Industry Shifts in Gaming

I was Crashed Bandicoot in the commercials and three that year, whichich by the way blew my mind because I remember seeing those ads. Yeah. yeah. I'm like wait a minute. Oh yeah, wait a minute. I know Crash Bandic. Yeah. ye. I was Crashed Bandicu Hello everybody and welcome back to the Bak rooom. I am Alex Bg. with me on the desk today is Brian Kim. You guys, we're gonna take a break. We're gonna take a break in this room and we're gonna chat about the things that are on our radar today from the nerd world and beyond. You got be Zen. Brian, how was your weekend My weekend was pretty eventful. I was thinking, I was like, what did I do this last weekend? And I actually did quite a lot. Really? Yeah, I'm usually just a guy who just lays in the mud and just lets the earth get absorbed. Yeah, sure. But this weekend I decided to go crazy. I think it was Friday. I don't know if you're aware of Michael Burns Oh yeah on channel Yeah in Wisecrack He did a his own film. he did like a screening of it And that was an excellent thing. He Oh the whole premise was he had He was watching a hater, like someone made a hater vit about him. And then he watched it and was like, you know what? I want to debate this person U like live in his house, not like via mediated through Zoom. Yeah, yeah. And so that's the premise of it. I think this's being distributed by some thing called Means TV. All I can say is it's an excellent film I think it's great. If you ever decides to post it on YouTube, you should give it a watch. But that was really fun Was Evan there? Did you see? Evan was there? Oh yeah, hell yeah. He he helped produce part of it. Oh, great. And he's actually in the film in a really funny way. So I love it. And then we decided To go to the fair, me and my fiance went to the fair. She is like a fair girlly. What fair? Theast LA County fair I love I love that she's so deep into fairs that you're like everyone knows there's a fair going on right now. I guess you're right.,'s the LA. County Fair? Yeah And like she's I think it sis she was a kid would go to the fair every year So she indoctrinated me into it. We got to drink a bunch of milk, drink eat a lot of fried food. drink a bunch of milk. Well, okay, so they happen to have, you know, Rockview milk company. They provide the milk for schools. Oh yeah. They just had a booth there and had a bunch of free milk And I was like, I haven't had this chocolate milk in probably years. So funny, man. I'm like, I gotta drink it and its still hold up I was such a milk boy when I was younger And and my period of being a complete milk boy. like I would drink literally two or three gallons of milk every week. I love. That's impressive. I would just chug it. and But I overlapped also with the period of my life when I wasn't aware that I'm pretty lactosevant. And so I had a long period in middle school being like, I guess just every time anyone goes to the bathroom, it's always an emergency and that's just normal for your entire life. You know So the thought of like seeing a random milk booth on a hot summer day and being like H's the thing, I'm also Not like very lactose, but I'm pretty lactose intolerant but sometimes I think I was thinking about it I think that's one of the like American cultures, like drinking milk for pleasure like leisurely. I don't think any other place just drinks milk. I went to a diner with a friend of mine who was like, a friend of his who I didn't know was gonna to meet us. Yeah. This guy must have been in his mid sixties ordered a full glass of milk of his meal and it weirded me out so much. I was like, It is weird.. It's just like to see an adult man veryer normal in every other regard. just drinking a glass of milk casually while eating a waffle at two in the afternoon. I was like, I don't know. Listen.s bad It milk hitss b But the saf Fareair is fun, I think it was the last weekend, so you guys can't go anymore We should go next year. Um The one thing I love about the fair is when they have a bunch of kid art. L, you know, you ye get like rib and stuff. And something about seeing like a child draw like anime pictures, like like I used to do when I was a kid. I'm like, you know what? the world's all right. Yeah, thats the world is all right. I see someone's like dogshit take on a pikachoo you're like, Yeah, you know what ' been there, man. you know. And then I watched the backrooms, which we will talk about later. I do want I do want to talk to you the backrooms because I haven't seen it yet, but I'm very curious about it.s's's Well I'll get into crazy till later? Yeah we'll get to it. How about you? You got a good weekend going on? Yeah, I mean, I told Brian this right before we came on, but I decided to get married over the weekend. Wh is crazy by the way. Wh you know, like lets the short version of it is me and my I guess fiancee now. The proposal technically. Yeah, I won't propose for a long time me and my fiance have been together for years, you know, like we've talked about marriage, but I've always been like, we don't really care. the three triggers for getting married in order of from least important to most important, were If the proposal could trol her mother, The that that originated from when Her mother was in town and a bunch of people went to go see Megan opening night. Her mom didn't want to see it. so I went and saw a man called Otto with her mother and then met up with everybody a man called Otto sucks. We met up with everybody at the fountains at the Grove afterwards. and I was like, that would have been a pretty good troll of. Oh, sure, yeah, but didn't propose And then the second trigger was like, well, if one of us needs healthcare,, whichich we both have healthcare, so we're good. And then third one was like, well, if we wind up in a position to buy a house. And so that third trigger happened and then it made the marriage thing happen. And now it feels like we're speedrunning major life moments Um, but u But yeah, that's that was an eventful weekend for me. That's crazy. It is crazy. Yeah. But honestly other than that, which was like pretty sedate conversation between the two of us.. And the, you know, the company that does my fiance's business management, other than that, super chill weekend. like We we are both, we're both playing zero zo seven first light. So we're just doing like we're on the same save file, just pass and play U I had a cigar on Saturday, you know, reading my book prettytty relaxed. sat by the pool, played with the dogs, like it was like just very, very chill, you know for what a Mentous weekend. It's been a lot of calling family and being like you know, hey here. But yeah some news. I'm getting married in very quickly. Yeah, literally yeah on Friday. Man, imagine that. Sometimes that's how it is. It's also the same way I became a father. It was just like, well, this happened like Here we go. Yeah. So yeah. well, that that was that was my weekend. But yeah, very chill a very chill weekend otherwise, you know, And even with that pretty chill. It's a pretty chill way to do a major life hurdle. but And then we're gearing up for what might be a crazy work week because we got news this morning that there's going to be big We think the Avengers Doomsday trailer is going to drop tomorrow at is it South by London? Is it South by Southwest London? South by Southwest London, which is hilarious that South by Southwest is not you just call it SX UK or something true like by Yeah, you're right. You're. But but yeah, so we've gotten pretty reliable news. We think that the Rusa brothers are going to drop the Avengers Doomsday trailer that they showed at Cinemacon in April We think that's going to release on YouTube tomorrow pretty early. Eric's planning on being here at like five AM or something nuts to do a live stream. I they said like two PM ste their local time in London. Yeah, which would be like six AM here. Yes. it'll be it'll be very early. So you know, obviously We will have more news on that As it happens. there will be a full breakdown on the new Rockstars channel As soon as we can humanly get it out, I did want to kind of call out like personersonally I'm a little annoyed at the Russo Bothers for not just releasing it in April when he saw it But also I am the reason why I'm cautiously optimistic, we are definitely getting a trail over The reason the place where my caution like increases over my optimism or when I'm like, Is this gonna be another thing where they release like a patch of green on Twitter and then every six hours we get like another pixel of Doom or whatever. you know, like I mean, that's kind of what they did with the Instagram posts where they had like a thing of green and it zooms out to be Doom's logo, I. Yeah, yeah, which like also cool. But I know you guys have a trailer that rocks. You know, like I find it funny that they reded it like big surprise happening I'm like what' what's the big surprise? gonna be real and we have a real doomb. Yeah I know I know. Yeah, yeah, yeah. He just give it to us. Yeah But also You know this, I'm a trailer guy. trailers get me real hyped. I love a good trailer. you know, like so I'm very stoked to see the new trailer tomorrow. Today we got a just in other trailer news while it's on my brain. We got our final trailer for End of Ooak Street which feels like it's really leaning into the Amblin, you know, kind of like Jurassic Park Kids in Danger sort of vibes. Yeah. I think it looks pretty fun. Yeah. I'm not like dead set on seeing it, but it does it does seem like a kind of movie that like I might be able to drag my daughter to go see Yeah, one hundred percent and be like, okay, now this is great. you know. And I mean, like just having another dinosaur film, I think is good. I like dinosaurs. Dinosaurs are cool. I'm a simple guy. I like dinosaurs. She't that Jurassic Wor park The Entity be the only dinosaur media we have. I know know dinosaurs. And it's also like, guess what, Motherfuckers? you can't trademark a dinosaur. That's just real. That's real you know like we need that. Soee, I'm excited for End of Oak Street. We also got the it was they builed it as the final trailer. It felt more like another teaser for sccary movie six Yeah. Which I will probably not I'm not that's not a franchise I ever like clicked into even when I was in high school and they started coming out. So If it gets like, you know, good reviews, like, you know, I'll see it because I love a good spoof. I loved Naked Gun, you know. But yeah, it feels a little bit like I'm out of sync with with that franchise for whatever reason. Yeah, I think it's like a lot of the jokes are, I felt like When I was watching, I only watched like Scary movie one and two Even then There's a lot of parts that are really funny and a lot of parts I'm like. So it's like weit like how much of that do you want to wait to get to like the good funny jokes? Yeah, what's the ratio? Yeah, exactly. Yeah. Am I okay with a couple race jokes, a couple trans jokes to get to like a really funny scary joke Maybe Mbe not. I don't know. I am interested both justust to see how it does in the current era. because like during When all the parody movies are coming out, like that kind of humor was kind of like everywhere. Yeah, that was like it was kind of u I wouldn't go so far as to call it like peak edgy humor because I think at that point it wasn't considered edgy. It was just just was you exactly. We offend everybody, you know? likeike and I think there're I think Culturally, We've reeamined some of the tropes in our in our media and sort of seen how like, you can't just say you're doing it ironically and then still make a racist joke. You're just being racist, you know, like I will say though I think this maybe this is just how culture works, but I think now is maybe one of the best times to bring that kind of stuff back. because that kind of stuff is kind of coming back I don't know if you are like on reels and TikToks and stuff. Brian, you know that I'm not saw how bustered I was. Switch is different. S is different. TkTok scroll. I just scroll forever. But like edgier humor, like the two thousands era edgy humor is kind of back U peoplee are just saying the R word again. That's just straight up back Granger knows when you're procurement manager for an office park You're not managing one building, you're managing all of them. And to stay ahead, you need to see through walls and around corners Light's about to fail, filters ready to clog, HVC on its last leg. If you wait until something breaks, you're already behind Count on Granger for quality products, easy reordering and twenty four seven support. Call one eight hundred Ganger, click Granger. com or just stop by Granger. For the ones who get it done Hey, I'm Mike Barren Holz. On my new show, Funny You Ask, trivia starts the conversation and then things immediately go off the rails. I ask a question. My guests think they know the answer? Sometimes they do. More often, they do not. And then the conversation takes a turn. One trivia question turns into stories about career highs, painful bombs, and behind the scenes moments that probably should have remained private. You'll hear confidence misplaced confidence, bold guesses, wrong answers, quick laughs, and the slow realization that maybe this was a bad idea to say out loud. If you like smart comedy, sharp conversations, and trivia that exist purely to melt people's brains, this is Funny You As with me, Ike Bereonholz. Follow Funny You Ask with Ike Barrenoltz on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to podcasts I've caught that Yeah. I've caught I've caught a couple of like We're for a while considered like homophobic slurs just being casually tossed around again, which I'm like That's surprising, you know, like and I know a pendulum swings, but You know, as someone who's old enough to remember the pendulum at both ends and like, right this is this is still just a little bit's catching me off guard. And I, you know, to give some credit, I don't know if that's the right word, but I will say I I think that there is some level of or more level of irony now because I think people are just generally more knowledgeable. Be back then I think it was more clearly it was genuine ignorance.u ignorance and derogatory. Whereas now, you know, a lot of people, you know, using the Efler, a lot of people who are part of the LGBT community, it's like a reclaimation kind of thing. Yeah use it. But I'm talking about people who aren't reclaiming That's true. That's what's surprising me. Someone wants to reclaim it? Great, you can speak to that. Great, but I'm talking about people who like we're like cissette white dudes like me going around going like This is cool again, trust me, you know, it's like It's not my place to say if it is or isn't. It just It just surprises me. That's all Yeah, so anyways, so I'll wait to see what the sort of hype around scary movie is. before before I go see it, but I did enjoy the the highest fuck falling into the couch from the teaser today. So I was like, all right, all right U Okay, we have some other assorted smatterings of nerd newews And and for those of you who are into action figures, and I will say this, zero judgment. My home is littered with dinosaur action figures. I should not. God We got news that the first wave of Marvel Legends figures reportedly includes Doctor Doom, Thor, Captain America, and perhaps most notably a non Tom Holland Spider manan. Yeah Now, this is very much reading the tea leaves here We've heard Tom Holland talk about how he would love to be able to pass the torch The way he felt RDJ did with him to become Spider Man. He's very openly said that he kind of wants there to be another non Tom Holland Spider Man The Marvel Legends figurines thing coming soon after that. makes it feel like they've really got another live action Spider Man in the chamber for the MCU What are your thoughts on? Yeah, and to provide like some context, I think the person who leaked this information is like supposedly a toy influencer who has connections with like Hasbough people. Yeah, ye ye. And so yeah, there's like a veneer of legitimacy Yeah. Yeah. So this isn't like like real real news, but it is like some level of legitimacy Um Yeah, I think the person was being vague on purpose. I know in the last sneak peek, Eric was talking about how could be like People are thinking it's u Toby McGuire, Spider M Because there's rumors like in Yeah I personally don't think we're gonna get any of the old Spider Men back for these movies. I don't want them like the other theory that Erics presented was maybe it's just a mask Spideran in the black venom suit and then maybe we're gonna get a venom kind. Yeah. But it's still technically Tom, but he doesn't know. I did see sure an article I wanted to it was either in Polygon or Taku this weekend. that was pointing out how one of the a lot of the scenes we've seen so far for Spider Man Brand today are based on iconic Spider Man comomic book covers One of the scenes we've seen is from a comic book cover of an issue where venom is heavily featured from a big venom storyline. I don't know it off top my head You know, And so this the author of that article I want to say it was Polygon Please go look them up. I want to give them credit. I don't want to take credit for someone else's thought. but The author of that article was saying like, well between that and like, you know, the end of no way homeome when, you know, they catch the symbiote at the bar or whatever. like maybe we will see Venom in the MCU before long U whichich I love venom. Yeah. I mean, a big part of my sppider Man Education as a child was playing maximum carnage, you know, like Like, you know, being like, you know, in middle school in the late nineties, like venom it was like venom, spawn, carnage. you know, you had all these like sick, you know, like hero characters. Yes, exactly. Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I'd be stoked for that. I don't know if it's gonna to happen.'t I don't feel. I know. U I guess if you guys want to avoid like leaks and rumors you can avoid this. I might put a timestamp here. There's like some leaks and rumors We're mostly rumors of Toby Mcuire being part of the opening scene of Secret Wars, or sorry, Doomsday. as part of like showing an encursion happening. Yeah. likeike his world and the X men world are fighting together. He's going to be part of that to be killed off And there's also a rumor going on that Venam will be part of the like maybe the post credit scene or fininal scene of Brand new Day, mayaybe's the final metamorphis, I don't know what wass going. But these are like the rumors happening. final stage of Spider Man puberty. Yeah Yeah, has to become a geject. Instead of acne, you get SymbiO Um, so both cases the This this leak about the toys seems to like legitimize both of those Yeah. but I don't know, I don't know what do you think is more interesting U We got a lot of Toby. I don't care about Tobbey. I don't care about Tobbey. I know Venom would be kind of crazy. Yeah, Venom cool. I mean, I also think it's very possible that like we have many other Spider peopleeople in the wings thanks to not only the Spider Vverse movies but also the insomniac games. You know, which are obviously both stand outside the MCU, you know you know, I'm aware of that Um But, you know, we could we could get like, you know, a Miles Moralis or a Cindy Moon or something or something like that. you know, like or Spyer Gwen or u You know, I I also know that like sppider Gin is huge with kids. Like, you know, there's there's like a Disney channel like Spider Man and Friends' like all like, you know, Chubby little toddlers basically, right? Like u And you know, Spider Gn's a huge part of that. She has a different name in that in that show and I can't remember what it is. But you know, so it could also be something like that Um mostostly I'm like, does it look sick as hell? you know that's my like I care less about like who it is and like what it means for the MCU and I'm more like Will I be tempted to drop seventy five bucks to have it on a shelf in my house? Like that's my, that's my threshold. Like no one remembers this, but you know, Todd McFarlan in addition to spawn and all that stuff did so many lines of awesome action figures in the in the nineties One of whom I think were like loosely connected to the spawn universe, but it was like these like cyberpunk animals with all this like armor and weaponry and there was like a warthog with a sick missile launch drugack and I'm like Bring that That's what I want. That's what I want. Bring back nineties anthropomorphic animals with machine parts. Yes. That's what we've been doing. This what I want. While we're talking about Spider Man, there's also an Empire magazine spread on the new Spider Man movie with a couple good photos Obviously shots we haven't seen before But not really a lot of new new news from the photos at least. I haven't read the article yet, but like, you know, it's like we know Frank Castle is punisher He looks great in the photo. You know, like we know Michael Mando is scorpion lookooks fucking rad. But yeah, you know, and it seems to be u I think that we still have one trailer left to get for Spider Man Brand new Dig Yeah Right? Like we've gotten like the kind of like down, downbeat like, u, you know, Spidey's in a rough place Vibes trailer. I think we're doing action and story trailer for the when tickets go on sale which should be in the next like two weeks or something, right? Well Yeah Spid fner is coming soon. Its of it's end of July. Yeah or it's not end June. No, it's got be end of J It's end of July It's like yeah a month two months, maybe. Yeah. so I think six weeks out, we'll get another big trailer for them. And I think this this emmpire article is setting that up. But I've Loved everything I've seen so far I'm super stoked for it I kind of love these quotes we're getting from Tom Holland about like Hey, this this Sider Man has a shelf life and the torch will be passed to someone new I think that was part of, you know, post end game One of the things that was difficult with the MCU was like, Yeah, you know what? Anthony Mackkeie is the new Captain America, but it was it never felt like ceremonious, you know, like, u which I think is not fair to him or the character, but But so I hope that You know, whether or not it's something we get in brand new day, that feels like it might be a little premature. somethingomething we eventually get is that kind of little bit of ceremony. U I really lik the first look we got of was it Trmel Tillman's character because I don't vaguely know that he's probably going to be the William Metszker, I feel like that's the name character who's like the head of the ODC who in the comics was the head of the anti mutant division. Yeah. But in the in the The screenshot we saw or the picture we shot saw like he's shaking hands with Spider Man. Yeah. So there's like clearly some kind of like deal he's doing with Spider Man about like, hey, can you help us you know, maybe in the name of their public good to like get these dangerous mutants or whatever. Well, it seems like Sadie Sink's character might be part of that right. one hundred percent. My favorite quote. and I can remember if this was from Twitter or if it was from the Epire artle, it some Sadie Sync plays a mysterious character who is very mysterious. It's like, Oh, really? couldn't even bust out the Saurus, but I really I really like Sadie Syink and I'm excited to see what that is. I mean, It feels like at least we at the office here have been like, she's Jean Gray, right? You know? It doesn't seem like any other character that makes sense in context with everything else Yeah I'm willing to be surprised. I like to be surprised. But I do like just she's very mysterious because she's so mysterious. She's a mysterious. Yeah, we don't know anything about her. Go look up tautology, my friend Let let's talk about some other stuff we have here. We're very close to House of the Dragon season three. We got a final trail over here. some quotes from showrunner Ryan Condal about how many metetric tons of propane they went through this season, which sounds awesome Um, I am frequent viewers of the show now, I am a former and currently lapsed Game of Thrones fans. haaving come into it from the books and then having been burned, no pun intended by the HBO series. And so I'm behind on House the Dragon, but more and more people, including my buddy who felt the exact same way I did every step of the way with the with the HBO show more and more people have been like, no, really, you gott to catch up on House of the Dragon. Are you caught up on it? Yeah. I'm caught up on House of Dragon. And it's funny because as a person who didnid't watch like all of Game of Thrones and I know I know this is is a problem. I gott to watch it. I don't think I don't think you Well I know that it's ultimately people say it's not worth it, but I think just for the good episodes, it might be worth it. That might That was the frustrating thing for me is like the good episodes of Game of Thrones were would hit so hard They hit so hard, you know, like and then, you know, there'd be there'd be the filler. ye. So like When I was watching a trailer, I was say Oh, I'm excited. This is going to be Yeah like super I think season one and two' essentially double set up, setting up the history, setting up the current landscape Yeah in order for this all out war to happen that we all know is going to end up bad. Yeah ye. And so it's that dramatic irony that we get to witness that is going to be so fun Hey guys, I'm Brian, the host of Brian Enton Investigates. Most other true crime and breaking news podcasters are in their basement or studio Not me, I am out on the road every single week From inside prisons, to murder scenes, to active manhunts There really isn't anywhere I won't go. Coast to coast, I am all about old fashioned boots on the ground reporting You have to show up in person to cover the news and get the secrets. and I have a way of getting people to talk I cover stories others ignore with a relentless determination to get to the truth Listen to Brian Enton invvestigates every day, wherever you get your podcasts If you have nothing nice to say, you can sit with us I'm Suzanne Lambert, comedian, mean girl and interternet menace, and this is the Me but true podcast Every week, a special guest in I will talk culture, current events, romance, whatever we feel like. I don't know. Are you a c We'll be keeping it funny, playful, and petty per usual. You cringe at the sight of people posting QR codes to fund their own bachelorette parties. You need to know how to respond to that coworker with the bad haircut who's always making digs or just need to get something off your chest. Make sure to subscribe to meane But trrue wherever you listen to podcasts, unless of course, you hate fun, in which case Don't. I'm Susan L Lambert, and this is me A tree. What if your favorite podcast felt like calling your funniest, most honest friend with the nicest ass? The one who tells you the truth and makes you snort laugh and pee a little? That's idiot. That's my show. I'm Laura Clary, and I've been oversharing with the internet for over a decade and I'm really good at it Every episode, we dig into the real stuff. We cover everything nobody wants to admit out loud. The moments that are equal parts humiliating and also kind of funny. Parenting fails, relationship fails, mental health fails, sobriety fails Iust kidding. We're not failing. I have zero filter and it's kind of a problem. Subscribe to Idiot for free on Apple podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you're listening right now I'll see you there Um, and you know This is going to be similar to maybe talks about how people felt about boys where they thought they were going to get like war scorched Earth at the end. Yeah ye But they didn't because that's not what the charac that's not what the show was trying to do. A little easier to do scorched Earth if you' got a bunch of dragons flying around. Exactly. Literal scorched Eth. And we know already that this end's bad. Yeah. So it's not going to be a surprise. It's going to be something that like We know it's going to happen and we get to see it. So I think that's what's going to be really exciting u just to see How like such m like starts from a misunderstanding can devolve into huge civil war that like Y this u that you know, this this world. So I'm really excited for this season U And the whole game of Thrones universe, I think is just a fun place to be in anyway I mean, I went so deep Brian knows this already, but I went so deep on Game of Thrones and the books that me and a friend of mine recorded a twenty four hour long, I think U podcast series. As if Dan Carlland did hardcore history for the war of the Three Kings or whatever it is and like It is so it's like I I spent so much time researching it like I remember we wound up having to cut it from the podcast, but I wrote probably like two thousand words about how the reason the Targaryens rose to power is because they happen to live in a subduction zone where where the continent boundaries, the tectonic plates of the planet Westeros is on came together which produced volcanoes, volcanic ash and tectum and everything else made very fertile areas, which made for good sheep farming. which provided a large prey base for aerial predators. so the dragons came out, but then they learned how to work with the dragons. You know, it was just like it was this like whole like I spin so. I spent weeks researching non dragon biology to be like, I think this is how the dragons could have outometed other local predators in the area to become an apex predator. You know? I mean, yeah. have you read Gun Germs of Steel? Yeah, I've got Yeah, ye it is a similar vibe like These people, the only reason why they rose to power is because they just happened to be in the area that was like Yeah you had animals. you could tame. You can't tame a zebra, you can tame a horse, you know Yes, but yeah, very much that, very much that. I want to talk about the Crash Band Cook Theatrical film. Oh yeah. I got thoughts. So wonder why, wonder why. Yeah, so okay so there's Cash Band and Cook Theatrical film moving to production, which bottom line I'm stoked for, you know, yeah, it's so off the old IP, I guess Crash has been getting like reboots like every once in a while and now like ye So Crash was naughty Dog then I think Activision bought Cash at some point, which is when they rebooted crash team racing and did like the original trilogy re release and stuff. Now I'm excited for I'm excited for a crash Bandicp movie for a couple of reasons. One, I came up last week on the show. I didn't like Mario sixty four Because I was playing Crash Bandicot on Playsttation and I was like, this is what three D platformers should be. Wow. I was like Mari I was like Mario sixty four feels like a scavenger hunt It doesn't feel like sure. Crash Bandicup felt like platformer or hundred percented the first and third game, the second one too hard. You know and played a ton of crash basash and crash team racing was like all over it, all over it. U alsoso, when crash team racing got rebooted in like twenty seventeen, twenty eighteen I was crashed Bandicot in the commercials and three that year And so which by the way blew my mind because I remember seeing those ads. Yeah, yeah. I'm like, wait a minute. Oh yeah, wait a minute. I know Crash Bandic Yeah. yeah. I was Crashed Mandicot. Wh do we go Ga go. Okay, yeah, come on out there. Thank you I'm so excited. Oh you're a big boy. All right, Rax. Let's b!! You know, And so for the movie, I'm like they're clearly gonna have it be like Mario movie where it's like just a CGi crashed by the Cot But part of me is like, maybe my phone will ring. The promo is back, baby. The P the suit. Berg Bande Cot is back. Yeah, the putack in the suit. just give me the megaphone walk around. How Iike be so fun. Yeah, ye, that would be so I mean, also a very fun thing about being Crash Band Cot was They because they were rebooting crash team racing, they built a tiny little go cart that I had to sit in and it was like it was like literally like this, but the crash they had me test drive it. I had to go to like a production facility and test drive this crash bandicot Go Kart And then when they put me in the actual crash outfit, you know, it's like a giant. you know, I couldn't move my head. was like I the Batman thing And it was also difficult to like steer the steering wheel because it came down on my shoulders. so I couldn't I didn't have like this range of motion. I had to like You know, And there was a there was a shot the director wanted The director was a good guy. This is not a story about the director being a dick. I think I think he's like a wonderful dude There's a shot he wanted where I had to break real hard like after like skiding into a turn like, you know right in front of the camera. and I was doing it and he was like He was like, Hey, man, I know it's tough, but like can you do you think you can get a little closer? And I was like, it's tough man. He's like, I know, just like just for me. giveive it a shot. And I was like, okay, great. He's like a dude I knew from before that. againg, can't stress enough. this is not him being a dick It's me not being good at driving. And so the next shot I came into the turn way faster than I have been and skided out and slammed on the brakes, literally like less than four inches from the camera. I would have knocked it over. I would have in Yeah As is, I injured several people not knowing where my nose was just turning someomeone would like like come up behind me and be like, o excuse me, Alex, I like, yes and just like, you know, it is U it was I was a disaster on set. A good time.er very crash core to be honest. Very crash core, veryer crash core. So yeah anyways, Cash Bandicp people or Sis Mansky, if you're out there do you think that like Crash is gonna go the like Mario movie route where it's like a completely different lore that's like specific to the movies or do they gotta recreate the crash? I don't lore. I don't think they'll recreate any of the games. I mean, even within the Crash Bandicoup mainline series, like if you go back and look at the first one, You're trying to save Crash's girlfriend who is like has tigle bitties and bleach blonde hair. likeike it's it's ridiculous. It's so it's so mid nineties. It's' being like Sonic's not edgy enough. you know, like what have Cash fucked, you know, like that sort of a thing And then like she gets replaced by Crash's sister who's much more family friendly. Yeah. So I think I think it'll be a new story I bet it'll be Neoc Cortex and Engine will be the main villains. I bet we'll see Rieroo U, you know, like, I bet it'll be like pretty linear because for as much as The Mario movies are like all over the place. Yeah But Mario iss a much bigger franchise than Crash Bandicoot. It It's expanded in a lot a lot more and a lot weirder directions. You know, it has RPGs as sports games like Crash Crash never really quite broke through in that way And so I think there, I think because of that, there's a lot less cameo boxes that need to be ticked And and a lot more of just a, hey you know, the average parent taking their kid to see this four quQuadrant movie You know, they might know Crash Fandic Kood is, their kid probably doesn't. So it just needs to be a straight up family film Yeah. You know, so I think it'll be a little bit more linear. I don't think they're going to be precious about the lore from the games and the lore from the games is all very much like Neo Cortex got a time machine. U Is classic he wants to dominate the world he crash stops him or whatever. Yeah, yeah. I mean, I love a good mustache twirling villain. you know, like I'm all for it. So bring back Crash's girlfriend No way I That's part of his original lord. They don't even they don't even That's part of his even in the later games, never once to someone like I crash, wereeren't you like really into like that jugsy lady? it happens.. It happens. But it's you know what it is? It's she that character was introduced around the same time as if you recall the SNES Donkey Kong Country had. Yeah, Candy Candy Kong. Yeah. whichich was like really an era when it felt like, okay, the furries have gotten exec jobs, you know, like like we all grew up. we all had crushes on Robin Hood made Marryian and now some of us are, you know, like making big decisions And it it's just a weird time, you know, like It's true. It is funny like when Th These people have designing the girlfriends and, you know what you wouldd be attractive It was an animal but it had boobs on it. and that's like all they decided. It really Hourglass figure boobs. Nothing about personality, not like, yeah, and she cracks jokes. You know, like she gives you shit, you know? likeike none of that. Just like Yeah, I don't know. Band to cool with tits. Yeah Yeah, sllap it on the back of the prrima game guide. you know like Yeah. So anyways, I will be following the Crash Bandic newews closely. Let's get to Berg Rom and Brian Rom. You saw the backrooms this weekend, which I didn't get a chance to see, but I do want to hear about. U Spoiler free for those who also haven't seen it and who maybe like me are just bad at prioritizing their time Why should someone prioritize going to see back room? Yeah, I mean, I just personally am loving this era of like internet creators turning into big movie creators. Yeah. And this is just a good showcase of that. Um, Hi I think what I appreciate about the Back backackrooms is that it basically condenses the lore that already existed in like the YouTube videos presents it to like a new audience. L my fiance, for example, doesn't know anything about the backroom's lore because she can't read. Exactly. Iag No but She she's also blind. can't watch the ETV. How's happen? So if you are a fan of the backrooms fl from like the YouTube videos and what notot. Definitely give it a watch. It's that vibe, but with a much higher production value What I really appreciate about what ain does is that he's also very subtle with the way he does his horror in that it feels like the goal is more like Eerie vibe than jump scared. R hundred percent. Yeah. But what I think he does really well with his original YouTube series is that he has like maybe ten, fifteen, Like he's a lot of videos. but only in the first one does he kind of vaguely show the monster in the brackrooms So you When it's set up, you know this creature exists somewhere in the backrooms that every subsequent video, it's always tense because even though they're never showing that monster, you know it's somewhere You know it exists. And so this dramatic irony of like, this character is in danger, but they don't fully know it y. He's able to reintroduce that concept with this movie or basically They show like, you know, the original concept is also like found footage. It's all like VHS tapes of like people exploring the backrooms. you know, person exploring, the monster shows up a little bit. It's very vague, you can't really see it h and then throughout the next entire movie Um are always even if the rooms themselves are also uncomfortable, which they are because it's kind of uncanny. Yeah, there's also an added tension of like every single turn could be something Yeah, which I really enjoy Um the yeah the I think You know, just said it best at the at work or like the vibes immaculate. The cinematography beautiful. Yeah. I think it is one hundred percent H It's like it's like a weird world that you're living in. and Being able to explore that is really cool. Yeah And so That is my review basically, and you should watch it I will say I will say, My one Big critique is that not enough big titted band. Eactly. Every time like the backrooms need more big titted monsters. Yeah. I I'm not gonna get off on a scary monster. I get it. When I watch for Yeah to get off. Yeah. What if Ghostface said? ts That It be doing this but it makes me feel too gross, but you get you get the idea. fill in the blanks at home ye yeah. It's always running through my mind. My biggest critique is that I think the character writing and maybe the plot writing in general is a little weak. Yeah. because I think most of it feels like it's in service to the vibe rather than what maybe makes sense. Yeah, whichich is fine Well I like right, but that can be an issue so long as it's not so if the vibes are strong enough to overcome that, then it's like a nitpick. Yeah. It is one hundred percent a nitpick. And the only reason why I'm picking at it is because I think It's it wasn't unnecessary decision. Yeah. because just as an example, Um I think to emphasize the weirdness of things I The writer or Caine decided to make a character kind of describe things vaguely and weird. Yeah. Like in a way like I can't explain it. L you know, I'll show you kind of didn't have to because The way they're presenting this is like this is still the real world. And a person in the real world wouldn't necessarily be that vague about like you can still explain it exactly how it is and it'd still be weird. R? If I were to explain the backrooms, like there was a wall, I went through it and there's this Weird place. It doesn't make sense. Yeah. That's also weird. You don't have to make the character be like Describe it in a way that seems like it's fake. Yeah. fourteen inches up from the southwest corner, there was a chair light poking out at ninety degree an. Yeah ye yeah So But I think the reason why I was They did it like that was to try to up the weirdness of it all. And I think what I was thinking about this, I think a media that does this better is something like severance, where, you know, it's like vaguely an alternate like real world with like a weird company that works exists. But at the same time, the real people are also weirdos. Yeah.. Like I forget the name of the writer character who has that book or whatever Oh yeah, yeah. Oh Godd, it's gonna dry. I don't rememberin, but yeah it's ye, yeah. But him and his friends are like, they're weird. They're not like Real world Analogous. They're kind of like parodities of that type of person. Yeah, yeah. where it feeds into the overall weird vibe of the severance world Whereas in the backrooms For all intents and purposes, it's the real world but there's the backrooms exists. So the vibe didn't necessarily match in that case Again, nitpick Overall Really great film. U if you like creepy vibes and don't like getting suuper jump scared. I think it's great for you U And also I really like what Kaine did overall with like how he U created a theme within the backrooms instead of just being like an interdimensional weird place He also it's kind of shown is this is not a spoiler necessarily because it's kind of shown in like a trailer where in the trailer, it's like it's like a place where it remembers the real world, but like not really. Yeah ye. And so as a weird like memory world I think that's really interesting. Yeah It itss own kind of weird like internal dream logic that holds up Well, so the two things I want to follow up on, I'll do the book first because I think that's the one people care about the least. then I'll do the video game because that's one I care about the most. But so I know that the backrooms came out of a big like community project online, which I am not familiar with. I read a book earlier this year called There Is No Anti Memetics Division by an author named Quantum, all lowercase QNTN. on. And they at the end of the book and the acknowledgements, they talk about how much of the book was developed in conversation with the SCP community.. And the basic idea is that there's a government agency that investigates things that make you forget Uh you know, so it's a lot of like walking into a room and finding a note from yourself being like, hey, you have been here before, you know, like that kind of stuff Um but it has because it's u book and not something you're looking at, it can take some of that viby stuff and dream logic and be like, yeah, We can talk around the edges of it and then like you, the reader, kind of have to like flesh out the rest. And it allows it to be a little bit less literal, sort of in the way For those of you who read Annihilation by Jeff Vandermir, you know, and then seeing the movie like where it's like, yeah the movie has to literalize things because it's a different medium For some of like the weird like dream logy stuff, that medium works really well. And then also in the like broad umbrella of SEP the video game control from twenty nineteen, which fucking rules has a sequel coming out very soon control resesonident which we might get a glimpse at at Sony's state of play tomorrow. So there is a image going around online that I think is fake I was fooled by it. I got fooled real good when I first saw it. you know, giving like a breakdown of what's going to be at state of play tomorrow Um I think that's fake. I do not think we're going to get a Grand Theft Auto six trailer this week. I do think we're going to get a lot of control resonident gameplay Remedy has already showcased some of that with for those you played the first game Dyan Fatum running around in Manhattan getting up to all sorts of mischief. And it looks the footage I've seen so far looks like You know, the scenes from Doctor Strange where they're in the mirror dimension, but a video game you're running around in, which looks fucking rad Um And then I think we're also going to get a bunch of gameplay footage of Insomnac's new Wolverine game. Oh this week, which I am really excited for. I'm so stoked for that And then I think they they're doing like a god of war, like Greek chapters re release, which I'll probably check out. I never played those when they were out. I came into God Award it PS five era or whatever. And then also a remember of more Final fantasy remake stuff, which Im just have not caught up with, but I know people enjoy. But yeah, so I don't know. is there anything I know that you play one video game or one video game only Oh Is there is there anything on offer at state of play that wets your whistler or that you're excited to see more of U I think just currently the Wolverine game. because it's so relevant to the work that we do plus You know, the inssomniac people, they know how to make like single player hero games. I do I'm excited to see. I love a single player action adventure man. and like yeah, I really think that the success of resident evil too a lesser extent, Pragmada, but basically Capcoms had a very good year. on the back of single player adventure games And I think it's making these studios that like went all in on, you know, the Fortnite Grand Theft Auto online model I think it's making them kind of recalibrate a little bit I think there's a reason why in the past like two, three years, we've started seeing like the add on version to a game. I mean, specifically from Sony, but like You know, Last of us Part two has a rogue like mode. R You know, God of War has a rogue like mode. like those are fundamentally single player modes.. And I think we're going to I think it's probably a little too soon to start to see the industry shift be recognized at state of play this week. But I think in the next five, six years, we're going to see a shift away from these always online massively multiplayer games to something or even having an online mode to something where it's like Nah, here's like a good like first person game, you know And I think the reason why probably most developers tried to do it is because they saw how much money these live service games were raaking it. Absolutely. They all wanted a piece of the pie and now they're realizing Oh, you can't compete with these bakers. Like their pie is fully taken It's also like, I think that You know, one of the things that's hard to wrap your head around with something like Fortnite, which is massive. You know, again, like Fort Fortnite to me is like endgame. It's a thing that works so well, but it really shouldn't. It's kind of an accident that it hit when it did And I remember when Fortnite was up against Pub G. our conversation was like, which one's going to pop off? And it wasn't until Was it Ninja who did the stream with Drake where he was like screaming epic on the phone or whatever, but You know, I think these games Th these blockbuster games get so much attention. and I think we're seeing a little bit in the games industry what we're seeing in the film industry where it's like, yes, we love big IP, we love a big blockbuster game, but also you have something like Belatro, you know, or Mina the Holloower, you know, these games that come from either You know, single person developers as labors of love or smaller studios where it's like, hey, you know, the budget on this thing might not have been three hundred million And it might have not made like that much, but compared to the amount it took in terms of development costs, we're seeing a pretty high ROI notwithstanding Maybe we should be like diversifying our portfolio, not saying we can't make any of these big AAA blockbuster games. But, you know Clire Obscure was hailed as kind of like a AA version of that. like Can we get some Aouble A and single A titles out there as well? And I'm hoping we'll see sort of a return to that Yeah I've been playing through Mass Effect andrameda. which is a solid beat, but because of it, I went back and looked at BiowWare's output as a studio likeike, you know, just back through the beginning of time and The degree to which you can see the brakes absolutely fucking pumped Once they quit thinking of themselves as like a single player RPG studio and start working on anthem which want Fopped. You know, like and I don't I try not to take glee in the flopping of it But I'm just citing like, that was a multie, multi multim million dollar commitment that didn't pay off. and now all of a sudden they haven't had anything really in ages. You know, I guess they put out Vail Guard It was a buywarear game recently. U and you're seeing like studios who have like one person who worked on Mass Effect be like from one of the developers of Mass Effect Be able to use that to raise money and get people hyped like I think I'm hoping we're through the era of these massively multiplayer online. Yeah. you know, this is your forever game things. Let Fortnite be the weird oddity it is U I like it, I play it, but let's not try to recreate it. Let's try to do something new, you know Uh, Not that every game has to have an have a narrative I love tetras That' L we don't need every game to be like last of us part two You play for an hour and then go like, I gott to call my parents I got to tell him I love them, you know, like but more stuff like that, why not? Yeah, why not? Why not? let's let's try. Oh yeah and I am still playing er zo seven first light. I think I'm at the end of the game Oh really? I get crushed through it. Well, I think it's not a very long game., interestnteresting. I think I saw on some website like that the main story mode is like less than forty hours, whichich feels about right based on my pacing of it Also, it feels like a game that was constructed to be replayed Like and and the way the story mode lets you go back after you complete the game, replay chapters and tactical simulation or just replay them again and like There are a lot of choices about how you handle individual events in the game that could like impmact Not really plot and stuff. it's kind of on the rails plot wise, but could certainly impact like, oh crap I did better at ste So I didn't have to do this next section is like a crazy running a blom up that I will I will definitely be replaying sequences and levels of this game. justust because they fucking' rule. Yeah. Yeah, I think I think tonight I think tonight my girlfriend has friends com over so I can't my fiance has friends coming over. so I can't Um So like we can't finish it. We're playing it together. It's pass and place. So like, you know, you can't it would be such a betrayal But it was she would be so I got she would be so pissed at me, but I called her once. I had a flight that was delayed. And I was like, man, I'm really bummed because I was hoping I'd land early enough that we could play through Expedition thirty three some more tonight And she was like, Ohh yeah, great call. And like sometimes when we're playing a game, there's like a way you can go grind. like, ye Yeahah you can go grind without me. That's fine. She played through like an hour of plot and I like what are you doing? And she's like, I gott to find a safe point. I was like, just stop. Just stop Ruining, you know, like that's funny. I see someone in the chat saying they're trying a hundred percent Hades too. Hell yes, that was a great game. Oh yeah I also say Nergl Je sing Tetris Rocks My tetris claim to fame is I worked When the pandemic hit, I was working for a mobile game company that was putting out a mobile version of Tetris that had a game show built into it and kind of like a battle Royale sort of Tetris take. Okay. And we had to do playtests with the Tetris compomany And I beat everybody in the Tetris comp at me No one at the Tetris you could beat me in mobile te This guy' a Tetris champion. No, if you put me up against someone who actually the Tetris I'd get to I can't do, I can't do a teaspin triple to save my life And the people who can can Fucking crush me. But you know what it is. I know what it is. Yeah, but if you're if you're playing like, you know, like my my tetris was the new Tetris on N sixty four. likeike I played all the ones before that, but that was the one where it just clicked with my brain That one I could probably destroy anybody at. But yeah, the teespin tririple Clear is a technique I just am like too old to pull off. Okay, is there anything else we need to cover today before we wrap things up? I going about an hour here. We gota for. Okay. Okay, well, that is it for us today. Please make sure to like this video, subscribe the Bakrom channel You got questions for us? Leave them in the comments. I'm trying to pop in there more from my personal account, respond to people and stuff just to keep the combo going after the episode ends. So if you couldn't catch us live and you're like, no, really Berg, I gotta hear what G me a link to this crrash band of Kud dad you were in or whatever U Pop it in the comments. I'll do my best to reply. If you want to support the channel directly, please consider buying some merch from nerdride. shop. Buying a teaf from nerdride. shop is one of the best ways to support our channel. We have designs for everybody. We have some new X men designs that dropped in honor of the trailer for season two of X men ninety seven. We have a ton of Spider Man and Doom designs So absolutely go check those out. If if you're not already following us on Twitter, Instagram threads, check us out at Break Rom NR. Thank you so much for tuning in. We'll see you guys next time. Bye bye. Bye I'm gonna go back to work. All right