What is truly BIZARRE about this is they are talking about running on a GTX 960 4GB. Why not just say the minimum GPU is something like a GTX 1070 (a 10 year old GPU) and do away with the frame-gen and uproar. Odd.
@Vyns @Granadico It's not unreasonable for players to want more than one controller. How many PS5 or XSX pads do most people have? Whereas one Steam Machine / Frame per customer seems more reasonable.
@Thretosix FYI her background isn't REALLY AI. Although she was President of CoreAI at MS this was more about integrating dev tools and Azure Studio. At Instacart she was COO where her day to day jobs would be executing operations, and trying to ensure teams hit the CEO's strategy. At Meta she was president of Product & Engineering especially for Messenger and Instagram Direct DMs.
Her expertise is more in marketing, management and operations, not AI.
I already mentioned this the other week, but today’s developer-focused event is just about recapping the Xbox GDC talk and I’m not expecting any news
That's a bit disappointing. It would be nice if they confirmed a few of the things that they've alluded to but not confirmed like Steam/Epic/etc. store support and if it will run all Xbox BC games natively.
I don't think we entirely know for sure yet. Perhaps we will have a better idea by the end of the day, but I doubt it.
Until we actually define what a console is and how it differs from a PC we can't really answer the question. e.g.
Does fixed hardware and games optimised for that hardware make it a console? Will Helix do that?
Does a console have to be low cost? If yes was the Neo Geo ever a console?
If "it just works" is it a console? Plug & play is a console like experience.
It it ALSO runs other Windows software is it now a PC regardless of how it plays games?
etc. etc.
In my view the lines between console and PC have been blurring for years. There are aspects of modern consoles that are PC like (x86, M+K support, monitor support) and aspects of PC's, including Steam Deck, that are console like (prebuilt fixed spec devices, TV & controller support, "it just works" for Steam deck). I expect Helix to furhter blur those lines.
@Vyns Assuming it uses the same remapping software as SteamDeck yes you can remap virtually EVERYTHING per game, including trackpads as 4 directions + click.
That means between the 4 back buttons and 2 trackpads (5 each) you have at least another 14 hot keys. Plus a few others like grip sense, or even gyro that you can map as a function.
That’s on top of the normal controls like D-pad, triggers, face buttons, stick click, start etc.
Really refreshing interview. I love product design like this. Constant problem solving; weighing up solutions and what knock on effects they have.
I still don't think having 3 sets of controls per side is as ergonomic as just 2. You are always stretching / scrunching your thumbs, or having to remove the palm of the hand from the controller slightly to get to the extremes. That's why the original Steam Controller settled on 2 large trackpads, 1 set of buttons and 1 stick, though of course that was too much of a sacrifice for most users, though it's still brilliant in it's small niche as a mouse replacement controller.
This seems better for a wider range of uses and players, but there are sacrifices too. Can't do it all. I'd really like to give one of these a go, but with (literally) dozens of controllers already and this costing £85 it doesn't seem likely anytime soon.
Looks fantastic and seems to address all my issues with Returnal (which I loved, even if it didn't always love us). That said there is so much to play right now (not to mention I'm busy in Skyrim VR) that this one is on the back burner for a bit. Still I will buy it to support the devs and this type of game.
FYI UK peeps. It's £58.49 at Currys after the 10% discount.
@wsjudd I own it but I never actually got around to Odyssey, despite playing almost every AC before that. Combination of being a bit burnt out on the series, Origins being so long, and hearing Odyssey was 100+ hours for completionists, which I was at the time. I heard it was even worse/longer for Valhalla. One day... maybe.
@MittenFacedLass I think I put in around 75-100 hours doing everything for the Platinum. But some of that was just sailing around singing sea shanties and shooting schooners. Fun game.
Looks pretty great... but I'm not very big on replaying open world games, as they are so long. Don't know if I will play this. Certainly not at launch, too many other newer experience to play.
(...he says as he enters hour 50 100+ in Skyrim VR)
@EvilRacer329 Same. Played very little of Horizon 5 after putting 100+ hours into FH4 etc. It just felt TOO familar, like i'd played it all before. I HOPE there's a little more interest. Japan at least looks far more interesting than their version of Mexico. Fingers crossed.
Love that they are returning to the Metro - I missed that in Exodus - and that it's a darker tone. Looking forward to it, but need to see more, this is just a tease, albeit a good one.
I am a bit split about whether to offer a CF Express slot on Helix.
Part of me thinks they should ditch it, keep costs down, and move onto the better more widely supported m.2 NVMe format.
The other side of me thinks costs are already looking to be sky high for Helix, will including a CF Express slot actually add much to BOM? It could be useful for those of us that bought these cards... at some cost! It's likely the system won't have a lot of storage already with current SSD prices.
As long as frame times are within a more generous VRR window (at least 48fps on Series X/S or 40fps on PS5 when running in 60Hz mode)
@wsjudd Isn't this the other way around? I believe it's the XSX|S that has the wider VRR window of 40fps+ and PS5 with 48fps+ at 60Hz. Though I am not 100% sure what the window is at 120Hz on each.
@MattGPT I need a whole new PC - perhaps I could recycle the case and PSU but that’s about it. Everything is 10 years old or more. Has served me well so I kept putting off upgrading. It’s mostly for work.
At this moment ideally I want to wait to see what Xbox Helix is and if it will allow me to do everything I want in a gaming PC. Ideally with Console like experience + tinkering, emulation, VR, mods etc. if you delve a bit deeper. If it does all that I’ll likely go with Helix and just buy a more modest PC just for work. But I still need at least 32GB of RAM and 8TB+ of storage. However not sure my PC will last that long, it’s quirky / slightly on the fritz at the moment, may not have that option. But I’ll cross that bridge if/when it comes. For now I’ll wait.
@Rich_Leadbetter I think it’s not just about expanding their audience, which is undoubtably true, it’s also about bringing their current PS4 audience to PS6, a £699+ console isn’t going to do that. A lower cost perhaps £399 console might.
It was only last year I believe that Sony said PS5 players overtook PS4 players, the GTA Online leaks this week show how many are still playing on PS4 and XOX - over a third of the player base were on last gen and each had a higher percentage than PC for that game.
As enthusiasts the PS6 home console probably isn’t for us, but it is importantly for enthusiasts that we have lower cost entry points for other gamers otherwise prices of games and hardware will just go up if the player base shrinks. We will lose these more casual gamers to other media. It’s vital imo and a key issue for gaming coming forward.
As for Switch HC as someone that plays almost exclusively on tv I would probably buy that and sell my Switch 2 handheld. Probably.
@Granadico Same. I had a 256GB SATA SSD and then a 4TB HD that then got replaced by an 8TB HDD. Can do the same with fast NVMe gen and another cheaper drive.
Internet speed will depend where you live, plenty of places in the world have Full Fibre to the Premises (FFTP) and offer up to 1Gbps+ but then others only offer Fibre to the Cabinet (FFTC) and people are stuck around 24-72 Mbps. Of course download speed is limited by the server too.
@MattGPT I specced out a mid/high-end PC last year at around £2k and right now that same PC is over £3k, it's bonkers. Admittedly I was aiming for a lot of RAM (64GB DDR5) and plenty of SSD storage (8TB), it's more for work, and these prices have gone up 2x - 5x in less than 6 months.
Especially kicking myself for not picking up 4 x 16GB of DDR5 RAM when 32GB was on sale for around £60 last autumn now it's £300+, the rest I could suffer.
Still flip-flopping whether to wait it out or dive in and just accept it. Will likely depend on if my PC dies on me!
Or have a small faster boot drive and slightly slower but larger SSD for games / storage. Games barely see much benefit from NVMe gen 3 - 5. Perhaps a few seconds difference at most, not that noticeable without a stopwatch. Even SATA SSD's are not always much slower in many games.
You could also install games on the faster boot drive when it makes a difference, or games you are currently playing if cost is really an issue.
@Tyrion8338 I agree 2x and 3x is all that is needed. E.g.
5x and 6x on 240Hz could mean base frame rates as low as 40-48fps, assuming it holds to 240fps, that will feel horrible.
My point is that MFG only really works when you already have an acceptable frame rate to begin with and that is only on higher end cards (or ancient games). It’s not like normal DLSS where games on lower end cards can really see a benefit.
Regarding BOM cost as Moore’s Law is Dead (MLID) and Kepler_L2 showed Sony were aiming for a more affordable device around $580 BOM perhaps from $549 at retail, but parts, tariffs, wars etc have bumped up the cost of making the device. It’s a real shame, but it also is what it is.
Considering the global situation I like MLID idea of making a lower cost TV version of the handheld to get gamers on PS4 to upgrade as without volume the console economics don’t work especially for devs.
Pretty disappointing results, but to be expected. While it's good the devs are making changes things like introducing a 4K toggle that doesn't fix the issue it just compounds them if they don't optimise the rest of the game around it.
After hardware price hikes and the frosty reception to DLSS5 Nvidia really could have done with a win, but this ain't it either.
In general Frame-gen is a weird one as the people that could really do with a frame-gen increase are those that are already running lower frame rates, but they can't use this at all. Whereas the people that can take advantage of frame-gen are the ones least likely to need it.
It isn't like typical DLSS which could claw back better frame rates for those on lower end GPUs. Hence it's not a killer feature in the same way.
Brilliant review Tom. Especially love the side-by-side comparison of the Pro and Base PS5 versions at similar settings. Really highlights the difference the extra GPU, through higher settings and PSSR, gives.
@A1an Base PS5 is still plenty powerful enough for current gen in 99% of games. I believe only a handful of games don't have 60fps modes and there's only the occasional game like Crimson Desert that is perhaps a little behind what you would want at 60fps. But I suspect that will be fixed in the coming months too. It's more a dev issue imo.
@BespokeExPoint I suppose if they are simultaneously working with Xbox and PlayStation they kinda have to remove the numbering.
Can you imagine the fanboys if you said XBox is running on FSR5 and PS6 is running off code based off FSR6.
Yesss Rich! Great interview and glad to hear they were looking at the performance side of the auto-enhanced PSSR from the start so it's a drop in replacement.
As unlike PC, a console game is optimised specifically to that current spec and it makes sense to not make devs have to go back. Whereas on a PC you can just turn down a few settings yourself.
Personally been very happy with Pro overall since launch but this is a welcome bonus to fix a few of the small issues. Look forward to playing more games with it.
Once again being rewarded for having a massive backlog, coming to games later and getting a better, more rounded experience. That's a pretty huge leap. Looking forward to it in due course.
Looking forward to the whole interview. Cerny is a must watch/read for me his clarity of thought and distilling complex ideas down to their essence makes every talk engrossing.
Adjacently, after the initial fallout of DLSS 5s neural rendering I’ve been thinking about this a lot and I suspect after the initial shock of Gen-AI faces wears off and we actually see creative devs using it I am quite excited for the future of the technology. But as with all things Gen-AI also worried and cautious about the bad sides.
I do wonder if Xbox’s next gen “backwards compatibility” might feature some sort of neural processing and that’s why they’ve gone with such a monstrous APU with an NPU; and if neural processing is one of the reasons they felt confident calling it “the largest technological leap in a generation”. Food for thought.
@alpha54 I don’t really want to get into the weeds, but broadly I agree with most of what you say. I presented Rich’s own words back to him to give him the opportunity to clarify what he meant, as it could easily be misconstrued… and he has. (See above)
I agree I only ever saw their initial video as a first take - I can't comment on what anyone else thought. But I did think it was a little over enthusiastic and glossed over issues that many of us, including seemingly Alex and John, saw instantly. For example they only mentioned AI once in the whole video, about 10 minutes in. That all came across as a little too giddy for me. Whereas it was literally my first thought.
But that's fine, we don't all have to agree, as Alex said we don’t have to have consensus. It's a real shame far too many can't make their thoughts and complaints rationally and calmly without shooting the messengers. Sadly, as I said in my comments, far too many unhinged people out there, who need to do more than just touch grass.
To be honest I had no major issues with this on PS5 Pro, it's not that I couldn't see some of the issues if I looked hard, they just didn't bother me much. Fantastic looking game, even better art direction.
Couldn't disagree more with Alex's statement that previously it was "not looking very good at all", but that's opinions! Either way glad to see that Enhanced PSSR is ticking a lot of boxes.
@Granadico Yes exactly this. I remember when phone photo editing apps first popped up (e.g. Snapseed - pre-Google buyout) and I would massively over saturate or bring out certain details, overusing HDR in particular. The image was certainly punchy and to the untrained eye might look like an upgrade - it's a stylistic choice at least. But now I'm more aware of how to use and balance lighting, tone mapping etc. my 2015 edits look bold, but amateurish, this heavily reminder me of that.
They do actually cover some of this around 33:50 in the video and Alex talks about HDR photography etc. and someone has fixed the tone-mapping the images don't look as bad, or as starkly different.
While I have my issues with the tech as it is now, I have no doubt neural rendering will play a part in the future of games and I look forward to seeing where this tech ends up.
@Rich_Leadbetter Thanks. And re: second question I commented before seeing the end of the video (slaps wrist) and you do cover this a little, albeit with faces, where you cover tweaked tonemaps and Alix talked about quasi HDR photography etc. Either way it looked all wrong to my eyes! Wishing you all well, appreciate all you do.
Sorry second question. I agree that if they had run with environmental only and not faces it likely would have been better perceived. However I notice in almost all the environmental shots the shadows are often toned down or almost disappear almost as if the time of day or light intensity has changed. How do you feel about that aspect? While SOME of the environmental stuff looked great, I couldn't get past it looking more like some Lightroom preset.
One question Rich. When you say "I think it would have been prudent to wait to see the reaction from audience and developers to the keynote", I am not sure this is the right way. Surely you have to say it as you see it and not tell people only what they want to hear, right?
More than anything I hope you are all doing OK. Sadly there's too many unhinged people out there and while I don't like what DLSS 5 is doing much it's no reason to react the way some have reacted. Wishing you all well.
@dlamb2471 they should be available via the system level toggle… but we haven’t seen how that matches up to an official patch, which perhaps might be able to do more (else why are devs doing it themselves)
Hopefully DF gets some footage in between i.e. it would good to compare how games run
using PSSR (1)
using Enhanced PSSR (2) via the system level toggle
using Enhanced PSSR (2) via dev patch
This would give us the best idea of how each benefits and what we can expect from games where devs don’t update them manually.
@StooMonster I think the two are linked. Uncanny valley and TikTok/Snapchat filter, it’s not a lack of articulation or understanding, this is what it looks like to me.
E.g. If you watch a filtered video made on those platforms you quickly see that it isn’t a real person anymore, it’s been “enhanced” (yassified) but also dehumanised. It may on first glance appear better in some way but on watching it in motion it just sets off an alarm in your head, that’s the uncanny valley.
This is exactly what these DLSS5 shots are doing to many of us, it just looks off. Yassified. But like AI models not everyone sees it.
@StooMonster Do you GENUINELY not see the AI filter / uncanny valley when you watch the faces in motion?
To be fair as @Dort said some people don't seem to see it. It's like thousands of people following AI models and commenting to them as if they are real people. Some people just can't see it. For me the uncanny valley is strong with these, especially in motion, gives me the heebie-jeebies.
@NetshadeX FYI It's Oblivion remake not Skyrim. I think in a few shots it looks OK, impressive even in places, but it's also like someone has taken your shots and run them with their own Lightroom preset. People already complain that UE5 games look alike, that is only going to be amplified if they are all run through their AI lighting filter and yassified faces first.
@StooMonster Yet I agree if artists are using it then the artistic intent argument is moot. But it doesn't change the other issues with faces looking AI Filtered, and other issues that AI has whereby it changes shot to shot. E.g. Look at Grace in the first two RE9 side by side shots. In the two NON-DLSS5 versions she looks like the same person in different lighting conditions, but the two DLSS5 version she looks like an entirely different person.
Thankfully with this currently running on 2x (checks current pricing) £3,000+ 5090s (each!) most aren't in danger of having this inserted into games any time soon. And today I'm thankful consoles are running AMD for once!
@NetshadeX It is optional, but it basically says screw any artistic intent we are just going to put an AI filter over people's work.
I agree it looks OK, or maybe even good in a few shots, but the side by sides show how much it has altered the artists original intention. Tell me Grace doesn't look TikTok AI "Pretty" filtered.
Is that really the direction you want gaming going?
Comments 108
Re: Frame-Gen to 30fps? Lego Batman's "Bizarre" PC Specs Sheet Is a Case Study in How Not To Market a Game
What is truly BIZARRE about this is they are talking about running on a GTX 960 4GB. Why not just say the minimum GPU is something like a GTX 1070 (a 10 year old GPU) and do away with the frame-gen and uproar. Odd.
Re: Steam Controller Reservations Open May 8th As Valve Implements Anti-Scalping Measures
@Vyns @Granadico It's not unreasonable for players to want more than one controller. How many PS5 or XSX pads do most people have? Whereas one Steam Machine / Frame per customer seems more reasonable.
Re: Project Helix Stream Today: Xbox Game Dev Update Spring '26 Starts Soon
@Thretosix FYI her background isn't REALLY AI. Although she was President of CoreAI at MS this was more about integrating dev tools and Azure Studio. At Instacart she was COO where her day to day jobs would be executing operations, and trying to ensure teams hit the CEO's strategy. At Meta she was president of Product & Engineering especially for Messenger and Instagram Direct DMs.
Her expertise is more in marketing, management and operations, not AI.
Re: Project Helix Stream Today: Xbox Game Dev Update Spring '26 Starts Soon
Tom Warren wrote:
That's a bit disappointing. It would be nice if they confirmed a few of the things that they've alluded to but not confirmed like Steam/Epic/etc. store support and if it will run all Xbox BC games natively.
Re: Is Xbox Project Helix a console or a PC?
I don't think we entirely know for sure yet. Perhaps we will have a better idea by the end of the day, but I doubt it.
Until we actually define what a console is and how it differs from a PC we can't really answer the question. e.g.
In my view the lines between console and PC have been blurring for years. There are aspects of modern consoles that are PC like (x86, M+K support, monitor support) and aspects of PC's, including Steam Deck, that are console like (prebuilt fixed spec devices, TV & controller support, "it just works" for Steam deck). I expect Helix to furhter blur those lines.
At the end of the day, does it really matter?
Re: "We've Heard About Stick Drift and We've Experienced It Ourselves": The Big Steam Controller Interview
@Vyns Assuming it uses the same remapping software as SteamDeck yes you can remap virtually EVERYTHING per game, including trackpads as 4 directions + click.
That means between the 4 back buttons and 2 trackpads (5 each) you have at least another 14 hot keys. Plus a few others like grip sense, or even gyro that you can map as a function.
That’s on top of the normal controls like D-pad, triggers, face buttons, stick click, start etc.
Re: "We've Heard About Stick Drift and We've Experienced It Ourselves": The Big Steam Controller Interview
Really refreshing interview. I love product design like this. Constant problem solving; weighing up solutions and what knock on effects they have.
I still don't think having 3 sets of controls per side is as ergonomic as just 2. You are always stretching / scrunching your thumbs, or having to remove the palm of the hand from the controller slightly to get to the extremes. That's why the original Steam Controller settled on 2 large trackpads, 1 set of buttons and 1 stick, though of course that was too much of a sacrifice for most users, though it's still brilliant in it's small niche as a mouse replacement controller.
This seems better for a wider range of uses and players, but there are sacrifices too. Can't do it all. I'd really like to give one of these a go, but with (literally) dozens of controllers already and this costing £85 it doesn't seem likely anytime soon.
Re: "Closer to the Performance of a Mouse Than a Controller": Valve Explains The Best Feature Of Its Next-Gen Steam Controller
It's looking pretty good but there seems to be a few issues with it.
The first two are going to be subjective based on your hands, the third by the size of your wallet!
Re: Review: Saros on PS5/Pro: Beautiful Visuals, Polished And Approachable
Looks fantastic and seems to address all my issues with Returnal (which I loved, even if it didn't always love us). That said there is so much to play right now (not to mention I'm busy in Skyrim VR) that this one is on the back burner for a bit. Still I will buy it to support the devs and this type of game.
FYI UK peeps. It's £58.49 at Currys after the 10% discount.
Re: Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced: A Top-To-Bottom Remake With Graphics and Gameplay Upgrades
@wsjudd I own it but I never actually got around to Odyssey, despite playing almost every AC before that. Combination of being a bit burnt out on the series, Origins being so long, and hearing Odyssey was 100+ hours for completionists, which I was at the time. I heard it was even worse/longer for Valhalla. One day... maybe.
Re: Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced: A Top-To-Bottom Remake With Graphics and Gameplay Upgrades
@MittenFacedLass I think I put in around 75-100 hours doing everything for the Platinum. But some of that was just sailing around singing sea shanties and shooting schooners. Fun game.
Re: Assassin's Creed Black Flag Resynced: A Top-To-Bottom Remake With Graphics and Gameplay Upgrades
Looks pretty great... but I'm not very big on replaying open world games, as they are so long. Don't know if I will play this. Certainly not at launch, too many other newer experience to play.
(...he says as he enters hour
50100+ in Skyrim VR)Re: How To Run Pragmata At 1440p on PlayStation 5 - But Should You?
Ha! You did manage to turn this headache into a bit of content after all.
Re: "It's Been 26 Years And I'm Back To Playing Quake 3 At 16fps" - Modder Restores Classic Benchmark
Wow that 26 year old John "Gestalt" Bye / EG article is a wonderful jaunt back in time. Thanks for sharing.
How things have changed in 26 years.
Not quite sure what the 16fps in the headline was referring to.
Re: Forza Horizon 6 Previews: What Have We Learned So Far?
@EvilRacer329 Same. Played very little of Horizon 5 after putting 100+ hours into FH4 etc. It just felt TOO familar, like i'd played it all before. I HOPE there's a little more interest. Japan at least looks far more interesting than their version of Mexico. Fingers crossed.
Re: Metro 2039 Tech First Look: What We Learned From 15 Minutes of Footage
Love that they are returning to the Metro - I missed that in Exodus - and that it's a darker tone. Looking forward to it, but need to see more, this is just a tease, albeit a good one.
Re: Fight Soaring SSD Prices by Turning Your Xbox Series X/S Game Card Into PC Storage
I am a bit split about whether to offer a CF Express slot on Helix.
Part of me thinks they should ditch it, keep costs down, and move onto the better more widely supported m.2 NVMe format.
The other side of me thinks costs are already looking to be sky high for Helix, will including a CF Express slot actually add much to BOM? It could be useful for those of us that bought these cards... at some cost! It's likely the system won't have a lot of storage already with current SSD prices.
Re: Why Is There Screen Tearing On Some Xbox Games But Not On PS5 Equivalents?
@wsjudd Isn't this the other way around? I believe it's the XSX|S that has the wider VRR window of 40fps+ and PS5 with 48fps+ at 60Hz. Though I am not 100% sure what the window is at 120Hz on each.
Re: The Best Time to Build a Gaming PC Was a Year Ago, but the Second-Best Time Is Now
@MattGPT I need a whole new PC - perhaps I could recycle the case and PSU but that’s about it. Everything is 10 years old or more. Has served me well so I kept putting off upgrading. It’s mostly for work.
At this moment ideally I want to wait to see what Xbox Helix is and if it will allow me to do everything I want in a gaming PC. Ideally with Console like experience + tinkering, emulation, VR, mods etc. if you delve a bit deeper. If it does all that I’ll likely go with Helix and just buy a more modest PC just for work. But I still need at least 32GB of RAM and 8TB+ of storage. However not sure my PC will last that long, it’s quirky / slightly on the fritz at the moment, may not have that option. But I’ll cross that bridge if/when it comes. For now I’ll wait.
Re: Nintendo Could Make a Switch 2 Home Console – But Should They?
@Rich_Leadbetter I think it’s not just about expanding their audience, which is undoubtably true, it’s also about bringing their current PS4 audience to PS6, a £699+ console isn’t going to do that. A lower cost perhaps £399 console might.
It was only last year I believe that Sony said PS5 players overtook PS4 players, the GTA Online leaks this week show how many are still playing on PS4 and XOX - over a third of the player base were on last gen and each had a higher percentage than PC for that game.
As enthusiasts the PS6 home console probably isn’t for us, but it is importantly for enthusiasts that we have lower cost entry points for other gamers otherwise prices of games and hardware will just go up if the player base shrinks. We will lose these more casual gamers to other media. It’s vital imo and a key issue for gaming coming forward.
As for Switch HC as someone that plays almost exclusively on tv I would probably buy that and sell my Switch 2 handheld. Probably.
Re: Lexar: Gamers Are Willing to Sacrifice RAM, but 512GB SSDs Are a Step Too Far
@Granadico Same. I had a 256GB SATA SSD and then a 4TB HD that then got replaced by an 8TB HDD. Can do the same with fast NVMe gen and another cheaper drive.
Internet speed will depend where you live, plenty of places in the world have Full Fibre to the Premises (FFTP) and offer up to 1Gbps+ but then others only offer Fibre to the Cabinet (FFTC) and people are stuck around 24-72 Mbps. Of course download speed is limited by the server too.
Re: The Best Time to Build a Gaming PC Was a Year Ago, but the Second-Best Time Is Now
@MattGPT I specced out a mid/high-end PC last year at around £2k and right now that same PC is over £3k, it's bonkers. Admittedly I was aiming for a lot of RAM (64GB DDR5) and plenty of SSD storage (8TB), it's more for work, and these prices have gone up 2x - 5x in less than 6 months.
Especially kicking myself for not picking up 4 x 16GB of DDR5 RAM when 32GB was on sale for around £60 last autumn now it's £300+, the rest I could suffer.
Still flip-flopping whether to wait it out or dive in and just accept it. Will likely depend on if my PC dies on me!
Re: Lexar: Gamers Are Willing to Sacrifice RAM, but 512GB SSDs Are a Step Too Far
Or have a small faster boot drive and slightly slower but larger SSD for games / storage. Games barely see much benefit from NVMe gen 3 - 5. Perhaps a few seconds difference at most, not that noticeable without a stopwatch. Even SATA SSD's are not always much slower in many games.
You could also install games on the faster boot drive when it makes a difference, or games you are currently playing if cost is really an issue.
Re: DLSS Dynamic Multi-Frame Gen Has Potential, But I Won't Be Using It For Now
@Tyrion8338 I agree 2x and 3x is all that is needed. E.g.
5x and 6x on 240Hz could mean base frame rates as low as 40-48fps, assuming it holds to 240fps, that will feel horrible.
My point is that MFG only really works when you already have an acceptable frame rate to begin with and that is only on higher end cards (or ancient games). It’s not like normal DLSS where games on lower end cards can really see a benefit.
Re: PS6 Pricing: 41% of Digital Foundry Viewers Would Pay $699 or More for a Next-Gen PlayStation
Regarding BOM cost as Moore’s Law is Dead (MLID) and Kepler_L2 showed Sony were aiming for a more affordable device around $580 BOM perhaps from $549 at retail, but parts, tariffs, wars etc have bumped up the cost of making the device. It’s a real shame, but it also is what it is.
Considering the global situation I like MLID idea of making a lower cost TV version of the handheld to get gamers on PS4 to upgrade as without volume the console economics don’t work especially for devs.
Re: Review: Starfield on PS5/PS5 Pro: The Game's Still Good - But Technical Problems Need Addressing
Pretty disappointing port, especially on Pro. But I already played it on Game Pass.
Re: Review: Crimson Desert on Xbox Series X Improved by Update – But What's Up With Series S?
Pretty disappointing results, but to be expected. While it's good the devs are making changes things like introducing a 4K toggle that doesn't fix the issue it just compounds them if they don't optimise the rest of the game around it.
Series S looks super rough.
Re: DLSS Dynamic Multi-Frame Gen Has Potential, But I Won't Be Using It For Now
After hardware price hikes and the frosty reception to DLSS5 Nvidia really could have done with a win, but this ain't it either.
In general Frame-gen is a weird one as the people that could really do with a frame-gen increase are those that are already running lower frame rates, but they can't use this at all. Whereas the people that can take advantage of frame-gen are the ones least likely to need it.
It isn't like typical DLSS which could claw back better frame rates for those on lower end GPUs. Hence it's not a killer feature in the same way.
Re: AMD Confirms 9950X3D2 Dual Edition Will Be the Most Expensive Ryzen CPU Ever
$900 / £830 for just the CPU... even if it's a Halo product we really are in the worst timeline for PC pricing.
Post Script. Welcome back Will!
Re: Crimson Desert on PS5 Pro Delivers Another Big Leap Over The Base Console
Brilliant review Tom. Especially love the side-by-side comparison of the Pro and Base PS5 versions at similar settings. Really highlights the difference the extra GPU, through higher settings and PSSR, gives.
Re: Review: Super Mario Bros Wonder's 4K Upgrade For Switch 2 Shines
It's a shame this 4K upgrade is part of a $20 package of multiplayer content I have no interest in. I'll stick with the current version at that price.
Re: Nintendo's New Handheld Boost Mode: A Brilliant Way To Revisit Switch Games on Switch 2
This is a very cool feature, and a sensible one many called out for.
But personally I know I will almost never use it as I barely use my Switch as a handheld. Still glad it exists for everyone else.
Re: The Big PSSR Interview With Mark Cerny
@A1an Base PS5 is still plenty powerful enough for current gen in 99% of games. I believe only a handful of games don't have 60fps modes and there's only the occasional game like Crimson Desert that is perhaps a little behind what you would want at 60fps. But I suspect that will be fixed in the coming months too. It's more a dev issue imo.
@BespokeExPoint I suppose if they are simultaneously working with Xbox and PlayStation they kinda have to remove the numbering.
Can you imagine the fanboys if you said XBox is running on FSR5 and PS6 is running off code based off FSR6.
Re: The Big PSSR Interview With Mark Cerny
Yesss Rich! Great interview and glad to hear they were looking at the performance side of the auto-enhanced PSSR from the start so it's a drop in replacement.
As unlike PC, a console game is optimised specifically to that current spec and it makes sense to not make devs have to go back. Whereas on a PC you can just turn down a few settings yourself.
Personally been very happy with Pro overall since launch but this is a welcome bonus to fix a few of the small issues. Look forward to playing more games with it.
Re: Review: Kingdom Come: Deliverance's New Patch Delivers A Convincingly PC-Like Upgrade
Once again being rewarded for having a massive backlog, coming to games later and getting a better, more rounded experience. That's a pretty huge leap. Looking forward to it in due course.
Re: Mark Cerny Confirms Frame Generation "Should Be Seen At Some Point On PlayStation Platforms"
Looking forward to the whole interview. Cerny is a must watch/read for me his clarity of thought and distilling complex ideas down to their essence makes every talk engrossing.
Adjacently, after the initial fallout of DLSS 5s neural rendering I’ve been thinking about this a lot and I suspect after the initial shock of Gen-AI faces wears off and we actually see creative devs using it I am quite excited for the future of the technology. But as with all things Gen-AI also worried and cautious about the bad sides.
I do wonder if Xbox’s next gen “backwards compatibility” might feature some sort of neural processing and that’s why they’ve gone with such a monstrous APU with an NPU; and if neural processing is one of the reasons they felt confident calling it “the largest technological leap in a generation”. Food for thought.
Re: DLSS 5: Game-Changing Tech That Poses Big Questions For The Future Of Gaming
@alpha54 no worries dude. We’re all guilty of that sometimes. You see a comment and you want to reply to it specifically.
Re: DLSS 5: Game-Changing Tech That Poses Big Questions For The Future Of Gaming
@alpha54 I don’t really want to get into the weeds, but broadly I agree with most of what you say. I presented Rich’s own words back to him to give him the opportunity to clarify what he meant, as it could easily be misconstrued… and he has. (See above)
I agree I only ever saw their initial video as a first take - I can't comment on what anyone else thought. But I did think it was a little over enthusiastic and glossed over issues that many of us, including seemingly Alex and John, saw instantly. For example they only mentioned AI once in the whole video, about 10 minutes in. That all came across as a little too giddy for me. Whereas it was literally my first thought.
But that's fine, we don't all have to agree, as Alex said we don’t have to have consensus. It's a real shame far too many can't make their thoughts and complaints rationally and calmly without shooting the messengers. Sadly, as I said in my comments, far too many unhinged people out there, who need to do more than just touch grass.
Re: Alan Wake 2's Upgraded PSSR Delivers A Vast Improvement
To be honest I had no major issues with this on PS5 Pro, it's not that I couldn't see some of the issues if I looked hard, they just didn't bother me much. Fantastic looking game, even better art direction.
Couldn't disagree more with Alex's statement that previously it was "not looking very good at all", but that's opinions! Either way glad to see that Enhanced PSSR is ticking a lot of boxes.
Re: DLSS 5: Game-Changing Tech That Poses Big Questions For The Future Of Gaming
@Granadico Yes exactly this. I remember when phone photo editing apps first popped up (e.g. Snapseed - pre-Google buyout) and I would massively over saturate or bring out certain details, overusing HDR in particular. The image was certainly punchy and to the untrained eye might look like an upgrade - it's a stylistic choice at least. But now I'm more aware of how to use and balance lighting, tone mapping etc. my 2015 edits look bold, but amateurish, this heavily reminder me of that.
They do actually cover some of this around 33:50 in the video and Alex talks about HDR photography etc. and someone has fixed the tone-mapping the images don't look as bad, or as starkly different.
While I have my issues with the tech as it is now, I have no doubt neural rendering will play a part in the future of games and I look forward to seeing where this tech ends up.
Re: DLSS 5: Game-Changing Tech That Poses Big Questions For The Future Of Gaming
@Rich_Leadbetter Thanks. And re: second question I commented before seeing the end of the video (slaps wrist) and you do cover this a little, albeit with faces, where you cover tweaked tonemaps and Alix talked about quasi HDR photography etc. Either way it looked all wrong to my eyes! Wishing you all well, appreciate all you do.
Re: DLSS 5: Game-Changing Tech That Poses Big Questions For The Future Of Gaming
Sorry second question. I agree that if they had run with environmental only and not faces it likely would have been better perceived. However I notice in almost all the environmental shots the shadows are often toned down or almost disappear almost as if the time of day or light intensity has changed. How do you feel about that aspect? While SOME of the environmental stuff looked great, I couldn't get past it looking more like some Lightroom preset.
Re: DLSS 5: Game-Changing Tech That Poses Big Questions For The Future Of Gaming
One question Rich. When you say "I think it would have been prudent to wait to see the reaction from audience and developers to the keynote", I am not sure this is the right way. Surely you have to say it as you see it and not tell people only what they want to hear, right?
More than anything I hope you are all doing OK. Sadly there's too many unhinged people out there and while I don't like what DLSS 5 is doing much it's no reason to react the way some have reacted. Wishing you all well.
Re: Tested: PS5 Pro's Upgraded PSSR Put Through Its Paces On Four Top-Tier Games
@dlamb2471 they should be available via the system level toggle… but we haven’t seen how that matches up to an official patch, which perhaps might be able to do more (else why are devs doing it themselves)
Hopefully DF gets some footage in between i.e. it would good to compare how games run
This would give us the best idea of how each benefits and what we can expect from games where devs don’t update them manually.
Re: Nvidia's new DLSS 5 Brings Photo-Realistic Lighting To RTX 50-Series
@StooMonster I think the two are linked. Uncanny valley and TikTok/Snapchat filter, it’s not a lack of articulation or understanding, this is what it looks like to me.
E.g. If you watch a filtered video made on those platforms you quickly see that it isn’t a real person anymore, it’s been “enhanced” (yassified) but also dehumanised. It may on first glance appear better in some way but on watching it in motion it just sets off an alarm in your head, that’s the uncanny valley.
This is exactly what these DLSS5 shots are doing to many of us, it just looks off. Yassified. But like AI models not everyone sees it.
Re: Nvidia's new DLSS 5 Brings Photo-Realistic Lighting To RTX 50-Series
@StooMonster Do you GENUINELY not see the AI filter / uncanny valley when you watch the faces in motion?
To be fair as @Dort said some people don't seem to see it. It's like thousands of people following AI models and commenting to them as if they are real people. Some people just can't see it. For me the uncanny valley is strong with these, especially in motion, gives me the heebie-jeebies.
But it is impressive tech.
Re: Nvidia's new DLSS 5 Brings Photo-Realistic Lighting To RTX 50-Series
@NetshadeX FYI It's Oblivion remake not Skyrim. I think in a few shots it looks OK, impressive even in places, but it's also like someone has taken your shots and run them with their own Lightroom preset. People already complain that UE5 games look alike, that is only going to be amplified if they are all run through their AI lighting filter and yassified faces first.
@StooMonster Yet I agree if artists are using it then the artistic intent argument is moot. But it doesn't change the other issues with faces looking AI Filtered, and other issues that AI has whereby it changes shot to shot. E.g. Look at Grace in the first two RE9 side by side shots. In the two NON-DLSS5 versions she looks like the same person in different lighting conditions, but the two DLSS5 version she looks like an entirely different person.
Thankfully with this currently running on 2x (checks current pricing) £3,000+ 5090s (each!) most aren't in danger of having this inserted into games any time soon. And today I'm thankful consoles are running AMD for once!
Re: Nvidia's new DLSS 5 Brings Photo-Realistic Lighting To RTX 50-Series
@NetshadeX It is optional, but it basically says screw any artistic intent we are just going to put an AI filter over people's work.
I agree it looks OK, or maybe even good in a few shots, but the side by sides show how much it has altered the artists original intention. Tell me Grace doesn't look TikTok AI "Pretty" filtered.
Is that really the direction you want gaming going?
Re: Nvidia's new DLSS 5 Brings Photo-Realistic Lighting To RTX 50-Series
On a side note this is what it took to get some serious engagement in these comments sections! Negativity does sell! lol
Re: Nvidia's new DLSS 5 Brings Photo-Realistic Lighting To RTX 50-Series
This looks OK at first glance, but it's like a different artistic intent, like different characters in places. Not sure I like that at all.
What's the word the kids use when a face looks TikTok filtered... Yassified! That's what Grace looks like here, TikTok filtered to f**k!
Not Yass Rich, more Nooo Rich!