DF Direct Weekly on PS5 1440p support and The Last Of Us Part 1’s gameplay reveal

Welcome to the latest edition of DF Direct Weekly – the 72nd, in fact. This is Digital Foundry’s weekly show, where the team uses tools for about an hour to discuss the latest gaming and tech news. After a few weeks away, John Linneman and I returned to the mics, discussing the latest PlayStation 4 firmware beta offering 1440p display support, while sharing some thoughts on the latest The Last footage. of Us Part 1. Virtual reality is also a hot topic, with Sony revealing new headset features the same week Meta raises prices for the Oculus Meta Quest 2 and the massive multi-billion burn rate on its metaverse bet is developed.

Starting with the PlayStation 5 1440p update, we’ll cover this in more detail, but the main points are pretty straightforward – the beta firmware works well with 1440p displays, with a new test option that puts any connected display to tested at 1440p resolution at 60Hz and 120Hz, and in HDR and SDR modes. From there, everything works exactly as it should – typically games are scaled down from their 4K outputs to 1440p, providing a form of super-sampling anti-aliasing. In the Direct, we talk about why that’s a good thing and how responsive Sony has been to feedback lately – something we haven’t necessarily experienced so readily in the past. How native 1440p gaming content works with 1440p display output is something we’re testing right now, so look for an article on that soon.

Beyond that, we’re focusing on the new The Last of Us Part 1 Developer Diary, in which Naughty Dog digs deeper into how the game has been improved from the original following “hurtful” leaks. . What’s nice about this video is how Naughty Dog firmly sets expectations – there’s clearly a lot of TLOU2 tech used here, but at the same time some gameplay mechanics won’t be used, simply because the levels weren’t designed for them. The explanation of “not different but better” pretty much sums it up, and we can’t wait to get into the game.

Join Rich, John and Alex for an episode on PlayStation.

00:00:00 Presentation: Rich, John and Alex are back!
00:00:43 News 1: 1440p output support in new PS5 beta firmware
00:13:49 News 2: TLOU Part 1 gameplay preview video released
00:20:31 News 3: PSVR 2 Features Detailed, Quest 2 Price Raised
00:34:10 News 4: Xbox Boot Times Shortened with Faster Boot Video
00:39:07 News 5: Updated Return Port with Steam Deck Support
00:43:38 DF Content Discussion: Alex’s i9-12900K Upgrade
00:59:28 DF Supporter Q1: Given the stuttering issues on Unreal Engine, is it better to just play UE games on consoles?
01:07:45 DF Supporter Q2: Is there a way to get pre-cached shaders for EGS games on Steam Deck?
01:09:39 DF Supporter Q3: Why do so many Switch games lack anti-aliasing?
01:13:55 DF Supporter Q4: DLSS has a fixed cost, so have you ever seen a scenario where DLSS was slower than normal rendering?
01:15:43 DF Supporter Q5: If the next Switch can achieve similar performance to Series S, will major third-party games return to Nintendo?
01:19:46 DF Supporter Q6: When playing on PC, what is your personal target frame rate?

Sony also revealed one more twist on its PSVR2 headset last week, as Facebook/Meta raised prices for the Quest 2 MHD by $100 following some financial difficulties. The Quest and Quest 2 are simply great devices – brilliant, accessible technology. However, VR is still not a mainstream proposition, and the quest’s proliferation in its niche has arguably delayed the development of VR for PC and consoles where we have yet to see an answer to the amazing Half-Life Alyx. PSVR2 could be the difference maker here, for sure, and last week’s feature once again reveals that Sony has its hardware specs and capabilities just right. It’s also a complete gaming device, as Oculus hardware was co-opted into Facebook/Meta’s dream of the Metaverse.

I can’t help but feel like a tech luddite bearing in mind part of the speech – not to mention the mind-boggling investments underway – but I’ve yet to see a compelling use case for the metaverse , while the demos released by the company were massively disappointing. Anyway, my main interest is gaming and I hope to see PSVR2 have an impact – although, as noted in the Direct, PC support may be a pipe dream.

To view this content, please enable targeting cookies. Manage cookie settings

The implications of supposed Steam Deck support for Returnal are covered this week, and Alex spends time discussing his satisfaction with his Core i9-12900K processor upgrade. This rig represents our “top tier” gaming rig for its PC tech reviews, while Will Judd and I are also updating to 12900K for our next wave of GPU testing, starting with a review Intel Arc A380 coming soon.

As always, we end with a Q&A from Digital Foundry supporters, where the ongoing #StutterStruggle continues to dominate the discussion and Switch’s anti-aliasing challenges are explained. Is DLSS still slower than native resolution rendering, and could a next-gen Switch approach Xbox Series S performance? It’s an interesting topic, but I fear we fall into the trap of expecting too much performance from a Nintendo system – something that happens without fail whenever a new Nintendo system is released. And finally – what is our favorite frame rate target? Q+A is one of our favorite parts of the show and just one part of our brilliant community on the supporters programme. So please consider join us!