Download the latest episode to your computer or preferred device.
- Duration (approx): 54 Minutes
- File Size (approx): 32MB
- Format: mp3
The Hosts
| Larry Hryb, Xbox LIVE's Major Nelson | Host | Xbox Live | |
| Rubes | Co-Host | Xbox Live |
Interviews
| Kate Remington | Host, WSHU and Respawn Show | 24:05 – 44:24 |
Mention Links
| Music Respawn |
| WSHU |
| How ESPN swapped Al Michaels for a cartoon rabbit |
| Samsung’s foldable phone is the Galaxy Fold |
Transcript
Larry Hryb: Hi it's Larry Hryb, Xbox Live's Major Nelson, welcome to the show. Jeff and I are together in the studio for show number, it looks like around 600-
Jeff Rubenstein: This is roundup, show number 2000.
Larry Hryb: What are you? You can't just start making numbers.
Jeff Rubenstein: The numbers, they don't mean ... Larry you make up the numbers.
Larry Hryb: Show 4,100, so thank you.
Jeff Rubenstein: A celebration.
Larry Hryb: But wait, you can argue with the numbers all you want, but what you can't argue with is the fact the show has been on the air for 15 years.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's true, right? I've been here for almost a third-
Larry Hryb: The longest running podcast-
Jeff Rubenstein: Featuring Larry Hryb.
Larry Hryb: I think at Microsoft ever.
Jeff Rubenstein: I believe that.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, because I started doing it when everyone was ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Does Bill have one? Does he have a show?
Larry Hryb: I've had him on this show.
Jeff Rubenstein: Really?
Larry Hryb: Yes, I had him on this show I believe-
Jeff Rubenstein: In this very chair?
Larry Hryb: Not in that chair, we interviewed it was at E3.
Jeff Rubenstein: Just tell me.
Larry Hryb: Where was it? It was at E3, I want to say 2007 or eight, and I had him on, we interviewed him up in ... What was that hotel? Was it the Roosevelt? I think it was at the Roosevelt, down in Hollywood.
Jeff Rubenstein: Sure, oh yeah.
Larry Hryb: When we had our briefing across the street at the-
Jeff Rubenstein: The Kodak.
Larry Hryb: The Chinese theater. No, it's Chinese-
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, Mann's?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, at Mann's Chinese theater.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh wow.
Larry Hryb: So, we did that-
Jeff Rubenstein: Never been in there.
Larry Hryb: It's I think ...
Jeff Rubenstein: So, that hotel, I did stay in that hotel one time, I did an event there. And what's really interesting, it's right across the street from that theater and they do a lot of movie premiers there. And, while we were getting set up for an event that we were doing in that hotel on the Roosevelt, there was a TV and one of the channels was a feed of a camera pointed directly at where all the limos drop off. And, it took us a little bit to figure out, why is this here? It's so that whoever's staying there before a premiere, typically one would expect the stars of the show or whatever, they can watch everyone come in and they can time out when they would do their entrance.
Larry Hryb: Well, isn't that how everyone does it?
Jeff Rubenstein: Maybe that's how you do it. I just show up late like I did today.
Larry Hryb: You weren't late, you were right on time.
Jeff Rubenstein: Thank you.
Larry Hryb: The listeners don't know. They started the show right on time according to them.
Jeff Rubenstein: I thought you were going to put in five minutes of silence just to represent-
Larry Hryb: No, you know me, really early is on time, on time is late.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm usually late.
Larry Hryb: We're in the studio as you can tell. We're back from ... You were away, you took a few days off.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, I took a few days off, went up to FAIR Canada to Whistler-
Larry Hryb: As opposed to unfair Canada.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, there were some parts of fair than others, I'm sure most people would agree that Whistler is as fair as it gets. And, just doing some snowboarding and the like, and then we were there for four days and we had an Airbnb, and so of course I brought my Xbox. So, it was shred all day.
Larry Hryb: What did you play.
Jeff Rubenstein: Apex and Anthem all night.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, well I'm playing Apex, I've a few wins, you have one.
Jeff Rubenstein: I have one win. I think I have somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 second place finishes.
Larry Hryb: Good.
Jeff Rubenstein: It hurts. It hurts. It happens a lot. I feel like I finish second place more than I finish anything else.
Larry Hryb: [crosstalk 00:03:15].
Jeff Rubenstein: It is, I'm the first loser. And, I got to get more wins. I feel like from a strategic perspective, doing everything right, and then when it comes down to [crosstalk 00:03:27].
Larry Hryb: When we played that one match, we thought we hit a really ... We have a high ground all of a sudden.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, we were so smart.
Larry Hryb: These guys Spidermaned in on us, they just dropped it, we're like, what?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, it happened to me, and then it happened to me again the next day. And, it's a heck of a game that Apex.
Larry Hryb: It sure is.
Jeff Rubenstein: They've done a great job, new weapon.
Larry Hryb: You're playing Anthem as well?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. I'm really enjoying Anthem, I've been using EA Access.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, which is out this Friday. If you're EA access member, you get 10 hours early.
Jeff Rubenstein: Exactly. So, chances are by the time you're hearing this, it is already out. Most games on EA Access, it comes out between three and seven days before street date and you typically get about 10 hours to some variants there from title to title. I don't usually come anywhere near using up the full 10 hours.
Larry Hryb: Really?
Jeff Rubenstein: I usually, I'll dabble, I'll play FIFA little early every year or whatever it might be. I'm using up, I think I've got about an hour to go. It's Thursday as we're recording this, I will use that last hour up tonight, and then I will wait for my retail version-
Larry Hryb: Quietly when it unlocks later this year.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm having a really good time with it.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I played it last night or a couple of nights ago and I can see myself ... Right now, I mean we've always talking about this, it's like, oh, there's too many games. There's this, there's Apex, there's a new map for Overwatch, I mean the list goes on.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's right. We haven't had the Paris map.
Larry Hryb: We got Crackdown three, which I finished last week, we've got Witches in Game Pass.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes. This is a very busy town. Metro is out.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, oh Metro, I totally forgot about Metro.
Jeff Rubenstein: Jump Force is out, Far Cry New Dawn is out.
Larry Hryb: Whoa, stop it.
Jeff Rubenstein: Have you played that yet?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I played a little bit of it.
Jeff Rubenstein: And then, we have a lot of stuff coming up around the bend getting ready for Division two.
Larry Hryb: Division two, yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: This is one of the busier springs in memory. Oh, and Devil May Cry.
Larry Hryb: Devil May Cry.
Jeff Rubenstein: Devil May Cry's only a couple of weeks away.
Larry Hryb: So, we've got that. We've got a bunch of stuff coming out and I can confirm today as of right now, Jeff and I will be attending PAX East.
Jeff Rubenstein: PAX East. I booked my flight last night. I'm very excited.
Larry Hryb: I know you did, I saw that. I need to book mine. Right now, the podcast right now currently is scheduled as they say for Friday.
Jeff Rubenstein: In Boston, they say that in Boston?
Larry Hryb: Friday. It's fricking awesome Friday.
Jeff Rubenstein: There we go.
Larry Hryb: So, we'll be on Friday. We're usually on Saturday, but we're going to change things up. We wanted to just blow things around a little bit.
Jeff Rubenstein: All of PAX has moved up. PAX starts a day earlier this year instead of it being Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday. It's Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday.
Larry Hryb: Wait a minute, before it used to be just three days, now it's a whole other day [inaudible 00:05:50].
Jeff Rubenstein: Soon, it will always be PAX.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: It will just be, oh, what's the ... It's PAX day.
Larry Hryb: Pax day.
Jeff Rubenstein: Just PAX day, happy PAX day.
Larry Hryb: So, we'll have more details as we get closer to that. We're going to have some special guests and we'd love to see you there if you're there on that Friday.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes. It's a good change of pace. I think you should grow out your beard for that.
Larry Hryb: You have been after me to grow up this beard. I grew it out when you were gone, because last week we had by the Seattle area quite a bit of snow. More so snow than Seattle normally guests.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, it's funny, yeah, which is none, basically.
Larry Hryb: Which is none, right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Or, a dusting and we both grew up in the northeast, and you would always hope it will be enough snow to not go to school growing up. And, in Philly, the further south you go, the lesser amount of snow it takes to do that. You get an inch in Atlanta, the city shuts down. In Philly, it was about four inches. We've got about four inches.
Larry Hryb: Connecticut, it was about five to eight.
Jeff Rubenstein: That makes sense, and then the city can't function. So, Seattle is definitely in that, if it's more than a half an inch, the city shuts down. And, we got about a foot.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. To be fair, we did get about a foot, and you and I were tech because ... I'll never forget that, I was driving home, I remember I was driving home and I was at a stoplight, so I texted you, I'm like, what's going on with you? You said, all the snow just stared. I'm like, oh, it's all dry here. By the time I got to the next stoplight, it was a whiteout, it was just completely blinding.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. We had given up and just knowing it was going to go bad, we went to lunch and we came out and it was winter wonderland. I mean, look the rest of the country gets it, we don't get that very often, it was nice until you lost power.
Larry Hryb: For three days.
Jeff Rubenstein: For three days. Really, was it that long?
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: That was three good days of Apex second place finishes that I got.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. And I actually, I sent you a picture. I didn't post this, but I should post this. I didn't post the photo of my solar panel.
Jeff Rubenstein: Right. What happened?
Larry Hryb: I showed you the solar panel, right?
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, was that what it was?
Larry Hryb: Yeah. What do you mean that's what it was? So, I have a solar panel that ... Where's that picture? I think it's back here somewhere. But because we were out of power, I'm like, what am I going to do? What am I going to do? So, I had hooked up a solar panel to my switch.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, that, yes. Yes.
Larry Hryb: And, I was charging my Nintendo switch with solar power because we had no power.
Jeff Rubenstein: You're part of the green new deal, Larry.
Larry Hryb: Okay. Well, I've been driving electric for how many years?
Jeff Rubenstein: If you tweet that out, I'm sure AOC will follow back.
Larry Hryb: I think she follows me all ready.
Jeff Rubenstein: Sorry, of course she does.
Larry Hryb: I think she was talking about Apex a couple of days ago or something like that.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, she's a gammer. I think she plays World of Warcraft and maybe StarCraft as well.
Larry Hryb: That's hard core.
Jeff Rubenstein: We're getting into an era now where, of course all the politicians play the games because they're like us.
Larry Hryb: Right, they're like us.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, the good ones are.
Larry Hryb: Well, okay, that's it. That's the line in the sand. We don't go any further with politics.
Jeff Rubenstein: And, now we stop. Hey, let's talk about Crackdown.
Larry Hryb: Can we?
Jeff Rubenstein: Can we?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, it's out now, it's available on Game Pass. Check it out, it is a fun romp.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's a good way of putting it.
Larry Hryb: Wasn't that your back of the box quote? I fun romp in the city, except if we're busy.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes. Did you bring a quoted on a video game box?
Larry Hryb: Yes, yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: What was it?
Larry Hryb: I don't remember.
Jeff Rubenstein: Fun romp.
Larry Hryb: I don't remember what it was.
Jeff Rubenstein: Was it one of the games you were in like Kinect Sports Rival or something wearing a wetsuit?
Larry Hryb: I was so angry they put in that one.
Jeff Rubenstein: In a wetsuit?
Larry Hryb: In a wetsuit, that was sponsored and they never gave me any ... I didn't get a dime off of that.
Jeff Rubenstein: No, but the AI always finished in last.
Larry Hryb: And, I always last.
Jeff Rubenstein: Last place Larry. But, do you remember what game you recorded for?
Larry Hryb: I don't remember what it was, It was a long time ago.
Jeff Rubenstein: So, I got quoted once for Dragon Age II from BioWare and I just remember EA calling and saying, "Hey, can we use your quote for the ..." And, I forget what I had said, probably something like an action packed extravaganza or at nonstop thrill coaster ride. I don't know. I don't know what I said, but that was a little fun.
Larry Hryb: You pay for the whole seat, but you only need the edge.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, that's a good one.
Larry Hryb: That was one of [inaudible 00:09:42], he used to say that all the time. He was a great [inaudible 00:09:44].
Jeff Rubenstein: That was a good one. Well yeah, I'll save that for next time. But yeah, so that was the one time, but I thought it was really funny.
Larry Hryb: All right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Crackdown.
Larry Hryb: Crackdown.
Jeff Rubenstein: Crackdown also you only need the edge of your seat if at all, if you can even sit.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, blast of a fun. It's just ...
Jeff Rubenstein: No, I just had a ton of a fun. It was one of these games where as many games as there are to play.
Larry Hryb: And, there are a lot.
Jeff Rubenstein: And, they're mostly really good games by the way, I just couldn't put it down. I just kept wandering, it's a very easy game to just jump into play for even if you're willing to play for 20 minutes clear out a couple of vehicle depots or monorail station, and collect 20 orbs. Once you start dancing along the rooftops and picking up an orb or two, you just see, oh there's another one, oh I can't stop until I pick that one.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Now, I see another one, I want to play, and I don't know, it just very much grabbed me, and I really enjoyed it. And actually, I'm up to the very final boss, but I want to complete everything else.
Larry Hryb: I see.
Jeff Rubenstein: I literally am on the elevator, or the base station because you can just teleport in right below the final boss, or what I imagine will be the final countdown, do, do, do, do, and yeah. And, I went back, I'm maxing out my skills. Great job, great job with that.
Larry Hryb: Fun, check it out at Game Pass.
Jeff Rubenstein: Game Pass. But Apex.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: So, we haven't gotten to play in the last few days, have we?
Larry Hryb: No we haven't. I don't know about you the listeners, I know you Jeff and I are the same thing, you get on, you get your group of three people, you plus two others, and you start playing and then another friend jumps on and they can't play because you're already got a full team. So, they go off and play with their three and then one of your guys drops out or goes outside, so it's just like you're always in this off cycle, right?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. It just seems like at my place at least there's always a few people playing and either I get in, I always I'm like, please just be a party of two, be a party of two.
Larry Hryb: Be a party of two, oh.
Jeff Rubenstein: And, so just I not sink into this.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: But, yeah, very much I just really loved how they have the players, the different characters going. As much as I like Lifeline that my only wind though is with Gibraltar, I'm sorry, with Bangalore and it's just weird I wan that Lifeline win.
Larry Hryb: Okay, that's-
Jeff Rubenstein: I do.
Larry Hryb: I understand that, yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: I wish there was a thing that said you unlock trackables so you can share which information you want. You don't have to share what level you're in, you don't have to ... Anything like that. You can be a complete unknown. But, I want something that's just how many second place finishes I got. I wonder if they're tracking that.
Larry Hryb: It's in a database row somewhere.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. Probably about as many as I have kills.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: And then, Anthem ...
Larry Hryb: As discussed.
Jeff Rubenstein: Just as discussed, just the feeling of flying in that game, they've really nailed that. And, I've just had a lot of fun exploring. It's another one where I would say most of my friends list is either playing Anthem, or playing Apex, and they do a good job of matchmaking. I would say both of them do a good job of matchmaking. So, even if you're going solo, you can communicate pretty well with other players and there's enough guidance to make everyone cooperate. But yeah, man, I don't know when I'm going to be able to catch up with everything else. I haven't even started Resident Evil two yet.
Larry Hryb: Oh, you haven't?
Jeff Rubenstein: I haven't.
Larry Hryb: I thought you started that before you left.
Jeff Rubenstein: No, I want to be able to have time to just spend all of the ... I haven't finished Kingdom Hearts III.
Larry Hryb: There is a Dead or Alive six demo now available.
Jeff Rubenstein: There is?
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: There's a couple of free things to play.
Larry Hryb: Do you got some news you want to go through?
Jeff Rubenstein: Sure.
Larry Hryb: And then, I have a great interview I've got lined up with a really special guest, it's ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Talk to me about this.
Larry Hryb: It's Kate Remington, she hosts a music podcast called Music Respawn. She's a classical music, she studied classical music, but she hosts a classical music show on WSHU in Connecticut, which is a-
Jeff Rubenstein: Shu. You're listening to the Shu.
Larry Hryb: Which is a national public radio station. And, she focuses on video game music, and she very interesting. So, we'll have her come along later on in the show. I've got the interview.
Jeff Rubenstein: All right, sounds [crosstalk 00:13:59].
Larry Hryb: Before we do that, let's bang out some of the news. Big News Week.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes. Well of course, we had some Xbox game pass announces.
Larry Hryb: Let's talk about that.
Jeff Rubenstein: So, coming soon, Batman: Return to Arkham, this is something that we had talked about on the most recent insight Xbox.
Larry Hryb: I'm Batman. You are Batman.
Jeff Rubenstein: You and Vicary both got into it.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, we did.
Jeff Rubenstein: You did the mask, the face mask.
Larry Hryb: I'm Batman.
Jeff Rubenstein: It was more of a face hugger situation when you placed your ... Anyway, Return to Arkham has both Batman Arkham asylum and the very, very excellent Batman Arkham city. That was a game ... And, I'm not spoiling anything by saying that, but when the credits rolled, it was a perfect ending to a perfect game.
Larry Hryb: Yup.
Jeff Rubenstein: I just thought that ... And, Arkham Knight, the third one was a great game too, but Arkham city just really ... Man, they did just a wonderful job of you explored every part of that city by the time it was over. It had so much depth, they had so many ...
Larry Hryb: Fun.
Jeff Rubenstein: It was fun, but it was also just really clever, really intelligent. And so, I haven't played it since last gen, so looking forward. These of course are the definitive edition, definitive edition of each game has all the post launch content and of course it is appraised and enhanced for Xbox one. Couple of other games, Headlander, Alien Isolation, you played this one.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. Oh, I finished it.
Jeff Rubenstein: You love the alien games. You'd be pissed, you beat aliens Colonial Marines.
Larry Hryb: Well, I love the alien series, that was one of my first adult movies I remember going to see as a kid.
Jeff Rubenstein: That explains a lot actually about you. That was funny, Disney's Epic movie two, I'm sorry, Epic Mickey two, this just came up in conversation yesterday when we were talking about did you know a bit of unusual Arcana. So, Epic Mickey two, so it's a cooperative venture between Mickey Mouse and Oswald, and Oswald's not as well known but Oswald was a Walt Disney designed Oswald back in the-
Larry Hryb: For the rabbit.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. Back in the '30s or something.
Larry Hryb: He predates Mickey mouse.
Jeff Rubenstein: I guess Disney had no longer had control of the character Oswald. I believe ...
Larry Hryb: Now, we're in uncharted territory because we don't have all the facts.
Jeff Rubenstein: All right, well then anyway, there is a thing, and I have a link to it where Oswald was traded for Al Michaels, the sports.
Larry Hryb: What, how could that be?
Jeff Rubenstein: Do not ... All right. We can come back to this.
Larry Hryb: Put it in the notes.
Jeff Rubenstein: But, there's actually a thing like the rights to him, this was a story. Here's the headline, ESPN trades Al Michaels for Oswald the Lucky Rabbit. That was a thing that happened, and it was a whole-
Larry Hryb: ESPN, is owned by Disney?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes, exactly-
Larry Hryb: So, it's corporate synergy.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes, exactly. Of course the story then I'm looking at was on ESPN, but it's a really interesting story, it goes back to 2005. And, I guess in a world where ESPN and Disney are the same company and there's video games, and anyway that's why Al Michaels is the Sunday night, the NBC sports guy now and not Monday night football.
Larry Hryb: Die.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. I thought it was interesting. Apparently, you don't like football Larry.
Larry Hryb: That's not true.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's fine.
Larry Hryb: Not true at all.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's fine, it's fine, congratulations.
Larry Hryb: I'm struggling to see where you're going here, so.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, that game Epic Mickey two-
Larry Hryb: Yes, oh Epic Mickey, that's where it was.
Jeff Rubenstein: Is part of Xbox Game Pass joining February 21st, which by the time you hear.
Larry Hryb: Sorry, you took so long to get to that.
Jeff Rubenstein: Look, Larry, if you want someone that's going to get straight to the point, and this is going to assume the podcast.
Larry Hryb: That's not your job.
Jeff Rubenstein: Next week, the Walking Dead season two is coming to Xbox Game Pass along with Alien: Isolation. And of course there is a deal, there's always a deal running. So, if you don't have Xbox Game Pass, shame on you. I'm just going to call it like I see it, but you have no excuse because you can join today. Get your first two months for ... How much would you pay for two months?
Larry Hryb: How much would I pay for two months with access to over 100 games?
Jeff Rubenstein: Over 100 games including Crackdown.
Larry Hryb: I don't know. I don't know what that would be. Would that be $10 a month. $20? I don't know.
Jeff Rubenstein: One would say that those would still be good deals, however you can get your first few months for just $2.
Larry Hryb: Wow.
Jeff Rubenstein: Is that a sour buck? Two bucks?
Larry Hryb: I don't know.
Jeff Rubenstein: I don't know, I'll have to look that up. Anyway, what can you buy for $2 these days? You can maybe get a topping on a pizza without the actual pizza. You could just eat a couple of slices of pepperoni, instead you can get two months of Game Pass. Anyway, I think you should do it. That's just me. What are you waiting for? I've already done it, you know that.
Larry Hryb: I know that.
Jeff Rubenstein: All right, few other games coming out.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: So, I don't know if you were playing Jump Force, that was a game that people were very excited about that has just come out in the last week on Xbox one, but if you are looking for more anime, well, One Piece: World Seeker coming out on Xbox one on March 15th. So, there's never been a better time to like these characters.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: Some free play days. So, Halo Wars Definitive Edition and Halo Wars two are this weekend going to be free between February 21st, again, by the time you're hearing this, and February 24th, my mom's birthday.
Larry Hryb: Is it?
Jeff Rubenstein: It is. I should really buy her something. I think she wants an air fryer. Do you know what an air fryer is?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, we have one.
Jeff Rubenstein: How does it work, because how do you fry something with air?
Larry Hryb: You just put stuff in there and at fries it with air.
Jeff Rubenstein: Nope, just doesn't make any sense.
Larry Hryb: That's it.
Jeff Rubenstein: How does it ... Anyway mom, you're getting an air fryer and you can play. Hey, I hope she hasn't listened. Halo Wars two and Halo Wars Definitive Edition for free over the course of that weekend.
Larry Hryb: Are you really going to get her an air fryer? What is she going to ... I mean, I know you'd love one.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, I don't have one, I have an instant pot.
Larry Hryb: Not the same thing.
Jeff Rubenstein: But again, fine. The whole point of frying, if someone says something is fried, you're dropping it in oil. So, if it's an air Fryer, how does that work? That's like saying like an underwater airplane. No.
Larry Hryb: It's called a submarine.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes. It has a different word and it's a different thing and it's not an airplane.
Larry Hryb: Air fryer.
Jeff Rubenstein: So, I have a lot to look into. I bought my mom something and I don't even know what it is and well, I'll hear about it one way or the other that's for sure. When she says I'm trying not to eat fried food and I have to explain to her that I don't know how it works, but apparently air is involved.
Larry Hryb: And, it's better for you.
Jeff Rubenstein: So, Treasure Stack, Treasure Stack is coming out on Xbox one on March 1st, and this one is going to be cross playable. That's something people like to talk about.
Larry Hryb: Yup.
Jeff Rubenstein: So, it is like a puzzle game and has a treasure version of a Tetris like dropping game, by the way Tetris 99.
Larry Hryb: I know you were talking about that. I saw that.
Jeff Rubenstein: Do you play that at all?
Larry Hryb: I have not.
Jeff Rubenstein: Very interesting, I think there's a lot to learn in that. I've been playing it like just a regular old Tetris game.
Larry Hryb: I don't know if I want to a Tetris battle right now.
Jeff Rubenstein: I think it's very clever. It did get me to sign up for Nintendo's online network, so mission accomplished you guys. And, I'm pretty good at Tetris, I have not yet finished in ... I think the highest I've finished is eighth or ninth place. But, there's a method to that madness playing Tetris with 99 other people at the same time, it's a little bit complicated.
Larry Hryb: Yup.
Jeff Rubenstein: You mentioned the Dead or Alive six demo that's now available for Xbox one, the Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing, there's a complete trilogy out, the NeoGeo King of Fighters 2003. Where were you in 2003?
Larry Hryb: Poking at the ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Where was I?
Larry Hryb: I don't know.
Jeff Rubenstein: I think I was a sports producer.
Larry Hryb: You were probably doing the weather on this video that is ...
Jeff Rubenstein: I know in the video that no one's going to find.
Larry Hryb: That is lost forever.
Jeff Rubenstein: No one's finding that.
Larry Hryb: The internet can do so many things in it. It is foiled by your video.
Jeff Rubenstein: I know, and don't think I don't love it. Well anyway, NeoGeo King of Fighters, you might've been playing it at that time and you can play it again now for the first time on Xbox one.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: And yeah, the last game that came out this week, Daggerhood now available for Xbox one. Quite a few Indie games, which also gets me thinking we're getting close to GDC, the Game Developers Conference. It's a time where we tend to show off a lot of Indie games, and so I think I'll have to report back on what I get to play that's coming up in March, which is wow just a couple of weeks away. So, we should do one of these afterwards, I'll take some notes on some of the best Indie games that I play. So, we'll have some insight on what's coming out in 2019.
Larry Hryb: Busy, busy month. Big News this week.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Reggie.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh my God I just found out before recording.
Larry Hryb: Reggie earlier this week-
Jeff Rubenstein: Reggie Fils-Aimie.
Larry Hryb: Announced that he's retiring from Nintendo, I've known Reggie for a long time. I've seen him at events, he's great guy. I've run into him at the health club.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh really? I mean, yeah, I mean Nintendo is right across the street.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, it's about a thousand feet from where we're sitting right now.
Jeff Rubenstein: And, I've been at an elevator with him once and I think I've done a head nod. I'm going to acknowledge who you are, but you don't know who I am, and that's fine. That's fine, he doesn't listen to the show. Now, he'll have time. He's retiring, so congratulations to him.
Larry Hryb: And, congratulations to Doug Bowser, who is his ... I know you can't write this Jeff.
Jeff Rubenstein: So, Bowser has now trended worldwide twice in the last couple of years. Four years ago when he was hired, everyone's like, I can't believe Nintendo's hiring Bowser, well now they've put Bowser in charge, and the headline ...
Larry Hryb: Your timeline is about to get-
Jeff Rubenstein: They're writing themselves.
Larry Hryb: This is a weird-
Jeff Rubenstein: But you know Doug.
Larry Hryb: I know Doug. I've met him quite a few times, same thing, he's unbelievable. He's a great guy.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's great.
Larry Hryb: So, this is phenomenal, so. A lot of changes there. What else do we got this week in news.
Jeff Rubenstein: Really from a news perspective, that's pretty much it. The big release is Anthem. And, we're just coming off of four other games, and then couple more coming out in the next few weeks like we had mentioned Division two and Devil May Cry five. And so, it's just banana cakes as you might say.
Larry Hryb: Banana cake is crazy. All right, well we're going to take a break here. Then, I want to roll this interview I have done with Kate Remington for music respond from WSHU shoe. Joining me on the line right now is the classical music program hosts for WSHU in Connecticut, my home state is ladies and gentlemen, Miss Kate Remington. Kate, thank you for joining me.
Kate Remington: Oh, hey Larry, it is just so much fun to be on the podcast. I'm a big fan and it's great to have a chance to chat.
Larry Hryb: Well, I got to tell you, I heard you ... Well, you and I have been going back and forth on email for a few months. I heard an interview you did on NPR, National Public Radio, which is the national public radio here in the United States, and you were fascinating because you focus on video game music, which is why you're here.
Kate Remington: Yeah. It's such an under appreciated segment of game design and that's why I started the podcast because I love listening to the music even away from playing the games. And, it occurred to me that you hardly ever hear interviews or read interviews with game composers, and I was like, well, why is that? And, why don't I just do that? So-
Larry Hryb: So, you and I are kindred spirits because I started my podcast in 2003 and one of the areas I always focused on was audio design. Of course, music is part of that, but you are much more learned in this area than I am because you actually went to school for music, correct?
Kate Remington: Yeah. I was a piano major in college and I got into music school because I really wanted to be a conductor. And then, my second semester I realized this is really, really hard.
Larry Hryb: Oh come on. I mean I don't want to be belittled being a conductor. Why is it so hard? Because in fact, because I've always wanted to be one as well. Why is it so hard?
Kate Remington: Well, it was hard for me because I didn't have the chutzpah I guess, or the presence and authority to make these people play the music that I wanted it the way I wanted it to be played. And so, I went to a panel discussion about other things you could do with your music degree besides teach or perform. And, one of the people who was there worked for Wisconsin Public Radio and he made being on the air with a music show sound like so much fun. I was like, I'm doing that. So, I did, and that's how I got into radio.
Larry Hryb: Now, tell me because you and I talked about it off the air. I've been in radio as well, but tell me about the path that ... Obviously radio have something for each of us, but how did it lead you into video games? You have a musical background, but tell me about the path that led you here.
Kate Remington: Well, I don't know, not a direct path at all, but I played Pong when it was new and then skipped a whole bunch of years, but when we got Bondi iMac in the late 1990s, it came bundled with this game called Nanosaur and it would just totally suck me in. And then, I started playing Myst and Riven, and discovering other games, and it just snowballed. And, I play with my son who's super, super into games, he's a level designer now. And so, we go through console after console and all these different games, and the music was always something that we talked about, and it was just so cool to finally get the chance to really just pull up the wheels and go at with the support of WSHU.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. Which is great because you work at a radio station, they're like, yeah, go ahead and do this, I mean, which is amazing. First of all, you talked about your podcast, how do people find your podcast to listen to you and your guests?
Kate Remington: Oh, there's lots of ways. It's called Music Respawn and it's in Apple podcast, it's on Spotify now. It's on the WSHU Public Radio site, I have my own site respawnshow.com. So, there's lots and lots of ways to listen. Oh, it's on SoundCloud too, so there's lots of ways to track it down.
Larry Hryb: And, I'll make sure I put a link in my show notes to make sure they can find you. Now Kate, one of the reasons I wanted to have you on is because you and I are kindred spirits in the audio field and whatnot, now you are like I say, you're much more educated in the music space, because I famously, I can't play music but I have such an appreciation for it. When I went to Syracuse University I took a lot of classes in classical music because I just enjoyed it so much, but I have zero musical aptitude. And, one of the things I noticed when I started working in the video game industry many, many years ago is that classical music is a staple of video game music. Would you agree with that?
Kate Remington: Oh absolutely. And, so many of the composers that I talk with will reference the composers that have inspired them to get the right sound for a game like Will Roget who's written music for the recent Call of Duty game and additional music for Destiny. He loves WC, and so anytime he can use the sound of WC in his own music, he loves that, and sometimes they get really far afield. Jason Graves was listening to Penderecki's Theronody for the victims of Hiroshima to get an idea for the sound for Dead Space. And so, it comes from all over, but it's really fun to have that Venn diagram of the intersection of game music and classical.
Larry Hryb: When you're looking at some of the classical music of previous games and games that are coming out, we talked, for instance, Anthem is out now and so forth. And, there's a lot of games coming out, Apex Legends, I don't know if you had a chance to play Apex Legends, which I'm addicted to right now.
Kate Remington: Not yet, but it's on my list.
Larry Hryb: But, there's so much music that adds to the soul of the game, and I always challenge people who say, what do you mean? Turn down the sound, go into your settings and turn just ... Don't do it forever, but for a few minutes, turn down the audio and usually in the options you can separate out the soundtrack and you'll notice how, for lack of a better term, dry the environment is, right?
Kate Remington: Oh absolutely. I get this really cool presentation with Tom Salta who also lives here in Connecticut about that very thing, and he had a video of a game that he had scored, it was one of the Halo games. And, he first he played it dry, but the cool thing is you can't just plop any old music in there. And so, he played that same segment with two different music tracks, and it was a completely different feeling for each one of them. So, that's the thing that really impresses me because these composers just work so hard to get the music to be just absolutely a perfect fit for the games.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. And, the other challenge they have is ... In my years of talking to composers and audio developers is because we, and when I say we, I include you and all my listeners, we enjoy this nonlinear format it's even more challenging. And let me explain to some of the listeners, so I know Kate I think you know what I mean is that when you sit and watch a movie or a TV show, you know it's going to be two minutes and 20 seconds at an hour and 10 minutes, the protagonist is going to do this, this is dramatic moment. With games, you don't know how fast or slow the player's going to proceed through a level, so you really don't know how to score it in a map to one to one to their actions. You can do the best you can and technically they know when you hit a trigger point that they're going to hit this cue. But, It's very different isn't it?
Kate Remington: Oh, it's fascinating. And, they all come up with different ways of dealing with that problem. It didn't used to be a problem because the old days of eight bit music, the games were simpler and you just played one track for many man, just one track because he basically was doing the same thing anyway, just running and jumping. But now, a player could be doing anything, and like Bungie actually rebuilt their music engine so that it would be really adaptive to whatever the player would be doing. And then, the challenge for the composers is to write music that can be broken down into these tiny little stems and layered, and then built up during a boss battle, and then finish in a way that's super satisfying. So yeah, I nailed that guy and I feel really good about it.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. You had this visceral. In addition to the audio design of the environment, again, you have to layer in this music. Now, when you look back in the history of video game music, what are some of your favorite pieces and why?
Kate Remington: Oh man, well I'd have to say Tempest actually was one of my favorites and we all have these really powerful memories of experiencing a game. And for me, I sucked at it. I was really bad at it, but my brother was really, really good, so I'd watch him play to try to pick up a few tricks, and so by default listened to a lot of the music.
Larry Hryb: And, for those folks that don't know this was in '80s early '90s Cabinet game from Atari that had vector graphics and it had a dial and it was high resolution for its day, and it was intense and you're right, the music was really something, wasn't it?
Kate Remington: Oh it was incredible. In fact, I was just listening to the soundtrack again, somebody's put it up on YouTube, and it was like, yeah, these memories just come flooding back, which is just so cool. And, I guess, I missed a lot of the early console's, the Segas and even Nes, I missed out on Nes because I was just doing other things. But, there are some incredible soundtracks from the late '80s, early '90s, mid '90s. You know what Trent Reznor did with Quake is just like, oh my God, that still just gives me almost a panic attack because it's just so intense.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. I mean for your point, it's such a rich history and we've got a lot of people who have gotten into in the past, like you talked about Trent Reznor and Quake. Who are some of your favorite art contemporary artists nowadays?
Kate Remington: Oh man, I like a lot of Indie bands honestly, so like really quirky offbeat stuff. There this Scottish band called the Fratellis that are really, really cool, and so I guess that Indie sound is really interesting for me. The Shins are cool, but I'm open to anything. I listen to lots and lots of stuff.
Larry Hryb: What are you playing right now, by the way? Let me ask that.
Kate Remington: Oh, let's see. Oh well most recently I booted up the Formula One 2015 season because it was on Game Pass, and it's just as hard as I remembered.
Larry Hryb: That's right, it is.
Kate Remington: Got behind the wheel of Kimi Raikkonen's Ferrari and I crashed it right away. I also have been playing Forza Horizon four, and again, I did things to that McLaren Senna that no one should do. And, destiny keeps pulling me back in because it's just such a cool experience, and it's just, it's the kind of game you can spend five hours playing or you can play for 20 minutes and do a quick little mission. And, either way it's super satisfying.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. I mean, you've talked about Forza Horizon four, I mean the music now that's different because instead of the score being customized for the game, that team went out and sought soundtracks, which are about the lifestyle of racing, right?
Kate Remington: Yeah, yeah, for sure. And, that adds a lot too. I mean, and again, it's just a great example of how the team that makes these games really have to think about what's going to give the player the best experience. And, in that case it wouldn't be a classical inspired track because as much as you might love Beethoven, it's not really going to get your heart pumping the way the music that they put in the game does.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. I mean you're absolutely right. What would you give some advice to some folks who are budding musicians who are video game fanatics who really want to get involved with it? Can you give them some guidance?
Kate Remington: Oh yeah, sure because I asked this question of a lot of, especially the young composers that I'm talking with who are just getting started, and one of the things a few of them have done, which I think is really cool, is to take a trailer that they really love and wipe out the music and write their own music to the trailer because then they've got a really polished two or three minute thing that they can show somebody. The other cool piece of advice that I got, I think that his name's Calum Bowen and he did the music for Pikuniku. He kept an iTunes playlist, a bunch of playlists with pieces, songs and classical pieces with different moods. And so, when he was stuck or he needed to write a piece to go to match a games feeling, he would listen to that playlist and then that would give him ideas for the kind of directions that he could take his music. So, I thought those are two really interesting ideas.
Larry Hryb: Now, I want to talk to you about some of what you've done in terms of working at WSHU, if I remember correctly you teach as well, correct?
Kate Remington: No, no, I'm just on the year. Yeah, I know. I've got a classical show that is on from nine to one, and then I oversee all the classical music programming.
Larry Hryb: Now, that's a lot of responsibility. Are you surprised? And I don't know, because this is my perception. It feels like there's almost a resurgence of classical music or did that just never go away, and I'm just more aware of it because it's now more mainstream with video games?
Kate Remington: I think video games have a huge part to play in that because people are much more conditioned to just hearing orchestral music or even chamber music from playing games. So yeah, we have found too that the ratings for our classical music shows are going up, which is great because, 15 to 20 years ago people were writing off classical music as a thing that only old people listen to, and that's just not the case.
Larry Hryb: But, I also want to point out, as we talked about Forza Horizon, it's not just classical music that we see in the video games, there's some pop music. And, I also want to point out, there's this other side of it, there's the pop music of current stuff, but one of the games I will never forget, I believe it was 2006 and I was at an event and we were showing ... I was working at Xbox obviously, and we were showing a trailer. It was at a rehearsal. So, no one had seen the trailer yet, I hadn't even seen it yet. And, I stopped dead in my tracks because the visuals grabbed me, but the music grabbed me and that game was the original BioShock.
Kate Remington: Oh yeah.
Larry Hryb: Because Ken Levine and his team put so much thought into capturing that art deco '40s era that I fell in love with it. And, I'm sure you've played that and you've seen the soundtrack.
Kate Remington: Oh my God, that was one of those epiphanal moments. I was watching it with my son, and our jaws were on the floor, because it was just so incredible and the way that they incorporated that music, those sounds from the '40s and '50s, and that's another really cool thing. Video games have this thing that doesn't get talked about a lot called tangential learning where you get so wrapped up in a game and then you want to know more about it. And, I know from my own experience, and it was really cool I totally forgot about Django Reinhardt, and all of a sudden I was like-
Larry Hryb: How could you forget about Django?
Kate Remington: It was just off my radar for a while. And so, all of a sudden I was listening to as much Django Reinhardt as I couldn't find. And so, that's such a cool thing that games give us that I think people don't really appreciate as much or really talk about as much.
Larry Hryb: Well, it's interesting you say that because I've told this story privately, and I think I may have told it on the air once or twice. My sister is a high school librarian in Rhode Island next to Connecticut, and she'll always talk to me about what games are coming out. And, I'll say, well, this, this, and this and this will be hot, the so and so forth. And, she'll do for instance, one of the great ones she did a few months ago was she did a presentation around Assassin's Creed Odyssey because she did something in her library, a little display about it because she knew the kids were going to start coming through and asking about Egyptian history. And sure enough, they started coming in and ask about Egyptian history, and to a certain point the music a little bit. And, that's another one that I think you've chatted about in the past is the wonderful ancient Grecian music and Assassin's Creed Odyssey.
Kate Remington: Oh yeah, those guys from the flight had such a great time because they had a shopping list that they took with them to Greece and they wanted to get really authentic instruments and it turns out, in music history we're always taught, oh there's no way to hear what ancient Greek music would have sounded like, but in fact it's not true because if you go to Greece, the instruments that they played are still around or at least really close proximity to what those instruments would have sounded like. And so, they had all these great instruments that they could use to give just a really authentic quality to that soundtrack. And so, yeah, that was a fun conversation.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. That music alone and that's something that you notice that unfortunately a lot of composers don't get the credit because it's not the shiny screenshot that you see online and whatnot. But sometimes they just don't get that credit because it's audio, and you have to listen and focus sometimes to listen to it specifically because otherwise it's what I call sometimes it's audio wallpaper. It's in the area you're playing, but you really don't pay attention to it because even though it's subtly, very subtly and sometimes very pointedly enhancing the experience.
Kate Remington: Oh yeah. And, that's what makes it so cool is that it's not necessarily this endless loop of music, it's really subtle. And, I remember talking with Jason Graves about Far Cry Primal, which is just an amazing score because he made it with rocks and dirt and-
Larry Hryb: And, it fits perfectly with Primal doesn't it?
Kate Remington: Yeah, it absolutely does. And, it's so cool because as you're wandering around in the world, you can hear the sounds, and you're not really sure if it's the music or not, but things escalate because you got to take down the woolly mammoth or whatever, and then it's suddenly his soundtrack bursts right out. So, it's subtle in ways until it's not, and then it really helps you get the right feeling.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. The other thing I remember, the funny thing about I was having conversations with folks about music is a lot of people think game music, and apologies, they think Rock Band or Guitar Hero, which again are great games, but they're not quite the same thing, right?
Kate Remington: Right. Yeah, or Dance, Dance Revolution even, I mean, they're super fun.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, exactly. I mean, like Dance Central you're certainly not going to become a great dancer, trust me, I can vouch for that, and you're not going to be a great band member in Rock Band. In fact, I remember I was doing an event with Guitar Hero and a very famous guitar player was so upset with this game, and this guy is world famous because he felt that it minimized his talent.
Kate Remington: Oh.
Larry Hryb: Which was interesting I hadn't thought about that because I don't have any talent when it comes to music, but I was like, yeah, he said it trivialized his talent in that people think it's easy to play a guitar because they're holding a plastic guitar in their living room standing there in their boxer shorts and it's not the same as being a true musician.
Kate Remington: Yeah. Well, that's a totally valid idea, and it is true. I mean, but I wouldn't attempt to hop in an F1 Car either.
Larry Hryb: Right. That's the beauty of video games, it takes you places you could never go.
Kate Remington: Yeah, exactly.
Larry Hryb: So anyway, well listen Kate, I got to wrap it up here. I really want to thank you for taking your time to chat with me. I know that people can find you on WSHU, which is a Connecticut radio station, but I'm sure you stream online, correct?
Kate Remington: Yeah, we do. It's wshu.org. And again, the podcast is everywhere, so.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. And, I'll make sure I put a link to that. I would love to have you on the show again in the future if you would be so kind.
Kate Remington: Oh I'd love to come back Larry, this was really, really fun. Thank you so much.
Jeff Rubenstein: All right. Thank you so much Kate. Learning a ton about music, you really know a lot of the gaming music people over rock star.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Kate here.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. I mean, I know Marty, well I've always gravitated towards the audio guys because of my background in radio, and radio and audio and music, I mean, it's all in the same vein and I've always tried to ... And, I even mentioned this during ... You probably heard me talk about that in the middle of the interview. So, I've always had this kind admiration for the audio guys, but also understood their challenges because you can't show great audio in a screenshot on a website, right? You just can't. You have to experience it by playing the game.
Jeff Rubenstein: And now, you have a face for radio.
Larry Hryb: Now, we have a little bit of a programming note here.
Jeff Rubenstein: Programming note? You mean an apology to me Larry?
Larry Hryb: Jeff, I apologize to you.
Jeff Rubenstein: Why is that?
Larry Hryb: During the interview, Jeff took a moment and he went and looked up this Al Michaels Oswald the Rabbit thing, and I completely forgot about it.
Jeff Rubenstein: You thought I was making it.
Larry Hryb: I thought it was some kind of bananas stunt and it wasn't. It's a real thing. So, why don't you go ahead and explain what this is. Oswald the rabbit, we need to link to his Wikipedia, of course, most people know who Al Michaels is in the US, he's an announcer. Jeff, take it here.
Jeff Rubenstein: Anyway, the story, and I'm reading from ESPN here, there's a whole book practically written about this, but ESPN first acquired the rights to Monday Night Football in 2005. Before that, Monday Night Football was always on ABC, it was the longest primetime series. And, I think this is before ESPN and ABC were completely together. I don't remember.
Larry Hryb: Were bought by Disney.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, exactly. The problem was, is they had two different production teams and only one game to do a week, so there was a hole ... They had a glut of cast on the ABC, ESPN.
Larry Hryb: An embarrassment of riches.
Jeff Rubenstein: An embarrassment of riches. Okay. So anyway, Disney CEO Bob Iger, ended up calling up NBC and said, look, we would be willing to let Al Michaels go if you can get us the rights to Oswald the Lucky Rabbit.
Larry Hryb: Which is one of the very first IPs intellectual properties that Disney created back ... What's his name?
Jeff Rubenstein: The beginning of Disney's career. Now, how on earth, NBC ended up with the copyrights-
Larry Hryb: It ended up with the copyrights, we don't know.
Jeff Rubenstein: Who knows. The point is, I think when that call was made, they had no idea like who or what Oswald the Lucky Rabbit was, but it turned out, yeah, he was the precursor to Mickey Mouse. Actually, he was designed personally by Walt Disney back in the '20s.
Larry Hryb: Right, with Ub Iwerks.
Jeff Rubenstein: And, Bob Iger knew it was important to the Disney family and within a week, him and Dicky Ebersol who's a legendary-
Larry Hryb: Sports guy.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Dick Ebersol.
Jeff Rubenstein: They had done everything they needed to do with NBC universal received approval and Al Michaels was traded for a fictional [crosstalk 00:47:12].
Larry Hryb: I'm sorry, I don't mean to laugh it's-
Jeff Rubenstein: 80 years after he was designed. I'll link out to that. I just thought that was [crosstalk 00:47:18].
Larry Hryb: Where's Al now? What's he doing now?
Jeff Rubenstein: He's still doing Sunday Night Football with Joe Theismann, right?
Larry Hryb: Yeah. Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. So, not Joe Theismann. Oh anyway another quarter back.
Larry Hryb: You don't like football, do you?
Jeff Rubenstein: I like the ego. Look, it's February.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: I don't have to think about football for six more months. It's all soccer and baseball and basketball. Did you watch the All-Star basketball this weekend?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, wow.
Jeff Rubenstein: I know you're a big fan.
Larry Hryb: Wow. Yes, I did. I did. I was actually thinking about that. What happened to that poor guy and the shoe.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh my God, Yes. Zion.
Larry Hryb: He's just doing his job and his shoe unravels, that's terrible. That screenshot just makes me hurt.
Jeff Rubenstein: Man, I think he's going to be okay.
Larry Hryb: Still, but it's one of those things you don't expect just trying to do your job.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, 36 seconds into his first game.
Larry Hryb: Right, right, that's so sad, right on top.
Jeff Rubenstein: Anyways.
Larry Hryb: Oh, boy. All right, did you see the Samsung phone?
Jeff Rubenstein: The Foldable, the Samsung Fold?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, what did you think of that?
Jeff Rubenstein: I think it looks awesome.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Expensive. But, there's a lot of ... And, everything I'm saying, I read on the Verge, but there's a number of different companies that are ... We've seen LG, they have a flexible OLED, we saw during CES, like a roll up TV that looked really cool. So, there are either have been announced or strongly hinted that this is going to be a new thing. It's foldable phones.
Larry Hryb: That's the next thing.
Jeff Rubenstein: But when I looked at it, and then we were watching the video or a cut down of the ... And, I can link out to it to the Samsung briefing that they had this week, you can very quickly see where, oh, I could totally have use for this and to be able to unfold your phone into a seven inch laptop and play games, look at maps to watch videos, watch Netflix, like when you're on a plane, obviously you can't really one hand at that point. First of all, I think the tech is really cool, and like you, I like really cool tech. But, this is the type of thing that makes me think maybe I should give Android a go. I've never had an android phone.
Larry Hryb: Well, I'm fascinated by the tech as well. I just want to be able to something I could roll out and play my games or whatever so.
Jeff Rubenstein: Very literally.
Larry Hryb: It's cool stuff.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, I have a link out to the story from the Verge mostly because they did a really good job of cutting down the video, and giving you the salient points, and also because I'm sure Tom Warren listens to the show.
Larry Hryb: Does he?
Jeff Rubenstein: He knows you're always dropping spoilers and mega tons and the like.
Larry Hryb: It's what I do. It's what we do.
Jeff Rubenstein: It is what you like to do.
Larry Hryb: I'm going to suck you back.
Jeff Rubenstein: I've long been drawn into your orbit, Larry. And, whenever happens to you, I've hitched my dreams to your story.
Larry Hryb: Oh boy I'll be careful there.
Jeff Rubenstein: I know, it's too late now. I've mouths to feed, Larry.
Larry Hryb: Anyway, we've got a lot coming up. I don't know how many days away from E3, 120.
Jeff Rubenstein: Four months, a little less than four months.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, a little less than four months, a lot going on.
Jeff Rubenstein: We haven't really talked much about it.
Larry Hryb: No.
Jeff Rubenstein: And, you're not going to change that today.
Larry Hryb: No.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm telling you I'm not asking you.
Larry Hryb: Just need to point out that it's coming up. We've got a bunch of episodes of this week or excuse me, Inside Xbox coming up. We'll talk more about those when we can.
Jeff Rubenstein: When we can.
Larry Hryb: I'll be taking some time off.
Jeff Rubenstein: Really?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I'll be taking some time off in April.
Jeff Rubenstein: So, little after PAX?
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: You're just going maybe stick around in Boston?
Larry Hryb: No, no, no. We're going to head out to one of the islands in Hawaii, like we did last year, so we're going-
Jeff Rubenstein: Our 50th and most beautiful state.
Larry Hryb: It is, it is just ... Really, you grew up in Florida.
Jeff Rubenstein: Larry, this is ...
Larry Hryb: I've never heard of Hawaiian man. It's like Hawaiian man accidentally, almost like Armageddon.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, that happens a little bit less often.
Larry Hryb: But yeah, it's a beautiful place.
Jeff Rubenstein: You have to bring me back some Spam Musubi.
Larry Hryb: Well, you can just buy it down the street from you.
Jeff Rubenstein: Actually, there is a place that has it. Actually, what I do need you to do is get me some of those Hawaiian cookie company Kona Cookies. They're good.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. By the way, for those of you who listen internationally, I want to thank you.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm sorry. First of all I'm apologizing.
Larry Hryb: Well, I'm just going to tell you, I have to apologize as well for Jeff, but if you listen internationally specifically in the mid region of Germany, I am in need of help.
Jeff Rubenstein: What's this? Oh.
Larry Hryb: I am out of gummy bears. Our annual gummy-
Jeff Rubenstein: We got one bag left.
Larry Hryb: Our annual gummy bear trip from the Baren company, and these are not Haribo, this is a completely different company that only sells locally and they only have German on their website, and there you go.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, we're only in Germany typically once a year in an island and coral region.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I love it, I love it.
Jeff Rubenstein: We have a great time out there. And, invariably we end up spending somewhere in the neighborhood 50 Euro on gummy bears at-
Larry Hryb: Easily.
Jeff Rubenstein: Company. And, we have to plan ahead for what's my gummy bear consumption going to be?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, right for a whole year.
Jeff Rubenstein: For whole year. And, you have an addition to your family, you have a child now, and so maybe that messed up your calculations. He's just probably throwing down those gummy bears every time you turn your head.
Larry Hryb: No. Anyway, I need to get more of those, but that's not a problem anybody here can solve. And, if you can then let me know major@xbox.com.
Jeff Rubenstein: Folks, you don't have to do that. Actually, I have some sour mangoes if want some, I'll bring them into work for you.
Larry Hryb: No, no, no.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's the least I could.
Larry Hryb: Just a few. Just a few.
Jeff Rubenstein: Literally the least I could do.
Larry Hryb: Anyway, all right, well we're coming towards the end of the show here because we've run out of time things to say and-
Jeff Rubenstein: We don't want to waste your time.
Larry Hryb: We don't want to ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Anymore than we already have.
Larry Hryb: No. We want to thank everybody for swinging by. If you want to learn more about that news, head over to a news.xbox.com or my blog majornelson.com.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's a good one.
Larry Hryb: You can follow me @MajorNelson, you can follow Jeff ...
Jeff Rubenstein: @Jeff Rubenstein.
Larry Hryb: You can't miss it. He's one of the-
Jeff Rubenstein: It's the complaint desk.
Larry Hryb: You're one of the six people that I follow in that order now. Five.
Jeff Rubenstein: Five? I feel like you unfollowed somebody recently.
Larry Hryb: I keep it lean.
Jeff Rubenstein: Really?
Larry Hryb: I keep it very lean.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, you're not one of these people that follows 100,000 people. Usually you get a follow from something like, oh, so and so. And it's like, oh.
Larry Hryb: I got this weird follow from ... Who was it from? I was looking at this and got that's really.
Jeff Rubenstein: You unfollowed E?
Larry Hryb: I did. I did. E doesn't work here anymore.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, neither does Laura or Lith and you're still following them.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, that's true. I figured that one out, he hasn't said anything yet.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, he knows.
Larry Hryb: Oh does he?
Jeff Rubenstein: He has to know.
Larry Hryb: I got to go have lunch with him.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm going to text him.
Larry Hryb: Thank you. Then, I'll unfollow you.
Jeff Rubenstein: Nevermind.
Larry Hryb: Anyway. All right, we're going to wrap things up guys and girls. Thanks for listening. Thanks for downloading the show. What do you?
Jeff Rubenstein: You updated here.
Larry Hryb: You haven't seen it?
Jeff Rubenstein: No, I don't necessarily need to click through to the account, but I know you're a big fan of the Mozambique in Apex and now that's forever enshrined, the worst gun in any battle Royale.
Larry Hryb: Jeffery has pointed out that in my Twitter bio I say, and then I'll just on all the other stuff it's Mozambique here. I always do that all the time in the ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, that's controlling-
Larry Hryb: I think I was doing it when we were playing.
Jeff Rubenstein: This guy is tagging me Mozambique.
Larry Hryb: It's quite Mozambique here. Anyway, we are the Mozambique of podcasts here, so thank you for that.
Jeff Rubenstein: At best.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, at best to say the least with no hop up.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: So, we'll talk to you next time. Bye, bye everybody. Thank you.
Jeff Rubenstein: Bye.
Larry Hryb 
