Digital Foundry Direct Weekly

In the wake of the outcry against the decimation of id Software, Microsoft and seemingly id itself try to downplay the damage and reassure the audience - but what do we think of this - and indeed John Carmack's statements on the issue? Meanwhile Oliver has some bad news about Call of Duty Black Ops on PS5 or rather, the "Just There" edition as Rich dubs it. Beyond that, the petition against the end of PS5 physical media crosses the 250,000 threshold and there's further evidence that RTX 50 Series Super is happening. Finally, after wading through a bunch of bad news, the team find something to celebrate as we hit the five year anniversary of the Steam Deck reveal.

0:00:00 Introduction
0:01:32 News 1: Doom: The Dark Ages DLC arrives, while id layoffs linger
0:35:23 News 2: “Don’t kill the disc” petition crosses 250,000 signatures
0:55:07 News 3: Black Ops 1 & 2 launch on PS4, PS5
1:02:53 News 4: PSU maker drops RTX 50 Super series info
1:13:18 Retrospective: 5 years of Steam Deck
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One part necessary re-organisation, one part liberation for key developers, one part vandalism of Xbox studios, it's a mixture of disbelief and anger from the DF panel as the full extent of Xbox's so-called "reset" becomes clear. If Asha Sharma's report on the business is on the level, clearly something had to be done - but as the scale of the lay-offs and the astonishing cuts to id Software become clear, are spreadsheets now more important to Microsoft than its audience?

0:00:00 Introduction
0:00:51 Supporter Q1: Why is Microsoft laying off 3200 people?
0:28:39 Supporter Q2: Will Sony be forced to be more flexible with their digital storefront, now that physical discs are on the way out?
0:45:04 Supporter Q3: Should Microsoft and Sony just call their next-gen consoles off?
0:54:48 Supporter Q4: Could the PS6 SoC be revised?
1:00:19 Supporter Q5: Could you use PCIe expansion to attach graphics expansion tech to current consoles?
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Sony announces the end of PlayStation game discs via a three paragraph blog post - bringing to an end the era of physical media and actually owning the games you buy, along with the right to resell them, share them and preserve them. A sombre panel assesses the full implications of Sony's decision, why it's doing it, the damage it'll cause and how the PlayStation Store needs a major revamp to take the place of physical media. Also: Sony shuts down the PS3 and Vita stores, Xbox may have alternative plans for potentially phasing out discs and a new Switch 2 LCD panel will hopefully address the problems of the current one.

0:00:00 Introduction
0:00:52 News 1: Sony planning to cease manufacturing new PlayStation games
0:43:32 News 2: Sony pulling PS3, Vita digital stores
0:54:47 News 3: Xbox disc to digital program reportedly planned
1:01:55 News 4: New Switch 2 display reportedly enters the fray
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In the wake of Steam Machine pricing and sharp Xbox MSRP increases, are we looking at the prospect of a $1000 next-gen console? John, Rich and Oliver discuss. Meanwhile, in the current climate, how can you save money on gaming hardware? Is GTA 6 in danger of being the most over-hyped game ever? And if time travel were available, how could the current Xbox crisis have been averted?

00:00 Introduction
00:51 News 1: How does the gaming industry survive recent hardware price bumps?
24:54 News 2: What’s your advice for saving money on gaming hardware?
33:44 News 3: How is John feeling after the GTA 6 code-in-a-box fiasco?
42:11 News 4: Is GTA 6 the most overhyped game ever?
46:57 News 5: If you could time travel, how would you fix Xbox?
55:28 News 6: What’s the future of the Steam Machine?
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Oliver, Rich and Tom discuss GTA 6. Are the 63 new screenshots indicative of actual gameplay? What about the "code in a box" situation? Are the latest PS5 Pro rumours plausible? Meanwhile, the panel is shocked by the huge Xbox price rises, somewhat more positive about FSR 4 arriving on RDNA 3 GPUs, and there's a full breakdown of Sonic Frontiers for Switch 2. And finally, SteamOS can now power a range of desktop PC hardware - but wasn't Bazzite doing that already?

0:00:00 Introduction
0:02:37 News 1: New GTA 6 assets, details released
0:32:43 News 2: AI-driven price rises hit Xbox, Apple
0:45:52 News 3: FSR 4.1 released for RDNA 3 GPUs
0:57:50 News 4: SteamOS 3.8 supports wide range of AMD PCs
1:05:53 News 5: Sonic Frontiers tested on Switch 2!
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