Kingdom Hearts 4 New Images Revealed - Kinda Funny Games Daily 05.15.25

Summary

Detailed Summary of Kinda Funny Games Daily: "Kingdom Hearts 4 New Images Revealed" (05.15.25)

Release Date: May 15, 2025

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Hosts and Guest Introduction

The episode kicks off with Snowbike Mike welcoming Stella Chung as the special guest for this extended 90-minute show. The camaraderie between the hosts is evident as they engage in light-hearted banter about gaming habits and personal well-being.

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1. Kingdom Hearts 4 New Images Revealed

Timestamp: 10:02 - 19:35

Overview: The primary focus of the episode revolves around the newly released screenshots of "Kingdom Hearts 4," shared by Sal Romano from Gamatsu. The visuals depict Mickey atop chandeliers in what appears to be a grand library or opulent home, sparking discussions about potential gameplay elements and character roles.

Key Discussions:

• Playable Characters: Stella expresses a humorous desire to see Mickey as a playable character, saying, "[11:20] Stella Chung: If I can't play as Mickey and hear him say ho ho, I'm going to bust a cap in Your ass then."

• Art and Storyline: Stella shares her mixed feelings about the "Kingdom Hearts" series, highlighting her past enthusiasm for the story and character relationships but noting its convoluted nature: "[11:47] Stella Chung: I honestly have never been into Kingdom Hearts again, mostly because of the story."

• Fan Speculations: The conversation delves into potential Disney worlds to be featured, such as Hercules, Moana, and even Lilo & Stitch. They also entertain fan suggestions from Super Chats about integrating other franchises like Marvel and Star Wars.

• Release Timing: Stella and Mike speculate on the optimal timing for official trailers, with a consensus leaning towards showcasing more content closer to the game's release rather than during events like Summer Game Fest.

Notable Quotes:

• "[14:05] Stella Chung: I love that world a lot."
• "[19:06] Stella Chung: That'd be really cool."

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2. GTA 6 Delay Impact on Console Sales

Timestamp: 27:01 - 35:29

Overview: The hosts discuss the significant delay of "Grand Theft Auto 6" (GTA 6) from its anticipated 2025 release to May 26, 2026. This delay is projected to result in approximately 700,000 fewer console sales for PlayStation and Xbox within the year, impacting the industry with an estimated $2.7 billion loss in revenue.

Key Discussions:

• Economic Implications: Stella analyzes the delay's impact, noting that GTA is a cultural phenomenon extending beyond the gaming community: "[31:18] Stella Chung: GTA is such a casual experience for people who don't even identify as gamers."

• Consumer Behavior: The hosts explore how the delay might influence consumer purchasing decisions, with some gamers opting to wait for GTA 6 before investing in new consoles.

• Future Projections: Barrett raises concerns about the sustainability of console sales amidst potential price hikes and economic uncertainties: "[32:35] Barrett Courtney: I do wonder if that number is actually made up next year..."

Notable Quotes:

• "[30:24] Stella Chung: Shocking news. Shocking. Unbelievable."
• "[34:21] Stella Chung: ...everyone's getting a console that can play this game."

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3. Death Stranding 2 Updates

Timestamp: 39:00 - 47:08

Overview: The discussion shifts to the highly anticipated sequel, "Death Stranding 2," highlighting its positive reviews contrasted with Hideo Kojima's desire for more controversy. Additionally, the announcement of the "Death Stranding: World Strand Tour 2," a global concert series, sparks excitement.

Key Discussions:

• Critical Reception: Despite favorable test reviews, Kojima expresses a yearning for the game to be more controversial: "[40:00] Kojima said to Edge magazine via VGC: 'I'm not interested in appealing to a mass market or selling millions of copies.'"

• World Tour Announcement: The hosts delve into the upcoming tour, which will launch in Los Angeles on June 8 and culminate in Lucca, Italy, in November. They speculate on potential guest appearances, such as Norman Reedus and Troy Baker.

• Gameplay Insights: Mike shares his experience playing "Death Stranding," acknowledging its unique blend of walking simulation and action elements, while Stella comments on specific game moments that stood out to her.

Notable Quotes:

• "[42:58] Snowbike Mike: ...you don't have to be a fan of that first game to enjoy the sequel."
• "[44:11] Stella Chung: You know, if Kojima just leaned in full Tarantino..."

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4. Helldivers 2 Developments

Timestamp: 50:00 - 61:44

Overview: Helldivers 2 receives significant attention as the developers, Arrowhead, affirm their commitment to the game despite plans to explore new projects. The conversation highlights the game's evolving live-service model and the introduction of new content.

Key Discussions:

• Developer Commitment: Wesley Yinpool from IGN reports that Arrowhead intends to continue focusing on Helldivers 2 while slowly initiating new projects, dispelling fears of abandonment: "[56:27] Stella Chung: Definitely not."

• Game Updates: Stella praises the latest updates, including new environments like Super Earth and the introduction of formidable enemies, enhancing the game's complexity and player engagement.

• Community Engagement: The hosts emphasize the importance of maintaining active development to keep both new and returning players engaged, discussing potential future content and crossovers.

Notable Quotes:

• "[57:14] Stella Chung: ...seeing them flourish even despite that is great."
• "[60:30] Stella Chung: I think it struggles a little bit with bringing in new players, but... brings back previous players."

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5. EA’s Full Return to Office Policy

Timestamp: 64:01 - 69:32

Overview: Electronic Arts (EA) announces the permanent end of remote work policies, mandating a full return to office presence. This decision has stirred debate among the hosts and guest regarding its implications for workforce flexibility and company culture.

Key Discussions:

• Policy Impact: Stella critically views EA's move as a thinly veiled strategy for cost-cutting and workforce reduction, rather than a genuine belief in the benefits of in-person collaboration: "[65:35] Stella Chung: This is just a thinly, like a poorly masked mass firing..."

• Productivity vs. Flexibility: The conversation explores the balance between in-person creativity and the proven productivity gains from remote work, with Stella highlighting the advantages remote work offers, especially for individuals with disabilities or those requiring flexible schedules.

• Industry Trends: Barrett adds that such policies might stem from older management philosophies not aligning with modern work dynamics, potentially leading to talent loss.

Notable Quotes:

• "[66:51] Stella Chung: ...they just want to have an excuse to let people go."
• "[68:14] Stella Chung: ...remote work allows a lot of people with disabilities to work just as well as anyone else."

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6. Riders Republic Film Adaptation

Timestamp: 70:00 - 74:35

Overview: Ubisoft announces a feature film adaptation of their extreme sports game "Riders Republic," directed by the duo behind "Bad Boys for Life." The hosts discuss the potential and challenges of translating the game's high-octane action to the big screen.

Key Discussions:

• Adaptation Viability: Stella expresses skepticism about the movie's potential success compared to existing game-to-film adaptations, suggesting that an animated or game show format might be more fitting: "[73:26] Stella Chung: ...I would love to see, like, a Dune and Helldivers crossover."

• Creative Direction: Mike speculates on the film's possible tone, likening it to franchises like "Jackass" or "Travis Pastrana," and emphasizes the importance of compelling characters to drive the narrative.

• Alternative Suggestions: The hosts brainstorm ideas for a more engaging adaptation, proposing collaborations with popular YouTubers or integrating real extreme sports athletes to enhance authenticity and excitement.

Notable Quotes:

• "[71:20] Stella Chung: ...I would rather take a movie of Conqueror's Bad Fur Day than a Writer's Republic."
• "[74:01] Snowbike Mike: ...maybe a show format where you have people who are athletes..."

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7. Additional News Highlights

Timestamp: 75:00 - 78:47

Overview: The episode briefly touches on various other gaming news, including the release of "Cookie Clicker" on consoles, the mobile launch of "Persona 5: Phantom X," and the integration of "Writers Republic" into Roblox. Additionally, Warner Bros. announces a new DC-themed mobile game, "DC Worlds Collide."

Key Discussions:

• Cookie Clicker on Consoles: The hosts humorously discuss the iconic yet simple gameplay of "Cookie Clicker," acknowledging its passionate fanbase despite its minimalist design.

• Persona 5: Phantom X: Barrett expresses disinterest in the mobile adaptation, while Mike and Stella discuss potential improvements and the game's fit within the franchise.

• Roblox Collaboration: Stella highlights the strategic move of integrating "Riders Republic" into Roblox, noting its potential to attract younger audiences.

• DC Worlds Collide: The announcement of a new DC superhero squad-based RPG for mobile devices is met with enthusiasm, with Mike sharing his recent pre-registration.

Notable Quotes:

• "[76:46] Stella Chung: I think that's great. I think if that means that more..."
• "[77:58] Stella Chung: So, Stella, you know what? If anything, it might be something that you..."

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8. Community Interaction and Super Chats

Timestamp: 79:00 - 88:36

Overview: The latter part of the episode is dedicated to engaging with listeners through Super Chats. The hosts and Stella respond to various viewer comments, share personal anecdotes, and entertain humorous interactions.

Key Interactions:

• Creative Crossovers: Listeners suggest intriguing crossovers like "Alien vs. Predator vs. Sora," prompting lively discussions on how such mashups could work within the "Kingdom Hearts" universe.

• Support for Stella: Super Chats include donations encouraging support for Stella's YouTube and Twitch channels, with playful banter about converting donations into in-show antics.

• Esports Conversations: Stella shares her interest in upcoming Apex Legends esports events, particularly the Global Series Championship in Japan.

• Humorous Remarks: The hosts and Stella engage in light-hearted jokes about in-game content, personal gaming experiences, and the lively interactions within the community.

Notable Quotes:

• "[84:35] Stella Chung: But you still need compelling characters that I would need to care about."
• "[85:43] Stella Chung: Let’s see. Resident Evil 4 remake came out and two years ago..."

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Conclusion

The episode concludes with the hosts expressing gratitude to their listeners and encouraging continued support through memberships and live engagements. The extended format allows for deep dives into major gaming news, insightful discussions with Stella Chung, and robust community interaction, making it a comprehensive and engaging listen for both regular followers and newcomers.

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Highlights & Notable Quotes:

• "[11:25] Stella Chung: If I can't play as Mickey and hear him say ho ho, I'm going to bust a cap in Your ass then."
• "[30:24] Stella Chung: Shocking news. Shocking. Unbelievable."
• "[56:27] Stella Chung: Definitely not."
• "[65:35] Stella Chung: This is just a thinly, like a poorly masked mass firing..."
• "[71:20] Stella Chung: I'd rather take a movie of Conqueror's Bad Fur Day than a Writer's Republic."
• "[79:02] Stella Chung: You're telling up all the money that gets put towards me, right?"

This episode offers a rich blend of industry news, in-depth analysis, and entertaining dialogue, providing listeners with valuable insights and an enjoyable experience.

Transcript

[Snowbike Mike]

This episode is brought to you by Lifelock. Not everyone is careful with your personal information, which might explain why there's a victim of identity theft every five seconds in the U.S. fortunately, there's LifeLock. LifeLock monitors hundreds of millions of data points a second for threats to your identity. If your identity is stolen, a US based restoration specialist will fix it, guaranteed or your money back. Save up to 40% your first year by visiting lifelock.com podcast terms apply. Today's stories include new images of Kingdom Hearts 4 GTA 6 delay affecting console sales and more Death Stranding 2 news. We have all this and more because this is kind of Funny Games Daily. Yo, what the heck is going on, everybody? Welcome to Kind of Funny Games daily for Thursday, May 15, 2025. I'm one of your show hosts, Snowbike M. And today I am joined by the incredible Stella Chung. Stella, how are you?

[Stella Chung]

Good, thank you. You're so sweet. I'm good. Feeling as good as you said your legs feel today? No, I'm, I'm doing great.

[Snowbike Mike]

Everything in my life feels good except for my voice. I can't seem to get it back and that's also because I'm not resting. Stella, I just can't stop streaming and playing video games. It's my favorite thing to do.

[Stella Chung]

Dude, you gotta take breaks. Burnout is real, man.

[Snowbike Mike]

Stella, the games call me. You know, I'm playing Final Fantasy 13, Final Fantasy 10 to Hunt Showdown. I mean, Blue Prince is calling. There's too many games still. I can't stop playing.

[Stella Chung]

I know. And then Dooms out today. I get it. There's a lot. But I mean, you know, yeah, keep on doing what you're doing. Just make sure you have enough coffee and sleep.

[Barrett Courtney]

At least get a spa night in. You know, just take care of yourself. Yeah.

[Stella Chung]

I will send you face masks so you're forced to like sit there with the mask on. But I'm going to get you ones that look like the animal one. So that looks like you have like, that's Stella.

[Snowbike Mike]

Stella, come back up to San Francisco. Come hang out with me all the time. You know that now.

[Stella Chung]

Yeah.

[Snowbike Mike]

To our audience out there watching live and of course on podcast services around the globe, you get a special kind of Funny Games Daily today because the team here, kind of funny has asked me to go a little long. I'm going to give you a 90 minute episode today with Stella. So we're going to take our time. We're going to do a little bit of housekeeping. We're going to check in with Stella, what's the latest and greatest in her world? We're going to be able to spend a little more time on today's news stories, which means I need you to come in and get involved. We can have a big post show super chat section where you can ask questions to Stella about what she's been doing in her life, what games she's been playing, our thoughts on any gaming topics you want to talk about. Or you can dive a little bit deeper with us with your super chats on today's news stories. Because we got to go for 90 minutes, so please sit back, relax, enjoy a little bit longer one. So it's going to be a little bit slower. And so since we're taking it slow, Stella, how have you been? What has been the latest and greatest in your world?

[Stella Chung]

Yeah, I mean, they called me on the podcast because they really wanted me to do. You know, they wanted us to do a longer session, which, you know, the rest of the boys are kind of funny apparently, can't last that long. So, you know, it's okay. We all have our limitations. You know, it sucks. But that's why I'm here. I am here to prolong your enjoyment of the podcast, to take it nice and slow foreplay, you know. So, yeah, things have been good on my end though, you know, playing a lot of different games. Expedition 33, which is amazing, but also I have to take a lot of breaks from it because it makes me super sad. So just gate three with the patch eight. Let's see. And, oh, south of Midnight, I got halfway through that, but then all these games started coming out and now Doom. So I'm. Yeah. Hopefully get to play a lot of Doom this weekend, finish it and do a review next week.

[Snowbike Mike]

That's wonderful, Stella. Stella is very busy. Of course you're going to do a review. Stella, where would I find your review? Where are you putting your work lately? Where can people keep up with you?

[Stella Chung]

Yeah, I mean, because kind of funny won't hire me. You know, you can actually find me on YouTube.comparallax, stella, or on Twitch, which I've been doing a lot of like early morning or not early morning. I say 10:00am as, as if it's early, but morning podcast streams and such. So yeah, that's where you can find me.

[Snowbike Mike]

I love that. Yeah, I've been checking in on your Twitch channel all the time. I love seeing you go live. I love that you've been playing a bunch of video games, but you also been talking video game news, which I really enjoy when you take some time and you dive right into the news. So it's very cool to check you out over there. So people, go check her out. Go have some fun in that awesome community she's building over there and get to listen to Stella and her thoughts on the gaming world. I love that.

[Stella Chung]

Thank you. That's very sweet. Also, I saw someone in chat say the Stella. Oh, Rev Rev Cabot said, does Stella know Mike walked for weekend? The stamina. He doesn't count. Mike is obviously someone who can last a long time. Okay, we're not talking about that. All right? Oh, God.

[Snowbike Mike]

Okay, well, okay, I gotta show the yams off. Gotta let the people know.

[Stella Chung]

I mean, well, now. Now all of Chad is just busted immediately. I mean, I don't know why. Dude, we were supposed to go for 90 minutes.

[Snowbike Mike]

Oh, you're right. Got him.

[Stella Chung]

You know.

[Snowbike Mike]

Damn it, Stella. Yeah, we had a great weekend playing Death Stranding. I'm happy to announce to everybody out there that Roger has stitched together the whole weekend video. Uh, so all the recordings will be one massive video put up on YouTube this Saturday. So keep an eye out if you missed any of the Death Stranding fun with the big walkathon marathon stream that will be going up. I loved the experience, Stella. I had so much fun with Roger and the. The community here. Kind of funny. Laughing, celebrating, and most importantly, getting high off that Kojima joint. He's got another banger. And I can't wait for Death stranding too. Stella, have you played Death Stranding? Are you excited for two?

[Stella Chung]

It's not a game that I specifically want to play. I think it's not really my playstyle, but I do enjoy watching other people play. So when you guys were doing that, I was watching. It's one of those things, like, I can enjoy it through the enjoyment of others more than for myself.

[Snowbike Mike]

Okay.

[Stella Chung]

But I do have an important question. How bad did that room smell after the weekend?

[Snowbike Mike]

You know what, Stella? I have a big rule in the stream room, and you've seen it before. I make everybody clean all the time. And, you know, I didn't sweat too much. I would say it was at a 4 out of 10 stank level.

[Barrett Courtney]

4 out of 10, Mike, I would give you a 1 out of 10 stank level because, oh, you left the room open because I was the first one to come in after y' all had left. Whatever. It was like, Sunday, late Sunday, early Monday morning, or whatever it was, and it. There was no smell. And so you aired it out properly and I was because I was dreading going in and starting up the studio on Monday.

[Snowbike Mike]

So yeah, the biggest.

[Stella Chung]

I don't blame you, dude.

[Snowbike Mike]

The biggest stank was probably our Chili's and our Denny's order late at night that that got a little wild and weird.

[Stella Chung]

Chili's?

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah, we decided to get some Chili's.

[Stella Chung]

Crazy Chili's exists in the Bay Area. I don't think I've seen a single chili since I was Stella.

[Snowbike Mike]

It's the perfect date night for two. But Chili's isn't paying me. We can't talk about it. We got to talk about Video Game News. Let's jump into it. Of course, this is Kind of Funny Games Daily. Each and every weekday we run you through the nerdy video game news you need to know about live on YouTube, Twitch and of course on podcast services around the globe. If you like what we do, consider supporting us with that kind of funny membership available on Patreon, on YouTube and now on Spotify and Apple Podcasts to get all of our shows ad free. Watch us as we record them live and get your daily exclusive show For a chance to be part of the show, submit your thoughts and opinions as YouTube super chats as we go, you want to dive a little bit deeper into a video game news story. You want to share your thoughts and opinions about a game story or you want to ask questions to Stella, our incredible guest. Please write in with your YouTube super chats as we have an extra long show to get into today. Some housekeeping for you. We are an 11 person small business all about live talk shows today. After Kind of Funny Games Daily, you'll get a special embargoed games cast. And then after that you'll get a special kind of funny podcast all about Greg Miller as it will be the Greg Miller PAX East Key Note Special. So if you missed out on PAX east, if you didn't see Greg Miller's awesome keynote one on one with Ben Starr, now you get an opportunity to re watch that. It was very very good. Then of course today's stream is Andy and Nick ripping and tearing it up in Doom the Dark Ages on their feet 5090 with DLSS4 thanks to Nvidia. So keep an eye out for that sponsored stream at the end of the day. If you are a Kind of funny member, today's Greg Ways 14 minutes of Roger talking about how the death Stranding stream came to be and how we became friends again. And then not friends and then torn apart and then friends again.

[Stella Chung]

Wait, what did I miss?

[Snowbike Mike]

It was so much Stella. I blocked him because I was jealous he was taking Blessing out to lunch and not me. So I blocked him. Then we became best friends.

[Stella Chung]

To be fair, that's because you don't respond to texts actually wanting to meet up. So I think that's kind of him.

[Barrett Courtney]

Even Stella knows that.

[Snowbike Mike]

Dude. Stella knows. Stella knows.

[Stella Chung]

Do you know the amount of times every time I meet up with Mike, he's like, oh man, how you been? We should hang out. Oh, let's go to the. Let's go to the park and oh yeah, it'll be great. And I Silence.

[Snowbike Mike]

Silence. I miss you, Stella. I miss you and so go listen to Roger talking about that. It was a great story. I I really pushed on Roger before behind the scenes about the death stranding stream. So I'm excited to hear what his thoughts are. Of course. Thank you to our Patreon producers who help keep the lights and mics on Carl Jacobs, Omega Buster and Delaney Twining. We'll talk about our sponsors later. Shady Rays, R Frames and Rocket Money. We'll tell you about them later. Let's jump in to what is and forever will be the Roper Report. It's time for some news. We have seven news stories today.

[Stella Chung]

Today.

[Snowbike Mike]

A bacon dozen.

[Barrett Courtney]

God damn it. Why did it just the one fog machine story?

[Stella Chung]

You know, it's fine. It's about. We're doing the distance today.

[Snowbike Mike]

We're going the distance, Stella. And guess what? Story number one is going to take us there. Because if you want to talk video games, if you want crazy nonsense plots, you want super long, just exaggerated nonsense, it's all about Kingdom Hearts. Guess What? Story number one. We have new screenshots of Kingdom Hearts 4. This coming from Sal Romano over at Gamatsu. Screenshots will be shown here. Quote we're currently working on Kingdom Hearts 4 and will continue pouring ourselves into the game's development. Square Enix said in a message. We're dedicated to making this an experience that lives up to your expectations. The company continued to We've seen how excited you are and we are truly grateful from the bottom of our hearts. We are equally excited and can't wait to share more about Kingdom Hearts for when the time is right. Until then, we appreciate your patience. Thank you for your continued support. Stella. Stella New Screenshots Kingdom Hearts does this get you excited? How are you feeling about Sora's new adventure? If.

[Stella Chung]

If I can't play as Mickey and hear him say ho ho, I'm going to bust a cap in Your ass then.

[Snowbike Mike]

I don't.

[Stella Chung]

I don't want to play it.

[Snowbike Mike]

Well, Stella, I will point you to the middle of this screenshot. Mickey is on top of some chandeliers, it looks like maybe in some sort of library or beautiful home. And maybe he's playable and maybe he will bust the cap in somebody's ass for you, Stella.

[Stella Chung]

Maybe. I will say it looks gorgeous. I honestly have never been into Kingdom Hearts again, mostly because of the story. I think it's very cool that they've been able to mash so much stuff into it. I think it's really interesting. I remember being obsessed with the story or like, what was the story? I guess because of. Oh my God, Sora and Kyrie. Right? His love interest.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yes. Sora.

[Stella Chung]

Yes.

[Snowbike Mike]

Kyrie and Riku. Yep.

[Stella Chung]

Yes. I was. Oh my God. Dude. I was in my like Zanga fan fiction era where I loved following the Final Fantasy romances and stuff. So that's what I was into it for. But they got really convoluted and I was like, I don't get it. And I also had an ex who was like, this is my favorite game ever. You have to play this. And he sat me down and forced me to play it. And so it's kind of like when you're a kid and you get force fed something, you kind of don't like it. So that's kind of my experience with it. But I will gladly watch other people enjoy it.

[Snowbike Mike]

Okay, I like that, Stella. Well, of course I'm writing the high off of my Kingdom Hearts playthrough. I've played one and two, watched all of Chain of Memories and so I'm very excited about this. I still have yet to play three and I know there's a whole lot of other Kingdom Hearts games, but seeing this gets me excited as I'm one of those fans who is very new to the franchise and I kind of get to live the best life of oh, there's a new game coming out soon. I put in quotes there as like you get excited there. But I mean when I look at the screenshot, Stella, where's his big goofy shoes? Why does Sora have normal looking shoes on? But also game looks good. The heartless or whatever. I mean, I have to assume those are the heartless look great. They look much scarier than the PS2 games that I've been playing back in the day. Here, I'm all in for this right now.

[Stella Chung]

Hey, you know, I might play that villain looking kind of hot. I'm just saying, I'll play for him.

[Snowbike Mike]

Stella, you big into Disney and all the new worlds that they have? Are you excited? Do you have any dream worlds that you want them to go to?

[Stella Chung]

You know, I think they actually. They had Hercules, right?

[Snowbike Mike]

Hercules in there.

[Stella Chung]

Yeah. Was Hades also in there?

[Snowbike Mike]

Of course. Of course. Oh, yeah.

[Stella Chung]

Yes. Okay, then I'm good. Yeah. Then I'm good. Because I love them so much. I love that world a lot.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yes.

[Stella Chung]

Wait, Lilo and Stitch. Were they in that? Were they in that previous.

[Snowbike Mike]

I don't know if we've seen. I haven't seen Lilo and Stitch in my first two yet, so. Yeah. No, not. Not so far.

[Stella Chung]

I would love that. I would love that. Well, they were. Okay.

[Barrett Courtney]

No, no, no.

[Stella Chung]

Jesus says they were.

[Snowbike Mike]

Oh, maybe number three.

[Stella Chung]

Sleep.

[Snowbike Mike]

Oh. Birth by sleep. Okay, okay. Remember, there's a lot of games here. And, of course, just yesterday, I think we learned that they canceled one of the Kingdom Hearts games. Wasn't the mainline game, so now they're kind of.

[Barrett Courtney]

It was like their equivalent to Pokemon. Go for Kingdom Hearts.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yes. Keeping us distracted with the good news of Kingdom Hearts 4.

[Stella Chung]

That could have been cool.

[Snowbike Mike]

Stitches.

[Stella Chung]

A summoning. Kingdom Hearts two.

[Snowbike Mike]

Stop.

[Stella Chung]

Okay, I. I love that. I. I love Stitch so much. So if we can bring them back, that'd be great.

[Barrett Courtney]

In a similar vein, it would be cool to see Moana.

[Snowbike Mike]

I like that.

[Stella Chung]

Yes.

[Snowbike Mike]

That's good. I'm excited. I wonder. I mean, we've gone back to Halloween Town in the first two that I've played, so I assume that we will go back to, you know, kind of those tried and true ones like Halloween Town. Probably Hercules again on that one. But what are the new worlds? I'm very, very excited to see. And, yeah, the screenshots look good. Stella, does this give you any excitement of maybe we can see this? Or fans, we'll get to see this at Summer Game Fest. Or does that line, when the time is right kind of leads you to, hey, it's not time yet. Don't expect us this summer.

[Stella Chung]

I feel like it might be a bit soon, but it could be a good time for it. But it might be a bit soon. I don't know. I feel like Kingdom Hearts has such a big following. I feel like they could do whatever and release it or, like, have teasers come after the summer, and I think it'd be totally fine.

[Snowbike Mike]

Okay. Yeah. You have kind of your roadmap of the summer shows, right? We go from Summer Game Fest. We have, of course, Gamescom out in Europe. We have Tokyo Game show. Then you end with the game awards. You have a long lead up there, so you have a couple opportunities to show off the game if it's time and it's ready to rock and roll.

[Stella Chung]

Yeah, I would say their best bet is to do something that I don't know, because SGF is fine, but I don't feel like it's as big as the game awards or Gamescom with their live shows. I feel like that might be a better time to showcase it, but that's just a personal opinion.

[Snowbike Mike]

Well, we have some super chats all about Kingdom Hearts. So of course, if you want to get involved, share your excitement for Kingdom Hearts. And also, what's up with that black phone? Right? Why. Why do they got a phone in the screenshots? What does this phone do? I need to know. Let me know. But dear. Sixlet writes in and says being a Kingdom fan, Kingdom Hearts fan often feels like we can't get a win and are mocked and are marked. But even after a game cancellation, we finally got a win with some screenshots. Let's keep it going. Let's keep the journey going, Mikey. Seems like Kingdom Hearts fans are excited for just a little bit of news, Stella. So I'm sure once it's finally time, the world will be very happy to see more and more of this.

[Stella Chung]

You know what, Kinoharts fans, at least you're not as mistreated as Bloodborne fans. Okay, I'll just say that that in Titanfall fans, Listen, you guys are eating good while we're starving over here in the trenches.

[Snowbike Mike]

You brought up two good franchises, Stella. Right there. Is there a franchise for you personally that is similar to Kingdom Hearts where you just want more and you have to sit there and wait and wait.

[Stella Chung]

Both. Yeah, I just said both.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yes, both of those.

[Stella Chung]

Titanfall.

[Snowbike Mike]

I love that. That's good. Yeah, those are. Those are good, Stella. We'll see if Titanfall ever comes back. That's a great game. And Bloodborne. Just give us that remaster. Let's get it going right away really quick.

[Barrett Courtney]

The chat talking about worlds in Kingdom Hearts for Mikey. You know, some of the fun with Kingdom Hearts is also some of the Final Fantasy characters. And chat was saying it would be fun to see Clive Rosfield in or not ross. Clive from. Yeah, 16 from. Voiced by Ben Starr. Where'd I get Clive Rossfield? Is that a Resident Evil character?

[Snowbike Mike]

I don't know. That sounds very close to his name.

[Barrett Courtney]

Oh, no, that is his last name.

[Stella Chung]

All right.

[Barrett Courtney]

Yeah, I got that.

[Snowbike Mike]

Oh, dang, Barrett. That's A great call. Yeah, I guess I forget about the Final Fantasy connections. And yeah, it's pretty cool because they got the little fairies, which is Yuna, riku and pain. YRP my girls from Final Fantasy X10, which I love. Or X2, which I love. You see Aerith in there, which is great. Cloud and Sephi from seven, which is great. Yeah, it would be very exciting to see. What more could you have when it comes to Final Fantasy and what crazy organization 13 characters are they going to make up with insane names that I've never heard of before? It's going to be a great time. I'm really excited about it. Kebabs writes in and says, do you think Kingdom Hearts 4 is going realistic so it can visit Marvel and Star wars properties?

[Stella Chung]

Ooh.

[Barrett Courtney]

Yes.

[Stella Chung]

Good.

[Snowbike Mike]

You think so?

[Stella Chung]

That'd be really cool.

[Barrett Courtney]

I mean. Well, this is. This trailer that I was playing earlier came out like three years ago and like one of the early shots in here, I'm trying to find it. Yeah, this foresty area area, it very much gives endor vibes from Return of the Jedi. And if you. There's one shot, I think where it kind of you see the ground and you see like possibly the foot of an At. At in that top right there. So yeah, I think that's very much the vibe.

[Snowbike Mike]

Barrett, you are nerd. You're going frame by frame on it. I love.

[Barrett Courtney]

I only know this because this trailer has been around forever and like we've talked about this to death for years.

[Snowbike Mike]

I love that. Barrett. Yeah, I mean, sure, if that's the way they want to go, I would be just fine with how Kingdom Hearts has always been in making Star wars and Marvel more on the cartoony side, I guess, on the animated side and just having them play in that kind of sandboxy world. I think we've seen plenty of kids shows in those Star wars and Marvel universes that are animated and more, you know, family friendly look. Then hey, it has to be hyper realistic and different looking than that. But I love it either way. I'm excited if they can integrate both of those big properties into it. You would think they would with Disney and all the fun that they've had. Mr. We have goats. Stella.

[Stella Chung]

Oh, sorry. I was going to say we have Star wars animated shows that could fit really well into it. I mean, like what were the Clone wars, right? Like that animation could totally fit into it and I think that could be cool. And with Marvel, there's a lot that can be. I feel like it's really easy to fit them into, like, the cartoonish world. So it doesn't necessarily have to be realistic. But I guess it is kind of cool that they're giving us that HD experience if. If they're actually implementing all those worlds.

[Snowbike Mike]

Mr. Hawkshart's in. We got some Kingdom Hearts fans now showing up. Says, I'm not sure if this is the new Sora or if it's just how Sora changes his look to blend into one world. Oh, okay. So Sora every time goes into a different world, different look, fun costumes. That's a great call, Mr. Hawks. Maybe we'll be bouncing around a little bit. I like that. Okay, well, new screenshots for Kingdom Hearts 4, if you're a big fan of it. Oh, shucks. You guys don't want to stop talking about it. All right, one sec, one more. Couple more super chats coming in. CJ writes in and says Kingdom Hearts and Disney Channel original movies. Give me Troy Bolton and Goofy. You're wild. See, I love that. Oh, my God.

[Stella Chung]

You can participate and they get your head in the game.

[Barrett Courtney]

They could do it. Like, think about it. Like, Mikey, I don't know if you did. In Kingdom Hearts 2. Two, there's the little Mermaid level where that's just pretty much just like a mini game.

[Snowbike Mike]

Like just a big sing along.

[Barrett Courtney]

Yeah, yeah. And so they could do that. Think about it.

[Snowbike Mike]

That's a great one right there. I mean, Goofy, the Goofy movie would be fantastic. Troy Bolton, That's. That's a pretty good poll right there. That's pretty funny. Well, I like that. It's. Topher writes in as well and says, give me Kingdom Hearts versus Marvel Rivals. You're wild. You're wild right there.

[Stella Chung]

How are they going to put all that ass into Kingdom Hearts?

[Snowbike Mike]

I don't think they're going to. Aaron writes in. Aaron Lime says, we might see Jack from Strangers of paradise in Kingdom Hearts 4. The Final Fantasy characters that show up are always ones Nomura designed originally. So there you go. Maybe you see. Is that the guy who yelled king kill chaos all the time. Barrett, Right?

[Barrett Courtney]

Which one? Sorry.

[Snowbike Mike]

Jack from Stranger Paradise. Yeah, yeah. He'll be hunting chaos. Peaceful Warhead writes in and says, have Sora and the crew fight on the Avengers endgame battlefield against Thanos. Yeah. That's crazy.

[Stella Chung]

Yes.

[Snowbike Mike]

The last great perhaps says minor spoiler, But Kingdom Hearts 3 has a realistic Pirates of the Caribbean world. Okay, well, when I get to that experience, I look forward to seeing that. Yeah. Pirates of the Caribbean, for me on Kingdom Hearts 2 was. Yeah. Very different. Than what you saw in all the other worlds. So I could definitely see three moving that direction. I look forward to seeing that great little pull there for us. We'll see what happens at Kingdom Hearts 4. Of course I will be crossing my fingers for a big announcement at Summer Games Fest or this summer because I want to play Kingdom Hearts 3 at the end of the year so if I can keep riding that excitement, I'm all in on the fun for sure. Stella, let's keep the show going, but let's do it after a word from our sponsors and we'll be right back with even more. We have another hour left, so don't.

[Greg Miller]

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[Snowbike Mike]

Number two Stella GTA 6 delay could mean 700,000 fewer Xbox and PlayStation console sales this year coming from Christopher Dring at Game Business, a leading industry data firm, has reduced its 2025 sales estimates for PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series S&X by 700,000 units following the delay of of Grand Theft Auto 6. Ampere Analysis has also lowered its forecast for PlayStation and Xbox game sales, down by 21 million units. Overall, Ampere believes the console market will miss out on $2.7 billion in revenue this year due to GTA 6 delay. Of course, much of this will Simply move to 2026 as the game is now scheduled for launch on May 26 next year. QUOTE the drop is quite significant, says Ampere Analysis peers handle Harding roles. You would expect people to spend on the on other things instead, but that kind of transfer will not be entirely there. Not being entirely there will be significant impact. Harding Rose believes that the GTA 6 delay would boost the to Nintendo Switch to this Christmas. In our consumer data, Switch is often seen as the second device for owners of PlayStation 5. The overlap is quite significant. He adds. They are in the same competitive sphere even if the content is not exactly the same. Ampere now reports anticipates growth for the video game industry in 2025 of just 0.9% but it will improve with a 2.2 increased over 2026. In the reports, Ampere believes general inflation + hyper competition will result in slow growth compared to pre 22 or 2019 and the companies will continue to focus on efficiency, being selective with games they they sign and profit margins. Stella, big number. 700,000 units predicted for the big sale of GTA 6 this year now going to be off this year's books onto next year. What do you think about that? Of course GTA seems to be the big selling point for a lot of people.

[Stella Chung]

This just in Mike. Crazy news that this hyper popular, very modern game is going to just tank sales because it's not coming out this year. And oh my God, people gamers want to save their money because gaming is is expensive right now and they want to save it till next year. Shocking news. Shocking. Unbelievable. Unbelievable. I mean I don't know. This is, this is about par for the course. I think it makes sense people might be holding out if they don't have a console already to play this on. They're probably holding out to see if there's going to be a bundle and potentially save like a lot of people are buying, you know, switch to with the Mario Kart bundle as well. Kind of, kind of saves money on that. So I don't know. This definitely makes sense. I feel like this is as a consumer, I don't know, maybe we're the more, more educated consumer who understands that yeah this is probably going to happen.

[Snowbike Mike]

Stella, you're right on the money. Of course. Yes. This is to be expected is right. Right. Your predictions of sales and charts are definitely going to be thrown off when GTA and Rockstar finally say hey we're not coming out this year like we thought we were. We're going to be next year. Everything has changed now of course. It's interesting Stella, that's a huge number. I guess I'm kind of blown away by that number of 700,000 new consoles will be sold off of just GTA 6 alone or the that's the thought process there is pretty wild to think but you think of upgrades People are finally ready to get that new PS5, maybe get the PS5 Pro to go along with their systems. It's, it's an exciting thing to think about how impactful GTA 6 really is. But that is a massive number of console sales for. To just be tied to this game franchise.

[Stella Chung]

I don't think it's that crazy, honestly, because GTA is one of those titles that is just extend. That is extended outside of just the gaming community. Right? Like you talk to celebrities, you talk to, I don't know, like sports, sports players, like basketball players, football players. They all know what GTA is. GTA is such a casual experience for people who don't even identify as gamers. So I feel like, of course, this makes a lot of sense. A lot of the casual consumers want to buy a console that can play this game. Most of them don't want to wait a whole year or however long it's going to be to get GTA 6 on a PC, unfortunately. So even for me, I will definitely have to buy it twice because I'll buy it once on a console and then I'll buy it another time on a PC. It's just this like, global experience that people don't want to miss out on. So I feel like, yes, the number is actually kind of crazy to see like all at once. But if you look at, I mean, GTA 5 has sold over 210 million copies since its 2013 release and has still gotten content out and still makes money to this day. So I feel like, yeah, it makes sense. It's shocking to see that number, I'm sure for PlayStation and Xbox developers and like their company, it's, it's like, damn, we're missing out on these sales. But I mean, you'll make it all back next year, don't worry.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah, well said, Stella Barrett. What do you got?

[Barrett Courtney]

Yeah, my, my wonder, but just something that went through my head is like roughly 700,000 units less sold consoles this year because of the lack of GTA 6. I do wonder if that number is actually made up next year by the time we get to next year and prices are going up and up and up for consoles. Like you mentioned, the PS5 Pro. I don't know if anybody's going to be getting a PS5 Pro, if that gets a price hike in the United States of America. That thing is expensive as already. And so I do wonder if that actually levels out next year in terms of where the economy is at, where people's, you know, how much money people actually have in their pockets next year by the time GTA actually comes out. That'll be something to keep in mind.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah, I think that's true for sure. Barrett, it will be very interesting to see who jumps on these consoles now before they get that price hike. Where are we next year with all of this price increase? Where does it settle in? And also, you know, it's GTA 6. People are going to go wild for this one. Right. So they're going to save up all their money, they're going to work extra hard for this one and try to get involved in it. But yeah, 700,000 consoles. Wild Stella as well, because I also think of this generation. You know, this generation has been very interesting, right. It's been around for quite some time, but we had the COVID years where it was harder to get a hold of it. Then we had kind of everybody working from home, everybody was gaming. So this generation feels like it went on for a long time, but it didn't go on for a long time. And I question who doesn't have a console by now that wouldn't be in there. But like you said, there's a large casual audience that is going to go wild for Grand Theft Auto and jump right on and get any console they can to be able to play this that first year.

[Stella Chung]

Yeah, I think it's interesting. The console generation started in the pandemic, but I feel like the first two, three years don't really count just because I feel. I personally feel like this generation, for those first two years, people weren't. Developers weren't ready to move on to this next generation of hardware because they had to try and configure all their games to this new hardware. And a lot of games were still being made for the previous console and a lot of people were okay with just holding onto that and that's fine. But it took two years for developers to really get used to the hardware and what the power could provide for their games. And also that's when a lot of consumers were actually able to buy those consoles because of all the, I don't know, the people buying everything out, scalpers and also not being able to afford it. And also the fact that all the games are coming out on the Xbox One and PS4 anyways. So I feel like this console generation has really just started. I want to say maybe like 2023 is when it really started popping off. So I feel like that is the actual start of the console generation. So it's not. It feels like it's gone on For a lot longer than it has. But now the content is really rolling in. So now I feel like it's at its height.

[Snowbike Mike]

Stella, when do you think we'll see this start of the next generation? You talk about kind of being at its height and really this does feel like, hey, we're in the prime of this console, right? And it feels like we got a good Runway still to go. But I think that maybe it's not as long as I think it is. Stella, when do you really think we'll start seeing that next conversation?

[Stella Chung]

I hope not for another couple of years because I feel like we're just now settling into this generation. Everyone's getting used to the tech, they're getting used to the pricing. First of all, I don't think people are going to want another console that's going to be even more expensive. But I feel like at this point we're reaching a point in hardware where it's kind of harder to find the next step that's not going to be absurdly expensive. I mean, look at the 50 series, right? Like, I have the 40 GPU. 40 series GPU on my PC and I'm like, okay, I don't need to upgrade until maybe the 60 series. We'll see. So it's like a lot of people are getting really. They're trying to save a lot of money. Everything's so much more expensive now. So I feel like it'll be a really stupid move to announce another console which, like, not to hate on the PS5 Pro. But, like, I mean, I wasn't one of those people that was like, I have to have this. And I know there's going to be that elite bunch that are like, oh my God, I need to have the PS5 Pro to play GTA 6 in its all its glory, but I'm like, dude, as long as I have the game and I can play it, I'm fine. Like, I think that's generally where most of the casual audience is. So I genuinely hope we don't talk about another console for a while, especially since Xbox has that new campaign. If you can play Xbox anywhere, you don't even need the Xbox.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yes.

[Stella Chung]

Which is great. Gives people a lot of different economical options to game on.

[Snowbike Mike]

Stella, I'm excited to see where we go in the future. How long is this Runway? I'm feeling really good with my Xbox series X and PlayStation 5. I'm not quite ready to end that life cycle yet. I don't really want the next announcement, but we'll see where we Go. What? I am excited for Stella, you and I playing some Grand Theft Auto 6. And I cannot wait for next May. I'm very excited. It was, it was, it was hard to hear the delay because I wanted it so badly. But May, we got 12 months from now, we'll be back right to it. It'll be very, very exciting stuff. Do you think we see anything around Summer Game Fester? That past trailer is all we get for the summer season with Grand Theft Auto.

[Stella Chung]

Honestly, I'm totally fine if they don't. I feel like that trailer at the announcement of the delay was probably great for them to have. I would say maybe something more towards like game awards. Right. Because then that's a little bit more around the corner from seeing the game at May. But also if they don't release anything else, I'm so okay with that because at this point I think a lot of people just want to see the game when it's ready. Right. So getting that trailer a year away, people were like, oh, it looks great. But also, damn, we could have had that this year. It makes people feel a little bit more upset about the fact that it's not coming out soon. So I feel like if it comes, if there's more reveal stuff that comes out in December or even January, I feel like that's a little bit better than if they decided to do that in the summer.

[Barrett Courtney]

Yeah. The next big beat will be the this is the world of GTA 6. And it'll run you through all of the cool gameplay stuff like they did with GTA 5 and all that stuff. And we. Yeah, I think Stella's on the money of like December, January for that kind of thing.

[Stella Chung]

Yep.

[Snowbike Mike]

Well, of course.

[Stella Chung]

Gold star bear.

[Snowbike Mike]

Give me gold star for bear from Stella today. Of course, audience out there. Don't forget, if you're watching live on YouTube and on Twitch, you have an extended kind of funny games daily. So we're taking it nice and slow today because we're going till 11:30, so we still have a whole hour to go. So I'm going to stop really quick and read two quick super chats. We have a birthday to say happy birthday to Steak Sticks Animation. Paying my birthday tax. Love you, Mike. Can't wait to watch. Can't wait to watch you stream Kingdom Hearts 4 when it comes out in 15 years. Happy birthday, my friend, from me and the kind of funny crew. Thank you for your super, super chat and I hope that I'm playing Kingdom Hearts 4 in 15 years with you, buddy. Thank you so much for The Love Stella. Let's go to the next story. Story number three and four are all about Death Stranding 2. Death Stranding 2's scores are Death Stranding 2's scoring well with test reviewers, but Kojima isn't satisfied. This coming from Darren Bontheis at GameSpot. Death Stranding was a polarized, polarizing game when it first released, but for the upcoming sequel, previews and early reviews for the game have largely been positive. In a recent interview with game director Hideo, Kojima explained how he was happy to see test audiences react more favorably to Death Rating two on the beach, but he also explained how this had left him feeling conflicted. Quote Sony is pleased, of course, but I do wish I was a bit more controversial, kojima said to Edge magazine via VGC. Blockbuster films need an 80% approval rating. I do not. I don't want to make games like that. I'm not interested in appealing to a mass market or selling millions of copies. That's not what I'm aiming for. End quote Kojima did acknowledge the paradox of this approach, as While he may not be aiming to appeal to a broader gaming market, Death Stranding 2 still needs to sell a sizable number of units if he wants to keep the lights on at Kojima Productions and pay his developers and pay his staff. The other benefit of reviews to being of reviews being divided over a game is that it allows developers like Kojima to receive constructive criticism and implement improvements both in the base game and potential sequel. At this time, Kojima says that he won't alter themes or story based on feedback from players. We get positive reviews, everybody's excited for the game, Kojima says. No, no, that's not what I want.

[Barrett Courtney]

I want to be Darren Aronofsky.

[Snowbike Mike]

I want to be different Stella. Yeah, I mean, what, what. What's going on here?

[Stella Chung]

Honestly, I totally get it. He's an artist at heart, right? So as an artist, you're just like, I don't want to be one of those. Like, I don't want to be a Banksy where everything gets taken. Like, everyone likes it, they get it. Oh, it's. I totally understand it. And I think he understands that in the gaming environment we are in right now, controversy fucking sells. That's why you see a lot of people being grifters one way or another, because they're just like, oh man, controversy really brings in the money. Also, it brings more eyes to something that most people would not have looked at. If you talk about it, I get it. It's kind of that sort of he's doing that psychology thing of like, oh, if something's really weird or people don't really vibe with it, they're going to. They're more inclined to look at it. Right. As opposed to a game that gets like, oh, this is a 10 out of 10 you have to play. Then it's like, is it really, Is it really, you know, and people might avoid it for a little bit. It's a weird sort of mental game. But I do understand probably because Death Stranding 1 was so controversial just in terms of like, what is this, a walking simulator? And then people kind of grew into the environment. They grew to love it. Which I feel like he should have probably expected to happen. Especially since it is a direct sequel to the game that so many people ended up loving.

[Snowbike Mike]

Of course.

[Stella Chung]

But I totally get it because Kojima is a weird guy. He wants weird art, more weird stuff. And he probably just wanted this to be for the weirdos. But now the general public likes it, you know.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah. When you make a a a good to great game, Stella, people are going to love it and be excited for the next one. And it sounds like this one's even better than the first. And so I think that's how people are looking at this one. It's interesting. I remember before Death Stranding 1 came out, Kojima had like some sort of crazy quote of like Americans won't understand this game. They don't get high art or something like that. And it always stuck with me and I laughed and yeah, I think that's what he's going for is right Stella. Something out of the ordinary. Something to get people talking and have this conversation of, I don't understand this. Oh, I don't like this. And the more talk the better. And of course also how to improve. Right. You want that constructive criticism to get better each and every time. But it's a sequel, It's a follow up. We kind of know what to expect and we know what we want out of it. But it is exciting to see so many people talk positively about this. From all the big previews that we've seen, Blessing went out to Kojima Productions. He came back and can't stop talking about this game. He can't stop thinking about this game. So it's exciting. And the wild part is we don't have to wait long. Stella. This game is coming out in June. We are a month away from playing Death Standing 2 and seeing what Kojima and his team have created for this follow up sequel.

[Stella Chung]

You know, if Kojima just Leaned in full Tarantino. It just did more feet. I think he would get that lower score that he wants. You know what I mean?

[Barrett Courtney]

Like, I'm just saying it depends on who's reviewing Stella. Like, more feet could get him higher.

[Stella Chung]

You're right. If Blessing's reviewing it, he'll definitely give it a higher score. Well, he'll give it a 10 toes out of 10 toes.

[Snowbike Mike]

Now, blessing didn't like the hand.

[Stella Chung]

Those little piggies.

[Barrett Courtney]

Hand creatures freak them out.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah. So the hand creatures freaked out Blessing and elder creatures.

[Stella Chung]

No toes. Toes are different from. Listen, I get it. Toes are shorter than fingers. So maybe that's what he's just not used to long things. I get it. Poor guy.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah, I, I, I. It's a wild one, Kojima. Like you said, Stella, you said so. Well, he's an artist, right. And I think he wants that kind of conversation around the things he makes and he wants to create things that get people thinking. And Death Stranding is already game is already a game that gets people thinking and gets them out of their comfort zone. Like the walking simulator. Yeah, I get it on the gameplay side, but when you watch the story and you, you really think about what's going on and all the conversation he's having, it's pretty wild and out there and especially what we just went through with COVID and Lockdown and now where we are today, there's a lot going on here that somehow Kojima is always on the pulse of and has something to say. Even if maybe he doesn't think he, you know, this is going to happen or it's. He's on it, but somehow he's talking about us not being connected, but being overly connected. It's exciting stuff. Stella. I really loved Death Stranding with Roger this past weekend end.

[Stella Chung]

Was that your first introduction to the game? Like, had you played it before?

[Snowbike Mike]

No, I had played it before. I never gave it a bunch of time. I probably played a couple hours of it, then put it down. Stella, as you said, like, the walking sim for me was never my cup of tea gameplay wise. But I think if you get past the first initial hours, which is kind of heavy on the tutorial, it is much more walking and slower. Once you get past that, there's a lot more to do and you kind of start really getting the movement going of. There is a gun in that game. Right. Like early on, you don't see the gun. You don't get to have those moments. And yeah, once you unlock the BOLO gun, you're out there Fighting other, you know, mules. And of course, Troy Baker and his crew. There's a lot happening in this game that you don't see in that initial beginning. So I think a lot of people are probably like me of. I'm good. I wanted that action, that stealth espionage that Kojima is known for. I'm out. But if you stayed a little bit longer, I think you would have gotten a pretty good time out of that one.

[Stella Chung]

I hated that. We saw that last scene where they're smooching and their noses, like, bend together. They're smooching so close. It goes, like, great. You did such a good job of making the graphics look real that I. That. That. I don't know why that. That specific.

[Snowbike Mike]

Gross.

[Barrett Courtney]

Yeah. Does the kissing still gross you out? Or what about the tentacle coming out of Troy Baker's mouth?

[Stella Chung]

You know, usually I'm into tentacles, but for some reason, that one just looks real painful.

[Snowbike Mike]

Okay, okay, okay. I did. I haven't seen that one yet. I might have blacked that one out of my mind right there. Probably for the follow up. Are you jumping into this? Where are you have so many games. There's so much going on. Is this a must play for you in June? Will you hold off? Will you ever get to this one? Where you at on this?

[Stella Chung]

I think I will give this one a try. I will wait until people say, hey, you need to play the first one to understand this one, or whatever. I don't think you need to because I feel like they're both very weird experiences. So maybe you'll get more out of two if you just get into it. We'll see. I am more interested in this one, which I guess you know Kojima's whole thing of like, oh, we're getting the normies in on this. It's working because, yes, I'm getting into it.

[Snowbike Mike]

Stella's into it. She's gotcha. Well, Kojima is going to get a lot of people into it because guess what? He's going on tour. Stella story number four. Death Stranding 2 is getting a concert with World Tour. This coming from Chris Scullion at VGC the Tweet. Look at how badass this is. Death Stranding. World Strand Tour 2 will kick off in Los Angeles on June 8 during Summer Game Fest and will travel across the world before ending in Lucca in Italy in November. The game itself will be released on PS5 in June 26, meaning most of the dates in the tour will take place when the game is already out. The full list of Locations all around the globe. You can look them up right now, according to Kojima Productions. Additionally, additional details about each stop on the tour will be revealed later. Each stop will feature special guests and events, but is not yet confirmed exactly what will and what it will entail or whether the list of guests will be the same every. At every location, including Hideo Kojima himself. So, first stop, LA Summer Game Fest weekend. Big celebrities, maybe. Maybe Norman Reedus. Maybe you pull out all the stops, get everybody for this one. Troy Baker, you would assume would be there. But, Stella, have you ever seen a video game go on a world tour like this before?

[Stella Chung]

I can't say that I have. I mean, we. We do have those, like, orchestra performances that do travel, but not as extensively as this. And not something that's so pointedly advertising this game that's not even out yet. Yeah, as Chat says, it is very surprising that they don't have New York on here. Anything for the east coast people, which kind of sucks. I almost feel like a Boston concert could have done really well here, especially since it's on the coast. I will say the order in which they're going to all of these different cities is really unintuitive. Like you are burning jet fuel, dude.

[Snowbike Mike]

What the fuck, Stella, you are zigzagging around the globe, going from.

[Barrett Courtney]

You go Tokyo, Paris, London, and then Seoul.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah, you go, dude.

[Stella Chung]

You could do Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei, Hong Kong, Shanghai. What?

[Snowbike Mike]

What? It's pretty wild. I'm sure they're teaming them up with certain dates and maybe events, but I think. I think I'm not wrong on this. I think they did this for Death Stranding 1 as well. They did the world tour. The big marketing buzz of going all around, but exciting to see it. Number two. But yeah, the. The plot on this. USA to Australia, then Japan, then France and you and the uk, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Saudi Arabia, Brazil and Italy to finish it all off in November. It's going to be a wild little fun world tour for Kojima Productions over there. Stella, exciting stuff. Would you go to this in la because you're down in la?

[Stella Chung]

I think so. Just because it's close. Well, okay, first of all, it depends on how much it costs. Depending on how much it costs. Because I. Dude. Oh, my God. I wanted to see Beyonce, who was here. I wanted to see Kendrick, who was here. They're also. It was $400 for nosebleeds with partially obstructed view. So it depends on how much it costs because depending on that, then I'll. I'LL make my decision.

[Snowbike Mike]

Okay, I like that, Stella. Well, keep an eye out. Maybe you'll. Maybe you'll get the invite. Maybe you'll be there. You can tell us all about the experience because. Yeah, I would love to know what this looks like. What kind of fun experience do you get? Of course. Is it a concert? Is it just Kojima up on stage with some celebrities? It's probably a full day event of fun. I'm sure you'll probably be playing the game as well, so it should be really, really cool. So hopefully some audience members out there will go to it and let us know all about it. Stella, let's talk about story number five. Hell Divers two, of course, had a big update this week. Did you jump in at all, Stella?

[Stella Chung]

Oh, yeah. And I got my ass kicked.

[Snowbike Mike]

Good. What did you think about the new stuff added? Are you excited to protect Super Earth and even more.

[Stella Chung]

Oh, my God, I'm so excited. I. Dude, I love the way Helldivers does their live service. Right. It doesn't feel live service. It feels like an organic world that is actually adapting to the intergalactic, intergalactic war that is actively happening in the universe. Granted, yes, some things were moving a little bit slower when they had the meridian, the black hole, that was moving. And people were like, when is this gonna, When's something gonna happen? And it's like, okay, well, it's still a game that is being worked on in real time by people that gotta solve a lot of things. But it's really cool to see this world adapt. And for the longest time I was like, man, I really want to know what Super Earth looks like. We got all these cityscape maps now that we can drop into.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yes.

[Stella Chung]

But now we're going to super Earth. And I love the way, God, you got to love writers and story writers, even if it's like through environmental storytelling. Because in all of their little decrees and stuff, they put in, they put in so much of lore. And then at the end it says, battle on Super Earth will be inevitable. And you're just like, oh my God, that's a bar. That's fucking hard. Like, yeah, I'm going to defend my cat's on super Earth. Yeah, you're damn right. I'm going back home to fight. It's really cool. So I, I'm really excited. I love any update they bring. I will say the new war bond is a little weak, but I get it for the memes, so. And it's all. And it's all. It's. It's optional so you don't have to have the war bond to enjoy it.

[Snowbike Mike]

So I love that. How about the new enemies? There's the crazy ships that are bombarding you from up above. And then you have the. The crazy meat boss, whatever you want to call that Frankenstein monster. What the heck is that? Stella?

[Stella Chung]

I. Yeah, I. I know they have an official name, but I keep calling them Meatballs. And they also look like the. The big mutants from the forest. But yeah, no. Okay. They can suck my dick. The ships are really cool though. It's really cool when you. So when you're in your ship above a planet that's being currently overtaken by these ships coming in, you can see the ships floating above that, this airspace. It's really cool. And you can also. You get. When you start the new thing, you get this little animation of seeing all the ships coming in. It's like battleships. It's really, really fudgeing cool. But yeah, the new enemies suck. Oh my God, they're so fucking difficult. But that's also because I play on Super Helldive, so I mean that's partially on me, but also, I mean I ain't a bitch. So.

[Snowbike Mike]

Play how you want to play, but if you're playing with Stella, you better lock in on the difficult levels, right?

[Stella Chung]

Oh my God, bro. Yep. I don't. I don't even get me started on the randoms that jump into my game.

[Snowbike Mike]

Well, let's talk about story number five because Helldivers 2 is our main focus and will be for a long time. Arrowhead boss insists as long as you keep playing and buying super credits as we can keep it going. This coming from Wesley Yinpool at IGN. Helldivers2 developers Arrowhead have has addressed players concern that it might leave the game behind to focus on its next project dubbed Game 6. As spotted by VGC 247 CEO Shams Georgiani Georgani spoke to fans in the official Helldivers discord following the explosive launch of the full scale Illumina invasion this week. Quote the wonderful thing is that thanks to the amazing support of you fine people, Arrowhead's future is quite bright and we have the freedom to explore some really cool concepts that we couldn't have otherwise. Game six, our next project, will happen the way it will happen thanks to you. Georgiani said the seemingly the. The quote sparked some concern from one fan who said it suggested that Arrowhead was, quote, already abandoning a good chunk of deb time and money from Helldivers 2, end quote. Georgiani quickly shut that down insisting quote. Nah, it's all Hell Divers two for now. A very, very small team will spin up something later this year and go at it slowly. Helldivers 2 is our main focus and will be for a long time. Stella, what do you think about that? Are they. Are they going to step away from Helldivers 2 to focus on their next game and not give the players content?

[Stella Chung]

I'm sorry, say that again.

[Snowbike Mike]

Of course not.

[Stella Chung]

I flaked out.

[Snowbike Mike]

Sorry. The exciting stuff about this is thanks to the massive success that Helldivers 2 was. The awesome community that they have, clearly the microtransactions that are working for them and all the sales that they're putting in has now allowed this team to really flourish and be able to start building their next big project while also still working on Helldivers 2. Which is pretty wild to think about when you think of Arrowhead Stella, the smaller team from Helldivers one to now, Helldivers two, how big it's gotten and the ability for them to probably have a much larger staff and be able to do a new project in the works starting from the ground up and still, you know, support Helldivers too. But to this person, I don't think Helldivers 2 is going anywhere anytime soon.

[Stella Chung]

Definitely not. And yeah, I constantly praise Helldivers for the way that they do their life service because it doesn't feel like live service. A lot of the premium currency you can get in game just from hours and hours of playing, obviously it is very much easier to just buy it, which, hey man, sometimes I do because I don't mind supporting Arrowhead. I know they had a big, they had a big backlash from the whole Sony account thing, but they did make it back, which was huge. I mean, you usually don't see companies and games come back from that. So seeing them flourish even despite that is great. And of course, why would they move on from Helldivers to. Right, like, okay, not to. It's not a direct comparison but like why would you move on from. Why would EA move on from doing Apex when Apex brings in so much money and is their flagship shooter? Right. That's why there's not been a lot of focus on Titanfall games because Apex is doing really well. Same with arrowhead. Helldivers 2 is doing really well and a lot of Helldivers 2 players have actually been interested in going back to Helldivers one to see how it feels. And sometimes they like the top down view. It's a different kind of game and it's really cool. So it's, it's brought in a lot more interest to the Helldivers universe. I think so, yeah. Why would they move on right now? Everything's great. And I think it says a lot to their economic success to see that they can say specifically a smaller team, which is probably like a group of like 10 or something, is going to branch off and potentially make a new game. Like, that's so cool to hear that a studio is doing it. That I don't know. I really hope they continue to be successful and continue to build the projects that they want because they nail it, man, 100%.

[Snowbike Mike]

Stella. Yeah, I think this is, this should be chalked up as a massive win and it will be looked at that for the future Helldivers to still big, right, Stella? There's still a bunch of people playing it. You get the big DLC coming out of the big update right now, and I don't see in a world where we see Helldivers 2 slow down in the next year to two years, I think you got a good lifespan on this game where they know that they are making money off the microtransactions. They found a good, you know, economy in that. Like you said, there's no reason to slow that down, especially because that's going to fund your next project and beyond. But the ability now to say, hey, we've been so successful that we can have other people start working on a different project while we still feed the beast that is Helldivers 2 is probably an awesome accomplishment for this team. I don't think they ever would have thought they would probably be here with this. So really well done for them. And of course, yes, we're on a discord ama. Somebody types that in now, it gets the fans all riled up and worried. So I, I, I'm glad that the CEO was quick to say, hey, we're going to be here for a long time. We're not going anywhere. Everybody can relax and enjoy the game so far. Do you worry, Stella, that it will slow down, though, as, you know, a lapsed player like myself. Are they doing enough to get the casual audience back in? Is something like this new update enough to continue to keep the waves going up and down? You know, live service games so well. You know, what it takes to keep an audience engaged, keep people spending money, but most importantly, bring lapsed players or old players or new players back in all the time? How do you keep that ebb and flow going?

[Stella Chung]

I think it does well with bringing in previous players just because of the different updates, especially with massive ones like, hey, we're going to super Earth. Like, we have not seen that since this game launched. So I feel like it's good at bringing in previous players. I will say, I think where it does struggle is potentially bringing in new players just because people are like, oh, well, I have to buy this game. And again, a lot of people are being stingy, and we're not stingy. I'm sorry. They're trying to be frugal and save money where they can. Right? So it's like, I don't know if I'm going to like this game. Maybe it is more live service. I don't know. So I don't blame you players for not trying it, especially since it's been a while since it launched and people are like, will I be behind on things? Will generally know, right? Like, I. But I think that's something that the casual audience doesn't realize, that it's never a bad time to join into Helldivers because it's very good for new players, older players. It's just the fact that you might not be caught up on the story, which, I mean, you don't really need to be to enjoy it. So I do think that it struggles a little bit with bringing in new players, but I think in terms of bringing back previous players, it does a great job of that.

[Snowbike Mike]

Okay, you and I are in the room. We're with the team. What's Next for Helldivers 2? Stella, what do you want as a Hell Divers player? What do you want to see next? How does it keep you engaged?

[Stella Chung]

I. Dude, I don't know. I'll leave that to the Helldivers one community because they are really good at speculating certain things that happen in Helldivers 1. I've seen that in Helldivers 2, but they're also really good and not so spoiling things for new Helldivers enthusiasts, which I really like. So I will say, the one thing that I have noticed is that on certain planets, especially with the bugs, I believe there are huge, huge, like, rib cages that are just laying on the floor. And, like, you're just like, oh, my God, what creature left this skeleton? And I would love to see that. Oh, actually, this is sort of like a fantastical thing for me, but I would love to see, like, a Dune and Helldivers crossover. Sandworms could totally work, right?

[Snowbike Mike]

Dang, Stella. That's a great poll right there, Stella. I like that a lot there. Okay. I love that we have a super chatter Coming in right now. Blark or Blarkly writes in and says, I'm a Laps player who has moved over to PC since the game released. Just bought it again on Steam and I'm loving it. So jumped over to PC, playing some more, have some fun. That's great. Heck yeah. I mean, very exciting stuff. Doesn't seem like it's going away for a long time. Stella, I love your idea of collaborating with big IPs like Dune and putting in fun monsters like that. You talk about the cityscapes. I want to see more of that. Stella. I love, I'm a big EDF fan, Earth Defense Force. And I love the big destructible environments. I love the cityscapes. And so yeah, when we started seeing that Helldivers 2 with one of the more recent updates and you started to see the buildings and the little towns, I want more of that in a big city. And maybe super Earth with a downtown would be really, really awesome. Stella, that would be amazing.

[Stella Chung]

I know. I'm so excited. I hope they make the environment. I'm sure the environment will look much different than it does on like the illuminate planets. But with the cityscapes, I hope they do change it so, you know, get like front lawns, like where the intro video is shot with like the pretty green lawns, you know, the little flamingos, the barbecue pits. I. I want to be stomping all over that. In the name of democracy, of course.

[Snowbike Mike]

Stella, let's keep it moving. Let's go to story number six. EA pushes full return to office effectively ends remote hiring. This coming from Rebecca Valentine at ign. Electronic Arts has announced to employees that it will be ending its remote working policies permanently and implementing a full return to office. In an email sent to employees today, viewed by ign, CEO Andrew Wilson said that in person work results in, quote, a kinetic energy that fuels creativity, innovation and connection, often resulting in unexpected breakthroughs that lead to incredible experiences for our players and end quote. He then went on to broadly outline that hybrid work would now be defined as minimum of three days a week in your local office and that off site, local roles would be gradually phased out. Okay, Stella, they're bringing everybody back. Let's talk about that. Of course, work from home era people have found success with this hybrid workspace. People have found success being able to hire incredible talent all around the globe. I thought we celebrated that in the games industry these past couple of years of the idea of you can get talent now from everywhere, not ask them to move from across the globe or not be able to get those talented people because they won't be able to move. Now we're saying you got to come back to the campus. How do you feel about that?

[Stella Chung]

I mean, this is just a thinly, like a poorly masked mass firing, essentially. They already laid off like 200 people in April. And I mean, they actually had one recently as well. Where at Respawn. They. They fired the writer of the New Legend, who just came out like two weeks ago, right before they announced his. His launch. So I. This is always a company's attempt at pushing people out so they can save money. They don't actually give a shit if you return the office. They just want to save money and they just want to have an excuse to let people go. The fact that they said they were slowly phasing remote jobs, it's kind of crazy to me that they were just so open about it. But I guess it is ea. So who knows, Maybe they're just shameless about it now. But it's actually really funny because a certain outlet that I was at before also tried to do a return to office within, I think, like so many miles in la. But it was like also right after the LA fires and everyone was like, no. So, yeah, I think there was. There's a lot of companies trying to do that right now. And it's just a shitty way of saying, like, hey, if you don't come here, like, we're just, we're just gonna fire you, let you go.

[Barrett Courtney]

Another aspect of it as well, on top of that, because, yes, that. And it's a way for micromanaging and for control in office. Like, yes, there is the, you know, corporate speak of, you know, there's just an. There's a vibe and creative energy that we experience that can only be created in person. All right, dude, sorry.

[Snowbike Mike]

That.

[Barrett Courtney]

That's the only way that you can get your creative mind going. But also it feels like a way to make sure that people are constantly working all the time and never stop.

[Stella Chung]

Okay, so I see, I see Jug Almighty saying, sounds to me that people just got spoiled with this work from home stuff and now feel entitled to it. That feels like a bad take because a lot of work from home, it's you. It doesn't affect how you do your job. In fact, if you look, productivity has gone up because people have the freedom to take breaks when they can and they don't feel constantly scrutinized by people that they work with. And it's. It saves you a lot of time. I spent like an Hour in commute. And that could have been an hour I spent editing and getting something out. Right. So it's one of those things of like, yes, of course I do miss. I miss what the old office has. Kind of felt like that sort of camaraderie. Yes, that. That is something that I miss. But a lot of companies work better remote because you are still able to be just as productive and you are able to communicate with people. It does suck that you don't maybe get to be as personal with your coworkers, but also your coworkers. It's fine. Right, so. And also work from home allows a lot of people with disabilities to work just as well as anyone else who's able bodied. So I feel like that's something that a lot of people don't take into consideration. Like, yeah, if you work from home, do some people get lazy? Sure. But the majority of it, if you look, productivity has gone up. So I feel like that's a very dated take. And I would definitely highly consider how others maybe not as able bodies as you can use work from home, especially with people with families. Right. They don't have to take time off to take care of their kids. They can do that in the middle of like, hey, I'm between meetings, let me go see if my kid needs anything. Or if you need to pick them up, there's an emergency. Great.

[Barrett Courtney]

So also, that take is very like, don't just take in what, you know, upper management would tell you because that feels very much like an upper manager. Like, oh, these people are just getting. These workers who are the lifeblood of our company and make our company run are spoiled now. Yes, because, you know, corporations are definitely not spoiled and definitely don't overwork workers at any point that they can. Think about it. Just think about it. Think about those perspectives a little bit.

[Snowbike Mike]

Well, of course we'll see if that pays off for ea, if that just blows up in their face as they lose a lot of talent. But let's move on to story number seven, our final story of the day. Stella, we've really slow played this great job.

[Stella Chung]

Did you like our little foreplay? You like that? We got. We got one more so to hope you keep enjoying it.

[Snowbike Mike]

I was gonna give him a yam again. Well, save the yam for the end. A writer's republic film is in the works from Bad Boys for Life director duo. This coming from Eric Van Allen at IGN Ubisoft's extreme sports game Riders. Republic is the latest in a long line of video games headed to the silver screen. The publisher announced today that the feature film's adaptation of 2021's Rider Republic is underway and it already has a directional directorial duo seated behind the camera. In a press release, Ubisoft Film and Television announced its partnering with Gilmont Gamont for the adaptation of Writers Republic. The director duo behind Bad Boys for Life and Bad Boys Ride or Die are already signed to direct. Not much has been said about the direction other than the adaptation is poised to be an electrifying action movie delivering non stop drills, humor and spectacular stunts on the snowy slopes of the Alps. Stella Riders Republic the movie Got to be there Night one How we feeling about this?

[Stella Chung]

Yeah, can't miss blockbuster of the year, am I right? I don't know about this one. I would rather take a movie of conquers bad fur day than a writer's report.

[Snowbike Mike]

I like that. Okay, how about. How about another Ubisoft movie? Maybe we. Maybe we help Ubisoft of like, hey, not all video games have to be greenlit as a movie. Maybe we get a little bit deeper into our IPS and we go may, man, what else could we make? Far Cry, Assassin's Creed, maybe, you know, Prince of Persia.

[Barrett Courtney]

We'll never make an actual beyond good and evil games. So like maybe make it a good movie.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah, yeah, we got, we got a lot of other IPs than Writers Republic that we should be green lighting as movies. Odd choice. Odd choice hearing this off the bat. But I do think Stella, as someone who loves extreme sports, as someone who loves a yearly Warren Miller film all about skiing and snowboarding, growing up on movies like Out Cold Biker Boys, Fast and Furious, right? You think of like the latest idea of trying to bring back Point Break, right? Of course. Bad Boys is a lot of fun. How do you do that with extreme sports? Is that going to be kind of the goal? Is this maybe more of a jackass, Maybe a Travis Pastrana MTV like humor that they're going for. What. What is this really going to be? I don't know. But I did grow up on a lot of movies like this that I loved. And so I'll give it a maybe. I'll give it a maybe.

[Stella Chung]

I feel like this would do better as a show format, like a game show format where you have people who are athletes or maybe. Okay, so there are two ideas you could do. One where you actually have snowboarder athletes kind of attempt to do some of the things that people have done in the video game or adapt these sort of. Oh my God, are the courses to Like a Red Bull course, Right? Like, Red Bull loves extreme sports stuff. I feel like you could easily do that. But another idea is that you could have, like, casual people who sit say that they're, like, you know, very outdoorsy, and you could put them through this in kind of a, like, wipeout challenge. Right. Kind of dumb down some of the tricks because some people might not be comfortable. Bikes on snowboards, whatever. I feel like that would be a way better format than a movie because I don't think there's a story to this. Like, this game is so fun on its own, but as a movie, I'm like, what is there to tell?

[Snowbike Mike]

Yes, Stella, I. Well, that's what it's going to be. The difficult challenge of this. My pitch is go to YouTube, find some extreme sports kids who have a great YouTube channel. My friends over at the Sickos are great kids that would do this right. Sign those kids to a Netflix 8 a TV show deal and have them go visit sports, extreme sports pros around the world, and them doing different stunts with them, whether it be surfing, whether that be snowboarding and skiing. Get them out on the snowmobile. But I don't know if a movie is the answer, but I say that. And if the next Fast and Furious comes out, I'm gonna go watch it, sell it. So this is clearly going to be for me when it happens. I'm sure I'm gonna watch it.

[Stella Chung]

Yeah, Stella, you know what? If anything, it might be something that you. It might be something that you enjoy after having a specific little, you know, green gummy. You know what I mean?

[Snowbike Mike]

Okay. Yes. Be wowed by all of it. That's right. I love that. Stella, the idea of a Writer's Republic movie is massive. It's huge. But if I wanted something a little bit smaller, where would I go?

[Stella Chung]

Well, first of all, you definitely wouldn't go to a podcast with me and Mike on it, because we know that's the biggest and longest thing ever. But if you want something small, you'd go to our last story, the Wii News Channel, where we cover all the small news items you need to know about.

[Snowbike Mike]

Hit the music, Stella. This coming from VGC, cookie clicker comes the console on May 22nd. The heck is Cookie Clicker? And why did Roger put that in WE News? I don't know. Is this a game actually?

[Stella Chung]

Is that real?

[Snowbike Mike]

Is this a game that everybody loves? I've seen the chat say, hell yes. So people are into this. Okay, Cookie Clicker coming to consoles May 22. Put it down today. Oh, Here it is.

[Barrett Courtney]

You just click on cookies.

[Snowbike Mike]

I think you click on cookies.

[Stella Chung]

You just click on cookies.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah, click on those cookies. I love that. Today, Sega and Atlas announced that Persona 5, the Phantom X will be launching on PC and mobile on June 26, 2025. In this unique turn based RPG set in the world of Persona 5, players will lead a double life as a student and phantom Thief with a brand new protagonist and band of phantom thieves. Barrett, tell me absolutely no interest in this. Absolutely no interest.

[Barrett Courtney]

This is. I, I forget who the developer is on this, but it's like a mobile game vibes it. All of this is very much. We have Persona 5 at home and we have Persona 5 at home on our phone and I don't know, it, it just, it feels like a big, you know, there's always the joke of them milking each Persona game. Right. You know, Persona 4 getting a lot of spin offs for Persona 5. Getting, getting even more spin offs. I have. I liked the Musou game, I liked the Tactics game. This one is where I'm like, all right man, I'm. I'm tapped out. I love Persona 5, but I'm cool.

[Snowbike Mike]

Okay. Okay. An officially licensed Like a dragon virtual space is being created for Roblox. Oh, Stella Roblox. What do you think? What do we think about this? It's officially licensed.

[Stella Chung]

I mean you can't deny the power of Roblox and Fortnite and Minecraft, right? So I think that's great. I think if that means that more. Well, I feel like that's like a lot of kids are on Roblox though. And I don't know if like a dragon is really for kids, but I mean I think that's cool. Once they become of age, maybe it'll be a cool way to like convert the Roblox players to like a dragon players, right? Like the Yakuza series. So that could be really cool. It could be smart on their end.

[Barrett Courtney]

You know, honestly, I just think it's really cool that they're recreating like a dragon in Roblox. Like man, I wish Japan was real.

[Snowbike Mike]

Warner Bros. Games today announced DC Worlds Collide, a new free to play squad based role playing game for mobile mobile devices where players can collect, upgrade and unleash teams of their favorite superheroes and super villains for it. For villains in dynamic PvP and PvE battles. Starting today, players are invited to pre register on the app Store, Google Play and at game at the game's Official [e-mail] Craig Miller put this in. He said, I've already pre registered, ladies and gentlemen.

[Stella Chung]

So he's very excited for anything DC in games.

[Snowbike Mike]

He loves dc. So go check it out and go have some fun with that. To end, we news, one final one for you, of course. The NFL is back with more NFL schedule announcement reveals. And the LA Chargers came out with a fun one in Minecraft. If you haven't seen it, they did a great job tag teaming up with Minecraft to do a really fun schedule reveal. I loved it. I thought it was cute. They had the Broncos, the Raiders, the Chiefs. Everybody had their own little Minecraft mansions and stuff. Always a fun time when we get video games and other properties all around the globe to have some fun together. That was very good. So great job out there, Stella. We got 10 minutes left on the show. Let's jump into some super chats. Let's chat it up with the community. We did a great job on this long extended show. So here we go. Nightlife writes in and says, Here's $2. This is for Stella's idea of Dune slash Helldivers. Great job, Stella. Great idea.

[Stella Chung]

You're telling up all the money that gets put towards me, right? So you guys can buy me.

[Snowbike Mike]

I'll tell Greg Miller, put it right on there right away.

[Stella Chung]

He's not going to.

[Barrett Courtney]

Well, actually, the way we convert it actually is $2. That's too high fives. So the next time you see Greg, he'll give you two high fives and that'll be your payout.

[Stella Chung]

Can I get. Can I convert that to a slap?

[Barrett Courtney]

Like, oh, like two slaps to Greg's face.

[Stella Chung]

Yeah, you know, like one, two. Right? Like, I mean, yeah, I like that, Stella.

[Snowbike Mike]

I like that. Let's keep going through it. CJ splits on, says, give us the Snowbike Mike movie. We deserve Ubisoft. Back up the truck. I'll get back on the bike. We can go have some fun anytime you want it. V Volo Dasher writes in and says, stella, long time no see over here. Miss seeing you around here. KF needs more of you. Wishing you all well in your life and at work.

[Stella Chung]

Oh, thank you. So nice.

[Snowbike Mike]

If everybody's happy to see you and they want more of you, where would they go, Stella?

[Stella Chung]

Well, I'm trying to be better about my YouTube playthroughs and videos. So that would be YouTube.com parallax, Stella. I do stream almost every day. Not at that. Well, I guess you guys are streaming every day, but like, you know, if you, if you Guys ever need a little break from kind of funny or the guys, you know, I'm live at Twitch TV Parallax Stella, so. Or you can have multi stream up. Who knows?

[Snowbike Mike]

There we go. Bring up two browser pages. Watch Stella and us go support Stella. Give her some love. Of course, she's out there on YouTube and on Twitch all the time giving you cool stuff. Anything you're looking forward to. Stella, I love talking esports with you. I love when you do the Apex stuff. What is the next big esports event that you are interested in and that we should maybe be aware of since we don't talk esports all that often here on the channel?

[Stella Chung]

Well, the next few esports stuff that I'm specifically interested in aren't for a while. But let's see. Earlier this year there was the Apex Legends Global Series Championship, which was in Japan. So hopefully we're all hoping next year it'll also be in Japan again. So maybe around January time, hopefully we'll. Well, we'll hopefully hear something more about that later this year, but we'll see that that's something that I would keep my eye on because if you ever wanted an excuse to go to Japan. Oh, a good excuse, you know, that's great.

[Snowbike Mike]

I like paired up with a nice little Apex championship right there. That's great.

[Stella Chung]

Yeah.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yang Fam writes in and says, needs more BB juice. Give me different flavors, of course. Don't be drinking the BB juice out of the incredible BB casket up in the front. Nick knows that's what probably lost my voice. We put the little baby in the jar, you know, and Roger made a special concoction. I drank it throughout the stream.

[Barrett Courtney]

And what was that concoction made up of?

[Snowbike Mike]

Oh, we're not allowed to say. It's. You can't. I can't tell you what it is, but I can tell you some of it was Monster Energy and White Claw. But then there was a special base that really. What?

[Barrett Courtney]

Like, is the special base illegal? Like what. What are we trying to.

[Snowbike Mike]

You know, we got to save it for the next one. You know, it's a whole.

[Stella Chung]

It was.

[Snowbike Mike]

Was.

[Stella Chung]

It was. It was a shamwow that was squeezed out with all of Mike's sweat in it, wasn't it?

[Snowbike Mike]

Yes, yes.

[Barrett Courtney]

Oh, I know. It was thc. Like water. I get. Yeah, yeah. To get high off of that Kojima joint.

[Snowbike Mike]

No, because.

[Stella Chung]

Well, because Mike partakes of thc, so if he sweats it out, then you get it infused into the sweat and then it's free electrolytes when you ring it out, it's like salt water that you get into it.

[Barrett Courtney]

Why did you make getting high sound super gross.

[Snowbike Mike]

Pal Region?

[Stella Chung]

This company is full of boys and I know it's sweaty and smelly in there.

[Snowbike Mike]

Sweaty and smelly. All right, go ahead, pal Region Plays. Writes in, says, happy Thursday from Buckinghamshire, England. Hello. Thank you for watching and listening and supporting Melodic Quest. Writes in and says, alien versus Predator versus Sora. That would fuck.

[Barrett Courtney]

That would fuck.

[Snowbike Mike]

You stepped up to the line. You've crossed the line on Kingdom Hearts. But I do love that. That's a great idea for all the fun that you could have out there going up to the Tiffany top. Dolphin Corn writes in, says, love you, Mike. Dinner's on me tonight. Oh, well, thank you so much. I love a good in n out dinner anytime. So take me there.

[Stella Chung]

He's taking you to Chili's.

[Snowbike Mike]

Oh, Chili's. A little date for two. The little triple dipples. I love the triple dipples.

[Stella Chung]

Oh, yeah, there you go.

[Snowbike Mike]

Sort by a first name. Thank you for the two dollar Super Chat. Says Ayo and I see winner. I see Wiener. Writes in with a joke, says, where has B hole been this week?

[Barrett Courtney]

You know who B hole is?

[Snowbike Mike]

I don't know who B Hole is. It's be all.

[Stella Chung]

Who's B Hole?

[Barrett Courtney]

Oh, it's either Blessing or Tim. I'm gonna guess Blessing.

[Stella Chung]

All we do all have B holes.

[Snowbike Mike]

Yeah, I don't know.

[Stella Chung]

Like you're not missing Wiener.

[Snowbike Mike]

Can't write that in and then say, where's the B hole been all week?

[Barrett Courtney]

Blessing is behold.

[Snowbike Mike]

What's it Blessing is?

[Stella Chung]

It could be Barrett too, right?

[Barrett Courtney]

No, I'm be rat.

[Snowbike Mike]

I'll be rat. And behold.

[Barrett Courtney]

That's what my. My neighborhood friends used to call me back in the day.

[Snowbike Mike]

I just saw Blessing walk in. He's been busy, of course, keeping a lookout on his Instagram stories. He's been around, he's been traveling. But I did see him walk back in here. So you will see him sometime today, I'm sure.

[Stella Chung]

Throw something at him.

[Snowbike Mike]

Dose of nostalgia. Writes in with a ten dollar super chat. Says, I think the Writers Republic movie could work if animated in the TMNT style or Spider verse. Now you're cooking. Now you're thinking right there. I love that idea.

[Stella Chung]

But you still need compelling characters that I would need to care about. And I Joe, well, we have that style is pretty.

[Snowbike Mike]

So what if we just take rr, change it to rp, make it Rocket power. Sell it. Rocket Power, y' all. There we go. Everybody Million dollar idea change. One letter. We got it.

[Barrett Courtney]

Also, I got it wrong. Yeah. Blessing is. Behold, Greg is G spot.

[Stella Chung]

Sorry.

[Snowbike Mike]

Jesus. Demon Hacker writes in and says, does Rose. Does Rose Goofy from Resident Evil 8 tastes better than the BB juice. I see where you're going with that. The rose goo. That's great right there. Stella, do you think we'll see the next Resident Evil this summer? When is the next Resident Evil going to be shown to me? I'm excited. I want more of it. I want to see what kind of wild ideas they have in the horror space. What will get me going. I. I think back of Resident Evil 8. I think of the. The dollhouse sequence and how much fun I had with that. When is the Next Resident Evil 8? Is it time this summer?

[Stella Chung]

Let's see. Resident Evil 4 remake came out and two years ago, I would say maybe it's a. It would be about time to see a reveal at least. Like maybe not a release date, but a reveal. I think that would be smart. Just because I feel like Resident Evil has been just dominating in the horror space at least especially with like the casual community too. So hopefully we see something. Hopefully see a little teaser.

[Snowbike Mike]

I hope so. I would love that. Let's end the show with you're wrong. Of course you can keep us honest every time you're watching the show by writing in two. You're wrong. To make sure we don't get anything wrong, we have two write ins. Colux writes in and says, while Lilo and Stitch was a world in kingdom hearts birthed by sleep, the world itself only took place in space on the galactic console spaceship Council spaceship in the beginning of the first movie. So maybe they could explore a little bit more of the world and have some fun.

[Barrett Courtney]

Take us to Hawaii, man.

[Snowbike Mike]

And then not.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, not.

[Snowbike Mike]

Barrett wrote in what? And says for Barrett, since he couldn't recall. The developer of the P5 mobile game is Black Wings game studio based in China. Atlas only supervised telling you what the.

[Barrett Courtney]

Developer again, a big. We got Persona 5 at home. And you know what? I played Persona 5. Real, actual Persona 5 plenty of times. I. I don't need the mobile thing.

[Snowbike Mike]

He's got plenty. Stella, you play Persona 5?

[Stella Chung]

No, but I might try Persona.

[Snowbike Mike]

It.

[Stella Chung]

It wasn't usually my kind of game, but after I played Expedition 33, I was like, okay, I can. I guess honestly, with this, my.

[Barrett Courtney]

My recommendation would not be Persona for you, Stella. It would be metaphor. Fantasio.

[Stella Chung]

You know what? You're not the. Michael Ham also told me that just because I I kind of feel with like the, the real time combat thing and I don't know if Persona would be something. I don't know. I hear the story of Metaphor is very good.

[Barrett Courtney]

Yeah, I think you like knowing you, I think you'd be into that, that world and those characters a bit more. The kind of gameplay is definitely going to be a different vibe, a different tone shift, but I think Claire could be a good like entry point into getting you into more of like the typical Atlas type of stuff. But yeah, if both Haim and I are recommending you Metaphor, you know what's up, you know what's up, you know.

[Snowbike Mike]

What'S up and you know what else is up. Hate to see this kind of Funny games daily because each and every weekday we run you through the nerdy news you need to know about live on YouTube, Twitch and of course on podcast services around the globe. If you love what we do, consider supporting us with the kind of funny membership available on patreon and on YouTube to get all of our shows ad free and watch us record them live and get your daily exclusive show. Enjoy the games cast next and of course the stream after that. Plus Kind of Funny Podcast Today you get a full slate of live talk shows. Until next time, it's been our pleasure to serve you.

[Stella Chung]

Oh.