Nintendo Switch 2: Plans For Scalpers, Switch 1 Support - Kinda Funny Games Daily 02.04.25

Summary

Kinda Funny Games Daily: Video Games News Podcast – Episode Summary Title: Nintendo Switch 2: Plans For Scalpers, Switch 1 Support - Kinda Funny Games Daily 02.04.25
Release Date: February 4, 2025

In this episode of Kinda Funny Games Daily, hosts Greg “GameOverGreggy” Miller, Tim Gettys, and Blessing Adeoye Jr., along with guest Roger and Andy, delve into the latest developments in the gaming world. The discussion spans several key topics, including Nintendo's strategies post-Switch 2 launch, character portrayals in "The Last of Us" Season Two, studio shifts within the industry, and the potential impact of US tariffs on video games. Below is a detailed breakdown of the episode's primary discussions, enriched with notable quotes and timestamps.

---

1. Nintendo Switch 2: Combating Scalpers and Continued Support for Switch 1

Timestamp: [09:51] - [33:44]

Overview:
The conversation kicks off with an analysis of Nintendo’s approach to managing scalpers ahead of the Switch 2 launch. Hosts discuss Nintendo’s historical challenges with console availability and explore the company's commitment to supporting the original Switch alongside its successor.

Key Points:

• Scalper Mitigation: Nintendo aims to implement measures to prevent scalpers from disrupting the Switch 2 launch. They plan to ensure ample supply based on past experiences with the original Switch and Wii consoles.
• Support for Switch 1: Nintendo has pledged to continue supporting the original Switch even after the Switch 2 release. This includes backing for existing software and hardware compatibility.
• Sales Projections: Despite a reported 30.6% drop in Switch 1 sales year-over-year, Nintendo remains optimistic about reaching high sales milestones, potentially surpassing the Nintendo DS and approaching the PlayStation 2’s record.

Notable Quotes:

• Blessing at [28:58]: "I do think that when you like them saying their history like this dates back throughout time, like it's not like the Switch was the first time it was hard to get a Nintendo console."
• Roger at [30:21]: "You don't necessarily have to be the studio that is out here, like making original content. As much as I like to see that in studios, you don't have to be."

Discussion Highlights: Blessing expresses optimism about Nintendo’s ability to manage supply and demand, referencing past console launches like the Wii and Wii U. Roger compares the situation to other studios like Bluepoint and Sumo Digital, emphasizing the importance of focusing on core strengths. They also speculate on the longevity of Switch 1 support, considering Nintendo’s extensive library of games compatible with both consoles.

2. The Last of Us Season Two: Characterization of Abby

Timestamp: [35:19] - [39:02]

Overview:
The hosts transition to discussing the upcoming Season Two of "The Last of Us," focusing on the portrayal of Abby, a key character from the video game series. They examine the creators' decision to cast Caitlyn Deaver, who doesn't mirror Abby's muscular physique from the game.

Key Points:

• Casting Choices: Caitlyn Deaver, known for her slim build, has been cast as Abby, sparking discussions among fans about the deviation from the video game character’s appearance.
• Showrunner Insights: Neil Druckmann and Craig Mason emphasize prioritizing performance over physical resemblance, aiming to capture the essence of Abby through acting rather than body type.
• Character Dynamics: The showrunners explain that while Abby's physicality in the game is meant to parallel Joel’s strength against Ellie’s agility, the adaptation focuses more on dramatic storytelling rather than constant action sequences.

Notable Quotes:

• Roger at [36:49]: "I kind of like the reasoning as a performance over everything else. It's not that it's lesser because of the team or quality."
• Blessing at [38:16]: "I just feel like it's skirting around some facts that aren't just gameplay based, that are more story and character based."

Discussion Highlights: Blessing expresses mixed feelings, appreciating the emphasis on performance but harboring concerns about maintaining the character’s narrative significance. The hosts discuss the balance between staying true to the source material and adapting characters to fit a live-action format, highlighting the challenges of translating video game aesthetics and storytelling into television.

3. Sumo Digital Shifts Focus Away from Original IP

Timestamp: [39:02] - [43:28]

Overview:
The episode delves into Sumo Digital's strategic decision to cease developing original intellectual properties (IP) and concentrate solely on studio-for-hire services. Hosts explore the implications of this shift for the gaming industry and the studio’s creative trajectory.

Key Points:

• Strategic Shift: Sumo Digital will no longer pursue original IP, instead focusing on partnering with established franchises to develop titles such as "Sackboy: A Big Adventure" and "Team Sonic Racing."
• Impact on Employees: The decision poses potential layoffs as ongoing original projects may be reassigned or discontinued.
• Industry Perspective: Hosts reflect on the importance of studios finding their niche, comparing Sumo’s move to Bluepoint’s excellence in remasters rather than original titles.

Notable Quotes:

• Roger at [40:38]: "It makes me slightly sad to see a studio go from making original stuff to being a studio for hire."
• Blessing at [42:11]: "This is unfortunate news and is an example of the state of the industry where you can't take risks."

Discussion Highlights: Roger and Blessing discuss the value of studios specializing in either original content or partnered projects, emphasizing that while original IP offers creative fulfillment, studio-for-hire models like Sumo’s can provide financial stability. They commend Sumo Digital’s transparency during the transition and express hope for the studio’s future endeavors within its new focus area.

4. ESA's Concerns Over US Tariffs on Video Games

Timestamp: [43:28] - [50:05]

Overview:
The conversation shifts to the Entertainment Software Association’s (ESA) warnings about the detrimental effects of proposed US tariffs on video game imports, highlighting potential challenges for the industry and consumers alike.

Key Points:

• Tariff Impact: The ESA warns that tariffs on video game devices and related products could lead to increased prices for consumers and hinder the growth of the entertainment sector.
• Government Relations: ESA urges the Trump administration to engage with the gaming industry to mitigate negative outcomes and sustain economic contributions.
• Market Uncertainty: The hosts discuss the broader implications of tariffs on the manufacturing and pricing of consoles like the Switch 2, pondering how it might affect supply and demand dynamics.

Notable Quotes:

• Blessing at [45:12]: "This is the end of physical media just straight the up. The door is no longer being knocked on; the door is just open."
• Roger at [46:49]: "If you dilly dally and like don't jump on a pre-order, you're not necessarily going to get one day one I want."

Discussion Highlights: Blessing and Roger express frustration over the uncertain economic landscape, with Blessing particularly concerned about the phasing out of physical media and its impact on game sales and console launches. They emphasize the potential long-term consequences for the industry, including possible reduced investments from third-party developers if console adoption slows due to unfavorable pricing or availability.

5. Miscellaneous News and Community Interactions

Timestamp: [50:05] - [62:34]

Overview:
The episode wraps up with a series of smaller news items, community shout-outs, and light-hearted discussions. These segments include updates on game releases, streaming content, and listener interactions.

Key Points:

• Game Releases: Announcement of upcoming games like "Harmer's Harvest" and "Rollerdrome" returning to Steam, along with publishers stepping in for various titles.
• Community Engagement: Hosts engage with listener comments, recommending artists like Moriko Calliope and discussing music releases such as Super Mario World soundtracks.
• Streaming Plans: Preview of upcoming streams, including reactions to Capcom's announcements related to "Animusha" and other Capcom titles.

Notable Quotes:

• Roger at [53:08]: "Princess Peach Showtime seems very kitty in a way where it's almost like, man, I got a nephew who is five, six years old."
• Blessing at [57:54]: "I love that she won. I can't believe it, though. There's something about the quality of music that she's making right now that I'm just like, they don't make it like this anymore."

Discussion Highlights: The hosts share personal anecdotes and reactions to various cultural elements, from Grammy cosplays to vocal performances by artists like Moriko Calliope. They also express enthusiasm for new music integrations into gaming platforms and engage with humorous listener inputs, maintaining a lively and personable tone throughout the closing segments.

---

Conclusion:
This episode of Kinda Funny Games Daily provides a comprehensive overview of significant developments in the gaming industry, from Nintendo’s strategic maneuvers to broader economic challenges posed by international trade policies. The hosts offer insightful commentary, grounded in their experiences and interactions with the gaming community, making the complex topics accessible and engaging for listeners. Notably, their discussions on character adaptation in high-profile narratives and industry shifts like Sumo Digital’s new direction highlight the dynamic nature of the gaming landscape as it navigates both creative and commercial pressures.

---

For those interested in the full conversation and additional insights, tuning into the episode on YouTube, Twitch, or your preferred podcast platform is highly recommended.

Transcript

[Tim]

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[Blessing]

Today's stories include Nintendo's plan for Switch 2 scalpers. Switch 1 is getting support after Switch 2 and the reason Abby isn't buff. In the last of us, Season two, we'll have all this and more because this is kind of funny. Games daily. Why isn't she buff? Bless. I can't wait to find out.

[Roger]

Listen, you know me and Roger hitting the gym in the morning. Oh yeah, except for this morning. But we're in the gym most mornings and like Abby just can't keep up. That's what the fact of the matter is.

[Blessing]

I get it.

[Roger]

She ain't doing games like us. Is that how they say that? They ain't doing games?

[Andy]

Yeah, I mean, we shouldn't be saying any of this, you know what I mean? Like until we could have something.

[Blessing]

He's showing.

[Roger]

Listen. Yeah, I mean, yeah, yeah. Roger, I was on your Facebook profile yesterday. Don't ask why.

[Andy]

No, because it said it was my birthday and I don't know why it's.

[Roger]

That is why. That is exactly why.

[Blessing]

That's hilarious.

[Roger]

And I saw like a picture of like probably 2019 Roger. And then like your profile picture, which is current. Roger. And it just put into perspective of.

[Blessing]

Like it's wow, wow, boy, put in the work.

[Roger]

It's crazy. Like, I don't know that I personally.

[Blessing]

Know anybody that has had that massive of a body transformation. Yeah.

[Roger]

Like you look incredible and you always look incredible.

[Andy]

Like, but now here's the issue.

[Roger]

You are skinny.

[Andy]

Now I'm skinny fat. Like, that's the issue. That's a whole thing. You know what I mean? Skinny fat, that's a whole thing.

[Roger]

What does that mean?

[Andy]

If you Google it, it's like a body type, right? Where it's like you're skinny, but you're not skinny. You got a little bit of a gut. You know what I mean? It's like one of those one.

[Roger]

So am I skinny fat?

[Andy]

I don't know.

[Blessing]

You are not skinny. There's no world. The word fat and blessing cannot be put together. Anyway.

[Roger]

I'm like, oh, man. There's just a little bit of meat there. Trying to.

[Blessing]

There's a little bit of. A little bit of meat there.

[Roger]

I don't know.

[Blessing]

Jesus Christ, man. How you feeling today? Bless.

[Roger]

I'm feeling pretty good. I like the rain, you know, I.

[Blessing]

Woke up like the rain. I hate the rain.

[Roger]

Oh, I love the rain. Yeah. And I think this is. Might be a byproduct of, I guess, me growing up in the Midwest, but then moving to Seattle as an adult, where for half the year, this is always, like, a light drizzle.

[Blessing]

Yeah.

[Roger]

And there's something about it that is relaxing to me, because then I just want to stay home, make some hot cocoa, put on some tv, maybe a cozy playlist, and just chill.

[Blessing]

My problem is I'm just a man of comfort. The older I get, the more. The more I realize I need comfort over everything. That is my ultimate goal in life. And everything you said sounds comfortable, but I can do that when it's not potentially damaging something around me. You know what I mean? When I'm not just a little colder than I want to be when I'm wet and I don't want to be.

[Roger]

You get a blanket, and you get.

[Blessing]

Hot blankets every day.

[Roger]

Do you. Do you have a fireplace?

[Blessing]

No.

[Roger]

See, that's what's missing.

[Blessing]

That's what's.

[Roger]

Get yourself a fire.

[Blessing]

Do I got.

[Roger]

You know, but if I did, oh, my God. Could you imagine? Would turn my whole life around.

[Blessing]

My problem with fireplaces is, again, I'm a man of comfort. I can sit next to them for, like, three minutes, and then I'm just too hot. It's real nice for that warmup period. Too much, man.

[Roger]

You need balance, man.

[Blessing]

Yeah, man.

[Roger]

Rain outside, fireplace on cozy blanket. Got your Game Boy color in your hand.

[Blessing]

Yeah. Okay.

[Roger]

You just cut yourself, rata.

[Blessing]

Hell, yeah.

[Roger]

Living the good life.

[Blessing]

Yep, yep, yep. Speaking of the good life, fantastic four first steps just dropped their first trailer.

[Roger]

I know. I still haven't seen the trailer.

[Blessing]

Plus, it's good.

[Roger]

Yeah.

[Blessing]

I'm excited for you to see it. We just reacted to it. Of course. You can check that out on our YouTube channel. Um, yeah. I don't want to say anything. You just. You got. After this. You got to watch it. It's good.

[Roger]

I saw how the thing looks.

[Blessing]

Yeah.

[Roger]

And, I mean, it looks good.

[Blessing]

Looks like the thing.

[Roger]

It looks like the thing. That's the rock guy right there.

[Blessing]

That's the rock I've seen him before. That's him.

[Roger]

And the costumes look cool. I've seen the costumes. They look really good.

[Blessing]

Exciting times ahead, everybody. Remember, we're doing our great MCU in review re rank later this week. We're blowing everything up and starting over from scratch. Each one of us bringing our lists and adding them all together. Very excited for that. Then, of course, next week we will be reviewing Captain America Brave New World. Hopefully it is good. Where's your hope slash hype for Cap 4?

[Roger]

I. If you ask me, my hope slash hype for anything in the mcu, it's low. Except for a Fantastic Four, which I am kind of excited about. My thing with Brave New World is that I hope it restores the Winter Soldier feeling. When I watch that trailer, I'm like, this looks like it's a spiritual successor to that in a. In all the good ways. Except for when I see Red Hulk. And Red Hulk just looks like a cgi. Like, when. Like, which it is, right? But, like, there's something about it that I'm like, okay, this feels. This feels like the most, like, MCU thing in a movie that for everything else cinematically, I like. And so I'm excited about it. I'm excited, I'm hopeful, but I'm also kind of like, all right, cool.

[Blessing]

Yeah. Yeah. I don't know that I could use the word excited for this one. Like, I. My. I don't think that I'm as doom and gloom as some of the people that I've heard talk about it. And some of the trailers have looked pretty cool in some places. I just feel like my expectations are. I just hope it's better than Black Widow. I feel like invoking the name Winter Soldier is like setting myself up for failure. There's just no way in any fashion it even comes close to it. Like, quality of movie. But even in tone and vibe, I just don't think were there. So to me, I'm like Tony Vibe. Black Widow. I think it's a little more similar.

[Roger]

Yeah, I could see.

[Blessing]

And I didn't hate Black Widow.

[Roger]

That's my thing is I like Black Widow enough. Like, I'm. I just want it to be grounded. Like, give me something that is a grounded spy espionage, like, action flick and I'm there for it. Like, if I think when it comes to the MCU, a mid.1 of those for me is better than a mid Ant man or mid Thor, because. Because then when we're talking about mid, it is, oh, they're just throwing jokes out every Two seconds and like half of them aren't hidden. And then like, it's just a cgi. At least for Brave New World, mid means that you got like, at least the action probably looks good, right? Like, at least you're getting like a grounded film.

[Blessing]

We'll see.

[Roger]

We'll see. Yeah, but I. Yeah, I got my fingers crossed.

[Blessing]

Yeah.

[Roger]

And if this doesn't hit, hey, the new Mission Impossible movie will come out.

[Blessing]

You're right. You're right. There's always. There's always the next Mission Impossible. God, we're coming up on that also. That's exciting. Super bowl is this Sunday. Yeah. Kendrick Lamar halftime show. That's really, really exciting. But more than that, trailers. So we're gonna get a whole bunch of new trailers. I don't know what we're gonna get, but I imagine we'll get Mission Impossible. I'm excited.

[Roger]

When's that movie up?

[Blessing]

Is it this year June? Oh yeah.

[Roger]

This year.

[Blessing]

Oh yeah. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. This year's about to pop up. Movies. But hey, yeah, we don't need to talk about movies here. We're talking about games here. This is kind of funny Games daily, each and every weekday we run you through all the video game news that you need to know about live on YouTube, Twitch and podcast services around the globe. If you love what we do, support us with the Kind of Funny membership on Patreon, YouTube and now Spotify or Apple podcast to get our shows ad free and a daily exclusive show. For a chance to be part of the show, you can submit your thoughts and opinions as YouTube super chats. As we go, a little housekeeping for you. We are an 11 person business all about live talk shows. You already got our fantastic four trailer breakdown screencast reaction. You can check that out on YouTube or podcast services. Search for kind of funny in review. Remember on podcast feeds in reviews where you're going to find all of our entertainment coverage, whether it's reviews, theory, videos, trailer reactions, all that stuff. That's where you find it today. After Games Daily you'll Get Kingdom Come, Deliverance 2 stream with Mike and Nick. And then after that, it is our live reactions to the Capcom Spotlight that is going to mainly focus on Monster Hunter. We're going to react to it and then do our games cast after kind of breaking it all down, we know we're gonna get a big meaty look into Monster Hunter but we're getting a couple other games too. I haven't been keeping up with this but somebody yesterday in chat told me bless that they're kind of expecting Animusha to be here?

[Roger]

No, I think they put.

[Andy]

Didn't they put like a logo? Like. Like Animusha will be there in some capacity?

[Blessing]

Something like that's so crazy to me.

[Roger]

But let's look this up because like, I. I don't. I. I somehow missed this as well. I don't know. When they announced this. Was it in a kg?

[Blessing]

I don't know. I was sick a little bit last week, so I think I must have missed it. Here.

[Roger]

I'm on. Here's the thing. I'm on the website.

[Blessing]

Feature titles.

[Roger]

Feature titles. Monster Hunter Wilds on a Musha. And then you got Capcom Fighting Collection too.

[Andy]

But is it going to be the thing right, where they just are like, here's the trailer again and here's the director talking about the game. It's coming out sometime.

[Blessing]

Yeah.

[Roger]

Honestly, more than I expected.

[Blessing]

If the director. If it's new footage of the director talking. That's all I need. Like, just give me a little bit more for this. Because they're saying 2026 for the game. So it's not like we need hella answers right now.

[Roger]

Yeah.

[Blessing]

You know what I mean? I'm shocked to see this close, but I think that's good. I want to hear more.

[Roger]

Very exciting.

[Blessing]

And we're gonna react live at 2pm later today.

[Roger]

Ninja Gaiden later this year. Followed by an automation.

[Blessing]

I know, man. I.

[Andy]

Two new Ninja Gaidens too, right?

[Blessing]

Yeah, you're right. With Rage Bound. Yeah. God. Good time to be me. Thank you to our Patreon producers, Delaney Twining and Carl Jacobs. Of course, this month's premium collector's item is the Ace off poster. You can get that over on patreon.com/kind of funny. Today we are brought to you by our frames, but we'll tell you about that later. Actually, we have more Patreon producers, I think.

[Roger]

Oh, yes, you're right. I keep forgetting to update this.

[Blessing]

All good. Give me one second. Let me pop in here. We have Delaney Twining, Carl Jacobs, Omega Buster and Karen Lindner. Thank you all very much for your support over on Patreon. But let's get into it. What is and forever will be the Roper Report.

[Roger]

Oh.

[Blessing]

It'S time for some News. We have six stories today we go. Story number one, Nintendo admits sales quote below expectations as wait for Switch 2 continues. This comes from Tom Phillips at Eurogamer. Nintendo has reported a huge drop in sales of its hardware and software with Switch 1 console sales down 30.6%. Year on year. For the nine months ending December 31, Switch 1 software sales also fell significantly, down 24.4%. In a statement, Nintendo blamed the scale of the drop on tough comparisons with 2023 due to the launch of both Legend of Zelda, Tears of the Kingdom and Super Mario Brothers Wonder. Sales of the aging Switch 1 have been falling for years, meanwhile, but Nintendo's latest results are worse than the company previously forecast. Alongside the impact of a poor US Dollar exchange rate, Switch one's performance has now forced Nintendo to lower its expectations again for the remainder of the financial year. It wasn't all doom and gloom, though. New releases included the Legend of Zelda Echoes of Wisdom, selling just shy of 4 million copies, a good number, though predictably nowhere near the sales of either Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom. Nintendo also launched Super Mario Party Jamboree, which sold an impressive 6.17 million copies. And of course the unstoppable Mario Kart 8 Deluxe continued to sell well. It shifted in the last nine months of 2024. 5.4 million copies. Blast.

[Roger]

That's stupid. What is happening? That's like GTA. Like GTA 5 was in the top 10 forever every month.

[Blessing]

God. Switch 1 now stands at 150.86 million consoles sold today, just shy of Nintendo DS's lifetime sales of 154 million. While Nintendo should squeak past that, it's less certain the console can reach the record 160 million sales of PlayStation 2. I'm going to say it, this entire article reads a little bit more negative than I feel the news actually is.

[Roger]

I when I was looking for all the articles, most of the articles were shifting negative off of this news. I think mainly because they came under the expectations.

[Blessing]

Exactly. But so what's interesting about that though is the numbers we're talking about are still freaking insane and we are getting to the point that like we're talking about it becoming the number two high selling console ever, including handhelds, then like potentially outselling the PS2, which I think it will after some price cuts and them continuing to support the Switch 1 after the Switch 2's launch.

[Roger]

Yeah. Do any of these numbers stand out to you in particular? We talk about Mario Kart obviously as like a man crazy how much that is still selling year to year. Is there anything else? Of course we have the top 10 best selling Nintendo Switch games updated by Nintendo and it's pretty much the list you'd expect. I don't think there's any like big changes here as I'm looking what at the bottom of the list you have Mario Brothers U Deluxe at 18 million.

[Blessing]

I think it's kind of becoming clear this is the top 10 for the console. Yeah, we, we're kind of solidifying and locking in.

[Roger]

You don't think ZAW is gonna come through?

[Blessing]

I don't. Not on this scale. I don't. I don't think. I don't think it's gonna crack that top 10 because legend Arceus is. Isn't quite there either. I think that so far it looks like the main. Like it's maybe, maybe I'm wrong there.

[Roger]

But ZAW is I think really, really good. Like if it's way better than, I want to say Celsius, if it's better than Arceus, I could see it there. But I think it really has. I think it has to redefine what the Pokemon Legends spin off brand is.

[Blessing]

Right.

[Roger]

I think it has to come out and be a banger. If it is just another one of those, then I'm 1000% like with you.

[Blessing]

Which again, still an incredible seller. Just down the top 10 of one of the highest selling consoles of all time with an amazing attach rate. So we're just talking about numbers that are so astronomical. So yeah, standouts. I mean, 5.38 million copies of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe many years after its release. Even more years after the original release before the port of Deluxe. Like that is absolutely incredible. Most games would.

[Roger]

All those bundled in.

[Blessing]

I mean, I'm sure there are bundles, but I don't think that that's like the main way that these games are selling.

[Roger]

I just want to know like, I want to know what is the main driver like, no pun intended. Pun intended. Pun intended. Of. Is it the fact that, I mean obviously like we know Mario Kart is evergreen. Mario Kart is forever going to be relevant. But I am wondering like, are there new marketing pushes for Mario Kart that happened? Is it? Yeah, like, oh man, I can buy a Switch or I can buy the Switch bundle with Mario Kart for a little bit more money. So like that is consistently selling because this is. These are just such impressive numbers.

[Blessing]

Yeah, it's pretty, pretty wild. I do think that these numbers are probably majority of them would be from bundles of stuff of Mario Kart 8 specifically. Yeah, right. But I don't think that the, the bundles are like the main systems that are being pushed in the way that it used to be like with the Wii Sports and all that. Where I don't think you could assume that every single Switch being sold comes with a Mario Kart. No, that's what I'm saying. However, I do think that of these 5 million, the majority of them are probably coming from bundle sales, which are also then boosting the sales numbers of the Switch overall, getting it closer and closer to the DS and then PlayStation 2. Um, beyond that though, I think the even more like God damn number is Mario Party Jamboree.

[Roger]

Yes.

[Blessing]

That game being fairly recent, all things considered, came out in September, October, October around there. So we're not even dealing with that many months yet. And over 6 million copies sold. For in a world that we're talking about, like, oh man, everything has to go multi plat because you can't possibly sell Nintendo's just like, oh yeah, like we can just shit out a million.

[Roger]

And it's crazy because this is the third Mario party of the console. And so like usually there is the rule of Nintendo franchises of we'll put out one banger, one banger of this franchise for console. Usually. Sometimes you get more, right. Zelda, Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom came out in this last generation. But for the most part, right, like you'll get one Mario Kart, you'll get one 3D Mario, right? You'll get one, maybe two splatoons sometimes. But like usually they keep that number low. I remember the, that was the advice they gave to Ubisoft that was like in a report, in an interview a couple of years ago of hey, when it comes to Mario plus rabbids, like we advise you just put out the one and maybe hold off and put it on a second one. And then Ubisoft puts out the second one and it doesn't do as well as the first one. The fact that we're on our third Mario party of the console and it's selling 6.17 million copies in WE News. I have in there the fact that dragon ball sparking zero sold 5 million copies.

[Blessing]

And that's incredible. That is to be celebrated.

[Roger]

That is incredible. Right? And like that is coming off of when, like when I tell you my timeline, when I tell you obviously algorithms all that stuff. But it. That felt like such a celebratory. That is the fasting selling video game of the Dragon Ball series, Mario Party Jamboree comes out and sells this cruises to 6.17 million.

[Blessing]

I mean, I don't know a single person that personally bought it.

[Roger]

Yeah, I don't. I think I know one person that bought.

[Blessing]

That's a, a big number for a, a Nintendo game, right on On. On Switch. Like it's for. For a game that I do think has more broad appeal to the non gamers out there. Right. That like do just buy the Mario Karts or whatever and could be enticed by a new Mario party. But incredible numbers that I imagine are going to just continue to. To rise over the year. Like what's this going to look like 9 million next time we check in? Like I wouldn't be surprised. So I think that's kind of the conversation here that I would look at. Moving that on though, there are a couple other things here. So first off, Mario Kart now is at 67 million units sold. 67 million units of Mario Kart 8 out there. Just deluxe, not even including the original.

[Roger]

Wait, does that not include the original?

[Blessing]

No, it's just deluxe.

[Roger]

God damn.

[Blessing]

The original could only include how many.

[Roger]

But like I mean the WWII u sold 13 million. So which is.

[Blessing]

Think about that, you know what a number everybody.

[Roger]

13 million units sold for the Wii U. Whereas the Switch 1, the sequel to the Wii U is out here. I missed the number you said it in there. But what, 150. Somewhere around that million.

[Blessing]

Yeah.

[Roger]

Insane.

[Blessing]

Insane. So then there's a couple other things from this report that I think are important to point out. They had a slide for first party titles set for release in 2025 and there's no new information here, but it is reiterating a couple things that are nice to see. Donkey Kong Country Returns HD come came out January 16th. We have Xenoblade Chronicles X coming on March 20th. They still are reiterating Pokemon Legends Za and Metroid prime beyond both 2025.

[Roger]

Okay.

[Blessing]

And both the Switch games.

[Roger]

Yeah.

[Blessing]

So just keep that in mind for next time we're talking about it all then we got some sales updates for a bunch of different games this year. Individually some of the newer things and I think there's a lot to glean from this as well. Mario Wonder 15.5 million units.

[Roger]

Jesus.

[Blessing]

So like damn, that is crazy. Paper Mario thousand year door remake. Just over 2 million units soldiers. So essentially we're now a year in and that sold a more niche RPG. 2 million units.

[Roger]

That's actually like that remake as well. Remake, right. Like I think that's good for that game.

[Blessing]

And I'm gonna skip one go down numbers because for the sake of conversation here, Mario and luigi brothership at 1.84 million units. So okay, pretty damn close to Paper Mario, which is definitely the better game. But Paper Mario being a remake, having an entire year hitting just over 2 million. Martin Luigi only being out since November. Yeah.

[Roger]

Mario Luigi is going to pass that.

[Blessing]

And, and that's like. It just shows that there is a power to new games. You know, even if, whether it's marketing or whether it's just like consumer understanding of or willingness to, to buy these.

[Roger]

Things, like the excitement for I. It's. It is the weird thing of you would think people would be more excited for Paper Mario, the thousand year door remake versus Mario and Luigi brothership, but the fact that it is a new game. Right. Like you look at Mario or you look at Paper Mario and you still might think oh, that's been out. Right. That's been. That's. That was a GameCube game. But when you're talking about sales power, the ability to push something to sales, the new games definitely speak louder.

[Blessing]

Exactly. And I think that the, this trend is going to continue here where throughout the year brothership will continue to sell. Whereas I think that Paper Mario is going to kind of slow down. Yeah. Luigi's Mansion 2 HD 1.8 million.

[Roger]

Oh wow.

[Blessing]

Like, okay, we're talking about almost Dragon age sales. Fuck.

[Roger]

I didn't even think about it like that. You know what I mean?

[Blessing]

Like that's, that's crazy for a 3ds port of Luigi's Mansion. And again you compare that to the new Luigi's mansion, Luigi's Mansion 3, a surprisingly high seller on the switch where I last we saw it. There's no update here that I saw, but it's like 9 million units sold or something like that. Like that's very, very impressive. But what's missing here bless in the.

[Roger]

Last year, Princess Peach Super Princess or.

[Blessing]

Not Super Princess Peach Showtime. Not even here, not even being talked about. Right.

[Roger]

Which is interesting.

[Blessing]

And that came out after Paper Mario Thousand Year Door probably.

[Roger]

I don't know. I don't. I'm pretty sure.

[Blessing]

I'm pretty sure. I think it was February and I think that Princess Peach was March if I remember correctly. But you had the sales numbers of Princess Peach. Yeah.

[Roger]

So I looked this up on Wikipedia and the last it was reported, Princess Be Showtime has sold 1.22 million copies as of May 2024.

[Blessing]

And so we hadn't got an update there. So I imagine it didn't even cross that Mario and Luigi brothership 1.84 million, which I am kind of surprised by because you know, that game I don't think was that great. I have a lot of issues with it and I really believe that it should have been a better game than it was in terms of quality and Nintendo Magic. Because we know what they were going for and there's such a huge audience for what that game even is. But I think that they could have had an even bigger audience had they made the game better and the loading screens faster and like, there's just a lot of like effort that they could have put into it that I do think would have went a long way in servicing that game and the audience that it is trying to reach, which is a very core and very important audience to Nintendo, to Mario, to New Mario Movie fans that like Princess Peach and want to be able to play as her in a style that represents what they saw on the screen.

[Roger]

You know when you say audience, like what audience are you talking about? Are you talking about the kids? Cuz from. Yeah, hearing you talk about. Because you played this game and reviewed it.

[Blessing]

Yeah, yeah, we, me and Andy ended up playing through it on stream and I finished the end of it. But.

[Roger]

And the way I remember hearing you guys talk about it. Right. Like it seemed like this felt very much like a kid game compared to like a lot of other Mario games or obviously all these games are for kids, but they're also for families and they're also for adults. They're for anybody. These are games that are translatable across age limits or whatever. Right. Princess Peach Showtime seems very kitty in a way where it's almost like, man, I got a nephew who is five, six years old. Like that would be the game that they can play because they'll be able to understand it and play through it and not struggle as much and do all that stuff. Do you think that maybe that not was a miscalculation, but I guess it's just a result of hey, like maybe as Nintendo we want to have one of these in our library just so we can like hit the entire spectrum of like different ages of people that are playing our console. But we don't expect Princess Peach Showtime to sell because we know what it is kind of thing.

[Blessing]

Yeah, I just. And yes, I definitely think it's that. I just feel like Nintendo has proven time and time again. It doesn't. It could be both. And when it is both, the Sales numbers aren't 1 million. They are 3, 4, 5 million, which is huge. Right. So I just feel like there is a. I'm happy they took the step. I just think that they didn't go as far as they needed to because I think of the example of like the Kirby games and in recent years the Yoshi Games have kind of went after that same audience of younger gamers. These are a little bit simpler and they're still really high quality games. But then you put out something like Kirby and Forgotten Land and it kind of hits for everybody.

[Roger]

Yeah.

[Blessing]

You know, it sells, it's critically well received. Adults can love it and kids can love it too. So I just feel like there's. They. I just think that they, they missed the mark on. On Pete's Showtime.

[Roger]

I also think maybe part of it too is it not being part of a quote unquote. Quote unquote, I guess, series. I was gonna say franchise, but that's factually incorrect. Part of a series of. You look at these other games. Right. Mario and Luigi has been around forever. Paper Mario has been around forever. Right. I guess like Mario Brothers has been around for literally forever. When you're talking about video games. Princess Pete Showtime, for all intents and purposes is the start of, of a new series or a standalone game. And maybe because of that, you don't have that built in. Oh, I played this 15 years ago. I'm gonna buy the sequel as an adult for the nostalgia of it. Like, I don't think people. Princess Peach I don't think has had a great, like, showing as far as starring in her own games. I say it like she's a real person, but like, you get what I mean, right? Because the other Princess Peach game, Super.

[Blessing]

Princess Peach on the ds, that didn't do well either. Right. I don't know how well it did sales wise, but like, it was a good game, but it wasn't. It didn't blow anyone's minds.

[Roger]

Yeah. Like, I don't know if there's a cult following for Super Princess Peach.

[Blessing]

There's definitely a cult following. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah. But I don't know that there's like they're not that big. You know what I mean? And I feel like the majority of people didn't play it and got upset at it being based on emotions and stuff. Because she's a woman.

[Roger]

Yeah. Which is fair. Right. But like, yeah, I wonder if there's a thing of. Because I think a princess, a Princess Peach series would be so fire for the catalog. Yeah. Because I think that opens up your audience if you, if you can find a way to have Princess Peach be as like staying on the same line of Mario, Kirby, Donkey Kong, even Luigi with Luigi's Mansion. Right.

[Blessing]

Like, yeah.

[Roger]

Princess Peach should, I think, be one of those characters. And I think that speaks to a wider audience of gamers. But yeah, it seems like Princess Peach Showtime. I don't think I'm with you for what it sounds like of you got to figure out a way, a way to have this speak to everybody. Maybe not just children.

[Blessing]

Yeah.

[Roger]

Unless that is like that thing is like, unless that is really like that is the target audience. They, they, they're going for this thing. Maybe they're satisfied with it.

[Blessing]

But my, my thing, I would want.

[Roger]

To see it speak. Problem.

[Blessing]

I got. I, I don't want to go in circles here, so I just want to say this quickly. Like I, I want to be clear. I, I'm not saying that like, oh, it's lesser than because it's simple and it's a kids game. It's not that it's lesser than because of the, the teams they put on it and the quality of work, the quality of the output. Like it reminds me of when we look at the Nintendo's library for the Switch specifically. It's like majority of them we would consider a teams. Right. And then you look at some of the sports games and you're like, that was lesser then. And I feel like the Peach game is on in that category, which is like, we know that that doesn't need to be the case, you know. And I'm not necessarily even blaming the talent of the teams working on it. Maybe it's their budgets and resources, their timelines to finish the game. Like so many different factors could be at play. But we see time and time again that Nintendo is capable of more and that they had so many talented teams that can kind of show up and do something. I want to give a shout out to Grezzo. Actually. I think that they're a perfect example of a team that historically was just remaking or remastering games. And they did Ocarina of Time and Majora's mask on the 3Ds. Those are killer remasters. Like a lot of people would call those. The definitive purchasable ways to play Ocarina at this time. Like that's pretty impressive, right? Going on to Link's Awakening remake, I think one of coolest remakes we ever had doesn't run that great. We know that that's a Switch problem. But in terms of style and like taking the heart of a game and remaking it like it's a shining example for them to then make a new game in Echoes of Wisdom and have it sell. What was the number here? Almost 4 million copies so far. Yeah, like that's great, you know. So they got the stuff. Try again better next time.

[Roger]

Yeah, I. I would love to see them figure out Princess Speech story number.

[Blessing]

Two Nintendo's says it's making preparations for Switch to resellers this comes from Andy Robinson at vgc. Nintendo's president said the company will put measures in place to prevent resellers from significantly impacting Switch 2 launch supplies. Speaking to the Japanese press for the first time since Switch 2's announcement on Tuesday, Furukawa was asked how Nintendo plans to ensure a smooth launch for the console, especially considering the original Switch's history of stocks shortages, which were often exacerbated by those seeking to resell the console for profit. For Aara said that Nintendo has made preparations based on its past experience and plan to prepare enough Switch 2 consoles to meet demand. We will take all possible measures based on the experience we have accumulated to date regarding scalpers and the like. We're making preparations regarding Support for the switch1 President Furukara said in an earnings call today reported by Sanai that he did not believe Switch 2's announcement would have a significant impact on the current sales of the original console. He also said the company would demand would continue to support Switch beyond Switch to as long as there's demand.

[Roger]

Yeah, it seemed like there's a hard Switch there. That's because I combined two articles into one. The last paragraph, because I felt both talking points very important and solid. Starting with the first half of this, talking about the Switch to hardware and like trying to fight against shortages. Do you believe it? Do you believe them? Are we going to get there and still be like, oh where's the Switch to?

[Blessing]

It's a yes and no. I don't think that there's any worlds that it's even possible to meet the demand of every single person that wants one. When scalpers do exist and there's no real way to remedy that. There are solutions and there's band aids and there's stop gaps that they can do to slow it. But the reality is supply and demand is a thing that exists and scalpers are aware of that and are aware of playing that game. I do think that when you like them saying their history like this dates back throughout time, like the it's not like the Switch was the first time it was hard to get a Nintendo console. Like think about the Wii, right? But then there was the Wii U where it was a lot less difficult to get your hands on one of those. So I think that they'll be better off. But I also think that there's going to be a lot of things that rub people the wrong way but are probably for the best. I imagine there's going to be a direct from Nintendo NSO way to purchase the game or the system, which I think is a good thing. It's speaking directly to their consumers and their fans. But I'm sure that'll piss people off for some other reason, you know, but otherwise, like I think, I think that the people that want to switch to if they try to get their hands on one, will be able to get their hands on one. But I don't think that if you dilly dally and like don't jump on a pre order that you're necessarily going to get one day one I want.

[Roger]

To talk about the support for Switch 1 because that's the thing we talked about a little bit when we did our predictions for the switch 2. I think you were the one that had a lot of predictions of like these games are going to be for Switch 1, even though the Switch 2 is already out. How long do you think Nintendo will continue to support the Switch one? They say as long as there's demand for it. Yeah, but like how long does that last?

[Blessing]

I. I think it's going to be surprisingly long because I think that when you look at even the 3DS switching over from the 3DS and Wii U switching over to Switch, that generation, like there were multiple fairly major releases that were crossovers like Breath of the Wild, but then there were multiple that were just major releases that never even got to the Switch, like Warioware Gold Man, Metroid Samus Returns. Right. That being announced after the Switch was like, oh, I want to play it on my new fancy toy, you know, like I think that that type of thing is going to continue, but it's not going to be an issue because the games are playable on the Switch too. And we imagine in some way shape or form run better or at least don't run worse on the Switch too. It is Nintendo, so it is Nintendo's. So with that I do feel like we're at this point where we. There's so many games that we already know are going to be at least Switch one only. Maybe there's a Switch two version if that's what they decide to do. But Metroid Prime 4, beyond Pokemon ZA, those are major, major games. Pokemon as a seller, Metroid as a potential seller, but definitely critically looked at as a shining star and a major franchise for Nintendo. So with those, I mean I think that's minimum. Right? But after that I do think we're going to continue to see ports of GameCube games, Wii games, Wii U games, 3DS games that they're putting out that are supporting the Switch one. But also you can just play them on the Switch too. They're in a better place than they've ever been generation to generation. So I feel like there's less importance on every game being a Switch 2 game because of where we are generationally.

[Roger]

Is there Picture we're in 2026. We've had the Switch 2 for months and months now. And we're in the. It's the February 2026 Nintendo Direct. What is the weirdest Nintendo decision game that they could announce for the Switch one and not the Switch two? I'm going to say Ocarina Time remake. It's coming to Switch one. You'll play it on Switch to via backwards compatibility.

[Blessing]

See, I hope beyond hope that that's not the case because I expect more from the Ocarina of Time remake at this point. Because if what you just said, if it is just hey, we're taking Grezzo's ocarina of time 3D game and up resing that and like make remastering that then yeah, put that on Switch one. Why not like have that be cross gen. Have that just work for everybody and sell and all that. And that makes sense. I expect that Ocarina is going to be a much more from the ground floor remake that they're going all in on. And that has to be next gen. That has to be.

[Roger]

I hope man.

[Blessing]

Because I do. But again, going back to Wind Waker and Twilight Princess, we will see those on the Switch family of consoles. I expect it'll be Switch one. It just makes more sense. Why would you neuter the sales of these games when they're. They could be playable on the Switch too. And that's not going to bother any of us as long as the features are right. Which I expect that they will be.

[Roger]

Yep.

[Blessing]

You know. Yeah, we're going to keep talking about many many more stories, but we're going to do that after a word from our sponsors. This episode is brought to you by Aura Frames. I'm gonna be real. Aura Frames might be the most popular sponsor product people here have ever had at kinda funny. Many of us have Aura Frames set up at their desks and even more of us have gifted them to friends and family to absolute rave results. Aura Frames was named the number one digital picture frame by Wirecutter and it's for a good reason. It's so easy to set up and they have different frame options. We gifted our frames to Gia's mom and dad this holiday and they're both obsessed with us being able to upload our wedding photos straight to their frames. All you need is the free Aura app and a wi fi connection and you can upload as many photos and videos as you want. And your favorite live iPhone photos will play right on the frame. Right now you can save on the perfect gift that keeps on giving by visiting auraframes.com for a limited time. Listen. Visitors can get $20 off of the best selling Carver Matte frame with Code Kinda Funny that's a U R A frames.com promo code kinda Funny. Don't forget to mention that we sent you to show your support for this show. Terms and conditions apply. Story Number three the Last of Us Showrunners oh, okay, I thought you're raising your hand there. Showrunners Explain why Abby Isn't Muscular in Season two this goes for Jordan Midler at vgc. Sometimes I hate it here. You know what I mean? I really. It's like I just don't want to read this. I don't want to talk about it.

[Roger]

Also, define muscular.

[Blessing]

Yeah, like what the are we talking about? I mean she is tiny, you know.

[Roger]

I guess so.

[Blessing]

Yeah. I have thoughts before I even read it, but I want to read it before I get too upset. Okay. Last of a Showrunners Neil Druckmann and Craig Mason have explained why Abby actor Caitlyn Deaver won't be as muscular as her video game counterpart. The show returns in April and will cover some, but not all of Naughty Dog Second Game Caitlin Deaver will join the cast as Abby, the co protagonist of Last of Us 2. Since the casting was announced, fans have questioned why Deaver, who usually sports a slim build, would be cast to play Abby, who in the video games Very muscular. Now, ahead of the show's premiere, the showrunners have explained the choice. Quote, we value performance over anything else. We need someone to really capture the essence of those characters we don't value as much. Do they look exactly like the character with their eyebrows or their nose or their body? Whatever it is, it's not nowhere on the priority list, but it's below a bunch of other things that we consider Drugman claims that part of the reason for Abby's physique in the game is that when playing as Abby in The Last of Us 2, she's supposed to be more akin to playing as Joel, whereas Ellie was supposed to feel weaker. But Much more agile. We would have struggled to find someone as good as Caitlyn to play this role in the game. You have to play both characters. We need them to play differently. We needed Ellie to feel smaller and kind of maneuver around. And Abby was meant to play more like Joel and that she's almost like a brute in the way she can physically manhandle certain things. That doesn't play as big of a role in this version of the story because there's not as much violent action moment to moment. It's more about the drama. I'm not saying there's no action here. It's just, again, different priorities and how you approach it.

[Roger]

I kind of like the reasoning. I kind of like it as a. Hey, for the video, like the video game is a video game and we wanted Abby to play like Joel and so therefore we made Abby jacked for the TV show. Not necessarily as important. Right. Like, it might have. You might. You're still going to be able to depict, I think the narrative aspects of the brutality and the action and all that stuff via these two characters. Right. Even if Abby is a bit skinnier or whatever.

[Blessing]

Right.

[Roger]

But like, I don't know. I think it's. I think the, the reasoning here I find interesting. Even though the reasoning, what you have to tell people, oh, man, the real life action version of this is gonna be like, the character isn't gonna be as built as the video game version. That's that. That is this tank that you're playing as.

[Blessing]

I think this is such a catch 22 thing of like, any answer they give, we're going to pick apart and be like, well, I don't like it. Whatever. I don't like that. Whatever. And that's how this goes. So I feel like I am psyched beyond hell for this show. I loved season one. I can't wait for this. I think they're going to nail it. I love Caitlyn Deaver. So her as Abby, I am very excited for. And yeah, the explanation given here, totally fine, whatever. I buy it. And at the end of the day, what he's saying is correct about the performance. Performances matter and like, do you get the essence of the character and all that? The one issue I have though is like, while he backed this all up from a gameplay perspective of like, Abby played differently than Ellie did and was a bit more like hulking and like physical in that way. Which is true, I feel like. And this, the story and character and stuff can be different in the show.

[Roger]

Yeah.

[Blessing]

But without getting into like details like I do feel like Abby, when you first see her in the flashback and then when you play as her, her being bulked up to me is a very important part of the story of her for years preparing for revenge. You know what I mean? So I'm a little, I feel like just hearing this, I'm, I'm not disappointed, but I am. Like this feels like it's skirting around some facts that aren't just gameplay based, that are are more story and character based, but it could be telling a different story with different characters and we'll see how it goes.

[Roger]

I agree with all that.

[Blessing]

Yeah, yeah, so we'll see. But I'm not worried. Let's put it that way. I'm not worried. I think this is going to be freaking awesome. And we're so close.

[Roger]

A month away. Two months away.

[Blessing]

Like two months away.

[Roger]

So close.

[Blessing]

Yeah, very exciting stuff. Story number four Snake Pass and Sonic Racing developer Sumo will no longer work on original IP this comes from Jordan Midler at vgc. Sumo Digital has announced it will no longer pursue working on original IP titles and will instead focus entirely on working as a studio for hire for development partners. In a statement shared with employees on Tuesday, Sumo said it had made the decision due to pressures to balance our creative ambitions and the commercial realities to ensure the long term stability and success of our business. Sumo Digital is best known for games based on partner ip, such as Sackboy, A Big Adventure and Team Sonic Racing. However, it previously created original titles like Snake Pass, which was awesome and VGC understands that multiple original projects were recently in development at the company. It's currently unknown if the developers assigned to those projects will be reassigned, but Tuesday's statement implies that layoffs are likely. After careful consideration, we've made the strategic decision to focus Sumo Digital exclusively on development services for partners, our core strength and the foundation of our success. This will strengthen our position as a premium development partner, leveraging our expertise to contribute to and create great games for our clients. Whether collaborating on new or established games, co developing games, providing specialist engineering or porting services, we're confident in our team's exceptional talent and our ability to thrive in this next chapter. It adds unavoidably this transition will have an impact on our studios and people. We're committed to minimizing this impact as much as possible, exploring all options to retain talent and supporting those affected with transparency, care and compassion.

[Roger]

Yeah, obviously it always sucks when you hear about like Leo Austin downsizing and stuff like that, right? And like this very much sounds like they're implying, hey, this is going to lead to that. And so of course, hearts go out to devs that end up being affected by that. Also, like, it makes me slightly sad to see a studio go from, hey, we make. We're making original stuff to being like, hey, we are for our survival as a company, right? Or for our. We are redoing our business strategy to be about partnership and like Sumo Digital. Honestly, when I think of Sumo Digital, I do think about their partnered products, right? I think about Sackboy, Big Adventure and stuff like that. And so like, do your thing and also like Team Sonic Racing. Right? Do your thing, right. Like, I think for me it is. You don't necessarily have to be the studio that is out here, like making original content. As much as I like to see that in studios, you don't have to be. That is in the same way that I look at Bluepoint and I, I know we're excited for bluepoint's original thing, even though it seems like that was a multiplayer thing that got shot, shut down. We'll see if their next thing ends up being an original thing. But Blue Point I always looked at as, oh, you were the best remix studio of all time. Like, you made Shadow Colossus remake, you made Demon Souls remake. Like, nobody can make remakes like you. I think it's worth owning that, right? Like, again, as much as if they want to make original stuff, make original stuff. You're best at doing this thing. So maybe you should just be doing this thing. Sumo Digital, like, hey, if this is how you get your bag and you know, find, get money as business and also provide jobs for your employees, like, yeah, do your thing like, make the next Sack Boy. Also, I want a new sack.

[Blessing]

And on top of it, like, to. To your point, I think that it is important here that the examples that we're talking about of Sackboy, Big Adventure and Team Sonic Racing, these are not, hey, take someone else's game and just like, make the sequel like it is. Like, these are like, for all intents and purposes, a new game like this. Sack Boy Big Adventure is not a little big planet. You know, it's just giving your game a little bit more chance to succeed and actually make the money back and all that. So ye it. This is unfortunate news and I think such a example of the state of the industry now where you can't take risks. You need to minimize as many risks as possible. And they're doing that. Which, hey, kudos to them for the transparency. And speaking about this from a strategic perspective that I hear all this. I'm like, this adds up. It's a bummer, but it adds up. And it does seem like they're making the moves to protect their teams as much as possible. And that is something that I feel like not everybody does.

[Roger]

Yeah.

[Blessing]

And will it protect everyone? No. So this is rough, you know, But I do think that, like, there's something here that shows that they're at least trying and they're making the moves to build a strong foundation for the next time things go bad, which how things have been going might be sooner than later.

[Roger]

And I think, I mean, the observation make there for a Sackaway Big Adventure and Team Sonic Racing, those being again, it's not a Little Big planet. Team Sonic Racing is not just another 3D Sonic. Right? Like, it is a brand new Sonic racing game that is different from the previous racing games. It is a brand new Sack Boy Adventure that is different from the Little Big Planet games. I. I kind of like that as an identity again, like, it sucks because it seems like they wanted to make original stuff, but if you can look at other existing and popular IPs and make original games and like have original ideas for those things, like, that's a very viable skill set to have as a studio. And like that will lead to your longevity if you can get hit up by Microsoft and Microsoft go, hey, make an original Halo. Make an original Gears PlayStation. You look at you and go, make an original Astrobot. Make an original Sack Boy. Make an original Ratchet. That's money. Like, a bag is a bag is a bag, right? Like, that is money right there that you can tap into. And that is longevity for your studio. And that is also, I think, something that can be very creatively fulfilling. Like, I would, I would love to be in the studio that like put a Bruno Mars track into a level of a Sackboy thing and got to like see that vision through. That was a fucking awesome moment in that game. And so, like, I don't think Sumo Digital gets as much of the props that they deserve because I think we associate them with like, oh, you work on other people's ip. Oh, you made the sack. But like Sackboy Big Adventure, I still stand by. I think that's a great game. That's a. For a launch title, that shit rocked. Like, I like that better than most launch titles. And so I'm very excited and curious to see where they go from here. Like, what are the new partnered IP stuff that they do?

[Blessing]

Yeah, we'll see. Good luck, everybody. Story number five, ESA says Tariffs on video games could cause significant harm to everyday Americans.

[Roger]

Oh man, we're back to it.

[Blessing]

Fuck, dude. This comes from Tom Ivan at vgc. The Entertainment Software association has expressed concern about the negative impacts from tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump on goods imported from other countries. The trade body, which represents leading games companies including Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo, has called for Trump's administration to consult with the sector on his tariff plans. Quote, tariffs on video game devices and related products would impact Americans of all ages across the country. We urge the administration to consult with the private sector in a transparent process to avoid causing significant harm to everyday Americans and to one of the fastest growing entertainment sectors in the United States States. In an updated statement shared with vgc, the ESA said video games are one of the most popular and beloved forms of entertainment for Americans of all ages. Tariffs on video game devices and related products would negatively impact hundreds of millions of Americans and would harm the industry's significant contributions to the US economy. We look forward to working with the administration and Congress to find ways to sustain the economic growth supported by our sector this weekend. Trump said a levy of 25% on Canadian and Mexican imports, as well as an additional 10% tax on Chinese goods would come into force on Tuesday. However, on Monday, Mexico said Trump was pausing tariffs for one month after the countries reached a new border agreement to stem the flow of illegal drugs. The BBC reports. The US President has also said he will impose trade tariffs on the eu, but as suggested, a deal could be worked out with the uk.

[Roger]

Man, Tim, how much are you willing to spend for a switch to.

[Blessing]

Man, that sucks, dude. It really does suck.

[Roger]

Yeah, I think the. If I was to pull any hope out of the story, it would be the hope that the ESA or whoever, like, can work with the administration to figure out the video game side of things. Even though like I could say that for any business, right? Like, honestly, when talking about terrorists, video games probably the least important thing when it comes to like things that need to be figured out as far as like the products that are being shipped from other countries. But I go back to, I think it was a week or so ago where Matt Piscatella was talking about like physical discs and how much those get manufactured in Mexico and how like physical, physical gaming is going to get more expensive and maybe that then translates to digital. But this expensive.

[Blessing]

Yeah, I mean this is the end of physical media just straight the up. Like we've already been flirting with it for years, but like we are like the door is no longer being knocked on the door is just open and it's a matter of like, when are we going through? And I hate that so freaking much. But like, oh yeah, dude. Like it is just sign after sign after sign of just like, okay, this is about to be bad. I think that this is. It's the death kill, right, of all of the physical stuff. And when we look at this going down, thinking about the Switch to launching and if all of this starts going into effect and it's actually negatively affecting the sales of the initial Switch to launch, that could be so irreparably damageable to the industry going forward. It's very windy out there.

[Roger]

Is it wind?

[Blessing]

It's wind, yeah. Yeah.

[Roger]

For people listening there, it sounds like, I don't know, it sounded like there was a fight going on down out in the office.

[Blessing]

Because if the Switch 2's install base isn't as high as it possibly can be at the jump, that means that the games can only sell so much. And that means that over time the investment from the third parties might not be there the way it needs to be. Because xyz, if you just keep following this logic. I'm just talking about Nintendo here because they're about to launch a next generation system which I think will be heavily affected by these things. It's like that could completely change the trajectory of the success of the switch 2. And I think that a lot of us are looking at the Switch 2 based on the numbers that we were just talking about and potentially third parties having a major boom of having a exciting new system people want to buy their games on. When you're Ubisoft or EA or Square or Capcom or whatever, like this could be a make or break moment for the longevity of success for video games. Hard stop.

[Roger]

Yeah, yeah. I mean this is one of those ones that I think is going to be an ongoing conversation in the future because we're going to talk about it with the Switch 2 for now. But then when you look into the future of more hardware that that is launching, right, all the PC handheld stuff is happening and Xbox Handheld. Right. Like again, I don't know where all of these things are being manufactured. And like I've not done the compare and contrast of where all the terrorists are taking place. But this speed, like the doom is dooming and the gloom is glooming right now. Like shit is looking sour right now with this shit. And yeah, like this is one of those ones that we'll keep an eye on. Hopefully shit changes. Hopefully like, you know, like ESA or whoever is able to work with the administration to figure out how to lessen this shit for video games. But also, I could say that about all the products that are. That are going to be hit with these tariffs. Right. Like, it is a very. It's a very weird time, but also it's a very sad time.

[Blessing]

Yeah. Rudy in the chat says, I hate people talking about topics they have no understanding of. AKA this one for these two. Lol. I just. I just ask you, Rudy, like, what did we say that made you think that? Because I don't think we said anything that's like, really saying, one way or another like, that we don't know what we're talking about.

[Roger]

I think the thing, the empathy that I would ask for is that it's either we completely ignore this on the show or we talk about it to the best of our abilities. But, like, the fact of the matter is that we're not political science scientists. We're not. I didn't major in business. Right. Like, you know, I've done the best that I could do with the time that I have. Like, you know, like, reading the articles that are available to me, seeing what Matt Piscatella, the most educated man in the video game business, says about it and being like, all right, cool. I trust these voices and I try to echo those and bringing my own opinion based on those things. But, yeah, like, you know, chat, people watching, like, do we just leave these stories out? Like, I don't know what the solution is there.

[Blessing]

And I only see. I don't even think that what you were saying is, like, necessarily like that, like, rude or anything. I just feel like it's like, adding an air of negativity that, like, isn't necessary for the conversations that we're having here. Because, like, it. Everything that we just said, it's not like we made this a political thing. I don't know where you fall on all this, like, or whatever. We had a, I'd say, educated conversation about this based on what we just talked about and how it affects video games going forward. So, yeah, I'm with. Bless. We're just asking for some empathy here. Just asking for some understanding of, like, oh, we're trying to make sense of this in a world that does not make sense. But whatever. Nothing about all that stuff. Yeah. Be good to people. Come on. If everyone was just good to people, Bless. That'd be big.

[Roger]

It'd be huge.

[Blessing]

So, so, so big. But if I want to know something small, where would I look?

[Roger]

You would go to our last news story, the WE News Channel, where We cover all the small news items you need to know about.

[Blessing]

Little Wii news for you. 2K games will become the publisher of Olliolli Worlds and Rollerdrome will return to Steam. Both games were not part of the private division sale. God, in what a world we live in that day to day there's like.

[Roger]

It'S like who knows?

[Blessing]

Who knows?

[Roger]

Roller Drone could be gone forever.

[Blessing]

Yeah. God, and it sucks, man. Roller Drum was awesome.

[Roger]

Roller Drone fucked. That was a good game.

[Blessing]

Good game from vgc. The next game from Arcane founder Raphael Colantanio's current studio Wolfi has found its publisher. And then we got the yet to be named Retro Sci Fi first person action RPG will be published by Neowitz, the South Korean firm behind Lies of.

[Roger]

P. Yeah, that's all part of the same story.

[Blessing]

Cool. Yeah. So a possible replace. Sorry. Dragon Ball Sparking 0 sold over 5 million copies worldwide.

[Roger]

We did it.

[Blessing]

Very, very cool. I mean for real, dude, what a thing to celebrate. Like, oh, that is. I mean I remember a year or two ago when the game first got announced on like we were on the game daily and how excited you got about one of your childhood faves coming back with like brand new coat of paint and like, oh man, this could be great. And the game ended up coming out being awesome, selling well. And everyone loves things where like it.

[Roger]

Usually doesn't happen this way.

[Blessing]

It doesn't happen this way.

[Roger]

The games that you're most nostalgic for, like if I, I every day I ask them to bring back Jet Force Gemini. But like honestly if Jet Force Gemini was brought back, ain't no way that's a good game. Like ain't no way that's going to get the budget, resources, time, all that it needs to shine bright the way that I want it to shine bright. Very rarely does a game from 2005 or I guess this might have been 2007, but like a series from back in in the day gets brought back in modern day and actually hits and feels like a modern game and sells and like, oh man, we're here, man.

[Blessing]

We're here, baby.

[Roger]

This, you know what this means also is that potential sequels could open.

[Blessing]

And that's.

[Tim]

We did.

[Roger]

Let's go.

[Blessing]

So happy for you. Hell Divers 2 Servants of Freedom war bond launches on February 6th. Super Mario World soundtracks now available on Nintendo Music. The gift that keeps on giving. I just love popping in every once in a while. What you got going on?

[Roger]

They add like two soundtracks a week and I'm like, it's always a delight. I don't listen to them for some reason. Like, I don't always go. I'm like, I'm not gonna listen to my world soundtrack, but maybe I will someday. That's the exciting thing, is that I could something you could. I could someday.

[Blessing]

And it's there. IGN Cross I ID oh, sorry. I J. Cross ID at Xbox Showcase is set for February 24th, including games from Raw Fury Team 17, Aapura, Nintendo Music, 11 bit, and the next collab for Balatro.

[Roger]

What was that?

[Blessing]

I don't know.

[Andy]

I don't know if this is new or not, but I was. I was just pulling up the tweet and then I saw this too. Super Mario Kart and.

[Roger]

Wait, what did they tweet an hour ago?

[Blessing]

So.

[Roger]

Oh, yeah, this is probably new.

[Blessing]

Then even more stuff coming and I just.

[Andy]

I press on the thing by accident and it's Super Nintendo music.

[Roger]

Nintendo music.

[Blessing]

That's cool. New game pass games for you. We got Far Cry, New dawn today, Madden NFL 25, February 6, Kingdom 2 crowns, February 13, and then about February 18. Standard comes with Starfield. Another Craps Treasure and Iuden Chronicle. Hundred Heroes. And that's it, everybody.

[Roger]

For WE News, Starfield was not on standard. I don't. I. When they remixed how this all works, I don't know what equates to what anymore.

[Blessing]

Yeah.

[Roger]

So is game pass standard what games of gold used to be? Because if so, that's a great month.

[Blessing]

But.

[Roger]

But if this is. Is if this is just the bottom tier of regular game pass, I'm like, oh, man, y'all just getting Starfield. But I guess when all the first party stuff is now on the higher. I don't know how.

[Blessing]

Yeah, I. I don't know either. I. It gets confusing, but it's also. This is the type of thing that I. I don't really care that much about because it's confusing to me just because, like, I don't actively partake in it. But it does seem like the type of thing that, like, if I cared and spent five minutes looking into it, be like, okay, this is the one tier for me. I don't need to worry about those tears. And then you're just good.

[Roger]

Yeah.

[Blessing]

You know what I mean? But it is. It is ridiculous to look at.

[Andy]

So they have Core, which is like.

[Roger]

The core games go.

[Andy]

Yeah. Gold thing, which has 25 games and they have Standard and then they have ultimate, which has like the day one releases and all that crazy stuff like.

[Roger]

EA Play and ultimate is 20 bucks a month. Yeah.

[Andy]

So standard. Yeah, it has A lot of games, but it doesn't have some day one games. Wait, and then Core has, like, about 25 games.

[Roger]

Martin is on Peacock. Wait, Martin's on Peacock?

[Andy]

That's included in Xbox Live.

[Blessing]

Whoa.

[Roger]

I know what I'm doing tonight. We're watching Martin, everybody.

[Andy]

Magic cards and Martin.

[Roger]

Oh, dude. It's gonna be such a night tonight.

[Blessing]

God, that is so freaking funny. We got some super chats, everybody. I'd love to get to here. Kakashi with a bunch of nine says. I wanted to mention an artist that I think Bless and Tim would like, Mory Koppi. And I recommend Internet Brain Rot, Left for Dead and Don Mai M O R I. Kopi. I'm gonna. I'll check this out later.

[Roger]

Calliope.

[Blessing]

Is it Calliope?

[Roger]

Yeah, it's.

[Blessing]

I got to be fucking real with you. Bless. I've never read the word Calliope in my life. Like, holy crap.

[Roger]

No, that's fair.

[Blessing]

That's cool as hell, though. Shit, Calliope is a cool name.

[Roger]

Wait. Oh, this is.

[Blessing]

This is Maury Calliope.

[Andy]

Yeah.

[Roger]

That's not what I expected.

[Andy]

Me neither.

[Roger]

I thought it was a rapper. I. I thought it was going to be like a Chapel Rome. Like. Yeah, like, Maury Calliope.

[Blessing]

God. I saw somebody post a bunch of pictures of a bunch of the celebrities at the Grammys, and they were just like, here's a thread of celebrities cosplaying as Final Fantasy characters. Jaden Smith was the Hell House, of course, but there was a whole bunch of different ones. And someone. It was Chapel. Roman Kafka, who's the boss for Final Fantasy 6? I don't know if you're familiar with it, but it's like, holy fuck. They nailed it.

[Roger]

No way.

[Blessing]

They fucking nailed it.

[Roger]

Brock, we need a picture of Kefka.

[Blessing]

I'll have to check out K E F K A. If you wanted to look it up. Maury. Calliope. I'll check out later for people.

[Roger]

For audio listeners. Moriko. Oh, I see. Yeah. No, they know.

[Blessing]

Just nailed it.

[Roger]

They absolutely. From Final Fantasy 6.

[Blessing]

Yeah.

[Roger]

Kefka is like, why is he, like, rendered so well?

[Blessing]

Oh, it's probably from Dissidia or something. Like, Like, Yeah, Kefka is, I would say, behind Sephiroth. Dramatically behind. But behind Sephiroth is, like, one of the more iconic villains.

[Roger]

Reminds me of, like, the. The Hunter. Hunter villain. The clown guy. I don't know. What was I gonna say? I was gonna say something. I had it. I lost it. It'll come back to Me later. Keep going.

[Blessing]

We'll come back. Everybody. Guitar Hero. Arrow says shout out to tim for preaching LG TVs. I got a B4 this weekend and have awakened to the OLED lifestyle. Didn't know games could look even more gorgeous. I'm telling you, man. I'm telling you. Lgo the way just OLED in general, the way to go. The mo. The four most important letters in the Alphabet. Okay, bless.

[Roger]

O, L, E, D. Amen.

[Blessing]

God.

[Roger]

A man's preaching.

[Blessing]

CJ splits on says, does Nintendo second party software sales prove a successful business model for other major publishers? All right, we're gonna have to break that down a bit.

[Roger]

I just remembered for chat for. Not for chat for audio listeners. Because we pulled up Mori Calliope. We didn't explain it. Basically, what do they call? It's like Hatsune miku.

[Andy]

Yeah.

[Blessing]

Vtuber v2?

[Andy]

No, no.

[Roger]

Vocaloid.

[Andy]

Is it a Vocaloid?

[Roger]

Vocaloid.

[Andy]

We haven't listened to it. We don't know if it's a Vocaloid. It could just be like.

[Roger]

But basically it's an anime girl.

[Andy]

Yeah, it's just that Anime girl.

[Roger]

Yeah.

[Andy]

Yeah.

[Roger]

So they said, what now about Nintendo. Does Nintendo second party software sales prove a successful business model for other major publishers? What do they mean, second party software sales?

[Blessing]

Yeah, I'm not quite sure. Second party is always such a weird thing. If they're talking about like the. I think they're talking about some of those that aren't, as far as I know, owned by Nintendo, at least not fully. I don't know. But I'd say my answer is no, because Nintendo clearly have a unique thing for them with the way they present their games as Nintendo games on the Switch and how, like, exclusives sell here in a way that they don't necessarily sell on other consoles. So I think it might be a little bit different.

[Roger]

But I mean, I look at it similar to the Sumo Digital thing of like Sumo Digital making a Sonic thing with Sumo Digital making Sackboy a big adventure. Now granted, like, I don't know how well these games sell compared to like, obviously Nintendo stuff just sells so astronomically no matter what. Like, Nintendo just has the sauce when it comes to IP in a different way to where, like, I don't know how much Sackboy big Adventure sold, but like, honestly probably sells better than like, did Sumo. Sumo was in Destruction All Stars. I'm gonna look this up, but I feel like Sackboy thing can be more secure as a game to develop possibly than a new IP that you just don't know.

[Blessing]

Yeah.

[Roger]

It's going to be proven or not.

[Blessing]

Yeah, for sure. And then Kebab says they should have cast Stella Chung as Abby.

[Roger]

I mean, I can see it.

[Blessing]

I can see it, too.

[Roger]

See it.

[Blessing]

Yeah.

[Roger]

Just back at him.

[Blessing]

I know. Yeah. I feel like dangerous things could come out of my mouth if we keep talking. So that was Games Daily, everybody.

[Roger]

That was Games Daily.

[Blessing]

What a show. What an amazing lucid Games.

[Roger]

I don't know why I thought Sumo worked on Destruction. All stars shout out Sumo Digital.

[Blessing]

Not to Sumo Digital, everybody. We're rooting for you out here. Let us know in the comments below if you're rooting for Sumo Digital and if you've ever heard of Maury Calliope. Decided to listen to this. Very excited to see what genre it is. You know what I mean? It could be anything. I'm going.

[Roger]

I'm going. Conscious rap. I think she raps like Common.

[Blessing]

I mean, I'd be super down for that.

[Roger]

I used to love.

[Blessing]

Can we just for one quick second talk about Dochi again?

[Roger]

Oh, my God. I listened yesterday. Just all. All day. I just listened to her album.

[Blessing]

I can't. I can't believe she won. I love that she won. I can't believe it, though. There's something about the quality of music that she's making right now that I'm just like, they don't make it like this anymore, but they're making it now. I can't say that they're literally doing it and rewarding it with awards.

[Roger]

Like, the kids don't know nothing about this. Meanwhile, the kids are listening to this fucking boop app.

[Blessing]

Ash. I'm just like, this is. And she's such a good performer. Anyway, the boys are gonna stream some stuff. Who the cares? We'll be back at 2pm though, reacting to Capcom. Audimusha, baby. We're gonna see Animusha today.

[Roger]

Are we gonna see more of it, or is it gonna be a dude sitting on a chair being like. Back in 2002, Hanimusha was a franchise. Now it's gonna be a franchise.

[Blessing]

I know we announced it, but it's delayed. I'm sorry.

[Roger]

2027.

[Blessing]

End the podcast. Bye.

[Roger]

Shake hands didn't even do you wrong.