Speaker 1:
Hello and welcome to the Unofficial Controller Podcast, your weekly gaming podcast, episode 232, with me, george, and this week joined by a freshly returned from the potato peeling cupboard, seb. He's Longhorn's cook to my Longhorn's cook. Think of that for a moment, what that means. That's a marinating one.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, it's a dangerous pg rating in danger. Um, maybe I just said the same word twice, said you know, it's as simple as that sometimes. How are you good sir, how was the potato cupboard? And? And what have you been doing with your good self in your, in your hiatus from? Well, maybe in terms of society?
Speaker 2:
yes, the rest of society. But no, I've been doing well. Um, you know the potato cover I you know. You know that feeling when you're in the water too long, your hands get all wrinkly and stuff like that. That's how long the in the long corner had me in there so and I smell straight like spuds. I've just lived perpetually in a mixture of Chick-fil-A and McDonald's at this point because I'm like I smell straight like potatoes. I've been in there so long, but anyways what's up?
Speaker 1:
I seemingly impressed pasta enough to be allowed a pass out and paid for by Longhorn Religious Company Incorporated to be sent to Company car. Time on the company credit card. Sent to Timeless Gaming Convention in the UK to preach Longhorn's sermon.
Speaker 2:
How'd that go? Were people ready for the good word of longhorn?
Speaker 1:
I don't know if they're ready for the great ascension in barry uk. I tell you that for one thing. But you know what they? Uh, they made us feel very welcome, a really great do. We had, depending on how this was recorded, or last episode, in the episode before that was recorded and released. Hopefully this is coming out reasonably close to timeless, but last week again, depending on how this was recorded, but I think it was last week we had the mighty middle-aged gamer on aka Mags, someone who's quite rightly inserting himself as the king of the UK gaming con scene and obviously a successful streamer in his own right.
Speaker 1:
The day was immaculate smattering of YouTube celebrities and real-life big TV gurus like Jason Bradbury, friend of the show. Jason did hit me up in the car park, so keep your ears peeled. We might be bringing him to your auditory senses ASAP as he's got a film he's working on. Saw the great ashen's obviously a guest on the show. Historically, if you want to check out why we knighted ashen's lord serrations, you best get in the back catalogue. We had the mighty slopes there performing a gaming quiz, which is great to see him. Uh, he was the first person we saw on arrival and he made us feel very welcomed. It's the Slopes he's also knighted and an historical interview on the show, if you want to go back and listen to it, and a plethora of other gaming streamers that we've met through the luxury of doing the show. It was a great day out.
Speaker 1:
Thank you to everyone that came Boba Digital Monkery, mrs Digital Monkery especially seeing as they've picked up on the fact that I'm a bit blue about not having a fan club and they all turned up, seb, right, they all turned up to hear pastors preach, preach, pastor, preach. They turned up to see that in George T-shirts. I tell you what to stick a prick. That's not the right word. Stick a pin in my ego, get it out the side door. To be honest, no, no, it's the prick. Yeah, stick the pressure.
Speaker 2:
I see that uh saying manages to cross the atlantic some of the stuff you say, I have no idea what, what, what you're saying, good, because some of it gets lost in, like the cultural differences within, like that one. I'm like I think I understand that reference. I'm like captain, think I understand that reference.
Speaker 1:
I'm like captain, america to avengers, I don't even know if it's that, but let's just go with it because that sounds way more highbrow than what I was saying. And obviously the sky, the mighty sky from marathon gaming came down as well, or came up from his southern location to also make the day very complete. It was a great day out for the UCP because it took Nancy, the intern that we have here in the UK office, and James, the work experience boy, and they had a thoroughly great time just seeing the smorgasbord of what the UCP had to offer. And a great day out. Hopefully Mags gets this lined up for next year.
Speaker 1:
This year we're very lucky to go along as creators, so we had the luxury of the creator lounge. I even had an Assassin's Creed Mirage coffee.
Speaker 2:
How does that make you?
Speaker 1:
feel.
Speaker 2:
How did it feel Assassin's Creed-y? How did the coffee come across as an Assassin's Creed coffee Mid solid seven, okay gotcha.
Speaker 1:
Proper Ubisoft drink. To be honest, it was part of their sponsor and it was actually quite nice. I drink a lot of canned coffees. I didn't hold out high hopes for an energy company to actually deliver something of a high standard, but it was. It was very tasty and the can looked uber cool as well. So, yeah, do you know? What A great day out. Hopefully it comes back next year. It's in europe's second. No, it's in europe's. Held in europe's biggest arcade, full of arcade machines, etc. Food, eat, drinks, play the machines all day. A great day out. If you want to find out more about what you missed, I would say tune into last week's episode and to all those that I met there and are listening now as a byproduct of meeting us on the show floor, thank you, welcome to the family and uh stick up for the ride?
Speaker 1:
yes, strap in, because if you haven't had a show with law where the two hosts have joined a court in texas before, I very much doubt it. I very much doubt it. Off the back of that, arriving back here in el paso, um, I think I drifted a little bit from the central tenant that longhorn preaches, so he locked me in a dark cupboard and hosed me down. Uh, every other he won't do that, yeah he's, he's a strange, do that yeah, but I feel very religious again.
Speaker 1:
Um, so really, have you got any gaming? Um, have you got any kind of side stories like that to regale us with, or do you want to just punch me straight in the gut with what you've been playing, your handsome dog?
Speaker 2:
let's just go with what we've been playing. George, um, yeah, yeah, um, I've been playing it's more surprise, surprise, some indies I've been playing um bow, um, have you heard of this one Like it's a metroidvania?
Speaker 1:
Is it B-O-W or B-E-A-U?
Speaker 2:
Like the bow of the ball. It is B-O Path of the Teal Lotus.
Speaker 1:
Oh right, Okay, Well, we would describe that in the UK. B-o is what we would say if someone had body odor. You know, a little bit sweaty pits.
Speaker 2:
We might turn to them and go oh, check your BO out. That translates across the pond as well, that, actually.
Speaker 1:
That translates If you're one of our many listeners in Nigeria, please let us know if that body odor reference is something you guys get as well, or Germany or Holland, or whatever. We want to hear from you, let us know. Is BO a worldwide phrase?
Speaker 2:
I think it's now, mr Worldwide, at that point.
Speaker 1:
Because we said it on the show said that's yeah, exactly, I think we ought to have the strength and confidence of our convictions. We're a worldwide show and I sometimes throw the show in the dirt. I think it's part of my humility, but I think it does a disservice. So tell me about this Is this an?
Speaker 2:
indie Path of the Two Lotus. It is an indie, it is a colorful, hand-drawn 2.5D action platformer. It's kind of inspired by Japanese folklore and you know, it is almost like Okami style or yeah, yeah, it's almost like. Yeah, it's like that Okami style meets like what is the Xbox? It was an xbox exclusive. Oh, ori is kind of like ori meets hollow knight in a lot of ways, wow okay.
Speaker 1:
So it's got yeah, it's got all the ingredients for this to taste like the best meal you've ever eaten, was it?
Speaker 2:
um, I'm I'm not the super, I'm not the most enthusiastic like Metroidvania person, so I'm like I like Metroidvanias but I don't necessarily love them. I have to kind of be in the booth for them. I feel like this game is beautiful, but it did have some technical hiccups that kind of prevented me from getting out of that 7 or 8 kind of range. It's not bad, no, it's not bad. I think if you are playing on, getting out of that eight and seven or eight kind of range is like and there was, I mean, no, it's not bad. I think, like if you are playing on a Xbox, a steam deck or you know God forbid a switch, like I think this is a good experience.
Speaker 2:
It's just I I do think it does have some frame frame rate stutters here and there and you know, like I did, I did kind of get a little bit of like um, I wish there was a little more of a story focus there. I think they're like it starts off pretty strong with the story and kind of like peters off and it's more like nebulous about what you're actually doing versus like a concrete here's the, here's the story, here's your objectives. I think it's a little more. I think it's a little more cuphead in a ways to where, like, it gets a little wackier, but still with that japanese folklore. But I think it's a good game. I think people should check it out if they liked.
Speaker 1:
Ori and the will with um will of the wisp, and so they find that on steam at the moment is it made a console release I, I played this on the yeah, the holy steam deck, um so praise me to the steam deck, right now right in the uk. This is uk money but I'll frame it in the worldwide money. I saw one in a famous second-hand story a technology second-hand store in the uk called cex and I could have sworn.
Speaker 2:
It was unboxed and it was a bit kicked, but it was 350 bucks honestly, you trade in that VR and go with that, you probably have a very solid deal out of that.
Speaker 1:
I was very, very tempted, the only thing that's holding me back, and we will switch to what I've been. I haven't been playing this, but I jumped on the VR store on the. Oh, God, oh. God VR store is like what phone games were in the early 2000s, or like the late 2000s, a little bit of slack, trying to slack, trying to remunerate from his 550 pound vsv psvr yeah, you know like the psvr2 is like the equivalent of you going to the movies and buying, like the the collector's edition popcorn buckets.
Speaker 2:
You know like you're in for a good time at the time. You know like when you purchase it you're all excited about it, but then, like the shelf life on those things, you're like I'm never gonna use this again. When am I ever gonna stick my hands into wolverine's mouth again? Or?
Speaker 1:
let me tell you one thing I've got a Rogue One bucket, a popcorn bucket, that's been in my drawer, my cupboard in the kitchen, for so long I forget it's in there and it's become like this sort of receptacle tin for other tins and other popcorn buckets. Jeez Louise, it's like a Russian doll. It's like the Russian dolls of popcorn holes in that cupboard.
Speaker 1:
I detest it. No, I don't. Where this story is going is that I was on the store and you know I obviously, when VR launched, I did a pretty in-depth and honest review about the product.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, a good, solid analysis, yeah.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, I think we went there and I think we came out of it with a glowing, if not a little bit harsh review, but seemingly actually, based on the lens that we looked at it through completely deserved, considering the car crash that we find the PSVR 2 world in as we speak and I was browsing through through and I didn't see anything of interest. I thought I'm going to watch the kayak trailer again. You know why not oh no little did, I know.
Speaker 1:
I stumbled in there, friend, and I stumbled across. Now we're on the periphery, I would say, and obviously we're always checking out news and other bits of releases so we can form up the script for the front and back of the show. And I'm into vr, I try to be guess what. They snuck out a dlc for kayak vr oh no, I knew where this was going and it looks great.
Speaker 1:
So I bought it and it's locked and loaded and I don't know whether to play on my own or play it with rachel or what, because we had a great time on kayak vr.
Speaker 1:
But uh, yeah, the calling is strong oh no, resist the dark side so I'll spend another bit of money on vr to justify the money that I spent in the first place. I do believe it might be good money after bad, but and as I said to Mags in last week's episode or I think it was last week's episode I could have bought a real kayak and a holiday abroad. Yeah, for Circumnavigate the Italian Rubicon, if nothing else. But instead I simulate it on my hands and knees on a carpet in a cold room in El Paso.
Speaker 2:
So your, let's see it was $500 initially. Then, like I think, you bought four games for it so far at around, like what? 50 a piece?
Speaker 1:
One was a Chucky, which obviously nudged the deal up to $550, I think initially. So we're at $550 raw. Okay.
Speaker 2:
Add in Kayak, which was was can't be more than 20. Right, it's about 15 bucks. Okay, that's solid the DLC was about 8 bucks okay, again pretty solid, alright and I haven't bought another game oh, horizon was the one that came with, it right, horizon is what came with it.
Speaker 1:
I played an awful lot of no Man's Sky, which I already owned, and got a free upgrade and Kayak.
Speaker 2:
Oh, that's not so bad. You're almost at the $600 point.
Speaker 1:
Whenever did anyone frame up for an acquisition of a technological machine and go it's attach rate at 1.5? That's good, that's awful.
Speaker 2:
Oh, I think it's awful for sure, but I I was thinking you know you're up to, I think you, I thought maybe you were in the red for like 800 all things considered and I'm like oh, 500 the purchase price of the ps5.
Speaker 1:
Things start to get very desperate oh, that, that is rough.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, that's rough, that's rough. Look at that point in little.
Speaker 1:
It's not little installments. It's been in little, not little installments. It's been in bite-sized chunks of PS4, 5 launch. Where am I? I'm 2014 here, dude. Ps5 launches fine, two years pass. Here's some more money, sony. I don't know if you want to add into this part, because, mags, we were talking about VR2 last week and he came in punching at the portal and I'll be honest with you, he told me I should have bought a backbone I think, I think you probably should have.
Speaker 2:
I'm like I kind of you're doing as well. I was like I kind of grew a bag as well. Like you have a phone, buy the 30 attachment portal. They even make a sony version of it now and you know what.
Speaker 1:
That's great, and I did get a little bit harsher about backbone last week, um, but you also probably have an old phone laying around. I do. Yeah, I have to go with the backbone and it's the most unrewarding piece of tech I've ever bolted to a phone in in in the history of man. It's no better or worse than the portal, but you end up holding a crunchy piece of plastic either side of your decaying mobile.
Speaker 2:
I get that. It's not a cool look.
Speaker 1:
And the portal is. I was not on the fence Seb in any way, because I gave the portal a real rough ride till I bought one and I'm all in. I'm all over the Portal, Reddit, mate. Then you join the dark side, yes, where I'm spending 99% of my time. And the weird thing about the Portal Reddit is there, aren't any recommends for Portal games, because the Portal's just a streaming device, so you get loads of people on there. Can you recommend me a good PS5 game from a Portal?
Speaker 2:
You know, here's my theory and you can tell me if I'm wrong. I could be dead wrong about this. I feel like there's a collection of PS5 gamers and you might be a part of this. You can tell me if you are or not. But, like that, often, look for, look for a piece of technology to defend, like there was a Vita, you know.
Speaker 1:
You know there was the Vita let's go through this case at a time. Vita Vita, I got too late and had a reasonably good experience with because it ticked my mobile lifestyle at the time.
Speaker 2:
The PSP, I would argue people had to defend that too.
Speaker 1:
PSP? I don't know, Depends how you look at the PSP. I was reading an article about that the other day, a quite in-depth one. Measured against the DS Absolute car crash. Although when you sell multiple millions of consoles, could it ever be measured as a metric of a car crash? I don't know.
Speaker 2:
Ask Microsoft now.
Speaker 1:
I think the PSP might be something that Xbox would love to have had in their portfolio, if I'm honest with you, but in terms of successes of handhelds, it didn't probably do as well. Vita was worse. I'm here to defend the experience I had with the Vita, but I would never defend it in a crowded room to tell people it was the best handheld ever made. Absolutely not the VR1,. I had a good experience with it. Was it a flawed piece of kit? Ultimately, yeah.
Speaker 2:
And that made you buy a Move controller.
Speaker 1:
The problem is VR at the time of VR1 was hot and I didn't want to have to go buy a $1,500 PC to then buy the $300, $400 headset to enjoy it. So when the insanely popular PS4 secured itself a VR headset, a bit of a no-brainer. So I can kind of defend that a little bit. The VR2, as much as I try I can defend the tech and the experience, I can't defend the lack of games. I can't defend the lack of support. I can't defend dropping it like a hot stone. I can't defend making it a PC peripheral and probably denying it was ever for your 500-pound machine in the first place.
Speaker 1:
Portal I can defend. I've had a good experience with it. It's changed up the way I play my ps5. Um, would I stand there in the cold light of day and stare someone in the eye and say if you wanted to stream your console, you're better off spending 200 bucks rather than 100 bucks? Now I wouldn't. But what I would say is if, if, what your experience on the playstation is important to you, get the portal. If you just want to play your games on the bus, if there's Wi-Fi, get the Backbone.
Speaker 2:
I agree with you. I almost think the opposite. I'm like spend the extra $100 at that point and buy a used Steam Deck at that point and then stream your PlayStation games through that Steam Deck, through the Xbox. I'm just saying I'm'm like have your cake and eat it too. Man, I, you, yeah, you've been circling around this buying every other device but the steam deck, when perfection is in your eyes. But you just want to look you. You just you want all these unsavory things before we get there all these unsavory things Before we get there All these unsavory things.
Speaker 1:
Let me take you to an even more as far as you're concerned. Let me take you to a very unsavory place.
Speaker 3:
Is there anything else?
Speaker 1:
you've been playing before.
Speaker 2:
Oh no, he's been playing the Switch. I've been playing Dungeons of Hinderburg.
Speaker 1:
Ah, now Mag's brought this to my table last week, and I do believe you'd mentioned it the previous week, so my ears pricked up when I heard a second party coming to me about this game. It looks beautiful. How does it play?
Speaker 2:
It plays well. I mean, it's almost like Zelda meets, like open world. Zelda, that is meets probably I would say persona in a way, because you like, you have the open.
Speaker 1:
That's an interesting headed baby, you just that really is, isn't it?
Speaker 2:
so here's the reason why. It's because, like you're walking around the town, you're going from dungeon to dungeon. It's open world, just like zelda. Um. Tears of the kingdom and breath of the wild was um the like. The arcadey combat is very much like zelda. You also have the puzzles that you have to figure out, just like zelda's um the was it temples?
Speaker 2:
um yeah it was the temples yeah, the, the temples and such of the shrines and temples, yeah. So you have that same kind of concept that you kind of use your tools to kind of figure all that kind of stuff out. It is very heavily zelda inspired in that way. I didn't like, I didn't like those two zelda games.
Speaker 1:
One question I've got for you is the thing that piqued my interest most is, obviously it's also a skiing stroke snowboard simulator. This is a. This is a strange concept based in the german alps. What's? What's the winter sports element of it like?
Speaker 2:
you don't quite see that as heavy. I mean it's, it's there a little bit, but it's not.
Speaker 1:
It's not the predominant thing about that is it rewarding, like mini game or distraction within the main flow, or what did you?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I mean yeah, it's, it's very much the the reason why I say Persona is like. It is almost like a Persona minigame of like a Persona activity, of like you do that to raise other stats that you can then take into your open world dungeon dungeon tour open world dungeon, dungeon touring, what so I'm like.
Speaker 1:
The persona element is the social aspect, which boosts your sort of social stats to use a persona phrase, right?
Speaker 2:
oh yeah, that's exactly right right.
Speaker 1:
And how does that? How does that work its way back in gameplay that brings your team together tighter, or what's?
Speaker 2:
the end result? No, you're. You're a single person, so it brings your single um stats higher. So I'm like you hang out with different people. Like different people are almost like just like persona where, like it affects like a certain element of your, your combat. It's just like that. So I'm like you can hang out with a photographer. He'll like increase your um zen and that'll raise your health more. You know, like different things like that. So I'm like you hang out with so yeah, I this feels like an rgt or george game more than it feels like a sebastian game, but I think it's still a a pretty good play.
Speaker 1:
I I do feel like um I to lob a dirty number on it though, so what number would you give it?
Speaker 2:
I'm very much a stingy reviewer like even if you look at my site, I hired my heart, yeah yeah, I was like.
Speaker 1:
I'm a reviewer. We're on the side of caution. So when you do give something, I think it's better to be reserved on on these games. But, you know, do it the justice of a worded review so you can explain the rationale behind it. But that means that when you give an eight, a nine or god forbid a ten, it's got weight I do.
Speaker 2:
I did give this eight, so, like I gave this an official eight out of ten, I think this is really. I think this is a really fun time. I actually like this more than the open world zelda games, but that's because the persona element to me like made me more engaged in the story, whereas Zelda I felt like I had already seen that story before in the avatar.
Speaker 1:
I'll be honest with. I only need to shake some things up because they got away with breath of the wild and they got away with the tears of the kingdom, but there's absolutely no way the switch to and an ever growing and frustrated user base. I know people can say but breath of wild was great, yeah, it was great and it was an evolution of the franchise.
Speaker 2:
But nobody talks about that story, though they always talk about the gameplay, and we're heading towards a 4k, 8k universe.
Speaker 1:
Are we going to be happy reading a text with a Simish voice in the background? And exactly that? Now it saves them money on text with a simish voice in the background in the? Exactly Now it saves them money on actors and worldwide harmonization and translation. But now it's starting to come across a little bit third rate, if I'm honest.
Speaker 2:
I think, with the rise of indies and you start to and this is my thing about Nintendo games right now as a whole, the rise of indies and like how much I've actually consumed indie games, to me as like Nintendo as a whole and besides their upper echelon things, always feels indie because like they, you know, you see the. You see the voices in indie games because they can't pay for voice actors. See the voices in indie games because they can't pay for voice actors. You see the. Yeah, I'm like you see the cartoon, like art styles, because that's cheaper to make than actual like 3d rendering for, like realistic art styles. So I'm like I think nintendo needs to take that step up because, because indie games are taking that step up and your, your product needs to look better than especially when you have the higher msrp, needs to look better than indie, especially when you have the higher MSRP, needs to look better than indie games at $30 or $40. You know Totally agree.
Speaker 1:
I also see the indie studios. Now, obviously, with the advent of Unreal 5 and the upskill of these kind of very friendly platforms that will almost allow you to put your game anywhere.
Speaker 2:
Oh, not only that, the refresh rates, the frame rates and such like that are still superior, whereas Zelda's 30.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, exactly, and Nintendo's got a long way to go. I think Switch 2 is going to hit well. That's my prediction. I think it's going to sell well. I think we don't realize how suppressed the market is for a new Nintendo piece of hardware. And I think we will be pleasantly surprised by switch twos, at least initially. And I think if they succeed initially, they'll ride it out because they know how to push a system over its lifetime and actually get some good bang for their book out of it. I mean, they have, they have milked that Switch, the Lite, the OLED, all the different variations.
Speaker 1:
People, I'll tell you where I'm at. Joy-con breaks. Fine, I'll throw it in the bin. I'll buy another one, right? So how many Joy-Con packs have they sold? You know, countless. There's a little bit of Xbox 360-ism in there with, like, how many of these Joy-Cons have you sold? How xbox 360 ism in there with, like how many of these joy cups have you sold? How many should have been warranty? But either which way, whatever, you need guys. So, yeah, interesting time for them. Switch two is gonna be a success. They're gonna roll it in with something or other, aren't they? Possibly 3d mario? I'd say it's his time, it's his turn to jump.
Speaker 2:
I'm gonna say that first two years is like an automatic success. I think it's like that back two years, when people are over the novelty of having a new Switch is where people are going to question, okay, what's next? Like, where's the next evolution?
Speaker 1:
I actually see if Switch 2 can enable some extra facilities within Switch 1 games, either on purpose or by accident, because of the higher processing power and the alleged backwards compatibility. I think there's another six months on top of that, 18 of people like Digital Foundry and a myriad of YouTubers and gamers getting hold of their back catalogue and or games they've already finished and or games that were overlooked at launch, like Outer Worlds, which didn't perform very well, and they're all going to get re-stress tested. There's so much.
Speaker 2:
Nintendo's not giving you like Nintendo games, like Nintendo first-party games, aren't giving you that for free. They're going to charge you that extra $10 and give you the Switch 2 version. I'm just being real with you. I'm just being real with you. Y'all ponies are going to suck it up and y'all are going to pay that extra $10 to $20 to play the Switch 2 upgraded version.
Speaker 1:
Let me tell you one thing for sure, and I'll probably regret this, but I won't be paying for Switch 2 upgrades. I'd like to see what CD Projekt Red did with, obviously, the Witcher on Switch, if they enabled a patch for that to go onto the Switch 2 without paying for an upgrade. It depends where Ninty's at whether they want to monetize an upgrade system or whether they want to do it like Sony or Xbox have kind of done, on a developer-by-developer basis, depending on budgets etc.
Speaker 2:
Third party is probably going to give you that for free. First party is like nah bro.
Speaker 1:
It depends whether they're contractually obliged to give it for free or no. I've gone after that um so what have you?
Speaker 2:
uh, oh, can I do it in the george? What have you been playing a?
Speaker 1:
little bit. The observation is is immense. Um, what have I been playing? Okay, so you weren't here last week, but we ended up doing the episode of man because a preview for timeless. He came our El Paso and spoke to me through the fence. So the law's intact? Yeah, for sure, the law. Protect the law and all costs, um, which is why I had to hastily come up with the in-law reason why I was in Bury. I mean. I got a tan though, so El Paso's done me something.
Speaker 2:
I mean, you know, like Pastor Longhorn will let you off the reservation, he just has the guards full of mayonnaise to just watch you the whole time. It's more uncomfortable to go off the beaten path because, like you know, there's two guys who just have a tub of mayonnaise that they just they'll slab on you, yelling shame, shame if you do anything unsoundly, or what he deems unsoundly, and such like that. They have these little webcams on their chest and everything so he can see you still while you're out and about.
Speaker 1:
Asta's eyes Ever he's like the eye of Sauron, have you drank any of the pasta pasta?
Speaker 2:
No, no, I'm avoiding the kool-aid as much as possible, if I'm being honest. So beautiful.
Speaker 1:
It changed my whole perception of the call.
Speaker 1:
Listen before we go that's generally how the kool-aid works now you tell me I'm eight liters into it a day. Um, what was I gonna tell you? Yes, so I've been on. I've been on vacay, as we call here in el paso, right, and um, I played a little bit of switchy because there was no guarantee of what was I going to tell you? Yes, so I've been on vacay, as we call it, here in El Paso, right, and I played a little bit of Switchy because there was no guarantee of internet where I was going. Hence, okay, all right, I'm here.
Speaker 1:
I put my head above the parapet. You might as well kick me in the portal balls here, because no internet, george, and your £200 piece of tat becomes literally about as useful as a dog poop. Yeah, I hear it. 200 pound piece of tap becomes literally about as useful as a dog poop. Yeah, I hear it's a paperweight. That's a good paper. I hear all the criticism. You're right. So I took the switch on holiday and while I was there, I played some final fantasy. I played a hell of a lot of MLB 23, the show which I've had on there for obviously over 12 months. Now it's to be fair.
Speaker 2:
Why do you double dip on the show?
Speaker 1:
and I'm a playstation user, so I double dip like three times.
Speaker 2:
That's why I was like why are you double dipping?
Speaker 1:
I double dip to the most financially unrewarding level possible and paid full hawk for for MLB. Look, do you know what the giveaway at gamespass? Someone's gotta to buy it.
Speaker 2:
It's me you're doubly supporting it. You're like I gotta keep this thing afloat.
Speaker 1:
I am nothing without MLB. I've gotta keep this thing. I've gotta keep this thing. I've gotta keep this thing alive. If Microsoft isn't doing it, I'll do it on my own. Thoroughly enjoyed that this week on my own. Thoroughly enjoyed that this week, games-wise, trying to think what I've been tearing into. To be honest, I haven't had a great deal of time, I think. Yesterday evening I played until the very early hours no Man's Sky, which I always.
Speaker 2:
It's the addiction that keeps growing. It's your Harvestella at this point.
Speaker 1:
It's way beyond Harvestella, dude, it's a very dark. I think, if I was to do the maths a little brutally, we're a thousand. I think we're over a thousand hours deep on that bad boy. And I don't say that with any pride.
Speaker 2:
No, I get it. I mean we all, I think like we all have those games to where, like we've played a disgusting amount of hours into and we're just like that's my game, that's my, that's my guilty pleasure, go back to you at any given point in my life game I know and I I wanted it to be ano and ano is absolutely grade a, but I played the wheels off ano and there wasn't much left to do.
Speaker 1:
So yeah, no man's sky is the game that keeps on giving plus. They keep throwing the content at it. But yeah, on that note, I am a little excited for the roman, I know, but if it plays even slightly differently, I'm done. No, yeah, I know, I know 1800 or nothing, ftw, I. I think that brings us to the news, and we've scoured the very darkest regions of the internet to bring you the latest stories First up. As you know, on the UCP, we don't do leaks and we don't do rumours. Oh, yeah, we do A little bit of lazy journalism. I say that although I have been all over the message boards, forums and usual places where I might pick up on these little nuggets, and I can't substantiate this one way other than a bit said this is big news and if it does land, my goodness, uh, sir, uh. So let's just digest this for a moment.
Speaker 1:
A big game events around the corner and, as usual, rumors have began appearing from every direction. The latest scuttlebutt doing the rounds online starts with Shinobi 602, a notable source currently working at Keyword Studios. Apparently, xbox will reveal the next of its first-party titles going multi-platform during Geoff Keighley's opening night live show. Responding to users over on a gaming forum reset era Shinobi is heavily suggested. We'll learn about the next xbox game heading to playstation next week during gamescom's main showcase.
Speaker 1:
One person wondered what we're when we'd see the next round of porty games, to which replied what are you doing next week? He followed up this with a response to a question on whether we'd see multiple xbox games confirmed for the platforms. I don't know about multiple, he says, but at least one big one. It's been speculated speculated by many that starfield could be the next candidate for a port to playstation, but falls on horizon 5 is also in the conversation. This is because another insider x-1s do you know what these usernames make of and what you will responded to the room with a gif reading fleece. Chinko de mayo, a mexican holiday in the open world racer is set in Mexico. To complicate matters, cinco de Mayo, where I'm from dude, that's Mayo. I thought it was a place where they celebrated mayonnaise.
Speaker 1:
This is one of those moments where the translation didn't work the other way. Cinco de Mayo Mayo, you're correct A Mexican holiday location. I think it's the birthplace of mayonnaise. Can't wait to see the AI art all over the Discord for that misstep. I misspoke, as the politician would say in the UK.
Speaker 1:
To complicate matters, windows Central's Jez Corden has weighed in on the rumours, writing that his sources indicate Forza Horizon 5 will not be announced for PS5 next week. You can't confirm that Xbox will announce a PS5 port at Gamescom opening night live, but does note Shinobi 602 is very reliable, which is all the kind of tick in the box we need for that, in my opinion, and it's just likely a matter of time before it's proven right. It's a messy rumour, as I have detailed. It's hard to unpick and restitch, but Microsoft has said more of its games are coming to other platforms. We've seen several across PlayStation and Switch Pentamon, hi-fi, rush, grounded, sea of Themes platform-specific, obviously and Gamescom seems like a good venue as any to reveal what's coming next. Guess we're going to have to tune into Geoff's show to find out for ourselves.
Speaker 1:
Seb, now, we don't ourselves. Seb now we don't do leaks and we don't do rumors. But we've been all scratching our heads about what might be next for Microsoft Studios and their multi-platform strategy. That was leaked to much frustration, I would say, in the gaming sphere, and excitement of equal measure. We've all wondered and speculated. Obviously, starfield's been chucked around. Some of the things in the back catalog, like gears of war trilogy, master chief collection, forza horizon 5, feels like a safe bet. Is this take microsoft and their core users, or has forza horizon 5 been lead dry already?
Speaker 2:
nah, man, I don't think it's forza, I like I. I don't think it's forza at all. So I'm like I. I think on two things. If you're playstation, would you want forza on there when you have gran turismo? I mean Gran Turismo is your own in-house studio that you get. I hear that 100%.
Speaker 1:
But my only thing about Forza Horizon 5 is I can't remember who I was having this conversation with. It might have been a family member, but Forza Horizon 5 is a very different game. Forza Horizon 5 and its predecessor have found the ability to stick on people's rotation on Xbox because it's a quick. I'm going to have five minutes on X on Forza, going to have quick. It's a more arcadey and rewarding, initially driving game, arcade driving game.
Speaker 2:
You know that, but does the mainstream know that?
Speaker 1:
I don't know, I was just like. I'll tell you what, though, if test drive solar crown finally comes out and has to walk up against a multi-formatted release force, horizon five?
Speaker 2:
yeah. So I'm like here's the thing like most gamers who are not hardcore gamers and one that keep up with news stories are two most gamers who aren't super car enthusiast gamers aren't? They don't care about the difference between forza horizon versus forza motorsport versus gran turismo. It's a car game. You know like, at that point it would be cheaper for playstation to have a third party deal with the dirt team to get the next dirt game than it would for them to just port over an xbox xbox led forza horizon game that they would then have to pay 40, almost 40 percent of the profits back to xbox. For. You know, I'm like.
Speaker 1:
Isn't this part of xbox strategy, though? Just to hurt them internally by using their own implanted users to harvest through their own games that they've already had? Well, I don't know if they've remunerated through forza horizon 5. I haven't looked to see what the development cost was but one would imagine they have remunerated through forza horizon 5 or at least broken even on the project.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, yeah, um, I think this makes sense to throw this into the smorgasbord and literally pull the carpet from under playstation's feet, because I would buy Forza Horizon 5 for its arcade-y play.
Speaker 2:
I think this makes sense for consumers and for Xbox. I don't think this makes sense for PlayStation.
Speaker 1:
Absolutely not. But what choice do they have?
Speaker 2:
They have plenty of choices. They're in the lead in console sales. They have a own SKU that directly whether or not, like it's mainstream or not it competes with that skew that they don't want to marginalize sales on yeah, but they didn't say no nor no, they're right in any way.
Speaker 1:
Pentament hi-fi rush grounded, or cfes in fact they don't have any competitors.
Speaker 2:
It's like that's comparable to any of those, though like they don't produce a directly anything. That's like Pentium and Hi-Fi Rush grounded.
Speaker 1:
So you see PlayStation shielding this off from their console to protect their own IPs validity.
Speaker 2:
To protect their own IPs and validity. And if they're doing a handshake deal with Microsoft to where they're getting something else, they want something completely different. They're going to want something. They're getting something else. They want something completely different. They're going to want something called. They're going to, they're going to want something there. I mean, let's be honest, they're going to want something different and like forza is going to do well as far as the install base and numbers and such like that. But if you're xbox, but if you're playstation you like, and if you're xbox, I think what the game that makes more sense for to get across to that board is hellblade. At this point, hellblade for xbox did not sell. Well, it's not doing, not doing nearly what what xbox probably wants them to to do at that point and and it's not the double down that games pass as mistake.
Speaker 1:
Hellblade two critically.
Speaker 2:
I don't think this is a reflect. I do think like two things can be true. This can be a reflection on game pass, but this is also a reflection on Xbox is marketing. Then we talked about this in a previous episode of. Like no one heard one iota about hell blade before he came out.
Speaker 1:
Well, the funny thing is, while we had that discussion on air and obviously we were on to something, because I can't remember if we rolled this news into the episode or not, or whether it's something I read and never reported but some of the Xbox marketing team actually kind of broke silence and came forward with the comment of I wish we had what they had to advertise our products, which you have the biggest coffer of money out there.
Speaker 1:
Of anybody. I have a picture of what's happening at Microsoft Towers. Because they've spent the money acquiring studios. Does that mean now that they can't spend anything on anything else? Because the marketing team complaining they don't have the budget of PlayStation and that's one of the largest corporations in the whole of the world makes me very confused.
Speaker 2:
So here's the thing. Here's what a lot of the reports are saying about xbox's internal studios right now. It's like amy hood, who's the executive vice president and the chief financial officer at microsoft, and you know a lot of the microsoft executives have now, you know, put pressure on xbox to be more financially stable and also recoup the budget for a lot of their projects. Forza has already recouped a lot of their budget. You know, like which is something you just said a minute ago Hellblade has not. Hellblade hasn't come close to that. And if you're getting pressure from the big wigs like Amy Hood and such like that to recoup a lot of your marketing budget, you're going to probably choose hellblade over and starfield, because starfield didn't do nearly as much as many numbers as you wanted it to at that point you're gonna.
Speaker 1:
The sad thing is, if starfield had been multi-platform, I think he would have it. Would have it wouldn't have delivered to the success of some of their previous big hits, no, but it'd been more successful, for sure it would have, it wouldn't have delivered to the success of some of their previous big hits.
Speaker 2:
No, but it'd been more successful, for sure it would have broken even.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, I'm like part of that. It would have broken even yeah, um.
Speaker 2:
So I think, like the crazy thing about all those is like I think starfield, with the expansion coming up, has a more likely chance of being multi-platform at this point in time. And then you've got Hellblade, which, let's face it, the people at Ninja Theory are probably shaking in their boots that they're going to lose their job, just like Tangle Gameworks did before the news about Tangle broke out.
Speaker 1:
That's the sad part. We've got the talent and I don't think it's. It's not the developers They've made. Let's call it a game, it's called an experience. They made a great experience that needs to be played to be understood, and it needs to be played to understand its relation to the first game as well, which was equally as only beautiful but certainly mentally rewarding game experience.
Speaker 1:
Color, what you like yeah, for sure um, that to me, is a sign of they're getting it right. But and if it had been multi-platform from the get-go, would it be washing its face right now? Yes, it would. So then are?
Speaker 2:
we talking about starfield or hail blaze.
Speaker 1:
We could frame it to apply to both. Actually, okay, yeah, starfield, probably not the critical darling they thought it would be, but you know, from either sale blade, well yeah, but by any metric you would say that they weren't stinkers. You know, we're not talking threes, fours, five, sixes here, we're talking sevens, eights and in some cases nines, which I think by any critical reference, is a good score, and one that the, the casual, will go oh crikey, I need that and that's you know. You need an eight or a nine to get the casual to wake up and smell it, to sip the Kool-Aid, the pasta bathroom, as we're now calling it Right.
Speaker 2:
Do you all have Kool-Aid over there? No, what do you have? Marmalade? What is the cheap? Drink it's a bread spread. Oh, thank you. Thank you, it's okay.
Speaker 1:
The cultural difference there. I mean, if you keep going the way you're going, hopefully Pastoral, let me and you come to the UK for a one-off thing and then I will cover you in marmalade.
Speaker 2:
What is it? Marmite? Is that the drink?
Speaker 1:
Marmite is not a drink either. Marmite is a 0 for 2. 0 for 2. I think somewhere in there I had a really solid point about Microsoft.
Speaker 2:
You did.
Speaker 1:
I'm sorry it's lost now in a yeast extract which is a byproduct of the brewing process and it has this kind of the marketing campaign for Marmite. And I've had to explain this because we had a marmite games episode to the american audience to have explained to them what marmite is. But it's got a very unusual taste that you either like love, as the advertising says, or you hate, and there is no delineation. You don't find someone who goes, yeah, I don't mind it. You either find someone who loves it like myself, I love love bit of marmite or people who detest it. The smell of it makes them physically sick. So it's a spread. Right, it's another bread spread. Now what we do okay, thank you uk is we grill our bread. I think you've had toasters as well. I think I've seen those in the states when I've been over, but it's yeah, over the years we've developed that technology.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, okay we'll take this to develop the bread toasting technology. I love it. I thought it was like the uk's nasa, but obviously not. We've shared this information because we are special relationship stretches to bread.
Speaker 2:
no, the espionage team over here, you know, stuck out in one toaster. We're like we, we can reverse engineer it, we can do this we can make it happen.
Speaker 1:
It's not Roswell, it's just the toaster. We're fine. Yeah, just the toaster so obviously in the US you also have grilled breaded products. You spread a little bit of cow lactate on aka butter and then a spread of your choice. Now you call them jellies, we call them jams. Same thing really. Marmalade falls into the same category as a jelly.
Speaker 1:
That makes sense, so it's a sweeter spread, whereas your Marmite and your Bovril, which is a beef extract which is similar tasting to Marmite, even though there is no meat in Marmite. It has a similar kind of feeling, but it's a little bit more acceptable.
Speaker 2:
Let me ask you, if this is acceptable, what game would be acceptable to the masses for Xbox to port over to PlayStation and Gamescom?
Speaker 1:
I'll answer that question, but just further. My point Something is going wrong with Xbox's marketing division, where these games aren't. They need to be pushed to be seen, and I feel like hi-fi rush another example of a game that was great, critically reviewed. Well, it got a push. It got a second push when it went multi-platform, but you wouldn't really have thought so. The only thing that carried pentament hi-fi rush and grounded the sea of thieves into the waiting arms of the multi-platform users was the very victory.
Speaker 1:
All about it going multi-platform exactly the very unfortunate news that broke in a very unfortunate way about those games going multi-platform. It kind of was the advertising budget in itself. One would wonder if you're a guerrilla marketing team with a budget of zero leaking that news sold a million copies of each they don't.
Speaker 2:
Here's a question before you answer the other question, because I I think this one's more interesting. It's like here's yeah, I do see both sides of it here. Like I've always been critical of the xbox marketing team, but then I'm also of the thing of like, on the mainstream side of the fence, I don't really think you have a game to market lately, like I, I think. Like I think testers got their hands on Starfield, told them that this was going to be a six or seven out of 10. And they're like oh, we got to scale back the marketing on that because you know the reception is not going to be great on that. Then they've also had Redfall. You know, I don't know why they put that out to begin with, but testers probably gave them that. They were like oh, go back to marketing on that.
Speaker 1:
Let's pause there and double back to Redfall. Obviously, we've seen other developers, microsoft included, take high-profile projects, get them to the point of release, do the simulated testing and review, find out the game's not hitting where they want it to do. And then, specifically in the us, but it does apply, uh, in uk tax law and financial law that you can write that off and use it to offset your tax. So it's not a complete death nail to your business. Why did microsoft just kill starfield? Or was it too big a name after all the hype to kill?
Speaker 2:
I, I think they have in the one it's too big of a name. The two, I think like there are certain things in the legal legislator of like a merger, that certain projects have to be fulfilled and such. So I'm like I think that was one and you know, I don't think like the tax write-off on that would have been. I don don't. I think they wonder they thought, hey, financial, we can recoup a lot of our budget, or if not, the whole entire thing, yeah, you know, it's the movie, the theater, like experience has a lot of this problem right now too, to where I'm like we've seen a lot of stinkers. Borderlands could have been a write-off, you know, like the borderlands movie.
Speaker 1:
That should have been a write-off because, although saying that they have seen allegedly a boost in activity on the game 14 million of on the game side of things.
Speaker 2:
But that only helps gearbox.
Speaker 1:
That didn't help like the studio actually publishing but you know what you know gearbox signed away probably their most recognizable franchise to a film studio and got 40 million downloads off the back of it. It's a double payday for them, uh. So I can't help but say yes, it's good, but it does, as you say, illustrate your point of that.
Speaker 2:
Didn't work for hollywood no, I mean, it's like if you're gearbox, oh you got, like that, this sort of helps you because, like, people want to go back to the good version of Borderlands. But if you're Lionsgate, you're thinking to yourself like why would I want to make another video game movie? You know, like we lost I think they said was $140 million production budget and they only got 14 million of that back so far. I'm like, yeah, I'm so far. I'm like, yeah, I'm like it is.
Speaker 1:
It's right now being called one of the biggest flops of the last 20 years. On top of that one one nugget that's just popped in my mind, I want to lob back into the conversation, if I may, and I don't know if this is what you're saying is, uh, obviously the article and the the comments by microsoft's head of marketing or Xbox division's head of marketing, alluding to the fact that they wish they had the same budget as PlayStation. But obviously the budget much like a film, the advertisement and the kind of getting the game's name out there, for want of a better set of words is attached a figure, normally millions of dollars, which is then attached on top of the game's budget, much like a movie that the game then has to wade through before it truly breaks even. So you can pay back your development costs the $250 million that's often circulated around for a modern-day internally developed AAA game. But then you add on and we've talked about how PlayStation literally makes sure every bus window door, laptop screen.
Speaker 2:
A $50 million budget, yeah, for marketing In.
Speaker 1:
Ragnarok and that million-dollar budget is spent. That makes it even harder. Is there an element here of Microsoft saying look, we don't want to further complicate Starfield's return to profitability by literally killing it with an equidistant game development budget to advertising budget and we're going to slap this on every bus, coaster and Burger King meal between here and El Paso.
Speaker 2:
I think it shows how much you believe in a product too, though I mean it does show a level of belief.
Speaker 1:
But it also does further compound your enumeration. Yeah for sure. If you don't spend any on marketing the hole, you have to backfill is already so shallower, it's so big.
Speaker 2:
yeah, it's like I get it. Um, I do get it. There's so much minutiae of like should you do this, should you do that? As far as the marketing budget goes, like, sony believes in their products, they believe in their quality, they believe in the talent of their studios and they believe that the testing for those often turns out better than not. And even with games like Days Gone, which has a cult-like following, they'll advertise for it. Xbox, you know, like Xbox and I think this is Xbox believes in their products. I believe I think Microsoft is like the overseer, that's like hey, what do you think the projection's gonna be on that? Okay, here's your, based on your projection. Here's their advertising budget and it's often probably Neil, you know, yeah, you know what I mean.
Speaker 1:
It's like it's often-. No, I agree, but I don't see how you get a plane in the air if you cut its wings off every time you bring out a new one.
Speaker 2:
I, so you know. The crazy thing is it's like I think the last time I saw a trailer for a Microsoft game was I see the occasional trailer for Game Pass, because that's their bread and butter, and I think I remember seeing a Xbox infinite I'm like a halo infinite trailer. I think I can remember that.
Speaker 1:
Oh yeah, I actually remember there being some YouTube trailers for Redfall.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I mean I remember the YouTube trailers for Redfall, but I didn't think, like I'm trying to remember, like watching something by that I mean interstitial ads on a product okay, thank you.
Speaker 2:
Thank you related. Yeah, yeah, thank you, um. So I'm like I think I remember the occasional redfall one, but, like you know, I think that goes to show you I'm like I don't remember starfield. I don't remember that, um, and starfield came around the time of like I think the baseball playoffs were going on around that time frame. Yeah, yeah, you know, like you have big in the nba was just kicking up.
Speaker 1:
I'm like I I think if you don't see those on the sports market, then are you advertising, because that's probably like a large some of your demographics respect to anyone that would call themselves a casual gamer, but one would imagine that's probably where your casuals are when they don't have a joypad in their hand, exactly, yeah, it's obvious I guarantee you we're gonna see commercials at the you know like and for several sporting events this fall for call of duty, like it's just gonna happen, like well, they're gonna have to find a marketing budget for that, because that marketing budget is probably going to be the biggest marketing budget that team has ever handled, unless it's still the activision I think I was going to say unless they
Speaker 1:
force them to manage it themselves. But there has to be some cross integration between those two teams because there needs to be games pass integration. They're going to need to use that to push games passing itself because it's the best ticket they've had to this point to get people to take Games Pass. So there has to I get I agree with you about Activision handling it, but there has to going to have to be, especially now, some cross-divisional conversations and sort of responsibilities taken.
Speaker 2:
I think Microsoft is going to look I think it's the exercise that I talked about earlier they're going to look uh, I think it's the exercise that I talked about earlier they're going to look to see how much is the profit line projected to be, and we'll throw in some marketing money because of that. I do think, like xbox is going to market, yeah, I'll be like microsoft is going to market call of duty because, like, they're like oh, we're going to market that now, stalker 2. On the other hand, they're going to be like oh, we tell them to send some gameplay trailers over and we're going to send that to Fiverr and we're going to make a couple of trailers off of that.
Speaker 1:
Oh God no, Because that's probably how it gets done.
Speaker 3:
Yeah, that's.
Speaker 2:
We're going to send that over to Fiverr.
Speaker 1:
I don't know any positive way to spin off of this. I just still live in hope that Xbox gets Really quick.
Speaker 2:
Make a prediction, like. Make a prediction, like. Make a prediction. What do you think is going to be the? Let's say we're guaranteed one game to be ported over. What's your prediction?
Speaker 1:
Listen, I take on board everything you say about Starfield and I do to some point agree, but I think actually this has a sniff of something else about it. I think this is almost we need cash. What's our, what's our best chance and I believe that best chance is is for the horizon five. I don't believe.
Speaker 1:
I do think that's the best chance yeah, I think starfield unfortunately has a little bit too much weight on its shoulders for them to be able to remunerate in a quick fashion. I think starfield's a sort of slow burn. You've got to hype people up, you've got to let that dlc land and then push a game to the year version which could be another six to twelve months away. So I I think it'd be forza horizon 5. Obviously you've thrown your ball down in the court of starfield, so it'll be interesting to see.
Speaker 2:
Starfield or Hellblade. Yeah, because I think they're going to want to recoup money back for both of those, I think independently, especially as a still image, let alone the trailer.
Speaker 1:
A real head-turning thing. So it would be nice to see something come back for them from hellblade. Let's face it, they wouldn't have had any better success if they'd had hellblade captured from day one and released as an exclusive I, I don't think.
Speaker 1:
I think hellblade was doomed to die either way, but you know what I like about hellblade is it really did do some interesting things with audio, mental health, gaming as an experience, while still being wrapped with a gaming cloak. It did a lot of good things, but probably not things that mean that you've got cash in the till, sadly, give me this chunky next bit of news and then we're going to it's news in itself, but then I want to frame up a conversation with you, good sir.
Speaker 2:
Okay, I'm, I'm gonna paraphrase this next story. Everybody just bear with me. Okay, it's a game about the past. It can come out in. It can come out the in the future. Um warhorse studios has officially announced the release date for its anticipated sequel, kingdom Come, deliverance 2. While initially penciled in for 2024, the medieval RPG has been pushed back, but at least now it has a firm release date of 11th Well, I'm going to say this in American terms February 11th 2025. 11th 2025 Gamescom opening night live will play host to a new gameplay trailer, but there's plenty more for fans to get excited about.
Speaker 1:
To be honest, we could leave that there, actually, just to make sure it was an interesting conversation before, but maybe I don't want to abuse people's ever reduced attention spans in this modern world. But the reason why this is here obviously I have always been intrigued by Kingdom Come Deliverance because it's a medieval simulator basically. So I've got the first one downloaded and I keep giving it a go, but I need a full weekend on it to get through that first kind of opening, six hours to substantiate myself in the game, and I haven't found the time for it yet. Maybe this weekend, maybe not.
Speaker 3:
Medieval Skyrim is what I call it okay, okay, that's that's sad.
Speaker 1:
That's, bizarrely, not the reason why I put this news in here, because not that long ago or maybe quite long ago, depending on how those episodes got released that we recorded. But we meet you and I did talk about a game called the precinct uh, which I was upset about getting delayed because it was something that I had my eye on as a palate cleanser towards the back of the year. We talked about that nosing in 2025. We talked a few episodes ago, I think upon your return from your hiatus, with Pastor Longhorn.
Speaker 2:
Pastor Longhorn, pastor Longhorn, he's a gardener in the UK oh god, that's, oh no, you're gonna get in trouble, man, oh man, when this word gets out of the compound man, you're gonna be doing the potatoes next everything he's let me do as well.
Speaker 1:
I even got one night in his room to be that close to God and I blew it, I blew it that's your bum.
Speaker 1:
A few weeks ago when he returned to us from your solo past, the Longhorn Adventure, and then regaled us with his stories and we joined Seb Cole, the Great Ascension, as it's known, we talked about GTA 6, gta 6. Gta 6 is scheduled to come out next year and off-air, you and I spoke about this and I think the reason why this is here is there's an awful lot of games getting brave and entering 2025. 2025, to me, if I was a studio, would be completely walled off, because the conversation you and I and I had off air is is gta6 even sucking air out of the year? It's not even out 2024. Is it because I actually think that it is? And if it is, why the hell would you delay your game into 2025, where most people are going to look at it and go? I'm probably going to wait for gta 6, said with all that logged in the memory banks, give me your thoughts, good sir 2025 is shaping up to be a juggernaut, like an absolute juggernaut.
Speaker 2:
Just yeah, gta is already like. Gta is just he's sucking all the air out of that that thing. But then like even man, yeah, and I'm like, but on the other hand, you probably got what death stranding 2. You have um donkey kong country. You have a pokemon game guaranteed. You have um fable. You have now kingdom come deliverance. Wolverine probably is going to hit that marker. Um, yeah, um, I think hades 2 is officially going to come out in 2025 god damn it.
Speaker 1:
Fine, make his way, I don't care, I just you know you've just dropped some big bang. Oh doom yeah, I forgot doom avowed. All equidistant big dogs in the yard right, but they look like chihuahuas compared to the biggest dog in the yard.
Speaker 3:
And they're not small dogs.
Speaker 1:
So what I don't understand is 2025 just seems like a poison chalice. We talked off air. If GTA 6 launches and it doesn't hit the mark, all the air is going to be taken up in the conversation about how it didn't hit the mark. If it lands and hits the mark, there's going to be numerous shows, YouTube, audio, whatever it is TikTok everywhere.
Speaker 2:
It's going to be talking about every minutia of this game for the end of time yeah.
Speaker 1:
I still get slapped up the backside with 25 details you missed in RDR 2. They're still being made now. Gta 6 has literally sucked the air out of the lungs of every game for the next two years bare minimum. Whether it hits or misses, it doesn't matter. Delaying your game into 2025, albeit early. Is that the only option available to guys now? If you're going to launch in 2025, get out early, get your apportioned bit of the space that's left.
Speaker 2:
I would say yeah, I would say, you know, look at you know, I would say you could say 2025 as the release date. At the end, when gta comes out with a hardcore release date, you move the hell out of the way that you, that's the I, I think that's, I think that's what you, you, you kind of do like if, um, the rumors are true right now, I think they're saying, like you know, some said spring, then some said october.
Speaker 1:
You know, like you know, you try to move out of solid people get behind both dates, so I have no clue at the moment but if you're a publisher, at that time I'm like that means one spring, once the fall.
Speaker 2:
What do you do, you? But if you're a publisher, at that time I'm like, that means one spring, one's the fall. What do you do? You know, like, what do you do at that point?
Speaker 1:
Kingdom Come Deliverance obviously feels like he's packing some heat because he's brave enough to come out and fight.
Speaker 2:
Or maybe Kingdom Come Deliverance is just like let the chips fall where they may. You know like the funny thing is.
Speaker 1:
Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, based just off the improvements that they'll put in off the back of 1, scheduled to be a great game. It looks fun. It looks funny. How does that break the meniscus of the controls that year? It just doesn't. Does COD, does even the mighty COD break the meniscus of GTA? Or do they take the press next year?
Speaker 2:
No, I think there's going to be four games. That's mainstream next year that people are going to be keyed on and, no matter what happens, they're going to buy. Next year there's only four, I think. I think there's Pokemon because that's mainstream. People buy Pokemon if it's good, bad in between. It's a given, sadly, yes, it is yeah. So I think this Pokemon if Wolverine does hit, it's mainstream enough that I think Wolverine is going to be the mainstream game. So I think it's.
Speaker 1:
Hey, you know what Wolverine looks like. A bit of a weird choice from the most studios. I think it looks rough, but At the time it felt, okay, wolverine's cool, that's fine. Not seen an X-Men thing in a while. We haven't seen anything from them since Logan. But then, off the back of Deadpool vs Wolverine and the associated DVD and Blu-ray release, Release yeah, it's a given.
Speaker 1:
Wolverine's just chucked himself up to the top of the pile again in terms of games that people will be excited about off the back of that movie. So a stroke of genius. Look, I do believe you make your own look in this world. So someone was thinking that afternoon set.
Speaker 2:
Yeah. So I mean, if they get that out in 2025, that's, that's another one. People are always fiending to play about the big thing that they just watched. Yeah, so I'm like I think that's that's easy money. The switch to in the mario game that's associated with it, I think, is number three, and then number four is likely going to be gta, and then I'll throw in a five and six.
Speaker 1:
It's call of duty and it's going to be ncaa, because everyone's going to be now I was about to ask you if one of these games was going to be NCAA, because I wonder if, obviously, the Madden we got was the Madden we got. But I wonder if, by the time next year rolls around, we'll see a very NCAA influenced and probably compatible Madden. Thoughts on that?
Speaker 2:
I think we Madden. I've been playing the new Madden lately through early access and, yeah, it feels like it's already been influenced by NCAA.
Speaker 1:
I was expecting this year Madden to get some stick, because it wouldn't have been able to implement the changes as quickly from the ground up to an already established game.
Speaker 2:
They did enough small things to where I feel like they're saying this is the football thing going forward, like the kickoff and stuff like that, where I told you there's, they changed the kickoff mechanic. They did that. Madden as well. The passing in is very similar in both. Madden still feels a little more simulation, as ncaa feels a little more arcade, like arcadey. But I think that might be like a intentional. You know, like you get one, you get the other, but like I feel like they've already sort of implemented a couple of things that make madden feel a little more ncaa. On the other hand, I feel like madden also took a step forward this year that we've been hoping they took, that they've been hoping they would take for the last like five years, in the sense that one-handed can like catches have been added to where you can do cool like and cool little things. They added 13 000 animations. So I'm like they're yeah, so I'm like it's been revamped, like completely revamped as far as like the passing, the animations.
Speaker 1:
So what about the integration? Because to me, that's ncaa. Ncaa hit, hit well and it hit hard.
Speaker 2:
It made the changes that people were looking for, but it didn't make that historic change that you alluded to, where your ncaa can roll into your map like the man character, like your ncaa after you commit, like after you complete your NCAA career, can go into Madden this year, really, yeah, so I'm like if you complete, like your four years and such of that, or sim your four years and such, you can go into your. You can bring that character into Madden this year's.
Speaker 1:
Madden yeah, because we weren't sure, but now that's been detailed, interesting.
Speaker 2:
In the career mode I do not know about, like if you can bring in your care about career modes in sports games I'm more of a.
Speaker 2:
I'm more of a manager mode. By the way, I got you know um funny story. I know we we have a new story uh to talk about like upcoming, but like I tried soccer for the first time in two years like the actual fc soccer game, and this is the. This is the only time in my life I've actually gotten fired from being a manager of a club before. I saw you know like and I don't feel like this is my fault like I signed the resignation papers but like they were leaving me in my position.
Speaker 1:
We who were you managing Like the Texas Longhorns or what?
Speaker 2:
No like so in the FC soccer game, right, the what is it Soccer 24. I picked what is it?
Speaker 1:
The FC Dallas, because I'm here in Dallas, texas, so I picked that Pastors trying to work on getting them turned into the Longhorns, you know.
Speaker 2:
They as they should. But so I picked, picked, I picked up this organization. You know, yeah, I picked up this organization and I started picking up, like p and like I figured out how transfers work, evidently because I had to research that, because I I don't know a lot about, like how to manage the soccer team, I know more about baseball than I know about soccer.
Speaker 2:
That same here and football and hockey and everything else. Soccer is probably at the bottom as far as my my knowledge goes, but like I so in every other sports game I played you've all you're always praised for managing the salary cap effectively and also getting the players as cheap as possible Right, like as cheaper than what you're accustomed to. Well, I got relieved from my duties because I signed a player. I signed a player with. I gave him a higher wage than what he was getting paid for, but I gave him a. What would they say? It was a um. There's a release clause and I and I was just like, hey, I'm gonna give you a lower release cause because I'm giving you higher pay wages and I'm going to give you like a fifty thousand dollar um signing bonus.
Speaker 2:
I thought that was fair. You know like that sounds like you're getting paid more, you're getting a high signing bonus, but the release clause like the team, let me go because they said, hey, your release clause doesn't reflect the standards. It minimizes the standards of what that player deserves to get paid and even though the player agreed to it and his agent agreed to it, this is lower than our. You basically cheaped him out and this is unreflective of our agency You're relieved of your duties. Wow, I've never heard of that.
Speaker 1:
I've never heard of that. I've never heard of that. Would that be acceptable?
Speaker 2:
you've made us look cheap in a in a back end back door element of our contract I uninstalled agreed to yes, I put it like you know, like I put in a couple of hours into this and I was like, oh, I revamped this team. I, you know, I grabbed a couple of players off the transfer portal. We were, we were already like we only lost one game out of like 10 so far and I'm like, oh, I've I got this machine turned around. You know like I obviously get, oh, man, I'm gonna yeah, I thought I'm gonna be manager of the year and I'm like I got relieved of my duties. I'm like I installed the whole damn game. At that point I was like, no, no, no, this doesn't make sense, like I'm going back to american style sports immediately, because ted lasso logic doesn't work in real life doesn't work in a real football simulator, if that's what that could be classed out, okay.
Speaker 1:
Well, let's draw a line under that. It'd be interesting to see we've made our predictions. It's going to be very interesting to see how 2025 unfolds from a industry perspective. We're going to get spoiled with an absolute Really quick in the comments.
Speaker 2:
Before we continue, let me know what I did wrong, because let me know why the release clause should matter and why I was relieved of my duties.
Speaker 1:
Please let me know All y'all soccer people, we'll let it happen there. Don't go down into sports. Let's make it easy for him. What did he do wrong? Because if he's asking me about baseball, I'll be able to tell him he's asking me about soccer. It makes as much sense to him as it does to me. Let's get into. Dip into my soul, dip into my soul. We love the headlines. Ps1 Classics, bloodborne, legacy of Kane and Legacy of Kane Soul Reaver are coming to Blaze's Evercade family of systems in a new double-packed release. So listen in Evercade owners I think Harvey Retro is one of those from memory and a slew of other Evercade owners across the world and within the show's own listenership.
Speaker 1:
Released in 1996, blood Omen was developed by Silicon Knights, the same studio that would also create Eternal Darkness for Nintendo. It's a top-down 2d title with cgi characters. It places you in the role of the titular kane. A murdered nobleman is respected as a vampire in order to gain revenge on his killers. Released in 1999 and set 1500 years after blood omen, the amy hennig directed soul reaver sees one of kane's lieutenants, razael, assume the role of protagonist. It was released on the PS1 and PC. Reported to Dreamcast in 2000, where I played it. Initially published at Crystal Dynamics Handle Development Studios, it actually began life as an unrelated project following the resolution of a dispute between the firm and Blood Omen developer, silicon Knights.
Speaker 1:
Since then the series has continued, with entries of Soul Reaver 2, much forgotten Blood Omen 2 and Legacy of Kain coming out in 2001, 2002, 2003, respectively. But it's the first two games which are arguably the most acclaimed. These two classic titles from the 32-bit era are still adored by gaming fans to this day, with Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver having sold over 1.5 million units as plays. This new ever-game collection sees a combination of the first games Blood Omen, legacy of Kain, legacy of Kain, soul Reaver on one physical collection.
Speaker 1:
For the first time, the two games will come on a single Evercade Giga Cart, which is playable on Evercade systems and the Super Pocket system. Great game to take on the go. Pre-orders open on August 30th, with the cart shipping to customers on September 30th. A little bit of retro news for our listeners here obviously the iconic legacy of kane soul reaver. I have no real emotion for the top-down 2d version legacy of kane, but legacy of kane soul reaver, uh, is a game that has stuck in my memory since the first time I played it, or played it on the uh, sadly dead Sega and Dreamcast system.
Speaker 2:
Sega.
Speaker 1:
Sega, they, you made yourself laugh. I know it's sad that really I laugh seemingly loudest and most gutturally at my own jokes, which doesn't say a lot about me as a person. In fact paints me as a it's just a dad thing, I'm honest. Yeah, Two seconds.
Speaker 2:
Okay, everyone Filling in for time real quick. I think, while this is a, I think this is interesting news, I think this is really a win for digital, like video game preservation, really. But like outside of that, I don't necessarily this is the news that gets me going, for instance, but I think, like fans of these games, you know, it's always good to see the games that you love still are remembered and also are being preserved. So I think that's a win. Outside of that, though, I'm like I think this is, you know it's cool, but I don't necessarily know if this gets new players involved. So, shout out to video game preservation though I'm back now.
Speaker 1:
um, bizarrely and we're gonna leave that in because you filled so eloquently I already know that you did. Plus, the Longhorn was having issues with the combined cat. It got a little bit feral and it had cut it with its claws serrated claws.
Speaker 2:
Is that how cats work? I don't have a cat.
Speaker 1:
Cats are just like deadly dogs, to be honest. Okay. They're friendly and they don't need george, what do you think of this story? Are you glad that is these games?
Speaker 2:
that right? Yeah, are these games that really like resonated with you back in the day?
Speaker 1:
your last comment, resonant, resonated a little bit. You know, the video game preservation shtick angle of this is a good one and to be rewarded. I think Evocator are doing a great job of stitching some bits and bobs together and creating quite the system for the retro collector without even needing to dirty original games. This particular double pack of games, I'm surprised by it's, you know, I don't know. Know I might be showing my age, but it still feels like this game came out yesterday, but obviously it didn't. It's 23 years ago at best, maybe more 25 either.
Speaker 1:
Which way um the amy hennig directed soul reaver, as as was written there. Um is a great game and I think people need to. I think it's one of those kind of games that's a signpost towards the single-player experience that we enjoy. I actually believe that Soul Reaver Legacy of Kain, soul Reaver specifically, is also a nice. Okay, let me rephrase that it's a game that actually was ahead of its time then and still feels rewarding to play now. It had a really great kind of double universe vibe, so you can walk through the living world and then kind of switch it to be the kind of empiric. It's been a while since I played it, so correct me in community corrections the exact what's going on here, but like an alternate ghost universe that you could manipulate.
Speaker 2:
That manipulated the current time now, did you play initially on what system? On dreamcast?
Speaker 1:
now on dreamcast you you had a dreamcast oh dude, I've. I bought every, so it's no surprise that vr2 died, because I've bought every console going that normally dies. I pack the console, you back the losers. Well, it's happened so many times now I wonder if I am the death knell of said console you probably bought a zoom instead of an iPod.
Speaker 1:
I nearly did, which is a scary story. So that says everything I need to say about myself, and therefore I quit the show because I don't know what I'm talking about. Where was I going with that? I think that's a game that still stands up today, and I implore you to get a hold of a copy, either emulated or Steam.
Speaker 3:
There was a version of it.
Speaker 1:
I had on Vita, which was a PS1 classic version. I would say that the PS1 probably isn't the bestest bestest place to play it now, only because it was towards the end of the console's life and it was a big ask right.
Speaker 2:
So you're saying like Soul Reaver is the game I should check out, or Blood Omen Soul Reaver.
Speaker 1:
Legacy of Kain's Soul Reaver is the game I should check out. Blood, don't make Soul Reaver. Legacy of Kain's Soul Reaver is the one that you should check out. It probably took and saved me on Steam Deck right now, so it'd be interesting for you to get it. I think as soon as you start playing it you will see Amy Hennig's fingerprints all over it and it'd be almost a prototypical or pro-Magnum man to Uncharted. That's kind of where I take it.
Speaker 1:
It's obviously a different lore and a different storytelling aesthetic. Because of the world that it's in, You're not going to hear him sort of cutting quips or anything like that. But no, I'd be interested for you to play that and it's one that I implore everyone to play, and it's nice that that's been recognised and it's made its way onto this double pack. As you said at the top there. That game preservation element good and it's all right. It's all right preserving games for time memorial, but what's the point of preserving a game that was terrible? Might as well better off. Preserve games like this that are good and we're actually signposts to greater things in the industry and sort of more broadening and interesting narratives yeah, that's really cool.
Speaker 2:
I mean I like I said I don't know if this really does. I here's the thing you know, marinating on this. I don't know what it like emmy hen game feels like anymore, because I'm like I just know uncharted is what she worked on on. I really all her other games get cancelled.
Speaker 1:
I was thinking about this, not recently, but, say, over the last six months a name popped into my head and I was like, yeah, do you know what? That was? A name that carried weight. Obviously, since then she was attached to the Star Wars I think it was called 1313 Project, which I know some of the assets got re-salvaged for Jedi Survivor, but not a great deal of that actually survived in the end and I think that's a shame. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't really think we've seen much of her since Obviously reasonably well paid, so probably doesn't need to.
Speaker 1:
I think she's assisted in some story reworks for some games along the way. I think when I checked out at the time I don't know whether it was her Instagram or some other social media that I had a little click around because I thought I wonder what Amy's doing now, certainly not carrying the weight she did off the back of the Uncharted trilogy, which is a shame, and obviously we never got to see her take of what Uncharted 4 was actually going to be, because the game we ended up getting delivered on our exit was significantly, if not vastly, different to the game that we were meant to be getting.
Speaker 1:
So, yeah, amy Hennig. If anyone's got any information about that, give me an update on Amy Hennig, I would be equally as interested. Really, I think you're right there, seb. A name that carried a significant amount of weight that really. Now you could ask some gamers in the street definitely a casual ask them who Amy Hennig was, and she would probably think that she was a female 80s wrestler from the the Curt Hennig's dog or mum probably think that, uh, she was a female 80s wrestler from the, uh, the kurt hennings dog or mom.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I mean like legitimately. Well, I'm like she, you, we talked about the touch of death there. I'm like we like with you in such a fact like all of her projects have been canceled lately and you know, I think like right now she's working on marvel. Was it 1943? Rise of Hydra is what it's called.
Speaker 1:
That's it. That's it. Yeah, she is the captain America game You're absolutely bang on yeah.
Speaker 2:
She is, so I'm like she's found herself.
Speaker 1:
So I'm like that is, that's where she's working on right now, but then like but think about this that'll be her first game in over a decade that actually hit the ground.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, to actually come out. What's changed in the?
Speaker 1:
last 10 years in gaming. It'd be interesting to see if she's kept to, because she was influenced by media outside of gaming. She would watch movies and write notes and do storyboards on the wall.
Speaker 2:
She was big in the Uncharted movie, I believe as well. I think she worked on that interesting.
Speaker 1:
That's the stat I didn't know. That's why you're here. You've got the facts. Only right and proper that she's involved.
Speaker 2:
I suppose she was one of a better word nathan drake's mother, really wasn't, yeah, but then I'm like, so I, we saw what um rise of hydra, the, the trailer for that, with captain american black panther, where it's not chichala but I think it's chichala's grandfather.
Speaker 1:
But, like, I think we saw that I called it the captain america game. It might be better to call that that black panther game. Really wouldn't it?
Speaker 2:
I. You know, I think it's a mixture of both, but I think like we saw that probably four months ago at gdc and but we haven't really heard anything else about that game, so it'd be interesting to see if it comes out.
Speaker 1:
I got a physical print media magazine today. Rip, game Informer, rip. The only gaming magazine you can buy that's that covers current gaming. That's not an industry magazine, it's play magazine, but it's PlayStation specific, specific. But anyway, I flicked through it and there was a I don't know an inch by two inches tall section about it, with a very small capture of Cap's face and I thought, oh crikey, if that's where that sits in your most anticipated top 50 games, I think it's because no one knows what that game that sits in your most anticipated top 50 games.
Speaker 2:
I think it's because no one knows what that game is yet, though I mean, we've only seen little snippets of that in the trailer.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, I feel like now might be the time to start speaking quite heavily about it, because if that ends up limping into you know I don't know, I don't think that's a 2025 game.
Speaker 2:
I'm going to say 2026, but I also think, like, I think, like we see a trailer, not at gamescom, maybe at the end of the year at um. What is it? The game awards I.
Speaker 1:
You actually expected one at gamescom, if I'm honest. I think you may drag that game out and see what the details are on it, but I here.
Speaker 2:
Here's the thing I think, like people make people have this illusion that gamescom is bigger than what it actually is. Because, like gamescom like gamescom opening out live that is, gamescom is actually a big convention. It's probably the biggest convention in the world now. But like gamescom, opening night live with jeff keely's thing has always given us nothing, burgers, except for, I would say, the biggest announcement that came out of like opening night live might be dead. Dead Island made it, made it come back. Oh, mate, I was just like it's never had the pizzazz of a, of a E3 or anything like that based on the conversation we had midway through the news.
Speaker 1:
Your predicted top 5 games that are only the only ones that are going to break the meniscus of gaming. Pulled out the google machine, which is not something I like to do on air because I like to swing off my own knowledge but, uh, 2025 release date for hydra.
Speaker 1:
I don't hold out much hope for that no unless it's early doors based on the footage that we've seen in the trailers. I pray they can get that out and they've only got to go up against Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, because if it's the other game we talked about, they're done.
Speaker 2:
Not even Marvel or Cap maybe it's mainstream enough to where people are going to check that out.
Speaker 2:
It's one of those games that you would see now on a PS2 in a goodwill for 2.50 yeah, I, I'm like I was thinking about like gamescom announcements as far as like gamescom opening out live and it's always usually updates more than it actually is like announcements. So I think, like the game I I'm just'm just being generous here I think like I think we're going to get updates on games. We already know about our DLC expansion announcements, but I am maybe one release date. I don't think this is like going to be the summer games fest type deal or like the what is it? Are like the game awards level of announcements. I think maybe, like I would just be hyped to see like an announcement of like hey, this project is still alive at this kind of presentation.
Speaker 2:
I think like Crimson Desert is a game that sort of like looks like Assassin's Creed, but like the where the guy turns into like the Ravens. You remember this game, that trailer that came out, yeah, yeah I and where you were fighting on horsebacks and such like that. It almost looks like the Witcher meets, like Zelda meets, like Assassin's Creed. It did look like amalgamation of like 50 different games. Like that is the the game I expect to see like oh, is this still coming out in 2025? Or age of empires is that game is like what's the new age of empires? Look like civilization is my jam.
Speaker 1:
I expect to see civilization there how are you not playing anna with civilization is your jam because I'm playing civilization that's so old and done.
Speaker 2:
Now get it gone that's the addiction, is like civilizations by no man's sky. At this point I played 1954 hours of civilization oh my god. If I didn't know you already had an absolutely stunning wife, I'd be telling you to get a female in your life, but it wouldn't work and I play indies and all these other games, but like, like that's the game, I'm like, as I'm typing other stuff up, I'm like, oh, let me just boot this up real quick.
Speaker 1:
That's the sort of highbrow guy you are and that continues to impress me to this day. Let's draw a line under the news, because when can people find us?
Speaker 2:
George has fired the community. Say again, sir when can people in the community find us? Where can they reach us? Where can they?
Speaker 1:
talk to us. Let me put my teeth in, because it's not often I get this part of it. So if you're listening in and you've heard me or Seb say something that you don't quite agree with, or you've got an opinion or take on the news that we missed, then hell, you know what A conversation is, the key to understanding each other. So get in touch with us. And how would you do that? Pick us up and you'll get your community correction featured in the show. Alternatively, you'll this is what you need to do to get that correction Email questions at unofficialcontrollerpodcastcom. You can DM us on Instagram or Twitter, or you could join our lively and very hospitable discord where you can find that next best gamer friend you never thought you needed. No pressure, no stress, stress. Pop by, have a chat. Um, and we forgot to read out the supporters list last week, so every name we're gonna have to do twice when we get to longhorns jam. By the way, seb, just to prepare you mentally and physically for that.
Speaker 1:
Um, while I'm here, I must say that if you're listening and you support the show and we're very grateful for you doing so and you're not in the Discord, et cetera, et cetera, we are organising, as per your early adopter perk, a community get-together. But you are going to have to make yourselves known to us a little bit more with an email to questions at unofficialcontrollerpodcastcom, so we can find you on a more easier-to-manage platform like Instagram or Twitter, or a direct message to you. If you're not in the Discord, just say you can join us on said Zoom call and you can maximise your perks for your early adopter status. Let's not burrow that into the ground, because there's literally thousands of you out there that are in the cheap seats, as I call them, the great and the unwashed. You don't contribute, but you listen.
Speaker 1:
Believe it or not, is still as important to us, and we love you for it. So keep in contact, stay listening. The show will always be free, so don't freak out that we're going to suddenly start hiding behind a paywall. We absolutely won't. If you want to pay more, you do get more. Okay, it doesn't really get any better than that. So, with all that sort of community stuff out the way, good sir Pasta's here. Are you in these good books or not? Because I'm about to let the door open, but I don't know whether Are you cool with it right now.
Speaker 2:
I mean, we'll do our best. I'm always If he's listening. I'm always cool with him. He's always listening.
Speaker 3:
Please take me off the potato dirty.
Speaker 1:
I smell like stuff. I smell like spuds.
Speaker 1:
But if he's not listening, Well, he's at the door covered in what I could call potato starch. So he's either done a shift for you or he's checked your potatoes and you left some skin on. Either which way, it's time for a peek in what we affectionately call Taster Longhorn's Smock. What's sensible between some cult paraphernalia and a dodgy copy of Battlefield Earth this week? These are the new release highlights for the week August 18th to August 25th 2024.
Speaker 1:
Listeners, these are either digital or physical or will be by the time this podcast and your feed book could be. Let me tell you now, Seb, these could be region dependent. I was about to say spring, stop. What a wall. But I'm gonna say spin round, descend down. Let your billowy smock surround you on the floor. Pick up your acoustic guitar. I'm gonna give you a quick reach around. I'm gonna pull out blackmuth.
Speaker 1:
Wukong, wukong, wukong. It's grong, wukong, it's gracing such heavy systems as the PC and therefore, ergo, steam Deck, ps5 and Xbox Series X. They mentioned of a Switch port there. It's only a matter of time till we get the 16-bit side-scrolling version of Black Myth Wukong. It's coming out on August. No, chance, it's in your face. Yes, it's coming out on August, the 20th 2024. Chance it's in your face. It's coming out August the 20th 2024. Black Myth Wukong is an action RPG rooted in Chinese mythology. You shall set out as the destined one to venture into the challenges and marvels ahead to uncover the obscure truth behind the veil, or beneath the veil, of a glorious legend from the past. Is this going to dethrone Kratos as an action RPG, or is it doing very little to even threaten Nah man? It is or isn't Nah.
Speaker 2:
This is for fans more than me.
Speaker 1:
Flintlock Dawn, of Siege of Steel or whatever it was.
Speaker 2:
Oh yeah, that's Dead as Disco and you know I got a community correction.
Speaker 1:
Which is Dead, as Disco Wukong or the aforementioned game that I've already forgotten the name of.
Speaker 2:
Oh, flintlock, yeah, Flintlock is the one I was associating as Dead as Disco. And, by the way, shout out to Bobby, and well, I think it was by the bigster that mentioned that disco. Disco was still alive in the community corrections which, by the way, you could hit us up, you're right, we just talked about.
Speaker 1:
We should have read that on air, so by the way wading with a heavy tone, discussing why disco was not dead, which he's right and bobby was right. The discos, they're still packed, but I get your overarching thought disco is dead yeah, yeah, I, I was thinking to myself.
Speaker 2:
I'm like, yeah, it's just, it evolved into a new genre now, you know like idiom, you know pop, you know like the kind of stuff like disco sort of birthed a lot of different other genres and now they're their own genres. Disco itself, though, I'm like we, I don't see any new disco. Sat Night Fever jams on the radio nowadays. You know Freakless chic.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, exactly, that's exactly where it was. Listen, I'm very excited to see you give Pasta a reach around Again. Thankfully, the dialogue across the pond causing much confusion here, but I'm sure some uk listeners have raised an eyebrow. What comes, what good comes, from your reach around of pasta?
Speaker 2:
the next game we're talking about. Its release date is the heavily renowned game known as concord for ps5 and pc for august 23rd 24. I laugh because, as you know, concord came out with its early beta and I think 12 of y'all were playing it.
Speaker 1:
I've used some of the UCP budget to send a wreath commemorating Concord's life to Sony HQ for the release date of this game.
Speaker 2:
You wasted all our money for that All our money for Concordord. Like butcher would do dude, it was a 400 fruit basket if, if we're throwing bribes out there, I'm like tell them to bring back infamous or something you know. This isn't a bribe.
Speaker 1:
This is the. This is to consolidate them on their oh the inevitable burying of Concord. The day of release.
Speaker 2:
I understand, I'm a bit harsh because it's someone's pride and joy. You should have wrote on the banana like, hey, bring back another Ratchet and Clank, or wrote some kind of message of the hey instead of this, can we get another resistance?
Speaker 1:
Give me a standalone Daxter game. He was locked he was exactly sp. Now you've read, you know you've enabled it to be on ps5, but I've remembered how good he is and I just want a standalone game. Yeah, incorporating that much vaunted for 3k technology what is?
Speaker 2:
what's another playstation game that that has been on the show for a long time? Or like hey, uh, you could write on the banana. We remember Slack Cooper, just to make sure.
Speaker 1:
I don't think anyone's forgotten, but I just don't know how they're bringing back. I mean, I want to see Greek Kratos, if I'm honest, but there's no chance of that. Nah, nah.
Speaker 2:
You're going to see Greek Atreus before.
Speaker 1:
It depends where and how. What you measure is a Sony exclusive, because they've got a game called Sky Odyssey which they published, if nothing else, on the PS2. So it depends how deep you want to go down. That I mean Spice World's been rested for a while. Do we get like a PS version of Spice?
Speaker 2:
Girls. Nah man, I think Toon Book coming back was a little bit too much at this point. I think that was too much. And I think Toonba coming back was a little bit too much at this point. I think that was too much, and I played Toonba growing up.
Speaker 1:
I mean, an Infamous would be nice, but we had a PS4 sort of re yeah, but that was 10 years ago and at this point it was yeah, that does not feel or look like a 10 year old game. Bcw Still looks great.
Speaker 2:
What was the vampire game, the Order 18, something, something, oh yeah, the kind of Werewolf exterminator.
Speaker 1:
Extraordinary Gentleman, I would say Rip-off. Yeah, the Order 1886, again.
Speaker 2:
I'm trying to think of that came up last week. God, why?
Speaker 1:
do people remember this thingy, or whatever it's called, or primal? We haven't seen those games for 30 years now.
Speaker 2:
Yeah that's sure see that it prapper the rapper I take parappa over a lot of the games we we mentioned now like parappa as like a turn-based RPG or something like that, make it different.
Speaker 1:
Well, I'll tell you what you could do with Parappa the Rapper. You could do a Hi-Fi Rush.
Speaker 2:
I wouldn't mind that, I actually would. I think that would be really cool. Make him like that, or make it like I would probably say I'd take the PlayStation also. Battle Royale 2, now that you actually have a good roster.
Speaker 1:
Oh god, I mean, how desperate was that when you, one of your main characters that you're swinging off in the advertising, is a big daddy?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, that's what I'm saying. I don't think you had the roster for it back then. I'm like I think you have it now though.
Speaker 1:
Which is your pasta pasta, by the way? Which one are you going to sit the pasta vasa to, out of those two?
Speaker 2:
I mean, I'm not playing either one of these, but Black Mith Wukong over Concord for sure. Okay, I think one is going to survive and one's going to die within like five months.
Speaker 1:
To be honest, I don't see Black Mith Wukong having the legs to outstay its initial release window if I'm honest, I think it's going to be this year's liza p that's bold. I like it, though I want to get behind it because liza p had a.
Speaker 2:
It has like a fan base, but then liza p is not like it didn't take over the world, but it's coming out at a time that is like the summertime, basically still that yeah, it's gonna have like it's three month time, but where people are gonna rave about this game. So I think like, yeah, I come, we this is the episode about release windows really?
Speaker 1:
but black myth wukong is getting out ahead of star wars but not much.
Speaker 2:
Here's the thing, though One's an Ubisoft game and one's a game a first-time game from a developer that is making a Souls-like game. Souls-like games, at this point in time, have just an inherent built-in audience to where everyone's just trying out the new Souls game, mortal Shell, I'll give it a world.
Speaker 1:
Did it scratch the itch? No, not really.
Speaker 2:
No black, I'm like uh, what was the other one bobby was into? That was like um, that is a p mortal shell. There was another one, I think it was like it was so unoriginal that they named it the same game, the same thing over. Like the first one, it was Demon's Souls. Is that what you said? Demon's Souls was one of them, not well lit souls.
Speaker 1:
Oh, that's funny let me I'm gonna. Pastor is planning on doing a movie night in the common room this evening and I was wondering if you could come in with a a heavy movie recommendation see if we've got it in the common room this evening. And I was wondering if you could come in with a a heady movie recommendation see if we've got it in the bucket of VHS's in the corner of Pastor's rec room um Twisters the new one was pretty good.
Speaker 2:
I actually enjoyed that quite a lot.
Speaker 1:
Um go check that out oh.
Speaker 2:
Lords of the Fallen is what I was thinking of, right the original twisted no the okay, so he'll have that yeah, so twister the the new one, I think is actually pretty solid. It was actually a decent watch and then it's good.
Speaker 1:
I'm gonna try and drag myself to the cinema for that, I thought this, yeah, yeah then, um, deadpool and wolverine was pretty fun.
Speaker 2:
I you know seven out of ten action flick. I think it's a pretty fun movie and throwing it twisters, if you rate in movies oh, I give that strong 7.5, like if I'm doing the 0.5 scale, if I'm forced to do seven, like one out of ten pool versus wolverine. I think it's right on par, I think they're right thinking from the ticket stubs, would you?
Speaker 2:
no, for sure, not absolutely, absolutely not, but like I think we've. I don't know if we had a, just a glorious movie outside of Doom 2 this year, like that is like oh, this is like pure top notch cinema this year. I think Gladiators 2 might be that, but like outside of that I'm like I don't think we've had like I just can't believe that they've oh, inside out, I'm lying. Inside out too is like really, I just can't believe that they decided to make a sequel to gladiator.
Speaker 1:
There was absolutely no need. They should have just called it something else. And that's once again hollywood's addiction to not to sequel itis. No, yeah, like gladiator didn't need a sequel. But hey, let's squeeze out a Roman movie and slap gladiator two on it, just so we can get the book in. I think it's.
Speaker 2:
It's disingenuous, seb, and I um, new IPs right now are like I think this is across the board in every single media media medium right now yeah, risk aversion, everyone's scared of new ips right now, and the market right now is just so volatile that any mistake cancels a studio. You saw, you heard the news, probably about paramount and their tv division. I'm like it's. It's just so scary right now. We're about to hit like a major recession again. But, um, anyways, not a political show, um, the. The game I was thinking of was lords of the fallen, I believe, and it came out with a direct sequel called lords of the. Are lords of the fallen again?
Speaker 1:
I don't know. I know it was in his pile of games he picked up, but I don't know if he got to it or not. So we need to, and bobby will be back soon, so that'll be yeah, for sure he can correct me.
Speaker 1:
Um, we can have some standalone Bobby episodes that we love. All that said and done, I feel, before we let Pastor break into song, we're going to do the supporters, our beloved supporters. We need to shout them out and we will do, and we'll do it twice, because we're men of our word.
Speaker 2:
Seb, as you know, you want to start us out, or you want me to start us out while you're looking for it.
Speaker 1:
I have it well. First of all, we'll start with Carlos, the one man. The one man George fan club. Thank you for that, sir, and to each and every person that supports us. Thank you so much. You're making the difference. Who's next, seb? And to each and every person that supports us. Thank you so much. Thank you so so much. You are making the difference. Who's next, sir?
Speaker 2:
Trestles New York.
Speaker 1:
You've got to say it twice we're contractually in touch.
Speaker 2:
Trestles, trestles, trestles, new York, trestles, trestles, trestles, new York, all right.
Speaker 1:
We're not. You know they're a restaurant on Queens. You know they're a restaurant on Queens. In Queens they let us record an episode Very generous.
Speaker 2:
So I'm going to say badabinkster, badabinkster, tingletooner, tingletooner.
Speaker 1:
I don't know what that was, but it sounded almost like an English accent and that makes me nervous, I've got to say, and great to see him and his beautiful wife at Timeless it's Digital Monkery, digital Monkery.
Speaker 2:
Roasted Space, monk. Roasted Space, monk. The Gaming Gram, the Gaming Gram.
Speaker 1:
Boborder, boborder, boba, boba. Let me just take a moment to also thank Boba for making the trip up to Bury. Thank you so much there, and also to him and the wonderful Digital Monkery and the Mrs Digital Monkery for your help behind the scenes.
Speaker 2:
Very very much appreciated. Is that far from like? Is that still in the UK or is that like outside of the UK?
Speaker 1:
Bury is in the UK. It's right in the UK Bury. It's in the UK, it's right in the heart of Northern England. Okay, cool, cool.
Speaker 1:
All right, and I'll do this one actually, because I've got my teeth in Looking to get him on the show very soon to discuss some of that sweet, sweet CEX buying that he's doing out there on his own YouTube channel. It's the Immortal Marathon Gaming Marathon Gaming. Make sure you go check out his independent channels. He was at Timeless Very wonderful man to spend time with, so it was a wonderful experience for us all.
Speaker 2:
Who's next? This is Seal Master Elliot. Seal Master Elliot. This is Seal Master Elliot.
Speaker 1:
Seal, master Elliot, my red-headed, beautiful, big-armed son.
Speaker 2:
Ginge Ginge. Emma Sharp, emma Sharp.
Speaker 1:
We're now contractually obliged, just so you know, going forward to confirm that Emma Sharp is not on the dating apps.
Speaker 2:
Oh, no, yeah, All right, congratulations. Never mind, depending on how you want to look at it, congratulations.
Speaker 1:
Congratulations. That's the only way you can look at that. Harvey Retro, harvey Retro. Nowhere near Berlin, nowhere near Berlin.
Speaker 2:
That's the only way you can look at that Harvey Retro, harvey Retro, nowhere near Berlin, nowhere near Berlin.
Speaker 1:
This one sounded said twice is going to sound like I need my bottom wiping in the downstairs toilet.
Speaker 2:
But mumsy, mumsy. The RGT fan club. The RGT fan club.
Speaker 1:
I think we can, congratulateually, only need to say that, no, we'll leave it in. Let's do it three times the RGT fan club. I'm not jealous, I am Pete Brocklehurst, pete Brocklehurst.
Speaker 2:
Billy Marmite, Billy Marmite.
Speaker 1:
That's the aforementioned Marmite, seb, simon Pryke, simon Pryke, oh, and that means, do you want?
Speaker 2:
to do a Fred, fred, fred.
Speaker 3:
Senge.
Speaker 1:
You left nothing on the table in that performance and I'm very proud of you. I was going to say it as well, but I don't feel I can do it justice. If you're wondering why we read all those names out, it's because they are our supporters. They financially contribute to the show. You don't have to, but should you want to, the tier start three dollars for a readout on every show. Five dollars for a readout on every show and art merch yearly. Five, eight dollars read out on the show on every show are much yearly, plus access to the inglorious chat. Ten dollars read out on every show art merch yearly, plus access to the ingglourious Chat $10, read out on every show art merch yearly, plus access to the Inglourious Chat and quarterly Zoom chat with hosts. Get your eye on the Discord because that's being organized as we speak. Looking forward to seeing each and every one of you sexy sons of guns.
Speaker 2:
So, george, with that said, before the pastor comes in, I had one last piece of information.
Speaker 1:
The early adopter packs are done and dusted guys. You did miss the opportunity. The early adopter packs are done and dusted guys. You did miss the opportunity. We did extend it and left it open for a massive window. I've regaled to you the wonderful perks and tiers that we're doing. But bear in mind, if you do join over the next month or so, especially if we hooked up with you at Timeless and you want to kind of see that through to its full conclusion, I will find a way of sending you a little, something, something.
Speaker 1:
Not an early adop Box, because obviously you missed that window, but much like Carlos recently was lucky enough. We were lucky enough for Carlos to support us. We made sure he immediately got the album art, cult stroke, cult doorway album art, aka the two aliens on a T-shirt. Thank you for that, Carloslos sebo. I cut you short because I had some business business to take care of, but the business business has now been taken care of and we can slide into what fun and follocks you had planned for us. So I am okay, willing and able for your okay, so word first thing, what are you hoping to play this week?
Speaker 1:
I love it when you mix it around. You're the only one that mixes it round. What am I hoping to play? Oh, here we go. I have got on the go. A few things I want to clear up.
Speaker 1:
Last week and I didn't mention it at the top of the show, and apologies I downloaded the new Mafia made by a friend of the show, or one of the people that worked on that game was a friend of the show Retro Gamer Boy, aka Mike Rouse, the man that brought you PlayStation Home and PlayStation Trophies. What a god. He worked on that with Hangar 13. It's the first time I've played it. I played it on PS2. But yeah, so far thoroughly enjoyed it.
Speaker 1:
It's very linear. Why did they even make that city? It's very linear, but I'm very much enjoying it. The story is what's keeping me coming back. The gameplay Middle of the road has been improved, but nothing to write home about. So it's serviceable, seb, it's serviceable. Okay, off the back of that, I've also been. I re-downloaded Robocop and I've pushed forward that a little bit more. I was hoping by now there'd be a fix to sort the cinematic crashes out that seem to happen every time they flick between characters. They haven't, but I'm just choosing to ignore it and push on with a great game. A little bit more Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster on the Switch, which again is another game I forgot to regale you with at the top of the show. My apologies, and I'm looking forward to getting back onto Dave the Diver and getting the. You know I don't like serving in the restaurant, but I don't mind supplying the restaurant with a fresh fish.
Speaker 2:
Good sir, what are you hoping to play in this next gaming week? Um, let's see. Let's see what's on the docket for me. Um, it looks like um, one of your. I think this is a part of your country's game gaming history is thank goodness you're here. Have you heard about this one?
Speaker 1:
I don't know, I'm probably being a bit dumb in this moment, but no, tell it to me as if I'm fresh to it so thank goodness you're here.
Speaker 2:
It is a absurd comedy, slap um slap former. So like a slapstick indie platformer set in the bizarre Northern English town of Barnsworth. So yeah, so basically have you seen it. Thank goodness you're here. Are you looking at the trailer?
Speaker 1:
No, I can be, so it's a shame that a game's passed me by. So what's this one called?
Speaker 2:
Thank goodness you're here, like you are here. So thank goodness you're here. It was released August of this past year, so I'm like August 1st 2024. Let's see Players take the role of a traveling salesman who performs odd jobs for the residents of a bizarre town in Northern England. Ooh, it is for the people listening. It's almost like a.
Speaker 1:
Oh, dude, what am I saying? I'm looking at it now. I'm aware of this game.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, it's almost like a Cartoon Network Saturday morning cartoons type of vibe. Absolutely, it's been a while.
Speaker 1:
I've actually read historically. I've read some reviews. I don't know why it didn't stick in my head. I think that title just threw me completely off. I had bloody Children of Hintan in my mind.
Speaker 2:
It doesn't necessarily look. I think the title doesn't really do the game justice as far as getting people on board of this type of ability, I think, is restricted a little by that.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, for sure. Um, I don't think it's. I think the market to be talking marketing teams.
Speaker 2:
I think they've done a good job of getting it out there and I've seen some gameplay interstitials word of mouth is so good for this and this is one I you know they sent me a copy of this one, so I'm gonna check. I'll check this one out to see how good it actually is, because I'm about to do the indie game countdown on that show. On my other show, the Single Player Experience podcast, by the way, check that out, everyone.
Speaker 1:
I was going to give you a chance to pump it, but you've done it yourself.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I'm just a modern-day plugger. Evidently, but then, but evidently, but then um but hey, I'm a bluetooth book blogger yeah, yeah, at least, at least I'm not that um, at least I'm not that.
Speaker 2:
But then like, yeah, I think um 1000x is another one that I'm hoping to play for the indie game countdown um x resist. It is almost like a persona meets like a um. It's a thrilling sci-fi. But it's a thrilling sci-fi, that's kind of like a persona meets like a um. What's the game with the, the little girl where she's um near meets persona kind of vibe, right okay yeah yeah, wow, yeah it.
Speaker 2:
Evidently you know this has been getting a lot of nine out of 10s, 10s out of 10s across the board right now, turn-based or action game. It is, I think, a action game. It almost has a little bit of Bayonetta vibes as well.
Speaker 1:
The persona element again. Is that what the social stat building?
Speaker 2:
Yeah, it's the social stat building and also like the art style the art style is kind of like.
Speaker 1:
I'll be honest with you, I think we've probably underappreciated persona's influence on a lot of things. Yeah, starting to become very a little oversaturated. A little oversaturated, yeah, a little bit souls like in this room right now, and persona is good for a multitude of reasons and I don't think it's just an.
Speaker 2:
I don't think it's an easily copyable uh recipe, if I'm honest with you it is that it's the 3d art style of like early persona is like a lot of indie games can do that art style. So they do do that art style, you know, yeah, and especially the japanese anime style, like centric games. I'm like it just lends itself to that, that kind of so well, and I think we're gonna we're just now scratching the surface of what of like the wave of games to come out with this type of bayonetta persona style art is going to be like, but like a thousand elements I would like to see stitched in more.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I think that's for a lot of people, but this is more, I would probably say, more Bayonetta, or more like near, than actually like persona as far as like gameplay wise. But then, like the, I do think like the storytelling is also like hard-hitting, more like a persona than than bayonetta, though from what I from the early hour of this game. But then like, yeah, this one has uh, I, I've this one has over 941 positive, overwhelmingly positive reviews on steam right now that's nice to see yeah.
Speaker 2:
So I'm like it's definitely a game that I think more people need to hear about and I want to actually give it its time to actually see it, whether or not like whether or not it's going to get my recommendation of reviews and this probably we should have discussed this at the top of the show, if I did here, and I can't wait.
Speaker 1:
I cannot wait to see this unfold, if they do it, if they do roll it out wide. But sony are flirting with written reviews on top of the star ratings for the games on their store.
Speaker 2:
You know, it depends I. I think like who's moderating that.
Speaker 1:
On that scale, no one is. There's gonna be some of the best things ever written on these reviews I do think they should.
Speaker 2:
They should implement the steam thing of like you have to play these games in order to review it like you had. It's a certified play.
Speaker 1:
Yeah, that would be. That would reframe that on any console store. Do you know what? I've talked about it before.
Speaker 1:
One of the things I think the marketplaces and the stores are lacking is any kind of moderation or curation. It's obvious from some of the games that they've trotted out that they've put their seal of quality on that. I wouldn't even wipe my backside with their seal of quality on that I wouldn't even wipe my backside with. So these reviews could actually solve A from a manpower point of view of having someone there moderating these reviews and or collating them or doing whatever with, but also solve their sort of curation problem. Because if you could order it by stars, all of a sudden you're just not going to see those 1s and 2s mobile ports which and here's another guilty party, nintendo, their store is a literal car crash. Oh it's, it's absolutely trash, it's virgin. On the if I was a true casual and I got a switch because I do believe it's a pick up, a ball gaming device, not only from a monetary point of view but certainly sort of its investiture into your life is minimal compared to the others you go on that store.
Speaker 2:
How the hell, how the hell, do you find anything worthwhile? That's not like Nintendo First Party.
Speaker 1:
Because, let's say, you're a casual, so you call to reviews, you call to podcasts, you call to everything, so you podcasts. You call to everything. So you've gone on there and you've seen not the official farming simulator game, but farming tractor simulator 2024 for £1.79. You think, well, that must be the hallmark of quality. It's on nintendo store, it's in the sale, then you get hold of it. Then you get a hold of it. It's rough, it's worse than rough, it's literal dog sick.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, so I would probably. You know, I think like, don't get me wrong, the Steam store is not perfect, but like one thing I do think of like the Steam store is like they curate it for what you like as soon as they get like a nine game preference of what your library is like and what you are actually playing, nice, and then, and then your discovery queue is like very curated towards hey, you like these type of games. This is a game that is like either on sale and it is very much in the same kind of like micro genres that you like, are you know? Yeah, I'm like I think that's that's really cool, and then, like they also have the top of the charts list for that genre specific and I think that's like that is a boon that I think like the nintendo store should have to, where like oh, I'm like I can create my wish list but I can also like see games in certain genres and see what is like, what people are talking about, what what is like.
Speaker 1:
What I would say is have some strength and conviction that you've got some really great games on your platform not your own, ninty curated I was going to call it dribble.
Speaker 2:
It's not dribble you know no, but it's in fact, is it's bloated yeah.
Speaker 1:
Push that to one side and we're looking at the slew of your other developers, your AAAs, your AAs, your as, your Indies, whatever it is. Which way you want to look at it, have some strength in the conviction that your platform actually has got some great games that need to have their value sunk because that store doesn't do a terribly great job of selling you on the concept of some of these. But I just know some extra curation would stop people from buying and I've come close dude, and I would say I'm an experienced gamer.
Speaker 2:
My whole life I've been on that store and nearly pushed the button on some absolute drivel so, so, like on the Steam store, for instance, like you could see top sellers, new and trending, and then on the new and trending side, it legit shows you like I would say, there's games here that I haven't heard of, but they're games that also, like I look at it and I go down that list, it's mostly positive, very positive. It's like sensational list. It's mostly positive, very positive. It's like sensational all that.
Speaker 1:
You know this way, when I eventually get a steam deck, oh man, your life is changing. Do you like what I've done there?
Speaker 2:
I cannot wait to see, off the back of the dos tap that I download what my recommendation wheel looks like, because I tell you what not even steam themselves saw me coming seb, I tell you I I do think, like here's the here's, we joke around about all this, but like I do think, once you see all the games that you can get and how much cheaper you can get them, I think it's that's the part that's going to change your life.
Speaker 1:
I think the thing that appeals to me about Steam is some of the more sort of genre-defining sort of oddball games that I would be into that wouldn't normally break the minutes because it wouldn't get onto PlayStation, wouldn't get onto Xbox, might get onto Switch.
Speaker 2:
But very rarely. I think there's one like Crime, like crime scene, like crime scene. Um, cleaner is one, I think, is. I looked at that game the other day and I was like, oh, that's a george game, because I'm like you're basically you're going in and you're cleaning up the crime scene and like this feels almost like your canoe crime scene investigator, like that simulator types thing, where you're just doing monotonous things but you're doing it in an interesting enough a way to where I'm like, oh, that it's like I just hope Steam Deck's got the button combinations required for me to play an in-depth sim on it.
Speaker 2:
basically, I mean I did Carbush Sim like pretty thoroughly I know.
Speaker 1:
but I'm talking, you know, multiple button inputs, maybe even like a World War II bomber simulator. I feel like my Steam Deck, experience is going to involve me carrying around a Bluetooth keyboard.
Speaker 2:
No, no.
Speaker 1:
So I think that's fair, but I also think like I'm not anti that I'm not anti that idea and maybe that's one that I would use when I kind of flag it to the TV. You know, it makes sense to play those games there like that, with a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse and using the Steam Deck almost like a PC mule. But I'm excited for the more controller-heavy games that I've missed.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I think you'd be surprised on how well the trackpad works on the Steam Deck, do you?
Speaker 1:
know what. I'm up for giving it a go. I just don't know how you're going to be able to do sort of flaps down, gear down, throttle down, you know, lock on. That seems to me like that would be hard work on it, even if the touchscreen, as you say, is flawless.
Speaker 2:
No, not the touchscreen, but the trackpad. The trackpad is flawless. That's fine, but when you're, and then you also have buttons on the back, you can map to anything you want.
Speaker 1:
Okay, well, that's missiles and guns, but now I need flaps, aerolons. But that's the sort of thing I'm excited to get stuck into when I eventually get the Steam Deck. It's those games. It's like being at the forefront of that movie simulator game that we talked about, the kind of spiritual sequel to the movies. I think you played it three or four weeks ago. I'm in the movies, or whatever it was called.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, a couple of months ago. Yeah, it's a really cool experience, but I'm like it's begging.
Speaker 1:
You know, the only way I'm going to be able to play that is on steam deck. So that's kind of where I'm headed, because my aged mac here, right? Yeah, I don't even run these 2005 movies.
Speaker 2:
So, yeah, new one. Yeah, I think, once you cross that threshold, to where, like let's say, you any um, any of these?
Speaker 1:
and I think, like your best bet is if xbox makes that portable handheld, because if xbox makes that portable handheld and if they make that portable handhold and the rumor that I'm still struggling to believe, which is allegedly true, which I will not believe until I see it substantiated I'm erring on the side of caution that they lock the steam store into the microsoft store on console, on pc, it seems like a no-brainer on console.
Speaker 2:
I mean, they can't stop you a pc, you just do whatever app you want.
Speaker 1:
But I mean, but to make that, to make that available to xbox console players, I I cannot people tell me it's true and I'm like you, tell me how that works.
Speaker 2:
Okay, I don't think they, I don't think they'd be able to stop you from running os, because like here's here's, I don't think it's going to be native, but like a like. So for the rog ally, for instance the rog ally it is it has the native xbox app associated with it and it also has a form of said just so we're completely clear.
Speaker 1:
The dirty rumor doing the rounds is that microsoft have or have not got a deal with steam, and this will be in community corrections.
Speaker 2:
Hg games he's wet yeah, I remember I was talking about this, yeah you know.
Speaker 1:
I just don't see how you make. I know there's a compatibility box, you click in the background, right, I get all that, but making sure every single. Take that flight simulator game I use as an example. I know they've got Microsoft Flight Simulator, perfect, okay, great game, but it's been consolized. These games are legacy games on the Steam store that were never considered to be console releases, therefore mapped to a controller ie button combinations, left bumper and a combination or clicking of right stick unlocks a secondary menu field, etc. Etc. It's those older games that were never thought of to be used through the controller connectivity that I just do not understand how you're able to tick a box on compatibility and force that onto the xbox game store here here's a totally yeah totally, absolutely completely through the microsoft games pass store or system.
Speaker 1:
Totally get it much like ant stream, which is also you just don't make those eligible.
Speaker 2:
You like, you're like um. For instance, I'm like. Not everything on steam deck is eligible for the steam deck, you know it's like.
Speaker 1:
So I suppose the safe bet then is anything with steam deck compatibility, already approved and usable is something. Yeah, you just make it for the new device. Make it for the new device or make it for series x. I think is is where I was going.
Speaker 1:
it's the lack of it's the lack of built-in keyboard, etc. Et cetera on those systems. I know they support USB keyboard, they support Bluetooth keyboard, but you can't sell a piece of software to an end user in the console world without making it clear to them that you're going to need to invest in A, b and C peripheral to be able to use the game. And that's the confusing part.
Speaker 2:
It's the reason why WoW isn't on everything right now.
Speaker 1:
I love the way that you come along and prove my point with information that I haven't didn't even know about.
Speaker 2:
But the crazy thing is WoW and keep in mind I've never played WoW, I've only seen other people play it. But like Diablo, was WoW back in the day of like very similar game size and now get Diablo's on everything. It's just. It's just a matter of do you want wow to be on everything? And because, like everything now has has everything now that if you want to see it ported, it's getting ported slowly to consoles, to controller schemes.
Speaker 1:
I think this latest World of Warcraft re-rendition or whatever it is. I've seen advertising and they've got an advertising budget, obviously yeah. And when I saw the trailer roll and I thought, why are they wasting time on this? They should have got this on console. Should have got this on console. Should have got this on console.
Speaker 2:
I completely agree. It would have done their findability.
Speaker 1:
It would have done their sort of competitiveness versus Diablo. Whichever which way you cut it, very, very, very similar game, same requirements from the user in terms of time and investment.
Speaker 2:
If you wanted to know, like, if people are willing to invest in a big rpg that is very heavily rooted into computer mechanics and you were scared about making that jump to console, you shouldn't be anymore, because boulders gate proved it. Maybe boulders gate is the deepest rpg that you can find, to where like it is a computer game, but on the console it plays really well. So I'm like, yeah, and and people showed up for it.
Speaker 1:
So I'm like, if they show up for that, they'll show up wow I noticed harvey retro and started third playthrough, and this time he's going through as like a bard or something it's like, yeah, I'm hankering for it again.
Speaker 2:
Yeah, I'm hankering for it again, like I. I don't think there's a game that came out this year that has unseated that longing for a lot of people for boulder's gate and just more listen.
Speaker 1:
That's the game that kind of came out of nowhere would kind of prove my point in some ways about how you probably need keyboards. Well, I don't need that. Made it work with the controller, fair enough, okay made it work really good with the controller too.
Speaker 2:
Exactly yeah.
Speaker 1:
But that's the sort of compatibility I'll be looking for from Steam's Xbox integration. It's got to be that good, and if you're not wanting to put the time on it, you shouldn't you shouldn't put it out there. So it'd be interesting to see how that plays out. I do believe pasta has gone. Absolutely start raving crazy. I thought it was a sleep, but it was actually a meditation. Amen, he's woken himself from now and he looks to be tuning up the guitar. Seb, really, the only thing left for me to do is to thank you for your time and to thank the listeners for their time, and we look forward to the pleasure of speaking to you again next week. Until then, happy gaming, and remember there's nothing wrong with being the unofficial, being. Do you know what? 230-some-odd episodes still can't say it right? There's nothing wrong with being given the unofficial control. It's what you do with it that counts. Thank you, everyone, and we'll see you soon. Take care, Seb.
Speaker 2:
Bye, everybody, peace.
Speaker 3:
George and Seb rolling down the road, rgt riding shotgun at heavy load. Pastor Longhorn waiting to unfold An El Paso, texas tale's been told. One arm big a sight to see. Pastor preach, preach, set you free. Georgian said they'd bend the knee. Rgt nodding yes and bleep. Join the cult in El Paso town when Pastor Longhorn's got his crown One arm high, the other down. We're the wildest show around. Sunday's hot, the desert, air. George and Seth both feel the glare. Longhorn's words hang everywhere. Salvation found without a care. Sunday's hot, the desert, air. George and Seth both feel the glare. Longhorn's words hang everywhere. Salvation found without a care. Rgt plays a sacred tune Underneath the El Paso moon. Longhorn grins from afternoon To the night. They'll see it soon. Join the cult in El Paso town when Pastor Longhorn's got his crown One high, the other down. We're the wildest show around. One high, the other down. We're the wildest show around. We're the wildest show around. I'm.
