592: The latest news and we’re heading to PAX East

Larry Hryb: Why hello there, dear listeners. My name's Larry Hryb, Xbox Live's Major Nelson. You've successfully downloaded the podcast, you've pressed play. You are now in for some amount of time of gaming goodness, uh, as you, as you've probably figured out.
Uh, this is show number 592. I'm here with, uh, Laura. Hi there, Laura.
Laura Massey: Hello.
Larry Hryb: Nice to see you, as always.
Laura Massey: Nice to see you too.
Larry Hryb: Sitting across from me is Jeffrey.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's been too long-
Larry Hryb: Hi Jeffrey.
Jeff Rubenstein: Hi.
Larry Hryb: We're back, we're back in the uh, we're back in the um, back in the studio. You know we have this fancy-
Jeff Rubenstein: You were gonna "back in the saddle again" and-
Larry Hryb: Back in-
Jeff Rubenstein: Then you were gonna do a-
Larry Hryb: No.
Jeff Rubenstein: Whole guitar solo.
Laura Massey: (laughing)
Larry Hryb: No, it's just that we're back in the studio, which just feels good.
You know, we have a dedicated studio that, that I-I've-I've negotiated for this.
Laura Massey: We do.
Larry Hryb: Because this show's so big. Uh-
Laura Massey: It's a nice studio.
Larry Hryb: It is, isn't it? Soundproof, it has all these speakers that I don't even know what they do.
Laura Massey: Exactly.
Jeff Rubenstein: Security's a bit lax.
Larry Hryb: Security, well, no it isn't. Security's very tight, I couldn't even get in here, so. Um, anyway we, we're, we're, we're uh, happy that you could join us it's uh, we love spending the time with you and hopefully you enjoy spending it with us.
Laura Massey: I hope so too.
Larry Hryb: This is like the, this is, this is a, you know, I have many highlights to the week and this is one of them.
Laura Massey: Oh.
Larry Hryb: It's one of the few times I get to see Laura and Jeff actually one of the few times I get to see you as well.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's one of the few times that I look you in the eye-
Larry Hryb: That's right. Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: And talk to you about games.
Larry Hryb: That's right.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: I don't know.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: We uh, so we, we jump right in, I mean it's been a busy couple weeks, we last, last, on the last show we had Graham, so-
Laura Massey: That's right.
Larry Hryb: Always delightful to have him.
Laura Massey: It is.
Larry Hryb: Although I did, somebody on Twitter said I was mispronouncing his name.
Laura Massey: Really?
Jeff Rubenstein: Do they think it's Grame?
Larry Hryb: I don't know.
Laura Massey: Or Grammy?
Larry Hryb: I-I-I don't know. I used to call him Grammy, uh, so Graham, if, if I have been mispronouncing it why haven't you corrected me for all these [crosstalk 00:02:00]?
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: He's too polite to correct.
Larry Hryb: Yeah he is, he's way too polite. But we're here, we're going to talk about what we're playing. Halo Wars 2 is out, it's a great, uh, Xbox play anywhere title, it's, I know Laura's playing it.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Larry Hryb: Jeff is playing it.
Jeff Rubenstein: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Larry Hryb: I'm playing it, you guys are all playing it I'm sure. Uh, so we've got that, we're playing a bunch of stuff. We're going to hop right into it. By the way, before we get going Laura.
Laura Massey: Yeah?
Larry Hryb: Do you know what happened, uh, let's see, when are we recording? I think earlier this week.
Laura Massey: What happened?
Larry Hryb: Mini Metro had an update.
Laura Massey: It did, I can see it.
Jeff Rubenstein: New cities?
Larry Hryb: For ios. I think they did some, they did some music to it and some other things. I don't know, I was reading it, I was reading. You know, a lot of developers are getting lazy [inaudible 00:02:32], it's just bug fixes, right?
Laura Massey: They're not listing out.
Larry Hryb: They're not listing out like they used to be.
Laura Massey: In their change log.
Jeff Rubenstein: Did you just throw the lazy devs trope out there Larry?
Larry Hryb: No. Laura, back me up on this?
Jeff Rubenstein: I blame the marketing people.
Laura Massey: No. I mean.
Larry Hryb: (laughs)
Laura Massey: When I-
Larry Hryb: You're on your own. (laughs)
Laura Massey: When I would update my own app I would take a lot of care in that.
Larry Hryb: Right. Do you know, she actually used to do an app Jeffrey?
Laura Massey: I did.
Jeff Rubenstein: I know. I've played it.
Laura Massey: Oh good, glad you've played it.
Larry Hryb: When's it coming back? We're talking Nerd Trivia here.
Laura Massey: Don't ask me.
Larry Hryb: You started it.
Laura Massey: I know, right?
Larry Hryb: You started it.
Laura Massey: I get that question all the time on Twitter, "When's Nerd Trivia coming back?" And I have no ETA. My life has gotten so crazy and it takes a lot of effort to maintain it.
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Laura Massey: So.
Larry Hryb: Just do what everybody else does.
Laura Massey: What's that?
Larry Hryb: Kickstarter.
Laura Massey: (laughs) That'll be great if I wouldn't have to have a full-time job.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Laura Massey: I could just do that.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Laura Massey: That'd be fantastic.
Larry Hryb: Oh, we need you here. Uh, anyway. Jeff, what are you playing? We're going to start with you.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh thanks. Man it's been a while.
Larry Hryb: Yes it has.
Laura Massey: It has been a while.
Jeff Rubenstein: And so there's a long list here. Um, one thing I wanted to talk about. We, we've talked about I think how great a year it had been in the last six months or so for single-player campaigns in first-person shooters. Um, we loved Battlefield, we loved, uh, Titanfall.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Jeff Rubenstein: Which I think surprised us all. And one thing I had sort of left for recently was Call of Duty Infinite Warfare. And, uh, I picked it up on PC, on, on Windows 10.
Larry Hryb: Yep.
Jeff Rubenstein: And at some point I was like oh you know I'm going to jump into this one. It is really really good. In fact I would say out of the Call of Duty campaigns it's my favorite one since the original Modern Warfare. Actually, like, the people in it.
Larry Hryb: You were, you were going on and on about this campaign.
Jeff Rubenstein: Because I really like the casting. It had a focused cast and you see them outside of helmet and it wasn't just a lot of like sort of, um, military jargon, but it really like got into, you know, what's more important, the mission or the people carrying out the mission? And, um, I sort of like that debate going back and forth. Do you, do you do the right thing in terms of the mission.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Jeff Rubenstein: Even if it's going to cost lives? Anyway, it made for a very interesting story and, and when certain characters, if they didn't make it through, it was just a little bit of someone was chopping onions in the room at the time.
Larry Hryb: You really got into it?
Jeff Rubenstein: I did.
Larry Hryb: Good for you.
Jeff Rubenstein: I think it was a really excellent game. It was very different from a lot of Call of Dutys. There was, uh, side missions you could do, and I did them all. Uh, and there was a lot of space battles. Maybe that's not what everyone's looking for in a Call of Duty title-
Larry Hryb: But you enjoyed it?
Jeff Rubenstein: But you know what, I really liked it.
Larry Hryb: You enjoyed it?
Jeff Rubenstein: I enjoyed quite a bit.
Larry Hryb: So. @JeffRubenstein if you want to share your thoughts.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes, please do.
Larry Hryb: And I know you will.
Laura Massey: Are there any other onions.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes.
Laura Massey: Any other onions that were chopped in other rooms.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: Look, I've liked it a lot. So another game, another shooter game that I've gotten into recently, I think you two, you have as well Larry, is Sniper Elite 4.
Larry Hryb: Oh yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: It took me four Sniper Elites to get into this.
Larry Hryb: I, I played the last one a little bit, and then something came along. And I booted this one up last weekend, I was like, "Let me give it a shot." No pun intended.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: And I started playing it. It just, it was fun.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Why don't you explain what the gameplay is because it, it may, people may not get it.
Jeff Rubenstein: Sure. So, uh, I knew one thing about the Sniper Elite series and that is, uh, when you line up a shot well everything goes into, well, bullet time if you will.
Larry Hryb: Slo-mo.
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, you see the bullet travel through, you know, through the countryside, and then rip into like a visible, anatomical mans body, and what it does. So it's like, "Oh you punctured a lung." Or you, you really viscerally see what the bullet does.
Larry Hryb: It is, it is, it is, warning, it is graphic.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's really disgusting.
Larry Hryb: It's really [inaudible 00:06:00].
Jeff Rubenstein: But it's also kind of great sometimes. Uh, and there is perhaps the best achievement I've seen so far this year. And that is for, uh, shooting the Fuhrer in, uh, in the mommy-daddy button down there.
Laura Massey: Oh dear.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's an achievement. Look.
Larry Hryb: Did you get it?
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh I haven't gotten that far in the game.
Larry Hryb: Okay because I was going to say, because you and I are-
Jeff Rubenstein: I think it might be part of DLC.
Larry Hryb: Alright then, you and I need to, because we're going to do, it's got co-op.
Jeff Rubenstein: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Larry Hryb: And you and I have been talking about this. I think I need to stream it on Beam.
Jeff Rubenstein: I think you should do that. Yeah.
Larry Hryb: We can do a little bit of-
Jeff Rubenstein: So there's co-op, that's what we need to get into. Anyway, it's, I think-
Larry Hryb: Unless you'd like to play Laura? Unless you and Jeff want to play, or?
Jeff Rubenstein: That'd be fun.
Laura Massey: I don't have it. I'll give it a try if I had a copy.
Larry Hryb: I don't, what I know about you, I don't think you'd like it.
Laura Massey: Is it too graphic for me?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, it's pretty-
Jeff Rubenstein: You, I think you could probably turn that off. But basically you're a lone sniper-
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Jeff Rubenstein: Sent in behind enemy lines in Italy. It's a beautiful game.
Larry Hryb: It's World War II.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, World War II. And you're going through and taking out targets of opportunity, sabotaging things, and uh,
Larry Hryb: Generally behind a nuisance.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. And, uh, but the levels are really big. It's like a big, like sort of playground area if you will, where, I was at that first level for almost two hours just going through.
Larry Hryb: I, I, I did too.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: And you can kind of go about it, you just have here's your tasks, do whatever you want.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Larry Hryb: It's kind of open worldy.
Laura Massey: Open world [inaudible 00:07:17].
Jeff Rubenstein: And you can always get that first shot off, and then they start to be able to triangulate. So there's all sorts of ways where you can use diversion.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: So you can set traps. Maybe if you end up shooting a, an explosive barrel, that's going to throw people off. You can, you can do all manner of things, uh, to sort of distract people. A couple of times I was found and I had to run a little bit. Um, I think the difference between this Sniper Elite and previous ones is that if you're caught you do have the ability to use an SMG or a pistol and with any luck actually survive the encounter.
Larry Hryb: I thought you were going to say-
Jeff Rubenstein: Here's a cyanide pill in your [inaudible 00:07:51].
Larry Hryb: (laughs) Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: So I've been playing a lot of that.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: Been playing a lot of um, well I started Resident Evil 7.
Larry Hryb: I've been playing that, you know I've played that.
Jeff Rubenstein: It is a scary game.
Larry Hryb: It's very scary.
Laura Massey: How are you playing? How are you playing it?
Jeff Rubenstein: Really, so, get a lot of rain up here.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Jeff Rubenstein: Rainy, night, lights off, surround sound. This was a huge mistake, I was not prepared for this.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: See now.
Laura Massey: Larry plays it the opposite of you.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I turn up the brightness, turn on all the lights.
Laura Massey: All the lights on.
Larry Hryb: Outside, in a park, a sunny day.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: It was so, the first hour was so intense that I just needed to turn it off and, and play Stardew Valley for a little bit.
Larry Hryb: I don't get jump scares.
Jeff Rubenstein: That doesn't bother you?
Laura Massey: Wait do you mean it doesn't bother you or?
Larry Hryb: It just, it just, yeah, that whole thing doesn't, because I can always see it coming, usually. Um, but even when it happens it's like, oh okay, so they're trying to. It just, I don't know, feels formulaic to me, so.
Jeff Rubenstein: It scared the crap out of me. And I think that because the move from third person to first-person makes a huge difference, especially if you've mostly been playing RE4, 5, 6, which are very action, they're sort of like just gross action as opposed to true horror. Um, and this is more in the line of like, like some of the scariest moments in gaming were in Resident Evil 1, 2 and 3. And um this definitely harkens back and really ups the ante. So I, at some point I need to gird myself and go back and play some more.
Larry Hryb: I need to go, I need to go through and play it as well. I mean I'm, I'm probably 10 or 12, I had a really difficult time with one of the bosses. Really hard time.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah I've heard the chainsaw [crosstalk 00:09:22]
Larry Hryb: It was, I actually, I've never, never thrown the controller. I threw it in this game.
Jeff Rubenstein: Really?
Laura Massey: Oh no.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I was.
Laura Massey: It was that bad?
Larry Hryb: It popped me over the edge, so.
Laura Massey: Is there difficulty settings in the game that you could lower?
Jeff Rubenstein: There is.
Larry Hryb: Yeah I guess there is.
Laura Massey: That's an option.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I ... no.
Laura Massey: Really?
Larry Hryb: Well.
Laura Massey: So you throw the controller, get really angry, keep doing it.
Larry Hryb: Especially if you're playing it at the lowest level.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: Well look, Laura, I don't know if you've even started the game, but like the first hour, visually this game is stunning.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Jeff Rubenstein: Like to the point I was playing, I had my brother and my wife were in the room watching as well.
Larry Hryb: It was a family affair?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, well they wanted to see.
Larry Hryb: Nothing says family like RE7.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, and then it'd be like 15 minutes or so, my wife out of nowhere would like jab me in the ribs like to scare me.
Laura Massey: Oh that's great, that's hilarious.
Jeff Rubenstein: Which, so, R.I.P. our family because that was not cool at all. I was not happy about that. But visually like, they were like, "Is this video?" Like in the beginning scenes when you're getting your way out to the farm in Louisiana. I mean it looks like video.
Larry Hryb: Now, now I must point out, it is an Xbox play anywhere title.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's right.
Larry Hryb: So your save goes between your PC version, you've got the PC version or the console version, whichever one you bought, you get the other platform, it's included, and your save goes back and forth.
Laura Massey: That's great.
Larry Hryb: So I was going back and forth actually.
Jeff Rubenstein: [inaudible 00:10:42] to do that. I just felt like with my laptop, if I was like one foot away from these abominations, I would be very scared.
Larry Hryb: Yeah no, it's a different story. Yeah you would be.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes. More so than at home.
Larry Hryb: Well good for you.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. You should sit your wife down and the two of you can pass the controller back and forth.
Larry Hryb: You know we don't do that in our house. She's not interested. She's like, she wants me to come in and tell her the story.
Jeff Rubenstein: Okay.
Larry Hryb: Like what I just did. Like, so tell me about the, like the one, you know, the famous one is when she came into the room right after I finished Red Dead.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, yeah.
Larry Hryb: And I was, I was weeping.
Jeff Rubenstein: What a good ending.
Laura Massey: You were weeping?
Larry Hryb: Oh yeah. She was like, "What happened?" She's like, "It's just a video game." So I kind of played it again so she could see, she was like, "Okay, I can see it." So, anyway.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, and the last game we've all been playing together was Games with Gold game for February I believe, Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime.
Laura Massey: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: We've been going through, with three players you can really wreck house in that game.
Larry Hryb: You and I played that. We streamed that didn't we?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah we did. That's a great game, it's still good.
Larry Hryb: You know back in the day when we all had time and we used to stream, right?
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: This is, is this a jab at me?
Laura Massey: [inaudible 00:11:40] waste time.
Larry Hryb: No no no, just in general.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'll make time, I'll make time.
Larry Hryb: I'm so busy, you're so busy, Laura hasn't streamed with me streamed with me since-
Jeff Rubenstein: Lets stream next week.
Laura Massey: A while, a long time.
Larry Hryb: With Viva Pinata? (laughs)
Laura Massey: (laughs) No, not that long ago.
Larry Hryb: Wow. Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: I haven't had my inaugural Beam stream yet.
Larry Hryb: Oh.
Jeff Rubenstein: You know, I used to stream on Twitch.
Larry Hryb: We should do Sniper.
Jeff Rubenstein: We should do that with co-op Sniper Elite.
Larry Hryb: Or.
Jeff Rubenstein: I think that would be really fun.
Larry Hryb: Or another game that has co-op which came out this past week, Halo Wars 2.
Jeff Rubenstein: Huh. Yes.
Larry Hryb: That's the big title, big first-party title that came out, Halo Wars 2. Did the stream last week, did you get a chance to watch it Laura?
Laura Massey: No.
Larry Hryb: No she didn't, no, that's okay.
Jeff Rubenstein: It was really good.
Larry Hryb: Thank you.
Jeff Rubenstein: It was a good stream. Nice to see-
Larry Hryb: Thank you for tuning in.
Jeff Rubenstein: Of course, of course. Comments were really nice, they like it. Phil was on.
Larry Hryb: Phil is always great, I mean it was fun to, it was actually really hard broadcast to do because, I think I mentioned this to you Laura, you know, in the middle of a party and so I've got an earpiece where they're like, "Okay you've got to go to camera two, take camera two, go to camera two." I'm like, and you can't hear anything because it's just chaos. Where's the camera? You can't see it. But anyway, it was a lot of fun, hopefully you guys and girls enjoyed it. That was a lot of fun there, so.
Laura Massey: Can you get it after the fact?
Larry Hryb: It is available on video on demand. Jeff can you make a note of that and I'll, I'll dig up the full, there's like a short version which is the highlight reel but then there's the long version.
Laura Massey: Okay. Is the long version the whole full show?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, it's an hour twenty minutes. It's pretty short because I'm used to doing two hours, or in the case of-
Laura Massey: Or six hours.
Larry Hryb: Or in the case of Gears at PAX it was six hours. (growls)
Jeff Rubenstein: This wasn't like, you know, a normal lets play where you're just playing. This was like a very produced and-
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: You know, you got to see inside 343. It was really-
Larry Hryb: Yeah, it was a lot of fun.
Laura Massey: That's great.
Larry Hryb: So did that. But anyway, Gear, uh, Halo Wars is out this week, played a lot of that, and Laura you want to talk about that? Because you've been playing it right?
Laura Massey: I have.
Larry Hryb: You played a little bit?
Laura Massey: Yeah I played a little bit.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. So lets talk, we'll segue right into that.
Laura Massey: Sure thing. So I played a lot of Halo Wars, the original game. And if you guys are a fan of that game you will absolutely love Halo Wars 2.
Larry Hryb: We were so much younger back then.
Laura Massey: I was. I was a younger version of myself.
Larry Hryb: Yes you were.
Laura Massey: Past Laura.
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Laura Massey: And if you do remember Halo Wars you'll know that there was really good balancing, really good campaign. They've taken that and just made it even better in Halo Wars 2.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Laura Massey: So I highly recommend the campaign, it is similarly just as enjoyable and fun as the original one.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Laura Massey: They've amped it up of course, so there's a bunch of polish they did and some of the, uh, shortcuts and motions are a bit easier and the cut scenes, have you guys seen them?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, they're gorgeous.
Laura Massey: They're gorgeous.
Larry Hryb: They're stunning.
Laura Massey: They are stunning. They remind me of, you know, [inaudible 00:14:14] movies.
Larry Hryb: Yeah they are, well Blur does, I think Blur did them and they are, they are stunning. Jeff is actually stepping out, are you going to be coming back and join us?
Jeff Rubenstein: Very soon.
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Laura Massey: Okay, very soon.
Larry Hryb: Apparently he's got to go jump on a call. We actually have real jobs here, this is not our only job unfortunately, so Jeff had to jump out and [inaudible 00:14:26].
Laura Massey: I wish it was, that would be great.
Larry Hryb: Wouldn't it?
Laura Massey: Just sit around talking about games all day?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, right? Anyway, so-
Laura Massey: Visually stunning, absolutely stunning.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: And I am probably four or five missions into the campaign.
Larry Hryb: Oh.
Laura Massey: I haven't had a chance to play multiplayer yet.
Larry Hryb: I got hung up on the third mission, I got distracted by something, I don't know what it was. I think it was Sniper Elite. But I've got to go back to it. But I know you love strategy games.
Laura Massey: I love RTSs, I am so excited that there's finally an RTS [inaudible 00:14:51].
Larry Hryb: Again, it's a play anywhere title.
Laura Massey: Yes.
Larry Hryb: So you have it on your console and you have it there on your Surface.
Laura Massey: Yep, have it here on my Surface book.
Larry Hryb: Yep.
Laura Massey: And I love the fact that the save game goes between, it's fantastic.
Larry Hryb: Yeah it just happens.
Laura Massey: Without any effort whatsoever.
Larry Hryb: It's just like oh okay.
Laura Massey: Pick up where I left off.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. It's the way it should work.
Laura Massey: Exactly.
Larry Hryb: Right? It's the way it should work.
Laura Massey: Should be easy.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: And transparent. But I know that there's a new mode, have you had a chance to try it out? Called Blitz Mode.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. I played a little bit of that, Ryan and I played a little bit of that, Jeff and I are going to play. I'd love to play with you if you want because we can, you can do cross-platform play, but we can, you know, I have it on my computer at home, so I'd love to do that.
Laura Massey: Yeah, I'd give that a try. I hear it's super fun.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Laura Massey: And, um, yeah, like, the moment hit me, like when I was on the start screen, just the music. Just hearing the music again, it's the Halo music.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Laura Massey: It reminds me of all the fun times playing Halo and Halo Wars back in the day on 360.
Larry Hryb: Do you, um.
Laura Massey: Music is great.
Larry Hryb: Do you, do you play with the con, the controller when you're on your PC, or do you go mouse and keyboard?
Laura Massey: I'm going to give it a try mouse and keyboard and see how that changes the game.
Larry Hryb: Okay, yeah.
Laura Massey: And see, because as most people know, RTSs originated on PC.
Larry Hryb: Sure.
Laura Massey: Because, uh, of all the minuet detail you have to do with controlling your troops.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: And they really struggled on consoles.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Laura Massey: Because of the complications.
Larry Hryb: But they kind of did it?
Laura Massey: But they did it, yeah.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: Like, Halo Wars was one of the first ones I felt like was a truly like wonderful game to play.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Laura Massey: Like super easy and just super super amount of fun.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, one thing I miss on the console that you can't really do is you know like when you just go down to the mini-map and click in an area, boom you're there.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Right? And you can't really do that on a console. Maybe they'll figure it out some day.
Laura Massey: They do have the speed up.
Larry Hryb: Yep.
Laura Massey: If you move the controller, the-
Larry Hryb: The stick.
Laura Massey: The stick that handles the camera movement. You can hold down the left bumper.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: And then it will speed up.
Larry Hryb: Zoom.
Laura Massey: So you can go faster, but of course you can't do the random access on the mini-map to go to any location.
Larry Hryb: Right, right. But it's a lot of fun, so play it where there's, there's co-op in there, there's campaign co-op.
Laura Massey: Yes there is.
Larry Hryb: Uh, there's the Blitz Mode which is cards. Did you build your decks, did you build your card decks?
Laura Massey: I have not yet.
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Laura Massey: I got, I have a bunch of decks I need to go through.
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Laura Massey: I'm playing the campaign.
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Laura Massey: Um, but yeah like, the campaign level I was playing last night, it's, it was a simple level, and of course there's a bunch of bonus missions on it and I just get so into it that, uh-oh, instead of spending the 15 minutes I thought you would spend on it I keep going and keep building the biggest army to go after all the bonus missions.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: Just because it's so much fun and yeah, I'm a huge fan of RTSs.
Larry Hryb: (sighs)
Laura Massey: And this really scratches that itch.
Larry Hryb: Yes. Well that's, so that's pretty much all you're playing right now, right?
Laura Massey: I also got a chance to play Overcooked, the game we were talking about.
Larry Hryb: Oh that's right, yeah, Overcook, yeah.
Laura Massey: Multiplayer, which is again what we talked about last time that it was designed to be played multiplayer, and it is so much fun multiplayer.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. Yeah, that's Overcooked, I know Jeff was playing a little bit of that, I played a little bit over the holiday. That is, that is a lot of fun.
Laura Massey: It sure is. All of the levels are pretty much designed to, if you play multiplayer and somehow make chaos.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: So I bet if Team Dysfunction tried to play Overcooked together.
Larry Hryb: It would be, it would be chaos.
Laura Massey: It would be-
Larry Hryb: To the nth degree.
Laura Massey: Disastrous.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: There would be some yelling and (laughs) some fighting as we try and work our way through it.
Larry Hryb: It's, it's, maybe we should stream that?
Laura Massey: Yeah maybe we should, that would be hilarious.
Larry Hryb: You know I have this big TV in here, I just need to bring a console in the studio.
Laura Massey: Yeah that'd be great.
Larry Hryb: And the problem would be solved.
Laura Massey: Yeah. And a pro tip for people playing Overcooked multiplayer, try and establish what jobs each of you will do.
Larry Hryb: As, as any successful kitchen-
Laura Massey: Beforehand, yeah, in any successful kitchen, beforehand.
Larry Hryb: Make sure you know your role.
Laura Massey: Exactly, know your role instead of diving into a map and it just being complete chaos. Like running into each other and all trying to do the same job at the same time, and nobody's cleaning the dishes.
Larry Hryb: No, no. They're stacking up.
Laura Massey: Just disastrous. So try to identify what role each person will play beforehand. Do a little strategy.
Larry Hryb: Sweet.
Laura Massey: It goes a long way.
Larry Hryb: Yes. I agree, I agree. Alright then.
Laura Massey: And what are you playing Larry?
Larry Hryb: Oh boy Laura, well I'm still, I'm still scratching the Overwatch itch. That's kind of my go-to right now for a quick multiplayer fix.
Laura Massey: Yep.
Larry Hryb: I was playing Typo Man, I started playing that.
Laura Massey: What's, what's Typo Man?
Larry Hryb: Typo Man.
Laura Massey: [inaudible 00:18:45].
Larry Hryb: Yeah, it's kind of like this, you're playing as a little, your character is a type, like an O or a T or something.
Laura Massey: Oh the character?
Larry Hryb: He's a character.
Laura Massey: A literal character.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, a literal character. The character's a character, precisely.
Laura Massey: [crosstalk 00:18:57]
Larry Hryb: So again, [inaudible 00:18:59], I've only played the first you know 10-15 minutes of it.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Larry Hryb: So you kind of roll along and solve puzzles. It's a platformer.
Laura Massey: Okay.
Larry Hryb: So I'm playing that, Halo Wars 2 we've talked about that, checked out a game called IO which is kind of a puzzle game. It's a ID@Xbox game.
Laura Massey: Oh really?
Larry Hryb: You have to, you have this little character, it's a sphere, and you can like make him bigger or smaller to solve puzzles.
Laura Massey: Oh, like fit in different places?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, fit in different things, and like if they're bigger they get bigger speed and so forth. Sniper Elite 4 we've talked about that. GTA V, get back into there every now and then because it's such an incredible, rich sandbox to play in.
Laura Massey: [inaudible 00:19:29] it is.
Larry Hryb: Resident Evil 7 Biohazard we've talked about that. And then the one that I'm, I'm, I keep going back to because I've, I've finally finished the game, the main game, you know, a few weeks ago, now I'm chewing through the DLC, is The Witcher.
Laura Massey: Oh you're still into The Witcher?
Larry Hryb: Well, The Witcher, this DLC, and Jeff I'm sorry he's not here yet to step up, but this is some of the, and Laura, I've been doing this a long time, just like yourself, and Jeff has as well. This is some of the most incredible downloadable content. This is not new, this has been out for quite some time, I just haven't had a chance to get around to it.
Laura Massey: Oh okay.
Larry Hryb: And it is just, it is just, it's mind-boggling. It is, the quality, what they do with the story, I mean it is, it is, it is, I mean each one of these, each one of these quests could be an episode from Game of Thrones. It's just so well written.
Laura Massey: Oh wow.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, so, it's just.
Laura Massey: I should really get back into that.
Larry Hryb: I'm telling you, it is.
Laura Massey: Super enjoying it?
Larry Hryb: It is, I just love it so much. I got to be honest with you, I kind of got this really badass armor too so I feel good. It's all metal and stuff so.
Laura Massey: How did you get that armor? Did you [inaudible 00:20:28] quest?
Larry Hryb: In, in the game there's these Witcher armor sets. So there's whole side quests of do specific side quest and you can collect the blueprints for this Witcher armor, which are enhanced in certain ways. So I, I got a bunch of Witcher armor.
Laura Massey: Can you craft armor?
Larry Hryb: Uh, kind of. You can put runes inside of armor to kind of buff them a little bit.
Laura Massey: Okay. Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Larry Hryb: But you can't like make it from nothing. Um, you can kind of, you get, you can in the sense you find blueprints and you bring them to a armorer and they can create it.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative) They create it for you?
Larry Hryb: But you can't just like, you're not rolling your own.
Laura Massey: I see.
Larry Hryb: If that makes sense.
Laura Massey: Reminds me of Diablo.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: Scratch my Diablo [inaudible 00:21:06].
Larry Hryb: Yeah I don't know, Diablo is such a different, it's very fast paced for that, so. Anyway, so yeah, so that's what we've got going on. I'm playing that. Jeff is going to come back in in a minute.
Laura Massey: Okay, I hope so, I hope he's not lost.
Larry Hryb: I don't think so. So we're going to flip things up a little bit, normally we do his bit and we do the name the game, so we'll just do name the game here.
Laura Massey: Okay.
Larry Hryb: Okay?
Laura Massey: That makes sense.
Larry Hryb: Right? Because you're here, I'm here, the listeners are here.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: And they want to know who won.
Laura Massey: That's true.
Larry Hryb: So why don't you go ahead. Do you have the clip ready?
Laura Massey: I do. So lets roll the clip from last week.
So that was name the game from last time.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: It was a pretty easy one, it was Resident Evil 7.
Larry Hryb: It was easy because it was scary.
Laura Massey: Scary.
Larry Hryb: (evil laugh)
Laura Massey: You have a great evil laugh.
Larry Hryb: Yeah I know. So that means, if we said the name of the game, that must mean we have a winner?
Laura Massey: We do.
Larry Hryb: And who is that, who is the lucky person today?
Laura Massey: The lucky person is Randy from Madison, Wisconsin.
Larry Hryb: Oh, it's a little chilly up there I bet?
Laura Massey: It sure is I bet.
Larry Hryb: Or is it now? I don't know, with all this global warming that's going on, or isn't going on.
Laura Massey: Who knows.
Larry Hryb: I never know.
Laura Massey: [inaudible 00:22:49] gamertag is [inaudible 00:22:50] which is pretty cool.
Larry Hryb: Yep.
Laura Massey: Congratulations Randy.
Larry Hryb: Yep.
Laura Massey: You are our winner for this week.
Larry Hryb: Yep.
Laura Massey: And you get fabulous prizes.
Larry Hryb: What do they get? I don't know what he got.
Laura Massey: You get a copy of Shift Happens which is a ID@Xbox game.
Larry Hryb: Yes it is.
Laura Massey: A copy of Zombie Vikings, also an ID@Xbox, and a copy of Warhammer Quest, also an ID@Xbox game.
Larry Hryb: Yep.
Laura Massey: That's not all. He also gets a full copy of For Honor.
Larry Hryb: Yep.
Laura Massey: Which I hear is a fantastic game that I want to try.
Larry Hryb: A little combat game. And then?
Laura Massey: And, Halo Wars 2.
Larry Hryb: Oh we couldn't let the show go by without giving away a copy of Halo Wars 2, could we Laura?
Laura Massey: Exactly.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: And we also have-
Larry Hryb: Wait, what?
Laura Massey: A bonus.
Larry Hryb: What? A bonus?
Laura Massey: A bonus gift.
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Laura Massey: Which is he gets a $50 gift certificate to Jinx because they have a new collection of Halo Wars 2 products.
Larry Hryb: Oh, that's right.
Laura Massey: That of course he can use the gift certificate for whatever he wants but.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I think we showed some of those on the show but he got, so we're going to give you 50 bucks to go splurge on, uh, your Halo Wars 2 stuff.
Laura Massey: Halo Wars 2 stuff.
Larry Hryb: Or Jinx stuff, whatever you want.
Laura Massey: Exactly.
Larry Hryb: Wow.
Laura Massey: All kinds of crazy games.
Larry Hryb: That is an incredible prize package.
Laura Massey: Yep, crazy game, crazy prizes.
Larry Hryb: You can win too you know. A lot of questions, who can win? If you can hear our voices, you can win.
Laura Massey: Exactly.
Larry Hryb: Unless you're an employee of Microsoft, Steptoe or E.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: I'm verbally calling them out.
Laura Massey: Sorry, Steptoe and E.
Larry Hryb: Specifically calling those guys out, so, former-
Laura Massey: Former members of the show.
Larry Hryb: Former members of the show are not, not eligible, so. That's right.
Laura Massey: That's right, and super easy to enter, super easy to play.
Larry Hryb: Yep.
Laura Massey: All you have to do is listen to the sound effects that I will play shortly and then send us an email with what game that is.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, it could be a game, it could be, it's a game.
Laura Massey: It's a game on Xbox.
Larry Hryb: That's all you need to know.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: So are you ready?
Laura Massey: Yep, lets roll the tape.
So that was name the game for this week. Like we talked about, super easy to enter.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. I think I know what it is.
Laura Massey: I'm sure you do.
Larry Hryb: I think I know what it is.
Laura Massey: All you have to do is send us an email, [email protected] cc [email protected], just let us know what game that is.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: If you want to, you can tell us your name and gamertag.
Larry Hryb: Where you're from.
Laura Massey: But you don't have to if you don't feel comfortable sharing.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. Or you can just tell us, hey, here's my name and information but don't say it on the air because we're protect your privacy.
Laura Massey: Exactly.
Larry Hryb: We respect that. Now don't hit us up on Twitter please. I mean you're welcome to say hello to us on Twitter, but that does not constitute an entry.
Laura Massey: That's true.
Larry Hryb: We have to get an email to, to be considered entry, and only one per person please.
Laura Massey: Yes. So good luck to all you folks out there who also want to win fabulous prizes.
Larry Hryb: Oh Laura. Oh Laura, Laura, Laura, Laura.
Laura Massey: Yes Larry. Larry, Larry.
Larry Hryb: What a day, what a day.
Laura Massey: What a week.
Larry Hryb: So I was waiting till Jeff comes back in here, but I don't know where he is. So we'll just bust into some of the news. I want to point out, I tweeted this out, but we haven't talked about it on the show is we're talking the show on the road.
Laura Massey: We are.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. You and I and Jeffrey, we're going to PAX East for our annual, uh, PAX East outing.
Laura Massey: Exciting.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, we're going to go, we don't know what the weather's going to be like.
Laura Massey: Hope it doesn't snow.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I'm going to try to see if my mom, I'm trying to get my mom to come to the podcast.
Laura Massey: That'd be amazing.
Larry Hryb: She's, she's like, "Oh I don't want to go." Come on Mom.
Laura Massey: Amazing.
Larry Hryb: I've had her on the show before.
Laura Massey: You have?
Larry Hryb: A long time.
Laura Massey: When was that?
Larry Hryb: Before you were on.
Laura Massey: I think that's right.
Larry Hryb: I did an interview with my mom.
Laura Massey: What did you guys talk about?
Larry Hryb: Uh, I don't even remember. Because she's kind of a nerd. She was building her own PC.
Laura Massey: Oh.
Larry Hryb: That's right.
Laura Massey: That's awesome.
Larry Hryb: So she was telling me about that. Um, so that's obviously where I get it from. But uh, yeah, so I'm trying to get mom to go, my sister to go. But we're going to be out there, we'll be, we're really excited bringing the show out there, we've got a couple, a couple of cool surprises, some guests. We'll have some fun stuff, right? We'd want to say hello, we'd love to see you. It's Saturday, I believe it's at one, one o'clock.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Larry Hryb: And I'll put a link in the show notes, since Jeff isn't here to write it, a PAX link. Uh, so yeah, we're excited about that. Are you excited about it?
Laura Massey: I am excited. It's been a while since we've done a show.
Larry Hryb: We, well, in Boston.
Laura Massey: Year. A whole year.
Larry Hryb: You and I, well, do you remember what happened last year?
Laura Massey: I remember all the years.
Larry Hryb: You and I were there.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: And Jeffrey had to join us remotely.
Laura Massey: That's true.
Larry Hryb: Right? He was playing Dark Souls, remember he was playing Dark Souls?
Laura Massey: He played Dark Souls through almost the whole podcast.
Larry Hryb: Right, right, right. So that was fun. But yeah, we're going to be doing, we're all three of us will be there live, um, looking forward to that. Walk the show floor, our new Xbox, we've got a big booth. I was talking to some of the gang that's working on the booth, we're going to be doing some cool stuff there. I think we're going to do some Beam streams from there.
Laura Massey: Sweet.
Larry Hryb: And so on and so forth. So yeah, so we're doing that. If you didn't, if you don't have a chance, go watch the last episode, well previous episode, I think it was a couple of weeks ago, of This Week on Xbox, where I had some folks on from, I had Chris Charla from ID@Xbox, I had Shannon Loftus, you know Shannon?
Laura Massey: Oh yeah.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. Shannon Loftus came on to give us an update on Crackdown. Um, we had a whole bunch of guys on to talk about some cool stuff, so you go back and take a look at that. Just talked about some of the stuff to expect in 2017, uh, in terms of games, and that's, that's not even the stuff we've announced, uh. If you want to hear more about that, go watch the interview I did with Phil Spencer at the Halo Wars 2 stream.
Laura Massey: Yes.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, Phil's always-
Laura Massey: Phil's always [crosstalk 00:28:11]
Larry Hryb: I'm trying to get him back on the show but he's, do you know where he is this week?
Laura Massey: No, where is he?
Larry Hryb: He's in Japan.
Laura Massey: Really?
Larry Hryb: Yeah. He's just, he's going, I don't know, he's doing work over there.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Larry Hryb: He's going to talk to some developers. But he has been flying around doing his, doing his Phil Spencer thing, so it was, I'm trying to get him on the show. So hopefully I'll get him on a future show before E3.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Larry Hryb: Um, we talked about that. We announced that we're doing our, our briefing on Sunday now.
Laura Massey: Oh.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, we have announced that. So, uh, the Xbox media briefing will be on the Sunday before E3. For some reason the 11th is sticking in my head.
Laura Massey: That's different, because it's usually it's on Monday.
Larry Hryb: That's right. As you know very well.
Laura Massey: Yep.
Larry Hryb: Uh, let me go back to, what is it? June, June. Yeah June 11th, from LA, we'll be doing it where we normally do it, the Galen Center.
Laura Massey: Oh very good.
Larry Hryb: And uh we'll have some fun there. The other thing is E3. The E3 organization has opened up, you know, they're selling tickets to the public for the first time.
Laura Massey: That's very new.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, very very new.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Larry Hryb: So, now I want to be clear. I've had a lot of questions on this on Twitter and whatnot. Tickets to that do not get you into our briefing, they're two separate events.
Laura Massey: Right.
Larry Hryb: And even tickets to the briefing don't get you into E3.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Larry Hryb: Because they're, you know, we just happen to do our briefing obviously around E3, so just wanted to make sure that everyone knows that. We will probably have tickets to give away to fans, I can't tell you any more details other than yeah, we probably will.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Larry Hryb: Uh, but just want to be clear that just because a ticket gets you into E3 does not automatically get you into any of the briefings. Not just ours, any of the briefings.
Laura Massey: That's true.
Larry Hryb: So I can speak on behalf of all of our fellow platform holders and publishing partners.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Larry Hryb: That's not the way it works unfortunately.
Laura Massey: No. But if I am a listener and I'm interested in potentially get a hold of one of these tickets, you talked about what do I do?
Larry Hryb: oh right now you just have to follow me on Twitter.
Laura Massey: Okay.
Larry Hryb: Because I'll be tweeting out, or if you want to follow me on Facebook, on Facebook. See this little guy right here?
Laura Massey: Do you Facebook?
Larry Hryb: Yeah well see this thing right here?
Laura Massey: I do see this thing that you're pointing at.
Larry Hryb: That's the camera.
Laura Massey: Nobody else can see.
Larry Hryb: That's the camera that I've been using to do Facebook Live. That's all it does, it does Facebook Live streams.
Laura Massey: What's it called?
Larry Hryb: It's called the Mevo.
Laura Massey: Mevo. And now you've changed it, it's standing on a stand now.
Larry Hryb: It has it's own.
Laura Massey: Instead of on a pile of boxes.
Larry Hryb: Well yeah it's supposed to be a tripod. But this is the thing that if you go watch the video on my Facebook, on the Major Nelson Facebook page, it uh, it actually was doing some weird tracking and it was like following somebody up in the corner.
Laura Massey: Did it have, was there a ghost in the corner?
Larry Hryb: It was creepy, it was creepy, it was very creepy.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: So anyway, so you should go check that out. But yeah I want to make sure if you want some tickets to E3, hopefully you can purchase them, but if you want tickets to go to the Microsoft briefing then maybe you can win them, but I'll have details on that. In the future we'll be doing Fan Fest and some other cool stuff.
Laura Massey: Awesome.
Larry Hryb: So you may, if you have good ears you probably heard Jeffrey come back into the room. Hi Jeff.
Jeff Rubenstein: Hi.
Laura Massey: Welcome back.
Larry Hryb: Hold on, I've got to turn your microphone up because you were so loud out there.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, was I really?
Larry Hryb: Dude, yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Sorry.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: This is not a soundproof room I guess.
Larry Hryb: That's exactly what Laura and I said, it was, it was a spirited conversation you were having.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes. That's a good way of putting it.
Larry Hryb: Well we already did name the game so we figure we roll right back into the releases. We talked about we're going to be at PAX.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes we are, really looking forward to that.
Larry Hryb: Just to kind of go over it quickly again. Laura's going to join us, you'll be there, we're talking about the last time you played Dark Souls.
Laura Massey: You weren't paying attention.
Larry Hryb: Yes, you weren't paying attention.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well I was mostly paying attention.
Larry Hryb: Mostly.
Jeff Rubenstein: We were dialing in from Seattle.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, you were wearing your pajamas.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's just how I normally dress when I'm at home Larry, comfort clothes. Do you always wear blazer and paisley shirt?
Larry Hryb: I have a robe.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh.
Laura Massey: Oh. Oh.
Larry Hryb: Sorry about that Laura.
Jeff Rubenstein: An Ascot and a smoking jacket and some [inaudible 00:31:40] or something? Yes. Um, sure, why don't we, did you talk about news?
Larry Hryb: No, that's, we were just getting ready for you. We could tell by the sound of the call you were winding up out there. (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: Schedule fail. Well anyway, why don't we talk about March's Games with Gold line-up.
Larry Hryb: Yes, which was announced earlier in the week.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes it was. So, uh, starting March 1st, just a few days from now, you'll be able to download Layers of Fear on Xbox One, as well Burgerlands 2. Um, I like the Burgerlands.
Laura Massey: What?
Jeff Rubenstein: That's a good one.
Larry Hryb: Borderlands.
Laura Massey: Is that a product announcement? Burgerlands?
Jeff Rubenstein: Burgerlands, get the Burgerlands. Uh, and then on the 15th of March.
Larry Hryb: The Ides of March.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes, I said that and then I was like oh the 16th. Um, Evolve will be available and uh Heavy Weapon, which is like one of those first XBLA games. So those are your Games with Gold. I'll link out to that so you can see that we have a video that you'll be able to see a bit more.
Larry Hryb: I did that video.
Jeff Rubenstein: You, of course you did. You do all of the videos Larry.
Larry Hryb: No I just did the voiceover. It's funny because this, I like doing voiceovers every now and then I get to go into the studio and you know, wear the big headphones. They actually have a special microphone, because I requested a specific mic that they happened to have, they didn't buy it, it's this Neumann microphone which Laura, I know you don't know anything about microphone but anyone listening who does, it's a pretty high-end mic, so.
Laura Massey: Wow.
Larry Hryb: Makes me sound good. It's kind of like your setup you have here.
Laura Massey: With a cloud lifter.
Larry Hryb: With your cloud lifter and your SM 87, or is 87B?
Laura Massey: Fancy microphone that nobody else has?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, it's specific to you.
Laura Massey: It is.
Larry Hryb: Um, anyway.
Laura Massey: I'm very thankful.
Larry Hryb: When you walked in Jeff we were talking about the live streaming that I do in here once in a while to do with Facebook and how we should do it, uh, we should maybe do it, um, you know, we should do a show.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: There's been an enormous request to do this show live so we're kind of, we're kind of handling that request by doing it at uh, at PAX.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Larry Hryb: Um, but we do need to, I'd love to Beam it or Facebook it live from in here some time, if you guys were up to that?
Laura Massey: Sure.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm always ready for that. Yeah, it's been a long time since we've done-
Laura Massey: You'd have to clean this room up though.
Jeff Rubenstein: Is someone above us?
Larry Hryb: It's terrible. No, it's just terrible lighting in here.
Laura Massey: It is pretty bad.
Larry Hryb: It's studio, like-
Laura Massey: It's not as bad as when we did cool hangouts though.
Larry Hryb: Oh God, Laura, you had the worst lighting, God. I don't know what [inaudible 00:33:49]. Do you notice I quietly stopped asking you to do hangouts? No we just stopped doing them.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's been a while.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, we haven't done them in a while.
Laura Massey: No we haven't.
Larry Hryb: We can do it on Beam though.
Laura Massey: That's true.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah we should do that.
Larry Hryb: Yeah because I can, I can, once I get my gaming PC back I can like take all your streams in and export them together and put them on Beam or something. We'll figure that out.
Jeff Rubenstein: Alright.
Larry Hryb: We'll figure that out. Anyway, lets go through the news Jeffrey.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, so lets talk about some upcoming games. This time of year we're seeing a lot of indie games coming out, and I recommend you tune to this, there's a website called Ma-Majornelson.com?
Larry Hryb: I've never heard of it.
Laura Massey: No, what's that?
Jeff Rubenstein: They seem to be really focused on the releases, I don't know, check them out, let me know what you think, I don't know much about that site. But what I do know is, uh, a number of games have also been announced that'll be coming out.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: So one of them which I thought was interesting is Ooblitz which is sort of like a farming RPG which is very big now.
Larry Hryb: Sounds like, what's the name of it?
Jeff Rubenstein: Ooblitz. O-O-B.
Larry Hryb: Oh, I bought one of those at Ikea once.
Laura Massey: (laughs) [inaudible 00:34:45] build it.
Larry Hryb: Exactly, I had to build it.
Laura Massey: What did it build in to?
Larry Hryb: And I had seven parts left over, I don't know why. An Ooblitz. (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, you, you, the studio that's making it, uh, has a chief mapping officer, so, uh.
Laura Massey: Can I have that role please?
Jeff Rubenstein: I was about to say, I've already applied for it. So, um, they describe it as having elements of Harvest Moon and Animal Crossing and Pokemon.
Laura Massey: Whoa.
Jeff Rubenstein: So if that works for you.
Laura Massey: That sounds amazing.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes.
Larry Hryb: And Ikea?
Jeff Rubenstein: And I'm playing a lot of Stardew Valley, so this is kind of singing to me right now. That will be coming to Xbox One and Windows 10, there's no date on that yet but it is a DoubleFine Presents game, so that is a seal of quality.
Laura Massey: Oh.
Larry Hryb: DoubleFine Presents.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'll link to the news on that one. Uh, also another big indie game that will be coming this Spring to Xbox is City Skylines.
Larry Hryb: Oh yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm sure you've tried this one out.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Um, so a awesome city builder that has done very well, and they, there is a, we have a story about how they're adapting it for Xbox and, and, you'd be playing on your sofa. So very much looking forward to that. And if you have a Windows phone.
Larry Hryb: Yes?
Jeff Rubenstein: Minecraft.
Larry Hryb: Minecraft for Windows phone gang.
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, came out for-
Larry Hryb: Pocket edition.
Jeff Rubenstein: Pocket edition.
Laura Massey: Great.
Jeff Rubenstein: Now available on Windows phones, so, uh, I thought that was worth talking about. And one other game, big fan of the XPA games, the Xbox play anywhere games that as we talked about, like Resident Evil 7, you can, you can jump seamlessly back and forth between Windows 10 computer and uh Xbox One. Riptide GP Renegade, um, this is a long standing series of sort of water racers.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, hydro racer, yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Hydro, yeah, foil type of things. Hydro jets. Um, that will be coming out, that comes out the 24th. So, uh, if you're someone who, like me, likes to jump back and forth between the Xbox and the PC, Riptide GP Renegade just the latest.
Larry Hryb: Just the latest.
Jeff Rubenstein: In a series of XPA games.
Larry Hryb: I love that.
Jeff Rubenstein: I do too.
Larry Hryb: I love that.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: We were talking about E3 when you were stepping out on your call, talking about tickets.
Jeff Rubenstein: You want people to start writing stories already?
Larry Hryb: No no. No, we were just talking about.
Laura Massey: Not to that degree.
Larry Hryb: We were talking about the fact that we moved our briefing, that's on Sunday.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, I'm looking forward to that.
Larry Hryb: So, it'll be a lot of fun because it's always that rush. It's, there's something fun to start the week on a Monday, you know, with the Monday morning. Because Laura, you've been in the briefing before?
Laura Massey: I have.
Larry Hryb: Remember when you and your sister were?
Laura Massey: I persisted.
Larry Hryb: You and your sister?
Laura Massey: Yes, my sister and I presented, that was really fun.
Larry Hryb: Were you there that year Jeff?
Laura Massey: Did you see us?
Jeff Rubenstein: Actually I did, I was in the crowd.
Laura Massey: Oh really?
Jeff Rubenstein: You did a connect call, right?
Laura Massey: I did, video connect.
Jeff Rubenstein: I don't remember if that was through Skype or not.
Laura Massey: Video connect.
Jeff Rubenstein: It was a long time ago.
Larry Hryb: Video connect.
Laura Massey: It was before there was a Skype.
Jeff Rubenstein: Was that the Beatles year?
Larry Hryb: No.
Laura Massey: No, that was the year after the Beatles year.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well I was there for both of those. I was the quote unquote 'Sony spy'.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: It's a well known fact that there are always folks that are invited from-
Laura Massey: Absolutely.
Jeff Rubenstein: And I remember.
Larry Hryb: It's a detente.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, because I remember sending invites to you.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: And Aaron Greenberg.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: To come to ours and we gave you good seats.
Larry Hryb: Yeah yeah, always. I remember I went to one in Culver City.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh yeah, back at, yeah I remember that one.
Larry Hryb: Remember that one?
Jeff Rubenstein: That was at the, wow, that was my first E3, that was before I even worked there, at Sony Pictures Studios.
Larry Hryb: Yep, yep.
Jeff Rubenstein: I remember looking around for Alex Trebek's parking spot. I found Pat Sajak's one time.
Larry Hryb: Well that one I just remember coming on, because I hadn't, that was, I'd been onto the lots quite a few times and I hadn't been in that, because lots are huge, [inaudible 00:38:01].
Jeff Rubenstein: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Larry Hryb: I hadn't been in the way you brought us in and Laura, you go onto the, and I'm sure it's still the same, because it used to be I believe MGM Studios, or something.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's before my-
Larry Hryb: No no, way before. Well, you drive in and right there is Tara from Gone with the Wind, the house.
Laura Massey: Wow.
Larry Hryb: Like right off, this was back in the day, I'm sure it's still there.
Laura Massey: Really?
Larry Hryb: It just shows you how, with the proper framing and the right angle, anything can be anything.
Laura Massey: Anything can be anything.
Larry Hryb: Even me. So, um, but anyway, yeah so we've got E3 coming up, we'll do that on Sunday.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: We'd love to have you there, uh, Jeff.
Jeff Rubenstein: Thank you. I'll see what I can do.
Larry Hryb: As a non-spy this time.
Jeff Rubenstein: It is, it is nice coming and being invited. Actually I remember there was one year.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: Um, and it might have been the Beatles year, where, when the Xbox 360 S was announced. And it was like everyone in the crowds get one.
Laura Massey: That was my year.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh that was your year?
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Okay. So it was in some theater downtown and LA.
Laura Massey: Yeah it was.
Larry Hryb: The Wiltern.
Laura Massey: Yeah. A much smaller theater
Jeff Rubenstein: And I came down out of the theater and I run into you and I'm like, "Larry, where's my Xbox, I want it now." And, uh, and I was just joking, I was just, you know, giving you a little hustle. And you were busy because of course-
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: You're never busier really in a year than right after the briefing. You were like, "Do you really need it now? I can do it if I need to." And I was like, "Larry, do your thing." I was like, that was touching.
Larry Hryb: I, I, I care.
Jeff Rubenstein: I still have that Xbox.
Larry Hryb: That was, [inaudible 00:39:25] your point, that was the year we unveiled it. If you remember correct, do you remember how we unveiled it?
Laura Massey: I do remember.
Larry Hryb: Because that was, I don't know if I can get-
Laura Massey: [inaudible 00:39:29] loved it.
Larry Hryb: I came up with the idea, I don't know if somebody else did in addition to me.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Because it was a good idea.
Larry Hryb: Because it was inside the original 360.
Laura Massey: So Don Mattrick came to the little stage and then lifted.
Larry Hryb: Because it was there the whole time.
Laura Massey: It was there the whole time.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Laura Massey: But inside of it, unbeknownst to the entire crowd was the Xbox 360 S.
Larry Hryb: Was the Xbox 360 S.
Laura Massey: So he just lifted the shell of the original 360.
Larry Hryb: And it was the ta-da.
Laura Massey: Ta-da, the Xbox 360 S.
Larry Hryb: I remember that.
Laura Massey: And then you get a console, and you get a console.
Jeff Rubenstein: Was that like 2009?
Laura Massey: No, 2010.
Larry Hryb: 10.
Jeff Rubenstein: Okay, yeah.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Larry Hryb: But it's funny because I remember, we were talking about the Beatles being at it, and I remember because Laura, do you remember that one?
Laura Massey: Yes.
Larry Hryb: Laura had, was that your first-
Laura Massey: That was my first E3.
Larry Hryb: Okay. And I remember you coming down and I said I'll get you seats. And I remember I told you where to sit.
Laura Massey: Yes you did.
Larry Hryb: And I said I need you to sit here.
Laura Massey: You'll get a really good view from this seat.
Larry Hryb: I said I need you to sit here. Because I had gone through rehearsals and I know where Yoko and the Beatles were all going to come out on stage and you were being a huge Beatles fan but you didn't know.
Laura Massey: I had no idea, I had zero idea it was going to happen.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Laura Massey: And that is the best memory of E3 that I have. That shocking moment.
Larry Hryb: Because I remember, because you were right on the railing.
Laura Massey: Yes.
Larry Hryb: Right? I had you right on the railing.
Laura Massey: Yes.
Larry Hryb: Because we did it sideways back then. In, in, in the-
Laura Massey: Galen Center?
Larry Hryb: In the Galen Center.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, [crosstalk 00:40:41].
Larry Hryb: Because normally we would go longways, this was sideways.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: And I parked you right in the center so you could, you got a perfect view.
Laura Massey: Oh it was a fantastic seat, it was perfect.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, so, anyway.
Jeff Rubenstein: I think I was up on the top row.
Larry Hryb: Were you?
Jeff Rubenstein: I think, yeah. I was last year too. I always end up, you know, near the entrance, talking to people and then it's like oh the lights are coming down, I should find a seat.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: And then you miss the first five minutes of the show because you're walking to the upper deck.
Laura Massey: Looking for a seat.
Jeff Rubenstein: Don't be like me.
Larry Hryb: Anyway, we would love to have, if you want to be, to see the Xbox E3 media briefing, we may be giving away tickets, is all I can say.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: So we'll just leave it at that. So I'm sorry Jeff, we were going through the news, you were-
Laura Massey: We got distracted.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh those, those, those were your, I would recommend, just because of the sheer number of releases, and I think I counted ten ID@Xbox releases in the last week.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. I think, I ran into Chris Charla, I think I he said there's going to be eleven.
Jeff Rubenstein: Okay, crazy amount for one, for one week.
Larry Hryb: Cuckoo even.
Jeff Rubenstein: And there was a huge amount the week before. Something for everybody.
Larry Hryb: There is.
Jeff Rubenstein: So I would definitely check out MajorNelson.com, and next week is GDC, the Game Developers Conference. We usually, and this year's one of them, we usually show off a lot of ID@Xbox games as well. We'll have a number of previews and things like that on Xbox Wire which is news.xbox.com.
Larry Hryb: Yep.
Jeff Rubenstein: So I'd keep an eye on that site all next week.
Larry Hryb: There you go. Lots of stuff. You going down to GDC?
Jeff Rubenstein: Not this year.
Larry Hryb: I'm not but I may have to go down for something that I can't talk about yet.
Laura Massey: Oh.
Larry Hryb: So I just-
Laura Massey: Secret trip.
Larry Hryb: I was, yeah there was email coming in while we're recording here about wanting me, wanting to, there has been request for my presence.
Jeff Rubenstein: I always love to go to SF if you need someone to show you around all the sights.
Larry Hryb: Last time we went down there we kind of went in your old stomping ground.
Jeff Rubenstein: We did, we walked around The Mission.
Larry Hryb: We had ice cream.
Jeff Rubenstein: We had ice cream.
Larry Hryb: We had ice cream.
Jeff Rubenstein: We had a heck of a burrito.
Larry Hryb: Oh boy did we.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: It was like the size of my forearm.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah that's how it's done.
Larry Hryb: Actually that's not saying much.
Jeff Rubenstein: Have you ever heard the term Mission style burritos?
Laura Massey: No.
Jeff Rubenstein: This is the mission.
Larry Hryb: This is the mission.
Jeff Rubenstein: You were supposed to say yes, I just kept barreling right on.
Laura Massey: Okay.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes of course I've heard of mission style burritos Jeff.
Larry Hryb: Who hasn't?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes. This is the mission.
Laura Massey: Is the mission to finish it in one sitting?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, it's a mission you shouldn't undertake.
Larry Hryb: Well done Laura. I like what she did there, a little wordplay.
Jeff Rubenstein: She's pretty smart, pretty smart.
Larry Hryb: I'll keep her around. Um, yeah so the GDC is coming up, Game Developer Conference, and then after that we will swing right over to PAX.
Jeff Rubenstein: To PAX.
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. It's going to be a good time.
Larry Hryb: Going to be busy busy bees all week, hopefully the weather will behave. I know it's, I talked to my sister, this week it's like 50 degrees up there in New England.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'll take that.
Laura Massey: I'll take that too.
Larry Hryb: So yeah, it's crazy weather going on. Alright, we've got, what else do we have to go over? Because otherwise we'll going to wrap things up here so you guys can get back to your day jobs.
Jeff Rubenstein: Which, you know, encroach occasionally on this-
Larry Hryb: Well as we've talked with that phone call.
Jeff Rubenstein: Sorry about that.
Larry Hryb: No, look, things happen. We're going to play some Sniper Elite. You know, we, I, we mentioned this off the air. We should stream it.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah yeah.
Larry Hryb: You being one side, I being the other side?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, it would be my first Beam and I want you to be there.
Larry Hryb: Now do you have it in your, at home, right? You're in the Preview Program?
Jeff Rubenstein: Of course I'm in the Preview Program.
Larry Hryb: Laura are you in the Preview Program?
Laura Massey: I am.
Jeff Rubenstein: Xbox Insider Program.
Larry Hryb: Yes that's right, the Xbox Insider Program.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm an insider, yeah.
Larry Hryb: XP edition. Professional, I don't know.
Laura Massey: What are those names.
Larry Hryb: Oh, it's nothing like that, but we appreciate everybody out there. We're working on some cool, we've got some great cool features coming for the next release, um, that some people are testing out right now. One button guide, Beam streaming, and a few other cool nifty things.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh yeah, can't wait till everyone gets that. I love me some one buttoning guide.
Larry Hryb: Do you? Isn't that nice?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: There's some other cool stuff that I'm working on with the team that I can't talk about yet. I spent most of the day over there saying, "Wouldn't it be cool if we did this?" And they always roll their eyes when I say that.
Jeff Rubenstein: And then six months later it's there.
Larry Hryb: Well, it's not six months, sometimes twelve months. Actually one of the ideas that I've been requesting for a long time is coming in a future update. There's your headline, okay clickbaiters, there's your headline. I can't say what it is.
Jeff Rubenstein: We're really flirting with the [inaudible 00:44:17] razors edge.
Larry Hryb: I'm just going right, right up to the edge, and I'm just kind of tapping the tiger, pulling the tigers tail.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yep.
Larry Hryb: Alright. Alright, we're going to wrap it up. Thank you for coming by Laura.
Laura Massey: Thank you for having me.
Larry Hryb: It's kind of a, kind of a, kind of a crazy show there.
Laura Massey: Whirlwind show.
Larry Hryb: We, we flipped it around, we put, we put name the game at the top and news at the bottom, we usually flip it around.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Jeff Rubenstein: And reversed it, yeah.
Larry Hryb: But I appreciate you rolling with that.
Laura Massey: Of course.
Larry Hryb: I appreciate it.
Jeff Rubenstein: Are we doing a show next week?
Larry Hryb: It depends if I have to go to GDC.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh okay.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. Ideally we are, uh, you'll be here and like I say, if I'm not here then we won't do a show.
Laura Massey: I'll be here.
Jeff Rubenstein: And if not it'll be PAX, it'll be in Boston.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, we're going to do it live. We'll do it live.
Jeff Rubenstein: We'll do it live.
Larry Hryb: We're going to do it live like we always do, and we're going to love to see our fans out there, so.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yep.
Larry Hryb: All right gang, we'll talk to you guys next time. You can follow us on Twitter, you can find Laura lollipop at?
Laura Massey: @lauralollipop
Larry Hryb: Yeah, that's how you find us.
Laura Massey: Exactly. Thank you for telling me that.
Larry Hryb: You can find Jeff Rubenstein?
Jeff Rubenstein: @JeffRubenstein
Larry Hryb: Just follow me and look for the, they're one of the seven people that I follow, okay, you can't miss them.
Laura Massey: Do you still follow E?
Larry Hryb: I still follow E. So I, I don't know what the verdict is, what's the protocol there?
Laura Massey: Did you, did you get any feedback from our listeners?
Larry Hryb: No. Nobody emailed me.
Laura Massey: We're serious, help.
Larry Hryb: Help, should I, do I unfollow E now because?
Jeff Rubenstein: No, he's in. He's, he had his jersey retired, leave him in. You can't say you know what, we don't care about John DiMaggio, or, oh, I was going to say Joe DiMaggio.
Laura Massey: Whoa.
Jeff Rubenstein: John DiMaggio?
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: I was thinking, because he's the voice of Atriox.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: A.k.a. Bender and, uh, Marcus Fenix.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: And many other.
Larry Hryb: God that was the strangest E3 last year. With, when he did that Q&A.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: That was so bizarre with him. Love him.
Jeff Rubenstein: He's awesome.
Larry Hryb: Anyway. Uh, alright gang, we'll talk to you, you can follow us, you can hit us up there, uh, oh we've got some Back Compat titles before I let you go.
Laura Massey: Yeah, last minute.
Larry Hryb: Jeff do you have the Back Compat titles? I tweeted those out on Thursday, there's some new Back Compat titles. All you need to do is go to my blog at MajorNelson.com and at the very top there's a Backward Compatibility-
Laura Massey: There is.
Larry Hryb: And you can, there's the whole list there of over 300 titles. But Jeff, the titles we released?
Jeff Rubenstein: The most recent ones are-
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: Gyromancer.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: Moon Diver.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: Space Invaders Infinity Gene, which was a lot of fun.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, yeah those are your ones right there. And then, uh, man they just keep coming don't they?
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Every week.
Laura Massey: Yeah, and the whole list is here so if you have a question.
Larry Hryb: It's sortable.
Laura Massey: What?
Larry Hryb: It's sortable.
Laura Massey: It is sortable, yes, by lots of different filters.
Larry Hryb: Yep.
Laura Massey: And you can also search if you want to know is Bejeweled 2 part of the Back Compat list.
Jeff Rubenstein: Is it?
Laura Massey: All you do is search and, there it is.
Larry Hryb: Control F.
Laura Massey: Control F on this page.
Larry Hryb: Control F is your friend.
Laura Massey: And you will find.
Larry Hryb: There's also a, there's also a huge FAQ down at the bottom, or is it the top, I can't remember. About hey when is this game going to come, when can I play Black Ops? You know. I don't have the answer. All I have-
Jeff Rubenstein: Black Ops?
Larry Hryb: It's something, I see it in my feed, I don't know.
Jeff Rubenstein: People are asking you for that?
Larry Hryb: Yeah. I don't know why. But anyway, all the information that I can share publicly is in that FAQ, so I highly, highly recommend you enjoy that read, so.
Laura Massey: Yes, absolutely.
Larry Hryb: Alright, alright gang, we'll talk to you guys next time, bye bye everybody.
Laura Massey: Bye bye.
Jeff Rubenstein: Bye.