EA Cancels Black Panther Game, Closes Studio - Kinda Funny Games Daily 05.28.25

Summary

Podcast Summary: Kinda Funny Games Daily – "EA Cancels Black Panther Game, Closes Studio" (05.28.25)

Release Date: May 28, 2025
Hosts: Greg “GameOverGreggy” Miller, Tim Gettys, Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Description: Kinda Funny Games Daily is the world’s most popular daily video game news podcast, covering the latest in PlayStation, Xbox, Nintendo, and all aspects of gaming.

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1. Introduction and Show Overview (00:00 - 03:02)

Greg Miller kicks off the episode with a brief overview of the day's topics, including a new Pokémon release date, Apple's intensified focus on gaming, and reviews of Elden Ring Night Rain. He introduces the hosts and highlights the availability of the podcast across multiple platforms, encouraging listeners to subscribe and join as members for exclusive content.

2. Pokémon Legends Z Release and Nintendo Switch 2 (05:00 - 14:18)

Release Date Announcement:

• Greg Miller (06:18): “Let Greg Miller review Pokémon Legends Z for the first time.”
• Pokémon Legends Z is set to launch on October 16, 2025, with digital pre-orders available from June 5th on the Nintendo eShop.
• Tim Gettys emphasizes the strategic timing ahead of the holiday season: “October 16th feels very in line with what I expected from this.”

Nintendo Switch 2 Compatibility:

• The game will be available in both standard and Nintendo Switch 2 editions, with upgrade packs purchasable separately.
• Tim Gettys (13:40): Highlights Nintendo’s focus on key franchises like Battlefield, The Sims, Skate, and Apex Legends to drive Switch 2 adoption.

Cover Art Critique:

• Hosts discuss the elaborate cover art for Pokémon Legends Z, critiquing the excessive text and design choices.
• Greg Miller (07:03): “Why is the top of this so big? And does any of this matter fully? No, it doesn't. Does it bother me? Yes, it does.”

3. Apple’s Entry into the Gaming Market (19:00 - 26:09)

New Gaming App Launch:

• Apple is set to introduce a dedicated gaming app across iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV, replacing the existing Game Center.
• The app will centralize game launches, achievements, leaderboards, and communications.
• Greg Miller (19:32): “Apple is planning a dedicated app for video games on its devices, seeking to sell gamers and developers on the idea that it's a leader in the market.”

Impact on Gaming Ecosystem:

• Tim Gettys expresses cautious optimism, noting Apple’s history of playing catch-up but recognizing the potential with cloud gaming’s growing popularity.
• Tim Gettys (21:12): “Apple Home OS is going to be a big push for them and that's going to include updates to the TVs and to iPad OS.”

Apple TV Advantages:

• The Apple TV device is praised for its superior streaming capabilities and potential integration with Apple’s gaming services.
• Tim Gettys (24:15): “The Apple TV is undeniably the best stream box there is, period.”

4. EA Cancels Black Panther Game and Closes Cliffhanger Studios (35:30 - 50:10)

Announcement Details:

• Greg Miller (35:30): “Electronic Arts is canceling its planned Black Panther game and shutting down developer Cliffhanger Studios.”
• EA’s President Laura Meleeb outlined the decision to focus on key franchises like Battlefield, The Sims, Skate, and Apex Legends.
• The cancellation affects a multi-game deal with Marvel, including previously announced titles like Iron Man and a third unannounced game.

Impact on EA and the Industry:

• The closure marks a continued pattern of layoffs and project cancellations within EA, reflecting a strategic shift towards more profitable and sustainable projects.
• Tim Gettys (39:55): “There are certain things where there's protection there you have the IP, there's almost a guaranteed sell-through rate of X million. Those days are gone.”

Listener Reactions:

• Dean 8149 (Super Chat, 48:43): Expresses frustration, “I bet it's just that they aren't. The game ain't coming together and EA doesn't want to give more time to make it come together. More money, more time, more money.”
• Whiskey 17 (Super Chat, 49:22): Agrees, “Disney needs to stop handing Marvel and Star Wars IP to EA. Terrible track record.”

Host Reflections:

• Greg Miller (40:02): “I have full confidence, full confidence, full unflinching confidence going to happen that that Iron Man game is going to happen.”
• The hosts discuss the precarious nature of licensed games and the risks involved, highlighting EA’s focus on high-margin projects over passion-driven IPs.

5. Elden Ring: Night Rain Review Roundup (56:54 - 61:18)

Game Overview:

• Elden Ring: Night Rain is a standalone adventure within the Elden Ring universe, aiming to offer a new co-op experience.
• Wesley LeBlanc (Game Informer, 06:32): “Every success is as visceral as the last.”

Critical Reception:

• Mixed reviews highlight both strengths and weaknesses:
  • Game Informer (06:32): “It's an ambitious spin-off that's exhilarating when you're able to create the proper conditions...”
  • Mitchell Saltzman (IGN, 06:45): “Despite their limited move sets, the new Night Lord boss battles are among the best FromSoft has ever crafted.”

Host Insights:

• Tim Gettys (57:42): Recommends listeners check out detailed discussions on the Games Cast episode with Bless and Andy, noting alignment with other reviews on the game’s cooperative elements and matchmaking issues.

6. To A T Game Review Roundup (59:32 - 61:18)

Game Overview:

• To A T is a charming, slice-of-life adventure game focused on a teen navigating life with their dog companion.
• Andrew Brown (Pluses, No Timestamp): “It's an ode to the little quirks you love, almost without realizing.”

Critical Reception:

• Andrew Brown (04:42): “If you like Rain for the same reason I do, the warmth and contentment it brings...”
• Moises Tavares (Paste, 06:03): “...it still just barely manages to get off the ground, though.”

Host Reactions:

• Tim Gettys (05:50): Compares To A T to games like I am Bread for its quirky and unique premise.
• Roger Pokorny (06:25): While critical of technical issues, he praises the game’s heart and unique take on storytelling.

7. Animal Crossing New Horizons Update (62:22 - 63:19)

Update Details:

• Nintendo released the first update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons in three years, focusing on improved multiplayer compatibility between Nintendo Switch and Switch 2.
• Vicki Blake (IGN, 62:22): “Players jumping into Animal Crossing New Horizons on Switch 2 can still visit islands of their friends without incident.”

Host Discussion:

• Greg Miller (62:26): Expresses desire for enhanced performance and new features.
• Tim Gettys (62:34): Highlights the importance of ensuring seamless connectivity without compromising the game’s simplicity.

8. Nintendo Switch 2 Features: Rewind and CRT Filter (63:37 - 64:19)

New Features:

• The Nintendo Switch 2 will introduce a rewind feature and a CRT filter for classic titles, enhancing the retro gaming experience.
• Greg Miller (63:37): Playfully criticizes the addition, “They really needed all that hardware to make silly shit like this. Exclusive.”

Host Reactions:

• Tim Gettys (64:15): Appreciates the enhanced emulation capabilities and control customization.
• Barrett (64:19): Agrees on the need for better customization options.

9. Additional News and Listener Interactions (65:06 - 75:55)

Player Engagement Tracker:

• The Dark Ages debuts at #5 on Xbox and #12 on Steam, with significant gains for Helldivers 2 following a major update.
• Matt Piscatella (Circana, 66:05): Highlights top active games, including Call of Duty, Fortnite, and Minecraft.

Listener Super Chats:

• Golden Spider (69:52): Raises concerns about the future of long-form games versus free-to-play models.
• Ricardo (50:10): Criticizes the decline of superhero-themed licensed games in favor of free-to-play skins.

Host Responses:

• Greg Miller (69:52): Argues that the industry supports multiple markets, balancing long-form and live-service games.
• Tim Gettys (70:55): Emphasizes that different gaming segments can coexist without one undermining the other.

10. Closing Remarks and Upcoming Events (75:31 - 77:06)

Upcoming Releases:

• Hosts tease coverage of upcoming games and events, including Summer Game Fest 2025 and Xbox Game Showcase, promising detailed reactions and live discussions.

Final Thoughts:

• Greg Miller (76:43): Encourages listeners to support the podcast through memberships and engage with their content across various platforms.
• Tim Gettys (76:10): Reiterates the importance of a seamless gaming experience across devices and platforms.

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Notable Quotes:

• Greg Miller (07:03): “Why is the top of this so big? And does any of this matter fully? No, it doesn't. Does it bother me? Yes, it does.”
• Tim Gettys (21:12): “Apple Home OS is going to be a big push for them and that's going to include updates to the TVs and to iPad OS.”
• Greg Miller (35:30): “Electronic Arts is canceling its planned Black Panther game and shutting down developer Cliffhanger Studios.”
• Tim Gettys (39:55): “There are certain things where there's protection there you have the IP, there's almost a guaranteed sell-through rate of X million. Those days are gone.”
• Greg Miller (40:02): “I have full confidence, full confidence, full unflinching confidence going to happen that that Iron Man game is going to happen.”
• Tim Gettys (64:15): “What you want more is a new Animal Crossing.”
• Greg Miller (69:52): “If we all continue to chase the people who only want to play two hours and buy one game a year, the industry is fucking cooked. It's over.”
• Tim Gettys (70:55): “Gaming has gotten so big, their console sales are so astronomically higher than they were in previous generations across the board.”

Conclusion:

In this episode of Kinda Funny Games Daily, the hosts delve into significant industry developments, including Nintendo's upcoming Switch 2 and Pokémon Legends Z, Apple's strategic entry into the gaming market, and the disappointing news of EA canceling the Black Panther game and closing Cliffhanger Studios. They also review new game releases, discuss the state of licensed games, and interact with listener comments, providing a comprehensive overview of the current gaming landscape. The conversation highlights the balancing act between maintaining diverse gaming markets and the financial pressures shaping industry decisions.

Transcript

[Greg Miller]

Today in the nerdy news you need to know about, we have a Pokemon release date. Apple's getting serious about video games. And Elden Ring Night rain reviews are in. We'll have all this and more because this is Kinda Funny Games Daily. What's up everybody? Welcome to Kinda Funny Games daily for Wednesday, May 28, 2025. I'm one of your hosts, Greg Miller alongside Forbes 30 under 30, aka the second best baby blues in San Francisco. Aka Game Showdown season three second place, Tim Gettys.

[Tim Gettys]

Let Tim host. Are you Greg?

[Greg Miller]

I'm excellent. How are you, Tim?

[Tim Gettys]

I'm excellent as well.

[Greg Miller]

You just reminded me we have a double date tonight.

[Tim Gettys]

We do.

[Greg Miller]

I kind of forget, you know, I come here, I like. You know what I mean?

[Tim Gettys]

Like I live in a moment.

[Greg Miller]

I come here and I kind of severance myself where I get here and it's all about work. How can I torture.

[Tim Gettys]

That's why you make those weird sounds. I see you over there.

[Greg Miller]

I know what I mean. As soon as I come through our little door.

[Tim Gettys]

Explains a lot.

[Greg Miller]

Forgot that you. You, me and the girls going out tonight. Getting wild on the street.

[Tim Gettys]

Crazy on a.

[Greg Miller]

Breaking that to bed today. He's. Are you going to be here when I get. When I'm. When I go to sleep? You'll be asleep. Oh, you know what I mean?

[Tim Gettys]

It's a whole thing. Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Screwed up yesterday I mentioned an upcoming trip and he's like tomorrow. Tonight I'm like, not tonight. I'm like, don't ask about tomorrow. Don't ask about tomorrow. Oh, it's a reservation. Yeah, we have a house of prime rib reservation we made for next month, you know, like three months ago.

[Tim Gettys]

Oh yeah.

[Greg Miller]

But now we got to kind of.

[Tim Gettys]

But now it's tomorrow.

[Greg Miller]

No, no, no. We got to add somebody to it. Don't worry about the tomorrow thing. How are you worry about the tomorrow war. Remember that movie?

[Tim Gettys]

What a great movie.

[Greg Miller]

Great movie.

[Tim Gettys]

I love how that's the thing that everyone always goes back to of like.

[Greg Miller]

Can I spoil something for you?

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

I don't want to talk about it because I want to do a kind of funny podcast about the justice because I fucking love that film. Fuck you people on Reddit trying to throw it in my face. Fuck you is a fun idea. It was a good movie. I digress. Tim, you're good. You're. You're well.

[Tim Gettys]

I am very well. That's what I think. Yeah. Excited to talk about a lot of this news today.

[Greg Miller]

We have a lot of news. So much news that some of the things you probably think would be a normal news item are in WE News. Because it's cool news, but not news to discuss. But it doesn't matter because we'll get through it all. Because this is Kind of Funny Games Daily. Each and every weekday on a variety of platforms, we run you through the nerdy video game news you need to know about live on YouTube.com kindafunnygames, Twitch TV, kindafunnygames and podcast services around the globe. If you love that, we'd love you to pick up a Kinda Funny membership. Of course, $10 gets you all of our shows ad free for the entire month. That's more than 80 episodes of content. And of course you get your daily dose of me, Greg Miller in a series we call Greg way. That's 15 to 20 minutes of me each and every weekday, adding up to four hours of exclusive podcast just for your listening holes and your eyes. Ew, nobody talks about holes enough on the body. All of the holes. Okay, let me in your ears.

[Tim Gettys]

Oh man.

[Greg Miller]

If you got no bucks, toss away. No big deal. Like subscribe, share, ring the bell, notify. If you have Amazon prime, you got Twitch Prime. Give us a free 30 day subscription that doesn't auto renew because they want you to forget it's a benefit for you. However, you're watching live and you want to go that special extra extra extra mile, you can super chat on YouTube.com kind of funny games to be part of the show as we go. We had a super chat before we even went live from CJ splits on who said wanted to shout out Ppistrello Pipistrello Pip strello Zelda Vania. 87 on open critic Barrett. It's my first link there. The PR for this has been fantastic. I think they were on one of our shows, one of the indie mixes we had done and they have been really great about keeping me posted about its progress. It is out apparently. 87 on open critic I have a code. I haven't touched it. Not necessarily my type of game. But Barrett, if you watch the trailer there, I think a lot of people on this team might be really into it because yeah it is PV Strello and what the cursed yo yo I believe so as you can see here, very old school vibe as you walk.

[Tim Gettys]

To the past life you will.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, exactly.

[Tim Gettys]

And you came in hyped as hell on this right before we did Gamescast and was like selling me and bless on it and I'm like I'm sold. Look at this straight this Looks awesome.

[Greg Miller]

You know, I put you in games code a long time ago, but nobody cared about it there. Did you put the trailer in there and everything? Too many games.

[Tim Gettys]

Let's just be frank.

[Greg Miller]

There's too many games. I want you to know that you, the audience, the kind of funny best friends have turned me around on this fantasy life. I watched the trailer, you know, during the switch thing, okay. And then somebody brought it up on one of the shows here we watching and I'm like, it looks like it's doing a lot of stuff. I don't know if it's doing any of it well. And there's so many people on Blue sky are like, no, Greg, this is a great game. You need to get on it. So I'm getting on it, everybody. I'll be playing Fantasy Life. I seen if that works for me.

[Tim Gettys]

But.

[Greg Miller]

But there's just too much happening. There's too many gosh darn games playing.

[Tim Gettys]

Too many, let alone the launch of.

[Greg Miller]

A brand new system next week. I digress. If you didn't know everybody, we are kinda funny Games. We're an 11 person business. All about live talk shows today. You've already gotten our Elden Ring Night Reign review over on Gamescast. Of course we did them out of order. Blessing has to shoot off and do some coverage somewhere else. So of course you can go to YouTube.com kindafunnygames to see that review or get the Gamescast on the podcast service of your choice. If you wanna hang out today, of course, after us, the stream is happen. It's Nick diving deeper into doom. The dark ages. If you're a kind of funny member, today's Greg way is 15 minutes about what triggers me and two parenting cues. I heard you and Blessing debating on the Gamescast. No, they are not related. The parenting questions are not related to anything that triggers me. Thank you to our Patreon producers, Carl Jacobs, Omega Buster and Delaney Twining. Today we're brought to you by Mood, but we'll tell you about that later. For now, let's begin the show with what is and and forever will be the Roper Report. For some new seven items on the Roper Report Baker's dozen, we begin with story number one. Pokemon Legends. Zah that Z A has a release date and more. First off, we have a cover. Throw up the COVID Barrett. Let's look at this. What I will say is a gorgeous cover. Yeah, I'm saying it.

[Tim Gettys]

You're going to look at this and say this is.

[Greg Miller]

I'm going to say this is Gorgeous. And I'm going to say something even bolder. Tim.

[Tim Gettys]

What?

[Greg Miller]

It's 2025. The time has come.

[Tim Gettys]

For what?

[Greg Miller]

Let Greg Miller review this one. Let Greg Miller review Pokemon Zar for the first. I've never reviewed a Pokemon game. With good reason because I haven't played a lot of them, but I play the latest one. I didn't roll credits on it yet, but I need to. Yeah, but maybe I don't even do that. Think about it. Stew on it.

[Tim Gettys]

Because that is. I want to think.

[Greg Miller]

I don't want to take the food from your plate. I don't want to take it from Blessings Plate your Pokemaniacs.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, this one, I, I, I might need to put my foot down on this one.

[Greg Miller]

Think about it.

[Tim Gettys]

I might need to just think about it being a Switch to it.

[Greg Miller]

You're not thinking yet, though.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

You can review the Switch 2 version and I'll review the Switch.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah. Maybe we can convince Nintendo to give us two copies. Now.

[Greg Miller]

Wouldn't that solve a lot of issues? Nintendo really would. I'm gonna see Mario at the Nintendo Store one day and I'm gonna grab his boob cheese and I'm gonna shake.

[Tim Gettys]

His little face and say, what the going on? Give us co. What's your problem, Adam?

[Greg Miller]

What's your problem?

[Tim Gettys]

All right.

[Greg Miller]

Oh, a Pokemon. You son of.

[Tim Gettys]

Oh, my God.

[Greg Miller]

The Pokemon company.

[Tim Gettys]

All y' all know that was a lot scary to look at from the side. Like the angle you got, that was good. But like, my God, I've never seen him look quite like that.

[Greg Miller]

I'm having fun today.

[Tim Gettys]

All right, you are.

[Greg Miller]

I like the 11 o' clock start for a games daily, you know what I mean?

[Tim Gettys]

Got a lot of this going on.

[Greg Miller]

Okay.

[Tim Gettys]

Okay. We got to talk about the COVID art for a sec, though, Greg.

[Greg Miller]

Okay, sure.

[Tim Gettys]

Done with that.

[Greg Miller]

Throw it back on.

[Tim Gettys]

You brought it up. You say it's beautiful cover art. And look, I can't disagree with you that the art is, is beautiful. I actually am a very big fan of this. I think it's very cool seeing a lot of Mega Evolution fights in the streets of Kalos. Okay. Dope stuff. Lumiose City. We in this bitch.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

But why is there just so much text? So much text. So much.

[Greg Miller]

Okay, I'm with you.

[Tim Gettys]

Oh, my God.

[Greg Miller]

I agree.

[Tim Gettys]

It's disgusting.

[Greg Miller]

Includes the Nintendo Switch game and the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition upgrade pack. Upgrade pack also available separately. For details, visit. Oh, they gotta do it.

[Tim Gettys]

They gotta do it because it's complicated world where it's like they have to explain all these things. Thank God this isn't a freaking game. Key card, whatever the hell game. Yeah, otherwise there'd be even more text and even more stuff. But why is the top of this so big? And does any of this matter fully? No, it doesn't. Does it bother me? Yes, it does. And I had a video game show talking about what I like and dislike about video games. Yes, I am, Greg. And I dislike this. I dislike how much about what I.

[Greg Miller]

Like and don't like. I don't like that. All of a sudden you're stepping in, trying to justify your opinion on this. This is what the show is all about. You let your freak flag fly.

[Tim Gettys]

Well, I only do it because I'm sitting next to somebody that at any chance tries to shut me down, say that I'm wrong for buying physical games. But then you compare it to this. You look at this. Look at the Switch.

[Greg Miller]

Very gorgeous.

[Tim Gettys]

Look at this.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, yeah. No, you're. I mean, I. I don't. What are we doing? I understand we've had our differences.

[Tim Gettys]

Yes.

[Greg Miller]

You know what I mean. When I had the money in the bank, when I had to win the whole thing, you know, it was amazing. But I know I stand with you on this, that the Switch 2 box art setup is dumb. The giant borders, how much bezel they're putting on this for some reason. And then. Yeah, the fact that they have to put all this information at the bottom with a QR code sucks. And then. Yeah, yeah, I'm saying, I just like, I'm looking past the Nintendo bullshit on it and just at this even. Frankly, I don't even like the little square of Nintendo Switch on this one.

[Tim Gettys]

You get that? But again, you understand what system it is.

[Greg Miller]

Oh, I agree. I agree.

[Tim Gettys]

I'm just saying, the red spine here.

[Greg Miller]

I would have rather just had the red border all the way across, but smaller than it now, PS2 wise, like a PlayStation.

[Tim Gettys]

Do me a favor. Do me a favor here, okay? Bring up Breath of the Wild on the Switch. Please don't show me the goddamn switch 2 version. I don't want to see the abomination.

[Greg Miller]

Do I have to read all the text at the bottom of that too? That this is actually the Switch version?

[Tim Gettys]

You do?

[Greg Miller]

I know I do.

[Tim Gettys]

You do.

[Greg Miller]

I know I do.

[Tim Gettys]

I really wish you didn't, Greg, but you do.

[Greg Miller]

Everybody, let's keep this energy all the way through date night. Jen, they want to know what to do.

[Tim Gettys]

Trap the in the breath of the wild and tears the kingdom. Specifically, we're Talking about some beautiful cover art. Absolutely beautiful this one right? I hate you so much. I hate you so much. Even take away the essay at the bottom, even The Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, it's just so much. But then you look at this and like just it not having the border all the way across the top allows that art to just really, really shine. Man, I love this so damn much. Gonna miss it. Really gonna miss it.

[Greg Miller]

Do we fix it soon though? And they Nintendo must know this is ugly. They're new. Their new version. They've got it.

[Tim Gettys]

They're trying to really make it clear to people that this is a different system. And I get it. A lot of dumb dumbs.

[Greg Miller]

Boxes all the time.

[C]

There's a way to make it clear that it's a different system without it making it looked like ass. Just absolute.

[Tim Gettys]

I just get. I just get a slack or a notification from Slack. That's Greg asking please break. Please break out me threatening to kill Mario.

[Greg Miller]

Ring his fucking neck blessing in the.

[C]

Chat when that happens said we are definitely. We definitely just got put on a blacklist just now.

[Tim Gettys]

Oh man.

[Greg Miller]

Anyway, I go to the news. Yes, the Pokemon company International, that's tpci today announced that they put that in the press release. Don't get mad at me. Today announced that Pokemon Legends Za and Pokemon Legends za Nintendo Switch 2 Edition games will launch on October 16, 2025 with digital pre orders beginning June 5th on the Nintendo Eshop. TPCI also revealed that the next Pokemon Presents digital presentation will occur on July 22, 2025 on the official Pokemon YouTube channel. Players who purchase either the physical or digital version of Pokemon Legends XA for Nintendo Switch will have the option to upgrade to the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition by purchasing an upgrade pack. Upgrade packs will be available on the Nintendo Eshop and my Nintendo Store. Timothy, yes, we know how you feel about the box art. How do you feel about October 16th?

[Tim Gettys]

I feel really good about it. This feels very in line with what I expected from this. The big thing was what is Nintendo's big game in the fall? And the answer clearly is Pokemon Za and Metroid Prime 4 beyond. So the question was is this going to be October and that November or this November and that October. Right. Maybe you throw in a December in there because every once in a while they get a little crazy. I don't think that's going to be the case with this. Yeah, Pokemon tend to tend to be around that like pre Black Friday. The weeks leading into Black Friday is normally when they launch their their biggest products. This is Pokemon Legends, which is technically, I don't want to call it a spin off, but it is not in the exact main line of the core games. But I think that Nintendo is now trying to position Legends as a alternative core path. Yeah, right.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

And I think that the, the everything that we're seeing from the game definitely does seem like this is a much bigger step closer to Scarlet and Violet style than Legends. Arceus was sure. It's kind of. I would say it's meeting in the middle is probably a better way to say it. So, yeah. Very excited for this game. Incredibly excited that we now are past the questions of how Nintendo's going to handle its upgrade paths and all that stuff. And they're handling it, in my opinion, as good as you can, beyond what I expected from them. Absolutely. But knowing we're getting a Switch 2 version of this day one, I don't need to fucking worry about. About it.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

Thank God.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah. October 16th, I think that's great. I think that there's also a lot to glean here from the other information we get. July 22, getting a Pokemon Presents. This is pretty dang early. This might be the earliest we've gotten a Pokemon Presents announcement. And I wonder why. Like, I wonder is that them just trying to be like, yo, we know Summer Game Fest is happening right now. We're getting the release date information out here, but just don't expect much from Pokemon during that time frame. I mean, the big question is, is Nintendo even gonna do anything, any showcase or, or anything of that style in June? Probably not, because that's when the Switch 2 was launched.

[Greg Miller]

You need to. Right.

[Tim Gettys]

And they've done a very good job of kind, kind of laying out the next couple of months, especially now with this October date, because working from next week, right. Next week, June 5th, we get switch to launch. We get Mario Kart World being the big new game, Zelda Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom being the two kind of Switch 2 Edition upgrades.

[Greg Miller]

Sure.

[Tim Gettys]

That they're pushing there. Then July 17th, we're getting Donkey Kong Bonanza. July 20th, something 23rd, I want to say is Mario Party Jamboree, Switch 2 Edition with the, the new mode that they have with all the camera support stuff. And then in August 28th, I think we're getting Kirby in the forgotten land, a Switch 2 edition with the star crossed world. So these Switch 2 editions with like the substantial new content updates. Right. That Nintendo's clearly positioning as essentially new games for people to, to play. And like they're they're positioning them that way and then we don't know a big September thing. We get here to October for this. I imagine Metroid prime is going to be November. There's still a bunch of games that Nintendo announced at a direct as 2025. Dragon Drive, Legend of Zelda, the Hyrule Warriors. Oh yeah, the name of the age of imprisonment. No, you guys know what I'm talking about.

[C]

The one where you play a Zelda.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah. That we don't know that's what it's called. But that's 2025 and we don't have a date for that one yet. And there was a couple others. So we're. We still have the some open spaces but we know that there's games to fill those spaces. So at this point I'm not expecting any more giant games of consequence from Nintendo to be announced for 2025.

[Greg Miller]

Okay.

[Tim Gettys]

But there is always room, right? There is the potential that Metroid being a December game would not be out of the realm of possibility for how Nintendo treats Metroid and how they think about that game. And now that we know without a shadow of a doubt it is a cross gen game that you can buy on Switch or Switch to and thank God we could buy it on Switch 2 and play in 4K. But yeah, all that is very exciting to me and this being October, I prefer that than November. There's something about getting this one on the sooner end I feel is going to be really good. I want to give Metroid as much time to cook as possible.

[Greg Miller]

Sure.

[Tim Gettys]

Not that we're really talking about that much time, but I still think even more marketing. We need Metroid Prime 4 to have as much done right. To help it succeed as possible.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. This is back to your argument you were making before we knew information that maybe you put Metroid out alongside the Switch 2. Right. Because of course you're trying to get an install base to care about Metroid in a way they care about Zelda now. Because of course Breath of the wild being a Switch 1 launch game.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, exactly. And now knowing what they were with Mario Kart, which obviously Mario Kart is at this point Nintendo's biggest franchise by sheer numbers. So yeah, that makes sense too. Especially if you're trying to get people to make that jump from the Switch one to the Switch two. That I think for a lot of people is a no brainer. But. But I think for the majority of people I don't think it's a tough sell, but I think it's a sell Like I think people need to understand this is a new console and I, I'm so far past the the Wii Wii U type conversation. Like this is more just like I. And again, we'll see in a couple months year how right I am about this. But like I am so sure of the Switch 2 success and I think a lot of it just comes down to it. The number two is powerful, man. Like PlayStation 2.

[Greg Miller]

Oh my God, the blue box.

[Tim Gettys]

You know, I, I feel like the second version of a console, specifically a successful console. That number just feels bigger than once you get to 3, 4, 5, it starts to just feel different. But like that second, the first sequel to a thing, I think it means something different. And especially when you're talking about a console that helped so many people through the pandemic and all you got to do is like dangle some shiny keys in front of them to get them to, to jump up. And I think that a new Mario Kart and then a new Pokemon are great ways to do that.

[Greg Miller]

100%, 1,000%. You're right on that. If you're wanting to know, ladies, gentlemen and nbs, what's happening around that October release date, let me give you a peek [e-mail] 2025. Welcome back, game Informer. If you want to look into September and really start from that midway point, right. Borderlands comes out in September 12th. Deep Rock, Galactic Survivor, September 17th, Marathon supposedly September 23rd. Alien Rogue Incursion, September 30th. October then becomes Directive 8020. October 2nd, Ghost of Yotei, October 2nd in Pokemon Legends, ZA on October 16th, followed by Double Dragon Revive on October 23rd in Dragon Quest 1 and 2 HD 2D Remake. October 30th. So obviously that's going to change. But you do like them planting their flag there and I like giving that space between Yotei and Pokemon. Not that we're competing, but in terms of what game you can dedicate your time to and self to, I do love that and I will be anxiously awaiting my review. Code Nintendo or else Mario. We'll get back to Nintendo in a second, but for now we're move on to number two and talk about Apple a little bit of Nintendo, because Apple is looking to debut a dedicated gaming app within days of Switch 2's arrival. This is Mark Gurman over at Bloomberg.

[Tim Gettys]

Such a weird framing of this. Like that's such a letting them know it's just irrelevant.

[Greg Miller]

We're coming for you, Nintendo. You know what I mean? If Greg doesn't get Mario, Tim Cook could be shaking him by the big jeans out there. Apple Incorporated is planning a dedicated app for video games on its devices, seeking to sell gamers and developers on the idea that it's a leader in the market. The company will pre install the app on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV set top boxes later this year. But according to people with knowledge of the matter, the software will serve as a launcher for titles and centralize in game achievements, leaderboards, communications and other activities, said the people who asked not to be identified. Of course, because these plans haven't been announced, the move is meant to enhance the experience on Apple devices at a time when gamers have plenty of alternatives, including cloud services and consoles. Nintendo Co is preparing to roll out its much anticipated Switch 2 device just days before Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference on June 9, when the new app will be introduced. The new app will feature editorial content from Apple about new titles, offer access to the app's stores, the App Store's game section, and Promote Arcade, the company's $6.99 a month subscription offering. And it will replace Game center, an existing social network dedicated to this category that debuted in 2010 but never gathered gained serious momentum. Apple is also planning a Mac version of the app that can tap into games downloaded outside of the App Store. Timothy Robert Gettys yes, just last week we did hey 10 year time capsule. We already did it for what we did in 2015. Let's look ahead to 2035. You talked a bit about Apple there. Are you feeling bullish on your predictions now?

[Tim Gettys]

I did and I am. And I think that there's a big caveat here of it's still up to Apple to do what they need to do and not just say it and not just put something out. Because we've seen this before.

[Greg Miller]

From how many times have we heard Apple's getting serious about games exactly like.

[Tim Gettys]

We'Ve seen it many times, at least a handful of times in different forms and fashions that I do think have adapted with the times, but they've never been ahead of it. They're always kind of playing catch up in a classic Apple fashion when it comes to a lot of these technologies and ecosystems. But we are in a different place now. I keep talking about how cloud gaming is here and it freaking works for the majority of people that are actively using it. If it doesn't work for you and you're not using it, I'm not talking about you. Yeah, but we're seeing such a large swath of people Try this out in different forms and fashions and having it absolutely work for them and be the main way that they play a lot of these games, or just a supplemental way that they play games. And that's fine too. Apple is a leader when it comes to hardware in homes in a bunch of different ways, whether it's phones, MacBooks, all of this. And if they're not a leader, they have a very sizable part of the pie chart.

[Greg Miller]

Right.

[Tim Gettys]

The biggest issues is Macs can't play games. And over the years that's been changing little by little by little. Yep, Mac has Steam, but it doesn't have full Steam. They need to figure out some way to get Steam on iPads, to get Steam on iPhones, to allow this kind of expansion that we've seen in so many different ways. And when we're talking about Steam OS on different handheld gaming, PC based devices or Linux based devices, Apple needs to be able to keep up with this. And the biggest hidden weapon here is the Apple tv. The actual hardware device, Apple tv, which is undeniably the best stream box there is, period. What second place Nvidia Shield. The Nvidia Shield is fantastic and in some ways better than the Apple tv. But Nvidia hasn't updated their Shield product in years. I think 2019 was the last time they put out an update to that hardware. We're definitely overdue for that. And obviously it is a very similar thing to Android versus iOS where there are different pros and cons on each side, of course, but the reality is the amount of people, it's still low, all things considered. Most people are just using the apps on their TVs or whatever. Then there's a lot more people using Amazon Fire sticks because they're dirt cheap. The Apple TV is an investment. But for anybody that is serious about this stuff, serious about gaming to any extent, if you had that app, if you, if you're serious about TV and home theater experiences and all of that stuff, the Apple TV is a no brainer purchase. It's something that I personally would recommend to anybody starting a like wanting to take a home theater thing seriously. You need an Apple tv.

[Greg Miller]

So stop right there and talk a little bit about the Apple TV box and why this is a great starting point, why if you're serious, you should do it. We were already talking about how it does streaming better than anything else.

[Tim Gettys]

So the Apple TV has the same processor that I think iPhone 14 or if not 14 Pro has, which is very, very, very, very strong, very fast, very powerful. The Just sheer UI of the Apple TV like the way it presents streaming apps, Disney plus and Netflix and YouTube and all that is just undeniably better than anyone else does it. There's zero ads at all. It's fast as hell, like you can. It's snappy, you load everything you want. It's like I've tried all of these things and it's just so many steps ahead that it's silly.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, I have the.

[Tim Gettys]

I have a G Force or Nvidia shield and I used it for a very long time. I got incredibly frustrated. Why even hacking it and jailbreaking do all this stuff. Getting rid of ads, doing all that stuff, it would always start to slow down and you have to reset it. And it was always problems. Never had a problem with, with this thing. And it just has apps that work, they're clean, they're supported, they're updated, all that stuff. What it doesn't have is Nvidia GeForce. Now what it doesn't have is a lot of the Xbox Cloud gaming.

[Greg Miller]

Sure, sure, sure.

[Tim Gettys]

If Apple starts taking gaming seriously, they need that. And with everything we know about how serious this Apple developer conference they're about to do in a couple weeks, it seems like Apple Home OS is going to be a big push for them and that's going to include updates to the TVOs and to iPad OS. And it seems like we are at a point where Apple is confident in the products that it has from phones to the Apple TV to MacBooks and then just Apple Home in general. That I think there's going to be the most cohesion between them that we've ever seen. And they're going to be creating apps and a workflow that is the most if it works here, it works there than we've ever had. So it behooves them to get a lot of these apps that people want working across all the different platforms. And I think that that's where they're building to. With this.

[Greg Miller]

I want to bring in two different things. One, a paragraph from the Bloomberg article I cut out but you kind of came into and then left. I want to get in there and then Street Shadow, Super Chat, Remember Super Chat if you have comments on this Apple business. The Bloomberg article has this paragraph that I cut out by market share. The iPhone remains one of the world's most used devices for gaming, a category that has been central to the app store since 2008. In recent years developers have added high end games like Resident Evil, Death Stranding and Assassin's Creed about 2/3 of Apple's App Store revenue currently comes from games and in app purchases. That includes tokens, levels and other upgrades bought within the titles themselves. Of course. We've talked a lot on this show about how well Resident Evil, Death Stranding, Assassin's Creed, not moving numbers in terms of it, but showing what the hardware can do and all this stuff which I think bridges a bit here into Street Shadow and some topics to talk about. Street Shadow. So super chats just like you can on YouTube.com kind of funny games and says I think Apple's dip into gaming will focus on distribution and storefronts from their hardware perspective. They have a tight relationship with Sony with dual senses sold and advertised in Apple stores. What are your expectations about this app that we're hearing? It kind of sounds like what I think people are Stick with me thinking the Xbox OS on Rog Ally would be right, where it's just bundling all the stuff that's already there in different folders and different things. Bring it all together.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah. And that's where this gets complicated because again, this goes to what I'm saying of like they need to get this right. They not just do something. And there's so many things that they could just do because they've had Game center for years. Of course to some extent is this. But when you look at Apple TV and this gets complicated because there's Apple tv, the hardware product, and there's Apple TV plus the streaming service. But when you have an Apple tv, you can either have all of the different apps on the home screen or you can make a default that your home screen is the app Apple TV plus that gets all of the other streaming services together in one. So in one feed you're seeing Disney plus and Netflix and Apple and Amazon and HBO and all of that. I can see them doing that for gaming. If they take this seriously, if they nail this, then it's like, yeah, you're able to get GeForce now and Xbox Cloud and all the different services like that that want to play nice and have them in one clean feed on a incredibly powerful piece of hardware with incredibly clean UI that's snappy as hell. And more than anything, at least the one of the versions has an ethernet port so you can have wired in Internet or. Which 10 out of 10 times is going to be better than WI Fi. Oh for sure.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

And that's what we need for like the optimal level of this type of gaming. And I'm just about the Apple TV portion. You can then apply that to MacBooks and phones and everything else. And yeah, there's just so much potential there that Apple just needs to open the door to because right now they're like holding it closed and it's annoying as fuck.

[Greg Miller]

Brandon is my foe. Asked the question I imagine most a lot of listeners are. Don't smart TVs just have this built in though. Again, talk to me about the difference of the Apple app that I use right now. I use Apple TV and I watch the studio every night. Again, thank you for turning on Joy through my LG TV app. That is something we're different. Go.

[Tim Gettys]

Yep. I mean it. It's slow and everything has the little loading thing and then you hit back and it's stuttery animations and stuff. Like it's just. It's all of that stuff. Somebody in the chat says that after using the Apple TV it makes the other streaming platforms feel like temu version like that. It really is that. It feels like we're taught streaming systems on the Apple TV and like going between different apps and even just using individual apps and all of that. It feels like you're playing on a PS5 Pro and built in LG TV smart stuff. It feels like you're. You're playing on N Gage. Honestly, that's how big I think the gap is in terms of just the experience. Like yeah, you can still get all the content. It's. You're not playing engage games. You still are playing the high quality stuff. But even then it looks better on Apple. It supports more of the Dolby Vision and Atmos and all of the things that you need, the different levels of hdr.

[Greg Miller]

But yeah, and then Ishban says, but I do have to subscribe to the apps through the Apple TV question mark. So yeah. Right. Disney plus obviously you're. If I. And I don't use Apple TV the way you're talking about. But I would imagine is I'm going to. I'm logging into Disney plus through Apple tv. It's pulling all my shit.

[Tim Gettys]

That that's all there is. Yeah, I mean like for everybody at home.

[Greg Miller]

Don't worry about it.

[Tim Gettys]

I am like one of the biggest supporters the Apple TV possible. It is one of the. The few products that I'm just like, oh, I recommend it to anybody. Yeah, it is worth the investment and it's freaking incredible.

[Greg Miller]

How much is an Apple TV?

[Tim Gettys]

120, I think. But yeah, it's just I'm trying to like. Barrett, can you pull up Apple TV home page while you do that?

[Greg Miller]

I'll bring In Tricky Kappa, who Super Chat and said, I'm playing through death stranding on my iPad right now, and I can't believe how well it works. That, again, has been the feedback from the limited number of people who are playing their games on Apple. You know, I have the latest Apple Jesus iPhone. I don't even know what the latest.

[C]

Sorry, like, an image of, like, what it shows for the.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, you know what? Don't even worry about it.

[Greg Miller]

And I. When Resident the Last Resident Evil launched on it, I did download it, played it there, and it works incredibly well, especially with the backbone, which somebody called out the backbone. If you're used to the Backbone app, when you snap in your backbone, that's a little bit like what Apple TV is, that it's pulling all that stuff into one place. So in your backbone, right when it opens the app, it has Xbox Cloud, it has PlayStation Remote Play, et cetera.

[Tim Gettys]

Et cetera, et cetera. Yeah, I saw somebody in the chat say, well, we all know Tim's an Apple fanboy. Like, I am so clearly not an Apple fanboy. I'm a tech fanboy. And Apple just in a lot of ways, tends to do the things that I want better than the other products. I'm telling you, I was an Nvidia shield guy forever, and I. I still love the shield for what it is, but undeniably, the Apple TV is better for 99% of things that you're doing. Like, if you're trying to play emulated games and stuff. Yeah, the Nvidia is better if you're trying to play GeForce now, something that Apple TV can't do. The Nvidia is better, but if Apple could do it, it would be better.

[Greg Miller]

Lucid Dream says include a controller with Apple tv and maybe. Well, remember, in the store they're selling the dual sense. That was a big news item. Not too long. I mean, in the grand scheme of things, not too long ago, that, like, they're selling controllers at the Apple store saying, hey, you can play our games and this is the controller we recommend, so go for it that way.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, I'm interested real quick. I just want to get him.

[Greg Miller]

Fucking get him.

[Tim Gettys]

No, no, it's not getting him. Just admit it. I'm a tech guy and I don't like Apple stuff. Put a sticker on, it's like, well, okay, cool. Then you're not a universal tech guy. Sounds like you're a fanboy of another thing. I love good Apple products. I love good Android products. I love good Microsoft products. Like, I have so many of these things. And the thing is, if you commit to one lane, it tends to work better. So the more Apple stuff, it works better. My house is Google. My house is 95% Google and it fucking doesn't work 90% of the time. That's just how shit goes.

[Greg Miller]

Of course Apple's Worldwide developers conference is June 9th here in San Francisco. So we will wait with bated breath to see.

[Tim Gettys]

I'm stoked, man. I, I really, I mean the game stuff, I'm holding my brother that I don't fucking. I don't fully believe that we're quite there yet, but I do think that this is a big step and I think that we are, we will get there. I absolutely think we'll get there. And I don't think people realize how many iPads are out in the world. And the moment that an iPad can just connect to a dualsense and you can just cloud stream on that thing easily without workarounds and web that hard things and whatever you do right now, my God.

[Greg Miller]

I digress everybody. We have more news to talk to you about because this is Kind of Funny Games Daily. But why don't I tell you about patreon.com kind of funny of course, YouTube.com/kind of funny games and Apple and Spotify of course. On those you could pick up the kinda funny membership. $10 would get all of our programming. That's 20 shows a week, 80 shows a month ad free. And of course you get your daily dose of me, Greg Miller and a 15 to 20 minute podcast I do for you from my car. But right now you're not using your benefits. So here's a word from our sponsor.

[Tim Gettys]

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[Greg Miller]

Breaking news everyone. I would say probably tell Roger to change the thumbnail.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah probably.

[Greg Miller]

Can you do that for me while we do this and I was talking. Can we do that you that for me Barrett Sorry Breaking news everybody from IGN.com's Rebecca Valentine EA Cancels Black Panther game, closes Cliffhanger Studios Electronic Arts is canceling its plan Black Panther game and shutting down developer Cliffhanger Studios. IGN has learned in an email sent to staff from EA Entertainment President Laura Melee oh I see from President Let me said that these changes, alongside other recent cancellations and layoffs are being done to sharpen our focus and put our creative energy behind the most significant growth opportunities, end quote. In addition to closing Cliffhanger and canceling Black Panther, EA is also laying off some individuals on both its mobile and central teams. When asked for an exact number of individuals impacted, EA declined to comment. IGN understands the total number of affected individuals in this wake wave I'm sorry is less than the roughly 300 rolls cut last month across Respawn in EA's Fan Care teams, but cannot confirm by how much. Quote these decisions are hard, mealy wrote. They affect people we've worked with, learned from, and shared real moments with. We're doing everything we can to support them, including finding opportunities within EA where we've had success helping other people, helping people land in new roles, end quote. As with the past round of layoffs, EA is endeavoring to place affected individuals in other roles across the company. The company has made use of its placement program with each round of layoffs in recent years, an effort that remains possible despite the constant team cuts likely due to EA seemingly drastically increasing headcount on other teams. At the same time, per Game Files Reporting, EA employed 800 more people as of March of this year than it did in the same time in 2024. To that end, Melee's email continues, the company is focusing on a small handful of franchises going forward Battlefield, the Sims Skate and Apex Legends. Melee also assures EA will continue to invest in its Ironman game at Motive and the third Star Wars Jedi game as well as it maintained its mobile business despite today's cuts while Bioware works on the next Mass Effect. Additionally, last year, CEO Andrew Wilson announced the company would be moving away from development of future licensed IP that we do not believe will be successful in our changing industry. The email doesn't mention EA Sports, but this is due to Melee running EA Entertainment. While EA Sports is a separate division, IGN understands that the sports division is unaffected by these changes now. Notably, Marvel and EA's agreement for Black Panther was part of a three game deal that included Iron man and a third unannounced title. Little has been shown of Black Panther so far since its announcement in 2023, though we know from a job listing it was to be a single player action adventure open world game. Black Panther was being developed by the newly formed, now closed Cliffhanger Games, which was formed in 2023 with some former developers of Middle of Shadow of Mordor and headed up by Kevin Stevens. These cuts come on the heels of multiple other rounds of layoffs and cancellations at EA over the last few years, especially in 2025. Just last month EA laid off roughly 300 individuals, including around 100 at Respawn while canceling an in development Titanfall game. In another incubation project earlier this year, EA restructured BioWare, giving some developers to other projects and laying off others. In 2024 there was a massive restructuring at EA that resulted in 670 workers laid off company wide, including around two dozen workers at Respawn. And in 202350 jobs were cut at BioWare and an unknown number at Codemasters. Meanwhile, EA recently implemented mandatory return to office for all workers, a move that some employees told IGN has left many currently remote workers with concerns about what will happen to their roles. Long time of course when asked about comment and exact numbers impacted the reasons for these repeated cuts or if more cuts were expected in the near future, EA referred IGN back to Melee's email. Marvel has not yet responded to IGN's request for comment.

[Tim Gettys]

Great job Rebecca Valentine I'm just so happy that I was worried. I'm happy I'm reassured that EA is going to continue to invest in its Ironman game.

[Greg Miller]

I I have full confidence, full confidence, full unflinching confidence going to happen that that Ironman game is going to happen.

[Tim Gettys]

Than thanks for that reassurance. Man oh man. Got this fucking sucks.

[Greg Miller]

Yep. Yeah obviously layoffs and studio closures are always a huge fucking bummer and we seem to have those not more than ever. It seems like it's slowed down a bit on every day being 500 people losing their job, but we still get enough where it's like this sucks and.

[Tim Gettys]

This is horrible but for it to happen for an IP like Black Panther, where I feel like back in the day and the day not being not that long ago, five years ago even.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

There are certain things where like that there's protection there you have the ip, there's almost a guaranteed sell through rate of X million. Like all they got to do is get it across the finish line and it should be fine. Those days are clearly gone. We look at Monolith, we look at Wonder Woman, right? This happens now and then Black Panther, it's like there feels like there is no safety, there's no guarantee. And it just being like all right, cool. Multi hundred person team at Electronic Arts just being able to just be slashed before even releasing a product this big. God, that's just very not good for the future of video games. AAA games, licensed games, fucking Marvel games.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. Yes. I there's so much to read into and so much we don't know. So to rewind a bunch and try to take it down like is this a canary in the coal mine for games at large, AAA superhero, yada yada, perhaps. I think it says always more. When you're looking at a place that's so fucking big, EA is so fucking big. Right. EA employed 800 more people as of March this year than it did in the same time of 20 for. Right. So it's not that they're hurting, they might be. It's not that the, it's that they're investing in very specific spots because we're in an industry right now where the shareholders have all the power. And so when you're talking about something as big as Electronic Arts, as humongous as EA and the things they know make money and the people who are going to sit there and go why are you making X, Y and Z? I, I might be painting way too broad and I am not one of these people that are the. Every year EA should be voted the most evil company in America, which happens. It was happening quite a, you know, back to back years. But I do look at this and like when they announced Black Panther and even when they announced Iron man it was kind of one of those like really ea, you're seeing the success you had with Insomniac and take PlayStation out of the equation, just Insomniac, this dedicated team. Well I guess you have to put PlayStation then this dedicated team from a publisher that seemingly or you know. Yeah, they still be publisher. The publisher that is like funding ideas and single player stuff. And you saw that success and wanted to go to EA based On Star Wars Jedi, I assume like that was the idea. Like, granted, I think we scratched our head to a degree when Star wars started popping off or got announced over there when I was like, oh, that's not EA's traditional game. But I guess what I, I never.

[Tim Gettys]

I something I never got Battlefront. Right. Which very much was their, their traditional.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. Shooter though. Right. And yeah, like a shoot. That's what I'm saying though. I'm talking about like EA Battle Battlefield. Right. Okay. You're doing, you're. You make shooters, whatever. To then have a battlefront makes sense to me.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Whereas the jump to a Star wars single player game I at respawn and.

[C]

Then even taking out like looking at other companies, just their exclusive Star wars deal that they had with EA for the longest time and look at that output where Jedi Fallen Order comes out at the tail end of them pulling out of that deal and then their next move is to invest for three games from this company. And it's like, all right, that was an interesting choice.

[Greg Miller]

Jumping back to it though, I never, I didn't. I thought this was a weird move and I thought these were weird choices to go with. So it's not so much that I look at that and go, I think EA is the most. We are driven by profit margin companies. Right.

[Tim Gettys]

So that's why it's good they're focusing on a free to play skate game.

[Greg Miller]

Of course, of course. You know what I mean? Like, and again, like this is the conversation we've had so many on times on this show about skate. We're, you know, not all of us, but a lot of us are skate fans. Does the free to play scare you? Does this and that not. None of that scares me as much as I don't believe in EA believing in it. Yeah, I don't. You know what I mean?

[Tim Gettys]

Period.

[Greg Miller]

That's the thing where it's like, it's.

[Tim Gettys]

Got to come out cute. Just keep, keep going as long as, as long as you can.

[Greg Miller]

I think it's going to come out. I'll be. The way EA operates, I'll be surprised if Skate gets out of early access, slash alpha, beta, whatever they are calling it when they keep talking about doing this year, right, where it's like they're going to do that, it's going to be similar, I would imagine to some degree. And this is a stretch, but stick with me to what we saw this week with Battle Aces, right? Where it's like Battle Aces did its whole beta stuff and then the people at the Top are like, this just ain't bringing in enough. Cut it, don't do it. We're not committed. And I would imagine if skates, early access, multiplayer, whatever, doesn't, like, spike the numbers and go humongous, I imagine ea, I'll be like, no, this is worth it. We're not committing to these things because again, we're now talking about an EA that seems like they were making decisions when the good times were rolling and they weren't worried about it. Now, clearly the suits at the top are worried about being financially solvent, so they're moving people off of taking risks. And that's why, again, yeah, Ironman, I don't think you see. So then you get this question again of Marvel Games. Somebody. Somebody I shouldn't say a team, a brand that I think for years I've championed of, like, man. I really like what they're doing. They don't always hit, they don't always succeed. But I like the idea that they take the Marvel IP and go to talented creators and do stuff. And you look at this, you're like, you just wasted how many fucking years with ea. Everyone would have told you if you would ask them beforehand. Is EA really the p. Are they really the people to get into bed with on this one? And you did. And now this Black Panther game is nowhere to be found and probably won't ever happen. Right. Same thing.

[Tim Gettys]

And I mean, like, not like legit. Oh, yeah. But there's even the other one, the.

[Greg Miller]

Black Panther IP of getting. Yeah. God only knows what's happening. At least that one we heard this year. The Amy Hennig, Skydance.

[Tim Gettys]

At least that one got delayed.

[Greg Miller]

I got delayed.

[Tim Gettys]

At least that one had some news. I still really, really don't believe that's a video game. And I hope that I'm wrong about that. But I still, right now stand by that. And I feel like this Black Panther game does not make me feel better about that. Rise of Hydra, whatever the fuck it's called.

[C]

Actually, 1943.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

But it's the idea. Yeah. Of like, if I look at Marvel Games, I'm like, I don't understand how you had this success of Spider man and theoretically you will with Wolverine as well. And we haven't seen you partnering with more people. Yeah, we had Guardians of the Galaxy. I'm not acting like we didn't. We also had Avengers.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, but that's the thing is, you know, Guardians of the Galaxy, we. We had that. And then what happened? The closed God. Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Because Square Enix. Square Enix. In general was like, no, no, this didn't make. This wasn't worth it for us.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah. And like that sucks. I love that game and I don't think that it's as good as Spider man, but I do think that it's like a very good game that I would love a sequel for and that is dealing with Guardians that like, I honestly think is top tier IP at this point, globally. And I think Iron Man's there as well. And Iron man going to EA does make sense to me because of bioware and Anthem and all this stuff. But that requires a lot of assumptions and jumps of like, well, this needs to happen. This, this, this. And that's how things have worked in the past, sometimes to success, but oftentimes don't. And yeah, this Black Panther story, I mean, I feel like we, we knew this was happening. Like, I feel like every single thing we've heard off the record about this game has been bad conversations.

[Greg Miller]

The dice that did not make me confident I was going to see this game. So.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, but I mean, do you think, Let me ask this, Greg. Do you think there's a chance that Iron man comes out?

[Greg Miller]

I mean, there's a chance anything happens.

[Tim Gettys]

But like, do you think that there's like a real chance it comes out? Yes.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, but it's. I mean, I say that, you know, because I'm smart. Peering into a dark hole. I don't know, a thousand percent. Yeah, but yeah, I think Bear, why.

[Tim Gettys]

Why do you so confidently say yes?

[C]

Because there's a dark hole. But I.

[Greg Miller]

Who do you know? Do you know Tony Stark who's over there?

[C]

I know Tony Stark.

[Greg Miller]

Okay.

[C]

And Tony Stark gives me a glimpse of a, of a nice little white light in the dark hole of EA that makes me much more confident about, about Iron man than literally any other project that he has been canceling and working on for the last few years. That's all I'll say.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, I got some super chats for you if you're ready for.

[Tim Gettys]

Let's go.

[Greg Miller]

Okay, thank you very much, Dean 28. I'm sorry, Dean. 8149 is Disney's cut too much to risk releasing this. You think it comes on a financial like that? I doubt it. I bet it's just that they aren't. The game ain't coming together and EA doesn't want to give more time to make it come together. More money, more time, more money.

[Tim Gettys]

I think that, yeah, that's the thing. We're talking about hundreds of people with salaries and needing all this stuff, it's like, that's so much money.

[Greg Miller]

Sarah. Whiskey 17 says Disney needs to stop Sierra. Sorry, Whiskey 17. Disney needs to stop handing Marvel and Star Wars IP to EA. Terrible track record. Also true. And it sounds like EA doesn't want him anymore, which is never a good sign when you still have them. Yeah, Iron man game, it's gonna happen, but we are never doing licensed again. This is just trash.

[Tim Gettys]

I mean, the thing is like, we can't say that because Respawn is awesome and Jedi, Fallen Order and Survivor I think are two of the best examples we've ever had of an IP based video game. So.

[C]

But balance that out with Battlefront 1 and Battlefront 2 and then the again, not existent of non existence of Star Wars. Star wars game output coming from EA when they ended, when they had an exclusive deal for a decade originally. Right?

[Tim Gettys]

But even Battlefront 2, it's like the biggest problem with that game was the microtransaction stuff that over time they fixed.

[C]

And single player also sucked too.

[Tim Gettys]

But you know, some people liked it. I wasn't one of them, but I mean, that game's having a huge resurgence right now.

[C]

The space battles do kick ass. Those, those controls feel really fun.

[Greg Miller]

Ricardo writes in with the super chat and says, I think Fortnite killed the superhero licensed game genre. Well, I pay 80 bucks to play Black Panther when I could pay a couple of bucks for a skin in a free to play game. I fucking, I mean, I hear you, Ricardo.

[Tim Gettys]

I'm not.

[Greg Miller]

I fucking hate that take though. Like, it's the same. I was like, I bitched about this yesterday. Not even bitched. I said this yesterday in Greg way where I'm talking about how excited I am for Superman and all the Superman shit I'm buying because I'm a psychopath. And it's like, I know Fortnite's gonna do a thing. I saw the leak yesterday. Or tease yesterday that the next season is gonna be superheroes. And yet it's like, yeah, sure, that's great. But Superman running around the fucking AK is not the same as me having an open world Superman game.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, it's not the same. I do want give Fortnite more credit though than just, oh, you're. You're Superman with an ak. When it comes to the superhero, they.

[Greg Miller]

Keep adding different modes and stuff like that.

[Tim Gettys]

And like, I feel like they take specifically some of the superhero stuff seriously enough of like making it a awesome experience as a Marvel fan. Like, this is a Marvel thing that they did when they, they do put that extra love and care into it. But Marvel Games is involved in that as well. And I also think Marvel Rivals is the more apt thing to, to bring up there where there are successful Marvel games not being made by EA that people are absolutely loving and somehow continuing to deliver on new content updates that are keeping people happy. Like that's to think that a company found that success these days with a Marvel IP with where that's all at with a game that is this like multiplayer game. Like God damn PlayStation must be so pissed it's not theirs, you know?

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. Mike writes in Big Curves I do believe says I hate the never ending layoffs, but devil's advocate it don't most gamers agree there are too many games these days? Doesn't that kind of suggest the industry itself is too big? I'm conflicted, but sorry, please don't take it the wrong way. I feel bad for the devs losing their job and hates what's happening.

[Tim Gettys]

It's the balance. I don't. I think that there are too many games, but I also think that it's just the balance of the resources required to go into all the different games where I think that the amounts that need way too much, that's the problem. And when you need more resources to a ridiculous degree to create the game and find success for that game, you need the results to be that much bigger. And then once you get those results, the next one has to be even bigger. And that, that turnaround time, like it's just a equation that doesn't add up. No matter how you change the variables, it doesn't add up.

[Greg Miller]

I agree with the equation not adding up. And I think that's where I would come down as the mathematics of it. I think I just tweeted today there's too many games. Right. But it was because I'm, I'm so blessed that my rog ally is stocked with games that I want to play in the PlayStation and stuff and the Xbox is stuff. And I just know I can't get to them. All right, so then for Mike to go, doesn't that suggest the industry itself is too big? I disagree there. I think what's happening is that again we have people greenlighting games, expecting too much from them, or putting unrealistic, unrealistic expectations on their financial success. Yeah, and that's the problem. We're seeing where EA lays all these people off and closes this thing and does this whole stuff where it's like they've sunk millions and millions and millions and Millions. And they get to that point where it's never going to make that much and it's like well yeah, that's why we probably should have downscoped this game. It's what we always talk about of like give us more 15 to 20 hour games. Give me an it doesn't need to be open world endless gobstopper of content. Give me that golden Path that's going to be a really great superhero story. I want games faster either. The whole thing that I'll fuck up but I want it faster. They look not as good and you know what I mean. Somebody had a life while they made it. Like let's do stuff like that instead.

[Tim Gettys]

But the truth of that though is then when those games come out people need to support them and not like knock points on reviews and like turn the whole story of like well it's not as good as the thing that did take 10 more years to make and stuff. I feel like the responsibility kind of falls everywhere with that. And there are shining examples. I think Expedition 33 is the unfair thing to look at at this point of just like they across the board knocked it out of the park. They did all the things that people were asking for and were managed to get the community to rally behind them and critics to rally behind them in the way that there's a story here and this makes sense. But you can't replicate that story unless you can. And we should look into that.

[Greg Miller]

Sure. 100 yeah if you could do that that'd be pretty nice. Right? Let's move on. That was breaking news. Thank you so much Rebecca Valentine. You're fantastic as always. And I got the only super chance. Oh no here. Two more came in real quick. Nope, that's the end of the show. Failure to think says maybe they canceled Black Panther for attacks write off like Coyote vs Acme was canceled by WB. Thanks. Have an excellent day. I'm sure there's bean counter stuff tied up in it. I don't know if it's exactly that but I digress. Number three on the Roper Report, which is really number four now. But keep it straight. We have a quick Elden Ring review roundup. Of course you could get our entire Elden Ring review as the kind of funny games cast that already went live today. It's already up for your listening and viewing pleasure. Of course. The Steam description on Elden Ring Night Ring Rain reads it's a standalone adventure within the Elden Ring universe crafted to offer players a new gaming experience by reimagining the game's core design. When I was building the document about an hour and a half ago, it had a 78 on Metacritic. Wesley LeBlanc over at Game Informer gave it an 8. Night rain is at its best when I'm at my best. Which means FromSoftware's take on the rogue lite genre needs to meet me halfway, leaving its frustrating misgivings at the roundtable hold when the matchmaking works, when the map randomness gives my trio a fighting chance, and when the storm doesn't punishingly throw in a unfair wrench into the expedition, I'm excited to rise to the challenge. The reward for my efforts is the mastery, knowledge and adrenaline I spent dozens of hours building in Elden Ring condensed into a single run, and every success is a visceral as visceral and glorious as the last. Mitchell Saltzman, of course over at IGN gave it a seven. When Elden Ring Night Rain is played exactly as it was designed to be played, it's one of the finest examples of a three player co op game around. The eight character classes are each fun to use and feature a surprisingly surprising amount of depth. Despite their limited, limited movesets, the new Night Lord boss battles are among the best FromSoft has ever crafted and make the most of the three player dynamic. The fast paced race against the clock nature of each run leads to exciting moments of split second decision making in frantic rushes to try and finish up a fight before the circle closes in, but a lack of crossplay, duo matchmaking and built in communication tools make it hard to create the conditions needed to have this kind of experience. Unless you're bringing two real life friends on every run Fun. And if you want to play by yourself, I can't recommend it because of the poor solo match balancing. So yeah, whatever. All of this amounts to an ambitious spin off that's exhilarating when you're able to create the proper conditions in one that quickly flips to incredibly frustrating when you're not. Tim, you led the games cast. I listened in.

[Tim Gettys]

Great discussion, great discussion for sure. I would highly recommend checking out the games cast with Bless and Andy talking through all of their thoughts on this game. Obviously you all know that Andy and Bless are both huge fans of FromSoftware games and Elden Ring and also co op experiences and playing with your friends and all that stuff. So it was very interesting to hear their thoughts on on the game, what they liked and didn't, and they sound very in line with what Mitchell and Wesley and them are saying about the game as well, where clearly they love it. They love playing it, but there are a lot of issues holding it back and it sounds like the biggest ones seem to be not having a good experience with solo. While it is a mode that they offer and just no crossplay and things like that getting in the way of this game, binding is its success.

[Greg Miller]

Fair enough. Number four on the Rope Report is another review roundup for you. It's to a T. The Steam description on this one says a charming, colorful adventure game from the creator of Katamari Damasi and the uvu. The Ultimate. Is that how you say you think about a team navigating life in a small A teen navigating life in a small town with their cute dog companion while their body is stuck in a T pose? They do their best to make the most of it. Right now in Metacritic, this one's got a 75 games radar. Pluses Andrew Brown gave it four out of five stars and said To A Tea is weird to its bones and it's clear you VOO takes great pride in that. The whole thing is nebulous by design and isn't so much a grand gesture of positivity as it is an ode to the little quirks you love, almost without realizing. I love, for instance, the way the teen's umbrella is slightly wider than his mother's to account for being held at arm's reach. I love Rain and gaming, and To A T has the very best. That might not sound like a sort of profoundity a recommendation could hinge upon, but if you like Rain for the same reason I do, the warmth and contentment it brings when you're on the inside looking out, then perhaps you'll get it. Moises Tavares over at Paste, which isn't on Metacritic, gave it a 6.3. To a T is an awkward is as awkward as its t posing 13 year old protagonist for as much charm as this slice of life adventure game can muster. And to be clear, it gets lots of points between the opening and ending songs that bookend every chapter. It still just barely manages to get off the ground, though. I'm left with fairly good memories of my time with Teen Dog and company as they dart around their whimsical town full of odd figures. Most of Tua Ti is unfortunately regaled to thinly padded gameplay sequences patched together by similar similarly thin writing. All together it is a well intentioned misfire.

[Tim Gettys]

Timothy this sounds like a Roger Pokorny experience. This sounds like the type of game Roger I played the T pose game.

[Greg Miller]

Has beaten to a T. I am halfway through to a T. Roger, what do you think of To A Tua?

[D]

T has a lot of issues. Right. And I can list them all right now. The game actually doesn't run well on PC. Has a lot of issues there. The pacing's really weird, some of the character stuff, and the writing doesn't translate well just because it's very weird and also very Japanese. Right. But all that to say, I adore this game. This is an 8.5 out of 10. I really, really was smitten by it. Mostly because it is a unique take on a game like this. Right. I assume that from the trailers and everything that this would be like, like kind of like a meme game.

[C]

Right?

[D]

It would be like, like I am Bread. Remember that. That game where you're just a piece of bread and you're trying to get to a. A toaster. Right. I thought it was just going to be like, oh, a bunch of, you know, areas.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[D]

Physics stuff to get through a door.

[Greg Miller]

It's more.

[D]

It's more specific than that. And it's more. Has more of a heart to it. Right. It feels like a. Almost like a PBS game show. Yeah, well, yeah, it's more like PBS mixed with like a weird episode of Steven Universe and it just continuously devolves into the weirdest episode of a cartoon than you could possibly imagine. And it gets really, really weird by the ending of it. And I enjoyed it and, yeah, I just. I was just smiling the entire time. And at the core of it, it is a game about a kid that has a disability that is just smiling and laughing through it. And that's what kind of warmed me from the beginning to the end. And I was just super happy with it. So, yeah, I recommend it to everybody, and if you are interested in it, you should check it out because It's, I think, $20. So, yeah, check it out. For sure.

[Tim Gettys]

Check it out, check it out.

[Greg Miller]

Where does the time go? Yeah, I'm halfway through it. I enjoyed my afternoon with it when I was tinkering with it, but it was that thing where it's like, all right, it's cute, it's fun, but I don't know if I need to come back to it and get back to it. So apparently, unless I'm Roger, I don't need to. But we'll see. Moving on. Number five. Surprise, everybody. Animal Crossing got updated for the first time in three years. This is Vicki [e-mail] Nintendo has just released Animal Crossing New Horizons first update in almost three years. It's not a particularly exciting update. The patch notes only tell us that May 27's update, quote, improved the compatibility for multiplayer sessions between Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch, end quote. But it marks the first time the relaxing sim game has had any kind of backend refresh since November 2022. Quote. I'm sorry, what quote, improved compatibility, end quote means? We're not completely sure, but it's likely a small tweak to make sure players jumping into Animal Crossing New Horizons on Switch 2 can still visit the islands of their friends without incident and vice versa.

[Tim Gettys]

Cool.

[Greg Miller]

Tim. Why is this not an enhanced thing?

[Tim Gettys]

Greg, it's good that it's not enhanced.

[Greg Miller]

I want it to be enhanced. I want it to play better and be better.

[Tim Gettys]

I get that.

[Greg Miller]

I want that.

[Tim Gettys]

What you want more is a new Animal Crossing.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, but it's gonna be years and years and years. It will be. It will be. Guaranteed.

[Tim Gettys]

It will be. But it might just be a Nintendo Switch 2 edition of Animal Crossing New Horizon Horizons. I'm not saying that that's what I think it is, but like, I think that all the handful of games that don't have the updates yet all seem like games that could easily get A plus whatever content. I think that's what you actually want.

[Greg Miller]

I just want new. I want it to run better.

[Tim Gettys]

You don't need that for Animal Crossing.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, it loads like Tim. It loads like absolute dog Tim. Yeah, it does. I mean, it's gonna be horrible trying to go to other people's islands, how long that takes.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Don't. You don't. You don't know this a lot better. It fucking better.

[Tim Gettys]

I'm telling you it will. And I'm telling you you're gonna get more content. You're gonna get more Animal Crossing more.

[Greg Miller]

Content sooner than I better get more content. Number six on the Roper Report. Speaking of Nintendo surprises, let's see what features they're adding to the Nintendo 64 Classics. Bear shaking his head. He loves. He loves this look. You can rewind now. This is exclusive. Nintendo Switch 2. You can rewind now in your NC.

[Tim Gettys]

Why are you shaking your head about this?

[Greg Miller]

Barry's on you.

[C]

I guess we needed all that hardware to add a rewind feature and a CRT filter.

[Greg Miller]

CRT filter, y' all. Show it, show it. Toss it up there. It's exclusive.

[C]

Nintendo Switch to really, really needed all that hardware to make silly shit like this. Exclusive.

[Greg Miller]

Yo, y' all love.

[C]

Give it to the fucking people on Switch 1 who are gonna get a Switch to launch. This is stupid.

[Tim Gettys]

Stupid. This doesn't even matter anyways. But good news is, it is good news that they. That they're getting more like actual emulation stuff here. Being able to customize your controls and all that stuff. That's what you want.

[Greg Miller]

View and change your controls. And that works on Switch and Switch 2. So there you go, Barrett. They gave you something.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, just let me turn off the damn borders.

[C]

Yeah, that needs to be a fucking. That needs to be a thing. Which will also probably be exclusive. Exclusive to Switch to. And also, where is Donkey Kong 64?

[Greg Miller]

Tk Donkey.

[C]

I get they don't want 64 releasing on the Nintendo Switch online to, you know, overshadow Donkey Kong bonanza, you know, like, I get it, but still, it's been years.

[Greg Miller]

Tim Baird getting the ability to rewind his N64 games is huge.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Just gigantic. The biggest news of the day, almost. If I want a smaller news, say the tiniest news I need to know about, where would go I go.

[Tim Gettys]

You go to our last story, the WE news channel, where we cover all the small new night that you need to know about.

[Greg Miller]

Number seven, the Wii News. Garfield Cart 2 All you can drift is releasing this year. Yeah. Mario Kart's like, I got this one wrapped up off world.

[Tim Gettys]

You look at Garfield and you're like, this shit actually looks kind of good art style wise.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

Like you look at it. You look at Mario Kart world, and.

[Greg Miller]

I'm just saying, can you tell the difference? I'm just saying, can you tell the difference? Look at that. You got that cell shaded. You got him. Is normal in it? Of course normal is in it. Don't ask dumb questions.

[Tim Gettys]

Look at that car.

[Greg Miller]

Fire up your engines because Garfield is waiting for you at the starting line. Play as one of eight cult characters from the Garfield universe.

[Tim Gettys]

There's eight Garfield characters?

[Greg Miller]

Well, there's more. A lot more. And you'd call them cult classic. You would just call them cult characters because that would imply there is a cult in the Garfield universe. But I digress. There is Sulfur over on Blue sky reports sulfur just passed 150,000 copies sold. This has truly been a dream come true. Huge thanks to all our fans spreading the word and supporting us in early access. Congratulations.

[Tim Gettys]

That's awesome.

[Greg Miller]

A lot of fans of sulfur I know here. Over on Blue Sky, Yuri Lowenthal reported and then deleted. This is a direct quote, and for those who keep asking, no, I will not be returning as Yosuke in the Persona 4 remake. I asked, maybe I even begged. But they don't want me to come back. Of course. The Persona 4 Remake is not announced.

[C]

No.

[Greg Miller]

And Yuri has deleted that Blue sky post.

[C]

Yeah. I don't think it's super surprising.

[Greg Miller]

No, not at all. It's just, you know.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah. Will it be announced next week at the Xbox Game Showcase?

[C]

Honestly, there's a good chance. I honestly think it's is still insane that we have still heard nothing about Persona 6 and that we're getting two remakes and a bunch of other spin offs of Persona 5 in between Persona 5 and Persona 6. Insane behavior. But they did announce Persona 3 reload at the Xbox thing. What was that two years ago at this point? It must have been so. Yeah, I could very well see it being there. Also, if people want to make a huge burger out of this, I would say give a new generation of voice actors, you know, the. The shot to come in and give their own takes on a beloved cast. Just like they did with Persona 3 Reloaded, which I thought was a good choice.

[Greg Miller]

Moving on. Staying on Blue sky though, Matt Piscatella from the Circana group Blue sky this today and I thought it was interesting. Circana Player Engagement Tracker the top 15 titles by total weekly active use users not concurrent for the week ending May 17th. The Dark Ages debuts at number five on the Xbox series and 12th on Steam. US Helldivers 2 sees big gains with Heart of Democracy Update. It was 18 on PlayStation, up from 39 the prior week. People of course commented on this and asked Matt questions like that doesn't sound that impressive for Doom, which Matt says it's incredibly difficult for any new game without a free to play or sub path to entry. To crack into the top 15 in active players, that upfront purchase price is just a huge barrier in order to get that player count high enough to reach some of the live service stalwart benchmarks. Leave this up, of course. Barrett, please. And then somebody said why didn't. Why didn't it chart on PlayStation? Matt commented, the live service behemoths are just sucking a ton of air out of the room on PlayStation 5 at the moment. If you look at PS5 for the title top, I'm not. I'm gonna give you the top five instead of going through this entire thing. Right. But it's Call of Duty at number one. Fortnite, Grand Theft Auto, Roblox, NBA 2K25. I'll give you the 10 Minecraft, Marvel Rivals, Madden NFL 25, WWE 2K25, EA Sports College Football 25 and Apex Legends Destiny 2 Forza Horizon 5 Rocket League and Rainbow 6 Siege. Like you see people committing to games which is an interesting one for the super chat talking about what we were talking about earlier.

[Tim Gettys]

Real quick I want to say to Doom to Dark here. Cage is another thing. I don't know if we talked about this yesterday but apparently it's like at about less than a million copies sold so far was not great Xbox gameplay. Oh definitely because they're saying that 3 million players and 2.2 of them are supposed to be playing through game pass. So it's just like that's a very interesting thing for a game that did Launch on both PlayStation and Xbox at the same time for a big franchise too.

[Greg Miller]

Super chat chat from golden spider says are 15 hour games the future of the games industry. Non gamers don't want a small game, they want a big game they can play for two hours every Saturday all year. You keep reminding us we are the minority but then keep forgetting that as well. While Golden Spider what I would reverse engineer question is is that if we all continue to chase the people who only want to play two hours and buy one game a year, the industry is fucking cooked. It's over, it's done.

[Tim Gettys]

So I truly see it as just different markets entirely. Gaming has gotten so big, their console sales are so astronomically higher than they were in previous generations across the board. When like it's crazy we talk about the 13 million of the the Wii U but even looking at like the gamecube like thinking about like some consoles that had a bunch of high quality games and stuff like with where at now like PS5 trounces so many of them. And there are exceptions to this a lot of the handhelds and like PlayStation 2 but we're just surely talking about like the amount of systems in homes. Yeah. When the top 10 is a lot of people are playing these like endless free play games or just live service things or whatever. I think that that is a completely different market than the people that are looking for 15 hour games, 100 hour games, whatever it is. And I think that as there is a market for those games, people buy those games. When they put out God of War and it sells almost 20 million copies. There's a freaking market for that. Right?

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

And so I feel like it's just, it's a little silly to fear the Minecrafts and Roblox. They're doing their own thing.

[Greg Miller]

My point to the question of Golden Spider here. Right. Is that I think you're seeing so many companies get right now and Lay people off and close studios because they saw. They see these numbers and chase that game rather than understanding that that's lightning in a bottle. And you can do that but you shouldn't hinge your entire business on it. Make the 15, 20 hour game that we all love and will buy and support. Knock on wood. Theoretically. Hopefully you have to. Yeah, but. But like do it with reasonable expectations and reasonable budgets and make a little bit of profit. Not the astronomical amount of budget you want that inevitably end. Studios. I digress though. We're not out of Wii News. There's a CD Projekt red dump. This is collected from several different sources. Cyberpunk 2 is officially the 2077 sequels named. It was previously of course codename Orion. This is Gamespot reporting that in their stuff now they're calling it because CD Projekt said Cyberpunk 2 is now entered pre production. And then of course also the Witcher 3 has sold 60 million copies to date. You think it'll actually stick with Cyberpunk 2? Normal. It's too normal. They're gonna get weird with it.

[Tim Gettys]

I said it early though and I do stand by it. Two zero twos are powerful.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, I agree with that.

[Tim Gettys]

I'm not even joking like that. I agree.

[Greg Miller]

I. I know you're not. And then to close out we news Shinobi over on Blue Sky Skeeted. Summer Game Fest 2025 will feature a record 60 plus partners this year via Geoff Keighley. The list includes includes Companies like Capcom, PlayStation, Xbox, Sega, IO Interactive, Bandai, Namco and more. You can see it there. If Bear wants a full screen. I guess we'd lose some of it with our things but you got it there with you. You got your Blumhouse Dream Haven Magic switching. Yeah, it is. That's where you know it's Animal Crossing. That's where you tell. That's what Mario comes on stage and apologizes to me and says he's sending two codes from now on.

[C]

Yacht Club is also here. Do we think we finally get a hollow.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, I think it's time.

[Greg Miller]

Of course we will be live reacting everybody to SGF next week. It's a huge week. I mean it's a huge day. Huge everything here kind of funny all the time. Huge everything. And you can of course get ready for SGF and Switch coverage. Of course we will be streaming the Switch to release pretty much all day long. Thursday, maybe earlier than that. We'll see what's up with that. And then of course on Friday we'll be live Reacting pre pre show live reacts and post show to Jeff's SGF conference before I shoot down to LA to play thing at play days before of course Sunday pre live reaction back post show to the one the only Xbox presentation that also includes Outer Worlds 2 as a their thing. If you are into Outer Worlds 2, don't forget tomorrow we're re reviewing Outer worlds to be a part of it. Over here. Nitrogen mustard says Superman. Keebler berry fudge stripe cookies releasing. Greg, nitrogen mustard. Pull your head out of your ass and turn on kinda funny games daily from yesterday when we started the show by eating the goddamn cookies.

[C]

I ate the rest of them.

[Greg Miller]

Good job, Barrett. I'm glad you did.

[Tim Gettys]

I think we had to get back on a track, Greg. We had a good energy going into this. I feel like we're losing the energy.

[Greg Miller]

Well, a lot of people need my energy to slap them down. And it's Mario. All right. We all know what happened. It was Mario. You had to remind me Tim that I gotta reach into Mario and grab.

[Tim Gettys]

Oh my God. What hole you gonna reach into?

[Greg Miller]

Actually fun funny you say that. Of course Gerard. Gerardo is cool. Has super chat earlier and said where is the fourth hole someone I punched through Mario and he doesn't give me. Oh my God. That is it for WE news. Thank you so much. We ask you to obviously super chat to be part of the show. We've done great at including them because we are great. Vulk Dasher says hey one for the end of the show. I see Neil Druckman doing interviews everywhere. That's kind of funny. Reached out would love it. Side note interesting today saw the game sold 2 million copies during the second season. No, we haven't reached out to new it's. It's. His show is ending at a very bad time for us. Yeah, there's way too much shit happening right now. It's honestly rude that Neil and HBO would do this. Like why don't we end it right before the switch or right before sgf right when there's all these reviews and things happening. But luckily I'm always down to talk to Neil so I can look into it for you. Guitar room man gaming super chat and said I'm just here to beg the guys to have Mike and Nick play road craft on a daily stream. Can I see a trailer for road craft? Thank you. And then your final super chat of this show before Nick takes over to play Doom says, hey fam. I don't often platinum games but when I do it's out of respect. Expedition 33 joins a short but distinguished shelf of trophies next to the recent God of wars, Elden Ring and seafood.

[Tim Gettys]

Same. Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Good for you.

[C]

I had to do. No, I had to do a full other playthrough of Expedition 33 to get all the journals. That was. Yeah, that was rough.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, it was worth it. He's playing on Steam, but he's about to, whatever the equivalent is, platinum it, which is crazy.

[Greg Miller]

In all Steam trading cards.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Every time a Steam achievement pings for me, I'm like, oh, disgusting. Can't believe I'm wasting my fucking time here.

[C]

My 27th plus platinum better.

[Greg Miller]

And I can take it on the go on my 27th. Peace. I'm watching Roadcraft right now and I would just rather put a nail through my hand than play this, but I hope the guys play it if that's what they want to do. You know what I mean? I'm on it today.

[Tim Gettys]

He's on it. He's on it, everybody.

[Greg Miller]

We're moving games daily when I'm on it to 11 because I can come out here and I throw the heat. We ask you to keep us honest at kind of funny dot com. You're wrong. Tell us what we screw up. We screw up Gundam. Steve says, hey, Tim.

[Tim Gettys]

No, no, I'm just preemptively up.

[Greg Miller]

It is that easy now. I use GeForce Now. Remote play, Xbox cloud streaming easily with my iPad Pro and Neo Pocket S, my Sony 900 HTV or my phone. I connect to DualSense 8 bit, do a bit dough Pro 2 or a DualShock 4. I just open the app, connect the controller and play.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, you are awesome.

[Greg Miller]

I said that was the same.

[Tim Gettys]

But. But there are still levels to make it even easier for people and cleaner and just like a default, like you don't even need to think about it. It is still too close to PC gaming. It needs to be closer to console gaming. And there's just a small little bridge. Even if it is just the one app you go into and you sign in and you're just freaking good. Yeah, you're good to go.

[Greg Miller]

Well, Timothy, we're good to go because that's all we had. Remember everybody, this has been kind of funny. Games daily, each and every week. Dan. A variety of platforms. We run you through the nerdy video game news you need to know about. Live on Twitch TV, kindafunnygames, YouTube.com kindafunnygames, Apple and Spotify. Well, podcast services around the world technically. But I'm saying if you want to pick up that membership that keeps the lights and mics on. Of course, go to patreon.com kindafunny YouTube.com kindafunnames, Apple and Spotify to pick up your membership. Get all of our shows ad free, get your daily dose of me. And of course, get good karma for supporting an independent small business. Our programming day is far from done. The one, the only, the drum major Nick Scarpino is about to play Doom, the Old Country Eternal. I was thinking about this today. You're talking about this mafia, the Old Country. I feel like this one's I just haven't heard. I mean, at review, obviously, but I just don't see the same hype. Is that Barry? Is that.

[C]

Yeah, I think that's the feeling. Is that, you know, it's like it's another great one of these. Yeah, but it doesn't. It's not like so inherently worse that people are talking about it on that end. It's not so blowing people out of the water that people are talking about another on the other end. Ever since Doom 2016, I feel like the. The games that have followed really just Eternal and this one, right. Have really struggled to like, really break out and have people talk about it on another level. Which not every game needs, of course, fully fair.

[Tim Gettys]

Andy said it's his favorite of the three. Well, but it's Andy.

[Greg Miller]

I know.

[C]

Yeah. The thing you're talking about, the man.

[Greg Miller]

He plays solid eight years. I could parry in it.

[Tim Gettys]

And he does love, love solitaire.

[Greg Miller]

Everybody go watch Nick play whatever the fuck that Doom is. And until next time, no, it's been our pleasure to serve you, Maria.