621: It’s almost E3 time! Plus we say farewell to a friend

Larry Hryb: Welcome to June, everybody. My name's Larry Hyrb, XBOX Live's, Major Nelson.
Larry Hryb: Depending on when you're listening to this, it is definitely probably June, 2018, June first.
Larry Hryb: My name's Larry Hyrb, XBOX Live's, Major Nelson, I said that twice already. I'm here with the team -
Jeff Rubenstein: Do you just do that automatically?
Larry Hryb: I do. It's just, "Hello?" It's how I answer my phone too.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's a real joke here [inaudible 00:00:43]
Larry Hryb: Here with Jeff Rubenstein, hello Jeffrey.
Jeff Rubenstein: Hi, I'm Jeff Rubenstein, Xbox Live's ... No, I can't do it.
Larry Hryb: You're the -
Jeff Rubenstein: I don't have that moniker.
Larry Hryb: Complaint desk. And then, sitting across from me is the lovely and talented Laura Massey -
Laura Massey: Hello!
Larry Hryb: How are you? It's nice to see -
Laura Massey: Doing well.
Larry Hryb: It's nice to see.
Larry Hryb: We were originally not going to do a show.
Laura Massey: That's right.
Larry Hryb: But we're getting ready for E3, I've been in E3 rehearsals, and meetings, and all this other stuff, and I was like, "You know what?" We kind of looked at each other and said, "Hey, let's go do a show."
Larry Hryb: It's like ... We're like the Little Rascals. "Let's go ... Hey, we got a barn! Let's go do show!"
Jeff Rubenstein: And then, you put your eye up to a tailpipe of a car, and it backfired.
Larry Hryb: Gee willikers! Anyway, here we are, we're getting ready to do the show. We've got lots to talk about. We've got some news later on, which is one of reasons we're doing the show. We're less than two weeks away. E3 briefing is out. I know we announced some details on that. Jeff, I don't know if you have them handy there or-
Jeff Rubenstein: As a matter of fact, I do.
Larry Hryb: What you need to know.
Jeff Rubenstein: Everything you need to know, we can make-
Larry Hryb: Well, not everything, 'cause we're not gonna tell you what's in the show.
Jeff Rubenstein: Right.
Larry Hryb: You gotta tune in for that.
Jeff Rubenstein: But the first thing you want to start with, and this is the thing that I've always loved about the timing of our briefing: We kind of get to kick off E3. Things have gotten earlier and earlier. I feel like EA probably starts in about 10 minutes now.
Larry Hryb: I think they started in January.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, exactly. But, we get to kick off with our briefing on Sunday, and that's June 10th.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's like a week and a half away from now. And maybe less, god. At one o' clock. And there's a number of different ways to be able to watch that. Of course, you can watch it on Mixer. You can watch it on Twitch. You can watch it on all of your favorite online-
Larry Hryb: Streaming areas.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. Twitter, Facebook, YouTube. You know, whatever. You can watch it on anything. And of course, you want to do that. You can actually go to the Microsoft store and watch it on the big screen. They always have some really nice-
Jeff Rubenstein: [crosstalk 00:02:30]
Larry Hryb: The big screen. All the stores, not one store.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes.
Larry Hryb: Any store.
Jeff Rubenstein: Any store. Whatever your favorite store is. You can go there and do it. And, if you'd rather, like, lean back on your sofa ... and most people have apps and stuff, but if you to watch it-
Larry Hryb: Or sleep.
Jeff Rubenstein: Through broadcast. Why would you sleep? There'll be so many exciting things.
Larry Hryb: I'm just saying, [crosstalk 00:02:48] lie down on the couch.
Jeff Rubenstein: Sure. Have a lie down. You can watch it on Fuse, which I feel like they're Canadian, but they're in America. Yeah, it's like an entertainment and music channel.
Larry Hryb: And now gaming!
Laura Massey: There you go.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, so you can stream it online with them. If you go to Fuse.tv, you can see how you can watch it there. And I'm going to link out to the story on majornelson.com that-
Larry Hryb: Has all the details.
Jeff Rubenstein: All the details. But basically, you get to watch it.
Larry Hryb: We'll be down there. What time's the kickoff, Jeffrey?
Jeff Rubenstein: One pm.
Larry Hryb: That's 1 pm Pacific. Now, for those of you out there on the East Coast, that's four o' clock.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's true.
Larry Hryb: And then, over in London, I don't have Graham here to tell me.
Jeff Rubenstein: Nine pm British Summer Time.
Larry Hryb: British BST. Not PST, but BST.
Jeff Rubenstein: I always liked that, Summer Time. Anyway-
Larry Hryb: (singing) Summer, summer time.
Jeff Rubenstein: Of course, then, that's just the start. And all throughout the week, like literally from like Saturday up to Friday, Mixer's gonna be broadcasting a ton of stuff, so if you go to Mixer.com, you're gonna see ... And they're gonna be covering, not just Xbox, but like the broader E3 everything. And so, you know, if you're a gamer and you're interested in all sorts of games, Mixer's got you covered there. We'll of course ... We're located in the Microsoft theater, so there's gonna be a lot folks coming in if you're attending, because fans can come to E3 now.
Jeff Rubenstein: You'll be able to come to the Microsoft theater. It's sort of like an extension of the E3 show floor. And you'll be able to come, play our wares, which is always a fun thing to do.
Larry Hryb: This is the Microsoft theater, which is a ... I've talked about it before. It's a world-class theater in L.A.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's amazing.
Larry Hryb: The Grammy's have been there. I think the B.E.T.s are right after us.
Jeff Rubenstein: They're right after us.
Larry Hryb: This is a big deal. In fact, this is where the VGAs were last year.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, the TGAs.
Larry Hryb: Well, yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: The TGAs.
Larry Hryb: The Game Awards. The Game Awards. Or, as we call them in the industry, the [Keelies 00:04:33.
Jeff Rubenstein: The golden Keelies.
Larry Hryb: The golden Keelies.
Jeff Rubenstein: You want a golden-
Jeff Rubenstein: [crosstalk 00:04:41]
Jeff Rubenstein: You should be a trending gamer. I want you to be trending gamer next year.
Larry Hryb: You know, he always disqualifies me because I work here at Microsoft.
Jeff Rubenstein: Still trending
Laura Massey: You are trending.
Larry Hryb: I don't know. I'm not trendy, I'm trending. Very different.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes. No, trendy gamer would not be you.
Larry Hryb: No, it would not be me.
Jeff Rubenstein: Not in that shirt.
Larry Hryb: Thank you.
Laura Massey: Ouch.
Larry Hryb: I'm not wearing a shirt.
Jeff Rubenstein: Exactly.
Laura Massey: Yes you are. You're wearing a shirt. Just for the listeners out there who're trying something ... It's- You've got a what? A green and red and-
Larry Hryb: It's called plaid.
Laura Massey: Blue. Plaid.
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's very Pacific Northwest. In fact, in looks like the Cascadia. It's all the colors of Cascadia.
Larry Hryb: It's from the Pendleton collection.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh. [inaudible 00:05:14]
Larry Hryb: Anyway.
Jeff Rubenstein: We'll have a gear shop, which is something we've never done before.
Larry Hryb: A gear shop? I don't even know what that is.
Jeff Rubenstein: So basically, it would be sort of like an Xbox gear shop that's sort of done by Microsoft stores, and we're gonna have all kinds of stuff that you can wear. Wearable-type things.
Larry Hryb: Like merch?
Jeff Rubenstein: Merch. Let's say it's merch. You know, you go to a concert? I went to Taylor Swift last week-
Larry Hryb: By the way, that's a funny story into itself.
Laura Massey: Did you? Did you actually go?
Larry Hryb: Did you buy the tee shirt?
Jeff Rubenstein: No. Like, we-
Larry Hryb: Now, when i remember going to show when I was in high school and I was a younger lad. Laura, I don't know if you did the same thing.
Laura Massey: I did go to shows.
Larry Hryb: But when you went to the show, you wore the tee shirt the next day at school, right?
Laura Massey: Yes, you did.
Larry Hryb: Right?
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative), that's what you do.
Larry Hryb: I know, 'cause I know when I came in the next day, there were people around the office that had their tee shirts on.
Jeff Rubenstein: Now here's the difference between getting, like, a concert tee shirt and like the type of merch ... 'Cause I've seen some of the gear that this team's putting together and it's great. That stuff I wear all the time. I'm constantly wearing ... I think at this point, my wardrobe is 75% swag.
Larry Hryb: You have one on now.
Laura Massey: What are you wearing now?
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, I'm wearing an Arsenal, which is a football jacket. And underneath, that's a Philly shirt. I'm mixing my sports, but the colors go together; they're all red.
Larry Hryb: You're so cheap.
Jeff Rubenstein: I am. I will sell out to anybody. But anyway, I've seen it. It's, like, very fashionable stuff. It's stuff that's for a long time. Whereas, if I got, like a Taylor Swift concert shirt, it would have her on the front and on the back it would have a list of cities.
Larry Hryb: It would be like a black tee shirt with a face and the dates and-
Jeff Rubenstein: Exactly. And it'd be low quality. I'd wash it once.
Jeff Rubenstein: [crosstalk 00:06:48]
Jeff Rubenstein: It would shrink. This is good stuff.
Larry Hryb: I see. This is fashion stuff.
Jeff Rubenstein: I've seen it. I hope to be wearing it.
Larry Hryb: Fashion forward.
Jeff Rubenstein: It is. It is. Anyway, so we'll have some cool stuff there that I'm really excited about. And then the Microsoft store, specifically in L.A. at Century City, is gonna have some cool stuff going on.
Larry Hryb: We've been there.
Jeff Rubenstein: I have.
Larry Hryb: We've done a lot of stuff there.
Jeff Rubenstein: We have.
Larry Hryb: [crosstalk 00:07:12]
Larry Hryb: I wonder if it moved again.
Jeff Rubenstein: [crosstalk 00:07:14]
Larry Hryb: Remember, that mall's always under construction and they move from one side to-
Jeff Rubenstein: [crosstalk 00:07:18]
Jeff Rubenstein: Nicer and nicer.
Jeff Rubenstein: You just like it because it's near the Nakatomi Building.
Larry Hryb: That's right, from Diehard. You can stare at it. It's great.
Jeff Rubenstein: Every time we're coming in for a landing, you fly right over it.
Larry Hryb: I know.
Jeff Rubenstein: I think about it. I always think of you, Larry.
Jeff Rubenstein: Anyway, so head on over to the Xbox E3 online experience. There's all kinds of info. I'm linking out to it in the show notes. But if you can't be there, this way you can sort of virtually be there.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. We would love for you to join us. We've got a big week. And not only that, we're doing an episode of Inside Xbox.
Jeff Rubenstein: We are doing that.
Laura Massey: Awesome.
Larry Hryb: Jeff and I, and the rest of the gang will be there. We're gonna be doing our show. I believe that's on Monday, right Jeff?
Jeff Rubenstein: It is Monday.
Larry Hryb: So we'll be doing that the day after so we have a whole day to catch up.
Jeff Rubenstein: We'll have more information, I think they're cutting a trailer for that now.
Larry Hryb: I don't know what they're going to say in the trailer. There's nothing we can say.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's just gonna show how we are actually going-
Larry Hryb: Date and time.
Jeff Rubenstein: Inside the Xbox.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: And how we're shrunk down.
Larry Hryb: Anyway, we gotta a lot going on. It's E3 season, and how!
Laura Massey: It's very busy.
Jeff Rubenstein: I have not slept in weeks.
Larry Hryb: I just tweeted out, did you see the tweet? I tweeted out the photo of what I was having for lunch. I don't know if you saw that.
Laura Massey: Really? I didn't see that.
Jeff Rubenstein: I didn't have lunch.
Larry Hryb: It was a gl-
Jeff Rubenstein: I was too busy working.
Larry Hryb: Exactly. It was a glass of water and cup of Trail Mix.
Laura Massey: That was your lunch?
Larry Hryb: That was my lunch.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's hydration. It's fiber.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Everything is just gonna work out fine.
Larry Hryb: I always try to go on a little bit of a slimming diet before we do the show, Jeff, because we do have two or three cameras on.
Jeff Rubenstein: The cameras-
Larry Hryb: They add 20 pounds.
Jeff Rubenstein: Each one. Each one of them.
Larry Hryb: Adds 20 pounds.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. I'm up to 450.
Larry Hryb: 450.
Laura Massey: Oh goodness.
Jeff Rubenstein: We've lost it. It's the lack of sleep.
Larry Hryb: Should we talk about what we're playing, what's going on? I mean, we've got PUBG, the new map is out, the desert map.
Jeff Rubenstein: The desert map.
Larry Hryb: Known as the Miramar. I finished Hellblade, which I know you started playing, Jeff Witch. Have you played Hellblade yet, Laura?
Laura Massey: No.
Larry Hryb: Ohhhh.
Laura Massey: Tell me about it.
Larry Hryb: Binaural audio, that's all you need to know.
Laura Massey: Oh. That's the one you were talking about on the live show last time.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: So, I tweeted about this. So, I finished up God of War and ... We can talk about that in a minute.
Laura Massey: I just bought that.
Jeff Rubenstein: Okay, it's great.
Laura Massey: I haven't played it yet.
Jeff Rubenstein: I was on a bit of a Norse mythology kick and two things: 1. Do I watch Thor Ragnarok, or do I play this-
Laura Massey: I think you're always on a Norse kick.
Jeff Rubenstein: Am I?
Laura Massey: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: Sometimes I go through other deities kicks.
Laura Massey: I feel like you talk about it all the time.
Jeff Rubenstein: Maybe. Maybe I'm getting pigeonholed as the Thor-
Laura Massey: And the Vikings.
Jeff Rubenstein: Loki. Vikings. I guess so.
Jeff Rubenstein: Anyway, I was like, 'Hellblade is a different view point than that game.' And everyone said one thing. They said, "Put headphones on."
Larry Hryb: I told you that.
Laura Massey: Yep.
Jeff Rubenstein: You told me that. I tweeted. I got double-digit responses, 'Hey, put on headphones.'
Jeff Rubenstein: Which made me think the good folks at Astro had, like, put these people up to that. So I started last night.
Larry Hryb: Uh-oh.
Jeff Rubenstein: And oh my god. It is creepy. Like the way they use the binaural. More than once, I had to pause it, take my headphones off, I thought someone was calling me. I thought a thunderstorm had erupted.
Larry Hryb: 'Cause later on, there was a baby crying and I thought it was our baby in the other room. It's bizarre.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. So, their use of audio, like, needs to win a BAFTA or something if it hasn't.
Larry Hryb: I think it did.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm pretty early on, but it is creepy.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, it gets better.
Laura Massey: It's pretty awesome.
Jeff Rubenstein: You've beaten the game.
Larry Hryb: I have completed the game, yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's awesome. I need to.
Larry Hryb: It is one of my favorite games of the year.
Jeff Rubenstein: Really? Okay. Well, my goal is to finish it up by the time we speak again.
Larry Hryb: I think you can do that. I think you can do that.
Laura Massey: I'd love to give it a try. That sounds pretty awesome.
Larry Hryb: You know what we're doing ... So we talked about doing Inside Xbox. I hate to go back to the E3 but we're actually doing a Podcast down there as well. We're gonna do it on Wednesday, I think at one o'clock Pacific, four o'clock Eastern. We're gonna do it on Mixer, like we've normally done in the past.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, that'd be fun.
Jeff Rubenstein: [crosstalk 00:10:55]
Jeff Rubenstein: We'll just get down there, we'll-
Larry Hryb: Gotta couple of special guests that I'm lining up.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's good.
Larry Hryb: I hope.
Jeff Rubenstein: And hopefully by then, we'll have had the chance to play a bunch of stuff. We can talk about the cool newness, the new hotness, whatever it would be.
Larry Hryb: Anyway, I'll give you details on that as we get closer.
Jeff Rubenstein: Nothing like a bunch of teases.
Larry Hryb: I know. It's just nothing but that.
Jeff Rubenstein: Let's put a countdown time.
Larry Hryb: Talking about what we're playing: Hellblade.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah?
Larry Hryb: You're talking about Hellblade.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well I just started. I'm just ... It's just a very different take on things. Like, coming out of God of War, where you're Kratos and you have an ax and you can just chop anything to bits.
Larry Hryb: So, let's talk about God of War. I mean, that's on PlayStation, which is a great game. It's getting very highly rated.
Jeff Rubenstein: [crosstalk 00:11:33]
Jeff Rubenstein: I have a long history with that series and so...
Larry Hryb: That's true with Sony. You know people that worked on the game.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, of course. And God of War II was my favorite one, prior to this. Now, this one is my favorite one.
Laura Massey: Oh, really?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. As a parent, there's a lot of parenting themes, and it made me think about how I yell at my kid, you know.
Larry Hryb: And I've heard it. He does.
Jeff Rubenstein: [crosstalk 00:12:03]
Jeff Rubenstein: When she should be in bed and we're playing Overwatch-
Larry Hryb: No, I'm talking like, "Use your [inaudible 00:12:02]." That's what he's yelling when we're playing games together. I don't even know about that.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, that's true. I mean, we gotta communicate.
Larry Hryb: I agree.
Jeff Rubenstein: She lands that diva alt like nobody's business. We won that game.
Larry Hryb: I've seen her play the game.
Jeff Rubenstein: So, anyway. That was really cool. It got me thinking, having watched Thor Ragnarok recently, and then that ... And I'm like, you know, about the nine realms and the different gods and all that. So they have their take, and now I'm really interested to see how these things ... I'm already hearing a lot of the same names now in Hellblade, and then everyone's saying, "You need to pick up this Norse mythology book by Neil Gaiman," and so I'm gonna buy that. And apparently, that's like a really interesting take. And then I'll have been Norsed out-
Laura Massey: I don't think you will.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'll move on to, like, Aztec gods or Egyptians or something.
Laura Massey: You'll be looking for the next big Norse thing.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. I didn't realize from my deep Norse-Scandinavian roots ... You know, there's a huge Scandinavian museum in my neighborhood, so maybe that's it.
Larry Hryb: Seattle has a lot of Scandinavian residents and influence. I remember when I did some stuff with ... Who was that group? Oh, remember when I went out on the boat with The Deadliest Catch guys?
Laura Massey: Oh, that's right.
Larry Hryb: Many years ago. Did you ever hear that story?
Jeff Rubenstein: No.
Laura Massey: Larry's been on some adventures, let me tell you.
Jeff Rubenstein: Was it for the game that they did a long time ago?
Larry Hryb: Yes. Yes. We shot a whole video. In fact, I've got a video.
Jeff Rubenstein: I've gotta see this video.
Larry Hryb: I just remember those guys. These are real fishermen. This is what they do.
Jeff Rubenstein: I eat the things that they catch.
Laura Massey: Is that a Major's Minute, you think?
Larry Hryb: I don't know.
Laura Massey: We'll make a note of it in the show notes.
Larry Hryb: I know I have all of them on my hard drive. Laura and I were just talking about this off the air. I have like all my Major's Minutes from, past years, and I think I have that song.
Jeff Rubenstein: Did you get all done up in like your Gorton's fisherman, I Know What You Did Last Summer, yellow outfit?
Larry Hryb: No, what we did was we had to haul out a crate out of the water of the game cases.
Jeff Rubenstein: Ahh.
Larry Hryb: And they dumped out onto the-
Larry Hryb: [crosstalk 00:14:02]
Laura Massey: That sounds like a Major's Minute.
Jeff Rubenstein: Plastic pollution in the ocean is really-
Larry Hryb: It's a thing.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's bad.
Larry Hryb: Back then it wasn't. Anyway.
Jeff Rubenstein: I wanna eat the fish that you catch. Or what do they have, king crabs? [crosstalk 00:14:14]
Larry Hryb: I don't know. Something like that.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's good stuff. You don't eat seafood. You're the worst person for that. Did they not know that?
Larry Hryb: I was okay. I had a great chat with them. Anyway. How did we get here, Laura?
Laura Massey: Deadliest Catch.
Larry Hryb: Deadliest Catch, that's right. They came out with a game many years ago.
Jeff Rubenstein: We should look for that one.
Laura Massey: Yep, I made a note. See if we could find it, put it in the show notes.
Laura Massey: [crosstalk 00:14:36]
Larry Hryb: This show has certainly done some crazy things.
Laura Massey: It has.
Jeff Rubenstein: This is what happens when we don't do a show that often. We're off our rockers.
Jeff Rubenstein: [crosstalk 00:14:43]
Larry Hryb: Let's talk about what we're playing. Can we get back on track, please?
Jeff Rubenstein: Laura-
Jeff Rubenstein: [crosstalk 00:14:44]
Larry Hryb: Laura-[crosstalk 00:14:46]
Jeff Rubenstein: Laura, you go.
Larry Hryb: Laura, help.
Laura Massey: So, I haven't been playing too much. We had a holiday weekend here in the U.S. It was Memorial Day weekend and it was fantastic weather, so I spent the weekend doing the play outside game.
Larry Hryb: Also, it's a good one. I like that.
Laura Massey: I do want to share our funny story. We've been doing some gardening and we went to the trailer. And, apparently, the moment we rented the trailer, I had a Texas accent. For some reason.
Larry Hryb: Really?
Laura Massey: Yes, it just popped out. We were talking Texas accents before we started.
Larry Hryb: That's right.
Laura Massey: And for some reason-
Larry Hryb: All the sudden, "Y'all."
Laura Massey: Exactly. When you're that strap there hooked up on the trailer. It's like, "Where did that come from?" What are you talking about?
Larry Hryb: Well, it's young Laura. It's young Laura coming in.
Laura Massey: I know. So apparently, the farming influence and the trailers and-
Larry Hryb: Now, now.
Laura Massey: It just brings the Texas out of me.
Larry Hryb: Now, I can understand that because you haven't had the opportunity, but Jeff and I have traveled globally together. And I have a very bad habit when I'm some place, I tend to adopt an accent of that-
Laura Massey: You told me that story.
Jeff Rubenstein: I've seen when he's ordering soda.
Jeff Rubenstein: [crosstalk 00:15:54]
Larry Hryb: So, it is ... And I don't even know it.
Larry Hryb: [crosstalk 00:15:58]
Laura Massey: No, it's not conscious.
Larry Hryb: Until Jeff starts kicking me under the table or laughing hysterically.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, well your Italian accent that you pull out in Germany is phenomenal.
Larry Hryb: [crosstalk 00:16:10]
Jeff Rubenstein: All the people want to know what part of [inaudible 00:16:10] you're from.
Larry Hryb: Yes, anyway. 'Cause I look Italian. When you think of Italian, you think of this guy.
Laura Massey: Oh my goodness.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, yeah. You're turning red right now, actually. That's like the one-
Larry Hryb: That's [inaudible 00:16:17] funny.
Laura Massey: No, the accents, they just pop out. You just don't even know.
Jeff Rubenstein: No. I mean, when I'm ordering a cheese steak-
Laura Massey: Does the Philly come out?
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, the Philly comes out. And instantly, it's not like a professorial accent. People don't go, "Oh you're..." You're in America when people are speaking to you in an English, like posh, like London accent or something. People are like, "Oh, this person's very smart." Like, you could sell anything ... The Philly accent is like the opposite of that. It's Rocky.
Laura Massey: It's a little rough.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, it doesn't sound like a city that has an Ivy League school in it.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: You know. And that's what happens when I'm ordering a Whiz plain or a Logger.
Larry Hryb: And I do adopt the 'wicked awesome' when we go to Boston.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes.
Laura Massey: You do.
Jeff Rubenstein: When you're getting your a-pizza?
Larry Hryb: When I'mma getting a-pizza.
Jeff Rubenstein: See? It's there.
Laura Massey: It's coming back. It's coming back.
Larry Hryb: All right. So we're talking about what we're playing and you're telling me-
Jeff Rubenstein: No, we're not. We're talking about anything but.
Larry Hryb: Laura's playing Trailer Simulator 20-
Laura Massey: I'm Trailer Simulator, and yes the farming simulator game that I played definitely helped with renting of the trailer and backing it up and things like that. But I did get a chance to play a few arcade games, you know, dive back into the old catalog. And I was playing Geometry Wars for a few hours over the weekend.
Larry Hryb: Still good.
Laura Massey: Yes, it's still such a good game. Beautiful, really fun. You can jump in and out.
Larry Hryb: Speaking of arcade games-
Laura Massey: 1943!
Larry Hryb: Battlefield 1943, which Laura and I and I think [inaudible 00:17:42] played a lot of that. Our crew played a lot of that back in the day. Do you remember that one?
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, I do.
Larry Hryb: Because that was such a battlefield game.
Laura Massey: [crosstalk 00:17:48]
Larry Hryb: 'Cause it was four classes ... Or three classes, I think. And you had fixed weapons, and that was it. You didn't have to worry about attachments or any of that nonsense.
Larry Hryb: [crosstalk 00:17:58]
Jeff Rubenstein: Back in my day.
Larry Hryb: But it was fun.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, that's like a good segue into Battlefield 5-
Jeff Rubenstein: [crosstalk 00:18:02]
Laura Massey: Oh my goodness.
Jeff Rubenstein: Like, you saw that review. We all watched that and-
Larry Hryb: Yes we did.
Jeff Rubenstein: And I'm very excited for us to jump back into that.
Laura Massey: Oh yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: I think it looks really interesting. And I like the customization. And I'm very exciting to play, I'm hoping I get to play D3.
Larry Hryb: I have to apologize, Jeff.
Jeff Rubenstein: What?
Larry Hryb: You and I spoke earlier this week, and we were gonna play some games.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: And I have to apologize because I've been playing and I forgot I was just offline. So every time you logged in, I'd see you log in and I figured you were gonna text me. But you don't see me online.
Jeff Rubenstein: No, because that's what I do. The first thing I do, and I think a lot of people do this, they look and see who's on.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, who's on, what's up?
Jeff Rubenstein: And if they're playing something I want to play, I'll just jump in the game-
Larry Hryb: [crosstalk 00:18:44]
Larry Hryb: Yeah, because I do that with you.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, all the time. And I have not seen you on for a while-
Larry Hryb: That's why I forgot.
Jeff Rubenstein: And so I just-
Larry Hryb: 'Cause I was looking at some things that people couldn't see.
Laura Massey: Oh, secret games.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, so I was offline and dun, dun, dun.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, fair enough.
Laura Massey: Unfortunately, that strategy doesn't work very well for me.
Larry Hryb: Why?
Laura Massey: Because usually when I jump online and see Larry playing, he's [inaudible 00:19:01] and he tells me no.
Larry Hryb: Oh stop. I did that once in ten years.
Laura Massey: You did it twice!
Larry Hryb: Did I do it twice?
Laura Massey: Yes, you did.
Larry Hryb: I'm such a fool.
Jeff Rubenstein: These are the things that you look back on.
Laura Massey: I know.
Larry Hryb: Mistakes were made.
Laura Massey: Regrets.
Jeff Rubenstein: (singing) Cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Larry Hryb: (singing) Cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Larry Hryb: Anyway, where are we?
Laura Massey: What else do you play? Oh, we were talking about 1943, and it just came back on BackCompat Xbox One, and I'm definitely looking forward to jumping back into that game.
Larry Hryb: Did you see the news that came out this week about what's coming to BackCompat next week?
Laura Massey: No.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Jeffrey.
Laura Massey: Segue.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, no. A trio of Rockstar games are coming out. 1. GTA San Andreas.
Larry Hryb: Which you love the soundtrack of that. That soundtrack is so you.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, it was very like 90s rap, and I'd have to go back and look at the soundtrack and see what particular stuff is on there. But it was amaz- I mean, that game was so expansive. Love that one.
Larry Hryb: Midnight Club L.A.?
Jeff Rubenstein: Midnight Club L.A. and then,
Larry Hryb: And then?
Laura Massey: And then?
Larry Hryb: Sit down, folks.
Jeff Rubenstein: Perhaps the best table tennis simulator ever released on the Xbox 360
Larry Hryb: Yep, table tennis.
Jeff Rubenstein: Rockstar's Table Tennis.
Larry Hryb: I played a lot of that too.
Laura Massey: Is that good?
Jeff Rubenstein: You know, I never really ... I don't know if I've ever played it.
Larry Hryb: I remember when I was in ... It was like 2008 or 9, before they announced it, I know they were telling me in a meeting that Rockstar was coming out with a new game. Really, what is it? Table Tennis. No, no. Really, what is it?
Jeff Rubenstein: 'Cause I feel like that was their first game that came out on that generation. And then, GTA 4 was afterwards. That was probably like oh-six, maybe oh-seven.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I don't know. That was a long time ago.
Jeff Rubenstein: A very long time ago. Wooh. With that being said, we should play it.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, we should.
Larry Hryb: That was my [crosstalk 00:20:44]
Jeff Rubenstein: The sound was right-
Jeff Rubenstein: [crosstalk 00:20:43]
Larry Hryb: You know, the way you're dressed right now, you do have kind of a ping pong-esque uniform on, doesn't he?
Laura Massey: He does. [crosstalk 00:20:51] He could just roll up to a ping pong table.
Jeff Rubenstein: [crosstalk 00:20:52]
Jeff Rubenstein: With my table tennis-chic, I look like I could just ... I'm so terrible.
Larry Hryb: [crosstalk 00:20:56]
Larry Hryb: Or you look like you're hanging out with Neetho in Grand Theft Auto 4.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, that's actually more like what I was going for, was like Brighton Beach, Russian mobster.
Larry Hryb: All right, what else are we playing? We got some other stuff we want to talk about here? It is peculiar because we're so close to the show.
Jeff Rubenstein: Let's see. Actually I finished up Final Fantasy 15.
Larry Hryb: Ah.
Jeff Rubenstein: I've been playing that for, well, like 60 hours or something like that. That was a great game. I would say it's my favorite Final Fantasy, probably since 10 or something like that. I actually got really invested ... Like the characters, when you first look at it, if you look at a screenshot of the cast of characters. They look like a K-Pop band. Oh, BTS starring in Final Fantasy.
Jeff Rubenstein: But the characters really end up growing on you. And in fact, the most annoying seeming character, Prompto, was actually my favorite by the end of the game. I just really enjoyed it, and I thought it looked great. I played the Windows edition, of course it also upgraded Xbox One X. I think that it was great returned form for Final Fantasy.
Larry Hryb: Delightful.
Jeff Rubenstein: I liked it.
Larry Hryb: Just real quick, what I've been doing, checking out State of Decay 2.
Laura Massey: That's right.
Larry Hryb: You and I played a little bit of that, Jeff.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, quite a bit. We need to go back and do-
Larry Hryb: We need to do that. If you got a chance to check that out, Laura, you should. Although, I'm finding my settlement is getting a little whiny, so I gotta deal with that.
Jeff Rubenstein: One of my friends, he just expels anyone who complains, they're gone. Out!
Larry Hryb: Sea of Thieves has an update out, you can read more about that, so check that out. Jeff and I've been back in Overwatch for a while, so it's just catching up on a lot of little things here. I checked out World of Warships. I don't know why, I started playing that-
Laura Massey: Oh, really? Is that like World of Tanks, but with ships?
Larry Hryb: You got it. You got it, Laura.
Jeff Rubenstein: Actually, I got into some Twitch broadcasters that are just really ... they play a lot of World of Tanks, and I just watched a ton of it, and you just sort of lose yourself in it. I was fine watching it, but-
Larry Hryb: But no interest for you to play.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, watching is fun too.
Jeff Rubenstein: [crosstalk 00:23:08]
Jeff Rubenstein: Gamers watch as much as they play these days.
Larry Hryb: Will you play World of Tanks?
Jeff Rubenstein: I would play with you, if you were to get on there. We need to play that, we definitely need to play Hungering Deep Sea of Thieves. Trying to get some time on your calender.
Larry Hryb: We're gonna look at doing that this weekend.
Jeff Rubenstein: Okay.
Larry Hryb: One of the guys ... You guys know Sketch. He's [BrianGarrard0343 00:23:26] I've known Sketch for, boy, 15 years. We were playing ... Did I tell this story on the air?
Laura Massey: No, I don't think so.
Larry Hryb: We were playing when Sea of Thieves came out. I remember, we were playing and we get him there and we're showing him what's going on and okay, we gotta go swim ashore to an island. And he's on the ship and says, "Is that a shark?" And he wouldn't jump off the ship. He has a huge shark-phobia.
Laura Massey: Oh really?
Jeff Rubenstein: Really?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, so it's ...
Jeff Rubenstein: I'll tell you what, though. I'm sorta like a little bit afraid of the ocean, like being out on the open ocean, and that's why I never do that. And that game sort of like freaks me out when you fall off the boat.
Larry Hryb: And rightfully so, but I don't ... You don't have a problem with that, do you Laura?
Laura Massey: No, I don't think so.
Larry Hryb: You and I have separately gone scuba diving, and so I spend a lot of time underwater, and so do you.
Laura Massey: I do get motion sick pretty easily, but I haven't felt motion sick by playing Sea of Thieves yet.
Jeff Rubenstein: Fine on a boat, but it's [crosstalk 00:24:25] to being in the water.
Larry Hryb: It's not.
Jeff Rubenstein: It creeps me out.
Larry Hryb: That's fair.
Jeff Rubenstein: I face up to my fears.
Laura Massey: Okay, well then that movie Adrift is not for you.
Jeff Rubenstein: No. Or Dead Calm or-
Larry Hryb: You know what I should do, Laura? I should just throw Jeff in the car one day, and we'll get on the ferry in Seattle going to the other side.
Jeff Rubenstein: No, I'm fine with that. I don't mind being on a boat. I think that's fun. But if I fell off, then no.
Larry Hryb: Did you ever see some of the ferries? Apparently Washington state has the largest ferry system in the country, and I remember there's a video ... I think it was two winters ago when one of the ferries was going over to the other side of Seattle. Not Seattle, but what's the other ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Like [inaudible 00:25:04]?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, like over in that direction. And the seas were rough, and the water's coming in ...
Laura Massey: That would be really bad.
Larry Hryb: It was terrifying. 'Cause you're in your car. On a boat. And the waves are coming at you.
Jeff Rubenstein: By the way, if you want to go into like a YouTube hole, you can watch videos of people ... at any moment, there's thousands and thousands of container ships going back and forth, and they go through some pretty rough water. There's some videos of just like giant waves and stuff like that and these guys are fine, but watching the videos is really interesting.
Larry Hryb: So you're telling me-
Laura Massey: Terrifying.
Larry Hryb: That you don't mind being out on a boat-
Jeff Rubenstein: Right.
Larry Hryb: Laura, you get sea sick, but you don't mind on the water? I'm trying to understand this.
Laura Massey: That's correct.
Jeff Rubenstein: Between the two of us, we're either the worst person on the ocean or the best.
Laura Massey: Or the best. Or the best. Let's shoot for the best.
Larry Hryb: [crosstalk 00:25:54]
Larry Hryb: Actually I found it. I'm gonna throw it in our joint notes here, and I think you guys'll get a kick out of that. The one ... the ferry. It was from the local news stations.
Laura Massey: Nice.
Jeff Rubenstein: We have all kinds of weird stuff. Didn't we have that bridge, like the worst suspension bridge ever, where it like fell down?
Laura Massey: The Tacoma Narrows Bridge?
Jeff Rubenstein: That's the one.
Laura Massey: Yes. Yeah, that was something that was probably taught in all physics classes about resident frequencies and how the wind was blowing past that bridge and [inaudible 00:26:23] I think is the other name of it.
Larry Hryb: It's in the notes if you want to scroll down there and take a look and you'll see the water coming up out of the ... Anyway, I'll put this in the show-
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh my god.
Larry Hryb: Are you watching it, Jeff?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes.
Laura Massey: Oh my gosh, no thank you.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, right? Anyway, I don't ... Where are we?
Laura Massey: We're off the rails. Should we talk about movies?
Larry Hryb: Oh. Oh.
Jeff Rubenstein: Look, if we're off the rails, let's stay off the rails.
Laura Massey: Yeah, let's stay off the rails.
Larry Hryb: All right, we've got 60 seconds, so if you haven't seen Solo, then skip ahead 60 seconds or so, 'cause-
Jeff Rubenstein: I haven't seen it, so I'll see you guys in a minute.
Larry Hryb: Oh! Then we can't talk about it.
Laura Massey: You haven't seen it?
Jeff Rubenstein: Or you could talk about it. Just don't spoil it. All right, I'm fine.
Larry Hryb: No. No spoilers, 'cause you're gonna-
Laura Massey: Yes, spoilers.
Jeff Rubenstein: Are you telling me Hans getting with Princess Leia?
Larry Hryb: I'm not gonna say anything.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well obviously you know how it ends.
Larry Hryb: Laura, I'll let you talk about it.
Laura Massey: Oh, okay. So I got a chance to see Solo over the weekend. No spoilers, but I'll just say that I was pleasantly surprised and enjoyed it.
Larry Hryb: It was a little bit more fun than you thought?
Laura Massey: I enjoyed it.
Larry Hryb: I put a Twitter poll up ... I don't know if you saw that earlier in the week?
Laura Massey: No, I missed the poll.
Larry Hryb: Where I was asking, "Of the Star Wars movies in the last 4 years," by the way the fact we've had Star Wars movies for the last four years-
Laura Massey: Pretty awesome.
Larry Hryb: You know, what was the ranking, and most people liked The Force Awakens, followed by Rogue One, followed by Solo, and then The Last Jedi was kind of at the bottom. And this is again, unscientific polling, but I kinda felt like that's about accurate, for me.
Laura Massey: Oh, I probably switch Solo and Rogue One.
Larry Hryb: That's right. You didn't like Rogue One.
Laura Massey: Not too much. I enjoyed it. I had a good time watching it. But I think I enjoyed Solo more. Yeah, it's pretty fun.
Larry Hryb: Jeff, you need to go see this.
Laura Massey: You need to see it. It's definitely worth it.
Jeff Rubenstein: All right.
Larry Hryb: You know what I really want to see? That I was invited to his press screening, but I couldn't go, was The Mister Rogers Story. There's a movie-
Laura Massey: Oh, is that coming out?
Larry Hryb: If it's not out, it's coming out very soon. I know it's in the Seattle Film Festival.
Laura Massey: Wow.
Jeff Rubenstein: Is it like sordid tales that we don't know about?
Larry Hryb: No. Why must you make it so dark?
Jeff Rubenstein: [crosstalk 00:28:21]
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm just saying, a lot of these biopics ... is just like, "Well, we didn't secretly know that whatever, you know."
Larry Hryb: It turns out he's actually a better person than you thought.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh.
Larry Hryb: So, that's ... Plot twist.
Jeff Rubenstein: I always thought it was interesting that he changed his shoes when he would come into the house.
Laura Massey: [inaudible 00:28:40]
Jeff Rubenstein: I never had ... I was like, "I only had one pair of shoes at a time growing up," and a lot of times they were pretty worn out and I was like, "This guy's got two shoes."
Larry Hryb: And a sweater.
Laura Massey: And an inside sweater.
Jeff Rubenstein: And an inside sweater.
Laura Massey: I've watched many of those shows.
Jeff Rubenstein: I don't know why that stuck with me.
Larry Hryb: I met him once.
Jeff Rubenstein: Really?
Laura Massey: You did?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, we was doing something in Massachusetts and my wife had to do and I tagged along.
Jeff Rubenstein: Was there a Mister Rogers video game that you were-
Larry Hryb: No, no. He was doing ... I think it was [Eric Arthur 00:29:04]. Eric, what was his name? Anyway, he illustrates children's books and my wife had to go over and talk to them, and it was very strange.
Laura Massey: How was meeting him?
Larry Hryb: Oh, it was exactly what you'd think it was. It was fantastic. So, anyway, I want to see that movie. What else haven't you seen, Jeffrey?
Jeff Rubenstein: I haven't seen Deadpool 2.
Larry Hryb: Nor have I .
Laura Massey: I haven't seen that one yet.
Jeff Rubenstein: I've heard great things.
Larry Hryb: We don't really have much more to say about games because we're gonna have a lot to say in about a week and a half-
Jeff Rubenstein: There's still some news and other things-
Larry Hryb: All right, why don't you peck through the news and then we'll get over to-
Jeff Rubenstein: Okay, real quickly at the news desk here. Games with gold were just announced, and in fact, they're already live.
Larry Hryb: It's June.
Jeff Rubenstein: It is June. So for this month-
Larry Hryb: P.S. June. P.S. 2018 is half over.
Laura Massey: Wow.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, half over at the end of the month.
Larry Hryb: Eh, it's half over now.
Jeff Rubenstein: Fair enough. We'll just write [crosstalk 00:30:04]
Larry Hryb: It's my show. I'm saying it's half over now.
Laura Massey: The glass is half empty.
Jeff Rubenstein: Okay, well this is why it's your show.
Jeff Rubenstein: Assassin's Creed Chronicles Russia, which is now available, and in 15 days give or take, Smite, sort of the deluxe edition, will be ready as well. Which is, I want to get the exact right wording of it. The gold bundle. That will be available. The retail value on that is like $99. So if you haven't gotten into Smite, that would be the perfect time.
Jeff Rubenstein: Backward Compatible: Sonic All Stars Racing Transformed, now available. And later on in the month will be Indiana Jones 2. In fact, by that goes live, on June 16, E3 will be over. Can you believe it?
Larry Hryb: That's crazy.
Jeff Rubenstein: We build and we build and we build, and it just washes over us like a wave over a ferry.
Larry Hryb: Nice segue.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. If you haven't picked up an Xbox One X yet, there's never been a better time.
Larry Hryb: That's what they tell me.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's what they said. Because if you get one between now and June 2, you will get a copy of State of Decay 2 for free. Let's say you missed the 2nd. Oh my god, it's okay. You'll get a copy of Red Dead Redemption with your Xbox One X purchase through June 9th. And of course, that is, why would you want a Backward Compatible 360 title with your Xbox One X? Because it uprezzes into 4K and looks phenomenal.
Larry Hryb: And it's Red Dead Redemption.
Jeff Rubenstein: And it's Red Dead ... Well, obviously, yes. But you get to enjoy it in a way that you've never seen it before.
Jeff Rubenstein: A few quick releases that I want to touch on real quickly.
Larry Hryb: Please, Jeff.
Jeff Rubenstein: Number one: Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection. Can you believe it's been 30 years of Ryu and Ken?
Laura Massey: Wow. No way. 30 years.
Jeff Rubenstein: 30 years.
Jeff Rubenstein: Now, I don't know anyone who's played Street Fighter 1, but if you wanted to play it and see what it looked like, it is part of this Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection. There's a dozen games on there that encompass everything from Street Fighter 1 through the Street Fighter Alpha Series. So basically taking you up to the 360 generation, when Street Fighter 4 came out. And all the many incarnations of Street Fighter 2.
Jeff Rubenstein: Sega Genesis Classics Collection. Doesn't have Collection, but I'm putting it there. Fifty titles. I think we talked about this on the last live video podcast, but there's darn near every good game for Genesis was on this, so this is sort of the ultimate final word on Genesis games. It's $29, there's 50 games on there. It has the [inaudible 00:32:25] games, it has the Fantasy Star games, it has the Shining [inaudible 00:32:27] games. There's like a billion hours of gameplay on there.
Jeff Rubenstein: Another game actually that might sate my Norse-
Laura Massey: Hmm, there's the next Norse thing?
Larry Hryb: We're going back to that?
Jeff Rubenstein: It's called Die for Valhalla. I don't know a ton about it, other than you're Valkyrie, and you can play with friends locally. And people are always asking, "What's a good couch co-op game?" Well, this is sort of a beat 'em up game there. And it's only like, if you're a gold member, nine-fifty-nine right now.
Jeff Rubenstein: And a couple of other games real quick. Moonlighter and Knights of Pen and Paper, another couple of RPG Indie games. And Bird Cakes, which has a funny name. Someone said it must be from Game of Thrones, which if you think about it ...
Larry Hryb: Heard about it.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's only four-ninety-nine as an Xbox plate [inaudible 00:33:12].
Jeff Rubenstein: And the last thing, Madden NFL 19, we're already talking about football again. We're still over 100 days from the first kickoff. But you can now pre-order it, and they haven't announce who's gonna be on the cover, but they did announce the cover of the Hall of Fame edition, which is Terrell Owens. Which you want a lightning rod.
Laura Massey: Seriously?
Jeff Rubenstein: And he's wearing a Cowboys uniform. Do you think of Terrell Owens as a Cowboy?
Laura Massey: Kind of, actually.
Jeff Rubenstein: I mean, he was there for three years. He was with the Niners for like 8 years. He was with the Eagles for 2 years. And a couple of other teams. When I think back, I don't think of him as a Cowboy. I think of him as a Niner. And then, briefly on the Eagles. What did he do? He stood on the star and angered all the Cowboys fans.
Laura Massey: He did. He did anger all the Cowboys fans. But I think his most famous moment was the [inaudible 00:33:57] camera motion behind the goal posts? That's what I remember.
Jeff Rubenstein: I feel like he was definitely a love or hate. Or, in the case of the Eagles fans, a love and hate character, so. Anyway, he's on the cover-
Laura Massey: Love and hate at the same time
Jeff Rubenstein: But, we'll all have to stay tune to see who's on the cover-
Larry Hryb: All right. We're gonna take a break and go to commercials. After this, ESPN will be right back with the MLB rundown.
Jeff Rubenstein: You know we're gonna end up playing. We'll have to play again. We always play a couple times a year. Eagles versus Patriots. You throw to [inaudible 00:34:28] over the middle and-
Larry Hryb: Again and again. And again and again. Hail Mary! Hey, you know what I forgot to mention, I finished the Gorogoa.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, you finished it?
Larry Hryb: Remember you and I talked about it last week?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, it's a great game.
Larry Hryb: And it was just phenomenal. Laura, you would love this game.
Laura Massey: Tell me about it.
Larry Hryb: It is an award-winning game. It came out last year, on I think, IOS and Windows and Switch. It's a puzzle game. Your ears are perked up already, but it's a puzzle game where you move pieces of paper around and like they create portals and it's hard to describe. Watch some of the videos because the art style is phenomenal.
Laura Massey: Awesome.
Larry Hryb: As good as Hellblade is for audio and the art is good in Hellblade as well, this game for its art is amazing.
Laura Massey: That's awesome. What was the name again?
Larry Hryb: Gorogoa.
Laura Massey: Gorogoa?
Larry Hryb: Yep.
Jeff Rubenstein: G-o-r-o-g-o-a. There's nothing like it. It's definitely a unique ... I don't think I've ever played anything quite like it.
Larry Hryb: No. It just kept going and I loved it. And I wanted to ...
Jeff Rubenstein: No words. No voice acting.
Larry Hryb: No. Just phenomenal art.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yep.
Larry Hryb: So, Laura, I need you to play that game-
Laura Massey: I'm looking it up now.
Larry Hryb: And report back.
Laura Massey: 'An ingenious, perfectly-grafted puzzler.'
Larry Hryb: Yep. I would ... I can't-
Jeff Rubenstein: That was a [crosstalk 00:35:44]
Laura Massey: Yeah. Looking at the video now. It looks awesome.
Larry Hryb: So, it's ... If you get a chance to play this on Xbox One, I highly, highly recommend it. I mean ... Anyway.
Jeff Rubenstein: Did the gamers score [inaudible 00:36:00]?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I missed three or four moments 'cause there's only certain things you can do in the story. See, so that's your place-base, Laura. Your head will explode, but you'll love it.
Laura Massey: It looks awesome.
Laura Massey: 'A truly beautiful experience.'
Larry Hryb: Out of period and of conversation. So, anyway. All right. Want to 'Name the Game' so we can wrap it up, 'cause we gotta get ready for E3.
Laura Massey: Yeah, let's do 'Name the Game.'
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: [crosstalk 00:36:20]
Larry Hryb: All right, here's the 'Name the Game.' It was a video. Do you remember this?
Laura Massey: It was a video. Yes, I do. I remember it, of course. But, do the listeners?
Larry Hryb: I don't know. Let's play the audio now and find out.
Larry Hryb: (mechanical acceleration)
Laura Massey: So that was 'Name the Game' from last time. And, again, those who tuned in and watched us on Mixer-
Larry Hryb: On Mixer. Or watched Video-on-Demand later.
Laura Massey: Yeah. Video-on-Demand, got an extra little hint so they could see some of these clips, as well as hear them. But that game was Assetto Corsa.
Larry Hryb: Which was a racing game. Everyone thought it was like a [inaudible 00:37:26] or something ... Nope.
Laura Massey: Nope.
Larry Hryb: Assetto Corsa.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's a different Italian word.
Larry Hryb: It's a different Italian word, Jeff.
Jeff Rubenstein: You need to see the hand gestures to really know how much he sold that.
Laura Massey: So I'm sure listeners would love to know who has won.
Larry Hryb: I would love to know-
Laura Massey: Would you like to know who's won?
Larry Hryb: Yes I would, please.
Laura Massey: The winner this time is Andy from Northern Ireland.
Larry Hryb: Oh, hi Andy.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh.
Laura Massey: Yes, his gamer tag is [inaudible 00:37:46].
Larry Hryb: Cool gamertag.
Laura Massey: Nice job, Andy. Congratulations on winning.
Larry Hryb: Congratulations.
Laura Massey: We have a ton of great prizes for you.
Larry Hryb: All right.
Laura Massey: So I'll just list them off really quickly, since there's quite a few.
Larry Hryb: All right.
Laura Massey: You get a copy of Bird Cakes, which we talked about earlier.
Larry Hryb: Bird Cakes, possibly from the Game of Thrones.
Laura Massey: ID Xbox game. You also get a copy of the game we just talked about: Gorogoa.
Larry Hryb: Which I said when we were playing the clip back, I love this game so much I just want to lick the screen. It's so beautiful.
Laura Massey: Gross.
Jeff Rubenstein: We can all picture that.
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Laura Massey: All right. And you also get a copy of Descenders, which is in game preview.
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Laura Massey: A copy of Divinity, the Original Sin 2, definitive edition, also in game preview.
Larry Hryb: Oh, Jeff loves that.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yep.
Laura Massey: And that's not all. You get a copy of Dark Souls, Remastered. Good luck with that.
Larry Hryb: No, no, no, no. What, do we hate him?
Jeff Rubenstein: He might be really into it.
Laura Massey: You know, there are a lot of people who are.
Larry Hryb: Yep.
Jeff Rubenstein: And for good reason.
Larry Hryb: Yep.
Laura Massey: Yep. And you get a copy of Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection edition.
Larry Hryb: Yes!
Laura Massey: And not only that, but State of Decay 2 Ultimate edition.
Larry Hryb: That's a lot of games.
Laura Massey: That's a lot of games.
Larry Hryb: That's like six or eight games right there.
Laura Massey: That is a ton of games.
Larry Hryb: All for 'Name the Game.' So congratulations to Andy from Northern Ireland.
Laura Massey: Congratulations.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well done.
Larry Hryb: All right. Here we are.
Laura Massey: Yep, here we are.
Larry Hryb: All right, listeners, I have some sad news to share with you. We are not gonna do a 'Name the Game' this week, Laura, because you have some news to share.
Laura Massey: I do.
Larry Hryb: Why don't you go ahead and share that with the listeners.
Laura Massey: Yeah, it's really hard to say. It was a really hard decision. But I've decided to leave the show.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Laura Massey: And I'm also leaving Microsoft as well.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: It's that time in my career. I'm taking the next step and moving on. And it's a really, really hard decision. And it makes me feel really sad saying that 'cause some of my fondest memories are with you guys on the show and with listeners.
Larry Hryb: Absolutely.
Laura Massey: We've had a fantastic, like, nine years now?
Larry Hryb: It's been over a decade.
Jeff Rubenstein: [inaudible 00:39:46]
Larry Hryb: I mean, you started ... You and I met when you were an intern in 2006?
Laura Massey: That's right.
Larry Hryb: Was it 2006 or 7? So you and I met ... I remember .. You and I talked about this.
Laura Massey: I was on the show then. I was an intern.
Larry Hryb: Yep. So then you ... So it's one of those things where ... Yeah, I wasn't very happy when we discussed this-
Laura Massey: No.
Larry Hryb: But I'm very happy for you because I know you want some new challenges and you're gonna go out and ... You haven't decided ... You're gonna take some time off, right?
Laura Massey: I am gonna take some time off.
Larry Hryb: Good for you.
Laura Massey: That's my next step, to relax and recharge and recover.
Larry Hryb: I recommend Maui.
Laura Massey: Me too. That's a great place. And I'll be sharing more about my next adventure pretty soon.
Larry Hryb: I can't wait, but you are, as I say ... I tell [inaudible 00:40:24] this, as somebody who was on the show, and I'm gonna tell you, you are welcome to come back any time.
Laura Massey: That's very kind.
Larry Hryb: Hopefully you can join us at the very least ... Maybe we can walk the show floor at [inaudible 00:40:33]. But I'm sad to see you leave.
Laura Massey: Yeah, I'm sad to go. I'll definitely miss all the listeners and all the fantastic emails that I got. It was really one of my favorite parts, just reading about the reactions of listeners and how I can inspire them and especially the young ones, too. The coders and programmers.
Larry Hryb: Can I have one request on behalf of the listeners, the listeners who've been listening to you for a long time and will probably know where I'm going with this? In the time you're not working, could you Nerd Trivia back?
Laura Massey: Yeah, I do like the support the listeners gave for Nerd Trivia. It was just heartwarming and overwhelming. Like, really, really positive. Thank you very much for all the support out there.
Larry Hryb: So you're not ... This is, this is ...
Laura Massey: I considered it. It might take a lot more time to bring it back-
Larry Hryb: You got nothing. What do you mean? You got nothing but time now.
Jeff Rubenstein: You can code in Maui. I've checked into it.
Larry Hryb: I've heard that. I've heard that.
Laura Massey: You have heard that? I need to look into it.
Larry Hryb: You know, in between your taking it easy and taking time off into the backyard ... Yeah, it's good for you. Well, on behalf of listeners, I want to thank you for being part of the show. I know, I've always said ... Jeff, I've told you this, and Laura I've told you this, and listeners ... We can't decide ... I don't decide who's on the show. The show has to choose you, and the show chose you, and the show's going to miss you.
Laura Massey: That's very kind.
Larry Hryb: So hopefully we will ... Not only am I sad that you're leaving the show, but we don't get to work together all the time, and so I am terrible at saying goodbyes, so I don't want to say goodbye.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, it doesn't have to be goodbye.
Larry Hryb: No, it doesn't.
Laura Massey: I'll definitely still be on Twitter.
Larry Hryb: Will you?
Laura Massey: Yeah. Listeners can DM me or at me at lauralollipop.
Larry Hryb: Yep.
Laura Massey: And, of course, you guys, I'll see you hopefully-
Larry Hryb: And if you don't remember where to follow Laura, just go over to me at MajorNelson and she's one of the eight people I follow.
Laura Massey: Will you still follow me?
Jeff Rubenstein: I was just wondering [crosstalk 00:42:25]
Larry Hryb: I don't know. Listeners ... You know what, I'm gonna ask the listeners, what should I do? What should I do?
Laura Massey: Well, Jeff does get the promotion for the number two slot on your [crosstalk 00:42:37]
Jeff Rubenstein: My bad b.o. has chased off yet another participant.
Larry Hryb: My lord, Jeff. I'm happy for you, as you know. It is bittersweet and it is very difficult to have this conversation 'cause I never wanted to have this conversation. When you told me, I was not very happy, but I'm happy for you.
Laura Massey: Well, this is one of the hardest parts. But I'm excited about my future.
Larry Hryb: Now you have plenty of time to finish Gorogoa and get Nerd Trivia back online.
Laura Massey: Oh my goodness, yes. Send me game recommendations, what should I do? I definitely have the time to catch up on the things I just didn't have time to do.
Larry Hryb: So yeah, this is your official last show because you're wrapping things up here.
Laura Massey: That's why we're doing 'Name the Game.'
Larry Hryb: Will 'Name the Game' continue? I hope so. So maybe ... We're gonna give it a little break to let you out of respect because you have been the steward of that for so many years.
Jeff Rubenstein: We have to retire your jersey.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. We're gonna haul it up to the ceiling or something like that.
Laura Massey: Frame it?
Larry Hryb: And play the 'Yellow Rose of Texas.' Isn't that the Texas state song?
Jeff Rubenstein: Why are you looking at me? This is what's gonna happen, is I'm gonna be expected to know things. It's a lot of pressure.
Larry Hryb: You've got Wikipedia in front of you. Anyway. I want to thank you for everything, and I don't want to get too emotional because I'm going to get very upset, so ... You're the best. And you've added a lot of fun to this show.
Laura Massey: I've had a lot of fun.
Larry Hryb: The bad news is ... And dear listeners, again I apologize, is with this one stroke, the IQ of the show goes down about 300 points.
Jeff Rubenstein: The average ... The bottom fell out.
Larry Hryb: So definitely this show now goes to the back of the class, where Jeff and I-
Jeff Rubenstein: There's just gonna be a bunch of us grunting.
Laura Massey: I'm sure you guys can hold it together.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, we've just ... No. Just like the shows that you're not on, they go to weird places.
Larry Hryb: And I'm sure that will happen again. Will you come be a guest on sometime?
Laura Massey: I'll come any time you want me to.
Larry Hryb: Maybe after you do something different or whatever you decide what you're gonna do in your professional life. Maybe you can come tell us, or I'm sure, at the very least, I'll congratulate you on Twitter. So make sure you follow me or follow Laura. Will you make it publicly known when you-
Laura Massey: I will.
Larry Hryb: Good to know.
Laura Massey: I'll definitely let everybody know on Twitter when it's time to share.
Larry Hryb: Well you've done so much for the Xbox fans, with all the work you've done on Xbox back in the day. You just shipped another product this... What was it?
Laura Massey: For Hollowlands.
Larry Hryb: The Hollowlands.
Laura Massey: Yeah. An application for enterprises on Hollowlands.
Larry Hryb: And you can also use, if you don't have Hollowlands, right?
Laura Massey: If you have a mixed reality device on your PC.
Larry Hryb: Right, so those of you that have Oculus and ... No, it's mixed reality, right?
Laura Massey: Just mixed reality.
Larry Hryb: So it's all the stuff that we were talking about last year. So anyway, you can download that. But hit Laura up on Twitter.
Laura Massey: Yeah. Say hello on Twitter.
Larry Hryb: And I'm going to follow her. I'm not going to unfollow.
Laura Massey: Thank you, at least for the short term.
Larry Hryb: [inaudible 00:45:17]
Jeff Rubenstein: [inaudible 00:45:21]
Laura Massey: Out of respect.
Larry Hryb: Well, it's a sad show, but Jeff and I will be back after E3.
Jeff Rubenstein: And at E3.
Larry Hryb: And at E3. So we're gonna be back ... We're looking forward to that. We're gonna have this moment of silence for Laura. And we want to thank you for ... You know, I'm going to let you choose. What music would you like to have play you out at the end of the show?
Laura Massey: Oh my goodness.
Larry Hryb: Do you have any specific? If not-
Laura Massey: I'll have to think really hard about that.
Jeff Rubenstein: AC/DC.
Larry Hryb: Really?
Jeff Rubenstein: I don't know. Thinking, like-
Jeff Rubenstein: [crosstalk 00:45:51]
Larry Hryb: What's your favorite Dance Central song, if you have one?
Laura Massey: Oh my goodness. Poison.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, that's a good one.
Larry Hryb: Well, which one?
Laura Massey: [inaudible 00:46:02]
Larry Hryb: Oh really? BBD? Really?
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Laura Massey: [crosstalk 00:46:04]
Laura Massey: That was the jam and that was-
Larry Hryb: I think that was a cold open, so I don't know if I ... Anyway.
Laura Massey: It does have a cold open.
Jeff Rubenstein: But you can still ride up the bridge. We're hearing it now. We're hearing it now.
Laura Massey: [crosstalk 00:46:17]
Laura Massey: You can start in the middle.
Larry Hryb: I'll use it for a few seconds, so we don't get ... flagged or in trouble.
Laura Massey: That one has a good history.
Larry Hryb: All right.
Laura Massey: That was the jam that we all practiced when we only had four songs to play. That was the hardest one, back when we were doing Beta testing for Kinect and Dance Central.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: And that's how I know you, from E3 2009. I was sitting there in the stands-
Laura Massey: Oh, that's right, when I was on the stage.
Laura Massey: [crosstalk 00:46:37]
Larry Hryb: All right, all right. We're not gonna do Memory Lane here. This is ... I'm getting angry. I'm getting sad.
Jeff Rubenstein: So many emotions.
Larry Hryb: Thank you.
Laura Massey: You're very welcome, Larry. Thanks for having me. It's been fun.
Larry Hryb: You are welcome back. Good luck to you.
Laura Massey: Thank you very much.
Larry Hryb: Good luck to you. In that note, we're gonna wrap things up here. Jeff and I will be back in a couple of weeks to look forward to E3, which starts June 10th. Laura, you gonna watch E3.
Laura Massey: Yes, I will.
Larry Hryb: All right. We'll be thinking-
Laura Massey: I'll watch you guys on stage and be thinking of you.
Larry Hryb: We'll be somewhere. I don't know what-
Jeff Rubenstein: They don't let me on stage.
Larry Hryb: All right, because ... Do you know why?
Jeff Rubenstein: Why?
Larry Hryb: Because we're poison.
Jeff Rubenstein: And that's how we get out of the show.