Hot Take: Insomniac Should Stop Making Spider-Man - Kinda Funny Gamescast

Summary

Kinda Funny Gamescast — August 15, 2025

Episode Title: Hot Take: Insomniac Should Stop Making Spider-Man
Hosts: Roger Pokorny & Blessing Adeoye Jr.
Notable Guests/Voicemails: Multiple community hot takes discussed

---

Overview

This episode of the Kinda Funny Gamescast is all about hot takes from the Kinda Funny community. Roger and Blessing dive into listeners' spiciest (and sometimes not-so-spicy) gaming opinions, debate their merits, and are forced to take a hard stance: 100% agree or 100% disagree. Expect lively, candid debate with plenty of Kinda Funny’s signature irreverence, lots of laughter, and deep dives into major trends and controversies in gaming.

---

Key Discussion Points and Insights

1. The “Hot Take” Format & Rules

• The episode pivots away from the usual format: instead of the hosts pitching hot takes, they're tackling audience submissions.
• Rule: No fence-sitting; they must wholly agree or disagree with each take.
  • Roger: “We refuse to give judgments within the gray area. We will each either 100% or 100%—100% agree or 100% disagree.” (09:05)
  • Blessing: “I don't know if you've ever listened to any of my opinions. I love the gray area.” (09:25)

---

2. Fortnite’s Effect on the Industry

Hot Take: "Fortnite ruined the game industry." (Andy, 10:16)

• Main Points:

  • Fortnite’s financial success changed what companies expect from games.
  • The crossover craze and borrowed features ("thievery") have diluted uniqueness and pushed companies to chase trends.
  • Missed opportunity for unique licensed games as big properties chose Fortnite crossovers over their own games.

• Blessing (leans agree, 12:01):
  “I agree 100%. I mean, I don't 100%... I agree with a lot of what he said... As far as it being the number one enemy, I don't think so, but I do think there’s a legitimacy to the impact that Fortnite had.”

• Roger (disagrees, 14:10):
  “I 100% disagree. I don't think that Fortnite is the number one enemy, and I think that we're looking at this incorrectly, like Fortnite is kind of the scapegoat.”

• Discussion Highlights:

  • Fortnite as the “McDonald’s of gaming” (Roger’s analogy).
  • Both agree the trend would’ve happened regardless, due to the direction of online and free-to-play gaming.

Memorable Quote:
Roger: “It’s almost like blaming the entirety of obesity in America on McDonald’s...” (14:13)

---

3. Microtransactions Saved Video Games?

Hot Take: "If it weren't for microtransactions, we'd get almost no new games." (Mic Drop, 18:50)

• Mic Drop’s Argument:
  Microtransactions allowed the business to survive and are why we have as many games as we do.

• Blessing (disagrees, 19:45):
  “Did it save the industry? No. I think games would have just gotten more expensive.”

• Roger (disagrees, 20:32):
  “I 100% disagree... I am so interested in the alternate universe of what the world would look like if we didn’t have microtransactions... it also hurt a lot of the games industry, specifically when it comes to original video games that are just not made nowadays.”

• Further Discussion:

  • Microtransactions prolonged $60 price point.
  • Roger dives into the dangers of gambling mechanics in games (Counter-Strike, loot boxes).
  • Blessing on trade-offs: “I think microtransactions are what you do with them... probably are [a] net evil thing, but depending on the game, they can be useful.”

Notable Quote:
Roger: “If you’re allowing people to sell it [loot] for real money and then people get addicted on making money off of your virtual thing, you’re going straight to hell. That is evil shit right there.” (28:09)

---

4. Fighting Games Aren’t That Hard

Hot Take: “Fighting games are not that hard to learn.” (Claw Master, 31:47)

• Blessing (agrees, 33:00):
  “I think fighting games, especially the modern ones, have given so many good tutorials and tools... I ultimately agree.”

• Roger (disagrees, 34:53):
  “Sure, it is easier to get into it, but every time I get into it... my brain is just not built like that... once you start telling me to add things, it just doesn’t work for me.”

• Key Points:

  • Blessing argues modern fighting games are more accessible than ever.
  • Roger feels action games are easier and fighting games’ required coordination just doesn’t click.

---

5. Mouse Cursors in Console Games

Hot Take: “Fake mouse cursors in console games must go.” (Samson, 39:53)

• Both strongly agree these UI elements break immersion, are slow and annoying, and that a dedicated console UI is always better.

• Roger: “Destiny ruined the video game industry with this.” (40:53)

• Blessing: “The mouse cursor always, it’s discouraging when it comes up... it’s slow and there’s no setting for it.” (41:37)

---

6. Should Insomniac Stop Making Marvel Games?

Hot Take: “Insomniac was better making original games than Marvel games, Spider-Man is safe, derivative, and should end.” (Barista Brand, 42:02)

• Blessing (disagrees, 43:03):
  “I 100% disagree. I think Insomniac is at the peak of their powers with Spider-Man... are you gonna sit here and tell me resistance is more worth their time than Spider-Man?”

• Roger (agrees, 44:07):
  “I 100% agree with this take. I do think... they are locked into this world now of Marvel and... we’ve all seen the leaks, we all see what they’re working on in the next 15 years.”

• Key Points:

  • Blessing argues Spider-Man, Ratchet & Clank best display studio's talents.
  • Roger laments loss of original ideas, feeling Spider-Man 2 was a disappointment, and worries being locked to Marvel stifles creativity.
  • Debates on whether Insomniac’s created worlds (Ratchet, Sunset Overdrive) are as compelling as the Marvel ones.

Memorable Quote:
Roger: “This is a very unique studio... I like creative studios doing unique things that they've created.” (44:32)

---

7. Political Content in Games Now vs. Then

Hot Take: “Games aren’t more political now; they’re less political. Examples: Sonic was an eco-terrorist.” (Unnamed, 53:02)

• Epic narrative delivered by listener, using Sonic’s ‘90s anti-corporate themes vs. sanitized modern Sonic.

• Roger: “100% agree on my side. Yeah, I agree.” (55:06)

• Blessing refuses to take it seriously but enjoys the artistry of the submission.

• After the hot take, Barrett brings up recent examples (modern Wolfenstein, Mafia III) as games that did tackle heavy political themes.

---

8. Ray Tracing is Overrated

Hot Take: “Ray tracing is overrated for consoles; it’s mostly a marketing gimmick and not worth the performance cost.” (K, 57:48)

• Blessing (agrees):
  “I agree. I think ray tracing is overrated. Cause every single time... this lighting looks incredible... and I look into it and it’s not ray tracing.” (58:56)

• Roger (agrees):
  “We're just kind of pushing our hardware just to push our hardware... sometimes ray tracing creates a weird look... I’m not sold on ray tracing.” (59:09)

---

9. Retro Gaming Elitism

Hot Take (Super Chat): “People who play retro games they didn’t play as kids, not for history, are tryhard posers.” (ICwiener, 60:55)

• Both mostly disagree but appreciate the “heat” of the take.
• Blessing: “Cause why you playing that?... But I also disagree, I disagree in the sense that I didn’t grow up—like, can’t be curious about a game and try it out?”

---

10. Remasters Are Good

Hot Take (Super Chat): “Remasters that add 60fps and DualSense features are worth it.” (Guitar Hero Arrow, 63:03)

• Not actually a hot take among the panel; both supportive.
• Roger: “I 100% agree with their take. There’s nothing wrong with that.” (64:01)

---

11. Supergiant Was Better Pre-Hades

Hot Take (Super Chat): “Supergiant was better when they were making Bastion and Transistor.” (Norman Vadabankur, 64:41)

• Strong disagreement, especially from Blessing.

---

12. Spiritual Successors Are Overrated

Hot Take (Super Chat): “Spiritual successors are boring compared to what inspired them—just full of references.” (Koba, 65:37)

• Blessing agrees, especially bringing up ukulele as an example, but others push back and note exceptions like Stardew Valley.

---

13. Shooter Esports Are Boring

Hot Take (Super Chat): “Shooter esports are not fun to watch, Pokémon is better.” (Dante the Cleric, 68:41)

• The hosts largely agree or don’t push back: fighting games are their preferred spectator esport.

---

14. Kojima Is a Prankster

Hot Take: “All Kojima games are one giant bit, there’s no real gameplay.” (Colin Berry, 69:36)

• The hosts are baffled but largely disagree, with Roger: “100% disagree... I just appreciate that...” (70:28)

---

Notable Quotes & Moments

• Blessing, on Fortnite & trends:
  “Fortnite is kind of just a result of where online has gone, where trends were going.” (17:00)

• Roger, on microtransactions:
  “This is gonna get real and a little bit dark here is that the side of microtransactions that we should be fucking angry about... is gambling.” (25:10)

• Blessing, on mouse cursors:
  “The mouse cursor always. It's discouraging when it comes up... I gotta drag this thing across the screen to change my gear. Yuck. Get the fuck outta here.” (41:37)

• Roger, on Insomniac’s future:
  “They’re just locked into being the Marvel studio. It’s way less interesting to me as a studio.” (44:21)

• Sonic Eco-Terrorist Hot Take:
  “That’s right. Sonic the Black Block anarchist. He took one look at those death egg factories and what do you think he did? Did he call his member of Congress? Did he donate to the Sierra Club? No. That’s Mario shit.” (53:33)

---

Timestamps for Major Segments

| Segment | Timestamp (MM:SS) | |------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------------------| | Opening & Hot Take Rules | 00:00 – 09:50 | | Fortnite Ruined Games | 10:16 – 18:35 | | Microtransactions Debate | 18:50 – 29:00 | | Fighting Games—Hard or Not | 31:41 – 39:53 | | Mouse Cursors Suck | 39:53 – 42:02 | | Insomniac & Marvel Debate | 42:02 – 52:17 | | Games Are Less Political Now | 53:02 – 56:14 | | Ray Tracing is Overrated | 57:48 – 60:31 | | Super Chat Hot Takes | 60:38 – 73:25 | | Kojima "Big Prank" | 69:36 – 72:58 |

---

Tone & Style

• Language: Casual, humorous, irreverent, self-deprecating; hosts freely tangent and riff, but always return to deep, well-considered analysis.
• Dynamic: Mix of serious critique and friendly ribbing, with all hot takes evaluated earnestly (even when obviously outlandish).
• Audience Engagement: Strong—lots of references to listener submissions, chat commentary, and super chats.

---

Conclusion

A quintessential Kinda Funny episode blending wild community opinions with sharp commentary and industry perspective. Whether dissecting Fortnite’s influence, the value of microtransactions, or pondering if Insomniac should break free from Spider-Man, the hosts bring both heat and insight—never settling for a “safe” opinion. If you want a pulse on gaming’s current debates (with laughs), this is unmissable.

---

Transcript

[A]

What is up, everybody? And welcome back to Kind of Funny Gamescast for August 15, 2025. I'm Roger Pokorny, and today I'm joined by Blessing. Adio. Yay, Junior.

[B]

Roger, I'm excited for this one.

[A]

Yeah, man. This is a fun one. Because you and I were tasked with doing a little games cast. It was just you and me, and we're like, what do we do? Maybe a shit list. I don't know. We've done that a bunch. Or this way. What are we going to do?

[B]

I.

[A]

And I was like, well, we gotta look to the audience, you little freaks out there. We gotta ask you what your hot takes are. Because I see you guys in the chat every day. You guys are just getting all these hot takes off. And we want to give you a platform to finally say the things that you hold deep down to us. And we will judge it, and we'll let you know if we like it or if we hate it.

[B]

I love this. Because usually they're the ones judging our hot takes.

[A]

Yes, exactly. Now you get to be in the hot seat because you. You know what we do? You say, oh, it's so easy. Oh, it's so easy to have all.

[B]

These beautiful takes, to have all these opinions.

[A]

All these opinions all the time. Well, now we're actually gonna see how your opinions stand between us.

[B]

I'm excited. Cause you. You're the one who went and, like, fielded the audience. Write ins or call ins that they've done.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I've not heard anything. Yeah. And so these are hitting me fresh.

[A]

Yeah. And I've heard a lot of them. Some of them not as good. Not good, but a lot of them. A lot of them really good. We're gonna see some cool season one, too. Yeah. You know, honestly, next time, just a little constructive criticism for y' all out there. Yeah, get hotter.

[B]

Oh, go crazier.

[A]

Like, some of these are good topics, and they're fun topics, and there's some good ones where I'm like, oh, okay, that's like, I haven't heard that one before. But I want you to go crazier. I want you to go crazier, and I want you to kind of get not, like horribly unhinged, but a little unhinged.

[B]

Are you saying that our audience has good opinions?

[A]

I think so.

[B]

Are a lot of them well informed?

[A]

I know, I know. Yes.

[C]

Or milquetoast opinions?

[A]

A little bit of both. I think they're informed because we're so smart, right?

[B]

Oh, we informed you.

[A]

And I specifically are so smart. So we informed them and we kind of just kind of made their opinions better by osmosis. But I also think that we need to kind of look deeper within ourselves and I want really specific hot takes. There's one in here that I very much like and it is connected to you in a good way and us in a good way. I'm excited for you to hear it. But of course, remember this is the kind of funny gamescast where each and every weekday we get together to talk all about the biggest reviews, previews and topics and hot takes in video games live on YouTube, Twitch and podcast services around the globe. If you'd like to if you love what we do, support us with the kind of funding membership on Patreon, YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and YouTube Music 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. Submit your thoughts and opinions as YouTube super chats as we go. If you have more hot takes that you weren't able to get out, let us know. You guys submitted a lot of hot takes so I wasn't able to get through all of them. I'm sure if this video does well we are gonna be able to do another one. I'm sure just in general we're gonna do another one of these. So don't worry. I'm not deleting the hot takes that you submitted, but if you have one that you really want to get off right now, send us a super chat and we will read it and we will rank it and we'll let you know what we think. Little Housekeeping Monday. Kinda Funny goes head to head with Giant Bomb in a sponsored pizza bandit. Let's play but with a twist. We have a real chef in office helping us make pizzas as we played the game. It's absolute chaos and you need to tune in just to see Tim and Dan Reichert attempt to make pizzas for the very first time. Spoilers. It's embarrassing. Tune in on Monday on YouTube before kinda funny Games Daily to this is going to go up as a YouTube premiere at 9:30am PT on Monday. Make sure to check it out. It will lead right into Kind of Funny Games Daily.

[B]

What happened to that dough he threw on the ground?

[A]

It just was there the entire time.

[C]

Don't worry about it.

[A]

Yeah. Oh, you wanted it?

[B]

No, I'm just making sure that it didn't get picked up and then used.

[A]

Don't worry about it. No, no. Don't worry about It. Chef Andy Lunique would never let that happen. He would never.

[B]

We would. What kind of funny would. Dan Reichert would.

[A]

Honestly. That's incredible dough. It's incredible dough. Because I've been trying to make pizzas at home now since. And I get the Trader Joe's pizza dough, which is pretty.

[C]

Not the same.

[A]

It's not the same. This dough is fucking incredible. We got it from, like, a local business or whatever, and it has, like, a sourdough starter in it. So it has, like, a little bit of, like, that.

[B]

Can I say something?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I'm not. I would never claim to be, like, a cook or, like, somebody who's like.

[C]

I mean, after this video comes out, I definitely would advise against claiming that.

[B]

Listen. Yeah. I wouldn't claim myself to be somebody who, like, would even judge somebody else's cooking ability, because, like, I'm not that great.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

When we were going into this, and Tim was talking about how he's like, yeah, dude, I'd never made a pizza. Like, how, like, he seemed very worried about the steps to make a pizza.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And I'm like, I don't. I feel like out of all the things, pizza might be the easiest thing to kind of, like, break down. Right.

[A]

But you would.

[B]

Cause it's just dough sauce.

[A]

You think that, but it's also the rolling out of the dough. Like, I am. I would say I'm a pretty good cook. You would think that. I'm not because of kind of munchies, but I actually am a good cook. Trust me. But it is just. It's difficult to understand the dough aspect of it. And that was the big thing.

[B]

The dough was fucking.

[A]

You will see on Saturday, we'll upload a clip. But it's Dan Reichert, his first time experiencing the dough. And literally, what he says. He goes outside, he says, how does dough happen? And then Andy Loomis opens up the little case that has the dough, and then Dan just says, oh, whoa, this is crazy. And then he's holding in his hand, like, he's like. He's. He's never felt it before. He's like, whoa, whoa. And he's like, how do we. He's like, you need to get. Andy's like, you got to put some schmutz on it. You got to put some. Some flour on it. So then, you know, most people take the flour and they put it on the table, and then they put the dough out. He takes the dough and puts it right onto the plate.

[B]

He dips into it.

[A]

He dips it into the flour, which is honestly smart.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And then you have the other side of it, which I think you see in the Tim one. Or no, maybe I didn't post it yet. Whatever. I posted internally a little bit of spoiler, Tim. When it's like, okay, it's time to roll out the dough, right? We all understood that. You take the rolling pin and you go out and you roll it out like that. Tim just starts rolling it like taking it with his hands and rolling it like he's like rolling a cigar or something. And it just makes this long tube. So it is just like things that we take for granted that they just are not thinking about.

[B]

But I feel like I think pizza making is so. It's like pop culture. Damn near like I think in a cartoon I've seen people whip out like the fucking roller roll out pizza or.

[A]

Do with their hands or stretch it out. But even here's the thing, people that do talk a big game, right? Like Greg Miller's not very good at it. He talked a huge game about it beforehand. And then he goes out there, he makes a long boy and it's like you didn't even try. He threw the dough.

[C]

Oh yeah, you can see it in this clip here.

[A]

Yeah, he's like, he's doing it. He doesn't know what he's doing. He throws it. It's like, what are you doing, Greg? What are you doing?

[B]

And that's me not talking shit. Cause I'm sure my stuff is gonna come out too when you see the thing. So like don't come at me like, oh, plus you were talking a big game. I'm not claiming that my pizza was great either. It was more so like at the very least I was like, okay, well you know, flatten the dough, put the sauce, put the cheese, put the toppings, put it in the oven, take it out the oven, Boom. Pizza. That's how that works.

[A]

But you're want to check this out because Pizza Bandit sponsored us to do this. Let's play. And it's a fun time again. We're playing the game while people are outside making the pizzas and we're running in tagging each other out. It is absolute chaos. It's a 30 minute video. It's a really good time. We can see who wins. Kinda funny. Or giant bomb. You'll never guess who WINS. We're an 11 person business. All about live talk shows. Today was Games Daily, which we talked about opening night live predictions or just thoughts or what's gonna happen. And then after Gamescast is gonna be Mike and Nick going back into Battlefield 6. If you're a kinda funny member, today's Greg Way is gonna be from you, right?

[B]

Yes, it is. I keep getting Reverse Direction every moment. Maybe a few album reviews, a little bit.

[A]

Dexter.

[B]

I'll do some Dexter for you. Yeah, do it.

[A]

Throw it in there. Throw it in there. I think Michael C. Hall should be Batman.

[B]

Interesting. Were you the one who posted that the other day?

[A]

Yeah, I did.

[B]

Five likes. I mean, I'm thinking about it. I'm not mad at it.

[A]

He could have. He's just a little too creepy.

[B]

He kind of already plays Batman, though.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Like, the only difference between Dexter and Batman is that Dexter kills.

[A]

Randy Orton's trying to become Batman. That's bad.

[B]

Randy Orton should play Dexter.

[A]

Oh, okay. Old Dexter.

[B]

Old Dexter.

[A]

Thank you to our Patreon producers, Karl Jacobs, Omega Buster, and Delaney the Psalm Twining. Today we're brought to you by Shady Rays and Aura Frames. But we'll talk to you about that later. For now, let's start with the topic of the show. Your video game Hot Takes again. We asked y' all to send in some voicemails, and I picked the best ones or some of the worst ones. And we're gonna go in and we got some rules, you and I. Bless rules. Blessing and I, in the interest of how all of the Internet takes should be responded to. Refuse to give judgments within the gray area. We will each either 100% or 100%. 100% agree or 100% disagree.

[B]

No in betweens. Really?

[A]

No in betweens.

[B]

Okay, so you didn't. You didn't consult me on this going in?

[A]

No, 100% agree on this.

[B]

So no gray area.

[A]

We can talk through it, of course, but then we have to at the ending be like, we 100% agree, 100% disagree.

[B]

I feel like. I feel like gray area is like my thing.

[A]

We can talk through the gray area, but we have to. This is a hot takeout. We have to say 100% agree, 100% disagree.

[B]

I don't know if you've ever listened to any of my opinions.

[A]

I know.

[B]

I love the gray area.

[A]

I know. You can have those opinions. We should tell everybody about the opinions. Okay, but we should at the end say 100% agree with DIS.

[B]

I like this because, like, this is a shitless situation of, like, is it.

[A]

Does shit or is that shit we don't want? Cause, like, I think the episodes get boring when it's like, Anthony Ventana was like, do you agree or disagree. He's like, I don't know. He never does that. He says agree, I agree or I disagree. Okay, so let's do that. So let's start off with the title of these episodes.

[B]

Well, I'm not a centrist. Chat.

[A]

It'll go too far. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. The title of this episode is Far to the Left. But if you go so far to left, title of the episode is Fortnite Ruined video games. Question mark, exclamation point. So we're gonna start off with Andy and his first voicemail. Not our Andy. Oh, different Andy. A lot of Andy. Hello.

[D]

Kinda funny crew. This is kinda funny best friend Andy. My hot take is probably not going to be super original, but I want to explain it a little bit. What I mean, Fortnite kind of ruined the game industry and how it works, both from a financial point of view as well as just kind of a quality point of view. I'm not even saying particularly the gameplay or mechanics of it, that one works fine. But the way that games financial success showed companies what kind of money they could be making I think helped bring game profits and like what executives and heads of companies believe they should be making into an unrealistic set of expectations that has ruined games and companies that did not deserve it. I think that the kind of marketing stuff with other licenses and properties was not as big before Fortnite and now has done damage in terms of both denying us great license games from properties that instead went Halo. Just throw a skin in Fortnite and make so much more money as well as steal whole ideas from other games. So we've had them do Counter Strike, had them do just all these different other games that they just take it and redo it. I think Fortnite's the biggest enemy in gaming right now.

[B]

Wow.

[A]

The biggest enemy in gaming. That should be the title actually is for the biggest enemy in gaming.

[B]

Fortnite enemy number one.

[A]

You want to start off?

[B]

I agree 100%. I mean, I don't 100%. 100% agree to 100%. I agree with a lot of what he said. If I had to go one or the other, I would say I more agree than disagree with what he's saying. As far as it being the number one enemy, I don't think so. I think the number one enemy are these corporations that make the bad decisions based off. But it's like if I come through and I make the best meal ever and everybody is fucking like, oh, we gotta use the same ingredients. Oh, we gotta Do. Oh, like that's not my fault that you made a bad decision to try and chase my fucking pizza. You know what I mean? Like, I just made a great pizza. You can find your own way to make a great pizza. That got to a weird analogy, but.

[A]

You'Re saying I like it. I was gonna do a food analogy as well.

[B]

Yeah. But that said, I do think that there's, I think, a legitimacy as far as the impact that Fortnite had. And Fortnite did reconfigure and change a lot. Right. I think it introduced us in a very big way to the idea of a battle pass and that route toward monetization, which obviously has had a huge effect on the post launch process for a lot of live service games. And that's led to a lot of failures. A lot of games tried to change that battle pass method. Didn't work out. It turned Battle Royale into a big thing. Right. And like, I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing. And also, like, maybe it's. Maybe it's wrong to say Fortnite did. Maybe PUBG would be the more accurate one. Right? But Fortnite was so popular that you continued seeing that shit. And like, that's a trend, right? Trends come and go. I don't think Battle Royales are bad by any means, because I actually do fuck with quite a few of them. But that happened. As far as the thievery aspect of Fortnite, that's a thing as well. He mentioned some examples, but Fortnite has taken from a lot of games, whether it be Apex, whether it be Realm Royale, whether it be among us. You go down the list or go down the biggest trends of video games in the last seven years, eight years, Fortnite's kind of taken from all of them. Yeah, I agree more than I disagree on this one.

[A]

I 100% disagree.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

I don't think that Fortnite is the number one enemy, and I think that we're looking at this incorrectly, of like, Fortnite is kind of like the scapegoat I liken Fortnite to. Honestly, this is again a weird analogy, but stick with me here, of it's like almost blaming the entirety of obesity in America to McDonald's. Of like, yeah, of course McDonald's is extremely popular. It has probably brought billions and billions of unneeded calories into everybody. And it made it very easy. But they're not the reason why the culmination of processed food has came into our diets. Right. They are just an Easy way to go about it. And the same thing with Fortnite. This has already been in the works before Fortnite. Fortnite is just the most popular version of what a free to play video has become. And when it comes down to like the thievery aspect of it, I think the most egregious thing is like them trying to copy the smaller games. Right. When it comes to like among us or whatever. But I honestly don't feel any which way about them trying to get in the realm of a Counter Strike or another big corporation that is making billions of dollars and then trying to kind of take a little bit of their market share. Because if anything that makes that market a little bit more interesting. It makes Counter Strike not the only place to play these types of games. It doesn't make. It gives a little bit of competition there. And I don't think it's. Especially with the numbers and the way that it's netted out. Fortnite is very good at making a Battle Royale game. They are not great at continuing or creating a brand new subsect of their business. I think the best vertical for them has been the Lego stuff. But that's even pretty small. And comparatively to Roblox, they are not actively good at creating brand new ideas and games. Just trying to create brand new things and try to have as many people within the Fortnite game as possible. But when you look at those numbers, Counter Strike still destroys Fortnite. When it comes to that specific mode. They're not good. The egregious element of it is when they steal from the smaller developers and they bury them. But I can't really think of.

[B]

I think for me it's like one thing. Cause I wasn't even thinking of the modes. I think I was just thinking of the big features within Battle Royale. Sure, the revival system is from Apex.

[A]

Yeah. But I mean that's just. Isn't that like. You know what I mean? That's just like game design like bleeding into these things, right?

[B]

Yeah, I think so. I think it's also the thing where again, this is why I struggle in the. 100% agree, 100% disagree. Because I also think like when we're saying Fortnite ruined gaming, right? Or Fortnite, I don't agree with the. Fortnite's the number one enemy. I think Fortnite is kind of a result of just where what the trends that video games are barreling towards anyway. Right.

[C]

It would have happened any sort of way whether it was Fortnite or not.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

Yeah, like Fortnite is kind of just a result of like where online has gone, where trends were going.

[A]

It is the result of, first of all, I mean, free to play games have existed for a long time. I mean, Battlefield heroes. I even think about the stuff that I was playing as a kid, like Wizards101. I don't know if you remember that Pop, Tropica, Maplestory, like these free to play games that were kind of the people don't look at them as the pioneers because they were for kids and they were for little children, but those were the pioneers of Free to play and the idea of, of it into the consciousness. But when it comes to microtransactions, I more so blame mobile games and like kind of that rise of stuff and like how that started trickling down into the ecosystem than Fortnite of anything. I mean, Fortnite is just the juggernaut, so it's an easy target to blame. So I think that's kind of, that's where I'm at with it.

[C]

And I think it's what Blessing was saying of like, this was all roads were going to lead here in terms of where the industry was going to be inspired by. Everybody's trying to all these big corporations try to chase after the kind of Fortnite model just because that's what, you know, it works for Fortnite. But one game would have gotten there eventually. It just happened to be Fortnite. That was the first thing to really blow up in that way and then inspired all of or, you know, like got all these different companies to try to trend, chase in ways that were either semi successful, not nearly as successful as Fortnite, or just completely fail, which again would have happened in any sort of way. So again, this is all just, you know, capitalism is the number one.

[B]

You know what? I changed my answer. I disagree. Roger, you convinced me. Oh yeah, look at that.

[A]

Look at that. But we have another one, a little one a right here. This is from Mic Drop or did Fortnite save the industry? Whoa. Let's bring this one up.

[B]

Here's my hot take that got downvoted into oblivion on Reddit. Microtransactions saved video games. The only reason video games are being made today is because of microtransactions. If they didn't exist, we'd get maybe one or two if any video games a year. I think they would be small experiences like mobile if microtransactions didn't exist. But yeah, that's just my take. Don't hate me. It is what it is it is.

[A]

What it is it is what it is. Hey, listen.

[B]

It is what it is it is what it is.

[A]

Listen. Mic drop put this on Reddit got down Voted into oblivion.

[B]

Into oblivion into oblivion.

[A]

Remastered remade horse armor. What do you think about that? Is microtransactions saving the games industry?

[B]

Here's the thing.

[A]

100% agree, 100% disagree.

[B]

Let me live in the gray area. I'll start in the gray area and then I'll say why I disagree. I think microtransactions are probably like the main reason why we didn't see video game prices go up until very recently. Right. Like, I think that kind of helped us stabilize at $60 for a very long time there. And I think there is something to be said about like how that's allowed things to continue flowing, I think to the extent it has. That said, like, I don't think without microtransactions that we would have only been getting a couple of games a year. I don't see the correl there. Did it save the industry? No, I think games would have just gotten more expensive and we would have just balanced that out.

[A]

Yeah, I 100% disagree with this take because I am so interested in the alternate universe of what the world would look like if we didn't have microtransactions because video games would still exist. I think video games would be extremely popular. But also these microtransactions were an inevitability. We were going to get free to play games. We were going to have different ways to monetize this just because of mobile games. But the idea that microtransactions saved the game industry is a false one because it also hurt a lot of the games industry, specifically when it comes to a lot of original video games that are just not made nowadays. Right. Like there are games, there are subsets of the industry that existed that are just way harder to break into and to find success right now. And I think back to the early 360 PS3 era and I look at what we're at right now and I just think about the alternate universe of like man, imagine if we did have those like licensed games like we did back in the day, like, or we had like these, these growing subsets of games that were not microtransaction latent. But yeah, I don't think it saved anything. I don't think we would get. I don't think we would have had this massive drop in video games. We would have two video Games a year.

[C]

I think it transformed the industry.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

I don't think it like was the make or break and you know, the industry survival. I think it would have. It's much different.

[A]

It just changed the way that we looked at money. It changed the way that we looked at money in the gaming industry and back. And now we have to. As soon as we figure out microtransactions, it was. How do we just milk this? How do we. This is the new. This is the new growth potential. We're just going to focus in on that. And that changed the entire industry.

[C]

I do wonder, you know, we were talking about that Sean Layton story yesterday, right. Of the whole like video games should.

[B]

Have gone up every generation.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And then him talking about like the cost of, you know, making like DLC and microtransactions was essentially like next to nothing.

[B]

Next to nothing.

[C]

Which would help fund things in certain ways. I do wonder if, you know, in the Magical Land or microtransactions, like the man who thought of them didn't think of them that one day.

[B]

Right.

[C]

And they didn't exist. I do wonder if there would have been less of a ballooning of studios and companies and industries and honestly, maybe it would have been a little bit healthier in the long run in terms of like. Yeah, maybe there would have been less like, of like this crazy growth in what we've seen in like the last decade. But I do wonder if for the longevity of what games are, if there would have been a bit more of a healthier experience, more realistic life.

[B]

Yeah, maybe more.

[C]

And not exponential growth, but more of like a, you know, steadier growth and.

[A]

Also an ability to, to focus. To focus in on the studios and make sure that they are making games $300 million.

[B]

I think the toug for me is. I also think without microtransactions, a lot of like the multiplayer stuff that I love probably just wouldn't be able to exist in the same way. Right. Like, I think that's what allows for a lot of the genres we have from like the free to play stuff to even like the premium multiplayer stuff to exist and function and be supported year over the years. Without microtransactions like that stuff, you wouldn't have updates for games three years later.

[A]

Like what games? What are we talking?

[B]

I'm thinking of an Apex, Right. I'm thinking of an Overwatch even.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

I mean they would just.

[A]

They would. They would just be yearly releases. You know what I mean?

[B]

Yeah, they probably would just be.

[A]

It would be different, right? I mean, Call of Duty is. Has microtransactions.

[C]

Like, I think it would just. It would look different. I don't think those.

[B]

But I also, But I also, I.

[A]

Think my League of Legends would not be able to exist. Herbie says, I think, my God, my.

[B]

Hot take on the hot take is that I don't think it's a. I think microtransactions are what you do with them. I don't like. I don't view microtransactions as a. A net evil thing necessarily. I think when we take in everything probably are net evil thing. But I think my character transactions depending on the game can be utilized for the good and longevity of the title.

[A]

100% agree.

[B]

I think Overwatch, for example, right? I don't want that as a yearly release. I think a lot of these yearly releases suck. I think a lot.

[A]

Madden 2K, Matt in 2K, WWE, like.

[B]

I think a lot of these things.

[A]

Listen, WWE's kind of good. Yeah.

[B]

But I like WWE, but I'll. It shouldn't be a yearly release.

[A]

No, it should be packed.

[B]

I think those are cases where microtransactions should allow me to get the new updates, get the new players, get the new whatever without having to spend 60 to $70.

[A]

See, I mean, if you think. Look back at it, right? I remember. See, it's like we talk shit on microtransactions, right? But then that also allows us to not have map packs like we did back in the day for Call of Duty, which sucked. Map packs were awful. It was an awful idea to split the fan bases and split the audience of, oh, I can't play with my friends now because we're about to load into a fucking map that he doesn' have. And now that that doesn't even exist, right? Like, they give you free maps throughout the year. And I'm not saying that, you know, whatever, but like, that is an interesting side of this where that was them trying to not do microtransactions and to be like, oh, we're going to put out a map pack for 15 bucks. And that was worse. That was a worse idea than them putting Beavis and Butthead. I would take an entire game lobby of Beavis and Butt Head and Call of Duty rather than splitting up my fan. My friends playing Call of Duty. I think that shit's. I think my biggest hot take here is the thing that we're not talking about. This is gonna get real and a little bit dark here is that the side of microtransactions that we should be fucking angry about, we should actually be talking about is gambling. And specifically when it comes. But specifically when it comes to Counter strike, when it comes to, we talk about EA, we talk about all those Madden 2K or whatever. But Counter Strike, I know for a fact, and this is not a bit contributed to gambling addictions and people I know, like I was the first generation of people to grow up with people opening up packs every single day in boxes and trying to find knives and selling them online. And they're 15, 14 years old, 13, 12 years old playing these games and they are absolutely addicted to online gambling now. And that is a one to one connection. And we talk about, oh well, microcondition here and there. Like that, that is the evil right there. That is the stuff that we look at Valve and Steam as a company of like, oh wow, they're so progressive and they're doing all this interesting stuff. It's like no, they are contributing to lot of people's gambling addictions. Like true, really deep gambling addictions.

[B]

That's where I land on the net evil thing of like, you know, I think microtransactions as far as what they've introduced.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Like I think that dark, dark side of it when you bring in the counter strikes or you bring in like some of these mobile titles and like some of the gotcha stuff and like, like how deep down the well that shit goes. Yeah. Like it's been a net negative as far as how that's affected people's lives and wallets, but I think even that stuff still comes down to how Valve has implemented this stuff. Right. How these gotcha companies have implemented this stuff. But on the other hand, right, like I look at a Marvel Rivals and that wouldn't exist without microtransactions.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Or it exists in a dynamically.

[C]

I think they would get there eventually. It just wouldn't exist in the same way. I do think of like maybe the subscription model would be maybe a bit more prevalent in stuff that isn't just like.

[B]

World Warcraft.

[A]

Yeah, okay. And then Meldo in the chat says without gambling Steam wouldn't be the juggernaut it is today. I disagree completely. Or at least the way that they handled it was awful. Right. Because you can still have loot boxes. Right. The issue was that they were allowing people to sell them online and third party platforms and get real money for it and they didn't crack down on that for years. For years. And they knew about it. Like they absolutely knew that this was happening. And this is the reason why people were buying so many boxes, Right. You can have cosmetics in video games. You could have the Beavis and Butt Heads. You could have a fucking knife that has a weed logo on it. But, like, you don't need. If you're allowing people to sell it for real money and then people get addicted on making money off of your virtual thing, you're go straight to hell. Like, that is, like, that is evil shit right there. That is fully evil stuff right there.

[B]

So we'll say this is a separate. Still thinking about Overwatch and Marvel. I love this. I do not want a subscription model for those games.

[A]

Like, I think, like, if, if, if.

[C]

We lived in an alternate reality, right, where microtransactions just blipped from existence. I think that's how companies would eventually try to.

[B]

Try to make those things happen. Yes. But I think microtransactions, I think, are probably in a. An easier way to make that money. Like, I don't know if the subscription model. A world in which most of these multiplayer games, instead of being free to play and having microtransactions where they have subscription models, so many more of them fail.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Because there's no way everybody's Submarine.

[A]

Especially now in 2025 with everybody having fucking Paramount plus and HBO Max and everything. It's like we're just all split too far.

[B]

I'm shocked that MMOs still get away with it.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, barely. Now there's like, how many MMOs, right? How many MMOs that actually are successful? How deep were we into these subs?

[C]

Dude, 29 minutes.

[A]

29 minutes. Perfect, everybody. Well, we'll continue with your hot takes. We got some fun ones that are not as dark. We'll tell you about that after our sponsors.

[E]

This episode's brought to you by Shady Rays. You know that moment, the one when you realized you left your favorite pair of sunglasses at the beach? We've all been there. I'll never forget leaving my incredibly overpriced sunglasses at a restaurant in Santa Monica. That was 13 years ago, and it still haunts me to this day.

[B]

Day.

[E]

But then I found Shady Rays and everything changed. Seriously good looking, polarized, durable, and not stupidly expensive. And here's the wild part. If you lose or break them even on day one, Shady Rays will send you a brand new pair. No guilt trip, just replacement. So now you can actually wear your sunglasses without fear. Y' all know I've been outside in the sun a lot playing Pokemon Go, and it's such a great experience wearing Shady Rays when I'm all out and and about. Shady Rays is eyewear that has your back. We've teamed up with Shady Rays to bring you an exclusive offer. Check this out. You can head to shadyrays.com use code funny for 35% off polarized sunglasses. Try for yourself the shades rated 5 stars by over 300,000 people. Shady rays use a code funny this episode is brought to you by Aura Frames. Our frames are the perfect way to relive your favorite memories that you create in throughout this beautiful, beautiful summer season. No lie. Our frames are undeniably the best gift I have ever given family, friends, partners. Everyone loves being able to have beautiful frames showing off their loved ones and their favorite memories. Our frames are incredibly smart and easy to use, allowing you to upload unlimited photos and videos directly from your phone to the frame. Plus the coolest thing, you can order the frame online and preload it with photos and video videos using the Aura app so it's ready to go right out of the box when you give it to someone. There's unlimited storage so you can store as many photos and videos as you can find and it's so simple to set up. Start reliving your favorite memories by visiting auraframes.com for a limited time. Listeners can get 35 off their best selling Carver matte frame. That's a U R A frames.com promo code. Kinda funny. Support the show by mentioning us at checkout. Out terms and conditions apply. Our frames.com kind of funny.

[A]

And we are back. We're going to go to another one. This is for you. Blessing. This is from Claw Master.

[C]

Oh, I forgot that that's on me.

[A]

Make up a take right now.

[F]

Hello, Claw Master here. Claw Master wanted to say hey, funny games are not that hard to learn. There's a stigma of trying to learn a fighting game and it's always like a daunting outside thing that a lot of people kind of look into. But honestly, it's not that hard to learn. It takes some time, some effort. And with some upcoming games that are especially in the tag genre, Marvel Tolkon with the TXKO with Invincible Versus their upcoming tag games are on the horizon. And I think that for anyone who wants to get into the fighting game scene or funny games in general, probably the perfect time anytime. Honestly, perfect time to go ahead and join the fun. But in case in point, fighting games, not that hard folks. Pick up a fighting game. It's a lot of fun. We are very welcoming to new players and we always like to teach new Players how to play the game.

[A]

Thank you so much, Clawmaster.

[B]

Yeah, thank you so much, Clawmaster. Fighting games aren't that hard to learn. Yeah, I, I think I agree 100%.

[A]

You have to say it.

[B]

You have to say it. I, I, you know, I'm gonna say 100% agree now. I'm not gonna say every fighting game is easy to learn. I do think they vary. There's some virtual fighter I tried to learn a little bit earlier in the year, and I was like, fuck this, I'm not doing this right now. That one was just, like a really tough one for me. But I think you, I think, I think fighting games, especially the modern ones, have given so many good tutorials, so many good tools, so many setups and modes to where you can hop in and just have fun, right? Street Fighter has the modern controls. Tekken has, like, a modern control scheme. One of the ones coming up, I think Invincible Versus maybe has like a modern, like, easy to play control scheme where it is like, hey, dude, just press buttons and go. Dragon Ball Fighters. And I assume the same is true for Marvel Token Fighting Souls as well. They have auto combos where as long as you press square, just tap square, you're gonna do a combo maybe into a super, right. If you add a triangle in there as well. So I think fighting games are doing their best to try and find accessible ways to get people in. I think the biggest tough thing about fighting games and getting good at them is understanding how to get good. I think a lot of people hop in and you're faced with just a character and all these different moves, and it's like, okay, well, I'm just gonna button mash my way through. And I think that's valid. So I came in learning fighting games, right? But I think being able to figure out how to lab and how to. All right, these are the special moves I want to learn. These are the combos I want to learn. Right. I think getting into that process is very daunting to people. But I think I ultimately agree with the Super Chat as far as, like, hey, if you want to. Fighting games nowadays are very WELCOMING.

[A]

Yeah, I 100% disagree. Yeah, 100% disagree.

[B]

I agree with it.

[A]

Sure, it is easier to get into it, but every time I get into it, I just think my brain is just not built like that. Like, my brain, I mean, I can button mash, I can play the video game on a technical level, but once you start, like, telling me to add on things, it just doesn't work for me. And I understand, like anything.

[B]

Do you play action games?

[A]

Yeah, I do. Yeah. I think it is like the. My brain doesn't want to understand in the moment, specifically playing against another player, that I have to now block them by doing a back and a B and then an up. Like that stuff just doesn't work for me. Maybe my brains are slow, maybe I'm broken.

[B]

I think it's like any other genre of action, right? Where you kind of just have to learn what the, the game wants from you.

[A]

Yeah, but see, here's the thing. The weird thing about this is like I believe I'm a very determined person.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

I can do anything. I can fucking. I can run a mile in three minutes right now.

[B]

Yes, you can.

[A]

If I try really hard and I.

[C]

Train, hang out with Mike way too much.

[A]

I train. Mike gets to me nodding his head. How fast can you do a mile?

[E]

Sub 4.

[A]

Sub 4. We could do that together. We have done it before, we just haven't. There's no cameras. We just like to do it by ourselves and hang out. I can do anything. I can do anything. And I guarantee you, if I spent a year training, I can get really good at fighting gears.

[B]

I think if you spend three months training, you could.

[A]

If I spent a year, you know what I'm doing for a year. I guess I can explain. I can confirm this to the audience now. Big news.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

A year from last week. A year in the future starting last week ago. So I guess a year and whatever.

[B]

What are you saying?

[A]

Next year? Next year. Next year. Next year I am gonna go head to head with Andy Cortez in a three point shooting contest.

[B]

No, you're not.

[A]

I bought a basketball and I have a basketball hoop that's down the block. And I texted him, I said, give me one year. Give me one year. Look at that. I already learned it. I already learned it. I already learned it. He was talking shit. He was behind the camera. I was putting my body on the line. That's crazy that he's doing that to me. Right there. Boom.

[B]

Three.

[A]

And I've been texting him. I've been saying, why is your hand.

[C]

I wanted to be in the back.

[B]

Why is your hand above the other hand?

[C]

I got denied because.

[A]

Because I got like this. Well, no, this is just me. This is just me like doing the shape of the basketball.

[B]

Oh, so you're using the hand. Your hand is the basketball you're throwing?

[A]

Yeah, absolutely.

[B]

I think you want your other hand. Like.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

Like if your right hand shooting and.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

You want your Left hand, kind of like guiding.

[A]

I'm learning.

[B]

You want to have the left hand guiding it.

[A]

So a year from now, I think it was August 5th or something like that. I think it's the week before my wedding date is, so I can get out of it pretty easily. I just, like, focus on wedding stuff. We'll move that.

[B]

Fair enough.

[A]

Now you're just. Yeah.

[B]

So you're fully admitting learning how to shoot three pointers is easier than learning how to play a fighting game?

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Okay.

[A]

For sure. For sure.

[C]

Corey Pichu in the chat says if you shoot anything like you skip, Andy is not in trouble.

[A]

Andy said. I said first to 100. No, he said first to 100. I'll let you start at 50. That's good. That's great. Yeah. I don't know. I know I can do it. I know if I spent three months putting my head down and learning I could do it. It's just. It is just not a. I don't know. It just doesn't work for some people's brains as easily.

[B]

I think that's fair, but I think it's true.

[A]

But I think, like, I can learn League of Legends faster.

[B]

You maybe could. Yeah.

[A]

Yeah. And that's kind of the weird thing about fighting games. It looks like it's like. Oh, it's like Mortal Kombat, how hard it can be.

[B]

It's like.

[A]

It's fucking hard, man. It's difficult.

[B]

It's hard. But I also think it's like any new genre of video game, right?

[A]

Sure.

[B]

It's like when you hop into souls, you kind of have to understand what souls wants from you. Right. When you hop into league, right. You kind of have to understand what that game wants from you. And really, it is just learning the language of the game. And I think if you are really good at action games, I do think that translates to some extent. Right. Because at that point, you're learning, all right, what are the combos I can do when I'm playing First Berserker, Khazan. This is a bad example because I don't know if this translates. But if I hit Nerf, if I hit square, or let's do Spider Man, If I hit square, square, triangle, that's probably gonna do a combo. If I do that in a fighting game.

[A]

Right.

[B]

It's kind of the same thing of. All right, what are the combos that I can do? It's the same thing as an action game. What is the block button? In a lot of fighting games, it is back, which is kind of A little bit of a learning thing for the brain, but once you understand that, it then kind of comes natural. Like, okay, cool, I'm playing an action game. Then it really just comes down to combos and stuff, I think playing against.

[A]

Other players and just memorizing it.

[B]

Memorizing, right. I think the big thing with fighting games, though, is that. And this is the thing that I think discourages people is playing against other players.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Because it is like any other competitive genre of video game where, guess what? Other players are very fucking good at the game.

[A]

Yeah. Like, really good.

[B]

They're really good at the game. And so, like, it's not that you're bad, it's just that other players are fucking legendary and that you keep fighting them if you stick to, like, playing against the AI or playing like. That's why I like that story modes are a more popular thing, because I.

[A]

Feel like I have played story modes for sure. Yeah.

[B]

And I feel like it's more of a fair and even level playing field. And also they help you to kind of get your feet wet to hop into the practice modes or whatever.

[A]

I love that. Let's go to another one. We're going to skip to seven, Barrett, if that's okay. Let's do an easier one, a simpler one. We should be in and out of this one pretty fast. I'm excited for this one. I was very happy to hear this.

[G]

Hey, this is Samson, aka Samson L in the chat, or Samson XP, depending on. I don't know what YouTube feels. My gaming hot take is that there shouldn't be any of these mouse cursors on these console games. So stuff like Apex Legends, you have a little mouse cursor with your inventory. I'm playing Tiny Bookshop right now. It's mostly a fake mouse cursor, and I think Marvel Rivals has that, too. These fake mouse cursors gotta go. Instead, bring back the Wii Remote motion controls where you can just point with your controller. We went too far to point on icons and all that because that'll make games so much easier than dragging around your little thumbstick, clicking and pretending you're a mouse. If you want to do PC stuff, I'll go play PC games, you know? So get rid of those mouse cursors. Bring back Wii Remote motion controls. Kind of like what the PlayStation does with typing already. I use that all the time.

[B]

Okay. So I kill that.

[A]

Yeah.

[G]

Get rid of fake mice. Bye.

[A]

Yeah. Destiny ruined the video game industry with this. I remember. I remember. I remember the moment when I booted up Destiny 1 for the first time, for my first four hours that I never went back to and I just threw away that game. I booted up and I had the mouse cursor and I was like, wow, what a novel idea. It's like I'm playing a PC game. How cool is that? And then everyone did it and it was. That is number one game's enemy, as Cory Cudney says. Yeah, 100% agree. And yes, we should be using the fucking PlayStation controller to have the mouse movement there. I think that's cool.

[B]

Or let me just highlight it like a regular menu.

[A]

Or just make a. Yeah, just make it a menu. Or just make a real menu for controllers. Don't do the fucking mouse cursor. You're not allowed.

[B]

Yeah, I 100% agree with this as well.

[A]

I love that.

[B]

The mouse cursor always. It's discouraging when it comes up when you hit the pause menu and you're like, oh, I gotta fucking slow.

[A]

It's slow and there's no setting for it.

[B]

I gotta drag this thing across the screen to change my gear.

[A]

Yuck.

[B]

Get the fuck outta here.

[A]

Yuck. Let's go to. There's a lot of. You know what, let's go to number six. This is from Barista Brand. This is also an interesting one. I've heard this one before, but I wanna talk about it.

[C]

Good morning, Roger, it's Barista Brand. My hot take is Insomniac games were better making original games than they are making Marvel games. I love the Spider man games. They're great 8 out of 10 experiences. Great stories, great gameplay, but it's nothing that the Batman Arkham games haven't already given us. I love Sunset Overdrive. It's incredibly original and I think the studio would be better off making more of those more original ideas than to continue making Marvel games until they inevitably just get shut down by PlayStation. Love everything you do. Thanks so much.

[B]

See you. So this person's argument is that resistance, Sunset Overdrive, Ratchet and Clank. Ratchet and Clank.

[A]

You're just starting all the way. Go deep Storm, Spyro. They've done so many games.

[B]

Well, okay, you're on the website. Are we counting Spyro in this conversation though?

[A]

I mean, just talking about their pre Marvel.

[C]

It's part of their history.

[B]

Yeah, okay, sure. Spyro. No, I 100% disagree. Yeah, I'm sorry, I 100% disagree. And I kind of. Well, Spider Man. I totally understand the idea of like, okay, well, we've gotten that kind of game Before. I think Insomniac is at the peak of their powers with Spider Man. I think the closest thing is probably Rift Apart Ratchet and Clank. I love Ratchet and Clank. I think they should keep going back and forth between doing Marvel things in Ratchet and Clank. But you're not gonna sit here and tell me that resistance is more worth their time than spider man.

[A]

I 100% disagree. If we're gonna be doing this. 100% whatever. But like, I, you know, I don't know who would make those rules. You know what I mean? Like, I wanna be in the middle who would make those rules. But 100% disagree. I really, the more I think about it, I'm very disappointed in Spider Man 2. I don't think that game hits the highs of even what Miles Morales did. I think it's a very safe sequel. It's a very safe sequel. It goes bizarre, bizarre places. And I don't like that story the more I think about it.

[B]

Oh, you 100% disagree with him or with me?

[A]

No, with him. Sorry, with you. Sorry, sorry. I guess 100% agree.

[B]

My bad, my bad. You 100% agree?

[A]

I 100% agree with this take. I do think that you're so disappointed.

[B]

In Spider Man 2 that you want them to make resistance.

[A]

I am just saying that they are locked into this world now of Marvel and like, you know, we've all seen the leaks, we all see what they're working on in the next 15 years. Right? It's a lot of Marvel properties here. It's a lot of stuff that is, they're just locked into being the Marvel.

[B]

Wolverine and then seemingly X Men.

[A]

X Men and then I don't know what's going on with Venom or whatever. Is that an actual thing? We don't know. Whatever.

[B]

Yeah, I'm still in mind that I don't think that's.

[A]

It's a lot of Marvel stuff and this is a very unique studio. And yeah, sure, if you want to look back at this stuff and you're like, well, which is better than Spider Man? Spider man is a really fun game to swing around and I have a good time with it. I like creative studios doing unique things that they've created. So I, when we get into the place of them, I like the idea of them doing Spider man as like a one off or that's just like one of the many pillars that they have. But now they're becoming the Marvel studio. It's like way less interesting to me as a studio and it Just it also just, you know, I'm not the business guy, so yadda. I know these games sell very well. But like that's a huge budgeted video game with you know, it's a very single player driven video game with a license. Like it just. It puts their studio in a very, very peculiar and precarious situation, which I don't like for Insomniac. I want them to create original stuff that they can kind of build up and make franchises like a Ghost of Yotei, like Tsushima.

[B]

I think I agree with everything you're saying except for the like the final conclusion of it because I also. Spider Man 2, I was a little down by too. Even though I love the game but like, you know, I don't. I think I like Spider Man 1 still as like, like the most out of the games that they made in recent years. That said. Right. Like I think my thing is Spider Man. Out of so many of Insomniac's games in the last, let's say decade. Right? Let's say starting with Sunset Overdrive, I think Spider man is the best display of what they're able to do as a studio. They're great at making these bright, colorful games that thrive off of the movement and motion and having all these different like active abilities that you're doing. I think Spider man and Ratchet, I would put Ratchet in that thing too. Right. Are the two best examples of what Insomniac thrives at. And if I felt like Sunset, I'm not trying to take away from either because I know some people love Sunset, but. Yeah, I just don't see those being more. I don't see a Sunset or a resistance or. I'm not saying that they couldn't make a new original thing, but we've seen their original things. I think Spider man in like the Marvel shit is going to allow their talents to shine so much more. I don't. I think here's my take on that.

[A]

I disagree with more. Like what do you mean by that? Like. Cause like when I play a Ratchet and I play Sunset Overdrive, it has all the DNA of what Spider man is. It's just. Are you saying it's a bigger audience?

[B]

No, I think here's my hot take to bounce off of the hot take.

[A]

I like that.

[B]

I think. I don't think Insomniac creates worlds that I'm invested in. I think them playing in other people's worlds actually makes me more invested.

[C]

I 100% disagree.

[A]

I.

[B]

Tell me about the Insomniac worlds that you're super invested in.

[C]

Ratchet and Clank. I think that's a very fun. Unique.

[A]

Yeah, I like rationing for.

[C]

For Sony and PlayStation in general. I put my hot take in the chat that I don't think they've made a game that's above an 8.5, and I think that's okay.

[B]

I agree.

[A]

Going back to the them playing in other people's worlds and creating their own worlds. I just. I am not sold on their Spider man world. I'm gonna be honest. Like, I really am not sold in this universe that they're creating.

[C]

I'm less on it in Spider Man 1. I'm less sold on it.

[A]

That's what I'm at too, is that when they made Spider Man 1, I was like, maybe this could be good. But it always just felt like I've seen this before in movies. I've seen this before in movies. I've seen this before in comic books. They're not creating a universe that I think is particularly unique. Like, they're not creating a Spider man that I'm in love with. I'm not in love with this Miles Morales. I'm not in love with this Peter Parker. Like, I can really take them or leave it. Like, I just. I genuinely do not find their take on what Spider man as a character and his world to be fascinating or pushing the narrative forward when it comes to. We've seen so many different Spider mans. I want this one to feel unique. I want to be excited about it.

[B]

I think I disagree as far as, like, this Spider man needing to do something to truly separate himself from other Spider Man. I think over the years we've gotten so many interpretations of spider man that I really like this version of Spider man being more of a center. I like insomniac Spider man being, hey, here's a Spider man that is kind of the Spider man that you know and love. Because you've gotten amazing Spider man video games. Not amazing as in quality, but amazing as in, like the literal amazing Spider man game.

[A]

Yeah, you've gotten the movie version, You've.

[B]

Gotten the movie versions. You've gotten the Edge of Time, Saints of Time. You've gotten all of these different interpretations of Spider man as insomniac. Let's have a more centered, clean slate, clean slate, straightforward Spider man thing. And I think we can run the hits.

[C]

And I think Spider man one that worked. And I think that was held up by the performances and just like the actual script writing and all of that. Between the characters and the relationships. And I think Spider Man 2 because I also really love Miles Morales because I think Miles Morales was just kind of more focused version of Spider Man 1 and then 2. I think they jumped the shark a little bit.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

On like all of the weird shit it was. It was like going from, you know, the first, not literally the first six months of Spidey, but it's like trying to do the clone and like Venom and Carnage saga, like way too early. That's just like, okay, like what are we doing?

[A]

It's. It's just an interesting thing because for Spider man it is such an easy property for me to get excited about. I am excited about even the bad Spider man movies. Like that's like even Amazing Spider Man 2. There's so much there about Andrew Garfield and Gwen that is good. It's good stuff right there. And when Andrew Garfield comes back, I'm excited to see that Andrew Garfield. I'm excited to see if they bring back Emma Stone eventually. You know what I mean? She's fucking spider Gwen. I would be excited for that. And also the animated show that they did recently is incredible. It's awesome stuff. Like that character and the world that they have is so unique and you do different things with it, specifically with that animated version they did recently. So to have this be like the milquetoast, like kind of the most generic running the hits version of Spider man, that is if you kind of squint your eyes. I guess it's Tom Holland. I guess it's like, it's like it doesn't. This is. To have to feel meh about a Spider man world, specifically one that is a video game. That feels so good. That is so beautiful. Is just. That's disappointing. And I look at Ratchet and Clank and I'm like, man, what a fun world. What an exciting universe that they've created. I have a good time playing it.

[B]

I do hate that they changed the design to look kind of like Tom Holland. But that said, I totally disagree with you as far as like the milk toast and feeling met about it. But I think that's also just like a how it hits you sort of thing. I like this universe. Is it the best Spider man universe ever? No. Maybe for video games though. It is. I think actually I would say yes for video games is.

[A]

Yeah, I think this is. It's the best playing one for sure.

[B]

It's the best playing one. But then also I think in terms of what they're doing as far as. As characters and the villains and building out the world of Spider Man. I think between the three games they've done so far, I am really into this universe. I genuinely, really like the Spider man universe. I think the tough thing about this conversation is that the conversation is the Marvel stuff versus original IP or original ideas, right? And I don't know what I want out of an original idea, because that's going to be something. That's going to be a new thing, right? I can't compare Spider man to an unknown quantity that I don't know about. If I'm gonna compare it to a Ratchet or a sunset or a Resistance, I do want. Ratchet is like, the one thing where I'm like, I want Insomniac to give me one Ratchet every. Maybe a generation. A Ratchet a generation around with. I think Ratchet is the one that I do have a soft spot for as far as what that brings to the table, gameplay wise, world wise, all that shit. You know, I'm not, like, I'm not here in the Ratchet lore looking up things. I love Captain Quark. Like, I love the characters, but I'm here for the gameplay, the weapons, that shit. That's what they're good at, and that's what they're good at. That said, if they're doing anything that's not Ratchet, I'm like, just give me Spider Man. I don't know what new I could do.

[A]

I will say I adore playing Spider Man. I play it way more than maybe anybody in this office because I just boot it up every few weeks and I just swing around for a few hours.

[C]

You and Tim are probably tied.

[A]

I love, love playing Spider Man. Like, it's an incredible experience. I just. I am not excited about this world and being locked into that for 20 years. It just doesn't necessarily excite me of, like, oh, man. Like, I want them to try different things. Yes, I agree. I would love for them to do Ratchet stuff, but how long are we into this episode? Pretty late, right? 52. All right, let's do one last time. We'll go for as long as you want, but if you want to end, don't worry about it.

[B]

Out and about.

[A]

Oh, he's out and about. Okay, we got a few ones that. All right. You can cool down a few more. Yeah, I love this one, and I want to do the one. This is number eight. I would love to do this one. This is great.

[H]

My hot take is that I don't think games have gotten more political. I think that games have gotten less political. Take Sonic the Hedgehog. You look at him today and he's this family friendly mascot all about friends, family and chili dogs. He has like a Dennis the Menace thing going with Dr. Eggman, but nothing too mean spirited. Why are they fighting?

[A]

I don't know.

[H]

Maybe he stole Aladdin's magic lamp. Maybe he built an evil amusement park. Oh, how they massacred my boy. Let me take you back to the year 1991 when Dr. Robotic was just straight up dumping oil into the ocean. Just tossing napalm into a rainforest. True. Constructing factories, belching carcinogenic smoke.

[A]

Why?

[H]

Who knows? Maybe he just wanted some AI artwork of the Golden Girls as Avengers or some shit. The important thing is there was one lone blue eco terrorist with the attitude to stop him. That's right. Sonic the Black Block anarchist. He took one look at those death egg factories and what do you think he did? Did he call this member of Congress? Did he donate to the Sierra Club? N. That's Mario shit. He laced up his shoes and started blowing up factories like it was going out of style. No dated references from Ben Schwartz. No wise cracks from Jason Griffith. Just a dead silent needle mouse burning downhill from the inside. And when he discovered the blood emeralds that were fueling production, you better believe he sees the means of production. You know, people threw around the word radical quite a lot back in the 90s, and most of the time it was bullshit. Like a turtle eating pizza or a dog wearing sunglasses. But when used to describe one Sonic the Hedgehog. Gospel Breaking truth.

[A]

Thank you.

[B]

What are we doing here?

[A]

Incredible.

[B]

What are we doing here?

[A]

That was awesome. I love this person so much because they sent this in and then it cut out halfway through. I was like, fuck, this would have been so good. And they redid it again. They redid it again. They sent it. And I was like, thank you so much. Whoever did that. That was incredible.

[B]

Yeah, they didn't leave a name.

[A]

Yeah, they didn't leave a name. And I very much appreciate that. It starts off and it's like less political. I'm like, okay, I could kind of see that argument because I know a lot of games where we play Dead Rising recently. Like, damn, this game's fucking hella political. Right?

[B]

Metal Gear Rising.

[A]

Exactly. I was like, okay, we can have that argument. It's a fun one. And then it goes into this all about Sonic and it's incredible. It's so good. 100% agree on my side. Yeah, I agree.

[B]

I'm not agreeing or disagreeing because they're not taking the take seriously what they are.

[A]

They just gave you all the points.

[B]

Let's be real. All right. I came here to have a serious.

[C]

Podcast to bring in a serious thing for you. I just wanted to shout out this video essay that I mentioned on our Mafia review the other day. This is from Peter Spatek on YouTube. They wouldn't make this game today. And it's all about the modern Wolfenstein games and how like how much commentary there was in both of these games about like the deep seated racism in America and the rise in fascism before Nazi Germany came about and breaking that down in a very serious way. And what have we gotten out of this franchise since? Absolutely nothing.

[B]

Right.

[C]

We get Young Blood, which does absolutely no interesting commentary on any of that whatsoever. Even though that's 20 years after I think Wolfenstein 2.

[A]

Right.

[C]

And then, you know, I felt that same way with Mafia the Old country as well, where it's like Mafia 3. There's like some interesting actual political commentary and dissection happening in Mafia 3. And then their next original game is Mafia the Old country where they do absolutely none of that.

[B]

So, so Final Fantasy 7 is about ego terrorism, ecoterrorism. Yeah. I mean they're doing that in the remakes and the. Here's my thing is I, I got to watch the video essay to listen to the full argument because I, I, that game came out in the midst of like Nazis with their.

[C]

Yeah, they will not replace us.

[B]

Yeah, they will not replace us. And they're the tiki torches. Yeah.

[C]

Like they talk about that.

[B]

Yeah. Like that game came out in a very like heated time. Yeah. And so like I'm more, I guess I'm interested in like the argument what's.

[C]

Happening last 10 years.

[B]

Yeah. But I'm still, I'm still interested in the argument that I wouldn't come out today.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Because yeah, Indiana, I guess Indiana Jones is a different game, but that also was like anti Nazi. Here she's giving me looks. I need more than. You should watch the video. Okay.

[C]

I think, I think he makes some very salient points, especially when talking about that stuff in the, when it's coming out in 26. I don't even. Yeah, 2017. And then also talking about Indiana Jones and it more so like the easy thing is like, yeah, fuck Nazis. But the more deep seated, what Wolfenstein is actually saying and actually getting into versus what Indiana Jones does.

[B]

Okay.

[C]

Yeah. I highly recommend it. He's very good at making videos.

[A]

Let's switch gears to 4A. I want to go to 4A.

[B]

Oh, you're not even going 4?

[A]

No, because at 4. I think it's just like we need better games. It's from Eric and he's basically saying, we want games with. We don't care about graphics. We want better games with better stories. But this is more.

[B]

Last take.

[A]

Yeah, exactly. This is a very specific take, which I like.

[B]

It's from K. I think the biggest.

[F]

Hot take is the ray tracing. So I think the ray tracing is kind of overrated right now for the console. And I think it's good for the marketing, screenshots and gameplay trailers. But it's barely worth the performance trade off right now. Things might change with PS6 with more advanced technological changes, but right now I think it's overrated.

[A]

What do you think about ray tracing? Do you think we need ray tracing right now? Do you think it's worth.

[B]

Do I.

[A]

All our games running at fucking 45 frames per second.

[B]

Well, no, it's definitely not what that is. I turn that shit off every single time I'm running that shit at 60fps.

[A]

Except for Indiana Jones where you can't. Where it's baked into the game.

[B]

We gotta have a conversation about Xbox. Cause they keep doing that shit.

[A]

I mean, it's not even Xbox. It's a lot of games now, but.

[B]

It'S a lot of Xbox games. I swear to God.

[A]

What is the future of what games are going towards right now?

[B]

Yeah, there are so many. It was Hellblade, I think, did the same thing. I'll come with the receipts later.

[A]

Sure.

[B]

But I think. I agree. I think ray tracing is overrated. Cause every single time I sort of got it in the last few years where I'm like, man, this lighting looks incredible. And I look into it and it's not ray tracing. Yeah, it's just nice. It's just lighting.

[A]

Yeah, I like ray tracing fine. But when it comes down to it, we're just kind of pushing our hardware just to push our hardware. It feels like. And I don't know, I don't necessarily. There's games as. You're totally right. Of like, I've played games like, oh, this has to be ray traced. It's just not ray traced. Right. It's about the way that you design these games. And I don't think that pushing everything to be ray traced. Also, sometimes ray tracing creates a weird look for some games, especially older games. When you start adding in, ray tracing gives like this kind of slippery, weird feeling to it. Yeah, I'm just not sold on ray tracing. Specifically with the way that it's pushing our hardware and everything.

[B]

I do think it's a really good thing to put on the box. I agree with that part of it. I think it.

[A]

For these new consoles, it's more obtainable than 8K. Cause like, we're never gonna get K, right? They put AK on the PS5 box. They removed it. So it's like they're trying to put things on the box. So ray tracing is an easy one.

[B]

Yeah, Yeah. I think these new consoles needed marketing, they needed buzzwords. Graphics cards need marketing. They need buzzwords. And oftentimes Andu will show me something on his RTX 1,000,030 or whatever. And it looks incredible when he shows me the ray tracing. But I feel like half the time I.

[C]

Are you really paying attention to that shit? Not really the moment.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

Like, that's the thing is like when it's off and I. First of all, I'm always sacrificing it for the 60fps whenever I have to make the choice. Always sacrificing that shit. And then also, yeah, it's like not. It's not really. It's not. Changed my life.

[A]

Yep. I'm looking at the super chats really quick. My computer's taking a long time to load.

[D]

There it is.

[A]

Oh, we got some hot.

[F]

Oh, we got a lot hot takes.

[A]

Should have looked at that before. Let me read that. Okay. ICwiener gave a super chat and says I forgot to call. But people who play retro games, they didn't play in their youth, not out of historical curiosity, are try hard posers.

[B]

I like that. I disagree. But I like the heat.

[A]

I like it. I like it a lot.

[B]

Cause why you playing that?

[A]

See, okay, so I.

[B]

But I also disagree. I disagree in the sense that, like, I didn't grow up, like, can't be.

[C]

Curious about a game and try it out.

[B]

No, you totally can't. Because we're sensible people. I like this as a hot take.

[A]

I respect it. I respect it. Honestly, 100% agree. Because as. For a while, I try to be that person. Right. Cause I didn't grow up with a lot of these games. So I was like, oh, let me go back. I'm in the video game industry. I'm talking about my opinions. I gotta play all the classics. And I start booting up these fucking games. I'm like, what the fuck am I doing?

[B]

Here's my thing.

[A]

What the fuck am I doing? Let me go play Shadow the Hedgehog again.

[B]

If I think about it, the first Metroidvania I probably played was Guacamelee. And guess what?

[A]

Like same.

[B]

That didn't mean I was posing.

[A]

That didn't. Oh, sorry.

[B]

I thought I'd give him the thumbs up.

[C]

No, you shouldn't have. Cause it would have been payback for Roger never giving me the fist bump on.

[A]

Oh, I saw that after it happened. I was like, I didn't realize who was doing that.

[B]

I should have just fucking missed it. Yeah, and I did play Guacamelee because I was trying to act like I was into Super Metroid. It's like, no, Guacamelee was just a fun new game.

[A]

That was cool. Yeah, exactly.

[B]

Guess what? I played Rogue Legacy. And that's like a roguelite, Right? But it also has a lot of Castlevania shit going on. That and dead cells have Castlevania influence to them. Guess what? Those are just good ass games. So I disagree with the hotbeat.

[C]

Did you watch a movie that came out before you were born? You're a fucking try hard poser.

[B]

I mean, yeah, I watched Blade Runner 2049.

[A]

Well, I think it's a different. I think if Icy Wiener added on to this, I would say, oh, well, it feels like a fucking 22 year old is acting like Super Mario 64 is the greatest video game ever made.

[B]

That I agree with.

[A]

And they didn't grow up. And they didn't grow up with it. It's like, okay, well fuck you.

[B]

And that. I. A thousand percent and see, that's a better take of like, you know, it's like.

[A]

It's like the film, bro. So we're like, oh, you gotta watch this movie. And it's like, fuck you. You don't. You didn't watch this movie until. Until you spent $30,000 a year on film.

[B]

What are your thoughts on Tetris?

[A]

Which one? That's the right answer. I like this guy. The original Tetris. The original Tetris fucking sucks. There's no hard drop. There's a lot of issues with it. Fuck that game. But when you talk about fucking Tetris Effect or specifically Tetris 99, that's the goaded one, man. Tetris 99 is good because they have the DLC.

[B]

I'm more with Tetris Effect, but like, yeah, Tetris 99.

[A]

Fucking Guitar Hero Arrow says one of my hero. My hot takes is I'm very pro remaster 60fps and dual sense features are worth it. Plus I always love working on a new trophy list with the replay.

[B]

I'm not mad at it.

[A]

I'M not mad at that.

[B]

That's not a hot take.

[A]

There's nothing wrong with that. I think like making a partial remake out some content.

[B]

I can't stand this guy. When, yeah, when they remastered Last of Us, yeah, I think that pushed people to the edge.

[A]

But.

[B]

I'm not wrong though. I know, like when they remastered Last of Us, I think that was a breaking point. Yeah, that was a breaking point for a lot of people. But I'm also of the mind of like, I mean, make a game look better. I don't give a fuck. I don't have to buy it. But whenever you say that, people get really mad too. But like, that's the truth though. It's like, listen, if I wanted to play a really better looking Last of Us, I should have that, right? I should have that ability. If they want to make it so fucking remaster your shit.

[A]

I 100% agree with their take.

[B]

It's not like they're not making new games. Cause of it.

[A]

Uncle Death says Last of Us ruined gaming for a while. Talking about Last of Us.

[B]

Oh, there we go.

[A]

Everyone tried to make a Last of Us style game and ignored the fundamentals of what makes games great, the fun.

[B]

I need the examples of the bad ones though.

[A]

Yeah, I mean, I understand with what you're saying, but I just don't really have them come to mind necessarily.

[B]

It's hard for me. Chat.

[A]

And also, I don't think, I mean, people were trying to make, you know, very story driven, serious type of games that were more emotional and you know, for a while.

[B]

What are the bad Last of Us clones?

[A]

Yeah, I don't see anything. Chat let us know, we'll move on.

[B]

Can I read this one from Norman?

[A]

Yeah, of course.

[B]

Because this is like, this is a real hot take. Norman Vadabankur says my hot take is that Supergiant was better when they were making games like Bastion and Transistor.

[A]

Wow.

[B]

No, I'm not, because I 1,000% disagree. Yeah, but like, that's a hot take.

[A]

But also like that's my hot take is that Superjump was better when they were making games like Bastion and Transistor. Amazing games as well. You know what I mean?

[B]

Amazing games.

[A]

Are you just saying that you don't like Hades specifically? Like they're all, you know, I mean, lumped into me as like the same. I know they're not the same type of game, you get what I'm saying? But they're still the same caliber of video games. They're all supercharged and they also don't feel like so different. Like when I play Transistor and I play Hades, I don't feel like, oh my gosh. Like they completely changed the way they make video games. Like they feel like very like almost like linear progressions of what that studio was doing.

[B]

Yeah, I think they're just saying that they like bash it in transistor more 80s.

[A]

Hey.

[B]

Which like teach their own.

[A]

That's cool. I mean there's different types of games.

[B]

Oh.

[A]

I guess the turn based element of it. Is that what they're going for?

[C]

And maybe the are those games like Big and rogue, like type of shit.

[A]

I don't know. They're more like strategy and like this grid based stuff. So. I understand. I get what you're saying. I get your stuff. So yeah, if that's what you're into, cool. But 100% disagree. Shout out to Pyre Koba super chats and says my hot take is that spiritual successors usually end up being really boring compared to what it's inspired by.

[B]

Amen.

[A]

They're usually just filled with references. Sea of Stars, ukulele, Chained Echoes. Play old games.

[B]

Adding Sea of Stars in there.

[C]

That's a crazy one.

[B]

That turns it into a hot take. Cause I was with you until you said see stars in front of Barrett like that.

[A]

Yeah, I mean I, I didn't play any of these games, so I can't say anything.

[B]

But I was reading I got to find who made this Blue sky post.

[A]

Shovel Knight, people are saying question mark.

[B]

I think it was, I think it was Taco.

[C]

Yeah, like any, you know, we just brought up Guaca Melee earlier. You know, like, I don't know. I, I, I disagree.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

I think there are some games where it's like, oh yeah, this, you're just.

[A]

Trying to do the thing.

[C]

You're just trying to do this thing again. And, and it's not as interesting, but I think like Sea of Stars has enough going for it that makes it interesting. That doesn't make me constantly think about Chrono Trigger where I feel like a lot of other games that try to go for that Chrono Trigger feel do make me think about like, oh, I.

[B]

Could just fucking play Chrono Trigger.

[C]

Play Chrono Trigger again.

[B]

There's a Blue sky post from August 12th from Taco that I read that I agreed with where he says, I don't think I've ever played a video game inspired only by other video games and thought it was a better video.

[A]

Oh, interesting.

[B]

Obviously there are exceptions. Someone out there Prefers one match three clone over another. But games that try to, quote, fix another game, never do. Killers never kill the. Oh, I see. Blank Killers never kill the original. The 50th Farming Sim is good, but not better. And spiritual sequels often, but not always live in the original shadow. I 1000% agree with that. I think ukulele, I think, is a good example of why would I play this when I can just play Banjo Kazooie.

[A]

Right.

[B]

Like, if your whole thing is trying to ape the original thing.

[A]

Yeah, it's a little bit different that one because it did have the developers that made the original one. So it's like.

[B]

But that's what happens most of the time is like, oh, we worked on this other thing that you loved. We're gonna make it again.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

I just don't think that works out most of the time.

[C]

But is that really the goal every single time of like, we're trying to make it, we're trying to fix a thing from the original.

[A]

Or is it like Mighty Number Nine?

[B]

Mighty Number Nine.

[A]

Sorry. Here's the thing.

[B]

Stardew Valley was better than Harvest Moon.

[A]

And then guess what, what's that now? Fields of Mystery. But in the Stardew Valley, boom.

[C]

I mean, so, and like, I think this concept is also just like, kind of weird or this take in this kind of conversation. It's weird. It's just like, I don't know. Art inspires other art and sometimes it works out and sometimes it doesn't.

[A]

Yeah, but I, I, Yeah, yeah, I, I understand the idea of like, yeah, when you're just trying to continuously ape the other thing and make a better version of that thing.

[B]

He says Back four Blood is a good example.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

You didn't chronicle.

[A]

Yeah, it's very similar to the ukulele too. Dante the Cleric super chats and says, hot take. Shooter esports are not fun to watch. Most fun esport to watch Pokemon. Easy to follow and full of surprises and upsets this Dante leclerc a little bit biased. So they have a Smash Brothers icon right there. You know what I mean? So maybe kind of in the the mike, come over here, tell him they're wrong.

[C]

He can, he can go up on his mic.

[E]

Dante better be watching the Pokemon Championship all weekend long right now live from Anaheim. Because it's live now.

[C]

So what are you doing in here.

[A]

In the fucking chat, Dante?

[B]

Yeah, I don't care about shooter esports. I mean, fighting games are the most fun esport to watch.

[A]

So, yeah, I want to end with one that kind of takes A turn here that I don't like. And I'm happy that Mike is here. Here, let's. Let's end it with number nine, some Colin Berry.

[B]

Hey, Colin.

[D]

Barry from New Jersey.

[B]

973862.

[A]

What up?

[D]

Doing it from the car.

[B]

I'm. My hot take is that all Kojima games are. One giant bit prank that Kojima starts. He you boot up the game and there's a title screen with Kojima's face on it.

[A]

It saying, hey, just go along with it.

[B]

There's no real game here. I've tried watching the death stranding streams with Mike and Roger, but it's just one big mukbang.

[A]

Let's be honest.

[B]

There's no actual gameplay when they're playing during those hours, those marathon streams. So it's at the end of the day, one giant break. All right, that's it. Farts and kisses.

[A]

Love you all. Okay, Colin, where the did we go? 100 disagree. Oh, no.

[B]

We got Colin.

[E]

Because just like Kojima, we're with you, big dog.

[B]

There's no gameplay.

[A]

We have never played the game. We have never played the game. We did a whole review. We've never played this game. Everybody. We got your ass. I just appreciate that. Like, it is like a perfect transition between songs of like. Yeah, it's just one big prank. Also, I was watching this fucking stream and these guys are doing shit.

[B]

I don't know what's going on. This is one of those ones where you brought in another show into this show and I just don't know what's happening.

[A]

I just don't know what to do with that information. I just was stunned a little bit there. So thank you, Colin and I appreciate you so much for your hot take. But 100% disagree. Where are you at with that?

[B]

I don't know what his take is.

[A]

I think his take is that. But it's Kojima is all a big prank. What he is. Kojima does. But then also Roger and Mike were also pranking everybody because we don't play our game.

[B]

I guess I agree with the second part. Disagree with the first part.

[A]

All right, 100% agree. Two video games in a row. Yeah, we're crazy with it. We're crazy. Really.

[C]

It's a prank.

[A]

People just don't vibe with Kojima. That's it. Some people just don't vibe. I couldn't tell. Especially recently when he's moved away from Metal Gear Solid where you can clearly see it's a spy espionage game. Yeah. His next one is this super heady.

[E]

Mind game where you deliver boxes as a post guy.

[A]

And it's like, that's not a video game that a lot of people are into. And so when they first got it.

[E]

They'Re like, no, Kojima. I just wanted to become fucking solid snake, not Norman.

[C]

And then Kojima was like, like, here you go. Here's the most AAA budgeted quap.

[A]

All right.

[B]

If his hot take is that he doesn't. Am I wrong on that?

[C]

I'm not saying that's bad. I with Destiny 2 because I realized I was like, oh, this is just co op, man.

[A]

You got a. Yeah. I love quop, though.

[B]

Is it if his hot take. But, like, if Roger doesn't know what.

[E]

Quop means, what does that mean?

[A]

Oh, I feel like Roger would know.

[B]

Wait, do you not know? Do you not know quop?

[C]

So it's like.

[A]

It's like.

[B]

It's like.

[A]

It's like the song Wap.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Oh, what about.

[B]

What the. Are we on?

[C]

What's his name? Bennett Foddy. Getting over it.

[B]

Oh, okay.

[C]

Yeah, like, baby steps.

[B]

Yeah, yeah.

[C]

The fur, I think the first thing that they made was quap. And it's like you trolling like a running guy right now, and you use Q, W, o, P to control the legs.

[B]

Oh, okay. Okay.

[E]

So he made a walking.

[A]

Just me. Just me and blessing on stage. And everyone's like, all right, we're to about. Thank you so much for an incredible hot take episode. This has been a fun time. Bless. Did you have a good time?

[B]

You know, ahead of time?

[A]

Ahead of time.

[B]

I had a time.

[A]

We learned a lot about you guys. And next time, we want you to get a little freakier with it. Give us some weird ones, and we'll make sure to do another Hot Takes episode soon. Thank you so much, everybody, and enjoy a Battlefield 6 stream with Nick and Mike right after this. Peace out, everybody. Bye.

[B]

Bye.