A Plague Tale: Requiem, Surface news and the latest Windows update

[MUSIC PLAYING] LARRY HYRB: Hi, it's Larry Hyrb, Xbox's Major Nelson. Welcome to the Official Xbox Podcast available where all the better podcasts are. Jeff, you know that.

[LAUGHS]

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: I'm living it. I'm living this life, Larry.

LARRY HYRB: It's great to see everybody.

REBECCA GORDIUS: Another week, another podcast.

LARRY HYRB: Rebecca, welcome. It's the highlight of my week. I get to hang out with you guys, and talk about what we're playing--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: The weather.

LARRY HYRB: The news. No, we're not going talk about--

REBECCA GORDIUS: And the weather. And food.

[LAUGHS]

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: I was just in a meeting right before this speaking with our good friends who do our partnerships. So like how we're involved with IHOP--

LARRY HYRB: Or Doritos, or Rockstar.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Or Doritos or Rock Star. And someone in the meeting literally brought up like, let's get you out to go talk about the weather. And I was like, wow.

LARRY HYRB: Was that the head of the part-- because he listens to the show, he listens. A lot a lot of those folks listen to the show. So they'll drop some of the inside jokes, but a lot of people do. I actually posted over on YouTube, if you're listening to this on Spotify, or watching on Spotify, or listening to it anywhere else on Apple, or Google Podcasts, if you go over to my YouTube channel, I've got the video. But they allow you to make like posts.

So I made a post about asking people what they want more or less of the show. So a lot of it was around more things we're playing and more food talk. Nobody said the weather. So--

REBECCA GORDIUS: More food talk. Oh, say less.

[LAUGHS]

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Rebecca's just going to start scrolling through Instagram. You're like, oh, last night, here's what I had.

LARRY HYRB: But yeah, so that was fun. But anyway. Hey, welcome back, everybody. Hey, it's--

REBECCA GORDIUS: Wait.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Wait-- wait-- Rebecca--

REBECCA GORDIUS: On the food topic, I will give a shout out. So my favorite food channel on YouTube is Bingeing With Babish. And Babish has brought on a few different people who will do different kind of like themed recipes as like guests on his show. And he has one who does-- his name is Alvin Joe. But he does like-- he recreates food from video games, and from anime, and Asian kind of entertainment sometimes.

So that's a really cool one, just saying. Like he did one the other day, I can't remember if I talked about already, he recreated the Neopets omelet. And he created like the devil fruit from "One Piece" and other things from video games. So nice intersection video.

LARRY HYRB: Do you do you watch "One Piece?"

REBECCA GORDIUS: I just started-- I know, it's kind of overwhelming. I tried watching it a couple of years ago, and like starting from the beginning. But it's like if you watch really old TV now, it's like, eh. But now that the movie is coming out, I'm trying to watch like the most recent 100 episodes.

[LAUGHS]

There's so many.

LARRY HYRB: Well the reason I ask, is because I've been asked a couple of times to do some "One Piece" interviews and so forth. And I'm going to sign you up for that. So basically, I'm signing you off for some work. I don't when.

REBECCA GORDIUS: I'm your girl.

LARRY HYRB: I don't know how, but I'll sign you up for the "One Piece." I know that-- apologies in advance, because I know Jeff has a corner on the Japanese game market.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Not the anime games. Put me for all the RPGs, any things coming out of Atlas or Square Enix, i'm your guy.

LARRY HYRB: In fact, I must bring up what somebody pointed out on Twitter, and I don't have his name in front of me, but did you-- I don't know if you saw this, Rebecca. Somebody was listening to one of the previous shows. And we always talk about Jeff playing JRPGs. And he came up with that the JRPG is an acronym for Jeff Rubinstein's Preferred Games. And I thought that was--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Preferred genre.

REBECCA GORDIUS: Preferred genre. Oh, that actually-- Wow. That works really well.

LARRY HYRB: So I'm kicking myself for not coming up with that, but I'm glad somebody did. But, anyway--

REBECCA GORDIUS: As soon as you said JR, I was like, oh, yeah.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: I put the JR in JRPG. What I should--

REBECCA GORDIUS: There you go.

[LAUGHS]

LARRY HYRB: Anyway, we'll talk about what we're playing this week. I'm going to start off, "Overwatch 2" once I could finally get into the games, I was playing some "Overwatch 2."

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Were you picking any of the new characters? Or going with some reliables?

LARRY HYRB: I was going back with the old reliables, and here's why. I haven't played it in so long. And I felt like I needed to kind of get back in it, because there is a new meta with the five characters. So I just felt like I needed some level of comfort. And so that was my level of comfort.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: I feel like the new characters, especially Junker Queen, kind of a high skill cap, you're not going to just go in there, and immediately have an-- you're going to go in there and die a lot is what I found. So nothing wrong with going in with those you know best, because they're all still in there.

I was using Kiriko, who is the most recently revealed at TGS during our briefing, the newest support character. And she feels a lot like if Genji was a healer, and same verticality. Instead of throwing shuriken, she throws kunai. I like the way she heals. So definitely a new character. I haven't figured out when to use her old yet, but-- we're just at the very beginning, we're in week one of "Overwatch 2." So I think we'll be learning a lot.

LARRY HYRB: Do you do you play a lot of "Overwatch" Rebecca?

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: I did not.

LARRY HYRB: You did not. Yeah, that's fine. Jeff and I, and Jeff, starter we played it a lot back in the day, and then a lot of other stuff came along. And here we are, but it's great to have "Overwatch 2" back. What else am I playing? Oh.

REBECCA GORDIUS: I feel like, correct me if I'm wrong, but when-- maybe I'm getting my timelines confused. I feel like "Overwatch" was really popular initially around the same time PUBG was really popular.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Give or take, yeah.

LARRY HYRB: They definitely overlapped--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: 2016 is when "Overwatch" first came out. And then "Overwatch League" started, wow, maybe two years. 2017? 2017, I want to say 2018.

REBECCA GORDIUS: I feel like at the time, all my friends kind of made an active decision to go "Overwatch" or PUBG. And me, and most of my friends went PUBG. And then at a certain point, I was kind of like, oh, I feel like I missed the train. And now here the train is like five years later. So, maybe I made the wrong choice.

LARRY HYRB: No, it's a new train. And there's-- look, jump back in, you could always learn. And I do love that about "Overwatch." They've got the training ground, and you can go in there and just play around with the different characters and really get comfortable. So I highly recommend it.

REBECCA GORDIUS: OK. What else were you playing? Sorry.

LARRY HYRB: That's OK. playing, what else? "Plague Tale: Requiem" which Jeff will do an interview later on about that. So I don't want to talk.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: We're under embargo. Don't say anything, Larry. We're going to get the whole show taken down.

LARRY HYRB: I can say this one time. I can say this one thing, that's all I can say, rats.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: I knew it. And you're not lying, but I don't think that's a spoiler.

LARRY HYRB: Yeah.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: So during the interview later on, we'll talk about basically everything we can talk about. But next week at this time, we'll be able to talk more significantly about the game. And there's a lot to talk about.

LARRY HYRB: So I must-- can I share a little bit of behind the scenes with that interview?

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: With the interview, yes. Again, don't break the embargo.

LARRY HYRB: So Jeff does the interview later on, as you'll hear, Rebecca, and everyone listening. And one of the frustrating parts is I asked the team, I said, hey, send me some gameplay. So when Jeff's doing the interview, because I actually engineer. And I rolled it all in.

But he starts talking about the rats. They send me nothing about the rats. So you have to wait, you have to wait until you play the game to come across the rats. I guess that's the big rat reveal.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: If you love rats, this is, unfortunately, not the episode for you. My mom is terrified of rats. And I'm like, she never even encounters rats. So she doesn't watch. She's not-- you have a much more invested mom, I feel like.

REBECCA GORDIUS: This is true.

LARRY HYRB: But I have a feeling based on what I know about where your mom lives, Jeff, she doesn't come across many. But maybe I'm wrong.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: I guess, yeah.

LARRY HYRB: Whereas Rebecca is living in an area where there--

REBECCA GORDIUS: I saw one yesterday.

LARRY HYRB: What's the story, Jeff, where you're always within 30 or 40 feet of a mouse or a rat in New York City?

REBECCA GORDIUS: I think it's way less than that. It's like 12 feet or something like that. No, I swear.

LARRY HYRB: I'm trying to help you out a little bit there, Rebecca.

REBECCA GORDIUS: That's nice, thank you.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: I read something that said Seattle has per capita more rats than New York. So.

LARRY HYRB: Good thing I don't live in Seattle.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: But I've never seen one dragging a slice of pizza behind or anything. We don't have the meme rats. You have much cooler rats in New York than we do. Trendy rats.

REBECCA GORDIUS: OK.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Eventually there'll be a rat here dragging a lobster roll, and we'll be like, we made it.

[LAUGHING]

LARRY HYRB: Exactly. It'll be dragging a little controller across the street.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: A dozen fresh oysters, it has to be very Seattle.

LARRY HYRB: That's what I'm playing. Rebecca, what have you been checking out this week in your time in New York?

REBECCA GORDIUS: Yeah, so I've still been playing "Grounded." I'm starting to get slightly discouraged because it is really hard to do anything at night. Because I think that--

LARRY HYRB: Yeah, sleep.

[LAUGHS]

REBECCA GORDIUS: Yeah, well, I know. Well, but I'm like, I want to keep going. I'm like, oh, I have my torch, I can keep exploring. Maybe I can stick my way behind--

LARRY HYRB: Did you get under the big tree where that wolf spider is, that Jeff and I ran up against?

REBECCA GORDIUS: I don't know if it was that one specifically.

LARRY HYRB: You would know.

REBECCA GORDIUS: I thought that I did die by a wolf spider. I've died by an orb weaver, and there was a spider. Because the orb weaver is the one that poisons you, right?

LARRY HYRB: They all.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: I believe so. And they have the little junior ones that come after you too.

REBECCA GORDIUS: Yeah, I'm pretty sure it said like I died from getting mauled by a wolf spider, at some point. But yeah, I went to show my roommate. And it was kind of evening. And I was like, oh, yeah like I'm walking around. I can like craft different things. I can harvest materials. Look, I can get water from this drop that's up at the top of this blade of grass.

All these cool things. And the night comes. And I'm like, oh, there's a spider over there. And she's like, why don't you go try to fight it? And I'm like, well, I've never fought a spider before. And then I just died immediately. And I was like, I'm going to play something else a little bit, but I still overall really like.

LARRY HYRB: Did you turn on arachnophobia mode where they become like little balls?

REBECCA GORDIUS: No. No, I haven't actually seen what the gameplay looks like with that. I'm not scared of spiders, I'm tired of dying.

LARRY HYRB: Well, here's a little tip. If you go into the game and you go into the settings, one of the settings is that mode, and they give you a little graphical representation. It'll show you go from the full spider, which is what we're all used to seeing, to basically, as you're ticking through the different options, right, Jeff? And it kind of goes down to--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: It's a white ball, but let me tell you, it kills you just as fast. So then you end up developing a second phobia of spherical--

[LAUGHS]

REBECCA GORDIUS: Fuzzy balls. You see lint, and you go, ah. Yeah, forget about watching tennis. Yeah.

[LAUGHING]

LARRY HYRB: OK, all right. While you're having fun with that, what about-- Oh, Jeff, I can see-- are you all set over there, Rebecca, by the way? Is that what you're playing this week? I'll go to Jeff because he's got what he's playing up all cued, ready to go. What do you got there?

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: What I was playing, "RIP" because the beta is over, but I was at a TwitchCon this weekend. And I noticed that a couple of booths over from where we were at, there was-- Capcom had set up a "Street Fighter" booth. Jessie was there. I remember, well, he's someone who used to work with us. And he was like, come on over here. You can play whatever you want. I was like, well, cool, I'm never leaving.

REBECCA GORDIUS: Oh, awesome.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: So I played a bunch, and then he was like, there's a beta or trial going on this weekend. And I was like, cool. I'm going home tomorrow. So set me up. And he did. And so I came home and got to play.

And let me tell you, you got to use the character creator because the mode that they had available was one where you're like in this arena. And you sit down at these seated arcade cabinets, which you see a lot in Japan, oftentimes like head-to-head. You would sit down and you could practice.

And then if someone else sat down, they could challenge you. And you could accept or not. And then when you lose, and you feel real salty about it, then you actually have to get up and walk away. And you feel really bad about yourself. Oh, that could happen. I'm just saying it could happen.

But the character creator is so full-featured but you can make some crazy stuff. And there were a number of stories out there. Like you could make Popeye, you could make someone with arms as skinny as mine, but giant forearms, or you could make some real monster factory abominations.

Yes, you could also make some really cool-looking-- because the level of options were just tremendous. So when the full game comes out next year, it'll be fun to really poke around that. I ended up making someone looking reasonably normal. But you should look and see.

LARRY HYRB: Wait a minute. It's 35 years old. Remember we were talking last week about all the games that are in--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: 1991, I want to say, was when the original "Street Fighter" came out. Something like that. And then shortly thereafter was "Street Fighter 2."

LARRY HYRB: The first game in the series was released in 1987 according to Wikipedia.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: "Street Fighter 2" then must have been 1991. And that was the one that most people played for the first time. So that's yeah, 35 years.

LARRY HYRB: Wow! Wow! "Street Fighter 6" coming up next year, that was Jeff's preview.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Yeah, anyway. So I came home, I played a ton of it. I didn't necessarily do all that well, the guy was in there and just learning all the new. "Street Fighter 6" is poised to be the best "Street Fighter" in a very long time. The high water mark for me used to be "Street Fighter 4" but there's just-- there's some really cool moves. It looks amazing. And I can't wait to just have those nights where someone comes over, you have a couple of drinks here, whatever you have, and then--

LARRY HYRB: Well, it's not someone, I know it's going to be your brother. I know exactly who's it's going to be.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: I beat my brother. Yeah, me, and a buddy of mine that used to be close friends of ours from San Francisco. So it might be like, you're either coming up here. I'm going down there for a weekend, Clem. And we'll end up just playing until like our hands need a break, which is how I like to play "Street Fighter." So I can't wait to do more of that.

LARRY HYRB: Fun. Good for you.

REBECCA GORDIUS: I'm looking at the website. I didn't realize Chun Li was still in "Street Fighter" or is she like retro add this year?

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: No. She's still there, Guile, Ken, Ryu, but they're older now. They actually--

REBECCA GORDIUS: That's cool.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: So they're the sort of the old guard, and then there's this new crop of folks. And there's folks that have been around like maybe in one game, like Juri, she was in "Street Fighter 4" only, I want to say. But now she's in this one. So a good mix. I think the total list has been revealed and the characters that are in there, I like who they've got.

REBECCA GORDIUS: Yeah, there's the character list on the website. It's pretty cool. Also it's really funny. It looks like the height and weight for everyone, and under Chun Li's, it says, weight, secret, with a little heart next to it.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: It's none of your business. It's none of your business.

LARRY HYRB: I'm looking at the "Street Fighter 2: Whac-a-Mole" game. I've never seen this in Japan. That looks cool.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Really?

LARRY HYRB: It's on the Wikipedia page, if you just scroll down.

REBECCA GORDIUS: I'm going to look that up. Wait, but how is how was TwitchCon? This was the first in-person TwitchCon since--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Yeah, a few years. 2019. Yeah, you went with me in 2018. We had a good time. So I don't know if you saw, but Megan Thee Stallion twerked on Master Chief, and really what more do you need to know?

LARRY HYRB: That was fun to read all those emails over the weekend.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: That was trending like worldwide. I mean, it happened. And I think that the world's probably a better place--

REBECCA GORDIUS: It's every little girl's dream to twerk to Master Chief someday.

[LAUGHING]

REBECCA GORDIUS: You think I'm joking, but--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: It's good to have goals.

REBECCA GORDIUS: Anyway.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Anyway. So yeah, it was really good getting to see folks in person. We did an event for--

LARRY HYRB: Where was it, Jeff.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: It's in San Diego.

LARRY HYRB: Ah, lovely San Diego.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Lovely San Diego. But it was also really cool, getting to meet folks, but then also some new creators that we have never engaged with.

LARRY HYRB: Did you go to that restaurant down there? What's that one you always tell me about?

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Is that the Crack Shack?

LARRY HYRB: That's the one.

[LAUGHS]

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: I did not have a chance to make it to the Crack. I don't think I was more than much like you're within 12 feet of a rat right now, Rebecca, I don't think I was more than 12 feet from the convention center at any given time. It was like hotel was right next to it--

LARRY HYRB: It was like Comic-con back in the day.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Yeah, long hours. And I don't think I got an Uber the whole time. It was like if I couldn't walk there, I didn't go. It was very busy, but it was really-- everyone there has a lot in common, like they either stream, or they watch streamers, they all love games. And it was just a really cool experience, and it was good to do these things in person again.

LARRY HYRB: Fantastic. Well that's good. Well, thank you for that. Welcome back. Hopefully, you met some good folks down there.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Indeed. Indeed.

LARRY HYRB: All right. Before anything else, I think we're getting in the news section, but first I teased earlier in the day, earlier in the week, Jeff. You know what I have?

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Oh, he's got the glut. Go full screen, Larry.

LARRY HYRB: Well, I got to put them on first, because I need you to get ready to kind of read along what we're going to have here. So here we go, you're ready?

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: All right, Larry, we're about to get surreal. Because what you've got is the Lunar Shift Special Edition Wireless Controller. We are so excited to introduce a new special edition controller to add to your personal collection.

The Xbox wireless controller Lunar Shift Special Edition is the second member of the Shift Series. We all know and love the Aqua Shift Special Edition Controller. This one is inspired by fantastical gaming worlds, and brings us to new heights beyond Earth's orbit. Note, you should not bring your controller into space.

Be among the first to experience the all new Lunar Shift Special Edition Controller, much like the awe inspiring aura of the moon. This controller shifts from silver to gold whenever the light hits it just right. Make it go just right, Larry.

LARRY HYRB: I'm trying.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: You're doing it. You're doing it.

LARRY HYRB: I'm trying.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Once we flip that thing over, we do see that it's got rubberized gray, and black swirl grips, with a mesmerizing pattern that makes each one unique by design. Did you notice that? Make sure while you're playing the game, you're not just staring at your controller because you will just get ruled in "Street Fighter" it will happen.

The texture grips on the triggers, bumpers, and back case, make sure that you stay connected to the game, no matter how intense things get. And of course, has all the different features that you would expect from an Xbox wireless controller, like a 3.5 stereo headset jack. It'll connect to your Xbox. It'll connect to your Windows 10 PC. It'll connect to your mobile devices with Bluetooth Low Energy when playing on the go. But we have high energy.

LARRY HYRB: Oh, hold on. Don't forget the USB-C.

REBECCA GORDIUS: High energy, oh yeah.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Yeah, like you do. And it's available today in select Xbox markets worldwide for 69.99 United States dollars. Now, Larry--

LARRY HYRB: This is great, isn't it?

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: But where are you going to put it down? It's not going to stand up like that. You can't hold it at all hours of the day.

LARRY HYRB: Wait a minute. How about this?

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: You know, I was looking for the best way to keep my Xbox controller at prime power levels, and ready to go with the perfect pairing for the new Razer Universal Quick Charging Stand for Xbox Lunar Shift Edition.

LARRY HYRB: Thank you.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: We've talked about that recently. Yep, the charge stand uses the same material and shares the same shimmery colors as the Lunar Shift Special Edition Wireless Controller--

LARRY HYRB: You ready?

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Why? You're just going to rip the box? No, Larry.

[LAUGHS]

REBECCA GORDIUS: Stop it. Stop it. Get rid of that one.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: That was the mineral camo, and I don't know if that camo will really work on the moon, because you'll stand out more if anything. Anyway, the Razer Universal Quick Charging Stand for Xbox Lunar Shift is available for purchase today at Razer for 49.99 USD, United States dollars, that is, and don't forget that it also includes a charging battery, and every time you sit it down it charges. So it's not just resting.

LARRY HYRB: Do you know what you have here? I have-- and this is not in the show notes, so I apologize.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: I don't know what you're going to show us here.

LARRY HYRB: But our good friends at Geek Made Designs.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: It's the wood that makes it good, Larry.

REBECCA GORDIUS: Oh, that's awesome.

LARRY HYRB: They have sent me. And if you don't know this, guys, they sent me an Elite controller charger. And what's interesting is, it's got this little area where you put the charging puck in, and it's got a little wire thing through the back here, and you basically put it on the charge.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: And every time it sits down, it charges.

LARRY HYRB: Yeah, and it's got a nice little thing--

REBECCA GORDIUS: That's really cool. So this is from our good friends at Geek Made Designs. I think there's somewhere here in the United States. They reached out to me, and I said, yeah. I've got one back here. You can kind see it right there on the other controller, but this one's a little more advanced. So, anyway.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Fits like a glove.

LARRY HYRB: If you're looking for something to hold your controllers, we got you covered. All right. That's all the gloves I have for this week, Jeff and Rebecca. What do you say-- Yes, go ahead. Go ahead, Rebecca.

REBECCA GORDIUS: No, I was just going to say, Jeff, you're way better at reading the descriptions and adding some color to that, like nicely done.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Oh, thank you. It's not a competition, Rebecca. But I appreciate the complement. We've got a little bit of news to get to before the interviews, Rebecca, do you want to talk about some of the stuff you're working on, or? Let's have you do that, if you don't mind.

REBECCA GORDIUS: Yeah, so news wise, we have "Minecraft Dungeons Season 3," that we just announced. Third season, game's been out for a couple of years. We've been fine tuning it, listening to the community. And we're going to be installing, or installing, multiplayer in the tower, which is that--

What do we call that? Where it's kind of a horde mode? Where it just progressively gets harder and harder, and you can't finish it and you get like, better rewards? Horde mode, yeah. But so the tower has up until this point been single player, but now it's going to be-- you can do co-op, you can split the rewards with your friends. It's really cool.

There's a new treetop jungle layer. But then also within Season 3 is the Fauna Fair. So we're going to be releasing a lot of new content that's kind of themed around pets, great. There, you can see it. So everyone loves pets. So we have different skins like pets themselves, and different items--

LARRY HYRB: Is that a sheep? What is that?

REBECCA GORDIUS: That's a chicken skin for yourself.

LARRY HYRB: Oh, yeah, of course.

REBECCA GORDIUS: Yeah, which sounds kinda funny when you say it that way. Chicken skin, sounds yummy. But yeah, just different like pets and animals. Think red and fair, but less renaissance, and more petting zoo.

[LAUGHS]

But anyway, "Season 3 Minecraft Dungeons" comes up next week, on October 19. But then my team has also been very busy. We have Minecraft Live, which is going to be airing tomorrow, Saturday, October 15, starts at 8:30 AM Pacific time. It's available on Minecraft's YouTube, Twitch. We have a lot of creators that are going to be co-streaming. Yes?

LARRY HYRB: No, no, I just wanted to add that the show, we're posting the show, we usually post on Friday, which we still. So you're not going to hear any spoilers, you're not going to get any scoops here, because--

REBECCA GORDIUS: Yes, sorry. So we'll cover everything next week, but tune in to my Minecon tomorrow, depending upon when you're listening to the show.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Vote for the mob.

LARRY HYRB: Yeah, vote for the mob.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: In game, right?

REBECCA GORDIUS: Yes, it's very cool. Finally, everyone's been asking for us to move the vote away from Twitter, and into the game, which we are now doing. So you can vote in-game through the Minecraft Launcher. You can vote on minecraft.net It's just more accessible. It's easier for kids or people who aren't on Twitter to vote. So very exciting. The mob vote is always a very contentious topic. It tends to trend. So very excited to see how that goes on Saturday.

LARRY HYRB: All right, I'll vote.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: You know what I like about this new update for "Minecraft Dungeons" is this enchant smite. So you can basically reroll the abilities. So when you have weapons, there's all different types of weapons. And of course, there's that strength stat or that attack stat. But then you can contribute points into like their secondary properties.

And sometimes you get one, you love the secondary properties. But then it becomes too weak over time. And you end up having to drop it. But now if you can reroll one. So let's say you get a really powerful weapon, and you love it, you could do things to like-- maybe you don't love their secondary properties, you'll be able to try to get better ones. So--

LARRY HYRB: Thank you.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: --i like that. I like it.

REBECCA GORDIUS: Very cool.

LARRY HYRB: Thank you for the "Minecraft" news. But Rebecca, we're going to lean on you next week after Minecon to really give us everything that's going to be announced. So hopefully, folks are going to enjoy that. Jeff, I know you've got a little bit of news to cover over there.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Sure.

LARRY HYRB: What do you got?

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Let's talk about the cloud. Let's talk about Cloud Gaming. It's available on so many different places. You can stream on your PC, you can stream on your phone, your tablet. You can stream even on your console, so you can start to play things without downloading. My brother was-- your Logitech G Cloud right there.

Well Cloud Gaming comes to yet another venue, I guess you could say, with the updated Xbox app. Xbox Cloud Gaming is now available on Windows PCs that are running ARM64. So there was new service devices that were announced today.

LARRY HYRB: And those we'll talk about later on in the show.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: That's great. So yeah, ARM devices as you know, you tend to see they have really long battery life. Oftentimes, they have a cell connection, so that you're connected anywhere, even without Wi-Fi. And now you'll be able to stream games to those places. So also Google Chromebooks were recently added.

So, again, wherever you go, your games get to come with you. xbox.com/play.

LARRY HYRB: Yep. That's good to know, awesome.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: And then let us talk about some games that are out this week. So we're in the silly season. A lot of things coming out. It's a big sports week. So "PGA TOUR 2K 23" is out now. There's some really cool stuff in terms of the creative player.

LARRY HYRB: I'm ready.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Oh, for the first time, you can play as male. Oh, look at you with the putter, he's putting for dough. Do you always just have a putter sitting right there. No, I actually--

[LAUGHS]

I actually had to do a video for this team. And so I was shooting it before we started recording today, so--

LARRY HYRB: I have lots of props in this room, trust me.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: I can imagine. I wouldn't know, I've never been invited over, coming up on a nine-year anniversary of not being invited--

LARRY HYRB: We should fix that.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Only you can fix that, Larry. "NHL 23" also available optimized for Xbox Series X and S. So Happy Canadian Thanksgiving, by the way, to those of you who celebrate. Not sure why-- oh, yeah, because there's Canadians on the front cover.

Also "Scorn" this is one of the very first games that was ever shown for Xbox Series X and S. We talked about this last week as being not lovecraftian, but HR gigeresque. Yes. So available now with Game Pass, super gross, but on purpose.

REBECCA GORDIUS: When you want that in HD, yeah.

[LAUGHS]

LARRY HYRB: Now even grosser.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: It's just the sounds. It's just the sounds, they're just so slippery and slimy.

LARRY HYRB: Hey, let's just be aware that she's got rats within 20 feet of her, OK.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: I thought it was 12, but hey, they're moving away. You're doing a great job. A couple other things I want to talk about real quickly. "The Last Aura Crew" this was a game that I got to try out at Pax. That is available right now as well, an interesting game in terms of imagine it's not a "Souls" like, but there is some similar-- if you looked at it real quickly you might think you were playing a "Dark Souls" but imagine playing that in split screen co-op, and also from different perspectives.

So there's some really cool stuff happening there. We've got a blog post going up on Xbox Wire. It's also-- actually we were talking about anniversary "Street Fighter" it's the 30th anniversary of "Mortal Kombat" as well this week.

LARRY HYRB: We should get [INAUDIBLE] on.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Yes, we should. A friend of the show, would be the first time. And also we learned a little bit more this week about "Wild Hearts" which is a hunting game. It's a new IP that will be coming out, I want to say next year. So a lot of fun stuff. And then, we're going to get to play next week, I'm very much looking forward to something we're going to be talking about here in just a minute. And that is "Plague Tale."

LARRY HYRB: Yes. Rats. Should we go, why don't we go into those interviews. Rebecca, do you could bring us into those interviews.

REBECCA GORDIUS: Yes, great transition. So we have Jeff chatting with Kevin Pinson, who is the lead level designer at Asobo, working on "Plague Tale: Requiem." and Larry had a good chat with Panos Panay on the Surface team. So let's take a look.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Well, a couple months ago, we did talk to Kevin Choteau, the game director of "A Plague Tale: Requiem," And now that we are very close to release, we're happy to welcome Kevin Pinson, the lead level designer. Kevin, how is everyone at Asobo feeling with just a few days to release.

KEVIN PINSON: Well, we're pretty excited. We can't wait for the players to have their hands on the final product. And we can't wait to have their feedback. So, yeah, we're pretty excited.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: I'm pretty excited to speak with you, because there's a meme or a cliche about escort missions being the worst, but "Plague Tale" in many ways, is a giant escort mission. And yet, it's awesome. So I'm curious, how do you break that meme, and make the idea of bringing a defenseless or a largely defenseless person with you, but make it great?

KEVIN PINSON: So it was one of the first pillars of "A Plague Tale" in the sense, and we try our best to make it also in "Requiem." So you're talking about escort, we didn't think about it like an escort. It's more like the relationship between one sister and the little brother. So we wanted to really emphasize on this relationship. And how we build, how we created, sometimes it can be destroyed.

It's a thin line between having them work together, and be opposed to each other. And so this is how we think that-- this is the story that we wanted to tell. And their relationship is the main goal, basically, of what we are trying to say in the game.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Yeah, clearly a motivator for the two of them to move forward. So I'm playing the game right now. A lot of things I cannot talk about. Like in the first game, I can, in a sense, there's plenty of running away, but, Amicia, she's got her trusty sling.

As we saw in that last shot, there's a crossbow. You all released a video about the crossbow this week. And she's more dangerous and more capable than ever. So I'm just curious how you think about the design of the world, to be suitable for both battle, and not just for running and hiding and escaping.

KEVIN PINSON: Yeah, so one of the main thing that we wanted to try in "Requiem" was to give more freedom to the player in the way he can express himself when he plays. So Amicia, in the first game, she was trying to survive. And now in "Requiem," she has more tools for her. Like she had the events of the first game that allows her to be more open to combat because she faced it in the first game.

And so the adversity will also inform how the player will play, and how Amicia will react. And so we are trying always to make sure that the player feels like is really in survival state. And it's not like full power, or full-on, the adversity will always face Amicia, and remind the player that he has to be careful.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Yeah, so in that area that we just saw, was a big red area, you've got the crossbow, you've got someone to care for here, with Hugo. But there's a lot of options. You look through, and there's a lot of different ways that you can go. I felt maybe more in the first game, there was kind of a right way to do things.

And here we're looking Amicia can could go up to the left. She could probably make her way through. I see areas where there's cover. So how did you think about things in terms of just making more options, and leaning into that freedom that you were talking about?

KEVIN PINSON: Yeah, you're right. We're still a small team, but in a sense, we were 40 people. And so we were mainly focusing on the story that we wanted to tell. And of course, we wanted to do bigger, to do like open areas like that. But we didn't have the time, nor the budget. So we made our best.

So the first game was fairly linear from the start to the end. And so one of the first wish that we wanted to do, and to make as level designers were those open areas that you can see. And what we wanted to do is also, regarding the tools, any ammunition can be combined with any tools that you have. So the sling can be combined with any ammunition, the crossbow that you can see can be combined with any ammunition.

And so it opened a lot of freedom for the player to experiment. And it was also one of the biggest challenge, because when you do linear games, you tend to every possibilities for the player. And so those were really challenging for us as level designers, to make sure that each path you take, each tool that you can use, will provide the same experiences for the player. Not the same in terms of what you're doing, but the same quality of the experience.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Yeah. Just playing through like I said, it was still at embargo, but talking to Major Nelson and as I'm playing, wait, you did what in that area? So it's just really cool. And I can say even early on really feeling that additional freedom. So we can't talk about "A Plague Tale" without talking about rats. They generally play a huge role as a puzzle element. You have a rat on your shirt, it's almost cute, but I've seen things and I can never trust again.

But they play a huge role as puzzle elements. So what did you learn from the first game where you really wanted to lean in? I know there's many more rats that you have at your disposal here with next gen technology. So what did you learn for the first game that you're applying here to make things even bigger, more challenging, more disgusting?

KEVIN PINSON: So first, one of the main thing that we wanted to progress regarding the rats, was the feeling of you never say never, never. So in "Requiem" they chase you, they can climb, they can follow you, they can jump down from ledges. And so it was always about the feeling of safety being taken from you basically.

And so also, we have the new skills from Hugo. Like he still has the connection with the rats. And so we saw in different trailers that you can take really possession of the horde, and move with it. And so every rule that is true with the rats in the game, will be true with the possession of the rats. And this is one something that we wanted also, is like to make sure that you don't have special cases. And so everything is systemic from this point of view. And like I said, the rats can follow you everywhere-- everywhere.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: It's a wonderful feeling. So I try to avoid spoilers here, but as the lead level designer, are there are any sequences or levels or areas that you're particularly proud of? If you need to use more generic hints, that's OK, too. But I just want to know if there's something you're like, I can't wait till everybody gets to do this.

KEVIN PINSON: So there will be two things, two major things. The first one we already talked about, it's the more open areas. Because it was a big challenge and something that we have been wanting to do for a long time. So I hope player will receive it well. And the second, I won't go into too much details, but you probably have seen in different trailers, but big action sequences that you can see with lots and lots and lots of rats.

We developed special technology for that. And I can't wait for the player to really experiment themselves in those action sequences. And yeah, it was one of the most challenging things I've ever done and with my team. So I hope it will be pretty good for everybody.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Well, the good news is for you, you won't have to wait too long for people to see it. And the great news for us, is we don't have to wait too long to play it. It is "A Plague Tale: Requiem." Out next week that is October 18. And it's coming to Game Pass. So we all have a great opportunity to play it. So I want to thank you once again, Kevin Pinson, for joining us. And to everyone at Asobo, congrats on almost launch. We can't wait to see what you do next.

LARRY HYRB: As promised, here we are in the studio with Panos Panay, Windows Surface news this week.

PANOS PANAY: When did you make these promises, when you say, as promised?

LARRY HYRB: Well, earlier in the show, because this is part of the middle of the show. So--

PANOS PANAY: Tell me when you promised. Tell me when you promised.

LARRY HYRB: But it's great to see you. We did this last year.

PANOS PANAY: We did.

LARRY HYRB: We did this last year. We talked about Windows and Surface. Again, here it is, fall, you've got some Windows news, some Surface news. I figured I'd get you on to talk about-- you want to start with Surface first?

PANOS PANAY: Yeah, of course.

LARRY HYRB: First of all, congratulations. Surface passed a huge milestone.

PANOS PANAY: So 10 years. 10 years.

LARRY HYRB: Yeah.

[LAUGHS]

That's amazing.

PANOS PANAY: Yeah, it shows. It shows. Like in the gray, it shows.

LARRY HYRB: Well, this has been such a journey for Surface, because it's the 10-year anniversary this year. I remember, I vividly remember the announcement. I wasn't there. But you were skateboarding on one of them, if I remember correctly.

PANOS PANAY: Yeah, that was Mr. Sinofsky was skateboarding. Steve was skateboarding, we were like, please, don't. Wait. There's a battery. There's a battery in that thing. But he was so confident. It's so funny, because it's like the core of Surface, part of it was quality, reliability. And back then, and today, like, you got to work to break a Surface. You got to work hard. And there was so much confidence--

LARRY HYRB: And fell.

[LAUGHING]

PANOS PANAY: When they throw those things down, I got to tell you, I love it. I know I get in trouble, because--

LARRY HYRB: I was just talking to somebody this morning about it because I'm from New England. And now that Tom Brady and just apparently, he's always throwing in the sidelines, but those things keep coming back. They take a licking, don't they?

PANOS PANAY: Those things are reliable. They're reliable products. They are made for push the boundaries. There's cases that we make for the NFL, mainly because of the environmental conditions. Snow, rain, I mean, the heat. There's some stuff that, the elements around the NFL are pretty impressive.

And then you have the players and use. And so, yeah, it's fun to see it on the sideline, though I have to tell you. And I think it's been most of our journey. It's been most of the Surface journey has been on the NFL sideline. And so those 10 years have been-- they're pretty awesome. It's proud to see it for sure.

LARRY HYRB: Bring it back to gaming, I love like tuning into "Madden." And I see them on the "Madden" sidelines when I'm playing.

PANOS PANAY: Isn't that cool? I know. By the way, I used to be pretty damn good at "Madden."

LARRY HYRB: What happened?

PANOS PANAY: I don't know, something about work.

LARRY HYRB: I'll tell you what happened. I'll tell you what happened, because--

PANOS PANAY: Controller got complicated.

LARRY HYRB: No, I've seen this a million times. When you become a vice president at Microsoft, you don't have any time anymore.

PANOS PANAY: Yeah-- yeah--

LARRY HYRB: Well, first, I'm glad you're spending time on the Surface line, because as I said, without it, it would be a different conversation. Now but 10 years on, you've got recently some great announcements. One thing I loved about-- we'll talk about announcements in a second. One thing I loved about Surface is seriously from day one, it's been about the hinge. Right?

PANOS PANAY: That's interesting, yeah.

LARRY HYRB: I remember I was talking with a friend of ours, and I was like, he's always about the hinges. And no, this is my Surface Duo. But the hinges are really critical, because on all the product, many of the products, they really just put the screen at the right level for you.

PANOS PANAY: That's funny. You say hinges, there's so much detail and engineering in those hinges. And there's so much detail in design. I think we take a lot of pride in the invention of a hinge, or taking it to the next level.

LARRY HYRB: Or sometimes the reinvention of a hinge. For sure, you can think about Studio folding down, you can think about the Surface Laptop Studio Duo, the kickstand, in all cases, there are two things. There's incredible engineering behind that hinge, and then there's a user experience that's transforming because it's there.

PANOS PANAY: so think Surface Studio you're pulling it towards you, Surface Duo you're opening a book, or closing it or folding it backwards, or you're using it now, Surface Pro, you're moving from tablet to laptop, and then you're able to use it on your lap in different ways. So it's generally that hinge is creating an opportunity for a new experience that you're about to get into. And the goal is, hey, look, we never want to stop you from creating. We never want to stop you from succeeding in the task that you're going after, or even just getting the information you want.

And if the take hinge, and then switch that to product, and then switch that to product adapting to the user, it's funny how the hinge creates that adaptation. And so in so many cases, it's funny, we're known for hinges, for sure. I hear it, I hear it. Like, so you love hinges? I'm like, it's not that I love hinges, but I love the product transforming itself to what the user needs.

And it turns out we got some pretty kick-ass mechanical engineers. Tooling engineers, fundamentally like reliability engineers, who understand how these things have to last, how they have to live through all conditions. And those are design points from the beginning of most programs. And then it shows up in moments like these.

LARRY HYRB: We talked about 10-year Surface, but this week you've had some Surface announcements, kind of a refresh of some of the line, that's got to feel good to go through that, and see some of the reception.

PANOS PANAY: The energy's palpable, it's rad. And I get energy because the team, specifically, they put so much, dude, they put so much into it. Their soul, like every part of who they are is part of that product. I always say products are a reflection of the people that make them, and people they use them. And you can feel it.

And so when you launch products like this, where the performance just skyrockets, the opportunity of integration of software and hardware, those seams are gone. You have Windows 11 coming to life, updated, even for gamers, in that sense, like how excited many gamers are, you go, OK. You have a pretty good feeling, you feel good about it.

LARRY HYRB: So let's talk about that--

PANOS PANAY: Because we're also worried. Also like, oh, I hope you love it. It's like anything. It's like any-- I hope you love it--

LARRY HYRB: Any new product.

PANOS PANAY: Hope you love it. I hope you love it. I believe you will, but that's different than the other side of it. Like do you? And because it is a reflection of the people that are put so much into it.

LARRY HYRB: With the Surface side, you live at this the apex of the hardware. So you look down one side, and you see hardware and on the other side, Windows. One of the largest computing platforms on the planet.

PANOS PANAY: Yeah, that's humbling, for sure.

LARRY HYRB: And Surface really is a manifestation of this great experience between hardware and software. When you look at Windows, which is such an amazing footprint, we've got Windows 11 has this great update this year around gaming. Tell us a little bit about some of the updates for gaming.

PANOS PANAY: There's a ton going on. And I think my favorite customer is gamers.

LARRY HYRB: Really?

PANOS PANAY: Yeah, and for two reasons. One, I always want to be something I'm not. I think almost a lot of people do. And when I see Twitch gaming, and I see just the depth of how much can be accomplished through gaming, it's inspiring. Like Phil inspires me, just listening to him talk about how well he knows his fan base, customers, what they need.

And then the other half of it is they are for sure the most vocal. And I love it. Don't get me wrong, it's hard sometimes. But if you want to if you want to squeeze every ounce of performance, or every ounce of frame rate out of a product, just listen to your customer on this one. It's not always the case.

Let me help you be more productive. People are like, I'm not sure what being productive means. You definitely know what gaming means. And so you can really get to the nuts and bolts of what are the millimeters and ounces, if you will, from an analogy standpoint, that need to be refined in the product? And you get that.

And so I think this here you see it. Like our graphics improvements for many, I don't know that you could see it, but if you are moving to DX12 or you understand latency, or auto HDR, the details in auto HDR, and how they come to life, the variable refresh rates that are on the product now, all of these are updates, that are core engineering team goes, every ounce, every millimeter, gaming on Windows is so important to our customer base.

And you start to see it. We're seeing improvements we see Steam engagement on Windows 11. You start seeing the elation when people start getting into it. We have the HDR calibration app now, where if you're a hardcore gamer, get into it, do what you want to do. You start seeing the impact through the voice of the customer, in this case, go to gamers, and then you hear it.

Now we also hear when they don't have enough. I think the number one feedback I get from gamers, is can you make a Surface gaming laptop? And don't ask me. I won't get into that. But like you hear it, and you're like, come on--

LARRY HYRB: Well, wait a minute.

PANOS PANAY: --take it to the next level. And then you go but look at the gaming machines out there. And it's pretty exciting.

LARRY HYRB: But the great thing about now with Game Pass and game streaming, you can really turn any Surface kind of into a gaming laptop.

PANOS PANAY: For sure, there's so much good choice in the gaming world right now. And whether it's Alienware, or Omen, or Legion, and you really want to get after it, or you're just your focus on the graphics cards that you want to get in your hand building the machine, which we see so much of, which--

LARRY HYRB: Do you still build machines?

PANOS PANAY: I do, I can get super into it. I'm not sure like at a level that's like--

LARRY HYRB: Well, the reason I ask is because, this summer, my neighborhood kids, a bunch of 10 and 12-year-old kids want to learn how to build a PC. So I did that for two weeks--

PANOS PANAY: Was it fun?

LARRY HYRB: It was a blast because--

PANOS PANAY: It's really hard to mess it up now too, if you figure that out.

LARRY HYRB: Over two weeks, every night, I brought them into the garage. And we were building it. And I was showing the different parts, because at the end of the day, whether it's a mobile device or a supercomputer, they're all basically the same. It has the same general components.

And of course, that moment came where we booted it up. And it didn't work.

PANOS PANAY: Oh no, what happened?

LARRY HYRB: Well, we forgot to seek something. So we went back, so I showed them how to troubleshoot, an important part of the process. But anyway, getting back to it, it was just a real great moment to get back to that.

PANOS PANAY: Yeah, I'm glad you had a good time. Look, we see a little revival on system builder. Like people wanting to build their own PCs, gaming, especially, like you see a lot of it. I just like being a kid again. And so for me, that's just fun.

LARRY HYRB: What are you playing? You talked about "Madden," but what are you playing?

PANOS PANAY: I'm not gaming as much as I could, I always feel I could do more. I have not. I told you this last year, it's still true. I play "Fortnite." And I thought--

LARRY HYRB: How do you feel about no-build mode?

PANOS PANAY: OK, here's the deal. I thought for sure, and tell me if anyone feels this, like OK. I get the real-- like the super gamer-- like the super-true gamer-- you'll just judge me, I get it, but let me just-- for the person who comes in and out of-- like I need to get away. It is my way.

At night, I sit. And it's one way to connect with my daughters as well. And no-build mode came out. And I'm like, this is it.

[LAUGHING]

I'm going to be so fricking good now. Nothing. I mean, these champions that just like, [INAUDIBLE] boom! I'm like what happened? Like how are they so high, and why am I dead?

LARRY HYRB: Exactly.

PANOS PANAY: And now I'm thinking it's over. I take away the greatest asset that my enemies had in these games.

LARRY HYRB: The playing field is leveled.

PANOS PANAY: Leveled. Perfectly leveled. So I get into game mode, no build. And I didn't actually know it was no-build, the first time I did it, but then once I realized something was wrong, I hadn't read anything. And my daughters explained it, I'm like, OK, so this is it. I'm so excited.

So I was playing again with a better mindset. I get in and I swear. I got worse.

LARRY HYRB: No. OK.

PANOS PANAY: I got worse.

LARRY HYRB: There's plenty of opportunity.

PANOS PANAY: No I don't understand what happened. I was sure that my gameplay was weak because I couldn't build. But I still love the game. I got to be honest. But I don't play much more than that anymore. I used to play "Madden" with my son quite a bit. And then he's off to college, we don't do it anymore.

LARRY HYRB: You can do it over Xbox though.

PANOS PANAY: We could, it's just hard to coordinate with a 21-year-old.

LARRY HYRB: Do I go on a date tonight? Or do I go out with my friends, or do I hang out my dad, right?

PANOS PANAY: He called me this morning, he said the launch was cool.

LARRY HYRB: There you go.

PANOS PANAY: Yeah, that was a big deal, as a dad. That was a big deal. He called, dad, that was awesome. Oh, rad.

LARRY HYRB: So what you should do is you should add Phil to your friends list, because he and I are usually playing a game like once or twice a week. He's always-- as you said, he's always online.

PANOS PANAY: He plays everything, though.

LARRY HYRB: Everything.

PANOS PANAY: Like he plays everything.

LARRY HYRB: Yeah. He's an expert. That's what he does.

PANOS PANAY: I don't have the patience to learn something new.

LARRY HYRB: He'll go in, and we've played some games with Phil, where he's like, I don't really understand this, OK, I get it now. But you can--

PANOS PANAY: I think Phil plays during meetings.

LARRY HYRB: Well, I can't confirm or deny that. You should talk to Softie to about that.

[LAUGHS]

PANOS PANAY: I think he admitted it once. I think he plays games during meetings. I haven't caught him. I haven't caught him. But now that we're virtual, sometimes, I just look at the screen, I'm thinking, Phil, are you playing?

LARRY HYRB: Are you are you looking at me, or are you--

PANOS PANAY: What are you doing right now? Yeah.

LARRY HYRB: You talked about playing, certainly, you've got-- talked about some of the technologies that are now available with the latest Windows 11 update. Those are some things that we've had on Xbox for the Xbox Series X and S for a few years. It's interesting to see how the technology like variable refresh rate now, or the direct storage. So we kind of pioneered it on that side.

PANOS PANAY: For sure. And remember, like the platform engineering is just brilliant in the sense that it is wherever it's developed, you want to be able to bring it across. And in the sense of take some security features, really, direct storage is a perfect example. Pushing HDR, like they are just elements that gamers need. It doesn't matter what platform they're on.

And so being able to bring it across over to Windows, it's a lot of work. It's not like free just wake up, and you're like, hey, put it over there.

LARRY HYRB: Copy, paste.

PANOS PANAY: But you see that domain knowledge, the understanding come across, and these are gaming-- these developers are gamers themselves. These are gamers building platform for gamers. And you when you start using the product, you really do get a sense for it. And when I game on the PC, again, it's one game. And it's a way to solve for three of us, because two on the Xbox. And then one of us on a PC. And I use different PCs actually. I don't use Surface when I'm playing it. I'm usually using a Dell machine, or an HP machine, or a Lenovo machine, and I have all three and they're rad.

And it just depends on what my daughters love, some of the lights. So I'll game on it, and I use my Xbox controller, and I don't know if you saw this, but the controller bar is now coming to Windows 11 as well.

LARRY HYRB: Right, let's talk about that. That's really a great feature.

PANOS PANAY: Yeah, so like I realized I'm not a mouse keyboard gamer. I don't have the skills. I grew up with a Nintendo--

LARRY HYRB: You know that's a very divisive discussion in the community.

PANOS PANAY: I get it. Don't worry. I'm not trying to create some like uproar, that's not my-- oh, god, I'm sorry, I'm not choosing sides. I respect both sides. I'm an input device person. I started at this company doing mice and keyboards. I don't know if anyone remembers the SideWinder brand.

LARRY HYRB: Yeah, with that crazy green and black.

PANOS PANAY: One of my kids, if you will. And then we designed a mouse with Razer called Habu, at one point. So the input devices I love, both mouse and keyboard. But I'm not great with it. As a matter of fact, I'm just not. Because I grew up with Nintendo 64, and then bleed into Xbox, and through the generations, I've had a controller in my hand.

And so now when I game on the PC, once you sync an Xbox controller, you hit the Xbox button. And what you would expect to happen happens. So that scene between hardware and software should come to life for people. And because PC game passes there, and the opportunity to just jump into any game, and get into it, this is what my daughter does. You hit the bar, you got your controller. And you get out--

LARRY HYRB: And sometimes, frankly, you can either install it or just play it over the cloud, almost immediately.

PANOS PANAY: Immediately. The Cloud Gaming is something that blows my mind. I mean, the team, it's real. And the extension into the cloud from the PC is reality. And if you watch the announced today, we're hinting a lot at it, but ultimately, what do we do on the edge, what do you do in the cloud, and how do you extend that performance from the PC to the cloud, that's reality. I love it, because the team and I sat down, we say, it's limitless power. Limitless. And so the better that, as that latency not only continues to improve, but gets to flawlessness, now you're in this incredible place.

LARRY HYRB: We talked about, and we've got to wrap it up soon, because I know you've got a lot of stuff to do. But we talked about update to the Surface line that you have this week, and some of the new accessibility products which look amazing. And I'll link off to the blog post.

PANOS PANAY: Can you do that? You should. Let me just-- can I just put a nod in really quick?

LARRY HYRB: Yeah, of course.

PANOS PANAY: Because for all of us, you want to make a difference in this world, we need to design these products for everybody. I want everybody using the products. Everybody is a broad word, but it is. There was a headline after Windows 11 2022 update launched, and it was Windows has something for everyone. I'll tell you what? Building a product for everyone is like--

LARRY HYRB: That's daunting.

PANOS PANAY: It's humbling. And there's a lot of feedback globally, 190 plus countries. Like you're talking about, you're going to get input, you're going to get people who love it, people who want you to make things better, and so forth. But the one thing that holds true across all that, is we want to make it for everybody. And accessibility is critical to that.

So now the accessibility features in Windows 11, whether it's transcription, translation, voice assist in general, being able to get to the features quicker, there's so much there that comes to life that we think about for everyone. And now we have the input device to complement it because this is now what we, gamers, understand better than everybody.

The software and hardware need to be simpatico-- like these things need to be perfect. And it's true in the world of any input device for any human. And so the new accessibility link off to it, show people, take a look, just take a minute, and take a look at them.

LARRY HYRB: One of them looks a little the old Atari joystick.

PANOS PANAY: It's funny, what is a joystick? It is a joystick. And you will see people using navigating joystick with different parts of their body, depending on dexterity. These are real scenarios, and it makes a difference in people's lives. And I know one thing, and I see it on your show, and in general, like, you care. So just share it. It's worth it.

LARRY HYRB: I'll absolutely do that. But we talked about Surface. And we talked about, for those folks that don't have or don't need a Surface, they've got Windows. They've got this great update that's available. We talked about a lot of these different things. There's a bunch of other things in there as well. And, again, I'll link off to your great blog post. You talk, if you have an iPhone, you can get your photos on there.

PANOS PANAY: Yeah, we're doing a lot there too. So the integration of iPhone, Android phone, we know right now, like one of the connection points that people need is I have a phone in my pocket. Of course, I have a Duo, but this is an Android phone at the end of the day. And how well does it connect to the PC? What does it do? How does it make it simpler? How do I get my photos? How do I do my messaging? We're bringing that across all platforms.

But there's also, like on the product now, the perf in Windows that comes to these machines, taking that update, you'll see the difference, that matters. And then you have features like snap assist, which are just game changing for just how to get something done. Or if you're gaming and working at the same time--

LARRY HYRB: Like Phil's doing.

PANOS PANAY: Not that I'm saying anyone does that. I am not encouraging it, I'm just like you could. And you can do it in four corners, like you do what you want. But I think there's a lot to be had there, in taking that update, being able to be more productive, the apps that are coming through the store right now are better than ever. There's just a ton of energy right now on the product that--

LARRY HYRB: Can I give a call out, one of my favorite apps that we have now?

PANOS PANAY: Tell me.

LARRY HYRB: Clipchamp.

PANOS PANAY: Clipchamp's rad.

LARRY HYRB: Clipchamp, if you haven't checked it out on Windows--

PANOS PANAY: Cliffchamps incredible. So it launched with Windows 11 this latest update. And I've got some accounts out there that I don't talk about. But you've got to go edit these videos and you got to land them. And I can't do it on my phone.

LARRY HYRB: You can do certain things on your phone, but you want that high-def experience.

PANOS PANAY: A lot of people can. I use I use Splice on my phone. And I do what I can, but fundamentally, now that I can sit down at my PC, and edit on Clipchamp. And then I can bring my photos and videos over so easy now. So like--

LARRY HYRB: There's all those templates that make me look good, right?

PANOS PANAY: Now I start looking better, it's a pretty big deal.

LARRY HYRB: Anyway. Listen, I got to let you go. Really appreciate you, Panos. It's always great to have you in here. I feel like I should get you in here more than once a year though.

PANOS PANAY: Just tell me when you want me to come. I'll just hang out. We'll talk for a little bit. We'll talk games, and have some fun.

LARRY HYRB: Appreciate it. So check out the blog post. I'll link off to it in the notes. Panos, great blog post about all the service updates, Windows, the accessibility things we talked about, and some of the--

PANOS PANAY: Check it out. Check it out. There's some cool stuff happening today.

LARRY HYRB: Great Windows news. Great Surface news. Great accessibility news. Something, as you said, something for everybody. Thank you, Panos.

PANOS PANAY: You bet. It's a good time.

REBECCA GORDIUS: Thank you to Panos, Kevin, and Larry, and Jeff, for those interviews. I'm excited to hear more about "A Plague Tale: Requiem" next week. Hopefully, no more rat jokes.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Are you? Are you? Are you though?

REBECCA GORDIUS: Yeah.

LARRY HYRB: Anyway. Yeah, thanks, Jeff, for doing that interview. It's always good to have Panos on the show. We've got, in fact, next week, "Minecraft," maybe Rebecca, maybe we can work on getting somebody from the "Minecraft" on the team. I know that they're real busy focused right now, but we'll work on that. So they can deliver the news and you guys can talk about that. So we've got some fun stuff.

REBECCA GORDIUS: That would be lovely. If not, it'll just be a whole lot of me talking.

LARRY HYRB: Well, no.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: You're good at that.

LARRY HYRB: Yeah, you're quite good at that. Thank you.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: If you could do that while you're scrolling through what you've eaten in the past week, that will be like-- we'll hit the intersection of what people are looking for out of this podcast.

REBECCA GORDIUS: We'll add the, what we've been eating to what we're playing section.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: Kind of like it.

LARRY HYRB: OK. All right.

REBECCA GORDIUS: Sorry, Larry.

LARRY HYRB: No that's fine, that's fine. Isn't there an app for that, I can download it, so we can just share what I'm eating, or what you're eating, and what everybody's eating? Pickings are slim over here on the East side, but not over where you are Jeff, and certainly not where you are--

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: There's great stuff where you're at, Larry. You just have to broaden your horizons.

LARRY HYRB: You know I love my Mediterranean food.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: That's true.

LARRY HYRB: That's a good place. Anyway, thank you gang for this for joining us this week. And especially you, the listener, viewer, if you're viewing this on Spotify or YouTube, thank you there. Make sure you rate us over there. Whatever platform you're listening to this on, make sure you hit that ratings button, and subscribing, and liking, and thumbs up, or whatever mechanism they use. We're just happy to have you. So Jeff and Rebecca, you'll join me next week?

REBECCA GORDIUS: Yes.

JEFF RUBENSTEIN: OK.

REBECCA GORDIUS: Won't miss it. OK.

[LAUGHS]