WEBVTT 1 00:00:08.320 --> 00:00:11.279 Hey, everybody, welcome to Game Mess Mornings with Me Jeff Grub, 2 00:00:11.320 --> 00:00:14.039 your host from giant bomb dot com. 3 00:00:14.160 --> 00:00:15.160 Thank you for tuning in. 4 00:00:15.039 --> 00:00:18.120 In this episode, we're gonna be talking about disappointing sales 5 00:00:18.120 --> 00:00:21.359 for a major PlayStation exclusive and switch to is not 6 00:00:21.559 --> 00:00:25.239 Nintendo's exclusive focus. It's gonna be a good one because 7 00:00:25.239 --> 00:00:27.719 we have Chuck zimmer Held on the show. Chuck, how 8 00:00:27.719 --> 00:00:28.559 are you doing. 9 00:00:28.920 --> 00:00:31.160 Done really well? I'm glad we're talking about disappointing sales 10 00:00:31.160 --> 00:00:33.679 because you have your most disappointing guest on today and 11 00:00:33.719 --> 00:00:35.439 I'm ready hey to meet the need. 12 00:00:36.119 --> 00:00:38.359 I come daily with that energy. Chuck, how dare you 13 00:00:38.359 --> 00:00:39.479 try to take that away from me? 14 00:00:39.880 --> 00:00:42.600 How are you doing doing really well? Man? I've been 15 00:00:42.640 --> 00:00:45.840 having a blast with the DK sixty four streams too. 16 00:00:45.880 --> 00:00:46.600 It's a good time. 17 00:00:46.920 --> 00:00:49.039 I don't mean to always end up staying till the 18 00:00:49.119 --> 00:00:50.920 very end, but like the last two days, oh you should? 19 00:00:51.000 --> 00:00:53.759 Yeah? Yeah, well fuck, well I would if I could. Yeah, 20 00:00:53.759 --> 00:00:55.960 it's it's I'm glad you're hanging in there with them. 21 00:00:56.520 --> 00:00:58.640 It's got a good energy. I think everyone's enjoying it. 22 00:00:58.960 --> 00:01:02.399 I see that here in the chat for this show. 23 00:01:02.439 --> 00:01:06.799 We've had three more people joined gime Bomb Premium on YouTube. 24 00:01:06.840 --> 00:01:09.640 Thank you everybody for doing that, Chuck, since you're here, 25 00:01:09.920 --> 00:01:11.799 tell everybody all the ways they could support us, like 26 00:01:12.120 --> 00:01:14.200 as part of this big marathon stream that we're doing. 27 00:01:14.439 --> 00:01:17.599 I would love to do that. So we are tracking 28 00:01:17.959 --> 00:01:20.760 new subs, that's important new so you don't have a 29 00:01:20.799 --> 00:01:24.120 current subscription, and if you sign up on the site 30 00:01:24.120 --> 00:01:26.719 at giant bomb dot com slash join for a yearly 31 00:01:26.920 --> 00:01:30.400 or a monthly, it'll add progress to our current goal, 32 00:01:30.879 --> 00:01:33.439 which is a community voted blight. You guys get to 33 00:01:33.519 --> 00:01:35.799 choose who gets blided out of the owners and you 34 00:01:35.799 --> 00:01:37.879 get to choose the game, which is that's a lot 35 00:01:37.920 --> 00:01:40.439 of control you guys are giving them. The brand new 36 00:01:40.480 --> 00:01:42.760 thing we're doing is on YouTube. You can sign up 37 00:01:42.799 --> 00:01:46.840 for a YouTube membership. We're putting all the premium content 38 00:01:46.879 --> 00:01:49.200 from the last year and going forward, all the premium 39 00:01:49.200 --> 00:01:51.400 content it's going on there. You're also get to add 40 00:01:51.439 --> 00:01:53.519 free versions of all the shows and stuff that we 41 00:01:53.560 --> 00:01:56.599 do normally, and that also progresses the tracker. Yearly is 42 00:01:56.640 --> 00:01:58.920 the best bang for your buck if you really want 43 00:01:58.920 --> 00:02:01.599 to get that community light going, that's how you can 44 00:02:01.640 --> 00:02:04.200 do that. But yeah, so those are all hitting right, 45 00:02:04.239 --> 00:02:06.040 now it's all going to the progress and then when 46 00:02:06.359 --> 00:02:08.719 when Mikey pulls that progress bar back up, you'll see 47 00:02:09.000 --> 00:02:09.520 where it's at. 48 00:02:10.080 --> 00:02:14.439 Yeah, I get there are always somenks among people about like, hey, 49 00:02:14.479 --> 00:02:17.159 it's I've been a support for a long time. How 50 00:02:17.159 --> 00:02:19.560 can we help contribute towards this. We're always working on 51 00:02:19.560 --> 00:02:21.599 that stuff everybody. But yeah, it's important for us to 52 00:02:21.639 --> 00:02:23.919 keep activating like new people, getting people excited about it, 53 00:02:23.960 --> 00:02:25.240 and we want to be thinking about it for this 54 00:02:25.280 --> 00:02:27.080 sort of thing because it forces us to come up 55 00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:29.400 with all these fun reasons for to bring in new 56 00:02:29.400 --> 00:02:31.120 people into the fold. But we'll find ways for you 57 00:02:31.159 --> 00:02:34.360 guys to contribute and support us, even if it's just 58 00:02:34.439 --> 00:02:37.840 like getting like increasing excitement and all that stuff. So yeah, 59 00:02:37.840 --> 00:02:40.159 I guess if you're been a supporter for a long time, 60 00:02:40.319 --> 00:02:42.080 tell a friend, go in your other discords, tell them 61 00:02:42.120 --> 00:02:44.080 what we're doing here. Tell them to come watch Mike 62 00:02:44.240 --> 00:02:46.919 play Donkey Kong. Honestly, who doesn't want to watch that? 63 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:48.599 You should want to watch that, and your friends should 64 00:02:48.639 --> 00:02:49.520 want to watch that as well. 65 00:02:49.919 --> 00:02:52.800 And we do have gift subscriptions you can do on 66 00:02:52.840 --> 00:02:57.400 the website. That's giant bomb dot com slash gift Dash. Nope, 67 00:02:57.560 --> 00:02:58.800 you're gonna start that over. 68 00:02:58.759 --> 00:03:01.240 Yeah, take it again, Jans will start to show. 69 00:03:01.080 --> 00:03:05.280 Over Dash Premium. Gift Dash Premium. You can go there, 70 00:03:05.560 --> 00:03:07.280 send yourself a code, and then give a code to 71 00:03:07.319 --> 00:03:09.000 a friend who doesn't have an account on the website. 72 00:03:09.000 --> 00:03:11.759 They can sign up and during checkout for premium they 73 00:03:11.800 --> 00:03:15.879 can use that. We're trying to enable gift memberships on YouTube, 74 00:03:16.360 --> 00:03:20.919 but that requires legal battling with Google. Funny enough, so. 75 00:03:20.280 --> 00:03:23.759 Sure, And it's not like talking to Google's lawyers. It's 76 00:03:23.759 --> 00:03:27.919 talking to Google's bots, which don't care. But hey, we 77 00:03:28.000 --> 00:03:30.439 got it working by we, I mean, chuck. All right, 78 00:03:30.479 --> 00:03:32.599 let's explain ourselves. We're Giant Bomb. Go to giant bomb 79 00:03:32.639 --> 00:03:34.400 dot com. So let's join, become a premium member, all 80 00:03:34.400 --> 00:03:36.560 that stuff you know at free shows. It's gonna get 81 00:03:36.560 --> 00:03:39.120 your premium shows early access to the Bully Endurance run. 82 00:03:39.319 --> 00:03:42.080 That's happening right now. You get early access right this week. 83 00:03:42.439 --> 00:03:43.840 It's going to be a life for everybody next week. 84 00:03:43.879 --> 00:03:45.000 So if you're like, oh, I want to watch that, 85 00:03:45.080 --> 00:03:46.960 don't have the money, we get it. We promise that 86 00:03:46.960 --> 00:03:48.639 to you. You're gonna get it next week. But if you 87 00:03:48.639 --> 00:03:50.400 want to get it early. That's one of the bonuses 88 00:03:50.400 --> 00:03:53.000 you get from premium, so go ahead and join up. 89 00:03:53.159 --> 00:03:55.599 As far as this show goes most weekdays, I Jeff 90 00:03:55.639 --> 00:03:58.680 Grub will help piece your gaming life back together. That 91 00:03:58.719 --> 00:04:01.599 includes breaking news and maybe even some of our own 92 00:04:01.680 --> 00:04:04.599 original reporting. For all these topics, I'll get the input 93 00:04:04.639 --> 00:04:06.960 of a bona fide expert who will make me look smart. 94 00:04:07.360 --> 00:04:09.879 You are watching live on twitch Welcome. You can always 95 00:04:09.919 --> 00:04:12.479 listen to the show later on podcast feeds by searching 96 00:04:12.520 --> 00:04:15.719 for Game Mess Mornings, or find the RSS feed on 97 00:04:15.960 --> 00:04:18.920 giant bomb dot com. You can also catch the show 98 00:04:18.959 --> 00:04:21.439 later with chapters and timestamps on YouTube. 99 00:04:22.199 --> 00:04:23.639 Hello YouTube. 100 00:04:23.639 --> 00:04:25.040 All right, we have a lot to get into, so 101 00:04:25.160 --> 00:04:29.839 let's start the Morning Mess with Sorrows had a lukewarm start. 102 00:04:29.920 --> 00:04:32.680 That's a quote, with three hundred thousand plus copies sold 103 00:04:32.720 --> 00:04:36.639 in two weeks, according to an analytics firm. This comes 104 00:04:36.639 --> 00:04:41.639 from Chriscollian over at VGC PlayStation five exclusive. Sorrows had 105 00:04:41.680 --> 00:04:44.800 a lukewarm start and may not make its development costs back, 106 00:04:44.839 --> 00:04:48.319 according to a video game atlantics analytics firm. Atlantics firm 107 00:04:48.959 --> 00:04:52.519 Norwegian firm A Linea Analytics, which I've always pointed out 108 00:04:52.839 --> 00:04:54.720 When I talk to people in the industry, they do 109 00:04:54.800 --> 00:04:57.399 say a LINEA is pretty good at these estimates. It's 110 00:04:57.399 --> 00:05:00.000 never perfect, but they are usually closer than just about 111 00:05:00.120 --> 00:05:03.120 anyone else. But even if there's like a huge margin 112 00:05:03.160 --> 00:05:05.800 of air here, three hundred thousand copies sold is. 113 00:05:05.680 --> 00:05:07.639 Like not probably what you want to be seeing. And 114 00:05:07.680 --> 00:05:09.639 that's what Elenia is saying. 115 00:05:09.639 --> 00:05:12.000 It's three hundred thousand copies sold earning around twenty two 116 00:05:12.040 --> 00:05:15.680 million in revenue for Sony. The company suggests that given 117 00:05:15.720 --> 00:05:18.639 the game's reported development budget was around seventy six million, 118 00:05:18.680 --> 00:05:20.519 in a god, how can we We usually can't trust 119 00:05:20.519 --> 00:05:23.920 those numbers either, but again that's an estimate. It may 120 00:05:24.000 --> 00:05:27.560 struggle to break even as a result. According to the firm. However, 121 00:05:27.600 --> 00:05:31.120 the game's data doesn't point to an entirely negative situation. 122 00:05:31.759 --> 00:05:34.079 Of the players who have bought the game, forty percent 123 00:05:34.120 --> 00:05:36.360 have played it for more than fifteen hours and thirty 124 00:05:36.399 --> 00:05:38.759 percent have played it for more than twenty hours. That 125 00:05:38.920 --> 00:05:42.839 is pretty impressive engagement for a roguelike of this difficulty profile. 126 00:05:42.959 --> 00:05:46.720 Only two weeks into release, Olnea's head of market analysis, 127 00:05:46.759 --> 00:05:51.720 Reese Elliott stated, shuts out to Reese, Yeah, I mean 128 00:05:52.360 --> 00:05:54.879 well to me, Chuck, this is a story that is 129 00:05:55.040 --> 00:05:58.560 very simple. This game costs seventy dollars and we're still 130 00:05:58.560 --> 00:05:59.639 not used to that, right. 131 00:06:00.079 --> 00:06:02.480 Yeah, that's exactly like when we were reading through this. 132 00:06:02.519 --> 00:06:04.839 It's exactly what I thought. There's I think there's tons 133 00:06:04.879 --> 00:06:06.560 of people that are ready to pounce on this thing 134 00:06:06.600 --> 00:06:08.839 when it gets like a ten dollars discount, twenty dollars 135 00:06:08.879 --> 00:06:11.600 discount or whatever, especially in the fall. So I think, 136 00:06:12.439 --> 00:06:14.319 you know, it's not all bad for them. I think 137 00:06:14.360 --> 00:06:16.279 that is going to happen when it goes on sale. 138 00:06:16.560 --> 00:06:19.279 That's going to hit. But yeah, like Reese points out here, 139 00:06:19.319 --> 00:06:21.319 and I love this like context from Rus who knows 140 00:06:21.319 --> 00:06:25.800 what he's talking about. It's a difficult game and it's 141 00:06:25.800 --> 00:06:28.600 a niche game, and then you slapped a seventy dollars 142 00:06:28.600 --> 00:06:31.519 price tag on that. So that's going to be tough. 143 00:06:31.560 --> 00:06:33.839 That's that's just tough, uphill sledting. 144 00:06:34.319 --> 00:06:37.879 I you know, and wrote I think people do have 145 00:06:37.920 --> 00:06:40.399 this idea in their head that like rogue likes are 146 00:06:40.439 --> 00:06:41.439 a niche and it's. 147 00:06:41.319 --> 00:06:43.800 Like I think they are particular. 148 00:06:44.199 --> 00:06:46.519 But like you know, Slay the Spire Too sold three 149 00:06:46.560 --> 00:06:49.600 million copies in like two weeks or something, like that, 150 00:06:49.959 --> 00:06:52.240 but it was much cheaper. I just think there's a 151 00:06:52.399 --> 00:06:55.560 value proposition that people get in their head rightfully. So 152 00:06:55.759 --> 00:06:58.720 I think about rogue likes of this is a game 153 00:06:58.839 --> 00:07:02.240 where they they build it in such a way that 154 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:04.839 they can not reuse, but like get the most. 155 00:07:04.639 --> 00:07:05.720 Out of all their assets. 156 00:07:05.759 --> 00:07:07.360 You're going to be spending a lot of time in 157 00:07:07.879 --> 00:07:10.199 the same environments over and over again, and that is 158 00:07:10.240 --> 00:07:11.600 the structure of the game, and a lot of people 159 00:07:11.600 --> 00:07:13.959 really like that, and that's the right thing for this game. 160 00:07:14.360 --> 00:07:17.839 But I think people then say something about that feels 161 00:07:18.160 --> 00:07:21.000 a little less then, and then you see seventy dollars, 162 00:07:21.040 --> 00:07:23.439 and it's just so easy to begin that mental bargaining, 163 00:07:23.720 --> 00:07:27.399 that mental like sort of conversation with yourself about am 164 00:07:27.399 --> 00:07:30.160 I getting my money's worth? And every little sort of 165 00:07:30.240 --> 00:07:34.480 dent in the armor of a game like works against it, 166 00:07:34.519 --> 00:07:37.480 and that builds up quickly, and people are already hurting. 167 00:07:37.480 --> 00:07:41.319 People have already have huge backlogs, and I think people 168 00:07:41.399 --> 00:07:44.879 do kind of think, Hey, I enjoyed Returnal, this looks 169 00:07:45.000 --> 00:07:45.879 pretty similar. 170 00:07:46.879 --> 00:07:48.879 I don't see why I need to play it right away. 171 00:07:48.920 --> 00:07:50.519 This is one that I can wait on, And I 172 00:07:50.600 --> 00:07:53.480 just I think that is what is happening for most people. 173 00:07:53.519 --> 00:07:54.759 I don't think this is a game that no one 174 00:07:54.800 --> 00:07:57.120 wants to play, I guess, is what I'm trying to say. 175 00:07:57.319 --> 00:07:59.560 I do think the decision to not have this be 176 00:07:59.600 --> 00:08:02.680 a piece port. That's something I see all the time too. Yeah, 177 00:08:02.759 --> 00:08:04.720 I think that was a weird decision. I think they 178 00:08:04.720 --> 00:08:06.600 probably regret that one a little bit of starting with 179 00:08:06.639 --> 00:08:06.959 this one. 180 00:08:07.040 --> 00:08:07.639 Yeah. 181 00:08:07.720 --> 00:08:11.079 Yeah, So, and that's you can't press that button right now. 182 00:08:11.160 --> 00:08:12.959 You can't say, okay, we need to announce a PC 183 00:08:13.079 --> 00:08:15.800 release because that makes people wait even longer to go 184 00:08:15.879 --> 00:08:18.439 get this game, right. So, but I imagine we get 185 00:08:18.439 --> 00:08:20.399 some kind of like PC announcement from them within the 186 00:08:20.439 --> 00:08:22.560 next year. But that's that's just my guess. 187 00:08:23.120 --> 00:08:26.319 Yeah, we you know, we have this other story here. 188 00:08:26.360 --> 00:08:27.639 I guess we could just talk about this now. 189 00:08:27.800 --> 00:08:30.480 Sony says PlayStation Plus gets only four to six day 190 00:08:30.480 --> 00:08:33.120 one games a year, and those are mostly going to 191 00:08:33.200 --> 00:08:36.840 be endies, and they basically plan to continue their strategy 192 00:08:36.960 --> 00:08:42.120 going forward. Unlike Xbox's priceier Game Pass, alternative, PlayStation Plus doesn't. 193 00:08:41.840 --> 00:08:43.879 Tend to include many day one games. 194 00:08:43.919 --> 00:08:47.799 Whichever tier you subscribe to, the cheapest option, PlayStation Plus 195 00:08:47.879 --> 00:08:50.879 Essential predominantly includes older games for you to add to 196 00:08:50.919 --> 00:08:54.919 your library. Meanwhile, the more expensive tier PlayStation Plus Extra 197 00:08:54.960 --> 00:08:58.759 prioritizes a large catalog of legacy content. Well, PlayStation Plus 198 00:08:58.799 --> 00:09:02.679 Premium is more about cloud streaming and retro games. Some 199 00:09:02.720 --> 00:09:05.360 recent examples of Day one games have included Stray and 200 00:09:05.440 --> 00:09:07.960 blue Prints, but in an interview with The Game Business, 201 00:09:08.039 --> 00:09:11.919 Sony's third party big wig, Chris Spenson reiterated his employer's 202 00:09:11.919 --> 00:09:15.960 stance on including new games within its subscription. We don't 203 00:09:16.000 --> 00:09:19.080 have very many Day one titles. We do them largely 204 00:09:19.120 --> 00:09:21.279 for indies, and there's probably between four to six a 205 00:09:21.360 --> 00:09:24.240 year that we focus on. For much of this generation, 206 00:09:24.320 --> 00:09:27.320 Sony was under intense pressure to follow the Game Pass model, 207 00:09:27.559 --> 00:09:30.039 with fans demanding the company include first and third party 208 00:09:30.080 --> 00:09:30.759 games day one. 209 00:09:31.559 --> 00:09:33.279 I don't know if I saw a ton of that demand, 210 00:09:33.360 --> 00:09:34.720 but people certainly would like that. 211 00:09:34.960 --> 00:09:38.200 But after falling short of Microsoft's lofty subscriber targets and 212 00:09:38.279 --> 00:09:41.279 doubling the price to thirty dollars last year for Game Pass, 213 00:09:41.519 --> 00:09:44.879 the conversation has fizzled out. The Redmind firm recently reduced 214 00:09:44.879 --> 00:09:47.080 the price of its subscription, but removed Call of Duty 215 00:09:47.120 --> 00:09:50.080 in the process, including it it came at a three 216 00:09:50.159 --> 00:09:53.360 hundred million dollars cost according to reports. So I think 217 00:09:53.399 --> 00:09:55.759 this is for me, Chuck, all part of this bigger 218 00:09:55.759 --> 00:09:59.960 conversation of you know, both these companies Microsoft and PlayStation 219 00:10:00.320 --> 00:10:03.919 are they are oscillating. They're not exactly sure how to 220 00:10:04.000 --> 00:10:05.600 get the most out of the games that they're putting 221 00:10:05.600 --> 00:10:09.039 out or the services they offer. Game Pass certainly is 222 00:10:09.080 --> 00:10:12.759 going back and forth on pricing increases and including. 223 00:10:12.320 --> 00:10:13.279 Call of Duty or not. 224 00:10:13.480 --> 00:10:15.240 I mean there was a time where every day one 225 00:10:15.320 --> 00:10:17.559 game was a part of every tier of game Pass 226 00:10:17.639 --> 00:10:20.879 that's now exclusive to the most expensive ultimate tier. And 227 00:10:20.919 --> 00:10:24.120 then meanwhile, over at PlayStations, like they are pulling back from, 228 00:10:24.279 --> 00:10:27.159 as you pointed out, putting games out on PC, and 229 00:10:27.159 --> 00:10:29.360 they're like, because we want to make our games feel 230 00:10:29.360 --> 00:10:30.360 special on the PlayStation. 231 00:10:30.399 --> 00:10:31.960 We think that's where we get the most value. 232 00:10:32.559 --> 00:10:35.120 And I don't know, something about like Sorrow's coming out 233 00:10:35.159 --> 00:10:38.159 and fizzling a little bit makes it feel like there's 234 00:10:38.360 --> 00:10:43.080 just something happening where people are like, this is the 235 00:10:43.120 --> 00:10:45.039 only thing I feel like as an event for PlayStation 236 00:10:45.200 --> 00:10:48.320 is when they put out their most expensive games. But 237 00:10:48.399 --> 00:10:50.679 I don't necessarily know that the answer to that is, well, 238 00:10:50.720 --> 00:10:53.639 then Sorrows should have been in PlayStation Plus, Chuck, what 239 00:10:53.720 --> 00:10:54.200 do you think? 240 00:10:55.759 --> 00:10:57.240 Yeah, I don't know if that would have moved the 241 00:10:57.240 --> 00:11:01.039 needle for them, right, because like a seventy you already 242 00:11:01.120 --> 00:11:04.080 have a PS five. If you have this hardware, you're 243 00:11:04.080 --> 00:11:07.519 more of a spender. What am I trying to say? Yeah, 244 00:11:07.559 --> 00:11:10.200 I they want to they want to move units of 245 00:11:10.200 --> 00:11:13.720 this game. I don't think packaging it in any way 246 00:11:13.840 --> 00:11:15.639 is gonna. I don't know, it just doesn't make sense 247 00:11:15.639 --> 00:11:18.240 to me, Like you you want your your expensive games 248 00:11:18.240 --> 00:11:21.039 to sell your consoles. That does that feel still like 249 00:11:21.080 --> 00:11:22.080 the common wisdom? 250 00:11:22.480 --> 00:11:22.720 Yes? 251 00:11:23.000 --> 00:11:24.840 I mean that's where that's where it seems like everyone's 252 00:11:24.879 --> 00:11:26.639 kind of shifting back toward that right now. 253 00:11:26.759 --> 00:11:30.000 Yes, these these guys are so frustrating because they're they're 254 00:11:30.039 --> 00:11:33.840 so quarter minded. Yes, like their plans to change every 255 00:11:33.879 --> 00:11:37.879 single quarter, and it's going to depend on the reports 256 00:11:37.879 --> 00:11:41.559 that come through after a physical quarter. So I feel 257 00:11:41.559 --> 00:11:44.399 like you said oscillating earlier, I think that's exactly spot on. 258 00:11:44.440 --> 00:11:47.159 They're just going to ping pong back and forth responding 259 00:11:47.159 --> 00:11:50.919 to market changes on hardware, whether or not the subscriptions 260 00:11:50.960 --> 00:11:53.440 are actually moving the needle for them or profitable for 261 00:11:53.480 --> 00:11:57.240 them I do think like sticking with indies on these 262 00:11:57.279 --> 00:11:59.720 subscription plans makes a lot of sense. And I will 263 00:11:59.720 --> 00:12:02.600 say that PS plus essential having like stuff like God 264 00:12:02.600 --> 00:12:04.360 of War on I think as God of War games 265 00:12:04.399 --> 00:12:06.320 like that on it. Yes, that's gonna pick up the 266 00:12:06.360 --> 00:12:09.720 PlayStation five after kind of being away from PlayStation for 267 00:12:09.759 --> 00:12:11.600 a while. That was like that felt like I was 268 00:12:11.600 --> 00:12:13.200 getting I was getting something good out of that, like 269 00:12:13.240 --> 00:12:14.039 a good deal. 270 00:12:13.879 --> 00:12:16.879 And that's what it's really for at this point. Absolutely, yeah, exactly. 271 00:12:17.600 --> 00:12:20.720 Yeah, it's And honestly it's good for those indie games. 272 00:12:20.799 --> 00:12:22.919 Right the handful of indie games that do pop up 273 00:12:22.960 --> 00:12:26.159 in PlayStation Plus a couple of times a year, they 274 00:12:26.200 --> 00:12:28.720 almost always do make a splash. But then that it's like, 275 00:12:29.000 --> 00:12:31.559 you know, why not have that same effect on your 276 00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:34.399 bigger games, especially if they aren't Like I don't know, 277 00:12:34.519 --> 00:12:36.399 Star Wars just doesn't feel like the event that a 278 00:12:36.440 --> 00:12:40.480 PlayStation game is supposed to feel like there, And I 279 00:12:40.519 --> 00:12:43.440 really I just don't know, like who to blame here. 280 00:12:43.559 --> 00:12:47.080 I think a part of that is PlayStation has trained 281 00:12:47.080 --> 00:12:50.360 its audience to expect the biggest of the big the 282 00:12:50.399 --> 00:12:54.440 most expensive of the expensive, like just everything needs to 283 00:12:54.480 --> 00:12:57.559 be turned up to eleven and twelve and thirteen, and 284 00:12:57.600 --> 00:13:00.879 if it's not like the next Got of and really 285 00:13:00.960 --> 00:13:02.799 at this point it's even the next God of War 286 00:13:02.840 --> 00:13:04.360 game feels like it's not gonna be able to capture 287 00:13:04.399 --> 00:13:06.279 the excitement that happened with like God of War twenty 288 00:13:06.279 --> 00:13:09.399 eighteen or the next Last of Us game wouldn't be 289 00:13:09.399 --> 00:13:11.600 able to do that either. You know, we'll see what 290 00:13:11.600 --> 00:13:15.320 happens with Intergalactic the Heritic profit. But these things are 291 00:13:15.399 --> 00:13:18.080 you know, they get attention at this point because they 292 00:13:18.120 --> 00:13:21.600 feel impossible to make. And if it doesn't feel like that, 293 00:13:22.279 --> 00:13:24.279 there is no there this urgency to go out and 294 00:13:24.320 --> 00:13:27.919 spend seventy dollars just isn't there. And it feels like 295 00:13:28.279 --> 00:13:30.600 PlayStations painted themselves into a corner a little bit. And 296 00:13:30.639 --> 00:13:32.320 then that does make me wonder, then why not put 297 00:13:32.320 --> 00:13:34.879 this out on PC where just a few more people 298 00:13:34.879 --> 00:13:35.799 can play it and buy it. 299 00:13:36.440 --> 00:13:38.320 I think it was a weird gamble, especially on a 300 00:13:39.120 --> 00:13:44.039 on a new IP. Right, oh, like Pragmatic coming out 301 00:13:44.080 --> 00:13:46.360 like around the same time is like such a perfect 302 00:13:46.480 --> 00:13:49.559 like thing where they can do like pretty direct comparisons, right, 303 00:13:49.600 --> 00:13:54.679 brand new IP Pragmata did not do the exclusivity right 304 00:13:55.120 --> 00:13:57.080 and I think is that price a little bit lower? 305 00:13:57.120 --> 00:13:58.399 Was that sixty dollars or seventy? 306 00:13:59.360 --> 00:14:03.120 It might be sixty, yes, yes, it's sixty. 307 00:14:03.480 --> 00:14:05.840 Yep. So someone in chat had the exact same line 308 00:14:05.840 --> 00:14:07.799 of thinking as me, yep, sixty dollars. I think they 309 00:14:07.840 --> 00:14:09.480 have to be like looking at those two and going like, 310 00:14:09.559 --> 00:14:11.159 ah shit, right. 311 00:14:11.240 --> 00:14:11.639 Yeah. 312 00:14:11.919 --> 00:14:14.080 You know, there was definitely a moment a couple of 313 00:14:14.080 --> 00:14:16.240 months ago where I'm like, they got away with it. 314 00:14:16.480 --> 00:14:18.840 You know, we had those arguments about seventy dollars when 315 00:14:18.840 --> 00:14:21.759 that was first happening earlier in the generation, and we 316 00:14:21.840 --> 00:14:24.759 all sort of just we whined and bitched and moaned 317 00:14:24.799 --> 00:14:28.200 and again rightfully so, but the games are just seventy 318 00:14:28.200 --> 00:14:29.879 dollars now. We just have accepted it, and it's like, 319 00:14:29.919 --> 00:14:31.759 oh wait, no, it doesn't feel like that actually got 320 00:14:31.799 --> 00:14:34.919 over the hump. And maybe you can point to Mario 321 00:14:35.000 --> 00:14:37.080 Kart there try and move it up even more to 322 00:14:37.120 --> 00:14:39.240 eighty dollars, and nothing else. 323 00:14:39.039 --> 00:14:40.440 Could get get away with eighty dollars. 324 00:14:40.440 --> 00:14:42.919 Borderlands four tried to do it and pulled back at 325 00:14:42.919 --> 00:14:45.559 the last moment and went back to seventy dollars before launch, 326 00:14:45.960 --> 00:14:48.480 And I think that I got everyone like thinking it's like, 327 00:14:49.840 --> 00:14:52.159 you know, they could charge whatever they want, that's right, 328 00:14:52.200 --> 00:14:54.159 but I do not have to buy it at launch, 329 00:14:54.159 --> 00:14:56.320 and I will wait and if they don't drop in price, 330 00:14:56.360 --> 00:14:59.919 I simply will not buy it. That is a mind's 331 00:15:00.039 --> 00:15:03.480 set that has settled in, I think with consumers. And 332 00:15:03.639 --> 00:15:05.480 you know, part of that is out of necessity as 333 00:15:05.480 --> 00:15:08.480 people try to save money for essentials as those all 334 00:15:08.519 --> 00:15:10.519 continue to go up in price. I mean, Chuck, we 335 00:15:10.639 --> 00:15:13.000 just got the inflation numbers. We're back up to four 336 00:15:13.039 --> 00:15:18.279 percent inflation. Baby, let's fucking go usay everybody, it's getting 337 00:15:18.279 --> 00:15:19.240 worse out there again. 338 00:15:19.639 --> 00:15:21.960 And so all of like the training we've done over the. 339 00:15:22.000 --> 00:15:26.360 Last five years, as we've had persistent hyperinflation for half 340 00:15:26.440 --> 00:15:29.600 a decade now, people have like really trained themselves to 341 00:15:29.639 --> 00:15:32.720 look for a deal. Those instincts are kicking back in. 342 00:15:33.200 --> 00:15:36.399 And this is the exact kind of game Sorrows that 343 00:15:36.600 --> 00:15:39.000 will get hurt most by that, I think. And I 344 00:15:39.120 --> 00:15:40.759 just don't know how these companies sort of deal with that, 345 00:15:40.799 --> 00:15:42.440 because they the way that they make these games on 346 00:15:42.480 --> 00:15:45.679 a timeline of five to seven years, or you know, 347 00:15:45.720 --> 00:15:48.679 maybe Sorrows is like a four year development cycle something 348 00:15:48.720 --> 00:15:51.519 like that. That's still a very long time. It's hard 349 00:15:51.519 --> 00:15:53.879 to plan ahead, and really the only tool you have 350 00:15:53.919 --> 00:15:56.600 in your toolbox is like, as a big company, a 351 00:15:56.639 --> 00:15:59.879 big publisher, is make your game more expensive looking. And 352 00:16:00.120 --> 00:16:02.200 that seems like a bad strategy right now. 353 00:16:02.600 --> 00:16:05.360 Yeah, they tried that, right, this game looks like hot. 354 00:16:05.519 --> 00:16:08.279 It's it's hot stuff. I mean, who Coli'S on this? Yes, 355 00:16:08.639 --> 00:16:12.639 absolutely looking very good. It is gorgeous. I played. I 356 00:16:12.720 --> 00:16:14.519 think I'm like five hours into it. I'm not very 357 00:16:14.519 --> 00:16:16.639 far into it, but I'm chewing it up. I'm really 358 00:16:16.720 --> 00:16:19.840 enjoying it. But yeah, that extra investment on top of 359 00:16:19.840 --> 00:16:22.600 what they did with Fraternal doesn't feel like it's paying off, 360 00:16:22.639 --> 00:16:25.960 although I do think it really is more market forces. Right, 361 00:16:26.000 --> 00:16:29.159 I wanted to yell recession indicator when you were talking 362 00:16:29.159 --> 00:16:32.679 about people not being more they're being more frugal, not 363 00:16:32.679 --> 00:16:36.399 wanting to buy on a seventy dollars game, right, Yeah, 364 00:16:36.480 --> 00:16:39.679 I have to imagine this is like a failure almost 365 00:16:39.679 --> 00:16:42.639 on the part of Sony. Right when they're talking probably 366 00:16:42.639 --> 00:16:44.320 with the studio about like where they're going to price 367 00:16:44.360 --> 00:16:47.240 their game, like what they're gonna do, this feels like 368 00:16:47.320 --> 00:16:51.159 Housemark just got screwed. In that conversation and that analysis. 369 00:16:51.639 --> 00:16:54.960 I yeah, I really do feel for house Mark who 370 00:16:55.039 --> 00:16:58.639 does feel like it was implied to them. 371 00:16:59.080 --> 00:16:59.519 I bet they. 372 00:17:00.519 --> 00:17:02.960 It's always a two way street, this idea of oh, 373 00:17:03.000 --> 00:17:05.240 a studio gets told by a publisher what they have 374 00:17:05.319 --> 00:17:08.400 to do, and it's like yeah, in a way, because 375 00:17:08.400 --> 00:17:10.839 what happens is the people that hold the money want 376 00:17:10.839 --> 00:17:13.240 to hear something, and the people who make the games 377 00:17:13.599 --> 00:17:15.920 know what they want to hear, and they sort of 378 00:17:15.960 --> 00:17:17.039 shape their pitches to. 379 00:17:17.079 --> 00:17:19.920 Fit that that mold that you know, fit the environment. 380 00:17:20.359 --> 00:17:25.319 And when I look at Returnal and then Sorrows, games 381 00:17:25.319 --> 00:17:29.079 that I do think are both very good, this that 382 00:17:29.119 --> 00:17:30.640 you could just kind of see. 383 00:17:30.640 --> 00:17:33.519 That they were made to fit the PlayStation. 384 00:17:33.200 --> 00:17:36.880 Mold and it's like, oh yeah, what that really means 385 00:17:36.920 --> 00:17:39.119 at the end of the day is these games are bigger, 386 00:17:39.400 --> 00:17:42.839 more expensive, and then have to sell more and it's 387 00:17:42.880 --> 00:17:45.319 just yeah, that's that's an uphill battle, and they kind 388 00:17:45.359 --> 00:17:46.839 of you know, this is a studio that once just 389 00:17:46.880 --> 00:17:51.359 made little arcade games that did surprisingly well, and now 390 00:17:51.359 --> 00:17:54.279 they have to sort of stand alongside the naughty dogs, 391 00:17:54.680 --> 00:17:56.559 and that's going to be a tough thing to pull off. 392 00:17:57.720 --> 00:18:00.880 All right, let's keep going here. On the other side 393 00:18:00.880 --> 00:18:04.599 of the fence Xbox. You know, it's been reevaluating exclusives 394 00:18:04.640 --> 00:18:09.480 since Asha Sharmas took taken over as head of Microsoft. 395 00:18:09.000 --> 00:18:10.640 Gaming, which is now at just Xbox again. 396 00:18:10.640 --> 00:18:14.880 They got rid of Microsoft Gaming, but that is always 397 00:18:14.880 --> 00:18:18.319 getting you know, different indicators there as for example, hell 398 00:18:18.400 --> 00:18:21.319 Blade two on PS five has been considered a pretty 399 00:18:21.319 --> 00:18:24.279 big success over there. This is from Liam Croft at 400 00:18:24.279 --> 00:18:28.079 push Square. Microsoft has confirmed excuse me, that it's going 401 00:18:28.119 --> 00:18:30.559