Game Scoop! 785: Assassin's Creed Shadows Early Access Revoked

Summary

IGN’s Game Scoop! Episode 785: Assassin's Creed Shadows Early Access Revoked – Detailed Summary

Release Date: October 25, 2024

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1. Introduction to Episode Content

Hosted by Damon Hatfield with co-hosts Nick Limone, Sam Claiborne, and Justin Davis, this episode of IGN’s Game Scoop! delves into significant updates and discussions surrounding major gaming titles, with a particular focus on Ubisoft's latest challenges.

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2. Assassin's Creed Shadows: Delay and Content Revocation

The centerpiece of this episode is the recent turmoil surrounding Ubisoft’s much-anticipated title, Assassin's Creed Shadows. Originally slated for release in early November 2024, the game has now been postponed to February 14, 2025.

• Removal of Early Access and Season Pass: Ubisoft has decided to drop the season pass and the early access feature that was previously tied to the Collector’s Edition. This Collector’s Edition, initially priced at $280, has seen a price reduction of $50, bringing it down to $230. However, fans are still critical of the high cost, questioning the value proposition.

  Sam Claiborne highlights the implications:
  "Ubisoft has slashed $50 off the price of the Collector's edition, so lowered the price before it's even out. But it's still $230. And I don't know who's doing it, who's buying, who needs whatever dumb figure is in this box."
  (Timestamp: 28:37)

• Speculations on Ubisoft’s Struggles: The hosts discuss potential reasons behind the delay and content revocation. There’s speculation that Ubisoft might be facing internal challenges, possibly related to overlapping release schedules with other titles or shifting focus towards more profitable ventures.

  Nick Limone suggests:
  "Maybe they're adjusting it so there's some kind of pricing scheme to make more money off of cosmetics or something that they just hadn't built into it instead of doing DLC."
  (Timestamp: 30:45)

  Sam Claiborne adds:
  "Ever since this game was announced, it's been an uphill battle for Ubisoft. There's a lot of negative sentiment out there about this game."
  (Timestamp: 31:12)

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3. Call of Duty Black Ops 6: The Controversial "Pay to Hear" Feature

Another major topic is the release of Call of Duty Black Ops 6, which introduces a novel yet contentious feature dubbed "Enhanced Headphone Mode."

• Enhanced Headphone Mode Explained: This feature, developed in collaboration with Immerse Spatial Audio technology, promises improved directional sound accuracy. However, it comes with a subscription fee of $20 for a five-year period.

  Justin Davis critiques the model as:
  "It's a subscription that will last for five years. So presumably every five years you have to re up and pay an extra $20 to get the best audio experience on Call of Duty Black Ops 6."
  (Timestamp: 46:04)

• Perceived Pay-to-Win Element: The host team argues that this feature gives subscribers a competitive edge by making it easier to detect enemy movements, effectively creating a pay-to-win scenario.

  Sam Claiborne states:
  "It's literally a pay to win win feature. But I think the thing that bugs me the most about it is that just like if this is the best audio experience that should be built into the game, it's what AAA gaming is all about."
  (Timestamp: 46:36)

  Damon Hatfield echoes the sentiment:
  "It doesnt resemble Beyond Good and Evil anymore. It's just other than a pig."
  (Note: This timestamp seems incorrect; the correct attribution based on context should be elsewhere.)

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4. Highlights from Recent Game Releases and DLCs

The episode transitions into discussions about various recent and upcoming game releases, providing reviews and insights into each title.

• Alan Wake 2's Lake House DLC: The Lake House DLC is lauded as a fitting conclusion to the Alan Wake 2 saga, offering a claustrophobic horror experience with unique enemies and narrative teasers connected to Ubisoft’s Control.

  Damon Hatfield praises the DLC:
  "It is an ink blot painting monster that emerges from painted walls throughout the facility. It is just incredible."
  (Timestamp: 05:03)

  Damon also mentions:
  "There's like an extended teaser for what it looks like Control two. And it's all available on IGN.com if you want to watch it on our YouTube."
  (Timestamp: 05:30)

• Darkest Dungeon Season Progress: Sam Claiborne shares experiences playing Darkest Dungeon, commending its atmosphere and combat mechanics but critiquing the sporadic appearance of bosses and the frustration caused by the turn-based combat's chance to miss mechanics.

  Sam remarks:
  "I find myself often they only appear randomly, they're not always there. So it's like ready. Everyone's in good shape and I'm ready to like sit out with all my most powerful warriors and go take on a boss. But a boss is not available."
  (Timestamp: 08:16)

• Factorio Space Age DLC: Factorio’s latest DLC, Space Age, expands the factory-building simulation into space with new logistical challenges and planetary exploration.

  Nick Limone enthuses:
  "Factorio is, in my humble opinion, the best factory game. This DLC also has... a change list of like 2000 quality of life things."
  (Timestamp: 19:04)

  Damon adds:
  "I might actually check this out. The nonsense of what I see on screen looks so appealing to me and I want to know, I want to understand, I want to decipher."
  (Timestamp: 17:53)

• Mario Party 10 Review: The hosts commend Mario Party 10 for its improved AI and engaging mini-games, rating it a 9 out of 10. They particularly enjoy the fast-paced dialogue options and customizable game modes that enhance the party experience.

  Justin praises:
  "The minigames are really good. They're funny. They look good. Like the whole game looks good."
  (Timestamp: 12:03)

• East 10 Nordics Action RPG: Damon Hatfield introduces East 10 Nordics, an action RPG reminiscent of PS2-era titles with a variety of gameplay systems, including fishing mini-games, co-op modes, and ship navigation.

  Damon recommends:
  "It's pure video game distilled down to like, this is what an action RPG is. And I cannot recommend it enough."
  (Timestamp: 22:02)

• Vampire Survivors’ Castlevania DLC: The addition of a Castlevania-themed DLC to Vampire Survivors is discussed, highlighting the integration of iconic characters, weapons, and stages for a nominal price of $4.

  Sam Claiborne explains:
  "It adds 20 new characters, 40 new weapons, and one massive stage. The whole thing is $4, dude."
  (Timestamp: 50:19)

• Metal Slug Tactics Launch: Set to release on November 5th across multiple platforms, Metal Slug Tactics is explored as a tactical, turn-based take on the classic shooter series, with new playable characters and revamped graphics.

  Sam Claiborne announces:
  "Metal Slug Tactics has a launch day and it is not far at all. Metal Slug Tactics launches on November 5th on PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4 and 5, Xbox Series X and S, and Xbox One."
  (Timestamp: 50:02)

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5. Ubisoft's Internal Challenges: Prince of Persia and Beyond Good and Evil

The conversation shifts back to Ubisoft’s internal struggles, particularly focusing on the disbanding of the Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown development team despite the game's critical acclaim.

• Team Dissolution Despite Success: Despite positive feedback, Ubisoft reportedly disbanded the development team due to underwhelming sales, indicating deeper issues within the company's project management and financial strategies.

  Sam Claiborne reports:
  "Prince of Persia, the Lost Crown team, has apparently been disbanded. Even though we've all sung the phrase, everyone seems to love that game."
  (Timestamp: 38:19)

  Justin Davis laments:
  "I feel like this game... got absorbed back into the nucleus of Ubisoft. And so now the hope for Ubisoft is just back to like their IP again."
  (Timestamp: 41:03)

• Hope for Future Projects: Despite setbacks, the hosts express optimism for future Ubisoft projects, referencing the positive reception of Star Wars Outlaws as an indication that Ubisoft can still produce compelling open-world games.

  Justin shares:
  "I think Ubisoft, if Outlaws is any indication, they can make awesome open world games and this one should be one."
  (Timestamp: 31:31)

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6. Listener Interaction: Balatro's Hidden Mechanics

A listener named Daniel from Maryland shares his experience with the game Balatro, revealing a crucial game mechanic he initially overlooked.

• Discovery of Hidden Features: Daniel recounts discovering the ability to resequence jokers at a critical point in Balatro, which significantly impacts gameplay and scoring.

  Sam Claiborne narrates Daniel’s anecdote:
  "If you can recall any other times when a fundamental part of a game was unknown to you... It is a safety game’s most powerful mechanic."
  (Timestamp: 63:09)

  Damon Hatfield humorously responds:
  "Rookie move."
  (Timestamp: 63:13)

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7. Closing Remarks and Future Episodes

The episode concludes with the hosts expressing excitement for upcoming releases and listener engagement. They tease future segments like GameSpook and encourage listeners to reach out with their game suggestions and anecdotes.

Damon Hatfield wraps up:
"Thank you to Nick. Thank you, Sam. Thank you to everyone working behind the scenes in our LA studio here to make this episode possible. My name is Damon. This is IG and Game Scoop. And we're out."
(Timestamp: 84:11)

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Notable Quotes Overview:

• Sam Claiborne on Ubisoft's Collector’s Edition Price Cut:
  "So they've delayed the game, taking out the season pass, taking out the early access..."
  (28:37)

• Justin Davis on Call of Duty's Audio Feature:
  "It's literally a pay to win win feature."
  (46:36)

• Damon Hatfield on Alan Wake 2's DLC:
  "I'm just like, it is a fabulous end cap to the entirety of the Alan Wake 2 saga."
  (05:03)

• Nick Limone on Factorio's Art Style:
  "For me it's a big pro. Like I really like the game's art style."
  (19:04)

• Sam Claiborne on Balatro's Hidden Mechanic:
  "It's a trial and error game like so many of these games are."
  (64:05)

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This comprehensive summary encapsulates the episode's key discussions, providing insights into Ubisoft's challenges with Assassin's Creed Shadows, the contentious Call of Duty Black Ops 6 feature, and reviews of various recent game releases and DLCs. Additionally, it highlights listener interactions that add a personal touch to the episode's narrative.

Transcript

[Damon Hatfield]

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[Nick Limone]

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[Damon Hatfield]

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[Nick Limone]

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[Damon Hatfield]

See [e-mail].

[Sam Claiborne]

This episode is brought to you by SkinnyPop. Popcorn. Perfectly popped, endlessly delicious. Oh so light and crunchy. Skinny Pop original Popcorn is the snack you've been searching for. Made with just three simple ingredients, popcorn kernels, sunflower oil and salt. Snacking never felt or tasted so good. Perfectly popped, endlessly delicious. Give yourself permission to snack and pick up Skinny Pop original popcorn today. What's up everybody? Welcome to IG and gamescoop. I am your host, Damon Hatfield. Joining me this week here in studio is Nick Limone.

[Damon Hatfield]

I'm back, baby.

[Sam Claiborne]

Joining us remotely are Sam Claiborne, Game Spook and Justin Davis, Scoop.

[Nick Limone]

Wait, is it spook?

[Sam Claiborne]

Don't get ahead of yourself. Is it a spook one, Sam?

[Damon Hatfield]

Maybe it's like a scoop.

[Sam Claiborne]

We are in the process of trying to get next week's game Scoop recorded before Thursday when we normally record it. So we could do a proper Game Spook episode next week.

[Justin Davis]

That's fine. But it's the spooky season.

[Sam Claiborne]

It is the spooky season and I.

[Justin Davis]

Just have bags of Halloween candy sitting around everywhere that I'm not allowed to open yet.

[Damon Hatfield]

Are you. What kind of household are you, Sam? Is it a big candy bar or a small candy situation?

[Justin Davis]

I'm a little disappointed in the choice of candy that came home to hand out to the kids. Now apparently the kids like the hard candies now.

[Sam Claiborne]

Like the Jolly Ranchers.

[Justin Davis]

Well, they also. Well, a little bit that more like sour gummies to like Sour Patch Kids.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

Or I like Sour Patch. I don't know, like nerds and stuff like that. I don't know. Like it's like super sour things and things like that. Like that. That's apparently the cool stuff. So then like there's the. What I like is the Halloween themed versions of the candy. So like you know the Reese's stuff that maybe shaped like a pumpkin but they got sour.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, those are good.

[Justin Davis]

You know, stuff like that. Yeah. So we got like a Reese's pack that I thought was pretty good for the. But apparently the kids don't want that stuff.

[Sam Claiborne]

Well, my.

[Damon Hatfield]

I'll take it.

[Sam Claiborne]

My 5 year old said he wanted to try candy corn.

[Damon Hatfield]

Oh no.

[Sam Claiborne]

Got a bag of candy corn and he ate one piece and was like, this is disgusting.

[Damon Hatfield]

Timeless. It transcends generations.

[Justin Davis]

It's not a gateway candy to the large pumpkin versions of it. You just stop at corn.

[Sam Claiborne]

I think it's because it's an old timey candy. So I don't think there's as much sugar in it as other things. So it just tastes like waxy, like nothing.

[Justin Davis]

No, it's somehow pure sugar. But now they figured out how to get sugar in between the sugar.

[Sam Claiborne]

Okay, okay. Too much sugar in it. Well, we've got a great show for this week. It's GameSpook Eve. We'll call it that. We have a pair of interesting Ubisoft stories to discuss. Ubisoft, the publisher that just cannot catch a break these days. And then there's an interesting development with Call of Duty Black Ops 6, which is rolling out today. It has become the first pay to hear game that I am aware of. There's a pay to hear.

[Justin Davis]

I love this coinage. I told several people that quip today. Damon and I attributed you to it. I said, as Damon calls it a pay to hear.

[Sam Claiborne]

Gabe, not have been the first person to call it pay to hear.

[Nick Limone]

Well, okay, Pay to hear is really clever.

[Sam Claiborne]

Let's go with it.

[Damon Hatfield]

It caught my attention when I saw the headline. I was like, well done.

[Sam Claiborne]

But first, let's discuss what we've been playing a little bit recently. Nick, I think you just finished the Lake House DLC for Alan Wake 2.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes, I devoured the lake house in one sitting. It's about a two hour long dlc, but again, just a wonderful little end cap to the entirety of the Alan Wake 2 saga. You gotta hand it to the folks at Remedy. They know how to make. They know how to present a video game. And not only that, they know how to make a video game. Very scary. Because this, like I know Baseline Alan Wake 2 is scary. It is very survival horror. But I think what the lake house does is trap you in a way more claustrophobic setting where the bad gun play doesn't matter because I don't like to. Not the greatest gunplay. There I said it. But still extremely spooky. And the enemy that they introduced in the DLC that is unique to the DLC is just incredible. I'm just like, it is an ink blot painting monster that emerges from painted walls throughout the facility. And the thing that's super sick about the DLC is it is an FBC satellite facility that's located in Cauldron Lake. So if you like control, this is the DLC for you. Because not only do you play as an FBC agent voiced by Janina Gavankar. But also, if you play through the dlc, it is missable. Near the very end of the dlc, if you do a certain thing, you get an extended sneak peek at what lies next. Beyond fbc, the multiplayer.

[Justin Davis]

There's an actual game scoop in the end of this game, right?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Nick Limone]

Whoa.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, there's like an extended teaser for what it looks like Control two. And I, you know, I. A little behind the scenes at ign, I played through that and then like, I text one of the people who was like, hey, can I make this? Like, should I capture this and then publish it as a video? He goes, yeah, dude, if you can do it. I was like, oh, wait, I got to replay the dlc. So I did all that and captured it. And it's all available on IGN.com if you want to watch it and our YouTube.

[Justin Davis]

First of all, I'm pretty sure I was that person, or at least I was telling that person to tell you that. And I figured you being Nick Lamone, you had already captured it, it'd be fine.

[Sam Claiborne]

We just assume you capture everything.

[Damon Hatfield]

I mean, if Igen wants to get me like a 12 terabyte extended hard drive, I'm more than happy to capture every single game I play.

[Justin Davis]

We should get you that, man. I would love for you to capture. You're an honorary Guides team member. I'll get you a terabyte drive. That's fine. 12T's no problem. But yeah, it was really helpful. And then we actually made some news from it as to what we already recommend, we talked about, which is really.

[Damon Hatfield]

Cool, but it's really, really cool. Sneak peek at what lies ahead is now.

[Sam Claiborne]

Is Alan Wake 2 done?

[Damon Hatfield]

Alan Wake 2 is done. And I would recommend this if you played Alan Wake 2 at launch. Good news. They made a new game plus called Final Draft, which is actually similar plot beats. A lot of the plot beats are beat for beat the same, but there's a lot of added cutscenes, added dialogue that is completely different from your first playthrough. And if you own the all the DLC or the deluxe edition of the game, they've done something unique where they actually have taken the dlc, which is playable from the main menu, just you can jump in. But they've also integrated all the the DLC at points that make sense in the main story. So you can play it as all one cohesive package throughout a playthrough of Alan Wake 2. So it's really, really clever.

[Nick Limone]

So question, what if you didn't play Alan Wake 2. Would that be the recommended way to play it now?

[Damon Hatfield]

100%. You should just play the story mode and get the deluxe version of the game because that has all the dlc and then play through the story mode and you will just naturally come across the dlc.

[Justin Davis]

That's so cool.

[Sam Claiborne]

Well, I played a bunch at launch but didn't finish it. I would have to start over at this point, so I guess that's what I would do if I were to restart at some point.

[Damon Hatfield]

Highly, highly recommend.

[Sam Claiborne]

I have been playing Darkest Dungeon, which I find myself doing often at this time of year.

[Damon Hatfield]

Good game.

[Sam Claiborne]

Very good game. Things are going great in my campaign. Things are going really well for me right now. But I'm pretty deep into it and I'm at the point where I'm starting to remember my two critiques with the game. First of all, I love Darkest Dungeon. I love the atmosphere and the artwork and the sound design. And then the very clever dungeon crawling turn based combat where you have to keep an eye on your sanity meter and all that. Love all of it. But in order to progress on your way to get to the Darkest dungeon, they're sort of like checkpoint quests you have to and bosses you have to complete. And I think the bosses are some of the best parts of the game. They're all very different and they're brutal. They all have their own sort of skills or abilities that they use that it's unlike any other combat encounter in the game. So you have to approach them very differently. And it's sort of like a puzzle to figure out. It's great. But I find myself often they only appear randomly, they're not always there. So I'm like ready. Everyone's in good shape and I'm ready to like sit out with all my most powerful warriors and go take on a boss. But a boss is not available. So it's like, well, I guess I'll just do a regular ass level and.

[Damon Hatfield]

You know, potentially ruin my party.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, exactly. There's that too. And you know, it's it. After a while of playing, it all gets to be a little bit samey. So I wish I could just push forward, go after these bosses in time, but more in my own time, you.

[Damon Hatfield]

Will know the true extent of my failings.

[Sam Claiborne]

That's true. And the other thing is that it just feels since it's turn based combat, it just feels so bad to miss.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. Oh, dude.

[Sam Claiborne]

Which is a problem with any turn based combat system.

[Damon Hatfield]

It's the XCOM scenario, right, where it's like, oh, 80% chance to hit. It's fine. It's like, what? How did you miss?

[Sam Claiborne]

90% chance I got this miss. What the. Like, it doesn't like if I miss in Elden Ring. That doesn't feel bad at all. That's completely on me. I missed. But here it's like, what? Like just. I don't think.

[Justin Davis]

Oh, that sucks.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, you just missed.

[Justin Davis]

That's unnecessary.

[Sam Claiborne]

I don't think it needs to be in there. I don't think any game, any turn based combat game is made more fun because you can miss. So developers just stop doing it. Stop adding like chance.

[Nick Limone]

Chance to hit is a. Is just an objectively bad mechanic.

[Justin Davis]

First of all, look, it's.

[Sam Claiborne]

We're in a small, you know, alley or hallway in this dungeon. The enemy's right in front of me. There's no way I missed.

[Nick Limone]

Oh, but hold on. Like, they don't exist in two dimensions in the game.

[Damon Hatfield]

I don't know. It's a claustrophobic setting. My imagination says this is a narrow hallway. All right.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Justin Davis]

No, I agree.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

I think the answer is just stop adding the ability to miss in terms.

[Damon Hatfield]

Or just don't let me see what the percentage is. You know what? Do a final fantasy where I hit or I miss. And you know what? I never question it when it happens. If not.

[Justin Davis]

Because what they want to do is they want to sell you on equipment that gets you to that close to 100% hit success rate. Right.

[Damon Hatfield]

That's big accuracy talking. They want you to buy that accuracy gear.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, yeah. So instead of that, they should just have it be like, you know, what you're working towards is bonus damage. You always do damage, but you bonus damage.

[Sam Claiborne]

I like that.

[Damon Hatfield]

I agree, I agree.

[Nick Limone]

When World of Warcraft was in beta testing, they used to have a mechanic where your character would become fatigued and they would gather half xp. Like when you were killing stuff.

[Justin Davis]

Oh, that's so evil.

[Nick Limone]

And then. Well, it was sort of. But it was designed to get people to take a break from the game. Like then they would fill back up. And then like everyone hated it. Everyone was furious. They were so mad. And so what Blizzard did instead was they gave you rested XP where you earned double xp. And then once your rested XP all ran out, then you went back to normal XP after that and they changed nothing. Like everything was exactly the same. Was instead of going from double XP to regular XP or from regular to half, you went from double to regular. And then everybody loved it. They're like, oh my God, rested xp. What a nice bonus. So.

[Damon Hatfield]

Oh, dude, I do love the rested bonus in an rpg.

[Justin Davis]

Hell, yeah. Yeah.

[Nick Limone]

So. So games should do. Instead of, like, chance to hit that.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Nick Limone]

They should just do bonus damage or, like, there's no miss. There's just the glancing blow. You only did two damage.

[Damon Hatfield]

A chance for a critical. That's what it should be.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. Which is there too.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

Critical is one of the greatest offenders of low percentages, though. Like, it's so common to get, like, you get. This weapon has a 2% critical rate.

[Sam Claiborne]

Fuck you.

[Justin Davis]

All right.

[Damon Hatfield]

Hey, he's preaching.

[Nick Limone]

He's preaching.

[Damon Hatfield]

Finger snaps, finger snap.

[Justin Davis]

Crit.

[Nick Limone]

When. When bosses heal, it's like it out of here.

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh, yeah, Bosses.

[Damon Hatfield]

When a boss heals, full health, I'm just like. Immediately, I'm like, oh, I'm supposed to lose this fight. All right, cool.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, it's funny how rare that is in games where, like, the boss starts using healing potions so effectively. They're like, what? That's my. That's my only thing that's what I have going for me is I have heal potions.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah, I do. Although I will say one corollary or not. An exception to that is, like, the trope of, like, fighting, like, a shadow version of yourself or your party. Like, obviously Shadow Link, but, like, there's a really good. I don't want to spoil specifics, But Baldur's Gate 3 has a great take on that, where you fight, like, a shadow version of your own party. Oh, man, I love that.

[Justin Davis]

I got my ass handed to me by a computer player in Mario Party last night. It was one of the worst nights of my entire.

[Nick Limone]

Well, yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Speaking of, tell us about Super Mario Party Jamboree.

[Damon Hatfield]

Monty Mole ruined your night.

[Justin Davis]

Which week? Which we gave a nine to. No, it was. It was Birdo.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah, that's even worse.

[Justin Davis]

Difficult Boss when you're 7 years old and playing Super Mario Brothers 2 as it is to get, you know, the slap in the face of Birdo beating you, you know? But anyway, so I. Yeah, I've been playing Mario Party. We gave it a 9. The best Mario Party ever. Mario Party connoisseur. I haven't played enough of it to make that determination, but the changes are so awesome. First of all, that Birdo thing was crazy because I paid a boo to do this exact thing where you can pay a boo towards the end of a level to steal a star for you, and it cost me 50 coins. And then Berto did the same thing and got the same star. Back instead of going for the person that may have been the lead, Birdo went for the revenge.

[Damon Hatfield]

Can you believe that? I mean, and then one the AI learning built in now.

[Justin Davis]

It was messed up, man. It was messed up. That's what you do to your friends in the room, you know, just because you're humans. But you know, the computer play is crazy. So what they did is they made more levels, more stuff. And then they apparently have a mode that you can turn on which takes out the randomness, which is like the most needed thing ever. I haven't unlocked that mode. I don't even know how to start it. Yeah, called Pro mode. I can't wait for that. But what I have turned on already is the fast dialogue, the ability to fast forward when there's like revolutions and things happening. And the ability to turn off waggle entirely for all the mini games in your session. Those things alone made it so much better because the games are awesome. Like the minigames are really good. They're funny. They look good. Like the whole game looks good. And the button ones are just. They're all platforming challenges. They're like really fun. Like you play with people that know how to play Super Mario Brothers, then it's like great. You know, I didn't even play a button matching one. There was one that was a. This really cool photo for taking one where there was like these all this huge panoramic scene. You could pan around outside of the Mushroom Kingdom castle and like a fountain. So it'd be like here's toads sitting on a pink toad sitting on a bench. Take a photo so you'd like. That's an easy one. You go. But then you have to get the zoom right. You have to do it first. So then they do like here's a chain chomp running around a tree. So the first chain chomp you see running around a tree, it's not chasing the right thing. But you don't realize that the one that you need is way in the distance in another part and you have to zoom and the zoom looks really cool and it tries to trick you and it's such a crazy, mind warping good game. And then it judges you fairly. I can't believe this. So anyway, the rest of it is Mario Party though. You're rolling dice, you're going around the board trying to get stars, stuff like that. Like I've been doing that for 27 years or something now. So you know, like there's limits. But like this is if your kid is going to make you play Mario Party every night. This is a much better Mario party game than normal. Right. So there's that and then it's still a great party game. Like, I can't wait till for Friday night. I'm going to play this with friends and get a bunch of beers, order a pizza. It's going to be so fun. Everybody can't wait.

[Sam Claiborne]

Cool.

[Nick Limone]

But they can't have the pizza while they play.

[Justin Davis]

Well, unless we have that device. David, I might need to borrow that from you. The wing eating device?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, the Saucy Nugs.

[Justin Davis]

Do you have that prototype somewhere we can whip up?

[Sam Claiborne]

Justin should.

[Damon Hatfield]

Dude.

[Sam Claiborne]

Is it still available for sale? Justin?

[Damon Hatfield]

November 5th.

[Nick Limone]

I don't want to talk about it.

[Damon Hatfield]

No, in November, I plan on doing an Airbnb with my buddies for one of their birthdays. And you best believe this is going to be primary game number one.

[Sam Claiborne]

Cool.

[Justin Davis]

Nice. That's a good call.

[Nick Limone]

Are you going to rent an Airbnb or are you going to turn your house into an Airbnb?

[Damon Hatfield]

No, we're going to rent an Airbnb.

[Nick Limone]

Me and my buddies are going to do an Airbnb. Guys, it'll be awesome. We'll all rent out our place and then we'll split the money.

[Justin Davis]

That's good.

[Sam Claiborne]

Justin, anything to report that you've been playing?

[Nick Limone]

Yeah, well, I regret to inform you that the Factorio DLC came out Factorio Space Age. So if you ever. So this is a universal truth about me, but it's particularly true right now where if you ever see me and I, like, lost in thought and you're like, I wonder what Justin's thinking about. It's just conveyor belts. It's just conveyor belts and, like turning gears and just like clockwork.

[Justin Davis]

Well, this looks awesome.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah. So Factorio is, in my humble opinion. I mean, this isn't an uncommon opinion, but it's overwhelmingly the best factory game. And the whole game was building this huge, giant factory of like, you need iron, and then you smelt it into steel, and then the steel gets turned into gears and the gears gets turned into that. And it's all this big logistics chain. And the goal of the game was to launch a rocket into space. And when you launched the rocket into space, you won the game. But now when you launch the rocket into space, that's what actually starts the dlc. And now you can go to other planets and, like, so there's all these logistics of, like, you know, certain things don't work in space, so you have to. You have to automate Launching rockets to like send supplies up to yourself and you can go get fuel and travel to other planets and so. Oh dude, it just. I can't spare. Yeah, there's giant worms.

[Damon Hatfield]

I think I might actually check this out. Like that, like the nonsense of what I see on screen looks so appealing to me and I want to know, I want to understand, I want to decipher.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah. And there's like, there's aspects of the game that I don't like. Everybody always talks about how polished it is. It's like one of the notoriously one of the most polished video games ever made. Like this DLC also has. It came with a version 2.0 that's free to everybody. And that version 2.0 has a change list of like 2000 teeny, teeny tiny quality of life things of like, ah, we changed this thing that used to annoy people and fixed it. And just like they did that across everything in the whole game. And so when most people talk about factorio, that's what they really like about it is like the developers clearly play and use their own game all the time and understand what people need. But like one of the things that I like about it is the art style. Like reminds me of old Infinity Engine RPGs. Like it reminds me of like Baldur's Gate 1 or 2 like these sort of pre rendered, you know, it's not polygonal, it's not 3D graphics and for some people that might be a con, but for me it's a big pro. Like I really like the game's art style.

[Sam Claiborne]

How do you.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. So is it a Steam Deck game?

[Justin Davis]

Possibly or is it. Do you need a mouse keyboard?

[Nick Limone]

I. I don't know. It's on the Switch, so you know, so they obviously have really. Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

Space Age on Switch.

[Nick Limone]

The DLC can't run on Switch, it's too complex. But so I don't know if they, I mean that's not a joke. They came out with a statement that said the Switch doesn't have enough RAM and yada yada to run the dlc.

[Justin Davis]

Enough ram.

[Nick Limone]

That's just whatever it is. Like you know, don't quote me on that. Like something they're like the Switch can't do X, Y and Z that Space Age requires. So. So anyway, I don't know about it being a Steam Deck game, but since it's on the Switch, I would imagine that people have probably adapted it for use on Steam Deck 2.

[Sam Claiborne]

The Switch version has good reviews.

[Damon Hatfield]

I don't know, I might Check this out.

[Sam Claiborne]

Starting to wonder if I should ask my doctor if Factorio is right for me.

[Nick Limone]

I have 400 hours in Factorio on Steam, which is overwhelmingly my most played Steam game. It's not even close.

[Sam Claiborne]

Cool.

[Justin Davis]

Did you blow up some of those worms?

[Nick Limone]

I haven't gone to that planet yet.

[Justin Davis]

Okay, so there's that many different places you can go. That's really cool.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah. I think they added four new planets.

[Damon Hatfield]

Wow. Dude, those spider crabs look nuts.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, aliens are great.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Really?

[Damon Hatfield]

Really?

[Nick Limone]

Yeah, I don't like them.

[Damon Hatfield]

If I may, I got one more game I'd like to chat about real quick. It's going to be out by the time this podcast is out. I highly recommend it. If you are looking for an action RPG that is in the kindest way possible, I can say it is evocative and hearkens back to the era of PS2 action RPGs. East 10 Nordics. I'm wearing my east shirt to celebrate. East 10 Nordics rules. There's so many systems in that game. You got your fishing minigame, you got your overworld like navigation of action. There's like a co op mode now where you're traveling as adult. Kristen. You have a Viking like sidekick who you swap between in combat simultaneously. When you use all of your MP with one character, you instantly swap over to your next to refill the MP on the other person. It is a fast, fast, fast game. You have a hoverboard at one point. You can do an Assassin's Creed style, like ship navigation of the world map with combat. You can upgrade your ship, you can upgrade your characters. There's just so much stuff in this game in the best possible way. And it is just. It's not a Sega game, but it is. The first thing I thought of was SEGA Blue Skies when that electric guitar starts ripping and it's like, dude, it's time for an adventure. And it is just so much fun. And it is so. It is pure video game distilled down to like, this is what an action RPG is. And I cannot recommend it enough.

[Sam Claiborne]

Cool. I think that was out last year, so it's about a year old now.

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, this. It came out in Japan last year and it's taken them about a year to localize for an English release. So the game is officially out when this podcast launches tomorrow or Friday.

[Justin Davis]

Dude, amazing.

[Nick Limone]

Did you say East 10?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Nick Limone]

By the way.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, this is east. Or is East 10 or. Yeah, East 10 Nordics.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah, I. I think. I'm just trying to remember. I think the last one I played was five, five or six.

[Damon Hatfield]

So there's like Lacrimosa of Donna Oath of Felghana, Monstrum Nox.

[Sam Claiborne]

I mean it's cool this series is still going because like as we see when we go through the old magazines in the early 90s, it was like Ys was like sort of like the pinnacle of what we thought of as JRPGs. This is all before Final Fantasy 3 came to North America. Yeah, and Final Fantasy really took over. But like, but here is still here today, still going strong.

[Damon Hatfield]

And it's like Final Fantasy like it certainly evolved. You no longer do the bump combat. So whether or not that's, you know, if you care about that. But I think that it is a fun realization of just moment to moment action. Just goodness. It just feels right. And the music is every Y's game slaps like the music is so good. But this is it further delves into that and it's just so cheerful and bright and high contrast colors like oh, it's just a delight. It's all pirate and like Viking themed. It's really cool.

[Justin Davis]

Cool.

[Sam Claiborne]

Dell Technologies Black Friday event is live and if you've been waiting for an AI ready PC, this is their biggest sale of the year. Tech enthusiasts love this sale because it's all the newest hits plus all the greatest hits all on sale at once. Savings on Dell technologies most popular PCs that accelerate AI with Intel Core Ultra processors are here like the XPS 16. So if you're ready to step up all the things you like to do, streaming, surfing, mobile, multitasking, whatever, Dell Technologies AI Ready PCs are the perfect upgrade. And for the best of Intel Core Ultra processors, look for Intel Evo Edition laptops engineered to do it all. Just visit Dell.com deals whether you're treating yourself or thinking of others, these Black Friday prices were worth the wait. But it's only here for a limited time. Shop [e-mail] deals did you know Cleopatra married not one but two of her brothers and police in Victorian London had to wear their uniforms all the time, even when off duty? If you're an Assassin's Creed fan like me, then you'll want to know everything about the real history that inspires the games. And I have a podcast recommendation for you. Echoes of History Echoes of History, a podcast brought to you by History Hit and Ubisoft, takes you back to the past to discover the real history behind the Assassin's Creed video games. Every three episodes they examine an era explored in the games Historian and Assassin's Creed mega fan Matt Lewis talks to world leading experts to step into the shoes of the real historical people you meet in the games, to take an eagle eye view of iconic locations you can climb, and to reveal the causes and events of the epic historical moments you get to rel in Assassin's Creed. Find out the true history behind the Assassin's Creed games by following the Echoes of History podcast on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. Men when we leave the house, it's phone, wallet, keys and how's my hair look? But if you're experiencing hair loss, you may not be so confident when you step out your door. It's time to get that mojo back and restore your hair with himz. HIMS provides you with convenient access to a range of hair loss treatments that work all from the comfort of your couch, so you barely even have to pause whatever game you're playing. HIMS makes treating hair loss simple with doctor trusted options and clinically proven ingredients like finasteride and minoxid that can regrow hair in as little as three to six months. The process is simple and 100% online, so there are no uncomfortable doctor visits. Answer a few questions and a medical provider will determine if treatment is right for you. If prescribed, your treatment is sent directly to you in discreet packaging with free shipping. No insurance is needed and one low price covers everything. HIMS has hundreds of thousands of trusted subscribers and they can help you get your confidence back too, with visibly thicker and fuller hair. Start your free online Visit [e-mail] Gamescoop that's hims.com Gamescoop for your personalized hair hair loss treatment options. Hims.com Gamescoop results vary based on studies of topical and oral minoxidil and finasteride. Prescription products require an online consultation with a healthcare provider who will determine if a prescription is appropriate. Restrictions apply. See website for full details and important safety information. I love a great deal as much as the next guy, but I'm not going to crawl through a bed of hot coals just to save a few bucks. It has to be easy. No hoops, no bs. So when Mint Mobile said it was easy to get wireless for just $15 a month with the purchase of a three month plan, I had to find if it's too good to be true. Turns out it really is that easy to get wireless for 15 bucks a month, the longest part of the process will be the time you spend on hold waiting to break up with your old provider. Isn't that right Seth?

[Damon Hatfield]

I am not going to lie. I was very pleased and very excited to find out Mint Mobile works even for me in the middle of nowhere, Maine. I was honestly expecting to be shut out from all the fun of Mint Mobile, but it works.

[Sam Claiborne]

Worked awesome.

[Damon Hatfield]

I loaded in my code and to test it out, I just drove out. I'm not even lying. It sounds like I'm making this up. I just drove out into the woods of Maine to see how far I could go without losing coverage. And I am happy to say I did not have any coverage interruptions whatsoever that I would not have experienced with any of the other providers. That alone is enough to sell me. Because look, look, Maine is a big state. There's a lot of woods. Stephen King is here. So it's haunted. There's ghosts everywhere. And everyone knows that ghosts hate 5G. But I am happy to say I.

[Sam Claiborne]

Have literally no complaints.

[Damon Hatfield]

It's inexpensive. There's no contract. I don't have to have all these weird hidden fees. And you know, best of all, it works in spite of ghosts.

[Sam Claiborne]

Thanks, Seth. Say goodbye to your overpriced wireless plans. Jaw dropping monthly bills and unexpected overages. All Mint Mobile plans come with high speed data and unlimited talk and text delivered on the nation's largest 5G network. Find out how easy it is to switch to Mint Mobile to get this new customer offer and your new three month premium wireless plan including the unlimited plan for just 15 bucks a month. Go to mintmobile.com gamescoop that's mintmobile.com Gamescoop Cut your wireless bill to 15 bucks a month at mintmobile.com Gamescoop $45 upfront payment required equivalent to $15 a month. New customers on first three month plan only. Finally, speed slower above 40 gigs on unlimited plan. Additional taxes, fees and restrictions apply. See Mint Mobile for details. All right, let's get into the news of the week. Assassin's Creed Shadows. Of course it was recently delayed. It was supposed to be out in I guess a couple weeks now.

[Damon Hatfield]

November, November 12th.

[Sam Claiborne]

Something like that.

[Damon Hatfield]

Something like that.

[Sam Claiborne]

And now it's coming out February 14th, Valentine's Day next year. And they are also. So they're dropping the season pass and the early access that was going to come with this game. Early access for people who got the Collector's edition. Early access being if you pay 100 exorbitant amount, you can play the game three days early. That's right. Which is what they've done. I think they did it with Star Wars Outlaws. Yep, yep. And they also have this season pass in Star Wars Outlaws. That includes some Jabba the Hut stuff. But of course there's all this sort of like, you know, sort of mixed feelings about Star Wars Outlaws, although many of us on the show like that game, but. Yeah, so they've delayed the game, taking out the season pass, taking out the early access, since you were supposed to be getting early access and season pass content with the Collector's edition that was priced at $280. Now Ubisoft has slashed $50 off the price of the Collector's edition, so lowered the price before it's even out. But it's still $230. And I don't know who's doing it, who's buying, who needs whatever dumb figure is in this box.

[Damon Hatfield]

You don't need another statue in your home.

[Sam Claiborne]

Nobody needs that.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

So wait, what if they stopped the season pass? Are they. I mean, I understand why they would, you know, not sell one right now because they, they're trying to meet their new game release date and it's complicated stuff like that, but like that. Presumably there's DLC for this. So are they just going to sell it individually? Is that the idea?

[Nick Limone]

I mean, my, my assumption, I don't know that this is true, but my assumption was that the delay of the game just messed up their whole. They're like, ah, well, now this season pass would take us through, like, overlapping with the next Assassin's Creed game. Right. So it's like, I feel like they.

[Justin Davis]

Just want to cut to the next game maybe.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah, yeah, like that. That's what I'm assuming. But I really, like, that's based off nothing. That was just their calendarization.

[Justin Davis]

You would just think by now they'd be like halfway through some DLC content because that's just the way they have to work. Right. They have to be years ahead.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah, I think they've probably cut it, is my guess.

[Justin Davis]

That's. That's absolutely crazy.

[Sam Claiborne]

Well, so ever since this game was announced, it's been an uphill battle for Ubisoft. There's a lot of negative sentiment out there about this game. So I don't know, like what? You know, this game would have been out in just two or three weeks and they. Ubisoft has not previewed this game. We've haven't, we haven't gone hands on with it. We haven't even seen it played. Hands off presentations, we've seen. Yeah, that's not a good sign to me. I don't know. I generally like Assassin's Creed games.

[Damon Hatfield]

We've all Been clamoring for one in Japan for a long time.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, it should be a knockout, right? It should. This should be the one you would.

[Sam Claiborne]

Think, but I don't know. Do you think, does it seem like Ubisoft is confident in this game?

[Justin Davis]

Well, let me say that I believe Outlaws over delivered. I think that game is better than I thought it would be.

[Sam Claiborne]

Ubisoft has a big show.

[Justin Davis]

Well, I know but like this is because of sales, but the game quality is awesome and they gave us a little bit of access to that. It wasn't the same as this, but it was also like, you know, pretty conservative. Like we only found out about that game, you know, a year before it came out and then we saw a lot more explainers and trailers than we got hands on time with it. So, you know, like, I think Ubisoft, if Outlaws is any indication, they can make awesome open world games and this one should be one. Like it shouldn't have any issues. It's lined up.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah, I mean, I agree it's tough to. There's a couple ways to take it. One is like, the game is troubled, the game's in trouble, yada yada. And the other is just like they just need to be so sure. Like it's not enough. You know, we talked about it with Star Wars. We talked about it a lot of like it's not enough for the game to sell 4 million copies. Like it has to sell 14 million copies.

[Justin Davis]

Right.

[Nick Limone]

So it's like maybe their attitude is like, you know, it's worth taking the time to make sure it's polished and gets nines and not eights. Who knows?

[Justin Davis]

Or it could be more cynical. Maybe they're adjusting it so there's some kind of pricing scheme to make more money off of cosmetics or something that they just hadn't built into it instead of doing dlc.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah, you're right. Or they're taking out all the woke.

[Sam Claiborne]

I'm sure ripping it out.

[Damon Hatfield]

I mean, I kind of think Sam's a little bit on the money there in regards to like pricing and stuff because every like open world RPG Assassin's Creed basically launches day and date with some sort of like time speed saver, microtransactions.

[Justin Davis]

There was an XP boost in Valhalla.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. Whether it be an X and what was the first one? Origins, Odyssey and Valhalla all have XP boosts. And honestly, in the way with how bloated those games often felt, it felt like they really wanted you to buy those because it's like, dude, I don't want to grind quest to do what's next in the story.

[Justin Davis]

But 100%, it was a better balance if you paid for the XP boost.

[Damon Hatfield]

100%, which is not how it should be. That is wrong. 100%. So I don't know, maybe. Maybe they're going to sand the edges down a little bit to refrain from that grind. And who knows, maybe they will implement.

[Justin Davis]

They should just make the XP boost be 2% then nobody fucking cares.

[Damon Hatfield]

And a 99 chance to miss.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, yeah, you can pay for the xp boost, but 1% of people are just not going to get it.

[Nick Limone]

Oh no.

[Justin Davis]

Miss.

[Damon Hatfield]

My perspective is kind of in line.

[Nick Limone]

With just a loot box with XP boost.

[Justin Davis]

Miss.

[Damon Hatfield]

I kind of think that they're going to roll the DLC that they had in planned in for the season pass into the game proper as a way of showing goodwill. But I also think it has to do with production timelines clashing and things like that. But I don't know. I'm still optimistic about the game. I want to explore ancient Japan the way Ubisoft does the.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, but it doesn't matter if it sucks because Ghost is out the same year.

[Nick Limone]

Right.

[Justin Davis]

So I mean.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Ghost is less of an RPG though. And I think that it's two different for different folks. Oh yeah, no Ghosts. Ghost of Tsushima is more of an action adventure game. There's not really any RPG sliders, whereas Odyssey, Origins and Valhalla are, I think, a lot more RPG heavy as opposed to action gamey.

[Sam Claiborne]

Well, this is the.

[Justin Davis]

That's such an insane statement to me.

[Damon Hatfield]

There's level gating in Odyssey. If you are not a high enough level, you cannot assassinate a.

[Justin Davis]

You're talking about hiding numbers versus showing numbers and both you crawl around buildings and stab people.

[Damon Hatfield]

You can reliably kill dudes in Ghosts of Tsushima if you know what you're doing. Whereas that's not. It doesn't matter how skilled you are in Assassin's Creed. If your numbers are not high enough, you cannot do what you need to do.

[Justin Davis]

Whoever made the first Assassin's Creed game is rolling in their grave right now hearing you describe it as an rpg.

[Nick Limone]

Hold on, hold on, hold on. Origins rebooted the franchise as RPGs, right?

[Justin Davis]

I know. I'm just saying how far we've come from the vision of Assassin's Creed to be calling it and like.

[Damon Hatfield]

And I thought that Mirage would kind of bring that back to kind of the series roots, because I actually thought Mirage was what I wanted from Assassin's Creed. But it is very much you snuck up on the dude, you deserve the kill. Whereas the previous open world games kind of deny that.

[Justin Davis]

I will grant you that. They added the fallout map bar where you look at little question marks and you go to them and you see what they are. And that's the entire gameplay now.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, I mean so this is the follow up to that trilogy, Origins, Odyssey, Valhalla. I liked all those games, really loved one of them. So this, you know, quality wise, this should be good. But whether or not people show up for it, you know, whether or not the sales meet Ubisoft's expectations, I think remains to be seen. And if they don't, man, I don't know what that means for Ubisoft.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, that's not our problem.

[Sam Claiborne]

Okay.

[Justin Davis]

It means that Xbox can afford them. Yeah, I. The seeing the ship in this reminds me that I didn't get to be on the episode where you all probably talked about the Yakuza game. That's all pirate ships which looks so good.

[Sam Claiborne]

Were you on that episode? I don't think we didn't spend a lot of time on it.

[Justin Davis]

I wasn't on them.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, that's coming.

[Justin Davis]

I'm so excited for that. It looks great.

[Damon Hatfield]

More Yakuza is always a good thing.

[Nick Limone]

So the. Sorry, I. I have one more thought on, on. On Assassin's Creed which is that like Ubisoft. Ubisoft has over 21,000 employees. And I read some stat that like you know, they, they make about half as much money as Electronic Arts and have double the employees.

[Justin Davis]

What like on a. EA barely makes games anymore.

[Nick Limone]

Well yeah, but it's like they.

[Sam Claiborne]

But now the best selling game of the year, college football is also the best selling football game ever.

[Damon Hatfield]

That's crazy. Wow.

[Justin Davis]

All they needed to do is take Madden out all.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, that's. That's how much people miss college football. It's the best selling, best thing football game ever.

[Justin Davis]

That's incredible.

[Nick Limone]

Between EA Sports and things like, you know, FIFA Ultimate Team and you know, and obviously Activision had King and mobile games with Candy Crush like Ubiso like you know, they, they. There's. That company is so big and so bloated like they need to figure out what it means to make money and be a profitable video game company in 20.

[Justin Davis]

So you're pitching watch dogs four is what you're pitching.

[Nick Limone]

Exactly. Please.

[Damon Hatfield]

Watch two is kind of sick.

[Nick Limone]

Just be just beyond good and evil. That's all I want.

[Justin Davis]

That got that. Got news this week.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, let's.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. I want to. Let's dip into that just a second here. So the other piece of Ubisoft main news this week was that the Prince of Persia, the Lost Crown team, has apparently been disbanded. Even though we've all sung the phrase, everyone seems to love that game.

[Damon Hatfield]

It's in my Game of the year short list.

[Sam Claiborne]

I think it would be in a game of the year shortlist for a lot of people. But again, sales did not meet Ubisoft's expectations, so the team has been disbanded and, you know, not laid off, but they've all been put on different process projects. And this is from a report from French media outlet Origami, where the reporter said. I've heard and read it was. So this is what he's had developers have said to him. It was the best game production in my entire life. He heard that three or four times in a single weekend, one after the other. I was told it was seen as a beacon of hope to create a safe space for people that were burnt out by Beyond Good and Evil, too.

[Justin Davis]

Oh, wow.

[Damon Hatfield]

I didn't realize, like, what horrible. Look.

[Sam Claiborne]

What if they got sent back? What if they got sent back to beyond good and evil?

[Justin Davis]

200% data. We saw job listings this week for Beyond Good.

[Damon Hatfield]

All right, honey, it's time to get back into the Beyond Good and Evil Minds.

[Justin Davis]

Well, it was. Yeah, we had a nice year off, right? It was like a good vacation to make this game a day in and day out forever. So my take on this, and I had talked to Damon about this, I'm very upset because I feel like this game, this. These people got platforming and Metroidvania so well, that. That's the magic of having a team that unifies all this different gameplay, makes it all work and everything. You know, the reason this game might not have worked is probably not because it was an amazing, you know, Metroidvania that this team put together. Like, that's not why it didn't work. It didn't work probably because it's. Maybe because it's Prince of Persia and people don't really care about that franchise anymore. Or maybe because it, like, looks the way it looks and it didn't preview well. Remember, like, everybody's like, oh, I know how this is.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

But, like, all that takes is marrying everything they did to maybe a license or maybe something that's appealing. That's still the same style of gameplay that would just appeal to a wider audience. I would have loved to have kept this team together and been like, take this amazing licensed property and make a Metroidvania in it. Make a Metroid.

[Nick Limone]

That's all I care. There's definitely a tension between. Look, video games are commercial art. So on the one hand it's like, look, you made this video game and it lost money. We didn't make money on this project. No, you're not getting a sequel. You all need to go away, work on it. Like, it's a little bit tough to like, like what other, what other choice do you have when you're losing money? Like, I do understand that perspective but like you have to believe that this game is going to get sort of a groundswell. Like it's going to win a bunch of awards and like you know it. Like how do you, how do you build something anymore? Right? Like how does support for something build over time if not with like make a game that's incredible, that everybody loves and is scoped reasonably and let them try to make a second one. I don't know, it makes me sad.

[Sam Claiborne]

Here's part of the problem that I just discovered. This game was out in January for all of us console players. It didn't come to Steam until August.

[Damon Hatfield]

Oof.

[Nick Limone]

Why?

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, yeah, that's a problem.

[Damon Hatfield]

You got a UB connect.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

And back to the team thing. This team made something amazing. That's just disappointing that there is a team that worked functionally, likes making their product, was proud of it and like what I would have been excited to hear is, well, you know, Prince of Persia didn't work out, but the team has a great idea for what's next.

[Damon Hatfield]

A hundred percent.

[Justin Davis]

Then you know, there's like this like pedigree behind this project that's out there, but instead it's just. Nope. It got absorbed back into the nucleus of Ubisoft. And so now the hope for Ubisoft is just back to like their IP again. And like what are they going to make next for Principal? Like it's just not as exciting as like oh, there's this magic happening within. Ubisoft was outlaws team is magic too. Whatever they make next, I'm hyped for it.

[Damon Hatfield]

Was the original beyond and Good and Evil like a breakout success for you?

[Sam Claiborne]

No, it's always. It was a cult hit.

[Damon Hatfield]

So that's what I'm saying is like.

[Justin Davis]

Not justifying 20 years of development.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, that's the crazy like there's like this tragic irony of like, hey look, you get to work on this game that is on in some way again. I don't know the one to one budget, but is in Some way in shape and form on the same scope and level of the original Beyond Good and Evil. Just in terms of size and time, right? Like, I don't know, it feels something that's par for course. And then, hey, that didn't work. Why not make the sequel to the game that didn't work originally that is now nothing like that original game that costs X amount more? Like, there's just. There's something wrong in the equation there. That is wrong. We are broken as a society.

[Nick Limone]

That's true. There is some irony there because, like, you could easily flip this the exact other way, where some team of, you know, 5,000 people is making, you know, a billion dollar Prince of Persia game, right? And then, you know, and then a small group is making a really incredible Beyond Good and Evil game. But this one just happened to go the other direction.

[Justin Davis]

Is this the Beyond Good and Evil? Oh, my gosh.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. It's so hard to keep up because all they do is release these, like, CGI trailers.

[Damon Hatfield]

It doesn't resemble Beyond Good and Evil anymore. It's just other than a pig.

[Sam Claiborne]

How is this a sequel to Beyond Good and Evil?

[Justin Davis]

Is this the one we all watched in the room at E3 like 10 years ago?

[Sam Claiborne]

I don't. I don't.

[Damon Hatfield]

I don't know. The one with the cursing monkey.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Don't know.

[Nick Limone]

I mean, I love. I love Beyond Good and Evil too. Right? But the sequel, I'm just like, I don't even understand what I'm looking at.

[Damon Hatfield]

It looks expensive.

[Justin Davis]

Cool. It sure does.

[Sam Claiborne]

Well, it's a shame. Does not look like we'll get a sequel to Prince of the Lost Crown, but I do expect it will be winning awards this award season. I think that will kind of look good. I think that will end up looking kind of bad too, for Ubisoft executives.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. The Damies are around the corner.

[Sam Claiborne]

The Damiens are just around the corner. Everyone.

[Justin Davis]

The only game awards.

[Nick Limone]

Don't they know the Danies are around the corner?

[Sam Claiborne]

You would think. I mean, I was just having lunch with Eve the other day, and he said he was excited for the Damien's bit. So I don't know. He's always trying to butter me up and get me to, like, sort of like, spill the beans on who's gonna win. I'm like, oh, Eve, okay. Call of Duty Black Ops 6 is out today. And that's not. You know, obviously this is not the type of game that many of us here on gamescope play, but I'm very interested. I love tracking sales data you know, typically Call of Duty games are the best selling games of the year. Except for last year which was Hogwarts Legacy. And this year it has to beat College Football 25. So wow, we'll see. Anyway, Call of Duty Black Ops 6 has this strange feature. It has built in support for better audio tech than it. So there's, there's the game. It ships as is. It has its audio. You can get even better audio in your game, which will like for example, make it easier to hear enemy footsteps. But you have to pay an extra $20 to get that feature. Dude, it's a subscription that will last for five years. So presumably every five years you have to re up and pay an extra $20 to get the best audio experience on Call of duty Black Ops 6. It's called Enhanced Headphone Mode. It makes use of. This company embodies Immerse Spatial Audio technology to increase the directional accuracy of sounds played in the world. Embody is a personalized audio company that's already worked with Final Fantasy 14, Cyberpunk 2077. Immerse spatial audio works with any headphone or earbud model. It's said to greatly improve the player's spatial audio experience. But you have to pay $20 to get it in Black Ops 6.

[Damon Hatfield]

This sucks.

[Sam Claiborne]

I agree.

[Justin Davis]

And you scan your face or your ear at least.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Nick Limone]

You scanned your ear. Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

See, this is nonsense because I already paid a license to get Dolby Atmos for Xbox, my PC. So you're telling me, is it compatible with Dolby Atmos? What settings do I need to configure my PC in order to take advantage of this audio? This is nonsense. I don't like it.

[Sam Claiborne]

I don't like it either. Even though I'm not going to play.

[Justin Davis]

Explain to people why this matters to the Pay to Win kind of.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

So that's the thing, the complaints.

[Sam Claiborne]

If you're getting a better audio experience, you've paid for this. And now it's easier for you to hear where the enemy is.

[Damon Hatfield]

You can hear homie sneaking up behind you while you're sniping.

[Sam Claiborne]

I have a leg up. And it's literally a pay to win win feature. But I think the thing that bugs me the most about it is that just like if this is the best audio experience that should be built into the game, it's what AAA gaming is all about. The most high fidelity graphics, the most realistic graphics, if they're going for realism, the best audio, you know, like the best writing, the best performances. That's what AAA Gaming is supposed to be.

[Damon Hatfield]

You're getting a compromise experience out of the box unless you pay X, Y and Z. You are. It is a DIY blockbuster experience now.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah. I mean, what's next? Are they going to make us pay for Big Head Mode? Yeah, I don't think so. Over my dead body. No, I do think it is like.

[Justin Davis]

Paying for a high resolution. It's like, well, you can't play this in 8K.

[Sam Claiborne]

It's not that dissimilar.

[Nick Limone]

But I think the reason that this is a paid feature is because it's a third party.

[Damon Hatfield]

100%.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yes.

[Justin Davis]

So let that company do all the marketing and just like, sort it out themselves. It was, it was featured that, like, they talked about as they're. That they were adding to their game and that turned out to be an ad.

[Nick Limone]

I mean, I don't know. I don't need to, like, you know, like, I don't. I don't need to carry water for Activision. I think the company's doing just fine. But I do, I do have a little bit of a different take. Like, to me, this story is kind of like a nothing. It's like, you know, a third party, a business that's not Activision. Some other technology company is offering a subscription service that offers enhanced audio. Like, it doesn't. This is. This doesn't mean anything to me.

[Damon Hatfield]

We got to do one test. We shoot a video. I'll play Call of Duty. Someone buy me a subscription. I'll play without the subscription. One match. Yeah, play another match with the subscription. Compare the KD ratio. See how.

[Nick Limone]

Here's the real test, though, is that we won't tell you which one has your stuff.

[Sam Claiborne]

I know.

[Justin Davis]

I mean, the whole thing with this too, is like, it could just be complete bs, right?

[Damon Hatfield]

It could just be nonsense, or it.

[Justin Davis]

Could be, like, clouding the ability to hear stuff. And like, it's not especially helpful to be able to hear tap, tap, tap, tap, tap when somebody's behind you, like, so accurately. Who knows? You know, like in Halo, everybody just played by looking at the radar, you know, like, it didn't matter, all of this. It didn't matter if you had a better monitor or like, you know, anything like that at the time. You just like, you know, so we'll. We'll see.

[Damon Hatfield]

I'll let you know how it goes. Because I do actually plan on playing Black Ops 6. I played the open beta and I had a. I used to be a huge Call of Duty player. I play every campaign. I didn't really. I'D fallen out of the multiplayer bandwagon. But the beta. I had a good time with the beta. I had so much fun with it, enough so that I was like, actually talking to people in the IGN office and we're like, do you guys want to, like, party up and play Call of Duty with me? So year is it? I'll report back because I am actually looking forward to it. So catch me on the. On the. On the war streets tonight.

[Sam Claiborne]

Are you going to play the campaign?

[Damon Hatfield]

I'm going to play the campaign and multiplayer.

[Sam Claiborne]

Okay, well, report back on the campaign too. I don't think I've played. Played a Call of Duty campaign since two or Modern Warfare two.

[Damon Hatfield]

Oh, okay. That's a pretty good one.

[Sam Claiborne]

Moving on to games I would play, Vampire Survivors is getting a big Castlevania dlc. Do you see this? It looks awesome.

[Damon Hatfield]

Great trailer too.

[Sam Claiborne]

This is. This is what Konami does now, which isn't the worst thing in the world. They're not making new games.

[Justin Davis]

They're just.

[Sam Claiborne]

They just licensed their stuff out too. You know, Dead Cells was amazing, and Vampire Survivors is also amazing. So, yeah, it's getting a big Castlevania DLC. I think it's coming on Halloween day. Adds 20 new characters, 40 new weapons, and one massive stage. The whole thing is $4, dude.

[Damon Hatfield]

Best ongoing game there it is. Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

So what I'm taking away from this is that Ubisoft could have bought the license to Castlevania and made an amazing Castlevania game. There you go, team.

[Sam Claiborne]

There you go.

[Damon Hatfield]

I wonder if the vampire. Go ahead, Justin.

[Nick Limone]

Oh, just. I was gonna say there was the Contra DLC before, right?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yes.

[Nick Limone]

That was obviously kind of like. Yeah, that was like testing the waters or. It was a little bit like, you know, they didn't want to. They didn't want to sort of offer up Castlevania right at the start is the vibe that I got. Let's see how you are to work with first.

[Damon Hatfield]

Just the Vampire Survivor developers breathing a sigh of relief when they don't get sued for copyright infringement.

[Sam Claiborne]

Well, that's the funny thing, right? Because originally, yeah, that's like in the very beginning, they were sort of using like. Like inadvertently using ripped sprites.

[Damon Hatfield]

That's not Dracula. That's Dr. Akila, bro. What are you talking about?

[Nick Limone]

Yeah, that's like, like, you know, Konami, like, they had a meeting of like, do we want to sue this company into oblivion or do we want to work?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, yeah. This looks so good.

[Damon Hatfield]

I mean, seeing the sprites, I'm like, oh, My gosh. This. You could be every single Castlevania protagonist. It's nuts.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah. They even say in the trailer, they say everyone is here.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yep. So very Smash Brothers of them. Sam, would this get you to play Vampire Survivors? There's no cards in it.

[Justin Davis]

I have no opposition to playing Vampire Survivors. I don't know if I should start here. I love Castlevania.

[Nick Limone]

I mean, well, I mean, the way the dlc, I guess I don't know about this dlc, but the way all the other ones worked is it's just kind of, like, integrated. So it's like the way that this game works. It's a slot machine where you're just unlocking levels and characters and weapons and powerups constantly. Stuff is unlocking at the end of every run, and the DLC is just sort of like, well, here's just more. Here's more stuff.

[Damon Hatfield]

$4. Like, this is the thing that baffles me. All of their DLC is like, it's two bucks. It's a dollar. I was like, dude, this. In another time and place, this would have cost 1999. Like, what's going on?

[Justin Davis]

That's true.

[Damon Hatfield]

I love it.

[Justin Davis]

Do you think if I had the base Vampire Survivors and then played that, then you can just switch this on and just start it from the start?

[Nick Limone]

I don't know. It does come with its own stage. And so the thing about Vampire Survivors is you are unlocking stuff all the time, just constantly. But there's also some that, like, it's really esoteric. It's like, you have to go to this level and do this specific thing and do this sequence of events to unlock stuff. And so since this comes with a Castlevania stage, a big, huge sort of level, it's possible that unlocking these characters in Castlevania weapons happens if you're playing in that stage. Or it's possible that maybe it's just gonna happen, you know, like I said, you know, you're just gonna be unlocking stuff all the time.

[Sam Claiborne]

I don't really know animation.

[Nick Limone]

We'll find out Friday.

[Damon Hatfield]

It's good.

[Justin Davis]

Do we know how it works with Contra?

[Nick Limone]

I didn't play the Contra dlc. I only played the two unbranded deals.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, the unbranded deals. Basically, the way it works is you can play through the baseline. I would recommend just playing through the baseline game, getting to a point where you're like, yeah, I think I get what this is. Then pick up all the DLC and you'll figure it out. I don't Think it's gonna be too tricky. There's not really any continuity you need to worry about. You will just be comfortable looking at a bunch of nonsense on screen. And that's really all you need.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah, that's all the game is. It's barely a video game. Which I say with love.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. And then this reminded me, Justin, are there any updates on any of the garlic likes out there that have come this year that you recommend?

[Nick Limone]

I mean. Oh, what was it called? The one that I named the Garlic Lake of the year? Was it called the Hall? Halls of Torment. That sounds good. Is that what it was called?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, yeah, Halls of Torment.

[Nick Limone]

That one came out of early access in Interdiversion 1.0. So, you know, that remains one of my favorite ones besides Vampire Survivors. I mean, like, Halls of Torture's really good and some of the other ones is really good. Death Must Die is really good. But it is true that, like Vampire Survivors, it's not like a million of these games have come out after and done it better. Like this one is still better than most of them.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Got it. Cool. Well, I'm excited to jump into that. I wish you actually wish it before because I would play it tonight if we were out now. But good news, scoop nation. Metal Slug Tactics has a launch day and it is not far at all. Metal Slug Tactics launches on November 5th on PC, Nintendo Switch, PS4 and 5, Xbox Series X and S, and Xbox One.

[Nick Limone]

Oh, man.

[Sam Claiborne]

In a long time coming, how many.

[Nick Limone]

Xbox One copies are they going to sell?

[Sam Claiborne]

Well, yeah. Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

The Ikari warriors joined. Wait, I didn't see this trailer. What the heck?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yes, the Ikari warriors are added as playable characters. However, they just don't look like the Ikari warriors from my NES game that I played so many times.

[Damon Hatfield]

It should be more top down. And that happens.

[Sam Claiborne]

I mean, they kind of just look like dudes. They don't look like the Ikari warriors are Rambo knockoffs.

[Damon Hatfield]

They just look like Metal Slug characters. Which I guess is fitting because.

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh, Rambo game games in Japan are called Ikari Something Angry Warrior. Anyway, it's cool they're included. It's cool it's coming so soon. This is the tactical turn based take on Metal Slug that was announced at least a couple years ago. Now that I've been waiting a long time for, now it's finally here.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, I cannot wait.

[Nick Limone]

I can't quite tell. It doesn't look like. Just because it's isometric, it doesn't look like it's reusing the Metal Slug Sprites. It looks like they're new sprites because the cameras tilt.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. These are back sometimes.

[Nick Limone]

And so that's interesting because you know, there's been a million metal games. There was the one where you would mash armies together in kind of like 2D. Like an RTS style game. Yeah. And there's been a bunch that they all reuse the sprites because it's some of the best sprite work ever made in any video game. Right. So it's just interesting that this is not doing that.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. It looks like they took some time to make all these animations look good and everything. It still looks great.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yep.

[Damon Hatfield]

I'm curious if this is going to be more like Final Fantasy Tactics or more something like into the Breach style thing where it's very snappy.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. I was gonna say maybe even Mario plus Rabbids.

[Damon Hatfield]

Mario Rabbids. Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

I'm watching really closely and I haven't seen any myths pop ups.

[Sam Claiborne]

Well, they keep that out of.

[Justin Davis]

It is funny to see how low the HP numbers are. Everybody's taking off two and three.

[Damon Hatfield]

Dude. It's that Paper Mario numbers. I love it.

[Sam Claiborne]

That's also kind of darkest. Dungeon numbers.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah. What was it? There was some video game website that wrote not bad about how Paper Mario numbers are superior. It's like going from like four to five damage feels incredible compared to like you know, 200 to 208 a break. Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

I'm excited for that. Metal Slug Tactics, November 5th. Couple of the quick tidbits. The ukulele remaster which is called Yooka Replayly. Unfortunately.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

They'Ve teach.

[Nick Limone]

Hold on. Oh, you like that? The game is already called. Well, it's already called Ukulele.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, but how do people really want to say how many times in there you're life do people want to go around saying you could replay Lee. He played. You could replay Lee.

[Nick Limone]

This is. This is video games we're talking about here. Like, come on.

[Justin Davis]

I think it's interesting that they that they're using it replay here because they're not rare and rare had the replay.

[Damon Hatfield]

Oh, that's funny. Yeah, I didn't think about that. Yeah, that's clever. I mean that sounds like something that would be written in a dialogue with one of these characters. So it all tracks.

[Justin Davis]

Did you guys see the art with the systems announced?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. Well, this is why I brought this up. So they announced platforms for it. Not a release date, but platforms. And it's everything. It's everything. Current PS4 and 5, Xbox Series X and S PC and Nintendo with eye emojis. Coming to Nintendo with two big googly.

[Justin Davis]

Eyes looking at the Nintendo that are not part of the background art. It's so, so funny.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah. So that's what like. Because like I. When I only saw the headline I thought that this was a big nothing. But then when I saw the googly eyes I'm like wait a second, this is something. This is something.

[Sam Claiborne]

Are the googly eyes from ukulele? Because I also. I kind of thought it looked like everybody has them.

[Nick Limone]

I just thought everything has eyes. Like, like Banjo Kazooie.

[Sam Claiborne]

So it's a, it's a ukulele thing. Okay.

[Justin Davis]

Yep, yep. Like they're just showing these fans blowing. They all had those eyes and Banjo Kazuya. That too. This is a. That just means there the eyes just hopped over and look and sat on top of Nintendo there. For people that are watching, it just means that somewhere in a studio we know that they have a Switch to prototype confirmed that one company has it out there.

[Sam Claiborne]

Well, there was that other dev, the.

[Damon Hatfield]

My life something My life at Porsche people.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. They said their next name is coming to Nintendo's next platform or whatever. Whatever it is.

[Damon Hatfield]

So it is real.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. So this is the second instance I think of developers confirming. But what I think is interesting is why say it's just coming? Why not include the Switch logo? Is it not coming to Switch because Yooka Laylee's on Switch?

[Nick Limone]

Maybe not.

[Damon Hatfield]

I think it's gonna, I think all. I think Nintendo Switch 2 games. I think Nintendo Switch 2 will play all Nintendo Switch games, but just better.

[Sam Claiborne]

I would think so too.

[Damon Hatfield]

And it's just gonna to be the Nintendo Switch 2 and it's just. It all works. It's fine.

[Sam Claiborne]

But then all the people that own Nintendo Switches, they're not going to be able to play Yuka Replay League.

[Damon Hatfield]

I think they will. It'll just be worse.

[Sam Claiborne]

I just. My point is if it's coming to Switch, why not include the Switch logo?

[Damon Hatfield]

Fair?

[Sam Claiborne]

Fair. Whatever. They wanted to do their cute little eyeball thing which is cute and gets people excited. So that's fine.

[Nick Limone]

I mean, I don't know. Look, this is new graphics. Like you know, that's like the whole thing is it's like a remaster. Right. So I wouldn't be shocked if the Switch couldn't, you know, couldn't handle it.

[Damon Hatfield]

I mean it couldn't handle the first game.

[Sam Claiborne]

Well, okay, yeah, exactly. If it couldn't handle the first game, then that is all I need to know how to Explain.

[Damon Hatfield]

It chugged like, you know, it was like sub 30 frames a second. That said, if you haven't. Ukulele 1 is. It's mostly not great.

[Sam Claiborne]

It's not great.

[Damon Hatfield]

It's not great.

[Nick Limone]

I was going to say I didn't love it.

[Damon Hatfield]

Impossible air, though. Outstanding 2D platform.

[Sam Claiborne]

I've always heard that's much better.

[Damon Hatfield]

It is an all timer on the same beat as like Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze. It is.

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh my goodness.

[Damon Hatfield]

So good. It is.

[Justin Davis]

So, Damon, you played this?

[Sam Claiborne]

No, I did not play the 2D one, but I've always.

[Justin Davis]

It says you're playing it right now. It's. It's just said you were credited as the what's player in this.

[Sam Claiborne]

No. What not. Heck, not as the player. I may have done the VO for a review.

[Justin Davis]

There it is.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. Just a quick aside on this. This is the breath of the wild of the 2D platformer and that you can beat the game in the beginning if you're good enough. But every level.

[Nick Limone]

I was just going to say did.

[Damon Hatfield]

Every level you beat makes the final level easier and it's just. Yeah, they do.

[Nick Limone]

It gives you.

[Damon Hatfield]

It's so cool.

[Nick Limone]

It gives you more lives. So it's like the last level of the game is open right from the start and then as you beat worlds and beat levels, you get more like attempts and checkpoints to beat the last level.

[Justin Davis]

That's so funny.

[Damon Hatfield]

It's really clever and it's a really fun platformer. I could not recommend Impossible Air in enough.

[Justin Davis]

What. What game did this come out right during that made it so we none of us were able to check it out.

[Nick Limone]

Oh, I played it on. I played it on Switch.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

This must have been like around 2020 maybe it was like right.

[Damon Hatfield]

I think it was like mid pandemic.

[Sam Claiborne]

Maybe that's why because we weren't all in an office together to like show each other and play in front of each other.

[Damon Hatfield]

I did play this on the Switch and it. Yeah, it also has the Mario, like the current Mario, like 3D overworld stuff, which is cute, but good game.

[Sam Claiborne]

Okay, real quick, before 20 questions, let's check in with the listeners.

[Nick Limone]

Hey, listeners.

[Sam Claiborne]

Listeners, remember, you can always reach us at the email address gamescoopn.com Just like Drumroll, please. Nope. Daniel Schwartz in Maryland who says what's up? Omega Cops. Oh, and co. This is going to be a cautionary tale for Sam and Nick and Jess and I are about to feel very bad for Daniel.

[Damon Hatfield]

Oh, no.

[Nick Limone]

Oh.

[Sam Claiborne]

I would like to share a short anecdote with you, which may prove to serve as something of a PSA if you and Scoop Nation, or else turn out to be a bit of a gaming face palm on my part. I recently picked up Balatro and like many of you, have found it hard to put down. Just a little while ago, I was at the beginning of a promising run to beat my third deck and was once again lamenting the order my jokers were placing in.

[Justin Davis]

It occurred to me when that happens. Am I right, guys?

[Sam Claiborne]

It occurred to me that there was probably a spectral or tarot card that would enable me to resequence the jokers, and I did a quick Google search to see if that was in fact the case. It turns out there is no such card because you can change the placement of your jokers at any time.

[Damon Hatfield]

Rookie move.

[Sam Claiborne]

I was floored by this knowledge. It fundamentally changes the game. I don't think it's going too far to say this may be the game's most powerful mechanic. I immediately texted my friend, who's probably spent about as much time with Blacho as I have. He also had no idea that you could do that. I'm curious to know if Camp Goose was aware of this mechanic or not. And if you can recall any other times when a fundamental part of a game was unknown to you. It is true that is a very, very important part of the game, Daniel. But I must confess, I did not immediately know that that was possible because the game does not explicitly tell you. And Sam, I think I learned that from our article on things Balacho doesn't tell you.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, I mean, the game always do.

[Justin Davis]

A thing that doesn't tell you for basically every game that we cover. Because of that stuff like that the.

[Damon Hatfield]

Game has a straight up tutorial. It's like, here's how this game works. You think you would devote at least 30 seconds to show that? Because I think it's just a rite of passage for Balatro players. I think because you inevitably get the joker that says, hey, this card mimics the card to its right. And so it's like, oh, okay. Oh, this one mimics to what? It's like, it takes the vowels. Like, there's a lot of placement like. Like qualifiers here. I was like, is there something I can do? And then you just, oh, I didn't know I could move the cursor up here. What the heck? So, yeah, I mean, I'm sorry that happened to you, but welcome to the party.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. And so forth.

[Nick Limone]

Can't fathom, like, it's the whole game rearranging jokers is like the whole puzzle of the game. Like, it'd just be complete random chance. What was happening without that? Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. So like, so Sam knows and everyone out there in Scoop Nation and Daniel. Daniel, you're playing poker hands and you're getting scored by them. But you can purchase or win joker cards by default. You'll have five spots for them, and they can either give you, you know, more points or they can multiply your points, or most importantly, they can multiply your multipliers and it scores it from left to right. So you want the cards that multiply your multipliers to be at the very end so that your multiplier is as big as possible before that happens. So the whole thing.

[Damon Hatfield]

So get all the. All the Pemdas dudes need to go back to math school real quick.

[Nick Limone]

Determine that's what the who the whole game is. Getting your jokers in the right order. Oh, it makes my heart hurt.

[Justin Davis]

I have a couple funny stories about the question though, asked here. So one is that there is a time in the office in which we were reviewing games in which two games back to back, where the reviewer did not realize until basically the end of the game that there is a run button. And they were walking through the whole game and they're like, this game. Game is so slow.

[Sam Claiborne]

Captain Toad.

[Justin Davis]

I can't believe it. What's that?

[Sam Claiborne]

It's Captain Toad, right?

[Justin Davis]

No, I don't think that was one of the ones I was thinking of. But I don't want to throw the reviewer under the bus because we didn't. We didn't publish the review with that. We found it out before the review went up. But I remember the guides person in both instances were like, there's a run button. Why are you walking so slow? It was because they're walking past the desk over and over again, you know, and it was like, finally, what are you doing? You know, so that. That happens, you know, and always check for a run button. They're all weird now. You usually have to click your stick down, which is like the weirdest thing. And that's like.

[Damon Hatfield]

Never feels good.

[Justin Davis]

It's in like every game now.

[Damon Hatfield]

Never feels good.

[Justin Davis]

It's very strange. Roadie run. I think that's where that started. But in Gears. But the. Also I. Well, I mean, there's a lot of. There's. I can think of a lot of games where I didn't know about stuff. My first one that I have a fond memory of is that when I played Final Fantasy 1, when I was a little kid and I was obsessed with getting that. After reading about Nintendo Power, I kept on going to the store, the shop and listening to that awesome song, which is in the shop only, and buying weapons for my characters and being like, this is awesome. I can't wait. I'd be like, man, just doing that same damage, though, that. What a waste of money. Yeah. I just had no idea.

[Damon Hatfield]

Brutal.

[Justin Davis]

And the manual was like 100 pages long for Final Fantasy. So finally I kind of, like put that together and realized all the stuff and read through it. It's like a strategy guide for the first part of the game anyway. And then Nintendo Power sent me the full strategy guide anyway, which I might have had first, now that I think about it. But I don't think so, though. I don't think so.

[Damon Hatfield]

I got one I'm embarrassed by. But this is a safe space and please don't judge.

[Sam Claiborne]

Is it is.

[Damon Hatfield]

I beat the entirety of Elden Ring without knowing that a guard counter existed where you block and then there's like a special thing where if you get hit, you immediately counterattack with the special animation. No idea that existed.

[Sam Claiborne]

So, I mean, I beat it without ever using it. So trying that.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, I just played it like a regular Dark Souls game.

[Justin Davis]

Did anybody here play Ninja Gaiden for Xbox when that game came out?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Good game.

[Justin Davis]

Well, really highly regarded action games, right?

[Damon Hatfield]

A masterpiece for.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, yeah. So for that first Ninja Gaiden, it just got harder and harder and harder. And I was like, I'm doing good in this game, but I cannot get anywhere in it. I hate this. And eventually this, like, fish in the ponds are killing me. I'm like, these are just dinky enemies. Why am I dying? It's because you have to just upgrade your sword. And, like, nobody tells you that. There's no reason that you would know that it costs nothing, but you have to do it. And it like, doubles your sword's damage each time. And like, I should have done it like four times by the time I was at the place. I was like, oh, no, there's. I was basically doing like a Super Speedrun challenge. You know, like the one hit point run for Elden Ring. That just happened. It was completely stupid. I never went back to it.

[Damon Hatfield]

That's great.

[Justin Davis]

Turned the game.

[Damon Hatfield]

It's like the anime moment, though, where it's like, oh, you take the ankle weights off and now it's like, oh, my gosh. This is what it's like.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. But instead I'd returned the game because I was like, I'm not paying $60 for this piece.

[Nick Limone]

I have a secret. I'm not left handed. I'm not left handed either.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Nick Limone]

Mine is also Elden Ring, which I didn't play a ton of that game, but I played well over 10 hours of it. And I did not know there was a sprint button until very near to the very end.

[Sam Claiborne]

What's sprinting out with circles?

[Damon Hatfield]

What?

[Nick Limone]

Saw somebody zipping all around on YouTube.

[Justin Davis]

The horse sprints too, right?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, yeah, but it takes your stamina.

[Justin Davis]

There's a. Also, the game Killer 7 is about seven characters, but you can swap them when you go to, like, your home base or something and then go out again and start doing stuff. But I never realized that what you're supposed to do is swap the characters at any time, anywhere.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

So like, to solve puzzles, eventually I was like, I can't solve this. I was just running down these hallways. I was like, I can't do this with this character and I need this other character. Like, what the heck? It just turns out it was like a pause screen, shift over, switch the character or some crap. What a cool game. But, like, I hated it because I.

[Damon Hatfield]

Do like Killer seven quite a bit.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. I mean, what's not to like? If you know that, then I'm sure it's fine.

[Sam Claiborne]

Cool. All right, that brings us to video game 20 questions. Our suggestion this week comes from Andrew Goring from Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. And he has a hint for you. Says, hey, goose camp. My suggestion this week is the first game I remember experiencing terror in.

[Damon Hatfield]

Wait, how old did you say they were?

[Sam Claiborne]

Don't have.

[Damon Hatfield]

Oh, no. Okay. Terror.

[Nick Limone]

So I wanna. I'm gonna burn a question.

[Sam Claiborne]

Let the questioning begin.

[Damon Hatfield]

Go for it.

[Nick Limone]

Is this game actually a spooky horror game?

[Sam Claiborne]

It would not be in that category.

[Nick Limone]

I knew it. So it's like he experienced terror in, like, Sonic the Hedgehog when, like, the underwater music started.

[Sam Claiborne]

You guys know me.

[Damon Hatfield]

Is this game from the 70s, 80s or 90s?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yes.

[Damon Hatfield]

Oh, okay. All right.

[Justin Davis]

Is it from. Is it.

[Nick Limone]

Go ahead, go ahead.

[Justin Davis]

Is it. Is it a. I don't know. Is it a 2D game?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yes.

[Nick Limone]

Is it a. Is it a Sonic the Hedgehog game?

[Sam Claiborne]

No.

[Damon Hatfield]

Is it an arcade game?

[Sam Claiborne]

No. That's five.

[Nick Limone]

What do we know? 70s, 80s, or 90s?

[Justin Davis]

Is it from the 90s?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yes. Okay.

[Damon Hatfield]

Thank God.

[Nick Limone]

Was it an exclusive?

[Damon Hatfield]

One more time, Justin.

[Nick Limone]

Was it an exclusive to a platform?

[Sam Claiborne]

No.

[Damon Hatfield]

Multi plat. Third. Okay. Third party.

[Justin Davis]

Well, we didn't. We don't know if it's third party. Right.

[Nick Limone]

Oh, well, but it's multiplatform.

[Damon Hatfield]

Multi platform, I would assume. Is this a licensed video game?

[Sam Claiborne]

No.

[Justin Davis]

Would you call this game four Kids?

[Sam Claiborne]

Actually, Probably. I mean. No.

[Nick Limone]

Interesting.

[Sam Claiborne]

Even though kids played it.

[Damon Hatfield]

90S multiplat. Not a kid's game.

[Justin Davis]

Was this available on the Nintendo 64?

[Sam Claiborne]

No. That's 10. And I just remembered I had a hint for you too. I was very surprised that this. Well, no, I'll save it, man.

[Justin Davis]

Was it available on a Nintendo platform?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yes.

[Justin Davis]

Okay. Was that platform Super Nintendo?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yes.

[Nick Limone]

Okay. Was this game made in Japan?

[Sam Claiborne]

No. American made.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah, American made. Interesting.

[Damon Hatfield]

No, I mean, not necessarily.

[Justin Davis]

I don't think it'd be a licensed game. It'd be easier for us to get that.

[Damon Hatfield]

Not necessarily American made, though.

[Nick Limone]

Well, okay. Yeah. So 16. 16 bit game.

[Damon Hatfield]

Is this a platformer or a shooter?

[Sam Claiborne]

It's a type of. One of those.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay. Damn it.

[Justin Davis]

I should have. Just shoot stuff in this.

[Sam Claiborne]

You can shoot stuff in this. That's 15 questions.

[Damon Hatfield]

Oh, man.

[Justin Davis]

Oh, my God.

[Sam Claiborne]

I would. I would recommend considering where Andrew Goring is from.

[Damon Hatfield]

Niagara Falls. He's scared of water. He's scared of falls.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Nick Limone]

What does that mean?

[Damon Hatfield]

He's scared of Canada. He's scared of New York.

[Justin Davis]

Are there Canadian games? Do you think it's.

[Damon Hatfield]

Is there any iconic waterfalls in video games?

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. And Contra to concert level.

[Damon Hatfield]

You can shoot in this game. Do you.

[Justin Davis]

It's not Contra because that's a. Yeah, yeah. Free Super Nintendo game.

[Damon Hatfield]

Couldn't it be Contra three? Oh, that's Konami, though.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. Does this game have contemporary sequels?

[Sam Claiborne]

No.

[Damon Hatfield]

Oh, my gosh. Is there any Niagara.

[Sam Claiborne]

By contemporary, you mean today, right?

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

No.

[Justin Davis]

Do you play as a human?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yes. Importantly. Yes.

[Damon Hatfield]

Is there a game where you are in a barrel and you go over the side of a waterfall? Because I would have been afraid of that as a kid.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah. I think you're. I mean, I guess the game and Damon did give us that hint. But I didn't take the Niagara Falls thing quite as literally as like a game where you're in a barrel.

[Justin Davis]

Mega Man 2 has a great waterfall scene with the frogs. Beginning of bubble man stage. So it's important that you're a human.

[Damon Hatfield]

It's important that you're a human multiplat.

[Justin Davis]

We still don't know if it's a platformer or a shooter. It's just that it's one of those two and you can shoot. Shooting it. That crazy.

[Sam Claiborne]

I'm in a very. I'm a generous mood since I said you can shoot in this Game.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, you don't have to, I guess, because, you know, you would have to be able to shoot in a shooter. So we gotta. But why is it a type of platformer? What does that mean? What types of platformers are there? Puzzle platformers. We got.

[Nick Limone]

There weren't.

[Justin Davis]

Those didn't really exist at the time.

[Damon Hatfield]

Oh, my gosh.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah. I mean, it could be a run and gun game.

[Justin Davis]

I think it's a platformer that you can shoot in because of the recent hints we just got. Yeah, but what types. He said it's a type of one of those.

[Damon Hatfield]

And you like.

[Justin Davis]

What's a variation on a platform and.

[Damon Hatfield]

You play as a human in. And that was very important as a puzzle platformer.

[Justin Davis]

Is there like a single screen game where, like things come at you or something that would be like terrifying? Like Adventures of Lolo style.

[Nick Limone]

Adventures of Lolo 1 and 2.

[Damon Hatfield]

Is there like, not flashback, but like, what are the other games that are like cinematic things? I feel like those games have scary.

[Justin Davis]

Falls of Persia flashback.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah, it could totally be flashback. It could be alone in the dark. Dark.

[Damon Hatfield]

And I feel like it's important that you are a human in those because you are the only human in those.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah, I would agree with that.

[Damon Hatfield]

And there's Scary Falls is.

[Justin Davis]

I don't know where to go with this. Oh, man.

[Damon Hatfield]

And it's multiplat. Let me think.

[Justin Davis]

We got two questions and a guess.

[Sam Claiborne]

Two questions and a. Yes.

[Nick Limone]

I don't want to lose.

[Justin Davis]

Something about the graphics or the play style.

[Nick Limone]

I mean.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Nick Limone]

Is it a. Is it a cinematic platformer?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yes.

[Damon Hatfield]

So wait.

[Justin Davis]

Oh, man.

[Sam Claiborne]

You have one question.

[Damon Hatfield]

There's like, what Flashback out of this world. Those are the only two that I.

[Justin Davis]

And Blackthorn, I think.

[Nick Limone]

Is the other one black is an alone in the Dark one or is that not one? Maybe that was the.

[Justin Davis]

That's a 3D game.

[Damon Hatfield]

So in Blackthorn, you have to shoot at points, but in.

[Justin Davis]

Wow.

[Damon Hatfield]

I guess you kind of do in out of this world too. So never mind.

[Justin Davis]

There's all. Okay, so there's also Prince of Persia. I don't know if they made one of those for Super Nintendo.

[Damon Hatfield]

I don't think it would have shooting, though.

[Justin Davis]

No, that's a good point. That's a good point. Flashback. That does a little bit. And it had a sequel, though, this generation, right? It just had a sequel last year, right?

[Damon Hatfield]

I think so. Yeah. And so it wouldn't be that one because it doesn't have a contemporary.

[Justin Davis]

Right.

[Damon Hatfield]

So maybe it's out of this world.

[Justin Davis]

Damon's loving it.

[Nick Limone]

What's the smartest way to. Yeah, maybe it is.

[Justin Davis]

Blackthorn's the shotgun game, right?

[Damon Hatfield]

Correct.

[Nick Limone]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

And then out of this World is. I don't know what out of this World.

[Damon Hatfield]

Blackthorn is developed by Activision.

[Nick Limone]

I was gonna say it was made by Blizzard.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. Yeah. Sorry. Wow. I think it's Activision Blitzer now. Well done, marketing. Do we ask, like, is this. Was this made by Blizzard? And then if it's not, we just go with out of this world.

[Justin Davis]

Well, what's something about out of this World that we can.

[Damon Hatfield]

And there's an alien buddy in it. You got an alien?

[Nick Limone]

I don't know the. I don't remember the game very well.

[Justin Davis]

Okay, well, then I have to know where to go with this, then. I think you're probably right. I've never played out of this World. I know. We've had it on 20 questions before.

[Nick Limone]

I think that line of questioning is pretty good.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay. Do you have an alien buddy?

[Sam Claiborne]

You sure do.

[Damon Hatfield]

No, not that.

[Nick Limone]

Hey, what's up?

[Damon Hatfield]

Is this game out of this world?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yes, it is. Let's go North America. But this game was developed in France, which is why I suggested you remember where.

[Justin Davis]

This is what it looks like on Super Nintendo.

[Sam Claiborne]

It can't look like this. This is not what I remember looking like. Jobur. Where's this footage from?

[Justin Davis]

This looks like somebody colorized a Game Boy by crayon.

[Damon Hatfield]

This is a Super Nintendo long play. Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh, wow.

[Damon Hatfield]

From World of Long Plays.

[Sam Claiborne]

I played this on Super Nintendo. I don't remember being this.

[Damon Hatfield]

Maybe that was just a really exciting game.

[Justin Davis]

It's like I'm in the game.

[Damon Hatfield]

Maybe that was just.

[Sam Claiborne]

How do you not know this game?

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

This.

[Justin Davis]

I don't know.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, it's an important cinematic platformer, like I said.

[Sam Claiborne]

When I said a type of platformer. Cinematic platformer.

[Justin Davis]

Cool.

[Sam Claiborne]

I love this game.

[Damon Hatfield]

And you can shoot. Wow.

[Sam Claiborne]

Can shoot in this game. So as an anecdote, can we name.

[Justin Davis]

All the cinematic platformers on the Super Nintendo and the super.

[Sam Claiborne]

Well, there are two Prince of Persia games on Super Nintendo 2. Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Wow. I had no idea.

[Justin Davis]

Me neither.

[Sam Claiborne]

But Blackthorn is also very, very good.

[Damon Hatfield]

I love Blackthorn Sick.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. Then there's also flashback, but yeah, maybe that's kind of it. I think this is a game called Ghostwriter.

[Justin Davis]

This is so funny. I mean, I should have played this game. I played.

[Sam Claiborne]

It's better than flashback. Sam.

[Damon Hatfield]

There is like a semi. It's not as good, but there's a PlayStation game called Heart of Darkness, sequel to this. And I didn't know it was a sequel. There you go.

[Nick Limone]

Heart of Darkness is a sequel to Alone to this.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

That game scared me.

[Sam Claiborne]

The Sega CD release of out of this World has them both on the same disc.

[Damon Hatfield]

Wow.

[Justin Davis]

So what do you think the terrifying aspect of this was?

[Sam Claiborne]

He can tell you.

[Justin Davis]

Andrew, what the hell was that Niagara Falls comment?

[Sam Claiborne]

He's from Canada. This game was developed in France.

[Justin Davis]

Oh my God. What does that even mean?

[Sam Claiborne]

There's a connection.

[Justin Davis]

He's from Canada. This game was developed in France.

[Sam Claiborne]

Like there's no connection between France and Canada. Okay.

[Justin Davis]

Not in Niagara Falls there ain't.

[Damon Hatfield]

Did he say what he was afraid of?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yes, he says, I didn't get far in this game. Found it complicated.

[Justin Davis]

Probably that guy.

[Sam Claiborne]

I don't know if it stays scary, but being chased by a red eyed shadow dog, tentacles and alien soldiers in the intro level was a panic inducing jump start to this 90s kids gaming sessions.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

So you're this human scientist and there's an opening cut scene. You get warped into this, to this other planet, another world. But you appear underwater and you're supposed to swim up to the surface.

[Justin Davis]

Quite the bulge.

[Sam Claiborne]

If you don't get out of the water right away, tentacles immediately come up and drag you down into the depths. Then when you get out, you encounter these black slugs on the ground. If you don't kick them or jump over them, they spike you and poison you and you die instantly. And then you're immediately chased by this dog with glowing red eyes.

[Damon Hatfield]

It's an incredible game.

[Justin Davis]

I just turn into a skeleton and explode.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Oh yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Heck yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

It's an incredible game to watch someone who knows what they're doing play. Because otherwise it's a game of trial.

[Sam Claiborne]

It's a trial and error game like so many of these games are.

[Justin Davis]

You can just warp upwards instead of jump.

[Sam Claiborne]

And it's not fully rotoscoped, but it was designed by one guy, one Frenchman. And he did use some rotoscoping to get certain anime.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, you could tell he got some rotoscoping done of the nerdiest runner he knew.

[Nick Limone]

And that man's name EVE game.

[Sam Claiborne]

It's true. It's true.

[Justin Davis]

Look at that run.

[Sam Claiborne]

Well, he's jumping there. You don't have to jump, but maybe it's faster than you do.

[Damon Hatfield]

Sure, the dude crawling is really scary. I'd be upset about it.

[Sam Claiborne]

He's a buddy too.

[Damon Hatfield]

I know he is, but he doesn't look like a buddy.

[Sam Claiborne]

There, I think where he's going to go meet up with.

[Justin Davis]

Where's the buddy?

[Damon Hatfield]

He one that was crawling on all fours back.

[Justin Davis]

Oh, that looked horrible. Really? That's the alien buddy?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. There's. There's a scene late in the game when you. There are female aliens too and they're. They're in like a bathing room scene and there's nothing graphic. But in the original Amiga release you can see some buttocks. And then it notes on the Wikipedia page, at least that Nintendo had some notes to release on Super Nintendo as they didn't want any nudity. So the developer, I think he. I think he removed three pixels of butt crack.

[Damon Hatfield]

That's 100% what I was like, what do you do?

[Sam Claiborne]

Erase four pixels, three pixels of butt crack.

[Damon Hatfield]

Amazing.

[Sam Claiborne]

And that got it on the Super Nintendo.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, but he kept that bulge in.

[Sam Claiborne]

Did keep the bulge in. It's what's happening. That's why the subtitle is out of this world. Battle of the Bulge.

[Justin Davis]

Dude, look at that dodge roll.

[Damon Hatfield]

That's sick.

[Justin Davis]

Well, that was cool.

[Sam Claiborne]

Nicely Job. Thank you for the suggestion, Andrew Goren. Thanks for all the hints from Niagara Falls viewers. Listeners, if you have your own suggestions for video game 20 questions, email them to me at the email address gamescoopigen.com and that's all the scoops that we have for you this week. Hopefully we can get an earlier recording session for next week so we can do a proper game spook. Please be excited for that. Thank you to Nick. Thank you, Sam. Thank you, Justin. Thank you to everyone working behind the scenes in our LA studio here to make this episode possible. My name is Damon. This is IG and gamescoop. And we're out.

[Damon Hatfield]

Welcome.

[Sam Claiborne]

Ladies and gentlemen.

[Nick Limone]

What are you doing?

[Sam Claiborne]

What do you mean?

[Damon Hatfield]

Keep it simple?

[Sam Claiborne]

I'm making the promo.

[Damon Hatfield]

Just keep it simple. Just say, hey, we're the Brav Bros. Two guys that talk about Bravo. Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, we're the Brav bro.

[Sam Claiborne]

No.

[Damon Hatfield]

Oh, dude, stop with the voice.

[Sam Claiborne]

Just keep it simple.

[Damon Hatfield]

I've seen promos on tv, dude.

[Nick Limone]

This is how you get the fans engaged.

[Damon Hatfield]

This is how you get listeners.

[Sam Claiborne]

We're trying to get listeners here. If we just say, oh, we're two.

[Damon Hatfield]

Dudes that talk about Bravo.

[Nick Limone]

People are get tired of it already.

[Sam Claiborne]

We need some oomph.

[Damon Hatfield]

All right then fine. Let's try to do it with your voice. Brav Bros. Good job.

[Sam Claiborne]

Hi, this is Rob Benedict and I am Richard Spate. We were both on a little show.

[Damon Hatfield]

You might know called Supernatural it had a pretty good run. 15 seasons, 327 episodes.

[Sam Claiborne]

And though we have seen, of course, every episode many times, we figured, hey, now, that wrapped, let's watch it all again.

[Damon Hatfield]

And we can't do that alone. So we're inviting the cast and crew that made the show along for the ride. We've got writers, producers, composers, directors, and we'll of course have some actors on as well, including some certain guys that played some certain pretty iconic brothers.

[Justin Davis]

It was kind of a little bit.

[Damon Hatfield]

Of a left field choice in the best way possible.

[Nick Limone]

The note from Kripke was he's great, we love him, but we're looking for.

[Justin Davis]

Like a really intelligent Duchovny type with.

[Sam Claiborne]

15 seasons to explore.

[Damon Hatfield]

It's going to be the road trip of several lifetimes. So please join us and subscribe to Supernatural then and now.