November 27, 2025 • 52 mins
A burst of real life kicks things off—four straight nights of hockey, a surprise “you look incredible,” and the comfort of breakfast-for-dinner—before we veer straight into the question that fuels every gamer’s week: what should we play next, and why does it matter so much? We follow the breadcrumbs from YouTube Premium’s background audio to the way game soundtracks shape focus at work and wonder at home, then zoom in on the moment music turns pixels into memory: live orchestras for Final Fantasy VII and Star Wars, on-screen story beats lining up perfectly with strings and brass, goosebumps and all.
From there, we break down why Claire Obscure Expedition 33 has us hooked: a brilliant turn-based combat loop, clever picto builds that double turns, and a soundtrack worth sitting still for. That sparks a friendly ambush—one host buys the game for a friend so he finally plays it—which sets up our ongoing debate: FFVII Remake and Rebirth’s kinetic, character-driven ride vs the classic charm of 2D JRPGs like Octopath Traveler II. We talk dynamic difficulty, party chemistry that actually matters, and how a trailer reaction once turned into a YouTube Partner milestone and a deeper love for the worlds we revisit.
Then the living room future takes the stage. A Steam Machine that treats your library like a console, with family sharing and controller freedom, might be the bridge we’ve wanted—especially with RAM prices spiking, AI workloads squeezing components, and the pain of a lost-in-shipping GPU still fresh. Pair a Steam Deck with a TV-bound box and you get a Switch-like life without sacrificing the games you actually want to play. Along the way we argue about Kingdom Hearts 3’s Disney pivot, celebrate FFVII’s staying power, and admit something simple: sometimes solo nights beat the pressure to stream, and a gifted game is the nudge a friend needs.
If that mix of life, music, and smart gaming talk is your vibe, hit play, share this with a friend who needs a new favorite, and drop us your pick: FFVII first, or keep it turn-based? Subscribe and leave a review to help more gamers find the show.
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You can watch us play games LIVE and join our communities to get more connection from every episode:
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Thanks for Listening, and Continue The Journey!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_01 (00:00):
One.
Oh, here we go.
We're here.
We're live.
Wait, what are you doing?
Are you copyright striking ourpodcast?
Yes, he is.
That is the worst song in thewhole soundtrack.
Why would you do that?
SPEAKER_00 (00:21):
Because that's the point.
And it was only it was less thanseven seconds, so they can't
copyright us.
That's what she said.
SPEAKER_03 (00:28):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (00:31):
Your eyes are so far in the back of your head, we are
gonna call you the Undertaker.
SPEAKER_00 (00:38):
Rest and peace.
All right, so real talk.
I'm pretty tired.
So I've played hockey fournights in a row.
My body is completely shot.
But on the flip side, I met mydaughter's best friend on our
gymnastics team.
We met her family and their twokids, and my two kids and my
(01:02):
wife.
And we went met for pizza at mybuddy's pizza shop.
And right next door is abrewery, so we had beers, and it
felt really good when I wentinto my buddy's pizza shop.
I haven't been there in a couplemonths, and one of his guys that
work for him that like makes thesubs, he goes, Holy shit, what
happened to you?
And I was like, What do youmean?
He goes, Dude, you lookincredible.
Where'd all your weight go?
(01:25):
And that made me feel good.
Should we work?
I legit played hockey fournights in a row.
My legs feel like they're jello.
Remember the old commercials, JE L L O, and it's just watch it,
wiggle, see it, jiggle.
Exactly, Doritos.
That's how I feel right now.
(01:49):
How does it revolve it?
SPEAKER_02 (01:51):
You definitely don't look like it.
SPEAKER_01 (01:52):
You just look more tired than anything.
You look like you're in a colderclimate than me.
Dude, it is so.
SPEAKER_00 (02:00):
You know what the temperature is right now at my
house?
Hold on.
17 degrees.
We're gonna tell you, I'm gonnatell you right now.
It's 26, but it feels 20.
SPEAKER_01 (02:10):
Oh, I was more pessimistic than reality.
Go figure.
SPEAKER_00 (02:13):
Well, it's be the the time of my life was the day
that Doc decided to fly intoHartford, Connecticut, so he
could ride with me, Nick, inOctober.
In October, to Comic-Con and togo to the Star Wars Cantina.
And Doc showed up in a t-shirt,and it happened to be like 30
degrees, and he gets in the car,and Kogas is with us, and he
(02:37):
goes, and Doc goes, Can we stopat the store?
I have to buy a jacket.
Nice.
And we went to Tarjay.
SPEAKER_01 (02:46):
Yeah, that was fun.
I still have that jacket,actually.
SPEAKER_00 (02:50):
And he's worn it four times, but now it's seven
six.
No, it's my jacket.
SPEAKER_01 (02:55):
That's so nice.
SPEAKER_00 (02:56):
You think that I did the weight loss journey too?
You have.
Look at your face.
Like I can see your cheekmuscles.
SPEAKER_01 (03:04):
I was just doing my walk before this.
I did 75 minutes to get my stepsin.
And so it's dark with streetlamps.
And I was so I'm seeing myselfevery three seconds or so, the
shadow of myself on thesidewalk.
Like, oh my gosh, like I havesome shoulder muscles that the
(03:24):
shadow picks up now.
Hey, um yeah, nice.
SPEAKER_00 (03:30):
You call them lamps, aren't they?
SPEAKER_01 (03:34):
They're whatever.
Late post.
SPEAKER_00 (03:36):
I have to ask I have to ask a question.
Do you cook supper or do youcook dinner?
SPEAKER_01 (03:42):
Dinner.
I've never said the word supper.
SPEAKER_00 (03:45):
It's always supper to me.
Doritos?
I know.
Yeah, but what's your go-to?
Probably dinner.
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (03:55):
Third breakfast.
SPEAKER_03 (03:57):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (03:59):
In my house, breakfast for dinner is the best
meal of the week.
I would like that.
Go ahead.
SPEAKER_02 (04:09):
Is that a standard weekly meal for your family?
SPEAKER_00 (04:13):
For sure.
Bacon, eggs, sausage.
Nice.
French toast or wa or Belgianwaffles.
SPEAKER_01 (04:24):
Some of those I eat the Morningstar version where
it's all vegetable-based.
SPEAKER_00 (04:29):
That just sounds terrible.
SPEAKER_01 (04:32):
That's what I eat.
Like you were just talking aboutmy cheek muscles, and this is
how you do it, Marcus.
SPEAKER_00 (04:39):
So you either do it with Morningstar or play hockey.
Got it.
SPEAKER_01 (04:44):
I also go to the gym.
Do you pump it up?
It's not the same as what youget out of a hockey game,
though.
SPEAKER_00 (04:50):
I bet it's more.
You think so?
Yeah, yeah.
You know what's crazy when Ilike so I'll wear my like watch
and I'll set it to like anindoor bike cycle, whatever,
just to get the workout becauseI do the Peloton.
And I'll look at my heart ratewhen I get off for my shift, and
it'll say my heart is racing at182, and I'm like, I guess I was
(05:13):
pushing a little too hard.
But then it calms right down.
SPEAKER_01 (05:18):
Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stranger.
Yeah.
Truth.
SPEAKER_00 (05:24):
Okay, so back to reality.
SPEAKER_01 (05:26):
No, back to reality.
SPEAKER_00 (05:28):
Did you so at work?
Do you guys pay for YouTubepremium?
No.
No.
What do you guys pay for music?
Apple music?
Fail.
I did Spotify.
Okay, fail too.
So do you guys watch YouTube?
Never heard of it.
Okay.
Do you watch it a lot?
SPEAKER_01 (05:50):
No.
SPEAKER_00 (05:51):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (05:51):
Dorita?
I have YouTube partner.
I haven't made a video sinceJune.
No, do you watch?
SPEAKER_00 (05:57):
Do you go to YouTube and watch videos?
SPEAKER_02 (06:00):
No, I don't.
If I'm looking for a particularthing and it's on YouTube, yes,
I will.
Otherwise I'll but notnecessarily go there to watch
shows and stuff.
SPEAKER_00 (06:10):
Okay, so so I pay for YouTube Premium, which is I
pay$22 a month because it's afamily plan.
You get four four emailsessentially that's associated
with it and it's commercialfree.
But something that comes with itis YouTube Music, and YouTube
Music has more music on it thanSpotify, Pandora, Apple Music,
(06:32):
whatever.
The nicest part of YouTubePremium is that you can watch
YouTube videos and shut thescreen off on your phone.
So you're just listening to theaudio.
Correct.
Yes.
But like you want, like I'll belistening to a mail build video,
and I just listen to it.
I don't need to watch it, andI'm listening to it at work.
(06:53):
But anyway, premium's great forthat.
I used to subscribe to AppleMusic, and then I got my wife to
cancel hers, and now we all justshare YouTube music, and it's
awesome.
That's why I asked if you watchYouTube videos, then it's worth
it.
If you don't watch YouTubevideos, then the$10 a month for
Apple Music is worth it becauseit's less.
(07:15):
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
But I was listening to one ofthe wrestling podcasts today,
and it made me think of both ofyou because the guy goes, Do you
ever chat with your two friendsand they just don't agree with
you?
And they give you the smile likethey're agreeing with you deep
(07:35):
down, they're lying to youthrough your their face.
And I said, and I'm thinking tomyself, I'm like, Yeah, every
week on Thursday nights.
And the guy goes, That's how Ifeel when people tell me they're
excited that Brock Lesnar cameback.
Oh my gosh, so true.
Yes, and I and it made me thinkof you too.
SPEAKER_02 (07:56):
Gee, yeah, thanks.
That's the best backhanded,underhanded compliment anybody
could ever give us.
SPEAKER_00 (08:02):
I thought it was hilarious that your friends are
smiling at you and they'reacting like they listen are
listening and agree with you,but they actually aren't, and
they're telling you that you'reyou're an idiot inside their
head without saying it.
I'm like, man, that's everyweek.
SPEAKER_01 (08:15):
I don't even just know, I'll tell you straight to
your face you are, and you knowthat.
Actually, if I remember fiveminutes ago correctly, I don't
have to call you an idiotbecause if I'm patient enough,
you'll call yourself an idiot,and then I just have to agree
with you.
SPEAKER_00 (08:29):
Yes, perfect.
Pretty much the other video Iwas listening to today, it
sounds so weird saying that.
Is I listened to the game awardsand Claire Obscure Expedition
33.
If there's 13 categories,they're nominated for 10 of
them.
SPEAKER_01 (08:49):
They are nominated for the most categories of any
game ever at the Game Awardshistory.
Wow.
It's Return of the King, but forvideo games.
SPEAKER_00 (09:01):
Is do you guys are the awards?
I don't know.
I'm gonna tell you.
We should do a watch show.
That would be pretty awesome,honestly.
Hang out in Discord.
SPEAKER_01 (09:14):
Yeah, just a community night.
I'm not streaming that.
I tried to stream it one yearand it was a technology
disaster.
Hey Doritos, you know what's onsale right now?
Oh, I know what's on sale rightnow because I've been waiting
for that sound for weeks.
SPEAKER_00 (09:34):
It says it's on sale, but next week it'll be on
a bigger sale.
Claire Obscure Expedition 33.
What's the deluxe edition?
unknown (09:43):
Fancy.
SPEAKER_01 (09:44):
It just gives me an extra outfit and like probably
access to the soundtrack.
SPEAKER_00 (09:53):
Oh, okay.
Either way, it's on sale.
Doritos incoming.
Oh yeah.
Oh, you're gonna give me somechips, sweet.
Oh no, we're uh I've decidedthat I'm soon like I'm gonna
wait for the autumn sale becauseif it goes on sale more, that's
fine.
But I'm buying you this gamebecause I feel if I buy you this
game, you're gonna be obligatedto put it at the top of your
(10:14):
list.
I thought they already had theautumn at Thanksgiving.
Okay, or maybe I don't know whatsale it is then.
You're right.
SPEAKER_02 (10:24):
Holiday.
SPEAKER_00 (10:25):
Yeah, no, holiday sale comes because their Steam's
holiday sale is usually likeDecember 20th through like
January 4th.
It's two and a half weeks.
Because remember last year,Doritos, you spent like 50 bucks
and you got 70 games.
Yep.
By smart, yeah.
Oh, golden no, it's not thegolden joystick awards.
SPEAKER_01 (10:51):
But anyway, Claire Obscure Expedition 33 did win
Game of the Year at the GoldenJoystick Awards this week.
SPEAKER_00 (11:00):
All right, excellent.
Yeah, uh, but like I feel likethe TV show like Game Awards is
the one.
Yeah, it's the most televised.
SPEAKER_01 (11:09):
You also get the debut trailers for new games and
lots of surprises, and you getthe orchestras playing the
biggest songs of the year, andthat's a big moment.
SPEAKER_02 (11:19):
I listen to a lot of practice because you don't have
to know all have a lot of sheetmusic given all the different
options that could win.
SPEAKER_01 (11:29):
Doritos, I have seen this happen in person.
The people in those orchestrasdo not need to practice because
they're that freaking good.
You just give them the sheetmusic, and it is perfect.
Like they probably do practicelike one take for each song, but
(11:51):
they're good.
So I mean, that's like LondonSymphony Orchestra kind of
stuff, but like professionalorchestra musicians are amazing.
SPEAKER_00 (12:02):
That's true.
So I've seen the Empire StrikesBack symphony, I've seen Final
Fantasy VII remake symphony, andthey say that they're making the
Claire Obscure and they're doingthe Elden Ring one, and I'm
gonna make sure I go to that.
One the Elden Ring one is inTokyo, it's going to Orlando and
(12:24):
it's going to Los Angeles.
So you can go to Orlando and ifthey're not gonna announce
Boston or anywhere close to mehere, I would fly to Orlando
just to go to the Elden Ringone.
Oh, that'd be fun.
Because that is that was a coolexperience because on the big
(12:45):
screens they have all themoments of the game or the
movie, and in like the DarthVader section, I'm using the
Dunto that they like show thatclip where they actually play
it, and you're like, Oh my god,this is so cool.
But then all the actionsequences, they just like kind
of put it together and they likeseamlessly put it together and
(13:06):
match it to the music, it'sunreal.
Like the Claire one.
Like the Final Fantasy VIIremake one I went to.
Now I didn't even play it, but Iremember the original game, and
that was one of the coolestexperiences I've ever been to,
and more so because the peoplein the crowd cheering for the
(13:29):
different characters' moments,it just made me like I got like
the goosebumps, like the rockgets the goosebumps when he
comes out and he gets announced.
SPEAKER_01 (13:41):
Final Fantasy VII's music is half of the reason why
it's amazing.
Actually, a lot of fictionalproperties become timeless
because of the music.
SPEAKER_00 (13:56):
Do you know what my favorite part of Claire Obscure
is?
The music?
Yes, but why?
SPEAKER_01 (14:03):
The graphics, because you're a graphical whole
thing.
Yes, but other than that.
SPEAKER_00 (14:07):
Yeah, but other beyond that.
So in-game, what's my L'shairstyle?
Oh, I do like doing that.
Ciel is my like I'm gonna tellyou right now, C L, if she live
like if I was single and she wassingle, we'd be ready to mingle.
SPEAKER_01 (14:22):
Lune would be the actual verso is Marcus.
SPEAKER_00 (14:25):
Yeah, but like Ciel, like Lune is like the female
version of Doc.
She's way too smart for me.
That's true.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (14:35):
But Lune's my favorite, but Mael is obviously
the main character of the story,but Lune is the best.
SPEAKER_00 (14:42):
Yeah, really truly.
My favorite part is when you goback to camp and you get the new
like records and you play thenew songs.
Like, I'll literally sit in thecamp and not talk to anybody,
and I'll just listen to themusic for five minutes because
it's so good.
And when I'm at work and I needto concentrate, I just put on
(15:06):
that soundtrack.
And now I've gotten to the pointwhere I have two points to
start.
I'll either start it at thebeginning or I'll scroll through
the songs and start at MonocoStation because there's like
another two hours of music thereafter Minoco Station.
It's so good.
This is why, Doritos, as soon asthe autumn sale or the
(15:27):
Thanksgiving sale comes, I'myou're getting this game.
And it Doc and I are gonna peerpressure you into it because the
interaction that Doc and I hadthis week, maybe it was
yesterday or the day before, hewas playing the game.
SPEAKER_01 (15:43):
Yeah, and I was like yesterday.
SPEAKER_00 (15:45):
Yeah, and he was talking about a build, and I was
like, dude, did you beat the guyin the water?
And he's no, and I was like,dude, you gotta go beat the guy
in the water because it givesyou a picto that is called
cheater, and it allows yourcharacters to go twice in a row
every time.
So instead of three actions, youget six per round.
It's amazing.
And he's no, I haven't donethat.
(16:07):
And I fought him, and itliterally took me probably like
10 minutes to beat him becausemy characters clearly aren't
doing as much damage.
Doc goes, Oh, I found him.
Oh, he's dead.
And I was like, Wait, are ready?
And he's yeah, I hit him threetimes and he's dead.
I was like, Are you kidding meright now?
And he goes, No, that was easy,and I was like, Man, I died once
(16:29):
fighting that guy.
SPEAKER_01 (16:33):
I at the time I was in the level 80s, Marcus.
Oh, I also have Lune set up tobe a human bomb.
SPEAKER_00 (16:41):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (16:42):
Oh, you want that, huh?
SPEAKER_00 (16:44):
Yeah.
So I'm really torn and I wantyour advice.
And I know I've talked a lottonight.
Kind of haven't stopped.
SPEAKER_01 (16:56):
You're the personality hire, Marcus.
You have to know.
SPEAKER_00 (17:00):
What should I play next?
Final Fantasy VII remake orOctopath Traveler II.
SPEAKER_01 (17:10):
What do you think, Doritos?
SPEAKER_00 (17:17):
So Octopath Traveler 2 is your traditional JRPG 2D.
SPEAKER_02 (17:23):
It's like the original Final Fantasy when it
came out, Ultima, and all ofwhen that genre got started.
Can you say that word again?
What genre?
No.
SPEAKER_00 (17:33):
Final Fantasy what?
The original one?
Ultima.
SPEAKER_02 (17:38):
Oh my god.
SPEAKER_00 (17:40):
Like the goosebumps just hearing that to me.
Attack.
You guys remember that, right?
SPEAKER_02 (17:48):
My vote personally, with the way things are, go with
uh Final Fantasy.
SPEAKER_01 (17:53):
Do I would as well, and it's a selfish reason,
because I would love to have allthe conversations with you about
my favorite game.
And also, it makes me feel badthat I haven't played Mass
Effect.
We have to end this saga.
SPEAKER_00 (18:13):
Wait.
So what you're saying is onceyou play Mass Effect, the
podcast is over.
I didn't say that.
Well, that's the saga.
SPEAKER_01 (18:22):
I meant the saga of me letting you down as a friend.
SPEAKER_02 (18:26):
Well, that's just the next chapter.
SPEAKER_00 (18:28):
Yeah, exactly.
The end of the saga is the endof the podcast or the end of our
friendship.
SPEAKER_01 (18:35):
No, I meant if you're playing my favorite game
and I sit here and be like, no,I am not playing Mass Effects.
SPEAKER_03 (18:43):
Wait, wait, wait, wait.
SPEAKER_00 (18:44):
Final Fantasy VII is your favorite game of all time.
Absolutely.
Interesting.
SPEAKER_02 (18:50):
I've never heard of that before.
Huh.
SPEAKER_00 (18:52):
Yeah.
If you so wait, does it involvethe hero's journey and it
inspired you to write TheGamer's Journey, which is a book
you wrote and you've won anaward?
SPEAKER_01 (19:04):
Yes.
But also the reason that myYouTube channel has partner
status is because of the trailerreaction that I did with Gene
after the game awards when theydebuted the rebirth trailer.
And that episode went live.
It's the small period of timewhere I was doing a video
(19:27):
version of the podcast, andthousands of people watched the
whole thing.
And just one morning I woke upand I had the email that said,
You you're in welcome to theYouTube Partner program.
And the last time I had checked,I was at only 1,100 hours for
the year.
So I got the rest of it justbecause of that trailer and me
(19:50):
and Gene talking about it for anhour and a half.
I feel like I owe a lot to myenthusiasm for content creation
to Final Fantasy VII.
SPEAKER_00 (20:07):
Oh, it's on sale.
SPEAKER_01 (20:10):
There you go.
SPEAKER_00 (20:12):
Is it inter Final Fantasy VII Remake Integrade?
SPEAKER_01 (20:16):
That's the uh with the DLC and everything.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (20:19):
It's on sale for 20 bucks, or I can get the remake
and rebirth twin pack for 50bucks.
SPEAKER_01 (20:26):
You should do that because that's two full-size
games.
SPEAKER_02 (20:31):
I don't want to spend$50.
It's just$25 a game.
I know.
SPEAKER_01 (20:36):
And those are both amazing games.
Plus, rebirth is padded with somany games and extra side quests
that you can play a hundred plushours just to beat the game
once.
Ooh, side quest.
We talked about that last weekand I edited it last night.
So it's like fresh howenthusiastic we are for games
(20:57):
that are padded with extracontent that's a distraction
from the story.
We called it when games do notrespect our time.
But you know what?
The story of remake and rebirthare amazing, and I cannot wait
for four years to pass so thatwe can play part three and have
(21:18):
the end of that story.
SPEAKER_00 (21:20):
When does that come out?
SPEAKER_01 (21:22):
2029, Marcus.
SPEAKER_03 (21:25):
What?
SPEAKER_01 (21:26):
Yeah.
Also, I saw a hilarious videofrom random content creator on
Instagram the today where theywere talking about how the joke
is if Final Fantasy VII RemakePart 3 comes out before Kingdom
Hearts IV, then that meansKingdom Hearts 3 came out, Final
(21:50):
Fantasy VII Remake came outafter, and then its entire three
game saga will get completed bySquare Enix before they finally
get Kingdom Hearts 4 out.
SPEAKER_00 (22:04):
Interesting.
SPEAKER_02 (22:05):
Yeah.
Well, does Kingdom Hearts haveany have have IP issues with the
House of Mouse?
SPEAKER_01 (22:14):
I don't know if it has issues.
Kingdom Hearts 3 was definitelya weird production.
If I had to analyze thedifference between that game and
all the other Kingdom Heartsgames, because all the other
Kingdom Hearts games had FinalFantasy characters in them.
And Kingdom Hearts 3 really wasan interactive music video of
(22:37):
all the big child-appealingDisney franchises.
So you literally watch all ofTangled, all of Frozen, but with
Sora Donald and Goofy in theaction sequences.
And you do fight the bosses, butwhen you get to the cutscene
part, you watch all of Let It Goand you watch all of the big set
(23:00):
pieces in these movies,especially if the Disney movie
that they're featuring is under15 years old.
Then they get these hugecutscenes, so you're just
watching.
Right.
And that paired with zero FinalFantasy characters in the entire
story makes it honestly in thebottom half of my favorite
(23:24):
Kingdom Hearts.
I I wanted to say it's my leastfavorite, but that's not true.
I there's just things that Ilove about Kingdom Hearts that
are missing in Kingdom Hearts 3.
So I think honestly, my favoriteis Kingdom Hearts 2.
SPEAKER_00 (23:39):
I still think that Kingdom Hearts is mid.
SPEAKER_01 (23:46):
Oh no.
Marcus, Sora is one of the bestvideo game heroes of all time.
Mid.
The power of friendship.
What's wrong with you?
You will be the one to open thedoor.
Eh.
You must have hated my book,Marcus.
I didn't think he did.
Eh.
(24:08):
Marcus, I'm very disappointed inyou right now.
SPEAKER_00 (24:13):
Hey, you know why I loved your book?
Because everything I read it andlistened to it, like in your
voice.
So, like, when the narrator readit and it wasn't in your tone, I
told them to shut the F up.
You're not saying it right.
And it made my day because,like, I whenever your next book
(24:34):
deal comes and it's not with thesame publisher, and you get to
read your own book, right?
And you get to read your ownbook as the narrator, that's
when it'll be like, okay, thisis the doc I know because you'll
be able to emphasize the way youdo, and it'll be you're in
control, and that's what I lookforward to.
(24:56):
Because when the journey strikesback, it's gonna be good.
SPEAKER_01 (25:01):
Oh man, is that gonna be a book that's focused
on 200 games where the bad guysshould have won?
Yes.
A fun concept.
SPEAKER_00 (25:10):
Like I Renoir.
Listen, yeah.
Oh, fuck him.
I've decided I'm gonna beatClaire.
This weekend I'm beating itbecause I'm flying around doing
all this extra content, and Ijust can't.
Like, I see the try the redtriangle, and I'm like, I just
gotta beat this game.
And I hope it doesn't mess uplike the progression for me to
(25:32):
do all the endgame stuff.
If it does, then I'll just dothe it doesn't.
SPEAKER_01 (25:38):
I'm doing exactly that.
I've defeated the final boss,Marcus, and I'm running around
cleaning up the map.
Okay.
And having a blast map.
I really am.
I'm on floor or fight 34.
No, there's only 33.
I'm on fight 31 of 33 of theendless tower right now.
SPEAKER_00 (26:00):
Oh, you're almost done.
SPEAKER_01 (26:02):
Yep.
Yep.
It's 11 stages with three fightsin each one, and I started stage
11 at the end of my streamtoday.
It's really fun.
And it is it's challenging me toline up my Pictos and Luminas in
a much smarter way so that I canovercome the biggest challenges.
(26:24):
And I my first playthrough, I Ididn't do any of that, so it's
really making my brain feelsuperior.
Right.
It's it's really cool to solveeach fight, and then you know
you're gonna win if you just getthe next sequence of 11 parries
correct.
SPEAKER_00 (26:43):
Hey, so it's complete sidebar here.
So we're creating a new hockeyteam for a new league.
Can you guys see that?
The Waddlers or baby ducks.
Back to Final Fantasy.
Do you feel as if I'm gonnaenjoy that as much as I am
(27:05):
Claire?
SPEAKER_01 (27:08):
Hmm.
It is not turn-based.
SPEAKER_00 (27:11):
I know that.
But right now, what I'm lovingabout Claire is that it's I was
I talking to you, Doc, aboutthis, about my change in gaming.
SPEAKER_01 (27:25):
You were, but I think that belongs in the show,
so let's pretend I've neverheard it.
SPEAKER_00 (27:29):
Okay.
So we're gonna go back in theway back time machine to when
was Julia born?
She's almost 10.
So let's call it 10 years ago.
Ten years ago, I found FinalStar Wars of the Old Republic
again.
I tried it when it came out, andI was too much of a Call of Duty
guy, and I was like, this gameis boring.
(27:51):
Like I'm exploring this world,but I didn't realize that in
MMOs you're not finding randomitems.
You have to just go quest do thefetch quest and level up.
So I got rid of it.
And I went back to Call of Duty.
When Carrie was pregnant forJulia, I was home a lot, she was
(28:11):
sick a lot, and I startedplaying, and I was like, you
know what?
I'm gonna play Star Wars of theOld Republic again.
And that's about the time it wasbefore Knights of the Old
Republic.
Not Knights of the FallenEmpire.
I'm sorry.
Knights of the Fallen Empire wascoming out.
That Knights of the FallenEmpire came out in August, I
think, or October.
(28:32):
I can't remember.
Latter part of the year.
Latter part of the summer,summer, early fall, it came out.
I remember it.
And I started playing it again,and then I found all these
podcasts, and I really got intoit.
And I played it for a long time,and I started being social in
the MMO space, met AIE, blah,blah, blah.
(28:56):
Then over time, I startedraiding, met Doritos, Doc, all
that.
And all of my gaming started tobe social.
Then as COVID was hitting, Istarted to stream video games,
thought it was the world's thecat's ass.
And then I started my prisonsentence, and I was locked in.
(29:26):
Right.
And then everything I gamed hadto do with streaming.
Would it be good for streaming?
Would my our viewers love it?
All that stuff.
And now, fast forward to today,on Saturday night, I think it
(29:48):
was Saturday night this week.
I sat in my office light on,just like it is now.
I had a beer, and I playedClaire for four hours.
Three or four hours.
I was all by myself.
I wasn't in chat.
And I do hang out with Doritosor Doc, or I might hang out in
the Discord.
But I'm playing solo games whereit's very different now.
(30:11):
And I find that I'm enjoyingmyself just as much to doing
that.
And how like before, when I wasin my prison sentence streaming,
I would never have played a gamelike that alone.
And now I'm enjoying myself morewithout streaming, just being by
(30:37):
myself.
And as an evolution comes, Ifind myself enjoying those
nights, and these games arecaptivating me.
And that's what I want now ingaming.
And that's why I'm asking whatthe next game should be.
(30:59):
Because I have Final Fantasy VIIremake on my PlayStation, but
that means I have to sit on mycouch and play it.
And I'm not a couch gamer.
No matter how hard I try, theonly games I play on the couch
are WWE 2K24 when my son'swhooping me because he knows all
the moves and he hits triangleat the right time to reverse
(31:20):
them.
All the moves.
SPEAKER_01 (31:25):
I think the cast of characters in your party in
Final Fantasy VII is some of thebest interaction in video games.
I love all of them for differentreasons.
SPEAKER_00 (31:49):
Yeah, I started to play Final Fantasy 16.
But the But I was in the middleof Elden Ring.
And I couldn't stop playingthat.
Yeah.
They're very different gamesthough.
(32:09):
And but they aren't really,because you're still it's all
action combat.
You have to dodge, you have toparry.
Maybe not parry, but a lot ofdodging, and it's a lot, it's a
lot like an Elden Ring style ofgame.
SPEAKER_01 (32:25):
Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth plays a lot
more like Elden Ring.
Final Fantasy 16 plays likeDevil May Cry.
SPEAKER_00 (32:35):
Interesting.
SPEAKER_01 (32:37):
Yeah.
There's yes, you are swingingand you are dodging or jumping
or rolling.
But the style, like when Iplayed Rebirth on dynamic
difficulty, there were people inthe chat, some streams, that
were commenting they didn't knowthis difficulty existed, and
(32:59):
they didn't know Final FantasyVII could be like Elden Ring.
I I don't think Final Fantasy 16can be like Elden Ring.
It's so fast.
SPEAKER_02 (33:10):
Really?
SPEAKER_01 (33:11):
Yeah.
It's a combo focused kind ofhack and slash.
Interesting.
The story's great.
The story is amazing.
Hero's journey in Final Fantasywith a Game of Thrones
aesthetic.
(33:31):
It's an amazing mixture ofthings I love.
But Final Fantasy VII is allover my room.
It's three of my disc plates.
I have a Tifa banner over there.
It's two of my statues behindme.
(33:51):
It's everywhere.
Oh.
And my little amiibo friends onmy desk.
Ooh, amiibos.
Because they're cool enough tobe in Super Smash Brothers.
That's the mark of mastery.
Is your franchise in Super SmashBrothers?
(34:17):
Marcus is deep in Googlethought.
SPEAKER_00 (34:20):
No, I'm thinking about what you're saying.
I'm really thinking about itbecause I've been thinking about
what's next.
Ever since I got tricked, whendid we when were you with me?
SPEAKER_01 (34:31):
It was like two or three weeks ago when you got
tricked.
SPEAKER_00 (34:34):
Yeah.
I thought the game was over,everybody.
I legit thought it was over.
And then I got duped.
And I was literally while I washanging out with Tac, I'm like,
all right, what am I gonna playnext?
It's all I could keep saying,and that's the prison sentence
in me.
Like I'm talking to my chat, andI was just hanging out with my
friend.
SPEAKER_02 (34:58):
So if you don't want a prison sentence, why do you
continue to ask what you playnext?
As if playing video games is aprison sentence.
SPEAKER_01 (35:08):
I have the true answer, Mass Effect Andromeda.
Go.
That's just completionist.
SPEAKER_02 (35:19):
That's because I want to complete the franchise,
which I did, so now I can go offand do other things and play
other franchises.
SPEAKER_01 (35:25):
I know what you should do.
You should play the remake ofElder Scrolls.
No.
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (35:34):
I've never been an Elder Scrolls fan.
I haven't Dorito.
Yeah, I've never been a bigElder Scrolls fan.
I did it, Doc.
SPEAKER_01 (35:52):
I did it.
What?
What did you do?
I couldn't handle it.
What did you do?
Did you spend money?
Yeah.
To Doritos.
Oh, you bought it for Doritos.
We all now own Claire Obscura.
Expedition 33.
SPEAKER_00 (36:07):
So the fast, if you guys listened to probably 15 or
20 episodes ago, I was talkingabout it.
I was like, oh, Claire Obscureson the Xbox Game Pass, and Doc
bought it for me.
And if you guys have ever goneto like Dunkin' Donuts,
Starbucks, McDonald's, anything,and the person in front of you
pays it forward.
So I just paid it forward toDoritos from Doc.
(36:31):
So it's like a three-way effect.
SPEAKER_01 (36:35):
So now Doritos is cursed to have to buy the game
for somebody that didn't ask forit.
SPEAKER_00 (36:41):
No, he's just he's cursed with having to play it.
And it's gonna go cursed anyway.
It's gonna go from his way backlog to the front of the log.
SPEAKER_02 (36:53):
It's log.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (36:55):
Oh, I can't wait now.
But in two weeks, he's gonna belike, Yeah, I finished the game.
It was great.
Too short.
SPEAKER_01 (37:04):
That's very true.
Also, he's seen this story twicebecause of me.
SPEAKER_02 (37:09):
I know the story is.
SPEAKER_01 (37:10):
I just get down now.
SPEAKER_02 (37:11):
I actually get to experience it my way.
SPEAKER_00 (37:13):
Yes.
Yeah, that's what I was gonnasay.
Because like you're you what wasyour key party?
SPEAKER_02 (37:23):
Now, yes.
It's like I know the story, I'mgonna do everything else.
SPEAKER_01 (37:27):
My dumb playthrough, my party was Verso C L Lune, and
then my awesome playthrough,it's Mael Lune Monoco.
SPEAKER_00 (37:39):
Alright, mine's Lune, Mael, and C L.
SPEAKER_01 (37:46):
I'm only one foot away from Monoco having every
move in the game.
I'm so proud of that.
SPEAKER_00 (37:54):
I'm proud of you.
So that's the other thing is ifI beat Claire or wait, once I
beat Claire, is like on expert.
SPEAKER_01 (38:09):
We need to do a disclaimer.
Marcus does not have a childnamed Claire.
He is referring to the videogame Claire Obscure Expedition
33.
We do not condone beatingchildren on the Gaming Persona
podcast.
SPEAKER_00 (38:22):
We should find out if any of them would come on the
show.
SPEAKER_01 (38:26):
We should.
That would be so fun.
SPEAKER_00 (38:31):
I'd like to talk to the person who was the music
producer.
Once they win Game of the Year,we'll never get them because
they'll be like superstars.
SPEAKER_01 (38:43):
The person who did the composition is already has
already won awards for the game,and he's already a superstar.
SPEAKER_00 (38:52):
So yeah, but even more a super duperstore?
Hey Joritos, you downloadingClaire Obscure right now?
No.
I tried.
SPEAKER_01 (39:02):
You gotta plan out your hard drive space.
That's not something that any ofus can just impulsively.
SPEAKER_00 (39:08):
Sounds like a Dr.
Game Hology program.
I have 10 terabytes.
I am never worried about storagespace ever.
SPEAKER_01 (39:15):
I don't believe it.
You knew what you wanted whenyou built your computer.
SPEAKER_00 (39:19):
Yeah, like yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (39:20):
I bought a computer that I didn't realize once I
install Windows 11, I'm gonnalose all of my main hard drive.
SPEAKER_00 (39:26):
Yeah, the next computer you buy, you're gonna
spend five grand on, and it'sgonna be exactly what you want.
SPEAKER_01 (39:33):
It's gonna be slightly less powerful than a
PS5.
SPEAKER_02 (39:43):
Look at the smoke coming out of his ears.
Oh man, it's broken.
SPEAKER_01 (39:46):
I just broke him so bad.
This is the reason that consolegamers and PC gamers do not see
eye to eye.
I think the console game isabout to change forever.
Oh, we do need to talk about theSteam Machine.
(40:08):
Yeah, that's really important,and it should have been the
topic of the episode.
You're welcome, everyone.
You hang out with us 42 minutes,you get to the topic.
Steam machine.
What do we think?
Go.
SPEAKER_00 (40:21):
I would imagine that the console is gonna probably
base price is gonna be like athousand eleven hundred bucks.
Top end will probably be likethirteen, fourteen hundred
bucks.
That's maybe fifteen hundred.
What I like about it is my sonRhino will be able to use the
Steam controller or an Xboxcontroller or a PlayStation
(40:43):
controller for all the weirdosout there, and they'll be you'll
be able to indoctrinate yourchildren into using a Steam
machine as their console, butthey'll be able to share your
library of games so you won'thave to double buy games, which
(41:05):
I like, because I've beenlistening to a lot of things,
and the way I understand it isyou'll be able to have multiple
accounts on your main account,so you'll be allowed to have two
or three accounts within youraccount.
So if Rhino wants to playFortnite, he can be playing
(41:25):
Fortnite via Steam while orEpic, whatever, but while I'm
playing Claire, that's the waywe'll be able to play games
simultaneously on the twosystems, which is my PC, his
Steam Machine.
And I like the fact that I'mgonna be able to plug it right
into my TV and it's just gonnawork, and it's gonna work
(41:47):
because if you go to Steam andclick big picture mode, it's
basically like a console, likean Xbox Live or a PlayStation,
whatever PlayStation calls theirhub, home.
SPEAKER_01 (41:59):
Yeah.
Originally, when I bought mySteam Deck, had a whole long
period of time where Steam wasmy main way of playing games,
and I very rarely didPlayStation.
Yeah, there you go.
And I still love my Steam Deck,and it's what I prefer to travel
with because the games areactually on the system, and so I
(42:23):
can play them as opposed to thePlayStation portal or as opposed
to trying to use Game Pass on mylaptop.
There's just all kinds of issueswhen you're traveling and you're
relying on the internet, and sofor that reason, I love my Steam
Deck, but some of the games thatI really would like to play do
not run very well on it becauseit's a tiny little PC with
(42:47):
limitations due to its hardware.
And so the Steam machine isdesigned to be that console that
takes your Steam library andputs it on your big living room
TV.
And that's really exciting forme because during that period of
time I did things like make sureI own every Final Fantasy game
(43:10):
on Steam, or have the entireTomb Raider trilogy, or buy God
of War on here in case I everwant to play God of War not on a
PS5.
And I honestly would prefer tojust have the system where I
(43:31):
have a handheld and I have theTV like a Switch system, right?
Like you can play on the TV, andif Steam can do that, Steam has
the games I want to play.
Nintendo sometimes does, butusually doesn't.
And so the Steam machine pairedwith having a Steam Deck could
(43:54):
give me the gaming life that Iactually would prefer.
Because the PlayStation almosthas it, but the PlayStation
Portal is not a Steam Deck.
Because you have to rely on theinternet to be able to see the
game on your screen.
unknown (44:11):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (44:12):
What do you think, Doritos?
SPEAKER_02 (44:15):
I don't know.
I haven't actually looked at thespecs of the machine itself yet.
SPEAKER_01 (44:20):
It should be able to run Cyberpunk 2077 at 1440p or
something.
SPEAKER_00 (44:30):
Doritos is basically what they said it's gonna be the
middle tier of a PC of today.
You buying a mid-tier.
SPEAKER_01 (44:42):
It's more powerful than my current PC.
Well, that's my PC is from 2019.
SPEAKER_00 (44:49):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (44:49):
Time for an upgrade.
I know, but money's a thing.
SPEAKER_00 (44:54):
Yes, it is.
Well, yeah, but you haveenhanced the length of your
computer by streaming to agraphic capture card.
Capture card with yourPlayStation.
You've if you were relying onyour PC only, you would have
bought a PC a year ago.
SPEAKER_01 (45:13):
That's true.
As far as doing my work stuff, Istill am able to do all the
responsible adult stuff veryfast, very easily.
SPEAKER_00 (45:24):
Yep.
SPEAKER_01 (45:25):
It just is it's down to like for the content creation
side, I have to cut corners andbe clever.
SPEAKER_00 (45:31):
But Doritos, would you buy your children a Steam
machine and have it linked up toyour living room?
I'm using your living room TV asif that's where they game.
SPEAKER_02 (45:42):
Yeah, no, I got you.
I don't know because they allhave their own PCs.
My daughter's got a laptop, myson's got a small gaming rig
that does good for what he doesright now.
So it wouldn't do much anything.
Everybody already has the devicethey enjoy playing on for them
(46:04):
right now.
I can I'll have to look at itand consider it because just
given the way the computercomponent parts are going right
now, it might be better to buy anugget a console just from a
cost perspective.
(46:25):
Sure.
Because I was talking about thiswith some guys last night where
RAM costs are well through theroof, it feels like, for
anything you want to get.
Especially if it's new stuff.
You're talking five hundreddollars for what the 32 gigs of
(46:47):
RAM.
It's like that's what quadruplethe cost it was not that long
ago.
SPEAKER_00 (46:54):
What's funny you say that, and it's a hard balance
for what I'm about to saybecause I'm not trying to go
that route, but the company I'mworking for out of Boston, Sinky
Socks Hockey, they are down totheir last 50 sticks.
They produce their own brand ofhockey stick.
(47:15):
And we're trying to do like ademo day where you can come to
the rink, try the stick, and ifyou like the stick, you get it
at the discount.
But in order to order them, theyneed to order 100 sticks.
I want to offer my team, mykids' team, the sticks and have
everybody using the same stickand almost like team sponsored
(47:35):
by brand Mando Hockey Sticks.
So we have to order 100 sticks,but the concern right now is the
way imports are being chargedright now.
They're fluctuating so much thatthe company is afraid to order
them because let's say if youorder them right now and they're
(47:59):
$30 each, by the time they makethem and ship them two weeks
later, they could be$80 each.
And they don't hold the price,right?
Just because of the way thingsare being charged to the
importation into our country.
And it's a real thing.
So I and I'm guessing that's thesame thing with RAM right now.
(48:21):
Certain things are being chargeddifferently, and the that which
is driving the prices to go upon them, those said items.
SPEAKER_02 (48:28):
That and plus not only for the graphics card, but
a lot of the AI stuff's chewingup some a lot of the RAM market
too.
Because they need to do the AI.
So between folks building,generating AI stuff and the
tariff situations, depending onwhere we're getting where you're
getting your hardware from,that's really can impact what it
(48:51):
is you want to build.
SPEAKER_00 (48:59):
Yes.
That's a good point.
Did I tell you guys whathappened on my video card?
It's probably three weeks agonow.
SPEAKER_02 (49:06):
Uh started making some really strange high-pitched
whining sounds.
SPEAKER_00 (49:10):
Nope.
So you guys were.
Yeah.
Sure, yeah.
I ordered it.
And I order everything from NewEgg when it comes to computer
parts.
Even if I pay a few dollarsmore, it's just Newegg has
(49:30):
always been great to me.
I trust them.
Like I feel weird buying agraphics card from like an
Amazon.
I don't know why.
It's the same card, it's justone of those things.
So I buy from New Egg.
And it was UPS.
And it got delayed one day, andit said, Oh, coming in tomorrow.
Okay.
(49:51):
Sorry for the delay.
It was on the plane inLouisville.
I don't know.
Yeah, but whatever it was.
So three days later it said theycanceled my order because they
can't find my package.
Oh.
Which means somebody stole thething.
It said trombone.
And I was refunded.
(50:12):
Granted, my credit card wasrefunded and all that stuff.
But yeah, still.
So I haven't reordered anotherone because I'm like, I don't
want the next one.
I was so excited.
I don't want it to get stolenagain.
But it's starting to bother mebecause I'm playing Claire
(50:33):
Obscure Expedition 33 on mediumsettings.
Oh no.
Not medium settings.
Dude, it's awful.
I feel like I'm potato.
SPEAKER_01 (50:44):
You'll be happy to know that I'm playing it on high
quality settings on my PS5.
SPEAKER_00 (50:50):
Yeah, but that's still a low setting on a PC.
SPEAKER_01 (50:54):
Okay.
You're so competitive.
I don't even know how we'refriends, Marcus.
I know why we're you're alwaysdissing my controller for no
reason.
Like it's completely unprovoked.
SPEAKER_00 (51:08):
No, it is provoked.
The PlayStation controllersucks.
The thumbsticks are in the wrongplace.
Maybe your hands thumbs are inthe wrong place.
No, it's because it's wrong.
The Xbox controller is correct.
It's the right controller.
SPEAKER_01 (51:29):
I think that you just played way too much Call of
Duty on your Xbox in the 20aughts.
SPEAKER_00 (51:36):
Continue the journey.
One.
Oh, here we go.
We're here.
We're live.
Wait, what are you doing?
Are you copyright striking ourpodcast?
Yes, he is.
That is the worst song in thewhole soundtrack.
Why would you do that?
SPEAKER_00 (00:21):
Because that's the point.
And it was only it was less thanseven seconds, so they can't
copyright us.
That's what she said.
SPEAKER_03 (00:28):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (00:31):
Your eyes are so far in the back of your head, we are
gonna call you the Undertaker.
SPEAKER_00 (00:38):
Rest and peace.
All right, so real talk.
I'm pretty tired.
So I've played hockey fournights in a row.
My body is completely shot.
But on the flip side, I met mydaughter's best friend on our
gymnastics team.
We met her family and their twokids, and my two kids and my
(01:02):
wife.
And we went met for pizza at mybuddy's pizza shop.
And right next door is abrewery, so we had beers, and it
felt really good when I wentinto my buddy's pizza shop.
I haven't been there in a couplemonths, and one of his guys that
work for him that like makes thesubs, he goes, Holy shit, what
happened to you?
And I was like, What do youmean?
He goes, Dude, you lookincredible.
Where'd all your weight go?
(01:25):
And that made me feel good.
Should we work?
I legit played hockey fournights in a row.
My legs feel like they're jello.
Remember the old commercials, JE L L O, and it's just watch it,
wiggle, see it, jiggle.
Exactly, Doritos.
That's how I feel right now.
(01:49):
How does it revolve it?
SPEAKER_02 (01:51):
You definitely don't look like it.
SPEAKER_01 (01:52):
You just look more tired than anything.
You look like you're in a colderclimate than me.
Dude, it is so.
SPEAKER_00 (02:00):
You know what the temperature is right now at my
house?
Hold on.
17 degrees.
We're gonna tell you, I'm gonnatell you right now.
It's 26, but it feels 20.
SPEAKER_01 (02:10):
Oh, I was more pessimistic than reality.
Go figure.
SPEAKER_00 (02:13):
Well, it's be the the time of my life was the day
that Doc decided to fly intoHartford, Connecticut, so he
could ride with me, Nick, inOctober.
In October, to Comic-Con and togo to the Star Wars Cantina.
And Doc showed up in a t-shirt,and it happened to be like 30
degrees, and he gets in the car,and Kogas is with us, and he
(02:37):
goes, and Doc goes, Can we stopat the store?
I have to buy a jacket.
Nice.
And we went to Tarjay.
SPEAKER_01 (02:46):
Yeah, that was fun.
I still have that jacket,actually.
SPEAKER_00 (02:50):
And he's worn it four times, but now it's seven
six.
No, it's my jacket.
SPEAKER_01 (02:55):
That's so nice.
SPEAKER_00 (02:56):
You think that I did the weight loss journey too?
You have.
Look at your face.
Like I can see your cheekmuscles.
SPEAKER_01 (03:04):
I was just doing my walk before this.
I did 75 minutes to get my stepsin.
And so it's dark with streetlamps.
And I was so I'm seeing myselfevery three seconds or so, the
shadow of myself on thesidewalk.
Like, oh my gosh, like I havesome shoulder muscles that the
(03:24):
shadow picks up now.
Hey, um yeah, nice.
SPEAKER_00 (03:30):
You call them lamps, aren't they?
SPEAKER_01 (03:34):
They're whatever.
Late post.
SPEAKER_00 (03:36):
I have to ask I have to ask a question.
Do you cook supper or do youcook dinner?
SPEAKER_01 (03:42):
Dinner.
I've never said the word supper.
SPEAKER_00 (03:45):
It's always supper to me.
Doritos?
I know.
Yeah, but what's your go-to?
Probably dinner.
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (03:55):
Third breakfast.
SPEAKER_03 (03:57):
Right.
SPEAKER_00 (03:59):
In my house, breakfast for dinner is the best
meal of the week.
I would like that.
Go ahead.
SPEAKER_02 (04:09):
Is that a standard weekly meal for your family?
SPEAKER_00 (04:13):
For sure.
Bacon, eggs, sausage.
Nice.
French toast or wa or Belgianwaffles.
SPEAKER_01 (04:24):
Some of those I eat the Morningstar version where
it's all vegetable-based.
SPEAKER_00 (04:29):
That just sounds terrible.
SPEAKER_01 (04:32):
That's what I eat.
Like you were just talking aboutmy cheek muscles, and this is
how you do it, Marcus.
SPEAKER_00 (04:39):
So you either do it with Morningstar or play hockey.
Got it.
SPEAKER_01 (04:44):
I also go to the gym.
Do you pump it up?
It's not the same as what youget out of a hockey game,
though.
SPEAKER_00 (04:50):
I bet it's more.
You think so?
Yeah, yeah.
You know what's crazy when Ilike so I'll wear my like watch
and I'll set it to like anindoor bike cycle, whatever,
just to get the workout becauseI do the Peloton.
And I'll look at my heart ratewhen I get off for my shift, and
it'll say my heart is racing at182, and I'm like, I guess I was
(05:13):
pushing a little too hard.
But then it calms right down.
SPEAKER_01 (05:18):
Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stranger.
Yeah.
Truth.
SPEAKER_00 (05:24):
Okay, so back to reality.
SPEAKER_01 (05:26):
No, back to reality.
SPEAKER_00 (05:28):
Did you so at work?
Do you guys pay for YouTubepremium?
No.
No.
What do you guys pay for music?
Apple music?
Fail.
I did Spotify.
Okay, fail too.
So do you guys watch YouTube?
Never heard of it.
Okay.
Do you watch it a lot?
SPEAKER_01 (05:50):
No.
SPEAKER_00 (05:51):
Okay.
SPEAKER_01 (05:51):
Dorita?
I have YouTube partner.
I haven't made a video sinceJune.
No, do you watch?
SPEAKER_00 (05:57):
Do you go to YouTube and watch videos?
SPEAKER_02 (06:00):
No, I don't.
If I'm looking for a particularthing and it's on YouTube, yes,
I will.
Otherwise I'll but notnecessarily go there to watch
shows and stuff.
SPEAKER_00 (06:10):
Okay, so so I pay for YouTube Premium, which is I
pay$22 a month because it's afamily plan.
You get four four emailsessentially that's associated
with it and it's commercialfree.
But something that comes with itis YouTube Music, and YouTube
Music has more music on it thanSpotify, Pandora, Apple Music,
(06:32):
whatever.
The nicest part of YouTubePremium is that you can watch
YouTube videos and shut thescreen off on your phone.
So you're just listening to theaudio.
Correct.
Yes.
But like you want, like I'll belistening to a mail build video,
and I just listen to it.
I don't need to watch it, andI'm listening to it at work.
(06:53):
But anyway, premium's great forthat.
I used to subscribe to AppleMusic, and then I got my wife to
cancel hers, and now we all justshare YouTube music, and it's
awesome.
That's why I asked if you watchYouTube videos, then it's worth
it.
If you don't watch YouTubevideos, then the$10 a month for
Apple Music is worth it becauseit's less.
(07:15):
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
But I was listening to one ofthe wrestling podcasts today,
and it made me think of both ofyou because the guy goes, Do you
ever chat with your two friendsand they just don't agree with
you?
And they give you the smile likethey're agreeing with you deep
(07:35):
down, they're lying to youthrough your their face.
And I said, and I'm thinking tomyself, I'm like, Yeah, every
week on Thursday nights.
And the guy goes, That's how Ifeel when people tell me they're
excited that Brock Lesnar cameback.
Oh my gosh, so true.
Yes, and I and it made me thinkof you too.
SPEAKER_02 (07:56):
Gee, yeah, thanks.
That's the best backhanded,underhanded compliment anybody
could ever give us.
SPEAKER_00 (08:02):
I thought it was hilarious that your friends are
smiling at you and they'reacting like they listen are
listening and agree with you,but they actually aren't, and
they're telling you that you'reyou're an idiot inside their
head without saying it.
I'm like, man, that's everyweek.
SPEAKER_01 (08:15):
I don't even just know, I'll tell you straight to
your face you are, and you knowthat.
Actually, if I remember fiveminutes ago correctly, I don't
have to call you an idiotbecause if I'm patient enough,
you'll call yourself an idiot,and then I just have to agree
with you.
SPEAKER_00 (08:29):
Yes, perfect.
Pretty much the other video Iwas listening to today, it
sounds so weird saying that.
Is I listened to the game awardsand Claire Obscure Expedition
33.
If there's 13 categories,they're nominated for 10 of
them.
SPEAKER_01 (08:49):
They are nominated for the most categories of any
game ever at the Game Awardshistory.
Wow.
It's Return of the King, but forvideo games.
SPEAKER_00 (09:01):
Is do you guys are the awards?
I don't know.
I'm gonna tell you.
We should do a watch show.
That would be pretty awesome,honestly.
Hang out in Discord.
SPEAKER_01 (09:14):
Yeah, just a community night.
I'm not streaming that.
I tried to stream it one yearand it was a technology
disaster.
Hey Doritos, you know what's onsale right now?
Oh, I know what's on sale rightnow because I've been waiting
for that sound for weeks.
SPEAKER_00 (09:34):
It says it's on sale, but next week it'll be on
a bigger sale.
Claire Obscure Expedition 33.
What's the deluxe edition?
unknown (09:43):
Fancy.
SPEAKER_01 (09:44):
It just gives me an extra outfit and like probably
access to the soundtrack.
SPEAKER_00 (09:53):
Oh, okay.
Either way, it's on sale.
Doritos incoming.
Oh yeah.
Oh, you're gonna give me somechips, sweet.
Oh no, we're uh I've decidedthat I'm soon like I'm gonna
wait for the autumn sale becauseif it goes on sale more, that's
fine.
But I'm buying you this gamebecause I feel if I buy you this
game, you're gonna be obligatedto put it at the top of your
(10:14):
list.
I thought they already had theautumn at Thanksgiving.
Okay, or maybe I don't know whatsale it is then.
You're right.
SPEAKER_02 (10:24):
Holiday.
SPEAKER_00 (10:25):
Yeah, no, holiday sale comes because their Steam's
holiday sale is usually likeDecember 20th through like
January 4th.
It's two and a half weeks.
Because remember last year,Doritos, you spent like 50 bucks
and you got 70 games.
Yep.
By smart, yeah.
Oh, golden no, it's not thegolden joystick awards.
SPEAKER_01 (10:51):
But anyway, Claire Obscure Expedition 33 did win
Game of the Year at the GoldenJoystick Awards this week.
SPEAKER_00 (11:00):
All right, excellent.
Yeah, uh, but like I feel likethe TV show like Game Awards is
the one.
Yeah, it's the most televised.
SPEAKER_01 (11:09):
You also get the debut trailers for new games and
lots of surprises, and you getthe orchestras playing the
biggest songs of the year, andthat's a big moment.
SPEAKER_02 (11:19):
I listen to a lot of practice because you don't have
to know all have a lot of sheetmusic given all the different
options that could win.
SPEAKER_01 (11:29):
Doritos, I have seen this happen in person.
The people in those orchestrasdo not need to practice because
they're that freaking good.
You just give them the sheetmusic, and it is perfect.
Like they probably do practicelike one take for each song, but
(11:51):
they're good.
So I mean, that's like LondonSymphony Orchestra kind of
stuff, but like professionalorchestra musicians are amazing.
SPEAKER_00 (12:02):
That's true.
So I've seen the Empire StrikesBack symphony, I've seen Final
Fantasy VII remake symphony, andthey say that they're making the
Claire Obscure and they're doingthe Elden Ring one, and I'm
gonna make sure I go to that.
One the Elden Ring one is inTokyo, it's going to Orlando and
(12:24):
it's going to Los Angeles.
So you can go to Orlando and ifthey're not gonna announce
Boston or anywhere close to mehere, I would fly to Orlando
just to go to the Elden Ringone.
Oh, that'd be fun.
Because that is that was a coolexperience because on the big
(12:45):
screens they have all themoments of the game or the
movie, and in like the DarthVader section, I'm using the
Dunto that they like show thatclip where they actually play
it, and you're like, Oh my god,this is so cool.
But then all the actionsequences, they just like kind
of put it together and they likeseamlessly put it together and
(13:06):
match it to the music, it'sunreal.
Like the Claire one.
Like the Final Fantasy VIIremake one I went to.
Now I didn't even play it, but Iremember the original game, and
that was one of the coolestexperiences I've ever been to,
and more so because the peoplein the crowd cheering for the
(13:29):
different characters' moments,it just made me like I got like
the goosebumps, like the rockgets the goosebumps when he
comes out and he gets announced.
SPEAKER_01 (13:41):
Final Fantasy VII's music is half of the reason why
it's amazing.
Actually, a lot of fictionalproperties become timeless
because of the music.
SPEAKER_00 (13:56):
Do you know what my favorite part of Claire Obscure
is?
The music?
Yes, but why?
SPEAKER_01 (14:03):
The graphics, because you're a graphical whole
thing.
Yes, but other than that.
SPEAKER_00 (14:07):
Yeah, but other beyond that.
So in-game, what's my L'shairstyle?
Oh, I do like doing that.
Ciel is my like I'm gonna tellyou right now, C L, if she live
like if I was single and she wassingle, we'd be ready to mingle.
SPEAKER_01 (14:22):
Lune would be the actual verso is Marcus.
SPEAKER_00 (14:25):
Yeah, but like Ciel, like Lune is like the female
version of Doc.
She's way too smart for me.
That's true.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (14:35):
But Lune's my favorite, but Mael is obviously
the main character of the story,but Lune is the best.
SPEAKER_00 (14:42):
Yeah, really truly.
My favorite part is when you goback to camp and you get the new
like records and you play thenew songs.
Like, I'll literally sit in thecamp and not talk to anybody,
and I'll just listen to themusic for five minutes because
it's so good.
And when I'm at work and I needto concentrate, I just put on
(15:06):
that soundtrack.
And now I've gotten to the pointwhere I have two points to
start.
I'll either start it at thebeginning or I'll scroll through
the songs and start at MonocoStation because there's like
another two hours of music thereafter Minoco Station.
It's so good.
This is why, Doritos, as soon asthe autumn sale or the
(15:27):
Thanksgiving sale comes, I'myou're getting this game.
And it Doc and I are gonna peerpressure you into it because the
interaction that Doc and I hadthis week, maybe it was
yesterday or the day before, hewas playing the game.
SPEAKER_01 (15:43):
Yeah, and I was like yesterday.
SPEAKER_00 (15:45):
Yeah, and he was talking about a build, and I was
like, dude, did you beat the guyin the water?
And he's no, and I was like,dude, you gotta go beat the guy
in the water because it givesyou a picto that is called
cheater, and it allows yourcharacters to go twice in a row
every time.
So instead of three actions, youget six per round.
It's amazing.
And he's no, I haven't donethat.
(16:07):
And I fought him, and itliterally took me probably like
10 minutes to beat him becausemy characters clearly aren't
doing as much damage.
Doc goes, Oh, I found him.
Oh, he's dead.
And I was like, Wait, are ready?
And he's yeah, I hit him threetimes and he's dead.
I was like, Are you kidding meright now?
And he goes, No, that was easy,and I was like, Man, I died once
(16:29):
fighting that guy.
SPEAKER_01 (16:33):
I at the time I was in the level 80s, Marcus.
Oh, I also have Lune set up tobe a human bomb.
SPEAKER_00 (16:41):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (16:42):
Oh, you want that, huh?
SPEAKER_00 (16:44):
Yeah.
So I'm really torn and I wantyour advice.
And I know I've talked a lottonight.
Kind of haven't stopped.
SPEAKER_01 (16:56):
You're the personality hire, Marcus.
You have to know.
SPEAKER_00 (17:00):
What should I play next?
Final Fantasy VII remake orOctopath Traveler II.
SPEAKER_01 (17:10):
What do you think, Doritos?
SPEAKER_00 (17:17):
So Octopath Traveler 2 is your traditional JRPG 2D.
SPEAKER_02 (17:23):
It's like the original Final Fantasy when it
came out, Ultima, and all ofwhen that genre got started.
Can you say that word again?
What genre?
No.
SPEAKER_00 (17:33):
Final Fantasy what?
The original one?
Ultima.
SPEAKER_02 (17:38):
Oh my god.
SPEAKER_00 (17:40):
Like the goosebumps just hearing that to me.
Attack.
You guys remember that, right?
SPEAKER_02 (17:48):
My vote personally, with the way things are, go with
uh Final Fantasy.
SPEAKER_01 (17:53):
Do I would as well, and it's a selfish reason,
because I would love to have allthe conversations with you about
my favorite game.
And also, it makes me feel badthat I haven't played Mass
Effect.
We have to end this saga.
SPEAKER_00 (18:13):
Wait.
So what you're saying is onceyou play Mass Effect, the
podcast is over.
I didn't say that.
Well, that's the saga.
SPEAKER_01 (18:22):
I meant the saga of me letting you down as a friend.
SPEAKER_02 (18:26):
Well, that's just the next chapter.
SPEAKER_00 (18:28):
Yeah, exactly.
The end of the saga is the endof the podcast or the end of our
friendship.
SPEAKER_01 (18:35):
No, I meant if you're playing my favorite game
and I sit here and be like, no,I am not playing Mass Effects.
SPEAKER_03 (18:43):
Wait, wait, wait, wait.
SPEAKER_00 (18:44):
Final Fantasy VII is your favorite game of all time.
Absolutely.
Interesting.
SPEAKER_02 (18:50):
I've never heard of that before.
Huh.
SPEAKER_00 (18:52):
Yeah.
If you so wait, does it involvethe hero's journey and it
inspired you to write TheGamer's Journey, which is a book
you wrote and you've won anaward?
SPEAKER_01 (19:04):
Yes.
But also the reason that myYouTube channel has partner
status is because of the trailerreaction that I did with Gene
after the game awards when theydebuted the rebirth trailer.
And that episode went live.
It's the small period of timewhere I was doing a video
(19:27):
version of the podcast, andthousands of people watched the
whole thing.
And just one morning I woke upand I had the email that said,
You you're in welcome to theYouTube Partner program.
And the last time I had checked,I was at only 1,100 hours for
the year.
So I got the rest of it justbecause of that trailer and me
(19:50):
and Gene talking about it for anhour and a half.
I feel like I owe a lot to myenthusiasm for content creation
to Final Fantasy VII.
SPEAKER_00 (20:07):
Oh, it's on sale.
SPEAKER_01 (20:10):
There you go.
SPEAKER_00 (20:12):
Is it inter Final Fantasy VII Remake Integrade?
SPEAKER_01 (20:16):
That's the uh with the DLC and everything.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (20:19):
It's on sale for 20 bucks, or I can get the remake
and rebirth twin pack for 50bucks.
SPEAKER_01 (20:26):
You should do that because that's two full-size
games.
SPEAKER_02 (20:31):
I don't want to spend$50.
It's just$25 a game.
I know.
SPEAKER_01 (20:36):
And those are both amazing games.
Plus, rebirth is padded with somany games and extra side quests
that you can play a hundred plushours just to beat the game
once.
Ooh, side quest.
We talked about that last weekand I edited it last night.
So it's like fresh howenthusiastic we are for games
(20:57):
that are padded with extracontent that's a distraction
from the story.
We called it when games do notrespect our time.
But you know what?
The story of remake and rebirthare amazing, and I cannot wait
for four years to pass so thatwe can play part three and have
(21:18):
the end of that story.
SPEAKER_00 (21:20):
When does that come out?
SPEAKER_01 (21:22):
2029, Marcus.
SPEAKER_03 (21:25):
What?
SPEAKER_01 (21:26):
Yeah.
Also, I saw a hilarious videofrom random content creator on
Instagram the today where theywere talking about how the joke
is if Final Fantasy VII RemakePart 3 comes out before Kingdom
Hearts IV, then that meansKingdom Hearts 3 came out, Final
(21:50):
Fantasy VII Remake came outafter, and then its entire three
game saga will get completed bySquare Enix before they finally
get Kingdom Hearts 4 out.
SPEAKER_00 (22:04):
Interesting.
SPEAKER_02 (22:05):
Yeah.
Well, does Kingdom Hearts haveany have have IP issues with the
House of Mouse?
SPEAKER_01 (22:14):
I don't know if it has issues.
Kingdom Hearts 3 was definitelya weird production.
If I had to analyze thedifference between that game and
all the other Kingdom Heartsgames, because all the other
Kingdom Hearts games had FinalFantasy characters in them.
And Kingdom Hearts 3 really wasan interactive music video of
(22:37):
all the big child-appealingDisney franchises.
So you literally watch all ofTangled, all of Frozen, but with
Sora Donald and Goofy in theaction sequences.
And you do fight the bosses, butwhen you get to the cutscene
part, you watch all of Let It Goand you watch all of the big set
(23:00):
pieces in these movies,especially if the Disney movie
that they're featuring is under15 years old.
Then they get these hugecutscenes, so you're just
watching.
Right.
And that paired with zero FinalFantasy characters in the entire
story makes it honestly in thebottom half of my favorite
(23:24):
Kingdom Hearts.
I I wanted to say it's my leastfavorite, but that's not true.
I there's just things that Ilove about Kingdom Hearts that
are missing in Kingdom Hearts 3.
So I think honestly, my favoriteis Kingdom Hearts 2.
SPEAKER_00 (23:39):
I still think that Kingdom Hearts is mid.
SPEAKER_01 (23:46):
Oh no.
Marcus, Sora is one of the bestvideo game heroes of all time.
Mid.
The power of friendship.
What's wrong with you?
You will be the one to open thedoor.
Eh.
You must have hated my book,Marcus.
I didn't think he did.
Eh.
(24:08):
Marcus, I'm very disappointed inyou right now.
SPEAKER_00 (24:13):
Hey, you know why I loved your book?
Because everything I read it andlistened to it, like in your
voice.
So, like, when the narrator readit and it wasn't in your tone, I
told them to shut the F up.
You're not saying it right.
And it made my day because,like, I whenever your next book
(24:34):
deal comes and it's not with thesame publisher, and you get to
read your own book, right?
And you get to read your ownbook as the narrator, that's
when it'll be like, okay, thisis the doc I know because you'll
be able to emphasize the way youdo, and it'll be you're in
control, and that's what I lookforward to.
(24:56):
Because when the journey strikesback, it's gonna be good.
SPEAKER_01 (25:01):
Oh man, is that gonna be a book that's focused
on 200 games where the bad guysshould have won?
Yes.
A fun concept.
SPEAKER_00 (25:10):
Like I Renoir.
Listen, yeah.
Oh, fuck him.
I've decided I'm gonna beatClaire.
This weekend I'm beating itbecause I'm flying around doing
all this extra content, and Ijust can't.
Like, I see the try the redtriangle, and I'm like, I just
gotta beat this game.
And I hope it doesn't mess uplike the progression for me to
(25:32):
do all the endgame stuff.
If it does, then I'll just dothe it doesn't.
SPEAKER_01 (25:38):
I'm doing exactly that.
I've defeated the final boss,Marcus, and I'm running around
cleaning up the map.
Okay.
And having a blast map.
I really am.
I'm on floor or fight 34.
No, there's only 33.
I'm on fight 31 of 33 of theendless tower right now.
SPEAKER_00 (26:00):
Oh, you're almost done.
SPEAKER_01 (26:02):
Yep.
Yep.
It's 11 stages with three fightsin each one, and I started stage
11 at the end of my streamtoday.
It's really fun.
And it is it's challenging me toline up my Pictos and Luminas in
a much smarter way so that I canovercome the biggest challenges.
(26:24):
And I my first playthrough, I Ididn't do any of that, so it's
really making my brain feelsuperior.
Right.
It's it's really cool to solveeach fight, and then you know
you're gonna win if you just getthe next sequence of 11 parries
correct.
SPEAKER_00 (26:43):
Hey, so it's complete sidebar here.
So we're creating a new hockeyteam for a new league.
Can you guys see that?
The Waddlers or baby ducks.
Back to Final Fantasy.
Do you feel as if I'm gonnaenjoy that as much as I am
(27:05):
Claire?
SPEAKER_01 (27:08):
Hmm.
It is not turn-based.
SPEAKER_00 (27:11):
I know that.
But right now, what I'm lovingabout Claire is that it's I was
I talking to you, Doc, aboutthis, about my change in gaming.
SPEAKER_01 (27:25):
You were, but I think that belongs in the show,
so let's pretend I've neverheard it.
SPEAKER_00 (27:29):
Okay.
So we're gonna go back in theway back time machine to when
was Julia born?
She's almost 10.
So let's call it 10 years ago.
Ten years ago, I found FinalStar Wars of the Old Republic
again.
I tried it when it came out, andI was too much of a Call of Duty
guy, and I was like, this gameis boring.
(27:51):
Like I'm exploring this world,but I didn't realize that in
MMOs you're not finding randomitems.
You have to just go quest do thefetch quest and level up.
So I got rid of it.
And I went back to Call of Duty.
When Carrie was pregnant forJulia, I was home a lot, she was
(28:11):
sick a lot, and I startedplaying, and I was like, you
know what?
I'm gonna play Star Wars of theOld Republic again.
And that's about the time it wasbefore Knights of the Old
Republic.
Not Knights of the FallenEmpire.
I'm sorry.
Knights of the Fallen Empire wascoming out.
That Knights of the FallenEmpire came out in August, I
think, or October.
(28:32):
I can't remember.
Latter part of the year.
Latter part of the summer,summer, early fall, it came out.
I remember it.
And I started playing it again,and then I found all these
podcasts, and I really got intoit.
And I played it for a long time,and I started being social in
the MMO space, met AIE, blah,blah, blah.
(28:56):
Then over time, I startedraiding, met Doritos, Doc, all
that.
And all of my gaming started tobe social.
Then as COVID was hitting, Istarted to stream video games,
thought it was the world's thecat's ass.
And then I started my prisonsentence, and I was locked in.
(29:26):
Right.
And then everything I gamed hadto do with streaming.
Would it be good for streaming?
Would my our viewers love it?
All that stuff.
And now, fast forward to today,on Saturday night, I think it
(29:48):
was Saturday night this week.
I sat in my office light on,just like it is now.
I had a beer, and I playedClaire for four hours.
Three or four hours.
I was all by myself.
I wasn't in chat.
And I do hang out with Doritosor Doc, or I might hang out in
the Discord.
But I'm playing solo games whereit's very different now.
(30:11):
And I find that I'm enjoyingmyself just as much to doing
that.
And how like before, when I wasin my prison sentence streaming,
I would never have played a gamelike that alone.
And now I'm enjoying myself morewithout streaming, just being by
(30:37):
myself.
And as an evolution comes, Ifind myself enjoying those
nights, and these games arecaptivating me.
And that's what I want now ingaming.
And that's why I'm asking whatthe next game should be.
(30:59):
Because I have Final Fantasy VIIremake on my PlayStation, but
that means I have to sit on mycouch and play it.
And I'm not a couch gamer.
No matter how hard I try, theonly games I play on the couch
are WWE 2K24 when my son'swhooping me because he knows all
the moves and he hits triangleat the right time to reverse
(31:20):
them.
All the moves.
SPEAKER_01 (31:25):
I think the cast of characters in your party in
Final Fantasy VII is some of thebest interaction in video games.
I love all of them for differentreasons.
SPEAKER_00 (31:49):
Yeah, I started to play Final Fantasy 16.
But the But I was in the middleof Elden Ring.
And I couldn't stop playingthat.
Yeah.
They're very different gamesthough.
(32:09):
And but they aren't really,because you're still it's all
action combat.
You have to dodge, you have toparry.
Maybe not parry, but a lot ofdodging, and it's a lot, it's a
lot like an Elden Ring style ofgame.
SPEAKER_01 (32:25):
Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth plays a lot
more like Elden Ring.
Final Fantasy 16 plays likeDevil May Cry.
SPEAKER_00 (32:35):
Interesting.
SPEAKER_01 (32:37):
Yeah.
There's yes, you are swingingand you are dodging or jumping
or rolling.
But the style, like when Iplayed Rebirth on dynamic
difficulty, there were people inthe chat, some streams, that
were commenting they didn't knowthis difficulty existed, and
(32:59):
they didn't know Final FantasyVII could be like Elden Ring.
I I don't think Final Fantasy 16can be like Elden Ring.
It's so fast.
SPEAKER_02 (33:10):
Really?
SPEAKER_01 (33:11):
Yeah.
It's a combo focused kind ofhack and slash.
Interesting.
The story's great.
The story is amazing.
Hero's journey in Final Fantasywith a Game of Thrones
aesthetic.
(33:31):
It's an amazing mixture ofthings I love.
But Final Fantasy VII is allover my room.
It's three of my disc plates.
I have a Tifa banner over there.
It's two of my statues behindme.
(33:51):
It's everywhere.
Oh.
And my little amiibo friends onmy desk.
Ooh, amiibos.
Because they're cool enough tobe in Super Smash Brothers.
That's the mark of mastery.
Is your franchise in Super SmashBrothers?
(34:17):
Marcus is deep in Googlethought.
SPEAKER_00 (34:20):
No, I'm thinking about what you're saying.
I'm really thinking about itbecause I've been thinking about
what's next.
Ever since I got tricked, whendid we when were you with me?
SPEAKER_01 (34:31):
It was like two or three weeks ago when you got
tricked.
SPEAKER_00 (34:34):
Yeah.
I thought the game was over,everybody.
I legit thought it was over.
And then I got duped.
And I was literally while I washanging out with Tac, I'm like,
all right, what am I gonna playnext?
It's all I could keep saying,and that's the prison sentence
in me.
Like I'm talking to my chat, andI was just hanging out with my
friend.
SPEAKER_02 (34:58):
So if you don't want a prison sentence, why do you
continue to ask what you playnext?
As if playing video games is aprison sentence.
SPEAKER_01 (35:08):
I have the true answer, Mass Effect Andromeda.
Go.
That's just completionist.
SPEAKER_02 (35:19):
That's because I want to complete the franchise,
which I did, so now I can go offand do other things and play
other franchises.
SPEAKER_01 (35:25):
I know what you should do.
You should play the remake ofElder Scrolls.
No.
Okay.
SPEAKER_00 (35:34):
I've never been an Elder Scrolls fan.
I haven't Dorito.
Yeah, I've never been a bigElder Scrolls fan.
I did it, Doc.
SPEAKER_01 (35:52):
I did it.
What?
What did you do?
I couldn't handle it.
What did you do?
Did you spend money?
Yeah.
To Doritos.
Oh, you bought it for Doritos.
We all now own Claire Obscura.
Expedition 33.
SPEAKER_00 (36:07):
So the fast, if you guys listened to probably 15 or
20 episodes ago, I was talkingabout it.
I was like, oh, Claire Obscureson the Xbox Game Pass, and Doc
bought it for me.
And if you guys have ever goneto like Dunkin' Donuts,
Starbucks, McDonald's, anything,and the person in front of you
pays it forward.
So I just paid it forward toDoritos from Doc.
(36:31):
So it's like a three-way effect.
SPEAKER_01 (36:35):
So now Doritos is cursed to have to buy the game
for somebody that didn't ask forit.
SPEAKER_00 (36:41):
No, he's just he's cursed with having to play it.
And it's gonna go cursed anyway.
It's gonna go from his way backlog to the front of the log.
SPEAKER_02 (36:53):
It's log.
Yeah.
SPEAKER_00 (36:55):
Oh, I can't wait now.
But in two weeks, he's gonna belike, Yeah, I finished the game.
It was great.
Too short.
SPEAKER_01 (37:04):
That's very true.
Also, he's seen this story twicebecause of me.
SPEAKER_02 (37:09):
I know the story is.
SPEAKER_01 (37:10):
I just get down now.
SPEAKER_02 (37:11):
I actually get to experience it my way.
SPEAKER_00 (37:13):
Yes.
Yeah, that's what I was gonnasay.
Because like you're you what wasyour key party?
SPEAKER_02 (37:23):
Now, yes.
It's like I know the story, I'mgonna do everything else.
SPEAKER_01 (37:27):
My dumb playthrough, my party was Verso C L Lune, and
then my awesome playthrough,it's Mael Lune Monoco.
SPEAKER_00 (37:39):
Alright, mine's Lune, Mael, and C L.
SPEAKER_01 (37:46):
I'm only one foot away from Monoco having every
move in the game.
I'm so proud of that.
SPEAKER_00 (37:54):
I'm proud of you.
So that's the other thing is ifI beat Claire or wait, once I
beat Claire, is like on expert.
SPEAKER_01 (38:09):
We need to do a disclaimer.
Marcus does not have a childnamed Claire.
He is referring to the videogame Claire Obscure Expedition
33.
We do not condone beatingchildren on the Gaming Persona
podcast.
SPEAKER_00 (38:22):
We should find out if any of them would come on the
show.
SPEAKER_01 (38:26):
We should.
That would be so fun.
SPEAKER_00 (38:31):
I'd like to talk to the person who was the music
producer.
Once they win Game of the Year,we'll never get them because
they'll be like superstars.
SPEAKER_01 (38:43):
The person who did the composition is already has
already won awards for the game,and he's already a superstar.
SPEAKER_00 (38:52):
So yeah, but even more a super duperstore?
Hey Joritos, you downloadingClaire Obscure right now?
No.
I tried.
SPEAKER_01 (39:02):
You gotta plan out your hard drive space.
That's not something that any ofus can just impulsively.
SPEAKER_00 (39:08):
Sounds like a Dr.
Game Hology program.
I have 10 terabytes.
I am never worried about storagespace ever.
SPEAKER_01 (39:15):
I don't believe it.
You knew what you wanted whenyou built your computer.
SPEAKER_00 (39:19):
Yeah, like yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (39:20):
I bought a computer that I didn't realize once I
install Windows 11, I'm gonnalose all of my main hard drive.
SPEAKER_00 (39:26):
Yeah, the next computer you buy, you're gonna
spend five grand on, and it'sgonna be exactly what you want.
SPEAKER_01 (39:33):
It's gonna be slightly less powerful than a
PS5.
SPEAKER_02 (39:43):
Look at the smoke coming out of his ears.
Oh man, it's broken.
SPEAKER_01 (39:46):
I just broke him so bad.
This is the reason that consolegamers and PC gamers do not see
eye to eye.
I think the console game isabout to change forever.
Oh, we do need to talk about theSteam Machine.
(40:08):
Yeah, that's really important,and it should have been the
topic of the episode.
You're welcome, everyone.
You hang out with us 42 minutes,you get to the topic.
Steam machine.
What do we think?
Go.
SPEAKER_00 (40:21):
I would imagine that the console is gonna probably
base price is gonna be like athousand eleven hundred bucks.
Top end will probably be likethirteen, fourteen hundred
bucks.
That's maybe fifteen hundred.
What I like about it is my sonRhino will be able to use the
Steam controller or an Xboxcontroller or a PlayStation
(40:43):
controller for all the weirdosout there, and they'll be you'll
be able to indoctrinate yourchildren into using a Steam
machine as their console, butthey'll be able to share your
library of games so you won'thave to double buy games, which
(41:05):
I like, because I've beenlistening to a lot of things,
and the way I understand it isyou'll be able to have multiple
accounts on your main account,so you'll be allowed to have two
or three accounts within youraccount.
So if Rhino wants to playFortnite, he can be playing
(41:25):
Fortnite via Steam while orEpic, whatever, but while I'm
playing Claire, that's the waywe'll be able to play games
simultaneously on the twosystems, which is my PC, his
Steam Machine.
And I like the fact that I'mgonna be able to plug it right
into my TV and it's just gonnawork, and it's gonna work
(41:47):
because if you go to Steam andclick big picture mode, it's
basically like a console, likean Xbox Live or a PlayStation,
whatever PlayStation calls theirhub, home.
SPEAKER_01 (41:59):
Yeah.
Originally, when I bought mySteam Deck, had a whole long
period of time where Steam wasmy main way of playing games,
and I very rarely didPlayStation.
Yeah, there you go.
And I still love my Steam Deck,and it's what I prefer to travel
with because the games areactually on the system, and so I
(42:23):
can play them as opposed to thePlayStation portal or as opposed
to trying to use Game Pass on mylaptop.
There's just all kinds of issueswhen you're traveling and you're
relying on the internet, and sofor that reason, I love my Steam
Deck, but some of the games thatI really would like to play do
not run very well on it becauseit's a tiny little PC with
(42:47):
limitations due to its hardware.
And so the Steam machine isdesigned to be that console that
takes your Steam library andputs it on your big living room
TV.
And that's really exciting forme because during that period of
time I did things like make sureI own every Final Fantasy game
(43:10):
on Steam, or have the entireTomb Raider trilogy, or buy God
of War on here in case I everwant to play God of War not on a
PS5.
And I honestly would prefer tojust have the system where I
(43:31):
have a handheld and I have theTV like a Switch system, right?
Like you can play on the TV, andif Steam can do that, Steam has
the games I want to play.
Nintendo sometimes does, butusually doesn't.
And so the Steam machine pairedwith having a Steam Deck could
(43:54):
give me the gaming life that Iactually would prefer.
Because the PlayStation almosthas it, but the PlayStation
Portal is not a Steam Deck.
Because you have to rely on theinternet to be able to see the
game on your screen.
unknown (44:11):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (44:12):
What do you think, Doritos?
SPEAKER_02 (44:15):
I don't know.
I haven't actually looked at thespecs of the machine itself yet.
SPEAKER_01 (44:20):
It should be able to run Cyberpunk 2077 at 1440p or
something.
SPEAKER_00 (44:30):
Doritos is basically what they said it's gonna be the
middle tier of a PC of today.
You buying a mid-tier.
SPEAKER_01 (44:42):
It's more powerful than my current PC.
Well, that's my PC is from 2019.
SPEAKER_00 (44:49):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_01 (44:49):
Time for an upgrade.
I know, but money's a thing.
SPEAKER_00 (44:54):
Yes, it is.
Well, yeah, but you haveenhanced the length of your
computer by streaming to agraphic capture card.
Capture card with yourPlayStation.
You've if you were relying onyour PC only, you would have
bought a PC a year ago.
SPEAKER_01 (45:13):
That's true.
As far as doing my work stuff, Istill am able to do all the
responsible adult stuff veryfast, very easily.
SPEAKER_00 (45:24):
Yep.
SPEAKER_01 (45:25):
It just is it's down to like for the content creation
side, I have to cut corners andbe clever.
SPEAKER_00 (45:31):
But Doritos, would you buy your children a Steam
machine and have it linked up toyour living room?
I'm using your living room TV asif that's where they game.
SPEAKER_02 (45:42):
Yeah, no, I got you.
I don't know because they allhave their own PCs.
My daughter's got a laptop, myson's got a small gaming rig
that does good for what he doesright now.
So it wouldn't do much anything.
Everybody already has the devicethey enjoy playing on for them
(46:04):
right now.
I can I'll have to look at itand consider it because just
given the way the computercomponent parts are going right
now, it might be better to buy anugget a console just from a
cost perspective.
(46:25):
Sure.
Because I was talking about thiswith some guys last night where
RAM costs are well through theroof, it feels like, for
anything you want to get.
Especially if it's new stuff.
You're talking five hundreddollars for what the 32 gigs of
(46:47):
RAM.
It's like that's what quadruplethe cost it was not that long
ago.
SPEAKER_00 (46:54):
What's funny you say that, and it's a hard balance
for what I'm about to saybecause I'm not trying to go
that route, but the company I'mworking for out of Boston, Sinky
Socks Hockey, they are down totheir last 50 sticks.
They produce their own brand ofhockey stick.
(47:15):
And we're trying to do like ademo day where you can come to
the rink, try the stick, and ifyou like the stick, you get it
at the discount.
But in order to order them, theyneed to order 100 sticks.
I want to offer my team, mykids' team, the sticks and have
everybody using the same stickand almost like team sponsored
(47:35):
by brand Mando Hockey Sticks.
So we have to order 100 sticks,but the concern right now is the
way imports are being chargedright now.
They're fluctuating so much thatthe company is afraid to order
them because let's say if youorder them right now and they're
(47:59):
$30 each, by the time they makethem and ship them two weeks
later, they could be$80 each.
And they don't hold the price,right?
Just because of the way thingsare being charged to the
importation into our country.
And it's a real thing.
So I and I'm guessing that's thesame thing with RAM right now.
(48:21):
Certain things are being chargeddifferently, and the that which
is driving the prices to go upon them, those said items.
SPEAKER_02 (48:28):
That and plus not only for the graphics card, but
a lot of the AI stuff's chewingup some a lot of the RAM market
too.
Because they need to do the AI.
So between folks building,generating AI stuff and the
tariff situations, depending onwhere we're getting where you're
getting your hardware from,that's really can impact what it
(48:51):
is you want to build.
SPEAKER_00 (48:59):
Yes.
That's a good point.
Did I tell you guys whathappened on my video card?
It's probably three weeks agonow.
SPEAKER_02 (49:06):
Uh started making some really strange high-pitched
whining sounds.
SPEAKER_00 (49:10):
Nope.
So you guys were.
Yeah.
Sure, yeah.
I ordered it.
And I order everything from NewEgg when it comes to computer
parts.
Even if I pay a few dollarsmore, it's just Newegg has
(49:30):
always been great to me.
I trust them.
Like I feel weird buying agraphics card from like an
Amazon.
I don't know why.
It's the same card, it's justone of those things.
So I buy from New Egg.
And it was UPS.
And it got delayed one day, andit said, Oh, coming in tomorrow.
Okay.
(49:51):
Sorry for the delay.
It was on the plane inLouisville.
I don't know.
Yeah, but whatever it was.
So three days later it said theycanceled my order because they
can't find my package.
Oh.
Which means somebody stole thething.
It said trombone.
And I was refunded.
(50:12):
Granted, my credit card wasrefunded and all that stuff.
But yeah, still.
So I haven't reordered anotherone because I'm like, I don't
want the next one.
I was so excited.
I don't want it to get stolenagain.
But it's starting to bother mebecause I'm playing Claire
(50:33):
Obscure Expedition 33 on mediumsettings.
Oh no.
Not medium settings.
Dude, it's awful.
I feel like I'm potato.
SPEAKER_01 (50:44):
You'll be happy to know that I'm playing it on high
quality settings on my PS5.
SPEAKER_00 (50:50):
Yeah, but that's still a low setting on a PC.
SPEAKER_01 (50:54):
Okay.
You're so competitive.
I don't even know how we'refriends, Marcus.
I know why we're you're alwaysdissing my controller for no
reason.
Like it's completely unprovoked.
SPEAKER_00 (51:08):
No, it is provoked.
The PlayStation controllersucks.
The thumbsticks are in the wrongplace.
Maybe your hands thumbs are inthe wrong place.
No, it's because it's wrong.
The Xbox controller is correct.
It's the right controller.
SPEAKER_01 (51:29):
I think that you just played way too much Call of
Duty on your Xbox in the 20aughts.
SPEAKER_00 (51:36):
Continue the journey.
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