EA College Football 25 Used AI to Make Player Faces

<v Speaker 1>He'll be Gon'll be Baer. It's the Internet. You're busy.
<v Speaker 1>Let's do this for July thirty first, twenty twenty four.
<v Speaker 1>For the next hour or so, let me help you
<v Speaker 1>sort through the world of gaming on Game Mess Mornings
<v Speaker 1>Live with me Jeff Grubb. Today, no one is buying
<v Speaker 1>Xbox systems, but Microsoft is still making more money from
<v Speaker 1>video games. But first, please join me and welcoming today's
<v Speaker 1>co host to Game Mess Mornings. It's Lucy James. Everybody, Lucy,
<v Speaker 1>how are you doing?
<v Speaker 2>Doing a little better? Thank you? Otherwise?
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, now a little sick or or like, oh did
<v Speaker 1>you catch them in a comic con? Or it's it
<v Speaker 1>just like, oh I was at comic con and I
<v Speaker 1>need some time to relax and bounce back.
<v Speaker 2>I mean day two, someone open mouthed sneezed in my vicinity.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah that's yes.
<v Speaker 2>The last like three days I've just been in bed
<v Speaker 2>or playing games. But today I feel just tired. Sure,
<v Speaker 2>that's kind of like a baseline for me anyway. So
<v Speaker 2>getting getting.
<v Speaker 1>There, well, well it'll be a chill episode. Everybody will
<v Speaker 1>take it easy. We'll kind of get through this news
<v Speaker 1>and all that stuff. More more traveling traveling coming up
<v Speaker 1>pretty soon. How are you feeling about like like leaving
<v Speaker 1>home frequently, because I know you've got a lot going on.
<v Speaker 1>Like at home, there's the stuff that happened in there,
<v Speaker 1>like you're figuring that stuff out. But at the same time,
<v Speaker 1>like you're constantly traveling, how are you feeling about it?
<v Speaker 1>Because I'm like at a point where I'm like, I
<v Speaker 1>wouldn't mind not traveling for three or four months in
<v Speaker 1>a row. That would be nice.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I mean mostly for me, it's just like figuring
<v Speaker 2>out that the cats are going to be okay. Yes,
<v Speaker 2>And so usually shout out to Michael Higham and Joey
<v Speaker 2>Noel from kind of Funny because they always like step
<v Speaker 2>in and come and stay because I have someone who
<v Speaker 2>comes around every day if I'm just doing like a
<v Speaker 2>short heart, but if I'm going for you know, five days,
<v Speaker 2>and I have someone's stay and luckily Jelly loves her
<v Speaker 2>uncle Michael and Peanut is indifferent to everyone. So everyone
<v Speaker 2>who's not me, so as long as they're okay, then
<v Speaker 2>I love travel.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. We did that Michigan trip and that that was
<v Speaker 1>about that was about seven days and we had a
<v Speaker 1>family member come check for like in the right in
<v Speaker 1>the middle. But then we just had the person come
<v Speaker 1>by once a day and he was doing pretty good.
<v Speaker 1>I was happy to see that. But he's he's an
<v Speaker 1>old man. He was like, he mostly just wants to
<v Speaker 1>be left alone. So they worked out pretty well.
<v Speaker 2>Now, my cats both love that cat sitter, like sometimes
<v Speaker 2>more than more than me, I think, because she gives
<v Speaker 2>them loads of treats. Yeah, but I'm just like Peanuts already. Sorry,
<v Speaker 2>my love, but you are a little overweight, so I
<v Speaker 2>kind of like trying to hold up on the on
<v Speaker 2>the treat usage.
<v Speaker 1>But huh, Nico Jefferson, mumu grub is quite overweight. He's
<v Speaker 1>but he's he's a big breed anyhow. But it was
<v Speaker 1>we have cleaners here today, and uh they walked like,
<v Speaker 1>that's a big cat. Yes it is, Yes, it is.
<v Speaker 2>Well, I think you were there on that call when
<v Speaker 2>I was lying on the couch and Peanut like came
<v Speaker 2>up on my chest and jeff back on just went
<v Speaker 2>Jesus Christ, that's a giant cat.
<v Speaker 1>Yep. Cycle Chance says their cat's about fifteen pounds each.
<v Speaker 1>My boys in the twenties, he is that big. Wow,
<v Speaker 1>I see he is not a main coon. He's a
<v Speaker 1>Norwegian forest cat, so they're bigger. They're bigger anyhow, and
<v Speaker 1>he's big and fluffy, so he looks big. The long
<v Speaker 1>hairy dun said. They also said that what a beautiful cat,
<v Speaker 1>but yet there's a lot of beef under that fur
<v Speaker 1>as well. Yeah, let's explain what we do here other
<v Speaker 1>than talk about cats. Most weekdays, I Jeff Grub, will
<v Speaker 1>help piece your gaming life back together. That includes breaking
<v Speaker 1>news and maybe even some of our own original reporting.
<v Speaker 1>For all these topics, I'll get the input of a
<v Speaker 1>bona fide expert who will make me look smart. If
<v Speaker 1>you were watching live on Twitch, welcome. You can always
<v Speaker 1>listen to the show later on podcast feeds by searching
<v Speaker 1>for Game Mess Mornings, or find the RSS on giant
<v Speaker 1>bomb dot com. You can also catch the show later
<v Speaker 1>with chapters and timestamps on YouTube. Hello YouTube. All right,
<v Speaker 1>we have a lot to get into, so let's start
<v Speaker 1>the Morning Mess with Xbox post massive hardware sales decline,
<v Speaker 1>but it's not all bad news. This is from Haley
<v Speaker 1>Williams at GameSpot. The Xbox series X and S will
<v Speaker 1>be four years old this year, and Microsoft's latest earnings
<v Speaker 1>call have revealed that its newest generation of consoles just
<v Speaker 1>aren't selling like they used to. While software and services
<v Speaker 1>sales have been strong, helped along by the massive Activision acquisition,
<v Speaker 1>hardware sales have seen a sharp decline. In its Q
<v Speaker 1>four earnings presentation for the twenty twenty four fiscal year,
<v Speaker 1>Microsoft noted that its gaming hardware sales have decreased significantly,
<v Speaker 1>with a forty two percent decline compared to the same
<v Speaker 1>period last year. Despite this, the company's overall gaming revenue
<v Speaker 1>was up forty four percent, with a sixty one percent
<v Speaker 1>increase in content and services revenue that Microsoft says was
<v Speaker 1>slightly ahead of expectations. Both of these growth figures were
<v Speaker 1>positively impacted by the Activision purchase Microsoft set. The call
<v Speaker 1>also suggests that third party content may not have performed
<v Speaker 1>as well as expected for Xbox and Q four, with
<v Speaker 1>Microsoft noting stronger than expected performance in first party content
<v Speaker 1>was partially offset by third party content performance. Also worth
<v Speaker 1>point and point throwing in here is when you remove
<v Speaker 1>the Activision Blizzard revenue, Microsoft's Microsoft gaming revenue would have
<v Speaker 1>been down four percent, so once again showing how important
<v Speaker 1>that acquisition was to them. So that was down four percent,
<v Speaker 1>know of the hardware sales down forty two percent year
<v Speaker 1>over year something they've had multiple quarters in a row,
<v Speaker 1>like it's been multiple quarters in a row where it's
<v Speaker 1>been in the forty percent range in terms of decline
<v Speaker 1>in hardware sales. New people just aren't buying xboxes, Lucy.
<v Speaker 1>I think there's no other way to put it other
<v Speaker 1>than that. And it's not like it's all rainbows and
<v Speaker 1>sunshiness over at PlayStation. We don't have to immediately go
<v Speaker 1>to the comparison. They've also seen year over year declines
<v Speaker 1>in hardware sales, but it's certainly better because they're ahead
<v Speaker 1>of the PS four in terms of the rate of
<v Speaker 1>sales for Sony, So it's clearly like they're they're fine,
<v Speaker 1>like having a little bit of slow down because they
<v Speaker 1>had such a strong start. That's not necessarily the case
<v Speaker 1>for the Xbox Series X and S, which seems to
<v Speaker 1>be behind the Xbox One, at least in the United
<v Speaker 1>States according to Matt Piscatella. So new people aren't buying xboxes,
<v Speaker 1>and it feels like they're you know, if everything was normal,
<v Speaker 1>they would be, So what's going on?
<v Speaker 2>Honestly, God, I don't know. I mean I think every
<v Speaker 2>time we talk about this, I always kind of bring
<v Speaker 2>up the fact that it's like cost of living crisis.
<v Speaker 2>It is things like, you know a lot of layoffs,
<v Speaker 2>not just in the gaming space or anything, but everything
<v Speaker 2>over the last year or so. People are not going
<v Speaker 2>to be spending money on a big purchase like a
<v Speaker 2>game console at this point because they are better so
<v Speaker 2>spending their money elsewhere. However, I think it's fair to
<v Speaker 2>say that it has been a rough ride for Xbox
<v Speaker 2>this generation. You know, a lot of people have been
<v Speaker 2>just playing the third party stuff on PlayStation on PC. However, Yeah,
<v Speaker 2>it is kind of not a lifeline, but I guess
<v Speaker 2>a very calculated move and one that seems to be
<v Speaker 2>paying off in that the money from the Xbox acquisition
<v Speaker 2>of Activision Blizzard is common and strong and helping them
<v Speaker 2>out a lot. Not obviously, it's like it's kind of
<v Speaker 2>weird because I think when you see those figures, immediately
<v Speaker 2>you go, wow, Okay, so why did they let go
<v Speaker 2>of this part of the business. Why did they why
<v Speaker 2>did they shut down this part of the business, And clearly,
<v Speaker 2>I think it's just not that simple that it's not
<v Speaker 2>an excuse by any means but it's just like I
<v Speaker 2>wish I understood how a giant conglomerate like Xbox Works
<v Speaker 2>when it came to that kind of thing, because you know,
<v Speaker 2>with all this money, it just does seem unfair that
<v Speaker 2>all those people lost their jobs and that talented studios
<v Speaker 2>had to close.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, they they're you know, they're looking for growth still,
<v Speaker 1>and I think that really what happened there was, or
<v Speaker 1>what seems to have happened there, is they got their
<v Speaker 1>growth by making a acquisition. So the numbers do look
<v Speaker 1>pretty good on their face when they present them to investors.
<v Speaker 1>You know, the overall gaming revenue up forty four percent.
<v Speaker 1>There's your growth, and they got it without having to
<v Speaker 1>have human beings make new video games. They just you know,
<v Speaker 1>had a whole cavalcade of people come in that were
<v Speaker 1>already making stuff and already generated revenue. And that makes
<v Speaker 1>the difference. And that's really kind of that's really one
<v Speaker 1>of the bigger negative sides of the way the industry
<v Speaker 1>consolidation is that it's this artificial growth that these companies
<v Speaker 1>can pass off as real growth, and then all of
<v Speaker 1>those investments that they previously made sort of look less shiny,
<v Speaker 1>less new, and less important to the people in charge
<v Speaker 1>and then make it a little bit easier to cut jobs.
<v Speaker 1>It seems to me that that's the case. I don't
<v Speaker 1>know if this is like the official like hey, start
<v Speaker 1>of Xbox really moving past the Xbox hardware, but like
<v Speaker 1>with numbers like these, it's like, okay, well they are
<v Speaker 1>growing still when you factor an Activision Blizzard and Activision
<v Speaker 1>Blizzard has a lot of ways to make money without
<v Speaker 1>having to sell Xboxes, and this is clearly the strategy
<v Speaker 1>though that their eye eyeballing for the future. It's not
<v Speaker 1>necessarily about resuscitating the Xbox series X and s to
<v Speaker 1>the sales heights of Xbox one or Xbox three sixty.
<v Speaker 1>I do think maybe it is a little bit of
<v Speaker 1>heavy Xbox three sixty when you line them up from
<v Speaker 1>the launch date, but they're not trying to recapture those
<v Speaker 1>glory days. They are looking ahead. But I don't know,
<v Speaker 1>does this feel like that is what's happening here or
<v Speaker 1>does this feel like a momentary you know, bump because
<v Speaker 1>we are in the early days of them owning Activision Blizzard.
<v Speaker 2>What do you mean, like like leading the Xbox hardware behind?
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, Like yeah, do you think like things will normalize
<v Speaker 1>and they'll be like, well, god, now where is the
<v Speaker 1>growth going to come from.
<v Speaker 2>I think it's more that at this point they're just
<v Speaker 2>putting their eggs in many, many baskets, and I think
<v Speaker 2>that's probably the smart move going forward, because yeah, consoles,
<v Speaker 2>consoles are expensive, and you know, if you already have
<v Speaker 2>another device like a TV or a phone where you
<v Speaker 2>can be streaming your games too, then I think I
<v Speaker 2>think you yeah, I think it's kind of a smart play.
<v Speaker 2>And yeah, like also, if you're looking at an actual sorry,
<v Speaker 2>someone just put kittens in the completely distracted. So if
<v Speaker 2>if you're if you're if you're putting all of your
<v Speaker 2>eggs in a hardware basket and you're not necessarily giving
<v Speaker 2>people a bunch of I mean, they haven't given people
<v Speaker 2>a bunch of options with the series X, series S,
<v Speaker 2>even the ongoing support for Xbox One, Like that's incredible.
<v Speaker 2>But you know, more people these days and them gen
<v Speaker 2>Z than jen Alphas are more going to be likely
<v Speaker 2>to have iPads and phones, and so you are obviously
<v Speaker 2>want to be making sure that you are catering to
<v Speaker 2>that market too.
<v Speaker 1>It's a smarter play, yeah, And it's it's like you know,
<v Speaker 1>in a lot of cases, what choice do they have,
<v Speaker 1>Like they they've tried to get people excited about the Xbox.
<v Speaker 1>It's like, it's not like they haven't tried, right. I
<v Speaker 1>think that their efforts were, let's make some big games,
<v Speaker 1>and those came out and they were Halo Infinite and
<v Speaker 1>Starfield and a handful of others, and those things just
<v Speaker 1>have not done what they needed to do to get
<v Speaker 1>people to be like, well, and I need an Xbox.
<v Speaker 1>Certainly people aren't going to be like, well, I need
<v Speaker 1>an Xbox over a PlayStation or instead of a PlayStation.
<v Speaker 1>That doesn't really seem viable at least for the wide market,
<v Speaker 1>especially globally. But I think there's a chance to go, well, listen,
<v Speaker 1>I can't be a gamer and not have an Xbox.
<v Speaker 1>I have to have Starfield. And that just that's not
<v Speaker 1>how it clicked together. And so I think them having that,
<v Speaker 1>having gone through that, they're looking around being like nothing
<v Speaker 1>else was going to be as big as Starfield. So
<v Speaker 1>we do have to start looking forward, and we should
<v Speaker 1>start that process now, and we're less concerned with selling
<v Speaker 1>Xbox and it shows up in the numbers, and I
<v Speaker 1>think that's going to continue to be the case. In fact,
<v Speaker 1>they say that's going to continue to be the case.
<v Speaker 1>They expect hardware revenue will again declined year over year
<v Speaker 1>in the future. They said that explicitly in their earnings report,
<v Speaker 1>and so Microsoft is looking to its Activision purchase to
<v Speaker 1>continue to drive sales on the content side. There was
<v Speaker 1>a little bit more from this. Microsoft Gaming marks five
<v Speaker 1>hundred million monthly players, notes Fallout TV Show's impact on
<v Speaker 1>Game Pass. This is from Haley Williams at game Spot
<v Speaker 1>as well and its latest financial earnings called. Microsoft CEO
<v Speaker 1>Satia Nadella celebrated a major milestone for the company's gaming division,
<v Speaker 1>reporting five hundred million monthly active users across all platforms
<v Speaker 1>and devices. While the success has clearly been influenced by
<v Speaker 1>Microsoft's acquisition of Activision, the Fallout TV Show also got
<v Speaker 1>a shout out from Nadella for its influence. The CEO
<v Speaker 1>talked up this success of Prime Videos live action Fallout
<v Speaker 1>adaptation and as part of in his part of the presentation,
<v Speaker 1>saying the TV show was bringing the Microsoft's ip to
<v Speaker 1>new audiences. Nadella revealed that player numbers for Fallout games
<v Speaker 1>on Game Pass had increased by five times compared to
<v Speaker 1>the previous quarter. With that increase attributable to the popular
<v Speaker 1>TV show. We've already seen plenty of statistics on how
<v Speaker 1>the TV show which was which has become Prime videos
<v Speaker 1>second most watched title, has led to a renewed wave
<v Speaker 1>of interest in Fallout games. Yeah, clearly that had a
<v Speaker 1>positive impact. And then also having five hundred million players
<v Speaker 1>across all things is like, that's massive. It's also you know,
<v Speaker 1>put some perspective when they talk about, hey, we're trying
<v Speaker 1>to get those two billion players, and then they started
<v Speaker 1>saying three billion players that that is more realistic than
<v Speaker 1>I originally first thought. But that's because you know, they're
<v Speaker 1>counting Minecraft players on mobile and across the world, and
<v Speaker 1>the King King players on Candy Crossaga and stuff like that.
<v Speaker 1>They're probably able to get to that. But it also
<v Speaker 1>reemphasizes that Microsoft strategy is broader than let's make sure
<v Speaker 1>the Xbox console is going to be the thing. That's
<v Speaker 1>just not the case anymore.
<v Speaker 2>Right, Oh shit, sorry, just cut two hundred and twenty rolls.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, okay, yep. In fact, I had a story here
<v Speaker 1>at game Layoff Forecast is getting Better, and I put
<v Speaker 1>that in here specifically because I thought news like this
<v Speaker 1>could happen. Yeah, so bungeees laying off a bunch of
<v Speaker 1>people everybody and it there will be what's happening is
<v Speaker 1>this is it. PlayStation Studios is taking over Bungie. There
<v Speaker 1>will be a Herman Holst will be in charge. A
<v Speaker 1>lot of those roles will it's not it seems like
<v Speaker 1>might go beyond two hundred, but some of those roles
<v Speaker 1>are going to be reassigned to other places inside of
<v Speaker 1>PlayStation Studios. They're going to try to give a lot
<v Speaker 1>of those people homes. It's it's rough because as far
<v Speaker 1>as my understanding is that a lot of people at
<v Speaker 1>Bungie were not recognizing that this was going to happen
<v Speaker 1>because they thought, hey, we got past it, we had
<v Speaker 1>a really good DLC, we had a really good expansion,
<v Speaker 1>We should be good. And it seemed like no matter
<v Speaker 1>what with the final shape is that what that was
<v Speaker 1>called never could have done what it needed to do
<v Speaker 1>to this And so yeah, it is looking very rough
<v Speaker 1>over there. I don't know what do you think the
<v Speaker 1>future a Bunchie is.
<v Speaker 2>Let's find out from this new statement from Pete Parson's
<v Speaker 2>rising cass development industry shifts beginning today, a further seventeen
<v Speaker 2>percent of our workforce has gone every level of the
<v Speaker 2>company we've navigated. We're committing to two other major changes today,
<v Speaker 2>leverage Sony's strength and creating opportunities for Bundy talent. We
<v Speaker 2>are deepening our integration with Sony, working to integrate one
<v Speaker 2>hundred and fifty five of our roles into sie Ye. Second,
<v Speaker 2>we're working with PlayStation Studios leadership to spin out one
<v Speaker 2>of our incubation projects and action games set in a
<v Speaker 2>brand new science fantasy universe, to form a new studio
<v Speaker 2>within PlayStation Studios to continue its promising development. And then
<v Speaker 2>it's let's unpack how we ended up in this position.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, so yeah, kind of not too shocking, but also
<v Speaker 1>it felt like I did get the sense that a
<v Speaker 1>lot of people were starting to feel we were getting
<v Speaker 1>past the layoffs. But I think what happened, Lucy is
<v Speaker 1>summer came and executives took vacations and they're like, well,
<v Speaker 1>I'm not going to lay anyone off until we get back,
<v Speaker 1>and here we are. They got back from vacation and
<v Speaker 1>they have started the process up again. This one's particularly frustrating,
<v Speaker 1>I think for a lot of bunch of fans. I
<v Speaker 1>expect the Destiny fans to not take this very well
<v Speaker 1>because there was the promises of during the acquisition of
<v Speaker 1>Bungie is going to be independent. Bungie is a Sony company,
<v Speaker 1>not a PlayStation studios company, not Sony in an interactive
<v Speaker 1>entertainment company. They are under Sony and they're independent, and
<v Speaker 1>they're going to keep putting stuff out, And it just
<v Speaker 1>felt like the Sony was biding their time to sort
<v Speaker 1>of come in and be like, hey, you didn't meet
<v Speaker 1>these certain numbers, and we are going to the Hammer's
<v Speaker 1>coming down, and not only are we taking over, but
<v Speaker 1>you got to lay off a bunch of peace people. Yeah.
<v Speaker 1>I don't know. Do you think that marathon still happens?
<v Speaker 1>Do you think, like what's the next for Destiny? Like
<v Speaker 1>do they go to Destiny three? And just I mean
<v Speaker 1>it just seems like it'll be the most cynical form
<v Speaker 1>going forward. But what do you think.
<v Speaker 2>I mean, Destiny right now, the way it's living talking
<v Speaker 2>to Ralph who has to explain the ins and outs
<v Speaker 2>of Destiny to me and Jake is the like Destiny
<v Speaker 2>two is like they have episodes coming, which is basically
<v Speaker 2>like kind of like the arc structures. So it's basically
<v Speaker 2>still like still getting that content, but it's like a
<v Speaker 2>little bit better than Ralph. The way Ralph was explaining it,
<v Speaker 2>it was like he actually prefers the way that they
<v Speaker 2>are doling out this story content in the in the episodes.
<v Speaker 2>Oh god, doctor disrespect just tweet. Wow, it's all popping
<v Speaker 2>off on a Wednesday morning.
<v Speaker 1>Oh, here we go, I will here you go. Yeah, absolutely,
<v Speaker 1>thank you.
<v Speaker 2>So, I don't know, I mean Marathon, Like, have we
<v Speaker 2>heard anything about how Marathon's taken along? Like I don't
<v Speaker 2>imagine they would cancel it at this point, but I.
<v Speaker 1>Mean, I think the last thing we heard is it's
<v Speaker 1>way further off than we're expecting. There's a lot more
<v Speaker 1>work involved than we're expecting. I don't know. I thought
<v Speaker 1>they're like the early impressions of whatever were, you know,
<v Speaker 1>a little bit like underwell, I mean something along. I
<v Speaker 1>don't know, the Marathon seems like a dream at this point.
<v Speaker 1>It probably will come out. I think Destiny three is
<v Speaker 1>more certain at some point, because that's the kind of
<v Speaker 1>thing that can make a big team makes sense at
<v Speaker 1>at a certain point, is that, hey, we have a
<v Speaker 1>big budget release that can have a big budget launch
<v Speaker 1>and make big, big budget numbers on day one, and
<v Speaker 1>Destiny three could certainly do that, but that's also that
<v Speaker 1>also feels like a long way off as well, and
<v Speaker 1>a lot can go wrong between now and then. Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>I feel bad for everyone who was at Bungie, who
<v Speaker 1>worked really hard on the final shape and got that
<v Speaker 1>game out in really good in a really good position
<v Speaker 1>in the market where everyone, like Desty fans have rarely
<v Speaker 1>been happier than when that was out, and they could
<v Speaker 1>be very upset at times, they could be very disappointed
<v Speaker 1>in that game, and they just weren't. They said it
<v Speaker 1>was the best it's ever been, and that what else
<v Speaker 1>can you do if you're making a game other than
<v Speaker 1>make the best game possible, And then this still happens.
<v Speaker 1>At a certain point, it begins to feel like what
<v Speaker 1>are we even doing here? So I just feel really
<v Speaker 1>bad for everyone involved. Yeah. God, And then doctor disrespect
<v Speaker 1>just tweeted a picture of him playing chess.
<v Speaker 2>No, well, you see he's playing chess, but the other
<v Speaker 2>person is playing.
<v Speaker 1>Checker right, Well, yes, Jesus a stumb fucking things.
<v Speaker 2>I think this must be on the back of the
<v Speaker 2>fact that the twelve Am team spoke to was it
<v Speaker 2>ign Oh my god today?
<v Speaker 1>Yeah? Did you see the first responses is this you
<v Speaker 1>playing with a minor? And then he responded to that
<v Speaker 1>good one, she slash her the internet will never fix
<v Speaker 1>your real threat depression. So he's going scorched earth. Well,
<v Speaker 1>good luck.
<v Speaker 2>I'm I'm very depressed and the internet does not do
<v Speaker 2>anything for me. So sure, I hate to say that
<v Speaker 2>he's got a little bit of it.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, the doctor's correct about something I suppose. Yeah he is, uh, yeah,
<v Speaker 1>I don't know where where does he go go? Like
<v Speaker 1>where's he going to play chess X? He's not welcome
<v Speaker 1>to make money on YouTube anymore? Right, so yeah can't Yeah, ka,
<v Speaker 1>he goes to kick That's right. Well, good luck with that, bud,
<v Speaker 1>I got. I just I now thought about doctor respect
<v Speaker 1>and until the last kerfuffle happened, and then I hope
<v Speaker 1>to not think about him again for a very long time,
<v Speaker 1>if ever again. All right, let's keep going here, suld. Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>Star Wars Outlaws has a great option every game should offer.
<v Speaker 1>This is from John Walker at Kataku. Thanks to Star
<v Speaker 1>Wars Outlaws, It's time for the Great Yellow Paint Debate,
<v Speaker 1>Part four and seventy one say. For a long while now,
<v Speaker 1>third person games have been decorating the worlds in yellow
<v Speaker 1>or white paint to indicate to indicate the players a
<v Speaker 1>doorway they can pass through, a rocky outcrop that can
<v Speaker 1>be climbed, or an area worth exploring. While some are
<v Speaker 1>grateful for the support, others describe this as unnecessary handholding
<v Speaker 1>or to cry it as poor level design. Ubisa, meanwhile,
<v Speaker 1>is taking the position of Switzerland in the matter and
<v Speaker 1>offering an option to keep it in or switch it
<v Speaker 1>off entirely. It was the fine folk at PC gamer
<v Speaker 1>who spotted this detail during the recent flurry of hands
<v Speaker 1>on previews with the promising game called Explorer Mode. Ubisoft
<v Speaker 1>says it switches off the guiding color on core navigational elements,
<v Speaker 1>meaning via taco, you can flood the galaxy and white
<v Speaker 1>white spirit and wash away all that pesky paint. Uh yeah, sure,
<v Speaker 1>this is probably a good way of doing things. I
<v Speaker 1>don't I'm with you, Lucy, I don't care if a
<v Speaker 1>game has yellow pain in it to help me find stuff. Cool.
<v Speaker 1>If it doesn't, I'm gonna miss stuff and whatever, like
<v Speaker 1>who cares. But having the option, it's just like it's
<v Speaker 1>the kind of it's the right way to get people
<v Speaker 1>to shut up about this and just say, Okay, if
<v Speaker 1>you don't like it, turn it off. Now you're in control,
<v Speaker 1>and uh and I and the kind of the argument
<v Speaker 1>should be over. I'm sure they'll still find ways to argue, though.
<v Speaker 1>Do you expect other developers to adopt this option going forward?
<v Speaker 2>They probably, yeah, just to avoid having the capital dy discourse.
<v Speaker 2>I think Ubisoft in general doesn't get enough flowers for
<v Speaker 2>its accessibility options. Like I think I've definitely noticed in
<v Speaker 2>the last few years from Assassin's Creed and Far Cry
<v Speaker 2>they really kind of steps up. Not as it's not
<v Speaker 2>the same suite as what PlayStation first Party has, you know,
<v Speaker 2>with Last of Us and everything, but the accessability options
<v Speaker 2>in an Assassin's Creed is really good, and so yeah,
<v Speaker 2>I'm all for giving players way more choices. Like I've
<v Speaker 2>been playing a bunch of games recently. I'm not going
<v Speaker 2>to name them or shame them, but it's like, you know,
<v Speaker 2>I've been playing a first person game recently with no
<v Speaker 2>FFV Slider. Yeah, I'm just like rough, ah, come on, please,
<v Speaker 2>you know, like a modern FPS, a first person it's
<v Speaker 2>not it's not a shoot, but like a modern first
<v Speaker 2>person given didn't have an f V slider, So like
<v Speaker 2>any time now now at the stage where if stuff
<v Speaker 2>doesn't have an accessibility option, I'm just like, oh yep, pablows.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. If it feels like we've established a baseline of
<v Speaker 1>expectations for those sorts of things, and I don't know,
<v Speaker 1>we should always just be adding to it and having
<v Speaker 1>a big list of accessibility options and other options to
<v Speaker 1>just kind of adjust the games accordingly to our needs.
<v Speaker 1>And this one feels like that can go right in
<v Speaker 1>there with everything else. Uh, you know, let's take a
<v Speaker 1>quick break. When we get back. We have plenty more
<v Speaker 1>to get into, including college football's big sales numbers. Right
<v Speaker 1>after this, all right, let's hit this. College Football twenty
<v Speaker 1>five hit five million players in its first week. This
<v Speaker 1>is from Haley Williams at Game Spot. As the first
<v Speaker 1>entry in the franchise and over a decade, it's no
<v Speaker 1>surprise that EA Sports College Football twenty five has been
<v Speaker 1>popular at launch, but new figures released by EA have
<v Speaker 1>revealed just how popular it's been. According to EA's quarterly
<v Speaker 1>financial results, college football twenty five saw over five million
<v Speaker 1>unique players in its first week. EA's quarterly report for
<v Speaker 1>Q one twenty twenty five, which ended on June thirtieth,
<v Speaker 1>encompasses what EA calls the record breaking launch of EA Sports.
<v Speaker 1>College Football twenty five. CFB twenty five was drawing huge
<v Speaker 1>player numbers even before the game officially launched, with two
<v Speaker 1>point two million unique players logged during the game's four
<v Speaker 1>day early access period. That figure more than doubled in
<v Speaker 1>the first week after its full release on July nineteenth,
<v Speaker 1>with more than five million unique players trying out the game,
<v Speaker 1>and that figure did not include an additional five hundred
<v Speaker 1>thousand players who checked it out via the EA Play Trial.
<v Speaker 1>College Football twenty five's launch comes at the tail end
<v Speaker 1>of what EA reports is a strong financial quarter. Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>this game just no caveats huge success. It is exactly
<v Speaker 1>what they were hoping for when they said they were
<v Speaker 1>going to bring this thing back. It also has mostly
<v Speaker 1>hit with its audience quality wise. People are also enjoying
<v Speaker 1>watching it. Some of the biggest video game streams on
<v Speaker 1>YouTube right now are like Big Cat playing College Football
<v Speaker 1>twenty five role playing as his coach. Player that's like
<v Speaker 1>getting new jobs and stuff like that regularly has like
<v Speaker 1>twenty thousand live viewers at any one time and stuff
<v Speaker 1>like that. So it is just hitting all quadrants and
<v Speaker 1>fully coming across the finish line. Yeah, EA's got to
<v Speaker 1>feel good about this.
<v Speaker 2>Right, oh, one hundred percent. I mean at least. I
<v Speaker 2>mean I am someone who is incredibly disconnected from sports
<v Speaker 2>games in general. I didn't even know that college football
<v Speaker 2>was a game series. I think the last time I
<v Speaker 2>was fully engaged in a sports game was EA Street
<v Speaker 2>FIFA Street sorry from faction, yes, twenty twelve teen or whatever.
<v Speaker 2>So this is this is really good. I really hope
<v Speaker 2>that this kind of does some good stuff for EA.
<v Speaker 2>I think. Yeah, a lot of people who I know
<v Speaker 2>who have been playing it all the chat around it
<v Speaker 2>have been has been really popular. If you enjoy sports games,
<v Speaker 2>I'm happy. I'm happy for you. I do not like
<v Speaker 2>cricket winship. I like the although I like the fact
<v Speaker 2>I like you know, I don't like baseball either, But
<v Speaker 2>you know what I do like about both of them.
<v Speaker 2>You can just sit and drink.
<v Speaker 1>Yes, that's definitely drink the best part about baseball for sure.
<v Speaker 2>I'm actually a tennis person, so tennis is great too.
<v Speaker 2>Top spin, but no, I think like irl Tennate. No,
<v Speaker 2>I'm not. I don't think I've ever played top Spin.
<v Speaker 1>Oh really, Yeah, there's good. There's some really good tennis
<v Speaker 1>video games. But yeah, no, tennis is a really fun
<v Speaker 1>sport to watch. Yeah. I wonder how you would react
<v Speaker 1>to going to like a really crazy college football game.
<v Speaker 1>Did you ever did anyone ever drag you to like
<v Speaker 1>a you know, a football game where like everyone was
<v Speaker 1>going crazy and singing when you were back in the UK, I.
<v Speaker 2>Mean that's just a football game. Yeah, yeah, no, No,
<v Speaker 2>So in the in the UK, I have been I
<v Speaker 2>have been a mascot for the for Sunderland AFC as
<v Speaker 2>a kid, so I got to I got to like
<v Speaker 2>hold the hands of and I got to like I
<v Speaker 2>got to take shots at goal and stuff.
<v Speaker 1>Wow.
<v Speaker 2>I think I was about nine or something when I
<v Speaker 2>was a kid when I was doing it. But so
<v Speaker 2>when you go to a football game in the UK,
<v Speaker 2>it is such a you will I don't know, just
<v Speaker 2>everyone sings. Everyone knows all the songs. Everyone. One of
<v Speaker 2>my one of my favorite kind of stories is like
<v Speaker 2>I had an ex who we don't love the X
<v Speaker 2>but he was from London and he thought Jeordie's were
<v Speaker 2>like not dangerous, but he thought we were all really
<v Speaker 2>rough and like kind of horrible. So we were walking
<v Speaker 2>along the street and it was and it was the
<v Speaker 2>derby and it was happening at the same time, and
<v Speaker 2>it was Newcastle playing Sunderland and this other guy wearing
<v Speaker 2>a Newcastle shirt just started yelling at him. And my
<v Speaker 2>partner at the times was like, oh my god, are
<v Speaker 2>we getting Are we getting like attacked? Is he going
<v Speaker 2>to come after us? And obviously Jordie's have really strong
<v Speaker 2>accents from the northeast of England for those who confused,
<v Speaker 2>And I said, no, he's just telling you what the
<v Speaker 2>score is because he thinks that I've taken you out
<v Speaker 2>so you can't watch the football, like he this is
<v Speaker 2>like this camaraderie in football, this love language. And yeah,
<v Speaker 2>I mean like my my brother in law loves football,
<v Speaker 2>my dad loves football. That's saying I don't follow it,
<v Speaker 2>but I love going to games just because.
<v Speaker 1>Right so, college football is probably the closest thing we
<v Speaker 1>have to what the energy you would get from one
<v Speaker 1>of those matches, like, but then you have to add
<v Speaker 1>on a little bit of extra nationalism because the military
<v Speaker 1>will like fly jets over the top and stuff like that,
<v Speaker 1>and it gets It's just there's a lot of expensive
<v Speaker 1>pageantry on top of all of it as well. So yeah,
<v Speaker 1>it's it's it's it's a good time. And I'm sure
<v Speaker 1>deeply problematic as well. Yeah, I've been playing this game.
<v Speaker 1>I want to be playing more of it because I
<v Speaker 1>really enjoyed. I think they did a very good job.
<v Speaker 1>This is a game that I think benefited from them
<v Speaker 1>giving it its own dose of love. Where they could
<v Speaker 1>have just taken Mad and reskinned it, they didn't. They
<v Speaker 1>did not do that, And it feels different in some
<v Speaker 1>key ways, and and and and but mostly it just
<v Speaker 1>feels like they made the parts that need needed to
<v Speaker 1>be good good first and then kind of like they'll
<v Speaker 1>add other things later, like a lot of other modes
<v Speaker 1>that are missing, and they just don't have those yet. Okay,
<v Speaker 1>let's keep going here, sticking with EA College Football in
<v Speaker 1>some ways, EA College Football twenty five used AI to
<v Speaker 1>make all eleven thousand players faces. This is from Ethan
<v Speaker 1>gotchat Kotak. Last year, Electronic Arts CEO Andrew Wilson said
<v Speaker 1>AI would help the publisher and unlock the holy grail
<v Speaker 1>of game development. Now he's confirmed that The company has
<v Speaker 1>already used it to make its latest sports blockbuster, EA
<v Speaker 1>College Football twenty five, creating one hundred and fifty unique
<v Speaker 1>stadiums in over eleven thousand Player likenesses. Couldn't be done
<v Speaker 1>without EA's deep history of being a technology leader, and
<v Speaker 1>by our incredibly impassionate and talented teams harnessing the power
<v Speaker 1>of AI and machine learning to deliver truly amazing entertainment.
<v Speaker 1>I will say, Lucy, I could tell by looking at
<v Speaker 1>the players faces, you can tell that they're made with
<v Speaker 1>AI because it's just slop. It's just because they're wearing helmets.
<v Speaker 2>What am I looking for?
<v Speaker 1>This? Just like a college football player? EA College Football
<v Speaker 1>twenty five player faces, I beant google that. Yeah, it's
<v Speaker 1>It's the kind of thing where I think that so
<v Speaker 1>many there's so many players that I never expected it
<v Speaker 1>to look great, and in the back of the day
<v Speaker 1>it would look very generic, and it still does. I
<v Speaker 1>don't think that it somehow like none of the players
<v Speaker 1>really look like the players. Even though they got the name,
<v Speaker 1>image and likeness rights, they're allowed to do that now,
<v Speaker 1>they definitely didn't look like it back in the day,
<v Speaker 1>because that would have been there had been some serious
<v Speaker 1>legal issues. In fact, they got sued for even suggesting
<v Speaker 1>that those players were those human players. But now they
<v Speaker 1>have the rights to do that, and they could model
<v Speaker 1>those faces, and for the most part they don't. I
<v Speaker 1>think they What they do is they feed some images
<v Speaker 1>in there and say, hey, hey, AI use our tools
<v Speaker 1>to make this stuff. It's outgroom. They've had these kinds
<v Speaker 1>of things for a very long time. It's I guess
<v Speaker 1>they're saying, now we have deep learning, deep machine learning,
<v Speaker 1>and that's going to help with this stuff. And if
<v Speaker 1>that's if these are the results, not that impressed. And
<v Speaker 1>I bet when they talk about one hundred and fifty stadiums, yeah,
<v Speaker 1>you can probably get the basics of a stadium, like, oh,
<v Speaker 1>place the seats in the place where they should go
<v Speaker 1>using AI, sure, but getting like the spirit of a
<v Speaker 1>stadium again, a college stadium, the ATMOS fears for very
<v Speaker 1>important and they did a pretty good job of capturing that.
<v Speaker 1>I guarantee a human being worked on that and actually
<v Speaker 1>got that across the finish line and made that make sense.
<v Speaker 2>But you know, they say, I would assume someone or
<v Speaker 2>at least a team of people checked to make sure
<v Speaker 2>that we weren't accident only having you know, eleven thousand
<v Speaker 2>monster factories.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, God, but wouldn't that be nice? Eleven thousand monster factories.
<v Speaker 2>I've been I've been rew like that is one of
<v Speaker 2>The Factory is a really good sick show show to
<v Speaker 2>watch while you're sick, and I've I've been watching.
<v Speaker 1>A lot of all staph. My wife loves Monster Factory
<v Speaker 1>and she put on just like Bort the other day
<v Speaker 1>and we were rewatching.
<v Speaker 2>That, just the classic Jim Jim Jelly is doing gymnastics
<v Speaker 2>his way.
<v Speaker 1>Eat pants, eat pants. Yeah, that's that's good Internet series everybody,
<v Speaker 1>maybe the best. Yeah. I think that it is always
<v Speaker 1>curious when the CEO is the one we hear this from.
<v Speaker 1>We don't ever hear it from the people working on it.
<v Speaker 1>Oh here, God, AI is just making my job so
<v Speaker 1>much easier. I was able to make one hundred and
<v Speaker 1>fifty stadiums in no time. I've never heard of any
<v Speaker 1>developers say any of this. In fact, when we have
<v Speaker 1>heard from developers about AI in recent weeks, it has
<v Speaker 1>been this is causing us more problems, or yeah, sure
<v Speaker 1>it's a tool that's useful in some ways, but it
<v Speaker 1>is not improving my productivity. Now, this is especially true
<v Speaker 1>outside of game development and a lot of office jobs.
<v Speaker 1>People are very annoyed with the AI tools that their
<v Speaker 1>bosses are forcing them to use and expecting great productivity improvements.
<v Speaker 1>I'm sure it can fit a little bit more into games,
<v Speaker 1>but also the productivity improvements that someone like Andrew Wilson
<v Speaker 1>is claiming here, I bet there is far more to
<v Speaker 1>the story on the ground with the people actually making
<v Speaker 1>that a reality, if it is a reality at all.
<v Speaker 1>Does that sound right to you?
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I would actually love to hear from someone who
<v Speaker 2>has to use that tech day to day. A lot
<v Speaker 2>of interesting stuff happening in the in the AI, don't
<v Speaker 2>take me out of context. A lot of interesting stuff
<v Speaker 2>happening in the AI space right now, especially with all
<v Speaker 2>the news that open ai is burning through not millions
<v Speaker 2>of dollars, billions of dollars yep.
<v Speaker 1>And then when investors are like, hey, when are we
<v Speaker 1>going to start seeing some return on that, They're like, well,
<v Speaker 1>what if you gave us several billion more dollars because
<v Speaker 1>that's where the real money's at. Yep. Good luck with
<v Speaker 1>all that. Luck with that another just another buzzword that
<v Speaker 1>you all fell for. Again. Maybe investors are the dumbest
<v Speaker 1>people alive. I don't know.
<v Speaker 2>Oh did you see the friend? Did you see friend?
<v Speaker 1>I don't know if I saw a friend. Oh my god,
<v Speaker 1>friend friend dot com or whatever? Yeah, yes, I did
<v Speaker 1>see friend.
<v Speaker 2>Was it one one point five mil just on the domain?
<v Speaker 1>Oh? Boy, do you see that? I didn't see. So
<v Speaker 1>they spent Okay, I didn't know they spend a million
<v Speaker 1>and a half dollars on friend dot com. Friend is
<v Speaker 1>a necklace you wear that has a little friend on
<v Speaker 1>a little circle that you can is always listening and
<v Speaker 1>talk to you. And then we'll text you on your
<v Speaker 1>phone and say that you're playing games bad. That's what
<v Speaker 1>the video was. The guy's getting his butt kicked in
<v Speaker 1>a video game and he's sitting there whining about it,
<v Speaker 1>and then something gets a message on his phone being like, oh,
<v Speaker 1>you're getting embarrassed. You should play games better or something
<v Speaker 1>like that, and then he like looks down, like lovingly
<v Speaker 1>at his necklace Friend. And it's not like you're getting
<v Speaker 1>a text message from an app, so it's called hey,
<v Speaker 1>your friend is texting. It is like a named person
<v Speaker 1>in your contact list texting you. It's weird. I mean,
<v Speaker 1>I don't get the appeal at all. I have like
<v Speaker 1>an AI listing all the time to comment on your life,
<v Speaker 1>like a fucking mystery science theater. That sounds miserable. Why
<v Speaker 1>are they Why are they doing this? It's so dumb?
<v Speaker 2>No, did you do you know the the in Betweeners?
<v Speaker 1>I'm not true.
<v Speaker 2>It's like a show from the UK, but there was
<v Speaker 2>a whole bit where they go, oh friend and oh
<v Speaker 2>football friend, Oh friend, and every time I hear friend
<v Speaker 2>dot com, I'm just like friend anyway.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, good look, but says it's just a microphone because
<v Speaker 1>like all that's you can do all that stuff on
<v Speaker 1>your phone right now or in the cloud or whatever.
<v Speaker 1>So it's just a microphone that hangs around your neck
<v Speaker 1>to listen all the time. People are gonna love that.
<v Speaker 1>I will.
<v Speaker 2>I will say if there is a use case for
<v Speaker 2>people like loneliness. The thing is is that I think
<v Speaker 2>if they had positioned it different, like they positioned it
<v Speaker 2>like a shitty Silicon Valley thing, loneliness is absolutely like
<v Speaker 2>a huge issue, and I think if this had been
<v Speaker 2>positioned to be a tool to combat loneliness, I think
<v Speaker 2>that would be incredibly valuable. That's not what they're doing here.
<v Speaker 2>They're doing some shitty AI Silicon Valley jumping on the
<v Speaker 2>bandwagon stuff.
<v Speaker 1>I think the way that this makes sense is as
<v Speaker 1>like a discord bot and this spot is you know,
<v Speaker 1>instead I call it friend, call it captain. It's like, actually,
<v Speaker 1>if you want to be like in a friend group
<v Speaker 1>of real people and you want to like keep up
<v Speaker 1>with one another like this, you could be like, hey,
<v Speaker 1>you know, is kind to find out like where my
<v Speaker 1>friend is at right now, and this guy, this little
<v Speaker 1>app could just be like, yeah, here's what's going on.
<v Speaker 1>Here's what they're willing to share right now. You Like,
<v Speaker 1>they have plans this weekend. They were kind of hoping
<v Speaker 1>someone come hang out with them. They've just been too
<v Speaker 1>busy to ask you, Yeah, do you want to go
<v Speaker 1>to see a movie with them? But they said they
<v Speaker 1>wanted to see Twisters like that sort of thing of
<v Speaker 1>like facilitating real world relationships, that's what you do with
<v Speaker 1>this maybe, And again that would have to be a
<v Speaker 1>very soft touch, very delicate and handled in a way
<v Speaker 1>that is very responsible, and these companies just don't have
<v Speaker 1>that in them. And instead it is here's what cool
<v Speaker 1>people are going to be doing in the future, wearing
<v Speaker 1>a microphone on their neck like dweebs Ah. Okay, let's
<v Speaker 1>keep going here. EA's CEO isn't worried about immediate impact
<v Speaker 1>from video game actors strike. This is from Haley Williams
<v Speaker 1>at GameSpot last week. Video game voice actors voted to
<v Speaker 1>go on strike after a year and a half of
<v Speaker 1>back and or negotiations with major gaming entities. The CEO
<v Speaker 1>of one of the companies at the bargaining table, EA,
<v Speaker 1>has said he's not concerned about the strike having a
<v Speaker 1>short term impact on business. As part of EA's most
<v Speaker 1>recent earnings call, EA CEO Andrew Wilson was asked about
<v Speaker 1>any potential impact from the strike, as IGN reports, due
<v Speaker 1>to the specifics of how the strike will operate and
<v Speaker 1>how EA's business runs, He's not concerned that the strike
<v Speaker 1>will cause any disruption in the near future. We're working
<v Speaker 1>very closely. This is not an EA specific situation. This
<v Speaker 1>is an industry specific situation, and we're working diligently to
<v Speaker 1>negotiate at the table, Wilson said, note noting that voice
<v Speaker 1>actors are an important and valued part of EA's business.
<v Speaker 1>Sure you feels that way. The way it works now
<v Speaker 1>in terms of our products. Specifically, is that the strike
<v Speaker 1>is limited to games commencing production after September twenty twenty three,
<v Speaker 1>including live service games. Wilson explained, So, we don't expect
<v Speaker 1>any near term disruption to any of the games we
<v Speaker 1>have in development or any of the live services we're
<v Speaker 1>currently running. And it's like, why, if I'm him, I
<v Speaker 1>would not be saying this, because it's a reminder that like, oh,
<v Speaker 1>you have not caused enough disruption to the industry to
<v Speaker 1>really cause these executives any pain. And they're like, they're
<v Speaker 1>believing right now that it will get solved before they
<v Speaker 1>begin to feel that pain. And in the meantime, the
<v Speaker 1>voice actors are feeling pain because they can't take new jobs,
<v Speaker 1>they can't get new things going into the future with
<v Speaker 1>these major corporations, So more pain is being felt on
<v Speaker 1>one side than the other.
<v Speaker 2>Now.
<v Speaker 1>Of course that will catch up at some point, but
<v Speaker 1>it could be far down the line. I don't know.
<v Speaker 1>I'm if I'm in the room with the organizers of
<v Speaker 1>this strike, I am looking for more ways to cause
<v Speaker 1>some distress on someone like Andrew Wilson, right.
<v Speaker 2>I mean, yeah, I was the reason I was at
<v Speaker 2>Comacon was I was hosting the Dragon Age panel with
<v Speaker 2>the voice actors, and it was the day after the
<v Speaker 2>strike was called, and they said that everything in Comic
<v Speaker 2>Con was not struck because of how late they'd left it.
<v Speaker 2>And I spoke to a bunch of other voice actors too,
<v Speaker 2>who I just saw while I was there, and they
<v Speaker 2>would just devastate it. Like some of them were just
<v Speaker 2>saying that, you know, like they've waited months, years, not
<v Speaker 2>the Dragon Age folks I saw. I was talking to
<v Speaker 2>other actors while I was there, and they were like,
<v Speaker 2>they waited years to talk about some of these projects
<v Speaker 2>and then they just can't. And for some of them,
<v Speaker 2>it's like a dream come true. They you know, they
<v Speaker 2>love the franchise or whatever, and they want to be
<v Speaker 2>a part of it. They want to talk about their involvement.
<v Speaker 2>And we've seen how well, like it could be make
<v Speaker 2>or break, because we've seen how well people like Ben
<v Speaker 2>Starr have really just you know, managed to be a
<v Speaker 2>relative unknown in the video game space to becoming this
<v Speaker 2>like like video game household name Jelly stop attacking my headphones,
<v Speaker 2>you and so, you know, and it's so important for
<v Speaker 2>people's careers and it's sucks. And then yeah, it's Andrew
<v Speaker 2>Wilson's not going to feel it, but those the actors are.
<v Speaker 1>Yep, and it's you know, and the strike has to
<v Speaker 1>start in a way that is pretty responsible. I get
<v Speaker 1>that where they they are looking for ways to cause
<v Speaker 1>some strife on these companies without being too disruptive to
<v Speaker 1>people who do have current jobs and make sure that
<v Speaker 1>they get paid still, because these strikes can go on
<v Speaker 1>for a very long time we've seen, and that can
<v Speaker 1>be very painful for people who are now relying on
<v Speaker 1>savings and maybe a small stipend from their union. Maybe.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, And I was gonna say, it's not as if
<v Speaker 2>the acting space in particular is reliable and oversaturated, you know.
<v Speaker 2>It's uh yeah, it's I really likely resolve this quickly.
<v Speaker 2>But I also absolutely power to them for fighting against
<v Speaker 2>AI protection. We've seen a bunch of like shitty things
<v Speaker 2>and shitty things come out of like come out of
<v Speaker 2>contracts said oh yeah, we can use your voice to
<v Speaker 2>make AI and likes. The person you're talking about is
<v Speaker 2>Alex Jordan.
<v Speaker 1>Alex Jordan, Yes, Alex Jordan was goning. Yes, he's also
<v Speaker 1>like he's the one I think of because he just
<v Speaker 1>made it so clear that he's Like. I looked around
<v Speaker 1>one day and it's like, I've got to like be
<v Speaker 1>Alex Jordan and show people that I'm passionate and care
<v Speaker 1>about this stuff, because what else do I have?
<v Speaker 2>It?
<v Speaker 1>Like, I have my voice, But they're gonna it seems
<v Speaker 1>like they're gonna try to steal that and take it
<v Speaker 1>for themselves and use it on their own with AI,
<v Speaker 1>So what can I do? I can be like Ben Starr.
<v Speaker 1>I could be out there, uh, be kind of an
<v Speaker 1>advocate for the projects I'm working on and get people
<v Speaker 1>people saying, oh, Alex Jordan, I know him, I watch
<v Speaker 1>him on Twitch. I care about him, and I want
<v Speaker 1>to support whatever project he's on and like and really
<v Speaker 1>that that was a strategy that was beginning to happen
<v Speaker 1>even before AI, because there was so much competition in
<v Speaker 1>the voice acting space that people are looking for ways
<v Speaker 1>to stand out, and now the competition might wipe out
<v Speaker 1>all of the human participants. Is the you know the
<v Speaker 1>greatest concern here? Yeah? Uh, the voice? Yeah?
<v Speaker 2>And unlet's say, like, not everyone is a member of SAG. Like,
<v Speaker 2>you know, we just put up an episode of Star
<v Speaker 2>Players with Abba Salem and I messaged him to be like, hey,
<v Speaker 2>is it okay? You know, he was like, I'm not
<v Speaker 2>a member of SAG, so we're good. But it's like, yeah, yes, it.
<v Speaker 1>Makes sure exactly it's and it's complicated and uh and yeah,
<v Speaker 1>I hope that the voice actors are able to really
<v Speaker 1>figure this out because this will be one of the
<v Speaker 1>first sort of forays into determining what contracts look like
<v Speaker 1>and what companies are able to get away with with AI,
<v Speaker 1>because voices can so easily be replaced by AI, now
<v Speaker 1>not always with the same level of performance, but these
<v Speaker 1>companies do not really care about that. They think you
<v Speaker 1>don't care about that. So uh, they think they're going
<v Speaker 1>to be able to get away with a lot, and
<v Speaker 1>they're gonna to get away with everything, and uh, in
<v Speaker 1>the meantime of voice actors, I think should be able
<v Speaker 1>to uh put to stem that tight a little bit
<v Speaker 1>and we'll see what what that ends up looking like.
<v Speaker 1>I know there was differently like some AI stuff in
<v Speaker 1>uh the writers strike and they were like, hey, yeah,
<v Speaker 1>the writers can like use AI as a tool, but
<v Speaker 1>the producers can't come in and be like, hey, I
<v Speaker 1>wrote something, wink wink. And actually what they just did
<v Speaker 1>is they had an ai come up with an idea,
<v Speaker 1>and now they're asking a writer, well, we just need
<v Speaker 1>you to touch this up, and that you're just going
<v Speaker 1>to get touch up money. You're not going to get
<v Speaker 1>real right money. And it's like they were able to
<v Speaker 1>stop that from happening. But that's like so much more
<v Speaker 1>complicated than voice acting and and and you know that's
<v Speaker 1>not to say it's not as important. Voice acting clearly
<v Speaker 1>as important, but I think that that's just so vulnerable
<v Speaker 1>and everyone knows it. So they're hopefully they were able
<v Speaker 1>to get some concessions here and some protections going forward.
<v Speaker 2>And it's also yeah, to the point of like other
<v Speaker 2>actors don't want to be seen as Yeah, it's like
<v Speaker 2>based on what they can and can't talk about the
<v Speaker 2>can't promote projects that they are in, but they can
<v Speaker 2>talk about other games. They can talk about the strike.
<v Speaker 2>I don't want to like absolutely don't want to misspeak
<v Speaker 2>or anything. But it's like it's messy for everyone, and
<v Speaker 2>I think everyone is just working towards a very very
<v Speaker 2>good and noble goal and I really hope it gets
<v Speaker 2>sorted for their sakes.
<v Speaker 1>Yep, agree quickly. Uh, okay, let's see here. Last couple
<v Speaker 1>of stories, suit of fifty one teases he may eventually
<v Speaker 1>make Killer seven sequel called Killer seven Beyond. This is
<v Speaker 1>from my Nintendo News. Shinjibikami, the acclaimed ex developer for
<v Speaker 1>capcoment Tango, has appeared in a Grasshopper direct and he
<v Speaker 1>told Suita fifty one that he would absolutely love to
<v Speaker 1>see him create a sequel to the cult classic Killer seven.
<v Speaker 1>Suit fifty one said that it is something he would
<v Speaker 1>like to do and has nicknamed it Killer seven Beyond
<v Speaker 1>or something similar. However, he told mccami that he thinks
<v Speaker 1>he would prefer to make a complete edition of the
<v Speaker 1>original Killer seven first, as the game originally launched back
<v Speaker 1>in two thousand and five, so and he haven't played it,
<v Speaker 1>but Kami said that said that that's lame as he
<v Speaker 1>really wants a sequel, but he said that the fans
<v Speaker 1>would love it. Yeah, I actually never played Killer seven.
<v Speaker 1>Do you do you even know what Killer seven was?
<v Speaker 1>It's like one of those weird Capcom five games that
<v Speaker 1>I feel like was a big deal for a year
<v Speaker 1>and most people actually never ended up playing it. Did
<v Speaker 1>you ever get around to this?
<v Speaker 2>I didn't, But what was the one that I interviewed
<v Speaker 2>Suita four. It would kill her as dead as that
<v Speaker 2>was the other one. No, but I never played Killer something,
<v Speaker 2>but I know of it because a few years ago
<v Speaker 2>we did film like a This is My Life with Sudah, Yeah,
<v Speaker 2>and he went through all of his all of his
<v Speaker 2>productions because it was which almost shadows of the dam
<v Speaker 2>He was like the a again, killer seven has a
<v Speaker 2>ten on a ten on Steam Damn, maybe I should
<v Speaker 2>play this one.
<v Speaker 1>People really like Killer seven at the time, though, I
<v Speaker 1>think it was a little bit more controversial, but like
<v Speaker 1>it was a little bit more mixed because I think
<v Speaker 1>people didn't know what to expectrum it and the Capcom
<v Speaker 1>five was Resident Evil four, so that was the bar
<v Speaker 1>and people are like, well, the Killer seven, God, what
<v Speaker 1>is this gonna be? Something like that. I think it
<v Speaker 1>was a little bit there's a little bit more to
<v Speaker 1>it than that that people weren't quite rocking. I should
<v Speaker 1>play Killer Seven's that's what I should do. Do you
<v Speaker 1>think that this is something that he's just saying, Do
<v Speaker 1>you think this is something that could really happen? Because
<v Speaker 1>I feel like we get some follow ups or like
<v Speaker 1>even like people bring back games that were popular, Like
<v Speaker 1>I didn't include the story. But John Heavlow was whining
<v Speaker 1>that Braid Complete Edition or whatever it's called, it didn't
<v Speaker 1>sell very well. He said it sold terribly and like
<v Speaker 1>people like Braid, maybe they don't like him and maybe
<v Speaker 1>that affected the sales, but people like Braid and even
<v Speaker 1>that game kind of like just kind of came and went. So,
<v Speaker 1>do you think that there's a world for or space
<v Speaker 1>in the world for a Killer seven remaster and then
<v Speaker 1>maybe a sequel?
<v Speaker 2>I think so, I mean I would, I would hope.
<v Speaker 2>So like they did the wait didn't they They put
<v Speaker 2>Killer seven on PC and they kind of like Upbresident
<v Speaker 2>and stuff. That's that's just what I was looking at.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I don't think it's like a full like he didn't.
<v Speaker 1>He just said he wanted to do a complete edition
<v Speaker 1>or something like that.
<v Speaker 2>Oh no, I hope. So. I think, you know, kind
<v Speaker 2>of the different like all people, all people, all people
<v Speaker 2>as passionate about Braid and Jonathan Blow as they are
<v Speaker 2>about two to fifty one in his games, like because
<v Speaker 2>I think that's part of it where it's like people
<v Speaker 2>latch onto the person into the vibe and they are
<v Speaker 2>gonna you know, invest with that, with that money, and
<v Speaker 2>so I don't know, like.
<v Speaker 1>Braid, Yeah, I mean, and I think like Suita fifty one,
<v Speaker 1>didn't they do that. I don't know. Suit if you want,
<v Speaker 1>just seems like a good person, like a good dude.
<v Speaker 1>John not so much. John seems like kind of a dick,
<v Speaker 1>and I think he knows it. And again I always say, like,
<v Speaker 1>if you want to te him, I said that you can
<v Speaker 1>tell him to I'll tell to his face. I think
<v Speaker 1>he's kind of a dick sometimes uh and uh and
<v Speaker 1>and says some stuff that I completely disagree with. And
<v Speaker 1>the fifty ones out there just making his cool games,
<v Speaker 1>liking wrestling, and isn't he the one that made the
<v Speaker 1>game with the sort of the trans lady like, yeah,
<v Speaker 1>like he's done some real cool stuff, and so I
<v Speaker 1>think they're.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.
<v Speaker 1>I think that he's just out there like doing stuff
<v Speaker 1>that people are like, I want to be in his
<v Speaker 1>vibe and he's earned that. And then so I think
<v Speaker 1>Killer seven coming back would probably have a pretty big
<v Speaker 1>upswell of interest from people that have never played it.
<v Speaker 1>That was sweary, thank you. I always confuse suda and
<v Speaker 1>sweary thank you everyone. Okay, let's see here, last one
<v Speaker 1>game job layoffs. Forecast is game better with job cuts
<v Speaker 1>slowly traumatically in July high never mind, never mind, that
<v Speaker 1>was literally included that just to say, don't count on it.
<v Speaker 1>And here we are, yeah, hopefully again, hopefully bunch. Yeah
<v Speaker 1>we say this every time. Hopefully Bunch is the last
<v Speaker 1>big one and we'll get on the other side of
<v Speaker 1>this and the rest of the year will be like,
<v Speaker 1>all right, now, let's actually do the survive to twenty
<v Speaker 1>five and get back to next year and things could
<v Speaker 1>bounce back and interest rates will go down and there
<v Speaker 1>will be more money in the system, and people will
<v Speaker 1>be able to afford to invest in games again and
<v Speaker 1>investors will believe in that again. In the meantime, though,
<v Speaker 1>it is still rough out there. People are still losing
<v Speaker 1>their jobs obviously. Yeah. I don't know any thoughts on Bunchie.
<v Speaker 2>Today's gied up Is newsletter is about the how to
<v Speaker 2>Survive till twenty five. Oh my god, Pete Parsons locked
<v Speaker 2>his Twitter account.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, yeah, yeah, that sounds about right again. I mean,
<v Speaker 1>I think I think Destiny fans are gonna kind of
<v Speaker 1>go ham on this. They're gonna be pretty upset, yeah.
<v Speaker 2>I mean, yeah, and if if we're talking about the
<v Speaker 2>layoff stuff. Yeah, I think all eyes are kind of
<v Speaker 2>on Twitch.
<v Speaker 1>After the is the CEO of Bungie. He's the head
<v Speaker 1>person at Bunchie Doctor Ryan. Yeah, I'm sorry, Lucy, what
<v Speaker 1>were you saying?
<v Speaker 2>No, I was just saying, like, in terms of layoffs,
<v Speaker 2>calming down, I think all eyes are kind of on
<v Speaker 2>Twitch at the moment.
<v Speaker 1>Yes.
<v Speaker 2>After the report from Wall Street Channel Earlieah.
<v Speaker 1>Yep, I'm Twitch is one where it's like, man, is
<v Speaker 1>that ever made money? I don't know. It seems like
<v Speaker 1>a very expensive venture. Uh, all right, let's let's wrap
<v Speaker 1>things up. I'm gonna get to the poll question while
<v Speaker 1>I get that set up, Lucy, why don't you tell
<v Speaker 1>people where they can find you on the internet what
<v Speaker 1>you have going on and all that good stuff.
<v Speaker 2>I What am I doing? I'm back from Comic Con,
<v Speaker 2>So this week I'm very much catching up. I we're
<v Speaker 2>recording Jeff Jest Adventure next week. Stop Players is back.
<v Speaker 2>So we had a boot on this week and next
<v Speaker 2>week I believe is Johnny from Health, Johnny Famaletti, and
<v Speaker 2>so please be excited and tune in to those. We
<v Speaker 2>had a lot of fun making them, and I'm shooting
<v Speaker 2>another one.
<v Speaker 1>It seems like a very nice person, was he.
<v Speaker 2>He's so lovely, like I've actually known it lovely.
<v Speaker 1>He wanted to come to a Giant Bomb at night
<v Speaker 1>and he had a thing, and then I'm like, oh,
<v Speaker 1>of course, no problem. And then like a week later
<v Speaker 1>he's say, I'm so sorry, I wish I really want
<v Speaker 1>to do this. I'm just steel bad. I'm like, don't
<v Speaker 1>feel bad. I get it. It just seems like the
<v Speaker 1>sweetest guy.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and it's actually funny because yah, Johnny did actually
<v Speaker 2>come to Giant Bomb at night.
<v Speaker 1>Just to hang out.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. No, And so I'm also going to shoot in
<v Speaker 2>La another episode next week, and then yeah, we're getting
<v Speaker 2>ready for games call.
<v Speaker 1>Yep, it's happening everybody. I won't be there, but a
<v Speaker 1>lot of the other a lot of the rest of
<v Speaker 1>the team will be. So looking forward to everybody. Okay,
<v Speaker 1>let's see here. Poll question, are you going to see
<v Speaker 1>the Borderlands movie? Eighty five percent says no, fifteen percent
<v Speaker 1>says yes. Now I'm in that fifteen percent. Now will
<v Speaker 1>I see it in the movie theater? I don't know,
<v Speaker 1>probably not. I mean, will I have time to see it?
<v Speaker 1>Because it just feels like this is going to evaporate
<v Speaker 1>the moment it hits a movie theater and we'll be
<v Speaker 1>on home video in like probably a month if even that. Yeah, Hey,
<v Speaker 1>I don't know, we'll see. This is all based on
<v Speaker 1>the commercials and reactions that people just do not seem
<v Speaker 1>interested in what they're doing here in Borderlands, the Borderlands movie. Yeah.
<v Speaker 2>I they keep messaging me to ask if I want
<v Speaker 2>to go, Like someone from the UK bless them, It's like, hey,
<v Speaker 2>did you want to go see all the borderliness off
<v Speaker 2>it at Comic Con? And I was like, I'm.
<v Speaker 1>Sorry, busy that day.
<v Speaker 2>I'm busy to be if I was busy those days,
<v Speaker 2>that's true. No, I don't know. I just I feel
<v Speaker 2>like it's not I'm gonna ready.
<v Speaker 1>What's the letter after what? Okay? It's E blue Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>e y. You've got to be gotta put an L
<v Speaker 1>before the you loah, you got so just do a backspace.
<v Speaker 1>It's that one down on the bottom right, all right,
<v Speaker 1>you know it's gotta watch your bluey. Yeah, that's that's
<v Speaker 1>a good show, everybody, all right. Uh new poll question. Uh,
<v Speaker 1>let's see have you ever played Killer seven? Yes or no?
<v Speaker 1>I'm a little bit surprised. There was a big response
<v Speaker 1>in the chat uh that people are like, I love
<v Speaker 1>Killer seven. I want to see how many people I've
<v Speaker 1>actually played it, And now I'm really feeling like I should.
<v Speaker 1>I'm gonna put it on the steam deck. I think
<v Speaker 1>play it. I just treat myself and play it, all right, Uh,
<v Speaker 1>let's see anything else. What's going on? A giant bomb.
<v Speaker 1>There will be a Blake club today, Tune in for
<v Speaker 1>that tomorrow, back with game game as mornings and then
<v Speaker 1>voicemail dump Truck. I think during the day tomorrow I
<v Speaker 1>might try to play Fault London. It's kind that's kind
<v Speaker 1>of up in the air because it's things are kind
<v Speaker 1>of coming. The game might not run. I haven't tried
<v Speaker 1>to get it running yet, so we'll see.
<v Speaker 2>Oh I've seen I've seen Greg Miller play it. Yes,
<v Speaker 2>and having a terrible time, but.
<v Speaker 1>Yes. And then on Friday we will have probably some stuff.
<v Speaker 1>Game this morning should happen Friday, but there's a chance
<v Speaker 1>I got friends in town and those friends are Dan
<v Speaker 1>Reikert and like when not even got Summer Slam happening,
<v Speaker 1>So we'll see how how things are going. But other
<v Speaker 1>than that, I don't know. It's up to jan I
<v Speaker 1>think he's going to do a UPF and a BCR Maybe,
<v Speaker 1>I don't know. You guys want to tune.
<v Speaker 2>We have so many We have so many acronyms.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, we do. Yeah, get hip with us. Everybody, learn
<v Speaker 1>what we're saying when we're talking. All right, Lucy, thank
<v Speaker 1>you so much for spinning today talk with me about
<v Speaker 1>video games. I really appreciate it.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, thank you for having.
<v Speaker 1>Me absolutely, thank you all for watching. You are the
<v Speaker 1>best audience in gaming. Until next time, have a good one,
<v Speaker 1>take care of yourself and goodbye.
<v Speaker 2>This is what the kids do, that's right.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, why does start doing that?
<v Speaker 2>That's so much easier.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, they just take everything from us. Yeah,