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Exoprimal Reviews & Will we become evil billionaires? - Add to Party 07.19.2023
6 Plays1 year ago
This week we discuss the ongoing Writers and Actor's strike, EU rulings, and Exoprimal reviews.
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Transcript
Struggles with Appetite and Weight Loss
00:00:15
Speaker
Welcome to Add to Party, the Friendship Simulator masquerading as a new show. I'm your host, James Hartwell, and I'm joined by Charles Umont, and I'm joined by Andy K.
00:00:27
Speaker
What's, what's up, Andy? So tired. Let me tell you something. I was actually very tired. Um, like right before it, like exhausted. Oh. And then, and then I was like, I can't cook dinner. So I got haul guys for dinner, which was good. And I'm sitting there and I'm eating it and I go, Oh, I'm feeling much better. I was great. Oh yeah. I didn't eat anything at all today. That's why I'm exhausted. Oh.
00:00:52
Speaker
Why would you wait you were just that busy you forgot to eat? I think I had a bagel. Like that was the only thing I ate yesterday. And then I just crashed. I ate protein my body went oh now you're good. How do you just not think about your next meal all the time?
00:01:12
Speaker
Uh, the, the, the, the medication you've been taking. Oh, that's right. Cause you're stealing from the diabetics. That's right, baby. People fall into comas because of you. I hope at least 10, one for each pound. That's the whole, it'd be more than that. Well, you started an epidemic, you monster. That's true. Listen, I, I, you can't shame me.
00:01:42
Speaker
No, listen, I got it through. I was prescribed. Exactly. By a not scammy doctor. No, no, no. She's actually a very reputable doctor. Affiliated with a hospital.
Unexpected Effects of Boozy Apple Cider
00:01:53
Speaker
Oh, OK. But you're not like those Hollywood elite. OK. I want to fit good into my swimsuit this year. I know. No, I did. I did it so I didn't die when I go to with Japan. Yeah, I did.
00:02:11
Speaker
Let me tell you, I came in right under the wire. If I lost maybe 10 less pounds, I think I would have died on that trip. Oh, no. Well, you survived and you did really important work for the podcast and for my puzzle hobby. Thank you. That's true.
00:02:28
Speaker
So let's say I need your guys' opinion on this. Oh, I'm here. I'm here for Charles. So late last night after our, the D and D sessions and everything else. Sure. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Normally I would find other things to do since I have all this time in my hands.
00:02:47
Speaker
All this time. And I decided to take a break from my normal routines of games and other stimuli. I was just like, I'm going to read this book that my best friend Kathleen gave me. Oh, and I was like, it's a book called The Cloisters. It's a good book so far. It does take a little bit to get it going. But here's the thing.
00:03:13
Speaker
The day before in the farmer's market, I decided to get some boozy apple cider. Oh, this is something to do. I'll I'll wind down with a with a glass and a book. Charles, did you take a picture of this book with the glass next to it? And no, no. No. So the problem was when I opened this bottle. So the bottle is weird.
00:03:41
Speaker
It is bigger than a normal beer bottle, but smaller than a growler. Sure. Yeah, I've seen. I know what you're talking about. Yeah. Yeah. And the top of it is not a twist top. It's a hinge, right? A hinge. Yeah. So it was like you flip. No, no, no, no, no, it wasn't. It was like a normal like beer top. OK.
00:04:07
Speaker
And I said, and I opened it and I realized I have to drink all of this tonight. Yeah. Do you? It's not carbonated. Is it? It was carbonated. Oh, okay. Yeah. Well, sounds like a challenge. Yeah. So, and I was like, well, you know what?
00:04:31
Speaker
I can do this. I will, I will tank all this cider and read this book and I've already eaten dinner. It's not like it'll affect me that bad. Oh, Charles. Yeah, it's not like that James. I sometimes get like ciders like that. Yeah. So, um,
00:04:52
Speaker
So what, what proceeded was I could only be described as a manic episode while I'm reading this book. And like, I started, like, I started, uh, sweating and feeling like I needed to move around. And like, I'm like, still, and in my head, mentally, I'm like,
00:05:13
Speaker
finish the next chapter of the story. And I'm reading some of these chapters and all this stuff is going on and I'm like, okay, that is interesting, but I really need to address this problem now. Are you saying all this out loud, Charles?
00:05:32
Speaker
I wasn't, but the problem was this was building to something, where I was just like, okay, you need to get this contained, Charles. But it was really late at night. I was like, I need to bring somebody else into this problem to contain all this energy. Make it someone else's issue. I could only pick a friend of mine who I know is up late at night.
00:06:02
Speaker
and who I talk gunplay with. And when I checked, she was awake, she was ready to call and all this stuff. And then she was just like, hey, something going on? And I go, no. I just tried the cider and now I'm all jittery and doing all this other stuff. And I'm already slurring my words. It was like,
00:06:29
Speaker
A bit. But they were very patient. And we were talking about some plans we were planning to do. I was also trying to build a deck for Final Fantasy TCG at the same time. Oh my god. And then doing all over the place. No, I was. I was incredibly all over the place. And that's not something that normally happens. And were you drunk, though? I mean.
00:06:56
Speaker
This doesn't sound like you drunk or the drunk that I know of you. I know. This is a new site or wait, this was farmer's market. Yeah, like moonshine cider. Yeah, I'm like, listen, if there was something in that, maybe I'm not surprised. Was it was it really sweet? It wasn't really sweet. It wasn't like wine sweet or anything like that. Um, does Coke do that?
00:07:23
Speaker
You put coke in things? What makes that happen? I don't think I don't I don't think anyone's giving cocaine away for free. No, nobody does that.
00:07:37
Speaker
But yeah, so I had like I have this Japanese floor mattress that I sometimes roll out too. So in case I don't want to play a video game like horizontally or perpendicular from the TV, I could go the other way over the floor mattress. Of course. And I decided to lie down while still talking to my friend.
00:08:05
Speaker
And then I'm talking and I'm yawning. She's like, are you going to bed? Are you going to sleep? And I was like, no, no, no, no, no. And then after another half hour, I was like, all right, I think I'm going to go to bed. I have enough time to say bye and press the end call button. And then I fall asleep immediately. And I wake up in the middle of the night and I'm like, and I don't remember what happened. And I'm like,
00:08:32
Speaker
Did I fall asleep on the call? Or was I being polite? And then I remember I was like, wait, no, you did have some energy to say you're going to bed now. I was like, thank God. Of all the things, I just didn't want to be rude. But that whole thing also ruined my sleep for the rest of the day. And I've been off this entire day. It's not like off of work, but I've just been feeling off.
00:09:03
Speaker
Did you have a bad hangover? Nope. It was Coke. What else could be in it? Charles, you need to do some investigative journalism using your game journalism skills. Go back to that farmer's market. I was going to say, what's the name of it? Let's put them on blast. Huh? I'll be honest. I love going to farmer's markets, and I just like trying new stuff and whichever. I don't remember their names.
00:09:31
Speaker
What did the bottle say? Yeah. Oh, that bottle is gone, guys. I did some cleaning last night, too. All right. I'll just say you don't drink all that often. What's the last time you like drank a week before? Oh, really? Not that much, though, Charles. Yeah. Well, I did some more after you left. Oh, OK. Oh, you went home. That's right. Yeah. Even then, like,
00:10:01
Speaker
Like you don't expect to really get affected even with that cider. I mean, it was higher than normal. It was like seven point eight or whatever. That's not much. Well, Andy, I said higher than that. But to enter a manic state, it's drugs. There's drugs in the cider. Well, and don't forget, I did eat dinner. I had there's no reason like you to me to get so
00:10:31
Speaker
Manic. This isn't booze. I don't know what you had. I want to try it, but I don't know what it is. Well, maybe when you're here, we'll stop by the farmer's market and we'll find the magical stuff. We need to go back and get this name. We need to know what's in it. Maybe you can share your story with them.
00:10:51
Speaker
And then they can connect you with other resources that they put into that. They're like, Oh yeah, that's the, that's the sativa. We have to give you the indica next time. Oh, that's right. Weed does different things.
00:11:03
Speaker
I mean, not. It's the artist one where you want to make art. Someone told me. Sativa sativa is the head high. Indica is the body high. But even that's not correct, because it's really about the terpenes and how it affects in the can of words and how they affect you. It's which one do I create my snack vision for? That's Indica. Oh, OK. OK. So you had the sativa beer. Hmm. I didn't know that's a thing. Hmm.
00:11:34
Speaker
Have you not had a THC drink yet, Andy? I didn't even know that's a thing. Oh, they make THC seltzers, though. Seltzer weird. I guess maybe that's why it was in the apple cider. Not that they're the same thing, but. Well, Charles, this sounds like it wasn't a purely negative experience, but one that does raise some questions and addictions that you're forming. Yeah, well, shouldn't have more.
00:12:03
Speaker
Yeah, well, again, the I think my my biggest worry of myself is getting addicted to certain things, right? Because. Who's going to stop me? No one would ever know I'm. That's it. But also, yeah, I have like
00:12:30
Speaker
I have like this weird internal vision of myself when things start spiraling out of control where it's just like, all right, what's the last thing you can do to minimize the damage you're doing right now? Was it this one, Charles? Yeah. No. Hold on, we're gonna figure this out. Listeners at home, James is investigating because he wants to try this cider.
00:12:57
Speaker
Well, that's got the hinge lid, so it's probably not that one. Well, you got me curious, too. No, not that one. But I just don't have any ambition. Oh, how about this one? Did it have a champagne cork? Nope. I don't remember. I said it was just like a bottle of pasta. Oh, OK. Oh, oh, oh, here we go. Oh, oh, James Ari. OK. What? Cider the hard way.
00:13:26
Speaker
Oh, because it's hard cider. Seven point eight. Yeah, this sounds about right. Oh. Was this it? I think you're onto it. It's just not that flavor. Oh, my goodness. That's a we got barrel aged Seattle scumpy. No. Are there drugs? Where are the drugs? Nope. Was it hops? No.
00:13:52
Speaker
Jersey, but I think this is the right place. It's just not listening. The one I had. Yeah. Well, that's because you had that bathtub booze. Yeah. It was it was called Blush, the flavor. Oh, did you blush on it? I mean, I'm an agent, so I automatically blush. Unfiltered cider. Yeah.
00:14:18
Speaker
unfiltered. What does that leave behind? You get the sediment. Yeah. Ew. I mean, I like it. It tasted good, I'll tell you.
00:14:30
Speaker
But yeah, and I went three chapters. I had in the book. Do you remember any of what you read, Charles? I remember my impression. Isn't that what matters? Isn't that what matters? I want to try this apple cider with roasted peppers.
Workplace Seltzer Mishap and Hollywood Strikes
00:14:47
Speaker
It sounds horrible. I tried the dry. They let us try a couple, but. Listen, there's a there'll be a Sunday. I'll make sure to grab some.
00:15:01
Speaker
Well, I don't know. We can order now, Charles. Just ship it straight to your house. There you go. No, they don't have the one I the one I drank. Oh, yeah. Yeah, that's right. I'm just saying like we can. That's that under the table stuff, you guys. You know, they don't know. Yeah, 15 percent off if you order 12 bottles. Hmm. No, no, no. Well, Charles, I'm glad you made it to the other side and that it was a journey to get there.
00:15:30
Speaker
Yeah, that sounds nice. No, it was a journey. Mm hmm. Might not be able to drink that by myself. I don't know. I don't want to go manic on beer. I'm here to take off the edge. I'm not here to get one. Okay.
00:15:46
Speaker
That's not why I drink. Otherwise you, uh, you spiral on fruit of the loom conspiracies. Okay. I was not drunk, but I did start screaming when I read that at work and people had to come rescue me. And by that, I mean, I just screamed, can you believe this? And then half the people knew. So.
00:16:06
Speaker
I was I did accidentally get drunk at work the other day, though. I know a couple of weeks ago because we had seltzers in the fridge and I was like, oh, raspberry seltzer, let's go. And then it turned out it was hard. And then I got surprisingly drunk off of it and I felt kind of bad. But then I told everyone anyway, I don't know why. I don't know why.
00:16:32
Speaker
I don't know why I got drunk and I had to run around and tell everyone. Because you, Andy, you have to share every experience you have. I think so. Well, the only reason I found out is because like I'm still trying to calorie count and I kept reading the bottle and I was like, how does a seltzer water have 150 calories? And then I thought, oh, it must be, I don't know, the natural sugars from fruit. Maybe it's a supernatural one. I don't know.
00:16:59
Speaker
But after the fifth time reading the bottle, I realized it said hard alcohol. But anyways, that was my journey.
00:17:08
Speaker
That got me weird, but, well, good deal. Listeners at home, viewers at home, now you have something to look for. Pick up that booze at your farmer's market. It's not right. Greenwood cider. If you're in the Washington area, maybe you can get some. I think they'll ship it anywhere, actually. Well, you've got me curious. As long as your state allows liquor sales. I'm pretty sure I can get booze shipped. Look at you, Utah.
00:17:38
Speaker
Actually, I don't think Massachusetts allows it. Seriously? Yeah. I think only wine. Huh? Yeah. Oh, you put me on it now. Now I feel like I'm hyping up. Oh, you took a vitamin D pill. Now I'm soaring to the moon. Oh my God. Well, no, it's one of those super pills. I'm on Super D. Super vitamin D. Yeah. The Super D. The Super D. Yeah.
00:18:08
Speaker
So all the ladies, that's what they say about it. Exactly. It's 50,000 international units. Let's go. That's some great pee you're going to have there, Andy. Wait, is this the one that changes the color of my I thought that was B? No, it's just if you take too much of a vitamin, you just pee it out. Doesn't do it. Oh, no, no, no. This was doctor's orders. Well, yeah, you should take everybody should more or less take vitamin D, but just don't like. Yeah. Yeah. But your body only absorbs so much of it.
00:18:37
Speaker
Yeah, I don't know. I'm eating it on or taking on a full stomach. So I'm getting all that international unit. Yeah, that's how it works. Yep. Well, you know who has a lot of time to drink hard ciders and also absorb vitamin D out on the picket line? Oh, that's why that's the actors and writers of Hollywood. That's true. Well, yeah.
00:19:03
Speaker
A rare, a rare swing from game nerd news that we're going to talk about Hollywood because there's not a lot going on. It's a slow week. The FTC still won. They they filed an appeal and the appeal judge said, fuck you.
00:19:23
Speaker
So, yeah, that's done. Microsoft, they'll probably close sometime between now and the end of August. But all we do is wait. But anyway, yeah.
00:19:36
Speaker
If you haven't heard, Hollywood's on strike. The writers have actually been on strike since May 2nd with the actor, that's the WGA, and SAG-AFTRA, which is the actor's union, went on strike July 14th. This is the first time since 1960 that both unions have gone on strike at the same time.
00:19:59
Speaker
Uh, now what, what do they want? Huh? More money. God. Can't these rich fucking pampered stars and writers. Oh God. They only have so many Ferraris. No.
00:20:16
Speaker
Uh, actually they don't get a lot of money. Um, uh, and partly because shit doesn't work the same way it used to. Yeah. Uh, yeah. And this is actually a big part of the thing is, you know, it used to be, and this is me pontificating about the old days. Uh,
00:20:36
Speaker
Uh, it used to be right that you write, get on a show, you get a certain amount of seasons. Um, and then if you get to like five, your show can get into syndication, which means it can just be played reruns can be played on whatever channel, whatever six seasons in a movie or whatever.
00:20:54
Speaker
That's different. That's community, but that's a meme from the community. Yeah. The show community community. Yeah. Um, but, and basically you would get residuals based on how many watches they get. And if you're in education, you would get a lot of watches, um, writers and actors themselves. Now, however, that's changed with streaming. So instead of.
00:21:19
Speaker
you know, having Nielsen ratings and very discreet, like how many people and eyeballs are watching it, streamers are like, eh, you know.
00:21:31
Speaker
Certain amount of people watched it or they know they just play them like a weird percentage of the flat licensing fee That they have and also like in general streaming services have been real shitty about a lot of things If you recall David Zaslav head of Warner Brothers max, whatever the fuck it is Can the Batgirl movie to take it as a tax write-off instead of releasing it thereby?
00:21:58
Speaker
screwing out the writers and actors of that movie from ever getting residuals from it. Yeah. Because that movie is just never going to get released. Disney did that a couple times too. I know at least like they're doing some recent cuts and what's like that willow show or whatever? Yeah, the willow show, they're already taking it off the platform. Yeah, and it like just had released. Yeah, about a year ago at this point.
00:22:26
Speaker
yeah so now it's like it's it's really changed like the kind of the landscape of how writers are being paid there's also a lot in there about
00:22:38
Speaker
you know, writing rooms and updating things about that, just trying to make sure the craft is kept. And I think they're all very valid. By the way, anti capitalists that we are, we all stand with labor on this podcast. Fuck them. I think there's a there's a number going around that if all the heads of the studios took a two percent cut to their salaries, they could beat the the demands of the writers and actors. Are you serious?
00:23:07
Speaker
Yes, just two percent of the salaries. You're kidding. Yeah, it's yep, yep, yep, yep. Um.
00:23:16
Speaker
Yeah. And I mean, the other thing too is what you're seeing is a lot of these companies are having, you know, record breaking profits, record breaking revenues year after year after year while the writers and actors are seeing reduced residuals coming over time because of how streaming is changing things. So a big part of this is basically trying to change that residuals to get streaming to have a more decent reporting structure, which I always find so funny.
00:23:41
Speaker
that streamers like, well, we can't just tell you how many people watch. And I'm like, that's absolute bullshit. Yeah. Like, like, I don't. What are you trying to say that you don't know how many people access the file on your fucking servers? Let's let's calm down. But.
00:24:00
Speaker
Yeah, they've always been very squirrely about that. And there's a lot of reasons for that, not just to screw over the writers and actors. It's also because they want to hide losses from their investors. So if you're like, oh, the show actually really only had this many people watching it. They could be like, oh, the engagement was so high on this. They can say however they want it and pad it. So the investors are like, oh, they make good stuff.
00:24:25
Speaker
even though they're not telling exactly how many people watched it or something like that. Especially when Netflix used to, because I don't think it's a meme anymore, but when they would greenlight everything, they had so many shows. They did. And yeah, you don't want to tell. I'm sure a lot of those were flops. And then at the other side of this, too, which is another fun and also why I kind of want to bring this to is the discussion around AI.
00:24:54
Speaker
Obviously, we're still a distance away. Writers are concerned that, you know, people will be using AI to write scripts.
00:25:04
Speaker
We're a distance away from that. I think there's an argument too about how we train AI models using content from writers or artists, right? And what does that mean? Like, do you get residuals based on the products of a model built off your work? Right. That's an interesting conversation. Other one being too, is that on the actor side,
00:25:30
Speaker
They're basically, the studios are being like, hey, if you're a background actor in our production, we're going to be $200 for AI usage of your likeness, your likeness in perpetuity.
00:25:45
Speaker
Which is basically to say we're gonna do a full-body scan on you and then if ever we just use you That's our business. We paid you $200 for good. Yeah It also means to if you're like, you know a lot of actors made their break in and like the the background in the embeds background actors Obviously, it's the first job most actors have in Hollywood everybody then if you suddenly you yeah
00:26:10
Speaker
That's true. And then eventually, right, if you do break out, hey, the studio has your likeness because you signed a $200 agreement when you starving as a starting actor. So there's that, too, which is not ideal. Oh, yeah. It's it's real interesting. I don't know like the studios.
00:26:33
Speaker
We're hitting a very interesting time in kind of labor relations. Obviously, right. Things are getting more expensive. People are being squeezed. Well, at the same time, all the companies are going, look how much money we're making. Oh, my God, it's so much money. Yeah. We're also on the.
Ethics of Wealth and Labor Strikes
00:26:50
Speaker
about two weeks away from UPS potentially going on strike two, which that'll be. Oh, UPS is going to. Okay. Yes. The drivers of UPS may go on strike starting August 1st. If the demands are not met. So yeah, I mean, it's, we're, we're seeing kind of like a big labor up raising right now. And, Oh man, I'm real sad. Daredevil's not going to get fucked again by this. Oh,
00:27:20
Speaker
So, what's his name? Charles, who plays Daredevil? I can't remember his name. Charlie Cox. Charlie Cox, yes. Charlie Cox is there filming the Daredevil Disney Plus show?
00:27:35
Speaker
born again. And all Charlie Cox wants to do is play Daredevil. But guess what? We're on strike. So that's that had to stop filming. That's the real victim here. No, no, I don't know. I mean, it's I think we're going to see this strike go for a while. Certain CEOs have come out. The plan is to make to stretch it out so that they're losing apartments and everything like that. And it's like, oh, man, that's super villainy logic you're using there.
00:28:02
Speaker
Wait, you mean they're trying to have these people go homeless? Well, basically, they're like, well, we don't want to give in to their demands and we have enough money that we could just wait them out until they are starving and losing apartments to those degree to whatever. Yeah. But a unnamed CEO said that that's the plan.
00:28:23
Speaker
I mean, let's be real, if our jobs were on that other side, of course that'd be the plan. Like, yes, my goal is to not shift until you break down and have to be in my agreement. Like, I get it. It's just stupid to say out loud.
00:28:46
Speaker
You know, but these. There's no such thing as an ethical billionaire. Right. Exactly. No. Yeah. Or a smart one, really. Jesus Christ. Well, I I would say. Well, it takes some level of cunning to to get to that. Unless you're Elon Musk.
00:29:08
Speaker
Well, you know, betrayal is part of cunning. Um, that's, you know what, I'll give you that. Yeah. Um, okay. I, cause I was going to say, I feel like it's, cause you have to be comfortable exploiting, right? And so maybe that is cunning. Cause it's not like, I don't know. Yeah. But so here, but here's the thing after that.
00:29:32
Speaker
you're too far away from the ground to realize actual problems, right? It's like when Bill Gates tried to say how much, what was it at the grocery store? He didn't know how much or something was.
00:29:50
Speaker
And everybody was just like, how does someone not know how much something is at the grocery store? Are you talking about arrested development? Yeah, I mean, development made off that joke. I think it was based off a real thing that happened. Okay. What did the rest of development was about bananas? Yeah, it's a banana. Michael, how much can it cost $10? Like, you're you're so
00:30:15
Speaker
Do you think you would turn evil if you became a billionaire? I think I will find out when I win that Powerball. I got my ticket today. Number two. I wouldn't turn evil. I think I could turn evil, but I'm the evil. You're supposed to say no. Oh, Andy, don't speak. And he knows who he is like. But I don't think it would be
00:30:43
Speaker
active evil, I think it would be, um, what do you call it? Passive evil. Okay. I'd be like, I, I would be like, all right, I bought this land over here to live in with people, but I want to build a new pool there. And then the, then the builder would be like, Oh, we have a problem. It taps into the water table. And I'd be like,
00:31:06
Speaker
Is there a way we could still build it? Oh, no. And then they'd be like, well, we'll figure something out. And I'd be like, cool, you figured it out. And I'd walk away. Like, I feel like I'd be capable of that. Like, I wouldn't think about, like, all my future actions, right? All that's going to turn into then is you're going to be drilling oil, OK, and protected land. That's the next step.
00:31:34
Speaker
You're evil, Charles. Could be. Mm hmm. Look, if some if a group protested and said, hey, you did that, I'd be like, you know what, you're right. And then you walk away and go like, I got a nice house. Yeah. I apologize. Where should I donate to help? And then I would probably keep going. That's oh, no, I won't turn evil. Don't worry, guys.
00:32:00
Speaker
Uh, Andy, you a hundred percent are going to turn evil. How could I turn evil? You're also the most vehement, vehement one. He's going to see something. He's going to see some people complaining about certain rights and he'd just be like, Oh, all these people already. Let me donate to whoever is going to go against that.
00:32:21
Speaker
No, that is not true. Okay, I will not you know, I would use my money politically, but I would not go against. Listen, I only have a problem with robo rights. And that's not a problem right now. So I don't have to worry people complaining about the increasing costs of certain goods that are not non essential.
00:32:44
Speaker
Listen, listen, okay, we know I understand it's a bad take. I've done a lot of self reflection on it. Still haven't changed my mind, but I wouldn't use my money to influence anyone.
00:33:01
Speaker
About that? No. Andy, are we also forgetting that you're the person who forget other people have experiences different than your own? No, but I'm not. Oh my God. What? No. That's different. I'm on everyone else's side.
00:33:19
Speaker
Listen, I feel like I'm self-aware enough, though, to understand I can't fix other people's problems, but I don't. And therefore you go, well, I can't do anything except enjoy my millions of dollars. No billions, James. That's true. That's true. You know, that's that's that's the real tea, right? Where even if we win Powerball, we'll still only be multimillionaires. There's ethical multimillionaires.
00:33:42
Speaker
Oh, yeah. Listen, the problem is not millionaires. It's billionaires, even in socialism. It's very easy to run out of millions of dollars. Oh, yeah, it is. It is. I won't be evil. I can't believe you guys would even suggest that. Oh, OK, Andy. Yeah. All right. Yeah. You wouldn't be evil either.
00:34:05
Speaker
I do believe in you. I believe in your ability to become crass and evil. I can't. I can't even right now. I can't with you. All I'm going to do is fill the world with anime and I don't know what else. The studio makes a, you know, crew produces a new season. The cage. Oh, people complain that it is exploitative of women and he will staunchly defend it. Oh, no, I would though. Is that evil?
00:34:51
Speaker
I was faster than I thought. How about you? Okay. Maybe it is. If you are familiar, a gentle listener, Kjo is an anime. It's a sports anime, if you will. And, and, uh, it's involves women.
00:34:58
Speaker
No. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine. Cajun's fine.
00:35:07
Speaker
And they're wearing, and they wear bikinis or one piece swimsuits and they stand up. Are there, I thought there were bikinis. Uh, it's both, uh, when they're in their serious, they get to wear their own bikinis at school.
00:35:23
Speaker
Singlets and they and they stand on a floating platform and the goal of the sport is to knock the other woman off of the floating platform. However, however, and this is the important part. Now listen closely. Listen close. They can only use their hips and breasts. Correct. Yeah. Yeah. To to knock the other person off.
00:35:48
Speaker
And it's brilliant. Uh-huh. It's a brilliant anime. It's one of my favorite anime. Yeah. And I'll I'll join Andy here. And my difference is I do accept this being exploited. OK. Yes, it is. Oh, no. It's a very funny show. Very. Yeah. I never I never cared for it because I support women. But no, no.
00:36:12
Speaker
I just didn't like it in general. I adore that show. It wasn't for me, but that's okay. Okay, I'm not a bad person. Maybe. My goal to not become a bad person is just give away almost all of the money. That's how I prevent myself from becoming a bad person. Oh, okay.
00:36:38
Speaker
I keep, I keep just enough to keep a lifestyle of leisure. And then I always give away any excess over that.
00:36:49
Speaker
OK, so then I'll do that. Yeah, you will. Yeah. Oh, my God. Well, I'm making a sequel to Keijo. That's the dream. And it's going to be so many political undertones you don't even know. Listen, I'm going to solve the leftist movement. All right. There was an anime about exploiting women. There is a great meme I saw today, which is it was it was.
00:37:15
Speaker
It was Spider-Man. It was from Spider-Man, the Toby McGuire one. And it's him and what's his face?
00:37:24
Speaker
Who is, uh, James Franco? It was, so instead of people aren't changed from talking to me, Joby goes, you know, Oh, I'm a socialist. James Franco goes, but don't you know, socialism means violent uprising against the rip, the rich and radical redistribution, redistribution of wealth. He goes, Hey, Hey, Hey, I'm a socialist. You don't need to sell me on it. Listen, how else are you going to get change? All right.
00:37:51
Speaker
But I'm not going to be part of it. I'm too lazy and scared. I'm a big baby. See, I can't be evil. I can't participate in a number. Andy, this is why I'm saying, give me your money and I'll make you make sure you're not evil. Oh, okay. I'll bring you on as an advisor. Yeah. I'm glad we solved that problem. Charles and I can be the angel and devil on your shoulder.
00:38:19
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. Andy, once a week you meet us in class and then we present you with problems and you just have to make the decision. Oh, and then when you choose correctly, you'll get bonuses later in the year. Um, let's say they increase some S ranks too. Oh, okay. It was taking me a while, but I got there. There you go. I didn't. What are we referencing persona? Oh, it is persona. Which one? Oh, I guess that's true.
00:38:48
Speaker
Five didn't really have that, so did it? Oh, I guess it had the test. Yeah. And someone needs to be saucy. I'm just saying. So Andy can be saucy. Oh, OK. Let's go.
Impact of EU Regulations on Tech Industry
00:39:02
Speaker
Yeah. Don't forget, you know, later this year, the Add to Party fundraiser calendar featuring the men of Add to Party. Thank God I'm on his epic.
00:39:20
Speaker
Listen, I'm on my weight loss journey, OK? Yeah. It's going to be great. We're going to raise so much money, you guys, for the next season of Keijo. Yeah. Well, don't be a scab. Support your local actors and writers. By the way, they said you can still go to movies that are coming out. They do want people to still do that, so you don't have to boycott anything. But they might suggest that in the future, but for now,
00:39:49
Speaker
I think there's talk of perhaps maybe one day doing kind of like a mass cancellation of streaming services. Like they don't want you to do it now. But, you know, as this drags on, there may be a day once they organize, like everybody cancel your service on this. Wow. That message. I know. I have a bad feeling about that one.
00:40:14
Speaker
So, well, there you go. We'll see. But I mean, this is going to have pretty weird ramifications for a lot of like 2024 and 2025 are going to be content light. So in terms of movies and television, unfortunately, you can all go touch grass then. Yeah, I know. We'll be nice. We'll all go back and play Pokemon go. All right. See you again.
00:40:43
Speaker
speaking, speaking of government controls of out of control organizations. Got this. Yeah. Close enough. Uh, if you hadn't heard, have you been having cider? I had a law guys. I'm seeing, I'm seeing through time. Is that spicy hot sauce? Uh, oh, Andy, did you do your time journey yet? No. Okay. I'm sold.
00:41:10
Speaker
I figured, okay, you keep us updated on that. Oh, I will. I'm so pumped. Okay. If you hadn't heard, the EU recently ruled that most electronics will have to have repaceable batteries by 2027. This comes on the heels of them telling Apple, you better fucking have USB-C on your next iPhone. By the way, Apple, there's rumors that essentially Apple will be complying with that. But if you don't buy an Apple certified USB-C cable, it'll slow charge.
00:41:38
Speaker
you're kidding. The whole point of you it whatever. Yep. Anyway, but this the removable battery will not just include cell phones, but your steam decks and your switch will have to have replaceable batteries coming forward. Now granted, that doesn't mean it has to be where you have like a
00:41:59
Speaker
necessarily you can just flip off the back case and just take the battery in and out like a double A or something like that. It just means they'll stop fucking gluing batteries to the main board. And you have to, yeah. So basically like, you know, you have to be able to reasonably speaking disassemble your device without the expectation of breaking it or avoiding the warranty by doing that to replace the battery.
00:42:28
Speaker
When I had replaced the one in my phone, I, you had to like heat up the case. Yeah, exactly. And then like to melt the glue and then remove it. And like, would that even be considered compliant? Yes. Yes. Oh no, no, it would not. You can't glue it. Oh, okay. So they can't glue the back on. No. But I mean, the phone looks so nice otherwise.
00:42:54
Speaker
Well, it's nice looking phone. I mean, here's the thing. They'll figure it out. That's true. It's like I. Everyone was like, oh, well, you know, replaceable batteries. We got rid of them and so we can make the phones thinner and they can be more waterproof. And it's like, you know what? All the waterproofs a good point. I mean, yes, but there were waterproof phones before while they were replaceable batteries, I guess. Yeah.
00:43:22
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. The exact wording of the documentation that you put out is, batteries are readily removable and replaceable by the end user at any time during the lifetime of the product. So. That's good. I wouldn't mind. Yeah.
00:43:38
Speaker
This doesn't necessarily include the current switch or the Steam Deck that is out. However, if they reissue like, well, they're not, I fucking hope they're not printing out the original switch in 2027. But who knows? But the switch to more than likely will have to switch. Thank you. I hope so. We'll have to have that in the follow up to the Steam Deck as well. Valve has already said that they're working on the follow up to the Steam Deck.
00:44:04
Speaker
I mean, how do I I for the longest time only got Samsung phones because they had replaceable batteries? Oh, that actually that's gone to the wayside. Yeah. Long at this point. You guys are both iPhone boys, aren't you? No, Andy is an Android. I'm a pixel boy. Oh, yeah, you're right. That's right. I'm sorry, Andy. I forgot. I hear you. I'm still rocking my Pixel 4. Does the Pixel 4 ever replaceable better? No, I had that was the one where I had to like melt the glue. Oh, the back.
00:44:34
Speaker
But do either of you care about having the ability to replace your battery? It'd be nice. The Pixel 4 is notorious for a bad battery. But now that I've entered, you know, like my 30s now, I had my moment where I realized where I'm old, where I didn't want to upgrade my phone when it was time to upgrade. I just know how it works and I want it to keep working. And I think now then a replaceable battery would be a big deal for me.
00:45:03
Speaker
Um, because I, you know, I don't know, I want it to last and I had to replace my battery about like every, I don't know, 18 months now. So really the pixel for battery sucks. Hmm. Right. You Charles iPhone boy that you are. Oh, it's a funny enough about the iPhone.
00:45:29
Speaker
My, it's all began in high school when my first cell phone ever. Sit back everyone, open a questionable cider and sit by the front. We've got time. That's it. But back then, my first phone, cell phone was a, oh God, I don't know what they call them. It was like a Sony. Ericsson? Ericsson. Walk. Yeah, well, it's a different form of it. It was like, it had a,
00:45:57
Speaker
It had a screen. It's it's spun around to flip open. It was like a normal flip phone. Oh, the size of the sidekick. No, it was it was not a popular model because I remember when it died. Finally, I had to I looked up like I know what phone you're talking about because I think that phone was in the matrix. Oh, it wasn't. Oh, oh.
00:46:23
Speaker
No, no, that's what I'm saying. Like I know it seems like it was one of those. It was a very not popular phone. Okay. Anyway, but back then I was like, cool. It had a screen and a menu and you could do things to it. And I just need a phone that has something like that. iPhone came along and then I worked and worked and worked and then finally got like, I think it was.
00:46:49
Speaker
It was like two iPhones later versions and I got it and I was like, cool. And then I've just had the same, then I've had iPhone for all that time. I didn't have, I don't really have specific needs with my smartphones, to be honest with you. Plays mobile games, has a reasonable camera. And so with all that and all those things checked, didn't really have a need to switch or do anything else.
00:47:16
Speaker
And so I don't really have problems with my battery at all. So yeah, I understand there are other people that are crazier or have bigger needs. So it's going to be good to have a replaceable battery, but I have bare minimum needs. I don't have a real need to switch either. So I am on iPhone. Yeah.
00:47:42
Speaker
I remember I used to, I used to, and this has kind of been mitigated because charging technology has come so far at this point. I used to always have a spare battery with me. So I could switch it out. Yeah. But now like you can get 30% charge in like five minutes if you need to. It's just usually enough.
00:48:02
Speaker
All right, gentlemen, you were right. I've went and found not the exact same model. But it was a Sony Erickson Erickson Walkman phone. I didn't even know there was a Walkman brand. I mean, it's Sony. So Walkman is the Sony brand. So why not? Yeah, there you go. W 90. No, it's not W 90 10. I
00:48:31
Speaker
I'll link it to you. Oh, an eight ADI. There it is. That's what it was called. Oh, yes. Now it's also a graphing calculator. That's it. I wasn't great for that. Well, coming soon, the EU slowly but surely making companies do things they don't want to do. They wouldn't do it unless they were forced to. Yeah. That Apple thing with USBC makes me laugh so much.
00:49:00
Speaker
Well, I think the weird one with that is it's already using USB-C for everything else, but your iPhone. Well, actually, I don't know about the new iPads. I know at least in the past couple of years, the most iPads had lightning as well. That's it. No, let's say I thought that's where it started, that the iPads were USB-C. Yeah, there's USB-C versions of cables.
00:49:29
Speaker
Yeah, I know. I know. I know my partner's iPad that she got two, three years ago at this point had its lightning. This is paying the fucking ass.
00:49:41
Speaker
Um, I'll be so nice when I just have to pack one cable for us. Just one. I mean, one type. Yeah. Somebody at the airport actually asked me once, uh, while I was in the plane and he was sitting next to me and I was in the middle aisle, the worst seat. Um, the worst seat. And he just saw me charging many things while playing on my steam deck. And he's like, do you have a charger for this? He held up his phone.
00:50:10
Speaker
I don't know what it was, but it was an iPhone. And I was like, well, do you mind if I hold the phone so I could see what the port is? He was an older gentleman. And I knew and I saw my future, so I didn't want to completely spurnum. Mm hmm. And I looked at it. It was a fucking mini B. Yeah, I was like the weird 10 pin or whatever. Jesus. Yeah. And I was just like,
00:50:39
Speaker
I have USB-C and lightning. I didn't even say those things. I said, I have two other different cables and they're not, they're not this. I was like, maybe if you ask the stewardess or about the, uh, of a, for a mini B cable, maybe, but I don't know.
Critique and Hopes for Exoprimal
00:51:02
Speaker
Wow. Wow. Wow.
00:51:07
Speaker
No. Oh, man. Your eBay listing is vintage phone. I know. Oh, that's yeah. That's the exact phone I thought it was. Oh, wow. Well, we all get older, don't we? Yep. We're all getting close to death. That's true. Yeah. And maybe before we die, we'll play Exo Primal. Yeah. Yeah. Dinosaurs.
00:51:32
Speaker
Or maybe we won't because currently sitting at a 69 on open critics with only 21% of critics recommending to play. Wait, what?
00:51:42
Speaker
Yeah, Game Central gave it a six out of 10, a very peculiar online shooter that manages to be both quietly original and shamelessly derivative all at the same time. It does have dinosaurs in it, though, and that counts for a lot. Also, so reviews are slowly coming in because they did send out codes. However, the servers weren't online till Friday, so nobody could play the game. Yeah.
00:52:10
Speaker
uh euro gamers edwin evans thurwell gave it a three out of five saying it's a sight for sore eyes dinosaur uh but it's not quite enough to make exo primal essential there's real cleverness to the pve pvp ve balanced into how leviathan modifies that one core mode as the game unfolds but after
00:52:34
Speaker
15 hours it still feels like an exercise and reshuffling well one pieces. I don't think it earns that blockbuster price tag. It is $76 or $70. As a subscription game though, Exo Primal is dynamite. Yeah. So we played the beta for one minute. Because we misjudged some timing. I played the game a little bit over the weekend, and some today actually.
00:53:04
Speaker
It's it's weird. It's it's a PvE game where you're shooting dinosaurs and you're competing against another. You play as a team of five. There's no single player. You're always playing with other people. However, if there's no people available, they'll shove bots in there with you. But it's always a team of five.
00:53:23
Speaker
and you'll be doing these challenges and you're more or less competing to do them faster against the other team that's doing them kind of in a weird alternate world where they can't interact with you, but you can see they're like red ghosts at the same time. And then at the end, you enter kind of an Overwatch PVP mode where it's a five on five fight and you have support DPS and tank classes.
00:53:50
Speaker
And I don't love it. I don't love it. I really don't like being forced into that PvP PvP fight at the end. I think the dinosaur parts fun enough. I've heard it gets better as you play more of it. Obviously, I've only played a couple hours at this point. I hear after like five, it really starts to open up. I don't know if I have that much energy to put more time into this.
00:54:16
Speaker
But yeah, I don't it's not what I want. And that doesn't necessarily make it a bad game, but it makes it a weird game because it's just like you have these weird disparate pieces kind of shoved together. And I don't know if one makes the other better. Hmm. I hear that. And when we played the beta, well, we only played it for like 10 minutes or whatever, but there was a previous time.
00:54:43
Speaker
when I got to play the beta. And I did not like the PvP part either. It was, or rather, I wouldn't say it was essential. It was fine, but it was the stuff leading up to it that was more interesting. I think it's like, it's cool as like a horde mode kind of game. I don't need to fight against other people. It just reminds me that I'm bad. Like, I don't want that. And that's interesting that I thought when it would release, they would have other modes.
00:55:13
Speaker
They do, but they're just in PvP. Not all of them. OK, most of them. OK, but obviously don't get to those other modes until a significant investment in the game. Oh, really? That's disappointing. Yeah, because I was excited for this game and it having a 69 like score, it doesn't bother me either. Um, fine. Nice, nice, nice, nice, nice, nice. But if like not many people are recommending it,
00:55:44
Speaker
I don't know. I don't know. I still want to try, but maybe now not at 70. Well, I don't know. It's not. It doesn't sell at 70. It also is at 60.
00:55:53
Speaker
It is 60. Oh, even at 60. I don't know. No, I agree. That's the thing. I was like, this is free on that sale. Yeah. Oh, it's free with game pass through you. That's it. But it's also not fully cross play. So that's the other problem. Yeah. I love they say XO primal is cross play. And by that, they means if you play an Xbox PC and Xbox console, you can play together.
00:56:16
Speaker
That's the only crossbar they allow. Steam is at its own bucket, and PlayStation is at its own bucket. It's weird too because they have you sign up for a Capcom ID, so you would think that that would allow full crossplay. Maybe they'll get there at some point. But it's just weird to be like, yeah, we have crossplay.
00:56:35
Speaker
You don't. You don't have cross play. Yeah, that's what is definitely really weird, especially since it's Capcom. They figured this out with Street Fighter already. There's no yeah, it should be any different. Yeah, cross and cross play technology.
00:56:49
Speaker
But I imagine they're using the Capcom ID on Street Fighter, aren't they? Exactly. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. My thing with XO Primal is similar to Andy. Andy and I and our other friend played it the first beta together and we had a great time with it. Very fun. Loved it. That's it. And then we had that second beta where we only got to play two matches, which is a shame.
00:57:13
Speaker
And we didn't even get to play the mode that we had the most fun in, which is giant hordes of dinosaurs. Yeah, that watermelon dinosaur still sticks with me. I know. That was so fun.
00:57:30
Speaker
To be honest with you, I'm kind, I was never looking at the price of the game and that's honestly the only thing that bothers me about it. Like, um, cause like, you know, free is fine, right? But I was actually expecting this to be like a $40 game. Yeah. Yeah. And I would have been fine to paying $40 and play it, um, or less. Right. Oh, of course I'll take it for lower, but, um,
00:57:56
Speaker
It's a shame that it's $60 and then it's restrictive on how you unlock these modes and play it and do all this other stuff. That being said, I'll still play it. I'll play it late. I'll play it at some point once it goes on sale and then gets it.
00:58:16
Speaker
Yeah, you know, it's whatever. Yeah, that's a bummer. This was such a must play for me. Yeah. And now it's and like, yeah, I'm still interested, but I pictured it as something I play a couple of times with friends and just have a blast. But I don't want to do that for 60 bucks like that. I don't know. Maybe it'll end up being like, what was that game I really liked? The one where you run on walls and it's a first person shooter.
00:58:46
Speaker
What's that one? They want to make the Battle Royale. Sorry, what a V? The Battle Royale? Yeah, that was great. And I remember I picked up that on sale.
00:59:01
Speaker
And we played it multiplayer a couple of times and I was like, this is great. This is great. Twenty bucks or whatever. Got a couple of nice like weekend nights. That's kind of what I want out of exo primal, but not for 60 bucks. Yeah. Well, that you can't get there without an investment either. Right. Yeah. You guys calling that out like because I only expected like just some fun times like I have to wait five, 10 hours to get to the best modes. No, no, no, no, no, no.
00:59:30
Speaker
Now, here's the other thing, though. If you still have control on partying up with your friends through these modes leading up to the modes you actually like, I would find that more acceptable.
00:59:47
Speaker
Hmm. I know you haven't played with other friends, James, so I don't know. I mean, I've watched some people play it and it seemed like I saw them. How they're cycling through the modes is very much by the campaign, more or less. So the campaign introduces you to the modes in a certain order and you have to get through all of them. I don't know how that works with people being in certain different points in the campaign because everyone is playing from the same point together. But.
01:00:14
Speaker
Um, yeah, I don't know. That's just, it just turns me on. I was like, really wish they could be like, all right. I just want to experience the PVE ball of dinosaur things. I never got to experience that. Um, yeah, you really should have played there in the first beta. I was in Japan. The first beta wasn't in during you while you were in Japan. I don't know. I was somewhere. I were doing something. Um, that's okay.
01:00:39
Speaker
But yeah, I don't know. Yeah. Yeah. Plus this was Capcom taking a risk. It sucks.
01:00:48
Speaker
Well, Andy, it just sounds like you better buy this game at full price to make sure that they know to experiment, right? I mean, this is very much them trying to make a live service game, too. I mean, this is this is a live service game, no, full stop, which is honestly why I expected it to be at a cheaper price initially so that they sell a battle pass and do whatever else. But, you know, that's why companies should fail. If they make bad decisions, they should fail.
01:01:15
Speaker
I'm just saying. From the heights of Resident Evil 4 to the lows of Ex-Imperial. Yeah. It's not that bad. Yeah, it's really not that bad. No. Oh, no. Games is the only one that's treating this like it's like a death nail. I'm fine. I'll play this. 21% of critics recommending is not as... That's the thing that shocked me. A score of 70 doesn't bother me at all. Yeah.
01:01:41
Speaker
Well, how many how many reviews? I mean, again, reviews are still late. We're 20 critic reviews right now. So that's not like that's not a lot, but it's also a decent amount. I don't know. I still my thing is I don't necessarily care about the critics recommend. I care more about the critic average.
Game Recommendations: Viewfinder
01:01:59
Speaker
Yeah, that's fair. And there's still any hovers around 70. I was like, that's fine.
01:02:04
Speaker
If it was below 60, I'd be like, whatever. I think my disappointment comes from what I thought Exo primal is going to be and what Capcom wants. And I'm glad you brought up James exactly that of how it on the different modes unlock over time. Yeah. Kind of a buzzkill. Yeah. I mean, I might be
01:02:29
Speaker
Over again, I haven't played that much, but I based on what I've seen and what I've read. This is what it sounds like, how it goes. So it's still not a horrible game. I still plan on playing it. Same. Just, you know, oh, hey, you know what? If they I won't, I will never pay for this game. Other other other than my, you know, eighteen dollars, I paid a game pass every month. But, you know, they turn on that cross play. I'll be right there with you.
01:02:57
Speaker
Yeah, that's a bummer that. Yeah, yeah. If you do want to get we're not going to we're running a little long in the tube, so I want to end the podcast. But another game that came out this week is Viewfinder, which is a fan. Yeah. Tastic puzzle game. It is 30 dollars. It is a mind bending, prospective bending puzzle game. There's an 82 average, 92 percent of critics recommending it.
01:03:22
Speaker
I mean, maybe watch a trailer or something like that. It's a very difficult to explain in an audio format, but highly I've I am going to play it as soon as I can. I want to play real bad. Yeah. Viewfinder. It's a look it up. It's a great game. Or I think, you know, I did inscription and I have dredge on on deck. I'm thinking I'm going to have a lot of time to wait before I get to viewfinder.
01:03:47
Speaker
Just because I hear it's short. Well, yeah, sure. Short. But I can't. I don't know. I just. Short games have a different expectation for me. And in some ways. I expect a little bit more from them. That's strange. So it's what is the studio's first game? It's a Scottish studio. So I think it's a good showing for them.
01:04:17
Speaker
And maybe we'll talk about more of their games in the future on another episode of Add to Party, a friendship simulator masquerading as a new show. I'm your host, James. Just let me shoot dinosaurs, not other people heart. Well, no. And I've been joined by Charles will kill the dinosaurs. We kill anybody opposing us, your mom. And I've been joined by Andy, the ethical billionaire. I'm going to be it.
01:04:48
Speaker
Keijo is problematic, okay? It's fine. I'll find out when Amy doesn't come to the podcast next week because he won the lottery. That'll be why.
01:04:59
Speaker
That's why. Fucks off. That's what you do, Andy. Cut off everybody. Disappear. No, I'm the ethical billionaire. That's how you be ethical. Technically, one of the smarter decisions you could make is to cut off... Yeah, everyone. No, that's a lonely existence. No, no, no, no. Just you and your billions. And then you make rich friends. That's right. I want rich friends. I want my friends. Well, then you make me shit ahead of the line.
01:05:26
Speaker
Have a good night. Have a good night. Why did you make that bad?