[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Takes away innovation from the industry because it's a reliance on what came before.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If one game could get remastered, remade, ported from your personal back catalog, what would it be?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yo, if they put, if they remade Red Dead Redemption in the Red Dead 2 engine. Bro.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, to move on to listening questions, of course, uh, we, uh, have an email address that I always throw to Ralph too. Contact.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Open world games like, you know, we were talking about Forspoken a couple weeks ago and it's just half of the stuff in that game did not, didn't need a crafting system. It didn't need all of these things in the open world to do because they weren't interesting and that's what the trade-off is.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] In a lot of cases, not obviously in everything, but.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I guess it's not interesting. I'd rather it be the Elden Ring Breath of the Wild where I'm left to my own devices


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I can look at the map if I really need to, but you know, I'm encouraged and rewarded for exploration and seeing something or hearing about something and then going there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't want to open a map and just see a million different icons to do the same thing over and over again. I think there's more creativity within, can be more creativity within restraint.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Dude, in, uh, you can play Flappy Bird in the casinos now. Can you? Oh, the big ones. Persona 5 has, um, a, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, well thank you tinybuttybud for your question. What an incredible username. Uhm, alright, let's go through new releases. Uh, Ralph, I'm gonna throw to you what's come out, what's out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I read every book. I was the exact age when the movies came out. So, you know, I was like, where's my letter to Hogwarts kind of thing. And then as soon as that last movie came out, I finished watching it and I was like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it's like I've had zero pull to play Hogwarts Legacy as part of my day job. I've not been required to play it because I work on different things. And then it's just, you know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Ralph, you've been, I think you've finished it. Jake, you and I I think are at the same place based on what we were talking about yesterday at Discord. Gerard, are you playing?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, so I'm like four or five hours in because I've been traveling a lot and I, I never played like a dragon.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This, cause this is a remake, remaster port of a 2013, 2014 game that's never really been localized, uh, outside of Japan. And so this one takes.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yakuza and all of the familiar faces, so like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Majima, Kiryu, but you're playing as different characters based in Edo period Japan.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yes. And then for like a dragon, yeah, cause I like a dragon, it was turn based.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Feels weird for me to go back to the brawler style. Because I'm so used to like a dragon now.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh, so I have been playing, uhm, I've been doing a lot of travel and I also did my stupid little sleep study, uhm, which did I tell you guys it came back and they just went, oh, you just, you're very tired.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] My stupid sleep study. Now I have chronic fatigue and they were like, you might have a mix of hypersomnia. And I went, well, how is that different from chronic fatigue? And they were like, uh, just wait for your consultant to ring you. Still waiting. Um, so I, I had a, like a whole


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Day and a night where I was away and I took my, uhm, my steam deck and I started replaying Arkham City. That shit still slaps.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Absolutely. Um, but I also was playing birth.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Which is a game I played at Summer Game Fest last year. It was on the Day of the Dev Stand and it is about...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Loneliness, and basically you build a friend.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it's a bunch of kind of tactile puzzles, like you're interacting with the world. It is super macabre.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, it looks kinda creepy, uhm, but basically the developer, uhm, solo dev, Madison Carr is her name, and it's basically the whole game is born out of her feeling lonely in a big city.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it's a really cool concept. I think the puzzles are really good. I love a puzzle game. So I wanted to give that one a shout out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Depressing in nature, but I don't think it's, uh, to its detriment. Uh, but the other game I've been playing, this is a very big Lucy game. Uh, Lakeburg Legacies was in Steam's Next Fest, which was last week. And I got the demo. This one.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's weird to describe it, because if you describe it one way, it sounds like you're advocating for eugenics.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because you are basically breeding.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, it's a really, it's a really fun game. You basically are the kind of.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's a simulation game, you are getting people, they come to your village, they have stats, like they have stuff that they're good at.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, you pair them up with someone, you try, you play matchmaker, you try and get them a good match and then you try and, uh, get the good stats to go down and the family trees, cause if they're happy, you give them the right, the right jobs, the rights, uh, they have to get in the house.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then they get married and they have kids. It's really cool, like, uhm.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's a really fun, very chill game. The one thing I would say about it is I played it for like an hour and I wasn't finding the big events.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Popping up too frequently, I feel like you can definitely just sit for 20 minutes and nothing really will happen. You're just, oh, I'm just gonna get a new villager and then I'm gonna pair them up and do this thing. I was expecting a little bit more, but I think if it's just a very relaxing game you want, not very high stakes at all.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, some like, some good breeding. Uhm, but no, it's really cute to like pair them up because you send them out on little dates and you have to remember what their likes and dislikes are and some of them are quite zany.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, and you're kind of like, oh, you know, we'll take this midnight walk, this midnight stroll and then...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, you have to remember that they hate midnight strolls and so you have to pick the right thing and then get a better match and then that means they'll be happier and the kids will be better and they'll do better at work and you upgrade buildings. There's a lot to it. It's uhm, I've been, I've been enjoying it. So it's just the demo. Obviously we're still working on it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I like 1-700 but I'll play it, you know, for the 30 hours when it first comes out and then I'll just like leave it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But usually, you know, if I'm playing a game, I just kind of have my own opinion on it before I talk about it with you guys or on games after dark or whatever and like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I like reading reviews just because I love it especially when it's like someone that I know. I'm always just like, oh well what is...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, well, speaking of reviews, uh, we're also going to talk a little bit about PSVR too, cause the review embargo for that is up. I know, Ralph, you've been playing. Oh, there it is. Oh my god, you Phil Spencer'd me. It was there the whole time.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The, you know, compared to other stuff on the market wasn't necessarily top of the line, even when it came out, I would have said. I think.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think Sony are definitely going to give it a good go. Uhm, I know they have slashed their sales predictions for it, given the world and the fact that it is more expensive than, or on par with buying a PS5, but


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I really like VR, I just think, I just wish I could play it without getting sick, like it's not, it's a thing that, like I can only play Beat Saber at this point.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I get motion sick with pretty much all of it though. Like I've played, uhm, the Vive is the one that I have the least amount of issues with, but I'm not going to invest in a Vive because realistically,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The games are not there for me, like, sure, I will boot up. I'd love to finally play Half-Life Alyx or-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I played some of Resident Evil 4 in VR when I was at my friend's house and I was like, this is really cool, but I'm not gonna sit and do this all the time. Also,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know if you guys know this about me, I have a very small head and all of the VR headsets I find really heavy. I have a really small head and a long neck. I'm a catch.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, but I would love, I would love to play, I will probably just go around to Tomo's cause he got one. But I mean.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The games, I mean, I've heard good things about What the Bat, from the people who made What the Golf.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I would love to play Half-Life Alex, I know that's not PSVR, uhm, yeaah. Unless it, you know, magically comes. I'm sure it will be.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So it's also alarming given like all the headlines around how much the VR division at Meta has lost. Yes, absolutely. Which doesn't do well to kind of sway public perception that hey, now's the time to get into VR, right? Because it's booming. It's like, you know, here's one of the biggest companies in the world and they can't necessarily make it work.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A weird one remains to be seen. I'm excited to talk to you next episode, Ralph, when you've played through more of these games. I mean, I'm also interested in Horizon, but like...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We shall see. We shall see. Alright, we're gonna end the episode as we do every fortnight. It's, it's, it will be easier to say every week, but every episode with, uh, this week in gaming, this week in the way back. Um, Gerard, I'll throw to you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] God, imagine. Uh, well my pick, Bioshock 2, on this day, uh, well, not on this day, on February 9th, uh, 13 years ago, 2010. Ooh, okay, okay. So, taking it away from, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Irrational games, cause they were busy working on, did they start Infinite at that point? They would've. Yeah, Infinite was like a five year dev cycle, so they would've been working on Infinite. Um, Bioshock 2 was made, uh, different team. Uh, it was like, it ended up being like Steve Gaynor and everyone, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know, actually. Was it really? I think so, yea. 2K Marin, um, RIP was up around these parts where I am. And yea, honestly, I absolutely adored.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Bioshock 2. I'm a big Bioshock fan in general, but I loved the kind of switch up of 2 and I genuinely think Minerva's Den is just one of the best.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like you, you say good DLCs and you're like, oh yeah, lair of the shadow broker. But I think honestly, Minerva's Den was just fantastic.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Multiplayer, not for me, but any excuse to go back to Rapture and yeah, Bioshock 2. I replayed it actually, uhm, Pandemic.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm trapped, so now I'll just pretend like I'm trapped underwater and I'm also a big daddy, but I love it. Subject Delta.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, I'm, Lucy James Games everywhere, I'm a Gabespot and Giant Bomb.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Jake, where can people find you? And please, say the words. Close us out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, I'd love to see you in the Wolverine get up. I want to see those thick chops on the side, connecting beard down here. I want you in the yellow suit, man.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You're a close second, like I think it's like maybe half an appearance, cause we often film this show with Tam in the room when we're in person. That's true, that's true.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, to, to poo poo on anyone's ideas here, but I think the other thing we're kind of forgetting about, in my opinion, aside from the dollar signs that everyone's having their chance in their piece of the pie, right? If you're a game dev studio,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And motherfucking Disney shows up and they go, do you want to develop Indiana Jones? Uh, a game and that no one has developed an Indiana Jones game since the DOS games, let alone maybe Lego, Indiana Jones for the DS and we like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's, you kind of say yes, right? Like that's the idea. And, and there are studios that have a track record of being really good and genuine about creating licensed IP. Illphonic.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Made frickin' Ghostbusters recently, which was awesome. They've made Predator. They, I think they even made Friday the 13th. That was one of their first products they worked on, right? They co-developed it. So like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I feel like as a game dev, if you are given an opportunity to develop something, you want to give it your best. Unfortunately, whatever happened at Golem,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm sure one day we will see the Netflix series that tells us the truth about what happened there. And hey, Embracer, you're welcome. That's how you get your money back.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I do, sorry, I didn't want to talk a little bit, going back to Blessing's Point 2, about what a basic group is doing in terms of collecting these studios. Uhm, and just looking at the list of places that they own, just the list of studios and companies they own,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think the idea here, and this again, it's just me talking out of my ass. I'm not a fucking insider. I don't know anything about anything.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, I think the idea here is by owning so many studios that specialize in so many different types of IP licensing or development,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We're trying to kind of be a catch-all company that could theoretically do something with their own IP, aka Lord of the Rings, right? Like, looking at this, the THQ side of Nordic and Embrace Group and all that stuff, a lot of the games they put out in the last few years are licensed remasters, SpongeBob, you know, the bikini body game. Oh yea.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You had, uh, destroy all humans. Uh, that got remastered and the first one got remastered and brought back and I'm sure they're gonna make a second and third one. They made another spongebob game, uh, like last year or something like that. Yeah, the Cosmic Shake.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Exactly. Yeah. I think the, and you know, they bought Limited Run Games who specializes in creating physical games and they bought Bitwave Studios, uh, the guys I know over there who specialize in porting and, and they just released, uh, Mr. Gimmick for the first time to worldwide, which was only released


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] To the, uh, to Europe. So like, to me it seems like everyone they purchased, the idea was we're gonna build a super team of studios that we own, and then supercharge the IPs that we do have to create something new.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I think that whatever this, whatever this deal was, whatever, whatever this big billion dollar purchase was or acquisition was,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, I have both an Xbox, I, I, I, in my office I have several Xbox Series S's, uh, just as a means of, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Of having extra for recording b-roll or streaming, whatever it may be.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I, I love them. I think they're great. I, I definitely think it's weird. There's no, no CD drive on it. And thus it's a little less in terms of performance, you know, from it not being a 4k console, a hundred percent all the way through.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But it runs, I haven't had a game I've played on it that's like run worse than that on an Xbox Series X yet. It just seems pretty...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like the hardware power really kind of resonates, but it's interesting to hear, it's almost like, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's not the same, but it's how I think of it. Nintendo Switch Lite versus Nintendo Switch versus Nintendo OLED. Like the, the constraints around the hardware creating a longevity problem could, could be an issue for sure.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, I'm right now clearing out the depths, which is the lower area. And I'm doing all the light routes and fighting every single Hinox and frocks and Gleeock and, and Stalnox and every fucking boss with the health bar.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And, uh, clearing out all the chests down there. And then I think once that is all done. Oh, I've done all, I have all the recipes for all the food. Uh, I have heard, cause I haven't beaten the game yet, narratively speaking, but I'm also like not.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think like spoiler alert, Link saves the day, right? Like I'm not like that. I'm not like that what's gonna happen too much.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But I have heard that when you beat Tears of the Kingdom, it shows you completion-wise what's left on your map, on your menus, and all that stuff, which for me, makes me so happy because, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so I'm trying to, oh, and then also like Resident Evil 4 remake. And now I'm trying to, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Get that game done because wrestle quest and freaking see if stars is right around the corner. I'm August is so hype for me. I know I'm a big indie game guy. See if stars corner trigger. It's going to blow everyone's mind. I cannot wait.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I just feel like I'm not, I'm not, it's unattainable. I just, I keep reaching to be done and just, it's slowly, I'm just crawling to that finish line. I'm getting there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I definitely need some therapy sessions after all this. It's been, it's been a chalky year for games, my friends. And we're not even, we're about to hit the halfway mark, right? Like I, if you were like, Hey Gerard, how are you in January? I would say I'm dead space. How are you? You know, like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, you ask me later on, oh, it's March, oh yeaah, I'm Resident Evil 4, nice to meet you. Like, I don't know time or space. It's, it's, I, it's, uh, I think you should leave. There's too much shit on me. There's too much shit on me. There's too many games. There are.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The thing that like I didn't like, the one thing that really kind of like took the win out of my sails was that some of the side quests I just didn't really


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm like, they all kind of build up to like making Clive and friends better characters in the end, right? Like you, you care your level of investment, especially in the end game, the side quest, you, you get side quests with like Jill and Josh and other people and it feels good to like have those personal side quests. But the first, in the beginning, it's like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hey Clive, go deliver some soup. And you're like, all right, now deliver these apples. Now deliver these apples. Yeah. And then later on it's like, Hey, all of this crap happened. And now the side quests have some value. Go ahead and do them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it just felt like the, between the side quests and some of those cut scenes, you're just doing a lot of like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Listening and reacting and taking it all in and you have to really connect with the story. Otherwise none of that's going to connect with you. But I will say if you are someone who really loves the story, doing the side quests, especially right before you beat the game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is one of the few games where completing it adds value to just beating the narrative.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know, whether you're leading up to the ending or, or the post-credit stuff, like there are side quests that are dripping with lore and, and, and alluding to certain aspects about the ending and stuff before and after, and you're just like, oh man.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It feels good to complete it because you get rewarded in that way. And I really appreciated that. But yeah, overall, I really enjoyed it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's been really interesting to see the discourse about it. It's, it's, it's very not, not drama-y. It hasn't been like eating popcorn status, but it's been interesting to see so many people feel so different about it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Because I resonate with everyone's take just a little bit. And that was the hardest part about making a 51 minute video about a game that everyone's talking about because you're trying to find yourself and how you feel and how to sound different.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And, and trying to give a unique perspective without saying game good, music good, you know, I had fun, right? Cutscenes good. Cutscenes good. RPG bad.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Dude, blessing, you hit the nail on the head. There's that one, there's two, two side quests that take place like right smack down the middle of the game where you think you're like trying to save a little girl's


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I know nothing about that at all. I would never comment on that. I love everything. Uh, oh man.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Absolutely, I feel burnt out. Casually and professionally. I think, uhm, I think what makes it exciting to finish a game is stuff like FPS itself, right? Bringing friends together to discuss it. Uhm, I have a lot of friends, I haven't played Diablo 4 yet because I'm trying to


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I feel like that's kind of the, the, the exciting thing that gets me through playing a tough game. Um, Callisto Protocol is another one. I started playing it and was like, I


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Don't know if I like this. And I just remember talking to Ralph and Susie and they're going, yeah, this is not...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is not what it is. And just having that, that little connection is what like revitalized me to go, okay, cool. So it's not, it's like, it's almost like you're having a meal together and the meal's not good or the meal is amazing and you just can't stop talking about how great the meal is, if you will.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, absolutely there are games that you just get burnt out on, games that you forget about because there's too many new games coming out, or games that just feel like they're never ending, you know? And, and I think like the best way to kind of quantify that, in my opinion, and justify your time is a simple question. Are you having fun?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Put it down and come back to it later. Or don't come back to it if it's not, if you're not having that much fun. That's, that's where I'll leave in.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Now for those of you who are confused, uh, vitamins for us in the states is vitamins. Just to, I know there's a boundary issue, but I want to be clear, it is vitamins for the US, vitamins for anyone else who


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So I also, I, so they sent all of us the white peach, green grape and lemon lime. Um, and I haven't, I just prepared a bottle. They sent me, uh, they sent all of us a water bottle, which is really cool. And it's one of those like always stay cold bottles.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, and so now I've been mixing it up for a little bit. I'm going to try the lemon lime cause I do love me a good lemon lime lemonade flavor kind of drink.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Especially when it comes to water.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm on board. This is, this is the exact kind of stuff I'd like to put in water that's not overbearing. The flavor's really nice. It definitely has a lemonade. More lemonade than lime, but it's pretty good. I can get myself, I'm onto this. This is sick. I like this.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Real flavor, real hydrating, now sugar free. Grab your liquid IV hydration multiplier, sugar free, in bulk, nationwide, at Costco, or if you're a fan of the podcast and you want to help us out,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Go get 20% off at liquidiv.com and use codes friends at checkout. That's 20% off anything when you use promo code friends. That's F R I E N D S at.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If not this year, very, very early into next year as well, because I don't think Tekken 8 has a release date yet.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Typically speaking, Street, or Tekken comes out with an arcade platform in Japan first, and then it gets a console release. I don't know if it's gonna be different this time around, especially because- It's pretty cool that they do that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, but uh, Blessing, if you ever wanna play, let me know, I'm down. I play a very scary gif, uh, and-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's true. That's true. Uh, and I've also been playing a ton of Marissa.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It may have been a Switch exclusive for a bit. I think it was, I think you're right. Cause that was the same with Octopath as well.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I feel like I've just been playing Tears of the Kingdom for many, many months and that's basically it. No, I just, obviously just finished up Final Fantasy 16. Uhm, Street Fighter's been my fallback game and I've been, and I've been tipping my toe in Diablo 4. Just getting ready to kind of push into that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Although I will say, I've recently been playing Banjo-Kazooie, just because it's one of my favorite games of all time, and it just recently had its 25th anniversary a couple days ago, so I've just been...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, yeah, so I, I don't know, I, I, I get into the zone of I replay a lot of the same games every year. It's just something that I just love to do just to kind of keep my


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] All the games early and I'm just trying to- I'm on the treadmill trying to keep up.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Sony getting very mad. Extremely mad. I appreciate it. I know I appreciate it. Uh, I mean, to be fair, I did get Famasy 16 relatively early. Uhm, but I, I don't, I just couldn't get the game completed in time for a video. Uhm, I tried, but you know, sometimes you just gotta pull the trigger.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, I mean, for me, I also like crack the game wide open from a completionist angle, right? So like, and it's backfired sometimes, right? Like I had Dead Space remake on launch day, the video bombed and then like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] 7 to 14 day exposure period, I'm good, but that's rough when like the next game comes out next week and people have forgotten it, right? Like you kind of saw that with uhm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Sonic Frontiers a little bit into God of War Ragnarok, like, the fact that they were like, what, a day apart? You saw the YouTube thing just like-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think it was like one or two days. I think it was exactly one day, I think. And, uh, it's crazy cause like you saw the throttle on YouTube like, oh yeah, song for tears. They got a war and it just went the other way. Like it was that fast. Um, so, but anyways, yeah, you know, I'm,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Just trying, like I said, just trying to play as many games as I can. I'd say this has been one of the most diverse games.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's kind of challenged us to be like, you're now going to play two remakes of really great games that have been improved and altered and made better. And then here's Octopath Traveler 2, here's Final Fantasy 16, uh, Street Fighter 6 is like phenomenal.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's pixel, and then it's 3D, and then it's 2D, 3D, then it's pixel, 2D, 3D, like, it's just jumping all over, it's trying to do like, so many different games all at once, and I'm fascinated by it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I, I, sorry, I apologize if you guys watching at home see this. My, the sun in my office is beaming through, so it's like, it looks like I'm just being attacked by the sun, so I apologize if it's distracting.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, I just wish that this game took off and continued to thrive, cause it had that multiplayer. It came out at a very specific time of the PlayStation 3 and the early rise of like team battle games and, and uhm, you know, almost even MOBAs. Did you guys ever play Fat Princess on the PlayStation 3?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It was captured the flag, but your flag was a princess who is obese. And the whole thing was that the other team had the other person's princess and you had, you had to feed


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And like you have, you have different, you have different classes and stuff, like there's a, there's a mage, there's a brawler, and you, you use devices to like launch the princess across the field, and then you and your homies get together and the more who hold her,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, that's where she came from. It's essentially a capture the flag multiplayer game. And on PS3, it had tons of multiplayer people. You had teams of


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think it was like, it was like two teams of 30, uh, 60, uh, 16. So it was like 16 and 16 all trying to come together to get the princess from one side to the other.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Regardless of what you think of the weird undertones of the game, it was so freaking fun. And I thought it was an indie title, essentially. It felt like an indie title from.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh no, uh, s- oh no, nevermind, sorry, I read that as- as- as- Giant Bomb gave it a 4 out of 5. Uh, no, uh, GameSpot gave it a 7.5 out of 10.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I mean it's, it, uh, so we're filming this early on in the week, and I, who knows who carries it, but uhm, I work closely with the Game History Foundation, obviously a lot of you saw my Gerard was dumb and bought all these


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] All of the, the, the difficult data that people don't really realize. And granted disclaimer, yes, I am aware of emulation and so are they. This is...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This is talking about the commercial availability of video games in its current form from games as early as the Atari up until the year 2010.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So this is, this is up until the middle of the era, the tail end of the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii era of games. Uhm, the study is called 87% missing the disappearance of classic video games. So they went through and they deep dove on all the different platforms.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it sounds stupid obviously when you talk about Nintendo Switch Online because it just kinda started with the Game Boy Advance and Game Boy Color.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But, uh, the, the data is pretty staggering. Um, I'm, I'm, I'm going to, I can't, I can't know if I can summarize it up right now. Um, but you're looking at around, um, a total of about 1500 games categorized out of the total that, uh, 86% of them.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You cannot buy today in some shape or form, whether it's through a collection, whether it's through a port or a remaster, uhm, that number is 13%.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, for those of you who are worried about like, buying a new Mario, a Mario 1 or 2 or 3, you're fine. This is talking about...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] All of the games on all the platforms that are like, uh, you're Bubzies of the world. Bubzies is a little bit different because people meme on Bubzies. But like, a game like Pepsi Man, uhm, or a licensed like Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen Game Boy Advance game, right? Like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Obviously these aren't games that people want to play today, but if you wanted to play it, you cannot commercially buy it. And you have to obviously emulate in pirate, which is what people do. But when you break it down, not everyone is comfortable emulating and would rather actually pay money to own it on all.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Right? Like that's why we have things like Spotify and Apple music and, and movies and games and movies and books specifically.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] are a different medium but don't have similar problems because of the fact that


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, a movie can be re-released multiple times on new platforms. Books get reprints all the time. There's digital versions of books you can get on your Kindle or your iPad or whatever it is. But video games are stuck in this weird zone where it's platform specific.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so this whole study dives deep into that. Um, and it's going to help, um, all of the, the, um.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, the folks when they go to Congress in 2024 to battle for trying to convince the, the ESA and the Supreme Court to allow it so that people can rent games in a modern format via libraries. Imagine if you can go to a library and play any game you want for educational purposes.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Stream any game you want for educational purposes from the, from the value of your home. You can do that currently with books and movies throughout the country. You can't do that with video games. And the ESA is arguing it's because of piracy. It's, it'll encourage piracy. It's like, well, piracy is already happening motherfuckers. So like.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You might as well make a change. And so that's what this whole case is about. Um, would love to hear your guys' thoughts on it. I, I am definitely, uh, I'm making a huge video on it. Um, and, and a deep dive explaining the case. It's already out at this point, but, uh, yeah, I'm curious what you guys think about this before we move on.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, like the first copy of Myst or something like that or like, you know, what the very first NES manufactured in America kind of vibe.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Talking about at least three platforms based on the study and the surface level. 88% of PlayStation 2 games are unplayable digitally. So about 12% of the total library. There's about a thousand plus games in that library. So it's not, it sounds like a lot, but overall it's not.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] All of Madden's. Uh, Commodore 64, 95.5% of the games have not been ported over, 4.5%. And then if we're talking about the Game Boy family, which is Game Boy Advance.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, Game Boy Color and, uh, the regular Game Boy. Obviously because Nintendo Switch Online only has, oh, I don't know, 24 fucking games on it currently. You're looking at 94.2% are commercially unavailable to play.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, because video game companies want a video game company, so.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Very interesting study if you are into that kind of stuff, and if you don't wanna...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Read the study, uh, my video does a deep dive on it, uh, and that'll be out right now if you want to check it out, so.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, let's- let's start this week in the way back. Uh, I'll go first, uh...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I love this game. I think it's very under appreciated. Uh, 31 years ago.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, on July 14th, in Japan, Mario Paint came into our lives. And let me tell you why Mario Paint is amazing. Not only could you make music, not only could you color satisfactorily into the lines of your Mario World pre-made colors,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Not only could you hunt down all different types of bugs in the little bug minigame with the mouse,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's so good. Holy cow. That's awesome. They made it with, they made it with, with like a VCR, uh, of like a VHS, like, uh, camera.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And Mario paint. So Mario pays kick ass. I want that game ported talking about games that haven't been brought back in years. We haven't had Mario paint since the super Nintendo. You put it on the switch. I grab a stylist. I'm painting all over again. I'm ready to go.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Exactly. Lucy, Lucy, what's your game pick?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, you can find me on Twitter, threads, Instagram, Twitch, Facebook.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] This, this deep dive of, uh, the, uh, the, the preserving video games and such. And I just released a video today on Pikmin 3 Deluxe to get you all ready for Pikmin 4 coming out next week. So if you want to check it out, it's there. Otherwise, I'm completing games, everyone, like everyone else is.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh, right. Wow. It's 1992. It is- Can't be sooner than I thought.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It is very, it is very weird that the news cycle in the last few weeks has just been attributed to people I know. Like, especially with you, Ralph. You broke the JRPG thing with uh, Favansky 16. Uh, now you got Alana in trouble. Ralph, stop breaking the news, my guy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, Jack Nicholson is like the, the legend of Los Angeles where whenever there's an, uh, a Lakers game, it's not a Lakers game without him. He's been missing for many, many moons. And so now he's returned back and now the Lakers are winning. Just saying. So I don't know. I don't know if they're correlated, but just, just have to put it out there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That you just have to go, eh, sometimes my optimism just isn't gonna, isn't gonna change my mind in that way. Uh, cause I am that guy that would go in and be like, you know what guys, hear me out, Redfall's actually pretty fun. Uh, but, I, I, I think, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I watched enough people play it, I watched enough people...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Talk about it, the discourse around it, I even considered, you know, I don't do it very often, but on my channel, I sometimes will purposely play, uhm, games that are a blunder just to really see what it's like for a completionist to experience, uhm, and, uh, I just, I don't know, I, I felt like, uhm, I, I could not


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I did not have enough in me to want to try to play the game to see if I can contribute to the conversation that everyone else is saying. If everyone is saying the same


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] 8 to 12 things that are wrong with it. Chances are I'm gonna probably be saying the same things. And, uh, I just, I dunno, I felt like by the time I finally got around to, you know, really getting a chance to play it, I just was like, ah,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And this is the stuff that people won't remember or the stuff that people just


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Forget or purposefully ignore because it is...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, it's just so, it lacks so much humanity and compassion and empathy. We're not gonna know what that story is for a while. Uhm, but you can see there's developers from those studios who are on Twitter and they're just like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hey, we're trying. We're trying to pick up the pieces. We're trying to move on. And you look at their replies and their mentions and yeaah, people are just dogpiling and...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Having fun with your dunks and it's like, that just sucks. No one, no one wins. No one won with this situation.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It just depends on if the director of the game, it's not all on them, but it just depends if


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] wants to see this game the way that they want to see it, then I want to see it. If they have just been


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Your point is 100% correct, it was just that phrase. That's the voice clip for ya. But look, I thought, I think a lot of us were like, cyberpunk's not gonna get better, cyberpunk is DOA, it's gonna be better.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I, I think my, my point just kind of was that, uh, I don't think any game isn't redeemable. I think anyone can come back if we have things like No Man's Sky and, um, Cyberpunk. You know, obviously Anthem was, was just kind of


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It means he was gone, but uhm, I, I think there's, I think there's room, I think there's room for, for, and whether or not they re-change the entire game, or if they just do their bare minimum processes, uh, I say let them give them a shot, if they want to, if they don't want to, like I said, let the elves hit the floor.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So go to buyraycon.com slash friends today to get 15% off your Raycon order. That's buyraycon.com slash friends to score 15% off. buyraycon.com slash friends.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Phil, you can't, you can't acquire me, Phil. I'm too expensive for you, buddy. Be a useless IP, but hey, I'll join the Xbox family if you've got enough cash.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, about how he's like, no one's like, the sentiment being like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think he's just trying to be as real as possible, and this is coming from a guy who's not been the biggest Xbox guy. I don't, I'm, Xbox is his, is, and always will be on the bottom of my console.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We know that it's gonna be a struggle to come back. We know that, uh, we're not gonna be able to move the needle like everyone wants us to in this console war establishment that's been there. And...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There, the expectations is too much, especially for something like Starfield.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Everyone's just going all in on Starfield all the time. They have been since the second it was announced. They have been with how little we've seen of it. Everyone's still on the, on the Starfield train. And I think it's him just going, it doesn't matter.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Whether or not you're gonna pick up an Xbox for Starfield. It's, it's not gonna change anything. It's, it's, at least that's the way that I interpret it, and maybe I'm just completely wrong in that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I agree with that sentiment, Jake. I think Microsoft is trying to do what Nintendo did a couple generations ago with the Wii, which is we're just gonna zig when everyone wants us to zag. And I think that that's the way that I see it with Game Pass.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, the games just aren't always there for us, right? No one's gonna, you know, Game Pass for PC with Game Pass for Xbox is two different skews technically in the way of getting distribution in the game lists, but


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's all about a value buy. And so to me, it's, they're trying to build a,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Economy that is its own Netflix system that doesn't require you to worry about if you have a PlayStation or a Switch.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I think that to me is, is what he's trying to do is we're not trying to focus on the third party competitors anymore. We're just trying to do what Xbox does. And I think what Xbox does is the question of market hands.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Cause I don't think they even know 100%. Game Pass is the beginning, xCloud is kind of a fun thing, but like...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's why they're trying to do this Acquisition Blizzard thing, or the Activation Blizzard acquisition. They're trying to figure out what Xbox does.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Phil, come on the show. We're, we're, we're not gonna, we're not gonna attack you. We're nice.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's a bold move, Cotton, a bold move. Let's see if it plays off.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] As a huge Diablo II nerd, uhm, I loved Diablo II as directed by the way.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Oh yeaah. Diablo 2 Resurrected, uh, has been my, my, uh, wind down game. I come home every, I come home every day and I, I am trying to get the platinum on PlayStation 5.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, which is really hard because you have to get level 99 on both hardcore and, uh, on, uh, regular. And, uh, I'm very close with, uh, on the regular playthrough, but hardcore I haven't even started. Uhm, and I, I have, I have,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm very excited for Diablo 4. I think doing this server slam is a great idea to just crash everything.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I don't know if you guys feel the same way though. I have had a hard time enjoying Blizzard products, uh, just cause of all the stuff that's been going on. And it just feels so weird. Like I remember when Diablo 2 resurrected came out, I was like, Hey, any of my friends that grew up playing Diablo 2 want to play? And everyone was like, no, just cause they're bummed about everything going on over there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And so I, I, you know, and same kind of with Overwatch, right?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But it leads to the Overwatch and this, they're learning their lessons I hope, cause I remember Overwatch 2 came out and everyone couldn't even play the game. And so here we are now and hopefully this server slam will allow us to, to get all the bugs and kinks out of the way so we can enjoy the game when it's fully released in June. So I'm, I'm going to wait until, until release. Yeah, same. Yeah, fair enough.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You got it. Rosk asks, in your opinions, what is the best game that never got a sequel and absolutely should have? We'll start with you, Jake, if you got one ready to go.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I know we technically got a sequel, but I still want to go back to that universe. I would love a proper Super Mario RPG sequel. I want to know what happened with Mallow and how he's a prince and I want to know about if Geno or Geno, for some of you out there, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Sometimes you just need a vibe.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Lucy, you kind of neglected the fact a little bit that there's a lot of murder in this game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I was looking at a trailer of gameplay and just ILSI is gigantic.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Ladies and gents, let me tell you about a game that no one played, that I really wish the world played, but no one did back in the year 2010. It is a PlayStation 3 game known as 3D Dot Game Heroes. Did anyone here play it?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I've never even heard of it. Oh my gosh. Imagine the Legend of Zelda done in voxel. It's all voxel graphics and there is your own mode where you can design your own


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Voxel character from animations to startup frames so you could at one point in time


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I think on game facts, they preserved it. You could go on to the website and download user created voxels. And so you can play as Santa Claus. You can play as cloud. You can play as mega man. You can play as all these cool fan made things.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It is one of the most underrated games on the PlayStation 3. A hidden gem, if you will, as they say. Uh, it is published by Atlas. Uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, imagine, imagine the legend of, literally the first Legend of Zelda game, but instead of it being a top-down.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's a bit of an isometric perspective, but it's all blocks. It's all pixels. It's so quaint. It's so cool. Very well written. It understands that it is a game about a game. And, uh, it's a game that I wish...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Everyone could experience on, on Nintendo Switch or, or PlayStation or even PC, uh, and, uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I wanna say it's, it's becoming more and more expensive in the States. So if you're in the used market trying to get one, I think right now it's going for 30 or 40 in the used marketplace.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Which means by the end of the year, it'll probably be a hundred bucks. So if you're out in the open, I'm kind of joking, but not really. If you're out in the open, you see it, uh, grab it. I promise you will not be disappointed. Uh, and if you don't want to play, you can watch my big ass video on it that talks all about it. I really love this game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Highly, highly recommend if you like, uh, any kind of Zelda games, if you will.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Lucy, this is a game that everyone loves, but I wanna know why you picked it. Plants vs. Zombies.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Jake! Talk to me. This is a game that I absolutely


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Honestly, it's gonna sound really weird. I've been panicking to come up with what I'm calling junk content. And it's not that I don't care about the content, it's that I know no one's gonna watch because they're gonna wanna watch Tears of the Kingdom content. So I'm trying to- Quick hit.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm trying to kick that can until I'm done, and it sucks because I just finished Resident Evil 4 Remake 100% all the way through, and now I'm like, well that video can't come out until June, until everyone is starting to come down from the hype, but uh,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, that's kinda what I'm up to. Uh, you know, just streaming when I can and completing all the time. Back to you, Lucy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I actually, I've been thinking about this because we haven't done this show in a while. I feel like we should do one of those cute things where like we just start talking and it's like, oh hey, Lucy, didn't you have a coconut the other day? Wasn't that crazy?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Ralph aka Skill Up, Gerard the Completionist, Lucy James of GameSpot, and uh, I think I said my name already. This is episode 14, and it is our first episode of 2023. It is the first week of February, 2023, and uh, we got a lot to catch up on. How are you guys?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We're here and the uh, the fortnightly podcast is back and better than ever. Uh, you guys may have noticed we, or you, you will notice that we've changed


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I like the practical nature, it seems like, of some of the clickers. Uh, there's some like real genuine scary moments and horror elements, like in the first episode, the second episode, and then like the makeup effects, like a lot of that seems like it's actually real.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uhm, and that, that helps. Or at the very least, it's hidden well.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Where they do use special effects and that makes a big difference. I'm like, I'm a stickler for stuff like that, so I love seeing it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, there's something about, I can't put, I said this in a video, but there's something I can't put my finger on. In terms of how he handles the like atmospheric sense of dread, uh, it's almost like this slow unsettling pit of your stomach build that Chernobyl really had.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well speaking of season two, uh, we know we're now getting a season two of The Last of Us show and, uh, Druckmann has confirmed that it will be based on part two. So, I love what your voice did there.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know what I'm interested to see? The fact that this show is kicking off, it's a big deal, and HBO is


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's, that's interesting because it could be like it was hard enough, like it only landed for some people in a video game. So on a, on a TV show, it's, it's gotta be an even taller order. I feel like they would have to.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Build up more of the opening events that kick off part two or something to really develop.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] A full emotional hook along for the ride, like I think players to their credit are more open to, you know, as much as a lot of people didn't like it, people were still like, all right, all right, let's see where this goes. I'll play as this person just because video game, you know, like we did it with riding and some people didn't like that and we did it with Abby.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, tune in next time. I don't think we're going to do like a play by play for the podcast, right? But maybe by the end of the season, we'll definitely.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah. Just tell it, just give us all the, all the juice, the tea. I don't know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, speaking of tea, uh, let's move on over to a little bit of change of pace with a viewer question. We're taking viewer questions at the email. Uh, Ralph, what is the email?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yes, shoot us questions, we'll take them, and uh, good way to break up the show, freshen things up. So this question is from Nikki D, who asks, what criteria do you use to decide where to get a game? Like, platform-wise. Gerard, I definitely want to start with you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I will say that I am sometimes drawn to playing a game on PlayStation because I like the DualSense features, uh, but I'm a mess. I play wherever. It's like sometimes a review.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I'm kinda like, lately I've been like, review, review code sometimes just brings me on PC, uh, I tend to play.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then the first party games on PlayStation generally, but when it's a game that I want to play after work time or something I get to later on, I look up the digital foundry review and see like where it fares a little bit better and uh, jump. And I'm not like a frame counter, but I'm, I'm still ultimately like, I'm like, well, I still want, I still have the choice.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Ah, a glimpse into our home lives. Thank you, Nikki, for that question. Let's move on over to video games. It's time to talk about games, guys. Uh, so the release list for the week, I just want to rattle them off real quick. We have One Piece Odyssey, Fire Emblem Engage, Forspoken,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Dead Space Remake, Hi-Fi Rush, Season, A Letter to the Future, and also I want to add in one more, the GoldenEye re-release.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You should try Fire Emblem Warriors, uh, the newer one, Three Hoax, because you get the social sim aspect, but then it's about a killing, like a bunch of people.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it works, especially if you're familiar with Three Houses, it's like a cool way to- I didn't play the previous Fire Emblem Warriors, but I played the newer one and I- I like- it was cool. Sure, sure, sure, sure.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, so the, the whole thing with the review code, they didn't, they didn't give out a lot. Uh, and I, I, I got one like right before the game dropped, I think. So I had to like binge. Oh no, I, I, no, I didn't get one. I play, I started playing on day one, like a crazy person and just had to.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Binge as much of it as I could for a couple days and...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You know what it feels like? It's hard for me to be mean.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Why? Why are you doing it? Like? It does it a lot. Like it'll, it'll like after you finish a conversation, it'll give you a prompt to pop up your archive or your journal to then look at that where it's something you just heard about, but it gives you way more of it, but none of it matters to what you're doing anyway.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The gameplay, the fact that like, it dumps all that lore on you just for the sake of like, we made all this lore. Read it in our, you know, read it in our little in-game journal. The world, the city that they built, like no one in that city is compelling. Oh, the city is.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then it has all the, so it, it does, so it has like lore for the sake of lore, just like for no reason. Uh, it has, uh, open world for the sake of open world where it is, it's so big. The open, the world is so big.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I guess it's because you run fast, but like it just filled with stuff, like it's filled with your typical open world trappings, which I'll admit I'm very like cynical towards that. But in this game specifically.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Made up and bullshit. Like last minute they were like, uh, it's an ancient tome. It's an ancient tome from here, from hitherto. And that'll give you powers. And it just felt so cynically done that it just like alienated me.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Did you notice this? Oh man. Like you're talking about like you'll walk 10 feet and then it fades to black and then there's a cutscene and then they talk and then they just stand there and then there's a long pause and you wait for it to go back to gameplay and then you're still waiting and then you can walk.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it's a shame cause like I, I like running around the world. It's pretty exciting. It's very fast. It's not perfect, but it's cool. The combat also, there's something there. There's some cool ideas to it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There is stuff there, but then it has like, the combat can be cool, but then it has the, you're fighting a lot of enemies that are just like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] No, I think it's like a mid game. I don't think it's like the worst game I've ever seen. A lot of it, a lot of the complaints are like a lot of the issues I have with it also kind of just remind me of like older, cheesier games.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's something that was there. I mean, I like the idea. It's almost like you want them to do it again. The fact that they had some Final Fantasy developers, uh, this studio, and then they had Western writers. Like, that's cool. When they told me that from the Gecko, when they first announced this game, I was like, that seems cool.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Let's go. So I'm, I'm willing for them to try it again. It just seems like something was lost here. Maybe it was development during a pandemic. Maybe there was some miscommunications or planning-ish. I don't know.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, so Dead Space Remake, uh, Ralph, I think you were mega positive on this. Did this catch you by surprise? Were you expecting it to be like this good of an example of a remake?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I always really like actually voiceless protagonists, uhm, but with Dead Space specifically,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It was always like, eh, well like he has a girlfriend so like he's already very much a person. Like he's not as much this blank state because he is like on a quest to do a thing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And I just like that. Every time there was a new development, it was a little bit more born out of his ingenuity and it was cool.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like he doesn't talk, he's not like, he's like, dude, shut up. Like no, he, he says things when he needs to say things and that's really it. And I think that's a good example of like the rest of the game where it's like they added things, they changed things because they had a really good awareness of what made the original game great, what people really liked about it. And that worked for me.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, moving on, I wanna talk about the game that I haven't really had time to play too much, but it's the one I wanna play the most.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hi-Fi Rush. This was the Shadowdropped Xbox joint, which is also on PC, uh, from Tango Gameworks, the people behind the Evil Within, uh, during the Xbox Developer Direct thing, where they, you know, they talked about, like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, red fall and all that shit, but then they were like, new game right now, go get it. And it seems like the response has been pretty good. Uh, pretty good.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Can I just ask something? As someone who played the first like half hour of it, uh, I love


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I love the way people animate in cartoons. I love the zany reactions and this seemed like this really good cartoon anime mix type of thing. Do they keep that up throughout like all the trends, all the wild transitions, all the moments? Like is it, is it really that good?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] All right, well, a lot of games. We're eating good. Let's jump over to another, uh, user submitted question. User?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'll start. I just want to say that I think


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Probably, like, you know, there's more video game media now. Uh, so there's more people talking about video games on platforms, but then people are more involved in the everyday conversation as well. Uh, so it seems like there's way more bad stuff. Uh, coupled with, I think, the fact that there is a lot of stuff to bitch about.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, so I think that there is more of a critical nature now, but I think it's the nature of the growth of video games as a medium.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Can I get like old for a second and say kids have it easy now? Because like, even if you have a crappy computer, you could probably get at least one good free game on the Epic game store or Steam.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] or whatever or even a game on your phone where like I feel like you used to be locked in and locked in hard. I had Jeff Gordon NASCAR racing on


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Consumers are more active and more aware, and like, I like that. I agree with you. Kinda started with that. But the one thing that I worry about is, uh, the...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like, I don't know, I almost feel like I've seen like younger generations almost lose sight of the hobby because they're so wrapped up in the bitching because they were kind of like, they came into this hobby


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Only knowing the epic rants and the meltdowns about these games and it's almost like some people, they almost feel like they only can communicate about games.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Don't lose yourself. Don't lose the hobby in it. There's always a good avenue somewhere. There's always a good nugget to find somewhere. But that's me. I'm like shiny Mr. Positive and people hate me for that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I've actually seen that. That's a real theory. Thank you for mentioning, uh, video game journalism specifically because that's a great segue to our next section. Uh, game journalism and reporting specifically has been up in the air a little bit lately because of a lot of layoffs. So we thought we'd have a good productive conversation.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] The legendary Gene Park of the Washington Post. So please enjoy. Hey Gene, what's up man?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hey Jay, good to see you man. I want to kick this off by saying thank you because uh, the last time you were on the Friends Per Second podcast you gave a helpful tip that you learned from chemo treatment about getting rid of the hiccups and I thought you sounded like a crazy person and then I used it in a pinch and it actually worked. It actually works.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, layoffs, the subjects of layoffs is absolutely huge right now in the gaming industry from the development side to specifically the media side. I mean, we have fan bite, IGN, GameSpot, Giant Bomb and more, uh, with layoffs. The Washington Post has closed its game section launcher and that's where you come in.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, how are you feeling? I know you were saying before the show you just like got right back to work. What's, what's going on?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, so it's, it's interesting. It's almost, it almost feels like a step backwards because I mean, you, you came from newspapers and I know some other people that started in newspapers where a lot of newspapers and small outlets just had one guy, the video game guy. So you're, you're almost back to being like the guy for a large outlet.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's frustrating because it's, you know, when you hear of cuts like this to media sites, it's like gaming is the biggest.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Especially in terms of like actual reporting, like what you said, like access and getting real access to people and like Woodward and Bernstein-ing shit. Uh, like, you know, it's, it makes me wonder like even if people like Schreier are just like, you can't just take that for granted, like the work that you guys do.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So lastly, I just want to know, uh, from the consumer side, what do you think the average person can do who does care about where they get the news, or the pundit that they listen to, or the reporter that, like, what, I mean, me as someone who reads you, who reads a bunch of people, sometimes I don't even know what I can do to help. So, what can, what can the average person do?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Keep counting. We love reading you. We love you. So, Gene, thank you. Gene Park from the Washington Post, uh, he'll be linked below if you're watching the YouTube version. Uh, check out his interview with Neil Druckmann. It's really good. And, uh, we'll see you again soon, man. Love you all.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, uh, this week, 14 years ago, in 2009, uh, in Japan, they got Demon's Souls on the PlayStation 3. I am, I'm actually, I'm not, especially back then, I wasn't the biggest FromSoft guy, but I,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm always grateful to like friends and family members of my life that, uh, call attention to something before it pops off, before it blows up.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I'm, I'm grateful that one introduced me to Piracy, uh, that and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone were the two games where I'm like, I don't have any money, my friends have it, how do I get it on my thing?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, I remember figuring out how to like play as like Darth Vader and like you were able to get your own posters. You were able to mod your own posters into your, I had like the matrix posters in my house everywhere. Like, and just like the fact that that game got me into PC gaming and also the other stuff that comes with PC gaming, like all the messy stuff. I love it for that.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And then I played the game later on, I was like, wait, Claire, Claire's a girl? Uh, and it was still, it was still like best game ever.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We should do a whole special edition podcast Gerard on stuff like this, cause I find this stuff fascinating. I was talking about it even with, uh, the new GoldenEye release and how it's weirdly released through Nintendo switch online, Xbox game pass, or if you have the rare replay, but only the digital edition.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Also to the people listening, uh, whether it's through the skill up channel, the YouTube comments or social media or the podcast reviews, the feedback's like genuine and good.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And uh, you know, with certain things, with certain episodes, like formatting, even like when we did our interesting thing with the map booty from Xbox.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] People love that. People were re- we were like, oh, this is different, we're not sure how people are gonna like it, and we got genuine good feedback about it, uhm, and even just alterations to that if we were to do that again, that like, people, you guys have good, you guys are smart, so thank you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, you can find me on Instagram at Jake Baldino. You can find me on, uh, YouTube at Jake Baldino and GameRanks. Uh, Lucy, where can the folks find you?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Thank you guys out there for listening. Onward to 2023. We're friends per second. Tie your shoes and go to bed.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's a music reviewer, right? Like he's like a YouTube guy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Friends per second, Jake, take it away. Hey, this is friends per second episode 26. We're here. Can you believe it? We're in the continued arc of things kind of in flux. Last week we didn't have Gerard, uh, or no, Gerard was here. Were you here last week?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So bear with me. You guys look great. So there's that. Why thank you.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] We're free from a serial killer in my local area. They finally caught him.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] After like 15 years the whole community is rejoicing because allegedly the local serial killer has been caught. That's pretty cool.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] What was, Gerard, like, what was it like? How, how was Comic Con this year?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is it just you, like, exploring the fu- the, the Batman fun stuff, or are you Bat- is the idea you are Batman putting together these clues?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, cause I mean, I take it you're not usually like running to go check out the hottest new AR thing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is that the one where Al Roker like dressed up like him or something? Was that a hallucination?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So yeaah, believe it or not, we actually have Swen Vink from, uh, Larian for Baldur's Gate 3. He's the director of Baldur's Gate 3, one of the founders of Larian, the legendary developers at this point from like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I feel like I'm still playing Divinity Original Sin 2, so Baldur's Gate 3 there's a lot to talk about, so let's just jump right into it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, Swen, thank you for being here. Uh, you're like at the finish line at this point. The game is launching very soon, so how are you and the team feeling about it?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Was early access like a, a good pat on the back or was it more of a, all right, we have a lot more to do because I remember when early access first dropped, the response was very positive.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, why do you think no one else has taken up the Baldur's Gate mantle in so long, given how massive it is, you know, its impact on RPGs, pop culture?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is there a concern, like, I don't know if it's on your side or if it's on the PR side of keeping momentum going, building excitement, or do you feel like you can really just stand behind your early access work and your community going forward?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] You guys have been, uh, doing your own thing for a while now. Uh, with Divinity, like a lot of people assume now you guys are experts at these styles of games, but was there one specific, very big challenge jumping from Divinity to something like Baldur's Gate?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] How is the Xbox development coming along? I feel like a lot of people are looking for an update. Uh, last time we left off, I think it was issues with the Series S and that Xbox was getting involved to help out. So where are things at?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So, switching gears a little bit, our other host Ralph, aka Skill Up, is not here, but he had some questions that, uh, he wanted us to ask, specifically involving bear sex, uh, so we have read that-


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] But, so, we've read that, uh, you guys are working with an intimacy co- uh, coordinator for scenes, which is kind of becoming like a standard, I know, like, with filmmaking and stuff, so that's very cool, but how did that work with the bear scene?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That, that leads to the big thing I'd like to leave off on is with the game being so huge, what advice would you give to players jumping in if you were just sitting next to somebody on the couch who's jumping into it for the first time?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, we're really excited to jump in. Uh, Lucy, do you have any other questions?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, well we'll let you get back to work. Uh, thank you so much for spending some time with us. Congrats to you and the team. Good luck on the launch and we'll talk soon.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Is regarding Star Wars outlaws and open world fatigue. So, uh, I think it was a week or so ago. I remember talking about this on the Friday show on game ranks. Uh, the developers went on record saying like, yeah, there's going to be these planets and they're going to feel really big and they're going to feel like it's going to be a long time to traverse.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] According to the developers, Star Wars, uh, outlaws won't be an unfinished 300 hour RPG. They've managed to clarify that because they originally compared it to Assassin's Creed Odyssey and people were like, oh my god.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Some meaningful aspect to it at all. Like, it's definitely meaningful progression.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like, I don't mind grinding if it's me getting something really cool and awesome that then helps me in my journey or on the flip side, meaningful in the sense that like, all right, you're doing all these side quests, but you're getting something out of it. Like, uh, Ghost of Tsushima is a really good example where every little side quest, I just liked that it was like a little.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, I did do a lot of that, but it was because I wanted to get that stuff, I wanted to do it all because like, I think that world was like, nicely sized still, all things considered. Or it's just, the third thing for me is if I love the gameplay so much and I can't get enough of it and I will continue to do that thing forever, like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] If it played more like Polinghoff's Pro Skater or Batman Arkham, like, then I would...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Star Wars is always about, I mean, like, people will make fun of it, but Star Wars is about the stories. But, on the flip side, people also want to live in those Star Wars worlds. They want to spend a bunch of time in them, so.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's where I feel like Outlaws has to kinda do like a balancing act because at the very least with this newer quote, uh, Julian Garrity, one of the, one of the leads, uh, did say like, no, the main thing is still


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Let's, let's see how that goes. I still didn't get a really good grip on it, but yeah.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, uh, along with that, we unfortunately have some negative news worth covering. Uh, at the time of recording this podcast, it was just announced that CD Projekt Red, uh, is announcing roughly 10% of the team due to over staffing. That's a pretty big.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Chunk of layoffs from a studio publisher that has been perceived as otherwise successful, even with the Cyberpunk missteps.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, there was apparently going to be a sequel to Immortals Fenyx Rising, tackling a different era of like mythology, which seems like it would be pretty cool. And the news has kind of come out, uh, that it seems like that has been canceled. And, uh, that sucks.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think Ubisoft put out an official statement saying that they like reallocated things because of reasons.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Hopefully it means nobody lost their job, but the other angle of this is like you spend a long time working on something.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That's also gotta be pretty hard. That's something I can't imagine going through.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I also, like I was, there was so much potential for a sequel because I really liked Phoenix Rising. I definitely tried to like, I was like, yeah, no, this is actually good. I know we're like burnt out on.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Assassin's Creed Odyssey, this isn't just the same thing, it's a totally different take, it's really cool, it handled that Greek mythology really well, but the fact that it seems like they were actually gonna move on to a different mythology, uh, like it was going for more of like a Polynesian thing,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] As much as Greek mythology. So to, like, get a glimpse of what we could have gotten just makes it hurt even more.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Here we are, we're so happy. We're like, Dad's not home. We gotta have some fun. Let's talk about sad shit. Also, it's funny that we keep referring to Ralph like, oh, oh, Ralph, like, oh, he's not in charge. This is a democracy.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, the Exo, he did the Exo Primal review. He's, he, right? He's, he's, he's great. He's, he's like a perfect fit. Like, they are just so on the same wavelength, it's perfect.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Sideways heart for the beat, Brandon. Well, from the, from the negative news to a positive, uh, we did just get an announcement for New Castlevania on Netflix. Uh, this is for the end of September. It's Castlevania Nocturne, September 28th and there's a teaser trailer that is out.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] As of the time of you, you watching this or listening to this and, uh, yeah, I think.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's like Richter Belmont and stuff like that. I feel like now we're getting to the good shit. Let's go.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, let's move on. Let's talk about some games that we've been playing. Let's get into the meat. Uh, new releases. Uh, one of the newest releases is, uh, Disney Illusion Island. Gerard, you've been playing this. Uh, I...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think we talked about it off, off, like in real life, and uh, the way you pitched it to me, I was like, oh.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Wait a minute, I wanna play that. So what is the elevator pitch?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, it's interesting. It's interesting even just how, so I, and like I'm out of the loop with this stuff, but like you don't hear a lot from Mickey Mouse as like a thing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, Disney World and like some things here and there, so. They made him a king.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like I know people our age and older will love to introduce their kids to it because of like the nostalgia and stuff, but like in the real cultural zeitgeist outside of being a Disney person.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Mickey isn't like too, too much of a thing.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Who's that? And then dad will be like, I'll tell you who the fuck that is. That's Mickey Mouse, god damn it. He was in Roger Rabbit.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I mean, that initial pitch of Metroidvania without combat, I was like, oh, oh, okay, cool. Something different.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It was not on my radar, so thank you for putting it on mine.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Starting to hone your skills, you're being trained by Tam, so like, how's it been going?


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Well, along with that, uh, I've been playing Remnant 2. I put out a video on game ranks and first impressions. It's cool.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Uh, I didn't play a lot of the first one, but I had a friend who played a lot of it, so I heard a lot about it. So I was excited to just go into this one. And uh, it's, it's pretty much what I expected. It's, it's like the original, but it just seems like there's, there's way more to it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Like, I guess technically yeah, but to me it's more of just like a co-op third person looter shooter, but with really cool vibes. It's challenging.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So if you're not playing cooperatively and you just have another friend playing, like, they're gonna come upon things or just have completely different biomes and levels.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] That you're not, you're like, what? You're in a spaceship? I'm in the woods right now. That's crazy. And then like enemy encounters and even like sub story beats and stuff are going to pop up at different times, which is pretty cool. And that helps encourage.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's, it's good for that and what helps is that the shooting is good. The shooting is tight. It's very...


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Good snappy third person shooting, which I tend to like. I like third person shooters, but like, you know, you got like repeater weapons, sniper rifles, shotguns, pistols and a dodge roll and then some special abilities. So it's pretty video game. It's pretty straightforward, but there's just something about it that


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] There's a lot to it and there's a lot to like sink your teeth into where


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And it's challenging. Like you can, like even like I played as the heavier class for most of it, uhm, like the tank, uh, you can still die pretty quickly. So that's, you gotta like really be on your toes. And then of course, like some very formidable.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah, well that's the thing, it's like the conversation gets so muddled because I think it is now at this point a significant and important subgenre. But.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] It's a, it's a phrase that gets thrown around a lot and then people just kind of like meme it.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And yeaah, in this instance, like, Dark Souls with guns, like, I think that's a good way to, like, just get people interested in it because, like,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I think, I think it's more than Dark Souls with guns. It's just a cool, well thought out third person shooter.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Here, it definitely, definitely worked. And it seems like the community is digging it. I know there's been some PC performance issues, but.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Yeah. Yeah, I'll tell you what to shoot. Like shoot that thing. Shoot that guy. Aim down sights.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] So you can just jump into this and see why people fell in love with the loop and the whole concept from the first one.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] See reviews blow the doors down or anything, but I remember Ralph talking about it on the podcast.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] And he made it sound pretty interesting. So I'm still probably going to try and give it a shot at some point.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Alright, so Exo Primal, we haven't played it, just thought it was worth bringing it up for a second. This is one of the big releases. I forgot to mention one thing, uh, with Remnant 2. Starts a little rough, you might find it a little boring, a little grindy in the beginning, but just, just give it some time. I know you've probably heard that about a million games, but I definitely wanted to share that about this one.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Thank you. Thank you users for this question. This comes from Kat and Chris. They say,


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Both things take massive amounts of people to accomplish a vision. Yes. Oftentimes


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] They're both led by a director with a vision.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] I also just think it's such a, it's very like case by case and in flux, there's so much to consider where it's like, which publisher, which movie studio, the industries are different. I agree with you guys, but it's also too like the level of, uhm,


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[Assistant] I mean, at the end of the day, movies, video games, they're all green lit by like a money man corporate executive at the top all coked up, you know? I just wish maybe they'd make like the old Hollywood type producers do more video, like, like Robert Evans, like being like, ah, let's make a movie, let's make a picture, but do a video game.


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Excellent question though, thank you very much Kat and Chris for that. Like we said, contact at FriendsPerSecond.com if you want to submit a user question. Did I get the contact right? You did!


[User] Please transcribe this text

[Assistant] Okay. Okay, good. Well, Gerard, kick us into our next segment.


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[Assistant] I wouldn't say change everything for me, but it was like, it was like the second thing, really. It was like the final nail in the coffin. It was Metal Gear Solid and then Max Payne. For me, as a movie lover, I was, I was in heaven.


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[Assistant] James motherfucking McCaffrey, the voice acting, absolutely incredible, the way he chews those lines, the way the whole thing is...


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[Assistant] Yeah, I'm, I'm down that like they're doing it. You know, I think they still probably definitely understand what they made.


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[Assistant] And I, I didn't even like, I couldn't even understand a lot of concepts that, you know, the game was trying to, and I still was like, oh, there's something different about this one. This is more than just cool guy, third person shooter. And I think for that to come across to a 13 year old is pretty good. Like all the meta stuff, lords and ladies, the TV show.


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[Assistant] It's just so special to have, and I've been in love with Remedy ever since, and like I know I kiss Remedy's ass a little bit, but like, I can't help it.


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[Assistant] Anyway, that's it for my bits.


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[Assistant] We are here every other week. We're here on video. We're here on all your favorite podcast platforms. Uh, thank you very much for choosing to listen to us. We really appreciate it. Uh, hope you enjoyed that interview we had, uh, channel to Sven for, uh, hanging out with us. Really appreciate that.


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[Assistant] Uh, as well as actually maybe having a normal backdrop, uh, because I'm moving in, I'm building out like a cool little home office. I'm going to try and make it look like a, like a haunted mansion. It's going to be spooky. I can't wait. Uh, but we'll see if that even comes to fruition, you know, expectations versus reality. It could look like shit.


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[Assistant] But, like I've never decorated a room before, so we'll see what happens.


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[Assistant] But, uh, that's it. That's it for us. Uh, you can find the Friends Per Second podcast on all your favorite social media platforms. And we got a clips channel on YouTube. It's just the name of the podcast if you want to check that out, but that's it. Tie your shoes and go to bed.


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[Assistant] And we got featured by Apple! We got recognized by-


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[Assistant] Oh, absolutely. Well, I mean, yes. Yes, I would say yes. The thing is, like, you know, we have


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[Assistant] You do this and you have 25 people, right? And, and I mean, you understand production and the cost of everything and having a team and feeling responsible for them and wanting to provide and all and hoping that your idea is good enough that you, that it's sustainable. You can stay afloat and all.


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[Assistant] So anyways, so you know, you try to be very safe with your predictions. You want to be like, okay, I know that even if it's kind of like the, the, on the lower end of the possible outcomes that were kind of still good or what happens and.


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[Assistant] So yeah, we had projections for the first year that was like, okay, we know there, we know that game three happens, you know?


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[Assistant] Actually 2018, so Messenger came out, so we did like a 5 year, like a cute thing of like, they came 5 years apart, like almost to the day, I think it was like 28th, August 28th for Messenger and then August 29th for CFStars.


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[Assistant] Because you want to do it on Tuesday, right? The PlayStation update, kind of. Uhm, but, uh, so, we, we...


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[Assistant] It was like, okay, it kind of worked out, so we get to do the second game.


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[Assistant] Hopefully pre-production has done well enough that we're ready to kind of greet everyone, you know? And so it happened very smoothly for, for Sea of Stars. We went from Picnic Panic launching to just everyone now working on Sea of Stars full time. And we're, we're looking forward to repeating that experience. We'll see how it goes. But, uh, so, so far that's where we're at.


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[Assistant] To an extent, we want to make something that's as good as how we felt playing them. Is there a way, cause I can't make you B9 again, right? But can we make it?


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[Assistant] There's not so much more for us to solve, to improve upon, or to prevent, or to present in a modern way, sorry.


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[Assistant] And game design of like figuring out one system at a time. Why is the game incomplete without it?


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[Assistant] And how do we make it sing even more by adding those things instead of just, ah, let's use that because it's, oh, it's a known quantity. It has to be there, you know.


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[Assistant] Now this is, this is really what's fun for us. And, but in terms of, sorry to your question as to why make the shift.


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[Assistant] That was always the vision. We knew that CF stars was like the big one that we wanted to do, but it took a bigger team and kind of more clout, right? As, as, as you would know, Gerard, but, uh, so Messenger was kind of like what we can do with a smaller team to kind of bootstrap everything. And then from there we kind of, we were able to build, but now it's, it was a dream come true for sure.


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[Assistant] I mean it's, that's, that's the real paycheck, right, is, is when people, because we, we, we spend so much time and arguably too much time ironing out.


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[Assistant] Uhm, he said the game is when it acknowledges the player. Okay, and so that you can just meditate on that for like six months and that will inform so much of what you can do in game design. Is my game acknowledging the player? Am I being aware as I'm designing this thing?


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[Assistant] That's you, I am greeting someone in the end who will be compelled to try things, to touch things. And how much things can we put in there that the game can go like, yeah, I see you. I will, I will.


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[Assistant] Yes, what you did there, we did think of that and it does lead somewhere, you know, and so that's when like exploration upgrades and everything that you find and so kind of visualizing this conversation of the eventual player or players, you know, hopefully with an S.