XBOX Nation 3 - Panzer Dragoon Orta + World Series Baseball [S2E5]

WEBVTT
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You've got fun Factor too. Old gamers reviewing old video
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game magazine reviews. I'm Ty Shelter, He's Aiden Moher, and
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we're two professional writers who grew up loving the video
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games and video game magazines of the nineteen eighties, nineteen nineties,
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and two thousands. Every episode we take a critical look
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back on the games media that, for better and for worse,
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inspired us to do what we do. First, go to
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wherever you get your media. We'll read the best, kindest, funniest,
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pod Aiden. Maybe the biggest story coming out of Summer
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Game Fest this past week was platform exclusives. How what
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felt like a year to go? Both Microsoft and Sony
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pivoted to some variation of we're going to release sell
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our games on everything. Yeah, yeah, and now before even
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many of the promised cross platform big hitters have hit shelves,
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they're pivoting back because it turns out, if you're going
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to make and sell game consoles, you have to make
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games that sell the consoles.
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Yeah.
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So there are too many games and too many ways
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to play them now for us to really go back
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to the days of the console wars, where like all
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the best games of the year were for either one
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system or another, and you either had the one that
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played the ones you wanted to play or you didn't.
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What is the game that you most desperately wanted to
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play but could not.
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Yeah, that's a tricky one for me growing up, because
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I typically just.
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Ended up with all the consoles, and so.
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I definitely had some exclusives that I kind of yearned
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over for a while. I mean, like yeah, Final Fantasy seven,
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but then I ended up convincing my dad to get
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me a PlayStation, you know, so I was kind of
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in that enviable spot of not being locked out of
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a lot of exclusives. There are periods where, like, you know,
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the PlayStation Vita had Persona for remake, and like that
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was pretty cool. I bought a PlayStation four so I
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could play Fouve Fantasy seven and then went back and
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got to some of the exclusives like got a War
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that I wanted to play. The big one for me
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now though, is like PC. I don't have a Windows PC,
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and there are just so many like yeah, Microsoft games
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from for like big studio stuff. So there's like Don't
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Not did a game called Tell Me Why? And it's
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like a Life is Strange style narrative adventure game, but
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it's only on Xbox and Windows, and so I've just
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never been able to play it, and it's super appealing
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to me, so that one's probably like top of my
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bucket list.
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But then there's just so many indie games that only
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come out on.
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Windows or Steam Deck, and so I just don't get
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to play those, and that's where it is. It's like
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not even just like one specific game these days, it's
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just like I would just love to be able to
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play all those little indies that only come out on Windows.
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But yeah, like what did I look at and yearn for.
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I mean we talked about Xbox and how that wasn't
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really appealing to me. I did buy one eventually because
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I wanted to play Fable and so that was you know,
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like for me, it was always like what was the
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console exclusive that finally made me buy a console? If
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I if I wanted a game enough, I would typically
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end up with a way to play it.
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Yeah, So mine was Panzer Dragoon All the Pants are
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Dragoons for all the platforms that they eventually came out
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on Saturn, it was the only Saturn game that made
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me think, as we discussed on a recent Sega Saturn
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Bonus episode, it was the only one where I was like,
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oh my god, I want that. Why can't I play that?
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Oh? Yeah, you know what for the Saturn. Actually, that's
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a really good example. Most of the working designs games
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on Saturn, I guess would be exclusive. Specifically Dragon Force
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I thought looked really cool and was never able to
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play until I got a Saturn a few years ago.
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So yeah, Saturn, you know what, Saturn probably had a
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ton that I would all go over in magazines.
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Yeah, so the pants are dragoon for me. And it's
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interesting this is aiden get ready because there's gonna be
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a bunch of sports ball content in this one. But
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this reminded me of this weird statistical phenomenon where if
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you look up linebackers who have I think it's at
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least five and a hal half sacks and like sixty
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five tackles or something in a season. You look up
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individual player seasons with at least those thresholds, and like,
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the first one happens in like nineteen eighty two, and
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the last one happens in like twenty twelve, like basically
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my like, and like most of them are in the
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late eighties and early to mid nineties, and it's because
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of the rise of like the three four defense and
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the increase in passing, but not so much an increase
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in passing to where it was like, you know, especially
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like six seven, eight years ago, to where most teams
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were throwing it like forty five times a game. You know,
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there's been some retrenchment back towards the run pass balance,
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but like it was this kind of weird specific time
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where there wasn't as much specialization. Passing had increased to
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where defenses had to react to it, but not increased
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to the point where defenses had to build themselves around
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it and players had to specialize, right, not.
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Like the three point shot in NBA, right, right, it's
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totally just work the game, right.
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And so linebackers who stayed on the field for every
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single down and therefore got a bunch of running you know,
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tackles of running backs and then also rushed the passer sometimes,
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and especially with three four defenses, that kind of, oh,
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we can rush any of our four linebackers, right, so
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any of them might get sacks. So you had players
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who lined up on the outside who got tackles, players
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who lined up on the inside who got sacked. This
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is just not how linebackers work now, or how defenses
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work now. If you've got somebody's good enough to get
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five and a half sacks, that you just want them
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rushing the passer all the time. And they're probably not
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that great at tackling, so you probably just don't even
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put them on the field on rundowns.
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Right.
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So it's this just weird little thing. And I feel
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like rail shooters are the same thing.
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Okay, where from.
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Star Fox up until right about now, you know it's yeah,
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well not yeah no, but this is you know, this
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is again can temporary, right, because I think rail Shooters
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gave us this combination of Okay, we have three D,
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but we have it on rails, so we have we
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can constrain it down and just max out on graphics
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in this area, and then we can keep the player
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on this track and give them maybe even options or
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branching paths or whatever, and you know, stuff to do
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up here, stuff to do down here. But like you're
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not just free roaming because we cannot handle that. So
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we can get all these great graphics. You get a sense.
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Of exploration a little bit, a little bit to remove
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around the screen, but like you also get like really
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tight scripted gameplay events, you know, and games could have
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more randomization or generalization.
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But like basically a lot of times you can you
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can predict what's coming and you can and it's about execution, right, And.
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So it's this this real brigadoon period where the rail
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Shooter let us really show off the abilities of the console. Yeah,
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it kind of kind of gave us that taste of
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exploration and let us have a lot of fun at
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the same time. So I think it was really cool.
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And like, yeah, now that we have consoles where we
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can just fly wherever we want and do whatever we want,
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that's cool too. But you're not going to get the
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same scripted waves of enemies or formations of enemies or obstacles.
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You have to do, you know, and we have to
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like dial in that execution, right, So it's just this
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weird little era and pans A Dragoon just had this.
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The fantasy world was so cool and original and worth exploring.
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The creature designs. I mean, you see this this cover here,
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like this dragon and this exact asset.
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I don't know.
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I feel like this is original for the magazine. They
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do have freelance illustrators and an art director on staff.
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They multiple photographers, right, so we'll get into that in
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a second. So I feel like this is original for
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the magazine. But like when you say a dragon, nobody
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like like pans Are Dragoon at the time, you're like, whoa,
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I've not seen dragons that look like that.
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Yeah, right, Like it's.
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A really original world in universe, and you want to
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explore it and you want to see it, and so
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like all of that added up to a game. I
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multiple games that I really really really wanted to play,
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and here we go Xbox Nation. It has a huge
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cover story Panzer Dragoon, and I think this is a
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magazine that where the art direction and the illustration, as
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we'll see, are really up to the task of making
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this look like a game you just super super super
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want to play.
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Yeah. Absolutely, And its vibes were so strong, yes that
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even in magazines, even without it really like getting to
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see how the kind of unique gameplay, the star Fux
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style gameplay played out. It just looked cool, right, Like
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one of the things I've always loved about RPGs is
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getting to explore these worlds that feel unique, that feel
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like they have a story to tell. And the brands
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are Dragoon games from the very first one, Like you
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I saw you know the you know, the water level
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with the arches. It might even be the first level
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in the first game. I can't remember exactly when it comes,
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but it just has such strong identity in screenshots in
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gameplay that you know, it's not a surprise. They were
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able to kind of take pans of Dragoon and spin
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it out into a Panzer Dragoon saga where they took
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a further step of evolution with you know the combat
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system that you're talking about, uh, and turned it into
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a full fledged RPG with like a world that like
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absolutely supports one of the best ARPGs of the of
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the generation. And you could see the seeds of that
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early on, and it was absolutely compelling.
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That I'm gonna shout out our friends, our friends, Retrograde Amnesia,
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who we almost never failed to shout out. But there's
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a reason why they did great work. They did a
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season on the Panzer Dragoon games and a sub season
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on pans Dragon Orta, which is Orta Orza. I've heard
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people say it different ways, but their walk through of
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those games is just outstanding. And even though they're blow
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by blow, beat by beat, like, they cover the whole
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thing and a truly mind bending ending beat of or
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to you know that I just listened to it all
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fully spoiled. I still want to play it. I still
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want to experience it for myself. So absolutely, whether you
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have or have not played those games, I absolutely encourage
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you to go listen to the Retrograde Amnesia coverage because
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there's tons of background history and like the development of
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these games pushing the Saturn way beyond its limits and
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you know, some of the ideation and some of the stuff.
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The thing that's stuck.
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In my head is in the first one, you know,
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a dragon writer has been knocked off and is dying
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and it's like, oh, like we'll go. My dragon knows
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the way, and like what a brilliant like set up
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for a rail shooter. The dragon knows the way. The
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dragon will fly to the place you need to go.
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You can control it a lot, you know, you can
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make it dodge and move and stuff, but like the
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dragon is going to the right place, and that's why
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it's a rail shooter.
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I just think that's God. It's such a brilliant little
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bit of world building that brings you in. It's super cool. Yeah,
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it's very cool, and like wrapping it around like some
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great story sequences and stuff like y. You know, we
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had schmops on every console leading up to this generation, and.
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They're great, but they're like so you might get a cut.
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Scene at the beginning and then it's just like right
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into the gameplay, whereas pans of Dragoon wrapping story and
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world building around its gameplay conceits was just really it's
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not even was like I didn't even play pans of
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Dragoon until two years ago, and it still holds up
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and feels so.
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Unique even now. And you know they're so they're short.
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You know, the main shooter games are probably two hours maybe,
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and then even pans of Dragoon Saga is like maybe
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fifteen hours first time through, probably like less than that
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if you've played it before. So I mean like, and
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Saturn emulation is better than ever. It's really good now.
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And so you know, go out and legally wire some
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copies of these games and then give it a shot
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via Saturday Emulation because you.
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Know it's worth it.
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These are games that just hold up really well from
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this generation. They're trying something new and it worked in
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a way that didn't necessarily require the compromise and makes
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them feel old.
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Now.
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All right, well, we I think have teased this enough.
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I'm excited enough to get to this. If you're excited
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to stick with us. If you're not already a member
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of Fun Factor Ultra getting ad free episodes, hang tick
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through the break. When we come back, we will crack
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open this beautiful cover and flip through Xbox Nation number
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three right here on fun Factor. Welcome back to fun Factor,
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where too old gamers review old video game magazine reviews.
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Of course we want you to review us. Do we
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get a full five point zero fun Factor? Leave us
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a review on Apple Podcast. We'll read the best, kindest,
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funniest and most entertaining ones on the air.
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Aiden. I want to know the.
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Answer to the question what's the deal of Xbox Nation?
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Because I started looking this up. This might be the
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most confusing what's the deal? Oh, We've ever covered for
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any magazine, and I don't think the actual story is
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out there. Two episodes ago, we covered the first issue
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of Official Xbox Magazine, where Future Publishing's Mike Salmon said
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they got the official affiliation by convincing Microsoft that they
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could make a better Xbox magazine.
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Than anyone else in the world.
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At the same time, Future Publishing Simon Cox was launching
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Zif Davis's new Xbox exclusive magazine, Xbox Nation.
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That's right.
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After a long run at legendary future UK magazine Edge,
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and then helming a couple of magazines for Futures US division,
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including a very short lived mag called Revolution, of which
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I can find almost no evidence that ever existed. Simon
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Cox jumped ship to Ziff Davis and launched Xbox Nation
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alongside the Xbox itself. In fact, according to the Video
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Game History Foundation, Xbox Nation number one was partially distributed
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as a special edition of EGM, and the copy that
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they digitized actually came with a sticker on it. So, oh,
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like Winter special Issue EGM Xbox Nation number one. But
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00:15:31.679 --> 00:15:34.519
just look at this cover and you can see how
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edgy this special edition of EGM is. And by edg,
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I mean edge edg edge like and buckle up because
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00:15:45.240 --> 00:15:47.720
that we're going to get more of that. So hey,
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let's look at the numbers. This is issue three, Summer
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00:15:54.559 --> 00:15:58.759
two thousand and two, because this is a quarterly magazine,
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Naden once again way ahead of the time, they had
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00:16:03.080 --> 00:16:08.000
a like, you know, Winter two thousand and one, Spring
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00:16:08.039 --> 00:16:10.759
two thousand and two, Summer two thousand and two. I've
305
00:16:10.840 --> 00:16:14.159
got to grab the actual like shelf date, release date.
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00:16:15.039 --> 00:16:18.200
But yeah, a quarterly magazine. This kind of presages a
307
00:16:18.200 --> 00:16:21.399
lot of magazines would end up going like quarterly or
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00:16:21.440 --> 00:16:26.039
bi annually late much later, years later, decades later. Right today,
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00:16:26.080 --> 00:16:29.879
I think Edge still publishes as a quarterly, because hey,
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if you're not breaking news, if you're not covering the
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news cycle fast enough, there's no point in releasing that fast.
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If you're hanging your hat on features and specials and
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interviews and high end editorial content, hey take a step
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back and like really knock that stuff out of the park.
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Right. So I think this is a way ahead of
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00:16:48.840 --> 00:16:51.159
its time move to publish quarterly.
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Also, I mean like.
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Ahead of its time often like indicates that they saw
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something coming or like saw a benefit that other people didn't.
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I like, I still don't.
321
00:17:04.480 --> 00:17:09.440
Know that like quarterly publications for contemporary like magazines being
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00:17:09.440 --> 00:17:14.920
released now is a choice, like a stylistic artistic choice
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00:17:15.079 --> 00:17:18.039
rather than just being like a financial choice of it,
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the magazine industry kind of like collapsing. Well it's a lessay,
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00:17:22.599 --> 00:17:24.960
but but like roll back, and I think for the
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00:17:24.960 --> 00:17:27.720
reasons you just kind of described, it makes sense for
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00:17:27.839 --> 00:17:31.519
something like XPN to be more of like aim for
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that prestige magazine and recognize that, hey, we're we have
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one console. Let's put out like four really really strong
330
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issues a year instead of like twelve slim.
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Issues that are maybe reaching a little bit. So it's it,
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you know, you can go both ways. I think.
333
00:17:48.079 --> 00:17:52.359
Yeah, and this aiden this is so funny because we've
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seen in print publications, right, newspapers went from every newspaper
335
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is a daily.
336
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Newspaper, yeah, right, to except for like all weeklies, right,
337
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and then daily.
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00:18:02.400 --> 00:18:05.440
Newspapers started publishing four days a week or three days
339
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a week, you know, and then they basically come down to, Okay,
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00:18:08.759 --> 00:18:12.799
here's the Sunday edition. You know, except in major major cities.
341
00:18:13.599 --> 00:18:15.759
You know, newspapers had to do the same thing. They're
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stepping back to, Hey, if you want hot, breaking news
343
00:18:18.720 --> 00:18:20.240
that just happened, it's online.
344
00:18:20.599 --> 00:18:21.000
Yeah.
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Nobody wants to pay for yes, literally yesterday's news. Yeah,
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you know.
347
00:18:25.519 --> 00:18:29.119
So like this is this kind of thing. Xbox Nation
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Independent Xbox magazine bucks this trend because and again we
349
00:18:34.359 --> 00:18:37.599
are going to cover this magazine later in this season. Again,
350
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because they.
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Start at quarterly and then they go to more frequent
352
00:18:43.240 --> 00:18:46.359
than that, and then by the end of the run,
353
00:18:46.720 --> 00:18:49.960
which is only two years, they're monthly. Huh.
354
00:18:50.640 --> 00:18:54.920
Literally, the opposite of all this normally goes, right, So
355
00:18:55.119 --> 00:18:57.559
this really does seem to be like an artistic slash
356
00:18:57.599 --> 00:19:00.240
creative decision that they ran the numbers and I just
357
00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:03.200
won't wait, maybe this this model doesn't work. Maybe we're
358
00:19:03.200 --> 00:19:04.160
twenty years early on.
359
00:19:04.359 --> 00:19:06.440
Yeah, we're all making four times as much per issue
360
00:19:06.440 --> 00:19:07.920
as we would do it monthly.
361
00:19:08.039 --> 00:19:10.559
And they're also not making four times as much content.
362
00:19:10.599 --> 00:19:14.960
There's only one hundred and nine numbered editorial pages. Yeah,
363
00:19:15.000 --> 00:19:18.559
twenty reviews for one magazine.
364
00:19:18.839 --> 00:19:19.079
Yeah.
365
00:19:19.559 --> 00:19:24.400
So again, like if you're going quarterly, you can't charge
366
00:19:24.759 --> 00:19:27.160
let me see what the actual cover price is here. Yeah,
367
00:19:27.200 --> 00:19:30.839
five ninety nine US, six ninety nine Canadian. So they're
368
00:19:30.920 --> 00:19:34.279
charging what monthly magazines are charging at this point, maybe
369
00:19:34.400 --> 00:19:38.319
a dollar more. Literally need to sell four times many
370
00:19:38.319 --> 00:19:41.880
copies exactly. So yeah, this this, this model did not work,
371
00:19:42.200 --> 00:19:43.400
but it was cool.
372
00:19:43.640 --> 00:19:45.920
And like we see those like a lot of those
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one offs now, Like magazine shelves at the grocery store
374
00:19:49.079 --> 00:19:51.559
are full of like just one off special editions, right,
375
00:19:51.599 --> 00:19:55.160
Taylor Swift or Pokemon or yeah yeah Gtro Grammer has
376
00:19:55.200 --> 00:19:58.440
a great Final Fantasy issue that I got to write
377
00:19:58.440 --> 00:20:03.000
something for. But they're charging twenty five bucks for an
378
00:20:03.039 --> 00:20:07.039
issue rather than five ninety nine or whatever, and so
379
00:20:07.079 --> 00:20:10.039
they're like they're marked up at a premium price. The
380
00:20:10.119 --> 00:20:12.519
same with Game Informer now, I think in Canada, it's
381
00:20:12.599 --> 00:20:16.799
like fifteen dollars for an issue of Game Yeah. And
382
00:20:16.839 --> 00:20:20.559
so they're positioning themselves as like a premium space as
383
00:20:20.599 --> 00:20:22.960
they should because I think, you know, Game Informer is
384
00:20:23.000 --> 00:20:27.480
a good example of like a magazine that is recognizes
385
00:20:27.519 --> 00:20:29.680
that the Internet is going to beat them to the
386
00:20:29.720 --> 00:20:34.279
news first, and so they're crafting like value added content
387
00:20:34.440 --> 00:20:38.160
that's like worth paying for. And like, you know, as
388
00:20:38.160 --> 00:20:40.240
a freelancer, I know that it's getting harder and harder
389
00:20:40.680 --> 00:20:43.880
to sell any pitch that's not tied to a news
390
00:20:43.960 --> 00:20:48.799
beat online, you know. And it's not impossible, but it's harder,
391
00:20:48.920 --> 00:20:51.680
way harder than it used to be. And so we're
392
00:20:51.759 --> 00:20:54.359
losing out by losing out on magazines like XPAN or
393
00:20:54.359 --> 00:20:56.880
for it going to like that more news driven model
394
00:20:56.960 --> 00:20:59.640
as as it got closer to the end of its run,
395
00:21:00.079 --> 00:21:02.119
I do feel like you're missing on on the space
396
00:21:02.200 --> 00:21:05.079
required to tell the big stories book games Yeah.
397
00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:08.640
And I'm going to open up the cover here. I'm
398
00:21:08.640 --> 00:21:12.359
gonna say again, it's wild because this looks like a
399
00:21:12.400 --> 00:21:15.799
future publication. This looks like it has that edge next
400
00:21:15.839 --> 00:21:18.880
generation DNA, right, and what we were saying about Official
401
00:21:19.000 --> 00:21:20.119
Xbox Magazine, it.
402
00:21:20.079 --> 00:21:21.240
Looks like Ziff Davis.
403
00:21:21.480 --> 00:21:25.799
Yeah, right, it looks like the homogenization of everything towards
404
00:21:25.799 --> 00:21:30.279
that kind of more corporate style. And this is very clean.
405
00:21:31.200 --> 00:21:35.920
It's professionally done, but it's also artistic and interesting in
406
00:21:35.960 --> 00:21:37.759
a way that I think is more ambitious and I
407
00:21:37.759 --> 00:21:40.960
think more successfully pulled off than some of these other issues.
408
00:21:41.079 --> 00:21:41.759
Yeah, Like, you.
409
00:21:41.720 --> 00:21:44.039
Can do kind of clean design and it often just
410
00:21:44.079 --> 00:21:47.839
feels boring or under baked, whereas this has clear like
411
00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:51.279
style to it, Like there's an editor or like a
412
00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:56.279
create a visual decision making tree that you're like, okay,
413
00:21:56.279 --> 00:21:57.880
like how do we do clean, but how do we
414
00:21:57.920 --> 00:22:01.200
make it look really slick to like, you know, the
415
00:22:01.240 --> 00:22:05.240
page numbers in those boxes for the features being you know,
416
00:22:05.319 --> 00:22:08.079
like not having margin and kind of bleeding into the
417
00:22:08.079 --> 00:22:11.519
border like that kind of stuff just looks slick and intentional.
418
00:22:11.720 --> 00:22:14.599
Yeah, and zero they're zeroing it out so that everyone
419
00:22:14.640 --> 00:22:18.319
has a three digit number. That's a creative decision. And like,
420
00:22:18.359 --> 00:22:22.559
although aiden the number one way to have a premium
421
00:22:22.640 --> 00:22:27.359
video game magazine is you need awkward black and white
422
00:22:27.759 --> 00:22:30.960
or cp a tone close ups of middle aged video
423
00:22:30.960 --> 00:22:31.680
game of tours.
424
00:22:32.079 --> 00:22:34.319
Yeah, you just absolutely have if you have.
425
00:22:34.279 --> 00:22:36.599
A chance to get sid Meyer or now Peter Mully
426
00:22:36.640 --> 00:22:39.000
nu from just a really weird angle.
427
00:22:39.440 --> 00:22:40.480
You absolutely have.
428
00:22:40.559 --> 00:22:41.960
Everybody loves the low angle.
429
00:22:42.000 --> 00:22:45.160
Ask any photographer that is the most flattering angle to
430
00:22:45.160 --> 00:22:46.039
take photos of somebody.
431
00:22:46.079 --> 00:22:50.759
Yet and we get here's a little bit, and I
432
00:22:50.759 --> 00:22:53.279
didn't clip this out into the script, but you just
433
00:22:53.319 --> 00:22:57.519
want to give me the first couple uh paragraphs here
434
00:22:58.680 --> 00:23:03.160
of uh Simon Cox's intro the yeah letter from the editor.
435
00:23:03.519 --> 00:23:07.960
Yeah, so it's called system shocks, and Simon Cox says, quote,
436
00:23:08.480 --> 00:23:10.799
when the Dreamcast is out selling you, as it is.
437
00:23:10.759 --> 00:23:13.160
In Japan, then you know you're in trouble.
438
00:23:13.759 --> 00:23:17.119
Xbox has failed at launch in Japan, in Germany, in France,
439
00:23:17.680 --> 00:23:20.119
in the UK, and quite possibly in some other countries
440
00:23:20.119 --> 00:23:23.000
that nobody ever bothers to ask about. Anyone know the
441
00:23:23.000 --> 00:23:27.160
sales numbers for Sweden. A recent euro price drop will
442
00:23:27.200 --> 00:23:30.079
no doubt help, but without big new games is going
443
00:23:30.119 --> 00:23:33.359
to be an uphill struggle. Xbox sales in the United
444
00:23:33.359 --> 00:23:36.000
States have been much better, of course, but are also
445
00:23:36.039 --> 00:23:37.839
showing signs of slow into a crawl.
446
00:23:38.519 --> 00:23:39.000
Oh dear.
447
00:23:40.039 --> 00:23:42.920
Microsoft has entered what is surely the most vicious console
448
00:23:42.920 --> 00:23:47.079
war that anyone, including the rather more seasoned guys at
449
00:23:47.079 --> 00:23:50.720
the PC mag across the XBN office can remember and
450
00:23:50.839 --> 00:23:51.640
is getting bloody.
451
00:23:52.480 --> 00:23:55.279
Who So again, I feel like this is a very
452
00:23:55.359 --> 00:23:59.240
untold and unremembered version of this and we hey, we
453
00:23:59.279 --> 00:24:00.920
have it's Xbox Independent magazine.
454
00:24:00.960 --> 00:24:04.079
It's not Xbox Official magazine. Right, We're getting this. Hey,
455
00:24:04.319 --> 00:24:06.079
here's a single system magazine.
456
00:24:06.559 --> 00:24:11.759
Immediately going wow, uh this this might not work after all. Yeah,
457
00:24:11.799 --> 00:24:14.960
We've covered Halo as much as we can, We've done everything.
458
00:24:15.000 --> 00:24:17.079
Where's the second wave of games? The second wave of
459
00:24:17.119 --> 00:24:20.359
games is coming? Please God save us, because if this
460
00:24:20.400 --> 00:24:23.039
thing flames out, then you know, we're all in trouble.
461
00:24:23.039 --> 00:24:26.160
And history being written, we know that this is gonna
462
00:24:26.200 --> 00:24:29.119
go just fine for Xbox, if not for Xbox Nation.
463
00:24:29.319 --> 00:24:32.680
But this is an undersold aspect of the story where
464
00:24:32.680 --> 00:24:36.519
we think about you know, Microsoft proving everybody wrong and
465
00:24:36.599 --> 00:24:38.960
coming in huge to the market and having a big
466
00:24:39.039 --> 00:24:40.680
hit and you know, innovating in.
467
00:24:40.599 --> 00:24:45.920
Several ways, and this bit. I don't remember this kind
468
00:24:45.960 --> 00:24:47.000
of coverage.
469
00:24:46.839 --> 00:24:51.240
Right, Yeah, I don't know.
470
00:24:51.359 --> 00:24:53.920
As somebody who was skeptical of the Xbox at the time,
471
00:24:54.079 --> 00:24:56.119
it kind of fits my perception.
472
00:24:55.759 --> 00:24:58.519
Of how it was maybe communicated.
473
00:24:58.599 --> 00:25:03.359
But you know, to have the actual magazine three issues
474
00:25:03.359 --> 00:25:07.359
in be like, whoa, this isn't going well, right, Hyeah? Absolutely,
475
00:25:07.480 --> 00:25:11.240
that was sort of that, like you were definitely moving
476
00:25:11.240 --> 00:25:14.920
into an era where they're trying to cover the industry
477
00:25:14.920 --> 00:25:18.359
from a more journalistic standpoint, right, and say like, hey,
478
00:25:18.480 --> 00:25:21.039
like it's pretty obvious to you and it's pretty obvious
479
00:25:21.079 --> 00:25:23.279
to us. So this isn't going well for Xbox in
480
00:25:23.319 --> 00:25:26.240
most regions. We're not going to try to pretend that
481
00:25:26.319 --> 00:25:29.480
like Xbox is the place to be for everybody, but
482
00:25:29.559 --> 00:25:32.599
we will cover what is happening and how they're going
483
00:25:32.640 --> 00:25:35.240
to try to pull out of this tailspin, which they
484
00:25:35.279 --> 00:25:38.119
never really did with the Xbox but of course Xbox
485
00:25:38.119 --> 00:25:43.920
three sixty you know, really kind of turned that narrative around.
486
00:25:44.000 --> 00:25:45.319
But the magazine was gone by then.
487
00:25:46.359 --> 00:25:50.279
Yeah, so we're going to move on to this is
488
00:25:50.319 --> 00:25:54.319
not actually the masthead. The meat the team is page eight.
489
00:25:54.880 --> 00:25:56.920
The masthead proper is way in the back.
490
00:25:57.240 --> 00:26:01.440
But I love this because this XPN people we get, uh,
491
00:26:01.640 --> 00:26:05.039
you know, stylized photo. I love this because this is
492
00:26:05.039 --> 00:26:09.160
clearly like Apple. This was like a filter in Apple.
493
00:26:09.359 --> 00:26:10.000
H little booth.
494
00:26:10.440 --> 00:26:15.119
Yeah, absolutely had a U you know, a Facebook profile
495
00:26:15.119 --> 00:26:18.920
picture in this style. Uh, you know, not not in
496
00:26:18.960 --> 00:26:22.440
two thousand and two, but five years later, can you?
497
00:26:22.480 --> 00:26:25.240
But for this not all of these ones in this box.
498
00:26:25.359 --> 00:26:28.200
I think most of these are written actually by Simon
499
00:26:28.240 --> 00:26:30.440
Cox because they all have the same kind of voice.
500
00:26:30.799 --> 00:26:32.400
I clipped that. Do you want to read Simon Cox's
501
00:26:32.480 --> 00:26:37.279
self introduction here? Sure so, Simon Cox, editor in chief, says,
502
00:26:37.480 --> 00:26:40.839
drafted by Upper Grumpton. As a scrummer, young British lad
503
00:26:40.920 --> 00:26:44.319
Simon Cox quickly learned the phrase oh dear Lord, not
504
00:26:44.400 --> 00:26:48.079
the face shortly after doodling a record thirty four wickets
505
00:26:48.319 --> 00:26:53.960
against west Umpton. Sure Cox fled Europe to mold a
506
00:26:54.279 --> 00:26:58.599
raggedy band of miscreants and sheep scripers into a hardened
507
00:26:58.599 --> 00:27:02.440
team of myscre and some sheep scrapers who write about
508
00:27:02.559 --> 00:27:06.440
video games. Yes, and he's also the top dog el
509
00:27:06.599 --> 00:27:10.799
neuro Uno QUAESO and all that good stuff at Xbox Nation.
510
00:27:12.039 --> 00:27:18.960
So for all the edgy, mature like artsy, you know,
511
00:27:19.400 --> 00:27:24.920
master's degree stuff happening here, this is all extremely just
512
00:27:25.359 --> 00:27:28.000
video game writing at the time, Yeah, like very good.
513
00:27:27.960 --> 00:27:28.920
Video game writing at the time.
514
00:27:28.960 --> 00:27:29.440
Yeah.
515
00:27:29.440 --> 00:27:32.759
But a lot of this is just just rambling in
516
00:27:32.799 --> 00:27:34.200
that style.
517
00:27:34.119 --> 00:27:35.559
You know, trying to make somebody.
518
00:27:35.519 --> 00:27:39.039
Imagine, just trying to be funny, be punchy, kind of
519
00:27:39.079 --> 00:27:44.200
presaging the lol so random. Yeah, you know, dime store Nietzsche.
520
00:27:44.200 --> 00:27:47.440
Evan Shimoun reminds us all that it's not who you know,
521
00:27:47.599 --> 00:27:50.680
but who knows. You've got salmon in your trousers, a
522
00:27:50.759 --> 00:27:51.319
bully at it.
523
00:27:51.359 --> 00:27:53.240
You know, it's just like it's funny, but like you
524
00:27:53.279 --> 00:27:54.400
could really.
525
00:27:54.079 --> 00:27:58.640
Like pop any of these in any person's like bio.
526
00:27:59.039 --> 00:28:02.240
Yeah. Sure, and it wouldn't matter, right except for very
527
00:28:02.279 --> 00:28:07.519
specific like you know, instances of Simon Bean from England
528
00:28:07.720 --> 00:28:08.200
or whatever.
529
00:28:08.920 --> 00:28:12.720
Annie Lipscomb photographer Precious Wag Lipscomb makes her way through
530
00:28:12.720 --> 00:28:15.480
this world blowing a tenpenny whistle and taking photographs of
531
00:28:15.519 --> 00:28:18.440
German men with designs on making Xbox games with giant
532
00:28:18.480 --> 00:28:19.240
insects in them.
533
00:28:19.920 --> 00:28:23.279
She's keen you dig and like again, I feel like
534
00:28:23.319 --> 00:28:28.799
this is so captures this moment and riffing and trying
535
00:28:28.839 --> 00:28:29.559
to be funny.
536
00:28:29.920 --> 00:28:32.000
Yeah, and I guarantee Annie did not.
537
00:28:32.160 --> 00:28:36.920
Refer to herself as him Precious Wag. Yeah.
538
00:28:37.039 --> 00:28:44.400
However, however, Jeff Pearlman, freelance writer jump scared me okay,
539
00:28:44.440 --> 00:28:48.200
oh hey, Banjo strumming mud puddle profet Jeff Pearlman covers
540
00:28:48.240 --> 00:28:51.519
baseball for some obscure magazine called Sports Illustrated. You may
541
00:28:51.559 --> 00:28:54.160
remember Pearlman is the guy that pitcher John Rocker once
542
00:28:54.200 --> 00:28:56.519
attempted to kill and we think.
543
00:28:56.519 --> 00:29:00.839
Oh, man, John Rocker, this is true everyone, Oh this happened.
544
00:29:01.279 --> 00:29:03.880
John Rocker was a huge piece of shit. Yoh.
545
00:29:05.240 --> 00:29:09.400
Pearlman did a profile of him that was honest, and
546
00:29:09.440 --> 00:29:11.039
then Rocker just exploded on.
547
00:29:11.039 --> 00:29:14.400
Him in like scrum interview situation. I love because he
548
00:29:14.440 --> 00:29:16.240
had to run to the mound, like he had to
549
00:29:16.319 --> 00:29:18.400
run from the He was a picture, right, Yeah, he
550
00:29:18.440 --> 00:29:20.920
was always running from the black pen, having to like
551
00:29:21.000 --> 00:29:26.680
dodge people throwing gum and bottles. Yeah, and like if
552
00:29:26.720 --> 00:29:28.839
you suck so much that you stand out in baseball,
553
00:29:29.279 --> 00:29:33.039
like you know, true, you suck in case. He was
554
00:29:33.079 --> 00:29:37.640
also on Survivor one season, also sucked mass great. Yeah.
555
00:29:37.880 --> 00:29:41.079
Well, so Jeff Pearlman is sort of a like leveled
556
00:29:41.200 --> 00:29:44.160
up version of me in that he was writing for
557
00:29:44.279 --> 00:29:48.359
bigger websites earlier than me. She did both write at
558
00:29:48.359 --> 00:29:51.160
Bleacher Report because he was he basically just did big
559
00:29:51.200 --> 00:29:55.480
features like after Sports Illustrated. Yeah, he basically did huge
560
00:29:55.519 --> 00:29:58.640
features and then pivoted pretty early on into books. So
561
00:29:58.680 --> 00:30:04.920
he's been writing sports byographies that were huge Sweetness, Walter Payton, Gunslinger,
562
00:30:05.200 --> 00:30:08.599
Brett Favre. He's done some other ones, but the one
563
00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:13.279
that stands out the most is Showtime, his retrospective on
564
00:30:13.440 --> 00:30:16.759
the eighties Los Angeles Lakers that got made into a
565
00:30:16.799 --> 00:30:20.880
prestige I think Netflix series called Winning Time because you
566
00:30:20.920 --> 00:30:25.640
can't make a prestige TV series about a rival prestige
567
00:30:25.920 --> 00:30:30.920
TV making company. Yeah, like Showtime could not make a
568
00:30:31.000 --> 00:30:32.079
show called HBO.
569
00:30:33.559 --> 00:30:35.480
Right it was on Amazon?
570
00:30:35.680 --> 00:30:39.640
Is oh Amazon Okay? But yeah. Jeff Proman The The.
571
00:30:39.640 --> 00:30:44.200
Quas, the Quays. His podcast like Q and As is
572
00:30:44.200 --> 00:30:47.480
one of those. This was a huge podcast in like
573
00:30:47.519 --> 00:30:50.000
two thousand and nine and just still is. He does
574
00:30:50.039 --> 00:30:53.920
great interviews, so Prolman's He's big on social media. He's
575
00:30:54.079 --> 00:30:56.799
very well known if you know sports at all. The
576
00:30:56.839 --> 00:30:59.839
fact that he is writing here is very very cool.
577
00:31:00.680 --> 00:31:06.200
I also really enjoyed Jeremy Sarmiento intern through. Though the
578
00:31:06.200 --> 00:31:09.680
thirteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution officially prohibit slavery,
579
00:31:09.720 --> 00:31:11.359
it says nothing about internships.
580
00:31:11.640 --> 00:31:12.920
Take that, Uncle Sam.
581
00:31:14.920 --> 00:31:18.480
Yeah, So getting this photo and some flavor for basically
582
00:31:18.480 --> 00:31:21.680
everybody who had a direct hand in the editorial content
583
00:31:21.759 --> 00:31:25.079
is really cool. And many of these people, I'm not
584
00:31:25.079 --> 00:31:28.000
gonna go fully blow by blow on their careers again
585
00:31:28.039 --> 00:31:29.519
because I spent a bunch of time trying to chase
586
00:31:29.559 --> 00:31:32.720
down this Xbox magazine stuff. But one thing that's really
587
00:31:32.759 --> 00:31:36.680
cool is a lot of them are still in games media,
588
00:31:37.160 --> 00:31:39.519
or stayed in games media to one degree or another. Right,
589
00:31:39.799 --> 00:31:42.680
Evan Shamoon has been freelancing in a bunch of different places,
590
00:31:42.680 --> 00:31:45.079
and it's also an animal rights activist. A lot of
591
00:31:45.119 --> 00:31:48.960
them ended up doing contract work and game design sometimes
592
00:31:48.960 --> 00:31:50.559
while they're doing freelancing.
593
00:31:50.880 --> 00:31:51.039
Right.
594
00:31:52.839 --> 00:31:55.920
Gregor Orlando, Herald of the Obvious, gregor Orlando hates you
595
00:31:55.960 --> 00:31:57.880
all in life. While I was googling, I found some
596
00:31:57.920 --> 00:32:02.519
sort of archived by encyclopedia dot com interview with Jeff Pearlman.
597
00:32:03.279 --> 00:32:08.200
When asked about like influential writers in his life, he
598
00:32:08.279 --> 00:32:12.359
said gregor Orlando, Right, He's like, yeah, like gregor Orlando's
599
00:32:12.440 --> 00:32:16.160
He's a really talented writer and a brilliant wordsmith. And
600
00:32:16.920 --> 00:32:20.400
gregor Orlando is now a lecturer of narrative and game
601
00:32:20.440 --> 00:32:25.000
design at renness Layer Polytechnic. He did the narrative design
602
00:32:25.319 --> 00:32:28.319
for the Monolith Lord.
603
00:32:28.079 --> 00:32:28.799
Of the Rings game.
604
00:32:30.359 --> 00:32:33.240
Like a bunch of these guys have really cool credits, right,
605
00:32:34.079 --> 00:32:37.759
and illustrator Andre Sabbey and Sabaian does a lot of
606
00:32:37.759 --> 00:32:40.599
really cool illustration work still, and I actually found I'm
607
00:32:40.599 --> 00:32:42.200
going to see if I can find I think I
608
00:32:42.240 --> 00:32:45.720
had it up. He did recently with a Penguin. He
609
00:32:45.759 --> 00:32:48.839
did a coloring book where he did all the illustrations
610
00:32:48.839 --> 00:32:50.680
for it. And I was trying to nail down if
611
00:32:50.720 --> 00:32:55.480
he's the one who did the illustration of the Panzer
612
00:32:55.559 --> 00:32:58.279
dragoon dragon on the cover, because that's it's like three
613
00:32:58.359 --> 00:32:59.440
D not three D.
614
00:32:59.720 --> 00:33:02.440
It's like a model. It looks like it's like clay. Yeah, right,
615
00:33:02.559 --> 00:33:06.039
like sculpture. That's the word sculpture. What do you what
616
00:33:06.039 --> 00:33:07.960
do you call it when you three D model it
617
00:33:08.079 --> 00:33:13.720
in real life? Come on, ty, oh my god, it
618
00:33:13.759 --> 00:33:16.079
looks like a render to me. But it could be
619
00:33:16.160 --> 00:33:18.200
it could be yeah, probably, but still.
620
00:33:18.640 --> 00:33:20.359
It is in there too.
621
00:33:20.759 --> 00:33:23.559
But what I think is interesting about Jeff lunder Grand is,
622
00:33:23.880 --> 00:33:25.839
you know, he's just a freelance writer at this point,
623
00:33:25.960 --> 00:33:28.440
and so that's just following that kind of reverse like
624
00:33:28.720 --> 00:33:31.000
curve of like, you know, being a mainstay at a
625
00:33:31.039 --> 00:33:33.319
place like Game Players, and now it's sort of freelancing.
626
00:33:33.920 --> 00:33:34.960
Whether that means.
627
00:33:34.680 --> 00:33:36.720
Maybe he's like on staff at one of the other
628
00:33:37.240 --> 00:33:39.839
ZIF magazines at this point and it's just freelancing, like
629
00:33:40.599 --> 00:33:43.759
just for Rex Piano or not, I'm not sure, but yeah.
630
00:33:43.799 --> 00:33:47.839
And it's funny because I think Simon Cox brought at
631
00:33:47.920 --> 00:33:51.039
least one or two of these folks with him from
632
00:33:51.160 --> 00:33:53.680
some of the future magazines he worked on, like Revolution
633
00:33:53.759 --> 00:33:58.039
and Official Dreamcast magazine. Yeah, and so like there is
634
00:33:58.119 --> 00:34:03.519
this futurey d running through this, right, So Jefflundergan freelancing,
635
00:34:03.519 --> 00:34:06.880
He's freelancing everywhere. And again we're a few years from
636
00:34:07.119 --> 00:34:09.519
I've tried several times to be like, where is Jeff
637
00:34:09.559 --> 00:34:10.880
Lundergon right now and what.
638
00:34:10.960 --> 00:34:12.000
Is he doing?
639
00:34:12.760 --> 00:34:17.239
And I even busted out the like journalism tools for this,
640
00:34:17.960 --> 00:34:20.039
and I'm pretty sure I can tell you what state
641
00:34:20.119 --> 00:34:21.360
Jeff Lundergan lives in.
642
00:34:21.960 --> 00:34:24.920
But he completely.
643
00:34:24.000 --> 00:34:27.079
Disappeared off the internet in like twenty eight, two thousand
644
00:34:27.079 --> 00:34:30.400
and nine, and I that seems to be on purpose.
645
00:34:30.440 --> 00:34:32.880
So I'm not gonna, you know, bug him or whatever.
646
00:34:33.480 --> 00:34:38.639
But the dream it right, yes, absolutely, So.
647
00:34:39.039 --> 00:34:41.400
Again we're gonna have to come back to Xbox Nation
648
00:34:41.440 --> 00:34:43.639
because there's so many stories here, and again I don't
649
00:34:43.679 --> 00:34:45.920
think a bunch of it has been told. It's almost
650
00:34:45.960 --> 00:34:48.679
crying out to me for a bonus episode of I
651
00:34:48.800 --> 00:34:52.480
want to know how this came together, how these decisions
652
00:34:52.480 --> 00:34:55.559
were made, How you launched a quarterly magazine that was
653
00:34:56.559 --> 00:35:00.920
slim for a monthly magazine ended up going like twice
654
00:35:00.960 --> 00:35:03.679
a month, and then monthly like our every two months,
655
00:35:03.719 --> 00:35:04.360
and then monthly.
656
00:35:04.880 --> 00:35:08.320
You're like, I know, like, we know people who know
657
00:35:08.440 --> 00:35:13.400
Simon Cox, So it's fair enough. We'll put some feelers out.
658
00:35:13.480 --> 00:35:15.039
Let's put some feelers out and see if we can
659
00:35:15.039 --> 00:35:16.199
get that bonus episode going.
660
00:35:16.639 --> 00:35:19.159
All right, we have spent long enough on the masthead.
661
00:35:19.239 --> 00:35:21.280
It is time for the flip through.
662
00:35:29.320 --> 00:35:31.199
Express. We have our our.
663
00:35:31.079 --> 00:35:36.159
Upcoming stuff and again we've got very designy, very cool.
664
00:35:37.039 --> 00:35:40.000
I'm actually gonna flip kind of quickly through this. We
665
00:35:40.039 --> 00:35:42.519
also have some swings and misses. There's a lot of
666
00:35:42.840 --> 00:35:44.519
white on yellow text.
667
00:35:45.960 --> 00:35:49.440
Was like what I don't know, Oh boy, hul Cogan
668
00:35:49.559 --> 00:35:50.360
jump scare.
669
00:35:50.239 --> 00:35:54.480
Hull Coagin jump scare, good Lord, Legends of Wrestling, Enemies
670
00:35:54.519 --> 00:35:58.519
of Journalism, enemies of the Free World, Enemies of the
671
00:35:58.519 --> 00:36:01.800
Free World, exactly for us of the free world. It's
672
00:36:01.880 --> 00:36:05.880
very funny because we get this whiplash throughout this issue
673
00:36:06.119 --> 00:36:09.679
of Oh my gosh, yes, oh my gosh, yes, what
674
00:36:10.559 --> 00:36:18.519
like David Beckham soccer. I do not remember David Beckham soccer? Hookups?
675
00:36:19.079 --> 00:36:24.559
Okay, So this kid's hookups used to mean you know, okay, yes,
676
00:36:24.679 --> 00:36:27.960
literally hooking stuff up. Then it was I've got the hookup,
677
00:36:28.119 --> 00:36:32.039
as in I've got a direct connection to the cool thing, like, oh,
678
00:36:32.039 --> 00:36:32.920
can you hook me up?
679
00:36:34.119 --> 00:36:36.079
Can you give me the cool thing? How do I
680
00:36:36.119 --> 00:36:36.920
get the cool thing?
681
00:36:38.159 --> 00:36:43.559
Hookups meaning making sexual connections with other human beings. This
682
00:36:43.679 --> 00:36:46.440
was not a thing yet or else, this section not
683
00:36:46.440 --> 00:36:51.840
having them called hookups list bought your Guide to future
684
00:36:52.000 --> 00:36:53.440
Xbox games. Okay, cool.
685
00:36:53.639 --> 00:36:55.480
At summer two thousand and two, two thousand and three,
686
00:36:55.559 --> 00:36:58.400
we got all this and.
687
00:36:57.719 --> 00:37:00.760
You know, typical ads. But then we get big feature
688
00:37:01.320 --> 00:37:04.159
putting the money on the page. Now, Aiden Chasing the Dragon.
689
00:37:04.199 --> 00:37:06.519
After years of speculation as to the future of one
690
00:37:06.559 --> 00:37:10.559
of Sega's most beloved franchises, XPN is granted a world
691
00:37:10.639 --> 00:37:16.639
exclusive preview and playtest of Panzer Dragoon Orta. Before we
692
00:37:16.679 --> 00:37:19.199
get into this, I'm gonna skip ahead because we'd get
693
00:37:19.239 --> 00:37:22.320
another We get all this big preview stuff, very very cool,
694
00:37:22.320 --> 00:37:28.119
exclusive interviews with creators awesome. Also another big feature preview
695
00:37:28.159 --> 00:37:32.840
on hit Man two. Awesome, very cool. Relevant right now
696
00:37:33.119 --> 00:37:35.519
as the hit Man studios have that super cool Bond game,
697
00:37:36.280 --> 00:37:40.239
and of course another classic ToeJam and Earl three, which
698
00:37:40.840 --> 00:37:42.360
this this is no shade.
699
00:37:42.199 --> 00:37:43.280
On ToeJam and Earl.
700
00:37:44.239 --> 00:37:46.480
We love the franchise here at our house. My wife
701
00:37:46.519 --> 00:37:49.159
grew up with ToeJam and Earl two, especially, was she
702
00:37:49.239 --> 00:37:50.119
played a ton.
703
00:37:50.000 --> 00:37:53.760
Of that, the one that was a side scroller, yes, yeah, yeah,
704
00:37:53.760 --> 00:37:54.360
the first.
705
00:37:54.119 --> 00:37:56.719
One was weird. I could never figure it out.
706
00:37:56.800 --> 00:37:59.320
Yeah, so yeah, the first one was this weird isometric
707
00:37:59.400 --> 00:38:00.239
exploring thing.
708
00:38:00.639 --> 00:38:01.039
Yeah.
709
00:38:01.199 --> 00:38:05.559
Two was a side scroller, and then three they went
710
00:38:05.719 --> 00:38:06.360
back to this three.
711
00:38:06.519 --> 00:38:09.280
I don't even know if this one came out.
712
00:38:10.039 --> 00:38:13.360
Because like it, it looks like a two thousand and three,
713
00:38:13.960 --> 00:38:16.920
two thousand and two version of what the first game
714
00:38:16.960 --> 00:38:21.039
would have looked like, right, weirdly bearing the like Zelda one,
715
00:38:21.119 --> 00:38:24.800
Zelda two, Zelda three, Castlevania one, Castlevania two, Castlevania three.
716
00:38:25.199 --> 00:38:29.199
You know, we tried to thing. We went in one direction,
717
00:38:29.360 --> 00:38:32.480
we went no back in the other direction kind of thing.
718
00:38:32.840 --> 00:38:36.280
So it didn't come out. It did come out, Okay, yeah,
719
00:38:36.320 --> 00:38:39.760
oh here's a Ubi Soft Yeah, cell shaded first person
720
00:38:39.760 --> 00:38:43.199
shooters thirteen and that I did not know about, but
721
00:38:43.320 --> 00:38:46.519
that was one of the first like really like highly
722
00:38:46.559 --> 00:38:50.960
stylized like cell shaded games. I can remember, like, yes,
723
00:38:51.079 --> 00:38:54.519
obviously we had like wind Waker, and I can't remember
724
00:38:54.559 --> 00:38:57.360
if wind Waker had been and that, like I can't
725
00:38:57.360 --> 00:38:58.960
remember where wind Waker was in all.
726
00:38:58.840 --> 00:39:03.280
Of this, but game thirteen sort of taking sorry.
727
00:39:03.159 --> 00:39:04.840
Well that was Gamekeeper. I think that would have been
728
00:39:05.119 --> 00:39:08.760
like so it was probably like yeah, probably revealed at
729
00:39:08.760 --> 00:39:10.920
this point. But in any case, like thirteen taking that
730
00:39:11.480 --> 00:39:14.920
cell shaded style and applying it to like a GoldenEye style,
731
00:39:15.199 --> 00:39:20.000
like quote unquote mature game was really cool, uh really
732
00:39:20.159 --> 00:39:22.920
uh fun and worked really well. It was just a
733
00:39:22.920 --> 00:39:24.199
good game all around.
734
00:39:24.360 --> 00:39:24.880
Anyway.
735
00:39:25.000 --> 00:39:27.679
This is just this thing with these with this and
736
00:39:27.760 --> 00:39:31.840
especially it happens on these console exclusive magazines right where
737
00:39:32.639 --> 00:39:36.039
every game that's upcoming gets a good hard look because
738
00:39:36.039 --> 00:39:38.360
there's just not that many games, so anything that even
739
00:39:38.440 --> 00:39:40.760
might be cool gets a few of you because you're like, hey,
740
00:39:40.960 --> 00:39:43.920
where's my games, here's my big fancy system, Like what
741
00:39:44.039 --> 00:39:50.559
are the games page? Sixty three, there's why Project, Why
742
00:39:51.079 --> 00:39:55.159
Why Project? Oh, and it gets like yip, a huge
743
00:39:55.760 --> 00:39:58.519
four page spread for like the most random game ever,
744
00:39:59.239 --> 00:40:02.280
Why Project. Yeah, I don't even know what it is,
745
00:40:02.559 --> 00:40:03.760
did it what did it turn into?
746
00:40:03.800 --> 00:40:05.519
But it also like here.
747
00:40:05.119 --> 00:40:12.079
Here are German Men and our giant giants Thomas Rockets
748
00:40:12.079 --> 00:40:18.559
fun Daunts, definitely beating the German Men allegations. Let me
749
00:40:18.639 --> 00:40:23.199
go back to our Panzer Dragoon feature and they you know,
750
00:40:23.639 --> 00:40:27.159
these screenshots, this is just so cool.
751
00:40:26.960 --> 00:40:31.639
Man like the fantasy world, the mix of tech and magic.
752
00:40:32.119 --> 00:40:35.800
We've got underground, we've got forest, you know, sky ocean
753
00:40:36.320 --> 00:40:39.119
like all this stuff, and it's all got this really
754
00:40:40.719 --> 00:40:44.199
just really detailed, really intriguing layout, and then you've got
755
00:40:44.199 --> 00:40:47.440
all the lasers like search House, Like I love this,
756
00:40:47.519 --> 00:40:51.079
And and again it's like I didn't think of myself
757
00:40:51.119 --> 00:40:54.559
as a like graphics guy at the time, right right,
758
00:40:54.679 --> 00:40:57.400
Like I wanted games that were fun to play and
759
00:40:57.800 --> 00:41:02.880
deep and rewarded replay and told stories. Well, right, like
760
00:41:02.960 --> 00:41:05.320
I wanted to be immersed in a story world. But
761
00:41:05.400 --> 00:41:06.719
part of that was the graphics.
762
00:41:06.719 --> 00:41:08.599
And it's like, show me what you can create, show
763
00:41:08.639 --> 00:41:10.679
me something that I want to see more of. Yeah,
764
00:41:10.679 --> 00:41:13.280
and even if the gameplay is like janky or whatever, Like,
765
00:41:13.320 --> 00:41:15.960
if I find the world compelling, that's part of the storytelling,
766
00:41:16.440 --> 00:41:19.519
right is are the characters interesting? Does the world look compelling?
767
00:41:19.519 --> 00:41:22.960
It like, oh my gosh, every single screenshot I'm looking
768
00:41:23.199 --> 00:41:25.800
and I'm like, I want this, I want this, I
769
00:41:25.840 --> 00:41:26.280
want that.
770
00:41:26.719 --> 00:41:29.440
Put me here? What is this? You know, like it's
771
00:41:29.719 --> 00:41:33.400
just so yeah, I think, Like for me, one of
772
00:41:33.400 --> 00:41:37.159
the things that worked really well about the Saturn games
773
00:41:37.360 --> 00:41:42.760
is the low like texture fidelity and graphical fidelity on
774
00:41:42.840 --> 00:41:49.239
a CRT get like lean into the abstraction. That works
775
00:41:49.280 --> 00:41:50.880
really well for those games. Like you can see on
776
00:41:50.960 --> 00:41:55.519
page thirty seven there's a little sidebar about Mobius and
777
00:41:55.559 --> 00:42:01.679
the artwork Mobius did for the first game, Japanese box art,
778
00:42:01.679 --> 00:42:05.400
I think, and that's obviously like such a huge visual
779
00:42:05.639 --> 00:42:07.679
like influence.
780
00:42:07.199 --> 00:42:07.960
On the series.
781
00:42:08.920 --> 00:42:11.599
I don't for me, I don't know that it really
782
00:42:11.760 --> 00:42:15.159
necessarily translated quite as well to the higher fidelity of
783
00:42:15.199 --> 00:42:16.719
the of the Xbox.
784
00:42:17.199 --> 00:42:17.960
You get a lot of.
785
00:42:17.920 --> 00:42:21.360
The texture that you're talking about, which feels very uniquely
786
00:42:21.400 --> 00:42:22.599
Panzer Dragoon.
787
00:42:22.719 --> 00:42:26.760
But the higher level of detail I just didn't quite work.
788
00:42:26.880 --> 00:42:29.880
It seemed shiny, it seemed plastic or more artificial to
789
00:42:29.920 --> 00:42:32.280
me than what I was seeing on the on the
790
00:42:32.320 --> 00:42:34.880
Saturn at the time. Like if you go down to
791
00:42:34.920 --> 00:42:36.360
the very last page of the feature, you.
792
00:42:36.360 --> 00:42:40.480
Have a little pullout, not a little pull out, a
793
00:42:40.519 --> 00:42:44.800
full page pullout looking at like retrospective, looking at the
794
00:42:44.880 --> 00:42:49.559
three Saga games on Saturn, And there's just something about
795
00:42:49.599 --> 00:42:52.480
like the use of color and texture on the Saturn
796
00:42:52.519 --> 00:42:54.760
that just really worked for me that I didn't really
797
00:42:54.760 --> 00:42:57.360
see in order, felt like I lost some of.
798
00:42:57.280 --> 00:42:58.840
That a little bit. Yeah, you can see some of
799
00:42:58.840 --> 00:43:02.079
the vibrant contrast, like yeah, like look at all the
800
00:43:02.079 --> 00:43:06.480
color there compared to that typical sort of like Xboxy
801
00:43:06.599 --> 00:43:08.480
drabby like brown.
802
00:43:08.679 --> 00:43:11.920
Yeah, there's more browns and grays. There's still some stuff
803
00:43:11.960 --> 00:43:14.119
happening here. But like I do see what you mean
804
00:43:14.159 --> 00:43:18.239
that this does pop more. Yeah, cool interview, and again
805
00:43:18.280 --> 00:43:20.159
we get that same kind of treat.
806
00:43:20.079 --> 00:43:24.280
And like it can't be like oversold. How important it
807
00:43:24.400 --> 00:43:24.880
was to have.
808
00:43:24.800 --> 00:43:28.000
A huge, huge, huge preview for.
809
00:43:28.119 --> 00:43:32.400
A Japanese Xbox game in a big Japanese game series
810
00:43:32.519 --> 00:43:36.559
like that was famous on Sega's consoles, you know, as
811
00:43:36.639 --> 00:43:40.480
like Sega was fumbling the bag a bit, Xbox was
812
00:43:40.519 --> 00:43:42.119
picking up and being like, oh, hey, we're going to
813
00:43:42.159 --> 00:43:45.199
give a home to all of those weird Sega franchises
814
00:43:45.239 --> 00:43:47.480
that you didn't know, and you're gonna want to play
815
00:43:47.519 --> 00:43:50.360
them because you know you're gonna want an Xbox or whatever.
816
00:43:51.960 --> 00:43:54.079
So that was definitely a big deal at the time.
817
00:43:54.400 --> 00:43:58.079
The issue number two letter from the editor seven Cox
818
00:43:58.119 --> 00:44:01.719
did talk a little bit about oh, well, Japan, like
819
00:44:01.800 --> 00:44:03.760
it's huge, we got to have success in Japan if
820
00:44:03.880 --> 00:44:07.440
Xbox is going to be successful, and then uh it
821
00:44:07.599 --> 00:44:10.679
was was what was the game? Uh, even though it
822
00:44:10.719 --> 00:44:14.000
was made in America, Xbox it just sort of basically
823
00:44:14.000 --> 00:44:18.000
said that, uh, Dead to Rights, this shooter like had
824
00:44:18.119 --> 00:44:19.159
Japanese energy.
825
00:44:19.719 --> 00:44:25.800
Basically that's not good and it's like the most American
826
00:44:25.800 --> 00:44:29.400
looking game ever. Yeah, it's just a here in fact,
827
00:44:29.440 --> 00:44:30.280
I'll switch.
828
00:44:30.119 --> 00:44:30.719
I'll switch.
829
00:44:31.320 --> 00:44:34.840
They could have switched to another cover game, Cacuto Chojan,
830
00:44:35.960 --> 00:44:39.280
which I don't think was Japanese, but was clearly trying
831
00:44:39.320 --> 00:44:43.280
to uh yeah, yes, Dead to Right. Yeah, Life after Halo.
832
00:44:43.320 --> 00:44:44.599
It's titled that Da Da Da Da.
833
00:44:45.000 --> 00:44:47.360
Though it's developed in the US, Namco's Dead to Rights
834
00:44:47.400 --> 00:44:50.519
brings with it a real sense of old school Japanese gaming.
835
00:44:52.400 --> 00:44:57.440
That's it. This just looks like a less upsetting Max Pain.
836
00:44:57.639 --> 00:45:00.760
I feel like this is just like aching for an
837
00:45:00.760 --> 00:45:07.320
Isaac Chottner, Like, what do you mean by that? Yeah?
838
00:45:07.400 --> 00:45:10.159
Oh my gosh, so.
839
00:45:10.079 --> 00:45:12.719
I want to scroll pass. We got the big previews
840
00:45:14.239 --> 00:45:18.079
seg was fantastic game. How's the Dead three? We have
841
00:45:18.159 --> 00:45:20.239
talked before about how much House of the Dead two
842
00:45:20.480 --> 00:45:23.880
was vital to me and my wife's dating.
843
00:45:24.599 --> 00:45:27.920
We just love playing two together. The booth with the booth,
844
00:45:27.960 --> 00:45:31.360
it was very cool. How's the Dead three again? Why
845
00:45:31.480 --> 00:45:36.960
project weird German thing? Broken? Sword point click adventure game. Yeah, Broken,
846
00:45:37.119 --> 00:45:38.960
it's a cool series. I don't think that was a
847
00:45:39.000 --> 00:45:44.679
particularly good entry. And now we break into the panel.
848
00:45:45.360 --> 00:45:47.280
By the time you read this, the E three show will.
849
00:45:47.119 --> 00:45:49.360
Have come and gone. Microsoft will reveal to the world
850
00:45:49.440 --> 00:45:52.639
specifics if one of its biggest gambals, Xbox Live, the
851
00:45:52.679 --> 00:45:55.119
broad band game service that promises to change the way
852
00:45:55.159 --> 00:45:58.119
you play forever, dada, here's the costs, et cetera, et cetera.
853
00:45:58.760 --> 00:46:01.159
XPN has asked the into in the form of ten
854
00:46:01.280 --> 00:46:03.480
veterans of game design, many of whom have worked on
855
00:46:03.480 --> 00:46:05.119
online games in the past, to give you its take
856
00:46:05.119 --> 00:46:07.119
on what broadband gaming will be like not just in
857
00:46:07.159 --> 00:46:10.039
the near future, but years from now. Then, on page
858
00:46:10.079 --> 00:46:13.360
seventy five, we exclusively reveal the online components of perhaps
859
00:46:13.400 --> 00:46:17.239
the most anticipated games and sponges Halo Unreal Championship, as
860
00:46:17.239 --> 00:46:19.639
well as the four other games that Microsoft is counting
861
00:46:19.719 --> 00:46:21.639
on to take the Xbox Live.
862
00:46:22.760 --> 00:46:24.519
And so we have Euchi.
863
00:46:24.239 --> 00:46:29.599
Naka, Peter Molly, New Sylvia, and Constantine from Ubisoft, Ray
864
00:46:29.840 --> 00:46:36.199
Musi Musica from BioWare, Ray Doctor, Ray Okay, Greg Thomas
865
00:46:36.199 --> 00:46:40.960
from Visual Concepts, Origin, Digital Extremes, Sony Online, Ion Storms,
866
00:46:41.079 --> 00:46:43.960
Warren Spector, Oh my gosh. Right, So you go through this,
867
00:46:44.079 --> 00:46:47.119
it's like these are definitely like any one of these guys.
868
00:46:47.199 --> 00:46:48.719
Getting any one of these.
869
00:46:48.599 --> 00:46:50.480
And I guess I should say they are all guys.
870
00:46:50.880 --> 00:46:54.480
Getting any one of these guys exclusively, but getting like
871
00:46:54.519 --> 00:46:57.440
a handful of quotes from each of them on one
872
00:46:57.519 --> 00:47:00.280
topic is just it is It is genu when they
873
00:47:00.360 --> 00:47:01.119
really really cool.
874
00:47:01.440 --> 00:47:03.760
Yeah, you get like some would you know, like legit
875
00:47:03.880 --> 00:47:06.360
big names in there. The doctors from BioWare, Warren spect
876
00:47:06.719 --> 00:47:10.159
Peter Maull, and you. One thing that kind of connects
877
00:47:10.199 --> 00:47:13.880
all of these people is that they all famously do
878
00:47:14.039 --> 00:47:17.880
like to talk. They all famously like to say things
879
00:47:17.920 --> 00:47:21.280
from some better than that. But yeah, no, I mean, like,
880
00:47:21.320 --> 00:47:24.079
these aren't just random people you know at the time
881
00:47:24.119 --> 00:47:26.599
they're they're all very well known. And this is what
882
00:47:26.599 --> 00:47:27.000
I was saying.
883
00:47:27.000 --> 00:47:31.000
We can do multiple episodes on this because there's all
884
00:47:31.039 --> 00:47:34.000
this stuff, Like you know, broadband will bring us one
885
00:47:34.000 --> 00:47:37.760
step closer to that holy grail known as virtual reality.
886
00:47:39.719 --> 00:47:42.079
Broadband will give us the ability to eventually allow everything
887
00:47:42.079 --> 00:47:44.199
to be controlled by the players, allow them to communicate
888
00:47:44.280 --> 00:47:47.079
much more effectively through spoken words, customize avatarres and their
889
00:47:47.079 --> 00:47:50.920
own personalities, like yeah, okay, that's all true, right, And
890
00:47:50.960 --> 00:47:55.920
then next to like big like I said, big swings
891
00:47:55.960 --> 00:47:59.000
that are gonna sound silly in hindsight, and big swings
892
00:47:59.000 --> 00:48:03.119
that are absolutely cur but maybe not as correct in
893
00:48:03.159 --> 00:48:05.880
two thousand and two as they would end up being
894
00:48:05.920 --> 00:48:08.559
in twenty twenty two, twenty six, right.
895
00:48:08.840 --> 00:48:11.679
Yeah, yeah, I don't think the next great game is
896
00:48:11.679 --> 00:48:14.440
gonna be based in a fantasy world, says Peter Mollinew,
897
00:48:14.800 --> 00:48:18.320
what what are you fucking talking about? Peter Malin, mister
898
00:48:18.440 --> 00:48:21.440
fantasy world guy. A lot of the time too, you
899
00:48:21.440 --> 00:48:25.599
can kind of see when they're, like, you know, what
900
00:48:25.760 --> 00:48:27.719
they're working on and so they're trying to push this
901
00:48:27.840 --> 00:48:30.000
idea that like their secret project.
902
00:48:30.119 --> 00:48:32.280
When yeah, the old will, like you know, it'll become
903
00:48:32.320 --> 00:48:34.039
a self fulfilling prophecy or whatever.
904
00:48:35.360 --> 00:48:38.199
I'm gonna skip ahead to the back of the magazine.
905
00:48:38.239 --> 00:48:40.920
Here's our masthead in the middle of the reviews section.
906
00:48:41.400 --> 00:48:43.760
By the way, for some reason, but this is the
907
00:48:43.840 --> 00:48:46.480
actual literal masthead. But I want to skip to you
908
00:48:46.519 --> 00:48:51.039
the back of the magazine. Extra stuff cool. They have interviews,
909
00:48:51.599 --> 00:48:53.679
and not just any interviews, they have some pretty freaking
910
00:48:53.719 --> 00:48:58.719
big interviews. The ego has landed Peter Mallin. Here's the
911
00:48:58.880 --> 00:49:01.159
actual big feature interview with Peter Malineu.
912
00:49:01.440 --> 00:49:06.480
It's a fabulous headline, like right, terrific pun and like
913
00:49:06.599 --> 00:49:09.639
just spot on for mal and you so good.
914
00:49:10.800 --> 00:49:13.119
Xbox Nation interviewed Peter Maliniu as he was preparing to
915
00:49:13.159 --> 00:49:17.079
address a packed auditorium of the annual GDC in San Jose.
916
00:49:17.599 --> 00:49:20.960
Between much needed cigarette breaks and the munching of chips,
917
00:49:21.199 --> 00:49:23.599
he spilled the beads on what's next for the God
918
00:49:23.639 --> 00:49:26.280
of God Games. And I didn't even get to read
919
00:49:26.320 --> 00:49:31.159
through this because I was mostly jump scared by how
920
00:49:31.239 --> 00:49:34.239
much stuff there was in here. Yeah, and just reading
921
00:49:34.280 --> 00:49:38.360
their questions is so funny. So is this Peter Malinue
922
00:49:38.400 --> 00:49:41.440
the next generation? Why will Project Ego be the greatest
923
00:49:41.519 --> 00:49:45.559
role playing game ever made? Sounds like black and white?
924
00:49:47.000 --> 00:49:49.119
So what about BC? We've heard some stuff?
925
00:49:49.199 --> 00:49:49.400
Yeah?
926
00:49:49.480 --> 00:49:53.519
Yeah, yeah, So like I'm just reading their questions, like,
927
00:49:54.400 --> 00:49:56.559
so what about BC, We've heard some stuff?
928
00:49:57.119 --> 00:49:57.519
Yeah?
929
00:49:57.760 --> 00:50:03.079
Er right like our office, you know, like it's it's
930
00:50:03.159 --> 00:50:05.719
just very funny. Well, it's very much just an off
931
00:50:05.719 --> 00:50:09.119
the cough like conversation that they've transcribed, which which I
932
00:50:09.199 --> 00:50:13.000
do kind of like, yeah, it's very hard to get
933
00:50:13.039 --> 00:50:18.000
that nowadays with anybody, like, yes, you're having I'll shut out.
934
00:50:18.119 --> 00:50:21.719
Patrick Kleppik something that he's doing Three Map Radio is
935
00:50:21.800 --> 00:50:24.199
he's going to conferences and he just speed runs. He's
936
00:50:24.239 --> 00:50:26.760
got a recorder and so he'll just grab ten twenty
937
00:50:27.119 --> 00:50:30.519
minute conversations with different developers, and depending on how long
938
00:50:30.639 --> 00:50:33.400
they go, sometimes he'll break them out into like episodes
939
00:50:33.400 --> 00:50:35.880
and trickle feed them into the podcast feed, and other
940
00:50:35.960 --> 00:50:38.599
times he'll like stitch them together. He did a diary
941
00:50:38.639 --> 00:50:41.400
of Summer Game Fest where he just stitched together all
942
00:50:41.400 --> 00:50:44.079
the interviews he got on tape, along with audio diaries
943
00:50:44.079 --> 00:50:46.039
where he's like, Hey, it's day two, I'm waking up,
944
00:50:46.079 --> 00:50:48.280
I got some breakfast, Here's what I saw, Here's what
945
00:50:48.280 --> 00:50:50.639
I'm excited about, et cetera, et cetera. And then sometimes
946
00:50:50.639 --> 00:50:52.400
he goes back and works some of the quotes into
947
00:50:53.000 --> 00:50:58.079
you know, written, you know, presented edited in articles.
948
00:50:58.239 --> 00:51:04.960
So yeah, that's cool. Then what what todacious D?
949
00:51:07.199 --> 00:51:12.000
Next month, Xbox Nation interviews Sharo about gex, Art Garfunkel
950
00:51:12.039 --> 00:51:15.199
about the Nvidia chipset, and Lassie about the Mid East crisis.
951
00:51:15.559 --> 00:51:19.920
For now, it's Tenacious D. Also, Oh my god, how
952
00:51:19.960 --> 00:51:20.960
long young these.
953
00:51:20.760 --> 00:51:24.920
Guys look like? Yeah, two thousand and two. Jack Black
954
00:51:25.159 --> 00:51:29.199
is like just a completely different human being than the
955
00:51:29.239 --> 00:51:32.360
guy we see now. Yeah, Kyle Gass pretty much looks
956
00:51:32.400 --> 00:51:35.440
the same. I mean not really, but like, you know,
957
00:51:35.639 --> 00:51:37.440
he looks, but he's one of those guys that probably
958
00:51:37.480 --> 00:51:39.840
looked forty when he was twenty and now he's like
959
00:51:40.039 --> 00:51:46.079
fifty and still looks forty. Yeah, exactly. And again I
960
00:51:46.159 --> 00:51:49.519
am a Tenacious D lover. Yeah, this was just before
961
00:51:49.559 --> 00:51:53.679
school Rock too, Yeah, which is when I feel like
962
00:51:53.800 --> 00:51:55.440
Jack Black like really.
963
00:51:55.039 --> 00:51:57.400
Got like big to mainstream audiences.
964
00:51:57.639 --> 00:52:04.119
Oh yeah, yeah, definitely. Actually, remember I saw Orange County
965
00:52:04.400 --> 00:52:08.800
just like throw away team La Rob and he was
966
00:52:09.000 --> 00:52:13.159
just clearly the breakout star of that as like the gross,
967
00:52:13.159 --> 00:52:15.400
smelly roommate, and we were.
968
00:52:15.280 --> 00:52:17.559
Just like, who the hell is this guy? What is
969
00:52:17.599 --> 00:52:19.960
he on? What is he doing?
970
00:52:21.159 --> 00:52:22.039
That's just him.
971
00:52:22.679 --> 00:52:26.440
Jason Giambi one hundred and twenty five million dollar spokesman.
972
00:52:27.440 --> 00:52:31.360
This guy if you know anything about baseball. If you
973
00:52:31.400 --> 00:52:34.760
don't know anything about baseball, you probably know Jason Giambi
974
00:52:34.880 --> 00:52:37.119
as the guy who came up with the Oakland Athletics.
975
00:52:37.760 --> 00:52:41.320
Was the guy or one of the guys who if
976
00:52:41.360 --> 00:52:45.880
you've heard the phrase moneyball, right, the GM Billy Bean
977
00:52:45.920 --> 00:52:48.039
who identified kind of a way.
978
00:52:47.800 --> 00:52:48.800
To Brad Pitt.
979
00:52:49.760 --> 00:52:52.199
Yes, that's right, Brad Pitt played by Brad Pitt in
980
00:52:52.239 --> 00:52:55.480
the movie called Moneyball about a baseball general manager who
981
00:52:55.519 --> 00:52:58.880
does not look like Brad Pitt, who found a way.
982
00:52:58.920 --> 00:53:00.960
After I watched it and I google Billy be and
983
00:53:00.960 --> 00:53:05.079
I was like, whoa glow? No, Yeah.
984
00:53:05.159 --> 00:53:08.159
My favorite one of this is there's a book called
985
00:53:08.239 --> 00:53:12.119
Lay the Favorite, which is an autobiography of a young
986
00:53:12.119 --> 00:53:16.039
woman who gets mixed up in Vegas sports gambling and
987
00:53:16.159 --> 00:53:20.000
ends up as an intern slash assistant for a dude
988
00:53:20.119 --> 00:53:26.679
named Dink who is a lifer grinder, sports gambler, and
989
00:53:27.400 --> 00:53:30.639
Dink is played by Bruce Willis in the movie of
990
00:53:30.679 --> 00:53:34.000
This and that dude and Bruce Willis I do not
991
00:53:34.559 --> 00:53:38.079
look like one another at all. So Jason Giambi has
992
00:53:38.119 --> 00:53:40.840
been signed. The whole thing with Moneyball is, hey.
993
00:53:40.679 --> 00:53:43.800
Can you beat the big teams in baseball without spending
994
00:53:43.840 --> 00:53:46.400
big time money if you're in a smaller city or
995
00:53:46.559 --> 00:53:49.559
you know, just don't have your stadium and your owner
996
00:53:49.639 --> 00:53:52.320
is not crazy rich from some other enterprise, Like, how
997
00:53:52.320 --> 00:53:56.199
do you win with cheaper players? And Jason Giambi was
998
00:53:56.239 --> 00:53:58.599
one of those cheaper players who then got bought by
999
00:53:58.599 --> 00:54:01.280
the Yankees for one hundred and twenty five, right that,
1000
00:54:01.519 --> 00:54:05.480
like in that Yankees contract was like I remember that, like,
1001
00:54:05.800 --> 00:54:09.599
you know, not being like following baseball like super closely
1002
00:54:09.639 --> 00:54:12.440
at that time, but like Johnny was a huge name
1003
00:54:12.519 --> 00:54:16.360
in baseball, yes, in that kind of early ots period.
1004
00:54:16.719 --> 00:54:20.280
And here we have an exclusive interview with Xbox Nation,
1005
00:54:21.039 --> 00:54:23.559
and so this is really interesting to me because we
1006
00:54:23.679 --> 00:54:27.320
are comparing like we had the official Xbox magazine, right,
1007
00:54:27.519 --> 00:54:29.280
and like the whole thing was sold on.
1008
00:54:29.280 --> 00:54:34.239
Exclusive previews, exclusive reviews. You're gonna get everything here first.
1009
00:54:35.039 --> 00:54:38.960
But we also see here Simon Cox and his staff
1010
00:54:40.159 --> 00:54:43.880
are getting interesting exclusives, right, They're getting interesting first looks,
1011
00:54:44.320 --> 00:54:47.599
especially at Okay cool. Well you're not gonna get the
1012
00:54:47.800 --> 00:54:52.159
Microsoft games first, but you can get a Japanese developers
1013
00:54:52.199 --> 00:54:55.480
game first, right, Like you might not get.
1014
00:54:55.519 --> 00:54:59.079
The first exclusive preview, but you can get an interview
1015
00:54:59.119 --> 00:55:01.719
with Jason Giambi, who's like the spokesperson after.
1016
00:55:01.480 --> 00:55:02.079
The World series.
1017
00:55:02.159 --> 00:55:06.960
I'm so curious too, because Giombi coming out through Oakland's system. Yes,
1018
00:55:07.199 --> 00:55:10.159
like this magazine, like ZIF I believe at this point,
1019
00:55:10.320 --> 00:55:12.360
was in San Francisco, and.
1020
00:55:12.280 --> 00:55:14.559
So what like what was the story there?
1021
00:55:14.599 --> 00:55:16.960
Like how was there some personal connection through some pr
1022
00:55:17.039 --> 00:55:20.320
company probably that they knew personally or worked with regularly
1023
00:55:20.320 --> 00:55:24.119
in San Francisco, who kind of like made this happen. Like,
1024
00:55:24.159 --> 00:55:26.599
I don't think it's a coincidence that a San Francisco
1025
00:55:26.639 --> 00:55:32.119
based magazine got this random, you know, interview about video
1026
00:55:32.159 --> 00:55:35.280
games with a huge baseball uh star.
1027
00:55:35.960 --> 00:55:38.920
Well this is great because the back on the table
1028
00:55:38.920 --> 00:55:44.360
of contents this interview said, uh, the little subhead looking
1029
00:55:44.519 --> 00:55:46.880
you know teaser was Jason Giombi has been in the
1030
00:55:46.920 --> 00:55:51.079
same room as an Xbox Yes, have you played World
1031
00:55:51.079 --> 00:55:53.920
Series Baseball yet, Giambi, I've only seen bits and pieces
1032
00:55:53.920 --> 00:55:55.639
of it. We haven't finished up everything that they need
1033
00:55:55.679 --> 00:55:57.599
to go with the game. Because of Sega being out
1034
00:55:57.599 --> 00:55:59.400
here in the Bay Area and me New York, I
1035
00:55:59.400 --> 00:56:01.280
haven't had a lot of opportunity to see a lot
1036
00:56:01.280 --> 00:56:02.639
of things that have gone on with the game.
1037
00:56:03.239 --> 00:56:06.480
What was the motion capture process? Like, we haven't done
1038
00:56:06.519 --> 00:56:08.920
the motion capture. We still got that in the works.
1039
00:56:08.960 --> 00:56:10.920
It's definitely gonna be cool. You know, the way they
1040
00:56:10.920 --> 00:56:15.079
described it, you get to like it's so funny. And
1041
00:56:15.119 --> 00:56:16.400
then XPN.
1042
00:56:16.480 --> 00:56:19.719
Do you believe that Union General Abner Doubleday created baseball
1043
00:56:19.800 --> 00:56:22.039
or do you believe in a more evolutionary theory is
1044
00:56:22.079 --> 00:56:23.960
put forth by anthropologists Stephen J.
1045
00:56:24.119 --> 00:56:24.480
Gould.
1046
00:56:24.800 --> 00:56:28.920
This is this is super fucking funny question to ask
1047
00:56:29.039 --> 00:56:31.800
Jason GM. John By laughs.
1048
00:56:32.079 --> 00:56:34.559
Well, first of all, probably would have helped if I'd
1049
00:56:34.639 --> 00:56:35.480
finished college.
1050
00:56:36.239 --> 00:56:38.639
I'm just kidding. Uh, you know, I think everybody wants
1051
00:56:38.639 --> 00:56:39.679
to have this big to do about how the.
1052
00:56:39.679 --> 00:56:41.239
Game was started. I think that dubab blah blah blah
1053
00:56:41.239 --> 00:56:42.079
blah blah bah blah.
1054
00:56:42.119 --> 00:56:45.960
Yeah, so yeah, this is this is very funny because
1055
00:56:46.079 --> 00:56:52.719
Abner Doubleday absolutely did not invent baseball. Uh, Baseball definitely
1056
00:56:52.760 --> 00:56:56.719
came from other similar baseball type games such as rounders
1057
00:56:56.719 --> 00:56:57.559
and cricket.
1058
00:56:57.239 --> 00:57:02.119
That were played in America. Double Day fired the first
1059
00:57:02.159 --> 00:57:05.559
shot of the Civil War and became a general throughout
1060
00:57:05.559 --> 00:57:07.400
the process of the Civil War and was famous for
1061
00:57:07.440 --> 00:57:11.519
several other reasons. I think he invented street cars. Also,
1062
00:57:11.559 --> 00:57:16.119
it's very weird, and he he supplied baseball bats and
1063
00:57:16.199 --> 00:57:19.599
balls to his men in the Union Army to give
1064
00:57:19.639 --> 00:57:22.480
them something to do. But there were already like multiple
1065
00:57:22.559 --> 00:57:26.039
known variations of the rules right at Upstate New York
1066
00:57:26.119 --> 00:57:27.800
was definitely a hotbed of it, which is where he
1067
00:57:27.840 --> 00:57:29.960
was originally from. But like Adam, double Day did not
1068
00:57:30.000 --> 00:57:30.760
invent baseball.
1069
00:57:30.880 --> 00:57:34.199
And then for some popularizing or like lighting a spark
1070
00:57:34.320 --> 00:57:40.079
maybe something. But in like nineteen oh something, Major League
1071
00:57:40.079 --> 00:57:43.639
Baseball commissioned a blue ribbon panel to officially declare and
1072
00:57:43.719 --> 00:57:46.920
decide that average double Day invented baseball. And so that's right,
1073
00:57:47.000 --> 00:57:50.000
that's why there's a contrivers seat. So it is extremely
1074
00:57:50.159 --> 00:57:53.760
funny to ask a modern baseball player at the peak
1075
00:57:53.760 --> 00:57:56.880
of his powers. Yeah, you know, especially after you ask
1076
00:57:56.960 --> 00:57:59.280
him all the video game questions and get I don't know,
1077
00:57:59.320 --> 00:58:00.880
I don't know, I don't know. They just paid me
1078
00:58:01.400 --> 00:58:04.199
and I just agreed to be paid. Yeah, then to
1079
00:58:04.480 --> 00:58:06.239
hit them with the deep baseball lore.
1080
00:58:06.920 --> 00:58:07.679
Yeah, that's funny.
1081
00:58:07.679 --> 00:58:09.760
If we can scroll down to the spin section. I
1082
00:58:09.840 --> 00:58:13.880
noticed in the masthead that James Milky was one of
1083
00:58:13.920 --> 00:58:15.639
the contributing writers, and.
1084
00:58:15.599 --> 00:58:17.320
I would be shocked if he.
1085
00:58:17.400 --> 00:58:20.840
Wasn't responsible for this uh section, just specifically because of
1086
00:58:20.880 --> 00:58:22.920
the boards of Canada inclusion.
1087
00:58:23.159 --> 00:58:25.320
But I do like the idea here that, like, you know,
1088
00:58:25.320 --> 00:58:26.280
they're leading into.
1089
00:58:26.119 --> 00:58:28.679
This idea of the Xbox was like a multimedia device,
1090
00:58:29.039 --> 00:58:31.760
so like, yeah, here's music, here's movies, here's there's stuff
1091
00:58:32.039 --> 00:58:35.199
you know that we're enjoying. Those suspects, there's some rotech
1092
00:58:35.519 --> 00:58:38.119
make cross saga? Is that what they is?
1093
00:58:38.119 --> 00:58:41.239
That what they ended up selling it as Robotech the
1094
00:58:41.280 --> 00:58:44.880
Macross saga and not just like Macross but I don't.
1095
00:58:44.639 --> 00:58:47.760
Know, Royal Tantemons. But also on this page, look at
1096
00:58:47.760 --> 00:58:51.320
the cover on the left hand side. Wait, oh on
1097
00:58:51.920 --> 00:58:56.239
yeah what Yeah, that's not the color it ended up beating. Yeah,
1098
00:58:56.440 --> 00:58:58.719
it's like closer to the color that the inboxes. That's
1099
00:58:58.719 --> 00:59:02.559
like the coppery like light coppery like brownie orange. Yeah,
1100
00:59:02.559 --> 00:59:06.960
also will cover this blue. This looks very next generation
1101
00:59:07.079 --> 00:59:08.960
to me. Also, the blue on the white, you know,
1102
00:59:09.000 --> 00:59:11.840
it's not I don't think it's quite the next gen blue,
1103
00:59:11.840 --> 00:59:15.320
but it's very close. No, no, yeah, it is nice.
1104
00:59:16.119 --> 00:59:20.639
So yeah, typical. Like let me see though that.
1105
00:59:20.599 --> 00:59:23.280
Like the way that the blue.
1106
00:59:24.719 --> 00:59:27.360
Well yeah, because like the dragon on the cover is
1107
00:59:27.400 --> 00:59:29.599
green and they have like the bronze color and it
1108
00:59:30.039 --> 00:59:32.320
just kind of like gives a very different field to
1109
00:59:32.360 --> 00:59:35.000
the cover even though they layout and the image and
1110
00:59:35.039 --> 00:59:37.239
everything is exactly the same.
1111
00:59:36.880 --> 00:59:39.719
But yeah, So the one letter I wanted to draw
1112
00:59:39.760 --> 00:59:44.440
out here, Yeah, mail them skate expectations. The Tony Hawk
1113
00:59:44.480 --> 00:59:46.440
three cheets that were in the April June issue do
1114
00:59:46.480 --> 00:59:48.360
not work because it is not possible to press start
1115
00:59:48.360 --> 00:59:50.280
in the code because at the beginning game. But can
1116
00:59:50.320 --> 00:59:52.159
you please send me the right code, because that was
1117
00:59:52.199 --> 00:59:54.559
the reason I'd picked up the magazine in the first place.
1118
00:59:54.800 --> 00:59:58.239
Eric, Clearly it was the white button you were supposed
1119
00:59:58.239 --> 00:59:58.679
to press.
1120
00:59:58.840 --> 01:00:01.239
Yeah, yeah, yeah, we're busted.
1121
01:00:01.280 --> 01:00:04.119
It was a misprint. The codes were for Tony Hawk
1122
01:00:04.199 --> 01:00:05.800
two X. Sorry about that.
1123
01:00:05.880 --> 01:00:08.679
I would, however, turn your attention to the other eighty
1124
01:00:08.719 --> 01:00:12.559
four pages of editorial that serve as a convenient protective
1125
01:00:12.599 --> 01:00:14.199
wrapper for the code X section.
1126
01:00:14.760 --> 01:00:16.719
Some of it is almost worth three days.
1127
01:00:18.280 --> 01:00:20.199
I do like that. That's pretty cool.
1128
01:00:20.239 --> 01:00:21.199
I like that also.
1129
01:00:21.639 --> 01:00:24.880
Okay, well, Aiden, it is time. We're gonna have to
1130
01:00:24.960 --> 01:00:27.559
take a break, pay a couple of bills if you
1131
01:00:27.599 --> 01:00:30.880
haven't already joined Fun Factor Ultra for ad free episodes,
1132
01:00:31.119 --> 01:00:34.320
and when we come back, we will review Xbox nations
1133
01:00:34.400 --> 01:00:38.800
magazine review of World Series Baseball.
1134
01:00:59.519 --> 01:01:00.480
We are having five.
1135
01:01:00.280 --> 01:01:02.639
Stars out of five stars worth of fun today, and folks,
1136
01:01:02.679 --> 01:01:04.400
if you are to leave a rating and review on
1137
01:01:04.440 --> 01:01:07.320
Apple podcasts, we will read the best, funniest, kindest, and
1138
01:01:07.360 --> 01:01:08.760
most entertaining ones on the air.
1139
01:01:09.079 --> 01:01:11.039
But hey, it's time let's.
1140
01:01:10.760 --> 01:01:16.000
Review Xbox Nation's review of World Series Baseball.
1141
01:01:16.880 --> 01:01:19.639
Now, tie, I'm looking through the list of reviews in
1142
01:01:19.679 --> 01:01:23.559
this issue, and yeah, like I want to know, like
1143
01:01:23.599 --> 01:01:28.800
there was such bangers as Hunter, the Reckoning Rail Rally,
1144
01:01:28.880 --> 01:01:32.519
Sport Challenge, All Star Baseball two thousand and three, ESPN
1145
01:01:32.679 --> 01:01:36.519
NBA two Night two being a Number two, Spy, Hunter,
1146
01:01:36.639 --> 01:01:42.559
Smashing Drive, Pirates, The Legend of Black Cat, ESPN MLS
1147
01:01:42.639 --> 01:01:49.800
Extreme Ooh Blitz twenty Dash zero two, and Oh Rewind's
1148
01:01:49.800 --> 01:01:53.639
not a game. How how did you pick? Yeah, like
1149
01:01:53.679 --> 01:01:57.280
what a Sophie's choice, and you settled on World Series Baseball.
1150
01:01:57.639 --> 01:01:59.760
What's funny is I was looking at issue number two
1151
01:01:59.880 --> 01:02:04.480
is well, and there were several ESPN sports games in
1152
01:02:04.519 --> 01:02:08.119
that one. Also up in the news section, they note
1153
01:02:08.119 --> 01:02:12.320
that the ESPN license has been lapsed from Konami after
1154
01:02:12.360 --> 01:02:15.000
several lackluster games and will now be going to a
1155
01:02:15.000 --> 01:02:15.639
different company.
1156
01:02:16.480 --> 01:02:20.920
So yeah, tons of sports games on the Xbox at
1157
01:02:20.920 --> 01:02:24.639
this time. This is just before I think it's two thousand.
1158
01:02:24.360 --> 01:02:27.440
And four, two thousand and five where EA acquires the
1159
01:02:27.480 --> 01:02:28.960
exclusive NFL license.
1160
01:02:29.559 --> 01:02:31.360
But this is sort of the peak of.
1161
01:02:33.079 --> 01:02:36.119
Every company is making every company is making every sports game.
1162
01:02:36.280 --> 01:02:39.800
There's five baseball games, there's ten football games, there's you know,
1163
01:02:39.920 --> 01:02:43.320
seven basketball games, right, Like, there's so many different games,
1164
01:02:43.599 --> 01:02:45.440
and this is we are just a couple of years
1165
01:02:45.440 --> 01:02:48.880
from this getting funneled all down into there's one official
1166
01:02:48.920 --> 01:02:53.280
game with the official players and then pretenders, and that
1167
01:02:53.440 --> 01:02:56.199
is a bummer in one sense, but also in another sense,
1168
01:02:56.280 --> 01:02:58.840
there were a whole bunch of baseball games and football
1169
01:02:58.880 --> 01:03:01.719
games that did not really need to exist, and they
1170
01:03:01.800 --> 01:03:08.880
comprised about sixty percent of the Xboxes library. At this point, however,
1171
01:03:09.480 --> 01:03:15.280
Aiden Aiden Sports Illustrated reporter Jeff Pearlman finds Tao in
1172
01:03:15.320 --> 01:03:20.239
the Yankee Stadium bleachers. This is so, this is just
1173
01:03:20.840 --> 01:03:23.480
tye nip. This is all the things I like, all
1174
01:03:23.519 --> 01:03:26.599
in one section. Give it actual honest to god sports
1175
01:03:26.599 --> 01:03:30.880
writer doing actual honest to god video game magazine reviews
1176
01:03:31.079 --> 01:03:34.480
in a two thousand and two video game magazine in
1177
01:03:34.519 --> 01:03:37.320
and I put the opening couple of graphs in the
1178
01:03:37.440 --> 01:03:40.199
script for you if you want to read that for me?
1179
01:03:40.599 --> 01:03:42.840
Yeah. Do we want to go back though to the
1180
01:03:42.880 --> 01:03:46.119
start of the X rated section and talk about how
1181
01:03:46.119 --> 01:03:47.639
they rate their games? Yeah?
1182
01:03:47.679 --> 01:03:52.039
Sure, It's very simple. Here is the start of the
1183
01:03:52.199 --> 01:03:54.960
X rated section, and how they rate their games is
1184
01:03:55.599 --> 01:03:56.239
can you guess?
1185
01:03:56.400 --> 01:03:57.760
Aiden? Can you guess?
1186
01:03:58.559 --> 01:03:58.719
Well?
1187
01:03:58.800 --> 01:04:01.039
I saw you saw.
1188
01:04:01.159 --> 01:04:09.719
It's how Edge Magazine rates games. Surprise, Yeah, heads, how
1189
01:04:09.840 --> 01:04:12.400
Edge Magazine rates games, which is it's a ten point
1190
01:04:12.440 --> 01:04:14.880
scale using only whole numbers.
1191
01:04:14.599 --> 01:04:15.199
One to ten.
1192
01:04:15.800 --> 01:04:21.239
And they spell out the numbers with words. They don't
1193
01:04:21.360 --> 01:04:24.800
use the numbers. It's t e N out of t
1194
01:04:24.920 --> 01:04:27.960
e N. Fou are out of t E N. It's
1195
01:04:28.000 --> 01:04:28.880
not ten out of ten.
1196
01:04:29.360 --> 01:04:32.440
You're not getting a number I'm so curious because in
1197
01:04:32.800 --> 01:04:35.320
their how we rate section, it says our rating scale
1198
01:04:35.360 --> 01:04:40.480
runs from zero to ten, ten using numerals in that sentence,
1199
01:04:40.519 --> 01:04:43.360
but then immediately afterwards they spell it out.
1200
01:04:43.880 --> 01:04:46.400
Now some this, I know this. This is a p
1201
01:04:46.599 --> 01:04:50.760
style where if the number starts the sentence you have
1202
01:04:50.800 --> 01:04:54.760
to spell it out, but numbers ten or above outside
1203
01:04:54.800 --> 01:04:57.480
of the first word of the sentence need to be numbers.
1204
01:04:57.599 --> 01:04:58.119
There we go.
1205
01:04:58.639 --> 01:05:01.880
So this is what I'm talking about. This is the stuff,
1206
01:05:01.960 --> 01:05:05.360
this is this is how I taught how to write
1207
01:05:06.039 --> 01:05:08.599
newspaper style. Baby. Yeah.
1208
01:05:08.679 --> 01:05:11.239
So, as you say, our radied scale runs from zero
1209
01:05:11.320 --> 01:05:15.159
to ten. Zero is video feces, pure and simple. Ten
1210
01:05:15.280 --> 01:05:17.159
is about as close to perfection as any game is
1211
01:05:17.239 --> 01:05:19.960
likely to get. Five is sheer mediocrity. Let us know
1212
01:05:20.000 --> 01:05:21.840
if we get the grades right by writing to us
1213
01:05:22.000 --> 01:05:25.239
XPNS IF Davis dot com, and my guess is that
1214
01:05:25.239 --> 01:05:29.960
that invitation is not entirely sincere based on how they
1215
01:05:30.079 --> 01:05:35.679
treated their letter writers in this letter section. So this
1216
01:05:35.840 --> 01:05:38.559
is X rated also low hanging fruit.
1217
01:05:39.159 --> 01:05:42.119
But they did it Xbox graded. Yeah yeah, okay, cool.
1218
01:05:42.159 --> 01:05:45.840
They did the thing, and again right in the as
1219
01:05:45.920 --> 01:05:48.119
grown up as this is, as mature as this is
1220
01:05:48.119 --> 01:05:50.239
it's still this sort of mature immaturity.
1221
01:05:50.360 --> 01:05:54.800
It's like next level. Yeah, ed genus is next level.
1222
01:05:55.119 --> 01:05:57.679
It's like twenty five year olds writing for seventeen year
1223
01:05:57.719 --> 01:05:59.840
olds instead of twenty year olds writing for twelve year
1224
01:05:59.880 --> 01:06:04.800
old exactly, exactly. Okay, so let's hear aiden. Can you
1225
01:06:04.840 --> 01:06:08.719
give us Jeff Proman's introduction? Okay, so quote. In my
1226
01:06:08.800 --> 01:06:11.400
five plus years as a baseball writer, I have covered
1227
01:06:11.679 --> 01:06:15.119
oh twenty or so games at Tropic Canna Field, home
1228
01:06:15.199 --> 01:06:19.360
of the putrid Tampa Bay Devil Rays, with its greenish
1229
01:06:19.400 --> 01:06:24.360
gray backdrop and half empty stands, Florida's largest dome, is
1230
01:06:24.719 --> 01:06:29.039
in a word, horrific. Some call the stadium baseball's largest
1231
01:06:29.119 --> 01:06:34.480
tuna fish can I call it unregulated indoor crap. To
1232
01:06:34.559 --> 01:06:37.880
watch the Rays in Tampa is to induce oneself into
1233
01:06:37.920 --> 01:06:40.639
a Legends of the Fall sized coma.
1234
01:06:40.840 --> 01:06:44.800
What's great about this, I'm stopping in there for a
1235
01:06:44.840 --> 01:06:47.039
moment here, is that Tropic Canna Field.
1236
01:06:46.840 --> 01:06:47.559
Is still this bad.
1237
01:06:47.920 --> 01:06:51.360
It's still the worst stadium in the league. Opened as
1238
01:06:51.400 --> 01:06:53.320
the worst stadium in the league in the nineties.
1239
01:06:54.880 --> 01:06:58.760
It's wild to like open a stadium that's just immediately bad.
1240
01:06:59.440 --> 01:07:02.639
Yeah, and then it was destroyed by a hurricane in
1241
01:07:02.639 --> 01:07:06.519
twenty twenty four. The roof was so they played in
1242
01:07:06.599 --> 01:07:11.400
basically a spring training stadium for twenty twenty five and
1243
01:07:11.559 --> 01:07:14.800
then came back to traffic Caana Field. There's been so
1244
01:07:15.079 --> 01:07:19.239
many times over the years, have been multiple deals agreed
1245
01:07:19.280 --> 01:07:20.880
to you to build a new stadium, and they just
1246
01:07:21.000 --> 01:07:23.079
still haven't done it. They're still playing at the Trap,
1247
01:07:23.440 --> 01:07:26.239
which is still the worst place to play baseball.
1248
01:07:25.880 --> 01:07:29.400
In the world. So yeah, now can I give me
1249
01:07:29.440 --> 01:07:34.360
the second paragraph there? So quote this alas is my
1250
01:07:34.519 --> 01:07:37.760
number one reason World Series Baseball is the best sports
1251
01:07:37.840 --> 01:07:42.000
video game of all time. Despite its kicking graphics, vast
1252
01:07:42.119 --> 01:07:46.440
pitch selections, and endless buffet of batting stances. I still
1253
01:07:46.519 --> 01:07:50.199
got bored playing the I still got bored playing at
1254
01:07:50.199 --> 01:07:51.760
the virtual trop.
1255
01:07:52.280 --> 01:07:55.000
It is a suckey building in real life and in
1256
01:07:55.079 --> 01:07:56.880
the gaming world. Bites even more.
1257
01:07:57.159 --> 01:08:03.159
Bravo A. I think that's great. I think that's great.
1258
01:08:03.239 --> 01:08:07.719
I like that, I like the playfulness, and like as
1259
01:08:07.800 --> 01:08:09.480
much as we're doing like you know, okay, it is
1260
01:08:09.599 --> 01:08:12.559
serious critique, right, Like this is we're telling people that
1261
01:08:13.079 --> 01:08:15.559
like to bring in that hey, this is so realistic
1262
01:08:16.000 --> 01:08:18.520
that this part of the game sucks, and it also
1263
01:08:18.600 --> 01:08:22.560
sucks in this game because it's accurately modeling a bad part.
1264
01:08:22.399 --> 01:08:25.279
Of the game. Right, Like, I of, you know, this
1265
01:08:25.439 --> 01:08:26.239
video game is.
1266
01:08:27.239 --> 01:08:31.079
Modeling a bad part of the actual real life sport.
1267
01:08:31.359 --> 01:08:33.439
I think that's I think that's awesome.
1268
01:08:33.960 --> 01:08:37.520
Like this style of like early to mid aught games
1269
01:08:37.520 --> 01:08:41.800
writing was like, very very influential on me. I loved
1270
01:08:42.159 --> 01:08:46.399
the opening of like games magazines that don't or game
1271
01:08:46.479 --> 01:08:49.880
game reviews, game criticism that doesn't just like talk about
1272
01:08:49.920 --> 01:08:51.600
it as a video game but connects us to like
1273
01:08:51.640 --> 01:08:55.600
real life experiences. The master of this was Sean Elliot
1274
01:08:55.640 --> 01:08:59.239
at Games for Windows magazine one up dot Com. Well,
1275
01:08:59.439 --> 01:09:01.399
I'm sure talk about Sean's work when we get to
1276
01:09:01.399 --> 01:09:05.239
that period. But I really like the idea of writers
1277
01:09:05.279 --> 01:09:10.600
looking at video games as like americana or art and
1278
01:09:10.640 --> 01:09:13.039
writing about them the same way they would music or
1279
01:09:13.239 --> 01:09:16.039
you know, film or anything else in terms of like
1280
01:09:16.479 --> 01:09:19.720
this is how this connects to my real life. I'm
1281
01:09:19.720 --> 01:09:22.760
not just going to explain my experience within sort of
1282
01:09:22.800 --> 01:09:26.279
the digital world created by the game, but also outside
1283
01:09:26.279 --> 01:09:28.840
of it. And I just you know, whether you like
1284
01:09:28.880 --> 01:09:31.239
the humor or not about this, like the fact that
1285
01:09:31.479 --> 01:09:33.560
he kind of sets the stage by Like, man, I'm
1286
01:09:33.560 --> 01:09:36.960
a baseball writer. This place sucks ass, But that's also
1287
01:09:37.159 --> 01:09:39.239
why this game is good, because it sucks ass in
1288
01:09:39.279 --> 01:09:40.199
the game as well.
1289
01:09:40.279 --> 01:09:45.479
Like, I just think that's really sharp. Yes, cultural criticism.
1290
01:09:45.880 --> 01:09:48.359
Yeah, if realism is the ultimate goal of the game maker,
1291
01:09:48.399 --> 01:09:51.279
then World Series Baseball is the Mona Lisa of games.
1292
01:09:51.600 --> 01:09:53.760
In the sixth inning of a Rangers red contest, a
1293
01:09:53.760 --> 01:09:56.560
bird flies above second base, not for any real reason,
1294
01:09:56.640 --> 01:09:59.680
just because birds tend to do such things. Nestled behind
1295
01:09:59.680 --> 01:10:01.960
the out feel wall of Camerica Park are the buildings
1296
01:10:02.000 --> 01:10:06.119
of downtown Detroit. Parentheses stumbling crackheads not included.
1297
01:10:06.159 --> 01:10:10.199
Hey hey, hey, as.
1298
01:10:10.000 --> 01:10:12.159
He waits for the pitch to arrive, Padre's outfit of
1299
01:10:12.520 --> 01:10:16.439
Langford's nee twitches, it's Bett Tels, etcetera, et cetera. Detroit
1300
01:10:16.520 --> 01:10:19.000
right hander Steve Sparks knuckleball is as unpredictable as a
1301
01:10:19.079 --> 01:10:23.840
WWF storyline, and so like it goes through this. Uh
1302
01:10:24.680 --> 01:10:27.439
you know, it's just explaining how all of this stuff
1303
01:10:27.600 --> 01:10:30.520
is just like it is in real life. You feel it,
1304
01:10:30.520 --> 01:10:33.640
it feels real. It's made by people who know what
1305
01:10:33.680 --> 01:10:36.119
little details make. We are going to make this look
1306
01:10:36.199 --> 01:10:41.039
real and feel right. I wanted to get a little
1307
01:10:41.079 --> 01:10:44.439
bit more obviously, like how does it play right? And
1308
01:10:44.520 --> 01:10:47.199
so best of all, the game plays beautifully and with conviction.
1309
01:10:47.359 --> 01:10:50.600
Roger Sedanio gets good jumps and steal spaces with relative ease.
1310
01:10:50.680 --> 01:10:54.399
Jason Giambi does not eat that Jason Giambi, who you knows,
1311
01:10:54.399 --> 01:10:57.760
a big, muscle bound master guy. Right, But again we're
1312
01:10:57.760 --> 01:11:00.520
still talking more about like this is this is realistic
1313
01:11:00.560 --> 01:11:03.920
more than like the actual gameplay stick Orioles Catcher brook
1314
01:11:03.960 --> 01:11:06.560
fordex behind the plate and he's rock solid. Move him
1315
01:11:06.560 --> 01:11:09.760
to shortstop and the errors never stop. I was happy
1316
01:11:09.800 --> 01:11:12.479
to find that World Series Baseball hardly requires a master's
1317
01:11:12.479 --> 01:11:16.399
degree in handheld controller robotics. Everything is very simple and clean.
1318
01:11:16.760 --> 01:11:18.720
That's the click of the start button lest one forgets.
1319
01:11:18.720 --> 01:11:21.600
There's an on screen diagram explaining which button does what.
1320
01:11:22.840 --> 01:11:29.079
So you know, in a review pitching simulation right, like
1321
01:11:29.239 --> 01:11:30.399
I'm sorry, pitching.
1322
01:11:32.199 --> 01:11:35.880
Interview, where like the hey, this is realism, right, this
1323
01:11:35.920 --> 01:11:36.760
is real baseball.
1324
01:11:36.840 --> 01:11:37.479
You can feel it.
1325
01:11:37.560 --> 01:11:39.640
All the details are right. This is so cool.
1326
01:11:40.039 --> 01:11:44.479
We're also getting like simple and clean controls. So here's
1327
01:11:44.520 --> 01:11:49.039
where I would want someone who reviews video games more
1328
01:11:49.079 --> 01:11:51.720
regularly to give me a little more detail on mechanically
1329
01:11:52.199 --> 01:11:56.199
what's happening? Like, Okay, Roger Clemens fastball hums at ninety
1330
01:11:56.239 --> 01:12:00.159
five miles an hour with pinpoint accuracy? Does that happen
1331
01:12:00.000 --> 01:12:01.680
when when I control Roger Clemens?
1332
01:12:02.000 --> 01:12:02.239
Yeah?
1333
01:12:02.239 --> 01:12:04.840
What happens when? Like, like do I need to have
1334
01:12:04.880 --> 01:12:07.159
pitpoint accuracy or do I just press a button and
1335
01:12:07.279 --> 01:12:11.000
ninety five miles an hour with pinpoint accuracy occurs? Because
1336
01:12:11.000 --> 01:12:16.279
that may be satisfying to observe, But like as a game,
1337
01:12:17.279 --> 01:12:18.119
is it that gamy?
1338
01:12:18.279 --> 01:12:20.479
Right? Like is there how much interactivity is there?
1339
01:12:20.520 --> 01:12:20.640
Right?
1340
01:12:20.720 --> 01:12:22.880
Pitching mechanics can be kind of all over the place
1341
01:12:23.159 --> 01:12:26.800
in baseball games, right, like from anywhere from exactly this
1342
01:12:27.199 --> 01:12:31.399
push button make pitch aker to you know, there's no
1343
01:12:31.399 --> 01:12:33.000
different kind of you just throw it and then like
1344
01:12:33.319 --> 01:12:37.880
you know, any s style dpad all over the ball however,
1345
01:12:38.000 --> 01:12:40.119
you know, so like what is the pitching?
1346
01:12:40.159 --> 01:12:43.720
What are the mechanics? And it's funny you say that
1347
01:12:43.760 --> 01:12:47.199
specifically as a criticism because I hated reviews that focus
1348
01:12:47.239 --> 01:12:50.880
too much for mechanics like press a and this happens,
1349
01:12:50.920 --> 01:12:53.640
and like, you know, like I didn't ever really care
1350
01:12:53.680 --> 01:12:58.800
about that kind of stuff, and so I preferred if
1351
01:12:58.800 --> 01:13:00.920
there was you know, how how long is this three
1352
01:13:01.000 --> 01:13:01.720
hundred words?
1353
01:13:01.880 --> 01:13:03.039
Two hundred and fifty words.
1354
01:13:03.359 --> 01:13:07.239
Yeah, I'd prefer to find more about the feel and
1355
01:13:07.279 --> 01:13:09.560
the story of the game, and like the emotion you're
1356
01:13:09.560 --> 01:13:12.119
feeling as the game plays out. And to me, if
1357
01:13:12.199 --> 01:13:14.640
I read like, you know, Roger Clemens fastball hums at
1358
01:13:14.720 --> 01:13:18.520
ninety five miles an hour with pinpoint accuracy, blah blah
1359
01:13:18.520 --> 01:13:20.760
blah blah, I'm like, Okay, the mechanics to get there
1360
01:13:20.800 --> 01:13:23.520
are good because he's if he's not having to talk
1361
01:13:23.520 --> 01:13:26.359
about the mechanics, then they're doing their job and they're
1362
01:13:26.359 --> 01:13:29.960
invisible and you're focused on the emotional experience of playing
1363
01:13:29.960 --> 01:13:33.560
the game. Sure, and maybe because he talks about he
1364
01:13:33.640 --> 01:13:39.199
and his wife able to play and have fun. After
1365
01:13:39.399 --> 01:13:41.039
no more than ten minutes of goofing around, my wife
1366
01:13:41.079 --> 01:13:42.960
and I found ourselves locked room of those epic clashes
1367
01:13:43.000 --> 01:13:44.960
you'll be reading about fifty years from now. I was
1368
01:13:44.960 --> 01:13:47.880
the Royals, she was the Cubs. The stadium was the Metrodome.
1369
01:13:47.960 --> 01:13:52.359
The final score twelve three, she uh won, which is
1370
01:13:52.520 --> 01:13:55.920
very funny, and I think, like, Okay, that's cool, But like,
1371
01:13:55.960 --> 01:13:59.079
for me, baseball games are still such a single player
1372
01:13:59.520 --> 01:14:02.279
experiences like online play with baseball just kind of the
1373
01:14:02.359 --> 01:14:05.079
nature of baseball, right, the picture batter confrontation, whether or
1374
01:14:05.119 --> 01:14:08.399
not that is fun is like a huge amount of
1375
01:14:08.439 --> 01:14:10.640
whether or not the game is fun. Right, So for me,
1376
01:14:10.760 --> 01:14:12.760
I still want to know what those mechanics are, how
1377
01:14:12.800 --> 01:14:14.520
much complions do I have? This is kind of why
1378
01:14:14.520 --> 01:14:18.920
football games stop being fun because as the defense got
1379
01:14:18.960 --> 01:14:24.560
good enough to play defense, your ability to beat the
1380
01:14:24.600 --> 01:14:27.520
person you're playing by being better at the game got
1381
01:14:27.600 --> 01:14:31.520
less and less. Yeah, I guess like part of the
1382
01:14:31.520 --> 01:14:35.359
reason I never really growed to sports games just despite
1383
01:14:35.399 --> 01:14:40.039
being into sports my whole life was I if like
1384
01:14:40.159 --> 01:14:44.319
each row is up to bat, he's batting three fifty, right, yeah,
1385
01:14:44.399 --> 01:14:47.800
in this screenshot, if I'm not batting three fifty with
1386
01:14:47.840 --> 01:14:50.760
each row, that's frustrating for me. Like I almost for
1387
01:14:50.920 --> 01:14:54.880
me want baseball to be like Carnage Heart, where like
1388
01:14:55.119 --> 01:14:59.640
the challenges in the strategy and the tactics as a manager,
1389
01:15:00.039 --> 01:15:02.399
and right, you know, like maybe I'd like Baseball Manager,
1390
01:15:02.560 --> 01:15:05.279
those Baseball Manager games, but like you know, I've seen
1391
01:15:05.319 --> 01:15:08.399
baseball described as like a real life turn based video game,
1392
01:15:08.760 --> 01:15:11.560
and to me, I almost want to like manage my
1393
01:15:11.680 --> 01:15:15.960
players and then let their skills sort of like determine
1394
01:15:16.000 --> 01:15:18.199
the outcome rather than me trying to pitch as Roger
1395
01:15:18.239 --> 01:15:19.640
Clemens but being bad at it.
1396
01:15:20.279 --> 01:15:22.760
Roger Clemens is just good, and so he should be
1397
01:15:22.800 --> 01:15:27.079
good no matter what. Sure, sure, you know so.
1398
01:15:27.119 --> 01:15:30.279
I guess maybe that's why the mechanical aspect of like
1399
01:15:30.359 --> 01:15:33.159
talking about sports games specifically doesn't matter as much to me.
1400
01:15:33.159 --> 01:15:34.880
If it feels good, if it feels like I'm out
1401
01:15:34.920 --> 01:15:37.640
there as you know, gimb trying to steal a base
1402
01:15:37.680 --> 01:15:41.840
and getting thrown out like you know, uh, because he's sow,
1403
01:15:42.199 --> 01:15:44.159
that's like that's good enough for me, I guess.
1404
01:15:44.359 --> 01:15:49.119
But yeah, no, that all makes sense. That's actually kind
1405
01:15:49.159 --> 01:15:52.479
of fascinating as a like okay, like football manager but
1406
01:15:52.560 --> 01:15:55.600
baseball manager, right, like it just set it up and
1407
01:15:56.359 --> 01:15:58.000
let it play out like watchmaker style.
1408
01:15:58.119 --> 01:15:58.880
Yeah, I like that.
1409
01:15:59.680 --> 01:16:02.479
Another thing that I really wanted to mention here is
1410
01:16:03.279 --> 01:16:08.520
Jeff Prolman, a veteran sports writer, ends this like every
1411
01:16:08.600 --> 01:16:13.039
good sports column, can you give me the last year?
1412
01:16:13.239 --> 01:16:15.920
The last because he highlights a couple of complaints, like
1413
01:16:15.960 --> 01:16:18.520
there's an old timers like Hall of Fame team where
1414
01:16:18.600 --> 01:16:21.720
Yogi Berra is tall and handsome. You know this is
1415
01:16:21.760 --> 01:16:25.800
not what these guys looked like. But so anyway, give
1416
01:16:25.880 --> 01:16:26.239
us the.
1417
01:16:26.560 --> 01:16:31.720
Closer, but FRETND World Series Baseball.
1418
01:16:31.319 --> 01:16:34.720
Kicks, ass, just stay away from the domes.
1419
01:16:35.319 --> 01:16:38.319
The kicker, the kicker, the callback you call back to
1420
01:16:38.359 --> 01:16:42.000
the lead, you set it up, chef's kiss. This is
1421
01:16:42.079 --> 01:16:46.680
sports writing about sports for video game reviews.
1422
01:16:46.800 --> 01:16:48.159
I love it.
1423
01:16:48.159 --> 01:16:48.720
It's great.
1424
01:16:48.760 --> 01:16:52.039
It feels just so delightful and comforting to me to
1425
01:16:52.159 --> 01:16:54.560
see this kind of old school sports writing craft.
1426
01:16:54.640 --> 01:16:56.680
And this is like a sports video game, not just
1427
01:16:56.720 --> 01:17:00.640
like sports writing, this is baseball writing. Like, Yeah, baseball
1428
01:17:00.680 --> 01:17:04.479
has its own style and this pits it perfectly and
1429
01:17:04.479 --> 01:17:09.000
it's beautiful, and it's baseball writing. I've always like Hockey's
1430
01:17:09.000 --> 01:17:10.960
always been my number one, but the writing around it
1431
01:17:11.000 --> 01:17:14.199
isn't always great because I don't think it is quite
1432
01:17:14.239 --> 01:17:17.920
as a motive as baseball writing. But baseball writing has
1433
01:17:17.920 --> 01:17:20.039
been around for so long and it is its own
1434
01:17:20.079 --> 01:17:22.319
special thing. And I think that you know, Perlman, being
1435
01:17:22.359 --> 01:17:27.640
who he is, understands that and applied that here in
1436
01:17:27.680 --> 01:17:30.039
a way that just works really well. Yeah.
1437
01:17:30.079 --> 01:17:33.359
So a final score n I n E out of ten.
1438
01:17:34.560 --> 01:17:40.359
Again it's two page review, got plenty of screenshots.
1439
01:17:40.760 --> 01:17:43.760
What do you think, I Yeah, I mean, this is
1440
01:17:43.760 --> 01:17:46.359
a fabulous piece of cultural criticism for a game that
1441
01:17:46.399 --> 01:17:49.279
I don't really care about. I think there's a ten
1442
01:17:49.279 --> 01:17:52.479
out of ten review because the lack of mechanics doesn't
1443
01:17:52.479 --> 01:17:54.399
bother me. This is just like, this was a joy
1444
01:17:54.439 --> 01:17:59.000
to read about baseball, and that's what I want from
1445
01:17:59.199 --> 01:18:01.600
cultural critics. And I think that this is shows the
1446
01:18:01.720 --> 01:18:03.359
level up in the way that we talked about and
1447
01:18:03.399 --> 01:18:05.560
thought about video games in this period, in this early
1448
01:18:05.640 --> 01:18:06.279
hots period.
1449
01:18:06.760 --> 01:18:08.840
I am right there with you again. This is a
1450
01:18:09.800 --> 01:18:11.840
like I said, for me, I think part of am
1451
01:18:11.840 --> 01:18:14.760
I going to enjoy a baseball game is going to
1452
01:18:14.840 --> 01:18:18.680
include how do the pitching and batting mechanics work? You know,
1453
01:18:18.720 --> 01:18:20.760
like does that feel good? Does that feel right?
1454
01:18:20.840 --> 01:18:21.079
How?
1455
01:18:21.680 --> 01:18:23.960
How much better at the game can I be by
1456
01:18:24.000 --> 01:18:24.960
being good at them?
1457
01:18:25.399 --> 01:18:25.880
Yeah? Right?
1458
01:18:26.560 --> 01:18:29.600
But other than that, that's like the only real thing
1459
01:18:29.640 --> 01:18:31.479
alighted over. This is a great review.
1460
01:18:31.560 --> 01:18:35.159
It's so well written and all the experience of baseball,
1461
01:18:35.199 --> 01:18:38.359
like you understand that this is a baseball writer writing it.
1462
01:18:38.359 --> 01:18:42.199
It's so good. I was delighted by it and paid off.
1463
01:18:42.680 --> 01:18:43.720
The setup for me.
1464
01:18:43.720 --> 01:18:46.479
Of seeing Jeff Pearlman way in the you know, meet
1465
01:18:46.520 --> 01:18:49.079
the team section and went like, oh my gosh, what
1466
01:18:49.159 --> 01:18:52.560
is Jeff Pearlman doing here. He's here writing an awesome
1467
01:18:52.560 --> 01:18:54.920
review of baseball game, and you know your reviews other games.
1468
01:18:55.119 --> 01:18:57.279
But we are going to revisit this magazine for sure.
1469
01:18:57.479 --> 01:19:03.359
I'm also ten Peanuts and Crackerjack out of ten for
1470
01:19:03.399 --> 01:19:07.239
me as well, because it's just it's just excellent stuff.
1471
01:19:07.319 --> 01:19:10.960
And I'm excited to see how many reviews Jeff Perlman
1472
01:19:11.000 --> 01:19:14.479
wrote for this magazine. And I'm excited to dig into
1473
01:19:14.600 --> 01:19:18.079
later issues of this magazine as they try to make
1474
01:19:18.119 --> 01:19:20.439
this work. And we know it's only going to last
1475
01:19:20.439 --> 01:19:23.640
two years. We know the business model and the content
1476
01:19:23.720 --> 01:19:26.159
is going to change, we don't yet know how it's
1477
01:19:26.199 --> 01:19:30.000
going to I'm very excited by it. And one little
1478
01:19:30.039 --> 01:19:35.279
note you mentioned the rewind section. Yeah, our past reviews
1479
01:19:35.520 --> 01:19:38.640
in an easy swallow gel tab, so they just give
1480
01:19:38.720 --> 01:19:43.159
you the score they maintain rating six out of ten,
1481
01:19:43.359 --> 01:19:46.359
rating four. You are to keep that in there a
1482
01:19:46.359 --> 01:19:49.560
little bit. But like, I wonder how long this will
1483
01:19:49.600 --> 01:19:51.359
stay in there before the collapse. But I think this
1484
01:19:51.399 --> 01:19:54.199
is it'll collapse under the weight of like how long
1485
01:19:54.239 --> 01:19:56.279
you have to keep doing this? But yeah, it'll it'll
1486
01:19:56.319 --> 01:19:59.359
move into a table and then it'll disappear. Yeah, and
1487
01:19:59.680 --> 01:20:02.840
one last little thing I wanted to note, I just
1488
01:20:03.319 --> 01:20:06.159
oh god, sorry, but just looking at rewind. Also, they
1489
01:20:06.239 --> 01:20:08.199
have the top five games from XBN number two, so
1490
01:20:08.279 --> 01:20:12.920
the previous issue Jet Set Radio Future XBN rating eight
1491
01:20:12.960 --> 01:20:17.039
out of ten, but then number four gets a nine
1492
01:20:17.039 --> 01:20:19.119
out of ten and number five gets a nine out
1493
01:20:19.119 --> 01:20:19.439
of ten.
1494
01:20:20.840 --> 01:20:23.680
So how are we ranking these guys?
1495
01:20:23.960 --> 01:20:26.920
Ha, Well, I think I'm going to give them a
1496
01:20:26.960 --> 01:20:30.600
pass on that because I think using this system of
1497
01:20:30.680 --> 01:20:34.319
like zero is video feces, tennis goes close to perfection
1498
01:20:34.439 --> 01:20:38.840
as a game can get. Yeah, five is mediocrity, and
1499
01:20:38.880 --> 01:20:41.000
we're just and we're using the numbers instead of the letters.
1500
01:20:41.039 --> 01:20:44.000
Instead of the numbers, I think they're trying to convey
1501
01:20:44.199 --> 01:20:46.680
this is vibes based. The scar is not the point
1502
01:20:46.920 --> 01:20:49.920
and you know, not the point. And I suggest that
1503
01:20:50.000 --> 01:20:53.239
Radio Future in SSX Tricky to two top games absolutely
1504
01:20:53.279 --> 01:20:55.760
more timeless than the rest of the games. Like I
1505
01:20:55.760 --> 01:21:00.720
think NFL two K two was pretty good sports person,
1506
01:21:00.760 --> 01:21:03.760
but you know, jets At Radio Future in SSX Tricky
1507
01:21:03.840 --> 01:21:06.680
were probably the ones from that period that month that
1508
01:21:06.680 --> 01:21:09.600
that really stood the test of time. Yeah, and in
1509
01:21:09.720 --> 01:21:14.159
case you were worried about, like, okay, well is this
1510
01:21:14.520 --> 01:21:18.119
how does this review stand up against other reviews? Right? Like,
1511
01:21:18.159 --> 01:21:20.680
if you're going, okay, well, what were the video game
1512
01:21:20.720 --> 01:21:25.960
reviewers saying about it? You go to Metacritic and yeah,
1513
01:21:26.279 --> 01:21:30.920
here's the ninety ninety five from gamer Web Xbox this
1514
01:21:30.920 --> 01:21:33.159
this is right in line, and the Metacritics score is
1515
01:21:33.199 --> 01:21:33.840
eighty five.
1516
01:21:34.039 --> 01:21:37.880
GamePro gave it a one hundred. Game Informer gave it
1517
01:21:37.920 --> 01:21:39.520
an eighty Game Spot seventy four.
1518
01:21:40.520 --> 01:21:40.800
Funny.
1519
01:21:40.840 --> 01:21:43.439
Game Game Informer is mind blowing as the visual presentation.
1520
01:21:43.479 --> 01:21:46.159
Maybe it's gameplay is somewhat disappointing, So there you go,
1521
01:21:46.359 --> 01:21:50.039
like an official Xbox magazine. The direct competitor from Future
1522
01:21:50.119 --> 01:21:53.159
US gave it eighty eight. So this review is right
1523
01:21:53.239 --> 01:21:56.479
in line score wise with all the other reviews of
1524
01:21:56.520 --> 01:21:56.880
the time.
1525
01:21:57.199 --> 01:22:00.720
So that, hey, guess what sport artz ball.
1526
01:22:00.640 --> 01:22:05.800
Nerds who like video games actually can talk about video
1527
01:22:05.840 --> 01:22:08.680
games in an intelligent way, especially when they are about sports.
1528
01:22:09.119 --> 01:22:09.960
Yeah, totally.
1529
01:22:10.000 --> 01:22:15.600
And that crossover between the two, you know, is very
1530
01:22:15.600 --> 01:22:19.760
clear in Proman's writing because he understands them both very well.
1531
01:22:20.159 --> 01:22:24.520
All right, well, that is our review of Xbox Nations
1532
01:22:24.600 --> 01:22:29.359
review of World Series Baseball for the Xbox. Did we
1533
01:22:29.439 --> 01:22:30.000
get it right?
1534
01:22:30.279 --> 01:22:34.600
Leave our review, a review at iTunes, Spotify, wherever you
1535
01:22:34.640 --> 01:22:37.479
get your media, jump in and join the comments on YouTube.
1536
01:22:37.600 --> 01:22:39.560
We'd love to get more interaction there because we can
1537
01:22:39.600 --> 01:22:41.920
see that a bunch of you are liking the video versions.
1538
01:22:42.119 --> 01:22:45.239
Aid has been carrking out some really really cool versions, adding.
1539
01:22:44.960 --> 01:22:47.880
Lots of extra special touches and extra little footage and
1540
01:22:47.920 --> 01:22:49.239
extra little jokes and stuff.
1541
01:22:49.239 --> 01:22:52.840
It's great, awesome. Please make sure that you are subscribed
1542
01:22:53.039 --> 01:22:56.079
and smashing the button and watching there. Interact with us.
1543
01:22:56.119 --> 01:22:58.720
We promise we will interact back. It helps us out
1544
01:22:58.720 --> 01:23:00.960
and it tells the algorithm. Hey, these guys are doing
1545
01:23:00.960 --> 01:23:01.640
stuff that's.
1546
01:23:01.479 --> 01:23:05.119
Worth watching, doing stuff that's worth listening to you. However
1547
01:23:05.159 --> 01:23:06.600
you get your media, just go to.
1548
01:23:06.640 --> 01:23:09.680
Fun factor pod dot com. I promise you cannot miss
1549
01:23:09.680 --> 01:23:11.279
the sign up with it on our homepage that will
1550
01:23:11.279 --> 01:23:14.800
give you access to add free episodes members only channel
1551
01:23:14.840 --> 01:23:18.359
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1552
01:23:18.479 --> 01:23:20.279
chop it up and chat with us as we do
1553
01:23:20.560 --> 01:23:23.399
our recording sessions and like we're doing right now with
1554
01:23:23.600 --> 01:23:26.520
fun Factor alphad members. Just again, go to fun factor
1555
01:23:26.640 --> 01:23:29.159
pod dot com and I promise we cannot miss it.
1556
01:23:29.640 --> 01:23:32.159
If you do, you and we will have a maximum
1557
01:23:32.159 --> 01:23:33.520
score in fun Factor.
1558
01:23:53.760 --> 01:23:56.119
Can you just one second, TI, can you in the
1559
01:23:56.119 --> 01:23:57.840
top right corner? You should be able to do like
1560
01:23:57.960 --> 01:24:00.359
even spreads, and then we'll get just more of that
1561
01:24:01.279 --> 01:24:03.880
screen chairs filled and that'll just look better in the
1562
01:24:03.920 --> 01:24:06.079
final Yeah, I went to the one just for the
1563
01:24:07.399 --> 01:24:09.880
for the cover and stuff and the but at this point,
1564
01:24:09.920 --> 01:24:16.159
hold on and here I didn't, And yeah, go ahead,
1565
01:24:16.880 --> 01:24:21.880
you're my my football writing universe side of the side
1566
01:24:21.880 --> 01:24:25.239
of my brain. This looks very edge, This looks very
1567
01:24:25.239 --> 01:24:29.760
early next generation. It looks really cool. It looks really ambitious.
1568
01:24:31.319 --> 01:24:35.399
Freelance writer and Jeff Pearlman whatever the second whatever the
1569
01:24:35.920 --> 01:24:40.760
cover game was. Okay, so let's let's get back to
1570
01:24:41.159 --> 01:24:41.960
the real deal.
1571
01:24:42.000 --> 01:24:46.600
Here, do you share one second?
1572
01:24:47.119 --> 01:24:49.640
I just realized I meant to pull something up to
1573
01:24:49.800 --> 01:24:50.920
refer to.
1574
01:24:50.960 --> 01:24:58.399
This, and uh didn't. Yeah, okay, all right, cool, sorry, okay,
1575
01:24:58.439 --> 01:25:01.159
so Aiden, Yeah, real