Transcript
Speaker: Hello and welcome to Seriously Irrelevant, a drinking podcast still very much in development. I am your host, Dylan Gursley, also known as the Lanky Llama, joined by the insufferable and intensely logical Kapoor's fight, Mr. Brendan Connolly.
Speaker: Brendan, how you doing today, buddy? Hey, everyone. Caught me sippin'. Ginger's Revenge. Caught you slippin'. Ginger, that that was the one that was at your wedding, right? It was. It was. It's really good. It's hard ginger beer.
Speaker: Highly recommend it to anyone who comes to Asheville, North Carolina. Which is not where you live. um I could be anywhere. Yeah, sometimes you're in a lake front, Georgia. That's where mommy and daddy live.
Speaker: too Too close to home, huh? um Well, dude, I'm excited to get together again so soon. I feel like we just recorded. um And you came to me, and I'm sure the audience will be glad to hear.
Speaker: You came to me in tears. And you said, Dylan, you know, you were a little harsh to me. Heard my feelings? I just want everyone to know.
Speaker: That I'm not going to apologize. And I'm not going to stop. I'm going to keep hurting you. So last time you were really talking my ear off about, because I went back and listened, by the way.
Speaker: And I think I was more mean to skill up than I was to you. And you and him are close, so that says a lot. Yeah, i you know I don't take it back what I said to him um to or about him.
Speaker: actually DM'd him this the show. um No, i don't I don't take it back. And the reason is because I do think he is a bit on a pedestal and I do think he drinks his own Kool-Aid.
Speaker: And so sometimes you're expecting a sweet drink. Sometimes you need a spicy drink. Sometimes you want a whiskey drink. Sometimes you want a vodka drink. Yeah, exactly. I went to a bar this weekend.
Speaker: I got a cream soda cocktail. It was incredible. Had no cream soda in it. It was a milk wash, vodka juice cocktail.
Speaker: I'm sorry to hear that. I know how you like your cream. It just it was too crushable. Like that was one of the first cocktails of my life where like three sips and it was gone. And I was like, oh my God, give me another daddy.
Speaker: Yeah. gay ah Yeah. run Ring me up for another $17. No, um no i I was going to ask you what you're playing, but after listening to the last episode, I don't think I need to.
Speaker: Nothing's changed. Do you still want to talk about Wolverine? Yeah. ah There's not much more to say. Did I talk you did i talk about the ah the boss, boss, boss that happens right in a row?
Speaker: I don't think so.
Speaker: Yeah, I think um that's right. I think I was like halfway through the game the last time we were hanging out. And the only difference is I'm i'm on the last chapter now. it It is funny because like the level design in the game is very good.
Speaker: But... There is this funny thing that happens between chapters three, four and five, I guess chapters two, three and four, where like the end of, you know, end of chapter one, you fight a boss and a chapter to fight a boss.
Speaker: And then chapter three is just a boss. So it's like chapter two boss fight. Chapter three is just a boss fight. And then chapter four actually starts out with another boss fight.
Speaker: Fortunately, after that, there's like an entire chapter and level and everything to play. But I was like, huh, I wonder if they like... ran out of time or budget or something to make like the middle portion of the game. Um, cause then there's, there's clearly like chapter five is like a fully fleshed out experience. So I thought that was a little odd, but the game's still good. Um, I'm, I'm kind of hunting around for trophies here and there, but, uh, yeah, not much else to report.
Speaker: Just kind of how many chapters total is it? I think it's, it's, it's five chapters. If I have that correct, maybe it's, that does sound like a budget cut or something. Yeah, it was it was just very odd. It was like but in the the boss fight was sick. Like the first boss fight at the end of, i don't know, chapter two or three will say like you fight a freaking Sentinel, like one of those big ass things. It's like in a boss arena and then you're like falling in the sky after it. It's like really, really cool and cinematic.
Speaker: And then the next fight, you're fighting the blob in like a supermarket, um the mutant, the blob. And like, it's neat, but it's like kind of a big letdown after the Sentinel fight, but it is still a boss fight. And then once you're done, it's like once you're done with that, it's like, all right, chapter over.
Speaker: And then ah you move on to the next thing. And it's then then you're in New Orleans going after Gambit. Who also the character model for Gambit looks like dog shit. So i'm I'm also getting into you know the back half of the game. And it seems kind of clear that they might not have put quite as much production value into that portion as they did the early portion of the game.
Speaker: Which like I know that happens. But it's a little funny to see like in real time. Yeah it's like Act 3 and Claire Obscure. you Actually yeah. You can just feel the ceiling of $50 game. Yeah, they just ran out.
Speaker: Your waveform is so much larger than mine and I always get worried about it and it never seems to matter. No, I mean, on on my screen, i have no waveform and yours is like a normal. where or what went where or where So.
Speaker: Cool, cool, cool. I am still playing Inscription. I've been knocking off a couple more bosses. I'm in the final stage. I have one more boss to finish Act 3 or I guess to to go to the whatever the final sequence is. I think there's going to be more. And then of course there's the free DLC called Casey's Mod that lets you play Act 1 limitlessly and with all sorts of your own rules and starters and different things. So I'll be able to do that to get some trophy cleanup that I missed in Act 1.
Speaker: Still really loving it. um I really don't get why people get so turned off from the different acts. Like I think it I think if really if you were just trapped in that room, you you would you would hit the limit of what you want to do. Like I get that like from like a narrative and progression standpoint. But if you're comfortable with where It is it is a ton of fun to keep running through, similar to FIFA.
Speaker: There's a lot of similarities. But you get you get what I'm saying, right? like It's just the beautiful game is the beautiful game, and you want to play it And Inscription is just that. you just want to play it again.
Speaker: doesn't matter how many times. If you're Cody Gakpo, you cut inside, you're you're cutting inside again. and Anyway, so that's what we're playing. i'm looking Are you looking at the notes, Doc?
Speaker: No. I'm looking at die at player count charts.
Speaker: Okay. did Did you want to look at the notes, Doc? I didn't know there was one. Let me pull it up. I texted you. um It's called Episode 5, Brandon Shits Himself.
Speaker: That's ironic because I just had the biggest fucking fart. I shouldn't have muted. It sounded like I shit my pants. Did you mute? I did mute. Sorry. I had a fart come.
Speaker: I had a fart come and I made the conscious decision to not mute and it didn't get picked up. so Next time. Yeah, next time. So really just where do you want me to start here?
Speaker: I'm still not in the notes doc because I got to find the old email. So you can start wherever you want and I'll kind of riff it. Okay, do you want me to just send you the link? ah That'd be great too.
Speaker: Drop it in the chat here.
Speaker: You got to remember, merch sometimes we're a team. yeah We can team together. That's true. we can do youre I got to say, while you're looking at this, two things. One, but there isn't a man from your...
Speaker: of your age and being that should ever have whatever that file shelf is that you have there the black mesh this thing just there is no need for that dude i love this thing this is to do to address to digitize to file to shred
Speaker: perfect Okay. And then the other thing I think you should look into as a friend, your lighting's not great, dude. Oh, yeah. I got to get one of those those big boys.
Speaker: Put it behind the desk. Yeah. And then also like a soft light in the back maybe.
Speaker: This overhead fan light is not not doing it for me. It is a warm bulb though. a Big warm bulb guy. Yeah, we all love warm bulbs. I have the warm sun coming on me here. But ah something to consider changing, for sure.
Speaker: Thank you. That's good feedback. I'm glad we i'm glad we ah got that live and recorded. he Yeah. Well, you're taking so long to pull it off. I see you got your... I'm looking at of here, yeah....dork-ass headshot.
Speaker: You want me to start at the top? You want to start games we're excited for? Why are you looking at player charts? Oh, you want to know why i was looking at a player charts? I was looking at the live service player charts for High Guard, Marathon, Concord, Fallout 76, and Destiny 2.
Speaker: So I just... Can you like put them all together and compare? um so i'm looking i'm i'm kind of tabbing between them so on steam db it's really nice you can you can look at a a player count chart for a particular game but they also have like a really nice slider so you can look at the player counts for the entire period of time of the game or what i'm doing right now is i i kind of adjust ah yeah i adjusted the slider to the launch window or really i i call it probably the decision window for high guard and concord because i wanted to see like these games
Speaker: that, I mean, Marathon hasn't been around for a while, but I just, I wanted to kind of compare that to, to like Fallout 76 and Destiny 2. And I could probably bring up like Apex or another ah popular live service game, but I just wanted to see like, what was the picture at the time that some, that a couple of these, I guess, more long running and one would say successful live service games, what did that look like when they launched compared to like High Guard or or Concord or Marathon? So,
Speaker: It is interesting. It'd be easier if I could show it, but it it definitely does show that in in the launch window of like Destiny 2 and Fallout 76, they were far more successful than what we're what we're seeing, what we saw for High Guard. Definitely what we saw for Concord.
Speaker: Concord is like... abysmal from day one. It's got like a six oh seven, you know, player count on the day at launch that dropped to one thirty two and then just like fell off from there. So dude, no insane. is Yeah.
Speaker: No mystery why that game got canceled. High guard is looking at the chart? It makes sense why it took longer for them to close it.
Speaker: But I am now, I think, starting to understand why they did obviously like we know it started off at um i mean this is just steam this is not everything but it started off at like 97 000 people on day one that got cut in half within the span of like 24 to 48 hours which is not unexpected like you know you have a big pop in the beginning and it kind of tapers off but then over the next month it levels out It still continues to go down, but it kind of hovers around like the 11,000 to 10,000 range.
Speaker: But then towards the end of February, we're dropping it like below 10,000 people playing on an average day and staying kind of staying there, which like that kind of sounds like a decent number of people. And I could see the argument for like high guard staying open.
Speaker: um But in comparison, like marathon over the last seven days has been hovering around like 86,000, 88,000
Speaker: Like, let's see, its lowest was 77,000. So like it's dropping a little bit, but it's not precipitous the way that like high guard was.
Speaker: And then what's interesting is when you look at like Fallout 76, which we know is dog shit at launch in terms of like the bugs and everything that kind of came out of the gate. Around like 32,000. And then it it did drop. it It kind of dropped down into the. The. 11,000. 8,000. jumped up to 17. Went back down to 12. So it's sort of like leveled off in that north of 10.
Speaker: But. It is interesting. I mean they stuck with it. And now it's a lot bigger. So like. I don't know. the lesson i'm I'm kind of going through all these numbers. The lesson I'm taking here is that. I actually think high guard.
Speaker: Could have gone either way. I do think there's a world where Tencent sticks around, funds High Guard for a longer period of time, and it becomes successful.
Speaker: So I think they might have jumped the gun on shutting this guy down. But curious your thoughts. ah Yeah, I guess I'm just surprised because a game that doesn't have any content, you're saying they jumped the gun on shutting it down?
Speaker: Opinions changing in real time. I relate to that. um What was the MSRP of like the launch price of 76? It was it was $60. $60. It was yeah it was a full price game like they they build it as a a full a full fledged Fallout game.
Speaker: Which like it wasn't. It definitely, i think, had more content than like most live service games tend to launch with. um And it did, you know, it had a beginning to end story and all of that. But like compared to what it what it is now, it's like night and day.
Speaker: um Yeah, and maybe that's part of it. Like they were selling these copies for more. There was no game pass at the time. So like these were all 60 plus dollar rips. I think they they might.
Speaker: Maybe it was 70 at the time. Actually, it was 60 or 70 dollars. And then they had like, you know, deluxe editions or whatever they were selling with. It wasn't 70. No way it was a 70. Let's see back then. That would be in 2000, 2001. Wait, wait, what?
Speaker: wait wait well but i' Sorry, 2020, 2021. Wait, it didn't come out until 2020? I mean, that's when this Steam chart starts. It's ah like April 2020. Yeah, but it came out in 2018.
Speaker: Interesting. Maybe, I mean, I'm not sure when this. Oh, so I guess I'm looking at a not the best data then.
Speaker: Oh, you're right. Yeah, November 2018. So actually, these numbers would be looking at the game after it been out for a couple years.
Speaker: ah Oh. Still, it's interesting that it's body in those other games. Yeah. i mean, because it was still two years in. They had made some ah made some updates to it. Let me see when Wastelanders came out.
Speaker: That was like the biggest one, right? Yeah, that's when they basically reconfigured the whole game to be a Fallout game.
Speaker: September 7th, 2020. Okay. So wastelanders came out like what? Five months after this data starts. So there might've been some like initial interest in, in that.
Speaker: Yeah. Cause I'm seeing it, it jumps up in may. Yeah, really interesting though. It's like Wastelanders doesn't drive like a huge ah jump in this chart though.
Speaker: What drives a huge ass jump is the Fallout TV show. Yeah, that is interesting. It like, it it jumps up to 73,000, which is like more players than it's ever had.
Speaker: But also for reference, Destiny 2 started out like 200,000 players. And in that first like year, the lowest was like 76,000 people. What's Marathon Marathon is 86,000 on its like first day.
Speaker: Then 88,000 today, it was down to 77,000. So like it's still that's doing decent numbers right now. um That's just PC. just Right. This is just PC, not PS5 or anything else. So...
Speaker: i would yeah I would say marathons looking pretty safe right now. I've had that feeling for a few weeks. A few months ago, I was like, that thing is dead. I think arc greased the wheels a bit.
Speaker: I don't think we can discount bungee loyalists. And I think once they figured because I thought they were going to have completely remake the style of the game because they ripped off that artist.
Speaker: Yeah. But since they settled with that person, Because that was kind of my favorite thing about it was the look. Yeah. You want to have some You want to have some fun? Why don't you pull up Slay the Spire 2 player count?
Speaker: Are you curious about that? Let's see. I want you to be curious.
Speaker: All right, Slay the Spire 2. So this has been out for just a few days. 1, 177,000, and it goes up oh my god dude.
Speaker: four thirty five twenty six today it was at five hundred seventy four thousand how's bojion Oh my gosh.
Speaker: Yeah. These are the kind of numbers that like a live service publisher would like cream in their pants if they had. Isn't that nuts? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I do.
Speaker: It is interesting looking at high guard. They, they started off massive and then they dropped down to like 10,000, 11,000. They were kind of like tepidly there. i I mean, I get it.
Speaker: I do get it. The, the shutdown thing. It's, yeah uh anyway sorry this is numbers talk no i can't see it's like not the most exciting but it is interesting no it's fun um we should do that thing on my youtube the uh the game pass cost analysis oh yes yeah it'd be a lot of fun yeah i can give you all my data you would love to have all my data Maybe already do, dude.
Speaker: You would see that I rarely ever waver from buying at the lowest price ever. Yeah. I'd also see all that ah all that anime, like anti-adjacent stuff that you buy.
Speaker: No, I told you that story about middle school, right? Because you could just share PS3 accounts limitlessly. um So like I had like seven different people's PSNs on my PS3. So I had like all the Call Duty DLC and all this stuff.
Speaker: Oh, that's hilarious. One kid's account had like five bucks on it.
Speaker: And like five dollars, like in in the wallet and the wallet. Yeah. Oh, and you just and I went and bought a ah like a sexy PS3 theme.
Speaker: ah
Speaker: And the next day at school, he he was pissed. He was like, you know what you did? You think I want to know? Sounds like he was a little pent up.
Speaker: I was pent up, dude. Yeah, maybe you should have looked at that theme a little bit longer. You were doing a favor.
Speaker: Yeah, should have looked a little longer. I wouldn't have had to spend any money. um I wouldn't have had to steal any money. But anyway, that's the past. Let's look towards the future. The long-rumored next-generation Xbox box has finally been confirmed. Asha Sharma, new CEO of Xbox, recently announced Project Helix, a powerful console that can also play PC games.
Speaker: This piece of hardware represents many things. The continued and evolving direction of Xbox, the rising costs of components, and the tension between exclusivity and accessibility.
Speaker: Brendan, a lot of threads to pull out pull out here. Ultimately, it's kind of exciting. Kind of makes me a little less anxious. And I think will be largely a positive for Xbox to spin the conversation towards a hopeful future versus the doom and gloom of the present.
Speaker: But what do you think? I but it actually kind of reminds me of the 360 PS3 era or really I guess you say the PS2 Xbox era leading up to that because if I'm remembering correctly the Xbox 360 came out like decently well ahead of the PS3.
Speaker: 2005. PS3 came out in 2006. Right. So like, we you know, we'll say six to 12 months apart depending on what time a year. So if they're announcing Project Helix right now,
Speaker: presumably they would be looking to launch next year. I would think like, why would you announce a console and then hold it for, for two years? So I would expect it to either come out later this year, like holiday season, um which would be wild if they were like trying to capitalize on like the, the coincident release of a GTA,
Speaker: GTA six or something, but more likely, I think next year. But the fact that Sony hasn't announced or made any moves, it seems to announce their next gen console. and And I guess reporting is indicating that they're probably going to delay it. We could wind up in a similar situation where like the Xbox next gen console comes out a year or more before the PlayStation next gen console.
Speaker: So i I back then with 360, I think 360 had a first mover advantage where they were first to market. They had all these features, network and everything.
Speaker: And the PS3 wound up being, I think, more expensive than the 360. So like they just, they were able to capitalize on a ton of stuff. But that was in an era where every generation was a fresh reset. There was no digital library stuff.
Speaker: People were free, you know, felt much more free to move around between. between consoles. So I kind of feel like Xbox also by incorporating like the PC component is just decoupling themselves from the typical like Sony V Xbox console dynamic.
Speaker: And they're like, we're we're releasing something that is a bit more like console first, PC second. um And we don't really need to compete directly with the PS6 because actually if they tried to do that, it probably would just go as badly as it's gone the last two generations.
Speaker: So I ah but I'm curious to see, like, how much is it going to cost? That's my biggest question. With all the RAM shortages and and SSD shortages and everything, I'm like, I don't know. I mean, i hopefully for their their sake, they had those contracts in place previously. They clearly didn't do that effectively or adequately anticipate tariffs in terms of their current gen consoles.
Speaker: So like hopefully their planning around this next-gen one has gone much better. But I'm curious what you think. Well, that last point is hilarious because we're talking about Microsoft. So they are one of the six biggest contributors to the rising cost of components.
Speaker: yeah So it's like... not only do do i hope they had the contracts in place i hope they had the foresight in place right that what they were doing was going to make their entire business more expensive yeah um and then i don't think it's fair as to say to anyone you didn't adequately foresee tariffs you know I don't know if anyone can adequately foresee total stupidity um at that level.
Speaker: But you can react to it. too like i mean you so prior to that two Two presidential terms prior But you saw what Sony did like Sony was like oh it looks like they're going to do tariffs because they've been signaling they're going to do tariffs and so they imported like as much stock as they could domestically and then tariffs dropped and they were like okay well fortunately we already imported the stuff but like Microsoft just didn't do that with their with their console so I.
Speaker: Because there was no need to import because it was already here sitting on a shelf unsold. Just yeah not being bought. But that's the thing. Now the now the price is Skyron. They're sh shorting so much.
Speaker: so Somebody at work was like, you know my boyfriend's selling his Xbox Series X. And I was like, I'd be all over that for $300 less because...
Speaker: because I'm not getting, I'm not paying 600. No way. No way. One you can turn around and sell it for five. Yeah.
Speaker: Which by the way, that other PS5 is probably going to come up here and be like a capture bay. Capture footage. oh there you go. Pretty cool. But anyway, um yeah, a lot of interesting stuff there. I never thought of that. That's a great parallel, the 360 and PS3.
Speaker: think it is pretty close to 12 months. I'm actually disappointed you don't know that. Yeah, I don't have the dates in my head. Yeah, but... Let's see. it that's huge. And then, of course, we know that PS3 just nipped the 360 in total units sold by a tune of a couple hundred thousand. I don't actually think it's very much.
Speaker: Maybe it's a couple of million, but That's a really interesting parallel. I do want to call out here the little spat or the little back and forth between Jeff Keighley and Tom Warren. Let me say this because I know kind of came at you for this last episode and I am right about this.
Speaker: um you are part of the Sony bias and so is Jeff Keighley. The amount of tweets he sent out about the PS5 Pro and then he gives a one sentence description on Project Helix.
Speaker: Xbox's new hardware, a PC-based console. And so Tom Warren was like, PC-based? What are you talking about? It's going to run console games and also run PC games whereas the Valve Steam Machine is going to run PC games and That's it.
Speaker: Yep. So
Speaker: is Jeff a bad actor? Not really on topic, but like i don't I don't think so. I think Jeff is well paid. let me put it that way. He's got to have much a much deeper connection, I think, to Sony. like If only because of the i like Kojima connection. Kojima, I know he's connected to both. He's doing the some... well i can't remember what that project is called with Xbox. Yeah.
Speaker: Fizzant? Yeah, Fizzant. That's the one. But just Kojima in general, I feel like if feel like tends to be a bit more connected to to PlayStation. Jeff is clearly connected to him.
Speaker: PlayStation, i i don't know. Maybe it's got something to do with like... The fact that for Sony, like they are as a company much more invested in the success of like the video game industry and their position in it than I think Microsoft is.
Speaker: Which to me would indicate, would I would assume that in terms of relationship building, there might also be different stuff going on behind the scenes that engenders a lot more warmth and and positivity towards Sony.
Speaker: I don't know. Sony didn't roll up and say like, oh, we feel like buying Nintendo. Like, I don't know. There's there's something about the corporate culture that engenders that kind of hubris that I feel like must permeate the nature of the relationship building that takes place in the industry.
Speaker: I'm totally speculating here. No, no. but I think I think it's a good thought. Like, Sony's much more aligned and positioned around the prestige and the premium look and feel and kind of like, and don't know, like a lot of soft intangibles and Microsoft's like, show me the money.
Speaker: Like, we don't care. Just show me the money. And Sony's like, no, we have something. There's something about us that maybe it's not worth it to you, but it's it's our brand. What are you giggling about? You farting again? No.
Speaker: yeah No, I was thinking of the ah conversation we had earlier about people that could see into your soul. Yeah, we exactlyly I was thinking about ah the 2024 Game Awards when they had those two Muppets.
Speaker: oh the yeah Oh, yeah, the the yeah guys that were heckling. Yeah. Is it Wallace and Grana? That's not right, is it? No, that's the Claymation British show. I don't know the names of the Muppets.
Speaker: I'm a bad Muppets fan. That's that's just friends. Kojima does Kojima know that that was that was such a good line. Yeah.
Speaker: and But yeah, anyway, so I think think first of all, if you were an Xbox fan that thought exclusives were coming back, that clearly was never the case.
Speaker: I am stoked that it's going to be a console forward. you know It is an off-ramp, I suppose, but at the same time, I'm happy to hear that a powerful console is coming with which I can access my Xbox library.
Speaker: feels good for me. The cost, I think the cost starts at $1,000.
Speaker: I would expect so. And it's also reportedly much more powerful than the PS6.
Speaker: Yeah, I mean, it it it i wouldn't be surprised because reporting is indicating that the PS6 is being developed as more of like a budget friendly console. um So very curious to see what the specs look like on on Project Helisks and the PS6 when it's announced.
Speaker: One thing I'm wondering, it this just struck me, Valve just announced the release date for the Steam Machine, right? No, they they basically said that they're pushing it back.
Speaker: Okay, I thought they said that it was coming out. It was still coming out this year. They said they want to, but they're like, we we're getting bent over a barrel with these prices. Okay. Just crazy to me because like, wouldn't they have signed those contracts prior?
Speaker: That's what one would think. But what I'm wondering is if maybe like, so prior to the announcement of Project Helix, there's, if I was an Xbox player and I had a Series X,
Speaker: I would be like, okay, everything, all the signals I've been getting over the last year or so is that Xbox or Microsoft is kind of deprioritizing the Xbox aye ecosystem as a hardware brand.
Speaker: And so I need to start getting comfortable with moving to like a different hardware base as an Xbox player. And the Steam machine seemed to look like potentially a next viable thing to hop to post series X. I'm kind of wondering if the project Helix announcement and clarification at, at GD upcoming clarification at GDC is Microsoft's effort to kind of get ahead of that and be like, slow down.
Speaker: We are actually going to have hardware for you. Don't go buy one of those. We got one more for you at least. Um, Yeah, I'm very interested to see. this is This is actually going to be like a really interesting generation where you have like Project Helix, Steam Machine, and PS6, whatever that looks like.
Speaker: And the Switch 2. Oh, yeah. That's true. I think it's cool that they came out with the codename, but it doesn't, like, why not just name it?
Speaker: Unless that hasn't been finalized. It just seems weird. Like Project Helix is something you read from like an insider report on The Verge or whatever. It's weird for the CEO to be like announcing Project Helix.
Speaker: It's like this isn't an internal meeting. They should just call it Xbox Helix at this point. Like i oh know what Matty was saying. What? That he thinks it's going to be the Xbox renegade.
Speaker: Oh, yeah, yeah. Because that was like another code name they were batting around. I think that's a terrible name. I do think Helix is better. because Personally, I love the logo that they they use where it's like a DNA strand and it settles on the X. I thought that was actually very fucking cool and creative.
Speaker: So I don't know. They can call it renegade. I think Microsoft has been like terrible with naming their Xboxes. Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and X. Like there's nothing intuitive about those naming conventions that tells you like...
Speaker: which order they came out in, like which, which one's better or worse. It's I'm sorry. I know like the PlayStation one, two, three, four or five is like generic, but it's like, it is clear.
Speaker: It communicates something clearly. And it's probably hindsight 2020 or three 60. Yeah. Well, that's what I was about to say. I love the name three 60. I do. I think that was probably the best one.
Speaker: And you can't fault the, the X-Box. No, the first two were fine. But they did also kind of screw themselves because like what should they have called the the third? I remember kids at school would be like the 720. Yeah, it's that would have been better than one.
Speaker: And then they could have had the Xbox 1080. Yeah, which would actually that would have been a sick fucking name. It would have run games in 4K though. yeah ah ah Yeah. What do you think about like the the I kind of liked my comment at the end here. The tension between exclusivity and accessibility.
Speaker: Yeah. Well, I just, I don't know that Xbox is going to do exclusive anymore. I do don't think they they will, but I guess, i don't know. It's not that well written, but essentially PlayStation 6 stuff will be PlayStation 6.
Speaker: Yeah, well, that's the more interesting thing is like they're pulling away from PC. That I'm confused about. i e I don't under... I know there's like... It kind of sounds like maybe there's like factions within Sony and like one faction does feel like that outreleasing stuff on PC dilutes the brand.
Speaker: I just don't... I can't imagine who's the PC gamer that's like, ah... I was really hoping I could play Ghost to Yote on my PC, but now that I can't, I'll get a PS5. Like, no, sorry guys, nobody is doing that. Like Sony's got good IP, but the fact is their IP have not, the piece how am I going to put this?
Speaker: Sony's IP are not system sellers in the current generation. If only by virtue of the fact that they haven't put out that much first party IP. So it's sort of like a not even a double-edged sword. It's like, guys, your console doesn't sell because of your IP. It sells because of the inertia that it has. And you've said this before. like They're largely inertia-based. So what is the harm of putting your IP on on PC?
Speaker: It's not driving sales over here. So I certainly don't think it's going to it's going to hand hinder them. A lot of the reporting that's come out has been about brand dilution and brand damage from the PC stuff, but I don't quite see it that way. I mean, they are playing at such a high level, but.
Speaker: Do you think it's possible they that, I mean, I'm sure they know about Project Helix. Yeah. Do you think it's possible they're like, no way. No way are we going to be. ah We can't have that. Two possible other boxes to access art our key differentiator.
Speaker: Yeah, because, okay, let yeah let's let's play that a little. So at present, sony has created or Sony and Microsoft have created a situation, largely Microsoft, where if you own a PS5, you can play all PlayStation games and third-party games, and now you can reliably play Xbox first-party games as they come over.
Speaker: If PlayStation continue to put stuff on PC, once Helix comes out, you can play all Xbox games plus the back compat stuff. plus PC games, which is inclusive then of PlayStation first party games.
Speaker: So then which is better, I guess, to own?
Speaker: Kind of the kind of Helix then actually. Like if you if if they could still rely on Sony to put their first party games on PC. Yeah, actually that does become much more than they're competing just in the hardware space.
Speaker: It's like PS5 Pro up against Project Helix. And then for a period of time, maybe even the PS6, as you said, if Project Helix is like substantially more powerful than the PS6, then yeah, like you're going to have gamers that are maybe not married to a particular ecosystem that are like, I just want like the highest end console experience I can get. That is now on.
Speaker: Xbox in terms of Project Helix, not the PS6. Yeah, I could see that being the calculus there. Yeah, power part of me is like, did I make a decision like not buying games on Xbox anymore?
Speaker: um But I don't really care. I don't know. I don't, I think the power stuff is diminishing returns. Even if it says 25% more powerful, what does that actually mean? Right. Play experience.
Speaker: Like I just want games to whip and you know, 4k 60 is really all I want. Also, if Helix is running windows, Is it going to be that good? Like, what is it running?
Speaker: That's kind of there's a lot of tension about that, too. That's unknown. I'm curious to see how that goes, because I don't want that. Yeah, I don't. I don't want all that extra processing power just going to this unoptimized process. yeah Yeah, that would be bad. So.
Speaker: Very interesting. But I don't think, I think Microsoft, it doesn't make sense to go exclusive again because they just, I think they have a, they need, they have a revenue imperative that cannot be met if they stay exclusive.
Speaker: I don't think they can make the kind of money they want to, or I guess need to on just PC and Xbox, even if their hardware can play both. I think they need the market share ava of PlayStation still.
Speaker: Yeah. I think I'm going to buy it. I'm you're like, i don't even need to see the presentation. I heard some stuff. It's take my money. so Sounds was good.
Speaker: Do you think this forces Sony to start talking about the PlayStation 6? I hope so. i I think the so when I when I think about the PlayStation 6, what we keep hearing, what I keep imagining is like a console and a handheld.
Speaker: first party, fully integrated. Now, I don't know if that's like a handheld is the full thing. It docks, it gets processing boost from the dock or these like two standalone objects or like, I don't know how that's going to work.
Speaker: But I think the the handheld experience is probably going to be like a big differentiator. of, you know, from prior generations and even potentially from what Xbox is doing. Because right now Xbox they have their Project Helix. That's the console piece that's coming out.
Speaker: They have the Rogue Ally. I assume that in the future, either Microsoft is going to do first party handheld hardware or there's going to be like another iteration of the Rogue Ally X or something like that.
Speaker: But I kind of think the handheld like experience might wind up being one of the largest differentiators of the next generation, more so than just the raw power of the console. But I'm curious what you think.
Speaker: Did you hear that? No, did you just rip a fart? Yeah. um It didn't really pop up on the waveform. Yeah, I see you're like... It kind of blanked out my brain, I'll be honest. So remind me of what you said about the handheld. was speculating that...
Speaker: despite the fact that Project Helix presumably will be more powerful than the PS6, I could actually see the handheld experience and integration being more of a differentiator.
Speaker: For precision, you're saying? Between the two, because you're going to, right now you have the Rogue Ally X, you're going to have whatever the PS6 handheld is. Presumably Microsoft is going to do another handheld, but I'm Well, maybe it's a third party person again.
Speaker: Yeah, I think it could be that. Because i don't, that's my biggest hang up with the handhelds is I don't want to spend $1,000, but I probably would if I could get the same experience as my Series X or PS5 and a handheld.
Speaker: Yeah. Like I really wouldn't want to like preferably it would be less than 800, but you would do it. Oh yeah. Yeah. I would, I would hundred percent.
Speaker: that's, that's what I really want. i I mean, you see, I'm playing fucking PS3 games over here. Like I, I'm even okay with some compromise fidelity, but like what I really like to do is be able to play games on the go.
Speaker: I don't go a lot, but when I do, I really like to be able play. Even like football's on or... Yeah, like right now I use the PS portal and like that's that's fine.
Speaker: The PS portal is, i would say, fine. Maybe it's an issue of my Wi-Fi. Maybe it's an issue of like the internet connections I've used, but like I don't tend to play games on my portal that are not either turn-based or like there's a huge margin for error.
Speaker: It's like Vampire Survivors or something like I'll play on the portal. it's I'm not using the portal for like, I don't know. i wouldn't play Returnal on it. No.
Speaker: But maybe that's because of mye my you know limitations of my home network or something. Even though everything's wired in, like sometimes I get lagged. And certainly if I'm out the about, I just native native install is is a big thing.
Speaker: Yeah, I'm trying to think.
Speaker: The portals 200.
Speaker: Yeah. It's got to be at least 600. I don't know. I mean, what I think would be really interesting, I doubt they would do this, but like if they made an attachment to the portal, because you could you could clip something to the back and plug it into the USB-C port, it would be fascinating if they were like, here's an attachment for the portal.
Speaker: That's like a brain. Yeah, but exactly. That's a brain like it's got a processor in it. It's got extra battery life. It's got a hard, you know, an SSD like it's got whatever additional shit it would need.
Speaker: Plug that sucker in. You can charge it just the same as whatever. It'll make the thing bulkier and bigger, but still like that's. that's it and like now you can install and play games natively on it like that would actually be an interesting bridge to like a PlayStation 6 or a future handheld no idea if that's possible given like it's internals or anything but I think that would be very cool you really said it as if it's so easy I mean I should be a consultant
Speaker: How cool is it to be to consider being that? Just like, I'm the idea guy. You don't even know when the Xbox 360 came out versus the PS3. I did look it up.
Speaker: You were right. They were almost exactly a year apart. Yeah, like I tried to. Yeah. um Well, that's it for the news.
Speaker: Tell me about what games you're excited for this year. i feel like I know you're in a PS3 mood. Yeah. I know... I'm actually excited. You're getting more into the content stuff, which is great. But part of that, part of the exciting thing of that for me is to like try to get in, not all of them, but like try to get in every once and again, more often than usual, a new game.
Speaker: um So on my list, if you don't mind if I start. Yeah, go for it. In just 11 days from today, Crimson Desert will come out.
Speaker: I think this game is shaping up to be
Speaker: like kind of a generation defining game, but not in every way. I think it'll end up getting like eights across the board. I think there there will be a few nines. There's going to be a few sixes and sevens.
Speaker: um
Speaker: Everyone's already seen it. It looks fantastic. It looks unreal. The amount of stuff you can do, the variety, the like creativity, the physics of the world, really everything.
Speaker: Mechs, dragons, guns, magic. What doesn't it have? It doesn't really have PS5 footage yet. So we'll see how it goes. I do have a pro, so I'm pretty confident in that. But, you know, I do ultimately think it'll be better than it'll be better on PC.
Speaker: And that'll just be how it is and something I have to accept. What about you? Are you looking forward to that?
Speaker: Yeah, i I am. So... Crimson Desert looks awesome. it looks yeah It's open world. There's a ton of shit you can do in it.
Speaker: What's funny is when I see the trailers, I'm hesitant because it actually, just looking at it, I know it's very different than this game, but it actually reminds me a lot of Assassin's Creed Valhalla.
Speaker: where like that was, you can clearly do a lot more in Crimson Desert. There's a lot more mechanics, there's a lot more movement and stuff. But Valhalla, I mean, as you know, i spent so much time with that game. It was a massive game, there was a lot to do, and I did like pretty much all of it.
Speaker: And so when I, this this would be like, if I played Crimson Desert, this would be like the first big game since that one that I'd be playing. And I'm like, oh my God, I don't know if I have it in me right now.
Speaker: It's so, it looks so big. So i'm I'm a little bit intimidated by it. I am too, but I'm i'm hoping that... Because, I don't know, Death Stranding is huge.
Speaker: And I didn't end up following through on that, but I think there's other reasons for that. But like sometimes they're exciting. like If they get bring you in like that, I don't know. Because then it just becomes like you're just spending time in that world and it doesn't feel like a chore.
Speaker: yeah Whereas sometimes when I'm trophy hunting and it's a 20, 30, 40 hour game... Like sometimes cleaning up the trophies can be like, oh my God. You know, that's what I look. That's what I see when I look at this game. I'm like, there's so much different stuff to do.
Speaker: What is that going to be like? If like you're a completionist like me. You don't have to be. You can always turn yourself down. no no No, no, There's like not enough there's not a therapy in the world that could they could change that.
Speaker: who's Just chill, bro. um That comes out during March Madness, so i'll I'll be able to weather the review storm um because I will be busy. But in April, there's two games in April.
Speaker: Pragmata, which I'm kind of less interested in the more we see of it. Thanks, Capcom. But the other one that's really catching my eye is a $30 indie 30s look inspired mouse PI for hire.
Speaker: It's largely black and white. It is a first-person shooter. You pick locks with the mouse tail. Like I said, $30 Indie. Let me check who the developer is.
Speaker: They pushed they push the release by a month, so I think that ah makes me think good things. Polish it up. Just looks so fantastic. Almost like an old-school Mickey Mouse look to some of the characters. and yeah Like Steamboat Willie?
Speaker: Yeah, Steamboat Willie. Maybe a little bit of Cuphead.
Speaker: It is made on the Unity engine. And it's developed by Fumi Games. They are Polish. Fumi once came on me.
Speaker: What do you think of this one? It looks fucking sick. Yeah, i i remember the first trailer that came out for this game. It was like it was like just above Greybox stage, it looked like. It was super basic. It was really conceptual, but it was it was basically like, yeah, you're going to be like a cartoon mouse, cartoon-type FPS. And I was like, oh, that's like a pretty cool concept.
Speaker: no At the time, I was like, i don't know that I would ever mess with it, though. It's probably going one of those like comes out on Steam niche, like people who play it love it, but it's like whatever. And then they put out another trailer,
Speaker: maybe like a year later and it was much more like built out and then the action was, was more clear. And I was like, Oh, this looks pretty freaking cool in terms of like the animation and and the movement, the gameplay and everything. And now like the previews that are coming out now, I'm like, Oh yeah, this game is like,
Speaker: more than what I was expecting it to be like a pretty linear like you know first person cartoony shooter thing you go through environments no big deal but like it looks really built out um yeah this game is one i could see myself playing it this year depending on how long it is it can't be that long I don't think so yeah if it's like 10 or 15 hours like yeah I could definitely see myself playing it this year are there any other Games that you're anticipating this year.
Speaker: Yeah, big time. So the top two for me. um was hoping were going to take this one. All right. Sorry, I'm just excited. Yeah, our Kena Scars of Cosmora.
Speaker: So that one I'm I just played. can we We talked about this a few weeks ago, but like I just played Bridge of Spirits last year. So like that's super fresh for me. The sequel looks awesome. So I ah just such a fun game to play.
Speaker: um I don't they haven't said the exact release date. It is funny, though. So I just Googled Kena Scars of Cosmora release date. I guess I didn't Google. I binged it. And Copilot is saying December 31st, 2026 for the release date on Microsoft Windows.
Speaker: So i'm like, is that real? That's a very odd release date. That's a placeholder date. Yeah, that sounds placeholders. didn't think Kano was coming this year. I'm pretty sure it is, at least for... a Yeah, I mean, so PlayStation blog from ah February 12th.
Speaker: Kena, Scarzica's more announced for PS5 and PC out 2026.
Speaker: So yeah, later this year. Hope they get it out before November. Yeah. I mean, it doesn't matter. for I'm not really going to be on GTA, probably. But the other game I'm psyched for is Fable.
Speaker: aye I played I loved Fable 2. played the hell out of that when I was in college and the new one I didn't play Fable 1 or 3 or I think there was like some spin-offs and stuff but this this new Fable game is it looks like it has all the stuff I love from Fable 2 in terms of like the reputation relationships you know in this it's a much more great morality system there's the The land ownership, the the quest you can do different ways like it just looks very, very cool.
Speaker: um That will probably honestly that'll probably be. Either the next big game I play or maybe one of the games I get most into this year because I am starting to get an itch for another big game.
Speaker: And we just learned like last week that Starfield is coming to PlayStation next month. So I could see myself getting into that.
Speaker: um I know that's not a new game. It's been out for three years on ah on Xbox. But yeah, so those are probably my three like new releases on PlayStation that I'm the most interested in for this year. But in particular, Kena and Fable.
Speaker: You missed the big one. You said Kena. I thought you were going somewhere else with that co sound. What did you think going to say? Control Resonant. Oh my God, dude. I'm an idiot. How did forget that?
Speaker: Yeah. Oh, holy shit. Yeah. I'll be there like day one. Day one. Or day two. Depending on the... Yeah. No, did they pencil it in June? Let's see. I actually... I had my wish list up here.
Speaker: Yeah. it just says between April and June. Is it? hope it's closer to June. I think Control, the original, was... Wait. Did they put it up for pre-order? No.
Speaker: I'm looking on the PlayStation app right now.
Speaker: Yeah, I was right. twenty August 27th. Oh, that's a good that's a good date. Well, no, no, no. Sorry, that was Control 1. I thought it came out the summer. Yeah, yeah release date to be determined.
Speaker: i really want to play that game. If you haven't played Control, if you have not played Control, you're missing out on one of the most special experiences you can have on the Xbox One, PS4, Series X, or PS5.
Speaker: The Ultimate Edition is incredible. Alan Wake is incredible. Alan Wake 2 is sublime. From what you've seen of it, yeah. Even for people who haven't fully finished it, even though they basically did.
Speaker: ah I love Remedy. Can't get enough of Remedy. So excited for the Max Payne remakes as well. Control Resonance stars Dylan. Seems a lot more like action melee focused than Jesse Faden's story.
Speaker: Really, really excited for it. You texted me this and I agree. I'm kind of going dark on that game. I don't want I don't think Remedy's going to do this, but I don't want i don't want to be Capcom'd here.
Speaker: ha Yeah, no, thank you. Yeah, so, yeah, you said you were looking forward to Starfield. You'd rather play Starfield than Crimson Desert.
Speaker: Kinda, yeah. i do it's just been It's been so long since I played a Bethesda game. yeah that's gonna make it It's going to make you think of every like good Bethesda games that aren't Starfield.
Speaker: Well, so that's the question. Should I play Starfield or Oblivion Remake? Probably Oblivion Remake then, yeah.
Speaker: I'd be surprised. now i want you to play Starfield because it's new. Yeah. Is it done yet? That's the question. Because I know they're goingnna that yeah there's another update coming. but like I'm only missing one achievement.
Speaker: And it would be a little grindy. But that would be the only reason I would go back at this point. like god i'm I'm not...
Speaker: I mean, you you did play a lot of it. Like you played it 20 hours. Was it day one that you played it or like months long I played it day negative five. Oh, that's right. That's right. The pre the pre-release thing.
Speaker: Yeah. I mean, I'm interested i I don't know which it's going to be one of them and I haven't decided which I am more interested in a in the moment to moment of oblivion, I think, because it's It's like that exploration thing that Bethesda does so well on like a single landmass.
Speaker: But i know that's it's it's old. There's jank to it The leveling system is funky. Starfield. It's unfortunate that like I know i know with Starfield, you're not going to get that same like sense of exploration that you get from their other like purely walking based Bethesda games.
Speaker: So like I'm open to both. I just, ah i mean, whichever one I do, I'm going to get all the way into it. All the way. Yeah, I mean, I'm just curious what you would think of Starfield because I remember talking about it in the pre-release environment with you. You're such a space guy.
Speaker: You were excited by some of the stuff you saw and then it all turned out to be a lie. i think particularly like the like ship stuff was wild. The ship building. I love that shit. i i was one of the I'm probably one of like five people on planet Earth that actually enjoyed the gummy ship building in Kingdom Hearts.
Speaker: That was like enjoyable for me. So the shipbuilding in Starfield is crazy. i don't think I got super into it. I think I like changed it. It was confusing. Confused. Definitely meant for PC.
Speaker: um The layout wasn't super great on a controller, but. I don't know. You also just like find really good ships.
Speaker: So yeah, I didn't really need to mess around, but I was watching videos on it. Dudes were building like crazy things because it's also like weight distribution and Oh, I like that. Yeah. It sounds fucking weird. I want it. Like, I don't, I don't know.
Speaker: I'm not in a rush to play Oblivion Remastered. And it's also not to be fixed, apparently. So, I'm not in rush. Yeah, well, you got your Bethesda it scratched more recently than I have.
Speaker: Like, true. the la the I mean, I play Fallout 76 off and on randomly, but, like, it's been a long time since I've actually played, like, a straight-up Bethesda game.
Speaker: Oh, big yawn. Yeah, sorry about that. Another one I'm excited for, even though I don't feel like I've fully earned it. um I really liked Returnal. i don't it It was pretty hard, challenging.
Speaker: I was getting frustrated. i think Saros looks great. Oh, yeah. i do I do want to beat Returnal, so I don't need to rush into Saros, but we'll see.
Speaker: They're like not connected at all, right? they like Hard to tell. They look so similar. Right. I wouldn't know and I wouldn't want to find out, I don't think. Yeah, yeah. I mean, you would you would want to beat Returnal and then then if you did, you'd probably have a better idea if there's any storyline threads between them.
Speaker: But that's basically all I got for you today, buddy. Yeah. You know, feels good to get back on the mic even though you didn't really come with much prep or notes. Can I get on your calendar this week?
Speaker: I'll be around next weekend. Do you want to do Sunday? I'm busy Saturday. Yeah, yeah. that'd be that That would work. I'm just going to be doing more tax prep. Wow. Save the...
Speaker: most fun stuff for the viewer for the end. Yeah. I have been absolutely just ripping them this whole time. And I haven't been picked up once. I haven't heard them. i I haven't smelled them.
Speaker: So, so it's all good. All good. I've been doing ground beef and sweet potatoes pretty much exclusively. Nice dude. down 90 pounds. That'll clear the butthole.
Speaker: I don't need to hear that. Um, right. Well, what are you looking forward to this week? More Wolverine? More Wolverine. more i'm I'm looking forward to beating Wolverine and then just playing through on hard mode and like hopefully just fucking getting through it.
Speaker: You're going over it at this point? No, not not not that I'm like over it, but i I'm looking forward to playing through the game again with like different eyes. where it's like okay i'm familiar with these areas i'm familiar with these enemies like i i have i am much better at the game now like when a group of guys pops up i i can take them out way more efficiently so there although i have encountered now a couple combat scenarios where i'm like oh that's gonna be fucking hard on hard so it'll be interesting to see i'll be able to do it but
Speaker: I might be i might be throwing some curse words out there. Hell yeah, dude. Well, how about you? What do you look forward to? I really want to I want to be inscription and then i i I think once I get to that Casey's mod section, I might start capturing footage for that review.
Speaker: Oh, nice. I've heard me video review. Ellie, I've heard ah Casey's mod has got it going on, so it should be good. Yeah, Casey's dead. So maybe respect Casey.
Speaker: ah
Speaker: No, that game is so cool, and I hope that I can finally figure out how to do good videos soon. But they really just seem like so much work. Like what I do on YouTube is like it hits the sweet spot. It only takes me a couple hours, and I feel good to get something out there.
Speaker: But anyway, yeah editing I got to start the social media campaigns for all these things we're doing.
Speaker: Maybe we should hire someone for that. I think you could hire me. Damn, dude, my concord my High Guard Concord video got six views.
Speaker: it's It's doing better than both of those games combined. yeah ah Dude, i wow. My Xbox as a reference experience is getting solid numbers.
Speaker: Wow. Live review of the YouTube channel. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, dude, I just ripped one. It fucking stinks.
Speaker: Well, all right, dude. Brandon, Cape Orr's Flight. It's good to see you, Sarge. Till next time. Good seeing you, dude.
