Sony Makes Major Deal With From Software's Parent Company - Kinda Funny Games Daily 12.19.24

Summary

Kinda Funny Games Daily: Video Games News Podcast Summary

Episode Title: Sony Makes Major Deal With From Software's Parent Company - Kinda Funny Games Daily 12.19.24
Release Date: December 19, 2024
Hosts: Greg “GameOverGreggy” Miller, Tim Gettys, and Blessing Adeoye Jr., alongside Andy Cortez and Kevin Coelho
Duration: Approximately 70 minutes

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1. Sony's Strategic Partnership with Kadokawa

The episode kicks off with a deep dive into Sony's recent strategic capital and business alliance with Kadokawa, the parent company of acclaimed game developer FromSoftware, known for titles like Elden Ring.

Key Points:

• Shareholding: Sony has increased its stake in Kadokawa, now holding about 10%, making it Kadokawa's largest shareholder without pursuing a full acquisition.
• Collaboration Initiatives: The partnership aims to adapt Kadokawa's intellectual properties (IP) into live-action films and TV dramas globally, co-produce anime works, and expand the distribution of Kadokawa Anime through the Sony Group. Additionally, they plan to enhance the publishing of Kadokawa games and develop virtual production resources.

Notable Quote:

Takashi Natsuno, Kadokawa CEO:
“We’re very pleased to conclude this capital and business alliance agreement with Sony. This alliance is expected to not only further strengthen our IP creation capabilities but also increase our IP media mix options.”
(Timestamp: 06:30)

Hosts' Insights:

• Tim Gettys: Emphasizes the significance of Sony's involvement beyond just gaming, highlighting Sony's strong foothold in anime and television.
• Andy Cortez: Expresses relief that Sony's investment doesn't equate to a full acquisition, preserving FromSoftware’s creative independence and multiplatform presence.

Discussion Highlights:

• The hosts discuss the potential for successful adaptations of FromSoftware’s rich IPs, including Dark Souls, Sekiro, Bloodborne, and Elden Ring, into various media forms.
• They also touch upon Sony's broader strategy to integrate different entertainment verticals, ensuring a cohesive expansion of Kadokawa’s content.

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2. Xbox's Project Rainway: A Cross-Platform User Interface

The conversation shifts to Microsoft's ambitious project, Rainway, which aims to develop a unified cross-platform user interface for Xbox games.

Key Points:

• Project Rainway: Aims to create an Xbox guide menu that maintains the Xbox experience across different platforms, inspired by social features in games like Hearthstone and World of Warcraft.
• Inspiration: The initiative draws from successful cross-platform communication and sharing mechanisms, ensuring consistency in user experience whether on PC, mobile, or other consoles.

Notable Quote:

Tim Gettys:
“This is a very important one that I feel like has been missing recently, but they've been going through a lot. It makes sense that now’s the time.”
(Timestamp: 23:34)

Hosts' Insights:

• Andy Cortez: Highlights Xbox’s commitment to ensuring games are accessible and enjoyable across various devices, enhancing convenience for gamers.
• Tim Gettys: Discusses how Project Rainway aligns with Xbox's broader strategy to unify the gaming experience, leveraging technology and possible integrations from their recent Activision acquisition.

Discussion Highlights:

• The hosts delve into the technical and strategic implications of unifying the user interface across platforms.
• They speculate on how this could influence future game releases and the overall Xbox ecosystem, ensuring a seamless experience akin to Xbox’s branding efforts.

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3. The Game Awards 2024 Breaks Viewership Records

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to the Game Awards 2024, which has achieved unprecedented viewership numbers.

Key Points:

• Record Viewership: The Game Awards 2024 amassed an estimated 154 million live streams, marking a 31% increase from the previous year’s 118 million.
• Peak Concurrent Users: The event saw over 4 million peak concurrent users on platforms like Twitch and YouTube.
• Growth Trend: This marks the 10th consecutive year of growth for the Game Awards, solidifying its status as a premier event in the gaming industry.

Notable Quote:

Tim Gettys:
“There is no other thing like it. Like the Super Bowl has some level of it with the commercials and trailers, but the Game Awards is the only destination event we have for major game announcements.”
(Timestamp: 41:43)

Hosts' Insights:

• Andy Cortez: Expresses amazement at the scale of the event, comparing it to traditional sports viewership and emphasizing its significance in the entertainment landscape.
• Tim Gettys: Highlights the unique blend of announcements, trailers, and celebrity appearances that contribute to the event’s massive appeal.

Discussion Highlights:

• The hosts compare the Game Awards to other major events like the Super Bowl and Oscars, noting its growing influence and attracting more advertisers and larger-scale productions each year.
• They discuss potential future expansions of the event but agree that maintaining focus is crucial to continuing its success.

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4. X Defiant Receives Final Update Before Shutdown

The podcast covers the unfortunate news about Ubisoft's shooter game, X Defiant, which is set to receive its final update prior to shutting down in 2025.

Key Points:

• Final Update: Released on December 18, X Defiant's last patch includes previously announced features like Assassin's Class, new factions, maps, and progression mechanics.
• Developer’s Message: Executive Producer Mark Rubin thanks the fans and development team for their dedication since the game's launch in May 2024.
• Player Base: Despite the impending shutdown, the game maintains a healthy player count with SteamDB showing 100k players, surpassing many expectations for a non-competitive co-op game.

Notable Quote:

Tim Gettys:
“It’s sad because that shows a lot of games are ending, but at least it’s not getting concorded right. They’re putting what they got out there.”
(Timestamp: 51:59)

Hosts' Insights:

• Andy Cortez: Reflects on the challenges facing live service games and the importance of fair pricing structures to maintain player trust and support.
• Tim Gettys: Comments on Ubisoft’s effort to honor the game’s legacy despite its closure, hoping it sets a precedent for better practices in the industry.

Discussion Highlights:

• The hosts analyze why X Defiant struggled despite initial promise, touching upon market saturation and the difficulties of competing with established shooters.
• They express appreciation for Ubisoft’s approach in providing a final update, ensuring existing players can enjoy the game until its official end.

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5. Helldivers 2 Addresses Fan Backlash with Free Kill Zone Sets

The episode highlights Helldivers 2 developers’ response to fan dissatisfaction over the pricing of their latest crossover skins.

Key Points:

• Fan Backlash: Players were upset about the $20 price tag for Hell Divers-inspired Kill Zone sets unveiled in the game's latest update.
• Developer Response: Arrowhead Game Studios is mitigating the backlash by offering the second set of crossover items for free and extending the availability of existing items in the store.
• Continued Support: Despite the game’s planned shutdown, the latest updates demonstrate Arrowhead’s commitment to maintaining a positive player experience.

Notable Quote:

Andy Cortez:
“This is a misstep, and they realize it. I really hope that we move past this trend of bad money grabby ideas.”
(Timestamp: 51:59)

Hosts' Insights:

• Tim Gettys: Praises the developers for listening to player feedback and taking corrective actions to repair their relationship with the community.
• Andy Cortez: Draws parallels with other games where similar missteps occurred, emphasizing the necessity for fair monetization practices.

Discussion Highlights:

• The conversation explores the delicate balance between monetization and player satisfaction, underscoring how mispricing cosmetic items can damage a game's reputation.
• The hosts commend Arrowhead’s swift response, hoping it incentivizes other developers to prioritize community feedback over revenue in similar situations.

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6. Additional News Highlights

a. Final Ski Sues Sega Over Sonic Adventure 2 Song Rights

• Issue: The creator of the iconic Sonic Adventure 2 song "Live and Learn" is suing Sega, alleging unauthorized use and monetization of the song over the past two decades.
• Impact: This lawsuit raises significant concerns about intellectual property rights and royalties within the gaming industry.

Notable Quote:

Tim Gettys:
“The song is a big deal. It has been featured in like over a hundred games because it's such a big deal.”
(Timestamp: 61:41)

b. Ubisoft’s Rogue Prince of Persia on Steam Without Ubisoft Connect

• Issue: Ubisoft's Rogue Prince of Persia is available on Steam without the option to use Ubisoft Connect, limiting cross-save and cross-play functionalities.
• Implications: Players are concerned about losing their saved progress if they switch between platforms, potentially hindering the game's accessibility and user experience.

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7. Personal Banter and Community Interaction

Throughout the episode, hosts engage in light-hearted conversations, sharing personal anecdotes and humorous exchanges that add a relatable and entertaining layer to the discussions. Notable moments include:

• Andy Cortez: Shares his love for frosted banana bread Pop-Tarts, attributing them to a positive lifestyle change introduced by a friend.
• Discussion on Teleprompter Mishaps: The hosts debate whether certain on-air errors were due to technical issues or personal mistakes, adding a candid and humorous touch to the podcast.
• Health and Lifestyle Chats: Tim and Andy discuss their sleep schedules, weekend routines, and the challenges of maintaining a healthy balance between work and personal life.

Notable Quote:

Tim Gettys:
“Watch happy hour Patreon members at the $25 level. We're about to do happy hour. You can call in and talk to us. It’s going to be a great time.”
(Timestamp: 66:50)

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8. Conclusion

As the episode wraps up, the hosts reiterate their excitement for upcoming content and encourage listeners to support their work through memberships and Patreon. They also briefly touch upon future events and the continuing evolution of the gaming industry.

Final Remarks:

• Tim Gettys: Signs off expressing gratitude to the listeners and promoting the Patreon Happy Hour for additional engagement.
• Andy Cortez: Concludes with a farewell, maintaining the show's friendly and community-driven atmosphere.

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Notable Quotes with Timestamps

• Andy Cortez on Pop-Tarts:
  “...ostensively, I can’t stop eating them, really enjoy them and they're good for like just a little late night pick me up. A little early morning pick me up...”
  (Timestamp: 03:07)

• Takashi Natsuno’s Press Release:
  “With Sony's support for global expansion allowing us to deliver RIP to more users around the world...”
  (Timestamp: 06:30)

• Tim Gettys on Xbox Strategy:
  “...this makes total sense to me. And I think you made a great point about the Activision acquisition. It's not only IP and games. It's tech and patents...”
  (Timestamp: 22:43)

• Andy Cortez on Game Awards Growth:
  “Just see these shows get larger and larger. More massive productions, more celebrities...”
  (Timestamp: 39:10)

• Tim Gettys on Fair Monetization:
  “These long live service games need some type of cost structure to fund the development and continuation...”
  (Timestamp: 58:21)

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Final Thoughts

This episode of Kinda Funny Games Daily provides comprehensive coverage of major industry developments, insightful discussions on strategic partnerships, and thoughtful critiques of game monetization practices. With engaging banter and a focus on both macro and micro aspects of the gaming world, this episode serves as an informative and entertaining resource for gamers and industry enthusiasts alike.

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For more detailed discussions and exclusive content, consider supporting Kinda Funny through their Patreon or joining their membership programs.

Transcript

[Andy Cortez]

This episode is brought to you by Dutch Bros. Big smiles, rocking tunes and epic drinks. Dutch Bros is all about you choose from a variety of customizable handcrafted beverages like our Rebel energy drinks, coffees, teas and more. Download the Dutch Bros app for a free medium drink. Plus find your nearest shop, order ahead and start earning rewards offer valid for new app users only. Free medium drink Reward upon registration 14 day expiration terms apply.

[Tim Gettys]

See DutchBros.com Today's stories include Sony and FromSoft's Parent Company Form a strategic partnership. Xbox is designing a cross platform interface and the game awards viewership hits an all time high. We'll have all this and more because this is Kinda Funny Games Daily. What's up? And welcome back to Kinda Funny Games Daily live for Thursday, December 19, 2024. Of course, I am your host, Tim Gettys. I am joined today by the Nitro Rifle himself, Andy Cortez.

[Andy Cortez]

Good morning, Tim.

[Tim Gettys]

Look at us. A little ketchup and mustard. Little Deadpool and Wolverine. Yeah, I love that you saw my shirt, my dope as shirt, by the way, and you're like, I bought that too.

[Andy Cortez]

I'm glad I didn't wear it today.

[Tim Gettys]

We got algorithms. Can you imagine if you did wear it today?

[Andy Cortez]

I was close.

[Tim Gettys]

That would have been awesome because I.

[Andy Cortez]

Got that one and I got the Dark Souls one.

[Tim Gettys]

Sick.

[Andy Cortez]

Are we out of focus?

[Tim Gettys]

Yep. Kev's on it though.

[Kevin Coelho]

We are trying to fix it, but like it was in focus right before we started.

[Tim Gettys]

A lot's going on. Camera's out of focus, Andy's laptop is dancing and we're not exactly sure what's making the LED do it, but hey, it's hot. There it is. It's going. It's going. Everyone. And more importantly, we just reacted to James Gunn's Superman trailer. Of course we did it live on YouTube and Twitch. YouTube did not like us doing that. Did not like it at all. It did something I've never seen, which is while we were live, it didn't take us down, it just went black. But the live stream stayed and then we came back and then it went black again. So there's a lot of like cutout chunks. We're re uploading it to YouTube right now, hoping that they don't block it or take it down or anything. So we left up the video. If you want to see some of our reaction. But mainly the hourong discussion that we mainly Greg Miller has about our thoughts on the Superman trailer, our theories on where it might be going and all that so definitely go check that out.

[Andy Cortez]

I thought it was odd. I saw the Reddit talk about it. Hey there. You know, YouTube doesn't like whatever kind of fun he's doing with Warner Brothers or whatever the hell. And then I clicked on the link and it just worked. So I was. What? I don't know.

[Tim Gettys]

Again, never seen this issue before. So I'm hoping that we upload it and when it it not being live, it'll just be like a normal thing where WB gets the money from the monetization of the YouTube which whatever, who cares how this goes and we move on. Or they block it and don't let people see it. But either way you can check out what is there now or you can wait a little bit and the whole thing hopefully should be up in momentarily, but who knows how long that will take because YouTube and processing it every. We're playing the game out here. We're trying our best. How are you doing today, Andy?

[Andy Cortez]

I'm doing great. I started my morning strong, real strong, Tim, because you know, Barrett's been a great friend and roommate to me for a long time and I arguably the best thing that he's introduced into my life are frosted banana bread pop tarts. They're so good, Tim.

[Tim Gettys]

I mean that sounds good.

[Andy Cortez]

It's free. It's. It's just kind of changed my life and now I got the yellow sort of jacket. I'm sure I got some banana. I. I'm just really, really into these damn pop tarts. I can't stop eating them, really enjoy them and they're good for like just a little late night pick me up. A little early morning pick me up. I got that little midday pick me up.

[Tim Gettys]

Then I'm a big banana bread in the morning guy. Starbucks has their little banana bread loafs and that's like a once every two weeks for me type of thing. Yeah, yeah, a little treat, you know, and a little pick me up. This is kind of funny games daily though, everyone. Each and every weekday we run you through all the video game news that you need to know about live on YouTube, Twitch and podcast services around the globe. If you love what we do, please support us with the kind of 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 for a chance to be part of the show. Submit your thoughts and opinions as YouTube super chats as we go. Remember, we are an 11 person business all about live talk shows and we've been doing this almost 10 years, we're going to be celebrating our 10 year anniversary. January 3, 2015. Nope, that's not right. 20, 25. 10 years from 2015, we're going to be doing, of course, a big live stream celebrating the last 10 years and also looking forward to the future. Just having a great time with the team here in the studio. It's about to be a blast. So that's a Friday. Make sure you take the day off work. Or if you're at work, just make sure you get your tabs and headphones set up so that you know your boss isn't going to be able to see what you're doing. Un. Unless they could be a best friend too. You know what I mean?

[Andy Cortez]

Mind your business, boss.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Is what I would yell.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, exactly. Today after Games Daily, there's not going to be a games cast or stream because we had to get up early into the studio to do the Superman stuff and we're working on a lot of KF10 situations. So this will be the last show of the day. If you're a kind of funny member though, you can get the kind of funny Happy hour right after Games Daily. If you sub at the $25 level so you can hang out with us, call in, literally actually call into the show and talk to us. It's a great time for everybody. So if you are a kind of funny member at that Patreon level, join us for this month's the final Happy hour of the year. Thank you to our Patreon producers, Delaney Twining and Carl Jacobs. Today we are brought to you by Heart Electric still Wakes the Deep Aurora frames and Marvel Snap. We'll tell you about those later. For now, let's begin with what is and forever will be the Roper Report. Time for some news. Six stories. Story number one. Sony is now Kadokawa's largest shareholder. This comes from Jordan Midler at vgc. Sony has increased its shares in Kadokawa as both companies agreed to a strategic capital and business alliance. Sony's already owned shares in the media heavyweight, but following today's announcement, it will now own around 10% of the company, making it its largest shareholder. Despite previous reports of Sony's interest in acquiring the company, this deal does not constitute an acquisition and Kadokawa will remain an independent entity. In a press release, Sony claimed it plans to discuss specific initiatives for collaboration, such as initiatives to adapt Kadokawa's IP into live action films and TV dramas globally co produce anime works, expand global distribution of Kadokawa Anime Works through the Sony Group, further expand publishing of Kadokawa games and develop human resources to promote and expand virtual production for game fans. Katakawa is best known as the parent company company of FromSoftware developers of Elden Ring. Andy Cortez. I've heard of them. Wow. Quote. We're very pleased to conclude this capital and business alliance agreement with Sony, said Takashi Natsuno Kadokawa CEO. This alliance is expected to not only further strengthen our IP creation capabilities, but also increase our IP media mix options. With Sony's support for global expansion allowing us to deliver RIP to more users around the world, we're confident that this will greatly contribute to maximizing the value of our IP and increasing our corporate value in the mid to long term. We intend to do our utmost to ensure that our collaborative efforts with Sony produce great results in the global market. Any takeaways? Andy?

[Andy Cortez]

Well, I'm glad it's only a portion. I'm glad it isn't a full sort of, you know, majority shareholder type situation.

[Tim Gettys]

An acquisition, right?

[Andy Cortez]

Not an acquisition. When I look at Katakawa's Wikipedia, all I could think of is just the word conglomerate.

[Tim Gettys]

Like it's just, it's a, it's a media conglomerate.

[Andy Cortez]

This is a conglomerate with all the IP that they own. And I see here, shout out to Ignacio Rojas, your name is one of their products.

[Tim Gettys]

There we go.

[Andy Cortez]

Your name is a movie that was always recommended to us. I never watched it, Tim. Did you?

[Tim Gettys]

Not yet.

[Andy Cortez]

You never watched it. Okay. Yeah, I mean I feel like this goes way deeper than the all the.

[Tim Gettys]

Way to the top.

[Andy Cortez]

This goes all the way to the top, Tim. And this is one of the situations where we read all, we read this news. Great write up from Jordan Midler and we just immediately assume PlayStation from software. It's clearly a lot more than that.

[Tim Gettys]

I, I. Sony and anime.

[Andy Cortez]

It is a, yeah, it's a portion of it. And I don't think it's not even like the main purpose for this sort of acquisition. Not acquisition, but for, for the, the purchasing of these shares. But it's definitely up there and I'm again, I'm glad it's not a majority because I don't, I don't want these games to just be a Sony product. I love how Elden ring or how FromSoftware seems to have a decent amount of like, hey, we can do whatever the hell we want right now, especially with the cache that we have with our library we're popping off right now. Kind of let us cook over here. This does seem to be a much larger story, even like a screencasty type story to me though.

[Tim Gettys]

Yep, absolutely. Me and Bless talked about this about a month ago at this point when these rumors first started and I, I feel like we had back to back stories day after day. One was kind of the rumors and then the next one was like, hey, this is happening. Like what the extent will be, we don't know, but we will know by the end of the year and here we are. So all that kind of played out the way that was reported. And yeah, this is not a PlayStation acquiring from software play. This is very much a Sony trying to have a more strategic partnership with a much bigger entity. And that makes sense when you look at Sony as a whole, where PlayStation and gaming is just one vertical of its many, many, many verticals of how they make money. And when you look at their Sony Pictures with the, the movies, but then more specifically the Sony TV and Sony Animation side, they've been making a lot of investments over the years, like two, a pretty scary degree in terms of being a monopoly in the ownership and distribution of anime with their acquisitions or just investments in Crunchyroll. Funimation. There's a bunch of other ones too that they've been kind of like building up over the, the last decade or so. But then you look at their, their movie side and you know, it's interesting. Sony's one of the big dogs, one of the big studios out there, right? But they don't have much going for them in comparison to a Disney or a Universal even where.

[Andy Cortez]

Hey, what about me? Tim, it's me, Mark Wahperson. We got the Uncharted movies.

[Tim Gettys]

Yes. So there, there's the Uncharted movies and, and even then to, to say that I don't want to like discredit them because they still have hits, right? They, they put out movies that make a lot of money, but they also have been on a, a pretty bad run the last couple years. A lot of that thanks to the Sony Spider man. That don't include Spider man, so those have been kind of rough. But in addition to that, we, we do have, you know, Sony Pictures collaborations with Marvel Studios on the Spider Man Homecoming trilogy. Major, major, major wins there. Some of the highest grossing movies of all time. So that's great for them. They have Karate Kid Legends coming out next year. But I think everything I just said kind of paints a picture of where Sony Pictures is at, which is they're not number one. They're far from it. They're doing well. But like it is not a sure thing that Sony Pictures will always exist. I. I do think that there is a potential future where it's. It's definitely not as big of a deal as it once was. Having said that, Sony's been killing it on the TV side, and they have been for a very long time. And I think they made a very smart call to not have their own streaming service, but to instead supply other streaming services with their TV products that range in quality. But I would say they're more hit than misses. And a lot of the Apple TV products that we talk about of, like, the quality of, like, God damn, these are some of the best shows ever. There's Sony Pictures, right?

[Andy Cortez]

Really?

[Tim Gettys]

Or Sony tv. Yeah. So Sony definitely. Like, I know it's easy to look at this and be like, I don't want the people that made Craven to make an Elden Ring movie, but I don't think that's the right way to look at it. I think it's more looking at it as like, oh, the TV side of things, or the anime side of things. Sony kind of is the right group to go to. So I think that that is the big move here is clearly from software has IP out the wazoo at this point. Like, I feel like it's no longer just, oh, there's Souls Games. It's like, there's Souls Games, there's Sekiro, there's Bloodborne, there's Elden Ring. All of those could have successful adaptations.

[Andy Cortez]

Secret level, armored core.

[Tim Gettys]

Exactly. You're right. Perfect. Perfect example. So I do think that there's a lot of big wins that they could have from this. And again, it not being a full acquisition a good thing because of, like, the ramifications that could have. This does, though, seem just like the right level of support and again, investment to be able to make these products potentially happen.

[Andy Cortez]

I see here that Sony television makes the $100,000 Pyramid starring Michael Strahan.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Just would have never expected that guy to be just one of the hosts of everything when he was, you know, sacking my quarterbacks back in the day for the New York Giants. Also on the film side, Tim, they came out with a movie called Afraid, but the AI is Italianized.

[Tim Gettys]

Italianized, Italicized.

[Andy Cortez]

Had a lot of ass. I'm making. I got a lot of stuff on my mind right now, too. Got a lot of stuff on my mind.

[Kevin Coelho]

Italian.

[Andy Cortez]

Got a lot of stuff. I've been working a lot of stuff.

[Tim Gettys]

Doing a lot of stuff. Oh, my God. Oh. But anyways, in terms of the games, this being 10% ownership, I don't think that this sways from software more towards Sony at all or away from Sony. I think that it'll kind of just be part for the course because, remember, it's not like they haven't had investment before. And that clearly did lead to Bloodborne. Right. That did lead to strategic collaborations and partnerships exclusive to it in the past, and it wasn't that long ago. But I would say that Bloodborne was probably the first step towards FromSoftware being mainstream, like PlayStation, kind of like presenting it as like, this is an IP that matters to us. This is a big PlayStation exclusive. The Souls games, I think it took from Demons all the way to Dark Souls 3 to kind of like be the cool kids club of like, if, you know, you know. And that grew obviously. I think by the time Dark Souls 2 was even a thing, it was still very much like a hit. But I remember the conversations around that game back then. It really felt like you, you knew your. If you were playing Dark Souls too. You know what I mean? Yeah. But Bloodborne changed that. Do you agree with that?

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, absolutely. You were in the, you were kind of on that underground. And I, I think back to like so many a majority of the comments in the YouTube for whether it's kind of funny or kind of funny games, and even being an audience member, seeing people being like, why aren't you all playing these from software games? To see their sort of launch into the gigantic stratospheres. When we talk about the leaps that they've been making kind of title to title, it kind of. I also think of, you know, Animal Crossing kind of hitting another threshold of sales through the pandemic or whatever. I, I mean, I hope this turns into more like, you know, anime attempts. I don't know if I want a live action type of deal from a FromSoft universe. I think it's really hard to translate that. But I'd be excited to see whatever possibilities are out there. I know that they, they know that they have a lot of potential and a lot of things to work with. It's just a matter of how do we not make it, how do we not cheapen it? You know, how do we not just suddenly have video game movies for the. Just for fun without really, really caring about the ip, so. And I think the people at from Software aren't really willing to cheapen their name and their products.

[Tim Gettys]

I agree. Yeah. And again, I think that when you don't look at this as a Sony Pictures thing You look at it more as Sony Animation. Sony tv.

[Andy Cortez]

Right.

[Tim Gettys]

It's good. It's good news. So we'll see where this goes. But I. I do think it's fascinating that this news kind of was rumored and now we have the answers, like within a month for this type of talk, which I feel like in recent years, anytime we've heard anything like this, it's been drawn out to hell. And I know we've reported about it a million different times, so.

[Andy Cortez]

And there's denials in there.

[Tim Gettys]

Exactly, exactly. So it's nice to be able to just move on from this and it not seeming like a negative. Moving on to story number two, actually wait early in line super chats in saying this seems to be a way to prevent a potential hostile takeover from Cacao who are under Tencent. Yeah, I mean I think that that's the world we're in where there you do need to make these strategic moves to protect yourself and your company or companies and partners from the people that have unthinkable amounts of money that can come in and sway aboard to be like, we're just gonna buy you out. You know what I mean? So that, that makes a lot of sense.

[Andy Cortez]

It's the hostile takeovers just feel like they like, are illegal.

[Tim Gettys]

Like the word hostile. You know, anytime I think of a.

[Andy Cortez]

Hostile takeover, like, how is this allowed?

[Tim Gettys]

Like, you know, it makes me think of Die Hard.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

And I know that they're not the same thing, but it's like that.

[Andy Cortez]

I just imagine you know, pirates coming aboard and being like, all right, this is our ship now. It's like, well, how is this happening? But then I also think of how awesome succession was and now I understand the financial world because of it.

[Tim Gettys]

You're an expert.

[Kevin Coelho]

But it's like if the vote. The. The boat was for sale and the people just bought the boat and they're like, well, no, we own the boat now. We own more of the boat than you do, so we're going to do whatever we want.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, but it's like, how did the. But you know, the people who gave them. It's like, well, we don't want. You don't. We don't want you to buy.

[Tim Gettys]

You don't want to sell the boat. You don't sell the boat. That's what makes it hostile, you know?

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah. And then El Capitan 22 says, this feels like it's just a for now move. Eventually they buy them completely. Games stay multiplatform. I don't think that's the case like I don't at all.

[Andy Cortez]

You don't think Sony tries to make a bigger push into it?

[Tim Gettys]

I mean I feel like they would have done that here if they, if that was the goal. Just timing wise of where we're at, where from's at, where Sony's at, all that. I also think that, I mean they could have like if they wanted to, to make that move. I don't know that it would have went through but I do feel like this reads to me like this is what the, this is what both sides wanted out of this.

[Andy Cortez]

Okay. Because I, the way I sort of read it, when the rumors start popping up a month ago or so, I see this as what, what they were talked down to and well, so sorry.

[Tim Gettys]

Let me, let me be clear here. I feel like Sony wants it, but I feel like there's just realities in place. The thing that I'm like saying, I don't think so. Is the game say multi platform? I don't think so. I think if Sony, if they were to get them completely. No way they're multi platform.

[Andy Cortez]

Really.

[Tim Gettys]

Sony's not playing Xbox's game and I'm not including PC. I think that's different. But yeah, I, I feel like that they would want that shit to be theirs.

[Andy Cortez]

I so much, so many of my opinions have now changed with exclusivity like over the last couple of years that I know Xbox is clearly the, hey, we get that we're losing, we get that we don't have that sort of market share. So that's why we are making this push to go multi platform. And you know, you can hate it or you can like it or whatever. But from, from the Sony side of things, I feel like even the small pushes that they've been making into PC, they've been kind of wetting their whistle and they're just like, oh, this feels kind of good to kind of have money coming in immediately from all these other places. And I part of, you know, if I were to hostly take over, I'd be like, hey, put that everywhere because look at all the money that's coming in, you know, and I PS5s are still selling though. Yeah, I know. I just, I, I mean I think you make more, you make less money off of the hardware though.

[Tim Gettys]

But I think that investing in the platform and then you're selling more software from all the other games on it. I think that's Sony's strategy. I don't necessarily think that that's the winning strategy or the right move or whatever. Like, I do think in terms of just dollars to dollars.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

I think the game should be everywhere. I'm just saying, looking at the strategy of where PlayStation's at, like they put Lego Horizon on Switch, but I think that that is a very specific move of trying to grow that IP in a way to then make movies and TV shows and turn it into. That's where the real money is. Right. That type of stuff.

[Andy Cortez]

Astrobiot goes to a Nintendo?

[Tim Gettys]

No.

[Andy Cortez]

I don't know.

[Tim Gettys]

No.

[Andy Cortez]

And I switch to.

[Tim Gettys]

I don't think it'd be as good on Nintendo for a lot of reasons. Like, I think something that makes Astrobot so special is that it pushes tech forward. It's the Nintendo magic, but with the tech to back it up. Switch 2, though, I still think it.

[Andy Cortez]

Would be enjoyable without all the haptics, you know.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

But I was done with it. It's really good too.

[Tim Gettys]

Pretty good video. I watched your last video.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah. Yeah, pretty good.

[Tim Gettys]

It's really good. Anyway, that's that story number two. Xbox is reportedly developing a cross platform user interface. This comes from Tom Ivan at vgc. Microsoft's reportedly working on a new cross platform user interface, according to a Windows Central report which also claims that exclusive Xbox console games will be the exception rather than the rule going forward. Sources tell us that Microsoft's also working on a set of in game APIs and user interface features called Project Rainway, which is some form of cross platform Xbox guide menu. The report claims Microsoft has been inspired by the in game battle.net social features seen in Hearthstone, Diablo 4 and World of Warcraft, which lets you share and communicate cross platform. This means that for games running on other platforms from Xbox, they'll still have an Xbox flavor and in game Xbox systems, maybe even cloud saves.

[Andy Cortez]

Just would have assumed this is a thing.

[Tim Gettys]

I mean, well, again, this goes back to what Xbox has been building the last couple years. And I think it's freaking amazing. And this is just, I think the one of the final steps towards it just working the way that it should when you put out an ad campaign that is, everything's an Xbox. This is an Xbox, this is an Xbox, whatever. This is the type of stuff that really makes it not just feel like marketing, but actually like, oh no, no, we're getting the Xbox experience. I don't need to buy the box. I already have something that can play it. But I could buy the box because that just makes it more convenient for my living room experience or whatever it is. This is great though. And again, I think that this is a good use of acquiring something like Activision that has decades of experience with these type of interfaces and the, the way that the games kind of connect or don't connect, cross save, cross play, all of that stuff. Xbox has invested so much in that. So, like, taking it that one little step further, this is great.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, totally agreed. I think it's a succinct way to kind of, you know, again, get that experience in multiple different places. But it's also just a lot more convenient for the user to say, well, if everything's going to be everywhere, why would you not have the same experience everywhere? This just, I mean, this makes total sense to me. And I think you made a great point about the Activision acquisition. It's not only IP and games. It's. It's also tech and it's, you know, patents and things like that. And having that engineer support, having that engineer experience to be able to say, well, when I'm playing Overwatch, I can see when my friends are playing Diablo in game and it'll show. I'll see, I'll go to my online tab and see, oh, that I have friends playing Diablo and I have friends playing Call of Duty or whatever the hell the Activision thing is doing. I think this is like a really, really genius call for them to sort of say, why not unify everything as much as possible.

[Tim Gettys]

And now taking this even further, thinking about it, right? With the rise of PC gaming, handhel not just the Steam deck, but how much investment we're seeing from Rog, from Legion, from pretty much every competitor out there at this point, something, they're making these things, having a Xbox kind of boot OS or just like UI overlay, whatever it is, right? The more of those things they can do, and I think it can't be one size fits all. Like, they're going to need to figure out different solutions for the different hardware that they're gonna be on. Like, that is awesome that they're working on that, because I do think that that's how Xbox wins. And I don't think wins against Nintendo or PlayStation, not in that way, but wins against themselves. Like, they hit their goals and keep their gamers happy. Like, that's really what matters more than the competition of, like, who's selling the most or whatever. It's like, are they keeping their audience fed with quality product and with an understanding of Xbox as a brand? And I think they've been making a lot of moves towards that. And this, this is a very important one that I, I feel like has been missing recently, but they've been going through a lot. There's been a lot of movement and shifting going on. So it makes sense that now's the time.

[Andy Cortez]

When I started thinking about these handhelds, Tim, I kind of start wondering how odd it is because we in one, on one side of things, it's, you know, we don't talk about necessarily how many laptops Asus sells or how many laptops Lenovo, Legion or whatever the fuck, or HP Envy or whatever all the gaming brands that they have are. We don't really talk about laptop sales in that way and that. That makes sense. But we do talk about console sales a lot. And one thing that I feel like has been missing from general coverage is just handheld sales being blessed. But talking about it a lot, we just don't know.

[Tim Gettys]

You know, they put them out and they're not great. Yeah, I mean, sorry, let me take that back. They are incredibly great for niche products for what these things are. But I mean, yeah, we're just talking about a handful of millions sold. So it's like the amount that we talk about how important these things are, I think it's pretty silly compared to like how many are actually available out there. But I do think that the more important story is the investment that everyone's putting in these. Where I do think it is a future. Like, I do think that right now it might be slim. It is going to become a much bigger thing. Because I think that, I mean, the. The idea of the Nintendo Switch and how well that worked back in 2017, there is going to, I think, sooner than later come an expectation, especially with what Xbox is doing with all of its initiatives, that you can just play the games you want to play them. And any time you go to play a game, you're like, it should work the way I'm trying to make it work. And it doesn't. Yeah, that's going to be a big hit against you. So I do think that the handheld PCs, like, again, it's always to me goes back to gaming is between PC and console, and handheld are all merging into one thing. So the closer we get to that, I just think it's more viable to have more places you can put your games. And there is an inherent draw to handheld devices, especially with how premium they are these days.

[Andy Cortez]

I do feel like we are kind of on that in that boom cycle with handhelds. And I wonder if the. If these future investments end up not paying off. Like you're mentioning how everybody's kind of wanting to get into the game right now. And it kind of reminds me of like the, the gold rush of when the Switch store first became a thing. And all these indie devs go, oh shit, you put a game on Switch, it's going to sell. Because there's not a whole lot of stuff on the Switch store right now or whatever it. I, I wonder will all of this kind of pay off or will Steam Deck sort of just stay the main thing?

[Tim Gettys]

I don't think it reminds me of.

[Andy Cortez]

Early, it reminds me of early VR to be honest with you. Yeah, where when we start to see Oculus take off and then Valve wants to make their own and then Meta Quest that, you know, acquisitions all this stuff. And there was like a big boom early on. Samsung Galaxy Gear, like when I worked at Best Buy, there was just like a ton of really shitty VR things that were kind of popping up and then they started to see, all right, this isn't necessarily worth it, let's pull back and maybe not put that much, put that many resources into making these things. I wonder if these handhelds will get there because I don't, I don't know if the handheld PC market will really take over and take off in the way that I want it to.

[Tim Gettys]

I take over, I don't know. Take off. I think, I think it's going to. And I think that because like the way that we talk about PC gaming, it's like what's the percentage of PC gamers that are playing on a decked out NZXT with 4090s and all that stuff compared to people that are just playing games, games on a laptop. And we just wouldn't ever give them, give that credit or credence. But the reality is it's probably the majority of PC gamers are playing on some laptop they bought at Best Buy. Right. And I think that that is going to shift slowly to becoming these handheld devices, which again, I do think the handheld devices eventually are going to be either just straight up cloud streamed or easily docked, plugged into a TV and people can then play on their couch or their, their computer monitor if they want or whatever. I think that that is going to be the bridge that needs to be crossed in order for these to be a major success. But I do think that they're being positioned whenever you go to a Best Buy, you look around and you see what are they pushing and how, and then you go back the next year and see what are those products aren't there anymore and what have bigger footprints in the store. These things are getting Bigger and bigger footprint. There's value there to Best Buy, right? The. One of the biggest, if not the biggest, like retail for tech type thing. That's like the mainstream thing. So I think that they're, they're going to keep going with this stuff. And again, I think that Steam Deck to the insider groups is the number one. I would not be surprised if the other ones pretty Steam Deck might be the highest selling currently, but I don't think that'll always be the case.

[Andy Cortez]

I could already just see myself on the sales floor right now just slinging these fucking handhelds because obviously my pitch would be like, sir, how doing it. Welcome in. Oh, you want the Steam Deck? See, that's the thing. It only has a Steam os, but these and like. And here's the thing, Tim, those likely have a lot, much larger markup. So you're going to be encouraged to sell those. You'll be like, get this Lenovo Legion thing and it's got Windows on it. You could put Microsoft Excel or whatever. Microsoft, God, I'd be slinging them, Tim. I be doing so well out there.

[Tim Gettys]

The OS conversation though, I do think is the biggest part of this. And we're already kind of seeing Steam creating its OS to be able to go on to some of the other like the other systems we're talking about here, the, the Ally and the Legion and all that. So I think it's going to kind of work a bunch of different ways. Once Xbox figures out, man, they got.

[Andy Cortez]

They got to get their shit out, man. The Xbox One, they're, they're like, whatever this rumor thing is, it's got to happen way sooner than later because I'm just like you are. The battle may already be lost.

[Tim Gettys]

I almost feel the opposite. I feel like, let them fight at this point, learn what everyone gets wrong. And then I. Xbox needs to put out a good enough system that feels the most Xbox. Once they get all their OS stuff figured out and all that stuff, they just need to put out a product that simply just freaking works the way that it should. And at that point, hopefully they have a library of games that are like, oh man, this is what Xbox is. But yeah, at this point, I don't expect to see that in the next year.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, I do see that because I just think about the future of how, you know, Sony's also rumoring, you know, their next product or whatever, and nobody wants to have a million handheld products with them. And the one that could just play the most things will likely be the victor.

[Tim Gettys]

I don't know about that. I think it's going to be the dedicated ones. If PlayStation puts out a portable PlayStation that plays like the PS5 games, PS4 games, whatever, I think that wins because there's the dedicated audience that wants to invest in that. And I also think that the Xbox One, if they put it out and it does have ability to play other OS's and Steam and all that, which I think it will. Yeah, yeah, there's value there too. We're gonna keep going with different stories, but we're gonna do that after a word from our sponsors. This episode's brought to you by Heart Electric Heart Electric is an upcoming four team arena shooter with a fresh twist. I'll think it outplay your opponents to ultimately come out on top in the battle for life sustaining energy. Made by developers from the Battlefield Series and Helldivers 2, Heart Electric is all about eliminating three other teams by dropping their energy to zero while keeping your team's energy supply high. 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[Andy Cortez]

He is coming.

[Tim Gettys]

This creature is a force more powerful.

[Andy Cortez]

Than evil is death itself.

[Tim Gettys]

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[Andy Cortez]

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[Tim Gettys]

Andy, while we were on the break, you looked at a tweet. Should we pull it up?

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, bring up.

[Tim Gettys]

Let's look at this.

[Andy Cortez]

We don't have to bring it up.

[Tim Gettys]

But Kev, can you move me? Thank you, thank you. This is from Final Ski, the little Photoshop of Andy's little mistake earlier.

[Andy Cortez]

Afraid. And the AI is an Italian flag. Kind of Italian flag colors you.

[Kevin Coelho]

You could say they Italianized it.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, they did Italian, everybody. Yeah. And I let you, I'll let you all know. It felt wrong on the way out, but I was like, still confident in it until there was that moment of like pause. I was like, that's not right.

[Tim Gettys]

That ain't right.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, that ain't right, man. This is, you know, four hours of sleep, Tim, you know.

[Tim Gettys]

Story number three. The Game Awards breaks viewership record with 154 million live streams. This comes from Tom Ivan at VGC. The Game Awards 2024 broke the event's viewership record with an estimated 154 million live streams. That's according to event producer and host Jeff Keeley, who said viewership for last Thursday's show was up 31% compared to 2023's event. It marks a 10th consecutive year of growth for the Game awards, which had 118 million live streams in 2023. Citing streams charts data, Keely said this year's show attracted over 4 million peak concurrent users on Twitch and YouTube. Wow, we, these are big ass numbers, man. And I know that they can. They're counting a lot of different things and there's, you know, social videos count, like there's a lot of stuff. But regardless, we're talking about year over year here. We're talking about comparable stats. So going from 118 million to 154 million from last year to this year, that Is absolutely wild. And the 4 million peak concurrent users on Twitch and YouTube. Like, there's so much money here, so much money in advertising. Obviously the game wards themselves cost. You can see it. You can see where the money goes with these events. But Jesus Christ, we're gonna start to.

[Andy Cortez]

Just see these shows get larger and larger. More massive productions, more celebrities.

[Tim Gettys]

More celebrities.

[Andy Cortez]

All your favorite stuff is on the way.

[Tim Gettys]

Snoop Doggs here.

[Andy Cortez]

I looked up real quick that in the 2023 World Series had an average of 15.8 million people watching live concurrence. And it's just astounding to me that again, 15.8 million concurrence. Right? So it's just astounding to me that a game award show can have like a fifth of the viewership or that's 4 million 812. Yeah, around there. About a fifth of the user of the viewership. That's stunning to me.

[Tim Gettys]

Oh yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

We're talking just like an award show which already don't get watched a whole lot. Right.

[Tim Gettys]

I mean, compare this to any other.

[Andy Cortez]

Award show, anything else, right. And again, you can, you know, you could say not really an award show, it's an advertisement show. And there's a lot of like, awesome reveals or whatever, but still, it's. It's.

[Tim Gettys]

It.

[Andy Cortez]

It's not the Oscars, it's not the Golden Globes, whatever. It's a much smaller market that's still somewhat in its infancy. Right. When we talk about just the other mediums of art. Wild. That. Yeah, that's the amount of concurrence that we're talking about.

[Tim Gettys]

And again, I do think so much goes to how unique the game awards is compared to other award shows in any form where there's announcements and there are trailers and there's news being dropped. There is no other thing like it. Like the super bowl has some level of it with the commercials and with trailers dropping for movies from all the major studios. Like, that is the only even semi analog we have to anything that functions this way. You know, we get cinemacon or any of these like other like weird conventions for. For movie stuff, but that's usually more for theaters themselves. For. I'm blanking on, like the way that they actually correctly phrase it, but like, it's for the AMCs and the regals and all them to kind of get together and be like, what popcorn buckets are we selling next year? You know what I mean? Get everyone hyped about the movies and like, what. What are the big things that are coming out? But a Lot of that stuff eventually these days makes itself online later. But like, it's not like it is this like destination event. E3 was such a unique thing. And Game Awards over the last 10 years, specifically as it's become Keely's Game Awards and at the Spike Game Award show of, of yore has become so much more like one of the, if not the biggest, and I mean based on this year's, the biggest place destination to get game announcements right, Summer Game Fest being another one. But I mean, I think Game Awards this year is the bigger one.

[Andy Cortez]

Do you think that there's an effort behind the scenes to grow this even more in a, in a drastic way? Like, do, do we think that there's any pitches to extend this out to a weekend sort of event where there's all these other sorts of little smaller things neighboring what the main award show is become E3?

[Tim Gettys]

No, I don't. I, I think that they want the one event. They want the big numbers. They want this number to be even bigger.

[Andy Cortez]

Let's not split it.

[Tim Gettys]

And it's going to be, I think splitting it up, you kind of lose this, the focus. And because again, dollar signs and advertisers, you able to show them this, you can go to any advertiser you want and be like, look at the growth that we've had over the last 10 years. It's been up every single year. And even in the last recent years, we're going from 118 to 154 million like that. Those are eyeballs, those are engaged eyeballs of a dedicated demographic that actually cares about this stuff. Like they are doing an amazing job of making this an advertiser's dream. Is that what people want from a Game Award show? I'm not sure. Whatever. But I do know that like they, they've cracked the code and they continue to get it right in terms of growth and in terms of getting these numbers to go astronomically up. And I bet next year we see a similar jump up as well.

[Andy Cortez]

How much bigger can the sets get, Tim? Anytime he pops up in front of a set of like, God dang, this is. I can't even imagine seeing this in person. Yeah, like, oh, I know these things are. They're such large arenas that are. And the tech involved in the, the teams that are, you know, sort of setting up these events, I, I can't imagine how much more. And it's not what I want to look for.

[Kevin Coelho]

Magnanimous one person to run it. If they really tried.

[Andy Cortez]

I mean, you could do It.

[Tim Gettys]

That is the thing, though, Andy. Like, I. I love. I think the Game Awards set is stunning.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, it's incredible.

[Tim Gettys]

But the thing about it is I don't think it gets bigger every year. I feel like something I actually really respect about Game Awards, and now you respect as well, is they do a graphics refresh every year. Like, they. They have different colors. They have different styles. Like, there's a vision for what the tone of the Game Award show is. And I think that goes overlooked by a lot of people, but it's reflected in the set design and the production design in. In choices that they make for just how the show is even presented. But it's always at the same theater.

[Andy Cortez]

Right.

[Tim Gettys]

You know, it's like. It's not like it can get bigger because they're in the. The same space, and I think they use that space very well. So I just love that. It's not so much about set and production going bigger. It's more about doing something cool and unique that is flashy as all shit, because that does matter. Clearly.

[Andy Cortez]

John Carrison. Ford.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah. Very. God, that was a weird moment. That was a weird moment.

[Andy Cortez]

Well, it's also not great that the. The. The freaking teleprompter. Teleprompter kind of messed up on him.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

That's also not a great moment when you're kind of sauced up a little bit.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. But did it. Did it mess up?

[Andy Cortez]

I think.

[Tim Gettys]

Did it mess up? Or was he drunk?

[Andy Cortez]

No. Well, here's the thing.

[Tim Gettys]

Yes, I've read teleprompters. I've read teleprompters Truck.

[Andy Cortez]

But. But I also think of the two Dinas from the Last of Us TV show and the video game Shannon Woodward. And I'm blanking on the actress's name. I remember their teleprompter messing up as well when they were up there. And they're like, we're just improv right now because we don't know what to read. All right, here we go. And they got kind of back on track. I think it kind of messed up on him.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Or he was just, you know, plastered. Good for him, man.

[Tim Gettys]

Good for him.

[Andy Cortez]

Dude, let's survive the plane crash.

[Tim Gettys]

He did. He could do whatever he wants, anything.

[Andy Cortez]

He wants, but not too dangerous.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah. Please be safe.

[Kevin Coelho]

He was, like 75 when that plane crashed.

[Andy Cortez]

It's insane. You're just tempting Faith.

[Kevin Coelho]

But to be fair, he was flying the plane.

[Andy Cortez]

Well.

[Tim Gettys]

Which is cool.

[Kevin Coelho]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

Stupid as cool. I didn't know if things in the World are stupid.

[Andy Cortez]

I didn't know if you were giving him bonus points for that.

[Kevin Coelho]

No, I. I take it away, like, okay, if I crash a car, I. I feel like I get less, like.

[Tim Gettys]

You know, like, points for surviving.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, okay. I thought you were saying, to be fair, he was the one flying it. What an idiot. But you're saying badass. That is kind of bad.

[Kevin Coelho]

That's what he was saying. I was saying what you were.

[Tim Gettys]

I mean, again, cool things can be stupid. Okay? You gotta be real. Harrison Ford flying his own plane. It's. That's cool.

[Andy Cortez]

It's pretty cool.

[Kevin Coelho]

Crashing is playing, not.

[Andy Cortez]

You want to talk about an anxiety attack at night when you're scrolling through Tick Tock. By the way, I haven't opened up Tick Tock recently. Sorry, Mike. I haven't been reading all the tick.

[Tim Gettys]

Or watching Running out of time, man.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, we are running out of time. But that one video of I always get it, like, once every month of this woman pilot who just loses her controls midair. She's like, oh, I've lost the stick. I lost the stick. And, like, just radioing to the people of the tower, like, all right. You okay? Yeah, I'm looking to. And she's just like, emergency landing somewhere. The most anxiety you'll ever feel in about a minute.

[Tim Gettys]

But she did it.

[Andy Cortez]

She did it. Yeah, it was incredible. And like.

[Tim Gettys]

But yeah, just the way you describe it.

[Andy Cortez]

Lost the engines.

[Tim Gettys]

I hate that. But it sounded like one of those videos that I've been seeing a lot. Like, I don't know if anyone's noticed, but Twitter's going to.

[Kevin Coelho]

Yeah, dude. The amount of people I've seen die recently gone from very low to way too many.

[Tim Gettys]

Honestly, so not cool.

[Andy Cortez]

But even I tweeted about it yesterday, Tim, how, like, you know, there's just rumors of. Of. Of Elon wanting to make Xmail, which is like their Gmail. It's like, dog, I can't even look for a past tweet of mine from September because you make it so goddamn. Like, I have to.

[Tim Gettys]

Ridiculous.

[Andy Cortez]

It's. It's unbelievable. I used to just be able to type the Andy Cortez Gundam, like, yeah, words.

[Tim Gettys]

Oh, there it is.

[Andy Cortez]

And that was it. And dude, like, I'll tell you what was, like, one of the worst not safe for work moments that I' here, and I'm glad nobody was looking at my computer, is me looking up the clip of where me, Mike and Nick were playing Elden Ring and we're riding our horses. And Nick said, andy, I would Love to ride a horse with you. Reverse cowgirl. And I was like, that's sexual, though. It's not a sexual thing, Annie. We're just talking. I would love to be facing you on a. Riding a horse. And it's a stupid joke, right? And I remember that being in the tweet or whatever. So I looked that up. Nowhere to be found. An Andy Cortez tweet. Just. Just porn. What the fuck, dude? Like, of course I would expect some porn, but, like, show me my tweet. I'm looking for the tweet with my name. It's just unbelievable, dude. What a dog shit.

[Tim Gettys]

Website story number 4xdefiant gets a hefty final update ahead of shutdown next year. This comes from Ryan Dinsdale at ign. Ubisoft's failed Call of Duty rival X Defiant has received a hefty final update today, December 18, ahead of its shutdown in 2025. Vex defiant Twitter account shared the patch notes, while executive producer Mark Rubin thanked fans and the development team in his own post for their dedication to the game since before and after its May 2024 launch. Can you do me a favor? Can you come. Mark Rubin. I know that name. I want to know what he works. I know Mark Cuban is. I feel like Mark Rubin used to be a Neversoft, but I could be wrong there.

[Andy Cortez]

Former N player.

[Tim Gettys]

No.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, no, no, no, no, no, no. Google AI sucks. Everything sucks now, Tim. I. Mark Rubin and I. Look, look again. It's kind of my fault for not reading it, but it says there are multiple matches for Mark Rubin, including a musician, video game player, and a former NFL player. So I was like. I just saw that part. I was like, oh, wow. He did all these things. Video game producer, visual effects work. His work on Call of Duty games, including Modern Warfare 2009, Call of Duty, Ghost, first Call of Duty for Modern Warfare in 2007, and he's currently the executive producer at Ubisoft SF.

[Tim Gettys]

Where did he start?

[Andy Cortez]

I mean, it looks like it was with either Infinity Ward or was he at Neversoft?

[Tim Gettys]

That's what I need to know. Because Neversoft eventually got turned into Call of Duty. Just like everything I love, everything you.

[Andy Cortez]

Love has definitely gone that route. It is really insane. It's kind of wild. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like every other month or so, there's a new thing about goddamn Toys for Bob doing something Tim doesn't like.

[Tim Gettys]

It's like, God damn it.

[Andy Cortez]

It happens. It happens so often. This happens so often that Toys for Bob is Doing something that Tim just doesn't like.

[Tim Gettys]

So ridiculous, man. Dude, High Moon Studios making Transformers games. We got freaking vicarious visions. Tony Hawk remakes never stopped. Original Tony Hawks, all the guitar heroes, all of them. Call of Duty.

[Andy Cortez]

God, all I see is Infinity Ward, executive producer and formerly Infinity Ward affiliate.

[Tim Gettys]

All right, so maybe, I don't know. Exifying Spinal Season 3/plus update includes the previously announced Assassin's Class, which are modeled after Assassin's Creed's titular heroes, alongside a myriad of additional features that were planned for the now canceled future seasons. This includes a total of three new factions, 13 new maps, a new experience called tactical, a means of getting of gaining experience versus bots, new weapons, new progression mechanics for faction mastery, badges and more.

[Andy Cortez]

Wait, so they introduced a search and destroy tactical mode? It's time to hop in, Mike.

[Tim Gettys]

This is it.

[Andy Cortez]

Time to hop in. I what I do love about like it reminds me of if you were to just take a screenshot from this, I'd be like, oh, a new like clothing drop from insert coin clothing. Like it looks like an Assassin's Creed, like sort of Disney bounding equivalent of how do we real world this fashion? While also like let's make athletic wear for the gamer. That's what it kind of reminds me of. Funny people jogging outside in the rain in a forest.

[Tim Gettys]

NATO in the chat says, did we talk about how this update for X define includes a bunch of work in progress assets like skins and guns that clearly were for future seasons. That's pretty cool. Not gonna lie. Yes, absolutely. I think that's very cool. I think that a lot of what they're doing here with X defy it. Very unfortunate. We all called it like it's not rocket science to know this game wasn't going to succeed. But it is cool that they're putting out this update. They're trying to have this game be able to be enjoyed by people going forward. Even though it's ending a trend that I feel like we've been talking about a lot recently, which is sad because that shows a lot of games are ending, but also at least it's not getting concorded right. And they're, they're, they're putting what they got out there. Unfortunate stuff. I really hope that we, we move past this trend of bad money grabby ideas.

[Andy Cortez]

You say that as the, the graphic on the screen says 90 tier battle pass. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, oh, we gotta, we gotta fix the sort of letters. Go back a little bit, Kevin. Like when you italicize a font, it really, when you Italianize a font. It really sort of like throws everything off, centered wise. I. It's one of those things where it feels like a. You're having this sort of like sunk cost thing. Where do you stick with this game that you have been enjoying, or do you just move on? And part of me feels that way about the Destiny community, and I'm very ignorant about the Destiny community, so I probably shouldn't even be talking about it right now. But the fact that Destiny 2 is over and there's likely not going to be a Destiny 3 based on a lot of stuff that we've already heard from past rumors. The. I'm like, what's keeping you in there? You know, and that's how I kind of feel about this. Why good for Ubisoft doing this? But what. You know, what would keep a player wanting to play a game that has no future?

[Tim Gettys]

Well, obviously, Andy, because the Ubisoft crossover game that plays like a Call of Duty, we're finally getting Assassin's Creed. That's it. We didn't have that before. That wasn't at launch for this game.

[Andy Cortez]

Well, when I. I. Again, that does make sense. And when I hop into a competitive shooter, I'm like, how do I bring baroque, period?

[Tim Gettys]

Good. Good drop of baroque there.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, totally. Not even accurate. You know what I mean? Like, you know, what am I doing with. With goddamn Ezio and the. The Abstergo. Whatever the hell is going on in Assassin's Creed, it makes sense that it was never in there to begin with, because it's not, you know, they. You know, Tom Clancy is like, no, that's not my. I. I didn't make that Assassin's Creed thing, but it does make sense that they would eventually move the IP here. It's just. I don't know. It bums me out. I just feel like, you know, like, it doesn't feel like the equivalent of going to a restaurant before it closes down. It just feels like you are kind of pouring time into something that, you know, won't be around later on. And it makes me sad. Tim.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah. Yeah. Video games story number five. Helldivers 2 is giving away second kill zone set for free after fan backlash over 20 prices. This comes from Ethan Gatch at Kotaku. Before I even read this, I just want to say, I told y'all, so many people came from you, they're not gonna do. And is this everything I wanted them to do? No. But I knew they were gonna do something. Yesterday, Helldivers 2 officially revealed its first crossover skins collaboration for kill zone 2. But players immediately balked at the 20 price tag. And now the Sci Fi Shooters developers are trying to put down the fan rebellion with freebie.

[Andy Cortez]

Whenever I think of the word bot, I just think of a chicken going. So like, I just think, wait, what for? What would somebody box at something like. I just like. It sounds like a. Like a. Like a squawks or something like that. Having a. Having a weird day today.

[Tim Gettys]

The Hell Gast inspired Kill zone sets are $20 a piece more than anything else currently in the paid for game. While Arrowhead Game Studios won't confirm that future collaborations will be priced lower. Lower than that, it is giving away the second set in the crossover to try to win back fans heading into end of year break. Firstly, we're gifting to everyone the plan second wave of the Hell Divers Cross Kill Zone collaboration items today free of charge. The distribution of those items will begin shortly in two waves. As such, we're going to extend the duration of the items currently in the. In the superstore. God. From five days to ten days. I do, man. It's just like I honestly, I'm having a real bad problem and it's killing me and there's just no solution here. I have. You know when you get like a. It's not an ingrown hair, but it's like a pimple that doesn't actually want to be a pimple.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, it's just in.

[Tim Gettys]

It's just in, in and it's like right here in my sinuses.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh.

[Tim Gettys]

And it is me up. It's making me tear up, my teeth hurt.

[Andy Cortez]

What?

[Tim Gettys]

It's just me up, dude.

[Andy Cortez]

What the.

[Tim Gettys]

It's so. I mean, you know when you get those like, like sinus headaches?

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

That's what's happening, man. I'm dying.

[Andy Cortez]

It's caused by a. By a. I think so pimple.

[Tim Gettys]

It hurts, man. It hurts really bad.

[Andy Cortez]

I always imagine like just getting a little like a hot needle and just. Just what happens.

[Tim Gettys]

It's in there though. You know what I mean? I would need to go, oh, oh.

[Andy Cortez]

Kevin can get to it.

[Tim Gettys]

Kevin could definitely get to it, man. In addition to lengthening the stay of the new crossover items in the shop's monthly ro, it sounds like Arrowhead's also looking at a way to have a secondary shop of items that never changes. So that late comers always have a chance to buy the more highly sought after crossover merch. Some fans worried that this latest economic encroachment. It's right, but it's funny was due to publisher Sody's meddling. But CEO Shams Jorjani said in the teledivers 2 Discord that wasn't the case. It's a partnership but we are in the driving seat behind the decisions, he wrote. This one is on us, good on.

[Andy Cortez]

Them, good on them and also just good on them as a whole. Not just talking about like this is one minor thing that happens every once in a while and sometimes developers walk it back whenever there's enough feedback. But I Open up Steam DB this isn't counting PlayStation. This is just counting PC players. Counter Strike 2 Number 1 740,000 playing Dota 2 500k Path of Exile 2 you375k, you got Marvel Rivals, you got PUBG still killing it Rust GTA 5 still killing it. With 142,000 players playing right now. Helldivers 2 with 100k. That's astounding. 6 digits for Helldivers 2 for Hell Divers 2 period. For a non competitive co op game and one that we've seen, they've been kind of a dime a dozen and it's just, it's insane. Again, this is now don't get me wrong, this is much better than a lot of those experiences. I don't, you know, I'm not trying to say this is like Alien Colonial Marines or I always blank on the name though. There's a co op Alien game that came out a couple years ago. I'm not saying it's freaking Second Extinction, that game where you squat up with your friends and shoot dinos. I know this is a much more elevated experience and that's they were being rewarded for their awesome game design. I'm still so blown away. Like it is far and away the biggest surprise for me this year that this game is still this healthy. Having a massive DLC drop with a brand new enemy and people are back in droves. It's so impressive.

[Tim Gettys]

Really, really is. And again, a team that listens. I do think that I saw a chat and it went away. So sorry for not being able to call you out specifically but saying just like hey like free is good. I know we all like free but like we need to pay to like support these games, these long live service games. I absolutely agree. I'm such a huge proponent of that. Like you, there needs to be some type of cost structure to to be able to fund the development and and continuation of these like updates and live games. It just needs to be fair. It just needs to provide an accurate, accurate Value for the price for what you're offering. And I think that with yesterday, with what they were doing, that's not the case. And I know other people did it. I know other people do it, but that doesn't make it good or right or fair. And when we're looking at a team like Arrowhead that so far has done this correctly, I feel like they, this was a misstep and they realize it's. I'm very interested in what happens next. Next time that they come out with another collaboration, do they keep this pricing structure? Because I sure as hell don't think they do.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, I totally agree. I don't think they do either. I'm just kind of blown away by training games right now. Seem to be Sifu. 1100 players. Pretty crazy.

[Tim Gettys]

Hell yeah, man. I was thinking about seafood last night.

[Andy Cortez]

I think about seafood.

[Tim Gettys]

Did you watch the secret level?

[Andy Cortez]

No, I haven't watched any secret. I just been gaming in Seafood.

[Tim Gettys]

It's like four minutes. Dude. It's so short.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, I remember Mike being like, I'm about to watch the seafood secret level. Everybody wants to watch it. And I walked into the lab to log into Steam, walked out, it was over.

[Tim Gettys]

It's good though.

[Andy Cortez]

It's good.

[Tim Gettys]

Good. I. I feel like I would have much preferred like a long, like let's do it right. But I feel like it. It's a four minute seafood short. Done very well.

[Andy Cortez]

You happy about a season two?

[Tim Gettys]

Very happy about a season two.

[Andy Cortez]

I mean, so am I. Just, you know, I, I hope a lot of the concerns are addressed when it comes to the storytelling.

[Tim Gettys]

I talked about this a little bit yesterday, but death, sex and robots, which.

[Andy Cortez]

Love sex and robots. You're thinking that sex and money.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, man. Yeah. Love sex and robots.

[Andy Cortez]

Crazy, sexy, cool.

[Tim Gettys]

Whatever, man. All that. It's intermittent. Yes. Some are good, some are bad, like, whatever. But like there I feel like it existing is good. I. I'm very. I'm hopeful for season two. I'm happy it's happening. Even if so far season one's not my favorite thing to ever exist. And it could have been. I wish it was.

[Andy Cortez]

But it's also. I. I'm also not surprised by when I think about it, when I just really think deep about trying to make that many quality stories like it. It's been done before. But it's also like a huge Herculean task.

[Tim Gettys]

Absolutely.

[Andy Cortez]

Even have one that's really good and that people can all can all agree on. But then I also think about, you know, I never watched Star Wars Vision Season 2. But Star Wars Vision Season 1 was so sick.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

And equally good. Really?

[Tim Gettys]

Okay. Yeah. Yeah. I had a transition that was great earlier, but I lost it. So we'll just jump into it now. Andy, like, if I was looking for really small things, where would I.

[Andy Cortez]

You'd go to our last story, the Wii News Channel, where we cover all the news items you need to know about small news items from IGN.

[Tim Gettys]

The creator, the writer of the infamous Sonic Adventure 2 song Live and Learn is suing Sega, claiming he owns the rights to the song in part and alleging the company's been using the song without his permission and making money off of it for the last 20 years. What's wild about this? Extra wild about this is this song. It's like probably the most famous Sonic song, period.

[Andy Cortez]

And it has been used one.

[Tim Gettys]

No, that's Escape from the City. That's the opening song. Adventure 2. This is like the get hype moment at the end. So it's like the theme song. Okay. I would say it's like, oh, nailed it, dude. Sick ass guitar solo. Like, cheesy as all hell. Yeah. But it's kind of like it's a big deal. The song is a big deal. And it's. It really is. It really is. It's been featured in like something insane. Like a hundred, 156 games.

[Andy Cortez]

Whoa.

[Tim Gettys]

Because it's such a big deal that it's like any SEGA game, Yakuza games, or like, I'm sure Persona.

[Andy Cortez]

So it's like the Akira slide.

[Tim Gettys]

It's like, it's. I mean, when. When they debuted Sonic in Smash Brothers, they use this song.

[Andy Cortez]

Okay.

[Tim Gettys]

Right. Like, it's big. But anyway, this is interesting because him suing because of making money off of it without his permission or whatever. Like, it's not just, oh, they used it here or there. Like he's known about that. There's so many games. Games that like, he was not getting royalties from, which is crazy.

[Andy Cortez]

Everybody dive back into. We're gonna have to edit everything.

[Tim Gettys]

Everything, man. God. For Mario 64, the rogue prince of Persia will have no Ubisoft Connect at all on Steam, previously announced as optional. If cross saves are requested by a lot of players, they may explore other ways to address it.

[Andy Cortez]

Wasn't it always on? It's not. Are they talking about when it releases 1.0?

[Tim Gettys]

I don't get what this is saying because it's already.

[Andy Cortez]

It's been on Steam.

[Tim Gettys]

The Rogue Prince of Persia.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

We'll have no Ubisoft Connect. So if you were Playing it on Kinect, you're not going to be able to bring your save over to the Steam version.

[Andy Cortez]

Okay. I mean, unless a lot of people.

[Tim Gettys]

Want it and then they'll address it.

[Andy Cortez]

Okay. Fascinating. I just. I don't know. There's something about the article makes it. Or this write up makes it seem like. Like when it comes to Steam, one day it's like, well, it's been there. So I don't. I guess they're just maybe saying this functionality that you may be expecting, don't expect it. Unless you want it. Unless you really want it. Okay.

[Tim Gettys]

To the moon. Sigmund Minnesote minisodes. Minisodes one and two are now available for PS5. Coming Xbox series and Switch in early 2025.

[Andy Cortez]

Minisodes, you know, reminds me of when we were playing our. Our Pokemon Nuzlocke and Rapidash came up and Nick goes rapidish. And I started laughing. He goes, okay, you. You, Andy. Hey, you. Okay?

[Tim Gettys]

And that's it for we news, everyone.

[Andy Cortez]

Not Lost Crown. Andy. No, I know. I. I know Lost. I know it's not Lost Crown, but Rogue Prince of Persia has been on Steam this whole time. So it's not, it's not like it's just coming to Steam. It's been on Steam. And that's why we were so shocked that Lost Crown had not come out yet. At the time that it had not come out.

[Tim Gettys]

I'm looking at your wrong right now to see.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, Steam replay is out. You look up some you're wrongs while I look at my Steam replay or my year in review. Tim. PC gaming. It says, sorry, it failed to load. Try again later.

[Tim Gettys]

Chess for real says it's love, death and robots, Tim. No sex at all. There's just no sex. I was sure sex was in the name of both of them. Oh, love, death, robots, death sex money.

[Andy Cortez]

I knew death was. Wait, hold on. Yeah, you said death sex and robots. So sex is not a part of it.

[Tim Gettys]

No, love, death and robots sex part.

[Andy Cortez]

Because when you said yeah, I was like, oh, you know, it's. It's love, it's not death. Yeah, that's the only thing I thought was wrong. No, sex is only on the podcast. I'm on one right now.

[Tim Gettys]

That's it, everybody. You know what? I'm gonna read said nuggies here. Nadia, you're wrong. And I'll probably never write it again. I love you, Kevin. I'm glad you're back. Andy, can you show Kevin how to switch Twitter and YouTube to dark mode? I Talk to everyone. And we'd love to not get flashbanged.

[Andy Cortez]

No, he refuses.

[Tim Gettys]

He refuses everybody.

[Andy Cortez]

I think me and Kevin have had each other blocked for a couple years now. And I, you know, I think it adds to our relationship.

[Kevin Coelho]

I think we had some apologized on air like within the last six months and we unblocked each other.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, really?

[Kevin Coelho]

Yeah. I mean, neither of us use Twitter anymore, so.

[Andy Cortez]

No, I pop on just like fight Kevin Goff on Sunday. What do you think about it?

[Kevin Coelho]

You said it last time.

[Andy Cortez]

I know, but this is like the final, final Sunday. So let me. I'll look into it after this.

[Tim Gettys]

It's the final, I mean, but also.

[Andy Cortez]

Like, you know, before the break.

[Kevin Coelho]

When are you leaving?

[Andy Cortez]

Monday.

[Tim Gettys]

Oh, you're leaving?

[Kevin Coelho]

Yeah, I'm down.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

Oh, I didn't know that back home.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

Oh, every Christmas you go to Thanksgiving and Christmas or did this year just work out that way this year?

[Andy Cortez]

I mean, not always. I try to go, at least for one of them, but the past couple years I have gone for twice. There have been a couple years. Why I will. Well, also a lot of it was the pandemic where I just didn't fly at all.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

For a decent amount of time. Time.

[Tim Gettys]

What a world. But Andy, I'm in.

[Kevin Coelho]

Give me a time.

[Andy Cortez]

Okay.

[Kevin Coelho]

Don't tell my wife.

[Andy Cortez]

Morning. She watch the baby. 6am See you there.

[Kevin Coelho]

For reals?

[Andy Cortez]

No. I don't know.

[Tim Gettys]

No way.

[Andy Cortez]

No, no. But I mean I've. I've done the early morning stuff before. He's the thing though. Jim. I. Any. Anytime we've looked in the past for golfing times, the only ones that are available are like 2 or 3pm it's like dog. I. We'll golf for an hour and a half. Half stars, sun goes down. And I also just don't want that to be my whole afternoon. I want to get home with some stuff, you know, with time. Get home like at 2 and waking up early. Been through this back basketball workout things. Tim.

[Tim Gettys]

Okay.

[Andy Cortez]

I'm freaking. Like, what's waking up early? Getting ready for a basketball game. 5:00am on the weekends. Nine.

[Tim Gettys]

Okay.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

None.

[Tim Gettys]

What time you wake up normally?

[Andy Cortez]

Like weekdays.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah. What time you go to sleep? What? I guess that's what I'm more interested.

[Andy Cortez]

Well, I mean, it depends on what I'm doing. Normal. Calling them school normal. Oh, one to two.

[Tim Gettys]

Okay.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

Do you.

[Andy Cortez]

Do you see that if I have changing, if I have games daily, I will like purposely go to bed like at 11 to midnight.

[Tim Gettys]

Okay.

[Andy Cortez]

But I mean lately the Weekend schedules have been great. Tim.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

I. Because I have these workouts.

[Andy Cortez]

I'm sore as hell. Feeling good.

[Tim Gettys]

I. I used to be with you where it's like average. It would be like, like 1 to 2, probably 130, I think would be like. Or fair average to say these days, like, I feel like midnight, I'm in bed.

[Andy Cortez]

That's good for you.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah. I don't.

[Andy Cortez]

I mean, that's great for the mental.

[Tim Gettys]

It's just life. But it's weird. I never thought I'd be that guy. Never.

[Andy Cortez]

I mean, but you've had Gia for so long and you've. You've kind of been in that rhythm for quite some.

[Tim Gettys]

It is a rhythm to it all.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

Rhythm of the rain.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah. Like, I remember. I mean, when, when the rhythm. When, when I was dating a girl for many, many. Well, a couple years or whatever. And then having that rhythm break of like, oh, now I can. Like now I'm waking up at 2pm yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

Do anything.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah. 1pm, 2pm it's crazy, you know?

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

When you have somebody who's like, has a normal life bat who isn't like a weirdo at night.

[Kevin Coelho]

Isn't that healthier, though?

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, it's way healthier, Kevin, you know. Oh, it's way better for you. No, I'm not denying that, I'm sure.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

It's just one of those things where.

[Tim Gettys]

There'S nothing like those late hours.

[Andy Cortez]

We've had somebod had somebody write it a long time ago. Greg and I always talk about it where you. You feel like at night, hey, this is my time. Even though I'm sleepy. You fight the sleep because it's like, no, man, I didn't get to do all the things I wanted to do today. And partly it's my fault, but also, like you, it's my time right now.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

And so you fight off the sleep and you're just kind of annoyed by it. And that's how I usually am.

[Tim Gettys]

Then it all starts over the next one.

[Andy Cortez]

Been playing nine Souls a lot. That's a pretty good game. I think Bears will check it out. Probably.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, I think he would.

[Andy Cortez]

I think he'd be really, really into it.

[Tim Gettys]

Everyone. Let us know in the comments below if you're. You're interested. I'm dying live on camera, everybody. Jesus Christ. This really sucks. This hurts so bad. Like, I don't understand what's happening inside of my face right now. Dude, it hurts. I love you all. Watch happy hour Patreon members at the. The $25 level. We're about to do happy hour. You can call in and talk to us. It's going to be a great time. I love you all. Goodbye.

[Andy Cortez]

Bye.

[Tim Gettys]

I'm gonna die.