Oliver Mackenzie
@oliemack.bsky.social
Video producer/writer, contributor at Digital Foundry. Past work at various news companies and nonprofits.
GRID is another strong Switch 2 port, packing solid visuals and a litany of modes to sift through. For racing fans, it’s an easy buy.
The era of the arcade racer may be all but over, but GRID Legends on Switch 2 is an excellent example of the genre, packed with graphics options: youtu.be/-PrlvDnyDEI
January 28, 2026 at 3:45 PM
GRID is another strong Switch 2 port, packing solid visuals and a litany of modes to sift through. For racing fans, it’s an easy buy.
Check out DF Direct 248, which contains early thoughts on Forza Horizon 6 and other Developer_Direct titles. Plus, tests on some good (and not so good) Switch 2 updates - and the Xbox port of FF7 Remake.
Another excellent Xbox Developer_Direct kicks off DF Direct Weekly #248 with the team's thoughts on Fable, Forza Horizon 6 etc. Switch 2 enhancements and FF7R Intergrade on Xbox Series X|S are covered and much, much more: youtu.be/N0lI_nwPIPI
January 26, 2026 at 5:45 PM
Check out DF Direct 248, which contains early thoughts on Forza Horizon 6 and other Developer_Direct titles. Plus, tests on some good (and not so good) Switch 2 updates - and the Xbox port of FF7 Remake.
Reposted by Oliver Mackenzie
Interesting: since I published this video, it’s been formally confirmed that FF7 Remake part 3 is sticking with UE4. I hope they can figure out some kind of solution to improve diffuse indirect lighting quality, though I’m not optimistic.
www.gamespot.com/articles/fin...
www.gamespot.com/articles/fin...
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Part 3's Title Has Finally Been Decided
Final Fantasy 7 Remake trilogy game director Naoki Hamaguchi confirmed that the studio has finally settled on a subtitle for part three.
www.gamespot.com
January 24, 2026 at 4:15 AM
Interesting: since I published this video, it’s been formally confirmed that FF7 Remake part 3 is sticking with UE4. I hope they can figure out some kind of solution to improve diffuse indirect lighting quality, though I’m not optimistic.
www.gamespot.com/articles/fin...
www.gamespot.com/articles/fin...
FF 7 Remake is a great-looking RPG that’s been smoothly ported to Switch 2. If you’re looking to play Square’s 2020 epic, this is a great option.
youtu.be/yUjYGy7cqog?...
youtu.be/yUjYGy7cqog?...
Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade Switch 2 Review: A PS5/PS4 Hybrid Boosted By DLSS
YouTube video by Digital Foundry
youtu.be
January 21, 2026 at 11:05 AM
FF 7 Remake is a great-looking RPG that’s been smoothly ported to Switch 2. If you’re looking to play Square’s 2020 epic, this is a great option.
youtu.be/yUjYGy7cqog?...
youtu.be/yUjYGy7cqog?...
If Ubisoft developers’ comments are anything to go by, we’re going to see many more demanding Switch 2 ports this generation.
We had the chance to talk to Ubisoft directly about its remarkable Switch 2 port of Assassin's Creed Shadows and here's what we learned: youtu.be/GkS4lc50fNg
January 15, 2026 at 11:16 PM
If Ubisoft developers’ comments are anything to go by, we’re going to see many more demanding Switch 2 ports this generation.
Reposted by Oliver Mackenzie
We punished Intel's new Panther Lake processor with demanding ray-traced gaming benchmarks. How does it stack up against Strix Halo/Strix Point - and what about desktop GPUs like the RTX 3050 and RX 6600? Spoilers: we were impressed.
youtu.be/xPkofuH_bak
youtu.be/xPkofuH_bak
January 13, 2026 at 7:02 PM
We punished Intel's new Panther Lake processor with demanding ray-traced gaming benchmarks. How does it stack up against Strix Halo/Strix Point - and what about desktop GPUs like the RTX 3050 and RX 6600? Spoilers: we were impressed.
youtu.be/xPkofuH_bak
youtu.be/xPkofuH_bak
Join Alex and I for an on-site CES 2026 roundup! We saw the very best of consumer electronics: new chips, PCs, displays - and the flashiest AI and robotics tech.
The new DF Direct is live, with Oliver and Alex sharing their impressions of CES: Nvidia, Intel, AMD, TVs, Monitors and... some weird stuff too: youtu.be/Z__MYOGqx5g
January 12, 2026 at 8:17 PM
Join Alex and I for an on-site CES 2026 roundup! We saw the very best of consumer electronics: new chips, PCs, displays - and the flashiest AI and robotics tech.
Reposted by Oliver Mackenzie
Today on Digital Foundry, our big CES interview with Intel's Tom Petersen with a range of big topics discussed: Panther Lake, Arc, XeSS multi-frame gen and looking forward to a time where FPS alone no longer defines PC performance: youtu.be/8ydfKE1dffo
January 8, 2026 at 3:56 PM
Today on Digital Foundry, our big CES interview with Intel's Tom Petersen with a range of big topics discussed: Panther Lake, Arc, XeSS multi-frame gen and looking forward to a time where FPS alone no longer defines PC performance: youtu.be/8ydfKE1dffo
Hot off the presses, our first CES 2026 video! We took a stop by Nvidia’s booth yesterday for a preview of DLSS 4.5 and other goodies.
And here's our first video from CES 2026 - hands-on with Nvidia's latest tech demos, including DLSS 4.5 multi frame generation, path-traced Pragmata, G-Sync Pulsar and much, much more: youtu.be/SJdGjRGGU70
January 6, 2026 at 3:59 PM
Hot off the presses, our first CES 2026 video! We took a stop by Nvidia’s booth yesterday for a preview of DLSS 4.5 and other goodies.
If you see Alex and I at CES feel free to say hi! We should have CES content on the channel over the next week. @dachsjaeger.bsky.social
January 6, 2026 at 1:34 AM
If you see Alex and I at CES feel free to say hi! We should have CES content on the channel over the next week. @dachsjaeger.bsky.social
My game of the year list ended up being a bit of a Switch 2 Edition, driven by an excellent lineup of exclusives for Nintendo's new console.
Today on Digital Foundry, Oliver Mackenzie's games of 2025 amounts to a full-on celebration of Switch 2's first-party line-up, with some extra magic from @ShinenGames: youtu.be/P0-2WXGMm5Q
January 3, 2026 at 4:07 PM
My game of the year list ended up being a bit of a Switch 2 Edition, driven by an excellent lineup of exclusives for Nintendo's new console.
Reposted by Oliver Mackenzie
Welcome to 2026! We kick off the New Year with a mini DF Direct, looking back at the best hardware of 2025 and what we expect to see from 2026. Oh... and our first hands-on of the remarkable GPD Win 5 Strix Halo handheld: youtu.be/kDtgP4KltrU
January 1, 2026 at 3:11 PM
Welcome to 2026! We kick off the New Year with a mini DF Direct, looking back at the best hardware of 2025 and what we expect to see from 2026. Oh... and our first hands-on of the remarkable GPD Win 5 Strix Halo handheld: youtu.be/kDtgP4KltrU
P3R's latest Switch 2 patch greatly improves on a problematic port. But the T239 silicon is still underutilized, with odd visual settings choices and no DLSS.
Persona 3 Reload on Switch 2: patch 1.03 tested! The newly introduced 60fps performance mode is put through its paces - and it's good to see that 30fps frame-pacing problems are fixed. We also re-test the game's problematic input lag: youtu.be/RbakVeQAajE
December 30, 2025 at 5:38 PM
P3R's latest Switch 2 patch greatly improves on a problematic port. But the T239 silicon is still underutilized, with odd visual settings choices and no DLSS.
Bloober Team drops a Switch 2 holiday bombshell - 60fps ray tracing with UE5. But core tech enhancements are likely needed before other UE5 titles make the Switch 2 jump.
Layers of Fear on Switch 2 features Unreal Engine 5 Lumen ray tracing at 60fps. Is this a Christmas miracle?! youtu.be/OoMay8qSC88
December 25, 2025 at 3:13 PM
Bloober Team drops a Switch 2 holiday bombshell - 60fps ray tracing with UE5. But core tech enhancements are likely needed before other UE5 titles make the Switch 2 jump.
FF7 Remake on Switch 2 looks like a high quality port. Stable performance, solid image quality, and pleasing visual settings make this one of the most impressive Switch 2 games to date.
Final Fantasy 7 Remake's Switch 2 demo is the focus of today's video - and it's impressive stuff. youtu.be/wQoWX_Q94vs
December 19, 2025 at 3:46 PM
FF7 Remake on Switch 2 looks like a high quality port. Stable performance, solid image quality, and pleasing visual settings make this one of the most impressive Switch 2 games to date.
Reposted by Oliver Mackenzie
DF Direct Weekly #244 is out now, talking TGAs, the first PS3 emulator for PS4, Skyrim Switch 2 problems, FSR Redstone frame-pacing and much, much more: youtu.be/mq_JvcS9UZE
December 15, 2025 at 4:02 PM
DF Direct Weekly #244 is out now, talking TGAs, the first PS3 emulator for PS4, Skyrim Switch 2 problems, FSR Redstone frame-pacing and much, much more: youtu.be/mq_JvcS9UZE
My top music for 2025 from Apple Music Replay ! This is what gets me through many hundreds of hours of video edits every year. These days mostly pop music that is sort of hyperpop adjacent. About 69,000 minutes total.
December 11, 2025 at 7:44 AM
My top music for 2025 from Apple Music Replay ! This is what gets me through many hundreds of hours of video edits every year. These days mostly pop music that is sort of hyperpop adjacent. About 69,000 minutes total.
Shadows is an excellent new “impossible port” for Switch 2, packing solid visuals and decent image quality. But frame-pacing woes in the current version should be fixed for docked play.
Assassin's Creed Shadows on Switch 2 reviewed! It's quite remarkable to see this playing out so well in handheld mode, but major frame-pacing problems really need to be addressed in the docked experience: youtu.be/2U5h4_MqXaU
December 3, 2025 at 3:56 PM
Shadows is an excellent new “impossible port” for Switch 2, packing solid visuals and decent image quality. But frame-pacing woes in the current version should be fixed for docked play.
Kirby Air Riders is an entertaining racing game, and it provides a thorough workout for the brand new SOL-AVES engine. It's hard to fault this Switch 2 exclusive and its high-octane visuals.
Today on Digital Foundry, Kirby Air Riders on Switch 2 gets an extended review - an excellent game with new engine tech we had to take a closer look at. Oliver and John compare notes: youtu.be/EAp4jrKkp9w
November 27, 2025 at 7:11 PM
Kirby Air Riders is an entertaining racing game, and it provides a thorough workout for the brand new SOL-AVES engine. It's hard to fault this Switch 2 exclusive and its high-octane visuals.
Reposted by Oliver Mackenzie
DF Direct Weekly #241 is now available, discussing Steam Machine's PC-adjacent pricing news, Proton FSR 4, the return of Red Dead Redemption, the brilliant Sektori, Windows perf issues, Horizon Steel Frontiers and much more: youtu.be/NOEGamg6nf8
November 24, 2025 at 5:55 PM
DF Direct Weekly #241 is now available, discussing Steam Machine's PC-adjacent pricing news, Proton FSR 4, the return of Red Dead Redemption, the brilliant Sektori, Windows perf issues, Horizon Steel Frontiers and much more: youtu.be/NOEGamg6nf8
What’s the most you would pay for a Steam Machine? There isn’t really anything like it out so I’m curious to hear what people think. If it’s indeed priced more like a similar PC ($700 to $800) is that too much?
November 23, 2025 at 10:08 AM
What’s the most you would pay for a Steam Machine? There isn’t really anything like it out so I’m curious to hear what people think. If it’s indeed priced more like a similar PC ($700 to $800) is that too much?
STALKER 2 had a rough launch, but its performance level has increased greatly in patch 1.7, despite little notice from the developer - and the apparent absence of a major Unreal Engine version update.
Today on Digital Foundry, it's time to take a look at STALKER 2 on PS5 and PS5 Pro. It's a great port which benefits from the past year of updates, including the excellent patch 1.7. We also retest PC and Xbox Series X: youtu.be/aA7Q7Duh5S0
November 21, 2025 at 8:40 PM
STALKER 2 had a rough launch, but its performance level has increased greatly in patch 1.7, despite little notice from the developer - and the apparent absence of a major Unreal Engine version update.
Reposted by Oliver Mackenzie
DF Direct Weekly #240 is out now, focusing on last week's big Valve news. We discuss potential Steam Machine prices and positioning and we go into more depth on specs, while answering a wide range of Supporter questions: youtu.be/K0jaDAG_jc8
November 17, 2025 at 4:03 PM
DF Direct Weekly #240 is out now, focusing on last week's big Valve news. We discuss potential Steam Machine prices and positioning and we go into more depth on specs, while answering a wide range of Supporter questions: youtu.be/K0jaDAG_jc8
Valve’s Steam Frame is a multifaceted streaming/standalone VR headset that should provide a best-in-class gaming experience.
Today's Valve coverage continues with a new video covering hands-on impressions of Steam Frame. Lots to discuss here: the headset, the technology, the x86 to ARM translation layer and much, much more: youtu.be/TmTvmKxl20U
November 12, 2025 at 9:21 PM
Valve’s Steam Frame is a multifaceted streaming/standalone VR headset that should provide a best-in-class gaming experience.
Valve's overhauled 2026 Steam Machine is a polished, finely crafted console-like PC system. It's a great little home entertainment box - and it should give Microsoft a lot to worry about.
We went hands-on with Valve's Steam Machine and Steam Frame. Two videos in the pipeline, kicking off right now with this detailed discussion on Valve's beautiful PC/console hybrid - and the new Steam Controller: youtu.be/2rv83LgXiN0
November 12, 2025 at 6:20 PM
Valve's overhauled 2026 Steam Machine is a polished, finely crafted console-like PC system. It's a great little home entertainment box - and it should give Microsoft a lot to worry about.