[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it was very clear to me back then that you were sort of like trailblazers when it came to community management model. No one else was doing what you were doing at your scale at that point in time, right? And I wonder what you think at this point, how is the industry


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Respond, not necessarily responded to that, but clearly there's a lot more push on community side now. What are your overall thoughts on how community management has evolved over the last five years?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, right. And also, one thing you guys were telling me is that you have QA embedded in community now. That's wild. Never heard of that before. What's the deal with that?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, well, I mean, obviously a lot of the changes within the team, we just spoke about Dan. Oh, the door is opening. No, it was ignoring him because he's checking to make sure. He said ignore him and he's the one.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A lot of the changes within the team obviously are as a result of some movement at the top.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And the movement at the top was that you left the community team. I did. And then you became...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You became the, what's the official title? Creative Director. Director of Warframe.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So that is crazy. Yes! So I mean, I, it's funny, the only other time I've ever heard of someone going from community


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Tell us how that happened. Like what was that like? What was the first moment where that was on the table? Like how did that happen?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And is it, in terms of, you know, we're talking about like, you're like, oh shit, when I get there, I'm like, fuck, how do I do, how did everyone do this job, you know? Was it like that for you as well?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Also, like, I know many of the game designers I speak to aren't necessarily like, technical.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so, uhm, when you stepped in, like, so how, like, at a high level, how is Warframe doin'? Like, and when you stepped in, when you looked at it, you're like, okay, well here's what our game is, and here's where it needs to go. So like, where's, how's Warframe been these last few years?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's so interesting that you say that about like the whole, you know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] People say, oh, new wars, time to step off, I'm done. Cause I feel like, obviously destiny is a comparative.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's sort of about to go through something similar. Final shape. You know, the final shape is coming. And I think a lot of people are looking at that and thinking, okay, that's me, I'm done.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What would you say to Bungie or to the Destiny community in terms of approaching that moment?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So how would you think that like, again, it's not necessarily Bungie, but any game that is just trying to make sure that it sets up its next phase, like, what advice would you give to live service games that are looking to do that and keep players invested in that longer term art?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But, I mean, like, for example, Marvel Snap, I know, is another live service game that I play personally. They have a roadmap, quite high level, and it's like, it's neither here nor there, because it's not like you become super invested in that thing, like, oh, I must have that exact thing that they promised when they promised it, but it's just kind of there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But simultaneously, if it wasn't there, you're like, okay, cool. Doesn't matter. You know, like, as long as you trust the people that are making the game that you like and you trust that they're doing it well, then it's kind of not really required. I get you. I get you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's right, that's right. And so, and so that update is coming, so Whispers in the Walls is next week, and 1999 is next year.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, uh, obviously Warframe is not the only game that you guys have under your banner. And I guess I want to talk a little bit about Soulframe, but also want to talk about some stuff that happened at D recently, because you guys were publishing games for a time. For eight years. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And so, um,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] My understanding, correct me if I'm wrong on any of this, but that sort of publishing label slash effort has been collapsed.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, and obviously people associated with that will let go, layoffs. Uhm, did I get any of that detail wrong? No, that's correct. Okay, yeah, cool. So yeah, I just wanted to kind of like maybe talk through that for a moment. Obviously, layoffs is a huge thing that's affected a huge, massive portion of the industry.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So that was just the publishing division. Yes. And, cause you guys did over the years, there was uhm, Survive?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's, it's hard. Yeah, totally, totally, totally. So, I mean, you guys, um, are obviously still planning to do other things with the studio, though, and we just, we mentioned Soulframe a moment ago, and so, um, wanted to talk about that very briefly. When did the idea for Soulframe begin? What was the journey for that? Like, how'd that, how'd that go?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So at a high level though, would you say that Soulframe is Warframe with a different setting? Or is it like, is it hitting different things?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, fair enough, that makes sense. The combat does look pretty cool though, that extended trailer that we saw was really great.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Very excited for that. Um, but yeah, like honestly, really amazing to see you guys personally.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But also, uhm, really fantastic to watch the way that the studio's developed, the way that Warframe continues to grow, the way that has this incredible staying power. I mean, a whole bunch of my mates have just gone back to play Warframe recently, and just cause like, they're just loving it. And yeah, I mean like, you just see it. It's just, it has this very consistent staying power that people want to keep coming back to. Uhm, and it's very rare that a game can achieve that sort of thing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's right. Up in the attic. Um, yeah, cool. Well, I'm sure you guys will crush it. Um, you know, and it's always fantastic what you can, what you guys achieve. And, um, yeah, so really lovely to see you. Thank you so much for taking the time. It's been really great.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like a few months back. I actually really like it. It's kind of just part of my routine now.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I like the taste and it was one of these things where I saw this green scary liquid and I've been handed green scary liquids before by my vegan brother and he's like, drink this. I'm like, hell no. I learned my lesson long ago, but I took a crack with AG1 and it actually tastes pretty good and it's just a nice way to start the day because I know that I'm giving myself like


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Good proper, I don't know, green nutrition when I don't eat enough.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Totally. I promise I'm this healthy all the time, they'll think. And then they will see how you really live. And they'll know that's not true.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It was, it was a fun chat. It was nice. It was, yeah, I hadn't caught up with those guys in literally years and, uh, it was really fantastic to see them and, um, yeah, they're, yeah, just what they do and the way they do it and how that game has continued to go from strength to strength with this kind of like resolute


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Just this kind of steadfastness, I should say, that I think is really hard to achieve in the live service space. You know, it just keeps doing its thing and it caters to its community.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And uhm, yeaah, but they're not like- At least stick around. Yeaah, they do, definitely, definitely. And I think as well, like, there's momentum building up behind it, like I was saying to them recently, just a whole bunch of my mates just went back and started playing Warframe, or they just dip back into it regularly from time to time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So I mean, it just has this, yeaah, staying power that I think is really hard to nail, so yeaah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, absolutely. And one thing we talked about briefly was like, um, you know, Destiny's about to go through this massive challenge of like, you know, the final shape and a lot of people are planning on stepping off and they face that, you know, remember when you were telling me like they face that same challenge themselves when they shipped a big content update years ago, the new war, and they needed to figure out ways to keep people coming back.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And they did it, you know, like they've, they've, they've like, yeah, new ideas.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That was the biggest surprise for me, because there was obviously this Xbox league.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And the Xbox leak says they're working on Dishonored 3, right? It was like really clearly, oh, and it's like, well obviously Arcade Leon are working on Dishonored 3, therefore it is. And when they showed that, I was totally blown away. I had no idea. Were there any leaks publicly before this? It's been whispers about.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, that's interesting. Yeah. Yeah, I uhm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know, yeaah. Because Blade is usually what? Is he set in New York usually? Like where's he usually operating?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, all that stuff that you said is so interesting because obviously we're so saturated with superhero stuff.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I can't do it. I can't even pretend. But I think all the stuff that you listed, that makes me super interested in that. Cause if you were to say to me, Blaine, I'm like, yeah, cool. But all that shit, like different place, cult, like melting pot of cultures, that thing. I'm like, yeah, I'm really like, I want to see what that is.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Baby steps or something? Uh, no, you're right. I agree. And it did look cool.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was actually very surprised to see Monster Hunter revealed.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think that was the big surprise because everyone has been betting on like Q124 for Monster Hunter. Like that was the word for ages and we're like, okay cool, let's go.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But now it's 2025, that's a long way off and, and world was a while ago now, you know, so clearly they've been putting a lot into it. I like the look of it. It does look like you can carry two weapons, which is massive for that franchise and could just lead to some crazy ass shit. So I'm very keen for that, but I'm low key bummed that it's 2025. Nice to have been sooner.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I've never played the first one, so I couldn't say. Everyone says it's fantastic.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, but this just seemed like it was playing all the hits from the movie, and I was like, well if all you can really show is, hey, remember the thing from the movie? Remember that thing from the movie?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Sure, sure, sure, sure, sure, sure. Cause they did Streets of Rage recently. They were really good games. I loved it. So, I don't know. Look, I'm keen for them to go in that direction. It's cool that Sega's doing this stuff. I think it makes a lot of sense. Because we do have


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Very deep connections to that era. Like, we all played that shit back then. They were on top at that point, you know? They were just, they were ascendant. And so for them to reach back into that is, is really cool.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's, there's one that released a little while, like last year on Steam. Yeaah, the floating car one. Yeaah, that was that one. Uhm, and that's why, that's why I wonder though, I'm like, cause if you release that game today, I don't think it works. It doesn't, it doesn't play very well. And so it's like, what else do you do with that? And then that's where I start to worry, I'm like, what else do you do with that? Like, what else is Sega gonna do with that, you know?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That looks really cool. It was like very, very early.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Cool, sure. Yeah, right. What do you guys think of the Kojima thing? Where you talked about it being long. It didn't say much.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I mean, I really like, cause everyone's like, oh, it's just motion cap, like face cam, whatever, and oh, it is. But I actually just found it very powerful to watch, you know what I mean? I think that's what Kojima understood when he saw that, he's like, well just play this and it's gonna capture people's attention. I was like, I don't like this. Yeah, yeah, yeah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, you're right actually, it's so true.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The, uhm, I saw on Reddit about Baldur's Gate.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it turns out, cause Baldur's Gate now, by the way, it's out on Xbox. Okay. Yeah. Yeah. So I read on Reddit that they were meant to announce on stage when they got an award that it was out and they forgot. And so now people two minutes after the show were like, Hey,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's there in the shop. I could play it now, sick, you know? It leaked. No, they just didn't want to say. But that's kind of what everyone was expecting, but everyone was hoping for a shadow drop on Game Pass, and I'm like, nah man, they're gonna sell me. They're gonna sell me.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh, that was a surprise, I think. Like illogically, it makes sense. Cause you're like, okay, it's the right time. You've always done some DLC in the past. You'd do a little bit more.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It does look pretty fucking cool. I'm not like a massive persona person, but at the same time I look at that and I'm like, I look sick.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Genshin Impact style games being advertised at once. And I don't know which ones they are, which ones are being published where and what. And it's just like, okay, I know they exist for other people, but like enjoy. But you're right. I think there was just, this came back to our earlier conversation where when you're just being relentlessly pummeled with trailers, you can pay attention at the start. Excuse me. But by the end, you just kind of like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You just sort of, I don't know, I just became numb to it all by the end.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] For sure, for sure. Any other major announcements that we missed, you think? Anything else?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, I'm not burnt out on it, I still really enjoy them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh absolutely, it's definitely gonna happen. Anything that becomes popular eventually has to come to Fortnite. That's the rules. That's the rules of popularity.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The Unreal, so those three games, there's the LEGO game, there's the Fortnite festival, and there's the Rocket Racing, they're Unreal Engine, like Unreal Editor in Fortnite. So they're basically making these games with Unreal Engine in Fortnite, but they're separate standalone games. So you still access them through the Fortnite client,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now it's like, I don't actually like the interface at all, I think it's not shit, but like basically it's a whole bunch of games that people have made in, uhm, in Unreal Engine and Fortnite, and this is, these are three of those games, but obviously they're made by proper studios as opposed to just fans.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yes. But I think they'll push through that pretty quickly though.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, when you get to the critical mass on that, like with Roblox, like Roblox is so disgustingly successful. I mean, yeah, and I can absolutely see Fortnite recreating that model and it makes a lot of sense for sure.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Minecraft, yeaah. Well, what a year. What a year.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, yeah. Well, uhm, that was a good one.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, definitely from my, I mean, cause I spoke with a lot of developers this week, a lot of, um, media people. To be honest, most of them are like, yo, next year's gonna be worse. That's what, that's the clear message that came from everyone that I spoke to. Because they're like, we're seeing the unsustainability of these, of the overall AAA model.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Which has been called out for years, but now you're looking at an interest rate like cat, the price of cash has gone up significantly, which we don't really talk about in our world, but like it is a huge factor, unfortunately, when you need the line to always go up.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When the line starts to go flat, then business people start making these decisions. That's just how it is. Unfortunately, it fucking blows, but that is how it is. And so with the cash, like price of cash being what it is, you're going to see more of that, I think.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think as well on the media side, there's going to be a lot of transformation in that era. Like as AI comes in and it just takes a wrecking ball to massive sections of the media industry because you won't need to click on articles pretty soon. It's all just going to be rolled up. It's all going to be rolled up to you and just fed straight to you. And so all those websites that rely on ads and whatever, they will die. I'm going to be AI generated.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But yea, look, unfortunately, I don't see, I think there's some cool games coming, obviously, but I think in terms of the industry, I don't sense a lot of optimism from what I hope, from people I spoke to. These people really know what they're talking about, by the way. And so I definitely think we're like in for definitely another rough, another rough year.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They know who Ari is. I know. Fuckin' prick. And then- Wow.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The dog said they take a big, big shit and it's too big for me. It's like a bear shit.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I thought Australia was the last time we saw you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Community, community director in LiveOps, so took Rebs job.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, so I was, at that time, I think senior community manager, and then Reb was community director in LiveOps, and when it was all kind of happening and Reb gave me the choice, you know? She often, often, often to the email marketing. She's like, you don't have to, but you know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You would be my choice. And I was like, I flattered. Uhm, and then I took some time to think about it, but I was like, it's, it was a no-brainer for me to do it, cause I love this game, I love this company, I love our team.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I didn't want to go crazy so I just, I wanted to just kind of maintain the status quo. I wanted to get myself comfortable with the role because there are a lot of things that I knew Reb did.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, you know, responsibility wise, but never saw it, cause it just wasn't my role to see the things that...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, learn to delegate a bit better because, you know, like I said, we have an incredible team and I trust them 100%. So it was.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It was a lot of, you know, looking at, nope, cause I wanted to take on all the responsibility. I'm like, yes, this is my role now. I'll do, I'll do anything. I'll do everything.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I was like, no, I need to actually like, delegate to my team.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Give them time to shine and, and let them get into it. Cause there was also roles within the community team itself.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, we then, Danny became Senior Community Manager. So there were shifts that, you know, kind of incrementally happened to, to support the bigger shift that happened, so.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It was a lot of movement, all in one year, and it was, as we know, kind of, the conversations were happening in the early year, and we kept it quiet until TennoKar, we kept it a secret.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, adopt maybe stuff that we've done, like I've had people reach out to me and ask for like tips or just wanna like pick our brain on


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Our live streams or our community work, our creator program and stuff like that. I think it's great.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We're safe in here. We're safe in here. So yeaah, seeing other, uh, game companies, you know, try to be very community forward, I think is a great thing. I don't think you can go wrong with that because


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Even if your game isn't a live service game, if it's, you know, a pay game or whatever it is, having


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A positive supportive community will never do you wrong.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like if you put the effort into appreciating your community, listening to your community, you know, being very transparent with them to a certain degree.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But no, I think it's a great thing and I hope that people appreciate


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Their community and, and the support that they can get from that and I think we can only


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] grow positively if we share information with each other. There's literally no point in


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hoarding our knowledge of, you know, what makes, or how we got our community to the place they are over 10 years, so I'm an open book really.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, the, because we're such a live service game, and I think we've changed over the years of...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Of course, of course. This is a different time. But when you're such a fast-paced game, development-wise, update-wise, hotfix-wise,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And as a community team, when we're looking at the live build and you know, things that are broken or things that need fixed.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's such a blessing to have someone that's in the community team that's community minded.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's a huge community issue and it might not look like that to the programmer that's gonna fix it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But we know that we can escalate that appropriately and get that fixed.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So having that community, we call them the chimeras because they're, they got all that, there's like four of them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, there's five now. So, we call them the chimeras.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And, and they've also grown themselves to also do some design decisions as well. Again, community minded, but also QA minded. And it's, it's, it's a really fun hybrid and they are a true blessing to the community team. And I don't think our, you know, stuff that we've done over the years would have been as polished as they could be without them really


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Development goes, like, no one's perfect and if we put out a roadmap of the entire year and something falters, we're screwed.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I remember for like, when we were doing DevStreams, a lot, much more than every other week. And we kind of got caught in a, we would,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We kind of looked at that and was like, okay, we can't do that anymore. Like, what we show them needs to ship within the next few months ahead. And, and, cause then we, we really had a backlog.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If it works, it works, and I think it's really hard as a live service game. Like, that is almost near impossible. You wanna get them excited, you wanna be like, this is your year, this is what you're gonna get in a year.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, so we were there to reveal the release date for our next update, Whispers in the Walls. Which is next week. Which is next week on December 13th. Wait.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Cut that! No, no, no. That's staying in. I'm fine, that's fine. Uhm, anyway, so it was exciting to announce them, and like, they came to, we had a little press event, and we got to hang out with them, and they were there, and they talked to press, so they're just some of the nicest people I've ever met.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It'll be very small, but uhm, yeaah, we want to grow it just as we did Warframe and get the hands on in there early and just get, you know, very


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Very blunt feedback, like be honest, tell us how it makes you feel, how it works, the combat system.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They'll be able to play that and then, yeaah, hopefully Tentacon next year will have a lot more to share.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I, it like, something clicked in my brain when I heard


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think it was Steve, uh, at TennoCon this year when we were talking to press about Soulframe.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And he described it as like Disney Princess, and I was like, meh.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, like Princess Mononoke, like those kind of eyes, I was like wow, like something just clicked in my brain and I was like that's how I've been trying to describe it. Yeah. Uh, have that, have that fantasy, you know, it's not Disney Princess game, don't get me wrong, sorry Disney. But yeah, that- Walter. Just kind of that vibe, like it's, it's meant to be, not that Warframe's dark, but like it's a very-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And not to say Soulframe doesn't have some, you know, dark vibes to it, but it's very much the opposite.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Sphere, I think, to not hand it off without, uh, try before you buy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like, you guys might not remember, we changed where that resource came from three years ago, and we're like, of course we did, so yeaah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, in truth, uh, so okay, I'm trying to like set the table in a way that speaks to the facts but also my like interpretation of the facts because I'm, I really did freak out and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I didn't know if I wanted to do it, so we knew that as Warframe was entering its 9th, 10th year, well 9th year I guess, last year, we wanted to start a second game. Like we thought if, if we needed to grow, we should make a second game. Why not, right? And...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I might, I don't think I'll get in trouble for this, but, uh, cause I don't know if you've said it publicly, but it was offered to someone else first that turned it down. Oh, okay. Yeah, so uhm, but that's someone, yeah, so I don't know if we've ever said that, but that's fine, and that's someone else's story to tell, so I won't tell it, but then they're like, okay,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, if, and then they kind of jokingly said, well, what if there was an amazing woman that knew everything about Warframe and has kept us going and I honestly didn't realize they were talking, like, I thought they were just kind of pulling my leg.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then I thought about it and I went, I called up my therapist and I was like, I don't know if I can do this. This, this is too much pressure. And, and you know, at the end of the day I did it. And so that was January, that was late January, 2022. And here I am almost two years later exactly still doing it. So January of next year, it will have been two years.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh my god. Yes, uh, I've tried to remain a jack of all trades the best I could when I started in the community at DE. I really wanted to make sure I understood the craft, the craftspeople, the process, and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Lucky when, for me when we first started, we were making it up as we went along. So everyone was learning the same stuff at the same time.


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[Assistant] Yes, we had experts in their field, you know, art, programming, tech, sound, everyone brought their skill to the table. And then I could kind of just see how Steve would kind of wave his baton to get everyone, you know, on a 4-4 tempo or something. And I said, okay. So I would, I would see how he operated.


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[Assistant] And sometimes you just gotta do what you saw be done successfully but with your own way. And I just, the first time I acknowledged, you know, the leads that were coming to me for Creative Direction and what the plans were and how we're gonna hit this update and what its goal is thematically who this character is.


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[Assistant] Rhythm by rhythm, step by step, trying to sort of scrub away the things I felt were, like, maybe not.


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[Assistant] Working for us, uh, I'm not as technically brilliant as Steve by any means, so you know, I'm not gonna spend my Sunday


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Making a prototype for Railjack, but I will spend my Sunday saying like, okay, this is exactly how this...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Other plan could work and, you know, look at, yeah, I just, I have a very, I'm not as technical as him. Sure. And while that is, you know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What you'd expect from a game developer, I just have a very different way of...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Working with Warframe, because I know it so well. So, yeaah, now-


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[Assistant] Yeah, but you get so insecure about that, I think, especially as a woman. I'm like, okay. And I have tried to learn, like, we have our own proprietary engine, right? Like, the evolution engine is our tech, so I can just go in and just...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, F around in there and it feels great to learn the tools. Just kinda, I don't really do a lot in there other than...


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[Assistant] Look at the tools that people are using so I know if I have a realistic ask or if I can get someone on the tools team to kind of explain to me. Yeaah, like, there's this one bug that was driving me crazy in Warframe forever and uhm,


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[Assistant] Yeah, and I was like, how do we fix this specific thing? And then, you know, we got this, it's gonna be fixed probably in the next year, it's like about collision on a certain corner, it just drives me crazy. Right, okay. And I'm like, I can't fix this, but every time in our movement-based game, if I clip a


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That is a great question because it's been all over the place because December 2021, I'll paint the picture, the new war releases. This is our cinematic quest that many people felt was the, you know, the end game of Warframe in, in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. People, we've been promoting, developing, and working towards this story beat for seven years.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] On very shaky legs, getting the next story bit going. So we did an update, uh, in April of 2022. So four months after the new war ended, trying to keep everything going.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It did okay, like, uh, I'm very proud of it still, I think it's some of the best gameplay content, but, you know, I, I really was, I put too much in it, and it was a little bit shaky on launch, totally my fault, uh, and then from there, things started getting a little, um,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We were kind of getting in our groove. We have a backlog of checks, I should say, that we had to cash. Uh, the prior team had teased the Duvery Paradox in 2019.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So we wanted to ship something, like what was our version of the Devere paradox? So we took everything that we had, uhm, and we kind of made it our own, an open world roguelite mode, cause I love roguelites.


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[Assistant] I think my, when you were like, Hades 2, something, no, Hades, yeah, so I, we did that. It got delayed a bit because we, again, bit off more than we could chew. Uh, but it came out this year and that was great for us.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, and then, yeaah, we just did a huge... So now it's kind of a very peculiar...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] How is Warframe doing? Long answer, which is it's actually doing great right now.


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[Assistant] Uhm, it's, uh, I think we've really gotten into something we're comfortable with.


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[Assistant] Uh, our, you know, our TennoCon this year was all like, from scratch as we say, where we have no checks to cash from the past team, so everything we showed from...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The weird Eldritch and Trotty Labs to the 1999, what the hell, that's all like...


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[Assistant] I've actually become allergic to roadmaps, so I know, I think we were in a roadmap, uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Halcyon days, many years ago before every game was doing the live service thing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like where roadmaps were. We had a whiteboard. We had a whiteboard. And I am very anti-roadmap. I think it's bad for communities because I'm a certified roadmap hater. A none of us are making roads. Do something cool or call it a take board.


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[Assistant] No, I-I-I really don't like roadmaps. I don't-


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[Assistant] I just don't like them and it's difficult to articulate why. I think it, it's too, like a live service game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I love life service games, but I also just love games. And I think when you try and prescribe


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I get wanting, and I used to love roadmaps, I've asked for assets of roadmaps, and I just started to really not like them because...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It becomes transactional, it's like creative transaction, where you're giving people something to look forward to, cool. But like even last night, like, so,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You see Final Fantasy 16, they're doing, you know, their DLC things. Like that's not a road map, that's a DLC announcement. But a live service game would have done that exact thing as a road map.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I like roadmapping like one thing at a time that you can already show how to play it. Like and I think that's a little, cause I think roadmaps are live service devs competing with other live service devs to say like, no we are working on things, like look what's coming and it's like, it's just,


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[Assistant] I just, I feel bad for devs when they do it. I felt bad when we did it. I get if people love them, I'm not trying to convert anyone. I just...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think the, that generally, um, yeaah, I don't really know. No, I get you, it makes sense.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, exactly, and I think actually you were talking about transparency earlier, and I think it's important to be transparent.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But a road map isn't transparency to me. No, it's clinical and it's...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Cool, I dunno, I feel real bad now, I need to like, do a redemption arc on- It's not trans- They're not transparency. If it works-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Give some flavor and say, of course we're working on the next thing, or we're working on what you're playing, but let's go there together.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I just find them, yea, I'm not gonna talk, I'm done. There is a hiatus of roadmaps.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, sometimes you just thank the universe for doing its thing. And I just ride. I'm along for the ride. I will be lucky over good any day. And if things happen for...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When we're doing the launch livestream, I'll show it. I have like talking animals as like a key thing I wanted to do this year. And I, we, yeah, so, and then when...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] TennoCon happened, Steve kinda really ribbed me on stage, that uhm, you know what.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That Asterion dumped me, so yeaah, and I, yeaah, you know, and someone had reached out, uh, yeaah, and that happened, and then, um, for, for,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, yeaah, and then, uh, at a Final Fantasy convention, there was a Warframe, uh, creator, uh, is Miobite still a creator? Yeah, of course, um, and Miobite and Ben connected, and yeaah, uh, introduced me, and then,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, right, right. Again, and I was just finishing like casting sheets and we were trying to figure out what we wanted to do with Arthur. Did we want him to be more of like, uhm, more posh or more like through a meat grinder? And then I was like, oh, we should go meat grinder. And then all of a sudden, yeah, Ben, uh, and I connected and I was like, meat grinder. Go! Yeah, so. He would nail that, I think.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So next year, we just actually announced the TennoCon dates for next year as well. So the TennoCon event next year is July 19th and 20th and we will be using that event to really go all in on 1999 and show people what that update is and then it'll release next year as well.


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[Assistant] It's our answer to the, well, I mean, I won't spoil the quest, but we do explain it in this update. Okay, okay. So we're using this update as sort of chapter one of the next cinematic arc. Interesting. Yeah, so this update that comes out next week is


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like I had mentioned, like, oh, a lot of people felt the new war was the end of Warframe. This is now the beginning of the future of Warframe. So that's, we have an hour cinematic quest in this update where you will see 1999 and you'll see, uhm, raison for everything that's gonna happen. Okay.


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[Assistant] I never thought I would be doing an interview where DE and layoffs were in the same sentence again. It's been the worst. Like, we're sitting here smiling promoting our update, but hoooookay. We're part of it, and it sucks, and it's awful.


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[Assistant] Uhm, yeaah, we've had about five or six things.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yes, which is still going, like Airship is still working on that one, it's just our publishing, we've given the publishing and everything over.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I mean, I think a lot of people expected something at the Game Awards on it. You know, we were on stage and we could have said something, but that wasn't our place. Sure.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I don't, it's, it's awful, it's, everyone's getting pinched real, real tight, you know, from, from things I've heard and from people I've talked to, it's, you know, it's, where can you, you know, cut spending, how can you,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I think doing a fantasy game had always been a thing the team has wanted to do. You know, as Warframe, it was always a, it was never a matter of if we'll do a fantasy game, it was when, uh, so, like Warframe being the sci-fi, um, item in the portfolio and then something fantasy. So that, that had always been a, a piece of, um,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What everyone wanted to do and I think it always starts with concept art and a pitch. Like, who's gonna draw a character that sort of everything hinges on and then, you know, uhm, they just took it away and they just started going with it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Building this world, getting it going, and then, you know, we're gonna do the exact same Warframe way. We're gonna have a very small private launch test.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's intentionally not grimdark fantasy. It's redemption of humans, nature, it's very much a love letter to healing. And that is the core theme of it. And gameplay wise, it's nothing like Warframe. There's no fantasy bullet jumping.


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[Assistant] We will never take it for granted, and for as long as they let us, we will work on it. That is for sure. It is my life's mission to serve.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Always down for a good chat. Good Ralph, Ralph chat.


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[Assistant] On the low end actually, you know, before I really got my feet wet in the game, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Being Caucasian, you know, to be able to come to the other side of the fence, you know, and, uh, be accepted. And, uh, also, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Be able to do some of the things that, uh, some of the great mags of the past that have done. Also, you know, to be recognized cross-country.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They get less problems with the police, you know? The police. They don't get that much static.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] More marketable. Tricks seem to buy more pussy from a white girl for some reason.


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[Assistant] I don't think that the females respect the game like they once did because there are hundreds and hundreds of thousands of renegades and outlaws


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Looking at a pimp. When a pimp ride by, they're supposed to be looking at the motherfucking curb.


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[Assistant] When I say reckless eyeballing, that means that she's making eye contact with the pimpin'. And she may not even be with that man.


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[Assistant] What I think we need to have is a million Mack March on Washington.


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[Assistant] And let's check, you understand Bill Clinton and Hillary when they see a me and Max at the gate. And what they gonna do then.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] As a Caucasian, you know what I'm saying? It took a lot to get the respect. I had a lot of obstacles to overcome.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think I see that, uhm, guy, the, like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] On the stage at Gamescom. The Bill Clinton. Oh man. The legacy lives on. This is so. This is annoying now, don't you think? Like what a dick. Yea I don't like it now.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I never liked to begin with. Sure, sure, sure, sure. But at the same time, this one just felt especially annoying because it just like, uh, what's up, uh, gta stick, idiot. Jeff was so mad as well. Jeff was so mad. You could tell he was pissed.


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[Assistant] Well, yeah man, touch wood. I like, those are scary thoughts, but yeah man, I was thinking the same thing, like jeez, it's just like- Like they need better security. They need better security at these events man, they really do.


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[Assistant] We were, uh, we were joking Jake earlier that your setup looks like those pictures that get top ratings, uh, like top post on slash R gaming, which is like rate my setup. And it's just a fold out chair and like a CRT TV on the floor with like blood board on the screen. And everyone's like, yeah, man, that rules. That's all you need. That's what you got going right now.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I know exactly what that is. That is the Death Stranding Collector's Edition case thing with the BB in it. Yeah, it's great.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh, I love that we actually, that that was the Collector's Edition item. That's one of the best Collector's Edition statue things that I've ever seen, so.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That is a podcast episode right there actually going through all of the weird shit that we've got, but then Gerard would win that episode because he has like an entire office and Gerard is gonna, you haven't opened it yet, have you?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's very, it's, it is, we're, we're saying Jirard, we need to host, we need to have like an episode based on weird collectible shit and you would win that episode because you have an entire office stuffed full of that stuff. It's just that's how you go.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It is huge. It is very big. And it has like, um, what's that tape they put up on crime scenes? What's it called? Like the Junai? Death Stranding tape.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So wait, just tell me the other, cause I actually haven't played one or two, right? And I know that they're meant to be very good. Like I think I played like booted them up and never properly played. Like what's the, why do people love these games so much? Like give me the elevator pit.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Very not how they roll. They're usually just fromsoft games, uh, like anime stuff, and...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's always looked really nice. They've always like nailed it. Looking at trailers and gameplay, it's always looked really fantastic.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And don't expect many new reveals. I think there were only two new games revealed during the showcase. One was Little Nightmares 3 and the other was Killing Floor 3.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't love Zack Snyder's stuff, but I really like that he goes for it. Like I really love that he just has his full on style and he just fucking swings for the fences. And it's like, I don't necessarily like everything that he does, but I'm like, yeah, cool. You do you, man. I'm glad that people keep giving you money to make stuff.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so this rebel moon thing is a new movie IP universities invented and he's going to make a game out of it as well. Eventually. I don't think he's ever made a game before.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or at least doesn't, and I, and I suspect he doesn't understand what he's actually just said. Cause he's like, I'll make a movie that'll take about three or so years. It's like my man get ready for how long it takes to make a video game, my friend.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He's gonna go through a real journey on that one. Uhm, but look, the biggest standout thing for me personally, there was two things. First of all, there was Crimson Desert.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Which we saw a huge amount of gameplay for, and it was just like...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's a lot man, it's huge and you're going up in the sky and you're just fucking teleporting around and you're transforming into this floaty shadow thing and it's just wild, like it is totally relentless and it really wasn't on my radar that much before this.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's definitely on there now, and I'm like, I don't know if it's gonna be good or not, but it's definitely gonna be interesting to check out just because of the number of things that they have crammed into that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, so that definitely caught my attention.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I, cause it's being made in Korea. It's the Black Desert Online.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, exactly. And that game, a lot of people really like some parts of that, not others. Uhm, but this is their next thing, and I dunno, it just, it just really captured my attention.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, it definitely, it looks like Assassin's Creed if it was turned up.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But, uh, yeaah, I was really, I was just, I thought that looked cool. The other thing was, um, Cyberpunk Phantom Liberty. And I was so, and I was like, that looks so fucking cool that I wanted to go and download Cyberpunk right now. But then I was like, wait a second, those things are not in the game yet. But I was like, well, maybe I'll just boot it up anyway and start mucking around because,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, seeing, cause when I played it in LA and I spoke to the development team about it, they started talking to me about all these new things before they had announced them. And...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They were like, yeah, we're going to talk about all that stuff later. I'm like, you guys should be talking about this stuff now because this stuff is cool. Just as a quick recap for anyone that missed it, there's obviously new weapons coming along and new quests, which is cool. There's new and reworked cyberware.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, there's a whole redoing of the perk system because the perk system in the base game was terrible, like a total dumpster fire. So they're just ripping that out and replacing it. There's this relic skill tree thing, which gives you the like really powerful marquee abilities, like the ability to like teleport across the battlefield.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's, uh, new vehicles, there's vehicular combat, which is something that I experienced myself in my hands-on demo, and yeah, you are literally driving a car that fires rockets and doing all that sort of shit, just like they promised at the very beginning, but it's finally gonna be in the game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, the, the police system has been reworked and now if you piss them off enough, MaxTac arrive and they will mess you up. Uhm, and then they've also talked about these things called Endless Dynamic Events and Missions which I don't really know about yet.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Basically the promise is you can just hang out in the world and just do cool shit for as long as you like, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] All of it is bundled up, a lot of that is just coming to the base game for free, and then on top of that is the expansion, which has the whole spy thriller thing, Idris Elba's front line in that, and you know, he seems super cool.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The whole package, man, it's just, it's just, God, I'm so excited for it. Cause that's middle of September. Finish up with Starfield, then go straight into that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, actually back in September, I think, yeaah. And uhm, man, I just, I can't wait. I think...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm so excited. I know a lot of people like will never forgive Cyberpunk for its launch issues. 100% fair enough. Uh, but I have always loved that game even despite its issues just because of that world and the characters and the stuff that it did manage to get right.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Um, and so to know that they're like fixing up so many of the broken, so much of the broken shit, uh, yeah, it's, it's, it's very, I'm pumped.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yes, yeah, totally, totally. And also, I mean, the technology backend of it as well, like with ray tracing and the path tracing that they've put in there. Like if you're, if you do have a 40 series card and you can run this game with path tracing,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Unbelievable how good this game looks. It is just the best looking video game on the market, I think. Full stop. When path tracing is really kicking in and it's doing its thing on scenes, it is just...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Phenomenal. And I think as well Nvidia has just announced some new stuff.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't quite know what that is yet, but they've announced some improvements to their path tracing and also to DLSS3. So.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's all sorts of new stuff on the way, um, for that, for the technology side of the game as well. Did you guys see this, like, uh, like Half-Life 2 RTX remix thing that they're doing? Yeah. Hell yeah. I was like, god damn, man. Um, yeah, they're doing some interesting stuff with all that. So.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But yea, bottom line, I think, I think, I think Cyberpunk kinda stole the show for Gamescom this year. I'm not sure if there's anything else that I saw per- Ah, actually! Mortal Kombat.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It was, it really was actually. It looks- That guy just looks so much like Jake Gyllenhaal. Alan Wake, do you reckon?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Maybe that's it, maybe. Uhm, but no, it did look, it did look really cool. Uhm, I was impressed by it. Uh, there was also a new trailer for Armored Core 6, which is out this week.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, and there was also the announcement of the next season of Diablo 4, which everyone kind of was just like, oh, more Diablo, eh? Diablo is really, as I said, keeps getting the shit kicked out of it. Uh, that trailer, sorry, the seasonal announcement definitely did not.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Every time I see a new Sonic game announced, I always assume that it's just another collection of the previous Sonic games. I feel like they've sold the Sonic collection like 8 times in the last 4 years.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, he didn't overhype it. He was very much like, guys, it's just what we already know about this stuff. And then we saw gameplay for some stuff that looked really interesting. There were some standout, you know, some standout trailers that made me, that really piqued my interest and put some games on the, on my radar.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, it was very focused on the games, didn't have like ads or whatever because it's not, it's cause it's funded by Gamescom as opposed to, you know, Jeff needs to scratch the money together from


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, so it was like really focused on the games and, you know, other than the ticket at the front end rushing the stage, I think it all went off pretty well. And so I was like, yeah, all right, fair enough. Good, good, good job. Good job, Jeff.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I mean like, we didn't mention a whole bunch of stuff. Like for example, we got, we looked, we saw more of Assassin's Creed Mirage, Nightingale, they got an announcement for their early access in February 22nd next year.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that looks awesome and I've spoken to the team about that. It looks great. Lords of the Fallen got a new story trailer. I've actually played that and we'll talk about that later in the episode.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, the First Descendants got a beta on September 19th. The Crew Motorfest got an announcement release date September 14th. Stormgate is that new RTS.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] From the people who made like, you know, Starcraft and Warcraft 3 and that got, we got like a little bit of a look at faction stuff there. Uh, like there was a lot there and you know, so like, would that have all been a blog post? Not really, I don't think. Like I think there was a reason to turn up for this and I think that, you know, I'm glad it happened.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yes I did. It was nice. It was good. It was good. Animal Well looks cool and uh, the, what was it called again? It's got a new name now. I forget the new name. Anyway, it's a roguelike shooter that is looking sick and uh, it's just nice to see Dunkey doing his thing of kicking goals and it was just nice. I liked it. It was a nice time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, it was great. So do check it out. And, uh, there was one other showcase I feel like this week. Oh yeah, the Destiny one. Talk about that later.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You'll be in the JW hotel after an event. I'll have a bourbon and coke and just an orange juice for my friend. Thanks.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Rockstar did not send me a code for it and I would never want to give them money for that, so no, I did not check it out. But like, it's just, yeaah, I mean, it's, it's, it's, it's...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] 50 US dollars for what feels like, cause obviously they put work into this product, absolutely, for sure. Cause yeaah, I mean like, of course, absolutely.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But 50 US dollars for a game that is what, 11, 12 years old now with basically no improvements whatsoever and not even available on, not even available to PC players. That's the part that really pisses me off because I'm just like, you guys did this fucking work.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Just bring it to PC for fuck's sake. Like what is the deal here? You know what I mean?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's right. No one plays Rockstar games on PC. No one plays Rockstar. You're absolutely right about that. No way, dude. No way. So I, it just, it just, it's annoying in that regard because it would have been nice to have like, have that. At the same time, obviously, if you really want Red Dead on PC, you are not going to struggle to find it. Don't get me wrong.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, an official port for people to actually play properly supported by Rockstar.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, that would have been, that would have been nice. So uhm, but I think the GTA remasters are a pretty good barometer of how this company feels about remastering their old content. And I don't think we should have ever expected much from Rockstar in this regard. And yes, these ports are definitely in the line.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think these conversations are kind of interesting because your average person who just plays video games casually


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They're gonna pick up, they're gonna see a remaster, they're gonna be like, cool, I can play these old games, and they're gonna play them, and because they don't live and breathe video games every day, and they probably don't even give a fuck about 60 FPS, they're just gonna be like, cool, it works, and I can play Metal Gear, this is just like I remember, sweet, no worries, and that's all good, right? And so, Konami's kind of ticking the box on that sort of segment of the market, and it's the same with Rockstar, I guess, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The only way that you can really make us happy is by like going all in on what would be quite, you know, which obviously raises the price of development significantly or the cost of Durham I should say significantly, right? And then at that point, those companies, I'm sure I'm making like cost benefit analysis, like are we going to make our money back on this? Whatever. But for us, the other thing is,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If we really care about this stuff, we just go down the emulation route. And I think that if these companies, I think the watermark test for a re-release is, should I buy this or should I just emulate it?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because I feel like a lot of the time the emulation solution is superior to what companies are actually putting out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that I think in itself, again, that makes sense if they're just targeting the general consumer.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They just want to turn it around and make it so it's playable on a new platform, fine. But if they really want to like honor the communities that made these games what they are, if they really want to honor the source material and ensure that it lives for years to come in this new revised form, then I think it has to be a case of


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's a rare bar to clear for most of these remasters, I think.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, that makes sense. I mean, like, and for that, for that reason, I would be interested in picking up this package to have those things. But then again, it's like when it comes time to actually replay Metal Gear, I would probably just go down the emulation route again, because I know I can deliver myself a better experience than what


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I just like knowing that, are you saying you're glad that the emulation community is doing its thing?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Are you saying, are you saying, yeah, that's what I'm, that's what I, that's how I feel. Like, cause I don't trust companies to do it. I don't trust physical media. Like physical media is nice. Don't get me wrong.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But like, uh, what I, but at the end of the day, like you could get lost, you could get damaged, some, the platforms that you need to play it on becomes so hard to access, whatever else. And I know if there's a good emulation community out there doing their thing, like that is sort of protecting all of us more than the companies ever will.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's a great question. Uh, just this week actually Moving Out 2 was released. Uh, which is great, obviously. Amazing game. Amazing. Super fun. And, uh, basically just like think overcooked, but with Moving House. And you can imagine what that is. Like it's, it's very simple, straight out of, you know, very, very straightforward. Um,


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[Assistant] Yeah, outside of that, like really great co-op games. I don't know, you start to get into like your, I don't know what your partner might be into because it sounds like you're playing more fun, family party style games. But then obviously you get into the world of co-op shooters and you know, you start talking about your left for deads and your whatever else that comes along.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, totally. So it all depends on how hardcore you want to get with your co-op, like, gaming. Uhm, yeah, that's, that's it. And it's for like, best couch co-op memory.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know man, cause I just, all that stuff was growing up with my brothers and...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know if we actually played many co-op games. Oh, Halo, I guess would probably be my best couch co-op memory growing up, playing that with my brothers back in the day. Like that was obviously, that was peak.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, but it's just a lot of competitive games back when we were growing up, like Mario Kart Balloon Battle and like Street Fighter and Mortal Kombat till our eyes bled and all that sort of stuff, like less co-op stuff. I think we had more co-op games back then, but I don't know, I think my brothers and I just played a lot more competitive stuff against each other. That was more fun.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It was very cool, I agree. Joseph Farris, man, he knows what he's doing. I don't know what he's cooking up next.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, yeah. I mean, I personally didn't see that announcement as, or his appointment as ambassador as more, as like a cynical money making play. I more saw it as Nintendo recognize the impact that this guy's had on the franchise and on the fandom. And you can't just sort of replace someone like that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's pretty disposable in the industry a lot of the times like it can be replaced pretty quickly. Uhm, and it's really nice to see them


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Paying, you know, paying the man the respect he deserves, I think. I thought it was a classy move, personally.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, look, maybe we're reading it wrong. Maybe it was actually a case of he wants to keep going, but Nintendo said no. Uhm, maybe there's like pay stuff in the background, you know, like he wanted more money and Nintendo were like, no, uh, who knows, you know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But I think it's an interesting question as well because I guess we will approach at some point with the video game franchises that we love the point where video game voice actors become too old to continue those roles and they need to transition to new voice talent which


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Michael Bell as the voice of Raziel and obviously his performance as Raziel is just like unbelievable, just flawless, whatever.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But at the same time, it's like, well, if you're going to reboot that franchise, would you bring him back? Probably not because you're setting up for the next phase of that franchise and you know, the next 10 or 20 years that it might exist. And you know, Michael Bell's a lot older now. That's why, you know,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Completely separate to that by the way, Ben Starr had mentioned the voice of Clive Rosfield. He mentioned that if his dream project is to voice Raziel, you know, at some point, which I think we'd be perfect for,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But uhm, but it was, that's what got me thinking about that because it was kind of like, well, you probably would need to replace Michael Bell as talented as he is because yeah, these, these, these things that we love, these franchises that we're invested in, they outlive the people that voice them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The video game character. He's like the guy. And, and Charles Martinet has voiced him for, since voices in video games have kind of been a thing because obviously before that we were talking about the, like the 16 bit era where, you know, voice work wasn't as commonplace.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so, um, you know, it's just, it's the dawn of, you know, video game voice acting. It's the most important video game character of all time. And it's the guy who voiced him moving on to, you know, his retirement years. And so, yeah, that's a, that's a moment for reflection and looking, looking back on how all this works for sure, for sure.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He never went like full Sonic and the, with all the stuff that they, all the talking characters and yeah, yeah, he just has like little, little, little quips and noises.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I remember, I didn't know if this is true or not, but I read somewhere that they actually re-recorded Mario's, like they recorded with Charles for every new Mario game that they never reused.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, so then it would be very, uh, it would not be within keeping for them to change that, but maybe they did because again,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, I'm sure like Hollywood publo and maybe video game publishers would love to be able to squeeze voice talent out of the process. Having said that, I don't know if Nintendo's like that. I mean, they're very, they're very creatively led organization and I'd be surprised if they went down that route.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Um, it would be a bit of a doomsday scenario, I think, if we saw the whole video games industry shift to reliance on AI for major voice talent. I'm sure some publishers will love to make that happen and they will try, but hopefully, um, voice actors will resist and strike and not let that happen because that would be very bad. Very bad.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Did you guys see this rumour that he's gonna be fucking Daxter in Jack and Daxter movie with Tom Holland playing Jack? Okay. Yes, that is a thing that is doing the rounds right now.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We're good. Who wants that? Who wants any more of that? Uhm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I actually had the same thought and like, uh, you know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Let's, that would be nice. I don't know if he does podcasts, but he ha- he seems like the kind of guy that would do podcasts and would love to have a chat. This would be a fun one to have. Aw, that'd be awesome.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Please. Where's he from? Where's he from? Is he from New York? Is he one of your people? I don't know where he's from.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, we absolutely do that. I'm going to actually do that as soon as we are done. I'm going to email this man and see what he says.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is so funny. Wait, wait. There's a blurb on here. Cause he's obviously written this himself a million years ago and not updated it. This is the only blurb on this website. Quote.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A brilliant character actor as well as a credible and engaging corporate spokesperson, Charles has created hundreds of entertaining characters on camera for video and film with over 400 corporate videos to his credit. Repeat clients include PG&E, Apple, Hewlett-Packard, Amdahl, Wells Fargo Bank, Kawasaki and numerous others.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that is it. He does not mention Nintendo once on this website.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh my god. This hasn't been updated. This is so good. I love it. This is absolutely traveling back in time. Please, if you would listen to the podcast, just go to CharlesMartinet.com and check this out. It is such a truth. Do not harass the man.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh yes, there are. Absolutely. Alright, so, can I go first? Yeah, please. Because I actually track my backlog meticulously. I'm very serious about my backlog.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, okay, so first of all, Forspoken. I really wanna do a video on Forspoken. Not to dunk on it, because that game's been through enough, but I actually just wanna play it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Octopath Traveler 2 is meant to be, like, one of the best, you know, JRPGs in a hot minute. Uh, it's like 80 hours long, so I don't know when I'm ever gonna find the time for that, but I desperately want to.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Wo-Long Fallen Dynasty, uh, Team Ninja are ninjas at what they do, and I would love to play that. I, uh, played but not finished Dredge, and I played probably around 5 or 6 hours of it, and I really want to finish it because it was fantastic.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] EverSpace 2, because it's a space shooter thing, and it looks sick. Humanity, that weird puzzle game that came out on PlayStation, because it looks like modern day Lemmings, and I would love to see how that formula got remixed.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And the other one that's very important to me is to finish Ghost Trick because I played the first


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I would say third of it and it was flawless. It's like perfect. It is amazing how good this video game is in every single little detail in every inch and every sound in everything.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so I really want to go back and um, finish that. So yes, that is my backlog for just this year, but I also have literal like spreadsheets of backlogs for every year prior, which I won't go through now, but that's my 2023 list. So yeah. Wow. That's a lot, man.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah. Hell yeah. Absolutely. Damn. I could've had Armored Core to that list as well because I haven't had a chance to play that properly after my preview and I desperately want to play that. It's out this weekend, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It is out. By the time this podcast is out, I think the game is out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, okay, so first of all I should say I have not played it, okay, uhm, but I had said to Austin, I'm like, Austin, I really want you to play this because


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And Austin had expressed interest in it himself as well, uh, just so anyone doesn't know, Austin is my editor and he's now also reviewing games on the Skill Up channel. He is a bit of an MMO fiend, so he was already kind of really into this and he's like, yeah, totally. He loves his Guild Wars and Final Fantasy and Destiny, like live service. He's just, he's in on it, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so I'm like, cool man, I'm gonna give you a week to play Wayfinder and you're gonna do the whole review and give us the really detailed definitive update on like what this game is, how it works, what it's like in the live environment after the early access launch, whatever.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] At this point, the game has been out since last Friday, after being delayed a few days by the way. It was meant to come out last Tuesday.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Came out last Friday, so it's been out for just under a week.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He still has not been able to properly log into the game to play because of how borked the servers are.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Free those, those people who bought stuff and not getting those items that they were promised.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's just like, they've had to put server caps on to like, keep it running, and then people just get turned away at the gates. They're like, nah man, servers are full, bad luck, see you later. And then that, and people are like, well what am I supposed to do? Like, should I come back later, or should I just fucking uninstall this and not bother to get a refund, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, Digital Extremes are providing the infrastructure for this, and they have apologized, uh, for what's going on. Airship Syndicate, the developer, have also apologized for, you know, their part in it, what have you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's very sad man because obviously we spoke to that team and they were really pulling up to this and they're passionate and they're ready to go and they're excited and they felt ready. Like they had a quiet confidence about them that they were like, yeah, man, we're ready to go. Let's, let's go.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Unfortunately, it turns out it's just one of the worst, most rocky, live-service launches in a hot minute, and the game is overwhelmingly negative on Steam. As a result, it's like 30% positive or whatever. Uhm, I mean, it's not Overwatch 2 bad, but it's pretty bad when it comes to that Steam rating.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So yeah, very sad result for that team. Austin is still trying to get that review done, but it's unlikely it's going to happen anytime soon because of these issues. So yeah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Same, I'm so excited for it. Uhm, I am actually going to LA in September.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, well we will do an in-person episode by the way, so look forward to that people. But uhm, that is actually when I got installed on my Steam Deck ready to go for the plane ride, because I'm like super keen for that. It looks fantastic. Big Jet Set Radio fan from back in the day.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, and it seems like that they just, they just made a sequel without getting the rights to it. It was very cheeky. They're like, let's just do it. If Sega aren't going to do it, I guess we'll do it ourselves. That kind of thing. Love to see it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Totally, but it's so hard, like, cause I think, this is the thing, right, if you were to come at me and say, this game sucks, I'd be like, yeah, alright, fair enough, that's cool, fair enough, I get how you think this sucks, I'm not gonna put up much of a fight, I'm not gonna be like, no, actually this game rules, and like, it's just, it's like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think it is, it's interesting cause, you know, obviously I put out a review and I'm like, I recommend this and I'm like, it's not particularly good, but it's fun enough. You know, it's, it's silly and dumb and it's kind of easy and forgetful, but it's just nice to play in between all of the other big things that you play.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then a lot of people get angry at that and they're like, I can't believe you recommend this, this is garbage. And I'm like, it's, it's not garbage. It's just like, it's a really...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Silly fun game that I'm sure a lot of people won't like, but it's not


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like the worst thing ever. It's not the kind of game that I think people should be getting angry at. And I've definitely seen quite a few people get angry at this game. I think there are lots of other way shittier games that you should get angry at.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I do not believe in mortals of AVM falls into that category. It is like 12 to 15 hours, single player, offline, no microtransactions. It's very bug free, as in very few bugs.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, but the performance side of it is trash, like it's...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] On low-end hardware, the optimization at the low-end is very bad, and I totally understand that, I get that, and I agree. But the other challenge with that is that I don't fully understand how demanding Unreal Engine 5 is. And we are now moving to Unreal Engine 5.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm not sure if this is a case of bad development optimization.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Or is it a case of, well, Unreal Engine 5 just needs a lot more power than what


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But regardless, uhm, yes, it's very important that you do not buy this video game if you have.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I agree with you completely and I said the same thing. It was actually kind of like the main thrust of my review, which is that this is just a silly little side quest in between your other more serious gaming endeavors. Like you're going to be playing big stuff this year that's hard and long and like, you know, just swinging for the fences and game of the year nominees left, right and center.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Sometimes you just wanna have a bit of popcorn cinema, you just wanna sit back and, you know, watch a dumb MCU film.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is that. It's an MCU film, but playable and you know, there are worse things than that. Uhm, and I like that it's that and I like that EA put their money behind it because


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] EA is, you know, it's EA, but they have legitimately just backed this weird out of the box, very odd new IP. From a new studio.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] From a new studio, I mean, there's nothing surefire about this bet. This is not your typical EA game, but they put their money behind it and I gotta respect it. You know, I really do. So uhm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I think it's very, and I think that's, that's what I think when it comes down to that word recommend as well, or scores and what have you, you know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, the idea that we recommend a game doesn't necessarily mean that yeah, you should buy it right now at full price and play it immediately. It just means that there's a game that exists. Is it good or is it bad?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Personally, I think it's pretty good. And what I recommend to you, yeah, when it hits that right price point, when it hits the right time in your schedule, because right now we're all too busy to play, you know, like we're all busy playing stuff.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But for me, I think one of the reasons that this hit so well was because it arrived at a moment where I was so consumed by these big things, having this little discreet adventure.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Was perfect, you know, and I think that it's nice to have those sorts of games in your backlog and this will get discounted. It's, it's even on the subscription service right now for EA. Plus it'll be on Game Pass eventually because every EA game ends up on Game Pass. That's how it works. They have a partnership in place.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So there's going to be a time and a price point where I suspect this is going to be right for you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Whether or not you like it, it depends, because there's lots of things that people might not like about it, particularly the humor, which I think we might come back to, Jake. But yeah, overall there's, there's plenty of stuff here that I do think works well enough, you know, so.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, yeah, I would say Hi-Fi Rush is like a really smartly written Saturday morning cartoon. Sure. You know, it's, it's a, it's a cartoon that was clearly written by adults for an adult audience, but it's channeling a lot of that Saturday morning vibe.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Try and, they didn't lean back from their jokes. They didn't kind of like, well we'll do it, but we'll also, we'll also make it sound like we're a bit ashamed of it or we want to give the player the chance to look down on it. Like, they just, they were, they fully committed to their gags and their tone and their characters and that's what sort of,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Even though the controls, I don't know what you think about this, Jake, but the controls were so stacked with so many fucking abilities and things. Oh man, it was too much. But even though the controls are really stacked,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's big world ending stuff, but they're keeping it light with the jokes. And so the whole thing just kind of lands in that territory where you're like, yeah, whatever. Sure. You know, it's very easy to shit on it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's fine. It's good enough. You know what I mean? And that's why I ended up enjoying it personally.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Daewoo! Yea, we have Daewoo's. Although it's like, we have Great Wall, I think is a new car brand that we have in Australia. It's like a Chinese car. I think it's called Great Wall. I don't know, man. I don't know, I don't pay attention to cars. Great Wall is cars. Is that a thing? Am I making that up? No, it's a thing. I don't know, maybe I'm making it up.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I get you. I get you. I get you. Yeah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I would, I would agree with that. I think if it had focused more on the fundamentals of its ability suite, rather than adding in six castable spells, four castable abilities, fucking, you know, an ultimate, like just there's so much shit. And I agree with you. If they focus more on core mechanics rather than new stuff, I think it would have been a better product. Uh, for sure. For sure.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I have actually. Uhm, it's been a big week actually in terms of previews. I will have up later this week previews for, uhm, Lords of the Fallen, which I played.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, and I was impressed by it, actually. Uhm, I, yeaah, I won't say too much of it now, I'll save the most of the commentary for the, uhm, for the preview, but it's kind of like Soul Reaver.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In that they've got this dual world mechanic kicking in. Yeah, I know, right? I think I didn't really understand this fully because I'd seen some trailers, but I wasn't paying close enough attention, but it's got this dual world mechanic where you're carrying around a lantern. At any time you can raise this lantern and it shows you the umbral realm, which is the same space that you're in now, but it's the dimension of the dead. And at any time you can then


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The visuals are unbelievable. It's Unreal Engine 5 and it looks nuts. Uhm, but it's using it well because I think one of the other things we didn't talk about with, uhm, Avium is that it's Unreal Engine 5 and it's really pretty.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It kind of looks not very good, because it's just, it doesn't go, it hasn't got good art direction, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Um, but this has really excellent art direction. It looks stunning at all times. And I'm really looking forward to seeing what else they've got coming when it comes to the world stuff.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, and the combat side of it was the part that I was less, like, keen on, but I'm really reluctant to prejudge it because I played such a small slice of it. One character, one weapon, you know, just the first few bosses.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The found- the fundamental foundations of it didn't feel as strong as, you know, FromSoftGames or like, you know, Nioh from Team Ninja or even The Surge from Deck 13. But it felt like good enough, you know, I was like, cool, alright, eh, this is probably not the part I'm gonna love the most, I'll probably enjoy the world stuff more.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But I was very much like, yeaah, cool, that's, that's combat. It's, it's there, it's souls-like, it's hard-ish. And uhm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So my preview will be up later this week and I am excited to talk more about it. How hard would you say it is? I found it, again, in the opening block, much easier than your average FromSoft game, much easier than the Surge, much easier.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, there's the, the, the core combat doesn't seem as difficult. You have more tools at your disposal and also there's like summonable NPCs on every boss that you can invite them in to help you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The general tuning just seems easier, but that could change the very next minute of this, you know, this demo ends and it could be ridiculously hard. I don't know. But if this kind of difficulty holds throughout the rest of the game, I do anticipate it'll be a lot easier than, um, your average, your average souls like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So yeah, that was cool. The other thing I played actually was Space Marine 2.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I got sent a preview build for that cause it's going, it's hands on at gamescom right now. And so the publisher sent me that build so I can play from my own home. Got to play like an hour and a half of it. I'm here to tell you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Fuckin' cool man, like it is fuckin' cool. It is so good looking. Oh my god, just seeing these massive battlefields just teaming with enemies. I'm talking like hundreds of enemies on screen crawling up the walls and you are throwing down grenades to try to stop them from crawling up there. You're standing up there with a big like


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I loved it, man. I really did. It's, it's very simple so far. Like it's a, it's a co-op horde shooter essentially. It's up to three players.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're going through and you're just shooting lots of bad guys and you play as the space marines, which means you're basically immortal, but you're not really actually. And I actually found it quite tricky. I played on the third out of four difficulties.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I died, I for sure died, and I was like, I need to pay attention to not getting overwhelmed and positioning correctly, dodging out of the way of stuff, parrying enemies, managing my ammo. It was definitely not mindless, uhm, but it still retained that power fantasy, where it's like, if I'm playing properly, then I feel like a fucking space marine, you know what I mean?


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[Assistant] So uhm, but the overall, it was great fun, but the visual stuff I think is going to blow people away. I really was not ready for just how good it looks. And again, it's not necessarily about the technical details like the Unreal Engine 5 thing, for example. This is about the fact that it's this incredible realization.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, yeah, I think so. I think it will be. I mean, again, I only played an hour and a half. There's still no release date for it yet. It's definitely not coming this year.


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[Assistant] Lot of work to go on optimization, for example, didn't run well, but again, I don't really care about optimization at this point. If we're so far away from release that comes later, but, um, I had such a good time with it. I was really bummed when the demo ended, to be honest.


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[Assistant] Yeah, yeah, it's, it's a real rabbit hole once you get into it. Um, and I mean, I've read a couple of books and obviously played a couple of the games now. I've, I've, you know, I've played more games than I've read books, but I really love stepping into the world whenever I get the chance. And I'm glad that, um, that we're seeing more Warhammer stuff and high quality Warhammer stuff as well.


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[Assistant] Because they're, you know, Darktide obviously had a lot of issues, but they had a lot of ambition. And I think eventually one day they'll get there. They've just announced an overhaul of their perk system in fact. Uh, Boltgun was fantastic.


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[Assistant] I'm forgetting a very obvious one. Oh, there's this obviously. But even, uhm, what was it called? That, uhm, oh, there's Rogue Trader. That's right. That's one that's coming. Uhm, you know, like CRPG kind of stuff. Lots of exciting things happening in the Warhammer space. So it's, it's cool to see so much effort go into that franchise.


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[Assistant] I looked it up on steam, I couldn't find it on steam. Is it not coming to steam or what? Uh, see why, see why. GNI. Uh, I see. Signe, all guns blazing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Cool. Nice, I found it. Sorry, I had an S. So yeah, cool. Alright, sweet. So I like the visuals. They look, they look nice.


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[Assistant] I've added it to my wishlist. There we go. It's on the list.


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[Assistant] Yeah, I actually played, booted up the remake. I haven't played through it all, but I booted it up and I was like, wow, this looks fantastic. It's just like, just looked so good. It really, the whole classic mafioso cinema thing and that vibe, it just really captured that super well.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeaah. Yeaah, it really is. I was like, yeaah, I was very impressed by that. I would definitely want to play more. I'd like to come back to that one day, I think. That would be sick. Let's do that.


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[Assistant] Raph, what about you? 16 years ago today, Bioshock release, uh, which on PC and Xbox 360, which, I mean, Bioshock, man, this is, is in terms of- The first one. The first one, yes, of course. The, uh,


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[Assistant] Yeah, man. I mean, it's just, it's Bioshock to this day still, uh, left its mark in the industry and in terms of like, you know, cinematic style, not immersive sims, not an immersive sim, but it's that, it's like immersive sim adjacent, uh, just very atmospheric, thought provoking.


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[Assistant] Uh, first person shooter that was trying to say things, uh, and was a mix of horror and some puzzle solving, exploration, cool action. Just a real, yeah, just a real instant classic. And, um, yeah, and obviously we got, you know, two more after that. And then Ken Levine just went totally silent forever.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, basically wound up his studio that made that game essentially cause he was like, I don't want to do the triple A thing anymore. And now, and so just left and then he's gone on to create what is essentially a new triple A studio and a new triple A product in, um, was it called the lies of Judas? Was it the lies? What's it called again? Is it just called Judas? Judas. It's just called Judas. Right.


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[Assistant] Lies of P, I'm thinking, I'm sorry, I just combined this for some reason. Um, but, yea man, Bioshock. Very, um, very, and I, and I actually really liked Bioshock Infinite, can I say? A lot of people really shit on that, they're like, that game sucks! And I was like, no, I think that was a good, I think that was a good video game.


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[Assistant] Uh, not as powerful as Bioshock, obviously, thematically or whatever, but the spectacle of it was nuts. Songbird and whatever, it was just crazy, so.


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[Assistant] Yeah man, I'm very glad to have played Bioshock back at launch. It was a good time.


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[Assistant] Still to this day, uh, you know, the Big Daddy, uh, what an, what an enemy. So iconic, terrifying. I still remember seeing him for the first time, first time he appears. It's just like, god damn man. That was a, that was a, that was some, I was up there with Pyramid Head for some of the best, scariest fricking enemy design of all time. So yeah, amazing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Honestly, I can't remember it that well. I remember one and three and like infinite very vividly, but two, I kind of just played and I think I wasn't, back then I wasn't like critically thinking about games. So it left very little impression of me. So I'm interested to hear what you might think about that when you go back and replay it actually.