Sony Fumbles Kojima, Zelda’s Ocarina of Load Times & Skyrim LOVES Ikea | Games For Breakfast

GOOD MORNING, MATT.
AH, GOOD MORNING, WILL.
GOOD MORNING TO ALL OF YOU.
WELCOME TO GAMES FOR BREAKFAST, THE ONLY INTERNET TALK SHOW WE TALK ABOUT THIS week and last week's gaming and tech news, but that also I have a very special announcement. Will, I learned something deeply amazing at PAX West. Are you ready for it? Probably not, but do give it to me anyway.
Will, I found out that I'm a Belellmont. I didn't know until they had a test and all you had to do was buy one of these plushy whips.
I'm surprised Zoe isn't attacking you right now.
Oh, she is. She loves this. She's down here now. She's going [laughter] She's going crazy for it. But yeah, so um just to let you know, my vampire hunting duties may or may not get in the way of uh of of the show. So, apologies

in advance, but really, you're welcome for keeping you and your blood safe.
Yeah.
Did I lose you?
No. [laughter]
Yeah. She Zoe.
Yeah, we'll play later. She's like, what the hell? There's [snorts] a very strange new feature that YouTube has decided is a good idea and is not.
Oh. Oh. Is that You know what we should talk about, but we won't. At least not this week because I don't know enough about it. Is viewflation.
Yeah. No, this is a new one. Uh they automatically enabled it. Um and I can't turn it off while we're live on YouTube. So there's going to be a weird one. Um, it automatically crops a version of our stream to put in the shorts feed. Except because there's two of us, it doesn't know what to do. So, it looks terrible and I can't stop it without stopping the stream.
What about this? What about What about

Wait, so is it the center of the screen?
Yeah.
So, what if we both lean in? What if Come in. No, this way. No, the other way.
Hi, short speed. We spend
this is what she wanted.
Yeah, right. Okay, we spend the entire time like right here.
This is stupid.
This is terrible.
I don't like it.
Yeah,
I refuse to bow down to the short.
So, if if you're if you're here from the shorts feed at any point or people YouTube Janets, if you see people from the shorts feed be like, "What the hell is this?" Explain that it's this new terrible feature.
Also, can we delete it afterward?
Yeah, hopefully.
Okay, great. If if if not I will have further grievances with this new feature and I'll be turning it off. But I
Why is that opt in? Why is that like or rather opted? Why is it opted in by default, right?
Uh the same reason why uh YouTube decided to start using the fake metrics that Facebook and Tik Tok uses for view counts. And that is I don't know. Yeah,

I don't know if if I've said too much already, but the the uh dear viewers uh Brad and Janet or if you're Rocky over on Nebula, hello. Uh essentially, YouTube recently has changed the way that they count a view. Uh and now they've made analytics and trying to figure out what works and what doesn't on your channel infinitely harder. Um you might have noticed that lots of videos seem to have more views than they did in the last few weeks. And that's because they've reconstituted what is a view and then what is something called an engaged view. An engaged view is a view like has always been a view for the entire time. It's a certain amount of time or seconds watching a a video or a piece of content. A view now could be one click or even hovering over the icon for a little bit. Um uh like before you even click it. So um it's oh and the the the new way of views count do not affect AdSense or any way that a YouTube video pays out. You now just have to go into the back end and and click like four different things as opposed to seeing accurate numbers. It's really helpful.

And the reason they did it is because they want parody, right? Like advertisers are like, "Well, we got six million views on Tik Tok or Facebook and only 2 million on on YouTube." And it's like, that's because YouTube before that actually tracked when people paid attention. But now, rather than just do that, they decided to play ball and to be like, "No, look, we have 6 million views, too. I'm not bitter."
Tell you what, let's let's reverse things. We're going to give Matt a quick break before we go uh before [laughter] he does his packs report. So, have your have your coffee and I will distract Chat. Okay, you ready?
There's a cat on my lap. There's a cat on my lap.
Well, yeah, except there's a cat on my lap. Uh, everyone in the internet, uh, meet Miss Clover.
Clover,
come on.
That's right hand, not the
Zozo, come meet Clover. Come here. Come here, Zozo. Come here. Come on.

She's a little grumpy. She is.
Oh, she's very grumpy.
Uh, Miss Clover.
Two cats. Two cats. Two cats. Two cats. Two cats. [laughter]
One cat. Clover has decided she's done with me. But um uh Clover is the newest edition. So, you may see her uh hanging around. So, if you see her on my uh on my desk or whatever, uh that's that's what's up there. Matt didn't get another cat. I got another cat. So, uh, her her bed is actually on my desk. So, that's why it we we bother explaining. Um,
yeah.
Uh,
two cats.
Two two cats, both liking dignity and fair for Ona, where we lay our scene.
I need to let her out of the office or she's gonna keep yelling at me.
Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Uh-huh.
Wait for it. There we go. Bye, Zoe. All right. Yeah. Uh, okay. Cool. Matt, you weren't here last week. And we That

means we weren't here last week, which means that we didn't have a show, but you did things.
I technically I technically did two and a half shows.
Yeah, it's true. You did. Uh, but those th those things that you did were were at PAX West.
That is right. Uh Jeff and I and Cat flew out there to PAX West. It was a lovely time. Uh, this is us sort of on the creator stage. got invited to just do something a little bit uh last minute, but it was very very fun on the actual show floor. Uh and we decided for Jeff to teach me how to play Slay the Spire as it was a, you know, obviously very popular game that I had never ever played before. Um and that was really fun to like hook people in as they walked by and like fill up the little stadium area that they had there. It was very very cool. We actually will be after this stream over on Twitch. We will be playing um uh Slay the Spire to Will's going to continue my training along with Jess from Secondwind. So, we'll be doing that after the stream. But that was really great. Uh then we did a design club live um over there uh

for Assassin's Creed Black Flag Reynct uh which is why my facial hair looks like the way it does. I had to shave in an odd way. Um I believe that might be picture two. Am I talking out of order? There I am. I did a full-blown Captain Jack uh cosplay left over from 10 god longer than that. The years when I used to do the pirate rafting trip in on the Sako in Maine. That costume will is so old and frail. I was we were doing the panel and Jenna Sober uh was was right next to me uh and saw when I moved my arm like dust and sand like like the jacket was disintegrating and she's like did you just get snapped? Like it it's so it's so old.
I don't feel so good, Mr. Croll.
No, no, no, no. But it was great to talk with everybody and Jay and her and Cat and Jeff about um all the different ways that Black Flag uh the Reync specifically uh does an excellent job at at at so many things. And then uh we did

an experimental panel which was basically called video game uh fishbowl game show video game character fishbowl or celebrity uh with a bunch of lovely people that you see here. Um which was super experimental but very very fun. Uh it got wild. This is a late night panel and we never sort of done one of those before. And uh we it's basically a modified game of charades that keeps getting weirder and weirder to the point where uh at the end of it we had the audience actually doing the charades based on information that were going was going on beforehand from the performers and then the teams had to guess. The two teams uh which we have coming up next here. Uh so that's us sort of after the fact. Uh the the team on the right doing the the hand signals were the whale tales and the team on the left uh were were I believe uh Rice Cooker Overdrive or I I kept adding words to their name or whatever, but it was uh it was very very good. Uh and it was an absolute blast. And um PAX overall was a really

good show. There were uh Belmont's Curse obviously uh was my one of my absolute favorites, but also uh the Aggro Crab game uh that's coming out. Rebounder. I don't know if you've seen that, Will.
I have.
Uh it is. It looks amazing. It's like a comic book inky uh cool 2D platformer that looks really really fun. And then I was introduced by a couple of the Penny Arcade guys uh a a board game. It's barely a board game, but it is a board game called Hot Streak.
Okay.
It is essentially something that uh it's basically there are four little statues of little mascots, like little sportsy type mascots. There's a bear, there's a queen, there's a hot dog, and a and an angler fish. And you pull out a racetrack from the box that rolls back up. Yeah.
And it's basically betting on who can win the race based on a bunch of wacky prompts. And I played that in the Sheran lobby with them till like 4 in the morning. It was great.
Uh so the trip itself was very, very good. Lots of good games, lots of good indie stuff, too. Um and so, uh yeah, if

you have a chance to go to a PAX, may I suggest it?
Indeed. Uh, okay. I think it is time, Matt, to dive into the first of two really quite interesting stories. Uh, so let's get ready for our uh our main course. [music]
I have my coffee. I'm ready to talk about Kojima.
That's right. Uh, you do you do need coffee to talk about Kajjima. So, the big one of the the the big news this week is that Cojima's latest Cojima style project
called Fizzant.
Fizzant,
which is like if there were no physics, I guess.
I I don't
physics fizz, I don't know. Um, or

non-physical maybe, who knows? uh is a new stealth action game. Uh and it was for a pretty long time as far as I can tell one of the jewels in Sony's upcoming lineup. Um, sure. It got a a really big um
spot in the 2024 in one of the 2024 state of plays that that brought Kajjima there to like explain it and like pitch it and all of that
and this week it got picked up by Xbox.
Well, it got dropped by Sony and within minutes was announced that it was picked up by Xbox. Right. Uh, we get this story from all
because Xbox is not fools.
Well, okay, let's let's break this down a little bit. So, [sighs]
this this story comes to us from all

different places from co Kotaku, from IGN, and uh and Jason Shrier's Bloomberg article, I think, just dropped on this. Um, essentially, uh, Sony, I I don't know, maybe this is your first time watching our show or being on the internet or talking about video games, but Sony, um, is not doing so great in the public relations department. Now, money, they might be fine. I don't really know. Um, but uh there's they're they're having some issues and one of them has been overspending on games that just are not performing or get canned right away. Stuff like Conquered and and and all of that jazz. Basically, they've doubled down on like trying to launch a bunch of li live service games. Um, and which something that I'm actually convinced, this is sort of tertiary to the story, but I'm convinced. I don't think outside of possibly EA with Apex that a company that is gigantic

made made a successful and longlasting like essentially like basically I guess Blizzard did it other than Blizzard and maybe EA. I'm just trying to think like everyone was chasing like the hero shooter or the whatever the the live service game that just can keep milking people for years train and they never seem to really work out in the way that they are designed to work out. So for Sony to to just triple down and try to do a bunch seemed very silly. Um also uh Death Stranding 2 which I believe was only a PlayStation exclusive for the first year.
Correct. uh highly undersold.
Um that's the other thing. It did not make nearly back what it was. And Sony I think because it's burning money left, right, and sideways, I think also saw uh Fizzant, which uh I believe was also behind and over budget.

That is correct.
Um and they might be looking at tightening the the the the belt and doing some things. Now, would this be the first project that I kill if I was in charge of Sony? Probably not, but I don't have the numbers, so I have no idea. I'm sure there's numbers that would make it be that.
Yeah.
But it's just another thing in the long line of essentially PR blunders for people that won't really think about any of that stuff and just, whoa, where'd I go? Whoa. You won't believe where I just I Sorry, I had to go fight vampires. Uh, I had to blink out of existence for a moment and phase in. This is I actually lost and died and this is my second life. Any idea why that happened, Will?
Keep talking. I'll find out.
Okay, so [laughter] sorry. My my mind got wiped. Maybe this is Sony uh sort of coming in and telling us to to stop talking. You had the [laughter] Jacob G.

The Patriots censored Matt. Lao. Um, so essentially this is just another bad look, right? like even if it's the financially responsible thing to do between uh you know the hardware spikes between um no more discs between Wolverine getting some pretty mid reviews as a Sony exclusive uh in the last day or so once the the embargo lifted um and a couple other things just all over the place. Sony is it's it's like speedr runninging their good name into the ground. I was thinking about it. I actually got a little depressed yesterday cuz like again I was a resident Sony pony. I love my PS5. I love my Portal. I was like all on board here. And um now they're making it really hard for actual fans, not people that there's there's sort of and this is very true. There's differences between fans and then just people who buy their

products. Like I would say I was a fan of what they were doing and their sort of ecosystem for a while. Um, even throughout the PS3 times when it was a little bit rough, I still really like enjoyed what they were doing. I thought they were trying at least different things. It didn't always work. Now they seem to be becoming something that makes it impossible to be a fan of it. It's still possible to like buy the thing, but like you're not just Sony doing something weird now like a PlayStation Portal like I won't trust. Does that make sense? like any weird swing they take or a different thing, I they've no longer have the goodwill to allow for me to just like kind of jump on board and trust that they're going to do the right thing. Yeah.
Uh or do something clever. And so with all of that said, losing Fizzant and then having it I mean and obviously Microsoft would pick it up. I guess like Kajjima got the the notification of this about three months ago and they've been hunting for a new partner. Um, and I

think something this large and this probably overbudget and a little bloated, uh, probably needs something like a Microsoft to keep it afloat. Now, Microsoft, it seems very clearly at this point in whatever console cycle generation, rehash, reorg, whatever, is all about the vibes. Everything they're doing is vibes based. Because if you remember like 6 months ago or whatever it was, the vibes over at Xbox were bad. And nothing has nothing has changed actually truly or not at nothing but not much has changed in the physical Xbox space outside of disc to digital which we're going to talk about that in a little bit. But the vibes have shifted. Sony's shooting itself in the foot, ankle, knee, upper thigh, and and Xbox, all they have to do is be like, "You guys like Kajjima, [laughter]
right?"
It's It's the thing where like they hold

Kajjima out on stage just like it's like a tiny Kajjima and they just reach through the curtains and they hold him up and everyone cheers. It's that
and it's they were he's working on OD over there for them too. like they you know it's not like they don't have a relationship but like it feels like they just keep being like we're getting back to games. We're doing exclusives. Cool. We're doing disc to digital. You got people they they like they like physical discs, right? Yeah. For now. Oh, just for now. Yeah. we're doing physical discs like and and now they're sort of scooping up a beloved um designer and creator of of some of the main and physics to be very clear is supposed to be Kajjima's return to basically uh tactical espionage action not Metal Gear but like that genre of game
legally not Metal Gear for reasons but everything that made Metal Gear Metal Gear could be referred to as action espionage.
Yeah. So, uh,
like I like fish media. Got it.

Got it.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Uh, it's funny because like I think that like like I don't know if Fizz's going to be good. I really wanted to play Death Stranding 2, but also I played Death Stranding one and fell off it pretty hard. Like I know people do love it and I love that it's weird, but that game is expensive. Like must have been expensive to make. And if it's not delivering, that makes total sense.
The Yeah, got it. Uh but the but the Microsoft scooping it up and going good vibes only. I'm sure Microsoft as a company can handle it, but they but but Xbox as a division trying to become profitable again.

This probably ain't the move.
Hear me out.
Okay,
there's a separate budget at each of these companies for
Cojima. [laughter] For No, no, not even for Cojima. There should be, but you know, there's a separate budget at both of these companies for uh sand in the other one's eye, right? Like there's a special budget for and then we need to poke Sony in the eye or then we need to poke Microsoft in the eye and that's the budget where Kojima uh where where the Kjima money is coming from. Now, I have a real question, like a real genuine honest question about this. Are you ready?
I'm ready.
Does Fizzant actually launch on Xbox or does he change back before Fizzant releases [applause] or it's not exclusive? I mean, it would be. I think it would have to be if

they're going to pay for it at this point, but like Sony's also done a bunch of money.
Yep. Like I think Sony in its statement, so you can go to all the different articles and show notes and look up what they've sort of said, uh, makes it sound as amicable as you could. And Kojima makes it sound less so and like he was kind of blindsided, uh, while still being a professional. And then, uh, Xbox swoops in and be like, "We're we're pumped, guys. Woo! Ke Stan, Kang Stan." And then basically that's kind of the we're never gonna get the real reason as to why or how angry this probably made uh Kajjima Productions because uh it's it's almost like no matter what way you slice it, even if Sony has to make cuts to survive, which sometimes companies do, they've also dug that grave so effectively themselves that even though like yes, this is a
company saving saving maneuver or

whatever. You know what else would have been a company saving maneuver is not trying to launch three or four different live live service games at the same time in a flooded market and have those drag out.
Yep.
Um I don't know. I just I'm very curious. Look, this is where I'll finish in. We've seen in the current US political discourse that vibes over truth can just roll for so long.
Y and I feel like that's probably even more easy in the consumer space or the video game space. So maybe Xbox is onto it. Microsoft has near infinite money, right? So, like even if Xbox doesn't become profitable or self sustainable, like they're not going to kill it.
Yeah.
Whereas, and Sony has a bunch of money, too. Don't get me wrong, their business isn't all PlayStation, but I would argue that more of Sony's business is

PlayStation than Microsoft's business is Xbox.
Yeah. So they can take the swing and they can ride the vibes and they can uh do Jäger shots and just rage and go uh do champagne showers and invite uh Cojima over to their their side of the green fence.
Yeah.
Um
yeah, also Grass does bring it up. They did have not sure how much they're doing with Genai money, but they the interesting thing about everyone about Microsoft setting all their money on fire with generative AI is that everyone is doing it. So, like I don't know if that puts them at a tactical disadvantage against the other dumb beasts that are doing it. Like it's mutually assured money burning and like they'll all kind of be on the same plane whether it works or not.
Yeah.
So,
it's sort of like they all made a gentleman's uh agreement, right? We're all going to light a million dollars on fire now, right?
More than a million, but yeah,
I know.

[snorts]
I like the idea.
Anyway, this is super interesting and weird. Um, yeah,
it's also like it is pure I keep using the word vibes. It is pure vibes. We've seen nothing of this game.
Correct.
And it's been in development for three years.
Two or three years.
Two or three.
So like I wonder at the game awards or whatever it was when this was announced if they just had like this image,
right?
Yeah.
Like that that was kind of it. Which, by the way, this image is the reason that a large number of people are convinced that Robert Patson stars in this game.
It does kind of look like Robert Patson. And and Katima loves putting Hollywood people in. And you know, it's funny in a lot of his messages, he's also like, I want to do this and get it done. I also um Oh, wait. Oh, when he was I believe Oh, no. Microsoft said this in it that was their like they're going to like support him in other ways too in like film and a couple other things which

Sony was also I think going to do that. I don't know.
Yeah.
But
basically Kojima and Kojima made noises like this might be his last game. We know it's not but like he made noises like it could be.
Yeah.
Um
uh Ryan we are not we are not talking about Star Citizen. However, I can see how uh this all does feel very similar. Um
Star Citizen, by the way, uh brief note that didn't make it into a full story, did just delay their single player release, which they swore was ready till 2027 ostensibly to avoid launching on top of Grand Theft Auto.
Yeah.
Meanwhile, Nintendo, hold my beer, watch this.
We'll get there. Wow. Wow. Uh anyway,
yeah,
I So here's a question, chat. Brad, Janet, would you and and you can mess up some Blue Sky Rocky, please do. We always check that throughout the day

after this goes up. Um how like give me a percentage, and I know that there's other people that aren't PlayStation or Xbox, but let's just pretend for a moment that if you had to pick one of them, you had one in your head that you liked better, right? Let's just pretend. Let's do a fake a fake argument. That's what the internet's good for,
right?
Like what percentage does this whole kurfuffle move you in one direction or another? My lizard brain for me, I'll tell you, moves like 6% toward Xbox. Uh but if I think about like how it kind of is it could be bad for everyone, it might not actually do it.
Yeah. As someone who doesn't particularly who has no particular fondness for Cojima.
Yeah.
It like doesn't move the needle at all. This is this is purely like let them

fight levels of just like Yes.
Yeah.
Large companies dance for my amusement.
Amy Day now says I was PC before I'm PC now. Which mean I mean it's funny cuz now Fizzant will be on PC.
Yeah.
Like that all but guarantees it. Before it was a PlayStation exclusive.
Well, they are they are making noises about doing Xbox ex Xbox console exclusives to try and like
I think that will never happen.
I agree. But they're making noises like
they might do they might do a thing where it's like two weeks early on Xbox. Like that's what they're gonna do. There's no way in hell they're gonna their game pass is too strong.
Yeah. So, I'm gonna I'm gonna put something out there. The only game series that I can think of that has moved me or anyone I know in real life to purchase a specific console.

The only game series that I know that has done that is Kingdom Hearts. That's it. That's the only one.
I think Nintendo has some good pull in that department. Um, you know, I buy the Switch for those games, but also I think that and and actually like, uh, it's funny, uh, Zavar says Bloodborne did it for them. Um, yeah, PlayStation did it with Final Fantasy 7. Like, yeah, I think in modern day I I somewhat agree. Um,
yeah, chat, you're all very smart. I said in real life. I don't know any of you in real life.
No, no, no. But no, but no, I think this is I think this is actually incredibly valid. I think people
companies wouldn't make such a huge deal about this if people didn't buy consoles for games, right? Like, like it just that's that's a fact. I've done it in the past. I bought the PS5,

I think, because I wanted to stay in the PlayStation ecosystem back in the day from four. And I think four might have gotten me with some of the games that people are listing here. And there just wasn't anything on the current gen Xbox that I couldn't get on PC that I didn't want. That's actually more of it. I think now now that Xbox and PC are a bit ubiquitous. I think that the choice like that's why the Xbox consoles the current ones kind of fizzled out, right? Like there's a bunch of different reasons, but the second you say you can do all this stuff elsewhere, why am I going to do it at your house, right? Like you could get only Spider-Man on Sony, you could only get uh Mario, Zelda, Metroid on Nintendo. Well, if you want those games, you get those consoles. Um,
I'm curious how Xbox eventually tries to put that toothpaste back in the tube. And I think it's going to be with like two week timed exclusives.
Yeah.
Yeah.

But remember like we we just did our Xbox not just a couple months ago we did our big deep dive into the history of Xbox. You don't have to look that far back to when Xbox was on top. It was a different time. Don't get me wrong, but the 360 was a monolith. Like truly truly winning for years. If they can get back to that somehow.
Yeah,
we'll see.
I like uh Ryan's point that trophy achievement collection and active friends list are bigger indicators of who stays on what platform. And I like uh Kameu's point. At this point, we just wait to see if a game comes out on Steam or Switch.
I mean, that's a lot of it. I It's funny. I am I'm finding myself buying more discs for PlayStation 5 now than even I did before because now it seems like it's going to be a a lost cause. Uh but Belmont's Curse for instance, I I would get it on Switch

normally that feels like a Switch game, but at launch they're not doing a Switch 2 version at 60 fps and it runs a little bit janky. And so I was like, well, and then I looked up like, is the physical game on the actual disc that you get for PlayStation 5 for that game? And it is, so I bought it. Um, back when I was going to buy Wolverine, I checked that that was going to be on it. It's on it. We have another story about something else later on, which changes all that math incredibly, but we'll get there. We'll get there. Okay, we've talked about Sony, we've talked about Xbox, it's time that we talk about Nintendo, which means that we need to have a little bit of a discussion. Chat, I think it's time for us to have some nerd court. Objection. So, there's a remake, y'all. Did you hear the news of our good friend

Link at Na'vi?
Yeah.
Running around with a timetraveling fluteesque device.
Uh
perhaps you've heard of this game. Surely no one has.
Uh surely we've only played it on this channel like a bunch through charity streams and a bunch of other things. I like how everyone says, "Hey, listen. Hey." Um, what a wonderful thing to happen uh at the Nintendo Direct or the day before the Nintendo Direct, I should say.
Uh, for Zelda's 40th birthday, we are now gifted with a brand newish coat of paint on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. It's going to also be dropping what, two weeks before GTA 6,
November 5th. Also, Nintendo took drew the Master Sword and drew a line in the sand. Just [laughter]
uh

Evan, I would be curious for you. I'm actually curious for anyone who hasn't played the original to play this and see what they think. I don't know how this is going to be or run or whatever, but like do that first and then go back. I think that's an interesting experiment. Um yeah. Uh, so GTA 6, two weeks later, you cannot buy it physically. Legend of Zelda, Ocarina of Time, you can buy the card and it's all on the card. I I I I couldn't be happier. I think I'm a little bit wishy-washy on the art style.
I think a lot of people are. That's that's sort of the there there are two conversations that that are being had about this. one about the art style. Everyone is entitled to their opinion about the art style. That that's that's sort of a very aesthetic judgment, right?
Um some people like it, some people hate it. I saw someone saying that Link that young Link looked shiny. Um that the the there is some amount of um

uncanniness about the the style that they've chosen to go with.
Yep.
Yeah. I think I think there's so I agree with all of those takes, but I think they're exacerbated because this is a game that has been in the culture for years and looked a very specific way even when it got little coats of paint or got re-released on the DS or like you know whatever, right? like this is a game that that it that's look and overall feel and dare I say polygon count uh has been burned into our collective memories. And when you change that, no matter if it looked like the best thing in the world or to utter trash, like there's going to be people that are like, "No, this isn't the thing." which actually does kind of bring us to what we will be fighting in nerd court about today. Uh chat,

there was a decision made in this game to essentially keep the load times between sections to keep the feel of the game like it used to feel and the flow of that flow and yada yada yada. Even though the hardware now could very easily not do that. Some people think this is a good thing. Other people think it's stupid. What we're going to ask you today, right now, for this episode of Nerd Fight or Nerd Court or Nerds Fighting in Court, is for you to pick which of us, Will and Matt, argue which side of this argument. Is this a good choice or is it a bad choice? because I think that both Will and I are easily able to make an argument one way or another.
Yes. So, chat, um, who will be arguing in favor of fake

load screens? So, just spam Will or Matt.
Yeah, right now.
Who is whost is pro fake loading screens for the purpose of this argument? Um, I see Matt. Matt. Matt. Matt. Will. Will Will. Matt. It's mostly Matt.
I think it's me.
I think it's you.
Okay. Okay. I'll take Yeah. Okay. Okay.
So So Matt is going to take
Matt is going to take pro fake loading screens and I will take anti- fake loading screens.
Are we putting timers on for these?
Nah, we we've tried that. It doesn't really work. So, we'll just So, Matt, give us your most compelling argument for why the new Ocarina of Time remake should maintain fake loading screens where the N64 version had loading screens.
Okay.
Proceed.

And maybe we do a poll at the end to see who's been convinced of what in chat.
Okay. I think my main reason why I would argue that this is a good idea is there's already so much of this game that is going to feel different. Like for instance, there is uh you can now jump whenever you want and that was a huge thing in Ocarina of Time. You could not do that. You ran to a ledge and that's what caused you to jump. You also have another uh uh analog stick, right? So that means you can actually control the camera in a way you really couldn't. You had the C stick, but that didn't really do much on the old N64. Like there's elements of this game that are already going to make it feel like a completely new experience. New experiences are fine, but if I'm going to play Ocarina of Time, I want to play Ocarina of Time. Therefore, I want the pacing that the original designers intended. And granted, back then you did

design around those things. If you knew you had a certain amount of load time, you made sure that like either music would play underneath it a right amount or like you made sure that the pacing of the scenes you were doing, especially in a game as beloved and masterful as Ocarina of Time, that was part of the aesthetic and the timing and the pacing of the original experience. And in a game that is uh doing away with some of those things, I'm very happy that it's keeping something else that will make it feel like the old game was because I think that was part of what made it so special.
Okay. All right.
I
will Will Why are load screen stupid? I think that while there's an overture at making it feel like the original, this is like the worst way to do that because I don't think anyone fondly remembers the pacing of the load screens except maybe speedrunners. And yeah,

Ocarine of Time has like a vibrant speedrunning community, but they also reduce the number of load screens as much as possible by going directly from uh you know uh Kieri Forest to credits with you know um arbitrary code execution or with the wrong warp or with you know whatever right so it's not really something that speaks to the character of the original like they claim that it is I don't think it actually is I don't know why they've actually put them in. But I feel like they were there and then they were like, "We need a reason for them to be there. It's a reference to the original." That's right. That's why we have load screens for a game that's this size in 2026 that doesn't have extensive like load screen needs. That's, you know, that's why it's it's it's for nostalgia, right? It doesn't feel genuine to me. like the argument I I could see the argument that

they're making. It doesn't ring true to me that that's the reason, right? Because there are so many other things that would make the game feel like Ocarina of Time more than load screens, right? Like,
and to be clear, someone did bring up, we're not talking about like the it's basically the screen transitions. It's the dipped to black, right? It's about two to three seconds on the original based on where you're going or what's going on. Um, and that's all. Will I think where I'll concede to your point is I don't think that Nintendo should have messaged this.
Yeah.
But I also think that like if they hadn't and we just played it, it would feel correct based on the type of game and when it was made.
I agree.
And and like and that's why I don't want them to just take them out because they can. There is like I so like for instance there's two there's two instances I can think of in the original

N64 Ocarina of time where this actually was effective. The first one if I remember correctly was after the cutscenes of uh Ganondorf riding away with Zelda. There's a dramatic moment and it's raining and you know whatever
and there's a big dramatic moment and there the the pause between like where it fades to black before it goes back to gameplay if I remember correctly. um felt like it was the right amount and like worked for the drama of it. Also, because remember this is a openw world game to a point. Um but the sections were not like you couldn't free roam through them, right? Like they also served as sort of like the effect of walking through a literal door, right? like your your your temperament or not your temperament but like your your mind can reset your your you you leave extraneous uh knowledge behind you that you don't need. Sometimes you you forget things. I whenever you walk through a door, your brain can kind of do like a little mental reset. I always thought these little dips to black between like um uh

the forest, let's say where Link starts and uh the main world or Death Mountain or the villages, etc. the castle like always set me into a mental state of like and now I'm here. And I do think that that has value. I don't want to arbitrarily wait. I don't think that that's sort of the point. I think they built this game originally with intentionality to give you the experiences to give you sort of the specific timing and experiences that they wanted to. Um, and if they're going to change some things, perhaps keeping the pacing of what is actually going on in the in between moments the same would be a helpful reminder as to where this game came from. That's my I guess my final argument.
Yeah. And my my my final counter rebutt is if this is about pacing, don't have it be black. Don't go to black. Do something with that time and space that establishes the character, right? But

that would change that would change the style of what you're what you're seeing and doing.
I I feel like the stylistic element argument goes out the window when Link looks like that, right? Like not that that is good or bad, but that is so different, right? That the his proportions are different. Everything about that character feels different from young Link in Ocarine of Time on the 64. And like that's not a good or bad thing. That's just a decision that they've made. So, why are we drawing the line in the sand at load screens? And that feels like
it's a last gasp. It's a thing. It's a thing that we can we can hold on to in the in the dark of night when everything is changing. We'll know that the pacing of the game feels the same as it ever was.
The same as it ever.
Yeah. [snorts] All right, chat. We're going to put up polls in both YouTube and Twitch. I'll do the YouTube one. mods. Could you could you do one in Twitch? Uh, are you

in favor of of load screens to maintain immersion? Uh, yes or no?
I would I'm curious if any of us if any of us have swayed anyone else and then we'll say I I like that we we had to randomly pick our side of the argument. Ah, [sighs]
all right. There is now a poll in YouTube
and there is a poll in in Twitch chat and we will continue on to our next story while while those votes come in, I think. Uh, and we'll we'll we'll see how how Twitch chat votes. Um,
yeah, I like I like Rogue's thing here. I I think that that's true, but there's a um if that's true that that's another change, right? Because the original

didn't feel like puppet theater.
Yeah.
And so
I feel like Rogue said what I was trying to say better.
Yeah. [laughter]
Yep. Okay. Uh
should we move on and like look at the poll?
Yeah. while while those results are coming in.
Oh, blue sky poll for Rocky.
Oh,
can you do polls on blue sky?
Uh, I you know, I don't actually know.
I'm going to see.
Okay, great.
Yeah. Trans blue has a really great point. Have load screens on by default, but make a setting to turn them off. Yep.
Don't be logical. That's not what Nerd Fight's about.
Yeah, right. This is not Yeah, Blue Sky does not have polls yet.
Damn it.
Hey. All right, let's move on.
Well, we're gonna go from nerd court into some unfortunate bad news. Well, we'll check back in on those polls in just a second, but first we got to talk about the Steam leak.

Oh, did I did I send you the wrong graphic? I think I did.
I think you did, but that's okay. This is a
That's okay. There's a different logo underneath it. Don't worry about it. It had a bunch of achievements hang hanging off the Steam logo.
Yeah. Oh, well.
Um, so unfortunately a whole bunch of data has leaked out of Steam and it's not, you might be like, "But it surely it's user data or whatever." No, it's game data, unfortunately. And it's achievement data for a bunch of games that haven't been released yet and some that haven't even been announced yet. And this just kind of sucks because it really takes the wind out of a lot of sales. Also, there are spoilers running around, so be careful about like Kingdom Hearts 4 spoilers if you care about those because some of those achievements. The names of the achievements are spoilers and they got leaked, right? So,
uh this is this is another big uh

maybe don't um that I'm uh kind of bummed about actually. Like this just sort of bums me out.
It does stink. Um do does it say in in uh in the PC Gamer article like where the actual leak came from? Was it a hack? Was it just something that like it feels like it was something that was posted somewhere it shouldn't have been? I believe the IGN article has it as a um
I'm just trying to find exactly where it was.
Oh, uh possibles screw up on Valves End. A bunch of games with achievements that should be private or accessible through the API and that's why they got scanned. So something got exposed to the public that shouldn't have been.
Right. But this is not like a hack. This is something this the the call is coming from inside the house.
That is correct.
Um, so that that stinks. And this mostly serves as a warning to all of you. Be

careful what you're looking at. If you don't want spoilers for Persona 6 or Final Fantasy, not Final Fantasy or Kingdom Hearts 4 or any of the other games that might be affected by this because again, achievement names are often spoilers. That's why they're hidden and they are not hidden in this dump. So do
let's check in on that poll real quick by the way
YouTube chat Janet is split exactly 50/50.
Okay.
Uh and it is uh 5446 in favor of FAKE LOAD SCREENS OVER
WOW.
Um
Wow.
Which I was not expecting.
No. And it's funny. So to be very clear, I can see both arguments very clearly. I I mean for Nerd for Nerd Fight, what the the goal is is for Will and I not to agree. So like I think the hardest part for me was specifically being like, "Oh man, Will made a couple good points there. I got to pivot pivot pivot,

right?" Like and I I I think I made some good points, too. But like
I won't pretend that I'm like as passionate about that as I might have come off as, right? Like I I think that I I do really like the option. Like someone in chat said like just have them so you can turn them off if you want them off.
I think the real reason truly is that they got so excited and so into the the weeds of making this remake with all the graphic changes and the jumping and the camera and all that stuff. They didn't realize that load screens were there until late in the project. And then someone's probably like, "Oh, we probably don't need those." and and maybe it's just very difficult based on how the game is built and structured to remove them. So then someone asked about them in an interview and the guy's like uh the experience. And again, I don't entirely disagree with that, but it feels like an oversight cuz why not put an option if you thought about it, right?
Yeah.

Yeah.
Okay.
WD weird Nintendo decisions.
Yep.
Okay. We were talking a little bit about Sony and the disc digital and a bunch of other stuff, but let's let's let's we'll focus on Sony for a second. Specifically, uh Visa v Final Fantasy 7.
I'm so mad about this.
Revelation. Sorry, I couldn't remember which rewarded it was. So, so my plan for this remake has always been buy the first one digitally, buy the second one digitally. When the third one comes out, I'm sure they're going to do a box set of like actual physical discs and get the whole thing again. And I know that's wasteful moneywise, but that's what that was my plan. And now the announcement is that Final Fantasy 7 remake, Revelations, whatever, the third one of the the trilogy of remaking Final Fantasy 7 will only have

one disc and it will just be a game key that you have to download the rest of the game for. Anyway,
it comes out before the the the embargo.
Yeah.
On physical.
This really sucks. Um, so, uh, I think I think people would care significantly less if it wasn't the end of the trilogy, if it wasn't part of a set, right? If it wasn't like, and furthermore, if it wasn't Final Fantasy 7, right? if it wasn't like
there's so many there's so many pieces
like a thing that you want to be an heirloom of your house to give to your children's children when they come of age and you know
you want to watch them watch Sephro murder Aith spoilers right and then
like play through the remakes and

everything and
Final Fantasy 7 the original is a super special game for me the remakes are also super special for me I when the first when when when remake came out. I think Jamie walked in at a certain time when I was playing it and I was just smiling ear to ear, like crazy big grin on my face. She's like, "What's going on?" And I I said something along the lines of, "I'm just so happy to be alive at this point in time to experience this game like this again."
Yeah.
And I think everyone has their games that are that for them, right? Um, and I and and I think it's because of all the things that will listed in my personal tie to Final Fantasy 7 that I wanted this to be something that I could like I still have my Final Fantasy 7 PS uh PS1 discs, right? Like they're still they're in my games closet. Like I have them. And I it would be really nice to be able to know that I could still have that on

my own person for, you know, kids or friends kids or whatever to play like.
Yeah.
I don't know. It's It's a real It's a real bummer for all the regular reasons, but for a lot of extra reasons this time.
Yeah. Um,
and of course this, by the way, applies to all
uh platforms that it's going to be.
It's a game key card on on Switch 2, which we kind of expect at this point.
Sure.
Um, and the reason that they gave kind of sucks.
What's with all the bad reasons?
Just don't say anything. Will has a patented class on that. Again, you should unpatent it.
I did.
Oh, you did? Maybe they didn't get the memo,
right?
Uh Will's unpatented class on shutting the hell up. They said that they couldn't get all of the games and its fidelity if they made discs.
Even though

sounds like an optimization problem and or just put more discs in the box, bro.
Right. If I like if we can get Balders's Gate on six CDs like cowards. Cowards all of you.
Um Yeah. I I don't Yeah. Yep. Yeah. I just I and the thing I'm you're looking at here is there's a there's a Japanese collector set which I was actually debating even importing if I could find if I could find a version, but now I'm not even sure like what the hell are these discs?
Yeah.
You know what I mean?
Yeah.
Uh and yeah, people are saying that this they've said that they want to continue the world of Final Fantasy 7. I'm sure that it depending on how this sells, I'm sure they will. Um I don't care about that. Maybe it's good, maybe it's bad, but like I wouldn't like I like Crisis Core, but I don't need the box set

physical of Crisis Core. Like I it's just not I don't know.
Yeah, I'm uh I'm super bummed about this. Um we'll
I don't think they're going to reverse course. I don't think any of these corpse are going to reverse course reverse Corp. Uh the original seven came on three discs. Yes.
So did eight, I believe. Eight might have been on four.
I don't remember eight.
Yeah, I remember seven being three discs because they're um
related to world changes in seven.
Be a man, put it on one 102,400 floppies. Or you could probably cut that down if you use zip discs or jazz drives.
Jazz drives. Oh, the old the old magic.
Yeah,
man. What a what a time to be alive,
right? for real. Okay.
Yeah. Speaking of problems with digital discs and digital copies,

I like this one. [laughter]
Um, Xbox disc to digital program is already hitting some snags.
To be fair, it's I we don't know how bad the snags are.
Yeah. Because they're not consistent and it's changing quite quickly. So, one of the problems with the distant digital feature that we called out when we originally looked at it was that it needs publisher optin, that each publisher was going to have to individually opt in. And we're already seeing cases of that. Um, Kotaku did a like experiment on this. Um, and uh the There are several uh games that were tried including um games from Ubisoft, uh Sega, Square Enix, and Bandai Namco. And they got a message that says digital

license unavailable. This game is not participating in digital licensing. You can still play with the disc insert. Um now uh following the original article however uh which published on the 8th Ubisoft games have been added. Yes. So, so, so they are still adding publishers, but like this is already highlighting one of the big problems, which is like it's cool that Xbox is like, "Hey, we're doing this program, but the individual publishers also have to agree." And if they don't, then like and your favorite game is like a Square Enix game or a newbie game or a Sega game or whatever, and that's the game that you were looking forward to using this uh entitlement for and you can't, then it might as well not exist.
Yes and no. Like there's always a chance that people could actually like do it later. Like so the thing that the Kotaku article posits is that the thing that people were worried about is that when

you go to it uh it says a very specific message and it to me it doesn't sound as ominous. Oh, digital license unavailable. This is not participating in the digital licensing, right? Um that just might mean they haven't done it. They announced this what two and a half weeks ago
like
like this they did say it was going to be a slow roll out. I'm not trying to like protect or stand up for Xbox but this does feel like like it's so funny cuz like oh the Ubisoft games weren't working and now they are right like and if Ubisoft who is a large publisher is going to be doing it then it feels like others will as well. This will actually seem we'll see if I bring this graphic back in like a month or two months once this is sort of rolled out more. Again, I don't want to posit that the disc to digital thing that Xbox has done is like the savior of physical media. I don't think it is. I think in my tinfoil hat, Corpo is going to be Corpo's heart of hearts that this is a way to train

people to not put discs into consoles and get used to a digital ecosystem.
Yeah.
Um, sure. Uh, which is fine. Like again that that's fine. It's just I think this is another way of saw like this is the sneaky way of doing what Sony did like with a mallet, you know.
Yep.
So we'll see how many more Yeah. We'll see how many more people uh or many more publishers get on board with this. Again, I'm glad it exists. Um we'll see. I'm so curious how, if at all, like much of the the media landscape of people complaining about Sony is doing anything. I don't think it's doing anything. I think the internet, this gets a little bit wider. I think the internet does something interesting where if we don't like something, we yell about it on the internet and then that makes us feel like we've done something when we've done nothing. When before the internet,

you didn't have an internet to yell at. So you had to actually find the person that could change the thing to yell at do it and then things sometimes changed. That sounds like a perfect segue into our next segment on gaming the law.
Oo. [music]
Okay.
Trash.
Trash. So, okay. We're gonna we're gonna grow. We're gonna keep this gaming related. We're gonna focus on the games. Okay? We're gonna focus on the games part of this. Okay, chat. I need I need you all to be so chill. We're gonna focus on the games because the next words out of my mouth are going to be, "So, earlier last week, the Trump administration, and then I need you to be chill because it's going to be games related, released this godawwful, just absolutely terrible section of the

White House website called The Arcade." And it's got what can only be dubbed propaganda slop video games. And I'm gonna use the words I'm gonna use some scare quotes around video games. Video games. Um, they include such things as uh God, I want to make sure I get this right.
Yeah, don't get the names wrong, Will. you God, they've let they leave my brain every time I try and um uh every time I try and think about them, uh I just can't. So, the one the one that we're concerned with is a a clone called Build the Wall. There are also ones about saving in your Trump savings fund for your children. There's one about helping people eat healthy by not reading food labels. I don't really get that one. Um, there's

some other it's it's pretty bad. Okay, so the the story, however, concerns specifically this game called Build the Wall, which is ostensibly a Tetris clone. However, if you look at this screenshot in the picture, you will notice that there is a problem with this. There is a fundamental misunderstanding of the mechanics of Tetris. when one suggests that they be used to build a wall, which is that upon completing a line in Tetris, it's supposed to disappear, but in this game, it doesn't. So, that's a thing. Shortly after this piece of media was released into the public, the Tetris company, because there's a whole company based around Tetris, by the way. Reminder, the Tetris is the bestselling video game ever. Ever. It's not particularly close either.

Bestselling video game of all time. Tetris has a company to manage Tetris. Who would have thought? And they were like, "Hey, hey, you see what you're doing there? We see what you're doing there. You don't." And the truly interesting part of this story is that it got taken down.
Yes.
So, there's some weirdness behind that. Number one, copyright is a thing that the government could theoretically ignore. They could just not. They could just don't and then tie it up in like a legal lawsuit and just do this thing, right? But I'm guessing that people don't um I'm guessing they thought that no one would care is is my take. Uh and now and

now it's it's gone and it might be because the Tetris company released something and it might not. But either way, this has been a really weird thing to see hovering around gaming news that like there's these incredibly propaganda slot video game clones. Mhm.
Um, and they're terrible. Both because they're propaganda and because from a coding and gameplay perspective, they're terrible. And then does hear the Tetris company have to criticize the White House for using their IP without asking? We're like in the weirdest timeline if nothing else.
Sure.
Yeah. It uh it's awful that it that this even exists. Uh it's awful that it's bad. It's awful that the It's just it's just we should just move on because it's literally we're doing exactly what they want people to do is just talk about this garbage. That's what it is without talking about anything actually important.
Yep.
Um yeah, bad, stupid, dumb.

Okay, great. Excellent. Weird and maybe less bad and stupid and dumb, but definitely
Oh, yeah. That's soon, isn't it?
Yeah. Okay, so Nintendo went on the record as saying that they don't believe that anyone who bought a product for them while tariffs were in effect deserves a refund for the price of the tariffs, which
right, which is legally correct.
That is technically correct. And their attempt to make good on this now that they are receiving money back from the government from the illegal tariffs that were levied on them is that they're having a customer appreciation sale where they're going to discount a bunch of stuff and you can give them more money. I mean, look, okay, let's let's talk about both sides of this coin. We did a

short on this about how, you know, just reminding you that corporations are not your friends and, you know, no matter how much of a thing uh how much of a thing we uh Sorry, I got lost at a at a side thing going on. Don't worry about me. Everything's fine. The On one hand, Nintendo does not owe any of us who paid a more amount of money anything from them at all because we chose to buy the thing. Would it be nice if there was some sort of refund? Yes. How would you go about that? Like truly, what what mechanically out of all of the vendors and the different ways you do stuff through Nintendo, how would we even do that? This is a half measure that again they didn't have to do. Nintendo never put stuff on sale.

Uh but then on the other hand of the other hand, it does feel kind of slimy to be like, "Hey, thanks for all that money. We're going to sell you more stuff for less money." Yeah,
they could have I because I I think in the I have to look at the actual um the actual thing or their their like announcement of it. They do say specifically due to like they can do this because of the tariffs the the refund
again for the third time in this show. Just don't say that.
Just say you're doing a a a customer appreciation sale. I made this graphic, by the way. Nintendo didn't make ter appreciation. Uh that's not what it that's not what they're calling it, but they did quote. It's a customer appreciation sale. Um largest promotion ever. Uh blah blah blah blah blah. I'm trying to find the customer appreciation

sale is our way of saying thank you Nintendo players for continued support. It made uh continue support. It is made possible in part by tariff related refunds. So, it sounds like they were trying to spin their people taking them to court about this thing, which they were going to win anyway. It's fine. And turning it into like a positive, but all it's doing is reminding people that they got ripped off and therefore the sale won't feel like a sale.
Mhm.
That's correct.
Yeah. Anyway, speaking of companies doing things that they should probably shut up about and getting in trouble with the law, we'll we'll spin the globe and move away from the states and talk about Rockstar. So, uh Rockstar is heading into their um employment

tribunal.
Yes. over uh firing 31 workers in Glasgow. Um and the IDW uh GB, the Independent Workers of Great Britain Union, um is is representing the fired workers in this case and alleges strongly that the um that Rockstar uh unlawfully blacklisted and targeted these members for their union activities. So, we'll we'll see how this goes for them, but given that there are already, you know, [snorts] people talking about it and uh that this hearing will run until October 16th,
right?
Which is just a month before GTA 6 comes out. I don't think it's going to move the needle, but it is going to be very interesting to see both for Rockstar in particular and for

the industry as a whole how they handle this because this is going to be under intense scrutiny um to the extent that these proceedings are public, right? Like I think this is going to be a big thing for the industry and I think at some point Rockstar may get told to shut up and take the L before they say something that gets the rest of the industry in hotter water than they want to be in. Um
Rockstar might be big enough to just say we are the we are the industry. Uh the my my my thing is even the these people I believe that are that are bringing this up like that are bringing it to uh the authorities uh have said don't not get the game. They worked on the game. They want people to play the game. They also want people to buy merch like their merch to support their cause. Um, and and I believe their asks are to either be reinstated or have compensation for being let go. Like these are people that believe in

and want and and cherish the jobs that they had.
Mhm.
Um,
yeah. And a reminder that Rockstar's argument here is it's not possible that it's because they were in union. We didn't know that they were in a union when we fired them. That's their claim. That is Rockstar's claim. And they are sticking with it. That they had no idea that these 31 people were doing union stuff.
Uh Zara, I think you're thinking of the Subnotica 2 story.
Yeah.
Uh that wasn't here, I don't believe.
Yeah.
Again, maybe. I mean, if it was, I didn't hear about it.
Yeah. Um Yeah. So, this this will be interesting. Uh I'm I'm I'm mostly interested in this not unfortunately for the individual story that like is coming out of it, but because it's going to set a very real precedent for the rest of the industry. That's what I'm very interested in here. Um because it's such

a high-profile case because it's in the orbit of what is probably going to be one of the games of the decade.
It's going to be the piece of media of the decade. this this thing is going to and and I'm so so it's obviously going to make all the money. That's it's what's going to happen. I'm so curious in the year of some lord 2026. We don't exist in a space where something this big can be beloved.
Oh yeah. Like I think we're going to see the the first week it's going to be nothing but positive and shine and then then the the deluge of negativity is going to hit this thing. And again, it's not going to move the needle. It's people yelling on the internet. But like I'm so curious to see what an what a what a media event of this size does to the that that that's supposedly beloved.

What happens to it once it's out in the wild and it's no longer the most perfect thing in your mind, right?
Yep.
Yeah. And grass is correct. A big thing like this is so rare. We've moved away from media monoculture. like this is this is a monoculture moment.
Yeah.
Even for people that never play this game, they'll know.
Mhm.
And they'll have opinions.
Mhm.
Which is actually kind of exciting, I think. Like
Yep.
But and you know, Andrew does bring up we are not the average video game consumer. I'm I I can't wait to ask my I I love asking my mom when big things happen. I'm like, "Hey, what do you think about GTA 6?" and I'll see what she says because she'll have an opinion, but she couldn't be further from the demographic.
Yep. [snorts]
You know what, Cat? Same. Let's move on.
Excellent. In fact, let's move on from

this entirely into some good news. Our first good news story. Uh we're staying in Europe for a hot second. Uh let's talk about France.
I am very proud of this graphic.
I Yes. As you should be. It's very good. Um
this if the story was bigger I this would have been the thumbnail.
Yeah. Uh so as part of a uh recent press release uh French President Emanuel Macron has declared that video games are part of our culture and is launching a new international game festival. Now, we already have a bunch of international game festivals. However, I am kind of the opinion that more of them is good. I'm I'm kind of in the space that like more of these is a good thing.
Agreed.
Um that we have more places to celebrate

stuff. Now, is this because Uh, Expedition 33 won like every award it possibly could and then some it had to give back because it won too many. Yeah.
Yeah, it probably is. Is that impetus does that impetus discredit having more celebrations and more governments putting funding into recognizing um video games as part of the creative arts? No. No, I think that's fine. Big game makes lots of money. Government stand up take notice. And also like it's it's almost like the last domino to fall. Obviously Ubisoft is is is a big one over there. Uh quite a few other like um like other games made in France. I think Plague Tale Rematch, Jant, Chance of Sar, Sefue Stray. I'm just reading off of the uh PC gamer list. Like the and Mcron's post is is pretty strong. Uh you know, basically says quote 130 years ago France gave birth to cinema. Today's cinema series, animation and video games are far more

than industry. They're common goods that shape our imaginations, connect us across borders. But never have these common goods undergone such profound upheavalss. We will have entered a new revolution in images and creation. So like, and then he goes into some some [ __ ] about AI for a second. Um uh but he's talking about basically wanting to elevate the artists that make video games because they see them as valuable essentially elements that not only are like that represent the culture but form the culture.
Yeah.
And to have a someone you know the leader of a country essentially um say that out loud and want to make some they're calling it the Lumer summit. They don't no one really knows what it's going to be yet. Um, but uh I think that's nothing but good news. I think that that's um it's so funny, not to get all EP on it, but you look at the two different ways that two different countries are

handling video games just in the context of this show.
Yeah.
And you can kind of hear the people sing sing the song of Angry Sprites. Um, but the I don't know. It's just it's just a it's just a it's just a observation.
Yeah. That's all we do here is we make observations.
Yeah.
Yeah. Um, okay. Cool. Uh, other good news story for this week. Uh, as No Man's Sky turns 10, which we talked about before, they released their 10th anniversary celebration,
Cosmos. Um, you're so proud of yourself.
I had to reuse.
Yeah,
it had to be done.
It did. Um, so the this is probably one of the biggest updates for No Man's Sky in the 43 I had to look. 43 named

updates that they've had since launch. This is version 7.0 in a dec. And they're not done. You do, however, fortunately, and I found this out this morning, now have a way to give Shawn Murray money for all of this. Uh, which is you can buy No Man's Sky merch now, which finally, thank you. Um,
this Yeah, this one is this one is very big. So essentially, if if you're not familiar with No Man's Sky, No Man's Sky went from being a very lonely single player experience to a multiplayer experience that took place largely on planets to a multiplayer experience that took place largely on planets with bases to being able to build your own ships. And now they're really using the space in their space game.
Space,
space, space, space. You can now now objects in space have fixed positions which is new because they didn't before. Everything was just kind of between

planets and you ran into it or you didn't and you needed to like
have a thing that activated or created a point of interest just for you.
It was not like a permanent fixture. So now stuff has a place in space and
space place if you will. a space place, if you will. And there are points of interest in solar systems and you can build a base out in a solar system. So like you can go find an asteroid and build a base on that asteroid and claim it and it's yours now just to like have a base. You can claim space stations now. You can do a bunch of missions and then claim a a whole space station. You could claim a whole system essentially, right? You get to set up the space station however you want. You get to change the interior decor. You get to do all of these things which are pretty, I would say, pretty significant. They've also introduced um alliance like leaderboards which Okay, cool. Great.

Awesome. Excellent. Um but it's it's a very big deal and I'm very glad to see that they're they're continuing to innovate and add stuff. And again, we we uh are also excited for all of this under the guise that all of this will influence the technology and decisions that they make for light no fires, which I continue to be endlessly hyped for.
It's such a like what a because this definitely wasn't the plan when they started, right? But like what a great iterative uh I guess development cycle that they've they've found themselves in,
right? Like I I I love that. I love that like they're still doing stuff for No Man's Sky and that will pay dividends in uh Light No Fire. So like I don't know. I think it's
Yeah,
it's going to be great. I I'm so curious how Light No Fires will function like if there'll be servers like specifically server like because I know that like
it's all one world. Yeah.
Yeah. So I don't know. We'll see. Um,

and uh, by the way, uh, most important update, most important part of the cosmos update, uh, by popular request, you can now finally fly into the sun. It will kill you obviously, but you can fly in,
but like you can get to the stars. What happened before if you flew to a star?
You could never get there. It was sort of it was like a treadmill thing.
Um, yeah, it is. Yeah, I like this one. No Man's Sky is closer to Star Citizen than Star Citizen. That's true. That's that's a reminder that the uh the Star Citizen Kickstarter closed in 2012
and No Man's Sky released in 2016.
Is um is No Man's Sky cross save.
Do we know?
Believe it.
Chat, can you let me know? Cuz I have it on uh PSVR 2 and PC. Um
yes, Celig says yes.
Cool. because I I I think I'd like to build and create not in VR

and explore in VR
and explore in VR. I think that's kind of what I'd like to do with that game.
Yep. And uh if you are interested in seeing uh more about No Man's Sky or Cosmos and you don't have the game or you just want to hang out and get the Twitch drops that are live, I'll be playing this next Wednesday.
This is actually a great question, Andrew. What is the hook for No Man's Sky at this point? And I think what's interesting about it is because there's been 43 named updates that all feel a little tonally different and not all of them, but a lot of them do. That is something that I do have a problem with picking it up again, having being someone who's never gotten terribly far in it, because it just feels like there's so much. Um, I think at this point I think the buyin that they're going for is now like
essentially make your home and have

adventures in space.
Mhm.
That kind of feels like what it is.
It is designed for you to explore an infinite universe that is infinitely strange and very malleable. Um, do you want to have a grand space adventure and be a traveler? Yes. Cool. Great. Like,
and I think that there's also a buy in with that sort of like infinite procedurally generated stuff that like, and maybe this is wrong at this point. I know when it came out, like you did start to see the boundaries of what that was.
Yes.
But now I haven't done it like I haven't played enough now to see if I've found those boundaries. I'm sure people that play hours upon hours a day have
Mhm.
because even if it's boundless, you're going to see the treadmills that you're on into that boundlessness.
Yep. Uh and there will be a a a special Cosmos expedition that is releasing. Expeditions are sort of their um start a

new save excuse. Um so you start an expedition and this one will take you through all 43 of those named updates chronologically.
Really? Really? Will it take you through the first one too?
Uh yeah. So like they're starting at the very beginning and you're going to walk through it. And the cool part is at each milestone there is developer commentary about that era of No Man's Sky from
as hell.
It's it's pretty cool. Um that the release date for that is not yet fixed. It's when it's ready in true Hello Games fashion. So good on them. Um, I'm definitely going to be playing it either online or off. Uh, whenever it comes out, I'll do it online if people want to see it. Otherwise, I'm just gonna, you know, hunker down.
You're gonna play through all of it
probably.
Even though you have like limited stuff for it, like cosmetics and things, but
I feel like that would be the way I'd I I feel like I've restarted No Man's Sky like seven times.
Expeditions are a really great way to like accomplish that thing.

Oh,
that's so good. God, it's so good. It's one of those games that like I feel like I don't experience it properly due to not having time.
Yeah, it really does require a large investment in time and like I I fully admit I don't have
infinite time. Yeah.
Yeah. I don't I don't have all of the time that I would like to have um for this. So,
uh yeah, that's that's it. All right. Uh on to our dessert story. Quite possibly the weirdest story of the week. and we've talked about some weird stuff.
You really are the most devious bastard in in in Skyrim.
That's right,
IKEA.
Who hasn't heard of this yet? Hold on before we I I just want to know who doesn't know about this. I just want to know because I want I want Will to be the one to to tell you.
Copper doesn't. Dark doesn't.

Okay. Okay, great, great, great, great, great, great. Perfect, perfect, perfect. Will, take it away.
Okay, so you know how Skyrim mods are a thing? You know how like there are Skyrim mods for everything? You can turn the the dragons at Thomas the Tank Engine and you can replace your horse with a car. And if you want to see more of that, like Cake Jumper does a thing called Cheese Quest every year where she's got different mods and it's great. Um, okay, great. But what if what if IKEA made a mod? Now, you might be like, IKEA, that makes sense. They're gonna make a home decoration mod where you can put IKEA. No, no, no, no, no. That's too simple. They're making a game.
They made it. I believe it's out.
Yeah, it is out. They made a mod
uh called Klex Stormborn. Call is the name of this shelving unit.
The shelf? Yeah, this shelf is voiced by

Matt Barry and has a quest line in Skyrim. The
which unlocks which unlocks the moment you become encumbered.
I am struck speechless by the absurdity of this. So, just so we're clear, IKEA made a Skyrim mod as a marketing thing for a shelving system starring Matt Barry that's fully playable. That's the story. You're welcome.
I'm making sure in the show notes the trailer is there as well. I just added it so when those go up. Yeah.
Uh
but also, yeah, they did this now. like just now.
But like this is what you do. Like this is smart as hell. This made everyone like look IKEA is probably very popular in the gaming community as well. No

doubt. I think I've seen these shelves in almost every sort of like tech office I've ever been to.
There's one right there. Like I literally have one right there.
So it fits, right? But then to hire Matt Barry to be the voice of this character.
Yeah.
Uh it's I ah God. It's so I cannot I was thinking of just installing this back on the computer and streaming it sometime. Just I'm sure it's not crazy long.
Yeah.
Um
because it seems so funny.
Yeah. I feel like the point, by the way, is not to sell more IKEA, but to just get IKEA back in the cultural zika. Well, that's that's I mean at the end of the day it is about selling more IKEA, but that's but they're doing it in the way that also is additive and not destructive in my opinion.
Absolutely. They didn't really Yeah.
They're giving us something.
Yeah.
To remind us that they're a company that we might want to buy stuff from.
Yep.
Yeah. Um

so good. So
asking the real question, can you get Blah on Skyrim or Blah on Skyrim? Um great question. I don't know. I know you can get them in Minecraft, though, because the last time we ran a multiplayer server, for reasons,
the community had a very firm request that I add the shark plushies mod, which lets you add all kinds of shark plushies in nice colors uh to your Minecraft server. So,
uh I believe and you summon your shelf, if I remember correctly, you summon Matt Barry's shelf by it's a special shout that you yell the name of the shelf. Amazing.
Like that's how you summon the shelf to come. And the quests are from what I understand to fill the shelf.
Like all the things on there I think are things you have to go get. Like the first quest from what I understand is you go to a cave and you find the pieces of the shelf
and you have an Allen wrench and you have to put it together.

Yes, it's a magical Allen wrench.
I'm looking at it right now. Oh, it does kind of look like a sword, but an Allen wrench.
Yep. Mhm. Correct. Correct.
I do wish It's funny. The second I saw this, I was like, "Oh, I got to check." And I re I realized that mods aren't available on the Switch version. Uh cuz that's what I have my most recent playthrough with, which is a Switch 2 version, but it is PC and Xbox. So,
uh
you know, a Amy, I'm with you on this. Finally, something that's the good kind of stupid,
right?
Yes.
Yes. It's so good. It's so good.
Yeah. This is This is This is the gaming stuff I long for. I long for the week where our entire show is nothing but this
this kind of thing.
Like I would right like I I just want I want this to be what gaming is. Um and not an industry that has so many problems that we spend most of the episode talking about them. and I make

sure that we have good news to wrap up on. So,
it's so good. It's so flipping good. I'm definitely streaming this.
Yeah,
I'm definitely doing it. I don't know when. Maybe next week sometime. I'll get it installed. I'll get it moving, but like
brand new speedrun the beginning of Skyrim and get to this quest.
Yeah, 100%.
Yeah,
100%.
The end the end of the trailer is one of the funniest things I've seen in a while. So, it it's it'll be in the show notes. You can search for it on YouTube right now. Call Storage Born. H. Well, friends, I believe that concludes our episode for today. A reminder, we've got a design club coming up next Tuesday on fishing. I know I promised it last week. I got the schedule wrong. That's on me. But this Tuesday, Jeff and I are going to be talking about fishing in video games and why it shows up everywhere. There's fishing in Hades. There's fishing in

Stardew. There's fishing in Animal Crossing. There's fishing in WoW or Final Fantasy 14 or whatever. Oh my goodness gracious. Hello Cake Jumper. We were just TALKING ABOUT
WE WERE JUST TALKING ABOUT YOU.
We were just talking about you and Skyrim. Uh and and we're about to wrap up this show.
We just did you like did did your ears burn from across the pond? Like how did this happen?
Right. Uh amazing. We were talking about the Skyrim IKEA mod and we brought up Cheese Quest and how uh I feel like the things that you do are the wonderful kind of madness that would inspire something like this uh elsewhere. I think it's wonderful.
So, uh Cake, I'm I'm just going to say if this IKEA mod isn't in the next Cheese Quest,
Well, hold on, Cake. Real quick. sometime next week or in the coming weeks, do you want to come on with me and Will just for like an hour and play through this quest with us?
Because if you haven't heard about this, uh IKEA IKEA is Have you done Storage Born yet, Cake? If you've already done

it, it doesn't make sense. [laughter]
Anyway,
anyway, sorry, I'm getting too excited.
Yes, there there is a full quest about an IKEA call in
voiced by Matt Barry.
Voiced by Matt Barry as a mod in Skyrim. You're welcome. for free.
for free.
Uh
anyh who
anyway uh next Tuesday design club uh will be doing fishing. Next uh Monday I'll be finishing the 7.56 uh MSQ in Final Fantasy 14 and next Wednesday I'll be playing that Cosmos update. Stick around though. Um we're Matt and I aren't going anywhere over on Twitch. We're going to jump into some Slay the Spire 2. So
this is the second time I've actually truly played it. The first time was when Jeff taught me it at a live stage at PAX West. Now Will and Jess from uh Second Wind are going to be walking me through some multiplayer. I have never played the multiplayer at all. I am a spire baby. Uh come see all the times I mess

up.
Yeah.
I guess that takes us to the end of Games for Breakfast, though. Again, stick around on Twitch. We're going to be playing that game. But on YouTube, we're going to be saying goodbye to you now in the only way that we know possible. And that is the same ending that we do every single episode to. You all know it by now. And even even the new folks that came in from K Extreme, they know it too. Everyone kind of intrinsically knows the end of the show and how it works because it it fosters a sense of community and togetherness as we go into the weekend. And I hope everyone has a wonderful one. So I guess thank you so much for watching Games for Breakfast this week. And now we will end the show as we always do by screaming our favorite piece of IKEA furniture like it's a shout in Skyrim. [clears throat] GOLA. [screaming and groaning] [music]