The Xbox Developer Direct: Pass or Smash? Ft. Alejandro Segovia Xbox Direct

What's up and welcome to the Single Player Experience. As always, I'm your host Sebastian Malden, and in this episode we're doing things a little bit different than the norm. I'm not gonna give you a video game recommendation. No. We're going over everything that was announced in the recent Xbox in Bethesda Developer Direct, and I say we because I have a special guest joining me for this one. We have Alejandro Segovia returning to make his second appearance on the Single Player Experience podcast. You remember Alejandro? He's a host of the X Button podcast. He's a video game journalist and he's a writer for the season game site, as well as the critical corner.com. As I said, Alejandro and I are just gonna give our overall thoughts on the Xbox developer. Is this the first step to Xbox? Turning everything around with this narrative that they don't have first party games? Find out right after the intro DJ start the intro mane. Like I said in the intro, we have a very special guest returning to the podcast today. He is a video game journalist for the critical coroner.com, and he's one of the hosts of the X Button podcast. This is Alejandro, the X button Segovia.

Hi everyone. I'm back. Yes. It seemed like it's been a minute. Not quite, like it's just, uh, a month ago when we first recorded Yeah.

Just a little bit. Just a little bit. So am

I gonna become your like Andy Richter or something? yeah, for sure. was gonna get coming back, uh, once in a while, but yeah, last time was such, so much, so much fun getting to like, meet you that first time. Mm-hmm. And then now you like coming into my show meeting Paul. And eventually he'll also join you here whenever, like there's time while he's in the middle of his move. But yeah. And back people. I'm excited to talk about what we're gonna talk about today. Yeah,

for sure. For sure. So Alejandro, you know, like I loved having you on the show, but I had to have you back because we had some really big news that dropped today. A lot of things that happened. But before we get to the topic of the show, what have you been playing lately?

So, I have been playing a couple things. Uh, I recently just finished the Plate, tail Requi. Mm-hmm. That was like one of my, uh, One of my leftover games from like 2022. That was actually one of my most exciting games, exciting games for the fall of that year. And there was just something about play till that having just played in a sense at the va, like right before it came out, there was just something about Requi that I could see, like the ways that it was better, but it just wasn't compelling me to go back to it. But my co-host, Paul, like actually went back to an incision and then he was like praising a lot of things about it. Like to high heaven. I was like, well, I need to clear out my hard drive. It's still installer so I don't wanna have to like reinstall it later. So let's just plow through and finish it. And I did that late last night at like 2:00 AM and boy, oh boy, that game like left me torn in so many ways because as a story it's incredible. Like, uh, we we're talking about it in like our pre-show, uh, before we start recording, but, uh, it's just like that, that that game is just like, Mystery porn to the best in, in the best way. That I like is pretty me, that I love Las of, especially part two that I like when games leave me reeling the ending of that game, like really stuck the landing for me in a way that left me haunted and like really pressed that I literally, when I went to bed, that was all I was dreaming of that ending. It was, it was incredible. But the game part of it disappointed me a little because I am a big fan of stealth games. I like how stealth was done in the first, uh, in, in the first play tale game because it, it felt, it, it built on the theme that you're this 15 year old girl with the little kid and you're trying to survive the French or whatever inquisition this game is supposed to like be adapting to, and this one made you more blood thirsty and wanted to make you like more, more of an actiony game. And I felt that the gameplay mechanics were not balled significantly to like really account for that until you're later in your upgrades and it, so it just made the gameplay parts of it more of a slog. than they were previously. And things that would've been cooler in concept, like a more wider environment, uh, just became slots to go through because there were, like, you had your litany of enemies, ones that had the helmets, so you couldn't remove this time like you did, like you could with certain tools in the first game. And, uh, yeah, it, the gameplay just didn't do it for me, but I'm glad that I finished it. I'm just like, and it just confirms to me that the first game was better. And another game that I am recently finished that technically I had already finished, but I did all the D L C for it, especially from the, from the break until now. Uh, I went back to Assassins Cre Valhalla because I played Valhalla for the first time last year and 123 hours later, like I really did enjoy the main game, uh, of Valhalla. And I know that's not like a very popular opinion, but Valhalla really like, touched to me like the areas of Assassin Street that I really love. that I know others don't. This was like, I love First Civilization shit. Like, that's like my jam. And I feel like the way Bahala really like tied that narrative to the current narrative of where the series was and like also like try to make sense of the entire series overall was something that really, like, really comp compelled me in a way that doesn't compel. The people are just like, no, I like Assassin Street just for the historical stuff. So let me tell you, like if you just like historical stuff, the two of the DLC packs rather with the Drut and Si of Paris are totally for you because they have no bear on the, on the, on the story of that game. And when I was playing this dlc, I tell you I was bored to tears It was like that because that, that DLC was endless. It was like gameplay wise, like it didn't add too much that could separate it from just being adding another 20 hours into an already bloated game and then like the final dlc Don of Ragner Rock. I think it's cool in concepts seeing like them go wild because I like when Assassin Street go, uh, assassin Street goes wild, but playing Don of Ragner Rock just. made me sad because I'm like, I'm seeing what a potential immortal sequel could have been that that had been, and, uh, that I focus on Norse mythology because then the, the way Norse mythology is done and the main Valhalla campaign mm-hmm. it's interesting seeing like how that actually test to first civilization and just through different perspectives and analyzing it, you could find it plausible. Donor ragner rock is not plausible at all, so it's like, it doesn't feel like I'm learning about the first civilization. I'm just watch, I'm just playing a mythological game and that is cool, but that's not assassin street for me. So I finished, I was like, that was cool, but I was like, I spent what, 40 hours of my life trying to beat all this D l C and at the end if I'm like, I was left myself questioning why I was doing other than just trying to complete it and also trying to clear my heart, right? Because recent games that are launching right now are like 90 gigs. So I was like, if, and I didn't wanna like go back much later and have to have to reinstall it. So I was like, I'll just take d l and just play it now. If you're interested in playing vo, you'll see don't, I don't recommend that Okay. And I, and, and I, and I, and I did love that mean campaign. I always tell people, oh yeah, I spent 123 hours with voa. And someone asked me how many of those hours were fun. I was like, 122 Only one hour. I remembered not enjoying. And that tells a lot about how I weirdly got stuck into that game. It felt like it was weird addiction. Like, I don't know what it is about that one and the Odyssey that were weird addictions. Mm-hmm. they just wired, they, they're just wired in a specific way for you to like, keep playing. But right now also, I'm also playing, uh, for spoken. Which, or, or

spoken.

Yeah. You like, and I'll say this just for context, uh, I played the demo back in December. I hated that demo. Um, the mechanics were not well-explained, or I may have missed it. The H D R was broken. So the thing was just as much whiteness that made the world so ugly and was getting me like a headache that I just quickly dropped it and my excitement dropped a lot. Then this past Sunday, like as we were leading towards the reviews, and I wanna kind of like, before reviews hit, um mm-hmm. I saw that they patched the demo, which it's for fun context, final Fantasy 15 back in like 2015 or 2016, also released a demo that they patched. To me it's like, it's interesting that you're dedicating resources to patch a demo when you have like the full game that you have to theoretically work. And I fi I went back to it and played and played that demo and now that HDR was broken and I could at least see things and got to play a little bit more with the magic and realize, oh my God, this feels like infamous from soccer punch. Mm-hmm. I was enjoying it way more to the point that I was like, okay. Um, for season gaming one, the one website you forgot in the, in our introduction. My bad. I'm so sorry. Yes, no worries. Yeah. Uh, so I had told him that I was gonna commit to review that game and he had a heading into it. I was like, started dreading it, but then after I played that demo was like, The gameplay part, which usually is the most important part of the game I'm enjoying. So I think it's not gonna be as bad e even if the dialogue can be really cringy, especially some of the clips that started like does the start popping, it's playing the game, especially in the first few hours. I tell you, when you see the entire thing in context, the dialogue not that bad. In fact, I'm just gonna declare it right now. If people are having issues with this dialogue, I'm getting ready to like file a complaint towards the M C U because what other, uh, because other than the some f bombs that fray the charact that the main character throws here, none of the dialogue that she says feels out of place. From what I've seen from some MCU U characters, especially the quirky ones like the Tony Starks, the, uh, the Antman, even the Peter Parkers. In fact, I was talking with Paul with, with my co-host, Paul from the bottom, that the initial section of that game, Paul, you're in New York, if you were to like. See how Fre deals with like some gang members that are like ganging up on her and trying to steal, and how she in an ingenious way tries to like, uh, whistle herself out of it and escape. You would be hard pressed in. I think that's feels like Spider-man almost. So, so I feel like it's easier in the internet era that we are, that everything can be taken like in out of context clips and all that and you're just doing it to dunk. I feel it's like doesn't really make justice to when you're actually seeing the full thing that some cringey jokes that sometimes were in those clips and, and, and some of those clips, sorry, were actually like setting up amazing punchlines for later on that gar legit laughs out of me that I was not expecting and me that I love a very kinetic, uh, kinetic movement when you go into an open world game. And me that I was also a big fan of infamous those magic powers. I are scratching that itch for, for a game that I haven't played since like 2014. Mm-hmm. so. I'm finding it way better than I thought it would be. Is it great? No, the visuals really lack lobster. They, oh, the overall world has an interesting style to it and design, but there's just something about the Luminous engine that, that, that the Corona, that the Luminous team uses for this game that makes the thing try to go for like a photorealist style, but the resolution is too low. Especially like, I like playing in performance mode. It's, it is running relatively smooth, uh, digital fan reports that sometimes it can dip like in the 40 frames. I'm like, I don't care about that. Like, I'm not someone that's gonna be like, oh, this is at 50, 50 frames or 40 frames. Like, that doesn't like really affect my enjoyment. In fact, like I could still play 30 frames games. Like look at Play Tail rack Room was a 30 frames per second game on console. Yeah. I feel like the, the visuals is like, they don't hold up well when you're like sometimes looking at characters or for example, phrase hair is like a pixelated mess on, on the, on its performance mode. But when you put it like in the quality mode, even the ray trace shadows mode, it looks a little sharper, but it's just not quite there yet. It doesn't feel like, even though this is like a Exogen only game, it feels like a game from like last generation, which is weird. But, uh, the particle effects when like the powers are flying, especially when you see like the fire and it looks cool, it actually looks cool, especially that there's this, the first big boss fight of this game is with the big dragon in like a very misty place. And the mist like mixing with the fire and the particles of like your Earth, earth powers that are going against that can sometimes create some like nice spectacle from a particle, from particle effects perspective. It's just not that overall great looking game. So, and maybe mileage may vary with the dialogue, but I tell you it's like, Maybe I'm just so weak to cringe, or I'm just so tolerant. But that's my thing. I was like, the mcu, if you're like objective about it, it can be cringey, but that's what makes it fun. It feels like this kind of fun. In fact, like if, if I would wanna typecast it a little bit, hearing fray, uh, talk with her cuff, it would feel like I'm, I'm hearing re Riri Williams, the, the Black Iron Man, the, the black female Ironman, talking to Jarvis. It kind of has kind of like that, that kind of vibe. If I would like, try to like, put it put like an, an analog, how it could be like a Riri Williams was like this quippy and also black characters, so mm-hmm. Yeah. I'm not dreading my time. I'm enjoying the time. The thing is that that space is coming soon, and today a a shockingly good game dropped out of nowhere. And I, I want to say much or I don't wanna say much about it right now because I wanna save that for like, the conversation we're gonna, we're about to have. So my plate is full right now. It's kind, it's cuz it's kind of crazy because I even have Monster Hunter Rice installed on my Xbox, but with Game Pass there. So I'm like, God, it's January and I feel like I have all this food that I have to eat. What am, what am I gonna do? Mm-hmm. I feel 2023 is absolutely like we, or like, like I mentioned to you Juan, you guest it in my, in my show 23 3 Act, it, it, it actually start is starting to feel like it's gonna live up to that. Uh, it, this could be one of those like old time grade years. It does just in like in the, in the amount of games. Are gonna show up

So yeah, it really does. I, um, you know, I haven't gotten too deep into first spoken enough to give my, like, solid review on it. My early impressions have kind of been a little mixed, so to speak. I, the dialogue to, to your point, doesn't bother me that much. It mm-hmm. it reminds me of like a urban anime kind of vibe to me. And you know,

by the way, by the way, of it all. Yeah. Mm-hmm. I feel that's where it's funny because the people in the world of Athe, they're so traditionally medieval. Mm-hmm. And when you contrast it with like phrase more like Urban New Yorkers style, those clashes are actually legit funny. Like the. the, the, the Upper East side joke like slayed me. Mm-hmm. like So like, I don't know if you, if if you're in that part that, that, that, that the peasant tells you we're like in the rich part. Oh, yeah. Yeah. And, and, and then pre tells, oh, it's like the upper East side and then the peasant is like, no, this is actually the north side, the north side of the town. So parts of parts like that. I was like, that is actually

funny. Yeah. It, it does ha it is quippy. And I, I like that. Um, I don't necessarily know if the story is really like riveting me so far mm-hmm. but like I, you know, I'm only a couple hours into it, so, you

know. Yeah. I wouldn't call it riveting. I'm, I'm calling it enjoyable. Okay. I think that, yeah, I, I think that's the way is like a, I have heard it actually gets riveted in later on. At least that's the gene Park, what I read from, uh, the Washington Post Review by Gene Park. Mm-hmm. which thankfully he didn't get laid off. Yeah, for sure. Like after what, after, after. What happened LA yesterday that the launcher got destroyed there. So like his review is the one that actually like made me feel, because. My, my taste really aligned with him. Mm-hmm. a lot. So like, getting to read his review, I was like, oh, okay. He gets, uh, I least I understand where he's coming from because he really enjoyed that game. So, so yeah, it was like the, the clashing tones. It's actually, it's so funny cuz uh, this was also the thing with Stranger Paradise last year. Mm-hmm. it, it felt like, um, when you first look at that game, it just look cringey as hell. Like when you're actually playing it, you realize that they understand that it's cringey and it actually works. Yeah. And, and I feel like for Spoken is in that same way. And what I was telling Paul is that yeah, these ga these two games don't seem different. Ironic coming from Square Enix, the big difference was that Stringer of Paradise only had one year to marinate. Mm-hmm like it was revealed at E three and then by before, before E three had to roll before summer games, us had to roll around the next year, the game was already out. We have known about for spoken since it was Project eight Yeah. Back in June, 2020. So there has been percolating for like three years. So the more you have something to percolate and then you see stuff. like this, that may seem off. It feels like an easy punching bag, but I feel like the po it like it being a punching bag doesn't give the game, uh, a game that I find pretty good. Maybe it's okay. I don't know, but it's kind of like not, it's not bad. Like it really is not bad at all. It's like, it's enjoyable.

Yeah, I can understand that completely. Um, yeah. It's, it's one of those things to where I'm like, I, I completely see the complaints, but I also see the bright sides of it. And I'm, I, you know, as I kind of play through it, I'll kind of give my impressions in the weeks to come, but I, right now I haven't seen enough to be just completely off-put by the

game. Exactly. It's just like, I'm, I'm liking it early on. Mm-hmm. I, I got derailed today because I was gonna play it after, before that shadow drop. Yeah.

I, I understand it completely now real

quick. Mm-hmm. have you noticed sometimes, like when it comes to like the review scene, are you finding yourself sometimes, like at odds when it comes to a game to like some ways that some ways a game can is like reviewed sometimes? Mm. So at sometimes like, like, like re especially in recent times because I feel like I aligned more back in the day more with like the, what some reviews we're seeing at certain games. Mm-hmm. that now that I'm playing them, uh, I feel like sometimes I'm liking games that people don't really like or they seem that they're a little harsher. And I don't know why that is. I don't know if it's a generational thing. I don't, if

so, I don't, I do think so, like, I think a lot of people who used to be like dedicated reviewers are kind of aged up to be like editors now. Mm-hmm. are, and also like, they've aged up to be like, uh, like lead editors are lead of teams and then now the people who are reviewing it are probably on the younger side where mm-hmm. we, uh, we've kind of been so, I don't want to use the word spoiled, but we've kind of been so like accustomed to having good things, you know, like Yeah. The best of the best things.

So yeah, we come from the Greg Miller era. Yeah. Like IgM, basically the call Maria era. The, uh, the Damon Hat fields, they wanna do like the ign, like mm-hmm To me it's like, I feel like around that time I really connected with what those guys were telling me. That nowadays, now that I get the new people and I see some of those reviews, I'm like, this doesn't compare like some very high scored games. I didn't like some low scored games that they put, I actually do like, so I, I do find it really interesting, but I think that's why it's so important to never just like take a review at face value. It's more important than never to really understand who is the one that's review.

that, that's a good point. And yeah, that's a good point. And to make sure like their tastes kind of aligned with what you're, you're expecting mm-hmm. And you know, like if I see something by a different outlet, I kind of look to see who reviewed that from that outlet and say like, okay, well, like such and such really, like a lot of his games I really vibe with mm-hmm. Are like, you know, like gr like for, you mentioned Greg Miller, like, I like some of his takes on open world games. Mm-hmm. and cuz he and I can sort of like see eye to eye on like our, our taste on open world games versus like, you know, like I love, uh, eye love. I don't necessarily love like the, I don't see eye to eye when it comes to like Nintendo things with Tim from kind of funny mm-hmm. But like, I do see eye to eye when it comes to like, nuanced games and being like a hallway, like straight traditional experience. Mm-hmm. And I completely understand that. Yeah.

I feel like Tim, when it comes to those games, he, I, I actually really align with him and I rarely align with him. usually. So it's so funny that sometimes when you find like, the specific like niches within, with, within some, within some people. Mm-hmm. Like for example, like, I I would say like even for Greg, it's interesting seeing him that the older he's gotten, he's gotten more into service games. Like he really went to bat for Avengers in a way that, uh, ironically mirrored my own Yeah. In a, in a way. Because I was actually a big, uh, very similar to him. I was a big Avengers fan. R i p they are shouting that game off, at least. Just the development, they announced it last week that that game's gonna be killed as, so it's funny seeing how he has evolved because he was a story guy. I was also a big story about it. Stilled the story guy. Mm-hmm. so.

Yeah. Yeah. I, you know, like our taste kind of grows as we grow older and then like our sort of demands of what we want in video games change as we grow older too. So it's, it's one of those things where like when certain games come out and speak to you, they really speak to you sometimes too. You know? Do you know

what, what maybe you're more excited about some of the things I read about for spoken. Mm-hmm. Mainlining. It is only 15 hours. Oh, that's really good. That's amazing. Thank you. Because other, other, because one, like for review purpose, I'm glad that I can get that done early because my next commitment will be Atomic Heart. Yeah. So I could have it, like, I can have that, like I have I'll, and that's until February 1st. Atomic Heart. Mm-hmm. So I have, I will have enough time to maybe like, play through that space, maybe play through Hogwarts legacy, like on my own leisure, but I haven't to worry about like a deadline or anything. So yeah, it's like, I'm, I'm weirdly get excited cuz this is, it is so funny. Like something that you learn about Paul when you were in guest. Mm-hmm. Paul is a stickler for, I won a game to last me so long. The thing is that I always make fun of him because he never finishes games. In fact, I whipped him this year into like whenever we were gonna do a top 10, that he was actually like gonna have games that he finished because the previous time that we did a top 10, he didn't finish most of these games. In fact, he put, uh, as his number one game, a game that hadn't even come out that year that his second game, Gar of the Galaxy game, that he didn't even finish defaulted to his game of the year. And he didn't really like it in the end. He never finished it. So I was like mm-hmm like if we're gonna talk about, uh, putting things in top 10, at least make sure you

finish it. I, I could, I understand. Um, cuz like, uh, like you can fall

apart if you Oh yeah, for sure. If you don't finish it, like you don't, don't know if like a game remains awesome, like throughout. That's why I'm, I always like, to me. and my, my top 10 that I make, uh, that I, that I made all those games I beat, in fact, like one of them I beat down to the Wire, Kirby because that's the one that I was finishing. And that one's was easy to finish and soon just such an enjoyable game. Uh, he put Midnight Suns in and oh no, literally like, uh, he put it in having me only played like 20 hours literally the week after. He was like, I'm sick of it. And then I started. That is why I don't put unfinished games in a top 10, no matter how enjoyable they are, because that's what happens

So. Oh yeah, for sure. I mean, to your point, I played, um, dying Light too and really enjoyed the first half of that game. Mm-hmm. and Des despised the ba the back half of that game last year. Mm-hmm. And if I only judged it on the first like 20 hours of that game, it might've been in my top 10 for last year. Mm-hmm. but like I, the backed half of that game just to me, becomes a completely different supernatural experience that I wasn't on board with. And I feel like kind of became a different game. So I, I concur with that, that notion you kind of need to at least see it all the way through to see if that story stays in line with what you were expecting or if it falls

apart. Yeah. Which is why I always find funny that, uh, he, uh, he wants games to last him for so long. I prefer, like, to me, I've always been, I don't like super short games that, that, that, because remember back in the PS three era, we got so many games that were 60 bucks that were like five, six hours long. I remember four Unleash two was like that. Mm-hmm. um, That I'm not vibing with, but gimme the 15 to 25 hour game. I can understand. I'll take that. Mm-hmm. maybe, unless you're really good. The 35 hour one, I can vibe with like Rag Rock. Mm-hmm. is technically like a 35 game, like can't push. I beat it like in 60 or 70 hour because I platinum on that game. But it's because if I'm really enjoying it, like at least things that are, are not required for me to finish the game, I, I'm willing to like, spend more time with it, but for like a commitment to finish it, make the game shorter. Yeah. Like, I'm like, to me, like, uh, I, I'm, I don't subscribe to that mentality of like, this game is only good because it spends so many time with it. It's like to me like, uh, yes there's value in money, but there's also value in time. I prefer my time being more. More respected, which is ironic. I said when I spent like 123 hours in Assassin People Hall, big difference that I was actually enjoying in that game. That game was just an addiction. But now I, like, I turned around with it, with that DLC that I felt was like 40 hours wasted for me. playing all of that. So I feel like, uh, value your time. People like Yeah. That, that from developers. Yeah. Sometimes I'd rather have a game that's so tight that I can replay. I like, like we rewatch our favorite movies. Mm-hmm. we don't need things to just be one. And Dons like, I like, like being able to relive Avengers. I

understand. I I'm right there with you. Like Avengers, the Dark Night of the Dark Night is probably one of my favorite superhero movies of all time. Oh yes. Every time

that I saw it on tv, like I was on. Mm-hmm. Yep. I'm watching it now. Even with commercials.

For sure. For sure. I'm, I'm really with you. I'm almost to the point now to where like, um, I'll play like Arkham City and which is like a, it, it can be a longer experience, but like, I'll mainline that story almost like in once a year. Now it's,

it's like, it is like 10 hours, 10 to 12 hours just to mainline. And that's so awesome because then the side content can keep you like occupied with Aham

City. It really can. It really can. So, Alejandro, let's get to the topic of the show. Yes. Today, Xbox Empathetic gave us a developer direct. It was a, you know, a lot shorter than I thought it was going to be because like, I didn't necessarily know what to expect, like meaning people, we, we knew that they were going to show four games, but instead they gave us the five game treatment. I, I really enjoyed that aspect. So, Alejandro, what'd you think of the showcase overall? So,

I, I, I feel like Microsoft did a really good job at setting the expectation right. mm-hmm. because they haven't been able to sometimes manage expectations well ahead of time. Like for example, uh, the LA their last showcase did last year. Uh, it wasn't until we were watching it that we knew that they were now formatting that what we were gonna see was gonna cover the next 12 months. Uh, so that, so that like limited the scope immediately and people were not prepared for that. Everyone went into that show like expecting to hear more about many of the things that they had heard before and they were like in a damn, you do damn a damn if you don situation at that time because they had Ren announced so much that it's still not out. So it's like, it was just always a danger where you don't have much, man, you kind of want to keep excitement, but I feel like this one was, uh, better than what they used to do before, which is inside Xbox. Yeah. Which is like where they, where they decided like this big room and had like someone like interview the devs and sometimes they would go forever. And, um, I feel like from a presentation standpoint, this, this direct was like so well done. I was like, they really did put. Great money and effort into this, especially compared to when they did the pandemic inside Xbox that felt like some people were making a joke that it was like you were watching all Keta videos because of the really low quality camera that they were like talking with each other when you were expect something to be like, you're showcasing the games. You want these games to be as prestigious they can. And while I wasn't a huge fan of everything that was shown here, because some those games are just not for me. I'm excited about the possibility now of, because of all these studios that they have that they can't really fit in in their entire showcase, especially if their Microsoft, uh, the, the Microsoft Activation Blizzard acquisition happens, which means they're gonna add even more. This will be able to spread the wealth and with everything that they have allows them to really also have nicer surprises because they said, we're gonna go with the four. And then it was like they said, the lowest minimum like requirement of like, this is what it's gonna be in that allows you to like over-deliver. And that's what they did with the fifth game said.

for sure, for sure. I mean, it you, like you said, they kind of like under-delivered and then really punched upwards and, and mm-hmm. really hit us hard. I

That's how you need to do it. You absolutely. We need to do it that

way. Yeah. Oh yeah. For like, so for reference, everyone, um, we got five games that, that were delivered. We had, let's see, Microsoft Legends High Five, rush and the Elder Scrolls online. Mm-hmm. Neri and then Red Fall. Mm-hmm. So out of Alejandro for, out of all those five games, which one stood out to you the most?

Uh, the, from the five. Mm-hmm. the one that was a surprise. Rob Highrise High, high five. High-Fi Rush. Mm-hmm. High-Fi Rush. Yes. Because it's from Tango GameWorks, the guys that made evil within one and two and go Our Tokyo So different. So d different and this game is like the complete pivot. This is the going from Kill Some to Horizon. This is the, this is the going from Titan full to Jedi Fallen Order. This is the, uh, going from uncharted to the last of us. Something that's like, so. different from, from, from what they did. And I would even say even more stark because this game is like quirky. This game is like colorful. It's like, it, it's such a unique combination and a throwback to something like Reds, Jeter radio. Mm-hmm. and, and, and, and, and mixing. Some devil may cry with rhythm, with like with rhythm based action. End of this part. It came out.

That was amazing. Yeah. Yeah. I love that shadow drop of like, Hey, and it's out today. And I, I lost my mind. Like I was, I was doing a live react, um, on the Pro report to YouTube channel about it, and I was just like, I was lost my mind when they said it was coming out today. I was just like, this game looks absolutely dope. And its because just

imagine, because, just imagine It's like, uh, Microsoft hasn't had the chance to like, uh, reveal a new first party game in a while. We just came from 2022, the biggest drought in Xbox history, and not only did they finally showed something that looks genuinely new and so on, like anything that's from Xbox. Mm-hmm. they also dropped it Now. We didn't have to wait more. They, they, apex Legends does. They really did. Yeah. They, they really did. And, and on top of that, it being like, this shows the power of Game Pass. Like what, what makes Game Pass such an attractive value? Because like when you're really, like, when you start feeding that service and you don't have to wait much. And it's just be like, Hey, your game past subscription just got slightly sweeter today. You don't have to wait anymore. Maybe just a few hours for the game to pop up there. And, and then it to be immediately, immediately hard. Because I thought when, when they were showing it, I was like, okay, well maybe this is the June game. Maybe something that's coming out next year or like later, later this year. And having it now is like, thank you. It is like, I'm like, you should be doing more of this. You have 23 studios you shoot to theoretically with all you have, having enough in the pipeline that you'll be able to, to shadow drop this instead of having to wait how we, how we been. So yeah, that was like the most impressive thing that I saw in this show. And I, and I was actually coming into the show because I wanted to see ful and what I saw with Red and, and then what I saw of Rat Fall. I'm still mixed. This is, it's, it's mixed, but more positive than last time than I saw it. Mm-hmm. at least I got to see a, a little bit more like, extended chunk of how the game plays and looks. I definitely, I'm, I'm seeing the death, the death loop, uh, inspirations coming in, like especially with the shooting, I'm like, Def Loop is a game that I feel like it's pretty good, but also slightly overrated. Especially cuz that was a game that was like getting tens from like ign and Game Spot. Ah,

I love Def Loop man. I love

Def Loop. So, so, so the thing is that it's very enjoyable, but I didn't think it was like a, it was probably a 10 out of 10 in 2021 It may look more impressive when everything that was around it, but when I look back more to it, I'm like, no, that was actually a pretty good game that I feel like to me, like once the curtain, like the, the, the smoke curtain fell for me and I understand what it really was. The, the replayability of that game palmed for me, which I is what I love. Mm-hmm. about arcane games because it presents itself as a game with infinite possibilities. And then it turns out that there is only one possibility for you to end the game. It has one specific pattern and that to me was what I like lowered it. Because initially I was on board with definitely, I was like, I like how displays, I'm liking the vibe. This has a very golden eye vibe, which by the way, golden Eye. Friday Pass it's Friday and also Intenza search online. So it, it was like it had that kind of vibe. So I really like that of Death Loop. But this feels like it will take the mechanics that I really like from Death Loop because they really nailed that because previous King is maybe not the best gameplay wise because they had a little bit of sluggish to it. But the immersive sim element of it is what carry those games and the immersive si element lowered in Death Loop. But it became a more fun game to play in the moment. What if Red Bull is the perfect amalgamation of those two? Because it felt, it, it felt like it was like there, there are more, even though you can do co-op in this game, they felt like the way that we're showcasing as like you can have like your slow moments as you're going inside houses and seeing the environmental storytelling of like the bleeding text and the things that you can find. And on top of like the Gunplay looking so much like the one that worked from Death Loop. Maybe it will be the best of both worlds. So, that made me more excited except how it looked like it had a little bit of yank. Mm-hmm. robotic animation sometimes. And I was like, and this is supposed to come out in May. Hmm. It may not be quite a looker, but I'm more positive. And here's the thing. Our point of entry for this game is gonna be so low. It's on Game Pass. So it's like, at the very least, like the commitment, it will be easier to swallow. For Death Loop. You really have to pay for PLA full, full prize because it was a PS five.

Yeah, that, that, that is something, the point of entry is also like dirt low. But like I, uh, I'm like you, I have my reservations and I think my reservation isn't the way it looks because like, I don't think this game looks great by any of the means of the imagination, but like, I don't also think arcane Austin games all, like any of the games look great from that studio. I think they are stylish. I think they have a art style to them, but I don't think it's a art style that people would go like, that's a showcase that mm-hmm. that's the game I'm gonna use to showcase my console with. But like, nah, not

even close. No. Like, absolutely not. No. The one that you would use to showcase a console is for Motorsport.

Oh yeah, for sure. And we'll get to that in a second. But like, uh, uh, red fall to me, I think what kind of like stood out as, as like some question marks here is like they were showing some different things in the game, such as like some of the side missions and such like that during the, the showcase,

the loot, like colored glut.

Yeah. Some of that made me feel like we're gonna see some repetition, like out of the gameplay. Like we might, they might have like six different types of missions and then you're just like doing those same six missions types all over again and again and again. And like, it's almost like you, you remember Saints Row from this year? Did you ever get a chance to play

that? Yeah, I did. I did. I did play and finish it. Uh, yeah. One of the bigger disapp, one of the bigger disappointments of that was funny. It was a disappointment, but I. It was so fun. It, it was so funny. I had

some moments that I enjoyed as well, but what, what I'm kind of hinting at here is like, you know how like in Saints Row you had like maybe six different mission types? Mm-hmm. I like side mission types. That's kind of the vibe I get. Not necessarily, but I think it'll be higher quality than Saints Row. But I get like that kind of, that kind of vibe from the side missions. But I also get like left for dead, very left for dead elements of this game, which kind of makes me feel like this to me is gonna be a better co-op experience than it is gonna be a single player experience. Yes.

You know, I would hope that they've, they, they've, they managed the balance because 70 of elements that they showed were you by yourself. Mm-hmm. And I was like, okay. And, and I was like, okay. It's like if I wanted to really play this by myself, I can see a lot of the things that I do like from arcane, kind of shining just as a, as an experience that I played by myself. But the fact that it's, it has that option for co-op. I really wanna see how that, how that works. Because obviously Death Loop was the first foray into multiplayer, but that was more like a one V one. PVP thing, like, like pvp thing. That was, which by the way, I have like I want, I stream launch day, death loop. And Paul invaded me and I didn't know that Paul invaded me and I told him what? Yeah. And so nonchalantly. Mm-hmm. Um, and I only, I only realized it was him because he texted me because he showcased, he, he, he screenshotted my stream. And then I was like, wait, that was you. That's funny. That's funny because, because I killed, because as Juliana was like running backwards, I was like, why is Juliana running backwards, shotgun, shotgun, and kill? And that was him because he said he wanted to, uh, he wanted to have that, that fun moment where he was gonna kill me on stream and it would be funny. Mm-hmm. But it's so funny, it backfired on him. Oh man. That's funny. Yeah. That was so funny. But, uh, I'm, I, the good thing is that it's coming in May. Mm-hmm. My thing is that, Especially with the Force of Motorsport not getting a date. That was shocking. After, after initially seeing Yes, they said, uh, in last showcase spring 2023 and they removed the spring thing. I'm like, Starfield ain coming this first half. I'd be shocked because where do you put it?

I, I'm like, I think maybe Starfield drops in in June or June or July and then maybe fors a motorsport is the big fall game for them. Yeah. Or

maybe both. Yeah.

I mean, when we really think about it, like they're not strangers to doing like two games in the fall, halo, infinite, and, um, and fors a, um, horizon. We're both like Fallish games, you know?

And you would even make the argument big mistake because, uh, Haer release in undercut for Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And, uh, did, did, like fora could have carried that fault for them. They had already released psychos like a month or two before. They already had like a few game pass. Robs also in their. uh, they only wanted Halo there because they wanted to hit that anniversary. Mm-hmm. And it's so sad looking back now that all their attempts to try to hit that anniversary came to bite them in the, in, in the butt because they really did, that game collapsed afterwards because they didn't have a plan. And then we got the news of all the Lays happening on Microsoft and the single player part of Halo Infinite suffering a lot from those layoffs. I'm like, what even is the future of Halo anymore? I'm like, very CREs falling with in regards to that series in, in, uh, over here. But, um, because I don't, I wouldn't think that for and motor sports would be like the, uh, the main, uh, because I feel for the horizon has more appeal than motor sport.

It does, it has more, more like popular appeal and like more like Yeah. Mainstream appeal than for,

so if a, if a for Horizon five could have like carried the end of 2021 for them. I don't think just a for Motorsport could, because I feel like it's appeal is a little bit more niche. uh, because it's a little bit more hardcore, even not, even though not as hardcore as Grant Teresa, I would say a game that I, it's like I always find Sony impenetrable. Mm-hmm. uh, even though this is, is always so pretty, uh, mean, my big question is, I feel hell Blade should be ready by now because Hell Blade was the game that they showcase the Xbox Series X with when it, when they revealed the console back in Game Wars 2019 Pre pandemic. When the, when, when at Keli show. It was like, yeah, we're announcing the next console here, and then immediately after here's the demo. Like, like, like, like a visual, like intro for hell play two. And then we got the da, the gameplay demo in 2021. That lu look incredible. I'm like, that's been like four years in development. Maybe five if you like. Think whenever they bought Ninja Theory, uh, ninja Theory, it feels like that could be one that they could insert in the fall. And how like the two like. The burger and fries, Oh. Is that you need your two servings. So you do.

I'm gonna be real with you though. Like, I, I'm so scared that like they are just gonna have a wave of like, slew of games that they're just gonna launch on one on top of each other and not give any room to breathe. I would almost, even if that game is ready by fall, I'd almost push that back towards like that February slot. Mm-hmm. of like video games. Cuz you know, February has become the new fall season of games

as Yeah. It's so funny like that. That's literally how it, how it is now. It's like mm-hmm. now it feels like you actually look forward to January to March. Yeah. That's like, that's like that those are the moments where before they were like, you wanna be lucky if you would get something in January, February? I feel like February has had a, a history of something releasing some games there. Mm-hmm. even by re dating back to like, I remember in 2009 that's when kills on two Launched. Yeah. Even kills on three, uh, horizons. Sierra darn launched there. Uh, January, once in a blue moon would get the. the Mass Effect two launch in January. Mm-hmm. then Capcom started feeding us in January for like a good, for, for like a good little while. R e seven, uh, R two remake, uh, monster Hunter World. We're like the January games and people are, it's starting to wake up to the fact that sometimes it's. People just want something new. And then if you are like the one, the one game that's launching and that dead month that is January, you're gonna be so successful. Yeah. Now everyone cut on. Look. How many games launched this January

For sure. For sure. It's almost like, you know, like January in the fall, I mean, February in the fall or kind of like that, that like triple A, this is the launch season and now like the Indies sort of ruled the summer, so to speak. Yeah. But like I am, I am, I I'm like you though. I think like hell Blade could be ready. This, um, this mm-hmm. like fall, but even still, I'd move that thing to Spring and, and then I'd have possibly hell Blade and Fable to launch in

2023, you know? Yeah. The thing is that we need to hear about Fable. Like we do Fable. Was it. we started hear hearing rumors that they, they could be unsubstantiated. That apparently is that that thing was travel, which at this point, like how many times I've heard of just a Microsoft developed thing that's in travel, which is so sad. Uh, to me it all depends on when Starfield launches because it's in the days that we got here. So obviously we Minecraft legends. Mm-hmm. uh, which was the thing that started off the show, which not my game. I did, yeah. I did enjoy Dungeons because I did like Diablo and I felt like they did a good kid Diablo. And it was a game but was back in 2020. So it launched when we were in lockdown. So it felt like a good mindless game to play around the time. And, uh, I believe

that's April 18th, right?

Yeah, April 18th. Mm-hmm. And then a month later you get, uh, you get, you get red fall 10 days before tears of the kingdom. So they only have 10 days to like make a mark before tears of the kingdom becomes the insufferable. Uh, insufferable game that everyone's gonna be talking about and prai to high heaven. I already tell you, or we, we talked about this in our, uh, in our top 10 most anticipated games of 2023, which you can listen to now on over in DX Bottom podcast with Sebastian there. Um, that I feel like, especially the way people have treated Breath of the Wild, this think that's gonna swallow a lot and Suicide Squad is the only thing that's left in that month. And I feel like, especially with the recent screenshot that got leaked, that looked like it was gonna be like a live servicing, my assignment of that game plummeted like to zero, especially after seeing how Gotham Nights went. So, Yeah. And,

and, and it has like Marvels Avengers kind of vibes to it now. Mm-hmm. and no one wants that. But yeah. I, you know, going back to this showcase, we had, you know, red Fall, we had High-Fi, uh, for Motorsport, which by the way, we were talking about a second ago, like, I completely agree with you. For Motorsport, to me, has to, it has to somehow do the impossible. And that's like real end non-car enthusiast because like mm-hmm. this game is a super niche game, especially on the Motorsport side of things where, like you, that only normally appeals to like the hardest of hardcore, like car enthusiasts, other

outside. And to be fair, there's many, like, those games have so millions, and obviously it has game passes. It's just that it's, I I wouldn't put it that as a game to like hinge your fall. No. Especially, especially, especially in a theoretical fall that launches with Spider-Man two over in the PlayStation side. Mm-hmm. which that game's gonna sell a ton. like Spider-Man, like the Marvel, Spiderman 2018, such a huge seller. Mix it and, and then mix in, uh, what Youma call it, uh, miles Morales, like, especially if it hits and I believe like we're, we're talking that, and, and I feel like it will because in Soak is actually really good. Mm-hmm. at, uh, what call it, uh, at knowing to get their dates. Mm-hmm. like, like if you remember, even with like RIF apart, um, they made sure to not say when they initially they were like, we're gonna be in the launch window. Okay. The launch window, usually first six months, our date is June. We got to June Rift apart was there. And then even with Spiderman 2018, they said, we're not gonna wait, we're in 2018. And they were like, no, we're in September 4th, 2020, uh, or September 7th, whichever, whichever those days was. Uh, and they hit it. Insomnia. It is rare for them to really delay because I know that there's people who are like, will Spider-Man make it? It's like, look at em. So next Tracker record. It will.

They're gonna make me Yeah. They're gonna make it. As a matter of fact, like play session is gonna be on them like, and say like, Hey, do whatever it takes you're gonna hit this day. But like mm-hmm. Yeah. I, you know, to your point though, like for a Motorsport versus Spider-Man two versus, uh, like Nintendo, Nintendo's gonna have something in the fall. Like it, like it could be Metro, it could be a new like mainland Mario game. Mm-hmm. they're going to have something in the fall as well. Yeah. Especially

remember the Mario movies out in like two months. Yeah. So be insane if they don't like really synergize, but it's, Nintendo, Nintendo never makes anything that you would, they would make sense because they just like doing their, they just like doing their own thing.

Weird Nintendo decisions basically. Yeah. But like, even if they like poured Mario Galaxy too over like to the switch. Mm-hmm. And that's like one of their fall things. That is, that is so

like the. Asinine thing I could ever think of. Like, why are you living of Galaxy too? Like if you got Galaxy weren't working, like Galaxy Two should be able to work. Like they're theoretically, but they love, like I'm, I'm still like with Wet before, it's like mm-hmm. me and my relationship with my n Antenna and them like holding back, uh, both Win Waker and Toilet Princess mm-hmm. from the Switch. It is like a perpetual case of blue balls for me. with that So, so, um, so yeah, it's like, it, it maybe who, who knows? And that's the thing, like when Nintendo's, like, they're always so diligent and even when it feels like they're gonna have an empty fall, then suddenly comes the Nintendo direct that mm-hmm. just launches it. Yeah. Like, and then suddenly their fold is like stacked. In fact, like I mentioned last year, probably Nintendo had like the best year for any of the third par of the first parties when it comes to like a consistent cadence. Mm-hmm. of like big releases, like all year round, maybe I didn't play all of them, but then when I listened and saw everything that they posted, I was like, God damn, they fed you if you're on switch, they fed you. If you're willing to like, look at all of that. Even the, the very last game they fed you with Pokemon was kind of broken. But a lot of people think it's the best Pokemon game even despite that. Yeah, I know you were one Yeah, for sure. So for sure. I feel like Microsoft, like needs, they always launched with two, I feel like a two punch. It's probably what they need. It all depends on what Starfield launches. I feel. If they try to launch Starfield in June, the same month that Street Fighter comes out, Diablo four comes out, final fantasy 16 comes out. It's like, unless you're feeling real, real confident that that game is gonna become like a vacuum to itself, that everything around this should, like fear. Starfield, the last showcase of Starfield, the one that I finally gave, I did not think it was a banger. I didn't, I was like, I, I enjoyed it from premise, but as a, the world's gonna stop here. I'm like, you need to show me a little bit more. Is that because. Especially as your, your, your reputation is not as sterling as it could be, especially following fall 76, which I mentioned to you on our crossover episode. It's like, not really their fault because that was made by the sub team, but they actually took the brunt. Mm-hmm. of like the criticism. Uh, this is like, uh, if we, if this was like the next game following Sky him, I could believe it. But Follow Four also happened there and Follow Four wasn't that impressive. No. Even though it was pretty a good game. So, so that's why like, uh, like they're doing a showcase. Mm-hmm. they mentioned when they announced the one that we saw today, that Starkville is gonna get, have their very dedicated showcase. I bet it's gonna have the same format. Uh, it now picture this. What if like, what just happened right now with High, with, with high, high Five Rush is what they do.

Oh, just Shadow Drop Starfield that day. Oh my goodness. The balls on them. What?

Just think about it. Just, just kind of think, uh oh. Because technically they could.

they could, uh,

yeah, I've been saying I would be, yeah. I would be so shocked if they're, well, but I, I wonder if like, how they dropped the, this, this game today. They're gonna study their reaction to that. Because I'll tell you, my Twitter timeline was like blowing up, blowing up over this game because what a great, uh, perfect storm for, uh, for being able to have like such a unique looking game and have it there right

now. Oh, it's so good. That would be so cool. I mm-hmm. And, you know, Bethesda has had a history of like shadow dropping release dates because they kind of did, um, um, fallout four. Like that you remember? Yeah.

They revealed it. Yeah. They revealed that game three months later, like three or four months later, the game was gonna be out. Mm-hmm. That's what, and that's the thing, that's what made that thing hype with Starfield is like, unfortunately they made the big mistake of revealing Starfield back in 2018. So that game has been like percolating in the, in, in the public consciousness for so long. And back in then it was a multi-platform game. So then it had to go through the process of that. being removed from a, from a multi-platform becoming Anex exclusive. So why would be like a way to really, uh, hit it would have to like, be like, uh, we're gonna really give you the next deep dive and then launch it immediately. There are rumors, uh, Ainsley from my editor-in-chief over at Season Gaming. He has like, connections with the Xbox people. He has heard rumblings that, that the showcase is in February. Okay. That's the thing is, yeah. No, not too far for, for like Starfield. Then I, I don't know where I saw this. Apparently there's like rumblings that there's gonna be like a media, uh, there's, there's gonna be like a media preview thing over, uh, over in March. Mm-hmm. so people can contest Bethe game. So in the case, like my dream scenario, if like they're gonna shadow drop it right then is like, I feel like it's gonna be very relatively soon. My thing is that when I look at this release dates, I'm like, There's nothing in March. No, there's, yeah. Yeah. So March is technically Jedi survivor and rest evil for mo month for me, that to me, is exciting for itself because those are my, for my number one and my number three most anticipated games of the year, um, I feel they could theoretically launch it there if they want to. Kind of like, because your picture, whatever they showcase this time compared to like what they showed last year, it's actually real impressive then on that. Impressive. It's like, and now you don't have to wait too long and, and, and then that's like the media will get to get, go preview the game and then you're short left, or that you guys get it. Mm-hmm.

I, yeah, I'm right there with you. Even if they said, hey, it'll be like, it'll be available one week. Mm-hmm. and then like the media gets it for that one week and then next thing you know, the hype on it, the hype train keeps building and building and building, you know, like, yeah. People would love that. Especially if it's like one week, like, like, oh my goodness. Like I lose my mind. I'd be like, oh, I gotta get ready, like, I gotta hurry up and beat shit. I saw a survivor at that point,

you know? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just think about it. Just think how disruptive today was. Like for me it was like, it's like, it, it's so, like, this is what a bomb feels like when it drops Like this feels like, because it's like you, like I was planning on doing force spoken all day today. Mm-hmm. then that dropped, and that's all I played before we started

recording. So he was, so, we'll get to that in a minute. Um, but I, I got a question for you. Like, they also showed off, um, the sort of like the, the grand deluxe pack for Elder Scrolls online where like all the, all the content and everything like that, it's available for you for limited time, all the DLCs available. Are you enticed to actually play the game?

When they say limited time? That lowered my excitement because I was like, I would've, because I, I haven't really been, been, uh, keeping up with how they're actually supporting this. Like I did. I, I like, I, I don't know because I know that. This is one of the few Thethe games that are still multi-platform. There's a PS five version for it. Obviously a lot of those expansions you can buy them a la carte and I don't know, I haven't known if they in Game Pass if you're, if just, if you get this game on Game Pass, if all of that is just gonna be there as part of your subscription, but my understanding

it's just the base game on Game Pass and then you still have to buy like the D Cs very similar to like, um, Forza, um, like Forza Horizon. You still have to buy the Hype Wheels set mm-hmm. But you like, you still get the base game for On Game Pass. Yeah.

So when I saw how many expansions there were mm-hmm. I'm like, that is a lot of game. This game has literally like escaped me. Yeah. At this point, just when I think, because think about it this way, like I have been like debating of trying to do, because I have a oblivion save mm-hmm. like on my serious ass that I'm still, I have been chipping away at it over like the past year, just kind of slowly going through it because I never beat it. Um, Follow three and New Vegas. I never beat even, uh, Skyrim. I never beat either, so I'm like, they're just thinking about trying to see if I, there's a way for me to finish any of those four games even before Starfield, or maybe after, because I like re I like playing previous entries of at studios work. Mm-hmm. I see this and I'm like, in what? In in what world? Well, I had the commitment to cls, especially when all of that was listed. Mm-hmm. I was like, um, this is cool. This is really cool that you've supported this game for so long. Especially because this was also a middling launch back in like 2014. This game wasn't that well received, but this was more, this is not our live service. This was an mmo. Mm-hmm. So they have really supported it like an MMO should, and technically I own the game on PS five. I bought it for like five bucks in one sale, So that's been just sitting there percolating. Uh, fall four is the only one that of those games that I've beaten and because I beat it right in the moment that it launched when it was at the side guys in 2015. So, I think it's cool. And paper, what they're doing with elders girls online is just like for, to me personally, with everything that I have to play, that limited time thing. No chance. Yeah. No chance. If they had said, Hey, if you're hearing Game pass all of this that's here, we're giving it to you. Mm-hmm. if that's how, how, if that's how it was actually worded instead of the whole limited, limited time thing, which I actually want to go re-watch this student and make sure to hear exactly what we're like, what made that so cool or like what they were gonna offer you to, maybe that would've re tilted. But I feel like conceptually, other than Minecraft, Donius, that was like my least exciting thing about what they were showing here. Same, it's, uh, but, uh, I'm just glad that to see some principles seeing that they're supporting it. Yeah. I have to, it's like I need to make sure that Microsoft is committing mm-hmm. to like these projects that they absorbed and took over when they, when they bought Thethe. I

am too. Um, like to your point, I'm not an MMO person at all. Like I, that's not my genre of games. And, and I really, I wasn't one of the people who like really fell in love with Sky Room. I loved EL scores, oblivion. I got ever trophy in that game. But like Sky Room was nothing. That wasn't a game that like spoke to me on a personal phone. You sure?

Terrific. Eh, that never game, never got trophies. They had achievements. Achievements. You know what I mean? Yes. You know what I mean? Like I was like before Yeah. Saving your budget because that's a game that never got patched for trophies. Yeah. Because it was so early Yeah. But yeah, especially back in the three sixties, I believe was so big that was like such a massive like game, especially the early on in the people don't realize. how better are they? Have it now. Remember the early days of the 360 when there was barely any game? Yeah, that was,

and then that launched That was like one of the games that I was just like playing daily because it was one of the only choices, especially as a r PPG at that time-frame. So yeah, I, I am not gonna probably jump into Elders Girls online for, as a motorsport is again, that I might check out at launch, but I doubt I'd put more than eight, eight

hours into that game. Yeah. Dad usually that those games are like, I wanna see how good this looks on my tv. Exactly. That's usually how, like how I look at those games. So to me, like right now all Ice are on the next showcase, which we're already know it's in the works, which is the Starfield one. Whatever they end up doing that a shadow drop or a release soon is like, that's gonna tell the tale. Um, I would say like knowing that Ford's, uh, it's not just coming in 2023 and they were willing to lay it as after they're being one of the promised ones for this 12 month period. If Starfield needs the time. I don't care if you take dl. Yeah, I don't either give it mm-hmm. just give it like, like if it requires for, uh, for Starfield to like be pushed and be like the big fall. Yes. Optically, it's like you're pushing like the ball further and Yeah. You have to like give it a full year delay. Here's the thing, like no care, don't care. No one's gonna carry if the game banks mm-hmm. if the game absolutely like, becomes like an actual monument, monumental release for them, it's like, it's gonna be worth it. Don't, like, I don't want, like, if the game is technically ready and if it can be ready in launch now if they find a nice window, which to me is getting like narrower and narrower now, especially now that Red Bull is there, like red already stook the claim of May because that's what I thought was gonna be like a perfect starfield release there. It was like, may I only think of the, the two games, one of them I don't really care about. The other one's gonna be baked Zelda. That could have been one. They gave it to Red Bull. So I'm like, okay, word two now like. and I think they would want Redford to come out first before Starfield, but who knows? It's like they can play Today's Shadow Drop makes me think that they can really play music musical chairs in different ways now. Mm-hmm. But, but yeah, I want that game to be ready. So I don't think like, especially because they have been very vocal about, like yeah. The situation of like what happened with cyberpunk, how that was so disruptive to how people, uh, uh, of people rethinking how they're gonna release games, that if that game is a broken mass. Oh,

oh, we'll never, we'll never forget it. We won't. No. Like we won't never forget it. Like it is, it is that old adage, you know, where like, you know, that you always remember a broken game, but like a good game stays a good forever. You know that mm-hmm. that, that basically that saying Yeah.

The, the Miyamoto The Miyamoto game is like a, like a, a a delayed game is eventually good. Uh, pa uh, and, and then, uh, a bad game, a broken game is forever bad. Yeah. Or something like that. Yeah. And uh, obviously this day and age, especially in the age of patches, that is not a hundred percent true, but the stink of the initial impression sometimes. Remains. Yeah, for sure. Like it, it's crazy. Like, for example, cyber punk researched last year. Mm-hmm. and with an amazing nitrogen port. And the anime really like researched again. A lot of people are still like, I still remember when you launched that broken p os back in 2020. Yeah. That's, that, that will always

linger. And, and you know, it's not quite as bad as this, but like people are talking bad about like, for spoken right now. Can you imagine if for Spoken, got the glow up like cyberpunk is getting right now to where like it also has like maybe a cool anime tie in and like mm-hmm. they really do a lot of hard work in, in fixing a lot of the issues with the game that a lot of people have. Then this it, you know, like it still has that lingering like launch day experience though. Mm-hmm. So it's like, it, it will never be the same again. Even how even if it's like a aaa, like 10 outta 10 experience in three years, it'll never be the same, you know? Yeah.

And that's why I always say that, uh, that's the one thing I hate about modern gaming is like Reliance is like the live service model or just thinking it doesn't matter. It'll eventually get good. I'm like, No, look at the graveyard. Yeah. Like Avenger was right there. I mean, it just, he just got put into the sacrificial, in the sacrificial altar and just got, got like beheaded in, in the altar of like, there was a game that no eventually will get good. It never got there. Mm-hmm. like, it, it really never got there. And uh, obviously Starfield is not a live service, so usually those games tend to be like, maybe it's different, but I feel like especially with this, Starfield has the extra, uh, it, it has an extra, how can I say, lens on it of everyone, like looking more, uh, like looking at that game in a more, with a more critical eye. Because now it's Microsoft, like Bankrolling, they got mm-hmm. They, they, they, they're, they're putting, this is gonna be a marquee game. It's like, can they release like a traditional Bethesda game knowing that you have daddy, Microsoft giving you the money. Yeah, gimme an

excuse. Uh, yeah. Yeah. And to your point, like, you know, it's not just that it is the fact that it has the weight of like the entire Xbox catalog on it because like, what have we been saying about Xbox? You know, like where are the triple A games and then where are the first party games? And then not only that, it's like, where are the new, where Yeah. Where the new games and then mm-hmm. when, and then, you know, recently there was, you know, kind of funny kind of story that movement of like, when was the last time an Xbox game was nominated for a game of the year war?

Like, and then when I look, when I really look back at the last decade,

Yeah. It's been very dry, so I'm like mm-hmm. It has so huge, it has so big hefty like expectations on his shoulders to like fix all those problems. Like every single one of those questions, like where have, where are the triple A games? Where are the first

party games? So you wanna know what was the last time that it won was nominated, like in that game of the year conversation. When was it? 2012 Hill four.

Wow. That is insane.

Yeah, because then when I think about like 2013, like what did Xbox have that year? Nothing in 2013. And then in 2014, nothing, like, not even Sony had anything that year 2014 was dry. That was like the shadow mortar Dragon h uh, south Park the year. Mm-hmm. Then 2015, Xbox had nothing. PlayStation at least had blood born. Mm-hmm 2016. Xbox had nothing. PlayStation had uncharted 4 20 17. Xbox had nothing. PlayStation had Horizon that year, but that was breath of the wild year. Yeah. 2018. Xbox had nothing. uh, God of war 2018 was there 2019. Xbox had nothing. uh, that surrounding was kinda like what was in the talk 2020. Mm-hmm. nothing then 2021 Death Loop. But it wasn't even their game. No,

no. So I'm like, it's, it's been so long and you know, like both of us want Xbox to do well. We want there to be like a, uh, a synergy to where all three of the major, you know, game develop, uh, game consoles are doing well, but like, you gotta give us something, you know, you gotta mm-hmm. you gotta give us something to actually play with.

Yeah. Yeah. To me specifically, uh, because I think you and I are similar, that we probably, like, we main on PlayStation, right? Yeah. Like, that's like our main, that that's our main console. Like, I want Xbox to do well because even those Nintendos, as successful as they are, because they're in such different wavelengths than the other, than the other ones, it can make, it can make PlayStation feel like they're being successful by their own, not, not even caring about like Nintendo's success because they're like in different parallel tracks. Xbox is in their same track. Yeah. So when a really good Xbox is like really putting the heat, that's when we know PlayStation. Then we'll Elevate will not rest in their, in their role laurels and they're gonna elevate like, love it or not like, because I absolutely have been hating just having to follow the story. This, this entire past year, the way my Sony acted with the Microsoft, uh, trying to acquire activation, like the things that they've been saying, like freaking Jim Bryan flying to Brussels to cry about it. Basically Uh, and, and, and just like some of the things, like the comments that they've been mentioned is like, call of Duty is irreplaceable. Call of Duty is like this unique thing. And I'm like, you're putting too much effort in a third party game when you have all these like studios that have been like giving you quality game of the year content, like Oh yeah, for sure. That you own. And the way that they have been, they have been like, uh, what's the, this biblical terms, like the whoever like the, like scratches their, their, their clothes or something like like, like, like Torres, they're potentially losing this like shooter and all that. Mm-hmm. I'm like, it's just been so embarrassing. But it really does tell you, it's like they're feeling the heat. Mm-hmm. they absolutely feeling the heat. And Microsoft for some reason takes that game away from it, even though they have promised it many times. They even saying, Hey dudes, we're gonna give you a 10 year contract that's enforceable. Mm-hmm. saying that we're giving you this game for the next 10 years. Like, the way that they acted, it just makes me think like, so this is what Sony looks like in a way when they're like feeling the heat.

Yeah. Um, and also like, we don't even know if like Call of Duty's gonna be big in 10 years, you know? Mm-hmm. Exactly. In 10 years, I mean, 10 years ago, like you could say that Battlefield was right there. Like right there with like one of the top shooters in the world. Battlefield right now can do a damn

thing. No. Like Battlefield is insane. They decided to like pick a fight with Club because remember Battlefield used to be its own thing. Before Call of Duty was doing it was doing its own thing, releasing it its own way. And then John, Rick Catel, the CEO at EA at that time, who was like starting with Battlefield Back Company too, started making comments like, yeah, this is our way to start taking, uh, the fight back towards the Call of Duty franchise. And I'm like, why? Like you've been doing your own thing. Yeah. So do you wanna pick a fight? And then Battlefield three was that legendary, you know, we're releasing in the fall and we're doing mm-hmm. and Marketing campaign is saying we're answering beyond the call and all of that. And since then, since picking that fight, battlefield has just been like, stumbling after stumbling as the stumbling, like the broken game started coming and now it's like with 2042, like Battlefield is a laughing stock. It's a, who knows? Maybe College Duty eventually can be that.

Yeah. I mean, we don't, in 10 years, we don't know what's gonna happen with that ip. Mm-hmm. But I gotta ask you, um, we, we talked about Elder Scrolls online, we talked about Red Fall, we talked about Fords and Motorsport, but we haven't dove deep into the last game. High-Fi. Yeah. Uh, Minecraft. We both, we both kind of brushed on it. Yes. Neither one of us are big Minecraft kind of people. Like Yeah. We're not probably gonna pick this one up, but let's talk about High Five Man. High five. Rush. Yeah. High Five

Rush is like, I'm shocked. This is a game that's coming out of Xbox. Mm-hmm. It's absolutely insane when I look at it and I look at my controller and I'm like, how is this a first party game from them? This is insane. And exactly what they needed, like mm-hmm. they, they, because they, everyone knows them for like a specific thing. They have been toying around with the idea that they could probably diversify, but in the, at the end of the day, they've always been like rotating with between the Halos, the Gears, and the Forces. Fable once in a while and then Fable went, fable went away. Mm-hmm. But with this following, like what they did with Ment last year. Oh so good. I'm like, wow. So they're actually talking the talk of, like, saying that they're giving these studios that maybe didn't have the financial security they had before mm-hmm. to let them like do these very unique games. A game is like, that's basically Devil Make Cry, dance, dance Revolution, jets at radio. Sunset over overall and, and sunset overdrive. Like all like mixing a blender and with some dialogue that feels like straight out of persona sometimes. And knowing that these are the e the evil within the evil within guys. I love it. Like it's crazy. So absolutely crazy. Absolutely, absolutely crazy. And that game, I tell you, it is gonna be like talked about a lot. Yeah. Over this next, over this next pa past week because it feels so refreshing. Like, and it, it feels like an absolute like, refreshing thing in a AAA space that can sometimes feel a little samey mm-hmm. that maybe doesn't wanna like, give too much spotlight at this kind of game. Even though this game, I wouldn't even put in the AAA level because it's actually selling for 30 bucks. Yeah. I hand it up. Yeah. Huh. Yeah. So, so, so you kind of know like, kinda like what they're looking, but here's the thing. I don't care. A good game's a good game, especially real, especially this cool, and that to me is like, what gives me hope for many of these developers to me, like what they did with obsidian, with Penta was like a, a nice sign. Mm-hmm. of. huh? Because they're in the business to putting content on Game Pass then that they're, they're giving their developers the leeway of being like, do your quirky wear little thing because we need content for Game Pass and we're gonna like, promote it in a way that actually matters. And how they did it with like, changing me comedy, being there. That's how you know that this is just some throwaway project. This like, this is like something that's, he's endorsing this, you know, he's, he's absolutely endorsing it from, from within his studio being like, no, we stand by this and we're totally down to being like, so completely different to what we've done. Mm-hmm. And I tell her I want to, I want to keep playing it. It's like I have to review for spoken and I'm like, damn it. Like I really wanna just keep playing high, high five, high-fi rush. It's, this is what I love about the industry. I love, especially like, it gives me hope for the industry that creativity can still like,

Yeah. Yeah, I, I'm right there with you. And, um, one of the things like you brought up just now about like, the fact that it doesn't have to be this big AAA experience mm-hmm. like it could be that Xbox just pumps out content that is that $30 level to where it's smaller experience. Mm-hmm. maybe it's like eight to 10 hours to where you get in and everything's just like nice and tight. Like, almost like they took what worked from like stray with what PlayStation did with Stray and just said, Hey, we have like 14 studios. We can all, each one of the 14 studios can be working on a big game and also a

little, and the thing is they have 23, so Yeah, exactly. Big because they have that many, and eventually if the micro, if the activation blizzard thing goes potentially 30 plus. Mm-hmm. obviously there's the concerns that as of right now we're seeing a way that they haven't been managing the students well. Because if you had been managing the students, you would've released games last year. So Yeah, that's when you knew that there's been a problem there with managing. But, uh, This was like at least a nice taste of maybe what, when the, their fire firing in all cylinders and the games are actually like cooked and ready to go. What? Like what the things that they can happen

and, oh yeah, for sure. Can you imagine if we get like small, like I would love a Halo experience like this to where it's like a tighter $30 like smaller halo experience. Completely

different from like the first fbs. Like completely. Where are the third person shooter? I mean that we got the strategy game. Mm-hmm. Halo could be some other things.

Halo Wars. Yeah. Mm-hmm. It could be completely different or it could just be like a campaign to where it's just a straight shot master chief campaign. It's a smaller scale campaign. It could be, you could do something smaller scale

with gears as well. It sucks that supposedly that was the plan with Infinite. And look where we are now. Yeah.

It really, it really sucks. But like, they have, they have like the, the studios, they have the talent. They have like that kind of track record now, especially with high-fi rush and ment to where you can do the small skill things and really make that like mm-hmm. really make an impact because I almost like me personally speaking, I almost rather have like 12 experiences that are smaller scaled to where I get an exper, like a different experience every single month than rather have these big AAA games that come out like maybe once every three years,

you know? Yeah. These are the nice compliments. These are your fries to the burgers. Yeah. You can't just be be served the, or like the fries to the steak. If we wanna like put it more like, because AAA games not feel like this prestige thing. Obviously it's like eating a steak It can cost like 70 bucks at a steakhouse in Dallas Mm-hmm. I tell you what I so surprised was like, no lie. No lie, no. But uh, but yeah, it's like, I feel like that's been the big problem with AAA is like not, the demands with audiences are such. That, that's why sometimes we wait so, so much for some of these games. Mm-hmm. when back in the day, we should wait. We would wait a year or two to get this. Yeah. Like Microsoft has your work with I belay. They have the money to like be able to give this developers a chance to do their small thing like ment and, and this on top of like grounded. Oh. And even something that they founded like, uh, as Dust Falls, I think it was what it was, it was called as Dust Falls. Mm-hmm. It's like very unique things that, it's weird to think of them as Xbox games.

Yeah. They don't feel very boxy, do they? No,

and I think that's good because then it means like, keep doing this more and then you'll rehabilitate your image. Oh yeah, for sure. Like you're knowledge just gonna be the dude bro box that used to be back in the OG X Xbox and, and 360 days when you were, when you actually had call of. as you like, as a, as a, as your driver. That's why like the Xbox was like the dude bro box back then because it was like the console for tutors and then they lost Call of Duty and then that kind of went, went to a wayside. Or like their identity got weird after they lost Call of Duty and then just became stagnant. I feel like, uh, this gives hope that maybe now I'm, I'm hopeful, like, okay, what's, what's playground games like small game. Oh, that would would be is really cool. Yeah. Like what's, what's, what's on that Labs a smaller game other than like state of decay. Um, because like we mentioned, it's like they're in the business to try to keep game past fail. Mm-hmm. So, and, and unfortunately with subscription services as we see it, when Netflix, it's like they try to push so much content to try to justify the, to try to justify a subscription. So they're the ones that have the, they, they're the ones that have the money. So Yeah. Let them do your weird thing. Yeah. Let them do the weird thing. And I tell you, when you play this game, you're gonna be like, I, I was talking with Paul. We had a smile on our face as soon as it started. Oh, that's amazing. I was like, yes. It's like, this feels like this feels so wholesome. This is so, this is so cute. This is so energetic. This like, it is so revitalized. Like it just to revitalizing. Oh, that's to what? To what I like about like game creativity. Like flying in this like, sort of middle market.

Oh, that's nice. So especially with all the things we've been hit with in the game industry lately, like it's nice that we have like these nice stories to kind of make us feel better, you know? Mm-hmm. about everything. Oh

yes. Yeah. So I'm like, actually it hit me harder, especially after having just finished plate Tell Requi. Mm-hmm. Just yesterday. It was like, what a nice pallet cleanser. getting something this cheerful

I bet, I bet. So, uh, Alejandro, I gotta ask you, what are you gonna be playing for the next

week? So I definitely have to finish for spoken. Like I mentioned, like the, the fact that it's like a 15 hour run time makes me feel, it makes me think that. after I finish editing my podcast for tomorrow, I can have like this entire weekend to just finish it. I definitely wanna sneak in that space because it launches this Friday. Mm-hmm. uh, the review said tomorrow. So I'm really curious. I wanna see how Des p's Remic is reviewed in comparison to the Callisto protocol. I wonder if the Callisto protocol has helped that game. I wonder if they dropped the ball. Who knows? It's like, it's so funny. Like, there, I have no indication to tell me how this remix gonna go so I'm really curious. But I love the original debt space, so I'd be, I, it'd be nice to play that. Uh, I'm gonna be playing more high, high-Fi Hi. High-Fi rush. Okay. Like, as my, as my kind of like p cleanser in between all of that. And if I had the time, I wanna give Monster Hunter Rice a little bit more. Like if a cha, I I still haven't tried it. Paul tried it. I haven't tried it at all. Yeah. Paul tried it and he was cursing at our chat. Like, he, he, he was like so overwhelmed by all the menus and loosen, like, he didn't have the patience for it. I was like, oh, it's one of those, huh. So I guess it's just Monster Hunter again, because I remember that with World until it grabbed me after how many tries. So, okay. So yeah, that's, yeah, that's what I'll be playing at least for, for, for this week, cuz I'm gearing up towards, uh, the release of Hogwarts legacy in like two weeks.

Okay. Yeah. I'm excited about Hoggers home to see. I, I'm really excited we're gonna, you know, like we're doing so much content together in 2023, so definitely look forward to having you back on, uh, the single player experience and definitely look forward to being back on the X Button podcast to talk about all the sweet and nerdy goodness. Oh, yes. I'm looking forward to all that. Um, I'm absolutely, it's been,

it's been rejuvenating. Like, it, it really has like being, having someone new to be able to like create together. It's like, it's so, it's all, it's.

Yeah, for sure. I'm gonna be playing, um, a game called Mega Manga. Venia. It's like Manga. Venia Uhhuh. Interesting. Yeah, it's a indie game. Um, it's, it just, it's kind of reminds me of a little bit of cave a little bit. Ooh, okay. Yeah. Little bit of cave, a little bit of dead sales, uh, but kind of mixed in with a little bit of platforming, like, Hmm. Yeah, it's, it's a smaller scale. It's a smaller scale game. It's not quite a 10 outta 10 experience, but it is a very tight platformer. I,

I've said it before, it's like, I don't live my life just with a 10 out of 10 experiences. Mm-hmm. the spice of lives is in your sevens and your eights

Yeah. This, and this feels like that. This, and, you know, as a person who likes manga and anime, the fact that it kind of has a black and white manga feel to it mm-hmm. and it really like grabs me and really like, and it really like, makes me entitled to wanna play more of it. And the gameplay's fun, uh, it has no story whatsoever, but like, the gameplay feels t tight. It almost feels like I'm playing like a me naruto version of a metro venia. Ah-huh.

And I was like, yeah, I'm looking at the steam page right

now. Like, yeah. Uh, yeah. Like it is, I probably put in maybe like, Four to five hours into it so far, I probably beat like eight levels of it. Really like him when I'm playing. So far,

if you're, this is Justin's steam right now, right? It's not a console.

Yeah. Right. Right now it's just PC and steam. But yeah, it's, it's one of those to where when you do kind of get into it, it really, really grabs you. But um,

I tell her when a metrona grabs me, like I have to stay away from those because, oh God, it's like metro, VE is like crack for me. Mm-hmm. So I have to like stay away from, from them really grabbing me.

So really, really good art style here. It's got a lot of detail in like the enemy variety. It's got detail in like mm-hmm the levels constantly evolve and they change and everything like that. So I, it's right now it's probably one of my favorite indies that played, that's come out in 2023. So yeah,

I'll be great. And we're early. I can't wait to see what else. IndieWise Kim comes, comes this year. Oh yeah. And the thing is that I have you, because you're the one that likes diving into those, so. Mm-hmm. you're kinda like my point of contact

For sure. For sure. Glad to be the indie master, so to speak. But

yeah, like I'm looking forward to have a nice. Yeah, since you mentioned this, since you mentioned that I am in OC crossover episode,

so it looks so good. I can't wait to play it. Um, but yeah, I'm, I'm gonna be playing, um, man Venia and then I'm going to be playing, um, pro. Yeah, just High-Fi rush. Um, those are the two games I'll probably like spend in the majority of my, oh, I cannot sleep on a persona three. I am I portable. Yeah. Yep. Persona three. Portable. It's my first time ever playing the game. I've been diving in enjoying my, I

think you streamed it with the Pro Report. Yeah. Right. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I saw, I saw, I saw the tweets. Uh,

yeah, it's, uh, it's been a fun stream. You know, it's been a fun stream. I, um, I'd like, when I'm playing so far, it does, I sort of can see the age there versus a person who like was my first persona was Persona five. Mm-hmm. and Persona five. Royal, well, like Royal, so I can see the age, but it almost feels like a visual novel now versus like the Persona five game that I, that I grew up.

The persona games are literally my. these look so cool. I played the beginning annoying. They're like a hundred hours I'm like, it's like sometimes you're just trying to find the perfect spot. Mm-hmm. to be like, okay, this is all I'm gonna dedicate. And then it just doesn't happen. So, yeah. It,

it is a good handheld experience. I will say. Like, playing that on like a steam deck or like a switch feels just right. It just feels like it was meant to be so like mm-hmm. Yeah. That, that feels good. So that's why I'm gonna be playing, um, this week. Before we go though, I gotta ask you, what are you gonna be watching this week? Are you, do you have anything that you're gonna be watching? Yes. The last of

Us? Of course. You are. Yes. Like, yes, like, man, I, I wish I could have like an outlet to talk about, like, like we should maybe when the season is over maybe we could talk about the show. Oh yeah. I'm down for it because the, because the show has just been absolutely exceptional. Amazing. Amazing. So it's like, it's been, it's been like, It's been so funny. Like me, I know that first game to, to the back of my mind, being able to like predict some of the dialogue sometimes and in not feeling coordinated, actually working with the version of the story and some of the things they added, like the beginning of episode two was like so wrenching. Mm-hmm. oh God. Like with that doctor.

Yeah. I, I can't wait to see the next episode with Be All and such. Yeah.

That's the one that everyone, like the, all the earlier reviews were mentioning that that was the episode. Mm-hmm. that, that was like the, everyone like is gonna be talking about this one. I was like, that's interesting that apparently the real banger is like this early on in the season. So I wanna see how they, how they do it. And the, the trailer I saw Nick Ferman like, oh, freaking Ron. Good Swanson as hey. I was like, God, it's so perfect. It's like they really nailed the cast. They really nailed this casting for like, what I can't imagine of this character and how they're gonna like, portray it here and I wanna see what the do with Frank. No, because Frank, we never, and Frank, we never saw, uh, no, we

never, we, we always, it was, it was just

the body. After, after, after he hang themselves, uh, I wanna see like how they do this story thread, because I've been, even the part that, as some people have found a little controversial at the end of episode two with the kiss. Oh, yeah. Mm-hmm. I actually liked it because I like body horror, so I was like, mm-hmm. That just makes the, to me, I saw it as a way of like, this just makes it infected even more scary. Yeah. It really does. That this can happen. So, so I under, I understand them doing it, even if as creepy and weird as it is, it's like, yeah, who

cares? Yeah. They changed it up instead of it being spore based. It's almost like that tentacle tentacle base. I'm like, oh, that's so nasty. Which by

the way, like when you see that they're really emphasizing the whole, like, science of it all. Mm-hmm. it's like with the cords of being, I think that warms into something that feels like a way for like that bar that that s to be like transmitted to something. So, yeah. That's why I was like, I was down for that. It was so funny seeing like, uh, the re some of the Twitter reactions to that scene was like, yep. That, that was like, it took two episodes to get like a, a moment that, that. Set people apart. Like, especially the last time I saw something, I spoke with an HBO o show was, uh, house of the Dragon. Do you watch House of the Dragon? Oh yeah, for sure. So episode nine, the scene with Alison Hightower and Larry Strong. Oh, That was, I felt like the reaction. I saw Twitter without me saying, like, it felt like the, the reaction I saw in Toyota where I was like, similar to, I was like, yep, HBO's back.

I love it. It, it's my favorite network right now. Like, hbos putting out some bangs after bangs and I can't wait to see what they do

next. It feels so nice. I was like, they're the ones that are keeping the TV experience alive. It's like, I love week to week. I love the anticipation. I was like, when House of Random do a week to week thing, I was like, man, I missed this. Mm-hmm. I'm glad. I'm, I'm glad. Especially cuz some Disney shows, Disney plus shows have done it like the week to week. I mean, I, that's how I watch Obiwan, me and the Lord and all that. I'm glad that the B model is not the dominant model. Yeah. I remind them with you. And because it's, I hate because it feels like when they drop an entire season, it's like, it feels like homework. and I, if you're smile, if you're slightly interested, it feels like homework because it's like mm-hmm. Okay. Gotta watch all of it. I'm someone that likes Indi, like, I divide, like how I look at a TV through individual episodes. Mm-hmm. if I just mention an entire thing, like, it just becomes as much. Yeah. I like being able to separate

them, so, so you like having a slice of a cake at a time versus having to eat the whole cake,

you know? Yeah. I like the, I like getting, getting the slices as I'm like learning the taste of the thing. Mm-hmm. so then I can have the full cake afterwards if I wanna like relive it. So. Absolutely. Then I already know the taste is good.

I feel you. I feel you, man. It's been great talking to you. I really enjoyed, um, deep diving into the Xbox in Bethesda Showcase with you today. Before you go though, where can the good people find

you? Yeah, they can find me on Twitter at acore dria, at Hive, at alej, at aia. They can find me on Instagram at Alejandro Sego 93 and they can find my written [email protected] and my reviews [email protected]. I haven't like updated Critical Corner in a while, so I gotta figure out what I wanna write there. But like season gaming is like the first book review will go live at any point this week. So man, I look forward to that,

man. Alejandro, you're amazing. You're do, you're doing so much out here. I, once again, I want to thank you for taking the time to be on the show, man. I can't wait to have you back and I can't wait for my next appearance on the X Button podcast until in a few weeks. Oh yeah, for sure. Yeah, for sure. But until then, I will see you on the next one.

Peace out, peace's out people. Have a good night.