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Game Scoop! 862: Even GTA Won’t Break the $80 Ceiling
01:20:42
Xbox, Grand Theft Auto VI, Steam Machine, Bungie, and more. And, of course, they play Video Game 20 Questions.
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- [00:00]
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- [01:09]
Damon Hadfield
Welcome to IGN gamescoup. I'm your host, Damon Hadfield and joining me this week are Justin Davis Scoop and Mark Medina.
- [01:15]
Mark Medina
I'm here, Damon.
- [01:16]
Damon Hadfield
Thank you. Thank you for being here, Mark. We've got a great show for you this week. In spite of the fact that it's kind of bummer news to talk about this week, this is usually a pretty fun show. So this will be a test. Can we keep things fun and lighthearted in the light of kind of bummer news? Because we've got, we've got the Steam Machine out and reviews out. It's very expensive. We've got price hikes yet again for the Xbox. The Xbox is very, very expensive now. But first, GTA 6, we know how much that'll cost. Finally, at long last, GTA 6 coming later this year in November, priced at $80.
- [01:51]
Justin Davis
Yeah, I mean, I think, yeah, I think it was. I think there was some speculation of like, would they do $70? Would they do 80? Maybe they would go nuts and go even higher. But like, realistically, when Nintendo's charging $80 for Fire Emblem, Fortune's weave, then it was probably pretty safe to assume that GTA, the base edition of GTA would also be $80.
- [02:13]
Damon Hadfield
Yeah.
- [02:15]
Mark Medina
Mario Kart World was also 80 bucks. So, yeah.
- [02:19]
Damon Hadfield
And ostensibly there'll probably be more content and things to do in GTA 6 than in Mario Kart World.
- [02:25]
Mark Medina
Just a few things.
- [02:26]
Damon Hadfield
Some people thought maybe they go for 70 because they want to get as many people in there and into GTA online as possible. But in the end, some analysts thought they could get away with charging 100. They went with $80. So. But I think that's interesting. One way to look at it is that that is the absolute ceiling. And even GTA does not dare to try and break the $80 ceiling.
- [02:47]
Justin Davis
Yeah, they had. Or the. We. We talked about this on the show last week or two weeks ago of like the opposite could have also been true. If GTA was 70, then no game would have been able to get away with 80 again. I don't know. I think it's fine. I mean, I think what you were alluding to a second ago, Mark, was that some people are a little bit, you know, there's some negative sentiment around the $100 edition, the ultimate edition, and that it gives you character customization and some vehicles and gives you access to some shops with cosmetic items and stuff like that. For, for an additional $20, you get these digital in game extras. And that's. That's made people a little upset.
- [03:24]
Mark Medina
I, I have seen people upset about it, but I've also seen a lot of people being like, so once in a generation kind of game. Like, hundred bucks is nothing like that's. I'll spend that on Grand Theft Auto because we don't know when we're going to get the next one.
- [03:41]
Damon Hadfield
I mean, it's more than a once in a generation game because a new GTA skipped last generation. It's a once in two generations game.
- [03:48]
Mark Medina
It really is.
- [03:49]
Justin Davis
Almost didn't make it out this generation.
- [03:51]
Mark Medina
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- [03:53]
Justin Davis
I don't think it bothers me either. Not necessarily for that reason, because it's generational, but just, you know, like, you know, I don't want to concern police, anybody. Like, you know, I certainly don't need to defend Rockstar Games. They're big boys and girls. They'll be all right. But it's like, it's just my personal, personal perspective. For me, it just doesn't bother me because it just doesn't seem that different. Like, we've seen digital collector's editions often come with, you know, yeah, you get an outfit and you get a new sealed shield and you get a different sword and you get Two different hairstyles and, you know, we're going to charge you 10 bucks for that. And like GTA just feels like that. That's what it feels like to me. But to paraphrase some of their arguments, it's like, well, when it's a single player only game and there's certain shops that you can't go in that are just closed if you don't have this collector's ed that maybe it sets a little bit of a bad or weird precedent of, you know, what if I want to go get Lucia's nails done and I can't because they only bought the base edition of the game? But I don't, I don't. To me, it doesn't feel that different than like the Digital Collector's Edition in Crimson Desert or like, you know, any video game, basically.
- [04:56]
Mark Medina
Yeah. What, what a lot of games do that I like, which is if you buy it for 80 bucks, that tab will still exist every time you launch the game. It'll, you know, on, on PS5, I don't know what it looks like on Xbox, but on the bottom right, it'll be like, upgrade to luxe. So I think it, I think it's totally fine to, you know, jump in, play 80 bucks, you know, pay your $80, get the game, and if you're like, you know what, Nah, I can't live without the extra thing, then, then pay the 20 bucks and then you'll get access. It's not like, it's not like it's one or another and you've made that decision forever.
- [05:29]
Justin Davis
Yeah, that's true. And I think, you know, gta, you know, none of us have seen it and played it, but based off the description, it sounds like they integrated these digital extras into the game in a really diegetic way. Right? Like it's not other games. Sometimes, like you buy this Digital Collector's Edition, or, you know, Ultimate Edition, whatever you want to call it, and the thing pops up and says, you know, thank you for buying this edition of the game. Your cosmetic items have been sent to your stash, right? And then you go recruit. You could just get them from your stash. Whereas in GTA they did something that's more clever and more cool, in my opinion, and smarter of like, you know, these shops and these NPCs and go customize your truck and go do this. You just can't enter those buildings if you don't have the ultimate edition. So on the one hand, it's more immersive and kind of more clever. But then that's part of what makes it feel worse that like there's these closed doors that you just can't go in if you don't have that addition compared to just something popping up and items appearing in your inventory feels like maybe that's a little bit easier to ignore. You don't feel like you're, you know, second class if you don't have that item.
- [06:33]
Damon Hadfield
Yeah, yeah, I would agree with that. Some people are wondering now, does this open up the floodgates for $80 games? And there's a quote from Reese Elliott. He's head of Market analysis at Alinea Analytics. This is a good quote, but it's a little long, so bear with me here. He says GTA 6 has more pricing power than any game on earth and it still didn't go above 80. If the biggest release in the industry's history looked at the ceiling and chose not to break it, that should tell everyone else the ceiling is real and they'll smack their head on it. The danger is that publishers read GTA as 80 as a green light and push their own run of the mill or new IP games to $80 when the lesson is the opposite. Even GTA didn't think it could go higher. The handful of publishers who can charge $80 base share one trait a captive price inelastic audience that won't shop around or wait for a discount. That's why Nintendo gets away with it. Its players are locked in first party. Famously discount averse PlayStation could probably manage it on a marquee first party title FromSoftware has the brand strength to do it, even if they've historically priced more modestly than they could. Elden ring is $80 on Switch, though maybe the big yearly sports games as well. Final paragraph. Almost nobody else has that. For everyone else the maths is brutal. It's always adorable when British people say maths is brutal and that raising your base to $80 just sheds the price sensitive buyers you can't afford to lose in this economy. That's why I reckon most publishers will correctly stick to a $70 base with $80 to $100 premium edition layered on top early access, a few cosmetic perks and stuff. That model lets the FOMO prone super fans pay more for early access While everyone else pays 70 or waits for the inevitable discount. You capture the whales without raising the floor on the people most likely to walk.
- [08:10]
Justin Davis
Yeah, I would agree with that. I mean, I would maybe sum that up as like, you know, it's not necessarily a signal of just oh, every game is going to be $80 now, but it's a signal that, you know. Yeah. Like this analyst said, you know, GTA has been, you know, it's got an unlimited budget and unlimited time money to make whatever game they want to make and they're charging 80 for it. So, like, then it makes the price comparisons to, you know, Fire Emblem, Fortune's weave, look less favorable in the other direction. Right. When these kind of. I certainly don't want to describe them as worse or lesser games, but, you know, smaller in scope games are also trying to charge that price.
- [08:51]
Mark Medina
Yeah. I mean, I think people will speak with their wallets. They always have. We saw it with Outer Worlds 2. I believe that game was supposed to be 70, and then they changed it and made it 60 because they kind of saw that people weren't going to pay that for that game. I agree with Justin that I think what they'll keep doing is something like soros, which was 70 bucks or 80 if you want to play it two days earlier just to give them that. It's something Xbox has been doing for a long time to kind of get rid of that day one on Game pass thing where it's like, if you pay $80 for Forza, you can, you know, play it five days early or something like that. I think that's where they'll continue. But if they want to go the crazy route of paying 80 bucks, they need to be okay with it selling fewer copies.
- [09:36]
Justin Davis
I love the, I love the hoops that these companies go through to like, you know, they call it like, get the. Get access to the game on day negative three, on day negative five. And it used to drive Dan Stapleton crazy. Like, like, no, your game is out. And they're like, no, it's not. It comes out next week. And he's like, no, it is out now. You can download and buy it and play it like so. But just the, the mental gymnastics of like, you're like, it's not that everyone else is playing on day five. They're playing on day one. You're just playing on day negative five.
- [10:07]
Mark Medina
Yeah. Yeah. Well, it also doesn't help that they call it early access. So then when you play something like Slay the Spire two, you're okay with a lot of the art being hand drawn or maybe there's a bug or there's no actual final boss because you're like, oh, it's fine, it's early access. But like when you get something like a Forza, people get confused because you're like, oh, I fell through the world. And they're like, well, it's still in. And it's like, no, it's not.
- [10:30]
Justin Davis
Not that kind of.
- [10:31]
Mark Medina
No. I just have early access. It's not in early access. There is a difference.
- [10:37]
Justin Davis
Yeah, I do. Like maybe you're about to get into the statement, but like with the stuff that they announced about gta, like, you know, I'm not really like a digital extras kind of guide normally, but like I think it looks really cool. Like I really like all the retro stuff, all the callbacks to, you know, just classic Vice City. Like it all seemed very well done and you know, it made me. I haven't decided which edition I'm going to get, but it may be more interested in that fancy edition than I would normally be.
- [11:04]
Mark Medina
I am part of the crew that I. It's a once in a generation game. I'll pay 100 bucks. I mean, I understand that. I also work for IGN on the guides team. So, you know, we'll see, we'll see what I pay. But like if I were a consumer, I would probably pay the 100 bucks for it because it seems like it'll be worth it if you want to do that whole like time, you know, dollars per hour thing, which I hate, but some people do. So.
- [11:29]
Justin Davis
Yeah, yeah. I mean how many, like how many millions would. Would Rockstar make a billion dollars if they said no, the hundred dollar edition gets to play the game three days early. Like everyone on the planet would have played it, paid it. Right?
- [11:43]
Damon Hadfield
Yeah.
- [11:44]
Mark Medina
Yes.
- [11:45]
Damon Hadfield
What?
- [11:45]
Mark Medina
And we, we actually don't know for sure if that's still not a thing or not. It could be.
- [11:49]
Justin Davis
I guess we'll find out because there's
- [11:51]
Mark Medina
this weird thing that a lot of people I, I'm seeing on social media where they're, they're saying, and I know we're going to talk about the prices of the consoles and stuff a little bit later, but they're saying we, you should buy the Xbox version because the Xbox version will get a day early because on Xbox it's very easy to just go to New Zealand, change your console to New Zealand. You get a whole 24 hours early. And so that is, you know, for streamers and stuff like that that want to be there day one. It could be a thing.
- [12:21]
Damon Hadfield
But Mark, it's gonna play best on PS5.
- [12:23]
Mark Medina
That's what I heard. I heard and then it went away and then it came back.
- [12:28]
Damon Hadfield
Well, that gets into our next topic because I think what a sign of the times that the biggest Game of all time will not be available on a disc.
- [12:37]
Justin Davis
Yes, empty. If you buy the physical edition, what you're buying is an empty game case that has a download slip inside and which is, I mean, you know, alamic2 did that. It's not completely unprecedented. It is, it is sad on a couple of different levels. Like just on a, on a consumer, like, look like, yes, we work for igm, but we're also video game fans and video game players first. And like that means that you can't sell the game used for what it's worth. Like that download code gets redeemed and so it completely nukes any used game sales for GTA 6, which, you know, feels pretty bad. Like that's removing consumer choice. Like, part of the thing about video games is that it's a fungible asset that like you can turn back into money if you want to. And like to be clear, take two,
- [13:25]
Mark Medina
it does not care. GameStop is pissed. Take two is glad that every copy you have to buy from them.
- [13:32]
Damon Hadfield
Yeah.
- [13:32]
Justin Davis
Why? Just like, you know, gamers should just feel bad, right? Like a physical video game that has a disc inside is worth more than a physical video game that doesn't. And not just because of the disc, but because you can turn that game back into cash if you wanted to or needed to.
- [13:46]
Damon Hadfield
So, you know, like, like so many people, I haven't bought a physical game in a long time, but I was surprised because GTA is about as massive market as like mainstream as any video game could possibly be. And that will reach a lot of people in retail spots. Walmart, Target, Best Buy, Costco. A lot of people will be buying these physical boxes for themselves and for gifts at Christmas. And I think a lot of them will be surprised to not find a disk inside.
- [14:12]
Justin Davis
Yeah, I mean, the fact that it has to be downloaded, you know, look, every year this becomes less and less of a thing. But we've been talking on gamescube for like a decade. Not everybody has fast Internet in their home still to this day. And so, you know, for most video games it probably doesn't matter that much because Damon, to your point, like, you know, anyone that's buying and playing AAA games, they're online enough to know, you know, there's going to be a day one patch or I have to download it or I have to do this or that. But like, GTA is so mainstream and so mass market that it's kind of like, you know, it's the biggest thing on the planet. And so for the one thing of like they need maximal reach. Right. That, like that. Every single copy of the game, all, you know, we don't know how many gigabytes it's going to be, but, you know, 100 or a ton. Like they're all going to have to be downloaded by every user. That's, that's, that's intense.
- [15:02]
Damon Hadfield
Yeah.
- [15:03]
Mark Medina
That's why they've already announced the preload date, because just like Silksong, which crashed the Steam store, they know that the servers are for. For PlayStation. Xbox are going to go crazy. I saw a lot of discussions about this and I agree. Like, not having a desk is, is a bummer. That's. It's removing choice. Like we mentioned before, game preservation, it's always a weird sticky thing because the person I saw made the post said, like, you know, take any game, take Cyberpunk and put it in your PS5 and don't have it hooked up to the Internet and explain to me how that's game preservation. Like, you're getting a broken day one version of the game that's like completely messed up.
- [15:43]
Sponsor Read Host
Right?
- [15:43]
Mark Medina
Like, you need those patches. And so like, owning that game physically isn't game preservation when it is required to have the Internet to be able to play the rail version of Cyberpunk.
- [15:55]
Damon Hadfield
So, yeah, unless you already have the patches downloaded.
- [15:58]
Justin Davis
And that's also. You picked an example of a game that was shit at launch. Like, what about a game that was like, you know, functional at launch and didn't, you know, didn't need years worth of patches?
- [16:06]
Mark Medina
Yeah, I mean, every game gets patches. Sure. Yeah.
- [16:11]
Justin Davis
Not always.
- [16:13]
Damon Hadfield
Well, in spite of everything we're talking about, I am getting excited for GTA 6.
- [16:18]
Mark Medina
Hell yeah.
- [16:19]
Damon Hadfield
I'm not the biggest fan of GTA 5, but I love Vice City and everything. Everything is getting me really stoked for six.
- [16:26]
Justin Davis
No, I completely agree. I mean, even just from a. I am a GTA guy and I'm an open world guy. I really liked 4 and 5. But like, even if you're not, even if it's not your thing, just from a. I talked about it a little bit earlier just from like a cultural commentary level of like, they have, like, there's. There's no other piece of commercial art on the planet that they had unlimited time and unlimited money to make whatever they wanted just to make this thing. Like, no movie has ever been like that. No other game has ever been like that. Just unlimited budget. Like, and that fascinates me so much. Just from a. Just from a creative pursuit standpoint. Even if, you know, even if, even if, like, you know, the story that they're telling or whatever, the type of gameplay doesn't appeal to you, Like, I'm just. I'm just fascinated by it as a. As just a piece of. Just as a thing that exists.
- [17:15]
Mark Medina
I also. Oh, sorry, go ahead.
- [17:17]
Justin Davis
That's. Does it.
- [17:18]
Mark Medina
I love cultural moments. And this, you know, Pokemon Go was a cultural moment. Barbenheimer. And then every time there's console releases, releases, those are, Those are cultural moments. And this is one. We're getting one this year. And that's always exciting.
- [17:34]
Justin Davis
Yeah, it's so fun. Like, you know, we just like the monoculture. And this is probably for the best that there is not a monoculture anymore. Whatever you're into, you know, you can find a little community of people that are into the same thing. But it's still nice when there's something. It's just like, it's just hype. Like, it feels like this kind of old school thing. And also, I mean, the game was handmade. The game was not made with AI, Right? Like this big handcrafted world where every single object in every single store and home and all the dashboards on the cars and just all that stuff was like, you know, made by people. Like, I'm not. I don't know, man. Like, it might be kind of like the last of its kind.
- [18:10]
Damon Hadfield
Yeah.
- [18:10]
Sponsor Read Host
Mm.
- [18:12]
Damon Hadfield
I do kind of miss. Maybe this is the boomer. I mean, but I do kind of miss the monoculture. It's like, yeah, a celebrity will pass away and everybody's sad. And I'm like, I've literally never heard of this person before in my entire life. How is this possible?
- [18:26]
Justin Davis
Yeah, anyway, yeah, I like. I mean, midnight launches, all that stuff. Right. Like, you know, look, it is nostalgia. Like, we're not. Like, it's better that you don't need to go to a midnight launch and that you can just preload and download the game and play it, like, undeniably. But like, that doesn't mean that there wasn't something that was lost in the transition.
- [18:43]
Damon Hadfield
Yeah.
- [18:44]
Mark Medina
Yep. I get a lot of TikToks where it's like buying a PS2 on launch day and it's like people have that footage of them sitting in line or going to the Halo 3 release date. I'm like, I did that launch and I'm like, man, me too. I worked at. It was called Game Crazy, but it was part of Hollywood video type deal before they all went down. And I worked there when Halo 3 and GTA 4 came out. And those are really Fun times.
- [19:12]
Damon Hadfield
We used to cover them on IGN. I think it was Halo 3. We went down to the game spot or game stop at Union Square in San Francisco.
- [19:19]
Justin Davis
Bring back midnight launches.
- [19:20]
Damon Hadfield
Yeah.
- [19:21]
Mark Medina
Yeah.
- [19:32]
Damon Hadfield
Okay, let's move on to the Steam machine that our review is out this week. We gave it an 8 out of 10.
- [19:38]
Justin Davis
We liked it, but most, most critics did not really. Not, not as much as me, not as us, as ign. I just refer to myself as IGN now. Is that normal?
- [19:46]
Mark Medina
Yep.
- [19:47]
Damon Hadfield
Just, just considering just the machine itself. It is a very, it's a very like appealing. It's very well designed and it's cool. That's so small and it works well, but that price is like oof.
- [19:59]
Mark Medina
Yeah.
- [20:00]
Damon Hadfield
And it leaves me wondering who the audience really is because it's about the same level of power as a PS5 but more expensive than a PS5.
- [20:08]
Justin Davis
Yeah. I mean a little bit. Slightly less powerful than a PS5.
- [20:11]
Mark Medina
Yeah, it's somewhere between a switch two and a PS5.
- [20:14]
Justin Davis
Yeah. I mean the whole promise and premise of the Steam machine was, you know, it is a PC, plays PC games and you can install your own software on it and your own operating system on it, but giving you a more console like experience of it's portable and you can plug it into a television or a monitor and it'll just go right. And it's small and quiet. But then that's so undercut by, you know, we're in this hardware component crisis and then this device value even said it, it's like, you know, $300 more or so. They didn't say this exact quote but like they implied that it costs about 300 more than they really wanted it to. And so that's a bummer. And you have to take that into consideration when you're, when you're a consumer. So who is it for? I mean you're exactly right, Damon. Like it's, it's, it's not for the hardcore because they'll just build their own PC or buy a more powerful one for fifteen hundred dollars or whatever. But it's not really for the casual audience either because they're probably better served buying a game console instead.
- [21:14]
Mark Medina
Yeah, it's for the people who want to play PC games and want that on their entertainment center and not a big mid ATX RGB thing heating up your living room. Computers are hot.
- [21:27]
Justin Davis
There is an underrated. And that's something that we talked about in our review of like, you know, the small form factor and the vents. It's actually the B rolls matched up Perfectly. Like, the way that this thing vents out hot air is like my PS5. It cannot go in my entertainment center. It overheats and turns off. Like, it has to sit outside of it. And the Steam machine is kind of like custom built to like. Like. No, you actually can put it in there. It'll be fine.
- [21:51]
Mark Medina
Go into a little. Little cubby hole.
- [21:55]
Justin Davis
And so some of the. Some of the arguments of, like, you know, you could build a computer that's way more powerful for less money, and who cares if it's a tower? Just put it next to your entertainment center. I'm like, that doesn't. That's a little bit disingenuous because. Because, yes, like, yes, that is true. Right. Like, you can build a more powerful computer for the same amount or for less money, but it will be bigger. And. And that does matter. Like, not everybody wants that in their living room.
- [22:22]
Mark Medina
Yeah, my house is set up in a way where the big ugly electronics are in the offices and the living room is like the aesthetic. You know, we watch movies there and stuff, but it's got the entertainment center and stuff. And I don't want a giant rgb, giant computer in my. Sitting in my living room. It. I don't. I don't want that.
- [22:43]
Justin Davis
Yeah, I mean, this thing is $1,050. What a bummer. Without a controller.
- [22:48]
Mark Medina
Without a controller. The wild. Luckily, luckily, you can use any controller, but it won't be a Steam controller.
- [22:57]
Damon Hadfield
And that's for the 500. What, 512 gig?
- [22:59]
Justin Davis
Yeah, the smaller model, but 13 $50 for the version with more storage and no controller.
- [23:06]
Mark Medina
Yeah, yeah, it's a lot. Hey, that was a game. Sir Controller. I want one of those, too. The thing looks awesome. Eric Song is always talking about how good they are.
- [23:14]
Justin Davis
Yeah, he likes them a lot.
- [23:16]
Damon Hadfield
Like, I love my Steam deck. I use my Steam deck every day. And it's been. It's not like a huge runaway success. I think they've sold like 5 million units, but it's, you know, it's like a modest success for Valve that isn't traditionally a hardware company. And I think people that own their Steam decks really like them. But this, I don't really see, like, taking off like that.
- [23:39]
Justin Davis
There's an element of, like, look, hopefully this hardware component crisis isn't gonna last forever. I hope this isn't just the new normal for the rest of our life, but it's certainly gonna last like the next year or two or three. And so, like, I think, I mean, whatever, everyone's entitled to, like, or not, like whatever they want and everyone's score is their own. And I read some other reviews and you know, the positive reviews and the negative reviews were both well justified, but I think some of the more negative takes on the Steam machine are a little bit in denial about like, like sticks of ram costs like $350 now. Like, this is just, this is just what, like you know the, the PS5 Pro is $900. And you note like the PS6 and Helix and all these game consoles, like this is just what things cost now. And you don't have to like it, but that's. It's become the new normal. And I don't really, I mean that's kind of it. Like, that's kind of just the whole statement.
- [24:37]
Mark Medina
Yeah. There was something you said earlier that I was gonna somewhat question, but without having done any research, which is that you can build a PC that is more capable and cheaper or around this price. And I actually don't know if that's true because RAM and hard drives are crazy expensive.
- [24:55]
Justin Davis
Yes. Not at all in this form factor, but if you don't.
- [24:57]
Mark Medina
Oh, definitely not in this form factor I'm talking about. Even if you didn't care about form factor to build something like this, Jackie did it.
- [25:06]
Justin Davis
I mean it's not, it's not like, it's not like a one to one, the exact same components and exact same power in price, but like for roughly the same price you can build something that's like this, but it just doesn't look like this.
- [25:17]
Mark Medina
Sure. Yeah.
- [25:18]
Justin Davis
Yeah. So you know, that was her justification for the eight, which I thought was well argued, but you know, we were definitely one of the higher reviews. Most hardware reviewers say, look, this thing's too expensive and too weak for what you get for your money.
- [25:35]
Mark Medina
Yeah, I would mostly agree with that.
- [25:39]
Damon Hadfield
Neither of you are getting one.
- [25:40]
Mark Medina
No, no, because I'm a big fan of SteamOS as well. But like I use my Steam Deck exclusively for indies and stuff like that. Like, and when I even say indies, I don't even mean. I mean like card games, you know, Slay the Spire, Balatro, Vampire Survivors. Like I've been playing a lot of Risk of Rain 2 and I don't even really like Risk of Rain 2 on Steam Deck because you have to do too much. Like that's more of a traditional shooter and I, I don't like that. I'll play megabonk because I don't have to. I don't have to pull the trigger. So I'm just using the Sticks. So no. And then especially with SteamOS 3.8 which makes it where you can turn any computer into a Steam machine. Yeah, I don't see an appeal for, for this little guy.
- [26:22]
Justin Davis
And I know, I'm aware with the Steam machine you can install again, it's a PC, you can install whatever you want on it. But I also decided I'm not getting one because it is SteamOS out of the box. And I, I, what I decided I'm going to do instead is my gaming PC is too old to use it as a 1070 in it. So it's like, it's finally like, I'm like. And so I decided I'm just going to bite the bullet and buy an actual gaming PC instead because the Windows like I need to be able to install Battle.net and Lord of the Rings online and install other stuff and not be 100% locked into Steam. Even if 90% of my PC gaming is going to be in Steam.
- [27:01]
Mark Medina
Yep, I'm the same way you try to launch because I have a gaming PC hooked up to this TV. It's got a 5070 ti, it's a very capable computer. And I was like what if because they just announced 3.8 and I was like what if I turn that into a Steam machine? Like I just turn it on and it just boots up right into Steam. That sounds great. But then like yeah, we don't especially being at ign, we get PC codes for Ubisoft Connect and Gog and stuff like that. And I have an account with the Epic Games Store. So it's like I don't want to like just be locked to Steam, Even though same 90% of my PC games are on Steam.
- [27:40]
Damon Hadfield
In the late 90s and early 2000s there was this console announced called the Phantom. And Mark, you may not even be aware of this, I remember that. But it was called the Phantom and it was a Steam machine back then. It promised to be a box that you'd put hook into your tv, easy to set up and it would play PC games like a console on your tv. And I was so excited for this thing because back then there were all sorts of PC games that didn't come to console that were just PC games. But today that's not the case. Like unless it's an indie dev that just put their launch their game on Steam out of ease just because it's the easiest thing to do. Every game you can just buy a PS5, it's cheaper and every game, every triple A third party game, you can Play plus the exclusives. So that's why I don't think it makes any sense.
- [28:27]
Mark Medina
And a lot of games have controller support like slay the Spire 2 and stuff like that is. Oh, there it is.
- [28:32]
Damon Hadfield
There it is. I was so excited for this thing. What an appropriate name for a console like this.
- [28:37]
Justin Davis
But it wasn't atrocious at the time. It's like, this is like, you know, this is what game consoles. This is Xbox 360 era.
- [28:43]
Mark Medina
It was rad. I do remember when they did their big push for Steam machines where it was, it was the first time around anybody could make. Yeah, yeah. Whereas like anybody can make one and they were, they, you know, they were called that. But what I was gonna say is like, when I watched Bo's review of the Steam controller, he was like, I have this game, I think it was Crusader Kings or whatever. He's like, and it needs a mouse keyboard. I tried playing it with the Steam controller and it was awful. And I agree, like, so that's where I also find the thing where I'm like, what exclusive Steam games do I need that you'd still have to use a controller for? I don't know. There he is. There's a handsome man.
- [29:26]
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- [31:26]
Damon Hadfield
All right. To lighten things up a little bit, Steam Next Fest continues and Justin has some highlights from Steam Next Festival.
- [31:32]
Justin Davis
Yeah, it's my. It's one of my favorite times of the year. There's just demos of a bunch of really cool games, you know. Okay, two that I think you'll like. Damon. There's one called Restory, where when I say there's two games, there's two games that are about, you know, restoring and cleaning up kind of old electronics. And this one that we're looking at is called Restore, and it's sort of like Japanese themed. I think it's in Tokyo and I think it's like. I don't think it's like modern day. Like, I think it's like, kind of historical. And people bring in these old electronics and then you sort of clean them up and dust them off. And the other one is called Cozy Game Restoration.
- [32:17]
Damon Hadfield
A little on the nose, but okay.
- [32:19]
Justin Davis
Yeah. And Cozy Game Restoration is the same where you're kind of taking old. Like someone will hand you like a Sega Genesis cart and then you have to like, really carefully peel like stickers off of it and kind of like, you know. Yeah, you're seeing the footage here. Just like these are scratching a similar.
- [32:37]
Damon Hadfield
Because they had to come up with like, fake games, right?
- [32:40]
Justin Davis
Yeah. And so you're cleaning these games up and getting the crud off them with Q tips and stuff like that. And it's scratching a similar itch as like a. What do you call it, Like a power wash simulator. Like that same vibe of like, you know, I really enjoyed both of these demos because, you know, work is a little bit stressful and so it's fun and satisfying to just sort of like clean. Right. And there actually is one more that is similar. Oh my God, I forgot the name of it. Now
- [33:12]
Mark Medina
I want to play that restoration game. I follow two companies on TikTok.
- [33:18]
Damon Hadfield
Is that the actual Atari logo they got on there?
- [33:20]
Justin Davis
Oh yeah, the last one. Oh my God. I feel so rude because I want to shout out these games because they're all indies, but someone made basically it's. It's like a 2D power wash simulator. And I can't remember the name of it now, but it's top down and 2D. And then you run around and you know, clean up parks and clean up things. And that one was really cool. But the other game I wanted to shout out was, it's called about fishing. And it has this kind of like retro PS1, maybe like late PS1, early PS2 era 3D graphics. And it is a fishing game. Like the main thing you're doing in the demo is like, you know, you're going around and you're catching fish, but it's very kind of like Twin Peaks. Like there's like a mystery and like everything is kind of weird and unsettling and you're meeting these NPCs and talking to them and you know, kind of kind of trying to solve this like central mystery that's in the game. So it's really cool. Like the demo is really cool. Like my Steam Wishlist just keeps getting longer and longer and longer as I'm like, all of these games are just. Is so neat.
- [34:25]
Damon Hadfield
I see what you mean about the PlayStation 1 art style. It's obviously much. It's like higher fidelity, but it's very jagged polygons and that's.
- [34:33]
Mark Medina
And it's got that weird strobing thing that they used to do. That's, it's. It's hitting me in the feels right now.
- [34:38]
Justin Davis
Well, that's very in right now. Right. Like we saw pixel art. Like pixel art was gone, it was dead. And then as these kids that grew up with pixel art got into their 30s, you know, and 40s and started making art of their own, pixel art made a comeback. And now we're seeing the same with this PS1 and PS2 aesthetic as like kids that were 8 when that was contemporary are now adults and are making commercial art. And now we're seeing it make a comeback. And then I also want to shout out Corsair Cove, which is basically it's like a pirate city builder. Like, pirate town builder. But what's cool about it? There's nothing that cool or special about it except that, like, the pirate villages you make are really cool and vertical and these cool little, like, jagged mountains. And then you have to build bridges that go from one area to the other. And so just the space that you're kind of building on is really, really neat. If you're watching the show, you're gonna see a cool moment in the trailer here, because I just watched it before the show. Like, watch your town kind of, like, build up. You can just like, place things on the side of cliffs and stuff like that. And I just think that's neat.
- [35:46]
Mark Medina
It looks like Mad Max, like, where they just kind of, you know, the water. You know, the water level dropped, and so then they just kind of built towns around the things that are left.
- [35:59]
Justin Davis
Yeah.
- [35:59]
Mark Medina
Like it.
- [36:00]
Justin Davis
I just like the ramshackle, you know, sort of like, you know, Pirates of the Caribbean. Ramshackle, pirate, chaotic. Pirate Town is just, like, a really cool aesthetic, and that's what really appeals to me about this game. And this demo I actually haven't played yet, but it's on my TO playlist, and it looked really cool. And it comes from publisher Hooded Horse, who has never made a video game that I didn't like.
- [36:21]
Damon Hadfield
Nice.
- [36:23]
Mark Medina
I have two.
- [36:23]
Damon Hadfield
Okay.
- [36:24]
Mark Medina
I played Black Jacket. I don't know if that was necessarily a Next Fest game, Mark.
- [36:29]
Damon Hadfield
I've been singing the phrases of Blackjacket. Okay.
- [36:32]
Mark Medina
I played it during Next Festival. Yeah, it's great.
- [36:35]
Damon Hadfield
The full game is out.
- [36:37]
Mark Medina
Oh, that's right. Okay. I think I just got confused because I saw. I was. It was. It was recommended to me during Next Fest, but it's. It's a. It's a blackjack roguelike game with stellar voice acting.
- [36:51]
Damon Hadfield
Yeah, it's really, really good. We're talking about you're playing blackjack in hell against people and having these conversations while you play and learning about your relationships with them. It's really, really good.
- [37:01]
Mark Medina
But it's got that kind of, like, Slay the Spire stuff where it's like you're playing blackjack or you're playing blackjack, but then it'll have, like, this card exhaust or this card does this and whatever. It's very fun. So not an XFS game, but a game people should check out. The other one was Arcane Eats. If you're a fan of Slay the Spire, it's very much kind of in the same vein where it's kind of A cutesy. You're running a cafe and the people that they hurt you because they're complaining because their food took too long. But other than that, it's the same as Slay the Spire, except for you're usually battling three enemies instead of just one. And it's different enough from Slay the Spire for it to feel fresh and new, but samey enough to know exactly what you're going into the moment you start playing it. It was very, very fun. That looks, that was a good one.
- [37:49]
Justin Davis
This looks great. I missed this one. I have one more.
- [37:52]
Damon Hadfield
Okay.
- [37:53]
Justin Davis
There's a game called Desktop Explorer where it's sort of like a point and click adventure game. And it's another one where there's a mystery you're trying to solve and it's kind of like psychological horror themed, but you're, you're using clues in the operating system like, you know, opening the File Explorer and finding some file and then finding a note that leads you to a website. And then the website's, you know, like really old and like 90s looking because this is like, like a Windows 95 or maybe even older, like Windows 3.1, like interface and.
- [38:27]
Mark Medina
Oh, that screensaver.
- [38:30]
Justin Davis
Yeah. So it's just, it, it's really, really cool. And so that was another one that really stood out to me.
- [38:38]
Mark Medina
That is cool.
- [38:39]
Damon Hadfield
How long is Next Fest going?
- [38:41]
Mark Medina
It's over.
- [38:42]
Justin Davis
Yeah, it's over. And so some of the demos are still there? Well, they're coming like it's up to the developer. Some are like, you know, next Fest is over. We're taking our demo down. And then some are making, making them still available.
- [38:53]
Damon Hadfield
Well, I think the Steam summer sale is now going, so.
- [38:57]
Mark Medina
Lord.
- [38:57]
Damon Hadfield
Yeah, brace yourselves. Okay.
- [39:06]
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Damon Hadfield
That is right, Damon.
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Justin Davis
The longest part of the process, I'm thinking is going to be staying on
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Damon Hadfield
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I mostly use it to just scroll
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- [41:57]
Damon Hadfield
Bad news for both PlayStation and Xbox today. Yeah over at PlayStation. Huge massive layoffs at Bungie. This is not something we need to get super into. We're not really a Destiny crew here, but a couple interesting things. Sony only bought Bungie four years ago, paid $3.6 billion now already winding down Destiny. I think they laid off most of the Destiny team still working on Marathon, which also has not you know by all accounts is a good game, but has not been a huge hit.
- [42:29]
Mark Medina
Yeah, seeing the Destiny team basically shuttered was the biggest surprise to me. I thought it was going to be, you know, yeah, we have a smaller team now, blah, blah, blah. And it's like, nope. If you were to read this, you would assume that there will never be a Destiny 3, which is wild to me. Wild considering how successful Destiny 2 was. Marathon. Yeah, it's tough because there's the new season starting and they're coming out with a PvE mode that I'm very excited about. It's kind of of barred off from the rest of the PvP mode, but like, they're doing things.
- [43:05]
Justin Davis
I don't know, they're trying. I mean, you know, Marathon is in and this isn't going to sound like it. I do mean it as a positive, not a negative. Like, they're clearly in a little bit of like desperation mode. And so what I, what I mean about that being a positive is like, you know, they're taking big swings, right? They're like the game. They're like, let's try a PvE mode. It reminds me, and I, I saw this comparison online, so I can't take full credit for it, but like, Fortnite didn't start as a battle royale game, right? It started as Fortnite save the World. And then they're like, let's try a battle royale mode. And like, you know, if Marathon, you know, with, with Destiny, the engine was famous for like being so inflexible that it was just almost impossible for the Bungie team to like make changes. Like, you know, they had to like rebuild the entire game to like, you know, move the location of like one item and just like, like it was just really, really hard for them to build and iterate and try things. And so if they fixed that and got it right with Marathon, if they're able to kind of pivot and like, let's try a PvE mode. Let's try this mode, let's try that mode. Like that actually it's really encouraging and exciting to me and like, I hope that they're given enough Runway and time to sort of like see what sticks and see what the audience responds well to. Yeah, but, but I mean, what a, what a management failure that like to buy this company for three point some billion dollars and then, you know, you're right, it's not been that many years.
- [44:30]
Damon Hadfield
Four years, only four years to just
- [44:32]
Justin Davis
flounder and then say oops are bad.
- [44:34]
Mark Medina
Like, especially since it's Bungie, one of the, you know, most notable studios of. Of all time.
- [44:41]
Damon Hadfield
The developer of Halo, the creator of Halo.
- [44:43]
Justin Davis
I mean, I think they're the greatest, you know, greatest FPS developer ever as
- [44:46]
Damon Hadfield
far as I think they. In terms of gunplay. I think they're completely unmatched in terms of the feel of their gunplay.
- [44:51]
Justin Davis
Yep, I totally agree with that.
- [44:53]
Damon Hadfield
But I feel like Bungie's whole history, like I feel like there's never that very long a period where they aren't on their heels or something because they're independent. In the 90s, they make marathon. They get bought by Microsoft to bring Halo to Xbox. Then they spend a long tenure at Xbox. But then they won out. I don't know what the story is. They were burnt out, they're unhappy under Xbox, whatever they spin out, they're independent again. They make Destiny, Then they make a deal with Activision. It's a 10 year deal, but they dissolve that deal five years in and then they publish Destiny to themselves. And then there's all this like, I mean, workplace harassment issues, that whole thing. And then they get purchased by Sony and then four years later gutted. So it's like there's, I don't know, a long, long running developer that just seems to always be running into some kind of problem.
- [45:42]
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- [45:44]
Damon Hadfield
But speaking of Microsoft, over on their side, they have raised the price of Xbox again for the third time I think in just over a year. So let me throw some crazy numbers out there now. A 512 gig Xbox Series S is now $500.
- [46:01]
Justin Davis
Yeah.
- [46:02]
Damon Hadfield
And just the regular ass launch Xbox series X with one terabyte is $800.
- [46:08]
Justin Davis
I thought it was 700. Is it 800 digital edition?
- [46:11]
Mark Medina
That's the digital.
- [46:12]
Justin Davis
Oh yeah.
- [46:14]
Damon Hadfield
It's $800. Now that's.
- [46:16]
Justin Davis
What is this world?
- [46:18]
Damon Hadfield
What is this world that we live in when we talk about. When you look at this, you look at The Steam Deck Switch 2, price goes up. PlayStation 5, price goes up. You start to think, is it over? Are video games over? Or maybe it's just time to reset while they sort this all out.
- [46:35]
Mark Medina
What?
- [46:35]
Damon Hadfield
Let's all just play retro games for a while. Yeah, we're just gonna play retro games for a while, dude.
- [46:40]
Justin Davis
I'm good. I like, I'll stick. I'm in. I'm in. Factorio, man. Just getting my conveyor belts. $800 for the regular Series X. That's that, you know, if you want
- [46:50]
Ad Read Host
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- [46:51]
Justin Davis
And like so. But then that makes me think like the PS5 being 650, it's like. Yeah, but for how long?
- [46:57]
Damon Hadfield
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
- [46:58]
Mark Medina
Yeah. Oh, yeah, they'll definitely.
- [47:00]
Damon Hadfield
I mean, the PS5 Pro is now $900.
- [47:02]
Mark Medina
Yeah, yeah. Which, when you look at a value proposition, right, you'd compare the Pro to the Series X 1 terabyte digital. Because the PS5 Pro is digital with the option to make it disks. But I'm not. I mean, we give it to that, but it's two terabytes. This one's only one terabyte for the moment.
- [47:21]
Justin Davis
Like, look, and I'm Xbox first in my household. I don't even. I'm not Even sure my PS5 is hooked up right now. Like, I'm playing everything on Xbox. But there is absolutely no reason to buy this console. The fact that it is $150 more than the equivalent PS5 is absolutely untenable. Like, there's no reason. There's no reason to buy it. And that makes me sad as an Xbox fan. Like, you know, I want to root for them, and I want them to do well.
- [47:53]
Damon Hadfield
Anyone who wants to play Gears of War E Day already has an Xbox.
- [47:58]
Justin Davis
So, Yeah, I mean, I understand that. It's like, needs must, right? Like, if they're taking a bath on each console sold, they're doing what they have to do. But, like, they have to know, like, they're not. They're not. They're not dummies. Like, they know that by doing this, like, Xbox hardware sales are going to fall to a trickle, Right?
- [48:15]
Damon Hadfield
But they were already at a trickle. That's the crazy thing.
- [48:18]
Justin Davis
So I guess their rationale is, like, you know, they'd rather sell that many fewer consoles than sell consoles at a loss or at that much of a loss.
- [48:26]
Mark Medina
I think what was always kind of strange to me is I thought, okay, well, maybe they're just kind of washing their hands of the series platform and gearing up for Helix. But now there's so many rumors swirling that Helix and PS6 are much farther out than people think that they are. I think people were thinking that Helix was next year, and I'm not sure that that's the case anymore.
- [48:48]
Justin Davis
I mean, they said 2027, but that may be changing.
- [48:51]
Damon Hadfield
Yeah, that's changing.
- [48:52]
Justin Davis
Yeah. I mean, you know, the thing about PlayStation, this is, you know, when you're in last place traditionally, and this is coming true with xbox, you need to move first to launch the new console generation. You need to reset the board and have new, more powerful hardware and get a chance to, like, re. You know, Excite your core fan base. Whereas if you're in first place, you want to slow down the console generations and you're in no rush. And so, you know, there's no PS7.6 buzz yet. Whereas Xbox is kind of trying to get things going. So if Xbox delays the Project Helix, can they hold on for the two years or whatever it'll take them to get a new console out the door?
- [49:30]
Mark Medina
Yeah, I, I've also read a lot about them changing the strategy of what the Helix ends up being. Because when you think about it, the Helix was supposed to be a hybrid PC Xbox. Right. But the Steam machine just showed what a PC console type of deal is and it's far weaker than what the new platform should be. And so the Helix is set up right now to be a $2,500 machine easily, in my opinion. So they can't do that. They can't launch it for $2,500. That thing will sell a million in its life. So that's crazy. Yeah, baby.
- [50:14]
Justin Davis
I have a, I have a iPhone. What is it? Pro Max, whatever the nice one is called. And you know that phone was a thousand dollars, but it wasn't a thousand dollars. What it was was like, you know, $18 a month on my phone bill for two years. Right. And that is what game consoles are going to be now is you buy PS VSN Pro and you buy Xbox Game Pass and then your console is leased to you of it's added to your bill. It's a subscription. You're paying for your subscription. And then you get the console for free and then you pay it off over three years. Two to three years. That's how they're gonna work and that's how the console is gonna be $1200. The PS6 is gonna be $1200, but it's not actually. It's gonna be $19 a month for two or three years. That's.
- [51:04]
Mark Medina
I think that's in our article with the Xbox stuff is that they're doing the Xbox access stuff.
- [51:09]
Justin Davis
Yeah.
- [51:10]
Mark Medina
Where you can finance it.
- [51:11]
Justin Davis
They are, but they're not quite doing it the way that a phone contract works.
- [51:14]
Mark Medina
Yeah.
- [51:15]
Justin Davis
Now they're allowing you to. It's not a never ending on layaway.
- [51:18]
Mark Medina
They're just doing the, I don't think the Klarna.
- [51:20]
Justin Davis
It's like. Yeah, yeah, they're doing the Klarna. So I don't think it's going to be a never ending subscription. I think that you buy the console bundled with a Game Pass subscription and then it's one, you know, $30 a month subscription or 40, and then you pay that for three years or whatever. That's how I think it's gonna work. Yeah, it's gonna work. Like, your phone bill works.
- [51:39]
Mark Medina
I. Yeah, it's. I think it's tough because it's like, it. That is how phones work. And people just have accepted that that's how cars work. Very few people own their cars. They, you know, everyone. Most people.
- [51:52]
Damon Hadfield
Are that true?
- [51:53]
Mark Medina
I think a lot of people are making car payments. I mean, we.
- [51:57]
Damon Hadfield
But they're. Yeah. They don't owe them.
- [51:59]
Mark Medina
Yeah, that's what I'm saying. It's like you don't own your phone. I don't own my cars. They're owned by other things. But I own my consoles. And now we're going to live in a world where I also don't own my consoles. Like.
- [52:10]
Justin Davis
Yeah, no.
- [52:10]
Mark Medina
And it's getting a little crazy.
- [52:11]
Justin Davis
Yeah. To be clear, I'm not defending. Like, I think this is terrible. I just want to be explicit. Like, But I think it's bad. But I do think that that's, like, the future we're heading to. And, like, you'll have the options. Like, look, if you're Mr. Moneybags and you want to buy your PS6 for 1200 bucks, feel free. In the same way you can buy out your phone, but just most people choose not to. Right.
- [52:30]
Mark Medina
Yeah. I did do it for my. I have the 17 Pro Max, and I. It was the first time I ever did it. I was like, how much is it? And I think it was like 1400. And I was just like, screw it. And I just. I just bought it because I was like, I don't. I don't want to deal with it. And my last phone lasted me five years. So my. My plan is that this one is going to last me another five years.
- [52:50]
Damon Hadfield
I hope this is R slash true off my chest. It's. It's really starting to feel like the alien universe, Weyland Yutani, like, just five corporations that own everything. And, yeah, we're completely beholden to them.
- [53:03]
Mark Medina
Yeah.
- [53:03]
Justin Davis
It is crazy how the 1970s and 1980s, like, understood that, like, oh, the corporation, the multinational corporation is going to be more powerful than, like, the government. Like, yeah, it's.
- [53:15]
Damon Hadfield
It's.
- [53:15]
Mark Medina
It's that chart that's always existed, right, where it's like you have all these trillions of different companies, but it's all a pyramid. And you find out that, you know, Pepsi owns the shampoo that you're using. You know, you just don't know it. And so that's, that's where we're at.
- [53:31]
Damon Hadfield
Well, this quote from Microsoft says in the. In the past several months, storage and memory prices have increased by more than 2 1/2 x and we expect another doubling by the fall of 2027.
- [53:42]
Justin Davis
Yeah, I do like. And in the same way, you know, we don't need to carry water for Rockstar. We also don't need to carry water for Xbox. But I do, I do like these statements. I do like that they're being transparent about like, you know, they're not sugarcoating it right. They're like, you know, like we're chart. Like it's, it's costing us double to make this thing like, you know, so that, that, that kind of transparency is, you know, at least respected and welcome from me.
- [54:08]
Damon Hadfield
Yeah.
- [54:09]
Mark Medina
My advice is to hold on to your hardware. Two years ago, my Series X broke because I've had it since launch and it started doing that thing, you know how sometimes when like, like mainly when we were kids, you had a controller and it was like it would only work if you held the controller a certain way. Like the wire, you know, like you'd have to like hold it back or like maybe a power cord would only sit a certain way or it didn't work. My Series X started doing that with my, with my hdmi. It had to be tilted upwards and I think putting something under it made it where it eventually just broke it. And now I don't. A Series X, that's probably a pretty easy, pretty much camp.
- [54:47]
Justin Davis
That's probably a fairly easy fix. If you would have like pulled the back off that thing and like messed with the HDMI port a little.
- [54:53]
Mark Medina
Someone get my hammer.
- [54:54]
Justin Davis
Yeah, but I do.
- [54:55]
Mark Medina
Taking her apart.
- [54:56]
Justin Davis
I do remember game consoles. We do in some ways. We have it nice now. Like everything's just a lot more reliable. Like that shit used to break constantly. Like my PS1, my version of that story is my PlayStation 1. Famously, the little laser that would read the discs would get old and so. So mine only worked when I kept my PS1 upside down.
- [55:14]
Damon Hadfield
Cool.
- [55:14]
Mark Medina
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Or like your regular Nintendo, you'd put it down. Like the little lip would break on the motherboard. So you'd have to put the game. You'd push the game down and then put another game into it to hold it down.
- [55:26]
Justin Davis
Yep. Don't blow on your carts though.
- [55:30]
Damon Hadfield
That doesn't work. Whoa. There was a glitch in the matrix. Yeah, there was. They changed something.
- [55:35]
Justin Davis
Yeah. I'm AI this episode. It's just a Justin bot. Like what would he say about the Xbox bucks right now?
- [55:41]
Mark Medina
So far they're nailing it. This is why RAM prices are so high though.
- [55:45]
Damon Hadfield
Yeah,
- [55:53]
Mark Medina
I see you. Avatar Fire and Ash is now streaming on Disney+ it's the film critics are calling the best avatar yet. A true epic and completely jaw dropping. This is the only pure thing in this world. Return to Pandora on Disney.
- [56:10]
Damon Hadfield
It will be an adventure for the whole family.
- [56:11]
Mark Medina
And watch the Oscar winning phenomenon at home.
- [56:14]
Justin Davis
This is sick.
- [56:18]
Mark Medina
Avatar Fire and Ash now streaming on Disney. Rated PG 13.
- [56:22]
Justin Davis
Heat up your 4th of July at the Home Depot with our wide variety of grills under $300 and make every gathering one to remember. Give your outdoor space a glow up, whatever your budget is with savings on seasonal plants starting at $5. With the grill fired up and your backyard set to perfection, you'll be able to invite friends and family over to kick off the party. Start celebrating. With low prices guaranteed at the Home Depot, prices may vary by store. Exclusions applies@home depot.com Pricematch for details.
- [56:53]
Damon Hadfield
Let's check in with the listeners. Hey, listeners, listeners, Remember, you can always reach us at the email address gamescoopgn.com Just like Glenn Kirby and Barnsley Mary Old England did. Take a drink of water. Mary Old England. I bet he says maths.
- [57:07]
Mark Medina
I didn't understand the maths thing. Is that a. Is that a thing?
- [57:10]
Justin Davis
English people say? That's what they say. They say maths plural instead of math.
- [57:14]
Damon Hadfield
Yeah. Huh? Yeah. Okay. It's adorable.
- [57:17]
Justin Davis
Yeah.
- [57:18]
Damon Hadfield
Glenn says, I have recently been purchasing some games to play on my tablet.
- [57:25]
Mark Medina
He's like, you're playing games on a tablet? Get out of here.
- [57:28]
Damon Hadfield
Okay. All right, I'm gonna edit that out.
- [57:32]
Mark Medina
Okay.
- [57:33]
Damon Hadfield
I've recently been purchasing some games to play on my tablet when on my break at work. With the caveat that they must play well using the touchscreen, I've purchased Blotro, Slay the Spire, into the Breach, and Stardew Valley, which are all games I already play on my switch. I've also purchased Gumbanenza, that's the chest, Roguelite, Geometry Dash, and the Amazing Bad North. Haven't heard of that one. And I was wondering if you guys could recommend any games that you can purchase and own outright. No ads, et cetera. So, Justin, I'm assuming he's saying tablets. He doesn't have an iPad and doesn't have Apple Arcade available.
- [58:04]
Justin Davis
I mean, it's interesting. I would not actually characterize the tablet version of Stardew Valley drove me crazy. So. Oh, gosh, off the top of my head, I mean, Bloons TD6 is very, very good on iPad. I probably played a hundred hours of that on an iPad before I switched. I got the Steam version. You know, Minecraft is actually very playable on tablets. I would say Vampire Survivors is very good on. On a tablet. I mean, this is old school, but like, if, you know, like, Monument Valley were really good puzzle games back in the day on. On tablets, I played through. It sounds insane, but, like, the classic isometric RPGs like Baldur's Gate and Baldur's Gate 2 and Planescape Torment, all the. All the tablet ports of those were extremely well done. Like the. The modern version, like the enhanced editions that you're. That you can still download and play today on PC and other platforms. Those were. They were redone first for tablets and. And the touch controls are really good on them. I don't know. Those are some off the top of my head. Bloons Bloons is like the one where, like, man, that game's so underrated and so good. And I played it. I played it a lot on my iPad.
- [59:20]
Damon Hadfield
Speaking of Tower defense, there's a million Kingdom Rush games and they're all good. They're all basically the same quality. You can't go wrong with any of the Kingdom Rush. And then if you like Slay the Spire, I would recommend Monster Train too. It's great.
- [59:31]
Mark Medina
Yeah, great.
- [59:31]
Damon Hadfield
Roguelite card game. Both 1 and 2 are great, but 2 contains the entirety of Monster 1 inside of it. So just go with that one.
- [59:38]
Justin Davis
I like the one Free to play game. I was going to say the one free to play game. I've gotten hooked on one. Not true. There's been many over the years, but the one that's like, been a consistent in my life is. Is Battle Cats. I was just. I got. I go through phases of, you know, like, I'll be really into the Battle Cats for two or three months and then kind of fall off it. But then I don't delete my account. When I come back, all my cats are still just waiting for me.
- [60:03]
Damon Hadfield
Mark, do you play any tablet games?
- [60:04]
Mark Medina
No. Not at all? Nope.
- [60:07]
Damon Hadfield
Okay, well, there's a Battle Cat.
- [60:09]
Justin Davis
There it is. It's so good. Look at those little guys go. They're gonna get the base.
- [60:29]
Damon Hadfield
All right, that brings us to video game 20 questions. Our suggestion this week comes from Joel in San Diego, who says, what is going on? Omega cops for 20 questions. I wanted to propose a gem I only recently discovered in the redacted genre.
- [60:43]
Justin Davis
But what is the genre?
- [60:44]
Damon Hadfield
Oh, it's what? Oh. Oh. Almost got me. Almost got me.
- [60:49]
Mark Medina
Oh.
- [60:50]
Damon Hadfield
And with that, let the questioning begin.
- [60:53]
Justin Davis
Don't. Don't screw me on this Mark. There's. It's. It's so rare that I'm on the show and Sam's not that, like, I have a very rare chance to increase my win loss ratio.
- [61:06]
Mark Medina
Got it. Okay. No, I got this. This sounds easy.
- [61:12]
Damon Hadfield
Okay, hold on. I need to pull up some info. Okay, I got the info ready. Okay.
- [61:15]
Justin Davis
Fire away, man. San Diego, by the way, if there was one city on earth I'd like, you could live anywhere. You could live on the earth. I would probably pick San Diego.
- [61:24]
Damon Hadfield
Really? Anywhere?
- [61:25]
Justin Davis
I think so.
- [61:26]
Damon Hadfield
I'm not knocking San Diego. I'm just.
- [61:28]
Justin Davis
Yeah. Like beach. Beach vibes. Like Legoland. Like Legoland Fish tacos, man. It's like. It's like 50% the fish tacos and then 50% everything else.
- [61:39]
Damon Hadfield
Legoland has a new indoor roller coaster. It's called the Galactic Coaster. It's close to Santa logic. Disneyland is Space Mountain. I dare say Galactic Coaster is better than Space Mountain.
- [61:48]
Mark Medina
Whoa.
- [61:49]
Justin Davis
Them fighting words.
- [61:50]
Damon Hadfield
It's really, really good. Good. It's really old. Anyway.
- [61:52]
Justin Davis
Yeah, I. I heard you were just there and I heard it was very expensive.
- [61:56]
Damon Hadfield
If you want to skip the lines,
- [61:58]
Justin Davis
do all the fancy stuff. Oh, Lord. Okay. Did this game come out in the 70s, 80s, or 90s?
- [62:05]
Damon Hadfield
No.
- [62:06]
Mark Medina
Hidden gym in a very specific category of. I feel like. I feel like we should. Wait, did he say hidden gym or just.
- [62:17]
Justin Davis
Okay, a gem in. Redacted.
- [62:18]
Damon Hadfield
In a. Redacted.
- [62:19]
Mark Medina
Yeah.
- [62:19]
Damon Hadfield
I kind of feel like the genre.
- [62:22]
Mark Medina
There's so many genres that it's terrifying to try to nail down what genre it could be.
- [62:27]
Justin Davis
Is this a puzzle platformer role playing game?
- [62:32]
Damon Hadfield
Yes.
- [62:34]
Mark Medina
Puzzle platformer role playing game.
- [62:36]
Justin Davis
Puzzle or platformer or role playing game. Okay. I mean, is it a platformer?
- [62:41]
Damon Hadfield
Yes.
- [62:42]
Mark Medina
There we go. Sick. Okay, let's see. Did this game come out? Is this game exclusive to a platform?
- [62:51]
Damon Hadfield
No.
- [62:52]
Justin Davis
Is this game 2D?
- [62:55]
Damon Hadfield
No. That's five.
- [62:57]
Justin Davis
I think it's a hat in time.
- [62:59]
Mark Medina
Could be a hat in time.
- [63:00]
Justin Davis
What was that really good 2D platformer? I know it's not that because it's 3D. The one that came out a few years ago. Pizza. Pizza Tower. Did you play Pizza Tower?
- [63:08]
Mark Medina
Yeah, yeah. The Wario type game.
- [63:10]
Damon Hadfield
Yeah.
- [63:11]
Justin Davis
Mm. Game is sick. Okay. But 3D 3D platformer did not come out in the 70s, 80s, or 90s. So you know, you got. You got hat in time, you got ukulele, you got. You got corn kids. Have you ever heard of corn kids, Damon?
- [63:29]
Damon Hadfield
No. That's a. That's a platformer.
- [63:31]
Justin Davis
Yeah, there's a. There's this growing movement. There's fewer of them than I would like, but more than I would expect of. I guess you would call them like Super Mario 64. Likes like that era of like chunky 3D graphics, but, you know, but that's just kind of like pure 3D platforming.
- [63:49]
Mark Medina
Is this game part of a series?
- [63:55]
Damon Hadfield
Yeah, I guess. I guess you would say yes.
- [63:58]
Justin Davis
That makes me think it's ukulele.
- [64:00]
Mark Medina
Yeah. Because there's only one. But then there's like all these spin offs and there's not more.
- [64:06]
Justin Davis
There's not one. There's. There's at least two.
- [64:08]
Mark Medina
Is there two? I thought the other one was just replaying. Whatever.
- [64:12]
Justin Davis
No, they made a 2D one. They made a 2D one and now they're making the Kart Racer 2.5. They're 2.5 D one.
- [64:19]
Mark Medina
They're just going through all the genres.
- [64:21]
Justin Davis
That game was really clever because you could go to the final boss, like right at the beginning of the game, you could try the final level, but it's this long gauntlet and it's really hard and impossible. And as you're playing through the game and playing through the levels, what you're doing is earning more lives and more tries to complete the final level. So you can decide whenever you're ready. Like, I have 12 lives now. Maybe that's enough to get through the final level and you can just keep building up the number of lives you have.
- [64:45]
Mark Medina
Got it.
- [64:47]
Justin Davis
Okay. I mean, let's just go for it. Was this game developed or published by Platonic? Nope, not Ukulele and Hat in Time.
- [64:59]
Mark Medina
I think it's a one and done. Great game, though.
- [65:05]
Justin Davis
What about Bubsy 4D? That's the new one. Or what's that other developer, Demon Turf. They made.
- [65:12]
Mark Medina
Yeah, yeah, the. The school ones.
- [65:14]
Justin Davis
Yeah, Demon School. Demon Turf.
- [65:17]
Sponsor Read Host
Mm.
- [65:18]
Mark Medina
I forget what the new one's called.
- [65:19]
Justin Davis
I don't remember either.
- [65:22]
Mark Medina
Yeah. Is this. Is that indie game? No, no. Let's see.
- [65:33]
Justin Davis
Okay. But not exclusive. So, yes, I guess it's part of a series. Not indie 3D platformer. Not exclusive to a console. So we're not. It's not like. It's like, you know, Mario or like
- [65:48]
Mark Medina
something or Ratchet or.
- [65:50]
Justin Davis
Yeah, yeah. Not any of the, like, really obvious ones.
- [65:58]
Mark Medina
Platformer. Yeah.
- [65:59]
Sponsor Read Host
Yeah.
- [66:00]
Mark Medina
This is.
- [66:02]
Justin Davis
Did this game come out within the last 15 years. Did it come out in. In what year? What year is it?
- [66:11]
Mark Medina
Did it 2021.
- [66:14]
Justin Davis
Let me ask what I'm actually asking. Did this game come out after I started working at IGN, which was July 2011?
- [66:21]
Damon Hadfield
No.
- [66:22]
Justin Davis
Okay.
- [66:23]
Mark Medina
Okay. So we're in the early 2000s. So we're 2000 to 2011. Well, 2000 to 2011. June. That.
- [66:36]
Justin Davis
I mean, I know that's a very Justin specific clue, but, Mark, hopefully that still helps us get placed in a specific era.
- [66:42]
Mark Medina
Yeah, Yeah.
- [66:44]
Justin Davis
I mean. Okay, so.
- [66:46]
Mark Medina
So now we're looking at, I don't know, PS3. Yeah, PS2. PS3.
- [66:51]
Justin Davis
But not. It's not like Jak and Daxter, any of those, because those are all. Those are all PS2 exclusives. Sly Cooper, PS2 exclusive. Or, you know, PlayStation exclusives. And Ratchet. You're right.
- [67:05]
Mark Medina
Banjo nut and bolts or whatever.
- [67:07]
Justin Davis
But what about.
- [67:08]
Mark Medina
I think.
- [67:08]
Justin Davis
What about I Ninja? That was a cool 3D platformer from that era.
- [67:12]
Mark Medina
I don't even know what that is.
- [67:15]
Justin Davis
Did this game come out on the GameCube?
- [67:18]
Damon Hadfield
No. That's 10.
- [67:21]
Mark Medina
Okay. We still have a lot of questions.
- [67:23]
Justin Davis
Psychonauts, did that come out on the GameCube? It could be Psychonauts 1. Could be Psychonauts 1.
- [67:33]
Mark Medina
It's true. And it's on everything. And it's technically. Double Fine is not.
- [67:39]
Justin Davis
Nd Was this game made in the United States?
- [67:43]
Mark Medina
Hold please.
- [67:44]
Damon Hadfield
Let's see. Yes,
- [67:48]
Mark Medina
I feel like you would know that. Double Fines in San Francisco. They were right down the street.
- [67:53]
Justin Davis
Yeah, but you can't. You can't play that game with Damon because you just never know.
- [67:57]
Sponsor Read Host
Yeah.
- [67:58]
Justin Davis
Okay. So there was, you know, what else
- [68:01]
Mark Medina
is part of a series?
- [68:03]
Justin Davis
Because there's not on the GameCube. Because then I was like, okay, like, maybe, you know, maybe it's like Prince of Persia or something. But a lot of those games came out on the GameCube cube.
- [68:12]
Mark Medina
Yeah, yeah.
- [68:14]
Justin Davis
Psychonauts might have come out on the gamecube. I honestly don't even know.
- [68:23]
Mark Medina
Made in America. I feel like I just need to know more about the game, cuz I'm just.
- [68:30]
Justin Davis
Yeah, that's what we're doing here.
- [68:31]
Mark Medina
I know. No, no, no.
- [68:32]
Justin Davis
That's the entire. That's the entire game. I mean, if only we knew more about it.
- [68:39]
Mark Medina
That is not what I meant. I meant what you should do with the actual game. I mean, what you do with the actual game.
- [68:46]
Justin Davis
Yeah, ask some goddamn. Ask some questions.
- [68:49]
Mark Medina
I'm trying to think of any. Hold on.
- [68:56]
Justin Davis
Ask more Things about what you do. What about like, Spyro? Was there multi platform Spyro games back then?
- [69:03]
Mark Medina
Shit, that's true. Did Spyro ever come to, like, Xbox? I don't know.
- [69:11]
Justin Davis
I don't know if there are PS2 exclusives. Yeah, yeah, probably PS1 exclusives. Well, so they were PS1 exclusives, but then they do like the Crash Bandicoot thing and then go multi platform later. Yeah, with like, Activision picked them up.
- [69:24]
Mark Medina
Okay, okay, so Activision has Crash as well. So let's go with. Was this game published by Activision?
- [69:31]
Justin Davis
No. Rip Shoot. I mean, if. If. There's no reason it can't be Psychonauts. By the way, he did say yes, it was developed in the United States.
- [69:43]
Damon Hadfield
Yep.
- [69:46]
Mark Medina
Yeah. Okay.
- [69:52]
Justin Davis
I'm not. I don't know. How many questions do we have?
- [69:53]
Damon Hadfield
Damon, you've asked 12.
- [69:57]
Mark Medina
Okay.
- [69:57]
Justin Davis
I mean, was this game developed by Double Fine?
- [69:59]
Damon Hadfield
No.
- [70:04]
Mark Medina
Okay, let's figure out how you. When you attack, are you using. Is it primarily melee?
- [70:13]
Justin Davis
Maybe you don't attack. Maybe it's like Monkey Ball. Although that was obviously on GameCube, but you know, something like that. Like a Kula World or like a. Like a. Like a Marble Blast Ultra?
- [70:28]
Damon Hadfield
Yeah, I don't know. I. I haven't personally played this game. I don't know. I am aware of this game, but haven't played it myself.
- [70:42]
Justin Davis
Platformer. What about like, what about like. I don't know. It's a stretch to call it a platformer, but what about like a jet set? Like a jet set radio?
- [70:55]
Mark Medina
Mm, I don't know.
- [70:57]
Justin Davis
I guess I would call it a. I don't know what I would call that game.
- [71:01]
Mark Medina
Yeah, I think you could call it.
- [71:04]
Damon Hadfield
I think you could.
- [71:07]
Mark Medina
What would you call Tony Hawk? Is Tony Hawk a platformer?
- [71:10]
Justin Davis
No. Were they making. Were they making 3D Rayman games back then? Although this was developed in the United States and the Rayman games were probably still made in France back then.
- [71:29]
Mark Medina
Yeah, the United States one is. I guess it could be a Sonic game.
- [71:36]
Justin Davis
Yeah. Except they're made in Japan.
- [71:38]
Mark Medina
Yep.
- [71:39]
Justin Davis
And they were probably platform exclusives back then if they were on the Dreamcast. Late era Dreamcast game.
- [71:46]
Mark Medina
Well, sonic adventure, like 1 and 2 are on GameCube.
- [71:50]
Justin Davis
Damon, is this a first person game?
- [71:52]
Damon Hadfield
No,
- [71:55]
Justin Davis
I thought I had a flash of Inspo and I thought it was Mirror's Edge.
- [71:59]
Mark Medina
Oh, that would have been good.
- [72:01]
Justin Davis
That would have been sick, right? Platformer of that era, not on the GameCube. Probably mirrors Edge.
- [72:09]
Mark Medina
Next question. Are you sure it's not Mirror's Edge.
- [72:12]
Justin Davis
Yeah. Just say. Just say. Just say. Just say it is.
- [72:16]
Damon Hadfield
Yep.
- [72:16]
Justin Davis
You got it. The show could have been over.
- [72:20]
Mark Medina
Yeah, yeah.
- [72:23]
Justin Davis
With it. With the Ape Escape. Games were exclusive to the PlayStation, right?
- [72:27]
Mark Medina
PlayStation, yeah.
- [72:30]
Justin Davis
2011. That doesn't necessarily. I'm picturing, like, psych. Like, it could be generations. It doesn't have to be PS2.
- [72:38]
Mark Medina
It can be like, P3, PS3, Wii, and.
- [72:44]
Justin Davis
Yeah, maybe that's what's tripping me up. Maybe this is like a Wii.
- [72:49]
Damon Hadfield
What about.
- [72:49]
Justin Davis
Is this. Is this. Is this a Lego game?
- [72:54]
Damon Hadfield
No, that's 15.
- [72:56]
Mark Medina
God. And the series is. Oh, I just said, is it part of a series? Does this game.
- [73:04]
Justin Davis
Yeah, I guess so. It's like.
- [73:06]
Mark Medina
Yeah, yeah. Is there a game in development for this series right now that's just, like, not out yet?
- [73:14]
Damon Hadfield
Yes.
- [73:16]
Mark Medina
Yes.
- [73:17]
Justin Davis
Okay.
- [73:18]
Mark Medina
It's not Spyro, unless Spyro wasn't published by Activision back then, but I can't imagine. Well, Spyro was.
- [73:28]
Justin Davis
I also don't even know which one it would be. Spyro 1, 2, and 3 are PS1 games. And then, you know, they obviously kept making them, but I'm not the. The PS2 era. Spyro games are not to be spoken of.
- [73:41]
Damon Hadfield
You've got three questions and a guess. Since you're down a man. I'll say. There's just. There's one common question you always ask that you have not asked yet.
- [73:48]
Justin Davis
Have we mentioned this?
- [73:49]
Mark Medina
Have we mentioned the game?
- [73:50]
Damon Hadfield
That. That's not the question.
- [73:51]
Mark Medina
I mean, that's not the question.
- [73:53]
Justin Davis
Oh, well, what's the common. What is the common question?
- [73:56]
Mark Medina
Does your character wear a hat?
- [73:57]
Justin Davis
That's not a common.
- [73:59]
Mark Medina
Now we have to start asking questions to find out what the common question is.
- [74:03]
Justin Davis
What's a common question that we ask that we haven't even asked yet? I mean, sometimes we ask if multiplayer is, like, prominently featured. I don't even know. I don't even know. Damon, you twisting. You're twisting us up.
- [74:21]
Mark Medina
Yeah, the. The one.
- [74:22]
Ad Read Host
The.
- [74:23]
Mark Medina
The. It's. It. There's one in development that hasn't come out yet that's part of this series is totally tripping me up because, I mean, I think of every game that's coming out now.
- [74:32]
Justin Davis
I don't know if I'd call it a platformer, but, like, there's, like, you know, there's like, Tomb Raider.
- [74:37]
Mark Medina
Yeah, It's Tomb Raider 100. It's got to be.
- [74:40]
Justin Davis
And that might trip Damon up with, like, if there's. If there's punching or kicking in it.
- [74:45]
Mark Medina
Yeah.
- [74:46]
Justin Davis
What does that face Mean, I wouldn't know the answer to that question. I know she's shooting her dual guns all the time, but you might be kicking raptors in the face in Tomb Raider. I don't know. I can't remember punching your butler, locking him in the fridge.
- [75:02]
Mark Medina
That must have been the Tomb Raider. I haven't played. Yeah, because I think so. It's like, for as far as platformers go, we have. We have Tomb Raider. We have with Spyro.
- [75:13]
Justin Davis
We do ask if you play as a human. Maybe that's the question.
- [75:15]
Mark Medina
Akami.
- [75:19]
Justin Davis
Yeah. Although that's. Isn't that a game? No, that was a Wii game.
- [75:23]
Mark Medina
Also, it's super Japanese.
- [75:26]
Justin Davis
Oh, yeah, you're right.
- [75:28]
Mark Medina
A Tomb Raider
- [75:31]
Justin Davis
does this. We have two, three questions and a guess.
- [75:35]
Damon Hadfield
Yes.
- [75:35]
Justin Davis
Do you play as a human?
- [75:38]
Mark Medina
No.
- [75:39]
Damon Hadfield
No. No. You do not.
- [75:42]
Justin Davis
Maybe this is your hint.
- [75:44]
Damon Hadfield
You do not play as a human. Absolutely not.
- [75:47]
Justin Davis
Understood. Maybe you play as a bandicoot or purple dragon. Or a dragon or. It was not exclusive to a console, so it's not like Conquer.
- [76:03]
Mark Medina
Yeah.
- [76:06]
Justin Davis
It's not 90s though, is it?
- [76:10]
Mark Medina
Does it not help us at all to ask if it's like a mascot platformer?
- [76:14]
Justin Davis
I don't think. I think we know it is because you play as some weird animal or a zombie.
- [76:20]
Mark Medina
Are zombies humans or a vampire?
- [76:25]
Justin Davis
I don't. Okay, okay, okay, okay. We can pull this out. We can do it. I'm not sure how do you. I know we're not allowed to. I'm gonna look something up on my computer. But it's not related to.
- [76:40]
Damon Hadfield
Wow.
- [76:41]
Justin Davis
No, I'm talking to platformers. No, I'm looking up. Does Spyro walk on two legs? No. He's a young dragon who runs primarily on all four legs. Do you walk on two legs in this game?
- [76:57]
Damon Hadfield
Yes.
- [76:58]
Mark Medina
Okay, shoot.
- [77:01]
Justin Davis
So that's super. That's helpful. That means it could be a PS2 era crash bandicoot game. Maybe. Although I think they were all published by Activision, but I feel like they
- [77:09]
Mark Medina
were published by Activision. I also don't know crashes that are in development.
- [77:13]
Justin Davis
Two legged animal. That means it's an anthropomorphic animal. Like it's not a. Like Sonic's not a real hedgehog. He's like a boy. That's a hedgehog. Like hello Kitty is a human girl. Yeah.
- [77:29]
Damon Hadfield
One question, one guess.
- [77:30]
Mark Medina
I feel like we have to. I feel like we have to do the. Have we. Have we mentioned the game?
- [77:35]
Justin Davis
Have we mentioned this game?
- [77:38]
Damon Hadfield
No.
- [77:43]
Mark Medina
Or scroll.
- [77:45]
Damon Hadfield
Gents, should I just reveal it?
- [77:47]
Mark Medina
Sorry, Justin, this is all my fault.
- [77:51]
Justin Davis
I mean, we mentioned a lot of games.
- [77:55]
Mark Medina
So many. So it's like, what are we missing? And I.
- [78:00]
Damon Hadfield
You're missing.
- [78:01]
Mark Medina
I know this is sometimes a question, but like, are we gonna be pissed off?
- [78:04]
Damon Hadfield
I'll just. Since you just have a wild guess to make, I'll reveal the redacted. And it's related to the question you usually ask. Craig in San Diego said, I want to propose a gem I only recently discovered in the licensed movie tie in genre. If you can guess it off that.
- [78:23]
Justin Davis
God, that. No, no, that. That actually doesn't help me. I mean, we asked if it was a Lego game, which we're all licensed. No, that doesn't help.
- [78:34]
Damon Hadfield
All right, are you ready?
- [78:35]
Justin Davis
Yep.
- [78:36]
Mark Medina
Yes.
- [78:36]
Damon Hadfield
Toy Story 3.
- [78:38]
Mark Medina
Whatever.
- [78:39]
Damon Hadfield
2010.
- [78:40]
Mark Medina
Never. That was nowhere close.
- [78:43]
Damon Hadfield
That's the game.
- [78:44]
Mark Medina
Got it.
- [78:44]
Justin Davis
I've never even seen this game. I know that there's a well liked, like Toy Story, like I think PS1 era like Toy Story tie in game that people are secretly like, yeah, this game's all right. Never heard of Toy Story 3.
- [78:58]
Damon Hadfield
The Complete Edition is coming this year from. Yeah, the Complete Toy Story Complete edition is coming this October of Toy Story 3.
- [79:07]
Mark Medina
Yeah. I didn't even think about like, I mean, we said no gamecube, but like spongebob battle for Bikini Bottom probably would have been a good guess, but not GameCube.
- [79:16]
Damon Hadfield
Yeah. It's your question about is it mostly melee? I don't know. I don't know if there's any combat at all.
- [79:22]
Mark Medina
What's Woody doing?
- [79:23]
Justin Davis
Yeah, this looks cool.
- [79:24]
Damon Hadfield
It's supposed to be good. I mean, Craig says it's a gym. We gave it a 7.5. Anthony Gallegos reviewed it, gave it a 7.5.
- [79:31]
Justin Davis
Okay. I miss Anthony. Yeah.
- [79:34]
Mark Medina
Now he's making Subnautica too.
- [79:36]
Justin Davis
Is that true?
- [79:37]
Mark Medina
That's the journey.
- [79:37]
Damon Hadfield
He's at the studio.
- [79:39]
Mark Medina
I believe he's like the design director for it. Well, alrighty.
- [79:41]
Damon Hadfield
Nicely attempt. Thank you for the suggestion, Joel and San Diego viewers, listeners, if you have your own suggestions for video game 20 questions, email them to me at the email address gamescoopgn.com and that's all the scoops that we have for you this week. Thank you, Mark. Thank you, Justin. Thank you to same who was keeping me company this whole. This whole time here. For those following along at home in the light, life on the life of Damon. My daughter graduated preschool today, so. Checkpoint, checkpoint. We have no kids in preschool anymore. We have kids in public school now, so that's exciting. Yo ho ho. It's a pirate's life for me this weekend. My name is Damon. This is IGN. GamesCube and Rap.
- [80:17]
Justin Davis
What does that mean? I know what that means.
- [80:27]
Mark Medina
Sam.
- [80:53]
Justin Davis
Sa.
- [82:09]
Ad Read Host
Sa.
- [82:55]
Justin Davis
Is it just the three of us?
- [82:57]
Damon Hadfield
Yep. Sam is in Italy and Nick Limone was unavailable. Pair's unavailable.
- [83:01]
Justin Davis
But I thought Mark wasn't allowed to be on gamescoop anymore.
- [83:04]
Damon Hadfield
I decide whether or not Mark and Young. As long as Mark stays in my good graces, we're all good.
- [83:10]
Mark Medina
Wait, who banned me? The audience? Or is it Sam? For me, telling him that I don't give a fuck about Elder Scrolls.
- [83:18]
Damon Hadfield
Sam's parting words out the door was, don't let Mark be on Game Scoop.
- [83:23]
Justin Davis
To be fair, that's his parting words every week.
- [83:25]
Damon Hadfield
Yeah, that's true. Why do you keep bringing him on? Okay, what's up, everybody? Welcome to ign. Whoa. The new shot is just really throwing me off my game.
- [83:36]
Mark Medina
You can't reason with the sun. Trust us, we've tried. This summer, it's time to put that angry ball of fire on mute.
- [83:43]
Justin Davis
Columbia's Omnishade technology is engineered to protect you from the sun's harsh rays that
- [83:49]
Mark Medina
can burn and damage your skin. The sun is relentless, but so is our gear. Level up your summer@columbia.com to spend more time outside and less time slathering on aloe lotion. You're welcome, Columbia.
- [84:02]
Justin Davis
Engineered for whatever.