M hmm. It's Tuesday, September. The second Packs is over, but
we're still here for now, Well, some of us are still here.
Yeah, we're down to man, it's true. Drew Scandal's not here.
No, he is here. He's in the building. Yes, he's healthy.
Yeah, he's he's trucking along, he's cutting video. He's cutting video.
We shot video in Seattle that I have to go up on the website.
We did, and it will go up, yeah, faster because of
his absence from this podcast. I'm Brad Shopmaker. It's true. You're Jeff
German. Yes, still yes, this post Packs Landscape. That's right.
I did not change my name. You have held firm to your identity.
Yeah, no, my identity is fine. Dan Reichert, on the other
hand, Hey, that's me, that's is it. Yeah, I'm still
the same guy, is it really? Yep? Okay, you didn't leave
Packs changed, well transformed. I think the rumble might have changed me a
bit that I kind of reflect on my life and what's important, the choices
you've made. Yeah. So now, yeah, I've got a year of
reflection, or I guess less than that. If we're doing it again at
Packs East, but I just I gotta think about my place in life.
Yeah, yeah, you need to. You need to nail down what your
wrestling name is, because I feel like every time you get announced it changes.
Like I think dirty Dan Reichert was the last one I heard. I
think that's the one I hear the most. Yeah yeah, okay with that?
Yeah that works? Yeah, yeah, okay, that's appropriate. Do
you feel especially dirty? I mean, like like literal dirt, I mean
in a wrestling context, and like Rick Flair, dirty is player in the
game. Yeah, of course it doesn't. But doesn't having dirty right in
your name lock you into like a permanent heel position. No, Rick Flair
is always the dirtiest player in the game, even when he was a baby
face. Yeah yeah, yeah, what you just you just kind of cheat
to win? Hell Eddie Garrow, did it? Is that is baby face
like like an official like the sub sub tier of the face category. No,
that is just the full Oh okay, yeah, it's why they say
face. Okay, because they mean because nobody wants to go around saying baby
face old time. Nope, unless you're h you run the record label.
Yeah yeah, but they just call him baby Okay, really yeah, I
didn't know that or this baby face like the R and B singer whip Appeal.
Okay, I think I'm out of my death here. Yeah. So
yeah, PAX is over. We're back yep in San Francisco, video games
happened. Yeah, yeah, PAX PAX was I don't know, because fun.
Yeah, yeah, I got Yeah, I had fun. I think
I had fun. Trying to gather your thoughts. Yeah, and we we
did more stuff. You know. There was the Friday night thing that we
had, the Saturday night panel, and then the wrestling panel that the Dan
and I were on. Uh, I didn't see you there. I was.
I was there just kind of just helping with logistics and stuff, I
mean the back stage. The manager usually hangs out in the back. Yeah.
I made sure everything's running sweetly. Yeah. I was there kind of,
you know, with with my client, Jock doctor track Suit. He
is, uh, he has a he has some special needs, so I'm
usually in the back monitoring the police band and making sure that, you know,
everything's kind of gonna stay on the up and up for him. Yeah,
that thing was. The thing was pretty fun. Uh, I was
silly. Is that that's on the internet, right? People? Can watch
that. Yeah, it's I mean it broadcast live on Twitch and then some
people have ripped it off Twitch and assembled it and stuff like that onto various
YouTube channels. Excellent. You know, we're like, we're not going to
post. It's not our panel. Like Aaron Tritz from Harmonics does most of
the the booking on that, I guess, so it's kind of his his
thing, so it's not ours to archive. But but yeah, it's out
there. Yeah, that was a fun panel. Give it a watch if
you haven't seen it. It's the what is it just the packs some fourteen
It's it's out there and it's out and about. I was a little disappointed
talking to you afterwards that it sounds like we are locked into the N sixty
four era of wrestling games for those things. Well, I don't know.
I was talking to mister Tritz afterwards, and you know, he's got some
some ideas. Yeah, but also he didn't want to think about it because
he spent some time thinking about this one. He's just like he said,
people keep coming up to me with ideas for the next one. I'm like,
fuck off, Like we just did this one. You don't let me
live my life for one week to start planning the next. Right, so
he puts a lot of work into that, as much work and thought as
he puts into it. I'm pretty sure Dave Lang has everyone beat. You
might be right. He really, I mean, heats a lot of it.
He put a spend against it. Yeah, he commits yeah hard,
absolutely, So it is probably like it's it's definitely the most theatrical of panels
at Packs. I think it's hard to probably it's hard to imagine another panel
being more of a show than that. Yeah, I get you're probably right.
I don't know. That's yes, it's except maybe ours. The whole
stage is just covered in glass and skittles and stuff at the end, right,
Yeah, like I had to kind of cleaned it up really quickly.
Whatever. The next panel was got a it's full of donut like real hard
he did. Yeah, he said his sinus is just just donuts all day
the rest of the day. That's all right, Oh man, there are
worse fates. I suppose you guys stayed at Packs a day longer than me.
Yeah, I left on Sunday Monday. Okay, did you guys get
up to anything else after I got out of there? It was an Italian
restaurant at a mall. Okay, I went to some folks. Yeah,
I got chicken nuggets at Windy's at the airport. You ate chicken nuggets?
What Rampton barbecues? When I at the airport, I went to the Wolfgang
Pucks because I appreciate gourmet food, and I got a pepperoni and mushroom pizza
hole the mushrooms. So it was pepperoni pizza. Yeah, Okay, that's
good. They put like chunks of like onion and tomato on the pizza without
saying, hey, this has onions and tomatoes on it. I mean,
I think that's a really fucked up thing. That is. Are chunks of
tomato really that far off from tomato sauce at that point? They just don't
don't They just kind of blend in, and so there's like amazing covering.
I mean, I could tell you that they were in there, so that
then by the fault, they did not blend in. Yeah. I love
tomato sauce, but actual chunky tomatoes. It's just the grossest thing in the
world. It's a textural thing. They got a lot of vitamins. Ee
though they're good for you. Yeah, I could just take vitamins, you
know. Yes, I suppose that's true. Yeah, and I do.
Yeah, to care of yourself, I do. Okay, Yeah, did
you guys make make your way around the show floor anymore? Is there anything
that stood out to you that you saw that we haven't already talked about?
Because I think we Yeah, I think we've we were kind of between.
I mean, adding that extra Friday event gave us like spot to talk about
the So that was actually the weird thing. Like I woke up Saturday morning
and started thinking about our panel for the first time and realize, like,
oh, we like all burned, like all of our what's on the show
floor talk last night? Right except for fire Watch? Except for fire Watch?
Well, nobody knows exactly what fire Watch is? Is it gone Home
plus fire Here's my takeaway from sitting on that panel. All I know about
it is the Alimas thing and that you can throw a boombox into a lake.
That's literally all I know. It's a good start. That sounds like
a pretty great game. That's a good start. Uh, those are strong
fundamentals. I don't want to be too reductive, but yeah, it is.
It definitely has some some things in common with Gone Home in terms of
like it's just kind of storytelling techniques. Yeah, okay, it's a lot
of voiceover, you know, because you're I think they did say you will
physically encounter other people at some point in the game, but it seems like,
you know, your relationship with your superior Delilah is primarily over the radio.
Right. Wait, didn't you say you ran into some delinquent kids at
the lake? They were so far off in the distance. One thing.
I was sitting at the other end of a long table looking at a laptop,
so I couldn't see exactly what they look like, but you couldn't physically
you could swim across the lake and get to them, and it looked like
they were represented as just I mean, they were only like a few pixels
tall, so you were you were like hollering at these kids, but you
weren't walking up to them and harassing him or whatever. But it seems like,
again not to be too productive, but it seems like Gone Home plus
maybe a little more mechanical variety in terms of the way you interact with the
environment and stuff like that. You know, they made the metrooid comparison of
like, oh, you know, you'll get more gear over the course of
the game, which gives you access to more of the wilderness, you know,
like climbing gear or something. You know, like if you need to
scale a cliff and get up to somewhere high, like you would need the
appropriate use item on object venturing. Yeah, there's more climbing and a little
more physicality to it than you know, Gone Home essentially was kind of just
if you want to bring down the gameplay, Yeah, it was just walk
around and pick things up and read them right, And this is you know,
similarly focused on telling us a cohesive story, but a little more active
in the environment I think. And also you're you're building your relationship with with
the Lilah. It sounded like, you know, you're kind of making some
choices here and there about how you respond to her. Okay, so it's
not one hundred percent a set story. You do have some agency and kind
of how you develop your character. It looks cool. I'm really looking forward
to it. It's got some neat ideas. It seems like an interesting way
to evolve like a first person narrative game you know, without yeah, without
just like throwing some bullshit combat in there just to pad it out. Well,
I mean, who knows, maybe you'll fight a bear at some point.
We didn't really know. What if you fight a fire that's true.
What if you fight like a beat, like a bear that's on on fire?
Yeah? What a fire bear. It's a bear made out of fire.
It's got nothing to lose. Fire could just take any form it wants,
so it turns into a bear to a bear. They have that in
Scooby Doo Wrestlemanian Mystery. That's the enemy as a fire bear. Yeah.
See. Wow, there's precedence man. Okay, what else did we see
it? Packs I saw. I can't remember if I talked about this on
either of the panels, but Evolve that was one of the main things that
you three. Did you get to Did you get to play it? Yeah,
it's awesome. I played as the monster the Goliath, and that was
one of the main things I really wanted to check out of the three,
but I wasn't there this year, so I got to play a full round
just the Goliath. Oh. I should have gone with you, because I
came out of the three wanting to just play more Evolve it's awesome. It's
great. Did you play as the monster? No, I didn't get too
I played. I think it's called a solid whatever, the kind of heavy
damage dealing classes. Yeah. Yeah, No, it's just super fun going
around and killing weird dinosaur things and eating them and you know, going into
a corner and evolving and everything, and you really do feel super powerful.
Yeah, when you're playing the monster. I mean, but but at the
same time, like the monster is not invincible, like you have to run
away, you have to pick. Yeah, we we took it down.
I mean, granted, we had a we had a developer behind us telling
our four man team like how to tackle the situation, right, but we
yeah, we took the monster down. Like you have to be smart as
the monster and no, because you know when you when you go to evolve,
you you're vulnerable. And yeah, it's it's you have to be careful.
You got a no win to actually like you know, face off against
the four people because like right after you evolve, you don't have shield or
anything, and as you're eating more or whatever, it's like, okay,
I'm right before, I have all to the next stepsode let me attack them
now. Yeah. Yeah, it seems like a lot of cat and mouse
in there, and kind of no one when to pick your battles. Yeah,
when you're you're your strongest. They were given out codes there for the
big alpha, so what they're calling it. We've reached a point now where
open alpha, closed, alpha, close, Like all the real terms have
become so meaningless that they're just like this will let you play in the big
alpha. The term beta has really fallen out of favor. Yeah, lately,
it's like you've never seen like beta exclusive about Beata. Beata just means
demo. No, let me in the alpha where the monster is just a
gray box, right, Like it's like you just lease people into a real
alpha. Like like these words no longer imply anything about the state of development.
They're just a prestige term for how early you get in that game.
You're so special you get to play with the early alpha if that game is
in an alpha state, when they let people play it, considering when it's
gonna ship like Q one or something. Now, yeah, like February,
Like that game is not an alpha. Yeah, that's fucking stupid. That's
stupid. It's terrible. Marketing is marketing doesn't care what words mean all know
that. Nope, they really heard marketing people here talk about our restaurant and
call it an activation and I don't know. I'm in physical pain right now.
I don't even know. It's like, oh, yeah, our activation.
You're just like you just nod your head and go yes, of course,
my stomach yeah, ah man, that's they yep, they just they
just redefine words willy nilly at their pleasure. That's that's the wonder of marketing.
But you get to just make sit up. There was a time there
where I was like, man, it actually looks like kind of fun to
this word. This word means what I say. It means. I could
just make up garbage all day long and I could totally do that. Yeah.
Yeah, that game. I'm looking forward to that. Uh. I
had some concerns when I played at D three though about the early game,
Like the early part of the match for the human players seems like a lot
of just running toward the monster. Yep, Like all it is because you
can't afford to let it like farm to use like a MOBI term like and
definitely you know you can't let it just eating animals and leveling up. You
gotta keep like harassing it as much as you can, but also you want
to try to find like whatever the elite creeps are. If we're just gonna
keep talking about MOBI terms and deny them h and yes, deny them.
Well also when you kill the elite ones, perks pop out, oh for
you? Yeah okay, so maybe okay, And since it was our first
time, maybe we just didn't get that deep into what our other options were.
If there are other things you can do besides just running in a straight
line towards the monster than that. So I think I think there is an
active denial there in that you are denying the monster right ability to get some
bonus, and you're getting selling the elites. Yeah, okay, that sounds
cool then uh well it stupid, stupid Lael or not. I'm looking forward
to whenever that alph opens up. Yeah, like to put some big time
into that. Yeah. The card that I was handed said, I think
the one that lasts is that the one that lasts more than like two days.
Probably not. That's the other thing is nothing lasts any length of time
no more, which I think for some of this stuff is smart because like
you would just burn out on it. Yeah. Maybe in a way that
might impact people's interest in the full game, right, like if people were
able to play that Destiny beta for like another week or something. Yeah,
like uh like initially when enough content here to stitch this long, right like
initially when that thing they SuDS gonna run for like five days or whatever,
I was like, that's nothing, Like, how am I even gonna check
it out? But I've I've seen like form chatter from some people saying like,
yeah, I kind of got my fill from that beta, now I'm
not gonna buy it weird, So yeah, I guess it's it's gonna walk
into tight rope packs. What else was there? We got to play gang
Beasts against the guys who make a game Beasts. Yes, that was bone
Loaf, that is. I don't know that i've properly. I think that's
a really fun were expressed my adoration for the name bone Loaf. It's really
good, especially because their logo is just like it's like a bone loaf.
Yeah, yeah, I guess I've never heard that called a bone loaf.
Well I hadn't either, but it looks like one. It's just a big
old hung of meat with a bone stone sticking through it and it's a real
final fight look at life restoring sort of thing. Yeah. Yes, I
guess this is the bill that's on early access right now, I think so.
Yeah, I guess I heard some people complaining about some changes to the
physics and stuff. Yeah, I didn't really feel that. I felt it
felt different to me, but it felt like more wild but also a little
more controllable. I felt like lifting people up worked a lot better. Yeah,
I wasn't. I wasn't in any way having trouble doing what I wanted
to do. Yeah, And a lot of the bounce came from the ability
to kind of climb. Yeah, I felt like I was kind of climbing
up people to get away from them. Yeah, it was like a really
fun, weird tactic. I haven't mastered the climbing stuff yet because it seems
I don't like they said you have to double tap buttons to do it properly
and stuff like that, which is kind of sort of thing you just want
to practice with her. Generally, like the controls in that game are super
tactile, you know. It's it's all about like how the your limbs interact
with with surfaces and stuff like that. So like to put kind of an
arbitrary like double tap mechanic onto something, kick anyone where kind of got a
place to me in there now. No, I totally didn't remember that that
was in there because the lift button has changed to why, which is also
the lift your arms up in cheering like taunt position, which actually I think
makes more physical sense. That's what I mean, is exactly. That's what
I mean. You literally just use the two punch buttons someone or not right
and the lift button to do it. Yeah, we'll have to try that
stuff. They've got all the like the health and stamina bars turned off now,
which makes stuff like the kicking a little weird to use, because if
you're playing gang beasts at a high level, huh, Like I am sure
you want to. I mean you want to, you know, wear people
down because you know they get knocked out briefly. Yeah, and that's when
they can't struggle when you can pick them up and throw them. Yeah.
Yeah, so you want to you want to make sure that you're hitting him
and kicking him at the right time to take him down and then just toss
him over the reil. Yeah, it was weird. It was weird on
like Twitter or even in person this weekend, seeing so many people like like
awakening to the reality of Gang Beasts because it feels like we've been playing it
for ages. Yeah yeah, yeah, but build, it's been around,
it's been you know. It was like I think I want to say it
was on the Sura or something, but I think you just download it freely.
It was on the green Light. Yeah, I think it was on
green Light when we found it. Yeah, so they cleared green Light.
They're up on Steam now, Yeah, for sale. Yeah, as an
early access thing. They were saying they want to eventually have like sixty levels
in that thing. That's saying, So that's crazy. Yeah, it looked
like they've got the controller issues solved in that build. I mean if they're
if they're running an eight player game, then yeah, probably, But even
just stuff like binding the buttons that was always broken in the alpha. Yeah,
Like seeing that thing be a little more solid in terms of just usability
is kind of nice. That's how games work, I guess, So that's
a real alpha controller doesn't work right. Yeah, we will definitely do a
video with that soon. Got to introduce Young Record here to the Magic game.
You gotta look at it. Yeah, I haven't got to look at
the older version even if you've never played it, right, No, I've
been intentionally saving it. When we get to do the official I feel like
you've You've brought it up like three times since you got here, and every
time they're like, Nope, you gotta wait. From the looks of it,
it looks incredible. It is. It is amazing. I think I'd
love it the best wrestling game. It is absolutely the best wrestling game ever
made, to the point that I feel like the next Packs rumble, they
should just put a right, We should bug those guys to just put a
Battle Royal mode in there. Oh man, they should do that, and
then I will demand that I'd be included in that thing. Yeah, it
was. It was fun to meet those guys. They're very a spirited group
of people. Yeah, and as you would as you would expect from the
people that got picked up by Double font. Yeah. So, like they're
putting it out now, it seems like a match made in heaven. Uh
yeah, pretty much. Yeah. Yeah, uh so that was fun.
Yeah. Gosh, I don't know. Packs is too big and dense and
loud and busy, and it's hard to keep track of stuff. It is
definitely things I wish I had seen that I didn't, but yeah, there
was I wish I had just spent more time walking around kind of writing down
names of games so that now that we're back we could kind of look at
them. But a lot of them were in the Indie Mega booth and that
you'd find lists and I can just go like, okay, that was that
game and and look that stuff up. Sort of wanted to know a little
more about the Beamon's new game. But the Game four, calling the game
four t shirts that said Game four on it, It's like, come on
at this well, at this point, I would almost like it better if
they just shifted his Game four. Maybe I don't know. I mean Game
three didn't do it for me. No, so i't a block. Yeah
I liked I liked the presentation of that game. Yes, yeah, yeah,
that's opening when the art style that the opening was incredible. I thought
I liked the way it looks. Yeah that was about it. Yeah,
play it was. It was okay. But yeah, so this is a
completely different game this, I would hope. So this is this looks like
a hex based turn based strategy game. Oh really, we're literally moving around
to hex mail. Okay, I haven't seen anything about them, so yeah,
so let's see more about that. That's cool. I'd like to see
them do something dramatically different. Yeah, I guess. YEP, I guess
that's all I can think of from Packs. It's possibly time to close the
book. I guess. So. I don't know born was there playable like
there was, you know, just some of the bigger stuff. Saw that
war playing forts rising too, and uh, you know they they showed off
some of the new Halo Master Chief collection stuff or some stuff they haven't shown
for that and it's some panel and they announced that Saints Row Games. Yeah.
We talked about that a lot on Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. If
you want our full thoughts on packs, make sure you watch watch the what
do we call on the Friday Night thing, it's on the site. It's
on the site. Yeah. And the note cards yeah yeah, and then
yeah, there's feis freously cutting away on the the legit panel video, so
that'll be up to Yeah, if you want our full thoughts on everything.
Yeah, and I'm in that state right now where I'm wondering if I'm going
to get sicker. Yeah. We already know people who were buckling to the
post packs. My boys is a little thrashed from just all the yelling and
stuff. That's why I flew home. I don't feel actually sick why I
flew home on Sunday. I mean for me, like Sunday was so relaxed
anyway. Yeah, I guess I could see that it wasn't still sleeping in
my real bed Sunday night. And yeah, Monday off for Lamber Day was
kind of nice. I'm waiting for Pink. I had to set in since
I did a bunch of Oculus games. Yeah they had little baby wipes though.
Yeah, so I don't know if they had that last time there was
some epidemic or whatever. See anything impressive on there, just the Yeah,
the stuff I talked about on the panel that you know, Lucky's Tale was
one of the first like platformers I've I've done. I don't think I talked
about eve Valkrie, but yeah, I played the newest build of that,
and I still like that a lot. So there's something weird about like being
able to look down and see your body and like it makes you want to
like sit in that position. Because I had my legs crossed when I started
and I was like, wait, this looks weird because it feels like my
legs across but it looks like they're not. But yeah, being able to
look behind and look at the cockpit and everything, it's you know, it's
it's super cool. Still like a lot. Yeah. The Enemy Starfighter is
another one. Like, you know, any any game in a cockpit is
gonna work really well with the headmounted display. I was watching some people play
that and it looks awesome. All right, well, later packs twenty fourteen,
Yeah, packs, Prime packs, West, packs, Seattle whatever.
Yeah, see you see you in six months packs? All right, not
even that much if we go to San Antonio, what are you talking about?
Yeah? Pack South is like January or and so wait really I think
so you know, I know when it is. I mean the other thing,
Oh about us going Yeah, I mean why not? I don't know.
That's a lot of packs. Yeah, I don't know. We'll see.
Uh, no decisions have been made. We're just gonna start following packs
around like it's the Grateful Dead. Yeah right, I don't know. Yeah,
it seemed like I was talking to people that were exhibiting at packs this
time, kind of talking about San Antonio. It seemed like everyone was really
unsure about it and just how big it's gonna be you and how much a
matter like you know, if they're gonna go o. It was just like,
I don't know, like the timing of it's a little big our game
and so you know that we don't really have anything to show, so we
might not go you know, of course. I mean if you're an indie
working on a more fluid schedule or you don't have a specific quarter you have
to hit, yeah, maybe you're more likely to have something worth showing there.
But but yeah, it is a weird time for the well not next
year though, because so many games got pushed into like February March that yeah,
there'd be some stuff. There will be a ridiculous list of kay can
bring evolving. Yeah, like big games that it still won't be out.
Yeah, that'll be the way they launched the big Elpha, right, like
blood Bourne will be a month off a bunch of stuff, right, What
else is going on? Guys? Oh jeez, let's see. I played
some games right before packs and then kind of got back and tried. But
Dance Central Spotlight is out, Okay, that's sort of just came out of
nowhere. Yeah, apparently it's surprised the people responsible for its release that it
come out day early. I got that impression it was supposed to be out
today. It actually it got out last night at some point. But even
with the like kind of the day early release, I didn't realize it was
so close to release in general. Yeah, that's the thing is when they
say a game is going to be out in September, Yeah, you think
it's like forever away, and then now it's September two, and there we
are, Oh god it is Yeah, video games are back. Madden came
out, it did. Madden came out like that snuck by me. Like
we ran a review of it, and I was like, oh right,
Madden. Right, it doesn't have like the it doesn't have the alarming quality
that he used to yeah where Madden comes out and you're like, oh go
out here we go, yeah, like brace yourselves. Yeah. So I
played some Dance Central Spotlight. I played a little bit of it. I
was just like, ah, you know, download this real quick. Like
I don't have a connect set up in a like a large space, but
I decided to just like turn it on in my bedroom and just see if
it worked at all. I figured it wouldn't. It totally did better than
because I think we all remember your travails with the previous Dance Central product.
Yeah, that thing didn't work. Yeah, very well, you know.
And it was one of those things where it's like, I'm not really sure
why, Like part of it was probably because there's a skylight in the room
I was playing it in, so maybe sunlight interrupts the connect. I don't
know, Like the old Connect was so finnicky. That's the thing, you
know. Now we're on ostensibly a much better piece of hardware. Yeah,
so so that's the thing is. I played in a very confined space,
kind of standing not dead center against the camera, kind of off to the
side, like far back, but like still much closer to the camera than
you would ever expect for old Connect stuff. And it was still like picking
me up. I was still like effectively dancing. No major issues with it
misreading your movements, no, no, no. The other thing I realized
while playing through this one is the thing that was was getting in the way
with me all along is that the body parts glow red when you are when
you don't have them in the right place. But they glow red in such
a way that I can't see oh wow, huh, And there's no option
to change that. No, no, that doesn't seem like there's any color
blind option in there, so like I cannot get that feedback, and they
haven't changed that in this new one, same same shade of red. No
no, but the tutorial kind of called it out in a way that like
showed the red in a way that like I'm like staring at the screen and
noticing like, okay, I can see it. Like it's one of those
things where well, I don't know's it's it's really hard to describe, I
suppose for for people that don't see things this way or whatever, But it's
a thing that if I'm staring at it extremely intently and looking for a change,
I can see like, Okay, that has changed, and I can
see the red, but in the heat of the moment, like in the
heat of action, totally lost, not enough to get your stay flashy background
all this other stuff, like no part of it stands out. So so
that's still the case with this. So yeah, I don't know, like
it's it seems like it works well and it's very stripped down you know,
there's no like time travel, storylining and that stuff. Like it's just like
here is a shell. It is ten dollars, It comes with some songs.
It is they are going to do DLC. It is very focused on
just like here you should dance. It seems like the right way to do
that thing. It seems like how they should have issued some of that stuff
all right. Is it like here's a digital thing that you can constantly add
on to instead of it's a really low initial buy in to see if you're
into it and then if you if you are, there's a lot more content
presumably there, right, yeah, instead of just like here's go buy a
disc and then we're gonna put a sequel to that disc, like you know,
like it always just felt like that was well, I mean they had
to do that because that's where the market it was, and probably in some
ways still is of just people not understanding how to buy things digitally. As
the song line up, I forget, it's like ten songs. Sure is
there a whole store available now or is it they've got some stuff up there
now? And they're saying that like when they so if you bought DLC for
old Dance Central. It's not all coming in today, but like, if
they add those songs later to the new one, you will get them for
free if you if you purchase them previously. That's nice. So that that,
but that's not even a guarantee that every single piece of DLC will come
over. It just means that if they do, you'll get it. I
don't know, Uh, yeah, I don't like. Yeah, that's that's
always been a really popular dancing franchise, So it makes sense for them to
do another one, even if like and it's like kind of a bad time
for it because now, like where we're at right now, I don't know
that there's even a way to get a Connect if you're going out to buy
an Xbox One. They like the new Connect, the standalone Connect is not
on sale. They I don't know if it's all the bundle is like missing
or what wait, you mean the original? I haven't seen any other really.
Yeah, I was gonna say, even if it was out there,
I have to imagine that the lion's share of new Xbox One sales or the
three nine nine model. Yeah, and I'm looking to buy an Xbox One
bundle, and I see there's the Madden one that's out now, and I
think there's like Advanced Warfare and senseet Overdrive coming in the next couple of months.
And yeah, none of them have to connect, right, right,
but you already have a connect, so I do have a connect. So
you're a set. You're in an odd situation. They're gonna they're gonna sell
that stuff separately for one fifty, right yeah, which is kind of crazy,
right. Yeah. I want to say there was some quote from like
Phil Spencer where he was like, well, I gotta sell it for more
than you can get it into a bundle. Well, I mean they're probably
taking a hit on it, which I would say, no, you don't.
Well no they don't, but you know they're probably taking hit on it
by including it in the box. So sure, yeah, but it is
you know, like from a consumer standpoint, you know, it's like,
oh, I'm taking a fifty dollars penalty by not getting it right up front.
Yeah, but you know, also there's it seems like there's less of
a way to get it up front because all of the skews they're shipping don't
have it in there. Do you think, I mean, do you think
we're moving toward a future where there just is no four ninety nine Xbox One
anymore. I think, so, what's happening? Well? No, what,
there's ninety nine and one that comes with a tarabyte hard drive, and
I have called that one that's the Call of Duty console. Is the only
one with the tarabyte drive? Yeah, I didn't so far. Almost like
they said, like, man, the design of this came out really ugly.
We better find another way to make people excited about it. Let's put
a bigger hard drive in it. Okay, m but does that bundle not
have of the connect then? I don't think it does. I thought it
did. I don't think any of the bundles do. Huh. That doesn't
seem like a great deal then, No, just a game and a bigger
hard drive for an extra hundred bucks a game sixty Yeah, but the Sunset
over Drive bundle is three ninety nine, so you're basically getting a game for
free. But it's something Overdrive and not Call Duty. I would much rather
play sid Overdrive. I just pre ordered the I mean, it's the first
party, third party thing. You know, they can throw They can give
you a first party game for free. Sure, sure, Activision has to
get theirs. I just pre ordered the Destiny white PS four bundle, and
I was kind of surprised because that's four fifty so isn't Yeah, so I'm
only saving like ten bucks, I guess. So you like the white PS
four, you know, I figured out, let's go for a change.
You know, before I had all the black consoles, and the white controller
looks pretty cool, right, The controller looks cool. I saw it.
They had the PS four A and the Xbox, both the white models that
packs them if you go saw them. Yeah, and I saw the Xboxes.
I didn't see the display cases. I don't know they look all right.
I had a white PS three controller, uh that I bought back in
OH seven that I imported from Japan and used that all the way through the
rest of that generation. So I might actually just get a white PS four
controller. You know, I think the console itself is going to look better
as far as not collecting dust. Yeah, you know, black, I
mean it would get real dusty, so I don't know, I'll give it
a shut. Ultimately, it's the color of the console and doesn't matter that
much. You're nerely ever going to see it, so whatever. But you're
right, but whatever, if you have options and yeah, you're buying one
right now? Sure, why not? Yeah, I will probably check out
dance Central. You said there's like a fitness mode in there. I know
they have that in the past. But yeah, you have to I think
you have to unlock the additional routines. So it kind of starts you out
with like basic routines and you collect moves by get by doing them perfectly,
and I think as you collect them, you unlock the additional routines for that
song. It's like eight routines per song or something like that. They've got
like a couple of different fitness options and stuff like that. So uh,
yeah, I don't know. It seems like, you know, if you
like dance Central and stuff like this seems like a smarter way to sell it
and just like, you know, taking advantage of the better technology to let
you play it in a smaller room. So sure, I think that that
sounds all right, Yeah, play anything else. I messed round with the
SIMS four that's out today. I don't like barely enough to even talk about.
Like I created a character and then she was walking around a house and
then I had this I like, well, I guess you could take a
shower and then I was like, I don't want to do this, and
then just hit all F four and walked away. Shooter. Huh. I
don't know if it's saved the game. I don't know. It's just like
nope, nope, nope, didn't. I mean, I haven't played a
SIMS game since the first one. I played some SIMS too, but barely
any. But I mean, yeah, like I got way into SIMS one
and that's about it. But I mean, starting this off, does it
just feel like a SIMS game? Like I don't know how much they could
traits and stuff. It was just like, you know, some stuff like
that. In SIMS three they had like aspirations or whatever, right, so
this has like you know, you you assign a handful of personality traits that
would make them better or worse at certain things. There's like a personality trait
that's just insane, which makes the sim talk to themselves and generally be erratic.
You can make them books smart. You can make it so they're quick
learners so they level up whatever stats faster. You can make them romantic so
if they don't, you know, they'll they'll be happy about relationship stuff and
and their happiness will drain if they are not near a relationship thing within a
certain amount of time or Yeah, and then from there there's like a subcategory
of like you want to be with as many partners as possible versus you want
to settle down. Okay, you know, all very human type of stuff.
I guess, I'm sure. And then it got to a point where
it's like, now, just design what the sim looks like. I just
don't care, like when it comes to that sort of stuff, Like,
I know, some people are just like they want to like they were,
They want to tell their story and they want to make their sims look a
certain way. I was just like, yeah, default, ladies, fine,
I don't know. Like I played around with the sliders a bit and
said, like, well, I can make her look like she got a
bunch of butt injections or not, like weird illegal back room hotel butt injections,
Like none of this looks, None of this looks right? Is that?
Is that you writing your own story? Starting to write my own story?
Also, I named her truck Stick, you know, which I felt
was a you know, it's ea game, it's miss truck still Okay,
she had a baseball hat. I don't know. Yeah, it's yeah,
I don't know if that thing is is ever for going to be for me
anymore. But I sure did play Sam's Won a lot. Yeah, it
was very novel at the time. It was like many many, many years
ago. Yeah, I just don't know if I want to hear any more
of that. But yeah, you know, there was nothing in the game
necessarily that turned me off of it and made me stop. It was more
of just like a It felt like an hours, hours, hours long commitment.
Right after I got off a plane, and I was just like,
nope, dip dip dip, and I had to shut it down, not
deal, could not deal. I propose that you not invest any more time
in the SIMS four until we sit down into a video. Yeah, let's
just discover it together, okay, yeah, all right, we can enjoy
discovery documented in you know, in real time. Yeah, we can discover
the SIMS four. You, me and truck Stick. Yeah, if those
saves carry over, I don't know, I might be on my home machine.
I don't know if they cloud save on Origin or not. I don't
think they do. All right, then then we'll create a new truck stick.
I guess, I don't know, Yeah that that's out there. I
don't know. It's the SIMS, Yeah, probably, I don't know.
There were a lot of people getting like really angry about like certain things that
were weren't in the game, just stuff like there's no pools, what you
can't mess around fibrows or you know, it's like weird stuff like that,
SIMS. SIMS have to go swimming at some point. Then you'd think,
I don't know, and then it's people, you know, because it's EA
and people like, well, you know, they're probably gonna sell you a
pool party pack later or whatever, SIMS for pool party. I'm yeah,
it's you know, not to discount that rage or whatever, because I'm sure
the people who are into the SIMS are obviously way fucking into it, and
so they have a reason to be outraged by that the same way I was
outraged Call of Duty didn't have headquarters. Sure, but it's pools. Come
yep. I don't know. I've I really don't know, like that that
might be a terrible fucking quick look. I just feel so far like removed
from that time of my life where I might have been willing to invest weekends
and weeks in the sims. That's it's just all lost on me at that.
You know, there's some value in seeing if it's something you could come
back to or not. Sure, Yeah, I guess we'll we'll find up
together. Somebody's got to do it. Yeah, anything else, No,
that's it. I got back and like messed around with Diablo on PS four,
like I'm having that problem now where they So they patched the PC version
of Diablo three. Yeah big with all that season stuff and all that,
and I kind of want to see that stuff. Yeah, but at my
level seventies on PS four and they're eventually going to bring that patch over.
So I wonder how long I did decide like should I get? What should
I do? Sure I would sit on it for a while. Yeah,
personally, I started a Demon Hunter on PS four, Yes, it started.
I didn't mess around with that. I really enjoy that class. I
saw really high level one that was just like dumping just crossbow shots out at
an alarming rate. That looks like fun. Yeah, so I just want
to try that. It felt it felt really weak early on. I felt
like I was just you know, it's just a range early game feels like
super weak because it's just like, you know, you have moves like fucking
drop caltrops to slow them, keep them from getting to you. And I'm
like, that's not the gameplay I want, but I'm gonna stick with it
a little bit. Sure him, Sure him. Enjoying the Crusader though,
Yeah, Crusaders Supersaders a fun class absolutely beefy tough. Yep, damn,
she don't take no shit. I think I made a good call for the
first time as far as storage options on a new console. Yeah. I
usually tell myself that when I get a new console, like, Okay,
I got the Vida on launch day eight gigs. That's a decent amount of
gigs. Then you go home and you like download Uncharted and four gigs or
whatever. This is gonna be a problem, especially with PS Plus and everything.
So I just got the new Vida with the Borderlands to bundle or whatever,
which I don't need Borderlines too. I'm not gonna play it on there,
but just with with PlayStation Plus and everything. In a lot of PS
one classics, I just it's one hundred dollars, which sucks ass. But
I got the sixty four Giga by memory cards is it is that what is
down too? That's I mean not that that's good, but it's better than
I thought because I paid the thirty two was like eighty when I got it.
Wow, I expected the hundred, I mean the sixty four to just
be like way over one hundred. But okay, no, I have like
an eight and two sixteens with my old one. It's like, this is
stupid. I have to like the label on this tiny little thing. Somehow
They're like, well, this is for all my classic games, and this
is for all my PS plus stuff. So now it's just like I can
just load up everything. Hopefully I don't need to do much of the like
kill Zone or everything. No you have on your account, No, but
all the Hotline Miamis and like, you know, get some fighting games on
there, A lot of indie stuff, as you know, hope I can
get all that stuff out there. I actually find that generally there's an inverse
proportion, or an inverse relationship between the size of a game on the Vida
and how much I want to play it. Yeah. Yeah, so like
typically the smaller it is, the more indie it is, the more I
actually am interested. The larger it is, the more likely you are to
look at it and go like, man, I'd rather play this on a
console. Yea, yeah, absolutely, Yeah that's the case with the Kills
oone game and all that stuff. It's just it's great not to worry about
that, because like I got the thirty two gig card for my three DS,
and like I just download everything, so you know, I've got all
these full games on there, and it's just so nice not have to worry
about it. I never have to look at how many blocks are left or
how many gigs I have left. So I'm pretty sure once I get everything
download it, I'm gonna be happy to have a bunch more space. Well
I'm afraid you're going to run into all sorts of trouble with your three DS
and your thirty two gigs and all this other stuff. Yeah yeah, Why
is that because you got the transfer it to a new system. Oh oh,
I know the LLL. Yeah, well I'll probably get that. I
don't think it's gonna be called that over here, no, yeah whatever is
like that's like they called it LLL. The old one was called ll there
too. Also, that's just like typical like Japanese parlance. For for for
extra large. When you go to Japan and get a go to McDonald's and
get a combo and the l size, it's not enough for you. They
have ll So this is gonna be like the four DS. Yeah used two?
Where used one? Yeah you transfer you go. It's tough time traveling
wow ds Okay, I'll definitely get that. I had to create a new
platform page. Yeah, not to just get into news here, but I
guess that's kind of well we are. Yeah, you know, we talked
about this some during the panel, so we can. I spent some time
yesterday creating a new platform page for new Nintendo three DS. So do you
call it? So? What do you we get? What max of four
characters for platforms? That's what I would have it too. I think,
you know, I said it during the panel and I'll say it again.
And I think if they had just called this thing the three DS, I
would have made a lot more sense to people. It's it's the slight iteration
on the existing platform that's still compatible, but a little bit faster, so
it will have a few exclusive things. What happens when they put out the
new two DS, Super two DS, Super Super two DS huh, I
don't. I mean, do you think they will? I don't know.
I can't. I have no idea. I'd be fine if the new three
DS did not have three D. I know they said that they fixed it,
and we first heard that, I was like, oh cool, I
can finally use it, realizing point and then I realizedeah, I'm probably STI
I'm not going to use it. And listen, if it totally totally works
the way they're saying it will, I might use it. But I don't
know. I never had a real problem with not being able to see the
three DS. So the idea that like it'll have a wider viewing angle,
like, that's nice, but it's not a huge change. You play with
three D on usually when I start a new game, I will turn on
three D and play with it for a while. And I was just like,
okay, I'm gonna get down to business now and just turn it to
a two D. Well. They made such a big deal when it was
coming out that Miamoto said some Latin awada about like, oh, well this
is gonna be It's not just a cosmetic thing. This is like games are
gonna be designed around this, and you're gonna need to use it. And
like, the only times I saw them actually utilized that were a couple of
little rooms in Mario three D Land. Yeah, we're like, oh,
one block would be kind of sticking out. And then and even there,
if you remember, there was a little like helper function where you can get
button to have it kind of reveal what the depth was. I mean,
I think it, but necessity it has to be cosmetic because there are people
out there who have a hard time seeing that stuff. And also now they're
selling a yeah now doesn't have three D, so you know, they kind
of can't rely on it. It seems like they wanted to build link between
worlds on a lot of that stuff, because there's a lot of real vertical
dungeons and you see link just buying up the floor to floor. But I
mean that's not really gameplay. That's kind of cosmetic. Yeah, yeah,
yeah, I don't know if I mean, I can almost see them not
doing a new two DS because maybe, you know, any any super important
core first party franchise is going to be compatible with the original installed base,
which is enormous, right, like any new Pokemon game or anything like that,
They're not no, because why would a third party then take advantage of
this split? Like little bit, if they don't make games that are new
three DS only, then that is a third parties certainly aren't going to be
incentivized to do it. Forget third parties. I'm saying that, like,
I mean that that is tens of millions of units that you are excluding from
potentially buying a game that except that a lot of them are gonna world those
you know, the people that bought a three DS now or you know,
they're the die hard people that will buy another one, but not necessarily kids
whose parents bought them a two DS and don't want to run out and buy
another. So I would think that like stuff that was like super kid oriented,
That's what I mean. I'm talking to stuff like Pokemon. Yeah,
so I mean when they finally get around and making a new Pokemon game,
maybe it's new three DS enhanced instead of exclusive to the new three DS.
But but we'll see. I don't know, Like I'm trying to think,
like what the number of Game Boy color only games were It got to be
a pretty big number eventually. Is that all the Clear ones were color only?
Yeah? Yeah, Like wasn't that Medal Black cartridges were playable on both
Awakening could be were Yeah, I think I remember, like the Medal Gear
Ghost Babble was color. I think color only. Yeah, there were quite
a few of them by by the time. I mean that thing had a
good run, right, you know, it got established and but you know,
the third party situation was very different at that point. So I don't
know that this is going to be something that third parties will get excited about.
I've kind of heard that the power bump kind of brings it a little
more in line with the Wii spec wise, and so oh yeah, sense
that Zeno Blade is the game is the first new three DS game, and
now it's because that's a that's a wee game, So it could put them
in a position to do some more we port work. Yeah, they could
do Mario Galaxy. That would be amazing. I don't know that would saw
actually be a pretty good and three D I saw a lot of people Yeah,
but wouldn't you rather than make a new one? Yeah? Yeah,
yeah. Yeah. Also I saw a lot of people talking like that version
of Zeno Blade based on the footage so far, is is like fairly compromised
visually. Oh, yeah. Okay, So like, I don't know that.
Do you really want like a kind of a bad looking version of Mario
Galaxy. I guess I want to Mario Galaxy. Yeah, but yeah,
it's I still want that thing. I mean it's I'm not saying it's entirely
rational, but I look at it with those super Famicom colored buttons. I
want them to stop. There going to have those when the kid comes here.
Man, it's not gonna have those when it comes. Just give me
this. I want them is going to have those when it comes. I
don't think so. No, it's gonna be called ZL and Z are still,
which is the stupidest thing in the world. And Nintendo is really good
at naming buttons. Yeah, really hated that plus and minus They still do
and minus buttons. I don't know. I mean the idea of a an
updated version of the Smaller form Factor with a good battery and some other stuff
kind of exciting. I guess the smaller form Factor has a slightly larger screen
really too, Okay, that makes it okay, but then the XL is
more or less unchanged. Okay, one of those weirdos that actually prefers the
smaller three days. Wow, I thought the XL is a huge upgrade.
Yeah, totally. I think you're crazy. Yeah, that is entirely possible.
I will allow for that. Yeah, I don't know, I just
did. I don't It will have it's built in NFC stuff so they can
do their amibo business. If the libraries get to a certain point, they
could, you know, maybe do the Skylanders and Infinity stuff without a portal.
I don't know if those are the same, if that talks to each
other, but I think they're in a really weird spot. Yeah, they
definitely When they had the Game Boy Color come out, like the software for
their handhelds was so unstoppable first party, that ton of third party support for
the Game Boy. You know, third parties were lining up. It's like
fuck it, man, Yeah I can't color. Sure, let's do it,
you know. Uh. And and I feel like the situation has largely
changed. Yeah, it's true. I mean, you know, things do
seem a little precarious for them, Like, yeah, the only thing I
will say that history has taught us is that, like every time you could
look at Nintendo and count them out, like they came back somehow, you
know, Like I feel like itsn't it. But it's never been like this.
No, I know, I knows that, and you're right, Yeah,
you're absolutely right, but it's never been like that. It's sure,
there are certain factors that are different at this time that are kind of scary
for them, but you never know totally. Yeah, And it's not like
they're like, you know, we're not sitting here like they're gonna go on
a business because they're doing this, Like no, obviously they have plenty of
money, but it's one of those things where like they kind of keep repeating
mistakes. You know. It's like, I think one of the large criticisms
that people have had for their entire product line right now is that the naming
is really fucked. You know, the WEU the three DS, the two
DS that you know, so they had a chance to really differentiate and try
to separate. They're handheld, and what do they do new three ds?
Yep, that's insane, Yeah, kind of you know, like Apple did
it and it sucked for them too. They didn't even release stick. They
still don't refer to that as like the new iPad. I don't think,
in fact, think it's just the iPad now, Well, it never said,
like the new iPad on the box, I thought it an iPad?
Okay, was it like the third one or something where they had a press
conference and like everyone was calling it the new iPad. I believe those case.
Yeah, now it was just the air right. Yeah. Yeah.
They had to find different ways to differentiate the product line just to make it
make sense, and Nintendo has completely failed to do that. I mean,
that's whatever. It's not a make or break because ultimately they're going to sell
it to people that are savvy and no games, because those are the sort
of people that are buying that system now and kids, which you know a
lot of kids try to stay in the loop. I'm sure they'll they'll figure
it out, and they're they're even being forthcoming about that. Now. There's
that quote Fromamoto floating around right now about like, yeah, we're not going
after the casual market anymore. Like that. They don't have it, you
know, like they know that they got it by, you know, with
a lightning strike. It wasn't like something that they necessarily set out to do
from the beginning. They just kind of made a lot of money and then
kind of leaned into it for a while. But yeah, I don't know,
like it's just a it's a it seems like a solid divide. I
don't know. I think that right analog nub looks like shit, yeah it
mouse things that you just like are never fun to use, Like imagine controlling
with the camera in the first game with that thing. Or button placement on
the shoulders looks a little. It's kind of strange for me. But you
know, maybe it's fine. I mean, it's one of the things where
it's not maybe it won't duplicate. You know, they have all the buttons
in the right places now to basically make a modern game pad. They're just
weird, you know, the shoulder buttons are not are not you know,
back or not back to back their side side by side. That right nub
looks like maybe the sea yeah, well no, and it looks like the
little it looks like a pencil eraser. Yeah they are they they're officially calling
like the sea stick, are they? Yeah? They did liking it to
those the sea stick on the the GameCube. I just like that then,
fine, but it looks more like I'm with you would be on a think
path or something absolutely the like from the nineties, and you're like this sucks.
Yeah, let's plug in a mouse. Ye so yeah, I don't
know. But and also they're changing to micro st so you won't be able
to just take your heart out and move it open. Well whatever, I
mean, yeah you oh wait, yeah, you're right, you will.
In that case, you'll have to you'll have to probably do their system transfer,
yeah, their formal system transfer process. Yeah, but you know,
SD cards are cheap. It's not the end of the world. Yeah,
yeah, yeah, it's it's not that bad. So yeah, well what
every case, we're not going to get a look at it for a while.
It's yeah, it's out in October in Japan, but it's not even
coming out here for who knows how long, right, I guess. The
only other thing is that they said off this year here. Yeah, for
Europe they said they dead definitively said twenty fifteen, and then North America they
said nothing. So yea, but obviously it'd be twenty fifteen. Indeed,
Well, unless anybody else got anything, I guess we should just keep talking
about news. Yeah all right, yeah, because I didn't. I played
spell Fall on the iPad. If you've guys have heard of that, I
haven't, so it's I cannot I'm trying to remember the name. I think
Backflip Studios is what they're called now. It's Dylan Job's company. It's the
guys who made you know, they used to be Lightbox, they made star
Hawk. Okay, it's you know they you know they've been Oh so is
this is this the ship combat thing they made? No, that's plunder not
I think it was their first game anyway, that came out a couple of
months ago ago. It's pretty fast to turn around like another game. Yeah.
I don't know if they must, I would assume they've probably split in
multiple teams or something. But yeah, I mean, you know, the
full story is obviously those guys were, or at least Job was around making
games on the PlayStation one ye all the way up through star Hawk, and
then they rebranded the studio and and refocused on iOS stuff god smaller. Yes.
Yes, I messed with plunder Notts back around E three and actually thought
it was really cool. But the deal breaker was that it required an active
Internet connection to play. Yeah, and I got it in time for E
three to play on like the plane and stuff, and then I couldn't and
I was like a never mind. Yeah, Spellfall does not have that requirement.
Uh, but it is rotten with like the worst free to play cliches
ever. But it's a fun game. Other than that, it's it's it's
a match three plus RPG, okay, but a lot heavier emphasis on the
loot. Like you you get you know, you equip specific items under your
character. You can get rooms to equip on those items. You know.
It's got a full on, kind of a full on loot system. And
the match three is a little interesting because you can move. You can basically
swap any two pieces on the entire board. They don't have to be adjacent.
Okay, so the way they balance it is you only have like this
may change, but at least right now, I get five moves in a
row. So like, you still have to maximize what you're doing to you
know, get the most out of your turns because eventually the enemy will get
an attack and do a ton of damage to you. But it's got all
the you know, it's got timers all over the place. Like you don't
heal between battles, so you either have to spend currency or real money to
heal or wait x minutes for your character to heal stuff like that. It's
got like maybe the most egregious offense that I've ever seen in a game like
this. It's got an endgame calendar, and every consecutive day that you play
the game, you get like a better and better reward, up to the
point that like, if you play at twenty days in a row, you
get like a like a legendary or an epic loot drop on the twentieth day.
Yeah, but like when you first see that calendar, it's like,
play every day for more rewards. Make sure notifications are turned on. Yeah,
I was like, I like this game. It's pretty well made.
But speaking of games that I don't I but keep playing. I've been continuing
to play w WV Super Lovely. I now have an epic Alberto del Rio.
I don't know who that is, but that sounds no longer with the
company that game. They rebalanced some of the stuff with their weird King of
the Ring mode and it just kind of continues to be. So here's the
secret, here's my secret tip. Okay, here you go. This podcast
is going to have real news information that you can use. Uh, don't
buy cards in w w E Supercard Okay, don't spend money. I won't
period, because when you do, you end up getting cards that are better
than the rest of your deck, which means you start competing against people in
a higher tier before the rest of your cards have leveled up to a point
where you are competitive. So you you buy a better card and then all
of a sudden, you're just losing match after match after match, or you
know, like or at least tossing it up more matches than than you would
have been before, so you're getting fewer cards to feed to your cards to
train your cards. So unless all your cards are leveled up and you're just
not getting a good draw that you want, just reiterate, don't spend money
on w W supercard again, because it levels you into a tier that you
you don't want to be in. I'm all good, yeah, Dan,
don't spend money, Okay, I won't. All right, great, all
right, well yeah, let's uh, let's cover the sparse amount of news
that'scurred since we last talk in the microphones and packs. Yeah, uh,
I guess at this point the biggest thing is this kind of pre TGS press
conference that Sony had in Japan. Yeah, yeah, I watched it.
I know you watched it, Dan, did you catch any of that stuff?
It was kind of it was kind of late Sunday night for us.
No, I did not. I want to say it started at like ten
or eleven. Yeah, that's pretty late, but they had a live stream.
I didn't watched the whole thing. I watched I caught. I turned
it on maybe ten minutes and caught the tail end of the like their Vita
Nightmare. Yes, that was you know for an audience watching it and like
starting off with not only with Vita games, but with a lot of like
very japan oriented Vita games that was just like your stuff from like Compile Heart
and right Marvelous and all these companies, and they're like, oh, yep,
yep, stuff that probably will never even come out over here. Yeah,
it was. It was a little it was a little disheartening at first,
you know, like maybe, but like for me, the disheartening part
is then they're like, now let's talk about PS four, right, and
then it was like Destiny, yep, Assassin's Creed, the Crew, the
Crew far Cry showed a trailer for the Witch or three Japanese and you're just
like, kind of cool, I don't know, but yeah, uh well
they you know, they then they kind of moved on to some more They
did the classically Japanese type games. Yeah, but I guess let's I mean,
I was going to back up the Vita for second, but actually don't
know what else to say because the only thing that really stands out to me
is Fantasy Star Nova. Yeah, but I don't even know what that really
is. I mean, they showed a trailer, but it's probably I mean,
you know, the the portable Fantasy Star games they made for a while,
We're not they were not classic Fantasy Star games and a single player since
they were more like online but offline, right, but it's not exactly just
fantasy Star Online either. No. Yeah, okay, well, you know,
it remains to be seen if we'll ever even see that thing over here.
Those get those games have been okay, but yeah, I don't know,
but yeah, yeah, yeah. Once thing, like you said,
once they got to the PS four section, the list of Western games that
they led with was kind of crazy. I thought it was like, you
know, I don't know, like you don't want to read too much in
anything, but it was sort of telling that there was like there you go.
Well, I mean, you know, the PS four is not done
exceptionally well in Japan. You guys are getting this stuff too, yep.
This is what video games are now worldwide. Yeah, I guess so.
Well, there is no there is a new Mina. No golf, right,
yes, or hot Shots golf, yes, I should say, I
don't know if you were excited about that. Everybody's golf. Yes, yeah,
that series has been all right. I feel like as years go on,
I like it less and less. Yeah, sort of, but it
does it does seem to have a special place in a lot of people's hearts.
Yep. I guess that's it's been around since the PS one. Yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah, so you know, nice to see that's
coming, But there wasn't a ton of other new stuff. Battle Born got
a release date. Blood Born, blood Born, Yeah, battle Borne's the
blood Born, battle Born, battle Cry, battle Cry. I think that's
it for now. Cry Born, cry Born, blood blood Cry m okay,
cry Tech c Yeah, cry Tech is working on blood Cry okay.
Yeah. Yeah. Blood Borne is is coming out February fifth in Japan.
Yeah, which it was nice to hear because back at eight three they had
some of the wording during their press conference had made it sound like it wasn't
that far off. Yeah, but they didn't clarify that until now when the
games comp stuff was like all these games are coming out within the next time.
That's when it was games Com. You're right, yeah, yeah,
yeah, they lumped it in with that stuff. They didn't they didn't comment
on a worldwide release, but yeah, I tweeted something about that, and
a lot of people replied to me that it had been implied that it might
come out everywhere on the same day or very close. I mean, you
have to imagine that we'll be out within that quarter here. I think I
would say, like by the end of March is a safe bet for that
game, if not before. That's exciting. Pretty stoked about that. Uh
what else did they have? There's five coming to PlayStation before. I save
that one, right, because that's kind of the only other thing that really
excites. But yeah, I mean that's you know, even it doesn't really
look any different. It's kind of nice, just like, hey, you
don't have to yeah, yeah, to drag out your p S three if
you already packed it away or sold it. Yeah, that's yes. To
play PERSONA five. They showed a trailer and actually did see it. I
didn't see the trailer. Yeah, what else did they have there? Say,
there's a new Yaka's a prequel coming out? Yeah, which Yaka is
a zero zero's the name of it. Who knows if that'll ever come out
here? I hear? How about this? No, have they all come
out at this point? Or have they? Have we already started missing some,
We've missed some. Yeah, it's like comb one came out here.
Yeah, that one came out here, and I forget they did something.
But four didn't come out here. It would never out, not at all.
Okay. Yeah, it's been such a weird decline for that series after
they put so much muscle behind the first one. Yeah, not only localize
it, but cut all that Hollywood talented to the voices, and it didn't
sell for shit. Yeah. No, it's just been this decline of like,
well, they're not coming out anymore. Let's see. I guess Dragon
Quest Heroes is a big deal, right, I did not see that part.
It's a new Dragon Slime PS four or PS four Yeah, I don't
know if that's related or not. Yeah, is it? I mean that's
probably slime his dragon Quest. So Dragon Quest Heroes is being developed by Omegaforce.
Fuck the Dynasty Warriors team, damn it. Yeah, so I don't
know what's up with it. They were not That was not even the only
game made by them. There were other Omega Force games announced at this press
conference. I forget which one's well terrific, it seems like they are.
I think it wasn't like the Tech and Team making some sort of fucking I
remember, yes, dating scene, I remember, yes, yes, I
remember the Tech and Team being referenced. Yeah, there was like there when
they got when they started talking about Project Morphias. I think they had Harada
there and then they so just like anime girl, Yes that's right to pick
up something. Yes, you're absolutely right. I think I think, yes,
I think I think I consciously tuned to that part out. Ye.
So yeah, I don't. I don't know a whole lot about Dragon Quest
Heroes. But you know they're not numbering them anymore. It's not Dragon Quest
ten or whatever. Well it's not. I mean, if a Mega Force
is making I guess this is not this. Is this just the High Rule?
Is this the High Rule? Warriors of Dragon Quests? I mean that
you drink with heroes to me, implies that is not a mainline drag quest
game. It's a kind of weird side thing made by people that well whatever.
Yeah, first first time, first time Dragon Quests has been on a
console since like what eight though, I think I guess it's two games.
I don't know. That's a weird series. I don't even know. I
don't know if it's even as big in Japan as it used to be,
like you know, like back in the day, right that was it was
like the biggest thing ever made. Have to put these games out on a
weekends. People don't miss school or work to buy the game, right yeah.
And I don't know if it has this. I think it was still
pretty fucking big. I think people got into that last one. Okay,
like quite a bit that was on that was on we was it, I
was DS, it was both and you could transfer back and forth on so
I thought. So anyway, Yeah, and then my personal favorite piece of
news to come out of this whole thing, themes are coming to both of
the Vita NPS four. No. Yeah, themes, guys, dynamic theme
themes, I believe, Yeah, the I think I don't know if you
did you see this, Jeff. I thought I saw them scrolling through some
Vita looking themes that was just it looked like, here's an anime character that
takes at half the screen, so you can't put your apps here. I
was like, that's a good move. I thought I saw some footage of
a PS four theme that had some animated dynamic elements in the background. Wow,
would hope so I would. I never used themes on PS three because
they all look like She didn't really either, because yeah, they were all
too busy. Here's a different font for the front end to make it look
like terrible. Yeah, most of them were awful. You're right, Yeah,
yeah, but I you know, I would just like it if I
could like change the color of the background and stuff like that. So hopefully
that'll be in there. But yeah, there's there, your pre TGS Sony
update. I don't know if they'll have anything else to announce. They already
said the last Guardian will not be there, so yeah, maybe this is
it for them. I don't know. Yeah, I think they got the
impression that this was kind of their TGS press conference. Yeah, just happening
early for a variety of reasons. Yes, yeah, we've we've covered pretty
much all the other big news for the most part that came out of packs,
you know, Saints for a game getting announced and you actually, you
guys wouldn't saw that, didn't you? I did not. I played it?
Did you you check it out? Yeah, we talked about a little
bit. It's it's it's okay. I like the fact that it's a new
map and it's not just red scale port. Oh, that's right. You.
By the by the time the panel happened, you had already played Okay,
that's right. Yeah, I'll play it. Yeah, yeah, I
will too. You know, I just don't think it's anywhere near the best
use of that property at this point though. Mm. That was sounded like
some skepticism. Yeah, I mean I think the best use of the property
is to not use it for a while. Probably, Yeah, you're probably
right. Yeah. I don't know what you do with it at this point,
sure, other than like reboot it. But then you do you make
it a serious crime thing again, because like they they've kind of painted themselves
into the corner where they have to keep They've gotten so outlandish with it that
they just have to keep topping themselves every single time. I mean, the
end of Saints four sets up you know enough like time travel, weird rebooty
type stuff that you know, it lets them get away with a lot of
shit, I guess, but you know, just like at at that level
of high jinks and it's not enough. It's not he's changed, it's it's
not sustainable over the long term. You know, Like at a certain point,
I would like it if it went back to a little bit more like
I don't want the game to be serious, but you know, if it
was a little more grounded, a little like a little more rooted in the
kind of just the sort of small time street gang stuff. You know.
Yeah, because four with the Superpowers, I mean I never drove in that
game ever, right because you know, so you're not getting any of the
car stuff or drive buys or anything like that, or real street races because
you're sprinting up buildings and stuff you don't need to drive. So yeah,
maybe toning it back a little bit. I just wonder if that would then
you'd feel super restricted if you went back to driving in that series, you'd
just be like, man, it's to fucking take them forever, especially with
the gat out of Hell. I mean, you are literally flying. You
have like demon wings and get can just fly around the map. Yeah.
I don't know, Like I came out of Saintra four thinking that Johnny Gatt
was a superfluous character that they they don't need, so like the idea of
building a game around that character seems like a bad idea to Yeah, kind
of, but you know, hey, it's cheap and b it's uh,
you know, being made by high voltage. At least that means that Volition
is working on something else. Aren't there the conduit guys? Uh huh,
I believe so okay, Yeah, but I mean you know that the the
quality of this thing notwithstanding yeah, which is not say I expected to be
bad. It looked fine, but at least you know that the volition is
busy on something else and not yeah, putting all their effort into this.
Anyway, A pretty significant update to Quake Live snuck out last week. I
don't know if you guys saw this. I heard it was coming and they
have the details back at Quake Con. And that was the first time I
thought about Quick Live basically since it came out same here. I had not,
like you know, for the past couple of years, anytime I wanted
to play Quick three. I just played real Quick three. Yep, to
the point that we did a t and t with actual week three. We
should do another one. But but yeah, they changed stuff in this.
The biggest thing is that they added a new weapon. Yeah, like it
seems so crazy too. I mean, granted it's called Quake Live and not
Quick three, but you know, yeah, more or less is Quake three.
So the idea of adding a new weapon to a fifteen year old death
match game, it's kind of wild. It's a it's a the machine guns
what they're calling it. Quake four had multiplayer that was basically styled after Quake
three, and I'm trying to remember if they added that weapon there and if
this is just the weapon from Quake four. Yeah, coming in, but
it honestly, Quake four is kind of a blur, so I couldn't tell
you one way or the other. But well, we've we've got access to
the kind of premium subscription for Quick Yeah. Yeah, then so we should
jump in there. Yeah. Yeah, see what those stuff is about they
had, I mean, they made a lot of like kind of what sound
like small mechanical changes, like they made street jumping kind of automatic in a
way. Yeah, well, like they took the speed boost if you hold
down the jump button from Nexius, right, yes, and I guess Zenatic
also has it, so it basically, yeah, you were just holding buttons
to do that stuff. There's not really much skill involved, and it's sort
of a weird thing where yeah, you just if you hold down jump and
push in a direction. And Nexius and I think Zenotics still does the exact
same thing. They might have changed it a little bit there, weird open
source shooters stuff. You just start going fucking super fast hopping down hallways like
automatically. Sounds fun. It's kind of fun. Yeah, it definitely,
like you know, it helps you get around a map more quickly, you
know, just if you're just like, well this hallways longer and there's no
action here, like I might as well get over there. Sure, yeah,
it's not bad, but it's just a weird thing to be in Quake,
I guess, yeah, kind of. Yeah. You know, there's
a lot of other little minor stuff. They added visible timers to items,
okay, so you know when they're coming back. They made it they made
it so that you can't jump over items anymore accidentally, Like they're kind of
the pick up box around the items is big enough that when you jump over
and you still get them. Just a bunch of little stuff like that.
But like, I mean almost almost to me, the biggest story here is
that in twenty fourteen, people are still talking about Quick Live. You know,
they did something that well, the people that make it are, I
guess we are, but I don't know if anyone else it's I mean,
I think it's it's kind of uh, it's been pretty tenacious in its own
competitive scene. Like I think people still play it. The people who really
play it competitively are still playing it. Sure, but I love the shit
out of Quake three, So I will get in here and see what it's
about at some point. I don't have a whole lot else except that we
narrowly missed a leak last week. But I'm sure Dan will give a shit
about what's that Mario Kart eight DLC link link is going to be in Mario
Kart eight animal crossing stuff, I guess, And I that was news to
me until today. I hadn't even I had stopped paying attention to this story
as soon as it happened. But yes, I guess animal crossing characters will
also be in there. I think that's yeah, opening the door to just
turning into like the Smash Brothers roster type thing for Kart. That's that's probably
absolutely what needs to happen with that series, right, I mean, I
don't think anything needs to happen. I think they're doing just fine with everything
they've been doing. Eight eight is incredible. It's getting a little stale.
How much have you played eight? I don't. I don't need to.
I can look at it. You haven't played it. I've played enough.
How much my race is a few races? It is a damn good game.
I was good. I was I was well satisfied with my time with
Mario Karty. But I mean I'm talking about like the lineup. It's like
I don't know that it takes more than a few times around the track to
go, Like, I don't think I want to do any more of this.
Like, you're probably right that it's a great game for people that want
more of that bullshit, I'm not. I'm still it's still a cart racer,
yeah, totally. Like ass, I have been playing games for the
duration of the cart racer genre. I'm done. Still one of the best
genres. Got friends over? Yeah? Yeah, who has time to have
friends over? It's twenty fourteen. We have the fucking Internet, for Christ's
sake. Plus I've still got my copy of Jack X, so I'm good.
Oh yeah. Combat racing, I mean that's a totally different thing.
Ever, when that started in it like the opening montage was like set to
a Queen's of the Stone Age song. Really. Yeah, I've never actually
played Jack X before. Yeah, this is a hardcore for a car racer.
Uh. Let's see, they've got pricing for these packs. It's it's
two separate DLC packs, one and then like a season past or something gets
you both, right, Okay, so one pack in November, the second
in May of next year, which is like a full on year after the
game came out, right, eight bucks of each or both for twelve yeah,
which seems like a no brainer. Okay. Uh six new characters,
eight new cars, sixteen six wait really, sixteen new courses. Whoa,
that's a lot of a lot of tracks courses than the original. Yeah,
yeah, I mean that seems like a solid fucking ad on at that end.
Characters and carts, I mean, you tell me, But that doesn't
seem like that big of a deal because really, I mean, how many
you know, how many types of characters they really have? It's like big
guy and as long as they have a size guy. What if I told
you that one of the new carts is blue Falcons car from F zero,
then that just bums me out, Like what, you know, I think
one of the tracks is also Yeah, yeah, but I think you're right,
which is like, just they should make a new zero. Yeah,
they should. It's been long enough. I mean, granted, it's the
changes, but the differences between the two are somewhat superficial at this point,
I guess. But I'd play a the ufzero though. I'll go dig out
my copy of Dukie listen, sure, and listen to it while playing F
zero, just like I did. Oh wow twenty years ago. Let's see.
Yeah, so pac one coming in November is uh link Tanuki, Mario
and Cat Peach Okay, oh, guys aren't really new characters. I mean
link link link is, but I mean, like Tanuki and Cats even even
roping in like suits from other Mario games is new, you know. Yeah,
yeah, it doesn't give them suit powers in the fucking game. Then
who cares? I mean, the cart can get a raccoon tail like just
in the game or whatever, like swat stuff. Yeah, I just like
the idea of a go kart growing a tail. Can you can you swat
a red shell as it's about hit you? Absolutely, that's all right,
that's kind of cool. Yeah. And then pack two in May is is
the animal crossing villager Isabelle. She also she is like your secretary poodle.
Okay, yeah, And dry Bowser damn it is that like bony Bones Bowser
Jaffery falls in lava but it's not over oh yeah, yeah, yeah,
there's a picture of him. It is. It is dry Bones Bowser.
Yeah. I thought need Bowser head to go and dry out for should have
done dry Cat Bowser. Just start combining these things in really twisted ways.
Uh oh, hey, if you purchase both DLC packs, you can get
eight different colored Yoshi's. Awesome. Actually, guys, I want that,
Yeah, if you want. If you like Mario Kart eight, it would
be insane not to buy this for twelve dollars. And yeah, I thought
it was cool in Yoh's Island how you change color Yoshi's every time? And
every level. So yeah, I'll utilize that well. Have fun. Yeah,
knock yourself out, you know, I will. I'll have a great
thing. I have a great time with I mean, that's really alrd Yoshi's
that's the only response to our haranguing is to just be defiant about it.
It's like, fuck you, I will have fun with it. Yeah,
like you joyless douche. I'll have a big smile on my face while I
play with that purple Yoshi or whatever. It's a couple of frotchety old curmudgeons
over here. I bet you won't. I bet you won't have a big
smile on your face. I probably will. You'll be like, this is
the Saint Yoshi, but it is purple. But I'll be glad that I
have the option. Sure did you would you play any that game online?
Oh? Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah, I reviewed it, so I probably
put like thirty forty hours into that game. Was it was it? Did
you find it to be an active online scene? Yeah for sure? Yeah.
Ship, I just realized I gotta unlock all those krts again. Now,
okay, I just got my new EU in the mails. Yeah,
yeah, we get to work all right. Well, it's a reason to
play more Mario Kart. I'm okay with that. Yeah. Uh, And
that's kind of all the news from the last like thirty six hours or forty
eight hours unless anything else and stuff was a while ago. Well that,
yeah, we missed that right after the podcast last week, but but then
we left town. Here's a news update. Yea, my eyes are burning
in a way that their mouth starting to make me wonder if I'm getting sick.
Oh, that's fun. Do you have contacts? No? Did you
wear an oculus? No? Did you wear any I gear accessory types of
thing? No? Gunner optics nope? No No. Did you happen to
mace yourself before you left the house? Might? Okay, it's always possible.
You should be careful with that. Did you get any glass in your
eyes from the rumble? Uh? One bit came close, okay, but
did not actually get in my eyes. Did I see a picture of Drew
vacuuming that stage? Ye? Where did the vacuum come from? One?
Like they was just hanging. One materialized and we were all kind of cleaning
up a little bit afterwards. Yeah, we should get some of that sugar
glass. It's expensive, is it? Uh, it looks fun to get
it shipped and stuff, you know, but yeah, it is super fun.
That was the first time I'd ever hit anyone with a bottle when I
clocked some of the common yea in the head with it. You know,
it's real fun super kicking people. Yeah, No, that looked fun too.
I have wanted to do that my entire life. And I got to
super kick someone right in the face. That was I was, you know,
your feet from that when it happened, and it was highly convincing.
That's what it was like, did he actually make contact? Like, is
Alex's gonna have like a neck problem here? Alex sold it really well,
and everyone that was talking on me afterwards was like, yeah, it looks
like he kicked him right in the face. Yes, the footage looks really
good, like like, don't try that at home, Yes, don't.
That was man. You must have had like an inch of clearance from his
chin or something. Although he I, there's not a lot of power coming
up there too, So I mean it did hit. I think it makes
contact. It does make he said. I didn't notice this at the time,
but he was telling me later that his hand was between your foot and
his chin, Yeah, which is like the standard practice for that move apparently.
Yeah, you want to get your hand up there, like if you're
taking a tear shout to the head right. Well, sometimes like you just
take it right on the chain. But it occurred to me that even being
right next to it happening live, I didn't notice that. It's one of
the things that all happened so fast, and if you're not looking right at
it, it kind of it kind of drove home this point that like a
lot of the wrestling type moves are basically just like magician style slide hand and
misdirection. Right. It's like stage combat is all about that it happens so
fast that nobody's gonna notice the little thing you do to make sure you don't
get hurt. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's kind of cool. It's
super fun. It sounded pretty good too. I don't know if that'll carry
on the on the archive, the kick for standing right there, like,
yeah, I didn't I don't remember if I consciously a little bit. There
was a little bit of a slap. I don't know if it was the
contact or I think Alex might have done it. Oh okay, all right,
but yeah, it sounded sound it? All right? I want to
watch gifts of that for a while. I don't even know what a PAX
panel is anymore. Yeah, I don't know. That's super kicks and finding
the very nature of a panel. We're really kind of just like, we're
we're backing ourselves into a really dangerous corner, the vanguard of of live video
game convention entertainment. It's just it's really fucking stupid. Oh yeah, We're
we're gonna point where someone's gonna get really fucking hurt and it's gonna be a
real bummer. Yeah, and then we'll just have to sit behind a table
and talk from then on and that'll be it. All right, that's all
the news. Let's talk about the emails. Let's talk about those emails.
Let's talk about BombCast at giant bomb dot com. Alright, let's an email
address. That's the email address you could send your emails too, Okay,
if you would like them to be read on the air. Told you I
would get it. Yeah, eventually, finally, and we're going to start
off with an importance TGS question from orin Okay, dear bomb Cast. For
the past few months, I've been working in an office building next door to
Maco Harry Messay, the home of the Tokyo Game Show. Every day on
my way from the train station to the office, I pass by what I
assume is the outback steakhouse You've referenced several times. I'm talking about your trips
to the show. I like steaks. Is it worth my time to go
there for a meal. The restaurant isn't open for lunch and costs more than
I usually pay for food when it's not a special event. My memory of
that's of that outback top to bottom was how accurately it reproduced an outback.
Yeah, the steak was fine, although to be fair, I think that
was the last outback I've ever been to. I haven't gone to another one
since then I have. I can tell you that it's nothing wrong with a
steak from the Outback Steak. It's a steak. It's a steak. Yeah,
they make a steak. If you they can probably competently cook steak to
your taste. If you want a steak done the way that you know,
kind of a middle low to middle grade steakhouse would prepare it, that's it.
There you go if you want, if you want some Alice Springs Chicken.
Sure, I don't know Couga Borough Wings. I don't know what you
dare to brave. Damned it could all be damned the wall be darned.
You've you've what's the difference, You've already outstripped my knowledge of outback? One
has more booze in it. Oh it's a drink, yeah, the cocktail
or something. Yeah. Okay, yeah, you know if you if you
like aut back and want to experience an outback, then feel free. But
it's not. Yeah, I remember that place being a little pricey. Also,
sure, just by virtue of it being kind of a novelty thing over
there, I'm sure. But you're not gonna see anything there that you haven't
seen it. Yeah. I don't know what the local, like reasonably priced
steak options are in the area, So I don't have a comparison point for
for you. But there's also that Isn't there any tony romas over there?
It's a place for ribs. Yes, I ate there once and hated it.
Ribbs are not steak. No, their ribs. I love them both,
but they have they each have their own place. Not a Ribs fan.
My second question is about TGS itself. It's coming up in a couple
of weeks and I'll be going for the first time. Should I go to
both public days or is one enough? Since I live very close to the
conference hall. The obvious answer it would be go to the first day and
then come back on the second if I feel I haven't seen everything. Yeah,
But the problem is I'm already committed to going the second day with a
group of friends visiting from outside Japan. Please advise. I mean, you're
certainly not going to see everything if you're going one day. That is a
insanely packed convention. On the public days, yeah, and yeah, lines
and everything that expect from conventions. So if you can put up with the
crowds and everything and you don't mind waiting in a bunch of lines, yeah,
If you're going there because you want to play Monster Hunter, that's going
to take an entire day for you to do. Yeah. So that's said,
I recommend not waiting in the line for an entire day to play Monster
Hunter. Right, That's also the advice I would get. But you know,
if you've got friends coming in from out of the country, you know,
hang out with your friends. Go fuck it, man, I would
totally go both days, but walking around the situation, a situation where you
do stuff on the first day and then they're gonna want to do it you
have to do it again, and you go, fuck. Yeah, I
would go for the first day, and since you live close by, just
if you get the sense that like like scope it out at least, you
know, go walk around and just look at everything that you might want to
do and judge the lines to know, like what you know, if that's
reasonable or not, uh, you know. Or go on Saturday and buy
all the stuff you want to buy from the goods of stores because the lines
for those will be pretty long, and then go back Sunday with your friends.
Yeah, TGS is an interesting show. I haven't we haven't been since
oh eight, so it's kind of well, it just seems like, I
don't know, the footage I see coming back from that show in recent years
seems like it is far less interesting than Yeah. Maybe maybe that's the case
twenty ten and it was underwhelming for sure, especially the first one, especially
if they're pushing such such forthcoming hits as Assassins, Creed, Unity and the
Crew. Yeah, well, I mean, if he lives over there then
you might want to see I mean that's you know, that's crazy to us
because they're just like the super western games. But uh, the we've played.
But I mean they also seem like they might actually be good, so
there's nothing wrong with that. So yeah, good both face. That's our
Yeah, all right, well we got through. Requ was a video game
email out of the way. Great, Now we're gonna get down to business
for real. We talked about Second Life, remember that we did. Yeah,
yeah, we got some Second Life emails? Did you know? I
discovered this yesterday when I was using ad Surah. Linden Labs is responsible for
Oh, I think they bought it. They bought it. There's a Linden
copyright on it. I think I think it was not that long ago.
And it really freaked me out. It really scared me for a minute there
that I was like, oh, no, what have I done? What
are you getting into? Do I have Asura account? I shouldn't use this
service because I might end up like one of them. Here is an email.
It's pretty long email from Tyler and Austin. I'm just gonna read the
first part because that's the interesting part. Second Life is a hive of scum
and villainy, and I love it. My girlfriend and I have played Second
Life for years and use it as a bedroom tool. Second Life hovers around.
You're gonna notice a theme with some of these emails. Second Life hovers
around two million users, and probably half of them are kinksters, doms,
subs, gorians, gorians, bondage enthusiasts, furries, etc. It's a
safe, drug and disease free playground for us, although it would be the
first to admit the average old timer hates when you boil it down to sex
the same way as any lifestyle enthusiasts would. Second Life is freaking expensive.
We barely get on a half dozen times a month and spend about sixty bucks
a month on it. To rent a full sim is well over two hundred
dollars a month. I do know people who make a good portion of their
livelihood playing, including a graphic designer who pulls in over a grand making avatar
mods, clothing, and adult toys for furries. Yeah and wait, virtual
adult toys for furries. That's one of that. You can to make custom
animations for your characters at that point, so you can make the gear and
also how they use it. So these things are just straight up fucking second
life kind of really, he says. The avatar makers sell them for about
five bucks pop. Yeah, uh, which likely. Remember that Law and
Order episode I mentioned last week, like the whole, the whole. The
crux of that whole episode was that people were using it to live out like
all their kind of most sordid fantasies. And I guess that's closer to reality
than I thought. Sure, hang on, fantasies are supposed to be like,
oh, you can fly in this game. I can't do that in
real life. The ultimate power fantasy here is uh. Here is another second
life email from creeped out on Long Island. Okay, my ex's parents are
second life users. They are also swingers, all right. Their second life
avatars are as follows. For the father, a slave and a gift mask,
and for the mother a busty lady dominatrix. I know this because I
would frequently walk past them with their laptops open when we'd go over there for
dinner, and they would be unabashedly getting there into weird, sexy high jinks.
In second life. They were incredibly nice people, and I was way
or less creeped out by their free willing sex party lifestyle than I was by
their use of second life. Hang on, are we talking about parents living
in the same house that are having sex in a game while they're sitting next
to each other? Well, I mean it's more of a bondage thing,
like, yeah, well they're doing it, but they are in the same
physical space. Why don't in their marriage? Why don't they just do whatever
they want to do with their persons? First of all, like trying to
you know, they might be doing that too. Trying to reason about other
people's like billing a dungeon is expensive, you know, trying trying to reason
about other people's predilections for kink is kind of pointless because they belong to them,
you know. It's but I know, but but it isn't they like
what they like what they like, you know. But if you have a
real person right there and they're also into the same thing, why would you
do it in a game? Like? But also but also if they're if
they are literal swingers in real life, that means they are out there looking
for people to swap with. Yeah, okay, which I could see a
second life coming in pretty handy for Yeah, they might be out there on
the hunt key parties. Yep, virtual key parties, drop them in the
bowl. Also in college, we had to find a musician in Second Life
and write an A and R report on them. I went to school for
music business. Apparently lots of people make avatars and perform concerts on the platform.
It was fucking depressing. Yeah, that was in the documentary that I
saw was a guy that was was singing songs like he was piping like a
live audio, live audio through. He was standing there with a guitar and
the actually saying live audience saying, that's actually kind of cool into the world.
I don't think that's weird, especially, I mean I don't know.
Sure, Yeah, I mean you can point of fucking cameraters. Well,
I know, if you're already if you're already there, you know, no
Second Life not there, totally different, right, right, Yes, we
covered that. Yeah, here's maybe the weirdest email that I've ever gotten.
All Right, it doesn't even have a name on it, and it's from
an Aol dot com address. All right, subject line, please discuss case.
Here's the entire body of the email. No name signed to it,
no nothing, imagine punching somebody so hard that they turned into a door.
I'll let you roll that one around in your head for a second. Yep,
got it. Yeah, then you found out that's where all doors come
from, and you and you got initiated into a murder club that makes doors.
The stronger you punch, the better the door. So they are like
super strong murderers who punch people into Venetian doors and shit in email. Yeah,
there's lucrative business to me. I mean, do you have to back
someone up to a wall and then punch them so it's a functional door that
goes through a wall, or just a bunch of doors like the APA right
door. Yeah, they're just like whatever. I believe. I'd believe that
Faruke punched someone to make that door. I can see it. Yeah,
Mokujin from tech Okay, Yeah, I don't really know what else to say
about that email. I found it fascinating. Yeah, I mean that sounds
like a good way to earn a living and to this dispose of you know,
people would need to be disposed. Yeah, that would That's pretty much
solves itself. Doors can't talk, man, What if they could? Would
they flap open and closed? Like their mouths were moving. Yeah, they
would need like a mail slot. Okay, yeah, yeah, come down
with that, and the people would blink like two little windows up above it
that look like I was yeah, okay, all right. Here is a
an email from Dave about the Dreamcast and Seaman conversation last week regarding oh you
know what, I'm sorry he starts this emails, Oh all right, okay.
The conversation last week regarding the sake of Dreamcast sparked a memory. Brad
referenced the game Seaman, one of the more unique games for the Dreamcast.
I held that game in high esteem and must have sunk over fifty hours into
it. It's a long time. While surfing the web around that time,
I stumbled onto Jeff's review of the game, which he gave a very low
score. I received. Jeff's low opinion of Seaman is a low opinion of
myself and my taste, so I took it personally. I curse Jeff name
and for well over a decade, I would say during that time that a
loss for Jeff was a win for me. However, in hindsight, I
see why I didn't have any friends in middle school. I spent too much
time durtling around with that swamp thing. Yeah it's a really cool idea.
Yeah that should have been better. Yeah, ambitious. Also, I just
I like the arc of that email and like guy holds a crudge and then
gains self awareness and lets it go. I remember getting all the previews for
that game and getting super excited and thinking it would I mean the way they
talked about that game when it was in development, It's like, well,
you're just gonna have this fish thing friend that you can just hang out with
and talk to. And I remember like telling my mom because I was asking
for it for Christmas. I was like, yeah, Moms, I'm just
gonna leave it on the TV, so it'd be like almost like a fish
tank, so like if you want to walk in and talk to see man,
you can. And like I thought that it would recognize like oh hi
Katie, I oh, I know, recognize my sisters and calling my name
and stuff like that, and it didn't work that way. No, Basically,
it just had said a few things and I tried to not let spiders
eat it. Yeah, were there spiders. I think there were spider There's
all sorts of weird ship to where it would start evolving like the spiders,
I want to say, or maybe it turned into a spider. I remember
there are times were like something super exciting would happened. It's like, oh
god, it's it's in it's cocoon or something that's going to come out and
be a different creepy looking thing. Or did it ever was it? Did
it always live in water or was it? Could it ever evolved the point
that it would got it could get by on land? I thought seaman too,
was where that was all the land based stuff happened. I wonder if
I can't remember now. I wonder if every form of seaman has been well
documented at this point. I'm sure I want to get out there and see
what. I want to look it up again. It's been a long time.
I do remember it being like a very mysterious game at the time.
You know, yeah, you're having no idea how you you know, needed
to get it to hatch and you know, like how to take care of
it, and it was very it was a lot of waiting for shit to
happen, right, Yeah. I remember like like Leonard Nimoy was a narrator,
and I remember like you would just have days and days where you'd check
in and just do stuff and try to talk to it and nothing would happen.
And then like you'd turn it on one day and something was happening and
it would be the most exciting thing in the world. What an odd game?
Yeah question for Dan from Chris Dan, Yeah, what is hot dish?
No, you do not need to search Urban Dictionary. I've been a
chef for over a decade, and Dan's egg white story was like looking into
the mouth of madness. I've spent years working at great restaurants in Europe and
America, but I've never tasted hot Dish, and I can't even guess what
it is. All I know is that it is a big Minnesota thing.
Here's the thing. I think a lot of people that listen to this podcast
based on tweets I've got, I think that I'm like born and bred in
Minnesotan, which I lived there for five years while I worked at Game Informer.
I spent twenty five years growing up in Kansas. So all that weird
Minnesota shit, all the duck duck, gray duck and the hot dish,
Oh, you guys are no duck duck gray duck. Let's not get off
topic here, all right, what's the name of the what's the name of
the game you play as a kid when everyone sits in a circle and he
touched their heads and then you chase each other around. Duck duck goose.
Yeah, yeah, you guys are saying people that didn't grow up in fucking
Minnesota, and I call it duck duck gray duck. Do you mean goose?
No, great deck? Duck duck gray deck. That's the game they
play. That's what they call it. Everyone in Minnesota calls a great eck.
You're right, that isn't sane. Yeah, yep, but so yeah,
I don't subscribe to that. I don't know what the hell hot dishes?
You don't uh the great deck things. I don't know what I've heard
did mention? Oh man, I'm disappointed. No, I'm all game City
barbecue. That's I'm abused to. I have. I Also, I feel
like I've heard the term hot dish in the last time we have heard.
Yeah, I think it's just a bunch of crap in a bowl and he
makes sure that and hat it up or something isn't like the KFC bowls or
something. We should be so lucky If that was the case, then I
missed out on five years in Minnesota eating delicious famous bowls. I never I
never had a Famous bowl. Oh my god, they're incredible. Yeah,
it's everything that's great about KFC and just one big brown, lumpy thing.
I mean, I've never had a double down either. That's that's some more
gimmicky than it is good. It's kind of weird to eat delivery, Like
I feel like if I ordered one, I would want to I would just
say, like, give me a bun. Yeah, I problem like a
double paddied. Yeah. I don't know if some like weird Atkins dudes love
it or something like because oh you're not getting the carbs from the bun.
But yeah, I love fried chicken, I love bacon and cheese, but
that's not a good way to eat something. All right, I'm looking at
hot Dish here on the internet. I think it's like a cast role test
roll. Yeah, Minnesota tater tot cast rolls. What what's the structure though,
I mean, what kind of cast role do you can pick? First
of all, it isn't a restaurant. Is it a grocery store item?
Is it like a branded It's like a thing you would eat, like a
families would make hot dish and there's a would go to like a pot luck
and there'd be like multiple different hot dishes there. So it's just a cast
role. Yeah. The most typical meat for many years have been ground beef,
and cream of mushroom remains the favorite can soup. Past years, a
pasta was the most frequently used starch, but tater tots and local wild rice
have now become very popular as well. Heater tots Yeah, huh, Minnesota
likes tater tots a lot. I mean, there's nothing wrong with tator talk
good. They're good. I like tader tot. Maybe not in a cast
role, though I could see it being good. Yeah, it just seems
like a messy I'd rather just have a pile of tots messy mess of food.
Personally, for beople to want a messy mess of food, that is
so just weird. Yeah, sure, sounds like a lot of wrestlers from
there. Oh yeah, and they're all yeah, yeah, yeah, it's
cold. You know, is Jesse venture from there or is he just the
ruler of there? Just the ruler he spent some time up and then he's
not still in offices no, okay, he went on to become crazy.
Yeah, yeah, I think he was always pretty crazy, or he went
on to express his craziness. Sure, a little more openly at least,
all right, speaking of craziness. Uh, Frazier pinball, says Christian when
the Pinball Arcade was released on Steam a little while ago. I had a
bit of a pinball marathon that day, all day and most of the night
to be more precise, when I went home or when I went to sleep
that night, I had an odd dream that I was playing a Frasier themed
pinball table. This is particularly odd because I've only ever seen a handful of
episodes of Frasier in my life. Yeah. The only thing I recall about
the table was that I had to shoot Frasier's father reclining Father's reclining chair to
make it recline, and then lock three balls underneath the chair to start martin
multi ball. It seems reasonable. I wish I could remember more about the
table design so I could try to sell it to stern. People would be
all about a Frasier themed pinball table, right, Yeah. If I saw
that, I would go up and play it. Yeah. Sure, I've
got two questions for you guys. Have you ever played a game so much
that it invaded your dreams? What kind of a licensed pinball table would you
like to see get made today? It's frasier, right. I once played
Taie Fighter for something like twelve to fourteen straight hours, and then I had
dreams that I was flying a tie Fighter. I was commanding conquer like red
alert, like just that, just the pounding music and everything. You're just
thinking so fast, trying to build all your base up and everything. That
I would play multiplayer for like six hours in college and go to bed and
just yeah, command games. I'd have Tetris streams here and there. Yeah.
Yeah, Yes, I've occasionally like closed my eyes and dozed off and
seen pieces falling. Something about puzzle games will do that, man, for
sure, Luminous, I think that that. Yeah. Uh. I definitely
start feeling wrong or off if I play a game for too long without stopping,
like specifically, like when I've had a marathon something for review, and
like I want to stop playing it, but I can't. Like at a
certain point, i feel like I'm losing touch with reality. Yeah, because
I've just been like it happened really bad with already six. Played a lot
of that game to the point that I'd like was forgetting about the real world
around me, right, I guess that was the other thing that Sony conference.
Oh yes, there's a Resideval Revelations too. Yeah, on the way
for three d s. I don't remember four. I think that was weird.
I thought that they also put out a proper trailer for that. Uh
that already one remake. Oh you know that new Resideval game they're making.
Sounds fine. Yeah, that brand new Residmeal game that's coming out. I
don't know what licensed pinball table would you make? Well, I already made
a Royal Rumble one. I've never seen that in the wild. Okay,
no wrestling. Oh geez on the legs here. Uh think outside your own
box, A little bit tango in cash. Okay, there you go,
nic. I would like they eventually made a Tron table like that was the
thing that I was Wasn't it a It was a Tron legacy table specifically,
wasn't it? But I only played it once? It wasn't It didn't seem
that great. Actually, hmmm. I would like I'd like Ceylon order table.
I'd get into that. Did they ever make a ghostbuster table, I
don't think so. Really cool if you could have like a big state puff
in the back, Yeah, that seems like a no brainer. Yeah,
all sorts of stuff that'd be pretty cool. Yeah, that one and everything,
all sorts of crap you could do stuff with. All right, pinball
it's still hot. It's legal in Oakland now. Finally, Yeah, Patrick
didn't interview. Yeah, up on the site if you want to hear more
about that. It's crazy, Like I've never had any idea about like pinball's
roots in organized crime stuff like that. Used to say, are still some
of them and you know, have the little cards on them that to say
for amusement purposes only, no gambling. Yeah. Andy from Kansas City says
subject line Dan versus Pluto. This is great, totally speculative. I have
a hunch of Dan believes Pluto is still a planet, and we'll hear no
such talk about it being otherwise. That's basically the holy email. I put
complete trust and faith and science and scientists. Okay, all those dudes that
are much smarter than me, And if they say Pluto is not a planet,
then it's not a planet. All right. I think we can all
breathe a little easier now. I wish Pluto was still a planet and as
it was, But I think it's shitty that it's not. Like who's it
hurt? Really? I mean, do you want my serious answer or should
we just move on? Who does it hurt everybody? Yeah? Here's the
thing. What is it about Pluto? It makes it not a planet?
Oh well, do you want to know like what they forget? Now?
Like I remember this red but they basically they basically had to at some point
codify what a planet actually is and like come up with a bunch of conditions
that needed to be satisfied. And I'm trying to remember what all of them
are. An atmosphere, it's no, no, I don't know if there's
a size requirement. A couple of them are, Like it has to have
cleared its own orbit, meaning that it's kind of annihilated any other objects that
are in the way of it, which plute it was not done, essentially,
meaning that like any matter in the path that the orbit has accreated onto
the planet itself. Yeah, yeah, And wouldn't it have more than any
because it's the furthest out, so it's orbit it would be gigantic. It's
huge. It is huge, but there are other objects in this path.
Also, it has to be consistent with the ecliptic plane, which is basically
the plane of all the other planets, if that makes sense, if you,
yeah, because they're all on a flat plane the way they're but it
it it has an orbit that criss crosses that plane. There are other or
other requirements, and then there are also there are other objects in Solar system
that are as big as Pluto right, are just way, way way farther
out. But it's a dwarf Planet's rest easy. Yeah, spend so much
time learning the nine planets that like, I just think that school even looks
like, now I know what, you're only eight. Here's here's how I
feel about it. If you look at the world of biology and the insanely
kind of like regimented taxonomy that they've got, you know, it's got the
whole like seven layer system of classifying organisms because there are beef, beans,
power cream yep, it's basically arranged into a peermadge. Is that the thing
that philum kingdom Philum class order, family, genus species like Philum is a
pretty good word core data, Yes, but they need they need that much
regimentation because there are millions and millions of things they need classify, right.
Yeah, so action Adventure, Action Adventure, Action RPG and now Moba moba
according to the International Science the consensus, yea is its own species. Right.
But you know, up until the last like a decade, we had
no other examples of planets besides the ones here, you know, but now
like increasingly we were discovering exoplanets like by the week. Yeah, you know,
so at a certain point that when you have a much much bigger size
of specimens to deal with, you can you need to get a little more
rigid. That's one's something else. Yeah, you need to get a little
more rigid and standardized about what is what, just to maintain everybody's sanity.
And that's the science minute. Yeah, and you know we always go with
the best information we have available at the time, and that information always changes.
Yeah. Yeah, you might not know as a kid that like metal
gear solid is totally an animate, right, But then the older you get
get, the older you get get exposed to more stuff and integrate more and
more life experiences. Is in fact, just like one of my Japanese animal
it was. It was in the PlayStation section of the Target and a lathe
that Kansas. I mean they didn't even have an anime section. I mean
it was a it was a PlayStation video game action video ESPN's Action I mean,
with a story that that was basically rolled from anime headline. Nope,
it's pulled from Kajima saw Predator, Diehard and Commando and made a game,
and and Ghost in the Shell and Kira. I don't know what those are,
but remember I remember Ghost in the Show was a thing on a demo
disc I had, and I remember the game actually not being Oh he has
ever made his anime? Yeah, like like I'm not playing r anime?
Please? Yes? What about bok Tie? What about back Tie? That's
not I mean, it's got an art, it's a it's a it's a
son of me. Yeah. Bock Tie is the only true video game that
Kojima has ever made. Everything else is a bunch of fucking overly narrated narrative
nonsense. Bock Tie was such a strange thing. Snatcher is kind of awesome,
it's barely a video game, and Snatcher just Blade Runner, yeah kind
of Yeah. But anime, I've always wanted is like The Rock but anime
yep, No, but a game you can play like a man lives in
another man's arm, James Bond, like The Rock, It's it's the most
anime shit imaginable. It's nawo machines. That's not anime. It's it's an
anime. Yeah, that's nothing to do. I mean, I also subscribed
to the theory that wrestling is mostly similar to animal But I also subscribed to
the notion that like, but wrestling is fucking actual stunts and awesome, and
anime is actually fucking dumb. I'm gonna hate it if I ever do actually
watch an anime and it turns out I just love it. It's it's really
a scree prospects. I've never watched with you. So I have seen Ninja
Scroll. I bought Goal Go thirteen the professional and never watched it. I
own Akira and have not seen it. It's probably really good. I actually
really like Street Fighter two V, which was an anime, but it setting
the street Fighter you know, so of course it is. When did that
I know there's been multiple Street Fighter animes? Is that the one came out
It was like late nineties, probably late nineties. I think that's the one
I saw and also enjoyed. I mean, but at the same time,
it's basically Dragonball Z because you have fucking like, here's a whole episode where
were you and Ken are just fucking charging fire? Was that a serialized thing?
Yeah, I watched a Street Fighter anime movie. Yeah, there was
a Street Fighter Alpha movie that came out of that time too, but two
v came out on like seven DVDs or something like that. So it does
scare me because remember when we did our quick look of that one piece game.
I think both of us are kind of like, this is mucky.
Dude's pretty cool and this is all weird. If you like the stories in
Japanese video games, it's like, what do you think all those people grew
up watching and you know, like we're influenced by I mean, it's it's
all kind of sides of the same coin. On some level, that's just
you just don't have to fucking deal with bullshit because there's gameplay in the middle
of it, except for in the case of Metal Gear, where the gameplay
is so thin that it's pretty much just anime. But then I feel if
I start watching the anime or whatever. Then just like two months later,
I've got like a Samurai sword on my wall and I'm wearing like flame shirts,
and you gotta be careful. I mean, I know that's the Japanese
studies classes, solid valid concerns. Some point you're wearing a silken goku.
Yeah, that's the silk and goku. I'm just gonna like, no turn
back, turn back from that. I'm gonna keep being a cool guy that
plays action games. I have been thinking more and more about sitting you down
and making you play offs or his raff. I've played it, and that's
the thing too, is like did you do crazy? Shit was happening?
I was like, this is crazy and awesome. Did you enjoy it?
I mean I didn't. I didn't like the gameplay, but I like nobody's
nobody really likes it for the gameplay. Well, I mean when I say
that, though, that means I only got like two hours into the game.
Then well and then because yeah, the game I saw it like a
giant man like pierce a sword through the earth. Like I said, you
saw nothing where that thing goes from there? Is it goes so much further?
Oh my god, it's totally an I can't yep, I can't be
that guy. I can't do The beautiful like tragic thing about anime is that
it isn't it isn't a genre. It's just a type of thing. And
then you have things that are action based swords and magic and planets instead of
metal Gear is a cool spy with a gun that's going there to kill terrorists.
But then there's Goal Go thirteen, which is an anime and he's just
a fucking sniper. I like that. Yeah, I like snipers, but
also also like metal Gear is rotten with like military magic at this point,
Like they might explain it all the way with nano machines, but it's still
the same absurd bullshit. No, even the key card interacts with the salt
in your sweat to energy field opens doors and yeah, yeah it's a cool
gun. Actually it is fucking pretty cool shit, Yeah, presented in a
very anime like way. Yep, you're thinking of Twin Snakes. Yeah,
oh yeah, I mean yes, absolutely, Like Twin Snakes is like ten
times yeah the anime because you know that the AQ, the anime quotient is
fucking way higher in Twin Snakes because he's like, he's like dancing on missiles
and stuff, flipping on missiles and flying like thirty feet in the air and
shooting stack. I mean, for as much as I like was not a
huge fan of Metal gar Solid at the time, like Twin Snakes, for
me, was still still even to me, that was still somehow in a
front in a lot of ways of just no, you've know like you Solid
is more grounded gameplay changes in that I can appreciate, But all this other
stuff, Nope, yeah, were said as gritty and real. It's the
Bullet Club of video games, which is say, it's pretty much anime moving
on one day, you'll wake up. You don't have to. I don't
want to. You know, you can acknowledge that it's anime, but still
not watch anime. There's there's there's it's a fine line, but it is
a line. That line does exist. I'm just I'm so happy in this
bubble I've created for myself, and I don't you know, I don't necessarily
want to dip my toe outside of that. No, that's I'm having a
good time in here. Yeah, that's that's not the worst move. It's
not the worst move. There's things you can learn about the world. That
the change of man. That's true. I'm thirty. I don't need to
learn anything anymore. No, yeah, you're done. Yeah, that's yep,
a healthy way to get through life. Actually, i'm reading books now,
I'm actually learning stuff. Okay, there you go. Yeah, I
read a whole book. I just finished one today. Would you read jobs?
Oh, the biography? The Yeah, that guy's the best, well,
you know in the way that he's a super just like yes, narcissistic,
yeah, asshole like yeah, I thought he was absolutely fascinating. Yeah,
but you know people, people can be huge assholes and also a push
amazing things. Oh yeah, he seems amazing. What might say you have
to be one? That's well, I don't think you have to be I
think it's common works for me. Uh, Tony and Maryland cream cheese and
the larvettes. I don't want any part of any of that. I was
a state fair recently, and they of course had a deep fry booth,
oreos, candy bars, twinkies, the usual stuff. They also had deep
fried larvettes and cream cheese. For those who don't know, larvettes are dried
crisped worms, seasoned with various flavors. Nope. In this case it was
cheddar cheese flavored larvattes and a chunk of cream cheese then deep fried. Personally,
I found this absolutely disgusting and would never eat it, but I wondered
if any of you would try it. Furthermore, how do you feel about
eating bugs in general? I hate cream cheese. I mean that where it
starts and stops for you. The larvate stuff, I mean, we've got
we got those sent in the mail. You would always be like, we're
making a game about bugs, so you set these dumb things people Earth Defence
Forces coming out and get cholate crickets I ate, yeah, yeah, but
it's like they're just crunchy and like there especially like these things, like they
so much like barbecue chip, potato chip powder on them that they just taste
like that, right, eat a chip. Yeah. I tried them and
went like this is not filling or fun, Like this is stupid on all
ends. When I was in school, the entomology department came in to the
cafeteria one time and made some bug food. So I had, let's see,
remember eating crickets. I think I had a hot dog with some meal
worms on top of it, And I remember I think they had rice crispy
treats that were like dusted with moth eggs, gross or something. There's buckle
up though, because for one thing, bugs are making their way steadily into
fine dining. But there's also as the population continues to explode, there is
an increasing movement toward because eating bugs, like I mean, they're like super
high in protein and generally nutritious and require like zero resources and space to cultivate.
So I have a standing like two or three hundred dollar bet with my
friend Eva that she claims that in my lifetime or the next fifty years,
you will be able to buy edible bugs at Walmart. That's yeah, that's
what I'm That's what I'm talking about. There are people within fifty years from
now from where we made the bed a couple of years ago. Yeah,
yeah, I buy that. But I could see it being like a weird
like hippie stores. Yeah, but not not Walmart. This like great American
institution. They're not going to be selling a weird crap like bugs. But
I think like we'll get to a point where like they will have processed that
ship so much that it will just be like in the store the same way
a tofu burger would be or something like that. There's a bug burger.
It's high in protein and like way less stressful on the environment. Also,
we have no room left to fucking and no water left to get cows to
the point where we can make beef out of them. So wait, what
we're gonna be done with beef? Well, it's it's really expensive, cat
readibly resource intensive. Rays but we're not going to end at a point in
the near future where I can't get like a hammer. No, no,
not not in our lifetimes. Okay. And they also they also produce they
also produce like a staggering amount of methane. Yeah, like the stuff that
stuff will happen in our live times will be way more heinous than not.
Well, yeah, it was pretty well a lot of a lot of the
stuff about like bugs is food that I've seen is more for like developing nations
for the world, like where it's just not feasible to raise a lot of
live stock. Yeah, but you know, at some point, if they
process that shit enough and it, you know, reformulates into something that resembles
meat, like I'd give a shot. I don't care. Yeah, the
more process something is the better taste exactly. So I'm completely fine of that.
So if I can't tell it's a bug and it tastes real, yeah,
it's just like a patty that you've you know, that you've seasoned,
like a hamburger. I had fake meat. That's fine. Like the my
problem with a lot of the fake burgers and Boca burgers and a lot of
stuff is it's just it's really grainy and like the mouth feel is is kind
of off. But like I you know, I don't really have a problem
with fake meat and that sort of stuff. I just don't taste yeah,
exactly. Yeah, Like you know, I like tofu. Yeah, I'm
totally a well prepared well prepared tofusly it's like made out of the latinous.
Say, I don't know, it takes on shapes. Yeah, it depends
on how you you know, if it's fried, it's a little more tough,
and like I think I encounter it mostly in hot and sour soup.
Yes, it's in a lot of Chinese food, but just so you can
season it in a way that you know at some point, at some point,
like the dark secret about most meats and stuff is that you know,
the seasoning is what gives it most of its flavor, especially as the like
with those super processed stuff, So you can approximate that a lot of the
way with tofu, you're always going to know it's different. The texture will
always be like there's always a textual difference, which is the thing that kind
of breaks it for me a lot. It's like like the meat, like
the actual beef and a hamburger bad for you. I mean protein, Yeah,
it's too much. Team Like too much of anything is going to be
bad for you. On too much. Too much red meat has been linked
to colon cancer, yeah, pretty steadily. And uh you know, but
like you know what, there was another survey out today or yesterday or something
that was like refuting the dietary trends of like don't eat fat and like going
more in favor of like be low carb. Okay, like maybe not quite
all the way full atkins, no car but but it was another thing of
just like actually just stay away from trans fats, these specific types of fats,
and you know you actually probably should eat some of the other fats.
I just feel like no one ever knows anything. It just seems like like
every well, talking about milk double backs on itself fucking nine times, Like
milk doesn't body good. It's like no, actually, it's full of fucking
puss and it's a nightmare and we shouldn't be drinking it anyway because we're out
of the womb now. Yeah, like bread was a healthy Like bread and
milk were like super healthy things and I was a kid. Now it's like,
oh crap, it's carbs and fat and it's like nobody knows shit,
yeah, basically, and you know, all that stuff will reverse itself again,
probably at some point we learn more about it, but then you know,
the thing that we replace it with might be worse. Who knows shit
that tastes good. That's kind of where I'm at with it. They did
a taste test of the first lab grown meat, oh yeah, the other
day. That was like a super expensive hamburger. Yes, I'd have to
look it up. I mean, you know, it's obviously experimental from a
lab. It's probably like a you know, half a million dollars hamburger or
something like that. Of the reviews were not glowing. They didn't make it
sound like it was all that amazing. What was. I mean, I
forget, just like texture and flavor were not. They said it was getting
there, but not amazing. Yeah. Uh, let's see where that stuff
goes. It sounds like it's not nearly as easy as you would think it
is. That's that's the thing. Man. It's like, you know,
I like if people want to be all organic and not be a part of
this stuff, like, that's fine, that's their decision. But like me,
personally, I think food science is fucking maze. I just science is
cool. So the idea of like food science where they can grow meat in
a lab and you know, it's like, hey, we figured out a
way to grow this stuff bigger so it can feed more people. And it's
like, like that stuff is incredibly fascinating to me. So you're done with
GMOs, I guess, so? I guess. So, yeah, can't
they make like they can feed chickens things that make it so they produce more
nuggets or whatever at this point? And like that, So I'm all for
whatever kind of genetic crap you mean. I mean no, I mean,
like they make the chickens so there's more nuggety parts on their body that you
can cut off and eat you mean everything that's not the meat, whatever the
fuck it is, it's delicious. As long as you get more of that,
I don't care what the chicken looks like. Bones and the browns are
delicious, then yeah, the delicious nuggety bones. Pink the pink slime,
Sure again, they just ooze pink slime. It's all about have you seen
have you seen videos about the the making of chicken nuggets? Interest in it?
And if I did, if you tell me that you've seen it and
doesn't bother you, I'm totally fine with it. I've seen it. It
doesn't bother it. I bet if I saw it, I wouldn't give a
shit. I would just want to eat more nuggets, all right? Like
it to me? It to me, it's fascinating any in the same way
that all food science is. If you look at it and go, like,
you know, when they say stuff like, oh, they wash it
with ammonia, it's like, that's probably bad for you. But if it
was truly bad for you, wouldn't they not be allowed to sell it?
Yeahs illegal? And then at some point you have to like decide if you
trust the FDA, Right, That's where that's kind of where it gets.
I trust anything I can find in a store, like a real store,
like, not a hippie store like a Walmart. I trust everything in Walmart.
You can't get to that level of success and be something that's bad for
you. Well, I mean you can't. I mean they're Yeah, there's
unhealthy food that they sell cigarettes a Walmart, but it's not gonna kid.
Yeah, I mean it's not like illegally bad for you stuff. Yeah,
if it's on a Walmart shelf, I trusted completely. And if the government's
steering us astray, which they probably are, it'll be too late for everyone.
So that I agree with except the taste good and have fun, and
I don't know, not that so much. Yeah, this is the kind
of conversation we should be having in front of an audience. Yeah, I
mean you're like, honestly, the reactions that I imagine to the last thirty
seconds be pretty great. But you know, at some point it just comes
down to you, like all all trust of all branches of government, like
how much do you actually have? And it's the problem where the people that
yell the loudest about it are also the most insane and detached from reality.
So you listen to it and go like, well, it's impossible for me
to take anything this person says seriously, and everything else seems sane. So
I'm just gonna continue to eat chicken nuggets from time to Yeah, you'd probably
be fun and it'll probably be okay. You know, cam trails are probably
not actually happening, you know, I hope not. And if they are,
so what, there's kind of nothing that anyone could really do about it
anyway, and yelling about it more it just makes you seem that much more
detached from reality. Indeed, for the record, I have zero belief in
kim trails of any kind. Yeah, somebody will take an offing and comment
and it doesn't seem run with. It doesn't seem fun to just worry about
that crap all day, just run around yelling about food and crops and pest
aside or whatever. Just it's a lot more fun to just eat stuff that
tastes good and just have a fun time. Like Andy Freeze. Yeah,
here that tastes pretty good. That is that on crap and delicious? Yes
it is. I probably ate a lot of it, And here I am
feeling fresh as a daisy. So I don't give a shit. You're a
medical of modern modern You're a miracle of modern medical science. That's the thing
we all are. I guess so society is. It's all amazing. We
made it this far. Sure, it's all going to end soon, either
on an individual level or a societal one. Yes, everything's fine. When
it all crumbles and it becomes a mad Max wasteland, You're gonna wish you
had more chicken nuggets when they sold them. Yeah, Oh maybe I'm just
eating sand or whatever. Yeah sand nuggets. Yeah, don't eat them as
as chicken nuggets. Nope. Really depressed now I'm feeling great whatever. The
end of the world will be fun. We're not gonna see it, aren't
we There's no way everything is gonna be fine. I kind of want to
wow. What's optimistic? Yeah? You actually just want to see it for
like fun seaser if ye like nuclear winter types tough? Yeah, like you
know, wastelands are stuff. I'm I want to see it all, man,
I want to be around for the end. I don't want to die
and go like there's gonna be more someone's gonna make into space and it won't
be me. I'm gonna be like, Nope, when I'm done, shut
it all down. I want like fifty more years and eating nuggets and writing
roller coasters and playing video games. What are you talking about? I want
like twenty more years of that, and then give me fucking fighting for my
life in the wasteland. You want to be like an older dude fighting,
like yeah, man, like fucking I don't know Chris Christofferson or some shit
that motherfucker could survive in a wasteland. Probably just me in a walking city,
yeah, exactly, Me in a walking stick with a thick scarf and
the fucking wind. Yeah, yeah, killing people for gas, that's what
I want. I don't really know where to go from here. The breakdown
of society sounds like it'll be a fucking great time. You're not gonna have
internet. If you don't die in the first five minutes, you might make
it another fucking five years. Then what, It's always just gonna keep getting
worse. Exactly, Everything's gonna keep getting better. This is what we've been
training for. It doesn't sound fun to me, man, Okay, T
really only one more email I can read after that. It's gonna be fun
though. Uh. This is from Hamish, who signs the email at the
bottom of hand bo that's cool. I like that. I want to point
out that there is nary a lowercase letter nor any form of punctuation in this
entire email. Zodiac motherfucker. Basically, you know, I'll just hold the
laptop up so you can kind of see what I'm Yeah, yeah, I
kind of see where I'm coming from with this. I'm going to do my
best to read it in the dramatic way I think it was intended. Subject
line Bucky fueled email complimenting Jabomb crew one hundred percent for all hard work,
A thousand percent. Yep, hi GB, I'm drunk on Bucky. I
like that. You know Bucky and I'm a long time listener, and I
thought i'd express how cool you are because you might be getting down reading shitty
emails. Well, those days are over. This is the best one hundred
thousand percent. Yeah, Dan, You're my favorite weirdo ever. I love
how you love objectively shitty food. Also, what do you think of Keith
for southerlhe voicing Big Boss and MGS five. I think they've done fucked up
and couldn't get him in the studio for long enough. Also, thanks for
being a cool man. Okay, I like this guy. Is that it
Bratt? I love how you read emails about weird fetishes in this one and
how you like dot to two even if it is a weird game for nerds.
And I think you're damn cool and a good friend. Drew. You
are a military man. Thanks for all the sweet ownfull on North Korea,
and thanks for playing medic your solid is my favorite jib On series and being
real handsome and even though you're not weird m Jeff, you're the rocket in
the center of this weird motley crew, but you can still have a laugh
sometimes. And I know that you're a good person. Really, I believe
in do the best you can. I want to be at the end of
the world with this guy. Thank you for the lass and for knowing what
Buckfast is your pal from Scotland Hambo. Hambo seems like the sort of guy
you could tell tell him to, like put this guy in a cage and
keep him there, and like Hambo would get it done. Like if you
need people caged up for whatever fucking end of the world type shit you know
you got going on. If you need prisoners, I don't know. Also,
they stole some of the bug food and now they pay by becoming bug
food. Also minutes later, another email came in. Okay yeah from Hambo.
Well more to Hambo, I have to say subjects line. Also fuck
Dan Reicher. Okay, yeah, okay, light's body. Also fuck Dan
reichert cheers Dan for all the laps. One hundred percent, one thousand percent
your pal from Scotland. Hambo, All right, Hambo, right, okay,
I can't tell if he likes me or not. I thought he did
it first, but I mean he Scottish, he probably likes you. A
Scottish guy at our panel. Give me a big thing like fifteen year old
Scotch whiskey that I got on my desk. I wanted to drink that on
EPF. So, yeah, Scotland seems cool. Yeah, Scotland seems like
it's pretty cool. Camera tosses and ship they throw a fucking telephone pulls at
each other. Yeah, they seem like pretty cool dudes over there. Yeah,
I think I want to check that out. Would you eat haggis snow?
That's like a dumb stomach of a sheep or something cooked in It's cooked
in the stomach. Yes, yes, he's cooked stuff. You don't eat
the stomach or what is it. I don't know if you eat the lining
like the container or the stomach or not. But I believe, I believe
it also contains intestine. Yes, here's the thing. Every animal tastes great,
but only like the meaty food parts. Not I'm not gonna eat any
organs. I gonna eat stomach or trite or whatever that is. That's what's
in chicken nuggets. But it doesn't look weird. It looks like a delicious
thing that I've been eating since I was like four. I'm just saying that
ignorance is bliss. Yes, that's the whole point of life, exactly.
Yes, so let's sit. You know that happier you are. I'm smart
enough to know how stupid I am, and I know that I love it
this way. BombCast at chapon dot com. It's the email address she like
send in another inciting email. Buckfast is fantastic. I still don't know what
that is. Yeah, did you drink that bottle? No? Not yet?
Oh yeah, they sent that. I really wish, Danny, it's
a fortified tonic wine. I really wish I had gotten Danny to bring me
a bottle. I would like it's fourteen percent? Is it wine? Though
that sounds fancy, it's not. It is the opposite of fancy. It's
made by monks. It's a bum wine. Even that even bum wine over
there, it's made by monks. It does not taste like what it is
sickly sweet, but even calling it wine just has this air. I mean,
what do you tell us on like sparks and like, uh, I've
never had an energy I've never had an energy drink in my life, so
I don't know none of those have energy in them anymore. Let me have
the energy part, oh, because it taste anything like Night Train. It's
it's around there, but sweeter. Okay, I do like night Train.
I used to get that on like a lot in college just because the Guns
and Roses. So sure, we only drank it when we went to see
the local excellent Guns and Roses cover band. Are they around here? No?
This wasn't Carolina, but like, yeah, have you ever had Mad
Dog twenty twenty? No, I've literally just had like train. Okay,
So, like Cisco and Mad Dog are very fruit flavored, but they also
taste like fucking paint thinner. That just sounds madam, I'd rather just have
a shitty beer. Yeah, it's those are bad. That's a bad scene,
and I don't want sugary stuff. I just well, if you don't
want sugary stuff, then don't want to just get fast. It's it's a
sweet sugary I mean, I'd try it. It's super cheap and super potent.
So it's the sort of thing that you know, like people drink and
then fight and then it just so happens that after you finish it, you
have a handy weapon in your hand in the form of a glass fucking bottle.
Okay, that all sounds pretty good when you put it that way.
Yeah's being marketing for Buckfast totally. Yeah. But instead they're all like these
monks make it, which is like wayles's cool, completely different than get drunk,
unless they like have the commercial or like fucking monks fighting each I was
gonna say, what if they're like martial arts, Yeah, they're like you
know, yeah, if they're just like we we wield fist weapons, soloth
armor, Like if it's those kind of monks, yeah, it's cool ass
like shallon monks. We're just getting drunk and like having sweet fights at each
other. Then that sounds like maybe the coolest alcohol. Yeah no, Instead
it's like just the Benedictine monks or whatever. I don't know. They make
it, and then they make it and then try to like ignore the part
where the only people that drink it are people that are fighting themselves, are
drinking themselves to death, and try to say no the whole thing. I
think there's a push to actually put it into plastic bottles, while on account
of the violence I saw they're doing shatterproof mickeys. Now really like it's still
glass, but it's shatterproof plastic plat man, that's no. What is that?
I thought i'd like it. I bought one and I drank it,
But now you won't have the forty. You gotta have that that weight.
Yeah, I don't know. A plastic bottle of forty seems. And also
who's who's buying the hand grenades? I got those a couple times in college
and it's like, yeah, this is Mickey's. I love Mickey's, but
just get make god damn forty ounce. Well you just get a case of
them, Just drink the whole case yourself. I don't know, Yeah,
you don't hold it. Forty forties the best. Yeah, I guess there's
there's a there's an art to gripping of forty. There's the feel of the
forty in your hand. Why is it a hand grenade? It looks it's
a little green, stubby thing, little grenade shaped bottles, little of what
Mickey's malt liquor. It's like a six pack. Yeah, no, you
got a case like twelve. I've always got selling sixes, but we always
just get a box that's like twelve. It's like eighteen or twenty four.
Isn't like that? Is it like eleven ounces per like a beer? No,
it's less. Oh what's the point of that. They're little, they're
a little handy. It's like the tiny red stripes almost yeah, more barrel
shapes, okay, ma, right, but you just buy a case of
them, huh weird and then just you know, I mean the handy part
of that is that you've always freshly opened one and you don't get that ass
and where you don't have what you don't have the barb or the forty that's
gotten warms or whatever. Gross. Yeah, So you know there's there's that
that goes a long way. Indeed, I think if they took those and
sold them in like basically like juice box form, that'd be a lot easier.
I want to know a dumb store to. I know we're about to
close, but I got a story of hand grenades that's real gross. Okay.
So I was drinking Mickey's hand grenades and plant. I used to do
a poker night at my place back in college. So a bunch of my
friends were all sitting around a poker table drinking hand grenades and stuff. And
so everyone's got the same looking bottle bunch of hand grenades, and uh,
my friend Jared, uh, it's choose, choose to back. And so
at one point, yeah I'm kind of drunk plant poker, I reach back
to grab my my my hand grenaide. I take a big swig of it
and swallow it, and for a split second I think it's like warm and
minty, like what the hell's going on here? Like? And then instantly
I looked at Jared, and Jared is looking at me with this look of
horror, and I immediately ran into the sink and puked. Yeah, yeah,
yeah, you just I swallowed a big thing at tobacco spit just triggered
my gag reflex and yeah, I just I just hurling into the sink for
a long time. Yeah, yep, that's uh, I've seen that happen.
It's it's really gross. Yeah, man, that's just straight up.
That's worse than just drinking a bunch of normal spit. This is tobacco spit.
Yeah, worse than drinking a bunch of normal spit. That's the Giant
Bomb Cast. This has been the Giant Bomb Cast. Thank you for listening.
Jeff, you want to tell them about the little uh No, that's
uh. Yeah, We've we've got a sale going on the site, so
if you want to go to the Giant Bomb dot com slash upgrade you can
get more details on that sale for for new members. But also we've got
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probably uh And we signed up with a new network that you know represents
us in an advertising capacity, which is pretty cool because we get you know,
different ads than we you know, have been getting. We kind of
get to branch out, spread our wings. It's kind of fun for us
to mix it up and do weird stuff, but they want to know more
about you, the listener, so they can get out there and you know,
more effectively do their job and stuff. So we would appreciate it.
If you go to pods survey dot com slash bomb, there's a little survey
you can fill out. You know, it's like it's like demographic stuff.
It's like how old are you, what's your marital status, like the typical
survey type stuff. But if you are willing to give them your email address,
which they say is not for commercial purposes other than than you know,
this contest, you will be entered to win a one hundred dollars Amazon gift
card, So you don't have to give your email address out if you're not
into it, but go tell them what other podcasts you listen to, and
if you've bought any apps or clothes or food. I don't know, like
like appetizers, like no, like like applications. Yeah, I think appetizers
would fall under food. Plus they're still doing that whole like like all you
can eat apps thing. Oh yeah yeah yeah apps and taps uh yeah,
so yeah. Pod survey dot com slash bombs the address for that if you
if you don't mind go fill it out. It would It would help them
out, which in turn helps us out in some abstract way. So let
them know who you are. Cool. Yeah, yeah, thank you.
Thanks everybody on that note, thanks for listening. Yeah. I think we'll
have Drew back next week. We'll be back with a full length podcast next
week, assuming we all survived the next seven days, which after today seems
highly dubious. I I just want the gas. Yeah I don't. I
don't have any gas, man, I'm sorry. Then I'm gonna slit your
goddamn throat crap. Fie Vice, Fine, Vice