DF Direct Weekly talks Switch Pro leaks and Steam Deck/Elden Ring reactions • Eurogamer.net

Plus: what to expect from Resident Evil upgrades for the PS5 and Xbox Series consoles.

DF Direct Weekly is celebrating its 51st show, but it’s actually our 52nd week – we took a break for Christmas – which means this week is our one year anniversary! And it’s a particularly meaty episode this week as the team comes together to wrap up discussions on Elden Ring and Steam Deck, especially addressing virtually all of the questions we’ve received on both topics from backers. funds from the DF Supporter program.

Looking at the table of contents below should give you an idea of ​​how these particular discussions unfolded, but we’re also spending a lot of time looking at Nvidia’s massive leak and its implications for Switch Pro (aka Switch 2, Switch Model S To infinity). We call it a leak, but in fact Nvidia was the subject of a massive cyber attack and the full extent of the data stolen remains to be seen. In the meantime, we should expect to see a variety of information spilling out: we already have an idea of ​​what kind of GPU configurations we should expect from Team Green’s next-gen GPUs, while the news about the Switch successor is intriguing.

The 51st DF Direct Weekly, with Rich Leadbetter, Alex Battaglia and Tom Morgan on mics.

00:00:00 Presentations00:01:27 Steam Deck Cover and Thoughts00:10:38 Steam Deck Q1: Do you think the Deck passes the “significant other couch test”?00:12:28 Steam Deck Q2: What happens if you install a spare NVMe or install Windows without the correct drivers00:15:42 Steam Deck Q3: Is there a risk that developers will be held back by Steam Deck?00:19:38 Steam Deck Q4: Will problems with AMD GPU drivers slow down emulation on the Steam Deck?00:22:06 Steam Deck Q5: Do you think it would be possible for Valve to integrate the functionality of a 50Hz mode into the Steam Deck via a software update?00:27:06 Elden Ring Cover and Thoughts00:33:19 Elden Ring Q1/Q2: Is 10/10 guaranteed for Elden Ring/what causes bad frame rate in Elden Ring?00:42:25 Elden Ring Q3: Should From Software have contacted Bluepoint to inherit some of their expertise?00:47:25 Elden Ring Q4: What can be done with hardware and software to mitigate the issues instead of an appropriate solution?00:51:38 Elden Ring Q5: Elden Ring would be a DX12 game on the Xbox platform of consoles, which all use DX12 anyway, so why doesn’t it appear that any of them are suffering from compiling issues? shader in any game really?00:52:43 Elden Ring Q6: Are there other things companies like AMD, Nvidia and Valve can do to help improve the user experience?00:56:05 Nvidia leak suggests new hardware specs for Switch01:02:55 Resident Evil 2, 3, and 7 are getting next-gen patches01:05:15 DF Supporter Q1: Do you think GT7 has been held back by its cross-gen nature? And to what degree?01:12:09 DF Supporter Q2: Would you consider an upgraded PS5 that’s more XT than Pro worth it?01:13:48 DF Supporter Q3: Is it fair to say that raw computing is becoming an increasingly irrelevant factor in the performance equation?01:17:12 DF Supporter Q4: Do you think rasterization performance will be less important in the PC GPU space in the future?01:20:42 DF Supporter Q5: What are your thoughts on the undoubtedly inevitable push to next-gen 8k?

What I find most fascinating is the apparent confirmation of a tweet from a renowned leaker kopite7kimi which revealed that Nintendo would base the next Switch on a revision of the Tegra T234 processor, dubbed T239. This suggests a big Ampere-based GPU paired with a proliferation of ARM CPU cores (the T234 has 12). Assuming it’s based on 7nm lithography, it’s a surprisingly large chip for a portable – and powerful – machine. I urge caution here: Nintendo values ​​practicality over performance, essential in a handheld, so we should expect conservative clocks in favor of good battery life.

The leak also discusses scaling DLSS 2.2 AI into an NVN2 graphics API – NVN being the low-level API used in the original Switch. Again, fascinating and potentially very exciting stuff, but I would recommend watching Alex Battaglia’s brilliant content on the limitations of using vanilla DLSS in a resource constrained system such as a handheld operating at low clock speeds. Here is an integration!

Can DLSS actually work in a potential Switch Pro? Alex evaluates the raw computation required and the cost of the algorithm based on DLSS 2.2

Then we also talk about Capcom’s recent announcement that Resident Evil 2, its sequel and Resident Evil 7 will be getting ‘next-gen’ patches for the Xbox Series and PlayStation consoles – so what should we expect? The media we’ve seen suggests ray-traced reflections and global illumination are likely, effectively bringing the functionality we saw in Devil May Cry 5 Special Edition and Resident Evil Village to those legacy titles built on the same engine. D. It might turn out to be an effective upgrade, and we’ll check into that in due course.

Finally, despite the weight of questions from the public in our Steam Deck and Elden Ring discussions, we’re taking even more questions from our contributors. There’s the big topic of Gran Turismo 7 and the extent to which last-gen console support may have “held back” the PlayStation 5. And speaking of PS5, we’re asked about the concept of an upgraded PS5. built on the existing architecture but using the full range of 40 compute units and faster memory – a nice idea, but the performance boost is unlikely to justify a new console rollout. And yes, the age-old 8K question: is it really worth it? Unless we have wall-sized screens, maybe not, but one proponent has pointed to the case for 8K in a VR environment – a concept that has legs. But yes, if you want to get involved in the support program, interact with the team, Get early access to the show and moreJoin us!