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Kinda Funny Games Daily: Video Games News Podcast
Wonder Woman New Details, Nemesis System Patent expires WHEN?! - Kinda Funny Games Daily 02.26.25
00:53:32
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- [00:00]
Roger Poorny
Today's stories include even more updates on WB Games and Wonder Woman. The Nemesis system patent is expiring in 2036, and 10 games are taking up all the money. We'll have all this and more because this is Kinda Funny Games Daily. What's up, everybody? And welcome to Kinda Funny Games daily for Wednesday, February 26, 2025. My name is Roger Poorny and I'm joined by the master of hype, snow bike, Mike. Five days away from work. It's too fucking long. How you doing, Mike? How you feeling?
- [00:41]
Snow Bike Mike
Work on a Monday and you know I'm uptight, okay. I don't need to be ever off of work on a Monday. I need to be at work having fun.
- [00:48]
Roger Poorny
You know, it was a scary moment, right? Because Monday I'm on the calendar and I'm looking around like, where's Mike? It wasn't on the calendar for some reason. Usually it is like, hey, someone's out. You know, like, whatever. Mike's out of the big letters. Mike wasn't. It didn't say Mike out. So I was looked at, Andy very concerned. I was like, is. Where's Mike? Is he. Did he die? Did he die in Chicago? What happened?
- [01:06]
Snow Bike Mike
I found love in Chicago. I found love. I'm going to tell you what, I like Chicago. I love Chicago.
- [01:12]
Roger Poorny
Oh, okay. So you just found the love of Chicago.
- [01:15]
Snow Bike Mike
I found love of the Midwest.
- [01:16]
Roger Poorny
I got excited for you. I thought you found. I thought you found a Midwest girl. Ah, man.
- [01:21]
Snow Bike Mike
We tried. We went to a couple of dive bars. It didn't work. We heard. We heard Blessing story on the kind of funny podcast you can go check out. Blessing side of the story. Yeah. Which I will say, you know, me and Bless have gone on a couple adventures together. Now I think this is our second official, just Mike and Bless the boys. But this was the first time where Bless was like stuck. We were attached at the hip, right? Like when we went away, when we went to Pax East, Bless had a moment of like, oh, I'm gonna go break off and see my friends. I'm gonna do my panel, you do yours. And he got time away from me this time. It was like I'm looking at him and he's like, oh, I'm stuck with Mike. And I was like, you're. You're here with me for 24 full hours together. And you know what? It was a good time.
- [02:03]
Roger Poorny
And I heard you didn't even bring a jacket.
- [02:04]
Snow Bike Mike
No, no jacket needed. Rog it now. No jacket needed now. What was the weather like? It was Cold.
- [02:10]
Roger Poorny
What was the weather? Tell us the temperatures.
- [02:12]
Snow Bike Mike
It was 14 degrees.
- [02:14]
Roger Poorny
Okay. Yeah. Yeah. But it felt like negative 18.
- [02:17]
Snow Bike Mike
It was ice cold. I will say. Should I have brought a jacket? Yes. Did I do just fine with that one? Of course I did.
- [02:23]
Roger Poorny
Now why didn't you bring a jacket? Cuz apparently Joey said that you were packing a few jackets.
- [02:27]
Snow Bike Mike
I had this bag, I was packing things in the bag and the jacket didn't fit. And now the question would be. Okay Mike. Well then that means you wear the jacket onto the airplane. You upgraded your seat into the first class pod. I'm sure they'll take your jacket and put it somewhere.
- [02:41]
Roger Poorny
They would love to do that.
- [02:42]
Snow Bike Mike
Yeah, absolutely not. Seeing this man awkwardly laid back down and look at each other, I was like I immediately real blessed. I was like the pod don't ever sit in the pod.
- [02:53]
Roger Poorny
So you weren't a pod though.
- [02:55]
Snow Bike Mike
Yeah, but it wasn't a pod. You know what I mean? I thought a pod was like very isolated and like we could put the little walls up. Yeah, no, it was very much like four seats right next to each other. We all could like lay ourselves fully down and like you could put your feet up. So it wasn't like the pod.
- [03:12]
Roger Poorny
He spent $400 to sit next to four people.
- [03:14]
Snow Bike Mike
Yeah. You would have preferred the normal first class seat. That feels a little bit less like I'm in your face. Because we were like, like we were like together.
- [03:21]
Roger Poorny
Yeah. I was like oh, but usually you like that. You like making the conversation.
- [03:25]
Snow Bike Mike
Yeah. But I did have a good conversation with them at the end. He gave me some good recommendations for some good Chicago food places and I had a blast in Chicago.
- [03:32]
Roger Poorny
Course.
- [03:32]
Snow Bike Mike
Thank you to so many. I've also learned about the golden triangle, a new way of life that I'm very excited to tell you all about on my turn for the podcast to tell you about how I'm living in the golden triangle.
- [03:42]
Roger Poorny
And that should happen on Friday's Gamescast where Mike and Bless are going to be talking about all their time over at Magicon, reviewing potentially Magic telling them about everything that they experience. But remember, this is Kinda Funny Games daily. Each and every weekday we run you through the nerdy news you need to know about live on YouTube, Twitch and on podcast services around the globe. If you love what we do, support us with the Kinda Funny membership on Patreon, YouTube and now Spotify and Apple podcasts to get all of our shows ad free, watch us record them live and and get an exclusive daily show. That is Greg Way for A chance to be part of the show. Submit your thoughts and opinions on YouTube super chats as we go. H. Housekeeping. We're an 11 person business. All about live talk shows today after. Well, okay, I got to redo this. I didn't, I didn't read because we. We had a weird morning. Everybody, if you're listening, if you're listening to kind of funny Games Daily right now. We had a. Another kind of funny Games Daily, basically, but now it's a Gamescast. So what happened was we're doing Games Daily. It was going to be me and Andy. Andy was going to be hosting and then Jason Schreier was like, hey, I want to pop in, explain some stuff about the Warner Brothers Monolith Games production showing shutting down. I want to talk about that. Right? So we came on and then halfway through it we're like, this is so good. We're going to make this the games cast. Right? So we did that. That is up right now over on the Gamescast feeds. And now we're doing Games Daily. So after. This is going to be the stream, right?
- [05:06]
Snow Bike Mike
Which is going to be blessing playing Dark Souls for the first ever time. We're back with part two of that one, which means he has rang the bell tower and he is going down.
- [05:14]
Roger Poorny
Whoa.
- [05:14]
Snow Bike Mike
And we're very excited to see where he goes, Whoa.
- [05:17]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
What is he going to.
- [05:18]
Snow Bike Mike
Because he's done it too.
- [05:19]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Oh, yeah, Mike, let me tell you. Let me tell you. I maybe met a princess the other day.
- [05:26]
Snow Bike Mike
Maybe a princess.
- [05:27]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Romance, voluptuous. Whoa, it's crazy.
- [05:31]
Roger Poorny
Whoa.
- [05:31]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
It's crazy.
- [05:32]
Roger Poorny
Bear found some love too. And then after that, and then, yeah, if you're a kind of funny member, you can get today's Greg Way, as I said before, and can get Alien vs Predator in review this afternoon. You can watch that live and tomorrow on YouTube and podcast services. And that is Predator Dose.
- [05:47]
Snow Bike Mike
I watched it three times now.
- [05:50]
Roger Poorny
What?
- [05:50]
Snow Bike Mike
I wanted to watch it and catch up with this. I have a lot of thoughts on this movie. I'm excited.
- [05:55]
Roger Poorny
I'm Predator 2.
- [05:55]
Snow Bike Mike
I'm Predator 2.
- [05:56]
Roger Poorny
So you watched.
- [05:57]
Snow Bike Mike
I have a lot of feelings.
- [05:58]
Roger Poorny
This is your third time in general.
- [05:59]
Snow Bike Mike
Plane ride there. Fell asleep during the halfway point. Woke up at the finale. I said, man, I messed that up. Like, like, I gotta, I gotta try this again. Turned it on again. And I was watching it. I was like, trash. Turned it off. Then last night I was like, you know what, Mike, you were too hard on that. Maybe it was the plane ride. Maybe you were a little tired. So I watched it all last night. Again, trash.
- [06:24]
Roger Poorny
You're watching these all and I feel like we're missing out on content. Right? Like it really should just be because you watch these in reviews. Like half the time you're in the corner as they're doing it. Right. Like we should just give you a mic and have a setup in the corner. And then like, like, yeah. It's like love and sex, Stu. Right? We were just pan over, just Mike sleeping or Mike's like, I agree, that sucks.
- [06:42]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Forget to turn off his mic and then you just hear breathing heavy in the mic.
- [06:47]
Roger Poorny
We should totally do that. That'd be great. So, yeah, make sure to check that out. And thank you to our Patreon producers, Delaney Twining, Carl Jacobs, Omega Buster and Karen Lindler. Today we are brought to you by Greg Miller's live Chicago show and better help. But we'll tell you about that later. But for now, let's begin with what is and forever will be the Roper Report. It's time for some news. We have five stories today, a baker's dozen, starting with number one, canceled. Wonder Woman was quote unquote, was gorgeous and expansive. That's from comic book writer who consulted on the game. This is written by Vicki Blake at ign. Comic writer Gail Simone has revealed she worked on a one on Warner Brothers beleaguered Wonder Woman game before it was shelved yesterday. Simone for known for being the longest running female writer on Wonder Woman comics to date, praised the dream team working on the video game, insisting everyone she worked with from the now shuttered Monolith and Warner Brothers was quote unquote, enthusiastic and supportive. Quote, I was asked to do a long term consulting on the game and I was thrilled to do it. It was a perfect storm of stuff. I adore. Simone wrote on social media, Wonder Woman video games and one of my favorite game studios, Monolith, who produced the game, the game of the year, Mordor games that I was completely addicted to. The game was gorgeous and expansive. Uh, it was beautiful to look at. I was not, I was not going to give details for a number of reasons, but every effort was made to make this not just a great game, but a great Wonder Woman game, a showpiece, epic. And all of that was because of the team. Everyone who worked on it brought their A game, programmers, artists, designers, everyone. I don't know what, I don't, I don't know that I have ever worked with a team that cared more about making sure the end product was perfect. It was a dream come true. Wonder Woman had A Dream Team. And they put their all into it, Simone concluded. They made sure it had wwe, Wonder Woman, and DC Lore on every aspect of the game. It was a thrill and honor to work with them. I know there's a lot of finger pointing going on, but everyone I worked with from Monolith and WB both was enthusiastic and supportive. Everyone wanted to make the best game ever. Wow, Mike, you were gone when this all broke yesterday. I just want to get, first of all, just your thoughts on this general whole situation, and then let's talk about Wonder Woman specifically and what Gail said.
- [09:38]
Snow Bike Mike
Yeah. Thoughts on the whole situation from Snow Mike. Mike, of course, is. It's unfortunate. It really does suck. That's a huge blow to the games industry, seeing so many talented teams get let go and shut down. And also WB just absolutely lost at the helm. Right. Like, they had Hogwarts Legacy. Congratulations. That was great. Everything else, you look around, Suicide Squad, Hogwarts, Quidditch Champions, and it's just like Multiverses. Nothing has been a hit. Nothing has a good plan of attack here since Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War. So it's been a long time, and it feels like a lot of missteps from the top that led to this just awful situation that we're now currently in. And when you hear someone like Gale, right, who has been in the comic book industry for so long working on Wonder Woman and other titles, to hear that passion and that excitement for a project that, yeah, maybe you were into, maybe you're on the fence for. I know I was very excited about it because Shadow of War and Shadow of Mordor, some of my favorite games of all time, it's like, oh, that's exciting. That could have been awesome. And yeah, when you think about what gorgeous and expansive. That's what I thought of a Wonder Woman would have probably been from Monolith, right? Of like this big open world, probably lush and beautiful, and then just, man, that Nemesis system would have been cool. That Nemesis system would have been cool.
- [10:56]
Roger Poorny
And we learned on the Gamescast today that Jason Schreier was reporting that potentially there was going to be some type of opposite of the Nemesis System, where you get new allies, which is very Wonder Woman. I mean, this is. This is really heartbreaking, especially to hear from somebody as tenured as Gail, right? And to talk about, you know, saying such high praise, right, of like, oh, no, this is one of the best teams that I've ever worked with, you know, like, they really cared about this franchise and putting Wonder Woman to the screen or to the video game screen, rather. This. This is so interesting, right? Because we. We going off of that conversation with Jason Schreier that we just. We just had. It's so fascinating that this was not the original pitch, right? This. They. They originally did not want to make a Wonder Woman game. It was kind of like, hey, okay, well, like, we're working on this other thing, and it's not really panning out. It's an original ip. Okay, fine, let's do a Wonder Woman game. And it came. Came together so fast, and they had to reboot it a few years ago and to see now that they were really gung ho on this. Right? Like, they had a vision for this. They were building towards something potentially really great. But there was just too many roadblocks in the way in order to continue to greenlight it for another potentially four, five years. Right? We know how long video game development goes. We know how to rebuild an entire leadership team. We know that it's going to take a lot of time to get this game to a place where it's actually going to release and to be seen. So Tar breaking.
- [12:12]
Snow Bike Mike
Yeah. The crazy one is like, you. You asked, like, rewind Mike of, like, when you saw this announcement. You haven't been at work. Like, you know, I saw the tweets from James Gunn of, like, we're gonna double down on DC games. I retweeted the fun one of, like, bring back Gotham City imposters.
- [12:25]
Roger Poorny
Dude, don't even get me started. Oh, my God.
- [12:28]
Snow Bike Mike
You're like, oh, DC games that you see Wonder Woman and Monolith, and you're like, okay, well, clearly you could have just said Batman, right? Like, you clearly have put your flag down of, like, only Batman works. That's the only game that we can make this happen. And I get it, right? Rock Steady and Batman. Peanut butter and jelly. We love that. Right? But there's a big DC universe out there. You're going to restart the DC cinematic universe. We're going to have a lot of new characters, Commandos.
- [12:53]
Roger Poorny
Yeah.
- [12:53]
Snow Bike Mike
Why are we falling back on Wonder Woman here, especially with Monolith. And so that just leads you to look over, like, Jason reported, right at the top, there were some very bad decisions. There was people who maybe sat on their hands afraid to make a decision. Right? And so we have now led to this, and it's just wild to see the tweets from James Gunn of, like, we're gonna focus on DC games. And then here we are canceling Wonder Woman. One of the biggest D.C. names in the Recent years from the movies and onward here.
- [13:19]
Roger Poorny
Yeah, no, it's, it's, it's heartbreaking. And I, I today I, I'm not very versed in Monolith. At least their history before Shadow of, of War and Mordor. Right. I, I didn't know, I, I knew that they did the Fear franchise, but I didn't really know like how their, their condemned games that they made before that and just like how tenured they were. So I've watched a video, I believe it's Game makers tips on YouTube. They put out basically like Game Makers Tips toolkit. There it is. Thank you so much. Uh, they're an amazing YouTube channel. You should check them out. They have such incredible deep dives on video game design. Uh, but this one was kind of an off the cuff video where he doesn't usually do this, where he's like, hey, like this is a developer that I really care about. And they, you know, they are, they're gone right now. We're never going to see them again. So here's five of my favorite games that they've made throughout their history and it is really, really incredible. So I implore every single person out there to watch that. And yeah, it went through the history of like this is just his, you know, version of, you know, his favorite five games. And there's so many other ones that he mentions towards the ending. I'm like, fudge. They made Matrix Online. Like that's crazy.
- [14:24]
Snow Bike Mike
Like they made Guardians of Middle Earth, Lord of the Rings, moba, game nuts. They were partnered up with Zombie Studios it looks like for that one. But that's one of my favorites. And yeah, that's a strong team. And just to see that just absolutely Gone is wild. Roger that. We live in such a time. I mean we report on the layoffs each and every week. It seems like it's happening non stop. But then when you get to like full on studios closing and a team with that reputation that has made some great games, it's wild, right? But I go back to wb, I look at wb, the last, you know, decade here, you can just start pinpointing like bad decisions, games that didn't hit back. For Blood is one of those games, right? And that was one of those that wanted to be left for dead but didn't find the footing, didn't nail that and that one didn't make it right. And so you just go down the list. It's like a lot of bad decisions. And then there's of course the staples, right? Batman made it okay. Cool. Harry Potter made it. And it's tough because clearly they're like, okay, well, those are the only games that work, so we're not doing anything else but that. And it seems like we continue to live in this video game industry where it's like, if it doesn't work, it's out. If it can't be perfect, then it's out no matter what. And so we're tightening it up every single time, which is scary. A lot of LEGO games. A lot of LEGO games.
- [15:36]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Bakugan game.
- [15:37]
Roger Poorny
Oh, fuck yeah, dude. That's fire.
- [15:40]
Snow Bike Mike
Yeah.
- [15:40]
Roger Poorny
Well, let's talk a little bit more about Monolith, because story number two, Monolith's Shadow of Mordor nemesis system patent doesn't expire for another decade. This is from Blair Marnell over at GameSpot. In 2014, Monolith Productions introduced its Nemesis System in Middle Earth. Shadow of Mordor. That AI procedural program allowed this Lord of the Rings game and its 2017 sequel, Shadow of War, to feature enemies who remembered previous encounters with the player's character and evolved accordingly. Unfortunately, with the recent closure of Monolith and two other studios owned by Warner Brothers, it may be a very long time before another video game utilizes the Nemesis System. As reported by journalist Stephen Totillo, Monolith's Nemesis System patent, which remains the property of Warner Brothers, was filed in 2016, and it won't expire until August 11, 2036. Put that on the kind of funny calendar. The only way the patent could be officially abandoned beforehand is if Warner Brothers fails to pay the associated fees to keep it active. The Wonder Woman video game was canceled with the closure of Monolithic. Had that game been finished, it would have been the only. The only a third title to utilize the Nemesis System. Presumably, that would have involved Wonder Woman making friends, allies, and enemies over the course of the game story. However, there was a report earlier this year that Wonder Woman had a troubled development, and it was said to be over $100 million in the hole and far from finished. Yeah, I mean, as Jason, I think, correctly pointed out. Right. He thinks that that's very overblown, like, the whole patent of it. All. Right. Because it is a very specific system. Right. And you would have to kind of reverse engineer that and get it perfectly in order to have, like, an actual, like, lawsuit that someone could potentially file. And you could take elements of this and make this into whatever game you want. You just can't actually take the entirety of the Nemesis System and the technology behind it and try to put it into your Game that if you're not Warner Brothers. But it is still kind of ridiculous that we're patenting an entire system that has so like for instance, Monolith. Monolith going under is so interesting to me because it's one of the few, I would say, developers that marked their territory as making like such a huge stride in video game systems. Like, there's not that many off the top of your head that you can.
- [18:06]
Snow Bike Mike
Think of still talked about to this day. It's crazy.
- [18:09]
Roger Poorny
Everybody talks about the Nemesis system and everyone's like, oh my God, fantasy booking, right? Like the perfect game to have the Nemesis Batman game with Nemesis system, like, it was such a huge idea. And I remember when that game, when Shadow of Mordor first came out, that was like the first, like it felt like next gen video game in my opinion. Right. Because it was taking technology and it wasn't just good graphics. It was like, oh no, we're doing something really complex behind the scenes. So to have this locked behind Warner Brothers, for better or for worse is the worst. It's the worst option here. You don't want this lock behind Warner Brothers. But also to Jason's point, is anybody actually going out there at a. AAA level being like, hey, we want to take this massive risk to do something and you know, try to emulate the. The system in general? I don't know.
- [18:52]
Snow Bike Mike
Yeah, it's odd that we haven't seen anyone because you bring up so many games that we all kind of fantasy book of like, oh, I wish they did the Nemesis system, but nobody else has done that. Nobody has either cared to do it or maybe they've been afraid of this patent and couldn't get steer clear of it. But like we are in this day, what, 10 years after of like nobody's even tried that. Nobody's wanted to try that.
- [19:12]
Roger Poorny
At least to my knowledge. Like, not even like an indie developer. Right? Like you would assume that somebody would try to do something like that there. But I haven't heard of any of that. Correct me if I'm wrong, Chad, but.
- [19:21]
Snow Bike Mike
Yeah, like you said, it's unfortunate that we are now trapped in this hellscape that it is locked down till 2036 this patent, right? And our team's going to be able to maybe buy it from wb, say, hey, you took a big blow there. Let's just buy this off of you or let's license it. You know, now you kind of play this game of, does anybody want this? Is anybody going to use it? We haven't seen anybody yet. So where do we stand? But with this major blow, who knows? Maybe someone will slide in and say, hey, we'll buy that off of you, or, let's license it.
- [19:49]
Roger Poorny
Yeah, I don't. I don't even know, man. Like, is that such a. That's. Unless they have, like, a. Unless Monolith. They're selling off, like, the pieces of Monolith, right? Like, unless they have, like, hey, we have an engine here that is plug and play with Unreal or whatever, and you could just slide this in and boom, you got a Nemesis System. I don't think anybody's going to be out there, like an EA and being like, hey, man, we really. We have this cool game idea, but, like, we really want the Nemesis System. Let's pay X millions of dollars to Warner Brothers to license it out, and then potentially, that license expires 20 years from now, and then we have to take the game off the stores. It just gets so complicated. But it is. It is interesting to see. To hear about this and think about, like, is this even a priority going forward? Right? Like, is the Nemesis System going to be used outside of a Monolith game? Right? Because Monolith's gone now. So, like, is Rocksteady looking around and being like, fuck, we could use that for Batman. That could be the defining feature. Are they looking for Harry Potter? Because that would be sick. Like, being able to, like, find your nemesis and do that thing, right? Like, are they going to be taking this, or is this forgotten?
- [20:43]
Snow Bike Mike
Right?
- [20:43]
Roger Poorny
Like, is Monolith dying now? Just the end of this, and then we just kind of go back 10 years from now, be like, remember the Nemesis System? Shame we didn't do more of that.
- [20:51]
Snow Bike Mike
I think you have the. I think you've nailed it with that one. Is like, this will be gone and forgotten. But, like, yeah, you can apply it to so many cool things, right? I think, like, you brought up. This is a system that will probably never forget, that will cherish and think, man, that was so cool, right? Fighting that one orc. He beat me. He then rose up the ranks. Or I humiliated.
- [21:09]
Roger Poorny
He's got the prosthetic leg.
- [21:11]
Snow Bike Mike
He got humiliated. And then when we go to the big Orc Tower, and he's like, hey, dude, I remember your name. And it's like, okay. Like, that's novel and fun, but we haven't seen it in a game since then. So is that really anything that we're going to put in? What games can be put in? Probably Batman and Hogwarts, right? A gta. Could you do something like that, a low level gangster, then you know, he gets out of the gunfight, comes back and he remembers you. Maybe. But yeah, I don't. I think this will be a gone forgotten one. Roger Damn.
- [21:39]
Roger Poorny
That's heartbreaking. That's heartbreaking. But that was just story number two. We got a whole lot more show for you. But before that, let me remind you about the kind of funny membership the kind of funny membership you can subscribe and get everything ad free. But you didn't do that. So here's a word from our sponsors.
- [21:56]
Greg Miller
This episode is brought to you by me. Greg Miller, Chicago what are you doing Thursday, April 10th at 7pm the answer coming to my live show. That's right, Mrs. Miller's baby boy is coming back to Chicagoland and putting on a 90 minute one night only show live from the Goodwin Auditorium at Benedictine University in Lyle. I'm mixing a bit of up at Noon with a bit of my best Comic Con performances with a lot of my Chicago influences. I'm calling it a Late Night with Greg Miller and it's going to offer never before heard adolescent tales, an interview with one of my favorite bands of all time, a conversation with Millie Ramsey about growing up in the Internet, spotlight, your live questions for me, and of course tons of fabulous video game prizes. Get your tickets now@kindafunny.com Chicago and hey Midwest people. We never do shows out there, so this is your chance to see a Greg Miller stage show. Indiana, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin. We always talk about how we love to drive as Midwest people. So hit the road for an opportunity you may never get again. This is a fundraiser for Benedictine University. That's right, my childhood best friend, Poe School. So get your tickets now@kindafunny.com Chicago and I'll see you on April 10th. This episode is brought to you by BetterHelp. It's always important for us to be aware of a relationship red flags we should avoid. But what if we focused more on looking for green flags in friends and partners? If you're not sure what they look like, therapy can help you identify green flags. Actively practice them in your relationships and embody the green flag. Energy yourself. Some of our best friends use BetterHelp and love how helpful it can be for learning positive coping skills and how to set boundaries. It empowers you to be the best version of yourself. It isn't just for those who have experienced major trauma. If you're thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try. It's entirely online, designed to be convenient, flexible, and suited to your schedule, and it serves over 5 million people worldwide. Discover your relationship green flags with BetterHelp. Visit betterhelp.com kinda funny to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp H-E-L-P.com kindafunny betterhelp.com kinda funny.
- [24:14]
Roger Poorny
We'Re back everybody with story number three. More than 40% of all US PS5 and Xbox playtime last month was spent on 10 live service games. This is from Chris scullion over at VGC. More than 40% of the total time spent playing PS5 or Xbox Series X S games in the US last month was spent on just 10 live service games. That's according to Matt Piscatella, friend of the show, the Executive Director and video game industry analyst at Circana. In a thread on Blue Sky, Piscatella pointed out that more than 70% of active PS5 and Xbox Series X users in the US played at least one of the top 10 live service games in January. While some of these players may have simply tried the game, tried the game, and then moved on to something else, these games have been popular enough to Command A combined 40% of all playtime spent across the entire PS5 and Xbox Xbox series libraries last month. Piscatella notes that the statistics may be concerning for developers and publishers of other games because the total US Video game market spending, total players and total hours all peaked in 2021 and quote unquote the pace of games being released hasn't slowed. As such, the pool of potential players isn't getting larger and if many of them are spending a lot of time on the same 10 live service games, that reduces the amount of time being spent trying out other titles, in particular new releases. This is a quote, a lot of a lot is riding on the new products coming to the market in this year to hopefully combat or reverse some of these trends, Piscatello noted, presumably referring to the Switch 2 and numerous upcoming triple A games. GTA 6 used to. Another quote used to be that players would jump from big game to big game to some other games, but they were most often to they were most often to moving to something new that they purchased, he said. He added, now the live now the live service games suck out a ton of available time and it's hard to beat free if it's good. So here we are. It is crazy how we have moved as like a video game society because I remember as a kid, maybe it's just me being a kid, but like I remember Being so young. And there was like, the boom of, like, free to play games happening, like, when I was. When I was really young. Like, I'm talking, like, Battlefield Heroes. I don't remember that. That was like a third person. Like, cartoony, like, almost like Fortnite before Fortnite, but not really. Yeah, look this up maybe. If I'm completely making this up, I'm pretty sure. Battlefield Heroes. And it was like, one of the first free to play games that I ever saw.
- [27:05]
Snow Bike Mike
Okay.
- [27:06]
Roger Poorny
I remember going to my dad because he was like, you know, the head of the household, the head of the computer, and he was like. I was like, hey, I want to download this game. It's free. And he was like, nothing's free in this world, Roger. Like, like, this is a virus like, like that doesn't exist, right? Like. And then, like, fast forward fucking right. Yeah. She's not wrong. But then a few years later, right, like, you know, everything's, you know, free to play. I mean, I remember, like, downloading demos and being like, that was the only free thing that I had on my X 360. And then next generation, 40% of people are playing these top 10 games. Like, how does that take you, man?
- [27:36]
Snow Bike Mike
That is a wild number right there, it seems. It feels right because as you know, I am the live service guy. I live and breathe in a lot of these probably similar games in the top 10, if you looked at what I'm playing and what are up there, right? I've tried to play more games over this past couple years, which has been great, but I'm probably in this audience. And also, I feel like I grew up before the free to play games. It felt like you had to buy the games. Which Call of Duty mom was like, oh, man, Mike wants to play Dead or Alive. He's never played a fighting game in his life. Why am I buying Dead or Alive on a random Tuesday? Because I wanted a new game, Roger, and it was a good idea. And so, like, the crazy part is, is like, I grew up in this era beforehand where, yeah, your parents are you. If you were, you know, of. Of the age and hard working, had your own money, had to buy a new game every single time to go on to the next thing, right? And it felt like the cycle was, buy that game, play it, go buy a new game. Play it, go buy the new game. Now it very much feels different, right? There are these free to play games, and there are thousands of them on your PC, on your Xbox, on your PlayStation 4, your Switch, that you can Just jump in and try. And we've also seen that some of these free to play games are very good, right? And because they're very good, they dominate the landscape. Because I think back when I was a kid, my mom did not want to spend $60 every single time little Mike wanted a video game, right?
- [28:58]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Like now or alive for who knows?
- [29:01]
Snow Bike Mike
It was either that 1 or 6 or 4. One of these games I made my mom buy, she was not pleased with me because I never played it again.
- [29:07]
Roger Poorny
Yeah. Oh, I did that all the time. I remember I. I asked, my mom was like, hey, I really, really want. No, I want La Noire. And I've got that. I'm like, this is not gta. And then I was like, fuck this game. I was like, give me Sims 3 on the Xbox 360. I'm like, fuck this game, I don't want that. Give me Duke Nukem. Fuck this game. I don't want that.
- [29:25]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
You had it right at the, at the start with La Noire.
- [29:28]
Roger Poorny
I'm a child. I don't know what the fuck I'm doing. I would just like return these games. I would get like half the money and would just keep on depreciating.
- [29:33]
Snow Bike Mike
So now we live in a world where kids like that can just play these free to play games without having their parents to get involved to go to GameStop and buy these games or go on the marketplace and buy them in today's age. And, and they're. Everyone is playing those games and that's where they're going to be. They want to be where their friends are.
- [29:50]
Roger Poorny
Yeah.
- [29:50]
Snow Bike Mike
And so that. That's where we live in right now. And I think Matt had a really great interview with Greg, which everyone should go check out.
- [29:56]
Roger Poorny
Everyone.
- [29:57]
Snow Bike Mike
If you want to listen to some really intelligent stuff about the industry right now, you should go listen to those too, because it was really, really good. But like, you have to remind, you have to remember, like, I think the biggest one was like the people watching and listening. All of us in this room, the people that we meet at conventions, you are much different than the outside world. You are in a different pocket of video games that is far different from outside, where people might not have the money. They might just buy only Madden or one game a year. They're waiting on GTA for their next big the thing, or they've fallen in love with Fortnite or GTA Online and that's where they want to spend their time because their friends are there. That's where their social circle circle is. And that's where they want to spend their time. Because all these games as well. GTA Online has nothing but user created content, which means it's always turning. They're adding new stuff to it. Fortnite has endless modes that you can now play in Fortnite.
- [30:47]
Roger Poorny
Like six different games in one, at least.
- [30:49]
Snow Bike Mike
I mean, it's like these games that are free to play are running the markets because they have so much to offer and because they're great.
- [30:54]
Roger Poorny
Yeah.
- [30:55]
Snow Bike Mike
And that's why we're here right now.
- [30:56]
Roger Poorny
Yeah. I mean, also, like, it doesn't help that, you know, no one has money anymore. Right? Like, everything's getting more expensive. And you look around, it's like, okay, do I really want to spend $70 on a game that I might like, I might not like? I don't know. And you know, I think back to it, right? When I was a kid, not to do the Boomer thing, but like, it's true. Like, when I was a kid, it was. You're so right. Call of Duty, right? Every year, me, my friends, fucking, okay, we have to do the thing. We all beg our parents for Call of duty Black Ops 2, right? Oh, shit. Okay. We finally all got it. Okay. We're in there. Boom. But now it's like, okay, well, most of these kids are playing Fortnite. Most of the kids are playing Apex. Most of these kids are playing, you know, Counter Strike, whatever it is. I know Counter Strike isn't free. Is it free to play? I think it is.
- [31:31]
Snow Bike Mike
Counter Strike is free.
- [31:32]
Roger Poorny
Jesus Christ.
- [31:33]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
But also my brain. Yeah, it broke my brain. Roger, when you're like, when I was a kid and we got Black Ops 2, that like that with me a little bit.
- [31:42]
Roger Poorny
Yeah. I mean, it's true, it's true. I love Black Ops too, but Black Ops 2 ruled.
- [31:45]
Snow Bike Mike
Yeah.
- [31:46]
Roger Poorny
So it's, you know, I, I always like the talking to. I have some cousins or whatever. Like, oh, I have a kid who's like getting into games. Like, what do I get him? I'm like, honestly, you can get one video game and then just Fortnite, like it doesn't matter anymore. Like, I have this. I have a little cousin and he got a switch and she was like, what do I get him? And I'm like, okay, well, you get him lego 2k drive or whatever because he likes little racing things. And then you can just give him Fortnite because there's racing in there too. And he'll play with his friends and have a good time. Like, that's just that's how it is. It doesn't. You don't have to spend that money.
- [32:15]
Snow Bike Mike
Yeah, of course. And we also come from a very privileged place to be in.
- [32:18]
Roger Poorny
Absolutely.
- [32:19]
Snow Bike Mike
You and I are playing a bunch of games. We receive game codes. I'm streaming seven hours a night along with work. So like I'm in the very small portion of people that are playing like 10 hours plus a day. Right. Most people are working nine to five, come home, either exhaust, play the game.
- [32:35]
Roger Poorny
Play the one game.
- [32:36]
Snow Bike Mike
Yeah. Have to make dinner, have to hang out with their family, get two hours a night. Right. Now they see a brand new game come out. That is a 80 hour experience. They want that. That's going to take a long time. It's not a turn and burn anymore.
- [32:48]
Roger Poorny
Yeah, no. It takes a lot to move, you know your friend group now to buy an entire game. Unless you're Snowback Michael, he'll just buy the game for you. So that's a blessing.
- [32:55]
Snow Bike Mike
You need a friend. You hit me up because I need some more.
- [32:57]
Roger Poorny
What was it? Who was it? The, the, the Robin Hood game. The Hood or whatever.
- [33:01]
Snow Bike Mike
Hood. Outlaws and legends.
- [33:02]
Roger Poorny
Shout out.
- [33:03]
Snow Bike Mike
We were one of the few people to play that before it went down. But like 40%, that is a, a big number. I, I thought it would a little bit, I thought it would have been a little bit higher.
- [33:13]
Roger Poorny
I would, I would think like 60.
- [33:15]
Snow Bike Mike
Most of the people, whenever I read our audience, they make it seem like it's doom and gloom. Like 80% of every single human being on earth is playing these games. It's like oh, 40%. Okay. Like that's strong. That's a big number. But I thought it was much bigger. Yeah, but I like Doom was bigger.
- [33:29]
Roger Poorny
I wonder if you start adding in this is. So let me, let me triple check the headline here. But the 10 live service games, I wonder if call like the base Call of Duty counts like a Black Ops 6. Does that count as a live service? Maybe, maybe not. Warzone is. But like I wonder if you had Call of duty Black Ops 6 to this. Does that change everything? Like, you know what I mean? Like I feel like it might be 60% right. You might get another 20 FIFA in this.
- [33:50]
Snow Bike Mike
EA Sports.
- [33:51]
Roger Poorny
Yeah, exactly. Great call.
- [33:53]
Snow Bike Mike
Is that what these are?
- [33:53]
Roger Poorny
Is that live service? Yes, that's live service. Okay.
- [33:56]
Snow Bike Mike
I think so. I think some of these sports games are very much live service.
- [33:58]
Roger Poorny
Okay. I just wonder, I wonder what that list is. But yeah, maybe that's something for you're wrong or something. I don't think I have access to the you're wrong doc. So I'm okay, cool.
- [34:06]
Snow Bike Mike
If anybody wants to you're wrong us please write in. And of course, don't forget the super chat. Get involved with me and Roger's conversation.
- [34:12]
Roger Poorny
Let's absolutely everybody. Number four OG Xbox exclusive. Jade Empire could have been, quote unquote, another franchise for BioWare if not for. And there's another quote, moronic advice from Microsoft. This is fire.
- [34:26]
Snow Bike Mike
This is fire right here. I read this while I was out, you know, doing, doing all the out of off off site stuff and I was like, this is an interview that I have to check out. I'm so excited this interview popped off.
- [34:37]
Roger Poorny
I'm so excited to talk to you about this because I know nothing about Jade Empire and there has been some Jade Empire talk in this office the last few months. So we'll talk about that in a second. This is from Eric Van Allen over at ignition. BioWare has built up several legendary series across its run as a game development studio like Baldur's Gate, Mass Effect and Dragon Age. The lesser known martial arts rpg. Jade Empire could have made the list too, though it sounds like the chances were spoiled thanks to a rough launch window and some bad advice from Microsoft. Over on the My Perfect Console podcast, as spotted by GamesRadar, BioWare co founder Dr. Greg Zeschuko discussed one of the regrets he's had. He'd had specifically launching Jade Empire at the end of the original Xbox's life cycle. The RPG hit Xbox on April 12, 2005, coming up on the 20th anniversary. That's crazy. Several months before the November 22, 2005 launch date for the 360. And according to Zest Chuck, Microsoft advised BioWare to launch it then rather than later. And this is the quote, and Microsoft's like, no, no, you should release it now right at the end of the cycle because it's a great time. Zuck said. It's, it was like the worst advice, like absolutely moronic advice from them. It was the stupidest thing ever. If BioWare had pushed the project back a bit, putting Jade empire on the 360, Dr. Zestchuk speculated that the studio would have rezzed it up. I read that as riz that up. So that's, that's my broken brain. And had it ready to go, it might have cost some more money, but it could have put Jade Empire on a bet in a better place. Give us six months, give us the chance to make it a launch title for the 360 and we'd have Another franchise zest, Chuck said. And I mean who knows where. I just think it would have been a way more successful product at the beginning of a cycle versus the end. That's the end of the quote. Granted, the BioWare co founder also acknowledged that the combat of Jade Empire, quote unquote wasn't as good as it could have been. In theory though, it would have given Microsoft an RPG closer to or even within the 3 60s launch window. I know 0 anything about Jade Empire. Can you tell us about and tell me why you love it so much? You want it to be rebooted?
- [37:08]
Snow Bike Mike
Oh, that's a great one. I actually know zero about about this as well. We had some fun shit list conversations. I bought it recently on Steam. But it is interesting to see this. And yeah, I'm gonna go check out this podcast because there's a lot of poll quotes coming from this right now over the past couple of days about the conversation here. But man oh man, there's a couple of things here. One, I, as someone who really was big on the 360, right, like the end of the original Xbox, I don't think I was buying as many games or I wasn't like truly looking at it all to see a Jade Empire. But the start of the 360, right, we're talking about King Kong. All of a sudden I'm playing, right? I'm playing Oblivion Dead Rising. I'm playing Perfect Dark. Like there was a time there with 60 first year, two years, I was playing everything and anything. So yeah, if Jade Empire launched on the 360, I probably would have played that game.
- [38:00]
Roger Poorny
And I also don't know anything about if this game. It doesn't seem like it because you know what he's saying right here. But it doesn't seem like it was a cross gen release as well. I mean of course was backwards compatible with the original 360. Everyone remembers that the first 360 had like you can put in the desk and you can play the original games. But I remember Blood Money, specifically Hitman Blood Money, that was a Xbox game and also had a 360 specific disc, right? So I wonder if that happened because yeah, I remember I was also there right with you, right when the, when the 360 came out. I was there within that first year. Remember going to GameStop, looking at the, at the very small and meager List of 360 games on the wall and I'm being like, okay, which one am I choosing right? I wonder if Jade Empire was up there If I would have chosen that one right or I would have chosen the correct answer, which was Dead Rising, everybody.
- [38:45]
Snow Bike Mike
Yeah, my, my favorite also is like, you know, maybe the combat wasn't up to par. Yeah. It's like, okay, well, maybe the key feature of the game wasn't quite there yet.
- [38:53]
Roger Poorny
Let's like give us six months. We would put that shit on there.
- [38:56]
Snow Bike Mike
Some ironic idea that we didn't make the 360 launch. But you know what? The combat wasn't quite there. Yeah.
- [39:02]
Roger Poorny
But like, you know, yeah, other games that didn't have great combat, but it's fine. Yeah, I'm interested to see Jade Empire. I want to. I want to like actually like see gameplay of this eventually.
- [39:09]
Snow Bike Mike
Okay. Hey, if you wanted, I've got it on my Steam account. We can play at any time. Jump.
- [39:12]
Roger Poorny
Okay. We're gonna.
- [39:13]
Snow Bike Mike
People hype it up. People give it a lot of love, you know, A lot of love.
- [39:17]
Roger Poorny
Oh, this is looking great. We're looking at some gameplay right now of Jade Empire special edition.
- [39:22]
Snow Bike Mike
The mother is free, the caves in the back are open and this one will feed us tonight.
- [39:28]
Roger Poorny
Oh, wow.
- [39:28]
Snow Bike Mike
This could be us.
- [39:29]
Roger Poorny
That's a great dub. This is fine.
- [39:33]
Snow Bike Mike
The 360 launch probably would have done much better, correct? Yeah. That's some wild. You would have loved to have been.
- [39:38]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
In the room fighting a tree.
- [39:39]
Snow Bike Mike
Oh, where they're like, yo, just put the game out right now, man. Better time.
- [39:44]
Roger Poorny
But here's the thing, Mike. If Jade Empire was launched on the 360, it probably would have gotten a sequel because I probably would have got a third game. Probably would have been a remake right now. We could play right now. But that would be so big.
- [39:55]
Snow Bike Mike
Could have been huge.
- [39:56]
Roger Poorny
But I'm tired of all that big news. If I wanted something smaller, See the tiniest news I need to know about, where would I go, Roger?
- [40:02]
Snow Bike Mike
I would take you to our last story, the Wii News Channel, where we cover all the small news items you need to know about. You did great, Roger.
- [40:13]
Roger Poorny
We News, everybody.
- [40:14]
Snow Bike Mike
For the WE News Channel, of course.
- [40:16]
Roger Poorny
From vgc, French publisher Nacon has announced plans to hold a digital product showcase next month. There's nothing I love more than digital product showcases. I'm always looking it up. I'm always looking it up.
- [40:30]
Snow Bike Mike
Koch Media Ah, Stream end.
- [40:33]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Enough Nintendo Direct. Give me more. Nintendo Digital Product Showcase.
- [40:37]
Roger Poorny
God, I love calling my games that I love to play products. Yeah, I just love it.
- [40:41]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Digital product.
- [40:41]
Roger Poorny
I love it. Product content.
- [40:43]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
So many products.
- [40:43]
Snow Bike Mike
So many.
- [40:45]
Roger Poorny
Yeah, it's just 10am during games daily.
- [40:48]
Snow Bike Mike
You Know what I said?
- [40:49]
Roger Poorny
Hold a separate stream that's competing with it. See who gets more. More views. I like that. I like, like that a lot. This one is going to be called the Nacon Connect presentation and will be broadcasted on March 6 at 10am PT. Another one from VGC Striking Distance Studios, the developer behind the Callisto Protocol and Redacted, has been hit with a round of layoffs. Its product, its parent company, Krafton, said it has reduced the size of the California based studio, but it remains operational.
- [41:19]
Snow Bike Mike
Yeah, that hasn't been good. No, that ever since Callista Protocol dropped and the reviews on that one, it has not looked good. Yeah. You just keep seeing the trajectory of the studio people leaving the layoffs now. It does not. Like, you look up there and you're like, I don't know what's gonna happen with that team.
- [41:35]
Roger Poorny
Yeah. And you can. You can read it after you see Redacted. Right. That game that is in the universe, they're trying something smaller. They're shooting things out, hoping that something actually works out. So our hearts go out to all of people that lost their jobs there. Quora launches April 1st on PS5 and PC. AC82. Neo Geo, the King of Fighters 98 launches February 27th on Xbox Series and PS5. And you say pirate Yakuza is a bad title. Okay. Sonic Rumble launches this spring. Oh, ball. Guys. Competitor. Sonic Rumble.
- [42:09]
Snow Bike Mike
Stop it.
- [42:10]
Roger Poorny
Put up the gameplay.
- [42:11]
Snow Bike Mike
Stop it. Right?
- [42:11]
Roger Poorny
Sonic Rumble for real. I'm pretty sure that's what this is.
- [42:15]
Snow Bike Mike
Am I about to become a Sonic guy?
- [42:17]
Roger Poorny
You already are. Sonic Generations.
- [42:19]
Snow Bike Mike
Sonic. Right now. I watched Sonic 3 the movie. Didn't see one or two, but I watched.
- [42:23]
Roger Poorny
Yeah, it was good, right?
- [42:25]
Snow Bike Mike
Yo, it was pretty cool.
- [42:26]
Roger Poorny
So that was Mike lying to me, right? Everybody, everybody, let's rewind the tape. That was Mike looking at me and saying, actually, I don't like this game. But I'm saying, pretty cool. Just right to my face. I saw it all. Yeah. This is. This is their fall, guys. Competitor.
- [42:38]
Snow Bike Mike
Brilliant. Brilliant idea. This is it. This is it.
- [42:43]
Roger Poorny
I. I don't think it's good.
- [42:45]
Snow Bike Mike
No, of course it's not gonna be good. Roger. You look at that and you go, that doesn't look good.
- [42:51]
Roger Poorny
It looks great.
- [42:52]
Snow Bike Mike
It's on Sonic. I know.
- [42:53]
Roger Poorny
It looks great.
- [42:54]
Snow Bike Mike
Are we gonna play it? Of course.
- [42:55]
Roger Poorny
Yeah, of course. We're gonna do a stream. We're gonna have Blessing dress up, like.
- [42:58]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Dedicate three streams to this.
- [43:00]
Roger Poorny
Oh, yeah, exactly. We're gonna be like, hey, we have to delay the Pokemon stream. This is More important. So again that is coming out in the spring, so I'm sure we'll have some news about that. To the rise of the Golden Idol dlc. The Sins of New Wells launches next month. Thought about picking that up on the Fantasy Critic? I don't believe people are going to review that enough. You know what I mean? You never know.
- [43:19]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I. I think it'll get reviewed enough. Only because the Gold Medal Games are like both of them very well regarded, especially in like on indie sites and indie spaces. So I think it's going to get reviewed. But like how mad the second one didn't review as well as the first one. And now this. This is the DLC of the second one. Like you're gonna get four or five reviews. Maybe you're getting mid high 70s.
- [43:42]
Roger Poorny
Yeah, you know, really quick. Justin said in the chat. Wait, did they do two games dailies today? Sort of. The first product we did today was actually turned into a games cast because it was so good. It was with Jason Shrier. So this is the Games Daily right now. So you have a gamecast to watch already after this. Don't you worry about that. What?
- [44:00]
Snow Bike Mike
Oh, we have a re. You're wrong.
- [44:02]
Roger Poorny
Ah, okay. Is it really bad?
- [44:04]
Snow Bike Mike
No, it's just fine.
- [44:04]
Roger Poorny
Okay, good. PS plus essential games for March 2025 we have Dragon Age, the Veil Guard. Wow, that's already on there. Sonic Colors Ultimate. See Mike, you can do it. You can be a. You can be a Sonic Colors guy. You'll play that.
- [44:17]
Snow Bike Mike
Is that a good one too?
- [44:18]
Roger Poorny
I think it's fine. It's a Wii game. It was Wii game that was ported and remastered and then with tmnt, the Cowabunga Edition collection. Cowabunga Collection?
- [44:28]
Snow Bike Mike
Yeah. Also Tactical one now too.
- [44:31]
Greg Miller
Yes.
- [44:31]
Roger Poorny
That's made by a strange shackle. No.
- [44:34]
Snow Bike Mike
Okay.
- [44:35]
Roger Poorny
And that is the end of Wii News.
- [44:37]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I think it's a part of Steam Next Fest.
- [44:40]
Roger Poorny
Yes, it is. Yes it is. Have you been playing much Steam Next Fest?
- [44:43]
Snow Bike Mike
No, I've been on a bunch of planes. I have finally landed. I am back to normal, Mike. But man, I had a good.
- [44:49]
Roger Poorny
There's one game I want to call out which isn't out yet and I don't even know if this was a Steam Next Fest demo, but it's just I noticed I played this game. I think it was at the mix last year and it's coming out next month. At least that's what it says. Their Steam page. Sacre Blue. Have you seen this game? I think you and I played it. Oh this game is coming out.
- [45:05]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
This was you and me, Roger.
- [45:06]
Roger Poorny
Oh, okay. Yes, it might. Might have been that. Yeah, that makes sense.
- [45:09]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
You got like the blunderbuss or whatever and you're like a little French.
- [45:12]
Roger Poorny
Yes. Look, if we can see some gameplay of this. This game's coming out next month and no one's talking about it. And it was so fun at the mix. The demo's out right now. I'm excited to play it. I. I requested a code. Hopefully we get that soon. But like, this game, it. It was so fun. Reminded me of Guaca Melee. The art style is incredible. It's coming out on Grinder Vibes too. Exactly. And it's coming out on Switch and it's coming out on P. Want to call that out? Because this game is really cool. And it kind of made me sad because I was like, oh, this game's coming out next month and no one's talking about it.
- [45:38]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
This demoed very well a year ago. So I imagine that, like, this is going to be a fun one to, to look out for for sure when it comes out. I. I didn't know it was coming out next month. That's awesome for them.
- [45:48]
Snow Bike Mike
Oh, man. I. Good games. Did people play Keep Driving? I haven't heard many people.
- [45:54]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Every podcast I listen to has talked about Keep Driving.
- [45:57]
Snow Bike Mike
I want you to know Snowbike Mike played it, loved it, had a great time with it. Also, has anybody played a game about digging a hole? Roger, Let me put you on to some gas, okay? Some gasoline. Roger, if you got a night and you say to yourself, I want to play a video game, okay? A video ass video game. You need to go play a game about digging a hole, okay? Did I dig a hole for two and a half hours straight, Roger. Did I look straight down and just keep digging, right? Did I need to know what was at the bottom of this hole, Roger? Hell yeah, I did. And was. Were my questions answered? Yeah, they were. You need to play this game. This is a video game, ladies and gentlemen, and sometimes we don't talk about this video. This is a video game. Play this video game.
- [46:45]
Roger Poorny
I think the only thing that Giant.
- [46:46]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Bomb did, a four person race similar to our Sifu race. It's just them digging a hole.
- [46:51]
Snow Bike Mike
This game rules. Two and a half hours of just staring at the ground, Roger. Digging a hole.
- [46:57]
Roger Poorny
I think we've regressed. No, you know what I mean? Like, as a society, as a world, you know, we talk about 40% of people are playing 10 games, right? The other, the other percentage of people Are just sitting there fucking digging holes.
- [47:08]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Roger, what if I told you that you could sell like rocks and stuff on the Internet and then buy a jetpack. Jetpack. So when you dig your hole deep enough, you can jetpack out of the hole.
- [47:20]
Roger Poorny
You know, I talk a lot of shit and that sounds actually great. And I also have to. I'm like playing the heel right now. But I love this.
- [47:26]
Snow Bike Mike
I know.
- [47:27]
Roger Poorny
Because here's the thing you told me about. TCG simulator card shot simulator. I put like 20 hours in that game in like a week. It was an issue. I uninstalled it.
- [47:35]
Snow Bike Mike
You know, I usually get laughed out of this room, but I'll put you onto some gas sometimes.
- [47:39]
Roger Poorny
Yeah, Mike. Mike is. Mike is the jester that gets laughed out the room. But he was. He was right the entire time. He was right. History will know.
- [47:45]
Snow Bike Mike
I got some super chats and some year longs. Let's jump into super chats. Of course. Zombie Keegan writes in, says, feed me garbage. Papa Mike, baby bird that trash to me. Keegan, add me on steam. I'll buy you some bad video games we can play together. Have you played Keep moving the glass or Move the Glass?
- [48:00]
Roger Poorny
I've seen this one. I think you wanted to play this.
- [48:02]
Snow Bike Mike
With me or Andy Gas. Roger, get your girl, get your partner and you two play this all night. I tell you, you will be laughing from the gas or ass.
- [48:12]
Roger Poorny
That's for.
- [48:13]
Snow Bike Mike
Oh, we figured it out.
- [48:16]
Roger Poorny
Is it gas or is it ass? It's so much better than valid. And salad. It's gas or is it this game?
- [48:22]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I thought you were doing like the really bad bumper sticker of ass, Gas or grass. No one rides for free.
- [48:27]
Snow Bike Mike
And I was like, this game, the glass is some of the absolute best moments in gaming in 2025. This is so much fun. Grab a friend, grab a loved one. Grab your grandma. Okay? And say, hold on to the sticks, grandma, cuz we're going on a wild ride to move this glass. Holding on to the sticks like my heart is full. Okay, Because I'm getting some good video games in 2025.
- [48:51]
Roger Poorny
Yeah, I love every year around February, January. Mike always looks at me and says, man, game of the year. It's gonna be in my top 10. And guess what? He's right. Always like, it's always ends up on.
- [49:00]
Snow Bike Mike
The top 10 and people won't play it.
- [49:02]
Roger Poorny
But I think Mike might stop playing video games after March.
- [49:04]
Snow Bike Mike
I'm just telling you right now, Chad, I'm putting you onto some gas. Okay? Two great games. A game about digging a hole and keep moving the glass. Okay, Just fucking play those games.
- [49:13]
Roger Poorny
I love this. I love. This is a KFGD segment where like every week or so you come in with some gas to put you on.
- [49:18]
Snow Bike Mike
Yeah, yeah, gas.
- [49:21]
Roger Poorny
Gas or ass for Mike.
- [49:22]
Snow Bike Mike
Jen writes in and says, mike, I started playing Dark Souls 2. And you're right, it's goated. Ladies and gentlemen, I'm happy to report that one, Andy Cortez is now finally playing Dark Souls 2. And he's putting on to absolute gas. He's finally seeing the ways of Dark Souls 2. A lot of trash was talked before he started playing it. And I think when we hear at the end of the day, he's going to smile and say, that's a really good game. I'm proud of my favorite dark.
- [49:46]
Roger Poorny
So he played one and he played three.
- [49:48]
Snow Bike Mike
Yeah, yeah.
- [49:48]
Roger Poorny
Why do you skip two? It's like the middle.
- [49:50]
Snow Bike Mike
He was. He was trash talking. He let the. He let the haters get in his.
- [49:53]
Roger Poorny
Bro, you gotta stop.
- [49:54]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Miyazaki didn't direct Dark Souls too. That's why, like, and like, also Rock.
- [49:59]
Roger Poorny
City didn't make Origins. And that's the best ones. Like, what are we talking about?
- [50:02]
Snow Bike Mike
I love Origins.
- [50:03]
Roger Poorny
Yeah, bro. What are we talking?
- [50:04]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Really not. Have you gone back to that open world? It's ass, dude.
- [50:07]
Roger Poorny
It's story Christmas, bro.
- [50:10]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Story, gas, open world, ass girl.
- [50:12]
Roger Poorny
He don't like Christmas, bro.
- [50:13]
Snow Bike Mike
Christmas.
- [50:14]
Roger Poorny
No one's in the streets because it's Christmas.
- [50:16]
Snow Bike Mike
Not enough games go around Christmas, bro.
- [50:20]
Roger Poorny
Come on, we gotta talk about games go around Thanksgiving.
- [50:23]
Snow Bike Mike
We're losing it. Let's go to your wrong.
- [50:26]
Roger Poorny
You're doing your wrong team. We have no more Super Chats.
- [50:30]
Snow Bike Mike
No, that's it on the Super Chats. Thank you so much. Thank you for chatting always. Please remember we're a small business of 11 human beings trying to make awesome content for you. Don't forget, if you Super Chat, you help keep the lights and mics on. Big bad Beluga writes in and says the 360 did not have backwards compatibility until November 2007, two years after the launch of the console. This was around the same time Roger was taking his first steps.
- [50:54]
Roger Poorny
Yeah, you're right about that one. And you're actually probably right. That makes sense. Maybe I did get two years later.
- [50:59]
Snow Bike Mike
Yeah, I felt like when see my mind goes a little bit. There was a hard divide on the Xbox and the 360 and I didn't see many crossover titles. Or maybe I was just.
- [51:09]
Roger Poorny
We need blood money come out at that point. When did Blood Money come out on 360, everybody. Someone put that in the chat because I want to know. Actually I can Google it.
- [51:15]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Blood money.
- [51:16]
Roger Poorny
Blood money. 360 Hitman, right?
- [51:19]
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah, 2006. 6 was when it initially came out, but. Oh, that came.
- [51:28]
Roger Poorny
No, it came out in 360. Oh yeah, 366. So I guess I got in 2006.
- [51:32]
Snow Bike Mike
Okay.
- [51:32]
Roger Poorny
About a year later I was lying.
- [51:35]
Snow Bike Mike
Empire on the 360 would have been better. What a moron.
- [51:38]
Roger Poorny
Would have been on. Would have been on that. On that shelf right there. I would have picked it up.
- [51:41]
Snow Bike Mike
That's all the your wrongs and that is all the super chats for the day. Roger, you've made it through Games Daily and Gamescast Huge. Two great shows that you gotta listen to. Of course cast was really, really good. There's been a great kind of funny podcast. Go listen to Matt Piscatella with Greg. Doing a little one on one was a lot of fun. And thanks for smiling with me. And Roger.
- [52:02]
Roger Poorny
Remember this has been kind of funny Games Daily. Each and every weekday we run you through the nerdy news you need to know about live on YouTube, Twitch and podcast services around the globe. Again, if you love, we do 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. Remember Again, Alien, Alien versus Predator in review. Predator 2. We're recording that today. Make sure you want to listen to that because is that gas or is that ass? We'll let you know. Enjoy the stream. Next, which is going to be Dark Souls with blessing for the very first time is second time. Second play the second part of the playthrough of his first time.
- [52:41]
Snow Bike Mike
Yeah.
- [52:41]
Roger Poorny
But until next time, it's been our pleasure to serve.