QSSR, Gears of War E-Day and Star Wars Racing

The presenters introduce Sony’s QSSR upscaler and compare it with the existing image reconstruction in *Wolverine*. They discuss its reduction of shimmering, grain and soft edges, its difference from PS5 Pro’s PSSR, and the need for game-level patches rather than a system-wide toggle. Sony says a developer with an existing PSSR implementation should be able to add QSSR support in a few days.

The discussion turns to QSSR in *Ghost of Yote*, covering performance tests in several modes and comparisons with FSR 3. Image-quality improvements are less obvious than in *Wolverine*, though foliage and distant rock detail can resolve more clearly. The presenters also point out examples of increased shimmer and ghosting, and examine pixel counts that suggest differences in rendering resolution and performance cost.

The panel considers whether QSSR can be compared with Switch 2 DLSS, and discusses the prospect of more noticeable image-quality differences between PS5 and Xbox Series versions of games. They note that comparisons depend on the same game and settings, and that wider QSSR support is not confirmed. The conversation also touches on AMD’s FSR 4 work for RDNA 2 and whether it could be used in Xbox games.

Rich explains how developers have ported and optimized an FSR 4 implementation for BC250 hardware based on a PlayStation 5 APU, then tests it on a Radeon RX 5700 XT under Linux. The panel discusses the implementation’s frame-time cost and game-specific performance results, including gains in some demanding games.

Will and the others discuss the community effort to develop the BC250 into a gaming machine and the potential for the FSR 4 work to benefit wider hardware. Rich contrasts the Linux and Windows results and describes the continuing development of the board. John asks what makes the project technically interesting, and the panel discusses the developers’ optimization and porting work.

John describes playing the PC version of *Gears of War E-Day*, focusing on its HDR presentation, dynamic DLSS and frame generation, Nanite detail, destructible environments and performance on a high-end PC. He reports traversal stutter during area transitions and cutscene-to-gameplay changes, while saying it is also present on consoles.

John continues with his impressions of movement, shooting, ultrawide support and frame rates. Will adds reported details about the Coalition’s method for avoiding the “corridor of doom” ray-tracing issue and advanced shader delivery, which is intended to reduce shader compilation waits. The conversation also recalls how the issue affected earlier *Control* benchmarks.

Will explains how the Coalition uses SSD storage as an additional tier for selected data, freeing memory on Xbox Series S. The presenters discuss the system’s timing and data-management demands, and Rich raises the possibility of a connection with stutters in the current Series S version.

The presenters revisit the Switch OLED and discuss its display, contrast, motion clarity, build and portable gaming experience. They compare it with the Switch 2’s LCD screen and consider the possibility of an OLED revision, while noting the challenge of finding a suitable panel.

The team looks back at *Mantis Burn Racing* on PS4 Pro and the challenges of capturing 4K at 60 frames per second before the console launched. They discuss the capture card, storage requirements and later capture equipment, as well as the game’s native 4K presentation. The segment also notes that they still cannot capture PS5 Pro’s 8K output.

John describes *Star Wars Galactic Racer* as a track-based arcade racer with different vehicle classes, boost, takedowns and a chapter-based, run-structured single-player mode. He discusses its tracks, event variety, multiplayer and lighting options for lower-powered hardware. Rich and Will add their reactions, and the team says more coverage is forthcoming.