What's On Your Gaming Backlog? - Kinda Funny Games Daily 12.05.24

Summary

Kinda Funny Games Daily: "What's On Your Gaming Backlog?" – December 5, 2024

Hosted by Greg “GameOverGreggy” Miller, Tim Gettys, and Blessing Adeoye Jr., the latest episode of Kinda Funny Games Daily delves into the ever-growing world of gaming backlogs, industry updates, and upcoming events. This detailed summary captures the essence of their lively discussions, interspersed with notable quotes and insights.

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1. Managing Gaming Backlogs

Tim Gettys opens the episode by addressing the common struggle gamers face with backlogs. Tim shares his perspective on not stressing about his list, stating, "I still got a couple weeks. Who knows how many games I'm going to beat in the next two weeks?" ([02:12]).

Andy Cortez echoes similar sentiments, highlighting the overwhelming number of games he aims to tackle: "There's a lot of backlog right now. Shit, I gotta add Prince of Persia to that backlog." ([02:21]).

The hosts discuss specific titles in their queues:

• Prince of Persia: The Fallen King: Andy mentions his progress, "Prison. Prison. Lost Gun. Stellar Blade. I'm in the final hours." ([04:38]).

• Nine Souls: Andy critiques the animation quality, contrasting it with games that utilize hand-animated characters: "It's easy to make a puppet tool look bad." ([05:00]).

• Arco: Tim introduces Arco, a highly-rated exploration RPG praised for its unique combat system. He describes it as, "a real fascinating combat system that a lot of people enjoy." ([09:46]).

• Anton Blast: Tim recommends Anton Blast as “a game that a lot of people that watch Kinda Funny would enjoy” ([10:19]).

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2. Spotlight on New Releases

Anton Blast emerges as a favorite among the hosts. Tim describes it as a blend of Wario Land and Crash Bandicoot, emphasizing its vibrant art style and engaging gameplay mechanics. He notes, "It's incredibly fast-paced. It plays as much like a 2D platformer as it does a kart racer." ([10:21]).

Battle Shapers is another title Andy highlights, drawing comparisons to Doom and Mega Man. He explains the game's rogue-lite nature and boss mechanics: "It's a first-person Mega Man. A lot of bullet hell style stuff with first-person action really, really fast." ([12:40]).

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3. Industry News and Updates

Foam Stars Ends Its Run

The hosts discuss the announcement that Foam Stars is concluding after its current season. Tim Gettys summarizes, "Square Enix has confirmed that the party goes on season... will be the final new season of content." ([19:46]). They reflect on the lifecycle of multiplayer games, with Andy expressing sadness but acknowledging the positive nature of the game's closure.

Evercade Partners with SNK

Tim shares exciting news about Evercade’s new partnership with SNK Corporation, aiming to release Neo Geo licensed products in 2025 and 2026. He remarks, "The Evercade's cool Kev. They have a real nice design aesthetic with their products." ([26:19]).

Electronic Arts’ Accessibility Push

A significant highlight is EA’s expansion of its accessibility patents. Tim explains, "Electronic Arts has added a further 23 patents to its ongoing patent pledge... any other game developer can use these patents without having to pay any money or risk being sued." ([42:36]).

The new technologies include:

• Intelligent Personalized Speech Recognition: Enhances speech recognition tailored to individual users.
• Emotion-Based Music Style Change: Adjusts game soundtracks based on player emotions using deep learning.

Andy Cortez emphasizes the importance of such initiatives for smaller development teams: "It's massive for small teams... saving money and not having to hire additional team members." ([48:00]).

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4. Upcoming Events and Performances

Snoop Dogg at The Game Awards

A much-anticipated segment covers Snoop Dogg’s performance at The Game Awards. Tim Gettys expresses his enthusiasm: "He performed at the Game Awards... This is a big get from my main man, Jeff Keeley." ([37:00]).

Andy speculates on the performance’s content and potential audience reactions, while also sharing humorous takes on managing the live event with an expanded cast: "We're going to need room, man. We're going to have six people on this set." ([41:37]).

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5. Personal Anecdotes and Community Engagement

Throughout the episode, the hosts share personal stories, such as an encounter with a pushy taxi driver in Vegas who unexpectedly connected with their gaming interests ([30:31]). They also engage with listener super chats, discussing game preferences and community questions about titles like Marvel Rivals and GTA 6.

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6. End-of-Episode Highlights

In the final segments, Tim and Andy reflect on the episode's discussions and tease upcoming content, including live streams and reviews. They wrap up with a lighthearted look at their set-up and camaraderie, ensuring listeners stay tuned for future episodes.

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Notable Quotes

• Tim Gettys ([02:12]): "I still got a couple weeks. Who knows how many games I'm going to beat in the next two weeks?"

• Andy Cortez ([05:00]): "It's easy to make a puppet tool look bad."

• Tim Gettys ([09:46]): "Arco is a real fascinating combat system that a lot of people enjoy."

• Tim Gettys ([19:46]): "Square Enix has confirmed that the party goes on season... will be the final new season of content."

• Tim Gettys ([42:36]): "Electronic Arts has added a further 23 patents to its ongoing patent pledge... any other game developer can use these patents without having to pay any money or risk being sued."

• Tim Gettys ([37:00]): "He performed at the Game Awards... This is a big get from my main man, Jeff Keeley."

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Conclusion

The December 5th episode of Kinda Funny Games Daily offers a comprehensive look into current gaming trends, challenges with backlogs, industry partnerships, and significant advancements in game accessibility. The hosts' engaging banter and insightful commentary provide both entertainment and valuable information for gamers looking to navigate their gaming experiences and stay updated with industry developments.

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This summary is crafted to provide an engaging overview for those who haven't listened to the episode, highlighting the primary discussions and key takeaways.

Transcript

[Tim Gettys]

This episode is brought to you by. Skinny Pop Popcorn. Perfectly popped, endlessly delicious, oh, so light and crunchy. Skinny Pop Original Popcorn is the snack you've been searching for. Made with just three simple popcorn kernels, sunflower oil and salt. Snacking never felt or tasted so good. Perfectly popped, endlessly delicious. Give yourself permission to snack and pick up Skinny Pop Original Popcorn today. Today's stories include Foam Stars is seemingly coming to an end, Snoop Dogg is performing at the Game Awards, and EA is making big moves for accessibility. We'll have all this more because this is Kind of Funny Games Daily.

[Kevin Coelho]

I'm an idiot.

[Tim Gettys]

Welcome, everybody back to Kind of Funny Games daily for Thursday, December 5, 2024. Of course I am, Tim Gettys is Andy Cortez, and running the ones and twos is Kevin Coelho. The big dog is back, everybody. How you doing, Kev? Good.

[Kevin Coelho]

It's just me and Barrett do things differently. Like, I have a button where everything's automatic and he's got a button where it just plays the intro and I hit his button instead of my button.

[Tim Gettys]

Here we are, you know, and here we are.

[Andy Cortez]

Warring factions.

[Tim Gettys]

Warring factions, you know what I mean? Both hearts in the right place, you know what I mean? But they need to share a mind. We need a fusion situation going on here between Kevin and Barrett. I don't know how we'll get there, but we gotta figure it out.

[Andy Cortez]

We gotta work on that.

[Tim Gettys]

We'll work on it. How are you doing, Andy?

[Andy Cortez]

I'm doing great, Tim.

[Tim Gettys]

How are you?

[Andy Cortez]

Good morning.

[Tim Gettys]

I'm doing good. Doing real good.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

Thursday feels like a good Thursday. You know what I mean? Looking forward to not many days left in the week, but it feels like we've accomplished a lot this week.

[Andy Cortez]

I don't like that it's December already. I've been on the record on that many times. I think we need to do something about it.

[Tim Gettys]

Okay.

[Andy Cortez]

I think we should write to people, to officials, because it's just. It was too fast. As I was streaming last night, I was just already thinking about, what does the top 10 start to look like? How do I massage the list?

[Tim Gettys]

I've been trying to not think about it. Like, honestly, anytime that thought gets into my mind, I'm like, you know what? I still got a couple weeks. Who knows how many games I'm going to beat in the next two weeks?

[Andy Cortez]

No, you're right. No, you're right. You're right. Because here's the thing. There's a lot of, like, the backlog right now. Shit, I gotta Add Prince of Persia to that backlog.

[Tim Gettys]

Yes you do.

[Andy Cortez]

Prince of Persia, I need your ax.

[Tim Gettys]

Andy.

[Kevin Coelho]

Andy, before you go too deep into what you're saying, I want to just for a moment bring up the 13 month calendar again because I think this is my opportunity. Guys. Such a low res image.

[Andy Cortez]

Jesus Christ.

[Kevin Coelho]

I don't know why it's so loud.

[Andy Cortez]

This has got to be 180pmax.

[Kevin Coelho]

When I looked how nice that looks, I clicked this image.

[Andy Cortez]

You could right click it and then do open in New Testament.

[Kevin Coelho]

I had no idea you could do that. You could right click it.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, right click. Right click that image on the right. Yeah, do like a open image in new tab. Look at that. Look at that.

[Kevin Coelho]

You want more? One more month, Andy. We can do it. If we just commit to the 13 month it would still be the same amount of days. So we would be in the 13 month.

[Tim Gettys]

But it would feel better.

[Kevin Coelho]

But it would feel better.

[Andy Cortez]

You know, I totally agree with you. I'd be down for this change. Yeah, I just. Because here's the thing. It wasn't even necessarily about massaging the list. Okay, but let me get back to this one. The backlog.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Prince of Persia, Lost ground. And I'm at the point where I'm getting them constellation pieces, man. They're real far away from where I'm at. Yeah, that's crazy.

[Tim Gettys]

Do you have the update though? Because they changed how fast travel works and it's much better now. If you download the update, you can fast travel from any state.

[Andy Cortez]

Would it not just auto update or.

[Tim Gettys]

I don't know because I imagine it would, but because that, that's.

[Andy Cortez]

That's a little pain in my craw right there, Tim. Because I can't. Whenever I go to one of these whack whack trees, I. I can only teleport to the fast travel stations, not the whack whack trees. Are you saying the whack whack trees allow of fast travel?

[Tim Gettys]

If I remember correctly, they changed it so that. Yeah, whack whack. To whack whack is possible because that's.

[Andy Cortez]

What I've been needing. Like that's the one thing I've been looking. So why would it. I mean you got to assume if there was an update, it would have.

[Tim Gettys]

Updated for me, I imagine.

[Andy Cortez]

Is it an ability you get?

[Tim Gettys]

No.

[Andy Cortez]

That you just. Wow.

[Tim Gettys]

No, no, no. That's just.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh please. Really late in game.

[Tim Gettys]

Oh, maybe, maybe.

[Andy Cortez]

Ah, okay. Whack whack tree. Okay, so here's the thing. Prison. Prison. Lost gun. Stellar blade. I'm in the final hours.

[Tim Gettys]

Oh, okay. I thought you beat it.

[Andy Cortez]

No, no, I'm like, I'm kind of. I'm right near the end, probably about like four hours away.

[Tim Gettys]

Y'all were showing me a little yesterday and I was like, okay, this thing.

[Andy Cortez]

I'm telling you, man, it's fire. Nine Souls. Still making my way through that. Still don't like a lot about it, but I like it enough that I'm continuing. Right. I don't like another thing. Just another side thing right here. Tim. I don't love a puppet tool in a game. I don't like a bad puppet tool. It's easy to make a puppet tool look bad.

[Tim Gettys]

Explain what you're talking about.

[Andy Cortez]

An enemy is not hand animated.

[Tim Gettys]

Oh, your animation. Exactly what I thought you were talking about. Yeah, I thought you meant like there was a tool in the game.

[Andy Cortez]

Look, look, like flash animation.

[Tim Gettys]

You know what I mean, going on.

[Andy Cortez]

I mean, not even that. It's just like. It's obvious that when a character's running at you, they're running like that and they just like use their. And it's like, I just don't.

[Tim Gettys]

Little cheap.

[Andy Cortez]

They don't. Yeah, they don't. It doesn't look great enough. Right. Where your main character is actually like hand animated and all the frames look sick as. So he's not Puppet tooled, but 9Soul is there and it's really. It's good so far and I'm enjoying the combat. And the other game. Little game called the Little Robot. The who's an Astronaut, Tim.

[Tim Gettys]

Okay.

[Andy Cortez]

Haven't beat Astrobot yet.

[Tim Gettys]

Wow.

[Andy Cortez]

And last night.

[Tim Gettys]

How is that possible?

[Andy Cortez]

I mean, just a lot of games got in the way, Tim. And last night you could blame one of our co workers because when I hopped on, I was like, here's the backlog. And then immediately people in chat are like, mike's looking for you in the War Zone.

[Tim Gettys]

Of course he is.

[Andy Cortez]

And I was like, like, he's going to do the chat.

[Tim Gettys]

You.

[Andy Cortez]

You can blame him for this. And they said, oh, don't worry. He asked us what he should play. Option three was other. And he said other will be just GTA 3. So that won the vote. And he played War Zone anyway, of course. So you could blame him for the backlog. Not really having a whole lot of momentum. Yeah. The momentum slowing down a decent amount. Although at night. Oh. Also echoes of wisdom. Add that to the backlog.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, it's a good one too. Just. Dude, our top 10 is going to be varied this year. I feel like all of us, like, we've. We've said this before, but, like, just thinking it through, I think it might have the most different games that we've ever had in terms of each one of our lists. Not overlapping. There's a couple of games that have overlap, but there's very few. I feel like most years there's probably like eight or so that are like, oh, everyone has. Or at least like the majority of people have it somewhere on their list. The one for me that I keep coming back to, that I'm like, I don't want to think about my list right now. I don't want it. Like, my top is pretty locked, but below that I don't. I'm not really sure. Hades, too.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

When they put out that update, I promised the people that I wasn't going to touch it until the full version of the game came out. I lied to them. Oh, I lied very hard. He said, more hours into Hades 2 in the last two weeks. I. Goddamn, where am I going to put that? I don't know.

[Andy Cortez]

I. Dude, I'm with you because I think we need to have more of an official talk, even more official than the other one that we had, that one during that one meeting. Because I. I'm. I'm with you. That at any given point I could put it in my top 10.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

But I don't know if I should because it's early access that's on them.

[Tim Gettys]

They put it out this way. We're playing a game. We're playing a game for 50 hours, Andy. 50 goddamn hours. Because then at that point, I've had playing a game in my life. It's on them. If they put it out next year. And I'm not as into playing through it all the way. And I don't vote for it. How it goes.

[Andy Cortez]

Damn.

[Tim Gettys]

How it goes.

[Andy Cortez]

I don't like the responsibility here, though.

[Tim Gettys]

Responsibility is just us talking about things we love. We're giving them props right now, just like I'm doing at the game Anton Blast, a game that I will beat in the next two weeks. Fantastic time.

[Andy Cortez]

How long is it?

[Tim Gettys]

I imagine it's probably going to be like 12 hours total. I'm about five hours in now. It's fucking. It's good because here's.

[Andy Cortez]

Here's the other thing. Another very highly rated game of the year. Another unknown that I talked about one time on Games Daily. And it's not selling as well as it should, but the ratings that you go to Metacritic it's one of the highest rated of the year. Not a whole lot of ratings, but they're all up there. Arco.

[Tim Gettys]

Arco.

[Andy Cortez]

Arco.

[Tim Gettys]

Unfamiliar.

[Andy Cortez]

Arco is a little kind of exploration story game. And then you. When you go into these turn based battles, they're not really turn based like they. It's really hard to kind of explain how the combat works because you're kind of like, you make your dude move this way and then the. The enemies will like when they shoot you, you want to be sure you're kind of running in real time. And this thing's got like a89 on Metacritic or something like that. Like everybody who's played it freaking loves it. It's just like a. Apparently it's only 10 hours long, so that's pretty united by giving me confidence right there too. But it's just got this really fascinating combat system that a lot of people enjoy.

[Tim Gettys]

Kind of like super hot.

[Andy Cortez]

It's like real time slash kind of strategy mix. And it's just got a good little art style.

[Tim Gettys]

Goodbye. Arco. Cool name for what it is.

[Kevin Coelho]

It means arch in Spanish.

[Tim Gettys]

Oh.

[Andy Cortez]

Article. A Mesoamerican fantasy RPG that blends turn based in real time combat. Explore the world through three handcrafted stories. Forged in bloodshed, lace with magic, and united by revenge.

[Tim Gettys]

Super cool.

[Andy Cortez]

It's pretty cool. I. I only play a little bit of it and I want to hop in more, but the backlog just continues to get heavier and heavier.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

And my lower back cannot handle this stress and weight.

[Tim Gettys]

I get it. You're holding a lot on you. Kev, can you bring up Anton Blast real quick? Because I want people to see what this game looks like. It's essentially a spiritual successor to the the Wario Land games. But if they had the vibe and tone of Cartoon Network in the early 2000s and like the bad guys, specifically of Cartoon Network shows. And a. A severe love for Crash Bandicoot.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, they showed the game off here.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, yeah. The developer, Ton Grayson, who's freaking awesome, he came by and the game's finally out on Steam's coming soon on Switch.

[Andy Cortez]

And giving me a lot of Pizza Tower vibes too.

[Tim Gettys]

Absolutely, absolutely. But this game is creative as hell. Loud as hell. Like it is just throwing everything at you. A lot of colors, but it commits to what it's going for. One button on the controller is dedicated just to screaming.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, that's cool.

[Tim Gettys]

And it's just like. It doesn't do anything. He just screams. And there's a fun animation, but it's like, that's the type of thing it is. They're having a lot of fun with it. It's incredibly fast paced. It plays as much like a 2D platformer as it does a kart racer. Like there's a drift system and like as you're running there's like a drift meter that pops up and you can like chain it. It's really cool. Yeah. Having a great time with it so far. Really fun. Boss fights. Music's awesome. Like, yeah, this. And it's getting great reviews to getting like a whole bunch of nines from people.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

And yeah, like I'm. I'd say maybe a little less than halfway through and I'm leaning towards like 8 5. But I definitely think that this is a game that a lot of people that watch kind of funny would enjoy. So check it out on Steam now. Coming to Switch sooner than later. I think they have some issues with Nintendo signing off on like the details or whatever.

[Andy Cortez]

I love the art style. That looks fantastic. Cool stuff.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Since we're kind of light on news shoot, might as well bring up another game. Kevin, if you could bring up the out of the game that I put into assets because it hit 1.0 today at the worst possible time. We got path of exile 2 coming out.

[Tim Gettys]

That's true.

[Andy Cortez]

We got Marvel Rivals. We got Indy coming out. This is like a really jam packed freaking weekend. But this other game is a game that I got to play quite a bit. I ended up buying it in early access and hit it 1.0 today. It's called Battle Shapers. It's a really bad name. I've said that many times before as well. They didn't listen to my advice though. But it's a first person shooter. That's Doom with Mega Man. And it is basically like a first person Mega Man. A lot of bullet hell style stuff with first person action really, really fast. But anytime you. And it's Rogue Lite as well in nature. But you are still going after all of the things. Yeah, you're still going after the bosses that are very Mega man like. And they're all kind of like, I don't know, here's a bird from this environment or iguana from this environment. Storm Eagle, the coolest dude. And you take on these bosses and then when you beat them, you get their, you know, powers and their suits that upgrade your suit similar to what Mega man would do. That's like why I vibed with that game so much as a kid. And did you get their shape I got to assume that that's what the tech is called. I don't remember if that's the terminology they use in the game, but at first I thought that was like a translation thing. Like, it just kind of sounds like a goofy name to us over here, but I think that's an actual piece of tech in the game.

[Tim Gettys]

Kevin, this looks incredibly cool. I know you've shown me it before, but I didn't realize. I thought when you said it was like Mega Man, I was just like, all right, there's like robots with powers. But, like, you actually beat bosses to get their abilities.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, you go to. You go to their worlds to then sort of like, take on you. I'm. I gotta assume there's an order to do things where the fire boss will make things easier against the grass boss or whatever the hell. I don't even know if there is a grass boss, but you know what I mean? I think it's really cool looking. It's got a neat art style. Kind of reminds me of Overwatch with its art style, but it's just got that sort of fast. You know, shots are coming at you, you're dashing, you shoot that one thing that now has electric powers because you beat one other guy earlier. And every time you pick up a new weapon, it's like, oh, this one's an upgrade and more damage. All that fun stuff, It's a sucker for it.

[Tim Gettys]

Is it just steam?

[Andy Cortez]

It looks like just steam for right now. Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

Gotcha. Cool.

[Andy Cortez]

So it was an early access for quite some time, and then it finally hit 1.0 today. Again, real bad timing, but I'm definitely going to give this some time.

[Tim Gettys]

Hell, yeah. I think I might too. That looks really.

[Andy Cortez]

It's just a really fun time.

[Tim Gettys]

Before we get into all the rigmarole and everything, I have one last thing I want to watch with you, Andy. Because we are 15 days away from Sonic the Hedgehog. Three hitting theaters. Hype is at a fever pitch. Freaks are losing their minds. All right. And things just keep getting cooler and better. I don't know if you saw, because I know that you aren't in the same circles. I am on the Internet entirely right now. A lot of overlap. But there's some things that I have to hide from you.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, there is some stuff that you're just like. You're not ready for this.

[Tim Gettys]

You're just not ready for this. Did you know that Shadow the Hedgehog is voiced by Keanu Reeves?

[Andy Cortez]

Of course, yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

Did you know that in the Spanish Dubai, he will be voiced by the Spanish voice of Vegeta.

[Andy Cortez]

No, I didn't know that.

[Tim Gettys]

It's pretty cool, right?

[Andy Cortez]

That's awesome.

[Tim Gettys]

That's pretty freaking cool. Did you know that in Japanese he's voiced by the voice of Sephiroth? Holy shit, Kevin.

[Andy Cortez]

They're sparing no expense.

[Tim Gettys]

Can we. Can we check out the 30 second clip of Sonic 3 in Japanese?

[Kevin Coelho]

Can you send it to me?

[Tim Gettys]

Oh, it's in. It's at the top. After it says what?

[Kevin Coelho]

You what?

[Andy Cortez]

Sorry, that's absolutely insane. That's cool because Shadow loves Latina. Great.

[Tim Gettys]

But this is so freaking awesome. And you know how the Fast and Furious movies like internationally always have the best names?

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah. Super fast car drive or whatever yourself? Oh, hell yeah. Okay, Fast rodent. Lightning speed.

[Tim Gettys]

Wait, Kevin, can you pause it? Can you turn the subtitles on?

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, they got. Oh, there you go. We got some English subtitles. The colorful ones are here. Finally. Take revenge on me.

[Tim Gettys]

Let us kick your asses is what it says.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah. Tokyo Mission.

[Tim Gettys]

What? What?

[Kevin Coelho]

That's really cool.

[Andy Cortez]

I would have never in a million years. That's.

[Tim Gettys]

That.

[Andy Cortez]

That's a kind of feudy answer that Roger would have thrown in. This should throw you off, you know what I mean? Holy shit.

[Tim Gettys]

Doesn't that look awesome?

[Andy Cortez]

That's pretty awesome. That's really damn cool.

[Tim Gettys]

Fifteen days away, everybody. But nah, enough about that for now. This is kind of Funny Games Daily. Each and every weekday we run you through all the video game news that you need to know about live on YouTube, Twitch and podcast services around the globe. If you love what we do, please support us with the kind at 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. Would you have ever thought that they would end up being like an argument over sub versus dub for Sonic 3?

[Andy Cortez]

No, no, not in a million years, Tim.

[Tim Gettys]

Remember, we are an 11 person business all about live talk shows. Today after Games Daily you're going to get the stream which is going to be Mike and Bless playing Infinity Nikki, a game that we've talked about and kind of joked about a couple times. But we know that there's an audience for these mobile games in the style of it. But this one's different and it's getting like nine out of 10 people are enjoying it.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, it's the. The dress up game where you're just dressing up character and it's like, oh, that's all it was on mobile. But now what if we essentially made it a big genin type game and.

[Tim Gettys]

It was one of those games and we saw the trailer like, there's no way a game looks like that. There's no way this game looks like that. Yeah, we're about to find out in this stream. About to find out everybody. And then later we're about to find out if Indiana Jones and the Great Circle lives up to the expectations. Today at 4pm it will be a YouTube premiere. Our review of Indiana Jones. It's Greg Miller, it's Paris Lilly. They're reviewing the game. You should be there. It will not be live streamed on Twitch. It will only be on YouTube.com kind of funny game. So be there 4pm Pacific to get it straight from the horse's mouth. If you're a Kind of Funny member, you can get today's Greg Way and then you can also watch our recording of the Boy and the Heron in review. We are returning to the Miyazaki in Review. It'll be me. It'll be Andy, Nicholas Scarpino and Belinda Garcia making her return to Kind of Funny to close out the Miyazaki saga. Thank you to our Patreon producers Delaney Twining and Carl Jacobs. Today we're brought to you by Shady Rays and Ora Frames, but we'll tell you all about that later. For now, let's begin with what is and forever will be the Roper Report. Is he doing it?

[Andy Cortez]

There he is.

[Tim Gettys]

It's time for some news. We have five stories today. The story everyone Foam Stars next season will be its last. Square Enix has announced. This comes from Chris Scullion at G vgc. The next season of Square Enix is free to play a game. Foam Stars will be its final. In a message posted on its official website, Square Enix has confirmed that the party goes on season, which starts on December 13 and lasts until January 17, 2025, will be the final new season of content. The game will continue to run, however, with Square making the previous seasons available again for players to work through if they missed them before, which is pretty cool. In the concluding update, expansions will be introduced to enhance gameplay, such as the ability to customize shots of each character and new enhancements elements such as Prism Gems, all aimed at ensuring players can continue to enjoy the game for the foreseeable future. All online services will remain available after the party goes on. Season ends. In addition, we plan to hold the Foam Stars Cup, a series of in Game events named after each character. Furthermore, to ensure that new players can fully enjoy Foam Stars, previous season passes will be made available again. Players can switch between season passes at any time to proceed along the season pass track of your choice and obtain items from past seasons. This will make it possible for players to obtain all the items from each season. In a letter to players, the game's producer, Kosoke Okotani, thanked fans for playing and said that they hoped they will continue to enjoy Foam Stars for many years to come. I don't want this to sound like a final message since you will be able to continue playing the game. He's stressed, he's stressed, he's stressed. Let me jump in here. Obviously, we've seen this story a million times. These type of games, multiplayer games, they come, they go. I mean, it was, feels like it was just yesterday that we were talking about Defiant.

[Andy Cortez]

It was.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, it was, yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

X defined.

[Tim Gettys]

X defined. This here feels like an inevitability. Foam Stars eventually having to end, not being supported with new stuff. I mean, like, I feel like most of us would have called that. This seems like a good, positive way to do it, though.

[Andy Cortez]

It's hard for me to be positive right now too. Yeah, I just feel sad about it all anyway. I feel like every time I'm on this show, like, which isn't a whole lot, but whenever I am, there's always a story along the line. Along these lines. I, I don't disagree that the messaging sounds less doom and gloom than we're kind of used to getting with a lot of these. You know, either we're kicking it offline or it's going offline, or the services will go through whatever month. Um, I, I, it's just one of those games where you have to hope that the budget wasn't so crazy that it's not going to lead to a buttload of layoffs.

[Tim Gettys]

And, and maybe I'm being a little too optimistic here, but I feel like with what the game is and how we've seen it and the way that the devs have talked about it, it always did kind of feel like it.

[Andy Cortez]

Was supposed to be its little niche.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah. And them doing these, these moves of adding the season passes back, making sure the game will be playable, we'll see how long. But this does sound almost like there was a plan for this somewhere along the line of, like, hey, let's hope that this blows up, but if it doesn't, we can kind of pull the rip cord in a way that, like, we don't need to just crash the game and have this. Be this epic failure. It can kind of be like, hey, we wanted to take this to the moon, but we ended up getting down like to 15th Avenue. You know what I mean? Right. But like, let's have fun at 15th Avenue. Let's make a block party out of it. Right.

[Andy Cortez]

And that's what I hope for future multiplayer games going forward. I always look at Outriders as the example, and I've talked about it ad nauseam by this point. But when a game like Outriders comes out and says, we're not a shared world shooter, we're not this forever game we were never trying to be, we're a game that you can get in, have some fun with. And if you stop playing in two months, or if our game goes offline within, you know, or if our game starts, stops putting out updates within a year, hopefully they did enough to where they were, you know, they were able to kind of get back some of the funds.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Going into it. And you know, again, this was a PS plus game, I believe, Right, Totally.

[Tim Gettys]

So there's money coming from somewhere.

[Andy Cortez]

Exactly. And those are all the. I would say this is the least doom and gloom of any of the stories that we've had of this ilk. But yeah, I think you're kind of right. I think it does seem like there was a concerted effort to at least have a plan and not just make it feel like they opened the. Suddenly their security card doesn't work and they can't even open the doors. They're like, oh shit, we all got laid off.

[Tim Gettys]

And again, being very hopeful there, but just seeing the trajectory of foamstar specifically and the way that that game was first shown and then the way that they've kind of been putting out these updates, it just seems like they knew and they tried. Like, I think that's the other thing too is like a lot of these games, they try and there's a good game there, there's fun there, but can that fun find the audience? It needs to be able to continue making new content. That I think is the biggest struggle that everybody has. Even the biggest. Even PlayStation. Right. So, yeah, again, bummer news here for sure. But I also think we are just in an era that there has to be a plan. And if they didn't plan this way, like you're saying going forward, there needs to be that kind of understanding of at a certain point, the fingers need to be pointed at people of like, why the are you doing this if you know, it's not going to work out. Yeah in a year even. And if you if your plans for a killer year then cool games could have a shelf life like games and I and you bring it up. Outriders I do think is a very apt example but I just think that they're there needs to be kind of buy in on that from every level and of course that includes the developers making the game, the pocket holders on top of them that are funding everything but then also just kind of just business decisions overall in understanding what their games, their portfolio of games need to be depending on what the publisher is and how the things balance between big titles, small titles, online titles, free to play titles like they all. The ecosystem needs to help itself but there needs to be smart people in charge to make sure that all happens. Or else these are the companies that are going to get the. Or these are the teams that are going to get the worst of it and get dismantled.

[Andy Cortez]

Exactly. So couldn't have said it better.

[Tim Gettys]

Tim Story number two Advocate manufacturer announces partnership with SNK. This also comes from Chris Scullion at vgc. Evercade manufacturer Blaze Entertainment has announced a new partnership with SNK Corporation. The deal will see Blaze releasing officially licensed products from the history of the Neo Geo video gaming system in 2025 and 2026. Although Blaze's announcement doesn't directly specify that this means Neo Geo games will arrive on Evercade products, it did release a short teaser video showing the Neo Geo startup sequence with an Evercade logo included. The Evercade line of products consists of handhelds, consoles and arcade cabinets which specialize in playing retro games.

[Andy Cortez]

It really ain't shit to talk about hunting like Jesus Christ.

[Tim Gettys]

Shout out to Evercade. Okay. Shout out to D O Geo doing the goddamn things out here. That's very funny. But yeah, I'm still happy to see.

[Andy Cortez]

The letters SNK together in order.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

You know what I mean? Like I'm happy that that's still, that's still a thing.

[Tim Gettys]

You know. Capcom may or may not fight them again.

[Andy Cortez]

Exactly.

[Tim Gettys]

The Evercade's cool Kev. If you could bring up the Evercade Arcade, real clean cool stuff here. Like they, they have a real nice design aesthetic with their, their products. The. If you could actually pull up the.

[Andy Cortez]

The Arcade like the actual box unit or whatever.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah yeah. Like maybe I'm thinking of something else. So it seems like they put out like one up arcade style products as well.

[Andy Cortez]

The one that Kevin I was thinking.

[Tim Gettys]

Of was like a giant white one that's like very, it was very clean and you kind of put whatever ROMs you want on it, like for home use.

[Andy Cortez]

But these are the ones that I'm used to sort of seeing Kevin with a lot of. I mean, not the same scale or whatever.

[Tim Gettys]

Well, Kevin has the tiny, tiny guy.

[Andy Cortez]

He's just so adorable. Yeah, this looks so freaking cool though. Oh, the Mega Man.

[Tim Gettys]

Oh man, Mega Man Power Battle. Everyone's favorite. The Mega Man Fighting game.

[Andy Cortez]

But yeah, definitely didn't rent that.

[Tim Gettys]

I have little to no nostalgia in Neo Geo. Like Metal Slug is my. Yeah, hard stop.

[Andy Cortez]

I'm right there with you.

[Tim Gettys]

But like, besides, like a lot of these things here just weren't really my thing because they were very expensive and hard to get in America unless you were at the arcade. Which even at the times we were growing up wasn't ever the most popping thing. Yeah, you know, they had its moments. But I do feel like Metal Slug was the. Oh, we're at a round table and we're lucky enough that it has Metal Slug. Let's play. You know. And yeah, a lot of the SNK games I also missed out on.

[Andy Cortez]

But yeah, you should buy one of these for the studio.

[Kevin Coelho]

So this is New Wave toys and they've sent me a bunch of them and they're really cool.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, those are little tiny baby ones.

[Kevin Coelho]

Yeah, these are 1:6 scale, but they're awesome. Like the quality is so it. They're beautiful devices. Anyways, I just wanted to show them off because they're so cool.

[Andy Cortez]

It's crazy to me that. You know, remember that one Uber driver we talked about who was like super good at Golden Tee Golf? Yeah, he was like kind of. He was like a really rude ass guy at first. And then we connected on a gaming level. Yeah, because he started talking about how.

[Tim Gettys]

Was that also in Vegas?

[Andy Cortez]

No, this was sgf.

[Tim Gettys]

You're right. Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

And we connected some.

[Tim Gettys]

Cool.

[Andy Cortez]

We connected on a gaming level and this dude was just like. Yeah. I mean I used to go to all the different bars and like, you know, compete in tournaments for Golden Tea. And it's so wild to me that there ever was even a following for Golden T where it's like. Yeah, that's why I saw him in so many bars whenever, you know, you'd go to like a. Some get together or whatever.

[Tim Gettys]

Wild Wings to this day still totally makes sense.

[Andy Cortez]

It's like, oh shit. I didn't know Golden T had it like that. Yeah, I didn't ever cross in. And like consoles, I'm sure they did like an NES or something.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, I'm sure There was, like, a Wii version, right?

[Andy Cortez]

You need the ball.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, you need the ball.

[Tim Gettys]

We had some. Some bullshit you did, you know?

[Andy Cortez]

Or them. Or the mouse with the ball. The mouse ball thing.

[Tim Gettys]

Mm.

[Andy Cortez]

Never understood.

[Tim Gettys]

I hate those things.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah. Like the Lenovo nub.

[Tim Gettys]

Have you missed this? We went to Vegas in the last couple of weeks.

[Kevin Coelho]

That's really cool.

[Tim Gettys]

And we took a taxi, which was a mistake. And the taxi driver was trying to sell us alcohol and weed. Literally, like, in the taxi.

[Kevin Coelho]

We got a discounted price.

[Tim Gettys]

No. No discount. He was gonna get money from it.

[Andy Cortez]

It really felt like he had a kickback. Like, he had an Amazon affiliate link.

[Kevin Coelho]

This wasn't like. He was just like, I went to Costco and I bought a bottle.

[Tim Gettys]

No, he's trying to take us somewhere. But it really felt like he's trying to take us to, like, his house. You know what I mean?

[Andy Cortez]

Like, oh, sure it was.

[Tim Gettys]

But then at some point, he was, like, trying to connect with us. Even though we were clear it was me, Roger, Andy, and Mike, we were all very uncomfortable with the conversation.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

And he started asking us about video games. We asked him. He. We're like, hey, we're hungry. Like, where. Where's the best place to go in the area we're going to? And his answer was Rainforest Cafe and Hooters.

[Andy Cortez]

He gave us every, like, chain possibles. And incredible. It was like, you couldn't have written a better response. And then he said, all right, I'm about to. I'm about to speak right there. I hope y'all. I'm about to say something. I hope y'all don't get too offended. And we were like, oh, God. Oh, no. And he said, when are they gonna make Mario great again? And we didn't really know what he meant.

[Tim Gettys]

We didn't know how to answer.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

Thank God we got out shortly after. Yeah. You know, and we're here today to talk about all of it.

[Kevin Coelho]

I mean, he's making some solid points.

[Tim Gettys]

Hey, you know what?

[Andy Cortez]

Told him about the movie. I don't even think he came. I don't think he knew the movie came out.

[Kevin Coelho]

The movie is disappointing.

[Tim Gettys]

The movie's disappointing. Yeah.

[Kevin Coelho]

You know what I mean?

[Tim Gettys]

In what way?

[Andy Cortez]

The movie story. Kevin, you're right.

[Tim Gettys]

Disappointing.

[Andy Cortez]

Kevin, you're right. The movie's disappointing. Like, all right, it just.

[Tim Gettys]

When we get back from ads, I want to hear from Maddie Cortez what's disappointing about it. But, hey, for everyone, here's some ads.

[D]

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[Tim Gettys]

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[Kevin Coelho]

Guys, the gears are grinding.

[Tim Gettys]

All right.

[Kevin Coelho]

You know, it's. It's weird to not work for two and a half months and then come back.

[Tim Gettys]

Kev just did a countdown from the ads. What? What numbers did he just say?

[Andy Cortez]

He said, okay, coming back from the ads in 10. Bye.

[Kevin Coelho]

No, wait, I went early. It was seven and I looked at him like, no, it's because usually I start the countdown. I start five when it actually says six.

[Andy Cortez]

You know what I mean?

[Kevin Coelho]

As I was saying five, it was seven. And I was like, oh, it's too early.

[Andy Cortez]

That's weird.

[Kevin Coelho]

And by the time I had corrected, we were at five.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

And Cortez Mario Movie. Disappointing.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah. It just needed to be a Lego Movie. It's just like, you know, you could make a Lego movie and have it still be for kids. Right. It just needed that riding crew. Yeah, I missed that. I just, you know, watching the whole time, there'd be glimpses of greatness.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

And they would hit you with a stupid Seth Rogen line or something. Like, even though I thought he was great, like, you know, just, you know, I think it was disappointing.

[Tim Gettys]

Disappointing. Wow.

[Kevin Coelho]

And he played the gorilla.

[Tim Gettys]

True, true.

[Andy Cortez]

And they should have replaced all the stupid license music.

[Tim Gettys]

I agree with that wholeheartedly.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

You know, there's a cut that exists.

[Andy Cortez]

I mean, I have it.

[Kevin Coelho]

Wait, really?

[Tim Gettys]

Yes.

[Andy Cortez]

Well, I've, I've seen the clips of that or whatever.

[Tim Gettys]

Somebody re edited it all.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh.

[Tim Gettys]

So it has all the right songs. Somebody might have been me. I did. I did.

[Kevin Coelho]

You have a problem?

[Tim Gettys]

Fuck it. Dude Makes the movie better.

[Andy Cortez]

That's incredible.

[Tim Gettys]

Not disappointment though. Story number three. Snoop Dogg is performing at the Game Awards. It's a slow news day, everybody. First he conquered Fortnite. Next up, Snoop Dogg's performing live at the Game Awards. The streams Everywhere next Thursday, December 12th at game awards.com the game awards dot com. We'll be here, everybody, right on this desk live, reacting to the Game Awards next Thursday. It is going to be a fantastic time for all of us. Can't wait to hang out with the boys. The most boys than ever this year. Normally it's just me and you.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

Everyone else is down sometimes Mike joins. Why wasn't Mike with us last year?

[Andy Cortez]

Was he not? No, I thought he was.

[Tim Gettys]

I don't think so. I'm pretty sure it was just me and you.

[Kevin Coelho]

I think it's optional to do it, you know.

[Tim Gettys]

It's optional. You think Mike's gonna option out of watching the game? Sick?

[Andy Cortez]

He was.

[Tim Gettys]

Oh, that is right.

[Andy Cortez]

That was when he has that one period a year where he go, he gets sick for two and a half weeks, you know.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

And the whole time it's like, well, have you seen anybody like. Nah. It's like, okay, well you're missing time at work because you just haven't done anything about this sickness. Yeah.

[Kevin Coelho]

Wasn't this year's like, Holy Jesus Christ. Wasn't this year's, like six weeks?

[Tim Gettys]

Mike. Mike just literally ran into the room.

[Andy Cortez]

Mike, are we golfing?

[Kevin Coelho]

I thought you booked it already. What are you afraid of?

[Tim Gettys]

Let's just get over here. Mike, why are you moving so fast? Oh, my God. What did you say?

[Andy Cortez]

Are we golfing? Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

Let's golf.

[Andy Cortez]

Man, you're in that SGF fit. He's in the summer games fit this. Look at these pants.

[Tim Gettys]

As many people know, I'm a huge Snoop Dogg fan. This is a big get from my main man, Jeff Keeley. Jeff, you want to call me. Get me backstage with Uncle Snoop? Light up a couple together, maybe play some Madden, talk about some War Zone together? Snoop, call me Jeff.

[Andy Cortez]

Even if you don't call him, he'll find a way to get back there. He will get in there backstage, Jeff's.

[Tim Gettys]

Gonna look like, how are you here?

[Andy Cortez]

And there's nothing you can do about it. Like, he's going to get in there.

[Tim Gettys]

Real talk, though, Snoop. This is a pretty big get. Like, it's a. I would say this is a weird thing to say. A predictable cat. You know what I mean?

[Andy Cortez]

No, totally. No, I do get what you mean. Like, I absolutely get what you mean. Especially obviously, having that sort of big moment in Fortnite. But he's always been, like, gaming adjacent.

[Tim Gettys]

You know, and also, he's celebrity in a way that he's not a rapper anymore.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

You know what I mean? He's just a. He's a pop culture icon that, like. Yeah, I. Snoop Dogg doing pretty much anything wouldn't surprise me.

[Andy Cortez]

No, of course, you know, he is. He's John Cena or Chris Pratt showing up in commercials.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

It's that sort of vibe. He's going to be everywhere, whether you like it or not. Like, Mike, you know, he's going to be there. No, 100%. I totally agree with you this. I think predictable is, like, the right word because it's. Even though that sounds weird to say, it totally makes sense.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Now you're gonna have, you know, some complaints about, oh, the budget that went there.

[Tim Gettys]

So many people are gonna hate all of it. Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense. Maybe.

[Andy Cortez]

Awkward.

[Tim Gettys]

What's he gonna perform?

[Andy Cortez]

Man, I kind of. I honestly wish he was just presenting.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

You know.

[Tim Gettys]

Did he do a fortnight song?

[Andy Cortez]

I don't think he had an exclusive Fortnite song.

[Kevin Coelho]

What was the big thing that he did in Fortnite?

[Andy Cortez]

He was in it.

[Tim Gettys]

They have.

[Andy Cortez]

He has a skin. They Got a Snoop skin and an emote. And a lot of people are worried that, like, you're teaching these young white kids to Crip walk. But I don't think that's what he's doing.

[Kevin Coelho]

Show me what the emote looks like.

[Andy Cortez]

Well, does he?

[Tim Gettys]

Well, they have the job it like.

[Andy Cortez]

It'S hot dance, right? And he.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, and can I have Godzilla and Jordans doing the drop it like it's hot dance?

[Andy Cortez]

Of course you can.

[Tim Gettys]

God, man, we're living in a really good.

[Andy Cortez]

Anything is possible.

[Tim Gettys]

Anything is possible.

[Andy Cortez]

Our homie Kevin Ace X bought the Jordan shoes for his character. We were playing the other day with Chris Anka.

[Tim Gettys]

Good.

[Andy Cortez]

I think I uninstalled immediately after we played. It was a good time, though.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Had a good time at Fortnite, you know. Played a solid snake running around there.

[Tim Gettys]

No Jordans, though.

[Andy Cortez]

No Jordans now. I couldn't unlock those Jordans.

[Tim Gettys]

We got some super chats. AK Says we need Snoop Dogg to do a song from need for Speed Underground 2. That could be fun, but I don't think he's going to.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, it's gonna be awkward as hell.

[Tim Gettys]

Like, we know it's gonna be awkward.

[Andy Cortez]

It's. It's not gonna. I hope that they cut to the audience as little as possible or know who to cut to.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Get plenty of people drunk in the first in the front row. You know, just hand them alcohol so that they could look, you know, excited and into it.

[Tim Gettys]

I want a John Drake cam. I'm not saying that's going to. I'm not saying anything. I'm just saying we need a John Drake.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, no, that's a good call.

[Tim Gettys]

You know what I mean? Actually, to be real, I want a John Drake cam at pretty much all times, unless he's reacting to things I'm saying. I don't want to see that.

[Andy Cortez]

No, 100%. I love walking into a room and just, like, I see him visibly roll his eyes at me.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

And, like, I feel it. He doesn't hide it.

[Tim Gettys]

He looks at me.

[Andy Cortez]

He's like this fucking guy, you know? But he loves me.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah. Yeah, he's great. He's great. My favorite thing about John Drake is the way he texts me and, like, gives me his thoughts about things and, like, his thoughts about my thoughts on things. And I'm always like, I don't like that he's watching. Oh, I don't like that he knows.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, he's watching. He's. John Drake is always watching.

[Tim Gettys]

I love you, John Drake. Please always be on My side, Madogny Gas.

[Andy Cortez]

Anyone from Kind of Funny going to be the game Awards?

[Tim Gettys]

No, not this year. We're all going to be here hanging out live, reacting. Paris will be there, though.

[Andy Cortez]

We're going to need room, man. We're going to have six people on this set.

[Tim Gettys]

That's wild. Good times.

[Andy Cortez]

A lot of people talk. I'm gonna tell like every look at everybody and be like, pass me the ball. All right. I got a joke to say right the fuck now.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Don't get in my way.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

You know what I mean? Roger.

[Tim Gettys]

Fucking Roger.

[Andy Cortez]

Can we get a.

[Kevin Coelho]

What I said, should we get a talking stick?

[Andy Cortez]

That's not a bad call.

[Tim Gettys]

Roger's in the chat. I saw Roger.

[Andy Cortez]

Roger. I miss him a lot.

[Tim Gettys]

I'm sorry.

[Kevin Coelho]

We didn't mean it.

[Andy Cortez]

You know what? I'm gonna go fish out that. That Shadow the hedgehog pin that I bought for you in Osaka that I dropped in the toilet. I'm gonna go get it for you.

[Kevin Coelho]

God, it was such an awful.

[Tim Gettys]

Gotta go back.

[Kevin Coelho]

That was such an awful story clipped out. But Tim, it was just a terrible story.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah. Story number four. EA has made 23 more of its accessibility patents free for any studio to use. This comes from Chris Scullion, fgc. That sounds.

[Andy Cortez]

This is good news.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, we're gonna end on some good news today. Electronic Arts has added a further 23 patents to its ongoing patent pledge. The pledge was initially launched in August 2021 with EA offering to share 5 of its previously protected patents which improved accessibility for players. This has grown to 15 patents over the past few years and Now a further 23 have been added, bringing the total to 38 patents. According to EA, any other game developer can use these patents without having to pay any money or risk being sued. The newly added patents include the following technologies as described by ea. Intelligent personalized speech recognition. Speech recognition system that improves the accuracy and efficiency of speech recognition by using personal bottoms mappings for each user to better understand accent and other pronunciation variations such as those resulting from speech impairments. Very cool.

[Andy Cortez]

Phonem.

[Tim Gettys]

Phonem.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, it's like. Yeah, like phonics. Like. Yeah, Makes sense.

[Tim Gettys]

Makes sense. Generating expressive speech audio from text data. A system that generates expressive speech audio from text data. Provides more control and personal of the generated speech based on desired speaking style and speaker attributes. Also very cool. Generating speech in the voice of a player of a video game. Voice aging using machine learning. Emotion based music Style change using deep learning. Interesting. So a system that infers a player's emotion while playing a video game and tunes the background soundtrack of the game to best fit that emotion. Huh.

[Andy Cortez]

That's pretty crazy.

[Tim Gettys]

Colgrey from the back just said do we just feel an earthquake?

[Andy Cortez]

I did get a notification on my phone. Yeah. Yeah, you should have 200 expect lights shaking. Initial estimate 6.1 about 200 miles away.

[Tim Gettys]

That's crazy. I did not.

[Andy Cortez]

Cool Greg is in tune with the earth.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, Cool Greg's over that.

[Andy Cortez]

Has a connection to the earth right now. That's insane. He is a. He feels terror.

[Kevin Coelho]

He also looks wildly concerned.

[Andy Cortez]

You good? I. I didn't feel anything.

[Tim Gettys]

Wait.

[Kevin Coelho]

Yeah, you felt a lot there.

[Tim Gettys]

Cool Greg, what did you feel? Cool Greg's sitting on the video floor platform that's on wheels. And he was like, yeah, it shook a lot.

[Andy Cortez]

Okay, okay, that makes sense. Yeah, I didn't feel a dang thing here. Yeah, but I did see the notification. I was wondering where that was.

[Tim Gettys]

Dang dude. Crazy stuff. As well as the patents, EA also released an Unreal Engine 5 plugin which enables in engine use of its photosensitivity analysis tech Iris, which it open sourced last year. Sick.

[Andy Cortez]

This is great. And meanwhile Nintendo's like, hey, you can't throw a ball at somebody. If you fucking try it, you fucking try. I'm going to sue you for $8,000.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Just the smallest amount of money. This is awesome. I love whenever, whenever this happens, when a gigantic corporation that you normally just look at and like, oh, you're evil, evil corporate money people that only care about profits. But then they say hey, we have some really helpful stuff that we want everybody to be able to use. And that's great. That's always awesome.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, it really is. Especially because we talk a fair bit about accessibility options in games and I've always been so impressed with PlayStation and how they've taken it so seriously between PlayStation Studios. I remember being at PSX in 2016 and we did our PS I love you panel and there was like a big panel with SHU and a whole bunch of these pretty major panels after us. Like the Naughty Dog, like Neil Druckmann came out and at that point last of us two had just been announced I think or like it was just like a lot of like big conversations during like really kind of the upswing of the PS4 and they gave a prime time slot to accessibility and how they are focusing on it across PlayStation Studios and how they're using each of their projects to. To learn and kind of like help out the other developers on their teams. And I just thought that that was so cool. And that was, you know, eight years ago. And to see how the industry and Microsoft specifically have done such a great job to get the hardware out there. So many different forms of hardware software to back it all up and yeah, just this willingness to within the ecosystems of each of the big, you know, the big three, you know, Nintendo kind of be its own thing that need to work on stuff like a lot. But to cea, which is a bit more of that omnipresent third party, this can help everybody. Great stuff. This is the type of tech that there really needs to be just a sharing of not just information but resources to be able to have more standardized options in games so that more people can play games.

[Andy Cortez]

It's massive for small teams. You talk about a development team of three people that need to work on their game and have spent are working 80 hour weeks in their own personal time and in some cases leaving their jobs to make this one passion project. And then the game comes out and there may be a lot of issues because there's not accessibility and it's like, well, we're a three person team and we have to make the game first. Which is totally understandable. Now having sort of like an open source license to just say use our stuff to help make your game work. So that way you're saving money and not having to hire additional team members that then may, you know, maybe that budget cuts into what you could have used to develop the actual video game.

[Tim Gettys]

And it allows more people to play the game, which allows more people to buy the game, which allows more success for players enjoying good video games and for small teams to be able to get their product out there. Like it all, everybody wins with this stuff. So good, good on UEA for this one. This is big news. It's real big that they're doing this, Andy. But if I wanted to know about some small things, tiny things, where would I look?

[Andy Cortez]

We're already here, huh?

[Tim Gettys]

Oh yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

You would go to our last story, the WE news channel where we cover all the news items you need to.

[Tim Gettys]

Know about from VGC. Amazon Prime Gaming is offering a further 10 free games to market Secret level series Baldur's Gate Enhanced edition, Baldur's Gate 2, Necromunda, Hired Gun, Neverwinter Nights Enhanced Edition. The Outer Wilds, Space Hulk, Deathwing, Spelunky, Warhammer 40K, dawn of War, Warhammer Space Marine and Dawn of War 2 will be added on December 12th. Forza Motorsport is adding Ray Traced Global illumination to the PC version on December 9th. That's pretty sick.

[Andy Cortez]

Gonna be real pretty.

[Tim Gettys]

What? Puma Cross atmos Cross Persona 3 Reload sneaker announced. Oh, Atmos. What? What the fuck is Atmos?

[Andy Cortez]

Not Dolby.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, I don't know what this Atmos is, do you?

[Andy Cortez]

No, but I just got a notification for Extreme Tsunami Warning.

[Kevin Coelho]

Fuck, that's scary.

[Tim Gettys]

This is how we die. This isn't good.

[Andy Cortez]

Could be. It could be.

[Tim Gettys]

It first looked out for us, right? Huh?

[Kevin Coelho]

No, no, we're fine. But I mean Those first like 50ft next to the beach.

[Tim Gettys]

Probably not great, huh? And then James Bachelor and Christopher Dring are both leaving gamesindustry Biz. If we can cut the music, we can cut the music for this one, Kev. None of this is necessarily sad, but it is because definitely looking forward to wherever both of them end up. But both Chris and James, I'd say very integral to kind of funny Games Daily. For years we've covered their their stories for everything that they've reported [e-mail]. but James Bach, Bachelor tweeted out it's time for my own bittersweet announcement. I'll be leaving gamesindustry Biz and likely games journalism at the end of the year. He goes on with a thread and then a couple that was on December 2nd. And then today Chris String also said that he's going to be to be leaving. So stay tuned to both of them. Make sure you follow both Chris String and James Bachelor over on X or Blue sky to to see where they end up. But yeah, just congrats and thank you for all the amazing work you did over at gamesindustry Biz. Looking at this, doesn't it seems like it was their choice? I don't know, I didn't look in too deep, but this does. They're not saying they got laid off or anything. Maybe there's other shenanigans at play. But just looking at this at face value, I just want to give them their props for staples for what they've done. Yeah, absolutely. We got a couple super chats, Andy. We got mellow fellow saying Marvel rivals today. Whoa, who you hyped?

[Andy Cortez]

I mean it's at. You know, hopefully whenever this countdown ends on their website, I'm very, very excited. Yeah, super stoked about it. We'll be likely playing a decent amount of it tonight and tomorrow. I think we're reviewing it.

[Tim Gettys]

I think that's the plan. Review so far.

[Andy Cortez]

Review so far.

[Tim Gettys]

What we thought about our time.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, because you know, with a lot of time in the beta. Well, a lot of time that I had in the beta. Now it'll be talking about the new heroes, how they feel, the balance, the new maps, you know, all that sort of stuff. I'm very excited about it. But there's been so much hype on the Internet just regarding how awesome their cosmetics are and how, you know, they already showed off. Somebody leaked that the Wolverine from the Deadpool and Wolverine suit is in the game.

[Tim Gettys]

And the Spider man, like, no way home suits, like, they're like, committing to. Here's the MCU versions. And like, yeah, everything I've seen from this is so sick. That intro video they put out, I'm like, man, it just, it has the sauce. Like, you look at it, you're like, oh, people making this give a fuck how Venom should move. You know what I mean? I saw Scarlet Witch coming out. It looked just like multiverse of madness. And I'm like, this is sick. Like, you're, like, making this feel so much authentically Marvel compared to something like the Avengers that felt like it was trying to look like the MCU and failing at it. You know what I mean? Like, this has its own identity while clearly just taking things from other forms of Marvel media. But yeah, really, really cool stuff. And I'm excited to see how it all pans out. We got a super chat running in. I don't know why I lost this. I swear to God. Oh, Joey. Rad says Tim, as a big Marvel guy, are you going to try Rivals even though you aren't normally into competitive multiplayer? I keep being teased with it. I keep being like, oh, I want to give this one a shot. And then I get distracted by something and it's been the beta's over or whatever. And I was like, ah, crap. Like, literally, I sat down to play and it wasn't available for me. I was like, this sucks. But now it's about to be just out out. Like, I'm definitely, I want to see how you guys, like, vibe with it and if you're in, because that, that will make me want to play a little bit more.

[Andy Cortez]

But I, I, I think Mike is a little bit out on it, only because it there was a long break and he just feel like the hype kind of died down for it. I'm super in. I've been excited for this ever since we got our hands on the beta and there was a couple of different alpha or beta periods. I forget. I had a great time with it. It's third person Overwatch.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

With, you know, a lot of, A lot. Every character is just like, oh, it's like this character from Overwatch with that character from Overwatch. And a lot of the move sets are super similar. There's a lot of analogs you can make mentally to go, oh, this character plays like so and so. Okay, that makes sense to me. Or whatever. I. I had a great time with it. I think everybody should just at least install it because it's free. Yeah, why not?

[Tim Gettys]

Daniel May says when Hades 2 dropped or Hades 2 updated, I put in 28 and a half hours in two weeks.

[Andy Cortez]

Dude.

[Tim Gettys]

Hades. And Hades too, man. Infinitely playable. Yeah. Like, I feel like there might never have been a game that whether you put in 10 minutes, one hour or 10 hours, you're going to have equal amount of amounts of fun. It's just so rewarding from like every perspective. Presentation, gameplay, just like aura and vibes, like, it's good.

[Andy Cortez]

I still haven't met Ben Star.

[Tim Gettys]

Me neither.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah, I messed up. I went through the other route. I did all the underground stuff. I was like, oh, Ben Star is probably up there. Right there.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah. Brent Powell says when's more deadlock happening, Andy? Ranked doers are in much love to.

[Andy Cortez]

The whole ranked duos.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, that's pretty tempting.

[Tim Gettys]

Who's that? You and Mike?

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Well, because they. For the longest time we've been waiting for ranked squads because, you know, when they introduce competitive play where you will play enough to get a rank, that drive to try to get a rank and try to get better and see yourself, like, climb into a higher rank is always so exciting and. But it was ranked solos. I was like, I'm not gonna hop in by myself and just play with five randos. I don't even. Or four randos. You know, it's. I don't need some dude yelling at me about I don't play League of Legends. You're telling me shit, I don't know. Right? So ranked duos, that's pretty tempting. That could be a cool sort of thing to, you know, maybe hop or maybe we torture Nick and make him play or something like that.

[Tim Gettys]

BAM 255019 says with Sega pulling a lot of their old games from the storefront. Do you think it's because of them releasing new versions of them or a collection? I saw this. A lot of the Dreamcast games that originally came out on Xbox Live Arcade back in the like 360 days or so. Like, they've like constantly just kind of been there and available and now they're gone. And so, I don't know, like I do think that Sega clearly cares about putting their games out in as many places as possible. So I don't think they'll be gone for long because I feel like they will find a way to get, you.

[Andy Cortez]

Know, the Sonic streets finds a way.

[Tim Gettys]

Streets need space. Channel 5.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, of course, of course.

[Tim Gettys]

So yeah, I, I, I think that they'll, they'll end up back in some way, shape or form sooner than later.

[Andy Cortez]

Tim, what's the best way for me to play Mario Galaxy 2?

[Tim Gettys]

I mean, it's illegally, is the answer. Like, I mean, honestly, the only other way to play Mario Galaxy 2 is either with the Wii or a Wii U. So yeah, it's illegally, is the answer. Yeah, yeah. I mean, there's legal ways, I guess.

[Andy Cortez]

They made it so, so hard, you know.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah. It's such a bummer. How good is Mario Galaxy 1, man?

[Andy Cortez]

What a good video game, man.

[Tim Gettys]

What?

[Andy Cortez]

Two's better, ham dog. For real, for real.

[Tim Gettys]

I, I feel like it's, it's a toss up. I would never get mad at someone saying one's better than two. I feel like in between one and two there's a perfect game.

[Andy Cortez]

Okay.

[Tim Gettys]

But each one has some stuff that's like a little less than, you know.

[Andy Cortez]

Okay.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, we got, we got to figure this out for you because I will say I'm getting so deep into this emulation game with the retro handhelds and we've had some major breakthroughs. I found some ones that I'm like, these are goddamn winners. Last night I just got this little tiny one I was showing. Cool, Greg. It plays everything up to PS1 and then 64.

[Andy Cortez]

I think I saw that exact one.

[Tim Gettys]

It's nice. It's real nice.

[Andy Cortez]

Dude. This is a hobby. If you get me started, Tim.

[Tim Gettys]

Like, I know, but what if I just.

[Andy Cortez]

I will forever.

[Tim Gettys]

What if I told you that I already did all that part and I can just give you the answers. It's the cheat code to just get to the end. Because we are kind of reaching end game at this point. I still haven't got my retroid pocket 5. It's still in China, making its way over here, just taking a long goddamn. But I'm telling you, sometime early 2025, we're doing a gamescast and I'm just going to sit y'all down and have.

[Andy Cortez]

You play with my toys, learn us. Okay, I like that. Not even like, not even on the set. It's just like we're looking like we're.

[Tim Gettys]

Babysitting like Muppet baby stuff.

[Andy Cortez]

Yeah.

[Tim Gettys]

Fakit. Says GTA 6 talk normally Rockstars delays the PC a year to cash in on double dippers. But do you think that a year of lost revenue on GTA online for those who wait might make them release the console and PC day and date? I, for some reason I feel like more than ever it's likely that PC will be day and date for GTA 6. I don't think that it's a sure thing, but I don't think it's as impossible as it was the last couple games. I just think that the industry has changed so much that and game development as well has just changed that. Like I just think that a PC version of the game is probably going to be easier to get finished than in the past.

[Andy Cortez]

It's such a toss up for me. I really, I could see it going. I would be sur. I wouldn't be surprised if Eddie if either version happened. Right. I think it's with a lot of games we've seen recently. I'm always of the mentality that releasing a game on PC later on you give it like an extra boost and it's almost like having a. A diet version of a release date. Right. You can kind of repromo it and get more hype generated for a whole brand new audience and it's going to be a really massive audience on PC. But the other side of me has seen the more recent failings of Sony and their PC output where God of War, what was it? Ragnarok, that already came.

[Tim Gettys]

Most recent one, both of them are.

[Andy Cortez]

There now and Last of Us and Horizon and all that stuff. I just feel like hasn't. It didn't really make waves and maybe it's because the titles are a little bit underwhelming, you know, but maybe it requires something like a Demon Souls remake to go to PC or something like that. Maybe it's the, the time between the releases that just made those releases come out that day and everybody was like ah, yawn, let me move on with my day. It just feels like I was always of the mind that like that's such an easy win for publishers and developers. And now these recent PlayStation releases haven't really had me feeling that way.

[Tim Gettys]

I mean that's the thing. I do think it comes down to you bringing up that second wave of marketing, right. Like that's what they need to have. That's why they would do it. And I feel like the problem with the PlayStation games in the last two years or so that have done this of the staggered release because clearly we saw Success with Helldivers, that was day and days. But the staggered release, they're the heaviest. Marketing for the PC version of those games is like a throwaway statement in a state of play. I don't know if that's necessarily where the PC gaming audience is getting their information. So I feel like Sony does have a problem of figuring out marketing to that PC audience because we're talking about some of the best games ever made. So it's not like there's not an audience that wants to play those games on PC. So yeah, figuring all that out would be interesting. And yeah, Rockstar, again, I don't expect it to be day and day PC, but I do think that that is their goal and I do think that they are working towards that. And if possible, I think they'll do it because they want the biggest launch of all time. And they don't want it to even be a question. They want this to be the highest grossing entertainment property in an hour, in the first day, in the first weekend, in the first week. They want to break every freaking record possible. You know what I mean?

[Andy Cortez]

They want to see that number higher than Blackmith Wukong for the records that, that broke when it was on PC.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, so we'll see.

[Andy Cortez]

Just don't put it on Rockstar Club or whatever the fuck your launcher is.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, don't be stupid. Put it on Steam.

[Andy Cortez]

Shit's got to be on Steam.

[Tim Gettys]

Got to be on Steam.

[Andy Cortez]

But I also think they got the juice to kind of put it wherever the hell they want. Yeah, they'll say this game's only available at this one fucking restaurant.

[Tim Gettys]

You need a Walgreens, Ohio. Yeah, Gerardo is cool. Says what's. What's popping. Boys, quick question. If you had to evacuate from the tsunami, what games and hardware would you take? You can only pick three. God, that's hard. You know, I do think at this point, the easy, like Steam deck, such a cheating answer because like, you know, you can put whatever the hell you want on it. But if we're talking about like, just legit, like you need to own the game type stuff, I. I think the Switch is my answer. And it's almost cheating because the Switch is just pretty much every Nintendo game ever on it at this point.

[Andy Cortez]

Or if the Internet goes out because of the tsunami, I think we have big problems.

[Tim Gettys]

You know what I mean?

[Andy Cortez]

Nintendo Online. Yeah, it would probably be my. It would be my Steam deck. And which three games? I mean, they don't have to be physical, right? No, just on the machine. So the Tsunami also affected all the other games. Only three games survived in the online library or the digital library. Enough water from tsunami hit a couple of mega chips.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

And bits that all the library was wiped out except for three games. I would choose for those three games to be one game. I've never played fully through Witcher 3. The second game would be. I'm looking for variety now. Now I'm thinking about variety. So Witcher 3. Are other people playing online in this moment? Because I would go with. I would probably go with Overwatch as a. But I'd be playing on controller. That sucks. Sekiro output. Sekiro on there. I think that's replayable. Do boss rushes, stuff like that. Damn. Now you got me thinking.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah. I feel like by three games, Smash Brothers, Ultimate Pokemon, Heart Gold or Soul Silver. And.

[Andy Cortez]

And not a game that you haven't played before. Really. I guess you're looking for the comfort.

[Tim Gettys]

You're looking for comfort. I'm looking for comfort. I'm just looking for.

[Andy Cortez]

You want a warm bowl of soup?

[Tim Gettys]

Infinite playability. Lots of things to do, lots of things to collect. A lot of trophies.

[Andy Cortez]

You're wet, you have a trash bag over your head, and you just want the comfort of soul food.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah. And you know what? Hades 2.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, I'm gonna go. That's really good.

[Tim Gettys]

Go. Hades 2.

[Andy Cortez]

Damn. I might make that mine as well.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

God dang. That's a good idea.

[Tim Gettys]

CJ splits on with the final super chat of the day. Says, did you see the video of the penguin slipping? Yes, I did. Yes, I did.

[Andy Cortez]

Well, I mean, what did I sleep on? You know, I mean, the floor was.

[Tim Gettys]

Go to your rod.

[Andy Cortez]

The floor was wet. You know, I walked out there and, you know, nobody had. Nobody had mopped the ground. You know, that's a problem, Kevin, you know, out here In Gotham City, rostamarv61.

[Tim Gettys]

Says the arcade machine Tim is thinking of is from Polycade, not Evercade. That is correct. Thank you for that. That's it. Lovely, lovely. What a show. Andy, me and you.

[Andy Cortez]

It was something.

[Tim Gettys]

We turned lemon into lemonade, you know. Look how sexy that is. Oh, so sick.

[Andy Cortez]

So that's really nice. Just. Is that just in the wall?

[Kevin Coelho]

It's like hanging on the wall. I don't like that part of it. I would prefer a freestanding device.

[Andy Cortez]

No, I like it. I. To me, it feels like it's part of the house, but it's not.

[Tim Gettys]

Go to that, though. All.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, my God. They're so expensive.

[Tim Gettys]

Oh, yeah.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, my God.

[Kevin Coelho]

You think something that free FL hangs on the wall is going to be cheap.

[Andy Cortez]

Oh, my God.

[Tim Gettys]

So sexy.

[Kevin Coelho]

Suction power. Andy.

[Tim Gettys]

Andy. I'm getting concerned about this tsunami. I'm just going to let you. I'm just looking at chat.

[Andy Cortez]

We've had a tsunami warning here before.

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah, like this, though. But like, Bart's canceled right now.

[Kevin Coelho]

Is it really?

[Tim Gettys]

Yeah.

[Kevin Coelho]

What did it do?

[Tim Gettys]

It's scared of the tsunami.

[Andy Cortez]

What did it do? What do you mean, what did it do?

[Tim Gettys]

Is the funniest question to ask. Okay, okay, got it.

[Andy Cortez]

We looked into Bart Simpson's tweets and we found some bad stuff.

[Tim Gettys]

All right, everybody, we're about to end this episode and right after this, we're gonna do the stream, which is infinity Nikki, it's Bless. It's Mike. They're gonna have a fantastic time. If you're a kind of funny member, we'll see you later for the in review for Miyazaki in review. And if you are not a member, you can watch our YouTube premiere of our Indiana Jones and the Great circle review at 4pm Pacific right here on YouTube.com kind of funny games. Thank you so much for hanging out with us today. Till next time, goodbye.