Digital Foundry Direct Weekly

Another week, another controversy surrounding Monster Hunter Wilds PC performance - but perhaps this time we're looking at more of a silly bug than a game-breaking issue. John clues us in on a remarkable port of Super Mario 64 for the Sega Dreamcast (!), offers up opinions on Code Vein 2 on PS5 and shares his excitement for the latest Resident Evil Requiem disclosures. There's comment on the RTX 5070 Ti discontinuation reports and general bafflement on what's going on with 007 First Light's PC specs.

0:00:00 Introduction
0:01:00 News 1: Monster Hunter DLC checks drag PC performance
0:19:37 News 2: RE Requiem trailer showcases dual protagonist gameplay
0:27:34 News 3: RTX 5070 Ti “discontinuation” fracas
0:44:27 News 4: Super Mario 64 ported to Dreamcast
0:56:27 News 5: 007 First Light gets updated PC requirements
1:05:10 News 6: John previews Code Vein 2!
1:09:37 Supporter Q1: How should we pick between DLSS 4.0 and 4.5?
1:19:27 Supporter Q2: What’s a tech that you championed early - for better or for worse?
1:32:57 Supporter Q3: Why do Unreal Engine games on consoles have no shader gathering issues?
1:35:52 Supporter Q4: After the Switch 2 rumour cycle, have you changed your approach to evaluating unverified info?
1:42:55 Supporter Q5: Did Alex ‘raw dog’ his trip to CES?

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Direct from Las Vegas, A Redbull-powered Alex Battaglia and Oliver Mackenzie share their thoughts on everything they saw at the Consumer Electronics Show 2026, while also discussing all of the big announcements. Nvidia, AMD and Intel announcements, the latest TVs and monitors and... the weirdness. Plus, what is Crimson Desert and why should be excited about it?

0:00:00 Introduction
0:01:07 News 1: Nvidia, AMD, and Intel: chipmaker announcements
0:15:37 News 2: PC hardware: laptops, desktops, and accessories
0:28:49 News 3: TVs: MicroRGB, OLED, MicroLED, “Laser”, HDMI 2.2
0:54:54 News 4: Monitors: new QD-OLED coatings, RGB OLEDs, 5K2K ultrawides
1:02:46 News 5: Crimson Desert demo
1:08:37 News 6: CES weirdness: Project AVA, fighting robots, AI saturation, RCA and RadioShack revival, AR avatars, Lego Panther Lake, recumbent chairs, China pavilion
1:36:50 News 7: Reflections on Las Vegas and CES 2026
1:42:54 Supporter Q1: How will new CES tech be affected by RAM scarcity?
1:46:06 Supporter Q2: With new price constraints, is pushing graphics tech unsustainable?
1:51:23 Supporter Q3: Where’s Nvidia’s Reflex 2?
1:54:32 Supporter Q4: Is 30fps with frame gen a good idea for Ark on Switch 2?
2:01:00 Supporter Q5: Are monitors advancing too fast for GPUs?
2:05:28 Supporter Q6: Should games mask #StutterStruggle with tear-jerking content?
2:07:38 Supporter Q7: With Nvidia continuing to innovate, why should people buy AMD GPUs?

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the last DF Direct video of the year, Rich, Oliver and Alex join forces to discusses their experiences of the best gaming hardware of 2025. Handhelds dominate, and while Switch 2's mega sales cannot be denied, Rich makes the case for the crazy GPD Win 5, while Oliver opts for the SteamOS-based Lenovo Legion Go S. Beyond portables, it's all about the Ryzen 9 9950X3D, RTX 5090, the Blackwell and RDNA 4 launches in general and - finally - green shoots of hope in what looks to be a grim 2026.

0:00:00 Introduction
0:00:53 GPD Win 5
0:11:07 Asus ROG Xbox Ally X
0:15:40 Lenovo Legion Go S
0:18:44 MSI Claw 8 AI +
0:19:45 Nintendo Switch 2
0:28:59 AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D
0:38:52 Nvidia Blackwell
0:51:11 AMD RDNA 4
0:59:58 Expectations for 2026
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Need we saw more? As we draw to the end of another remarkable year in video games, the Digital Foundry team sit down to pore over the technological showcases of the last 12 months in an attempt to answer the immortal question: What were the best game graphics of the year?

0:00:00 Introduction
0:02:09 Honourable Mentions: Kirby Air Riders, Mario Kart World, Star Wars Outlaws (Switch 2), Fast Fusion
0:11:45 Routine
0:16:35 Earthion
0:20:00 Silent Hill f
0:25:50 Mafia: The Old Country
0:32:18 Metroid Prime 4: Beyond
0:39:00 Ghost of Yōtei
0:46:11 Dying Light: The Beast
0:56:32 Top Three Discussion
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A critical mass of rumours is strongly suggesting that Half-Life 3 will be a launch title for Steam Machine - but how does that work when the RAM crisis is making any kind of hardware launch so challenging? Meanwhile, Oliver pops in to talk about an actual patch for the woeful Switch 1 port of Batman: Arkham Knight, while Tom makes a similarly cameo-sized appearance to talk about Skyrim's anti-latency patch - which isn't quite what we were hoping for. And that's just the tip of the iceberg for what is an absolutely colossal Direct which will also be the last we produce in the year of our lord 2025.

0:00:00 Introduction
0:02:33 News 1: Is Half-Life 3 a Steam Machine launch game?
0:14:45 News 2: Batman: Arkham Knight patch brings Switch 2 boosts
0:26:28 News 3: Skyrim Switch 2 patch improves input lag - at a cost
0:34:57 News 4: Ayaneo announces Strix Halo uber-handheld
0:45:56 News 5: Bungie exhibits Marathon in new video
0:58:46 News 6: Avatar gets DLSS Frame Generation and Ray Reconstruction
1:14:27 News 7: Blur Busters releases TestUFO 3.0
1:22:42 News 8: Presenting the Digital Foundry 2025 Community Awards!
1:44:13 Supporter Q1: Will future handhelds be fast enough to run path-traced games?
1:47:30 Supporter Q2: Are there realistic alternatives to UE5 for AAA games?
1:52:39 Supporter Q3: What do you think of Mega Man: Dual Override?
1:54:25 Supporter Q4: What are the best graphics of 2025 on low-end hardware?
2:00:31 Supporter Q5: How would you set up an Xbox 360 or PS3 in the modern era?
2:04:55 Supporter Q6: Should AI write supporter questions for DF Direct?
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices