DF Direct Weekly #76 'It's Not Great' Edition - PS5 Price Rises, Switch Denuvo - Gamescom 2022

What should have been a celebration of gaming with the arrival of Gamescom 2022 is marred by a bunch of bad news - including price rises for PlayStation 5 in multiple territories that are not the United States of America and the mooted arrival of Denuvo DRM for... Nintendo Switch? As John and Rich seem to continually remind us the episode... it's not great.

00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:37 News 01: Sony bumps PS5 prices!
00:16:17 News 02: Denuvo DRM launches on Switch
00:27:26 News 03: “Super Mario RTX” UE5 demo footage released
00:32:32 News 04: Impressions from Gamescom!
00:52:14 News 05: Intel showcases XeSS in new video
00:59:33 News 06: Pac-Man World Re-Pac packs 50Hz physics
01:01:56 DF Supporter Q1: Should I get an RTX 3070 now, or wait for RTX 4060/4070?
01:09:01 DF Supporter Q2: Which older proprietary engines do you wish were still being developed on?
01:12:59 DF Supporter Q3: Could 360/PS3 have gotten mid-gen enhanced consoles?
01:15:59 DF Supporter Q4: If Japan had gone with the PAL television standard, would 25fps/50fps have been the gold standard for games?

[stuartcollins]

6:38 Alex: "has there ever been a console that has increased in price over time?"
12:05 John: "has this ever happened before btw? Can you think of a time when console price actually increased?" Alex "wow what a great question. Why didn't I think to ask that?!"

[JockeSohls]

Hey, ex Starbreeze employee here who worked at the company when the games you mentioned were made, at least Dark Athena and Syndicate. The inhouse engine Starbreeze used was called Ogier, and it was actually used for Syndicate as well, NOT UE3 :) It was actually after Syndicate the switch to UE happened!

[BENergizer]

I feel I have to stick my hand in the air for the question from 1040STF that Rich read out at 41:57. Moving Out 2's saying it "redefined couch co-op" is them being cheeky. The whole point of the game is that you're a house mover, and a lot of time is spent picking up and moving furniture, including moving couches, cooperatively. It was a joke that I think fell a bit flat because Geoff delivered it like it wasn't one. He has one delivery for everything during the shows he MCs, so if a developer or publisher tries to make a joke or pun in the copy they give him to read, it's often a coin flip whether it'll completely fall flat or not because of how he says it.

[PureBloodedwolf]

What is more crazy is the people defending the PS5 price increase.

[Kysen]

I agree with John on the Jim Ryan / Matrick comparison.

[edulinares]

Thank you John for speaking out about Jim Ryan. The man has been an absolute trainwreck from day one. Unfortunately it's a slow grind, we have to put up with this incompetent antigamer weak-handed jerk with no personality for years while the Playstation brand slowly melts away. I wish consumers would quickly turn against Sony in a clear move to get this guy out the door quicker. This guy was handled a very strong brand, which is a curse for us, fans.

[mrpiratefox]

In Mexico the price of all consoles was already way higher if we translate MXN to USD, since they cost 14000 MXN, which is 700 USD, $200 higher than the supposed $500. Now the PS5 is 15000 MXN/750 USD, and that is supposed to be a stand-alone console, since the situation is similar to the US where the only way to find one is with the Forbidden West bundle, which rises the price another 1000 MXN, making it cost a total of 16000 MXN, or 800 USD, $300 over the previous 500 USD

[philwalker]

They already are forcing a bundle. You CAN NOT buy the console new without Horizon in Europe. I dont know if they plan to add the extra €50 on top of the bundle price. Combined with the fact you can barely find the digital bundle it would mean the base price for 9/10 people would be over €600.

[realryankennedy]

Who thinks denuvo shouldn't come to consoles?

[gerwinklappe]

John's mic always sounds a bit off, there's some electronic noise echo, while the others are crystal clear. Maybe it's due to some processing? It is somewhat distracting, but still very much enjoying the weekly directs.

[realryankennedy]

Who appreciates how John's and Alex's camera quality looks super crisp?

[NoName-dcdf]

Switch Denuvo is surely a direct response to Switch emulation on the Steam Deck. That's a serious threat to the Switch potentially.

[SBUGEDA]

The “It’s not great edition” joke killed me 😂
Love these DF direct weekly.

[xilonqmb]

Who else remembers the price reveal "cold war" at the beginning of the gen? Sony and MS delayed the most they could the price reveal. Back then, it was rumored that Sony was aiming the 599 mrsp for the disc version and 499 for the digital one. They had to "drop" their prices to 499/399 due to MS competition. They held this price the most they could, but now we are seeing their true intentions. It's like they say, "Pay Has No Limits".

[Jimmy-phxn]

Sales tax in Europe is also insane. When I lived in the UK as a kid, gaming was a very expensive hobby.

[scottsutton]

If you can't afford a ps5, we have a product for you, its called the playstation 4.

[ControllerSupported]

Man, I really enjoy watching the 3 of y'all chat it up about gaming. Not only do y'all have good insight on stuff, it's really relaxing to watch right after a hard day of work. Thanks!

[ahsankhan-zggr]

The chemistry between you guys and the presence on screen has grown so much.
I love it!

[WhatTheAlva]

Piracy is a weird thing where I think going after it kinda works simply because there's a very large number of people that are deterred by it because "it's illegal". On the other hand, you can't make a pirate buy things, unless you basically give it away. Third world countries love steam because it offers regional prices that sometimes never get updated for high inflation. A game that was expensive last year is cheap this year. You might say buying a full triple A blockbuster for the equivalent of a dollar might as well be piracy, but most countries can't go further than that, and you are essentially losing those players rather than the fully developed ones that mostly didn't pirate much anyways.

[Vinicius_Berger]

The rest of the world: "Oh no, videogames are expensive"
Brazil: "Amateurs"