November 5, 2024 • 57 mins
In this episode of the Pixelated Realms Podcast, hosts Tyler Salerno and Dustin discuss their recent gaming experiences, including family gaming sessions with Lego Star Wars and Minecraft. They delve into the controversy surrounding the release of Dragon Age, exploring the disparity between critic and user reviews. The conversation shifts to memorable gaming glitches and exploits, before wrapping up with a character battle discussion centered on Goku and Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z.
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Episode Transcript
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(00:01):
Hello and welcome to the pixelated realms podcast, your guide to the digital landscape,untangling the latest and greatest in video game fun.
I'm your host Tyler Salerno and alongside me is my friend Dustin.
Unfortunately, Alex is not with us today for a good reason.
be it.
So we are going to chug right along.
(00:22):
It's yeah, no, definitely attending weddings is terrible reason not to.
Not to not to join on our podcast.
So regardless, we'll move.
We will we will forge forward a lot to talk about this week.
I've been actually having a lot of fun playing quite a few games, which, know, is kind ofa bummer because like life just throws at you.
(00:44):
You know, you never know when a good game is going to get thrown at you.
So you're like could be bored a month and you're like, I'm just not feeling this.
I'm not feeling this.
And then like suddenly three or four games hit you and you're like.
shit.
I'm enjoying all of these.
Like, you don't know which to pick, you know, I?
Yeah.
So we're going to talk about that.
We have some great questions today.
(01:04):
Thank you, everyone who submitted I see Sam, sense of questions in Sam, we love you.
We hope you're doing well, So yeah, let's get started today.
Dustin, what have you been up to hit us?
Get us up to date.
been playing.
Is my screen blurry for you?
It's kind of blurry for me.
little blurry.
Just let your camera will adjust.
Just let it do its thing.
(01:25):
I moved there we go.
Been playing more games with Arthur.
So we've we beat all nine of the episodes in Star Wars Lego.
So I'm kind of bummed to be.
It is a Skywalker saga, yeah, because the the other saga is only six of the episodes andthis is all nine.
(01:49):
So yeah, I don't even know how he got it.
getting through nine?
All nine of them?
It really follows the movies very closely.
Obviously, you know, like, they very, they glaze over some of the deaths, you know, sothat, because it's a kids game, right?
I'm in for like kids.
So
(02:10):
Yeah, they don't show much of the death.
But I think it follows the story really well.
Like, again, like my son, like knows the Star Wars theme song now.
And he like sings it.
So it's been really great getting him into it.
Yeah.
So you know, he's been playing with his Star Wars action figures that I bought him a whileago that he'd never had really engaged with a ton.
Like he's always like R2D2 and BB-8.
(02:30):
But the rest of the characters, he's never really cared much.
And now he has like a lot more love like playing with like Han and Luke and,
C-3PO who I hate still.
But yeah, you he's having a lot of fun with that.
So, you know, we finished it and I was like, well, why don't we get another one?
So I looked online on the PlayStation Store and I bought Lego Avengers and
(02:55):
was about to say that one's a pretty, yeah, that's a good one.
it's harder though.
Like I don't know if I need to like turn on.
I don't know.
I know with Lego Star Wars, I like switched everything to like accessibility features.
I don't know if I need to do I think I need to do that again, because the other one justlike the clues and hints were much more like in your face.
(03:19):
Like even for me, like I was sitting there with
like five, 10 minutes into the game, we ran into a gate and like, I'm sitting there forlike 10 minutes.
I was like, how the fuck does this gate open?
You know?
yeah, it was never like super easy.
Yeah, like they never like, yeah, totally.
go over and like, click.
(03:40):
Like I found like a little pile of Legos have been deconstructed that weren't thisappearance.
Okay, this is I got to build this fucking thing.
And then yeah, I built it.
But also, I think like the tricky part too, is that in Star Wars, you know, all the Jedi'shave the same move set.
And most of the other characters, like the moves are like very similar for everycharacter.
(04:02):
the games work right like you you play a huge array of characters right but each characterhas a certain set of abilities okay and interesting
you know, unique powers as for the character that, you know, Hulk does smashing and IronMan.
Like you have to switch Iron Man to melt like bars like with his laser beam.
(04:24):
And, you know, like, so just the it's a lot more variety.
Yeah, it's a lot more variety across the characters in terms of move sets that you have touse to be able to get through certain puzzles.
So I tried to refund it and then PlayStation told me to fuck off because they don't havelike a, yeah, they don't have like a under two hours policy.
(04:46):
So I was like, God damn it.
I even told them that my son bought it unauthorized.
And then, and the guy was like, I was like, yeah, he's like, well, sir, once you downloada game, it's no longer refundable.
And I was like, but the game automatically downloads when you purchase it.
What do you mean?
And he's like, he's like, sir, the game has been played.
And I was like,
(05:07):
God damn it.
I was like, don't have to be rude about it, bro.
Like, you're not like fucking aggressive.
You know, so yeah, that didn't happen.
So I got to check the settings to see if I can make it little bit easier for him.
But then he's been playing Minecraft at my parents house with my nephew.
And so I bought him Minecraft and he's actually having a blast with it.
(05:29):
Like I've never played Minecraft.
I'm not a Minecraft guy.
But yeah, but he's been playing and like
building like a house, he's only four.
So he can't do too much.
But even I took the controller and I was like messing around, I was building this houseand it's very like, the music is very peaceful.
So
(05:50):
loved like the people who played Minecraft swear by the music of just like putting it onin the background.
Yeah, no, it's like total like ASMR like slash like, not.
What's that?
What's that?
Yeah, lo fi.
There we go.
It's like, it's like, it's on lo fi channel.
You know?
(06:10):
Yeah, I have no I have no doubt.
So yeah, he's gonna play on that.
And I googled it to kind of check into like, are these Minecraft good for kids?
And it's like,
I put it to like the easiest mode so they don't run into the monsters and that aren't init.
So he doesn't get attacked by NPCs.
they're yeah, it's great for creativity and like problem solving.
(06:31):
so we'll see.
I mean, if you think about it at a basic level, like Minecraft is a wonderful experiencefor kids.
It's very in a lot of ways.
It's similar to Legos.
It's you know, you're putting them into this world, right?
They have to learn these rules through trial and error.
It's very forgiving in the sense that, you know, when you die, you respawn, but you stillhave to rework up to things.
(06:52):
I think that's actually why it's always been so successful is because children it is itnaturally is a learning tool and thus children.
Have fun, you know, it's that you get that I'm kind of like that You get a cyclicalprocess of like I solved the problem.
I'm enjoying myself.
I have a new problem.
I solved the problem I'm enjoying myself and I think you know, that's partially what leadsto Minecraft success and then once you get comfortable it open You know, it becomes a
(07:19):
sandbox literally creating that term basically So yeah
So no, it's been fun.
But so yeah, playing games with the kid.
Haven't started cod yet.
have it.
But I will.
We're gonna talk about cod more later.
The other thing I wanted to quickly talk about is, you know, Dragon Age came out.
It's like the latest controversy.
(07:41):
So, know, I'm a little confused about that, though, because it's like everyone wasreleasing like I played 100 hours and three playthroughs, and then I was like, doesn't it
release like tomorrow?
Like, what are these early copies?
Like, I don't I'm.
so most publishers, if you, if a publisher thinks that their game is going to be good, alot of publishers does.
(08:05):
If a publisher thinks their game is going to be good, then they will give it to press andinfluencers like a week or 10 days early, depending on how long they think the game is.
If they think it's like a 50 hour experience, yeah, they're probably going to give it toyou like at least a week early, maybe like two weeks at the most.
And so people have all this content created as soon as it drops.
(08:26):
Now, if a publisher or some publishers just don't do it at all, never give out code early,but other ones, like they might go back and forth because if they don't think the game is
going to be that great, they're not going to let give out codes early.
They're not going to allow early reviews because I think with Dragon Age, reviews actuallycame out like two days before the game came out.
They came out on the 28th and the game launched on the 31st.
(08:49):
they were all over the for the context for our listeners.
These were pretty much all over the place.
We had people saying it like was the new standard.
We had people saying it was garbage.
You know, it was all over the place.
Yeah, but think I netted out around like an 80 something on Metacritic.
So overall, pretty positive.
The reason I mean, I haven't played it, the reason I bring it up is because, you know,again, it's the latest controversy.
(09:13):
And we're seeing like a huge disparity in reviews.
And I'm just kind of curious listeners, what you guys think about the review process forusers, not for media, but for users.
So if you look at Metacritic, Metacritic allows user reviews, but it doesn't verifywhether you own the game.
on Metacritic, we're seeing like a sub three review score for Dragon Age, while theMetacritic score I think is over 80.
(09:39):
It's like 83, I think.
I'm not exactly sure, but it's pretty high.
No, this is on Metacritic.
So Metacritic aggregate.
Yeah, well Metacritic's consumer.
review score is low, it's like sub three, but their press review score is like in the 80s.
So you're seeing a huge disparity between what press are saying versus what consumers aresaying.
(10:03):
But then when you go to steam, you're actually seeing steam users who are verified buyers.
So these people have to have the game in order to review it.
It's actually like a 78.
So much closer to what press are saying, you know, within a few points.
And so you have to ask or wonder like,
For you guys, what do you guys think?
(10:23):
Like, do you care about the Metacritic score because you know that it's people who aren'tusing the game?
Do you actually like value the Steam score because it is people who have played?
Do you even care about that stuff at all?
You know, for me, like, I look at like a Metacritic score from consumer and or even like,well, not even just video games, Rotten Tomatoes, same thing, right?
(10:44):
Rotten Tomatoes doesn't require you to actually watch a movie to be able to post a userreview.
So what you see is you see a lot of people who get
like behind a movement like the anti woke crazy and and they will no longer they'll go andlike review bomb, right?
They'll review bomb something and then it will look like it's really bad even though thevast majority of people reviewing it haven't played it.
(11:06):
So it looks like that could be the case with Dragon Age.
because you see a lot of much higher reviews of people who've bought it.
know, again, I haven't played it.
I was just really bringing up because I'm curious for you guys in the comments, hopefullyto let me know or let us know.
What do you guys think about consumer reviews?
Do you use it as a tool for anything?
you benefit you or is it just something irrelevant that you don't really care about?
(11:31):
Yeah, and I'd also like to know our thoughts on Dragon Age.
Everyone's thoughts on Dragon Age.
No one on our channel is a particular Dragon Age fan.
It would definitely be me if anyone was, but I've played every Dragon Age that's beenreleased, you know, at least 10 hours each game.
And for whatever reason, it just really doesn't sink in for me.
So I probably am not going to spend the money to to purchase this game.
(11:56):
You know, at this time, it's just not not possible.
So, yeah, let us know.
I know, you know, I watched a few videos, right?
So I'm someone who browses YouTube all the time, looking for just people's thoughts.
And a lot of people had some really interesting things to say about Dragon Age.
And I kind of couldn't help but to like, how do I put this?
(12:19):
Like, maybe it's the confirmation biased, you know, it's like, I'm wanting to hear what Iexpected to hear.
But like, it kind of felt like that, where I was just like, yep.
That's kind of what I was expecting.
And a lot of the feedback, some of these people who've played a hundred hours in was like,the dialogue was really shallow and like, just really like, you know, like a little bit
(12:42):
too direct, you know, like they're trying to like, these characters are putting theirhearts on their sleeves and this very like weird, like 12 year old expressing his emotion
way, you know, like this made me upset, but being upset is okay sometimes, you know, andit's like,
Okay, it's fine to like make points like that.
That's totally acceptable.
But like, you know, the writing needs to be like complex.
(13:05):
You know, this isn't a game about, you know, children.
It's about war and death and things.
And then I had to agree that like, I felt like the animation style, not only is it kind ofunappealing, but it is very cartoony.
It just never really appealed to me in particular.
And
Then kind of like the biggest thing and the most important thing for me has always beencombat.
(13:29):
And I know there's people who will swear by the Dragon Age combat system, but it justnever particularly stood out to me.
I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts though.
If you are playing Dragon Age Veilguard, please let us know your thoughts.
And if we get enough responses, maybe we will pick it up and give it a review.
But with that being said, yeah, I want to talk about a little bit what I've been playingthis week just because there's been a couple of things.
(13:54):
First off, I want to talk about an actually a really good phone game that has come outrecently.
All of our Pokemon fans are going to be really excited because they just released aPokemon, the card game pocket app game.
So it is basically, you know what you would think it is.
(14:14):
It is the Pokemon card game in an app on your phone or, or other device.
And it's been really fun.
You you get a couple packs a day for free.
You open the packs, you get to have the fun of, you know, trying to get the best shinycharacters, excuse me.
And then at a certain point you unlock the ability to battle.
And I don't know, did you ever play Pokemon cards when you were a kid, Dustin?
(14:35):
I was a fanatic.
I used to go to Toys R Us and do the league every weekend and I have all my gem badges andeverything still from when I was a kid when I did that.
It's been a long time, but yes, generally yes.
Having like my energy cards, my water cards, I always played a water deck with Blaster,he's my main man, but yeah.
(15:00):
funny because I remember never like, you know, we were like 10, like I didn't read therule book.
I didn't really I just like did what others told me was the rules.
And now that I'm playing it on the app, I'm like, honestly, it really wasn't that far fromwhat we thought.
It like, it was just kind of like, you put the Pokemon down, you assign the energy, yeah.
(15:20):
evolve him like that's it man that's the game so but it's really fun it's it's reallystrategic it's great when you're like in the car and you just have a few minutes i've been
like really happy with it and and if anyone's like me and enjoys card games but doesn'tnecessarily enjoy the i look i like the gambling and thrill and getcha plenty of things
(15:46):
right like i'm a human being i like plenty of those things
But card games in particular, just, that just, I don't want to get into that community.
Have you been on Reddit or like seen people, like a whole bunch of new Pokemon sets justcame out and like people went to Costco and were like buying three, four pallets, you
know?
And I'm like, dude, I just don't want to be part of that scumbaggery.
(16:07):
I don't like want to buy packs of Pokemon cards myself and then feel disappointed likebecause I didn't get what I wanted.
So having the digital format for me,
It's just friendlier.
I don't have to store it and I still get to have fun.
So yeah, if you if you're looking for a good mobile game, Sam, I know you're alwayslooking for a good mobile game.
(16:29):
Check out the Pokemon The Card Game Pocket.
Yeah, I'd be curious, like, so is it free?
don't, I'm sorry if I miss that.
Is it, it's free.
So you don't have to buy the packs.
There's no pay to win like, or like nothing.
That's cool then.
a premium pass of course that, know, blah, blah, blah, blah.
It gives you more free packs.
There's actually also this really cool system.
(16:50):
It's called, I think it was Wondershare.
I'll have to double check that.
And basically every time someone opens a pack, you can see their success.
So, so since my fiance is my friend, I see hers.
So Katie opened up and got a Blastoise.
And I was like, sick, good for you.
That's awesome.
You got a Blastoise.
I can, I can spend points to randomly get a chance to get it actually.
(17:11):
So I see that she opened up that pack and I can spend points and it lets me select.
It basically takes the five cards and shuffles them and then I can pick one and then I getthat card.
So you do get to actually benefit from your friends successes.
And yeah, so that's just one of those like little things that's like, yeah, this is areally kind of addicting little, little game you made here.
(17:33):
And I gotta be honest, I, Katie and I pulled out our Game Boys last night.
And I got my Pokemon game out.
really, it's like we're full into Pokemon again.
So yeah, it's been really fun.
Which being said, I have another audience question for us.
(17:55):
would very much, and I'll post this on YouTube.
That's a good idea.
Check out our community posts.
What is your favorite Pokemon game?
I would love to know.
All right.
Any other things you've been playing, Dustin?
before we dive into some questions and then hit up our main topic.
Not really been watching anime still watch the latest episode of fairy tale hunter yourquest it was it was cool I think I told you but I completely abandoned overlord it's just
(18:25):
garbage.
It's garbage.
I got I got to the season two finale and it's not that it's It's not that it's boring forme.
Well, the lizard arc is boring as fuck.
They get way too invested in the lizard arc my problem is
The main character is extremely, he's not likable.
(18:46):
He's a fucking sociopath who will kill anybody if it means helping his own gain and he'lllet anybody die, even though he could save them if it doesn't have any gain for him.
I think in like stories and anime, least for me personally, you want like somebody to rootfor in some way, you know?
(19:09):
And...
He's just not a likable character.
And so it makes it difficult for me to want to invest in the story that's being toldbecause one, the story is kind of all over the place, but yeah, there's no direction.
again, him as a main, I wouldn't even say protagonist, like just a.
(19:37):
There's not really a protagonist.
It's kind of just like an asshole.
You know, it's just like, why am I watching this?
I'm not invested in the characters.
I'm not invested in them accomplishing their goal.
You want him to like, literally commits genocide against like multiple different races inthe first two season because he like, the lizard guys, sorry, I'm gonna go off of tangent,
(19:58):
but the lizard people, which is like five episodes of a 12 episode season, 13 episodeseason.
He wants to destroy this whole race of people in the game simply because he thinks thatthey could be a stronger undead army than if he did it to like a village of people.
Jesus.
they lizard people are stronger than human.
(20:19):
So if I kill all of them and make them undead, they might be stronger than me raising anundead human army.
So I'm just gonna fucking kill all these people just because I think they could be alittle bit stronger.
And he doesn't because of something that happens in the story.
But this so yeah, fuck that anime.
Don't watch the people albedo is a hottie.
But that's it.
if you want a good anime, new out on Netflix, Don Da Don, excellent.
(20:45):
Excellent.
Don Da Don.
you know, low-key geeks the last like two weeks have actually had shirts about this anime.
interesting, very anime fan.
Check it out.
Okay, yeah, great.
Let's hit some questions here because we have some really good ones today.
So, from our main man, Ralph, do you have any memorable glitches slash exploits in a game?
(21:12):
See, okay.
of Warcraft.
We'd fucking dive under Stormwind and run around like an idiot.
And you can see like the bottom of Stormwind.
And then you'd fall through the floor of that glitch.
And then you'd have to hope that the fucking auto unstuck button.
And I think that that was...
I could be wrong.
I don't know if that feature was always in the game.
(21:33):
I feel like that feature was added because people are finding these fucking glitches andthen like their character was just like in an abyss of air that they could never get out
of.
And so like they had to be like, we need to put this auto unstuck button so that peoplecan just get transported back to the fucking one bitch graveyard.
To their graveyard.
(21:53):
Yeah.
That's a good one.
I want to say like, there's so many.
But like the one that comes to mind, because we're always put on the spot with thequestions, you know, the one that comes to mind is like, Halo for Halo three forge, where
you would like take like items and like, stack them in the air so you could create likebases like in the sky.
(22:20):
I don't know, that was just the one thing that came to my mind.
But there's so many, like one of my favorites, and honestly, this is a good one too,because I think everyone should look this up.
in Zelda Ocarina of Time, the speed running community for this game is out of this world.
They can run this game, which takes most people, what, 30, 40 hours?
(22:43):
Maybe I'm off there, but it's a pretty long game.
They can do this in like
15-19 minutes they can do the entire game and the way they do this that one of the biggestways they do this is from is by this somewhat I think Undebatably complicated glitch where
you're you move the character in a very specific form and you warp yourself from thebeginning of the game to the last boss of the game and it is just this the way they just
(23:13):
the story behind how they discovered this and how you do it and
how people practice this glitch over and over again to try to get quicker times.
basically the difficulty of it is really worth watching.
I'll try to find the video that I found that breaks it down.
But if not, look up, is all the Ocarina of Time speed run explained and you will not bedisappointed.
(23:36):
Alright.
I can't hear you Dustin.
Did you?
did.
Yeah, there's also a really good glitch like that in Mario 64, the people would do whereas soon as the game starts, you like do like some backwards like jump into and it would
actually allow you to get into Bowser's room.
Yeah, it'll allow you to get into the Bowser level right out like five minutes from thegame.
(23:59):
I'm trying to remember it's like how that works exactly.
So that's another YouTube video I need to find you.
It's like when Mario jumps and lands on the stairs or something, doesn't, it doesn'tremember the memory, doesn't like remember where he is in the game or it thinks he's
somewhere else.
So his speed becomes infinite.
(24:21):
And then he just like starts zooming.
It's really interesting.
you know, we watch, you might watch the speed runner and be like, that's, that was cool.
But like,
It's not easy.
It's like a one in a million chance and they're landing it like one in every three times,you know, so it's really cool.
The world of speed running in general, something we should do a whole episode on becauseit's it's intriguing.
(24:44):
It is absolutely intriguing.
But anyway, moving on to our next question.
Thanks, Ralph.
You're the best man.
Next question is our character battle week three.
Awesome.
I love this.
This is a really good one and it involves anime.
in honor of Anime Takeover last week, well as Sparking Zero release, Vegeta vs.
(25:05):
Goku.
You know, okay, first thing I gotta say is I only ever watched Dragon Ball Z.
So that's probably gonna heavily like inhibit my understanding, because I know thosecharacters like still exist, right?
And still have development.
So I'm gonna be the old man and just use the old information I have.
(25:30):
But what do you think, Dustin?
I didn't hear the question.
What was the last question?
I'm with this guy on Discord right now about baseball, because he's fucking idiot.
Stop.
All right.
In honor of the anime takeover last week, as well as sparking zero release, Vegeta versusGoku, who's our winner.
(26:01):
Goku, 100%.
I mean, I like Vegeta.
I'd say growing up, I was probably more of a Goku fan, but not Goku every day.
mean.
my my follow up how much of Dragon Ball have you watched because I've only ever watchedDragon Ball Z
I watched a lot of Z.
I didn't finish it.
(26:22):
I abandoned in like
you don't know the most recent stuff.
I know Goku and Gohan, like, yeah, Super and...
everyone says that Gohan is actually the strongest of like the Earth Saiyans.
of times 10 now, you know, something like that.
Yeah, I don't know.
mean, like, it's just like fucking, they just keep finding different power levels to goup, you know.
(26:42):
I don't know.
Broly's the strongest Saiyan, but yeah.
both not super knowledgeable on the characters as far as like their current status, but Idon't know.
mean, Vegeta's great.
He was like the original redemption story, right?
Like in film and television when you have that, the main villain becomes like the friendarc.
(27:06):
mean, Vegeta was like kind of the original that, you know?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying like in film.
Just like, you know, just when I was a kid, like he was the first rendition I remember ofhim being just this great turnaround character who you thought was going to be the main
villain, but he ends up being a friend.
So, yeah, I don't know.
I love Vegeta, but Goku's like the main man.
(27:27):
know, Goku's the Superman of...
Then he got, yeah, he got on the leash, man.
I mean, in a good way, you know, he, she's awesome and he's kind of a psycho sometimes.
So...
something that in the whole series of Dragon Ball, like Z, GT, Super, that Trunks is theonly Saiyan ever to not have black hair.
(27:49):
And so because he's actually, it's actually more rare than Broly, who is like the Saiyanlike God or whatever, who like, it's just like, once in a generation, there's like one
Saiyan is born who doesn't even need to train and he's just like infinitely more powerfulthan every other Saiyan.
to train.
Wow.
Trunks is actually more rare because I think he's like the only Saiyan in history that hasnot had black hair.
(28:17):
So, fun fact.
we'll have to brush up on our Dragon Ball.
Great, thank you for that question.
All right.
That was weird.
Okay, I think this one's Sam, but it cut off for some reason.
Hey gents, what is your gaming moment of shame?
Maybe a hack or an exploit you're not proud of that you used or a game that has beensitting on your shelf collecting dust.
(28:42):
Maybe your pride.
Maybe you pride yourself on playing on hardcore, you have left it at a lower difficultyfor a stubborn boss fight.
Mine, Chrono Trigger.
I even have the original SNES, but I still have never played it all the way through.
That's great.
And I understand.
think Sam, I've also haven't beat Chrono Trigger, although I've played it through quite afew times.
(29:06):
you're missing out.
What's your moment?
Okay.
Moment of, yeah.
Okay.
I don't know.
I have a lot of moments of shame.
I mean, I have ADHD.
I...
My entire life has been just trying to beat the games that I couldn't beat when I was akid.
So I don't know.
I would say it's all moments of shame for the most part.
How do I, a hack or an exploit?
(29:27):
Okay, I got one this recent.
It's not too bad.
I think it's pretty low key, but it hurts my soul because I am an adult and I do love thisseries.
So the Mass Effect Legendary Edition came out maybe what, two?
you three years ago, who knows time is irrelevant.
And Mass Effect is like one of my favorite games.
So I bought it and I was like, great, I'm to play through one, two and three hardestdifficulty going to have a blast.
(29:53):
It's going to be great.
Stop arguing with someone.
just go.
So I'm playing through Mass Effect one, which actually, in my opinion, is the weakest ofthe series.
And I just got to some place where I was pinned like I just couldn't for whatever washappening, like there was aliens dropping all around.
I didn't have the resources I need.
(30:14):
I don't know.
I fucked up and I just could not get through it.
And I tried for like four or five hours just repeating this level.
And I just got so mad.
I lowered the difficulty and I lowered it from the hardest difficulty to the next lowerone and I cleared it great.
You know, and I'm happy.
So I went on to beat the game.
I turned the difficulty back, course, and I went on to beat the game, and then I went onto Mass Effect 2, I beat the game on the hardest difficulty, I went on to Mass Effect 3, I
(30:42):
beat the game on the hardest difficulty.
And then my worst nightmare happened.
Can you guess, Dustin?
Maybe?
No?
Why is it?
I got the achievement for beating it on the hardest difficulty on Mass Effect 2 and MassEffect 3, but I did not get the achievement for beating it on Mass Effect 1 at the hardest
(31:02):
or for beating the whole trilogy at its hardest difficulty.
So I spent a hundred hours and for that one level I screwed my achievement.
So that's a big moment of shame for me.
With you saying that, it's not a moment of shame for me.
It's a moment of disappointment.
Me and my buddies, we were playing Left 4 Dead 2, and if you beat every level on thehardest difficulty, you get an achievement.
(31:32):
And we were playing through the whole thing.
And on the second mission, I fucking died.
at the very end of the boss fight.
of that stage like literally as the fucking helicopter because it was fucking insane likeyou're in a stadium and like you're just getting like bombarded by zombies and like we're
(31:56):
again we're on the hardest difficulty like we're like four person team like fuckingplaying this shit like Counter-Strike like like being prepared to like where guys jump out
like we're all covering you know like we're taking it very serious trying to get throughthis and yeah the helicopter like lands and I like
get hit by like a crusher or whatever and die.
(32:17):
And it's like impossible to get me up because there's just like a million zombies and likemy team takes off.
And so I don't get the achievement for that level or the credit for that level.
We go on to beat levels three and four.
And so everyone gets this fucking achievement except for me.
And I was like, because it's so hard that it was like, nobody wanted to do it again,because they all did it.
(32:39):
You know, like, I don't want to do it again.
So
Yeah, that fucking sucked.
guess moment of true shame, but you know, I don't really count the shame is purposelytrying to find them camera angles, you know, playing a little bit too much near automata,
(33:03):
taking advantage of the dance emojis in Overwatch, you know, so.
just, you know, you know, no reason to be ashamed of it.
Just embrace it.
Okay, I was never like sitting there doing anything inappropriate other than just likechecking out Mercy's, her junk.
my gosh.
(33:24):
All right.
Next question.
Another one from Sam.
Sam really appreciate it, man.
You know, hey guys, thanks for the mobile tips.
Yeah, I hope you like the one we have in this episode as well.
It helped having a distraction and not dwelling on what was going on while I was away fromhome.
Thanks for the well wishes.
Yes, man, I am so sorry to hear you were affected by the floods.
(33:46):
There was some damage, but mostly OK.
One thing that did not survive was my Series X.
no, dude, I'm so sorry to hear that.
I'm not entirely sure how, because it wasn't anywhere near the water damage, but it was onthe floor and had water in it when I got back.
Yeah, man, you know the wind and who knows the sad thing that is that is the sad thing.
(34:07):
So my question is, is do you guys see a future of Microsoft Xbox consoles beingcompetitive?
Well, obviously, first and foremost, I'm sorry to hear that, Give a moment of silence foryour Series X.
We wish you a really swift cleanup and recovery.
And our best wishes go to you.
(34:30):
Regarding Xbox consoles, I think that's a really good question, actually, despite thelittle troubles you're running into now.
It's actually a really good question because
Xbox and Microsoft as a brand seem to be moving more towards homogenizing their brand andnot focusing exclusively on a console.
(34:53):
So I think we're, although we're going to see an Xbox console exist into the future, itdoes not seem like that's going to be their priority.
Would you say that's true, Dustin?
For our viewers, yeah.
So I mean, you I think I'm like you're you've nodded and we have a podcast.
(35:17):
yeah, I forgot.
Yeah.
I always just think people are going to watch the YouTube.
My bad.
Yes.
Okay, great.
yeah, so I mean, I still think there's a plenty of a place for it.
If you like Xbox, if you've been an Xbox fan, I don't think there's anything wrong.
I mean, they're still solid systems, they do their job.
But don't be surprised if you're going to be cross playing with PC players for the rest oftime, you know, and as someone who as we're about to get into right now plays COD with a
(35:46):
buddy who has an Xbox,
I don't know.
I am someone who's not convinced.
Well, OK, this is I'm still to be convinced that control most controller players cancompete with mouse and keyboard players.
And that's not like a hit.
There are controller players who are incredible and can, but I'm just not convinced thatmost people can.
(36:07):
So it's kind of a predicament, you know.
So it's an interesting thought, but sorry to hear about your Xbox man.
That really sucks.
Hope you the best, you a quick recovery.
Any thoughts on your end, Dustin?
No, I agree with what you said.
you know, I...
(36:29):
Yeah.
I you summed it up.
Yeah, alright, I think we've got one more from Sam.
Appreciate all the questions.
Subdudes, being that it's October and spooky season, are any of y'all in the horror genre?
What's your favorite horror game?
Do you have a regular one you play each year?
I started with Resident Evil 1 on PS1, but I currently enjoy the Silent Hill 2 game.
I wanted to get some VR and do Resident Evil 7.
(36:52):
Also dressing up as any video game characters this year.
Great question.
So what I'm actually going to do is I'm going to...
I'm going to leave your question for next week.
for one specific reason.
Alex is going to kill us if we do this question without him.
Alex is our resident horror game expert.
Alex has a, I would call him an expert on the Resident Evil games and he enjoys thatgenre.
(37:17):
So we'll keep that one for next week, but I'd love to address your second part, dressingup as any video game characters this year.
So Alex, I will spoil this, Alex dressed up as Heihei from Moana.
because his little girl was Moana.
So he was, we got to walk around with Alex in the chicken suit.
That was fantastic.
(37:39):
I was just a cast member at Disneyland accompanying my fiance.
Did you dress up this year, Dustin?
did not.
I did not.
I dressed up as a tired dad.
As a tired father.
Yeah.
Great.
Well, those are our questions.
And like I said, we'll leave that the spooky question for next week so that Alex canparticipate.
(38:01):
But this is a great time for the typical YouTuber, podcaster thing.
Just please, if you would like to ask us a question, we would love, love to answer it.
We answer them in the midpoint of the show and you can submit those at pixelatedrealms.orgslash ask.
So yeah, we love the community feedback.
(38:22):
This is also a great time to say, you know, please like, comment and subscribe as youknow, everyone says in these videos, it really does mean a lot and we're trying to grow
our audience on all of our platforms.
So we really do appreciate that participation.
So moving on to our main topic here, we're going to go into a little bit about this newCall of Duty game.
Call of Duty Black Ops 6 released what a week ago.
(38:47):
Releasing on Xbox pass of course so if you have an Xbox pass definitely download it justgive it a shot I'm gonna be honest guys.
I think I said two weeks ago that I'm not even gonna download it Probably putting like 20or 30 hours already like I've been playing it a lot.
I'm Actually having a really good time Dustin you said you hadn't tried it out yet
(39:12):
I have not, I have not played it.
I have it.
I have it installed.
Like I said, most of my time is going towards Lego games with my son.
Cause you know, my computer is up and upstairs in our master bedroom and our house.
And like, it's just difficult to actually get up here and like disappear for a couplehours.
(39:33):
Cause my kids, you know, a lot of kids like, like Naomi, think she goes to sleep aroundlike seven 30, eight o'clock or something, right?
my kids go to sleep like 10.
So I don't, I don't have like, even my one and a half year old goes to sleep late.
So like, I don't get like that two or three hours every night where my kids are asleep andI'm up because I have to wake up at seven to take him to school.
(40:00):
You know, so it's just like
new game if you were to ask me any questions?
Like what would bring you to this game if you had free time?
I guess just generally, what are your favorite things about the multiplayer?
What feels different?
What have they improved?
I've been seeing the single player campaigns, been getting a lot of love, so curious to ifyou've played that yet.
(40:22):
And then just like, are some of, we'll go over each of these again, but just to summarize.
And then what are some of those core features that are back?
Is there a zombie mode in this one?
How is it?
Is that a thing?
I'm not sure if Black Ops has it versus Modern Warfare.
So Black Ops actually was, well, World at War.
Actually, okay, hold on.
I'm killing myself here.
(40:43):
I thought World at War was the first zombies, but Black Ops might have been the firstzombies, but they came out at a very similar time.
But point being, start with the campaign actually.
Sorry, not to derail, but I wanna start with the campaign because it's unique.
So I've always been a huge campaign player in the Call of Duty franchise.
In fact, I always thought that was its strongest component.
(41:05):
So that's huge for me.
It's always been a benchmark.
I played black ops like one and two campaigns, you I thought they were fine.
I'm going into this campaign.
I really, I didn't really have high expectations, but I will say it was, it kind ofsurprised me with its uniqueness.
So you drop into the campaign, you're doing missions.
This is in the, this takes place in the 1990s.
(41:28):
Great time.
And so you're using like slightly dubbed down modern.
weaponry, personally is a little bit more appealing to me.
But you go in, know, of course the game's gorgeous.
It looks amazing, as most Call Duty's do nowadays.
And you're doing your missions, killing people, know, whatever it may be.
(41:49):
But after the first mission, you basically come into this situation where now your team iskind of off the books.
And you're actually put into this like mansion, which is one of the levels in themultiplayer.
And you are basically told, like, hey, this is your mansion and base operations.
Here's your chart of like who you're looking for.
Now you have to piece together the puzzle, upgrade your weapons, upgrade your base, go onmissions with your guys and gather Intel, come out of these missions and basically solve
(42:18):
this mystery.
And so instead of it being just a direct, you go from this mission to this mission to thismission.
It's more of this organic like buildup.
You're kind of this.
Black ops team that's supposed to be off the books.
So, you know, you don't go in guns blazing necessarily.
Another thing, I'm not very far in it.
So I'm not going to like, I can't really ruin anything.
(42:39):
But I will say one of the one of the early levels is a bill governor Bill Clinton rally.
And I just thought it was so funny.
I work in events, I do like galas and things like that all the time.
So like, I'm walking into this event, this gala, and I'm like,
looking at the AV, looking at the stage and the layout.
(43:00):
And I'm just like, wow, this is kind of a nice, you know, gala you got here.
And then for all anyone out there who's part of the production team, they had a, alighting trust tower, right?
On top of this like piece of stage.
And I'm just sitting here.
This probably means nothing to anybody in our viewership, but it's like, you're puttinglike a piece of like frame.
(43:26):
structure with lighting on it on a stage, you would never do that, man.
Fire Marshal would shut that down in a second.
that's that's me.
That's my job covered in where I'm just like, I'm not shooting anyone.
I'm not playing the game.
I'm just looking at the goddamn event.
though?
Like, so that happens to me with like, my God, it's like a dark British comedy.
(43:50):
In the Loop.
It's called In the Loop.
And it's about this prime minister or a department minister in the government.
And he says like this stupid fucking thing about the war in the Middle East.
That's like off the main line of the government.
And throughout that whole movie, like you follow like the main communications head for theprime minister.
(44:10):
And he's just like berating people throughout the movie.
But there's so many little things throughout that film, like monitoring, like he'slistening to old, old interviews, like he's talking, you're not allowed
to go on question time until you get this fucking line down.
You know, it's, it's as a communications person who does PR and interview prep, like it'sall real, like, like, those are very similar, maybe not as aggressively calling them like
(44:34):
a fucking cunt and things like that, like he does.
But it's like real stuff that I noticed on like, man, this is, and I found it even funnierbecause they did such a good job of like incorporating these little things about PR and
comms that are that we actually do.
So, kind of similar to you with this game.
Just noticing little nuances.
(44:55):
I don't have too much more to say about the campaign because I still have a lot toexplore.
So I'll give us a report when we do our official COD review and Alex is back and and whenI beat it.
But either way, what is the most important thing to know is it's different.
They definitely did a little bit of a different take on it.
So it's worth diving into if that's your thing.
Moving on, you asked if there was zombies.
(45:17):
So there is zombies.
I'll be honest, you know, I've played zombies in the past, but I was never the kind ofperson to spend like dozens and dozens of hours in it.
For what reason?
I don't know.
I just, I just never really felt it.
This zombies.
still like considered hype?
Because like I know like in the past, yeah, like people like zombie mode.
(45:38):
It was like such a big part.
I think a large population of people are still playing zombies.
So just to give a brief overview of this zombies, there's two levels available right now.
If you've never played zombies, you drop in with either yourself or four people and you'rejust put into this map, right?
At first you're enclosed into a small portion of that map and zombies just come in waves,right?
(46:02):
So you have a wave come, you kill all the zombies, killing the zombie makes you money.
Once they're all dead, a new wave comes, but the zombies get a little bit harder.
Now, obviously you can use that money to expand your space.
So eventually you'll use that money to unlock the whole map.
So eventually you're running around killing zombies.
(46:24):
The zombies are getting harder every time you kill them all.
And throughout the map, there's various buffs that you can pay money to increase yourability and your guns.
That's it.
mean, it's a really simple game.
There is some things that you have to learn, right?
Like, where do I go for this or where do I go for that?
But in concept, it is the most simple thing ever.
(46:45):
So it's really fun and it's really easy to learn.
By the third game, I knew where every buff was, where all the doors open to.
It wasn't that complicated.
So I actually do recommend it.
And I actually think it's a really great start if you're getting started with the game andperhaps you're having trouble with the multiplayer where human beings are
really good at this and you're having a hard time.
(47:09):
Zombies is a great place to not only level up your weapons, but it gives you greatexperience to level up your just general character, which gives you access to more
equipment in the multiplayer to use for your loadouts.
So this is kind of a quick tip.
If you're just starting to call it a VD6, you don't even have the ability to create aloadout.
(47:30):
You have no equipment to choose even if you did have loadouts.
and you're having trouble in multiplayer, start out with zombies, play a couple of gamesof zombies that'll level you up to like level four or five, and then you can go have
access to loadouts and a few more weapon options.
So yeah, I actually really do recommend zombies.
The first level has been pretty easy.
(47:50):
I've gotten like past like level 20.
Every like couple waves of zombies, gives you the opportunity to leave.
Now this is always fun, because you're with random people.
So you'll be like, do you guys want to leave?
And like, everyone's like, no, we're staying, we're staying, we're staying.
And then they'll be like, okay guys, helicopters going away.
And then like.
(48:11):
A huge wave of zombies come and we all die and then we don't get out of the game and welose.
I was getting so pissed at this because nobody would leave.
I started a solo game.
I got to level 10 or whatever, or wave 10, and then I ex-filled myself and I got theachievement for finally winning.
(48:32):
I was like, this is bullshit.
So yeah, definitely check out the zombies, guys.
It's really fun.
If you enjoyed zombies in the past, you will love zombies in the future.
There's even like research and things to build up through to build up your character.
So if we're running.
that viral Will of Fortune clip where the guy says, bitches in the future, but it'sBitcoin is the future.
(48:56):
When you said zombies in the future, I was like, I have Bitcoin is if you're fuckingbitches in the future.
So anyway, sorry, go ahead.
thing if you've been on like social media is there's tons of Easter eggs.
So I won't ruin it, but there is like dozens of things throughout these maps that you canunlock.
Just silly, cool, just like bowling, laser people.
(49:19):
Like it's, there's a lot of variety.
So take a, take a look at that.
All right, well, let's move on to the multiplayer then since you know, we're kind ofcoming up on our time.
The multiplayer has always been, you know, a great part of Call of Duty.
In a lot of ways, besides Goldeneye, Call of Duty modernized multiplayer first personshooters, know, counter striking Call of Duty together.
(49:42):
And so in this form, it just does much of the same, right?
You play the game in the beginning, you have no weapons, you have no attachments, you haveno variability in your builds, you're running in, you're getting shot in the back.
It's chaos, right?
Call of Duty multiplayer is chaos.
But after a while, you start to develop
a preference with the weapons you like, you start to get some attachments, you start tomaybe hide a little bit more or run a little quicker or move a little better, and you
(50:11):
start to level up and you start to feel good.
after a while, I got to admit this Call of Duty feels really good.
I am really impressed.
Maybe my expectations were low, but I am having a blast running around Nuke Town, playinggunfight, developing my builds.
I mean, overall, this Call of Duty has really just hit all the marks for me.
(50:33):
And I'm really happy to say I'm enjoying it a lot.
Nice.
Yeah, I mean, I haven't...
played much cod multiplayer I did do quite a bit as well I wouldn't say quite a bit I didenjoy warzone and as warzone does become like its own game now basically right it's like a
break off like I kind of be curious to see if they're gonna like continuously
(50:57):
just so people know, Warzone is not updated to Black Ops 6.
Yeah, it is still Modern Warfare 3.
My understanding is it will, but I might be wrong.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, like I enjoyed PUBG and I liked that.
So Warzone was fun for me.
(51:19):
But yeah, some of the, you know, someone played Counter-Strike growing up so much and likeeven like, you know, team-based, like actual competitive teams and stuff.
COD's like a little bit too chaotic.
Like Battlefield is ultimate chaos.
Right.
And I love battlefield growing up also because like it was just like batshit insane.
(51:44):
30 on 30.
And then you had counterstrike, which was like much more like dialed in like five, youfive team based strategy.
And Cod is always kind of like in the middle of those two for me, like you had small mapsthat were, but like, I just kind of like, was like an extremist on one of the other side
and never really played much Cod.
(52:04):
think also because.
There's always been like a rivalry between COD and Battlefield and sure over the past, Idon't know, five years, like COD has obviously far surpassed the success of Battlefield,
but
Call Duty is the most successful first person shooter.
Like there's nothing that beats that one as far as like success goes.
(52:25):
But you know, I mean, having grown up with all these titles, they feel all of them feelextremely different to me, right?
Like if I were to put them into like really crappy categories and just be like Call ofDuty is its own type of chaos, right?
And I, I, before we wrap up, I do want to share one criticism.
(52:45):
The same criticism I share about every single Call of Duty and the same criticism thatwill always be in a Call of Duty.
Why am I getting shot in the back right after spawning?
know, and it's like, just, it's like, spawn, shot in the back, spawn, shot in the back,spawn, shot by the side and-
that.
There was like an article about it and I only read the headline but I guess in this cutit's even worse than normal.
(53:09):
It's the same.
It's just always been bad.
It's always been bad.
And it's just funny because like, I know it's I know it's coming, man.
Like I just know like literally I was sitting there playing yesterday and I'm just like, Ispawned looking through my scope and I go 321 I turn around and there's a guy spawning and
shooting me.
(53:31):
It's predictable.
is that they don't like the spawn locations happen too frequently or like the guy willspawn right after you and kill you.
Basically, so what ends up happening in Call of Duty that fucks with the system is in Callof Duty, right?
Say we're just doing a rectangular map, side A and side B.
If team A runs to B's spawn point, the game has to make a choice.
(53:59):
Hey, there's an enemy in the spawn.
He has two things he can do.
He can move the spawn.
to another location that'll be less optimal, or you can choose to spawn them where theenemy is, right?
And that game will make both of those choices.
So sometimes you will spawn and there will be an enemy next to you, or sometimes you willspawn in the middle of the map and you're like, well, now I'm in the middle of the fucking
(54:21):
map and the enemies were in the middle because they ran there first.
there's no, it has to make this choice and there's no good choice for small maps.
And so it's not necessarily their fault, but it's...
It's inherent to the chaos of Call of Duty when you try to put 12 people on a map that isliterally like, you know, whatever, the size of a two bedroom apartment.
(54:42):
Yeah.
And that was always one cool thing about battlefield.
The maps are massive and like you airdrop, you know, you airdrop in battlefields.
pick your own spawn, which is always super cool.
But that's what I'm saying, like think about it, like Call of Duty, Battlefield, Halo,Counter-Strike, like those are all very distinct shooter titles.
(55:06):
They're all first-person shooters.
They all are multiplayer online, but they all are very distinct in their flavor.
could not, of those four do not actually compare to me, you know?
So despite whatever hate I'll get for saying this, I'm sure there lot of people whodisagree with me, Halo does not belong in the conversation with those other three games.
(55:28):
Yeah, I mean, ever though, honestly, the no, from from campaigns.
Yes, like the Halo campaigns are fantastic.
Nah, the multiplayer always suck, dude.
It's so overrated.
you're wrong.
In Halo one, two, up to like reach.
(55:49):
Halo multiplayer was hype and a lot of people still play it.
But let me say, that's a topic for another time.
I wanna know.
as the other ones.
It's not nearly as like influential in terms of like, like I'm not saying it's bad, butlike what these other three games have done just far exceeds what Halo has been able to do
(56:18):
on a multiplayer level.
Like.
is a great topic to end on because I want to hear what our viewers think about that.
Do you think Halo is an overhyped shooter game?
Exactly.
I want to know.
throw in a comment because I disagree.
I think Halo is a groundbreaking multiplayer and campaign game.
(56:39):
Dustin does not think Halo is an important multiplayer game.
Let us know what you think in the comments.
It's just not as good as Battlefield, CoD, or Counter-Strike.
and tune in next week so we can discuss this more.
Now I do just want to say in light of how we're ending here, we're really trying toencourage retention and get full viewership of our videos.
(57:01):
Please, if you made it this far, thank you so much.
It means so much to us.
If there's anything, if you have any comments or questions or things that we can talkabout that can help keep your attention here and focused, we would love to know.
So thank you for all the engagement so far.
Did you have anything you wanted to close out with Dustin before we closed out today?
(57:23):
Nope.
If you disagree with me, you suck.
I do.
I'm just kidding.
Anyway, well, thanks for listening, everyone.
We hope you have a great rest of your week.
And if this comes out after the election, or before the election, regardless, we hope youvoted or thank you for voting.
And we will see you next time.
(57:46):
Bye.
Hello and welcome to the pixelated realms podcast, your guide to the digital landscape,untangling the latest and greatest in video game fun.
I'm your host Tyler Salerno and alongside me is my friend Dustin.
Unfortunately, Alex is not with us today for a good reason.
be it.
So we are going to chug right along.
(00:22):
It's yeah, no, definitely attending weddings is terrible reason not to.
Not to not to join on our podcast.
So regardless, we'll move.
We will we will forge forward a lot to talk about this week.
I've been actually having a lot of fun playing quite a few games, which, know, is kind ofa bummer because like life just throws at you.
(00:44):
You know, you never know when a good game is going to get thrown at you.
So you're like could be bored a month and you're like, I'm just not feeling this.
I'm not feeling this.
And then like suddenly three or four games hit you and you're like.
shit.
I'm enjoying all of these.
Like, you don't know which to pick, you know, I?
Yeah.
So we're going to talk about that.
We have some great questions today.
(01:04):
Thank you, everyone who submitted I see Sam, sense of questions in Sam, we love you.
We hope you're doing well, So yeah, let's get started today.
Dustin, what have you been up to hit us?
Get us up to date.
been playing.
Is my screen blurry for you?
It's kind of blurry for me.
little blurry.
Just let your camera will adjust.
Just let it do its thing.
(01:25):
I moved there we go.
Been playing more games with Arthur.
So we've we beat all nine of the episodes in Star Wars Lego.
So I'm kind of bummed to be.
It is a Skywalker saga, yeah, because the the other saga is only six of the episodes andthis is all nine.
(01:49):
So yeah, I don't even know how he got it.
getting through nine?
All nine of them?
It really follows the movies very closely.
Obviously, you know, like, they very, they glaze over some of the deaths, you know, sothat, because it's a kids game, right?
I'm in for like kids.
So
(02:10):
Yeah, they don't show much of the death.
But I think it follows the story really well.
Like, again, like my son, like knows the Star Wars theme song now.
And he like sings it.
So it's been really great getting him into it.
Yeah.
So you know, he's been playing with his Star Wars action figures that I bought him a whileago that he'd never had really engaged with a ton.
Like he's always like R2D2 and BB-8.
(02:30):
But the rest of the characters, he's never really cared much.
And now he has like a lot more love like playing with like Han and Luke and,
C-3PO who I hate still.
But yeah, you he's having a lot of fun with that.
So, you know, we finished it and I was like, well, why don't we get another one?
So I looked online on the PlayStation Store and I bought Lego Avengers and
(02:55):
was about to say that one's a pretty, yeah, that's a good one.
it's harder though.
Like I don't know if I need to like turn on.
I don't know.
I know with Lego Star Wars, I like switched everything to like accessibility features.
I don't know if I need to do I think I need to do that again, because the other one justlike the clues and hints were much more like in your face.
(03:19):
Like even for me, like I was sitting there with
like five, 10 minutes into the game, we ran into a gate and like, I'm sitting there forlike 10 minutes.
I was like, how the fuck does this gate open?
You know?
yeah, it was never like super easy.
Yeah, like they never like, yeah, totally.
go over and like, click.
(03:40):
Like I found like a little pile of Legos have been deconstructed that weren't thisappearance.
Okay, this is I got to build this fucking thing.
And then yeah, I built it.
But also, I think like the tricky part too, is that in Star Wars, you know, all the Jedi'shave the same move set.
And most of the other characters, like the moves are like very similar for everycharacter.
(04:02):
the games work right like you you play a huge array of characters right but each characterhas a certain set of abilities okay and interesting
you know, unique powers as for the character that, you know, Hulk does smashing and IronMan.
Like you have to switch Iron Man to melt like bars like with his laser beam.
(04:24):
And, you know, like, so just the it's a lot more variety.
Yeah, it's a lot more variety across the characters in terms of move sets that you have touse to be able to get through certain puzzles.
So I tried to refund it and then PlayStation told me to fuck off because they don't havelike a, yeah, they don't have like a under two hours policy.
(04:46):
So I was like, God damn it.
I even told them that my son bought it unauthorized.
And then, and the guy was like, I was like, yeah, he's like, well, sir, once you downloada game, it's no longer refundable.
And I was like, but the game automatically downloads when you purchase it.
What do you mean?
And he's like, he's like, sir, the game has been played.
And I was like,
(05:07):
God damn it.
I was like, don't have to be rude about it, bro.
Like, you're not like fucking aggressive.
You know, so yeah, that didn't happen.
So I got to check the settings to see if I can make it little bit easier for him.
But then he's been playing Minecraft at my parents house with my nephew.
And so I bought him Minecraft and he's actually having a blast with it.
(05:29):
Like I've never played Minecraft.
I'm not a Minecraft guy.
But yeah, but he's been playing and like
building like a house, he's only four.
So he can't do too much.
But even I took the controller and I was like messing around, I was building this houseand it's very like, the music is very peaceful.
So
(05:50):
loved like the people who played Minecraft swear by the music of just like putting it onin the background.
Yeah, no, it's like total like ASMR like slash like, not.
What's that?
What's that?
Yeah, lo fi.
There we go.
It's like, it's like, it's on lo fi channel.
You know?
(06:10):
Yeah, I have no I have no doubt.
So yeah, he's gonna play on that.
And I googled it to kind of check into like, are these Minecraft good for kids?
And it's like,
I put it to like the easiest mode so they don't run into the monsters and that aren't init.
So he doesn't get attacked by NPCs.
they're yeah, it's great for creativity and like problem solving.
(06:31):
so we'll see.
I mean, if you think about it at a basic level, like Minecraft is a wonderful experiencefor kids.
It's very in a lot of ways.
It's similar to Legos.
It's you know, you're putting them into this world, right?
They have to learn these rules through trial and error.
It's very forgiving in the sense that, you know, when you die, you respawn, but you stillhave to rework up to things.
(06:52):
I think that's actually why it's always been so successful is because children it is itnaturally is a learning tool and thus children.
Have fun, you know, it's that you get that I'm kind of like that You get a cyclicalprocess of like I solved the problem.
I'm enjoying myself.
I have a new problem.
I solved the problem I'm enjoying myself and I think you know, that's partially what leadsto Minecraft success and then once you get comfortable it open You know, it becomes a
(07:19):
sandbox literally creating that term basically So yeah
So no, it's been fun.
But so yeah, playing games with the kid.
Haven't started cod yet.
have it.
But I will.
We're gonna talk about cod more later.
The other thing I wanted to quickly talk about is, you know, Dragon Age came out.
It's like the latest controversy.
(07:41):
So, know, I'm a little confused about that, though, because it's like everyone wasreleasing like I played 100 hours and three playthroughs, and then I was like, doesn't it
release like tomorrow?
Like, what are these early copies?
Like, I don't I'm.
so most publishers, if you, if a publisher thinks that their game is going to be good, alot of publishers does.
(08:05):
If a publisher thinks their game is going to be good, then they will give it to press andinfluencers like a week or 10 days early, depending on how long they think the game is.
If they think it's like a 50 hour experience, yeah, they're probably going to give it toyou like at least a week early, maybe like two weeks at the most.
And so people have all this content created as soon as it drops.
(08:26):
Now, if a publisher or some publishers just don't do it at all, never give out code early,but other ones, like they might go back and forth because if they don't think the game is
going to be that great, they're not going to let give out codes early.
They're not going to allow early reviews because I think with Dragon Age, reviews actuallycame out like two days before the game came out.
They came out on the 28th and the game launched on the 31st.
(08:49):
they were all over the for the context for our listeners.
These were pretty much all over the place.
We had people saying it like was the new standard.
We had people saying it was garbage.
You know, it was all over the place.
Yeah, but think I netted out around like an 80 something on Metacritic.
So overall, pretty positive.
The reason I mean, I haven't played it, the reason I bring it up is because, you know,again, it's the latest controversy.
(09:13):
And we're seeing like a huge disparity in reviews.
And I'm just kind of curious listeners, what you guys think about the review process forusers, not for media, but for users.
So if you look at Metacritic, Metacritic allows user reviews, but it doesn't verifywhether you own the game.
on Metacritic, we're seeing like a sub three review score for Dragon Age, while theMetacritic score I think is over 80.
(09:39):
It's like 83, I think.
I'm not exactly sure, but it's pretty high.
No, this is on Metacritic.
So Metacritic aggregate.
Yeah, well Metacritic's consumer.
review score is low, it's like sub three, but their press review score is like in the 80s.
So you're seeing a huge disparity between what press are saying versus what consumers aresaying.
(10:03):
But then when you go to steam, you're actually seeing steam users who are verified buyers.
So these people have to have the game in order to review it.
It's actually like a 78.
So much closer to what press are saying, you know, within a few points.
And so you have to ask or wonder like,
For you guys, what do you guys think?
(10:23):
Like, do you care about the Metacritic score because you know that it's people who aren'tusing the game?
Do you actually like value the Steam score because it is people who have played?
Do you even care about that stuff at all?
You know, for me, like, I look at like a Metacritic score from consumer and or even like,well, not even just video games, Rotten Tomatoes, same thing, right?
(10:44):
Rotten Tomatoes doesn't require you to actually watch a movie to be able to post a userreview.
So what you see is you see a lot of people who get
like behind a movement like the anti woke crazy and and they will no longer they'll go andlike review bomb, right?
They'll review bomb something and then it will look like it's really bad even though thevast majority of people reviewing it haven't played it.
(11:06):
So it looks like that could be the case with Dragon Age.
because you see a lot of much higher reviews of people who've bought it.
know, again, I haven't played it.
I was just really bringing up because I'm curious for you guys in the comments, hopefullyto let me know or let us know.
What do you guys think about consumer reviews?
Do you use it as a tool for anything?
you benefit you or is it just something irrelevant that you don't really care about?
(11:31):
Yeah, and I'd also like to know our thoughts on Dragon Age.
Everyone's thoughts on Dragon Age.
No one on our channel is a particular Dragon Age fan.
It would definitely be me if anyone was, but I've played every Dragon Age that's beenreleased, you know, at least 10 hours each game.
And for whatever reason, it just really doesn't sink in for me.
So I probably am not going to spend the money to to purchase this game.
(11:56):
You know, at this time, it's just not not possible.
So, yeah, let us know.
I know, you know, I watched a few videos, right?
So I'm someone who browses YouTube all the time, looking for just people's thoughts.
And a lot of people had some really interesting things to say about Dragon Age.
And I kind of couldn't help but to like, how do I put this?
(12:19):
Like, maybe it's the confirmation biased, you know, it's like, I'm wanting to hear what Iexpected to hear.
But like, it kind of felt like that, where I was just like, yep.
That's kind of what I was expecting.
And a lot of the feedback, some of these people who've played a hundred hours in was like,the dialogue was really shallow and like, just really like, you know, like a little bit
(12:42):
too direct, you know, like they're trying to like, these characters are putting theirhearts on their sleeves and this very like weird, like 12 year old expressing his emotion
way, you know, like this made me upset, but being upset is okay sometimes, you know, andit's like,
Okay, it's fine to like make points like that.
That's totally acceptable.
But like, you know, the writing needs to be like complex.
(13:05):
You know, this isn't a game about, you know, children.
It's about war and death and things.
And then I had to agree that like, I felt like the animation style, not only is it kind ofunappealing, but it is very cartoony.
It just never really appealed to me in particular.
And
Then kind of like the biggest thing and the most important thing for me has always beencombat.
(13:29):
And I know there's people who will swear by the Dragon Age combat system, but it justnever particularly stood out to me.
I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts though.
If you are playing Dragon Age Veilguard, please let us know your thoughts.
And if we get enough responses, maybe we will pick it up and give it a review.
But with that being said, yeah, I want to talk about a little bit what I've been playingthis week just because there's been a couple of things.
(13:54):
First off, I want to talk about an actually a really good phone game that has come outrecently.
All of our Pokemon fans are going to be really excited because they just released aPokemon, the card game pocket app game.
So it is basically, you know what you would think it is.
(14:14):
It is the Pokemon card game in an app on your phone or, or other device.
And it's been really fun.
You you get a couple packs a day for free.
You open the packs, you get to have the fun of, you know, trying to get the best shinycharacters, excuse me.
And then at a certain point you unlock the ability to battle.
And I don't know, did you ever play Pokemon cards when you were a kid, Dustin?
(14:35):
I was a fanatic.
I used to go to Toys R Us and do the league every weekend and I have all my gem badges andeverything still from when I was a kid when I did that.
It's been a long time, but yes, generally yes.
Having like my energy cards, my water cards, I always played a water deck with Blaster,he's my main man, but yeah.
(15:00):
funny because I remember never like, you know, we were like 10, like I didn't read therule book.
I didn't really I just like did what others told me was the rules.
And now that I'm playing it on the app, I'm like, honestly, it really wasn't that far fromwhat we thought.
It like, it was just kind of like, you put the Pokemon down, you assign the energy, yeah.
(15:20):
evolve him like that's it man that's the game so but it's really fun it's it's reallystrategic it's great when you're like in the car and you just have a few minutes i've been
like really happy with it and and if anyone's like me and enjoys card games but doesn'tnecessarily enjoy the i look i like the gambling and thrill and getcha plenty of things
(15:46):
right like i'm a human being i like plenty of those things
But card games in particular, just, that just, I don't want to get into that community.
Have you been on Reddit or like seen people, like a whole bunch of new Pokemon sets justcame out and like people went to Costco and were like buying three, four pallets, you
know?
And I'm like, dude, I just don't want to be part of that scumbaggery.
(16:07):
I don't like want to buy packs of Pokemon cards myself and then feel disappointed likebecause I didn't get what I wanted.
So having the digital format for me,
It's just friendlier.
I don't have to store it and I still get to have fun.
So yeah, if you if you're looking for a good mobile game, Sam, I know you're alwayslooking for a good mobile game.
(16:29):
Check out the Pokemon The Card Game Pocket.
Yeah, I'd be curious, like, so is it free?
don't, I'm sorry if I miss that.
Is it, it's free.
So you don't have to buy the packs.
There's no pay to win like, or like nothing.
That's cool then.
a premium pass of course that, know, blah, blah, blah, blah.
It gives you more free packs.
There's actually also this really cool system.
(16:50):
It's called, I think it was Wondershare.
I'll have to double check that.
And basically every time someone opens a pack, you can see their success.
So, so since my fiance is my friend, I see hers.
So Katie opened up and got a Blastoise.
And I was like, sick, good for you.
That's awesome.
You got a Blastoise.
I can, I can spend points to randomly get a chance to get it actually.
(17:11):
So I see that she opened up that pack and I can spend points and it lets me select.
It basically takes the five cards and shuffles them and then I can pick one and then I getthat card.
So you do get to actually benefit from your friends successes.
And yeah, so that's just one of those like little things that's like, yeah, this is areally kind of addicting little, little game you made here.
(17:33):
And I gotta be honest, I, Katie and I pulled out our Game Boys last night.
And I got my Pokemon game out.
really, it's like we're full into Pokemon again.
So yeah, it's been really fun.
Which being said, I have another audience question for us.
(17:55):
would very much, and I'll post this on YouTube.
That's a good idea.
Check out our community posts.
What is your favorite Pokemon game?
I would love to know.
All right.
Any other things you've been playing, Dustin?
before we dive into some questions and then hit up our main topic.
Not really been watching anime still watch the latest episode of fairy tale hunter yourquest it was it was cool I think I told you but I completely abandoned overlord it's just
(18:25):
garbage.
It's garbage.
I got I got to the season two finale and it's not that it's It's not that it's boring forme.
Well, the lizard arc is boring as fuck.
They get way too invested in the lizard arc my problem is
The main character is extremely, he's not likable.
(18:46):
He's a fucking sociopath who will kill anybody if it means helping his own gain and he'lllet anybody die, even though he could save them if it doesn't have any gain for him.
I think in like stories and anime, least for me personally, you want like somebody to rootfor in some way, you know?
(19:09):
And...
He's just not a likable character.
And so it makes it difficult for me to want to invest in the story that's being toldbecause one, the story is kind of all over the place, but yeah, there's no direction.
again, him as a main, I wouldn't even say protagonist, like just a.
(19:37):
There's not really a protagonist.
It's kind of just like an asshole.
You know, it's just like, why am I watching this?
I'm not invested in the characters.
I'm not invested in them accomplishing their goal.
You want him to like, literally commits genocide against like multiple different races inthe first two season because he like, the lizard guys, sorry, I'm gonna go off of tangent,
(19:58):
but the lizard people, which is like five episodes of a 12 episode season, 13 episodeseason.
He wants to destroy this whole race of people in the game simply because he thinks thatthey could be a stronger undead army than if he did it to like a village of people.
Jesus.
they lizard people are stronger than human.
(20:19):
So if I kill all of them and make them undead, they might be stronger than me raising anundead human army.
So I'm just gonna fucking kill all these people just because I think they could be alittle bit stronger.
And he doesn't because of something that happens in the story.
But this so yeah, fuck that anime.
Don't watch the people albedo is a hottie.
But that's it.
if you want a good anime, new out on Netflix, Don Da Don, excellent.
(20:45):
Excellent.
Don Da Don.
you know, low-key geeks the last like two weeks have actually had shirts about this anime.
interesting, very anime fan.
Check it out.
Okay, yeah, great.
Let's hit some questions here because we have some really good ones today.
So, from our main man, Ralph, do you have any memorable glitches slash exploits in a game?
(21:12):
See, okay.
of Warcraft.
We'd fucking dive under Stormwind and run around like an idiot.
And you can see like the bottom of Stormwind.
And then you'd fall through the floor of that glitch.
And then you'd have to hope that the fucking auto unstuck button.
And I think that that was...
I could be wrong.
I don't know if that feature was always in the game.
(21:33):
I feel like that feature was added because people are finding these fucking glitches andthen like their character was just like in an abyss of air that they could never get out
of.
And so like they had to be like, we need to put this auto unstuck button so that peoplecan just get transported back to the fucking one bitch graveyard.
To their graveyard.
(21:53):
Yeah.
That's a good one.
I want to say like, there's so many.
But like the one that comes to mind, because we're always put on the spot with thequestions, you know, the one that comes to mind is like, Halo for Halo three forge, where
you would like take like items and like, stack them in the air so you could create likebases like in the sky.
(22:20):
I don't know, that was just the one thing that came to my mind.
But there's so many, like one of my favorites, and honestly, this is a good one too,because I think everyone should look this up.
in Zelda Ocarina of Time, the speed running community for this game is out of this world.
They can run this game, which takes most people, what, 30, 40 hours?
(22:43):
Maybe I'm off there, but it's a pretty long game.
They can do this in like
15-19 minutes they can do the entire game and the way they do this that one of the biggestways they do this is from is by this somewhat I think Undebatably complicated glitch where
you're you move the character in a very specific form and you warp yourself from thebeginning of the game to the last boss of the game and it is just this the way they just
(23:13):
the story behind how they discovered this and how you do it and
how people practice this glitch over and over again to try to get quicker times.
basically the difficulty of it is really worth watching.
I'll try to find the video that I found that breaks it down.
But if not, look up, is all the Ocarina of Time speed run explained and you will not bedisappointed.
(23:36):
Alright.
I can't hear you Dustin.
Did you?
did.
Yeah, there's also a really good glitch like that in Mario 64, the people would do whereas soon as the game starts, you like do like some backwards like jump into and it would
actually allow you to get into Bowser's room.
Yeah, it'll allow you to get into the Bowser level right out like five minutes from thegame.
(23:59):
I'm trying to remember it's like how that works exactly.
So that's another YouTube video I need to find you.
It's like when Mario jumps and lands on the stairs or something, doesn't, it doesn'tremember the memory, doesn't like remember where he is in the game or it thinks he's
somewhere else.
So his speed becomes infinite.
(24:21):
And then he just like starts zooming.
It's really interesting.
you know, we watch, you might watch the speed runner and be like, that's, that was cool.
But like,
It's not easy.
It's like a one in a million chance and they're landing it like one in every three times,you know, so it's really cool.
The world of speed running in general, something we should do a whole episode on becauseit's it's intriguing.
(24:44):
It is absolutely intriguing.
But anyway, moving on to our next question.
Thanks, Ralph.
You're the best man.
Next question is our character battle week three.
Awesome.
I love this.
This is a really good one and it involves anime.
in honor of Anime Takeover last week, well as Sparking Zero release, Vegeta vs.
(25:05):
Goku.
You know, okay, first thing I gotta say is I only ever watched Dragon Ball Z.
So that's probably gonna heavily like inhibit my understanding, because I know thosecharacters like still exist, right?
And still have development.
So I'm gonna be the old man and just use the old information I have.
(25:30):
But what do you think, Dustin?
I didn't hear the question.
What was the last question?
I'm with this guy on Discord right now about baseball, because he's fucking idiot.
Stop.
All right.
In honor of the anime takeover last week, as well as sparking zero release, Vegeta versusGoku, who's our winner.
(26:01):
Goku, 100%.
I mean, I like Vegeta.
I'd say growing up, I was probably more of a Goku fan, but not Goku every day.
mean.
my my follow up how much of Dragon Ball have you watched because I've only ever watchedDragon Ball Z
I watched a lot of Z.
I didn't finish it.
(26:22):
I abandoned in like
you don't know the most recent stuff.
I know Goku and Gohan, like, yeah, Super and...
everyone says that Gohan is actually the strongest of like the Earth Saiyans.
of times 10 now, you know, something like that.
Yeah, I don't know.
mean, like, it's just like fucking, they just keep finding different power levels to goup, you know.
(26:42):
I don't know.
Broly's the strongest Saiyan, but yeah.
both not super knowledgeable on the characters as far as like their current status, but Idon't know.
mean, Vegeta's great.
He was like the original redemption story, right?
Like in film and television when you have that, the main villain becomes like the friendarc.
(27:06):
mean, Vegeta was like kind of the original that, you know?
Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying like in film.
Just like, you know, just when I was a kid, like he was the first rendition I remember ofhim being just this great turnaround character who you thought was going to be the main
villain, but he ends up being a friend.
So, yeah, I don't know.
I love Vegeta, but Goku's like the main man.
(27:27):
know, Goku's the Superman of...
Then he got, yeah, he got on the leash, man.
I mean, in a good way, you know, he, she's awesome and he's kind of a psycho sometimes.
So...
something that in the whole series of Dragon Ball, like Z, GT, Super, that Trunks is theonly Saiyan ever to not have black hair.
(27:49):
And so because he's actually, it's actually more rare than Broly, who is like the Saiyanlike God or whatever, who like, it's just like, once in a generation, there's like one
Saiyan is born who doesn't even need to train and he's just like infinitely more powerfulthan every other Saiyan.
to train.
Wow.
Trunks is actually more rare because I think he's like the only Saiyan in history that hasnot had black hair.
(28:17):
So, fun fact.
we'll have to brush up on our Dragon Ball.
Great, thank you for that question.
All right.
That was weird.
Okay, I think this one's Sam, but it cut off for some reason.
Hey gents, what is your gaming moment of shame?
Maybe a hack or an exploit you're not proud of that you used or a game that has beensitting on your shelf collecting dust.
(28:42):
Maybe your pride.
Maybe you pride yourself on playing on hardcore, you have left it at a lower difficultyfor a stubborn boss fight.
Mine, Chrono Trigger.
I even have the original SNES, but I still have never played it all the way through.
That's great.
And I understand.
think Sam, I've also haven't beat Chrono Trigger, although I've played it through quite afew times.
(29:06):
you're missing out.
What's your moment?
Okay.
Moment of, yeah.
Okay.
I don't know.
I have a lot of moments of shame.
I mean, I have ADHD.
I...
My entire life has been just trying to beat the games that I couldn't beat when I was akid.
So I don't know.
I would say it's all moments of shame for the most part.
How do I, a hack or an exploit?
(29:27):
Okay, I got one this recent.
It's not too bad.
I think it's pretty low key, but it hurts my soul because I am an adult and I do love thisseries.
So the Mass Effect Legendary Edition came out maybe what, two?
you three years ago, who knows time is irrelevant.
And Mass Effect is like one of my favorite games.
So I bought it and I was like, great, I'm to play through one, two and three hardestdifficulty going to have a blast.
(29:53):
It's going to be great.
Stop arguing with someone.
just go.
So I'm playing through Mass Effect one, which actually, in my opinion, is the weakest ofthe series.
And I just got to some place where I was pinned like I just couldn't for whatever washappening, like there was aliens dropping all around.
I didn't have the resources I need.
(30:14):
I don't know.
I fucked up and I just could not get through it.
And I tried for like four or five hours just repeating this level.
And I just got so mad.
I lowered the difficulty and I lowered it from the hardest difficulty to the next lowerone and I cleared it great.
You know, and I'm happy.
So I went on to beat the game.
I turned the difficulty back, course, and I went on to beat the game, and then I went onto Mass Effect 2, I beat the game on the hardest difficulty, I went on to Mass Effect 3, I
(30:42):
beat the game on the hardest difficulty.
And then my worst nightmare happened.
Can you guess, Dustin?
Maybe?
No?
Why is it?
I got the achievement for beating it on the hardest difficulty on Mass Effect 2 and MassEffect 3, but I did not get the achievement for beating it on Mass Effect 1 at the hardest
(31:02):
or for beating the whole trilogy at its hardest difficulty.
So I spent a hundred hours and for that one level I screwed my achievement.
So that's a big moment of shame for me.
With you saying that, it's not a moment of shame for me.
It's a moment of disappointment.
Me and my buddies, we were playing Left 4 Dead 2, and if you beat every level on thehardest difficulty, you get an achievement.
(31:32):
And we were playing through the whole thing.
And on the second mission, I fucking died.
at the very end of the boss fight.
of that stage like literally as the fucking helicopter because it was fucking insane likeyou're in a stadium and like you're just getting like bombarded by zombies and like we're
(31:56):
again we're on the hardest difficulty like we're like four person team like fuckingplaying this shit like Counter-Strike like like being prepared to like where guys jump out
like we're all covering you know like we're taking it very serious trying to get throughthis and yeah the helicopter like lands and I like
get hit by like a crusher or whatever and die.
(32:17):
And it's like impossible to get me up because there's just like a million zombies and likemy team takes off.
And so I don't get the achievement for that level or the credit for that level.
We go on to beat levels three and four.
And so everyone gets this fucking achievement except for me.
And I was like, because it's so hard that it was like, nobody wanted to do it again,because they all did it.
(32:39):
You know, like, I don't want to do it again.
So
Yeah, that fucking sucked.
guess moment of true shame, but you know, I don't really count the shame is purposelytrying to find them camera angles, you know, playing a little bit too much near automata,
(33:03):
taking advantage of the dance emojis in Overwatch, you know, so.
just, you know, you know, no reason to be ashamed of it.
Just embrace it.
Okay, I was never like sitting there doing anything inappropriate other than just likechecking out Mercy's, her junk.
my gosh.
(33:24):
All right.
Next question.
Another one from Sam.
Sam really appreciate it, man.
You know, hey guys, thanks for the mobile tips.
Yeah, I hope you like the one we have in this episode as well.
It helped having a distraction and not dwelling on what was going on while I was away fromhome.
Thanks for the well wishes.
Yes, man, I am so sorry to hear you were affected by the floods.
(33:46):
There was some damage, but mostly OK.
One thing that did not survive was my Series X.
no, dude, I'm so sorry to hear that.
I'm not entirely sure how, because it wasn't anywhere near the water damage, but it was onthe floor and had water in it when I got back.
Yeah, man, you know the wind and who knows the sad thing that is that is the sad thing.
(34:07):
So my question is, is do you guys see a future of Microsoft Xbox consoles beingcompetitive?
Well, obviously, first and foremost, I'm sorry to hear that, Give a moment of silence foryour Series X.
We wish you a really swift cleanup and recovery.
And our best wishes go to you.
(34:30):
Regarding Xbox consoles, I think that's a really good question, actually, despite thelittle troubles you're running into now.
It's actually a really good question because
Xbox and Microsoft as a brand seem to be moving more towards homogenizing their brand andnot focusing exclusively on a console.
(34:53):
So I think we're, although we're going to see an Xbox console exist into the future, itdoes not seem like that's going to be their priority.
Would you say that's true, Dustin?
For our viewers, yeah.
So I mean, you I think I'm like you're you've nodded and we have a podcast.
(35:17):
yeah, I forgot.
Yeah.
I always just think people are going to watch the YouTube.
My bad.
Yes.
Okay, great.
yeah, so I mean, I still think there's a plenty of a place for it.
If you like Xbox, if you've been an Xbox fan, I don't think there's anything wrong.
I mean, they're still solid systems, they do their job.
But don't be surprised if you're going to be cross playing with PC players for the rest oftime, you know, and as someone who as we're about to get into right now plays COD with a
(35:46):
buddy who has an Xbox,
I don't know.
I am someone who's not convinced.
Well, OK, this is I'm still to be convinced that control most controller players cancompete with mouse and keyboard players.
And that's not like a hit.
There are controller players who are incredible and can, but I'm just not convinced thatmost people can.
(36:07):
So it's kind of a predicament, you know.
So it's an interesting thought, but sorry to hear about your Xbox man.
That really sucks.
Hope you the best, you a quick recovery.
Any thoughts on your end, Dustin?
No, I agree with what you said.
you know, I...
(36:29):
Yeah.
I you summed it up.
Yeah, alright, I think we've got one more from Sam.
Appreciate all the questions.
Subdudes, being that it's October and spooky season, are any of y'all in the horror genre?
What's your favorite horror game?
Do you have a regular one you play each year?
I started with Resident Evil 1 on PS1, but I currently enjoy the Silent Hill 2 game.
I wanted to get some VR and do Resident Evil 7.
(36:52):
Also dressing up as any video game characters this year.
Great question.
So what I'm actually going to do is I'm going to...
I'm going to leave your question for next week.
for one specific reason.
Alex is going to kill us if we do this question without him.
Alex is our resident horror game expert.
Alex has a, I would call him an expert on the Resident Evil games and he enjoys thatgenre.
(37:17):
So we'll keep that one for next week, but I'd love to address your second part, dressingup as any video game characters this year.
So Alex, I will spoil this, Alex dressed up as Heihei from Moana.
because his little girl was Moana.
So he was, we got to walk around with Alex in the chicken suit.
That was fantastic.
(37:39):
I was just a cast member at Disneyland accompanying my fiance.
Did you dress up this year, Dustin?
did not.
I did not.
I dressed up as a tired dad.
As a tired father.
Yeah.
Great.
Well, those are our questions.
And like I said, we'll leave that the spooky question for next week so that Alex canparticipate.
(38:01):
But this is a great time for the typical YouTuber, podcaster thing.
Just please, if you would like to ask us a question, we would love, love to answer it.
We answer them in the midpoint of the show and you can submit those at pixelatedrealms.orgslash ask.
So yeah, we love the community feedback.
(38:22):
This is also a great time to say, you know, please like, comment and subscribe as youknow, everyone says in these videos, it really does mean a lot and we're trying to grow
our audience on all of our platforms.
So we really do appreciate that participation.
So moving on to our main topic here, we're going to go into a little bit about this newCall of Duty game.
Call of Duty Black Ops 6 released what a week ago.
(38:47):
Releasing on Xbox pass of course so if you have an Xbox pass definitely download it justgive it a shot I'm gonna be honest guys.
I think I said two weeks ago that I'm not even gonna download it Probably putting like 20or 30 hours already like I've been playing it a lot.
I'm Actually having a really good time Dustin you said you hadn't tried it out yet
(39:12):
I have not, I have not played it.
I have it.
I have it installed.
Like I said, most of my time is going towards Lego games with my son.
Cause you know, my computer is up and upstairs in our master bedroom and our house.
And like, it's just difficult to actually get up here and like disappear for a couplehours.
(39:33):
Cause my kids, you know, a lot of kids like, like Naomi, think she goes to sleep aroundlike seven 30, eight o'clock or something, right?
my kids go to sleep like 10.
So I don't, I don't have like, even my one and a half year old goes to sleep late.
So like, I don't get like that two or three hours every night where my kids are asleep andI'm up because I have to wake up at seven to take him to school.
(40:00):
You know, so it's just like
new game if you were to ask me any questions?
Like what would bring you to this game if you had free time?
I guess just generally, what are your favorite things about the multiplayer?
What feels different?
What have they improved?
I've been seeing the single player campaigns, been getting a lot of love, so curious to ifyou've played that yet.
(40:22):
And then just like, are some of, we'll go over each of these again, but just to summarize.
And then what are some of those core features that are back?
Is there a zombie mode in this one?
How is it?
Is that a thing?
I'm not sure if Black Ops has it versus Modern Warfare.
So Black Ops actually was, well, World at War.
Actually, okay, hold on.
I'm killing myself here.
(40:43):
I thought World at War was the first zombies, but Black Ops might have been the firstzombies, but they came out at a very similar time.
But point being, start with the campaign actually.
Sorry, not to derail, but I wanna start with the campaign because it's unique.
So I've always been a huge campaign player in the Call of Duty franchise.
In fact, I always thought that was its strongest component.
(41:05):
So that's huge for me.
It's always been a benchmark.
I played black ops like one and two campaigns, you I thought they were fine.
I'm going into this campaign.
I really, I didn't really have high expectations, but I will say it was, it kind ofsurprised me with its uniqueness.
So you drop into the campaign, you're doing missions.
This is in the, this takes place in the 1990s.
(41:28):
Great time.
And so you're using like slightly dubbed down modern.
weaponry, personally is a little bit more appealing to me.
But you go in, know, of course the game's gorgeous.
It looks amazing, as most Call Duty's do nowadays.
And you're doing your missions, killing people, know, whatever it may be.
(41:49):
But after the first mission, you basically come into this situation where now your team iskind of off the books.
And you're actually put into this like mansion, which is one of the levels in themultiplayer.
And you are basically told, like, hey, this is your mansion and base operations.
Here's your chart of like who you're looking for.
Now you have to piece together the puzzle, upgrade your weapons, upgrade your base, go onmissions with your guys and gather Intel, come out of these missions and basically solve
(42:18):
this mystery.
And so instead of it being just a direct, you go from this mission to this mission to thismission.
It's more of this organic like buildup.
You're kind of this.
Black ops team that's supposed to be off the books.
So, you know, you don't go in guns blazing necessarily.
Another thing, I'm not very far in it.
So I'm not going to like, I can't really ruin anything.
(42:39):
But I will say one of the one of the early levels is a bill governor Bill Clinton rally.
And I just thought it was so funny.
I work in events, I do like galas and things like that all the time.
So like, I'm walking into this event, this gala, and I'm like,
looking at the AV, looking at the stage and the layout.
(43:00):
And I'm just like, wow, this is kind of a nice, you know, gala you got here.
And then for all anyone out there who's part of the production team, they had a, alighting trust tower, right?
On top of this like piece of stage.
And I'm just sitting here.
This probably means nothing to anybody in our viewership, but it's like, you're puttinglike a piece of like frame.
(43:26):
structure with lighting on it on a stage, you would never do that, man.
Fire Marshal would shut that down in a second.
that's that's me.
That's my job covered in where I'm just like, I'm not shooting anyone.
I'm not playing the game.
I'm just looking at the goddamn event.
though?
Like, so that happens to me with like, my God, it's like a dark British comedy.
(43:50):
In the Loop.
It's called In the Loop.
And it's about this prime minister or a department minister in the government.
And he says like this stupid fucking thing about the war in the Middle East.
That's like off the main line of the government.
And throughout that whole movie, like you follow like the main communications head for theprime minister.
(44:10):
And he's just like berating people throughout the movie.
But there's so many little things throughout that film, like monitoring, like he'slistening to old, old interviews, like he's talking, you're not allowed
to go on question time until you get this fucking line down.
You know, it's, it's as a communications person who does PR and interview prep, like it'sall real, like, like, those are very similar, maybe not as aggressively calling them like
(44:34):
a fucking cunt and things like that, like he does.
But it's like real stuff that I noticed on like, man, this is, and I found it even funnierbecause they did such a good job of like incorporating these little things about PR and
comms that are that we actually do.
So, kind of similar to you with this game.
Just noticing little nuances.
(44:55):
I don't have too much more to say about the campaign because I still have a lot toexplore.
So I'll give us a report when we do our official COD review and Alex is back and and whenI beat it.
But either way, what is the most important thing to know is it's different.
They definitely did a little bit of a different take on it.
So it's worth diving into if that's your thing.
Moving on, you asked if there was zombies.
(45:17):
So there is zombies.
I'll be honest, you know, I've played zombies in the past, but I was never the kind ofperson to spend like dozens and dozens of hours in it.
For what reason?
I don't know.
I just, I just never really felt it.
This zombies.
still like considered hype?
Because like I know like in the past, yeah, like people like zombie mode.
(45:38):
It was like such a big part.
I think a large population of people are still playing zombies.
So just to give a brief overview of this zombies, there's two levels available right now.
If you've never played zombies, you drop in with either yourself or four people and you'rejust put into this map, right?
At first you're enclosed into a small portion of that map and zombies just come in waves,right?
(46:02):
So you have a wave come, you kill all the zombies, killing the zombie makes you money.
Once they're all dead, a new wave comes, but the zombies get a little bit harder.
Now, obviously you can use that money to expand your space.
So eventually you'll use that money to unlock the whole map.
So eventually you're running around killing zombies.
(46:24):
The zombies are getting harder every time you kill them all.
And throughout the map, there's various buffs that you can pay money to increase yourability and your guns.
That's it.
mean, it's a really simple game.
There is some things that you have to learn, right?
Like, where do I go for this or where do I go for that?
But in concept, it is the most simple thing ever.
(46:45):
So it's really fun and it's really easy to learn.
By the third game, I knew where every buff was, where all the doors open to.
It wasn't that complicated.
So I actually do recommend it.
And I actually think it's a really great start if you're getting started with the game andperhaps you're having trouble with the multiplayer where human beings are
really good at this and you're having a hard time.
(47:09):
Zombies is a great place to not only level up your weapons, but it gives you greatexperience to level up your just general character, which gives you access to more
equipment in the multiplayer to use for your loadouts.
So this is kind of a quick tip.
If you're just starting to call it a VD6, you don't even have the ability to create aloadout.
(47:30):
You have no equipment to choose even if you did have loadouts.
and you're having trouble in multiplayer, start out with zombies, play a couple of gamesof zombies that'll level you up to like level four or five, and then you can go have
access to loadouts and a few more weapon options.
So yeah, I actually really do recommend zombies.
The first level has been pretty easy.
(47:50):
I've gotten like past like level 20.
Every like couple waves of zombies, gives you the opportunity to leave.
Now this is always fun, because you're with random people.
So you'll be like, do you guys want to leave?
And like, everyone's like, no, we're staying, we're staying, we're staying.
And then they'll be like, okay guys, helicopters going away.
And then like.
(48:11):
A huge wave of zombies come and we all die and then we don't get out of the game and welose.
I was getting so pissed at this because nobody would leave.
I started a solo game.
I got to level 10 or whatever, or wave 10, and then I ex-filled myself and I got theachievement for finally winning.
(48:32):
I was like, this is bullshit.
So yeah, definitely check out the zombies, guys.
It's really fun.
If you enjoyed zombies in the past, you will love zombies in the future.
There's even like research and things to build up through to build up your character.
So if we're running.
that viral Will of Fortune clip where the guy says, bitches in the future, but it'sBitcoin is the future.
(48:56):
When you said zombies in the future, I was like, I have Bitcoin is if you're fuckingbitches in the future.
So anyway, sorry, go ahead.
thing if you've been on like social media is there's tons of Easter eggs.
So I won't ruin it, but there is like dozens of things throughout these maps that you canunlock.
Just silly, cool, just like bowling, laser people.
(49:19):
Like it's, there's a lot of variety.
So take a, take a look at that.
All right, well, let's move on to the multiplayer then since you know, we're kind ofcoming up on our time.
The multiplayer has always been, you know, a great part of Call of Duty.
In a lot of ways, besides Goldeneye, Call of Duty modernized multiplayer first personshooters, know, counter striking Call of Duty together.
(49:42):
And so in this form, it just does much of the same, right?
You play the game in the beginning, you have no weapons, you have no attachments, you haveno variability in your builds, you're running in, you're getting shot in the back.
It's chaos, right?
Call of Duty multiplayer is chaos.
But after a while, you start to develop
a preference with the weapons you like, you start to get some attachments, you start tomaybe hide a little bit more or run a little quicker or move a little better, and you
(50:11):
start to level up and you start to feel good.
after a while, I got to admit this Call of Duty feels really good.
I am really impressed.
Maybe my expectations were low, but I am having a blast running around Nuke Town, playinggunfight, developing my builds.
I mean, overall, this Call of Duty has really just hit all the marks for me.
(50:33):
And I'm really happy to say I'm enjoying it a lot.
Nice.
Yeah, I mean, I haven't...
played much cod multiplayer I did do quite a bit as well I wouldn't say quite a bit I didenjoy warzone and as warzone does become like its own game now basically right it's like a
break off like I kind of be curious to see if they're gonna like continuously
(50:57):
just so people know, Warzone is not updated to Black Ops 6.
Yeah, it is still Modern Warfare 3.
My understanding is it will, but I might be wrong.
Yeah.
Yeah.
I mean, like I enjoyed PUBG and I liked that.
So Warzone was fun for me.
(51:19):
But yeah, some of the, you know, someone played Counter-Strike growing up so much and likeeven like, you know, team-based, like actual competitive teams and stuff.
COD's like a little bit too chaotic.
Like Battlefield is ultimate chaos.
Right.
And I love battlefield growing up also because like it was just like batshit insane.
(51:44):
30 on 30.
And then you had counterstrike, which was like much more like dialed in like five, youfive team based strategy.
And Cod is always kind of like in the middle of those two for me, like you had small mapsthat were, but like, I just kind of like, was like an extremist on one of the other side
and never really played much Cod.
(52:04):
think also because.
There's always been like a rivalry between COD and Battlefield and sure over the past, Idon't know, five years, like COD has obviously far surpassed the success of Battlefield,
but
Call Duty is the most successful first person shooter.
Like there's nothing that beats that one as far as like success goes.
(52:25):
But you know, I mean, having grown up with all these titles, they feel all of them feelextremely different to me, right?
Like if I were to put them into like really crappy categories and just be like Call ofDuty is its own type of chaos, right?
And I, I, before we wrap up, I do want to share one criticism.
(52:45):
The same criticism I share about every single Call of Duty and the same criticism thatwill always be in a Call of Duty.
Why am I getting shot in the back right after spawning?
know, and it's like, just, it's like, spawn, shot in the back, spawn, shot in the back,spawn, shot by the side and-
that.
There was like an article about it and I only read the headline but I guess in this cutit's even worse than normal.
(53:09):
It's the same.
It's just always been bad.
It's always been bad.
And it's just funny because like, I know it's I know it's coming, man.
Like I just know like literally I was sitting there playing yesterday and I'm just like, Ispawned looking through my scope and I go 321 I turn around and there's a guy spawning and
shooting me.
(53:31):
It's predictable.
is that they don't like the spawn locations happen too frequently or like the guy willspawn right after you and kill you.
Basically, so what ends up happening in Call of Duty that fucks with the system is in Callof Duty, right?
Say we're just doing a rectangular map, side A and side B.
If team A runs to B's spawn point, the game has to make a choice.
(53:59):
Hey, there's an enemy in the spawn.
He has two things he can do.
He can move the spawn.
to another location that'll be less optimal, or you can choose to spawn them where theenemy is, right?
And that game will make both of those choices.
So sometimes you will spawn and there will be an enemy next to you, or sometimes you willspawn in the middle of the map and you're like, well, now I'm in the middle of the fucking
(54:21):
map and the enemies were in the middle because they ran there first.
there's no, it has to make this choice and there's no good choice for small maps.
And so it's not necessarily their fault, but it's...
It's inherent to the chaos of Call of Duty when you try to put 12 people on a map that isliterally like, you know, whatever, the size of a two bedroom apartment.
(54:42):
Yeah.
And that was always one cool thing about battlefield.
The maps are massive and like you airdrop, you know, you airdrop in battlefields.
pick your own spawn, which is always super cool.
But that's what I'm saying, like think about it, like Call of Duty, Battlefield, Halo,Counter-Strike, like those are all very distinct shooter titles.
(55:06):
They're all first-person shooters.
They all are multiplayer online, but they all are very distinct in their flavor.
could not, of those four do not actually compare to me, you know?
So despite whatever hate I'll get for saying this, I'm sure there lot of people whodisagree with me, Halo does not belong in the conversation with those other three games.
(55:28):
Yeah, I mean, ever though, honestly, the no, from from campaigns.
Yes, like the Halo campaigns are fantastic.
Nah, the multiplayer always suck, dude.
It's so overrated.
you're wrong.
In Halo one, two, up to like reach.
(55:49):
Halo multiplayer was hype and a lot of people still play it.
But let me say, that's a topic for another time.
I wanna know.
as the other ones.
It's not nearly as like influential in terms of like, like I'm not saying it's bad, butlike what these other three games have done just far exceeds what Halo has been able to do
(56:18):
on a multiplayer level.
Like.
is a great topic to end on because I want to hear what our viewers think about that.
Do you think Halo is an overhyped shooter game?
Exactly.
I want to know.
throw in a comment because I disagree.
I think Halo is a groundbreaking multiplayer and campaign game.
(56:39):
Dustin does not think Halo is an important multiplayer game.
Let us know what you think in the comments.
It's just not as good as Battlefield, CoD, or Counter-Strike.
and tune in next week so we can discuss this more.
Now I do just want to say in light of how we're ending here, we're really trying toencourage retention and get full viewership of our videos.
(57:01):
Please, if you made it this far, thank you so much.
It means so much to us.
If there's anything, if you have any comments or questions or things that we can talkabout that can help keep your attention here and focused, we would love to know.
So thank you for all the engagement so far.
Did you have anything you wanted to close out with Dustin before we closed out today?
(57:23):
Nope.
If you disagree with me, you suck.
I do.
I'm just kidding.
Anyway, well, thanks for listening, everyone.
We hope you have a great rest of your week.
And if this comes out after the election, or before the election, regardless, we hope youvoted or thank you for voting.
And we will see you next time.
(57:46):
Bye.
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