WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.920 --> 00:00:15.439 Beat. It's the Internet. You're busy. Let's do this for April third, 2 00:00:15.519 --> 00:00:18.719 twenty twenty four. For the next hour or so, let me help 3 00:00:18.760 --> 00:00:22.199 you sort through the world of gaming on Game Mess Mornings Live with me Jeff 4 00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:25.719 Grubb. Today, we may get another Prince of Persia game very soon, 5 00:00:25.839 --> 00:00:29.839 and the summer game mess season is upon us. But first please join me 6 00:00:29.879 --> 00:00:34.320 and welcoming today's co host of Game Mess Mornings. It's Steven Spawn. Everybody. 7 00:00:34.359 --> 00:00:37.679 Steve, how are you doing. Oh really, I'm supposed to make 8 00:00:37.679 --> 00:00:43.439 noises? Yeah, Oh that's perfectly, I got it. Yes, that's 9 00:00:43.479 --> 00:00:47.439 fantastic. Uh yeah those so. Yeah, Steve, it's been a minute 10 00:00:47.479 --> 00:00:50.960 since we talked. How have you been what games you been playing recently? 11 00:00:50.960 --> 00:00:55.320 How's it going. I'm doing really well. You know, it's it's it's 12 00:00:55.359 --> 00:00:58.560 a feast er famine kind of time right now for gaming. Was a little 13 00:00:58.560 --> 00:01:00.560 bit there's like, yeah, like N five games and then you're like winsor 14 00:01:00.600 --> 00:01:03.040 of War games coming out. So I feel like I'm in the middle of 15 00:01:03.079 --> 00:01:06.959 that backlog. I cannot get through all the games I want to play, 16 00:01:07.959 --> 00:01:11.519 mostly because I can't escape Tarkov. I've been trying to escape it for a 17 00:01:11.560 --> 00:01:14.040 long time. It keeps, it keeps pulling me back. I don't know, 18 00:01:14.799 --> 00:01:17.560 I uh, well, that's I mean Tarkuff. I've never even been 19 00:01:17.560 --> 00:01:19.560 able to get into an extraction shooter. Is Tarkoff still the one I should 20 00:01:19.599 --> 00:01:23.840 go to if I have some curiosity about that genre? Absolutely? Yeah, 21 00:01:25.040 --> 00:01:29.680 it's it's it's the one that sort of is becoming the dominant one over at 22 00:01:29.760 --> 00:01:34.000 it. And the amount of people that watch Tarkov now too is just ridiculous. 23 00:01:34.040 --> 00:01:37.560 Holy crap, there's tens of thousands of people in that category any day 24 00:01:37.560 --> 00:01:40.640 of the week. Yes, it's it definitely seems like that that is the 25 00:01:42.079 --> 00:01:45.599 maybe not the shooter genre du jore, but it seems like the one that 26 00:01:45.840 --> 00:01:49.359 is the newest and freshest for a lot of people. After Battle Royals kind 27 00:01:49.359 --> 00:01:55.920 of took over from traditional just common strike kind of games. So okay, 28 00:01:56.000 --> 00:01:59.200 so it's not worth it for me to like go into the Call of Duty 29 00:01:59.239 --> 00:02:01.400 one or something like that, like a simpler one. I should just cut 30 00:02:01.400 --> 00:02:06.760 my teeth on tark Off. You know, it doesn't have the same The 31 00:02:07.200 --> 00:02:10.800 one thing that a lot of them are missing that Tarkov has is that feared 32 00:02:12.080 --> 00:02:15.759 It's almost like it's almost like having a horror game that you're playing with a 33 00:02:15.759 --> 00:02:20.719 shooter. It's it's it's adrenaline constant. You know that is that is so 34 00:02:20.879 --> 00:02:23.120 my jam too, because that's what that is. What I liked about Pubg 35 00:02:23.319 --> 00:02:25.439 over a lot of the other ones is I felt actually scared him Pubg, 36 00:02:25.800 --> 00:02:29.599 and I never feel never feel scared in Fortnite. Not that that's really a 37 00:02:29.680 --> 00:02:31.639 knock against Fortnite. Fortnite's doing its own thing. But for me, I 38 00:02:31.680 --> 00:02:36.520 did come for that adrenaline. That's it's the adrenaline rostassly. And you know 39 00:02:36.560 --> 00:02:39.919 what the weird thing is, you you a good player, only lives sixty 40 00:02:40.240 --> 00:02:44.639 at the time in Tarkoff, So when you actually have some kind of a 41 00:02:44.639 --> 00:02:46.400 loot in your bag and you managed to get out with it, it is 42 00:02:46.439 --> 00:02:52.360 a ridiculously good Hi. So all right, yep, it's gonna I'm gonna 43 00:02:52.360 --> 00:02:54.120 have to make it happen. It's time now, especially now that things are 44 00:02:54.159 --> 00:02:57.840 starting to slow down a little bit with with game releases, I feel like 45 00:02:57.879 --> 00:03:00.159 I can make time for some of these things I imagined I would have is 46 00:03:00.199 --> 00:03:04.319 go back and play. The great thing about Tarco is it wipes every six 47 00:03:04.360 --> 00:03:06.919 months, and this one's like the best one that they've ever done. So 48 00:03:06.960 --> 00:03:10.400 it's it's phenomenal. They're figuring out their player retention problem, which is great. 49 00:03:10.599 --> 00:03:15.639 That's a that's a fantastic here. That's getting better than ever. Steve. 50 00:03:15.199 --> 00:03:19.439 One of the reasons I had you on here is Lucy's just too lazy. 51 00:03:19.560 --> 00:03:22.080 She went to some concert last night and she's like, she mentioned, 52 00:03:22.199 --> 00:03:23.840 Steve's got something going on this week and maybe they'd be fun to have him 53 00:03:23.840 --> 00:03:29.400 on to talk about it. You're having a charity gala this weekend. Tell 54 00:03:29.439 --> 00:03:30.560 the people about that. What's that? Like? How did that get started? 55 00:03:30.599 --> 00:03:34.439 I know this is the second annual one. How is it getting bigger 56 00:03:34.479 --> 00:03:38.599 this year? How can people participate? Yeah? I appreciate you having me 57 00:03:38.639 --> 00:03:43.520 on to talk about that. It's sort of my labor of love on gaming 58 00:03:43.599 --> 00:03:47.879 and disability. Right, So we discovered during the pandemic it's it kind of 59 00:03:47.879 --> 00:03:52.840 sucks when you can't go out to conventions. We can't get to these places, 60 00:03:53.039 --> 00:03:58.240 and we came up with an idea is what if you could have all 61 00:03:58.280 --> 00:04:01.360 the fun of a convention, but it was online and only online, And 62 00:04:01.400 --> 00:04:08.240 so we put together this little app on gather Town that allows you to go 63 00:04:08.400 --> 00:04:13.439 in and be the two D character, like a start dy Valley where you're 64 00:04:13.599 --> 00:04:18.600 literally walking around this virtual environment entirely dedicated to all the things the able gamers 65 00:04:18.600 --> 00:04:24.680 does helping people with disabilities be able to play games. It's phenomenal. Last 66 00:04:24.759 --> 00:04:28.480 year, you know, we had Ninja, Brian drum nsp on there, 67 00:04:28.600 --> 00:04:31.360 you know, doing the headlining, having DJs all night long, and it's 68 00:04:31.399 --> 00:04:35.120 just it was just a giant party. It was just a giant celebration of 69 00:04:35.160 --> 00:04:41.199 gaming and how we can all play together. It's phenomenal and I've been super 70 00:04:41.199 --> 00:04:43.800 proud to be a part of it for the last two years. This is 71 00:04:43.879 --> 00:04:46.720 year number two, which means that we can only do better than last year, 72 00:04:46.759 --> 00:04:48.800 I think. So, you know, let's just keep making it better 73 00:04:48.800 --> 00:04:53.120 every year and inviting people to come have a good time. We have a 74 00:04:53.160 --> 00:04:57.040 bunch of influencers, a bunch of friends, you know, inviting people like 75 00:04:57.120 --> 00:04:59.839 you to come along and be like, hey, I'm going to be there, 76 00:05:00.160 --> 00:05:02.839 and then your fans get to go, oh wow, actually might get 77 00:05:02.879 --> 00:05:08.600 to meet the Jeffs himself. Yes, and I'll definitely be there. That 78 00:05:08.759 --> 00:05:12.920 sounds it sounds like a great time. It is. It's it's all online. 79 00:05:12.920 --> 00:05:15.759 How do you make sure the environment feels like spontaneous and anything can happen 80 00:05:15.800 --> 00:05:19.800 and you can meet anybody, you know. That's that's the beauty of the 81 00:05:19.839 --> 00:05:24.199 online world is it's it's it really is a startering map in a lot of 82 00:05:24.199 --> 00:05:26.839 ways. It's, uh, you know, people over here to talk to 83 00:05:26.839 --> 00:05:29.920 you, you can walk through people, You're able to take part in events. 84 00:05:30.040 --> 00:05:32.879 Last year, World the Warships put a freaking ship in the middle of 85 00:05:32.879 --> 00:05:36.040 the map because why not, you know, it was great. They were 86 00:05:36.079 --> 00:05:39.680 like, can you put a submarine in the water fountain. I'm like, 87 00:05:39.720 --> 00:05:42.639 I don't think we could do that, but okay, maybe something so so 88 00:05:42.920 --> 00:05:45.360 I ended up having a giant thing there. It's great. But yeah, 89 00:05:45.439 --> 00:05:50.439 people from Logitech Voody Rangers, which we're having a lot of high level interest 90 00:05:50.519 --> 00:05:57.720 this year in celebration. It's actually able gamers twentieth year. I think, 91 00:05:58.319 --> 00:06:00.399 yeah, I don't I don't remember. It was like year two or three 92 00:06:00.399 --> 00:06:03.240 that I met you. But we're old, my friend. It's yeah, 93 00:06:03.279 --> 00:06:08.079 we've been doing this a while, so long time, yes, twenty years, 94 00:06:08.120 --> 00:06:13.040 Holy moly. Okay, so let's uh, people are are hearing this, 95 00:06:13.120 --> 00:06:15.959 they're interested, how can they participate? Where should they go? What 96 00:06:15.000 --> 00:06:19.439 does it take to get into the gala? Go to ablegamers dot org slash 97 00:06:19.560 --> 00:06:25.279 gala and you'll see this really cool page that tells you all about the entertainment 98 00:06:25.319 --> 00:06:28.240 and what we're doing. Talks about amount of peers, but don't tell her 99 00:06:28.279 --> 00:06:32.040 I has said that, and it shows off you know who's all going to 100 00:06:32.120 --> 00:06:36.600 be there. And you can buy either a ticket for twenty five books or 101 00:06:38.279 --> 00:06:43.480 there is a loop box that we've got for more support if you have a 102 00:06:43.519 --> 00:06:46.839 couple of ex hieer dollars and you want some memorabilia. It's a really cool 103 00:06:46.879 --> 00:06:50.160 box that has new and different stuff every year. This year our friends over 104 00:06:50.199 --> 00:06:56.800 at Logitech coming in with some virtual goods that are only there for the first 105 00:06:56.959 --> 00:07:00.759 hundred boxes. So once they're out there out and then it's just a lot 106 00:07:00.800 --> 00:07:02.839 of bottle of lable gamers that you're paying for it, So I suggest you 107 00:07:02.839 --> 00:07:08.000 go get your love sticks then. And the money that like funds the gala, 108 00:07:08.120 --> 00:07:11.959 does that go into like a funding able gamers core mission? Is? 109 00:07:11.959 --> 00:07:14.680 Is it like just all kind of pays itself forward. Yeah, this is 110 00:07:14.720 --> 00:07:17.759 all just an event just to celebrate aable gamers and raise money for it at 111 00:07:17.759 --> 00:07:21.920 the same time. Unfortunately, Stable Gamers is no different than any other charity 112 00:07:23.079 --> 00:07:26.040 financially. It's been a hard year in the industry, the video game industry. 113 00:07:26.079 --> 00:07:28.519 We all know this has been a hard year. So you know, 114 00:07:28.639 --> 00:07:31.519 donations across the board for all charities are down. It's no different. Lable 115 00:07:31.560 --> 00:07:36.519 Gamers and rather than doing a PBS style please give this kind of thing, 116 00:07:36.600 --> 00:07:40.519 we just want to go celebrate, have a good time. The gaming community 117 00:07:40.560 --> 00:07:44.079 has always done great taking care of us and making sure that the funding that 118 00:07:44.120 --> 00:07:46.759 we need is there to help gamers who need the equipment that we provoke. 119 00:07:47.160 --> 00:07:53.839 Yeah, there is a lot of I think reasons why I enjoy going to 120 00:07:54.160 --> 00:07:57.120 events, but I do often think about, like how hard it was for 121 00:07:57.160 --> 00:08:00.560 me to even be able to afford going to events early on in my career, 122 00:08:00.639 --> 00:08:05.000 or even before I had a career, And I think this idea of 123 00:08:05.399 --> 00:08:09.160 let's cut out all of that superfluous stuff, the stuff that does get in 124 00:08:09.160 --> 00:08:13.439 the way, and try to virtualize it in the best way possible. It's 125 00:08:13.560 --> 00:08:16.079 admirable. I'm glad you're doing this. I'm happy to participate, and I 126 00:08:16.120 --> 00:08:20.480 can't wait. So thanks for coming on and talking about it. Steve again 127 00:08:20.759 --> 00:08:22.480 one more time. Where should people go if they want to participate? Yeah, 128 00:08:22.560 --> 00:08:26.160 go to ablegamers dot org slash Gala, let's find it out how to 129 00:08:26.160 --> 00:08:30.600 buy a ticket, and you can see pictures and video from last year's event 130 00:08:30.639 --> 00:08:35.399 to see how cool it is if you combine Zoom plus Starty Valley. Hell 131 00:08:35.440 --> 00:08:37.480 yeah, all right, let's explain what we do here on this show most 132 00:08:37.480 --> 00:08:41.480 weekdays, I, Jeff Greb, will help piece your gaming life back together. 133 00:08:41.639 --> 00:08:45.320 That includes breaking news and maybe even some of our own original reporting. 134 00:08:45.639 --> 00:08:48.399 For all these topics, I'll get the input of a bona fide expert who 135 00:08:48.399 --> 00:08:50.480 will make me look smart. If you are watching live on Twitch welcome. 136 00:08:50.519 --> 00:08:54.960 You can always listen to the show later on podcast feeds by searching for game 137 00:08:54.000 --> 00:08:58.600 Mes Mornings, or find the RSS on giant bomb dot com. You can 138 00:08:58.679 --> 00:09:03.440 also catch the show later chapters and timestamps on YouTube. Hello YouTube. All 139 00:09:03.519 --> 00:09:05.519 right, we have a lot to get into, so let's start the morning 140 00:09:05.519 --> 00:09:09.799 mess with sixty percent of playtime in twenty twenty three went to six year old 141 00:09:11.000 --> 00:09:15.120 or older games, New data shows. This is from zax Swizen Akutaku, 142 00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:20.799 a newly released game industry report by market researcher new Zoo shows that while the 143 00:09:20.840 --> 00:09:24.600 PC and console market grew by two point six percent in twenty twenty three, 144 00:09:24.919 --> 00:09:28.360 overall playtime decreased as gamers spent more and more time in a smaller list of 145 00:09:28.399 --> 00:09:33.240 old games like Fortnite and League of Legends. On April second, new Zoo 146 00:09:33.279 --> 00:09:37.519 released its second annual game industry Report, including a ton of data and information 147 00:09:37.600 --> 00:09:41.639 on what people were playing and spending money on during twenty twenty three. According 148 00:09:41.639 --> 00:09:45.200 to new Zoo's data, the PC and console game market grew and reached ninety 149 00:09:45.240 --> 00:09:48.200 three point five billion dollars in revenue in twenty twenty three. That might seem 150 00:09:48.279 --> 00:09:52.320 like good news, but drilling down into the data, it becomes clear that 151 00:09:52.360 --> 00:09:56.120 it's only good news for a small number of publishers and developers. News new 152 00:09:56.200 --> 00:10:00.200 Zoo's data shows that the top ten games on each platform, ranked by their 153 00:10:00.240 --> 00:10:03.960 average number of monthly active users or maus, are filled with old, established 154 00:10:03.960 --> 00:10:07.600 titles. Fortnite took the crown on all platforms, including Switch and PC. 155 00:10:09.240 --> 00:10:11.559 The rest of the list include titles that won't surprise you, like Grand Theft, 156 00:10:11.600 --> 00:10:16.840 Auto Five, Counter Strike Two, Roadblocks, Minecraft, Rocket League, 157 00:10:16.919 --> 00:10:20.360 Apex, Legends, Fall Guys, Valorant, and Call of Duty. Across 158 00:10:20.480 --> 00:10:24.919 Xbox and PlayStation consoles. Only one dedicated single player game crack the top ten, 159 00:10:24.279 --> 00:10:28.240 and that was Starfield. Steve. I've talked about this new zero apart 160 00:10:28.279 --> 00:10:31.360 in a couple places now I know that was they had a thing at GDC, 161 00:10:31.480 --> 00:10:35.039 I think where they talked about this. People started picking it up yesterday. 162 00:10:35.080 --> 00:10:37.559 I figured it's a good time now, like not to let the conversation 163 00:10:37.600 --> 00:10:41.320 get by. I am a little bit worried about what I see in these 164 00:10:41.399 --> 00:10:48.440 numbers, Steve. Where it feels like the sportification has come to gaming, 165 00:10:48.440 --> 00:10:52.000 where people treat it as a hobby, and that is sort of hard to 166 00:10:52.279 --> 00:10:56.519 ignore. So in sports, you know, we have established sports that people 167 00:10:56.559 --> 00:11:00.360 choose as their hobby and it's very hard to introduce a new sport and people 168 00:11:00.399 --> 00:11:03.039 away from those. It does happen people playing out pickleball. Yeah, sure, 169 00:11:03.159 --> 00:11:07.320 that's out there and people are are getting interested in that for the first 170 00:11:07.320 --> 00:11:09.360 time in some time. But for the most part, people you know, 171 00:11:09.440 --> 00:11:11.879 like your kids go place, goes to play soccer, they go to play 172 00:11:11.919 --> 00:11:16.720 something else like that. They they aren't like taking chances on something new and 173 00:11:16.799 --> 00:11:22.039 strange and different. And now that gaming is this service based thing and so 174 00:11:22.080 --> 00:11:24.879 many people are like getting on these things to spend time with their friends, 175 00:11:24.399 --> 00:11:28.519 it feels very much like the same thing is happening here. Is that a 176 00:11:28.639 --> 00:11:31.840 problem? Is that something where it's like you know that that? Is this 177 00:11:31.919 --> 00:11:35.039 a natural endpoint for where gaming was headed? How do you feel about it? 178 00:11:35.080 --> 00:11:39.840 Steve? You know number one, being a disabled AF person, I 179 00:11:39.879 --> 00:11:43.320 don't understand pickleball. How am I supposed to hit the pickle when you throw 180 00:11:43.360 --> 00:11:48.480 it at It doesn't make sense, Steve. No one understands pickleball. We're 181 00:11:48.480 --> 00:11:50.200 all in that same boat. Okay, all right, I just wonder, 182 00:11:50.759 --> 00:11:54.960 but you need a lot of hand eye coordination. I just eat the pickle. 183 00:11:54.039 --> 00:11:56.679 I don't get it. You know, there is a thing here in 184 00:11:56.720 --> 00:12:00.639 Pittsburgh called Picklesburg. You could come you get you all these you want for 185 00:12:00.639 --> 00:12:05.080 an entire weekend. So that even sounds delightful. Not the cotton candy part. 186 00:12:05.120 --> 00:12:11.559 That's weird anyway. So I think this is kind of just where gaming 187 00:12:11.720 --> 00:12:16.799 is going. I mean, patch the list. When I was looking at 188 00:12:16.840 --> 00:12:18.759 the graphic this morning, it's like, you know, Fortnite Rocket League, 189 00:12:18.879 --> 00:12:24.840 the SIMS League, legends. You're literally naming off all the games that all 190 00:12:24.879 --> 00:12:28.440 of my streamer friends are constantly playing, and it's hard to break out of 191 00:12:28.519 --> 00:12:31.679 it, not only because you know, like you're saying that people wanting to 192 00:12:31.679 --> 00:12:35.320 play it, but that's what they want to watch too. Like, if 193 00:12:35.360 --> 00:12:39.799 you are someone who's a streamer and you're trying to go outside of these sopped 194 00:12:39.840 --> 00:12:41.639 in, it is a hard road. It is a steep climb, Like 195 00:12:41.799 --> 00:12:45.679 people just want to watch what they want to watch. Even the top of 196 00:12:45.679 --> 00:12:48.759 the show talking about my game Tarkov is more than six years old, so 197 00:12:48.320 --> 00:12:52.759 you know, it's it's it's something strange, and I kind of wonder in 198 00:12:52.799 --> 00:12:56.399 my head sometimes, are we kind of at the playing the video game industry 199 00:12:58.120 --> 00:13:03.200 as where movie start remaking themselves because they're running out of really great original ideas, 200 00:13:03.200 --> 00:13:07.240 so they start rebooting. But it's really hard to do that in video 201 00:13:07.279 --> 00:13:09.919 game land, you know. Yeah, I mean I think that, you 202 00:13:09.960 --> 00:13:11.879 know, we definitely are in a place where like a lot of the big 203 00:13:11.919 --> 00:13:16.000 companies are remaking a lot of their biggest games, I mean, but at 204 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:18.399 least they're doing it in kind of ways that are big and interestingly some of 205 00:13:18.399 --> 00:13:22.679 them Capcom and then I think that funds their ability to take chances on some 206 00:13:22.759 --> 00:13:26.039 other stuff, and we get Dragon's Dogma two, which does feel pretty original, 207 00:13:26.080 --> 00:13:28.480 even though it's very similar to track Ands Dogma one in a lot of 208 00:13:28.519 --> 00:13:33.720 ways. But it just it feels like this is it's inevitable at a certain 209 00:13:33.759 --> 00:13:37.679 point that if you try to get you know, as many people playing a 210 00:13:37.679 --> 00:13:41.480 handful of games as possible, because that's just economically that makes the most sense. 211 00:13:41.480 --> 00:13:45.440 You want to have one big live service game that just can draw on 212 00:13:45.519 --> 00:13:48.879 everybody that it takes up all the oxygen out of the room and it makes 213 00:13:48.879 --> 00:13:54.440 it impossible to sort of escape its gravity. I think Map Piscatella from what 214 00:13:54.519 --> 00:13:58.919 was once MPD now Sarkana refers to them as black hole games. It's just 215 00:13:58.960 --> 00:14:03.639 because they're gravity as so great that nothing escapes them. And the thing about 216 00:14:03.639 --> 00:14:05.320 a black hole is it just gets big. It gets bigger, and it 217 00:14:05.399 --> 00:14:11.120 sucks him more, and it's like it becomes more difficult to escape its gravity 218 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:15.960 over time. It doesn't sort of weighing in power, so and it like 219 00:14:16.200 --> 00:14:18.879 looking at the numbers, that continues to be the direction that things are going. 220 00:14:18.919 --> 00:14:22.840 Now, is this really a concern? Is does this mean we get 221 00:14:22.879 --> 00:14:26.159 fewer interesting games. I'm not so sure about that. I think what these 222 00:14:26.240 --> 00:14:30.480 numbers say to the big companies is is your risks are riskier than ever. 223 00:14:30.759 --> 00:14:33.600 So yeah, maybe fewer interesting games from the biggest companies, but I think 224 00:14:33.639 --> 00:14:37.559 there's going to continue to be a bubbling up of indie games that really fill 225 00:14:37.600 --> 00:14:41.360 in a lot of those gaps. So I'm not like, oh, like 226 00:14:41.440 --> 00:14:45.279 walking around like Charlie Brown worried about the oh this is the individeo games. 227 00:14:45.679 --> 00:14:48.279 But I do think like, hey, we are going to be in for 228 00:14:48.360 --> 00:14:50.720 some lean years from the big companies that were accustomed to relea seeing the most 229 00:14:50.759 --> 00:14:54.720 interesting games, or at least the biggest the most interesting games. Does that 230 00:14:54.759 --> 00:14:58.399 sound right to you? You know, I think one of the things that 231 00:14:58.799 --> 00:15:01.919 were looking at this a little bit off on is lesson than black holes. 232 00:15:01.960 --> 00:15:05.720 It almost feels like it's more like bubbles is how we're used to seeing video 233 00:15:05.799 --> 00:15:09.080 games. Right. It's like, take, for example, you mentioned pubbs 234 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:13.440 earlier, right, Nobody thought pubs could be taken down until one day nobody 235 00:15:13.440 --> 00:15:16.360 played it. And that's kind of the way the video games seem to work. 236 00:15:16.440 --> 00:15:20.120 As you got like this huge, huge bubble of amount of people that 237 00:15:20.200 --> 00:15:22.840 want to play it, and then all of a sudden something else comes along 238 00:15:24.000 --> 00:15:26.039 pops it, and then you have just the core audience in there, and 239 00:15:26.080 --> 00:15:30.039 then everyone else sort of goes on to the next thing. And we're kind 240 00:15:30.039 --> 00:15:33.799 of used to that. But it hasn't happened to Fortnite. It hasn't happened 241 00:15:33.799 --> 00:15:37.039 to Minecraft, it hasn't happened to the SIMS, you know. But then 242 00:15:37.080 --> 00:15:39.279 again, they're really good at bringing down their own games. For example, 243 00:15:39.279 --> 00:15:43.399 SIMS five will replace SAMs four, so you know, but Fortnite, I 244 00:15:43.440 --> 00:15:46.159 mean, I don't know, man, it's such a megabeast. I don't 245 00:15:46.200 --> 00:15:50.000 know that you kill it. Yeah, And I think you're right. This 246 00:15:50.080 --> 00:15:52.919 is I think we were just used to things working that way for so long 247 00:15:52.559 --> 00:15:56.039 that a change in that way I think what I considered to be the natural 248 00:15:56.159 --> 00:15:58.720 order of video games. But the one thing that's true about video games is 249 00:15:58.759 --> 00:16:03.080 it's ever stable. Something's always going to replace it. And it's like, 250 00:16:03.399 --> 00:16:07.480 you know, that was true for the first thirty forty almost fifty years of 251 00:16:07.559 --> 00:16:11.039 video games, but the grand scheme of things that's not that long, especially 252 00:16:11.080 --> 00:16:12.799 like you look at the way, like you know, movies has changed and 253 00:16:12.840 --> 00:16:15.639 sort of settle into the way it works. It's like that took a long 254 00:16:15.679 --> 00:16:18.399 time, and it's it's much longer, and it's even that's not that old 255 00:16:18.399 --> 00:16:22.720 of a medium, but it's like maybe this is the new natural order, 256 00:16:22.840 --> 00:16:29.919 like and as long for me, as long as there is a space like 257 00:16:30.159 --> 00:16:34.240 that like Steam, for small teams or even relatively big teams to take chances 258 00:16:34.279 --> 00:16:37.519 on from the indie space and have their own ideas and kind of do a 259 00:16:37.519 --> 00:16:41.360 punk rock like we're just going to do our own thing and have the chance 260 00:16:41.399 --> 00:16:44.639 to burst through with something that no one was expecting. I think one I'll 261 00:16:44.639 --> 00:16:47.799 be happy because that there's plenty of games to keep me interested with that stuff, 262 00:16:47.879 --> 00:16:49.840 while I also occasionally dive into something like a tark Off where I'm like, 263 00:16:51.080 --> 00:16:53.559 I'm glad that these things have massive scenes and feel like a hobby and 264 00:16:53.600 --> 00:16:57.279 I can hop in with people who are right there to either guide me or 265 00:16:57.320 --> 00:17:00.799 to give me a hard time, whether either one. That's gonna be fun. 266 00:17:00.840 --> 00:17:03.119 So it's like I'm glad that space exists. At the same time, 267 00:17:03.359 --> 00:17:07.599 I need like interesting ideas for me, novelties like one of the big things 268 00:17:07.599 --> 00:17:12.359 that has always kept gaming interesting, and I don't think that will necessarily go 269 00:17:12.480 --> 00:17:15.680 away. I think they're gonna keep pumping out those games. So I'm feeling 270 00:17:15.680 --> 00:17:19.720 pretty good. And I think the other side of that is the indie game 271 00:17:19.759 --> 00:17:23.400 scene is still kind of where a lot of these interesting ideas that have taken 272 00:17:23.440 --> 00:17:29.279 over the space did come from. I mean, Minecraft was certainly that roadblocks 273 00:17:29.400 --> 00:17:33.319 kind of that, even like pubg establishing a Battle Royale was that. I 274 00:17:33.319 --> 00:17:37.680 think Tarkov's not from some like, you know, a major publisher. So 275 00:17:37.920 --> 00:17:41.160 yeah, I think that if the indie game scene can keep producing interesting ideas, 276 00:17:41.160 --> 00:17:45.039 one of those actually could maybe break the grip that even something like Fortnite 277 00:17:45.039 --> 00:17:48.880 has, although that's looking less and less likely all the time. I don't 278 00:17:48.880 --> 00:17:52.519 know if the fe is gonna work the way that they want it to, 279 00:17:53.039 --> 00:17:56.880 Like, you know, the fort Nite engine is amazing, But do you 280 00:17:56.920 --> 00:18:00.559 think that we'll ever see another League of Legends, which, for those of 281 00:18:00.599 --> 00:18:03.519 you who don't know, League of Legends spawned because of Doda, which spawned 282 00:18:03.559 --> 00:18:07.559 out the world the work Craft three, So the whole one of the Warcraft 283 00:18:07.559 --> 00:18:11.079 IP is really what started League of Legends in a very weird way. So 284 00:18:11.440 --> 00:18:15.119 I don't know if we're going to see a daisy chain like that again. 285 00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:17.960 You know, yeah, I think that. I think you're right. I 286 00:18:18.000 --> 00:18:21.559 think that that sort of what was once the daisy chain out of the modern 287 00:18:21.640 --> 00:18:26.000 scene from big established games has sort of migrated to let's just make our own 288 00:18:26.039 --> 00:18:29.759 game and put it on Steam early access. So I think that the spirit 289 00:18:29.799 --> 00:18:32.880 of that is probably still happening, it's just not working that same way. 290 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:37.960 And I think you're right that Fortnite Unreal in Fortnite is not going to be 291 00:18:37.960 --> 00:18:41.440 the thing that creates that. Actually, you know, they're trying to be 292 00:18:41.519 --> 00:18:45.480 roadblocks. I think the people that come to Fortnite have a certain expectation of 293 00:18:45.519 --> 00:18:48.279 the games that they play, having a certain level of gene and quality to 294 00:18:48.359 --> 00:18:55.559 it, and kind of the low fi gaming experience of roadblocks that would not 295 00:18:55.599 --> 00:18:57.960 be a good match for what happens inside Fortnite. But I don't know. 296 00:18:57.960 --> 00:19:00.880 We'll see. I've been wrong many times before, Steve. We'll see if 297 00:19:00.880 --> 00:19:04.960 it happens again. What all right, it's shocking. I'm not trying. 298 00:19:06.000 --> 00:19:10.400 I'm not hearing to frighten you. All right, let's move ahead here. 299 00:19:10.480 --> 00:19:15.039 Sony is planning a PlayStation showcase next month. It's claimed this from Tom Ivan 300 00:19:15.079 --> 00:19:18.680 at VGC. Sony's reportedly planning to hold a PlayStation product showcase next month. 301 00:19:18.680 --> 00:19:22.279 That's according to Giant Bomb Buffoon Jeff Grubb, who said today he's heard a 302 00:19:22.279 --> 00:19:26.519 bunch of times that either a PlayStation showcase or a state of play will take 303 00:19:26.559 --> 00:19:30.960 place in May, following the news that Konami's Silent Hill to remake remake has 304 00:19:30.960 --> 00:19:34.720 been classified by the ESRB. So, yeah, on the BombCast yesterday, 305 00:19:34.759 --> 00:19:38.960 I mentioned that I've been hearing multiple times now there will be a PlayStation something 306 00:19:40.039 --> 00:19:44.279 next month. It does sound like deleaning towards a showcase. They definitely did 307 00:19:44.319 --> 00:19:48.839 a showcase last May, so it's not too shocking, although looking to patterns 308 00:19:48.880 --> 00:19:52.279 is never a sure thing. And yeah, I think it something like a 309 00:19:52.279 --> 00:19:55.559 Silent Hill two could show up there, although it could happen earlier. This 310 00:19:55.720 --> 00:19:59.400 that's kind of unrelated. That's me guessing about Silent Hill two. But yeah, 311 00:19:59.599 --> 00:20:03.200 I think PlayStation doing showcase in May is something of a relief I am. 312 00:20:03.720 --> 00:20:07.920 I know that they said in a financial report Steve that they don't have 313 00:20:07.039 --> 00:20:14.200 any major like franchise follow up sequels for coming from any of their first party 314 00:20:14.599 --> 00:20:18.920 studios this year and that's their fiscal year, so through March of twenty twenty 315 00:20:18.960 --> 00:20:21.640 five, and that could feel kind of barren, But that doesn't mean that 316 00:20:21.680 --> 00:20:23.200 they don't have a lot of games that are either you know, from these 317 00:20:23.279 --> 00:20:27.640 newer studios or partner games, you know, from Square Unix or whoever else. 318 00:20:27.880 --> 00:20:30.839 They probably do have a number of games to talk about, and I 319 00:20:30.960 --> 00:20:33.759 am I'm ready to hear about it. I think PlayStation's been kind of quiet 320 00:20:33.799 --> 00:20:37.000 for some time, and coming out and saying here's what's happening for the rest 321 00:20:37.000 --> 00:20:41.079 of this year, even if it isn't from our first party, will be 322 00:20:41.119 --> 00:20:44.079 a relief. And I also I do keep hearing that there will be some 323 00:20:44.119 --> 00:20:47.880 smaller first party games like that Astro game that is supposedly still happening this year, 324 00:20:48.319 --> 00:20:51.880 and I am very excited about that. So, yeah, does a 325 00:20:51.880 --> 00:20:53.920 PlayStation showcase sound right to you? Are you excited? Are you ready for 326 00:20:53.960 --> 00:20:57.519 some games to get announce to your PlayStation five? You know? I think 327 00:20:57.559 --> 00:21:03.319 the wild thing about PlayStation is it it almost feels like either you're a PlayStation 328 00:21:03.480 --> 00:21:07.599 fan or else. Everything else your attention goes to Xbox Game Pass, and 329 00:21:07.640 --> 00:21:10.799 that's that's sort of it, Like it is it at game Pass. Great, 330 00:21:10.799 --> 00:21:15.680 I'm gonna play it. You know, the Sony entire ticket has been 331 00:21:15.759 --> 00:21:18.799 a little lack luster the last couple of years. It's got a couple of 332 00:21:18.799 --> 00:21:22.160 big hits, but then I don't know, it's it's almost like they're worrying 333 00:21:22.200 --> 00:21:26.000 more not about quantity right now than quality. It seems like they have these 334 00:21:26.039 --> 00:21:29.799 a lot of games that they put out there, and you don't see a 335 00:21:29.799 --> 00:21:33.839 lot of mass market advertisement for them. It's I don't know, it kind 336 00:21:33.839 --> 00:21:37.880 of boggles my mind a little bit where they've almost kind of fallen into they 337 00:21:37.960 --> 00:21:41.039 want the journalists to get their message out there that the games exist, rather 338 00:21:41.119 --> 00:21:47.119 than you don't see as many PlayStation ads as you see on television or Twitch, 339 00:21:47.279 --> 00:21:49.119 you know, anymore, but you see a lot of your Xbox games. 340 00:21:49.200 --> 00:21:52.039 So maybe that means they're going to start pushing them again. Yeah, 341 00:21:52.160 --> 00:21:56.079 I definitely, I think I remember, I think it was Sony. It 342 00:21:56.119 --> 00:21:59.359 might have been Take two, and I might be conflating these, but one 343 00:21:59.359 --> 00:22:02.759 of these CEOs at the time, we're saying, you know that one of 344 00:22:02.960 --> 00:22:06.720 our biggest costs isn't even labor, it's marketing. We spend so much on 345 00:22:06.839 --> 00:22:08.759 marketing that we want to cut back on that to save a lot of money. 346 00:22:10.160 --> 00:22:12.000 And you know, at this point, maybe the PlayStation five kind of 347 00:22:12.000 --> 00:22:15.559 sells itself in a lot of ways, you know, I say that, 348 00:22:15.599 --> 00:22:18.119 And then, of course we do know that the PlayStation five did not meet 349 00:22:18.359 --> 00:22:22.240 it's very high expectations for the last fiscal year, but those were always super 350 00:22:22.240 --> 00:22:25.920 inflated. It was never really going to reach those numbers when you look back 351 00:22:25.920 --> 00:22:30.039 at it. So yeah, so it seems like PlayStations that can ride some 352 00:22:30.039 --> 00:22:32.559 strength here and not have to spend a ton on marketing. But they also 353 00:22:32.640 --> 00:22:34.920 I think the reality is they just haven't had a lot of games to market. 354 00:22:36.519 --> 00:22:37.920 You know, the Spider Man they definitely have. There were a lot 355 00:22:37.960 --> 00:22:41.880 of ads for Spider Man. Yeah, yeah, and then we came out 356 00:22:41.920 --> 00:22:42.640 of that and it's like, well, and then what's next, and so 357 00:22:42.720 --> 00:22:47.839 well they said flat out not much. I think once they have some new 358 00:22:47.880 --> 00:22:49.680 ips to talk about, I think you start with the PlayStation showcase, Steve, 359 00:22:49.920 --> 00:22:55.400 and then that ramps up to a summer advertising campaign to lead you into 360 00:22:55.440 --> 00:22:57.200 the holidays. Does that sound right? That sounds about right to me. 361 00:22:57.279 --> 00:23:03.119 I mean, you know, they just the Sunny Access controller, which I 362 00:23:03.160 --> 00:23:07.720 got tick card in that marketing, and it was it was really cool to 363 00:23:07.799 --> 00:23:11.160 work with the team. But those are like the big most major push I've 364 00:23:11.160 --> 00:23:14.799 seen them do in a while. I think about now games like Rocket League 365 00:23:14.799 --> 00:23:17.640 and whatnot that I would have never found out about it. It wasn't for 366 00:23:17.799 --> 00:23:22.240 a friend playing it because they weren't really heavily advertised. And sometimes I kind 367 00:23:22.240 --> 00:23:26.119 of wonder if a lot of us are trapped. Okay, so the lead 368 00:23:26.240 --> 00:23:29.160 story was about how we all played the top ten games, right? But 369 00:23:29.279 --> 00:23:30.880 is that because we only want to play the top ten? Or is that 370 00:23:30.920 --> 00:23:36.599 because it's so hard to hear above the noise of all the games that are 371 00:23:36.599 --> 00:23:40.039 released a game that you might truly love, you just might not know what 372 00:23:40.160 --> 00:23:42.000 exists. Yeah, I mean I think it's both. I think it's a 373 00:23:42.039 --> 00:23:45.519 big part of it. I mean, look at that content warning game that 374 00:23:45.559 --> 00:23:51.640 came out this week. That was their their marketing STRATEGYI was, we are 375 00:23:51.680 --> 00:23:52.960 going to be free for the first twenty four hours and then it's I think 376 00:23:53.000 --> 00:23:56.640 it's like eight dollars after that or something around there, maybe maybe ten dollars, 377 00:23:57.720 --> 00:24:00.200 but for that first twenty four hour it was free, and then I 378 00:24:00.200 --> 00:24:04.599 think they probably partner with a lot of content creators, and the game was 379 00:24:04.599 --> 00:24:08.680 downloaded something like six million times on that first day. Because actually, what 380 00:24:08.759 --> 00:24:14.119 works is word of mouth, right, that's and but word of mouth is 381 00:24:14.160 --> 00:24:18.319 a very difficult thing to get people upon it. The word of mouth is 382 00:24:18.759 --> 00:24:22.799 friends spending their social currency with one another, and you don't do that for 383 00:24:22.880 --> 00:24:25.559 something that you're not sure of, especially if you're gonna ask a friend to 384 00:24:25.559 --> 00:24:29.799 spend money on something. So making your thing free is one good move on 385 00:24:29.839 --> 00:24:30.599 that because people like, hey, get this, well it's still free, 386 00:24:30.599 --> 00:24:33.000 it's limited time. That's what I did in our slack at work, am 387 00:24:33.000 --> 00:24:36.440 I everyone just get this because we're probab gonna play it someday. I don't 388 00:24:36.440 --> 00:24:38.160 want have to like track down codes for you. I still got I still 389 00:24:38.160 --> 00:24:41.240 got codes because I knew these bastards wouldn't download it, and of course some 390 00:24:41.319 --> 00:24:44.880 of them didn't, so I got a handful of codes for them. I 391 00:24:44.880 --> 00:24:48.359 still I'll hand those out to you, Jan Jan. But it's like you 392 00:24:48.400 --> 00:24:52.960 can't just repeatedly say, hey, buddy, get this other seventy dollars game 393 00:24:52.960 --> 00:24:56.000 to play with me and maybe maybe you'll like it, maybe you won't. 394 00:24:56.079 --> 00:24:59.960 You can only do that so many times. So the free to play games, 395 00:25:00.079 --> 00:25:03.000 the sure things, the things that have been proven successes are the things 396 00:25:03.000 --> 00:25:06.359 that continue to grow. And word of mouth as well. I think Steve 397 00:25:06.440 --> 00:25:10.000 right absolutely word of mouth is how you sell a game. I mean, 398 00:25:11.359 --> 00:25:17.279 when we did the GDC Awards thing two years ago and I got up on 399 00:25:17.359 --> 00:25:22.240 stage, I literally called out Inscription as the night of the what we were 400 00:25:22.240 --> 00:25:25.880 doing that night, because it had won like ninety five awards and it only 401 00:25:25.920 --> 00:25:27.640 been running for like, I don't know, the show had been on for 402 00:25:27.720 --> 00:25:30.039 five minutes. They already won that many awards. I didn't even know how 403 00:25:30.039 --> 00:25:34.240 it was possible, but they kept waiting the whole time. And I think 404 00:25:34.279 --> 00:25:37.640 that's kind of where we end up with the indie games. Is yet just 405 00:25:37.799 --> 00:25:41.039 like really stand out one that comes above the rest, and that's all anybody 406 00:25:41.039 --> 00:25:45.680 talks about. And again I think runaway success like that is great. Inscription 407 00:25:45.880 --> 00:25:48.279 is a fantastic game. If you've never tried that, you should, But 408 00:25:48.319 --> 00:25:52.839 at the same time, there's only so much air. I know a lot 409 00:25:52.880 --> 00:25:56.440 of my friends in the author wor'll talk about it all the time, and 410 00:25:56.599 --> 00:26:00.720 I kind of wonder if it's now in gaming too, where there are so 411 00:26:00.960 --> 00:26:07.319 many random crappy books that come out that's someone putting no effort into They went 412 00:26:07.359 --> 00:26:10.039 to show TVT and said write a book, and it was like okay, 413 00:26:10.119 --> 00:26:11.640 and then wrote a book and then you publish it, right, And so 414 00:26:11.720 --> 00:26:15.920 if you have to scan through all those in order to find the ones where 415 00:26:15.960 --> 00:26:18.279 somebody poured their heart and soul for eight years, yeah, like you're really 416 00:26:18.319 --> 00:26:22.319 easy to miss it accidentally. Yep, absolutely, it's uh. And I 417 00:26:22.359 --> 00:26:26.519 think that comes back to like, so when people recommend something, they do 418 00:26:26.559 --> 00:26:30.519 it with they do it with some hesitation, and you want to be very 419 00:26:30.519 --> 00:26:33.799 careful about it, and so that that's a big hurdle to overcome in a 420 00:26:33.839 --> 00:26:36.920 lot of ways. So, you know, coming back to PlayStation showcase, 421 00:26:37.000 --> 00:26:41.440 this is I think PlayStation could talk to their audience. I think that that 422 00:26:41.559 --> 00:26:47.680 audience is always ready for PlayStation say here are the games that matter. Sony 423 00:26:47.839 --> 00:26:51.759 doesn't. But it doesn't feel like Sony always capitalizes on that, to be 424 00:26:51.799 --> 00:26:55.319 honest. So we'll see, Hey, a showcase usually made some big stuff. 425 00:26:55.759 --> 00:26:57.759 They also have that rumored PS five pro coming out later this year. 426 00:26:57.839 --> 00:27:03.000 Maybe you know that apps off the end of a showcase, so there'll be 427 00:27:03.000 --> 00:27:06.400 stuff to talk about. I just you know, I hope there's some fun 428 00:27:06.440 --> 00:27:10.359 games, that's all. I'm all right, you know what. Actually, 429 00:27:10.680 --> 00:27:12.880 we're gonna take a quick break when we get back. Plenty more headlines to 430 00:27:12.920 --> 00:27:15.519 get to. Let's go ahead and hit that right now. See you soon, 431 00:27:15.559 --> 00:27:26.039 everybody. All right, we are back and this was an interesting one. 432 00:27:26.039 --> 00:27:29.200 Prince of Persia. There's a new Prince of Persia game from Dead Cell 433 00:27:29.279 --> 00:27:33.079 devs coming, and that's according to a report. This story comes from Georgi 434 00:27:33.160 --> 00:27:37.359 Yang at game Spot. A new Prince of Persia game is reportedly being developed 435 00:27:37.359 --> 00:27:41.519 by Evil Empire, the studio behind Dead Cells. The game is reportedly called 436 00:27:41.640 --> 00:27:45.039 The Rogue Prince of Persia and will be released in Steam Early Access. According 437 00:27:45.079 --> 00:27:48.440 to a report from Insider Gaming, it's apparently a new Rogue light game, 438 00:27:48.480 --> 00:27:52.960 and it's been in development for the last four years. The art style is 439 00:27:52.000 --> 00:27:57.000 also reportedly inspired by Franco Belgian comics, which sounds incredible to me. While 440 00:27:57.039 --> 00:28:00.519 it's reportedly slated to be released later this year year, it's unclear when it 441 00:28:00.519 --> 00:28:04.000 will be officially announced. However, it could be revealed at the Triple I 442 00:28:04.200 --> 00:28:08.759 Initiative showcased on April tenth, as Evil Empire will present its new project. 443 00:28:10.160 --> 00:28:12.799 There, Steve, we just got a Prince of Persia game, and yet 444 00:28:12.920 --> 00:28:18.400 this this doesn't bother me at all. I love the idea of a franchise. 445 00:28:18.480 --> 00:28:22.319 I like getting you know, bang bang bang, multiple injuries from different 446 00:28:22.319 --> 00:28:26.400 developers taking different ideas and different approaches to it. And a Rogue Light Prince 447 00:28:26.440 --> 00:28:30.160 of Persia game sounds, especially from people who make Dead Cells the game I 448 00:28:30.200 --> 00:28:33.720 really love, sounds very promising to me. How do you feel about this 449 00:28:33.759 --> 00:28:37.000 approach of like, hey, we just we had our team make a Prince 450 00:28:37.000 --> 00:28:38.440 of Persia game, and we have this indie studio making a Prince of Persia 451 00:28:38.440 --> 00:28:41.960 game. Is that something that makes sense to you? I mean we just 452 00:28:41.000 --> 00:28:44.880 talked about it, right, Why not let the indies hus a crack at 453 00:28:44.920 --> 00:28:48.759 something, And especially in Rogue Light, Man, Rogue Lights and Rogue likes 454 00:28:48.759 --> 00:28:52.319 are just one of my favorite genres. Saying it, they just added something 455 00:28:52.640 --> 00:28:56.039 so new and fresh, especially if it has like a meta progression in it. 456 00:28:56.119 --> 00:29:02.279 Oh man, Yeah me up on that. Stolln' micind of jams. 457 00:29:02.519 --> 00:29:06.400 Anything where you can fail at a game quote a cool well also succeeding. 458 00:29:06.559 --> 00:29:08.839 Yeah, those are something to mention that in the Prince of Persian world, 459 00:29:10.000 --> 00:29:12.920 I mean it kind of the Rogui theme just kind of fits naturally, you 460 00:29:12.960 --> 00:29:17.319 know, right. I mean again, a franchise is that's had time travel 461 00:29:17.359 --> 00:29:19.759 a bunch of times rewinding. Yeah, you could easily see how that would 462 00:29:19.799 --> 00:29:23.880 fit with like lore wise, but also yeah, just a good fit for 463 00:29:25.400 --> 00:29:29.079 taking something that maybe looks a little bit like dead cells, applying that Prince 464 00:29:29.079 --> 00:29:32.160 of Persia's skin, and then bring in some stuff that is very Prince of 465 00:29:32.200 --> 00:29:36.160 Persia. Yeah, and I totally agree like the idea of when you fail 466 00:29:36.160 --> 00:29:37.759 in a rogue light, but you feel like, Okay, I learned something, 467 00:29:37.839 --> 00:29:41.279 so that's one piece of progression, and maybe there's a little bit of 468 00:29:41.319 --> 00:29:45.240 metaprogression that I'm unlocking stuff that will be now showing up in the game later. 469 00:29:45.440 --> 00:29:48.160 Those two things sort of tricked my mind into like feeding into one another. 470 00:29:48.359 --> 00:29:51.880 It's like, oh, I'm progressing them unlocking stuff, and really I'm 471 00:29:51.880 --> 00:29:56.400 progressing because I'm learning the game more. But those things like just fit together 472 00:29:56.440 --> 00:29:59.559 really well and keep me attached to the game in a really strong way. 473 00:30:00.119 --> 00:30:03.519 So I am very attracted to this idea. I'm also with you on the 474 00:30:03.599 --> 00:30:07.640 let's let the indies have a crack at it. I go back to this 475 00:30:07.680 --> 00:30:11.400 reference point a lot. But my favorite, I'm a Star Wars fan. 476 00:30:11.480 --> 00:30:14.720 My favorite era of Star Wars video games was when they were putting out like 477 00:30:14.759 --> 00:30:18.119 fifty a year, and they'll be like, oh, here's ten over on 478 00:30:18.160 --> 00:30:19.839 this console, and here's a bunch on PC, and here's someone you can 479 00:30:19.880 --> 00:30:25.240 only get on N sixty four. And that stuff is like, oh, 480 00:30:25.559 --> 00:30:29.079 just a bunch of different developers taking different ideas and running with it. And 481 00:30:29.079 --> 00:30:32.759 that still does kind of happen today with other franchises like Warhammer, Warmer. 482 00:30:32.759 --> 00:30:34.599 There's a bunch of studios making stuff for them, And I'm like, why 483 00:30:34.680 --> 00:30:37.960 is that approach not more common? And I hope this is the sign that 484 00:30:38.000 --> 00:30:41.160 maybe that is happening. It probably isn't. This is probably just a quick, 485 00:30:41.400 --> 00:30:45.400 little offshoot, but I wish it was more common. I think you 486 00:30:45.440 --> 00:30:51.200 bring up the quaint essential example of putting out massive things is not a bad 487 00:30:51.240 --> 00:30:53.559 thing. I mean a Warhammer puts out a new show, a figure, 488 00:30:53.599 --> 00:30:56.960 a book, a comic, and a billboard every three minutes. Yep, 489 00:30:56.960 --> 00:31:02.119 so exactly. People eat it up. Man. It's it's one of the 490 00:31:02.160 --> 00:31:07.680 most you know, servants fandoms out there. I think if you're a Warhammer 491 00:31:07.759 --> 00:31:11.400 said, you love Warhammer, so you know you'll buy everything they've got, 492 00:31:11.480 --> 00:31:15.000 And it is strange. You're right, there aren't a lot of other ikes 493 00:31:15.039 --> 00:31:18.839 that really dive into that. Even Marvel is pulled back saying, okay, 494 00:31:18.920 --> 00:31:22.519 we're fatigue now. So you know they're they're down to three shows a year 495 00:31:22.559 --> 00:31:26.599 now because they're afraid that they're tapping the market, right, they only have 496 00:31:26.640 --> 00:31:30.200 one movie this year, Yeah, and it's and I mean, obviously there's 497 00:31:30.240 --> 00:31:34.279 some sensitivity to making something that felt special no longer feel special. But I 498 00:31:34.559 --> 00:31:37.759 mean, I don't know if I was getting an X Men ninety seven Beat 499 00:31:37.799 --> 00:31:41.960 them Up, Arcade beat him Up this year from like an indie studio, 500 00:31:42.200 --> 00:31:45.359 there's no way I'd be complaining that's exactly what I want, and then maybe 501 00:31:45.359 --> 00:31:48.640 something else I wasn't expecting from a studio that's like taking the idea and twisting 502 00:31:48.640 --> 00:31:52.960 on it, like, yeah, I don't know. I think obviously the 503 00:31:52.039 --> 00:31:56.640 problem here seems to me that there aren't just endless studios out there pitching ideas 504 00:31:56.640 --> 00:32:00.680 to these big publishers, and it's hard to like make these matches. But 505 00:32:00.920 --> 00:32:02.839 I don't know. Figure it out. Figure it out, John Drake, 506 00:32:02.880 --> 00:32:08.440 I don't know all right. Saber Interactive CEO says it's Star Wars Co Tour 507 00:32:08.519 --> 00:32:13.640 remake is still alive and well. Yet again, this is from Chris Scullion 508 00:32:13.640 --> 00:32:16.480 at VGC. The CEO of Saber Interactive, is confirmed that its remake of 509 00:32:16.480 --> 00:32:22.319 Star Wars Knights of the Old Republic is still in active development. In an 510 00:32:22.319 --> 00:32:27.119 interview with IGN, Matthew Karsch was asked to definitively confirmed that Saber was still 511 00:32:27.160 --> 00:32:30.839 working on the game following it's split from a Bracer group last month. He 512 00:32:30.839 --> 00:32:32.119 said, it's clear, and it's obvious that we're working on this. It's 513 00:32:32.119 --> 00:32:35.880 been in the press numerous times. What I will say is the game is 514 00:32:35.880 --> 00:32:39.039 alive and well, and we're dedicated to making sure we exceed consumer expectations. 515 00:32:39.519 --> 00:32:45.440 Now, this is something that is partially happy. Part of this is partially 516 00:32:45.480 --> 00:32:47.839 my fault. I have that story with my god that games sounds dead, 517 00:32:49.880 --> 00:32:52.359 and then I corrected it the next day saying it sounds dead as far as 518 00:32:52.359 --> 00:32:55.559 Sony's concerned. I don't know if the studio is still working on it. 519 00:32:55.559 --> 00:32:59.039 And then of course Jason tryerh head that story is like now they're still working 520 00:32:59.039 --> 00:33:00.799 at the studio. I don't know if it ever come out, but they're 521 00:33:00.799 --> 00:33:05.960 still working on it. And now every time that anyone from from Saber talks 522 00:33:05.960 --> 00:33:08.200 about anything, they have to answer that question, is that game still alive? 523 00:33:08.279 --> 00:33:14.519 So my bad Saber, but I wish someone would ask the would have 524 00:33:14.519 --> 00:33:17.440 asked them, Hey, what about Sony's involvement? Because this game originally got 525 00:33:17.440 --> 00:33:23.599 announced at a Sony showcase and as a big Sony PlayStation partnership, whereas like 526 00:33:23.640 --> 00:33:28.079 PlayStation is publishing this game, and again, as far as I've heard, 527 00:33:28.200 --> 00:33:30.200 is now Sony wants nothing to do with it, and they've they've kind of 528 00:33:30.799 --> 00:33:35.400 severed that. I'm a little confused about how that would work because it's like 529 00:33:35.440 --> 00:33:38.200 I would assume there's a contract there, but maybe the game was maybe they 530 00:33:38.240 --> 00:33:40.359 had like an out clause at some point they got out of it. But 531 00:33:40.400 --> 00:33:44.200 as far as I'm aware, Sony wants nothing to do with this game anymore. 532 00:33:45.000 --> 00:33:49.279 So what about that side of things? Still see them up in the 533 00:33:49.319 --> 00:33:54.200 air. But for your part, Steve Kotor remake, they're still working on 534 00:33:54.200 --> 00:33:58.480 it. They want to exceed consumer expectations, probably not coming out for several 535 00:33:58.480 --> 00:34:00.279 more years. Are you excited? Is this something that you care about? 536 00:34:01.160 --> 00:34:06.960 I liked the Nights of the Old Republic and I was a huge Star Wars 537 00:34:07.039 --> 00:34:10.280 Old Republic MMO fan played that for yearing so I love that world. I 538 00:34:10.320 --> 00:34:15.679 love that universe. But it's interesting to me to see when a publisher kind 539 00:34:15.679 --> 00:34:19.519 of loses steam on something, how that can really affect, you know, 540 00:34:19.559 --> 00:34:22.039 what happens to it. We just talked about marketing. You know, it's 541 00:34:22.039 --> 00:34:23.800 a big thing, but yeah, I don't know whether or not there they'll 542 00:34:23.840 --> 00:34:28.400 ever get done with it. But the thing is, Tots were used to 543 00:34:28.480 --> 00:34:30.400 be that thing you just talked about where they just released another one every time 544 00:34:30.400 --> 00:34:34.039 they felt like it. Like, you know, there's a billion Nights of 545 00:34:34.079 --> 00:34:37.159 the Old Republic and we all liked all of them. So, you know, 546 00:34:37.760 --> 00:34:40.119 maybe get back into just letting people grab a saber and go light some 547 00:34:40.119 --> 00:34:43.960 stuff up. You know. Yep, that sounds real nice to me. 548 00:34:45.360 --> 00:34:50.159 I'd like Saber Interactive. I continue to think that they do good work. 549 00:34:50.519 --> 00:34:53.320 They are very busy. They got Space Marine two, They're supporting expeditions of 550 00:34:53.360 --> 00:34:59.079 mud Runner game, they have several other projects. I believe that they can 551 00:34:59.119 --> 00:35:01.760 make a good nights to the Old of Old Republic remake. If they have 552 00:35:01.880 --> 00:35:06.119 the time and the budget, that is the bit concern, though it seems 553 00:35:06.159 --> 00:35:08.440 like it would require a lot of money to make the game as it was 554 00:35:08.480 --> 00:35:13.800 announced. We'll see though, if any studio can make it work. It 555 00:35:13.880 --> 00:35:15.880 is that there's some technical wizards over there at Saber, so I'm hopeful. 556 00:35:17.559 --> 00:35:22.320 New research suggests some gamers' eyes see more frames per second. This is from 557 00:35:22.400 --> 00:35:29.119 Levi Winslow at Kotaku. Ever wondered how pro gamers get so well pro Sure, 558 00:35:29.159 --> 00:35:31.760 it's the hours of grinding and practicing, mastering of game's systems and applying 559 00:35:31.760 --> 00:35:36.199 them in a competitive and competitive situations. And yeah, it's the hours of 560 00:35:36.280 --> 00:35:38.840 learning and studying, returning to the game's roots and watching the players that came 561 00:35:38.880 --> 00:35:43.920 before. But also it may just be better eyeballs. According to a new 562 00:35:43.960 --> 00:35:47.320 research out of Dublin, pro gamers see more images than others. As spotted 563 00:35:47.320 --> 00:35:52.400 by The Guardian, Ireland's Trinity College Dublin recently published a paper in the peer 564 00:35:52.400 --> 00:35:59.679 reviewed open access journal plos one. The research investigated a human characteristic called temporal 565 00:35:59.679 --> 00:36:05.320 result, which measures our our eyes ability to discern between different visual signals and 566 00:36:05.440 --> 00:36:08.800 influences our reaction speed to changes in our environment. As the paper found, 567 00:36:08.880 --> 00:36:13.880 some people, when presented with a light that was flashing about thirty five times 568 00:36:13.880 --> 00:36:16.519 per second, saw it as constantly lit. In other words, they could 569 00:36:16.519 --> 00:36:21.639 not perceive the flashes, while others could see the light flashing even when the 570 00:36:21.639 --> 00:36:24.800 frequency of flashes was greater than sixty times per second. In the same way 571 00:36:24.800 --> 00:36:29.119 that video games can run at thirty frames per second or sixty frames per second, 572 00:36:29.400 --> 00:36:34.199 this research suggests some people's eyes can see visual signals at either thirty images 573 00:36:34.239 --> 00:36:38.199 per second or sixty images per second, and this impacts athletes and gamers specifically. 574 00:36:39.000 --> 00:36:43.320 I think they tested this with like tennis players, and the ones that 575 00:36:43.400 --> 00:36:47.079 had this higher visual resolution were, you know, tip tended to have a 576 00:36:47.119 --> 00:36:51.760 better chance at playing tennis or something like that. And you know the way 577 00:36:51.840 --> 00:36:55.119 that the conversation around frames per second happens. Steve this paper like sheds a 578 00:36:55.159 --> 00:37:00.119 lot of light on why why that conversation is so weird sometimes where like some 579 00:37:00.119 --> 00:37:01.920 people like, hey, no, I don't see the difference, and some 580 00:37:01.920 --> 00:37:06.920 people are like I cannot stand looking at anything that is under sixty frames per 581 00:37:06.960 --> 00:37:10.360 second. If a sixty frame. If a void bob was flashing at sixty 582 00:37:10.800 --> 00:37:15.559 times per second and you saw that as flashing, that would be very annoying. 583 00:37:15.920 --> 00:37:19.239 And I bet those people are especially sensitive. Does this sound right to 584 00:37:19.280 --> 00:37:22.760 you? Are you someone that craves a higher frame rate or does it matter 585 00:37:22.800 --> 00:37:25.360 to you? I like higher frame rates for sure, and I could see 586 00:37:25.400 --> 00:37:31.039 where you know, this is just an adaptation of human physiology, but there 587 00:37:31.480 --> 00:37:37.719 is begging those of profiling disabled. Guy. I'm telling you that it's wild 588 00:37:37.800 --> 00:37:45.039 how your body sort of starts to make up for Yeah, you know what 589 00:37:45.480 --> 00:37:49.239 you're lacking in one area, it strengthens the other. It sounds like an 590 00:37:49.239 --> 00:37:52.639 a little less stale. But I can tell you one of my skills that 591 00:37:52.719 --> 00:37:57.239 came in andy for gaming was I've been in a power wheelchair since I was 592 00:37:57.320 --> 00:38:01.079 eight years old, so my brain has learned to see the world in geometry. 593 00:38:01.199 --> 00:38:06.159 So when my arms were good enough that I could drive with a precision, 594 00:38:06.400 --> 00:38:08.679 fast and inferious driver, I could walk into a room that I've never 595 00:38:08.719 --> 00:38:13.480 seen before. They had a couch and an end table and some chairs. 596 00:38:13.519 --> 00:38:16.000 I could literally look at the room, spin around and go backwards, park 597 00:38:16.039 --> 00:38:20.320 into a spot and not hit a thing. Because my brain knew how to 598 00:38:20.360 --> 00:38:25.840 do that. So when I translated that to things like Sony's games where you 599 00:38:25.880 --> 00:38:30.599 did top down to the shooting had to bounce bullets off the walls in order 600 00:38:30.599 --> 00:38:34.800 to hit people like pull shots, like, the geometry in my brain just 601 00:38:34.880 --> 00:38:37.400 kicked right in because I had already been used to that kind of physics. 602 00:38:37.559 --> 00:38:42.199 And I think that's probably where these kinds of things go as well. If 603 00:38:42.199 --> 00:38:45.159 you're a natural born athlete or whatnot, it's probably not hard for your brain 604 00:38:45.239 --> 00:38:49.880 to see in that kind of fast motion vision. Yeah, And I think 605 00:38:49.960 --> 00:38:53.519 I think speaking of like something that you kind of if you're in an environment 606 00:38:53.559 --> 00:38:57.880 where these things matter. If you are someone who's like playing tennis from a 607 00:38:57.880 --> 00:39:00.519 young age and you do need to understand where the ball is going to go 608 00:39:00.639 --> 00:39:06.400 next, being able to you know, looking at that over and over again, 609 00:39:06.760 --> 00:39:09.639 you're probably going to become more accustomed to looking for tiny differences and that 610 00:39:09.679 --> 00:39:14.039 probably increases your ability to see you know, frames per second or images per 611 00:39:14.079 --> 00:39:15.760 second, however they want to describe it. I bet it's something that if 612 00:39:15.760 --> 00:39:19.239 you look for it, if it's something that matters to you, if it's 613 00:39:19.280 --> 00:39:22.480 something that matters to your hobby, you become more sensitive to it, so 614 00:39:23.559 --> 00:39:27.719 and I'm sure at the same time there's also some natural born elements there for 615 00:39:27.760 --> 00:39:31.239 sure. For me these days, Steve, forty five frames per second is 616 00:39:31.239 --> 00:39:34.639 good. Playing a lot on the steam deck. If I can get forty 617 00:39:34.639 --> 00:39:37.440 five frames per second, it looks pretty smooth to me, and I'm very 618 00:39:37.440 --> 00:39:42.280 happy that that's the case, because I don't need to be pushing many more 619 00:39:42.440 --> 00:39:45.920 polygons per second than what we already have. So I'm glad my steam deck 620 00:39:45.920 --> 00:39:49.840 works in most cases because of that. But thirty frames per seconds still pretty 621 00:39:49.880 --> 00:39:52.880 painful to me. I don't like it too much these days. It kind 622 00:39:52.880 --> 00:39:55.559 of bums me out when a game runs at thirty frames per second. Yeah, 623 00:39:55.679 --> 00:39:59.039 I mean, I imagine thirty. We used to be like, oh 624 00:39:59.079 --> 00:40:00.360 my god, this is amazing, you know. Now we kind of look 625 00:40:00.400 --> 00:40:05.519 at it as it's trash and it's it's It's funny how the way your expectations 626 00:40:05.599 --> 00:40:08.199 move as the years go on. But I can I mean, I have 627 00:40:08.280 --> 00:40:14.800 friends who you know are wanting monitors that you know have you know, up 628 00:40:14.840 --> 00:40:19.440 to one thousand France for silver. You realize your brain can't actually comprehend that, 629 00:40:19.559 --> 00:40:22.880 right, Like they're literally just making numbers at this point. Yeah, 630 00:40:22.000 --> 00:40:28.440 and it's there is the very top esports athletes having like a three hundred and 631 00:40:28.480 --> 00:40:34.320 sixty hrtz display that it does make a difference for them, but just then, 632 00:40:35.039 --> 00:40:37.159 like, oh, the only people on earth that matters for are like 633 00:40:37.559 --> 00:40:42.480 the top counter striking valorant players and having like just that tiny bit of extra 634 00:40:42.519 --> 00:40:45.440 information of how a character is moving through a space, like that little crack 635 00:40:45.480 --> 00:40:49.480 in the wall. Yeah, so you could see like that that like sliver 636 00:40:49.559 --> 00:40:51.800 of them as opposed to like, oh, now the already half of them 637 00:40:51.840 --> 00:40:53.840 has passed before they showed up in that sliver. Yeah, that can make 638 00:40:53.880 --> 00:40:58.239 a difference, but it's really just you're not going to see the difference, 639 00:40:58.400 --> 00:41:02.239 absolutely not. All right, moving on once again here, this is the 640 00:41:02.360 --> 00:41:07.239 last week your three DS and We YOUU games will work online. This is 641 00:41:07.239 --> 00:41:10.599 from georgiangat game Spot. On April eighth, at four pm Pacific times seven 642 00:41:10.639 --> 00:41:15.360 pm Eastern online play and communication functionality for Nintendo three DS and We You will 643 00:41:15.400 --> 00:41:21.360 shut down. These online services include co op leaderboard rankings and data distribution. 644 00:41:21.800 --> 00:41:24.360 Back in October twenty twenty three, Nintendo announced that it would be shutting down 645 00:41:24.440 --> 00:41:29.760 in early April and now we have a definitive date. There are a few 646 00:41:30.079 --> 00:41:34.320 exceptions, such as Pokemon Bank and Poke Transporter, which will stay online for 647 00:41:34.360 --> 00:41:37.519 the foreseeable future, but Nintendo clarified that they still may end at some point 648 00:41:37.599 --> 00:41:43.639 as well. There's a bunch of other features that like spot Pass uses online 649 00:41:43.639 --> 00:41:46.119 communications, so it will not be available after shutdown. However, Street Pass 650 00:41:46.199 --> 00:41:52.360 uses a local communication, meaning that it'll still function. Thank god. This 651 00:41:52.840 --> 00:41:55.400 is a bummer. I had a lot of fun playing some three DS games, 652 00:41:55.400 --> 00:42:00.920 specifically online. Mario Kart seven was really a good time. I played 653 00:42:00.920 --> 00:42:06.400 a ton of that. Super Mario Maker is an especially important game to me. 654 00:42:06.519 --> 00:42:09.559 I I love that game and training levels with people and actually but mostly 655 00:42:09.639 --> 00:42:13.440 I have in like, you know, one rival training levels back and forth 656 00:42:13.480 --> 00:42:15.800 with me and I would play them. Uh that that was really special. 657 00:42:16.119 --> 00:42:19.800 I got to go download those and make sure I can keep them and preserve 658 00:42:19.840 --> 00:42:22.559 them on my local But I'm like, I'm like playing Super Mario Maker, 659 00:42:22.599 --> 00:42:23.960 Steve, but I'm like looking at the way it works, and I'm like, 660 00:42:24.079 --> 00:42:27.320 even if I say these levels locally, a lot of times it feels 661 00:42:27.320 --> 00:42:30.239 like it's trying to communicate and talk to online before I can even get to 662 00:42:30.280 --> 00:42:34.440 that menu. I hope that that functions once the once the servers are down 663 00:42:34.480 --> 00:42:37.440 in the game, it just isn't fully broken. That would be devastating. 664 00:42:37.519 --> 00:42:40.719 So yeah, it's it's an end of an era. Obviously, this was 665 00:42:40.760 --> 00:42:44.880 always going to come to an end, but it still bumps me out. 666 00:42:44.920 --> 00:42:47.079 Steve, how do you feel about it? Were you a big street passer? 667 00:42:47.119 --> 00:42:51.960 Did you definitely a hug street passer? Yes, And it sounds like 668 00:42:51.960 --> 00:42:53.599 street bass will still work. I guess we'll see. I don't know. 669 00:42:54.440 --> 00:43:00.000 I knew people who would just pervently be running around pack started to street pass 670 00:43:00.000 --> 00:43:04.760 as many humans as they possibly could. I remember them having a lot of 671 00:43:04.760 --> 00:43:08.519 fun with it too. Three DS was not a particularly accessible console for me, 672 00:43:08.559 --> 00:43:13.079 so I missed them a lot of that kind of fun. But from 673 00:43:13.079 --> 00:43:15.880 my perspective, it was always interesting that it seemed like the three DS's main 674 00:43:16.119 --> 00:43:20.760 hook was being able to do things with each other. So, you know, 675 00:43:20.920 --> 00:43:23.960 closing down the online services and they're definitely trying to move people on for 676 00:43:24.000 --> 00:43:30.719 sure. Yeah, and it's I'm sure that there's costs involved in costs with 677 00:43:30.840 --> 00:43:34.400 like you know, customer support, like if someone has an issue and you're 678 00:43:34.440 --> 00:43:36.559 like, why are we still supporting this thing? Or you have to have 679 00:43:36.599 --> 00:43:39.000 a huge infrastructure behind the scenes, and maybe no one is using that customer 680 00:43:39.000 --> 00:43:45.280 service stuff. So I get why these things deprecate over time, but yeah, 681 00:43:45.360 --> 00:43:49.800 it's it's a bummer for me. And I have been playing Dan the 682 00:43:49.800 --> 00:43:52.440 Reikert's levels that he made it Super Mario Maker, which are just true nightmares. 683 00:43:52.760 --> 00:43:57.960 But people are really enjoying those streams, and I do have them all 684 00:43:57.960 --> 00:44:00.519 downloaded locally, at least I think I do. I'm gonna double check today 685 00:44:00.519 --> 00:44:05.880 everybody, but I hope that they still work because it would be a real 686 00:44:05.960 --> 00:44:08.119 shame if those levels were lost. And I know we could like recreate them 687 00:44:08.159 --> 00:44:12.679 in Super Mario Maker two, but we shouldn't have to do that. That's 688 00:44:12.719 --> 00:44:15.760 that's things. We should just be able to continue to have it in the 689 00:44:15.840 --> 00:44:20.039 port. That would wouldn't actually bring them up to the next generation. It's 690 00:44:20.119 --> 00:44:22.719 Nintendo, right, that's the answer. Is this is just how Nintendo operates. 691 00:44:22.719 --> 00:44:25.639 They don't like, you know, just no, just make make new 692 00:44:25.679 --> 00:44:29.559 levels or go back to the old one and then well, actually we're shutting 693 00:44:29.599 --> 00:44:32.559 down the old ones, so too bad. It's Nintendo and they don't care 694 00:44:32.679 --> 00:44:37.559 that much about that sort of continuity. Uh, it's that is a negative 695 00:44:37.599 --> 00:44:40.800 of that company. And you would think, you know, it can't be 696 00:44:40.840 --> 00:44:44.199 too hard to create a tool that you just press a button and now it 697 00:44:44.199 --> 00:44:45.920 works in Super Mario Maker two, and I bet it wouldn't be that hard. 698 00:44:45.960 --> 00:44:50.400 But Nintendo just does not put efforts into those kinds of quality of life 699 00:44:50.719 --> 00:44:54.639 online features. So it's a bummer as long as I can keep playing those 700 00:44:54.719 --> 00:44:58.599 levels, though, I will keep playing them on Giant Bomb everybody, So 701 00:44:59.440 --> 00:45:05.599 keep looking for to Mario Maker Morning mess Win available all right. A new 702 00:45:05.679 --> 00:45:08.920 Mario RPG survey acknowledges existence of the Mario and Luigi series. This is from 703 00:45:08.960 --> 00:45:14.519 Liam Doolan at Nintendo Life. Nintendo is reportedly sending out a survey that has 704 00:45:14.559 --> 00:45:17.079 fans of certain Mario franchise is excited about what could be on the way. 705 00:45:17.519 --> 00:45:22.480 As highlighted by Mario fans across multiple subreddits and social media, a new survey 706 00:45:22.559 --> 00:45:27.480 not only acknowledges the paper Mario and Super Mario RPG titles, but also the 707 00:45:27.559 --> 00:45:30.599 handheld series Mario and Luigi. Of course, just a handful of these questions 708 00:45:30.599 --> 00:45:35.280 have already led to speculation that Mario and Luigi games could be making a return. 709 00:45:35.679 --> 00:45:38.639 There are also many questions asking about the gameplay mechanics across each of these 710 00:45:38.679 --> 00:45:45.440 series, with mention of the battlesystems, features and even characters. So this 711 00:45:45.519 --> 00:45:49.920 is interesting because Mario Luigi's from a team called Alpha Dream. That studio shut 712 00:45:49.960 --> 00:45:53.519 down because they put out a couple of Mario Luigi remasters and remakes at the 713 00:45:53.639 --> 00:45:57.760 end of the three DS when the switch was out and everyone in the world 714 00:45:57.760 --> 00:46:00.480 stopped buying three DS games, so those games did very early and the studio 715 00:46:00.800 --> 00:46:04.599 had to shut down, which to me was always like, Nintendo, you 716 00:46:04.679 --> 00:46:07.400 kind of did this team dirty. I know, you don't own their partner, 717 00:46:07.599 --> 00:46:09.480 help them out and keep them going so you can keep making these games. 718 00:46:09.760 --> 00:46:14.760 But again, no, Nintendo fucking weird a lot of times, and 719 00:46:14.880 --> 00:46:17.280 so that studio went away, and I think the expectation is Mario Luigi goes 720 00:46:17.280 --> 00:46:22.159 away with them. So now people see Mario Luigi in the survey and they're 721 00:46:22.159 --> 00:46:23.400 getting their hopes up. I think, Steve, when I looked at the 722 00:46:23.440 --> 00:46:28.599 survey, the sense I got is that Nintendo is looking for ideas that people 723 00:46:28.679 --> 00:46:31.840 liked from all the Mario RPGs to inform how they make RPGs going forward. 724 00:46:32.119 --> 00:46:35.360 For example, there were a couple of questions about, hey, do you 725 00:46:35.480 --> 00:46:40.079 like when like Lee's ARPGs have new characters like Gino and Mallow from Super Mario 726 00:46:40.159 --> 00:46:44.559 RPG? Or do you will only like it when they have familiar Mario characters 727 00:46:44.880 --> 00:46:46.760 like Peach and Bowser, And there was options for like, I like new 728 00:46:46.840 --> 00:46:51.199 characters, I like the familiar characters, or I like both equally. And 729 00:46:51.239 --> 00:46:54.199 then another question was do you like it when these characters that are familiar behave 730 00:46:54.320 --> 00:46:59.079 and look in a way that is consistent with how you expect them to behave 731 00:46:59.320 --> 00:47:01.320 in other games, or it's okay if they act in unique and kind of 732 00:47:01.400 --> 00:47:05.800 kookie ways. And these are definitely questions that have come up with the Mario 733 00:47:05.960 --> 00:47:08.960 RPG franchise a series before where it was like, hey, it seems like 734 00:47:09.039 --> 00:47:12.960 Meomoto doesn't like it when like the like a Koopa I was wearing a hoodie 735 00:47:13.119 --> 00:47:15.880 or whatever, And now it feels like maybe they're softening on that, especially 736 00:47:15.920 --> 00:47:21.320 depending on like how these survey questions pan out. I don't I'm not getting 737 00:47:21.320 --> 00:47:23.159 my hopes up for a new Mario Luigi game. Steve I'm a huge Mario 738 00:47:23.360 --> 00:47:27.239 Niji fan. I'm not getting my hopes up from that. I don't think 739 00:47:27.239 --> 00:47:30.400 that a survey is a signaling that that's what happened, what is happening. 740 00:47:30.440 --> 00:47:31.599 I don't know, what do you think? No, I don't think that 741 00:47:31.679 --> 00:47:37.360 the surveys indicative of a particular title coming out. I think Nintendo is probably 742 00:47:37.360 --> 00:47:39.800 trying to do their due diligence. I think that they are worried that, 743 00:47:40.000 --> 00:47:44.880 you know, this is a new market, next generation coming up taking over, 744 00:47:45.079 --> 00:47:50.320 you know what, what's gonna happen to Mario as we change into the 745 00:47:50.360 --> 00:47:52.920 old guard like us, they're now in retirement homes playing our Super Mario you 746 00:47:53.000 --> 00:47:57.239 know. Uh yeah, so well, the will the you know, the 747 00:47:57.280 --> 00:48:00.400 next generation adapt to it and things they do like slash of your things they 748 00:48:00.400 --> 00:48:04.599 do like the small micro transactions, you know, could we see a day 749 00:48:04.639 --> 00:48:07.440 where you know, you can buy a little heavy for your Koopa on your 750 00:48:07.719 --> 00:48:13.320 Nintendo store maybe so yeah, I could see where cosmetics are big. And 751 00:48:13.360 --> 00:48:17.519 I think nintend they reckonize it. Yeah, And I think I think you're 752 00:48:17.559 --> 00:48:22.519 right that they're like always looking into that younger audience. Nintendo is the one 753 00:48:22.079 --> 00:48:25.400 major video video game company that has always been able to sort of renew itself 754 00:48:25.440 --> 00:48:30.760 with new generations of players, where Sony and Microsoft seeming like hey, sometimes 755 00:48:30.800 --> 00:48:32.880 they catch on, sometimes they don't. So Nintendo being like, hey, 756 00:48:32.880 --> 00:48:37.239 how do you feel and then being like, oh, and we had you 757 00:48:37.280 --> 00:48:39.159 sign in for the survey, so we know your demographics. And if you're 758 00:48:39.199 --> 00:48:42.880 an old head, we know you're going to buy our shit no matter what. 759 00:48:43.920 --> 00:48:45.920 But if you're a kid, that's actually what we care about. And 760 00:48:45.960 --> 00:48:49.159 do you care if it's like a new character, do you like do you 761 00:48:49.239 --> 00:48:52.840 want only Bowser and Princess Peach and Luigi and Mario in these games? And 762 00:48:52.880 --> 00:48:54.599 if they say yes, I could see that really informing how Nintendo goes about 763 00:48:54.639 --> 00:49:00.280 it. Absolutely. All right, let's see here, last story here, 764 00:49:00.360 --> 00:49:02.920 kind of a quick thing coming to Xbox game Pass is Lego two K Drive, 765 00:49:04.000 --> 00:49:07.920 EA Sports, PGA Tour, Harold Halibu and more. This for meggat 766 00:49:07.920 --> 00:49:12.800 Spurt at Xbox Wire. My favorite part about coming soon to game Pass is 767 00:49:12.800 --> 00:49:15.599 that it quickly turns into available today, and that includes a super hot mind 768 00:49:15.599 --> 00:49:20.639 controlled Delete, which is coming to cloud console on PC. On game Pass. 769 00:49:21.280 --> 00:49:23.119 There's a bunch of games returning to game Pass including Super Hot, Mind 770 00:49:23.119 --> 00:49:28.039 Control, Delete, and some others. I guess that's what that's why it's 771 00:49:28.039 --> 00:49:30.719 available today, and then the coming soon includes a Little Lego two K Drive, 772 00:49:30.920 --> 00:49:37.960 Little Gator Game, EA Sports PGA Tour, Kona Botany manor Shadow of 773 00:49:37.960 --> 00:49:42.079 the Two Raider Definitive Edition, and Harold Halibit. I'll tell you what, 774 00:49:42.119 --> 00:49:45.920 Steve, That Harold Hallibate game looks very interesting to me. That's I'm glad 775 00:49:45.920 --> 00:49:49.480 that that's on game Pass because it's one where I'm like, I fig it 776 00:49:49.519 --> 00:49:52.000 looks interesting, but I maybe would wait for other people to tell me it's 777 00:49:52.079 --> 00:49:55.079 a must play before I would dive into it. Being on game Pass, 778 00:49:55.440 --> 00:50:00.199 maybe I'll just check it out and play it myself. But Harold Halibut is 779 00:50:00.199 --> 00:50:06.239 that stop motion looking video game where it just actually looks like a stop motion 780 00:50:06.400 --> 00:50:09.039 movie, but it's an interactive game, and I'm not sure how much like 781 00:50:09.119 --> 00:50:12.480 you control the action. Maybe a lot of it is just like hey, 782 00:50:12.480 --> 00:50:15.400 move a character over there, and it's like preset motions. But either way, 783 00:50:15.400 --> 00:50:17.280 it looks fantastic. So I'm glad that's going to get a chance to 784 00:50:17.280 --> 00:50:20.559 really catch on with a lot of people. And then I always like a 785 00:50:20.559 --> 00:50:22.639 good golf game. So Ea Sports PGA two are showing up in here is 786 00:50:22.800 --> 00:50:27.280 a good sign that a lot more people will end up playing that. But 787 00:50:27.320 --> 00:50:30.199 yeah, how are you feeling about game Pass these days, Steve? I 788 00:50:30.199 --> 00:50:31.280 mean, like we were talking about earlier. You know, it's a great 789 00:50:31.280 --> 00:50:35.239 way to tryal things before you buy. It's a great way to see the 790 00:50:35.280 --> 00:50:37.599 different games out there. I mean, you know me, I'm a huge 791 00:50:37.599 --> 00:50:40.559 proponent of demos because you know, if you are a disabled person, you 792 00:50:40.599 --> 00:50:43.760 may not be able to play a game, and you'll know within the first 793 00:50:43.760 --> 00:50:45.880 three minutes, and that really sucks when you just spent seventy bucks for a 794 00:50:45.920 --> 00:50:49.840 game and then you can't use it. Yeah, Bill, you know, 795 00:50:49.880 --> 00:50:52.679 I'm a big fan of demos, and I think game Pass does that really 796 00:50:52.760 --> 00:50:54.800 right. I don't know the financials of it, but I do know we 797 00:50:54.880 --> 00:50:59.159 keep seeing some mega titles coming to the game Pass, so it must not 798 00:50:59.280 --> 00:51:02.239 be quite the worst way to make a book as a studio. Yeah, 799 00:51:02.239 --> 00:51:06.840 and now you see a lot of repeat customers, right. You see Sega 800 00:51:06.920 --> 00:51:08.480 show up a lot of times with their games, and Capcom has had a 801 00:51:08.480 --> 00:51:14.159 couple of games going there. I think it was Exo Primal in game Pass, 802 00:51:14.199 --> 00:51:15.920 I think it was, and then and now they're you know, they're 803 00:51:15.960 --> 00:51:19.920 back at it with that Path of the Goddess game, which is a single 804 00:51:19.920 --> 00:51:23.039 player adventure game that has like a triple A budget, and Capcom is like, 805 00:51:23.119 --> 00:51:25.800 yeah, we will put this new, brand new video game into Game 806 00:51:25.840 --> 00:51:30.079 Past day one. To me, that continues to feel like a really big 807 00:51:30.119 --> 00:51:32.840 deal, like a big publisher, a successful publisher like Capcom that knows how 808 00:51:32.880 --> 00:51:36.760 to market a game, that knows that can build an audience with almost anything. 809 00:51:36.800 --> 00:51:37.679 It's like, no, we had game Passes. Maybe the right way 810 00:51:38.000 --> 00:51:40.960 for us to do that. It's a sign that I think something is working 811 00:51:42.000 --> 00:51:44.519 there. At the same time, I don't know. I'm not sure about 812 00:51:44.519 --> 00:51:46.480 game Passes long long term growth. It seems like it's reached all the gamers 813 00:51:46.480 --> 00:51:50.880 it can reach. So I hope Microsoft's happy with it, because I continue 814 00:51:50.880 --> 00:51:52.800 to be pretty happy with game Pass myself. Yeah. I mean, it's 815 00:51:52.880 --> 00:51:59.039 the it's the Sega channel on steroids, right, that's right, that's right. 816 00:51:59.159 --> 00:52:00.599 Did you ever use a channel? I never had a friend that holiday, 817 00:52:00.639 --> 00:52:04.239 so I never got the chance to use it. Ill. Yeah, 818 00:52:04.239 --> 00:52:07.519 I loved it because I was I don't think my mom when I was a 819 00:52:07.559 --> 00:52:09.119 kid, says, go, I go to Blockbusters In the offense, She's 820 00:52:09.199 --> 00:52:12.679 like, if I just get through the Sega channel, will you stopped? 821 00:52:12.719 --> 00:52:17.199 And I'm like yes, So I take my thirty games a month. That's 822 00:52:17.239 --> 00:52:22.559 incredible. All right, So let's get to the pole question from I believe 823 00:52:22.599 --> 00:52:25.800 this is from Friday because we did the April Fool's episode on Monday where I 824 00:52:25.800 --> 00:52:30.360 played Mario Maker instead. Are you going to try the Stellar Blade demo? 825 00:52:30.599 --> 00:52:35.000 Thirty nine percent said yes, sixty one percent said no. I tried the 826 00:52:35.039 --> 00:52:37.320 Stellar Blade demo. I thought that game was pretty fun, Steve. It 827 00:52:37.440 --> 00:52:43.119 is. It's very much informed by a lot of other games, and that's 828 00:52:43.239 --> 00:52:45.400 very obvious. It's got a lot of Near Automata, a lot of Bandetta, 829 00:52:45.639 --> 00:52:50.280 a lot of Secero, a lot of Devil May Cry. And I 830 00:52:50.440 --> 00:52:53.679 was talking to Sean who works with us here at Giant Bomb, and he 831 00:52:53.760 --> 00:52:55.719 was like, yeah, I think people can kind of see what they what 832 00:52:55.760 --> 00:52:59.760 they want to see in this game in terms of the gameplay mechanics. And 833 00:52:59.800 --> 00:53:01.599 I definitely think that's true. I was definitely seeing a lot of sec Row, 834 00:53:01.719 --> 00:53:06.360 he was seeing a lot of Devil May Cry. But yeah, I'm 835 00:53:06.400 --> 00:53:07.800 also like not. I'm like a little surprised. It's like, you know, 836 00:53:07.920 --> 00:53:12.960 the demos out there, it's like a big PlayStation exclusive. You know, 837 00:53:13.119 --> 00:53:15.559 are people going to try it? Only thirty nine percent saying yes. 838 00:53:15.840 --> 00:53:17.039 I wonder if this is a game that's going to need more word of mouth 839 00:53:17.519 --> 00:53:21.599 going ahead? Is this something that you're interested in? On the other I've 840 00:53:21.760 --> 00:53:24.639 learned about so literally literally hearing about it now. I mean that's again we 841 00:53:24.639 --> 00:53:28.360 were talking about marketing and not finding out of the games. You know, 842 00:53:29.119 --> 00:53:30.920 I didn't have a clue and I worked in the industry. So yeah, 843 00:53:30.960 --> 00:53:36.119 so Stellar Blade is the one where if you see people arguing online about the 844 00:53:36.159 --> 00:53:38.559 way women look in video games, this is the one. This is the 845 00:53:38.599 --> 00:53:42.599 one that is getting people met and a lot of women are like, yeah, 846 00:53:42.760 --> 00:53:44.840 we want to talk about this, and a lot of weird dudes are 847 00:53:44.880 --> 00:53:49.280 getting very mad that anyone suggests that it's worth talking about, which is just 848 00:53:49.360 --> 00:53:52.519 frustrating. So yeah, that's where we're at with all that. All right, 849 00:53:52.639 --> 00:53:54.599 we have another pull question we're going to get to in a second. 850 00:53:54.639 --> 00:53:57.840 Before we do that, Steve, why don't you tell people where they can 851 00:53:57.880 --> 00:54:00.559 find you on the internet what you have going on and let's remind them once 852 00:54:00.639 --> 00:54:06.159 more about the Able Gamers Gala. Yeah, people can find me Steven spawn 853 00:54:06.360 --> 00:54:09.960 spelled just like it. Below the screen is Pohan just about anywhere, our 854 00:54:10.079 --> 00:54:14.760 slightly defunked Twitter being the main place I like to hang. But you know 855 00:54:14.920 --> 00:54:21.960 it's it's a muskrat village now, so take it as you will. But 856 00:54:22.920 --> 00:54:25.559 the real reason that I'm here today and Jeff is putting up with me Shenandigans 857 00:54:25.719 --> 00:54:31.199 is because of the Able Gamers Gala. The Gala is a really cool virtual 858 00:54:31.199 --> 00:54:35.880 event if you think starby Valley meets Zoom, where you're gonna get to go 859 00:54:35.920 --> 00:54:39.400 in and play in this two D environment where a bunch of your influencer friends 860 00:54:39.440 --> 00:54:45.320 like you know, Little Simsey and Pirate Software and Jeff Grove are going to 861 00:54:45.360 --> 00:54:47.119 be hanging out. So if you want to go hopefully bump into some of 862 00:54:47.119 --> 00:54:53.000 your favorites, buy a ticket online Able Gamers dot org Slash Gala and come 863 00:54:53.159 --> 00:54:59.039 check out all the festivities. We have a bartenders, livel unseeing character artists. 864 00:54:59.039 --> 00:55:00.599 It's going to be a lot of fun. This is a big party 865 00:55:00.719 --> 00:55:06.039 and it all supports gamers with disabilities. All proceeds going to support the missions 866 00:55:06.039 --> 00:55:09.400 of able Gamers and let us keep the lights on fantastic again. Check that 867 00:55:09.400 --> 00:55:14.000 out, everybody, ablegamers dot org slash Gala Dash twenty to twenty four if 868 00:55:14.039 --> 00:55:15.880 you want to just go there. But yeah, just go to ablegamers dot 869 00:55:15.960 --> 00:55:20.239 org. We'll be able to find it everybody. All right, let's see 870 00:55:20.239 --> 00:55:24.519 here the new poll question is which actually did I come with the poll question 871 00:55:24.559 --> 00:55:29.320 for today? You know, here's what I'm interested in. Now, did 872 00:55:29.360 --> 00:55:32.599 you play If you played the Stellar Blade demo, did you like it or 873 00:55:32.599 --> 00:55:35.960 not? Yes or no? And then of course I'll beody option there. 874 00:55:36.159 --> 00:55:37.480 I know I really didn't play it, so we'll get that up for you. 875 00:55:38.199 --> 00:55:43.639 We'll talk about that on the show tomorrow. Here on Giant Bombs, 876 00:55:43.679 --> 00:55:45.239 speaking a Giant Bomb, what do we have going on? I think today 877 00:55:45.280 --> 00:55:49.199 we are going to play some more tech in I'm going to get through the 878 00:55:49.280 --> 00:55:52.800 story mode of tech and I believe at least get much deeper into it, 879 00:55:52.880 --> 00:55:54.840 but will likely be able to see the end. And then there is no 880 00:55:54.960 --> 00:55:59.079 Blake Club today. Dan and Jan are on their way to WrestleMania, So 881 00:55:59.119 --> 00:56:02.119 instead we're going to do d Like Club, which is our series where we 882 00:56:02.199 --> 00:56:06.320 pick a game that we think another one of our coworkers likes and we make 883 00:56:06.360 --> 00:56:08.960 them play that. Mike is going to make me play Gamera for PlayStation one. 884 00:56:09.000 --> 00:56:12.199 He thinks I'm going to like that game a lot. I did get 885 00:56:12.239 --> 00:56:14.880 it ready, and I did take a peek at it, and it started 886 00:56:14.920 --> 00:56:19.840 immediately with an incredible FMV in full English, and I am very excited about 887 00:56:19.840 --> 00:56:22.679 it, everybody, So check that out. That'll be at like two thirty 888 00:56:22.760 --> 00:56:25.000 ish three pm today tech and will happen when I'm able to get it going 889 00:56:25.320 --> 00:56:30.280 again Jans out. We're figuring things out on the fly, and then tomorrow 890 00:56:30.519 --> 00:56:35.400 expect the voicemail dump truck Friday. Well UPF and BCR lookout for all of 891 00:56:35.440 --> 00:56:37.920 that. In the meantime, though, Steve Spawn, thank you so much 892 00:56:37.960 --> 00:56:40.920 for spinning today talking with me about video games. Man. I really appreciate 893 00:56:40.960 --> 00:56:44.800 it. Thank you for having me here. I appreciate to you. A 894 00:56:44.800 --> 00:56:47.039 big fan of yours is always, and I'll look forward to seeing you Saturday 895 00:56:47.079 --> 00:56:51.159 at four pm. Sounds good. Likewise, Steve, I'll be there. 896 00:56:51.559 --> 00:56:53.519 Everyone else you should be there as well. Check out able gamers dot org. 897 00:56:54.320 --> 00:56:58.400 All right, thank you, You're the best audience in gaming. Until 898 00:56:58.440 --> 00:57:00.920 next time, have a good one, take care of yourself and goodbye.