Time stamps, because you all are so nice. 2:20 - Show begins, we say our names + run of show + social security numbers 11:50 - Nintendo’s secret M-rated horror game, and Marty’s weird theory of who’s making it 19:00 - Welcome to the Palworld-Verse 35:00 - MAIN TOPIC - Xbox shakes up Game Pass, shenanigans ensue 1:01:10 - What we’ve been playing/watching -The First Descendant, Zenless Zone Zero, Moonscars, Still Wakes the Deep, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy, Physical 100, Inside Out 2, Twister
PC Game Pass users get day one games while Xbox Game Pass Standard does not. Xbox users have become second class citizens on their own console. EDIT: Reminder that Phil Spencer said multiple times throughout 2020 to 2023 that the price of Game Pass would not increase due to the Activision-Blizzard acquisition. So that was a lie.
Chances are the difference in price is because of them desperately trying to stay relevant when steam exists. I mean I don’t care for the whole steam supremacy but it does exist.
It's only purgury if he lied under oath, I.e. in court on the stand, which I don't think he did. The FTC won't be happy either way, it just won't be criminal.
I've never had Gamespass, but they keep pulling up Microsoft store whenever I open my gaming laptop and I keep closing it. If I was more tech-saavy, I'd get rid of whatever function keeps it popping up and/or switch to Linux.
Call of Duty was always the last big bet they have left to make. The “typical” console gamer you described spends 80+% of their gaming hours on COD, Madden, Fortnite, and the like. A mind-boggling number. This might not be representative of you all or this community, but it’s reality. They won’t stick around to stay on Ultimate. And long-term subscribers like me are tuning out… At $15/mo, I justified having GP. At 20, and likely beyond, I canceled my recurring billing..
Don't have the time stamp, but they said at one point there is anti-xbox people and I want to point out a thing, similar to a lot of countries not having access to psn, there are countries that don't have access to microsof's services (aka game for windows live, gamepass etc.). One of my friends a few years ago came to ask me about the value of game pass and to our surprise they aren't available to our country, I wasn't surprised but my friend was sad about it. Is just like the GFWL days, those of pc games couldn't be bought here and ppl just pirated them instead. So a lot of people in my country aren't technically anti xbox but more like even if we wanted, we can't get their services unless we do dumb workarounds.
38:33 Those are the monthly prices which aren't the prices most people pay. Comparing yearly prices: GP Core $75 PS+ Essential $80 GP Standard $180 PS+ Extra $135 GP Ultimate $240 PS+ Premium $160 Should also note you have to pay taxes on these prices & video games. So when comparing cost, you don't have to add taxes (or if you do, then add taxes to both). Though not stated here, some people believe PS+ does not include 1st party games. However, PS+ does have 1st party games but just never day one. Also, they do some 3rd party games day one.
I guess the reason I don't care about Gamepass despite playing everything on PC and Nintendo games on Switch, is I can't stand any pressure to finish a game that's leaving the service. It's kinda what's ruined watching TV for me, I can't stand the pressure of FOMO when a show or movie leaves the service. Case in point, I'm play Ys 8 right now, and after that I'm moving on to Wolfenstein 2. I like playing what I want, when I want, at my Own pace. I think the last new game I played day 1 was Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, and before then it was Zelda Link's Awakening, because the Zelda series is endearing to me. But yeah, the reason streaming services for games have never appealed to me is because I guess I'm still treating them like I treated SNES games in 1999/2000, buying a lot of them used and cheap and playing them at my own leisure. In that way I treat them like books. I just bought a physical copy of both Mogworld and Save the Galaxy for Cash, gonna read them before bed. But if course, if You like Gamepass, go right ahead, it's a great deal (while it lasts lol). And it's funny, I agree wholeheartedly that this style cheapens and devalues art (and in a way so does my style, buying only on sale ha), but art was devalued the moment it became a service for capitalism IMO lol.
I think this is the "coup de grace" for Microsoft's console efforts. With their games becoming multiplatform and Game Pass being restructured the same way as a bunch of streaming services(prioritizing financial growth), i just can't see the argument to own a Xbox. Yeah, Microsoft is gearing up to release their next console on 2026 to get a leg up over Sony and Nintendo, but the pandemic changed consumer habits, i mean, Sony itself said that the ps4 still account for half of their userbase. So, huh, good luck Microsoft, you'll need it.
I agree with KC on this one - game pass is *still* the best deal for someone that wants to play a lot of games and has the time to do so. With that said, I think it's very good for specific games more than others. Shorter games like Hellblade are the perfect example - I liked the second one, but I would have likely waited for it to be 5 bucks(like the first one is during a sale) if it wasn't on gamepass. Meanwhile games like COD and FIFA aren't great for it, since most of the playerbase of the respective games solely play them until a new one comes out, meaning it's better for them to just buy the game anyway and not pay more in the long-term. Personally I'm someone that waits for a high % discount on a game before buying it(plus I also very rarely replay a game unless it's absolutely amazing, unless you count 4x games and roguelikes as replaying lol), so game pass negates that entirely, and for me it also helps with playing games I'm not sure I'd like(plus if I really like it, I'll actually just buy it later on steam).
I have a PS5 and on average I play 3 maybe 4 games a year. I only buy physical games because you can always find discounts. For example, Infinite Wealth is $25 right now on Amazon. I think I never spend more than $39.99 for a new game on PS5. Therefore, worst case scenario for me, I spend $160 per year which is arguably the current price of the PS Plus Premium per year. The $240 per year for Gamepass Ultimate is less easy to comprehend given the lack of XboX exclusives.
Digital games are much cheaper than physical as a rule. They don't have to pay for physical distribution, like making media, shipping it around, stocking store shelves.
@@StephenYuan I'm not sure that's true. Let's consider the top 5 PS5 games for 2024 according to open critic and compare digital vs physical prices at the moment: Game, Digital Price, Physical Price on Amazon FFVII Rebirth, $69.99, $69.99 Tekken 8, $69.99, $59.95 Infinite Wealth, $69.99, $34.99 Last of us II remastered, $49.99, $48.88 Hi-Fi Rush, $29.99, $20.63 This post is from a few days before prime day so the physical prices will most likely decrease a bit more.
I will not lie, I thought this was a reupload based on the thumbnail until I saw the title lol. :P Regarding the teaser for a horror game, looks neat. On that Blooper team assumption, personally thought their previous games were not bad. (Okay, I'm a bit biased. I kinda like Layers of Fear. Not so much for their other games I had seen.) Regardless, I'm interested in seeing what comes from this. 26:19 - Nick, were you ever ambidextrous? I played sports left while i do most activities right. (Apparently I was born left handed. Did not know until years later.) 34:40 - Bahaha! Marty the sock puppet.
The question about the palworld anime is, is how dark will it get? Will it aim its target at children? teens? Adults? Like it has human captives and a slave labor force. And eating your friends in it. I don’t know what their target will be.
Somehow Nintendo pumping out Yoshi and Peach games while in the background making a horror from potentially the crew of Silent Hill 2 seems very on brand given the nature of their game sometimes. Splatoon: Happy punkish colorful with Squid Kids annnnd humanity is dead and Octo kids have been literally been put through blenders. So yeah, in character.
While gamepass is a great value for the consumer, I cant help but think it's gonna lead gaming towards the similar problems that streaming has caused the industry for people in showbiz. Turning Games, or any art into "content" to be fed into the mill is quite a devaluation of that art.
Gamepass is a good value proposition if you play a lot of games, or are happy to choose from a list of games. For others like me, we don’t really like that. We get inspiration to play one game at a time, and when that inspiration hits, we need to play that specific game, and if it isn’t on gamepass, it’s worthless to us. I don’t just play A GAME. I play something that I feel like I really want to play. Otherwise I don’t have the motivation for playing.
_Some_ keep saying "best value oh best value". M A T E. The real best _legal_ "VALUE" proposition: Getting an LCD Steam Deck (refurb or second if ya want even cheaper) and living off of the Epic Freebies. As an amusing aside that also gives the middle finger to all three corporations involved: MS and Epic get non of your money or data (Linux sandboxing and all) and you're practically taking money from Valve because of the cheap Deck subsidy... AND contributing to Linux numbers while you're at it?! Whoa, steady on before we have to canonize You!
Game Pass Ultimate is the ONLY thing of value in the Microsoft catalog (aside from their accessibility controller). The one perk I thought I had, bc my Xbox catalogue rivals my steam, was that I had a Blu-ray player in my series X. Oh fuck no. I wrong as fuck. Audio track, stuttering every 10 minutes. So the cloud & the console are both a waste of money.
GamePass is utterly unappealing to me, and I think it's true for nearly all gamers who have less time to play than we used to. Most gamers are more casual, and they're not even willing to pay for Apple Arcade.
America really regulating fireworks more than guns? xD Or is this just a case of state differences, so a state that has regulated fireworks also typically has regulated guns?
Typically states with looser fireworks laws have loose gun laws, though there's variance. Missouri, where Nick and I both are, is loose. Should be mentioned, every state has restrictions on fireworks. The gigantic fireworks they use in professional shows, those are heavily restricted everywhere, you need a special Federal level license to possess or use them. The stuff where states vary are special Consumer level fireworks, which are much less powerful. Think like firecrackers and bottle rockets, stuff lots of nations let civilians use, if you know those.
I have eaten spaguetti with ketchup all my life, tomato sauce is for fancy folk around here "It's hard to imagine Microsoft not making money", Two words: Remember Nortel
Referring to Maplestory as a "Stardew valley like game" kind of makes me die a little, but it's not like you'd know without playing it. Nexon is no NCSoft when it comes to being just the worst korean publisher, but it's not exactly got a great track record. Think buying cosmetics is bad? Try RENTING them in Maplestory.
This behaviour from Microsoft is absolutely pathetic indeed, especially given how poor some of their homebrewed titles are such as Forza Motorsport and Halo Infinite...
Good thing that there’s strong competition and you can just buy a PlayStation or a Switch depending on your taste in exclusive titles and whatnot. Hell if I were buying a new gamepad for my PC right now, I’d how with the Dual Sense just cause I might wanna get a PS 5 later.
Some unfortunate parent or grandparent is going to go buy a gift card for Game Pass someday. They’ll think, “ oh, Standard sounds good!” And, like a moron, they are going to assume it has all the standard features like Day 1…
Time stamps, because you all are so nice.
2:20 - Show begins, we say our names + run of show + social security numbers
11:50 - Nintendo’s secret M-rated horror game, and Marty’s weird theory of who’s making it
19:00 - Welcome to the Palworld-Verse
35:00 - MAIN TOPIC - Xbox shakes up Game Pass, shenanigans ensue
1:01:10 - What we’ve been playing/watching -The First Descendant, Zenless Zone Zero, Moonscars, Still Wakes the Deep, Stranger of Paradise: Final Fantasy, Physical 100, Inside Out 2, Twister
@@mcbiggitty thank you so much
Thank you!
"I don't understand why Steam is in such a dominant position! The only possible recourse is to squeeze the dwindling customer base that much harder!"
Classic big corp moment
Shout out to Eric for making these podcast videos so entertaining
1:05:18 for Marty's true form.
PC Game Pass users get day one games while Xbox Game Pass Standard does not. Xbox users have become second class citizens on their own console.
EDIT: Reminder that Phil Spencer said multiple times throughout 2020 to 2023 that the price of Game Pass would not increase due to the Activision-Blizzard acquisition. So that was a lie.
Console users in general have always been second class citizens. After all, the have to pay to play online.
He lied to the ftc btw about it. So since he lied in a legal sense, would it be perjury?
Chances are the difference in price is because of them desperately trying to stay relevant when steam exists. I mean I don’t care for the whole steam supremacy but it does exist.
The moment PC Game Pass removes day one games it becomes a worse proposition than the weekly freebies on the Epic store.
It's only purgury if he lied under oath, I.e. in court on the stand, which I don't think he did. The FTC won't be happy either way, it just won't be criminal.
I've never had Gamespass, but they keep pulling up Microsoft store whenever I open my gaming laptop and I keep closing it. If I was more tech-saavy, I'd get rid of whatever function keeps it popping up and/or switch to Linux.
In task manager, there's a tab for startup applications. You should be able to disable it from there.
Call of Duty was always the last big bet they have left to make.
The “typical” console gamer you described spends 80+% of their gaming hours on COD, Madden, Fortnite, and the like. A mind-boggling number. This might not be representative of you all or this community, but it’s reality.
They won’t stick around to stay on Ultimate. And long-term subscribers like me are tuning out… At $15/mo, I justified having GP. At 20, and likely beyond, I canceled my recurring billing..
Were those games with in game ads cheaper than other games at the time of release?
Nooooo.
Don't have the time stamp, but they said at one point there is anti-xbox people and I want to point out a thing, similar to a lot of countries not having access to psn, there are countries that don't have access to microsof's services (aka game for windows live, gamepass etc.).
One of my friends a few years ago came to ask me about the value of game pass and to our surprise they aren't available to our country, I wasn't surprised but my friend was sad about it. Is just like the GFWL days, those of pc games couldn't be bought here and ppl just pirated them instead. So a lot of people in my country aren't technically anti xbox but more like even if we wanted, we can't get their services unless we do dumb workarounds.
38:33
Those are the monthly prices which aren't the prices most people pay. Comparing yearly prices:
GP Core $75
PS+ Essential $80
GP Standard $180
PS+ Extra $135
GP Ultimate $240
PS+ Premium $160
Should also note you have to pay taxes on these prices & video games. So when comparing cost, you don't have to add taxes (or if you do, then add taxes to both).
Though not stated here, some people believe PS+ does not include 1st party games. However, PS+ does have 1st party games but just never day one. Also, they do some 3rd party games day one.
I guess the reason I don't care about Gamepass despite playing everything on PC and Nintendo games on Switch, is I can't stand any pressure to finish a game that's leaving the service. It's kinda what's ruined watching TV for me, I can't stand the pressure of FOMO when a show or movie leaves the service. Case in point, I'm play Ys 8 right now, and after that I'm moving on to Wolfenstein 2. I like playing what I want, when I want, at my Own pace. I think the last new game I played day 1 was Zelda Tears of the Kingdom, and before then it was Zelda Link's Awakening, because the Zelda series is endearing to me. But yeah, the reason streaming services for games have never appealed to me is because I guess I'm still treating them like I treated SNES games in 1999/2000, buying a lot of them used and cheap and playing them at my own leisure. In that way I treat them like books. I just bought a physical copy of both Mogworld and Save the Galaxy for Cash, gonna read them before bed.
But if course, if You like Gamepass, go right ahead, it's a great deal (while it lasts lol). And it's funny, I agree wholeheartedly that this style cheapens and devalues art (and in a way so does my style, buying only on sale ha), but art was devalued the moment it became a service for capitalism IMO lol.
I think this is the "coup de grace" for Microsoft's console efforts. With their games becoming multiplatform and Game Pass being restructured the same way as a bunch of streaming services(prioritizing financial growth), i just can't see the argument to own a Xbox. Yeah, Microsoft is gearing up to release their next console on 2026 to get a leg up over Sony and Nintendo, but the pandemic changed consumer habits, i mean, Sony itself said that the ps4 still account for half of their userbase. So, huh, good luck Microsoft, you'll need it.
I agree with KC on this one - game pass is *still* the best deal for someone that wants to play a lot of games and has the time to do so.
With that said, I think it's very good for specific games more than others. Shorter games like Hellblade are the perfect example - I liked the second one, but I would have likely waited for it to be 5 bucks(like the first one is during a sale) if it wasn't on gamepass. Meanwhile games like COD and FIFA aren't great for it, since most of the playerbase of the respective games solely play them until a new one comes out, meaning it's better for them to just buy the game anyway and not pay more in the long-term.
Personally I'm someone that waits for a high % discount on a game before buying it(plus I also very rarely replay a game unless it's absolutely amazing, unless you count 4x games and roguelikes as replaying lol), so game pass negates that entirely, and for me it also helps with playing games I'm not sure I'd like(plus if I really like it, I'll actually just buy it later on steam).
Strangers of paradise is so underated
I have a PS5 and on average I play 3 maybe 4 games a year. I only buy physical games because you can always find discounts. For example, Infinite Wealth is $25 right now on Amazon. I think I never spend more than $39.99 for a new game on PS5. Therefore, worst case scenario for me, I spend $160 per year which is arguably the current price of the PS Plus Premium per year. The $240 per year for Gamepass Ultimate is less easy to comprehend given the lack of XboX exclusives.
Digital games are much cheaper than physical as a rule. They don't have to pay for physical distribution, like making media, shipping it around, stocking store shelves.
@@StephenYuan I'm not sure that's true. Let's consider the top 5 PS5 games for 2024 according to open critic and compare digital vs physical prices at the moment:
Game, Digital Price, Physical Price on Amazon
FFVII Rebirth, $69.99, $69.99
Tekken 8, $69.99, $59.95
Infinite Wealth, $69.99, $34.99
Last of us II remastered, $49.99, $48.88
Hi-Fi Rush, $29.99, $20.63
This post is from a few days before prime day so the physical prices will most likely decrease a bit more.
I will not lie, I thought this was a reupload based on the thumbnail until I saw the title lol. :P
Regarding the teaser for a horror game, looks neat. On that Blooper team assumption, personally thought their previous games were not bad. (Okay, I'm a bit biased. I kinda like Layers of Fear. Not so much for their other games I had seen.) Regardless, I'm interested in seeing what comes from this.
26:19 - Nick, were you ever ambidextrous? I played sports left while i do most activities right. (Apparently I was born left handed. Did not know until years later.)
34:40 - Bahaha! Marty the sock puppet.
The question about the palworld anime is, is how dark will it get? Will it aim its target at children? teens? Adults? Like it has human captives and a slave labor force. And eating your friends in it. I don’t know what their target will be.
Lincoln was a beast of a man in his prime. He used to ruin dudes in wrestling matches.
Somehow Nintendo pumping out Yoshi and Peach games while in the background making a horror from potentially the crew of Silent Hill 2 seems very on brand given the nature of their game sometimes.
Splatoon: Happy punkish colorful with Squid Kids annnnd humanity is dead and Octo kids have been literally been put through blenders.
So yeah, in character.
Summoner has one of the best easter eggs in all of video games.
Nick always low key defending Blooper team
Gamepass is an excellent deal and I would use it except Im afraid a game Im part way through will be taken off.
While gamepass is a great value for the consumer, I cant help but think it's gonna lead gaming towards the similar problems that streaming has caused the industry for people in showbiz. Turning Games, or any art into "content" to be fed into the mill is quite a devaluation of that art.
Gamepass is a good value proposition if you play a lot of games, or are happy to choose from a list of games. For others like me, we don’t really like that. We get inspiration to play one game at a time, and when that inspiration hits, we need to play that specific game, and if it isn’t on gamepass, it’s worthless to us.
I don’t just play A GAME. I play something that I feel like I really want to play. Otherwise I don’t have the motivation for playing.
_Some_ keep saying "best value oh best value". M A T E.
The real best _legal_ "VALUE" proposition:
Getting an LCD Steam Deck (refurb or second if ya want even cheaper) and living off of the Epic Freebies.
As an amusing aside that also gives the middle finger to all three corporations involved: MS and Epic get non of your money or data (Linux sandboxing and all) and you're practically taking money from Valve because of the cheap Deck subsidy... AND contributing to Linux numbers while you're at it?! Whoa, steady on before we have to canonize You!
I love Steam but posts like these are still weird to me. It's just a store and we're acting like its an act of resistance to buy things in it.
I never thought KC would advocate for a model where you can never own your games.
I mean he said it was a good deal for a particular customer, I'm not sure I'd call that advocating.
Game Pass Ultimate is the ONLY thing of value in the Microsoft catalog (aside from their accessibility controller).
The one perk I thought I had, bc my Xbox catalogue rivals my steam, was that I had a Blu-ray player in my series X. Oh fuck no. I wrong as fuck. Audio track, stuttering every 10 minutes. So the cloud & the console are both a waste of money.
Gamepass va gamefly??
GamePass is utterly unappealing to me, and I think it's true for nearly all gamers who have less time to play than we used to. Most gamers are more casual, and they're not even willing to pay for Apple Arcade.
America really regulating fireworks more than guns? xD Or is this just a case of state differences, so a state that has regulated fireworks also typically has regulated guns?
Typically states with looser fireworks laws have loose gun laws, though there's variance. Missouri, where Nick and I both are, is loose.
Should be mentioned, every state has restrictions on fireworks. The gigantic fireworks they use in professional shows, those are heavily restricted everywhere, you need a special Federal level license to possess or use them. The stuff where states vary are special Consumer level fireworks, which are much less powerful. Think like firecrackers and bottle rockets, stuff lots of nations let civilians use, if you know those.
I have eaten spaguetti with ketchup all my life, tomato sauce is for fancy folk around here
"It's hard to imagine Microsoft not making money", Two words: Remember Nortel
Eeeeeeww...disgusting
Aw k.c some of them in phys100 r on roids
Referring to Maplestory as a "Stardew valley like game" kind of makes me die a little, but it's not like you'd know without playing it. Nexon is no NCSoft when it comes to being just the worst korean publisher, but it's not exactly got a great track record. Think buying cosmetics is bad? Try RENTING them in Maplestory.
Ha I’ve only seen screenshots of it so you’re right, I have no idea how it plays! My bad :)
This behaviour from Microsoft is absolutely pathetic indeed, especially given how poor some of their homebrewed titles are such as Forza Motorsport and Halo Infinite...
Good thing that there’s strong competition and you can just buy a PlayStation or a Switch depending on your taste in exclusive titles and whatnot.
Hell if I were buying a new gamepad for my PC right now, I’d how with the Dual Sense just cause I might wanna get a PS 5 later.
Some unfortunate parent or grandparent is going to go buy a gift card for Game Pass someday. They’ll think, “ oh, Standard sounds good!” And, like a moron, they are going to assume it has all the standard features like Day 1…
No no. People care about the rap beef. Outside of Canada, no one cares about hockey.