Game Scoop! 857: Horizon Permitted East

Summary

Game Scoop! Episode 857: "Horizon Permitted East"

Date: May 15, 2026
Host: Damon Hatfield
Guests: Sam Claiborne, Mark Medina, Justin Davis

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Episode Overview

This week’s Game Scoop! is packed with expert reviews, lively debates, retro gaming nostalgia, and standout gaming news. The crew—Damon, Sam, Mark, and the freshly-returned Justin—break down their hands-on time with Forza Horizon 6, share thoughts on Capcom’s business, dish out practical gameplay tips, chat about the nostalgia-driven indie Mixtape, and share what they’ve been playing, reading, and watching. An extended segment of Video Game 20 Questions and some hardware discussions round out an episode full of inside jokes and honest takes.

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Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. [03:38] IGN Live 2026 - Upcoming Event

• IGN Live 2026 is just three weeks away (June 6-7 in downtown LA).
• Highlights: Game reveals, presentations (Assassin’s Creed: Black Flag Resync), unannounced surprises, and the 20th Anniversary Game Scoop! taping (Sunday, June 7).
• Promo: Use SCOOPTIN for $10 off tickets at live.ign.com (Tickets are $15).

“It’s kind of become a tradition that Game Scoop closes out the show, so that’ll be really fun.” —Damon [05:04]

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2. [06:30] Forza Horizon 6 Review & In-Depth Impressions

• Score: Yet another 10/10, the third in a row for the series.
• Setting: Japan, but with debates about authenticity and how "Japanese" it feels.
• Gameplay: Retains the core Forza Horizon feel; Mark praises the “Discover Japan” mode for side activities and culture.
• Progression: Two main paths: Horizon Festival (sanctioned races) and Discover Japan (toge battles, day trips, and historical tidbits).
• Customization: Money mostly used for car collection, upgrades, and houses; some critique about progression/meaning of car upgrades.

“All of the maps are kind of the same...it shows the blossom trees and stuff at the beginning and then...I could just be in Australia right now and I wouldn’t know the difference.” —Mark [07:38]

“My hype levels are off the charts right now.” —Justin [10:14]

Key Features Highlighted:

• “Rewind” button (lets you undo mistakes without penalty)
• Exceptional music (“I’ve added like six songs to my iPod.” —Mark [22:07])
• Positive, friendly game vibe, easy to play on your own terms

Tips for New Players:

• Use the racing guide lines—when it turns red, brake and let off gas until blue again. “Thread” the throttle after breaking to avoid skids. [15:01-15:57]
• Game favors player agency: “You came in last. Great job! You still qualified.” —Damon [22:15]

The crew discusses accessibility for both casual players and racing enthusiasts, with nods to reviewer Luke Reilly’s detail on simulation depth.

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3. [26:48] Pragmata – Final Thoughts & Ending Discussion

• Damon completed the highly-anticipated Capcom game Pragmata, clocking in at 16 hours.
• Final boss tips: “Just run in circles while charging up Diana’s ability...wait for the boss to be frozen and then knock stuff off her...” [26:48-27:30].
• The ending was surprising and left open questions about a follow-up; Mark hints at possibilities but avoids spoilers.

“The ending leaves some questions...I don’t know how we do a sequel now, but ok.” —Damon [27:39, 28:55]

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4. [29:23] Capcom’s Financial Success & Transparent Numbers

• Capcom has had 13 consecutive years of profit growth.
• 84% of sales are catalog games (older releases), 93% digital, and only 10% from Japan.
• “Monster Hunter was at its peak in Japan when it was portable.” —Damon [30:44]
• Bestsellers:
  • Resident Evil series: 201m units
  • Monster Hunter: 127m
  • Street Fighter: 59m
  • Mega Man: 44m
• Resident Evil 2 Remake hit 18m, Street Fighter 6 at 6.7m.

“What a comeback for Resident Evil...They pulled it back right from the brink.” —Justin [32:29]

Capcom’s Use of AI in Manuals [36:06]

• Experimenting with generative AI for in-game manuals; consensus is cautiously positive as long as AI isn’t used for art/music.

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5. [41:35] The Single Player vs. Live Service Debate

• Former Dead Space producer claims AAAs won’t do Dead Space 4—single-player games are a "dinosaur fossil of a business model."
• Crew pushes back: Capcom’s single-player focus is paying off; Resident Evil, Pragmata, and Requiem are examples.
• Justin: Different studios need different sales to “break even”—it works for Capcom, may not for EA.
• The market’s “live service gold rush” is still risky—chasing the next Fortnite can flop.

“You are chasing...these big live service games that make billions of dollars...it’s a slot machine pull and the pull costs you $100 million.” —Justin [45:54]

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6. [51:32] Mixtape – Indie Nostalgia Adventure

• Justin finished and loved Mixtape: “Didn’t 10/10 love it…probably an 8. The nostalgia in this game is a laser beam directly into my brain.” [51:41]
• Highs: Emotional moments, vibe, soundtrack (Joy Division, Portishead).
• Critiques: Dialogue sometimes inauthentic (too “movie” or not true ‘90s/’80s); main character not always likable.
• Worth playing for 40-somethings: “If you’re…between 40 and 50, you’re probably gonna have a good time with this video game.” [54:53]

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7. [57:09] Extracurricular Activities

Dungeon Crawler Carl (Book Series)

• Damon and Justin geek out over Dungeon Crawler Carl (Matt Dinnemann, narrated by Jeff Hayes).
• LitRPG; “guy sucked into a video game, but everything’s real—it’s not boring, it’s great.” —Damon [60:17]
• “If you like this show, you’ll probably like Dungeon Crawler Carl.” —Damon [63:49]

Vampire Survivors: Vampire Crawlers

• Initial excitement fizzled due to lack of late-game challenge—accepted as a shorter-form “spin-off” rather than infinite play. [64:11]
• Sam points out more devs should try smaller/experimental spin-offs.

Indie Game Shout-outs

• Pin Crawl: Pinball x dungeon crawler roguelike [66:17]
• Scritchy Scratchy / Clover Pit / Slots & Daggers / Gambananza: Time-waster indie games with unique mechanics; discussions of their staying power.

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8. [72:44] Hardware Corner: New Steam Controller

• Mark reviews the new Steam controller:
  • Haptic feedback simulates the Wilhelm Scream when dropped (no speaker, “emulates the sound” via vibration). [73:18]
  • Smaller than expected, but face buttons small for big hands.
  • Unique charging puck also serves as receiver; reliable wireless for PC, but doesn’t fully “console-ify” the PC experience.
  • Recommendation: Upgrade only if you need a specialized wireless PC controller.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Forza’s philosophy:
  “This game is just like, do whatever you want. Have fun doing whatever you want. Here’s a qualifying race. Oh, you came in last. Great job. You still qualified.” —Damon [22:15]
• On the Forza ‘Japan’ feel:
  “All the maps are kind of the same…just big green landscapes. That’s fine.” —Mark [07:38]
• On Capcom’s business:
  “Thirteen years in a row, just making more and more profit. Dang, that’s Capcom.” —Damon [29:47]
• On Punisher One Last Kill:
  “If you like Punisher or brutal action like The Raid or John Wick, you’ll like this, too. But…next time we see him will be in a PG13 Spider-Man movie.” —Damon [67:20]
• On live service games:
  “The pie isn’t infinitely big and people are already playing…you’re trying to peel people off where they’re already established.” —Justin [47:48]
• On Mixtape’s authenticity:
  “The nostalgia in this game is like a laser beam directly into my brain…” —Justin [51:41]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• [03:38] IGN Live promo
• [06:30] Forza Horizon 6 review & discussion
• [26:48] Pragmata ending & Capcom’s success
• [41:35] Dead Space, Capcom vs. EA, live service debate
• [51:32] Mixtape review
• [57:09] Dungeon Crawler Carl, indie roguelikes
• [72:44] Steam controller hands-on
• [78:36] Video Game 20 Questions: Super Mario 64

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Tone and Language

The tone is collegial, laid-back, and witty—full of in-jokes, gentle ribbing, retro references, and lots of “just asking questions”-style banter. The cast doesn’t shy from critiquing sacred cows (Forza, Capcom, Punisher), but always with an affectionate nod to their gaming roots. Approachable for listeners new and old.

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Conclusion

Game Scoop! 857 is dense with expert reviews and gaming wisdom, balancing serious debates on game design and industry trends with good-natured banter and deep nostalgia. Whether you want racing tips, opinionated takes on industry business, or comfort in shared retro gaming memories, this episode has a bit of everything—plus, an in-depth Video Game 20 Questions to close things out.

Transcript

[Damon Hatfield]

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[Sam Claiborne]

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[Damon Hatfield]

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[Damon Hatfield]

What's up everybody? Welcome to IGN gamescoop. I'm your host, Damon Hatfield. Joining me this week are Sam Claiborne.

[Sam Claiborne]

I'm back. Damon.

[Damon Hatfield]

Mark Medina.

[Mark Medina]

I'm here, Damon.

[Damon Hatfield]

And look who it is. Look who made time to join us on gamescoop. It's Justin Davis.

[Mark Medina]

He lives. The comments. The comments started getting. There's some conspiracy theories. Oh no.

[Justin Davis]

And I did almost. I had some family stuff going on today and it was like 50. 50. Oh no. Like I don't want to call it like when you say family emergency. Like people always imagine, like imagine an emergency but like a minor. Like I had a family thing pop up and it was like 50, 50 if I could do the show. So I'm glad that. I'm glad that it worked out.

[Sam Claiborne]

Did the conspiracy theories involve mixtape?

[Mark Medina]

It was just like they always have these theories about like oh my God, Justin's fired or he quit or he hates Damon.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, mixtape.

[Damon Hatfield]

And Justin isn't on game Scoop. Coincidence.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. Look, they're just connecting the dots.

[Mark Medina]

It's one yarn thread.

[Sam Claiborne]

We're just asking questions. We're just asking questions.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, I'm just asking. I'm not saying it is because of mixtape, but it makes you wonder.

[Mark Medina]

Yep. Yep.

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, we got a show for you this week. Great show for this week. Absolutely packed. So much to talk about. Our review of Forza Horizon 6 is out yet another the third 10 out of 10 in a row for that series. 75% of us have been playing that one, but Justin's also been playing some other.

[Justin Davis]

You're all playing it but me.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, yeah, we've all.

[Mark Medina]

You were at a family emergency. What do you want from us?

[Justin Davis]

Well, yeah, but I didn't know that Forza was on the table.

[Sam Claiborne]

He said it was a minor emergency.

[Damon Hatfield]

I finished Pragmata. I just want to share some of my final thoughts on that. Really, really like that game. But. Oh, also we have an extracurricular activities coming up that I've literally been waiting weeks to talk about. I'm very excited about this.

[Mark Medina]

Wow.

[Sam Claiborne]

I can talk about Punisher if we're going to talk.

[Damon Hatfield]

I can also talk about Punisher. I'll watch that. So I've been waiting weeks to talk about that. But first, speaking of weeks, we're only three weeks out from IGN Live now. IGN Live 2026 happening June 6th and 7th, Saturday and Sunday in downtown LA. It's going to be so great. Lots of like game game reveals and presentations on stage. Black Flag or Assassin's Creed. Black Flag Resync is going to be there. I know of at least maybe an unannounced something that might show up too that I think will be relative to everybody's interest. And of course we're doing the big 20th anniversary taping of Gamescoop and that'll actually be on Sunday. So if you're only going to go to one day of IGN Live, I would recommend Sunday the 7th. It's kind of become a tradition that Game Scoop closes out the show, so that'll be really fun. Anyway, you can get your tickets now, live.ign.com and if you use the promo code SCOOPTIN, you'll get $10 off. And they're only $15 to begin with, so.

[Sam Claiborne]

So you said that's just in three weeks.

[Damon Hatfield]

Three weeks.

[Sam Claiborne]

You know what's interesting is that we worked so hard in this and we work so long that we got all our work done and now for the next three weeks we can just kind of chill.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep.

[Mark Medina]

Yep.

[Sam Claiborne]

It's going to be a really fun summer.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep, Exactly. Exactly.

[Justin Davis]

IGN Live was a lot of fun last year. It was so fun meeting so many gamescoop fans. And you know, that was. This is year three. Year two is a little bit bigger than year one, and year three is going to be a little bit bigger than year two. So, you know, it's building. If you're in the LA area in June, you should definitely come hang out with us. Yep.

[Damon Hatfield]

We will be doing some meet and greets as well.

[Sam Claiborne]

So always in those food truck lunch lines is our biggest.

[Damon Hatfield]

We do our meet and greets in the.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah, that. That's where we do the. The coffee. The coffee line. God, I hope that coffee truck's back. That was like.

[Sam Claiborne]

That was a good one.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, I had a good matcha from there.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay. Okay. Forza Horizon 6. Not quite out yet, but our reviews out 10 out of 10. So here's my thought on this. This is the follow up to IGN's 2021 game of the year, Forza Horizon 5. It feels exactly like Forza Horizon 5 and it's set in Japan, my favorite place in the world. So I kept thinking to myself, I wonder why I'm not Having more fun with this.

[Justin Davis]

What?

[Damon Hatfield]

Not that it's bad at all. It's just not like I've played other games recently that really grabbed me a little bit more. But I know Mark has played a heck of a lot of it and I think maybe Sam is a little bit more leaning my way.

[Justin Davis]

Surely it being if it's just Forza Horizon 5, but in Japan that's gotta make it an 11 out of 10 off the charts.

[Damon Hatfield]

You would think, you would think. I don't know, Mark, you've played more than me. So last night was like my third night of playing it and it finally started to like, okay, now I kind of, I'm, it's getting a little bit more of its hooks to me. I like the, you know, I like doing the, the hunt. The hunt for the cars, the treasure cars or whatever they call them where you just have a photo and have to track them down. That stuff is cool.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

I don't know. Doesn't feel super Japanese to me.

[Mark Medina]

Well, yeah, and so something I'll always say is like, so the, the series, you know, started in Colorado and has been to Australia, uk, Japan and Mexico. And to be honest, all of the maps, and this isn't a knock. All of the maps are kind of the same. You know what I mean? Like, I mean it's beautiful if. Yeah, yeah, yeah. It shows the, like the blossom trees and stuff at the beginning and then you're just like, I, I, I could just be in Australia right now and I wouldn't know the difference. Just big green landscapes. That's fine.

[Justin Davis]

What about Mount Fuji? What about the Tori?

[Mark Medina]

Mount Fuji is there and the Torii gate is.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, guys, I mean you're just, you're racing, you're going through the scenery very fast. So yeah, I could almost be anywhere

[Sam Claiborne]

except for the occasional resisted adding some of the temples and stuff because like you shouldn't really be driving through those.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, sure.

[Sam Claiborne]

You know what I mean. Well, no, but they, they, you know, there was some controversy with Assassin's Creed around that and because, because you're climbing on them. But like there's no reason not to include them. They were like the historical artifact sites that Assassin's Creed's all about. But this, they, they kind of resist that, I think. And like. Yeah, you're right. The foliage and the, you know, streets and stuff, they're not specifically that Japanese looking.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

And Sam, you were saying maybe like last week or something that it's not a great representation of Tokyo specifically.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. And then Tokyo, I just thought I mean, first of all, it necessarily feels small because they made a giant map of countryside that you're zooming through around Tokyo, but you are in and out of Toky really fast. I did play some missions where you're, like, driving a food truck around, and those take you to, like, more of like the. You know, it shows you all of the stuff. They did design for it, which is cute, but it's like, you know, Tokyo. Tokyo is overwhelming. It is, you know, probably the biggest city I've ever been to because, you know, even New York is separated by bridges and stuff like that. Tokyo is just, like, massive. It just goes on and on. It doesn't really feel like that. And then. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, again, like, I can't knock a game that's like, found the formula so. Well, it's gotten a 10, three times. That's incredible. What a feat.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

You know.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, this definitely. Go ahead. Just.

[Justin Davis]

Well, I just. There's something to be said, like, this is one of those franchises that, like, some games get knocked for being kind of samey, and then some are like, I will just take this every five years, release a Forza Horizon for the rest of my life. And then, like, that's just fine with me. And then that. That seems to be kind of the vibe here. At least it is for me. It's like, I can't wait to play. And like, look, maybe I'm gonna come. Maybe I'm gonna come back next week and say the same as you, but, like, I. My hype levels are off the charts right now.

[Damon Hatfield]

It is good.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah. My. My thing with this series has been like, I don't even need to see trailers or gameplay or anything. They could. They could just put out a blog post and be like, the. The next Forts is in May and it's in Japan. And I'm like, cool. I'm. I'm there.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

This is the first time Mark has not been playing Forza in a long time.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah. Yeah, this is my.

[Damon Hatfield]

My first time right now.

[Mark Medina]

Right back to it. The moment.

[Sam Claiborne]

Like, you. You know, Mark works on assignments and deadlines, and he blew past all those and just did all of the stuff he could possibly do in this game. Like, you love this game, right?

[Mark Medina]

Yeah. Yeah. My. My thing is, is, like, as a manager at the. At this company, basically, we all get the same. You're doing it right now too. I just won't say for what. But like, this. We all get that, like one or two games a year where we're like, Manage yourselves. I'm gonna go work and play this one game that I'm very excited for. And this was mine. This was like. I don't even know if my employees know my name anymore because I've just been in the Forza Cave playing and I'm like a level 150. I played like 60 hours. Yeah, I can't. I can't stop playing. I think it's really, really, really cool to, to satiate any worries that people would have. As far as like the Japan setting. The game has two progression paths. Well, this is four, but you know what I mean, Two. One is the Horizon Festival, which is the like sanctioned races that like, you know, they're barriered off and it's, it's to be able to unlock the next wristband events, which in this game they're all really, really cool. And then there's the Discover Japan which is. If the Forza Horizon stuff is the main quest, this is the side quest and those are like the toge battles, which is like racing down a mountain one on one against somebody, which is like, you know, the end of Tokyo Drift or let's see, like joining a drift club or you go on these like May Day trips where you, you like learn about Mount Fuji or like a castle or a. To, you know, Tory Bridge and all that stuff. And so there is that, like, there is that like celebration of Japanese culture when it comes to the cards and stuff like that and the setting. Like there's, there's a whole storyline about the. Yeah, there's a whole storyline about them taking manufactured cars from different eras and like turning them into racing machines and stuff like that. And so like you'll go on a day trip and you'll be in like a Ford Escort because those were really popular in the 60s. Or not the 60s, sorry. Like, like the 90s and stuff like that. And so then they'll kind of give a little bit of a history lesson and stuff. So those are, those are really, really cool. So those are more for like the Japan of it all. And then the Forza Horizon, the Horizon Festival stuff is just like, let's race.

[Justin Davis]

I mean, I will say, like, okay, I guess I don't want to speak for you. I play this game in a little bit more of a casual way and I'll play it for dozens of hours. But I'm not a hardcore racing nerd, right? Like, I'm racing around having a good time and like, that's the way that I enjoy the game and like, but we do have, you know, Luke Riley reviewed this for us and gave it a 10 out of 10. I. I'm not. Luke Riley might know more about racing video games than maybe anyone on the planet Ear. And he's reviewed, you know, if you go to his author page on IGN, he's reviewed maybe 100 racing games. And so, you know, in his review, which, you know, I watched that YouTube video today, it's really well done. Like he does talk about the kind of nuance of like, you know, the cars feel like they. I can't even. I can't even repeat it because I'm not a gearhead enough to repeat it. But like he talks about that like hardcore racing nerd shit of like, you know, the tire grip and like this and that. That like they did make improvements under the hood that to someone that just wants to like, you know, run around and race, it's kind of like lost on me. Like. But it's there if you're kind of like, you know, that hardcore racing racing type of person.

[Damon Hatfield]

So Mark, give us, I mean Horizon.

[Mark Medina]

Sorry, I was just going to respond to that really quick. Horizon's always. It's a spin off from motorsport. Right. Even though it's like now overtaken it.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay. There isn't even so you any motorsport anymore, right?

[Mark Medina]

I don't. I don't think so. And so it's. It's one of those things where it's like that sim simulation racing is there if you want it. It's also not how I play.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, I've always.

[Mark Medina]

I play the. The NPCs are on above average, which is their difficulty and I just. All the default driver accessibility stuff which is like, you know, anti lock and all that stuff.

[Damon Hatfield]

I was racing, I was racing against you last night. Sim.

[Sam Claiborne]

Oh, really?

[Mark Medina]

Yeah, I don't know. Yeah, yeah.

[Justin Davis]

The. The. The balance like. Cause the game is not as arcady and our review talks about this too. Like it's not as Arcadia's burnout. Like it is more realistic and you do need to care about your G grip and your traction. But it's not as hardcore as like Gran Turismo. And like it just. It's perfect for me. I love it.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. Mark, gimme some live game help. Do you use the racing guide?

[Mark Medina]

Oh yeah. Like the line.

[Sam Claiborne]

Okay.

[Mark Medina]

Sorry.

[Damon Hatfield]

So I. Oh yeah. You know, it's. It's a blue line. You follow it and then when it turns red you have to break. But I just. I don't know when I break, should I let go of the gas or do I just Hold. Just hold that down always.

[Mark Medina]

You. You. So the line is. Is, you know, contextual. So if you break, the line will change colors.

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, it'll.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, no, it'll return to blue when you activate the.

[Mark Medina]

It'll return to blue. So. So you break. I would let go of the gas, especially depending on the.

[Sam Claiborne]

It has different effects. If you hold down the gas, it does something different while you're braking. Like, just like a real car.

[Damon Hatfield]

I just don't know what I suppose to do. Which way.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, I think I would let off

[Mark Medina]

the gas and break until the car turns into. Until the line turns more of a blue, then do more on the gas. But sometimes you also just kind of want to thread the gas, opposed to just being like, okay, I've breaked enough. Now I'm just gonna, you know, full send it into this corner, because then you'll skid out.

[Justin Davis]

So that's what I do. I. The racing line, I have. I have a complicated relationship with it where I get. I get kind of addicted to the racing line. And then after I've played, like, 30 hours, I'm like, I don't need the line anymore. And then I turn it off, and then I am a thousand percent worse. I'm like, no, I need to be told when to break.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, because they're looking at the min map or whatever. You can see when the next curbs are. But that's the best way to see them. Like, if my car had that, I'd be a better driver. You know, like, it's really good for that.

[Mark Medina]

So some of the maps are so small, though, that you actually can't tell. Some of the wristband events, it's just, like a square, and it's just all road. And I'm like, I actually don't know when the turns are.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, yeah, totally.

[Mark Medina]

Hey, it's us.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, for me, like, I want to play more of this and get into the stuff that Mark's talking about more, because I did. Like, how, like, first of all, there's, like, really goofy races, and there's the historical stuff. Like, that's all a lot more appealing to me. And this game drew me in. Like, I do like it, and I do like playing it, but I had to have, like, a talk with Mark because I play so many arcade racer games that I'm like, am I really, for this whole game, just going to accelerate and break to go around corners? Like, I love power sliding and boosting. Like, I love.

[Mark Medina]

Like, how do I unlock the boost? I was like, oh, no, I didn't say that.

[Sam Claiborne]

I was just like, is there like any arcade stuff like boosting in this? It's like, oh, just breaking. And that's not like, for the gameplay side. That's like. Just takes this to a different tier. But I do like the open world driving. And like, I love Burnout Paradise. Like, I love that game and, you know, I like collecting in it. And this game, I still like that too. I like finding the mascots and running through them. I like finding the xp. The only other like, thing that like, I. I don't really understand is that, like, I just have infinite access to the best cars. And like, that's something that I think I wanted. But now that I have it, I'm like, why am I playing this? Like I'm. The money means nothing. It's like every car you have, you get to like default to the best car for the race or upgrade a little bit.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

And then everybody else is racing the same car as you, so you don't have an advantage over them. Or if you try to get an advantage, it's not really clear to me that I. Why I should do that or how. So maybe that's like the fine tuning and stuff, but like, I don't know, just improving my breaking around corners doesn't seem like my favorite type of gameplay.

[Mark Medina]

So the money. But beyond buying cars, which of which there are 500 of them, is to buy houses, which give you different bonuses. Look at that Mac. So cool. Chaser zero.

[Damon Hatfield]

I got. I gotta play to that part at least.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. That's the third wristband event, so it's actually not too far in if you count the prologue as the first wristband event. So technically this would be the second. So buying houses, but then also like the barn cars. Barn.

[Damon Hatfield]

I like that too.

[Mark Medina]

You can find them.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Mark Medina]

But then you have to. You have to. Then that's restore them. And that is. That wiped out my money. I had like $9 million.

[Sam Claiborne]

That's cool.

[Mark Medina]

And then I had to grind for the video to get the final car. I had to get like a million more dollars. So that'll wipe out your bank account really quick. Luckily, the Treasure cars are free.

[Sam Claiborne]

To be clear. I'm not saying I want ways to spend money. What I'm saying is there's. You're always going to have a pretty good car to take on a race. And like, I felt like in some other games the progression is like, I'm terrible until I get a great car. And then I'm really happy that I have this great car that I can use for a while now. The other point here is that the races are so different from each other. Like, you have, like, races where you're like, in a Ford F150 in mud, and it's like, that's really fun. I think that's really cool. Like, I. I think it's really different. Like, obviously, like, getting the best, you know, 60s muscle car I can find is not a good idea for that. So I get it. I get all that.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah. Because you could, you could set the NPC difficulty, but then also, like, you could set the difficulty by your car. Right. So if you, if you pick a car that's like, really fast, that's what the NPCs are going to be driving as well. So you have to be okay with the fact that, like, you have to be better at corners and stuff. Or like, they just showed that giant Ford Bronco. Like, if you pick that, that's what they'll all be in. So it's.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yep.

[Mark Medina]

Everything. There's never really. It's just not that kind of game where it's like, what's the best car? It's like, that almost means nothing in a game like this.

[Justin Davis]

I can't wait till the 19th days from now. But then the upgrade. The upgrade costs $60 if you have Game Pass.

[Mark Medina]

60? Oh, I thought it was like 30.

[Justin Davis]

No.

[Sam Claiborne]

What's the upgrade? What do you mean?

[Justin Davis]

The early unlock is the premium edition,

[Mark Medina]

because it's out right now, but the game pass release date is.

[Justin Davis]

Right. And yeah, the premium edition is what comes with the early access.

[Damon Hatfield]

So when you start a race, you can pick one of your cars that you own or you can buy recommended cards. When I choose that, it shows me like 10 cars. Am I to assume any of these. Any of these 10 would be suitable?

[Mark Medina]

Any of those 10 is. Yeah. Because if you are doing a race that has like crazy corners and your only cars are like, supercars, that's gonna suck. Right. So the game is telling you, look, if you want to drive your supercar with a speed level of 10 in this race, sure. But like, all the NPCs are gonna have that too. So I recommend pick any of these cars. And again, you don't have to necessarily pick like the best car out of that list because all the NPCs will be driving cars equal to that level. There's just whatever you want.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay, two more thoughts on this. On not feeling super Japanese. You know, everyone you speak to is speaking English and a lot I think the most of them have British accents. I don't. I don't know. I don't know what could be done about that. Is there even, like, a Japanese radio station where, like, the DJs speaking Japanese?

[Mark Medina]

There is. There's a lot of Japanese music in it.

[Sam Claiborne]

I don't think they're speaking Japanese in the radio station, though.

[Damon Hatfield]

Like, the DJ is Japanese.

[Mark Medina]

Like the DJs not. But there are a lot of Japanese songs.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Mark Medina]

That's what Luke looks like. I had no idea that was Luke. I've worked with him for nearly 11 years. I have no idea what he looks like.

[Sam Claiborne]

There's a Sub pop radio station which I thought was cool.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, Sub Pop is cool. And then the final thing is the music's great.

[Mark Medina]

I've added. I've added like six songs to my ipod. The music's great.

[Sam Claiborne]

Nice.

[Damon Hatfield]

That's Tame Impala song. Dracula is really good.

[Mark Medina]

Oh, yes.

[Damon Hatfield]

What was I going to say? Oh, yeah. It's just the vibe of the game and the philosophy of the game is the polar opposite from something like Elden Ring. Right. Or Souls. Like that demands you meet the game on its own terms. This game is just like, do whatever you want. Have fun doing whatever you want. Here's a qualifying race. Oh, you came in last. Great job. You still qualified.

[Mark Medina]

It's literally like that. The overly positive nature of every character is so fun. Funny. I like when no crime here.

[Sam Claiborne]

You do like something and you're just. And by the way, we haven't mentioned this. The rewind button is. Is exactly what you're talking about here. You can rewind.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, just rewind any.

[Mark Medina]

No penalty.

[Sam Claiborne]

It's so fun. I love that. That's my favorite, like, video game part of this. I think it's really fun. And then. And. And when you beat a race or you don't beat a race or you come in eighth place, like, you know, you can also just keep this car every single time.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

I mean, I have so many cars from playing a few hours and. But then you play just to your point that you play race. It's like pick your best car. It's like I'm always buying one for 20,000.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah. Everyone's just happy to be here in this game. They're just thrilled.

[Sam Claiborne]

It's the hot air balloons. They make everybody happy.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

I think I've got two wristbands, so I'll try to do that Gundam wristband tonight.

[Justin Davis]

Nice.

[Damon Hatfield]

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[Sam Claiborne]

Really?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. I can give some live game help here. This is. So do not engage the final boss directly. Don't like engage. She has a very predictable loop of moves that she'll do. She'll spit this slow moving lava bubble at you that'll chase you and then she does a dash at you. So you're in like a circular environment. Just run in circles while you're charging up Diana's whatever, Luna mint destroying thing, whatever it's called.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Then when the boss charges at you, it'll be frozen there for a moment. That's when you use her ability to knock all the stuff off her. Then you have a good long window to hack her and then she'll be stunned even farther and you can deal damage. Just rinse and repeat. It'll take you about 10 minutes. That's how it.

[Sam Claiborne]

And by that point, you have a way to build that meter a little bit faster. Like you've augmented that a few times. So it's a little. It's a little. Yeah, just running around is totally an option. That's great. I love it.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. But Mark, I mean, we don't want to get into spoilers here, but I, for me, the ending leaves some questions. It leaves some questions about. So like, you know, this has been a big hit and Capcom's like, we've got a new franchise in our hands. I'm like, well, yeah, I don't really know how we do a sequel now, but okay.

[Justin Davis]

I don't know.

[Mark Medina]

I can't answer that without spoiling anything, but I think it's. I think it's fairly clear how they can do it. Did you find the ending?

[Sam Claiborne]

I think what you're all hinting at is that Dr. Light needs to step in at this point because the robot bosses set up in the end that are based on animals are really scary.

[Damon Hatfield]

Exactly.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah. I think. I think Diana is the main character and she will be the through line for any pragmatic games.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Mark Medina]

Forward.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay. Yes. But also where she ends up. I don't see how. Yeah, I just don't see.

[Justin Davis]

You guys. You guys gotta stop.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay.

[Justin Davis]

You gotta stop.

[Mark Medina]

I can't. I can't.

[Damon Hatfield]

That's it.

[Mark Medina]

I don't really like. Yeah. Talk about it at all.

[Sam Claiborne]

I do want to bring up that Damon's other main criticism of this game is that the New York part just doesn't really feel like New York.

[Mark Medina]

Did you. Did you like the ending?

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, like I said, I don't. I don't have a. I was surprised. I was surprised by the direction it took. And then it leaves me with these questions about, I don't know. I don't know what's going to happen now. That's all.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Great. Because I feel like I need to explain that joke so people don't get mad. There's a part in the game, early in the game that's imitating downtown New York.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

I'm not talking about a spoiler. There's just a thing. That's what this moon station looks like.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

This moon station has joke. The biggest, most sophisticated 3D printer there it is.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. Yeah. It can 3D print New York City, which is cool.

[Damon Hatfield]

Pretty much. So big hit for Capcom. Capcom just released its fiscal year financial results. I'm assuming that ends in at the end of March fiscal year, not calendar year. So there's some interesting stats here. I love how transparent Capcom is about all this stuff. So first things. First things to notice here. Their most recent fiscal year ended 13 consecutive years of profit growth.

[Justin Davis]

Wow.

[Damon Hatfield]

Thirteen years in a row, just making more and more profit. Dang, that's Capcom.

[Justin Davis]

Since that party's never going to end.

[Sam Claiborne]

Huh. Well, just. These companies just need to call Capcom and ask, how do we do this?

[Damon Hatfield]

We're going to talk about that in just a minute, Sam.

[Mark Medina]

The answer is make good games.

[Damon Hatfield]

Over the past fiscal year for Capcom, 84% of its games sold were what they call catalog games, meaning not released that year, older games.

[Mark Medina]

Okay.

[Damon Hatfield]

So only about 15% of Capcom sales are games released that year. And of all the sales, 93% of its sales are digital.

[Justin Davis]

Wow. Wow.

[Damon Hatfield]

93%.

[Justin Davis]

That's a lot.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yep. And listen to this. Only 10% of its sales come from Japan.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Mark Medina]

Wow. Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

That doesn't make any sense to me. What about Monster Hunter?

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. What about Manhun?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, well, but see that was that when that, when that, that was at its peak in Japan. It was when it was a portable game.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

Only 10%. I mean, you know, I guess. So here's the thing is like, I don't know what percentage of like the global gaming audience is Japan anymore, but probably more than 10%. Which means that probably Capcom games like over index elsewhere in the world. Right. Like they're like, they're more popular in the United States or Europe than they are in Japan, which kind of surprised me, I guess. Resident Evil. You know, obviously those games were, were and are very big in Japan. But like, you know, they are. They are kind of like, you know, American. Yeah, it's American centric. Yeah.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

I mean, that's worrying. What if Japan just got more into dating and sports and doesn't play video games anymore?

[Justin Davis]

Oh no. Are we. Oh no,

[Sam Claiborne]

we're going to college and everything changed.

[Damon Hatfield]

No.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, they've grown out of it. Except for kids.

[Sam Claiborne]

At some point they realize they have to take their life seriously.

[Justin Davis]

Japan. Yeah. They play one Dragon Quest game every.

[Damon Hatfield]

I'm not there yet.

[Justin Davis]

And that's it.

[Sam Claiborne]

They've gotten too old for Metroidvania.

[Mark Medina]

Oh no. Maybe I have gotten there.

[Damon Hatfield]

The best selling game over there past fiscal year was Resident Evil Requiem. Seven million copies. Then some updates on older games. The Resident Evil 2 remake is at 18 million units sold.

[Sam Claiborne]

What?

[Damon Hatfield]

18 million for the RE2 remake?

[Sam Claiborne]

Is that going to beat GTA?

[Mark Medina]

That's crazy.

[Damon Hatfield]

But this is the comparison between Resident Evil, street fighter. Street Fighter 6 is at 6.7 million. That's nothing to sneeze at for a game these days. But it's nowhere near where Resident Evil's numbers are.

[Sam Claiborne]

I think Street Fighter is so much less accessible. You know, like it's. It is Street Fighter. But we all played Street Fighter 2 and I think half of us played, you know, Half Street Fighter 3 dropped half the audience and then half the audience and half the audience since then. I just don't think it's like that.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, I wonder what a, what a comeback for Resident Evil. Because Resident Evil, Resident Evil 5 and 6, I mean especially 6 are like, it's pretty bad. Like it's not. And then it's like, man, they pulled it back right from the brink. I wonder if there's ever been a franchise. Well, never mind. I Immediately thought of two Mortal Kombat. Mortal Kombat also came like that. And that probably got even worse before getting good. And then. And then. And Zelda was never bad. But like Zelda also has had this sort of. You should like Skyward Sword.

[Damon Hatfield]

It's a low point. It has the wild.

[Justin Davis]

It's like a high point.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, that's true.

[Sam Claiborne]

You're gonna get in so much trouble.

[Damon Hatfield]

I'm not in trouble at all.

[Mark Medina]

Please don't write that I was in trouble.

[Damon Hatfield]

They confirmed Onimusha is coming this year. If they had announced that before I had. I missed that. So that's good. Could we possibly get three great Capcom games in one year?

[Sam Claiborne]

Unbelievable.

[Damon Hatfield]

And then they updated cumulative series unit sales. So the Resident Evil series, cumulative. Cumulatively has sold 201 million copies.

[Mark Medina]

Wow.

[Damon Hatfield]

Monster Hunter has done 127 million. Then Street Fighter has done 59 million. And then Mega man has done 44 million. It's Capcom's fourth best selling series. And they don't even make Megaman games.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

There is a new one on the way.

[Sam Claiborne]

Think how many Mega man games sold for like, you know, flip phone back when. Remember when they somehow Got Mega Man 2 on Nokia Flip phones?

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. What's the new one on the way?

[Damon Hatfield]

It's. What is it? Dual something. Dual syndrome. I forget. Yeah, they announced that. The game awards.

[Justin Davis]

Oh, oh, right, right, right, right, right, right. Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

They're finally gonna tie the story together with Pragmata.

[Justin Davis]

And weirdly, it's on the ds and it did a ds, which is an odd choice, but.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Surprising.

[Justin Davis]

They know what they're doing.

[Damon Hatfield]

The Devil May Cry series is at 38 million. Dead rising 19 million. Ace Attorney 14 million. Tied with Dragon's Dogma at 14. Marvel versus Capcom 13 million. Onimusha 9.1 million. And Okami 4.8 million. So that's like over Okami. The Wii port and what? Okami 2 was on DS?

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

No, there was a spin off called Okami Den.

[Justin Davis]

Okami Den?

[Damon Hatfield]

Is that what it was? Okay.

[Ad Read Speaker]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

And then it got ported to everything after that. There is an Okami on the horizon.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

But now seeing that it's like it's Capcom's. Like we're selling series. I don't know.

[Sam Claiborne]

Well, they got to get up to those Mega man numbers.

[Mark Medina]

DMC was another one where three and four are not very highly regarded. And then five came out and was like, incredible. And then there's the DMC devil may cry. And then there's. Then there's DMC5. They must have just had a meeting where they were like, everybody stop.

[Justin Davis]

Well, they had a meeting and they

[Mark Medina]

said, make a good game.

[Justin Davis]

Make good games.

[Mark Medina]

And they were like, oh, good game. Got it. Okay. And then they just.

[Damon Hatfield]

Crazy. Crazy son of a.

[Mark Medina]

They're like, that'll never work.

[Sam Claiborne]

I feel like. Did I review the Last Mega Man 11? Did it have a rewind button? I think it did. I think I liked that a lot.

[Damon Hatfield]

No, the Legacy Collection had a rewind button. Did it?

[Sam Claiborne]

But maybe games.

[Justin Davis]

Really fun. Maybe it's such a great way to go through an old school.

[Sam Claiborne]

And if they want to limit it for a new game, then you can always make it like some kind of meter you can only use a few times. Like, that stuff's great.

[Justin Davis]

That's what.

[Sam Claiborne]

Prince of Persia, the sands of time.

[Damon Hatfield]

Sam, you. You reviewed Mega Man 11 and you gave it a 7.5.

[Sam Claiborne]

Okay. Was that the last one?

[Justin Davis]

Decimal days, main one?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, 28.

[Justin Davis]

28.

[Sam Claiborne]

That's. Was it when we only had decimals for 0.5?

[Damon Hatfield]

I think so.

[Justin Davis]

Oh, maybe. Yeah, yeah. What do we call that?

[Sam Claiborne]

The 20 point scale?

[Justin Davis]

Yep, yep, yep.

[Damon Hatfield]

Capcom also shared how it's using AI in game development. And one thing it's working on is using generative AI for. To make interactive manuals. And I thought about this. I don't think I have a problem with that. I think that's okay. Like, you know, I don't, I don't, I don't. I don't want generative AI in my games. I don't want to listen to AI music. I. I'm cool with AI saving, you know, freeing up humans, giving them more time to be creative. But I don't know. Just a manual that's in the game. They go in the pause menu. I don't think I have a problem with AI making that.

[Justin Davis]

Anyone like, I quite understand. I don't know that I understand. I need to. I need to. I need to know more.

[Sam Claiborne]

I don't want drawing Mega man with how many fingers does he have?

[Damon Hatfield]

I don't want it making art for the manual.

[Sam Claiborne]

But if it's just. Then again, then again, Nintendo Power, one of the best creators of game help of all time. They weren't really good with fingers as we saw last week.

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, yeah, okay. All right, all right.

[Sam Claiborne]

Now, did you see somebody like commented that they're like Ninja Turtles, always had three fingers. Like. Yeah, that was the joke.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I didn't see someone coming. That's good, actually.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, they'll probably have to use AI it's impossible for humans to come up with any more Robot Masters in Mega man, so they just have to be AI generated.

[Sam Claiborne]

They did them all since like the 80s. They've always had submissions for that in Japan basically. And they're doing. They did that for this new one too.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, I remember that on the show.

[Sam Claiborne]

Really cool.

[Justin Davis]

Last year whenever that was.

[Damon Hatfield]

Oh yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

If you try to come up with which ones were submitted by little kids, you're always wrong. Like, no, like somebody himself came up

[Mark Medina]

with Snake Man, Spaghetti Man.

[Damon Hatfield]

Have you tried this new mode in Requiem, Sam? Leon must die Forever.

[Sam Claiborne]

No, I haven't done either. I don't understand what it is.

[Damon Hatfield]

It's something. Yeah, it's a roguelite mode, but it's

[Justin Davis]

like the replacement for mercenaries, but it's a different thing.

[Mark Medina]

You just. You just go through it, get better weapons, stuff like that.

[Sam Claiborne]

But it's PvE.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah, yeah. You basically just like go through settings like rooms for the most part. They. They released it with like a map.

[Sam Claiborne]

I'm worried that my chops as Leon have just faded after playing the exact number of games that lets you f. You know that where that fades six or seven since then, you know. But yeah, I don't know. They can't do wrong as far as I'm concerned. Leon is so fun to just beat up zombies with.

[Mark Medina]

Y. Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

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[Justin Davis]

The longest part of the process, I'm thinking, is going to be staying on

[Damon Hatfield]

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[Ad Read Speaker]

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[Damon Hatfield]

Capcom has enjoyed 13 consecutive years of profit growth by releasing a lot of single player horror games. And now we have a Dead Space. Dead Space producer who worked on the first three games saying now AA will never make a dead space 4. The numbers just aren't there. Nope. It's impossible. It's impossible. His quote, he was on some podcast. Chuck Beaver is his name. He says any of the Resident Evils are selling around 7 million. That's a pretty good number. That's what they sell at launch and then over there they sell catalog copies for years and years and years up to 18 million. He says, you know companies now are looking for the next Fortnite. They need something that is a perennial money maker. Something like a single player package game with no live service offering. That's just a dinosaur fossil of a business model.

[Mark Medina]

That's crazy.

[Sam Claiborne]

That's why we got Anthem 10 years ago right.

[Damon Hatfield]

Is this, is this just like a. That's so a ruster and video game producer just openly demonstrating how, how they just don't get it.

[Mark Medina]

Biggest game this year is Crimson Desert and, and Resident Evil Requiem and Pragmata. Like it's like right now it's Subnautica. Like, it's so silly.

[Justin Davis]

I mean, it is, it is budgeting and tooling and engine, like Capcom. Capcom is definitely. I mean, we were kind of goofing about it earlier, but it's actually true that they have figured some stuff out about like, you know, Pagmata uses the Resident Evil engine and like, you know, they're making these games quickly and you

[Mark Medina]

know, I don't know.

[Justin Davis]

I don't know how many people they have working on them, but based off the pace that they're churning them out, like in a cost effective, like, you know, 7 million copies sold is like enough for them to be like, okay, like we'll just keep doing this forever.

[Sam Claiborne]

I mean, presumably that's what happened with dead space 1, 2 and 3, right? Yeah, like, and a Wii game.

[Justin Davis]

And you, you know this.

[Sam Claiborne]

I thought the remake was, was really good. I didn't know that it didn't.

[Mark Medina]

I think that was them testing the waters and it probably didn't sell as much as they thought it would.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, fine.

[Damon Hatfield]

I know. I couldn't find any example of EA ever sharing any sales numbers for the Dead Space remake.

[Mark Medina]

So. Yeah, okay. Also, it's the, it's the, the Reach for the Moon engine. What?

[Damon Hatfield]

The Dead Space remake. That's what they call it?

[Mark Medina]

No, no, the RE engine is the Reach for the Moon engine.

[Justin Davis]

Is that a real thing? What are you saying? Is that a joke? I don't know what's going on.

[Mark Medina]

That's. No, no. Most people think it's called the Resident Evil Engine. It's not. It's the Reach for the Moon engine. That's why the logo is a hand reaching for.

[Justin Davis]

I'm still not 100% sure if this is a bit. This is a real thing.

[Mark Medina]

It's a real thing.

[Justin Davis]

Okay. I've just never heard that before. That's really interesting.

[Damon Hatfield]

I knew it didn't stand for Resident Evil, but Reach for the Moon also doesn't make sense. Whatever.

[Sam Claiborne]

So EA is working on big single player games. They're working on a mass Effect.

[Mark Medina]

Right.

[Damon Hatfield]

Presumably.

[Mark Medina]

And then is the Star wars game.

[Damon Hatfield]

Not. Not. Yeah, Not Fate of the Old Republic.

[Mark Medina]

Well, that's not.

[Damon Hatfield]

I mean, the next Jedi game would be ea.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, okay. I was talking about that. I was talking about the Casey Hudson one. I didn't know that that wasn't ea.

[Sam Claiborne]

They're not publishing the, I mean, total Vaporware Knights of the Old Republic, no remake, right?

[Mark Medina]

No, that game doesn't exist anyways.

[Justin Davis]

Right.

[Sam Claiborne]

I don't know why EA and Bioware wouldn't be involved in publishing that since.

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, they were, they were making it all. It was Aspire and then it was Saber and then who knows if anyone's working on it today.

[Sam Claiborne]

So I mean, maybe Lucas, because Lucas Games exists now, right? Maybe they're publishing like that again. Like I don't think that game, even if it wasn't Vaporware though is considered.

[Damon Hatfield]

But my point is there's a very clear example of someone making these single player games and there are also very clear examples of people of publishers chasing these white whale money printing Fortnite like games like Think about Concord. And then Sony just had to admit that it's lost just hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars betting on Bungie.

[Justin Davis]

Like yeah, but I think, I think both can be true, right? Like a single player game selling, you know, 4 million or 5 or 7 million copies, like might not be enough for EA, but it is enough for Capcom based off how they're, you know, how long it's taking them and how much money it's taking them to make these games.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, I mean everybody wishes they were Arc Raiders right now. Like that went really well. But it's like it seems like more of a gamble than relying on your tried and true franchise. It's exactly like Resident Evil that, that sells like crazy.

[Justin Davis]

You are chasing, you know, these big live service games that make billions of dollars. It's a, it's a slot machine pull and the poll costs you $100 million to make the game. And then maybe like, is it worth it? Like spend 100 million and you have a whatever percent chance that like you're gonna make something that makes you know, $50 billion over the next, you know, 10 years. Or like, you know, maybe it won't be that. Like so it's hard to know or, or you can make a single player game and like break even plus another whatever percent. So it's like it's tough. Video games are a tough business to be in.

[Sam Claiborne]

And like you do see the clamor for single player adventure games and why that's, and the reasoning behind it from like every type of gamer. Like it's crazy. And so like that's why I think the Assassin's Creed Black Flag announcement, like that went so well. For Ubisoft, like, they haven't had a win in a while, but, like, boy, people are hyped for that game.

[Justin Davis]

It's true. The live service pullback is super real. Or, you know, look like live service games are more popular than ever. But like, we've talked about it on the show before. They take so long to make that, like, the market can have moved under your feet of, like, you're working on one thing and then, whoop. Now extraction shooters are all anybody cares about. So it's like this balance between. You need to have something that's really AAA and premium feeling, but you have to move fast enough to like, get it out and not be off trend before people have kind of moved on. Is. Is chat. It's a challenging space to be.

[Mark Medina]

I mean, I. I kind of feel like that happened with Marathon, right? Like, Marathon is. The gameplay loop is. Is pretty similar to. To arc raiders, like, as far as, like, the kits go, the free kits and the mission structure and stuff like that. But they came out after arc raiders, so people jumped in and went, well, this is just like I. All of my time is already spent in arc raiders. Why would I then reinvest in this? I'm just gonna go back.

[Justin Davis]

I think that's. You touched on something else important, which is everyone wants a piece of this live service pie, but the pie isn't infinitely big and people are already playing. You know, it's like if you're playing Fortnite or arc Raiders or whatever, like you're trying to peel people away, you know, dota, whatever it is, right? Like you're, You're. You're trying to peel them off of, you know, where they're already established. It's like getting someone to switch From Android to iOS or vice versa at a certain level, like, the game becomes your platform and it's tough. Like, that can be a really, really tough thing to do.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah, I actually see a lot of that with the project Helix and PS6. It's like, what can Xbox do? I just see the discussions on media and it's like, what can Xbox do to get people to switch to Helix? And I'm like, I don't know if that's like a world we really live in anymore where, like, the two new consoles come out and somebody goes, which. Which one is just better for me, they just kind of stick with what they do, right? Like, I own 800 PlayStation games. I really don't know what the Helix could do for. For it to be like, that's now my main Platform like my trophies and everything is all PlayStation. So it's a toughie. And it's the same with like, like games as well. You know, me and my group, we were big on Overwatch and then we switched to Rivals and we've been playing Rivals since release. We play every week, several times a week. And, you know, Overwatch is doing a lot of cool stuff. They released a bunch of heroes and I was like, should we like. And you know, check it out. And my entire group was like, no. Like, I'm here, right? Like, I've already spent all this time learning these characters, buying skins, not going back to just a different hero shooter again. Like, we're here, we're staying.

[Sam Claiborne]

Let me make one more plea for more Dead Space. You have this really cool thing with horror games where you can release them in September and then they're your spooky season bump. And that's not happening a lot recently. A lot of times we get our horror games in other seasons, especially Resident Evil because I think they get delayed out of that season. But boy, is it, is it a boon when you're like, you're that Halloween game that everybody wants to play. I think it's really cool. And Dead Space just has that extra thing going for it.

[Mark Medina]

Also, if you want to expand your horizons like Kronos the New dawn is very close to kind of how Dead Space is. Pragmata is actually.

[Sam Claiborne]

It is.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah, I guess not really. Kind of.

[Sam Claiborne]

No, it is. It really. It's like. I think it's a. You know, the combat's a lot more fun, right? And it's a lot less gross. But that's because the. The. That's not bio horror. It's like bot horror. But the bot horror is pretty cool sometimes.

[Mark Medina]

We made a baby bot. What does he do?

[Sam Claiborne]

It must be. It's using big building blocks to build stuff. Study and play come together on a Windows 11 PC. And for a limited time, college students

[Mark Medina]

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[Damon Hatfield]

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[Sam Claiborne]

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[Damon Hatfield]

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[Mark Medina]

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[Sam Claiborne]

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[Damon Hatfield]

game Pass ultimate with a custom color Xbox wireless controller. Learn [e-mail] studentoffer while supplies last ends June 30th terms at aka mscollegepc.

[Justin Davis]

Your summer starts now with Memorial Day deals at the Home Depot. It's time to to fire up summer cookouts with the next grill 4 burner gas grill on special buy for only $199 and entertain all season with the Hampton bay West Grove seven piece outdoor dining set for only $499 this Memorial Day. Get low prices guaranteed at the Home Depot while supplies last. Pricing valid May 14th or May 27th. US only exclusions apply. See homedepot.com pricematch for details.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay, moving on. We talked a little bit about mixtape last week. Sam was telling us about it. I played a little bit of it, so I have some sen what it is. But Justin, you finished it, right?

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, finished it. Loved it. I didn't 10 out of 10 love it. Like my personal score would probably be like close to an eight. I think it's a great game. You know, I thought that Cardi reviewed it from us. His argument for why he thought it was a 10 and he felt really emotionally affected by it was, you know, well argued. Like I can understand how someone would love it that much. I think. I mean, Damon, I'm curious to get your thoughts because the, the, the nostalgia in this game is like a laser beam directly into my brain. Like there's ele. Like there's so much stuff in that game that I'm like, I lived that. That was my life. You know. The whole game's building up to. There's going to be a small spoiler for people that haven't played it. It's on game pass. It's like three hours long. Please play it. Like. But the game's building up to this big party and then the party happens. That's like the climactic event in the game. And it's like that, that part of the game is so well done. Like the conversations you overhear and the little vignettes and moments that you see,

[Sam Claiborne]

just the camcorder effect alone there is incredible.

[Justin Davis]

It's in credible and so. And the reason the game isn't maybe a 10 out of 10 for me is because then, because then you're exposed as kind of like, like people didn't talk like that, right? So it's got to pick a lane. It's either trying to be like super, super true to life or it's trying to be like a video game version of a John Hughes movie. And it's kind of like trying to do both of like a lot of characters kind of monologuing and talking at each other and talking in quips and like not really using like 90s language, which again, that would be fine except the other half of the time it's trying to be like, you know, incredibly kind of like slice of life. True to the Real lived experience. And so that. That jarred me a little bit. But overall, I mean, you know, and obviously, like, what could. Like, any game that has, like, you know, Joy Division and Portishead on the soundtrack, it's like, we're just really, really spoiled for, like, how just the vibes are absolutely unmatched in it. It. So overall, yeah, I mean, I loved it. It's not on my Game of the Year shortlist, but I'm, like, really, really glad that I played it and, you know, and yeah, it was great.

[Damon Hatfield]

That little. That kissing little. They're not games. They're just little mini things to play around with. But it's.

[Mark Medina]

It's gross.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, it's like Ren and Stimpy, right? Yeah, it is a little gross at moment.

[Justin Davis]

Damon, I'm curious to get your thoughts. Do you think the main character. I find her unlikable, and that kind of bothers me. Like, she.

[Sam Claiborne]

Well, the other characters are a lot more likable. Right.

[Justin Davis]

By comparison, the main character you play as is a little bit of a know it all. And then even, you know, one of the big conflicts of the game with her and her friends is that they were all going to go on this road trip and. And she kind of breaks up the road trip. Like, she messed up their friend plan and, like, they don't end up going on this road trip because she's going to go do something else. And, like, there's no.

[Sam Claiborne]

She's really mean to that other girl, too.

[Justin Davis]

And the road trip thing, though, is like, it's never resolved. Like, it's never like. I don't know that part just really kind of. I just don't like her.

[Damon Hatfield]

No, I get that. I also think a teenager, like, being obsessed with becoming a music supervisor and knowing. Even knowing who an established music supervisor is would be unusual today, much less in the 90s.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, that occurred to me. This is very, you know, it's an amalgam of like, it's sometimes 90s and sometimes 80s, which I think is kind of interesting, too. I mean, overall, it's like, look, if you're listening to the show and you're between the ages of, like, you know, 40 and 50, it's like, you're probably gonna have a good time with this video game. It's like, it's almost impossible not to. I loved it. I thought it was great.

[Sam Claiborne]

I thought it was really polished. Like, it's just like when I'm reviewing and looking at these, I'm like, wow, I can't believe, like, you'll be focusing on something in the game, but when I look at it from a side, I'm like, wow, they really drew these 3D environments that you run sideways through for a really long time in it, you know, and stuff like that. It's cool.

[Justin Davis]

There's an element, like I already said, sometimes it's like so realistic, but it's like, you know, when people are like. You see these social media posts of like, this is what the 80s was like. And it's all neon and it's all that pattern of like on the styrofoam cup with like the teal colors. It's like, no, that's not what the 80s like. We're like, the 80s were like brown and it was like brown carpet and brown walls and like wood paneling, and that's what the actual 80s were like. And so. So it is with mixtape, in my opinion, a little bit. It's sort of like an idealized or sometimes kind of like a fake version of nostalgia, but then other times it is incredibly true to life and so it swings back and forth between the two.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, I. I like what I've experienced so far. I wouldn't. I don't know if it's a game, it's something that you interact with, but maybe, maybe there's more gamified moments later on.

[Sam Claiborne]

Is this still in your queue to play more of, or are you just done with it?

[Damon Hatfield]

I mean, it's so short. I feel like I should finish it because I do like it. I like it and it's.

[Sam Claiborne]

I recommend finishing it.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, I think it's sort of. And it does end strong. I think that the very, very ending beats are, like, one of my favorite.

[Sam Claiborne]

The party alone is, like, worth getting to just because it'll take you back to going to a really awkward high school party. But this is done better than, like a. I think, like, you know, Freaks and Geeks did it and Freaks and Geeks did it. The best I've ever seen.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. And I. I'm not going to talk about the end, except to say that I do think. I do think it ends really strong. So, you know, ends on a high note. You know, obviously the soundtrack's incredible.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay. That's a mixtape that brings us to extracurricular activities. Justin, I've been a little. I've been a little annoyed with you.

[Justin Davis]

Oh.

[Mark Medina]

Because where have you been?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. You've been absent and I have been. I have had nobody to talk to about Dungeon Crawler Carl.

[Justin Davis]

Oh, yeah. So good. I'm so happy. Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Reading it.

[Damon Hatfield]

I'm doing the audiobook, which a lot of people seem to think that's kind of the way to do it. Because the guy. I had his name. I forget the guy's name. He's so good. The guy that reads the book, I have it right here on my phone.

[Justin Davis]

He starts in book one. He's very Patrick Warburton esque. And then he kind of like modulates. Like, it becomes kind of more of his own unique character.

[Damon Hatfield]

The books are written by Matt Dinnemann. And then the. Jeff Hayes does the book and he does unique voices for everyone. It's so good. And then even his female characters are so. Well, I think at first people were sure he had someone else doing the voices for him. He does all the voices. It's great.

[Sam Claiborne]

Really?

[Mark Medina]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

And I didn't realize that. I keep hearing about, like, how popular it's gotten. IGN has written articles about how it's grown in popularity, but no one else I know has read them or anything. You're the only person, Justin. So I've been waiting for you to come back.

[Justin Davis]

They're great. What book are you on now?

[Damon Hatfield]

Two. Book two. I mean, the audiobooks, they're like 15 hours each. So, like, I have an hour commute. I have an hour commute each way. So now I'm sure this is a cliche. I've gotten into this audiobook and now I'm looking forward to my commutes. But it's still a trip.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, I have a signed. I don't think I have it in arm's reach, but I have book one and it's signed by the author and it's one of my more prized possessions from recent years.

[Damon Hatfield]

I have not seen this imagery, this manga style looks. It's not how I envision the story looking like in my head.

[Justin Davis]

I mean, they're doing. Yeah, I was going to say they're doing official webtoons. There was a comic book on Free Comic Book Day. You know, collectible cards. There's all these. All these, like, franchise extensions coming out now. Yeah, I mean, they're great. I would say. I would say it gets better as it goes. Except for book three, like, and everyone and even the authors said, like, maybe missed the mark a little bit on that one. But in general, like, it starts strong and then just builds and improves, which is uncommon.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

You know, you're already experiencing this a little bit, Damon. But there's more kind of like. So if you don't know the premise, it's like, you know, this guy Basically gets sucked into a video game, but everything's real. Like, if you die in the game, you die in real life. But as the franchise goes on, and I won't spoil anything, but you learn more and more and more about what's happening outside of the game and the stakes of, like, you know, you get to kind of peek in the beginning. The drama is all about, like, he's in this dungeon and he's fighting goblins and like, how is he going to survive and how is he going to get out of this? But, like, it does build and the world building is so good and so satisfying and so strong. And you're just. I mean, I know you're kind of starting to get into that a little bit now, Damon, but like, you end up like, around halfway through the series, it shifts, like why you're into it and why you're reading about it. And then it's like, oh, man, now I want to know all about these organizations behind the scenes and, you know. Yeah, it's great.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. I mean, you learn a lot of the stuff in the very early pages of the first book. But I don't know if they know. I'm just saying you learn a lot about what's happening very early on. But all the people know is that this is like a guy's in a dungeon crawling video game. But there's like a lot more to it than that. I mean, it's called. So it's called RPG lit, right?

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, litRPG lit RPG.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay. And there are other, Other series in this sort of like, genre.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, there's a million of them. And they all usually have pretty good audiobooks. And they're also. They're almost all on Kindle Unlimited, so if you have a Kindle Unlimited subscription, you can usually read them for free.

[Damon Hatfield]

So the moment to moment, action. Sam and Mark. It's like you're playing a role playing video game. Like in the dungeon. Carl has hit points and he gains experience from killing monsters and he gets loot and he has an inventory. It's like. And then the book literally spends hours going through his stats, talking about him leveling up, him deciding what race and class to pick. But it's not boring. It's not boring.

[Justin Davis]

Achieve achievements.

[Sam Claiborne]

He gets achievements.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, it's crazy, but it is not boring.

[Justin Davis]

And so it is like, it's not one of those things of like, read three books and it gets good. Like, I think book one, I think it's good immediately, but like, the level on which I enjoy it kind of deepens in book one. It's very pulpy and just like a page turner. And it's funny and silly. But then, like, the characters end up being much more well rounded and like, these kind of. Matt Deniman is incredible at, like, there's joke characters that, like, you end up kind of, like, deeply caring for. Three books later, they end up, like, really kind of fleshed out as. As you know, and have good arcs. So it's great. I don't have enough. I don't have enough good things to say about it.

[Damon Hatfield]

I'm loving it. I did. Yeah. I'm doing the audiobooks. Matt and. Or Mark and Sam. You might have seen that Carl is in his boxers and he's barefoot. Yeah. He gets. Because of where he is when he gets sucked into the dungeon, he's barefoot in the dungeon. And so that leads him to just sort of like, lean into being like a brawler class. Like, that's kind of like his fighting style that he gets into. And actually, if he ever were to find boots and put them on, they would be like, a detriment to him because he's strongest when he's fighting with his bare hands and feet.

[Justin Davis]

He's got buffs when he's barefoot because the AI that runs. That runs the game is a foot fetish. And so it's encouraging him to not ever.

[Mark Medina]

Is that real?

[Justin Davis]

Yes. Yep.

[Mark Medina]

Oh, wow. Yep.

[Justin Davis]

Yep.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay. And so they've announced the TV series, I think, for Peacock.

[Justin Davis]

Yes. Seth MacFarlane.

[Damon Hatfield]

Seth MacFarlane's production company. And I think Matt Dinnemann likes going with him because they've got experience doing Ted and having a CGI character. But I don't know. This is like a huge, sprawling saga. Everything would be a CGI shot. His. He's Carl's best friend and partner in the dungeon is a cat that can talk. So it's like everything. It would be really, really expensive to do it justice. I don't know.

[Justin Davis]

We also. I mean, I know you're only in book two, but each floor of the dungeon has a different theme. And so it's almost like a completely. Like just thinking about the logistics of making a television show. It's like, now you're in a fantasy land. Now you're in, you know, a completely different setting. Like, completely, completely different. You know, so you're in a jungle in one of them, and it's definitely

[Sam Claiborne]

not an animated series.

[Justin Davis]

I think they're. I don't know. I think. I think it's. I think the intent is to do it live action yeah, yeah, Animated would

[Damon Hatfield]

probably be the way to go.

[Justin Davis]

But

[Damon Hatfield]

anyway, it comes with my highest recommendation. If you like listening to this show, I think you'd probably like, like Dungeon Crawler Carl. Now, speaking of, speaking of crawlers, just a few weeks ago we were talking about Vampire Crawlers.

[Mark Medina]

Yes.

[Damon Hatfield]

That game, maybe it kind of came and went. I was really hot on it at first, but I think it kind of fizzled out a lot faster than other, other roguelites. Like, you know, your block shows or.

[Mark Medina]

I think, I think it's too easy. I, I loved it. I loved every minute I played it. But I got to the point where I was like, this doesn't really feel like a challenge anymore. And I got to the point where I could, could start looking up builds and stuff and I was like, nah, I, I, I think I'm done.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, I think, I mean, I, and I also think it's okay. I mean, you know, I played it, I played it and I beat it. And then it was like, I think it's okay for games to just kind of end. Like we're all used, we're conditioned to like Slay the Spire Balatro or Monster Train of like now there's 10 prestige levels to go through and do this and do that. Like Vampire Crawlers is, you know, what does it cost, $10 and there's 20 or 25 hours of gameplay and like, like, so I don't necessarily see it as a criticism of like, you know, you play it and beat it and move on, but just people have been conditioned to expect something different from like card game, dungeon crawling games.

[Damon Hatfield]

But Vampire Survivors is like that, like that you can play that forever. Right. So it's just, maybe that's why I was expecting a little bit like it's the next game from Vampire Survivors.

[Justin Davis]

It's not a grind forever game.

[Mark Medina]

I took it as like the Vampire Survivors people were like, hey there, we, we want to make a card game. Like the, all these card games are coming out and so like, let's put something together. And I think they did something really unique and, and it's cool, but I think Survivors is still kind of like their main thing. Yeah. And this, this, it feels like a

[Sam Claiborne]

spin off, cool spin offs. I think we need more of like, I just think that's a really healthy thing to do.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, I agree. And it's also, I don't, I don't know, I, maybe I shouldn't even bring it up because we're recording a podcast. But like, I think it was co developed. I think A different company made the game. I don't think it's. I don't think it's Punkle. I don't think it's the Vampire Survivors. Debs. I think like they partnered with like, I don't know which came first. Someone was making a card game and then they made it Vampire Survivors themed or what the order was. But there's. There's definitely another kind of creative group involved in this project too. But I don't. I don't have those details.

[Damon Hatfield]

Sam, did you notice they have the little gnomes from Golden Ax in there?

[Sam Claiborne]

I saw that.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, that's true. There's so mean to those gnomes in that game.

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, how else are you going to get your potions in?

[Sam Claiborne]

They took them from you.

[Damon Hatfield]

And then this really quick. Speaking of crawling, I just noticed this today. A new game coming to console and PC soon. It's called Pin Crawl. And at a glance, at a glance, it looks pretty good. I don't know if Joe can bring this up, but at a glance, this is cool. Pixel art, dungeon crawling, pinball, roguelike game.

[Sam Claiborne]

I do a pin crawl in my neighborhood because a bunch of my San Francisco everybody's close to each other, but a bunch of my neighbors have really great pinball machines. And so we'll do a crawl with beers through people's garage cages. We call it Pin Crawl.

[Justin Davis]

Fun.

[Sam Claiborne]

I should have trademarked it.

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, maybe developer stole your idea. Developer, so romantic. Always use some royalties. This is Pin Crawl. See, at a glance, this looks good. Gets good high detail pixel art.

[Justin Davis]

Hell, that is cool.

[Damon Hatfield]

We'll see that. It says it's coming soon on its Steam page. And Sam, you watched Punisher One Last Kill. I watched Punisher One Last Kill.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

I liked it. I liked it.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, that was a. Is it going to be removed from Disney because it's so violent?

[Damon Hatfield]

I mean, it's crazy. Chances are so on one hand, I liked it.

[Sam Claiborne]

It's unbelievable.

[Damon Hatfield]

I liked it. And if you like the Punisher or if you like brutal action like the Raid or John Wick, you'll like this too. But also it's like I just can't. I'd love to know the thinking behind the scenes why they, why they wanted to go this way. Especially since he's. The next time we see him is going to be in a PG13 Spider man movie. Yeah, I don't know.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah, but we talked about this in another meeting. Well, in a meeting and I had this like, you know, I remember the Punisher being the big kids comic For Marvel. And, like, it was a little bit different. And it was like when the Punisher would appear in the Spider man universe, he was kind of like a rogue threat and, like, never like an ally. It wasn't like the Daredevil's an Avenger now. Like, that's. That never happens with. Sorry. Punisher as. As an Avenger now. It never happens with him. So it's like, you know, that's probably changed because that was 30 years ago. But, like, I do like that about this, is that it feels like late 80s Punisher, height of popularity Punisher, where it's, like, about killing drug lords, you know, and Spider Man's like, oh, there's a lizard man loose in the city. You know, it's just different. And, like. And this. This gets at that. And, boy, it's trying to do the John Wick thing, like, tourism a. To a. Kind of a parodic.

[Damon Hatfield]

It's like, you know, like, very thoughtful gun work in enclosed, tight spaces, that sort of thing.

[Sam Claiborne]

It starts with an unfortunate casualty there. Yeah, there's. Yeah. It's just all that. And then it really ends really quickly. It's like, whoa. That was it.

[Damon Hatfield]

Well, the whole thing is 45 minutes long.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. Yeah. And it's really, like. It sets it up too much to be effective this way. But, like, if it was just him fighting out of a building, it would be like that. That dread movie, like, that type of thing. Yeah, but it's not. It's not just that. There's a lot of, like, psychological John Barenthal, like, staring at his Stealth in a mirror scenes, which I don't think are very good, but the action is what it is.

[Damon Hatfield]

That shot right there, that's a bad shot. They're gonna. They're gonna have to fix that one at some point.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Very strange. But, yeah.

[Mark Medina]

Do you have to watch Daredevil like, the.

[Sam Claiborne]

I recommend that.

[Damon Hatfield]

No.

[Mark Medina]

Okay. Because I. I haven't watched the. I haven't watched the.

[Sam Claiborne]

Now he just shows up in his emo for a couple minutes in a Daredevil episode. He's like, I'm not.

[Damon Hatfield]

That's Judith Light from who's the Boss? I thought it's so crazy. She's like the bad guy in this. It's crazy.

[Sam Claiborne]

But he is in that weird episode of the Bear from last.

[Justin Davis]

I was just gonna say that, like, John Barenthal is such a. Like, such a good actor. And then they dropped the surprise bear episode on us. He's having a. He's having a.

[Sam Claiborne]

Did you watch that?

[Justin Davis]

That. Yes. Yeah, dude. Incredible. I don't even remember.

[Sam Claiborne]

So for some reason his characters are converging.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Sam Claiborne]

Because he's so mean in that episode of the Bear. Like it's un. The ending is unbelievable. It's hard to watch and. Yeah, this is a little bit hard.

[Damon Hatfield]

You're talking about the, like the. The surprise episode.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yes.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay, so I. Wait, if I'm not caught up on the Bear, can I still watch it?

[Justin Davis]

Oh, it's kind of standalone, but you should just be caught up on the Bear, cuz that show's incredible.

[Mark Medina]

I never. I never watched the most recent season. Season of the Bear.

[Sam Claiborne]

It's just. Yeah, it's just. It's a pack. It takes place in the past and he's like going on a. On a fun boys trip that doesn't end up being very fun.

[Mark Medina]

But yeah, every John Barenthal bear thing is in the past because.

[Justin Davis]

Well, yeah, yes, that's true.

[Sam Claiborne]

But yeah, it's this. This has like a ton of just brutal, like gun violence, headshots, and there's like a, like a, like a sexual assault scene. There's like all kinds of crazy stuff. It's very un. Marvel and dipping into that kind of super violent movie stuff that this podcast always recommends to people. So that's what it is. It's just jarring to be loading up the Disney Channel. And do you want to watch Lilo and Stitch or this?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, it's fun. I think it was kind of a passion project of Jon Bernthal's. He co wrote it.

[Mark Medina]

It.

[Damon Hatfield]

He got his buddy to direct it, he got his buddy to shoot it. They filled it in like one city block over probably two weeks.

[Justin Davis]

And so I get the impression, I get the impression that like, you know, Disney was just like, okay, dude, go nuts. Like, we're going to give you this tiny budget. If you want to go do this, we're not going to say no.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah, yeah. I may be hallucinating it, but I actually do think that that's like the official, like, I'll come back to Marvel if I get to do like the actual Punisher thing.

[Sam Claiborne]

It maybe.

[Mark Medina]

And then I'll be your cartoon characters.

[Sam Claiborne]

And I'm caught up at all. All the Marvel TV series, including all the, like, the reason they did have to do this is that he was just sulking and brooding in this universe. That's all he did. And so like, they had to make him the Punisher again. So they did have to set this up. Otherwise they would have to do that in a Spider Man Movie, which would be insane. Yeah, I mean, you know, they'd cut away from Tom Holland, like smiling and swinging around, be like. And then he's like staring in a mirror and punching it. It's like, like, come on. Like, can't do that in Spider Man.

[Damon Hatfield]

The whole point of this, you know, I, I don't think this is a spoiled. The whole thing is he's, he's choosing to move on. Put that my trauma in the past. I'm going to be the Punisher. I'm going to take my anger out on the bad guys. It's like going forward, out of this, he can actually just be the Punisher and maybe not deal with so much psychological trauma.

[Sam Claiborne]

He's almost like the Juggernaut in that sense here. When Juggernaut shows up in Marvel, you're like, well, all that, that character is going to do is run through walls. Walls. You know, like all the Punisher is gonna do is murder people. And all the superheroes are like, we don't murder people like that. That's the interesting thing, the simple interesting thing about Punisher. So they set that up.

[Damon Hatfield]

All right, Mark, you said you have a show and tell.

[Mark Medina]

Oh, yeah, yeah, I do. So I, you know, I love new tech. I love new hardware, you know, official hardware. And so I, I happen to be sitting at my desk when one of my co workers was like, the Steam controller pre orders just went live. And I was like, okay, I'll go ahead and, and try to get in there. And it was the whole like kind of a nightmare scenario where I'm just clicking continue over and over and over. And I got through and I was like, expecting it to be canceled. And three days later, here she is.

[Sam Claiborne]

Can we hear the Easter egg?

[Mark Medina]

I. I tried. I think it's because my computer's not on it, so it needs to, I think it needs to be connected to Steam big picture mode for it to actually do it. But I, I provided the footage for our social video. Yeah. If you drop it, it does a Wilhelm Scream, which is fascinating, figuring there's. There's no speakers on it at all. So it's, it's doing the Wilhelm Scream just from the, you know, vibrations.

[Damon Hatfield]

And so to clarify, it's not like playing a recording of the famous Wilhelm Scream.

[Mark Medina]

It just does something that sounds like. Yeah. So if you, if you drop the controller. Sorry, Justin. If you're not caught up at all.

[Justin Davis]

No, I knew, I knew that, but I didn't realize. I just assumed it was playing an audio clip.

[Mark Medina]

No, no, no. There's no speakers in this, on this thing at all. It's. It's using the vibration and haptics and stuff like that to more or less emulate the sound.

[Justin Davis]

That's insane.

[Mark Medina]

It's really cool. Yeah. And it sounds just like it. It does sound like a speaker, which

[Sam Claiborne]

is cool, but using a speaker to do the rumble, basically because water speakers, they're just vibrating films.

[Mark Medina]

Right. My. My other reservation for it was that I thought it looked huge and it's actually not. So here's an Xbox controller.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Mark Medina]

Pretty kind of, you know, compares my, my criticisms with it. I'll get the bat out of the way. First is the. The face buttons are exactly like the Steam deck. They are very, very small. And I have very big hands, so I don't love how small the face buttons are. They feel great, but I think that they're a little small also. The sticks are a little too high for me, in my opinion. And so unless you disable these guys, which are the touchpads, it's very, very often that you'll be playing something like Forza and you'll accidentally hit it and the camera will just go flying like crazy because it's, it's simulating a mouse movement. I think there's a way to disable them in the game, but I, I think I just kind of got used to making sure I don't, you know, kind of slip. Other than that, I think it's really a great controller.

[Sam Claiborne]

You could probably get a screwdriver under there and just pry those off.

[Mark Medina]

I would never do that. The sticks are the stick drift proof new tech that they came out with, where it's essentially magnets and so there's no sort of springs or anything that can make it where it can have stick drift. And the best part about it for me is that it is, is a wireless PC controller that works 100% of the time. So what I mean by that is, so this is the normal. This is the Xbox Elite Core, which is what I normally use for PC gaming. And then it has that like Microsoft dongle that you can sync it with, but like it disconnects all the time. So I just end up using this wired. Right. And I think that's how most people play their PC games. Where this comes with, with this little puck thingy. And what this does is it charges the controller for one just, just with a magnet. And it's really cool. If this is sitting on the table, you could just slide the controller and it'll pop up and spring up into it and then this is also the wireless receiver. So this needs to be plugged into the computer via, via the usbc. But then it can just sit there and I've yet to have any sort of latency. I've tested it using Doom. The Dark Age is playing at, you know, 200 FPS and it feels great. I played all of my Forza time. I'd say the last half of my Forza time was, was with this and it's never disconnected once. And it's great as far as the like PC functionality, you know, it's, it's the whole dream is supposed to be like making your PC more console. Like and I would not say it does that even in the slightest, right. Like you still have to type in the pin when you, when you, you know, when you turn your PC on it. This can't turn your PC on wirelessly. And then my PC is set up to automatically open in Steam Big picture mode. But if you don't have it like that, you double press the Steam button and Steam picture mode opens up. There is ways to use like this as a mouse on your desktop and do all these like this is Alt tab and blah blah blah. I, I don't know. Just. No, I don't. I. It doesn't work that great in my opinion. I, I still think that the, the ultimate PC setup is still going to be having to have one of these by your side there. There are times where the game opens up in a weird window or whatever and you're like sitting there with your Steam controller and you're like all right, like Alt tab on my keyboard. So this does not solve this does not make your PC account console. That's apparently just impossible to do. But I would say my, my, my official recommendation is if you have an Xbox controller and you are totally fine with that and you don't really mind Wired probably don't spend your 100 bucks on this. It's probably not worth it and you'll probably find it less comfortable than an Xbox controller. But if you're looking for a really good wireless solution and you need a PC controller then might be worth it. That's it. That's my show and tell. Cool. I like it.

[Damon Hatfield]

They should probably announce the price and open pre orders for the Steam machine.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah, yeah, that'd be great.

[Damon Hatfield]

Probably about time for them. That brings us to video game 20 questions are our suggestion this week comes from Brenton S. Who says I'm 41 and writing in from. It's either it's Paducah Kentucky or Paduka? Kentucky. Kentucky. Don't know which one. And as a longtime listener, I wanted to send in a game I think really deserves a turn on video game 20 Questions. And with that, let the questioning begin.

[Mark Medina]

That's a hint.

[Justin Davis]

It's funny because I'm 41 and I'm recording game scoop right now.

[Mark Medina]

Coincidence, I think I'm just.

[Damon Hatfield]

I'm just asking questions.

[Justin Davis]

I'm just. Just asking questions.

[Sam Claiborne]

Is it.

[Justin Davis]

That's the.

[Sam Claiborne]

That's the. Actually, the theme of video game 20 questions. Is this a console exclusive?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes.

[Mark Medina]

Is this. I'm just going for. Is this game turn based?

[Damon Hatfield]

No.

[Mark Medina]

Oh, that wasn't a hint.

[Sam Claiborne]

Is it a Nintendo exclusive?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes.

[Sam Claiborne]

Well, then turn based.

[Mark Medina]

No.

[Justin Davis]

Is it exclusive to a Nintendo console that used cartridges?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes.

[Sam Claiborne]

Ooh. Is it from a portable system?

[Damon Hatfield]

No. That's five.

[Mark Medina]

So let's see. NES, Super Nintendo 64, and then Switch and Switch.

[Justin Davis]

Is it exclusive to a console that had few. That had 63 or fewer bits?

[Damon Hatfield]

No.

[Mark Medina]

Wow. Wait, hold on. That means it would be Nintendo 64.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah.

[Mark Medina]

Oh, no.

[Justin Davis]

That's why I asked it that it has to be Nintendo 64, right?

[Mark Medina]

No. It could be Switch.

[Justin Davis]

I don't know how.

[Sam Claiborne]

No, no, because we established that it wasn't a portable. Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

Okay. Okay. I'm just gonna presume. I'm gonna continue assuming It's a Nintendo 64 game, and I will apologize for phrasing my question that way.

[Mark Medina]

I think it's Quest 64. I think they're lying about the turn based.

[Justin Davis]

Was this game developed or published by Nintendo?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes. Cool.

[Sam Claiborne]

Does this game have a sequel coming out on Switch that's been announced?

[Justin Davis]

No, I think It's Mario Kart 64, which somehow I don't think we've ever had it.

[Mark Medina]

Is the characters in this game on the Smash roster?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes.

[Sam Claiborne]

I think it's Star Fox because it doesn't have a sequel. It's a remake.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

Yeah, yeah. Could be Star Fox 64. So wait. Yes. In the Smash roster.

[Mark Medina]

Yep.

[Justin Davis]

It doesn't eliminate much, actually.

[Sam Claiborne]

Has this game been remade or is it getting a remake?

[Mark Medina]

Not Starbucks.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. Yes. Yes.

[Justin Davis]

That's 10 ocarina of time.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah.

[Justin Davis]

Mario 64. Majora majora's mask. Remade?

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah. For 3D.

[Justin Davis]

Oh, yeah. They did that. Yeah. Okay.

[Sam Claiborne]

Set in the Zelda universe?

[Damon Hatfield]

No,

[Sam Claiborne]

Same question. Mario.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes.

[Mark Medina]

Oh, Mario 64.

[Justin Davis]

I don't know if Mario Kart was Mario 60. Was Mario Kart remade?

[Sam Claiborne]

Not that I know of.

[Mark Medina]

Oh, that's right. I also just hate the idea that we're calling Mario 64Ds a remake. I can't. I can't.

[Justin Davis]

Why?

[Mark Medina]

I just can't. We had this discussion last week.

[Justin Davis]

Oh, why was it on the show?

[Sam Claiborne]

Does Mark game.

[Mark Medina]

Sometimes I feel it's a terrible game and.

[Sam Claiborne]

Hold on, Mark. Hold on. I'm asking a question for video game. 20 questions.

[Mark Medina]

Got it. Okay. Do I get angry about this game when it's brought up? No, sorry. Do I get. Do I get angry about the remake when it comes up?

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes.

[Mark Medina]

The. The remake is this Super Mario 64?

[Damon Hatfield]

Super Mario 64. Yep. Got there.

[Sam Claiborne]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

14 questions. Yeah. This has never been picked. We've never done this.

[Mark Medina]

Surprise.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. I probably just always thought it'd be too easy and. Yeah, it's pretty easy.

[Justin Davis]

What a great game. This game changed my life. This game is the reason I am a video game journalist today. Kids these days will never know games looked like Super Mario World. That's what video games were. It's un. Unbelievable how different this was. When you saw Toys R Us. You would never. There was a before and after you first saw Mario 64 also.

[Mark Medina]

I mean, I still maintain that, like this is the best platformer ever made. I. I don't think any other game.

[Justin Davis]

Hold on.

[Mark Medina]

I don't think any game has. Has nailed the things that Mario can do as far as movement and tech. But I, I am biased. I've played this game over 2000 hours, so.

[Justin Davis]

Well, it's just I do like Mario. Mario's movement.

[Damon Hatfield]

Nintendo made the first 3D platformer and they got so much right the first time. Like pretty much everything except that camera. Although I didn't mind it at the time, but I find it really difficult today.

[Mark Medina]

Camera's perfect. Yeah, don't change it. Somebody had a good suggestion though, Damon. They said that if they were to do a remake of Mario 64 because one has never been made, that they should do a classic camera slash odyssey style. I could be okay with that.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, I'm fine with that.

[Sam Claiborne]

So you're gonna have to do the credits without me and the victory app without me because I gotta go.

[Damon Hatfield]

Okay.

[Mark Medina]

Auto.

[Damon Hatfield]

Bye.

[Justin Davis]

Bye.

[Sam Claiborne]

Thank you so much. Bye.

[Damon Hatfield]

I mean, we're gonna wrap it up there. Anyway, I just wanted to remind.

[Mark Medina]

That's all our scoops for today.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah, that is all the scoops to new. I just wanna remind everyone to join the new IGN Discord. There's a whole gamescoop room in there and you can chat with us. We'll be doing like regular office hours and any fun stuff in there, so I'll put the link to the new IGN Discord in the description here. Hope to see you in there. And yeah, that is all the scoops that we have for you this week. So thank you. The ghost of Sam. Thank you, Justin. Good to have you back. Thank you, Mark. Thank you, Jober. Working behind the scenes to make this episode possible. My name is Damon. This is IGN gamescoop. And we're out. Family vacation. 1995. 1990. 95. Change the station Now I can drive Now I can drive My girl is waiting for me at home she's moving with me yeah, she's moving with me she hates it when I leave her alone I'm all she can see I'm all she can see dad turned 40 that year. We got a CDs. We got a CDs. His reaction was pretty severe. The smithereens. The smithereens. And now we're playing games in the dark. How many can we get? How many can we get? Not everybody has that spark. No one was upset. No one was upset. We drove Colorado to get me to my show. It was at that girl's house, the one I told you about. She thought we were on a date, but that was a mistake. Everyone sat on the stairs. All of our friends were there.

[Justin Davis]

I've been playing a game on Steam. I didn't get a chance to shout it out, but it's called Scritchy Scratchy, and it's about scratching off scratch tickets.

[Damon Hatfield]

Oh, it's. I mean, is it a ratio?

[Justin Davis]

Like, no, it's barely a video. It's like an incremental game where eventually you get a tool that lets you, like, auto scratch the tickets, and then you kind of like, eventually you're making a bunch of money and buying tickets. Yeah.

[Mark Medina]

I never realized that there's, like, YouTube channels dedicated to people just buying scratchers and. And scratching them and like, oh. Whether they win or not, it's entertaining to watch. And I was like, dude, that's like an infinite money glitch. Right. If you're getting the views right, you're being paid to. To hopefully win a million dollars one day. So it's kind of fair.

[Justin Davis]

This is the game.

[Mark Medina]

I don't condone gamble.

[Justin Davis]

This is the whole game. But you can see he's got the auto. The thing down in the corner is, like, automatically scratching his ticket for him. And then you get upgrades to do it faster. You get a bigger coin. That's a very satisfying moment.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. I was playing something called slots and done slots and daggers.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah. Yeah. Like That's a rock.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yeah. It's okay. I don't think it has much staying power, but it's kind of cute.

[Mark Medina]

I was kind of the same. I was like, oh, this might be the next. What's the inscription? And I was like. Because it's kind of got that kind of creepier vibe.

[Justin Davis]

What was the ps. What was. The PS one was the creepier slot machine game. I mean, I played a lot of it. I just. I'm blanking on the name now. The one that's got PS1 pixels and you're trapped in a dungeon and you're doing slot machine stuff. Not sure you know what I'm talking about.

[Damon Hatfield]

I'm not sure.

[Mark Medina]

Is it on PS1 or PS1?

[Justin Davis]

No, no, no, no, no. PS1 graphics. It's on Steam Team. You would definitely know. Anyway, it's gone. I can't think of it.

[Damon Hatfield]

The other one I was doing was Gambananza. Gambananza. Anyway, it's Bl. It's Blodger. But chess. That one seems better. That one might have more staying power.

[Justin Davis]

That one just came out, like, a couple days ago. Right.

[Damon Hatfield]

I think it's fairly new. Yeah. I'm Clover Pit.

[Justin Davis]

That's the one I was thinking.

[Damon Hatfield]

Clover Pit.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

Yes, that's right.

[Mark Medina]

Yeah. Yeah. I never played it. No, no, no. I did play Clover bit. Yeah. It's a pretty good game.

[Justin Davis]

It's great.

[Damon Hatfield]

This seems.

[Mark Medina]

Slots and Daggers that I didn't play much. Yeah.

[Damon Hatfield]

But, yeah, Clover Pit School Gem Bonanza seems better than Slots and Daggers, but Slots and Daggers is a better title. So what are you gonna do? All right, thanks, everyone.

[Mark Medina]

Are we good?

[Justin Davis]

Yep, we're good. Okay.

[Mark Medina]

All right, bye.