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Defining Duke, Episode 146: The Thread (Patreon)

Published:
2023-10-16 22:56:45.468000
Imported:
2023-10

Content

Hey All!  It's time to submit your questions, comments, concerns, thoughts, and ideas for Episode 146 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, 10/18 at 5 PM ET to make your submission.

Comments

Meatball

Good day Dukes, Pete Hines has decided to saddle up his horse and ride into the sunset. After 24 years at Bethesda he's announced his retirement to pursue other passions and interests. I was hoping the two of you could speak to any interactions you had with him over the years, his impact on any of your favorite franchises or the gaming industry as a whole. Cheers from Arizona

Anonymous

Hey Dukes, I been loving the show since the beginning but if I'm being honest I feel like you guys are devoting too much time "addressing the haters." I understand the desire to respond to someone, especially if they're talking about you, but I feel like recently a good chunk of the episode is being reserved to respond to "Playstation Fanboys" or "Monopoly Bros" and its just getting a bit tiresome. I find the content you guys make to be of a superior quality than the drivel that's on Twitter so I don't think you guys need to stoop down to that level. Thanks for hearing me out.

Brian Wagers

Hey Dukes, Was glad to see on social media about Cog’s good news about his health and hoping for a healthier 2024 for both of yall. Minecraft crossed 300M copies sold this week, over 100M more than second best selling. Will there ever be a game that sells this well and why do you think this specific game was able to be so popular? Have a great day Brian W

Anonymous

Hello Spidey-Dukes or Defining-Spidey. With the departure of Pete Hines from Bethesda (and before we talk about all the conspiracy theories of why he left), what is your fondest memories from Pete. Mine was for sure during the Doom (2016) reveal. Have a great “I don’t to see a doctor until next year” kinda of day.

Ayzic

A fine how-do-yo-do to you, Dukes! The CEO of Limited Run Games recently took to Twitter/X commenting that he had heard rumblings that Walmart will stop selling physical Xbox games sometime in the new year. This came after the news that Best Buy will be halting the sale of ALL physical media as soon as Q1 next year. (Source link: https://x.com/limitedrunjosh/status/1712554666838704169?s=46&t=mVaRKZyYUyHeGSChQBomLQ) As a person who has always preferred physical media, it’s wild to think that next year there will be a huge shift towards Digital. I guess it’s unsurprising, as Playstation, and to an astronomically greater extent, Xbox, both seem to be prioritizing digital-only systems and cloud gaming platforms going forward. I’m an optimist and would love it if Xbox made the ultimately consumer-friendly move and introduced some sort of program where you could have a disc license transfer to a digital license as we slowly approach the all-digital future, but I’m afraid that’s just wishful thinking. Would love to know your thoughts regarding this or if there is any precedent of a company doing something like this in the past. Have an “I guess I should just start buying all my games digitally” kind of day.

Anonymous

Hey Dukes, you both seem to be into the RPG genre. The Witcher 3 is my favorite game of all time of any genre and it’s not even close. Where do you two sit with this game? Did you enjoy it? Do you hold it in the pantheon of rpgs like I do? Keep doing good guys, literally bought a Xbox series x cause of yall

Anonymous

Hey Dukes, As a "'tis the season" recommendation, I'd like to shout out Signalis. What a masterpiece of a debut effort from a primarily 2-person team. Matty, back me up on this. To be able to draw horror inspirations from not only games but movies and even books used to inform a rich sci-fi world with well thought-out engrossing lore and anchoring it with deeply insightful observations on the human condition and a shockingly poignant emotional story - all of which is packaged within a banger of a survival horror game - coalesces into the type of experience I won't soon forget. Be good to yourselves, be good to each other, and I hope you have a "another banger of a game looks to be arriving soon, but it's not on my preferred piece of hardware so i'm going to have a hissy fit" kind of day.

Dillon

Hello Fellas Ains over at Seasoned Gaming stated that yes, there is a team over at 343 working on the next Halo campaign, a part of the next generation of Halo on Unreal Engine. Let's talk about it. I love this and hate this at the same time. I love playing a brand new story in Halo, but hate that its gonna be another 4-5 years for another one. The Halo universe is so rich and vast, and the fact that there isn't a Halo Wars type of game every 2-3 not focused on the Chief is always mind boggling to me. We also still don't know what Halo project Certain Affinity is doing, if they in fact are still working on it. I love Halo, and I currently love what 343 is doing with it, I just wish we could get a 343 Developer Direct so they could address the fans, on what the true future of Halo looks like Thanks as always and have yourselves an A1 day.

Adam Belgharbi

Hello dukes, My brain is fried from being 5 years on tiktok so II don't have any smart questions to ask. So just use me as a springboard to talk about Pete Hines leaving Bethesda. Have a "He who goes to sleep with an itchy but wakes up with a stinky finger" kind of day

Greg Dawson

Hey Dukes. Xbox released a couple small games recently in Starfield and Forza Motorsport. Whilst these games work and run fine on Xbox Series X & S, they do not run anything like fine on PC. For example, Forza maxed out at 4K on a RTX4090 runs at 22fps without DLSS, 45fps with DLSS according to PC Gamer, and it isn't because it looks amazing, it's because its incredibly unoptimised. Don't get me started on Starfield. What do you make of this? It *seems* Microsoft (and others) believe that it's OK to leave PC versions in an unfinished state. Could it be that there's so few players that it really doesn't matter?

Anonymous

What up Krabby Matty Deluxe and 100% Beef Hot Cog, Now that the ABK Deal is officially done, who will be the Dark Horse of Activision? For XGS it was Double Fine. Everyone downplayed them after their acquisition but with Psychonauts 2, they went above and beyond everyone's expectations and was even a big GOTY contender in 2021. For Bethesda, it was definitely Tango Gameworks. They surprised everyone with the incredibly polished and fun Hi-Fi Rush that broke away from the studio's horror roots and felt like a return to form of Shinji Mikami's Clover days. Which team at Activision do you believe will have that break out moment that puts them on everyone's radar? Have an "Advance The Line" kinda day!

Bryant

Hey Dukes, I’m loving Forza Motorsport, but there is an audio issue that’s bugging me. When you upgrade the transmission, every car gets the same annoying high-pitched audio effect. Why is there no audio slider for this? I understand this noise might be intentional and realistic for race transmissions, but it really hurts the overall experience. I consider the transmission a vital upgrade as you can get back in the throttle quicker after shifting gears, so this is really frustrating.

Mr. Scott If You're Nasty

Good morning Duke Boys, Spiderman 2 releases soon, and the reviews are out. I'm not sure anyone is surprised that it's reviewing well (91 on meta last I checked). I mean, it sounds like the same game as before with some topical enhancements. Sony can get away with making carbon copies apparently, but since Spiderman is the lamest superhero and a completely boring af character, those are facts not opinions, if we are going to talk Spidey 2, I'd be interested in the following. Could we compare and contrast Sony's sequel strategy with Microsoft's? On the surface, it looks as though Microsoft takes a lot more risks when it comes to their sequel game (Car-PG in Forza being the latest example, Halo Infinite Open World as another). Sony's latest sequels (TLOU2, Ragnarok, and possibly Spidey 2) seem like carbon copies with minor surface-level changes. Which strategy do you prefer?

MetroidIsBetterIn2D

Hey Trustbusters, It seems inevitable that an "outside" corporation will emerge as a major player in the gaming space by making sizable acquisitions. Who do you think it wil be? There can only be one, so make a bet and let's see if the Dukes can predict the future. Will Apple leverage their loyal fanbase and hardware manufacturing to enter the console space? Can Amazon turn Luna into a cloud-gaming powerhouse? Should Meta purchase Ubisoft and try to push their VR headsets onto the masses with Assassin's Creed and Splinter Cell? Will Disney purchase EA and produce their own Star Wars and Marvel games? Could Netflix follow Epic's example and release a Steam competitor? Should Google revisit their smart-glasses technology to create AR-gaming experiences like Pokemon Go?

The Lazy Indian Gamer

Hey Dukes, I just wanted to ask. It is kinda interesting that Pete Hines retired after 24 years, just after the Activision deal became official. Do you think this is a sign of things to come at Xbox or did he just get a fat paycheck and has retired rich and happy?

Otrant

Has technology progressed to the point where a small indie studio could make a game like the original Final Fantasy VII? I mean low-poly 3D character models over 2D prerendered backgrounds. If so, do you think that style of game could still be successful, or does it immediately read as antiquated?

Sean Mason

Hello Dukes, As Xbox has become the new home for two beloved franchises, Crash Bandicoot and Spyro, the burning question becomes increasingly relevant: When can we expect Crash 5 and a true Spyro 4? With Xbox taking the reins, I'm hopeful these projects will soon receive the green light. Warm regards, Sean M.

Family Falls

Hey Dukie boys, Quick Battlenet question. Now that Xbox owns Activision. Do you think they will turn Battlenet into an Xbox storefront to Compete with the likes of Valve and Epic? As Xbox is becoming more of an app. I think the play anywhere feature is underrated. Going from my couch to my computer and on the go with the ally, continuing where I left off is amazing. However, the Xbox app on PC is more of a gamepass app and I would like the Feature to work with games I bought from the Xbox storefront as well. I just want play anywhere to be more ubiquitous besides a select few games. They have an opportunity to do something with battlenet. Anyway, what’s your thought on battlenet, are going to merge it with the Xbox app, keep it as is, or just abandon it?

pen in pant

hey dukes! Candy crush is a monumental money maker for xbox now that the deal went through. Recently, I haven’t seen much talk about this side of the activision deal. Obviously I would love to see different Candy crush themes, like halo, fallout, gears of even Senua’s saga! how else can they utilize the mobile front of this deal? p.s. put together all the capital letters in my write up for a surprise ;)

Enraged Seahawk of Seattle

Hello slanderous matty and humble cog, just wanted to say I understand your perspectives on ac mirage and while it isn’t the next ac title we are all expecting, it was kinda of unrealistic to expect this. 2 year dev cycle with a team making their first game who’s main goal was paying a homage and not evolving the SEIRES. It was intended to be an appetite while the next few games are cooking. Now about the future, I think cog will be most intrigued about ac hexe which is not an rpg and is gonna be more in line with the traditional old style games. A female only protagonist with a fear mechanic and returning writer Darby from revelations and black flag. Also not fully ow, j0nathan who is mostly accurate up til this point said its more linear along the lines of Uncharted and is rumored to be zone based again, sort of like AC2 with areas of cities and countryside that you can travel to separately. Ubisoft is appealing to both audiences by making games for each, red a stealth focused rpg and hexe a more traditional game that takes inspiration from ghost and Arkham. Ps: the teleporting thing in mirage is explained as basim is moving so fast that the animus can’t keep track.

Anonymous

Hey Dukes, Now that the ABK deal is done, how do you think the Ubisoft deal will impact any potential exclusivity? Apparently the deal covers the cloud rights for any current and new IP. So if Xbox made a game exclusive, it could potentially still end up on PlayStation via cloud streaming. In that circumstance, how do you think xbox would respond? Would they decide to release a native port since it’d technically be on the platform or keep the native version exclusive regardless? Would PlayStation, now or in the future, be interested in a game that’s only available via cloud streaming? IMO, it’ll be really interesting to see how this plays out over the next 15 years. Thanks and have a no ABK games in gamepass until 2024 kind of day.

Hayden Glass

Howdy Matty 117 and Combat Evolved Cog! What are your thoughts on Halo Infinite Season 5? As someone who has been playing the game since launch it is unquestionably in the best state it has ever been. The new leadership at 343 has really turned it around. It feels like the ship has sailed on Halo being the mainstream juggernaut it once was, and now 343 is hyper focused on pleasing the hardcore Halo fans who are still here. That’s just my take though, what say the Dukes?

Daniel

Is there any chance that someday you'd get a guest or co-host who's knowledgeable on hardware-level analysis? I love the Moore's Law episodes of Sacred+, and would enjoy listening to someone with firsthand experience, and who would know whether or not the Series S can handle certain tasks. Thanks!

J Boogie327

Dukes with the ABK deal winding down, fan speculation about what purchase would be next be it Square Enix or Sega how much sense would it make to grab Paradox??? After reports emerged last week about Lamplighter's League weak recption 2 weeks post launch and word that Cityskylines 2 is not launching in the best state, is this a chance to bolster the PC gamepass side of the team?? Age of Wonders 4 was the only seemingly bright spot of the games that lunched this year. Is there any hope for what seems like a 3 party gamepass partner or should they be left to their own devices?? Do we protect the turn base game developer or do we just pick up Hare Brained Schemes?? Either way I think the PC side of gaming will be ok without consolidation but is this a chance to grab a port studio or someone who can help with dev time??? Any way have a good 'un and stay the best podcast on LSM

Stephen Forgione

Hey Dukes, with Starfield claiming the spot as September’s best selling game (and 7th overall for the year), will the narrative surrounding gamepass killing sales finally die down? Also, do you think the concept of the early access bundle will play a role in the sales success of future Xbox titles? Thanks, and have a “Halo is so back” kind of day.

Steve Rector

Hey Dukes, No question here, just wanted to say how happy I was/am to see the good news regarding Lord Cog's health a couple days back. The positive energy you bring puts an extra pep in my step every time I listen, and I think I speak for all of us when I say the LSM community needs a healthy Cog to stick around for a long time. Also, Redfall still sucks ass

RK128

Hello Superstar Dukes, With the release of Sonic Superstars, what do you two think of the game? So far I’ll say it’s one of the better classic sonic games even with lackluster music. Have a ‘can’t wait for the game pass release of Sonics series of games’ kind of day.

Nicholas Brilhart

Greetings Dukes. It's finally done. Microsoft has acquired Activision, Blizzard, and King. Now with the deal in the rear view mirror, what were your favorite headlines from the nearly two years long adventure to seal the deal? Stay healthy, and have a "The Starfield Spoiler Cast is coming up and I still haven't finished the story" kind of day.

Anonymous

Howdy Dukes, This question is primarily for Cog. I've heard you talk a lot about how you'd like to see Sega acquired by MS. I mean this sincerely when i ask you, why? They don't really fit a lot of your criteria when it comes to an acquisition: they're not in danger of going out of business without a buyer, they're not in dire need of additional corporate backing or resources, and they're just generally successful as they currently are. So why the hope for acquisition? Is it just the simple fact that you like both brands and would like to see them together? Or is there something else to it for you? Have a "Dead Space is coming to Game Pass just in time for Halloween" kind of day.