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Defining Duke, Episode 58: The Thread (Patreon)

Published:
2022-02-07 18:30:01
Imported:
2022-02

Content

Hey All!  It's time to submit your questions, comments, concerns, thoughts, and ideas for Episode 58 of Defining Duke.

Great ways to get your write-up used: Be pithy, be topical, and be insightful. Walls-of-text, posts littered with poor grammar and punctuation, etc., are promptly (though respectfully) ignored.

As this is an Xbox podcast, be sure your submission makes sense within that realm. You have until Wednesday, February 9th at 1p ET to make your submission.

Comments

Anonymous

Hi Duke buds, it looks like Halo Infinite might be having problems retaining players. An article in Business Insider (linked here: https://www.businessinsider.com/halo-infinite-struggling-to-retain-players-on-steam-2022-2) paints an alarming picture of Infinite losing both Steam players and Twitch viewership. And when asked about current player counts, Xbox representatives cited an older tweet about the cumulative 20 million player count. Even with the updates coming, do you guys think Infinite can keep its legs up?

Anonymous

Do you ever see Xbox partnering with Sony to make movies

Jayce Tamulevich

Matthew, Last week when talking about acquisitions you said that PlayStation is already pretty much getting whatever Square Enix is releasing. It caught my ear because I have been desperately waiting to hear that Octopath Traveler, Bravely Default 2, Triangle Strategy,and the Final Fantasy Pixel Perfect remasters will be coming to PlayStation. I DO NOT want Sony to buy Square and take these games away from other platforms, but if an acquisition could get them on the platform without removing them from anyone else, I’d take it. Square, do right by your old school kids and let me get those sweet turn-based JRPG platinums, Gentlemen, have a “your mom just yelled your full name” kind of day.

Anonymous

Hey Dukes, I’m coming to you with a hot take. I’ve been slowly making my way through the Master Chief collection the past few months and just finished Halo 4. I’m honestly surprised how anyone can think anything before it is better. 343 in one game showed me they are better than Bungie (I played ODST and Reach as well). Halo 4 actually has a coherent story and builds the character of master chief and Cortana. The gunplay was just as smooth if not better. So unless Halo 5 and Infinite are both garbage, 343 looks to have done a good job from the outside looking in. As a primary PlayStation gamer, I’d happily trade Bungie for 343. Thoughts? Jace

Jeffery Carlson

Hi Matty Plays JRPGs & Lord Turn Based, Was a little shocked when discussing the upcoming GamePass releases that Edge of Eternity didn’t get a little more love. This is an old school turn based game with a secured Day 1 GamePass release. Obviously not as big as the month’s other big hitters (Monark and Elden Ring), but this seems like another small step in the right direction. In all seriousness, love all y’all do. Have a great day. Y’all are both much to positive to wish any negative tidings to -Jeff

Frank T

Hey "Shaggy" Matty and "Leonard Roberts" Cog, We seem to talk a lot about what will happen if the Activision purchase goes through, but let's look at the other side of things. How would Xbox respond if regulators stopped the acquisition? Would Xbox stay aggressive and try to get a "smaller" publisher like EA who is worth around $40 billion? Or would they give up on publishers and just stick to smaller acquisitions like IOI, Crytek, Asobo, etc? For once in your life, have a decent day!

Daniel short

What Xbox accessory would you like to see Microsoft being back for the series X/S?

Nicholas Brilhart

Greetings Dukes of Hazzard. With last week's brief dip into Marvel game discussion, I'm curious what each of your dream pairing of a comic book IP and a developer is. Personally I want to see Arkane Studios take on Daredevil. Have an "I just bought another Iron Lords 10k shirt" kinda day.

Anonymous

Greetings Master Thief Matty and Sir Cog of the Order of Knights. I know this is an Xbox show but I had a question for you guys and especially Lord Oculus himself. What do you think about the Oculus VR exclusives Asgard's Wrath and the Lone Echo games? These are made by two studios I hold very dear to my heart, Sanzaru Games who revived my beloved Sly Cooper on the PS3 and Ready At Dawn who made The Order 1886, a game that has very rich lore and characters and would love to see Sony try again with a sequel. These two Oculus VR games look great and just wanted to know what you guys think of them? Have a "Sony released the game but cancelled the DLC that was supposed to be the story ending" kind of day.

Ryan Ginther

Hey Matty and Lord Cog the best lord in the realm. Seeing how Xbox is struggling to maintain live service games like halo infinite already, do you think Xbox is taking on more than they can handle? Also what's your favorite game to play while listening to a podcast / tv. I've been enjoy ILP and DDU while playing Pokemon arceus

Ember's Arcade

I have a prediction to make. Acquisitions are all anyone wants to talk about, but with the most recent purchase being Sony's, the ball is back on Microsoft's court. Based on some mutterings I'm hearing from the industry, the next big purchase will be either the entirety of Square Enix, or just Crystal Dynamics, and it won't be Sony dropping the bag this time around. What do you think? Can you guys see a future where Microsoft buys Square Enix?

Anonymous

Hey Dukes, With the upcoming launch of the Steam Deck later this month, do you think Microsoft will try to push PC Game Pass on it? The obvious solution is cloud streaming through the browser, but what do you think the chances are that Microsoft tailors a version of Windows for the Steam Deck for a native Game Pass / Windows store experience? Valve has been clear the Deck is just a PC, but I don't believe Windows in its current form will have a great user experience or technical optimization on the Deck. Thanks, and put your Dukes up!

Anonymous

Hey Dukes! We've all been hearing fears of industry consolidation in recent weeks, and while I agree it is dangerous, I also see the other side of the coin. Wouldn't the void left by major third parties or independent developers that have been acquired only leave room for NEW developers to take their place? Many new teams have been formed lately that have lots of promise. Haven with Jade Raymond, Skydance with Amy Hennig, Striking Distance with Glen Schofield, and the list goes on. Because while teams are being acquired, there are still many talented programmers, animators, level designers, etc who are looking for work. There's plenty of talent to go around. Hope you have a "hopped on your favorite live service game just to realize you missed the time window for challenges and can't get that sweet, sweet gear" kinda day.

Anonymous

Hello there Damn Dirty Dire Dukes Looking back on the Defining Duke Ultimate Episode with Hoeg Law, I wanted to bring over one of the discussion points. This is a great episode to look at to get a lot of great insight on Mergers and Acquisitions. Something that was touched on but not fully fleshed out, due to the speed of Hoeg's thought process, was that this is a seller's market. Meaning, everyone is selling for a premium at the moment. This is including the recent purchases of Bungie, Activision/Blizzard/King, and Zynga. Despite how I feel about Destiny I do believe this is a good get for Sony and I applaud them for making it clear that they are to remain independent and multiplatform, but I don't believe Bungie to be worth 3.6 Billion for essentially 1 studio, 1ip. Jim Ryan stated that they're still looking to acquire and with Sony as a whole allotted 10-15 billion for acquisitions, mergers, debt, and buybacks through 2023 do you think potential gains like Capcom, Sega, or Square Enix would sell within that range? Especially since those companies have many more studios and ip that have cemented themselves across decades, recognized throughout many forms of media, and offer far more than what Bungie has on the table. Essentially what I'm asking is, Do you think Bungie was worth the price? Does Bungie selling for that amount cause other Developers/Studios to think twice about what they're worth? And lastly, do you think Sony has to come up with another way other than cash to make some more hard hitting acquisitions? Thanks for the hard work and dedication you guys bring each and every day and have a "the cute girl I just checked out turns around and it just so happens to be a really thick double cheeked-up dude" kind of day.

KevinFausch

Hey Matty and Cog, my question is regarding The Initiative. A few months ago, we heard from them about their partnership with Crystal Dynamics. Since then, I have been keeping my eye on the studio to see if and more details would surface. Recently Jez Corden revealed that Certain Affinity is also assisting on Perfect Dark. With two big studios helping The Initiative you’d think this game would be in great shape, however I have noticed a massive decline in their work force. At the end of 2021 they had roughly 80-85 employees on LinkedIn, now they are sitting at 55 – down 30% in about 2-3 months. What do you think is happening over there? Are they completely reliant on Crystal Dynamics and Certain Affinity? Do you think a merger is underway? Or has Perfect Dark been completely passed over to Crystal Dynamics so The Initiative can work on something else?

Ryan Wargo

Hey Crew, I'm new to the Xbox ecosystem (got a Series S in April) and it is just my Gamepass machine, which it is a great compliment to my PS5 but... I wondered how much they actually bring in financially? They tout their subscriber count but with all the sales, deals, etc. (Personally I haven't paid anything for it because I just cash in my Rewards Points) it's definitely not as consistent of a metric as PSPlus. How close is that tipping point or price point change as discussed...or does it not even matter with the current regime/war chest?

Anonymous

Hello “Thievius Raccoonus” Matty and “Warlock” Cog, If/When the Activision/Blizzard acquisition completes do you think it will remain one publisher? ABK is essentially 3 publishers stappled together and I was curious if splitting them up will be part of the first steps to reform the company's culture...Thoughts? Maybe free Vicarious Visions while you're at it. As always thanks for the great content every week. P.S. Matty may you have a “Starfield is coming this year” kind of day. Cog grow in strength these last two weeks before The Witch Queen arrives. Savathûn knows how to use 3 syllable words, which means it's up to the Warlocks to save the day...again.

Daniel

Hiya Dukes, do you have any series that has disappointed you as much as Halo has for me? My best gaming memories are of Halo 2 LAN parties, and Halo 3 is possibly my favorite FPS campaign. For all its flaws, I put over a month of play time into Reach's online. Then I bought an Xbox One specifically for the Masterchief Collection, an utter waste of money. I played about 5 games in total on the console, and it mostly gathered dust. I played the Halo 4 campaign once, and can't remember any of it. I skipped 5, and had high hopes for Infinite. But I haven't played an open world as lifeless and devoid of meaning, and took a banshee from one main story point to the next, and even the story is having a hard time holding onto me. Since I built a PC instead of buying a Series X, I can't really queue solo for online with the mess that it is on PC. In any given week, I have single-digits hours I can devote to gaming, so I've moved on to other things like Mass Effect 3 which I never got to when it first came out. So all that said, I think I might be done with Halo, which makes me sad, but it's just not worth my time. Have you ever had such a falling out of love with a series?

Anonymous

Yo Definers, Long time, first time. I’ve got a question for Matty that I’ve been wanting to ask ever since I started watching his content. So, around the time DD started up. Why are you an Atlanta Falcons fan? I say this as both an Atlantan and a diehard Atlanta Falcons fan. Why put yourself through such misery? Do you have ties to the greater Atlanta area through a family member? I mean, being a Jets or Giants fan isn’t much better as of late but, the Giants have had more success in the last 15 years. Again, why put yourself through this misery? Anyway, go Falcons. Maybe they can win the NFC South this coming season. And of course, Go Braves – Go Hawks – Go DAWGS – and Go United. Not to leave Lord Cognito out I still can’t believe this man name dropped Blimpie as his sandwich joint. But in his defense finely shaved lettuce can make or break a submarine. Hoping you both have a toothpaste on your shirt kinda day, YOSEMITE

Frank T
>>77388059

I think Xbox getting the western studios and IP from Square would make sense. Crystal Dynamics, Eiodos Montreal, Deck9, etc

Jamie Anderson

With all these studios getting bought out and made exclusive, nobody is talking about the most affected type of gamer. "The lazy neutral" i can not be arsed switching between. Xbox/PS5 every time i want to play a game that has been multiplat for years and could just play on my console of choice, now im forced onto one or the other. Spare a prayer for us lazy neutrals.

Anonymous

Hey Dukes, here’s a ringer for you Where does Microsoft put all these independent studios they are working with if they acquire them? Such as IOI interactive Certian Affinity Asobo Avalanche You can’t put them under Matty Bootys division, his hands are full. And ABK needs time to build a successful culture before making any real changes, so they are out of the question. The answer most people give is well just put them under Bethesda. But the counter that I don’t see being brought up is, what if they say no? What if Pete and Todd don’t want these studios just being thrown in? Does MS say we’ll, you work for us and we paid a lot of money for you, so, tough shit. Now I can’t imagine Phil doing something like that but that’s just one scenario that could play out. The other that could happen is, what if Phil just says alright, these studios have shown to be self sufficient, and don’t require us to hold their hand. Maybe we make a new publishing division just for them. Anyways what do you guys think Thanks boys and have a “ those mfers at the McDonald’s drive through forgot the sweet and sour sauce for my mcnuggets” kind of day

Payton Stone

What’s Good Dukes, An article came out recently discussing Halo Infinite dropping out of the Top 5 games on Xbox and out of the Top 100 on Steam. On a scale of 1-10, how worried should Uncle Phil and the team be about this? Appreciate ya! Payton Stone

Jeremy Craves

Yo Dukes! Do both Sony and Microsoft use certain IP to see the PS6 early or in reverse with whatever the hell the next Xbox is named? I think Sony had this IP with The Show but now they definitely do with Bungie games. Does Playstation care enough about Minecraft to do that? Might have to be COD if Microsoft wants to see the PS6. Or do either need share at all? I guess The Show nor Bungie games need to be optimized for next gen Xbox.

Finkmeiser

Greetings dukes I got a bone to pick with Matty for his casual slander of the Total War series on last week's episode. I understand Total War coming to game pass isn't as flashy as persona on Xbox but its still a big get. The total war warhammer are some of the best 4x/rts games on pc and Creative Assembly is pulling out all the stops for the third game. Diplomacy overhaul, 8 player campaign, and new ranked game modes to name a few. I know it releases in a busy month but Matty I highly recommend you try the game out to see what the other sega teams are working on. Hope you guys have a locked your keys inside the car kinda day!

Sfish616

Hey dukes Today shinobi on twitter posted a thread going over a large stretch of new studios that have been formed over the last few years like deviation, haven and firewalk all of whom signed a deal with PlayStation. With the purchases Microsoft has been making I think they may be missing an opportunity to get in on the ground level with the talent on fresh new ip. The one exception being the rumored project shaloin by brass lion. It’s the long play but the idea behind numerous studios of talented people like the initiative is very promising seems like a missed opportunity for Xbox. Just wanted your thoughts thanks guys and have a great day.

Jeff Caseres

What up Dukes! Here’s a prediction. GTA Online Series X/S on GamePass day one. Love y’all keep it up!

Nlindz27

Hey dukes, Hope you're having an average at best day. So platinum games seems to be keen to open up the conversation around restarting development on scalebound, what's your initial thoughts on this news? Personally I think it would be wise of Xbox to sign a deal with a prominent Japanese developer and further cement themselves as the home of rpg's. This Microsoft is better equipped to handle 3rd party relationships than it was a few years back.

Vonoran

Hey Dukes Matty, after the buggy release of Dark Alliance last summer you asked Xbox to quality-check their day one partnerships. With Battlefield 2042 and Dying Light 2 out now, did Microsoft learn their lesson and dodge these games after many wanted them to have in GamePass?

Stephen Richard

What is up Dying Dukes 2 On top of starting dying light 2, which has luckily not been buggy for me, lord turn-based got me thinking about one of my blind spots in gaming; Tactical, turn based games. A couple weeks ago I remember you guys mentioned an easy step into turn based rpgs would be Gears Tactics which happened to be the one turn based I started months ago, and never made if passed the 3rd mission. After listing to Cog rave about Reverie Knights tactics, and loving the art style, I figured what the hell, let’s go back into the genre. Can honestly say I’m loving gears tactics and I just defeated the Brumak in act 1. And although this isn’t my favorite genre, it is making me excited to at some point play reverie knights. What was one of your blind spots in gaming that you ended up trying and enjoying? Thanks for all you do, love listening in, and hope you have a, your podcast write in question was so good the hosts accidentally answered it mid show, kinda day.

Anonymous

Greetings gamers, What the heck is going on with Gears of War on PC?? I recently beat Gears of War ultimate edition for the first time on PC game pass playing co op with my buddy. We had a blast, but when we tried to start gears 2 to our disappointment all we could find was gears of war 4. I though this was supposed to be on of Xbox’s most important IP, yet we can’t even play the original trilogy on Game Pass PC? Sorry for the rant but I just want to experience this classic series after getting newly invested. Thanks for the great show, keep up the good work!

Big Ru

Hey Auntie Matty and Uncle Cog, Crossfire X finally hits game pass this week, so I'd like to ask for your gut check. I wasn't aware until recently that the multi-player is already huge in Asian markets, but the Xbox ecosystem is so saturated with fps options I don't see Crossfire taking over. The single player campaign developed by Remedy, however, has my attention. I love Remedy narratives, so you mix that with a solid shooter and you may have a banger. Sadly I still don't have the SX, but I look forward to seeing how it's received. Will either of you check this one out? Much love Dukes! Have a found a hair in my food but I'm already halfway through kinda day.

UnkemptHawk

Hey Dukes - you guys talk about Japan quite a bit on the show, specifically in regard to acquisitions and release parity on Xbox with PlayStation and Switch. My thoughts have swirled around “pie in the sky” kind of acquisitions lately, even though I don’t personally think MS will acquire a Japanese publisher, but who knows? Anyway, I feel the conversation circles around Sega most often, but there are a handful of bigger publishers in Japan. I thought it might be interesting to make a little ranking list, not of which publisher you want them to buy most, but of which publisher makes the most sense. The major publishers that come to mind are Capcom, Square Enix, Bandai Namco, Sega, Koei Tecmo, and Konami. How would you rank these “Big Six” Japanese Publishers? Have I naively left one out of this list? Thanks for the great show, hope you have a “snowed in with no internet” kind of day.

Sean McClary

What’s happening Matty and Cog, I know the topic of acquisitions has become stale but a couple of questions have been lingering in my head since Sony purchased Bungie. My 2-part question is this: Is this going to be a trend of Sony to have their 1st party studios transition into multi platform and if so, what games are you both hoping make their way to the Xbox ecosystem? My first choice has to be the Persona series. Thanks your the amazing podcasts and have a less-than-satisfying morning poop kinda day.

Anonymous

Hey Dukes, first time writing in, so I’m gonna throw you a softball: what’s your favorite mode in Halo? I believe Cog has told us, but I don’t remember Matty ever doing so. SWAT is what really got me addicted to Halo, and is still my favorite mode today. Thanks for being the best Xbox podcast out there, especially for someone who’s really not in that ecosystem, and have a “Oh shit, they bought WHO?” kinda day!

Matthew Mendillo

Hello dukes! Random question. The shenmue anime debuted on adult swim over the weekend. Cog, since you’re a huge Sega guy, I was wondering if you were able to watch it? I personally thought it was a great opening episode that lived up well to one of my favorite franchises #gachatoys4life

Trent Miller

Hello my favorite onion podcast, Son of the onion sandwich here. I wanted to clarify some things. The onion sandwich my father makes isn’t even toasted. It’s not a fancy grilled cheese either. I could get behind that. I thought he toasted the bread but he informed me he doesn’t. I’ve shown my family the clips from the show, but my father feels no remorse. He even let us know something even more heinous. If he is the only one at home he will, for lunch occasionally, slice a WHOLE onion fry it in a pan with butter and that’s his meal. 1 onion for lunch… look I like onion as well but this is too far. I don’t know what to do with this information. He’s pretty set in his ways at this point, and I’m not sure there’s really anything we can do to have this stopped. Thanks and have a no onion for my onion sandwich kind of day.

Brett Medlock

Hey Dukes! I’m back again with another rant about Xbox marketing. WHERE is the marketing for CrossfireX? This is a sequel to one of the biggest multiplayer games in the world (seriously it’s huge outside of the US, especially China). CrossfireX could’ve been the game in the series that captured US audiences, but aside from a few Twitter posts from Remedy, Xbox, and Smilegate, it’s been silence. I haven’t seen ANY ads for the game whatsoever. With Remedy doing the campaign, you’d think more press would talking about it. Control was a big hit for Remedy and it felt like it put the studio on a lot of gamer’s radars. But I’ve seen no hype surrounding CrossfireX. Despite being their next big title. Sure it’s something different for the studio, but this is still the team behind cult classics Max Payne & Alan Wake, the underrated gem Quantum Break, and the critical darling Control. Where is the excitement?! And lastly, Xbox has barely talked about it despite it being a full on Xbox exclusive! What gives?

Anonymous

Hey Dukes, Not to harp on this topic again, but I have a tiny correction/clarification about the Shadow Warrior 3 voice actor topic. The first voice actor, John William Galt, who you mentioned passed away recently, was only in the original 1997 DOS game, not the 2013 reboot. Jason Liebrecht voiced Lo Wang in SW 2013 and SW2, and could even be heard in the first few trailers for SW3. So yes, the voice actor has changed once in the series before, but Liebrecht was pretty established as the character before he got the boot for not being Asian. I feel like that fact strengthens Cog's point from last week even more. I saw some people speculating that the game's delay was in part due to the last minute change of voice actors. So even more of a fuck you to the fans of the reboot series, if true. Anyway, I enjoyed your guys' discussion on last weeks DD and pretty much agreed with everything, although I think I'm still a bit more critical about the disingenuous political correctness than you two (especially given the hypocrisy with the whole Korean/Chinese/Japanese cultural insensitivity I mentioned last week). Keep it up and have a 'ate a juicy raw onion sandwich for breakfast' kinda day.

Anonymous
>>77446968

If they ever get ported to PC, make sure to play the Raams Shadow DLC in Gears 3. You get to play as the Locust.

Anonymous

Good day to you Onion Knight and Bungie's Scorned Lover With all this talk of a WB Games acquisition, one thing keeps going around in my (legally uneducated) brain: If WB Games was to be separated from WB, while they'd likely keep their own properties such as Mortal Kombat or FEAR, would they not lose access to wider WB IP such as DC Comics, Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter? Is there an answer to this or would we have to wait and see? Appreciate the insight, and hope you have a "Marvel Ultimate Alliance removed from sale" kinda day

Anonymous

Hey Dukes, Can we just let Scalebound die already? Platinum Games wants to reboot the project with Xbox's help. Why are people drawn to the decaying corpse that is Scalebound? Someone please pour concrete over its grave, and chuck its headstone into the ocean.

Max - Fifthstring

Dukes! Let's warm you up this fine, cold winter with a different take on "games that should be made" Xbox can partner up with any 3rd Party dev to revive a dead IP as a "gesture of gaming goodwill". What do you choose and do you add any stipulations to it? (Exclusivity/DLC/Gamepass/etc). I'd love to see Xbox partner up with CapCom and do a Lost Planet 1/2 remake and give them resources from The Coalition to help really nail that 3rd person shooter vs giant beast feel. No exclusivity, but put it in Gamepass.

Sean Mason

Hey Dukes, This week Halo dropped out of the Top 5 most played Xbox games. With the recent delay of season two, could this be detrimental to the game's term relevance? It's no secret that arena-based shooters aren't nearly as popular as they once were. With games like Fortnite, Call of Duty, and Apex providing constant substantial updates, Halo could be in big trouble. Best, Sean M.

NotSkyWalker

Dear Dukes, The OG Duke, Ryan McCaffrey, shared that IGN will be unveiling the ‘release window’ trailer for Atomic Heart tomorrow… Ryan also added that it looks ‘very good.’ Having seen the trailer by time of recording, how are y’all feeling about this eccentric, Russian-take on the Immersive Sim? It will be coming to gamepass day one, with a simultaneous release for PC, XboxOne, Series Consoles, and PS4/5 Additionally, how do y’all feel about what I think is a demonstrable effort by Xbox to bolster their engagement with Eastern European developers? Obviously S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 out of Ukraine’s GSC is the big one… but they are also working with SadCat Studios out of Belarus to release their upcoming Xbox console-exclusive, “Replaced.” After seeing the ongoing success of 4A games out of the Ukraine/Malta, I personally am enthused to see Xbox develop these Eastern European partnerships, and look forward to seeing what stories these studios will tell. Have a “my game I made dropped from #5 on Xbox to #6 but everyone just wants to talk about how it is failing for dropping from the top 5” kind of day, Aidan (whom is also concerned about Halo)

Lucius Augustus

Hello Dukes, I need all of you to STOP THE CAP. Scalebound was trash when we saw it years ago. PlatinumGames had its chance to give Xbox a good product and they failed. Though PlatinumGames have had a great history of games, I don't trust them to take Xbox seriously and provide them with a quality product. Do you really think after spending years on Bayo 3, having that new Project GG in the works, and working on a new GAAS for Tencent, that they will give Scalebound or whatever Xbox project the time of day to make it quality, I think not. I hope you Dukes have a "this game looks terrible and runs at 22 fps" kinda day

Joaquin Branche

Gentlemen, (Sorry Matty for yet this is another Scalebound entry but hear me out).. so scalebound is the dragon that just won’t die. With Hideki Kamiya taking to twitter and pleading directly to Phil Spencer for it’s revivel is Platinum forcing Phil’s hand? For one, these deals typically take place behind the scenes but by making it public you not only put pressure on Xbox by the fans but now other Japanese devs are looking to see what you do. Optically do you want to be the company that turned down the fames Platinum games after they pleaded to you so humbly? Might be a bad look for them culturally to do so. According to Jez, phil was in Japan last week. Doing what? We can only speculate but the timing of this is rather suspicious. But what say you gents, should xbox give platinum another chance? Mind you we as gamers gave xbox a second chance after the red ring so should they do so as well?!!

Dakota Brown

Hey guys- This question is directed at Matty mostly, but I’ll throw a Cog question in there too. How does it feel to be wrong about Pokémon? Just playing. I watched your video on Pokémon Legends: Arceus and really appreciated that you recognized the steps forward this game made. I disagreed on some criticisms though, which leads to my question. What makes you say that this game is “only” for Pokémon fans? I know you explained that some games do certain aspects better like battling systems and such. However, isn’t the most appealing aspect of Pokémon the exploration, discovering of different creatures and bonding with your team? It’s like having virtual pets that fight for you! Maybe this is just me, but I feel like no other game series captures the joy of these aspects as well. Cog, what will it take for you to try this game?? Anyways, just sharing my opinion and I’m sorry to keep writing in about this series that isn’t on Xbox. I just have a passion for Pokémon! Maybe start a Nintendo show and I’ll write in there.. Thanks for all you guys do and have a “can’t think of a clever one liner” kind of day.

Thomas Rice

Hey There Mr Cognito and Lord Matty something that really gave me hope for inclusivity in games for disabled gamers. Me and my girlfriend were playing Overcooked 2 and something I saw that delighted me was a character that was In a wheelchair. I would like to see this type of things In other games and it was a beautiful site. What are other ways and games more disabled characters can be featured. Now I hope you dukes have your father ate a onion filled sandwich and he is now giving you a lecture type of day.

Cody Richter

Hey Dukes, Over the weekend, I played through the Marvel's Avengers campaign and absolutely loved it. Sure, the looter-shooter and live service aspects of the endgame are what hold the game back, but that campaign gave me some Playstation 1st party game vibes. You guys have speculated a potential acquisition of Crystal Dynamics by Xbox, and although I don't hope for that, I think they should consider future partnerships to get Cog's coveted "just one" title. Yes, they're working with The Initiative on Perfect Dark, but I think if they worked on a new IP that didn't require online elements, they could potentially hit those higher quality 3rd person action game levels. What do you guys think? Have a "they made my single player game live service" kind of day.

Anonymous

Hey Duke boys! So Cog (sorry Matty) how about that witch queen trailer? It look absolutely incredible. I am so excited for the upcoming content drop for Destiny 2. How excited are you for The Witch Queen? And for Matty did you watch the trailer/vidoc? If so, did it give you ANY desire to hop in? Curious to both of your thoughts! Also how good is Bungie at making a game trailer? They always get me hyped! I hope you two have a “Dad, I had an accident in my pants(yes I mean poop)” kind of day.

Anonymous

What up Dukes of Definition, With Nintendo having a Nintendo Direct tomorrow (from when this was posted) and Sony having multiple single game State of Play's this month, it makes me really wish Xbox would finally adopt this format. Why should E3 be the first time of the year that we get a big accumulation of Xbox news instead of small droplets on a Monday? Not only is it a year round source of hype, it's also great marketing for the smaller or less known games that Xbox usually partners with. There are plenty of games that could use the extra publicity like CrossFireX which we still know nothing about and Xbox has a ton of games in the works including 3rd party partnerships that would be cool to see announcements for before E3. Seeing as the number of studios and partnerships keep growing, eventually they won't have enough room to fit everything into 1 E3 presentation. What do you guys think about having either Inside Xbox come back in a better format or a new program altogether and what would you guys name it? Dukes, have a wait for E3 kinda day.

Anonymous
>>77452625

I would change his name to Matty instead of Marty or he will roast you 😂

Anonymous

Hey guys, I hope this finds you well! I’ll try to keep it simple. I love the “health is wealth” motto that you guys present. On that note, are there any games, shows, movies or other activities that you guys can rely on to boost your mood? You’ve given great advice before so this would be much appreciated as I’m currently going through a few obstacles in life. Much love.

NotSkyWalker
>>77492850

100% this. Especially as their first party studio output increases, which will likely dominate their E3 shows, I agree they owe it to their partners to do more smaller showcases throughout the year, like a Direct or State of Play. First party stuff too of course, I.e. we really should see Redfall again before 'E3'...

Tyee

How are the dukes of Xbox feeling I hope both of you are feeling spectacular. I just wanted to say I hope Microsoft/Xbox buy SEGA and make them the MX team of Japan, so they can rise and vanquish Sony and Nintendo from that market and possibly let SEGA slap their brand name on that Xbox series s, the S standing for suckers we are back in the console wars. In all honesty I would rather them spend their money on making new studios that can expand the ip they already have like making a arbiter game that’s similar to ghost of Tsushima or make a game about the forerunner/human/flood war. I would like to know what franchise the both of you believe should be expanded upon. Have a I drank too much milk I need to rush to the toilet type of day.

Anonymous

Hey Dukes, Not exactly an Xbox question but it involves some recent news. Do you think recently we've seen a slowing down of games being ported to the Switch. It seems a few years ago there was a new port of a xbox/PS game every few months, but now they're much less common. Do you think all the consolidation happening is stopping these deals from happening? All I want is a Fallout collection I can play on the crapper! Thanks and have a 72 on metacritic kinda day!

Jimmer

It’s no secret that Halo Infinite’s player count has dropped dramatically since launch, and while there seem to be a myriad of reasons for this, the one I hear about the most is the battlepass progression. Apparently many people quit playing once they ran out of things to earn in the battlepass. Interestingly, many of the same articles also state that halo infinite does have some of the most solid gameplay the series has ever had. Great gameplay used to be all you needed for a multiplayer game to be addictive. My friends and I never needed a constant stream of cosmetic unlocks to keep us playing halo 2 & 3 well into the wee hours of the morning. Have gamers been conditioned as a community to not find worth in a multiplayer game unless you can continuously unlock cosmetics or other almost meaningless digital presents? Thanks fellas!

Anonymous

Hey Dukes, Just listened to the last DD and Lord Cog mentioned that he was playing "The Gunk". Although it's been referred to as middling in its reviews It was one of my favorite games last year, great writing, interesting characters and it's secret weapon... it's length. It never overstays it's welcome and it's simple mechanics aren't around long enough to become tiresome. That thought brought to mind a question. Does the value proposition for games change because of Gamepass? A $60 or $70 price point on a game leads to the flawed price per hour expectation of 30 to 100h of single player content, 100s of hours of multiplayer or Sometimes both. Gamepass changes this expectation to many games for $10 - $15 a month. This effectively lowers the price per hour of entertainment to dollars or even cents per hour based on the number of titles available regardless of the length of the conent. Obviously Gamepass and the like will continue to directly and indirectly influence how games are made but I can't help but speculate and I'd love to hear your thoughts and insights on this topic? The LSM crew brought me to Patreon. Love the podcast. Thanks. -Joe

pen in pant

Hey whaddup Dukes of Arcadia, News broke today, February 9th, that Assassin’s Creed will launch a standalone game with a focus on stealth and ASSASSINS that was supposed to be an expansion for AC Valhalla; via Jason Schreier In my opinion that’s an interesting direction since ***AC Valhalla SPOILERS AHEAD*** the supposed main focus is on a villain who is also the reincarnation of Loki, a fucking GOD Your thoughts on this?

Kickstand

Gentlemen, what is going on at Rockstar? They tweeted recently about how they’re working on a new GTA. But we obviously knew that? I heard Ryan McCaffrey say he doesn’t expect to see the game until holiday 2024 at best. RDR2 was almost 3.5 years ago, and from what I can tell the support of RDR Online is not substantial. Are they just pissing away time? My assumption is we are seeing large studios like Bethesda and Rockstar that have historically delivered massive generation defining games rest on the laurels of old releases, now going on a decade. They’re milking GTA Online totally dry I assume. Take your time and make a good game, but 1-2 a decade is pretty disappointing, right?

Andreas Lennartsson

Hey Dukes! What is your favourite Telltale game? Mine would probably be the first season of Batman. Take care and have a "just showed your kid the new trailer for Wolf Among Us 2 and the kid getting really excited thinking it's an Among Us sequel" kind of day.

Tacoyaki

Hello there duke boys! I recently started playing Fallout 4 on my Series X on Gamepass. Seeing the game run at 60fps and with better looking graphics… I couldn’t help myself but to be enamoured with the game and how much better it feels(lost 8 hours being hooked onto it). I initially didn’t liked the game when it launched, but now I find myself enjoying it significantly more. The frame rate and graphical boost, coupled with the easy accessibility on Gamepass makes me wonder… what other games would I enjoy now through Gamepass on my Series X that I didn’t enjoy before? Have either of you have or had this experience before? Where you didn’t enjoy a previous game initially, but the next gen console + Gamepass made it a lot more enjoyable? Thank you guys! And have a yanked-my-controller-and-dropped-my-console kind of day

NotSkyWalker
>>77467050

Just watched it. Holy shit. Ryan did a (tiny) Q&A with the devs too - all of which is on IGN.

Clay Layne

Cog and Matty, hopefully not too late! (Probably) Not gaming related but how about those Bengals! I live in Cincinnati and just wanted your take on this year's match up! Thanks and Game on!

Greg Dawson

Hey Dukes. I have a One X. Is it worth upgrading to a Series S, or hold out for a Series X down the line.