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Marvel SNAPs onto the mobile scene & we have Witcher at home - Add to Party 11.1.2022
7 Plays2 years ago
This week we discuss Embracer running out of free money, Witcher news, COD staying on Playstation, and Marvel SNAP
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Transcript
Show Introduction
00:00:14
Speaker
Welcome to Add to Party, a friendship simulator masquerading as a new show. I'm your host, James Hartwell, and I'm joined by. Charles Umont, and I'm joined by Andy K.
00:00:30
Speaker
Charles, I could hear you drink it. I don't know what's up with your mic.
00:00:35
Speaker
Well, I can hear it. I can hear it. No, they'll hear it. You can hear the liquid travel down his throat. I don't I don't understand what's changed. Nothing. We have such a more intimate listening experience with Charles's life tonight. Yeah, I don't know what it is, but we're trying to troubleshoot this before we started. And I don't know. I thought like, OK, now we're OK. And then I heard you take a
Microphone Mishaps and Humor
00:01:00
Speaker
drink. Oh, there's literally. Yeah, I can hear your throat muscles.
00:01:06
Speaker
Is this an ASMR stream? Is that ASMR? Hearing someone drink? Yeah, that could be. Yeah, it could be, yeah. Okay. Well, welcome to a very special episode. Charles, check the other settings. Like, what's your middle one on? Nothing's changed for the middle one. Wait, we're tapping? Here, let me... I gotta get one of those ear ones. I'm forgetting all the ASMR tropes.
00:01:31
Speaker
One second. Can you hear like me wearing my hand along the, let's say, ridges? Let me find something with ridges. Try again. Yeah. No, I can't find it. That's not a good rubbing noise. I heard you clicking. Yeah. Just mute yourself if you're not talking, buddy. No, I want the ASMR noises. I don't. Oh, how do we live?
Food Experiences and Opinions
00:01:56
Speaker
This is a very special episode, James. Let me tell you about this very special episode, because here's my icebreaker. Have you ever eaten something? And you go, this is not very good. Yeah, we know. You ever eaten something and gone, this is not very good, but I'm too hungry to stop. Oh, oh, James, that's everything I make. What?
00:02:28
Speaker
I mean, hello, freshers. I do. And actually, they're pretty decent. Don't get me wrong. But I've realized that I've had like I have a much higher tolerance for food that I make is just, you know, sometimes it doesn't turn out right or I burnt it or it's just just bad, but I still eat it. It's sustenance. It's food. And I paid money for it. I muted. Oh, Charles, I muted you on Zencaster because I could hear you scraping your plate.
00:02:54
Speaker
You unmute yourself when you're done eating, buddy. Oh, a very special ASMR episode. Yeah, I know. Right. Um, James, what what trauma are you carrying with you tonight? What's going on? What did you know that wasn't very good? That would be a chicken salad pesto wrap from Trader Joe's. Well, everything from Trader Joe's is supposed to be good. No, that's not true. Oh, I mean, a little bit.
00:03:23
Speaker
It's always like the I don't know. That's what I always hear. Everybody loves Trader Joe's, but you found the one bad thing. Oh, there's plenty of bad things to do, Sandy. Oh, let's talk trash on Trader Joe's, then. What else is garbage? I'll tell you, it's not garbage, which is now back for a limited time only. OK, that's the Thanksgiving stuffing potato chips. Oh, and that's good.
00:03:46
Speaker
Oh my God. It's you eat it and you don't, you're like, this, this camp, I bought it as a lark last year. Cause I'm like, what horrible thing do these tastes like? And then you bite into it and you're like, I didn't realize this is what I was missing my entire life.
00:04:03
Speaker
Wait, first question, OK, because I think I've realized as I've aged, I have a preference towards chip texture. Are these like kettle chips or like, you know, little chips? OK, because I think I don't like lays chips like the super thin, crunchy kind. I can understand that. They're just painful. It's just.
00:04:24
Speaker
painful and strange. Ruffle types are my favorite. But I did. I did just look this up because I wanted to see what was in it. OK. And also I found an article where people are dipping it into cranberry sauce, which I may have to do now. Oh, America's Test Kitchen just posted the best cranberry sauce you can buy at the grocery store. I didn't watch it, so I can't tell you, but check it out.
00:04:49
Speaker
Any any of these are right answer. And these are seasonal salt, celery, celery, sage and thyme. Oh, wow. OK. Yeah. And that's good. You might even taste a hint of gravy in there, too. Oh, oh, that would be so good with cranberry on there, then.
00:05:07
Speaker
And they're actually kettle chips. They're not gross lays chips. Did you buy some this season? I just we just got back from Trader Joe's right now. Are you eating them right
Grocery Shopping and Frugality
00:05:16
Speaker
now, James? No, that's later. Oh, I know you're under the weather right now. This could be your cure. Here you go, Andy. I just put it up on on Twitch. OK, so you can see it. Listen, you're at home. Well, listeners at home, let me describe this to you.
00:05:34
Speaker
Not going to lie, looking at the packaging. Yeah, you wouldn't think it. I bought it because I was like, this has to be terrible. I want to try. It has to be. It looks like an even worse like vegetable like crisps kind of packaging and like vegetable crisps don't look good and they're not healthy.
00:05:57
Speaker
at least in my experience, but that's what this looks like. But even worse, it just looks bad. But we have on the ground reporting that it's actually very good. It's worth trying. Mm hmm. Like if you like Thanksgiving stuffing, because here's I guess this is what I would describe to you. Like if you like stuffing, just imagine the flavor stuffing with potatoes and you're like, yeah, that would work.
00:06:22
Speaker
Okay. Well, don't you mix your stuffing with your potatoes? Yeah, sometimes. I mean, conceptualize it. Because you conceptualize it, right? You're like, oh, this sounds terrible because it's a potato chip. But if it was just a potato, that's fine. That's fine, right? So you're trapped in this kind of conception that Trader Joe's is here to break you out of.
00:06:44
Speaker
Well, listen, James, you're sounding like the kind of person who goes to Trader Joe's, or all they talk about are the only good things. Oh, I mean, what are the bad things that Trader Joe's? That pesto chicken salad wrap I just had was real bad. Oh, but you finished it.
00:07:01
Speaker
Yeah, because I was I had I had a half a bagel and an egg at like 11 o'clock today and that's all I had eaten. Yeah, no, it's time to chow down then. Yeah. But then there's also.
00:07:21
Speaker
No, I mean, I don't know. Here's the thing. I don't hang on to bad thoughts. They just go away. James, that's so beautiful. I wonder if it's true, but it is so beautiful to hear that. About things that aren't myself. Yes, I don't care.
00:07:40
Speaker
That's good. At least in one one aspect, you have a healthy processing. But good. Let those bad things away. I just want go to Trader Joe's because it's not near me. So I just don't. How far is it from me, Andy? I don't know. Like 15 minutes, 20 minutes. Oh, that's not that's not that far. It's further than 10 minutes. We just drove 15 minutes to go to Trader Joe's.
00:08:09
Speaker
Oh, to grocery shop. Oh, I don't know. That seems like a lot of time. And then you got it. And then it's like it doesn't have everything you need. No. And then it's like, why did I go here? Why did I go here if I just have to go somewhere else? Here's what I feel about Trader Joe's. It's not a place where I go to buy food to make dinner, but it's a great place to buy food to make lunch. Hmm. Hmm. OK. That's salad kit. Their salad kits are undefeated, too. That's all.
00:08:40
Speaker
Well, I had a brief moment where I thought I'd get into salads again, so maybe I have to drive 15 minutes to a Trader Joe's. They're very good salad kits. Going to a grocery store should have everything. Why would I go to two different grocery stores? I don't know. My grandfather used to go to like five grocery stores to buy each thing that was on sale at that grocery store. Oh, my gosh. Wait, did he do this when he was retired, though?
00:09:07
Speaker
No. When he was raising my father. Yeah. Oh, I was going to say, I guess if you've got nothing else to do, might as well. Listen, he was a frugal man and he wanted to save his money. I get it. I get it. I get it. And that coupon, that coupon life is real. Yeah.
00:09:23
Speaker
You can you can save a lot if you do that. I knew someone who played that game like amongst like different like drugstores and stuff. And then they would show off their closet of just like the dozens of years of supplies that they had. And then they realized we don't need all of this. And then they started giving it away.
00:09:40
Speaker
which was nice, but they were obsessed with chasing the coupons. So we got it. Charles, what are your thoughts on dividing your grocery shopping? Because I can't imagine that world. He still hasn't unmuted himself in Sunkaster yet, so I think I may have offended him. Oh, are you still scraping your plate, Charles? Come back. Silence. Silence is consent. Oh, no, it isn't. No, it's not.
00:10:11
Speaker
Uh, no, I don't know. Well, listen, hopefully he joins soon. Hopefully, James, I listen, I understand someone who just raged, he did a chicken wrap. I understand that he's eating his dinner right now. And that's rage. He did it. You hated every bite. Oh, I mean, listen, halfway, like a quarter of the way through it. I'm like, this is not good. And I was like, doesn't matter. I need calories. Was it really not that good?
00:10:36
Speaker
It was not that good. Like something would have to be bad to not finish, especially if you spent money on it. To the point where I was like, I wish I got one of those cold burritos. You're supposed to warm up. Eat it cold.
00:10:55
Speaker
A cold burrito is gross. I agree. So is that wrap. Oh, no. Oh, no. Well, see, now I have reasons to not go to Trader Joe's and I appreciate that.
00:11:09
Speaker
I just go, although you know what happened to me, I almost went to another grocery store. Speaking of how fresh I didn't make mine from the previous or from the week I got that we got back from Hawaii because I was too tired. So I went to the store to buy the ingredients that spoiled. There was no green onions at the grocery store.
00:11:31
Speaker
That's weird. And I thought as I entered, I was like surely the item that they will not be out of is green onions. They always have green onions. They were out. They were out. Do you know green onions in a cup on your counter? Yeah, not hard. Well, apparently not. Oh, actually, I think that was one of Hello, Fresh's tips is like you like you put the the roots in a cup of water and you can grow your own. Obviously, and that's what and that's what they expected you to do. I mean, you didn't do it.
00:12:00
Speaker
I didn't do it because they were all out. I couldn't believe it. And then I was like, I'll go to a second grocery store. And then I got all psyched up to go. And then I didn't. And I ordered food.
00:12:12
Speaker
because I can't go to another store. Here's the other one, Andy. Have you ever been too exhausted from your shopping trip where you bought all your great food that you're going to have and I'm going to cook every day this week and you go, I'm going to order out because I'm just a little too tired for buying food? I'm not going to say that I've never done that. Yeah. It doesn't take much to get me tired.
00:12:40
Speaker
Yeah. Well, as you know, after you take it all out, you got to put all the cold stuff away immediately. You just you're like, I don't want to take it back out and cook now. No, no, cooking takes a while. I don't care for recipe says it's 20 minutes. That's an hour. That's why rotisserie chickens at the supermarket are really great. Mm hmm. I haven't had one. You've never had a rotisserie chicken in a supermarket?
00:13:06
Speaker
Well, I guess I've never bought
Lottery Dreams and Legal Advice
00:13:08
Speaker
one. When I was younger, we had them a lot. But listen, if it's not in a recipe, I haven't tried it. And I guess I don't have anything that uses that is the lazy man's healthy dinner. You grab one of those, grab one of those chickens. You open it up in front of your sink and you just stand there and eat it like a caveman.
00:13:29
Speaker
Just tearing it apart and just shoving it in your mouth. You know, and I didn't dirty a plate. Did I? Exactly. That's right. Because it comes in a plate in that little plastic.
00:13:41
Speaker
I think you just enlightened me to a life hack. Oh, Andy, you get you get that rotisserie chicken the next time we're at the soup. OK. All right. Mm hmm. Living that. It's chicken, so it's healthy. That's right. And they probably season it, too. Yeah, they usually have different like sometimes they'll be like a garlic one or they'll be teriyaki one. Mm hmm. Maybe like a bourbon barbecue one. OK. All right. Cheaper than Hello Fresh.
00:14:11
Speaker
So that'll be my next one. Well, I've got to go back to the store to get green onions because I got to make these hello freshers. But also I need to get a lottery ticket because it's at one point three billion now. Oh, did it not? Nobody won. Nobody won. Nobody won. I certainly didn't win. So it's back to the store for me. Listen, I've often said I don't need to win the lottery. I just need to be in the splash damage zone of somebody who wins it.
00:14:41
Speaker
Like Andy, if you won the lottery, especially like a 1.3 billion one, you toss me a couple million, right? Well, really? Couple million? Yeah. Well, I have to start my anime studio first. Oh my God.
00:15:02
Speaker
Which money do you need to live, Andy? I don't need much, but that anime studio is going to change the industry. So I'm sorry, you'll get you'll get some. Don't worry. Don't you are on the list. You are on the list. Just a couple million. Mm hmm. I didn't apply in trust. And then I'm just taking care of. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Well, we'll we'll we'll discuss this later.
00:15:32
Speaker
After I, um... I would, I would get, you would throw like five million your way on this one. Ugh, well now I have to give you five million. Yeah, I know, that's the, that's the, that's what I do. Why did you say that?
00:15:45
Speaker
Oh, my. Hmm. Hmm. Well, there's no way you're streaming yet. There's like a tier list, right? Yes. Like like here. I'll break it down for you. OK. OK. So I think the last people won like one point three billion dollars. Sure. It was like they got something like four seventy five after taxes and the lump sum payment or something like that. So just right off the top hundred million to me. That's it. I'm a simple man. I only need one hundred million dollars to live.
00:16:12
Speaker
Yeah. That's true. You don't need much. Yeah. Then you have 300 million to play around with 20. Then you start giving 25 to like your innermost circle. Then you start giving 10 to maybe some kids in your family that you want to build up. And then you have like a good chunk of fives that you can just shoot out.
00:16:39
Speaker
I mean, depending on how many people you know, Andy, on the inner circle, right? You know, and they have to. You have like 40, 45 million dollar payoffs you can give. Well, I got to. If you have some of it. Yeah, I have to. A hundred million. You took a hundred million. No, that's just for me. Listen, I have to keep. You understand you don't keep that in a bank, right? Well, where do you put it under my bed?
00:17:06
Speaker
You buy bonds, you buy stocks. Well, I'm going to have to hire someone to do that. You hire a financial planner. Yeah, I'm not doing that. Andy, please tell me, you know what you do if you win the lottery. I probably I'm going to Google it a bit. I know that you're not supposed to accept the money yourself.
00:17:25
Speaker
because it's the law. Yeah, it's the law in many places that you have to reveal yourself or reveal your name as like a method of transparency. So, you know, the mob isn't getting the money, but listen, sit down, sit. There's not a lottery podcast.
00:17:46
Speaker
First thing you do, you win that lottery, right? You don't say jack shit to no one. No, I don't. You keep that to yourself. How do you keep that to yourself? You have 475 million reasons to keep it to yourself. Maybe your partner. Sure. Whoever you want to guide you on this trip, like my brother is a financial advisor, I would probably tell him. But can I tell my therapist? I'd probably call him.
00:18:14
Speaker
Uh, you go to the largest law firm in your town. You demand to speak to a partner, like a named partner, um, and be like that. I have a multi, a multi hundred million dollar transaction that I need legal representation for. And then they will help you get ready for the rest of it. Okay. So I just find a good lawyer. Yeah.
00:18:38
Speaker
And you want you want like a big you don't want like you want to go to a a lawyer who regularly handles multi-million dollar deals because it won't be worth it to them to steal from you. That's a good way of putting it. It's not worth it to steal.
00:18:58
Speaker
because they already do so many deals that it's like, well, they wouldn't ruin their reputation by screwing you over. That's very good point. But hopefully they don't make me pay them up front because all I've got is an orange ticket. Well, yeah, but that ticket is, you know, they'll be fine.
00:19:18
Speaker
I've because because you also then become you'll you'll they'll become your lawyer forever, right? And as a person with hundreds of millions of dollars, a lot of legal trouble is going to come your way. Wondrous. Oh, everyone leave me alone. I just want my animation. You should give me that. You should give me that couple of million dollars. I don't know. Oh, my God. If we'd have to fight in court.
00:19:44
Speaker
I would, Andy, I take you down. Oh, no, I would just feel bad the whole time. I know you would. And that's why you would lose. Well, whatever. I have million dollar lawyers coming at you. Come at me. All right. Named partners only. I'm not worried. I'm emboldened. Also sign the back of the ticket and say and say not to be claimed except by this person or representation thereof.
00:20:11
Speaker
Wait, do I sign it once I win the money or after I get the million dollar lawyer? Well, you sign it when you when you win. Oh, no. Oh, I'm getting nervous thinking about it. Oh, yeah, this is the idea. I can't wait for this to happen. And you want to let me be your financial advisor. I definitely won't take advantage of it. OK, that's fine. That's fine. I did go to a business school and OK. All right. You know, more than me. I don't know what to do with it.
00:20:40
Speaker
Again, I only have one dream and it's to revolutionize the anime industry, OK, by paying people at least a living wage. It's not that hard. So once I do that, the rest of it, you know, or but not but not voice actors, as we discussed, I'll talk to another girl.
00:21:01
Speaker
Did we talk about Bayonetta at all? Oh, no, we did. We did, but that's a hidden episode that I'm not releasing because I didn't like how it sounded. Oh, no. Oh, yeah. Listeners at home, it's a hidden episode. If you subscribe to our Patreon, though, maybe we'll release it. Maybe one day. The Hidden Forbidden. Was it because of all my hot takes?
00:21:26
Speaker
Well, but there you go. Also, more news came out after we recorded it and I was like, eh, reframe, it reframed the whole discussion. It made all our points move. And I'm like, oh, it's it's too late at this point. Anyway, Charles, we're talking about the news. Can you respond to me and Slack how much longer you need? His meal is so delicious. I wonder what he has. I had I had a euro.
00:21:53
Speaker
And I haven't had a year on a long time. Amy, I'm going to press the pronounce a euro. What did I say? It's a year at the right. You said the right way. Oh, I thought places in Milwaukee. There's no good euro places. No, we did. Oh, we did. There's so many Oakland euros saved a lot of teenagers. That's true.
00:22:15
Speaker
Is there a large Greek population in Milwaukee? Yep. All these Greek restaurants that we have that are that used to be 24 hours and are no longer. The pandemic took that away from us. I'm glad you said that, Charles. And I think we talked about this before. Greek diner, that's a everybody has Greek diners, right? I only respect them if their entire building is chrome. OK, so it's not just a Midwest thing.
00:22:43
Speaker
Yeah. Okay. They are definitely national. Okay. But they are certainly some regions, dead regions, because guess what? Pacific Northwest isn't happening. Really? It also has to be named like Athens or Athenian. Yes. Mykonos. Yeah. Oh no. Don't remind me of Mykonos. Yeah.
00:23:08
Speaker
OK, because, yeah, I feel like I've been in conversations with several people and they had never heard of a Greek diner.
Late-Night Eats and Store Stories
00:23:14
Speaker
And one of the things on the checklist is 24 hours. But that was the 24 hour diner, I think, is something that has gone to the wayside and may never come back. That's a very good point. And, you know, what about where will people do crime at? Where will they do crime? Wherever they want to. CVS.
00:23:36
Speaker
Where will all the teenagers who know how to drive but can't buy alcohol go? That reminds me of this morning. Well, this afternoon, I got to witness my first robbery. Well, not necessarily a robbery, stealing at a Rite Aid. Oh, my gosh. They walked out.
00:23:57
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Well, the funny part, right, was I was just like, oh, there's somebody walking in. Oh, they seem to know where they want to go. And they grab a bunch of toilet paper and then walk right out. And then and this one lady, you know, the saw what was going to happen. So they were like about ready to block them. And then he just ran past it. Really? Yeah. And then I was looking at I was like,
00:24:22
Speaker
And because I had headphones on, I didn't really hear anything, but I was just like, I was like, Oh, she must know that guy. And she's yelling out after. Oh, really? And then I was like, I'm surprised the register. And I was like, Oh, well, very good. I'm surprised she actually cared. Most of the time I've seen that they're just like, whatever. Yeah.
00:24:45
Speaker
I mean, you know, stuff happens. She could be new, but she could be new. I admired her. Yeah, yeah. I mean, also, yeah, they really wanted her to actually if they really wanted people to stop them, they would hire. Yeah.
00:25:04
Speaker
Security there, but I think that one by your that Walgreens by your house had us had his had a security officer in it when I went there tends to be a security place in most of the ones but not this one I noticed I was like interesting they were too trusting and Now they're one roll of toilet paper down. How interesting that that's what they steal
00:25:27
Speaker
I mean, it's creative. It is practical. And then it speaks towards that thing of like, are they stealing out of need, right? Like maybe they just need toilet paper and they can't afford toilet paper. Well, you know what else is practical? Ooh, what? That's the Embracer group shutting down Square Enix Montreal.
00:25:49
Speaker
Oh, they might have to be stealing toilet paper. That's
Gaming Industry Updates
00:25:54
Speaker
right. Yeah, it's the the it's the end of Embracer buying everything and it's the beginning of Embracer breaking everything. I like that.
00:26:03
Speaker
Uh, yeah, cub reporter Jason Shrier, uh, reported today a scoop as he called it, which just really report reinforcing that cub reporter behavior. Uh, Embracer has shut down a Noma, which was a square onyx Montreal's rename, which if you recall was three weeks ago that they released that free name announcement.
00:26:26
Speaker
Anoma staff will be moving to Eidos Montreal. Eidos cancelled an unannounced game. Eidos is also working on Xbox, working with Xbox on games like Fable. Jason Shrier goes on to say in the Twitter post, because I can't access his Bloomberg article, Anoma was part of the acquisition that saw Embracer take control of Eidos and the Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, and Legacy of King and Franchises.
00:26:50
Speaker
The company informed staff at a 2 p.m. Eastern time meeting today that Noma is shutting down as a company as the company pivots focus only on PC and console. Eidos Montreal, which remains intact, canceled the Stranger Things inspired kids on bikes game that was rumored recently. They're now working on the following. A new IP recently rescoped, whatever the fuck that means, a new day of sex very, very early. So like not even like probably
00:27:20
Speaker
It's, it's, it's concept art. And maybe before that, and then your code of partnership with Xbox, including fable. Oh, they would be developing fable. Yeah.
00:27:31
Speaker
We're maybe not fable fable, but maybe. Oh, okay. Wasn't there like a horse fable game where you just drove a horse buggy for like a neck talk? Maybe it will connect game. There are a lot of connect games and I do not remember any of them. One second fable connect game.
00:27:53
Speaker
Oh, he does that. Interesting. Also, Anoma was kind of also mobile focused a little bit. They were they being hit and go, which is by all accounts I heard was very popular and our craft go was very, very good. Yeah. So it's it's weird to see a company move out of the mobile space because that's usually where they make a ton of money. Mm hmm.
00:28:19
Speaker
Um, I don't know. I'm not really sure what this means. Like, is it, is it a signal that embraces, you know, the age of free money is coming to an end, right? As interest rates go up and things like that. So is it really kind of in bright and bracer was kind of looking at the books going, eh, not enough. And they just kind of cut it. I mean, we've seen this too, with all the other recently offset like games media and things like that as well. Mm-hmm.
00:28:44
Speaker
That could be it. Oh, God, just a couple of weeks after renaming them. I know. That's the other weird thing. Again, poor management, right? We talked about this one fan by shutdown when it was like people found out from a Slack channel or were out out at Tokyo Game Show reporting when they got fired. It's like that's just really poor management that you let day to day operations continue that far when you're going to go for an immediate shutdown. Yeah, it's just.
00:29:14
Speaker
Well, it's sad to hear that, honestly, because Embracer, I thought that was the one thing about them. They were buying up everything. But yeah, this is this is the first studio I think they've closed. I think. Yeah, it's that it's either the first or like the second. Yeah. Well, it sucks. I mean, why buy them? I will. Like you said, the age of free money is gone.
00:29:40
Speaker
Um, so, I mean, they still own their IPs, right? Which like legacy became Tomb Raider and a deus ex. True.
00:29:49
Speaker
I don't know. I hopefully I don't know. They put out the whole thing. It was like, we'll find new stuff for them in the company. Whatever that means. I mean, I don't know. I mean, here's the thing. I've never heard a bad thing about people working for Embracer until now. Yeah. I mean, this is it. Right. Yeah. So it's but I mean, like the dev companies that have worked for Embracer like they're really hands off. That's true. I mean, they let the new Saints row happen. So.
00:30:19
Speaker
Oh, maybe, honestly, that could be part of the reason they had to do this, right? When one part of the portfolio underperforms, it can affect other parts. Oh, that's sad. Well, hopefully this is the last one. I wish only success on everyone. I really highly doubt it's going. Hey, no, no, no. Thoughts become things, James.
00:30:46
Speaker
OK, I don't know what that means, but thoughts become things. Let's put out into the universe that all these studios are going to make wildly successful games. We could all use. I'm sure Charles wants a good legacy of Kane game. You're the stand here for that. I just want. That's true. That's very true. I've never played a legacy of Kane. Well, you're missing on the greatest set of voice acting and video games ever. I have. I have seen those videos, yes.
00:31:16
Speaker
wait now legacy a cane okay yes it's a better ones the solar yeah i heard the first one's very good it is yeah i watch the let's play of it and um
00:31:31
Speaker
Oh, what an interesting leap from the first to the second one. Well, I mean, listeners legacy came originally featured the main character, Taylor character.
00:31:46
Speaker
Kane and then Soul Reaver split off and we made it about one of Kane's former lieutenants, Raziel. And Raziel was a much more interesting character than Kane. But Raziel's games made Kane more deep and interesting and so now it's all good.
00:32:07
Speaker
And it's also used as a vampire. Yeah. Yeah. And spoiler alert, there's a reason why there's no more. The sequels cannot be a solver games. Oh, I guess I can all be record.
00:32:22
Speaker
Yeah, maybe they would do that. That's it. Listen, you can't. It was good writing. You can't. Don't sell me the name. Listen, if Embracer is closing studios, they want results. The kids know Soul Reaver. That's it. Also, the problem is the voice actor for Raziel is unfortunately passed on. And so we get the original voice actor. That's sad. Yeah.
00:32:51
Speaker
Well, I hope something becomes the property. And just give us more Tomb Raider, please. I want all Tomb Raiders. Also, I heard Volition was the developer of Saints Row. So you can blame everything on Volition being a bad developer for ruining other studios.
00:33:09
Speaker
That's what I said. I said, yeah, but one part of the portfolio underperforming affects other parts. But yeah, and maybe that's why I'm saying volition is specifically. Oh, you're literally calling them out. Your name. He's just staring at them unblinkingly as you say. Charles, you too. I have the Wikipedia page directly open and I'm just staring at it.
00:33:35
Speaker
Just tweet a picture of them staring at you holding up Shryer's tweet. Well, you know what? Maybe legacy of Kane would get a remake if they were owned by CD Projekt Red.
00:33:56
Speaker
Because CD Projekt Red is remaking the first Witcher game entirely in Unreal 5. This is the codename Canis Majoris when we talked about the Witcher roadmap of CD Projekt Red over promising everything. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And they're working with a developer called Fools Theory, which I haven't heard of before, but they're also a Polish company.
00:34:25
Speaker
shopping local. Well, either of you played. Well, I don't think either of you played Witcher 3, right? Or have you?
00:34:34
Speaker
I have not. Charles, did you give it a try? Only a few minutes because I started it and went, man, I need to go back and play the other ones. And then and then we the rumors of a remake would happen. And so we were just I was like, I'll wait. Oh, really? I didn't know the rumors been around that long. Oh, people have wanted to update this game for a long time. One is one is awful. Yeah, I heard it's not good.
00:34:58
Speaker
Yeah, like the story is OK. I played it when it came out because I had an Xbox and that's all I had. But it was not a fun game. Oh, there. But also, it's actually very easy to break, because if you're familiar with literature war, they like drink lots of potions and all that. So you could like potion stack like crazy to just make it make yourself an unkillable monster. Mm hmm.
00:35:25
Speaker
But yeah, I'm interested. They showed a video of it somewhere, but I can't find it. But yeah, I mean, making an Unreal Engine 5 is good because we know they are trying to pivot entirely to that. So this is probably a good test for them of, hey, let's just remake a game we already made so we can just focus on the tech development, which is smart. I'll give them credit for that. I'm excited to play it. Oh, good.
00:35:55
Speaker
Probably wrong, but that's okay. This is good for a lot of people. Because I think for a lot of people, Witcher 3 was their first Witcher. Yes. So I guess it does make sense to go back and remake it. And they're offloading it, which is probably a good decision.
00:36:13
Speaker
given how they've handled other things and their unbelievable roadmap of just making a bunch of different games. We're gonna make 12 games in six years. Yep, yep. Please keep your stock with us. Please don't leave us. Which, you know what? God bless. I wish them all the best. And Charles, now you'll be able to play the first one.
00:36:39
Speaker
But then are you going to have to wait for a remake of that? Because I heard the second one's not good either. Second one's after they there was like a weird patch that one of one of the we talked about this before, one of the developers spent like three years redesigning the combat controls of the game and released it as an official patch. And once he did that, the game was much more playable and fun. Yeah. Well, I guess you'll have to play with that patch then, Charles. And then you'll be able to play three. That's just how it has to be.
00:37:10
Speaker
I was, I forgot if I talked about this, but I remember I think it was in a Tim Rogers video. He played Witcher 3 because someone described to him that playing Witcher 3 gave them the same feeling of when they were young and played Final Fantasy 7. Like that feeling that games had changed forever and that this was something like brilliant that they were playing.
00:37:35
Speaker
I don't think Witcher 3 changed anything. It was just... I think it was an exercise in excellence. There wasn't any new ideas in Witcher.
00:37:50
Speaker
Well, maybe it was just elevated. Maybe it was. I mean, I can't speak for that person's feelings because I mean, Final Fantasy 7, too. Maybe it didn't do necessarily. Well, people look back at it now and they might not call it excellent, but it was brilliant at the time. It was incredible. And I was like, I want to experience Final Fantasy 7 again. And then I just never played Witcher 3.
00:38:14
Speaker
But whatever. So I know it's important to a lot of people, like very important to a lot of people. So similar Witcher news. Did you guys hear that Henry Cavill will be leaving the Witcher starting for season four? I did.
00:38:32
Speaker
Yeah, they just finished wrapping season three. And I guess the rumor is that he's going back to be Superman with DC, which also news James Gunn is taking over the creative development of the entire DC movie franchise. Yeah, that's that's a pretty big burden. Yeah, I trust James Gunn, though. Oh, I love him. I love him. But
00:38:59
Speaker
I don't know. Do you know who they're replacing the most attractive band in the world with? No. To play Geralt of Rivia. Who? That would be Hemsworth Light, Liam Hemsworth. Who is that?
00:39:15
Speaker
That's Chris Hemsworth, a less successful brother. Who's Chris Hemsworth? Chris Hemsworth is Thor. Oh, he has a brother? Yeah. Oh, is this like the Baldwin brothers? I think he, I mean, Liam's, I think there is also a third brother. Oh, really? There's Chris. There's Chris. Yeah.
00:39:35
Speaker
Oh, my God, is one of them. Did you see that thing about the one Baldwin brother where he's a Christian and like there's a there's a foundation that raises money, takes donations to keep that one Baldwin brother rich so he can evangelize to other rich people? That's weird. It's wild. Andy, look at these two gentlemen.
00:40:01
Speaker
Here, one second, let me bring it up really quick. Oh, wow. And then that shoulder over there. That's the other brother. Also, Andy, that cut of meat. I mean, if I looked like that, I'd hang around shortlist all the time. Oh, wait, that's Liam, who's big and bold enough. Yeah. Chris is modest.
00:40:26
Speaker
Well, Chris gets pumped up when he needs to. Sure. Fair. It's also Liam Hensworth was the the one of the love triangles in Hunger Games. Yep. Yeah. Like between Jennifer Lawrence and then and the bread pita. Liam Liam doesn't have the natural charisma that Chris has. Chris has great charisma.
00:40:55
Speaker
Yeah, Liam is a decent actor, but he's just kind of flat as a board. You know what I mean? Well, when you're attractive, it takes you far. Yeah. In Expendables 2, I think it is, Liam Hensford plays the new guy in the in the squad and he plays a sniper. So he has a very few scenes and then he dies early. Oh, all right. That's enough. That's enough, Liam. We paid that debt to Chris.
00:41:24
Speaker
Oh, did Chris get him this job? Oh, I mean, Chris gets him jobs. It's like Robert Downey Jr.'s brother.
00:41:35
Speaker
voices, or what is it? Is it Robert Darin Jr.? I think some some actor's brother. Oh, no, it's Tom Hanks. Tom Hanks' brother voices all the like, like straight to DVD stuff for Toy Story as Woody. Really? Yeah. I didn't know that. I didn't know he had a brother. I know he has a son. Didn't know about that brother. Someone also deep faked Liam's face onto Cavill's body.
00:42:07
Speaker
for, uh, what it would look like. Oh, okay. You jump ahead here. Well, now did you see the conspiracy theories about why, why he left?
00:42:23
Speaker
Why? So, apparently. Go ahead. Apparently, Henry Cavill, the most handsome man on Earth and the biggest nerd on Earth, is a huge fan of the Witcher.
00:42:39
Speaker
Yeah, even the games. Yeah, the novels, because he's a real nerd, not a fake one. And he was not happy that they were deviating from the source material. So out of appreciation for the source, he left the role. Yeah. And now they're giving it to Chris's lesser half. Makes sense. Yeah. Do you really pass that up because of
00:43:08
Speaker
Yeah. Artistic differences? Hammersworth has, or not Hammersworth, um, Cavill has so much clout to do whatever he wants. That's true. Like he willed the Witcher into existence, basically. Oh, did he? I didn't know that. Oh, yeah. Oh, wow.
00:43:24
Speaker
Yeah, he's probably pretty cool. Yeah, he's super cool. I'm on Instagram, Andy. Oh, yeah. Does he post his figurines? Yeah, he does. I like it. He gets excited about models like guys. Oh, I mean, yeah, it's a it's a good fall. Cool. Yeah, man. He's so cool. He is any Superman.
00:43:51
Speaker
By the way, I saw I can do a movie review. Did you see Black Adam? I saw Black Adam. Holy shit. Were you at gunpoint? Why? A friend wanted to see it, and I thought it'd be fun to see a big, dumb action movie. Hot take. Hot take. I thought Dwayne Johnson was great in it.
00:44:19
Speaker
He was the only good part of it. But Andy, he's not a hero. Oh, well, yeah, they're pretty heavy handed about some of that stuff in there. The hierarchy of power has changed.
00:44:35
Speaker
I think there was some there. There could have been. Oh, man, if only James Gunn was involved in this, it could have done a lot of good stuff. Like it had interesting themes that were handled messy.
00:44:53
Speaker
But I also realized that I am a sucker for the trope of just like a just a big, dumb, like super powered whatever, if that makes sense. Like he's just he's just way too powerful. And then he just says like dumb stuff. And I'm like, I'm here for it. Andy, so we knew that you knew that about yourself. We like all these isekai anime.
00:45:18
Speaker
That's true. There's just something fun about an overpowered meathead, because it's just so blunt and dumb and funny. And that's the good things. Black Adam, I appreciated The Rock in it. Nothing else is good about it. Nothing.
00:45:39
Speaker
The thing I heard, and I'm not saying this fucking movie, was that The Rock is too charismatic to play an anti-hero because it's like, oh, I'm so bad. I kill. But he's also just so charismatic that you're like, yeah, but you're The Rock. At least I love you.
00:45:54
Speaker
Um, you know, I'll say that I was able to suspend disbelief or whatever enough that I believed him in the role. Um, I think he actually, I, that, that I think his charisma played into it. Like he was able to represent that character. Well, yeah, but that's black Adam should not be that one. Oh, well then black Adam is boring. Yes, he is. I think I want to be very clear with you. Black Adam is very boring.
00:46:20
Speaker
I mean, sometimes he's good. Sometimes he's good when when he's less of a superpowered god fighting and more of a ruler of a country who's also a superhero. It's more of the Black Panther thing. Sure. Yeah, it could have been good. It could have been real good. Otherwise, I'd say that he is cool in it and it's a fun enough movie. I do not regret seeing it. It was fun.
00:46:46
Speaker
I'm glad for you, Andy. And you're gonna see Black Panther though, immediately, right, Andy? Probably. Yeah, okay. I think I just need someone else to go and then ask me to go. Then I'll go. Is this the problem that Charles has left you now that you know the cheese? Basically. I mean, I'll still go to a movie like by myself. It's probably gonna be like an anime movie or like the Sonic movie. Like, I'm gonna go see the Ava movie.
00:47:13
Speaker
I think that One Piece Red comes out soon. That's true. They did a premiere I thought already for Red. It was in November, I'm pretty sure.
00:47:29
Speaker
No, sirens, sirens on our end, by the way. That's it. I know it's it's on my end, too. Oh, wow. We got double sirens. I'm just saying, I'm just saying in general, the sirens are so nice. Yeah. Yeah. One piece read in English is out now. Yeah, it is nice. Yeah, it came out. Oh, that's weird. It says release date November 4th. Yeah, that's what I thought. Except.
00:47:55
Speaker
the show times now. Yeah. Yeah. Right now. Well, actually, no way. I can't see it now. The first time I could see this Thursday. Oh, you know, which is the third base now. Yeah, it's also it does say Thursday. OK, so it is this week. There you go. Let's see one piece. Reads must be really good. It is supposed to be good.
00:48:15
Speaker
I don't. Well, maybe. Andy, you watched Dragon Ball. I did. I did watch the Dragon Ball. Me and I. Which one? Rolly Superhero? The latest one. The old new one. Superhero. Yes. They fought Cell, I think. It was he was he was Naga Cell. Yeah. And then I realized I can't tell Goku and Gohan Gohan apart.
00:48:44
Speaker
It's actually very easy to realize I was very old. They have very different hair. I felt so old. I was like, Oh, what's Goku doing?
00:49:05
Speaker
Yeah, that's going on. Tell me about Goku, kids. By the way, I saw several kids dressed up as demon slayer characters last night. Oh, yeah. Oh, that's fun. I mean, I feel like it is fairly easy to do that. Charles. I mean, no, she was. No, there's there's a bunch of nescos. No, which one is that? That's it. Like.
Anime and Halloween Costumes
00:49:31
Speaker
That's a hot topic. The whatever anime for chain stores and stuff sell the tops of most of those characters. That's true. They made it and just put it on and put on normal pants. Kids, though, which is fine, which I agree is fine. But it's also they had the bamboo. They had like the bamboo mouthpiece. I was like, that's cool. Oh, that's fun.
00:49:55
Speaker
I'll give it to them. That's very cute. Wait, how old are these children that are watching Demon Slayer? Granted, we watched it, too. What do I mean? Somewhere between nine and twelve, Andy. That's what I would guess. Oh, that's kind of young. That's fine. That's fine. But what's the best costume you saw? With trick or treating.
00:50:18
Speaker
I'll say I think it was the Demon Slayer kids. Yeah, it's one of those many like crazy costumes this year. Inflation, you know. I saw an a la card this weekend. Oh, really? Yeah, I had to stop and compliment them. Oh, I'm glad you did. They're perfectly incredible. Good choice and taste in anime. Yes. Yes. You say completely reasonable.
00:50:41
Speaker
Now, was there other differences in the designs between the housing? OK, there's not. OK. Yeah, they're fairly similar. It's just, you know, depending on what form and stage. Oh, that occurred. That's true.
00:50:59
Speaker
Yeah. Well, wait, isn't the Symphony of the Night guy named Alucard, too? Yeah, he is a common moniker. So am I a am I? Andy, you know what Alucard is, right? I didn't realize it for a very long time. But am I? Wait, what makes me the better fan, knowing it from Helsing or knowing it from Symphony of the Night? Because my mind went to Helsing.
00:51:26
Speaker
That's what I'm talking about. Is Helsing more iconic than Symphony of the Night? I don't know. To be fair, I come at it from more of the Helsing angle. I know a lot of people definitely care about Symphony of the Night. James, where did your mind go?
00:51:48
Speaker
I don't know if this is correct, but I go to Vampire Hunter D. Oh, his name was Alucard. His name is D, isn't it? Yeah, his name is D. But for some reason, I'm trying to remember if Alucard is in there somewhere. No, it's Castlevania. I mean, to be fair, they both have... Well, no, Alucard is white here in Castlevania, though. Well, it's Alucard.
00:52:15
Speaker
Where's the first Alucard? Yeah, that's what I'm thinking. Symphony of the Night. Oh, the first time was used in Alucard was Son of Dracula. Oh! A 1943 horror movie. Interesting. And then it was used ever since. Yeah. Makes sense. Excuse me.
00:52:37
Speaker
I think I think people were us about what you were thinking when I said yes What's what's more I name a more icon? No, this isn't a name them a more iconic duo Situation, but what's more iconic? Hellsing or Symphony of the Night? Whatever, Alucard and Hellsing is awesome. He has more personality. I like Aria of Sorrow better, but I'm weird.
00:53:01
Speaker
Well, that's not all a card in there, is it? He's there. He just goes by a different name. Oh, really? Like, he was like Genji Itotsuku or something like that. I can't believe he calls himself. That's our card. Hey, Charles, tell us about Marvel Snap. Oh, are you playing Snap, Charles? I'm playing Snap, too, but Charles is better at it than I am. Well, tell us about Snap. Charles, are you there?
00:53:30
Speaker
Oh, he's muted again. No, I need your your your informed opinion. Oh, how strange. I didn't do that. Hmm. I didn't. I appreciate yours is to James, but Charles.
Marvel Snap Game Mechanics
00:53:46
Speaker
All right, so listeners, if you've not played, um, let's see, Marvel Snap is a card game where you fight for control of three areas. In order to win the game, you just need to control two to two out of the three areas by the end of the game, by the end of the sixth round, sometimes seventh round, but that depends. Um, so what you do is you put four rounds.
00:54:10
Speaker
Yes, sometimes it is also four rounds. What you do is you cast cards that cost something and you get mana to pay at the beginning of the turn and refreshes. And the cards have abilities that change and do wacky things and have a power rating on the card.
00:54:33
Speaker
And there's only a max of four cards per area that you're trying to vie for. And at the end of the game, you sum it all up and see who has the highest amount of power on each area, and they win that area. And then you just need two out of three very quick. Every game, because it's only six rounds, six turns, takes only about three minutes on average.
00:54:57
Speaker
Whoa, it's a very fast card game. And for that reason alone, it's a really good time waster if you if you're in between certain things. That's a toilet. It is.
00:55:13
Speaker
So there's other mechanics, obviously, to make things interesting. But the easiest thing to say is that every deck has 12 cards, you start with three, and you can't have any multiple copies of a card.
00:55:28
Speaker
So it's very easy to deck build, things are not too complicated. If you know of games like Flux, I think the easiest way to explain the game is it's just like Flux where the areas you vie for has special rules on them that can modify how you want to play the game.
00:55:50
Speaker
So for instance, earlier I said the player that has the most power in an area is going to be the winner. There's a special rule on some areas that just say the person with the lowest power wins this area. Stuff like that.
00:56:09
Speaker
And then also those areas are hidden too. So they're revealed over the first three turns. So area one's revealed on turn one, area two on turn three, area three. That's interesting. So can you guess where an area might be then? No. Before it's revealed. So there are, there is a card that exists that says, you know, all the areas are revealed to you right away, but your opponent doesn't get to see it.
00:56:36
Speaker
So there is special ways to get around the rules, but yes, normal flow of the game is you, you start the game with only one area revealed. And then at the beginning of the next round, you reveal the next area and there, can you get still, Oh, sorry. You can still play cards on areas that are unrevealed too.
00:56:55
Speaker
OK. So you could gamble because certain areas are bad areas to play cards in, like the one I said earlier, where the person with the lowest amount of power wins. There are things that also just say when this at the end of certain rounds destroy all your cards in this area.
00:57:11
Speaker
So it's definitely a certain level of gamesmanship you need in order to play the most proper. But the thing is, this game is a Marvel property. You get to just play all your favorite Marvel people and even not so favorite people as well if you don't really care for Marvel itself.
00:57:36
Speaker
The final interesting mechanic you have with this game is the snap system. Because every game of Marvel snap you play, you're playing for ranking. You do this by gathering, they just call them cubes or whatever.
00:57:54
Speaker
And any time in the game, you can choose to snap and double the amount of cubes you're playing for with your opponent. You and your opponent are allowed to snap once per game, which doubles it each time. And then at the end of the final round, whatever was bet is doubled one more time. So you get a total of eight cubes if everyone snaps in the game.
00:58:19
Speaker
But to be honest with you, there's not really a good benefit for advancing in cubes necessarily. There's rewards, but they're not really that great.
00:58:31
Speaker
However, I will say for this game, it is fun. You can definitely play it if you want a more in-depth explanation of stuff. There are certainly resources to it, but it's really not that much. I will say in terms of do you want to dive deep into this and build decks as much as you can? This isn't going to be the game for you just because deck.
00:58:53
Speaker
Unlocking cards in this game is very, very slow. There's no way to buy cards directly for what deck you want to play. As you level up in an alternate track system called collector levels, you eventually unlock other cards, and they are at random. So it is very likely you will not get all the cards you exactly need, but you unlock cards. And that can be very frustrating if you enjoy deck building.
00:59:23
Speaker
Like me. But honestly, it is still very fun. You can play it with no real time commitment or mental commitment. You can just zone out and play a game and be like, okay, good. My greatest joy is snapping on turn one before anything is played and then emoting to convince the other player to also snap without playing anything.
00:59:46
Speaker
And then when they do, we both spam the fist bump button together. Because now there's no gamesmanship. It's all just play now. Aw, that's fun. Yeah. That's fun. I would say, for me, in my experience, I would say I'm not as big into deck building as Charles is. I am a admitted decker. Yeah, I don't give a shit, Andy.
01:00:17
Speaker
Oh, just to say it out loud. I know that decking is where you look up good effects online and just build them. Yes. And that's exclusively what I do, too. But.
01:00:29
Speaker
I, the pace of reveal hasn't really bugged me. Um, I've fallen off it just because I don't tend to play a lot of games on my phone, but I do end up coming back to it every now and then when like, maybe in like the end of the night, when I want to do something real quick for like a little bit while I'm laying in bed, I'll play a couple rounds. Um.
01:00:52
Speaker
I feel like it is due to the speed, it probably will be easy to get bored of it because you'd be like, oh, I'm just playing the same deck, right? Getting cards that really change how you want to play your deck is at random like Charles is saying. So I can see it kind of being like, well, why would I, you know, I don't need to change up my deck that much because I don't have that much variability in it. I don't think I've changed my deck since beta, honestly. And I still win.
01:01:19
Speaker
I think a lot of that is because I'm a compulsive gambler and that turn six and I'm just playing the man across me. Mm hmm. But I don't know. I think it is a fun game. I also think it's a game that hopefully will stick around for a while because it's a good formula. And if they iterate on it,
01:01:38
Speaker
and make it better, I especially within Charles's complaints. I think it's a game that could really last the test of time. Like I haven't felt like this kind of interested in a card game since Hearthstone. Wow. And it's the Hearthstone guy, right? Yeah, exactly. Like you feel a lot of Hearthstone's DNA in this game. Oh, really? OK. Charles, do you agree with that?
01:02:02
Speaker
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Ben Brode still doing things. I played against him, I think, last two nights ago. Really? Did you say Brode? Yeah, it said Brode. Did you snap, turn one? Absolutely. I spammed the shit out of it. Did he beat you? I don't remember, actually. I think I think I lost if I don't remember.
01:02:29
Speaker
I would brag about it because he has all the cards unlocked. That's why. Oh, that might be it. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, I mean, it's a it's fine. Let's say if I run into Ben Broad in a Pax again, I'll definitely blame him. Like how do you go? It was one a.m. one night.
01:02:48
Speaker
getting ready for bed as I play a one quick game and then you did this to me. And you did this. I didn't forget, Brode. Is Day 9 still a thing? Does he do stuff? Yeah. He does the PC gaming show every year, Andy. Oh, does he? OK. Yeah. Andy, it's interesting. Day 9 is he's a generally completely fine man. Uh oh. What's good? What are you going to say, Charles?
01:03:17
Speaker
But he's but but that's where he's happy to be. And he just he doesn't want to go much further. You know, he's hosted in the PC gaming show. That's pretty good. No, no, it is good. And he's been doing it for years and years and years. I feel like, you know, I think day nine is a completely reasonable and well-developed adult. So.
01:03:39
Speaker
So he's just like, so he's just like, I'm going to do this. This is my job. I'm not going to go much further. I won't cause any problems. I'm just going to mind my thing, do this and protect my bastion of the internet. Right. Sure. Cause he, he moderates very well and that's fine. That's great. And, but you know, some people want some spice in their life.
01:04:03
Speaker
Well, drama day nine. I only know him from Starcraft. I liked him when he did the Starcraft stuff. He went to he he went to Hearthstone and eventually he switched completely over to magic. Oh, yeah, to arena. So I missed it. Did you touch on the monetization? I don't think I did not just because
01:04:32
Speaker
It basically just ties into the idea of how do you pay for this mobile game? Simple. In order to advance collector level, you need to spend the currency to upgrade your cards. It doesn't change how the card functions. It's just cosmetics to your cards. So your cards suddenly have a slight 3D effect or your card has like this different color animation on its name, whatever.
01:04:58
Speaker
because of the frames. Yeah. So, you know, which is all nice and good. It doesn't modify gameplay. So good. But because you unlock cards by increasing your collector level, which is the currently the only way to increase that is by upgrading your cards cosmetics. You have to spend money to advance fairly quickly on collector level and eventually unlocking more cards with your collector level.
01:05:23
Speaker
Yes, you don't have. Oh, you can just play and advance your collector level. But if you want to do it at a quickened pace, you need to pay pay money. Charles, you're like, what are you doing with 200 something? Well, let me check right now.
01:05:43
Speaker
I'm only 76. What a baby. Wait, did you say 612? 512. James, that's embarrassing. I have other things to do. 76.
01:06:05
Speaker
Uh, I also, also, I went to Vegas and didn't get to go to a concert. Um, that's true. That's true. But, uh, my Vegas winnings are paying for the puppy. By the way, I'm paying for that puppy straight cash bills straight from Vegas.
01:06:22
Speaker
And new craps tables and new craps or whatever that other craps is called. Yeah, we have to get to that. But I think it's the least egregious monetization they could get around to, I think.
01:06:37
Speaker
I don't know, Charles. Yeah. What do you know? Yeah. No, I absolutely agree. Like, you know, it's this is a game designed for mobile. Mobile games are in all. No. OK. Not every mobile game. Ninety nine percent of mobile games are designed to.
01:06:54
Speaker
99.99% of mobile games. Exactly. Are heavily designed to add monetization and prey on people's impulse buying in order to progress. And when you don't, Embracer shuts you down. Yeah, exactly. Because that studio only made paid games. Yeah, well, that's the thing, too. Apparently, I know people were OK with Hitman Go. It was great.
01:07:23
Speaker
Not enough. Not enough. So yes. So every time you say it's a mobile game, everyone should have an eyebrow raise and just go, how do you monetize in this game?
01:07:39
Speaker
I mean, it's reasonable. Like, I get it. You can't just release a game for free and not expect to make money somehow. And even with the way you get, you know, the rate you get free currency, it's not that bad. I think you can get enough to upgrade one card, one high level card once a day.
01:08:00
Speaker
Yeah, I was going to say once, once, maybe twice a day, if you play slowly like I do. Yeah. So I mean, that's not that's not insignificant progress. So, you know, fair play to them. I think I spent about 80 dollars to get to 500. OK. Yeah, I think they also the early levels to go a lot faster. Like I think I was like maybe like 50. I started slowing down a little bit.
01:08:29
Speaker
Yeah, and to be honest with you, I went to 500 because that's when the known tracker for unlocking mystery cards disappears and it just becomes chess and it could be anything, including a new card. And I don't care for it, but...
01:08:50
Speaker
Yeah, so a game is reasonable. You don't necessarily have a need to pay money into it as long as you're not a passionate deck builder, which is fine. Yeah, I haven't got the burning urge to spend money on it like some other games that I've played. So is this going to pull a fire emblem heroes and turn you into a super Marvel fan, Charles?
01:09:15
Speaker
But I mean, if if MCU movies didn't do it, I don't think fire.
01:09:22
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, like, you don't really there's not like a lot of comic lore in this game. It's just more like, I know that person or I don't know that person kind of. Yeah, they definitely put all the known people at MCU out front and center. Like, don't you remember? Let's say Bucky Barnes, when he dies, he turns into a winter soldier or a squirrel girl is like one of the early cards. Yeah, that one's pretty fun.
01:09:50
Speaker
Does the subreddit meme well? I don't check the subreddit. Oh, because I feel like that's got to be part. Plus, I don't know. There's something about just weeby stuff that's easier to meme. Oh, yeah, absolutely. Yeah. So maybe it's just not there. But I was kind of curious, too, is like, is this the gateway drug to MCU? Because I don't care about MCU. I don't care about I know. No, this is this is this is all right. This is like.
01:10:18
Speaker
The Marvel fans card game, right? This is the card games. This is not the card fans Marvel game, if that makes any sense. It's the Marvel fans card game. Yeah. OK.
01:10:33
Speaker
Well, yeah, like here's an example, Andy, another form of monetization is a different skins for your cards. Yeah. And Andy, so like, you know, in like comic, in a magic, they have like, here's a Japanese variant with blah, blah, blah art from blah, blah, blah. The mono art for what was it? Lilliana.
01:10:59
Speaker
Yeah, so they do something similar and including eventually they're going to have Penny arcades very own. He's are they redraws? Yep. He posted some previews. So he did an alternate Dr. Strange, Gwen, Gwen pool, Gwen.
01:11:20
Speaker
Spider-Gwen. There you go. And one more person. But yeah, so if you have certain artists you're a fan of, they might just commission them to draw an alternate skin for a card. That's pretty cool. Which is what they did for Hearthstone, too, for a long time. Oh, I didn't know that. They did guest artists. A lot of fan artists did card art. Yeah.
01:11:45
Speaker
Yeah, and so and the difference in this game is that you already have functional versions of the card. If you want these alternate ones, spend about $15 per card. Whoa. Again, again, it's just it's just cosmetic candy. It's kind of hard to be mad at them. Well, then don't do it. I see 15 at the top and 15 at the top. And they're also ones for half that.
01:12:09
Speaker
OK, but still. Right. I just say, yeah, it is cosmetic, though, like you can't. I mean, you can be mad at anything, I guess. But if they're not. Wait, wait, wait. But you said there's collectors level. Does unique skins increase your collectors level? No. Yeah, it has upgrade. Yeah. Yeah. You saw the upgrade cards like normal, even if you have a unique skin. OK.
01:12:37
Speaker
I think the skins upgrade on different apps, don't they? They do. Yeah, they do. Yeah. So you can. Yeah. So like, if you buy a card, do you have to then upgrade it to up? You know, if I'm spending 15 bucks on a card, I don't want to upgrade it. Like, but it's not like it's not like a gotcha game where it's like you have to get doubles of that card to upgrade it. Eugene just kind of upgraded with whatever. Yeah. Like, yeah. And, you know, again,
01:13:07
Speaker
I would say, by the way, these these card cosmetic upgrades, it's not that great. Yeah, that's why I don't feel I don't feel like I need to do them. Yeah, exactly. I'm just like, oh, you just they're slight. The art is slightly bigger than the frame. OK, I like it. I'm on a mobile phone. I don't know.
01:13:28
Speaker
But Charles, if you move your phone, the car moves. Yeah, it's the car goes 3D and jumps at you and you're like, yeah, OK. Well, maybe we can determine a better monetization strategy for Marvel staff on another episode of Add to Party, a friendship simulator masquerading as a news show. I've I've been your host, James, driving to rural Maine to get a puppy tomorrow, Hartwell. And I've joined Vegas Cash.
01:13:57
Speaker
That's right, baby. We're we're all over. Jaded deck, Billy, Charles or Matt, and I've been joined by Andy Black Adam Apologist. It's not that bad, you guys. A rare read, Andy. A rare read. Come on, just go and have some fun. I'll watch you when it comes to HBO Max. There you go. Good night, everyone. Have a good night.