[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, but you can see Dauntless is perfectly fine, I enjoyed it, but you can see the massive difference between Dauntless and Monster Hunter, like different stratospheres, right? It's not like that with Wild Hearts, like they are


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, you can do like this spinning jump thing as you drop off your glider and surprise attack them. It's fucking cool. You build your own camps and you build them and you design them how you like with decorations and with stuff that goes in there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There is another one where like, if the bird, if there's like a bird flying above you, you can put this, uh, firework thing out by conjuring it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Fireworks in the sky, the bird is dazzled, he drops down to the ground, right? So you are looking at this enemy and thinking not just how do I get close to them to attack or dodge their attacks, you're also looking, thinking about like which contraption can I use in this moment?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But this, because there's so many different things you can build, there's so much functionality, it becomes very strategic. So while you do have one of these contraptions that is pretty much the same as the wire bug, you also have like 30 others.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, it's, it's baked in. And it really is as simple as, you're running along, you hold down a shoulder button, press X, immediately there's a wooden box in front of you. You're standing there, press XXX, three boxes are immediately stacked.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And if you push against it, you will immediately scramble up. And then if you jump off the top of it, you'll get into this massive dive position and you'll just like strike down. So it's impressive. So don't imagine that you're setting it up slowly. Kind of imagine Fortnite building when you watch the pros playing Fortnite and they just building, building, building. It's that, right? Um, yeah, God, it's, it's, it's so fun. I love it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But when it gets fixed, you should totally play it. It's very good.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're in, done, boom. You know, like, you start a session on your own, make it public, off you go, and then at some point, someone will join you. It's seamless, it's easy, it's how it should be in Monster Hunter, it's how it is here. Uh, so they've definitely done a lot of good work to improve some very core aspects of the Monster Hunter formula.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That is, you will have a great 30 hours with this for sure. No question. And I would actually say it's just as grindy as Monster Hunter, but I would say it's more accessible because it's combat


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So basically I review on embargo most of the time when I review something, right? So by and large, there are no other reviews for me to read when I do my own reviews. I do talk to other reviewers though, just to like kind of bounce ideas.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because sometimes you'll encounter something and you're like, Hey man, did you also see that? Like that's weird, right? And they're like, yeah, that's definitely busted or, Oh no, I found that thing there or whatever. Um, so I do chat.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Any game that I review post embargo though, yeah, I read reviews for sure. I, I absolutely do that. And, um, I've always found it a bit odd when people sort of say, Oh, I don't read any other reviews before I do my own review of this thing. Like it's a matter of price. I mean, I kind of get it, but I also don't.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know, I don't think my opinion is going to be swayed because I've read some other review, you know what I mean? I find myself more informed about what a game is and what its components are, but my own opinion of that is my own opinion, you know what I mean? And I've never read a review and thought,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That creates an interesting story that you can tell the audience as well as you recalibrate around where you arrive based upon your preconceptions versus your experience. You know what I mean?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't have much to say in the way of impressions or whatever, except I will say the setup process is excellent. I've done setup process on a number of different VR devices. This is the best. Uh, the room scanning thing that automatically does is rad. Um, I will say the controls, uh, I'll just get it. Hang on.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Don't make fun of my jorts, okay, please.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, like it's, it's a VR headset. It's very comfortable.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Game? I don't even know. Uhm, it's like a devolver digital thing. It's like a funny game. But, uh, looked beautiful. The screen is so crisp. Like, noticeably better than Quest 2 for sure. Definitely the clearest screen I've used in VR.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And uhm, and also the, the field of view, you do notice the wider field of view as well. It's still a little bit tunnel-y, like it's not like you're just looking unobstructed, but it's, it is noticeably better.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think it's like, I know it's about 850 Australian dollars, which I'm going to guess means it's about 600 US dollars. Yeah, yeah, yeah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's right, that's the lost, that's lost judgment meets Kratos, meets Hogwarts, love it. Um, I would say similar point in the sense that I, look, I think this is very interesting hardware. I'm very hopeful that it means big things for the future.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There'd be only maybe one or two games worth playing on it. Like maybe, and maybe one of those games is Half-Life Alyx, which you could already get on PC. Like it would not surprise me if we reached that point, because the overall VR scene, game scene has stagnated quite a bit.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And that's how it should be for this. And I think that's probably a little bit telling that we don't, hopefully I'm wrong. Hopefully I'm, we're all pleasantly surprised by that. But, um, yeah, I don't know. I get tech demo vibes from that. Exactly. Exactly.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I, okay, so four years ago, not too long, but still four years ago today, Anthem released. Man.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They were not, they were not back. But I must say it has been good to see Bioware kind of, it feels like they're finding their footing at this point. We don't know that obviously because they haven't released a truly good game since what, I don't know, that's a whole load of questions.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I'm six foot, I'm six foot two. Really? Right. I'm six foot two, six foot three ish. And I feel short in the knowledge because everyone there is a fucking giant properly. I'm just like, God damn it. Everyone. It's intimidating.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm, I'm, as I said, I'm about to head off for a holiday. I, um, made a last minute call, actually, cause I had planned.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then, uh, yeaah, I was just like, I realised, I just thought about it. I'm like, that's not healthy. That's not a good idea. So I'm actually just gonna kind of unplug entirely during that period. I'm going on holiday to Europe.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I'm just gonna kick back and relax and chill and uhm, take a month, man. It's like a full month. Wow. No, yeah. It's the first hol- proper holiday that I've taken since the plague hit.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like I took a little bit of time off over Christmas obviously, but there's like always, you know how Christmas is. It's not actually that relaxing the Christmas break. It's not. Cause you've got so many things you're doing, family times, whatever.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then it's over before you know it, right? So this is like the first proper holiday. And, um, yeah, I'm, I'm keen. I'm excited. And it's a good time as well, right? Cause there's not much coming out this month. And then when we get, when I get back in August, it goes mental because everything starts coming out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So it's actually really well timed and I'm happy about it. So that's right, except the only challenge is today, uh, I get on a plane in or I go on the, get in the cab in five hours and I have not yet packed a bag. Uh, so this is going to be a pretty wild, uh, little, little intervening period.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, fair enough. Maybe I don't know. Maybe I'll find that out the hard way. But uhm, but I don't know, man. I've just always been the kind of packer that's like, here, here's all my t-shirts, put them in a bag. Here's all my socks, put them in a bag. I think I should bring some dress shoes. Done. I mean, I'll like, I'll pack in 30 minutes. You know what I mean? It'd be fine. And I know other people that stress out about it, but like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Pack is all that, was that thing that I just never cared about. I'm like, I can buy, you go to H&M, man, you just buy a shirt for like three bucks. It's fine. Do you know what I mean? It's all good.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's, it's, it's, it's a bummer. And I am like, obviously it sucks.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Whenever a studio goes under, cause there's job losses, right? And they, the studio I said that they plan to like reallocate people throughout their network, but there's a very vague statement. What is their network? Like who knows what this means.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, and so you kind of imagine that at least some people are going to be out on their ass, which is a bummer, obviously, uh, because clearly there was some like management issues with that. I'm sure that there are some like innocent.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Low level devs who was just doing their best, who got handed a project that they were totally ill equipped for and, uh, senior management are probably going to emerge from this with some kind of golden parachute or something while, you know, like the workers will probably, as I said, be out on their ass. So it's a bummer. Hate these sorts of stories for that reason.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Um, at the same time as well, like I also think about kind of like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know our role in as content creators, as reviewers, as like commentators, whatever in this and how that goes.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, because obviously we did videos on Golem and we all made fun of Golem because it was a terrible video game. It was like, of course you make fun of a game that is objectively that terrible, of course. But like, it's also, you kind of think about like, well, what are the repercussions of that kind of commentary and how we do that?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know, I don't think any of us would have spoken about Gollum ever any differently, but it really does suck knowing that


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Eventually leads to these sorts of outcomes sometimes. Do you know what I mean? I reflect on that a lot in terms of when I'm, when I'm doing what I do and I definitely think about it more and more as the years go on.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But it's like, I guess it's that Warhammer kind of approach, which is like, yeah, you can have a licensed show or whatever, man, it's fine. And they're just, the result is like lots of trash and then the occasional good video game that comes along at some point, like the, you know, the PS2, like two towers and whatever.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, absolutely. Of course, of course, which I always forget. I always forget that's a lot of ringgames. Yeah, absolutely. Of course. So, I mean, I think one of the things though that, you know, coming back to Embracer, they've recently said, or the COO has said that, cause they've now acquired the rights.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And they've said that they want to exploit this property for it's maximum value or something, or it's really gross language, it's like corporatised and whatever. But how do you guys feel about the strategy of going forward, like lots of Lord of the Rings games going forward? Is that exciting to you?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Lord of the Rings is a nice, nice safe world to set it in. Well, I mean, there is already the Lord of the Rings. I know for sure. And the fact that that keeps going for as long as it has is kind of instructive of the fact that it could be successful. So I see that and I'm like, cool, that's a bit that makes sense. I'm into that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But I, I just, I wonder the way that they frame that language, the fact that they bought these rights and they want to see a return on investment on them, I worry that we're just going to get spammed with lots of low quality stuff and I just think it would be disappointing. I wonder like, do you think at a, just like random thought, do you think at a high level we're becoming


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A bit sort of, I don't know, there's been so much licensed content push over the last decade or two decades. It feels like more than, it feels like just a thing now that is so prevalent, so


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like ubiquitous. You know, we just had a fucking Indiana Jones 5 just got released. Like who the fuck asked for that? Nobody. Do you know what I mean?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Star Wars. I feel like I'm actually almost-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Tired of Lord of the Rings, even though nothing's really come out lately.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I think I had that fatigue. I'm like, why do I feel that way? I think, and I'm like, I think I'm tired of Lord of the Rings because I'm tired of Star Wars and fucking what Disney's doing with all this stuff. It's, you know what I mean? Like the franchise fatigue that extends everywhere. It's almost like I'm automatically applying it to Lord of the Rings before it's even out of the gate. You know what I mean? Which I think says something, so.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, personally, I feel like from a sales perspective, if a successful Indiana Jones game is probably just going to have a nice


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] soft pillow under it in terms of sales. That's going to do well. And it's going to be like, you buy it as a gift for someone and you don't really buy it play games, but you're buying a gift for little Johnny and you're like, he is the latest Indiana Jones game. It's fine. Whatever. Versus if it's some IP you've never heard of, like whatever. So I think it gives it a bit of a bump.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But I do think that your overall point stands, which is that like, I don't really think it gives you that much more as a result of it being Indiana Jones. So you're right. If, if machine games put out a nine out of 10 game,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It would still do really well and everyone would be really happy and then they would own that IP themselves as opposed to having to pay probably like 30 to 40% of their revenue off to Disney because they're using the IP. So they probably end up better as a studio if they do it like you've described. I mean, that's just a guess, obviously.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Literally. They were really upfront about it. They've been upfront about it for a while actually. It's not the first time they've said it. They've said that it's the number one priority for them is like parity of features. They want and uh, couch co-op is the thing and they want every version of the game to ship with that and they can't get


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I have one. I actually have it in my lounge room in my house. And, uh, it's a great console. Like it really is.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, it's pretty remarkable, like if you pick it up, it's form factor is wild. It's like a small shoebox. And it's so light. And there's actually this add-on you can buy, like a third party add-on that's a screen. Have you guys seen this? I have one. Oh, I didn't realize that was official.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, yeah. So it's like a, it's literally just a screen that bolts onto the back of it and then it folds over and it's basically like a little portable thing. You know what I mean? Which is incredible. And, uh, I think it's a great product for people entering that ecosystem. Like really it's.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Great price point. It does have full parity across the entire library as in you can play everything that comes out. Xbox have been really insistent on that point. They've never budged and I don't think they ever will.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Um, but yeah, the word from the start, as soon as it was announced was the whole bunch of developers being like, this is a massive problem. This is going to be like an albatross around Xbox's neck. It's going to hold back developers because they need to.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This creates the next sort of like lowest common denominator for the coming console generation and will hold back all


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, game development, because everything needs to be baseline to this less powerful console.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know if that is true. Okay. I don't want to get into that fucking, I don't want to pretend like I know anything about that because I've heard conflicting stuff. I've heard some developers say, yeah, absolutely. This is a problem and it will definitely hold things back and we always need to be designing around this thing at a baseline.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I've heard other developers say, no, it's fine. It's perfectly, you just design things differently and this does not hold anything back. So I don't know exactly where that goes.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But, clearly this is a pretty obvious example of the S, you know, at least holding Larian back and them needing to put in a lot more effort to get the S to where it needs to be to, you know, have full feature parity, so.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know. Do you guys like, so Gerard, do you actually use your ass? I don't imagine, I don't use my ass much. Do you use it? I use my ass.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I, I bought an S for my brother as a gift. He's like a casual gamer and he loves it. He, it's just like, he, he just, it's, it's what he uses to play Call of Duty and Fortnite and these sorts of things. Right. And it's the perfect device for him.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because he has game pass and he buys the odd game here or there, like he was into Diablo. So he bought Diablo 4 and he's able to play it on the S and like that's it. And it's kind of like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Would I have bought him an Xbox Series X? No, that's too much money, you know? Uh, but I bought him that and it's like, yeah, this is a great entry point. And does he, does he need an X? Not really because he doesn't play that many games.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, and I think Xbox have always been crowing about how, you know, how successful this is as a category. They're always talking about how they're really glad that they've done it. They get so many new people joining the Xbox ecosystem because of it. So I think if we take them, what, like their commentary at face value, it does sound like this has been a good play.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But, uh, yeah, I mean, I do wonder how much impact it's had on the development side of things and whether or not it's, it's, it's held them back because yeah, like it's, it's definitely a lot less powerful than the other, than the other device for sure.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yes, Gerard, you finished Final Fantasy and you, cause we did a bit of a chat about it last week. Do you have any non-spoiler thoughts you can share? Cause Lucy hasn't finished it yet in your, cause I watched your video. Uh, and you seem to like it overall. You seem to really enjoy it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, right. Got it. Okay, right. Okay. Okay. Cause, okay, there's like, damn, I really want to have like a spoiler discussion about different elements of it where I'm like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I mean, I echo all of the above agreed. I think there's a different dimension to me as well because I play like Destiny, for example, a live service game. And I think that is a whole other equation to think about when it comes to these sorts of like the fun factor.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because you feel it at some times with these experiences that you've committed to for the longterm. And then other times you don't feel it and you're just like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh man, I've got to play some Destiny because I need to get this thing and earn that thing and if I don't do this quest this week then I miss it because it's on a full week rotation and I have to wait four weeks for it. There are certain triumphs that I've missed that I can't earn for another year because they are seasonal triumphs.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The fucking seasonal, season pass thing, if you don't finish that up now you can't get all the cosmetics in the future because they're only available during the season. There's all that sort of stuff which I think applies a level of pressure.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That I have been fine with to this point, but I think I'm just reaching a point with Destiny now for the first time since I've come back, which was like two and a half years ago where I'm like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, probably need to just take a bit of a break from Destiny right now because I'm not really having a lot of fun. That's not an indictment on Destiny, like it's not saying Destiny sucks now guys. It's really just a case of I've been playing it really hard for two and a bit years.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it's not hitting like it was. I need to listen to that and just step off and take a break. And I'm going to go play some Diablo, you know, because I'm actually really enjoying Diablo right now.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And funnily enough, that was a point that uh, Blizzard made today. Like they're out there today talking about the fact that they want people to take break from Diablo as well. They're like, you're meant to finish the job.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're meant to level up characters and have them done and then you take a break ready for the next season or ready for the next content drop. It's similar to what USUP was always saying with Final Fantasy XIV as well. It's a healthy relationship to a game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, that I think it's good that developers remind us about that stuff as well because


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If they create in players the expectation that there is this endless content wheel that you should be running on.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Then we're always going to get pissed off and burned out for whatever reason, you know? So, uh, yeah, I think that's definitely how I.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm approaching that question now with Destiny, and uhm, yeah. But everything else you guys said I agree with as well, of course. It's fun to play good games that are fun, and it's shitty to play bad games that you need to finish because it's a review. It really fucking blows. There's nothing worse than playing a bad game that you have to finish for a review, but you know, it is what it is.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Totally. Isn't like every fighting game series other than like Soul Calibur getting a new entry this year.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Pretty cool that they do that. I respect that. I respect that they keep that. That's nice. Hope they continue that tradition.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I've always wanted to go, cause I played Inscription and I got to the point where it just started to get weird. And I was like, okay, this is the part I've heard about, it's getting weird now, let's go. But then I just got busy with other things and had to stop.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But like yeaah, I understood the basics of the card game, I understood the basics of the setting, and I was like yeaah, this is really well put together.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I'm just really, I always kick myself that I didn't spend more time pushing through it. I will go back to it at some point. Like I've got it installed on all my devices all the time. That's generally the measure. That's how I manage my backlog. I just keep it installed on every device I own, hoping that at some point I'll be able to do it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But uhm, it won so many like game of the year nods, you know, it definitely got the recognition that it deserves.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And, uh, yeaah, it's something I really, really would like to put time into at some point.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Were you playing during the beta period and then it wiped? Like were you playing during beta and then?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, yeah, the only time that happened to me was when I was logged in, like I logged into the right, I changed phones, whatever, logged in and it didn't log me into the right account. And so that was the, cause it automatically assigns you based upon whatever. And I actually was like, well, actually, no, I have this other email address. So that was it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But uh, but yeaah, I would recommend checking that out as well, cause I continue to put a lot of time into that game. I think it's really solid.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, right now I just, I've been very busy doing stuff or like getting ready to ship off for this holiday. Uh, so I act, but when in my time, I actually have been playing Diablo and I've been continuing to play a lot of Diablo. Uh, and I just hit world tier four.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Which is like the nightmare tier. And I did that at level 57 when


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, but, the more I play Diablo, the more impressed I am by it, I think.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I definitely don't agree with a lot of its choices, for sure.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think it's quite a rigid game in terms of it's like the way it funnels you into certain play styles. So first of all, none of you are playing Diablo four, are you?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Interesting. Yeah. My brain just like feeds off this shit, man.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, it's terrible. And so yeah, like I basically have, uh, you know, finished campaign. I've now like, I've done all the map, a lot of the map clearing stuff, cause a lot of it is about just like going to a place.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Unlocking the map space so it's ticked off. There's like statues of Lilith all around the map and I've just been collecting all of those. Doing side quests. I basically, cause if you clear the map it makes it easier for your next characters. And it gives them bonus stats and bonus stuff when they start. And so I'm really keen to do that cause I would like to roll new characters.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because I just think it makes sense, like it's already been that in a way with Diablo 3, uh, and they've had a lot of practice, a lot of run up towards this moment. But I think this type of game really benefits from that content cadence. Uhm, and, and also the microtransactions to this point, like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] At this point, it's just cosmetics. The cosmetics really suck. They're like shit. You look at them and you're like, I'm not paying for that. And even if they, and the crazy thing is they're like $40 as well, right? It's like, it's wild. The pricing is ridiculous and they aren't even good. And it's kind of like, so that's why I'm actually a little bit worried in the sense that


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I can't imagine that many people are spending money on this stuff at this point, and I wonder how much the executives are going to be like, uh-huh.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We're making X millions of dollars a day over on Immortal. Eh, we're not making money over here. Someone should fix this. And then it suddenly gets worse. I definitely expect that something like that will happen with Diablo. Cause right now, the monetization is so limited that it feels too good to be true for an Activision Blizzard product. Let me put it that way, right? Uhm. Such a damning.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But it's true though, like come on, it's real, like, you know, but we kind of took home like 150 million dollars in 2021 and did it for a reason, you know what I mean? Uh, so yeah, so, so I think that's going to get worse. There is a season pass coming, which obviously you will pay for, but again, I never mind. I know some people are really vehemently against season passes and whatever.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I actually am okay with it because like if you are legitimately delivering me new content at a regular cadence and it's decent content, I don't mind spending $10 a month on that. I really don't. You know, I mean, I grew up though with World of Warcraft.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And obviously there would be like, you know, new raid drops and whatever else every couple of months, but.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah man, I'm okay with paying for a game that continues to service me well, and I don't find season price


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[Assistant] A season pass pricing to be quite, to be egregious. I think cosmetic prices are egregious. They're ridiculous. They're laughable. But $10 for a season of content that includes plenty of new reasons to keep playing. That part has always been a good deal in my book, especially in the likes of Destiny. You know what I mean?


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[Assistant] So uhm, yeah man, Diablo, eh, it's end game stuff is, is interesting. Uhm, I think there's more than enough there as a launch product. I'm like really surprised by how much there is in fact as a launch product.


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[Assistant] Uh, I, I remember Diablo 3. Did you guys play Diablo 3 at launch?


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[Assistant] Yeah, I tried to. There was nothing there at that end game, man. It was fucking nothing. And they were so busted. Everything about that was terrible. And this is just


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Polar opposite to that, there's so many different end game activities, at least three core loops plus PvP, plus this like nightmare dungeon progression which keeps scaling up, plus just getting one character up to max level.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And really having a good go of it, you're looking at probably 70-80 hours for one character.


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[Assistant] And there's five classes to start. If you want to do that five times through, I mean, there's a lot of value there for that, that asking price. Like I continue to be stunned actually by how much video game Blizzard have delivered here for this asking price. I think bang for buck.


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[Assistant] I haven't played a better value game this year, other than Tears of the Kingdom, which is value in a different way, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, because it's kind of like the amount of experimentation and exploration you can do in Tears of the Kingdom is unparalleled. But here, though, in Diablo, it's just a lot of different video game, like characters, classes, map to explore.


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[Assistant] Builds you can unlock, in-game activities to do, PvP shit, right?


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[Assistant] I think it's pretty unparalleled in 2023 for the volume of content that it's served up, which I never would have expected. I really wouldn't have expected that. Like it's just, uhm.


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[Assistant] I mean, I think most AAA games, live service, they launch very lean. They hold a lot back because they're like, nah, we'll sell that later.


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[Assistant] I don't think Blizzard held much back here. Some, sure, but like on the whole, not much. They really just put a lot out there for that asking price. And I respect it. So uhm, yeah man, that's kind of what I've been on this week actually. Just a lot of Diablo when I had the time. And uh, and Marvel Snap as always. Just, just, that's just tugging along when I have a quiet moment.


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[Assistant] So, you know what actually, you know what I bought? I bought Octopath 2.


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[Assistant] I haven't played it yet, but I booted it up and I just did like a character selection and then I had to stop.


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[Assistant] But it's been a long time since I played these like old school, you know, JRPG kind of games. Final Fantasy got me thinking about it. It was that Final Fantasy didn't make me think, oh, I'd like to go back and play an old school turn-based game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But it was more a case of like, there's been a lot of chatter about those sorts of experiences when we talk about Final Fantasy. And so that chatter...


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[Assistant] Um, so that's a lot, but I'm actually interested to see. And like, I think that'll probably be the way I approach most JRPGs these days, which is I will start them. I will put like 20 hours into it. I will understand what it is and I, then I will spend the rest of my life wishing I could play more of it. Like, cause I won't have time to play more of it. That's essentially my relationship.


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[Assistant] With Persona and like Xenoblade, which I love and fucking every, like it's just how I go with JRPGs. Cause I really like them, but just the time is a lot.


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[Assistant] No, that's a good call. That's exclusive to Switch, though, right? It is, yea, okay. For now.


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[Assistant] I didn't think it was on PC, I'm pretty sure it's a Switch exclusive.


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[Assistant] Goddamn man, it's so bum, it really bums me out how, cause I, every week I do shoutouts for like, what's coming out this week? It's a JRPG. It's coming on PlayStation, PC and Switch. And get fucked Xbox. Like it's just, like it just never release any JRPGs on Xbox. It's crazy the degree to which.


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[Assistant] That can't be it. Yeah, it's metaphor, re-fantatsio, and the other one is the Capcom game that looked like it was on- it looked like it was Onimusha, and we're like, oh my god, it's Onimusha, and it's like, no, it's not, it's something else. What is this? We don't know. We have no idea.


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[Assistant] I think actually one casualty of this year being so stacked is I played


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[Assistant] That I just haven't had the time. I feel guilty about that because I feel like there's some stuff that I've missed that I really would have loved to have spent more time with. Yeah. Um, but it just, unfortunately it's kind of part of this job needing to focus on the bigger stuff. Um, yeah. So, so that's, that's something I reflect on.


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[Assistant] Uh, hang on, let's have a look. I'll tell you. Dave the Diver is from, no, it's totally indie. Indie. Mint Rockets. Self-published.


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[Assistant] 97, 98% uh, overwhelming positive, which is like crazy. That's like for that many reviews for that. That is like one of the highest rated games of the year. In fact, that's actually, that's a good check. Um, we can check Steam 250 and best of 2023.


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[Assistant] Which is number one. Resident Evil 4, number two. Pineapple on pizza.


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[Assistant] I have that installed and actually that is one I plan to play on my trip for sure. Please do. Because I, when I first saw it, I, uhm, saw


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like I, I played that demo actually, and then I was like, oh, okay, this is cool and cute. Like it's, uh,


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[Assistant] It's got like a diving game and then a sushi game. That's nice. And you just think, you just imagine that that's how it would roll through. But then I've seen other clips and other videos and screenshots and I'm like, Whoa, this looks like a whole thing going on here. That's like.


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[Assistant] This far more elaborate RPG experience than just being like a straight up, you know, life management sim thing.


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[Assistant] And uh, visually it's, it's visually, it looks quite.


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[Assistant] Limited at first in that demo that I play, you didn't see too much of it. But again, looking at those later clips, it's such a more, it's such a fantastical rendition of the underwater world that you're just like, wow, this is, this is a lot. So yeah, I'm really surprised by it.


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[Assistant] How are you watching- Wait, Season 1 of Foundation? Season 1. Okay, right. Season 2's out today, isn't it?


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[Assistant] I love foundations so much. I feel like I love it more than I actually should cause I'm like, I'm pretty sure this is not great.


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[Assistant] Oh, psycho history doesn't sound- Just yeaah, all of that shit. I'm like, I don't know man, but like, there's just the aesthetic and like Lee pace being in there and like just so many things that I cling to and I'm like, fuck yeah man, this rules. And also I guess I was just hankering for some,


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[Assistant] Really hardcore sci-fi, and it's like, doesn't get much more hardcore than that really, I guess it kinda does, but you know. So I was into it.


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[Assistant] Yeah, I mean, it's, uh, it's, it's, it's, yeah, it's, it's pretty, yeah, I like, I like June. I like it. I don't love it, but I liked it. I liked it.


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[Assistant] I started to read the sequels though. That's risky business, man. I don't know. They get fucking wild after that. Oh, they talk about shagging in the suit.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, no, honestly, I won't spoil it, but it's just the first book is very much like a political drama. Uh, and the second book start to get very funky in ways that the first book really doesn't. And after that, the subsequent books get really wild in terms of


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Who's mating with who and all sorts of stuff going on and it gets pretty crazy, so. Fuck yeaah.


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[Assistant] Oh, that's brutal. Uuuh, did you plagiarize?


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[Assistant] I was like, yeah, I can see how this is interesting and cool. And it was like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It was during, cause that was during my MOBA phase as well when I was playing League of Legends and I was experimenting with other stuff, like I dabbled in a bit of Smite and.


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[Assistant] You could definitely see how this genre, this sub-genre could version out to be something more interesting. And I played it. It didn't really leave an impression. Like, it was like, it's fine. It's cool. But the problem with that game is that it just got absolutely steamrolled by Overwatch. And, you know.


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[Assistant] I think Battleborn, had Battleborn come out in this current landscape.


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[Assistant] There's a chance that Battleborn might have had some success because I think these days, these games get released.


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[Assistant] With a much longer view of their growth. Like I actually, I actually booted up Hunt Showdown recently just to play a few rounds of that. Because Hunt Showdown is popping off at the moment and it's got its highest concurrent player count ever and whatever. That game should have died a long time ago.


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[Assistant] But because of its player base, like it had, it was struggling to crack 2k players and it just, it wasn't, it didn't feel like it was going anywhere, but Crytek really stuck with it. And now, because it was incredible by the way, Honda's always been remarkable and now it's massive. And I think that in these last few years, developers have realized that it takes time to build these games and you invest in them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Whereas Battleborn, it was kind of just like, well, this didn't work. Really quickly.


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[Assistant] Let's just leave it and I'm not, and I'm sure there was a billion reasons why they, I don't want to assume why they made that decision.


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[Assistant] But I do suspect that had it released later that the developers probably would have had a different mindset to it, a longer view of its, of how it could grow and Battleborn might still be here today. So, um, yeah, I didn't, I didn't realize.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Correct. So it just had no chance. Cause Overwatch was this phenomenon and everyone's like, they're the same. And it's like, they're really not the same. They're very different games.


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[Assistant] He's always talking about it, but he doesn't want to like make it happen because he wants, he says he wants to get the rights and.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He doesn't want to like take over development of it. He says he's done with all that stuff and it's kind of like, well, unless you do it, like who else is going to do it?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It really, you really need someone who's willing to grab it by the scruff of the neck and bring it in. But I honestly believe if you put it out there, there's a chance. Like I'm not saying it with guaranteed success, but what I'm saying is there's nothing quite like that right now. And if you could find the right budget and you could find the right monetization model to support that game.


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[Assistant] It's got a real shot. Cause like, Lawbreakers is really fun to play. Like it really was. So I agree with you, Blast. That's a really good example.


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[Assistant] I think at the, yea, true. Yea, I was gonna say, I think at the U.S. Congress is on it, like I'm sure, it's a, it's solved, like, you can always trust Congress to get the job done, right? Yea, exactly.


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[Assistant] I think, look, I think it'd be great if this improved, but I just have zero faith that it does because there's no money behind the cause to change it. Like there's no, cause there's going to be lots of lobbyists paid for by publishers who will fool


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Give money to politicians to stop them from making change in this area. Uh, that is, that is gonna happen for sure.


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[Assistant] Uh, that's what the ESA's job is to do essentially, to lobby against improvements in the video game industry, to be honest. Uh, and I don't, and there's no counter force to that. There's no like block of money that will come in and will convince a different set of politicians that actually this needs to change.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, again, relying on politicians to try and make video games more accessible into the longer term, uh, by reducing


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] By making it easier to pirate things is not going to fly. Obviously it's not making it easier to pirate things, but that's how the lobbyists will position it. That's the argument that the politicians will hear, and then they'll be like, no, not touching that, uh, please give me, you know, some more, more money. Like.


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[Assistant] Yeah, that's a cynical take, but I just, I just don't see it changing. Like I really, like why, why would that? I just don't believe politicians understand the importance of this enough to try and make a value-based judgment. I think they're going to see it as purely commercial and like Disney's going to give them a check to say, nope, just keep it as it is.


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[Assistant] Yeah, that actually would make sense. I can see that actually selling to be honest with you. I can see that. That would fit within the Switch's thing and it would be the one time they actually use the touchscreen on the Switch because zero games use the touchscreen on the Switch. So yeah.


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[Assistant] Don't you fucking dare. Wow. Nine years? That's impossible.


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[Assistant] Now it's another one of their games, like Fall Guys and that and Fortnite. They got this whole party game thing going on. It's a smart strategy to be honest, so.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, well, 23 years ago, this week, Final Fantasy IX was released on the PlayStation.


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[Assistant] And, uh, it feels like the right time to talk about that because obviously we just had a new mainline entry and so that's nice. And it was also a high fantasy entry as Final Fantasy IX was after VII and VIII did the whole kind of like, you know, very dark


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, but it was, yeaah, it was still wonderful, and, uh, really loved it, and I really loved how, like, it always really welcomed, like, it, it's...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, you know, obviously the Final Fantasy games are all so diverse, of course. Like, you know, 16 is the perfect example of that.


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[Assistant] But I, and I've always admired Square's willingness to like totally throw out everything they've done before to try something completely different within each new entry. That doesn't mean every new entry lands well, but it's cool that they try to do stuff like that, right? But I do think Final Fantasy IX did land well.


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[Assistant] Uh, there are rumours that there is a remake currently underway. Uh, that's doing the rounds right now, which would be cool.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And there was also, if you want to go and do some Googling, some artists put together like a proof of concept of what Final Fantasy IX might look like if it was fully remade from the ground up. It's kind of like a 3D game. It has a little bit of the kind of like, you know, X game in Unreal.


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[Assistant] Uh, yeah, you'll find me here on this YouTube channel, but not next week. Uh, next episode, I should say, because I'm on holidays and, uh, the news show will be taking a break for a month. And, uh, my editor Austin's going to be stepping up and he's going to be doing some reviews for the channel, which I'm really excited about because, uh, he is awesome. Yeah. He has a background in game dev.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And he has his own YouTube channel and uh, like he's just, he's just cool. I think people are gonna like his stuff. I have a good feeling about it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, uh, he's doing that. And then I'm also, I'm also on Threads. I'm actually basically off Twitter entirely now. Like I just haven't tweeted there in days or longer, I guess. And I'm just like very, very done with it. I'd love to never have to go back. I'm not saying I'm finished there forever, but I would love it if I was done. So let's see how Threads goes. Let's see.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Did you treat yourself to 19 inches of venom?


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[Assistant] That contains a 19 inch statue of venom? And the tagline, what they actually wrote in the tweet was, treat yourself to 19 inches of venom.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Did you treat yourself to 19 inches of venom?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Pretty good. I've been, um, I've just been no life in Baldur's Gate, eh? Like, I've actually put a hundred hours into it in the last two weeks. I finished it last night. I roll credits.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm tired. I really have not slept for a long time because I've just been feening this fucking game. And I'm looking forward to talking about it. It's, it's the challenge I find. I don't know if you guys ever find this when you play a game that you really love. They like, how the fuck do I review this now? What do I say? How, how can you find the words to sum up something like that?


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[Assistant] Both its scale and, and, and what it achieves. I always hate that. And uhm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I'll get to it. You got it. I'll put some words out there. I'll make it happen. How long do you think it's gonna be?


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[Assistant] Is that right? That's right. So, uh, but yeah, that's been my life for the last little while. Just, just, just doing all that.


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[Assistant] Uh, sticking in the rain. Yeah, you know the show well? Yeah, absolutely, right Jake? Yeah? We're like, yeah, we're plus the theater kids. I'm more of a lame-ness guy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Australia gets none of this cool shit. It's so bad. Like I speak to friends who live in London and they're like, I'm going to this, this cool thing. And then whatever. And friends in the States, they're like, oh yeah, I'm going to go see this person in Australia. It's like, oh, Jimmy Barnes is playing at the, you know,


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[Assistant] Great picture down here. Okay. It's very bleak and dire. There's nothing going on. That's why we keep getting depicted as a wasteland. There's just nothing here. Okay. Except kangaroos and the opera house. That's all we got.


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[Assistant] Tell me about Gamescom, because we debriefed Gamescom.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] From the perspective of like, Hey, we watched the live stream and watch the dickhead get up on stage and we watched the trailers and whatever. But, um, what was it like actually being there? What was it like walking the floor? Did you go, were you just in the business section? Cause just so you know, everyone gamescom is business section and then the everybody else section.


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[Assistant] I just, I tested path tracing when it hit cyberpunk when they like the new ray tracing thing came and it was, it's unbelievable. Like it truly is.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I still believe like cyberpunk is the best looking video game full stop. I mean, obviously every video game has different styles and what have you, but it just in terms of what that game is technically speaking and what it can fucking look like at times. It's unbelievable. And I always, I thought that before, but then I saw this path tracing stuff kick in and I'm just like, damn man, this is insane. But the lighting is simply the best lighting I've ever seen. And


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, it obviously requires a very expensive kit to do it for sure. Absolutely. This stuff is not cheap for sure, but if you're an enthusiast, like it's, it's pretty wild for sure.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You didn't treat yourself to 19 inches of venom, so you should treat yourself to the


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But if it was that hot, like as in, if it was that hot, the temperature was that hot in there, he'd probably just be like, I don't wanna be here man, this sucks.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was like, I saw a hands off preview for that one time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I was just like, this totally rules, man. Everything about this is sick. Like the car you drive is this kind of like wood paneled.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, station wagon jalopy thing that you have and you have like a garage and you upgrade the garage so you can like build new things to put on your car, fully customize it, but it's always going to be like kind of a piece of shit. Like don't imagine your car ever becomes this sick.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, like Ferrari looking, whatever, like it's always gonna be kind of a piece of shit.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And you're just running it through the wastelands and yeah, all this weird stuff is trying to grab you and you have to like, get out to fight these monsters so you can get the parts off them so you can take them back to your car and like, put them onto your car while these monsters are trying to attack you, get back in, drive off. I was just like, nothing about this does not rule, so.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, I was, yeah, they didn't let me play it back then. I'm glad to know it's playable now. Hopefully I can, yeah, I'd love to get my hands on that soon. It's definitely very high on my watch list. Is it the good of day yet?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, yeah, it's also, it's exclusive to PS5 for consoles, I believe.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] One is hell. This looks, this looks like it has a dangerously low TTP. Time to penis. Oh yeaah. Basically you can make whatever you like and make them fight. Oh yes. And we all know how that's gonna go. Absolutely. Devolver already have a game for that called genital jousting. That's true. Great game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] My, my only concern about this game is, when the fuck am I gonna find time to play it? Because it's like, that is the same week as Spider-Man, that is the same week as, uh, well, Alan Wake is a little bit after that, uh, the MGS, City Skylines MGS collection.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But that was going to be that week as well. So yeah, I mean, I really am very excited for Mario for sure, but I know that I'll probably just have to put on like back catalog and come back to it a bit because uhm, it's just so busy. That week is like THE week. It's like the most stacked week of the year basically.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Good name. Wait, is this, this is the, is this based on the comedy show?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We have a television show here in Australia called Thank God You're Here, which is an improv comedy show.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Where like a scene is set up and like comedy, like the comedian is on the other side of the door, has no idea what it is, opens the door and then the first person in the scene is like, thank god you're here. And then it's just like, go, you know, I was wondering if it was some like something like that, but you've just said it's something it's, it's obviously a comedy game, but it's a very different type of comedy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He's a, he's a riot. He's such a fucker. He's unbelievably talented. He's such a, yeaah, he's amazing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I have a follow on question sort of related to that and like, cause obviously I've not played the game yet. I mean, I'm, you know, that's it's end of September for me cause I've been on borders gate three. I'm going to do cyberpunk next, but starfield as I look at it and as I read coverage and whatever else, like it doesn't,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I've heard a few people say it feels a little bit sterile, you know, that it's just like, there's this coldness to it that's not present in


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, this sterile, cold space. I don't know, does my question make sense?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Wait, so you're saying that in order to, when you're navigating the environments, like walking around in first person, you need to bring up a scanner to show you what you can interact with in the environment. Is that what you're saying?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, now that's definitely something I've, again, looking at this course and watching it from afar. Like I, there's so many parts of it that appeal to me.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That I'm really looking forward to, but that part is the part that I haven't quite seen yet. So I've seen, I've heard little bits of story like Crimson Fleet storyline is apparently really good and what have you and, but just in terms of like that lore that you really want to get invested in, like you want to read up on what's going on in the Fallout universe and how it all went wrong.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, again, Elder Scrolls, there's tons of it and a lot of it's fascinating.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That part, I was always curious, I've been curious at this point, like is it there? And from the sounds I think it's like, maybe it's not there, uhm, but, do you think anyone would disagree with that assessment though? Do you think there are people out there like, nah man, there's heaps, there's heaps of lore here, there's, this is the start of a whole new universe, they're gonna make a movie out of this, like is, is anyone gonna be out there saying that?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] With some RPG elements. I feel like Morrowind, I keep saying Morrowind because it's like my go-to for Elder Scrolls, but like, those games, you could play them in a variety of ways, melee and spells, whatever. Like, is this a shooter, do you think? Like, are you missing out if you try and avoid that or is it just totally unavoidable?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Do you like it so far? Like cause again, a lot of people say they just straight up don't like it within that time. 10 hours in or whatever. Do you like it so far?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I have heard, cause I know we're talking about the opening hours and also talking about how exploration works, but I've heard that, um, if you make the effort to


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, well, I've heard, again, reading stuff, you know, like, oh, I made the effort to make sure I come out of orbit and fly a little bit around space before I touch down somewhere. And then I got hailed or I met some pirates or whatever else. Like that kind of thing where you are deliberately ignoring


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The game sys the convenience systems that have been built in with fast travel and just like kind of just.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well actually, that's a good thing. The thousand planets thing, cause obviously my understanding is that thousand planets, uh, procedurally generated, when you go to them it generates a tile.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So you can like, so the game could basically reload a tile, like create a new tile for you to explore, right? That's all fine. I don't really care about that that much. The whole seamlessness, gigantic world I need to be able to go everywhere. I think it's fantastic in something like No Man's Sky, but I don't think it's a necessary, like a necessary requirement.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] My concern about this when I, as I think about playing it is like the procedural generation stuff. And I go on this entirely new planet.


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[Assistant] Procedural generation stuff. Is it a net positive for the game or would you have rather that it was a smaller universe with just nothing but curated environments?


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[Assistant] I mean like, that's one thing I just, again, I can't see the appeal of that. Like that does nothing about the idea of a thousand planets actually.


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[Assistant] Like, I kind of, I see the appeal of the procedural generation and endless planets, endless discovery, whatever. For a Bethesda game, that just...


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[Assistant] A thousand planets doesn't interest me at all. I was like, no, I'd rather like six planets actually. That'd be much better, please. And nothing I've seen has really changed my mind about that. Having not played it yet, that's the part that I'm really interested to see. Like, well, no, is there actually some reason why a thousand planets is good?


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[Assistant] I haven't seen any compelling reason why this game needs a thousand planets at this point.


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[Assistant] I mean, having said that, I never thought anything this year could top Tears of the Kingdom for me. I was like, there's no way, man, Tears of the Kingdom's got it on lock, it's down, it's impossible, forget it, it's over. And then sure enough, Baldur's Gate comes along like, blue Tears of the Kingdom out of the water. So maybe I have that same response to Starfield, but it's a pretty high bar to, to, to, to meet, I think.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's right. It's Liquid IV. And we all love it. We have the bottles here. It's pretty rad. Uh, you can use it. You got the bag? What's the bag?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You can use it first thing in the morning before a workout when you feel rundown in the afternoon, night out with friends, hangover cure. They don't list hangover cure here, by the way, but I'm assuming that this would be a good hangover cure.


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[Assistant] Uhm, just one stick, you can hydrate real life, two times faster than water alone, plus get essential vitamins and three times the electrolytes as leading sports drinks. And it has 12 delicious flavors, including my personal favorite, which is the grape one. Because as I said before, we don't really do grape flavored stuff in my country, but we have it, we have liquid IV grape flavor and I'm very into it.


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[Assistant] I wish I had an eye for that sort of stuff. It'd be amazing. But yea, like digital photographers, I think it's definitely like-


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[Assistant] Excuse me. It's like a burgeoning thing where you see it more and more in people's like Twitter handles and whatever. And companies are actually working with these people as well to, you know, bring them on and, you know, get them to make trailers, all sorts of shit. And I think that's so awesome that there's this entire emerging discipline around taking cool screenshots in video games.


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[Assistant] Uhm, I mean, do I think every game needs it? No, I mean, obviously not. Like, it's fine if...


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[Assistant] They just freeze frame and you can rotate and maybe like a filter or whatever, but some of them go wild, just like.


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[Assistant] Dozens and dozens of features and ways you can change things and just like they've clearly put a lot of time and effort. You know, you can tell that like hundreds of people hours would have gone into creating just this photo mode and that doesn't sell games. Like if no one's like, Oh, I want to buy that game cause it's got a great photo mode. No, this is just something that people do.


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[Assistant] Like developers do for the fans, they do, they do it because they love what they've made and they want to be able to showcase it in the way, in this incredible way. And so, yeah, I really love that it exists. It's a feature I will never ever use, almost never.


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[Assistant] But I'm extremely glad that it exists for other people and I'm really glad it's getting picked up as, you know, it's getting more and more recognition for the people that use it.


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[Assistant] Actually, I heard just briefly, sorry Lucy, that Starfield actually uses, is it true that Starfield uses your?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's actually, sorry, I actually have a question in relation to that. So how do you, how did you balance the desire to pay homage to something with your need to create something unique and that was like distinctively your own teams?


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[Assistant] Yep. Absolutely. So what, why, why the self published route? I mean, obviously I get more autonomy, sure, but like that obviously would have been a bit of a risky decision. You know, you had kickstart and whatever else. Like what was it like to make that decision and how has that gone for you since you've gone down that path?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And do you think that's the future of the studio then, like self-published route, or do you think the next project will be published or by someone else, or does it depend on the project, or what do you feel about that?


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[Assistant] I actually won quickly though. Any hints on what's next for you guys?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So guys, uh, Raycons, let's, uh, let's talk about Raycons, Raycon wireless earbuds. Uh, we have an exclusive offer for first person. Wait, I got the name of our podcast wrong.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It is actually 8 hours of playtime and 32 hours of


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[Assistant] I mean personally I disagree with that because I feel like what's gonna happen ultimately is that the only people who will get hired in voice acting are people who agree to let their voice be used in perpetuity.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So it's, and so it's fine to say like, oh, it's just the voice actors. Like the voice actors are okay with it, then it's fine. But again, I think the amount of power that these major corporations hold in that negotiating.


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[Assistant] Again, you will only see actors be cast who are willing to sign their voice away.


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[Assistant] So, I just think, no voice? No AI voice acting? Uh, I mean like, unless it's specific, like let's say,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know, you've got to do background chatter for NPCs in a video game and you've got to do it at a massive scale of a procedural generation. Maybe there's some arguments around the fringes of that and I don't know, they need to be worked out. I'm not saying, yeah, that's fine. I'm saying let's have a conversation about that maybe, but I would say that generally speaking,


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[Assistant] If it's a proper voice actor role, it should always be voiced by a human. And if that human is then no longer able to.


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[Assistant] That's it, and that's cool. Uhm, so yeaah, I'm pretty against this stuff, personally. Understanding full well that there's a lot of inevitability in it as well, and like, I think that's something that we also will need to just kind of navigate as we go forward. Did you know that uhm...


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[Assistant] Kiano doesn't cry. That's right. Uh, yeaah. Bless you. Thank you. Wow, that- that microphone really- Did you mute your mic for that or did it just cut that? I did. Okay, I was gonna say, is that the AI- is that the AI microphone put in the work while we're trash talking AI? You know?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, in the world of video games and one of the key points of concern they have is about AI and they want to make sure that it does not become a major feature of the way that


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know, like if, what's his name? Troy Baker turns in one performance as Joel and his job.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, unfortunately I chose a bad example. Okay, yes. Uh, but let's say a person turns in a performance and, and then their job is just to say ooh ah bah bah boop bah over and over again so they can fully map their voice. And then that company could just use that voice for as long as they like to make a whole series of games.


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[Assistant] Yes, yes, that's right. Mmm. That's great. Loved it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Do you actually, do you plan to play more Starfield now that you've done the video? Are you like, nah, I'm good with that. I've had my time with it. Time to move on. Or is it like, how do you feel about that?


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[Assistant] Basically everything you said just then could be superimposed on what I'm just about to say because-


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[Assistant] Yes. 100%. Excellent. Great game.


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[Assistant] We're all in LA next week for various things that we're not allowed to discuss yet, but we're there and we are going to be doing an in-person episode, which we're pumped about. Uh, they're always the most fun. So, um, yeah, we'll record it and then it actually won't go up for a bit. So we'll record it next week.


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[Assistant] Yeah, so it'll be like quite behind whatever, but uhm, yeah, looking, really looking forward to that. That's going to be uhm, super fun, very excited.


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[Assistant] Uh, Ralph? Find me on the sword co- no, I'm joking. Uhm, I'm back from there and I'm now here in the back of the land of the living on YouTube and on the Twitter and, I dunno, that's about it really. Just, just, you'll find me in LA next week. If you see me on the street, say hello. It'd be nice. Come find him. Come find me, that's the challenge.


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[Assistant] Uhm, I did a preview for it a while back, like I played a preview in like March or something. And I was like, this seems, you know, you only play it for like an hour, hour and a half. I was like, this seems like, okay, like there's gotta be more though. That was my thing. I was like.


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[Assistant] Uhm, and then when I played the final game, I'm like, oh, this is the whole game. Oh no. Uh, my biggest issue is that, uh, it's, it's kind of not very fun.


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[Assistant] Uh, I know a lot of people are rightfully concerned about the poor state and the glitches and the bugs and everything like that, but that stuff can get fixed. And ultimately for me, it's like the fun factor element is not there. And that's what I like come here for, you know?


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[Assistant] It also was just a bummer because Arcane, big fan, uh, but I just.


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[Assistant] It didn't click with me with this one. It's just like, it feels like there is.


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[Assistant] Something missing, like from like a reward feedback level, I mean maybe it's just like


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[Assistant] The lack of engagement with enemies, the skill tree that I didn't really find very enticing by enemy with some things that like,


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[Assistant] As a player, like, my time was kind of being wasted, and I never usually have this attitude, but I kind of felt like as I was playing, well, I'm like, well, like, if you're not gonna care, then like, why, why should I? You know?


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[Assistant] Oh man, you could have been like me and still get yelled at just because like there are like some good ideas or like rough things deep in the game that like I couldn't help but like point out and like, like, like what though? Like what, what?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So I just like the idea, the whole like, Salem's Lot, New England town thing. I think like, there is parts of a good town.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In there. Um, I also thought that like the vampires and the vampires created by science is cool. I think a lot of the.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] When it comes down to the actual encounters of them and the way it plays, no. Uh, but like, stuff like that, I like, there may be somewhere, something. I have a question for you guys though.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, because my first impression of the game was like, oh, it's great that you can play it single player, but it seems like a lot of these abilities are better with other people. Did you guys feel that or see that through playing the full game?


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[Assistant] Yeah, it's just a really shitty situation. It's rough. The only thing I would say is for like, especially with what Gerard was saying.


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[Assistant] Go ahead, like jump in the mud. It's fun to like, not fun, but like I get it's tempting to just like revel in the negativity and read all the reviews and stuff. And I think that some of that is good depending on like how you engage, like actual critical reviews and I think


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[Assistant] It is explained why it is not good or not enjoyable or what doesn't work. It is just so much more valuable, so.


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[Assistant] Continue to seek that out, like, I love, I get, people are like, yeaah, negativity, let's, let's read, read up by all means, but like, there is some, something that can be learned, something that can be extrapolated from this.


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[Assistant] And like I said, like you said, uh, you can't be like 100% perfect with it every time, like how you want to set out. But I know for me, I started making a conscious effort specific. I'm always like Mr. Positive and like I always try and find the good in games and some people like absolutely hate that.


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[Assistant] Uh, but like when it is a game that I just downright do not like completely, uh, and can't find interesting things about it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This sucks. Like, I will have reasons to explain why. And all power to people who can comment and be like, this game is trash. Like, that's, that's good. But like, I was like, I need to...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Do more, explain more, and because like I said before, there is a benefit to understanding what works and what doesn't work for games for you.


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[Assistant] I love a comeback story. I love being wrong. I love being like, I love being like, no man's guy kicks, kicks ass, you know, like, but with this one, it's, it goes back to what I said at the start.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I just didn't find it fun. I know fun is a very like, particular thing to different people, but like, I think the game needs to find the fun and I think that takes a lot more than just adding new side quests or fine tuning the shooting.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, this podcast is sponsored by Raycon. If you're looking for earbuds, uh, that are really good, but come in at about half the cost of other quality wireless audio brands,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's expensive stuff, but with Raycon, you got enough to have multiples, have spares, and they got all the features you need.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it's pretty straightforward. They have two years of product protection insurance for just a few extra bucks, free domestic shipping, flat free international shipping, and they have over 50,000 five star reviews online. So there's a lot to go on here.


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[Assistant] Even the best, like, of these types of media trained executives can usually still wiggle it back around to being on message where this was pretty candid.


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[Assistant] It kind of reminded me of the beginning of Conker's Bad Fur Day, where it starts with him frowning on the throne, and it's that slow panning shot with him with the crown on his head, and it's a little crooked, and he's just sitting there like, meh.


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[Assistant] Well, there's also the, like, not to be too cynical about it, but there's also, like, the come around from this where that can eventually be a win for them. Like, they can go on stage and say, ladies and gentlemen, 60 FPS and everyone's gonna be like,


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[Assistant] One of the things that stuck with me was he did kind of mention, uh, rethinking some of the process in terms of how they interface with game studios and stuff. Uhm, he didn't go as far as, like he did, he did still manage to say that like they still want to just let


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, but, like, it's just kind of made me think, like, I've always looked at, uhm, with


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[Assistant] The more recent Microsoft, I guess the Phil Spencer era Microsoft as being nice guy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is that just the nice guy approach not working? Does Microsoft get me to get a little more mean and like wrangle things? And when he did say a little bit about like changing some of their processes, like I'm curious to see what that could actually amount to.


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[Assistant] Do you guys think that this, uh, candidness really, I don't know how to phrase this question, almost like


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Do you think this candidness really can move the needle, or is this more just something for the hyper-obsessed?


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[Assistant] What else Xbox has been doing? Where they have, like, they have been focusing on building up, like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The library, the all the online stuff, the subscription model, all that stuff. It to me sounded like reiterating like, we know we can't beat Sony at X or Nintendo at X, so we're going to continue to just beef up our other interesting shit because that's


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I also, I wanna reiterate too, like, I like talking about these interesting, weirder aspects of Microsoft, like their unconventional approach to all this, and, and what Phil is saying here, but


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Ultimately at the end of the day, I do fall to now I'm starting to get bored.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Of all this talk and all this baseball, and I do just kinda want some games. You know, I've been waiting with bated breath for Fable. I've been wanting to see an inch of Stated Decay 3, so I'm starting to just be like, okay, I just kinda wanna


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] See stuff and not hear talking and words, you know, because I'm sold on all that stuff. Like I get that Xbox is doing it different. So now I just want to play some video games.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh boy, yeah, the easy answer, the predictable answer, if you guys watch me at home, uh, is Freedom Fighters. Freedom Fighters was a fantastic game, uh, made by IO Interactive.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, in their prime, in between the earlier Hitman games, uh, you are a New York City plumber, where New York is suddenly raided by the Soviets in an alternate history, man in a high castle type thing, and uh, you basically slowly become a freedom fighter, progressing from just like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Kind of little like real time, like you get units, you send them and command them. Uh, it's a third person shooter. Uh, it's actually really good representation of New York.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Music by Jesper Kidd, so it's incredible. But that's my easy answer. My other answer is kind of a cheat, sticking with the whole Xbox theme.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, Crimson Skies, so there was like Crimson Skies for PC and then there was High Road to Revenge for Xbox and I wish there was another one after that because like it has lore, it's in this cool like Sky Captain World of Tomorrow-esque like


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alternate 1930s, and it's just a game where you fly around in a plane and shoot stuff, and we don't have a lot of those anymore.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] PlayStation Tears of the Kingdom, sorry.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And not a lot of prep either, you know, you take a scoop with some water, you shake it in a thing because they send you this cool little bottle and you're good to go.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, I have a question. Can we, can we kick this off? Absolutely. And if this is a spoiler, then please just divert me. Can you build a boat with the corpses of your enemies? Sadly, you cannot build with corpses.


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[Assistant] What would you say, uh, for, in terms of creativity and discovery, what would you say for people who have been saying, like, myself included, like, oh, I'm just not very creative or intuitive in games like these and I'm worried about, like, not coming up with a cool idea to do a thing.


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[Assistant] How much dog is it? Like would you consider it like a dog game or is it more just about the puzzler and you're just the dog is just kinda like the vessel?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Thank you, because now I need to play something after Breath of the Wild, so there we go. You'll be on Breath of the Wild for a while though.


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[Assistant] That first one was addictive as hell. I remember just like, totally falling into that, like getting sucked into it.


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[Assistant] So, uh, people will say, Jake, why do you have such a tolerance for like busted games? Is it because you're a paid shill? You corrupt.


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[Assistant] Uh, really reloaded more than Rev- Revolution. Uh, reloaded as tight. It's, it's extremely awesome. And, uh, this game served as kind of a companion piece, if you will. Yeah. Uh, where you play as Nyobi and Ghost.


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[Assistant] Uh, Jada Pinkett Smith and that other guy. Uhm, no disrespect to him. But, uh, the game, what, like, embrace the Matrix feel from the bullet time slow motion stuff, uh, to...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Really cool animations, like the characters actually ran very robotically like Matrix people do, like before they jump over rooftops and stuff.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It had guns, it had melee, it had you fighting agents, it had you diving and shooting, and it was, uh, like a hot mess, specifically the driving sections, uh, but


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It just captured the Matrix feel and as someone who was just so engrossed in that stuff at that time, it hit perfectly for me. That was shiny entertainment too. Shiny man.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah man, great studio, great studio, real shame. So god bless enter the matrix. Between you and the matrix online, we were eating good. Oh man, the matrix online.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I actually have an, I have an answer, I have a weird answer. Go on, tell us, tell us. Uhm, back in the day, at least for me, uh, for a lot of the times, it was like the computer stores where they were sold, uh, were more independent, or often times, I remember my family at one point had a guy come and set up our computer, and he was just like a weird sweaty nerd, and uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Two instances I experienced computers like that, like my aunt got a computer.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Got some things going on in my personal life. Good things that are keeping me really, really busy. Uh, so I'm gonna be hitting the main stuff. I also haven't seen Guardians of the Galaxy 3 yet, but I'm gonna see that and probably, I feel like I'm gonna have enough to say to make a video, so.


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[Assistant] This is only gonna make sense to people who really like pay attention to your content, but like that to me is very much a Ralph-ass game. Yeah. Which one? Lego? Lego, yeah. Really? You say that? Why do you say that? I think just after it was like, after you really like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hyped me to hell with the uhm. The Hot Wheels one? The Hot Wheels DLC stuff and everything. That was great.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Tie your shoes and go to bed. We'll see ya. Goodnight. Sleep well. Don't trip. Because your shoes are tied, so ideally you wouldn't. But, okay, see ya.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then I was like, Oh guys, I've got to go on vacation. I'm going to do like third week of Jan. And we meant to come back last week, but I was so sick last week. I was like, I can't do this. It would be impossible. When I recorded my video, like my dead space video, it took me like two hours to get this 15 minutes stripped out because I was struggling.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And my comment section was like, man, you sound like Kermit the frog. What the fuck is up with your voice? I'm like, yeah, I'm really sick. So that is why this episode is entirely my fault because of one, my vacation and two, my sickness.


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[Assistant] No, it is, it was, uhm, it's hard to talk about that episode because I think there's actually a very interesting conversation about that episode specifically and how much it changes the story versus the games. Cause I think to this point, the thing that has been celebrated about this series is how much it has really stuck to the game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But also riffing on it, right? It's expanding out the story. It's adding elements.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This episode is a fundamentally different tale that is, you know, it reshapes what is essentially a minor character, but it reshapes them quite completely in ways that I think are good and bad.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's tough, but I would say in general, the hallmark of the series to this point is that it is a


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's a very, it's a brilliant adaptation of that source material, showing total respect to what it was, but also thinking about how it can add to it in meaningful ways. Uh, and I think it's, it's, you know, it's almost, I think the standard going forward. I mean, Arcane I think is still the best adaptation I've ever seen, but for different reasons.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But yea man, it's just, right now it's, it's hitting that, the highest of high bars, you know?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And to Neil Druckmann's credit, he actually directed episode two, right? It's like, it's not a...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You guys are selling short the Halo show. Okay, thank you very- we were all very excited week to week to watch that unfold. That was big, it was very exciting, it was- everyone loved it, it was a real- why is everyone looking at me like that? What's- wait a minute.


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[Assistant] I mean, what a stark contrast as well, like, it just goes to show you, obviously it's different, you can't straight up one to one adapt Halo into a TV show, sure, but you can, like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You can learn some things about why the last of us working so well and why Halo completely fucking didn't. Do you know what I mean? Like it's, that was a total...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, I can't believe this is season 2. I can't believe I have to watch season 2 of that. Oh god.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] How do you think they'll approach it? I guess that's the open-ended question. What are your thoughts?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, it's, it's... Interestingly, yeah, like...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And Kwan's story was so boring and so disconnected from the main events. And obviously it's a really big jump to establish, have a character like chief or whatever, and that be so established. And then all of a sudden to expect people to care about an entirely new character.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so I wonder how they'll manage that transition in season two. Like how do you take an entire season where it's built on all that and then get people to care about this new character in the world of television?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because also, don't forget, a lot of people didn't care about this character in the video game either. Like, that was successful for some people, but it was not successful for many others. Uhm, and I wonder how they'll, how they'll do that. Because yeaah, that's, that's gonna be tricky.


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[Assistant] It really makes me feel like, I personally feel like The Last of Us Part 1 was very much lift and drop in terms of its readiness for television. You know, you can just take that story, chop it up into 10 episodes or whatever.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Done. Easy. Not easy, obviously. Don't get me wrong. Like, obviously a lot more goes into it, but that makes a lot of logical sense. But I think The Last of Us Part 2


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Does not work on any level as a television show.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, I think structurally it doesn't work. I think it's pacing absolutely doesn't work. I think also thematically it doesn't really work because I found


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That would be, I don't know that that's necessarily good television.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay, if anyone's missed this, there's this like AI generated Seinfeld thing that's on Twitch right now.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, no, I think, and also, uh, poor, poor, whoever they cast as Abby. Oh my god. Can you imagine? There's gonna be some, some actress who probably isn't connected to the world of video games, and then she's gonna get this role, and then Neil's gonna have to sit her down for the talk.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Are you interested in coming along the show? That'd be pretty wild. Come on, come on, we'll come and have a chat. Tell us how you plan to adapt Season 2.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, I mean, I just default PC every time. I mean, cause I think it also, I've, almost by accident, I think I've cultivated like a PC audience, uh, not really, that was never the plan.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But I just always prefer playing on PC in terms of customization. Obviously I have high-end hardware as well, so I know that I can run it and it'll look the best it can possibly look.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, I like being able to provide that service to my audience as well, being like, does this port suck? Spoiler alert, probably yes. 9 times out of 10, the answer to that is probably yes. Uhm, but I, but I like that, you know, uhm, I certainly, you know, looked at


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I came through, I came out watching Total Biscuit and whatever else and really admired the way he'd sort of focus on that and


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Um, yeaah, I just, uh, PC feels very comfortable to me. And also I don't, anything with a, I play a lot of shooters. I hate playing shooters on a controller. Absolutely hate it. Cannot stand it. Makes sense. And so that also is one of the reasons why I default to PC whenever I can.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] One funny thing I'll tell you about PC though is that review code very often comes in later for PC than for consoles. And so often I will have to review a title on console purely because they're like, oh, the review code for PC doesn't come out to like the day of or the day before release. And I'm like, oh, fine. I'll have it on PS5. You know what I mean?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, that's pretty much the only time that I will play games on consoles now when I can't get a PC review code.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Did you guys get a Dualsense Edge yet, by the way? Did you guys get one of those?


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[Assistant] A Nerf Gjallarhorn? No. Oh wait, sorry. Sorry. A giant cardboard hotdog?


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[Assistant] The good thing about this is that actually this is magnetic here, like, well hang on. So this stops the mouse from going away. Okay, that was pretty sick. Yeah, but you're right, I could do that. I totally could do that, but this is just what I had, so, you know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, it's like when I don't care, uhm, about aim, I play over there. But when I care about properly aiming, I always play here on my PC. Because you can't really get full motion on the map, like all that sort of stuff.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, yeah, no, well, I mean, I am able to review Nintendo titles now, uh, which I'm really happy about. And, uh, this was actually one that I was quite interested in.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because I really enjoyed Fire Emblem Three Houses, even though I didn't get a chance to finish it. As I said, I put about 25-ish hours into that, then I had to step away purely because


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, busy, but I was really, hang on, there's a mosquito. He's gone. Get him.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] He's gone, he got away. Uh, but yeah, really, really enjoyed that because it just, it had a really great mix of, uh, story, of characters. It's tactical combat felt very grand and epic because you kind of had these battalions at your back when you were initiating combat as a unit. Um, it had the whole kind of like persona.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Really pumped for this, let's, let's have a look. Uhm, I really expected it to be more Three Houses.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To be fair, I did not do my research before, you know, I just sort of was just going in quite blind. Turns out it's definitely not three houses. It is a very, um,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] How would you say? There were quite a few complaints that Three Houses was far too focused on the social side of things, and this is a response to that. It really strips out all of the social sim persona stuff that was the hallmark of Three Houses, and it really keeps things focused on the combat.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A lot of people, it must be said, the Fire Emblem community, generally really happy with this one. Uhm, most of the hardcore Fire Emblem fans who have been playing it for a long time are like, yes, this is what we wanted, you're back to basics, love it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, and those people, generally speaking, are a bit disappointed with Engage because it feels like a big step back. It feels much more narrow.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, it's story really sucks, like I- I- I think every- even people who like the game are a bit like, you know, the story's a bit nuff nuff.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, the character moments are a bit light on as well.