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Larry Hryb: (music) Welcome to Show #574. My name's Larry Hyrb, X-Box Live's Major Nelson. Uh, we, we're back in the studio today recording the show-
Laura Massey: Finally back!
Larry Hryb: Finally back. That's the voice of, uh, Laura Massey.
Laura Massey: Hello.
Larry Hryb: LauraLollipop on Twitter. LauraLollipop on Twitter.
Laura Massey: That's right.
Larry Hryb: Uh-
Laura Massey: Happy to be here.
Larry Hryb: And then sitting across from you is the not-so-lovely and not-so-talented Jeff (laughter).
Laura Massey: Wow! That's harsh.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: That would be an accurate, harsh-
Larry Hryb: That's harsh (laughter).
Jeff Rubenstein: -but accurate assessment. No. Okay.
Larry Hryb: No, no, no. It's good to see you. We're, we're back. We, we took last week off. I was in, now, I was in Vancouver last week.
Laura Massey: That's right.
Larry Hryb: I went up to, uh, to our, see our Canadian friends. It's c-, for those of you don't know, aren't good at geography or don't care, um, Vancouver's about an hour and a half to, what is it? W-, actually, Jeff, you know better, because you're-
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. To the border, you can drive in under two hours, depending on-
Larry Hryb: Yeah. T-T-The, but not to the border, because it's actually another fif-
Jeff Rubenstein: And it's another fifty kilometers.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: I don't know how many miles that is, but it is fifty kilometers-
Larry Hryb: Right.
Laura Massey: To get to Vancouver.
Larry Hryb: Right. So, anyways, I'm in Vancouver last week, and, uh, I c-
Jeff Rubenstein: Canada Day! You were there for Canada Day.
Larry Hryb: Uh, no. I, I left the day before.
Jeff Rubenstein: I was giving you an out, Larry.
Larry Hryb: Very nice.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: Yes, I went up there, and I missed it. I, I p-planned poorly cause I was up for Canada Day but I misread my calender.
Jeff Rubenstein: You went, you didn't want to see the fireworks over Cole Harbor?
Larry Hryb: I did. I did.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. Yeah.
Larry Hryb: So, l-love me some Canadian fireworks, but went up to see the coalition, the gang up there working on Gears of War, which will be out later this year, um, to prepare for- Actually there's a little bit of something and then we'll get into what we're playing is I'm going to be hosting a Gears of War 4 panel at Comic-Con, Laura.
Laura Massey: Awesome. I like this.
Larry Hryb: So if you're going to Comic-Con I'll be hosting a couple of panels there. Lot to do with, uh, Gears of War and I was just preparing for that and talking to the team, talking to Rod and the rest of the gang. I love those guys up there and girls. They're so fun.
Laura Massey: Oh, yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: It is a great studio.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, it's a fun st- It's right next to that, that soccer field.
Jeff Rubenstein: Ah, yeah, the BC Place where the BC Lions, uh, Canadian Football League, uh, team plays and also the Vancouver White Cats.
Larry Hryb: By the way, you know wh-, speaking of that, I was talking to, Laura and I were talking, it was yesterday, and I had to explain to her about the XFL.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh! You were not around for that!
Larry Hryb: (laughs)
Laura Massey: I was not around for the XFL. I had no idea.
Jeff Rubenstein: I, I was at the very first XFL game for-
Larry Hryb: You were!
Jeff Rubenstein: -the Orlando Rage!
Laura Massey: What?
Jeff Rubenstein: And so ... Anyway, W- For those who don't know that the WWE, which I think was-
Larry Hryb: That's right. That, that was the connection, remember? I explained it to you?
Laura Massey: Yeah, cause you said it was something plus something.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, so like Vince McMan announced a football league. This is like early 2000s.
Larry Hryb: Wasn't it late nin-nineties?
Jeff Rubenstein: No, it was in the 2000s-
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Jeff Rubenstein: -but like, maybe 2001.
Laura Massey: So I completely missed this. I was, I don't know why.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, yeah.
Laura Massey: I was the appropriate age to understand it.
Jeff Rubenstein: Y-yeah.
Larry Hryb: So, so, can I, can I tell you ... I want you to tell the story but we were, Laura and I were, were standing yesterday here at, at the office and there was a TV on with a, with a, with a soccer match.
Laura Massey: Right.
Larry Hryb: And I was looking at it cause I, I don't follow soccer. I know you do, Jeff, so I apologize, and she walked up to me and she's like, "What're you watching?" I'm like, "I'm watching a soccer match, but it's a big deal cause there's a lot of people watching and I know it's not the cup so, the, the FIFA, what's-
Laura Massey: So what is it?
Larry Hryb: So it's the Euro Cup, right?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yep.
Larry Hryb: So, so, anyway, and then, and then I kind of cocked my head and I said, "I wonder if that's like the XFL." And she looked at me, and she's, "What're you talking about?" (laughs)
Laura Massey: It's like what's the XFL?
Larry Hryb: So anyway.
Laura Massey: Sounds cool.
Larry Hryb: So, so, continue, so explain the XFL.
Laura Massey: Tell me about it.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, so, uh, at some point, and, like, WWE it's pretty big now, but it was-
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: Immense around the turn of the century. And, uh, Vince McMann decided he was going to- I, I think he had some issues with the NFL at some point.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: And decided he was gonna make his own league. And all of the teams, or most of the teams, were in cities that don't have a, um, that don't have a, a NFL team so there was a team called, in Orlando where I was living, called the Orlando Rage and, of course, me and all my friends were like, "Yeah! We're doing it! We're getting season tickets!"
Larry Hryb: Where'd they play? Where did they play?
Jeff Rubenstein: They played in the Citrus Bowl.
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, which is just a little bit west of downtown where UCF used to play at the time. And, um, so we just got, we got season tickets.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: And-
Larry Hryb: Season tickets!? You, you were all in right up front!
Laura Massey: Wow.
Jeff Rubenstein: It was like eighty bucks for the year. All right.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: I think it was like four or five, five games. So, uh, we go to the very first game. Everyone's tailgating. It's like a huge, uh, it's probably like the football equivalent of gathering of the Juggalos, I guess would be my guess.
Larry Hryb: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: And, and so everyone, you know, we're like seven or eight Budlights in at this point, I think, so we go to the match. It kicks off.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: Um, well, actually it doesn't kick off. So this is the weird thing about the, the XFL. They, they, they thought the kick off was boring, so they started, and the coin toss was boring, so they started with what they called the Scramble. So what they would do is just sort of like throw the ball out there and two guys would just run up there and whoever got it first, whoever landed on it, like as if there was like a fumble, that's who would get possession.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: Yeah, there were some of these weird elements and that's what I was trying to explain to you, Laura, th-that I don't recall.
Laura Massey: The mix of WWE with football.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes, exactly!
Larry Hryb: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: And so, this is how you knew it wasn't scripted unlike the WWE. On the very first scramble, the very first game, the very first play for the Orlando Rage, scramble takes place, the, the two guys run into there, and, uh, the guy for the Rage broke his collar bone on the scramble and was down on the ground for like, you know, ten, fifteen minutes.
Larry Hryb: Oh, no.
Laura Massey: Wow.
Larry Hryb: Oh, no.
Laura Massey: Mmmm.
Jeff Rubenstein: So, not the most auspicious start for the XFL. Unfortunately, there was only one season but, uh, it was, it was good times. Like, it was just like huge party. No one really cared about the football.
Larry Hryb: But, did, didn't they have a different size field?
Jeff Rubenstein: An-and, yeah, there were a few other minor differences.
Larry Hryb: There were a lot, there were a lot of tweaks and that's why when I was telling-
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Laura bout this one, when, when she looked at me like, "What are you talking about XFL?" And I sai-, and I tried to explain and very poorly-
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: But I got most of, I got most of ...
Laura Massey: You did. Th-that sounds correct.
Larry Hryb: You were looking at me like, "You're out of your mind. How do I not know about this?"
Laura Massey: Yeah. How could I miss this?
Larry Hryb: We, we need to put an XFL link in the chat.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm going to look this up.
Larry Hryb: So anyway, XFL, so ...
Laura Massey: (laughs) So it only lasted five or six games?
Larry Hryb: It was one full season.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: And I think certain markets did pretty well. I, I think the Orlando one did pretty well and then other ones where I think they had other things to do, like, uh, New York or whatever, like, probably less so.
Jeff Rubenstein: Right.
Larry Hryb: Um, but it was, I mean, it was kind of like arena league football outdoors.
Jeff Rubenstein: Right.
Laura Massey: Okay, so I have a feeling arena league, that's indoor football.
Larry Hryb: And that still exists I believe.
Laura Massey: Football.
Larry Hryb: So, and then there were a couple of players that ended up making it into the NFL. Rod, he hate me. That was the other thing! They could put whatever they want on the back of their jersey.
Laura Massey: Oh, wow.
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: And so there was a guy, and it was in, he was in his first match and it said he hate me. And we're just like, "Wh-what does that even mean?"
Laura Massey: (laughs) Yeah.
Larry Hryb: And that guy ended up playing for the Carolina Panthers, I think. Rodd Smart.
Jeff Rubenstein: Does the XFL need to come back?
Larry Hryb: I, It migh- In some peoples' minds, it never left.
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs)
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: Anyways, so that's our XFL addition of the show, so thank you, thank you for that little walk down memory lane.
Laura Massey: Yes!
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, thank you! I haven't thought about that-
Larry Hryb: I d-, I do-, and it was the- I'll tell you I don't know why but I just, I don't know why I just blurted that out.
Jeff Rubenstein: - in a long time.
Laura Massey: Yeah, you came up, yes.
Larry Hryb: It was really random, wasn't it? Anyway, you never know what's in this bizarre, twisted mind of mine, so, uh, anyway, let's, uh, let's jump into what we're playing and what's going on. We've got a big show. I want to- We'll start right up front. Everybody on this show, Laura, yourself, me, and Jeff, we all finished Inside.
Laura Massey: It's true.
Larry Hryb: And, uh, we are going to actually at the end of this show, we're gonna do a spoiler filled chat about it for just a few minutes.
Laura Massey: Yeah, that sounds super fun.
Larry Hryb: Okay, so we're not going to talk about it now. Uh, cause-
Laura Massey: Tons of interesting things happen in the game that are-
Larry Hryb: Tons, cause, well, when Laura and I met earlier-
Laura Massey: Worthy of discussion.
Larry Hryb: When you and I met earlier in the week, I was like, "Hey, look, we're gonna do a show this week. Uh, can you, do you think you can finish Inside?" And you told me where you were, and I said, "Mmm, be-"
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Yep.
Larry Hryb: Right, and you were pretty close.
Laura Massey: I was close.
Larry Hryb: Um, so that's why when I got, and then I'll just say, I'll say this and then you have to listen to the, the end of the show when we talk, when we do our spoiler [inaudible 00:07:24]. At about ten-thirty last night, I just got a text from you that just said, "WTF." And I knew you had finished it.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: (laughs) So.
Jeff Rubenstein: The amount of texts I've gotten in the last week that are like, "What did I just play!?"
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's, a, yeah, I got that last night.
Larry Hryb: Anyways, so we're playing, playing that, we'll talk about that towards the end of the show, uh, so if you want to hang out and join us towards that, then, again, it's going to be nothing but spoilers so if you have not played this game, do not listen to that section.
Laura Massey: Exactly. Do not get spoiled.
Larry Hryb: I'll be very clear when it is, so. Also playing Jeff and I and Laura, we'd love to have you in there playing Overwatch.
Laura Massey: I've seen you playing Overwatch.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: We are having a great time with-
Jeff Rubenstein: This, this is my favorite thing about Overwatch with you, Larry, is, is about, eh, a week, two weeks ago, um, we were going to play something. We ended up playing Overwatch a little bit, and after like the first match, you were just like, "You know what? This game is not clicking for me."
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: "And, I-I'm just, I don't know. I just, I just don't like it." And I was like, "Why don't you switch up?"
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: "Why, why don't you use Farrah?"
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: She's got a rocket launcher.
Laura Massey: Yes, Farrah's a beast.
Jeff Rubenstein: She can fly.
Larry Hryb: She's bouncing all over the room.
Jeff Rubenstein: Whatever. Literally next match, you get play of the game.
Larry Hryb: (laugh)
Jeff Rubenstein: We rolled the other team.
Larry Hryb: That's right.
Jeff Rubenstein: And you're like, and ever since then, you, we, you played like it seems like almost every night.
Larry Hryb: Oh yeah. Yeah, I'm pl-playing, playing Farrah. Um, Laura, since you're not joining us, I've been playing the healing class, which Mercy is ...
Laura Massey: Super fun.
Larry Hryb: Really, really enjoying her. I think I bought all the skins for her.
Laura Massey: Oh yeah. Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: Um, totally, totally loves her.
Jeff Rubenstein: And you know what? Everyone loves a healer.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: So it's always anyone who wants to take that role, more than happy to have you on my team.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: I'm sorry.
Jeff Rubenstein: You'll always have a place.
Larry Hryb: I'm sorry, you down? Not anymore. (laughs)
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: Anyways, so we're playing Overwatch, but those are really the big ones I'm playing right now. Checking out, uh, Halo Firefight. I had the chance to check that out. Tons of fun. Really hard, but tons of fun. Make sure you get a good crew. Played with Phil Spencer the other night-
Laura Massey: Oh fun.
Larry Hryb: And some of the crew. That was a lot of fun. Um, so, love to play that with you guys. What are, what you playing, Laura?
Laura Massey: I think almost all I've been doing is Inside plus Diablo.
Larry Hryb: You're still playing Diablo?
Laura Massey: Yes, of course, I am.
Larry Hryb: Okay, okay, I'm not judging. I'm just ... judging.
Jeff Rubenstein: You're judging.
Larry Hryb: Okay, I'm judging.
Laura Massey: You are judging. That's fine.
Larry Hryb: I'm judging.
Laura Massey: You can judge if you want to but I still have tons of fun with it. And Inside, which I, I, like you said, I finished, and ...
Larry Hryb: We'll talk about that later.
Laura Massey: We'll talk about it later, but if you, if you want to know a little bit about it, it's by the same people who did Limbo, which was free recently.
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Laura Massey: On Xbox. And Limbo is the iconic game with the, like black and white environments, with the little boy who goes through puzzles.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Laura Massey: And ...
Larry Hryb: This is similar.
Laura Massey: This is very similar.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: It's not black and white. It's got more colors in it.
Larry Hryb: A little bit.
Laura Massey: I have to say, it's gorgeous.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: It's some of the, like the animations are absolutely beautiful. The environments are breath taking. Some of the moments in there are just really, I don't know, very visceral and very, I don't know, awe inspiring.
Jeff Rubenstein: Very memorable.
Laura Massey: Very memorable.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's just...
Laura Massey: Yes, there's ...
Jeff Rubenstein: I feel like ... The way Limbo is like a once in a generation type of game.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Like, and, and, I think for a lot of people a high watermark in many ways for the genre and I think Inside is, uh, maybe better.
Laura Massey: Definitely.
Larry Hryb: We'll talk about, we'll talk about that again towards the end of the show and we'll be very clear about that. What else, so you play anything else?
Laura Massey: I think that's ... Well, you probably don't hear any Diablo stories so we'll move on from that.
Larry Hryb: Jeffrey?
Jeff Rubenstein: So, so, one of my ...
Larry Hryb: Oh, I know where you are.
Jeff Rubenstein: You know where I'm going.
Larry Hryb: And who you are.
Jeff Rubenstein: I, uh, one of my big, I would say, failings as a gamer was not finishing the Witcher.
Laura Massey: Oh.
Jeff Rubenstein: And I, I was super into it. I played-
Larry Hryb: And I failed as well.
Jeff Rubenstein: I, you did. You're close. So, uh, I put in like, something like, eighty hours into that game but then, uh, it just dragged through the summer and, and I ran, and all of a sudden, everything last fall started coming out.
Laura Massey: Yes, and it just stacks up.
Jeff Rubenstein: And I got into, and, and Metal Gear came out. I couldn't resist and I started playing that and then I jumped straight into, um, what was it? Fallout. Went straight into Fallout.
Laura Massey: Right?
Jeff Rubenstein: And then there was, you know, Halo and all these other things and I just stepped away from it and then I was like, "Well, I guess that ship has sailed," and, but it sort of just gnawed at me, like, how can I love a game as much as I do and not finish it?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: So about a week ago, I sat down. I had just finished Inside. I had played Uncharted Four and I'd beat that and I was like, "I actually have nothing that I really have to d- I'm gonna sit down and I'm gonna get back into the Witcher." It took about an hour. They made so many updates to it and they've streamlined the menus. Actually, it was easier than I thought to get back into it. I was playing it a little bit like Dark Souls. That was, uh, the hardest adjustment was- Na-, it's funny cause the Witcher seems a lot easier now, now that I've beaten Dark Souls. I'm like, psh, these drowners are going down very quickly. So, um, got back into it, and man, I, one, I was much closer to the end than I realized. I feel like I'm in the very final home stretch of the game. And two, it's such a great game, like I can't believe I ever stopped playing it, so soon as I'm done with the mainline quests, I think I will jump into, um, the two DLCs, which I purchased but just had never gotten into. So, the Witcher 3, still amazing even after over a year.
Larry Hryb: I need, I need to get back into that. I mean, I told you what happened, where I, where I ended up and it was an awkward moment.
Jeff Rubenstein: Did you share that on the show yet?
Larry Hryb: Did I talk about that? Did I ever tell that ...
Laura Massey: You talked about, um, some pictures that you uploaded, or screenshots.
Larry Hryb: Oh, no, no, so this is different!
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs) There was that!
Larry Hryb: Yeah, so I was playing it and, um, I got back into I - Actually, my wife was asking about it. She had read about it, cause, it's very well awarded. It's, you know, what's this Witcher? Let me show you, so I go into my office and boot it up and I'm right before this particular quest lore where you play as the female character, Ciri.
Jeff Rubenstein: Ciri.
Larry Hryb: And you're in a, essentially a spa with a bunch of old women and they're naked. So my wife's looking at me and she's like, "What is this?" I'm like, "I don't know what this is." And I have to, there's a little mini quest in there that you have to do, right? So you're walking around without a towel on and there's, it's like, I don't know.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's, it's, uh ...
Larry Hryb: It's like the old lady sauna of a simulator.
Jeff Rubenstein: Japan haunts and rules. You, you need to get undressed.
Laura Massey: Wow.
Larry Hryb: So it was, so I did that and it was very strange.
Laura Massey: Probably not the best first moment to introduce someone to it.
Larry Hryb: No, no, and it was just like, "What're you playing?" This isn't the game! She's like, "Well, yeah, it is." And I'm like no, no, it's not! So yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: And earlier, you're, you know, you were Geralt and you're and it's an all men ...
Larry Hryb: Yes, I've got my horse, my horse and ...
Jeff Rubenstein: It's equal opportunity sauna.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Oh, I see. Equal opportunity sauna simulator.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, it was very strange. Anyway, so I do, I do need to get back into that even though it was slightly embarrassing.
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, the other game I've been playing, uh, Miecraft: Xbox One Edition, battle mode! So, um, my, my daughter actually, who's six, she had saw a video by Stampy. Stampy's one of the-
Larry Hryb: Oh, how is he?
Jeff Rubenstein: Bigger Youtube- You know, I saw him at E3 very briefly.
Larry Hryb: He's a good friend, friend of Xbox.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, very much so, and, uh, he had done a video on Battle Mode and she was like, "Do, do we have this battle mode?" And as a matter of fact, we do, because it's a free download if you have it.
Larry Hryb: So why don't you explain it for people that don't know what it is?
Jeff Rubenstein: Sure. So, uh, something that like on the, the Windows or rather the just the PC versions, the original version of Minecraft, people would, um, make sort of battle areas and, and they would load these chests up and they would create special, special sort of arenas if you will. And for the console editions of the game and also actually pretty much across the board, we'll link to some details on battle mode in the show notes, um, everything's set up for you so you can- there's a lobby. You can matchmake into a game. And then you get in and there's no building or anything like that, um, and I think there's three maps for free and I ended up buying the other three or four, um, and just when the timer goes down, you run almost like, uh, the, uh, the cornucopia from, um, oh, what is it called? Mocking Jay? From the Hunger Games!
Laura Massey: Oh, okay.
Jeff Rubenstein: And, uh, like in sort of that arena. Everyone makes a run for the cornucopia where there's all these chests and you don't know what's going to be in it.
Larry Hryb: So is it like the XFL?
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, it is. You do a scramble. Uh, and you try not to break your collar bone. And then, so you have like ten seconds of invincibility where you load up really quickly and you don't know. You might get armor, you might get a bow-
Larry Hryb: Yeah, random drops.
Jeff Rubenstein: You might just get a stick. Yeah, you never know what you're going to get and then you sort of just like run and scatter and then it becomes, uh, as much I think there's eight people you can play. Uh, everyone for themselves.
Laura Massey: So it sounds a bit like Hunger Games.
Jeff Rubenstein: It is very Minecraft meets the Hunger Games. It's a very easy way to get into it and so, you know, I started on split screen with my daughter. You can regulate like who you would play against, friends only, whatever, and then we went out into the world and she got her first taste of, uh, what it's like to, to play online and get your butt kicked by someone you've never met and, we did. She was like fine. She's like, "This is fun," and I'm like, "We, like, we didn't even kill anybody." She was like, "Yeah, that's okay."
Laura Massey: No, that's good.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm trying to get her up on Overwatch. That's the next step.
Larry Hryb: Oh boy. Okay.
Laura Massey: That's the next big step. Very good. Battle mode, next game.
Larry Hryb: Battle mode! Thank you for the battle mode debrief!
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, I'll put some, I'll put that in the show notes.
Larry Hryb: All right. What else you playing? Is that, that, that wraps up? Cause we've got a lot of news to go through.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. Let's do it.
Larry Hryb: You know, the big, you know we talked about, uh, we talked about Inside being this, you know, this moment. Every generation has a series of titles that you just remember and last generation one of those for me was Red Dead Redemption, which is now available, uh, to play via backwards compatibility on Xbox One. So those of you that, uh, have purchased Red Dead Redemption ... Did you finish this game, Laura?
Laura Massey: I did not finish it.
Larry Hryb: Okay, you played it?
Laura Massey: I did play it. Yes.
Larry Hryb: Okay, and Jeff I know you finished it.
Jeff Rubenstein: Most certainly did.
Larry Hryb: And I, it is, it is one of my top five, maybe even top three, games of last generation easily.
Laura Massey: Wow.
Larry Hryb: Everything about that game just was extraordinary and I remember when I was talking with the folks over at Rockstar. That was the one, that was the first game I believe they introduced random encounters so we saw that in GTA V and then, of course, with the ...
Jeff Rubenstein: That's right. Yeah. You would do, on your horse and someone would be broken down by the side of the road and maybe help them and something happens or maybe it's a trap.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, so it's, anyways, so it's just that game and then the ending of the game. Again, we don't really want to talk about it right now. If you haven't finished it, it's just unbelievable, so I'm really looking forward to get, you know ... You should all try that out.
Laura Massey: Yes. Now that it's on backwards compatibility, I could probably use my xbox one ...
Larry Hryb: Not only that, Laura, but it's on sale right now.
Laura Massey: Wow.
Larry Hryb: You can get a digital copy for like seven fifty ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Seven fifty or less.
Laura Massey: That's a steal.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, it's a ridiculous, it's, it's unbelievable. For the price of that, that cupcake you ate for lunch ...
Laura Massey: It wasn't a cupcake.
Larry Hryb: Or whatever it was.
Laura Massey: It was a muffin.
Larry Hryb: A muffin.
Jeff Rubenstein: Really what's the difference between a cupcake and a muffin?
Larry Hryb: Frosting.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. (laughs)
Laura Massey: Probably same amount of sugar.
Larry Hryb: Um, but anyways, so that's, that's the Red Dead is just something that I'm just spending some time in so I urge you to do the same if you have a copy, whether it's digital or not and then all the versions work.
Jeff Rubenstein: And then Undead Nightmare?
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: May be the best DLC-
Larry Hryb: Who was that character? Remember the guy, there's a character that's in the main, the main ...
Jeff Rubenstein: The crazy druggie?
Larry Hryb: Yeah!
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes. He's just ...
Larry Hryb: And all the characters in there are so well defined.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. God, it just completely changes the game around, but in a very humorous way because zombies are not part of the lexicon in 1902 or whatever year the game takes place.
Laura Massey: Was it?
Larry Hryb: Right, so good. Anyway. Do you have some of the news headlines that we can go through? Of course we had the Ultimate Game Sale.
Jeff Rubenstein: That was where I was gonna lead off.
Larry Hryb: Kay, so, we will not, we just don't have the time to list off every single offer, but ...
Jeff Rubenstein: But we can link and there are some highlights like the Division.
Larry Hryb: Give us the highlights.
Jeff Rubenstein: Like, uh, Halo 5, like the Witcher 3, uh, but there are, this is one of the larger sales of the year and there are sc-scores of games. Many, many games.
Larry Hryb: Scores.
Jeff Rubenstein: Scores.
Laura Massey: Scores.
Jeff Rubenstein: Scores is a unit of twenty.
Laura Massey: It is.
Jeff Rubenstein: And so, like, any, any, almost any big game you can think of from the last couple of years. Like from Rise of the Tomb Raider to, uh, Star Wars Battlefront, uh, the Witcher, uh, any of the Tom Clancy games. They're, they're all on sale.
Larry Hryb: Pick em up!
Jeff Rubenstein: So, we'll link out to the full list on MajorNelson.
Larry Hryb: What are you waiting for? What are you waiting for?
Jeff Rubenstein: And a bunch of games have come out since we've last spoke.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: So I'll just real quickly rattle them off here. Pharaonic, uh, is out for Xbox One. The Banner Saga 2 for free right now if you're in, uh, and it's part of Xbox games with Gold, Xbox Live Games with Gold, so if you're a gold member, get the Banner Saga 2. Banner Saga 1 was, uh, a phenomenal game.
Larry Hryb: You love that game.
Jeff Rubenstein: I really did.
Larry Hryb: I remember that.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's Oregon Trail meets like Final Fantasy Tactics and, uh, very punishing, so looking forward to playing this one. Actually I'm going to be doing that, uh, starting next week. Let's see. Prison Architect, uh, is now available. The Xbox One edition. I believe it was previously apart of the preview, uh, or the early access program, so now the full game is available. Dynamite Fishing-
Larry Hryb: I played that!
Jeff Rubenstein: Played Dynamite Fishing?
Larry Hryb: No, Pr-Prison Architect, I believe.
Jeff Rubenstein: How is it?
Larry Hryb: It was good. The first, the first mission's a little dark.
Jeff Rubenstein: It is prison.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, you have to, you have to ... What are you looking at, Laura?
Laura Massey: Is this the game where you break out of prison?
Larry Hryb: No.
Jeff Rubenstein: No, no, that's the Escapists.
Laura Massey: Okay. Okay.
Larry Hryb: This one's more, this is more of a sim where you have to build a prison and maintain a prison to keep your people happy or not.
Laura Massey: Okay.
Jeff Rubenstein: If you're into Orange is the New Black, this would be like your companion piece.
Larry Hryb: This, yeah, this was, um, I had to build, uh, I had to build an electric chair and basically for, for prisoners.
Jeff Rubenstein: Do you know what the electric chair was called in Florida when I lived there? Before they retired it.
Larry Hryb: Oh, this is going to be a good one. I do not know, Jeffrey.
Jeff Rubenstein: Only cause I worked at the newspaper and it came up. Old Sparky.
Laura Massey: Oh my gosh.
Larry Hryb: Was there one?
Jeff Rubenstein: There was just the one.
Larry Hryb: Where is it? Jacksonville?
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, maybe Tallahassee?
Larry Hryb: Tallahassee, Tallahassee.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. That's my only electric chair lore.
Larry Hryb: My, my, my, well I don't have any exposure to electric chairs, other than like the Green Mile.
Jeff Rubenstein: Let's hope not!
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: The Green Mile or Shocker, which was a movie from the eighties where the guy came back.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: That was, that scared me. I shouldn't have seen that when I was like nine years old.
Laura Massey: No.
Jeff Rubenstein: Don't show your kids Shocker.
Larry Hryb: Ooo, we are, uh, we're down a weird place now. Thank you for that little, little bit of lore.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. No worries. You brought it up.
Larry Hryb: Thank you Florida man.
Jeff Rubenstein: Look, it changes a man living down there.
Larry Hryb: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, Dynamite Fishing, uh ...
Larry Hryb: Which sounds pretty much, Laura, you're familiar with that concept, right?
Laura Massey: With fishing?
Larry Hryb: Dynamite Fishing.
Jeff Rubenstein: Fishing with dynamite.
Laura Massey: No. Do you just throw dynamite into a lake and cross your fingers?
Jeff Rubenstein: You collect the ... Yeah, that's how a lot of tropical fish are caught. It stuns them. It's pretty bad for the reefs.
Laura Massey: Oh, I see. Yeah, that is pretty bad for the reefs.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's, it's a problem.
Larry Hryb: Dynamite's bad for everybody. Everything.
Jeff Rubenstein: Unless you're, uh, building a railroad in Red Dead Redemption.
Larry Hryb: Right. Well ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Full circle.
Larry Hryb: Thank you.
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, the Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing 2, the sequel. The first one I believe was a Game with Gold several months back.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, Letter Quest: Grim's Journey. Uh, there's a bundle there with three fourths. Uh, Ethan: Meteor Hunter. Hawken, this is a free to play game, uh, mech battler, and then MX Vs ATV Supercross Encore, now available digitally.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Laura Massey: Very good.
Larry Hryb: Lot of stuff going on.
Laura Massey: So many games.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yep.
Larry Hryb: You know back in the day, back when we were younger kids, guys, summer was when, when we could kind of relax and catch up on games.
Laura Massey: Right, cause there was a draught of games.
Larry Hryb: Right. Now, now there's, you can catch up and ...
Jeff Rubenstein: That's not a thing anymore.
Larry Hryb: No, not at all, not at all. Oh, let me tell you. All right, well, we're cooking along here. We've got a lot going on. You know what we have to do more?
Laura Massey: We have to pay up any of the games.
Larry Hryb: God, do we ever.
Laura Massey: Do we.
Larry Hryb: Do we. Yeah.
Laura Massey: It's been a while.
Larry Hryb: Are you ready?
Laura Massey: I sure am. Are you ready?
Larry Hryb: But are the listeners ready?
Laura Massey: I think they've been waiting.
Larry Hryb: They've been waiting for over a month so this is, we don't, we don't like to make people wait any longer, so why don't we go ahead and play? We've got the clip from the last time?
Laura Massey: Yep. Let's play the clip from the last time.
Larry Hryb: (video clip playing in the background)
Laura Massey: That was Name the Game from a couple of shows. We actually played the same Name the Game sound effect from two shows ago last show because we wanted to give people another chance.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, yeah. Cause it was hard.
Laura Massey: Cause this is a really hard one, and that Name the Game was from One Piece: Burning Blood.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Laura Massey: Again, a very difficult one. Good job to everybody who got it right, but there can only be one winner.
Larry Hryb: Yep. Well, there can be- Well, everybody who listens to the show is aware but this person's going to get prizes, so.
Laura Massey: (laughs) And the winner is gamertag Shinro.
Larry Hryb: Shinro.
Laura Massey: Jersey City. Congratulations.
Larry Hryb: Jersey City! We have some friends in Jersey, don't we, Jeff?
Jeff Rubenstein: That we do.
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Laura Massey: All right and he is winning a bundle of fabulous, fabulous prizes.
Larry Hryb: Wow, look at this list. Laura, why don't you go through it.
Laura Massey: This is amazing. He is going to get the Division.
Larry Hryb: The Division, the full game.
Laura Massey: The full game!
Larry Hryb: The full digital copy of the game.
Laura Massey: Which is great, and then he's also going to get the Division season pass.
Larry Hryb: Cause we want to make sure he can really understand New York cause he's in Jersey City. Right? Guy is right outside.
Laura Massey: Very good. He's also getting a copy of Inside, which we will talk about later.
Larry Hryb: Inside. The award- Has it won any awards yet? Cause I'm going to say award winning Inside, cause ... I think it's a safe bet, okay?
Laura Massey: You think that.
Larry Hryb: The award winning Inside.
Laura Massey: He's also going to get the Hawken founder's bundle. Which is fantastic.
Larry Hryb: Which it's like, it's like a mech game.
Jeff Rubenstein: I actually think it did win an award at E3, now that I'm thinking about it.
Larry Hryb: Okay. Go check it out.
Laura Massey: Inside, the E3 award winning game.
Larry Hryb: Uh-huh.
Laura Massey: And special prizes.
Larry Hryb: Check this out. This is extraordinary.
Laura Massey: Check this out. This is fantastic. I'm actually jealous of this.
Larry Hryb: Are you? Mmkay.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Cause I don't have these. He's going to get the full set of E3 pins, and there are seven of them.
Larry Hryb: So these are pins that we handed out at E3. They were collectors. Um.
Laura Massey: They are collectors items, and limited edition.
Larry Hryb: Highly limited edition.
Laura Massey: Very rare.
Larry Hryb: Very rare, and he's going to get the full set. He didn't even have to go to E3.
Laura Massey: Exactly.
Larry Hryb: But, you know what, Laura? That's not enough.
Laura Massey: That's not all.
Larry Hryb: Here's some icing for that muffin.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: Well played.
Laura Massey: Well played indeed. He's also going to get a token to design his own controller on Xbox Design Lab.
Larry Hryb: Yep. So, Xbox Design Lab where you can make your own controller, we'll send you that and he can fill it out, pop in this, uh, code and free!
Laura Massey: A free controller but not only that, a custom free controller.
Larry Hryb: Free controller. Free to just, you know, make it look it look fun, make it, let us know, so.
Laura Massey: Exactly.
Larry Hryb: I'll probably be giving away more of those codes later on by the way. Um, I don't know. I think I've got a few to give away. So we'll do that, uh, we'll do that sometime maybe next month. Not here.
Jeff Rubenstein: Did you ever share the one you made out there?
Larry Hryb: Yeah. Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Falling onto it-
Larry Hryb: I had my, in fact, no, we used it on, um, where did we use it? We used it on the Daily Show!
Jeff Rubenstein: Mmm.
Larry Hryb: Erin, Erin, I was showing everybody because everyone, everyone's pinging me asking me if it's [inaudible 00:25:19] cause it's the orange or the Gators.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes. Different, different color blue but not by much.
Larry Hryb: But, uh, anyway, so yeah, I have done that. Laura, have you made yours up?
Laura Massey: I have not, like, customized it. I haven't hit the print button yet.
Larry Hryb: You haven't hit the print button, the order button. Can I see it? Can I see it some time?
Laura Massey: Yeah, I showed it to you a couple shows ago.
Larry Hryb: Did you? I don't remember.
Laura Massey: The Lollipop blue ...
Larry Hryb: That's right, that's right. I do remember that. It was ... Oh! That's right! The blue and the pink.
Laura Massey: Candy sweet. (laughs)
Larry Hryb: It was lickable.
Laura Massey: There you go.
Jeff Rubenstein: Kids, don't try this at home.
Larry Hryb: Exactly. Controller's not meant to be licked.
Laura Massey: All right, so we do another Name the Game?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, so Name the Game, but now that we have a winner, Shinro, uh, congratulations.
Laura Massey: Yes.
Larry Hryb: We'll be in touch with an e-mail on how you can get your prizes, et cetera, et cetera. And now it's your turn, fair listener! It's your turn to step up and sharpen your mental pencil and get ready for another Name the Game. Laura, you ready?
Laura Massey: Fantastic, let's do it. (sound clip playing) All right. So that was Name the Game for this week and as Larry said, anyone can enter this. All you have to do is very, very simple is send me an e-mail at [email protected] and CC [email protected] and include what game you think those sounds are from. Super easy.
Larry Hryb: Super easy.
Laura Massey: We will go through all the entries and pick out the ones that are correct and then randomly choose one from the people who are correct.
Larry Hryb: That is absolutely right. Thank you, Laura.
Laura Massey: That's correct and you, too, can win fabulous, fabulous prizes!
Larry Hryb: I've got so much cool stuff to give away, it's going to blow your minds. You never know what you're going to win so I have to ask you, what are you waiting for? It's sitting right there for you. Execute! Listen! Send me an e-mail. Send Laura an e-mail!
Laura Massey: Very simple.
Larry Hryb: Yes, Jeffrey?
Jeff Rubenstein: I don't get anything.
Larry Hryb: No, you get ... You just show up all the time and join us on the show.
Jeff Rubenstein: I do, I do.
Larry Hryb: Do you know how many people want to, when we go- People here on campus, on the Xbox campus, they always ask, they want to come on the show and I have to tell them, no, no, it's not. It has to, it has to feel right.
Jeff Rubenstein: This feels right.
Larry Hryb: It feels right.
Jeff Rubenstein: This feels right.
Larry Hryb: Moonlight.
Laura Massey: It does.
Jeff Rubenstein: And there is a cookie on my microphone when I got here. That felt right too.
Laura Massey: Yes, that feels good. Thank you for the cookie, Larry.
Larry Hryb: Well, I, I like to, you guys take time out of your busy days so I always like to buy cookies and sweets and what not and so, thank you for that.
Jeff Rubenstein: Thank you.
Laura Massey: That's very kind. You treat us well.
Larry Hryb: We're gonna wrap up the show real quickly here with, uh, we're gonna talk about gadgets and then after that, we're gonna, we're gonna talk about, uh, Inside. We're gonna do full spoiler.
Laura Massey: It's spoiler cap.
Larry Hryb: So, um, gadgets wise. You know, I gotta a lot of people asking me about, um, last show I talked about the, um, the mesh network I installed at my house. Eero, E-E-R-O.
Laura Massey: Yeah. Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: And, uh, it's pretty amazing. I gotta tell you that.
Laura Massey: You've had a full two weeks with it.
Larry Hryb: And it's unbelievable. It's just having full wifi and full coverage in my, m-m-my house is not-
Laura Massey: Did you have full signal throughout your house?
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: Wow.
Larry Hryb: So I have full signal without my house and it's zero problems and it's, it actually updated with some new features.
Laura Massey: Wow.
Larry Hryb: They do updates in the overnight. They manage it. You call- The support is unbelievable!
Laura Massey: Oh, fantastic.
Larry Hryb: So, anyway, they're not paying me to say this, this is just because I feel really strongly about the product.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: So, um.
Laura Massey: I'm glad you're enjoying it.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, so if you need to get, it's a little expensive, but so if you need to get wifi, um, in, throughout your entire house, then I recommend Eero. There's a couple other products out there that do this but this one right now is probably one of the most solid. Now, I'll tell you this, tell you this.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, do you, do you have a code? Is that what this is?
Larry Hryb: I do, I do.
Jeff Rubenstein: I knew it.
Laura Massey: What?
Larry Hryb: I have, they sent me a few codes.
Laura Massey: And you can share these?
Larry Hryb: I can't, no, they have to be - I want you guys to e-mail me, [email protected], and the first, I think I've got three codes, the first three people that e-mail me, I will, um, I'll give you a code, but I think it's a hundred dollars off.
Laura Massey: That's great.
Larry Hryb: So, there you go. That's all you need to know. [email protected] Anyway, gadgets, other than that, um, I've been, so my home update, my home, um.
Jeff Rubenstein: Automation?
Larry Hryb: Network is upgraded. I actually bought some new security cameras that-
Laura Massey: You told me about the cameras.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, we're going to talk about those in a future show cause I'm still testing them.
Laura Massey: Okay.
Larry Hryb: Um, but they're, so far, they're very, very, very good, so I got some good cameras at home. I've got one out, uh, we live in, we have a, uh, a bunch of property behind us, Jeff, that's, that's, um, undeveloped. It's a greenbelt. They call it, I guess they call it greenbelt. What would you call it back in the day?
Laura Massey: I'd be ... I don't know. Greenbelt's right.
Larry Hryb: Anyway, so, so the greenbelt and so meaning nothing could live there, and, apparently, we've got a pack of wolves back there.
Laura Massey: Wow.
Larry Hryb: We've got, uh, I've seen a raccoon, her momma raccoon and her six babies. She is not happy with me. She looks at me sideways all the time. She got up and did like this with her hands. You know, yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Really? What were you doing?
Larry Hryb: I was just, I was just watering, no, I was watering the lawn-
Jeff Rubenstein: Were you throwing something over there?
Larry Hryb: It was one of those where I'm kind of like, oh, I'm minding my own business. I'm watering the lawn. I'm potting some- and all of a sudden, I'm like five feet from her. I was like, "Oh shit!"
Laura Massey: Oh no!
Larry Hryb: I think we startled the you know what out of each other.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, yeah.
Larry Hryb: So I was like, "Okay, it's all yours." Anyways, so we have this greenbelt, and I put a camera back there because I wanted to see some of the wildlife.
Laura Massey: The wildlife, do you have bears?
Larry Hryb: No, and I'm glad I don't.
Jeff Rubenstein: I think wolves are probably bad enough.
Larry Hryb: There's d- I have deer back there. I have, I have a family of deer.
Jeff Rubenstein: Where's there deer there should be wolves.
Larry Hryb: With, with, with, with, with antlers.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative). You do?
Larry Hryb: I think it's like an eight point buck back there.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: I live in the city, like, we have, uh, we have some strange characters.
Larry Hryb: Yes, you do.
Jeff Rubenstein: But, uh, but none of them in except traffic.
Larry Hryb: None of them in four-legged furry. Maybe there are, I don't know, uh, so other than that, so I'll, I'll talk in a future show. Do you have anything you want to talk about in this section or should we just go right into the ... ?
Jeff Rubenstein: I haven't a gadget, although ...
Laura Massey: Neither do I.
Larry Hryb: All right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Advanced I'll get.
Laura Massey: I don't think I have any gadgets as well.
Larry Hryb: Oh, a couple things before we get onto the Inside section. I want to point out a couple things. Um, I am very excited. It was announced, uh, earlier this week that I'm going to be going down to Australia for Pax Australia.
Laura Massey: Oh, that's right! I saw that. Congratulations!
Jeff Rubenstein: Saw that!
Larry Hryb: Thank you. Thank you, Pax Australia.
Jeff Rubenstein: Story time with Major Nelson.
Laura Massey: You're doing the key note.
Larry Hryb: That is me. I'm doing, well, they call it Story Time, but I am doing the Key Note, that's right.
Laura Massey: Congratulations, that's such a huge honor.
Larry Hryb: Thank you. I'm, I'm very, I, you know, they've been asking me for a few years to do different ones and I was like, "You know what? I'm going to go to Australia. I want to have some fun," because I love going down there and visiting everyone down there. So that's the good news.
Jeff Rubenstein: And you're going to bring the whole team down, right?
Laura Massey: Yeah!
Larry Hryb: Yeah, you guys, you're welcome to come with me.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: You got two carry ons?
Larry Hryb: I think, I think you're not going to fit the overhead compartment. Laura, you may.
Laura Massey: Very uncomfortably.
Larry Hryb: Um, but, uh, so that's the good news. The bad news if for the first time in ten years we are not going to be doing a show at PAX West this year, so here in Seattle later this summer, schedules are just not working out. A bunch of us are travelling. We've got some other commitments, so we're going to take a year off. We'll be back. We'll be back at PAX East, maybe PAX South. I don't know. Want to go to - We've never been to PAX South.
Laura Massey: We've never been to PAX South.
Larry Hryb: Right, so we should try it out.
Laura Massey: It's back in town.
Larry Hryb: Right, I know. Well, actually is it?
Laura Massey: Kind of. It's close.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's like only an hour.
Laura Massey: It's, it's like forty-five minutes. Not, not even-
Larry Hryb: Now, I, Laura, no, you can't, you can't do that. Because, like in New England, in Connecticut, everything's like forty-five minutes away. In Texas, it's hours.
Laura Massey: Everything's hours away.
Larry Hryb: It's hours.
Laura Massey: So it's basically in a back yard because it's only thirty, forty-five minutes away.
Larry Hryb: Right, so that's, that's considered close.
Laura Massey: At least very close.
Larry Hryb: Okay, all right. So maybe we should go, but anyway, so PAX West this year, we will not be doing a podcast. I will, I will be there. I know, Laura, you're not going to be able to make it. Jeff, you're gonna ... We'll go on the show floor. We'll hang out on the show floor.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh definitely.
Larry Hryb: Yes, so anyway. That's about that but before we, kay, so this is kind of the end of the regular show. Right here. If you have not played Inside, I'm going to tell you right now. Stop. Stop. We're not going to do anything more after this except talk about Inside, so thank you guys for coming, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera. Now, Inside, kay. Stop listening. I told you! If you haven't finished the game, I want you to stop- Okay, stop this. Everybody that's finished the game, thank you, welcome.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's just us.
Laura Massey: It's just us now. Just people who finished the game.
Jeff Rubenstein: I feel like I can relax, I let my hair down now, I'm among friends.
Laura Massey: (laugh)
Larry Hryb: Laura, what the hell was that?
Jeff Rubenstein: What did we end up in?
Laura Massey: I have no idea! I have no idea what happened.
Larry Hryb: So actually, I talked about it earlier in the show. Laura sent me the wtf and all she said was- do you remember what you told me?
Laura Massey: I said WTF.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Laura Massey: WTF.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Laura Massey: Ending?
Larry Hryb: And then it was a meat bag on the beach?
Laura Massey: Yes!
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes!
Laura Massey: A meat bag died on the beach.
Jeff Rubenstein: Brings us back to Jersey!
Larry Hryb: Right, yeah, sure, speaking of that. Hello. Uh, but, yeah, you know the game itself is, if you finished the game, and, again, if you haven't finished it, you shouldn't be listening.
Laura Massey: You've ruined it now.
Larry Hryb: It is, it is, everything about the game, just the, the animations, the audio, the what's going on.
Laura Massey: The environment.
Larry Hryb: So I explained it to you yesterday, and, Jeff, I don't think you and I talked about it. Do, do you concur with my assessment of what it is?
Laura Massey: I think you might be onto something with your assessment.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, let's hear.
Larry Hryb: My assessment is and this is kind of generally what I've pieced together from the internet, it's a young boy's nightmare, because if you think about it, in your nightmares, um ...
Laura Massey: You're being chased by someone.
Larry Hryb: You're always being chased by somebody or you're being drowned.
Laura Massey: Yep.
Larry Hryb: You've got dogs chasing you.
Laura Massey: You have older people who don't know who they are.
Jeff Rubenstein: Okay. Um. You get absorbed into a mass, a writhing mass.
Laura Massey: That's a separate issue.
Larry Hryb: That's a separate that one. But you have no family. Where is everybody? You're on this run, people are chasing-
Laura Massey: You don't know where anybody is. It's dark. You don't know where you're going. You don't know why you're doing anything.
Larry Hryb: It's, yeah. Right. Right. Up is down, down is up. Water's up.
Laura Massey: Water's up.
Larry Hryb: Right?
Jeff Rubenstein: It felt, I'll agree with you on everything where it is meticulously crafted and the animations are stellar.
Laura Massey: They are.
Jeff Rubenstein: I, I enjoyed the puzzle solving. They were just, they were right on the, on the cusp of being difficult but, it was just the right level, I think, of challenge where you felt like you accomplished something when you figured it out but you didn't sit there and want to rage quit either. It was just right on the edge there. Um, but those powers were used to make some incredibly disturbing imagery, and, and, and I think like the first third to the first half, it felt very, um, not naziesque. Where I felt like it was a boy escaping a, a, a ....
Larry Hryb: A ghoulag or something?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, like a very beyond corrupt regime where human experiments were happening, uh, weapons of mass destruction were being tested, like that whole shockwave sequence.
Laura Massey: Yeah, that was weird.
Jeff Rubenstein: Um, but it was never like really explained and, and, and the one and with the pigs, like what was going on with the pigs?
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: And so, I'd sort of like, I had thought, and p-perhaps I was wrong.
Larry Hryb: Was this an animal farm? Were you going all Georgia [crosstalk 00:35:24]?
Jeff Rubenstein: I, I, felt like in the beginning half, I felt like I saw worms around and I felt like maybe like this horrible regime realized there were these like parasitic worms that would make people very pliable and controllable cause why did you have the, you know you had this obviously a ruling class who was authoritarian and wearing masks and scary, and then another group that, um, just, apparently were just like human puppets, right?
Laura Massey: Yep.
Jeff Rubenstein: So I thought like there was something where like this one group discovered something that turned this other group into that group.
Laura Massey: Interesting.
Jeff Rubenstein: Um, cause when you pulled the tail of the pig ...
Laura Massey: Of the pig, it came off.
Jeff Rubenstein: I thought it was like a worm that you pulled, because then it changed its behavior.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: And it went from being aggressive to being pliable and just did whatever you wanted it to do.
Laura Massey: Yeah, it's insane.
Jeff Rubenstein: Use it as like what? A footrest. So, you know, I wasn't exactly sure but then, then it went further and further but the imagery was just incredibly disturbing, like, stuff like, um. At one point it appeared that a, a father was taking a young boy to shop for one of these ...
Laura Massey: Yes, one of these minions.
Jeff Rubenstein: Minions, and that was just very disturbing to me.
Larry Hryb: And the other thing that was, um-
Laura Massey: Yeah, it was disturbing.
Larry Hryb: Was, and Laura, you and I talked about this, is when you die in this game, play dead let's that death sequence longer, just a little bit longer to make you uncomfortable and guilty and awkward, right?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes.
Larry Hryb: So, there's a lot going on here, but I have to- I actually, I don't know if I mentioned this or, but I wanted to get Play Dead on the show here but, but we talked and I said, we, we decided not to do it.
Laura Massey: Because it's hard to reveal anything about it.
Larry Hryb: What can they say? What can they say? What can they ... They, they can't really say anything so we decided, well, we're not going to do that, so this is one of those games where you just can't- You have to play it ...
Laura Massey: You have to play it to understand it.
Larry Hryb: To understand it. The audio in it so good. The subtle animations as he's walking by and he kind of glances to the left. In fact, there's, and this is really going to be a little bit of a spoiler, there's a hidden area in the corn field.
Laura Massey: Yep.
Larry Hryb: And I didn't know where it was and somebody said, "Oh, it's in the cornfield." I didn't know where to find it, and your character, he makes a subtle glance down as he's running through.
Laura Massey: Oh, when he's running through?
Larry Hryb: There's a very, very subtle, subtle piece of this and there's a lot of that throughout the game.
Laura Massey: Yeah, there's a lot of just detail work done to it. Like when you are, when you've come out of water, and you're running away, your shirt is darker because it's wet and you run a little bit slower because you're wet.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Right, right.
Laura Massey: And when you're being chased by a dog, you run a bit faster and you're like constant looking over your shoulder to see where the dog is. And, like when you're being chased by, you know, men, you run a bit faster. You're a bit even more scared, like you really feel for the character.
Jeff Rubenstein: This game has reinforced my negative feelings towards most dogs.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: It has radically changed my viewpoint on troll dolls, which are now nightmare fuel.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Well, yeah, we're talking about the water witch. I call her the water witch.
Jeff Rubenstein: Whatever it was with the ...
Laura Massey: With the hair.
Jeff Rubenstein: It effing scared the crap outta me.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: But it also, but I mean, who didn't, when you were young, didn't want a personal submarine?
Jeff Rubenstein: True enough.
Laura Massey: Right? That submarine was a really good part.
Larry Hryb: Right?
Laura Massey: I absolutely loved it.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: I absolutely loved it. I thought jumping over the, the walls was a really, really, really fun touch.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, so, it's, so anyways, so Inside, you know, hopefully, hopefully you finished it. That's why you're listening to this section. Uh, thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed it, and now what's interesting is somebody who I work with, um, Ryan, he had a what the, WTF moment cause he's convinced somehow, and I don't think this is completely outrageous, that Limbo, the Limbo universe, and this universe intersect somehow.
Laura Massey: Oh.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, I, I, no, if the game had ended with like a car accident or something, then it would have been like, "Oh, it's the same!" But, uh, you know, uh, I don't know.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: I think they're just both, both about two, two little boys just having the worst day ever.
Laura Massey: My, my theory is something a little bit different, which is this is a game all about a minion factory. So these, there's these minions in the game that are completely mindless and you jump into a mind control or a minion control apparatus to move them and my theory is that you are one of the minions who they created that actually has some kind of sentient, you know, some kind of intelligent thinking and, and you are trying to, like you are running away from that dark. Trying to get through it.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Laura Massey: And, they're trying to chase you because you're escaping, basically, from the facility.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Laura Massey: And, then, what you see there is all of their failed experiments. In some cases. The pigs might have been a failed experiment that were ...
Larry Hryb: Right.
Laura Massey: And you do at the end, you see them creating the minions. If you remember where the water's upside down.
Larry Hryb: Yep.
Laura Massey: One of the first water's upside down puzzles, there were a bunch of these boxes and cords ...
Larry Hryb: Right, float, floating bodies.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Laura Massey: And then there were floating bodies that were half-created and ...
Larry Hryb: It's kind of Invasion of the Body Snatchers life.
Laura Massey: It is.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Laura Massey: And then the puzzle was to get them out of the water and they are not as intelligent and then I was formed, like some guy's head was like not there and they're half-baked minions.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Right. They're half-baked.
Laura Massey: And then at the end, you get into, I guess that's where they put all their failed experiments into this big blob, and then you get, you know, sucked into that big blob and you become the big blob.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Laura Massey: So I think you are some kind of minion because you get sucked in.
Larry Hryb: The thing about the blob part was-
Laura Massey: So weird.
Larry Hryb: It's so weird, it's so disturbing the sounds it made.
Jeff Rubenstein: So disturbing. Ech!
Larry Hryb: But the way it moves. They nailed the movement.
Laura Massey: They did.
Larry Hryb: Right? It just felt right. I mean, if that was a bl-bl- Ugh, I'll never handle a water balloon the same way again.
Jeff Rubenstein: It was squishy.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Ugh. Ugh.
Larry Hryb: Anyway, but, uh-
Laura Massey: But I thought the physics of it was fantastic.
Larry Hryb: Oh, without a doubt.
Laura Massey: Like if you ran too fast, your blob fell over, so you couldn't run too fast.
Larry Hryb: Right. You had, you had to manage your, your blobness.
Laura Massey: Your big weight.
Jeff Rubenstein: But at the end it seemed like the lab workers or whatever they were were actually trying to help you get the heck out of there.
Laura Massey: Yes. Like they were, they were feeling for you.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Laura Massey: Cause there's a moment and the game switches where they stop chasing you and they're more interested in the experiment, so I bet you run into the scientists, cause they're all in white coats as well, and they, they're more interested in the science experiments.
Larry Hryb: So, how do, how do you think, why, why are you now at, you know, that midway point in the story where you can, you can actually breathe underwater?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Laura Massey: Oh, that's super weird.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's like, I'm like, okay, I get it, but why? Cause I, cause this woman took the, did she, did she suck the life outta me?
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: And this is now the after life?
Larry Hryb: Were you never alive in the first place?
Jeff Rubenstein: Is this the nightmare of a nightmare?
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Right?
Larry Hryb: So, so much.
Laura Massey: So many questions.
Jeff Rubenstein: Lot to take in.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I mean, there's no, no way-
Laura Massey: Too many theories.
Larry Hryb: We can address everything here.
Jeff Rubenstein: And they'll never, my guess would be they'll never come out and say, well, we went this so that's why everybody's talking about it.
Larry Hryb: Right. Cause I actually, so I finished it in the office, Laura. And Jeff was like, "You gotta finish it," and he was standing there watching-
Laura Massey: While you were ...
Larry Hryb: He actually recorded it.
Jeff Rubenstein: I recorded when he, when he got sucked into the blob.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: And, uh ...
Laura Massey: What'd you say?
Larry Hryb: I don't remember because I was like what, what ...
Laura Massey: What?
Larry Hryb: Because, I mean, people around me, Jeff included, had finished it so I was ready for a messed up something to happen.
Laura Massey: Oh, they had told you ...
Larry Hryb: No, they didn't tell me what. I just could tell that there was going to be a moment or this something, something kind of was going to go bananas.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: But I didn't know what it was. And it was, I could never have figured that out, I'll tell you that.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: So there you go. Anyway.
Laura Massey: I wouldn't have guessed it. I, it was completely from left field. I would have never have guessed that's what the ending.
Larry Hryb: So you enjoyed it, Laura.
Laura Massey: I did.
Larry Hryb: Now the puzzles, you love puzzles.
Laura Massey: I do.
Larry Hryb: Were, but those puzzles were fairly simplistic work.
Laura Massey: They were. I'd say they were simple puzzles with sometimes difficult execution.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Was it the timing? That you don't, you don't like the timing.
Laura Massey: I feel like ... It was the timing. I'm not a huge timing fan, so there's like a couple sections in there where it's all about timing, like the explosion. I don't know what that was but, most of the other ones ...
Larry Hryb: Right. With the explosion?
Laura Massey: Like the exploding series of puzzles where, I don't even know what it was, weapons of mass destruction you were saying. That might be an interesting theory.
Larry Hryb: Oh, oh, you mean, you, you, the sonic pulses.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah!
Laura Massey: The sonic pulses which was every fifteen seconds if you were not standing behind something, you'd get completely exploded.
Larry Hryb: Not only completely exploded, but in a kind of disturbing way.
Laura Massey: In a disturbing way.
Jeff Rubenstein: In a very disturbing way.
Laura Massey: In a very violent way. There were some violent deaths in there.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, I think, yeah, when the sort of robot thing would just stab you and then lift you up like towards the light.
Laura Massey: Oh that.
Larry Hryb: Oh, with the shhhh!
Jeff Rubenstein: Like, it added so much pressure because I just didn't want that to happen again.
Laura Massey: Exactly. It made you really feel for the character.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Laura Massey: It really did. And then there's one where you're trying to go through propellers and the propellers turned on.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, that happened to me.
Larry Hryb: I breezed right through that area for some reason.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, I did get ...
Laura Massey: Oh, you just saw that coming?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I was like, "Okay, I know-" For some reason, a lot, there's only one puzzle I had a problem with, which is one of the early ones where you had to get on the box. I think it was one of the early mind controls when you had to, he could get through the grating.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, I know what you're talking about where you were, where you controlled the secondary one.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, yeah, and I was like, "Just need to go back up here and jump up on the box." I completely, it wasn't obvious to me, and I sat there for a minute and then I was kind of, "Oh, let me just go all the w- Oh, wait a minute! Here it is." And those are the moments I love where you just kind of, I'm a little slow on the uptake, Laura, okay. Just I know you. I know you probably cracked it right away.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: Uh, but anyway, so that's, that's, that's Inside. Inside is a work of art.
Laura Massey: It is a work of art.
Larry Hryb: Can we agree on that?
Laura Massey: I can.
Jeff Rubenstein: We can.
Larry Hryb: So, anyway, hopefully you guys enjoyed it. Uh, thank you to everybody who, um, was cool in my Twitter stream, who, uh, didn't spoil it for anybody and just said, "Go play."
Laura Massey: Yes, same here.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, so a lot of people, you had the opportunity to spoil it, and if you spoiled it, well, that's not cool, so. Anyway, all right. We'll see you guys next week. Right, guys?
Laura Massey: Yep.
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, yeah.
Larry Hryb: Maybe, all right. We'll talk to you later. Buh-bye.