PlayStation's Making Big Changes Because of Concord Failure - Kinda Funny Games Daily 08.26.25

Summary

Kinda Funny Games Daily – August 26, 2025

Episode: “PlayStation's Making Big Changes Because of Concord Failure”

Hosts: Andy Cortez & SnowBikeMike

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Episode Overview

Today’s episode dives into the aftermath of PlayStation’s live-service missteps—specifically the failure of Concord. Andy and Mike analyze how failure has prompted sweeping changes at Sony, discuss early access excitement for Skate, Nintendo’s Switch 2 developer kit struggles, and highlight some delightful sidebars about Pokémon Nuzlockes and demo kiosk nostalgia. As always, their banter mixes industry insights with the team’s trademark humor and camaraderie.

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Key Discussion Points

1. PlayStation Overhauls Testing After Concord Failure (09:04–26:28)

• Main Story: PlayStation CEO Hermen Hulst revealed to the Financial Times that Sony is now enforcing “much more rigorous and more frequent testing” for in-development games after the high-profile $250M flop of Concord, which shut down weeks after launch, contrasting with Astro Bot’s runaway success (2.3M copies sold).

  • Quote:
    “I don't want teams to always play it safe, but I would like for us, when we fail, to fail early and cheaply.”
    — Hermen Hulst, [10:50]

• New Strategies:

  • More group testing and communication between internal studios.
  • Closer executive-studio relationships.
  • Emphasis on building large, enduring IP (like Astro Bot, The Last of Us, Uncharted).
  • Avoiding big, late-stage failures by failing “early and cheaply.”

• Andy’s Perspective:

  • Surprised at the seeming lack of earlier oversight: “What do you mean no one was overseeing this? Nobody saw Concord and said, ‘I don't see a marketplace for this’?” [13:31]
  • Warns that not all creative risks should require huge teams and budgets; calls for greenlighting experiments at a smaller scale.

• Mike’s Take:

  • Draws parallels with Xbox’s Redfall debacle; questions how billion-dollar studios still miss warning signs so late.
  • On live services: “You'd like to make sure everyone probably has a say before it begins.” [14:46]

• Industry Context:

  • The constant tension between following proven franchises and taking new risks.
  • Worries that after expensive failures, companies might become creatively timid.

• On Astro Bot as a Success Model:

  • Andy: “I think the Astro Bot playbook is hard to replicate... that’s such a specific scenario.” [17:44]
  • “Astro Bot is a mega hit...you’re going to see that continue on.” — Mike [22:14]

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2. PlayStation Improves Refund Process (29:36–32:34)

• New Feature:
  Refunds can now be directly requested via the PlayStation Store, replacing the prior cumbersome chatbot method.

  • Eligibility: within 14 days and unopened, unless the product is faulty.

• Comic Sidebar:
  The hosts bemoan the infamous “three dots” menu on PS Store:
  “Those damn three dots, man. Anytime you try to look for a demo… you gotta hit three dots!” — Andy [29:36]

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3. Skate Early Access Launch and the Risks of Games-as-a-Service (32:34–42:36)

• Announcement:
  Skate Early Access begins September 16, 2025—the first mainline release in 15 years.

• Mike’s Reaction:

  • Enormous personal anticipation but deep worry:
    “The failure risk is through the roof … because Skate now is an early access, games-as-a-service game when really I think just the player base wanted Skate 4.” [33:24]
  • Predicts content shortages at launch: “There will be seven missions to do when you want 37 on a full product.” [37:26]
  • Cites the fortunes of indie extreme sports games and the monopoly EA holds on AAA entries.

• Andy’s Curiosity:

  • Asks about the game loop; learns about open-world skate challenges, celebrity missions, and a new emphasis on real-time user-created content.
  • Draws comparisons to Fortnite/Roblox and concerns about persistent world creation vs temporary sessions.

• Broader Implications:

  • If Skate flops, could have repercussions at EA and across AAA sports/extreme games.

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4. Nintendo Switch 2 Dev Kit Shortages and Backwards Compatibility Focus (46:01–50:14)

• Situation:
  Many studios still don’t have Switch 2 dev kits; Nintendo is reportedly encouraging them to launch on Switch 1 with hopes of backwards compatibility.

• Reaction:

  • Andy: “Not a great situation … a lot of devs are looking at this going, well, we know we can make a Switch 1 version, but it sucks...” [48:03]
  • Mike: “Is this Switch 2 where all the Nintendo games are great and everything else is booty? Like, what are we doing here?” [49:16]

• Concerns:

  • Third-party and indie titles may struggle to take advantage of improved hardware.
  • Possible bottlenecks for studios hoping to target Switch 2 at launch.

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5. Indie Release Shifts: Silksong Moves Dominoes (50:19–54:03)

• Summary:
  Baby Steps (literal walking sim) delays launch to avoid clashing with Hollow Knight: Silksong’s surprise September release—one of several indies “moving out of the way”.

• Notable Quote:
  “This is the GTA6 of indie games ... move, get out of the way right now.” — Mike [51:56]

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6. Side Banter & Memorable Moments

• Pokémon Nuzlocke & Challenge Talk:
  Mike is deep in another hardcore Nuzlocke run, comparing himself to Michael Jordan’s self-motivation.
  “Had to prove the doubters wrong… When I beat it this time, this is it. I'm gonna be able to say, I've been to the top.” — Mike [05:39]

• Nostalgia for Demo Kiosks:
  Laughs over how 90s/00s demo stations were set up for neck pain:
  “The controller would be at your chest level, but then [the screen was] so cranked up that your neck would have to look up to the sky.” — Andy [24:02]

• Technical Difficulties:
  YouTube stream dropping mid-show; resolved live, with fun banter about mesh networks and behind-the-scenes tech.

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7. “Wee News” and Required Reading (~56:10–58:00)

• Quick Headlines:
  • Acclaim Showcase announced for September 10
  • Luminesce Arise launches November 11, demo now live
  • Kirby and the Forgotten Land OST now available
  • IGN Union’s Instagram post highlighting struggles with layoffs and overwork: “Required reading.”

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8. Super Chats and Follow-up Discussion (60:04–66:42)

• Live corrections and “You’re Wrong” segment:
  • Skate franchise uses the right thumbstick for tricks vs. Tony Hawk’s face buttons.
  • More chat banter on golf game control schemes and upcoming fantasy draft picks.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “I don't want teams to always play it safe, but I would like for us, when we fail, to fail early and cheaply.” — Hermen Hulst on Sony's new strategy [10:50]
• “What do you mean no one was overseeing this? ... Nobody saw Concord and said, ‘I don’t see a marketplace for this’?” — Andy [13:31]
• “Astro Bot’s a mega hit. It is now the new franchise on the Sony block. You’re going to see that continue on, right? That’s a win.” — Mike [22:14]
• “Skate now is a early access games as a service game when really I think just the player base wanted Skate 4...the failure risk is through the roof.” — Mike [33:24]
• “Is this gonna be the Switch 2 where it’s just Switch 1 where all the Nintendo games are great and everything else is booty?” — Mike [49:16]
• “This is the GTA6 of indie games...move, get out of the way right now.” — Mike on Silksong effect [51:56]

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• PlayStation’s Testing & IP Strategy: 09:04–26:28
• Refund Process Upgrade: 29:36–32:34
• Skate Early Access Discussed: 32:34–42:36
• Nintendo Switch 2 Dev Kit Shortage: 46:01–50:14
• Indie Release Dominoes / Silksong Effect: 50:19–54:03
• Required Reading & Miscellaneous News: 56:10–58:00
• Super Chats and Wrap-up: 60:04–66:42

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Conclusion: Episode Tone & Takeaway

PlayStation’s new guardrails on game development signal increased caution after high-profile missteps—will it result in more consistent hits, or stifle risk-taking creativity? Meanwhile, fans are watching EA’s Skate revival with anticipation and anxiety, while Nintendo’s next-gen rollout looks rocky for outsiders. The Kinda Funny crew, through it all, keeps the news lively, honest, and embedded in their own gamer journeys.

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For those who missed the show, this summary serves as a comprehensive guide to both the industry discussions and the spirit of fun that defines Kinda Funny Games Daily.

Transcript

[A]

Today's stories include PlayStation gets more rigorous with testing its games. Skate's early access release date has been confirmed and Nintendo is telling some developers to release on Switch 1 instead. We'll have all this and more because this is Kind of Funny Games Daily. Welcome to Kind of Funny Games daily for Tuesday, August 26, 2025. I am Andy Cortez and I'm joined by Snow Bike Mike. Good morning, Mike.

[B]

Good morning, my best friend. How are you?

[A]

I'm doing. I'm doing okay.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

My coworker.

[B]

Good. First week back after your vacation. You've settled in now. We're on week two. You know, I'm not jealous at all that you're going to Pax west without me. You know, you and I could tear up Seattle for a weekend, but it's all right. It's okay.

[A]

It was just the last second trip, you know.

[B]

You know, didn't get the text message, I guess.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, you know, hey, Mike, pack your bags.

[B]

Let's go to Seattle. Would have been on that.

[A]

Get in the car. The car take you to the airport. You can't take this decision back. How are you doing, Mike?

[B]

And I'm doing well. How about yourself?

[A]

I'm doing great. Doing great. I. I feel like last night I dealt with some, you know, paralysis by analysis.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Of just sitting there going, I'm kind of drowning in games right now.

[B]

Too many games, Andy.

[A]

It's review season.

[B]

Yeah. You're killing it. You and the team.

[A]

Flowers are in the bloom.

[B]

I'm not killing it.

[A]

Why?

[B]

Because I'm just playing Pokemon.

[A]

I have noticed that there's a couple.

[B]

Meetings where, like, it's like, hey, let's do this for deck. Let's do this. Mike, what are you doing?

[A]

I'm like, ah, yeah, I'm fine with that. I won't play it. Like, really? Okay. Yeah. Don't think I haven't noticed that. Don't think. Don't think I haven't noticed that. But yeah, just, you know, was kind of just overwhelmed last night with, you know, different games, installing here and there. And then I just. I just sort of sat down. I was like, what if I just play the King is Watching all night?

[B]

I saw the Instagram story, and I want you to know, because of you talking about it so much, you and Roger have put me on. And so I have now given a nice little hour of my time, and I'm looking forward to playing more. But you put up the. You put up the story. You inspired some best friends out there to play it then you shared your story. 55 hours already played on that.

[A]

Yeah. Probably about 60 with last night. With yesterday kept on going.

[B]

Just you on the Steam deck. Are you on your PC?

[A]

Last night was a PC knight, but usually it's Steam deck.

[B]

Does it work? Cuz it's not fully certified on this. So I was a little intimidated at first.

[A]

It does, it does. But you do got to do some little finagling with the hot keys. Yeah, with the, the. The key binds or whatever.

[B]

Delete probably and right.

[A]

Yeah. So to I guess to rotate the little like watching watch zone. It's called the king's gaze. But it just sounds like I'm talking about the King's like homosexuals. Oh, the king's gaze. Like G, A G A Z, E. You gotta rotate. So I. I do left trigger.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

And then I do either left bumper or L back paddle or whatever for like I'm gonna grab and move this sucker. And then I just use my right index finger. Just move everything.

[B]

Now this is you going into the settings on the scene deck and doing that.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

To set that all up. It's not instant. Hey, this is what's going on. Let's.

[A]

Do you need me, do you need me to help you though?

[B]

Yes, I will bring it over. Okay, let's rewind for a second. If people haven't been keeping up with your latest addiction in the gaming world, which is the king, which watching. What is it?

[A]

It's an auto battler like tower defense.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But it's got that sort of just you set up and then things rock. Similar to, similar to loop hero. Similar to what I enjoyed about you know, even though vampire survivors is you moving the dude around, it's like you know, your character just kind of auto doing stuff or whatever. So you know, it's just. I don't know, it's so. It's so deep and it's so satisfying.

[B]

Yeah. It's got the resource management that I like. Right. Of like building out your small little town on these little square plot here and trying to figure out what resources I need. When do I need them, when do I move that gaze to be like hey, let's start working on this. The auto battler SL tower defensive. Hey, I just sent out seven skeleton warriors along with just the regular civilians. Let's see what happens as they fight off little goblins.

[A]

Really I'm really excited to do a peasant run. Peasants are the weakest dudes.

[B]

Yeah, that's what I. Well, that's what I've been.

[A]

They're super, like, low health. Right. Or whatever. But if you level them up a whole lot, because throughout the run, you will find troop upgrading. So you can make them, like, hella strong.

[B]

But.

[A]

But then when you get you. You can essentially get guts from goddamn berserk on your squad. It's called the. The Black Swordsman, okay. So you can make one of those dudes, and then when. Whenever he's on the field fighting, all of the peasants get, like, double health. And, like.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

So it's like, there's a lot of cool little passive things like that.

[B]

And you see, this has been your.

[A]

Sponsor segment for King of watch.

[B]

Yeah. 55 hours, and you're still seeing new things.

[A]

Oh, yeah. Oh, yeah. It's so good. I can't stop playing video.

[B]

Spending a lot of time with me. So, like, I'm glad that you're putting it towards something good.

[A]

You're on your 17th Pokemon run.

[B]

I'm deep in it, Andy. And I. And I. I fell again.

[A]

I. I'm just so confused.

[B]

Stumbled again.

[A]

I'm so. Wait. Yesterday.

[B]

Yeah, I lost somebody. Really?

[A]

I'm so confused by. All right, I'm going by real Nuzlocke rules now, because, like, as if you weren't struggling already.

[B]

Well, yeah, it was like, here's the deal, Andy. I was struggling.

[A]

I've died six times. How do I make this harder?

[B]

And people said that, but it was like, I had to prove the doubters wrong. I had to make sure that my haters couldn't step up and say, well, he didn't do a true Nuzlock. So I had to push it all to the side and say, I'm doing the true rules. Because when I beat it this time, this is it. I'm going to be able to say, I've been to the top.

[A]

I. It's just confounding to me, the amount of time, like, what you decide to listen to people. To people's feedback on and what you.

[B]

Don'T know has ever said that, like, that's what.

[A]

You're Michael Jordan creating your own narrative.

[B]

That's what MJ did. He was the greatest.

[A]

He really was.

[B]

I have to do it.

[A]

That's a great point. That's a great point.

[B]

Here I am on, you know, attempt number seven, but really attempt number one. My true first Nuzlock. And I've lost some people along the way. I stumbled. I had to grind in a 7 by 8 patch of grass to really get my Pokemon up before the next battle. That was a really boring two and a half Hours.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And then there I was feeling myself. I was putting it all on Purple Skitty. I don't know if, you know, they have gambling in these Pokemon games and that really, you know, gets me going.

[A]

Oh, no.

[B]

They got a roulette wheel in this game. And I am smashing purple skinny for three. And it pays out. 36. And I go crazy when that happens, right?

[A]

Like, I love that. That's the least. That's the last thing you need.

[B]

There I am feeling myself, right? And I get out of it. And now I'm preparing for gym number four. It's a fire battle. I got one water Pokemon, the tentacool. Okay, I got to protect this thing, but I got to love this thing. I got to level up. What happens, Andy? I get in the cycle. Okay. I get in the cycle. I'm fighting this one. I'm fighting the Weezing. And what does the Weezing do? He self destructed on me, Andy.

[A]

Oh, World Ender. That's a World Ender right there.

[B]

I lost the most important Pokemon in my group. Had to restart. That's another two and a half hours of grinding the same bush. It's been a long journey.

[A]

That's tough.

[B]

Dark Souls too. Before we go, I've been waiting for you to hit the frigid.

[A]

Before we end the show, I've been.

[B]

Waiting for you to hit the frigid outskirts. Did you hit it or not?

[A]

I don't know what that is. I'm in a snow zone.

[B]

What it is, It's a giant mile and a half long death run. You're going to stand at a window, you're going to jump out the wind. Actually, I think you're in a coffin. And he slides down there. And then you will arrive at this insane death run that's full of snow, mist and fog. You won't be able to see 10ft in front of you and you'll start running and then out of the background you'll hear it's a gallop. And then. That was a good horse.

[A]

Thank you. I only shut in. No, Mike did. A good horse.

[B]

The lightning horse will try to gore you.

[A]

Oh, wow.

[B]

Has that happened yet?

[A]

No. Okay. But you just spoiled everything for me.

[B]

I'll be watching. I'll be watching.

[A]

You just spoiled everything for me right there. That was a good ass horse.

[B]

Thank you.

[A]

I'm really, really impressed by that, everybody. This is the kind of funny. This is kind of funny Games Daily. We do this every each and every weekday on podcast service around the globe. And if you love what we do. Support us with a Kind of Funny membership on Patreon, YouTube and now Spotify and Apple Podcasts to get all of our shows ad free, watch us record them live and get a daily exclusive show for a chance to be part of the show. Submit your thoughts and opinions as YouTube super chats. We'll be getting to those all throughout the show, so make sure you let us know how you're feeling, how you're doing. Housekeeping Today after Kind of Funny Games Daily, you'll get the Gamescast which is Sonic Racing Cross Worlds Preview. I don't know who's on. I think Roger played it.

[B]

What's your hype level for that?

[A]

Negative 12. Yeah, I don't know.

[B]

Okay. Okay.

[A]

I mean when was the last time I picked up Mario Kart World?

[B]

What a great week that was.

[A]

Week that was the stream afterwards is Greg hanging out with Erica Ishii, which is awesome.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Ghost of Yote.

[B]

Really cool.

[A]

If you're a Kind of Funny member, Greg is going to do a Greg way. We don't know what it is or what it's about. Maybe he already did it. Thank you to our Patreon producers, Carl Jacobs, Omega Buster Delaney, the Psalm Twining. We appreciate you all very, very much today. We're brought to you by Ex Real, but we'll tell you all about that later. For now, let's begin with what is and forever will be the Roper Report. It's time for some stories today. Baker's dozen story number one PlayStation boss says company now does, quote, much more rigorous and more frequent testing after Concord's failure. This comes from Rebecca Valentine at ign. After a high profile failure in Concord. It's been a year, by the way, Mike. It's been like 367 days or something.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

Crazy. Bring it back. After a high profile failure in Concord and a high profile success in astrobot last year, PlayStation is looking to adjust its strategy to incorporate fewer live service games, more big franchises, and stricter oversight of its owned studios. In an interview With Financial Times, PlayStation CEO Herman Hul says the company is hoping to mitigate future big, expensive risks with future games. Quote I don't want teams to always play it safe, but I would like for us when we fail, to fail early and cheaply, end quote. Concorde was not a chief failure. Analysts estimate Sony spent around $250 million on the game, only for it to sell so poorly that Sony shut it down two weeks after launch and shuttered its developer Firewalk Studios not long after. By contrast, Astrobot also Launched last year to universal acclaim, winning multiple awards and selling 2.3 million copies as of March 2025, the best selling games on PlayStation 5. The differences between the two games are myriad certainly, and the their development stories are quite different as well. But what Hulse has taken away from this is that there needs to be more supervision of Sony's own studios to ensure the games veering in the direction of Concord are spotted before they become expensive failures so they can be canceled or corrected in time. Quote, we have since put in place much more rigorous and more frequent testing in very many different ways. Hull said the advantage of every failure is that people now understand how necessary that oversight is. Financial Times. You highlighting something, Mike, on this?

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay, Is it circle back? Is it the word no?

[B]

Oh, shit, I forgot. And you already read it?

[A]

I already read it. Chad, if you don't know, before the story started, before we got on the show, I, I said I wanted to set up a little hidden camera and record Mike's reaction to me walking up on the set and being like, all right Mike, sit in the host seat, you're gonna read today. Just to see what his reaction would be. And then he said, oh, I would have been, I would have gotten so angry about. I would have been so uptight. But also there's a word in there that I've never seen in my life and I don't know what the word is, but apparently I already read it. Let's continue on with the article. Financial Times spoke to Sony, to multiple Sony studio heads who said that this overnight means this oversight means more focus on group testing, more communication between internal Sony studios and closer relationships between the studio's top executives. But another strategy Hulst also wants to pursue, he wants more massive Sony IP Astrobot. Success has come and has come about over the course of multiple games, with the little robot icon growing in popularity each time. According to Financial Times, Hulse wants studios to be thinking about how their IP can be turned into bigger and bigger franchises over time. Following in the footsteps of the Last of Us and Uncharted. Quote, we take a very intentional approach to IP creation, understanding how a new concept can turn into an iconic franchise for PlayStation that can, that can then again become a franchise for people beyond gaming, end quote. Mike, what's the word?

[B]

Yeah, a lot there to break down, you and I, Andy. Of course oversight is a big one here. Kind of playing into the known IPs are creating a franchise that could be a larger entity than just a one off. Right. And so there's a lot to break down on the Sony side of things, I guess. Let's start with oversight. Right. The big one taking away is, what do you mean? No one was overseeing this. Nobody had hands on with this. Nobody saw Concord and said, hey, maybe there's a good game here, but I don't see a marketplace for this. I don't see a spot where this slides in and is actually going to make it here. Did nobody have that conversation? And of course we, we learned a lot of conversation or we learned a lot in this kind of conversation with Phil Spencer when me and the Excast crew sat down after Redfall's disastrous launch. Right. And that moment of, hey, we got to find a better way to make sure that we're here before this happens so we can catch these kind of things. And you kind of question like, well, the business and the, you know, the video game industry has been around for so long. How are you not already on top of this? But as you know, a lot of these larger high CEOs have, have a lot more going on than just being day to day employees within the studio to see the ever evolving, changing game that they're kind of putting out there. But yeah, you'd like to make sure everyone probably has a say on this before it begins.

[A]

What do you think the tone was in these studios every time one of these live services was shut down? It could not have been a very positive place to see another big live service game come out. Maybe there's a lot of hype around it. And then six months later, 12 months later, hey, you know, we're ramping down servers, ramping down service on it. Yeah, like I, it just felt like such an obvious thing for us to see. But maybe there's just, maybe there was just a lot of confidence in Sony going, hey, we always put out bangers, why wouldn't this be a banger?

[B]

I think there's two sides to that. Right? There's one where you are so entrenched in the day to day that you probably believe in what you're doing. I'm sure you, of course you believe in what you all these studios do. Hard to have the bigger picture from the outside of like, is this the right thing? Is this going to land with people? Because you believe in it, right? You love what you're doing. You believe in the characters, the world that you create. You probably have a really good time playing the game inside the studio. Right. I got to go hands on early with Concord and I came back with the preview and the first thing I said to Greg was, hey, this was fun to play, but I don't see this making it right. And, like, I'm sure everyone in the office was like, hey, this is fun to play. We're happy to see people smiling and they thought this was going to hit. Right. And on the outside, us gamers, the people who are playing all this, we're kind of like, A.D. i don't think this is the way. Right. And for Sony, on the bigger picture side, if you're working in these studios and you see Herman Holston, the team laying off a number of staff members at different, you know, development teams around your organization, you're probably, like you've said before, Andy, like, really disheartened and going, ah, we could be next. This isn't going to be good unless our project is going to hit. And there's a lot of projects that aren't hitting marathon right now. With Bungie, of course, we've seen fair games. We've seen a number of games where it's like, oh, this is probably next on the chopping block.

[A]

Yeah. And when it comes to larger ip, obviously you hear Holst talk about we would love to kind of develop these IPs into becoming things that become mainstays for us. Right. With obviously we'd seen Astrobot a couple times, and then it becomes its own video game after time. I think a lot of that is wishful thinking. I think the Astrobot playbook is really hard to replicate unless you try to do another. That's such a specific scenario where we are giving you a demo for this video game for the console to kind of test things out, and you kind of get a test of and a feel of what this character is and how. How the vibe and tone of all of it is. That's. You can't really replicate that. You can't just say, on the next console we'll have a new ip, because that's just like, those things don't happen all of the time. But no, duh, that they would want, you know, to replicate the Last of Us and to have another Uncharted.

[B]

Yeah, of course he's going to look at you every time. Whatever game you pitch, he's going to be looking at you like, want a sequel? Want that trilogy? Let's make sure we nail it. And of course, Astrobot is a different beast. Right. It's hitting a marketplace that Sony didn't really have in the portfolio at the time. And it was the perfect storm of a one, two, moving into the best Astrobot game last year of, like, how much Fun that console 3D platforming mascot game can be, right? And hitting all, all of the Sony notes and just a. A perfect mix to really land. But, I mean, looking at other teams in their games and going, well, you better make this a big franchise, right? A number of our audience doesn't like when I come on here and go, well, if I could wave a magic wand, we'd be on Destiny 3 right now and Bungie would just keep turning that right. They want to see new and fun, inventive ideas, but it's tough when Sony's boss is going, well, we should probably stick to the good stuff, right? And like this project. If you're not going to make this a mega franchise within three, then, like, we're going to cut this. You know, that's really hard to hear.

[A]

I. I was really, you know, it made me happy to see that Astrobot is considered a really nice success for them because for a while there, there was a bit of worry, I would say, as we're kind of getting close to either whether we were getting close to game awards or, you know, whether we had heard that it sold like a million units and we were like, oh, man, that's. That you want a game like that with such, you know, high regard and a game that everybody looks at and goes, what a. What an incredible critical success. What a great video game this is to play. And then you hear that it was only at the 1 million mark that, you know, I. I don't know exactly how long that was after it released, but it was. I didn't feel super encouraged by that. And seeing 2.3 million now, it's like, oh, great, awesome. This thing is starting to. It actually did start to sell a lot more numbers and people are a lot more happy. You know, the larger gaming audience did end up picking up Astro Bot, which makes me pretty happy, Mike.

[B]

Yeah, Astro Bot was a big win, and that will go in the portfolio of already great franchises that they have, right? When you think of Sony and PlayStation, you already have the last of us. You have Horizon, you have your Uncharted. You're now getting Ghosts, which is getting a nice sequel here. Coming up. I guess the conversation now switched to, when you look at Astrobot and the big win that they just had, does Herman Hulst look at them and go, that's the playbook repeats, or does he give them the freedom to be like, take Astrobot and do something wacky with them? Right? That's what we want to see we want that team to be able to come to you and be like, hey, we got this new idea for Astrobot. We want to kind of deviate here to the right and see if this will land. Or does the team look at them and go, you've already found success? You stay with that.

[A]

It's, that's a good question because I am of the opinion that there are so many game studios and game directors and game executives out there that are in no place to want to experiment with anything. If you have something that is successful, then you double and triple down on it, right? Because the numbers go up. And we like that. And when numbers don't go up, we don't like that. And any, any chance to experiment could lead to massive failure. You're not experimenting on a game during a game jam that took six people to make over a 48 hour period. You are experimenting on something that could possibly take three years of development with dozens and dozens or possibly upwards of hundreds of employees. And that's a lot of money to sink into it. Where I'm at with this is, you know, we hear these stories every day about live service games, you know, maybe not doing as well as, as they would hope. And of course the big juggernauts are always succeeding up there. I keep thinking about Project Frog or whatever. The Frog game, the Frog type game that Bungie was working on that then became like, you know, they, they sectioned off that Bungee team to then work on the Frog type game. That's a multiplayer type video game. And everybody in the studio has nothing but incredible things to say about it. That's one where I'm like, where is that shit? Where's that, where's that game at? Because that sounds like an experiment that may be the last of its kind that we'll never see an experiment like that again. Where's the Frog type game? Chat.

[B]

Yeah, it just feels like with Astrobot, right? Me as a gamer, I want Astrobot2 replicate the playbook. Continue that. I think everyone really wants that out of Astrobot at this time. It was so good, right? But when we get to Astrobot 3 or 4, right, does the change start to happen? Do we start to see the numbers lower and lower where they do need to make a change? Or it just isn't the franchise it was, but for right now, Astrobot's a mega hit. It is now the new franchise on the Sony block. You're going to see that continue on, right? That's a win.

[A]

I had mentioned this to, I think maybe Blessing at the time, I always meant to tell Tim about it, but when I went to Osaka last year and I went to their version of Best Buy, I forget what it's called. It's like a dude's name.

[B]

Okay. Like Dave's.

[A]

Wait, maybe. Wait, hold up. Yeah, that might be it. Hold up. Chat. Hold up. Japan. Best Buy. Is it Dave's? No, I don't know what it's called, but walked by the video game section and there was a little adorable, like baby girl playing Astrobot and just like smiling and laughing. And I was like, God. And I wanted to take a photo. I was like, no, that looks weird. Don't take a photo of a little girl playing a video game. But it's just like, it just made me smile. I'm like, man, you. You want this little robot guy to be in every household possible. And I agree with Tim. You know, not the coolest looking villains, but, you know, we can work on.

[B]

A chance to work after playing.

[A]

But after playing Bonanza, I'm like, God, these villains look awesome.

[B]

Yeah, Yeah.

[A]

I never be. Did you be Bonanza?

[B]

No, no, no.

[A]

Yeah, I haven't gotten back to it.

[B]

Can we talk about demo kiosks for just a quick moment, please? Do remember back in the 90s and early 2000s that the. The controller would be at your chest level, but then the.

[A]

Oh my God.

[B]

So cranked up that your neck would have to look up to the sky.

[A]

So high up there.

[B]

What a great video. What a time.

[A]

And it was like a 10 inch screen. Yeah.

[B]

NFL fever.

[A]

Oh, my God. Yeah, it was definitely blitz. Blitz is definitely up there. No, it wasn't. It wasn't Don Quixote, Chad. It was a. I. I don't know why I think it was Dave's. That doesn't make sense though.

[B]

How do you get better supervision? How do you get better oversight on these games is also a big question there. That's a great conversation of like, who is the one, the Matt Booties of the world, right? Their role is to facilitate all this and kind of be the middleman between Phil and the studios for help, but also kind of be the guy on the ground saying, I'm looking at X, Y and Z. I'm liking how this is tracking. Hey, Andy, I don't like how this team is tracking right here. We need to do something right? Like, how do you better that oversight?

[A]

I think it has less to do with. And here's me speaking from a completely uneducated standpoint where when I did the tiny time of game development I did. I was just like, all right, make this art asset. So, like, for, I think it comes down to not letting it even get to that point of being greenlit. Like, that's where we're at.

[B]

So to have a better conversation of, hey, here's the pitch, and me being able to have the fortitude to say that pitch isn't what we're looking for right now, or this isn't gonna hit, I'm sorry, go back to the drawing board.

[A]

Or are you able to do what you want to do multiplayer wise with a 15 person budget? Right? Like, because it all comes down to green lighting these things that require a shitload of money if you want to greenlight an experiment like, like Herman Hulse mentioned, we want to fail early and fail cheaply. Right? Like, you don't, you need to, like, you need to catch it before it hits stage four. You know what I mean? You want, like, you, you need to identify this before you blink. And suddenly it's five years into development and you have 200 plus million dollars into it and you go, oh, we really should have gotten a hold of this before the team tripled last year and before our budgets even got this high. We should have really looked at how can we execute this idea in the, unfortunately, in the cheapest way possible, the most budget friendly way possible.

[B]

What are some of the ways that people can do that? Right? Is it getting outside gamers to come in and test it? Is it having people like Janet Garcia do mock reviews? Or is it just simply saying because it's so tough, right? These games are five years in the making, seven years in the making to see if they're going to land or not? How do you make that call so early and say, oh, I like this, but this is not it.

[A]

I think the biggest problem with it is that so many of these games are fun as it is. Yes, I, I think it's rare for a lot of these multiplayer games to come out and be a complete dud. On the experience side, we've played so many of these games that have come and gone that in any other era, in any other year, 10 years ago, if they came out, they'd be massive hits. There's just, there's not a whole lot of ways that you can predict what is going to penetrate the market right now. And so many of these games are fun and good when you're playing them and when, and I'm sure the testers are having a lot of fun. And when the game comes out, when Wild Gate comes out, and we play, we're like, wow, what a fun and cool idea. Haven't gone back to that in a while. I don't know if that game's still succeeding or not or doing decent numbers, but that's kind of a perfect example of, oh, a fresh idea that's actually fun and awesome. Not that the, the last couple of games that came out weren't super fresh, but they were still fun and awesome.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Just not enough to kind of keep us there for the long haul. And that's a lot of these games. A lot of these games just require the player base and they require the influx of cash every couple of quarters or whatever with new DLCs and things like that. And, you know, it's really, really hard to, to notice because if. If we were to go back in time eight years ago and I showed you all of these canceled games and said, which ones are gonna fail? And then at the end of it, you played them all, you're like, wow, these were all fun. Which one? And you go, hey, just kidding. This is a prank. All of them failed actually. Like, whoa, Holy. So many of these were fun and awesome and that. It's just. It's a weird market right now. We're in a weird place in time where people's time is so divided. You're even seeing reports of the NBA and the NFL and Major League Baseball trying to compete with Tick Tock and, and movie studios and TV shows trying to compete with people scrolling on their phones. People's time is so, so divided into multiple ways now that it's really, really hard to get them all in one place and out of their devices scrolling. Because sometimes you'd rather just scroll in bed horizontally than hop on that multiplayer game with your friend. Story number two. Sony finally makes the PlayStation refund process easier. This comes from Connor McCarr at Eurogamer. Sony has pushed an update live to the PlayStation Store that makes refunds considerably easier. The new process, which can only be done on the PlayStation website or app, goes as follows. Navigate to the PlayStation Store and select the three dots in the top right corner to accent your to access your transaction history. Those damn three dots, man. Anytime you try to look for a demo three dots, you got to hit three dots.

[B]

PS4. Or is it the PS5 version? Can I just get the right version, please?

[A]

Damn. Three dots. All right, sorry for interrupting the process because y' all are probably taking step by step notes. You hit the three dots in the top right corner to go to access your transaction history. From there, you should Be able to select your past purchases and request and request refunds. Previously, PlayStation users would have to use an online assistant, basically a chatbot, to negotiate a refund. The requirements for a refund remain the same. Only a product bought within the last 14 days is valid, and you can't have begun the process of downloading or playing it. That is, unless what you bought is faulty, in which case these requirements may be circumvented. It's a nice little update that should come. That should make those 2am Reflex purchases of Detroit Become Human feel a little less rancid the next day. Oh, short. Become Human. Taking a stray right there from Connor McCarthy right there. I was watching a tick tock of of Pokimane being, like, doing a giveaway of all these consoles.

[B]

Okay, Yeah, I saw her doing a fun one. She wanted to do giveaways.

[A]

She's going through the past of, like, you know, Game Boy, you have my back. When I was a kid and going through, like, her history of gaming, and she was like, PlayStation 4, you mean the world to me. I wouldn't have played my favorite story game ever, Detroit Become Human. And I was like, oh, Pokeman, there's a lot of good games out there.

[B]

We gotta get.

[A]

We gotta expand your horizons, we gotta expand your eyes. But, I mean, this is great news for people who may have had those issues, not necessarily having to, what Cotter says here, negotiate a refund with a chat bot. That sounds like a nightmare.

[B]

I have to go to Roger for those. Roger does all my negotiations on doordash when I need a refund.

[A]

Oh, God.

[B]

Are you paying him? No, but, like, he. He's there to help, you know what I mean?

[A]

Why does he do this for you?

[B]

He loves me. Unlike someone.

[A]

He has a higher tolerance for you, you know? I love that. You know, like, all right, Andy's tired of me already. I know. I hit my limit.

[B]

Give him a week. I'll be back. Let him recharge. I mean, yeah, it's nice to have a good refund policy, right? You and I have played plenty of stinker games and wish that we could stop that right away. Or games that just came out and were super bad. Right. Someone came into my chat last night and was like, I'm so mad at PlayStation for letting this game or PC Ubisoft letting some Assassin's Creed game get ported, and it was really poor. It's like, hey, homie, hit that refund button. Get your money back. Come back when it gets patched and fixed, you know? So he's Looking for a good one.

[A]

Yeah, that's great news right there. That at least things are being made a little bit easier. But again, those damn three dots. Those three dots. When I'm out there looking for a demo, come on, and I search the game, the demo should be the first damn thing I see.

[B]

The demo should be its own tile. You should see that in the search I got.

[A]

I had to go into the game and then hit the. Go to the three dots and then the demo. Like, why are you hiding this? It makes zero sense. Story number three, Skates early access date has been finally confirmed from Chris Scullion at vgc. EA and developer Full Circle have finally announced the early access date for Skate. The fourth game in the Skate series and the first new release in 15 years. Will enter early access on September 16th. Quote we are so hyped to announce that Skate will release in Early Access September 16, 2025, end quote. The game's official X account said they also ended the tweet with see you in San Vansterdam. Mike, does this do anything for you at all? Get like, just lay it all out because you've been waiting for this.

[B]

Be real, Andy. This is the most anticipated release of the year because it has so much riding on it. Skate is a beloved franchise. It is one of my favorite games, one of my favorite titles to play moment to moment gameplay in action is superb in this game. But on the flip side, why this is one of the most anticipated games of the year is also because the failure risk is through the roof right now with EA and this team, Full Circle. Because Skate now is a early access games is a service game when really I think just the player base wanted Skate 4. We wanted the true full experience at launch ready to go. But of course, in 2025, the world is a lot different than it was 15 years ago when the last Skate released, right? And so they've changed with the market, they've changed with the time, and they're trying to release a game that is ever evolving, ever present, and you and your friends can have new and fun things to do all the times, every day, every week, every month, right? That's the selling point of all this. Will that work? Will that land? Andy? We will find out on September 16th because this is a massive moment, right? This is one of those games where I'm gonna hop in and I'm gonna tell you how great it is and then I'm gonna be like, Andy, there's not enough content. You come back later on and you're gonna Forget about this six months to a year from now and EA is going to be like, oh, we're at 1.0. We're dropping the biggest patch ever. We want you to come back. And those player numbers will never be the same.

[A]

There, there will be a big update in the future. This happens every time and it just doesn't quite hit the way you would want it to. Yeah, man. This is not only, I think obviously big for, for Full Circle and for ea, but I think this is a big kind of not a make or break, but this is going to be a big moment for AAA sports games, for AAA extreme sports games in this way. Yeah. Like the skateboarding games, the snowboarding games, like the this trying to be this live service model that does not sound like what the fans initially even wanted. It's a big swing and it's a very risky swing and I really hope this game comes out and kicks a lot of ass and the fans get everything that they want out of it. But you know, it's really easy to be worried.

[B]

It's easy to be worried. And you bring up like other extreme extreme sports games and it's wild, Andy, that you and I who grew up with EA big titles, right? Those have come and gone like the dodo. No one is making SSX tricky anymore. We haven't had a skate game release in 15 years. We don't get the high class arcadey sports games like we used to. It is now just the, the franchise sports games that you know and love. And then indie teams have really brought back to life the fun extreme sports like Shredders that I loved, like Descenders, the Senders next. Those are being carried by these indie teams who know, hey, we got a super small budget. We don't have. We can't release a super mega product product. But we're going to give this to you for 15 bucks and hope you ride with us and believe in us and maybe support us down the way where we can get bigger. And EA is the only team that has a title like this in their catalog that they can release and they've chosen a games as a service, Early Access, which is a wild choice here. It's so 2025. Yeah, but like this will be the one where it's like you've poured all this into this studio, into this team. If this doesn't hit within that first year, this will be another one of like massive layoffs at ea. Full circle down under, right? It's like full circle. That's not going to be good.

[A]

What do you think the game loop is in this video game? What is the game Loop of Skate? I'm so unfamiliar with skate as a product. I obviously have played a shitload of Tony Hawk games a long time ago, granted. But like, everything I've sort of seen so far just looks like you and your friends kind of free roaming. Is there a mission structure? What is this game like?

[B]

Yeah. So back in the day, skate was in this fully realized, beautifully detailed world where you would be able to run around this open world and take on different challenges and missions throughout your journey. And you could do branching paths, you could go wherever you wanted, which is a giant open world. And you roll up, it'd be Robin Big. And they'd be like, yo, what up, bro? We got this camera.

[A]

They got Robin big in there.

[B]

They did. Oh, so they get.

[A]

They're doing the celebrity stuff as well?

[B]

Well, back in the day they did. I don't know where they will be in this. And so they would be like, yo, man, hit this rail. We want you to do 10,000, 15,000, 20,000 point combos will give you a gold or bronze medal. And those medals would go into your level up, go into your skate popularity. So you could go back to the skateboard house, make new decks, sell them to fans and all that jazz. Right? So, like, really, the circle of the game is you adventuring across this giant map, going to different cool skate spots and doing fun. Different skate events, different skate tricks, whatever that may, that challenge may be. And so at the core of it, it's easy to replicate that in a live service game because that's what they're going to do. They're going to give you a giant open world. They're going to have many challenges that they'll be able to update every month, every week, every year, with new things to do on the map. But the goal now is to say, hey, this map is always online. You and your friends can play. I'm sure there will be a. A single player. Turn it off. I don't want to see anybody. But they want you to be able to skate with like 15 friends all around town. And especially in this one, they want you to be able to create in this world. So back in the day, you could create small things and you could create fun things. I think they really want you to create in this one where it's like, yo, me and Andy, we found this cool spot. Oh, my buddy Greg just showed up and he put a mega ramp here. Oh, snap. Khalif Adams just showed up and he Just put seven rails together to make the ultimate down rail. Let's just sesh together. And so on paper, it sounds fun. The issue is, is the die hard skate fans want a fun open world that they can go adventure around, want these challenges that they can do. The issue that we see with early access titles is there will be seven missions to do when you want 37 on a full product. Right. And so you're hoping on September 16th that this team has had plenty of time to dial in all of that stuff to do and you should have a fun time. I. I'm hoping for the best.

[A]

The create aspect reminds me a lot of the old school GTA race maps. Reminds me of what we've seen a lot recently with, with Fortnite and Roblox. Sort of, you know, the. The audience and the player base really kind of getting creative and making their own maps that could eventually become really, really popular. When you're looking at. I'm assuming it would be a list of, you know, you would kind of populate a list of maps. Mike, you would like, similar to Fortnite of playlists and servers and go, oh, I want to go hop into this server where that map is with that ramp. Sir, I'm struggling a lot right now.

[B]

I'm here for you.

[A]

I got a little ice in my throat.

[B]

Tap you on the back?

[A]

No. Okay. I'm okay. But the. In the old skate games, were you pop. Were you refreshing, like a list of servers to go hop into?

[B]

No, it was you and your friends.

[A]

Okay, so you were never.

[B]

The interesting part is like you're thinking more like Halo Forge. You're thinking Battlefield Portal where it's like these custom servers.

[A]

Right.

[B]

I don't anticipate that from the skate experience. Now, I haven't played any of the early access stuff, so I don't know what they're doing, but I don't think it is. Hey, I've created Danny Way's Hawaiian Dream. Part Snowbike mic, and now it's just living and breathing. No, this is more like in the moment. We're hanging out and I'm creating and you can come in there or maybe I've built this in my world. You can come back and do it. I don't think it's just servers where I download your world and I'm ready to.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

And so we'll see. Maybe I'm wrong. I think another big one is like, is this free to play? I'm not quite sure if it is free to play. Right. The goal for EA is to get a bunch of new people into skate, right? It's been 15 years. Maybe you've never played a skate. Maybe you're like, I'm not really an extreme sports athlete anymore, right? Hoping that this games is a service. Early access title will get you and your friends in so you'll come in and play. And then of course the business model is, hey, if you had a good time, maybe you toss this five bucks, maybe you toss this 20 bucks for the coolest gear so you and your friends can look dope as you hit sick rails and grinds.

[A]

Well, you only have about a month to do what you want in Skate before their other big game, Battlefield comes out. So you got to like, you know, maybe in that, maybe in skate we'd redirect all the players to Battlefield or something like that.

[B]

They'll have a Battlefield outfit. You could dress up as a military guy.

[A]

Definitely.

[B]

I mean, the positive for ea, right, is you hear that this could be a strong end of the year for EA if Skate is to hit and then move into Battlefield 6, which we already know is kind of a big massive hit already. We haven't had a price tag on that yet. We've had two free to play weekends. Let's get to the price tag moment and the launch first. But this is like end of a year for ea. That probably hasn't happened in a while, right? They've been riding their sports games for quite some time. We don't have a new BioShock out, right? It's like this is a nice strong end to an EA year if these two were to hit.

[A]

Speaking of massive hits, Mike, I'd like to tell you about a word from our sponsors right now. Xreal.

[C]

This episode's brought to you by Xreal. As of August 25th, Xreal One Pro is finally available on Amazon and BestBuy.com plus it's back in stock now on Xreal.com a few months ago, my life changed forever when I brought a pair of xreal One Pro AR glasses on a incredibly long flight to New York City. I legit could not believe how easy it was to use and how high quality my experience was. Playing games with my Steam deck and watching movies with my phone on the plane on a theater sized OLED screen right in front of my eyes without too much extra stuff or a giant goofy headset involved. No joke, this is my first favorite new piece of tech in years and it has earned a permanent spot in my travel bag. It's only hard to believe it works as well, as I'm saying, until you try xreal AR glasses for yourself and then you will see that the tech is here. Connect xreal One Pro glasses to whatever you're playing like a handheld console, PC phone or home console and get a massive 150 inch virtual screen anywhere, anytime for any game. Gaming on the go like a long flight, you need xreal1.neck starting to hurt from staring down at your handheld? You need xreal One. It's plug and play with all your devices via usbc built in audio with sound by Bose anchoring your screen literally anywhere in space. 1080p full HD and you can make it bigger, smaller, farther, closer, ultra wide or regular widescreen, horizontal, vertical, even 3D if you have a 3D movie. It's all built in and can be controlled by pressing a few buttons on the glasses. These are what make Xreal One Pro a must have. Xreal One Pro is now available on Amazon and Best Buy.com and from August 25th through September 1st you can get $50 off if you bundle the Xreal One Pro with the Xreal Beam Pro AR mobile device on Amazon or xreal.com There is nothing better than when a sponsor of Kinda funny is something we are legitimately obsessed with. So get yours [e-mail] that's kindafunny.com xreal.

[A]

Support for this podcast and the following message comes from America's Navy. The Navy offers new graduates, hands on training and experience in careers like computer science, aviation and medicine, plus education and sign on bonuses. Parents help your grads start their career [e-mail] you say you'll never join the Navy, never climb Mount Fuji on a.

[B]

Port visit or break the sound barrier.

[A]

Joining the Navy sounds crazy. Saying never actually is. Learn [e-mail], america's Navy forged by the sea. You say you'll never join the Navy, that you'd never track storms brewing in the Atlantic.

[B]

And skydiving could never be.

[A]

Part of your commute. You'd never climb Mount Fuji on a.

[B]

Port visit or fly so fast you break the sound barrier.

[A]

Joining the Navy sounds crazy. Saying never actually is. Start your [e-mail] America's Navy forged by the sea story number four excuse me, excuse me Mike, get loud.

[B]

Take a moment.

[A]

Nintendo is reportedly telling would be Switch two devs to release on Switch instead. This comes from Chris Golan at VGC. Developers are still struggling to get hold of Nintendo Switch 2 development kits after the console's launch, according to new reports in the latest edition of digital foundries. DF Direct weekly podcast host John Linneman and Oliver McKenzie reported that they had been told by numerous developers that they were still unable to get a hold of of a development kit to make Switch 2 games. According to Linneman, some developers were instead being told to make games for the original Switch for now instead of specifically working on Switch 2 only titles. QUOTE there's been a lot of talk about this lately that Nintendo seems to have seems to be almost discouraging switch 2 development to some degree, he said. I've spoken with plenty of developers where they were told that their game should just ship on Switch 1 and rely on backwards compatibility. There's a lot of developers that are unable to get Switch two dev kits. We've talked to a lot of devs at Gamescom this year and so many of them said the same things. They want to Switch, they want to ship on Switch 2. They would love to do Switch 2 versions. They can't get the hardware. It's really difficult right now. End quote. Damn, that's tough. Yeah, not a good.

[B]

That's a yikes, right?

[A]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I wonder what like is it just. This is something that we'll probably not get a whole lot of info of because Nintendo is so like, you know, of course it's so hard to kind of get into that fortress. But this is not a great situation.

[B]

Pre release. We didn't want to send out dev kits because we didn't want you spoiling it, is it? Hey, we made so many consumer units that we haven't been big on the dev side because they, you know, I thought they nailed the launch. Right. Everybody that I talked to got a Switch to so far. So maybe they just put it all towards consumers and we haven't been pushing the dev side of things yet. Like what is that answer there on why developers aren't getting this to create games for your ecosystem and platform there.

[A]

That's quite the bummer because as we oh, we have a first time chatter from Ms. Bliss Presents. Who says new here? Is this live? It is live. Welcome in.

[B]

That's Andy. I'm Mike.

[A]

Welcome in new chatters. If you have Amazon prime, you have Twitch Prime. Yeah, this is a not a great situation because a lot of devs are looking at this going well. Yeah, we know we can make a Switch one version but it sucks and it's not and obviously that's a lot of extra work to even get it to run on the Switch 1 with optimization time. We want the Switch 2 version because it's a more powerful platform and to go from our game that runs on a current PC and it looks really, really nice. It would take a bit less to go back to Switch two specs than to go all the way back to Switch one specs. We gotta just hope that these dev kits start to get going because I really want to see the third parties really kind of pop off and I want to see indies really start to pop off where again, a lot of these games just look like dookie and don't run great on the Switch 1. But really, really hope that Switch 2 dev kids could improve a lot of that and not require people to go dude, we're only a team of four people. Like we're still working on this game. We don't really have time to. To try to optimize for hardware that old, you know.

[B]

Well said, Andy. I mean that's the big one right? Is getting. We know the Switch will be great with Nintendo games. We're looking for third party games to be able to step in and really shine on this. Is this gonna be the Switch two where it's just Switch one where all the Nintendo games are great and everything else is booty. Like what are we doing here for this generation?

[A]

Because I'm still waiting for what? You know, when is Marvel rivals come to Switch to when is. Well, we already heard, you know, not so great reports about Elden Ring not running great on Switch to which you know, shocker from software. I love you all but Christ, please let's get a, you know a new. Let's get some. Let's get some tech heads out there. Let's get. Let's get Nvidia a bit more involved or AMD more involved.

[B]

Somebody to help you. Shit, man.

[A]

It's really, really tough to make from software run games run perfectly smooth and not running great on the Switch 2 is not awesome news unfortunately.

[B]

It's just disheartening. Right? Yeah, I'm gonna play Nintendo games on this. That's about it.

[A]

Story number five. Baby Steps has been delayed because of Silk song. This comes from a press release. Nate the wary onesie donned Fail sun at the heart of the eccentric adventure in literal walking simulator Baby Steps has stumbled upon. Has stumbled after attempting to ascend his greatest challenge yet. Launching the week after Hollow Knight Silksong surprise release date Footage of Nate's fail is viewable in this new trailer which confirms the adventures new launch date. Baby Steps will now release on September 23rd for PC and PlayStation 5. The dominoes have started. This is Great.

[B]

Get out the way.

[A]

This is awesome. That's a great. For audio listeners. The dude, funky looking dude, Nate from Baby Steps was trying to walk on a big hornet statue. Hornet, the character from Silksong. And is really, really struggling and stumbling. So they moved the release date. We knew this would start to happen. We knew that this was the indie version of GTA 6 and which sort of titles would try to move out of the way. And, you know, we've already sort of seen some titles go, all right, you know, we'll go to a different date. We're happy with that.

[B]

I think they're up to five or six now that they got to move. Baby Steps four that me and Blessing read. I think there was one more as well. But yeah, this is. You said it so well. This is the GTA 6 of indie games. And it's really. This is the big title of September, especially to start off the month. So, yeah, move. Get out of the way right now. Unfortunately, School was the other one. Demon School makes five, and then Baby Steps is six.

[A]

Unfortunately, everybody's golf hot shots just caught in the crossfire.

[B]

They said, we're good.

[A]

They're still there. They're still there. No, you'll play some golf games when you're done with your. With your. Metroidvania, the. Another game that is. That was always releasing around this date. And I'm glad that it's kind of, you know, separated enough. Not far enough in my opinion. But it's a game called Constance.

[B]

Put us on. Put us on to something.

[A]

And Constance is a hollow. Like a Hollow Knight. Like a hollow. Like.

[B]

Okay. Oh, okay.

[A]

2D platformer, gorgeous art style. No, well, you know, a lot of these art styles just sort of. Once Hollow Knight came up with his art style, a lot of games sort of followed suit. Reminds me of the limbo art style, like, to a degree.

[B]

I like that.

[A]

Sharp contrasts. But. But Constance is a game that is releasing September 23rd. This is one I've been. Or. Or wait, no, no. November 24th. Why does it say. I thought it was September 23rd? Hold on, let me get to the bottom of this. I could have sworn on Twitter they said that they were releasing on September. Let me look into this, do some research.

[B]

He's doing some research.

[A]

But the game is gorgeous. It's a 2D platformer. It kind of has some splatoon like mechanics where you're a little girl and her hair is made of paint and you sort of turn into the paint and you use the paint to kind of traverse and go around the world. But the. The demo's been up on steam for quite. Okay, never mind. It is November 24th. I could have sworn it was a couple of weeks after. My bad. Might be. But this game looks fantastic. Keep this one, you know, in the back of your mind, because the game rocks. And again, there's a demo up right now. It's a lot of fun. And it's another one that we're. Before we even really knew that Silksong was actually going to come out this year until we got the full confirmation is always like, all right, well, this one's still coming out, and I can't wait for this one because the demo does kick a lot of ass.

[B]

Yeah. So like, a 92 overall.

[A]

Is that what you need?

[B]

I need. I need one more.

[A]

You need a 90, though.

[B]

That's a lot. Like, I need 87 minimum 90 to win.

[A]

That's so hard.

[B]

90 to lock in and win.

[A]

Who's in? Who are you trying to beat?

[B]

Barrett.

[A]

Damn.

[B]

I'm talking about our fantasy critic draft. If you don't know, like, I'm right there. I'm knocking on the door and, like, we're all battling against Barrett because we know that Barrett takes this for real and is looking to win. And I'm looking to stop that.

[A]

Okay, well, here's the thing. Maybe. Maybe some. Maybe some reviews for Hyper Light Breaker start to come out, Mike, because they just released a massive update. You played it, and it rocks. It's awesome.

[B]

Nice.

[A]

Progression is great. I, I, I played even I played more last night.

[B]

I noticed it was a multiplayer game and I didn't receive an invite.

[A]

You don't like PvE games? If I play with you after an hour, you get bored and you start to try to entertain yourself, and it just annoys you.

[B]

I need the challenge.

[A]

I mean, challenge yourself and go to therapy. Okay. Jesus Christ. Yeah. So you need an 87. That's not easy, Mike. That's like, you're asking for a lot right there.

[B]

I need something perfect to end the year. There's. There's a game out there, Andy, and the audience out here that you can recommend me. There's a game out there that will land between now and December 25th that will be an 87 or above. I need that. Find it.

[A]

Who had shinobi bear it?

[B]

Because I couldn't spell it.

[A]

You really couldn't spell. Damn. You could have. That was a lot of points, right?

[B]

I typed in a lot of different ways, too.

[A]

Find. You should have just asked me how to spell It. Yeah, you. You were typing. Why? I remember.

[B]

Yeah, I was trying to keep it on the line.

[A]

I saw S H Y. And I laughed. I made fun of you. You got really uptight about it. You weren't happy about me making fun of you. Looks like YouTube died. Sorry. YouTube. Twitch. You're still here. And speaking of being here. Yeah, thank you for speaking of big of. You need a real big score, Mike.

[B]

Big score.

[A]

But. And speaking of big stuff, I'm looking for little stuff. Where would I go?

[B]

Andy, I take you to our last story, the WE News Channel, where we cover all the small news items you need to know about.

[A]

Sorry, YouTube. YouTube died. I don't know why. I don't know why. YouTube done. We News Acclaim Showcase announced premiering September 10th.

[B]

My boy double J's been promoting this.

[A]

Double J. Jeff Jarrett.

[B]

Jeff Jarrett.

[A]

Luminesce Arise launches November 11th on PS5 and PC Demo Live now on PlayStation 5 and Steam. This one that. Who got this one?

[B]

Never heard of it.

[A]

You should get this one if nobody has it. Oh, maybe Greg got this one.

[B]

Yeah, I think he did.

[A]

I think Greg got this one. When I looked at, like, Tim getting a game, like Tim just. You're out of this. Don't steal games for the.

[B]

Kim took Silent Hill from me. I would have taken Silent Hill. He took Mafia Old Country. That got him a four.

[A]

It's a tough year. That's a tough year for Tim right there. Kirby and the Forgotten Land OST is now available on Nintendo Music. Thank you. I don't know why I'm thanking them, but I love the Nintendo Music app. There's a required reading post that we're telling you you're being required to read this. IGN union is fighting against employees being overworked. There's an Instagram post you could check out, but the gist of it from the A tweet says zip. Davis and IGN routinely decide that work done by our laid off colleagues is not important. But inevitably, that crucial work falls onto those who remain. Not this time. Not anymore. They laid out a graphic breaking down the situation, what they're asking for, and what their actions are going to be. Required reading. Go to the Instagram, post important stuff. Fight for your rights to vote. We just heard a little window sound.

[B]

Again back on the YouTube. Go check this post out though. Read about it.

[A]

Yeah, YouTube is coming back. Sorry, guys, it's not. Oh, it's not.

[B]

That's. It's gone.

[A]

It's. It's our. The multi stream thing we're doing. It's like, it's not. It's not perfect. And we're trying to.

[B]

Yeah, you'll be multi streaming every night. It's perfect.

[A]

Yeah, but I don't send a feed somewhere like we do. Like we're doing. We're using the.

[B]

It's weird.

[A]

The YouTube one is the one that's going down.

[B]

The one that's our main feed.

[A]

Do you need us to stream from. From my. From me and Barrett's apartment? No. No, I don't think so. I have my little PC there.

[B]

You Internet.

[A]

You sit behind me. Oh, Kevin, I bought a mesh thing.

[B]

Oh, yeah. Finally.

[A]

Yeah, it's not great.

[B]

Well, okay. How do you have it hooked up?

[A]

Oh, it's an exciting conversation. We should have afterwards. Yeah. Plugged it into the wall. Plug the router.

[B]

You should let him come over, set up the mesh network. Me and Nick come over. We're looking to hgtv.

[A]

I don't.

[B]

Stream room.

[A]

I don't want you anywhere.

[B]

I see you. I know you got a shelf now. I like this shelf in the background.

[A]

Andy, let me get in that roof.

[B]

Let me. Let us get in there.

[A]

Many face. Steph says a lot of horse hair in the walls. It's a big revelation. It slows everything down. We need. We need a SUI Awards, Mike. We need our. Our own suey.

[B]

I agree.

[A]

It's just so hard to keep track of. I know, but for chat. Who doesn't know? I'm a big fan of the Dan LeBatard Show. Every year they do the SUI Awards. Whenever something happens, they mark it down, they clip it out. They put it in an archive somewhere. Because every year they have award categories like Biggest Revelation, where somebody learned something. And we would have put the horsehair in Biggest Revelation. Or they'll have Biggest Mistake and it's just somebody saying wrong.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Mike would probably dominate the category.

[B]

Death rattle.

[A]

My. Oh, yeah.

[B]

Insane sound.

[A]

Best Wheeze Laugh. Yeah. Or whatever. We gotta do that. We gotta do that. Let's get to some super chats. And you are wrong. Thank you for bringing up this article about the horse hair being in the walls. Kevin, I'm telling you, man, there's something to it.

[B]

Is that a San Francisco thing?

[A]

I guess so. Yeah. Goddamn horse hair. It's like, you know when. When all the freaks, like. Like Dr. Disrespect and all them. We're all worried about like five. The 5G signals and getting the rocks and the pebbles. They should have just covered some horse hair because 5G would not get through that. That. That was the True solution to it all. All right, I'm trying to get to the super chats. Here we go. Shungite. That's what it was. Monaco. Oh, my God. Bunch of weirdos. Let's see. Golden Spider with a five dollar Super Chat says Microsoft and Xbox seem to be down in some ways. Just try to resub the game. Pass. And kept getting. You're not authorized to view this page. That's solid. That's good stuff. Okay, take my money then. Yeah.

[B]

You know what I mean.

[A]

Raymond K. Hessel. Five dollar Super Chat. Thank you for your support. Raymond says, speaking of divided time. Andrew and Michael. My name's Andres, but thank you. Says I only have time for another game come September 4th. What should it be? Silksong or Hell Is Us. What do you care about more? Do you care about Hollow Knight at all? If you do, then obviously Silksong. If you never played a Hollow Knight game in your life, play Hell Is Us and then play Hollow Knight in the background.

[B]

Good call.

[A]

I'll buy the OG Hollow Knight for you. It's like $5.

[B]

I think that's really nice of him to do that.

[A]

Another super chat from Golden Spider 10 super chat says apparently Deadlock has been releasing four new heroes in the last week and a half. Yes, they have been. Says with two more still to come. Official reveal and 1.0 date coming soon. They've been on a tear.

[B]

I went back and played. Did you play yet?

[A]

Why didn't you invite me?

[B]

It was like 11 o' clock at night. You already sleeping by then?

[A]

I don't give a.

[B]

Okay. Okay. Well, let's get a party going together.

[A]

Okay.

[B]

We've been gone. We've been separated for too long. Name the last game we played together.

[A]

Yesterday. It was.

[B]

Well, no. Word doesn't count. Word doesn't count. You. You're forced to be with me here.

[A]

If you want to be paid, you have to be with me here in this. You have to be in the same building as me. Chad, what was the last game me and Mike played together?

[B]

What was the last time we played?

[A]

After work hours?

[B]

I mean, Dune was a long time ago. Dune was a month and a half ago.

[A]

Wild gate. Probably. Yeah. Yeah. May have been wild again.

[B]

Wild game.

[A]

Another super chat says someone check on Joey. Taylor Swift is engaged. $2.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

Travis. He did it. Wow. That's big.

[B]

That's massive.

[A]

Congrats.

[B]

Insane. Really?

[A]

I thought they would have announced it on the podcast. That's crazy.

[B]

Too much. That's fun. Where do you think they got engaged? All that money, that fame.

[A]

I think, I think Travis Kelsey took Taylor Swift to a Sizzler.

[B]

You know, here's the one Vista in Kansas City.

[A]

I think afterwards he like took her to the mall and like, get whatever you want at Bed Bath and Beyond, you know, what a beautiful life. Cozy bear with his $5 super chat says get ready because I have a cool new segment prepped for today's happy hour podcast that Andy Cortez in particular will appreciate. Look forward to it. Thank you, Cozy Bear.

[B]

Holy.

[A]

Violet's archive with a five dollar super chat says my name change got approved. I'm officially Violet. Thanks for being there with things look bleak. Love you, Andy and Mike. Hell yeah, Violet. Proud of you. We love you. Love that, GGs. And that seems to be it for the super chats. We'll go into your wrong right here where you can write into kind offunny.com you're wrong to let us know what we got wrong. But if it's just you, you know, adding on to a fact, then maybe I'll read if it's interesting enough. We have Claw Master who says to add to the difference between Tony Hawk and skate series and skate series, you don't use a face button to use your tricks. You use the right thumbstick to do so. Ah.

[B]

Oh, you didn't know that?

[A]

I didn't know that. The skate series always felt like a more realistic version of skating.

[B]

It's the best. And you back that thumb sticker, then you flick it up and you can do a little ollie, you can do a kick flip, you can do a 360 flip. You can do all these different moves, right? And the nothing better than getting up on that, that up ollie. And then you're looking at the downrail and you can move the stick how you want the board to land, anticipate the landing. And so you can do a little 50, 50 board slide. You can just do a, you can do a, a normal rail or you try to lock in that nose blunt. Man. Nothing better than locking in the nose blunt.

[A]

I wish all golf games kind of came to an agreement to either go forward with never using the three click method or only the stick.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

Because I don't like that there are options because I feel like more often than not we will always revert back to the three click method. But I think that I, I just think based on, you know, Me too. No, me too. But I think. But Greg's not.

[B]

He's cheating then.

[A]

And I feel like if. I wish we all just got on the same page. Because it does feel like we are playing a fundamentally different game. And I think that there's more variety and dynamic ways to up with the stick.

[B]

Like of course, bend the ball a little bit better, right?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You might be able to hook it and then once you slice it in your favor as well. Tell, tell. No more three dots.

[A]

No more three dot.

[B]

No more three.

[A]

I do love the three click method though, don't get me wrong. But like this, the stick method is a lot more challenging and I like, I like the idea of like you know, you up not because you timed wrong, but because you did your stick wrong. You're like, oh, you know, maybe you coughed during your swing or something. I want just like real golf.

[B]

Somebody wrote it in. I want, I want Shadow, Trickster Road. I want all golf games now, Andy. Even on Xbox and PlayStation. Full motion control.

[A]

Me too. Me.

[B]

I want them to figure out how I can hold that controller like a golf club. I want every game motion control.

[A]

I would kill for that. Nolan Massey says Mike Battlefield is 69.99 on Steam for the base edition.

[B]

There it is.

[A]

A dish.

[B]

We will see how many of you jabronis show up for a full price. Title of battlefield.

[A]

Gary the third says PlayStation refunds aren't as good as Steam and Xbox. If you initiate an install of the game, you're not able to get an automatic refund. No two hour play time limit like Steam. That is true. That is true. Let's see here. Mike and Andy, have you ever just. Have you ever played Tales of Zillia? Highly recommend it. Never heard of it. Too many games though, man. Jeff, I'm sorry. Too many games. Jetpo.

[B]

But your boy Snow Mike. Mike did draft Tails of Zelia. Trails in the sky first chapter. Oh right, there's a demo out. People are going crazy.

[A]

When does it come out?

[B]

Soon this year. And I'll be playing it. I'm gonna play the demo. That's as much I'll give you.

[A]

It's a lot of commitment right there. This has been Kinda Funny Games Daily. Each and every weekday we run you through the nerd news 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 Kinda Funny membership on Patreon or YouTube to get all of our shows ad free, watch us record them live and get a daily exclusive show. Enjoy the Gamescast next and the stream after. But until next time, it's been our pleasure to serve you.