World of Warcraft Development Team Has Voted To Unionize

<v Speaker 1>He'll be don't be bad. It's the internet. You're busy.
<v Speaker 1>Let's do this for July twenty fifth, twenty twenty four.
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<v Speaker 1>sort through the world of gaming on Games Morning's Live
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<v Speaker 1>with the World of Warcraft development team has voted to unionize.
<v Speaker 1>This is from Tom Ivan at VGC. Blizzard's World of
<v Speaker 1>Warcraft development team has voted to unionize. Then, that has
<v Speaker 1>been announced. Over five hundred members of the team have
<v Speaker 1>joined the Communication Workers of America and Microsoft subsidiary Blizzard
<v Speaker 1>Entertainment has recognized their union. The World of Warcraft Gamemakers
<v Speaker 1>Guild becomes the first wall to wall union at Activision Blizzard,
<v Speaker 1>the first and the largest at Microsoft at a Microsoft
<v Speaker 1>on studio. Excuse me, what we've accomplished at World of
<v Speaker 1>Warcraft is just the beginning, said Eric Lanham, test analyst
<v Speaker 1>and member of the World of Warcraft Gamemakers Guild. My
<v Speaker 1>colleagues and I are embarking on a quist to secure
<v Speaker 1>better pay, benefits, and job security through a strong union contract.
<v Speaker 1>We know that when workers have a protected voice, it's
<v Speaker 1>a win win for employee standards, the studio and World
<v Speaker 1>of Warcraft fans looking for the best gaming experience. Through
<v Speaker 1>our union, We're ready to tank any any obstacles, heal
<v Speaker 1>any wounds, and dps through the challenges ahead. Together, we
<v Speaker 1>will ensure a full tier set bonuses block. Okay, now
<v Speaker 1>they're just being nerdy about it. I don't know.
<v Speaker 2>That's yeah, we get it. Yeah, they're great. Yeah we know.
<v Speaker 1>I mean, listen it. It feels like the dam's broken.
<v Speaker 1>We just had uh it was like Bethesda right, like
<v Speaker 1>like huge swaths over there. They've had unionization. And now
<v Speaker 1>World of Warcraft, the team that makes that game that
<v Speaker 1>has had you know, millions of subscribers paying monthly fees
<v Speaker 1>every month, huge amounts of money coming in for more
<v Speaker 1>like going on almost two decades now. That is really massive.
<v Speaker 1>It does feel like if they can do it. I
<v Speaker 1>think we said this about the that's the one either
<v Speaker 1>earlier this week, last week. Anyone can do it, right,
<v Speaker 1>That's what it feels like.
<v Speaker 2>Yes, anyone can organize and form labor empowerment.
<v Speaker 1>Here.
<v Speaker 2>Look, here's the thing that I've started to worry about
<v Speaker 2>a little bit in my anecdotal experience with people close
<v Speaker 2>to me and just across other entertainment industries, because this
<v Speaker 2>is such a thing that's been a shock to the
<v Speaker 2>sort of like capitalist corporate system. Right, there are there
<v Speaker 2>are there are places in our world where like retaliation
<v Speaker 2>has become very much a thing, and I just I
<v Speaker 2>just I just brace for that kind of stuff, right,
<v Speaker 2>And because you have to like work backwards to get
<v Speaker 2>labor empowerment, like there's no mechanism in place to sort
<v Speaker 2>of like bat retaliation, right, And you know, I just think,
<v Speaker 2>like everyone, you know, there's this notion of like, yes,
<v Speaker 2>empowerment is right, it's obviously great, it's obviously how it
<v Speaker 2>should be. But also, you know, in that in that
<v Speaker 2>never ending quest to sort of like level the playing field,
<v Speaker 2>I think part of that unionization has to also have
<v Speaker 2>things in place to like prepare for that kind of
<v Speaker 2>thing and and lay out language and details that prevents
<v Speaker 2>retaliation as well. Right. It's one thing to unionize, it's
<v Speaker 2>another to be like, oh man, are we about to
<v Speaker 2>just you know, base something else on the other side
<v Speaker 2>of this.
<v Speaker 1>Right, Yeah. And there's a lot of states I'm not
<v Speaker 1>super familiar with, though I know there's a probably federal
<v Speaker 1>protections against retaliation, but I think you're right. It's always
<v Speaker 1>better to just have it like written out in the
<v Speaker 1>contract itself, to add to those protections we're seeing.
<v Speaker 2>We're seeing it in in in you know, all of
<v Speaker 2>the last summer's entertainment Hollywood strikes right, like projects, film, TV,
<v Speaker 2>everything has been so slow to green light after this,
<v Speaker 2>it's it's just very you know, and you can what
<v Speaker 2>else can you chalk that up to?
<v Speaker 1>Right, right? And I and I think we're pretty sober
<v Speaker 1>about this. I think most people understand what this means.
<v Speaker 1>I think there will be skeptics or bad faith arguments
<v Speaker 1>that's that will come about when let's say the World
<v Speaker 1>of Warcraft team has like layoffs in the future, like
<v Speaker 1>oh well, well great, what good does the union do?
<v Speaker 1>And so no one's going to pretend that this is
<v Speaker 1>the solution to every problem facing the people making video games.
<v Speaker 1>This is just one of the tools that they can
<v Speaker 1>deploy and very effective and one of the strongest tools
<v Speaker 1>they can deploy to get some protections, to get some
<v Speaker 1>transparency into how the business that they work for operates,
<v Speaker 1>so that they can get more of the profits that
<v Speaker 1>they're creating. It's it's just it's dialing up improvements across
<v Speaker 1>the board. It's not going to stop a company from
<v Speaker 1>laying them off in the future of the time.
<v Speaker 2>No, And that's the thing like unionization, which is a
<v Speaker 2>hard word for me to say, apparently does not like carve.
<v Speaker 2>It does not like end capitalism, right. It just again,
<v Speaker 2>I think things like this are are empirically good because
<v Speaker 2>they normalize it, right, And that's what needs to be
<v Speaker 2>happening is normally.
<v Speaker 1>I mean, just to have back to back unionizations at
<v Speaker 1>big studios. It's like, oh, something has shifted thee the
<v Speaker 1>vibe shift is upon us, and everyone's jumping a board
<v Speaker 1>because it does feel normal. Yes, the yeah, and Tom
<v Speaker 1>Payne and chapoints out our taliation usually comes before the
<v Speaker 1>union is formed. Yeah, but I might think of like
<v Speaker 1>examples of the cast members at Disneyland unionizing and then like, oh,
<v Speaker 1>they're like shutting down a lot of those things that
<v Speaker 1>those cast members worked on because it's like, oh, well,
<v Speaker 1>now you guys are unionized with the pay you more,
<v Speaker 1>so it costs too much money to do this thing.
<v Speaker 1>It's like, Okay, maybe maybe we should have had some
<v Speaker 1>explicit protections against that sort of thing in the contract
<v Speaker 1>before we put it in place. But you know you can't.
<v Speaker 1>You just can't account for every scenario. You can't account
<v Speaker 1>for unintended consequences. What you can do is say, hey,
<v Speaker 1>how much money does this company make. Let's see the books,
<v Speaker 1>and then let's talk about what's fair. And of course,
<v Speaker 1>how can you argue against that?
<v Speaker 2>Exactly? I mean, and you're right, like, there's always going
<v Speaker 2>to be a way the labor laws are designed to
<v Speaker 2>not protect labor. Yeah, Like it's so it is always
<v Speaker 2>at the advantage of the employer. The employer is always
<v Speaker 2>at the advantage of the way our labor laws are
<v Speaker 2>structured in this country. So like you were, always this
<v Speaker 2>is operating from the disadvantage right POV and normalizing it
<v Speaker 2>will slowly move the needle in the right direction.
<v Speaker 1>Now we're talking about teams inside of major corporations. You know,
<v Speaker 1>this is still this is pretty big. Be this is
<v Speaker 1>a World Warcraft team. A lot of people working on that.
<v Speaker 1>Five hundred people around, Like over five hundred members of
<v Speaker 1>the team have joined the Communication Workers of America. That's
<v Speaker 1>almost like twice the side. I think it's more than
<v Speaker 1>twice the size of that's the team last week. But
<v Speaker 1>we're still talking about teams inside of big corporations. The
<v Speaker 1>way it works in you know, other mediums like film
<v Speaker 1>is if you want to work as an editor in
<v Speaker 1>this entire business, you are joining a union. It is
<v Speaker 1>a unionized industry, not just a unionized company. Do you
<v Speaker 1>think that we're on the pathway to something like that happens?
<v Speaker 1>That still feels very far away to me.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it does, because you're having, like you said, these
<v Speaker 2>sort of like sectioned off unions within corporations. Right, So
<v Speaker 2>it's like, what sort of flexibility and transitive kind of
<v Speaker 2>property is there. I don't know. I don't know how
<v Speaker 2>that works, but me neither. It's better than what it's been, right, So,
<v Speaker 2>baby steps.
<v Speaker 1>Baby steps, we'll see. I'm hopeful. It's a god we
<v Speaker 1>were saying this for so long and that now is here.
<v Speaker 1>It's impressive to see. I think obviously a lot of
<v Speaker 1>younger people coming into the workplace can take credit for this.
<v Speaker 1>I believe. So well done. Hell yeah, all right, let's
<v Speaker 1>move right ahead. Humble Games lays off all employees and
<v Speaker 1>carries on in name only. This is from Nathan Grayson
<v Speaker 1>at Aftermath Today, Humble Games, publisher of indie hits like
<v Speaker 1>Signals or Signals Signalis a wizard of legend, and Tim
<v Speaker 1>Tim informed employees of layoffs that will pack the whole company,
<v Speaker 1>leaving its staff of thirty six all jobless. Laid off
<v Speaker 1>workers took the linked in to relay with relay what
<v Speaker 1>management told them in the morning meeting, which aftermath has
<v Speaker 1>obtained a recording of. In the meeting, Steve Horowitz, president
<v Speaker 1>of parent companies Ziff Davis's Technology and shopping division, pointed
<v Speaker 1>to long delays and rising costs as pervasive issues faced
<v Speaker 1>by Humble Games. He went on to say that Ziff
<v Speaker 1>had attended attempted to sell Humble Games twice before, but
<v Speaker 1>that neither attempt created significant demand and unfortunately, neither attempt
<v Speaker 1>created a viable offer or an outcome. As a result,
<v Speaker 1>he explained, employees are being let go and remaining projects
<v Speaker 1>will be carried over the finish line by a third
<v Speaker 1>party company called the Powell Group. We continue to see
<v Speaker 1>the cost rise delays continue, and during the sale process
<v Speaker 1>of our or or our attempt to sell over the
<v Speaker 1>past couple of months, we've seen an additional millions increase
<v Speaker 1>in development expenses coupled with even longer delays in bringing
<v Speaker 1>titles to market or West told employees. Given all this,
<v Speaker 1>we've made a very tough but necessary decision to restructure
<v Speaker 1>all of Humble Games with the goal of providing the
<v Speaker 1>best conspective way to make sure that the games see
<v Speaker 1>the market, our existing slates sees market, and supporting the
<v Speaker 1>developer the developers that are associated with it. As such,
<v Speaker 1>we're going to be using a third party to help
<v Speaker 1>us manage the slate moving forward, as well as the
<v Speaker 1>back catalog. As a result, all roles within Humble Games
<v Speaker 1>are going to be impacted. Yeah, so, I mean this
<v Speaker 1>is essentially a closure because it's what what's happening is
<v Speaker 1>is the team that was working at Humble Games all gone,
<v Speaker 1>and sure the name's still there, but it's been moved
<v Speaker 1>to this new outside corporation. So it just feels kind
<v Speaker 1>of like a sneaky way to save money. And really,
<v Speaker 1>really it sounds like what happened here is zif didn't
<v Speaker 1>understand the business that they were getting into, right, they
<v Speaker 1>did not understand that publishing video games was going to
<v Speaker 1>be an expensive endeavor that would have of complications and delays,
<v Speaker 1>And it's like, oh boy, how did you not know that?
<v Speaker 1>That's like basic one oh one stuff? This kind of
<v Speaker 1>speaks to a lot of times these corporations don't know
<v Speaker 1>the world that they're entering, right.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I think a lot of this stuff. I mean, look,
<v Speaker 2>I think the sort of original spirit of what Humble
<v Speaker 2>Games was was was maybe not crystal clear. I think it's, yeah,
<v Speaker 2>you know, these acquisitions happen, and you know, it's just
<v Speaker 2>a lot of like, I don't know, sometimes it feels
<v Speaker 2>like it's a lot of this back of the napkin
<v Speaker 2>myth where it's like, hey, this plus this equals more
<v Speaker 2>dollar signs, and it's like, how are we going to integrate?
<v Speaker 2>How are we going to actually make this work? I
<v Speaker 2>don't know. As a consequence, obviously, people lose their jobs.
<v Speaker 2>So yeah, it I think I didn't realize how long
<v Speaker 2>ago they were acquired. I thought that was I thought
<v Speaker 2>that was what reason.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah when was it? When were they acquired? Yeah?
<v Speaker 2>Twenty seventeen?
<v Speaker 1>Yeah right, jesus Okay, yeah, Igen acquired in twenty seven.
<v Speaker 1>Team Humble Games was a publisher's funoff from Humble Bundle,
<v Speaker 1>a charity centric storefront that was acquired by IG in
<v Speaker 1>the twenty seventeen which has not been impacted by today's cuts,
<v Speaker 1>So if people are thinking about Humble Bundle versus Humble Games,
<v Speaker 1>Humble Bundle the thing you go to to spend five
<v Speaker 1>bucks to get thirty games and half that money goes
<v Speaker 1>to charity. You know, that's generally how it works. That's
<v Speaker 1>going to continue as it was and has been for
<v Speaker 1>a while. Humble Games a publisher that first did start
<v Speaker 1>as a part of Humble Bundle, that was working with
<v Speaker 1>developers to create games and release games. That is what's
<v Speaker 1>been affected here. Yeah, it's I think that you're right,
<v Speaker 1>like getting into the indie publishing space is, it's challenging.
<v Speaker 1>You need, like you said, it needs to be crystal
<v Speaker 1>clear what your sort of voice is, what you're trying
<v Speaker 1>to accomplish. Why people pay attention to a game that
<v Speaker 1>has Humble Games written on it, and that's hard to do.
<v Speaker 1>I think there are a couple publishers that have shown
<v Speaker 1>it's possible, obviously Devolver and a handful of others, but
<v Speaker 1>but you know, Humble Games is not one I was
<v Speaker 1>ever really thinking of actively. And then you know, they
<v Speaker 1>have a couple of delays and they're like, oh wow,
<v Speaker 1>this sucks. That's way more money than we were expecting
<v Speaker 1>to have to spend it. It's like, well, yeah, but
<v Speaker 1>that is also just so normal for this industry that
<v Speaker 1>how did you not anticipate that? And I think it's
<v Speaker 1>I think it's pretty simple that zif Davis just it's
<v Speaker 1>what you said again, like that this plus this equals
<v Speaker 1>more money. And the person in charge of mergers and acquisitions,
<v Speaker 1>their job is to make the merger happen. Their job
<v Speaker 1>is to find something where it's like, hey, if we
<v Speaker 1>put these two numbers together, it does get bigger. But
<v Speaker 1>that's another department's job to actually execute on that. And
<v Speaker 1>those visions sometimes and I think probably often can miss
<v Speaker 1>align and the like when the reality like actually like
<v Speaker 1>hits the pavement and you have to they have to
<v Speaker 1>figure out how to turn that this this acquisition into
<v Speaker 1>a profit generating thing. That's got to be complicated and uh,
<v Speaker 1>and then the person that put the merger together kind
<v Speaker 1>of washed their hands on it and goes to the
<v Speaker 1>next merger, right.
<v Speaker 2>Right, especially you know when it's some sort of like oh,
<v Speaker 2>we either have sold it off again and we either
<v Speaker 2>broke even or came out in the black a little bit,
<v Speaker 2>and like that's a win, Like you know, the the
<v Speaker 2>machinations of like acquisitions are so sort of like there's
<v Speaker 2>they're like petulant and not fully you know through it's
<v Speaker 2>just you know again, all that hangs in the balance
<v Speaker 2>are just people, you know, right, just there's just people.
<v Speaker 1>Just thirty sixty lives and their families.
<v Speaker 2>Houses and shit and apartments and friends and family and whatever.
<v Speaker 1>Yeap. You know, it's you know, and it's frustrated. I
<v Speaker 1>think people will see that Humble Game's name now and
<v Speaker 1>they'll kind of like understand what's happening there. But I
<v Speaker 1>think that this is what a lot of employees are saying,
<v Speaker 1>who have spoken on the record now about what's happening here,
<v Speaker 1>that this is just about saving face. They will ship
<v Speaker 1>these games that they're contractually obligated to ship, and then
<v Speaker 1>I think Humble Games goes away. I don't think they're
<v Speaker 1>gonna like, oh, we're outsourcing to this third party company
<v Speaker 1>for the long term. Like No, they'll they'll do what
<v Speaker 1>they need excuse do what they need to do, and
<v Speaker 1>then they'll pull the plug on it and that's it
<v Speaker 1>all right. Next story here, Stalker two has been delayed
<v Speaker 1>to November. This is from Jordan Midler at VGC. Stalker
<v Speaker 1>two has been delayed again. In a new video titled
<v Speaker 1>really Again, developer GSC game World announced that the game
<v Speaker 1>will now launch on November twentieth, instead of September fifth,
<v Speaker 1>as previously planned. We know you might be tired of waiting,
<v Speaker 1>and we truly appreciate your patients, it said. These two
<v Speaker 1>additional months will give us the chance to fix more
<v Speaker 1>unexpected anomalies or simply bugs as you call them. Stalker
<v Speaker 1>two is shaping up to be everything we envisioned with
<v Speaker 1>the launch nearly here, and we are incredibly excited to
<v Speaker 1>share more with you, it added. To give you a
<v Speaker 1>taste of what's coming, We're thrilled to announce the Stalker
<v Speaker 1>two developer deep dive video, which will be released on
<v Speaker 1>Xbox Media channels on August twelfth. Blah blah blah. But
<v Speaker 1>this is a one where I'm I'm curious. I'm always
<v Speaker 1>intended to play the original Stalker. I never got around
<v Speaker 1>to it. I'll try to find some time still to
<v Speaker 1>do that. Stalker two. I've been like ee'in, like is
<v Speaker 1>that actually gonna come out? And then it was at
<v Speaker 1>Summer Game Fest, you know, like you know Jeff keeey,
<v Speaker 1>I am a bits thing is is uh, you know,
<v Speaker 1>Microsoft does. They have a huge presence there. But the
<v Speaker 1>one thing they did have there was they set up
<v Speaker 1>a kiosk, you know, a little booth for Stalker too,
<v Speaker 1>and let the developer go there and that that was
<v Speaker 1>like an Xbox I don't know know if Xbox is publishing,
<v Speaker 1>but they're definitely deeply involved and it's on game Pass
<v Speaker 1>and stuff like that, and that was like the one
<v Speaker 1>thing they had there. It's like and I could see
<v Speaker 1>it playable. I didn't get to play it myself, but
<v Speaker 1>it's there and they're shown enough. It's a it's a
<v Speaker 1>real video game. It's not something that's like, oh man,
<v Speaker 1>like what is happening here? Is that thing actually going
<v Speaker 1>to exist and come out? So it's real. They're showing off.
<v Speaker 1>They feel ready, and I believe them when they say
<v Speaker 1>this is about squashing bugs, and yet it feels like
<v Speaker 1>such a big game for a team that has dealt
<v Speaker 1>with so much adversity. Obviously part of the you know,
<v Speaker 1>being in the Ukraine when the war started and having
<v Speaker 1>to move around and try to find people a way
<v Speaker 1>out or a way to work on this game while
<v Speaker 1>dealing with the realities of the world, and when that's happening.
<v Speaker 1>It feels like the game has got to like fall
<v Speaker 1>into the background. But no, they've been able to continue
<v Speaker 1>making it and it seems like it could actually come
<v Speaker 1>out this year still. But I don't know, how does
<v Speaker 1>the delay at this point make you feel about a
<v Speaker 1>game like this?
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I mean I feel like we've seen this kind
<v Speaker 2>of story before with a game like this that has
<v Speaker 2>this sort of tumultuous, you know, rounding third kind of situation.
<v Speaker 2>I mean, we're talking ten weeks. It's like a ten
<v Speaker 2>week delay, and I don't think you go out to
<v Speaker 2>market and say ten weeks, and you know, I don't.
<v Speaker 2>I think obviously delays happened, and everyone is, you know,
<v Speaker 2>we want that. We want a game to be the
<v Speaker 2>best it can be and come out when it's ready,
<v Speaker 2>and that's fine. And you know, I don't think there's
<v Speaker 2>any sort of like, you know, resistance there. I think
<v Speaker 2>it's telling though, like a ten week thing seems to
<v Speaker 2>me like that sounds right for what you're saying this
<v Speaker 2>is for, right, ten weeks is not a long time,
<v Speaker 2>so uh, you know, and like you said, this game,
<v Speaker 2>game is pretty much cooked, right, It's pretty much it
<v Speaker 2>looks like it's like banked and ready to come out
<v Speaker 2>of the oven. So I buy this. I think, you know,
<v Speaker 2>I think that first delay was sort of like, Okay,
<v Speaker 2>that's what we expect. A lot of games do this, right,
<v Speaker 2>We've seen this where like you get that first delay
<v Speaker 2>that's like six months, and then you get another like
<v Speaker 2>kicker at the end, which is like the delay encore,
<v Speaker 2>where it's like, all right, ten more weeks and then
<v Speaker 2>we're good. You don't, like, I will just say this,
<v Speaker 2>like I feel like this is now reached the back
<v Speaker 2>end of that runway where it's like, okay, now you
<v Speaker 2>kind of can't do it anymore, right, just with the
<v Speaker 2>just again you can. You can do whatever you want.
<v Speaker 2>Of course I want I want you to be happy
<v Speaker 2>with the thing you're putting out right, But I feel
<v Speaker 2>like the sort of pattern that this game has has
<v Speaker 2>uh has taken, you know, sort of says like okay,
<v Speaker 2>we're sort of out the end of the delays now,
<v Speaker 2>like when you do that last one, that's only ten
<v Speaker 2>weeks and it's not a long time. Okay, Now we
<v Speaker 2>all expect to be on the same page here.
<v Speaker 1>Especially when you're like it's ten weeks and you're talking
<v Speaker 1>about Okay, well, why is that happening? We're just squashing bugs.
<v Speaker 1>We're just squashing and okay, all right, that makes sense.
<v Speaker 1>Ten weeks feels like some time to be squashed. I
<v Speaker 1>don't know, a few hundred, a few thousand more bugs.
<v Speaker 1>I have no idea, but who knows, who knows, But
<v Speaker 1>what it says to me is like there is no
<v Speaker 1>reason for concern beyond that, and there should be no
<v Speaker 1>real reason for a massive delay of following this smaller one.
<v Speaker 1>And then if that does happen, I think that betrays
<v Speaker 1>a bigger problems that we didn't know about.
<v Speaker 2>But certainly this feels like the uh all, we were
<v Speaker 2>backing out your brand new car off the ship and
<v Speaker 2>we scratched it, and we just got to like buff
<v Speaker 2>out that thing that we scratched. It's still here, the
<v Speaker 2>car's fine, nothing is fucked here. Everything is cool. Well,
<v Speaker 2>uh yeah, that's that's what that feels like. And selfishly,
<v Speaker 2>you know, this game's got to come out this year
<v Speaker 2>for my fantasy of course, you know, like that's I
<v Speaker 2>think that's the the elephant in the room that no
<v Speaker 2>one's really talking about, right they should, so yeah, exactly,
<v Speaker 2>So thank you, thank you, to GSC.
<v Speaker 1>What's that? I can never remember the thing because I
<v Speaker 1>want to say, uh, I think you should leave. What's
<v Speaker 1>the thank you for being here? Thank you? Or thank
<v Speaker 1>goodness you're here?
<v Speaker 2>Goodness you're here.
<v Speaker 1>I'm so pick yeah, because like we're getting slack and
<v Speaker 1>Lucy's like, I think this might be getting my game
<v Speaker 1>of the year and I immediately run to a fantasy
<v Speaker 1>critic to try to get it. My team is full,
<v Speaker 1>so I couldn't get it in time.
<v Speaker 2>So oh yeah, well I hate to see that.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, so I said it, and I immediately saw like
<v Speaker 1>Jan and Dan's face go and like start typing to Okay, I.
<v Speaker 2>Put some ungodly bet on that game, so we'll see yep.
<v Speaker 1>Oh right, right, let's see here, let's go with yeah,
<v Speaker 1>let's actually you know what, let's take a quick break.
<v Speaker 1>When we get back, I will hit you up with
<v Speaker 1>more headlines right after this. Oh that's the wrong button,
<v Speaker 1>everybody fat black. We just cut that way. There we go.
<v Speaker 1>All right, we are back. We've got a few more headlines.
<v Speaker 1>First time doing a podcast. Everybody stand back and it'll
<v Speaker 1>be all right. Hunt Showdown eighteen ninety six announced for
<v Speaker 1>PS five Xbox series and PCs from Sal Ramano at Kamatsu.
<v Speaker 1>Crytech has announced Hunt Showdown eighteen ninety six, the next
<v Speaker 1>chapter of its player versus player versus environment extraction shooter
<v Speaker 1>for PlayStation five, Xbox series and PC. It will launch
<v Speaker 1>on August fifteenth. From this date, the original Hunt Showdown
<v Speaker 1>will also no longer be playable in PlayStation four and
<v Speaker 1>Xbox one. Hunt Showdown eighteen ninety six basically just a
<v Speaker 1>an updated version of the game, but it does have
<v Speaker 1>a new map and and there are they're making a
<v Speaker 1>lot of other improvements. I find this a little bit
<v Speaker 1>confusing because the Hunt is a very popular PVPVE game
<v Speaker 1>that has had its dedicated community for a very long time,
<v Speaker 1>and I know that it has a lot of players
<v Speaker 1>on PC. Is I'm trying to gauge is this version
<v Speaker 1>of the game, this new one Hunt show Down eighteen
<v Speaker 1>ninety six, a way of getting it to run better
<v Speaker 1>on console, to maybe improve the audience on console or
<v Speaker 1>something like that. It seems like that's what they're going for.
<v Speaker 1>But that idea of having a game on consoles that
<v Speaker 1>does work and replacing it and having that one be
<v Speaker 1>no longer playable and replacing it with something new Do
<v Speaker 1>you think that's something that that can work? Is that
<v Speaker 1>a good strategy?
<v Speaker 2>Well, what's a game that's done that before?
<v Speaker 1>I'm like, yeah, I'm trying. I'm honestly trying to think.
<v Speaker 1>I'm not sure. There probably is an example, but nothing
<v Speaker 1>comes to mind immediately. It's you know, may maybe Destiny
<v Speaker 1>Overwatch two is a good one. The Overwatch two was,
<v Speaker 1>here's Overwatch two. Overwatch one is no longer playable, but
<v Speaker 1>you know Overwatch two is still basically just Overwatch one.
<v Speaker 1>They're like, yeah, no, this is we are replacing that
<v Speaker 1>and this has is very similar, but it's a new map.
<v Speaker 1>So I guess what it's kind of similar to in
<v Speaker 1>a way is when like Fortnite replaces its maps and
<v Speaker 1>does big updates. But I know something about this still
<v Speaker 1>just feels odd, and I believe Hunt Showdown is a
<v Speaker 1>uh counter Strike two is another good example is but oh, sure,
<v Speaker 1>are people gonna have to buy this game again? Is
<v Speaker 1>because I'm like, like, That's where I'm at with this.
<v Speaker 1>It's like, is this gonna have to be?
<v Speaker 2>Uh?
<v Speaker 1>If you own the original Hunt, do you have to
<v Speaker 1>get this again? Or are these free to play games? I'm
<v Speaker 1>like double checking on this right now, but yeah, go ahead, No.
<v Speaker 2>I was gonna say, it is weird when games just
<v Speaker 2>sort of like overwrite themselves like that. Yeah, you know,
<v Speaker 2>like I.
<v Speaker 1>Get that that's possible, but it is weird.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's weird.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, And I tell you what I do like though,
<v Speaker 1>is a a subtitle that's just a year, like like
<v Speaker 1>eighteen ninety six. We're just gonna change the year. It's
<v Speaker 1>a whole different setting. Everybody, get ready, I'll stand back.
<v Speaker 1>We have a We've thought of everything. It's gonna feel
<v Speaker 1>very different. The Hunt Is kind of came out at
<v Speaker 1>that time that like pubg in Fortnite was getting big
<v Speaker 1>and like, you know where you're gonna go in these maps,
<v Speaker 1>you're gonna explore them. But it's claimed to fame was
<v Speaker 1>the PVBVE aspect of like, yeah, there are other players
<v Speaker 1>in the world, but there are NPCs enemy MPCs that
<v Speaker 1>you need to worry about as well enemy's monsters. And
<v Speaker 1>it's been sort of pretty big ever since. Yeah, like
<v Speaker 1>Warframe nineteen ninety nine and the Order eighteen eighty six.
<v Speaker 1>That Order eighteen eighty six was just that's the name
<v Speaker 1>of that game. It wasn't like a sequel or anything.
<v Speaker 1>But I guess that's right. Good move too. Yeah, I'm
<v Speaker 1>kind of curious about this. Mostly what I'm what I'm
<v Speaker 1>seeing here is I'm gonna check this out and kind
<v Speaker 1>of see what's going on with the hunt. But yeah,
<v Speaker 1>cry Engine still still out there. They're still making games,
<v Speaker 1>and cry Engine all of us. Apparently. Let's set this
<v Speaker 1>next one. EA cancel's unpopular Apex Legends battle pass after
<v Speaker 1>following an outcry from fans about the changes. This is
<v Speaker 1>from Tom Ivan at VEGC, who had a lot of
<v Speaker 1>stories today. Tom the Machine Ivan. Electronic Arts has revised
<v Speaker 1>its plans to shake up the Apex Legends battle pass experience,
<v Speaker 1>falling a backlash from fans. Starting with season twenty two,
<v Speaker 1>there will be two ten dollars battle passes per season
<v Speaker 1>rather than one, and EA was planning to remove the
<v Speaker 1>ability to purchase premium battle passes using the games of
<v Speaker 1>virtual currency apex Coins, but following an outcry from players,
<v Speaker 1>it's confirmed on Wednesday that this will no longer be
<v Speaker 1>the case when season twenty two launches on August sixth.
<v Speaker 1>You've spoken and we've listened, he said that famous line.
<v Speaker 1>With the release of season twenty two, we will restore
<v Speaker 1>the ability to get Premium Battle Pass for nine hundred
<v Speaker 1>and fifty apex coins. We recognize that we could have
<v Speaker 1>handled the battle Pass changes better. That's on us. You'll
<v Speaker 1>be able to earn Apex coins via the battle Pass
<v Speaker 1>to get future passes it added as well. While Apex
<v Speaker 1>Legends Battle Pass currently runs for the whole season and
<v Speaker 1>has one hundred and ten levels, going forward, each season
<v Speaker 1>will offer two battle passes, one for each split, with
<v Speaker 1>both including sixty levels. With the launch of season twenty two,
<v Speaker 1>the first Premium battle Pass will be unlockable by completing
<v Speaker 1>a series of simple in game challenges. Starting with the
<v Speaker 1>second split on September seventeenth, premium battle passes will be
<v Speaker 1>available for nine hundred and fifty apex coins. Basically, what
<v Speaker 1>happened here is they were trying to change things up
<v Speaker 1>so they could have these seasons of the battle Pass
<v Speaker 1>split them into to charge a little bit more money
<v Speaker 1>for them and make it more difficult to use game
<v Speaker 1>experience to get these things for either a reduced price
<v Speaker 1>or for free. And the reason they were doing that
<v Speaker 1>beckeler is obviously it's because Apex Legends, while it has
<v Speaker 1>a lot of players, still tons of players. It is
<v Speaker 1>not growing, it's not bringing in a lot of new players.
<v Speaker 1>So they're shifting, We're going to make more money from
<v Speaker 1>the audience that we have, and the way we're going
<v Speaker 1>to do that is However, they rolled this out, but
<v Speaker 1>the fans that they have hated it, and I think
<v Speaker 1>they were like they definitely were like kind of quiet
<v Speaker 1>about it, quiet about it for a few weeks over
<v Speaker 1>at Respawn, like trying to see if they could still
<v Speaker 1>get away with it, and it became pretty obvious they
<v Speaker 1>weren't going to be able to do that. And so
<v Speaker 1>now here they are reversing the changes. And you know,
<v Speaker 1>I think this is the big issue with these live
<v Speaker 1>service games back where the companies repeatedly have to see
<v Speaker 1>what they can get away with totally. That has happened
<v Speaker 1>a bunch of times with Apex Legends.
<v Speaker 2>Right, Yeah, it's just operation. Right, it's just that game operation.
<v Speaker 2>It's like, all right, I think I can pull out
<v Speaker 2>this fucking hard Nope, I can't. I can't do that.
<v Speaker 2>You got to put that back. Yeah, I mean it's
<v Speaker 2>just like this you know, trial and error kind of
<v Speaker 2>thing that is probably not a healthy way to kind
<v Speaker 2>of like have a business. Model operate, but that is
<v Speaker 2>the nature of live services. There's plenty. Look, when you're
<v Speaker 2>not growing, you're gonna this is what's gonna happen. So
<v Speaker 2>I just again, I just think the dynamic the relationship
<v Speaker 2>between player and developers is it's weird. It's weird that
<v Speaker 2>it is like this and you have to do this
<v Speaker 2>dance where it's this constant like would you be okay
<v Speaker 2>if we like look that away and made you pay
<v Speaker 2>for this, and how would that operate? Is that okay?
<v Speaker 2>And I don't know? That doesn't feel great?
<v Speaker 1>And it's the five dollars foot long thing right where
<v Speaker 1>it's like you have this way of people understanding your business.
<v Speaker 1>They so much that you made a song about it,
<v Speaker 1>and they get used to it, and then when it's like,
<v Speaker 1>oh the reality changes, well that song is still stuck,
<v Speaker 1>stuck in everyone's head five dollars foot long, and then
<v Speaker 1>they go and they see that the stub that they
<v Speaker 1>were paying five dollars for is now eleven ninety five
<v Speaker 1>and wait, what the fuck? I really feel the difference
<v Speaker 1>here because I am so used to one thing, and
<v Speaker 1>I think when people are so engaged with your game
<v Speaker 1>for years, and that's the audience. We're talking about them
<v Speaker 1>trying to exploit here. Uh, they are going to be
<v Speaker 1>extra sensitive to any changes that where they notice an
<v Speaker 1>increase or a big increase or even a small increase.
<v Speaker 1>And it is like kind of like leading from behind
<v Speaker 1>a little bit. And I think that the EA is
<v Speaker 1>always guilty of this. People are pointing out like Project
<v Speaker 1>ten Dollars in like the thing where it's like, oh,
<v Speaker 1>EA would put a online pass in their games and
<v Speaker 1>you'd have to like when you buy the game new,
<v Speaker 1>you'd have to redeem that, so when you sold the
<v Speaker 1>game there was no online code, you'd have to go online.
<v Speaker 1>And all right, I bought this game used or friend
<v Speaker 1>handed to me, and now if I want to play
<v Speaker 1>it online, I got to give EA another ten dollars.
<v Speaker 1>It's yeah, and people hated that too, It's and it's okay. Well,
<v Speaker 1>EA constantly trying to do things that people hate because
<v Speaker 1>they're trying to see them get away with it doesn't
<v Speaker 1>feel like a good long term strategy.
<v Speaker 2>No, And after a while you become this like repeat
<v Speaker 2>offender and you get associated with that kind of mirroring.
<v Speaker 2>And I just think, you know, I guess the other
<v Speaker 2>thing too, that I don't understand is like how do
<v Speaker 2>you not how are you not able to like read
<v Speaker 2>the room in a way that you're that you have
<v Speaker 2>like community outreach and you have people sort of like
<v Speaker 2>embedded in the kind of like community trenches and just
<v Speaker 2>be able to kind of like project what the reaction
<v Speaker 2>to something like this would be, Like how is that
<v Speaker 2>disconnect so invisible?
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, like you know, and I wonder if it's like, well,
<v Speaker 1>we know some people are going to be upset about this,
<v Speaker 1>but we need this to they need to understand we
<v Speaker 1>need to do this to make this game makes sense
<v Speaker 1>for us. And so oh that that never really works,
<v Speaker 1>does it? That? Trying to be like let's make the
<v Speaker 1>consumer understand our needs. You know, that's basic how to friend,
<v Speaker 1>win friends, and influence people. Right, you can't ever present
<v Speaker 1>something to someone without present couching it and here's what
<v Speaker 1>it does for you. And there's none of that here,
<v Speaker 1>none of the stuff. And they do they do a
<v Speaker 1>little bit of it of like hey, we'll break it
<v Speaker 1>up into two pieces because now we can focus more
<v Speaker 1>on each half of the battle pass. It's going to
<v Speaker 1>improve each half the battle pass. And what's happening is
<v Speaker 1>the people that play the game can see through that
<v Speaker 1>and understand that's not what's really happening. They're very savvy.
<v Speaker 1>That's the problem with trying to exploit your most engaged,
<v Speaker 1>most savvy users. It's a bad move.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, very short leash there.
<v Speaker 1>Yes, I Apex Legends. I've said it every time, but
<v Speaker 1>I'll continue to say it. Yeah, it has tons of users,
<v Speaker 1>but it is on like the back half of its life.
<v Speaker 1>They are no longer ramping up. They're sort of just slowly,
<v Speaker 1>slowly ramping down. That is why that like Titanfall Legends
<v Speaker 1>content got canceled, though it was going to be like
<v Speaker 1>the sequel content that they were going to put inside
<v Speaker 1>the Apex Legends browser or a launcher, I should say.
<v Speaker 1>But they'll continue doing seasons for a very long time.
<v Speaker 1>It's just if you were interested in getting Apex Legends
<v Speaker 1>into Apex Legends. Hearing stuff like this has got to
<v Speaker 1>be the kind of thing where it's like, I don't know,
<v Speaker 1>maybe maybe I don't need to check out that game.
<v Speaker 1>We'll go check out something else. Yeah. Uh, Concord has
<v Speaker 1>no battle pass. You own on Cord. Concord doesn't own you.
<v Speaker 1>This is from Evan Campbell at GameSpot with the beta
<v Speaker 1>over Firewalks Studios is revealing that what players can expect
<v Speaker 1>with the launch of Concord, along with what's coming after
<v Speaker 1>the game's release. Notably, one popular element seeing in many
<v Speaker 1>online shooters will be missing on purpose, a battle pass.
<v Speaker 1>Mark de Ritter, a gameplay excuse me gameplay animation director
<v Speaker 1>at Firewalks, shared this decision onto Twitter by adding, you
<v Speaker 1>own Concord, Concord doesn't own you. De Ritter, for his part,
<v Speaker 1>previously worked on one of the most popular games in
<v Speaker 1>the world with a battle pass as a developer at
<v Speaker 1>Ravens Software on Call of Duty war Zone per LinkedIn.
<v Speaker 1>While there is no battle pass, firewalk is promising new
<v Speaker 1>free gunners, maps, modes, and more after Concord launches on
<v Speaker 1>August twenty third. Of course, Concord also isn't a free
<v Speaker 1>to play game. It's forty dollars, so having like selling
<v Speaker 1>a battle pass as well as well could maybe look
<v Speaker 1>a little strange, But there's plenty of games that have
<v Speaker 1>a premium price that do have a battle pass. I mean,
<v Speaker 1>I think, like Called Duty is you know, there's a
<v Speaker 1>free to play side of Call of Duty, but I
<v Speaker 1>think doesn't Call of Duty like like the sixty dollars
<v Speaker 1>seventy dollars game also have a battle pass for it's
<v Speaker 1>online multiplayer.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, yeah, yeah, the all the multiplayer stuff absolutely.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.
<v Speaker 2>Right, So and then I think and I think now
<v Speaker 2>it like just sort of like bleeds into war zone somehow.
<v Speaker 1>Right, it's kind of across the board. It's a yeah,
<v Speaker 1>it applies to everything. Yeah. I am like at a
<v Speaker 1>point where it's like, wait, do I like having battle
<v Speaker 1>passes and games? Most of the time, I think it's
<v Speaker 1>if it's a game that I'm only half interested in,
<v Speaker 1>it's a distraction and I don't like it. But if
<v Speaker 1>I'm deeply into it that it does give me something
<v Speaker 1>to do. I don't know, how do you feel?
<v Speaker 2>Uh? Battle pass is just like fancy animations.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah right, it's like flashes on the screen. It's like
<v Speaker 1>slashing shit.
<v Speaker 2>It's slow machine shit.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.
<v Speaker 2>So I mean, you know, like and I watch my
<v Speaker 2>kid do it with Fortnite, and I'm just like, oh yeah,
<v Speaker 2>and I and I would do it sometimes with Call
<v Speaker 2>of Duty. So I get it. They've gamified this kind
<v Speaker 2>of like progression thing and there's transactional you know, value
<v Speaker 2>attached to it, and I don't know, I don't think
<v Speaker 2>I think it really works for I think when it's
<v Speaker 2>done in the way that like scratches that right part
<v Speaker 2>of your brain, I think it's a very very difficult
<v Speaker 2>thing to detach a user from me.
<v Speaker 1>I think it's skinner boxes, right, and then those are
<v Speaker 1>proven to be very.
<v Speaker 2>Addictive totally, So I just think I also But that said,
<v Speaker 2>I think it's like lightning in a bottle to like
<v Speaker 2>make it work and have longevity and have it be
<v Speaker 2>like this constantly, you know, rewarding thing that a player
<v Speaker 2>feels good about, wants to participate in and pay for it.
<v Speaker 2>So you know, it's it is this thing that like
<v Speaker 2>everyone seems to chase, but very few developers are able
<v Speaker 2>to like execute in a way that it's like a
<v Speaker 2>win win for you know, the player and the and
<v Speaker 2>the dev so.
<v Speaker 1>Right, and it's it's so touchy and the user specific.
<v Speaker 1>Like I think, like Halo Infinite launched, and one of
<v Speaker 1>the issues with that game that a lot of people
<v Speaker 1>had is disappointing battle pass content. Right, It's like, we
<v Speaker 1>want the battle pass, we want it to be better.
<v Speaker 1>So okay, well, how would you feel if they took
<v Speaker 1>it away completely and there was no battle Pass, and
<v Speaker 1>I don't know how that audience would feel. I don't
<v Speaker 1>know how they're going to feel here. I'll say that
<v Speaker 1>I think for Concord, this probably is the right move,
<v Speaker 1>at least in this moment where the game feels like
<v Speaker 1>it it's not going to be able to compete with
<v Speaker 1>a lot of the other free to play shooters, and
<v Speaker 1>it's not free to play, so it's forty dollars. Maybe
<v Speaker 1>you position this game as spend forty dollars, have a
<v Speaker 1>few a fun couple of months playing this game, maybe,
<v Speaker 1>and then move on, Like what's the harm in that?
<v Speaker 1>We got our money, you got your fun time. It
<v Speaker 1>was a transaction, and everyone walks everyone walks away happy.
<v Speaker 1>We're not trying to be your next hobby. We're not
<v Speaker 1>trying to swallow up your time and keep you engaged
<v Speaker 1>so we can keep you on the treadmill of giving
<v Speaker 1>us more money on the line. I think if they
<v Speaker 1>can harp on that a little bit, it benefits them
<v Speaker 1>a little bit. But it is what maybe a couple
<v Speaker 1>percentage points difference in improving the outlook of this game.
<v Speaker 1>I don't think it suddenly changes how this game is
<v Speaker 1>going to perform in the market Concord of course right now,
<v Speaker 1>the biggest news for that game is didn't have a
<v Speaker 1>lot of excitement coming out of its open beta, and
<v Speaker 1>very few players were playing it on Steam when it
<v Speaker 1>was in an open beta, like it capped out of
<v Speaker 1>a couple thousand players. Concurrently, meanwhile, Marvel Rivals not fully
<v Speaker 1>out yet. I think it's in beta and you have
<v Speaker 1>to like watch people on Twitch to get a code.
<v Speaker 1>Has thousands, thousands, like tens of thousands of players playing
<v Speaker 1>that game. So it's a strange time for Concord. Have
<v Speaker 1>you played any of it? Did you touch any of
<v Speaker 1>the betas? Did you get have any interest in doing that?
<v Speaker 1>Because I'm like I only did it out of obligation.
<v Speaker 1>How about you?
<v Speaker 2>No, I don't think these games really speak to me.
<v Speaker 2>I don't you know. Maybe that's just like a personal
<v Speaker 2>sort of taste thing that you know, kind of I
<v Speaker 2>gloss over with there's you know, that kind of thing
<v Speaker 2>is just not what I'm interested in. I only have
<v Speaker 2>very the pie chart of my of my gaming like
<v Speaker 2>sort of like appetite right now, this type that type
<v Speaker 2>of game that is completely occupied by what I play
<v Speaker 2>with with dealing with Fortnite right that's all that. That's
<v Speaker 2>all I have room for there, and you know, my
<v Speaker 2>live service stuff, all that energy is getting invested into that,
<v Speaker 2>and you know, outside of that, I want to play
<v Speaker 2>the indie stuff, and I want to play you know,
<v Speaker 2>single player stuff.
<v Speaker 1>Yep. And I think Concord has an uphill battle with
<v Speaker 1>with everyone for various reasons. But I think a lot
<v Speaker 1>of people will kind of feel very similar, like I'm
<v Speaker 1>happy playing either Fortnite or whatever other free to play
<v Speaker 1>shooter on plane and Concord trying to sort of shoulder it.
<v Speaker 1>You bump its way into that space. It's gonna be
<v Speaker 1>like it's just gonna hit a brick wall. And it
<v Speaker 1>feels like it already has.
<v Speaker 2>And let me just tell you something like Fortnite is
<v Speaker 2>really good. Yeah, I'm gonna say that out like it
<v Speaker 2>is excellent.
<v Speaker 1>Oh yeah, you know. I mean Spider Man web slinging
<v Speaker 1>stuff got in there, and I'm like, this fucking rules.
<v Speaker 1>This is so cool.
<v Speaker 2>I just don't. I just feel like it still has
<v Speaker 2>this sort of like stigma in some circles.
<v Speaker 1>Well, they put the cyber trunk in there, all right,
<v Speaker 1>so oh.
<v Speaker 2>No, I thought they put it in Rocket League.
<v Speaker 1>I think they put it in both.
<v Speaker 2>Oh that's fucked up. I'd like to walk back something
<v Speaker 2>I just said.
<v Speaker 1>Number one cyber truck fan Jeff Becklar here to defend
<v Speaker 1>his buddy Eli.
<v Speaker 2>Oh man, Can I just tell you, like we saw
<v Speaker 2>one for the first time a couple of weeks ago,
<v Speaker 2>and there, you know, if you don't know, there is
<v Speaker 2>this sort of like under thirteen mentality of like the
<v Speaker 2>cyber truck is the coolest thing in the world. Yeah,
<v Speaker 2>just because kids are fucking stupid and they don't know
<v Speaker 2>what they're talking about. Then my kid saw it in
<v Speaker 2>person and laughed out loud, lolled the window down and
<v Speaker 2>point did at that person and did the l thing
<v Speaker 2>on his forehead. No way, swear to God, Oh God, carefully,
<v Speaker 2>you're gonna you're gonna get shot.
<v Speaker 1>Road rage.
<v Speaker 2>I get with what a plasma rifle like you know,
<v Speaker 2>like okay, right, like motherfucker. It is the It is
<v Speaker 2>the most unrendered car in history. It is so dumb looking.
<v Speaker 1>It's really dumb looking. It's it's too long, it's like
<v Speaker 1>and I think, listen, there's a lot of problems with it.
<v Speaker 1>But when I saw it in person and I saw
<v Speaker 1>it make its turn, it just looks stiff and odd
<v Speaker 1>and uncomfortable. It looks like a car that is uncomfortable
<v Speaker 1>in its own body.
<v Speaker 2>Look and like obviously you know there's there's baggage with
<v Speaker 2>that thing, right Elon Musk is a total fuck face
<v Speaker 2>and you know, like you see that car. The best
<v Speaker 2>way I could describe it is like, uh, you know
<v Speaker 2>when like hoofrainged Roger Rabbit, like the cartoons in the
<v Speaker 2>real world, Like you're just like, oh, that looks weird.
<v Speaker 1>That's the feeling. That's what it's like.
<v Speaker 2>You're like a lot.
<v Speaker 1>In the world.
<v Speaker 2>It's like, yeah, it's like is there some weird dimensional
<v Speaker 2>rift that that thing came out of because it's in
<v Speaker 2>our world and looks out of place? And uh yeah, anyway,
<v Speaker 2>that's That's all Elon.
<v Speaker 1>Does is make money, except for the seven consecutive quarters
<v Speaker 1>in a row where Tesla has lost money. Other than that,
<v Speaker 1>that's all. Yeah.
<v Speaker 2>That makes brilliant buying decisions, not motivated by just petulance
<v Speaker 2>or anything like that, and just sit. He's awesome and
<v Speaker 2>X is now the best thing ever. I love having
<v Speaker 2>to everything website. Remember, like I will tell my grandkids
<v Speaker 2>about when Twitter was like, yeah, you could just like
<v Speaker 2>trust people on there, right, there was.
<v Speaker 1>A there was a two year period where it's like, yeah,
<v Speaker 1>they're doing a good job of like getting rid of
<v Speaker 1>misinformation and Nazis. That's nice. And now you can't even
<v Speaker 1>imagine that world.
<v Speaker 2>And now any prick who has four ninety nine can
<v Speaker 2>just be an authoritative My god, the dumbest. We are
<v Speaker 2>the dumbest motherfuckers in history.
<v Speaker 1>Yep and uh and and it reflects us very well
<v Speaker 1>there over there on x A right, last couple of
<v Speaker 1>stories here. Lego Super Mario World and Yoshi's Set have
<v Speaker 1>debuted at Comic Con. This is from Jordan Miller and VGC.
<v Speaker 1>A new Lego Super Mario set, this time depicting Mario
<v Speaker 1>and Yoshi from Super Mario World, has been shown off
<v Speaker 1>at San Diego Comic Con. The set, imagine images of
<v Speaker 1>which are circulated on Twitter before an official reveal later today,
<v Speaker 1>was discovered as part of Lego's Boat booth at San
<v Speaker 1>Diego Comic Con, which takes place this weekend. I think
<v Speaker 1>I have an image of this somewhere. How are you
<v Speaker 1>on Lego these days? Because I'm like, I keep wanting
<v Speaker 1>to buy them, and then I don't have any time
<v Speaker 1>to build them, or I do not take the time
<v Speaker 1>to build them. I suppose it's how I would put it.
<v Speaker 1>But boy, this looks really cool.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, DIVI and I are like all in, we've we've
<v Speaker 2>done some serious ship. We did that huge DeLorean that
<v Speaker 2>he then fucking dropped, and now we got to do
<v Speaker 2>a lot of.
<v Speaker 1>Kid, It's like, how do you do?
<v Speaker 2>I will get to that. Maybe that's like a dump
<v Speaker 2>truck conversation. But yeah, So here's so. I love Lego.
<v Speaker 2>I think it's brilliant. I I really do, aside from
<v Speaker 2>like the questionable plastic over usage, but I think the
<v Speaker 2>Mario stuff for me, it just hasn't landed. Like I
<v Speaker 2>sure are you seeing are the images of this?
<v Speaker 1>I think this looks pretty good.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I think display stuff is great. Yeah, right, like
<v Speaker 2>that's what I want. Like, I don't think anyone's ever
<v Speaker 2>cracked the nut of like functional Lego stuff, you know.
<v Speaker 1>Right, Yeah, the Mario sort of play sets.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, like when Mary had.
<v Speaker 1>Really like that stuff, but they'd like they play with
<v Speaker 1>it in a way that is not intended by Lego.
<v Speaker 1>So they're like finding their own fun in a way
<v Speaker 1>you do with any toy.
<v Speaker 2>And that's great, right, that's the spirit of Lego, right,
<v Speaker 2>just to just to be imaginative and creative and like
<v Speaker 2>live in the buildable world. I think what they aimed
<v Speaker 2>for with the sort of like, oh, you can make
<v Speaker 2>Mario bounce on a thing, and like, to me, that
<v Speaker 2>lands real short, especially watching young kids play with it
<v Speaker 2>and then be almost instantaneously bored and disappointed with it.
<v Speaker 2>This this so this is a display thing that we're.
<v Speaker 1>Looking at here with you. Yeah, and it looks like
<v Speaker 1>it's got a crank here, so you can make like
<v Speaker 1>Yoshi's feet go back and forth, and that's it.
<v Speaker 2>Awesome. Is an engineering marvel, Yes, like a brilliant demonstration
<v Speaker 2>of like the true ability of that thing right there,
<v Speaker 2>you go make that face.
<v Speaker 1>Crank the Yoshi, Mario and your ans, everybody, let's go.
<v Speaker 2>But this is great. I'm going to be all over
<v Speaker 2>this for sure.
<v Speaker 1>This is great.
<v Speaker 2>I think the functional stuff doesn't work for me. This
<v Speaker 2>stuff display stuff, it's great.
<v Speaker 1>Of course, with any light side choice, you have to
<v Speaker 1>have a dark side, and that has led us to
<v Speaker 1>Shadow the Hedgehog Bust, which really just looks like shadow
<v Speaker 1>the hedgehog's head on a spike.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it looks like sweet tooth like. It's like it's
<v Speaker 2>like the it's like the the car ornament, right, the
<v Speaker 2>van ornament, sweet tooth like, yeah, it just looks weird.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, in the chet's point, he looks like he's in pain, right,
<v Speaker 1>just looks miserable, and I don't know, it's very funny.
<v Speaker 2>Lego don't do circles.
<v Speaker 1>Well, no, yeah, that's a good point. That guy's that's
<v Speaker 1>just a circle with some spikes on it. That's okay,
<v Speaker 1>all right, listen, Sonic fans, I guess you get something
<v Speaker 1>too good. Good luck with that some loose right, yeah,
<v Speaker 1>Shadow the Hedgehog. There he is, he's gonna be it's
<v Speaker 1>it's the ears Shadow the Hedgehog. I'm hearing, so Hi,
<v Speaker 1>time to get down with that, I suppose.
<v Speaker 2>All right, it is weird that like some of his
<v Speaker 2>fur is like the underside of Lego that's exposed, like
<v Speaker 2>that's peaking behind the curtain in a weird way, right,
<v Speaker 2>like weird. Yeah, aren't you not supposed to see that?
<v Speaker 2>Isn't that always like oh, that's the underside of it, right,
<v Speaker 2>You're supposed.
<v Speaker 1>To like complete it by like something should be on there.
<v Speaker 1>But it's like no, they're saying like that. It's the
<v Speaker 1>furry texture I suppose. Yeah, it's weird, like the under
<v Speaker 1>underside of it. Yeah, it's all yeah, it's it looks
<v Speaker 1>like one where they're like, uh, Sega shows up, Hey
<v Speaker 1>can we get some too, and they're like, yeah, we'll
<v Speaker 1>put We'll put a CE team on that. Just drop
<v Speaker 1>a box.
<v Speaker 2>Brown, red and black people.
<v Speaker 1>Here's some left.
<v Speaker 2>Figure out your your shadow character. We'll sell it for that's.
<v Speaker 1>Not real, is it? And then has to be embarrassed.
<v Speaker 1>It's okay, last story here you can also it's uh,
<v Speaker 1>it's incredible. I want to see one of these in
<v Speaker 1>real life. If anyone actually ends upetting a shadow at
<v Speaker 1>the Hedgehog, let me know, you could basically play a
<v Speaker 1>new Fallout game right now. This is from Luise Joshua
<v Speaker 1>Gutierrez at game Spot Team Folan, the indie studio working
<v Speaker 1>on the highly anticipated Fallout London mod, has announced that
<v Speaker 1>players will finally be able to explore a post apocalyptic
<v Speaker 1>London starting today, July twenty fifth. The drop may seem
<v Speaker 1>a bit sudden, team full, and has been teasing it
<v Speaker 1>since last week. The studio announced via Kotaku and its
<v Speaker 1>discord that gog gave the gave them out the green
<v Speaker 1>light and was in its final stages. Then, on July
<v Speaker 1>twenty fourth, Team full In project manager Dean Carter released
<v Speaker 1>another statement to its discord that read stay safe and
<v Speaker 1>remember mind the gap. The message was accompanied by a
<v Speaker 1>link to a song called I Just Can't Wait for
<v Speaker 1>Tomorrow that is featured in Fallout London for people kind
<v Speaker 1>of like wait, what is this now? A team of
<v Speaker 1>botters have made a whole new game inside of Fallout
<v Speaker 1>four called fall Out London. Hey there, we are sorry.
<v Speaker 1>I know what happened. It's been happening a little bit
<v Speaker 1>over the last couple of weeks. I've been kicking the
<v Speaker 1>USB chord for my Gods theater. Yes, I was right, yep,
<v Speaker 1>I kick it a little bit and kick it. I
<v Speaker 1>was bringing back and I had my foot over there
<v Speaker 1>in the wires. I needed not do that. You touch
<v Speaker 1>that thing? And then windows it's like.
<v Speaker 2>Ah, what are you doing?
<v Speaker 1>When?
<v Speaker 2>Is like so guarden, but this is like, oh god,
<v Speaker 2>I got to reorder all of you guys. Now, Okay,
<v Speaker 2>So you're you're the microphone. You're no, no, you're the camera,
<v Speaker 2>You're the Micropyeah where am I?
<v Speaker 1>Oh god, it's like, uh yeah, Like that's that TikTok
<v Speaker 1>to the PlayStation five turning back on after you unplugged it,
<v Speaker 1>Like what did you do? Like that sort of situation.
<v Speaker 2>It's the kitchen in the Bear season one exactly what
<v Speaker 2>it is.
<v Speaker 1>Oh yeah, it's just in there screaming at each other.
<v Speaker 1>They're very toxic in the side by computer right now. Uh. Anyway,
<v Speaker 1>fall Out London, it's it's happening full basically full conversion
<v Speaker 1>sequel mod. I'm gonna check this out.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so I don't know much about it. It's built
<v Speaker 2>on which Fallout it's Fallout four.
<v Speaker 1>I believe, Yes, it's okay, and it's it's set fifty
<v Speaker 1>years before the events of Fallout four. The mod has
<v Speaker 1>placed the suit significant emphasis on realism in melee combat,
<v Speaker 1>and features voice acting from Neil Newbaum Neil Newborn, who
<v Speaker 1>was what's the name in balder Skate three, Colin Baker
<v Speaker 1>from Doctor Who, Syvester McCoy from Doctor Who. It's really
<v Speaker 1>impressive stuff. They've done a lot of work on this
<v Speaker 1>and and like I said, they were going to release
<v Speaker 1>it earlier this year than that fall Out floor update happened,
<v Speaker 1>so they delayed it right on Yeah, it's this is
<v Speaker 1>the kind of thing you get from the modding scene
<v Speaker 1>where they really can just go all out sometimes and
<v Speaker 1>I'm glad it's I'm glad they are able to do that.
<v Speaker 1>It's also super very good for the video game industry
<v Speaker 1>because it's going around this morning on like development Twitter
<v Speaker 1>of a lot of people saying, if you want to
<v Speaker 1>learn how to make games, don't go to YouTube datorials
<v Speaker 1>for Unity or some bullshit like that, learn how to
<v Speaker 1>mod because that's much much closer to what it's like
<v Speaker 1>to make a triple A game. Yeah, because you're gonna
<v Speaker 1>be working with tools that are are already existing. You're
<v Speaker 1>gonna be working on a small corner of a game
<v Speaker 1>instead of like building a game from from the ground up,
<v Speaker 1>which is much more likely gonna be what your job
<v Speaker 1>is going to like. So that's your if that's what
<v Speaker 1>you're interested in. And also it helps because you're that's
<v Speaker 1>the sort of way that people learn so many things,
<v Speaker 1>you know, writing fan fiction before you write your own stuff, sure,
<v Speaker 1>and kind of having a lot of stuff there for
<v Speaker 1>you and then you can look and see how people
<v Speaker 1>did it, and then that can inform how you do
<v Speaker 1>it going forward. So Yeah, very cool and a very
<v Speaker 1>neat thing, and I'm gonna check it out. Yeah, fall
<v Speaker 1>Out London available right now?
<v Speaker 2>Cool?
<v Speaker 1>I guess you can. Since they mentioned Gog, it must
<v Speaker 1>be available on GOG, I guess that's where you can
<v Speaker 1>download it. You obviously will need Fallout for it to
<v Speaker 1>be able to play it. All right, that does it
<v Speaker 1>for the news headlines. I have a poll question though,
<v Speaker 1>that will bring up. First. I'll just bring up the
<v Speaker 1>Shadow of the Hedgehog again, because why the hell not?
<v Speaker 2>Uh?
<v Speaker 1>Oh boy, yeah, there he is. Let's hit refresh here
<v Speaker 1>and see. Okay, would you play another Mario plus Rabbids?
<v Speaker 1>I would? I'm gonna say yes, and forty five percent
<v Speaker 1>also said yes. Fifty five percent said no. And we
<v Speaker 1>did that because the lead has left that studio, probably
<v Speaker 1>not going to get another Mario pus Rabbits, but I
<v Speaker 1>would play one.
<v Speaker 2>Uh.
<v Speaker 1>And then we also asked, will you watch Michael Bay's
<v Speaker 1>Skibbity toilet Beckler? Did you hear about this?
<v Speaker 2>No? What?
<v Speaker 1>Michael Bay is producing or directing a skibbity toilet movie
<v Speaker 1>and they're also pitching a television show they're trying they're
<v Speaker 1>trying to Yeah, it's here. It's upon us. The skip
<v Speaker 1>the gin Alpha have announced their arrival, and they want
<v Speaker 1>us to know that the thing that they care about
<v Speaker 1>the most, what's important to them on the gin Alpha scale,
<v Speaker 1>is skibbity toilet. So I just think like fourteen percent
<v Speaker 1>said yes, thirty three percent said no, and fifty three
<v Speaker 1>percent said what are you talking about?
<v Speaker 2>All right, So like I just like so tell them
<v Speaker 2>very I'm just I'm very in touch with like the
<v Speaker 2>sort of population that is staying this and into what
<v Speaker 2>this is. And I know what it is to just
<v Speaker 2>feature of being very online, right.
<v Speaker 1>Yes, oh yeah, yeah, totally.
<v Speaker 2>Ten nine, ten nine, he's nine nine, he's nine.
<v Speaker 1>Okay, so that's like third fourth grade.
<v Speaker 2>Uh yeah, he's going into fourth I think like like
<v Speaker 2>as far as I'm aware, like that boat has also sailed,
<v Speaker 2>like it's not yeah, thing interesting, Like I don't understand
<v Speaker 2>like these are you know, it's like giving like the
<v Speaker 2>hok two girl okay and that one.
<v Speaker 1>That one's crazy whatever. I'm just saying she's getting paid.
<v Speaker 1>She deserves it, because who cares if anyone deserves anything?
<v Speaker 2>But that's fine.
<v Speaker 1>Point.
<v Speaker 2>My point is not the quality of the thing. My
<v Speaker 2>point is the is the brevity of it, all right,
<v Speaker 2>and like how fleeting everything is, and like, I don't
<v Speaker 2>think Skibbity has legs. I think it's a fun sort
<v Speaker 2>of like joke that was that was around for six months,
<v Speaker 2>but like, I don't know, people are just not doing
<v Speaker 2>that shit anymore.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, they did include it in the Variety story where
<v Speaker 1>they announced this. There was this chart they included to
<v Speaker 1>sort of as a point of comparison to other big
<v Speaker 1>media brands, and it was like, here's like how many
<v Speaker 1>views on YouTube, DC, Jurassic World, Marvel, Star Wars, The
<v Speaker 1>Fast Saga, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, NBA and
<v Speaker 1>NFL all get, and then here's what the channel that
<v Speaker 1>has the skivty toilet videos does. And it was it
<v Speaker 1>like shot up to the point where it's like it
<v Speaker 1>was orders of magnitude, hundreds of times bigger than any
<v Speaker 1>of those other ones, and now it's definitely crashed back down,
<v Speaker 1>but it's still like five, six, seven times more popular
<v Speaker 1>than any of those things in terms of raw views
<v Speaker 1>on YouTube. So they're probably like, Okay, clearly it has
<v Speaker 1>died down to the point where it's no longer this fervor,
<v Speaker 1>but there is now a dedicated audience and maybe we
<v Speaker 1>can get in there. Now, I think you're still mostly
<v Speaker 1>right back Lard that this is a flash in the
<v Speaker 1>pan and there isn't a lot there. It's it's just
<v Speaker 1>a meme. It's it.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, it's a me man. Look like I understand the calculus, right, Like,
<v Speaker 2>if if there is a is a projection of like, hey,
<v Speaker 2>we could just do a smash and grab on this
<v Speaker 2>thing and it's gonna you know, like, then yeah, I
<v Speaker 2>guess you're gonna get like a two week movie, you know, production.
<v Speaker 2>I don't know, like how do you justify it? Uh?
<v Speaker 2>Don't forget everyone you know who's like a skippity person.
<v Speaker 2>They're they're under like fifteen, and they I'm a skippity person,
<v Speaker 2>you know, I'm avity personal income. They don't have buying power.
<v Speaker 1>That's right, That's right.
<v Speaker 2>I Like, I don't like, yeah, don't forget that. I mean,
<v Speaker 2>I think all the new Jurassic Park stuff sucks also,
<v Speaker 2>but like you know, there's there's boomers who are gonna
<v Speaker 2>pay money to see that shit.
<v Speaker 1>You're right, But like let's step back and say in fairness,
<v Speaker 1>like the most popular thing in media right now is
<v Speaker 1>to take stuff from the eighties and nineties and remake
<v Speaker 1>it for old ass people with money like us. So
<v Speaker 1>letting the kids have one thing right now that is
<v Speaker 1>new from their culture. It's bizarre, but whatever, have your thing. Yes,
<v Speaker 1>we're not going to stand in the way. Totally not
<v Speaker 1>interested in standing in the way.
<v Speaker 2>I would love to just you know, I'd love to
<v Speaker 2>rubber neck this whole thing and just sort of like, yes, same,
<v Speaker 2>watch it go by on the Parkway and just be like,
<v Speaker 2>what the fuck happened over there? Jesus, you know, like
<v Speaker 2>that kind of thing. So go for it, Michael Bay.
<v Speaker 2>You seem perfect for this opportunity.
<v Speaker 1>All right. The five days Ago the de fuck Boom channel,
<v Speaker 1>which is where you get your skimpy toilet content from
<v Speaker 1>uploaded skimmedy toilet seventy six parentheses, full episode, eight minutes
<v Speaker 1>in eleven seconds, and it has fourteen million views. So
<v Speaker 1>it's like that is right, that is normal, very popular
<v Speaker 1>YouTube channel stuff like how many views was that Fred
<v Speaker 1>kid getting before he got a movie? Or the Angry
<v Speaker 1>Orange movie? Right, like yeah, who knows, right, So like
<v Speaker 1>the very least I think this is the ship that
<v Speaker 1>they make in Gary's mod with this or however, they're
<v Speaker 1>making these things.
<v Speaker 2>It's funny. It's definitely funny.
<v Speaker 1>It's crazy, Yeah, Itzy, it's funny, and it's like these
<v Speaker 1>giant epic mech battles with massive toilets. It's weird and interesting.
<v Speaker 1>I just wonder how they turn it into a movie.
<v Speaker 1>But Michael Bay seems like the right guy to do it.
<v Speaker 2>Absolutely.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, all right, that is the poll questions from yesterday.
<v Speaker 1>We have another poll question. But before we do that, Beckler,
<v Speaker 1>what do we have going on right now that we
<v Speaker 1>can tell people out where they can find us on
<v Speaker 1>the internet, maybe where they can find some of us
<v Speaker 1>in person, like San Diego Comic Con. What do we
<v Speaker 1>have going on?
<v Speaker 2>Yes, we're hosting a panel in San Diego Comic Con
<v Speaker 2>with two more Lucy Jan's gonna be there. A couple
<v Speaker 2>of friends from other fandom properties are going to be
<v Speaker 2>discussing like the best video game adapt video games that
<v Speaker 2>should get some sort of like yeah, it's the next.
<v Speaker 1>Video game that should get adapted into a show like
<v Speaker 1>Fallout basically is what they're doing.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, So if you're out there at s the CC,
<v Speaker 2>go check that.
<v Speaker 1>Support, support our team, get out there and show that
<v Speaker 1>show the team some love.
<v Speaker 2>We've got other stuff popping off. We'll be doing some
<v Speaker 2>dumb Truck later today. And what do we have planned
<v Speaker 2>for Friday?
<v Speaker 1>Oh yeah, we also might do some Marvel Rivals today.
<v Speaker 1>I'm like just kind of like talks with Sean to
<v Speaker 1>figure that out. I asked for more codes. If we
<v Speaker 1>can get some, I have one. Maybe we'll play some
<v Speaker 1>Marvel Rivals today. But tomorrow the plan is to do
<v Speaker 1>anime party party. It's is it Demon Slayer? Everybody? Demon
<v Speaker 1>Slayer Party? Yeah, yeah, that's what it is. So there's
<v Speaker 1>a Mario party basically that is based on an anime
<v Speaker 1>called Demon Slayer, which I'm sure a lot of people
<v Speaker 1>are like, this guy sounds a million years old, Because
<v Speaker 1>I am. We're gonna play that. So Dan Scott his code,
<v Speaker 1>that's gonna happen. You're playing to Bakalar.
<v Speaker 2>Yes, I'm excited to job jump into that.
<v Speaker 1>Also.
<v Speaker 2>I know we've been teasing it for like what feels
<v Speaker 2>like months now, but we all are on the precipice
<v Speaker 2>of releasing a huge merch drop.
<v Speaker 1>Yes, we got a lot of work's gone into this
<v Speaker 1>and it's been a lot of fun, but yes, it
<v Speaker 1>should be happening very soon.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, huge merch rop. We're also going to be doing
<v Speaker 2>like a summer bundle thing as summer is.
<v Speaker 1>Uh, Summer's going to go well into September and beyond
<v Speaker 1>well it does.
<v Speaker 2>There's two months officially left of summer, right, so like
<v Speaker 2>we're we're not even halfway through it, and that's gonna
<v Speaker 2>be really really cool stuff we've never ever sold before.
<v Speaker 2>I don't want to like drop the hints just yet,
<v Speaker 2>but it's really cool stuff and all that. I think
<v Speaker 2>we're gonna have stuff that's like available individually, and then
<v Speaker 2>if you want to bundle I think it's like four
<v Speaker 2>or five summer themed products together. There's like a discount
<v Speaker 2>price for that as well. So that will be coming
<v Speaker 2>literally any day. I'm actually gonna when we hang up here,
<v Speaker 2>I'm gonna check in on the status of that.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, yes, And I got to check in on the
<v Speaker 1>status of the image I was supposed to create. So
<v Speaker 1>we'll get all that stuff handled and up and ad
<v Speaker 1>them for you all. I definitely check that out though.
<v Speaker 1>When we have the details though, we'll drop it in
<v Speaker 1>all the places Discord social channels, we'll talk about it
<v Speaker 1>on our shows, things like that. All right, any other
<v Speaker 1>housekeeping that we should take care of. Yeah, it's just
<v Speaker 1>gonna be most of the normal stuff in those shows
<v Speaker 1>that we mentioned. Definitely check out all of that. All right,
<v Speaker 1>new poll question I have right over here, how do
<v Speaker 1>you feel about battle passes? Love? Like, dislike or hate?
<v Speaker 1>Those are four options. We'll get that up on the
<v Speaker 1>YouTube the community channel there. If you go to YouTube
<v Speaker 1>dot com slash at giant Bomb, click the community tab,
<v Speaker 1>you could vote in this poll. If you also go
<v Speaker 1>to the live tab, you can find most of our
<v Speaker 1>stuff there. Of course, if you just go to YouTube
<v Speaker 1>dot com slash at Giant Bomb, Turboshan's done a good
<v Speaker 1>job of reorganizing everything and presenting our new stuff right
<v Speaker 1>there up front, as well as like stuff like middlegear
<v Speaker 1>Scanlon that's been recently uploaded there. You can find all
<v Speaker 1>that stuff right there the top. So uh, pretty good work.
<v Speaker 1>You can find all our stuff. It'll be good. And
<v Speaker 1>then of course, more of us giant bomb dot com,
<v Speaker 1>more of us on twitch dot tv slash giant Bomb,
<v Speaker 1>and then.
<v Speaker 2>We'll do one we'll do one more secret, one more secret. Hint.
<v Speaker 2>We're figuring out packs West.
<v Speaker 1>It's close. It's good.
<v Speaker 2>It's probably gonna happen.
<v Speaker 1>Yep, Okay, I'm excited. I got to tell you one.
<v Speaker 2>Actually, yes, tell everyone.
<v Speaker 1>I got some idea's about a panel for that, so
<v Speaker 1>I'm excited. All alright, bet Jeff Backlark, thank you so
<v Speaker 1>much for spinning today talking with me about video games. Man,
<v Speaker 1>I really appreciate it.
<v Speaker 2>Thank you for having me. This has been the highlight
<v Speaker 2>of my week so far.
<v Speaker 1>Well, the highlight's got to be that five second time
<v Speaker 1>in the mini, the New York Times Mini.
<v Speaker 2>Come on, okay, yes, my very authentic and legitimate score.
<v Speaker 2>That's right, five seconds on the.
<v Speaker 1>Sunday on the Sunday one. Yeah. Thanks for listening, everybody
<v Speaker 1>in the best audience. Until the next time, have a
<v Speaker 1>good one. To take care of yourself and happy birthday, Marty.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.