DF Direct Weekly #75: PSN heading to PC? GPU Prices Plunging, Voxel Doom, Sonic Mania Decompilation

DF Weekly reaches its three-quarter-century milestone this week, with John, Rich and Will discussing evidence of Sony creating its own PSN launcher for its PC titles, a fascinating inteview with Astro's Playroom developer Team Asobi, more GPU price madness and Intel video card discussion - plus, a remarkable new voxelised version of Doom!

00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:41 News 01: PlayStation PC game launcher to come?
00:11:10 News 02: Team Asobi interview hints at new game
00:19:03 News 03: Sonic Mania decompiled… and ported to Vita!
00:25:19 News 04: Intel ARC GPUs finally for sale outside of Asia + A380 performance discussion
00:37:53 News 05: GPU prices collapse!
00:46:14 News 06: New DOOM mod replaces sprites with 3D voxels
00:49:44 DF Content Discussion: New DF website launch
00:54:26 DF Content Discussion: DF Retro on the Klonoa series
00:59:21 DF Supporter Q1: Do 240Hz OLEDs have good enough motion clarity to match CRTs?
01:04:41 DF Supporter Q2: Could the Steam Deck be sold in mass-market retail stores?
01:09:08 DF Supporter Q3: Why do Insomniac’s VRR modes get high praise, given their inconsistent performance?
01:13:26 DF Supporter Q4: What are some examples of high-end PC game options that never run well, even with new hardware?
01:16:46 DF Supporter Q5: Will Rich ever go back to doing unboxing videos?

[duquetteroxx]

DF: Does Sony have enough titles to justify a launcher?
Rockstar Games Launcher: Hold my beer with one hand, and count my games on your other hand.

[cybervoid]

GOG is still important since it acts as a source for DRM free releases

[pipgoesthepossum]

If it allowed for Cross-Progression/Cross-save, that would be really intriguing and very cool.

Agree with John that it should be optional though.

[azazelleblack]

Was very pleased to see John correctly remark that sample-and-hold blur still applies to OLEDs. Strobing is the only way to achieve CRT-like motion on an LCD or OLED.

[kent]

PS PC launcher is fine if it includes cross-buy/save/trophies and PS+ integration, as long as they continue to sell them on Steam. Cross-buy & PS+ is really the only driver to have their own storefront, as that wouldn't be easily feasible on a 3rd party platform like Steam.

[realryankennedy]

Who else loves Rich cracking up when announcing the episode number? 🤣

[jorismak]

38:10 Prices in the high-end are maybe lowered, but the interested mainstream / mid-segment is stagnating at a way too high level.
A 560ti / 660 / 760 / 960 always were around the EUR 250, - place for a _nice_ model (so cheaper models available). The 1060 bumped that up to EUR 300, - for starter versions, maybe 350, - for a nice one. The very very cheapest 3060 that I can see is EUR 407, -. The Rx6600XT is more expensive, the RX6600 non-xt is around the same. There still is no noticable bump-up for my gtx1060 that costs around 300 EUR after +5 years... think about that.

[dcarpenter]

I'd love to see integration with PSN with cross save and shared trophy lists. If it's just a launcher, no thanks.

[odinsplaygrounds]

"Classic PlayStation".... is so fantastic. I absolutely adore the PS1 and PS2 era. Filled with innovative new titles, pushing technology and tons of quirky ideas. In the PS1 era in particular, PlayStation was so much more than just a gaming console, it was tapping into the culture at the time like no other console before nor after. Gaming finally wasn't only "for kids".

[Glotttis]

"GPU Prices Plunging" well not really. And I'm getting a bit tired of tech channels and websites who check top end card prices and proclaim that GPU prices are back to normal. Yes 3090 and 3080 prices dropped, but that happened mostly because all enthusiasts already own one. Now if you check 3060, 3060Ti, 3070 prices are still exuberant. 3060 here in Europe right now costs between 460€ (for worst model) and 600€ for a nicer Strix card. This 2 year old entry card should be costing like 200-300€ right now.

[AndyGilleand]

John's so-called "sample-and-hold" blur isn't a blur on the panel at all. It is 100% due to the way the eye works, as the image is 100% clear on the OLED if you take a picture with a fast shutter on a camera, without moving the camera. That being said, I would argue that this is the way lower frame rate content should look. Your eyes expect to have an uninterrupted signal. That blur is the result of your eyes tracing the image. If the image is not moving for several ms, then your eyes create a motion blur on the objects, because your eyes ARE moving. This effect allows your eyes to properly understand the motion that is happening in lower frame rate content. This, along with motion blur in the game itself allows your eyes to feel like they're seeing a constant stream of motion, rather than a series of images. Interrupting that stream with BFI causes an unnaturally sharp looking image. That's not how motion should appear.

[beterax]

I hate having to use many launchers. What I hate even more is that even when I am not using those launchers, they keep running background services even when I completely exit them. At least let me completely shut down the software without having to go through the services tab on task manager.

[TheNerd]

I would be cool with a "Sony" / "Playstation" launcher if they integrated some special functionality that would not be possible on Steam or other launchers.
I'm a 99% PC Gamer for 30 years now and I still play Playstation exlusives for that "Playstation experience". ( For example the controller integration in Forbidden West is awesome )
If they have to make their own launcher to deliver "that experience" to PC, yeah sure why not. But if it's "just another launcher to download games"... nah.

[CassidyListon]

I like *the* trigger resistance mechanic in Returnal.

[realryankennedy]

Who appreciates John's camera quality and the color correction?

[mattbell]

I love the trigger feedback in wreckfest. As your car gets more broken you feel the effort it takes to accelerate increase.

[AndyGilleand]

I want to be an optimist and say that what Sony could be doing is letting you sign into steam with PSN, and in doing so, you can unlock any PlayStation games that you own on PSN that exist on steam.

It probably won't happen, but that would probably be the best case scenario.

[TrapasaurusFlex]

Let’s be honest, they’re just trying to avoid Steam’s (absurdly large) cut on each purchase… nothing more.

This isn’t for the betterment of the user… if it was they wouldn’t make us use another launcher

[AndyGilleand]

Holy crap those voxel doom sprites are insane. I can't imagine the effort it would take to create those.

[spennycents]

John looks like a Rachet & Clank character wearing these headphones