt lighting and ao and improved screen space reflections.

[@gregoreuo1]

Nope Nvidia literally lists RT reflections and shadows and more for PC which is what John was talking about. "On December 14th, all The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt PC players will receive a free update that adds various gameplay changes, new quest content, and new graphics features that take full advantage of the latest PCs and laptops. Here's what to expect: RTX Global Illumination (RTXGI) adds more immersive and realistic outdoor ray-traced lighting Ray-traced ambient occlusion improves shading around objects occluding light Ray-traced shadows improve the fidelity, clarity and visibility of shadows Ray-traced reflections increase the accuracy and quality of reflections on bodies of water and other suitably reflective surfaces On top of that, Ultra+ settings increase draw distances, foliage density, background character detail, asset quality, and more. Texture resolutions are increased and environments gain new geometric detail. The list goes on! To accelerate your performance when all of these features are enabled and maxed out, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt's next-gen update also introduces support for NVIDIA DLSS 3, enabling GeForce RTX 40 Series gamers to multiply performance. All other GeForce RTX gamers can accelerate their frame rates with NVIDIA DLSS 2. And everyone can reduce system latency with NVIDIA Reflex. "

[@yellowbat79]

It really is a magical time of the year huh? We are even visited by the so elusive Audi, truly miraculous

[@ozaryana]

Love how Audi stress on the "88th" part, just like how Rich always do 😂 Good to see him back.

[@aooaooapoooopa]

There is not as much value in paying for exclusivity for someone else’s IP. You don’t control it and can’t decide the ways you can navigate that IP. That only comes with ownership. Hence why you buy the studios and not just pay for a lease/license of the IP.

[@Supermanohman]

Last gen's mid gen refresh was because gamers were getting smarter with the specs and looking at the performance of their games, and since PC was already standard 1080p 60 by 2015, the PS4 and Xbox One were behind on it. Now that 1800p 60fps is possible with consoles, it's not going to require a mid gen refresh.

[@wnxdafriz]

there may be one... but it would probably keep specs roughly the same but with reducing power/increasing efficiency ability to package a smaller console has gains, less cooling needed so less metal for the custom heatsink, smaller footprint of product = less packaging, plastic etc... saves on shipping i think there is a chance for something but... if i had to guess this time around it might be a refresh a year b4 the next consoles which by that time the refresh may become the next generations versions of a series s

[@adamek9750]

the only thing current gen will be significantly behind in, in a few years is raytracing

[@lecorsaire2283]

It was because they needed consoles to market for 4K TVs. The original PS4 and Xbox One were designed without 4K in mind and by 2015-2016 the adoption of 4K TVs had picked up and it was clear that 4K was going to become the new standard.

[@bombyo3634]

@@lecorsaire2283 4k still isn't even close to standard. Games being in 1080p is still a thing unfortunately. 4k will not be a standard for a while. Good amount of people dont care about 4k unfortunately let alone 4k60 or anything else.

[@swarthybullxxx]

@@bombyo3634 that's because most engines can't render games at 4k efficiently without some major compromises or cutbacks.

[@MrSancezzio]

Rich's savage takedown of John 🤣🤣🤣

[@Wobbothe3rd]

He was 100% correct.

[@AxelAlexK]

We really don't need more power. I just want affordable consoles and games coming out regularly. I wish game companies would make smaller games with more frequent releases again, like in the PS1/PS2 era. Every game taking 4-5 years or more is such a bummer. Just give me good campaigns, I don't need to be able to make out every individual leaf in the background and every hair on the protagonist's arm :/

[@Millicente]

You’re the minority in that. The vast majority of the market will riot if a new game is released and it looks like a ps3 game

[@AxelAlexK]

@@Millicente Disagree. There are plenty of hugely successful games that aren't graphically impressive. Look at the switch and Nintendo for instance....the newest Pokemon game looks worse than a ps3 game and sold 10 million in 3 days.

[@Millicente]

@@AxelAlexK You can't use Nintendo as an example. Everyone ASSUMES they won't be graphically up to par and understand that it's a mobile chip that was years old when the switch was new. Also, indie games? Sure, but again those are indies, there's a lot of slack. We're talking the main hitters. The games from studios like Xbox, Bethesda, PS Studios, CDPR, Activision, Ubisoft. If any of these studios release games that look like a Switch game people will give them 0 slack and tear on them forever. There's a difference between "this is the limit of our hardware" and "this pixel look is a stylish choice" and "we're an indie studio" VS "we didn't want to spend the same amount of time and money as our more impressive looking games."

[@AxelAlexK]

@@Millicente But why do you think everyone assumes that? It's because of the deliberate choice of Nintendo to not chase graphics. They chose to release less powerful hardware and chose a less power demanding approach to their core titles. Other companies could do the same. Maybe they should be asking themselves if the higher costs and long cycles are worth it? I don't agree that people will tear into them. Sure, core gamers will, but that's a small portion of the market. Most people who buy games are casuals. And even then, I am not convinced core gamers wouldn't be willing to trade graphics and smaller games for much more frequent releases. There will of course always be some devs that will cater to the high end PC market, but for most mainline console releases? I don't think the general public cares about graphics as much as is assumed.

[@Millicente]

@@AxelAlexK Then we just heavily disagree. Also, nintendo chose not to chase graphics, not because they suddenly got enlightened but that they tried, and failed, multiple times to beat out the comp, mainly sony. Then they scrapped going for power and decided to go for "blue ocean" with the wii. Then they combined handheld and console at which point they CAN'T chase power.

[@dab88]

6:30 new gen consoles are already approaching "long in the tooth" being based on Zen 2 architecture. That's two full generations behind PC tech with another 5 years to go before proposed new consoles. Once again consoles will be holding back gaming development.

[@SC0RPI0NFURY]

Consoles are the reason why triple A games exists, without the console market GTA 6 for instance would never happen

[@HadesHotgun]

It's always good to see Audi on the show. Congratulations on your new job.

[@kermitthegaminghermit8736]

There should be DF awards.

[@JenovaDoll]

Graphically the leap between consoles is not as big as it used to be. The next gen won't be 8K so the only reason to upgrade is for a higher frame rate.

[@slickrat]

Do you remember that time when other things besides resolution and framerate would improve in a generation transition? Things like "actual graphics"?! I hate this recent focus on both framerate and resolution. I want to see other things improve such as better postprocessing effects, more elements on screen, better textures, better physics...

[@nitrodruid5148]

@@slickrat 60fps and (1440p-4k) over any graphic effect. Stability smooth GAMEPLAY is most important in GAMES

[@xShikari]

@@slickrat +draw distance!

[@JSmith-nu4bl]

Summary of the 9th gen of consoles: it has it all… 4k, 60/120fps, ultra graphics, RT… but only one at once

[@ogto]

regarding calisto protocol, the only way the death animation thing is ok is if they're tied to enemies/locations/weapons that are specific to the DLC. otherwise it does indeed "suck balls"

[@THU31]

They missed a great PR opportunity, because alongside actual paid DLC (locations, missions) they could release additional animations free for everyone. But this is a singleplayer game, not live service, so there is no need for cosmetic DLC to support servers and stuff. This has gone wrong so many times in the past, yet they still try it.

[@FazeredTube]

Lovely to have Audi back. His dry wit has been missed!

[@10whiten99]

Always like looking at Audi’s headphones

[@iurigrang]

It's weird that the overall impression was that elden ring was killing with the nominations when the actual game with the most nominations is GoW: Ragnarok (10), not Elden Ring (7).

[@star.traffick8390]

GOW is more of the same and that's why it doesn't rank as high as the 2018 game.

[@CarlosCamposvc92]

I payed 425€ for an RX 5700 XT Pulse back in 2019 and I thought "man this is so expensive I can't believe I'm spending 425€ on a graphics card". Two years later "man I can't believe a guy just bought my 5700 XT for 800€ and I'm getting this 3060 Ti at MSRP of 400€ and still keep another 400€." Six months later "man I can't believe that guy just bought my 3060 Ti for 1000€ and I get to buy this 3070 Ti for free". One year later "man I can't believe I just sold my 3070 Ti for just 600€ and this 3080 is gonna cost me 950€." Six months later "man I can't believe the 4080 is 1600€ and my 3080 is worth half of that." Oh boy how my perspective changed since that 5700 XT at 425€.

[@gadgetvideos]

I do not think we will see a mid-gen or next-gen leap in raw performance in the console space anytime soon. But if AMD could provide special ray-tracing and DLSS3 functonality it would instantly result in a next gen leap for consoles. C’mon AMD please catch up to nVidia!

[@TerraWare]

RDNA 3 ray tracing seems to be quite competitive. Guess we'll see.

[@Loundsify]

Yeah I can't see it. PS4 came on 28nm TSMC, 3-4 years later TSMC 16/14nm came out and it didn't cost a whole lot more per mm2, so Sony and Microsoft basically could make a similar sized chip with double or more transistors.

[@Wobbothe3rd]

Not gonna happen, AMD has no optical flow or machine learning acceleration or really much of any specialized hardware at all. If we could do magic with software we wouldn't need GPUs at all.

[@schwartzy65]

Kinda worrisome that 7 year old game cant have ray tracing 60 fps mode on "next" gen consoles :/

[@paulojamesminimoisaac7858]

consoles are not meant for ray tracing anyways its just a bonus so why be worried?

[@schwartzy65]

@@paulojamesminimoisaac7858 just that we havent even hit the next gen phase and already seems like consoles are on the limits atleast like cpu wise... Some bad games like arkham knights runs 30 lol and then even plague tale shows limits.

[@artvandalleigh7894]

I wish you guys had given your thoughts on Elden Ring receiving a nomination for "Best Narrative" as I think there is an interesting discussion to be had there. It would also have been interesting to hear your thoughts on Ragnarok vs Elden Ring, but I understand wanting to avoid that topic. I'm not sure why you didn't mention Ragnarok at all though, I believe it received more nominations than any other game.

[@troy8420]

I feel like that discussion has been had to death. There’s room for all forms of art and narratives and the people who want to just restrict it to cinematic, straightforward stories are just being hateful for no reason. Elden ring winning that category would be a totally different discussion tho!

[@alexv5581]

Elden ring best narrative?? No way. God of war blows it away in that regard.

[@JohnOverholt]

Yes! Digital Foundry Awards! Best Performance, Best Ray Tracing Implementation, Best Handheld Optimization, etc...

[@LuciusAugustusRex]

There are more porn games on the Switch than the Xbox and PS combined. There's a lot of that stuff on the Switch so technically the Microsoft lawyers are right

[@tomsimmons7673]

Does Boner in Berlin go with Agonizing Rectal Pain? 😂

[@ogto]

nothing but the HOTTEST Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan romcom jokes on Digital Foundry

[@davidludwig7501]

Great show guys. As always. Callisto Protocol baby yeah! 2 days. So ready to piss my pants.

[@catbreathmedia]

DF Direct Weekly... rated R! 🤭

[@DanTheHitman]

Yay! Audi's back! Love these 3 and Alex, should always be together!

[@Glebipoo]

I love seeing Audi back

[@omarsabeur9039]

I love these shows

[@felipeozalmeida]

I don’t think people don’t share the same enthusiasm for RTX as you guys do. Given enough purchasing power, everyone would be using top of the line GPUs.

[@Wobbothe3rd]

Nvidia has 88% of the market in new gamers. 5 out of the top 10 selling GPUs on the Steam Hardware survey are RTX. You need to get out of the social media bubble and look at some real numbers. Nvidia are winning, big time.

[@felipeozalmeida]

@@Wobbothe3rd Hey, calm down. I think you misinterpreted what I said. It was nothing about Nvidia vs AMD. I said that it’s not that people don’t like Ray Tracing and are comfortable with staying with Nvidia GTXs and classic AMD RXs. It’s not that people don’t see any value in Ray Tracing. It’s just the prices are really high for a lot of people around the world. That’s why the average Steam PC is probably a GPU without RT features.

[@tipoomaster]

2028 would be an extended cycle, but I don't mind it. The first two years with covid disruptions felt like we've barely started, very few games taking advantage of the all SSD architectures yet. Pros in year 4 maybe for fuller RT at 4K 60. I'd expect it to carry forward BC and stay x86 APUs.

[@MrVoland44]

8 years not much "extended" since last gen was 7 yers, lol anyway, first 3 years is full of crossgen. while same thing was just 1 year for lastgen. that being said PS6 in 2028 is too optimistic. personally i dont see PS6 until 2030 at least.

[@EbonySaints]

Seven years is the new normal now. The 7th Gen was seven years. The 8th Gen was seven years. I seriously doubt that we're going back to a time from 3rd to 6th Gen where six years was long in the tooth and five was the norm.

[@marcelslofstra2157]

At this rate, I’d have my PS5 in 2027…

[@mcfeddz44]

Great episode!

[@redking8585]

One important issue is that we can't have a proper generational leap as long as we're targeting high resolutions, the PS5 has a GPU that is 6x the speed of a PS4 and the memory bandwidth of the PS5 is only 2.5x that of the PS4, if you up the resolution from 1080p to native 4k that's most of that advantage lost and you're left with minor extra bells and whistles as far as graphics go, not to mention many PS4 games didn't even run at 1080p native.

[@delonejuanderer]

In 2028 the rtx 7000s will be out. The 4090 is already a beast can't image 3 gens from now.

[@joemarais7683]

In 2028 the 7050 will probably be as fast as the 4090 for $1000. Pc gaming will be dead, and DF are full of it thinking developers are going to prioritize developing for PC instead of console tech when no customers will be able to afford Nvidia’s price gouging by then.

[@Thelango99]

@@joemarais7683 Consoles more or less use the same tech as PC. The reason consoles are cheaper is volume and willingness to take an upfront loss on hardware. Meanwhile the games themselves cost more long term and you are locked into a single eco system and have to pay a monthly or yearly additional fee to play online. It is not cheaper in the long run.

[@kusayfarhan9943]

History has shown that it doesn't matter how much more powerful PCs get relative to consoles. The reality is that most PC gamers are using low to mid level hardware and more people buy games on consoles relative to PC.

[@joemarais7683]

@@Thelango99it will certainly be cheaper in the long run when a $500 xbox will probably do 8K/60 while the gpu alone that’ll do it for PC be $1000 cause idiots think dollar per frame should be the same every generation now. Unless of course you’re a pirate, then so be it.

[@Thelango99]

@@joemarais7683 Steam sales cut deeper than on consoles (Due to multiple competitors keeping prices lower). Currently you can get a GPU equivalent to the Xbox series X for roughly $560 (Radeon 6700XT). Overall a PC will cost more upfront, but you don't need to spend the extra $60 for Xbox live Gold or PS+ each year.

[@eliotwildermann]

What John just said investing the money which I've been saying for awhile now final fantasy 7 remake would not have been a thing if sony didn't give square enix $100 million dollars for its budget

[@fenixa2z936]

Boner in Berlin had me rolling 🤣🤣🤣

[@monkfishy6348]

I think if they do a mid-gen console, it will have the same rasterization performance, same memory, same drive, but just have more raytracing performance. Next-gen consoles will have to be capable of running all RT technologies together at a high level of performance, GI, reflections, including diffusion and on more materials than just mirror-like and on transparencies, shadows/AO, just the full suite of RT features in every game as standard.

[@ArchieBunker11]

AMD’s new gen of $1000 cards Still don’t have good raytracing performance. Their own slides have them decently below 3090 at RT. And mid gen(2024-5) console would need to have a 80-90% increase in compute to match a 3090 at raster, and far greater than that number to match it in RT. That and it would be expensive to make even if they take a loss. Even trying to match a 3070 in RT performance they’d need a 6900xt class card. RT, at least, all of it, isn’t really In the cards for consoles.

[@KarimTemple]

@@ArchieBunker11 your figures are pretty suspect tbh. We'd better just wait to see when the new cards come out in a couple of weeks.

[@ArchieBunker11]

@@KarimTemple lol okay? Why don’t you try to rebuttal them then? Are you denying AMD’s own slides showed a sub 3090 RT level? You can do that math yourself if you’d like? Or are you denying that the 3090 isn’t 80-90% better than a 6650xt/2080? Or are you denying that IF the consoles were magically AMD’s version of a 3090(the 6900xt) that the 3070 wouldn’t beat it at raytracing? Id love to hear back..

[@KarimTemple]

​@@ArchieBunker11 sure. > sub 3090 RT level The RT numbers AMD gave for the 7900 XTX all appear to fluctuate between being slightly below and slightly above 3090 Ti levels, with one or two outliers being well above. None of their numbers are at or below 3090. For example, they said Cyberpunk "Ultra RT" was 21fps. 3090 is 20 and 3090 Ti is more like 24. But, again, we'd better just wait and see. Maybe you meant "sub 3090 Ti," but 1) that's not accurate and 2) the XTX costs less than the 3090 Ti lol

[@ArchieBunker11]

@@KarimTemple can you do math? Their own website has doom eternal and RE:V performance for RT for 7900xtx. conveniently the two easiest RT games to run with the least Amountof RT possible. Resident evil being so limited in RT that AMD cards like 6000 are actually competitive with RT. The 3090 without DLSS matches their own 7900xtx numbers, and RE8 literally is an AMD sponsored game with RT shadows where the 6900xt is competitive. Why do you think AMD chose those games to tout their RT?

[@DGFTardin]

Audi fought his way out of Rich's dungeon

[@spinal_capped]

“Content Creator of the Year” how tf is nobody from DF, Eurogamer, Oxbox, or Dicebreaker on there??

[@ramymimouni6639]

even 2027-28 feels too soon, i don't mind this gen last till 2030

[@ramymimouni6639]

@@runningbear6391 lol form me this past 2 years don't count bc w didn't had any next gen games.

[@williampinnock2256]

COD is a pretty derivative experience and title, it's all down to mind-share, both Sony's and the gamers'. Sony really should just come up with a competitor, or buy DICE and sort Battlefield out.

[@vncube1]

"Boners in Berlin" should go on a t-shirt with BVH calculations underneath 😂😂😂😂😂

[@Grandmastergav86]

Didn't know I needed this podcast but it's superb

[@peterrudolph218]

28:43: In the Live-Stream they said that PC will just include GI and AO being raytraced. Where Do you got the Information that the reflections and shadows are also raytraced?

[@gregoreuo1]

I mean you can sort of guess, DF is in contact with developers all the time and might have got some private knowledge, they could already have access to the patch as well, so that they have a video up by launch. In the witcher stream the developers said that there are ultra settings on PC that they weren't ready to share (even though they did mention more crowds, further grass distance etc... so this could also reference more raytracing features).

[@snakebebop]

They mentioned it in the Livestream

[@tookaface]

@@snakebebop They do not

[@dontomaso11]

@@gregoreuo1 Why would you guess that? If they mentioned specifically what kind of RT they are adding to the game, why would they omit reflections? Makes no sense. If for some reason CDPR choose to only tell DF about those reflections (haven't seen this mentioned anywhere else), I would assume that DF would mention that or something in the line of having 'special secret sources' or something. Not just, "Yo, we watched the stream, the Berlin boner noticed RT reflections"

[@gregoreuo1]

@@dontomaso11 I don't know? do you think John just did a huge mess up in this video with the way he said it so matter of fact? Alex from digital foundry also said this on another forum- "They have really only talked about the console versions - they are not gonna show off PC in its full as they do not want the console players to feel left out. Mark my words, the PC version has more RT effects than RTXGI/DDGI and RTAO." So yeah, i don't know but it will be interesting to come back to this comment after all that you have said.

[@ooiiooiiooii]

The Microsoft deal should OBVIOUSLY BE BUSTED. Does no one remember when Activision/Blizzard merged and how that destroyed Blizzard’s reputation and pedigree?

[@ArchieBunker11]

I found him! The only person in history that thinks activisions reputation, and pedigree, could possibly get worse under Microsoft. You…are insane.

[@pietrycranberry6621]

33:04 Just because Nvidia dominates the GPU space isn't a direct indication that people think ray tracing is their it feature, I'm not a PC guy but I constantly hear Nvidia has better drivers and most games run faster on the hardware. The only way to prove ray tracing is the go-to feature on PC is a census or if the publishers track it,show a graph on how many times ray tracing is enabled if the game supports it .

[@Wobbothe3rd]

No one is arguing it's a "go-to" feature, the point is gamers value it in GPU choices.

[@pietrycranberry6621]

@@Wobbothe3rd Do they? It's not like Nvidia couldn't have put ray tracing core on Pascal or Maxwell, heck even Kepler. I'm not sure if you have seen it but Mark Cerny alluded to raying cores being possible on the PS4 but decided against it because devs didn't want it. I'm just saying if ray tracing was all that,we could've had it early on .

[@TempleofShaolin]

Spider-Man 2 is gonna be the first true next gen game I think

[@ktdagoat1289]

Hellblade 2..

[@DeltaAssaultGaming]

Hopefully it won’t have much Miles Morales stuff in it

[@playstationnintendowin489]

Ratchet and clank