DF Direct Weekly #23: Playdate Hands-On, Is PC VR Dying, 3DFX Returning?

Somehow we managed to convince a guest to join us on DF Direct Weekly! Sam Machkovech from Ars Technica shows us around the Playdate handheld and joins in discussing the news of the week, bringing with him a 'special' bonus Q+A for Rich...

00:00:00 Introductions
00:01:55 Playdate hands-on crankin'
00:20:53 Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster impressions
00:34:59 The State of VR
00:51:26 3DFX... what?
00:57:01 Zool ReDimensioned announced
01:00:44 Sam's impressions on Flight Simulator
01:07:09 DF Retro: Super Star Wars feedback
01:10:31 SAM GETS RICH: Sam's Rootin Tootin Big America Cowboy Lightning Round of Questions
01:17:29 Supporter Q1: If a game uses normal rasterization and isn't using something like DLSS, are Nvidia's tensor cores basically sitting idle?
01:20:09 Supporter Q2: With all the other remakes of retro consoles on the market, do you see an option for DF to look into more alternative hardware going forward?
01:22:29 Supporter Q3: I've seen a tweet about how Zelda Wii U Tech Demo looks "better" than actual zelda games, can you explain the differences on a video between BoTW and this demo?
01:28:31 Supporter Q4: What one game in your opinion changed the gaming landscape the most?
01:31:01 Supporter Q5: Is it possible/probable that we could see tech like DLSS used to improve the experience of streamed video?
01:32:58 Supporter Q6: do you expect Nintendo to make any OS changes to prevent OLED burn-in or image retention?
01:39:38 End Game

[namakudamono]

Rich, with his roots in print journalism, questioning John’s “relatively disappointed” line was great.

[starmanhov]

This show has become the reason I look forward to Mondays.

[chemergency]

Gonna have to agree with Rich Ledbetter here. The Oculus Quest has a brilliant design from a hardware standpoint, but Facebook's draconian software policies is really egregious and dangerous to the whole industry in the long term.

[chriscuevas]

How has nobody made a fishing game for that crank system yet?

[anotter_one]

LOL, pajamas and a sleepover. The facial expression on John and Richard was priceless.

[mikejenkins]

Audi's mic a little too low and Sam's mic WAY too high

[arthurprediger]

This show gets better every week, this one specially made me laugh a lot, Audi's editing is bespoke to say the least haha

[samred]

For those wondering, my last name is actually pronounced MAH-ree-oh-may-ker. (The real answer will come next time the team invites me on DF Direct Weekly, which I hope will be soon. Thanks again, Rich, John, and Audi!)

[konczdavid]

This is the start of the Digital Foundry - Ars Technica shared cinematic universe. Rich is a Wizard, Audi is a talking car (Audi, of course), John is a low-poly version of a 3D Bugsy and Sam is a retro-console that had to crank up itself in order to work.

[DenkyManner]

This has explained the Playdate to me far better than anything else I've seen about it. If everyone is on their own schedule that starts from when they turn the device on, that won't create a shared playground style culture as there's no shared timetable, if I've understood it correctly.

[rockutron]

As always Audi, your editing skills are impeccable.

[GeekdomCentral]

I can’t speak for anyone else obviously, but for me, requiring a Facebook account for Oculus products is 100% a dealbreaker and ensured that I will never buy one.

[filmnmusic]

I was planning to buy the Oculus Quest 2 until finding out that I would need a Facebook account to use it. I shut down my Facebook account in 2018, and there is no way I would go back. It is run by fascists and is a magnet for narcissists.

[masti]

Couldn't agree more with all the point regarding VR. As a day one Rift S owner, I was disgusted that the platform was discontinued a year after launch. When Quest 1 launched alongside it, it was marketed as the low end curiosity. Felt like a real slap in the face when Quest was all of a suddenly the focus. New features such as hand tracking ommited for the Rift S and the truly infuriating announcement that Oculus accounts are being merged with Facebook.

I ofc still own the Rift S and do enjoy it occasionally. I make all effort to avoid it's store, I do anything I can to avoid further feeding the suckerturd.

PSVR2 is the real hope for the future of high end VR experience. Not got a PS5 yet but decent PSVR2 titles could be what gets me on board.

[Dirtbreaks]

SAM is too fast and too loud for DF lol, he needs to smoke a load weed or take some sleepy pills before the next appearance.

[helloguy]

Oh man. This is the closest rich has ever come to seeing nerrel's df impression.

[markwinap]

Playdate

CPU: 180 MHz Cortex M7
Display: 400 × 240 1-bit (only black or nothing color)
16 MB RAM
32 KB L1 Cache
4 GB Flash
802.11bgn 2.4GHz Wi-Fi

[bearpuns]

VR may not have entered the mainstream, but I’m still happy with where it is now. Could be better obv, but still very fun

[MrJagermeister]

I would also be interested in a Digital Foundry video where they analyze all the streaming video platforms (Vudu, Movies Anywhere, Apple TV, Netflix, Prime, Hulu, etc.) to rank the best quality pictures in terms of bit rate and compression. Where is the best place to watch films streaming from your library of digital films that will have the most noticeably better quality than the other services?

[SkyBluesSteve]

I remember trying the DK1 Rift in 2013, it was interesting but honestly felt exactly as I imagined. Haven't even thought about VR in the last 2/3 years, the Facebook ID and information storage policies straight up killed all Oculus products for me and everyone I know. The last headset I tried was the Quest, but honestly, it still feels like a gimmick to me. VR as an experience really would have to improve so dramatically that I don't think it's even possible in the present or even in the next 10 years.