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Blessing Adeoye Jr.
This episode is brought to you by Dutch Bros. Big smiles, rocking tunes and epic drinks. Dutch Bros. Is all about you choose from a variety of customizable handcrafted beverages like our Rebel energy drinks, coffees, teas and more. Download the Dutch Bros app for a free medium drink. Plus find your nearest shop, order ahead and start earning rewards offer valid for new app users only. Free medium drink Reward upon registration. 14 day expiration terms apply. See DutchBros.com Today's stories include Xbox won't have exclusives going forward. It's been claimed Borderlands 4 will cut back on toilet humor. And Walmart now has its own game informer. We'll have all this and more because this is Kind of Funny Games Daily. Yo, what's up? Welcome to Kind of Funny Games daily for Tuesday, December 17, 2024. I'm one of your host, bless Addie Elliot Jr. Joining me is the Lacroix poppy. Tim.
Tim Gettys
What's up, Bless? And also what's up, Skid Mox in the chat. Great name Skidmock. Skid M A W K s who was in the chat being like, oh my God, I haven't been here in a very long time. I can't believe this show's still going.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I can't believe they still exist.
Tim Gettys
Also asking if we still do a dedicated PlayStation show. We don't. Every single day now we actually do games daily. Just kick off the day with some video game news and then right after this we do a games cast that's more video game discussion and then after that we play games. So welcome back Skidmocks. I hope you have a great time.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
That is. That said, I mean a lot of the time the games cast is focused on PlayStation or the Gamescast is focused on Xbox. And so you're going to get the same amount of PlayStation content as you want, but now you just get more content overall. Yeah. Which is exciting.
Tim Gettys
Great times.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Different sets for each show.
Tim Gettys
It's fun.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Watch all of them to find, See them all.
Tim Gettys
Yes.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Tim, how are you feeling?
Tim Gettys
I'm feeling really good.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yes.
Tim Gettys
For one specific reason that I'm pretty sure you know.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Of course, the Pokemon pack shirt.
Tim Gettys
Oh, dude, come on.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
The mew packs so far only like four or five. I wanted to, I wanted to pay the 10. I want to pay for the 10 pack. And I was like, ah, let me just, let's pull out for now. But like I've been getting some good polls. My the second pack I opened, I got the mew full art. Not like the gold but like I got the Mew Full art.
Paris Lilly
Yeah.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah, I was really excited about that. Got so excited I posted on Instagram story. Then I woke up the next morning, I was like, oh, that's some nerd shit. And I deleted it.
Tim Gettys
You are a nerd.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I know I am. I am a nerd. But it's one of those things where I'm like, sometimes it's too much. Sometimes I look at myself and I'm like, I'll give myself a wedgie. Like, I look at myself, the things I do, and I'm like, I want to bully that guy. You know what I mean?
Tim Gettys
Okay.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I've never been the bullier. Bless. Don't lie to yourself. Well, I'll bully myself. I believe myself all the time. Constantly in my head. I make fun of myself constantly.
Tim Gettys
Well, there's good reason for us to make fun of you and me. Oh, yeah. Because of how excited we are. Because tonight is the night. Sonic the hedgehog 3. We're seeing it in theaters with Roger, with Lianza, with Gia. One of these people is less excited than the others. That's not true. She actually likes these things.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Oh, really?
Tim Gettys
Oh, yeah. Yeah, she's. She's like, weirdly in. I think she likes their. Their little small animal ness. And the Pomeranians. She likes that. And I'm like, cool. I'm all about that.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
It's like, thank God they changed the Sonic design for the first movie.
Tim Gettys
Oh, yeah. Because they did not like that.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
If that was UG Sonic, Gio would not be here.
Tim Gettys
Having said that, I don't know a single person that laughed harder watching the Chip and Dale movie than when ugly Sonic popped up. And she was like, oh, my God. And I'm like, oh, I'm with the right girl. This is fantastic.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I was reading a top 100 list of, I think just top 100 movies of all time. And on there was Paddington 2.
Tim Gettys
Okay.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
And, like, this is very loosely related, but it was just the fact of, like, man, I gotta watch this movie. I've never seen Paddington 2, and I've heard such good things, and I only associate it with having a cute small animal. Yeah. And I'm like, man, I didn't know a small animal movie could hit like, that much for people.
Tim Gettys
It's one of Elise's favorite movies of all time.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Super overrated. I watched it recently and I'm just like, man, I can't believe people talk about it this way.
Tim Gettys
I don't want to be a hating ass hater, Kev.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah.
Tim Gettys
But I haven't seen anything from Paddington And I saw the trailer for Paddington in Peru.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Okay, Paddington. Peru is different. Wait, he went to Peru? He's from Peru.
Tim Gettys
He's going back.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
He's going home. He's from Peru. Yeah, he's proven. And then he left, and now he's going back to Peru. All right, so Paddington, his family was visited by an explorer when they were young. Right? Okay. Then there's a terrible storm, his uncle dies, and his mom's like, you have to go. You have to go to London. They'll take care of you. He moves to London.
Tim Gettys
Classic tale.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
That's it. What is Paddington like? Is there. He's a bear, but is he not like a. Like a stuffed animal?
Tim Gettys
Well, in real life, he's just a bear. But he's a bear. He's just a bear in a little hat and a little blue coat.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
So in lore, he's not a stuffed animal that comes to life. No.
Tim Gettys
Yeah, yeah.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Bring a picture of Paddington for me.
Tim Gettys
We just have him.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I, you know, I get a lot of press stuff. Like, they sent this to me.
Tim Gettys
Did they really?
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah. No, no, not the actual sweater. It's just like, hey, look, there's a bunch of holiday images we made. And normally they suck, but these I actually thought were really fun.
Tim Gettys
Kev. You did. You can't show me that picture like they sent me.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah, you got to work on phrases.
Tim Gettys
Because I got so you a jpeg that we all saw the Internet. I want that fucking sweater.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Because this whole time I thought Paddington was basically like Ted, where it was a stuffed animal life, but it's wholesome. Ted.
Tim Gettys
Yeah.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
You're telling me that that's an actual.
Tim Gettys
Yeah, it's an actual bear, but it's an actual bear.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
They're bears in Peru that speak. Yes, I was going to say, listen, I'm not the authority of Peru. One person here is. So if you told me yes, I couldn't argue against it. I'm like, oh, well, Kevin probably knows.
Tim Gettys
He probably knows. But anyways, very excited for Sonic 3. So much so that I finally finished Knuckles last night.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Wow.
Paris Lilly
Yeah.
Tim Gettys
Because I had only seen it in bits and pieces. I saw it. I kind of watched on the plane, but I didn't really watch it with audio or anything. So I was like, I gotta sit through and watch super fun show. I enjoy it quite a bit. I feel like it peaks in the middle and then the beginning is like, okay. And the end's just kind of okay. But the middle is like, kind of amazing.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Wow.
Tim Gettys
To do a full on musical for a whole Episode.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I mean they got kicked.
Tim Gettys
Opera musical. It's. It's legit.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
That's awesome. Yeah, it's funny, I was on a similar wavelength last night where I was like, I should play Sonic 2. And then I looked up how long to beat for Sonic 2 and it said like nine hours. And I was like, I. I.
Tim Gettys
You mean Adventure 2?
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Sonic. Sorry.
Tim Gettys
Okay.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Sonic Adventure 2. Yes. Sorry. Yeah, I apologize. Yeah, Sonic Adventure 2. And it was like nine hours. And I was Like, I don't have nine hours. And I went and I was about to download it on my Xbox and then I was reminded that Clive came to Tekken and so I ended up playing like an hour and a half. Oh my God. Clive is maybe my new main. Yeah, he is so fucking good, Ben. Like the opening lines that he has when the fight starts are so good.
Tim Gettys
I need to. I need to download it.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Like I don't want to spoil it because then like it's weird cuz it's not spoilers. But like he says the exact things that you would want him to say.
Tim Gettys
Okay, good, good, good. Is there any story bit with him?
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
No. Yeah, no, there's not. Yeah, but he's like just a wall design character. It's fun. He has a sword. He torgle comes through and like does assist moves. He's. He can like bust out. Yeah.
Tim Gettys
To.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah, Toro comes through. He has like wings that'll bust out if you go into a certain mode. He's awesome. But you know what else is awesome? Video game news. So let's talk about it. Remember this is 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 on podcast services around the globe. If you love what 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 for a chance to be a part of the show. Some of your thoughts and opinions as YouTube super chats as we go. Housekeeping for you. We're an 11 person business all about live talk shows. So today after kfc you're gonna get gamescast which is a one on one with me and Snow Bike Mike. We're gonna react to some top 10 lists including every game of the year ranked.
Tim Gettys
Wow.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Every game awards game of the year winner ranked by Sports Illustrated. If it's a one on one like you want me to not. Not chime in. No, you can chime in. No, that's great. Yeah. No, not a one on one. I just want to. I want to make sure. Well, I mean technically. Well then we've never had one on ones on this, you know, channel. The last list we did made me so mad I had to hit up the person that wrote it. Did you really? Yeah. Good for you.
Tim Gettys
Yeah.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
You know, we gotta fight back against these IGN folks.
Tim Gettys
God. Specifically something right now, don't they?
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
They. They don't. Today's stream after that is gonna be Mike forcing the crew to play a scary game. So don't miss out. If you're a kind of funny member, you can get today's Greg Way. Thank you to our Patreon producers Delaney Twining and Carl Jacobs. Today we're brought to you by heart. Electric still wakes the deep aura frames and Marvel Snap. But we'll tell you about that later. For now, let's begin with what is and forever will be the Roper Report. It's time for some news. We have six stories today. Baker doesn't, starting with our number one. Xbox won't have exclusives going forward. It's been claimed I'm pulling from. It's almost like we do the story once a month. I'm pulling from Tom Ivan at Video Games Chronicle. The days of Xbox exclusives are reportedly numbered. That's according to Windows Central Executive editor Jess Corden, who discussed his understanding of Microsoft's first party strategy in a series of X posts this weekend. Quote, xbox won't have exclusives going forward. Everything is timed, exclusive at most, he claimed. Quote, if some games are exclusive, it's going to be incidental at best. The case by case argument is by and large going to be multi plat timed and with maybe few, very few outliers, Corden later added. And responding to a user who said they believe Xbox's upcoming Fable game would come to PlayStation, Corden wrote, quote, that game was monstrously expensive. It might not be day one, but it'll come with the current plan in place, imo. End quote. That's why I'm cutting that VGC article. I do have a bit more another tidbit to add here. Of course the Jess Gordon thing came yesterday. There was also a Satya Nadella quote that came yesterday.
Tim Gettys
Like a sit down interview from a sit down. This is like as official as it gets.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yes. So I am pulling this once again from Jordan Miller at vgc. This article is titled Microsoft CEO says being an Xbox Player means playing games on all your devices. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has reaffirmed his plan for Xbox going forward is to allow players to enjoy Xbox on all devices. As spotted by Game File, Microsoft addressed the future plans of its gaming business during last week's annual shareholder meeting. Quote Shareholders are also interested in our gaming business, said Brett Iverson, Microsoft's vice president of investor relations. Quote our acquisition of Activision Blizzard King Satya. How are you feeling about the early, early return on that investment in the in the progress on our overall gaming strategy over the last year? Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella replied Quote I'm feeling very, very good about where we are in gaming. In fact, right now this is like the peak season in gaming. Obviously with Black Ops and the new Call of Duty, it's just been fantastic. Two very different the Black Ops and the Call of Duty. He's tuned in. It's just been fantastic to and the marketing around it, the buzz around it and the love for gaming. End quote Call of Duty Black Ops 6, the first to launch directly into Game Pass, enjoyed a hugely successful debut. Quote if I think about it right, we chose the secular growth category in entertainment, which we think is gaming instead. Let's double down on it, Nadella expanded. Quote and so we said let's take that joy of gaming everywhere. And that's why even these, even these ads with Xbox now, where we are redefining what it means to be an Xbox fan, it's about being able to enjoy Xbox, all your devices and more importantly, I think in the long term as a company we can bring the best of AI innovation, cloud innovation, console innovation, PC innovation to build the best games that can be enjoyed by gamers everywhere. Tim, are you a gamer everywhere?
Tim Gettys
I, I am. I am unfortunately a gamer everywhere. I think it's so funny that like hey, if you think about it, we chose, we did this the right way. We looked at gaming, Xbox didn't have a hit. We bought Call of Duty and now Call of Duty. It's hidden. Things are, things are working.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Call of Duty and Black Ops.
Tim Gettys
Good for us. That's awes. Hey, I want games to be everywhere. Games like Call of Duty. Wow. Imagine playing Call of Duty anywhere.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Imagine that.
Tim Gettys
Crazy stuff. Jokes aside, I mean look, we've talked about this so many times. It is just kind of the question I have is our headline right now is Xbox won't have exclusives going forward, question mark. I wonder when that question mark's just going to go away.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Is it not already away for you? I mean it is this not obvious? Is this not what we've been talking about for the last two years?
Tim Gettys
It is, but But Fable as of right now is not going to be launched. I just want everything just launching everywhere. If we're. We're. I feel like we're still a couple years away from like just giving up. The ghost giving up. Like, why isn't he coming out a couple of months later?
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Oh, man. Well, that's the part of it I'm fascinated by, this part of the conversation because I think that the way they're doing it now is kind of here to stay. I think that'll be case by case as far as launching on PlayStation, other platforms versus a timed exclusivity thing. I think no matter what, every Xbox game is coming to PlayStation in the future.
Tim Gettys
I mean, I think that inevitably we are building towards that. I just think that from a business perspective, their little windowing of all that stuff to incentivize people buying an Xbox, it's not going to make the money necessary. I think that Xbox has made so many moves in the last five years even that have affected every single decision that they're making. And it's like things like game pass and just things like the way that they are trying to get people in and anywhere is an Xbox. They're making money on hardware to an extent, but all the moves they're making here are game pass and software and they will maximize their software sales being day and date everywhere.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
You think they're not making that, like getting those sales months down the line when they release on PlayStation later.
Tim Gettys
Like, let's look at every single example of that happening in the past with very, very rare example. Does the game all of a sudden sell on the second console? Like sell amazingly on the second console? Right. Like think about things like Tomb Raider. Right? Rise of the Tomb.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Rise of the Tomb Raider. Yeah.
Tim Gettys
Like, I think that's a perfect example. Right. Look at a God of war and all the. Why are the PlayStation games, like struggling? The biggest PlayStation games ever, not blockbuster sellers on PC? Like, I think that the windowing it very much neuters your sales. Like, that's just a fact based on everything that we have seen in the past. The one example I could think of of a game that came out on a console later selling way better is Sonic Adventure 2. We're talking about way different numbers of GameCube and Dreamcast compared to Xbox and PlayStation at this point.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah, I don't know. I think it's interesting because I. If you had asked me how the PlayStation PC strategy was going, I would have been like, oh, yeah, it seems like it's going fine. Right? Like, I, I don't know those numbers off the top of my head as freshly as I'd like. But like, I wouldn't have thought that they were struggling doing like the PC thing later on. And maybe that's because we measured a different way maybe than Xbox, where for PlayStation, they want a release day and date on PlayStation exclusive so they can sell the PlayStation consoles and then get that extra dip in or get that extra boost in sales later on when they finally release on PC. Right. But I think you're right as far as Xbox and how their business has gone and all the things that have changed within Xbox, they've proven that they don't really care that much about selling the box. And if that's the case, I think you're right in your thinking as far as. Yeah, just release everywhere then, Right. Like it is about Xbox everywhere.
Tim Gettys
I think at this point, like the more choices and decisions like this made, the more that we have Satya coming out saying things like this. I feel like if at the end of the day it's about making the money from the games and investments they made and Xbox is everywhere. You can't pretend that one Xbox is better than the other because the audience isn't going to buy it. Because you truthfully don't believe it. You're telling us you don't believe that. You're telling us that you can play this shit anywhere, then let us play it anywhere.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Do you think maybe part of that is Game pass and like PlayStation not having game Pass? Do you think when they say you can play Xbox anywhere, they really mean you can play Xbox anywhere that you have Game Pass?
Tim Gettys
Well, no, because they're releasing the games on PlayStation. Like. Yeah, but like what you just said a year ago.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah, you know what I mean.
Tim Gettys
But I just.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Like the launch argument is the thing where it's. I'm trying. Because I'm trying to do the thing that I think we all try to do, right, where we try to make sense of what their strategy is using clear lines. And obviously there aren't clear lines. It seems like a lot of this shit is so case by case that it just confuses us, the consumer.
Tim Gettys
I think there's very clear lines. I think the clear lines are dollars and cents. And I think that the reality is they're looking at their hardware and they are not hitting the numbers that they want to be hitting while having their games exclusive on their system. They are finding great subscriber growth on Game Pass. They are finding success selling their games on other consoles. I Think that no matter what Phil Spencer and the gaming team wants, Microsoft is going to look at it, be like, that's cute. You tried.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yep.
Tim Gettys
Let's. Every time that you push this a little further and further and we're making more and more money with those decisions, let's just do all of that. And yeah, I don't think they're going to stop selling the Xbox, but I just think that it's going to be a place to play as opposed to them pushing like, oh man, like, like you're buying an Xbox to be able to play these big hit games early. I feel like Xbox needs the hits to be as big of a hit as they possibly can to make up for the $69 billion they spent on Activision.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Is that the right move? Right is the right move to look at the Xbox box and be like, this is a place to play. We're not treating as this as like the place.
Tim Gettys
This is where I. People might not agree with me. I stand by. I think that Game Pass is one of the most potentially destructive things to ever happen in video games. One of the best deals for the consumers for sure. But in terms of like what it has done to the business and what it can do and what it is doing, I think that it is not the right move. But where we're at now. Oh, yeah, y'all, y'all went too far at this point. Make the money, sell the games. Let the gamers play these games that we've been waiting years to, to actually play wherever they want to play it. Because that's your whole marketing pitch. And I think it's a smart marketing pitch where they're at. But you have to fully commit when you're stuck in the middle. Yeah, it's awkward and like, I think it upsets people, it rubs people the wrong way.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
And you need to clearly communicate your vision. Otherwise, yes, people will be frustrated.
Tim Gettys
And I think it just draws out the tribalism and stupid fanboy bullshit of like, of Xbox exclusives mattering or whatever. They clearly don't. Xbox doesn't see them as mattering. Like, they just don't.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah, Xbox.
Tim Gettys
That's not it. That's not the energy.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
No, it was, it was the. The opposite. He was saying, folks, Kevin's playing the other side.
Tim Gettys
He's giving the example.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I want to bring in a super chat from Aaron Lime who writes in and says, if nothing is exclusive, what's the point of having your own console? Nintendo is doing so well because Mario isn't on another box. PlayStation's problem is console price, not exclusivity. Tim, what you say to that?
Tim Gettys
Yeah, man, I think it's. It's very important. But again, the genie is out of the bottle. Like the Xbox games are not exclusive. Xbox played the acquisition game of going out there and acquiring more teams than anyone's ever owned. And when you do that, you have to make the choice of staying steadfast to how the game used to be played or redefine the rules. And they redefined the rules. And I. That at this point, there's no going back. And then the point of having their own machine is like they still make money off of it. And I feel like there is still such value. Microsoft is way more than just gaming. And I think that because of that, they have a Microsoft store, like having different pieces of tech for people to buy, having hardware that you're kind of scaling up, and especially as PC and consoles get more and more and more similar, and I feel like that's only going to continue. You add cloud to that mix as well. I'm not joking here. What is an Xbox?
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
At a.
Tim Gettys
At a certain point, when Xbox, this whole thing is, you can play these games anywhere. And that's becoming more and more true to the fact that, like, literally because of the cloud, so many people can actually play Xbox games anywhere with devices they have on them at all times.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah. It's so hard to have this conversation without feeling like we're repeating so many things that we've talked about before. But I think when you talk about what is Xbox, right? It is a platform, and this is kind of what the conversation has been as far as, you know, why. What's the point of having. Or what's the point of having your own console if nothing is exclusive, Right? I think to your point, it is them redefining the rules. It is them. If Xbox kept playing the same game that they've been playing for the last couple of decades, right? Competing with PlayStation, competing with Nintendo, doing the, hey, we want to build up these exclusives to sell these boxes. And the more boxes we sell, the better we're doing. The more they play that game, the more they're going to lose at that game. Phil Spencer came on, not this show, but like one of our shows, xcast talked with Paris and Mike and Gary and said that, hey, we lost the most important generation to lose, right? People are locked into their ecosystems. So what does Xbox need to do?
Tim Gettys
Right?
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
And this is me. And this is me stepping in. Not Phil Spencer's quote anymore. But, yeah, they need to come in and redefine what, like what are the rules here? What is the ecosystem now?
Tim Gettys
Right.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
We need to find a different way to, to have players enter the ecosystem that is going to be. Meet them where they're at. Where are they at? They're on PC, they're on PlayStation. Maybe they're on Nintendo, maybe they're on just their Samsung tv, maybe they're on their Amazon Fire Stick. Wherever they're at, we got to take Xbox to them to then allow them to pay for Game Pass, pay for our services, pay for different things.
Tim Gettys
And I do think that why have a box game Pass like that? The easy ease of use. Have a console in your living room, there's Game Pass on it and it just works the way that it should. The easiest barrier of entry possible. Because I don't see a world where Game Pass is on Nintendo Switch 2 or PlayStation. And that's because of Nintendo and PlayStation. Right. They would not want that. Yeah, that's just giving Xbox everything.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah.
Tim Gettys
Right.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Paris, come into the call. Paris, come into the call. Because Paris keeps, Paris is popping up. People keep saying, get Paris in here, get him in here, get him in here. I want to hear what Paris has to say. But yeah, like I, I'm very fascinated about what this looks like. We've said this before, but a year from now, two years from now, three years from now, when we get into the next generation, are they going to be able to, to land that message and deliver it in a clear way that has all of us go, oh, we understand now. We get it.
Tim Gettys
Here's my thing. I feel like we are so close to it already. Things like Doom, Dark ages coming out, day and date. Right. Indiana Jones within months. It's just, it's a little silly. They're clearly trying different things to see what works. I get that. However, I think the writing's on the wall and I think that it's very clear that the people that are actually like counting the beans know where the beans are. And they're kind of just letting everyone experiment in trial just to like do a last ditch effort proving of does this work or does it not? I don't think it's going to work. But when they have the lineup that they have right now, when they have the dominoes and I'm not joking, you look at this upcoming year with Fable, south of Midnight and all the other.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Games about outer worlds too.
Tim Gettys
Everything that we saw at the Xbox game showcase this June, like as those games start coming out, I just would wish and hope that they have their strategy in place as those games are coming out. Or else we're just doing tests and demos here and there and there of like different financial strategies. That's not going to be a good place when those games need to deliver.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Oh yeah. Kevin, is there any sign of Paris? He's in here. He's just, I think, waiting for you guys to shut up. Paris. See there? Paris. Paging Paris.
Tim Gettys
Oh, wait, hold on, Mr. Lily.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Paris. Lily. I'm waiting for the voice of God. I know. Okay. Hello.
Paris Lilly
There he is now. You hear me? I think I've some watching and I'm like, oh my God. I want to jump in and say something. I think you hit on a lot of it, but. And I have to bring PlayStation into this first for a second. Part of what's happening right now is growth, is these are businesses, they got to make money. Right. Clearly Microsoft has invested a lot of money into their gaming division that is driving a lot of this. I think what Tim said about game pass factors into this as well. Game pass did not become the thing that they thought it was going to be. So now you got to subsidize it. You got to continue to grow. You got to find other avenues to get people to play in games. And the only reason I want to bring PlayStation into it is this. How many copies has Astrobot sold?
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Couple.
Tim Gettys
Great question.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah. 1.5 million, I think last we checked. By now probably by 2 million or so. Right.
Paris Lilly
And the reason I'm even bringing that up is it obviously just one game of the year. A lot of us, you know, thought, thought that it would. But it only sold 2 million copies for lack of, you know, for the sake of this argument. Right, but there's 60 plus million PlayStation fives out there. People aren't buying as many console exclusive games as they used to be.
Tim Gettys
I don't think a fair example to use for that though compared to.
Paris Lilly
God, I'm glad you said that. What about Ratchet and Clank? What about Returnal?
Tim Gettys
You're using all the bad examples though.
Paris Lilly
I just said Ragnarok. Ragnarok.
Tim Gettys
Ragnarok's so incredible.
Paris Lilly
Did it?
Tim Gettys
Yeah.
Paris Lilly
What's the number on Ragnarok?
Tim Gettys
Wasn't it like 9 million?
Paris Lilly
Is that really enough? That's my point. Don't. This is what I'm saying. The fact that you have that many consoles out in the wild and that's your attach rate. Okay, that's a little better. But the point I'm trying to make on this overall is even if you have These critically acclaimed games and you're locking it down to one console. You're limiting yourself as far as growth goes. Xbox, as Blessing already said, they clearly don't care about the, they care about the console but it's not all about the console for them.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
It can't be there at all.
Paris Lilly
Clearly told us this. Yeah, they're, they are telling us repeatedly, especially if you look at what Phil Spencer has said since we interviewed him and over the past year. They are going beyond the console. Their marketing now is beyond the console. They're like, we'll give you a console if that's where you want to play. If you don't want to play there. Here's literally here's the cloud, here's all you will put it on. PlayStation, all of that. They're just trying to make money at this point. They're trying to grow. I, me personally, even though I've been on xcast and all that I would rather have quality games than worrying about the hardware because they, they've told us it's not about hardware for them anymore. So that's just where they're going.
Tim Gettys
A counterpoint to you though on the PlayStation side, I feel like PlayStation is so clearly not giving up on hardware that their hardware sales matter. So that million God of War Ragnarok sales, even if it's not the attach rates, not a Nintendo like 90 plus percent of people that own a Switch have Zelda Breath of the Wild or whatever. Like it is still then selling tens, hundreds of millions of PlayStation fives. Right.
Paris Lilly
Like but and here's my pushback to that. Not to turn this into some silly brand war because I know we don't care about that but they're clearly evolving too or they wouldn't be putting their games on PC. They wouldn't be pushing cloud on Portal now. They're not being as aggressive as Xbox is. I'm not saying that at all. And I agree with you, Tim. Hardware still matters to them, but it's clearly not enough. They, they, they're spending so much money on these games. Spider man had whatever ridiculous budget it did. I'm sure God of War did. I, I can only imagine with Ghost of Yotai is going to have and if they're not getting that return on investment, you got to figure out another way to grow and you got to put it on another platform.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I think the thing I'll bring into this is I think, I think everybody's down right now as far as video, as far as like these big companies. Well, maybe not Nintendo and they're like those few that are still, you know.
Paris Lilly
Doing their thing really quick, though, Nintendo. And then I want you to finish your point. We forget how much of a failure the Wii U was.
Tim Gettys
No, we don't, Paris. I think about it every day of my life.
Paris Lilly
No, no, but the point I bring up that everyone's. What about Nintendo? They're doing great. They're doing great this generation, of course, but it was just a generation before where it was a massive failure for them. Who knows where they'd be right now if the Switch didn't take off the way that it did? That's the point I'm making.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah.
Tim Gettys
Yeah, it did.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
So, like, to continue. To continue the conversation, right, Like, I was hanging out with some people who are more in, like, the dev side of the industry, right, and, like, having conversations about how, you know, what are the games that are hitting right now, right. What's the year been like? And what are the conversations that. That was brought up that I thought was fascinating was, you know, about how it feels like things are just going down. Like, everything is trending downward in terms of game sales, in terms of how much money is bringing in. We look back at the last few years, and everybody's been having layoffs and all this shit, right? I think, to Paris's point, yeah, like, we talk about the Ragnarok sales, we talk about the Astrobot sales. We look at those, and on their face, I think those are good sales. But we couple that with, how much does that take to. To develop? How much did PlayStation want that to do and expect those things to do. I'm sure God of War, Ragnarok. I'm sure that did fine for what PlayStation wanted it to do. But I think overall, I think things are trending downward. Like, I'm very. I'll be very fascinated. We can't. I don't think we can have this conversation with somebody who's high up at PlayStation to tell us, like, all right, what are these metrics? And are we meeting these metrics? But I think you're right, Paris, as far as. Yeah, like, I think PlayStation does need to make big moves to, like, get those numbers up to where they want them to be. I think Xbox is being very aggressive about it in ways that they probably really need to be. But, yeah, I think overall, I don't know if there's an answer right now. Like, I think just economically, people aren't paying money for video games. People are playing fewer video games. People are watching people play video games as opposed to buying Video games, like, the numbers are just down right now. And so I definitely understand the point that you're making, Paris. I keep wanting to Kevin, as a Kevin's parents, but I understand exactly the point. The point you're making.
Tim Gettys
Though, I think it's important to point out that, like, so many numbers are on the up and up. And it's a lot of the teams that are like, hey, let's design something that is smaller, that does not need gigantic budget. And even the ones that have them, when they are, if the expectations are met, they're met, even if they're way higher or whatever. But, like, you look at things that are pieces of like Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, 20 million sold in like.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
But I think Pokemon Scarlet and Violet kind of fits in that thing of if you are not at the top of IP and at the top of like those franchises that just get people no matter what. If you're not a Fortnite, if you're not a Valorant, if you're not a Pokemon, then it's kind of a struggle in that, though.
Tim Gettys
But I think that's such a great point of like, Valorant is now a top tier ip. That's awesome. Yeah, that's a new ip. Like, how are we down when we have multiple ips that have come out in the last couple years? Yeah, but that's also major success.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
That's riot. You know what I mean? And it's like, yeah, yeah, I feel you.
Tim Gettys
But it's also weird to do this, right?
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
What's up here?
Paris Lilly
I'll push back on another thing. And like, you bring up Valorant. I think the Fortnite phenomenon comes into this as well. Whereas we only have so much time to play games. Right. Like, I always just use my kids as an example. They invest all their time into Fortnite. They're not playing anything else. It's not like when I was their age, I'm playing all these different games because they were shorter experiences, single player experiences. Now with these live service games, if you, if you're at the top of the. Of the heap, obviously, like a fortnight, they get all the engagement, they get all the time because that's where all these kids are playing. So I do think it was important that Astrobot won Game of the Year to show that maybe we need to get back to that cadence of these smaller, smaller experiences so that we're playing more games. Because to just. The overall point of what I'm making is I. I don't think people are buying as many games anymore. And that's why you're seeing all this, this change. And obviously Xbox was in third place, so they had no choice but to be aggressive with all the acquisitions that they made. They got to get a return on investment. So I think that forces it as well. And again, I wasn't trying to make this some console war nonsense or whatever. I was just one. I was bringing PlayStation in as an example because I don't think they were immune to this. They're clearly changing as well.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
The rebuttal I'll give to both of you guys separately, right. Is to the Astrobot.
Tim Gettys
Right.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
And us needing more Astrobots. I obviously, I agree. Right. I would love more Astrobots. Astrobots, one of the best games of the year. The problem is that I don't think game awards pay the bills. Right? There's a reason why PlayStation is going after these live service things. There's a reason why PlayStation really wanted something like Concord to work. And that brings me back to the valorant thing of. I think Valorant is a symptom of. I don't even want to say the issue. I think just a symptom of the reality that we're in, which is, hey, if you're able to hit it big with a live service thing that is free to play, that has people spending money, it has Andy Cortez and Mike and sometimes me hooked on it, guess what? Like, you are just raking in the cash and riot right now. Are the kings of that epic with Fortnite are the kings of that, right? Like even a PlayStation who we look at as, oh, this is a top tier publisher. Look at the God of wars, look at the Spider man. Look at, you know, all these big. Look at the Returnal, all this, right? They put out constantly critically successful games and even they are like, hey, we need live service stuff. Like, we need something that's going to bring in money in a consistent and large basis so that we can continue to fund these other things. Because we've seen the numbers. We see how much these games cost to make. Specifically like Spider man and God of War and shit. Those games are not cheap. And we can go, we can tell them to, hey, scale down, keep making Astrobots. Astrobots aren't going to pay the bills. Astrobots sold 1.5 million and it never will.
Tim Gettys
Yeah, just. Just calling it what it is, the best game of this year, straight the up. But like 3D platformers do not sell.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Like that unless you're Mario.
Tim Gettys
No, Mario Odyssey is the standout example that broke the trend. 3D Mario games are not selling 10 million plus copies. Like, they're just not. And they finally are.
Paris Lilly
Mario Kart actually way outsells.
Tim Gettys
Mario Kart is the, is the one. And up until Mario Odyssey 2D, Mario has been the seller. So it's like I, I feel like the, the 3D platformers, like, I feel like 2 million from Astrobot. Like, I wish it was 50 million. It deserves it. But like, I feel like the, the audience in the market, they're just not there for that. Whereas every single one of my friends that only plays tentpole games bought every single one of the Sony Studios games you think about for $70 when it dropped. And they're going to continue to do that without thinking about any of these other games at all. Because I do think that the mainstream Sony audience has been conditioned to understand that every couple years they're going to get these big banger titles and they're going to buy them. And they do buy them. We see the numbers. Is it enough to pay for it and make up for it? That, I think, is a different conversation. But yeah, the sales are there.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah. And I might. My hope would be that we start to see things pick back up again to where in the, in a few years those numbers spike back up. And guess what? Like, oh man, thank God. The, the new God of War, the new Naughty Dog game, those are paying the bills in a way that, like, we don't have to chase after Concord and Marathon and all these things. Right. But yeah, I mean, to Paris point. I think the point we're maybe all making, right, is that like, yeah, like you, you kind of have to be aggressive right now as far as how you define your business, especially if you're Xbox, because, like, things overall are kind of tough as far as how are you making money? What, like how you, how do you operate as a console manufacturer? I think Xbox is doing the right thing as far as getting to where people are at, meeting people where they're at, and like being like breaking ground right now. I think the moves that Xbox are making right now are going to put them on top in the next 10 years. I legitimately, I think right now Xbox doing what they're doing is going to make them, I guess, if I. Nintendo, remove Nintendo from the equation because they're just weird.
Tim Gettys
But like, they'll just buy them.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah. Or, God, I hope not. But I do think that this will, this is how they win. I do think Xbox gets to that top spot by doing the moves they're doing right now.
Paris Lilly
And, and I agree And I'll say this one thing and I'll get out get out of here. And I appreciate you having me on. I agree with you. Bless. I think they're doing the long play 100 yeah. Here's what I wish in the short term. Here's what I wish they would do in 2025 is rip the band aid and just come straight out and say what you're doing. Because it is crystal clear exclusives are no longer a thing for Xbox. I mean if you go by what Matt Booty even said, it really sounds like if they could do more day and date on PlayST. But not all development studios are set up to do that. So that's why you're seeing indie come a few months later. Obviously it makes sense that the outer worlds to stays on PlayStation but there is going to be a day when you're going to see Master Chief on a PlayStation. It's happening.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah.
Paris Lilly
And I think people just need to prepare themselves for that now. I think it's weird. I will always think it's weird. But it's just the reality of change of business. It's gonna happen.
Tim Gettys
And I think the longer it takes to happen to get rid of this question mark, the more it's going to hurt Xbox. We got to rip this band aid off sooner than later because the games are coming and the games are not going to sell as well as if they were everywhere. And if that's the strategy, let's get going.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
We're going to move along and talk about Borderlands 4. But before we do, I want to tell you about patreon.com kind of funny and YouTube.com kind of funny games where you can get the Kind of Funny membership which allows you to get shows ad free. And speaking of ads, let us tell you about our sponsors.
Tim Gettys
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Blessing Adeoye Jr.
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Blessing Adeoye Jr.
And we're back. Before we talk about Borderlands, I want to bring in some super chats for you Tim. Let's see here. Docs the Fox writes in and says even if this sounds terrible for the Xbox brand, which it is, it's tarnishing the name. All these changes literally have no effect on game enjoyment. I agree with that last part. Like I, I understand fans being fans and I understand like being invested in a thing. But I also think that like at the end of the day, if every, if every, if every company that made games put their games everywhere, that is best case scenario for every fan. And so like I would think that most of us would want this to happen or all of us would want this to happen. But, but I think like over time people have built in an investment that has turned into an investment in the business where people feel like they have stake in like what's going on in Xbox and all that shit.
Tim Gettys
So yeah, that's kind of how it plays out absolutely with you there.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Mason Row writes in Birthday tax for fellow kind of funny best friend Chris from Newton, Kansas. I love you, buddy. Let's see here. We got one from JJ Baseball 23 that says Xbox's stance about exclusives makes sense because PlayStation has significantly more PS5 sold than Xbox has. So even if they get 75% of Xbox owners to buy a game, it wouldn't be the same as 75 PS5s.
Tim Gettys
It's simple numbers. It all just is. Yeah, that's why I'm like, yeah, like I feel like it's inevitable. When you look at Xbox and their strategy, they're telling us.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Siddharth writes in and says, I agree with Blessing here. Things have been trending down just for the console market. Other bigger markets are flourishing, including PC. Steam keeps hitting its peak.
Tim Gettys
I mean, we just, we need to define what we're talking about trending down. Like PS5 and PS4. Hardware sales are essentially in line. Yeah, PS5 is down just a little. Not down. It's just lower than PS4 by the slimmest margin. Like, I don't, I wouldn't say it is down.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I'm talking more software sales, but that's more. So based off of me just talking to people who know more about, like, who are in that world more and they just, they tell me that sales are down.
Tim Gettys
I think looking at it though, it's important to define sales being down versus not enough money being made. Those are different conversations. Sale software is selling very well. Not all the time, but a lot of examples totally are. But is it making enough money to make up for the development cost? No, that's a different conversation.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Gotcha. I feel you. I feel, I feel you're coming from. And then I got one more from Armando Ricio who writes in and says, we are just in the free to play slash subscription era. Game pass. EA Play, Ubisoft plus, PS plus and Nintendo Online pass. Everyone wants a piece of the pie. Fortnite sparked a change in Free to play. Amazing convo.
Tim Gettys
Thank you, Armando.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Thank you so much, Armando. Let's talk about some Borderlands with story number two.
Tim Gettys
Let's get in there.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Borderlands 4 will cut back on toilet humor, says Gearbox. This is from Andy Chalk at PC Gamer. Everything we've seen about. Thank you, Kevin. Everything we've seen about Borderlands 4 so far, which to be fair isn't much, very strongly suggests that, yes, it will be a Borderlands game. But some things are changing. As we said when the first Borderlands 4 trailer dropped at the Game Awards last week. The art style that made the previous game so visually distinctive appears to be fading into the background. And earlier today, narrative director Sam Winkler said on X that the toilet humor so prevalent in Borderlands 3 is going to be dialed back too pretty dramatically. From the sounds of it, I don't think anyone would say that Borderlands was ever a serious game series. But. But Borderlands 3 was a bit much, to put it mildly. That style of comment comedy hasn't. Let me say it again. That style of comedy hadn't aged particularly well even then, and five years down the road, I imagine it hasn't gotten any better. Luckily, Borderlands 4 appears to be aiming higher on the comedy front. Narrative director Sam Winkler said today that he's gotten to work with some of the funniest people I know as contract writers on the game. But in response to someone who expressed hope hope for dark humor instead of fart jokes, he replied, quote, not at liberty to talk much about the content of Borderlands 4, but I remain firm in my criticism of Borderlands 3's overabundance of toilet humor. End quote. Lest there be any doubt as to where Winkler stands on the matter, he was somewhat more pointed in another post. Quote, I'm not gonna say there's no toilets, but if the word skibidi ships in the game under my watch, I'm gonna cry real tears. Paul Tassi joked that we were going to have a gun called called Hawk 2A, and a fellow dev asked me if it was real and I wanted to put my hand down the sink. Grinder, end quote. Yeah, good for them.
Tim Gettys
Good for them, man. We'll see. It's gonna be a very interesting thing. I feel like it's a uphill battle for Borderlands 4 to get, like, games. Media journalists kind of like seal of approval from, like, is this game funny? Standpoint. But I think that that doesn't really matter. These games do very well.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah.
Tim Gettys
And I feel like the people that like them really like them. Is it time for Borderlands to grow up? I think that's a very nebulous question. I'm not sure.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
For me, as somebody who's played Borderlands, I would say time to grow up. Not necessarily, but time to make better jokes. Yes. Like, I think humor and comedy has evolved through the years and you need to be able to keep up with that and doing the same. Like Borderlands 2 came out and was filled with fucking memes and shit. Right. I think. I don't know if Borderlands 3 regressed I think Borderlands 3 just stayed too much of the same. And in I Forget what year 2018, 2019 When Borderlands 3 came out, I think that just felt old and outdated. So I do think that like yeah, you need to, you need to evolve, you need to find writers. I know what they're doing and to their credit I saw like four people I know that we with that we.
Tim Gettys
That we think are funny.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah. Come out and say, hey, I was a contract writer on the upcoming Borderlands 4 game. If he Ify Nwadui very funny dude. He was a contract writer on it. It. Xaliver Nelson was a contract writer on it. Emma Kidwell was a contract writer on it. They I think they're making the right decisions. I believe him when he says that, hey, no, we're trying to dial that that stuff back a lot and actually like, you know, we want to work with good contract writers. I believe them when they say this just based off of who I know is riding on this game. So totally. I'm looking forward to it. Story number three Walmart Starts its Own Game Informer Style gaming Site this is Ash Parish at the Verge. The ever dwindling field of games media has a new player. Walmart. Restart is a new website run by Moonrock, a marketing company specializing in bringing brands to video games and sponsored by the largest retailer in the United States. A new game site sponsored by Walmart doesn't seem inherently bad, especially as the games media landscape continues to shrink. Publications are shutting down, ad revenues are drying up and existing sites now operate with fewer and fewer employees. Earlier this year, Ziff Davis, IGN's parent company, acquired a handful of media sites, including Eurogamer, Rock, paper, shotgun and VG24. 7. In the time since, there have been staff departures and layoffs, including buyouts offered to employees earlier this month, according to a report in aftermath. This latest round of buyouts has apparently left games industry biz, a site that's been around for over 20 years with only one full time employee. Restart's business model isn't wholly unique. Before it was unceremoniously shut down earlier this year, Game Informer magazine was owned and operated by GameStop, and for decades Nintendo ran its own magazine. Other websites like ign, Polygon and the Verge also run sponsored content and include affiliate links in articles. To survive in the current digital media landscape, the support of deep pocketed individuals or corporations is all but required. In this regard, Restart is just like any other publication. According to its editorial mission, quote Restart is sponsored by Walmart, but we operate as an independent site site. The mission statement explains that while its articles will feature affiliate links to Walmart products, the site itself will receive no portion of the sale. Quote. We hope you can see this gives us zero incentive to provide biased review scores or other information about a game. End quote. But Restart is also entering a media landscape where the wall between corporate interests and editorial independence has become perilously thin. And with a few rare exceptions, games media has slowly shifted away from providing readers thoughtful discussion and critique to providing a product that can be monetized to hell and back. That driving ethos is clearly outlined in a post by Moonrock on its substack quote. Restart serves as a dynamic hub where gaming content meets retail opportunities, allowing gamers to transition effortless effortlessly from discovering new games to purchasing them on Walmart's platform. End quote.
Tim Gettys
There's a lot here. It's. It's funny because, like, I saw this popping up over the last couple days and. Kev, can you bring up the. The first Blue sky thread that we were looking at? Like, the first thing that popped out to me is the date on this, which was July 16, 2024. And we heard nothing about this.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I don't.
Tim Gettys
We didn't talk about.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
What do you see July 16th above the.
Tim Gettys
Welcome to Restart.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Oh, right.
Tim Gettys
I'm just like now 6 days ago they started talking about this. They post on Blue sky and like, you know, know they're going through and it. I feel like this is a very bad coming out party, whatever you want to call it, because of the words that they used.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yes.
Tim Gettys
Do not define yourselves as independent when you were not independent.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yes.
Tim Gettys
You know, that sounds like an industry plan.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah.
Tim Gettys
You know what I mean? This sounds like Drake coming out back in 2009 or whatever, just being like, I did it all myself. It's like, no, you didn't, dude. No, you did.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
What do you mean? What do you mean?
Tim Gettys
Label. He had a label behind him, pushing him.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah. But like, you know, he got, he got hired after. On that label after Comeback Season. It was during so Far Gone.
Tim Gettys
Exactly. The one that put him on the map.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
So. Well, you gotta get signed by a.
Tim Gettys
Label at some point, but then you're not independent. You can't be claiming to be independent on that album. You just can't do it. He did it anyways.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Fair enough.
Tim Gettys
But here we are, we got. What is it? Reset, Run.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Restart.
Tim Gettys
Restart. We're independent. No, you're not.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
You're not independent.
Tim Gettys
And like, I understand the intent of what they're trying to say. That they're independent editorially. That's what they're trying to get across, man. Y'all set yourselves up to fail there just from being nitpicked to hell from the, the audience that cares about this stuff. The games media audience is very, very fickle and very, very into it. Yeah, right. Like they are a very dedicated group of people. So you need to be very careful with your choice of words and how you frame things and yeah, this just seems like a bunch of missteps at the end of the day. I think it's good that we have some corporations that are willing to fund and back media outlets or else we're not going to have them. This is, We've seen many examples of this working in the past. Nintendo, Power Game Informer, both don't exist anymore. So that's kind of telling to some extent. I don't think this will last forever, but I think there's a good thing here. It was just handled the wrong way.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah, I agree 100%. Them being around since July makes so much sense to me because yesterday I was going through just like looking at their content outside. Like, y'all made a lot of content for day one. Like I was on their YouTube channel and they had like, like 30 videos on there and I was like, damn. Like, like that doesn't seem like a good strategy. But yeah, seeing that, like they've just been around for a while cooking and now this is like their launch. This, they're coming out party. Yeah, I think this is cool. I think, yeah, they misused some words here. I think independent, like the, them calling themselves independent, I think rubbed people the wrong way, like a lot because we want to support. Yeah.
Tim Gettys
I've watched documentaries about how bad Walmart is.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah. Like, you know, I think when people see that, they want to support independent media, like, you know, we're independent, right? Like, you know, you look at Aftermath and they're independent like min Max. Yeah. Like things that are homegrown and like you, you want to give that your support because you know that they need that support in order to, in order to live and breathe. Yeah. Like when you, when you have the backing of Walmart, to you, I think being, I think coming out and being more honest about it would go a long way. I think aside from that, I look through the stuff they're doing, right? And I'm like, all right, cool. Content seems good. They seem to have a good head on their shoulders. Right. They do reviews, they do interviews, they do previews, opinion pieces, all this stuff. The One thing that did also stand out to me is they did do the thing where they introduced their staff. And it is the thing of all white men in a way that made me go, really?
Tim Gettys
Yeah, really.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Like, all white dudes? Yeah. And like, it's people that, like, I.
Tim Gettys
Thought the EIC was a woman.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Maybe I'm wrong. Yeah. Correct me if I'm wrong, because I might be wrong about that. Then the. The stuff that I saw in their thread was like, introducing like a bunch of white dudes. Now, granted, right. I know people who said they were. They worked with these folks before, so I'm sure they're talented. I'm sure they're good people. Right. Like, don't want to come at them sideways, but I do. That does paint how I want to interact with a, with a media outlet. If I look at that and I'm like, oh, man. Okay, this is going to be another, like, just another one of these ones. Right. Like, I've seen this before. I've like, consumed a lot, a lot of content in the last two decades from sites that look like this. All right, cool.
Tim Gettys
I. It's hard to tell. Yeah, it's hard to tell because the EIC is named Brandy.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Okay.
Tim Gettys
And the profile picture, there's a man and a woman.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Okay. I get stuff. So, yeah, I get stuff.
Tim Gettys
But if I'm wrong about white though, seemingly.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah, correct me if I'm wrong about that and I'll apologize, but I didn't notice that story number four, Pacific Drive TV series based on indie survival game is in the works. Okay, this is Jennifer Maz. Okay, have we gone too far yet?
Tim Gettys
I think we've gone too far.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
All right.
Tim Gettys
But also, fuck it, why not?
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
James Wan's Atomic Monster production company has acquired the rights to develop a game award nominated indie title, Pacific Drive, into a TV series. I can just stop there. That's pretty much it. Like, the rest is context that I don't think we really need a Pacific Drive TV series to.
Tim Gettys
Yeah, cool. Could be cool. It won't be good for them.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Like, I mean, like, I'm very fascinated because Pacific Drive, I didn't play much of it, but I do know that it's a survival roguelite driving game where you build a car as you go through this post apocalyptic world. I don't know how you turn that into a TV series.
Tim Gettys
I mean, the answer is James Wan, right? This guy gets it. He understands horror movies, horror shows, how to like, do something cool on a budget.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
So, like, I don't know much about James Wan. What's the, what's the pedigree here?
Tim Gettys
I mean James Wan is like Saw movies. Oh, Aquaman.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Oh, the conjuring Insidious Furious 7. Oh yeah, he does have Aquaman here. I want to say Annabelle. That's a dude looking at his.
Tim Gettys
Yeah, no, James Wan's got the stuff.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
But like looking at his filmography here, Aquaman is a jump scare because it is the conjuring insidious Saw. But if you just watch Aquaman thinking that he's just making fun of it all.
Tim Gettys
We're talking a billion dollars though, right? Like, like I think that James wanna matter, like taking quality out of the the biggest hitters. He has multiple billion dollar plus movies and then he also has multiple movies that he made for like $6 million that have done 100 million plus.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Good for the.
Tim Gettys
He gets it.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
It's just I list a bunch of horror movies, right? I get to the Conjuring 2 and then you get to Aquaman, Aqua the second Aquaman, Annabelle. It's like how did Aquaman fit in here?
Tim Gettys
Annabelle's in Aquaman.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
No way.
Tim Gettys
It's like an Easter egg, but she's there.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Huh. That's a filmography.
Tim Gettys
Yes, it is.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
It's like. It's like getting Christopher Nolan do a superhero movie.
Tim Gettys
Yeah. Can you imagine?
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah, he would never do that.
Tim Gettys
Ever.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Story number five, that sci fi RPG starring Matthew McConaughey got a new trailer today, Kevin. I linked it in the doc to remind people, right? I got. I got an article from Catbaily and Taylor Lyles from IGN from last year, basically talking about how it was revealed, right? It's called Exodus. It's being developed under Wizards of the Coast. It's been in development since 2020. We saw the trailer last year. Kevin, you go ahead and click play on the. On the new trailer. Because this is basically a two minute audio up or not put the audio up. Put the audio up like halfway. So I'd like to talk over this as well. But Tim, you know, you remember.
Tim Gettys
I don't.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
It was like the Mass Effect looking game from Game Awards last year. Do it, Matthew McConaughey. All right, all right, all right.
Tim Gettys
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Sick.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Got a secret level Episode.
Tim Gettys
Sick.
Paris Lilly
Loaded weapon is a hell of a.
Tim Gettys
Way to greet your new partner. So your June, we're burning time.
Paris Lilly
Now that we're all best of friends, let's make each other rich.
Tim Gettys
I'm not just here to look pretty.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Like looks cool.
Tim Gettys
It looks cool. I've got away with celestial tech. I don't like his eyes. I'm sick. Are you kidding me? We got an armor bear getting punched.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
I'm shocked. This wasn't at the game Awards.
Tim Gettys
That's a good call. This has Game Awards written all over it.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah.
Tim Gettys
They didn't want to pay again.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Like, maybe the show was too packed. Jeff was like, sorry. Many thanks again for your help. You should have been honest.
Paris Lilly
This place is forbidden. The price is death. That's what it means to be a traveler.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Exodus. I hope this is good because it's giving me a lot of the things I want for it from a sci fi rpg. Like, it looks like almost like in between a Mass Effect and Returnal. Yeah, that, like, that gives me, like, massive return.
Tim Gettys
Actually is a really good poll there.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah, it gives you. But it also, like, I think the scary thing is that I can't stop thinking about what's the name of the game? Chat Fort Solace, I think is the. Is the game. It was like another one of those death space type games that, like, very much came and went, like, look cool, but then came out and was like, probably like a six or five out of ten. I hope that this is like at least an eight.
Tim Gettys
Yeah. I don't know that it's gonna be, but it looks cool. Yeah. This to me has like seven written all over it.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
But hey, man, I'll take a seven. But yeah, I just hope that's good because it looks. It looks like something I want. I want to play that. Tim. Maybe that game, the game comes out and it's big.
Tim Gettys
Maybe.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Maybe it's huge.
Tim Gettys
Hope it's big.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Let's hope it's big. But if I wanted something small, say the tiniest news I need to know about, where would I go?
Tim Gettys
You go to our last story, the Wii News Channel, where we cover all the small news items you need to know about.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Story number six is Wii News. Pokemon TCG pockets newest set, mythical island is out. Now, can I tell you the thing that excites me the most about this is the meta being shaped, being shaken up in the battles because the battles got stale. The battles got steel real quick.
Tim Gettys
It's like, I. I love what this game has done to me because, you know, I'm collecting. I care about the cards more. I care about the battling. This mew pack drops.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah.
Tim Gettys
And I'm opening these. These packs and I'm looking at it and I'm not just like, oh, new car, new car. Like, what's the rare? I'm reading each one of these things and I'm like, what's this gonna do? How am I changing my decks? They got us, man.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
There's a new trainer card. I forget what its name is, but it's. It lets you switch out your Pokemon with 2 less energy.
Tim Gettys
Oh yeah.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Using 2 less energy.
Tim Gettys
1.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
It's like. Or something. I forget. But I was like, oh yeah, yeah. And I was like, yo, this is a game changer, right?
Tim Gettys
I got one. I think it's the poke flute that lets you switch out a like force. One of the Pokemon that was on your opponent's discard pile a basic onto their bench. Oh, that's kind of cool.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah, that's kind of neat. I can't wait. Dungeons and Dragons Dark alliance is getting delisted on February 24, 2025. Servers will be shutting down, but single player and DLC will still be playable offline. And then lastly, the Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword OST is now available on Nintendo Music. And that would.
Tim Gettys
Sword OST is probably my favorite thing about that game.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Fair. Yeah. Fair. And that is it for we news. Never played Skyward Sword. Started it actually I played maybe about six, seven hours and I was good.
Tim Gettys
It's very good. Very good. It's. Compared to other 3D Zeldas, I feel like it's. It doesn't do anything doing phenomenally well. I will say its story is probably the most coherent okay of like that era of Zelda game. But.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
But even then, yeah, I played it. I started it right after playing through Twilight Princess and Twilight Princess was so good. It was so good that I started Skyward Sword and I was like, ah, this ain't giving me the same feel like I'll come back to this later. I never went back to it. I never did. But then I got Breath of the Wild. Wild. And it's one of my favorite games of all time, if not my favorite game of all time.
Tim Gettys
We're living good.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
We're living real good. Super chats for you. Method writes in a says gives me mid vibes ass effects.
Tim Gettys
Y'All don't miss.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
That's really good. Timothy Chess in here says thoughts on new pocket cards slash Karate Kid trailer.
Tim Gettys
The cards that we were stoked on. Yeah, very stoned. I also like that it's 60 new cards plus the secrets. Like that sounds like a nice manageable expansion. So very excited for more and Karate Kid. I still haven't seen the trailer. I know Mike was thinking about trying to react during the stream and I hope we figure that out because I. I need to see this. Man. Karate Kid Legends, baby.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Chronic kid legends. I have no idea what this is.
Tim Gettys
Jackie Chan and Ralph Macchio together, like.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Jackie Chan from the Jaden Smith movie.
Tim Gettys
It's all connecting.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Is Jaden gonna beat it?
Tim Gettys
I bet he is, Cameo, but I bet he is.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Okay, he got me.
Tim Gettys
Yeah. Hillary Swank be there?
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Probably not, Dear Sixlet says, late to the show because I was donating blood. Just a reminder to donate if you can, y'all. Good for you. And then Vulcan Dasher writes in and says, xbox are in a position to be the best publisher ever. They can compete with EA and Ubisoft instead of losing bad to Nintendo and Sony. If people looked at it that way, it would feel better.
Tim Gettys
Yeah. I mean, that you. You said that in 10 years, Xbox is going to be number one. I mean, this is how they're number one, right? Be the number one of the third parties. Yeah, that. That is victory. If you're making the most money, whatever. But it's going to take it some time to get there. But I. It's. It's theirs to lose. Yeah. They have all the pieces.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
It really is theirs to lose. That's the thing is, I know how crazy I come off when I say they're like, they're setting themselves up to be number one, but it really is.
Tim Gettys
Like, it's the opposite of crazy to say that.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah.
Tim Gettys
If you're just talking about them making money.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah. That's the thing is, like, they're spending their way to the top, like they're buying the victory, which is like, hey, it's a capitalism way to win. You got to do what you got.
Tim Gettys
To do to do it.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Yeah. Asking us to do it.
Tim Gettys
Pay to win.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Oh, pay to. Oh, yeah. Yeah, I see. Oh, that's good. That's good. Now it's time for kind of fighting dot com. You're wrong. Rewrite it and let us know what we got wrong as we got it wrong so we can correct it. For those watching later on YouTube and listening later on podcast services around the globe, Tundra Boy writes in for Wii News and says CD Project is celebrating Witcher 3's 10th anniversary with a global concert tour next year. That's exciting. O there's going to sing. Toss a coin to your Witcher for a good two hours. Lucid Dream writes in. Re video game sales. According to Circana data, as of October 2024, video game software sales are up 12% over last year and are up 4% year to date. In 2024. Over 2023, hardware sales are down 23 and 29 respectively.
Tim Gettys
Real quick, T. Mills 2002 says, Again, why aren't we asking Sony to do the same? Don't they want to make money too? Absolutely. There will come a time where everything is everywhere because everyone is just trying to make the most money possible. Sony still has a winning strategy that is tied to them selling hardware. So their exclusives do sell hardware. We are seeing that still happen and it's worth it to Sony at this point. That's why. Yeah, it's that simple. Like that we're not seeing them make these concessions. The place to the PC strategy, I see as a completely different thing. Xbox has been doing day one on PC for 10 years now. Yeah.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
And also asking like I feel that we're commentating on what is happening in the business world. I'm not asking Xbox to buy everybody. In fact, I want the opposite. I don't want Xbox to buy anybody else. I, I want PlayStation to put their games everywhere. I want PlayStation to put their games on fucking Nintendo. But like that's not gonna happen, right? Like we're just talking, we're talking about their strategy and why they're doing it. Yeah, but yeah, like I mean PlayStation Swing their games on PC and that's making them, making them some money. Guess why? They put Horizon Lego on Nintendo Switch.
Tim Gettys
Which is good.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Which is good. These are good things. I just want games to be everywhere like you do. That's it for Euro. We did it.
Tim Gettys
We did it, everybody.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Perfect humans. Tim.
Tim Gettys
Yes.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
You're a busy man, so I'm gonna let you go.
Tim Gettys
I am.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
And I'm gonna call to the stage Mike Howard for gamescast because me and him, we got some things to talk about.
Tim Gettys
Oh God.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.
It'd be a very good Gamescast because of course we're doing a shit list. So we're gonna be reacting to a bunch of video game lists online, including every game of the year ranked by Sports Illustrated. So you're gonna want to tune into that. That'll be up on the podcast gamescast feed. But of course, this, 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 all podcast services around the globe. If you love what 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. Enjoy the games cast next and the stream after. But until next time, Game Daily.
Kinda Funny Games Daily: Video Games News Podcast Episode: Xbox Won't Have Exclusives Going Forward? Release Date: December 17, 2024
In this episode of Kinda Funny Games Daily, hosts Blessing Adeoye Jr., Tim Gettys, and guest Paris Lilly delve into significant shifts within the gaming industry. The primary focus revolves around Xbox's strategic move away from exclusive game releases, the upcoming changes in the Borderlands series, Walmart's foray into gaming media, and other noteworthy gaming news. Engaging discussions, listener interactions, and insightful analyses make this episode a comprehensive roundup for gaming enthusiasts.
Main Discussion: The hosts kick off the episode by addressing the controversial news that Xbox is moving away from exclusive game titles. Drawing from Tom Ivan at Video Games Chronicle and Jesse Corden at Windows Central, they explore Microsoft's evolving first-party strategy.
Notable Quotes:
Jess Corden, Executive Editor at Windows Central:
"Xbox won't have exclusives going forward. Everything is timed exclusive at most."
(10:00)
Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft:
"We are redefining what it means to be an Xbox fan. It's about being able to enjoy Xbox on all your devices."
(10:25)
Key Points:
Strategic Realignment: Xbox aims to make its games available across multiple platforms rather than restricting them to its own hardware.
Financial Implications: The move is partly driven by financial considerations, including the substantial investment in acquisitions like Activision Blizzard.
Game Pass Integration: Emphasis on services like Game Pass, making games accessible across various devices, aligning with Microsoft's broader vision of gaming ubiquity.
Host Insights:
Tim Gettys: Expresses skepticism about the sustainability of Xbox's strategy, questioning if releasing games on all platforms will dilute exclusivity benefits.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.: Highlights the potential consumer benefits of wider game accessibility but acknowledges the challenges in maintaining brand identity without exclusives.
Listener Feedback:
Aaron Lime: "Even if this sounds terrible for the Xbox brand, it's tarnishing the name. All these changes literally have no effect on game enjoyment."
(42:37)
JJ Baseball 23: Points out the disparity in console sales between PlayStation and Xbox, suggesting that even partial adoption of exclusive titles on PlayStation might not match Xbox's market.
Main Discussion: The conversation shifts to the upcoming Borderlands 4, with Gearbox Studios announcing a reduction in the franchise's notorious toilet humor.
Notable Quotes:
Sam Winkler, Narrative Director at Gearbox:
"I'm not going to say there's no toilets, but if the word 'skibidi' ships in the game under my watch, I'm gonna cry real tears."
(45:10)
Blessing Adeoye Jr.:
"I'm looking forward to it. The writers they're bringing on seem talented and aligned with evolving comedic tastes."
(46:00)
Key Points:
Humor Overhaul: Shift from childish humor to more sophisticated comedic elements to align with contemporary audiences.
Contract Writers: Collaboration with experienced writers aims to inject fresh humor while retaining the franchise's signature style.
Community Reception: Mixed feelings among fans, with anticipation tempered by skepticism about significant content changes.
Host Insights:
Tim Gettys: Remains cautiously optimistic, acknowledging that while the humor evolution is necessary, it's uncertain how fans will receive it.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.: Emphasizes the importance of adapting to evolving comedic standards to keep the franchise relevant.
Main Discussion: Walmart enters the gaming media landscape with "Restart," a new website modeled after traditional gaming publications like Game Informer.
Notable Quotes:
Key Points:
Media Landscape Shift: With declining traditional gaming media outlets, Walmart aims to fill the void by providing gaming news, reviews, and content.
Business Model: Incorporates affiliate links to Walmart products without a share of the sales, striving for editorial independence.
Community Concerns: Skepticism about true independence given Walmart's corporate backing and the thin line between editorial content and retail interests.
Host Insights:
Tim Gettys: Critiques Restart's claim of independence, comparing it to artists falsely advertising independence despite label support.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.: Highlights potential missteps in Restart's launch strategy, including unaddressed diversity issues and overemphasis on "independence."
Listener Feedback:
Reset, Run: "Do not define yourselves as independent when you were not independent."
(51:00)
Vulcan Dasher:
"Xbox are in a position to be the best publisher ever. They can compete with EA and Ubisoft instead of losing badly to Nintendo and Sony."
(63:50)
Main Discussion: James Wan's Atomic Monster production company acquires rights to adapt the indie survival game Pacific Drive into a TV series.
Notable Quotes:
Key Points:
Game-to-TV Trend: Reflects the growing trend of adapting video games into television series and films.
James Wan's Involvement: Known for his prowess in the horror genre, adding expectations for the adaptation's quality.
Host Insights:
Blessing Adeoye Jr.: Questions the viability of translating Pacific Drive's unique blend of survival and driving mechanics into a compelling narrative for TV.
Tim Gettys: Remains cautiously optimistic, recognizing Wan's expertise but uncertain about the adaptation's success.
Main Discussion: The hosts discuss the latest trailer for Exodus, a sci-fi RPG featuring Matthew McConaughey, developed by Wizards of the Coast.
Notable Quotes:
Tim Gettys:
"Loaded weapon is a hell of a way to greet your new partner."
(58:08)
Blessing Adeoye Jr.:
"Exodus gives me a lot of things I want from a sci-fi RPG—almost like an in-between Mass Effect and Returnal."
(59:13)
Key Points:
High Expectations: Combining McConaughey's star power with a promising sci-fi narrative sets high expectations.
Game Mechanics: Hints at innovative gameplay mechanics that blend storytelling with action.
Host Insights:
Tim Gettys: Excited about the trailer but remains realistic about potential gameplay execution.
Blessing Adeoye Jr.: Optimistic, hoping the game achieves its ambitious blend of genres and narrative depth.
Main Discussion: The final segment covers smaller yet significant news in the gaming world, including the latest Pokémon Trading Card Game (TCG) expansion, Dungeons & Dragons: Dark Alliance delisting, and the availability of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword OST on Nintendo Music.
Notable Quotes:
Blessing Adeoye Jr.:
"The new trainer card that lets you switch out your Pokémon with 2 less energy is a game changer."
(60:40)
Tim Gettys:
"Sword OST is probably my favorite thing about that game."
(61:40)
Key Points:
Pokemon TCG Expansion: Introduction of "Mythical Island" set, expected to shake up game strategies and meta.
D&D Dark Alliance: Announcement of delisting and server shutdowns, impacting multiplayer experiences.
Zelda Soundtrack: Release of the Skyward Sword original soundtrack on Nintendo Music, catering to fans and collectors.
Host Insights:
Blessing Adeoye Jr.: Enthusiastic about the strategic implications of the new Pokemon cards.
Tim Gettys: Shares personal favorites and nostalgic connections to game soundtracks.
Listener Feedback:
Method:
"Gives me mid vibes ass effects."
(62:41)
Vulcan Dasher:
"Xbox are in a position to be the best publisher ever. They can compete with EA and Ubisoft instead of losing badly to Nintendo and Sony."
(63:50)
The episode provides a thorough examination of pivotal changes in the gaming landscape, highlighting Microsoft's strategic pivot away from exclusivity, the evolution of humor in beloved franchises, corporate ventures into gaming media, and the continuous blending of gaming with other entertainment forms. Through lively discussions and multiple listener insights, the hosts offer a nuanced perspective on the challenges and opportunities facing the industry.
Aaron Lime:
"Even if this sounds terrible for the Xbox brand, it's tarnishing the name. All these changes literally have no effect on game enjoyment."
(42:37)
JJ Baseball 23:
"Xbox's stance about exclusives makes sense because PlayStation has significantly more PS5 sold than Xbox has."
(43:08)
Vulcan Dasher:
"Xbox are in a position to be the best publisher ever. They can compete with EA and Ubisoft instead of losing badly to Nintendo and Sony."
(63:50)
Siddharth:
"Things have been trending down just for the console market. Other bigger markets are flourishing, including PC."
(43:27)
The hosts tease upcoming segments, including an in-depth Gamescast with Mike Howard, where they will react to top gaming lists and rankings. They encourage listeners to support them through Kinda Funny memberships for ad-free experiences and exclusive content.
Thank you for tuning into this episode of Kinda Funny Games Daily. Stay informed and entertained with your favorite hosts for the latest in all things gaming.