PlayStation Studio Insomniac CEO Retires - Kinda Funny Games Daily 01.22.25

Summary

Kinda Funny Games Daily: Video Games News Podcast Episode: PlayStation Studio Insomniac CEO Retires - Kinda Funny Games Daily 01.22.25
Release Date: January 22, 2025

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1. Insomniac Games CEO Ted Price Announces Retirement

Overview:
In a significant industry move, Ted Price, the founder and president of Insomniac Games, announced his retirement after over 30 years at the helm. Price's departure marks the end of an era for the studio renowned for blockbuster titles like Spider-Man and Ratchet & Clank.

Key Details:

• Transition Plan: Following Price's retirement, Insomniac veterans Chad Desert, Ryan Schneider, and Jen Hong will assume leadership as co-studio heads. Price emphasized the importance of maintaining Insomniac's culture of transparency and collaboration.
• Price’s Statement:
  "I actually made this decision last year. For me, after over 30 years of leading Insomniac, I felt it was simply time to step aside and let others pave the way for our team." (08:25)

Host Reactions:

• Greg Miller: Praised Price's legacy and leadership, noting, "Ted's got 30 years on the board, too. You're like, yeah, I guess that makes sense." (08:21)
• Tim Geddes: Highlighted the positive culture at Insomniac, stating, "Anyone I've ever met from Insomniac... they just are so happy, they feel so creatively fulfilled, they feel well compensated." (14:03)

Community Feedback:

• Super Chats Included:
  • "Spyro 4. That's not gonna happen. And if it does, yeah, it's not gonna be from Insomniac." (16:49)
  • "Ratchet and Clank XCOM." (16:49)

Analysis:
Price's retirement is seen as a smooth transition, with the internal promotion of Desert, Schneider, and Hong ensuring continuity. The move underscores Insomniac's strong internal culture and its ability to sustain success beyond its founding leadership.

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2. DC Universe Online Introduces New Story Arc

Overview:
Al Rivera, Creative Director of DC Universe Online (DCUO), unveiled a new narrative approach by introducing multi-chapter story arcs, starting with "Light and Rain: Day of Reckoning."

Key Details:

• New Narrative Structure:
  "Starting with our next update, Light and Rain, Day of Reckoning, our team will be sharing stories over the course of multiple chapters instead of the one-off format we've traditionally taken." (21:12)
• Community Engagement: The update aims to foster deeper community discussions, encouraging fan theories and speculation akin to those found in comic book fandoms.

Host Reactions:

• Tim Geddes: Expressed excitement about the narrative depth, "This is more exciting than the new season of Diablo that just launched this week." (22:10)
• Greg Miller: Highlighted the integration with ongoing DC projects, particularly anticipating tie-ins with the Superman franchise.
  "We see a lot of Superman content coming, and that's super exciting for me." (22:10)

Analysis:
The shift to multi-chapter story arcs in DCUO reflects a trend towards more serialized and engaging storytelling in MMORPGs. By aligning with DC's broader narrative projects, DCUO aims to enhance its relevance and appeal within the superhero gaming niche.

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3. Pharrell Williams & Final Fantasy 7 Music at Louis Vuitton Event

Overview:
Pharrell Williams made headlines by incorporating one of Final Fantasy 7's iconic compositions, "One-Winged Angel," into his debut collection at a Louis Vuitton fashion show in Paris.

Key Details:

• Event Highlights:
  "Models walked the circular catwalk to 'One-Winged Angel,' the Sephiroth theme from Final Fantasy 7." (34:56)
• Music Arrangement: The piece was arranged and orchestrated by Thomas Russell, providing a fresh interpretation of the classic track.

Host Reactions:

• Tim Geddes: Admired the fusion of gaming and high fashion, "I love that this song is so important to so many people and that it is now part of a fashion show." (36:20)
• Greg Miller: Appreciated the cultural crossover, noting, "I'm glad that you know, the nerd things we all love are just infiltrated." (38:25)

Analysis:
Pharrell's choice to feature "One-Winged Angel" underscores the enduring legacy and cultural impact of Final Fantasy 7. This collaboration highlights the growing acceptance and integration of video game music into mainstream media and high fashion, bridging the gap between gaming communities and broader cultural realms.

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4. Additional News Highlights

a. Lost Records: Bloom and Rage Tape Two Delayed

• Details: The sequel, Rage, is pushed to April 15, 2025, priced at $40 for both parts, totaling 10-12 hours of gameplay. Fans are encouraged to engage with exclusive interactive activities on social platforms in the interim.
• Host Opinions:
  • Greg Miller: Critiqued the delay, saying, "Nobody wants that. Nobody wants that. Just keep it in the game, interact." (40:40)

b. Resident Evil 2 Remake on iOS Underperforms

• Details: The iOS version has generated approximately $100,000 in in-app purchases, translating to around 9,500 sales during the discounted launch period. Post-discount, sales have dwindled significantly.
• Host Insights:
  • Tim Geddes: Compared the situation to early cloud gaming platforms, suggesting a gradual normalization of high-quality mobile gaming.
    "These phones can natively run games that are PS5 levels, PS4 levels. That's incredibly impressive." (44:25)
  • Greg Miller: Acknowledged the effort despite low sales, emphasizing, "Some money is better than no money." (46:39)

c. SEGA Launches New SEGA Account

• Details: SEGA introduced an online profile system offering cross-platform benefits and in-game bonuses. Early adopters creating an account by March 7 receive exclusive rewards for the upcoming release of Yakuza in Hawaii on February 21, 2025.
• Host Reactions:
  • Tim Geddes: Voiced frustration over mandatory account creations, "Why do I need to do this?" (52:02)
  • Greg Miller: Highlighted the potential benefits and reluctantly participated, saying, "I'll DM it to you right now." (54:06)

d. Upcoming Releases and Announcements

• Superman Tie-ins: Anticipation builds for new Superman-related content in DC Universe Online, aligning with James Gunn's Superman projects.
• Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Announced with a March 19, 2027 release date, featuring a new pink-themed Sonic design.
• Invincible Casting Announcements: New casting details were shared, enhancing excitement for the animated adaptation of the Invincible series.
• Grand Theft Auto VI Rumors: A Super Chat suggested an announcement or trailer for GTA VI on January 30, although its validity remains unconfirmed. (59:08)

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5. Community Engagement and Super Chats

Throughout the episode, listeners interacted through Super Chats, sharing their thoughts, predictions, and reactions to the news. Highlights include:

• Superman Content Wishes:
  "Spyro 4. That's not gonna happen. And if it does, yeah, it's not gonna be from Insomniac." (16:49)

• GTA VI Hype:
  "Christopher Burnett feels in his balls. Yeah, I got it. Everybody. Calendar." (59:08)

These interactions demonstrate the engaged and passionate Kinda Funny community, contributing to lively discussions and fan-driven content exploration.

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6. Hosts' Personal Anecdotes and Banter

While the episode predominantly focused on news, Greg Miller and Tim Geddes interspersed their discussion with personal stories and light-hearted banter, enhancing the podcast's engaging and relatable atmosphere.

• Ben’s Pink Eye: A humorous exchange about Ben's eye condition and its implications.
  "Ben, I picked Ben up from school. He has goofy eyes. I'm like, oh, here we fucking go." (00:36)

• Fashion Show Reactions:
  "You know what I mean? I'm glad that you know, the nerd things we all love are just infiltrated." (38:25)

These segments provide a balance between professional news delivery and personal connections, making the content more appealing to both regular listeners and newcomers.

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Conclusion

This episode of Kinda Funny Games Daily delivered a comprehensive overview of significant developments in the gaming industry, most notably the retirement of Insomniac Games' founder Ted Price. The discussion extended to updates in DC Universe Online, cultural intersections like Pharrell Williams' use of Final Fantasy 7 music in fashion, and various other industry news. Through a blend of informative reporting, expert analysis, and personable hosting, Greg Miller and Tim Geddes created an engaging narrative that resonates with both dedicated gamers and casual listeners.

Notable Quotes:

• "For me, after over 30 years of leading Insomniac, I felt it was simply time to step aside and let others pave the way for our team." — Ted Price (08:25)
• "Some money is better than no money." — Greg Miller (46:39)
• "We love one shot books as much as the next person, but we felt there was an opportunity for us to lean into what makes comics engaging." — Al Rivera (21:12)

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Timestamp Legend:

• [MM:SS] indicates the minute and second in the transcript where the quote or topic was discussed.

Transcript

[Tim Geddes]

Today's stories include Insomniac's president retires. DC Universe Online is getting some big and Pharrell and Final Fantasy 7 get a crossover you wouldn't expect. We'll have all this and more because this is kind of Funny Games Daily. What's up everybody? And welcome to Kinda Funny Games daily for Wednesday, 1-22-20. Of course. I am Tim Geddes and I'm joined by the big daddy himself, Greg Miller.

[Greg Miller]

Hello, Timothy, how are you?

[Tim Geddes]

I am doing fantastic. How are you?

[Greg Miller]

I'm doing excellent. I'm happy to be here. I woke up so excited. First off, Ben doesn't have pink eye. Touch and go there.

[Tim Geddes]

Is that always a question?

[Greg Miller]

Dude, I'm driving home last night, you know what I mean? It was. We had a great day here, but it's a day, It's a work day, you know what I mean? Had a great time though. And just get the text from Jen. I open up, she's like, ben, I picked Ben up from school. He has goofy eyes. I'm like, oh, here we fucking go. You know what I mean? And here I got an Xbox direct. I got this going on. I got that what's about to blow up for the entire week. You know what I mean? And sudden, it's like watching his eye all night long. I'm like, what's going on over there? You know what I mean? Is it itchy? No. But then you ask a toddler the question enough. Then they just start saying it is. And I'm like, what is? You're not rubbing it. Is it really it? You know what I mean? They wake me up in the middle of the night, which is always great because then he just wants to cuddle in the chair. And I like that a lot. You know what I mean?

[Tim Geddes]

One of my favorite things about Ben, and this has been true since like, I want to say, year one, you know, he got the, the, the disapproving Greg face at some point.

[Greg Miller]

Oh, yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

Where like just all of a sudden. And he busts into it constantly. Like I've seen him have the disapproving Greg face more than I've seen you in my entirety of knowing you do. The face.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

But I love how opinionated this kid is.

[Greg Miller]

Sure.

[Tim Geddes]

And I love how readily he will let you know what he is thinking at any moment and how quickly that could change.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

You know, he could be smiling, loving. So that all of a sudden over that shit is no.

[Greg Miller]

And I am not happy actually. Did you know I am not happy actually. Yeah, yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah, it's so cool to see him just kind of grow.

[Greg Miller]

Woke up this morning, no pink eye, eyes are back to normal. Thank goodness. Just kids being kids. You know what I mean? But then it was. So then I got to transition right over to I can post the social clip of me pranking Nick. You know, your brother, Cool Greg, Just an amazing editor now, you know, I mean, how crazy is it from where we knew Cool Greg when I first met him to where he is now? But he got the social clip I wanted of me pranking Nick on the kind of funny podcast. I wanted to save it. I forgot about it. So it's kind of like a little treat for me posting this morning and then watching everybody laugh, laugh, laugh. Greg, so funny. Greg's the best guy ever. I know.

[Tim Geddes]

Yesterday was one of those. The great days. One of the rares days. They get to go home to Gia and be like, hey, we did funny things today. You know what I mean? And then I get to show her.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, right? Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

We had two of them because we had the. You pranking Nick, which got an amazing laugh out of her. Also got the reaction that I think a lot of us had, which was like, God damn, Greg, you were playing with fire there. You were playing with fire.

[Greg Miller]

I know how strong Nick and D's relationship.

[Tim Geddes]

No, I know that. But I know how weak Nick is in terms of taking jokes.

[Greg Miller]

If you could have had a bad, bad day. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

But, yeah, so that. That was amazing. And Kevin with the death whistle.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

Which just. Man, that sound is going to live rent free in my head.

[Greg Miller]

Right.

[Tim Geddes]

For the rest of.

[Greg Miller]

I think it's such a great, like, synopsis, snapshot, that death whistle of what kind of funny is. You know what I mean? Where it's like, everybody's like, oh, every time we've ever done anything, they're going to lose who they are. They're getting to. I miss the spare bedroom. I miss the comic shop. I'm. And then here it is. Kevin, even if the door was closed and like it is now and the mic was off, we would hear the death whistling.

[Tim Geddes]

Yes. Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Like, there would be no way that would not stop the show. And, you know, I appreciate you breaking it down yesterday. Kevin so apologetic in the clip yesterday because he knows he fucked up. But if it was the.

[Tim Geddes]

Where.

[Greg Miller]

If the mic were off and he did it, like, right, Barrett's in there right now. But if Kevin was in there, Mike off right now and did it, and then you stop the show to go, Kevin, what was that? You go, what we do show. Don't worry about what I'm doing in here. You know, I mean, well, you just blew a Mexican death whistle in there.

[Tim Geddes]

You know, that sentence is like, I've never heard what these things are ever. So I had no context. And so it's like, oh, it's the Mexican death whistle.

[Greg Miller]

Okay, Simpson.

[Tim Geddes]

Shit.

[Greg Miller]

Okay. Do we need to go back to you watching Ghostbusters Afterlife twice with me? Once in the theater. Ben's first theater experience.

[Tim Geddes]

Is that how you know about it?

[Greg Miller]

Of course. Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

Really?

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. Podcast. Podcast. The character in Ghostbusters Afterlife, where he picks it up.

[Tim Geddes]

It's a messy dust forgetting that.

[Greg Miller]

Great. Logan Kim, if you're watching, you're fantastic. Look. What?

[Tim Geddes]

There he is.

[Greg Miller]

And let me tell you, as somebody who follows all the Ghostbusters, everybody from the cinematic universe on the Instagrams, you know what I mean? Logan Kim. Talk about just growing up.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

It's weird seeing these kids grow up before you're.

[Tim Geddes]

That's how it happens. Yeah. Just like Ben, real quick though. So the. A little backstory to the death whistle, that to me makes it even funnier.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

My brother and one of his best friends from middle school took a little vacation down to Mexico City. What happened down there?

[Greg Miller]

We don't talk about it.

[Tim Geddes]

I don't know.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, exactly.

[Tim Geddes]

But the two of them went down this weekend and they, they went to like the pyramids and all that stuff and they ended up getting the death whistle there. And. Cool. Greg's friend was like incredibly annoyed at being in that area because it's just everyone blowing these damn whistles. So everywhere you go it's like the World cup with the vuvuzelas. Right. So it's just non stop cacophony and cool. Greg ends up buying one and taking it home as a souvenir for Kevin, but specifically like for Henry, Kevin's son.

[Greg Miller]

Sure.

[Tim Geddes]

Because Kevin's son Henry's nursery is like safari themed. And like, so the, the death whistle that K got was like, like a jaguar looking thing. Like, I don't know, there's something where it's like he was like, this is a safari themed thing that I'm going to. Going to give to them. And K's friend was like, I. The. The thing that's annoying the out of us. You are about to insane noise you're about to give to a child. Like, this is the worst gift you could ever give. Like, that's so mean to Kevin. And K is like, no, no, it's going to be Fine. Like the, like the kids very. They won't even know it's a whistle. They'll just put it down and it'll be fine. And then it was the best thing ever. When Cool Gray could send his friend the clip yesterday and was like, you know what? You were right. But it wasn't the kid.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

It was Kevin himself.

[Greg Miller]

Kevin did this to himself. Yeah, 100%. Wait till the kid finds out about it. Because that was. You know, remember when trend came out in dreams and we got the train conductor pack or whatever and I brought that home and had the fanciest train whistle we ever saw. And that lasted about an evening before Jen was like, hide that.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah, we have to hide this.

[Greg Miller]

I can't live with this any longer.

[Tim Geddes]

The last thing though was his. His final question was like, like, wait, did he get in trouble at work?

[Greg Miller]

Like, no, this isn't that kind of.

[Tim Geddes]

No, he did not get in trouble. We broke it out as a thing and made content from it. Anyways though, this is kind of Funny. Games Daily. Each and every weekday we run you through 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 and Apple podcast to get all of our shows ad free. Watch live as we record them and get a daily exclusive show. For a chance to be part of the show, submit your thoughts and opinions as YouTube super chats as we go. Remember, we are an 11 person business all about live talk shows. Today after Games Daily you're going to get a I'm sure to be great games cast. It is us pitching the rest of the PS5's life cycle.

[Greg Miller]

We've been waiting for a wave too long enough. Now we're going to talk about ending this life cycle.

[Tim Geddes]

It's going to be real interesting. Yeah, strap in y'all. We got some takes. The stream after that will be Mike returning to Kingdom Hearts 2. Will he do the dance? Will he even play? I don't know. I hate it. That was the plan yesterday. You know that was the plan yesterday.

[Greg Miller]

Eternal strands. Just too good.

[Tim Geddes]

And then they played Dreams.

[Greg Miller]

Dreams. They played Mario and Dreams.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah, if you're kind of funny member of course you can get today's Greg Way. Thank you to our Patreon producers Delaney Twining and Carl Jacobs. Today we're brought to you by Shitty Rays and Rocket Money. But we'll tell you all about that later. For now let's Begin with what is and forever will be. The Roper Report. Time for some news. Seven stories today, a baker's dozen. Store number one, big one, Insomniac Games founder and president Ted Price is retiring. This comes from Tom Ivan at VGC Super Chat. Question for you. What do you want to see from the future of Insomniac? This is wild. We're just in that time, Greg, before I even read the story. Like, they're retiring people retiring.

[Greg Miller]

Crazy, right? Yes. Ted's got 30 years on the board, too. You're like, yeah, I guess that makes sense.

[Tim Geddes]

We're just at that. That's what, like, first real era of the games industry, like, evolving this much. Like, I saw a tweet recently that was talking about how.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, yeah. Where they're like, this is going to be, like, the final run for all these amazing people. I forget what, like, the origin of, like, the NES, the game Miyamoto 70 or whatever. This guy. This guy just like, wow. You don't even think about that, right?

[Tim Geddes]

It's. It's wild, man. It's. It. I. When I first saw that, though, I was just like, they were young enough. They ain't gonna die. And I was like, they're talking about retirement.

[Greg Miller]

Let me. Let me. And I want to assuage some fears I've been doing. I've been doing this at a grassroots level. Today I will go much larger. Okay? And I will go to all of you listening and watching right now, this morning at 8:27 in the morning, which is very early for Andy Cortez. I tweet, I texted Andy, don't worry. But I misspelled worry, and I didn't capitalize. Don't. I didn't put an apostrophe in there. I'm very. I'm very. You know, I like my grammar. I. I didn't do any of it. So I said, don't worry. And then Andy responds a little while later because he's sleeping. Well, now I have to. And I respond, I just know how you are. And with all of these industry legends retiring, Shuhei, Ted Price, et cetera, I just wanted you to know that I'm not going anywhere. You and I are going to be together for a long, long, long time. I'm not retiring anytime soon. Don't worry.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Did he respond to that?

[Greg Miller]

No, he has not responded. He probably went back to bed.

[Tim Geddes]

Gotcha.

[Greg Miller]

You know how he ended?

[Tim Geddes]

Gotcha. Gotcha. Insomniac Games founder and president Ted Price has announced that he's retiring. Having founded the Spider man and Ratchet and clank studio in February 1994, price will leave the games industry this March. Following his departure, Insomniac veterans Chad Desert, Ryan Schneider and Jen Hong will serve as co studio heads. Price said in a statement published on Insomniac parent company Sony's website. I actually made this decision last year. For me, after over 30 years of leading Insomniac, I felt it was simply time to step aside and let others pave the way for our team. During the past year, I had the opportunity to work with the senior leadership team at Insomniac to create a succession plan that I know will provide the continuity, stability and strong leadership necessary to deliver more of what our fans cherish over the next several decades. Price added. I believe strongly that for us to continue our success, we need leaders at the top who are intimately familiar with how we do things. Leaders who have helped build our culture and our processes and who have earned people's trust. For many years, Chad, Jen and Ryan have been instrumental in making Insomniac what we are today. I've seen each lead major initiatives here which have positively changed Insomniac's lives. Plus, they've consistently demonstrated the kind of collaboration and transparency that's part of our DNA and just as important, their skill sets are truly complementary. There's no way that I would ever consider handling handing the reins to a team I didn't trust to take care of Insomniac, to take care of Insomniacs and lead to us, lead us to even greater heights. In a joint statement, Desert, Schneider and Hong said, our shared intention is to preserve what has made Insomniac special for 30 plus years, while exploring how we can strategically evolve to succeed for decades to come. We'll continue prioritizing our studio culture built around transparency and collaboration. We strive for a workplace where employees can do the best work of their careers. What does all this mean for our players and fans? We're going to keep making the games you love while taking care of the people who make them. This aligns with our studio vision of making a positive and lasting impact on people's lives.

[Greg Miller]

Hell yeah. What a run. You know what I mean? Congratulations, Ted Price. We're looking at here dan Riker. After 30 years, Ted Price announced he's no longer making games. Your games. Okay.

[Tim Geddes]

They made a song. Yeah.

[C]

Do you not remember this, Greg?

[Greg Miller]

Not at all. No. I don't remember this at all.

[Tim Geddes]

Was them saying good for them.

[Greg Miller]

I mean, that was. The thing is, Insomniac's always been so much fun. Yeah. I mean, Ted Price has always been so much fun. You know, I think of even so many people would think after acquisitions and stuff like that, that that would change for them too. And they never did. They never gave that up. I remember when I went down there demanding the release date for Spider Man. Or maybe I don't remember what it was like when I went on a stream, though, at. On Insomniac's official thing. And we did a whole bit where Ted came in and kicked me out. Oh, but he.

[Tim Geddes]

To get shirtless Spider man in the game.

[Greg Miller]

I forget.

[Tim Geddes]

I think that's what it was. Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

But they invited me. I was down there for something else and I just showed up and James put me on or whatever. And then we talked to Ted ahead of time. He's like, I'm gonna come in and act like I'm mad that you're here. Like, you're not. You're a journalist. You're not supposed to be here. And so he came in and played a dead, straight dead pan of like, yeah, get the. Get. You have to leave. When he threw me out, it was really good.

[Tim Geddes]

So good, man.

[Greg Miller]

Ted's always been just a ray of sunshine to talk to and hang out with. I've known him for quite some time.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah. I don't think I ever met Ted in particular, but like, reading this message, I mean, this is obviously so beautiful. Well said. I think important as a statement to the industry, of where the industry should be as opposed to where it currently is.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

I think Insomniac is such a glowing example in terms of output, in terms of quality, in terms of the respect that we give them for the games that they. They've put out, especially this generation. But even going all the way back to the fun that they used to have before and like, all the way to Spyro. Right. But I. I've been in the industry long enough. I've met enough people now that are devs, publishers, anything in between. Right. And I would say that even without the lens of how bad things are right now, just overall, people are usually unhappy.

[Greg Miller]

You know what I mean?

[Tim Geddes]

People are usually bitching about something or upset with their boss or upset like, I can't believe we're doing things this way, or this is good, but this is bad, or whatever. And I always think too, like, all right, who. What are the teams that I've met people on that it's just glowing. And they're just. They have nothing bad to say.

[Greg Miller]

Yep.

[Tim Geddes]

Anyone I'VE ever met from Retro. It's just pure good stuff to say anyone that works at one of the Nintendo companies, it's great stuff to say. Until they start talking about Nintendo of America having no control over anything at all.

[Greg Miller]

Sure, sure, sure.

[Tim Geddes]

Insomniac. Every person I've met from them and at this point it's probably 20 of them.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

They just are so happy, they feel so creatively fulfilled, they feel well compensated, they feel taken care of in every way. Like you gotta commend that, you know, and that comes with incredibly strong leadership and them talking about this being a plan that over the last year they've been working towards with a. A team of people that. I'm unfamiliar with these names personally.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

But I think that that's good that they know that they're the ones. And also the fact that it's not necessarily the game director names that we know.

[Greg Miller]

Sure.

[Tim Geddes]

Because I think Brian, which, which I fudgeing, love Brian, but also this guy.

[Greg Miller]

Can'T manage a fucking Taco Bell.

[Tim Geddes]

To me, this says Brian's going to keep making games.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, exactly.

[Tim Geddes]

And like it's like, I like that too. Not to say that like the people that make games can eventually go on to do other things. We've seen great examples of that as well.

[Greg Miller]

But, but this is the historic problem. You see developers and the games industry and IGN when we were there. Right. Of just like you're really good at your job, so they give you a manager role and you're not ready to stop being a creator yet. So it's not what you want to do and you inevitably end up leaving and do only do something else and trying to get back to it. How many of the studio heads we have, we seen leave the industry only to come back and start a smaller studio where they're trying to create something, they're trying to do something.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah, yeah. I don't know. So I just think that this is, this is awesome. And I think this is the type of statement you can't put out unless you can back it up. And Insomniac can back it up. Ted Price can back it up.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. Ted Price, again, somebody who is beloved in this industry both by I think his co workers slash employees, but also the industry at large. And I think you can look no further than everything he's done with dice. Obviously. I host the DICE Awards with Stella. We've done it, I've done it for many years, Stella's done it for a few. But I've been around a long time and There's a reason that Ted Price gets to open the show a lot and has all these speeches. There's a reason when you listen to the Academy Interactive Arts and Sciences podcast that DICE does, right? Ted hosts so many of them and talks to so many developers, and it is because he is friends with so many, but he's respected by so many and he knows games so well and he knows the industry so well that, yeah, he should be hosting that show and talking to Todd Howard, talking to all these different luminaries and upstarts who are having great success. Like, Ted is a beloved industry figurehead. And so, yeah, back to the very, very start of this. It's crazy to see his time end at Insomniac and what that means for him at large in the industry, who knows? But even I think, although Reggie's still around, Reggie's not Reggie like he was when he was at Nintendo, right? Like he's advisories, he's this, he's that. So even if Ted goes into that kind of thing, it's going to be far different. And again, to the point of the message here, it is something I think all leadership has to wrestle with at some time of like, all right, cool. When do you pass the reins? When do you let new blood in? When do you let the next 30 years be paved by someone else?

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah, man. Very interesting. Congratulations to Ted Price. We got some super chats here answering the question, what do you want to see from the future of Insomniac? And some shout outs to Ted himself. Kaiser and sky says Spyro 4. That's not gonna happen. And if it does, yeah, it's not gonna be from Insomniac. C.J. splits on says Ratchet and Clank XCOM. Okay, sure, I could see that. Let Ubisoft make it.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, you know what I mean. How much time is on Ubisoft clock right now?

[Tim Geddes]

Kebab says my memory of Ted Price is bumping into him after he announced ratchet and clank PS4 at PSX 2015. I hadn't seen him since 2012 via the fuse previews, yet he immediately and warmly recognized me. All love for him. Hell yeah.

[Greg Miller]

That must have been big for Kebabs.

[Tim Geddes]

Yep. Dear Sixlet says they the scrap multiplayer Spider Verse game being reworked into a Ghost of Tsushima legend style mode and three customizable gadgets, symbiotes and suits.

[Greg Miller]

Okay, interesting. You want symbiotes inside Ghost of Tsushima.

[Tim Geddes]

No, no, no, no. Like they want Spider Man 3 to have a multiplayer mode. I See, like Legend.

[Greg Miller]

I see. Sorry I caught up there. Okay. Okay.

[Tim Geddes]

I like the idea. I don't like the implementation of it. I'm not a fan of hey, here's a single player game. Here's a multiplayer mode. Just like put out a multiplayer game, even if it's a smaller thing.

[Greg Miller]

I agree.

[Tim Geddes]

You know, I think it needs to.

[Greg Miller]

Be built from the ground up. Yeah, you need to have that there. But even if I still would love a spider verse game, I mean, I would love a Marvel Ultimate Alliance 4 if you're listening. You know, I would love Phil Spencer to get off his fucking high horse and figure out how to get Ultimate Alliance 1 and 2 onto Xbox game pass and everything else. What are we doing, Barrett? I don't know. What was all the money for? Phil?

[C]

Remember we had it so good. We had it so good playing three.

[Tim Geddes]

We didn't.

[C]

Arguably the. The worst one, but still good game.

[Greg Miller]

It was good enough for you and me to go to the have a few beers and play, you know.

[Tim Geddes]

God, give it.

[C]

Give me another one.

[Greg Miller]

What did we do wrong? What did we do wrong? I gotta sit here and listen to Marvel Snap all the time. So I got a fucking card game.

[Tim Geddes]

That's a second. Thank God she was doing so bad, you guys. Yeah, like when Marvel Snap was gone. I don't think I've ever seen her this distraught.

[Greg Miller]

Did you teach her about Magic Arena?

[Tim Geddes]

No, I didn't. I didn't. I was. It didn't last long enough for me to even get her on Pokemon trading card game pocket, but got it. We almost got there. Caleb P. AKA Fudge writes in say here's my birthday real quick.

[Greg Miller]

Caleb, if you're. If your name's Fudge, just fucking own it and be Fudge.

[Tim Geddes]

Just Fudge.

[Greg Miller]

I don't need. I don't need to see Caleb in here.

[Tim Geddes]

I see NDC fudge birthday tax for a first time long time. I've been following since 2019. Y'all have been in constant and kept me laughing through some really tough times. Today I'm 30 and happy. Grateful for all of you. Happy 10 years. Happy birthday Fudge Man.

[Greg Miller]

He was 20 when he started living. That's great.

[Tim Geddes]

That is crazy.

[Greg Miller]

It's not listening. I'm sorry. He said happy 10 years and when.

[Tim Geddes]

We started, I guess kebab says when will they make another jack game?

[Greg Miller]

Old joke, old joke, old joke.

[Tim Geddes]

I don't remember this, but I can kind of put it together.

[Greg Miller]

Well, I think it's just the fact that everybody thinks likes to put jack and Ratchet together and credit Insomniac with it rather than Naughty Dog.

[Tim Geddes]

Gotcha.

[Greg Miller]

It's the same thing of like. Well, I mean, it's a very confusing joke now, but back in the day where every thought Insomniac was first party.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah. Now they are.

[Greg Miller]

So it's all fucked up.

[Tim Geddes]

You know, Arturo Tron says, I can't believe I slept through this. Insomniac news. Well, here you are hearing people talk about it.

[Greg Miller]

You made it.

[Tim Geddes]

And CJ splits and says Insomniac's rumored X Men games should be Diablo style.

[Greg Miller]

Cj, like, don't say shit like that. That I. I mean, like another thing they need to do is just figure out bringing back Marvel Heroes. And don't tell me that. Oh, it's. There's the fan project. I know there's a fan project. Let's just get Marvel Heroes back or redo it. What are we doing? Marvel Games? What are we fucking doing? Why is it always a mobile game? Come on.

[Tim Geddes]

But I just like, I don't know that a game like Marvel Heroes would still be supported so many years later. You know what I mean?

[Greg Miller]

You say that. Have you looked at story number two?

[Tim Geddes]

Story number two, everybody. DC Universe Online introduces a new chapter based story arc next week. This comes from al Rivera at PlayStation Blog. I'm Al Rivera, creative director. I love it. I love this. Straight from the vlog here. Also looking at Al's name like it's very hard to look at it and not think. I thought it was AI Rivera.

[Greg Miller]

I'm AI Rivera. I am making DC Universe Online for you.

[Tim Geddes]

Al Rivera, creative director of DC Universe Online, is here today to talk about the exciting narrative changes that are on the way to our beloved mmorpg. This is story number two of our new show, Greg. And I know because of you, Greg. Starting with our next update, Light and Rain, Day of Reckoning, our team will be sharing stories over the course of multiple chapters instead of one of the one off format that we've traditionally taken. What does that mean for players? Let's get into it. Show me a comic fan and I'll show you a person. A person who appreciates deep narratives told over the long haul.

[Greg Miller]

That's me, baby.

[Tim Geddes]

We love one shot books as much as the next person, but we felt there was an opportunity for us to lean into what makes comics engaging. That's why we're taking a new approach and telling stories through story arcs and chapters. Chapters are a part of a larger story arc and our premiere story arc, Light and Rain, officially begins with the release of its first chapter called Day of Reckoning, which I'm proud to reveal will be available next week. I love this. I actually love everything being said. I think this is really cool and great. I just love him breaking down like.

[Greg Miller]

Here'S what a story is.

[Tim Geddes]

Sentences, makeup. It's great though. With Day of Reckoning, players will be able to experience a completely new narrative experience filled with explosive action and powerful storytelling that you've never seen before in dcu. We're excited to see how players respond to the new arc, whether they're exploring our worlds for the first time or have been with us since we launched on PlayStation 14 years ago. Wow. As comic fans, we love the community discussions that come between issues releases, and we're looking forward to seeing the fan theories and speculation that folks will have around DC Universe Online's narrative. We've been sharing Day of Reckoning updates via in universe posts, and the community has already started sifting through them for hidden nuggets. We've worked to ensure that those discussions will continue as players try to predict what's ahead, what heroes will be swept into the action, and why exactly characters are making difficult and nuanced decisions. This is the only beginning. I am. We've got deep stories planned for years right now, and we've been working closely with DC to tie them into what they're doing. Whether you're a fan of DC comics, superheroes overall, or captivating stories, we're confident that you'll love what our team has built for you. I look forward to seeing you in DC Universe Online soon. Greg.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah buddy.

[Tim Geddes]

Hype level on what was just said.

[Greg Miller]

It's not non existent. Obviously I was obsessed. Well, stick with me.

[Tim Geddes]

I am.

[Greg Miller]

Obviously many of you known me and listen to me for years and years and years and years. So you know how deep the DC Universe Online passion ran back in the days. And not even the early days long into the days. At last count it was over 900 hours I had in this game. It's well past that, but that was when they were on up at Noon again. Multiple years into DC Universe Online, them coming off with smaller breakouts is interesting and I like that it's being supported enough to be on the PlayStation Blog and get some press behind it. Even have a video. And I know this is all what are we talking about? We see videos every day, yada yada yada. For years the DC Universe Online episode updates have just been DC Universe blog posts and I get a twitter video. Maybe somebody sends me or Something of that effect. The fact that it seems to have more juice behind it and they're making a news item is interesting. The fact of it being smaller is interesting to me. Of that, yeah. Maybe I will jump in because the problem with jumping back into any mmo, but for me, as DC Universe, it's just so much has changed. The meta is this. Exobytes aren't the thing anymore. I was grinding for this armor, but that's 15 things behind where. And I can do this to get that. But I get buffed to this and it's like, I do like the story of DC Universe online. So if you're telling me this is a good jumping on point and there are smaller ones, I'm. I'm interested. I'm excited. I will do that. For me, this is more exciting than the new season of Diablo that just launched this week. You know, I'm a Diablo obsessed guy too, but this is just a season. It's a new battle pass. It's a, you know, the witches or the head. Their heads from the trees got stolen in Diablo. It's a whole thing. That one doesn't do as much for me, looking at this, seeing all the Wonder Women. Yeah. I want to jump back in as my Taylor Swift, Green Lantern. Let's see what's going on with that and go have fun with that. I like that. The most exciting thing for me, though, Timothy, is of course, when they say here, and we've been working closely with DC to tie in. To tie them into what they're doing. Right, of course. Superman, July 11, 2025. James Gunn. Superman. Can't wait for it. DC is going, no pun intended, all in on Superman this year. Obviously, there's Summer of Superman. There's all this stuff happening. I would imagine DC Universe Online, if they're hinting at that, is going to get a whole bunch of new Superman content drops in there and what we're doing there, that's super exciting for me. Get back in there, get the new symbols, do the new thing, get the new armor, do the new outfit. You know, I know this is crazy talk. Everybody I know, right? Everybody remembers Supergirl started. I'm sorry, Taylor Swift started as basically a Supergirl carbon copy. Right. She was House of Elves, whatever. She got her crest. It was a big moment for me. And she was just a flying meta hero for a long time, very similar to Supergirl. Then they finally added in Green Lantern powers. So of course I switched her over because I thought that made more sense narratively. It's What I would have done in the beginning. Maybe though this armor's so cool, I switch her back. You know, maybe. Maybe I step back in. Exactly right. Change the story, evolve it with me. Keep going. So it's an exciting time to be Greg because of the Superman stuff in general, the comics, this tie ins to other games that we're going to be getting. So that is exciting to me. This is a nice teaser breadcrumb. Let's jump in there. But I'll see when I jump in if I'm completely lost again and I don't know what I'm doing.

[Tim Geddes]

I just realized that Superman's coming out the same day the Switch 2 is. If I'm right, can you imagine me? A big week for us.

[Greg Miller]

Big day for you and me. Yeah. What are we gonna do?

[Tim Geddes]

You might be playing DC Universe Online on the switch too.

[Greg Miller]

I won't be doing that.

[Tim Geddes]

No, no.

[Greg Miller]

I have too much. There's too much history invested in the PS version. Yeah. I've even really. I've kicked the tires on the PlayStation 5 client they launched or whatever. I of course went and got all the trophies. But I need to actually play. I haven't actually played that much with it. This be a good jumping on point, see what they do. And again, I hope they really celebrate the Superman movie and do a bunch of stuff now. I know. I want to thank everybody who fell asleep while you. Let me talk about that. Let's go a bit broader and talk about the fact that for the last few weeks it seems PlayStation has been walking crib to crib, taking out their gun and shooting fucking games in the head that aren't even getting out of the way yet. And we are talking about a game that has been going for 14 years. An MMO based on DC Comics.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Originally made by Sony Online Entertainment that has now changed its name several times because it keeps getting sold. Somehow this game is still fucking going.

[Tim Geddes]

I don't believe it. When I saw this news today, I was like, really?

[Greg Miller]

When I submitted this, I definitely thought it would be a we news item, not number two on the rope. I'm happy to rant about it, but I think again, let's get top level. So you're not all bored by me talking about DC Universe Online. I think there's such an interesting slash, telltale point to a moment in time where we look at PlayStation. You know, is the Horizon MMO canceled? Is it not? That's a whole different conversation. But let's, you know, Concord fails. All right, we're canceling These other live service games, we're doing all these things, right? Every looks at him goes like, what the fuck were you thinking? Like, to look back 14 years when this game launched, that it was, you could make an mmo. You could. People were like, the way people are with live service games now is how people were back then about MMOs. And they were. Everybody wanted to be the wow. Killer. Everybody wanted to be the wow Killer. Please go read Jason Schreier's latest book. Of course, Play Nice. The Rise, Fall and Future of Blizzard Entertainment. Right. Because there's the whole conversation there about WOW being amazing and everyone launching all these competitors to it. And there's so many things of who failed and how they didn't do it. Not enough talk about DC Universe Online. Maybe that's Jason's next book. I'd be happy to help him with it. However, it's the idea that, like, so many people chase that trend and couldn't do it. Somehow this one did it and continues to do it. And for us to sit here and be like, you couldn't imagine them still putting out content for Marvel Heroes. I totally could. Because Marvel Heroes, as it eventually wound down and sadly closed up. But they were trying to meet the movies and they were trying to do things to tie into the movie.

[Tim Geddes]

I mean, I remember I was with you at Comic Con 2013. It might have. It must have been. Yeah, because it was after Avengers was like, blew the fuck up.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

We were at Comic Con and it was when Marvel Heroes was first announced and we. I followed you with the camera to, like, try to like, actually, like, see the gameplay. And like, we did a little interview thing about it and it was like, whoa. Like, you were so hot on the concept of these things. You were just like, yeah, this. This is it. This is going to blow the up. This is. I'm so excited for it. And I remember you, like, following you through your journey with Marvel Heroes and then seeing DCU still be here. Dcuo and Marvel Heroes just like, die the way it did. It's just so interesting to look at Marvel and DC over the last 20 years and where the wins and losses have been on each side.

[Greg Miller]

I would love to know. And you never get a straight answer until many years later, I'm sure. But Marvel Games, Bill Roseman and the team over there that took over, because that's really where what happens, right? Marvel Heroes launches. It's before Disney. It's before everything else, right? Then this Disney thing happens. They make the Marvel Games brand. Marvel Games is like, we're in a partner with different people and yada, yada, yada. It's like they go on that way and they end Marvel Heroes, right. They just don't do this and there's a whole bunch of stuff of gazillion maybe not being the best place to work at the end and yada. That like I'm trying to. Let's. I don't. I'm not briefed on that right now off top of my head, but I remember that. But let's just say that wasn't a big thing. I wonder if Marvel Games regrets that decision. When we talk about these things, what any business decision on this show in the last month, right. I talk about they don't want a little bit of profit. They want a lot of bit of profit. But as Marvel Games hasn't had. They've had big successes, they've had great games, but there's been a lot of stuff that has also just been fine, whatever, you know what I mean? Would this. Would you have liked. Would you have kept this around to just have a steady generator of content? Especially where we're at now with all these films of like. I would have totally hopped back in right now to go run a Sam Wilson Captain America to go get that outfit to do the thing. If you're not familiar, Marvel Heroes was just Diablo. It was just Diablo of like cool. But it's Marvel Heroes and you get the gear and you put it on them and they don't change their appearance, but you get skins to change their things. There's a lot of stuff I would change about Marvel Heroes that I hope would have evolved. But I also think that like that could still be just a cost. Not it would be DC Universe Online, right. I. I would be fucking floored and fascinated and just love if they would just give us data on DC Universe. How. What are the concurrence on DC Universe Online right now? How many people are signing in day after day, week after week? They're clearly making money still because they're still doing.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah. So just knowing like, like what's worth it. You know what I mean? It has to be that level of it's still worth putting this much investment in.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

The Marvel conversation. Obviously we could do a whole topic about this. It is interesting though because I think that they have that in the form of the mobile games. Like when you think about what Marvel properties.

[Greg Miller]

So many of those.

[Tim Geddes]

But is Strike Force still going?

[Greg Miller]

I think so.

[Tim Geddes]

Right? I think so. Like and I like there's things like that and then there was like the puzzle fighter ones and all that. Like I feel like they, there aren't many examples of Marvel games that predate Marvel games as an entity. And I think they must have looked at it and be like, well these, these are going to be our, like we can just ride them out with for that, that cash. And then now they have Marvel Snap, you know, now they have other things as well. So. Interesting stuff. We're going to get to story number three after a word from our sponsors, but you get the show ad free by getting the Kind of Funny membership. And while the ads are running, I have a question for the chat. Who's more famous, Obama or Taylor Swift?

[Greg Miller]

What the fuck?

[Tim Geddes]

We'll be right back. This episode is brought to you by Shady Rays. Get ready for the season ahead with quality shades built to last. Our friends over at Shady Rays have you covered with premium polarized shades that won't break the bank. Shady Rays is an independent sunglasses company offering a world class product rated five stars by over 300,000 people. They have hundreds of options to choose from, so you're bound to find the perfect pair to match your style. Plus, if your shades ever go missing or take an unexpected hit, don't sweat it. They have the most insane protection in all of eyewear. Every pair is backed by lost or broken replacements. If you don't love your shades, exchange them for a new pair or return worry free within 30 days. Y'all know I've been outside a lot in the sun playing Pokemon Go and it's such a great experience wearing my Shady Rays when I'm out and about looking dope exclusively for you. Shady Rays is giving out their best deal. Head to shadyrays.com and use code funny for 35% off polarized sunglasses. Try for yourself the shades rated five stars by over 300,000 people that shadyrays.com use the code funny. This episode is brought to you by Rocket Money. You sign up for something, forget about it after the trial period ends, then you're charged month after month after month. The subscriptions are there, but you're not using them. In fact, 85% of people have at least one paid subscription going unused each month. Thanks to Rocket Money, you can see all your subscriptions in one place and cancel the ones that you're not using anymore and save more money. Rocket Money has helped multiple members of Kinda Funny learn that they are still paying for things they totally didn't even realize. Rocket Money is a personal finance app that helps find and cancel your unwanted subscriptions it monitors your spending and helps lower your bills so you can grow your savings. Rocket Money has over 5 million users and has saved a total of 500 million in canceled subscriptions, saving members up to $740 a year. When using all the app's premium features, cancel your unwanted subscriptions and match your financial goals faster with Rocket money. Go to Rocketmoney.com Kindafunny today. That's Rocketmoney.com Kindafunny Rocketmoney.com Kindafunny and we're back with story number three, Pharrell Williams. Pharrell Williams led Louis Vuitton event opens with ic Final Fantasy 7 theme comes from Jordan Midler.

[Greg Miller]

At least it wasn't the switch to reveal trailer.

[Tim Geddes]

Of course, of course, man. It's just what a sentence that was. Let's get the details on it. A Louis Vuitton fashion show debuting a new collection by Pharrell Williams has used one of Final Fantasy's most famous compositions as its opening music. The show took place in Paris this week. To open the show, models walks the circular catwalk to one winged angel. Sephiroth theme for Final Fantasy 7. The song was originally composed by Nobu Umatsu. This performance of the song was arranged and orchestrated by Thomas Russell. Following the performance of One Ring and Angel, Pharrell debuted new music. What?

[Greg Miller]

This is all Kenny Omega. This is all Kenny Omega.

[Tim Geddes]

They didn't just play the song. It was a live performance from an orchestra as they walked around the catwalk.

[Greg Miller]

This looks like an edit. This looks like somebody just laid it over.

[Tim Geddes]

But there's proof. I believe you because I thought that too. You can just scroll a little bit ahead. I don't know why it's there. I definitely saw a full orchestra. Maybe I'm lying. I'm not lying though. It was a different video I saw. There's a whole ass orchestra there playing the song as people walk around with their stupid little bags.

[C]

Yeah, I'm sure there is, Tim.

[Tim Geddes]

There is.

[Greg Miller]

Now. Does this make you want to go?

[Tim Geddes]

This is not a previously recorded version of the song anyway. I know that for damn sure. Of course, for damn sure. Watching nerds. But yeah, this is cool. I love it. I love that like this song is so important to so many people and that it is now part of a fashion show. There's a gravitas to it. Right? There is Nobu. Monster's music is rarely rivaled. If ever. I'm gonna say it when it comes to that. The sense of just operatic scale in. In. In more poppy Theme form. Like, obviously you can go to a goddamn real opera and be like, oh, congratulations.

[Greg Miller]

You know what I mean?

[Tim Geddes]

You're singing about the rats in the sewers and all that stuff.

[Greg Miller]

Exactly. My favorite sewer rat.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah, exactly 100. There's rats in Les Mis, probably.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, I got your own Nutcracker, but I mean, that's.

[Tim Geddes]

Oh, Nutcracker too. Dude, shout out to Nutcracker.

[Greg Miller]

That's not opera.

[Tim Geddes]

I don't think you. That you and Jen, big on the opera, big on the ballet, Ben, all that stuff. Do you guys watch the, like, the animated Nutcracker?

[Greg Miller]

We haven't yet.

[Tim Geddes]

Do you know what I'm talking about?

[Greg Miller]

No.

[Tim Geddes]

Because there was one that, like, I feel is a very millennial movie where it wasn't Disney, it wasn't dreamworks. I don't even think existed when it came out. Like, it was an animated movie that, like, they played on repeat during the holiday season.

[Greg Miller]

I, of course, never had an attachment to the Nutcracker till I married Jen. Yeah, that's a tradition for her and her family, so that's where it came from. Yeah, Now I know.

[Tim Geddes]

I mean, I just love the damn cartoon. That rat was fat and he had a sword. Dude.

[Greg Miller]

Racking. Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

Pretty cool.

[Greg Miller]

Very cool.

[Tim Geddes]

Pretty damn cool.

[Greg Miller]

That's why not as cool. Hit me in the ass with his sword today from the Nutcracker.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah. Yeah, man. He's living his damn life. Yeah. Look at this dude. Look at that rat with the sword.

[Greg Miller]

The timeless holiday story set into it.

[Tim Geddes]

Who made this?

[Greg Miller]

Warner Brothers.

[Tim Geddes]

Warner Brothers. Okay.

[Greg Miller]

Keefer Sutherland.

[Tim Geddes]

No way, dude. We gotta do next year.

[Greg Miller]

Okay.

[Tim Geddes]

Okay. I want to do that. Cool. Will be into. Do you have any more to say about Pharrell's fashion show featuring God bless them?

[Greg Miller]

You know what I mean? I'm glad that you know, the nerd things we all love are just infiltrated. Louis Vuitton.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

About time. I say.

[Greg Miller]

I agree.

[Tim Geddes]

We haven't talked about the Kenny Omega situation.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, yeah, we haven't. On camera.

[Tim Geddes]

Kenny Omega coming out to one wing a couple of years ago and then now coming out to his new theme that I love that he's just using now. Yeah, he hasn't been out many times, but he has used it since you of it with a new song composed by Soken featuring intro from Nobu. What are we talking about here, man? It straight up just sounds like a Final Fantasy 16B side. And that's the biggest compliment I could ever give to a wrestling again.

[Greg Miller]

You gotta. You know, God bless him, people get to watch you and me live our dreams each and every day and do dumb stuff and have goofy crossovers. And Kojima welcomes you to the studio. I love seeing everyone else who has any kind of reach your dream like that use it in their weird, weird way. It's like, you know, I mean, it used to be not quaint isn't the right word. Right. But it was like, oh, man, this Xavier woods guy actually knows video games. Like, he actually likes video games.

[Tim Geddes]

Right?

[Greg Miller]

And then it's just. Everybody loves video games. This is what it is.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah, exactly. Barrett Bless just sent a video to Assets. I just need people to see that I'm not crazy.

[Greg Miller]

All right, we thought you were crazy. We just thought you were bad at games.

[C]

Well, I thought maybe he was, you know, maybe he was duped maybe by the Internet, by AI Rivera.

[Greg Miller]

Sure.

[Tim Geddes]

I'm.

[C]

I'm scrolling through and I'm trying to find an orchestra because Blood sent it. Being like, oh, if you're trying to find the stuff of the Roth part, obviously that's what played in the video. But I'm in this long video. I'm still not finding an order.

[Tim Geddes]

He just sent you the whole thing anywhere. Well, it's fine. Well, you look for that. I'm gonna tell you about story number four, lost records, bloom and rage. Tape two has been delayed to April 15th because. Not good news. It'll be priced at $40 upon release, including both parts of the game, Bloom and Rage, which add up to roughly 10 to 12 hours of gameplay. As already announced, tape one bloom of this new IP will be released on February 18, 2025, to optimize the experience for players and enhance the storytelling for a truly immersive continuation of the journey, the release of Tape 2 Rage has slightly been pushed back to April 15, 2025. In the meantime, fans will be able to enjoy a series of exclusive interactive activities on social networks. These events will be an opportunity to dive deeper.

[Greg Miller]

No, nobody wants that. Nobody wants that. Just keep it in the game, interact.

[Tim Geddes]

With the community, and share unique moments around the game. You gonna partake in that?

[Greg Miller]

I won't be doing the interactive online portion, but I am very excited for Lost, Bloom and Rage. I, of course, did a preview of this on gamescast. I would assume of how much I enjoyed the taste of Episode one, and so obviously take as much time as you need to to work on your game, but when you start spacing out these episodes, that's when I feel like you start to lose attention span and start to. It's episodic stuff is tough, period. Let alone in this crowded video game market. And so if you come out and you don't hit Blooming Onion episode one and make it meet, everybody go, holy shit, blah, blah. It's gonna be even harder to get that attention back and keep that momentum there when you get there. And it's like, you know, me and Kevin were talking about Severance season two. You know what I mean? And he was like, yeah, you know, we're at home rewatching Severance one. I was like, oh man, have you watched episode one of season two? And he's like, no, I haven't. Like, good on you for watching because I should have done that where like it starts. Me and Jenner start episode two and there's the whole last time I severed shit's happening. Like, it doesn't help. I forgot all about that. Oh yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

Still haven't gotten to episode one yet. And like, I've had that fear of like, I hope that the last time on Killer because like, I don't remember. So, okay, I'm gonna need to find like a 10 minute YouTube.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah, I would recommend it for sure. I just need a little bit more out of. But yeah, that's my thing here where it's like, I liked what I played of episode one. I, you know, it's talking here, of course, right. Like, in both parts of the game will add up to be 10 to 12 hours. That's interesting because of course that's dev math. And you know, I forget what I played. An hour of it maybe, and it ends on a cliffhanger and it's like, okay, how much more is going to be an episode one to lock me in on that? I liked what I was doing, I liked what I was playing. But yeah, I liked it better as you saw there when it was a month apart. February to March, February to April is long. And again, when you delay it once, who's to say you won't delay it again because you wanted the game to be great. And I get that. But at this point, I would almost recommend, I would almost welcome them saying we're pushing the entire thing back. Now, the February date off the table. Episode one a launch where it was Episode two was going to in March and episode two, then we'll launch in April.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah, I'm right there with you.

[Greg Miller]

I hope for the best, though.

[Tim Geddes]

Yep, story number five, Resident Evil 2 remake has sold fewer than 10,000 copies on iOS estimates suggest this comes from Chris Scullion at VGC. The iOS version of the Resident Evil 2 remake has still to pass the 10K mark, estimates suggest, as reported by MobileGamer Biz data from mobile app tracking service App Magic estimates that the game has just passed $100,000 in in app purchase earnings since its release in December 2024. While the Resident Evil 2 remake is initially a free download on iOS, it only offers a limited sample of the main game so players can ensure it works on their device. In order to unlock the full game, players need to make an in app purchase, which was sold at a heavily discounted price of $10 for the game's first month, according to App Magic data. The app made Capcom around $95,000 during that period, suggesting that around 9,500 players paid for the full game. The discount ended on January 9th and the in app purchase now cost $40 at. Magic says that around 7,000 has been made since then. Around 175 have bought the game this month since it went full price. We've talked about this in different ways the last couple years when it comes to the the big AAA games coming to iOS, whether it was the Ubisoft ones or Death Stranding and Capcom putting out all of these Resident Evils. And it's always a similar thing for me where I'm just like, I'm not surprised by these numbers at all. But I also think that this is is not a bad thing. Like, I feel like this, this reads is like, oh, they, they failed. But it's like from what I've heard, it's pretty easy to port these games over because of how they were developed to iOS.

[Greg Miller]

Okay.

[Tim Geddes]

And so it's like, all right, cool, this is just upside, but if anything just shows the power of iOS. And I feel like this is a very similar conversation to Google Stadia a couple years ago where we are in the infancy of something that does not make sense at the time. But flash forward a couple years and it's going to just be normalized. And what I mean by that, from cloud to this is these phones can natively run games that are PS5 levels, PS4 levels. Like that's incredibly impressive, right? Yeah. And I think that that is going to be something that going forward is going to completely bridge the gap between consoles, PC, mobile. None of it's gonna matter. It's not gonna matter where you're playing, whether it's cloud needed or not. These things can play these games. So I feel like especially once we get the actual stats on the switch too, what, what are we actually playing with? And you know, a Lot of guessing here, but looking at everything that we've heard about the Switch 2, it's going to be supported by more third parties than a Nintendo console potentially ever has. Hard stop. Right.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

More games are being made than ever. More third parties are supporting making games for the Switch than. Than any Nintendo console ever. What's that going to mean for their output going forward? Of Is there going to be day and dates where multi platform were on every console, including the Switch? Is the Switch going to be looked at? I'm sure it's going to be looked at as like, oh, it's the least good version. Yeah, but is it going to be the worst?

[Greg Miller]

You know what I mean? No eyebrows, it's going to be a.

[Tim Geddes]

Problem or is it just going to be like, oh no, it works. Works. Because if that's the case, I just think, oh, the oh no, it works level, like it's good enough. Like is what we're looking for having mobile as just another option. It's just more places for people to be able to play games if they want to. I don't think it'll ever be the dominant place. Having said that, at some point, peace. When Steam is able to be on a iOS device, which why wouldn't they want.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

I just think all of this is kind of building to that. So I think it's really smart for Capcom to be ahead of the curve on that and to be able to put their games everywhere. How many times they put out Resident Evil 4, they're not done with it. They're going to keep doing it because the 10k adds up. Here, here, here, 100k there, all of it.

[Greg Miller]

It's like as we always say, kind of funny, some money is better than no money.

[Tim Geddes]

Exactly.

[Greg Miller]

And Capcom seems to get that. Yeah, I'm with you. Where you look at this number, you're like, oh yeah, that's that. I don't. I didn't expect this to sell like hotcakes. And also, why wouldn't you do it if it's easy, like just get it done. It's. If you want to take the negative route of like, oh my God. What So. Well, yeah, it's like Apple is so half assed on their support of games. They. Here's the big thing. There's a new chip in it and it can. Means you can run resident will 2 and 4 and death stranding on it and then fucking silence. Okay, okay. Like maybe that wowed somebody who's getting a phone. That's a cool thing. But is that what they're buying their phone for. Of course not. And so they're not, like, entering into it. And it's that thing of I just don't buy, like, so many people. And clearly the numbers here that I'm watching the Apple direct, they say that I go, oh, man, I played Resident Evil 2 in college and I need to. I haven't played a video game since then. Maybe I'll jump in and buy. It's like that. I'm sure a few people did that, but that's not what it is. And it's like, until Apple is like, no, for real, games matter. Like, Apple Arcade was like, seemed like it was gonna be this big across the shot. We're here. This is our subscription service. Let's fucking go. And then it's just another thing. It's all quiet.

[Tim Geddes]

I mean, you've said Apple half asses their games thing. I think that's important to point out, though. Like, they put a whole half into it, though. It's not like they just, like, don't try. It's like they do try. It's just they're not fully committing.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

And so I think that that's interesting because I do think that that kind of has pushed things forward in some ways, pushed things back in others.

[Greg Miller]

It reminds me a lot of Netflix. Absolutely. Hey, yo, we are Netflix games. We're buying studios. There's things up here. There's a bunch of weird Love island games and. And if you don't open the Netflix app on your phone, you probably would never fucking know this is happening. Once in a blue moon, I open Netflix and I get a hey, we have games or something. They tell me about oxenfreak. I'm like, oh, that's cool, you're doing that, or whatever. But again, like, my dad, who's using Netflix for like a first time on his own, isn't like, oh, yeah, games. I get all this stuff. I can't wait to do it. Nor do I think people are signing up and going, oh, wow, great. Games are here. So it's like, until Netflix either goes, fucking do it, let's fucking push and go. It's never going to be a success. Which will make total sense when, like, we're closing those studios and we're done with games. Like, okay, yeah, you never fully asked to do it. You never fully asked.

[Tim Geddes]

Full asset, everybody.

[Greg Miller]

And I think Apple's in the same thing where it's like, this is an option. There's this tech, and it's a reason to sell you a phone. Because it's more powerful but we don't really care about it. Which will inevitably I think lead to what you're talking about of like something happens and Steam is able to put Steam OS on there or it's just cloud computing so great now that you can just do that and Apple's like great, cool. We don't need to worry about this anymore.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah, exactly. Admiral Redbeard Run writes in with a super chat saying, is there any actual validity to the Ocarina of Time remake or is this just y'all having fun and just hoping for it? Also suggesting for a gamescast talking about what you want out of an Ocarina of Time remake, Slash building your perfect Zelda game. That would. That would be fun. Yeah. No, there's no validity at all to the Ocarina thing. And watch the episode that me and blasted yesterday for Nintendo predictions. I get into a little more detail on like the evidence, quote unquote. I see for it happening. But it really boils down to Nintendo wants a Zelda every year and there's not many options for that. With tears having been not that long ago and we just got echoes of wisdom. We're running out of the ports for them to put out and I think a remake of their most popular one in terms of like conversation, I think of all time is. It just makes too much sense.

[Greg Miller]

You know who sucks?

[Tim Geddes]

Who?

[Greg Miller]

Barrett. I'm looking at next week's games casts. They're all booked. And then the next week after that he's off. I can't toss the Zelda one in there. Gotta have Mr. Zelda gotta have Tingle himself in here.

[C]

I don't know if that's how I forget if that's. I'm wearing green though, so it's perfect. That's why you can't do a Zelda episode without me.

[Greg Miller]

Can't do without you, buddy. Don't worry, we won't.

[C]

I'll quit the company.

[Greg Miller]

Damn. Fuck. Well, hold on a second.

[C]

I'll burn it all to the ground.

[Greg Miller]

Hold on a second. The architect. Let's see if Mike is going to commit to this Tuesday gamescast. He's gone on here what his deal is. I'll put it next to it. We'll go there because I do like that building your purpose.

[Tim Geddes]

Story number six. SEGA launched SEGA account an online profile with in game bonuses from Chris Scullion at vgc. The super game is real. Sega has launched a new online profile designed to use across its games going forward. SEGA Account is described by the company as an online profile that gives you access to a host of benefits while playing SEGA and Atlas titles and using their online services. According to Sega, players who create a SEGA account will get access to exclusive bonuses and will be able to link their accounts over numerous platforms.

[Greg Miller]

Wow.

[Tim Geddes]

They will also receive news on the latest SEGA and Atlas games, events and promotions to encourage players to sign up for a SEGA account. Anyone who creates an account by March 7 will get an in game bonus for like a Dragon Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, the most insanely named video game of all time that's not a Kingdom Hearts game. When it's released on February 21st. Sega says that in the future, players will be able to use their SEGA account to look at your records for the games that you've played. You want to take this with me?

[Greg Miller]

I'm registering right now. You kidding me? Look at that right there. What's my country? I'll tell you. My country. Us. How old am I?

[Tim Geddes]

I am so torn on this because on one hand, I hate it. Greg. Yeah, I hate it. So we've been here before?

[Greg Miller]

Sure.

[Tim Geddes]

How many times are we going to do this? Round and round and round we go.

[Greg Miller]

Hey, I got a lot of good from my UB Connect.

[Tim Geddes]

Having to make all.

[Greg Miller]

Let me tell you, I love my division.

[Tim Geddes]

Wallpapers, your EA freaking ba. Like all the guys, you know what I mean? Like, these just have a sign up for all of this. Useless that we're like, God, you make me sign up for it. I don't want any of your dumb stuff. I don't want your digital goods. I just don't want any of this stuff. Why do I need to do this? And then you forget why you even had in the first place. You're trying to load up a game and you're like, I don't remember what the. My account was. So many bad, annoying pieces of decisions that I'm like, I just don't want this. You just want my email and I hate you. Yeah, but then there's the other side. Free stuff that's like, numb, like, whatever. I'm sure that's citing to somebody, the free stuff they're given. You guys, stop. You don't want your freaking eyepatch.

[C]

Tim let me log into Persona 6 to unlock the Sonic the Hedgehog costume for the protagonist.

[Greg Miller]

We'll let you know when the real super game Crazy Taxi Battle Royale drops and I get whatever fucking paint job for my cab I get for being a SEGA account member. It'll have all been worth it. All the spam Going to this email, I never check. I don't give a shit.

[Tim Geddes]

So all that stuff I hate, and I still hate. But there is a new side to me that all of that I feel was like a pre 2017 world. Right.

[Greg Miller]

Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

Where it's like, what the fuck's the point of this? But since then, cross play, cross progression, cross save, all that stuff has become a reality and we're getting closer and closer to it being an expectation for games. So these services being used to help support that and help make it happen. And if it can be retroactive in any way, that's good news. I don't have full faith that that's going to be the case here, but I was wowed with the UBIS Connect stuff working for me with Prince of Persia, where I was able to play through that game. It me for the trophies on PlayStation. But I learned my lesson now. I should have listened to Greg. I should have listened to every episode beyond that ever happened.

[C]

I mean, that's you saying that is actually tantalized, like, thinking of like the next Persona game. I get to play, like big moments on my big tv.

[Tim Geddes]

Yep.

[C]

And then when I want to go grind, transfer that save over to my Steam deck.

[Tim Geddes]

It's pretty cool, right?

[C]

Let's see if they actually do something like that. But I get your point, Tim.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah, your point. And like, just like, for the amount that I like to go back to the old Sonic games or Sonic Mania, even, like, having. If I could have one account across all my systems where I'm playing it on switch on an airplane, and then that goes back to my. My data. I'm like, yes, that's awesome. That's what I want. And we're never going to get that from a full God mode system level of, like, everyone playing nice. So it's. Unfortunately, I think this is a necessary evil, so.

[Greg Miller]

And again, this will get my crazy taxi multiplayer stuff everywhere I want. You know what I mean? Yeah, that's what I want.

[Tim Geddes]

I mean, but real talk, though, like, not getting the free dumb bullshit because who cares about that stuff?

[Greg Miller]

I care.

[Tim Geddes]

You do not.

[Greg Miller]

I. Tim, unless there's a Ghostbuster thing, I'm dying. The shift codes for Borderlands, the division, whatever, the. This is crap. I do chase. I do log in and give them all my information because I want the extra bells and whistles. Maybe I like that. Maybe I like the shoes. I do want it to. I like the little things.

[Tim Geddes]

Do you really? Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

Playing that Eternal Strands demo, I'm like, all right, let me change up My outfit. Let me do something. Let me personalize myself here. Let's go. You know, okay. I've already linked my PlayStation to my Sega account. Now I'm gonna do my Xbox. Oh, look at this. It recognizes. The only game on here, I guess is Fantasy Star Online two New Genesis. I haven't linked my account to that yet because I don't have that account. You know what I mean? But here, look at this. You get exclusive gift codes for being a Sega account user. Don't mind if I do. There it is. Wait, what do you mean, create an account? I've already got it. Log it in. Give me this guy's thing. Yeah, I got the. I got the pirate outfit. I'll tell you what, man. So many people tracking you. They're track. I don't fucking take it all, you know. Take it all. Get me all the Ghostbusters. Where the fuck Phil is Marvel Ultimate Alliance. What more information do I need to give you? Phil Spencer blood type. I'll DM it to you right now.

[Tim Geddes]

Marvel Ultimate Alliance 1 and 2 coming to game Pass would be big Greg.

[C]

God, he's really about to do it too. He's really about to DM Phil Spencer.

[Greg Miller]

It's gonna be no context. And then I don't even know what my blood type is.

[Tim Geddes]

I think I have the same one as smaller. Where would I look, Greg?

[Greg Miller]

You'd go to the place where we put all the small news. The tiniest news we need to know about. I'll tell you. When I was a big boy. Small.

[Tim Geddes]

When I was a big boy.

[Greg Miller]

Bigger than a pumpkin anyways. Go to the fucking.

[Tim Geddes]

The Wii news channel, everybody. Microsoft has announced external hard drives over 16 terabytes in size will soon be supported by Xbox consoles. That's crazy. I'm so happy. I live in a world in a time that There are over 16 terabyte hard drives and I own multiple. I tell you what, this boy likes to archive things, okay?

[Greg Miller]

You're archiving left and right, Left and freaking. It worked out for you though, for the 10th anniversary.

[Tim Geddes]

It did me, Cameron Kennedy, very happy. The amount of hard drives I have in my house. Sonic 4 gets a March 19, 2027 release date. Let's freaking go. It also got the logo. We got to see the Sonic with the four. And it's pink.

[Greg Miller]

Nice. That's very cool. It's real big.

[C]

I'll definitely watch the first three before four comes out.

[Tim Geddes]

Gotta do it. It gotta do it, Barrett. God. It's out now digitally, so everyone's posting all like the HD scenes.

[C]

Mike watched the entirety of it on Twitter.

[Tim Geddes]

Good for him. Good for him. But I noticed something. I saw the movie three times in theaters. Gray. And the post credit scene. There's something in it that I did not notice until Twitter this week. Oh, and it's very cool. It's just a cool little visual, but it's one of the coolest visuals I've ever seen. Party Animals has announced a new among us like mode called Crisis. Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

You know what I mean? Still going. Yeah.

[Tim Geddes]

Guilty Gear Strive Dual Rulers is coming to Crunchyroll in April 2025. Sick super technos World River City has been announced for PS5, Nintendo Switch and PC. And that's it for Wii News.

[Greg Miller]

I have one last piece of. We knew. Sorry. I've now linked my Nintendo account to my Sega account. Thank you.

[Tim Geddes]

Thank you, Matt. Got some of your wrongs here.

[Greg Miller]

I believe that for a second.

[Tim Geddes]

One dude says Les Mis is not opera either. Just like Nutcracker. Is it?

[Greg Miller]

Well, we knew about Nutcracker. Les Mis. I went to Les Mis once in high school and I won't lie to you, I forgot everything.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah, I saw.

[Greg Miller]

I see. I've seen clips from Hugh Jackman doing it.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

With Anne Hathaway, Catwoman.

[Tim Geddes]

Yeah.

[Greg Miller]

More WE news. Very great. I have linked my Xbox account to my Sega account. Oh, wow.

[Tim Geddes]

The Quad Fecta.

[Greg Miller]

It's definitely one of those where like, Sega wasn't expecting this from me, you know? And like, is it going to be heartbreaking when inevitably my Sega account gets hacked and all these other ones get hacked by it too, you know what I mean? But again, it's already out there.

[Tim Geddes]

We got some super chats. Mara writes in saying Aaron Paul is Powerplex, Simu Lou is multipall and Jonathan Banks is possible Conquest. The Invincible casting announcements are crazy. Very cool. Let's go.

[Greg Miller]

Let's go.

[Tim Geddes]

So close to Invincible, right?

[Greg Miller]

Yeah. How many episodes is eight?

[Tim Geddes]

I think first three drop February 14th, I think then weekly after that.

[Greg Miller]

He's confident. Everybody.

[Tim Geddes]

Christopher Burnett says off topic, but mark your calendar for January 30th. An announcement and or trailer for GTA 6 is incoming, which tracks with how remakes with. With how Rockstar makes announcements. Huh?

[Greg Miller]

Where's your information come from? Christopher Burnett.

[Tim Geddes]

Burnett feels in his balls. Yeah, I got it. Everybody. Calendar. Jason Schreier. Are you listening? Who else reports on things these days? We like tweets, rev. Oh well, Mario64 always retweet like clips out and retweets Noble. Noble. You know, January 30th GTA 6 spread the news, everybody. Christopher Burnett is the source. Jeff Grubb, hope you're listening. He's not listening.

[Greg Miller]

Do you think this is the same Christopher Burnett? Do you think that Christopher Burnett knows that when you super chat your name pops up, you're gonna get fired from Blizzard? I mean, no, but I mean, if you're crooked information, if you're Chris Burnett, the senior technical artist at Blizzard Entertainment, that was a pretty easy Google search, you know what I mean? Here's what we're gonna do. We're in a floatama Connect. No note. Or should I say in the note, do I put, is it you?

[Tim Geddes]

No, don't do that.

[C]

Chris, I'm sending you Chris.

[Greg Miller]

I have said Chris, you're still watching, I assume. I have sent you a LinkedIn request. If you immediately connect and then you send me a message saying it me, I'll know it's you.

[Tim Geddes]

It me. Oh, my God, everybody. What an episode of Kind of Funny Games Daily after this, Episode two, story.

[Greg Miller]

Number two, DC Universe Online.

[Tim Geddes]

We had a good time. All right. We're about to do a Gamescast.

[Greg Miller]

That's going to be one more piece of Wii news. You can't, can't link your Epic account yet to your Sega account, but it is coming.

[Tim Geddes]

Gotcha. Gotcha. We're about to do a Gamescast, talking all about the rest of the PlayStation 5's life. Then after that, we're going to do a very fun gameplay stream. But until next time, it's been our pleasure to serve you.