Cantina Banter #5 | Calling LIVE to Black Spire | Indiana Jones & The Great Circle Review - Star Wars Escape Pod

Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
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(00:22):
Star Wars Escape Pod is the pod for you.
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Leave a review and make it a good one.
I am higher today.
I am higher today.

(00:43):
I thought that was a pretty good take.
Pray I don't alter my performance any further.
Welcome back to Star Wars Escape Pod.
And this is our, I believe it's our 393rd episode.
We are rapidly approaching episode 400.

(01:04):
And the celebration in the cantina is yet to come.
We've had some really great shows in the past couple weeks.
Most recently, a special guest a couple weeks ago.
Debuting his book, Young and Star Wars, A Contemporary Mythology.
So definitely go and check out Steve, our special guest.

(01:27):
Who was on the show back in early September.
And yeah, definitely go and check out the book.
The links are all in the description below.
And check out the book as well.
Which is, I believe, having a launch at one of the bookstores somewhere in Oregon.
So you can go find his Twitter feed and it's on there.

(01:49):
And it's free to attend the launch.
So yeah, definitely go and check that out.
But also, Starfighter casts have been revealed.
The whole cast list.
So that was something we talked about last week.
And we celebrated six years of Star Wars Escape Pod.
And with me this week is none other than your co-host, Mr. Blake.

(02:11):
Welcome back.
Chut-chut.
Chut-chut.
Bet nobody expected my name to get dropped there.
Yeah, well, here we are six years later.
And, you know, we're over the hump now.
So this is the first one coming out in six years.
Does that mean we're going to be done in six years?
From now?
Actually, no.
That doesn't.
Yeah, that's not what that means, I guess.

(02:33):
Yeah, I guess that would signify that we're on our way out.
Yeah.
Halfway, everybody.
Halfway there.
This is more like an escalator to nowhere.
It just keeps going.
Yeah.
Yeah, it does.
It does.
That's an interesting question to throw around, though.
Like, when would be a good stopping point?

(02:57):
We lose our passion for Star Wars?
Yeah, like, I guess so.
Like, I mean, some podcasts just die, you know?
Like, some of them just disappear into the void.
Like, they just.
I think it's normally people get busy.
Yeah.
And sometimes they don't put out, like, a finale kind of this is over sort of thing.
Like, sometimes it's just, like, it's dropped.
It just fizzles out.
And it's just kind of.
I think that's why.

(03:17):
Because the plan is always to come back.
And it's hard to arrange people.
Yeah.
I mean, it's kind of sad to think about.
Thankfully, this has just become a weekly excuse for us to hang out.
Yeah.
It's like, exactly.
That's why we got a cantina banter to keep us going when the times are, when the news is a bit more dry.
It is slow out there right now, I tell you what.

(03:40):
It is.
It is slow out there.
So, I mean, you know.
But I feel like, I don't know.
Maybe, hopefully, the hope is that people get some enjoyment out of listening to the two of us, you know?
And whoever else comes on here.
I sure hope so.
Can't imagine why.
But.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And we've had some fantastic guests on in the last few weeks.

(04:00):
But, and as well as just friends of ours, you know, we've been involved over the years.
And we're missing two co-hosts this week, as we normally do.
Our friend Bryce and our friend Kirk.
Yeah, we haven't talked to Kirk in a while, actually.
Yeah.
You know, in fact, I wonder if maybe we can give him a call.

(04:22):
Because I know where he is right this second.
Australia.
No.
Normally, he is.
Normally, he is.
But this week, he is actually traipsing around the Black Spire outpost in Galaxy's Edge.
Oh, man.
Is he there, like, right now?
Yeah.
At Disney?
He is there right this second.

(04:44):
So, naturally, we're going to try and call him.
He's going to call in live from Batuu.
That's right.
We're going to try and make a long distance.
He has no idea that we're going to do this.
He has no idea.
He did say he would send a voicemail.
And then he didn't.
He never did.
Oh, man.
He must be poor service on Batuu.
Or just poor motivation.

(05:04):
Or he got pickpocketed by some Sleemo.
Yeah.
He lost his phone in a dice roll or something like that.
I don't know.
But, hey, I don't blame him at all.
I mean, he's at the happiest place on earth, allegedly.
Allegedly.
So, let's give him a call.
And let's see if we can get a hold of him.

(05:24):
R4, reach out to R4.
R4.
Boost the signal, R4.
We'll have to bounce it off Dr. Steve.

(05:45):
It's too far away.
Hello there.
Oh, there he is.
Shut, shut.
How's it going, man?
I'm good, man.
I'm good.
I'm currently somewhere in between Pirates of the Caribbean and Indiana Jones.

(06:08):
I can't remember what it's called, but somewhere in between there right now.
Oh, nice.
Legendary.
Well, I don't want to suck up too much of your time, but, you know, you're on air.
And I just wanted to ask.
Oh, I'm on air.
You're on air, man.
Yeah.
And we heard you were stranded at Batuu.
Yeah.
I almost got stuck on the Rise of the Resistance ride, but I managed to get past Kylo.

(06:31):
And, yeah, we're all cool now.
Oh, nice, nice.
That must have been a close call.
Yeah.
And hopefully Chewbacca was there to help you out and fly out.
Yeah, exactly.
Like Falcon that seems to not be able to take off anymore.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
I've seen a few of the characters walking around.
This is my first time here, I have to admit.
It's definitely, it's probably the best part of the park, for sure.

(06:53):
Oh, yeah, it's super cool.
They did a really good job on all the set dressing and everything.
Right, yeah.
So, like, what are your general thoughts, I guess, of the land, like, of Galaxy's Edge?
Because, you know, it is your first time being there.
So, like, what are your thoughts, you know, as a first timer?
No, it's definitely unlike anything I've been to, at least.

(07:14):
Like, you go in there and you're definitely totally immersed.
Like, there's the transition from the other parts of the park is also, like, really subtle as you walk in.
And you kind of just don't realize until, like, you look around and you can kind of, things start to seem familiar.
You know, and then when you walk in and you see, like, the massive X-Wing and, like, the A-Wing, like, that's the first part I walked into.

(07:35):
I was like, wow, okay, I've never felt like this before.
Like, I'm actually in something, in something Star Wars, I guess.
It's pretty cool.
And, yeah, like, even, like, it's insane.
Like, even, like, the Coke carts, like, they have, like, these Coke carts there.
But only in that section of the park, they're, like, in, like, the little balls to make it look like it's from the Galaxy, I guess.
Nice.
Yeah.
Yeah, and, like, I can't even, yeah, I can't even get started on the ride.

(07:59):
The ride is by far, like, the best ride at Disneyland.
And, ironically, I guess it was the first one that I walked up to and did.
So, I did that ride and it spoiled every other ride.
It spoiled every other ride.
So, I'm like, oh, is all the rides going to be like this?
It's a very high bar.
It's true.
It's a high bar.
It's pretty sweet, though.
Well, they have, like, the carts, like, are moving around three-dimensionally like that.

(08:20):
Yeah.
Yeah, and you said your lineups were pretty good, right?
Yeah, like, and, like, the animatronics and just the, yeah, even, like, the line.
Like, just going in the line and then how they, like, separate each of the, you know, stages of the waiting process is, like, insane.
Like, we've had really quick lines.
He hasn't been too bad.
I just love how they, like, you know, they make it, like, a whole experience and stuff.

(08:41):
What's your favorite meal that you've had so far there?
Oh, definitely, courtesy of yourself, the recommendation, the Ronto Wrap is pretty damn good.
That's my boy.
I also, I also, I give the Ronto Wrap three Pablo points, that's for sure.
Oh, no.

(09:01):
And I give the blue milk two produce.
That was a big disappointment.
Oh, no.
You ended up trying it.
You ended up trying it then.
Yeah, I tried it, and it was, like, it was really, like, it tasted like a, like, a slushie.
Yeah.
More than milk.
Right.
And, yeah, and because our Australian dollar is really bad, it was, like, $19 for a cup of, like, blue slushie milk.

(09:26):
Oh, yeah.
That's pretty rough.
Yeah.
Yeah, so, and it came in, like, this little cup.
Like, I thought the Star Wars cup could have been nicer or something like that.
But it just came in, like, this plastic cup.
Yeah, it was pretty small, but, you know, aside from that, there's these other, like, I had, I've had all these other drinks and everything in the park, and it was definitely my least favorite, that's for sure.

(09:46):
But at least I can try it.
Was that a liquor drink, an adult beverage, or was that family-friendly?
No, no, it was just, it was just, it was just kid-friendly, you know.
Okay.
Youngling friendly, as they say.
An easy choice would be to just do, like, a white Russian and then just put some, like, blue food coloring in it.
Have you bought any merch yet?

(10:08):
It was okay.
No, you know what?
I knew you were going to ask that question.
I haven't bought any merch yet.
I'm saving it until my last day here, so I don't have to carry it around throughout my North American trip.
So, I definitely got my eye on some things, that's for sure.
That is fair.
We'll try not to buy it.
Merchandising!

(10:28):
Merchandising!
Where the real money from the movie is paid.
Yeah, exactly.
The whole park is an entire gift store.
Yeah, basically.
Basically is, yeah.
But, you know, let's go.
Anyway, I've got to get back to some galactic adventures now and try not to get too lost amongst all the people eating cram chowder and running around.

(10:50):
Yeah, you enjoy it.
I'll provide a more comprehensive review later on.
Sounds good.
Sounds good, man.
Say hi to Dexter at his diner for us.
Yeah, hit the Ogas.
I will, I will.
Yeah, that's right.
I'll get a double dozen Dexter diners going up for you people.
And jolla juice.
Yeah.
And jolla juice, of course.

(11:11):
All right, buddy.
Take care.
Thanks so much.
All right, guys.
See you later.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
All right.
Well, thank you, Kirk, for that lovely call in.
I'm surprised we're able to reach him.
Yeah, yeah.
Way over Batuu.
Took a few attempts there, but yeah, we appreciate the time.
And the signal.
Yeah, I mean, it's awesome kind of calling somebody who's like over there right now, you know, it just feels like I'm there.

(11:36):
Right?
I'm living the dream by liaison.
I assume by that you're mostly referring to the Toronto wrap.
I recommended the Toronto wrap.
I did not recommend the blue milk.
I did say, hey, it's a little fruity.
It's a weird choice.
I'm not a big fan of it.
But I kind of wish they had, because if you are aware of what they used for the prop, it was actually like a can of evaporated milk.

(12:02):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And it was very warm, as Mark Hamill has talked about.
And apparently it was very disgusting.
But the problem is, once you take one sip in one take, you have to take a sip in every take.
Right.
For consistency.
Yeah.
That's, I guess that's the trouble with, yeah.
Yeah.
He did say that, didn't he?
He said the milk was disgusting.

(12:22):
I hope it was a little bit better, at least on The Last Jedi, when he had to get that green milk stash.
You know, I hope it was maybe a little bit more tasty, but I don't know.
I don't know.
He hasn't shared that story.
Yeah.
I'd like to hear about the green milk.
Maybe it's a bit more refreshing.
Mike, I would love to know what he was thinking the moment they told me he was going to do that.
Not again.

(12:44):
Oh, man.
So good.
Well, I got a little bit of news for you lately.
So I recently, I don't know if I brought this up already, but I finally finished the Indiana Jones and the Great Circle video game.
Okay.
And it was.
It seemed like a long game.
It is a long game.
I spent a lot of extra time on the first two locations and not to spoil anything, but there's more than two locations.

(13:07):
And by the time I got to the third big location, I was like, okay, I'm going to start picking up the pace and like not do all the side stuff.
Like going from one to location to the next.
The only part I saw you playing was you had to try and take a picture of like a cat on a roof.
Yeah, that was in the Vatican.
That was the first location.
Like this is Indiana Jones.

(13:28):
Yeah.
Yeah.
Not the greatest side mission to catch me on.
Yeah.
Not the greatest side mission to catch me on to display the game.
But yeah, it was so good that I got to say I liked the story of this video game more than at least two of the movies.
I bet I can guess which two.

(13:48):
Probably.
For the sake of fun and lightheartedness, we'll just keep those two a mystery.
But the game was amazing.
Like it was so good, man.
Like it was like it just felt like it was written by Steven Spielberg or somebody.

(14:08):
I think we should drop a spoiler alarm and then you can maybe tell me the points.
You know, give me the points of the story because I am curious.
Yeah.
And I'm not too worried about it.
Okay.
All right.
Let's do this.
Drop the alarm.
All right.
There we go.
You've been warned.
Spoiler alarm has been hit.
If you're planning to play this game, you might have to jump ahead a bit.

(14:31):
Yeah.
Yeah.
So, okay.
I'm just going to bring up some like bullet points here just because I do need a bit
of a refresher.
It was that long.
It was a long game.
It was a very long game.
Um, so you start off, uh, so, well, actually I should say this game kick thing, it kicks

(14:51):
things off with what, um, are you familiar with like the order of the films chronologically?
Yes.
So like the first one that they made is actually the second one you watch.
Yeah.
And then there's, you know, uh, the, um, the last, the last crusade is the third one.
Right.
And then arc is the second one.
Temple of doom is the first one.
Classic George Lucas can't do it in chronological order.
Right.

(15:11):
So to set the stage, uh, you start the game on the very most, like the most iconic.
Okay.
If I had said, what's the most iconic part of temple of doom for you, what would it be?
I feel like it would be when they're inside and you're like the mine carts and stuff.
Really?
Oh, that's not what I would say.
Uh, okay.
So the rope bridge.
Well, for me, it's the golden idol with the big rolling ball.

(15:32):
Like that's, that's like the most iconic part of that movie to me because that's Raiders.
No, that's, uh, that's Raiders.
Wait, is that Raiders?
Yes.
That's the opening of Raiders.
Are you sure?
Yes.
We're sure about this?
Mm-hmm.
Like positive?
Because the opening of temple of doom is when they're in China and there's a, there's like
the big show, the big, big dance number.
Yeah.

(15:52):
Oh yeah.
You're right.
You're right.
You're totally right.
Okay.
Yeah.
So the beginning of Raiders.
So that's the one you didn't like then, huh?
No, no, not the case.
Uh, no.
Yeah.
You're right.
Uh, so the, the, so the, the opening scene to, to Raiders is what I meant.
Uh, I guess like the most iconic, the entire series in the entire series.
Yeah.
So like you play through that, that level, um, in the game.

(16:16):
So it starts off with kind of recapping Raiders, but the, the, the beginning of Raiders.
So you play through the entire, they recreate the entire part of the movie that you find
this temple, go in, steal the idol, get out.
And everyone dies in that process.
Right.
Cause like one person runs away, one person whips out a gun at you and you take it out
with the whip and then he gets away.

(16:39):
And then the last guy that stays with you goes in, he steals the idol from you and then
he gets like speared in a booby trap.
Right.
And then you get out and then you get captured.
So like you, you go through that entire endeavor.
So, so it just matches the one for almost one for one.
Yeah.
Basically as accurate as they could possibly make it.
Do you have to jump over to the big pit and then the ball comes out?
Um, yes, yes you do.

(17:00):
And, uh, and by the time you get out of the cave, that's when you get captured and then
the adventure ends and you realize that it was a dream because you wake up.
Oh, Belloc.
And he's just remembering in his memory, like this event that happened only like a flashback.
Yeah.
Only like a year ago or, or whatever.
Right.
Uh, and, uh, you're in the school at nighttime and, uh, at the university that you work at.

(17:25):
And, uh, there's, uh, uh, you hear like a crash and there's like, it's thunderstorming
outside and, and, uh, you know, you wake up at your desk, you're burning the midnight
oil, so to speak.
And then you go and investigate and you realize that this giant, big, like Latin speaking giant
dude has like broken into the university, into the museum section.
And he has taken an artifact from one of the cases and you like, you kind of fight him for

(17:50):
a little bit, but he gets the better you and knocks you out.
Um, and, um, you kind of like, I think you wake up and you're like, Hey, what the heck
just, just, just happened.
Um, and, uh, you start to investigate what's missing from the university.
Right.
And, uh, Marcus is there.
So, you know, you have some really iconic characters in there and, uh, you realize like,

(18:10):
Oh, um, I'm going to have to go to, uh, to the, to the Vatican to, to start my, uh, investigation
of what's been stolen.
And there's, there's like reasons that he goes there first and, you know, you find that
out in the game and stuff like that.
But, um, anyways, so, uh, you go there and, uh, that's where, that's where there's like

(18:30):
a, a, a lot of stuff.
Like there's a, like a lot of stuff that starts to, to, to explain exactly what this, uh, adventure
is going to kind of where it's going to lead.
But it, it, it goes so far because there's so much stuff to do that eventually once you
get out of there, you're like, Oh, wait a minute.
Like, this isn't it.
Like, this is like, this keeps going, you know, like, and then, and then it takes you

(18:54):
to, um, uh, where is it?
Egypt.
So Egypt is like the second location.
And, uh, and then, and then there's more locations after that.
You go to the Himalayas, you go to Thailand, you go to Shanghai, you go to, um, uh, there's
like, there, there's a, there's a number of other locations.
Eventually, I think the, the final location I believe is in Iraq, if I'm not mistaken.

(19:17):
And you, and, uh, in general, uh, the reason why it's called Indiana Jones is the great circle
is because around this circle around the globe are these areas in which these statues have
been hidden.
And inside these statues are these stones.
And these stones are basically these little cubicle style looking objects that look like

(19:39):
puzzle pieces and they have like a, like a ancient, ancient language inscribed on them,
uh, which is believed to be like the first language given to the people by God, by the
gods, by God.
And so, uh, you know, the, the adventure continues and I'm really summarizing here.
Um, you're also being pursued at the same time by a German scientist or archaeologist, I

(20:01):
guess, by the name of Emmerich Voss.
And, uh, not only are there tidbits and Easter eggs to like what we should consider expanded
universe, Indiana Jones, because if anyone's very familiar with Indiana Jones, like you'll
be, you'll know that there's lots of comic books, novels, other video games, like, you
know, stuff that was very pre Disney.

(20:23):
Like we're talking like early two thousands, nineties, eighties.
Um, and, uh, this game had nods of the head to a lot of it, like a lot of it.
And, uh, it was like, cause anytime I looked up, like if you find a paper that you look
at or like a photograph or something like that.
And in each major area, there's like 40 things that you can like pick up and find and collect

(20:44):
and put it in your journal.
And I looked up some names or like some events or whatever.
And it would take me to the Indiana Jones wiki.
And I was like able to see like, oh, that's like a connection to like this random comic book
somewhere or like this random novel that I never heard of or, or something.
I was like, man, this is unreal.
Like this game is like, they really did the pulling out all the stops.

(21:04):
Oh yeah.
He basically just looked at Wikipedia and then copied and pasted everything underneath.
Totally.
Totally.
Not to mention the environments were so big and so, uh, so crazy.
But anyway, so, so the biggest spoiler is kind of at the end here where you, you get
to Iraq and you realize what the great circle is all about, what these pieces of stones are
all about.
They're the key to unlocking the power that lies within the final big reveal of the game.

(21:29):
And that is Noah's Ark.
So you find Noah's Ark beneath one of these like pyramid structures in Iraq and Emmerich
Voss has already found it.
And so like, and he's like, he's actually ahead of you.
Even though he didn't have all the key blocks.
Yeah.
So how does that work?
So he, he, he tells you in the, in the game, like how he, I guess a little bit about

(21:50):
like how he came across some of the evidence that led him there.
But, um, in general, meanwhile, while he's been trying to find the stones, you playing
as Indiana Jones had been trying to find out what these stones are for.
And that's what leads you to the Ark.
But he somehow worked backwards and found the Ark kind of more towards a while ago.
And they've been excavating it for many, many months.

(22:10):
So finally, at the end of the game, you realize that these stones unlock a power that this
Ark has and how like, how Noah, I guess, like got around to all the different sections of
the earth to collect different animals.
And they, it basically teleports this, this Ark.
Like it's like this giant teleporting sort of mystical like thing, like on the back, like

(22:31):
kind of where the, uh, the rudder is like where, where you drive the boat.
Like there's this like wheel that you put in this, in a circle, like all these different
stones from around the globe.
And you say like a phrase, like a set of keywords, and then it teleports the boat.
Yeah.
I don't know.
I forget the names, the, the, the different, yeah, it was like a different language.
Right.
So I forget all the words, but it was like, uh, it was crazy.

(22:54):
And then, and then, so you end up teleporting in this big, like while you're fighting everybody
and you know, you're on this Noah's Ark, like in the middle of the ocean, you know, there's
like big storm happening and you know, cause something, something goes to go wrong.
So, and, um, the other thing is, um, the, um, there's a name for the, the, the giants, uh,
the giants in the Bible.

(23:15):
I forget the name of the Nephilim, the Nephilim.
Yeah.
Thank you.
So, uh, the Nephilim, it turns out are, uh, the people who have been chosen to guard these
artifacts and these stones and, uh, protect the secret of Noah's Ark.
And so one of them who, the one who breaks into the university to steal this statue, turns
out there's a stone inside there and he's just taking it back.

(23:37):
Right.
So in your pursuit to find this guy in this stone, you start to uncover all this other
evidence.
And, um, he's the one to kind of help you in the end as an ally.
And he ends up disappearing with the boat after he gets you to jump off the ship once
all the villains are kind of taken care of and everything.
And, uh, you don't see him again.
And that's how the, kind of the game ends.
And then now there's like a DLC called the order of giants, which is more about the

(24:00):
Nephilim in a different way.
And it has nothing to do with like continuing the story of where the Ark went.
And I don't know what they're going to do with that or something.
Yeah.
And I don't know what they're going to do with that, but you do see the Ark go through
this portal with the guy driving it and you're like safe and sound off to the side eventually.
But, uh, but yeah, it was like a crazy like ending and it was very cinematic and definitely

(24:23):
felt like I was playing through an Indiana Jones movie.
And I was like, man, this is pretty cool.
A hundred percent.
This could be a movie.
Yeah.
Like totally.
So it's funny how highly recommend, I feel like people like the Indiana Jones stories when
they have something that feels more culturally relatable.
So I think Raiders as well as, um, last crusade were super successful.
Yeah.

(24:43):
Yeah.
And, um, you know, being, being a more recent game and with a lot of story content to like
draw off of, like for clues and Easter eggs and things like that.
Um, what was nice was they were able to create a, a really solid lengthy story that was able
to also bridge you from Raiders to crusade.

(25:05):
So it was kind of like an Indiana Jones 2.5 story.
That's interesting.
It makes sense.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I just continue what I was saying.
I feel like, I felt like the, even though they're like the crystal skull, for example,
like is a real thing.
It's something that people hadn't really heard of before that movie came out really as like,
uh, in the common psyche.
Whereas I feel like at least growing up in the West, like everybody knows the story of

(25:28):
like Noah or like the, uh, the last supper.
Right.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah.
And that makes, um, yeah.
And, and, and that's not to say that it'd be different at different places.
Right.
Well, I like a lot of, I guess if you don't count the theme park rides, I'm not, I'm not,
I don't really know what a lot of the novels are about, but I know that there was a game
about, um, I think it was, uh, when was it was Egypt, right?

(25:50):
Moses.
Oh, you're right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Or something like that.
Yeah.
Um, it was like Indiana Jones and the, very close to related to the arc.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Like a lot of, um, it was like the Spear of Destiny.
Did they do that one too?
Didn't they?
Oh man, I can't remember.
That's one of the items he literally was like actually after.
A lot of Indiana Jones stories are based around like biblical artifacts or, or, you know,

(26:13):
lore, right.
And, and that's kind of what made that, I guess, very just, just interesting.
Right.
Cause a lot of us do know, do know the, you know, the, the, the books.
Yeah.
The general, general story.
Yeah.
And the general, and the story.
Yeah.
And the really iconic items.
Yeah.
Yeah, exactly.
So, I mean, it was very in line with that route.
Um, and it just felt so, um, just so natural, you know, in, in the, in the Indiana Jones

(26:39):
world and, uh, uh, not to mention there was recently, I was watching a documentary on,
uh, on the ride at Disneyland and, uh, there was a bit of a debate back when, when they were
constructing the ride and George Lucas was, wasn't sure about the giant snake.
And, uh, I guess they were like, okay, well, like eventually they, they came to put it in

(27:00):
and I think he was fine with it eventually.
But at first he was like, I don't know about the giant snake.
Cause that's like, seems a bit more on the fictional side than on the, I guess on like
very realistic side.
Yeah.
And he, and you know, this is a very, but then he put aliens in like, right, right.
There's still skull.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Right.
So, I mean, I mean, I can't prove that they're not real, but it is, uh, there's always a bit

(27:22):
of a science.
It feels like a jump within the Indiana Jones universe.
Yeah.
And there's always like, I feel like the equation for Indiana Jones is like 85 to 90% grounded
with a little bit of 10, 10, 10, 15% fictional or fantasy or sci-fi or something.
Like the arc zapping everybody or whatever.
Yeah.
Like the arc zapping everybody or, or yeah.

(27:43):
Right.
Like, or like the fact that someone was like immortality when you drink from Jesus's cup
and stuff like that.
And I think that's what, I think that's what really grounds those films, makes them so good
is that there is that just that little hint of like mystery.
Right.
Whereas I feel like crystal skull had too much cause there's like psychic stuff going on
through the whole movie and weird, like people were going insane constantly.

(28:06):
And then of course the big reveal at the end.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And then temple of doom, of course, is kind of its own sort of thing.
And the new one too.
Like.
Yeah.
And the back in time.
Yeah.
Going back in time.
Time travels always.
Time travels always tricky to work.
Yeah.
It's, it works in its own universe, but you try to like, you know, wrangle it into something
like this.
It feels like a stretch.
It is.
Yeah.

(28:26):
It is.
That's kind of the problem.
I feel like everything needs to be bigger and crazier, but in reality, I feel like films
have a better draw when they're like super grounded and relatable.
Oh yeah.
And that's what's always made Indiana Jones such a great story is like, it's not just all
fantasy and sci-fi.
It's like, it's got a lot of historical value to it.
It takes place in, in this like time period.

(28:48):
That's a really interesting time period.
Yeah.
It's such a crazy time.
Like pre-World War II.
Right.
And it makes the story so rich because there is limitations to the characters, you know,
whereabouts and, and the technology of the time, like limits certain possibilities.
Right.
Like nowadays it is so easy for someone just to pick up any kind of phone and call someone

(29:09):
and communicate with that person.
Right.
Whereas like back then it's like, you couldn't do that.
Like, you could send like a telegram or you get, or you like, you'd have to use a landline.
Yeah.
But it'd be probably like pretty challenging.
So like in, in, I think you're winning quality in the game when you're in Thailand, you have
to, you, you end up calling Marcus at a hotel that you have find kind of in the jungle and

(29:30):
you stay in this like kind of like jungle motel near a village and, uh, you use the landline
phone there.
But of course it's like kind of bad quality and you have to like go through the connector,
the connection lady, you know, yeah, yeah.
That's, that's retro.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So, you know, it's, it's cool though.
Right.
Like, it's like, man, like this is just such a, just a good, good story.

(29:52):
Good game.
Highly recommend it.
I'm, I'm curious how it does outside the West because Indiana Jones.
Yeah.
Especially, um, yeah, I wonder, cause that we're talking about a very Western, like new Christianity
based stuff.
It didn't do that well overseas.
Yeah.
Like, cause I feel like that is where there's going to be a bit of a disconnect with the

(30:13):
culture.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Like, I feel like it didn't do overly well in Asia.
Um, I don't know about Europe, but the most recent one did not do very well in general,
like not even domestically.
It didn't do too well.
So, um, but that's the new one, right?
Like I, I forget it.
I don't know about the old ones, but, um, but yeah, it's, you know, it's, it's a, okay.
Maybe I'm wrong, but I feel like the people, people of the new one, their favorite part

(30:35):
was like the flashback.
Yeah.
Yeah.
When they're like on the train.
That was, uh, at least that was one of my favorite parts of the movie.
It was pretty cool.
Like, man, this is so cool.
Right.
Like, yeah.
Um, but, uh, yeah, definitely going, uh, you know, go and find it.
It was made for Xbox and PC made by Bethesda.
But, uh, earlier this year they did eventually release a PlayStation version as well.

(30:57):
So, uh, people can play it on.
Right.
Cause Bethesda is owned by Microsoft now, right?
It is.
Or something.
Yeah.
So they did eventually bring the game to, um, competing platforms about a year later,
eight months later, something like that.
Um, but, uh, yeah, that's, that's what I have to say on that.
So, uh, you know, looking forward to if they ever do another one.
Um, but, uh, yeah, maybe down the road, I'll play the DLC, but, um, I'm not super pressed

(31:21):
to do that just only cause like I heard it's a little fluffy.
Like it's like the DLC.
Yeah.
It's not like massively story rich.
It's like just a bit of a, it says to kind of always does that with their expansions.
I mean, there's some, usually there's like some big expansions that have some really
cool stuff.
And then there's a lot of small expansions that are more fluffy, cosmetic, whatever.

(31:43):
Yeah.
So I think this one's more kind of like, it, it adds a lot more like side stuff and like
there is a bit of a story element to it, but I don't think it's very long.
So it is what it is, but it was more of a horse armor DLC.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But anyway, that's what, that's what I got to say on that.
Um, I played it through game pass and I binged it, so I didn't need to pay $90 for the game.

(32:04):
Um, so, you know, anyone who's wanting to buy it, like you'll definitely benefit from
if you want to 100% this game.
Like if you're the kind of person that does every side thing and like you want to complete
this game.
I have a problem with that.
Yeah.
Then probably best to buy it.
To the point where I like started to dislike the game.
It's like, it becomes a chore.

(32:26):
It's like an OCD thing.
Yeah.
Um, I've, I've done that with very few games where I've 100% everything.
Like normally I'm all complete the main story, but then when it comes to the side stuff, I'm
like, yeah, I don't know.
Right.
Um, Jedi survivor is a game that I was like intending to go back and do more side stuff.
And then I just didn't.
Yeah.
And then Fallen Order was like a little bit more linear, whereas like there's not really

(32:48):
too much side stuff to do.
So I don't, I never really went back and, you know, I think I did most about all of that
along like as I progressed.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And that one's a bit easier to kind of do while you're, while you're doing it.
But, uh, Hogwarts Legacy was the one that I, you know, fully completed like every side
mission.
Like pretty much, pretty much every game, isn't it?
Yeah.

(33:09):
Like I got every in-game achievement that you can get.
Um, not the, not all the steam achievements, but every in-game achievement that you can
unlock every, every, every progress bar had a hundred percent on it, you know, did all
that stuff.
So, uh, that one was a great game.
And then that's the one game that I played then a hundred percent of that didn't come
out with any DLC.
No, at least they never made it a hundred percent.

(33:29):
Like what are the odds?
Um, but yeah.
That is weird that the game didn't get a DLC.
Yeah.
I, I, I feel like they're saving it for like a sequel game, which I would not be surprised.
It did incredibly well.
Yeah.
Like incredibly well.
That's why I'm so surprised.
Yeah.
And it's a, I feel like it's a world that'd be so easy to do.
Oh yeah.
For, for sure.
So, I mean, yeah, but this game was, was fantastic.

(33:51):
Hogwarts Legacy 2.
The, the curse of, of, of Dobby.
All right.
Well, uh, let's transition gears here.
Um, I found an article called, uh, I have you now Darth Vader's lightsaber from Star Wars.
Guess how much it sold for at auction.
This is the, uh, this is a screen used prop made, uh, Star Wars history last week, uh,

(34:13):
with a winning bid.
Um, so just take a wild guess.
Five million.
This is the one from Empire Strikes Back.
Uh, and.
That's like the official Vader saber.
This is like the, yeah.
The stunt saber from.
It's the stunt saber.
The big fights.
Not the, uh, like that, that high quality closeup one.
Right.
Well, it's kind of both.

(34:35):
And that's where this particular stunt version is like very highly priced.
Cause it's got all the details you'd expect on the, the replica versions, but it's a prop
version and a stunt version.
It's like kind of like, it's like an all in one.
They do like hybrids.
Yeah.
So I think this is all in one, but it was listed as a like stunt prop.
So yeah, I'm going to say 5 million used in dueling 5 million.

(34:58):
You say, okay.
Not, not 5 million.
Not that much.
I wouldn't be surprised though.
3.6.
Yeah.
I mean, it's not that far off.
3.6 million dollars makes it the most expensive lightsaber in the world.
Um, the eye watering winning bid was a cool 2.9 million, which is 3.6 million, including

(35:19):
the buyer's premium, which makes.
Do you think George, which is he held on to all that stuff?
Can you imagine if George was the guy who bought it?
Could you imagine if George was the guy who sold it and he has a warehouse full of stuff
that he just sells off every once in a while?
Oh man.
Secret name.
That'd be crazy.
Hey George, why, um, why after all these years have you come to spend a 3.6 million dollars
on buying your own stuff back?

(35:40):
Well, um, I just, I just want my stuff back.
Yeah.
I'm opening up a museum next year and, you know, I need some stuff to put on the shelf and,
uh, you know, ticket sales.
Right.
People want to see a 3.5 million dollar lightsaber.
I don't like when people take my stuff.
I don't like it when people take my stuff.
My stuff is my stuff.
I'm not doing it for the, I'm not doing it for the fans.

(36:03):
All right, George.
Looking forward to that museum.
Can't imagine how expensive it is if you're buying all your stuff back.
Yeah.
The official catalog describes it as constructed from a vintage British press camera flash handle
that was transformed into Vader's and fame's weapon.
Those are so expensive now.
Yeah.
Prop stores entertainment memorabilia live auction for Lord Darth Vader's wicked lightsaber

(36:29):
was held last Thursday for in-person online absentee and old-fashioned phone bidding
at the Peterson Automotive Museum in LA, where a total sum of $3.654 million became the final
hammer price for this once in a lifetime opportunity to perhaps own the holy grail of all Star Wars
treasure.
Would you consider this piece the holy grail of Star Wars treasure?

(36:53):
I mean, Empire Strikes Back is probably the most iconic of the films.
And it's mainly because of Darth Vader and Luke.
That duel.
Yeah.
And Darth Vader, like the saber that he uses in Empire Strikes Back is what people consider
like the official Darth Vader saber.
Yeah.
And like I said, it's screen used.
So it's part of history and pop culture.

(37:14):
So I could see that.
Yeah.
I mean, it kind of ticks all the boxes.
Like if you were to pick a definitive iconic Star Wars moment, it's probably the I am your
father moment.
Right.
And that's that duel and that's that lightsaber from that movie, you know, like more than one.
So I'm not sure if that's the one from that, that they used in that take.

(37:36):
Right.
Yeah.
You never know with the stunts, with the props.
You almost, you almost never know.
Right.
Like it's, it's, it's really, it's really hard for anyone.
So you have to have a professional screen matcher to, to analyze the footage, the prop,
you know, you have to put like, okay, this is that one from that take or whatever.
And they usually, you know, bring that down to like every little, like Nick on the.

(37:59):
It's so hard to see.
It's very hard to see.
Right.
And it's, it's a dark sequence that takes place.
So it's visually like not easy to see the details on that particular prop.
And you also have someone with gloves, like grasping the thing with two hands.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Cause he fights with two hands, usually Darth Vader.
So, you know, it's a tough one.
Right.
But it, but it's from that film and the film after, I believe they also did say it was possible

(38:21):
also used in return of the Jedi, but definitely as, as old as empire.
And, um, yeah, it was screen, it was a screen match hero prop wielded by David Prowse and
the legendary stuntman, Bob Anderson for empire strikes back and return of the Jedi.
So yeah, I mean, I, I think it would be the Holy grail other than Luke's or Anakin's lightsaber,

(38:42):
the blue one, right.
Being used in the same shot.
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
The same tape.
If you get the pair.
Oh my goodness.
Yeah.
Dude, $6 million.
Um, yeah, but you have the definitive, the definitive set.
Yeah.
You and your friends could recreate that moment with the same weapons.
So George, why are you back?
I just, I want the set.

(39:03):
I gotta have the set.
I already had the other one.
I already had the other one.
I gotta have two of them.
I actually got about three of each now.
Go back or go home, homie.
You just called me homie, George.
Yeah.
All right.
Uh, Star Wars actor confirms the return of this fan favorite Clone Wars character.
Can you guess who it is?
Oh man, you're giving me a no context.

(39:27):
There's thousands of characters in Star Wars.
Throw a guess out there for a fan favorite Clone Wars, this character that started in
Clone Wars.
Fan favorite Clone Wars character.
Yeah.
The return yet again.
I'll say yet again because he's returned many times.
Many times.
Many times.
Is it that bounty hunter with the big hat?
Embo?
Embo?
I don't know.
He's not a fan favorite, I don't think.

(39:47):
I would consider him a fan favorite.
Is it a clone?
He's voiced by Jim Cummings.
So one of like the three voice actors?
He's voiced by Dee Bradley Baker.
Oh, wow.
Could be one of 50 characters.
Yeah, exactly.
No, it is none other than Hondo Onaka.
Oh man, how did I not guess that?
Yeah.
Fan favorite, back again.

(40:09):
I guess it feels like it's too obvious.
Yeah.
Because it seems like he's back.
He's back all the time.
It's like he never left.
Yeah, he's like he never left.
Kirk was just talking to him at the park probably within the last like four hours.
Exactly.
So at a recent convention when promoting Andres Deja, 30 years of Disney villains at San Diego Comic-Con 2025, legendary voice actor Jim Cummings confirmed that Hondo Onaka is returning to the screen.

(40:36):
And there was a chat that happened exclusively with the direct.
So that means it must be like one of the upcoming shows?
I guess so.
Yeah.
So Cummings told fans to stay tuned as the self-serving yet hilarious Weakway Pirate was first introduced in the Clone Wars.
There's also the Maul show.
Yeah, Maul Shadow Lord.
So when asked whether Hondo might appear in Maul Shadow Lord, a sequel to The Clone Wars, Jim Cummings winked while saying, I think you're going to stay tuned because Hondo is not done yet.

(41:10):
But Jim Cummings went on to say what he loves about the lovable rogue, admitting he's one of my favorites and he says he's one of my favorites because he's a lovable rogue.
You could probably actually trust him.
He looks out for Ezra and he looks out for the younglings as they call him and he won't do anything to harm anybody.

(41:32):
But I wouldn't want to play cards with him.
Yeah, well, actually, I think we have seen him as a more of a dangerous guy, especially when he was raiding those like pirate farms early on early on.
We first meet him as a pirate for sure.
Yeah.
And then he gets soft.
He kind of gets soft as we see him.
Yeah, he definitely gets softer as time has gone by for sure.

(41:56):
Yeah, definitely.
But he's still just as scummy.
He's still scummy, but he's less like he's like, oh, this guy's not going to murder me.
Right.
Yeah, because I feel like he's become soft since the showdown with Ahsoka and they're on the tanks.
Yeah.
I think that's his debut arc, wasn't it?
Yeah.
Yeah, he delivers rocket launchers as well to...

(42:19):
Dooku or something, right?
Isn't he going to try to take her to Dooku?
It was when Ahsoka is leading, helping fight on Onderon and Obi-Wan and Anakin send her or send them rocket launchers illegally.
Because the Republic can't step into the Onderon fight.
And they use Hondo to transport the rocket launchers.
And he drops them off.

(42:40):
And then he gets out of there as soon as the fighting starts.
That's the first time we meet him?
Well, my work here is done.
It goes off.
No, that's not the first time we've met him.
That's like later in season five or something.
Or season four.
Gotcha.
But yeah, you're right.
We see him in the Dooku arc where Dooku captured.
Yeah.
Something happens to that one.

(43:01):
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
And then there's another episode where I think Dooku comes back to seek revenge on Hondo because of that episode.
Right.
And I think he either sends Savage a press or maybe he does it himself.
There was like something about that.
Yeah, he's shown up so many times, right?
And I'm trying to think if he was in the Bad Batch or not.

(43:24):
Hondo?
Yeah.
He did show up at some point, right?
I feel like he would have.
But at the same time, I don't actually know because I've only ever seen the show all the way through once, I think.
I think he watched the first season or two twice, but the rest of them, yeah.
Oh, true enough, yeah.
I just can't remember that detail if he's in it because it would have been like maybe one episode.

(43:44):
But he was in Rebels.
He was in Rebels, yeah.
I'm surprised he, man, I'm kind of disappointed that he never showed up in...
Ahsoka?
Gosh, what was that?
I mean, that too, but I was going to say the show just came out long ago with the kids.
Why am I blanking on that?
It wasn't one of the tales of...
No, the live action one.
Oh, Skeleton Crew.
Yeah, thank you.
Yeah, that would have been a really good show for him to show up in, actually.

(44:08):
Yeah, he would have fit in that perfectly.
He would have.
I guess maybe they didn't want him to compete with you.
Yeah, too many pirates.
Yeah, maybe they just didn't want him taking away the spotlight from...
Even just a cameo when they're on that pirate space station.
Yeah, it would have been cool.
But I guess kids do get to see him all the time at Galaxy's Edge, and I guess maybe they were like,

(44:28):
yeah, well, you know, he's doing that there, and who knows.
That would have been cool, though.
I would have loved to have seen him in Skeleton Crew.
I think that was...
That show did need...
I feel like that was the one thing that we were kind of missing from that show,
is like some kind of like big shot sort of cameo from somebody.
Maybe they're trying to get away from that.
I think so.
I think there's a lot of backlash from Force Awakens for every prop being a cameo.

(44:50):
Yeah, possibly.
Like Easter egg.
Possibly.
We got an exclusive Crunchyroll news.
The Art of Star Wars A New Hope, the manga collector's edition cover revealed.
So there's a Kickstarter currently underway for art books based on the Eisner winning manga.
And I didn't know about this, but Dark Horse Comics and Lucasfilm have teamed up to deliver a Kickstarter for the Art of Star Wars A New Hope, the manga.

(45:19):
A deluxe set of highlighting the work of manga author Heseo Tamaki.
The book features never before seen artboards in their original right to left orientation and more.
We now have an exclusive look at the cover reveal for the collector's edition.
Dark Horse scanned and assembled the original artboards showcasing the work that went into the Eisner award winning manga that originally debuted in 1997.

(45:46):
Check out the cover for the Art of Star Wars A New Hope right here.
This is the books right here.
Look pretty cool.
Yeah, I think so.
Death Star and Death Star 2.
Yeah, so it's a two volume set and it comes in this like slipcase box.
Volume 1 is like blue, Volume 2 is red.

(46:07):
It's a two volume.
Yeah, it's the original.
So this is the, it's just Star Wars, the manga adaption.
So that's, you know, like just the first, first 1977 story.
It's a two volume hardcover set presenting Tamaki's artwork in high resolution with Kickstarter exclusive cover and new English translation that's taken directly from Tamaki's handwritten Japanese text.

(46:30):
This edition is perfect for fans looking to read the masterful adaption for the first time.
So I just thought it was pretty cool.
Um, it'll be available in 2026 as a retail version, but, uh, for this particular collector's edition, uh, you'll definitely want to get in on that, uh, that Kickstarter, I guess.
Um, the campaign also includes options like a art print set, uh, which features six prints, uh, of standout pages, large format, three panel, um, folio, uh, with, uh, two complete, uh, print sets from that as well.

(47:02):
So, um, yeah, it's kind of neat.
Are you going to get it?
Merchandising?
No, I'm good.
You already got these big books over here.
I already got the Tashin books from Paul Duncan.
Those are, those are enough for me.
I mean, I don't want to like, I have to be really picky and choosy of what, like what I get these days.
Cause you only, you only get so much space, right?
It's a finite resource.
You can always just get a bigger house.
More shelves.

(47:24):
Sounds so excited about the prospect.
Oh man.
Okay.
Um, another thing.
Star Wars Mark Hamill, uh, believed returning as Luke Skywalker for Disney sequels would be a mistake, but felt compelled after Harrison Ford signed on.
Uh, this is a recent IGN piece of news here.
It's ironic.
Cause I always felt like Harrison Ford would be the one who would not want to do it.

(47:48):
Yeah.
Cause he, he seems like he's never been a fan of the character on solo.
He did say.
Or Star Wars in general.
Right.
You'd think so.
I guess.
Yeah, it is kind of weird.
It's kind of backwards.
It's like, he loves Indiana Jones.
That's like his thing.
Well, I love the paycheck.
I mean, that's probably the truth of it, if I'm honest.
Um, he always seems grumpy when he gets, when he gets questions about Star Wars though.

(48:13):
Yeah.
He just, he seems, he just, just dislikes it so much.
Well, at least until Disney said he's not allowed to be grumpy about it.
Uh, speaking to the Hollywood reporter, Hamill admitted that he had real reservations about agreeing to return.
He believed that he wouldn't be the only one of the saga's classic cast to turn Disney down until he read that even Harrison Ford was coming back as Han Solo.

(48:37):
I had real reservations about coming back.
Mark says, uh, I thought it would be a mistake.
You can't catch lightning in a bottle twice.
They should really focus on a new generation of characters.
And I thought, well, Harrison is not, uh, going to do it anyway.
You could see his irritation with constantly having to talk about Han Solo.
Yeah, exactly.
That was getting there.
Once I saw the press that he had accepted, I felt like I had been drafted because if I'm the only one who says no, I'll be the most hated man in nerddom.

(49:08):
He's not wrong.
So then he went on to appear in all three.
I bet they convinced him by telling him they'll do Indiana Jones if he does Star Wars.
Yeah.
I could see that.
Yeah, probably.
I could see that too.
I like, and that's the thing.
He would never admit that.
I don't think.
Unless it was like, I feel like he might.
Maybe on his deathbed or something.
That's his, like, his secret.
Something he needs to get to the public on his deathbed.

(49:29):
He writes a book and like the last page is like, people need to know.
I only did Star Wars.
I would not have done the sequels if I didn't get to do Indiana Jones 5.
It's a great film.
People are going to love it.
People are going to love it.
It's the pinnacle to the series.
It's the pinnacle of cinema.

(49:52):
I feel like that had to be the reason.
Yeah.
That's what I would bet on.
Yeah, I think so.
I think they gave him a massive paycheck.
I mean, probably that too.
I mean, that movie made so much money.
Did he have a young kid at the time or something?
What, Harrison Ford?
I thought so.
Am I crazy?
No, I don't think they have a young kid.
I think George has a young kid now.
Yeah, George's kids are all grown up now.

(50:14):
Well, he got remarried and I think she had a kid or something.
Oh, maybe, maybe.
Yeah, I don't know.
I don't know.
Harrison Ford's...
Or maybe it's his.
I'm not sure.
Yeah, Harrison Ford's TFA deal.
Yeah, $34 million.
That was the alleged report.
And then, of course, 0.5% of gross take in the film, which was another like $9 million

(50:35):
or something.
He basically made like $40 million.
I mean, I would do one movie for that.
Yeah, I mean, that's the reason that like Robert Downey keeps doing Marvel stuff because
they give him a $50 million paycheck.
Yeah.
Like, it's like, who says no to that?
You know?
I will say, at what point do you just have made so much money that it's like, it's of

(50:55):
no benefit to you anymore?
Well, that's when you agree to kill off your character and then you come back as like a
memory or a force ghost for half the amount for $20 million.
You come back as a villain for some reason.
It doesn't make any sense.
Yeah, exactly.
All right.
Lego Death Star.
There was a new Lego Death Star that was recently announced.
And originally, we weren't going to bring this up until we both kind of had a laugh over

(51:18):
the fact that we both have reservations about this particular set.
This is a 9,023 piece set, set number 75419.
It's being released in about a month from now, and it will be selling for $1,000 USD.
It's up for pre-order, I think.
$1,000 USD.

(51:39):
The previous versions include, I think there's two or three.
There's a queue on the Lego website right now.
Did it release today?
Are you serious?
Yeah.
Did it release today?
Thank you for waiting.
Due to high demand, you have been placed in a queue to visit lego.com.
Wow.
Okay.
Well, you can...
Maybe it's a sale.

(51:59):
Can't even visit lego.com right now.
Crazy.
It's 2025.
That is insane.
They need better servers.
So, yeah.
The Lego Death Star, it's kind of weird because the previous Death Stars have all been either
play set style, spherical sets.
The best one is the Death Star 2.

(52:20):
And then there is also the first Death Star that they ever made in Lego, which is the Death
Star 2.
That's the best one, yeah.
And, yeah.
And that one is just kind of a, I guess, a UCS style model.
Yeah.
Which I feel like that's what people want.
That's set...
Because that's what I want.
...10143 with 3,449 pieces.
And it's really cool to look at.

(52:41):
It's not exactly your average play set.
A friend of mine had it.
And it looks...
Because, like, the way Lego is with the bumps.
The studs.
Yeah.
The studs.
It really looks good, right?
Oh, yeah.
Especially in the part where it's unfinished.
Right.
Like, on the Death Star 2.
It looks really good.
Yeah.
It has a really nice silhouette.
And then the following two Death Stars were spherical play sets, like what we were just

(53:02):
saying.
Yeah.
And the minifigure lineup, for those, have always been very impressive with, like, you
know, 15, 20 figs or whatever.
But they felt like those...
They could have done so much better if they just bothered to put, like, gray panels on
them.
Uh, yeah.
So this most recent one, though, this most recent one is kind of crazy because it's a
wedge.

(53:23):
It's like if they took...
It's like flat, right?
...a slice out of a sphere, basically.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's fully flat.
So you have to display it against a wall.
And, um, it's kind of like a multi-leveled thing that displays different scenes, kind
of like how the previous versions did it, but on a more two-dimensional, 2.5D scale,
I guess.
This was like a weird choice, because didn't all the dioramas not sell very well?

(53:46):
I don't know about the dioramas not selling well, but I know that, um...
I don't know if it's true.
That's a rumor.
Don't take me on my way.
They've also combined Death Star 1 and 2 scenes.
Hey, yeah, you're right.
I just realized they got the Emperor's Throne Room from episode 2.
Yeah, they have the trash compactor.
They have episode 6's, you know, Emperor's Throne Room scene.
Um, I think the most impressive part...

(54:08):
It's kind of confusing.
I don't know how they would do that.
Yeah, I don't know.
I think the most impressive part about this is that it comes with 38 minifigures in the set,
which is really a lot.
That is a lot.
It is a lot.
But I'm going to be honest, if I went on BrickLink,
I could probably get a lot more than that for $1,300 Canadian.
That's the thing.
It's like, that's what most people are saying, is the minifigure lineup,

(54:29):
and for the figures that they include in the set,
are actually not as good as they should be.
Right.
One of them being C-3PO,
is, it does not have the same quality of the printing as the one that you get in the C-3PO set.
It comes with George Lucas.
Oh, look at that.
It's Lego George Lucas.

(54:50):
Lego bin.
Um, also, I mean, like, out of those 38 figs, like, six of those are just stormtroopers.
Yeah, so that's what, that's pretty generic.
Right.
But do they at least have, like, superior printing or something?
Well, no, that's what I mean.
Like, like, a lot of the figs in the, in this set are, are figures that you could find in another set.

(55:12):
Right.
Imperial officers and stuff.
Yeah.
Like, there, there, there's some very generic, uh, figures in here, which, which don't have
all exclusive printing for this set.
Like, I would, I would imagine that if someone's paying over a thousand dollars for a set,
like this one, um, I would really hope that it would have very highly exclusive figures.

(55:33):
You know, maybe the stormtroopers do have, like, special printing, but, you know, apparently
they don't, which is really kind of a shame.
Um, it is really neat that they, like, I mean, anything that they make with Star Wars and
Lego to me is always, like, cool, but I mean, I don't, I don't think this is worth the price
tag that they put on it.
Like, it's kind of insane.

(55:54):
I, I, for the same amount of money.
When they says UCS Death Star, this is not at all what I had expected.
No.
And, and for the same amount of money, you can buy that UCS Millennium Falcon.
That's way more impressive in my opinion.
Which is.
It's been out a long time.
It's been out a long time, but it's a way more impressive looking build.
Yeah.
In my opinion.
Yep.
I agree.
No, for sure.
I wonder.

(56:14):
Since then, there has been Lego inflation.
Um, so I am curious.
Extreme inflation.
That's part of it.
Uh, I am curious if you look at, like, part count, comparison between the Falcon and the,
and the Death Star.
Do we know what that is?
Yeah.
So the Millennium Falcon has, um, what is it?
7,500, what, 7,541 pieces.

(56:37):
Uh, this one includes over 9,000.
So it is more pieces.
It is more pieces.
Yeah.
And there's more figures.
I'd be curious if you put them side by side to see the scale difference.
I think, yeah.
I, I, I mean, I think like the shape of the, the Falcon is probably around the same circumference
as the Death Star, but the Death Star does have more pieces to it.

(56:57):
Like smaller pieces because of all the scenes and everything.
Right.
It's probably a lot of small intricate pieces.
Exactly.
Yeah.
There's also a lot of like internal mechanical elements where you can like move, like turn
a dial and like something happens.
And so like, there's a lot of pieces that are, um, technical style.
Yeah.
There's technical Lego in there that'll, that'll like, you know, create some play function to

(57:20):
it.
And, uh, you know, that also takes up piece count, making those, those, um, those design
elements, right?
Like the function, the functionality to it.
So I don't know.
It is an impressive set.
Uh, is it worth the money?
In my opinion, probably not.
Um, you know, would it, would it be a better deal if it was maybe priced exactly like the
Falcon?
Like probably.
Sure.
It'd be a better deal, but it's not as type of set that I'm personally interested in.

(57:45):
No, it's not.
That's, that's like the main thing at the end of the day for me.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I think so.
Or like, I feel like the Falcon or the UCS, um, fire spray or, what's it called now?
Razorcrest.
Like those are all like, I think it's like, I feel like the big thing for Star Wars has
always been like vehicles where the structure like, or display things never seem to do as

(58:08):
well.
Right.
Like the average fan, I think gravitates towards more vehicle stuff.
Yeah.
I think that's kind of what Star Wars is known for too, is like the ships, you know,
and like tanks, the AT, AT, ATs and stuff to, to George's dismay.
It's not about spaces.
All right.
Um, last, uh, second, last thing, cause I know you got an article to, to kind of bring up
as well.

(58:29):
Yeah.
If we want to talk about it, uh, is, um, this new VR and we have spoken about this before
and we've been previewing it and hinting at it for, you know, a number of months now,
ever since it was first teased, uh, earlier this year at celebration, uh, but they have
finally revealed a full trailer and more details on the star, the next, the next Star

(58:49):
Wars VR game for quest.
Uh, this is a quest three and three S exclusive.
Um, and it is called star Wars beyond victory.
So let's take a listen to the trailer and, uh, then we can, uh, just dissect it.

(59:21):
So you working on your pod last night, can it race?
Yeah.
Winning races is sort of my thing.
This is the hut Coliseum where they hold the championship pot race.
And we're going to rock.
You wouldn't know what I learned first of all, but the only way to win is do what others
are willing to do.

(59:42):
I know what you're going to say.
And I am being careful.
I am meddling in hut business is about as far from being careful as I can imagine.
You stole from me.
The excitement on the sidelines is palpable.
And they're up.
Okay.

(01:00:03):
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
Okay.
All right, it's available October 7th, so on MetaQuest 3 and 3S.

(01:00:46):
Did you recognize Greg Proops?
Yeah, I did, actually.
Yeah.
They're side by side.
Bungla bunga.
Is that actually him, or did they maybe just get a voice double?
I'm pretty sure that's him.
Yeah?
I can't imagine him being an expensive voice actor to hire for something.
Bobby, yeah.
He's a comedian.
Sorry, what's his name again?

(01:01:07):
Greg Proops.
Greg Proops.
Once again, voices Fode.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Nice.
So he's back.
I always liked him.
Awesome.
Let me hear the other guy.
Hungla bunga.
There's three modes that this game offers.
There's only two heads.
There's adventure mode, arcade mode, and play set mode.
So play set mode, where we heard less dialogue in the trailer there, that invites players to

(01:01:31):
unleash their creativity in a dynamic sandbox where you can use unlockable digital action
figures and models, including vehicles, iconic characters.
You can populate your physical environment around you and stage your own stories.
So it looks like basically it's like you get a little C-3PO.
You can scale them up to your full size or shrink them down to an action figure.

(01:01:53):
You could pose them however you like and then set them up in your room as a virtual model
that stands there.
And you can just kind of...
So instead of spending $3.8 million on a screen use prop, you can just get a virtual one.
Yeah, pretty much.
Exactly.
That's exactly how it is.
And you can like set up scenes in your room with all these chips and explosions and stuff
and just kind of, I guess, have it be this cool looking thing.

(01:02:17):
And because it's mixed reality, don't forget it's mixing that VR element inside your physical
space.
So you would be, you know, seeing your room and then these other virtual elements inside
of it.
Arcade mode transforms players' physical space into a holotable-style racing arena where
high-speed pod races are controlled from a top-down view.
Each track features multiple paths to finish line, providing fast, replayable, fun, fan, classic

(01:02:43):
arcade gameplay.
I was very surprised to see how much of it was like board game style.
Yeah, it's not actually like first person.
Yeah, because to me, VR is about the immersion.
It's about being in that place and seeing everything like full scale.
So I think that's why one of the key things to take away from this is it's not necessarily
a VR game rather than a mixed reality play set.

(01:03:06):
That's what they're calling it.
Right.
But I still think people are going to be disappointed.
See, I agree with you where I find it's like a missed opportunity.
That they didn't make a VR fully immersive first person drive a pod race element to this
game.
That would be pretty cool.
I mean, it's probably super hard to do and to make it like pod races like are like flying

(01:03:29):
all over the place.
Yeah.
Like it's definitely a lot more computing power.
Like I just meant like immersion wise, if whatever, like if you have the virtual reality helmet
on what you're looking at, it's going to be very stationary compared to like the whiplash
you see in Phantom Menace.
Right, right.
Of the pods.

(01:03:50):
Yeah.
Yeah.
And there's that.
But I mean, I think I so I guess my I have two thoughts about this.
One is it seems like X Labs has always kind of tried to keep up with the current hardware
as a benchmark for like, how can we create a cool product for this hardware?
Right.

(01:04:10):
And the key thing with the Quest 3 and 3S is it's really targeting that mixed reality element
to VR.
Right.
Whereas going with the hardware trend.
They're going with the hardware trend up building for that headset, whereas the Quest
2 and prior and other VR headsets they built for those headsets.
So on the Vive, when I had my HTC Vive, they had that Trials on Tatooine game, which is the

(01:04:34):
first thing that X Labs ever did.
And that was that random little thing where you're on Tatooine, R2D2 comes off the Falcon,
gives you a lightsaber, stormtroopers come out of nowhere, you deflect some bullets and
then bullets or blaster bolts.
And then R2 goes back on the ship and gets away on the Falcon and that's it.
Right.
Like it's just like a five minute, barely five minute little story.

(01:04:57):
It was a cool proof of concept.
It was a it was a really cool proof of concept.
And that's what fed the technology that led to the first actual game that they did, which
was Vader Immortal.
And that was that was awesome.
Yeah.
And that's for the quest.
And that was like chapter one.
And they did a total of three.
So they made like a trilogy of story for that game.
So you had to kind of buy all three separate chapters and they all had a lightsaber dojo

(01:05:20):
mode in there and they all had the story element to it.
And you could keep playing the lightsaber dojo to unlock more lightsabers and, you know, get
more stamps and stuff like that.
Then they did.
I think it was a bit of a partnership, but they did that Star Wars VR pinball game as
well.
Also for the quest and the quest to was there something on Batuu?

(01:05:41):
That one was after.
So the VR one, I think maybe that one came before the Batuu one.
But same thing, kind of like this playset mode where you had like a virtual kind of sort
of nerd cave and things that you unlocked by playing the different pinballs in VR, you
could like win like a Mandalorian helmet and then you can set it up on your shelf in the

(01:06:04):
living room somewhere.
Oh, cool.
And it was like a virtual like room that you could keep your collectibles in VR like on
display.
So it's like you actually went to an arcade.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Except it was like Chuck E. Cheese and you traded in your tickets.
Yeah, exactly.
But it was like stylized as if this was your house in your basement.
Right.
So there was like a TV on the wall and like a Star Wars cantina style kitchen and like

(01:06:26):
stairs that go up to another floor that you can't go up and follow.
And then there was like a sliding door to go to the backyard and stuff.
Right.
But it was like stylized as if it was like a Star Wars house.
That was kind of cool.
And then they did the Tales from the Galaxy's Edge, which was the role playing game style.
Yeah.
That one was probably their first big doesn't feel like a mini story game.

(01:06:48):
Like whereas the Vader ones, if you play through those, they're each like between 35 and 45
minutes.
Yeah.
And they do kind of you need to have all three to really make a meaningful like actual game
out of it.
I think what I enjoyed both of those though is it felt like you're in like a three episode.
Yeah, definitely.
Yeah.
Say Clone Wars.
Yeah, for sure.
The Batuu one was great because like it actually did have some length to it and there was like

(01:07:13):
some side missions that you could do and then there was things that you could collect in
the wilderness when you were exploring and unlock the like side mission stories, which
each were also like 25, 30 minutes each.
And there was like two of those.
Right.
So it was like that was a really proper full game.
But that was the last one that they did for VR on the Quest 2.

(01:07:33):
How long ago was that?
And then they had a DLC for that game as well.
Like three years ago or two years ago, three years ago.
Okay.
And then now maybe like two years ago.
I don't know.
It was a while ago.
And then now with the Quest 3 and 3S, they're moving on to the mixed reality aspect of the
hardware.
So that's where this game comes into play.
Do you know if the hardware traders, you know, Facebook or whatever, if they're planning

(01:07:56):
to continue in that direction or are they going to go back to more immersive?
Yeah, they're continuing with the mixed reality, the MR style.
But that doesn't mean that it's not also a VR.
The weird thing with like budget MR headsets right now is that it is a VR headset, including
the Apple Vision Pro.

(01:08:17):
It is a VR headset.
The only thing that makes it a mixed reality headset or MR at all is that it uses cameras
that are undistorted in a way that it lines up fairly well with your physical environment.
And so what you're able to do is use the pass through of the VR headset to then make it
look like it's looking through the headset itself.

(01:08:41):
But it's really just the cameras that are doing the work.
So it's kind of cheating the MR aspect.
That's what it's going to be like to be a cyborg if you replaced your eyes.
Pretty much.
Yeah.
So like so like it's kind of a cheat, but because it's not really pass.
It's not transparent screens or anything that like do this stuff.
But I feel like that's kind of what MR is standardized to be now with the limitations of our hardware.

(01:09:04):
Transparent screens are a thing, but they are just way too expensive to put in every single
mass consumer product.
Google Glass situation.
No, there's actually like transparent TVs that exist that have been shown at CES and
stuff like for the last couple of years.
But who owns a transparent TV, right?
Like like nobody.
I assume it's still prototype mode.

(01:09:25):
Yeah, it kind of is like companies sell it.
Yeah, like like they're like it's for enterprise and super wealthy people who want a transparent
TV.
The thing is like, why would you want a transparent TV?
Like like, why would you want something on the other side coming through your image?
If it was your window, you could have your actual window looking through or you could
change it.
So it looks like you're at the beach, you're by the forest, you change the time of day.

(01:09:48):
It's not that good.
It's like it's transparent, but it's always transparent.
So like everything that the TV shows still has some sort of translucence to it.
So if I were to put my hand behind like my face with on the TV and I put like a real
person behind my face being like shown on the TV, you'd still see like some something.
A little bit of it come through.

(01:10:08):
Yeah, so it's not perfect, right?
So I feel like MR, this is kind of what MR is.
MR is basically just VR with the better cameras to make it look like it's MR.
That's kind of what what what that is.
But anyway, there's no reason that you couldn't run this game on a traditional VR headset.
It would take a bit of hacking to do it.
But the last mode that this game offers, which is the adventure mode, would be kind of

(01:10:31):
weird.
And why I say that is because this delivers the primary narrative journey, placing the
players in the role of Volo Bolas, an ambitious four armed pilot mentored by mentored by none
other than the pod racing legend Sebulba.
Oh, they've been Quadraneros.
Through a mix of fully immersive VR and mixed reality, players will experience in an epic Star

(01:10:54):
Wars story from a bold new perspective.
Other characters seen in new key art for Beyond Victory include Sebulba's pink haired business
partner, Luda, Volo's Alina friend, Dayland Tyrell, a Twi'lek mechanic named Sorna, and
Gracchus the Hutt, who I believe we may have also seen Gracchus recently in the trailer for

(01:11:16):
The Mandalorian and Grogu, or the images that they released, which is a character to fans
of Marvel, Star Wars.
Oh, he was also in the comic books, that's right, I totally forgot about that, and Flagship
and the Poe Dameron comics as well, the Star Wars Flagship series and the Poe Dameron comics.
So yeah, so that's what adventure mode is.
So I think if you don't have the MR ability on your headset and you hacked it to make it

(01:11:40):
work, you'd kind of just be in this black void with these characters sort of standing
on this like textured piece of ground with the rest of your environment missing.
That's what the MR part of it would give you in a traditional VR headset.
And then the VR elements, which are fully immersive, would be fine.
But like...
You could just pretend you're in the world between worlds.

(01:12:01):
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Yeah.
But yeah, I mean, it looks cool.
I don't actually own a Quest 3 and I don't plan on buying one.
The Quest 3S, by the way, is basically a Quest 2 with two extra gigs of RAM.
So, and better cameras, of course, so that the pass-through doesn't complete garbage.
So I mean, like, there's no reason that you can't maybe make a hack without some crashing

(01:12:21):
happening.
These also don't run on PC.
These run on strictly off the headset hardware, which is a bit of a limitation to people trying
to hack it on other VR headsets.
Not that it can't be done, but I mean, you know, just saying.
But yeah, I think I'm going to be waiting for the next one after, you know, it's like...
Is that what you've been trying to do with every two generations?
Yeah, sadly, I think this will be one of the few VR experiences that I won't be able to

(01:12:45):
experience for a while.
But because we even did the final one on the list of X-Labs stuff.
Actually, well, there's another one.
It was like a little BB-8 Droid Bay thing, which was kind of a waste of time.
But there was also the hyper-reality experience that we went to at The Void in California when
it was around.
That was called Secrets of the Empire.

(01:13:05):
That was so cool.
And that was insane.
That was so good.
Like, you wear the computer, it's all hand-tracked in the room.
Yeah, it was like wearing the Ghostbusters pack.
Oh, yeah.
But like, man, it was like, it's such a shame they got rid of that.
Because that could have been like, I mean, I feel like if Disneyland like utilized that
in their parks somehow.
I think it's just not like feasible for a large amount of people to do it because you have

(01:13:29):
such a limitation on how many of those.
And then it's a timed event.
And I'm glad we did it.
It was super cool.
But I can't imagine how that would work in a park environment.
I'm actually surprised that it did shut down because like the company itself, I think,
just didn't, they just couldn't keep up with it financially.
I'm sure it's very expensive.

(01:13:49):
It is.
Yeah.
But yeah, that was...
And after a while, people aren't going to keep...
They've already done it, right?
So you're not going to keep going back.
It was a paid experience.
Yeah, it was.
Yeah.
And, but that being said, the Vader Immortal Quest trilogy is sort of a successor to the
story from Secrets of the Empire.
Like there is some Easter egg connection there, which sort of bridges the two separate stories.

(01:14:11):
But yeah, it's cool.
And to give people just a little bit more idea of what it was, is like the, it's like the
other Vader Immortal games, except because you had the computer on your back, you were
able to move around an actual environment and they had extra props and things going on.
So for example, you go to platform and you go over top of open lava on Mustafar towards

(01:14:35):
Vader's castle.
And so they had heaters and stuff like actually blowing heat at you.
So it was like very immersive.
Yeah.
And then like, I think the weirdest, the craziest moment I think is when in the game, you're
all, you're all wearing a holographic disguise matrix to make you look like stormtroopers,
but you're all rebel troops like under in infiltrating Vader's fortress, uh, undercover, actual armor

(01:14:57):
to put on.
I don't know.
It's probably a lot cheaper.
Probably.
Yeah.
But it does actually like, you feel like you're in a stormtrooper suit because of this big
bulky helmet that you have to wear that has the headset implemented in it.
And then you're wearing this big backpack with the computer on the back, which is kind
of like adding to this bulked up armor feel.
Right.
And I think the craziest moment is like when you're like the physical environments fully

(01:15:20):
mapped out to the game.
So in the game, if you reach out with your arm, you see the arm of an armored stormtrooper
hand fully mapped all your fingers and everything line up.
Everything.
Everything's perfect.
Did we wear gloves?
No, um, I don't think so.
I think it was just like, it was just, it was all from cameras around the room.
Yeah.
Okay.
And if you reach out and you touched a wall in the game, the physical wall was there.

(01:15:44):
Right.
Okay.
That's what I was wondering.
And they fully felt like that was the case.
Everything was fully mapped out.
Like all the detail on the wall and everything.
So what you were seeing was virtual, but you're actually in that environment.
Yeah, exactly.
And I think the craziest thing was when you reached out at an E-11 at the weapons rack,
like the E-11s all lined up on the thing.

(01:16:05):
Of course, what you're going to do is you're going to grab like two and start like firing
in the air.
Like, you know, cause we're, that's what we were doing.
Yeah.
And like, and like after like two seconds of us fooling around, as soon as we get the
blasters.
Oh, then we're immediately caught.
The alarms go off.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And the story goes like, cause I think they know that everyone's going to do this.
Right.
Like, and then, and then of course the base is alerted to your presence and then they

(01:16:29):
come after you.
And then, so now you're running around.
Then we had to fight our way out.
Yeah.
We had to go down a hallway and like turn the corner.
And then like, we're on this like area with like a balcony.
And then we were shooting at stormtroopers across this like giant void.
It was super cool.
And then Vader came out and it was like, you could, yeah, it was crazy, man.
And then, and then, then you see like the secret weapon out of the box that you're trying

(01:16:53):
to steal and you don't end up getting it.
I don't think.
And then the rebels come and like blast a hole in the place.
And like, you have to jump aboard the ramp to get up the ship.
And like the ramp was there and you were like going up an actual like incline into the ship.
And then it kind of pulls away and something shuts behind you because now you can't exit
out.
And the, like the back of the door is like, the ship is all closed up and everything.

(01:17:14):
It's like, man, like crazy.
So immersive.
That's like, like, honestly, that is peak VR.
What I would want to experience.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And like, there's no, I mean, like, because everything's fully mapped out perfectly, you
know, like there's, there's no way to recreate that at home, right?
Like it's the kind of thing you have to go somewhere to experience that.
That's the thing, right?
Because they actually build a set for you to walk around in.

(01:17:37):
Yeah.
So like, I don't know.
It is a shame that that company shut down.
I do wish that at some point Disney brings it back and maybe like, you know, somehow is able
to carry that, that experience forward because like, there is no better way to experience
VR than hyper-reality.
That's what they called it.
It's hyper-reality.
Right.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
It wasn't just virtual reality.

(01:17:58):
It was like, man, I would put that up with the Star Wars hotel ship.
They did as like galactic star cruiser.
Yeah.
Just something that if you didn't experience, I don't know if they're ever going to bring
it back.
Right.
Yeah.
And I think that's also an experience that like, I mean, a lot of people missed out on.
Yeah.
It was priced very high.
It was.
So it was.
Yeah.
You'd have to put your whole family vacation to just do that.

(01:18:20):
Right.
For the year.
And like with the hyper-reality experience, like it wasn't cheap, but it was.
No, it wasn't.
It was very affordable compared to like staying at Galactic Star Cruiser.
Not even close.
Yeah.
Wasn't it like 40 bucks or something?
Like US, I think.
Yeah.
It was like between 40 and 60 US dollars or something like that.
And this was almost 10 years ago?

(01:18:41):
It was like, it was like 20, oh, I want to say like 2018 or 2019.
Yeah.
So pre-inflation.
So I'm getting that.
Like the big jump.
Yeah.
Yeah.
But it was very cool.
Like it was insane.
So, I mean, I am thankful that they continue to make VR Star Wars experiences.

(01:19:03):
And I think something that's always stuck out to me about the brand is that gaming has
always been a venue.
Yeah.
Like Star Wars games have always been a venue for and a gateway for a lot of people.
Yeah.
It's like.
Sure.
I know a lot of people that don't even care about a lot of the movies or the comics or
whatever.
Like maybe they'll go to the movie in the theaters, but they're not like watching it routinely.

(01:19:23):
Right.
But they love the games.
Yeah, exactly.
Like, and there's so many fans that their favorite character is like from a game or something.
And it's like just, just normal.
It's normal for, for that to be a thing for a long time.
I mean, Dash Rendar.
I mean, yeah.
Like Lego Star Wars games were the Lego games that kicked off the Lego franchise.
And, you know, I mean the Battlefront series, like, you know, the KOTOR series.

(01:19:47):
I'll say the modern Lego Star Wars game, or excuse me, Lego games.
Cause there was games before that.
They were just pretty rough.
Like Lego, Lego game, Lego video games.
Yeah.
There was games before that.
I played Lego Island 2.
Did that come before Lego Star Wars?
Oh yeah, for sure.
Really?
It was in the nineties.
Oh man.
I didn't know that.
Well, that being said, I mean like, you know, it's some of the earliest.

(01:20:08):
Right.
And, and then of course there was like.
I feel like that was their first like big hit.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Before that was very niche.
Oh, that's true.
Okay.
They did have some, a few, a few older, older games than that.
But, but to your point, you hadn't even heard of it.
Right.
So that's what I'm saying.
That was the first like really renowned game.
Yeah.
And I mean, um, Star Wars video games have been going back all the way to like the early

(01:20:31):
eighties.
Like, like there's, there's.
X-Wing time.
I mean, they had arcade games too, right?
I mean, there's even just the like Star Wars arcade game.
Yeah.
Like the, like Atari games.
Um, I'm just looking at a list here.
Like, you know, there's like the super Star Wars game from super NES.
Um, that was from like the early, uh, early nineties.
Um, but yeah, there's, there's some from the eighties from like classic arcade games all

(01:20:52):
the way through, you know, home consoles.
And, you know, it's, it's, it's, yeah.
With the rise of gaming.
Yeah.
It's very impressive when you see the list of Star Wars games.
Like, it's crazy, man.
Like, was it even LucasArts back in the day or did they just rent the IP?
I don't like Sega.
Yeah.
I don't, I don't know if LucasArts was created at that time.

(01:21:14):
Uh, LucasArts and modern self-published games began in 93 and ran until 2013.
So before 93, it was like other developers that they had, you know, lent the, the IP to.
There was one called Star Wars Jedi Arena by Parker Games, um, is a lightsaber battle video
game for the Atari 2600 by Parker Brothers.

(01:21:35):
And that one, it was 1983 and it's single and multiplayer.
And if I look at like, like look at this gameplay.
It's, it's a, it's a little bit like Pong except with lightsaber lights sticking out.
Right.
Yeah.
It's basically just Pong where you swing.
Yeah.
The paddles are sideways and colored.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Like it's, it's kind of, uh, it's kind of funny, but like Pong meets Pong.

(01:21:57):
It received mixed, mixed reviews from critics in 1908, man.
I wonder if Darian played this.
Better ask him to find out.
He's going to, he's going to text me either yes or no.
He will listen.
We will update in the, in the next episode.
Yeah.
We'll follow through in the next episode.
Yeah.
Um, but yeah, like, I mean, uh, yeah.
Star Wars video games have been a, been a big thing.

(01:22:17):
So it's, it's, it's cool to see them continue that trend with the modern hardware, the latest
at the times as, as it comes out.
So speaking of which, have you heard anything about the whole battlefront thing?
Is it still going strong or people losing interest?
Is there, oh, that's a good question.
Like the latest on Star Wars battlefront two.
Yeah.
I'm curious.
We haven't looked at that in a while, if it's still popular or I'm really hoping that

(01:22:41):
people took notice people at EA or whoever's can do the next games.
So Star Wars battlefront three, it seems to always diet too.
Like it's happened so many times.
Okay.
So it has dropped off the, the hype.
The last tail end of the hype was 10,000 players all at once.
Uh, that was back in July, uh, the absolute peak earlier this year in June was 35, almost,

(01:23:08):
almost 36,000 players all at once.
Um, and it's trickled down to about, uh, averaging at about two and a half thousand, uh, right now,
right this second, there's 1,362 online right now, but that's still a decent amount.
Like for, for a game that is that old, that, that was, you know, it still looks fantastic.

(01:23:30):
And like this game launched on steam with this amount of players, 1358, you know, we're kind
of, we're kind of back down to like some more normal numbers now, but like, it's still pretty
good.
Like for, for a game that is as old as it is, which, you know, came out like 2017, um,
like it's currently doing just as good as like Halo Infinite right now.

(01:23:54):
It's almost 10 years ago.
Almost.
Which is kind of crazy.
Yeah.
So anyway, uh, let's cap things off for the night.
You've got, uh, you've got one more thing to bring up here and we could talk about it
next episode.
I feel like this is running long.
Yeah.
Okay.
Sure.
We'll talk about next week.
Unless then we'll have an opportunity to actually read it first.
Yeah.
Fair enough.
Well, I'm sure by next week we'll have a report from, uh, from Kirk about his, uh, detailed

(01:24:19):
trip to, uh, to Galaxy's Edge and Batuu on the West.
And hopefully he's caught a, a, uh, a flight, found a, a ship or a cruiser.
Yeah.
Get him off planet.
He's not stranded on Batuu.
Yeah.
And I feel like also, um, it's worth noting, I believe he's also going to Galaxy's Edge on
the East coast as well.
So, uh, that was on the East coast, Florida.

(01:24:42):
Oh yeah.
So he's, he's, he's currently on the West.
I never considered that the East coast for some reason.
It doesn't count.
I don't know why.
Uh, no, he's going to the East coast and he's, he's hitting Orlando and he will also be in,
in, he's doing a full sort of theme park extravaganza.
Right.

(01:25:02):
So, you know, he's hitting them all.
Is he going to do universal, universal as well?
Yeah, he is.
Yeah.
So then, so he hasn't been there yet.
So I'm curious then how he'll compare that to Harry Potter world.
Yeah, exactly.
So I think we'll follow up with him again.
Competing, immersive parks.
Definitely.
Definitely.
Yeah.
All right.
Well, uh, Jedi robes to the Harry Potter park.

(01:25:26):
Yeah.
Got to get him to pick us up, uh, some cause they're always out of our sizes when we're
down there.
Yeah.
It's the worst.
They don't have XXX XL.
All right, mate.
We will catch you in the next one.
See you out there.
Keep flying.

(01:25:48):
All right.
Thank you so much to our audience.
We always appreciate you so much.
And, uh, you know, sharing this show with a friend, uh, or a family member or another
Star Wars fan really helps us out a lot.
It helps other fans find the podcast.
It helps discovery.
It helps the algorithms and it helps, uh, just everybody find Star Wars escape pod.

(01:26:10):
So if you're a big fan of the show, uh, you know, another big way to help us out is by
leaving five stars or even, I mean, we'll take four.
What the heck?
Uh, but we, we do prefer, you know, prefer the full five.
Uh, but, uh, we do prefer, uh, uh, uh, you know, having any kind of feedback, uh, sent

(01:26:31):
to us directly on our email, you know, things you like things, you, uh, things you didn't
like, whatever.
Uh, we almost never hear from anybody, but you know, the invite is there.
Um, but we do love five stars on Spotify or, uh, Apple podcasts or other podcast platforms
because it spreads the word.
It keeps, uh, keeps the podcast relevant to the algorithms and all that.
So, uh, again, helps us discover, uh, helps other fans discover the show because we are

(01:26:57):
approaching episode number 400.
You know, we do have some, uh, some big ambitions to, uh, you know, get our numbers up and keep
people tuning in.
So, uh, you know, stay tuned in the weeks ahead.
Keep us, uh, in your subscribe list and, uh, don't forget to subscribe on YouTube as well
using the handle at SWSK podcast.

(01:27:18):
May the force be with you.

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.css-14f5ked{margin:0;word-break:break-word;display:-webkit-box;-webkit-box-orient:vertical;box-orient:vertical;-webkit-line-clamp:2;overflow:hidden;}Cantina Banter #5 | Calling LIVE to Black Spire | Indiana Jones & The Great Circle Review