Roku Wants to Show Ads On Your Paused Game

Hecker, go be bad. It's the Internet. You're busy. Let's do
this for April fifth, twenty twenty four. For the next hour or so,
let me help you sort through the world of gaming on Game Mess Mornings
Live with Me Jeff Grubb. Today it's a dregs day with a nasty boy,
so let's talk about frame rates again. But first please join me and
welcome to today's co host a Game Mess Mornings. It's Nasty Boy himself,
Jesse Vitelli, Young Elmo. How are you doing. I'm doing great,
Thanks for having me. Thanks you. Friday absolutely yeah, I uh,
it worked out really good because I'm a responsible person, Jesse. So of
course I forgot to tell Tam, who is the normal guest on Fridays,
that he like, hey, he could have Friday off. And then about
a half hour ago he's like text me, He's like, hey, could
you get someone else? I'm not feeling like great. I'm like, oh,
yeah, I could do that, no problem. I had already scheduled
just to be on the show. Everybody. I'm like, ah, I
got okay. Remember tell Tam he could just have Friday off and never never
did that, So I'm hey, I think he's sleeping. I hope he
went back to bed because it's very early for him, So no one tell
him that that happened, just let him know that he could just have a
ristful day. But yet no. Just we were just talking about it before
the show, both feeling like we're finally recovered from Packs. I definitely yeah.
I'm like the kind of thing we're like, hey, that's the Eastern
time zone. I'm Eastern time zone. Why did it mess me up so
bad? It's like, ah, you know, you get there and you
want to stay up late with everybody, and then you want to get up
early and get right back at it, and traveling in general just gives me
the funk. So yeah, kind of getting back home, finally getting back
in the swing of things. I'm feeling pretty good now. And Packs that
was such a good time. Was so much fun. But you run your
body into the ground for like five days straight and then your body's like I
need and especially you know, as every year goes by, it's like I
need an extra day to recover, and then eventually it's like a week and
a half and I'm like, I think them finally back in the grooves of
things. Finally fixed my clock. Jesse, what have you been playing recently?
You got any fun games that have been taken up your time through the
first half of the year. I started playing pepper Grinder recently. But the
one I really want to talk about is I played Content Warning for the first
time yesterday. They were playing it today. How is that That game is
so much fun? It has the hook that Lethal Company was missing for me
because I didn't really care about. Oh, with Lethal Company, it's like,
oh, you just kind of get the pieces and then whatever, and
then you just move on with this. It's like, no, you want
that footage because that footage is so funny, and you don't get the footage
unless you get the camera back. And so last time we were playing,
we were just like, we just have to get the footage back. We
just got to keep going, man, And the game just throws increasingly like
strange creatures and things that you and it's so much fun. And then you
get the footage back you don't get to watch it. It's really fun.
Is like the loop? Is it very much like Lethal Company? Is there
more to it than that? It is like it is almost to a t
Lethal Company, where it's like you have three days to get a certain amount
of likes as opposed to money. You go down into a world that has
like dangers. You're going through creepy corridor as there is monsters that are popping
up, and then all the monsters have different like quirks to them, right,
so it's like, oh, this one doesn't like when you shine light
at it or or whatever. And then it is okay. You're not down
there to pick up items and bring them back. You are down there to
get footage of your friends doing like silly things with the monsters, and you
are making a YouTube video and then you need to get the camera back to
the ship and then you get to watch all of the footage that person is
and you can buy like new items, so you can buy like reporter mics.
So we were like interviewing the monsters and like you can buy party poppers
and better flashlights and all this suff it's very very funny. Like I said,
we're going to play this today. This is our upf today everybody.
And I did go through the rigamarole being like pointing out to my coworkers and
colleagues, Hey, it's free, go ahead and pick that up right now.
Before they're going to charge money for it, and only half of them
did that. Of course, no one listens to me, Jesse, but
we're gonna get in there, and none of us have been paying much attention
to I think we're like, hey, we kind of want to react,
kind of raw and see what this game is like. But what I want
now from you is a pro tip. Do you have something that can give
me an edge to like make me look good when I go in there and
play the game. Oh, I think if you're the camera person, if
you're the one holding the camera, like really focus in on that YouTuber mentality,
like try to get an intro from them and try to get them to
like really buy into the we are YouTubers because I think that like one mix
for a better video, and two I think it gets everybody sort of on
board in this mindset of like, yeah, let's like make this a fail
comp right, Like let's let's let's get silly, let's get goofy loosens everybody
up because otherwise it's yours at the whims of whatever happens. There are real
no pro tips in this game. That sounds good, although I have a
strong feeling they're not gonna let me have the camera after the last time I
had anything in Lethal Company and I just kept hitting them with stuff. So
we'll see, We'll see what happens. All right, let's explain what we
do here most weekdays. I Jeff grebblhelp peace. You're gaming life back together.
That includes breaking news and maybe even some of our own original reporting.
For all these topics, I'll get the input of a bona fide expert who
will make me look smart. You were watching live on twitch Welcome. You
can always listen to the show later on podcast feeds by searching for Game Mess
Mornings, or find the RSS on giant bomb dot com. You can also
catch the show later with chapters and timestamps on YouTube. Hello YouTube. All
right, we have a lot to get into, and let's not anger the
gods and cause another earthquake and start the morning Mess with the Assassin's Creed dev
thinks industry is dropping sixty frames per second standard again basically from Hugh Langley,
a tech radar, and it is gonna be a dregs day. We've got
a lot of stories like this. Everybody just roll with it. Assassins Creed
Unity is the first game in the franchise to be built from the ground up
for the new gen consoles, and Ubisoft has confirmed it will runt. Why
is it? Why is it alway? Is this yeah? Okay, yeah?
This is like a kind of a them like calling back to an older
story. Here. You saw for a long time we wanted to push sixty
frames per second. I don't think it was a good idea because you gain
that much from sixty frames per second. It doesn't look like the real thing.
It's a bit like the Hobbit movie. It looked really weird. This
is them kind of calling back to conversations that have happened before and now pointing
back to the fact that we're here kind of again in this generation Jesse,
where developers are trying to come back and say, hey, hey, yes
we were pushing sixty frames per second through the first part of this generation,
but maybe that's going to come to an end again. And that's happened before.
It did happen with the Assassin's Creed Unity, And now we are seeing
mini games come out like Hell Blade two that are saying to gamers, hey,
on your console, only expect thirty frames per second. You may have
got used to sixty frames per second, we are going to pull back from
that. Do you think that that is something that like when Assassin's Creed Unity
came out, that people will be like, you know, what choice do
I have? We just have to accept it? Or do you think things
have changed it all in regards to people expectations for how games will run.
I think it's interesting because I feel like we have the frame rate conversation all
the time, like constantly yeah, and it's like some people don't bother some
people don't mind it, and other people like it's the end of the world
to them. But we go through this every console cycle where it's like towards
the end of a console cycle, like new GPUs are coming out and they're
going to leap frog the current consoles and they're going to do things that the
current consoles can't do. And then the next gen refresh comes out and it's
like, Okay, now we're on par if not maybe a little bit better
than the current GPUs, and we can do sixty again. And then technology
advances and we just constantly do this leap frog over one another, and so
I feel like this is just the way that it is, until I don't
know, maybe we find a tool set that can do can push things and
do sixty. But think about how many games this generation have come out where
it's like, do you want framewrate or do you want performance? Do you
want framewerk or do you want quality right like fidelity? And I think that's
just kind of the way it is, Like you're buying consoles at a cheaper
price than you would build a PC, and like your PC is always going
to be the one that can probably do both. Yeah, And I think
when I go out and think about it, when I see a game like
Help Blay two, I'm initially like, yeah, it looks really good.
I understand the thirty frames per second, and then I do, like look
around a little bit. I'm like, yeah, but you know, Spider
Man looks really good and they have the option for sixty frames per second,
and Horizon a game that you know, I'm I'm not a huge fan of
the Horizon games, but I think they look visually stunning in terms of their
visual quality. And yet those those also have sixty frames per second mode,
and games don't need to look much better than that. I don't need Help
Lay too actually to look much better than those games, and yet what they
must be doing something to push it so hard that it cannot run at sixty
frames per second even on the Xbox Series X. And I'm wondering, personally,
am I going to notice that difference compared to any of these games that
look great that do have sixty frames per second mode? And personally I probably
won't. Actually I will, but I will notice thirty versus sixty. And
yet We've had this conversation million times, as you alluded to, Jesse,
and it's always ending up back here. And really, I think at the
beginning of this generation, I was certainly fooling myself a little bit where I
was like, oh, yeah, this will be the generation We'll have sixty
frames per second pretty much the entire time, and it was that was wrong,
that was incorrect, that was never going to happen. And so here
we are, and help Lay too coming out and actually not having the sixty
frames per second mode shouldn't be too surprising to me. I just wish I
could see it on the screen, do you know what I mean? Yeah?
And I think it also is like a big thing is like everyone plays
games on different TVs and different like I play on like a smaller monitor,
so most of the time I don't notice that stuff, right because I'm like,
not that my monitor is bad or anything, but it's like I'm not
playing all the time on like a four K fifty five inch TV that can
like really you know, pull the colors and pull everything. And so to
me, I'm always somebody who kind of likes the sixty frames option because it's
something I would notice more than the density. And sometimes games like Horizon are
so visually dense that like it hurts my eyeballs to look at for long periods
of time. Yes, absolutely, I think the point you just made there,
though actually I don't think can be overlooked, although it's something that we
do because it's like, well, that's variable between person and person, so
how do you even have that conversation? But like the Final Fantasy seven Rebirth,
there were the people like, hey, no, I played on a
performance mode and it looked pretty much fine to me, and I really liked
having the sixty frames per second, and other people like that looks like vaciline,
and I think we're like these people just see things different. But the
likely difference is probably the person who's seen the vaciline is playing on a sixty
five inch four K TV that they sit five feet away from in their gamer
chair. Like leaning forward and looking at on this at the screen, you
would see the drop in resolution at that point. You would see sort of
the temporal anti alia scene softening the edges of all these models if you're up
close on that. But if you sit back from TV, those minute details
get lost really fast, and the thing you can still notice from a distance
is resolute or as a frame rate. So how does the developer account for
all these things? I think at the end of the day, they are
doing the thing that when they look at the numbers, when they look at
what they need for marketing, amping up visual quality and turning up and making
sure that the screenshots look as as crisp as possible is probably still the thing
that sells games better than saying it has the sixty frames per second mode.
And so if I'm someone who prioritizes sixty frames per second, it's I think
it's going to keep getting lost in the shuffle as we get further indise console
generations absolutely all right, Moving along here, FTC temporarily denies ESRB application for
face scan tech. This is from Grace Benfel at GameSpot. The Federal Trade
Commission has denied an application from the Entertainment Software Ratings Board concerning face scanning age
verification tech developed by the digital identity firm YOT. In its response, the
FTC rejected the application for to zero after receiving over three hundred and fifty comments.
The rejection is not meant to comment on the merits of the application.
Rather, it is in anticipation that additional information will be available to assist the
Commission and the public in better understanding age verification technologies and the application. Essentially,
the FDC is punting on a final decision until more information is available.
In a letter to the ESRB, the FTC noted that YOT submitted a facial
estimation model to the National Institute of Standards and Technology and that a report on
the tech from the institute is forthcoming. The ESRB previously requested that the application
get a ninety day delay to make time for the NIST's report release. The
FDC opted instead to allow the ESRB to refile once the report emerges. So
I here in my home face scanning tech to tell how old my kids are.
So they could play a game or not. And I don't like any
of that. And I'm like that we should just deny that on its face,
because that seems unnecessary for one and very invasive for the second part.
And then I hear so, let's see why are they denying it, and
it's like, well, it's just bureaucratic shit. It's just they're just waiting
to get this report so they can feel like they've done their due diligence.
But it doesn't seem like there's much actual pushback against this. I hate this,
Jesse, how do you feel about it? Yeah, no, it's
not great. I don't like the idea that. I mean, like,
look as a I don't really my if a camera wants to look at me
and be like, oh, here's my ugly mug, that's fine, but
it's invasive. It's weird, Like if they're using it for that, what
else are they using it for? Where are they selling your data? Where
are they doing x yoz? Right? It gets super complicated, super quick,
and I know people all the time are like, oh, well,
like everyone's you know, your phone's always listening to you, and your webcam.
Some people put tape over their webcam because they're afraid it's like watching them
or whatever. This is just them saying the quiet part out loud. They're
like, no, we are doing that. We are we are actually going
to just scan your face and that I don't like that. That creeps me
out. Yeah, and I have a different take than the SRB on what
my kids can play. I'm gonna let them play scary games as they get
when they get a little bit older here, and I'm gonna let them play
violent games when they get a little bit older here. I am going to
be there right next to them as they're dad figuring that out with them.
I'm a kid who definitely watched like scary R rated movies when I was younger,
and I you know, as a parent now, I've done a lot
of reading on this and there's a lot of like child psychologists are like,
yeah, there's some value to that. There's some value to having a kid
watch movies that are out of their age range a little bit earlier. That
doesn't mean I'm like telling everyone, hey, go show your kid's Jaws.
But you know, maybe maybe show you're eleven year old Jaws. I bet
that would be better than you would think. And also you know your kid,
you know if they're gonna be the kind of kid that's going to have
nightmares and that they shouldn't see something, and it's very easy to sort of
pull the plug on that before that happens. And then if they are interested
in the subject and and you're like, hey, maybe we can watch this
together, maybe or play this together. I want that option. And I
suppose that there would be they would say that there's overrides and stuff like that,
so if the parent is there, you can then turn it on and
then let the kid take over. I just hate the idea of having to
ask permission, Like that's crazy to me. Yeah, just let me do
what I'm doing in my own home. I don't know. I don't and
I don't know why we think we need this, honestly, Jesse. I
think the only reason that I think they think we need this is to do
the other part, which is the tracking who's playing, like having a camera
pointed at the at the couch from the TV so they can gather that data
and then sell it. That seems to be the whole point and not actually
protecting anyone from video games. Yeah, I see the marketing report, right,
now where it's like, oh, we've noticed that kids under the age
of leven are playing Resident Evil because we have all this data to now back
it up by this facial scan stuff that it's like, oh, these kids
are now playing this game or whatever, right, And like you said,
it's as a parent, you know what your kid can and cannot handle,
and you are like going to be there with them and you know, go
on that journey with them together. And the fact that like they could potentially
just like try to play a game and then like a camera has to scan
them like maybe you're not home or something, right, and they want to
play something and it's like, yeah, you can't do that, and it's
like, oh, but my dad said I could. And it's like the
camera doesn't know that the camera is singing here your Chad told you you could
or not. Like it is what it is. It's weird. Yeah,
And uh, you know, I think we have a lot of these parenting
apps that like let you control your kid's devices, and this is something I'm
kind of just breaching for the first time really, because up until this point
they really couldn't do much on their own. They needed me to like be
there for everything. And so I could like see what they were doing,
or I would give them the Amazon Fire tablet that has the kids mode.
And it's like, you know, you're you're constrained by this. You're not
gonna get outside these, so just go ahead and you can do whatever you
want. You can't hurt yourself. But I'm like, as I like,
just start downloading it. Like I gave my kid one of my old phones
and just to old straight up Android phone with like you know, with a
vanilla Android on it. And I'm like, I think this probably has like
a parenting app on it that I can control. And I found that and
it was very easy to set up, and it was very easy to set
up parameters for like, hey, you can only use this specific app YouTube.
You can use that for fucking fifteen minutes. I'm sick of these unboxing
videos from these weirdos. Fifteen minutes is all you get. And then the
phone is going to turn off after an hour and a half of use and
any day on the weekend or something like that, and that's like, that
is all all makes sense. I just don't need the ESRB that only came
into existence in the first place because video game companies didn't want the government to
come into it and stop them from doing what they were doing and stop them
from selling games and stores unless people had IDs or whatever. They're like,
no, we'll handle it ourselves. The government doesn't need to become an intervene,
and so for them to be like, we're going to be the ones
now intervening and on people playing games, it's just such an overstep of like,
what do you think this is? ESRB, what the ESA? What
do you think this was? That you like you're actually protecting people? Don't
come on, Yeah, those ratings are a little bit useful, but everyone
who's like really buying games for the most part kind of understands what they're getting
most of the time. And there is the occasional parent buying some for their
kids that maybe find that that letter helpful. But at the end of the
day, this is really about protecting you from government oversight. That's what this
always was. So the idea that you think you can now step in and
help me in my home somehow that let's come on, fuck off, I
do not need this. So I hope that at once they actually have the
real hearing about this, because it just sounds like they were like, this
wasn't the real hearing. We'll wait till there's more data here that there is
this strong commentary period, and now that people had a chance to hear what
is being considered, this just gets shut down because no, thank you.
Yeah, it's just a massive overstep on their part. Like you said,
like, it's like, what do they think they're doing here, What do
they think they're protecting when it's like you only exist to keep the government at
arm's length from the industry. It's pretty absurd on their part. Yes,
And this next story actually kind of plays into this a little bit differently,
into the data collection side of thing. Roku's new HDMI tech could show ads
when you pause your video game. This is from Zack Swyzen at Kutaku Shots
to Zach a new patent recently filed by TV and streaming device manufacturer Roku,
hence toward a possible future where televisions could display ads when you pause a movie
or game. For Roku, the time in which the TV is on but
users aren't doing anything is valuable. The company has started leasing out ad space
and it's popular Roku City screen saver, which appears when your TV is idle
to companies like McDonald's and movies like Barbie. That's who's buying those ad spaces.
As tech Newslater newsletter low Pass points out, Roku finds this idle time
and It's screensaver so value valuable that it forbids app developers from overriding the screensaver
with their own. But if you plug in an Xbox or DVD player into
an hd myport on a Roku TV, you bypass the company screensaver and other
ads, and so Roku has been figuring out a way to not let that
happen. As reported by low Pass on April fourth, Roku recently filed a
patent, and it's for a technology that would let it inject ads into third
party content like an Xbox game or Netflix movie using an HDMI connection. The
patent describes a situation where you are playing a video game and hit pause to
go check your phone or grab some food. At this point, Roku would
identify that you have paused the content and display a relevant AD until you unpause
the game. Man, God, damn it, why why are we here?
Vias is the worst timeline. It's really it really does suck. I
again, look I understand that these TVs are in a way subsidized by then
being able to sell ads on it. But uh, who, that's your
problem. If I plug something into to an HD myport I wanted to work,
like, hey, I have full control over this stack I And and
then just because I pause my game does not give you the right like I'm
not necessarily just pausing it to look at my phone. I could be pausing
it for other reasons to like stop and look at something on the screen,
or or like consider something in my in my inventory. And just because I'm
not moving the stick doesn't mean I don't want to be seeing what's on the
screen. The idea that they think they could take that over to sell me
something is absurd, And it really feels like using what was once considered the
benefits of HD HD my technology where it's like, hey, it's a smart
connection that the you know, the the TV and your speakers. Can I
all understand kind of what's happening? And they're like, okay, well how
can we use this to our advantage? And here we are justin to ask
you do you think this actually gets implemented or do you think this is just
like one of those patents that will come and go. It's hard to say,
because I absolutely see a world and where this happens for at least a
little bit. Yeah, it reminds me a lot of It was like a
couple of months ago where Xbox was doing that thing where like suddenly like a
full screen ad would show up on like the homepage and it was for like
call of Duty or whatever. There was something that started up. It reminded
me of this. Feels like the next like the natural like extension of that
where it's like, oh, well, like where is the idle time?
Where can we serve more ads? Because you get these rokud TVs Like I
have one in my in my living room. I have like the TCL or
whatever, right, and they're they're pretty cheap TVs and they're good TVs.
Like this feels like this is like this is what it's been building to.
It's like, oh, we can just shove this TV full of ads and
anytime we could put ads down, like that's what we'll do. And so
I could see this happening, maybe be major backlash happening and then revoking it.
But I do think they try because it seems like it seems like something
they would try. I mean, they're already selling ads on the screen saver
part of it. Why not sell ads whatever they can. I'm curious to
see if this does go through and this starts happening, if developers have to
start thinking about how their pause screen is laid out, if ads are just
going to take over the parts of the paw screen. Yeah, it becomes
like a whole new layer of like, oh, well, how do we
develop this now? Yeah, And it's the kind of thing where it's like,
if if it becomes popular, You're right, they would just be it
would be built into the UX design where they're like, yeah, we know
that there's going to be an ad served here either from Roku. But if
Roku does it, then like the Xbox and PlayStation probably would get in on
it too, and they would probably start serving ads when you pause a game
and be like this is just standard practice and so we're going to have multiple
ads here. Yeah. It does kind of state that we have sort of
returned back to this well of advertising kind of being pervasive. I you know,
we grew up at a time where I was watching you know, cable
television, and so I just was constantly bombarded with advertisements. And one of
the benefits of getting these streaming services and and and then playing video games and
reading books and doing stuff like that, and like kind of having a medium
a diet that cut out advertisement was I was seeing fewer ads. And now
my kids grow up in a world where advertisements like that I grew up with
look very strange to them. They that is not something that they are seeing
very like they go weeks without seeing a television advertisement. And so, but
we see where things are headed, right, Well, we know Netflix has
that ad supported tier and Amazon Prime Video. I've started getting more and more
ads as I watch more and more shows on Prime Video. Uh, it's
back, It's here. They're there. They're putting it into the streaming stuff
and even like and I pay for the ad free tier and a lot of
stuff, but that's starting to get really expensive. And I'm like, looking
at the Prime Video, I'm like, man, do I want to pay
for another U you know, AD free tier? I don't know. And
so, like, advertisements are starting to sneak back into everything. So I'm
not too surprised by this, but it does it does bum me out that,
like, hey, I always associated with like video games is a place
where I can go and get away from that stuff, and I pay a
pretty hefty price for a video game out of the gate most of the time,
so that I can feel like I have ownership over this experience and you
don't need to bombard me with ADS. And yet they're still creating new technologies
so they can do exactly that, and in a way it feels inevitable to
me. Jesse. They if this doesn't work, it'll be something else.
They will find a way to get more ads into more of our stuff,
right Yeah. And it's this style of ADS seems way more invasive than a
lot of other styles where it's like, oh, an AD comes on while
I'm watching TV, all that kind of sucks. But this is like,
oh, this was constructed specifically because we know that there is maybe fifteen thirty
forty seconds of time that you put your controller down and we can just start
flashing ads at you. And it's like, it's gross, it feels bad,
Like I sometimes you just you just want to like unplug a little bit
and just play a game. Yep. And you're paying, like you said,
you're paying a lot of money for the game. You're playing a lot
of money for the console. You paid a lot of money for the TV,
and now it's like, oh, actually you're gonna get ads for the
rest of your life now, and it's like, what are we doing here?
Yeah? I think I want to feel like there are times when I
can just go be not alone, but be myself and not feel like there's
constant external pressures trying to force me into making purchasing decisions. I want to
like exist in like some pockets where I could do that. And if I'm
paying money upfront to have these entertaining, entertaining experiences, my expectation is,
Okay, I could sit here and there isn't some algorithm in the background trying
to figure out the best way to get me to buy those sneakers I looked
at on Instagram. It is. And so the idea that they are gonna
have these moments where they know what I'm pausing, and then if they can
combine that with a few of these other factors of well, you know,
the Xbox talks to the TV. They do know if I set down the
controller, maybe maybe maybe the Xbox could tell the TV that and then they
could use that information about how long of an ad they show me and then
they're buying my data, and they know what I'm watching on the Roku TV,
they know what apps I'm using. They could probably track what shows I'm
watching inside of those apps. They can probably see if I ever watch any
of the free TV television channels that they have streaming to the TV and know
what kind of go to Comet TV and I watch old sci fi stuff.
Just listen. I don't mind targeted advertising mean so much. I just want
the opportunity to get away from it. I want to go to a movie
theater, pay my pay for my ticket, go in and watch the movie,
and have two and a half hours where no one's trying to target me
for ads once I'm in there. And if they were to start inserting ads
into that, what like, especially targeted ads, I just it would feel
like you can never escape capitalism ever. And I just want a few respites
place. Oasis is away from the constant bombardment. So this just feels like
a slippery slope that we're going to find more and more ways to sully that
that escape, and it just bums me out. And here we are,
Yeah, between these two stories, it's just you know how invasive. Can
we be in your home to get your data and advertise to you? And
it's like that sucks, It really sucks. Its yeah, yeah, like
the guy they talk about it in the story right here. The company also
proposes you've seen HDMI CEC is that consumer electronics control that. So when like,
that's what when you like turn on your PlayStation five and it turns on
your TV and your soundbar and stuff, that's what CEC is. But that
means these devices are smart, can talk to each other and give each other
data about what's going on, and so that that's what they would use to
figure out when you've paushed your game. So if you have ever used like
the remote control to control like for your TV, to control your PlayStation five
to like watch shows, it's all that all that stuff can now be used
against you to advertise to you. Well see, I guess you know.
The thing is with a patent, Roku might be the only ones able to
do this. Of course, other companies would likely find other ways that would
be you know, be free of this patent to do it themselves, or
they could license the patent from Roku. But if Roku's the only one doing
it, I think that would make their products a little bit less enticing to
people. And maybe people just like I'll choose this one that is promising not
to advertise to me, or maybe Roku, and all these companies will all
do it, and they will sell ad free tiers on your television, and
you can give them extra money not to be advertised to And that just also
sounds like a goddamn nightmare. Ros all right. Mobile games, Star Wars
Galaxy of Heroes is getting an enhanced PC port. This is from Chris Sculling
at VGC. Popular mobile game Star Wars Galaxy Heroes is coming to PC later
this year. EA originally released the game in November twenty fifteen and has continued
to enjoy a following in the eight and a half years since. While players
have used various methods like Android emulation to play the game on PC, EA
is now giving the game an official PC port. As reported by Game Informer,
the PC version of Galaxy Heroes will feature options for higher resolution and will
support anti alien scene, and we'll double the frame rate to sixty frames per
second. This is only a little bit interesting to be Jesse, I guess
my bigger question here for something like this is would you be someone who would
be more willing to play mobile games more frequently if they showed up on devices
that you used more frequently? Or are you someone who play does play a
lot of mobile games. I guess this is the part where I have to
admit that I am an avid Monopoly Go player. Yeah, okay, I've
been looking for one. You got me? How did they get you?
And how do you find? Like what is the game like? And why
do you keep returning to it? Okay? I had to play it when
I was at Prima. It was like a guides thing, so I had
to I had to jump in there. So I was like, I'll give
it a try. They keep me around because it's it's just mindless mm hmm.
It's just I clicked the thing, I rolled the dice, my guy
goes around the board and I just get money and it's like, wow,
this is I'm winning capitalism this time. And I keep coming back because I'm
so close to being like I guess what you would call like patch current,
Like I'm just so close to the end, and I've never reached the end
of a mobile game, Like I've never reached the point where I'm waiting for
a mobile game update, and so I'm like, I have to sound like
reach that level of zen. I can never imagine. So I just keep
playing it and like it takes me like twenty minutes every day. I do
my little like I roll my dice. I you know, I do like
the little activities and there's always events and stuff and it's fine, but I'm
just so close to the end. I just have to I have to know
what it's like to be like all right, I gotta I gotta go to
Scopel's website and like find out when is that next update coming, when's the
new Monopoly board coming out? But that's the only mobile game I play.
I'm not a big mobile person. Outside of that. I give things to
try here and there, like Marvel Snap I was big on for a minute
and other things, but I did never I never played the Marvel Snap like
PC version. And like I hear that that it's like fully out now,
it's like a full version. It's not just like a weird version of the
mobile. Well, yes, they like made it like work better for being
on PC and wide screens and stuff like that. Yes, So I don't
know if I would particularly like try something I wasn't already playing on mobile,
right, especially a game like Galaxy of Heroes that's just like not my style
of mobile game. Sure, and so it's cool, Like I always love
more options for people, and some people will probably try it out for PC
as opposed to mobile because a lot of people don't either. One, they
don't want to burn their battery. They don't have the time on mobile because
they're doing other things or they're just on the go, and mobile games are
hard. Sometimes I can't even play them on the subway half the time because
I lose connection. So it's like, yeah, yes, totally yes,
and that's that's frustrating I am. There's the occasional game where I'm like when
I hear it's like, hey, it's a mobile game, and we're also
going to release it on the switch, like that zinga Star Wars shooter that
still hasn't come out, Like oh yeah, oh yeah, I'll check that
on the switch, a free to play Star Wars shooter that's like made for
mobile, but they're going to release it on the switch, so it's probably
gonna run fine because they're making it for mobile. That sounds fine. I'll
give that a shot. I bet I'm not gonna like it, but at
least I'm more likely to give it a shot than if it was just on
mobile. And then there there is like those Mijo Yo games that you know
are both console and PC and mobile at least they're on like PlayStation, and
it's like, I think those blow up in a bigger way because they are
thinking about making it. Yeah they're mobile games, they think about making them
for PC and console, and that seems to make them more substantive, so
substantive, and I think that people are like when they go to play on
mobile, like these feel like big real games because they are. They have
to make them that way because they're competing with all these other games that I
have, you know, established themselves as strong RPG. So you can't just
be like, you can't just be mindless in that case, you have to
have a lot going on. And so I think there's always a benefit when
these mobile games consider these other platforms. And for me, I think I'm
someone who would occasionally check out like one out of every one hundred of these
here and there. But you're right, the Star Wars Galaxy of Heroes a
PC port, I'm probably not gonna hop on that. I think I played
it a little bit when it launched. I want to say it's kind of
like Class Royale a little bit. Maybe are or I know, it's like
characters sitting on the side and maybe they're like fighting and taking turns fighting.
So maybe not class right an ad It's like an auto battle, auto battler.
That's that's what it was, yes, exactly, And you know,
I like seeing like you know, Han Solo, Han Solo and a bunch
of weird Jedi standing next to each other like throwing attacks. Sure, maybe
if it was on like switch maybe by Oh yeah, that's weird. I'll
check that out. But I'm not like rushing to rushing to try this.
But I do think this is something that becomes more common as we go forward,
especially as like mobile mobile devices are more powerful than ever. I think
they're like the kinds of game design that will thrive and have a chance to
break out, will be the games that maybe do feel like they could be.
This could just be a console game if it had a few changes here
and there, because everything that is built for just mobile and for that audience,
that audience is already pick playing their game. If it's not a candy
crush if it's not a handful of other games. It's not Clash Clash of
Clans or Class Royale. It is Monopoly g Go. It's like the one
new one that has been able to break through. But most of the time,
all these other games have the audiences already picked their game and they're not
looking for some new thing to destry them. They want to just keep going
back to their game. So I think having a game that can be like
bringing in an audience that has been playing games for a long time in other
places, it's probably a strong strategy, I think, and Mijoyo has definitely
proven that. So it's funny you brought up Mijoyo because I don't even think
of them as like mobile right, because I've only ever experienced their games on
It's never been about it because there are millions of mobile players, like,
they have a huge audience there, but like the console players and the PC
players don't consider it mobile and the mobile players don't consider it, but they're
both like, hey, this is a good version of the thing I am
play right uh for winship asking what the hell is me? Jyo h it's
a honky star Rail and Ginschin Impact so and Zen Zone Zero later out later
this year apparently, and these games are actually massively popular, massively popular.
So yeah, all right, uh, you know what, let's take a
quick break when we get back. We got a few more headlines to get
to right after this. All right, we are back, and Relic has
announced the layoffs following it's split from Sega. This is from Tom Ivan at
VGC, part of the twenty twenty four layoff train here. A week after
being sold by sagain becoming an independent studio, Relic Entertainment has announced a new
round of layoffs. While the company hasn't publicly put a number on the amount
of affected employees, Relic internal development producer Robin Small said that the studio had
lost a number of amazing people around forty one. Vancouver based. Vancouver,
Canada based Relic specializes in real time strategy games, including Company of Heroes,
Age Vampires, and Homeworld. Letting people go was not an easy decision and
was made solely with the goal of providing Relic the best possible chance to survive
in an increasingly volatile industry. It does not in any way reflect the expertise,
passion, or character of any of the impacted employees. Yeah, this
is one where it's like when a company has to spin off from their parent
company to survive, because it's like, you know, I get the idea
that the options are, Hey, do you want to like spin off and
try to like purchase this thing with funding however you want from Sega and go
be on your own, or do you want us to shut you down and
lay everybody off. It feels like those are the options. So then being
like, Okay, you know what, We'll find a way to spin off
from Sega and keep the studio alive and that if that's going to mean layoffs
after that, I'm a little bit more understanding this continues to suck though.
This industry is in a really weird place. And if you're a studio like
Relic, where you're making real time strategy games and the last thing you did
was that Age of Empires game that people liked, but maybe it's like,
God, if it's not blowing up way bigger than anyone thought, it would,
doesn't even make sense to make these games anymore. And my answer is,
I don't know. It feels like I understand the volatility here, and
I understand why they're doing this, but man, it still stinks. How
do you feel about it? Jesse? In the last two years, the
amount of playoffs we have seen, it just like increases and increases, and
every time I read like this was not an easy decision, like regardless of
where it's coming from, Like I'm so sick of yep, like reading those
words, because like, yeah, maybe it wasn't an easy decision for this
this case, because this was like a little bit of an outlier in the
case of a lot of the industry layoffs we have seen. But it's just
like it hurts, it sucks, it's it's like demoralizing on every front.
It's like how do you how do we like bounce back from any of this?
Like we're just watching talented person after talented person lose their job and there's
too many people in the job market and not enough jobs available, and these
these studios are like tightening up and trying to like cut as many costs as
they possibly can, and it's like it's it's rough. It's it's rough out
there for every single person in this industry, and it's only getting harder.
Yep. And and I think I don't know what the answer is yeah.
And it's like, in the case of Relic, you're like, okay,
well you've laid people off, you're more streamlined, get to work making games,
and hopefully it's all good news from here on out. But then it's
like, you look like they were acquired by a UK and firm, you
know, Private Capital, emmona Capital ll P. It's like, God,
that's that's the kind of entity that would take a studio like this and like,
yeah, do layoffs and then we're gonna like, we're gonna borrow a
lot of money in your name, and we're gonna give ourselves some bonuses and
good luck after that. You guys can maybe put out a game whatever.
We don't care. We already give ourselves some bonuses. So it's I hope
that this is not like the beginning of the end for a really talented developer
like Relic. Company of Heroes again is a game that people adore, Like
for real time strategy fans, it was like this revitalization of the genre,
and I had this really strong multiplayer component that people went back to for years
and years and years. And the Company of Heroes three comes out and didn't
do great, and that's sort of what has led us here, But that
doesn't mean they can't return to some glory if they can get those games put
together. So uh yeah, Jesse, I'd be we've been. This parade
of layoffs has been NonStop. It does. I hope we're we get on
the other side of it here pretty soon, but that even when we do,
it doesn't feel like, oh, it's clear sailing. It's like,
man, the video game industry is in for some gloomy time for a long
time, right yeah, And because it's cyclical, right in so many ways,
And every time we redo this cycle, the industry looks different. The
people in the industry look different, the games in the industry look different,
the just the general vibe of the industry looks different. And so you know,
when we do eventually get over this this hurdle, like what does it
look like? What's left? Like are are the talent that was there that
made some of our favorite games in the last ten years? Are they even
still around anymore? Like were they able to make it through? Like we
lose so many important people along the way that it's just it's brutal. And
then you have you know, investment firms, hedge funds VC like coming in
and buying up all this stuff and then just wanting them to churn out content
that's unsustainable. They want exponential growth. You can't get it, like it's
it's real diar out here. Yep. I hope Relics able to make it
all sense though. It's a studio that deserves better. It's one of those
studios that when Sega was in their dark their dark period, and they were
like relying on PC development Relic and Uh, I always want to say certain
affinity it is a CA developer. I can't remember what they actually assembly,
creative assembly, thank you. It's a certain affinity always gets in my head
instead creative assembly. It's like these are studios that put out games that was
keeping Sega afloat because they were like, hey, our PC games are growing
and they're massive and they're doing really well, and Sonic keeps fucking up one.
We don't know what's going on over there. Uh. And then you
know, years later they started figuring out a lot of stuff. You know,
maybe that was with Basonic, but with Yakuza and stuff like that.
It's like they've established this a new identity. But then for them to kind
of discard these studios that were keeping them afloat when they didn't have much else
going on. Continues to be very frustrating to me. It's like, Sega,
you maybe should be a little bit more loyal to these people that kept
you afloat when things weren't great. All right, Uh, here's a report
that you Miaki is stepping down as the producer on dragon Quest. This from
Sophie McAvoy at Games Industry dot bet viiz. You Miyaki is allegedly moving from
his role as producer on the dragon Quest series to another position within Square Enix.
This is according to Bloomberg, who was told by sources that Miyaki would
be overseeing the firm's smartphone games division instead. Near Automata producer Yoske Saito is
allegedly being considered to take over Miyaki's role. Sources said this move is part
of score Enix's restructuring plan, which reportedly began on April first. Games Industry
Dot Biz reached out to Scoring Inx for comment. Miaki has been the producer
on the dragon Quest series since nineteen ninety two, with his latest credit on
dragon Quest Monsters that Dark Prints for released in twenty twenty three. Structuring plans
were previously announced by Square Nix's president Takashi hear You last November. Here You
cited the limited diversity of its lineup of games, adding that he wanted to
structure its development function so that we are able to ensure higher quality from each
title. This also seems to come out of Hey, Dragon Quest, where
they at they did eleven because the next year they have twelve announced, twelve
announced, and I think twelve was taking a little bit longer than they were
expecting it to take. It fel This feels like it's part of that as
well. Are you are you? You're Are you a Dragon Quest guy?
I know you, I know you're an RPG guy. Is this a series
that you've been paying attention to? What do you feel about this? I
pay attention to dragon Quests, like sort of on the proof ofy Like I
played eleven and liked it a lot, But I have not done like my
Deep Dive the way I've done with like a Final Fantasy or some There's just
so many of them. This kind of like fits in line I feel with
like a lot of what Square does all the time, right, Like they
have their creative business units, and they move people around, and I mean
it makes sense to me. It's like, hey, this guy is doing
great stuff, put them put them over here, right. Yeah. Maybe
it's just I it's hard to tell because it's like Square is always kind of
so cagy about some of their stuff that it's like, I don't know.
I just I don't know a lot about this yet because we have yet to
see what this could mean for the future. And Dragon Quest twelve is coming
out eventually, right, we don't know switching to action, it's not turn
based this time around, so it's like they might be having to figure that
out for a while. I don't know. It's it's a tough one for
me. It's it's like I don't I don't really know what this means until
we kind of see it happen. Yes, I think someone in chat pointed
out that, you know, for a Japanese company going from producing Dragon Quest
to overseeing all the mobile games, that's actually maybe a step up. But
this is born out of Square Nick saying that they want to increase, they
want to make better games. They said, that's what they said a couple
months ago. Is like, starting on April first, we are going to
change things up so we make our games better. Now. I think that
usually meant like we're actually just going to spend a little bit more time on
some of these games, but clearly it also means that they're shifting around some
of the leadership responsible for their franchises. I I wonder if they are looking
around at the their other you know, cohort publishers like Capcom and seeing like
how Capcom is able to turn many of its franchises and and or to give
many of its franchises that big glow up moment where they're like, hey,
Dragon Quests or Dragon's Dogma two is here and it's massive and it's gonna sell
way faster than the first one. And uh, hey, here's a remake
of an older residuval game that sold well, and now the remake is selling
this much better. And I think they're like, hey, why can't that
happen for Dragon Quest? Uh? And honestly, why can't it happen for
Final Fantasy. Final Fantasies had had like some ups and downs in terms in
terms of its sales numbers, So there I think they're like, what are
we doing wrong? We probably have to change something up, But I don't
know, do you think that there would be they have the capacity to uh
change dragon Quests and do you think like them change into action game, is
that enough or they got have to do something more to find a new audience
with dragon Quest. It's it's interesting because like dragon Quest right is like is
like the staple, right, it is the blueprint for so long, but
at a certain point it like it got out shown by by other RPGs and
it's still there and it's still got like a car audience to it. But
I think action is like the first step because we saw this with sixteen right,
Like sixteen was like we're going hard action, final fantasy and like we're
changing it up, and like it did all right for them. I don't
really know how well that that shift did for them overall yet, Yeah,
but like maybe that's what dragon Quest needs. The only like image we have
of dragon Quest twelve is just kind of like the logo and it seems like
it has a darker tone. So like maybe that's what they're trying to do,
is like maybe we go like a little bit edgier, we go a
little bit darker, and maybe that gives us a new audience. But I
don't know what Dragon Quest would have to do to get a new audience,
because I think the audience it has is so like it's it's a fervor,
like they just love dragon Quest. Drag Quice is a culture to them.
I don't know when you get a younger audience, yeah, but I think
that they are on the right track with Dragon Quest eleven, a game that
I, as someone who does not fall in love with JRPGs very easily,
really really enjoyed what I played of that game. And I didn't play a
ton, but I was like I was on paternity leave a few years ago,
and I just was like, Oh, I'm gonna start this game up.
And I ended up playing like fifteen hours, just kind of accidentally.
After it was like, I'll just start it up, maybe play for an
hour or two, see what it looks like, because I thought it looked
really nice, and then I played for a lot longer because it's a very
enjoyable game. And I think that I think of a game like Dragon Request
eleven came out now, I think it would do even better. I think
the environment for that kind of game where you have an awesome cast of characters
and it looks really nice and it's like, hey, we're leaning into being
a JFPG. I think it would kind of be similar to what has happened
with like a Dragon Infinite Wealth, where it's like that's doing better than ever,
and all the in persona is doing better than ever. RPGs continue to
grow. The audiences really want these character driven games, and I think if
they sort of just leaned into that and like kept building on that side of
things, that they could see the growth that they have not seen so far
because just the audience has changed. So I wish they would kind of just
recognize that and lean into that. But here we are. We'll see what
Dragon Quest or Dragon Quest to what was able to do. And it's possible
that the shift to Dragon Quest twelve is so far in a different direction that
people don't like it that when they return with that, going back to like
the eleven stops everywhere. It's celebrated in everyone's absolutely this is what we've been
looking for. It gets all this this fan like fandom and it blows up
the way it does. But we'll see yep, yep, as as xx
Medusa Lover sixty nine and Chat says, the leave stalks are up. They
just keep going up. Everybody to the moon, all right, last story.
Here, here's a look at a test run of the Donkey Kong Ride
at Super Nintendo World. This looks pretty cool. I'm gonna play this here.
I'm gonna mute it here, but yes, this is for my Nintendo
News. Footage of the first test runs of the upcoming Donkey Kong Country Ride
at Super Nintendo World at Universal Studios Japan have appeared on online and it looks
like it's a blast. The ride opens soon and includes a new roller coaster
called Mine Cart Madness, which we'll take riders through the jungle as Donkey Kong
and Diddy Kong protect the Gold of Banana from the Tiki Tac tribe, which
sounds problematic and even contains a leap across the collapse track, which is that
apparently they're doing some cool new tech there to make it feel like you're actually,
you know, crossing a collapse track. I think this looks pretty promising,
It looks pretty cool. I kind of wish they would go a little
bit further afield for Mario than Donkey Kong, but I understand that that's pretty
a pretty safe bet for them right now, and they are leaning in on
Donkey Kong, which they probably have like that movie coming, and it sounds
like they're making some more Donkey Kong games. So yeah this, Oh yeah,
look at that jump right there. That's very cool. I know,
what does this look like to you? Are you excited about something like this?
Yeah? I mean so, I have not been to any version of
Supernintendo World at all, and I've been like, I really want to go.
Are you going? Are you going up to to LA for Super Summer
Game Fest? I am, I am? I might Maybe you could make
a track the Nasty Boys takes a Super Nintendo World. I would like that
would be a lot of fun. I would I would love to just go
and see it. But like I think, the one thing I always get
from all the like travelogues and footage I see from it is like it has
a handful of rides, but it doesn't have a ton And so I think
adding just any any more Mario sort of universe stuff you can put in there
is really great. And like I like that they're going with Donkey Kong.
I think like a mine cart ride just makes sense. It does make a
lot of sense. Like my one of my favorite rides at Disney Is is
the Indiana Jones, Like you're you're going through the boulders coming down, you're
going right, Like Donkey Kong just fits that vibe. It makes so much
sense. Like if they're trying out new tech with Donkey Kong, that's cool
because that means like when they pick some weirdo franchise that they're gonna pull to
put in there, like they've they're like, oh, we've been working on
tech. We're gonna be some weir real wild stuff with this thing over here.
When we're on Yoshi's back and he's jumping over actual pits right and like
there's just the empty void below us. Stuff like that. It's cool.
Yeah, so I got problems, yeah so uh yeah, the the Universal
in Hollywood, there's no way it's gonna get this. There's just not enough
room for them to put this in there. But uh uh, you know
that maybe they could expand Mario, but maybe one or two more things maybe
that'd be great. But this this will show up in Orlando for sure.
They've basically already started work on that. As far as I think I think
in Orlando, there is rumors among the theme park watchers, namely Mike MANAUGHTI
that they are already starting work on something that could easily turn into a Zelda
ride so or Zelda Land. So they're they're getting to work on all this
stuff. And god, yeah, the more I look at this this footage,
the more I'm like, yeah, I think this would be a very
good time and mix. We want to play Donkey Kong Country. So there,
I am all right, Jesse. That does it for the news.
Let's get to the poll question, which should be right here. Let's go
ahead and refresh that. Uh, there you go. Are you getting excited
for the summer game mess? Forty two percent say I'll get excited when Sony,
Microsoft, and Nintendo confirmed shows. Then thirty percent say no, E
three is dead, and twenty nine percent say yes, I'm already excited.
So there's a kind of a mix there. Most people, though, are
either already excited or ready to get excited once you know, Nit toend announced
to say direct is actually gonna happen. Microsoft already has confirmed their show.
Obviously, Sony is rumored to do something in May. I think they are
doing something in May at probably a showcase but you know, I don't blame
people for being like, yeah, I'll but I'll get excited when they say
they're actually going to do that. How are you feeling about it, Jesse?
But we do have Ubisoft confirmed, Microsoft confirmed, and then like this
Sony rumor? Is that enough for you? You want to see a couple
more things or you know, we're gonna go out in LA and have a
good time one way or the other. But how are you feeling about the
showcases? I'm feeling I'm feeling all right so far. I think I'm more
interested than previous years to see what these companies have to show, because twenty
twenty three like certified year, right, like just so many great, so
much great stuff, And this year is like it's feeling maybe like it might
be a little lighter, I don't know, And so I'm more than ever
interested to see what these companies are bringing. So I'm ready to be like,
Okay, what is the fall look like? What does the holiday look
like? What does early next year look like? Like, let's see it.
And I think Nintendo more than anything, like I'm like, okay,
what are we doing here? We got to switch to stuff going on?
We got you know, you don't really have a lot for the rest of
the year, Like, is this the year we see Metroid Prime four?
I don't know, and so like I'm ready to really get in there and
see what that stuff is all about. Yeah, I think a lot of
it just comes down to how ready these companies are to talk about anything.
I think that Microsoft has the potential to be very interesting if they're ready to
update us on a lot of they're already announced games. You know, Indiana
Jones obviously will be something they update us about because that's coming out later this
year still, but you know, Perfect Dark and Avowed and Fable and a
handful of other games they've already announced. And then you know, I do
think they probably we will have a Gear six at this show if that's their
their showcase, that that sounds pretty good. Maybe a couple other surprises,
and then and then for like Nintendo, obviously it's like we and Nintendo and
PlayStation where it's like Nintendo is in this you know, transitionary period. So
what will they have? What won't they have? They probably won't have most
things at a showcase this summer, and PlayStation has already told us we're not
gonna have a lot of first party sequel games, but that doesn't mean they
couldn't have like their new Blue the Blue Blue Point game or you know Concord.
Uh that one of some of their live service games, Astrobot is one
that I hear is probably gonna happen later this year's and that's kind of you
know, that could work. Uh, there's a lot of stuff they could
put in no showcase that would be very exciting still, and then of course
they have like all their partner games that they've already announced as well. So
I'm hopeful and I don't need much these days to be like, well that
was that was worth it. I think if you give me a couple of
games that are big and surprising, and then I'll give a lot of other
developers a reason to come into town, into LA to show us firsthand what
their stuff looks like. Like it was worth it last year. If it's
about the same or maybe a little bit bigger, I think it'll definitely be
worth it again this year. So looking forward to it, and boy,
it really is upon us now. Just we got down with packs and started
getting emails about Summer Game festms like no, what are you talking about and
then I looked at the calendar. It's yeah, two months away. We're
basically there. We're right there. I'm all right, all right, I
guess start playing a trip to La all right, yeah, make it happen,
nasty boys, let's go all right there, I have another poll question
and we'll get to it here in a second. Before we do that,
jessefn Telly Young Elmo. Why don't you tell people where they can find you
on the internet, what you have going on? All that good stuff.
All right, I'm Jesse Vitelli. If you want to contact me, do
not. I'm just kidding. Twitter at jesse Vitelli, Blue Sky, Instagram,
whatever, your social media of choices, just find my name. I've
made it so that I have the best SEO of any jesse Vitelli out there
on the internet. I am Google's number one jesse Vitelli, so you can
find me wherever. Currently, I don't have a whole lot going on freelance
wise. However, if you notice the Game Informers doing those magazine subscriptions,
now you can get them on their website. My Dragon's Dog my two review
will be in the magazine. So if you pick up next month's issue of
the magazine. You will get to see you get to read my words on
a piece of paper. He yeah, like a leaves man. But yeah,
that's all I've got really going on, a whole lot of nothing excellent.
But if you are out in LA we'll definitely have have you over on
the GB at night. Looking forward to that. We'll be doing our typical
three night thing. But yeah, plenty play details still to announce about all
that. Everybody's to look after that here in the next couple of weeks,
real quick, want to shout out a story that Rebecca Valentine over at IGN
just dropped with the title how hidden Nazi symbols were the tip of a toxic
iceberg? At Life Is Change developer Deck nine, This is looking pretty crazy
here, you know, I'll just read these first two paragraphs. Early last
year, while working on the next entry in the Life Is Strange franchise,
a few developers had Deck nine stubled upon something that didn't belong in the game,
Nazi symbols. Initially, developers noticed a reference to the number eighty eight
and flag the issue to their bosses, assuming it was an innocent mistake,
but in the assuing ensuing weeks, others found more problematic signs and in universe
labels, such as references to a racist meme, the number eighteen, and
the Hegel run. As the number of possible hate symbols mounted, staff grew
increasingly concerned that someone was putting these items into their game deliberately as a dog
whistle to white supremacists. Uh, there's a lot more to this story.
Rebecca always does fantastic work, So go ahead and check that out, everybody.
All right, let's see here, Yes, new poll question, what
do you prefer higher resolutions or higher frame rates? Let's just have it,
le let's have it out. Let's see he right here what you prefer,
and feel free to go in the comments and say, you know, we'll
give you give your explained reason why you prefer what you do. I'm interested
to see how many people are like, yeah, I do sit close enough
to a really nice TV to see stuff, so I want the resolution,
I want the quality that stuff makes a difference to me, or just hey,
if you're someone who doesn't see frame rates, let us know. I'm
interested. We will discuss that on the show on Monday, which is the
day of the eclipse. But I'm gonna do the show and then take the
rest of the day off to watch the eclipse, and that should line up
just good. So yes, we will do a show on Monday, so
look out for that. Meanwhile, here on giant Bomb today we have UPF
where we're gonna play content Warning and really looking forward to that. Then we
have BCR where we're going to discuss something. Honestly, I'm still not sure.
I'm gonna talk about some of the games we've been playing, and then
we'll come up with some topic. Look out for that. That'll be at
three pm Eastern. The UPF is at one pm Eastern. Lookout for that.
It'll be a good time. And in meantime, all throughout this weekend,
Jan and Dan are gonna be uploading various things from Wrestlemanium. They already
did a power Bomb cast with our predictions for the show. It looks very
like a very good time. Jan described it as wrestling e three and it
really does look like that's what what it's like for them out there, so
well, plenty of stuff on giant Bomb and Giantbob dot Com for the next
few days. Look out for that. In the meantime, Jesse, thank
you so much for spinning today talking with me about video games. I really
appreciate it. Man, I appreciate you. Thanks for having me. This
is a blast. Anytime we'll get you back on the show frequently. Thank
you all for watching. You're the best audience of gaming. Until next time,
have a good one, take care of yourself and goodbye.