GIANT BOMB IS INDEPENDENT NOW!

<v Speaker 1>He'll be locker, don't be bad.
<v Speaker 2>Hey, everybody, welcome to Game Mess Mornings with Me Jeff Grub,
<v Speaker 2>your host from giant bomb dot com. Thank you for
<v Speaker 2>tuning in. In this episode, we're gonna be talking about
<v Speaker 2>a newly independent gaming media brand and Doom the Dark
<v Speaker 2>Ages reviews. It's gonna be a good one because we
<v Speaker 2>have Mike Manati on the show, which is brought to
<v Speaker 2>you by kind of Funny. But we'll take a break
<v Speaker 2>to talk about that later. First though, Mike, how are
<v Speaker 2>you doing.
<v Speaker 3>A lot's happening? A lot's been happening.
<v Speaker 1>Uh do you feel caught up? No? No, me neither.
<v Speaker 1>And I've been there the whole time.
<v Speaker 4>This is the first time I talked to you since
<v Speaker 4>you asked me if I wanted to own part of
<v Speaker 4>giant Bomb, and.
<v Speaker 2>That was the first time I talked to you in
<v Speaker 2>more than a week. So yeah, it's a lot has happened. Uh,
<v Speaker 2>GB Giant Bomb is in it now. Thank you to
<v Speaker 2>everybody who's gone to giant bomb dot com slash join
<v Speaker 2>to sign up and get us back on the track
<v Speaker 2>of making this a community and members supported website, which
<v Speaker 2>is going to be our focus.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, so much has happened. Thank you.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah again, thank you to everybody who has already rushed out.
<v Speaker 2>If you're just seeing this now, though, please feel free.
<v Speaker 2>We're gonna have memberships starting at nine to ninety nine.
<v Speaker 2>There's a lot of moving parts. We also hear people
<v Speaker 2>who want to support for more. We're working to figure
<v Speaker 2>all that stuff out. We really did just get handed
<v Speaker 2>the keys on Saturday, basically, and it's been us figuring
<v Speaker 2>things out. But while also many of us traveling home
<v Speaker 2>on Sunday and getting other things taken care of. So
<v Speaker 2>it's heads down today to get everything sorted out. It's
<v Speaker 2>there's a million things to do, and then we're also
<v Speaker 2>going to try to get Summer Game Fest up and running. Mike,
<v Speaker 2>it's overwhelming, but I mean, I don't know, I have
<v Speaker 2>this energy where I'm just ready to go because Giant
<v Speaker 2>Bomb it lives, it's independent, and it's ours, so let's
<v Speaker 2>make it.
<v Speaker 1>Let's make it cool.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah.
<v Speaker 4>Absolutely, I'm incredibly excited. There's just so much that I
<v Speaker 4>want to do. I almost have to restrain myself a bit.
<v Speaker 4>But you know, we're already talking about things. There's things
<v Speaker 4>that people want to see back. You know, I'll just
<v Speaker 4>say this right now, Jeff, people miss quick looks. I
<v Speaker 4>think we should do those again.
<v Speaker 2>I think we should do some quick looks this week. Yeah,
<v Speaker 2>I'm we're already planning to everybody, we'll get to work
<v Speaker 2>on those. We're gonna, you know, I want to force
<v Speaker 2>Thing to do a demo derby, which he keeps talking
<v Speaker 2>about doing. I think we're gonna try to get that
<v Speaker 2>next week. This week, we're gonna be busically talking to
<v Speaker 2>a lot of friends as we promote what we're doing here,
<v Speaker 2>So look out for, you know, our guest appearances out
<v Speaker 2>there in the wild. But we'll still have plenty happening
<v Speaker 2>this week. But we're just gonna keep rolling. Plenty of
<v Speaker 2>stuff happening next week as well, and we'll try some
<v Speaker 2>new stuff. Right now, it's like there's a lot of
<v Speaker 2>things that we've kept on, you know, in the vault
<v Speaker 2>or on the sideline that like, let's get those off
<v Speaker 2>the bench and get back to work.
<v Speaker 4>So right I have a bike club game that I
<v Speaker 4>have all my stuff over there, so we gotta do that. Still,
<v Speaker 4>just the BombCast, there's all this stuff. There are some
<v Speaker 4>you know, like some transitions and growing pains. I think,
<v Speaker 4>you know, people might notice that we're not on the
<v Speaker 4>giant bomb dot com slash chat site right now.
<v Speaker 1>Yes, yes, so that's uh.
<v Speaker 2>The one thing that continues to be this sort of
<v Speaker 2>damicalles a little bit is the future of the dot com.
<v Speaker 1>Actually, we are going.
<v Speaker 2>To try to do We're gonna do everything we can
<v Speaker 2>to figure it out, but there is a potential where
<v Speaker 2>we are unable to extract that from the parts that
<v Speaker 2>are still underfandom, which they're they've promised to do everything
<v Speaker 2>they can to help us in that, but the reality
<v Speaker 2>is a lot of the guts that made Giant Bomb
<v Speaker 2>work became the guts that made everything else work. There
<v Speaker 2>are some hurdles there work work again. We have we
<v Speaker 2>own all of the assets, we own all the all
<v Speaker 2>the stuff that these things belong to us. It's just
<v Speaker 2>going to be tough to make that technology work. So
<v Speaker 2>in with that in mind, we have made the decision
<v Speaker 2>in this moment to be like, in the case that
<v Speaker 2>we are unable to keep giant bomb dot com as
<v Speaker 2>website as it works right now, going like we're just
<v Speaker 2>going to jump in into YouTube chat.
<v Speaker 1>Twitch chat will be there.
<v Speaker 2>You know, honestly, if people watch our game mess stuff,
<v Speaker 2>Mike it'll look like familiar in terms of like super
<v Speaker 2>chats and things like that as well, where you can
<v Speaker 2>really get our attention and support us at the same time.
<v Speaker 2>So we're really going to try to make this work,
<v Speaker 2>but there are gonna be some initial headaches that are
<v Speaker 2>really just frustrations.
<v Speaker 1>There's not much we can do about.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, exactly, you know, we we do.
<v Speaker 4>We have lost the safety net have been in terms
<v Speaker 4>of you know, like the engineering team and other people
<v Speaker 4>who could help with that sort of stuff. It's it's
<v Speaker 4>us five right now, which is exciting. It's a I
<v Speaker 4>don't want to say it's scary, but you know, yeah,
<v Speaker 4>it's the.
<v Speaker 3>Buck stops with us. You know.
<v Speaker 4>For a long time, Jeff I kind of had this
<v Speaker 4>shield of like I'm just a contributor.
<v Speaker 3>Ah, well now I'm a part owner.
<v Speaker 1>So now you're in all the meetings now.
<v Speaker 3>So yeah, ooh, I have my first giant On meeting
<v Speaker 3>ever after this. That is so exciting. I can't wait. U.
<v Speaker 2>I guess just like before, we know, after we sett
<v Speaker 2>all that, people probably did perk up a little bit
<v Speaker 2>if they were just kind of listening like normal. Yeah,
<v Speaker 2>So if you want to support us again, Giant Bomb
<v Speaker 2>dot com slash join is probably the best thing to
<v Speaker 2>do right now.
<v Speaker 1>Understand, we hear you.
<v Speaker 2>It's very kind people talking about wanting to give extra
<v Speaker 2>to really show their love and support. We will find
<v Speaker 2>a solution for you because money will really make this
<v Speaker 2>all makes sense.
<v Speaker 1>So yeah, we really appreciate that. Thank you everybody.
<v Speaker 2>All Right, we should explain what this show is before
<v Speaker 2>we get into everything. Most weekdays, I Jeff Grub will
<v Speaker 2>help piece your gaming life back together. That includes breaking
<v Speaker 2>news and maybe even some of our own original reporting.
<v Speaker 2>For all these topics, I'll get the input of a
<v Speaker 2>bona fide expert who will make me look smart.
<v Speaker 1>You are watching live on Twitch Welcome.
<v Speaker 2>You can always listen to the show later on podcast
<v Speaker 2>feeds by searching for Games Mornings, or find the RSS
<v Speaker 2>feed on giant bomb dot com. You can also catch
<v Speaker 2>the show later on YouTube. Hello YouTube. All right, we
<v Speaker 2>have a lot to get into, so let's start the
<v Speaker 2>morning mess with Giant Bombs sold the site to set
<v Speaker 2>staff by fandom. Really once again, just this is well.
<v Speaker 2>I'll give the basics here in case you are still.
<v Speaker 1>Kind of getting whiplash.
<v Speaker 2>Me and Backlar purchased the site from Fandom as part
<v Speaker 2>of like a little bit of our exit from that company.
<v Speaker 1>We worked it out, they worked it out.
<v Speaker 2>This was the idea of, hey, this is what's best
<v Speaker 2>for the fans, and we meet Jeff Backlar and fandom
<v Speaker 2>all agreed on that. It made it very easy in
<v Speaker 2>the end, despite all the complex efforts to move an
<v Speaker 2>asset like this to other people, everyone was motivated because
<v Speaker 2>this really did feel like the best possible outcome, and
<v Speaker 2>the motivations were there as far as what the site
<v Speaker 2>looks like going forward. Baklaar and I immediately planned to
<v Speaker 2>build a company that will then split ownership amongst all
<v Speaker 2>five of us.
<v Speaker 1>We are all co equal owners.
<v Speaker 2>This is an employee owned effort now, and so the
<v Speaker 2>skins in the game. And I've been like thinking, like
<v Speaker 2>we're going to go into this first meeting, Mike, and like,
<v Speaker 2>I think the our just marching order should be let's
<v Speaker 2>just care a lot about the stuff we make, and
<v Speaker 2>then I think people will care at home, right.
<v Speaker 4>No, absolutely, I mean it's it's not difficult to do
<v Speaker 4>that because the stuff is fun, the audience is great.
<v Speaker 4>They have shown up like crazy recently, even before this.
<v Speaker 4>I mean all this could honestly not have happened without
<v Speaker 4>the viewers sort of going out there and making it
<v Speaker 4>known how much that they do care about Giant Bomb
<v Speaker 4>and how much frankly they care about us, which has
<v Speaker 4>been incredibly humbling. It's been incredibly emotional. You cannot cannot
<v Speaker 4>say enough just how much I appreciate this, know, Jeff,
<v Speaker 4>you say all the time, you know, the best audience
<v Speaker 4>in gaming. You know, sometimes it's like, yeah, yeah, we
<v Speaker 4>like to say things right, but boy, oh boy, just
<v Speaker 4>talk about just changing our lives in incredible ways in YouTube.
<v Speaker 3>Jeff.
<v Speaker 4>You know, when this was all going down, when things
<v Speaker 4>seemed dark, I thought like, I'm gonna take or my buddy, Jeff,
<v Speaker 4>don't worry, And once again, somehow you.
<v Speaker 3>Turned it into a way to do something incredible for me.
<v Speaker 4>The fact that you were still thinking about me like that,
<v Speaker 4>when you know, I would have been probably more than
<v Speaker 4>happy to just continue being a contributor. The fact that
<v Speaker 4>you all brought me in like this means the world
<v Speaker 4>to me. So yeah, gosh, I love all of you,
<v Speaker 4>I love the audience, I love Giant Bomb. I am
<v Speaker 4>just ready to go.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, thanks man, I just it's the team, right. I
<v Speaker 2>think I'm ready to do stuff with all of us here,
<v Speaker 2>we can just really make some cool stuff.
<v Speaker 1>So work.
<v Speaker 2>Like I said many times now, we are going to
<v Speaker 2>get to work really looking forward to it, and I
<v Speaker 2>just you know, wouldn't want to do it with anyone else.
<v Speaker 2>And that's that means this team, But like you said,
<v Speaker 2>it also means this audience that has just shown up.
<v Speaker 2>I think we were saying the other day, like you
<v Speaker 2>might hear us complain about the reddit, and then I
<v Speaker 2>mean this, I wouldn't trade even that reddit for anyone
<v Speaker 2>else's reddit. So when we get that, when we're talking
<v Speaker 2>about that, you know, the awesome people that show up
<v Speaker 2>and just show support in any which way they can.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, it's made it all totally worth it and overwhelming.
<v Speaker 2>I've had a like, I it's hard for me to
<v Speaker 2>go in there even because it's like a lot of
<v Speaker 2>nice things. Even that's not it's like all people are
<v Speaker 2>saying mean things. Now it's like there's so many nice
<v Speaker 2>things that it really like makes me feel like, oh God,
<v Speaker 2>there's so much responsibility to like to do the best
<v Speaker 2>that we can. Staff's been kind of going through there
<v Speaker 2>and being like this buffer for me because she's you know,
<v Speaker 2>very interested now and she just kind of reads out
<v Speaker 2>like the most helpful stuff, and that's been really great
<v Speaker 2>to right, just hear everyone's ideas and hear what people
<v Speaker 2>want to see.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, and you know, people are going to be free
<v Speaker 4>to criticize us. It's something that you said way back when, Jeff,
<v Speaker 4>when like our podcast first started getting actual attractions, Like,
<v Speaker 4>we criticize people all the time, so people are to
<v Speaker 4>criticize us if you don't like.
<v Speaker 3>Something that we're doing, you know.
<v Speaker 4>So I'm still going to be in the weeds in
<v Speaker 4>the reddit especially right, kind of keeping paulse on things
<v Speaker 4>in there and on other social platforms to see what's
<v Speaker 4>going on.
<v Speaker 3>So yeah, it's all of that is fair game as well.
<v Speaker 4>If you have displeasures, you may express them.
<v Speaker 2>All Right, we'll have a lot more to talk about this.
<v Speaker 2>We're going to be doing the BombCast tomorrow and there'll
<v Speaker 2>be you know, Blake Club. We'll be back on Wednesday, right, Mike, Yeah,
<v Speaker 2>I guess.
<v Speaker 3>So apparently I'm gonna look really cool. I'm gonna look
<v Speaker 3>super cool.
<v Speaker 4>I have no idea what that means, but yeah, I'm
<v Speaker 4>gonna look so freaking cool.
<v Speaker 3>I won't believe it. Mike, You's so freaking cool.
<v Speaker 2>Steph was asking about it and I told her what
<v Speaker 2>you're playing. She went to go look at it without
<v Speaker 2>any prompting for me. She said, Mike is gonna look
<v Speaker 2>so cool.
<v Speaker 3>I cannot I cannot say this enough.
<v Speaker 4>I've never been more prepared to look uncool in my life.
<v Speaker 2>All right, let's get into the rest of the news here.
<v Speaker 2>Doom the Dark Ages review round up uh eighty six
<v Speaker 2>on Open Critic. I definitely did this this morning and
<v Speaker 2>was like, oh, that's nice. I don't have to pretend
<v Speaker 2>like I'm it just around have to like ignore Metacritic,
<v Speaker 2>which was, you know, formally owned by the company I
<v Speaker 2>worked at.
<v Speaker 1>I like Open Critic better.
<v Speaker 2>So I've been using over critic anyhow, but now I
<v Speaker 2>can just use it and feel good about it. Eighty
<v Speaker 2>six on Open Critic. Christian Donlon at Eurogamer gave it
<v Speaker 2>four stars. Here's a more grounded Doom, but one that's
<v Speaker 2>as brisk and playful as ever. Morgan Park pc Gamer
<v Speaker 2>give it an eighty out of one hundred and said
<v Speaker 2>Doom the Dark Ages is indulgent, deliciously violent, but surprisingly
<v Speaker 2>safe and Jade King at The Gamer gave it three
<v Speaker 2>point five stars and said, Doom the Dark Ages is
<v Speaker 2>the weakest entry in a fantastic trilogy of games, and
<v Speaker 2>despite how I feel about its additions to combat and exploration,
<v Speaker 2>I'd rather an experience that took risks and sought to
<v Speaker 2>reinvent what it means to play a Doom game rather
<v Speaker 2>than build upon the familiar. I mean, that's really just
<v Speaker 2>got to be kind of where Doom is at in
<v Speaker 2>this moment where they did reinvent it once again in
<v Speaker 2>a way by kind of going back to what Doom was,
<v Speaker 2>making that mix sense in a modern way with Doom
<v Speaker 2>twenty sixteen, and now this the fact that this has
<v Speaker 2>been a trilogy, by the time you get to the
<v Speaker 2>third game, the familiarity will overwhelm everything else, right right.
<v Speaker 4>I think that's why they did some things here that
<v Speaker 4>stand out as being different with just the kind of
<v Speaker 4>medieval tone or aesthetic of everything the standiard ground, especially
<v Speaker 4>when Doom Eternal was very run around jump, swing off
<v Speaker 4>of stuff, jump off of walls, right, So I think
<v Speaker 4>that's smart to differentiate it like that.
<v Speaker 3>But yeah, this guess game sounds great. I'm very excited,
<v Speaker 3>and I'm.
<v Speaker 4>Also maybe getting the sense, Okay, that's probably gonna be
<v Speaker 4>it for this version to doom for a bit. I
<v Speaker 4>kind of hope maybe now they go and look at
<v Speaker 4>Quake or something like that, do make a chance to
<v Speaker 4>breathe again. But very excited for this. These are very
<v Speaker 4>good scores. Again, trilogies are hard these days, Jeff.
<v Speaker 3>People kind of get tired of them.
<v Speaker 4>That's why you know, even you know when God of
<v Speaker 4>Warhead it's reboot they did too, Like, we're not gonna
<v Speaker 4>do a third one. We don't think people are gonna
<v Speaker 4>really be that excited about it anymore.
<v Speaker 3>But they've done.
<v Speaker 4>Something really impressive here, especially in an era where it
<v Speaker 4>takes a really.
<v Speaker 3>Long time to make these games they brought. They took these.
<v Speaker 4>Three games out in about nine years. That's pretty impressive
<v Speaker 4>for how difficult stuff is in. These games always look
<v Speaker 4>absolutely gorgeous and are a ton of fun to play.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I do like it feels like we always like
<v Speaker 2>riz up or glaze up, Capcom for figuring out our
<v Speaker 2>e engine and be able to make games at a
<v Speaker 2>relatively fast pace and that their high quality and they
<v Speaker 2>totally understand their technology of course, like ID Software has
<v Speaker 2>been similar with id Tech and kind of making that
<v Speaker 2>makes sense of being able to, and it's a really
<v Speaker 2>scalable engine as well, so they can stick with it
<v Speaker 2>for a long time and be okay with it running
<v Speaker 2>on a variety of hardware, and they're the masters of it,
<v Speaker 2>and so being able to make a game like pretty
<v Speaker 2>quickly relative to everything else on the market, that has
<v Speaker 2>been something that is worth kind of following through with
<v Speaker 2>a trilogy.
<v Speaker 1>But I think you're right where at a.
<v Speaker 2>Certain point, the underlying idea of what Doom is right
<v Speaker 2>now is going to need a refresh. They know it's
<v Speaker 2>going to need like a full refresh after this, and
<v Speaker 2>the facts that they did throw the fact that they
<v Speaker 2>did throw in some cool little things to make it
<v Speaker 2>feel different and distinct, it's probably going to be enough
<v Speaker 2>for me personally. So I'm really excited to get in there.
<v Speaker 2>Eighty six is a really good score. So do you
<v Speaker 2>remember what we did when we were doing our guessing game?
<v Speaker 4>Who's like, it's cool we always because Doom Maternal got
<v Speaker 4>an eighty nine, which was very high, which is funny
<v Speaker 4>because like now you're, you know, good amount of people
<v Speaker 4>be like, I don't think that's about Doom Maternal or that, Yeah,
<v Speaker 4>Doom Eternal, right, eighty six is actually what the original
<v Speaker 4>Doom got to, which is, you know, it seems like
<v Speaker 4>that one is probably held in an even higher regard
<v Speaker 4>right now, right exactly, So, I mean all those games
<v Speaker 4>getting above eighty five is just insane for yeah, a
<v Speaker 4>trilogy of these days in fact, that yeah, even getting
<v Speaker 4>a trilogy these days. Who makes a trilogy of Triple
<v Speaker 4>A video games anymore?
<v Speaker 1>No one? Yeah, And then I got it.
<v Speaker 2>It's like we're and we're not even really all that
<v Speaker 2>far removed from like Mass Effect right where it's like, hey,
<v Speaker 2>we're gonna do a Mass Effect trilogy and it's all
<v Speaker 2>going to happen on these platforms.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, the Xbox three six z Erro is like the
<v Speaker 4>last time you can make a Triple A trilogy and
<v Speaker 4>one constle generation. We had a bunch of them, right,
<v Speaker 4>we had you know, yeah, we had you know, un Charted,
<v Speaker 4>you had Gears of War, you yeah, you had Lost
<v Speaker 4>Planet even stuff like that. With all sorts of them.
<v Speaker 4>Now it's like you'll get maybe one game every two generations, now,
<v Speaker 4>how about that?
<v Speaker 1>Right? Right?
<v Speaker 2>And it's like it did make sense because the first
<v Speaker 2>game was always going to be sort of figuring things out,
<v Speaker 2>really getting that Foundation, and then the sequel could be
<v Speaker 2>better and would always sell better. And then and back then,
<v Speaker 2>like the third one could still also be better and
<v Speaker 2>sell better, but not not always, but it was more
<v Speaker 2>frequent than now. And these days it's like, I think
<v Speaker 2>they still have that same desire to save money by staying, Okay,
<v Speaker 2>we'll make this first game and that's going to be expensive,
<v Speaker 2>and it'll be pretty good, but it's not gonna be great,
<v Speaker 2>and then.
<v Speaker 1>We'll follow it up with a sequel that we could.
<v Speaker 2>Save some money on it because we understand how to
<v Speaker 2>make it now, and then that will be the one
<v Speaker 2>that does even better, and then we can make even
<v Speaker 2>more money with a third one. And it's like now
<v Speaker 2>these days, by the time you get to the third one,
<v Speaker 2>people are going to be actually kind of sick of it.
<v Speaker 1>Because it's been so long and there's so many other
<v Speaker 1>games out there.
<v Speaker 4>It's tough man Like gosh, even back then, those I
<v Speaker 4>was thinking about those Xbox three sixty Places of Three
<v Speaker 4>era trilogies, the third one was never people's favorite.
<v Speaker 3>Usual, usually not gotten, usually not more charted.
<v Speaker 4>Three Well, think they would sell very well still, Yeah,
<v Speaker 4>it would sell very well, that's true.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, yeah, all right, well, I haven't touched you in
<v Speaker 2>the dark ages. I think I got code, like right
<v Speaker 2>as I was getting ready to leave for packs, So did.
<v Speaker 3>I get code? Gosh, my emails, my emails, I know,
<v Speaker 3>I know, I.
<v Speaker 2>Barely honestly, I don't have my old emails. So we'll
<v Speaker 2>have to get that figured out. But once I get
<v Speaker 2>a chance to sit down tonight, maybe I'll play some
<v Speaker 2>doom and talk about it on the podcast tomorrow. All right,
<v Speaker 2>I'm glad you're on this episode, Mike, because I know
<v Speaker 2>this is a studio that you followed closely. I want
<v Speaker 2>to talk about this one with you or Studio head
<v Speaker 2>says review bombing might force studio closure, then he takes.
<v Speaker 1>It all back.
<v Speaker 2>This is from John Walker at Kotaku. How big of
<v Speaker 2>an effect can review bombing have on a game? According
<v Speaker 2>to Moon Studios the people behind or in the Blind Forest,
<v Speaker 2>the consequences could be so serious that it could lead
<v Speaker 2>to the closure of the studio. At least that's what
<v Speaker 2>studio head Thomas Maler said before he said the exact
<v Speaker 2>opposite discussing the release of the studio's most recent game,
<v Speaker 2>No Rest for the Wicked, on a discord as spotted
<v Speaker 2>by someone on neogaff, Mahler said, it's entirely possible we
<v Speaker 2>won't be around in a couple of months to do
<v Speaker 2>anything more, or to do anything anymore, simply because we
<v Speaker 2>got review bombed. He added that this leads to people
<v Speaker 2>not buying the game. It's quite an extraordinary claim in
<v Speaker 2>any situation, but even more so in the case of
<v Speaker 2>no Rest for the Wicked, which hasn't been review bombed
<v Speaker 2>question Mark, according to this is John Walker writing this,
<v Speaker 2>but I hadn't heard about this either, so I do
<v Speaker 2>wonder what he's talking about. The game is currently sitting
<v Speaker 2>at mostly positive on Steam, with an extraordinary total number
<v Speaker 2>of forty three thousand reviews, with almost which third, yeah,
<v Speaker 2>seventy five percent are positive. Right now, it's only as
<v Speaker 2>low as it is, and it's not low because of
<v Speaker 2>a recent update, the breach that went down badly with
<v Speaker 2>players who let their feelings be known, but as is
<v Speaker 2>clear from the store page, not in a way that
<v Speaker 2>is visible to the average consumer, and it was it
<v Speaker 2>was reviewed negatively because by all reports it was a
<v Speaker 2>pretty bad update. Earlier this month, Mauler described the updates
<v Speaker 2>release as one of the worst days of my life
<v Speaker 2>as the studio rushed to send out hot fixes. Oh
<v Speaker 2>and on top of all that he was making it up.
<v Speaker 2>In the wake of the comments being picked up by
<v Speaker 2>the media this weekend, Maler took to Twitter to explain
<v Speaker 2>that it's the fault of the press for interpreting what
<v Speaker 2>he was saying when he said won't the studio won't
<v Speaker 2>be around in a couple of months as meaning him
<v Speaker 2>actually meaning that the studio wouldn't be around in a
<v Speaker 2>couple of months. He wrote that now he's taken that back,
<v Speaker 2>I guess. Maler added, I've been hated on Twitter by
<v Speaker 2>a few crazies for years now, and I also saw
<v Speaker 2>the calls for review bombing because according to those folks,
<v Speaker 2>I'm a Nazi. In order to prove just how unfair
<v Speaker 2>his claim was, Mike Thomas Marris just, I don't know,
<v Speaker 2>said some weird stuff in the past. I don't think
<v Speaker 2>it's even that out of pocket to make that claim,
<v Speaker 2>Like I think a lot of people would tend to agree.
<v Speaker 2>I'm not calling him a Nazi. I don't know his politics.
<v Speaker 2>I haven't really heard them in the past. I just
<v Speaker 2>think the way he talks about this sort of thing
<v Speaker 2>makes him seem a little strange, and I think he's
<v Speaker 2>now he's perceiving that as looping back into him as
<v Speaker 2>review bombing.
<v Speaker 3>I don't know, he is a little strange. He is
<v Speaker 3>pretty online.
<v Speaker 4>I think the first taste people got of this was
<v Speaker 4>way back when Ori and the World of Wist was
<v Speaker 4>coming out, and people just noticed that it had similarities
<v Speaker 4>to Hollow Night, because it definitely did, and he's sort
<v Speaker 4>of kind of got upset about the suggestion of that,
<v Speaker 4>even though it was pretty clear that there were influences there.
<v Speaker 4>Over on games Beat, Dean did a story one time
<v Speaker 4>with former Moon Studios employees talking about the way Thomas Smeller.
<v Speaker 3>Is and you know, it doesn't seem like he said.
<v Speaker 3>It doesn't sound like allegedly he's a nice person.
<v Speaker 4>It's not a crime, right, but there is a lot
<v Speaker 4>of turnover at that studio because of that. But yeah,
<v Speaker 4>he says things and review bombing again it says mostly positive,
<v Speaker 4>sounds like people just reacting negatively to a patch. I
<v Speaker 4>bet he saw that they were getting more negative views
<v Speaker 4>than usual and he probably flew off the handle.
<v Speaker 3>Well, is my guest there.
<v Speaker 4>It probably regretted it, and that the very popular tactic
<v Speaker 4>of people of a certain sort and.
<v Speaker 3>Blamed the media for all of the problems.
<v Speaker 2>Actually yeah, he went on to say, no, we're not
<v Speaker 2>in immediate financial danger, and then inexplicably, inexplicably said, but
<v Speaker 2>from time to time, I think I'm allowed to speak
<v Speaker 2>up about issues within our industry I personally find unbecoming.
<v Speaker 2>And I think that Walker's saying that that is inexplicable,
<v Speaker 2>because no one seems to be saying he's not allowed
<v Speaker 2>to do that.
<v Speaker 1>No one seems to be saying that at.
<v Speaker 3>All, No exactly.
<v Speaker 4>You know, he paid himself as a bit of a
<v Speaker 4>victim a lot of the times.
<v Speaker 3>I don't know, it's all weird.
<v Speaker 4>My feelings my phones personally are very difficult because I
<v Speaker 4>love those two ory games a ton, and those are
<v Speaker 4>very kind games.
<v Speaker 3>They are very warm games, and everything.
<v Speaker 4>He presents about himself is just not really in line
<v Speaker 4>with the things that I associate with. Or I played
<v Speaker 4>no rest for looking a bit. I didn't really care
<v Speaker 4>for it myself. I don't know what kind of audience
<v Speaker 4>it is. Funny, it doesn't seem like a game that
<v Speaker 4>a ton of people are talking about, right it was. Also,
<v Speaker 4>it's also a weird position because it was one of
<v Speaker 4>those private division things, and most of that got canceled
<v Speaker 4>or dropped, but this one didn't. Uh, So you know,
<v Speaker 4>it probably isn't a precarious situation in the studio. Probably
<v Speaker 4>isn't a precarious situation. At a time Microsoft was buying everybody,
<v Speaker 4>remember that they did not buy Moon Studios. And I'm
<v Speaker 4>not exactly sure why that happened. I have some guesses,
<v Speaker 4>but I won't go into it here. But yeah, I
<v Speaker 4>think there's something telling about that.
<v Speaker 1>Yep. I mean, I think that's fair. Uh And I no.
<v Speaker 2>Rest of the Wicked stufitely something I've been interested in,
<v Speaker 2>but it's not something I've really actually tried. That is
<v Speaker 2>that the it's the multi player like Haites kind of
<v Speaker 2>inspired thing.
<v Speaker 4>This one is, this one is it's Hades, but even
<v Speaker 4>it's a lot more like.
<v Speaker 3>A Dark Soul's basically.
<v Speaker 1>Oh that's right. Okay, yes, okay.
<v Speaker 2>I remember looking at it being like that does look interesting,
<v Speaker 2>but I've not really tried it yet, so, you know,
<v Speaker 2>and one of the reasons I haven't is yeah, I
<v Speaker 2>just I don't know. I think about this guy a
<v Speaker 2>little bit and I'm like, yeah, it's not like I'm
<v Speaker 2>telling out there telling people they shouldn't be trying it.
<v Speaker 2>It just when I have so many options and you
<v Speaker 2>give me one reason to be like, ah, that doesn't
<v Speaker 2>make me feel thrilled to play your game, then sometimes
<v Speaker 2>I'm just not gonna play.
<v Speaker 1>It all rights, Yeah exactly. Uh.
<v Speaker 2>Sega announced his latest Virtual Fighter is coming to switch To,
<v Speaker 2>PS five and Xbox From Andy Robinson at VGC, Sega
<v Speaker 2>has announced that Virtual Fighter five Revo is coming to
<v Speaker 2>consoles including Nintendo Switched To with additional content, and revealed
<v Speaker 2>a new fighter for the next installment.
<v Speaker 1>Revealed during a live stream.
<v Speaker 2>During event on Sunday, RGG Studio showed the first footage
<v Speaker 2>of classic fighter Wolf Hawkfield, who will be appearing in
<v Speaker 2>the next Virtual Fighter game, which was announced first in December. Meanwhile,
<v Speaker 2>Virtual Fighter five Revo, the Ree Master, first release for
<v Speaker 2>PC in January, is coming to PlayStation five, Xbox Series
<v Speaker 2>X and S, and Nintendo Switch To with cross play support,
<v Speaker 2>rollback neck code, and new content.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. I mean, we knew this would happen.
<v Speaker 2>Glad to see it, and really, I think a lot
<v Speaker 2>of people are just excited to be like, oh, yeah,
<v Speaker 2>switch To. There's so many games now getting announced and
<v Speaker 2>then immediately getting a switch to version. That's neat to see.
<v Speaker 2>I played some of this when it hit PC. I
<v Speaker 2>really enjoyed it. I love Virtual Fighter.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, Virtual Fighter five was just a very good version
<v Speaker 4>of that game. There's something about the whole idea of like, yeah,
<v Speaker 4>you have two attack buttons, but there's lots of different
<v Speaker 4>combinations and way to go about those, so there's an
<v Speaker 4>incredible amount of depth. There's a giant roster in there,
<v Speaker 4>sorts of fun costumes and whatnot. So yeah, Virtual Fighter
<v Speaker 4>five is great, and I love having the switch or
<v Speaker 4>switch to version of these games when they run well,
<v Speaker 4>because but yeah, maybe it's not where I want to
<v Speaker 4>do online competitive that's a great way to just sort
<v Speaker 4>of mess around with characters or play against friends locally
<v Speaker 4>training that kind of thing.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, Wolf looks great, by the way, for the new
<v Speaker 3>Virtue Fighter, so I am very excited to get even
<v Speaker 3>more news about that.
<v Speaker 1>Yep, same exactly.
<v Speaker 2>Glad Archiechie has been able to really just grow and
<v Speaker 2>get to a point where they can fully take on
<v Speaker 2>Virtual Fighter for the long term, it seems like.
<v Speaker 4>So that's awesome, especially right now because people are Teching
<v Speaker 4>three or Teching eight is in a weird place.
<v Speaker 1>Yep.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, a lot of people aren't really happy with the
<v Speaker 4>way that game's playing. I apparently it's just very offensive,
<v Speaker 4>not enough defensive options. I think even like they announced
<v Speaker 4>the new DC character right new season past character and
<v Speaker 4>it's basically has most people going like him really and
<v Speaker 4>you know, I don't know enough about tech In personally,
<v Speaker 4>but people seem like there seems to be a disconnect
<v Speaker 4>between what the tech and team is doing and what
<v Speaker 4>the fans went over there. So I create an opening
<v Speaker 4>for virtual fighting here there already was an opening. People
<v Speaker 4>are going to be excited, but I think a lot
<v Speaker 4>of people who are maybe you know, thought that tech
<v Speaker 4>be their game for two or three years.
<v Speaker 3>They might be ready to jump ship sooner.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and then you know, the fighting games seen clearly
<v Speaker 2>in an overall really good place. But I think there's
<v Speaker 2>like some pockets that people are like, yeah, they are
<v Speaker 2>looking for the other thing.
<v Speaker 1>ARC system Works.
<v Speaker 2>Their next game might be Switch exclusive, says some rumors.
<v Speaker 2>This one I didn't really include in the rundown because
<v Speaker 2>I wasn't sure where people were tracing this too, but
<v Speaker 2>like I could see that happening.
<v Speaker 1>I guess the.
<v Speaker 2>Rumor is maybe a fire emblem fighting game. Would that'd
<v Speaker 2>be something you'd be interested in. I think that sounds
<v Speaker 2>pretty cool. Although isn't that just called Smash Brothers?
<v Speaker 3>Yeah?
<v Speaker 1>God, you can't just put me back at the Tindo jail.
<v Speaker 1>I'm used to.
<v Speaker 3>It's all right, that's funny. That's that's a good one.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, thank you appreciate it.
<v Speaker 4>I would freaking love a fire fighting game. That would
<v Speaker 4>actually be amazing because you know, like, yeah, because that
<v Speaker 4>one game they made based off of Grand Blue, the
<v Speaker 4>Grand Blue game very similar, lots of people with swords
<v Speaker 4>and whatnot and weapons in that game. So you just
<v Speaker 4>take that style you throw with some fire emblem characters
<v Speaker 4>and you do that gorgeous? Are so that they've had? Yes,
<v Speaker 4>that Dragon Ball Fighters game? That would be incredible. I
<v Speaker 4>would be all about that.
<v Speaker 1>So was that? Did they do the Dragon Ball Fighters game?
<v Speaker 1>Was that? Then?
<v Speaker 3>That's sorry?
<v Speaker 1>Aren't that they have that one?
<v Speaker 3>Guilty?
<v Speaker 4>Your strive is in that our trial the fantasy versus
<v Speaker 4>in that art style also?
<v Speaker 1>All right?
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, very cool. Let's take a quick break when we
<v Speaker 2>get back. Plenty more to talk about right after this.
<v Speaker 2>This episode of Giant Bomb is brought to you by
<v Speaker 2>kind of Funny when we said we were going independent.
<v Speaker 2>Kind of Funny was the first group in our inbox
<v Speaker 2>because they believe in and want to support independent.
<v Speaker 1>Media because that's what they are.
<v Speaker 2>For more than a decade, kind of Funny's been making
<v Speaker 2>YouTube videos and podcasts about video game reviews, previews, and news,
<v Speaker 2>but they also review and rank Marvel movies, Alien Versus
<v Speaker 2>Predator movies, and just about every other film front franchise
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<v Speaker 2>only exists because of support from their audience. So give
<v Speaker 2>them a chance, whether it's your first listen or your
<v Speaker 2>first time in ten years. All right, we are Jeff Grubb,
<v Speaker 2>Mike Manatti from giant bomb dot com. This is Game
<v Speaker 2>Mess Mornings. Let's get back into the headlines with let's
<v Speaker 2>see here. Nintendo says Ai images were not used in
<v Speaker 2>Mario Kart World. Did you did you see this hubbub?
<v Speaker 2>I didn't notice until I saw the help about it.
<v Speaker 4>Of course I'm going to derail things. And I know
<v Speaker 4>that you just read an ad about them, so they
<v Speaker 4>already got what they paid for. But boy, do I
<v Speaker 4>appreciate kind of funny?
<v Speaker 1>That's yeah.
<v Speaker 4>They have been super helpful and nice just the first.
<v Speaker 4>It could have been very easy for them to be like, wow,
<v Speaker 4>competition is going down, that's great for us, and instead
<v Speaker 4>just immediately, you know, putt ourselves out there to help
<v Speaker 4>us out. It's a credible, you know, there's been so
<v Speaker 4>much help from so many friends and people in this industry,
<v Speaker 4>other independent outlets, rights, you know, between four Game, Giant Bond,
<v Speaker 4>people like the next Flanders, the Gertzman's, you know, Remap
<v Speaker 4>and all this stuff, and just has been.
<v Speaker 3>Incredible getting help for some of people.
<v Speaker 4>Min Max, I don't want to forget anybody because so
<v Speaker 4>many people have reached out to help us, So thank
<v Speaker 4>you to kind of finding Thank you to everybody. We
<v Speaker 4>are really all in this together, and yeah, I just
<v Speaker 4>love being a part of this community.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I was definitely thinking about it last night when
<v Speaker 2>all this stuff was coming together about you know, the
<v Speaker 2>idea that we're all competition is just it's outdated, Like
<v Speaker 2>we really are all in it together, and there's like
<v Speaker 2>very like fundamental, basic like economic reasons why that's the case.
<v Speaker 2>The more people that are interested in, like people who
<v Speaker 2>talk about games, the better for everybody. People's tastes and
<v Speaker 2>desires change on a whim. So if someone is like
<v Speaker 2>phasing out a giant bomb for some reason, if they
<v Speaker 2>can be caught by like kind of funny for a while,
<v Speaker 2>that's actually still good for us, because they could phase
<v Speaker 2>back towards us at later or they find more time
<v Speaker 2>and they can handle listening to both. It is keeping
<v Speaker 2>people in this space and feeling good is a challenge.
<v Speaker 2>That's the actual problem that we face, and so the
<v Speaker 2>more of us, the better. And then just comes down
<v Speaker 2>to the reality of corporations have at like in general,
<v Speaker 2>have stripped us in so many ways of like our
<v Speaker 2>ability to keep these things going. And it's it's kind
<v Speaker 2>of really is up to us if we want to
<v Speaker 2>like stand here and keep this thing going. We just
<v Speaker 2>got to work together, and that includes the community. But
<v Speaker 2>it also means like people who are trying to do
<v Speaker 2>this same thing us helping each other out. So I
<v Speaker 2>mean that's just gonna be one of the guiding north
<v Speaker 2>stars here at Giant Bob going forward, is we want
<v Speaker 2>to be a part of that community that's making cool stuff.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, Ai and Mario cards I no, I'll tell you what,
<v Speaker 4>Like you know, I'm getting ready to see some of
<v Speaker 4>this stuff in games more, Jeff, But boy tend that
<v Speaker 4>would be one of the last people I would expect
<v Speaker 4>or what to see it from, right.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.
<v Speaker 2>I didn't even like include the images here for for
<v Speaker 2>like jan to throw up on the screen because it's
<v Speaker 2>it's not even really worth going up over that much.
<v Speaker 2>But there was one where like the people were pointing
<v Speaker 2>to a car and they're like, this doesn't look like
<v Speaker 2>a real car. This must be like what AI thinks
<v Speaker 2>a car looks like. And they just put it into
<v Speaker 2>Mario Kart. It's like, no, that that's the kind of
<v Speaker 2>the design of the cars from Mario Kart games, like
<v Speaker 2>when you have like real cars, whether what is the
<v Speaker 2>freeway one where the cars are coming at you, the vehicles,
<v Speaker 2>it just looked like one of those. So it's I know,
<v Speaker 2>I think it's people sort of being spooked. There's definitely
<v Speaker 2>times where I'm getting to the point where occasionally AI
<v Speaker 2>does trick me. But I don't want that to lead
<v Speaker 2>to a situation where now I think everything is AI.
<v Speaker 1>It's this tough thing to balance out, but I do.
<v Speaker 1>I agree. I agree with.
<v Speaker 2>People who have that initial like knee jerk reaction to
<v Speaker 2>like once you know something is AI, it puts that
<v Speaker 2>you know, that makes your tummy feel a little bit like, oh,
<v Speaker 2>I'm less engaged with this product now because I know
<v Speaker 2>other human beings didn't work on it as much as
<v Speaker 2>I thought they did.
<v Speaker 1>I understand that.
<v Speaker 4>Right, And you know, we can all be guilty kind
<v Speaker 4>of like getting too wrapped up in it and like
<v Speaker 4>looking for it, right, right, but I get it. It's like
<v Speaker 4>you see, and it does rude things. It's not a
<v Speaker 4>but what you know, rogue one. Right, let's talk about
<v Speaker 4>Star Wars. I was maybe enjoyed that movie, Okay, then
<v Speaker 4>as soon as I saw CG Target, I just like
<v Speaker 4>couldn't anymore. I just could not anymore with the movie.
<v Speaker 4>So I uneste people having a similar thing when it
<v Speaker 4>comes to seeing something that's obviously AI generated in a
<v Speaker 4>video game.
<v Speaker 1>Yep, absolutely all right.
<v Speaker 2>Claire Obscure Expedition Expedition thirty three could reach eight to
<v Speaker 2>ten million copies sold. This is from air Alex Hopley
<v Speaker 2>at Game Reactor. As word spreads of Sandfall Interactives hit
<v Speaker 2>RPG Claire Obscure Expedition thirty three. The sales figures for
<v Speaker 2>the game have been reaching new milestones despite the game
<v Speaker 2>being available as part of an Xbox Game Pass subscription. Recently,
<v Speaker 2>the developers announced they had already sold two million copies.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.
<v Speaker 2>I mean, you know, obviously the value of this game
<v Speaker 2>is in how amazing it plays.
<v Speaker 1>So many people's already their game of the year.
<v Speaker 2>I've heard a lot of people say to me and
<v Speaker 2>to others that they are already thinking this is their
<v Speaker 2>favorite game they've ever played. And yet I always I'm
<v Speaker 2>interested in, like, Okay, well, what does the success financially
<v Speaker 2>look like? So it can justify other people trying to
<v Speaker 2>make their game that is the equivalent of Expedition thirty three.
<v Speaker 2>And this is the good side of like where gaming's
<v Speaker 2>at right now, where a game can sort of feel
<v Speaker 2>like it comes from nowhere. Obviously, no game comes from nowhere.
<v Speaker 2>Everything has a story of people like striving to get
<v Speaker 2>that stuff done. Maybe it does involve working at a
<v Speaker 2>big publisher, but whatever, this game does feel like it
<v Speaker 2>came out of nowhere and then found the success of
<v Speaker 2>like a dream scenario.
<v Speaker 1>And the fact that this can still happen is a
<v Speaker 1>good sign.
<v Speaker 2>I would agree with anyone who would immediately say, well,
<v Speaker 2>most games aren't going to experience this, Yes, but it
<v Speaker 2>would be worse if no game experienced this sort of thing.
<v Speaker 2>So really good sign for a game that is deserving
<v Speaker 2>getting exactly what it deserves, right, Mike.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, it's so cool to see that these games can
<v Speaker 4>come out and just really over deliver. It happened with
<v Speaker 4>Boulders Gate three a little bit ago, and obviously that
<v Speaker 4>was a franchise quote unquote, right, nobody really thought Boulders
<v Speaker 4>Game three and twenty twenty three was gonna be some
<v Speaker 4>giant hit, and then it was massive, so way very
<v Speaker 4>thought and this game potentially selling ten million copies. Final
<v Speaker 4>Fantasy fifteen sold ten million copies and they said that
<v Speaker 4>was the best selling Final Fantasy game ever at that point. Right,
<v Speaker 4>that's how absurd that would be. So yeah, that is
<v Speaker 4>fantastic news. I hope that it inspired more people with
<v Speaker 4>not literally to just make more games like this or
<v Speaker 4>turn based arbutees, just like say, hey, let's just go
<v Speaker 4>and make something really really good inspired by the kind
<v Speaker 4>of games that we like, and let's maybe not worry
<v Speaker 4>about some of this other bs that we constantly think
<v Speaker 4>we have to worry about. Right, whatever that might be,
<v Speaker 4>whatever corporate mandate is have to be, you know, even
<v Speaker 4>it's just a matter of inspiring more people to spin
<v Speaker 4>off from the UBI sauce and make these quote unquote
<v Speaker 4>smaller teams. And I know some people have arguments about
<v Speaker 4>how small the Clear Obscure team.
<v Speaker 3>Is we're talking about, right, and that's fine, but you know,
<v Speaker 3>people know what we mean.
<v Speaker 4>It is not the Assassin's Creed Shadows team size, right,
<v Speaker 4>It is not that. But here's a team doing something
<v Speaker 4>and it's so better than that game. It might make
<v Speaker 4>more money than Assassin's Creed Shadows, who knows.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, And I also get people being sensitive about, like,
<v Speaker 2>you know, the Final Fantasy. We don't have to talk
<v Speaker 2>about like what this means for Final Fantasy. Can't we
<v Speaker 2>just celebrate this game? But you know, we know media
<v Speaker 2>is always in conversation with one another. We know that
<v Speaker 2>Final Fantasy has been inspired by other things repeatedly, even
<v Speaker 2>when people yelled at me for saying that the six
<v Speaker 2>Team was going to be inspired by Game of Thrones
<v Speaker 2>and like, guys, come on, just look at it what
<v Speaker 2>it very much was, and and they've done that a
<v Speaker 2>million times. Final Fantasy twelve very inspired by the prequel
<v Speaker 2>area era of Star Wars and other Star Wars.
<v Speaker 3>Inscribed by Kotur obviously and things.
<v Speaker 2>Yes, exactly so, so like they take their inspiration from
<v Speaker 2>elsewhere when a game takes inspiration from them, And then
<v Speaker 2>and you know, and and the Fairnest to be fair
<v Speaker 2>to Final Fantasy, a lot of times when it was
<v Speaker 2>taking inspiration from other things, it was adding its own
<v Speaker 2>stuff on top, doing its own thing and moving things forward.
<v Speaker 2>The fact that Clear Obscure Expedition thirty three I think
<v Speaker 2>has successfully done that same thing is going to be
<v Speaker 2>inspiring to people like that work on Final Fantasy. I
<v Speaker 2>think it's going to make it better, and I think
<v Speaker 2>that's a good thing. I'm okay just saying that.
<v Speaker 4>Hey, you know, as a Gift Fantasy fan, I personally
<v Speaker 4>am very interested about what this means for a Final Fantasy.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah right, Yeah, I think it would be weird to
<v Speaker 2>think it means nothing for it.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, it shouldn't mean nothing.
<v Speaker 4>I definitely hope that they're looking at this and thinking of, huh,
<v Speaker 4>maybe we should do something turn based or you know,
<v Speaker 4>a bit more traditional again.
<v Speaker 1>Yep, all right.
<v Speaker 2>Final Fantasy seven remake director says he can't share why
<v Speaker 2>Sepharov looks different in a new trading card, sparking Part
<v Speaker 2>three speculation. This is from Jordan Miller at VGC and
<v Speaker 2>I just threw this in here to see, Mike, if
<v Speaker 2>you have any theories yourself. Final Fantasy seven remake creative
<v Speaker 2>director Tetsua Nimura has said he can't share and that's
<v Speaker 2>a quote why Sepharov looks different on an upcoming Magic
<v Speaker 2>the Gathering card. Magic Gatherings next video game collaboration will
<v Speaker 2>focus on Final Fantasy, bringing heroes and villains from across
<v Speaker 2>the franchise to the popular trading card game. Some of
<v Speaker 2>these cards have been illustrated by Final Fantasy Development veterans,
<v Speaker 2>including several Sephiroth cards illustrated by Nimura himself, who has
<v Speaker 2>an who was an artist on the original version and
<v Speaker 2>creative director on the remake. This time around, I drew
<v Speaker 2>Sepharroth on both the front and the back sides of
<v Speaker 2>the car.
<v Speaker 1>Nimura said in a statement.
<v Speaker 2>I actually drew them so that they would join up
<v Speaker 2>in play if placed one on top of the other.
<v Speaker 2>So if you manage to get two of the same
<v Speaker 2>card and then line them line them up, you'll see
<v Speaker 2>how the original illustration looked alongside the Seharrov a Sepharoth
<v Speaker 2>Fabled Soldier card, a card depicting Safer sethroth Uh, the
<v Speaker 2>final boss in the original Final Fantasy seven game, has
<v Speaker 2>also been revealed. There's also a reason for that the
<v Speaker 2>design for Safer Sepharov is different from the original game,
<v Speaker 2>but I unfortunately can't share more about that, Niamura said.
<v Speaker 2>So hey, people, you know still don't necessarily know where
<v Speaker 2>this franchise is going to end up in terms of
<v Speaker 2>telling the story. I don't know any ideas Mike, is
<v Speaker 2>this exciting to you about, like, you know, your curiosity
<v Speaker 2>for what's going to happen in that final installment of
<v Speaker 2>the remake.
<v Speaker 4>I like whatever who's running the Giant bomb chat account
<v Speaker 4>just said on YouTube he got noorded.
<v Speaker 1>It was found to happen to us all in the end. Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>I don't know.
<v Speaker 3>I mean, I'm looking at this mayf.
<v Speaker 4>You told me that this was vastly different than what
<v Speaker 4>he looks like in Foul Fantasy seven and his one
<v Speaker 4>wing and angel form or whatever. I would not have noticed.
<v Speaker 4>I am not personally reading too much into its I
<v Speaker 4>don't I'm very excited for part three of the Foul
<v Speaker 4>Fantasy remake, Trology. I have liked both of those games
<v Speaker 4>a ton. I mean, you know, I don't want to
<v Speaker 4>say spoilers, but at this point, which in terms of
<v Speaker 4>the story stuff, I am expecting more multiverse bullshit that
<v Speaker 4>I don't particularly care for in terms like that's not
<v Speaker 4>really what I'm excited for or all that interested. And
<v Speaker 4>I really like the characters and the character moments in
<v Speaker 4>the comp system in the world itself, that aspect of
<v Speaker 4>the trilogy has not really been my favorite, And if
<v Speaker 4>that's is what leads to I don't know Zepharrov having
<v Speaker 4>an extra pectoral muscle or whatever people are looking at
<v Speaker 4>and whatever.
<v Speaker 2>Oh he's got a he's got a third peck and
<v Speaker 2>only one wing. It's crazy this guy. Uh yeah, I
<v Speaker 2>think that that it would be weird to assume things
<v Speaker 2>wouldn't change. Obviously, this that they are building to all
<v Speaker 2>kinds of different things happening that weren't in the original game.
<v Speaker 2>And so yeah, what he says, there are there's reasons
<v Speaker 2>that he's changed, but I can't talk about why. It's like, yeah,
<v Speaker 2>I mean, because you're gonna do different stuff than you
<v Speaker 2>originally did.
<v Speaker 4>Apparently it's because he has both arms in his one
<v Speaker 4>wing and angel form and I don't even remember if
<v Speaker 4>he didn't before supposedly, So yeah, it's a detO. That's
<v Speaker 4>a bond beyond even this final Fantasy nerd to be honest.
<v Speaker 2>All right, Well we'll find out. And then a giant
<v Speaker 2>bomb chat is now asking our chat they are pro
<v Speaker 2>or anti Chadley. It looks like people are mostly no,
<v Speaker 2>mostly anti Chadley. I'm sorry to say.
<v Speaker 3>I'm anti Chadley. I'm sorry I don't trust them.
<v Speaker 1>I think Jan happens to like Chadley.
<v Speaker 4>I think Jan is very pro Chadley and we are
<v Speaker 4>gonna have to just fight about this in the next
<v Speaker 4>board meeting.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, exactly. We'll come to a final solution here eventually,
<v Speaker 2>everybody for.
<v Speaker 1>That all right.
<v Speaker 2>Tony Hawk's pro Skater Force upcoming remake is getting a
<v Speaker 2>major overall in one key area, and this is from
<v Speaker 2>Jordan Midler at VGC. Tony Hawk's pro Skater three plus
<v Speaker 2>four will allow players to extend Tony Hawk's pro skaters
<v Speaker 2>Force two minute time or two an hour. It has
<v Speaker 2>been revealed by default, Tony Hawks pro Skater three plus
<v Speaker 2>four will follow the same gameplay format as Tony OWKX
<v Speaker 2>pro Skater one plus two by giving players two minutes
<v Speaker 2>to complete as many goals as they can.
<v Speaker 1>Well.
<v Speaker 2>This was also a level mechanic in the original Tony
<v Speaker 2>Hawks pro Skater three. This marks a change for Tonyawks
<v Speaker 2>pro Skater four, which initially concerned some fans. Basically, what's happened, Mike,
<v Speaker 2>is a lot more people have gotten their hands then
<v Speaker 2>they've been able to see that really they just took
<v Speaker 2>a lot of the goals from Tony Oak's pro Skater four.
<v Speaker 2>That where you would go up and talk to a
<v Speaker 2>person to initiate that mission. Now they've just sort of
<v Speaker 2>edited those to make them make sense within a two
<v Speaker 2>minute timer. But additionally they've enabled people to up the
<v Speaker 2>timer to ten minutes or to an hour. So if
<v Speaker 2>you did just want to skate around and try everything
<v Speaker 2>you know with and like do it at your own leisure,
<v Speaker 2>sort of like you did in the campaign, you're gonna
<v Speaker 2>be able to do that.
<v Speaker 1>That seems to be the middle ground here. How do
<v Speaker 1>you feel about that?
<v Speaker 4>I mean, personally, that's fine by me. I never liked
<v Speaker 4>Tonios pro Skater four as much as three. I never
<v Speaker 4>liked having to even in like the thug games, which
<v Speaker 4>I do like, I never liked having to go up
<v Speaker 4>to an NBC and talk to them to start a mission.
<v Speaker 4>I still understand, though, if you're a Fantos pro Skater
<v Speaker 4>four being skeptical, because it is very much the DNA
<v Speaker 4>of the game.
<v Speaker 3>That's the way it works.
<v Speaker 4>It is, you know, there is perhaps a charm of
<v Speaker 4>going up to some skateboarder with his bad voice acting
<v Speaker 4>and he tells you to do kickflip right, So it's different.
<v Speaker 4>It is difference. I do want to see how I
<v Speaker 4>feel when I'm playing it. I bet I am going
<v Speaker 4>to be just fine. There's a part of me that's like,
<v Speaker 4>if you're going to remake the game, why didn't you
<v Speaker 4>just remake it the way it was.
<v Speaker 3>I don't know if we needed this change.
<v Speaker 4>I don't know if it is necessarily what's going to
<v Speaker 4>make everybody happy, But I bet ultimately it's not going
<v Speaker 4>to be too big of a deal.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.
<v Speaker 2>My position kind of always has always been that I
<v Speaker 2>bet they made this change for a reason, and I
<v Speaker 2>bet those reasons are twofold. It's probably it probably is
<v Speaker 2>easier and that means more affordable to kind of fit
<v Speaker 2>everything into the style that they established with Tony Owks
<v Speaker 2>pro Skater one plus two. So if that is where
<v Speaker 2>people's skepticism and criticisms are coming from, I get it,
<v Speaker 2>but I and then I also get it from the
<v Speaker 2>development side, and then the other you know, the second
<v Speaker 2>part of the twofold situation would be that I think
<v Speaker 2>this probably will make the game a little bit better.
<v Speaker 2>I think that they probably are going to have a
<v Speaker 2>chance to edit everything and make things field more streamlined
<v Speaker 2>and more modern, and I think for a remake, that
<v Speaker 2>makes a lot of sense. Of course, you know, if
<v Speaker 2>Tony Oks pro Skater four was readily playable in its
<v Speaker 2>original form elsewhere, then I'd be like, well, you can
<v Speaker 2>play it there. That doesn't mean you don't have you
<v Speaker 2>can't criticize this game.
<v Speaker 1>I get that.
<v Speaker 2>Like you were saying, if people are really looking forward
<v Speaker 2>to having that experience again, I understand. But for me,
<v Speaker 2>I bet I'm going to enjoy this just fine as well.
<v Speaker 2>All right, And then because of that Tony Hawks pro
<v Speaker 2>Skater event that did happen with people were able to
<v Speaker 2>talk to Tony Hawk.
<v Speaker 1>That includes people. Well, let's see here.
<v Speaker 2>This comes from Niemcua GameSpot, who writes, if you're hoping
<v Speaker 2>to see more remasters of classic Tony Hawk's pro Skater games,
<v Speaker 2>you're not alone. Tony Hawk himself wants that too, but
<v Speaker 2>he clarified in a new interview that it's not up
<v Speaker 2>to him. Asked by Screen Rant if there could one
<v Speaker 2>day be a remaster of Tony Hawk's Underground two thousand
<v Speaker 2>and three, Hawk said he has aspirations for this, but
<v Speaker 2>admitted it's not up to me.
<v Speaker 1>Generally.
<v Speaker 2>That being said, Hawk said he'll make it his mission
<v Speaker 2>to campaign all I can to make that happen, but
<v Speaker 2>ultimately Hawk set Activision will get to make that call.
<v Speaker 2>I'm working with a much bigger company that's a lot
<v Speaker 2>smarter than me, he said. Hawk added that there has
<v Speaker 2>been no talk as of yet about a remaster of Underground,
<v Speaker 2>adding that the success of Tonyaks pro Skater three plus
<v Speaker 2>four might dictate what happens with regards to the future
<v Speaker 2>of the series.
<v Speaker 1>Tonyaks pro Skater one plus two ended.
<v Speaker 2>Up being the best selling Tonyak game, a franchise that
<v Speaker 2>was regularly among the best selling games of the year
<v Speaker 2>when it came out. Obviously a lot more people playing
<v Speaker 2>games now, that's the bigger reason why that happens.
<v Speaker 1>But it was very successful.
<v Speaker 2>Tonyaks pro Skater three plus four, I hope is just
<v Speaker 2>as successful as sells just as well. But I could
<v Speaker 2>easily see it being like, ah, you know, it does
<v Speaker 2>around eighty percent of the number because a lot of
<v Speaker 2>people were satiated with one plus two.
<v Speaker 1>I don't know, do you.
<v Speaker 2>Think that this game kind of at eighty percent of
<v Speaker 2>the level of ta of one and two has a
<v Speaker 2>chance to lead to a situation where we get plenty
<v Speaker 2>more of these going forward.
<v Speaker 3>Plenty more.
<v Speaker 4>But gosh, I would hope I'd be shure, we at
<v Speaker 4>least don't get the Thug right, Thug one, Thug two,
<v Speaker 4>It could be a Thug one and Thug two things.
<v Speaker 4>Thug two is a little weird because of all the
<v Speaker 4>jackass stuff in it, right, all that branding associated with it.
<v Speaker 4>It's not quite as beloved as Thug one. But Thug
<v Speaker 4>one people do love. It's a classic.
<v Speaker 3>Now. That is one where you can't you can't do
<v Speaker 3>the two minute tier thing.
<v Speaker 4>That has to be the whole open world, story based
<v Speaker 4>thing that is very much an important part of that
<v Speaker 4>game with you know, Eric Sparrow and all that stuff.
<v Speaker 4>Best video game villain ever. Three plus four I think
<v Speaker 4>is going to do well enough to justify Thug again. Like,
<v Speaker 4>I don't know if it's gonna do as well as
<v Speaker 4>one plus two did, but it should do well enough
<v Speaker 4>that we at least get Thug one.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, And as Epos, Fox Addy and Chat points out,
<v Speaker 2>of course, Tony Hawk is gonna say he wants underground
<v Speaker 2>and will campaign to make that happen because every time
<v Speaker 2>they make one of these games, they cut him a
<v Speaker 2>big check, so that's easy for him to say yes
<v Speaker 2>and him saying, you know, it's up to Activision that's
<v Speaker 2>him rightly pointing out that he will not get to
<v Speaker 2>make that call, and all the motivating factors that get that,
<v Speaker 2>you know, come when a game gets made, will have
<v Speaker 2>to come from Activision, because of course he wants it
<v Speaker 2>to be a reality. I do think for Thug that
<v Speaker 2>they should just at this point like look at what
<v Speaker 2>what Thug Pro does and be like, that's the direction
<v Speaker 2>to go for future remasters. If we do have to
<v Speaker 2>sort of rework the foundational system we're working with after
<v Speaker 2>Tony exports Scatter one plus two made so much sense
<v Speaker 2>for those games.
<v Speaker 1>Well, if we have to update all that, let's let's
<v Speaker 1>do that for Thug.
<v Speaker 2>But now let's put an emphasis on hanging out online
<v Speaker 2>with your friends, which is the direction Skates going as well.
<v Speaker 2>I think that could really work for that game. Now
<v Speaker 2>is that does that work well enough to make it
<v Speaker 2>make sense financially? No idea, I would hope. So though
<v Speaker 2>I love it, I just gaming's better when Tony Hawk
<v Speaker 2>games are getting released.
<v Speaker 1>It just is right.
<v Speaker 4>I think ideally we do get like the Thug one
<v Speaker 4>and hopefully two remakes, and then maybe then we a
<v Speaker 4>new Tony Hawk game.
<v Speaker 3>We figure out what that looks like.
<v Speaker 4>And that can have I'm almost weary saying adding social
<v Speaker 4>aspects to it, because you're right, it's a good idea.
<v Speaker 3>That was kind of the pitch with Tony asks.
<v Speaker 4>Pro Skater five, and that's not the reason that game
<v Speaker 4>is bad, but it's still uh, you know, everything has
<v Speaker 4>that stink that's associated with Tonyak's pro Skater five.
<v Speaker 1>M all right, that's gonna do it for the headlines. Uh.
<v Speaker 2>If I asked a pull question with that last episode
<v Speaker 2>I did, I don't remember what it was.
<v Speaker 3>So it was the last episode. Show had a different name, then.
<v Speaker 1>I had a different name.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I'm like trying to remember when it was. It
<v Speaker 2>was about a week and a half ago, two weeks ago, maybe.
<v Speaker 1>Four weeks ago. Geesh, sheesh.
<v Speaker 2>All right, so yeah, I don't remember what that poll
<v Speaker 2>question is, so instead we'll ask a new one here
<v Speaker 2>in a second. But before we do that, Mike Minatti,
<v Speaker 2>why don't you tell people where they can find you
<v Speaker 2>on the internet what you have going on?
<v Speaker 1>All that good stuff?
<v Speaker 3>Yes, see people asking ams.
<v Speaker 4>Yes, I am still at games Beat, so please continue
<v Speaker 4>to check out games Beat, which has also gone independent recently,
<v Speaker 4>So gabs beat dot calm uh getting back into swing
<v Speaker 4>things there.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, after this very long break.
<v Speaker 4>Sorry, but I have a little bit of theme park
<v Speaker 4>crud everybody you may have noticed, So.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, goodies, good job getting through this episode.
<v Speaker 1>But I appreciate it.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, No, of course I'm happy to be on. I've
<v Speaker 4>been on this show in a hot moment here.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, it's been a minute.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, it's fun to be on here again. Uh nineties Disney.
<v Speaker 4>I will be doing a trip report about this big
<v Speaker 4>Disney trip. We also went to that big Universe again.
<v Speaker 4>My brother got to go. He'll be on the show
<v Speaker 4>as well. So we did the whole thing. I did
<v Speaker 4>that Guards of the Galaxy h cosmic rewind right, Jeff,
<v Speaker 4>that you and everybody said you think I would like
<v Speaker 4>You all said, oh, Mike be brive you like that?
<v Speaker 3>I do.
<v Speaker 2>I feel like I remember being like that. Spinning feels
<v Speaker 2>like it could be an issue. What actually what was
<v Speaker 2>the issue? Give us the trip report, but just give
<v Speaker 2>us the later, but give us the short version right now.
<v Speaker 2>The speed in the spinning, Mike, and you started talking
<v Speaker 2>yourself into it when you were like like defending yourself
<v Speaker 2>like before you had done it, and I didn't want
<v Speaker 2>it to discourage you, so you're right.
<v Speaker 1>I should have told you.
<v Speaker 3>No. No, I don't blame anybody. I'm glad. I'm glad
<v Speaker 3>I did it once.
<v Speaker 1>Bike.
<v Speaker 3>Can I share the picture? Yes, please share the picture.
<v Speaker 3>It's too much, my.
<v Speaker 1>Favorite, my favorite thing.
<v Speaker 2>This picture is so good because it's really great cause
<v Speaker 2>there's the kid behind you. Is that your nephew?
<v Speaker 3>Yeah? So yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, there you go.
<v Speaker 4>So that's uh me and the front audio listeners focusing
<v Speaker 4>intensely is how I described it. Next to me is
<v Speaker 4>my brother is just smiling and having a good time.
<v Speaker 4>Behind me is my seven year old nephew with his
<v Speaker 4>hands in the air, having a fantastic time. But next
<v Speaker 4>to next to him is my sister in law who
<v Speaker 4>is also struggling. Oh my gosh, I couldn't believe how fast.
<v Speaker 3>That that was. It was a lot, It was neat.
<v Speaker 3>I get why people like it too much for my keys.
<v Speaker 2>As soon as we got done, me and Steph are like,
<v Speaker 2>we should do it again. And then we saw the
<v Speaker 2>picture of the kids and how they looked, and they
<v Speaker 2>looked u they were gripping to us the way you're
<v Speaker 2>gripping to that thing, And I'm like, okay, well they
<v Speaker 2>won't be able to do it again. Later they said
<v Speaker 2>they did want to do it, but by then it
<v Speaker 2>was it was too late. So any chance you ever
<v Speaker 2>do it again?
<v Speaker 1>Mike?
<v Speaker 4>No?
<v Speaker 2>All right, new poll question, Giant Bomb. Your options are
<v Speaker 2>yes and forever.
<v Speaker 1>Uh.
<v Speaker 2>We will get the results of that poll question on
<v Speaker 2>Game Mess Mornings when we return on Wednesday.
<v Speaker 1>A lot of new viewers.
<v Speaker 2>If you are tuning in giant bomb dot com slash
<v Speaker 2>join Game Mess Mornings happens Monday and then Wednesday through Friday.
<v Speaker 2>On Tuesdays, we have Giant bombcasts that we record live.
<v Speaker 2>You can tune it, tune in for that, watch that
<v Speaker 2>instead of this, and then we're gonna have plenty of
<v Speaker 2>other cool shows happening throughout this week. You know, if
<v Speaker 2>I could implore you to watch one thing light Club
<v Speaker 2>on Wednesday, you're gonna you're not gonna want to miss it.
<v Speaker 2>We'll be revealing Mike's new game, the new season of
<v Speaker 2>Blake Club, his new costume.
<v Speaker 1>Uh, it's gonna it's gonna be good. You have all
<v Speaker 1>the stuff already ready, It's right, it's already.
<v Speaker 3>I got Yeah, I got the game. I got uh
<v Speaker 3>box in a bag.
<v Speaker 4>Of some sort with costume accessories in it. So yeah,
<v Speaker 4>I think I'm good to go.
<v Speaker 2>And then I we're gonna go to this meeting right now,
<v Speaker 2>figure out what's possible this week we got we're gonna
<v Speaker 2>be very busy. I would love to do a upf
<v Speaker 2>with like among us three D or something like that.
<v Speaker 2>So let's let's see if we can make that happen
<v Speaker 2>in the meantime. Oh yeah, quick, looks we'll put those
<v Speaker 2>up on the site. Look out for those. They'll be
<v Speaker 2>up on YouTube and all that in the meeting by
<v Speaker 2>mess and no one could stop me. God, I feel
<v Speaker 2>like we could vote them to stop, but I don't
<v Speaker 2>know if we can actually well to see how that works.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, first, the late for the first meeting. It's about
<v Speaker 1>to start.
<v Speaker 2>Here in a couple of minutes, actually, everybody, so we'll
<v Speaker 2>get to that, you know, before we do leave one
<v Speaker 2>last time. Giant bomb dot com slash join we're independent.
<v Speaker 1>Now.
<v Speaker 2>The future really does come down to can we get
<v Speaker 2>enough support to make this make sense. We are going
<v Speaker 2>to run this as a business, you know, It's it's
<v Speaker 2>not gonna be just a crowdfunding campaign.
<v Speaker 1>We're going to try to get.
<v Speaker 2>Sponsorships and ads like you saw people are interested in
<v Speaker 2>coming in and helping us out in a variety of ways.
<v Speaker 2>We're still just gonna We're gonna be ourselves. It's gonna
<v Speaker 2>be what you want. Although, like Mike said earlier, if
<v Speaker 2>you you have criticisms, let me know. We're gonna try
<v Speaker 2>to figure this out as we go along. It is
<v Speaker 2>going to be building the bomb in the air in
<v Speaker 2>a lot of ways. So yeah, just give us your
<v Speaker 2>fees back back to me. Yeah, our Arby's, I'm reaching
<v Speaker 2>out to you.
<v Speaker 4>There's an incredible sponsorship opportunity over here on giant bump
<v Speaker 4>dot com.
<v Speaker 1>Arby's.
<v Speaker 2>You heard the man. We're determined this time, we're gonna
<v Speaker 2>get that. We're gonna get that Arby's money.
<v Speaker 3>All right.
<v Speaker 2>Mike Minatti, thank you so much for hanging out with
<v Speaker 2>me with me today and talk about video games.
<v Speaker 1>Man, I really appreciate it.
<v Speaker 4>Yeah, you know, I got I got a stake in
<v Speaker 4>all of this. Now, we gotta make sure things go
<v Speaker 4>smoothly over here. I gotta make sure you don't say
<v Speaker 4>anything out of sorts or out of spirits or what
<v Speaker 4>out of anything.
<v Speaker 2>He's got to tend to his investments. Everybody, Jam Chow,
<v Speaker 2>thank you. For producing on the ones and the twos
<v Speaker 2>in the background back there, thanks to you know, Backlaw
<v Speaker 2>and Dan who are They're doing work right now to
<v Speaker 2>make everything connect and work in the background and in
<v Speaker 2>the meantime. Thank you for me. You are the best
<v Speaker 2>audience in gaming. Until next time, have a good one,
<v Speaker 2>take care of yourself and goodbye.
<v Speaker 3>You don't mean never got me, Bed