Digital Foundry: Wolverine, Saos, Flight Sim 2024 & Tech

The State of Play Roundup

The episode provides a deep dive into the latest gaming news, starting with a critique of the PlayStation State of Play announcements. The team discusses the ambiguity of the term "gameplay trailer" in the industry, focusing on the Marvel’s Wolverine debut teaser.

Key Highlights

• Marvel’s Wolverine: While visually stunning, the team, particularly Alex, expresses frustration over the trailer's heavily edited, non-gameplay nature. Oliver highlights the high-end skin shaders and visceral combat, while speculating on the use of ray-traced reflections on the PS5 Pro.
• Saos (Housemarque): A sequel in spirit to Returnal, this title running on Unreal Engine 5 impressed the team with its focus on mechanics and potential improvements in progression systems, offering a more welcoming experience than its predecessor.
• Flight Simulator 2024: Announced for PS5 and PS5 Pro, the team speculates on the technical challenges of bringing such a CPU-heavy title to consoles, particularly regarding PSVR2 support and overall performance.

Tech, Business, and Industry Debates

Handheld Market and Xbox Strategy

"Clearly the game was not built for that."

The discussion shifts to the ASUS ROG Ally X and the broader strategy of bringing Xbox titles to other platforms. The team weighs the trade-offs of localized console pricing versus the need for market adoption.
Concerns are raised regarding asynchronous shader compilation in modern games like Silent Hill f, noting that "pothole-like" performance issues at launch are increasingly common and detrimental to player experience.

Future Outlook

• The panel discusses the Forza Horizon 6 announcement, noting the shift toward a more urban, dense rendering of Tokyo, though they remain critical of the reliance on CG trailers over substantive in-game reveals.
• The episode concludes with industry commentary on the changing landscape of physical retail for Xbox, questioning if digital-only strategies may place the brand at a long-term disadvantage.