Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Episode 3
6 Plays3 months ago
Xbox Developer Direct, Switch 2 Announcement, Sony Live Service and Studio Cancellations
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Excitement for 2024
00:00:02
Shameer Mehdikhan
All right, welcome back, guys. It's a Detroit Gamesters, Shamir and Arjun back at it again. So a lot of exciting things to start off the new year with. I hope you guys have all been good. Hope you guys enjoyed your holidays.
Nintendo Switch 2 Buzz
00:00:15
Shameer Mehdikhan
And yeah, January has not disappointed, at least when it comes to me. So big things to talk about with Nintendo, with Microsoft, even with Sony, to a certain extent. So why don't we get started? Arjun, in the last month, I know we've been having a lot of exciting news come out, a lot of things to look forward to. What has been, you know, kind of catching your attention the most? Yeah, know, for sure. You kind of already mentioned some of it, but I think big three players out in the the gaming industry, Nintendo, the Xbox, and PlayStation, I kind of want to start with Nintendo Switch. Nintendo Switch 2 reveal, there's been so many leaks leading up to it. I think we talked about an episode one or two. They finally unveiled this thing, I believe January 16th. There were so many rumors that a direct was gonna happen, but really it was just like a shadow drop of a trailer, which I'm not super surprised about. But interestingly enough, it kind of looks the same, but it still has me hyped for some reason, showed off a new Mario Kart. And honestly, like the trailer itself was really interesting too. It makes the new Switch look like a steam deck in a sense. And it was done really well, you know, it was just like a really nice like CG graphic, like,
00:01:21
Shameer Mehdikhan
pre-rendered thing with no one really touching the Switch console itself, unlike the original Switch on VL, where it was people like a rooftop, people playing on a couch to kind of demonstrate the actual system. And I think it was kind of smart of a Nintendo to just tack on a two at the end of that, so there's no confusion anymore. going from Wii to the Wii U, this is a like brand new thing. But it's unfortunate that we now have to wait two and a half months for a full Nintendo Direct to see really what the system is capable of. you There's a little teaser in that trailer showing the Joy-Cons kind of being used as mice. So that's going to be really interesting. You have a USB-C port now at the top. overall, you have this interesting um color combination on the Switch where you have this highlighted orange or red and blue the sides of the Joy-Cons and in between the analog sticks. So overall, I'm kind of
Nintendo's Evolutionary Approach
00:02:11
Shameer Mehdikhan
excited. I really want to get your thoughts from you too, but this is one of the most viewed YouTube videos for a
00:02:17
Shameer Mehdikhan
unveiling of a console more than the PS5 now. So it's at, I think 23 million. So it's pretty interesting. People are really excited for this. Yeah. Yeah. Uh, just piggybacking off of what you're saying, I have to agree with most of that. you know, I think one of the things that surprised me was exactly how, what time they announced it and how we do have to wait for a while to see more about the games and things like that. And a part of me almost wonders if that's because so much has gotten leaked.
00:02:46
Shameer Mehdikhan
And you know, even in our last podcast, I mean, you're a lot better at catching up on these leaks than me, but I would say almost everything we were anticipating ended up being in the actual product, right? I know we haven't had full confirmation about the optical sensors, but it really seems that way already. And I guess one of the things I really have to give my hats off to with the Nintendo is their marketing team. you If you really think about it, they didn't give us a lot of direct information on the Switch 2. They didn't release a bunch of games or things like that or announce a bunch of games with the Switch 2 trailer.
00:03:22
Shameer Mehdikhan
But there was enough there that it kept us like really curious, it satiated our desires and everything. Even like the playfulness of, you know, the Joy-Cons, you know, going around like a mouse. I remember when I first saw that I was like, okay, this is a waste of time. Like why are they spending like 10 seconds on this?
00:03:39
Shameer Mehdikhan
And only later occurred to me and I was watching videos. I was like, Oh my God, they're probably teasing the fact that this is the new functionality for the switch. So it's kind of playful. That's totally Nintendo's ML. It's totally how they do that. So super high quality across the board. I guess I got to ask, you know, you were more plugged into this than me, you know, with the, you know, the leaks. And I know probably fair to say that you're more of a Nintendo fan boy than me, because I hopped on the train on the Wii U, which is probably shocking for anyone to hear.
00:04:07
Shameer Mehdikhan
So do you feel like this came in where you expected? This was above your expectations, below your expectations, or still too early to talk? I would say this is for now, it's on par with what I expected them to unveil. You know, it's interesting, they also showed off a new button below the home button, which we don't know what it is. In the trailer, it was rendered with like, it's just completely blank. And in the leaks, it's supposed to be like this little C embedded on the button.
00:04:34
Shameer Mehdikhan
So we really don't know what that thing's going to do. But I think overall my expectations are par with what they were planning to do. I just didn't expect them to say, well, here's another two and a half months of waiting time.
Franchise Development: Nintendo vs. Sony and Microsoft
00:04:43
Shameer Mehdikhan
I also think that it's really interesting because this trailer, while it did what it was supposed to do, there's a lot of media outlets that came out right after saying, hey, Nintendo's innovation and creativity is now dead and gone. Like this was a thing I think from I can't remember if it was this or I forgot what popular media outlets were talking about this but Eurogamer maybe and I forgot maybe one other outlet but I'm like I don't really think so like they always find unique ways to innovate and they don't have to constantly do it every generation they've been so up and down over the last two decades that it probably doesn't make sense for them to do something completely
00:05:16
Shameer Mehdikhan
of the blue and so random, so different from a predecessor that sold so well. Yeah, you to that point, I think a lot of times when people think of innovation, they think of a revolution, right? But it doesn't have to be a revolution always, you could just have an evolution, right?
00:05:29
Shameer Mehdikhan
And the thing is, who wants a Switch 2 that's so radically different than the Switch that you're not going to be able to enjoy all the things you love about the Switch? You know, to me, I feel like the Switch is a culmination of like 20, 30 years of just progress when it comes to Nintendo. It's just, you know, just an amalgamation of all their ideas put together.
00:05:48
Shameer Mehdikhan
And to me, you we'll see what happens. But if you the promise of the Switch 2, you have a little bit of new functionality with the optical sensors, we'll see what happens. But for me, if I'm getting you no more Joy-Con drift, right right I'm getting better graphics and potentially using AI upscaling to be able to actually run games that usually miss the Switch and normally go to Xbox and Sony. I mean, what more could I want? And you the hardware already looks good enough for me because the screen is bigger, it's slicker. So to me, I mean, I don't see myself running anything more from the Switch. And I feel like you maybe some outlets are saying, oh, we want more. We want something to blow our minds because you want that excitement factor.
00:06:33
Shameer Mehdikhan
But what would anyone want? i don't know if anyone can come up with something that's really unique that the Switch 2 seems like it's missing. Because to me, it it feels like it's hitting all the check marks. Now, this is just kind of a small thing. I don't think this is a problem, but I just think it's kind of interesting. One of the big moneymakers for Nintendo has been kind of, honestly, the looks of your console and switching out the different color palettes of the Switch, right, with the different Joy-Cons.
00:06:58
Shameer Mehdikhan
I wonder what they're planning on doing with the switch too, right? Because it's very muted colors, right? And I mean, a part of me wants to think that probably they think the Joy-Cons are more reliable now, right? I don't know, because if the whole color is black, right? Like maybe they're actually thinking, hey, these Joy-Cons should last you the entire generation, right? yeah yeah But I wonder if now, instead of really having those differences in you those color differences, instead of having them based off the Joy-Cons, you're just going to release more unlimited and special editions of their console. Which I'd be fine with because they've done that so often during the DS era, 3DS era, maybe even like Game Boy Advance and stuff. And I really like those limited edition consoles.
Sony's Strategic Concerns and Project Cancellations
00:07:43
Shameer Mehdikhan
So I'm hoping that's what they do because we don't get that often now, even with Xbox and Sony. Really, you're just swapping out plates. You're putting on these little covers for the Xbox. And while it's all cool,
00:07:53
Shameer Mehdikhan
I just like the actual care they take into giving you something super unique. So I do. I wonder why that is. I wonder if like it's, if they just don't sell well, you know, yeah remember like the old school halo gears consoles, you know, like, uh, those are pretty sick. Yeah. And maybe they, uh, they don't think the juice is worth the squeeze anymore. But honestly, what Microsoft as well, just as a side tangent is like they have that or, unique, Xbox lab where they can create custom controllers.
00:08:19
Shameer Mehdikhan
So hopefully these manufacturers you one day say, we'll start to bring that back to the consoles. But I think with prices just constantly blowing up in inflation, it maybe doesn't make sense to do that right now. but I mean, it's probably a small subset of people who have the finances and who like gaming as a hobby enough that they really are going to put that extra time and money and effort into really customizing their consoles. and or or switching out like, oh, I have you this switch when I want to switch it out for the Zelda version. Which is unfortunate to some degree because when someone like Sony comes out and says, hey, for the 30th anniversary, we're creating this unique PS5 Pro with these unique PS1 colors, but we go over only manufacturing 12,000 units.
00:08:57
Shameer Mehdikhan
So well on eBay and on the second market, second hand market, they go for five times the price. So it's just unfortunate that like there's so many people that would love to have these unique consoles, but then they sell soap for so much outside the primary menu on retailers. So it's just unfortunate that like everyone can't enjoy that. Like why not? Why not create a large amount of these units? I get you're afraid that they might not sell, but in reality, I think that you have enough fans that they would cater to buying that.
00:09:23
Shameer Mehdikhan
Yeah, I almost wonder if it ends up being more beneficial to the fan base and less to like the actual manufacturer because, you know, then, you know, the collectors just go crazy and just hold on to those things. and know, that's going to be so valuable for them, like five, 10, 15 years later. Yeah, exactly. And I'm guilty of doing that. But, you know, it's not often that I get those types of opportunities to buy them either. I think you're not to interrupt you, but did your new PS5 Pro come in? I know you have the actual PS5 Pro and now you did you also get the special edition edition and I haven't opened it from its box. I'm going to keep it sealed and maybe I'm not I'm not a scalper, but maybe one day in the future finding a little cash money.
00:10:00
Shameer Mehdikhan
I might sell it for five or 10 times the price, you know what I'm saying? I mean, probably like 10, 15 years from now, that thing is going to be worth a lot. Unless, you know, Sony screws you over and just has a bunch of extra drops. Maybe. I just, I don't anticipate that. I don't either. And, you know, kind of going back to Nintendo Switch, again, what used to excite me, and I may have said this before in other episodes, is hardware. Yeah, when I was younger, just understanding, like you said in the beginning, a revolution. What did they call the Wii? What was its codename? Nintendo Revolution, right? Because it was such a massive change from the GameCube.
00:10:30
Shameer Mehdikhan
That doesn't excite me anymore. What excites me are the games. And honestly, in this past generation, Nintendo has knocked it out of the park by bringing old IP, old games, old series, old franchises, and modernizing them. And I'm just excited to see the new Mario game. I'm excited to see a new 3D Mario game. I'm excited to see how a Metroid Prime looks. Sorry we had to take a quick break there, but um from what I was saying earlier was, you know, I'm excited for these new IPs and Older franchises coming with like a Metroid Prime beyond and obviously a new iteration to Pokemon Legends. And I'm just excited that with each new game that comes out from Nintendo, they're constantly, like you said, evolving their series. And I think that's something that Microsoft and Sony can learn from. They constantly drop their franchises if they're not commercial hits.
00:11:13
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then they abandon them. And then when fans say, we want these games to come back, they bring it back 15 years later. And it's unfortunate because if you have a consistent cadence of games, I know we complain
Microsoft's Innovative Strategy and Game Pass
00:11:22
Shameer Mehdikhan
a lot and say we get, there was an era where we got Gears of War for five years straight and there was like four of them, or we got Halo too often. But in reality, we're kind of spoiled a bit. And I think I'd rather have multiple sequels to a game to continuously play them and let them just evolve smaller portions of the game, like the story, the gameplay mechanics, rather than going 10 years without a game in that franchise.
00:11:43
Shameer Mehdikhan
Yeah, and Nintendo does so good. at I totally agree with you. I mean, even if you think about like movie franchises, like a lot of times people want that back to back. Like you want that Batman trilogy, right? Like you want like the Avengers Endgame one and two back and back, you know, back to back because our attention is going to be divided by so many things. Right. And it's hard to feel like really immersed in a world. Right. it's so spaced out, like I think one of the reasons why Harry Potter has been so absolutely successful is J.K. Rowling just kept hitting those books.
00:12:11
Shameer Mehdikhan
year after year after year after year and then the movies are coming out year after year after year. Can you imagine if like seven Harry Potter movies took 20 years to come out in theaters? You're not going to be able to sustain that same level of height. Because now, people reflect back on that time period, it just feels like Harry Potter was the thing you those seven years. Because every year, that's what you were looking forward to. Even if you think about the Lord of the Rings trilogy when that came out, those movies were just back to back to back. And I totally agree with you. This is one thing I've been really critical of, especially Sony.
00:12:42
Shameer Mehdikhan
you know, I miss a lot of these old franchises. And so that's one part of it. But the other part of the equation is it's it's just too lengthy. I think I was, you know, hearing some other podcasts and they were talking about even Final Fantasy seven. I mean, when people were so hyped about the Final Fantasy remake, right. And when we first got we heard about that, you know, it seemed like you that was game over. That was the mic drop moment. And how could you get better than this? And now that we're into the second game waiting for the third one. I feel like a lot of that enthusiasm has started to die down a bit. Don't get me wrong. People still absolutely love Final Fantasy VII. I'm really looking forward to the end of the trilogy. But if they're taking four or five years for each of these games to come out and they're going from PS4 to PS5 to PS6, by the time you have your initial announcement of the game to the culmination of the trilogy, which is really just the culmination of the one game, that's like,
00:13:37
Shameer Mehdikhan
13 years, right? And, you know, and is not just a Final Fantasy problem, right? Look at how long it's taken for us to get sequels to other games as well. I like look, you know, God of War used to often be a trilogy. Now it was two games that were so spaced out. Look at Horizon. How long is it going to take Horizon to make its third game, right? Because they're building that franchise up to be a trilogy as well. So, you know, I miss those days of, you know, having you know, sequel back to back or trilogy back to back that really just kind of culminates the story. And I wonder if this is one thing I speculate from the Sony perspective, if they're really kind of break, going to break away from that trilogy format, right? You notice God of War was one and two, right? Last of Us, one and two. And then, you know, and in a way, like now, sometimes you have sequels to games that are like spiritual successes. You went from Killzone one, two and three to then Killzone Shadowfall, right?
00:14:32
Shameer Mehdikhan
I wonder if Sony realizes that and they realize we can't put out these trilogies that get done in four or five years. We can't make people wait for a trilogy over 10 years. We got to do something different. Yeah, i it's a good point to bring up. And again, I feel like we have talked about this before. It doesn't really feel like we're really five years into the current generation of consoles. Oh yeah. if you think about it, we're probably two years away from brand new hardware from both Sony and Xbox. And we might even be one year away from new hardware from Xbox. I really think Microsoft's going to release their console in 2026. And I know that's something we want to talk about more, but yeah, that means that we're near the end of it. Yeah. And it doesn't even feel like it started. Like we got a couple of good brand new games that came out this generation.
00:15:14
Shameer Mehdikhan
but we didn't get sequels to them, like you said. And even the games that came out, like, you know, to me, Sony has been releasing amazing exclusives, right? Even though I'm an Xbox fanboy, you know, I have to give it up to the Sony exclusives. But think about it, like a lot of those seems like, it seemed like leftovers from the last generation. They seem like games that didn't hit the PS4, so now they're PS4, PS5. Last of Us, Ghost of Shishima, God of War, Ragnarok, Horizon, then know, is Forbidden West. I don't think it's a surprise that they were cross-generational. It's not just because it's a money-making thing. I think it's because these were games that potentially should have came out on PS4, but they couldn't. They came out on PS5, but what have been the real new IPs and new bangers for the new generation? You have Returnal, right? You have some new IPs or Helldivers too, but they they don't fill that same niche that we used to get. They're more like one-offs or more niche games and end up being massive successes. we
00:16:08
Shameer Mehdikhan
is really narrative drawn, you know, trilogies that you're able to experience in one generation. So I think that's where what I would like to see because to maybe potentially combat combat issue, because again, the scope of games have grown so substantially. I do think instead of doing back to back sequels now, it makes more sense to put out a game and then do a spin off of that game. And one example I can give of that is Uncharted 4. After they did that, they didn't really release just DLC. It was a side spinoff about two characters from the game and that was like Uncharted 4.5, you know? And I think you have to start doing that to not, you don't have to constantly evolve the games. And I think these developers are so ambitious when they say we want to make a sequel as to be so completely different than the prior iteration, you don't have to do that. So I think to maybe potentially combat that you make a smaller team that puts off a $40 or $30 side game for characters within the
00:16:57
Shameer Mehdikhan
the lore and say, look, we're going to give you more of it within two years of the original release. So any franchise do you think would be good for that right now? Because I can think of one off the top of my head. I think God of War is right for that. like I can totally see God of War Atreus. Yeah. And that would be like, hey, we give you a two year development cycle. Maybe this kid has grown up now. And you we already introduced him his combat scenarios within God of War Ragnarok. We can expand on that. We can share assets. We can share the development pipeline. And I imagine, like,
00:17:25
Shameer Mehdikhan
You know, I mean, you would know this about this more you I would, but, you know, most people say games come together like near the end. And so. I mean, it might even make sense to pivot a part of your team away from polishing into, you know, using, you know, those same assets to start creating. Exactly. And, you know, I kind of feel like Microsoft does that with their DLCs because they have this model with Bethesda. It's like, you get the game, but you can pay a little extra to get it early and get the next year expansion. And so Indiana Jones has that, Garfield has that.
00:17:55
Shameer Mehdikhan
Bet you Doom has already announced they're having a DLC. Because as they're probably polishing the game, they're already working on the DLC, which is almost like, if done right, it's supposed to be a DLC that's a little bigger than a DLC. I feel like Shattered Space was not it, but I would think Indiana Jones would be it. And I'm really optimistic about possible Doom DLC in the future, not to get ahead of ourselves because they've done, it has done an amazing job with DLC in the past. Now I agree with that, but speaking of kind of like,
00:18:24
Shameer Mehdikhan
some of these topics, I want to transition it a little bit because we already getting into it is games being taking so long to develop and sometimes they're a hit and sometimes they're a miss. Right. And, uh, you know, recently what just came out from Bloomberg has come from Jason Schreier. And now Sony is that there was two live service games in development by two of Sony's main studio, Sony bend and blue point. And both of them have been canceled now. And we now know what those were Sony bends. We don't know exactly what Sony bend was. Rambo is an original new IP.
00:18:51
Shameer Mehdikhan
canceled. It was most likely some sort of shooter elements within this game. And then blue point was working on a God of war spin-off live service game though, which yes. Am I looking for something like that? Maybe, but not the live service elements. And it's unfortunate that Jim Ryan, who was the previous CEO of Sony left them in the state where he green that maybe 12 live service games. And he even announced two years ago that they had about 12 in development and almost all of them have crumbled at this point. I think nine of them have now been officially canceled.
00:19:20
Shameer Mehdikhan
We only have fair point games. We have Bungie's next game, and then we have maybe one more. So this is very, very disappointing to hear. I think Blue Point Odyssey is probably wasting their talent trying to take God of War assets to make a live service game. They've done this in the past with Ascension and there was really no market or appetite for it. It doesn't matter that the story is probably better now and it's more in tune with what the market wants. I don't think that was wise to use them to do that. I understand they've worked on this game for two years from 2020 to 2022 to help in the development of the game.
00:19:50
Shameer Mehdikhan
But I just didn't really think it made sense to do that, because especially when Bluepoint came out and said, we were working on something potentially original. To me, this doesn't seem original at all. And it was, honestly, I think it's a clusterfuck right now at Sony. And I think with Concorde doing as bad as it did, I think they have to back to the drawing board. And it sucks, because now we might not see another Bluepoint game until PS6. And we might not see Sony event even survive until the next generation. I didn't even put two and two together. And yeah, I guess both of these are canceled back to back with You know, the disaster that was conquered, right? So to me, it can't be a coincidence, right? This to seems to me a massive writing of the ship. I mean, they definitely did amazing with Helldivers, right? don't think anyone expected Helldivers to do that well. And I think Helldivers is the exception, right? It's not the rule. And it's going to be hard to be able to make those successes again and again.
00:20:41
Shameer Mehdikhan
And, you know, to me, I'm really happy you brought this up because I think everyone always grills Microsoft Online when they make these poor decisions that end up hurting gamers in the long term, right? How much have we been roasting them for Scalebound, right? Just destroying them for that. And for me, I know you finally beat HiFi Rush, but I absolutely loved that game from the get-go and it hurt it it so bad when Tangle got canceled too.
00:21:04
Shameer Mehdikhan
But I don't feel like we hold Sony to the same standard because we get so happy from their first party successes that we just kind of excuse them for so many other things. To me, and I know I'm probably in the minority for this, I loved Order 1886. That was one of my favorite games of the last generation. And it had its problems. Yeah, and had kind of the QTEs and you the cut scenes and all those type of things. And it was linear. But I feel like the reason that game did did so bad was because expectations were so different at the time. You know, I remember in those early years, Sony was kind of suffering from a lot of the same, you know, the vitriol that you feel you see Microsoft suffering for, because everyone was saying, Sony, when is your game coming? When is your big game coming? Right. And, you know, the only thing that was kind of there that people were looking forward to at the time was Order 1886. Right. And so when, you know, what they wanted was essentially an uncharted and they wanted a game of that caliber and it just didn't come through for them.
00:22:02
Shameer Mehdikhan
And so I think that game just got destroyed. And then when Uncharted 4 came out, and then you had some of the other successes, you people weren't just holding up every next release to such an insane standard or expectations because they were satisfied. And to me, Ready at Dawn was such a successful studio. And you had so much promise. And it's so rare for people to do new IPs well. And even if Order 1886 had its problems, right right how often do we get something that's set in the Victorian era that's actually interesting with interesting characters, interesting world building, you know, with werewolves and vampires and things like that. You never see that stuff. Right. And so to me, that was an opportunity to look at what parts people didn't like of Order 1886 and make a much better Order 1887. And that could have been a successful franchise. But
00:22:51
Shameer Mehdikhan
What have Sony been doing with Sony Bend? It's the same situation with Days Gone. Was it not commercially seen as an amazing game? Sure, it wasn't. It didn't review well, but it sold well. They could have iterated on that and made a second game. a hate to generalize, but sequels normally do or outperform their their successors, right? In some fashion, whether it's narratively gameplay wise, like a charted two was definitely the best. A lot of times it takes, you know, people a little bit of time to refine their ideas, right? And like you have great ideas, but in practice, they might not have worked out in the first game in the sequel, you kind of make that happen, right? You make it work. And yeah, Sony has an amazing ability to cultivate things. But one might also argue that Sony only bets on sure promises, right? And so If the first game looks a little, you know, a little shaky, they're gonna axe it right away. They're not just gonna axe the game, axe the whole studio, right? But if, you know, Uncharted, yeah, you know, the first Uncharted was pretty loved, but there were critics of that game too, and the gunplay wasn't the best, right? What if they had just axe that right there and then, right? But of course Naughty Dog had built up a good reputation with their past releases.
00:24:03
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then, you know, to me, that was an eight out of 10 game, you know, eight and a half out of 10 game. And then Uncharted 2 came out and then it just completely, you know, decimated people's expectations. So how do you know that the next game, like Days Gone
Sony's Cautious Approach and Industry Impact
00:24:15
Shameer Mehdikhan
2 or ah ah Order 1887 couldn't have been that good, right? You didn't give them a chance. And so to me, like, that's, that often ends up being Sony's strategy. And I love them for it because it does mean that we get a really high standard of games overall.
00:24:32
Shameer Mehdikhan
but in a way, sometimes it does stifle creativity because creativity doesn't come out perfectly in its first opportunity always. Sometimes it takes another chance. Well, so that's why I wanna, this is why I wanna say this and I'm honestly, I am worried now about this ecosystem because if all we get in the next three to four years, let's say three years before the next generation of consoles come out is Intergalactic, Death Stranding 2 and Ghost of Yotai, I'm gonna be extremely disappointed with the PS5 And let's talk about a little bit more. Let's, let's bring it back a bit. Ted price, uh, co-hat or head of insomniac games, basically, and who basically ran the entire ship of releasing multiple games throughout multiple generations. Just to announced he's retiring in March. So on top of, you know, Sony just confirmed that they're not going to shutters Sony bend or blue point, but you don't know what they're going to do now. So you don't know if they're going to be sure fire hits like you just said, because that's what they like to, to go with old and they don't have now an existing franchise to build off of. You have Ted price who.
00:25:29
Shameer Mehdikhan
literally released what, three to four games on PS5 and PS4 each, he's gone. And I can't say that I can trust anyone else within that studio. Yeah, we don't know who they are, but can they deliver the way he did? He helped him manage that studio to deliver great quality games. So I am worried. And even if Sony Santa Monica does release their game by the end of the generation, again, it's potentially a new IP. We don't know if it's going to be a hit, right? So all this is massive risk.
00:25:56
Shameer Mehdikhan
What game am I actually excited for now? Nothing from Sony. I'll be honest with you. There's nothing I'm looking forward to. I'm surprised that you're saying that, but you know, for me, I've been saying that I'm a lot more excited for what's coming out from Xbox because they're more likely to take risks, right? And they don't always translate, right? Like we obviously know Redfall, but they are more likely to really explore different genres and things like that. And Sony is a little more conscious. I think for me, I'm probably overall more optimistic than you. and And maybe this is because I'm basic, but I just love God of War.
00:26:25
Shameer Mehdikhan
Last of Us so much that if I get anything new in the God of War, Last of Us world, I will be happy for the rest of PS5. That's just how much I love those franchises. But I can understand, you I might, again, be in the minority there. you I think especially when you compare this generation to the PS4, it does feel a little bit lacking to me. And it's not like Sony is not releasing bangers, in a sense, because when you look at Open Critic or you Metacritic,
00:26:52
Shameer Mehdikhan
You know, last year you could argue was one of the best years for Sony, right? They had Astra Mod, they had Silent Hill, Remake. They had a lot of games that scored well, probably sold kind of well, too. But it's not filling that same niche that I used to get with the infamuses and the cardids and the resistance and the kill zone. Like, you know, that really, you know, was a certain type of AAA game that I'm really missing. and it and backto back-to-back sequels. So I guess we'll see what happens. You know, Sony hasn't really announced much for this year. I was just thinking about it, but we we really don't have much of an idea of what 2025 is going to bring. So they're going to have to release a state of play probably soon. And I think maybe they just wanted Microsoft to fire off and then they're going to probably have to come with something in February. Yeah. So this is, here's the thing. There's rumors that there's going to be a state of play in February, but PlayStation hasn't done on on an official showcase for over two years.
00:27:42
Shameer Mehdikhan
And to their investors in the past couple of months, they're saying 2026 fiscal year going forward, they're going to be releasing big games. But it's hard for me to imagine that when you're still canceling games like this. If part of this was part of that plan, I don't see that happening now. That's a good point. i I remember I was following up on rumors and From what I remember, like a year or two, they were saying that Bluepoint was working on something that was pretty cool, right? And I think it was like potentially fantasy or stuff like that. And that sucks. You know, that really sucks to not be able to see them do something that's not a remaster. Yeah. And so I kind of want to pivot into this next topic here, because like you said, just a couple of minutes ago that there is more to look forward to now with Xbox. Now they are also going into uncharted territories. They're bringing some preexisting franchises back, but they're bringing a lot of new IP into the fold.
00:28:29
Shameer Mehdikhan
And honestly, because of how polished some of these games look and some of the ones that I've just played, I'm kind of excited to talk about this. so Yeah, i I got a lot of thought about it. A lot of thought. about Xbox. I've been thinking about it a lot. They've been running it all through my mind for like 24 hours. No, it's just, it's really interesting, right? Like I'm assuming all of you guys have, you know, at least tuned into the showcase. So Xbox direct, which happened January 23rd, which showcased a couple of games, which is what he's referring to. Yeah. Yeah. So, you know, of course we'll kind of fill you in on some of the details if you haven't, but you know, to me, you know, that was a banger, you know, that was, it almost felt E3 like,
00:29:05
Shameer Mehdikhan
right yeah it was a mini e3 in my opinion and i was just thinking like you know it's not like they let off all of the big nuns you know going into this i was like there were so many rumors about what we would see people were thinking we're gonna see uh oblivion remat like a remake you know they could have showed out auto worlds they could have showed off avowed again, they could have shown up fable, but going in like, what did we have? We have clockworks game. We didn't even see that. Not to mention all of the other rumored projects like, you know, whatever, Bethesda online is working on gears. We know nothing about that. There's so many potential bangers. They could have showed up perfect art and, you know, going into the show, what did we have from first party? We were like, okay, we have doom, right? Which we saw the trailer for last year. And, you know, that's going to show up.
00:29:53
Shameer Mehdikhan
We have South of Midnight that people have had mixed feelings about going into this. And then other than that, we're like, well, what are they going to show up with? But I feel like this is going to be a a a direct that's going to be remembered because I think in the broader lens, it's actually marking a pretty significant change in Microsoft's overall strategy, right? And the way they're implementing third party. So I think one of the things I want to start off with about the show is Ninja Gaiden, right? And I did not realize this at the time. And I wonder if you did. I only realized this when I was watching other YouTube videos.
00:30:27
Shameer Mehdikhan
The first thing they said was that this is an Xbox game publishing game. Yeah. And so actually they're saying online that this is a first party game. And so that makes you even question, what is a first party Microsoft game? And we've always thought of first party as being an exclusive to that console or a studio you're owning, right? But it seems like Microsoft is trying to rewrite that. This is the true definition of probably a second party game.
00:30:51
Shameer Mehdikhan
You got two like in this specific instance you got Team Ninja and Koei Tecmo partnering up with Platinum Games, which was kind of shocking Because I think the last time they partnered up together they made Metal Gear Revengions, which is like that people love that game But there's also rumors now that basically everyone from Platinum has left obviously Hideki already left You know Kamiya and so many other people through LinkedIn and stuff. So Platinum is a former shell of itself But hold on. I mean, do we know why they're leaving?
00:31:21
Shameer Mehdikhan
There's been rumors about mismanagement, about creativity being stifled, and games constantly flopping. They were working on a new Beautiful Joe game, which was rumored, and that never came to fruition. And how recently has all this stuff been happening? Within the last year.
00:31:35
Shameer Mehdikhan
because that's what i've been wondering about because i guess like i wasn't in the know and i was like okay i guess platinum games is not cool anymore because i always thought platinum games was like the coolest thing and i was trying to see like where is this coming from and i was looking at their past releases and it seems to me they're still been releasing bangers 2023 they had bayonetta 3 and then they
Revival of Franchises and Industry Inspiration
00:31:55
Shameer Mehdikhan
know they they've had they had another bayonetta origins game or something like that And so all of those games have done while people liked them. I think the only recent game I can think of, which was a massive failure, was Babylon's Fall, which was kind of a horrible idea to begin with. And I thought it was going to fail massively. They've had other failures. They tried to make that TMNT game. And there was a couple of other things. They tried some other live service games and stuff like that. But I think overall, when Kamiya left,
00:32:22
Shameer Mehdikhan
And rumors coming out after that, like it's pretty obvious that they don't have the same set of people. It's kind of similar to BioWare when so many people left and went on their own venture. They had all the creative people leave. And I think they have just enough of a team to help on joint ventures like this. So I think, honestly, Ninja Gaiden 4, having these two teams, will still be a good game. Because Team Ninja is still there. They're heading the whole thing. I mean, to me, again, I feel like my opinion might be different than the the internet public at large.
00:32:48
Shameer Mehdikhan
But this is a game that's been in development for four years. Supposedly. And they started the journey six years ago talking about it. And over that course of time, objectively, Platinum has mostly been developing a lot of bangers. There might have been a few misses here and there, might have been for other reasons. But over the last couple of years, they've been releasing a bunch of bangers. And if we're near the end of the development cycle, as is for Ninja Game 4. It might be in good shape.
00:33:13
Shameer Mehdikhan
Did they even really need those people there? Yeah, that's why I'm saying I'm not super worried. I think that it's interesting at the end of the site. First of all, I want to say this Xbox does a great job with these directs because The only focus on a couple teams at a time, and I think the problem with when I compare this to E3 was you would only show a trailer, you'd get hype, you wouldn't know who was really working on it. There'd be no gameplay. Yeah, and there would be no gameplay, but these directs show the developers, they get to tell their story. I think seeing Team Ninja say this is the year of the Ninja, there's three Ninja Gaiden games coming out, one just Shadow Drop with
00:33:44
Shameer Mehdikhan
Ninja Gaiden Black 2. You got Ninja Gaiden 4. You're going to have dual protagonists within this game. And then you got this almost indie-like Ninja Gaiden game coming out in the summer as well, which looks fantastic. I mean, take note for the whole industry. This is how you revitalize and franchise. And I feel like they just struck at the perfect point. And, you know, again, I will say that I am more of an Xbox fanboy than other you consoles. And actually going into this year, I was i little down. you I was a little depressed. you intergalactic, you know, show you say clinically, there yet, but it is wintertime. So, you know, no, but you know, I saw intergalactic and I know people are hating on that, but for me, you know, I, I have to hand it off to the creativity, you know, whether if that game hits or not. I feel like it's, it's hard to keep coming up with new ideas after a certain point. And I was like, man, I got to give it up to naughty dog. You know, even if this doesn't, Hey, you guys come up with so many ideas. That's amazing. And I was like,
00:34:38
Shameer Mehdikhan
Why is it like Sony just keeps winning, you know, and it's like, I feel like in Microsoft, I'm not one of those people when I'm waiting for, oh, this is the year because I feel like, you know, 2021, not 2022, but even 23 and 24, I've been enjoying my Xbox, but I felt like there was this negative cloud going into this year, you know, especially with, you know, we don't have console exclusives anymore. Everything's going to the PlayStation.
00:35:02
Shameer Mehdikhan
I felt like Xbox fans weren't as hyped in the same way. Yeah. So so I'll say to this is I think the reason why you're feeling this way is because because they are still and they used to be direct competitors between all three of the the the the big three manufacturers or OEMs of these games and these publishers, you don't see a high budget AAA game that comes out like a last of us from the Xbox side and say they delivered and I think we thought Indiana Jones was going to be the start of that. And I understand maybe it failed on certain aspects, but I think the first game that will actually do it this year will be Fable. It's going to have a great story. It's going to look great. I get what you mean. It's like we use like the triple A word around, but I almost, you know, it might be cliche, but I want to say like quadruple A, right? Like certain games that just, you know, the grand theft auto is the last of us. Even like the tears of the kingdom, like the games that are really getting close to that 10 out of 10, right? Across the board. Like,
00:35:54
Shameer Mehdikhan
those are really far and few between. And I think Microsoft has slowly, you know, brought up their catalog from like sixes and sevens to eight. So now we're hitting like nine, but we haven't really been getting consistent. And I think fable will be the first or maybe that's being optimized. So I prefer. I think that might be one of my most hyped games for the year. And I don't look, I look at Doom Eternal, right? This was another game that was talked about a little bit more in the strike. It looks good. But when I see these cut scenes, they said they're now going away from storytelling from the codexes to now having them in cutscenes. Yeah, I thought that was interesting. I mean, I hope they have good writers because that's not an easy transition. to when you see the gameplay, the cutscenes don't look good. Sorry about that, just took another break here. But what I was talking about specifically was, you know, even with Doom Eternal or Doom Dark Ages and just kind of seeing how they transition
00:36:44
Shameer Mehdikhan
um know to more cutscenes for stories now it's just it doesn't there's something there that's still missing like in gameplay looks amazing but these cutscenes still don't look that good to me i know the game is going to be very high quality high output but like even i don't know there's something still missing right when i'm looking at it i get what you're saying i feel like people think that it's just easy to you know add on you know a good story and good acting and all those type of things but really it's like a whole different type of production right like if you actually want to tell the story not through codex but through like the game itself right like
00:37:16
Shameer Mehdikhan
you're not only going to have to make sure there's great voice actors, there's great you cinematography. you There's a lot of different variables you have to really nail. And if you haven't had a pedigree for doing that in the past, it's not as straightforward as it looks. Now, you for me, I guess I also realize I'm a little biased. And I love Doom as a franchise. So I mean, I'm still incredibly hyped for it. And I guess the graphics look good to me. The cut scenes actually look fine to me. I didn't think they looked that bad.
00:37:43
Shameer Mehdikhan
The one thing that looked a little bit odd to me when I saw that video was the whole idea of standing and fighting because for me, I've always thought of doom as just, you know, trying your best to survive and running and gunning like crazy. But I trust those guys enough and I know they're going to deliver. And they've already exceeded my expectations so many times that I think, you know, I think I'm going to end up liking standing and fighting.
00:38:08
Shameer Mehdikhan
and know there's been a lot of people who have been talking about Doom the Dark Ages and saying it didn't hit as high for them because they didn't like the whole stand and fight idea, but to me Doom is so hard and so if you feel like it's too easy or oh no we're trying to make it more approachable so everyone can be included, crank that thing up to nightmare difficulty and you will not feel like they're trying to you know appeal to the masses, they're just trying to broaden the game became too complex especially with the controls and I think it's okay that they're simplifying it by having three different buttons you're using to kind of now play to hit shoot or whatever and throw but think another good thing to that is like it also specifically mentioned they're axing the multiplayer component of the game this time which I don't know how many people really touched I highly doubt anyone did. I tried the multi-players for you know the previous games and they just weren't it for me yeah and so
00:38:59
Shameer Mehdikhan
I would rather have, you know, all the resources being single player than having like, you know, I'm not saying it was half baked because obviously they tried hard, but you know, that multiplayer is probably never going to rise to the level of a call of duty or of war and you have the, or kill zone, like any bangers. So just focus on your strengths. Right. so I'm super hyped for doom. and for me, you know, I wanted to go back to Ninja gated and the reason, you know, I love that so much.
00:39:26
Shameer Mehdikhan
is I feel like a lot of console gamers for Xbox, like a lot of the bread and butter, you know, they felt kind of neglected. Right. And so to me, like this was like a huge point saying that we know what you guys like. Right. And man, so many old school Xbox gamers, myself included, have such fond memories of Ninja Gaiden 2, especially or even Ninja Gaiden Black on the original Xbox.
00:39:49
Shameer Mehdikhan
that for me, this hit all the right notes. And when I saw the combo of Ninja Gaiden 4, Day 1 Game Pass, plus Ninja Gaiden 2 Black released today, Day 1 Game Pass, I was like, man, this is how you serve your console gamers, right? Because this is what the old school gamers want. Well, I think this is the type of title you want to shatter down. Not a, oh not a Hi-Fi rush, which is a brand new Unknown IP, I think it's okay, they did it. But then you get to a point where everyone's like, why did you shatter up this and not like make people aware of it prior because it could have got more high fi rush. But I do wonder if that game would have done better if they did. But a game like this, like a remake that's gonna then get people hyped up for the you know, the eventual sequel that's also not just exclusively on Xbox, that's another platform. So you're making a lot of money on the PlayStation. I feel like, you know, this is just a way to go.
00:40:39
Shameer Mehdikhan
And my understanding now of what first party means for Xbox is going to be games that are going to come out permanently on Game Pass. So do you think this will be permanent? I think, you know, this is what I'm hearing from, you know, the talking online and the rumors. And so that's why they're saying it's first party because you don't have to worry about this. That would be great. And I think the reason why I love this idea so much is because, look, you have Xbox revitalizing old franchises, A yeah yeah and be also broadening the scope of what first party needs. And it just hit me, like we've been talking so much about, look at the bangers Nintendo has, Sony has, Microsoft has, right? And how you get all these exclusives on the other front, you know, consoles, but on Xbox, it feels like everyone's enjoying. So why am I an Xbox gamer? But then, you know, on one of the most recent podcasts that Phil Spencer was on, he was just talking about, hey, we want to focus on the quality of the games now. And honestly,
00:41:37
Shameer Mehdikhan
for as much as everyone wants to hate on Microsoft. If Microsoft is releasing two to three massive bangers that everybody loves every year, is anyone going to care if they're going on all the consoles? If you're getting Doom, Black Ops, Ninja Gaiden, and who knows what else? And these are games that in the past would never be an exclusive. yeah These are games that would have always been multiplied.
00:42:00
Shameer Mehdikhan
And if you're getting these again and again and again, and they're hitting and delivering, eventually Microsoft is just going to consume all your energy and all your thought. And I think that's what Microsoft's going to do. Instead of saying, we want to be the best console manufacturer, we want to be the best HBO. you They just want to be everything. yeah just want to own and dominate the whole market by you catering to the hardcore, catering to the you know people who are kind of dipping their feet in, you know, the casuals as people say. Yeah. I mean, look, if you look at it with Ninja Gaiden Black 2, it's already in the top 10 best sellers for Steam right now. It's a $50 game. So even though it's on game pass, people are so willing to pay 50 and be to what you just said. Phil Spencer just did an interview the other day with I think IGN.
00:42:44
Shameer Mehdikhan
And he's like, look, guys, like we love what we're doing with all these other ecosystems with Nintendo, with Valve, with Sony. We want to put our games out as anywhere as much as possible whenever it makes sense to. And he say it's only going to keep increasing like in scope going forward. So he's not they're not really like I'm OK with the fact that if they get good games like this and they expand to all ecosystems, because it's no longer about console wars, you know, me, it's like I want to be able to play my games now portably. So if that means it goes on Steam.
00:43:10
Shameer Mehdikhan
then I want to then be able to access it on my ROG ally or my Steam Deck. I don't want to be limited to this one box that I have to play in my house. Maybe when I travel or something, I want to be able to play it on the go or through the cloud. And that makes sense through my phone or or my my handheld portable. Yeah. and And you know, I know every gamer has different needs and I was, I think I told the story of the other day about like, you know, one of my friends who used to be a big gamer, now he has kids and he's actually thinking about getting back in the game and he asked me, what should I get into?
00:43:37
Shameer Mehdikhan
And I basically told them, if you want the HBO gaming, get, you know, Sony, get a PlayStation. But, you know, if you want good games and you want to get a good package overall, like get Microsoft right because, you you'll get game pass. But now I'm thinking about it and I'm like, man, like, you know, everyone wants to play Last of Us. Everyone wants to play those games. But if people are jumping into the Xbox ecosystem and they're getting doomed, they're getting Call of Duty, they're getting Ninja Gaming, they're getting these big what we would think third party, you know,
00:44:05
Shameer Mehdikhan
games and they're getting them every year. I think that might be enough. and think you might not you miss those other games as much. I agree with that, actually. My only concern is with so many games coming out this year, we know something's probably going to slip into 2026. But can Microsoft now keep this up every year? I've been saying this for the last 10 years.
00:44:23
Shameer Mehdikhan
Can they keep this up? So then they did Halo Gears 4za. They couldn't keep it up consistently. And I'm worried that 2026, 27, 28, when they do these developer tricks, are they going to have anything interesting to talk about anymore? Are they going to be able to do big June showcases? So I think there's enough studios. I mean, God, if you just look at how many studios Microsoft has with Activision and Blizzard as well, like there's enough of those. But what Microsoft is doing well, and what I want to see if they can keep this up is how they're diversifying into their non-owned studios.
00:44:51
Shameer Mehdikhan
And so you see the strategy where Microsoft is getting games like player obscure, right? They're getting lines of peace. They're getting these games that are maybe going under the radar, but we actually know they're gems. And they are actually noticing that, capturing it, and putting it on the platform. That's part of the curation. And that's a part of the curation. But those are basically what we would consider a double A that's outperforming, right? And I think Microsoft is continuing that trend, but now they're starting to pivot.
00:45:19
Shameer Mehdikhan
they're starting to show that, hey, maybe we even have the resources and the means to go after your traditional
Microsoft's Competitive Edge and Future Outlook
00:45:26
Shameer Mehdikhan
triple A, you know, multi-platform game and making it a new first party Microsoft title, which mainly just means that it's always going to be on game path. Yeah. And look, I thought Satya Nadella just came out two months ago saying during COVID we had a very pivotal moment where we talked about, do we continue being a games publisher in a games hardware manufacturer anymore?
00:45:49
Shameer Mehdikhan
And what they ultimately came down to was we either go all in or we're all out. It's not one foot in anymore. And they said, we're going all in. And that's why they purchased Activision, which is why I'm fine that they're expanding all our games to other ecosystems. Like it doesn't make sense. They have to. And the thing is like, and I know we've talked about this before too, with like Halo and Gears and things like that. Like I was always so hesitant on those going to other platforms and like feeling the pain of Halo 1 Sony and things like that.
00:46:15
Shameer Mehdikhan
But I think what Microsoft wants is they just want to consume the discussion. And if, like Halo is so big because it's on every platform, Gears is so big, it's on every platform, Fable is so big, it's on every platform. Then you got Fallout, then you got Call of Duty, you got all this stuff. If you're just everywhere and everyone's talking about you all the time, you are going to be milking money. That's what they want. and and to add to that, you're going to be more likely to then do those spin-offs that I was talking about. You're going to do more Halo ODSTs. You can take your creative list. Yeah, take your creative list. You can do Gears Judgment. You can then do Fable, whatever. So I think this is the smart move. I know people were shitting on it, but you can no longer look at ah this delineation in the last 10 years and say, look, I prefer one brand over another. It's more about just how you can access your games rather than
00:47:02
Shameer Mehdikhan
I'm a pure fan of said platform. So I think if you're an actual like legitimate fan of video games in general, it doesn't matter how you play it, where you play it with what controller, you just need access to them. Yeah. And barrier of entry needs to be low. And I think that's one of the nice things. I mean, for us, like we have the means and we love this stuff enough that we're going to keep playing on every console everywhere. We're going to be trying to play all the big games. Cause this is, this is, we love this, right? It's like a huge hobby and passion of ours. And I understand that like, especially when you're younger, right? or,
00:47:31
Shameer Mehdikhan
maybe even if not, like times are hard, like you you don't have as much disposable income or the means to like be on multiple consoles, right? But, you know, again, it's getting harder and harder to get all these Sony games to get all these Nintendo games, right? And if, you know, for some people, then they do have to choose between, I'm only gonna get the Sony game, I'm only gonna get the Nintendo games, I'm only gonna get the Microsoft games, at least this way, as much as we crap on Microsoft, you know, you can, you know, stick primarily with Sony or Nintendo, and at least,
00:47:59
Shameer Mehdikhan
you know, play on your phone, it's not as great as playing on your TV, right? But at least it's something, right? so because of that, like, you're able to make it work for multiple people. And it seems to me like it's a win-win scenario all around, except for, you know, people like myself who always consider themselves like hardcore Xbox fanboys, right? And we might feel kind of burnt. But I think with time, if we're just getting banger after banger,
00:48:22
Shameer Mehdikhan
Even if we feel burnt or we feel like Microsoft is leaving us behind, if the games we thought that would never come back, like Ninja Gaiden, right? For instance, if we're getting them again and again, I think we're going to get over it. Yeah. So again, let's just be honest here, right? Gaming as a hobby is becoming more expensive than it ever has. There's been a report that there's rumors. I know that within the gaming industry, people are hoping take two prices and GTA six at a hundred bucks.
00:48:48
Shameer Mehdikhan
find that unbelievable. So that they can then raise their prices, right? And like I said before, you kind of have to have someone subsidize these games, not just purely for development sake, but for people to purchase, like inflation has been rampant, right? So if I can get into a game by paying 15 bucks a month and play five games and get my worth out of it, I'm going to then go to that ecosystem, right? And also kind of, uh, this is a little bit tied in, but, uh, did you hear about what the price is for South of midnight? This can't be by surprise. This is $39.99.
00:49:17
Shameer Mehdikhan
Well, so, okay, interesting. I know I hate to judge by this, but like normally the press indicates how big of a game is is exactly. And like how blade two was 49 99. So I think they're already signaling to us that this is not going to be a massive game, right? But instead of trying to make south of midnight something, it's not like, Oh God, we got to make the God of war of Xbox.
00:49:35
Shameer Mehdikhan
and trying to stretch that out and go beyond what you're comfortable to justify a $69.99 price tag. You know what you are. You know what like going to deliver and just price accordingly. well So this is another argument that's been made in the last several years was game paths killing and stifling creativity because then you're putting a lot of shovelware and junk and you're saying we're going to pay as very little as possible. So that means we're not going to have these great high fidelity games.
00:50:00
Shameer Mehdikhan
And again, I think it can go both ways, but I do truly think now with Microsoft strategy and how competent they are, they're actually promoting creativity. And I think that's coming with an indicator. It all depends on like what you're doing with it, right? Like everyone had the same problems with streaming, but like there's good streaming and bad streaming. Like Netflix has made so much shovelware for so long, but I think at a, at a certain point they realized we can't just throw billions of dollars just cause we have, just to populate our television.
00:50:26
Shameer Mehdikhan
You know, like we want to make sure we get in quality. So now they're actually trying to pivot in other ways and they're trying to curate like better stuff, right? yeah yeah And so, you know, same thing with Game Pass, to a certain extent, like our Microsoft, are you going to use it to just throw a whole bunch of stuff on there? So you say you have it, or are you actually going to try and make it compelling and like, you know, have more creativity and things like that? And, you know, we'll see how it pans out. I don't want to you sound like we're glazing Microsoft too much. Obviously, I'm super happy because I'm integrating too. That's just me personally.
00:50:55
Shameer Mehdikhan
But, you know, Phil Spencer, you know, there was just a recent podcast I saw and he was really saying we want to focus on the quality of your game, our games. Right. And that's what I want to hear. You know, and, you know, put it into action in the real world because in the end of the day, like that's what people want. And that's why Microsoft was struggling because you really got to just make those good games. So here's funny. Here's the thing. So like, look.
00:51:17
Shameer Mehdikhan
At a certain point, you have to look at it from a business aspect and say, we need to make money off the games we output. And like you said, then you say how much risk do we take? And that's what Sony is doing. now They're canceling their games and saying, we need to make money. But what I'll say to that and what maybe Microsoft did very wisely is, yes, to offset the loss of their current console hardware in some of the games they were opening, they bought Activision. And yes, every quarter now, when they report that Activision's revenue is what's kind of keeping them in the green, that's OK, because if they can use that money,
00:51:45
Shameer Mehdikhan
to then funnel into these unique projects. I'm okay with that. And know that the the price tag that they spent to buy the thousand Activision was ridiculous. And I think Activision was probably a bit more expensive than it really deserved to be. And I think that was a reflection of it being a publicly traded company. and so it's going to be hard to make up that 70 billion, that 75 billion, you know, cause what you're going to make a billion dollar profit a year for 35 years to make it up.
00:52:12
Shameer Mehdikhan
You know, so that's going to be, you know, that's going to be hard. But at the same time, if you look at Microsoft historically, these people have lost billions of dollars on things like you remember the the the Windows phone or Zoom or all these things. And so, yeah, you know, you know, Microsoft is being hard on Xbox because they want them to make up that 70 billion dollars.
00:52:32
Shameer Mehdikhan
But at the same time, $70 million is not going to kill Microsoft, even if they have to just write it off because they have so much money. Well, that plus, you said, keeps them part of the conversation. I don't think they've ever wanted to exit this industry. Even if they talked about it, it's part of their DNA. It's part of innovation, is what we need more of because as you know, AI becomes more prevalent, right, in our lives, it's going to be harder and harder to find people coming up with more unique ideas.
00:52:58
Shameer Mehdikhan
And I think Microsoft still says like we have an advantage there, something that Sony might not because, and actually that's a good point you bring up because if they're going to go on the handheld space and they have those connections with open AI and video and AMD, and they have all this like console prowess, AI can be really useful for those handles, the super scale. Exactly. So for example, like when Nintendo did perfectly was they partnered with Nvidia. No one thought that that would have been a good partnership, but you know what, it's probably going to work out for them in the long run.
00:53:27
Shameer Mehdikhan
And I think with Microsoft, Microsoft's partnership, but not only MD, but then open AI, they'll be able to come up with a unique portable console too. But I think Sony, I'm not sure. Again, they're talking, there's rumors that they're going to work on a handheld and I don't know if it's going to come out as well. I wonder what that's going to look like. Yeah. So I just think that like, now let's talk about this from the Xbox direct. There was also Claire obscure expedition 33 again, very unique because this was a studio of only four people for quite a while. They've been working on this game for four years. They've kind of,
00:53:55
Shameer Mehdikhan
You can see within the trailer, they beefed up. They had maybe more than four people now working on the game, but that's probably all they can afford. And for Microsoft, again, to kind of finally go out there and curate and say, you know, what you have is really unique. And you've done this in a reasonable amount of time with very little people. That's something will we're willing to give you money for and subsidize. I think about like, you know, I don't know what deals they had and how much they financed this or that, but Just the marketing. I mean, like automatically like Claire has been something that everyone is talking about now, right? And like to make it like a game for show kicks and really show it off. Like that reach everyone's hearing about it. Everybody knows about it. And man, that game really surprised me. That looks amazing. This latest trailer got me even more excited. The first teaser trailer was like interesting. This having that little that French spin on the RPG take.
00:54:41
Shameer Mehdikhan
And then for them to have a a a world map, something that final fantasy seven and the way they speak is so confident. Like this does not look like a rookie team, right? Like even though like it seems like this is their first outing, like, you know, how confident that art director was and talking about what they're talking about. It doesn't even seem like they're confident. It just seems like we love this. We're so passionate. We've worked so hard and we just want to share it with you and help you guys. love Well, Microsoft even,
00:55:05
Shameer Mehdikhan
As far as like they went as far as saying, Hey, we're not going to gate keep this to game pass. You can put this on the PS five and PC, which is what they're doing. And yeah, could they have given them a big enough bag to say you're good to make one more game in the next four years? They're sure they could have done it. But instead they're saying your reach can go up further to a bunch more people. And guess what? If this is a bigger hit than you thought, you'll be set for life too. So like,
00:55:25
Shameer Mehdikhan
I just like that Microsoft didn't gatekeep this on the Xbox platform. Yeah, that's true. They totally could have. And I think this game is going to hit like really well. Like, I mean, I'm hoping it's not going to be a disappointment because you never know. But every indication I see for this game seems like something I'm going to absolutely love. I miss those RPGs and things like that. And I remember I think I was listening to Mr. Manny's plays and he was talking about how this reminds him of Lost Odyssey. And I was like, that's it. That's it right there. That's that niche I was missing.
00:55:53
Shameer Mehdikhan
that I realized that this game is hitting because that was a turn-based game. It was an RPG, IJ RPG, and just a beautiful world, interesting idea, all those type of things. But there was some QTE-like events, you it wasn't to the same extent because you couldn't just block all the damage. But man, I was like, I'm eating good right now because I got Ninja Gaiden 2 and a new one on the way. I basically have a game that fills that niche of Lost Odyssey. And I'm so excited about all these things.
00:56:23
Shameer Mehdikhan
And I'm getting a new new, right? And this is not even what I thought would be the banger. Like I was expecting to be blown away by Fable. I was expecting to be blown away by, you know, potentially even evolving around the corner, right? Or like some, you know, huge reveal, like, you know, the online Bethesda game.
Challenges and Future Directions in Gaming Innovation
00:56:39
Shameer Mehdikhan
And, you know, with what I didn't think was like the greatest hand, like Microsoft spoke to me personally you with the games I wanted, right? And I'm so hyped. The one thing that I'm skeptical about right now within the direct is South by Midnight. You brought up a little earlier. I'm happy you brought that up, actually. Yeah, it's like weird because, again, they're going with this weird direction of using stop motion. It looks interesting. The combat looks fun and exciting. But as I've seen more and more of the gameplay, it looks a little slow and clunky. I'm worried that this game is going to come out being one of those like seven games. And you for me, I was thinking about the last year.
00:57:13
Shameer Mehdikhan
I actually really like Flintlock, you know, like I think that's a game a lot of people kind of passed on. It was on game pass, so that's why I played it. I enjoyed it. Was it as great as the other things in the genre like Lies of Fear or whatnot? um No, no, but it it satisfying. And to me, I do feel like this is coming in looking like more of a seven or eight out of 10 game.
00:57:34
Shameer Mehdikhan
And I would be really happy to be wrong because I absolutely cannot say enough about the setting and the characters and how unique and cool that is. Like what are they called? South Gothic? Yeah, you never see that. Yeah. It's so interesting. And again, any any any game or piece of media I consume that can inspire me to create something myself, I'm going to put that high. And I think this is probably going to get my mind thinking and make me think about different things.
00:58:00
Shameer Mehdikhan
But yeah, that gameplay, it it doesn't look like it's there. The frame rate still looks kind of odd to me at times. And so. Well, I'm also wondering now that with the story and the world they've created, did they just not have enough time? They're like, we had to spend so much time optimizing this game that we had to make it much smaller in scope and they had.
00:58:18
Shameer Mehdikhan
grander ideas and they go, okay, it's a $40 game. If it does well, we might make a DLC. Like I could see this being that type of game where they they're viewing it purely based on how it sells rather than just saying, let's continue to make more content. Yeah. Well, I feel like in like, not that with this foreign gaming, like the people who are at the top of the pyramid for like certain genres, like it's so hard to get there. Like how much money and work did it take to make the action of God of War or like, you know, the system of Elden Ring as good as it is. And it's not like this is the first time those people did it, right? And so like, we're always going to unfortunately compare games within the same genre, right? And even if you throw a ton of money, you know, at, you know, teams, are they going to be able to do like other teams like God of War belts? And we shouldn't expect that. And it's just,
00:59:04
Shameer Mehdikhan
Unfortunately, because after we have a game that pushes that markup so high, it's harder for anyone else to get up there. And not only do they have to get up there, but then they have to get past it because we want something that's an evolution beyond God of War and things like that. And so because of that, like.
00:59:21
Shameer Mehdikhan
I think that's partly why the, you know, the combat just isn't hitting the same for me. And I, I feel like it'll be good, but good might just not be enough anymore. You know, if this was five years ago, that combat system might've been perfect, right? But now there's been so much evolution. It's just good, just isn't good enough. Yeah, exactly. Good sometimes isn't good enough. That's the best way to say it. But you know, it's really funny now. Now again, I have to keep saying to and I hate to hit the nail on the head.
00:59:47
Shameer Mehdikhan
because I'm so much more into portable gaming and because this will be on Game Pass and will be available through probably cloud streaming, this is the game that I'm going to be playing in bed every night for 30 minutes at a time on my ROG Ally saying, you know what, I am going to finally start playing these types of games because, yeah, it's a great way to like decompress and say, fine, there wasn't so much depth to the game, but it allowed me to experience something new that I wouldn't touch. And the thing is like not every game has to, you know, hit the same niche or the same bar, you know,
01:00:16
Shameer Mehdikhan
For me, if this game comes out, even if you get sevens across the board, if I play and I fall in love with the setting, like I think I'm going to, I'm going to hear some awesome South Gothic fairy tales that are brand new to me. If I just get that, I'm going to be happy with it. I'm going to feel like it's enough. People will probably complain about it online. I'm sure they will. That happens all the time. It's an echo chamber. What I love to have a game where I'm like, oh, man, this is Xbox's God of War. Of course I would love that. But I don't need to have that because you know, you can, it's okay to have more. Yeah. And it's also funny that again, and I'm saying this, but to have a complimentary device, not manufactured by Xbox to allow me to want to play an Xbox games, it actually kind of makes me laugh that like, got it's ironic. That's why I think if other manufacturers are out there trying to not like directly help them, but like supplement them. It's funny that Microsoft's saying ah we want to do the same thing now, which is why I think some of these games, there's rumors right now that doom,
01:01:12
Shameer Mehdikhan
dark ages might come out on the switch to later this year. So that would be interesting to see that. Yeah. Yeah. Agreed. So, all right. So I think we're probably going to be wrapping up pretty soon. We mainly just want to talk about the direct and, you know, Nintendo. So, you know, we're going to try and do these every two weeks. So, you know, we'll be coming in, know, around February and probably about is going to be right around the corner. So that'll be something to look forward to.
01:01:34
Shameer Mehdikhan
So, uh, you know, Arjun, what kind of things are you looking forward to in the next couple of weeks? So what kind of things do you think you might be playing or watching? Yeah. So, definitely want to eventually start watching severance season two. I'm probably going to wait till binge watch it. So maybe March when all the episodes come out, they're releasing on a weekly cadence. besides that I'm looking forward to avowed for sure in February and monster hunter for the first time in a long time. I'm kind of skeptical about, still a little bit based on even the latest previews.
01:02:01
Shameer Mehdikhan
But I definitely, I'm going to try for at least two to three hours before we talk about it. And then, ultimately, uh, I'm honestly, I was very excited for Assassin's Creed coming out, um, March, but with the latest previews, I just don't, I think my hype has dropped a little bit. So maybe we'll talk about that in the next month or so. Yeah, it sounds good. And for me, you know, you've probably heard me say it a million times, but I love Ninja Gaiden. So I'm probably going to play a bunch of Ninja Gaiden and, uh, and I'm really looking forward to it loud. So, you know, we'll see how it goes. Yeah. Thanks everyone.
01:02:30
Shameer Mehdikhan
All right, thanks everyone. Take care.