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00:16details after the video Gamers okay so
00:19this show was meant to open with a big
00:21excited look at the shadow of the earth
00:22tree expansion Good Times big cheers and
00:25firm handshakes all around sadly though
00:27just as I was drifting off to sleep last
00:29night only posted two announcements
00:31neither of them good the first was from
00:33outgoing PlayStation boss Jim Ryan
00:35announcing a reduction in Workforce
00:37headcount eliminating 900 rols across
00:39PlayStation's operations the second was
00:41from head of PlayStation worldwide
00:43Studios Herman Holst discussing threats
00:45to Sony's current Blockbuster game
00:47business model and highlighting the need
00:48for Sony's development and Publishing
00:50efforts to evolve let's deal with those
00:52announcements one at a time Jim Ryan's
00:54update was titled difficult news about
00:56our Workforce and it announced an 8%
00:58reduction in PlayStation's head account
01:00Ryan gave cold comfort to outgoing staff
01:02while trying to provide a rationale for
01:04the changes quote these are incredibly
01:06talented people who have been part of
01:07our success and we are very grateful for
01:09their contributions however the industry
01:11has changed immensely and we need to
01:14Future ready ourselves to set the
01:15business up for what lies ahead we need
01:17to deliver on expectations from
01:19developers and Gamers and continue to
01:21propel future technology and gaming so
01:24we took a step back to ensure we are set
01:25up to continue bringing the best gaming
01:27experiences to the community end quote
01:29as for exactly these layoffs affect we
01:31don't have a definitive picture yet we
01:33do know it's a mix of headcount
01:34reductions and an actual Studio closure
01:36on the headcount reduction front very
01:38few Studios were spared with even the
01:40likes of naughty dog Insomniac and
01:42Guerilla games being affected those are
01:44three of Sony's most successful and
01:45profitable Studios and even they were
01:47not safe Insomniac in particular has
01:50been the single most important studio
01:51for Sony during this current generation
01:53delivering the Spider-Man games that
01:55have sold a combined 50 million units
01:57across the franchise history as well as
01:59a modestly successful ful Ratchet and
02:00Clank sequel cuts at nauy dog were a
02:02little more expected the studio had
02:04recently canned work on their live
02:06service The Last of Us multiplayer
02:07spin-off and given how long naughty dog
02:09had worked on that and how far along it
02:11was in terms of production it does stand
02:13to reason that some studio restructuring
02:15would follow that title's cancellation
02:16Sony announced that there would be
02:17headcount reductions at fir Sprite the
02:19studio who recently put out Horizon call
02:21of the mountain VR the only proper first
02:24party release that Sony has delivered
02:25for the psvr2 headset and Reporting from
02:28Jason Shri of Bloomberg revealed that
02:29they were also working on a twisted
02:31metal live service that has just been
02:34axed so the reductions were likely
02:35related to that the studio is currently
02:37working on another unannounced original
02:39Ip project on the matter of Studio
02:41closures Sony announced that
02:42PlayStation's London studio will close
02:44for Good bringing an end to a 22-year
02:46legacy of innovation across game making
02:48and Hardware including hits like the ey
02:51toy singar and most recently VR games
02:53it's a very sad day for the UK gam scene
02:56which is at one time vibrant and
02:57thriving but as over the past decade
02:59really struggled to press on so those
03:01are the reductions but accompanying that
03:03was the update from Herman Holst on
03:04PlayStation's evolving game making and
03:06Publishing strategy this one was titled
03:08an important update from PlayStation
03:10Studios and in it he both acknowledged
03:12the layoffs and hinted at some of their
03:14thinking at this stage of the PS5 life
03:16cycle quote PlayStation 5 is in its
03:18fourth year and we are at a stage where
03:20we need to step back and look at what
03:21our business needs at the same time our
03:23industry has experienced continuing and
03:25fundamental change which affects how we
03:27all create and play games deliver ing
03:29the immersive narrative driven stories
03:31that PlayStation Studios is known for at
03:34the Quality bar that we aspir to
03:36requires a re-evaluation of how we
03:38operate end quote he'd go on to talk
03:40about Sony's recent round of
03:41Acquisitions where literally billions
03:43were spent acquiring new Studios and IPS
03:45as well as Sony's recent push into both
03:47PC and mobile hul says that with that
03:49work done PlayStation quote looked at
03:52our Studios and our portfolio evaluating
03:54projects in various stages of
03:56development and have decided that some
03:57of those projects will not move forward
03:59in quote that's obviously reference to a
04:01bunch of things including the canceled
04:02Spider-Man live service game that was
04:04revealed during the recent Insomniac
04:05hack as well as the last of us live
04:07service game and the Twisted Metal live
04:09service game as well as whatever London
04:11Studio might have been working on plus
04:13surely some other stuff that we haven't
04:14even heard about yet but holse doesn't
04:16directly address many of the things that
04:17have seen shareholders recently sour on
04:19Sony like an earnings call that revealed
04:21that PlayStation was operating at a 6%
04:24profit margin roughly half of what Sony
04:26was achieving years prior not to mention
04:28that Insomniac hack that reveals the AAA
04:30Blockbusters like Spider-Man were
04:32costing upwards of $300 million to make
04:34and that's a sequel where a lot of work
04:36can be reused from previous games
04:38there's also the underperformance of
04:39Bungie who right now is struggling to
04:40reignite interest in Destiny 2 after a
04:42disappointing expansion launch a round
04:44of layoffs that severely impacted morale
04:47and a delay of the final shape expansion
04:49there's also Sony's failure to enter the
04:51live service Market sure hell divers is
04:53great but its monetization is very
04:54constrained compared to what your
04:56average live service is charging for for
04:57things like skins and battle passes
04:59bigger projects like those Spider-Man
05:01and Last of Us multiplayer titles were
05:03far more likely to be the cash cows that
05:05would have kept shareholders happy and
05:06neither of those things will ever see
05:08the light of day it's extremely
05:09disappointing to have to report on
05:11layoffs like this each and every week I
05:13mean to be honest there's so many that I
05:14can barely keep up with them for example
05:16the day before Sony announced their Cuts
05:18super massive games makers of horror
05:20titles like until dawn the Quarry and
05:22all those dark pictures Anthology games
05:24has just announced its own round of
05:26layoffs and they are not minor the
05:28studio is roughly 50 people strong but
05:30after today that number will shrink to
05:32just 60 people 90 people have just lost
05:35their jobs with an official tweet from
05:36the studio citing the difficult funding
05:38environment that's seen over 6 and a
05:40half thousand people lose their jobs in
05:42the past 2 months alone super massive
05:44likely found themselves in a tougher
05:45situation than most as their most recent
05:47projects like the Quarry and the dark
05:49pictures titles reviewed really well but
05:51you get the sense they didn't sell a
05:52boatload the currently at work on little
05:54nightmares 3 hopefully that one really
05:56pops off so the studio can get back on
05:57its feet if we tally up the super
06:00massive Cuts with the Sony Cuts with all
06:02the other Cuts we've seen this year we
06:03get to over 7 and half th000 games jobs
06:06lost in just two months think about that
06:09over 32,000 jobs per month and there's
06:12no end in sight as both Studios and
06:14Publishers continue to either trim their
06:16operations or cut them to the Bone I
06:18wish I could point to some light at the
06:19end of the tunnel but all signs pointed
06:21there being plenty of Darkness ahead I
06:23Thoughts with any and all affected by
06:24these layoffs I hope you're all able to
06:26find new opportunities sooner rather
06:27than later okay hard pivot now because
06:30we do have other news to discuss this
06:32week and we do need to talk about that
06:34Elden Ring trailer because it was pretty
06:36good the shadow of the ER tree trailer
06:38was the first proper look at what
06:39Miyazaki and his buddies have planned
06:41for us when the expansion drops on June
06:4221st a newly announced date that is now
06:44firmly chiseled into everyone's diary
06:46the trailer did showcase some new
06:48locations weapons bosses and enemies and
06:50miazaki would go on to provide even more
06:52info in an exclusive interview with Euro
06:53gamer he's calling it from soft's
06:55largest ever expansion hardly surprising
06:58given the considerable Dev time that's
06:59gone into it and how thirsty people are
07:01for new content the expansion is set an
07:03entirely new location which is said to
07:04be roughly the same size as Lim grave
07:06one of the largest regions in the land
07:08between he does make clear that this new
07:10region is more dense than any other
07:12region to date which is surprising
07:14because I found most of the other
07:15regions pretty dense to begin with as
07:17for the law it's confirmed that this
07:18expansion is based on World building
07:20provided by George RR Martin but it's
07:22not new work it's actually work that he
07:24did when he first contributed to Elden
07:26ring this part of the World building
07:28just wasn't used in the base game giving
07:30Miyazaki the chance to use it here
07:31instead as for difficulty you can expect
07:33it to mirror the highs and lows of the
07:35base game with Miyazaki saying that at
07:37least one fight in there will be as
07:38tricky as a legendary Millennia and he
07:40also says we can expect a return to
07:42miyazaki's favorite setting poison swamp
07:45in fact he had a lot to say on that
07:46matter quote but this was actually a
07:48point of introspection for me after
07:50creating the base game it was only after
07:53creating it that I realized I really
07:55like to create poison swamps and this
07:58was a little place of introspection and
08:00reflection for me so maybe when players
08:02reach the poison swamp in the DLC they
08:05will feel a little bit of this
08:06retrospection end quote now listen Miaki
08:09I love you but I'm sorry to disappoint
08:11you my dude we all figured out that you
08:13love poison swamps long before you did
08:16but it's nice you finally arrived
08:18welcome so that's all he had to say on
08:19Shadow of the earth tree but after that
08:21he did wax lyrical on the most common
08:22request that people make of fromsoft a
08:25godamn bloodborne remaster though Euro
08:27Gamers seem to frame the ation more
08:29around the idea of a remake which is a
08:32bummer because to be clear bloodborne
08:34does not need a remake it just needs a
08:36nice remastering so smooth out some of
08:38the rough edges bring it up to 60 FPS or
08:40maybe even an uncapped frame rate ship
08:43it to all platforms including PC and
08:45everyone is happy still Miyazaki does
08:47have thoughts on a remake and they
08:48aren't likely to fill you with optimism
08:50for an impending release quote I think
08:52having new hardware is definitely a part
08:54of what gives these remakes value things
08:56you weren't able to achieve on previous
08:58generations of hardware ways you weren't
08:59able to render specific Expressions new
09:02hardware sometimes makes it possible end
09:04quote so look forward to a bloodborne
09:06remake as a launch title for the ps6 in
09:092028 and to be honest I could actually
09:11totally see Sony doing that given that
09:13Demon Souls was a launch title for the
09:14PS5 fromsoft found their Niche long ago
09:17and stuck with an incredible single
09:19player Focus games that changed the
09:20industry forever another Studio who
09:22could previously lay claim to such a
09:24thing was Rocksteady whose Batman games
09:26raised the bar in areas such as combat
09:28storytelling art design boss encounters
09:30open world design and so much more
09:32genuinely seminal games that will live
09:34forever games that are still being
09:36played to this day which is more than I
09:38can say for the most recent release
09:39because have you seen the suicide squad
09:41play accounts that's right ladies and
09:43gentlemen it's officially official
09:45Suicide Squad kill the Justice League is
09:47a massive flop that's according to none
09:49other than Warner Brothers themselves
09:51that they did use softer language in a
09:53recent Warner Brothers Earnie call a
09:54company rep said quote this year Suicide
09:57Squad one of our key video game releases
09:58in 2024 has fallen short of our
10:00expectations since its release earli in
10:02the quarter setting our business up for
10:04a tough year-over-year comparison in q1
10:07end quote to be fair that comparison was
10:09always going to be tricky because this
10:10time last year Warner Brothers released
10:12the Harry Potter game which went on to
10:14become the single highest selling game
10:15of the year beating out even Call of
10:18Duty which is not something that ever
10:20happens still that comparison becomes
10:21even more dire when you look at just how
10:23badly suicide has performed in terms of
10:25both sales but more importantly play
10:27accounts because yeah the game did rank
10:29among the top selling games during the
10:30week of its launch but there wasn't much
10:32else competing with it during that
10:34window a better barometer for sou
10:36success is the fact that in the UK
10:38suicide squads sold less than half of
10:40what Guardians of the Galaxy did when it
10:42launched years prior and that game was
10:44kind of famous for being a bit of a
10:45sales flop a true Injustice given that
10:48that game was absolutely [Â __Â ]
10:49incredible and if you haven't played it
10:51please click the like button on this
10:52video close it and go and play it right
10:54now then come back when you're done
10:56anyway I digress again where was I oh
10:58yes Suicide Squad totally bombing the
11:01most irrefutable evidence of its failure
11:02are the steam charts these obviously
11:04don't reflect console player bases but
11:06there's no reason to suspect they would
11:07be proportionately different on Steam
11:10the game peaked at a concurrent player
11:11count of just 13,000 people contrast
11:14this with recent releases like hell
11:16divers spiking to over 450,000 current
11:19players on Steam last Epoch hitting over
11:21250,000 current players hell Pacific
11:24Drive is a niche Indie Survival game
11:26about driving a rickety station wagon
11:29around A Wasteland and even it managed
11:31to hit 18,000 concurrent players and
11:33that's just looking at Peak concurrence
11:35when the real story with any live
11:36service is how long it's able to keep
11:38players engaged over the longer term
11:40how's Suicide Squad doing in that regard
11:42well at the time of writing the 24-hour
11:44Peak concurrent player count for Suicide
11:46Squad was just 650 people with it
11:48dropping to as low as 300 people during
11:51off peak hours that is pretty dire it
11:54certainly hasn't helped the most recent
11:56patch for the game basically broke it I
11:58was tracking this in real time since I
11:59checked the subreddit straight after the
12:01Patch went live just to see if it might
12:02have delivered some changes to improve
12:04the game instead it did the exact
12:06opposite leaving many people unable to
12:07connect to the game at all unable to
12:09successfully matchmake with others or
12:11stuck in a permanent loading Metropolis
12:13glitch which rendered the game
12:14unplayable it is so bad that all three
12:17of the previous Arkham games have higher
12:20average concurrent player counts than
12:22Suicide Squad and I mean it's hard to
12:25imagine a more damning set of numbers
12:26than that for the record I do think this
12:29is a real bummer I really did try very
12:31hard to be optimistic about The Suicide
12:33Squad game when we learned that it was
12:35going to be a live service loot up
12:36people were really mad about it but I
12:38was like ah hopefully Rocksteady brings
12:40something new to the genre when gameplay
12:42was first revealed I did not like it but
12:44I still left room for the possibility
12:45that this package would come together in
12:47the end when I played the alpha I didn't
12:49love it but I didn't hate it either and
12:51I was really hoping that the campaign
12:52experience might Deliver Us The Rock
12:54Steady magic we've been waiting 9 years
12:55for but yeah when experiencing the full
12:58product it was a abundantly clear to me
12:59that Suicide Squad was a top to bottom
13:01mess and I immediately held grave
13:03concerns for its long-term viability as
13:05a live service these numbers really do
13:07confirm those fears and I very much
13:09doubt that Warner Brothers have the
13:10stomach to invest the time and money
13:12needed to turn this around there are
13:13four seasons of content planned for the
13:15next 12 months and the big question on
13:17everyone's lips is will we actually get
13:19all four of those Seasons most likely
13:22yes but I certainly wouldn't count on
13:24season 5 changing Tac now there was
13:26another major piece of news that broke
13:27the minute this show went up last week
13:29and it was the Nintendo partner direct
13:31to be fair though calling it major news
13:33is probably a bit of a stretch as this
13:34was one webinar that certainly did not
13:36bring the house down still there were
13:38some exciting tidbits in there like the
13:39official confirmation of which Xbox
13:41games were headed to switch both
13:42obsidians grounded and pament will
13:44arrive on Nintendo's handheld in
13:46February and April respectively later
13:48reporting would reveal that sea of
13:49Thieves and Hi-Fi Rush would arrive on
13:51PS5 at some point in the future and
13:53there was even a rumor that high-fi Rush
13:54may be a large title for the Nintendo
13:56switch 2 Xbox doing the compettition
13:58ition a solid by helping them out with
14:00their third party launch lineup outside
14:02of that we got a good long look at
14:03vanillaware's unicorn Overlord it's
14:05looking fantastic and there's a demo out
14:07for it right now that'll carry over to
14:08the full game when it releases on March
14:098th monster hunter story started out as
14:12a DS title before making its way to
14:13Apple arcade and now sometime this year
14:15it'll land on the switch Disney's Epic
14:17Mickey rebrush is something that
14:19absolutely no one saw coming but it's a
14:21remaster of the cult classic 3D
14:23platformer weird descriptor for any
14:25Disney product but there are quite a few
14:27reasons why this one is still about to
14:29this day not least of which the fact
14:30that it was made by the same guy who
14:32made DSX Warren Spectre South Park snow
14:34day is looking a little janky but maybe
14:36that's the point either way it releases
14:38March 26th another crabs treasure is a
14:41craba likee soulslike I played this one
14:43last year at Summer Games Fest and
14:45really enjoyed it also met the two Lads
14:46behind it as well and they were pretty
14:47good bands this one drops on April 25th
14:50pepper grinder is the next thing from
14:51devolver Stu actually check this one out
14:53during the recent steam nextfest he
14:55loved it and good news for him this one
14:56is coming soon now set for a March 28
14:58release date Endless Ocean is a sequel
15:01to a little known but much loved
15:02Nintendo Wii game I hadn't actually
15:04heard of this one before but speaking to
15:05people after this direct I learned that
15:07it was this very Chill Vibes based
15:09underwater exploration game that really
15:11struck a cord with people back in the
15:12day I guess it was to the we crowd what
15:15Echo the dolphin was for us back in the
15:1716bit era regardless Endless Ocean
15:19luminous is a sequel that allows you and
15:20up to 15 of your M to scuba dive through
15:22the depths while taking photos and just
15:24being a happy underwater person this
15:26one's dropping on May 2nd finally the
15:28announcement that I was most excited
15:30about was the Star Wars Battlefront
15:32classic collection a remastering of the
15:34absolutely legendary multiplayer
15:36Shooters if you didn't experienc these
15:37back in their Heyday then I really can't
15:39communicate to you just how good and how
15:41fun these games were the scale of them
15:43was absolutely insane for that era and
15:45while the recent EA made Battlefront
15:47games did a good job of capturing the
15:48Cinematic action they could never quite
15:50capture the fun the same way these
15:52Classics did this remaster features up
15:53to 64 player battles as well as new maps
15:56and game modes never before available
15:58seems like like a real love letter and
15:59I'm extremely excited to get my hands on
16:01it when this package arrives on the 14th
16:02of March a quick lightning round to
16:04finish off hell divers 2 continues to
16:06suffer from success but things are
16:08looking up over the past week developer
16:09Arrowhead Studios has up server capacity
16:11to 700,000 current players and then
16:14immediately upped it again to 800k they
16:16also have taken steps to Auto kick
16:18people who were afking in the servers
16:20trying to keep their spots so taking
16:21together these action should make it a
16:23hell of a lot easier for people to start
16:25spreading democracy far and wide God
16:27speed I wish I was with you but you know
16:29I played scullin Burns instead Bowers
16:31Gate 3 developer laran Studios has
16:33announced that they are working towards
16:34adding official mod support for the game
16:36it will be crossplatform which means we
16:38can expect it to work on consoles as
16:39well at some point soon it'll be easier
16:42than ever before to download and play
16:44your favorite Boulders Gate 3 sex mods I
16:46mean mods Sony announced this past
16:48weekend that they are testing PC support
16:50for the psvr2 headset they're looking to
16:52roll that out more broadly in 2024 but
16:54it's unclear if Sony will limit
16:55functionality to certain PC titles or
16:58make it get usable across anything on
16:59steam or otherwise if they do make it an
17:02unrestricted PC enabled headset that
17:04would be a big deal because firstly
17:06there are quite a few of these headsets
17:08out in the wild and that would be a nice
17:09boost to the pcvr scene secondly Sony's
17:12headset is actually excellent offering
17:14some of the best resolutions you can get
17:15on a VR headset finally it's one less
17:18wall in the labyrinthine world of VR
17:20where each platform is locking down
17:22hardware and software releases resulting
17:24in a deeply fragmented VR Market that
17:26holds back every major release hat off
17:28to anything that seeks to move us on
17:30from all that nonsense we've got our
17:31first look at the Borderlands movie this
17:33week and people did not like what they
17:35saw the official trailer has about 6
17:37and5 million views with only 40% of
17:40people clicking on that Thumbs Up Button
17:42Chief complaints seem to be about the
17:43tone which feels a little I don't know
17:46played out at this point I think we
17:47learned that lesson the Hardway in
17:48Borderlands 3 the other main issue is
17:51the casting with people complaining that
17:53the cast are too old one YouTube
17:55comments sued up by saying quote this is
17:57like someone told an AI to make a
17:59Borderlands movie for people who like
18:01the Cheesecake Factory quot I'm sorry I
18:05lose it every time I read that look I
18:07don't know on the one hand I don't think
18:09their age matters per se as much as like
18:11are these the right people for these
18:14characters like is Kate blanched really
18:16Lilith is Kevin Hart really Roland I
18:20don't think so so yeah I don't know it's
18:21just too early to judge but I do have a
18:24bit of a bad feeling about this one and
18:25have you noticed that the keyart photo
18:27thing looks the same as the suicide
18:29squad thing not a good sign Frost Giants
18:32is a newly formed Studio comprised
18:34primarily of Blizzard RTS refugees they
18:36formed up to carry forward that RTS
18:38torch and their first release stormgate
18:40had a demo during the next first that
18:41got a strong response the studio had
18:43previously raised about $2 million on
18:45Kickstarter and an additional $34
18:47million from investors but apparently
18:49that's not enough and as such they've
18:51now launched a crowd Equity investment
18:53campaign where you can invest to get a
18:55Teensy tiny slice of the action I don't
18:58know exactly how I feel about that sort
18:59of stuff to be honest but I don't love
19:01it no Studio can give people enough
19:02actual information with which to make an
19:04informed investment decision so any
19:06money invested feels like a real blind
19:08bet regardless storm Gates campaign is
19:10set to launch in March so we'll know a
19:12lot more then about how the game is
19:13shaping up some quick Styles numbers
19:15just FYI Tales of arise has now sold
19:17through 3 million units an awesome
19:19result for a release that was a great
19:20moment for jrpg fans Indie Survival game
19:23in Shroud just hit 2 million units which
19:25is massive but nowhere near as massive
19:28as the other Indie Survival game that
19:30launched just a week and a bit prior
19:32power world has now officially hit the
19:3425 million player Mark 15 million of
19:37those on Steam and 10 million on Xbox
19:39platforms absolutely insane Elden ring
19:42shadow of the earth tree requires the
19:43base game to play but that shouldn't be
19:45a problem since Elden ring has now sold
19:46through 23 million copies and the game
19:48that basically kickstarted my career as
19:50a games reviewer NE automa has now
19:53officially sold through 8 million units
19:55before we had Tifa we had 2B hopefully y
19:58could guar is hard at work on a third
19:59near game right now and if his recent
20:01hints or anything to go by that may well
20:03be the case and finally Capcom has
20:05officially apologize for Street Fighter
20:075 being a little bit [Â __Â ] celebrating
20:10the success of Street Fighter 6 Capcom
20:12tweeted out a statement about how much
20:13they learn from the failings of five
20:15quote the initial phases of release
20:17betrayed players expectations in many
20:19ways including network issues and a lack
20:22of content this is something we are
20:23truly sorry for end quote okay cool
20:27thank you appreciate appreciate that now
20:29I would like an apology for Resident
20:31Evil reverse umbrella core the Monster
20:33Hunter movie and I want an apology every
20:35single year that you don't announce a
20:37Dino Crisis remake I think it's only
20:39fair thank you very much so what got
20:40announced or delayed this week a lot of
20:42stuff that's what so hold on to your
20:44butts here we go filthy Heretics
20:47prepared to be made clean by the
20:49emperor's power washer that is correct
20:52power watch simulator has done
20:54crossovers with Final Fantasy Tomb
20:55Raider and SpongeBob but this may well
20:57be their most glorious yet for it gives
20:59you the chance to enter the emperor's
21:01service dispense with Divine Purpose all
21:03manner of soaps and suds let the
21:05emperor's hatred for Filth flow through
21:07you like water and cleaning agents flow
21:09through your power washers nozzle this
21:10is available right now as a paid update
21:12for consoles PC and servos skulls if
21:15you're a fan of pit cross then you might
21:16be interested in pit cross s+ a
21:19collection of all the pit cross games
21:20from the 3DS era in one- handy Nintendo
21:22switch package it's just announced no
21:24release date yet but it does arrive
21:25sometime this year funog Studios is a
21:27newly formed outfit comprised of former
21:29AAA veterans from Studios including
21:31BioWare and gorilla their first game is
21:33called the forever winter and it's a
21:35Sci-Fi third person looter shooter that
21:37is a risky genre to be making a bet on
21:39these days they just released a
21:41cinematic trailer which had plenty of
21:42style but of course until we see some
21:44actual gameplay we certainly shouldn't
21:45get too excited it's listed as coming
21:47soon on their website but no specific
21:49date yet and it's exclusive to PC for
21:51the moment hinting that it may be an
21:52early access launch when it hits ninja
21:54550 is famous for being one of the most
21:56sought after Game Boy Advent advaned
21:58games hell if you take a look at some of
21:59the eBay listings you will see carts
22:01going for thousands of dollars well
22:03those collectors might be a little peev
22:05to learn that limited run games and
22:07Konami are joining up to publish the
22:08game again it's listed as both a
22:10physical and digital release meaning we
22:12should expect both GBA carts as well as
22:14ports to other platforms no word on
22:16release date yet but it is on its way
22:18llama soft the Jeff M story is a
22:20collection of 42 games from the
22:21Legendary game designer this was earlier
22:23announced but now has a release date
22:24locked in for March 13th Rainbow 6 mole
22:28and yes before you ask they really did
22:30call it that it's a new isometric Rog
22:32likee shooter starring the Rainbow 6
22:34operators this is a mobile game and I
22:36know it's easy to roll our eyes at this
22:38one and certainly the like ratio and
22:39comments on the YouTube trailer have
22:41been less than positive but this has
22:43been made in partnership with Netflix
22:45and it has no microtransactions it's
22:47made by a team of 10 people at Ubisoft I
22:49personally am okay with UB making these
22:52sorts of games though them being
22:53exclusive to Netflix is a massive bummer
22:55they're usually only locked up like that
22:57for a year though so around this time
22:59next year we should be able to get our
23:00hands on it more easily and you know
23:01what it actually looks pretty fun so I
23:03will check this out at some point blood
23:05was one of the Darlings of the most
23:06recent steam NEX channeling the art
23:08design and humor of classic Cartoon
23:10Network stuff back in the day this one
23:12is now locked in for June 18th release
23:14date The Perfect warm up for shadow of
23:16the earth tree which drops 3 Days Later
23:19tempt swarm is a new game in the temp
23:21Universe it's basically vampire
23:23survivors meets Tim which definitely has
23:26about the same air of inspiration that
23:27of pal world to meteoric success still
23:30the temptem community are pretty pissed
23:32off about this one as it arrives while
23:34developer creme signal that they're
23:35moving on from temptem as their primary
23:37focus the community feels as though the
23:39game never got the sort of updates and
23:40new content it deserved to make it grow
23:42hence they're being quite annoyed to see
23:44this spin-off game announced instead of
23:45a tempte expansion either way tempt
23:47swarm is what's coming next and it
23:49arrives sometime quarter 3 this year
23:51Paradox are trying to take a bite out of
23:52that Civilization pie with something
23:54they're calling Millennia it's looking
23:56interesting but it's always hard to tell
23:57with these sorts of games games until
23:58you get your hands on them this was
23:59earlier revealed but now has a release
24:01date locked in for March 26th PC
24:03exclusive of course biggest and best
24:05announcement for the week is a follow-up
24:07to one a little while ago where gearbox
24:09temporarily brought back gigantic while
24:12saying they had no plans to make it a
24:14permanent thing obviously that was a
24:16total [Â __Â ] lie because you don't
24:17bring a game back from the dead for just
24:193 days and now that lie has been
24:21thoroughly put to bed with the
24:22announcement of gigantic Rampage Edition
24:25a re-release of the title as a premium
24:27AKA paid game where the original was
24:30always intended to be free to play I
24:32played this back in the day for a few
24:33hours and I really enjoyed it it's
24:35visual style premise and charm really
24:36carried it a great distance and it's
24:38unsurprising to see so many people still
24:40holding a candle for it all these years
24:41later this is set to launch on April 9th
24:43exclusive to PC for the moment no word
24:45yet on if it'll make the jump to
24:47consoles two delay announcements for the
24:48week the first is for prison architect
24:50which while only announced in January
24:52has already slipped from its planned
24:53March release date it'll now arrive on
24:55May 7th the other delay is of the more
24:58permanent variety ever since epic ceased
25:00development on Paragon a number of
25:02community and Studio based projects have
25:04been looking to keep that game alive
25:06this week one of those efforts bowed out
25:08of the race this one was from net marble
25:10and it was called Paragon the overprime
25:12it actually got epic's blessing as the
25:14official project to carry the Legacy
25:16forward but that didn't save it as this
25:17week the studio announced quote after
25:19careful consideration we concluded that
25:21we will not be able to provide a stable
25:22and satisfying service moving forward
25:24end quote that leaves one other major
25:26project standing the called predecessor
25:29this one's a lot more Grassroots and
25:30bootstrap but the team behind it have
25:31raised a few million dollars in funding
25:33so there's hope they'll be able to keep
25:34the game alive for a while yet because
25:36hey if they're bringing gigantic back
25:38then the third person MOBA still has a
25:40chance and anything is possible so what
25:42came out last week well you probably
25:44missed it because we certainly did but
25:45batro launched on all platforms this
25:48week and it has absolutely torn it up
25:51this is an indie deck builder based very
25:53Loosely on poker but it departs pretty
25:55quickly from that jumping off point as
25:56you realize that Breaking All the poker
25:58rules is kind of the point this one did
26:00very well for itself during the recent
26:02steam nextfest but I don't think anyone
26:03could have predicted these review scores
26:05it's currently sitting at 98%
26:07overwhelmingly positive on Steam with
26:09over 7,000 reviews in and critics are
26:12seeing the same tune putting it at a
26:13mighty 92 on open critic making it the
26:16second highest rated game of the year
26:18that is nuts and it very much reminds me
26:20of the success that inscription enjoyed
26:22back in 2021 when it turned the deck
26:24building genre on its head in its own
26:25unique way I haven't had the chance to
26:27boot this one up yet but our man edman
26:29has and here's what he had to say quote
26:31there's no fluff this is pure game
26:33design gold it inspires compulsive Play
26:36It's supremely moish and it made me
26:38install Steam link on my phone so I
26:40could play it in bed end quote can't
26:42really imagine a more Sterling
26:43endorsement than that I've got some
26:44travel book coming up in March and this
26:46will certainly be top of my steam deck
26:47playlist during that trip Nightingale is
26:49a new Survival game from a group of
26:51former BioWare veterans I've been
26:53tracking this one pretty closely from
26:54the moment it was announced really
26:56excited about the UniQue Ideas it was is
26:57looking to bring sadly it just seems as
26:59though it has not come together either
27:01from a technical or design perspective
27:03on the technical side the game is in
27:05very rough shape with plenty of bugs and
27:07a very underbed UI but the big issue is
27:09that the game does not support offline
27:11play meaning you always need to connect
27:13to servers provided by the studio and
27:15it's like why why did you do that that
27:18not only costs the studio more money but
27:21it results in a worse experience for
27:22most people especially those like us in
27:25Australia since there weren't any oce at
27:27launch so the game was essentially
27:29unplayable for us due to latency they've
27:31since spun up some oce servers but to
27:34get on them you need to create a whole
27:36new character so if you're like Austin
27:39and you've already dumped like 30 hours
27:41into a non oce character then all of
27:44that progress was wasted and that's
27:46setting aside a number of the core
27:47gameplay uses that the game suffers from
27:49notably a big focus on grinding on gear
27:51score gating and some very repetitive
27:53dungeon design all of this has
27:55culminated in a very hostile reception
27:57the title sitting at a mixed 60% on
27:59Steam with over 6,000 reviews counted no
28:01critic scores for this one yet as it's
28:02an early access release so scores will
28:04come in 1.0 but long story short this
28:06game has a long long way to go before
28:09it's ready to compete with the very
28:10crowded field of survival contenders if
28:12you're at all interested in more detail
28:14Austin is working on the Deep dive
28:16review for that one at the moment so be
28:17sure to subscribe to the channel and
28:18ding the Bell so you'll know the moment
28:20that review goes live again game that
28:21used its considerable Early Access
28:23period very wisely is last Epoch the
28:25arpg which launched into 1.0 this week
28:28now it 2 is sitting at a mixed 60% on
28:30Steam at the time of riding but the
28:32difference here is that people are very
28:33happy with the game itself and are just
28:35pissed off that the servers are [Â __Â ]
28:36themselves under the weight of the Play
28:38account which is pecking at over 250,000
28:41current players which is nuts for a
28:43little Indie arpg with absolutely no
28:45marketing spend behind it much like
28:46Arrowhead studi last EPO developer has
28:48also been scrambling to increase server
28:50capacity another case of suffering from
28:53success which is a nice contrast to the
28:54more typical suffering from sucking
28:56we've had from more recent live service
28:58AAA releases critically last Epoch sits
29:01at a strong 80 on open critic IGN scored
29:03this one in eight saying quote push past
29:05its one note campaign and last Epoch is
29:07an impressive time bending action RPG
29:09that combines Rich customization with
29:11modern action end quote definitely one
29:13worth checking out when the servers do
29:14Cal down or just right now if you plan
29:17to play solo because shock horror the
29:20game features on offline mode I know
29:23it's unbelievable how about that what's
29:24old is New Again God bless Terminator
29:27fake Defiance is an RTS game set in The
29:29Terminator Universe it had the least
29:31amount of marketing of any game I've
29:32ever seen leading me to worry that this
29:34one was D away but apparently it's
29:35pretty decent on Steam it's sitting at a
29:37mostly positive 70% and there's only a
29:39few critic reviews in at the moment but
29:40they're all hovering at around the 80%
29:42Mark don't expect anything amazing but
29:44if you're in the mood for a fairly
29:45workmanlike RTS set in The Terminator
29:47Universe then you literally have no
29:49other options but luckily this one isn't
29:51a bad one our second of three survival
29:53games that launched this past week is
29:55Sons of the forest and it had a very
29:57sucess successful launch into 1.0 it's
29:58sitting at a very positive 89% on Steam
30:01though almost no critic reviews are out
30:02for it yet suggesting that critics are
30:04still working through what appears to be
30:05a fairly chunky game long story short
30:07there doesn't appear to be any major red
30:09flags with this 1.0 release so if you
30:11are eyeing this one as either a
30:12returning fan or as a first- timer it
30:14seems like a pretty safe bet the third
30:16and final Survival game that dropped
30:17this past week is Pacific drive now
30:19listen I've spoken about this game a lot
30:21in a big preview in a full length review
30:24and in the most recent episode of the
30:26FPS podcast so I won't say much more
30:28about it here other than I absolutely
30:30loved this I think it is so immersive so
30:32dense with the atmosphere and so smartly
30:34put together it's a brilliant video game
30:36that's selling for like 25 bucks on PS5
30:38and PC it's quite arduous at times but
30:41if you're willing to push through that
30:42then you're going to find something so
30:44rewarding on the other side so I really
30:46do recommend checking this out if you're
30:47in the mood for something totally fresh
30:49if you want to learn more about that
30:51I'll leave a link to my full review
30:52below the like button and finally here's
30:54another one you may have missed Solium
30:56infernum this this is actually a remake
30:58of a little known and very Niche 2009
31:00title and it's an asynchronous
31:02multiplayer experience meaning you and
31:04four friends can play a game but you
31:06don't need to be playing at the same
31:07time you take turns like a board game
31:10and so the game can progress either
31:11quickly or slowly depending on
31:13everyone's level of commitment or Focus
31:14It's a grand strategy game that looks
31:16like it's 4X but it's definitely not
31:18it's actually much weirder allowing you
31:19to execute some really out-of thee box
31:21strategies in pursuit of Victory think
31:23board game Shenanigans where people get
31:25to make up their own rules and you're a
31:26lot of the way they are critically this
31:28has done exceptionally well sitting at a
31:30very positive 88% on Steam and a mighty
31:3288 on open critic to match PC games and
31:35scored this one a nine saying quote
31:37solum infernum regards strategy as a
31:39game of intellect patience and
31:40observation put into those terms it
31:42might sound dry but its visual flare
31:44combined with the ingenious way it turns
31:46abstract ideas into tangible
31:48comprehensible and thrilling game
31:50mechanics make it irresistibly playable
31:52end quote so what's coming out this week
31:54well there's a few things with a very
31:55pleasant mix of scale and genre a little
31:57something for everyone as IGN might say
32:00kicking things off is Brothers A Tale of
32:01Two Sons remake Joseph Farris hit the
32:03big time with it takes two so now
32:05they're going back and redoing the game
32:07that began his game making career expect
32:09nicer visuals and various gameplay
32:10tweaks it arrives today for all
32:12platforms by the switch night dive
32:14studios's next classic remaster is
32:16finally here and it's Star Wars dark
32:17Forces one of the absolute goats of Star
32:20Wars Shooters up there with Republic
32:21Commando and the soon to be re-released
32:23original Star Wars Battlefront games
32:25night dive really put a foot wrong so
32:27every reason to expect this would be
32:28great when it launches today for all
32:30platforms biggest release of the week
32:32and quite possibly the biggest of the
32:34year is Final Fantasy 7 rebirth arriving
32:38exclusively for PS5 tomorrow because
32:40Sony continued to spend vast sums of
32:42money to keep this series off Xbox still
32:45do note that the exclusivity window is
32:47only until the end of May this year so
32:49while an Xbox Port remains unlikely
32:51there's every reason to suspect a PC
32:53Port should be arriving around then as
32:55for how the game is well it is currently
32:57the highest rated Game of the Year
33:00sitting at a 93 on open critic that
33:03actually makes it the second highest
33:05rated Final Fantasy game of all time
33:07after Final Fantasy 9 but that's
33:09according to Metacritic which has far
33:11far fewer reviews on record for ff9 than
33:14the nearly 100 reviews that went up for
33:16rebirth bottom line according to the
33:18critics at least this is probably the
33:20best modern Final Fantasy game ever
33:23where's my review for it you might ask
33:24well good question square and X work
33:26kind enough to send a code for it but
33:28they also said that there was a 10minute
33:30limit on how much recorded footage you
33:33could show in that review Now setting
33:35aside the fact that 10 minutes of
33:36footage for a game that stretches up to
33:3870 or 80 hours long is a ridiculous
33:41limit there's also the fact that you
33:43need a solid 10 minutes of just TAA
33:45clipse in any review otherwise the crowd
33:47riots I do not make the rules for that
33:49reason my review will be out after the
33:51capture limits have lifted and also
33:53after I've actually finished the game
33:54because I'll tell you this I never ever
33:57ever 100% any game I play because I have
34:00neither the time nor the inclination to
34:02play games that way but I am 100 pering
34:05everything so far in rebirth because I
34:08absolutely love it and I'm just soaking
34:10it all in so look forward to that review
34:13at some point in the future most likely
34:15next week Expeditions a mudrunner game
34:17is another one of those physics based
34:19driving games that your dad goes nuts
34:21over and you make fun of him until you
34:23play it for like 10 minutes and then you
34:24look at the clock and realize it's been
34:257 hours and you're now wearing a trucker
34:27hat for some reason this one's hitting
34:29all platforms on March 5th the Outlast
34:31trials looks way too scary for the likes
34:33of me but I'm told it's a rather
34:35excellent Co-op horror experience it's
34:37been in Early Access since May of last
34:38year and on March 5th it'll hit 1.0
34:41launching on all platforms by the switch
34:43and finally if you're looking for
34:44something with a bit of retro flare then
34:46consider checking out berserk boy
34:47launching for the switch and the PC on
34:49the 6th it's clearly drawing a lot of
34:51inspiration from Mega Man but it's got a
34:52lot more speed and flow to it so like
34:55Sonic meets Mega Man and actually yeah
34:57that sounds pretty sick so no wonder
34:59this looks so good now I know that some
35:01of you have already seen this but it is
35:03important that everyone sees this so put
35:06this on your radar and please wait until
35:09the drop please do not skip ahead roll
35:12let du we don't know where he came
35:16from but I'll tell you he built our
35:19village into a city he's the one who
35:23trained our army who grew us into an
35:28I don't know where he's from but if you
35:31think you can stop him you're already
35:40dead see there would have been plenty of
35:42folks who would have skipped ahead after
35:44that first 10 or so seconds dismissing
35:46this as yet another Medieval Warfare
35:48game probably from Paradox not you
35:50though you stuck it out and you got to
35:52witness the glory that is King makers a
35:55game that combines two of your dad's
35:56Favorite Things medieval history and
35:58pickup trucks and also semi-automatic
36:01Weaponry if your dad is American King
36:03makers appears to be what it says on the
36:04tin for I imagine that any time traveler
36:07who remembers to bring a minigun with
36:08them can put whomever they please on the
36:11throne it looks like ridiculous Bonkers
36:14over the toop silliness which is rather
36:15in line for this studio whose last game
36:18was Road Redemption a spiritual
36:20successor to the legendary Road Rash you
36:22know that one where you beat people with
36:24a stick while racing on a motorcycle
36:26yeah that one anyway King makers looks
36:28incredible it has a lot of power world
36:29energy going on where you take two
36:31completely disperate ideas and smoosh
36:33them together to make something cool
36:35it's hitting all the right notes and I'm
36:36Keen to check it out when it releases
36:37sometime this year if you want to wish
36:39list it I've left a link to it over on
36:40my steam curator page which also has
36:42links to all of the other put this on
36:43your radar stuff I've recently covered
36:45I'll leave a link to all of that below
36:46the like button sort of free stuff time
36:48now and we are in the last week of the
36:49month so be sure to grab your ps+ games
36:51before they disappear outside of that
36:53epic is still giving away Super Meat Boy
36:55again but later this week it'll tick
36:56over to Aerial Knights never yield a 2d
36:59Runner that I tried a while ago and I
37:01did not enjoy but hey it's gotten some
37:02updates since then so maybe it's worth a
37:04second look Xbox game pass is having
37:06itself one hell of a month let me tell
37:07you major highlights include Tales of
37:09arise which we mentioned earlier has now
37:11sold through 3 million units and is
37:13regarded as one of the best jrpgs
37:14released this console generation
37:16speaking of generation game of the
37:18generation Maneater is on there it is
37:20unironically a great filler game the
37:23perfect pallet cleanser before you dive
37:24into some big meaty RPG the Bluey game
37:27is also available though it is not very
37:29good so the game pass price point is
37:30spot on Warhammer 40K bolt gun is a
37:33surprisingly excellent Boomer shooter
37:34that you're very likely to enjoy even if
37:36you aren't a 40K nerd and last minute
37:38Edition Dead Island 2 is a very welcome
37:40surprise this game was actually pretty
37:43great despite having one of the most
37:44cursed development Cycles in the history
37:46of video games it's a lot like Maneater
37:48actually it's simple dumb fun but it
37:50Nails the fundamentals while never
37:52taking itself too seriously honestly
37:54give it a shot if you haven't I think
37:55you'll be pleasantly surprised finally
37:56something out left field is please touch
37:58the artwork 2 it's a clever narrative
38:00game using modern artwork with some very
38:02disturbing twists hiding behind each
38:03frame it's only about 2 hours long and
38:05is totally free so enjoy yourself that's
38:07available on Steam right now all right
38:09it's been one hell of an episode A lot
38:11of it are real bummer so for our
38:12feel-good story for the week I thought
38:14we might enjoy something a little more
38:16relaxing a little more downtempo so roll
38:33this is the latest Innovation out of the
38:35Pokémon company they saw the craziness
38:37and Insanity of pal world and thought to
38:39themselves how do we compete with that
38:41the answer doing the exact opposite
38:43thing this is an official series of
38:45YouTube videos uploaded to Pokemon's
38:47YouTube channel and they themselves
38:49label it ASMR it's meant to accompany
38:51the Pokémon sleep app which is an app
38:53that gamifies sleep the same way that
38:55Pokémon go game of I walking there are
38:57three of these videos which just involve
38:59looking at Pokémon while they fall
39:01asleep as the voice actor Yuki Kaji
39:04Whispers sweet nothings into your ear
39:05he's a well-known voice actor and among
39:07his many roles he's played Aaron jger in
39:10Attack on Titan and if you've seen that
39:11performance you'd know that ASMR is a
39:14very far cry from that so you know good
39:16on him for having that kind of range his
39:18YouTube videos are up now on Pokemon's
39:20YouTube channel they are in Japanese
39:21only but that doesn't matter since it's
39:23all about the Vibes if you're in the
39:24mood for some sleepy times I'll leave a
39:26link below the like button and speaking
39:28of the like button have you slapped it
39:30yet it's been a huge show one that
39:32myself Edmond and Stu had to basically
39:34rewrite and redo at the last minute so
39:36if you enjoyed it we'd really appreciate
39:38it if you could show that like button
39:39some love and consider maybe subscribing
39:41since we do this each and every week you
39:43might even want to hit that notification
39:44Bell so you'll know the minute a video
39:46goes live do look forward to Austin's
39:47review of night and gal dropping later
39:49this week and my final fantasy7 rebirth
39:51review sometime next week thank you
39:53again for tuning in and a big thanks to
39:54this week's sponsor brilliant
39:58so right now you might have a gym
40:00membership to stay in shape you might
40:01have a Netflix subscription to help you
40:03chill out hell you might even have a
40:04subscription to a newspaper or online
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40:08going on in the world or with a hobby or
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40:11me ask you this though are you investing
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40:33ways to learn about things like science
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40:37and more they have courses big and small
40:39simple and in-depth all of them
40:40Illuminating something that seemed at
40:41first impenetrable but really you just
40:43needed someone to explain it to you
40:45properly or you needed to learn by doing
40:47which is another thing that brilliant
40:48excels at since its courses almost
40:50always contain some interactive element
40:52that let you apply and test your
40:53learning on the spot the stuff isn't
40:55just interesting it can also be be
40:56really useful if you work in data
40:58programming then the stuff you learn
40:59here can help you be better at your job
41:01and just having a sharper more Curious
41:03mind is going to hold you in good stad
41:05no matter what you're doing lately I've
41:06been doing a course on large language
41:08models or llms these are the things that
41:10power most of the AI tools that are
41:12popped up recently and regardless of
41:13what you think about AI it's really
41:15useful to at least understand how this
41:16technology works because it's probably
41:18going to have a pretty big impact on our
41:19lives in the future one thing I really
41:21like about brilliant is that it gamifies
41:23your learning breaking your progression
41:24down into manageable chunks giving you
41:26experience points and achievements for
41:28completing courses and gradually upping
41:30the complexity as you get more
41:31proficient in a topic best of all
41:33they've got a mobile app allowing you to
41:34log in and start learning whenever
41:36you've got a spare 5 or 10 minutes sure
41:38you could boot up a mobile game and I
41:39absolutely do that as well but now I
41:42also booed up brilliant from time to
41:43time I find it just as fun and
41:45interesting and it's actually useful you
41:47can try brilliant for free for 30 days
41:49but if you do want to get an annual
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41:54annual subscription to sign up visit
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42:03over at brilliant.org
42:05skillup thanks brilliant for sponsoring
42:07the video and thank you for watching
