Digital Foundry Direct Weekly

It's Xbox's time to shine with the latest in the big summer showcases and Team Green certainly delivered. Gears of War: E-Day finally breaks cover, Halo Campaign Evolved impresses, while Senua, Metro 2039 and Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy look phenomenal. But what's the deal with Microsoft's exclusivity strategy and will it actually work?

0:00:00 Introduction
0:00:46 Gears of War: E-Day
0:13:36 Clockwork Revolution
0:16:21 Is Xbox returning to exclusive games?
0:29:30 Halo Campaign Evolved
0:34:24 Persona 4 Revival and Persona 6
0:38:52 Senua
0:43:21 Spyro: A Realm Beyond
0:46:02 Metro 2039
0:49:35 Crazy Taxi: World Tour
0:53:20 Doom: The Dark Ages | Revelations
0:57:57 Wo Long 2: Wings of Ember
1:00:48 Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy
1:04:40 Xbox 25th Anniversary Series X
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At the time of publication, it has been one year and one day since Nintendo launched the Switch 2 console - so, as is DF tradition, it's time to look back over the last year and assess the system's track record so far. Strong back compat, impressive first and third party support, actual ray tracing and game-changing DLSS results - has Nintendo managed to put a foot wrong at all?

00:00 Overview
01:10 Is Switch 2 a generational leap over Switch 1?
11:40 What are the worst and best Switch 2 ports?
21:46 Has Nintendo extracted the most from Switch 2 in their own games?
27:34 Have we accepted Switch 2’s hardware flaws?
33:27 What do we make of GameChat, GameShare, and mouse controls?
37:51 How do we rate Switch 2’s backwards compatibility?
44:08 Concluding thoughts
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With the welcome announcement of Call of Duty coming to Switch 2, the question is... can the hardware handle the series' signature 60fps? Meanwhile, what does Nvidia aim to achieve with its new RTX Spark processor? In the wake of the shock Steam Deck price rises, could a self-built PC potentially offer superior value? What's the fate of Xbox Series S in the Helix era? All this and more in the new DF Direct Q+A show.

00:00 Introduction
00:40 Supporter Q1: Do you think Modern Warfare 4 will be good on Switch 2?
09:38 Supporter Q2: Is the Nvidia N1X an expensive, niche chip?
24:25 Supporter Q3: Is a custom PC a better deal than Steam Machine?
31:00 Supporter Q4: Are review embargoes becoming more strict?
37:50 Supporter Q5: Will Microsoft ditch Series S when Project Helix arrives?
42:07 Supporter Q6: Are high hardware prices a boon for game optimization?
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The summer games showcase event season is upon us and Sony is first off the mark with an excellent showing. God of War Laufey and Marvel's Wolverine are the highlights of the event, but there's plenty more that caught our eye here. John and Oliver share their thoughts on the event.

00:00 Introduction
01:13 God of War Laufey
08:44 Marvel’s Wolverine
16:46 Rayman Legends Retold
20:50 Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve
25:09 Stuntman Hollywood
28:55 Until Dawn 2
32:24 Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis
35:30 Kemuri
37:45 Omimusha: Way of the Sword
43:07 Concluding thoughts
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The shock news of +40% price rises for Steam Deck kicks off a BIG Direct this week, swiftly followed by the team's first impressions of the PC version of 007 First Light - and its ker-azy upscaling issues. The new Call of Duty coming to Switch 2 is a topic of much interest, as is the announcement of a brand-new expansion for The Witcher 3. Rich is dismayed by the presentation of bare buttocks in Metal Gear Solid 4's PS5 remaster, the panel reminisces on five years of Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart - and we deliver an explainer on why it's getting more difficult to cover Xbox Series versions of third-party multi-platform games.

0:00:00 Introduction
0:01:04 News 1: Valve restocks Steam Deck with massive price bump
0:20:26 News 2: 007 First Light suffers DLSS issues on PC
0:39:39 News 3: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 announced
0:47:13 News 4: New Witcher 3 expansion announced
0:53:27 News 5: MGS4 PS5 port demoed!
1:04:33 News 6: Xbox whitelisting woes derail game coverage
1:14:08 Retrospective: Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart 5-year anniversary
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