Industry-Wide Union Launched by Game Developers

<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Game Breaking News with Me Jeff Grub, your
<v Speaker 1>host from Giant Bob dot com. Thank you for tuning
<v Speaker 1>in on this episode. We're going to be talking about
<v Speaker 1>a massive decline in gaming hardware sales and developers are
<v Speaker 1>uniting around the industry. We have Janet Show on the program,
<v Speaker 1>so it's going to be a good one. Let's get
<v Speaker 1>right into it with Janet Show and jan how are
<v Speaker 1>you doing?
<v Speaker 2>I am doing marginally better than yesterday. I can sit
<v Speaker 2>in a chair.
<v Speaker 1>Fine.
<v Speaker 2>Uh, the back is still okay. It still feels like
<v Speaker 2>a group of fur grade horses trampled over it. I
<v Speaker 2>don't know if that's an actual classification of horses.
<v Speaker 1>But here we are. I mean, listen to me. It
<v Speaker 1>sounded like insane lyrics from my red Hot Chili Pepper song.
<v Speaker 1>So you don't want that happening in your back. You
<v Speaker 1>don't want red Hot.
<v Speaker 3>Chili Pepper songs happening back here there in those muscles.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, right now, I'm at like Beck level lyrics. Uh huh,
<v Speaker 2>with the help of my back, which which is safe.
<v Speaker 2>We're not crossing the RHCP.
<v Speaker 1>Bridge yet. We're under it. Yeah, we're under it.
<v Speaker 3>Boom Okay. Jane how you do it.
<v Speaker 2>Otherwise, video games are coming out grub I popped into
<v Speaker 2>Assassin's Creed yesterday.
<v Speaker 1>Holy smokes, I'm enjoying that a lot. Yeah, pretty good.
<v Speaker 2>It's pretty good. You and Sean checked it out on
<v Speaker 2>the website yesterday, and that inspired me to like, all right,
<v Speaker 2>I want to I want to check out this bamboo
<v Speaker 2>that that Dan is talking about that he's so high
<v Speaker 2>on good bamboo. Good bamboo. Maybe the best bamboo of
<v Speaker 2>the year so.
<v Speaker 1>Far, I think. So. Yeah, you know, there there was
<v Speaker 1>a time in all these open world games where they
<v Speaker 1>would simulate everything and you could like shoot the trees
<v Speaker 1>and the trees would fall down, and I think they're like, well,
<v Speaker 1>the wider audience doesn't care about that. They just care
<v Speaker 1>about having way points to go to h and then
<v Speaker 1>so you your stuff went in that direction. I think
<v Speaker 1>they're like realizing now that having all that extra cool
<v Speaker 1>stuff in there was important, even if not everyone was
<v Speaker 1>engaging with it. So yeah, I'm glad that we're like
<v Speaker 1>kind of they seem to be dipping their toe back
<v Speaker 1>in it. It's like I said on that thing with Sean,
<v Speaker 1>it's not far cry to levels of interactivity with the
<v Speaker 1>world in that game, but you can chop up the
<v Speaker 1>bamboo and it looks real nice.
<v Speaker 3>And that one, that's one where it's like, well.
<v Speaker 1>That makes sense. You have a sword, there's bamboo in
<v Speaker 1>front of you. You want to be able to chop
<v Speaker 1>it up and have it look nice. But at least
<v Speaker 1>they did actually do that. Yeah, I've been playing that.
<v Speaker 1>It's it's been pretty good. Got some other stuff. Looking
<v Speaker 1>forward to to hopping into here pretty soon. Gonna we're
<v Speaker 1>gonna play some thirty three Immortals today. I played some
<v Speaker 1>of that last night. That's strange. It's interesting, strange to
<v Speaker 1>say the least. Yeah, I kind of got in the
<v Speaker 1>flow of it though, so it will kind of we'll
<v Speaker 1>show it off here in a little bit not long
<v Speaker 1>after the show today. It is that thirty three player
<v Speaker 1>online cooperative rogue Light games. It's Hades, but thirty three players.
<v Speaker 1>You can have a crew of four and really you're
<v Speaker 1>just kind of a crew of four in an instance,
<v Speaker 1>working together with other crews, trying to accomplish an overall
<v Speaker 1>goal on any floor.
<v Speaker 3>But yeah, I was enjoying myself, so yeah, looking forward
<v Speaker 3>to playing.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.
<v Speaker 2>I dipped into that a little bit as well this morning.
<v Speaker 1>And you're right.
<v Speaker 2>I don't enjoy the bow that they start you out with.
<v Speaker 2>And I also didn't like that they started you out
<v Speaker 2>with one of those instant that you have to fail missions,
<v Speaker 2>just because I spent too much time actually trying to
<v Speaker 2>play and win but totally wound up switching weapons. And
<v Speaker 2>it is an interesting premise kind of being dumped with
<v Speaker 2>a bunch of other people playing at the same time
<v Speaker 2>reminds me of I Guess Destiny in some ways.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, for sure. It's definitely like taking some of the
<v Speaker 1>that field of feelings of playing a game like that
<v Speaker 1>and applying it to a hades. And I think it's
<v Speaker 1>a cool thing to do with a popular genre right now,
<v Speaker 1>like oh, haites something there, like a lot of indie
<v Speaker 1>developers are aping. That's great, that's fantastic. I would probably
<v Speaker 1>be I'm like interested to see, Okay, what spin can
<v Speaker 1>you put on there? And this is a pretty good spin.
<v Speaker 1>All right, let's explain what we do here most weekdays,
<v Speaker 1>I Jeff Grub will help piece your gaming life back together.
<v Speaker 1>That includes breaking news and maybe even some of our
<v Speaker 1>own original reporting. For all these topics, I'll get the
<v Speaker 1>input of a bona fide expert who will make me
<v Speaker 1>look smart. If you are watching live on Twitch welcome,
<v Speaker 1>You can always listen to the show later on podcast
<v Speaker 1>feeds by searching for Game Best Mornings, or find the
<v Speaker 1>RSS on giant bomb dot com. You can also catch
<v Speaker 1>the show later with chapters and timestamps on YouTube.
<v Speaker 3>Hello YouTube.
<v Speaker 1>All right, we have a lot to get into, so
<v Speaker 1>let's break some game news with February's twenty twenty five
<v Speaker 1>US video game market highlights from Matt Piscatella over at Sircana.
<v Speaker 1>As he does each month, he dropped a bunch of
<v Speaker 1>tidbits about what's going on around the industry in terms
<v Speaker 1>of performance and sales, and for February twenty twenty, twenty
<v Speaker 1>twenty five, projected US consumer spending on video game hardware,
<v Speaker 1>content and accessories. It declined six percent when compared to
<v Speaker 1>a year ago to four point five billion dollars. Spending
<v Speaker 1>so far this year is eleven percent lower than twenty
<v Speaker 1>twenty four year to date, which hit nine billion, no,
<v Speaker 1>excuse me, nine billion dollars. Even This is mostly due
<v Speaker 1>to a dip in hardware, but it's kind of across
<v Speaker 1>the board. We see everything's down. Content was down despite
<v Speaker 1>a lot of new games launching in February. Video game hardware,
<v Speaker 1>though specifically down thirty five percent, it is from like
<v Speaker 1>seven hundred and twelve million dollars spent on hardware in
<v Speaker 1>the United States last year all the way down to
<v Speaker 1>four hundred and sixty one million. You know, the biggest
<v Speaker 1>culprit with this continues to be the switch is at
<v Speaker 1>the end of its life. People are not buying switches
<v Speaker 1>the way they once were. They're not buying switches the
<v Speaker 1>way Nintendo even thought they could maybe still be. So
<v Speaker 1>we know that that is like the main culprit. But
<v Speaker 1>PlayStation and Xbox. Every time we kind of get this
<v Speaker 1>info from from Mattisktela, at least throughout the last several months,
<v Speaker 1>it's often been both of those systems are down double
<v Speaker 1>digit percentage wise because they are on the other side
<v Speaker 1>of the hump. When we had Matt on two months ago,
<v Speaker 1>now one month ago, whatever that was, he explained, like, yeah,
<v Speaker 1>we are past the tipping point of the current console
<v Speaker 1>generation where the Xbox and the PlayStation should start dipping
<v Speaker 1>in terms of reaching new people to sell consoles to,
<v Speaker 1>although he did mention that it's dipping faster than he
<v Speaker 1>would have anticipated and faster than it typically does at
<v Speaker 1>this point in the generation. That's continuing, so you know, whatever,
<v Speaker 1>whatever's happening there. I mean, we'll get into all of
<v Speaker 1>it here in a second, but I guess let's hit
<v Speaker 1>the top best selling games for the month. Like I said,
<v Speaker 1>a lot of new games launched in February, so that
<v Speaker 1>was not like the thing holding the industry back, and
<v Speaker 1>the top four on the chart were all new games,
<v Speaker 1>and really the like six of the top eight are
<v Speaker 1>new games. So number one was Monster Hunter Wilds from Capcom.
<v Speaker 1>Number two Kingdom Come Deliverance too did very well. Number
<v Speaker 1>three was Civilization seven. Number four is PGA two or
<v Speaker 1>two K twenty five. Then NBA two K twenty five.
<v Speaker 1>It was back on the chart at number five. Call
<v Speaker 1>of Duty Black Ops six was number six, and then
<v Speaker 1>two other new games avowed at number seven and number
<v Speaker 1>eight is like a Dragon Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, And
<v Speaker 1>then the rest of the chart is a lot of
<v Speaker 1>the familiar faces, starting with Grand Theft, Auto, Madden, Minecraft E,
<v Speaker 1>Sports Football Club twenty five, things like that.
<v Speaker 2>How is how is Hogwarts legacy still on this chart?
<v Speaker 1>I mean it's it is, it has become one of
<v Speaker 1>these games where I think we talked about the hardware
<v Speaker 1>not selling. I think the hardware when it does sell,
<v Speaker 1>it is getting picked up by people who are like, Okay,
<v Speaker 1>I'm gonna finally get that Hogwarts game, I'm gonna get
<v Speaker 1>Grand THEFTD five again for the third time on this
<v Speaker 1>new hardware and Minecraft or something like that. Yeah, the
<v Speaker 1>very familiar games and then the one new one that
<v Speaker 1>has sort of entered into that pantheon.
<v Speaker 3>I don't know.
<v Speaker 1>I mean, you know, I think I got some improvements
<v Speaker 1>on the Switch not too long ago, and so it
<v Speaker 1>was selling there again. But yeah, it's it's definitely just
<v Speaker 1>has become one of these ever selling games, right, there's
<v Speaker 1>kind of no denying that. Hey, Astrobot though still on
<v Speaker 1>the chart at number twenty. That's great to see as well. Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>that's fantastic. You know, the story with this gen I
<v Speaker 1>think we've had this conversation million times now, is Hey,
<v Speaker 1>Grand Theft out of six and switch To are coming.
<v Speaker 1>And I think switched to probably does solve the hardware
<v Speaker 1>sales thing, and then that may be snowballs and helps
<v Speaker 1>with software.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I feel like a lot of people are waiting
<v Speaker 2>for Nintendo's next moves to kind of plan out financially
<v Speaker 2>the road ahead. I think with people that have already
<v Speaker 2>bought a console, or we're on a fence of buying
<v Speaker 2>a PS five or an Xbox are unfortunately waiting for
<v Speaker 2>GTA six to come out this year or not. And yeah,
<v Speaker 2>because I don't believe there's necessarily any if you have
<v Speaker 2>been on the fence of picking up and joining this
<v Speaker 2>new generation that is what four or five years old now,
<v Speaker 2>and there hasn't been that killer app or a killer
<v Speaker 2>game to convince you to jump ship from PS four
<v Speaker 2>or the Xbox one. Then because you can still play
<v Speaker 2>your Fortnite, you can still play your Call of Duties
<v Speaker 2>or your war Zone or whatever else have you, then
<v Speaker 2>you're obviously at this point waiting for GTA six, or
<v Speaker 2>you're waiting for I don't know, something like Kingdom Hearts four,
<v Speaker 2>or you have no interest in adopting this next or
<v Speaker 2>joining this current consule jen and you are waiting for
<v Speaker 2>that switch to So I can see why hardwell hardware
<v Speaker 2>sales are down overall, on top of just people being really.
<v Speaker 1>Tight with money right now.
<v Speaker 2>Just because right now, just because of the rising costs
<v Speaker 2>of everything else, I mean groceries, we don't need to
<v Speaker 2>get into it. But like I saw a roadside sign
<v Speaker 2>as I was driving yesterday that says, yo, we got eggs,
<v Speaker 2>and it was like a local farmer selling eggs astronomical prices.
<v Speaker 2>But hey, they're taking advantage of what's going on right now. Yeah,
<v Speaker 2>I don't know. Do you think with an Xbox handheld
<v Speaker 2>this year that could spike hardware sales as well? Or
<v Speaker 2>are people kind of just waiting for GTA six or
<v Speaker 2>just waiting for prices to go down across the board,
<v Speaker 2>or just waiting for the switch too.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I mean I think switch to is the big one, clearly,
<v Speaker 1>And then I think something like an Xbox handheld is
<v Speaker 1>the tip of the sphere of introducing this kind of
<v Speaker 1>hardware to a new audience of people that maybe did
<v Speaker 1>not consider handhelds before, or maybe didn't consider video games
<v Speaker 1>because it wasn't convenient to them. And maybe the Xbox
<v Speaker 1>One could be Hey, this is like a console that
<v Speaker 1>I've heard of, but now handheld I can go for that.
<v Speaker 1>Excuse me. And they're promising that all the games that
<v Speaker 1>work on that system, the things I've heard of as well,
<v Speaker 1>Fortnite can work on here. But I think we've seen
<v Speaker 1>with the Steam Deck, which I think has been in
<v Speaker 1>you know, an unqualified success. It's at like five million ish,
<v Speaker 1>six million ish. That's not like it's just nothing close
<v Speaker 1>to what the consoles do, even the Xbox. So I
<v Speaker 1>just I just think the handheld is going to have
<v Speaker 1>to establish itself as a new tier off to the side,
<v Speaker 1>and the Xbox Handheld is part of that lineage along
<v Speaker 1>with the Steam Deck and everything else, and then the
<v Speaker 1>Switch continues to be in its own little gully over
<v Speaker 1>there doing its own thing. But yeah, I mean hardware
<v Speaker 1>is just you mentioned it. People are tight with the
<v Speaker 1>purse strings right now. I think the uncertainty, you know,
<v Speaker 1>just absolutely you know flooding the economy right now definitely
<v Speaker 1>has caused people to be like, let's just hold off
<v Speaker 1>on any you know, unnecessary spending, and consoles are just
<v Speaker 1>squarely in the unnecessary spending zone for the vast majority
<v Speaker 1>of people. And so I'm not surprised that it's it's
<v Speaker 1>getting hit a little bit hard, and it's hit harder
<v Speaker 1>than it's been for quite some time. I'll read here
<v Speaker 1>more from Matt Piskutella February Video Game hardware spending fell
<v Speaker 1>by twenty five percent when compared to a year ago,
<v Speaker 1>to two hundred and fifty six million dollars. This is
<v Speaker 1>the lowest February total for video game hardware spending since
<v Speaker 1>the one hundred and eighty four million dollars reached in
<v Speaker 1>February twenty twenty, which was you know that that would
<v Speaker 1>have been before the new consoles, like right before the
<v Speaker 1>new generation of consoles, So they've kind of gone back
<v Speaker 1>to people are waiting for the new thing, That's what
<v Speaker 1>they were doing in February twenty twenty. And then on
<v Speaker 1>top of that, there was the looming uncertainty of the pandemic,
<v Speaker 1>which people were beginning to recognize at this point. You know,
<v Speaker 1>obviously the economy really shut down in art, but there
<v Speaker 1>was definitely people going like, wait, what's happen? Why do
<v Speaker 1>I keep hearing this every day on the news? Is
<v Speaker 1>this really going to hit us like a wall? So yeah,
<v Speaker 1>and then you know, the consoles came out later that year,
<v Speaker 1>and then of course people were at home and wanted
<v Speaker 1>video games and things popped off. But you know, maybe
<v Speaker 1>that same thing doesn't quite happen, and that's not going
<v Speaker 1>to happen this time, people are not going to be
<v Speaker 1>rushing to get games in that same way, except for
<v Speaker 1>if they really want to switch to other like notes
<v Speaker 1>here from Matt. Monster Hunter Wilds was the best selling
<v Speaker 1>video game of February, instantly becoming the best selling title
<v Speaker 1>of twenty twenty five so far. Launch month dollar sales
<v Speaker 1>of Monster Hunter Wilds more than double the total of
<v Speaker 1>Monster Hunter Rise achieved during its March twenty twenty one debut,
<v Speaker 1>and Monster Hunter Wilds was the best selling game of
<v Speaker 1>February February across the PlayStation, Xbox, and Steam ecosystems, the
<v Speaker 1>Steam accounting for more than half of the title's total
<v Speaker 1>dollar sales. So that's that's interesting.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that's pretty substantial. Who knew grub launching on everything
<v Speaker 2>would boost sales perhaps.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, And like to the point where people are like
<v Speaker 1>choosing the PC version and I mean more than half
<v Speaker 1>of dollar sales we're just on Steam. It's like, that's
<v Speaker 1>just not how these breakdowns normally happen. It's PlayStation is
<v Speaker 1>like forty percent, and then Steam is thirty percent, and
<v Speaker 1>then the other the thirty percent.
<v Speaker 3>Is maybe Xbox, and you know there's given.
<v Speaker 1>Take there, But yeah, I think that this game has
<v Speaker 1>just clearly shown that, oh, there's a huge audience everywhere,
<v Speaker 1>and the PC gamers now are ready to show up
<v Speaker 1>for this thing right away. And yeah, the right choice
<v Speaker 1>to get this thing out everywhere. I mean, and we've
<v Speaker 1>heard this from every publisher now, being like, we just
<v Speaker 1>want to be everywhere we possibly can be. That seems
<v Speaker 1>to be the strategy that works best. And yeah, this
<v Speaker 1>is proving it, which maybe is like, Okay, hey, that
<v Speaker 1>next Final Fantasy when Square Enix decides let's put that
<v Speaker 1>out everywhere right away as soon as it's ready to go,
<v Speaker 1>does it have a chance of popping off in a
<v Speaker 1>similar way. It's obviously not could do Monster Hunter number
<v Speaker 1>it just isn't, but it could be a much different
<v Speaker 1>story than the ooh, how's it really doing that we've
<v Speaker 1>been saying with Final Fantasy sixteen and seven Part two remake. Yeah, I.
<v Speaker 2>Wonder if the multiplayer component is a big factor in
<v Speaker 2>this doing so well on PC as well, where folks
<v Speaker 2>and even on console where folks are thinking like, all right, cool,
<v Speaker 2>I don't have I'm getting tired of playing and I
<v Speaker 2>hate to constantly bring it up, but Fortnite or Warzone
<v Speaker 2>with my friends or we've already gone through a season
<v Speaker 2>of whatever multiplayer game we're doing together. Now, is this
<v Speaker 2>the one we're investing in because we know that we
<v Speaker 2>can spend a lot of time in Monster Hunter and
<v Speaker 2>we will get DLC in the future. So I'm curious
<v Speaker 2>if that plays a big role versus if the new
<v Speaker 2>Final Fantasy, like the third seven remake game or the
<v Speaker 2>next mainline big numbered title would do well since it
<v Speaker 2>would be a single player game.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I mean, there's so many, so many factors there,
<v Speaker 1>but it's I mean, one of the big things holding
<v Speaker 1>them back just was this idea that the money from
<v Speaker 1>PlayStation was worth it. And I think they've they've said
<v Speaker 1>now it wasn't. It is not. It is a hindrance
<v Speaker 1>on the long term success of these franchises, and really
<v Speaker 1>seems to be a hindrance on the immediate success as well.
<v Speaker 1>They want to sell as many copies of those games
<v Speaker 1>as they possibly can, and they weren't. They just weren't.
<v Speaker 1>And and you know whatever reason that, you know, the
<v Speaker 1>PlayStation audience didn't completely glom onto it, whatever, that's maybe
<v Speaker 1>the game's fault. But being able to like find the
<v Speaker 1>kinds of people that want to play this game elsewhere
<v Speaker 1>while you held that back yourself, excuse me by just
<v Speaker 1>taking the bag from PlayStation. And it's being like, okay,
<v Speaker 1>well we got money upfront.
<v Speaker 3>That's good.
<v Speaker 1>It's like yeah, but it seems maybe it is steering
<v Speaker 1>Final Fantasy into a little bit of a relation.
<v Speaker 2>In the meantime, Colonel Sanders twenty one in the Giant
<v Speaker 2>Bomb Chat poses an interesting pipeline where kids are kind
<v Speaker 2>of clamoring or asking for PCs more than they are
<v Speaker 2>asking for consoles. And I wonder if those that generation
<v Speaker 2>of iPad kids or kids that we grew up with
<v Speaker 2>screens don't want a console and they want a PC
<v Speaker 2>because maybe they grew up watching Roadblock streamers, Minecraft streamers,
<v Speaker 2>Fortnite streamers, and they were all playing on PCs. So
<v Speaker 2>maybe they aren't going for a console that can just
<v Speaker 2>do the one thing and play the games. They're looking
<v Speaker 2>for something where okay, well I can not only play
<v Speaker 2>this game, but I could stream this game. There's discord
<v Speaker 2>on this PC. It's easy to link up with friends
<v Speaker 2>this way. Yeah, who knew. Maybe at your local job
<v Speaker 2>fair or bring your your career day grub we can
<v Speaker 2>be bad YouTubers and be proud of it.
<v Speaker 1>That's right. Maybe finally uh weird pride. I don't know
<v Speaker 1>what that feels like, Yeah, yeah, gross, I yes, I
<v Speaker 1>mean they start maybe started playing Minecraft on a hand
<v Speaker 1>me down phone, but then that led them to, like
<v Speaker 1>you said, watching streamers, and those streamers are all going
<v Speaker 1>to be doing things like playing with mods, like setting
<v Speaker 1>up their own custom games. Stuff that is just much
<v Speaker 1>easier and like sort of standardized and the default on
<v Speaker 1>PC and so you know, and like every time you
<v Speaker 1>if you were watching on these streamers, it's it's probably
<v Speaker 1>hard to go through an entire stream without someone and
<v Speaker 1>chapping like what kind of PC do you have? And
<v Speaker 1>then they talk about that, and people just so absorb
<v Speaker 1>that stuff through osmosis and like, if I want to
<v Speaker 1>be like this person who is my favorite content creator,
<v Speaker 1>I shall have a PC. And I think it kind
<v Speaker 1>of has shaken out to the to the point where
<v Speaker 1>it's like, oh, that had a massive sort of shift
<v Speaker 1>on the entire landscape of where people play games. And
<v Speaker 1>you know, it seems like it's not necessarily been at
<v Speaker 1>the complete expensive consoles, but a little bit of the
<v Speaker 1>at the expensive consoles here As we get to the
<v Speaker 1>end of this generation and people that may have been like, Okay,
<v Speaker 1>I'll hop in now, like now they already have PCs
<v Speaker 1>because they were able to justify that by hey, this
<v Speaker 1>is a multi use thing that I can use for
<v Speaker 1>all kinds of different stuff, including maybe making money one day,
<v Speaker 1>and so I don't need a console and a lot
<v Speaker 1>of those console games now are on PC. Yeah.
<v Speaker 2>I wonder if in the long run, this future generation
<v Speaker 2>of cameras will eventually hurt the console market. But oddly enough,
<v Speaker 2>I feel like the Switch and Nintendo, not that they're
<v Speaker 2>impervious to it, grub, but I feel like they just
<v Speaker 2>they're just so far in a different lane that they
<v Speaker 2>don't really worry about how PlayStation and Microsoft are necessarily
<v Speaker 2>doing hardware wise.
<v Speaker 1>It's a similar lane, but you're right, it is different,
<v Speaker 1>right because it's it's still kids. We're talking about families. Now.
<v Speaker 1>This is not like, oh, what is the kid's hobby?
<v Speaker 1>Should we get them a he sees so we can
<v Speaker 1>facilitate the hobby. It's like no, no, like this is
<v Speaker 1>something we're going to get for the entire family, and
<v Speaker 1>that kind of spending. It just people underestimated all the time.
<v Speaker 1>It is very, very powerful and It's like, if I
<v Speaker 1>spend this one dollar on this form of entertainment, it
<v Speaker 1>will pay dividends, and that it is something for the
<v Speaker 1>entire family can get joy out of. The Switch is
<v Speaker 1>just the thing in that butter zone there to take
<v Speaker 1>advantage of that. So yeah, I just think that it's
<v Speaker 1>it's still actually quite a bit of a different thing,
<v Speaker 1>and it's a protected thing. It's it's shielded from all
<v Speaker 1>this other guff happening because nothing else is really threatening
<v Speaker 1>to switch his position in that in that zone and
<v Speaker 1>Nintendo's position specifically. All right, here, here's some more news.
<v Speaker 1>Dan Record cut his mouth slit in an et mask
<v Speaker 1>so he can eat candy. So look forward to that
<v Speaker 1>later today. And you don't have to wear the costume. Now.
<v Speaker 1>I think he's I think he's addicted to it. He
<v Speaker 1>put it on, and I expect him to be wearing
<v Speaker 1>this costume from now on. Okay, Zeno Blake Chronicles X Definitive.
<v Speaker 1>It got an eighty seven on Open Critic, which is
<v Speaker 1>higher than the original version, which I think got like
<v Speaker 1>an eighty four around that range. Now, selection bias that
<v Speaker 1>people like the game probably did review the game, but whatever,
<v Speaker 1>this is eighty seven still a hard number to get.
<v Speaker 1>Got a nine out of ten from George Yang, who said,
<v Speaker 1>and the silvered IgM Xena Blake Chronicles X was already
<v Speaker 1>one of the we use best games, and this Definitive
<v Speaker 1>Edition does more than enough to justify another trip to
<v Speaker 1>Planet Mira ten out of ten from Stephen Mills at
<v Speaker 1>Destructoid Monolith. Soft Wind went the extra mile and added
<v Speaker 1>meaningful new content and quality of life features that actually
<v Speaker 1>improved on what was already a masterpiece experience. The Definitive
<v Speaker 1>Edition treatment makes Xena Blake Chronicles X Definitive Edition one
<v Speaker 1>of the best JRPGs on the Switch and a must
<v Speaker 1>play for fans of the genre. And then will row
<v Speaker 1>Over at Digital Trends gave it four stars, said Zena
<v Speaker 1>Bla Chronicles X Definitive Edition gives a great RPG the
<v Speaker 1>second chance it deserves.
<v Speaker 3>Are you have you ever played X?
<v Speaker 1>No?
<v Speaker 2>The first Zeno Blade Chronicles I got into was the
<v Speaker 2>most recent one other than this three yep, and I
<v Speaker 2>dug the hell out of that game grub because the
<v Speaker 2>original Zeno blad Chronicles X that launched on the WI
<v Speaker 2>You Yeah, that's right. I did not want to be
<v Speaker 2>anywhere near the WEU, of course not. So I am
<v Speaker 2>very psyched for this to review well, and I'm very
<v Speaker 2>psyched to check this out, especially given how weird this
<v Speaker 2>universe is and how how tied to space drama and
<v Speaker 2>space opera it is. And I just eat that stuff
<v Speaker 2>up grub.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, it's I think this is the one. Maybe I'm
<v Speaker 1>most interested out of the Zeno Blade games because I
<v Speaker 1>have played some Chronicles three and I enjoyed myself. I
<v Speaker 1>thought that was pretty good. I didn't play a ton
<v Speaker 1>of it, but I played some of it. This one is,
<v Speaker 1>I guess more. It has more of an emphasis on exploration,
<v Speaker 1>and you know, it's the tech that was the under
<v Speaker 1>tech for this game was what they eventually kind of
<v Speaker 1>used for Breath of the Wild, and I like just
<v Speaker 1>running around Breath with the Wild if I can kind
<v Speaker 1>of get something slightly similar, but there's more GRPG stuff
<v Speaker 1>in there. I'm okay with that. I'm gonna I want
<v Speaker 1>to shuck it out, So I think I'm gonna play this,
<v Speaker 1>give it a shot. Also, I just want a couple
<v Speaker 1>more reasons to play the Switch one before it's all
<v Speaker 1>said and done, and I'm gonna I'm gonna take this
<v Speaker 1>as an opportunity to do that, Grub.
<v Speaker 2>I've seen the sentiment of people even in our chat
<v Speaker 2>saying like, all right, I'm glad this game came out,
<v Speaker 2>gonna wait for the switch too, And I'm almost on
<v Speaker 2>that wavelength too. Sure, I get it, and I, for
<v Speaker 2>whatever reason, I'm still semi compelled Grub to buy an
<v Speaker 2>o led Switch one just so I can take this
<v Speaker 2>like final victory lamp on the switch and have everything
<v Speaker 2>look great before the Switch two comes out.
<v Speaker 1>But I don't know.
<v Speaker 2>I'm on the fence. And I feel that same way
<v Speaker 2>about Pokemon Za as well. Of waiting for the Switch too.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I mean that one feels like can we get
<v Speaker 1>a date for that? I feel like that was like
<v Speaker 1>later than we were anticipating, so like that the Switch
<v Speaker 1>too should be well out by the time we get
<v Speaker 1>that thing, although it will be a Switch one game
<v Speaker 1>as well.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, It's it's tough.
<v Speaker 1>Like I I'm happy with my Olet, although my kids
<v Speaker 1>have kind of beat it up a little bit. And
<v Speaker 1>I did find myself at Target the other day, man,
<v Speaker 1>I'm like, oh, look at the Mario Wonder bundle.
<v Speaker 3>I own Mario Wonder and I own an Olet already.
<v Speaker 4>I'm like, no, I'll walk away, but I did like
<v Speaker 4>consider it for a half second. But we are I mean, god,
<v Speaker 4>we could. Now we can like just count the days,
<v Speaker 4>all right. I'm just gonna count them.
<v Speaker 1>We are one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen,
<v Speaker 1>fourteen days exactly two weeks. So it's gonna be, yeah,
<v Speaker 1>the Wednesday, two weeks from now that we will be
<v Speaker 1>getting that Nintendo Direct for the switch to on April second.
<v Speaker 1>So you know, I think everyone pumps the breaks. Most
<v Speaker 1>people in chat are already in that zone. They're pumping
<v Speaker 1>the brakes, like, let's just wait to see what's going
<v Speaker 1>on with the switch too, and then maybe I'll pick
<v Speaker 1>up some of these final Switch one games for that.
<v Speaker 1>We don't know what the enhancements are going to be, Like,
<v Speaker 1>I think it's safe to us there will be some
<v Speaker 1>enhancements for games coming out in this general area, this
<v Speaker 1>general date range.
<v Speaker 2>Greb, can I can? I will you come with me
<v Speaker 2>on a thought train real quick?
<v Speaker 1>Yeah? Please?
<v Speaker 2>All right, choo chow, everyone get on board. John Cena,
<v Speaker 2>big fan of Metroid correct Yeah, the biggest Yeah.
<v Speaker 1>Uh.
<v Speaker 2>Nintendo notorious for delaying games because of real life, world
<v Speaker 2>events A good point, right, So perhaps you know they
<v Speaker 2>did delayed the Advanced Wars re release. They delayed another
<v Speaker 2>thing because the queen died. Now of the Kingdom here, yes, yes,
<v Speaker 2>Tears of the Kingdom. Oh my god, wow, what a
<v Speaker 2>what an event in history. Now, what if they potentially
<v Speaker 2>delay Metroid Prime four because John Cena is is now
<v Speaker 2>a bad guy?
<v Speaker 1>You can't be seen as rewarding keel John Cena the
<v Speaker 1>bad guy, no matter how much he's tries to explain
<v Speaker 1>it away by giving him a Metroid, the thing he
<v Speaker 1>wants most in the world.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, Like you know, he was talking about how we
<v Speaker 2>take and take and take. Now, what if he takes
<v Speaker 2>Metroid Prime four away from us?
<v Speaker 1>I mean that would be Dan luck as someone who
<v Speaker 1>counterpicked it in uh fantasy critic if it got if
<v Speaker 1>it got delayed because of John Cena, I mean he
<v Speaker 1>could be in cahoots with John Cena and making this happen.
<v Speaker 1>So he's very devastated.
<v Speaker 2>He was already in the switch chamber. Who knows what
<v Speaker 2>he's doing in the switch to chambers.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, that's what that. They are trying to build a
<v Speaker 1>switch to prison strong enough to hold heal. John Cena.
<v Speaker 1>I don't know. I don't think they're gonna be able
<v Speaker 1>to do it.
<v Speaker 3>All right, let's keep going here.
<v Speaker 1>Game Developers launched North America's first industry wide union that
<v Speaker 1>anyone can join. This is from Ethan Gotch at Kotaku Games.
<v Speaker 1>Game industry unionization efforts that exploded across SEGA of America, Bethesda,
<v Speaker 1>and others have recently been on pause. A new initiative
<v Speaker 1>by the Commune indications Workers of America could jumpstart things again.
<v Speaker 1>At the Game Developers Conference twenty twenty five, happening this week,
<v Speaker 1>the group announced the founding of the United Video Game Workers,
<v Speaker 1>a new sister organization that hopes to enlist developers from
<v Speaker 1>all different disciplines and studios in broader labor battles across
<v Speaker 1>the industry. The uvwcwa's mission, per a press release reported
<v Speaker 1>by IGN, is to not only build a community and
<v Speaker 1>solidarity amongst video game workers, but also to build large
<v Speaker 1>scale education campaigns about labor organizing in the video game industry.
<v Speaker 1>Unlike individual union shops, which bargain contracts with employees, the
<v Speaker 1>direct joint model functions more like a voluntary trade group,
<v Speaker 1>where paid dues and resources are pooled to help with
<v Speaker 1>various labor fights across the broader market. The announcement comes
<v Speaker 1>as sag Aftra game actors entered their ninth month of
<v Speaker 1>striking for AI protections while publishers experiment with digital replicas. Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>this is I'm like surprised this is actually happening, because
<v Speaker 1>it's like this felt like the one step they actually
<v Speaker 1>wouldn't do, like do the equivalent with the equivalent of
<v Speaker 1>the United Auto Workers or SAG after things like that.
<v Speaker 1>Something that just applies to the market broadly, the industry broadly.
<v Speaker 1>Whether you work at one studio or another, you could
<v Speaker 1>still join this union and have protections and maybe maybe
<v Speaker 1>at a certain point down the line. I don't know
<v Speaker 1>health benefits even between jobs, because you know the way
<v Speaker 1>the industry works. It's similar to the way Hollywood works, right, Jambertz.
<v Speaker 1>You're on one project and then when that project gets
<v Speaker 1>done filming, you're done. Were contracted to do that. So
<v Speaker 1>what do you do about healthcare? Well, the healthcare comes
<v Speaker 1>through the union, at least in some unions in the Hollywood.
<v Speaker 1>And I don't know, and I don't have total insight
<v Speaker 1>into that, but I know that's how it works for
<v Speaker 1>like actors and things like that. So can video game
<v Speaker 1>workers get something similar because they are often laid off
<v Speaker 1>as the project project ends. I would hope so, and
<v Speaker 1>maybe this is a step toward that.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, this would be absolutely amazing because I mean, there
<v Speaker 2>are different trades out there, grub like you mentioned, that
<v Speaker 2>protect you from job to job, or especially protect you
<v Speaker 2>from gig to gig. And having this type of protection
<v Speaker 2>in an incredibly volatile industry arguably more volatile than the
<v Speaker 2>entertainment industry is right now. This amount of protection, whether
<v Speaker 2>it is in between getting unfortunately laid off and then
<v Speaker 2>joining another studio or perhaps venturing out into a solo
<v Speaker 2>project or a smaller indie project, this would provide so
<v Speaker 2>much protection, and I think then I would start to
<v Speaker 2>feel okay recommending seeking or going into the games industry
<v Speaker 2>as a career with the safety net of a potential bigger,
<v Speaker 2>wider industry union. I would give this as much support
<v Speaker 2>as possible.
<v Speaker 1>Yep. You know, as Ethan points out, we've heard a
<v Speaker 1>lot about unions starting up across different studios, but none
<v Speaker 1>of those studios that have unions, or I should say
<v Speaker 1>none of the unions within those studios have actually been
<v Speaker 1>able to successfully negotiate new contracts with their publishers and
<v Speaker 1>the parent companies. That stuff is like still either happening
<v Speaker 1>or on pause or where nothing's happening. There is like
<v Speaker 1>a lot of roadblocks between actually finalizing those those conversations
<v Speaker 1>to the point where like a collectively bargained contract is finalized.
<v Speaker 1>You know, really you need more pressure, and the pressure
<v Speaker 1>has been building, but you need more pressure, and something
<v Speaker 1>like this could be the kind of thing where it
<v Speaker 1>really puts things over the top and forces these companies
<v Speaker 1>to do what needs to be done and actually come
<v Speaker 1>to the table and collectively bargain with workers.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I'm I'm with anarchist Mike Minatti here. You know,
<v Speaker 2>maybe let's topple topple our overlords here, and at least
<v Speaker 2>for game devs or other folks eating game develop mentor
<v Speaker 2>that side of the fence. I want them to have
<v Speaker 2>as many protections and as many things as possible to
<v Speaker 2>help them continue doing their jobs, because ultimately, at the end,
<v Speaker 2>they're the ones making the games and not these shareholders.
<v Speaker 2>I couldn't care for the shareholders at all.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, ge whiz, can I just borrow the means of
<v Speaker 1>production there? Real quick?
<v Speaker 2>Buddy, she whiz. We'll see it ourselves, all right.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, Hey, this is this cool.
<v Speaker 1>GDC is the kind of place where this can really
<v Speaker 1>get a lot of traction, really take off. It is
<v Speaker 1>there's always a lot of these vibes there of Hey,
<v Speaker 1>we're in this together as game developers. That is the
<v Speaker 1>point of GDC. They come there to share knowledge with
<v Speaker 1>each other openly, despite you know, working on products that
<v Speaker 1>are ostensibly competing with one another, because they know that
<v Speaker 1>the medium grows when they all come together and share
<v Speaker 1>that passion. Well, let's you know, share in the the
<v Speaker 1>risk with one another of arguing with the companies that
<v Speaker 1>you work for, and maybe you can prove things to
<v Speaker 1>the point where as you said, Jan, everyone begins feeling
<v Speaker 1>better about recommending this industry to new people. So we
<v Speaker 1>can keep getting new cool stuff and new cool ideas
<v Speaker 1>from new cool people. And those new cool people can
<v Speaker 1>feed themselves, house themselves and maybe you know, start families
<v Speaker 1>or do whatever they want with their hoot, it's their money,
<v Speaker 1>they should be able to do it.
<v Speaker 3>I know it's crazy, all right, let's take a quick break.
<v Speaker 1>When we come back, plenty more to talk about, including
<v Speaker 1>a new Xbox adapted Joystick that is available now.
<v Speaker 3>All right, let's get right back into it.
<v Speaker 1>As I mentioned Xbox, you know who already had that
<v Speaker 1>one big adaptive controller now is basically put out a
<v Speaker 1>nun chuck version of that. You could plug in there,
<v Speaker 1>and it's available now. I think it's just called the
<v Speaker 1>Xbox Adaptive Joystick. This comes from Darren Bonthus at game Spot.
<v Speaker 1>The Xbox Adaptive Joystick has officially launched, giving users a
<v Speaker 1>new accessibility option for playing games, bearing a stri striking
<v Speaker 1>resemblance to the Nintendo Wheeze Nunchuck controller. The Xbox Adaptive
<v Speaker 1>Joystick is priced at thirty dollars and could be purchased
<v Speaker 1>from the Microsoft Store. It's compatible with PC and Xbox consoles,
<v Speaker 1>although I think they're always trying to add more support
<v Speaker 1>for other platforms with the stuff. Microsoft says that this
<v Speaker 1>wired controller was designed in collaboration with gaming and disability
<v Speaker 1>communities so that the users with limited mobility have access
<v Speaker 1>to a device that can meet their needs. They show
<v Speaker 1>an image of someone tucking it into their shoulder and
<v Speaker 1>using their chin on the analog stick, like, oh look,
<v Speaker 1>we're kind of like thinking about the ergonomics of that.
<v Speaker 1>There's like rubber on the back to help it stay
<v Speaker 1>in place. Things along those lines is what they're thinking here.
<v Speaker 1>And yeah, it is really just a nunchuck. It has
<v Speaker 1>a few more buttons on there. But you know, something
<v Speaker 1>ain't broke, you don't have to fix it. It seems
<v Speaker 1>like a pretty good idea. I think the nunchuck did
<v Speaker 1>have some popularity with accessibility people, but that had the
<v Speaker 1>proprietary Nintendo switch. Can we connector God, this will have
<v Speaker 1>just USB, can plug it into anything, and or it
<v Speaker 1>might even have the the like phone adapter thing that
<v Speaker 1>they use for a lot of accessibility stuff that like
<v Speaker 1>there's a bunch of those ports on the back of
<v Speaker 1>the one adaptive controller. Either way, Like this is part
<v Speaker 1>of an ongoing effort by Microsoft and a lot of
<v Speaker 1>people in the industry to make gaming more accessible. And
<v Speaker 1>I think, you know, I approve for one.
<v Speaker 2>Jan making it easier for everyone to play games. Why
<v Speaker 2>would you anyone have any issue with that. I do
<v Speaker 2>like that it has adopted the kind of nunchuck style.
<v Speaker 2>I enjoyed the controllers that the Meta three had, So
<v Speaker 2>I don't know. It might be a nun chuck convert crub. Yeah,
<v Speaker 2>I might be a chucker.
<v Speaker 1>Man, I knew you were such a chucker out here,
<v Speaker 1>always chucking with Gianna Choa. Yeah, it's uh like it
<v Speaker 1>looks comfortable, it looks nice, and I think it is
<v Speaker 1>going to really it's just one option. Yeah, So it's
<v Speaker 1>like like if someone like sees this thing, like, how
<v Speaker 1>would this work for the specific problems that I have. Well,
<v Speaker 1>you know, first of all, people in these communities know
<v Speaker 1>that they like a lot of the stuff is still
<v Speaker 1>going to be custom built, and that's what the adaptive
<v Speaker 1>controller supports. Supports like you plugging in whatever you want
<v Speaker 1>into that thing, and there's probably gonna be a way
<v Speaker 1>to get it to work. But this is just like,
<v Speaker 1>let's standardize one thing for something that could serviace a
<v Speaker 1>lot of people in the community. See if we can't
<v Speaker 1>help out a little bit by putting out products that
<v Speaker 1>are reasonably priced and well designed, and we'll work with
<v Speaker 1>the stuff just by in a plug and play way.
<v Speaker 3>That's nice to see. And Microsoft's not the only one
<v Speaker 3>doing this now.
<v Speaker 1>A bid dou has their like here's all the buttons
<v Speaker 1>just on the face of this controller, including the shoulder
<v Speaker 1>buttons and things like that. So you could just kind
<v Speaker 1>of find it on this on the surface of the
<v Speaker 1>pad and press it. And I think Sony's got some
<v Speaker 1>of their own stuff as well. So this is a
<v Speaker 1>good movement that has been happening in gaming. And it's
<v Speaker 1>at a certain point it's like, you know, they're not
<v Speaker 1>just serving Oh how many people are that are that
<v Speaker 1>have disabilities or playing games. It's like, you know, at
<v Speaker 1>a certain point we all are going to encounter injuries
<v Speaker 1>or aging that put us in a situation where it's
<v Speaker 1>like if people, if people are solving these problems now,
<v Speaker 1>it could benefit you later, even if you're not even
<v Speaker 1>thinking about this at all in this moment, and that's invaluable.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, Like, I know that we don't see a lot
<v Speaker 2>of hardware specific stuff on the Sony side, or at
<v Speaker 2>least like as much as we do from Xbox, but
<v Speaker 2>I mean I remember like the Last of Us Part
<v Speaker 2>two having an insane amount of accessibility options. So that also, yes,
<v Speaker 2>coming through on the software side is fantastic to see,
<v Speaker 2>especially when you have games like Final Fantasy fourteen or
<v Speaker 2>World of Warcraft really allowing for customization in terms of
<v Speaker 2>hot keys and everything. That goes a long way in
<v Speaker 2>terms of accessibility for people that can't use the keyboard
<v Speaker 2>or find a control to be more up their alley
<v Speaker 2>in terms of what they're able to use. So applause
<v Speaker 2>across the board for really increasing the visibility on accessibility.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I mean, there's a the old saying from ron
<v Speaker 1>A Reagan about economics of the rising tide lifts all boats.
<v Speaker 1>And we know that that was like the trickle down
<v Speaker 1>bullshit that that wasn't real. But when you raise, you know,
<v Speaker 1>the rising tide of carrying about all communities everywhere where
<v Speaker 1>they are, that actually does benefit everybody. Like actually doing
<v Speaker 1>the work to help marginalized groups really does make a
<v Speaker 1>difference for everyone in the end. So thinking about these
<v Speaker 1>problems make it sure that you know they where we
<v Speaker 1>are putting every accessibility option we could think of in
<v Speaker 1>the Last of Us Part two. There might be one
<v Speaker 1>thing in there for someone who does not consider them
<v Speaker 1>themselves part of that community. But oh wait, this does
<v Speaker 1>actually help me a little bit, and uh, you know
<v Speaker 1>it closed captions for me, I'm like, that is an
<v Speaker 1>accessibility thing that I use all the time. I need
<v Speaker 1>that it helps me process information better. And that's that's
<v Speaker 1>the same thing. It's part of the same lineage. There
<v Speaker 1>all right, let's keep moving. Hey. An update on this one,
<v Speaker 1>skate Story adds PS five version. It's also kind of
<v Speaker 1>getting a little bit more of a release date info.
<v Speaker 1>This comes from Salamano at Gamatsu. Skateboarding adventure game Skate
<v Speaker 1>Story will launch for PlayStation five alongside it's previously announced
<v Speaker 1>PC Steam version. In twenty twenty five, publisher to Bolver
<v Speaker 1>Digital and developer sam Ing announced they're saying this game
<v Speaker 1>should be coming out in summer. It continues to look
<v Speaker 1>really cool. I'm hoping that this thing actually does hit
<v Speaker 1>here pretty soon. And I think maybe the good news
<v Speaker 1>is it was originally just kind of announced for Steam,
<v Speaker 1>and now getting a console version makes it feel more
<v Speaker 1>real someomehow where it's like, oh, they've been having conversations
<v Speaker 1>with Sony about getting this game out there, and Devolver
<v Speaker 1>Digital's still out there talking about the game. So that's
<v Speaker 1>pretty exciting for a game that I just think looks
<v Speaker 1>so stylish and so slick.
<v Speaker 2>Skating's back on the menu, baby.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah yeah, I mean we know that just by looking
<v Speaker 1>at the skating culture or it's popping off more than
<v Speaker 1>it has been forever, but video games being like ready
<v Speaker 1>to catch that excitement and do something with it. Is
<v Speaker 1>has always traditionally been very important to skateboarding, so love
<v Speaker 1>to see that. Now we're gonna get the Tony Hawk,
<v Speaker 1>we're getting skate and we're getting sort of the Tetris
<v Speaker 1>effect equivalent of skateboarding with this game.
<v Speaker 3>And I'm like, yeah, let's do that. That sounds great.
<v Speaker 1>And I guess for people that aren't watching visually, skate
<v Speaker 1>story is you know, a shimmery man on a skateboard
<v Speaker 1>skating through a digital health scape or something like that
<v Speaker 1>while cool music and special effects happen, it just looks
<v Speaker 1>very stylish. I mean, honestly Tetris effect, but for skateboarding
<v Speaker 1>maybe isn't so far off from a gaulation of what
<v Speaker 1>this thing is. Yeah, I think that's a good shout out.
<v Speaker 1>Perhaps a res or Aluminez as well. Yes in that zone. Yeah,
<v Speaker 1>this is Fanta Vision. Yeah, the Fantavision for skateboarding.
<v Speaker 3>Hey, that's overdue. We should have got that a long
<v Speaker 3>time ago.
<v Speaker 1>Personally, in my opinion, this was like not the only
<v Speaker 1>thing that was popping off from like some indie game
<v Speaker 1>announcements that Sony had, but this was the biggest one
<v Speaker 1>I saw from them.
<v Speaker 3>But there's some other stuff happening with indie games over
<v Speaker 3>at PlayStation.
<v Speaker 1>Let's get to this next story, though, College football players
<v Speaker 1>will be paid more to appear in College Football twenty six.
<v Speaker 1>This is from Nicole Carpenter at Polygon. Ahead of College
<v Speaker 1>Football twenty five, EA Sports paid college football players six
<v Speaker 1>hundred dollars and a copy of the game to license
<v Speaker 1>the player's likenesses for the game. That's being up to
<v Speaker 1>fifteen hundred dollars per player for college football twenty six,
<v Speaker 1>according to a report from The Athletic. EA Sports just
<v Speaker 1>said in an email to players on Tuesday for the
<v Speaker 1>report that name, image and likeness in IL payments would
<v Speaker 1>increase and.
<v Speaker 3>That players will still receive a copy of the game.
<v Speaker 3>From the beginning.
<v Speaker 1>We've designed our and I Help program to be accessible, direct, voluntary,
<v Speaker 1>and equitable for all, offering the same base level compensation
<v Speaker 1>to every FBS athlete that ops in using the one
<v Speaker 1>team platform encompass inil app. EA Sports Vice president of
<v Speaker 1>this this development, Joan O'Brien said in a statement to
<v Speaker 1>the Athletic, this approach empowers each athlete to make their
<v Speaker 1>own decision. College sports are growing and changing, and our
<v Speaker 1>focus at EA Sports is on continuing to put athletes
<v Speaker 1>first as we bring them in game in college ball
<v Speaker 1>twenty six and beyond.
<v Speaker 3>And we all know, we know that's all.
<v Speaker 1>Bullshit, right, It's like, that was so much bullshit, Ye,
<v Speaker 1>so much bullshit. You putting the players first? My god,
<v Speaker 1>get a grip you want like you're doing no such thing.
<v Speaker 1>You're giving them pennies for a game that makes hundreds
<v Speaker 1>of millions of dollars. I mean that first game in
<v Speaker 1>a long time. Last year's game maybe on its own
<v Speaker 1>made a billion and a half dollars. I mean, honestly,
<v Speaker 1>it might have made more than that. It was a
<v Speaker 1>massive success, huge success, and six hundred dollars for each player.
<v Speaker 1>Last year, I was like, and I don't know, I
<v Speaker 1>don't know how you license all these people. That's so
<v Speaker 1>many people. That's got to be a nightmare. And now
<v Speaker 1>they do kind of put a little bit of an
<v Speaker 1>explanation here, is it's a portal that the player can
<v Speaker 1>just go to and volunteer and then they get to
<v Speaker 1>see themselves in the game. They get fifteen hundred dollars
<v Speaker 1>this year and a copy of the game. What kid's
<v Speaker 1>not going to do that? And the one kid that's
<v Speaker 1>not going to do that. Were the handful of guys
<v Speaker 1>that ended up on the cover right that did not
<v Speaker 1>go this route. They were the arch Manning or whatever
<v Speaker 1>and Travis Hunter from Colorado, guys that were held out.
<v Speaker 1>I think arch Manning himself specifically held out until he
<v Speaker 1>got a deal and then he ended up in one
<v Speaker 1>of the commercials, which is going to pay a lot
<v Speaker 1>more money than any of this. So this is a
<v Speaker 1>way of like still depressing wages for people's likeness in
<v Speaker 1>some ways. But I mean, the company is also there's
<v Speaker 1>a lot of people to license, so we're of course
<v Speaker 1>we're doing that, although we're gonna lie and say we're
<v Speaker 1>doing it for the benefit of the student athletes.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah there, y'all could do a little bit more for
<v Speaker 2>the student athletes.
<v Speaker 1>Do more?
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, so please do more. That being said, I guess
<v Speaker 2>a little bit more of a payday is nice.
<v Speaker 1>For clearly it is better.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, these student athletes, I hope they got a free
<v Speaker 2>copy of the game.
<v Speaker 1>Last year they did.
<v Speaker 2>Six hundred dollars a free copy of the game. That's right, great, great, cool.
<v Speaker 2>Maybe a second copy of the game to give to
<v Speaker 2>a friend perhaps, Yeah.
<v Speaker 3>There you go.
<v Speaker 1>I mean I wonder if it's like, would one percent
<v Speaker 1>of the games by revenues split up among all these
<v Speaker 1>players be more than fifteen excuse me, more than fifteen
<v Speaker 1>hondred dollars.
<v Speaker 3>I bet it would be. I bet it actually would be, even.
<v Speaker 1>Despite the fact that there are hundreds I think probably
<v Speaker 1>more than a thousand players, maybe a couple of thousand
<v Speaker 1>players across all of the schools that they are licensing.
<v Speaker 1>So yeah, that would be you're splitting up a small
<v Speaker 1>piece of the pie, but it's very it could be
<v Speaker 1>a very, very very big pie. But you know, EA's
<v Speaker 1>not going to offer that. Ever, that would require require
<v Speaker 1>players to do something like have a student player union,
<v Speaker 1>something that happens in the pros, and they probably negotiate
<v Speaker 1>better deals than this, for like the the NFLPA than
<v Speaker 1>the NFL Players Association, where that's how they usually go.
<v Speaker 1>That's the route they go. They talk to the NFLPA
<v Speaker 1>or the NHLPA or whatever, and then they Okay, we're
<v Speaker 1>gonna offer a deal to you, and then you offered
<v Speaker 1>to all the players and see if anyone, if everyone,
<v Speaker 1>wants to sign, and I think those players get probably
<v Speaker 1>a little bit more than fifteen hundred dollars. At the
<v Speaker 1>same time, there are fewer of those than there are
<v Speaker 1>student athletes, so I see both sides. But I mean,
<v Speaker 1>let's be clear. Ea, this whole explanation is just a
<v Speaker 1>bunch of bs. How many people do you need on
<v Speaker 1>a college football team? Grub Yeah, I mean like four five?
<v Speaker 1>I think.
<v Speaker 2>All right, there's you, there's me, there's Dan Minatti, Nikki Turbo,
<v Speaker 2>Shawn Lucy GiB University, gb University baby coach with coach Bakalar.
<v Speaker 2>We can all get an easy fifteen hundred and a
<v Speaker 2>copy of this game.
<v Speaker 1>Pound the Rock, says Bacalar. Uh. Yeah, I would. I
<v Speaker 1>would enjoy that.
<v Speaker 3>Okay, yeah, let's do it.
<v Speaker 1>I could use fifteen hundred dollars. I gotta replace my
<v Speaker 1>front door, so that'd be great. All right, Hey, college
<v Speaker 1>football twenty six probably still will be massively successful.
<v Speaker 3>It's not gonna be the breakout.
<v Speaker 1>Hit that college football twenty five was, Right, there was
<v Speaker 1>so much pinned up demand. Yeah, that's a lot of
<v Speaker 1>that was the explanation of how that game did so
<v Speaker 1>so so well. Although you know, college all more popular
<v Speaker 1>than it's ever been, so that still will do very good.
<v Speaker 2>That's very true. I am curious to see how the
<v Speaker 2>second game will be received, if it will be as
<v Speaker 2>is sell as well as the first one from last year.
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, it's it's going to probably be the best selling
<v Speaker 1>sports game again. I think in the United States. Globally,
<v Speaker 1>that'll still be FIFA. In the United States, it'll probably
<v Speaker 1>still be this and it could be you know, number two,
<v Speaker 1>number three on the best selling Game of the year
<v Speaker 1>list for from Sircano, Matt Piscatel puts that out.
<v Speaker 3>But if Grand Theft Auto comes out, it's not going
<v Speaker 3>to like outsell that like it might have last year.
<v Speaker 3>All Right, keep pounding the rock on this show.
<v Speaker 1>In Zoi, price, free, update, plans and roadmap revealed just
<v Speaker 1>before launch. This comes from Eddie McCoo at GameSpot. The
<v Speaker 1>life sim game in.
<v Speaker 3>Zoi, which is how I'm gonna say that, I don't
<v Speaker 3>know if that's right.
<v Speaker 1>Is coming this month, and the games developer has finally
<v Speaker 1>confirmed additional key details, including the price of the game
<v Speaker 1>at launch. Game director hing O Jeong Kim said during
<v Speaker 1>the Enzoid Global showcase that the game will debut on
<v Speaker 1>Steam in early Access for forty dollars. According to PC Gamer,
<v Speaker 1>He said the game still has a lot to improve on,
<v Speaker 1>which is part of the reason why it's launching an
<v Speaker 1>early access This is the very like realistic looking SIMS like.
<v Speaker 1>It is the very you know, shiny wife wu Husbondo
<v Speaker 1>SIMS game, which I think a lot of people are
<v Speaker 1>craving and have been to you for a long time.
<v Speaker 1>And so it seems like this is on the precipice
<v Speaker 1>of being a breakout game this year as long as
<v Speaker 1>it does a few basic things right. And I think
<v Speaker 1>people are going to be especially people who are into
<v Speaker 1>this genre jan right. They're used to it coming in hot,
<v Speaker 1>not being complete, and so it's an early access game.
<v Speaker 1>I don't think that's going to deter them. Yeah, I
<v Speaker 1>don't think so either.
<v Speaker 2>The sims Can Unity is a scary and interesting community
<v Speaker 2>that yes has been has been slowly building and doing
<v Speaker 2>things on their own side of the Internet for quite
<v Speaker 2>a while now. I know Abby Russell educated a lot
<v Speaker 2>of us here on Giant Bomb as to the wonders
<v Speaker 2>of the SIMS, but it turns out it goes even
<v Speaker 2>deeper than that. But I do want to share that
<v Speaker 2>Bailey spoke to I think the producer of the director
<v Speaker 2>of Enzoy last year at games Come and he and
<v Speaker 2>he himself is a gigantic fan of the Sims and
<v Speaker 2>wanted to just make a game that his son could
<v Speaker 2>play easier or an easier playing experience.
<v Speaker 1>So I.
<v Speaker 2>Would have some hope for Enzoy coming out and being
<v Speaker 2>pretty good.
<v Speaker 1>I mean, I think that even if it is like
<v Speaker 1>mediocre middling at first, I think the look of it,
<v Speaker 1>and maybe if they maybe making some promises and being
<v Speaker 1>like we are in early access for the specific reason
<v Speaker 1>of you tell us what you are reviving with the
<v Speaker 1>most and what you need the most, and we will
<v Speaker 1>work on that. If that's the plan, then I think
<v Speaker 1>this game continues to stand a really strong chance of
<v Speaker 1>popping off and being like the other game in this genre,
<v Speaker 1>like nothing is actually going to replace the Sims. The
<v Speaker 1>SIMS is like the Pokemon equivalent in this space, where
<v Speaker 1>it no matter what else anyone else produces, even if
<v Speaker 1>it's going to be like this is going to be
<v Speaker 1>the new pal World, it's not going to displace Pokemon,
<v Speaker 1>and this is not going to displace the Sims, but
<v Speaker 1>it could very easily be like, man, this is a
<v Speaker 1>game that made a ton of money, found out a
<v Speaker 1>huge audience, just quietly over there, humming along with you know,
<v Speaker 1>ten million players or something like that.
<v Speaker 3>Easily that could happen forty dollars price tag.
<v Speaker 1>I mean that to me sounds like they're going to
<v Speaker 1>do the business model of the SIMS as well, instead
<v Speaker 1>of making it like free to play, making all the
<v Speaker 1>cosmetics paid for. I think that might also.
<v Speaker 3>Be welcomed by this community as well.
<v Speaker 1>It's so used to that, right.
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, having like a that forty dollars entry ticket be
<v Speaker 2>pretty low and then everything else on top of that
<v Speaker 2>just a little bit more. I think that is an
<v Speaker 2>easier pill to swallow. That being said, I'm still terrified
<v Speaker 2>of the SIMS community. I don't know their spending habits.
<v Speaker 1>I do have.
<v Speaker 2>A couple of friends that have gone very into the SIMS,
<v Speaker 2>and then they wind up knowing more about modding than
<v Speaker 2>I thought they would.
<v Speaker 1>Yes, exactly. It's the kind of thing that gets people
<v Speaker 1>like this. One of the things were like, Hey, I know,
<v Speaker 1>I need a PC so I can play the real
<v Speaker 1>version of the SIMS with all these nods and do
<v Speaker 1>whatever everyonet. And yeah, I'm gonna buy all the packs
<v Speaker 1>as well, because some of the mods require those packs.
<v Speaker 1>But I'm gonna make this game my own because I
<v Speaker 1>mean the sims. That is what the sims is, right, Like,
<v Speaker 1>you find your own ways to have fun. If that
<v Speaker 1>means you're killing your friend Janetcho and Dan Reikert on
<v Speaker 1>the website, and that's what that means.
<v Speaker 2>It happens, you know, I avoid the fugu if possible.
<v Speaker 1>Okay, let's see here a couple more headlines. These were
<v Speaker 1>the most popular characters in the Sonic Racing Crossworld's Network test.
<v Speaker 1>Jan They tested this and they reported back with which
<v Speaker 1>the characters people wanted to play as the most. The
<v Speaker 1>top two are not too surprising, do you know what
<v Speaker 1>they are?
<v Speaker 2>I spoiled myself and I saw the news story, so okay,
<v Speaker 2>it is Sonic and Shadow.
<v Speaker 1>Sonic and Shadow.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah.
<v Speaker 1>The number three is Cream and I guess it's Cream
<v Speaker 1>and cheese. And she's just like one of the chows
<v Speaker 1>or whatever they're called, who hangs out with Cream. But
<v Speaker 1>they're like a pair that work together on a cart
<v Speaker 1>or something like that.
<v Speaker 3>Well, yeah, there you go.
<v Speaker 1>That's not her whole name. That's not her whole name, grub.
<v Speaker 3>Oh, what is her whole name?
<v Speaker 1>Cream the rabbit, Cream the rabbit. Okay, you know, Cream
<v Speaker 1>and cheese. And then Cream the Rabbit, and cheese. I
<v Speaker 1>like to just to like go with the shorter name
<v Speaker 1>to make it sound better, but okay, Cream the Rabbit,
<v Speaker 1>which just sounds like a weird statement. I am still
<v Speaker 1>excited about this game because I like those some of
<v Speaker 1>these Sonic cart racers I've been actually did go back
<v Speaker 1>and play some of Racing Transformed after this got announced
<v Speaker 1>and be like, Oh, everyone's right, this is a very
<v Speaker 1>fun game. Looking forward to this, But I'm hoping they
<v Speaker 1>can like branch off in the way that they once
<v Speaker 1>did with Transform and have more of these characters other
<v Speaker 1>than just the Sonic freaks. Although people seem to be
<v Speaker 1>happy with their cream ands and cheesons.
<v Speaker 2>People love cream and cheese, cream cheese grub, that's fair enough.
<v Speaker 2>I think the boomers watching and listening this aren't ready
<v Speaker 2>to accept that no one likes or no one even
<v Speaker 2>cares about Big the Cat anymore. Yeah, where's Big the
<v Speaker 2>Cat exactly? We're all about Cream the Rabbit.
<v Speaker 1>Now.
<v Speaker 2>Everyone that grew up and played Sonic Advanced three and
<v Speaker 2>they introduced Cream, They're like, oh, that's a fun character
<v Speaker 2>to play as I've just gotta run.
<v Speaker 3>That's what this is. Bring back Big the cat. That's
<v Speaker 3>for real, men.
<v Speaker 2>I will not stand for this cream the rabbit slander.
<v Speaker 1>Cream the rabbit seems fine, but I guess I'm surprised.
<v Speaker 3>Number three.
<v Speaker 1>I'm like, oh, what about Sonic's girlfriend Amy or something
<v Speaker 1>like that, or Tails? Who cares a cream the rabbit?
<v Speaker 1>All right, fair enough, if all you degenerated your cream
<v Speaker 1>and cheese out there, you get your cream and cheese.
<v Speaker 1>A last story here, this is weird from Twitter the
<v Speaker 1>at Game Informer page. I hope this is not just
<v Speaker 1>that CEO being an asshole, but there's a little video
<v Speaker 1>here that seems to be teasing something happening with Game Informer,
<v Speaker 1>and I got to say, I am personally getting my
<v Speaker 1>hopes way up because that could be really cool. Although
<v Speaker 1>it's okay, so it says March twenty fifth, twenty twenty five,
<v Speaker 1>so something will be happening by then. I just hope
<v Speaker 1>it's not like that zombie version of EGM or something
<v Speaker 1>like that, where they brought it back and it's like, oh,
<v Speaker 1>this is not the same thing. And even when they
<v Speaker 1>brought people like cool people like Patrick kleppikin, you could
<v Speaker 1>tell he's like, wait, this is not what I thought
<v Speaker 1>I was signing up for it just was a shell
<v Speaker 1>of its former self. I mean, who knows what what
<v Speaker 1>this actually means. But as I get my hopes up,
<v Speaker 1>I hope, man, I just hope something awesome is happening
<v Speaker 1>with Game of Form and Former again, because we are
<v Speaker 1>poorer for not having Game Informer. I mean every month,
<v Speaker 1>and I you know, they opened up subscriptions there at
<v Speaker 1>the end, and I subscribed, and it was so awesome
<v Speaker 1>to get those magazines in the mail again. And I'm like,
<v Speaker 1>I'm hoping that that could just continue. That would be ideal.
<v Speaker 1>So we'll see. I guess we're gonna get the answers
<v Speaker 1>here early next week, and maybe they'll steal the spotlight
<v Speaker 1>from switch to But yeah, I don't know what what's
<v Speaker 1>your speculation.
<v Speaker 2>It looks like I've been seeing the skeets on Blue
<v Speaker 2>Sky and former staff members are posting it.
<v Speaker 3>Confirmed it all right, Well that's happening. They're coming back everybody.
<v Speaker 3>Oh well, okay.
<v Speaker 1>Lots of former GI people are signal boosting it on
<v Speaker 1>Blue Sky, and it does seem like they are a
<v Speaker 1>lot of those people that seem to work there are
<v Speaker 1>pointing to this and be like this is a good thing.
<v Speaker 1>So we'll see exactly what that looks like for them.
<v Speaker 1>I'm very excited. But yeah, okay, I but here in
<v Speaker 1>rumblings that some people that used to work at Game
<v Speaker 1>Former are having happy things happen to them. So good, good, Again,
<v Speaker 1>the industry's gonna be better off with Game and Former back.
<v Speaker 1>That would be fantastic. Okay, yeah, I was, I was not.
<v Speaker 1>I was lying to the audience. I'm sorry. What I know.
<v Speaker 1>I'm a bad person. I'm a bad person.
<v Speaker 3>Okay, well, we'll get all the details.
<v Speaker 1>For that on market.
<v Speaker 2>Oh okay, hold on, though, Vitelli had posted about this
<v Speaker 2>on Blue Sky and this is actually the most amazing
<v Speaker 2>thing for me personally. But if Game Informer comes back,
<v Speaker 2>does that mean we get a Game in Former twenty
<v Speaker 2>twenty five video game release calendar? Because I hope, So
<v Speaker 2>theirs is the best?
<v Speaker 3>Or was it was the best? Now?
<v Speaker 1>I think that was like tied into the game stop API,
<v Speaker 1>so maybe not so maybe not. Yeah, I'm not exactly
<v Speaker 1>sure if that's how that worked, but I think I
<v Speaker 1>remember hearing something like that was the case. All Right,
<v Speaker 1>we got to pull a question from Monday. Will you
<v Speaker 1>be excited if Naughty Dog's next game, Intergalactic is more
<v Speaker 1>like elden ring Yes or no, Let me.
<v Speaker 3>Refresh that, make sure that it's fully up to date. Here, yes, okay,
<v Speaker 3>there we go.
<v Speaker 1>Thirty nine percent said yes, sixty one percent said no.
<v Speaker 1>I think that's you know, that's about right. There's just
<v Speaker 1>so much trepidation around making a change like that or
<v Speaker 1>or chasing a trend, right, Like, you don't want your
<v Speaker 1>favorite developer to be like, well, we're gonna chase the trend.
<v Speaker 1>Although I don't think that's how Naughty Dog would approach it.
<v Speaker 1>I personally am excited by this prospect because I think
<v Speaker 1>they will take the best parts of it and make
<v Speaker 1>it work with the best parts of what they do
<v Speaker 1>to make a very good video game. And I think
<v Speaker 1>Intergalactic looks interesting. Yeah, I'm a.
<v Speaker 2>Little bit on the fence grub. I, uh, what if
<v Speaker 2>a game? What if games were.
<v Speaker 1>Just the easy? Yeah?
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, what if having a deal with souls and running
<v Speaker 2>back back to my graveyard?
<v Speaker 1>I could just play you the game? Yeah, I wonder
<v Speaker 1>if they They They definitely have talked previous with how
<v Speaker 1>they like the openness and the exploration and making the
<v Speaker 1>adventure feel more like your own. And I wonder if
<v Speaker 1>they're able to do that while maybe not going full
<v Speaker 1>from soft difficulty. Yeah, they probably would want to because
<v Speaker 1>they you know, they make broadly appealing games. But like
<v Speaker 1>The Last of Us Part two is a game that
<v Speaker 1>you always hear like, hey, but I played no other game,
<v Speaker 1>but I played this one, and I wish there were
<v Speaker 1>more games like this.
<v Speaker 3>I'm like, oh, sorry, there's just not and now there
<v Speaker 3>won't be either because they are galactic.
<v Speaker 1>Sounds like it might be a little different as well,
<v Speaker 1>So sorry to those people.
<v Speaker 3>Okay, new pool question.
<v Speaker 1>Have that in a second before we get to all
<v Speaker 1>of that, jan Atchoa. What else do we have going on?
<v Speaker 1>What do you have going on? What should we tell
<v Speaker 1>the people all about?
<v Speaker 2>After this? On the Power Block, we're going to be
<v Speaker 2>checking out thirty three immortals come join us. Maybe we
<v Speaker 2>can all play in the same world's out now in
<v Speaker 2>game pass. I believe that's how, at least how I
<v Speaker 2>have it.
<v Speaker 1>I downloaded using the Xbox game Pass thing on PC
<v Speaker 1>and it worked just fine.
<v Speaker 2>There you go, folks. Later today though, ending the Power Block,
<v Speaker 2>we have the last round of the Blightening Round. Dan
<v Speaker 2>Reikert's turn, and he ready to phone home. Everyone is
<v Speaker 2>going to be playing et on the Atari twenty six
<v Speaker 2>hundred folks, tune in for some wonderful times tomorrow on
<v Speaker 2>the Power Block more game breaking news the Game Spots Show.
<v Speaker 2>We may have some stuff from GDC airing tomorrow as
<v Speaker 2>well as well as Voicemail Dump Truck Friday. Ending the
<v Speaker 2>week with more game breaking news. We have Mike Drucker
<v Speaker 2>on BCR this week, as well as UPF and more
<v Speaker 2>Game Spot after Dark, but also Grub before this. Folks
<v Speaker 2>may be wondering why game breaking news is pushed back
<v Speaker 2>by another hour than they're used to. The Stalker two
<v Speaker 2>documentary that the Game Spot team has been diligently working
<v Speaker 2>on for the past couple months is now out. If
<v Speaker 2>you miss that the premiere of that earlier today, I
<v Speaker 2>suggest you go check it out Labor of Love. And also, hey,
<v Speaker 2>turns out world events affect everything.
<v Speaker 1>Huh yeah, they seem to affect everything. Yeah yeah, especially
<v Speaker 1>if it's those world events are localized entirely in your country. Yeah.
<v Speaker 1>Turns out. So yeah, that was good work. They just
<v Speaker 1>those the guys over there crushed it on that documentary,
<v Speaker 1>so shout out to them. Really excellent work, all right,
<v Speaker 1>let's see new poll question, what do you want to
<v Speaker 1>play as in Sonic Racing Cross Worlds or who do
<v Speaker 1>you want to play as Sonic Shadow Cream or Danica Patrick?
<v Speaker 1>Those your options, Go ahead and vote. We get the
<v Speaker 1>results for tomorrow's show here on Giant Bomb, a new
<v Speaker 1>episode of game breaking News, and tomorrow we'll have a
<v Speaker 1>bunch of fun stuff popping off as well. Until then, though,
<v Speaker 1>Jianna Showa, thank you so much for hanging out with
<v Speaker 1>me today and talking about video games. I really appreciate it.
<v Speaker 1>It's the only way to start a Thursday. It's actually Wednesday.
<v Speaker 1>Don't worry.
<v Speaker 3>Yeah, well, those don't matter anymore.
<v Speaker 1>It's all just one big day and see y all
<v Speaker 1>soon for thirty three Immortals and Blake Club later today.
<v Speaker 3>Thank you all for listening and watching to this show.
<v Speaker 1>Until next time, have a good one, take care of yourself,
<v Speaker 1>and goodbye.