Digital Foundry Article Technical Discussion [2025]

Yeah, I clicked it earlier expecting a Nintendo sponsored DF video with their anaylsis and commentary, and all I saw was a straight copy/pasted Nintendo ad. Kind of disappointing.. not going to lie. I don't want this type of stuff to start littering DF.
 
Really, wtf? This is a bizarre decision. Sponsored is one thing, but this doesn't have any analysis by DF staff. It's just a full ad, what in the heck was the thinking here?

Edit: From the ResetEra thread, don't know what platform this is from (their Discord?) but...ugh:

I imagine they or their new overloads need revenue to maintain or grow the channel.
 
Yeah, I clicked it earlier expecting a Nintendo sponsored DF video with their anaylsis and commentary, and all I saw was a straight copy/pasted Nintendo ad. Kind of disappointing.. not going to lie. I don't want this type of stuff to start littering DF.

Maybe it's IGN's influence, they usually upload the same trailers from the developers on their channel.
 
Edit: I seem to recall that for a while, at least one of the consoles didn't even let the game know what the system level output was. I suppose 1080p, and now 4k, are so standardised that abstracting away system output resolution from the software typically makes sense on console where it would be a disaster on PC.
PS3 and 360 did this. PS2 and Original Xbox for their progressive/HD mode as well, and maybe Gamecube, but I don't remember any games running at different performance when selecting 480p on GC.

On PS3, there were games that supported 1080i/p but ran pretty poorly if you had that selected. Marvel Ultimate Alliance (2?) comes to mind. There are certainly games on 360 that did it as well, and even some that did some weird scaling if you used the more exotic modes supported by the VGA cable. Some backwards compatible games would break or have more bugs or worse image quality with higher than 480p resolutions, too. I can't remember the game, but there was one I was playing back in the day that looked worse than 480p and ran worse than if it was hooked to a 720p set via component when I was running at 1024*768 hooked to a vga monitor.
 
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This face is perfect for his reply. lol

As long as you plaster that it's an AD/Paid promo and keep it in there throughout the video, I have no issues but that doesn't seem to be the case. "Paid Promotion" should be there throughout the video and not fade after a few seconds.
 
Good response from Rich in the DF newsletter:

Richard Leadbetter said:
Hello! Before we move onto the usual Call For Questions appeal, I'd like to address the publication of the trailer we ran on the main channel yesterday. The truth is, it's always been difficult for Digital Foundry to add a commercial element to our content and it's rare that we get the opportunity - none of our videos have had an external sponsored component or even a burned-in ad insert since the Dragon Quest III HD-2D remake sponsored video five months ago.

Assessing non-editorial opportunities is something we clearly need to consider carefully and I didn't consider this one carefully enough. Clearly we had disclosure problems in how the trailer was presented and the 'paid ad' idea isn't a good fit for our channel - so, lessons learned for sure, we're taking onboard all feedback and we're unlikely to do it again. Just to be clear, the level of commercial revenue doesn't threaten DF's existence - but obviously a more diverse income is important for numerous business reasons, future investment amongst them.
 
They should be more incisive to the person requesting the sponsored video, about how it will be presented. A simple video with Oliver commenting on the game's news and technologies, on top of the same trailer, would have completely opposite reactions.

Digital Foundry's audience goes to the channel because of the opinions of its journalists, because if it were just for the video, there are other channels for comparing or discussing news from the gaming world.
 
Good response from Rich in the DF newsletter:
I just saw that on the Patreon and came here to see if anyone had mentioned it. It's a good response.. and truthfully I'm not against Digital Foundry having ads and finding ways to generate more income, but was rather concerned that there was no input from DF at all in the video.. it was just a straight ad. If it had been presented as a Nintendo Ad, rather than a 'Nintendo sponsored Digital Foundry video', I wouldn't have minded.

I have no problem with big events such as new tech hardware or game releases having 3rd party advertisements of a technical nature on Digital Foundry... let me be clear... but I simply don't want the channel to become ads for everything. As long as the advertisements share the general spirit of what Digital Foundry's channel is all about, such as technical comparisons to other products, or upgrades from previous generations of products.. it's fine IMO. But it was just jarring to see a new DF video posted and then not have anything from Digital Foundry within it. Every other "Sponsored" video DF has ever produced on the channel has input from DF within it.. so it was disappointing and felt like what it was... a simple money grab.

I figured that Rich would make a statement and I support them looking for alternate sources of income, but perhaps they should ask the community for ideas and gauge interest in various ways of monetizing their videos. Digital Foundry should periodically do surveys to their Patreon supporters about past, current, and future content and use them for ideas to help the channel grow, IMO.
 
One reason would be revenue recognition. Your project is expected to deliver $X top line revenue on such and such a date. You have to make that date if you don’t want to get sued for securities fraud
I am begging people to please understand what fiduciary responsibility actually is. People online act like investors can sue the board every time share prices drop.

The executives of a firm are obligated to the shareholders to do their best within reason to make a profit. This doesn’t mean if they don’t make money they get put in jail. It also doesn’t mean if a project is delayed they get put in jail. Actually, the opposite: if a game taking an extra 2 months means it will sell double (just as an extreme example) they should probably go with that option!

The only time fiduciary responsibility is really relevant is if an executive is actively working to sabotage a company, or is engaging in some sort of corporate espionage. Unless you are purposefully acting against the best interests of shareholders then you are not running afoul of the SEC.
 
Geez that’s disappointing but something’s gotta pay the bills.
DF has 1.5MM subs, has ads on their videos, and runs a Patreon, if those don’t pay the bills then they’ve been running a deficit for a decade lol.

This is pretty illusion shattering but somehow not surprising. I’ve long suspected that most tech YouTube channels are basically just long form ad reels. Since the incident with HUB and Nvidia back in 2020 it’s been pretty much confirmed anyways that IHVs and other vendors have some level of influence in how their tech gets covered. That said, I did not expect to see a literal 7 minute advertisement straight from Nintendo lol.
 
DF has 1.5MM subs, has ads on their videos, and runs a Patreon, if those don’t pay the bills then they’ve been running a deficit for a decade lol.

This is pretty illusion shattering but somehow not surprising. I’ve long suspected that most tech YouTube channels are basically just long form ad reels. Since the incident with HUB and Nvidia back in 2020 it’s been pretty much confirmed anyways that IHVs and other vendors have some level of influence in how their tech gets covered. That said, I did not expect to see a literal 7 minute advertisement straight from Nintendo lol.
I think it's obvious that the companies that provide the products in any specialty industry have some sort of influence over coverage. It's as simple as looking at who gets access to products and events and who might not. But, isn't it the right of nVidia, or Nintendo, or Xbox, or Playstation to have invite only events that they decide who gets invited? Access is very powerful leverage and I don't think there's any way to prevent that as an influence tool. It's been this way forever, and I believe it is like this in every industry with a specialized segment of journalists. Look at car magazines or websites, or anyone who covers any type of gear.

This isn't the first sponsored piece DF have done, but it's mostly been for laptops and stuff like that. Hell, just a week or 2 ago @Dictator was featured in a video sponsored by nVidia where he explained ray tracing and frame generation to IGN employees. But it was clearly labeled as such, just like this Nintendo piece is. While I would have preferred some actual DF analysis of the video Nintendo provided, I don't think it's fair to complain that they are trying to make money. People have to eat and bills have to be paid.
Well they wouldn’t do it if they didn’t want/need the money. That much is obvious.
Everyone wants/needs to make money. Except for the few that don't, and they are all weirdos.
 
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