Uploaded January 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Digital Foundry is now fully independent! Join the DF Supporter Program and support the team: bit.ly/3jEGjvx
In the last DF Direct video of the year, Rich, Oliver and Alex join forces to discusses their experiences of the best gaming hardware of 2025. Handhelds dominate, and while Switch 2's mega sales cannot be denied, Rich makes the case for the crazy GPD Win 5, while Oliver opts for the SteamOS-based Lenovo Legion Go S. Beyond portables, it's all about the Ryzen 9 9950X3D, RTX 5090, the Blackwell and RDNA 4 launches in general and - finally - green shoots of hope in what looks to be a grim 2026.
Visit the new Digital Foundry website: digitalfoundry.net
Go here to check out DF merch! store.digitalfoundry.net
Subscribe for more Digital Foundry: bit.ly/DFSubscribe
0:00:00 Introduction
0:00:53 GPD Win 5
0:11:07 Asus ROG Xbox Ally X
0:15:40 Lenovo Legion Go S
0:18:44 MSI Claw 8 AI +
0:19:45 Nintendo Switch 2
0:28:59 AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D
0:38:52 Nvidia Blackwell
0:51:11 AMD RDNA 4
0:59:58 Expectations for 2026
Digital Foundry is now fully independent! Join the DF Supporter Program and support the team: bit.ly/3jEGjvx
In the last DF Direct video of the year, Rich, Oliver and Alex join forces to discusses their experiences of the best gaming hardware of 2025. Handhelds dominate, and while Switch 2's mega sales cannot be denied, Rich makes the case for the crazy GPD Win 5, while Oliver opts for the SteamOS-based Lenovo Legion Go S. Beyond portables, it's all about the Ryzen 9 9950X3D, RTX 5090, the Blackwell and RDNA 4 launches in general and - finally - green shoots of hope in what looks to be a grim 2026.
Visit the new Digital Foundry website: digitalfoundry.net
Go here to check out DF merch! store.digitalfoundry.net
Subscribe for more Digital Foundry: bit.ly/DFSubscribe
0:00:00 Introduction
0:00:53 GPD Win 5
0:11:07 Asus ROG Xbox Ally X
0:15:40 Lenovo Legion Go S
0:18:44 MSI Claw 8 AI +
0:19:45 Nintendo Switch 2
0:28:59 AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D
0:38:52 Nvidia Blackwell
0:51:11 AMD RDNA 4
0:59:58 Expectations for 2026
![Inside 007 First Light - A Deep Dive Into The Evolved Glacier Engine [Sponsored]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/m0SJ9i9RtRg/mqdefault.jpg "Inside 007 First Light - A Deep Dive Into The Evolved Glacier Engine [Sponsored]
Video sponsored by Io Interactive. As we draw closer to release date of the highly anticipated 007 First Light, developer Io Interactive brought together key members of the games tech team to answer a wide range of questions from Alex Battaglia. Topics covered include 007 First Lights 60fps target, the new lighting systems added to the game, new effects and AI - and much, much more. Io Interactives Glacier Engine has always impressed us and heres where you find out just how much work has gone into improving it for the new Bond game.
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:49 Interview Introduction
00:01:34 Does the 60 FPS target of Hitman remain for 007?
00:03:50 Which Glacier Engine features were carried over and which were added?
00:05:19 What are the differences in Global Illumination?
00:10:14 What about real-time shadows?
00:11:24 How have the AI Crowds changed for 007: First Light?
00:13:38 How is the engines editing environment?
00:16:24 How does Glacier keep the performance up while using node-based editing?
00:19:50 What are the benefits of the BRICKs system for game players?
00:22:43 How was character animation improved for 007?
00:29:16 Fluid AI interactions, scripting, context
00:33:10 How were cinematic character modeling and animation improved?
00:36:47 How were effects work (smoke, fire, particles) enhanced for 007 (Smolder System)?
00:47:03 How were the *much* larger streaming worlds added into Glacier Engine?
00:53:29 How was the game optimised on CPU and GPU to hit 60 fps (live PS5 demo)?
01:01:21 How does 007 First Light handle shader compilation on PC?
01:04:05 Why and how was path tracing added to 007?
01:06:27 What was your favourite aspect of developing the tech for 007 First Light?")
