The gaming industry is imploding !?

Xbox chaos, PS6 uncertainty, and a tiny handheld that keeps embarrassing the “power” conversation all collide in one week. We sit down and talk through the reports of major Xbox layoffs and studios potentially on the chopping block, and what that does to creativity when teams are building games under constant fear and shifting strategy. If you’ve ever wondered whether acquisitions and exclusives actually fix the core problem, we wrestle with that head-on. 

From there we jump to the next-gen elephant in the room: PS6 timing. With component costs surging and analysts hinting at a 2027 or even 2028 launch, we ask what Sony can realistically ship without pricing normal players out. If consoles creep toward $1,000, do we still get the classic “new generation,” or do we end up with a set-top-box style future where ecosystems matter more than hardware leaps? 

And then Switch 2 barges in with the most interesting twist: Unreal Engine’s lighting updates and smarter scaling suggest software might be the real next-gen. We debate ray tracing vs baked lighting, why the difference often doesn’t matter unless you’re doing side-by-side tests, and why portability changes what “great performance” feels like. Along the way, we get into trophy chasing burnout, pick-up-and-play gaming, and the weird power of nostalgia when old favorites hit just right. 

If you like smart gaming takes with a bit of chaos, subscribe, share the show with a friend, and leave a review so more people can find us.

Transcript

Welcome And Week’s Headlines

SPEAKER_06 0:20

Hello, and welcome to the unofficial controller podcast, your weekly gaming podcast, episode number three hundred and twenty-four, with me, George, and this week joined by the living legend Bobby. Legend to my lunch hour. Now, before I ask him how it's going, I've now legally obliged to give YouTube its props. So this week we're going to be talking about some brutal goings on at Xbox in terms of studio closures. Um, some analysts believe that uh Sony are trying to delay the PS6. And over on the Switch 2, we get some Unreal Engine rollout news, which is uh great news and looking forward to talking about that and a whole lot more with the Living Legend that is Bobby. Bobby, now I've satiated the uh AI overlords. How are you doing?

SPEAKER_02 1:06

I'm doing good, man. Can't complain. Uh um I didn't play too many games this this week, or a week and a half. Week

Quick Plays And Lego Batman Joy

SPEAKER_02 1:18

and a half, really. So uh I saw a He Man in Triers.

SPEAKER_06 1:24

Let's just give me a quick overview of the games, just drop those so we can try and pass ourselves off as a gaming show.

SPEAKER_02 1:31

Totally got done with uh nine lives defend, the little cat game I was playing, like the um that vampire survivor type game. Yeah, got that done. And and actually almost made a mistake because I had one trophy left. Forgot about the portal that I can't record the footage, so I saved it and then up one back to the PlayStation and then did it. So I can actually get the little video clip, which is good. Listen, you know what? Not a bad game. I mean, for five dollars, it was what I like, like I said, you take your time, you have a portal, it's a perfect portal game. Um enjoyable. Then I've been strictly playing Lego Batman, really knocking that out. My problem is, as most open world games, I don't follow the story. So I see stuff on the map and I go for it. Then I really I don't have the weapons for it because I have to continue the story. So now I'm like, you know what? Let me just advance the story a little bit. And if anything in my way of getting to the point to the story, I'll do. If not, I'll just get it to done uh maybe with the last two levels of the story. I should have everything unlocked by then. So hopefully get all the side stuff, the side stuff. But really, really enjoying it. I have been strictly playing in the Batman 89 costume. Oh wow, do you get that Batmobile as well? Or yeah, you get it. You could you could buy it from the swimming. As soon as you unlock the Batcave, you could unlock some stuff. So I had money, you could buy the Batman vs. Suitman Batmobile, you get the 66 Batmobile, Keaton's, and then Batman and Robbins.

SPEAKER_06 3:03

You can't are you telling me in Batman in Lego Batman, you can jump in whichever Batmobile you like, drive out the Batcave, no loading, tear down a leaf-filled street until you hit the outskirts of Gotham, and then that's it. 1,000%. You can even the game you always wanted.

SPEAKER_02 3:25

Oh you could dive out of the Batmobile in Arkham Arkham Nightstyle. I go full speed with the burst, I hit that circle button, and I'm out the Batmobile, 200 feet in the air, gliding across Gotham City, and it looks fantastic. Like it looks phenomenal. You can even tell the little detail of the fabric cape. That's how detail it is.

SPEAKER_06 3:54

I love this, but I'm also a little bit disappointed, and I'd imagine you are, that the perfect Batman game has ended up being based on a kid's construction toy. As much as I love Lego, yeah. The actual foundations leave the Batcave, go to Gotham. We've never had that. We've never actually ever had that dream fulfilled. It's always, oh, you're in the bat's nest, or oh, you're hanging out in this secondary batcave or some drivel like that. This apart from the VR experience, I suppose, where you do go to the Batcave, but you then again, it's you're immediately in Gotham. It's not as though you've traversed. So I find this great, but at the same token highly frustrating. But yeah, so that's not cut around anymore.

He-Man Nostalgia And 4DX Madness

SPEAKER_06 4:50

I grew up at a performative age through a period of time in the 80s where kids' cartoons were much more than they are now. And He Man is the movie you went to see.

SPEAKER_02 5:06

Yeah. Right. And then maybe 10 years ago, we were in the street, meeting people walking around Astoria, and someone had a DVD sale, like a patio sale, and he had She-Ra collection, Masters of the Universe, She-Ra, which is his sister. People think it's his girlfriend, it's his sister. And then Master of the Universe, like I thought it was his cousin. Yeah, I think it's his sister. It's his sister.

SPEAKER_04 5:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 5:38

And I'm like, oh my god, like this. I I need to buy this. I mean, how much is it? Like seven bucks, seven bucks, bro. Oh, here's 10. I gotta go. We literally went, we want to eat, we want, we want to watch it. Now I remember, you know, I remember it being like kind of Conan-ish, where he's like, you know, like the little loinclaw of the sword and the sword fights. But as I'm watching the DVD, the cartoon again, like you know, as an adult, I'm like, first of all, there's spaceships, which I completely forgot about. Yeah, there's laser guns, yeah, there's all types of planets around it. It's all types of wonky magic and science, and I'm like, yeah, this is way beyond what I thought. But I almost had every single toy, and I loved He-Man. And I even did enjoy the uh Doc London version of He-Man. I remember going, my dad took him to the theater to see it.

SPEAKER_06 6:28

The only disappointing thing in that is Orco ended up looking like one of the Lexus Paul horror movies.

SPEAKER_02 6:34

They did the best they could at the time, but like, and I also don't understand why he can't why he came out to Earth, and then I understood it. You know, as you rewatch things, I think every time you love a film, every 10 years you watch it, you get a new perspective of the film. Yeah, you do. Yeah, so I went in to watch He-Man, like, you know what? Listen, we're just gonna sit back, just watch it, have a good time, and then go eat after. My mother-in-law watched the baby, so we're there. Now, I don't know if you have a regal theater in the UK. I'm sure there is. No. But we saw it in 4DX. Now, I got the matinee. It was a 12:30 show. So I got the matinee, and it was $24 ticket, right? Whatever. We get the popcorn, we get the soda, we're hanging out, and then the movie starts. And I'm like, you know, these seats suck because they don't recline. And I remember going to that theater, and they had like really reclinable seats, you could relax, it's very comfortable. And the seats I'm in now, they're not reclining. And I'm like, there's a button on the side that said water. I'm like, what is this button? Like, I have no idea what this button is. I'm pushing it, pushing it, pushing it. It's going great, uh, green, uh, blue, red, blue, red, blue, red. There's nothing. And then all of a sudden the movie starts, and the friggin' chair starts to shake with the battle of the movie. Okay. Not only that, the chairs went back, like fully back. They went on the side, they went left and right, they went forward, they were jolting, they were jumping. I feel like I was on a freaking roller coaster watching Heeman. Now, the funny part is there's a scene in the movie, there's a chase scene. The chase scene, I felt like I was in the chase scene because how much the seats were vibrating and jolting. I almost lost my damn popcorn. It was going crazy. Even if we lost my arm because she was jumping up and down. This was amazing to see this movie like that. Like the water thing basically, anytime there's like a water scene or a splash, you get like a Mr. Water. Then I realized I look around and there's fans everywhere. They have smoke. They made like an interactive show. That's what we're the X's. Yeah, 40X is was really good. So I really like that part of the movie because that surprised me, right? But the movie itself, listen, I mean, what do you think you're gonna see? You're not gonna see an Oscar Academy Award movie. No, it's not a drama, you're gonna see uh uh an action movie based on a kid's toy line from Mattel. That is what I in my mind envisioned, and that's what exactly what I saw, and I had a great time, right? You're not watching Gladiator, you're not seeing Braveheart or any other movie like that. Was it a good Heenan movie? I really liked it. Good. I think it was great, it was completely worth seeing at the theater. Apparently, it's not doing as well as they thought it would do. I don't know if maybe DVD or Shimon would help it. Um they set it up for like a sequel, which I hope. Oh, but now I don't know. But I think it was great, and I think that uh Jared Leto's whatever, but I think he did a really good job at the scale tour voice because it wasn't the cartoon version, it was kind of his, but it just matched the movie. So I think it was a good idea on his part to change the voice. Good. But he was a dimway, like you know, there's scenes in there where he's being tough, and then he says a speech, and everyone's like looking at him, and then Eva Lynn is looking at him. Go, go, get him, go, you know, because like I finished my speech, go get him. Like, that's the point, you know. So it was really good. I had a good time. And this guy never seen it before, maybe his first movie. They try to hide his body through like baggy clothes. Let me tell you, when this guy was just in the office sitting down, you could tell this guy was ripped. You're not hiding that physique in a button down, sorry. But yeah, he was uh really enjoyable movie, so I uh really good. I like it a lot.

SPEAKER_06 10:25

Okay, I'll keep my eyes out for that. I've I've been tempted because not only did I enjoy He-Man as a kid, but I introduced my kids to He-Man and all the toys. Oh uh, the classic ones that you and I would have grown up with, and and they loved it. Maybe not as much as me, because it probably didn't surround them. And obviously, when I was young, the amount of media was way diminished. Yeah, it was He-Man, and then that was it for probably five hours until those were the chills.

SPEAKER_02 10:52

I remember my mom or my dad would try to record an episode when it came on just so I can watch it again, like later in the day, because you know, back then people don't understand it aired at 8 a.m. on a Saturday. Yeah. If you didn't see it, and then guess what, brother? You gotta wait next week because that's just how it was back in the day.

SPEAKER_06 11:10

And I even have nostalgia for the filmation, you know, where it's like the letters and the twing.

SPEAKER_02 11:15

Oh, yeah, man. No, it was really good.

SPEAKER_06 11:18

Do you remember the um sort of kid safety messages that they ended up tagging on the back of He-Man? Where the story would finish and it'd be like, you know, cringer, you really shouldn't be playing with petrol, and cringer would be like, Well, he-Man, I I I feel like I I'm okay. It's like that's a flammable little substance you need to be with an aval, a grown-up, a guardian. And then my master of arms would come along and be like, Hey, stand back, cringer, and cringer would set his beard on fire, his face on fire.

SPEAKER_02 11:45

No, I don't remember that. I remember that in G.I. Joe sometimes, especially when Captain Planet had it. I remember that. But I forgot about the He-Man.

SPEAKER_06 11:53

He-Man ended up with it as well. Um, that's amazing. And as a rural, like English kid, a lot of the things they were talking about just like I don't even know what that is.

SPEAKER_02 12:07

It's true. Because this didn't appeal to adults. Like, I'm sure my father was like, Yeah, whatever, just put them off with a kid, you know? But like growing up with that, and then now seeing it like live action again, yeah, hit hit every nostalgia that I didn't even know I needed to see that movie. It was really good. Good.

SPEAKER_03 12:25

Okay.

Switch 2 Impressions And Old Games

SPEAKER_06 12:26

Well, I like you probably haven't had as much gaming time this week. So I'll I'll rip through that quite quickly. It's all been on the Switch too. I'm not even gonna hide it. I love that little thing. Um, I gotta get it then. I think you might need to. But uh again, mileage may vary, but you know, on the port, we're like, oh, it's a great portal game. On the Switch at the minute, it doesn't matter what it is, obviously, because it's not streaming, or you pull it out of your pocket, or if you're wearing some skater shorts from the year 2005, maybe. But you know, you pull it out of your bag, just start playing it, jump on the couch. Oh, that's the same for the portal, but I always feel like I'm connected to the internet via the portal, especially in the UK, via a porcelain rod. And if I move, sneeze, or blink, the rod shatters and the game just goes down pam. So you're always kind of on the edge. Like I've had a few times when I've been at Rachel's um place where it's been apps, you know, her internet's amazing. Obviously, me not at mine, so there's no other external drain, and it's just pumping straight to the rear, wired. It's okay. Has a few moments, but normally sorts them out. But with the Switch T, there is zero the compromise. It doesn't matter whether it's a good Switch game or not, it just is is good everywhere. Um, and the form factor is tiny. Um, the portal's slim as well, but the ergonomics of the dual sense mean it feels like you're carrying around an upside-down ball in your hand every five minutes, doing like a horn to the ball, like, oh my god. Now that makes it, you know, comfortable to use. Um, but it also makes it like quite big and bulky, really. So yeah, I've been getting by with the with the Switch too, really quite enjoying it. Been continuing playing Donkey Kong 64 off the N64 catalogue. I've also been dabbling with a bit of Wind Waker, a game that I've had an on-off relationship with my whole life. I've got quite fire in it, but never actually seen it done. I'm playing it again this time. I've just got to I don't know what the island's called, but it's where you find uh someone who uh one of our listeners has named himself after this character, Tingle Tuner, which is this like way of interacting with the Game Boy while playing. Obviously, none of that garbage works uh on the Switch 2 version, but it was nice to see old Tingle uh appearing, trot out the cell. Um bless him. Uh and you know, I need to I've got the sale, so I've left there now and I'm I'm into the wider game, but yeah, it it it it looks fantastic, but some of the gameplay tropes and some of the like contextual button prompts, they feel they feel a bit old now, I have to admit. I know everyone's gonna get in the comments, oh George, oh my god, how dare you win wake as a masterpiece? Yeah, it it it it is, but that doesn't mean it's not flawed in some way. Um, also been dabbling on farming simulators, still whore stalking the store, hoping to find an English map, but so far all I've got is Missouri, so that's where I'm farming on there.

SPEAKER_02 15:37

Um speaking of simulator, there's a sale going on the PSN store right now.

SPEAKER_01 15:42

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 15:43

And I don't know how it came across. I think I was just looking through all the sales, but instead of going through A through Z like I normally do, I went Z to A to see what was there. You know, they have uh legitly a sex store simulator. Well I clicked the images. Oh yeah, uh you're uh you are definitely working in a sex store.

SPEAKER_06 16:10

It is uh there's been some stuff go on because there's been first of all, uh I can't speak for Xbox, but I do believe that all three major console manufacturers have been kind of cleaning their stores up because there's been a lot of dross, you know, in those stores. And PlayStation went through and banhammered loads of them. Nintendo did as well. But every time I go back on either of those stores, it seems a watch with the same drivel. So I guess curation is the key before it even gets to the point where they're pushing go. Saw and Sony needs well, I guess it's tough because how do they decide what's a good game? Because Saw and Sony could be sent farming simulator and say, This is utter drivel, no one's ever gonna want to play this, get it gone. Actually, it's a legitimate game. So when some of these games arrive, it must be quite hard for them to say, oh right, you know, I uh we can't curate this because we can't have a judgment on what people are gonna buy or like. So we kind of got to let it all come through. But some of the more blatant copies that we've seen on Switch 2 or Switch store of like PlayStation games, they're kind of been thinned out quite a lot. Um the other game I've been playing, which is actually quite a nice experience. Now I know everyone's gonna be like, George, that's a freaking well old game fella. I don't know why you're bothering with it. Many years ago, for the Switch 1, I saw in a sale, Dark Souls. I thought, oh wow. Yeah, I'll get that. And I downloaded it when I bought it, and I was like, PS checks out. Now, it's the PS3 version, pretty much. It's not like enhanced in any way, it's very much that original version, but with the Switch 2 giving it a little bit of a boost, having that in handheld like that was absolutely fantastic.

SPEAKER_02 18:02

And I'll be like, people can help you?

SPEAKER_06 18:05

There's all messages. Oh, and people can help you.

SPEAKER_02 18:08

Really?

SPEAKER_06 18:08

Yeah, there's messages. It's a fully functioning Dark Souls. Oh wow, there's messages on the floor. I saw like the ghost, the apparitions of people like walking by me and falling in front of me. And I was like, Yeah, okay, this is legit. In fact, a couple of times I was playing in like the back room here, and the internet signal's not very good. And there was a couple of times when I was mid-fight where it was like boom, now your internet signal's gone. Like, this is you're down, fella. And I was like, Oh, damn it. Like, because that was I'll get into. I was I was playing this like an absolute badass for like the first time in my life. Really? Yeah, we'll get to this. So I'm I'm like, oh god, I've got got really far. I'm like, I barely died, you know. I pretty much did the demon, the first demon. Oh, congrats. You know, you know the one that you do on the tutorial where you can historically before I knew much.

SPEAKER_02 19:06

That's the one you're in the cave, you could jump up and down.

SPEAKER_06 19:08

Uh I think, yeah, where you go around the back, yeah. You run straight past him through the door, go round the back, and the tutorial continues and take a few more guys down, then it deposits you at the door, uh directly above him. And what happened the first time? I was bloody well annoyed about this because I everything out's been floored. So I was like, I just don't remember on PS3. Yeah, it's quite cool that I'm playing it through this time, knowing all this stuff, so nothing's a surprise. I'll mate you with the arrow, shield, pump, shield, pump, you know, or you know, mate. The first time you see the arrow, you see like a corpse just inside the door that you kind of get to equip shield, dump, dump, slap, slap, slap, done. I was like, yeah, I feel like the absolute daddy of this. Got through the doorway at the top and was like, oh damn, what is it for lunging attack again? Oh, and then he kind of looks up at you like this. So I'm like looking at my controller and I'm looking down at the screen on the switch two at the same time, and I just see this guy, he just kind of goes like this, and I'm like, oh, oh shit. And then he's like, wow, both absolutely annihilates the step, and I'm dead. So I was like, oh, fuck's sake. This was gonna be like one of the purest runs I ever had. So I run in, roll, grab my XP, roll, go out, go the long way around through the controls. All right, right, it's I think it was like R1 and down, straight down, half the health going like ymms, and then I was rolling slap, slap, slap, roll, slap, slap. And probably a bit unnecessary in this early boss fight, but I was thinking, gotta get your eye in here, boy. Got to get your eye in. Um, so then I got through that section, and uh um you end up going a little bit further, and you you come up to uh like a clearing with a knight who says, Oh, so you another one, are you? I've not seen one of you for a while. And he's like all a bit mysterious, and then you've got your three gateways, and I went through the first one, or whichever one I chose, and I got like so far and was like, uh-uh-uh-uh, don't go any further. This is where you wasted six days on the PS3 convincing yourself you weren't very good, but you just weren't leveled enough. Turn around, go back. So now I'm either I've come back and I can't remember whether I chose to go down for the bell or whether I chose to go up first for the bell. I think this time round, historically, I've gone down and I thought this time was a bit of a switcheroo. I thought, okay, I'll go up. Um, and then now on like the upper sections of this castle, I did a bit of a Benny Hill the other day, you know, my classic thing where I just sort of sometimes just gotta get across. But I I was exploring, I was doing well with the combat. I thought, great, got kind of got a little bit further around and thought, right, okay, so I kind of see the direction I need to go in an Just got absolutely swamped. I was like, damn it, I don't want to save it here with that XP line on the ground like that. I want to get down, get back, get safe, and save it. But I waded through loads of dudes, and there's like a little stairway down with loads of dudes at the bottom as well. So I ran by and it's like across this rampart, and there's like load of the guy following me because they'd all got whiff of it. They're all like, what's happening up there? So they all came up, and then you like go into a room, there's like three guys in there. I tried to talk to one of them, but then one of them absolutely whacked me. So I was like, then like roll, roll, roll, trying to get me out. Roll, roll.

SPEAKER_02 22:44

Imagine in real life, you're in trouble, you just roll your way out of it. I would love that, actually.

SPEAKER_06 22:48

If someone came up to me and demons, dark souls all over the floor in front of me, I'd be like, hey, old fella, it's not how we do it in the real world. But yeah, so I've looked, it's a 15-year-old game and it's not even a nice version of it, but it runs really well on the it did run well-ish enough on the Switch 1, but here it's running really well. And the Switch 2 a few months ago now got introduced this version uh of software you where you could run handheld Switch 1 games as if they're output into your TV, because when you dock the Switch 1, it got that little res boost.

SPEAKER_01 23:25

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 23:25

So now it'll run all games as if it's a docked Switch 1. So you're getting like the best visuals you can get. Uh plus the Switch 2 is doing some heavy lifting. Anyway, I'm sure my royalty checks in the post for your Switch 2 when you eventually buy it. In the meantime,

Xbox Layoffs And Studio Uncertainty

SPEAKER_06 23:41

I reckon you sexy little devil, it's time for the news to scow the very darkest regions of the internet to bring you the latest stories. First up. Uh yeah, so this is in the bin. We did have a clock going of how many days Xbox could survive with good news. And I think we got up to 92. Ashley Sharma was performing miracles, listening to the fan base, changing some things, tweaking some things. Had a pretty good show in at the Summer Games Fest. And then off the back of that, we started to hear rumours of like layoffs and studio closures and all sorts of stuff, and even had to put out a state donation. Well, the new story over on Pure Xbox, old Fraser Gilbert. Um, I've absolutely no idea what he's been doing this week, but I do know that he's been playing stocks and shares, so no doubt he's either Boone or Buss. He writes this, so it's gonna be pretty brutal. Jason Schreier reveals more on the upcoming Xbox layoffs. We're still waiting to hear more news on the reported layoffs taking place at Xbox soon with multiple studios, such as Compulsion Games, Double Fine, and Ninja Theory, potentially set to be affected. And well-regarded Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier has taken to YouTube today to share an update. You can watch a video on YouTube where Schreier recaps some of the more challenging times in Xbox Past and how they've led to present-day problems before finishing off by discussing the pretty brutal situation ahead. Here are some expert experts from it that I shall read to. Uh this is Jason. As I reported on Bloomberg last week, massive layoffs were coming to Xbox at the end of Microsoft's fiscal year on June the 30th. Wow, nice start to the summer, I suppose. And I reported on Bloomberg this week studios such as Compulsion, the maker of South of Midnight, Double Fine, the maker of Kiln and Keeper, and Ninja Theory, the maker of Hellblade, are currently in negotiations with Xbox to figure out what's next because all of them are on the chopping block. Those are just three that I've confirmed so far. I know that there are other studios in trouble. I know that layoffs are about to hit the entire organization in a huge way. What's happening is going to be pretty brutal. The word bloodbath has been thrown around among people that I've talked to who know what's happening. It's going to be bad. Shre goes on to clarify that it's not entirely true to say that any of studios are being shut down by Xbox, as they're all in negotiations right now, potentially about spinning off or finding other buyers. Let's hope so. He also claims that uncertainty is, of course, issues inside of Xbox Game Studios over the past decade, suggesting it's very hard to make great art when you're working under fear of layoffs, turbulence, and shutdowns. Of course, keep in mind that all of this is just coming from a single journalist, but Schreier is known for being a reliable name in the industry. So we're inclined to believe him. More details on the sh situation should continue to roll out soon. Bombed by I want to get your thoughts on this because let's just put this into some parity, because I know people say, oh, you never give them a good kicking. And look, I don't need to give everyone a good kicking, but you know, historically, PlayStation have avoided the talk of closing or aren't associated with studio closures, but they actually are and have closed a myriad of studios that I thought were decent in the last 10 years, minimum. So Xbox, Bobby, they're in a situation where, I mean, I'll be honest, from an outside point of view, they're in free fall right now, right?

SPEAKER_04 27:26

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 27:27

100%.

SPEAKER_02 27:29

Um I was looking at this randomly yesterday. So I was googling whatever. I'm trying to figure out like what gains the studios made over the X amount of time. Um I don't have every single thing here, but I know like Arcane. Well, that was already that's already closed, but Ninja Theory. They just did Hellblade and Hellblade 2, apparently.

SPEAKER_06 27:57

Yeah, that's correct.

SPEAKER_02 27:58

And I don't know what else they did for the last 10 years. But apparently, just those two games. Hellblade 2, Hellblade 1 was it was okay, and it was it was nothing wrong. It was enjoyable. But it wasn't like what I thought it was gonna be. No, you graphically phenomenal. Yes, excellent. Gameplay wise, did it let down, but still I played out liked it. Then it was only gonna be released on an Xbox because the whole they bought the studio, whatever nonsense. Yeah, I think now it is available on PS5. Um, but you know, that was wasn't as good as the first one, apparently. I didn't I didn't play it, but reviews were whatever. So now it's like, all right, you made two games, didn't make enough money, which you what they thought it would be, and you know, like I'm not shocked that they closed if that's all you produced in that much time. I know games take a long time to make, but you're not producing something that's giving you money. And I just realized in this day and age, if you're not getting money back, then you gotta cut ties. And I I think that's everywhere in the world. I think that's why there's layoffs, like restaurants aren't doing good, hotels aren't doing good. If you don't have the money coming in, I can't keep supporting you to make something that might not give me my return or money back.

SPEAKER_06 29:15

No, I'm not sure. It's sad. I I agree, and I think you know, the Xbox drive to get studios was a drive to get people to buy their console. Yep. It was a good idea on paper. Unfortunately, it didn't move the needle, and if it did, it it wasn't in any significant way.

SPEAKER_05 29:33

So they end up with these studios, and I think the thing is are they taking them out the market?

SPEAKER_06 29:42

Are they buying exclusivity at this point? I mean they kind of are, but it's not working for them. Now on a on a broader subject, don't we?

Fun Over Fidelity And What Sells

SPEAKER_06 29:51

I've not really had this conversation with you. We've kind of talked about it when you talked about your 120 SPS TV, and we talked about graphics being maybe as good as they're ever gonna get, or as as good as they'll ever be. But then I'm sat here fat, dumb, and happy, on a Switch 2, which is about on a power parity with a PS4 Pro. At best. Yeah. And I'm struggling to tell the difference between that and the same version of the same game I'm playing on PS5. Now, admittedly, if I fired up Star Wars Outlaws on the PS5 Pro and sat it next and I docked the switch and I flipped between the channels, I think even I could tell the difference. But side by side is not a situation that you normally run games in. So have we reached the point where tech doesn't matter anymore, and therefore developers should stop chasing 4K 120 FPS and maybe just focus on fun, small memes.

SPEAKER_02 30:49

If that's going to be the standard, the best graspable game, that's fine. You you already have that uh like technology to do it. So it's not like you have to pull it from somewhere else, or you have to create something, right? Like the early games, you know, how to do like um you had the the motion movie captures, or you had just a cutscene that was super graphically really good, and you go back to gameplay, and it got better and better until you realize like, damn, the cutscene is fly floating into the gameplay. But I mean, there's I don't think there's anything new that they're doing to be like, oh wow, the game graphically is gonna make me buy it. I don't think really graphics make the money. Uh graphics, I don't think graphics is what people buy the games for. No. If you don't have the gameplay and the story, then the graphics are whatever. Because I had a good time playing um Tortured Souls, Tortured. Oh, I just played it. It's with a girl, her name Caroline. She has the one eye, it's it's like a retro horror game. It looks like PS2 graphics, it's not the best graphics. I mean, that was what, but that's what they were going for. They're going for this PS2 retro style game on a PS4 or an Xbox and whatever. And you know, I accepted that I liked it. I didn't mind the graphical, what they could probably do with the money, but they did it, and the gameplay was good, it was enjoyable. Browing back memories of like Resident Evil 2.

SPEAKER_04 32:14

Okay, great.

SPEAKER_02 32:15

But then there are games like, for example, like um Stellar Blade or you know, Lego Batman for a Lego game, this game is phenomenal. Uh, even Black Myth Wukong looked phenomenal. But how much more blades of grass do I need to realize I'm in a grass patch? I know I I get it, it looks beautiful. But if the gameplay is not there and the story's not there, then I'm just playing a movie or I'm playing something that's soulless, really, right? So you gotta put the soul back into the gaming to get the gamers excited because I would expect a PS5 game and an Xbox Series X game to look as best as it can be, and that's fine. I don't expect it to look like a PS1 game because I'd be like, What's this? But that's what you're trying to sell me, because that's the point of your game. Fine. So you have the graphics, it is what it is. Where's the gameplay? Where's the fun in the gaming, right? I also think politics always somehow get them, get into games that we don't need. I don't, I don't really not trying to play real life, I'm trying to play a video game. So, you know, what is the studio that you're looking for that'll help you build more fans and get the game? Whereas you bought 50 studios, they're all doing the similar thing, and then you go to the table, and there's 25 of 30 of the same game. So, where was your what's the point of buying all the studios making the same game over and over again? You bought Bethista. How long ago was this now? Oh, I know, it's painful. I mean, and you made what, Starfield? I mean, what else have you done?

SPEAKER_06 33:54

Which was already in development when they bought and all they did was creep that garbage in. Yeah. So what have you done? Here's a follow-up question. Starfield's now available everywhere. It was a game that was something when we spoke many years ago in an episode about the Bethesda acquisition, Bethesda Bethesda calling what you like. Well, you were a bit missed that you weren't gonna get your mitts on Starfield. It came, it died, it went, it's come back again with some mods and improvements and changes. Do you think you're ever gonna dip into your beloved Bethesda again? Or are you just done with that brand now?

SPEAKER_02 34:35

No, don't get me wrong. Like, I mean, I I really didn't have an interest in Starfield, I guess. Like it was it was just like to me, it was just Fallout in space, right? Skyrim is back in the day, Fallout is in the futuristic Earth. Uh, and then this was gonna be a space version. Like, so I was kind of over it. What I did like was the company that I guess they left Bethesda to make they made the other game.

SPEAKER_06 35:02

Oh, New Vegas Obsidian.

SPEAKER_02 35:04

No, not new, yeah. New Vegas was good, but also it was the game. I can't the cover has the guy on the moon. It's like a outer world. Yeah, see that I really enjoyed, right? So um that I'd be upset. Like I know that was part two, it was only on Xbox. Okay, I liked it, but not enough to go buy an Xbox just to play that game, right? If my friend had an Xbox, I was in the house, I played or whatever, fine.

SPEAKER_06 35:28

But um for Elder Scrolls then at that rate, or are you like nervous?

SPEAKER_02 35:36

No, I mean I would don't get me wrong, I love Elder Scrolls. I would definitely look into it and I would probably not buy it because I love Skyrim so much. But it's like how many years after that I wait? And if I continue to wait, I'm I probably might not even like that game anymore. Or I might like it, but you know, now as a child, I don't have that time to put into it. So maybe I'll just have to play something else until I can get back to it. But then after a while, if the game is over five, ten years old, like I've moved on. Like, I don't really feel like I have to go back to do that. It's kind of I kind of missed its mark, you know. Like, if imagine growing up with all the the Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo fighting for each other, like that was to me heyday of like times. You borrowed your friends' game, you were back and forth, it was amazing. Xbox had it too with PlayStation, but I never really felt like that one was so much better than the other. They kind of all looked the same. It was just really the exclusives that I liked more on PlayStation, which is when Xbox had really good exclusives, they kind of won a little bit, and people bought an Xbox. I know people who bought an Xbox and a PlayStation, they play both, that's fine. But they bought all these studios to make all these games that never came out. They pushed up Game Pass, you know. Now with the with the new CEO over, I feel like she has a bit of a strategic plan. But if she needs to save money, then unfortunately, if you're not producing games of quality, and I mean quality like gameplay, people having fun with it, not visual, then what are we doing here? You know, it almost feels like if I'm a studio and I want to be make a game, I probably wouldn't want to sign with PlayStation or Xbox because they have so many expectations. Whereas if I'm a independent studio, maybe I partner with you for a game here and there, and I go back to myself and I partner with another, you know, you make your own game and how you want it. There's no pressure to put this game out by this date and this time, and they rush you, you know. So all the games and pseudo they bought was massive, and I don't think a lot of it came out winning, you know. Whereas PlayStation, yeah, are they doing the best they can do too? Probably not, they could probably do better. But you know, on the flip side of that, you have Nintendo, and Nintendo just will put out anything and people will buy it. Why? Because there's just fans of Nintendo, and that's it. Nintendo can re-re-release Super Mario again as you just had one again. Yeah, you just had a let's say you had a 45th anniversary of this game, okay? Because that's about 40 years ago, right? Gonna be 50 years coming up of this game, and guess what? They'll re-release it. 50 years, they'll add a little bit extra stuff on it. People will buy it. Am I gonna rebuy another God of War game? Or you just released uh uh Horizon Zero Dawn, you remastered it like three years later. Was that necessary? It doesn't look good though. It doesn't matter. It does, but it's just a graphically, graphically, and they're pushing graphics, bro. Forget about the graphics, go back to what you were good at and making quality games for in individual type of gamers and so forth.

SPEAKER_06 38:39

I think that's why I RGT and a few others have been kind of creeping back towards the PS3 because it has those complete gaming experiences there where the gameplay is the key driver and the graphics sell the source.

SPEAKER_02 38:52

It's true, and then people are scared now to make new games because they're scared of getting canceled, or they're scared, oh, this is too much, and I can't do this now with the times that we're living in. Like back then, they took risks, they didn't care. If you didn't like the game, the the studio would like push back. Well, we don't care, we might make this game. It's for these amount of people who like it, they had a good time with it. Like Grand Leaf Auto, people were looking for Grand Leaf Auto. I don't know if Grand Leaf Auto is going to be as controversial as it used to be in this day and age what they're making. It might not be all that because people are being very safe now because of the world that we're in. So, can you really make a story you really want now? No, probably not. Back in the day, they didn't care. I mean, we made a snuff film video game, Manhunt. We talked about that last week. Yeah, you are never ever making Manhunt. Remaking it or franchising it again is over. So certain games like that are just gonna be good. Like Hellraiser's coming out. Now I pre-ordered it. Hellraiser is basically, you know, this guy's like your sexual feelings and everything. It gets kind of risky, very risque, and you know. How are you making that? Exactly. I'm very curious as to how they're gonna put that in a video game without people being like, oh my god, there's too much, and then it doesn't make money because XYZ. So they're taking a chance with Hellraiser, but I don't know if it's gonna be as successful as they think. Let's see.

SPEAKER_05 40:20

That's you know, hit me up with this next bit in the news, Bobby. Yes, sir. Hold on. Just had it.

PS6 Delay Rumors And Rising Costs

SPEAKER_02 40:29

Okay, so Sammy Barker is back. Uh, some analysts believe Sony is considering pushing the PS6 back. Uh embracer reports hint at later than 2027 launch. What is the plan? Uh, rumor has it that Sony planned to launch the PS6 late 2027, but the hardware industry is in turmoil right now. Uh, component costs have soared on the back of AI-led demand, pushing the price of consumer electronics, including consoles, are sky high. Recently, the PS5 soared to an unprecedentedly high levels. Other systems switch to Xbox Series X and S and Steam Deck have also been affected. While all the reporting around the PS6 is that Sony's design it would cut in cost in mine, it's not immune to what's happening in the industry at large. Exactly how it intends to deploy the device at an affordable price is up for debate. Um, one option may be to delay and hope economic conditions improve. And that's something that giant publisher embracer has acknowledged in its annual report. Uh, some analysts believe that the next PlayStation will debut in 2027 or even 2028. Um the new Xbox CEO, Ashas Sharma, has uh insinuated Microsoft may be retooling its own next gen system, Project Helix, after it was previously revealed to be highly expensive pieces of hardware capable of running various on different storefronts. Uh he personally thinks that Sony may just have to bite the bullet on this and hope they can bring costs down over time. Um, I'm not expecting the PS6 game exclusive anyway, so I think it's an appeal primarily to the enthusiast first and foremost. How it markets that in a tough economy remains to be seen, but perhaps it'll satisfy keeping players within its ecosystem, whether that's PS5 or PS6.

SPEAKER_06 42:24

Now I believe that if they launch a console within the next year, it's gonna have to be it's gonna have to be a thousand bucks, whether we like it or not, because the cost of this uh drivel is escalating on a hourly basis. The danger is if this never goes away and you don't launch next year, then you are just into a just ever-diminishing period because your console is already set in stone. So it's aging, it's not even out, but it's already being outdated by PC components. So when you finally bring this console out, it'll be outdated and it will still be expensive. So I think two years at least. Exactly. So they're both gonna have if they want to do this, and I at this point think we're at the edge of like if they can stall a little bit longer while internet servers catch up around the world, there might be a chance they don't actually need to bring out another console. And if they do, it it's maybe just a set-top box. Now I know none of the.

SPEAKER_02 43:33

Well, that's what I think. Like, I think there'll be like at some point a legacy box. Yes, you know, PlayStation, whatever, call it whatever. Because, like you like we both said, where how else can you go graphically from here? There's always going to be improvements in computers and technology, yes, and this. It will look maybe visually better than some games, but like at a certain point, it's like beyond what our eyes can even see. Now, maybe we could do more of In the game, could you have more memory and you process it fast? So, yeah, that's fine. But some of that can be done with software updates, no, right? Yeah. So at some point, you're just gonna have your final Xbox, your final PlayStation, your final Nintendo, and it is you either buy physical or you're gonna get them digitally, whatever. And I think that's that's gonna be it. I mean, I mean, look at the movie industry, right? It's it's similar. Like, how how much money can they spend to make the movie look so much better with all the CGI they're doing? And people aren't even going to the movies anymore because people are streaming it at home, and people are buying quality TVs, they're buying all these lights and sound speakers and sound bars, and so now your house is just as more comfortable, right? Less drama, and I'm gonna leave my house. I could watch the movie in letterbox format or 4K and looks beautiful. So they're gonna have to figure something out. And then unfortunately, it's like we are like people in our age group, and I mean our age group whereas if you were a child playing Nintendo, like NES, right? That's our age group. We're the ones that are gonna be paying for all this. Where I don't feel like kids of our generation or younger, like my son, will he even like video games with whatever's coming up in the future with computers and technology? I don't, I don't know. I don't know. It kind of makes me sad a little bit, you know, but at some point it's just gonna be a legacy.

SPEAKER_06 45:28

It's kind of weird that it's come full circle so quick in terms of its industry life. And I think in terms of the stories it's got to tell, there's way more legroom to tell a better story on a console or a video game than there is ever is in a movie. I've talked about this before. You watch a series, and even if it's like 20 series long, you do not get up in the morning as that guy, you do not go to bed as that guy, you do not have the little stories we create in our minds between side missions in a series. You just don't. You just appear randomly three weeks later in the storyline and pick up the next event. In a video game, you live through those three weeks and you have smaller experiences, admittedly, but you have them. Um, for that reason, I feel like they're at the very tipping point of being like the best way to tell a story, and I feel like the rug possibly will get pulled from underneath. Like, I know, listen, games are always going to get made, and these companies and studios all around the world are heavily invested in making this entertainment. I don't think it will go overnight, but I think it's in the process of changing what we the industry that got us to this point is changed, and the industry that takes us forward past this point, I don't even know if it's got the passion in it to do it.

SPEAKER_02 46:53

I don't know. It's like uh Dan if you do, Dan if you don't type situation. Like obviously, our generation, you know, we love it. We we play with them, we play games all the time, we talk about games, um, it takes you out of your world. But then also people like to read books for the same reason we play games and then people watch movies. You know, it's like a hobby, but our hobby is expensive, and video game development gets more expensive as we go. So, you know, back in what uh 1988 and 87, Nintendo came out. It was $150, right? What is that nowadays? I don't know, probably what, $700? I remember video games were being like $50 in the 90s. I mean, that's what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_06 47:34

What I don't like about the inflation talk is 50 quid was still 50. 50 bucks. It's still 50 bucks, still it's still, it's it was hard to get, like, oh, that's worth 90 today. Well, is it because 50 bucks? I kind of get the inflation thing, but I don't think it always maps out exactly, does it? But 100 bucks, let's say, even today for a console, we know that's cheap. Is that the entry point for a what's uh well that's the thing, right?

SPEAKER_02 48:06

Super many take basically it is, but you know, how many people did it take to develop Super Mario on that little cartridge? Then as you get then, you had a basically there was no technology for you to move up because that's what you had. So you had to create new technology to advance the you know, the video games, and you kept advancing, like I said, up to a point of PS5. It's kind of like people people bought a PS5 during COVID, and there were so many PS4 and PS5 games that if you held out for two years, you didn't really miss much. You know now the PS Pro's out, yes. Is it better than the PS5? I mean, it's statistically and everything, yes, it is better. But like I said, if you don't have that TV with the PS Pro, now we're doing anything, but again, are you missing much?

SPEAKER_06 48:58

So you see, I've got a pro and an old TV, and my methodology was well, no matter what we do, we're still only doing 60 frames per second. My TV can do 60 frames per second and 4k. What am I, you know, the TV is what's gonna do the heavy lifting to take you up to 120 hertz with the with the in conjunction with the console. Yeah, I guess that's the magic magic source that I'm missing. I think maybe my display probably doesn't pop as hard as a modern display. I've been weighing this up, but then my display was 1500 quid in like 2016. The equivalent set now is 400 bucks.

SPEAKER_03 49:38

I know, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 49:41

In fact, I say the equivalent, the modern equivalent of that set. I mean, Sony are pulling out the TV market, so yeah, there's not much left there. Um, let's dive into this last bit of news.

Unreal Engine On Switch 2 And Ray Tracing

SPEAKER_06 49:55

This has been uh a fun time. Continuing on the theme of the uh ever-diminishing return of graphics, we have over on Nintendo Life, we've got Epic's Unreal Engine rolls out major update. Lumen light mode now available for Switch 2, and it's twice as fast. Oh, Liam Doolin's been doing some sneaky beaky undercover reporting because he's here to tell us that following its recent announcement of new era of Rocket League, alongside the reveal of Unreal Engine 6, completely uh almost derailed myself there. Epic Games is today released on Real Engine 5.8. It's part of this Lumen Dynamic Global Illumination now offers Lumen Light Mode. As Epic explains, this comes with a benefit of games running on Switch 2. Lumen Dynamic Global Illumination now offers Lumen Light Mode, which is designed to preserve much of the visual impact of significantly lower GPU cost by using irradiance fields with probe occlusion. Twice as fast as Lumen high quality. It means that games that rely on global illumination for artistic purposes can run on Nintendo Switch 2 at 60 FPS. It's also supported on PC. It elaborates on this, explaining how the medium scalability level targets 60 FPS on Switch 2 and includes handheld mode. Unreal Engine's vice president of engineering Simon Tarongu made the following comments about Lumen Light at Epic State of Unreal event this week and how it's now easier to scale to different platforms. Lumen, our dynamic global illumination system, now has a lightweight mode called Lumen Light. It's designed to preserve much of the visual impact of a significantly lower GPU cost that makes Lumen viable where it wasn't before, including on Switch 2. And that work is helping drive further nanite optimization efforts for the platform. Epic's newer version of its Unreal Engine powers games such as the Battle of Royale Fortnite. Epic says Unreal Engine 5.8 is its last planned major Unreal Engine 5 update on its roadmap, and it will now ramp up work on Unreal Engine 6. I bring this here, Bobby, because with all this talk of oh, we need more graphical power because we need ray tracing, and we gotta get the PS6 out and the Helix, and we need better PCs, and we need RTX 80, 60, 90, 4,000 coming out, blah blah blah. Wait, because the software boys are finding ways to give the switch to legs to keep up with the PS5 and the Helix by um Series X by offering these one thing I find, and we'll see if you can come with me on this journey, Bobby. Ray tracing. I love it. I understand it. It's very realistic ways of tracking light. But in a ray traced game, the lighting's comparable to a fake baked game from 10 years ago. So why are we so obsessed with ray tracing, giving up all this horsepower when we can just fake it and we don't know any different in any way?

SPEAKER_02 52:57

Yeah, it's I mean it's true, like you know, you don't if you're not in if you're not like really into like how many pixels and this and that, like you know, then you don't even really know what you're missing. So it's just other ways to trick the eye, because like I said, the eye can only do so much. So if this can cost if it's if it's cost cutting and helping the p and helping the uh switch two look as compared as good as a PS5 can look on a little screen, then obviously Nintendo has figured something out again, right? They have created something that wasn't there again to help their system because um it's working. Obviously, it's working.

SPEAKER_06 53:42

I think the Switch 2 was always planned to be a very adaptable machine, um especially with the architecture they chose. But this is proving to be, like I said before, though, you know, even if I sat down and uninitiated, no one you knew nothing about games, or they knew nothing about games. You put them in a chair, I show them it running on a Switch 2, and then I show them running it on the PS5 Pro Series X, and they're gonna come to the same conclusion we are, is it looks slightly better on that other one.

SPEAKER_02 54:14

Yeah, that's it. That's really it. Like I was concerned when now not now get me wrong, not everything runs really good on a switch, obviously. The switch two is helping to relieve that those issues, but it's like I'm more surprised that the switch two can do XYZ than a big name brand, a game on a PS5 or Xbox. Because I'm like, well, I I expect that. So the Switch 2, wait a minute, the Switch 2 can run this, the Switch 2 can run that. That's that is more phenomenal to me. It's like, damn, that's amazing, you know? And I could take this to go anywhere I want without internet, yeah, and I'm playing this game.

SPEAKER_06 54:51

I can take it to the couch, I can take it to bed, I can take it in the kitchen. Um, there's something about it, and and just to that point, I mean, I got my Switch team. My launch game was Cyberpunk, right? Honestly, mate, it looks flawless on there. And the other day I decided to drop a marker on the map, jump in my car, and put it on self-drive mode. And I was like, my god, this looks so good. So good. Now, admittedly, again, if I had the running concurrently right next door to each other. Yeah, of course, yeah, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 55:30

But you know what's sad? It's like, so you're comparing an uh uh portable right Nintendo Switch 2 to definitive Kid 2 to a yeah, yeah, to a docked locked-in PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X, and we're you we're having a conversation about comparing the two. That is what is sad. That's what that is what the whole point of what I was trying to say, right? You are just as happy on your Switch 2 playing a game that you played 15 years ago, and then the graphically swow, never gonna get better than this, yeah, even uh Dark Souls to now playing it 15 years later on a portable PS2. I mean a switch to have a time of your life. And that's what it is. That's this is what like it's really like that's the technology that I was saying that we're we're used to improve upon. Because obviously, yeah, you want your game to look good. Don't get me wrong, everyone does. But it's like I'm not surprised that if Witcher 4 comes out and I see Siri's hair blow in the wind, yeah, I expect her hair to blow in the wind because I paid 80 bucks for it on a PS5 Pro, I paid uh 800 bucks on on a TV, I spent two G's on. So I damn well hope her hair blows in the wind. Meanwhile, if I get an X uh Switch 2 and her hair blows just like a little in the wind, great, I'm happy. It's the fact that I can even play this on a switch two is like more impressive.

SPEAKER_06 57:05

But I was doing some recent to Kingdom Come Deliverance came out on the Switch 1. Right, right, just slow down a minute, just a minute, just for a second while I think about what this because you didn't wait a month and put it out on the switch two. No, no, no. You launched this sucker on the switch one, and to be honest, it looks great. I have you know, there are details like micro details, like a distance and flags aren't moving, like Witcher. But to be honest, I don't remember last time I played it on PS5 and looked at a flag.

SPEAKER_02 57:47

Also, let's say I know you play Spider-Man on PS1. Yeah, okay. Were you complaining that I couldn't see 20 miles down 8th Avenue swinging in New York? No, I was just swinging New York City and I was happy to do so. Okay. Now they're complaining. Oh, I sometimes if I look all the way down, it's a little bro, do me a favor. Okay, look how good that game looks. Now we're being like like greedy boys, and it's not good enough for me. When really that is amazing that you can even see that far down without the buildings just popping up in front of you. Exactly. So I remember playing in playing in Grand Default of Vice City, you know, you're going way too fast in a quick turn, the building's not there. Oh, there's a building, yeah, because it you were going too fast for, you know. Now we don't have those problems, but at least the building is there. Like, take it for what it is. Like it's never gonna be 100% what you want, but just be happy that we actually have it in this era to play and appreciate what we have for it for now. Because at some point, man, you know, as everyone at some age is gonna just stop doing their hobby because of whatever reasons and XYZ. But it's like just look at the thing is like you don't know the memories and the special things you're talking about with your friends, that how important it is in the time you're talking about it until you like reflect back to now. So maybe two years now, we go back to this episode complaining about how graphically it can be. Maybe I'm completely wrong. Next thing I know, I'm in the game because I I'm Siri now. You know, I can touch my boobs and pull my sword out because that's how much more graphically enhanced it can get. I don't know.

SPEAKER_06 59:27

You know, I'm just saying, this is like, you know, I'm calling shotgun on dating you as Siri, or at least remember this.

SPEAKER_02 59:35

Remember the story when you told me in um you're playing Cyberpunk and like you morphed the camera? Oh, yeah. I mean, you see, that is an amazing story. Yes, when it first came out, controversy, of course. Did they fix it up? Yes, is the game still good? Yes, right. Did people miss out on it because it was just like obliterated to the ground? Yeah, yeah, right? But you know, play it for yourself and get your own experience from it, regardless of who you like or who recommended or not recommended.

SPEAKER_06 1:00:07

It's one of the reasons why I'm super stoked that I managed, I got No Man's Sky at launch. I've been on the whole journey. I loved it when it first came out, like it was everything I ever wanted. It's got better and slightly become the thing I never wanted it to be at the same time, but um, it's a concurrent theme for me. I'm always moaning about the sequel not being what I want it to be. But yeah, look, we're in a very lucky time where graphics are as I mean you could say this at any generation, but I really feel like graphics have reached a zenith now. Um so we've talked about we've talked about some um layoffs at Microsoft, which don't sound good, and we'll bring you more on that as it comes. So we've brought you some news about uh PS6 getting pushed till 2027 or later, which is a scary thought. And we've also talked about um Nintendo using some special source with Epic to uh drag their console up by its bootstraps or at least give people the potential to drag those games up by its bootstraps on that uh on the Unreal engine, which is amazing.

Choice Apathy And Crash Talk

SPEAKER_06 1:01:09

And I think luckily for us, all those stories really encompass a moment in gaming where we we we just don't know where it's going. I mean, me and Bobby have done a little bit of conjecture about where we think it could go. Um, but it's an interesting time. I know RGT and I have talked about an upcoming video game crash. We've not had one since the Atari 2600, and you know, we are looking down the barrel of uh what happened with the Atari 2600 was is it got swamped, got absolutely swamped, killed its own, yeah, choked its own pompe.

SPEAKER_02 1:01:41

And the other issue was a lot of the uh illegal games that were being made exactly that caught it, which was a huge problem.

SPEAKER_06 1:01:48

So, in a way, we've come full circle, we've learnt some things like piracy's been knocked down to some degree on some platforms, definitely, but in other ways, we've we've learnt nothing. We've still swamped the ecosystem with so much experiences that people don't know what to do. And I do believe that the whole industry is a little bit kind of frozen with choice apathy. There's so much to play that we don't know what to do, so we've got to bring them back to our familiar experiences. What this means for gaming, I don't know. But I tell you one thing, we're gonna take you on the journey. So if you've got this far, lock it in with a subscribe, don't look about. I've been working on this, I want you to like us. You know, I'm trying to be likable. Um, we need friends, we need supporters in this industry, in this gaming hobby, we all need each other's back. And if we're the kind of guys that you can get into, absolutely destroy the living snot out of that subscribe button. Hammer it. I feel that was gonna be way too risque. Let's get into the housekeeping. Just subscribe, all right? Just subscribe. No, we're not PG anymore, but I'm I'm I'm not gonna say that to be recorded to YouTube for the rest of forever, pointing back to my great, great, great, great grandchildren as I'm still being flogged for the things that I said. Absolutely not. Um, housekeeping. We've got

Housekeeping And Supporter Shoutouts

SPEAKER_06 1:03:12

a YouTube. If you're watching this there, congratulations. If you're a listener, listener, listener, listener, listener, but not a viewer, viewer, viewer, you can find this everywhere: Amazon, Spotify, Apple, you name it. If there's a podcast platform, we're that legit, we're all over it. And you might find we're probably the highest-rated show on there. If you want to go a little bit further on your journey with us, of course you can. We've got a Discord you can join. It's great. We've got another show that we do, our retro nostalgic show called Flashback, where we use our memories to look at the news of the day in whatever year it is. That's on YouTube. It's also available on all the other platforms to go check it out, even if it's just for the intro music. Oh man, I live that is fire. Um, if you do want to support the show, oh hang on, let's do the messages. So we're on X, Insta, all that drivel. I mean, I'll be honest with you. I find they're pretty much dead. Um, or at least so volatile um that it's not worth looking on there. But if you happen to, Instagram's got a link tree, so's the X. Uh, that'll take you everywhere you want to go if you can't be asked to come off your smartphone and type something into a Safari or a Google address or whatever it's called. Uh we've got a website, ww.unofficialcontrollerpodcast.com. That's got all the latest gizmos on there. We've got Captain Scarlet chucking up reviews, he's done a Forza Horizon 6. I can't remember the last one he did, but that's got all the hidden gems, it's got transcripts of all the shows, it's got all the links up the yin yang. If you want to take even further, you like I say, you can join the Discord. This show and everything about it is free, and it always will be. But the subs have just been lucky enough to get part one of my gaming history, which they voted for as part of their special source. Um, so to all those that are on that tier, you're all in there, pal. I hope you enjoyed it. Uh, in the meantime, though, Bobby, if people did want to follow us or support us from as little as three dollars, just follow the link in the buzz sprout. You can go there. If you're watching this on YouTube, yes, it's a lot of extra steps, but we're we we we don't feel like we're ready to monetize on here. We don't want that. We just want a nice little friends area. If you want to be a friend, you get on there. Find it on a podcast player, click the link, take you there. From as little as three dollars, for as little as three dollars, I'll send you a t-shirt. Anywhere you are in the world, F O C just to say thank you. Um, within that, you get a smattering of great things. I can never remember what they are, but you know, yearly art merch, uh mention on the show, and other good stuff. All the way up to ten dollars. If you want to pay that fine, but three to five is like the sweet spot where you get all the good chisel. So, anyway, I adore. Every single one of you. And as part of that, we're going to read your name out. I don't know whether we'll just should we just we'll just play it by ear, Bobby. So up first, Gascom. Gotta say Gazcon. Slipped out, I'm sorry. Uh oh God, that's gonna cost me. I'm actually tempted to edit this, but as a commitment to the UCP and the lack of editing, especially on video, is staying in. So thank you to Gazcom. I never heard back from Shane Con last week about his um quad bike adventure. So I'll be quite intrigued to find out if he's okay. Who's next?

SPEAKER_02 1:06:42

Captain Scarlet, who's using new technology to make our eclipse for the socials. He is that many. That technology is called Scarlet ray tracing.

SPEAKER_06 1:06:59

Bye. I like it. Let that be lore. Up next, a man who is not uh the sort of uh growth you get out of your backside if you sat on some retro tat. No, his name's Retro Ed, otherwise known as Retroid. I want to say thank you to him. He's a hero in the community and an all-round good guy. Who's next? Another good guy, Carlos.

SPEAKER_02 1:07:26

He is learning how to make Irish soda bread. Is he? Yeah. Are you in a Discord?

SPEAKER_06 1:07:36

Maybe. Carlos will be one of your disciples. He's declared himself as the one-man George Fan Club, but something tells me he's a fully paid up member of the Bobby, the Bobby Hero Club. Uh up next, that means I get to thank the man that can take you from Trump to Trump in less than 30 seconds. His name's Fern Returns. Check him out on X, and thank you to him for supporting us here.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:05

Up next is the recently closed, newly opened the cornerhouse.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:12

Thanks to your legal chicanery, we've managed to secure them as a sponsor. Uh, for as long as the Earth remains a viable planet for human beings, which I've never seen that word in a contract, Bobby, but I've got to say to you, first class.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:26

Uh 99 new lease.

SPEAKER_06 1:08:30

Uh which means I get to thank long-term supporter, an all-round good guy. Uh, him and his family have all been involved in the show and supporting it at some point in time. So thank you to all of you. Uh, it's Race Base Monk.

SPEAKER_02 1:08:42

Up next, we have my second favourite Italian, only behind Super Mario himself, Bada Bingston.

SPEAKER_00 1:08:52

Sit down, fly your friend card Italian flag emojis, salute play emojis uh giving emoji and sit down.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:07

Go check season two if you want to know uh what all that's about. Well uh next is uh Ah, a man I welcomed at the top of the show. I released him from his cell and he came out clutching an obnoxious looking device that looked like a JBA JBA? Look out, fella. That's like a knockoff GBA. A GBA and a link cable. Get out of the way. He's our hero, he's our man. If he can't do it, no one can. He's Tingle Tuna. Thank you, sir.

SPEAKER_02 1:09:38

Up next, we got Dizital Monkery, who's probably playing his annual Treasure Island point and click adventure game. Oh, it's Monkey Island. Monkey Island, that's correct. Sorry about that. It's okay. Once a year, it's around this time he plays it, so he's probably getting on with that.

SPEAKER_06 1:09:57

Beautiful. Okay. Well, if you thanked him, I get to thank Bald Border, a man who's been performing various life-threatening tricks on skateboards for time memorial. The only reason Tony Hawks exists is because Bull Border took a step back. And don't you forget that, Tony? He'd be nothing if he had put himself on the stage.

SPEAKER_01 1:10:16

Thank you to Bull Border. Who's next?

SPEAKER_02 1:10:18

And if you know, you know, the original Bobaloba. Could be Boba now, who was drinking bubble tea and working on Xbox News somewhere in the world.

SPEAKER_06 1:10:30

Always like Ethan Hunt from MI6. What while you've been away, did you know that he's been uh going brand quite a lot?

SPEAKER_02 1:10:39

No.

SPEAKER_06 1:10:40

He's been going brand. Really?

unknown 1:10:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 1:10:49

Stepson, who really I love like a real child. I couldn't breathe without him. He's my air, he's my water, he's my self-sustaining molecules, it's my beautiful trophy hunting son. It's ging. Thank you, boy.

SPEAKER_01 1:11:06

Up next, we have the forever model, the Lord Harvey Retro.

SPEAKER_05 1:11:13

Mmm.

SPEAKER_06 1:11:14

Just darkness surrounds him like a cloud. Just the Lord of Darkness. He has a cape made of people's bad dreams.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:23

Not only that, he has little bones to hold up the uh the cowl of the neck piece.

SPEAKER_05 1:11:30

Yes.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:31

Phenomenally, and very intricate, very well designed, beautiful red satin.

SPEAKER_06 1:11:36

I mean this cape is rumored to be 5,000 years old at least.

SPEAKER_02 1:11:42

I mean, I touched it, so I it's amazing.

SPEAKER_06 1:11:46

Wow. Okay, you've got some big big testes. Testicular fortitude, as they used to say in the WWE. If you thank Harvey Retro, that means I get to thank the resident model of the show, Catwalk Superstar Emma Sharp. Normally out somewhere promoting the show. This week, probably taking it easy with a cup of tea and a scon. I don't blame you, Emma. Thanks for the support and all that you did.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:10

Up next, we have nowhere near Berlin, and he's probably stuck somewhere in Canada or Mexico or possibly the United States watching our World Cup game.

SPEAKER_06 1:12:20

100%. Probably doing it from a Zeppelin, aka a blimp. Uh because Zeppelin sounds too offensive in German, so we're going to call him blimps. I love it. Okay, right. So up next, she's my mum, she's Bobby's mum, she's OG's mum, she's Sepp's mum, she's RGT's mum, she's Scotty's mum, she's all of our mums. But she's still a great woman because she raised us all so well. It's mumsy. Thank you, mumsy.

SPEAKER_02 1:12:49

Up next we have the infamous RTD, RGT fan club. It is probably run by RGT. Cannot confirm, cannot deny. There's lots of subsidiaries in there and LLCs involved, but you know, thank God and God bless. You know, and Iswitch is back in the Premier League, so congrats again. Up there.

SPEAKER_06 1:13:24

Next, a man, a legend, a myth, Pete Brocklever. Some say that he bent the fourth bridge in Scotland with his left finger when he scratched his backside two afternoons ago. All I know is that he is probably one of the best supporters of the show. Thank you, Pete.

SPEAKER_02 1:13:42

Up next is Billy Marmite, who is in the emergency room because he installed a fast clothes toilet bowl seat when his self-clothes, soft clothes uh broke.

SPEAKER_06 1:14:01

You sit down sometimes in those scenarios, and there is a very real risk of sack trappage. And the problem with sack trappage is if you sit down on a seat on your sack, you've trapped your sack. Yeah. You immediately want to stand up, but your sack is trapped. Yes. So then there's the risk of a pulling or dislodging incident.

SPEAKER_02 1:14:25

So not only that, you can have a severe Charlie horse. You can pull uh your Achilles tendon trying to jump up. Your calf could be ripped. It's you have to have the leg strength to not only lift yourself up in those the right amount of space to actually not tug it, but float it out of the seat. It's uh it's uh the human body's amazing. Let's just be real. It it is the science that goes in your mind to get to get out of that trap is really cannot be explained unless you have done it yourself.

SPEAKER_06 1:15:04

No, what I would I don't think we want anyone to get themselves in that predicament. Absolutely not. Lower, yeah, slow. Slow. It's it's key. It's key. If turtles head showing, just just take a moment. Let's say small speed. You've held it this long, you can wait for the seat to get past two o'clock.

SPEAKER_02 1:15:28

It's like speeding. Is it worth it? No. You know? At the end of the day, you're gonna get a destination. No, two minutes late, just take your time.

SPEAKER_06 1:15:43

If someone asked you where you've been, you're gonna say the bathroom's gonna question it, are they? No, they're not. What were you doing in there? What do you think?

SPEAKER_01 1:15:51

Yeah, imagine.

SPEAKER_06 1:15:54

That means we've got one person left to thank. I'm gonna pop it out, and you're gonna tell me what it was that set me off into sort of such a zange, okay? Okay.

SPEAKER_02 1:16:27

Um no. I just forgot the name of the film. Was it Men in Black too? No, it was not Men in Black. Speak No Evil. At the end of the film, he's reacting the end of the film. Very sad part of the film. How did you know that's what it was? Because that's the exact sound that the act that the cat that the uh the the actor playing this role made. It's perfectly aligned. Amazing.

SPEAKER_06 1:17:01

Tell me, Bobby. We've done all that. I think we've done all the things that we've meant to do. We've thanked the people, we've told the people how they can interact, they've all subscribed, we're all sorted. Um,

Trophies Burnout And Nostalgia Closing

SPEAKER_06 1:17:13

now we're gonna pop out the back end through the media of me asking you what you're hoping to play.

SPEAKER_02 1:17:20

Definitely continue with uh Lego Batman. Um, I have the Outlaw, Star Wars Outlaw. What's it called? Star Wars Outlaws.

SPEAKER_01 1:17:31

It is, right?

SPEAKER_02 1:17:32

Yeah, I have that. I have Crimson Desert. Um, the thing is going back to work soon. Maybe I should try to do something before I go back. My time's even more limited. Um, I felt Lego Batman you pick up and play whenever Crimson Desert might take some time and whatever. So let's see. I don't know.

SPEAKER_06 1:17:53

Out of the two games you've got on the docket there, Star Wars Outlaws probably lends itself to the more pick up and play.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:01

Yeah, I heard it was really good too.

SPEAKER_06 1:18:04

I enjoyed it, it got a bit of stick, but to be honest with you, I stand by it. I've been playing it again on Switch without all the stress of like having to try and race through it for the show. And um, and also outside of the play the PlayStation ecosystem, not even having to press the trophy button to worry about like, oh, did I miss that, or did I need to or do I need like all that is gone on the system? You know what it is.

SPEAKER_02 1:18:30

It's like you're damned if you do, damn if you don't with the trophy system or the Xbox achievement system. It's like sometimes you just play the game at your own pace, you didn't care, whatever, and then now it's like oh, I want to get this trophy, I want to get this trophy to becomes like a your hobby addiction. Where if I don't get this platinum, am I even a gamer? Which is not necessarily true, it's just like it's your own personal hell. Yeah. Do I want to grind $400, $400 to get a random pickup to get a trophy? Or I'm done with the game, I beat the game on hard, I'm I'm happy personally. Next game. It's uh it's up to you.

SPEAKER_06 1:19:11

I mate, I have like if I really like a game, I might more than likely max it out. If I've just enjoyed a game, well, I'm happy to like want to done that. I don't care if I've not collected every single thermoswask or light or battery or whatever.

SPEAKER_02 1:19:30

It's gonna come to a point where I'm gonna do like back in the day. Listen, story started, story completed. Right? Here's the big bed, he's beat, credits roll, goodbye. And sometimes you just need to just people lose interest because the trophies forget the trophies, man. Just enjoy the game. Yeah, if you if you love it, go for it. Like you said, if you don't love it, you'd be at least he beat it. At least he'd beat the game. That's it, it doesn't matter.

SPEAKER_06 1:19:58

You know what I mean? And I think there's a little bit of that, well, a lot of that has been creeping back into my world with with with the Switch. It just takes all the because even though I don't really chase trophies per se on the PS5, I still Well, it just popped. Okay, what did they get that for? No, now I'm in the list. Okay, oh, I didn't realize that I was one away. Oh, I've got I'm gonna just go up and shoot the guy. Boom, oh it's popped, yeah, yeah. Or what next? And then all of a sudden, instead of playing the game as that guy in that world, I'm living as a guy through that guy, trying to break the simulation so I can get the things that I need to make this thing. It doesn't even matter to this guy's life in the game, to the story. It doesn't, he doesn't care, he doesn't even know what they are. Yeah, I've got him running around like tracking down every single big wild animal. No, John, yeah, no, like do that. You've got you're dying of TB, and what have you done? You decided to take a two-week lake adventure catching fish. Like I get that, but now what are you doing? Oh, you're not taking it easy. No, you've decided to run up the side of a mountain. No, you wouldn't do this if you had TB. No. So, anyway, we get distracted. I'm gonna lock in on the Switch 2 and play a bit more Dark Souls. I'm always gonna be playing Farming Simulator, and I'm absolutely loving the nostalgia of playing Donkey Kong 64. I was hoping to bring you, dear viewer, viewer, viewer, viewer, uh, OG uh this week, maybe next week, because I remember distinctly going to a New Year's party at Tom's. He was living in the big house at the time, Farmerton Manor, and I rocked up and I just literally saved the game at I don't know, the second level on the N64. Got in the car, driven there, grabbed him, sold in the concept to Donkey Kong because it was so fresh, everything so fine, burnt the graphic, blah blah blah blah blah blah. And I I was playing it the day and got to that point, and I just felt the nostalgia well up inside me. I was like, oh, this is hitting different. This is hitting real different, and I was like literally back in that moment of that like wide-eyed wonderment at this badly textured piece of now, man.

SPEAKER_02 1:22:18

Nostalgia is like probably it could be the saddest drug or the happiest drug you ever didn't had in your life. Because sometimes sometimes, like, you know, I'm in the streets walking to work or whatever, and certain smells keeping a memory that sometimes like if it just rains enough, like the way like the humidity hit the concrete. I don't know, might have like my childhood when I was playing when I was in outside playing basketball or stickball or whatever. Yeah, or sometimes you put a movie on that you haven't seen because it just all happens beyond, it hits you differently. And I feel like especially our age people, like we like to go back and kind of hit that, you know, whether it's remastered or not, it's like I played it on the top, I want to play it new again because of all the memories you had prior. I I I I'll I'll let them I do.

SPEAKER_06 1:23:12

It's amazing, but then we both get grumpy about remasters. It's true, but you know what?

SPEAKER_02 1:23:18

It's like I gotta play it again on this system. I can easily go back and load it up on my Nintendo, but it's so much more convenient to load it up on the Switch, it's just there, damn.

SPEAKER_06 1:23:30

Yeah, I I listen, I get it. I've got a loft full of retro tat that I love touching, holding, turning on, getting a Sega game down and open up the clamshell and looking at the manual, looking at the cartridge, and looking at the workmanship and those sort of 80s lines of the machines and the clunk click as you slap it in and turn it on. Yeah, I I I love it, but it's not convenient for me right now.

SPEAKER_02 1:23:59

No, no, that's why you've got to just play it a remaster because I've done pulling all the hardware out, you know.

SPEAKER_06 1:24:07

So there's the conclusion. If you want a conclusion from this podcast, it's ditch all your retro gear. I don't know as any other two hosts of the show be telling you this is ditch all your retro gear. Get yourself a mod console and do remastering that game you played 20, 30 years ago for the movie. It's for the hassle alone. You save yourself some time. Perfect. Well, Bobby, thank you once again for joining me here. It's

Final Thanks And Sign-Off

SPEAKER_06 1:24:31

a pleasure to have you back in the rotation. The show in the show without you, so it's absolutely wonderful to see your beaming face. Uh, and that's all we have time for this week. Listen, as always, thank you for your time. I look forward to the pleasure of speaking to you again next week. Until then, happy game. Now remember, there's nothing wrong with being given the unofficial controller. It's what you do with it that counts. See you, Bobby. Peace out. See you guys.