DF Direct Weekly: is a handheld Remote Play streamer for PS5 a good idea?

DF Direct Weekly goes live a day early this week, not because of any particular urge to liven up your holiday weekend (assuming you have one) but rather to make way for a raft of embargoed content we're expecting to deliver next week. In this week's show, I'm joined by my #FriendAndColleagues John Linneman and Oliver Mackenzie, with the main points of discussion covering off mooted rumours of a PlayStation handheld based on Remote Play, the not-an-April-Fool-after-all Asus ROG Ally - and to express a degree of disappointment that Microsoft has banned access to emulation for Xbox Series consoles.

Let's tackle the PlayStation handheld story first of all. It's worth pointing out that Sony has made no official confirmation, and we're talking about a rumour here - but an interesting one nonetheless. First of all, the idea is that this would be a relatively cheap device, tapping into the PS5's local streaming capabilities as opposed to some kind of Steam Deck-like device, built around local gaming and using a low-power AMD SoC. From a Digital Foundry perspective, the latter option is certainly more interesting and from a viability perspective, there's much to commend it - assuming that Sony were to tap into the latest 4nm process technology. Perhaps not coincidentally, that's exactly what the Asus ROG Ally does.

The streaming idea is far less ambitious but would deliver a far cheaper device - and would also ensure that development resources are not split between two machines. Sony could choose practically any decent mobile processor, as hardware decoding of the video compression standards used by the PlayStation 5 comes as standard on practically any low-power chip. It would effectively be a dumb terminal, connected to the PS5 via WiFi and streaming from there. This does rely on Remote Play being performant, however, and so before filming the Direct, I set up Remote Play on my PC, with both computer and console wired to my router. This eliminates all WiFi lag but unfortunately the experience still didn't hold up. Based on my testing with Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered, the 1080p60 stream was compromised with obvious macroblocking (network traffic was just 8Mbps), skipped frames and noticeable latency. It was functional, but not impressive.

The thing is, we know the concept works. Nintendo's Wii U delivered a pretty fantastic remote play experience via the GamePad - albeit at 480p resolution. Maybe - just maybe - a focus from Sony on reducing latency, perhaps via a direct connection (as opposed to using a home network) may improve the lag, though this would rely on you remaining relatively close to the console itself. Meanwhile, 8Mbps for streaming does sound like reasonable bandwidth for a 1080p60 stream, but again, perhaps more efficient encoding and/or more bandwidth could address the issues there.

DF Direct Weekly #106: New PlayStation Handheld? Xbox Blocks Emulation

• 00:00:00 Introduction
• 00:00:41 News 01: Sony to launch streaming-only handheld?
• 00:16:09 News 02: Asus announces ROG Ally gaming handheld!
• 00:28:13 News 03: Microsoft blocks emulators on Xbox consoles
• 00:46:48 Supporter Q1: Can generative AI be integrated into games, like having RPG characters that never run out of dialogue?
• 00:53:26 Supporter Q2: Will upgrading from 16GB to 32GB of system RAM help with 8GB VRAM GPU bottlenecks?
• 00:59:22 Supporter Q3: Have any Unreal Engine 5-specific visual features been spotted in the Tekken 8 trailers?
• 01:02:57 Supporter Q4: When will affordable graphics cards consistently deliver 60fps with ray tracing?
• 01:06:08 Supporter Q5: How do you feel about some of the relatively lacklustre RT upgrades we’ve seen recently? Should developers even bother?
• 01:09:51 Supporter Q6: This Direct has one of the best banners of all time!

We also tackle the disappointment of Microsoft blocking emulation on Xbox Series consoles - though it is still accessible via Dev Mode, assuming you want to pay for it. I'm not going to dwell for too long on this because from a cynical perspective it was surely a matter of 'if not when' Microsoft would block it, but what I think all of the DF team take exception to is the idea that software that's downloaded from the Store can be arbitrarily disabled by Microsoft at the drop of a hat. By all means block downloads if there's sufficiently good reason, but the notion that the firm can disable software already installed on the machine does seem to cross the line from our perspective.

Beyond that, we move into supporter Q+A, where we've got a bunch of great topics to discuss, suggested by backers of the DF Supporter Program. To what extent can generative text AI like ChatGPT actually deliver intelligent NPCs? With the current issues surrounding 8GB GPUs in terms of texture streaming, does more system memory help at all (spoilers: not really). Meanwhile, with both Halo Infinite and Elden Ring offering up less-than-stellar ray tracing upgrades, should developers even bother?

And of course, we return to the thorny issue of GPU pricing. Is there actually a well-priced GPU that can deliver RT at 60fps? Of course, that all depends on resolution, settings and how heavy the game is in the first place, but I was interested to note that the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 is now at the top of the Steam Hardware Survey. It falls short of the current-gen consoles in terms of rasterisation performance, but DLSS and superior RT help a great deal. It's not a bad card and at least ensures that AI/RT acceleration are now gaining a critical mass in the market.

I'll end this holiday blog post with a gentle reminder about our Supporter Program! It's a chance for audience and staff members to directly interact (and we do, regularly!) while there's a bunch of early access, bonus material and great retro content on the appropriate tier. This is what the Supporter Program is all about and how it enables us to improve our work. If that appeals to you on some level, we'd be happy to welcome you.