Saros Underperforms?! - Kinda Funny Games Daily 05.13.26

Summary

Kinda Funny Games Daily: Video Games News Podcast

Episode: Saros Underperforms?! – 05.13.26

Hosts: Andy Cortez & Michael "Snowbike" Howard (with Daphne and Barrett)
Date: May 13, 2026

---

Episode Theme:

A lively exploration of the state of video game sales in 2026, focusing on the underwhelming launch of PlayStation 5 exclusive Saros, the broader struggles of premium-priced games in today's economy, and the continued successes and industry maneuvers of companies like Capcom and Xbox. Plus, updates on new game features, industry layoffs, and plenty of community interaction.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The State of Saros: Launch Sales, Engagement, and Concerns

[11:35–31:58]

• News Summary:
  • Saros, a PS5 exclusive, sold just over 300,000 copies in its first two weeks (~$22 million revenue), well short of its ~$76 million development budget.
  • Strong player engagement: 40% of players logged over 15 hours; 30% played more than 20 hours—double the completion rate of predecessor Returnal at this stage.
• Industry Analysis:
  • Saros is considered "lukewarm" in performance—a tough spot with current financial pressures.
  • Factors: No PC port at launch, high $70 price, niche genre (challenging roguelite), competition from other major 2026 titles (Crimson Desert, Pragmata, Hades 2).
• Price Point Debate:
  • Hosts discuss whether $70 for a niche game is too high; compare to successful lower-priced hits (Expedition 33 at $50) and point out the resistance among players to higher launch prices.
  • Quote – Andy Cortez [20:12]:
    “Is the new price tag of $70 too much? ...I would have initially said no, but it's clear that I'm wrong...”
• Marketing & Platform Strategy:
  • Lack of marketing push; Sony’s apparent strategic cutbacks.
  • Sony pulling back on PC ports of single-player games. Saros likely won’t get a PC release—a move the hosts criticize for limiting sales potential.
• Community Reactions:
  • Superchats highlight the sentiment of waiting for a sale or a PC version, economic pressures, and the need for lower-priced options.
  • Quote – Daphne [27:22]:
    “For the average person outside of California, filling up a tank of gas is roughly the price of a video game right now. The economy is so... right now, a lot of people are being a bit more precious with what games they are choosing to actually buy this year.”

2. Capcom’s Banner Year: Record Sales & Lessons Learned

[39:55–47:11]

• News Summary:
  • Capcom sold 59+ million games in the last year—its ninth straight year of record profits.
  • Resident Evil Requiem was a major driver—nearly 7 million units sold in its launch window. Monster Hunter Wilds sold 11.4 million.
• Analysis:
  • Capcom has mastered balancing reliable tentpoles (Resident Evil, Monster Hunter) with calculated risks (Pragmata, new IPs).
  • 93% of sales are digital; catalog titles remain a core revenue source.
  • Quote – Andy Cortez [42:59]:
    “It's a testament to the level of quality that they're putting out. ...It's because we're putting out really good shit.”
• Future Outlook:
  • Upcoming titles: Pragmata, Onimusha Way of the Sword, Mega Man Dual Override in 2027.
  • Skepticism about whether next year can top current records, unless surprise hits emerge.

3. Xbox Focuses on Its Roots: New Achievement Features

[47:11–52:29]

• Feature Update:
  • Xbox introduces tiered Gamerscore badges—showing off achievement prowess on profiles, with designs up to a 10 million Gamerscore badge.
• Context:
  • Intended as a “small win” for core Xbox fans after years of pursuing broader PC/cloud strategies.
  • Quote – Michael Howard [49:31]:
    “The Achievement Hunters care about this. The Die Hards care about this and the Xbox core audience cares about this.”
  • Not a console seller, but aimed at increasing engagement and reassuring loyalists ahead of future hardware (Project Helix).

4. Industry Woes: Layoffs at Night Street Games

[52:29–56:24]

• News:
  • Last Flag, a multiplayer shooter backed by Imagine Dragons, underperformed (peak 558 concurrent Steam players); staff laid off.
• Wider Context:
  • The indie multiplayer market remains brutally tough—Splitgate cited as one of the last breakthrough hits.
  • Quote – Andy Cortez [54:50]:
    “I still don't know if a game like that succeeds if it's $5... It has to be this extremely viral thing.”

5. Game Release Updates & Quick News

[56:25–64:50]

NBA The Run Launches, Pricing, and Impressions

[56:25–59:44]

• Releases June 9: digital-only, $30 standard, $40 deluxe edition.
• In-game currency (CRED) can be earned, possibly bought—remains to be seen.
• Early preview: Feels like a spiritual successor to NBA Street, but controls are overwhelming at first and may not have the instant feel of arcade classics yet.
• Quote – Michael Howard [58:37]:
  “This game is as close as you're ever gonna get to an NBA Street Volume 2 remake... not quite there. It's good, but wasn't what we wanted out of the NBA Street successor.”

Mini-News Highlights (The “WE News Channel”)

[59:56–64:50]

• Overwatch’s Tracer, Mercy, Genji, D.Va join Fortnite tomorrow.
• Steam controller emits a Wilhelm scream if dropped (viral moment).
• Talos Principle 3 announced for 2027.
• 007 First Light has gone gold.
• Silent Hill F hits 2 million sold; SH2 Remake surpasses 6 million players.
• PlayStation Plus Premium Extra (May lineup): Star Wars Outlaws, Red Dead Redemption 2, Flintlock, and others.
• Subnautica 2 is Steam Deck verified.
• Media Molecule shutting down Tearaway’s online features in August; other community game updates.

6. Community Q&A & Memorable Moments

[65:18–74:08]

• Superchats: NBA Bounce comparisons, support for Capcom’s content mix, requests for chill games to play while holding a baby (The King is Watching, Titanium Court suggested).
• Goofing on sports brackets, inside jokes about friend hierarchies (“1.1 friends”).
• Notable quote – Andy Cortez [68:26]:
  “What's a chill game to play with a baby on your chest? I would say the King is watching is pretty.”
• Calls for supporting local businesses and favorite creators (“If you don't support the things you love, they go away forever”).
• Sports talk detour: NBA and NHL playoff predictions, player discussions, and friendly banter.

---

Notable Quotes

• On Saros’s Sales Challenge:
  • Andy Cortez [15:00]:
    “Obviously not true wrong there immediately with that prediction... It was always going to be this niche sort of bullet hell game that doesn't look traditional...”
• On Gaming Economics & Player Choice:
  • Daphne [27:22]:
    “With games even in general right now... a lot of people are being a bit more precious with what games they are choosing to actually buy.”
• On Capcom's Strategy:
  • Michael Howard [43:58]:
    “They've identified the winners that you stick with and then you take shots... They've been doing something right.”
• Reflecting on Xbox’s New Features:
  • Andy Cortez [51:36]:
    “Let’s get people juiced up and back into our community so that when the console comes out... they've been treating us really good... restoring my faith as an Xbox gamer.”

---

Important Timestamps

• Main Saros Discussion: [11:35–31:58]
• Capcom Financials/Analysis: [39:55–47:11]
• Xbox Achievement Feature & Analysis: [47:11–52:29]
• Night Street Games Layoffs: [52:29–56:24]
• NBA The Run Preview: [56:25–59:44]
• Quick News/"WE News Channel": [59:56–64:50]
• Superchat/Community/Wrap Up: [65:18–74:08]

---

Tone & Atmosphere

The episode is energetic, chatty, and loaded with Kinda Funny’s trademark camaraderie and fast-flowing pop culture riffs. Hosts strike a balance between critical game industry analysis and light-hearted banter, moving smoothly between serious topics (like sales pressures and layoffs) and in-jokes about sports, snacks, and their own gaming lists. Audience interaction via superchats and playful rankings of friendship add a layer of community inclusivity.

---

Summary for Non-Listeners

If you missed this episode, you got a comprehensive look at why some high-quality games can still sell under expectations in today’s market, the shifting strategies of major publishers, and the kind of small but meaningful features platforms need to keep their core fans feeling seen. You’ll also catch up on a cascade of new game launches, platform changes, financial results, and a healthy dose of friendly banter—proving again why this podcast remains an industry staple for daily gaming news.

Transcript

[Andy Cortez]

Study and play come together on a

[Michael Howard]

Windows 11 PC and for a limited time, college students get the best of both worlds.

[Andy Cortez]

Get the unreal college Deal everything you need to study and play with select Windows 11 PCs.

[Michael Howard]

Eligible students get a year of Microsoft

[Andy Cortez]

365 Premium and a year of Xbox

[Michael Howard]

Game Pass ultimate with a custom color Xbox wireless controller.

[Andy Cortez]

Learn [e-mail] studentoffer while supplies last ends June 30 terms@ aka mscollegepc from origin

[Michael Howard]

to Legend I need to become a symbol.

[Andy Cortez]

I need to become Batman.

[Michael Howard]

Become the hero.

[Andy Cortez]

Someone's gotta step up, build a legacy. Let's get to work.

[Michael Howard]

You wanna get nuts? Let's get nuts.

[Andy Cortez]

I'm allergic to nuts. Lego Batman Legacy of the Dark Knight

[Michael Howard]

this is my favorite part. Available May 22 on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series XS and PC.

[Andy Cortez]

Rated E10 for ages 10 and up.

[Michael Howard]

Ready to soundtrack your summer with Red Bull Summer All Day Play? You choose a playlist that fits your summer vibe the best. Are you a festival fanatic, a deep end dj, a road dog, or a trail mixer? Just add a song to your chosen playlist and put your summer on track. Red Bull Summer All Day Play Red Bull gives you wings. Visit red bull.com brightsummer ahead to learn more. See you this summer.

[Andy Cortez]

Last night you spent two hours deciding what to wear to the party this morning. It'll take you two minutes to list it on Depop and make your money back. Just grab your phone, snap a few photos and we'll take care of the rest. The sheer dress and platform heels you'll never wear again? There's a birthday girl searching for them right now. Your one and done look is about to pay for your next night out, or at least the ride home. Your style can make you cash. Start selling on Depop, where taste recognizes taste.

[Barrett]

Rent or buy exit 8, the highest rated video game adaptation of all time. Wherever you watch movies, Experience hits technology with the new Pro X2 Super Strike, the fastest mouse Logitech G has ever built. Head over to Logitech g.com to grab yours and start clicking faster than the competition. If you want to get our shows ad free and our exclusive shows, go

[Andy Cortez]

to patreon.com kindafunny Today's gaming news stories include Soros sales have reportedly started off lukewarm, Capcom just sold more games in any year in its history, and Xbox adds a new feature for achievement hunters. We'll have all this and more because this is Kind of Funny Games Daily. Hello gamers. Welcome to Kind of Funny Games daily for Wednesday, May 13, 2020 26. I am Andy Cortez. And I am joined by Snowbike Michael Howard.

[Michael Howard]

Andy Cortez. How are you feeling today?

[Andy Cortez]

I'm feeling great. Ghost spurs go up. Three, two.

[Michael Howard]

Love that.

[Andy Cortez]

Got a bone to pick with Mike.

[Michael Howard]

Good, cuz I have a bone to pick with you. And actually it's not a bone. It's a present, Andy.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, that's the opposite of what I'm.

[Michael Howard]

I'd like you to know that. I hope you're ready. Cuz it's time to spend time together.

[Andy Cortez]

Okay?

[Michael Howard]

It's time for you to get off the unaccounted four hours. It's time for you to ditch Witcher 3. And it's time for you to come spend time with me and nick Scarpino, your two best friends.

[Andy Cortez]

Okay? Doing what?

[Michael Howard]

Because tomorrow, May 14th, Subnautica 2 drops on early Access. And we've been waiting for months. We've been waiting for years. We've been waiting for you to drop the act and come back and hang out with the boys. We miss you. We're ready for you. I mean I'm.

[Andy Cortez]

May 14th, if we want to make it an endeavor. I'm down. Let's just cancel work on Friday.

[Michael Howard]

Andy Court says, what if I told you that next Friday we're gonna stream it next Friday?

[Andy Cortez]

That's so long.

[Michael Howard]

Well, the schedule's already so packed.

[Andy Cortez]

That's so long away though.

[Michael Howard]

That's a.

[Andy Cortez]

That's a long time away.

[Michael Howard]

Here's what you do.

[Andy Cortez]

We're gonna fall. We're not going to be interested in by then too.

[Michael Howard]

If you can convince Tim today to cancel Party Mode and let us just do party mode Subnautica 2, then you can do it.

[Andy Cortez]

I mean we. I mean, I think that definitely sounds like a possibility. We could. We could work on that.

[Michael Howard]

Are you ready for some time together? Because we've been waiting for this.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, I'm like, I. I'm so. I'm so excited for it, man.

[Michael Howard]

I'm pumped up. Tomorrow it drops on Early Access. I'm excited to see how much content there is. I think there would be a really good sized chunk of this. I think you, me and Nick are going to have a really good time with this. I don't think it will be one where it's like, hey, we've played one or two days, we're kind of scratching out what it's got and we're done. I think we're going to get a lot out of this.

[Daphne]

I think so too.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, I Think it'll be, you know, fairly feature heavy. Okay, I'm pretty excited for it. Here's a bone I got to pick with my army.

[Michael Howard]

Lay it on me.

[Andy Cortez]

You know, anytime people disperse from the office, there's always a man. I just want to hang out with you guys all day, man. I would just love to. Just. What if we just stayed here together? What if we all just hung out yesterday? Tim types in the slack. Oh, tomorrow, everybody, which is today. Top Gun Maverick 4 DX. Let's go as a company, all of us. Who's in? Blessing says it, let's do it. I reply, hell yeah. Let's rock. Let's take to the skies. Who's the number one that loves feeling the need for speed? Who loves taking it to the skies? Who loves being the maverick? The sunburn.

[Michael Howard]

I got my ppl.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah. Private pilot's license. You got it. He's got the ppl. And Mike says I'm good, man. I'm really into Zelda right now. Like, what? Andy, Are you shitting me?

[Michael Howard]

This game Wind Waker could change your life.

[Andy Cortez]

You know this movie isn't seven hours long, right?

[Michael Howard]

Wind Waker is. That's the catch.

[Andy Cortez]

Andy, you're not gonna be watching this movie until 9pm tonight. It ends like fairly early.

[Michael Howard]

The dwarf is back. The sword is back. Like the triforce is back. They're lining this up to be an all timer. Andy. This could go down as my favorite Zelda game is all time. It's all like.

[Andy Cortez]

Or is it just the last one you've played?

[Michael Howard]

No, no, no, no.

[Andy Cortez]

Really, this is really.

[Michael Howard]

Andy. This one. Whoa, whoa. Have you played this one yet?

[Andy Cortez]

What is it? Wind Waker.

[Michael Howard]

No, you're gonna like this one. You're gonna like this one. This is the one.

[Andy Cortez]

This is the one.

[Michael Howard]

Oh my God. Music hits. Cartoon link. Awesome. The Master Sword returns. Absent from the whole last game.

[Andy Cortez]

Really?

[Michael Howard]

Wasn't in Majora's Mask. No Triforce, no Ganondorf, no Master Sword. All of Majora's Mask then to return in Wind Waker. How you.

[Andy Cortez]

How do you feel about this not making your top 100 because you're playing it too late

[Michael Howard]

now.

[Andy Cortez]

I'm personally a little upset. When he was talking about this yesterday, I was like, I. I wish you had played this before we voted.

[Michael Howard]

Just so you know. All of this would have changed. This would have made the list.

[Andy Cortez]

Really? Wow.

[Michael Howard]

Yeah, wow. Other things would have been bounced for this. Look at how cool this is. The light comes back to Hyrule Castle. Is this underwater? Andy, I Don't know. I got a running theory right now. We'll save it for another time. But Hyrule Castle could possibly be underwater. I'm not quite sure. Was it a different dimension? Was it underwater? Hard to tell.

[Andy Cortez]

Who knows?

[Michael Howard]

Subtitles are flying by.

[Andy Cortez]

I. I mean. Okay. I just. You know. Fair enough. You're playing one of your favorite games all year.

[Michael Howard]

I'm not a 4 dx guy anymore. I don't want to be rocked in my chair while watching a movie. Last time, me and Kevin, a sex. We went to a 40x movie for, I don't know, something two. Two weeks ago. You know what I did? Turned it off.

[Andy Cortez]

Really? So you could turn and still go enjoy with us.

[Michael Howard]

I mean, I've seen Top Gun Maverick, though. We. We could act it out scene for scene right now.

[Andy Cortez]

I mean, it's just. This is a special. Tim really wants us.

[Michael Howard]

Tom Cruz, here's the deal. They're canceling our budget. We gotta. We gotta cancel the flight today. Tom Cruz says, absolutely not. We've been training for months to send the Dark Star up to orbit. And go. And he goes, no, Tom, that's not how it works. He goes, it. Everybody get in the plane right now. And then the. The corporal's pulling up and he's. He's that Ed Harris with. With no hair. He's bald. And he's like, he better not be in that goddamn plane. Then sure enough, plane shoots right by his suv. And then they go up to Tom.

[Andy Cortez]

It's like, I'm watching it.

[Michael Howard]

And they're like, tom, you're going too fast, but everything's looking good. And he goes, we're going to punch this thing up to 11. And he goes, Mach 11 thing explodes. Music plays. It's the coolest thing you've ever seen.

[Andy Cortez]

Stop him or he won't stop. Says Paragon Ammo. Natty says Top Gun. Isn't that good, guys? Okay, okay. Ban yourself.

[Michael Howard]

Who's that guy? No, no, don't want to hear it.

[Andy Cortez]

Dunk your head in the toilet. But, you know, I'm nor Normally not a 40x guy either, but Tim's pitch on it is this isn't like most experiences, because this. You're in the seat and you're, you're, you're, you're. It's like you're almost at Soarin in Disneyland. You know, it's like you're. You're seeing the plane move and you're moving along with it, and it's. It's a whole experience.

[Michael Howard]

Is 40x fun. Just a rumble pack. An N64 rumble pack shoved up your

[Andy Cortez]

ass as a seat. Right?

[Michael Howard]

But now it's more geared towards the flying. So you go. You get cradled with the flight and you go back and forth. And that's what it was really built for. Not Mortal Kombat. Punches me in the kidneys while I'm trying to watch this movie.

[Andy Cortez]

Watch back. Yeah.

[Daphne]

Watching the beginning of Revenge of The Sith in 40x was like a fucking treat where it starts with that dogfight trying to save Palpatine. It's.

[Andy Cortez]

It was. It was kick ass. Mike, you should. You should go tonight.

[Michael Howard]

Could change my mind. He's got two tickets.

[Andy Cortez]

You could just spend time with us like you always yearn for and then complain you don't get to spend time with us.

[Michael Howard]

Yeah, but like I'm spending time with a special someone. Zelda and Link.

[Andy Cortez]

It's always spend time with me on my time and this special only when I want it.

[Michael Howard]

Do you know the boat talks in this game?

[Andy Cortez]

Really?

[Michael Howard]

It's a pretty cool boat.

[Andy Cortez]

My boy.

[Daphne]

Daphne's no hands in Hyrule, baby.

[Michael Howard]

Hi, rule.

[Andy Cortez]

What the. Did he just say, dude? Daphne Johansson, when you're done with the

[Michael Howard]

witchers, I want you to just start playing the Zeldas. Just like me.

[Andy Cortez]

The king of red lions.

[Daphne]

Andy is the best companion in the entire series.

[Andy Cortez]

What are you eating for breakfast? Oh, you know, I don't.

[Michael Howard]

Neutral grain bar.

[Daphne]

Come on, Andy.

[Andy Cortez]

You know, banana pop tarts, banana bread pop tarts. Damn dog. Frosted banana, red pop tarts. This is a good kind of funny podcast we're doing right now, everybody. If you're watching live, be a part of the show by super chatting on YouTube.com forward/kind of funny games. We can do this without our producers on patreon.com forward/kinda funny. So thank you to our amazing Patreon producers, Carl Jacobs, Omega Buster and Delaney the Psalm twining For now, let's begin with what is and forever will be the rope report. It's time for some news. We have six stories today.

[Daphne]

Baker does it.

[Andy Cortez]

Story number one. Soros has a lukewarm start with 300,000 plus sold in two weeks. Analytics firm estimates this come from. This comes from Chris sculling at VGC PlayStation 5 exclusive. Saros has a lukewarm start and may not make its development cost back according to a video game analytics firm. Norwegian firm Alenia analytics estimates that in the two weeks since its release, Soros has passed 300,000 copies sold and and earned more than 22 million in revenue for Sony. The company suggests that given the game's reported development budget was around 76 billion, it may, quote, struggle to break even as a result, according to the firm. However, the game's data doesn't point to an entirely negative situation. Of the players who have bought the game, 40% have played it for more than 15 hours and 30% have played for more than 20 hours. That quote that is pretty impressive engagement for a roguelite of this difficulty profile only two weeks into release, Alenia's head of market analysis Reese Elliott stated, adding that Housemarque's decision to make the game more accessible than Returnal has led to more than 20% of players completing the game so far, based on Trophy data, double what Returnal had at this point. Quote that is this is the silver lining in the data Elliot suggested. Soros obviously isn't pulling in casual PlayStation owners at the scale Sony and Housemarque might have hoped, but the audience that did show up is playing the hell out of it. That's the audience that recommends games of Friends, drives organic word of mouth and converts at higher rates when the game eventually goes on sale or hits PlayStation plus, end quote. Alinea's data suggests that Soros is selling a little slower than Returnal did in the same period, despite the PS5 user base now being around 93 million versus 8 million. QUOTE on first look, that seems rough, elliot says, but there's a bit more to it. When returnal hit in April 2021, less than five months after the PS5 launch, those early PS5 adopters, the ones who inherently buy a lot of new games at full price, were dying for something to play. Returnal was the first big party PlayStation release since launch, and it made amazing use of the unique dualsense haptics and spatial audio. Many core PS5 players flocked to it almost by default. It's a different story for Soros. It launched not too long after Crimson Desert, Resident Evil, Requiem, Hades 2 on PS5 Pragmata, and a whole bunch of Rad 2026 games. This is a more niche PlayStation Studios game. It was never going to do numbers like God of War or Ghost of Yote, end quote. So Mike, Mike, what say you about the struggling sales of sos?

[Michael Howard]

Yeah, Andy, that's an interesting art of article there because we kind of go back and forth on yeah, maybe struggling sales, but also a positive here, right? A lot of player engagement, maybe good word of mouth once the game goes on sale here. So it is an interesting one of the back and forth it doesn't seem too dire but of course coming off of the two week first sales period, maybe a little bit lower than normal. But let's talk about it, Andy. Right. This is a PlayStation only game. They did not put out the place or the PC ports on day one like we thought they would do. It's also a full price title at $70. It's known to be hard as. Right. And so it has a lot going up against it. You are the, you're the Sorrows and Returnal guy. When I read all that off to you, does that seem like, hey, we're kind of putting ourselves a little bit behind the starting line that we normally would and making it harder to hit those sales numbers?

[Andy Cortez]

I, I totally see the different points of view. On one side my prediction was there are a lot more PS5s out there. This is going to sell much better than Returnal did. Obviously not true wrong there immediately with that prediction. On the flip side, I look at something like Crimson Desert, which still has people in its clutches. That is something hundreds of hours of worth of content that the normal everyday gamer that is playing the hardcore games. I'm not talking about the ones we the the usual suspects. I'm not talking about Fortnite or you know, Roblox or Call of Duty, anything like that. I'm talking about the people that are buying games outside of that demographic. When you have a game as large as Crimson Desert or if you're playing Pragmata or if you're playing something like Re Requiem, still your time is so precious and you're stuck playing that one thing. And I totally see the side of the data that says, well yes, there were 9 million PS5 sold compared to 93 million. Yeah, that is not good for the outlook of Soros. On the flip side you go, it does make a lot of sense that the PS5 comes out and people are going and people are in the pandemic going, I need to buy another game. I want something else to play on this. I want something else to see how awesome the visuals look and everything like that. I don't think so is ever going to be a massive hit and it's clear that it may not ever get there. It was always going to be this niche sort of bullet hell game that doesn't look traditional to what people expect for a third person game. But all that aside, it's. It's not good like this. This 300k, a little bit over 300k is certainly not where they would hope to be right now.

[Michael Howard]

Now you can correct me if I'm wrong, but I saw on the Google search Returnal sold less than 2 million copies as of right now.

[Andy Cortez]

I think they had sold. I think they had sold less than 2 million as of like two years ago.

[Michael Howard]

Okay.

[Andy Cortez]

So I, we had always kind of assumed. I, I think that article was saying like as of 2023. Maybe it has been updated since then.

[Daphne]

It was the last update official that we got. At least from what I'm seeing is of as of February 2022, the game had sold a little less than a million copies.

[Andy Cortez]

Okay, gotcha. Yeah, I'm assuming. Yeah. Okay, that makes sense. Maybe they're around like you know, 2 million now or something like that. Especially with sales and things like that. It's certainly not where you want to be, especially game. But where they were mentioning the estimated budget being 75 million. That's a lot of cost to recoup. You want to try to make all that money back.

[Michael Howard]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Not a great situation for them to be in. However, this does seem like one of those games that will benefit from the sales. People look at the 70 price and go, damn, that's. Things are harder now financially.

[Michael Howard]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

And I did just buy this $70 100 plus hour game, Crimson Desert. The. The audience that would have likely buy Sar would have likely bought Saros is probably busy with a lot of other things as well as everything else that's constantly fighting for your engagement. Like, I don't know if, if stick with me here. It's kind of a stretch, but I don't know if like TikTok and Instagram Reels were necessarily as sticky back in the day.

[Michael Howard]

Okay.

[Andy Cortez]

But that's just another thing to keep you away from the thing where you would want to buy a $70 video game.

[Michael Howard]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

After you've maybe bought a couple of other $70 video games. And especially with finances being the way they are right now. Not, not the best thing. Like I think if Soros maybe came out in 2023 or something like that, we may be in a different situation where we might have sold more, but either way it's not looking great for, you know, a game. A first party title from PlayStation. I still feel like it was lacking a bit of the marketing bump, but I think that's also Sony going, hey, we're trying to push, we're trying to pull back as much resources as possible because money is tight everywhere.

[Michael Howard]

Let's talk about that because there's a couple things you brought up. I want to talk about the price point because I Listened to Jeff Grub in the morning and he brought up the price point of $70. Do you think that Soros at $70 maybe was too high? We've talked about Grand Theft Auto and what that price tag could be. We've talked about $80 games now. We've been kind of thrust into a $70 market here. When you look at a game like Soros, kind of a mid tier title for PlayStation, right? I don't put this as the top dogs of PlayStation that maybe could get away with an $80 price tag and PlayStation gamers would go, yeah, okay, right. When I think of Returnal and Housemark and Soros, right? $60 for a bullet. Hell, hard as nails niche genre game. Is the new price tag of $6 too much or $70 too much?

[Andy Cortez]

I mean, I would have initially said no, but it's clear that I'm wrong. Like I. When I think of some of the massive successes that have happened over the past year, Obviously Claire obscure Expedition 33 is such a, that's such a rare one, right? For a game to come out and be as massively popular as it is to win at all of the awards and accolades. And it coming out at the, I think it was $50, $50 price point. It's much tougher now for studios and publishers where you know that, you know that you would love to put out a much cheaper game. But games are only getting more and more expensive to make. So I do see them, I do understand them balking at the price of releasing at a lower price point of them going, no, this costs $79 million to make. This is not a cheap game to make. When we talk about something like, you know, Control Resident coming out and remedy saying, hey, we're trying to keep our budget under like 50 million because we've seen these bloated budgets in the past and we've seen how long it takes to make that money back. I, it's, it's obvious that this game nowadays we're looking at the way Nintendo's going where Mario Kart World comes out at 80 and you haven't seen anything touch that price since. Because they're kind of looking at the landscape going, people aren't buying these games because they are really, really expensive and people are struggling out there. Look at something like Silksong releasing Game of the generation. $20 it is. I think we're going to see more and more games in the future release at the lower price points. I would say like 6 sub 60 because they are trying to go, we Just need people to buy the game as opposed to put it out at a more premium price.

[Michael Howard]

$76 million budget return was April 2021. We're now April 2026. So about five years in between. Pretty big window there. I guess. My question there, when I look at the budgets and you talk about other teams kind of looking at their budgets going how do we reduce this? I talk about time of development. Right. Is a Soros and Returnal. It looks beautiful, it looks new and fresh. But like should this mid tier of the PlayStation Super High development games be a little bit smaller than a five year turnaround?

[Andy Cortez]

Well, I mean I think you still have to factor two years of pandemic in there and learning how to develop a game. You know, I got to assume that when this came out in 2021, you're dealing with a much shorter period of work from home or you know what, whatever it is they're dealing with. And plus the game comes out and then they work on some post, you know, launch content in the dlc, the Ascension, I believe the Tower of Sisyphus DLC that they released. So a bit of time goes to there. Of course you would love a quicker than five year turnaround time for, for a studio that isn't putting out, you know, a Naughty Dog level quality game in terms of production and, and, and, and budget and things like that. Yeah, I think you would love to have that sub four years of a turnaround just based on how much it, how long it is taking to develop games and how much money it's costing to develop games nowadays.

[Michael Howard]

The positive now let's end it with the positive. Metacritic at 87. They're saying some of the highest completion rates in the game right there. I mean it's going to come to PC eventually. Maybe a co op mode.

[Andy Cortez]

No, I don't think it will.

[Michael Howard]

But like in all honesty you think when PC comes out this will be a change?

[Andy Cortez]

I don't think it'll come out of PC.

[Michael Howard]

You don't think no Soros will come out on PC?

[Andy Cortez]

No, I think they did their whole

[Daphne]

like wow, they're pulling back on PC releases.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah. And we, we weren't sure if this made the cutoff though. We weren't sure if like maybe this was the last of the releases to come to PC. But it, it doesn't based on like what everybody has been seeing and even you know, Jason Schreier's initial sort of reporting saying they are not going to do the PC releases anymore for their first party title games. They want to do it for multiplayer stuff like that one cube game from the Left 4 Dead for loop or Loop For Loop.

[Daphne]

Not the Cube.

[Andy Cortez]

No, not the Cube or not Enter the Cube or that other One Cube game. They want to do that. They want to do the PC releases for their games as a service games or multiplayer type games where they want a player base or whatever. But single player games have like, wow, been cut off from that.

[Michael Howard]

So are they dooming this studio then? With that decision there and how the sales have gone the first two weeks?

[Andy Cortez]

You know, I was hoping that. I was hoping that we would see some sort of, you know, the way Xbox was initially with. When they're sort of looking at the landscape and going, okay, Last of Us three, that needs to be a system seller. We want you to buy a PS5 for the Last of Us 3 or 4 Ghost of Yote or whatever. Like big, you know, first party thing. And I know that this is still a big first party game, but it's not on that level. I wish that they would still plan a PC release to try to get more units sold because I do know that there's a lot of people out there that don't know that this isn't coming to PC. There's a lot of people that aren't aware of that news because they've seen so many other games over the past come to PC. And I have seen a lot of people go, waiting for the PC release. Let's not go. It's not going to PC. So you need to have a PlayStation 5 if you want to play this.

[Michael Howard]

Okay.

[Andy Cortez]

It's a bummer.

[Michael Howard]

Yeah, I'm shocked by that. Yeah, I knew about the pullback of PC, but I did think Soros would be one of the few that probably squeaks through that, especially with a market that's probably PC heavy on wanting to play this kind of game. Right. Like, I do think PC players would lean towards a Soros and go, yeah, I'm down to play this. Especially if it came out at a reduced price of 50 to 60. I think people would be jumping on that.

[Daphne]

But what if it came to PC still at that $70 price tag though?

[Michael Howard]

I mean, you'd get more sales at least. Well, might be few, but you probably get more.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Daphne]

And that's the thing is like, I do wonder from their calculations of like why they have started to pull back on the single player stuff. Like do they, did they see that return in like the work that they're having Nixes do to support the Spider man games over there? And God of War and all that stuff was that not adding up in like an actual return from like how much they are actually selling on PC? Right. And then also it still comes down to that price tag which a lot of Chad has pointed out. Like for the average person outside of California, filling up a tank of gas is roughly the price of a video game right now. The economy is so I like with games even in general right now, even if they are down to 60. Like I think right now where we're at, a lot of people are being a bit more precious with what games they are choosing to actually buy this year.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, we see. I see something like Vasquez in the chat says I love my time with Saras but the combo of price and being so similar to Returnal makes it an easy weight for sale for most. But yeah, when we talk about something like Returnal still selling for 60 bucks on Steam, it does hit sales every now and then and will drop in price. But you would hope that in an ideal world the economy is doing better and the things aren't as expensive as they are and inflation isn't going crazy. But also this game would release a year from now on PC at 49.99. Yeah, 39.99, something like that. You know, let's try to. Let's try to sell more units and also pay off whatever nix is is required to be paid off for. For their porting efforts. You know I just. It's unfortunate that it feels like an insanely high quality video game with incredible reviews that across the board everybody's like hey, even if you don't with this genre, this is the game that you should play. We all loved it. Here it is. 88 on Metacritic, 87 on Open Critic. One of the highest reviewed games of the year. One of the most loved games of the year. You would hope that. You would have hoped that there wouldn't be this perfect storm of everything wrong happening to take away sales from it

[Daphne]

really quick just to pull from the super chats just to give another kind of angle on this. Street Shadow gave us a $10 super chat and says do we really trust this? We only have one source, Alenia who has gotten things wrong, especially for console only Data. We also did the same song in Dance for Yote and that turned out to be a success as well. So just some context for like where we're pulling this information from.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, it is true to kind of see that at the end of that article to, to see them say you know, this was never going to do Ghosts of Yote sales. I was like, oh, I thought Goes Yote was struggling, you know, but I guess not. Yeah. So I don't. We'll see. I. I hope that the numbers do go up. I hope that they're, you know, if they need to hit that emergency button and. And get a sale going or something like that. But either way, it's not looking great. The word of mouth is the good positive, though. Yeah. There's a lot of people playing. The people that are playing it are playing this out of it.

[Michael Howard]

Okay.

[Andy Cortez]

I also think a lot of that has to do with, you know, people that are playing it. Maybe didn't buy Crimson Desert or maybe didn't buy Pragmata. So this is like their game for the right now.

[Michael Howard]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

And you don't necessarily have, you know, maybe the people playing this game aren't the ones that hop onto Fortnite or hop on to the other, you know, games that usually take your whole life, you know, I don't know. We'll see. Are you planning on playing it?

[Michael Howard]

You know what, Andy? I was one of the few that would have jumped on this on PC. No, I don't plan on jumping on this anytime soon.

[Andy Cortez]

Do you know where your PlayStation is?

[Michael Howard]

Oh, yeah, it's in the living room right now. It has, you know, probably a plenty of games downloaded ready to go, but it's just not my go to console. Also, this game is very difficult, and I know that they've made more moves towards, like, the casual audience of, like, hey, we're making this easier. More progression follows you. But, like, that first game was super tough, and I was not good enough at that game. So I know this isn't really my go to. I want to spend my night right this.

[Daphne]

He's too in the Z hole right now, Andy.

[Andy Cortez]

He's in the Z hole.

[Michael Howard]

Oh, man. Subnautica 2. I got to play more. Mouse. Mouse for higher pie.

[Andy Cortez]

We got to cancel party mode.

[Daphne]

You liking that?

[Michael Howard]

I am liking that Bear, and I was enjoying that so far.

[Andy Cortez]

Great sales numbers on that Pragmata.

[Michael Howard]

I got to play. There's so many games. I mean, this is. This is going to be a victim of 2026 and even before this. There's just so many games. You're picking and choosing where your time

[Andy Cortez]

goes, and you only have so many 60 to $70 purchases you can make over the year when everything is insanely expensive.

[Michael Howard]

I'm paying $120 at the gas pump to build 4Runner. I'm filling it up often, but hey,

[Andy Cortez]

you know, we gotta, we gotta find those nuclear warheads. We gotta find the nukes, guys. We gotta find them.

[Daphne]

And we don't think about the economy

[Andy Cortez]

when, you know, I don't think about the American, about Americans money and their financial situations is an actual quote that was said, which is just awesome. But I, I'll tell you what, I do think about our income here. And one way to help out our income is by supporting us on Patreon. And if you support us on Patreon, you don't have to watch ads. But if you're watching live right now, here's an ad for you.

[Barrett]

Look, we've all been there. You got the angle, you've got the timing, but you still lose the face off. In competitive gaming, milliseconds aren't just a stat. They're the difference between a trophy and embarrassment. And that is why the team at Logitech G just changed the game again. With the new Pro X2 Super Strike. This isn't just an upgrade. It's a total reimagining of the mouse click. It features the revolutionary hits technology. That's the haptic inductive trigger system. They ditch traditional switches for magnetic sensors. That gives you up to a 30 millisecond advantage. Think about that. You're literally clicking faster than the speed of human reaction. And the customization is insane. You can tune your actuation points across 10 levels and even adjust the haptic intensity. Whether you want a crisp, sharp snap or a hair trigger rapid fire, the Super Strike adapts to you. Stop playing fair and start playing faster. Go to logitech g.com and enter code kinda funny25 at checkout to save 25% off Logitech G products. Just a quick note, some exclusions apply and the promo is non stackable with other offers. Grab the Super Strike today. The winning click is finally here. This episode's brought to you by Exit 8. Based on the eponymous video game from kotake create, Genki Koimura's Exit 8 has taken the genre by storm and is now available to rent or buy wherever you watch movies. Certified fresh and the highest rated video game adaptation of all time on Rotten Tomatoes, Exit 8 is an audience favorite and a masterwork of the liminal horror genre. The film is being hailed as fiendishly clever and the best video game adaptation ever made. A lost man trapped in an endless subway passage sets out to find the elusive and mysterious Exit 8. His way out is to identify anomalies within the recurring corridor. The rules of his quest are simple. Do not overlook anything out of the ordinary. If you discover an anomaly, turn back immediately. If you don't, proceed in the direction of Exit 8, you can watch Exit 8 now. Taking care of your mental health shouldn't be harder than taking care of your physical health. If you pull a muscle, you go see a doctor. But finding the right therapist can be frustrating. Long wait list, huge out of pocket costs, all that stuff. That's what stops a lot of people from getting the help that they need. And that's where Rula comes in. Rula makes therapy simple, affordable, and fast. They work with most major insurance plans, and sessions can cost as little as 15 bucks. You answer a few quick questions about what you're looking for, and they connect you with licensed, vetted therapists who actually fit your needs. Rula makes it simple to get the full scope of care you need, no time wasted navigating between platforms or offices. I've personally seen how therapy can help people in my life deal with stress, relationships, work, pressure, all of it. It's not a weakness, it's a tool. And Rula makes it way easier to actually use that tool. Thousands of guys have already used Rula to finally get the care that they need. Don't keep putting it off. Go to rula.com kind of funny and get started today. That's r u l a.com kindafunny Take the first step, get connected and take control of your mental health. Rula.com kinda funny this episode is brought to you by Reddit. Yeah, how cool is that? We're being sponsored by one of my absolute favorite places on the Internet. Reddit is the app for authentic conversations about anything and any everything. I'd be embarrassed of the amount of time that I spend on Reddit every single day if I was going there for only one thing. But over the years, I've learned there's a subreddit for every single interest, question, or community I could possibly be looking for. So I feel my time is justified. Every single day, I check out R gamingleaks and Rumors for the latest in video game news. R TV Too high to make fun of people who mount their TVs too high and catch countless other subreddits to make me laugh, learn, or even just feel like I'm part of a community. There are subreddits for every game, genre and niche, MMOs, shooters, RPGs, speedruns, modding, lore, everything. Reddit is where all the real gamers are. Download the Reddit app and dive into R gamingleaks and rumors for the latest gaming updates or our very own R Kinda funny to talk games with the best friends. Download the Reddit app today.

[Andy Cortez]

Got a five dollar super chat here. Thank you for supporting us on YouTube.com kind of funny games. Or you could super chat and ask us your questions and support the company because if you don't support the things you love, they go away forever. Nick JJ with a five dollar super chat says I bought returnal day one. Honestly have next to zero interest in Soos. I've grown so tired of Rog Lights and Rogue Lights, Roguelikes and light games. What if I told you this game is almost just like a Doom campaign? You could just play this game like a single player non roguelite. You don't gotta. You know, you could move the little modifiers and just go through it and have amazing boss fight experiences. It's not a. This isn't gonna be one that you're like I am constantly. I've. I'm on my 17th run in this area.

[Michael Howard]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

This is not that type of game. Like it has so many things to help you out to prevent yourself from doing that. But also like I never went back to the to the first level to get good and leveled up for where I was at. I just like kept on going where I was at because you could teleport to wherever and you could just like. Like Barrett and Blessing mentioned during our review, it kind of just plays like a Doom campaign game.

[Michael Howard]

Yeah.

[Daphne]

And it's like during the review period Blessing and I were kind of having a back and forth of like is this a roguelike?

[Michael Howard]

Is it a roguelite?

[Andy Cortez]

Like the way they design it? It can be.

[Daphne]

It can be if you want it

[Andy Cortez]

to be but it pushes you towards the without really like making you do any of the prior stuff over and over again. Jonathan Pacheco says with a $5 super chat says Soros is the only new game I bought this year after Hades 2. This game was exactly what I wanted. I rotate games with friends. We budget our spending. That's nice.

[Michael Howard]

That is nice.

[Andy Cortez]

That is pretty rad. Nick J also sent in a $5 super chat but I think it was a misclick because they didn't send a message with that. So thank you for the extra $5. Giovanni Diaz says Returnal was one of those was one of the few PS5 games back then. PS5 owners probably tried it and bounced off for difficulty and are ignoring the 70 Cyrus as a result. Possibly two $2 super chat from Tucker says Cyrus is amazing. I'm 20 hours in can't get enough cozy.

[Michael Howard]

Bear writes in and says would source have done better if they had changed nothing else but called it Returnal tube for tunal. Does having the same name with a 2 on it maybe help people identify and understand or does that matter when it comes to this?

[Daphne]

I don't think like Returnal, I don't think had that staying power of like this is an ip, so adding it like sticking it to on that I don't think would have done.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, I kind of agree. I tend to agree with that. Like I don't. If anything, I don't know if like the people that loved Returnal would be stoked for Returnal two. But also, you know, when we look at the numbers of the amount of people that actually beat Returnal weren't super high. You know, Returnal was a very difficult video game, but it's awesome. God, it's so good. Chocolate McMuffin with a five dollar super says Mike, I beg you, please use Z targeting. It's been three damn games,

[Daphne]

Mike.

[Andy Cortez]

Ignore that. I'm afraid you don't got it. We don't got a Z free. We don't got a Z target. Why would you.

[Michael Howard]

Thank you, stupid.

[Andy Cortez]

We don't do that here.

[Michael Howard]

I'm swinging away. Swing away.

[Andy Cortez]

We're free.

[Michael Howard]

Here's the problem is the Z targeting doesn't have the Grand Theft Auto bounce mechanic like you need. You have to come out of Z and then rebounds to somebody else. It's like when I press Z. I should be able to bounce between targets, back and forth, back and forth, whenever I want.

[Andy Cortez]

I'm Z holing. I'm not Z targeting.

[Michael Howard]

Thank you.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, exactly. So much. I got you big dog. Story number two.

[Daphne]

I'm dizzy.

[Andy Cortez]

Capcom just sold more games in any year in its history. This comes from Andy Robinson at vgc. Resident Evil Requiem helped Capcom sell more games in any other 12 month period in its history. The company announced its latest financial results for the business year ended March 31. The Japanese publisher achieved its ninth consecutive year of record profits and the highest consolidated sales and operating profit in its history, it said. In total, Capcom sold 59.07 million games during the business year, up from 51.87 million in the prior year. The figure was driven overwhelmingly by sales of Resident Evil games. Notably, the Resident Evil Requiem, released in February, sold nearly 7 million units by the end of March. Capcom said 83.7% of its game sales come from older catalog titles, While a huge 93% of the games it sold were digital download versions. Looking forward, the company said it anticipates net sales of 210,000 million yen and an operating profit of 83 million yen, which would result in 10 consecutive years of record high profit for the company. For the business year ending March 2027, Capcom expects to increase its number of games sold by a further 10% to 65 million. It said its next business year will include sales of Pragmata, which sold 2 million copies in its opening weeks. And the upcoming Onimusha Way of the Sword Mega Man Dual Override is due to release sometime in 2027. Great news there, Mike.

[Michael Howard]

It's been nothing but positive news for Capcom. A lot of been. We've been praising that they're back. Yeah, it seems like they've been back for quite some time now. They're finding what works for them. They're identifying those franchises that are the tent pole, hey, we got to come back to these. And I like that they're still taking shots. Right. They are still getting wacky and trying different games out that might not hit the mark as some. But like when you take fewer risks out there, you and you maintain to the hey, these are the successes. Then you can take a couple risks and have them flop and they still come back.

[Andy Cortez]

And it does seem like there is a hardcore portion of the fan base that will play whatever the Capcom game is. There do seem to be like Capcom gamers, which is something I never thought I'd ever say it out. To me it always just felt like you would stick with the franchise and that's the franchise. But when I look at somebody like Susie, the Sphere Hunter, she's like the Capcom gamer.

[Michael Howard]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

To be excited for Pragmata and for that to come out and not only be really good and. And come out to. To really good reviews, but to have the quality there and the staying power. And now it looks like that's the birth of a brand new franchise. And we'll probably see Pragmatic two in the next four to five years. I think that is awesome. And it's a testament to the level of quality that they're putting out. It'd be one thing if you're selling a whole bunch of copies for games that maybe didn't deserve it or you know, lower quality stuff. But I. I hope that and I assume and believe that the people up top at Capcom are going well. It's because we're putting out really good shit.

[Michael Howard]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

And when we weren't putting out really good shit with the later Resident Evil games like 5 and 6 we saw the decline in sales because there was a big decline in quality. And now we are putting out really good stuff consistently. Let's keep on putting out really good stuff. And what do we need to continue to put out really good stuff?

[Michael Howard]

Resident Evil 72017 Andy. 9 years of record profit right there.

[Andy Cortez]

Unbelievable.

[Michael Howard]

Looks like that was the shift, as you said. And they have a lineup, right, Andy? Resident Evil, Monster Hunter Street Fighter. Then we go now into Pragmata. We talk about Mega Man, Onimusha. You go deeper into the catalog. You have Dead Rising, Kitsugami, Ace attorney, Dragon's, Dogma 2, Exo Primal, Devil May Cry, Dino Crisis and more. It's like Capcom has a lineup here and like I said before, they've identified the winners that you stick with and then you take shots with some other ones and see if they can stick. But as of right now, like you said, nine years of record profit. They're doing something right.

[Andy Cortez]

And it's one thing to. I think we're just in a different era. And games will never sell like they sold back in the day. I think just with the, with the fight and the constant struggle for trying to get everybody's attention in every lane of media and every lane of. Of entertainment, I think it's going to be a lot more rare where just random Games will sell 8 million plus copies or whatever. It's like it's going to be more of an achievement, I think, to get to 4 to 5 million copies of games. And what I think of something as massive as Monster Hunter, which always sells boatloads. Monster Hunter Wild has not been the most successful game. I'm looking at Push Square as of today talking about how Monster Hunter Wilds has not been as successful. However, I think it's still successful by today's day and age of what games are selling as. And it is still sold 11.4 million.

[Michael Howard]

That's a lot.

[Andy Cortez]

That is a lot of copies. And of course, yes, not on track to Monster Hunter Worlds. I think that was just a different era. I don't know if things will ever be the same. That's not to say that when GTA 6 comes out, it's not going to sell 40 million plus or whatever. Like that's not to say that a random game won't just come out of nowhere and surprise everybody. Much like, you know, something like Silk song selling for 20 bucks, sold a whole bunch, even though I didn't really come out of nowhere. But Crimson Desert selling. I think they're at 8 million now or something that will still happen. But when you compare sales numbers now to what they were back in the day where you would just see, wow, this random ass game that was a 6 out of 10 across the board sold 8 million. Yeah, we're not going to see that really anymore. But shout out to Monster Hunter for in a struggling year, still nearly hitting 12 million in sales.

[Michael Howard]

I mean another one to keep in your back pocket here as well. When we talk about price tags, Resident Evil Requiem and monster hunter both 70 price tags. Pragmata $60 as well. So they're exploring the scale but like the two main franchises here they are at that 70 price tag when we come off of the Sorrow story here.

[Andy Cortez]

And you know, multi platform, that certainly helps too, of course. And I, I know that you know, Asha Sharma and the people up at Xbox and even people up at Sony wanted to keep things, hey, let's reign back in and get more to our, you know, console exclusive type stuff. We want to be the system sellers. We want those games to sell the consoles, sell the boxes. There still is something to be said about the game that releases everywhere, even on somewhere like the Nintendo Switch 2 and is able to sell a lot of copies. Much like Pragmat is doing really well right now. So of course you could look at the exclusives and how they should be your system cells and how that could help bolster your company. But it also doesn't hurt sometimes to put those games everywhere and you see the success follow.

[Michael Howard]

So let's talk about this year really quick. Pragmata will be included on this year's financials as we looked at it. You talk about Mega Man, Onimusha. Do we have another record breaking year? Do we have another strong year for this team? Or do you see a little bit of a dip with those three titles?

[Andy Cortez]

I don't think Mega man will do anything super special. And I, I. Unless Onimusha comes out and shocks the world and has the, it has the Capcom name. I don't, I see Onimusha maybe doing Pragmata numbers. Okay, I, I don't know if it's, I don't know if it has that name that, that name power. But we'll see. I don't know. I've been wrong about everything else. This year we'll see story number three. Xbox adding new feature for achievement hunters. This comes from Tom Phillips at ign. Where's Ray at? He's. He's got to be excited.

[Michael Howard]

He's gonna be pumped. Let's play. Let's call him up.

[Andy Cortez]

Xbox is adding a new Gamer Scores tracking figure for your console, allowing you to show off your achievement hunting prowess to others. A new tiered Gamer Score badge will be displayed in the guide and on your profile with more elaborate designs unlocked as you progress your lifetime. Gamer Score. Total achievements were added to Xbox with the launch of Xbox360 back in 2005, meaning your total now reflects more than two decades of Xbox and PC and smartphone gaming. Special badges will be displayed whether you have 1000 Gamerscore or over 5 million. There's even a 10 million Gamerscore badge for the most dedicated Chivo hunters to eventually unlock. Gamerscore badges are rolling out today for Xbox Insiders first before becoming available to all Xbox users in the near future. Today's update also refreshes Xbox consoles with the recently unveiled new Xbox boot up logo and sound, which you can now select as a gamer pick or dynamic background. Finally, there's a fresh set of filters to sort through the games in your library you have downloaded so that you may that you may no longer have access to. Do you care about this, Mike?

[Michael Howard]

The Achievement Hunters care about this. The Die Hards care about this and the Xbox core audience cares about this. Because this is the conversation that Asha Sharma and the team have been talking about is going back to the roots, going back to the core audience and saying, hey, we might have focused on PC and cloud gaming, we might have focused on putting our games out everywhere. We haven't been giving you the focus. The core is Xbox audience and the console players the focus that you've needed. And now we've seen them in her short time right now of like, hey, what are the small wins that we can get back? Right? A logo change, some. Some new console specific updates.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, people juice.

[Michael Howard]

These are wins, right? These are small wins for that. Is this a console seller? Of course not. Right? But no, it's about player engagement. It's about keeping the players around. How do you reward them? How do you, how do you make them feel like their time is valued? Right. And small things like this go a long way. When we talk about achievement hunters, those are the people that are doing the player engagement that are sticking in your ecosystem most of the time. Right. And so it's a small win. I don't think this is like, hey, all of a sudden random Randy over there is going to buy an Xbox because of this.

[Andy Cortez]

But you, what about Cosmo Kenny Cosmo

[Michael Howard]

Kenny woods, he crazy. But you need to start stacking up these wins, heading into Project Helix to say, hey, this is the box that you need to have. You need to believe that we are with this box, moving to the future. I always bring it up, right. You can flashback to Mike finding out about exclusives leaving the console. And there I was, sad boy, Mike saying, this is the end.

[Andy Cortez]

Right?

[Michael Howard]

Like, why would I buy this console? They need to win back people like me who have started to doubt, should I be buying this console again? Right. Should I not just jump over to PlayStation, buy that console, get their exclusives, buy the play by the Xbox games over there? Should I not be over on Steam where all these games are down, you know, jumping on one? So, yeah, these are things that they need to do. It's a nice win, especially for achievement hunters. Right. They've been tracking since Xbox 360 days. This is something that's come with you. We've talked about your Xbox profile. I brought it up in our how to win Xbox gamers back of like, hey, more badges, more fun, more uniqueness. You brought up the Xbox avatar.

[Barrett]

Right.

[Michael Howard]

Like, these are small wins that get people excited to turn on the console and have a little fun with.

[Andy Cortez]

Reminds me visually a lot. Can you bring up the image again, Barrett? The. The. The way that the icons evolved reminds me a lot of like when you level up in Overwatch, the more you play, you get that little, like, yeah, you know, banner icon around character. Yeah.

[Michael Howard]

The circle. Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

I think this is pretty great. I think you make a great point saying, let's get people juiced up and back into our community so that when the console comes out.

[Michael Howard]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

They have a reason to go. Well, they've been treating us really good for the past six months, for the past year, two years, whatever it may be. I am back being an Xbox fan. I want to be there for the console because they're showing me they're restoring my faith as an Xbox gamer to say, hey, you belong here.

[Michael Howard]

These are your roots.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Michael Howard]

This is your Xbox 360 roots. And of course, our audience, who is tracking games every single day. Right. In the die hard audience. And it's usually jumping between different ecosystems and platforms. Right. It. No matter what I say to you out there, you're listening. You know what the root of all this is? There's only one way to sell the console, and that's the great games. Like this fun stuff. This is great. This is like, get your fans back. It still has to have great games.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Michael Howard]

And these are like the small things. Like, it's easy to be like, I'll sell great games. That's always going to be overhead. These are the small things that we just celebrate and have fun with.

[Andy Cortez]

Story number four Last Flag developer Night Street Games is laying off staff this comes from Diego Arguello at game developer Night Street Games. The team funded by members of the band Imagine Dragons, is laying off staff. Jonathan Jelenic, executive producer at the studio, shared the news via LinkedIn yesterday. The producer says the multiplayer shooter Last Flag didn't achieve the, quote, financial success that Night street anticipated, leading to a reduction in the team. Quote. Some exceptionally talented developers were affected by this decision. If you or your company are seeking experienced unreal developers who contributed to our project, please reach out, reads the post. Jelenic concludes by saying that he will be sharing individual profiles of employees searching for jobs. So far, he has reposted five messages from team members. Ninth street hasn't disclosed how many developers were affected in total. And Mike, this just kind of continues the trend of trying to break in and battle for the attention of gamers and and failing, unfortunately.

[Michael Howard]

This sucks. Layoffs suck. Our hearts go out to everyone affected, right? We hope that you land on your feet. We hope you find something new. Hopefully you've learned a lot, you gained a lot of stuff for your portfolio and you're able to put that somewhere. It sucks, right, Andy? But you and I have played a thousand of these games now. I have played Last Flag a hundred times and, and I've seen the same thing happen, right? And it is so difficult to break in. And like it's funny we bring up High Guard, right? And High Guard came in with the attitude of like we don't want to be your everyday thing, right? And like a lot of these games I'm sure aren't trying to be my fortnites, right? But they're just trying to be, hey, how do we just make a fun game, maybe make it sustainable that we could pay off the budget and everybody and try again, right? And unfortunately this one missed the mark. It only released on PC. It came out on Steam and Epic. If you look at the Steam charts right now there are 15 people playing it with an all time high of 558 people, right? So it's just like didn't find a win here or the last 29 days, right? Is 500 people. I don't know what the Epic numbers are, but these are one of those that they come to PC. You hopefully can find an audience. You can come out maybe early, early access, you can build off of that and come to console. But releasing only on PC on those two platforms wasn't enough for this one.

[Andy Cortez]

Do we know the release price.

[Michael Howard]

I'll look it up for you right

[Andy Cortez]

now because I think of the massive amount of success that these random small indie games have had where it's ten dollar game dollars, five dollar game, you know, fifteen might be a little bit too much, but I still don't know if a game like that succeeds. If it's $5. I think that it has to be this extremely viral thing that we're gonna see a lot of big companies try to get into and try to make that. I don't know, the friend slop, for lack of a better term.

[Michael Howard]

I don't know. The last small time shooter to break into the market and make a big splash since Splitgate. Yeah, there might be another one in the past few years, but like Splitgate is the last one to come to mind where it's like, oh, this is not the big dogs making the game. This is some small team and somehow they made it right and like it found success.

[Andy Cortez]

And they had mentioned Night street, people at Nitrot had mentioned, we don't want this to be a games as a service. This is a multiplayer game. You buy once and that's kind of it. And you played for a little bit and that's about it. And I. That's all well and good to have that mentality and say, hey, we don't need to be this forever game. But when you can't even be a week, a one week game, like it's just so hard to get your name out there and the marketing out there when there's just. There's so many things battling for our attention.

[Michael Howard]

I guess another great one people bring up is Embark Studios. But I would start with the Finals before our creators, right? The Finals was the foot in the door and then our creators being the master of success right there. But yeah, it's a, it's an interesting one here.

[Daphne]

Andy.

[Andy Cortez]

Story number five. NBA the Run launches June 9, 2026 on PS5, Xbox and Steam. This comes from NBA the Run's website. We got next. NBA the Run will release on digital storefronts June 9th. And additionally, we are unveiling NBA the Run Deluxe Edition which will include the following editions for 39.99 the Steph Curry Golden State Warriors 2009 rookie variant, the Luka Doncic Dallas Mavericks 2018 rookie variant, Kevin Durant's Seattle SuperSonics 2007 rookie variant, and 1000 in cred. Damn, you got to be buying cred for this too, Mike.

[Michael Howard]

You're going to earn cred. Oh, so as of right now. I don't want to jump to a bunch of microtransactions. I do want to see the store because you'll talk about that in a minute. But it will be interesting. It sounds like you earn CRED and then as you level up you will buy things with the credits. It did not make it sound like hey, we're selling you credits. But Andy, it's a game. In 2026, I'm sure the storefront will be selling me $20 worth of credit and you're buying. You know what I mean? Let's be real.

[Andy Cortez]

CRED is our in game currency earned by playing any match. You can use the CRED to purchase items in the shop, including new alternate jerseys for a specific player, advanced dunk animations, taunts, badges, banners and more. Shop purchases are simple. You get what you want. No packs to rip here. The items available to you in the shop will depend on your profile rank. Winning tournaments and doing it with style will help you. Rank will help you raise your rank faster, getting you closer and closer to the most coveted items in the shop. You'll also earn unlocks as you rank up, including five Street Legends we'll have in the game at launch. As we've said from the beginning, we're going to build this brick by brick alongside the community. We'll continue to evolve the game through through launch with new content, shop updates as well as gameplay refinements that keep the game fresh, fair and exciting for all. The game is only to get only going to get better with your help and continued support. And we got Mellow just up front and center right there.

[Michael Howard]

I said you saw his child? He had a child.

[Andy Cortez]

Lamelo did low one.

[Barrett]

What?

[Michael Howard]

That's what they named it. Hello one.

[Andy Cortez]

They're having him drive.

[Michael Howard]

He'll be driving.

[Andy Cortez]

He'll be driving soon. Terrorizing the streets. 30 bucks you and bless got to preview this. Does this game have the heat? Should people be looking for this one?

[Michael Howard]

This game is as close as you're ever gonna get to an NBA Street Volume 2 remake or any sort of just spiritual successor. We did have reservations of the gameplay here is very interesting when it comes to modern 2026 controls blending what you would get in an NBA 2K versus an old school NBA street where it was kind of just generics. Pound that trick button and do different tricks right. So it will be interesting to see when you get good at this. Do you have that level of control Slash fun. When we jumped in for one less than an hour, about five matches, it felt A little overwhelming. Didn't have the fun, unique slip and slide, the tornado, the. All the cool moves that you would see. Besides off the easy they had, of course. So we were like, it's not quite there. It's good. But it wasn't what we wanted out of the NBA street successor. I'm excited to see, when I spend a whole weekend with it, how much further we can get. But I do have some reservations. I think $30 is a good price tag for this, though. Better than I was hoping.

[Andy Cortez]

I think that's a solid price.

[Michael Howard]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

I'll tell you what else is solid, Mike. So much big news is solid. It's so big and solid. But if I wanted something smaller, say the tiniest news I need to know about, where would I go?

[Michael Howard]

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

[Andy Cortez]

Six out of ten, Eddie. Thank you. Good. That's above average. Okay.

[Michael Howard]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah. Above average. Okay. From ign. Four of Overwatch's most iconic heroes will cross over into Fortnite via a major game update set to go live tomorrow.

[Michael Howard]

But he named his child La1 La1. That's pretty lit.

[Andy Cortez]

I don't know.

[Michael Howard]

I like it.

[Andy Cortez]

How is it spelled?

[Michael Howard]

La? Mellow. LA one LA one.

[Andy Cortez]

Well, it looks like Laon.

[Michael Howard]

Well, it's capital L. Yeah. A capital O and E.

[Andy Cortez]

I don't like.

[Michael Howard]

I vibe with it.

[Andy Cortez]

I don't like it. Yeah. Overwatch, OG Heroes Tracer, Mercy, Genji and Diva will all land on the Fortnite Battle Royale island as part of a new collaboration with Epic Games Games Battle Royale as glimpsed today in a cinematic trailer. Oh, pretty cool.

[Michael Howard]

Okay, a little crossover here with Fortnite. Okay.

[Andy Cortez]

This reminds me of when Kaplan was really trying to get Overwatch into. He was trying to get Tracer into Smash Bros. That would be cool, but this is pretty neat. We see the four OG heroes here. What is Diva holding? She's holding a sword of some sort, I guess.

[Michael Howard]

Well, you gotta have your pickaxe.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, of course. Totally right. You're totally right. The Steam controller lets out a Wilhelm scream if you drop it.

[Michael Howard]

Can we test that?

[Daphne]

Well, hold on, I'm mute this.

[Andy Cortez]

This video is from whomst. This is from Deck.

[Daphne]

Deck ready.

[Andy Cortez]

Deck ready. I just read, if you drop the Steam controller, it screams. So I'm going to try it and I hope it's not a trick to get me to break it.

[Michael Howard]

Yeah, I did it.

[Andy Cortez]

That's awesome. There's a Wilhelm screen. I just Read if you drop. I did see another video where you hear it louder.

[Barrett]

I hope it's not a trick.

[Michael Howard]

You got it, right?

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Michael Howard]

You got this controller.

[Andy Cortez]

I mean, not with me right now.

[Michael Howard]

Okay, but you drop it tonight for us, you let us know.

[Andy Cortez]

Okay? Yeah, I'll do it. I'll do it. No problem. The Talos Principle 3 has been announced. Coming to PS5PC in 2027.

[Michael Howard]

Note for everybody out there, Fantasy critic, when we get to that, that's a. That's a draft game.

[Andy Cortez]

I don't know why I thought this

[Michael Howard]

was a must draft game. Well, they.

[Daphne]

They had done like.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, the remix. Well, the one that Roger got on his list. That's right. Yeah.

[Daphne]

Where it was like kind of a remake, but yeah, it's the same game.

[Andy Cortez]

007 First Light has gone gold. All right.

[Michael Howard]

Can't wait.

[Andy Cortez]

Exciting. You stoked for the stream?

[Michael Howard]

Can't wait. Yeah, we mix up some martinis for the boys. Really excited, you know what I mean? We're gonna. We're wear some suits too. It's gonna look nice.

[Andy Cortez]

You're gonna make some marks.

[Michael Howard]

Yeah, maybe. I mean, he's more of a martini guy, you know, but like, we'll make some.

[Andy Cortez]

We can make it, you know, I'll make everything.

[Michael Howard]

I'm gonna make some drinks.

[Andy Cortez]

I think Jimmy Bonds into margaritas. James Bond likes martini.

[Michael Howard]

What a run up. Forza Telltale Batman or the Lego Batman Coming up in a James bond. What? Subnautica 2. In the mix of all this, there's too many games.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah. Silent Hill F has sold 2 million copies. That's awesome. And Silent Hill 2 remake surpassed 6 million players. PlayStation plus premium extra games for May 2026 are Star Wars Outlaws, Red Dead Redemption 2, Bramble the Mountain King, the Thaumaturge, Flintlock the Siege of Dawn, Broken Sword, Shadows of the Templar Reforged. That's a long game. Long title. Enotria the Last Song and Time Crisis from Knobel Samson. Content Update 1 is out. Three new difficulty modes, new jobs, updated combat camera, Debt Collector update and general stability improvements and bug fixes. Did you want an extreme?

[Michael Howard]

I wanted to try this. We changed it for a different game. I really wanted to try this game

[Andy Cortez]

from Rock paper shotgun. Subnautica 2 is steam deck verified, as is Forza Horizon 6, Mina the hollower and Lego Batman. Legacy of the Dark Knight.

[Michael Howard]

They're saying all the right things.

[Andy Cortez]

We also have here from Knoebel Media. Molecule is shutting down tearaway me on August 13th. Tearaway and tearaway unfolded will continue to run as expected, just without the community feature. Absolum. Full crossplay multiplayer is now live. Garfield Escape from Monday has been announced for PS5, Xbox Series Switch and PC out September 24th. And Harvest Moon. Echoes of Terraria launches September 24th on Xbox Series PS5, Nintendo Switch 1 and 2 and PC. You think we'll get Roger and Greg to do a marathon for Garfield Escape from Monday?

[Michael Howard]

Yeah. There's nothing else going on. Put it on our back pocket. I like that idea.

[Andy Cortez]

That sounds.

[Michael Howard]

I like that a lot.

[Daphne]

Knobal.

[Andy Cortez]

I was always told to say Knobel because that's how his name is actually pronounced. Oh, but that. He was like. But everybody just says Noble, so whatever. Oh, damn.

[Daphne]

Learn something new.

[Andy Cortez]

Okay, maybe I dreamt that. I don't know. Maybe I lied. I didn't lie. I didn't lie.

[Michael Howard]

No.

[Andy Cortez]

You for real there?

[Michael Howard]

Was that. That. That's. You're for real. I mean, I can send him a message right now.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, send him.

[Michael Howard]

He watches. Hey, Noble, if you're watching right now, dm, me and Andy let us know how we pronounce your name. Is it Canoe Click Obi Wan Kenobal? Or is it Noble? Let us know. He's watching. Shout out to the guy.

[Andy Cortez]

I love what he does. Kobe Yarn with a $5 super chat says, did you play NBA Bounce? If so, does it match to that? Does it match? Does it match that to set expectations?

[Michael Howard]

I did not play NBA Bounce. I wish I could tell you about NBA Bounce.

[Andy Cortez]

Damn. Hand dog says, love you guys. Rest in peace. Brandon Clark. Yeah, very, very sad moan sink says Mike. How much was that water with a $2 super chat.

[Michael Howard]

I wrote him three. $3.25 is what they charge me.

[Andy Cortez]

Nice. Not bad.

[Michael Howard]

One a day. Do the math.

[Andy Cortez]

I don't know if this is one.

[Daphne]

Buy one reusable water bottle and then just refill it.

[Andy Cortez]

We love supporting local businesses.

[Michael Howard]

Support the things you love or they'll go away every day. I go over and support Charlie every day because I love Charlie.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah. David Flores says with a five dollar super chat. I need Capcom to make DLC for Dragon's Dogma too. Like the. Like the Dark Arisen DLC for the first one. Aaron Lime with a 20 super chat. Thank you for your support. Says Capcom. Economy cooking with collections, remakes and new games. Sega moving off games of service and working on reboots. Square promising a big 2027 and Nintendo dropping a cheaper game per month. Japanese developers seem to have figured it out in the you're wrong section.

[Michael Howard]

Ass.

[Andy Cortez]

Brian. Child's a Says Andy. Said he's been wrong about everything this year. He's wrong about that. He's doing a great job and we appreciate you all. Damn. Am I.

[Michael Howard]

Is that my account? You've been doing a great job.

[Andy Cortez]

I don't. You know, I don't think so.

[Michael Howard]

Really? Andy Cortez, as. As your best friend. You're 1.1. I think you.

[Andy Cortez]

I heard you call Nick the 1.1 yesterday.

[Michael Howard]

I miss him so much.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Michael Howard]

You know who he misses more than Me.

[Andy Cortez]

Look at how he just pivots to the new conversation.

[Michael Howard]

He misses you. But.

[Andy Cortez]

But also, to be fair, your Mike

[Daphne]

is your 1.1, whereas Nick is Mike's 1.1. You know, it's not all.

[Andy Cortez]

It's not the same.

[Michael Howard]

No, Nick, I'm his 1.3. Nick is 1.1, is Andy. You're his North Star. He wants to get back every day.

[Andy Cortez]

We had a great time doing Lord of the Rings. I can't wait.

[Michael Howard]

You better go tell Tim.

[Andy Cortez]

Cancel party.

[Michael Howard]

You have to go up to tell Tim because if not, we play next

[Andy Cortez]

week on Friday and that's too long to wait.

[Michael Howard]

That's what I got.

[Andy Cortez]

That's.

[Michael Howard]

It's a packed schedule.

[Andy Cortez]

If we wait a week, we're gonna get Chris Anka and then he's gonna have fucking moon travel figured out by three days. And that's just. We can't do that. We just can't do that. Love you, Chris. The novelty act says. Alenia says user reviews are part of its estimated sales data. The numbers for Gosiote were wrong, so their analysis probably shouldn't be taken as gospel.

[Michael Howard]

Okay.

[Andy Cortez]

As the novelty. The novelty act. Yes. I hope so, cuz. I hope Cyrus sells well and is a success. Cuz I don't want House market to get charged. Shut down.

[Michael Howard]

We all talk about House Mark and their talents, right? And we want more of these games. We want more Housemark games.

[Andy Cortez]

We.

[Michael Howard]

We'll keep an eye on that. Of course.

[Andy Cortez]

Christopher Burnett with a $5 super chat says, I don't know if I'd ever forgive Sony if they shut down Housemark due to poor sales. Especially after we lost Blue Point. I'm losing faith in Sony. Albert quintero with a $10 super chat says, Mike and Andy. My wife is pregnant with our third child. Can you guys recommend some chill games I can play while holding a baby on my chest? Also, what do you guys think about the name Artemis? Damn, Artemis is a cool name.

[Michael Howard]

Artemis.

[Andy Cortez]

Not as cool as the one I

[Michael Howard]

was going to say better than the

[Barrett]

one but you know, shout out to Artemis foul.

[Andy Cortez]

The.

[Daphne]

The. The book series with that.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, Artemis foul. Yeah, I remember they made a movie about that, right?

[Michael Howard]

Did they?

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, it came out in like. We all thought it was like going to be a new Harry Potter. It was not. That movie came out and kind of failed immediately, right? 2020. Yeah, it was a Disney.

[Daphne]

Jesus Christ.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Daphne]

Yeah, that was. That was 15 years too late for that.

[Andy Cortez]

What's a chill game to play with a baby on your chest? I would say the King is watching is pretty.

[Michael Howard]

You read my mind.

[Andy Cortez]

Come on, big dog.

[Michael Howard]

I was gonna say. And he's been saying it.

[Andy Cortez]

He's trying to battle for 1.1 right now.

[Michael Howard]

The King is watching.

[Andy Cortez]

He's trying to battle for it. Maybe a.

[Daphne]

A similar game equivalent for 20, 26. Maybe try play a little bit of that Titanium Court as well.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, I need to play that.

[Michael Howard]

You know. You know what I'd recommend? Fort is right around the corner. Just. Just race. Because then what if the baby picks up the tunes of the car and becomes a super racer? And it's like, oh, that'd be so lit.

[Andy Cortez]

You think the music is.

[Michael Howard]

Or the revving of the. The engine.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, God.

[Michael Howard]

The baby comes, becomes in tune with it, becomes an F1 superstar 20 years down the line. That's.

[Andy Cortez]

That's all that. Hey, we've seen crazier things. We saw Splinter in the Ninja Turtle movies. Watch a guy do karate and then it learned karate.

[Daphne]

The baby listens to the music of Titanium Court. And then they grow up to be

[Andy Cortez]

like a super smart.

[Daphne]

No, like a weird, like, indie artist. But they're cool, as you know.

[Michael Howard]

It's like the guy with his baby who's been training his baby to play baseball. And now the baby's a freak at baseball. We've shown. I've shown.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah. And then there's also the baby who's

[Daphne]

watching an episode of One Piece every day. And they're gonna grow up to, you know, be a revolutionary.

[Andy Cortez]

Wow. What if. What if they just go against like their. Their parents wishes, though?

[Michael Howard]

It's like Ben and Greg.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Michael Howard]

I never want to play games again.

[Andy Cortez]

I don't like this Ghostbusters. Why have you forced this on me? Let's get to a couple more super chats before we say goodbye for the day. Because after this, I'm doing a preview on the games cast for Mina the Hollower. I am so pumped to talk about this video game, y'.

[Michael Howard]

All.

[Andy Cortez]

Let's see birthday tax 24 today. Gonna go watch the abs. Hopefully eliminate the Wild. I hope they do Ziggy Tour for your sake and for your birthday. Thank you for your super chat.

[Michael Howard]

Have you been keeping up with any hockey?

[Andy Cortez]

No, no.

[Michael Howard]

Bigger basketball Sabers. You know that. I love the Sabers and the Avalanche. Both are still in it. Who are the.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh no, don't tell me where the Sabres are from.

[Michael Howard]

Oh, you okay?

[Andy Cortez]

Buffalo. Buffalo. Yeah.

[Michael Howard]

Been 15 plus years since they've been in it.

[Andy Cortez]

The B hole.

[Michael Howard]

Let's take a look. Could they meet up in the. In the finals chat? Let me know. I don't know what the bracket breaks down.

[Andy Cortez]

Okay.

[Michael Howard]

I know where Buffalo.

[Andy Cortez]

I also think the. I also think that bracket's a little too small. Like you may need to. Oh, well, I was also text.

[Michael Howard]

I was gonna say, do you notice that this bracket seems old, you know.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh God. That's why you got to go to

[Daphne]

like the actual like site. I didn't know the Cavs were stealing it.

[Michael Howard]

Cavs are still in it. James Harden scored seven of their last 11.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Michael Howard]

To keep them alive. But the Pistons are going to beat this team, I think.

[Andy Cortez]

Really?

[Michael Howard]

Yeah. I think we'll see. I think we're going to see Pistons, Knicks and then we'll see Thunder, spurs and then I'm going to go with. I'm going to go with the Knicks just because Detroit has been playing as well as what I want them to play. It's an interesting team to watch. Detroit, they should be blowing the doors off these teams. The Magic. Dancing with the Magic for so long. It's like they got to get the killer instinct in them and win these games.

[Daphne]

Games.

[Andy Cortez]

That's kind of. Yeah.

[Michael Howard]

And like Magic New York is showing that they're winning games right now. And then you come. Will the Thunder be scared to match up with Wemby? Andy? They're a young core, but they're also smaller than Wemby. Chet the Jet would be the guy who's got to kind of body Wemby there. Harkenstein.

[Andy Cortez]

You know, the Thunder have overwhelmingly the best team in the NBA and they're only. And we have got a young dinosaur and we have the Dumbass Clippers to thank because the Dumbass Clippers traded Paul George for about 19 first round picks. And then the Thunder have just had like all. Every best player. Now they've. You also got to pick a good player. Right. It's not always guaranteed, but their front office is just unbelievable. They're going to continue to be great, but they're not super great against the spurs on the season. And that's like the little glitz. Look, hey, we got to win game six first, Mike. I'm not even looking at the Thunder. I'm thinking about Anthony Edwards. I'm thinking about Ant man stifled tower. What's that? Rudy Gobert. I'm thinking of Jalen McDaniels. Jaden. Jalen.

[Michael Howard]

Jaden.

[Andy Cortez]

Jaden McDaniels. I didn't realize.

[Daphne]

The Lakers.

[Andy Cortez]

That's crazy, dude. The Lake. Yeah, I mean, well, the Lakers didn't have Luka Doncic.

[Michael Howard]

They were tired. Yeah, Austin Reeves wasn't shooting well either. Yeah, he wasn't putting up big money contract.

[Andy Cortez]

To me near the end, man, LeBron had a really tough turnover, like, near the end of that game. It was like, one that nobody's gonna remember. But I remember because I was texting with Rudy and I was like, tough turnover.

[Michael Howard]

That was like Draymond. When they had that win in the playing game to then go to play against Phoenix and he shut down kawhi with like 90 seconds left.

[Andy Cortez]

Right.

[Michael Howard]

But then they talked about the steel 20 seconds after that, and it's like. No, it was the first stop where he shut down Kawhi.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Michael Howard]

And then it steamrolled into like three stops in a ro. Pretty amazing.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah. Anyway, sports are great, man.

[Michael Howard]

Sports are great.

[Andy Cortez]

You know what's also great? This show and this audience and this community. Thank you for watching this episode of Kind of Funny Games Daily Stick after this for Kind of Funny Games cast where we will be talking about the brand new game from Yacht Club Games, the creators of Shovel Knight. It is Mina the Hollower. It's finally in our hands. And I played the preview and I can't wait to talk about it with you guys. But until then, it's been our pleasure to serve you.