Larry Hryb: Welcome to the show everybody. My name's Larry Hryb, Xbox Live's Major Nelson. You've downloaded one of the longest-running podcasts on planet Earth, Earth. Joining me is, uh, Jeff Rubinstein across the, this tiny little, looks like an end table.
Jeff Rubenstein: It is, uh-
Larry Hryb: We're- we're in the studio, and it feels like-
Jeff Rubenstein: It has an alarm clock. It has a mug, uh, with some water in it.
Larry Hryb: Yes, yes. Got some notes.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Uh, anyway, how you, how you doing?
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm doing great.
Larry Hryb: It's-
Jeff Rubenstein: You know, I've seen you turn into Larry that I was talking to 30 seconds ago-
Larry Hryb: (laughs).
Jeff Rubenstein: ... versus Larry once as soon as they hit that record button.
Larry Hryb: As soo-, as soon as the on-the-air light goes on we are on the air.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's just the, the car shifts int-, straight into fifth, and you're Xbox Live's Major Nelson.
Larry Hryb: It's like... I'm like an electric car, all the torque, immediately.
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs). I have rage anxiety.
Larry Hryb: (laughs). Yeah. You have a lot of anxiety.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's true.
Larry Hryb: Um, but anyway, we're here, we're here. It's, uh, it's- it's August. It's early to slash mid-August. Uh, if you're in the Northwest of the United States it feels like summer maybe just got started, and it's almost over.
Jeff Rubenstein: And it's already... It's over.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. (laughs). It's-
Jeff Rubenstein: It's cloudy and rainy today.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, this is not fun.
Jeff Rubenstein: No.
Larry Hryb: Uh, but we're, um-
Jeff Rubenstein: We had a good week and a half.
Larry Hryb: ... having fun. We're, uh, back in the studio again. We're- we wanted to jump back in here because we're just, we're just on the cusp of Gamescom again.
Jeff Rubenstein: Again.
Larry Hryb: Feels like we just got back from, uh, from- from Cologne.
Jeff Rubenstein: I feel like I just ran out of gummy bears, which I did.
Larry Hryb: Which we did. Which-
Jeff Rubenstein: So I gotta make another run.
Larry Hryb: There's a ... For those of you who don't know what that reference is, there's a specific gummy bear company, and no, it's not Haribo. Everyone asks that. It is uh Bären-Company.
Jeff Rubenstein: Bären-Company?
Larry Hryb: And it is only available in this particular region of Germany, and is as- as I stand here, somebody who is a fan of chewy candies, this is, and sour candies, this is top-notch.
Jeff Rubenstein: What... I thought you were gonna say it's the Cadillac of- of gummy bears, but I was gonna r-, correct to like the BMW.
Larry Hryb: It is, uh... Do you, do- do you agree with me?
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, they're the best.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: And I- I was someone who used to be like, "What are you eating? You should be eating Haribos. Those are the good ones." And then I had these, and now I scoff at Haribo.
Larry Hryb: A- as somebody, as somebody, as somebody who is... You have introduced me... You and I share a lot of culinary good finds, and you've shared more than your share. I feel, I feel good that I've at least put you onto a little something. 'Cause you put me onto Topo Chico. (laughs).
Jeff Rubenstein: And you have not looked back.
Larry Hryb: No, no, no. (laughs).
Jeff Rubenstein: I- I feel like you're on the board.
Larry Hryb: I... Oh, I, (laughs), I am all Topo Chico all the time. Topo Chico is a mineral water that is sold in parts of the country. I don't know how much of the country it's sold in. It's from Monterrey, Mexico.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's been in, it's been in Texas forever.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: And I think they were recently acquired by, it might be Coke. I don't even know. And now all of a sudden you can get it as far from Mexico as you can get in the United States up here in- in N-, in the Northwest.
Larry Hryb: If you like carbonation, this is your jam.
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs).
Larry Hryb: It'll... You'll- you'll put... You'll- you'll put that bottle. You'll remove that bottle from your lips, and you go, wow.
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, and then you can put it... You don't finish it, you put it in the fridge, you come back three days later it's still fizzy.
Larry Hryb: It's still r-, it's still-
Jeff Rubenstein: I do-... How do they do it?
Larry Hryb: I don't know. It's magical. All right. So that's the food portion of the podcast. (laughs).
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs).
Larry Hryb: What are you playing, Jeff? We're- we're here to talk about games and Xbox news, and uh, let's see. Do we have, um-?
Jeff Rubenstein: [crosstalk 00:03:23].
Larry Hryb: Oh, I know why the table's smaller.
Jeff Rubenstein: Why?
Larry Hryb: They had to sell the larger one to pay Ninja. (laughs).
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs). I'm not touching that. I'm... You- you know what? Welcome, Ninja, to mixer.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: I've been watching him a lot more, I would say, in the, in the, in the past couple of weeks since you joined last week.
Larry Hryb: Yep.
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, it's been great seeing, first of all, just how many subs he's getting, and how many people are jumping in, and- and sort of getting behind him, and how many people he has brought to the platform. But it's also just great to see the- the great response from other mixer creators who I've worked with.
Larry Hryb: You work with a lot of them, don't you?
Jeff Rubenstein: I- I do.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: And they're... It- it's- it just seems like it's good for everybody.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: So, uh, I have not gotten to meet Tyler yet, but, um, hopefully that'll happen at some point. And, uh, you know, I look forward to it.
Larry Hryb: Actually, oh ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: I think I've got a, I've got a meeting with him coming up. I'll tell you about that off the air.
Jeff Rubenstein: Okay.
Larry Hryb: I can't share it on the air. (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: Gotta put Ninja and Major Nelson together, eh?
Larry Hryb: Eh, well we'll figure it out. Maybe we'll do a co-stream. We'll figure something-
Jeff Rubenstein: That would be pretty-
Larry Hryb: But he's having a good time, so he's go- welcome, welcome. Welcome, Tyler-
Jeff Rubenstein: He is-
Larry Hryb: To the platform.
Jeff Rubenstein: He is, he's.
Larry Hryb: Welcome.
Jeff Rubenstein: Um, we were talking about what we're playing?
Larry Hryb: Yes ...
Jeff Rubenstein: So, uh, I'm getting ready for, among many, many other things, but, uh, as a, as a gamer. The Borderlands 3.
Larry Hryb: Right. It's a month away.
Jeff Rubenstein: It is, and, yeah. Just, almost a day. And, uh, there's no better way to get ready for Borderlands Three then to fire up Borderlands Two and play the DLC-
Larry Hryb: Which you've been doing-
Jeff Rubenstein: Which I've ... yeah, we completed, it's, uh, it's called Commander Lilith, and, um, it basically sets up, w-what you're gonna be doing in Borderlands Three, and I've played Two as ... I was popping the first achievements in two and a half years ...
Larry Hryb: Really?
Jeff Rubenstein: Um, yeah it'd been a long time since I've played Two.
Larry Hryb: It has been, it has been.
Jeff Rubenstein: Um ...
Larry Hryb: You played it with a friend. You had a house guest over and you-
Jeff Rubenstein: Exactly, and-and we just ... we kind of, like, I d- we didn't LAN them together, but it just took over the dining room table, put a couple Xboxes-
Larry Hryb: Yeah-
Jeff Rubenstein: And monitors on there and we just played-
Larry Hryb: You're off to the races.
Jeff Rubenstein: You have to play Borderlands co-op. It's just [crosstalk 00:05:21] play it.
Larry Hryb: You know, it's funny, back in the day when the first one came out, it was, it was that's, that's where team dysfunction came from-
Jeff Rubenstein: I've head about this-
Larry Hryb: It was me and Eric E, and Steptoe and Laura and it was, it was mind-numbing fun. It was- we just, we had a great time with that one-
Jeff Rubenstein: Well-
Larry Hryb: We were all running every [crosstalk 00:05:34]-
Jeff Rubenstein: It's going to be co-op fall.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: You know, I know your, your hot boys summer that's wrapping up.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Straight into co-op fall-
Larry Hryb: Yep-
Jeff Rubenstein: Because we're going to have to play that.
Larry Hryb: Yep.
Jeff Rubenstein: But then we also have to play Gears-
Larry Hryb: Gears-
Jeff Rubenstein: Together.
Larry Hryb: Gears is right after that, yep.
Jeff Rubenstein: And actually, hot off the presses, we can jump all over. I actually have gotten ahold of-
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: And it should be out there by the time you hear this, uh, the achievement list-
Larry Hryb: You have?
Jeff Rubenstein: For Gears Five.
Larry Hryb: Do you, do you, do you, wow. I- I have not, I have not even seen this, wow-
Jeff Rubenstein: There are 71 achievements-
Larry Hryb: Okay-
Jeff Rubenstein: Which span campaign-
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: Escape-
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: Versus, Hoard, and the Map Builder, because you can build maps for- for modes likes escape and- and more.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: So um, of course, the first one you have to look at is...and- and- I've been, um I'm waiting for you to tell me.
Larry Hryb: Go ahead.
Jeff Rubenstein: Wha- What's- What is- What achievement is Gears famous for?
Larry Hryb: Seriously?
Jeff Rubenstein: Seriously.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: So we're up to seriously five-point-oh-
Larry Hryb: (laughs).
Jeff Rubenstein: Worth 100 gamers score, easily the- the most in the game. Complete Insane Campaign, Master Hoard, Escape, uh, Master the Hoard and Escape Launch maps- and characters get 20 re-ups-
Larry Hryb: I don't know what that means-
Jeff Rubenstein: And reach General ranking in Tour of Duty.
Larry Hryb: All right.
Jeff Rubenstein: So, that's a lot of stuff. Um, there's all kinds of leveling up, in- in the different modes. Um, and so (laughs) there's- there's quite a lot here. I- I'm looking at the ones Hoard; Hoard, I'm going to be able to do this because I love to play Hoard, it's probably the mode I'll play the most-
Larry Hryb: Yep.
Jeff Rubenstein: Um, and of course you want to, you want to get to 50 and- and doing that in any difficulty will get you an achievement. Um, of course if you can do it, uh...you know, you can do it in higher levels, the- then that's- that's worth more.
Larry Hryb: And I'm sure this is available by the time this airs, it'll be available-
Jeff Rubenstein: It'll be on Xbox Wire [crosstalk 00:07:20] and Xbox achievements-
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: And all of their-
Larry Hryb: I'll link to it from my blog-
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. Those are good. Uh, Escape- Escape is a really fun mode that I played, uh at E3, as did many other folks. And I'm looking forward to- we should do that- so that's going to be a fun co-op-
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Mode for us, and we-
Larry Hryb: We had that at E3-
Jeff Rubenstein: It's optimized for three people, uh and that'll be really good. Hoard is of course-
Larry Hryb: Well I feel like, I feel like we've got a three-people, because we've had, we've been playing with three people with Apex since March.
Jeff Rubenstein: Exactly! It's-
Larry Hryb: Right?
Jeff Rubenstein: Three is the new-
Larry Hryb: Three is the new four. Or two or-
Jeff Rubenstein: Or, do, yeah whatever.
Larry Hryb: But whatever.
Jeff Rubenstein: But um, if you ever have an odd person out, you've always, you can always make it work here. And then of course there's tons uh, if you're just someone who cares about the campaign, I'm very much looking forward to this campaign.
Larry Hryb: I'm not hearing much about that.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, I mean, you're going to be hearing-
Larry Hryb: Yes, I know.
Jeff Rubenstein: -more about it. Um, and, I mean the game is out in- in under a month if you're an Xbox Live Ultimate Member, or you pre-ordered the Ultimate Edition, uh, you'll be playing that on September 6th.
Larry Hryb: Ooh, you know what I have is, I have a little bit of news about- kind of Gears related-
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh?
Larry Hryb: We will have uh, the head of the coalition, Mr. Rod Ferguson.
Jeff Rubenstein: Again.
Larry Hryb: Who we had on the show in the past. He'll be joining us at out annual Pax Panel, here in Seattle in Pax, uh, our panel is the 31st- Saturday the 31st.
Jeff Rubenstein: Saturday, that's the good day.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. We always- well, they always give us a good slot on a good day.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's nice. How did you- how did you earn that?
Larry Hryb: I, uh, I don't know.
Jeff Rubenstein: (Laughter)
Larry Hryb: I don't know. I just- don't- don't tell anybody.
Jeff Rubenstein: We've got it. I uh-
Larry Hryb: I'll have more details on that as we get closer.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, we'll have to figure out what- I think we're in a streaming room this year.
Larry Hryb: Are we?
Jeff Rubenstein: So, even if you're not in Seattle, you'll be able to watch online.
Larry Hryb: So, in a stream room? So I can show just at the- oh a stream room not a steam room.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's not a sauna Larry.
Larry Hryb: (Laughter)
Jeff Rubenstein: I just watched that episode of Stranger Things yesterday.
Larry Hryb: (Laughter)
Jeff Rubenstein: It's a good episode. Um-
Larry Hryb: Have you finished that yet?
Jeff Rubenstein: I've got two more to go. It's a really good season.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I- I know.
Jeff Rubenstein: The first couple episodes, eh, a little too backtracky. Once you hit episode- I think it was episode four, just like blew me away. That was one of the best hours of TV in- of the year. Just, there was three- you had ABC-
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: - like story lines, everyone's trying to uncover stuff-
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: and things go crazy at the same time. They really-
Larry Hryb: Things go- don't- no, no spoilers, no spoilers.
Jeff Rubenstein: I- I think that's- that's enough-
Larry Hryb: I have this, I have this uh, in my Spotify, uh here, I haven't- I haven't published this but somebody posted this thing called Mallsoft- have you heard about this?
Jeff Rubenstein: No.
Larry Hryb: It's- its a playlist of mus- background music from malls in the 80's.
Jeff Rubenstein: (Laughter)
Larry Hryb: But you can hear the people as if you're sitting at the food court at the Orange Julius.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh my god.
Larry Hryb: Anyways, so it's kind of like-
Jeff Rubenstein: Malls in the 80's were a little funky.
Larry Hryb: Well, it's, it's 80's and 90's so... it's called Mallsoft.
Jeff Rubenstein: You're bringing me back. I feel like uh, I feel like I'm in the Coral Square Mall.
Larry Hryb: Is that where it was?
Jeff Rubenstein: They had an arcade. I played Mortal Kombat there-
Larry Hryb: One, one that I-
Jeff Rubenstein: - go to the Software Etc...
Larry Hryb: What was mine? Uh, mine was uh, the Westfarms Mall in West Hartford, Connecticut which-
Jeff Rubenstein: They have a Microsoft Store there!
Larry Hryb: I opened it!
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes!
Larry Hryb: That's why- that was the one I used to hang out as a kid and I said, "I'm going to open that store" and sure enough, how many years later? I- I cut the ribbon on the Microsoft Store at the mall I used to hang out in.
Jeff Rubenstein: Revenge best served cold, Larry.
Larry Hryb: I don't know if that was revenge, but- [crosstalk 00:10:18]. But yeah, it's funny is-
Jeff Rubenstein: He called your shot.
Larry Hryb: - cause you said it was Software Etc...
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: That Microsoft Store, that's where it was.
Jeff Rubenstein: In that spot?
Larry Hryb: In that spot, roughly there and I think it was the Sharper Image was there as well.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, I was going to say, it would have to be bigger than that.
Larry Hryb: (Laughter) But yeah, it was, I remember Sharper Image was on that corner and I don't know what else was there. But yeah, that was uh, all right.
Jeff Rubenstein: They probably had a Wet Seal, or-
Larry Hryb: Nah, I think it was before.
Jeff Rubenstein: [crosstalk 00:10:37] - 80's and 90's stores.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. Spencer Gifts! Get your black light and your, your, your novelty items. (Laughter)
Jeff Rubenstein: Got to get a plushie for the old high school girlfriend.
Larry Hryb: Oh boy. Anyway, welcome to- you know, we should do an 80's podcast. Well, maybe I should. (Laughter)
Jeff Rubenstein: I- yeah, I'm- I'd be more in a 90's podcast-
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: - I feel like.
Larry Hryb: That's okay.
Jeff Rubenstein: 80's have hel- like, orange tinted memories for me.
Larry Hryb: Uh, as me as well. (Laughter)
Jeff Rubenstein: (Laughter)
Larry Hryb: So, here we are, anyway, so what we're talking about Stranger Things. What were we talki- oh, playing. What we're playing.
Jeff Rubenstein: What we're playing, yes. So uh-
Larry Hryb: Hoard mode.
Jeff Rubenstein: The uh, the DLC- yeah I'm getting ready, uh can't wait for Hoard mode. I finished playing a Plague Tale: Innocents.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, the rat game.
Jeff Rubenstein: The rat-
Larry Hryb: AKA, the rat game.
Jeff Rubenstein: The rat game, takes place during the 100 year war between France and England, but, which was the same time as the Plague. It was not a great time to be alive in France, uh as it seems. Uh, that was a great great game. So uh, it's sort of like an action stealth game. I think we've talked about it a little bit.
Jeff Rubenstein: You have never seen more rats in your life, I assure you.
Larry Hryb: Ever.
Jeff Rubenstein: Even if you've seen this season of Stranger Things.
Larry Hryb: Yup, yup.
Jeff Rubenstein: Still more rats than that. So uh, that being said, really enjoyed this game giving me, like a different viewpoint into that era. Because, I had read about it but you-
Larry Hryb: Are you- are you- I- I know that you- you adore your costume French drama.
Jeff Rubenstein: I- I, yeah I'm a real renaissance man.
Larry Hryb: You are?
Jeff Rubenstein: Actually, this would be before the renaissance, so I painted myself into a corner.
Larry Hryb: Maybe that's why you were unaware of this era.
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, perhaps.
Larry Hryb: Because you were in the wrong era!
Jeff Rubenstein: It's true.
Larry Hryb: (Laughter)
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, needless to say, uh made me really appreciate that we live in this century and not in the 14th century.
Larry Hryb: Right. Like-
Jeff Rubenstein: Had to smell. It just, it had to smell.
Larry Hryb: That's all you can say, is "it had to smell"?
Jeff Rubenstein: That's all I can think of is like, how gross is it-
Larry Hryb: Not "the food was great", there was a lot of, there's-
Jeff Rubenstein: - the food! These, I don't know if they, they, they were eating berries off of bushes- [crosstalk 00:12:23]
Larry Hryb: - and wet gray meat! (Laughter)
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm going to leave that alone Larry. Larry's not a big fan of uh, bowls of wet-
Larry Hryb: Soup.
Jeff Rubenstein: Soup.
Larry Hryb: Sloppy beef meat.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's good, it's good. Also last game, Kingdom Two Crowns. I just spent a lot of time playing this game. And uh, my kid has gotten into it so we're playing it split-screen, and that's the two crowns in Kingdom Two Crowns, it's in Xbox game pass, it's uh, two dimensional city builder strategy, um where all day you sort of build up your kingdom, and all night you try to fend off these horrible greed monsters and um, pray that you don't get a blood moon. Because if that happens it really screws up you day.
Larry Hryb: Oh the blood moon!
Jeff Rubenstein: It screws up your day. I promise you. Yeah, [crosstalk 00:13:05] It certainly does in, in Kingdom Two Crowns.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Um, good game, and uh, one more game I want to- I just started getting back into last night-
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: - another co-op game. Well, I'm, I'm looking forwards to Tom, um, Clancy's Ghost Recon Breakpoint. I'm hoping to see it at Gamescom when I'm out there. But uh, I never finished Wild Lands.
Larry Hryb: Oh yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: And that was great game-
Larry Hryb: Great game!
Jeff Rubenstein: They had an amazing DLC.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Remember, they had like, Sam Fisher. We had him in the first Inside Xbox, or second Inside Xbox. Uh, so I want to go back through and start playing that again. I was just looking through my achievements. It's been a couple years, and I don't know, something distracted me. It looks like, it was probably E3, just looking at the timing of this and I, I didn't go back to it. It's time to go back to it.
Larry Hryb: By the way, we talked about being August.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: You know what that means.
Jeff Rubenstein: Madden time?
Larry Hryb: Yes it is! (Laughter)
Jeff Rubenstein: I downloaded it.
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Jeff Rubenstein: I have EA access. [crosstalk 00:13:53]
Larry Hryb: You and I, you and I we need to go head to head.
Jeff Rubenstein: We need to go head to head, I'm feeling really good about the Eagles this year.
Larry Hryb: Okay, okay.
Jeff Rubenstein: And um, I- I think I'm going to beat you this year.
Larry Hryb: Okay. This could be- you know we keep saying this and uh, based on my timing at home, we should just co-stream and be done with it.
Jeff Rubenstein: We should do that. Here's the other thing, Gronk retired-
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: - so I don't know what you're going to be doing.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, exactly.
Jeff Rubenstein: Like, you're out of options cause you just ran that money play over and over and over again.
Larry Hryb: (Laughter)
Jeff Rubenstein: You just caught everything!
Larry Hryb: Hail Mary, Hail Mary, Hail Mary.
Jeff Rubenstein: It was just like David Tyree, after David Tyree.
Larry Hryb: There's only, there's only one Hail Mary play now.
Jeff Rubenstein: What's that?
Larry Hryb: I mean, in Madden there used to be three.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, really?
Larry Hryb: Now there's just one.
Jeff Rubenstein: Now it just- they just run down to the end?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: The uh, Philly Special.
Larry Hryb: (Laughter)
Jeff Rubenstein: So, uh let's do that- let's do that this weekend.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Or maybe tomor- eh, maybe on Friday. We'll figure it out.
Larry Hryb: Maybe on Friday. Maybe Saturday, maybe Sunday.
Jeff Rubenstein: Okay. Well let's do-
Larry Hryb: Soon, soon.
Jeff Rubenstein: For real, let's do it.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, for real.
Jeff Rubenstein: And then of course, you and I have been playing just a- a whole lot of Season Two of Apex.
Larry Hryb: Apex Legends.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's so good!
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: And they're- they're introducing solos next week. I don't know how- I'm going to give it a shot. I feel like the team base is like-
Larry Hryb: It's the sweet spot.
Jeff Rubenstein: - my favorite part of the game.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: I think three people, it really works well.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: But um, solos is very popular in Fortnite, so hey, why not? Maybe it is- maybe it'll work real well.
Larry Hryb: I'm uh, playing Wolfenstein Youngblood.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, how do you like that?
Larry Hryb: I'm- I'm just going through it- I'm having- is that you?
Jeff Rubenstein: That is not me.
Larry Hryb: Okay, that must be me. Sorry.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, it's you.
Larry Hryb: That was my Outlook, reminding me I had to be somewhere, apparently recording the show.
Jeff Rubenstein: You're late Larry.
Larry Hryb: That's not- [crosstalk 00:15:19]
Jeff Rubenstein: We started 10 minutes ago.
Larry Hryb: Wolfenstein Youngblood, that's uh, I'm playing that a little bit and that's-
Jeff Rubenstein: They have more 80's there for you.
Larry Hryb: That is speaking of 80's.
Jeff Rubenstein: Do you hear the mall music there?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I know.
Jeff Rubenstein: Was the mall music different in the alternate universe- [crosstalk 00:15:28]
Larry Hryb: Nah, I haven't got- I haven't gotten to the mall in Wolfenstein yet and I'm frankly-[crosstalk 00:15:34]
Jeff Rubenstein: I don't know if there is one. There would have to be one.
Larry Hryb: Uh, still swimming around in the Assassin's Creed Odyssey cause that game is the game that just keeps giving.
Jeff Rubenstein: Are you playing the DLC?
Larry Hryb: Uh, I need to, but I haven't gotten to it yet. Uh, I haven't finished the game.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's really good.
Larry Hryb: Stranger Things 3 the Game.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: That's out, I played a little bit of that-
Jeff Rubenstein: That's probably like 16-bit, right?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, yeah yeah. There's a little bit of that going on. Uh, Sea of Solitude, we talked about that last game which was from EA, it's one- it's an indie game from EA.
Jeff Rubenstein: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: Uh, two are general here- frequently together, indie games in EA.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, they- they have throughout the years. You know, Yarny was one. Fe, "f" "e", or whatever it was.
Larry Hryb: Right, right.
Jeff Rubenstein: So, they're no stranger to uh-
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: - you know, more introspective game.
Larry Hryb: Yep. So, that's uh, anyways, so we're still going on but we're getting ready for all those games that Jeff was just talking about.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. Oh, you just made me think about FIFA when you mentioned EA.
Larry Hryb: Yeah!
Jeff Rubenstein: Soccer starts, this is- uh if you're hearing this Friday, it's the first day of the English premier league.
Larry Hryb: So, you'll be- so I mean Saturday morning I can start texting you at 0600, right?
Jeff Rubenstein: Actually, kickoff is at 5:55am, and I will be awake. New Castle, Arsenal and New Castle. I'm excited.
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: Hopefully that excitement make- lets me wake up and not hit snooze at 5:55am.
Larry Hryb: 5:54.
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, yeah. I- I think they walk around for a minute or two and then they-
Larry Hryb: I'm talking about you. (Laughter)
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, yeah. I'll probably just be up all night.
Larry Hryb: Ah, it's, oh it's like Christmas for you, isn't it?
Jeff Rubenstein: It is, this is like the best day of the year.
Larry Hryb: Good for you.
Jeff Rubenstein: Because, we- we're not in last place. Because, Arsenal, alphabetically is at the top of the list, it's the only day we're in first place.
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Jeff Rubenstein: After that-
Larry Hryb: It's all down hill.
Jeff Rubenstein: (Laughter) It's not going to be great. Actually, we should be good this year.
Larry Hryb: Uh, so what else we got? We got a little bit of news coming up- oh, you know we talked about, talk about uh, usually you go over and see the football because the season starts.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Gamescom- Gamescom is coming up in a couple weeks.
Jeff Rubenstein: And you can join us in many many ways.
Larry Hryb: Many many many many ways.
Jeff Rubenstein: So, one of them is if the way that if you're joining us, you know on this podcast is probably the way you would join us. Now, be tuning in on Monday, August 19th at 8am Pacific, 11 Eastern, or 5pm Central Eastern-
Larry Hryb: Yep.
Jeff Rubenstein: Standard Time? I think they- I don't know if what that ST is. But, uh that is when Inside Xbox Live from Cologne. Uh, that's going to be taking place from the Gloria Theater, and the cool thing about it is we're- once the show is over, we're just going to keep the Gloria Theater all week. Uh, and you'll be able to join us uh, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. That's August 21st through 23rd for Xbox Open Doors. Uh, it's free. You can just come on in, we'll have community event, we'll have game tournaments, there'll be panel sessions and other fun stuff. So, I'm going to drop by there. Uh, it is away from the hustle and bustle of the Koelnmesse-
Larry Hryb: Okay, the Messe.
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, which is the Messe, where you have all the-
Larry Hryb: Which is the main connection.
Jeff Rubenstein: This is the main thing but it's crazy, there's just hundreds of thousands of people there. Uh, this'll be a more intimate Xbox focused environment and should be really fun. Of course if you're at the Koelnmesse, uh, the Xbox booth will have 200 gaming sections, I saw the list of the games.
Larry Hryb: Is it?
Jeff Rubenstein: There's stuff there that I have not yet gotten to play. So, I'm super excited. Uh, I'll be getting there to quote unquote "setup", AKA "I should test this out for you."
Larry Hryb: Yeah, just- quality.
Jeff Rubenstein: Um, there's a lot of stuff I'm looking forward to playing. Of course we'll have games on both Xbox and on PC, a huge, uh, you know PC gaming market out there in uh, Central Europe. And so, I mean so many of our games, Game Pass is on Xbox one and PC.
Jeff Rubenstein: Did you see that? That was uh, I caught that.
Larry Hryb: You caught an electrical cord coming out of your computer.
Jeff Rubenstein: That was really weird.
Larry Hryb: You're a fine hands- all right uh-
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm a hand talker even on the podcast.
Larry Hryb: Gamescom, that's the details. You'll see more and more details coming over the next couple weeks as we get a little more granular about what we just talked about. You're going- unfortunately I'm not going this year, I've got a- I've got a personal conflict. So, you guys are going to have to carry the mantel forward.
Jeff Rubenstein: When you say "carry the mantel", you mean, bring back-
Larry Hryb: Bring back those gummy bears. See- see- see the top of the show.
Jeff Rubenstein: All right, well, yes. So, I'm actually- I'm going to check a bag.
Larry Hryb: Okay, cause you were like "oh, I don't know if I'm going to check a bag or not", which I would love to not be able to check a bag when I travel but-
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm going to do it, for the bears. For the Bären. For the bear. They- you know when they're- they're- they're doing their yearly forecast-
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: They're like "Okay, you know Easter is big and Christmas is big" and this huge bump!
Larry Hryb: There's a huge bump in August. And we don't know what it is but let's staff up!
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, so, they've probably made- I'm sure we'll go in there and just be boxes and boxes of gummy bears, you know, waiting for you.
Larry Hryb: And there- and and a lot of folks are asking- no, as far as I can tell, they do not ship out of the country that I can tell.
Jeff Rubenstein: If they do, it's probably exorbitant for shipping but, you asked me, what- could you mind just repeating your order for the public?
Larry Hryb: Well, there- there- there's these Cherry Cola ones- sours, which are quite good. And I, I don't know, I believe I asked for 10 to 12- (laughter)
Jeff Rubenstein: 10 to 12 bags! Each on of these bags is like 500 grams or something like that. It is- it is not light. So that's why I'm checking a bag. I may- it may be overweight.
Larry Hryb: Okay, I'll pay for the overweight-
Jeff Rubenstein: Last- I'm doing it. I'm doing- all right, well, maybe. Um, yeah I think I spent 40 euros last year. So with yours in there-
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: It'll be- we're going to be right around the 100 dollar mark in gummy bears.
Larry Hryb: You- you- you may- you may be uh, you may have to claim something. (Laughter)
Jeff Rubenstein: (Laughter) I know, "customs(?) do you have anything to declare?"
Larry Hryb: Uhhhh.
Jeff Rubenstein: Sugar high?
Larry Hryb: Exactly. All of this!
Jeff Rubenstein: I did link out to Bären Company in case you want to take a look. You wanna, uh-
Larry Hryb: We'll put down the show notes.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, I really don't even think-
Larry Hryb: There- there- there, yeah there is no English version because they don't care.
Jeff Rubenstein: (Laughter)
Larry Hryb: Here it is.
Jeff Rubenstein: We're doing fine.
Larry Hryb: We're doing fine, we don't need you. Just-
Jeff Rubenstein: We're getting our August uh, bonus.
Larry Hryb: (Laughter) Um, anyway, so yeah. That's uh, that's Gamescom. I'll have more details on the blog and I'll be Tweeting out about that as well. We got that, followed by- and later on that day, uh there's Jeff Keeley's show. I talked to Jeff a couple days ago, he's got his show going on.
Jeff Rubenstein: Okay.
Larry Hryb: So, he'll have uh- I'm sure he'll have some Xbox- [crosstalk 00:21:06]
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, I think there's just a lot going on that, um, Monday.
Larry Hryb: It's a busy busy busy day, that Monday.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's good to see. I uh, you know, I don't know if he- he hasn't been at a Gamescom recently, I don't think.
Larry Hryb: No, he hasn't. [crosstalk 00:21:17] He and I were texting and I told him I wasn't going to be able to make it and he was bummed cause we've done that show quite a bit together.
Jeff Rubenstein: Okay.
Larry Hryb: Uh, so there we go.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, we'll be watching that too.
Larry Hryb: And then, right out of that we come back and we get ready for Pax like we talked about.
Jeff Rubenstein: We get ready for Pax and then we get ready for Gears.
Larry Hryb: Gears. Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: So, it's- and NBA is out around that time, Borderlands is out around that time. It's going to be the next month-
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Probably the busiest of the year for us.
Larry Hryb: Now you've got some headlines coming up here. You've got some news in front of you, right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, I do.
Larry Hryb: We kind of want to make it- in case you missed it.
Jeff Rubenstein: In case you missed it, we announced the best looking Xbox 1X that we have ever created.
Larry Hryb: Which is- which is-
Jeff Rubenstein: That is not a hyperbole.
Larry Hryb: No.
Jeff Rubenstein: That is the Xbox 1X Gears 5 Limited Edition bundle if you haven't seen it.
Larry Hryb: LE.
Jeff Rubenstein: I will link out to it on MajorNelson.com. This is um, we released a video. I don't remember the last time we ever released a video with like, in-game CG footage of- of, you know, of the game that is represented. This isn't just product shots, of the inspiration. And so, we're going to be- Gears 5 is going to take place in some chilling environments. And um, there is um, that's what this- this box represents. This Xbox, it looks like uh, it's a frozen lake of some sort, and underneath it there's and omen underneath the ice, and it's a translucent case, the ice is cracking and then it comes with a Kate Diaz limited edition controller which is sold separately, uh if you choose to have it. It's part of the bundle but you can also buy it. If you just want the controller, you can buy that. And it looks like Kate's armor, that winter armor that she's wearing in this video.
Jeff Rubenstein: So if you want to see the video, if you want to see the controller, if you want to pre-order it, if you want to-
Larry Hryb: We got controllers, we got charging stand, we got a headset.
Jeff Rubenstein: There's charging stand, those headphones- that headset looks nice. And there's even a uh, a branded Razer wireless keyboard and mouse.
Larry Hryb: I got to get one of those.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, how do you not have that. And even a hard drive. A Seagate- um, how many terabytes is this? Uh, it doesn't- five terabytes!
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Wow. Okay. So- (laughter)
Larry Hryb: (Laughter)
Jeff Rubenstein: That's- you're all set. And it all- and it matches the controller and it looks really cool too. So, I'll link out to that. There's just, all of the Gears beauty. But, I'm glad that a game like this, which is always been known for despite being in like- I worked on Gears 1.
Larry Hryb: You did?
Jeff Rubenstein: The ultimate edition.
Larry Hryb: The Ultimate Edition.
Jeff Rubenstein: And we talked about the games destroyed beauty. And I think there's a nother game- it's- it's- this- this is beautiful yet terrifying at the same time. I'm glad to see Gears get such an awesome, advanced and I really don't think we've ever made like, this cool, uh, Xbox 1X.
Larry Hryb: It's beautiful. It's beautiful. World's most powerful console.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's true.
Larry Hryb: It's true.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's true. Uh, something that I'm looking forward to playing during the long ride between Seattle and Cologne, Germany; the Bard's Tale Trilogy, so-
Larry Hryb: Oh!
Jeff Rubenstein: We work with inXile now. They're part of the, the Xbox, the Microsoft family; the Xbox Studios family. Um, and this is one of the first games uh, to sort of come out of that. And that is the Bard's Tale Trilogy. They've been making these games since the 80's. And so it's uh, you know the first three on both Xbox One, and on Windows 10. These are like, it's a very like sort of old school um, dungeon crawling RPG experience. It's uh, they're remastered with updated graphics but it still has like that 8-bit spirit, uh, from the original one. I'll link out to what that looks like. They're also, of course, working on the Wasteland 30th Anniversary Edition. Uh, so we'll be talking about that. That's arriving later this year.
Larry Hryb: Later this year.
Jeff Rubenstein: Wasteland 3 is coming down the line. And then, after the Bard's Tale Trilogy later in the month, maybe on- I don't know, on my way back from Pax or something. Uh, is the Bard's Tale 4 directors cut.
Larry Hryb: What?
Jeff Rubenstein: This is a more modern looking RPG.
Larry Hryb: All the Bard's Tale you'd ever want.
Jeff Rubenstein: So, a lot RPG's. If you're an RPG fan, inXile is really taking care of you this year.
Larry Hryb: And I know, you're- you're playing- you're playing something on your Switch right now, aren't you?
Jeff Rubenstein: I am! Yeah, yeah, Fire Emblem.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm a huge Fire Emblem fan. This is Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Sort of Fire Emblem meets uh, so if I was to explain to layman, like a uh, like Shining Force or even Xcom meets, uh, Harry Potter.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: And so, you spend like your- your days throughout the month sort of working with your students and the other teachers and leveling them up and creating relationships with them; professional relationships with them, uh recruiting other students. What does that look like? And then you fight. At the end of the month you fight.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: And, it's pretty awesome. So, I'll be playing that on the plane. As an RPG and a Strategy guy, it's a golden age. I'm getting to play games that I never played back in the 80's and 90's, I'm getting to play-
Larry Hryb: Where are the 80's? Cause you were hanging out at the mall.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's true. Yeah, the original Bard's Tale came out in 1985 in a- two sequels. And then Bard's Tale 4 looks really good. I'm very excited for that. Especially as someone who played um, Operencia.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: It kind of looks- it definitely looks like that, uh that style of game.
Larry Hryb: Lovely.
Jeff Rubenstein: So what are you going to be playing this weekend Larry?
Larry Hryb: I, well, you were going to be fighting Madden. I got to figure out my new strategy.
Jeff Rubenstein: But if you want to try something else and you don't want to spend any money-
Larry Hryb: What.
Jeff Rubenstein: We can all stand to save some money from time to time. Vigor is going to have a free weekend from the time you hear us, through August 11th. So that started uh, started on Thursday at midnight. It's going all the way through till just about 11:59pm Pacific.
Larry Hryb: -ish.
Jeff Rubenstein: On Sunday. So, you really have the whole weekend. Uh, there's a big update that hit, uh, recently. Uh, the .9 update is part of an Xbox Game Preview. So, this is uh, will become free to play at some point this summer. But, it's not there yet. You can play it now, and enjoy a cool European-made shooting game. Vigor.
Larry Hryb: Vigor. (Laughter) Yes, I can see you're about to- you're drawing a breath for even more news!
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, I just wanted to say Age of Wonders: Planetfall, is now- now available. It is a uh, it's an empire building game in a, in like a sci-fi setting. Uh, it looks pretty cool. And so, I definitely recommend you take a look at it.
Larry Hryb: Build your empire.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's eligible for Xbox One, uh, on the Microsoft store.
Larry Hryb: Are you building your empire?
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm looking at- I might be picking it up. Yeah, this looks very much my speed.
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, Age of Empires-
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: This weekend, uh as well is going to have an Age 2 uh, definitive edition campaign weekend. So if you're part of that beta you're going to want to look out for that. If you're not part of the beta, well, you can register as an Age insider for a chance to access the Age of Empire's 2 definitive edition beta and join for this campaign weekend. I will link to that. You're going to want to get on that quickly, it's for Age insiders with a connected Steam account, and there's some other stuff. But, I'll send you over to the Age of Empires site with a direct link and that should help you out. Age 2. That was the classic one. I mean Age 1 was classic too, but Age 2 was like- that was huge. That game was huge.
Jeff Rubenstein: Um, No Man's Sky.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, what an update!
Jeff Rubenstein: Huge update.
Larry Hryb: Massive.
Jeff Rubenstein: Second year in a row.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: With just a major major major update.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: So we had one last summer and then next week, August 14th we have No Man's Sky-
Larry Hryb: Colon.
Jeff Rubenstein: Beyond.
Larry Hryb: Beyond!
Jeff Rubenstein: And um, it is a pretty big update. I'm going to link out. There's a trailer, um, there's a lot of multiplayer stuff. There's a dramatically expanded multiplayer experience. Um, so you can really sort of have those cool experiences you have in No Man's Sky, um when you encounter another traveler but you can like, adventure and explore together. Um, a lot of other new social features. Um, some- some, they took inspiration from other multiplayer games and MMO's. And yeah, it's something to look out for next week. We'll have to try that out. I played a lot of No Man's Sky when it hit Xbox last year.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, that was fun getting off that planet and just kind of trying to figure it out. That was really kind of cool.
Jeff Rubenstein: That moment of discovery was something that they definitely nailed.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Actually, it kind of reminded me, in a little bit uh, I know one of the games that you were playing uh, quite a bit of-
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: Was uh, um Outer Wilds.
Larry Hryb: Outer Wilds, yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: And they actually just announced a new patch. So, they just released a new patch that um, does a few different things. You can sleep at campfires to fast forward time.
Larry Hryb: Oh.
Jeff Rubenstein: Um.
Larry Hryb: I'll have to check that out.
Jeff Rubenstein: There's some updated, there's a number of fixes. But the key thing is, 4k support for Xbox 1X is now an Xbox 1X enhanced, uh title.
Larry Hryb: So good that game!
Jeff Rubenstein: And, between that and the fact that you can customize the field of view, the FOV, I think that's pretty cool.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, those guys did a great job with that.
Jeff Rubenstein: And it's a game that a lot of people really- I think it's a game that we're going to be uh, talking about the end of the year.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: With game of the year connotations. People really, really- [crosstalk 00:30:12].
Larry Hryb: I- I- I absolutely love that game. It just was one that just kept- I don't know why it just keeps me going back and I'm just reading the- looking at the patch notes right here and it's uh-
Jeff Rubenstein: I'll link out to those. And uh, yeah it's part of Xbox game pass. So, what more do you need?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, what are you doing?
Jeff Rubenstein: You should be downloading it right now as you're listening to the dying embers of this episode.
Larry Hryb: Ah, I see what you did there.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's a segue.
Larry Hryb: Crackling, crackling, crackling.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh yeah, there's that too. By the way, if you load up that game for the first time, first thing you need to do, you want to get that achievement, you just walk right into that fire.
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Jeff Rubenstein: You just let it do its thing.
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Jeff Rubenstein: You just respawn, it's no big deal. Then, you come back. You back to that fire, you pick up a stick, you roast some marshmallows, you eat 10 of them.
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: Those- that's your gaming score tip.
Larry Hryb: Score!
Jeff Rubenstein: Two achievements right there in like, one minute.
Larry Hryb: Look at this. All right, so there you go. There's absolutely zero more value we can add to this show. (laughter)
Jeff Rubenstein: (Laughter)
Larry Hryb: Jeff, you just peaked it.
Jeff Rubenstein: I- I'm- I want to get you free games, I want to get you easy achievements.
Larry Hryb: Yep, that's what we're all about here.
Jeff Rubenstein: And I want to get you drinking Topo Chico.
Larry Hryb: I can't disagree with any of that.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's the service I'm here to provide.
Larry Hryb: Anyway, we're uh- hey, what else we got?
Jeff Rubenstein: As far as news is concerned-
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: - that's it for now. Obviously, we have a lot of stuff uh, looking forward to the Inside Xbox episode that we talked about for Gamescom, looking forward to Pax, looking forward to a bunch of games coming out in September. Um, there's a lot there, but that's about all I can say right now.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, we got a lot coming on. We're going to, I just- we wanted to jump in and we're supposed to have a couple of guests on the show but unfortunately due to uh, work, they canceled. You know, it's interesting cause a lot of people think, "well, the summer is kind of quiet", and it is for games. But on the platform side, the platform meaning like the Xbox, uh you know the Xbox Dashboard and all of that. They're real busy because they're getting ready for, you know, we're already talking about the holiday release. Right? We're in these holiday meetings, and holiday is November and December for us to get ready for the next, you know, update and whatnot and all the rest of this. So, we've got a lot going on. We've got, we've got uh Gamescom, we've got Pax, we got all these games releases later on in the year. We XO which we've announced, we're going to- Jeff and I and Ko are going to London. I'm going back to London and you'll be going. So maybe you'll be able to catch some footy out there then.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, I'm hoping to. Um, I think I'll get out there twice this year. Just really, it's a matter of, will the schedule cooperate?
Larry Hryb: Will it cooperate? One can only- [crosstalk 00:32:24].
Jeff Rubenstein: I know, I know you're hanging in there with baited breath, while I get to go yell at my favorite players.
Larry Hryb: That's all I want. I just want to make sure you've got the scarf on.
Jeff Rubenstein: Bring some of that American booing.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. The scarf.
Jeff Rubenstein: From the UK. They whistle when they're not happy.
Larry Hryb: Oh, really? Gimme a sad whistle. Gimme an upset whistle.
Jeff Rubenstein: I can't do that, I'd boo like an American. "Booo!"
Larry Hryb: (Whistles)
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm from Philly, we boo!
Larry Hryb: That's right, you do. And throw things. (Laughter)
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, well. I know better than to, you know, wing a 9-volt battery at another country.
Larry Hryb: We're going to uh, we're going to wrap it up now. So, we'll let you guys go. Uh, thank you for downloading the show. Thank you for all of your support. You can follow Jeff Rubenstein on Twitter at:
Jeff Rubenstein: At Jeff Rubenstein- see you messed up your line.
Larry Hryb: I know, well, no I was saying if you have any complaints.
Jeff Rubenstein: There it is.
Larry Hryb: Or, uh, you have negative feedback, or your console is giving you a problem-
Jeff Rubenstein: I feed off of negativity.
Larry Hryb: Or you're unclear about game patch notes.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm here for you!
Larry Hryb: (Laughter)
Jeff Rubenstein: I answer them all.
Larry Hryb: He's the man. If you have any other things, uh feel free to direct them my way. You can find me at Major Nelson. WE'll uh, we'll talk to you guys after Gamescom, maybe hopefully before Pax. If not, if you're coming to Pax, would love to see you chalk off- talk off Saturday afternoon and join me and Jeff and Rod, and we'll talk [inaudible 00:33:28] and have some fun.
Larry Hryb: All right gang, have a great time and we'll talk to you later. Bye bye!
Jeff Rubenstein: Bye!

Larry Major N: Hi, sorry. Hyrb Xbox Live's Major Nelson. Welcome to show number 639. Hello, Jeffrey.

Jeffrey: Hello.

Larry Major N: Joining me in the studio is Jeffrey.

Jeffrey: I, this has been a while.

Larry Major N: It has been a while. I was looking at the notes (laughs). The last one we did was before E3 which seems like a month plus ago because it was a-

Jeffrey: Spoiler alert.

Larry Major N: Month plus ago.

Jeffrey: We, we survived.

Larry Major N: Yeah, E3-

Jeffrey: Thrived even.

Larry Major N: Not, not, I don't know if we need to talk about that at all. Should we? I mean-

Jeffrey: Uh, it's in the past.

Larry Major N: Yeah, it is in the past. They don't want to hear all the behind-the-scenes stories and the drama, and the-
There really wasn't any drama.

Jeffrey: No. The, the most dramatic thing that happened was breathtaking appearances by celebrities.

Larry Major N: I will tell this story. I have not told this story about Keanu before.

Jeffrey: No.

Larry Major N: We were, you know, so usually when there's a big celebrity involved, nobody, nobody knows. We, a lot of people did not know.

Jeffrey: You told me about an hour before show time.

Larry Major N: Right. And I happened to be in this, they-they cleared everybody out of the Microsoft Theater, and we're in, I think, [inaudible 00:01:33] those code double red or 51 or Area 50. I don't know what it was. Anyway-

Jeffrey: Hey, let's not get into Area 51,

Larry Major N: (Laughs).

Jeffrey: Cause there's a lot going on there right now.

Larry Major N: There's, so, anyway, the place was all locked down, and I-I-I happened to be, I was on the list to get in. So I'm sitting there, and I was, I-I totally forgot this was a moment. And he came out and he rehearsed. It was great, but the rehearsal version and what you saw live, completely different, because he got so much energy from the crowd. And that you saw him put that energy right back in.
When he came out, it was great. He read the lines. He did what he was supposed to do, hit his mark, turned around. Here's the trailer, walked off stage, yea.

Jeffrey: But this is why we do it.

Larry Major N: Yeah.

Jeffrey: You know. You can just, you can record these things. You can just put them out there, but when you've got the crowd there-

Larry Major N: Right.

Jeffrey: Interacting-

Larry Major N: Right.

Jeffrey: And, and the people on stage, we're doing it for the fans.

Larry Major N: Right. Right.

Jeffrey: And when they're there, reacting in real time, it, that's where the magic happens.

Larry Major N: Yes. And that's what you saw. That's exactly what you saw.
So anyway, we're, uh, having a great time. We had a great time where... Been a few weeks of travel. Uh, I was in, just got back from London. The Mi-, brand new Microsoft store opening at Oxford Circus.

Jeffrey: It looks really nice.

Larry Major N: Yes.

Jeffrey: The elephants were there. The trapeze artist.

Larry Major N: It's, it's not that kind of circus, Jeffrey. You, I know you live in Flor-, you work from Florida-

Jeffrey: You know, the swap shop had a free circus every day.

Larry Major N: Did they?

Jeffrey: They did.

Larry Major N: And, and I know that's where-

Jeffrey: If you lived in south Florida during that time, yeah.

Larry Major N: And I know that's, Ringling Brothers used to have their summer, their winter home there.

Jeffrey: Uh, I didn't see the Dumbo movie, but yes.

Larry Major N: Uh, right.

Jeffrey: Or the one that, where Wolverine sings-

Larry Major N: I don't know.

Jeffrey: In the circus.

Larry Major N: How that-, oh, oh, oh, The Big Top.

Jeffrey: I don't-

Larry Major N: (Laughs).

Jeffrey: I don't think that's what it's called.

Larry Major N: Anyway, they're not that type of circus. This is, uh, anyway, the story, if, we're right, you come up the Oxford Tube line, and we're right there.

Jeffrey: Yeah.

Larry Major N: Uh-

Jeffrey: It's right there, I mean it's right across from the Nike Town. I've been in there.

Larry Major N: Right across, that's right. You've been in the Nike Town. Uh, but it's a beautiful store. Stop by if you want to check out second floor gaming action, first floor actually, before you even get to the second floor. Come into the store, go to the right. We have this incredible McClaren set up that our good friend Paul who works at the stores put this thing together. Where you get into the McClaren, uh, and you, it essentially is a motion, it's a motion simulator, and you're driving Fortsa.

Jeffrey: But it's a real McClaren.

Larry Major N: Right, and you're moving around inside of it. It's pretty extraordinary.

Jeffrey: So, I, I didn't get to go, which, you know, I'm not bitter. You know, London's only-

Larry Major N: Well, you don't really, you don't-

Jeffrey: My favorite city in the world.

Larry Major N: You don't like London, and you certainly don't like football.

Jeffrey: No, not in the slightest, and especially not Raheem Sterling who was hanging out there.

Larry Major N: He was really nice. We had a great chat.

Jeffrey: Anyways, uh, so what I had to do is sit at home and read The Verge which had a really good look inside. In fact, I should really look [crosstalk 00:04:00] to see-

Larry Major N: Is that from Tom?

Jeffrey: From Tom Warren.

Larry Major N: Yeah. I met, I saw Tom. He and I had a great chat.

Jeffrey: There's p-, the people in the pictures, I'm like, "Oh, I know her. Oh, that's-"

Larry Major N: Oh, really? (Laughs).

Jeffrey: "That's Sophie. Oh, there's-". Yo, honestly.

Larry Major N: Yeah.

Jeffrey: Yeah. Uh, there's, uh, actually-

Larry Major N: I didn't see [crosstalk 00:04:11] at all.

Jeffrey: You're not in any of these are you?

Larry Major N: No-no-no-no.

Jeffrey: But, uh, I'm gonna link out to it cause this is, you know, you, you may have been in a Microsoft store. If you've listened to this show, you've certainly visited one-

Larry Major N: We've done a lot of stuff in them.

Jeffrey: In your town or when you've traveled, uh, to, uh, uh, you know, a place where there is one. And this is, this is different. This is so much better. So, I really, I will visit next time I'm, I'm there. If you go all the way down to the picture, uh-

Larry Major N: We'll put a link in the show notes.

Jeffrey: With the flowers and the three women. Say hi to Sophie.

Larry Major N: Where is she? Can I see?

Jeffrey: She's very nice. Right there. Sophie Denture. Right? Oh, well anyway. Ah...

Larry Major N: Oh, yeah.

Jeffrey: And Alice. Sophie and Al-, anyway.

Larry Major N: (Laughs).

Jeffrey: Good people. Good people. We'll see them at Games Con.

Larry Major N: We'll see them at Games, well, you'll see them at Games Con.

Jeffrey: Oh, yeah, yeah. That's right.

Larry Major N: Uh, so anyway-

Jeffrey: I'll link out to that story.

Larry Major N: Microsoft store now open Oxford Circus. It's, it's one of our flagship stores. First one in Europe. Uh, I highly recommend. Check it out. The gaming, uh, the gaming expert, uh, is, he, there-there's al-, well, there's a bunch of gaming experts up there. They're big gaming fans, so stop by and see them. They are, uh, they are just lovely folks, and uh, they're all, they're all great people.

Jeffrey: And, and you got to meet Peter Crops as well, like the tallest football in Premiership history.

Larry Major N: Yeah. Yeah.

Jeffrey: He's tall.

Larry Major N: Yeah, he is. Peter is huge, but go, swing by the store. Ask for Scott Zeo. He's the store gaming expert, good friend of mine-

Jeffrey: Nice.

Larry Major N: And tell him I sent you. He used to be a lawyer.

Jeffrey: Really? Well now he's doing something fun.

Larry Major N: Yeah. He wanted, he didn't want to be a lawyer anymore. He wanted to work in the games industry and he wanted to help people. And I sa-, I was like, "Wow." He's, he's a great guy.

Jeffrey: That's the message of my mom when, but I was like 12, and, and, it didn't go over that well.

Larry Major N: "Jeffrey, you're gonna be a lawyer."

Jeffrey: "You're gonna be a lawy-" I'm, I'm gonna play video games.

Larry Major N: "Jeffrey, you're gonna be a lawyer."

Jeffrey: I showed you, Ma. I showed you.

Larry Major N: Yeah, well... Ah!
All right, so we did that. Before that, Jeff and I had a chance to go to Orlando for, uh, Halo, for the Halo-

Jeffrey: Halo Outpost Discovery.

Larry Major N: Now this is a, uh, an amazing event. If you missed it in Orlando, don't worry. We're going to Philadelphia this weekend.

Jeffrey: I know! I can't wait.

Larry Major N: You're gonna be there.

Jeffrey: I know. By the time you listen to this, I should be in the city of brotherly love.

Larry Major N: No.

Jeffrey: Uh, and basically it's a real-life Halo experience. This is the only one that's gonna be in the northeast. So if you're listening-

Larry Major N: Yep.

Jeffrey: And you're somewhere in the, uh, tri-state area.

Larry Major N: As we say, hop on Amtrak.

Jeffrey: Yep, and, uh, head on over to downtown Philly, uh, to the Pennsylvania Convention Center.

Larry Major N: Not the Plateau.

Jeffrey: Come on by. That's where everybody go.

Larry Major N: (Laughs).

Jeffrey: Uh, if you're gonna drop a line on me while I was doing this in warm ups, you're not, I'm not, it's not gonna get past me.

Larry Major N: (Laughs). I know, you're just gonna [crosstalk 00:06:27]-

Jeffrey: I'm gonna, I'm gonna stop them all. Uh, so, in, essentially you get to, at various times, like be a Spartan.

Larry Major N: Yeah.

Jeffrey: Be master, I would say be master chief-

Larry Major N: Yeah.

Jeffrey: But none of us is seven feet tall. We should have Peter Crops out there. He could be the closest we could get there. Uh, there is this, I'll just start with my favorite thing which this VR experience which is a three-on-three competitive shooter.

Larry Major N: It's called Training Grounds.

Jeffrey: Called Training Grounds. Thank you very much. And this is the best VR experience I've ever had, and I've had quite a few.

Larry Major N: I-I, we don't want to spoil it because for those of you going to Philadelphia, and we'll, there's other locations. The other locations, we've got Houston, we've got Chicago and Anaheim-

Jeffrey: Yeah.

Larry Major N: Uh, this is an incredible VR experience that, that for the first time you will feel like you are in a Halo game.

Jeffrey: Yep. Untethered-

Larry Major N: On Valhalla-

Jeffrey: Oh, very good.

Larry Major N: You're on Valhalla. The-the play space is kind of at the top and at the center. If you remember Valhalla, which is one of the maps from Halo-

Jeffrey: Uh-huh (affirmative).

Larry Major N: Uh, that's been remade a few times in the Halo universe. It's kinda, you're kind of in the middle, that middle area where the man cannas will drop you off. Uh, or you'd land up there. You know-

Jeffrey: Uh huh (affirmative).

Larry Major N: The pelican is off on the left and so forth. But you get in there, and you're playing, as Jeff said, 3v3 with, uh, plasma pistols.

Jeffrey: And you're, yeah. You, you look down at your hand. There's a plasma pistol. It behaves exactly like you think it was-

Larry Major N: It vibrates. It does-

Jeffrey: Yeah, if you hold it, it charges up-

Larry Major N: Yeah.

Jeffrey: For a charged shot or you can, you can tap it rapidly for, but it, you, immediately you look over, and you look at your teammates, and there are other-

Larry Major N: Spartans.

Jeffrey: Spartans next to you, and they're red or blue. You choose your side.

Larry Major N: It's great.

Jeffrey: And you go. Oh, I, I mean, came out of that just, just so enthused. It's funny. A lot of the things you do in games, like crouch run, a lot harder in real life.

Larry Major N: Yeah, they sure are.

Jeffrey: How much-,

Larry Major N: So you [crosstalk 00:08:08]

Jeffrey: I was sore.

Larry Major N: There's a lot to do, and we'll certainly put a link out to Halo Outpost Discovery, Training Grounds, the VR Experiences. Well, the other one we had a lot of fun with was Combat Deck.

Jeffrey: Yes. And that is like a, like a, like Halo meets Laser Tag.

Larry Major N: That's exactly what it is.

Jeffrey: So if you've played Laser Tag before, you're shot, you're out. Okay. That's not what this is. So you have a, an, an assault rifle.

Larry Major N: You have a weapon.

Jeffrey: A Halo assault rifle in your hands, and it makes the sounds. So when you, when you get a kill, it lets you know. And when you're shot-

Larry Major N: You're shield-

Jeffrey: It's not immediately dead, you hear the shields go down-

Larry Major N: Yeah. (Laughs).

Jeffrey: And then you go in the cover and you wait for the shields to recharge-

Larry Major N: Right.

Jeffrey: Before making another move. It got very heated and very strategic very quickly.

Larry Major N: And, of course, if you, if you are taken out, then you have to go back to the re-spawn area.

Jeffrey: Yeah. You re-spawn and you come back out again.

Larry Major N: Errr, come back. You have to reload.

Jeffrey: And you know what? In real life, re-spawn campers can, you know. That's, that's something you have to deal with.

Larry Major N: Now I do, if I recall correctly, I did get the drop on you a few times.

Jeffrey: You did. You did.

Larry Major N: In real life. You were on, you and I were on different teams.

Jeffrey: We were on different teams, uh, by request, and, uh, you didn't, I requested it. (Laughs).

Larry Major N: (Laughs).

Jeffrey: And you did get me first, and I did, I did get you last.

Larry Major N: I felt, like I was, [crosstalk 00:09:14] that's the day you were so, we traded. But it was good. It was mutuals.

Jeffrey: Yep.

Larry Major N: So that's a lot of fun. Course Combat Deck, the target range is there, the Ring Experience.

Jeffrey: The Ring Experience. Yeah, just a very cool experience that sort of takes you through the story of Halo.

Larry Major N: Right.

Jeffrey: But if you've ever been to a, uh, like sort of a combination of an Imax and a planetarium, but you feel like you're moving.

Larry Major N: Yeah.

Jeffrey: Really enjoyed that. Uh, it's Halo come to life.

Larry Major N: Yeah.

Jeffrey: And there's people that make Halo from 3-4-3. People, voice actors-

Larry Major N: Yeah.

Jeffrey: From Halo that you would know wandering around. There's autograph sessions-

Larry Major N: There's-

Jeffrey: There's play sessions that are happening live.

Larry Major N: There's like-minded fans.

Jeffrey: You got up there and you played on stage-

Larry Major N: Oh, yeah. That's right.

Jeffrey: With fans.

Larry Major N: Yeah. We had a great time.

Jeffrey: And, uh, so-

Larry Major N: Rob, our good friend Rob from Minneapolis.

Jeffrey: Yeah, [crosstalk 00:09:57] Rob. Always good to see him.

Larry Major N: Yep.

Jeffrey: You don't, I didn't know he was from Minneapolis.

Larry Major N: Yeah.

Jeffrey: He comes out to everything we do. I just assumed, uh, he lived here.

Larry Major N: No, he was, so he, Pelican Training, which is an escape room, covenant escape. We got streaming area.

Jeffrey: Oh, and if you've never gotten a chance to play Halo Fire Team Raven-

Larry Major N: Yes!

Jeffrey: You can sit down. You can play through the whole game.

Larry Major N: Yeah. Which-

Jeffrey: There's a bunch of them.

Larry Major N: Which, there's a stand-up cabinet that's at a lot, a lot of the Dave and Busters.

Jeffrey: Exactly, which is very fun.

Larry Major N: Yeah.

Jeffrey: And, uh-

Larry Major N: [crosstalk 00:10:20].

Jeffrey: Spent a lot of time over there. Cool merch. Uh, it's just, if you like Halo, you should be there. Simple as that.

Larry Major N: We'll put a link in the, uh, we'll link in the description below or in the show below. We've got, uh, Philadelphia's this weekend, and then Chicago's coming up in, uh-

Jeffrey: In a couple weeks after that.

Larry Major N: Early August.

Jeffrey: Yep.

Larry Major N: Mid-August is Houston, and then Anaheim wraps it up at the end of August/early September. So, we'll have all the details there. It's, it's really a must-see. And Jeff, Jeff, you and I kicked off Orlando. I don't know if I'm going to be able to get to any of the other ones. Maybe I'll go to Houston, or, I've never been to Houston's. Maybe I should go there. Uh, actually, maybe I have. Or maybe Anaheim. Uh, but either way, uh, I-I recommend you guys check it out, so-

Jeffrey: Yeah. I'll be there this weekend. Try and track me down. Find me if you can. I mean, maybe we'll all go for cheese steaks. That would be fun.

Larry Major N: Well, I, no. I-I insist you go for cheese steak.

Jeffrey: All right.

Larry Major N: So-

Jeffrey: Done and done.

Larry Major N: Uh, now that you have your phone back, you can take Instagrams. (Laughs).

Jeffrey: Well, are we gonna talk about that lay?

Larry Major N: I happy to talk to her.

Jeffrey: No, you save it for the gear section.

Larry Major N: Well, we'll save it for that, so we'll revisit this. Let's, let's, let's back up a little bit and rewind. Jump back. What we're playing, what's going on, etc., etc., because there's been a lot of games going on and a lot of playing.

Jeffrey: It's backlog season. It's a good time. I'm, I'm making up for the games that, you know, while we were at E3, there was sort of a blast radius where, uh, I didn't have a chance to, to play a lot of stuff during that time.

Larry Major N: Yup.

Jeffrey: And, uh, I'll tell you the game that has really caught my eye, asi-aside from Apex, we're playing a lot of Season Two-

Larry Major N: Yeah.

Jeffrey: The Winds Are Coming, Fast and Furious. I think when all the good people are in the ranked games right now-

Larry Major N: Yes, they are.

Jeffrey: And they're leaving it, I, I'm like a wolf in the hen house right now in Apex.

Larry Major N: (Laughs).

Jeffrey: I got to tell ya.

Larry Major N: (Laughs).

Jeffrey: Uh, A Plague Tale: Innocence.

Larry Major N: Yeah.

Jeffrey: So this is a game that came out, I want to say it was in May. If you see-, saw a game with a lot of rats, that-that, this game has more rats-

Larry Major N: Uh-huh (affirmative).

Jeffrey: Pound for pound than any game in history. Pretty-

Larry Major N: Yeah. In fact, if you look on the back of the box, it says more rats than any game. (Laughs)

Jeffrey: It is. It's, uh, that was the quote by, uh, was it-

Larry Major N: Earl Ditman (laughs).

Jeffrey: Earl Ditman. Thank you. All these things make a lot more sense if you had lunch with us today.

Larry Major N: Right. (Laughs).

Jeffrey: But, uh, anyway, it's a, it's a game that takes place during the 100 years war between France and England which was also concurrent with the black plague. Uh, it is an action stealth game, uh, where you're, uh, I mean, anyway, just imagine, imagine trying to get out of that situation where you have, uh, just hoards of rats that are feasting on all the, uh, all of the dead. I mean, it's pretty, it's pretty gruesome. Not, there's really no way to really sugar-coat that. Or the different groups of either French or English troops that are, that are in the area that don't take kindly to strangers.

Larry Major N: Yep.

Jeffrey: It is thrilling at times. There are scenes where you're just running for your life. There's time where you're, the thing I like about the stealth game is, I don't it when you're seen and it's instant fail, and I also like when there's a lot of different ways to, you know, here's a situation-

Larry Major N: Right.

Jeffrey: And there's a couple guards here. There's a, you know, there's just a-

Larry Major N: A clay pot over here.

Jeffrey: There, yeah, there's some fire there. Uh, there's something that could drop on someone's head if I time that out right, but then the other person will notice. I have a lot of tools at my disposal-

Larry Major N: Puzzles.

Jeffrey: That is this game. There's so many different ways to get through, and sometimes I do think that something like, "I don't think that the developers would have guessed that you could get through this way."

Larry Major N: Right.

Jeffrey: Uh, and, I mean, I'm sure they did, but it doesn't feel like there's only just one way to get through a lot of these puzzles, especially later in the game. So I highly recommend you check it out [crosstalk 00:13:50]. A student of history-

Larry Major N: A Plague Tale: Innocence.

Jeffrey: It really brings this era to life. You've heard about the plague. You may have heard about the Hundred Years War.

Larry Major N: Is it part of Game Pass? I can't remember.

Jeffrey: It is not part of Game Pass.

Larry Major N: It is not part of Game Pass. Okay.

Jeffrey: Uh, it is made by Asobo Studio out of France.

Larry Major N: Uh, that's right.

Jeffrey: But it really is bringing like the, like what a tough time this was to be alive and a tough place to be alive. Really brings it to-to life in a really cool way, and, uh, I can't say enough about it, but I've probably said enough about it.

Larry Major N: Plague Tale: Innocence. Check that out. When I'm playing, speaking of Game Pass, Outer Wilds, which I keep going back to-

Jeffrey: Yeah.

Larry Major N: Which is-

Jeffrey: Have you finished it yet?

Larry Major N: I haven't finished it yet. In fact, I'm just having so much fun, uh, going around the solar, the solar system, landing on the planets, discovering... Every time I go there, I discover something different. And, I don't know, did we talk about this?

Jeffrey: I don't know that we've had a chance to talk about this on the show.

Larry Major N: So the game is, you wake up, you're on a planet, a tiny planet. Uh, and you have to go explore the universe to see what's going on. Or, excuse me, the solar system to see what's going on, and it's, uh, what is it? 22 minutes?

Jeffrey: 22 minutes.

Larry Major N: 22 minutes, and they're at the center of the solar, this particular solar system is a large sun. Uh, and the sun goes super nova, i.e. it melts down every 22 minutes, and you can tell because you look at it and it gets darker.

Jeffrey: I'm just gonna read a headline here-

Larry Major N: Please.

Jeffrey: From Kotaku that hit, uh, end of June. Outer Wild is one of the best games I've every played.

Larry Major N: Yeah. That's, that's it, so-

Jeffrey: That's, for that type of game to be in Game Pass is pretty darn cool.

Larry Major N: So you play the game. Uh, you basically take off. You go to different planets. You explore, and as you discover things, your ship log gets updated. You can go back to your ship in your space suit and after 22 minutes, the solar system basically blows up, and you wake up again, but your ship log still has all the data in it. So you have to, essentially, think about the 22 minutes as like a safe point.

Jeffrey: Yeah, in a way.

Larry Major N: Right.

Jeffrey: And then really the progress that you make. This isn't a game where you level up.

Larry Major N: Right.

Jeffrey: This isn't a game where you're collecting weapons.

Larry Major N: Right.

Jeffrey: This is a game where you are-

Larry Major N: You're not [crosstalk 00:15:46]

Jeffrey: You're, you're, you're learning more each time, and so when the, when the sun goes super nova, you're not upset about it-

Larry Major N: Yes.

Jeffrey: You're not supposed to beat it in that first 22-

Larry Major N: You can't.

Jeffrey: Yeah. Impossible.

Larry Major N: Maybe you can, I don't know. Is anybody a speed run.

Jeffrey: I mean, maybe it's possible. I don't know.

Larry Major N: [crosstalk 00:15:58] I don't know.

Jeffrey: But uh, I, you know, it's, it's a game where you're, you're figuring out, and you're unwinding a mystery of this ancient race that came before you.

Larry Major N: Yep.

Jeffrey: It's pretty interesting stuff.

Larry Major N: So there you go.

Jeffrey: Another game I'm playing that's on Game Pass that I got very into in the past couple of weeks, uh, is Kingdom Two Crowns.

Larry Major N: Oh.

Jeffrey: So, it's a side scrolling, pixel art, sort of like, strategy, like real-time strategy game, I guess I would say. You're, you're a-a-a king on a horse, and you go through and basically you, by investing coins in different places you, uh, recruit troops. You train them to either be builders or archers or later knights and other things. You build up a town. It's all horizontal. Uh, and then, so you build during the day, and then at night these sort of monsters come and they try to break down your walls and steal all your stuff.

Larry Major N: Right.

Jeffrey: And so it's the sort of push and pull-

Larry Major N: [inaudible 00:16:58].

Jeffrey: And it's really interesting, and it's, a lot of it is about making sure you don't over-extend and then at the right time investing money to build a ship and explore to another island. Ultimately you want to wipe out these bad guys come from this really big portal, this sort of monstery looking thing, and you, you, you learn more. You get better mounts, and you're able to recruit better soldiers and things like that, and you sort of go on these expeditions. But there's like real feelings of loss when, you know, I'm, like I'm making a daring run. I think we can take these things out, and we didn't do it. And then I've got to sort of figure out, all right, how could I have done this better.

Larry Major N: Uh huh (affirmative).

Jeffrey: Or did I not cover my rear guard or anything like that. If you kind of like strategy but certain, certain strategy games, certain RTSs are a little too complicated, this is, there's just left and right. So, you really don't have nearly as much to worry about and focus on, and yet it still manages to be deep at the same time.

Larry Major N: Yep.

Jeffrey: So, highly recommend. Kingdom Two Crowns. And again, it's part of, uh, Xbox Game Pass. So, uh, you got nothing to lose.

Larry Major N: Speaking of Game Pass, on the PC side for, for those of you that have PC Game Pass or Xbox Game Pass-

Jeffrey: Or Game Pass Ultimate-

Larry Major N: Right, Game Pass Ultimate. Uh, when I was down, I happened, I-I hate saying this but I, cause, please don't think this is a, I don't [inaudible 00:18:10].

Jeffrey: I don't know where you're going with this-

Larry Major N: Call it a flex or a weird name drop.

Jeffrey: Oh.

Larry Major N: So I was down talking to Phil yesterday-

Jeffrey: That's Phil Spencer, you've did it before. That's fine.

Larry Major N: No, it's not. I mean, I talk to him all the time. He and I were chatting. He's playing Battle Chasers Night War, and he wants me to check that one out now-

Jeffrey: Okay.

Larry Major N: It was on, I need to check that one out, so.

Jeffrey: There's a lot of new gam-, there's another new game that actually just hit, uh, Game Pass PC. I'm bringing up the app right now. Slay the Spyer.

Larry Major N: Right.

Jeffrey: It's a game that, uh, had gotten some re-, just stellar reviews, and apparently it's like these single player card battler game for people who think they don't like card battling games.

Larry Major N: Right. Right.

Jeffrey: Uh, and you know, I'm going to go ahead, and I'm just gonna hit install while I'm here on my laptop.

Larry Major N: You're doing that right now, on the air. We're doing it live.

Jeffrey: On the air. Doing it live. And, uh, I'll give that a shot while I'm on my flight out to Philly. So, sorry, email. I will not be checking you. I'll be checking out Slay the Spire. Uh, which, uh, yeah, just came to Game Pass on, uh, last month.

Larry Major N: Another game that I am playing. I just was playing it earlier this week, uh, Sea of Solitude from EA.

Jeffrey: That one looked really cool.

Larry Major N: Yeah. It looks, uh, it's, uh, you know, what's going on in the world and discover it and whatnot. So I just had a little eva-, you have to swim and get swallowed, or not.

Jeffrey: Or not.

Larry Major N: Uh, but it's, there's a lot going on there. So Sea of Solitude is-is a lot of fun, so playing a lot of different things.

Jeffrey: That's what's great about this time of year. Now we're gonna have so many cool things, you know, coming up later. Like Deers 5. There's actually a Deers 5, uh, uh, verses beta-

Larry Major N: Yeah.

Jeffrey: Or alpha, that's coming up in the next weekend.

Larry Major N: That's right.

Jeffrey: In fact, if you have Game Pass, you're in that.

Larry Major N: You're in! Didn't you know? You're in.

Jeffrey: You didn't know.

Larry Major N: Hello, Game Pass subscriber. Thank you.

Jeffrey: Uh, yeah. Actually, just since we're talking about that, Gears 5 Tech Test included in your Xbox Game Pass membership. You will be the first to play Gears 5, uh, and it is, uh, you'll be able to contribute to the future of versus multiplayer. Uh, note that you will need Xbox Live Gold. Of course, if you have Xbox Game Pass Ultimate, you have gold. You're all set already.

Larry Major N: You're there.

Jeffrey: So look forward to that coming up.

Larry Major N: There's a, uh, speaking of backlog, apparently, uh, I have a large backlog.

Jeffrey: Uh, it's not a backlog, Larry. It's a back forest.

Larry Major N: (Laughs). Earlier this week I was, uh, chatting, cause it was Prime days for, for Amazon, and I was posting about, uh, they had a lot of deals on storage, so if you needed to increase storage for your Xbox, you know, cause you have to choose any USB3 device that pretty much anything. Uh, it was [inaudible 00:20:30] off, and people like well how many, you know, what do I need, how many games do you have? And I posted my, my, uh, my game and apps area, and it was, uh, yeah, and it started-

Jeffrey: (Laughs).

Larry Major N: And then somebody copied and posted it over on Reddit, and it's, uh, it's got a life of it's own over there.

Jeffrey: Well, this, I-I do like the, the, uh, Xbox One Subreddit. Lot of good stuff.

Larry Major N: Oh, there's great people over there. So I think I've got like, I, like 729 games installed, ready to install 837.

Jeffrey: Good Lord.

Larry Major N: Uh, uh, and so, yeah, there's a, there's a lot of 'em. Yes, so a lot of, uh, if you want to go over and take a look at that thread, but I, yeah, there's a lot, a lot to play right now. Overwatch. This morning they announced some stuff.

Jeffrey: Oh, yes. Uh, uh, Summer Games is coming back.

Larry Major N: Yeah.

Jeffrey: For, wow! Is this the fourth year?

Larry Major N: I think it is.

Jeffrey: Of Summer Games?

Larry Major N: Yeah.

Jeffrey: We're getting old, Larry.

Larry Major N: We, well, it's, yeah we are, Jeff.

Jeffrey: I feel like Overwatch has grown up before our eyes.

Larry Major N: It's, where, where, do you remember when?

Jeffrey: I do, actually.

Larry Major N: The next, the next thing [crosstalk 00:21:23]-

Jeffrey: I remember playing the beta before it came out.

Larry Major N: The next thing, the next thing, it will be in the Tonight Show Studios. So (laughs).

Jeffrey: Oh, yeah. It is!

Larry Major N: It is! Yes.

Jeffrey: We, oh, we have to go to an [crosstalk 00:21:32].

Larry Major N: I've never been. You've been there twice, and I've not been.

Jeffrey: Yeah, uh, we should do that this summer-

Larry Major N: Down in Burbank.

Jeffrey: It's really, really worth going to. Right. They've been doing a lot of cool things where they go from city to city. I know they were in Atlanta recently.

Larry Major N: Is the star still down there where Johnny used to stand?

Jeffrey: I don't think so.

Larry Major N: Okay. That's, that's, that's-

Jeffrey: Well, I don't know if Johnny was in that studio. I know that Leno was in that studio. I don't know if they were in the same studio.

Larry Major N: Okay.

Jeffrey: Uh, we're talking about [inaudible 00:21:53] league where they tape, or it's not taping because it's live.

Larry Major N: Right.

Jeffrey: Uh, incredible set up there, but they have been going from city to city, and the final isn't Philly this year at the end of the summer. I forget exactly where it is.

Larry Major N: You going to go back to Philly?

Jeffrey: We'll have to see. I think it's very close to Pax, and then we have Games Con, so there's a lot of stuff going on around that time, but if not, I always look for a reason to go back.

Larry Major N: Right.

Jeffrey: And God knows the Phillys are not giving me that excuse. Uh, yeah. So Overwatch-

Larry Major N: Uh-huh (affirmative).

Jeffrey: We should play that if we could tear ourselves away from Apex.

Larry Major N: Yeah, it's a, it's that's something.

Jeffrey: I like the Watson. She's changing the game.

Larry Major N: She is changing the game.

Jeffrey: I'm looking. I just apparently I totally forgot that we are roughly plus or minus depending on when you think the anniversary is, we're right about the 50th anniversary of the moon landing.

Larry Major N: Yeah.

Jeffrey: I know, it's coming up.

Larry Major N: Which is a big deal.

Jeffrey: How was it, Larry?

Larry Major N: [crosstalk 00:22:43].

Jeffrey: You were there.

Larry Major N: Oh, ha, ha. I was, I did not step on the moon. I was cut from that squad. Uh, (laughs). Uh, it's, sorry, I don't, I know, I was just thinking about how what a, what a moment that is that we, and we haven't been back to the moon in so long.

Jeffrey: I know. Why, we got a rock. We hit a golf ball on it. We drove-

Larry Major N: We drove-

Jeffrey: We drove a car on it. What else do you do?

Larry Major N: We could, we couldn't be more American. (Laughs).

Jeffrey: (Laughs). We ordered a burger. I-

Larry Major N: We drove around. We stole something, and we left, so lovely. Yep. Oh, yeah. Anyway, uh, I don't know what made be brought that up. I guess there was a headline that caught my eye, but it's a-

Jeffrey: Yeah. Next up is Mars. I should have been playing Surviving Mars. Which is, uh-

Larry Major N: Oh!

Jeffrey: Which, uh-

Larry Major N: Segway!

Jeffrey: I can't believe we brought that one back.

Larry Major N: Yeah, well done.

Jeffrey: Uh, yeah. Which is a really cool strategy game. It's a lot deeper than I initially expe-
All right. If Kingdom Two Crowns is sort of your very basic, I don't play a lot of strategy games, but I'm interested. That's on one end. On the far end is, uh, is, is Surviving Mars.

Larry Major N: Right.

Jeffrey: Which is, had a six part tutorial, but it's really interesting. It's kind of SIM City. There's a lot of things happening in real time, though, and you're constantly balancing out. Yeah, it's definitely more, uh SIM City, but you're exploring Mars at the same time as you're making it-

Larry Major N: Right.

Jeffrey: Habitable for your humans. You'll be playing for, you'll be playing for hours before you can even get humans on to the planet-

Larry Major N: Right.

Jeffrey: Cause you have to basically start from making, uh, so you can mine oxygen and water and all these other things. But, uh, it's really well done, and it runs on a variety of, I've been playing on my work laptop just to, uh, you know, surface, a surface laptop which I'm a huge fan of. It's not a gaming PC by any means, but I'm able to run, uh, you know, certain games off of Game Pass like no big deal, which is really cool, including Surviving Mars.

Larry Major N: So are you gonna play that one on the plane?

Jeffrey: Uh, I'm gonna play a little bit of Slay the Spi-, it's a long ride. It's five hours out and six back, so it's a long ride.

Larry Major N: I know.

Jeffrey: Plenty of time to play lots of games.

Larry Major N: Yeah, you do. You have plenty of time.

Jeffrey: Lot of emails I'm gonna have to ignore on that flight out to [crosstalk 00:24:47] Outpost.

Larry Major N: I, you know, it's funny. I was gonna play a little on the plane when I was coming back from Orlando, but I ended up, was it Orlando or London where I watched that movie?

Jeffrey: [crosstalk 00:24:53].

Larry Major N: Last Breath. Have you heard about this movie?

Jeffrey: No.

Larry Major N: So, it's a scuba diver, of which I am of which you are not.

Jeffrey: (Laughs). No thank you.

Larry Major N: And I've tried to convince you that you'd like-

Jeffrey: I don't like going past my knees.

Larry Major N: And it is, it is one of the most horrifying films. It's a true story, and it's a horrifying film. And I actually had to stop watching it. It's, it's about a, it's about a, uh, commercial divers. Guys that work like on oil wells-

Jeffrey: While being in [crosstalk 00:25:14].

Larry Major N: Yeah, [crosstalk 00:25:14] on oil wells. They have to go down to fix things, and things unfortunately go wrong.

Jeffrey: No, thank you.

Larry Major N: It is, I, I had to, I was watching on the plane. I was like shaking, and I stopped and had to get up out of my seat and walk around the plane because I-I-I-I-I am just, I started having-

Jeffrey: Even just thinking about being out there in open water just terrifies me.

Larry Major N: I mean, these guys are down thousands of feet, and I'm only down, I've only gone to, I think my max is 108.

Jeffrey: You were gonna go diving down in Orlando, weren't you?

Larry Major N: Yeah, I was. That's one of my favorite dives to do is over at, uh, Disney's Epcot Center at the, at the, what, I don't know what it's called now.

Jeffrey: The Lagoon.

Larry Major N: No, it used to be called Living Seas. I don't know what it's called now.

Jeffrey: Yeah

Larry Major N: But yeah, you can go diving in there at the, every day if you're a certified diver. You can pay them, and you go-go diving, and pl-play around in there.

Jeffrey: And everyone's watching you.

Larry Major N: Yes! I wanted you to come so you could see me diving.

Jeffrey: That would have been cool

Larry Major N: And you would have been, yeah, you would have waved me off as you took your next drink at the bar.

Jeffrey: I mean, in all likelihood. I'd be like, I can see him scoffing. Yeah, next, next.

Larry Major N: Uh, how did we get to that? I don't know.

Jeffrey: Uh, that's a good, that's a good question.

Larry Major N: All right. Let's get back to those headlines, shall we?

Jeffrey: All right. Well, let's talk about, we'll wrap, we'll tie a bow on Game Pass because there's some new games that were just announced this week that are coming soon to Game Pass, so one of them, Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain, uh, Resident Evil 4-

Larry Major N: Yes.

Jeffrey: So both of those are coming to console. Already 4, that's such a classic.

Larry Major N: Yep.

Jeffrey: Uh, Killer Instinct: Definitive Edition, that's coming both to console-

Larry Major N: And PC.

Jeffrey: And to PC. Same thing for the Banner Saga 3. I actually beat the Banner Saga 2.

Larry Major N: Well done.

Jeffrey: Thank you. Right when I got back from, uh, I'd started it when it first came out back in like 2016, cause I looked back at the achievements. I unlocked the first one in 2016.

Larry Major N: (Laughs).

Jeffrey: I finished it in 2019, but, oh, really got into that and so, uh, definitely want to see how it ends in Banner Saga 3, and I'll be able to do that, uh, coming soon.
Uh, and then a couple of games coming just to PC, uh, if you've got that Xbox game pass for PC or Ultimate, Night Call

Larry Major N: Uh-huh (affirmative).

Jeffrey: And For the King.

Larry Major N: For the King!

Jeffrey: Yes, For the King. That was one we announced at E3 if I recall correctly.

Larry Major N: Those are now available on Game Pass, so check, check them.

Jeffrey: Yes. And then once again, that Gears V Tech Test, uh, beginning on July 19.

Larry Major N: Now, if, if you, if you're thinking about all these games and what's going on, but wait. We have more! It's called the Xbox Super Game Sale.

Jeffrey: Oh, yes.

Larry Major N: Yeah, so we're putting a lot, a lot of games are on sale. It's the first ever Xbox Super Game Sale. It's going on now until the 29th of July. You can save up to 70 percent on more than 700-

Jeffrey: 700 games.

Larry Major N: Digital games and add-ons.

Jeffrey: Uh, there's deals. Three months of Game Pass Ultimate for the price of one month. There is also, uh, some, like PCs. A lot of gaming PCs are on sale as well from Dell, Lenovo, Razor-
Actually, I'm kind of interested in that Razor, so I may have to take a look at that. The Samsung HM, uh, Headband Display Odyssy which is a VR headset with controllers. Hyper X gaming accessories. Of course, Xbox 1S. I've seen a lot of Xbox 1 deals floating around at a number of different retailers this week. So there's a lot of that, and I just went through. I always like to see what games are on sale and like what's like the best deal out of all of them. And I'll provide my opinion. Deus X: Mankind Divided-

Larry Major N: Oh, I love that game.

Jeffrey: Huge fan of that one. Uh, $4.49.

Larry Major N: So that, that is less than the price of one of your fancy coffees.

Jeffrey: Sad but true. And it is worth more than a cup of coffee even at 7:00 in the morning.

Larry Major N: Uh-huh (affirmative).

Jeffrey: So if you've played, uh, Human Revolution. It was the sequel to Human Revolution, uh, which came out on the Xbox 360, which was a phenomenal game, and I believe is backward compatible, but I'd have to check that.

Larry Major N: Yep.

Jeffrey: Uh, but Deus: Mankind Divided was the sequel to that. Plays like you, another game where you can play it any way you want. I like usually playing as a hacker. You know what, this is what I would say.

Larry Major N: Yeah.

Jeffrey: If you were excited by what you saw in Cyber Punk, and you can't wait for Cyber Punk. I can't wait for Cyber Punk.

Larry Major N: You can't?

Jeffrey: You got to wait till, I have to wait till what? April 27 of next year?

Larry Major N: Whenever it comes out. Yeah.

Jeffrey: Uh, this is, this is very much in that vein. Uh, plus you have Adam Jensen. No one's got a deeper voice than Adam Jensen.

Larry Major N: Let's be clear though, let's be clear though. There is no Keanu.

Jeffrey: There is no Keanu.

Larry Major N: Okay.

Jeffrey: Uh, there is a, an actor in this that's famous. I can't remember. It's been a little while since I played. But I did beat it a few years ago, and I really enjoyed this game. So, for $4.49, I'm gonna link out to that. You can't beat that deal.

Larry Major N: $4.49.

Jeffrey: And then Life is Strange. If you never played the first season, the whole season, all five episodes, $3.99.

Larry Major N: Yep.

Jeffrey: Looking for deals for you folks.

Larry Major N: Ah... So good.

Jeffrey: Deals. Oh, Metro 20-33 Redo is $4.99. There's some really good deals in here, so we'll link out to the whole deal, the whole shebang, but uh, to Deus X because I want you to play it.

Larry Major N: Yeah.

Jeffrey: I like it.

Larry Major N: Busy, busy time. Uh, it's a, you know, with all the games. It's, it's backlog season, and unfortunately, we, we're not gonna have enough time because we're gonna turn around and eventually we're gonna be right back into, like you and I talked about in the industry. It feels like roughly around the time Madden comes out.

Jeffrey: That's when it, that's when it kicks off-

Larry Major N: It kicks off the holiday.

Jeffrey: Exactly, and then we're, it's basically from Madden to Thanksgiving is a sprint-

Larry Major N: Yeah.

Jeffrey: And, oh man, very excited for some of the games coming out this fall. Uh, the Star Wars game just looks phenomenal. It was A Fallen Order.

Larry Major N: Right.

Jeffrey: Really into, uh, the NBA, oh! That was another thing.

Larry Major N: Ah ha! He's back ladies and gentlemen. You know him, you love him.

Jeffrey: NBA 2K20.

Larry Major N: Jeffrey Dean Kamillionaire.

Jeffrey: I can't wait, too, I remake them in every game.

Larry Major N: Yes, you do.

Jeffrey: So, on the cover is Anthony Davis this year.

Larry Major N: I need you to stream the next time you make [crosstalk 00:30:44].

Jeffrey: He moved to LA. You want me to stream it?

Larry Major N: When you creating the[crosstalk 00:30:48].

Jeffrey: The, the content creation?

Larry Major N: Yeah.

Jeffrey: Okay, we can do that. Um, and there is an Xbox 1 that is made, uh, specifically in celebration of it, and it has this candy paint look to it. Kinda looks like, uh, the shirt and shoes that, are, sort of looks like the bottom of that. It's, anyway, my words do not do it justice, but I will link out to that as well. And that is something that, uh, special NBA 2K exclusive Xbox bundle, that, uh, it would look really good in my living room.

Larry Major N: Would it?

Jeffrey: Uh, oh, it would. It would.

Larry Major N: Uh, I'm sorry, I'm just looking through here to see if we have any, there's just so much that's coming out, and you and I have been off the air for quite some time.

Jeffrey: Well, is there anything that you left out that you wanted to talk about you've been playing?

Larry Major N: Well, it's, it's, nah. Those are really what I've been playing, I just, because of all with the travel and etc., now we're in the summer, and in the northwest it tends to be nice, so we want to go outside and enjoy the outside. I know you, you, you actually had a lovely time outside, didn't you?

Jeffrey: I... So I'm the proud owner of a new, uh, iPhone XR.

Larry Major N: Talk about what happened.

Jeffrey: Yeah. So, uh, like you said, and I think you see this in places like Scandinavia or Iceland. We don't get a lot of nice weather. I mean it was kind of rainy and 65 yesterday. So any, if we get sun, we try and take it.

Larry Major N: Right.

Jeffrey: And I was out on the lake-

Larry Major N: Right.

Jeffrey: Lake Union-

Larry Major N: Yep.

Jeffrey: Uh, Union Bay. You ever heard of that? Those jeans from the 90s. Must be named after that. And so we were out there paddling, doing some outrigger canoe paddling, and at some point I just reached for my phone. Cause we saw a bald Eagle. You get nature out here.

Larry Major N: Yeah, you do.

Jeffrey: And I,

Larry Major N: On Lake Union?

Jeffrey: Oh, yeah, that, oh, we kind of went through [inaudible 00:32:33] Washington. And over by the University of Washington, the Huskies' football stadium, and there's eagles out there. It's really cool. And so, so I reach for my phone, and it's not there. But it was there earlier because at one point, I'd, I'd, I'd felt it. It just slipped out, like, like right into the sea.

Larry Major N: Now split screen to me at my house.

Jeffrey: And so I'm texting Jeffrey as I often do, he and I talk all the time. And I see on Instagram that he, so I, "Hey, do you want to play some Apex," and I get green bubbles. And for those of you that have iPhones, you know what green bubbles mean. It means that they're phone's not online, their phone's gone, or they're on an airplane. I was like, "He's not traveling anywhere. This is weird." And I see, I wonder what he's up to. I go to Instagram, and I see that you're, the last one was of you getting-

Larry Major N: Basically getting on the boat.

Jeffrey: And so I messaged you. Did you get the message on Instagram finally?

Larry Major N: I did, and I said, Hey, uh, water and electronics make me nervous. You need a floating case. I have one as, as somebody who does, we talked earlier, who dives, I said you really need to, and sure enough apparently I sent that.

Jeffrey: It was your fault.

Larry Major N: I cursed it because things went south.

Jeffrey: Wasn't it enough to suggest it, you needed to be right. And somehow you nudged the stone out of my pocket and into, into-

Larry Major N: I nudged the universe in that direction.

Jeffrey: I know. It's, it's [crosstalk 00:33:50].

Larry Major N: I was wor, I was worried.

Jeffrey: It was the butterfly effect at work One Instagram across the world to knock a phone out of my pocket and into 30' of cloudy water.

Larry Major N: Or 40 or 50, we just don't know.

Jeffrey: All I know is I tried to find my iPhone, it could not find it. So it was deep.

Larry Major N: Help me. Help me.

Jeffrey: So, uh, that was a-

Larry Major N: Hoy ya, hoy ya.

Jeffrey: That was an expensive Saturday. And then I went and saw Spiderman which made me feel better.

Larry Major N: Oh, I didn't know that.

Jeffrey: It's good. It's good movie.

Larry Major N: Okay.

Jeffrey: Last thing I meant to mention by the way, uh, Games with Gold.

Larry Major N: Oh, Games with Gold.

Jeffrey: So hopefully you picked up Castlevania: Symphony of the Night. That was July 1 through the 15th, but through the rest of the month of July, of July, inside which I'm sure you played, kind of a twist in that one. So, uh-

Larry Major N: (Laughs). Check it out.

Jeffrey: Uh, Meet the Robinsons.

Larry Major N: Yeah.

Jeffrey: Uh, is available from the 16th to the 31st of July-

Larry Major N: Yeah.

Jeffrey: And then from now all the way until mid-August, Big Crown: Show Down.

Larry Major N: Big Crown: Show Down.

Jeffrey: Big Crown: Show Down. Colon. Show Down.

Larry Major N: So good. Colon. Show Down.

Jeffrey: Anyway, so those games are waiting for you to just, just take them.

Larry Major N: Uh, yeah, so we wanted to get in the studio because we hadn't been in here for a while, so that's why we wanted to sit down with you and give you kind of an update. But we are, I think it's the quickest we're ever gonna turn a show. We're actually gonna do another show. We're gonna go back into the mixer studio next week.

Jeffrey: We should do that.

Larry Major N: Yeah.

Jeffrey: You know, people, our voices, eh, our faces, I mean, come on.

Larry Major N: Really take away from the whole experience.

Jeffrey: Oh, my God.

Larry Major N: Kill it.

Jeffrey: It's what people want to see.

Larry Major N: But, uh-

Jeffrey: Do you have any special guests lined up?

Larry Major N: I'm working on a few, but, well, just keep an eye on-on my Twitter@Major Nelson, and I'll let you know what we're gonna do. Probably do mid-, early to mid-week is what the plan is.

Jeffrey: I'm gonna do, what should we do visual. Should I take like, should we take a bunch of photos at Halo Outpost this weekend-

Larry Major N: What, you should do that.

Jeffrey: A slide show.

Larry Major N: You know, hit me up on Twitter and let me know what you want to see.

Jeffrey: Yeah, we could do that.

Larry Major N: Or, or, hey! Could we make your Jeffrey Dean Kamillionaire then? Will you have a copy of the game?

Jeffrey: I don't think it's out this early.

Larry Major N: Okay. Okay.

Jeffrey: Oh, that would be fun.

Larry Major N: Right.

Jeffrey: We'll do that, let's do that-

Larry Major N: We'll do that again.

Jeffrey: Those things usually come out I think in September, give or take.

Larry Major N: Yeah. Yeah.

Jeffrey: So, uh, I'm actually looking it up right now.

Larry Major N: Yeah. So we'll do, we'll do, uh, something. We got, we want you to join us.

Jeffrey: October 5th. Right?

Larry Major N: Really?

Jeffrey: No, that was NBA 2K11. Anyway, it's, it's not out yet.

Larry Major N: Yeah. We're gonna, we're-

Jeffrey: September 6th.

Larry Major N: We'll figure out what we're gonna do. So we're gonna do, uh, we're gonna head over to Mixer. We haven't been on that since E3 actually.

Jeffrey: I feel like, yeah, it's almost a pivot point for the whole year.

Larry Major N: Yeah.

Jeffrey: It's the kickoff off for the year.

Larry Major N: Yeah, it's kickoff. It's, it's a lot [inaudible 00:36:15]. So we're gonna, we're gonna come back your way. But anyway we wanted to jump in the studio and do something, and that's kind of all I have right now. You and I have to get back to work. We got a bunch of stuff we're working on.

Jeffrey: Uh huh (affirmative).

Larry Major N: Games Con, now, I'm not going to Games Con this year. I'm not scheduled. You're gonna head over there.

Jeffrey: That's the plan.

Larry Major N: You have some other work to do, so they're gonna-

Jeffrey: Yeah, my, my day job. [crosstalk 00:36:30].

Larry Major N: You're gonna do some, uh, we're gonna have some stuff going on at Games Com, and then we've got some other stuff. We've go the Gears launch going on. We're working on our packs panel. Uh, we've got Exo this year. Yeah, it's, it's incredible when we start scheduling things out. And, I-I-I-I say this every year, but I'm gonna say it again. I saw some people that were in E3 meetings for next year already-

Jeffrey: What?

Larry Major N: Yeah.

Jeffrey: It never, it never stops.

Larry Major N: It doesn't. It is just, it's, it's, its this conveyor belt of craziness, so, but that's why we work here. Because we love games-

Jeffrey: That's true.

Larry Major N: We love talking to everybody. We love the community, and certainly we love you guys for listening to the show.

Jeffrey: Yeah. Thanks for listening.

Larry Major N: Yeah! So we're gonna wrap it up here, so we'll see you hopefully next week. Keep an eye on my Twitter. I'm Major Nelson. Of course, uh, if you want to see us this week on Xbox, airs every Thursday on your console, either on there. Sometimes Jeff is there.

Jeffrey: Occasionally.

Larry Major N: Yeah.

Jeffrey: I did it last week.

Larry Major N: Swinging your new, uh, your, your roller skating jacket.

Jeffrey: That was, that was. It was the bomber jacket from Gear.xbox.com

Larry Major N: Let's be very clear, bomber, not balmer.

Jeffrey: No.

Larry Major N: Okay.

Jeffrey: Yeah.

Larry Major N: So I want to make sure we understand what's going on there. Uh, but we'll see-

Jeffrey: You could do a balmer jacket.

Larry Major N: Uh, but we'll see you guys next week. Thank you for downloading.

Jeffrey: Maybe I'll see you in Philly.

Larry Major N: Uh, maybe you'll see Jeff in Philly. Follow him at Jeff Rubenstein on Twitter-

Jeffrey: Thank you.

Larry Major N: Also, if you have any complaints or feedback, send them his way.

Jeffrey: You always do.

Larry Major N: And if you have any lovely things to say, you can always send them my way. That's the way it works guys.

Jeffrey: Or [inaudible 00:37:55]

Larry Major N: All right, we'll talk to you guys later, and we'll see you next week. Bye everybody.

Jeffrey: Bye.

Larry Hryb: Hi, it's Larry Hryb, Xbox Live's Major Nelson. It's, uh, E3 2019 and I've done this a few years in a row. I'm, I'm with Phil Spencer. Phil, good to see you.

Phil Spencer: Good to see you. It's great to be here at E3.

Larry Hryb: We are, we're in your dressing room at the Microsoft Theater, you're-

Phil Spencer: I think technically it's the green room. Why do they call them green rooms? Do you know? You will know this.

Larry Hryb: Uh, you know what? It's a great question. I think I know the answer, but I don't want to misspeak.

Phil Spencer: Okay. Yeah.

Larry Hryb: But I will find out, and, and I'll ... That's, that's an interesting question. Why is it the green room?

Phil Spencer: I think it is the green room.

Larry Hryb: But this is where you're prepping because we're about, maybe 50 feet from the Microsoft Stage where we're gonna have our briefing on Sunday.

Phil Spencer: Yep. At the Microsoft Theater. Uh, so a little different set-up. We started this last year. I think everyone loves being here in the Microsoft Theater Stage. Looks awesome.

Larry Hryb: Well, for those of you that don't know, this is where, I mean, it's a world class theater. I think the Grammys have been here, the BETs have been here, the ESPYs are coming up next month.

Phil Spencer: That's right. Yeah. Yeah.

Larry Hryb: Um, what- the Video Game Awards that Geoff Keighley does.

Phil Spencer: Yeah. That's right.

Larry Hryb: So it's, it's, it's a big place.

Phil Spencer: Yeah, right here in LA live. It's so nice because it's right next to the Convention Center, so everybody who's got their passes to go to E3, they literally just walk across the street.

Larry Hryb: Yep.

Phil Spencer: Um, and it's right here. And after the show, as you know, uh, we open up the stage and all of the E3 attendees can actually come up on the stage, which is where we have all the stations set up.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Phil Spencer: For people to play games.

Larry Hryb: You have, uh, you know you've- I watched the rehearsal. It, it's coming up-

Phil Spencer: How'd I do? What'd you give me? A C? C plus?

Larry Hryb: You did- No, you did great. You, you always do great but to be honest with you, you're not on stage that much because it's about the- you know, the games are on stage.

Phil Spencer: That's right.

Larry Hryb: Right?

Phil Spencer: I mean, it's- we have, we have a lot of games (laughs).

Larry Hryb: (laughs).

Phil Spencer: More games, I think, than we've ever had, uh, on stage and I like, you know, I always have kind of, these, my own ideas about the kind of games that should be on stage and where they're from and bringing some games that we've never seen.

Larry Hryb: Right.

Phil Spencer: On our stage before, from creators that have never been on our stage before.

Larry Hryb: Right. Right.

Phil Spencer: And then some of our, uh, classic partners that always do a great job. I, um, I'm really happy with the line up.

Larry Hryb: Now, the, um, it's been a busy week with the, you know, we've been talking about these rehearsals. We've had them for many, many weeks. E3 is coming up, we had the Stadia announce earlier this week with our friend Phil Harrison (laughs).

Phil Spencer: Yeah, that was good. It was nice seeing Phil, um, on stage t- well, I guess it was on stage. On the white stage, but-

Larry Hryb: Yeah, he was on a white stage (laughs).

Phil Spencer: You know, the, I say this a lot of times. The industry's not really that big.

Larry Hryb: No.

Phil Spencer: Like, we all kind of know each other. Um, and I think in a lot of ways, while we're competitive in a lot of ways, we're also, um, rooting for each other.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Phil Spencer: I mean it, the biggest barrier for any of us is can we create something that captures someone's heart and mind?

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Phil Spencer: Um, and it's not really, you have to win at the expense of someone else so, uh, I sent actually Phil a little note before he was go- Uh, before they were running saying, "Hey, best of luck with it."

Larry Hryb: Yeah. Yeah.

Phil Spencer: Uh, I thought they, they did a nice job. I'm looking forward to what Nintendo does.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Phil Spencer: Here, I think there's, uh, a lot of anticipation-

Larry Hryb: But they don't have Reggie this year.

Phil Spencer: They don't. No, Doug's great. He's-

Larry Hryb: (laughs) Doug's great. Yeah.

Phil Spencer: Um, and I actually don't know if he's, uh, in their, uh, their video or not. I haven't seen a preview of it or anything, but the, um, yeah. I think E3 is always such a special time and I mean, I look back and both of us have been to, how shall we put it? A few E3s.

Larry Hryb: Quite a few.

Phil Spencer: We've been to a few.

Larry Hryb: Double digits (laughs).

Phil Spencer: Yeah, maybe. Um, but, you know, you go back and E3 was really dominated by retailers and publishers.

Larry Hryb: Sure.

Phil Spencer: And you come now, and you have obviously, the great publishers are showing up but you've got companies like Netflix is here. Right? You've got Amazon through Twitch is here.

Larry Hryb: Yep.

Phil Spencer: You've got Stadia with their, how they're attaching their thing to E3. You've got obviously, Microsoft here. Um, and it's just really the transformation of our industry, I think, from something, uh, that many saw as kind of outside of the core of the mainstreams?

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Phil Spencer: And now the largest companies on the planet see gaming as something that they, uh, that is an area that they want to invest. And the thing I love is, the partners that we've had for a long time, we've obviously been in this industry for decades. Um, and I- it's, it's just, it's a really fun time to be in the industry.

Larry Hryb: Yeah, a lot of folks don't remember but E3 kinda served a different purpose back in the day with the retail, right?

Phil Spencer: Yeah. You know, this was back when our, our, our games were distributed on either cartridge or CDs. Um, where the manufacturing time of the physical media was actually a real limiting factor.

Larry Hryb: Quite a few months.

Phil Spencer: Yeah, exactly. So we'd come to E3 and it was really just to have the retailers come and see what their, we call them, IPQs. Their initial, uh, purchase quantities.

Larry Hryb: Right.

Phil Spencer: How many copies of the game did they want to order for the holiday?

Larry Hryb: Sure.

Phil Spencer: That's why this thing was in May and June.

Larry Hryb: Right.

Phil Spencer: Because they had to get- we had to finish the game and build-

Larry Hryb: And get ready for later in the shift.

Phil Spencer: Yeah. And frankly, if you didn't build enough copies of the game, you were sold out. Which is where [crosstalk 00:04:26].

Larry Hryb: 'Cause there's no digital at this point (laughs).

Phil Spencer: That's right. That's right. So, and then I think what retailers started asking us is, "Hey. We don't actually ... We want another opinion on what games we want to order, so let's bring the press in."

Larry Hryb: Right.

Phil Spencer: So then it was, really became a press heavy show.

Larry Hryb: Sure.

Phil Spencer: Um, now with, with digital and streaming and, and, you know, the number of viewers that we get online it is, I really think about it as a consumer and a fan show?

Larry Hryb: Sure.

Phil Spencer: Right, it is really about that. But it's interesting, the evolution starting off from these lead times on building the games.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Phil Spencer: Um, and then printing the games.

Larry Hryb: Right.

Phil Spencer: Um, now games are instant.

Larry Hryb: Right.

Phil Spencer: Uh, so it's, it has changed but I don't, I don't ... I see-

Larry Hryb: Well, game delivery is instant (laughs).

Phil Spencer: That's right. Yes. Yes. We still have to finish the games. It's, it's always ... There's always a good snap that happens right now where you, you can ... As you're working on a game it's like, "Okay. Can we polish x amount of time up to a point where we would basically ship it?"

Larry Hryb: Yep.

Phil Spencer: Uh, and many teams use that, especially for shipping in the fall. You're using that to gauge okay, do we actually think we're in line?

Larry Hryb: Right.

Phil Spencer: To be done at the time we're telling everybody we're done? I think it's healthy.

Larry Hryb: Yeah. They have to do the work pack schedule.

Phil Spencer: That's right.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Phil Spencer: That's right. "Oh, we thought, okay we're gonna polish this level for the demo on the floor. We think it's gonna take eight weeks. Oh, it took 16 weeks."

Larry Hryb: Uh-oh.

Phil Spencer: It's brought- yeah, okay. We're probably a little-

Larry Hryb: (laughs).

Phil Spencer: And you see it, right? You always, every year you see a couple games that-

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Phil Spencer: Start on the E3 bandwagon, think they're coming out October and then all of a sudden they're in February.

Larry Hryb: Right.

Phil Spencer: Um, but I think it's healthy, like, for us to have those experiences where people kinda, uh, see and get, and get reaction from players and what they think. And we're gonna have a lot of people playing games on our stage.

Larry Hryb: You have been on a lot of stages we've done. The Galen before, you know, before we got here. We obviously, at the Microsoft Theater, this is our second year. When you, when you're walking through that stage and you come around that Xbox logo for the first time, what do- what's going through your mind?

Phil Spencer: Well, I'm nervous.

Larry Hryb: Right (laughs).

Phil Spencer: I'm always nervous every time. Uh, you know, the thing I love about how our show has transformed is the role that the fans play in our show.

Larry Hryb: Yes.

Phil Spencer: Like, they're not just the audience. They are literally in the show and every year I have a couple new people around that haven't been at the show and they'll watch previous ones and they just, they're always blown away by the passion and energy of the fans. So when I first come out, the thing that always just literally overwhelms me when I come around the corner is how our Xbox fans are just so passionate about gaming, so passionate about Xbox.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Phil Spencer: Um, I say love most of what we do. Obviously that, that passion will tell us when they don't love-

Larry Hryb: Yes.

Phil Spencer: The things that we do.

Larry Hryb: They're not shy.

Phil Spencer: No. Um, but I, I really ... That is the thing that just hits me. And it, it really makes me kinda take, not instantly but it kinda, how lucky I am to be able to do what I do.

Larry Hryb: Right.

Phil Spencer: I mean, I'm a, a, a punky little kid playing video games back in the '70s and, you know, Mom telling me, "Hey, these video games are gonna be the end of you." And then so many decades later here I am running Xbox, running gaming at Microsoft. Get to work with some cool creators, cool people in the industry.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Phil Spencer: Some of my best friends that I've met, uh, through playing and building of games. And I, I do some things a little bit for me, but, uh, my two daughters are gonna be in the audience this time.

Larry Hryb: Oh, they're coming this year?

Phil Spencer: They're coming.

Larry Hryb: That's great.

Phil Spencer: For the first time. Ever.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Phil Spencer: 'Cause it's always been school.

Larry Hryb: I, I met one of them and-

Phil Spencer: Yeah.

Larry Hryb: It's gonna be great.

Phil Spencer: Yeah, so they're always in school at this time but now they're in college and, and they're done for the year so they're both gonna be, uh, here. And I, you know, it just, it's nice to kinda, these are the ... This is what I do.

Larry Hryb: Are there Dad jokes in the, in the briefing?

Phil Spencer: (laughs) If it is, probably from them. They got a ton of Dad jokes. They have a ton of Dad jokes. But, you know, it is such an important part of my life starting Xbox in, uh, back at the launch of, of the original Xbox. I, funny enough this week I had lunch with, uh, Robbie Bach.

Larry Hryb: Right.

Phil Spencer: And Shane Kim, and we were talking about E3s the past. And I was watching some of the old videos of Robbie coming out from behind a curtain.

Larry Hryb: Right.

Phil Spencer: You know, and you look at the show now, and it's, it is ...

Larry Hryb: The production values are ...

Phil Spencer: I mean, this show. You've seen the, like-

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Phil Spencer: There's no show we've had that has the production value of this show.

Larry Hryb: Yeah. There's things in this show we've never had in any other show (laughs).

Phil Spencer: That's right. This is multiple things, right? And, and it's, uh, which is awesome.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Phil Spencer: And, uh, but just, you know, the whole journey with the fans, with the show, with the industry. Um, and my own, you know, personal kind of, little small a part of that, um, it's, it's just a really cool time of the year where I get to think about all that.

Larry Hryb: xCloud.

Phil Spencer: It's there. It's in the show.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Phil Spencer: Um, uh, it's going to be ... You know, it's our, I say it's the future. I think it's important for people to understand that our journey with streaming is not one where we're trying to get people to stop doing what they're doing today.

Larry Hryb: Sure.

Phil Spencer: We, we're ... We love obviously, people playing on a console. People playing on xBox. We're doing more on PC. We've announced Game Pass coming to PC. We're gonna talk more about that on stage and the lineup of PC games both coming to PC Game Pass and just the, the commitment and delivery of a real PC first service.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Phil Spencer: That we're delivering for a customer who says, "Hey, I play my games and I love to play on PC and that's where I want my life and I want Microsoft to contribute something meaningful."

Larry Hryb: Yep.

Phil Spencer: Um, I think that's gonna be awesome. So we look at streaming as a choice for you.

Larry Hryb: Sure.

Phil Spencer: It's not, you're able to buy games from us. You can download them to the devices that you have and play them. We want to give you the ability to stream games so that when you're away from the devices that you normally play on, you can play. And yes, when you think about multiple horizons out, you think about somebody playing anywhere they are and parts of the world where people probably never buy a gaming console.

Larry Hryb: Sure.

Phil Spencer: Never buy a PC, and this is an option. But it's not like tomorrow I'm trying to say, "Hey, you should stop doing what you love to do today and start doing something that we need you to do." This is really about putting the choice in your hands. About, "Hey, where do you want to play?" Like, I was sitting in my hotel room last night playing on my phone. xCloud on my phone, because I didn't bring an Xbox to my hotel room.

Larry Hryb: Right.

Phil Spencer: Um, and I had a couple things I wanted to, I wanted to farm my Farm Together farm a little bit.

Larry Hryb: Right.

Phil Spencer: And, uh, so it was an easy thing for, for me to go do but it was about my choice.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Phil Spencer: And when I get home, I'm gonna go turn that same game on and play on my console. Play on my xBox in all its, you know, great fidelity on the screen and sound and everything else, and, uh, but it's about convenience and choice for us. It's, it's not about trying to get you to adopt, uh, something that we kinda need to get you to adopt tomorrow. Um, we're gonna learn a ton from our customers using the technology. Using the features.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Phil Spencer: Um, which is coming, uh, this year. Which is gonna be great.

Larry Hryb: I want to talk about something that's not even remotely E3 related before I let you go.

Phil Spencer: Yeah?

Larry Hryb: You recently went to Africa.

Phil Spencer: Yeah.

Larry Hryb: Tell me about that, because I was looking at some of the photos. It was really interesting.

Phil Spencer: Yeah. You know, it does fit a little bit with the, the xCloud dialog but for just clarity, uh, Microsoft has seven development centers, um, in the world. Kind of outside of our Redmond. What we call, uh, Global Development Centers. And the, the next, the new one is Africa and I happen to be as Microsoft the executive sponsor for the African development center.

Larry Hryb: Okay.

Phil Spencer: It has nothing to do with gaming.

Larry Hryb: Sure.

Phil Spencer: It is us putting two, uh, hubs of development. One in Nairobi, Kenya, the other in Lagos, Nigeria. Um, so I was there as more of an executive function.

Larry Hryb: Sure.

Phil Spencer: Uh, for Microsoft in opening those. We're- our plan is to have 500 people there in the next couple of years doing development, and it's amazing the amount of talent. We opened up jobs, the amount of qualified candidates that we got was incredible. I will say though for gaming, because I was there.

Larry Hryb: Sure.

Phil Spencer: Um, so we met with some of the local gaming developers and streamers.

Larry Hryb: And there's, so there's a game industry in there.

Phil Spencer: Absolutely.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Phil Spencer: I mean, and, and I've said this a number of times so people are probably tired of hearing it. There's, there are 1.2 billion people on the continent of Africa, and the average age is 19 years old.

Larry Hryb: Do the math. Figure it out.

Phil Spencer: Yeah. They play games, they watch games. They don't always have the devices that people can play games on today.

Larry Hryb: Sure.

Phil Spencer: Uh, so that's where I think about our technology like streaming, how do you find a kid who lives in Nairobi who's probably not gonna go grab, buy, buy a gaming PC or go buy a gaming console just because it doesn't fit into their lifestyle?

Larry Hryb: Sure.

Phil Spencer: But why can't we bring games to that person? The funny story is, uh, there's a company called, uh, Brick and they put remote wireless routers-

Larry Hryb: That's right.

Phil Spencer: In buses. These little buses in Nairobi. And what they do is, they're mostly offline. So with your phone in the bus, you connect to their local ... They have a terabyte storage.

Larry Hryb: Sure.

Phil Spencer: It's really cool tech. And you can browse their videos and stuff on your phone offline.

Larry Hryb: It's kinda, it's kinda like when you see on the airplane. We have, like-

Phil Spencer: Very similar to that.

Larry Hryb: Some movies and ...

Phil Spencer: And then they have a button that says, "Hey, if you want to get to the internet, click here."

Larry Hryb: Sure.

Phil Spencer: Click, and now you're on an LTE internet connection. Um, and you watch an ad or something.

Larry Hryb: Sure.

Phil Spencer: To kinda help fund that. So I decide, I'm sitting there with the owner. I say, "I wonder if I can connect to xCloud (laughs) from this?"

Larry Hryb: No.

Phil Spencer: Yeah. And like, the, just so we're clear. At this point, I'm on a development xCloud server which is in Quincy, Washington and I'm sitting in Nairobi, Kenya.

Larry Hryb: Actually on the other side of the globe.

Phil Spencer: That's right. And I said, "Let me see."

Larry Hryb: In a different, yeah.

Phil Spencer: And it's gonna be, you know, WiFi inside of this taxi. LTE from the little antenna in the taxi. Uh, it's more like a bus.

Larry Hryb: That's right. To a tower.

Phil Spencer: Out, and then, uh, routing, I think it was getting routed through London back ... And sure enough, there's a frame of Crackdown. And I could, like, move ... It was, it wasn't, like, nobody would play it.

Larry Hryb: Sure. Sure.

Phil Spencer: But it was a little bit of a glimpse of, like, what if?

Larry Hryb: Right.

Phil Spencer: The data center is within a couple hundred miles of here?

Larry Hryb: Right.

Phil Spencer: You know, when the infrastructure gets into place, why won't people in Nairobi, Kenya someday be playing some of the great games that we're gonna show on our stage?

Larry Hryb: Right.

Phil Spencer: Um, and just open up the ability to play to more and more people? So I was incredibly energized both to be in Africa, just because, um, there's such a, a passionate community. People really driven with the- everybody has their hustle. Their side hustle. The thing that they're doing.

Larry Hryb: Right.

Phil Spencer: A lot of technology innovation for companies like this company Brick that's doing this thing in taxis.

Larry Hryb: Right. They're being creative in solving these problems.

Phil Spencer: Totally.

Larry Hryb: That are ... In, in really unique ways.

Phil Spencer: Yeah, there's another ... Just quickly, because I'm on it.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Phil Spencer: But there's a ... There's this other company that we've met with that does personal, um, solar panels. So when you're away from the cities, um, getting power-

Larry Hryb: The power grid's not quite there.

Phil Spencer: The power's not there.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Phil Spencer: A lot of the lighting and stuff is still done with kerosene, which has its own issues in terms of the residue that comes off.

Larry Hryb: And safety. Right.

Phil Spencer: And fire damage. So this company sells, rents basically, a personal solar panel that you stick outside your house. Put a solar panel up, and it has USB jacks effectively at the bottom.

Larry Hryb: Sure.

Phil Spencer: And you can charge your phone. You can charge, like, an LE, L, LED lantern.

Larry Hryb: Sure.

Phil Spencer: Um, and now they have a little television and then you're also connected. That thing's connected LTE. That's how they kind of meter it and know what you're doing. So then they want to talk about, "Hey could we ever put games in this?" Because people love to play games.

Larry Hryb: Solar powered xCloud (laughs).

Phil Spencer: It's, you know, and like, years away.

Larry Hryb: Sure. You can see it.

Phil Spencer: But just being inside of the discussion about, you have, like, over two billion people playing games today on every continent. Um, and I think the future for this art form that I love that has, has been such an important part of my career and frankly, just me as a person, at this point. Um, I love the fact that, with the creators here.
With all of the companies pulling together, you know, partnerships are being created that many would have years ago said, "That'll never happen." Um, I think the, the future is, is really bright in front of us as the games industry. We've got to manage it the right way. We gotta kind of listen to the signals that come in around what things people are worried about.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Phil Spencer: With our, our art form. Um, and play, but man, do people love to play.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Phil Spencer: And, uh, that's a, a cool place to be.

Larry Hryb: And then, getting it back to E3 tomorrow you're on stage. We're gonna walk out there at 1:00.

Phil Spencer: 1:00.

Larry Hryb: Pacific, that's 4:00 Eastern.

Phil Spencer: Yeah. I think we have two more run throughs today.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Phil Spencer: One in wardrobe.

Larry Hryb: Yep.

Phil Spencer: So, um, and, but yeah. I feel really good about this show and the whole week I think, is just gonna be fantastic. The, uh, uh, I can't wait to spend the week with both the fans and the partners, um, and 1:00 tomorrow is when we kick it all off.

Larry Hryb: And there's gonna be, uh, can you give us a little clue how long you think the show's gonna be?

Phil Spencer: Uh, well I, I tweeted out, you know we have, uh, 14 Xbox game studios.

Larry Hryb: That's right.

Phil Spencer: Games and, uh, we have a lot of games.

Larry Hryb: By the way, that's a minimum. Right?

Phil Spencer: (laughs).

Larry Hryb: Can I say that?

Phil Spencer: I'm just gonna keep ... I mean, people try to parse, how many studios do you have?

Larry Hryb: I know. Right. Right. Who's working on what?

Phil Spencer: As what, and, um, but, uh, we have a, a lot of games. Uh, but I, I like, you know, I always like about that 90 minute mark.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Phil Spencer: Like, in terms of, I just think it, it stays tight. We kinda keep on message.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Phil Spencer: Um, uh, but I'm really excited about how Matt's team, the Xbox games team.

Larry Hryb: Matt Booty.

Phil Spencer: Matt Booty's team.

Larry Hryb: Yep.

Phil Spencer: Uh, is showing up. I think, uh, it's, it, doing some things that we haven't done before. Uh, showing some games we haven't sh- shown before. Uh, I think that part's just gonna be a lot of fun. But, yeah, I'm, like I said. The timing, I like to keep it tight, keep the message-

Larry Hryb: Sure.

Phil Spencer: Just keep things rolling, and I feel like we have a really good show.

Larry Hryb: And again, you're, you're not on stage that much.

Phil Spencer: People don't want to see some guy talking.

Larry Hryb: They want to see games.

Phil Spencer: Yeah.

Larry Hryb: And we're gonna show it to them.

Phil Spencer: That's right.

Larry Hryb: All right, Phil. Thanks so much. Good luck and we'll see everybody Sunday. 1:00, uh, Pacific, that's 4:00 Eastern. I'll have a link in the blog, uh, and below for everybody else. Thank you, my friend.

Phil Spencer: Thanks, Larry.

Larry Hryb: Hi, it's Larry Hryb here, Xbox Live's Major Nelson, welcome to the show here with Jeffrey, hi Jeff.

Jeff Rubenstein: Hey, how you doing?

Larry Hryb: This is the pre-three show. Pre-E3 show.

Jeff Rubenstein: Pre-three.

Larry Hryb: Pre-three show.

Jeff Rubenstein: Stop trying to make pre-three happen.

Larry Hryb: That's what had happened ... I've been trying for years.

Jeff Rubenstein: No.

Larry Hryb: No. Anyway, we're in the studio. We wanted to bang out a quick show because next week, well we actually just got off a whole one of many, many, many, many, many conference calls about E3, didn't we?

Jeff Rubenstein: Pretty mucah, E3, the conference call. That's pre-three. Right there.

Larry Hryb: And I don't know about you Jeff, when we're listening on these conference calls where there's all these different elements that are being discussed. Certainly the briefing and all this operational stuff, who goes where, what door we're going in.

Jeff Rubenstein: It's amazing how complex it is.

Larry Hryb: This is incredible. But it's always fun when we're listening to the call and you and I will lock eyes and, wait a minute, if we're doing that. Wow. You know you get excited.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.

Larry Hryb: So we get excited just like everybody else does.

Jeff Rubenstein: You know, as much work as it is, and this will be my 13th E3, I know you're at least 16?

Larry Hryb: 16 or 18.

Jeff Rubenstein: It's always fun.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Jeff Rubenstein: Like when we get to the point where the lights go down, we're just like you, we're sitting there and just soaking in-

Larry Hryb: Let's see how it goes. It's exciting. So looking forward to that. That's coming up. Just mark your calendars, that is coming up Sunday, June 9th at 1 o'clock Pacific, that's 4 o'clock Eastern, will be our briefing and it'll be streamed on wherever the heck-

Jeff Rubenstein: 9 pm British summer time.

Larry Hryb: That's right, 9 pm British summer time. DST. So we got that going on. It's going to be fun, it's going to be exciting, so we're looking forward to that. But we want to get in the studio, we want to bang out some news, talk about a few things that went out over the past couple weeks. You were-

Jeff Rubenstein: This is not a quiet zone.

Larry Hryb: You were on the road [crosstalk 00:02:15].

Jeff Rubenstein: As were you, right?

Larry Hryb: Where did I go?

Jeff Rubenstein: Weren't you at EDC? I thought I saw you, you had sort of the shinguard situation that everyone wears at EDC. That wasn't you?

Larry Hryb: That wasn't me.

Jeff Rubenstein: I thought it was you.

Larry Hryb: No.

Jeff Rubenstein: I was on the east coast for most of the last two weeks. It's weird working on the west coast, but being on the east you have nice quite mornings.

Larry Hryb: You weren't taking a vacation, you had some stuff-

Jeff Rubenstein: No. Taking care of some family stuff. Of course I travel ... Thank you very much, Larry, for lending me an Xbox OneX, an extra one. I didn't want to take apart my home theater and all that stuff. You know we run the TV through it. That does not go [crosstalk 00:02:54].

Larry Hryb: -you told me you didn't ... Look, I got an extra one for you.

Jeff Rubenstein: And a games case, and I sat down there and you know what?

Larry Hryb: A game screen.

Jeff Rubenstein: Game screen, yeah I guess it was the second gen one that they had. And you know what, it was perfect. [inaudible 00:03:07].

Larry Hryb: Not only that ... Wait a minute.

Jeff Rubenstein: What?

Larry Hryb: Is that when we got our Apex Legend?

Jeff Rubenstein: We did. I thought that-

Larry Hryb: You were down there?

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, I got two of them down there.

Larry Hryb: The one with your daughter though?

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.

Larry Hryb: Okay. So we got it.

Jeff Rubenstein: We went to three different places.

Larry Hryb: Three different places and it actually works.

Jeff Rubenstein: And we had a heck of a game.

Larry Hryb: That was a heck of a game. You got the final kill.

Jeff Rubenstein: I did. [crosstalk 00:03:26]

Larry Hryb: Everyone was ... There were people like giving us some on Twitter because you weren't strafing or you didn't have proper form. Doesn't matter, got the job done.

Jeff Rubenstein: [inaudible 00:03:36]

Larry Hryb: It got the job done.

Jeff Rubenstein: And I did it with Gibraltar.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Jeff Rubenstein: He's a thick boy. There's a lot of surface area and I was an R99 at range.

Larry Hryb: Yes.

Jeff Rubenstein: And finished off just unloading a clip. I ... That's a proud moment.

Larry Hryb: It is.

Jeff Rubenstein: That's as good as it's gonna get for me.

Larry Hryb: It absolutely is. Anyway, we're cooking along here, we've got a lot to do. Figured we'd go over some of the news and we want to jump-

Jeff Rubenstein: We did that, we did that. What're you playing?

Larry Hryb: Well-

Jeff Rubenstein: I haven't seen you.

Larry Hryb: Talked about Apex. Rage 2, you and I are playing Rage 2.

Jeff Rubenstein: What do you think about that?

Larry Hryb: Well, it's fun. It's just a fun ... We have so many of these intense multiplayer games like, we've been playing Division and what have you, and this is nice to just have a single player experience where you just kinda go in and pick up, play for a half hour, put it down, come back 20 minutes later, whatever, just kind of dip in and out of it.

Jeff Rubenstein: I mean, we both love the Far Cry series.

Larry Hryb: Right!

Jeff Rubenstein: We love our open world, FPSs.

Larry Hryb: Yes.

Jeff Rubenstein: And this is just like that 60 frames per second, silky smooth-

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Jeff Rubenstein: Sort of gun play is just phenomenal.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Jeff Rubenstein: It really just feels good. It's just fun at a core level at all times. And I don't recall getting into the original Rage all that much-

Larry Hryb: Nor do I.

Jeff Rubenstein: I got a couple questions just from some friends as I was sort of saying, "Oh, you know I'm really getting into this!" And they were like "Do I have to have played the first one?" I'm gonna tell you, no.

Larry Hryb: No.

Jeff Rubenstein: And I wouldn't say Rage 2 is a game you're necessarily playing for the story, cause a lot of time it just boils down to, and even your character admits this, "Lemme guess. I gotta go in there and blow a bunch of stuff up."

Larry Hryb: Right, right.

Jeff Rubenstein: And, yep. That's what you're gonna be doing. It has one of the best shotguns in gaming history.

Larry Hryb: Oh, it's [crosstalk 00:05:17] kind of OP.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. It's phenomenal. When you aim down the sight-

Larry Hryb: And it blows them back.

Jeff Rubenstein: It has like a shock wave blast.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Jeff Rubenstein: Like a sort of a slug. When you shoot something down, you can ... It's got some range, especially when you boost it up. And one of the things I was wondering, cause I played, I don't know, 10 hours of the first Rage, and one of the things that I wanted to see in Rage 2 was if you had any sort of progression or ability unlocks and how.

Larry Hryb: Yeah, yeah, you do.

Jeff Rubenstein: There's so many. There's so many different facets of what you do well. It doesn't have XP, you're constantly earning different currencies, different minerals, different coins that allow you to do all these different things. And it encourages to just slide in there and do this little side mission that you happen to see as you're driving by. "Oh, I gotta blow up this gas station?"

Larry Hryb: Right.

Jeff Rubenstein: "Well, I've got a pocket full of grenades and a rocket launcher."

Larry Hryb: "We could take care of that, yeah."

Jeff Rubenstein: "I'd be more than happy to do this."

Larry Hryb: "Keep the engine running, I'll be right back."

Jeff Rubenstein: Exactly. And it just does a lot of things really right at that fundamental feel level. That I'm pretty close to beating it and I'll definitely finish it before E3, but yeah. Great job to Bethesda and, I think it's Avalanche.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Jeff Rubenstein: Put that together. These are the folks that, I believe they do Just Cause, right?

Larry Hryb: Yeah, they do.

Jeff Rubenstein: Which has some updates, which we'll get to actually in a minute, but that was exactly the game I needed, I think, while I was away from my family and just had these nights where I didn't really have a lot to do.

Larry Hryb: What do you mean? I kept your nights busy. We were playing-

Jeff Rubenstein: Well between Apex and ... Yeah, yeah. Until you got online.

Larry Hryb: Well, that's true cause you were ahead of me.

Jeff Rubenstein: You know, I was ahead of you, it was a lot of Rage.

Larry Hryb: So yeah, I've been playing that, Rage 2, Apex of course, Overwatch jumped back into with the new season.

Jeff Rubenstein: So did I, yeah.

Larry Hryb: I checked that out last night in fact. Sea of Thieves with their latest update, which is fun.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, I'm quite the fisherman, quite the fisherman.

Larry Hryb: You are.

Jeff Rubenstein: I like it. Once you figure out the knack on there, every time we're sailing anywhere, you just cast a line off-

Larry Hryb: Zzzzzz.

Jeff Rubenstein: And it's fun and then you cook them and then you sell them.

Larry Hryb: Borderlands. Playing that, also talking about the Game-

Jeff Rubenstein: Wait, which one?

Larry Hryb: The Game of the Year edition.

Jeff Rubenstein: The Game of the Year edition.

Larry Hryb: Yeah. [crosstalk 00:07:23]

Jeff Rubenstein: Yup.

Larry Hryb: So yeah, I've been busy, you've been busy, lot's been busy.

Jeff Rubenstein: Sure enough.

Larry Hryb: But it's gonna become ... We have to, unfortunately, taper off our gameplay because we're-

Jeff Rubenstein: We got work to do.

Larry Hryb: We're gonna be busy with games.

Jeff Rubenstein: I know.

Larry Hryb: With game news.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. This is ... I feel like, this time of year, oftentimes it can get a little bit quiet. Can get quiet in terms of game releases-

Larry Hryb: Sure.

Jeff Rubenstein: It can get quiet in terms of news, that's not the case this year.

Larry Hryb: No.

Jeff Rubenstein: There's been so much coming out, so much to talk about, so much to play. It's just ... We're always on. And, I mean, I'm not complaining about it.

Larry Hryb: No, no. It's gonna be a fun time. We've got a busy summer ahead of us. Got a lot of stuff we're working on that we can't talk about yet.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, and some that we can talk about. Like Halo Outpost, that will be going to a couple different places.

Larry Hryb: Orlando.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.

Larry Hryb: Jeffrey's former hometown.

Jeff Rubenstein: I feel like it's almost I pick where we're going.

Larry Hryb: Yeah, where we're going.

Jeff Rubenstein: Cause the city ... So Orlando, where I used to live in Orlando. And then I'm from Philly, we're going to Philly.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Jeff Rubenstein: So I've been telling all my relatives. I'm like, "Hey, why don't you come on out to Halo Outpost Discovery. You see me, you see-"

Larry Hryb: Master Chief, yeah.

Jeff Rubenstein: "Master Chief, presumably-"

Larry Hryb: And a lot of fans!

Jeff Rubenstein: "And Warthog and all these other things." So it's ... Pretty much looking forward to that. My sister now, she spends half her year in Chicago, we're going to Chicago.

Larry Hryb: Oh.

Jeff Rubenstein: So.

Larry Hryb: That's right. So the whole ... We can put a link, and we'll put a link to where you can [crosstalk 00:08:46]

Jeff Rubenstein: I will do that. Tickets are on sale now. I believe some of the VIP, three day stuff is starting to sell out, so probably want to get on it. And they also announced that if you do, and I want to get the story right, so I'm just bringing it up real quick. That you get, I believe it's six months of Xbox Game Pass, yeah. "All VIP tickets now include six months of Xbox Game Pass." So, I mean-

Larry Hryb: Why not?

Jeff Rubenstein: It's a good value there-

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Jeff Rubenstein: Of $9.99 a month and times six.

Larry Hryb: Times six.

Jeff Rubenstein: And you get into Outpost Discovery, so.

Larry Hryb: And you may be able to get to meet some of Jeff's relatives.

Jeff Rubenstein: They're gonna be floating around there.

Larry Hryb: You've been warned.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yes.

Larry Hryb: Is your mom coming?

Jeff Rubenstein: I don't know what to say.

Larry Hryb: Is your mom coming out?

Jeff Rubenstein: She actually, she said "Hey, maybe I'll ..." The reason I was down there, my mom had major surgery-

Larry Hryb: Surgery, yeah.

Jeff Rubenstein: So I was down there literally in between conference calls, I'm like chopping garlic and then going on mute and cooking and keeping the house together, feeding the dog-

Larry Hryb: You were fixing things.

Jeff Rubenstein: Fixing. Fixing all the ... I feel like she saves all the.

Larry Hryb: Well, that's what they do.

Jeff Rubenstein: All of the "this door isn't closing right, and this drawer is falling apart."

Larry Hryb: "Could you take a look at this?"

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. "Could you help me?" There was a lot of moving of heavy objects.

Larry Hryb: There's all these bars in my browser, Jeffrey, could you remove them?

Jeff Rubenstein: That's funny. I did have to update the ... She had like a Surface RT-

Larry Hryb: Oh wow, old school.

Jeff Rubenstein: From, that I'd given her back in 2013-

Larry Hryb: Right.

Jeff Rubenstein: And she was like, "Can you help me with?" And I was like "Yes, I can help you with this."

Larry Hryb: Good.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. Still using it, still likes it.

Jeff Rubenstein: So, she was like "Maybe I'll come up to Orlando." And I was like "You know, you just had major surgery-"

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Jeff Rubenstein: "There's gonna be a lot of walking, maybe-"

Larry Hryb: It's the middle of the summer.

Jeff Rubenstein: "Maybe I come to you."

Larry Hryb: Yeah. Can we?

Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, actually. She would love to meet you.

Larry Hryb: I've never met her.

Jeff Rubenstein: She's a huge fan of yours.

Larry Hryb: She and I chatted, but I've never met her.

Jeff Rubenstein: I know. So she no longer calls you Captain Morgan-

Larry Hryb: That's okay.

Jeff Rubenstein: Which I think I think is a big step forward.

Larry Hryb: We're getting forward.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yes.

Larry Hryb: Anyway, we got a big thing with Halo Outpost Discovery, it's gonna be great.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, so you're gonna come with me?

Larry Hryb: I would love to.

Jeff Rubenstein: All right.

Larry Hryb: I'd love that.

Jeff Rubenstein: We'll talk more about that, I think, after E3.

Larry Hryb: Yeah, when we get closer.

Jeff Rubenstein: That's right around July 4th.

Larry Hryb: Right now, [crosstalk 00:10:57] there's people listening right now saying "Don't talk about that, talk about E3!" Well, look, we're not gonna give you up any news. We don't know what the news is.

Jeff Rubenstein: Maybe, eh.

Larry Hryb: Just a couple of things. But you have [inaudible 00:11:05] for that?

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. Look, it's gonna be fun to just sit down there, lights go down, enjoy it, watch it, stream it.

Larry Hryb: Where do you watch it from? I can't remember. Do you watch it down-

Jeff Rubenstein: Where do I watch E3?

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Jeff Rubenstein: So it's ... Part of my job is getting creators, streamers, YouTubers, all that stuff into the building, that's the reason I'm there.

Larry Hryb: Which, by the way, sounds like "Why would he need help getting people?" You'd be surprised. With all the security and-

Jeff Rubenstein: We have like ten minutes-

Larry Hryb: Right.

Jeff Rubenstein: I mean, maybe slightly more but not by much-

Larry Hryb: There's a window.

Jeff Rubenstein: To get people through security-

Larry Hryb: Yup.

Jeff Rubenstein: In their seats-

Larry Hryb: In the right seats in the right section.

Jeff Rubenstein: And that thing needs to start ... In the right seats, exactly.

Larry Hryb: Right.

Jeff Rubenstein: And it needs to start on time.

Larry Hryb: Phil's not waiting.

Jeff Rubenstein: No. And so all of that. And usually, what ends up happening, is then I'm like, "It's dark," the lights go down, I get the last person in the door, and then where can I sit?

Larry Hryb: Yeah. You're seat filling at that point.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. And last year, which was our first year in the Microsoft Theater, I had to go into the upper deck, so I actually missed the first-

Larry Hryb: That's right, I remember that, you were way up on top.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, so it was the first ... I missed the first minute of the Halo Infinite trailer.

Larry Hryb: Right.

Jeff Rubenstein: And I had never seen it.

Larry Hryb: Sure.

Jeff Rubenstein: So it was ... But I was sitting in my seat for the point where people realized what it was

Larry Hryb: Yeah, it was the helmet shot.

Jeff Rubenstein: And I still get chills thinking about it.

Larry Hryb: Yeah, yeah.

Jeff Rubenstein: That was amazing. So that's where I'll be. Where do you watch it from?

Larry Hryb: I'm usually in the ... If you're looking down to the stage, I'm watching it from the right hand side. There's a ... We have a workspace up there, you know where those boxes are?

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, yeah.

Larry Hryb: That aren't filled.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.

Larry Hryb: So it's just kind of this empty space and I usually just find a stool and sit down.

Jeff Rubenstein: You know what?

Larry Hryb: And just watch.

Jeff Rubenstein: Save me a seat.

Larry Hryb: Let's do it.

Jeff Rubenstein: Let's do that.

Larry Hryb: So if you are able to attend or if you've got tickets to Fan Fest and you're joining us, look up to the right-

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, there's tons of fans-

Larry Hryb: Jeff and I will be sitting there-

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, I know.

Larry Hryb: Like the two old guys from the Muppet Show. Da, da, da. Cause that's exactly where we're gonna be, up in that area.

Jeff Rubenstein: Ripping off zingers and one liners.

Larry Hryb: So there you go.

Jeff Rubenstein: All right.

Larry Hryb: What else? You got some news!

Jeff Rubenstein: There is news.

Larry Hryb: Wanna go through some news?

Jeff Rubenstein: Yes. So, we introduced the new Xbox Game Bar this week.

Larry Hryb: Yes. On Windows 10.

Jeff Rubenstein: On Windows 10. So if you are gaming on Windows 10, as we are, whether it's Xbox Play Anywhere titles, of which there are many, or you're just doing other gaming, there are lot of features for gamers. If you previously hit Windows G before this week, you would have a little strip of things there where you could start to record or you could do whatever, but now-

Larry Hryb: It was a bar.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. There was a tremendous, customizable experience, that includes the features from that, but really in depth audio sliders, Spotify if you wanna do that, Larry just brought it up.

Larry Hryb: Just brought it up, Windows G. Got your friends list.

Jeff Rubenstein: Friends list.

Larry Hryb: Chat.

Jeff Rubenstein: The chat window. If you're broadcasting on Mixer, you can see that. LFG, Looking for Group. You put up there what you want up there in terms of overlays and you hit Windows G, it pops up and you have access to all that. Previously, if you wanted to party up, you would launch the Xbox app and you would toggle back and forth from the game, and it worked. But this is a much more seamless-

Larry Hryb: Try it out.

Jeff Rubenstein: Expression of that.

Larry Hryb: There are some requirements though.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.

Larry Hryb: You need to do certain things. Can we put a link in?

Jeff Rubenstein: I'm gonna do that, yeah, just so none of that stuff is lost. But the insiders, all you guys really helped us develop this and hone this and refine this, and so we thank you and-

Larry Hryb: That is fun.

Jeff Rubenstein: We think you'll enjoy this.

Larry Hryb: And just look at the animation the design team did.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, yeah. And there's a really cool animated GIF. Gif, jif, I'm doing this again. We were talking about this, that would make a really good shirt.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Jeff Rubenstein: And so we'll link out to that. And you should try it out. It's literally just a key stroke away.

Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Links below.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, putting it in now.

Larry Hryb: Well, if you're listening on SoundCloud or wherever on YouTube, head over to my blog at majornelson.com, that's where the link is.

Jeff Rubenstein: You'll see it, you'll see it. Another update-

Larry Hryb: What you got?

Jeff Rubenstein: That ended up ... We actually just, slightly before recording, Kareem Choudhry, who is the Corporate Vice President of Gaming Cloud-

Larry Hryb: Love talking to him, I love talking to him.

Jeff Rubenstein: Hey, you've gotten to interview him on Inside Xbox in the past?

Larry Hryb: Yeah, I actually was just talking to him last week about some stuff. It's fun.

Jeff Rubenstein: So he is in charge of Project XCloud and now he's talking turkey. We've talked ... You've seen some demos-

Larry Hryb: Yup.

Jeff Rubenstein: We've had and we've talked sort of theoretically ... We're showing off actually what the servers look like and the fact that there's these, what do you call them, blades?

Larry Hryb: Yup.

Jeff Rubenstein: That serve up the games.

Larry Hryb: I've held one.

Jeff Rubenstein: Really?

Larry Hryb: Yeah, I've seen one. I was down there. I have pictures-

Jeff Rubenstein: Cradle it?

Larry Hryb: Yes.

Jeff Rubenstein: Cause you have to put on, well, the gloves I'm sure, cause you have to put on the full hazmat suit?

Larry Hryb: No, no, they had a sample one out, I was playing ... I can't really talk about it, but it was really cool. I'll tell you off, off.

Jeff Rubenstein: All right, all right.

Larry Hryb: I'll tell you off mic.

Jeff Rubenstein: Well, what you held is now across 13 Azure Regions in North America, Asia, and Europe. Capcom, we're working with Capcom, we're working with Paradox Interactive, those are a couple of our development teams that have been mentioned. I'll link out to this, but it's interesting, it's exciting to see, probably not a ton of game developers listening to the show, but then again-

Larry Hryb: You never know.

Jeff Rubenstein: You never know.

Larry Hryb: I bet you there are.

Jeff Rubenstein: But, we're basically talking about how game developers don't really have to make changes or modifications in order to empower their games for XCloud.

Larry Hryb: Yeah, optimizing.

Jeff Rubenstein: So what does that ultimately mean?

Larry Hryb: What does it mean?

Jeff Rubenstein: That means it's gonna be a lot of games.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Jeff Rubenstein: And so just reading here, it means Project XCloud has the technical capability to stream more than 3500 games without changes or modifications. Well, that sounds pretty good. And they also mention another 1900 games are in development for Xbox One, all of which could run on Project XCloud.

Larry Hryb: Woo!

Jeff Rubenstein: So, right now, we're testing internally. Yeah, you and I have the ability to fire it up if we need to.

Larry Hryb: Yeah, yeah. I've ... Yes. That's all I'll say.

Jeff Rubenstein: That's all we can say. But that's ... It's just really cool. So I'm gonna link out to that-

Larry Hryb: Please do.

Jeff Rubenstein: If you're interested in Project XCloud.

Larry Hryb: Everybody else is.

Jeff Rubenstein: It's not a long read. Yes, it's well worth your time to take a look at that.

Larry Hryb: Fun.

Jeff Rubenstein: And we'll link over to that on, of course, majornelson.com.

Larry Hryb: Yes.

Jeff Rubenstein: Let's talk about games, Larry.

Larry Hryb: Well, we just did. Oh, games coming up ... Games out?

Jeff Rubenstein: Games that have come out, that are coming out.

Larry Hryb: Yes. Yes.

Jeff Rubenstein: That are included-

Larry Hryb: Yes.

Jeff Rubenstein: With Xbox Game Pass.

Larry Hryb: Best deal in gaming.

Jeff Rubenstein: They're really outdoing themselves. So May and into June ... So we announced a few weeks ago a bunch of games coming in May.

Larry Hryb: Yes.

Jeff Rubenstein: Now it's like, "We weren't done. You didn't think we were done?"

Larry Hryb: What? No.

Jeff Rubenstein: So, just a couple days ago we talked about more games coming so I'll just rattle them off. Metal Gear Survive, Banner Saga and Banner Saga 2. These are-

Larry Hryb: I remember you playing those.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, I beat the first Banner Saga and I'm about halfway through Banner Saga 2. It's a strategy RPG where you make a lot of decisions.

Larry Hryb: Right.

Jeff Rubenstein: And let me just tell you, the decisions you make ... This isn't like they're fake decisions and it doesn't really matter. They make a huge difference-

Larry Hryb: Right.

Jeff Rubenstein: In how the game ends up and then it carries over. And at the end of Banner Saga 1, I made a decision that I still regret to this day because I ended up resulting in the death of a character-

Larry Hryb: Right.

Jeff Rubenstein: And as soon as you pick up in Banner Saga 2-

Larry Hryb: Right.

Jeff Rubenstein: You have the ability to ... You can either have the quote unquote canon ending or you can pull in all your decisions. And I had to live with what I had done in a previous game and it was just devastating-

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Jeff Rubenstein: And I still feel that way. Has a cool animated look and this is some tough strategy stuff. So if you like a NSRPG, this is definitely one for you. And yet at the same time-

Larry Hryb: And who doesn't?

Jeff Rubenstein: They do make the achievements rain. So highly recommend, these are not 80 hour games, these are narrative driven and you can play through it, I'm not gonna throw a number out there, but-

Larry Hryb: They're manageable.

Jeff Rubenstein: They're manageable. This isn't something where you need to set aside-

Larry Hryb: It isn't a massive time ... Right.

Jeff Rubenstein: Three months. And really good writing, really good animation, really enjoyable. It's a game that I was fortunate enough to get to be the first to utter publicly, Void Bastards.

Larry Hryb: I remember that. You did [XO 00:19:20].

Jeff Rubenstein: That was at XO.

Larry Hryb: XO in Mexico City.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yes. And I got to play the game at GDC and the game is coming out next week.

Larry Hryb: Woo!

Jeff Rubenstein: And it's coming out directly into Xbox Game Pass. So this is a, again, really cool animated ... Reminded me a little bit of Futurama a bit, but it's a FPS Rogue Like and there's just a lot of interesting stuff happening here. And if you have Game Pass, and of course you do-

Larry Hryb: You do.

Jeff Rubenstein: You'll get to try it out on day one for free.

Jeff Rubenstein: Dead by Daylight, that is coming out. Super Hot. Remember Super Hot?

Larry Hryb: Yeah, I like that game.

Jeff Rubenstein: It's a really good game.

Larry Hryb: Where you have to make your shots-

Jeff Rubenstein: Nothing moves until you move.

Larry Hryb: Right, nothing moves until you move.

Jeff Rubenstein: So it's as much a puzzle-

Larry Hryb: It's a weird, 3D puzzle, FPS.

Jeff Rubenstein: Puzzle shooter. There's a multiplayer RPG for Metal Furies that's coming. And then, another game that's coming out, brand new, debuting directly into Xbox Game Pass, literally the day after Void Bastards-

Larry Hryb: Yes.

Jeff Rubenstein: May 30th, is Outer Wilds. And this game looks really cool. You're journeying through an entire solar system, but you're on land, you can go up into space, it's like a space exploration, story drive puzzle. You have a jet pack, you have to have jet packs.

Larry Hryb: Jet packs, yeah-

Jeff Rubenstein: You want a jet pack.

Larry Hryb: Jet packs make everything better.

Jeff Rubenstein: So this just looks really good, there's a great trailer. I'm gonna link to the trailer.

Larry Hryb: Please.

Jeff Rubenstein: Cause there was a really good one that they released earlier this week and I'm really excited to be playing this. And the fact that I already own it because-

Larry Hryb: What's wrong with that?

Jeff Rubenstein: Because I have Xbox Game Pass, it's coming to me. And so-

Larry Hryb: You already own it.

Jeff Rubenstein: You know, we don't have time!

Larry Hryb: Right.

Jeff Rubenstein: I'm gonna have to make the time. Because both Void Bastards and Outer Wilds are definitely worth your time, as well as Dead By Daylight, which a lot of people like. And I need to finish Banner Saga 2. There's just so much to play Larry.

Larry Hryb: There always is.

Jeff Rubenstein: So much to play.

Larry Hryb: There always is. Especially when you have Game Pass.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yes.

Larry Hryb: Endless plays.

Jeff Rubenstein: Endless amount of play. Another game, came out this week, it's free, by Epic Games-

Larry Hryb: Yes.

Jeff Rubenstein: You may have heard of them.

Larry Hryb: Our friends at Epic.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. May have heard of the old Fortnite.

Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Jeff Rubenstein: What they did with the Jordans, by the way, those Air Jordan 1s, did you see this? Did I talk to you about-?

Larry Hryb: Yes.

Jeff Rubenstein: But it ... Not just the Jordans in the game.

Larry Hryb: Yes.

Jeff Rubenstein: So there's a couple of Jordan 1s-

Larry Hryb: Yes.

Jeff Rubenstein: That are dropping-

Larry Hryb: Are these the 1997 ones?

Jeff Rubenstein: These are, no, go 1985-

Larry Hryb: You know those. You know those.

Jeff Rubenstein: These are the Jordan 1s-

Larry Hryb: I had a pair of those.

Jeff Rubenstein: You had the Jordan 97s?

Larry Hryb: Who wouldn't?

Jeff Rubenstein: Which ones were those? Well, anyway, we'll come back to it-

Larry Hryb: [crosstalk 00:21:50] I misread you. Apologies.

Jeff Rubenstein: Anyway. Air Max 97, those were pretty hot.

Larry Hryb: Those were the ones.

Jeff Rubenstein: That seems like more your style, low top. So they're in the game, but then in real life, there's some really cool ones coming out where they scuff ... They come out tomorrow, Saturday, as we're recording this-

Larry Hryb: The drop is-

Jeff Rubenstein: The drop, you got to cop the drop.

Larry Hryb: Yes.

Jeff Rubenstein: Or take an L. Anyway. If they scuff, they reveal another layer of color. So you actually, normally you want to keep your shoes pristine. You scuff them, you might as well throw them out.

Larry Hryb: Right.

Jeff Rubenstein: These, you actually want to wear them. And, anyway, you can buy the ... You are able to, if you had played the Air Jordan mode, the Jump Man mode in Fortnite, you would reveal a spray which then you can scan using your sneakers app and it would do an AR thing and that would unlock the shoe and you could get it ahead of time. Isn't that ... I mean, that just blows my mind.

Larry Hryb: It's advertising.

Jeff Rubenstein: It is. But it hits ... It doesn't feel like advertising when it's all a bunch of stuff I like.

Larry Hryb: Yup. Okay.

Jeff Rubenstein: So, anyway, really cool. Anyway, Epic Games. They have a game, an MMO, called Dauntless.

Larry Hryb: Uh-huh.

Jeff Rubenstein: That just came out on Xbox One, for free, this week. Hearing some good things. You slay these giant monsters so, obviously, it's Epic Games. This is gonna be a very well-developed-

Larry Hryb: Quality.

Jeff Rubenstein: Game. So I'm definitely ... Where I'm gonna find time to work another, an MMO into my life, I don't know, but this is one that I think is ... I at least wanna try. I hear it feels really good.

Larry Hryb: Right.

Jeff Rubenstein: Here's another one. Team Sonic Racing.

Larry Hryb: Oh, yeah.

Jeff Rubenstein: Sonic Team Racing. This is newer.

Larry Hryb: Yeah, we had it on this week on Xbox this week.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. So that is coming out. Sonic is also trending worldwide for some reason right now. So, well, anyway. That is out now and that is-

Larry Hryb: Sonic? Just Sonic?

Jeff Rubenstein: Well, it's Team Sonic.

Larry Hryb: Cause it could be a hamburger.

Jeff Rubenstein: It could. Or they do really interesting soft drinks as well.

Larry Hryb: Yes, they do.

Jeff Rubenstein: It's a really [crosstalk 00:23:49] I have not had lunch-

Larry Hryb: It's a place here in the United States.

Jeff Rubenstein: Don't derail me.

Larry Hryb: Yeah, sorry.

Jeff Rubenstein: Don't derail me. So here's a game I think you were trying out. The Dragon's Lair trilogy.

Larry Hryb: That's right, that's right, that's right, yeah.

Jeff Rubenstein: Tell me.

Larry Hryb: I haven't tried it out yet.

Jeff Rubenstein: Okay.

Larry Hryb: I was like, "I have to try this out" to see how it's gonna compare, because we all remember the old Dragon's Lair, which is one of the original. It's a Don Bluth animation-

Jeff Rubenstein: Yup.

Larry Hryb: Don Bluth used to work at Disney, and remember that, and he did-

Jeff Rubenstein: He did Secret of Nimh-

Larry Hryb: And American Tale.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, yeah.

Larry Hryb: And it was one of the original disc-

Jeff Rubenstein: Laser discs.

Larry Hryb: Laser disc games, right, video disc games.

Jeff Rubenstein: It's from the 90s, right?

Larry Hryb: Oh God, late 80s, early 90s. It's definitely something I wanna check out.

Jeff Rubenstein: I just remember it was really expensive-

Larry Hryb: Yes.

Jeff Rubenstein: To play in the arcade.

Larry Hryb: Right.

Jeff Rubenstein: And now you can just own it, all three of them, for 20 bucks.

Larry Hryb: Right.

Jeff Rubenstein: I mean, I think we might've had it before, in previous generations. If there's a generation, there's a Dragon's Lair.

Larry Hryb: Right.

Jeff Rubenstein: So, and just another game I just want to point out real quickly. This is more of a indie game and priced according from Curve Digital, American Fugitive. It reminds me of ... You remember the ... When people think of Grand Theft Auto-

Larry Hryb: Yes.

Jeff Rubenstein: They think of ... They really mean Grand Theft Auto 3 and beyond.

Larry Hryb: And beyond, right.

Jeff Rubenstein: When it fully went 3D. But the first two Grand Theft Autos were top down affairs.

Larry Hryb: Right, right.

Jeff Rubenstein: But it was still open world. And I remember playing it and it was still revelatory at that time cause there wasn't a game like it.

Larry Hryb: Right.

Jeff Rubenstein: But then when GTA 3 came out, it ... I mean, we were not ready. Well, anyway, American Fugitive seems like if you were to remake one of GTA 1 and 2 in the modern era, what would that look like. So it's still mostly top down, isometric-

Larry Hryb: I'll tell you what it would look like!

Jeff Rubenstein: It would look a lot like American Fugitive.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Jeff Rubenstein: So, looks interesting, looks worth your ... worth a shot. I haven't played it yet, but it definitely caught my eye, so I wanted to pass that on to you.

Larry Hryb: Yes.

Jeff Rubenstein: Check it out, take a look. And a couple other games coming out next week. Layers of Fear 2, this looks really scary. You're playing as a Hollywood actor who heeds the call of an enigmatic director to take the lead of a film shoot aboard an ocean liner. They're alone.

Larry Hryb: My heart will go on. That's Titanic, it could be.

Jeff Rubenstein: It could be.

Larry Hryb: Okay.

Jeff Rubenstein: It could be. The goal is to find the heart of the ocean. Cricket 19, I know you're a big cricket fan.

Larry Hryb: I don't actually know that game. I want to, but I just don't understand it.

Jeff Rubenstein: It's like baseball, but-

Larry Hryb: But not.

Jeff Rubenstein: But an inning lasts forever.

Larry Hryb: But it takes two weeks to play.

Jeff Rubenstein: And ever and ever and they bounce the ball. Anyway. And you can hit it in any direction. That's out next week, it is Xbox One XEnhanced. Outer Wilds, like we had mentioned. War Hammer Chaos Bane, this one is Xbox One XEnhanced and you can play it solo or up to four people in local or online co-op. And Hick's Ark, another Xbox One XEnhanced game, which is ... There's a purple dragon, so I immediately think of Spyro. So except it's more pixel-y.

Larry Hryb: Right.

Jeff Rubenstein: And then another RPG. Actually, an RPG, action strategy, card battler, also Xbox One XEnhanced, thank you very much. Gollum Gates, and that will be out on May 31st. And then one game that became available for pre-order, this weekend, which I'm very much looking forward to-

Larry Hryb: Which one?

Jeff Rubenstein: Bloodstained Ritual of the Night.

Larry Hryb: Yes.

Jeff Rubenstein: So this Igarashi, Igarashi-san, who is the creator of Castlevania. And actually I think there was a Castlevania ... The original three games have been remastered recently and been re-released.

Larry Hryb: Right.

Jeff Rubenstein: I love me some Castlevania 2 and 3. So this is sort of the spiritual successor. These guys released an amazing trailer, cause we've been hearing about this game for a while. And it was first revealed, I don't remember exactly when, but people had a lot of feedback, let's say, on the game, and they took that feedback and they enhanced it and made it look ... They've owned up to not meeting the expectations of certain fans in a very hilarious way in the trailer, which I will link out to. And, anyway, now it's looking better than ever, and it's out on June 17th, so really, shortly after we get back from E3, this is what I'll be jumping into. And it's coming out and you can pre-order it now.

Larry Hryb: Yay!

Jeff Rubenstein: Last thing, we mentioned Avalanche-

Larry Hryb: We did mention it.

Jeff Rubenstein: We mentioned Just Cause. Just Cause 4 actually just released a big spring update that improved everything from the world's lighting, add more things to do, improve the combat AI, there's new mobile chaos objects, destructible metal train bridges, you're gonna be able to blow more stuff up than ever.

Larry Hryb: Right.

Jeff Rubenstein: And you like to do that.

Larry Hryb: Well, who doesn't? That's what Just Cause is all about.

Jeff Rubenstein: I mean, you've got tornadoes. Anyway, it's always good to see a developer continue to support their game and make it better-

Larry Hryb: Post launch.

Jeff Rubenstein: And, yes, that's what the developers of Just Cause 4 have done for you, the gamer.

Larry Hryb: All right, you ready?

Jeff Rubenstein: For?

Larry Hryb: The big ... Well, it's on now, it ends Tuesday. The big [Back Compat 00:28:57] sale.

Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, yes.

Larry Hryb: All the games.

Jeff Rubenstein: The biggest ever.

Larry Hryb: Like ... It's just ... Go look at this, it's ... Go to my blog, majornelson.com, and pinned at the top is the blog post that has all of the details on it, all the sales, but just go check it out for yourself. But if you wanna go revisit some classics, and own them digitally, now is the time, my friend, now is the time.

Jeff Rubenstein: And there's stuff in there that's been enhanced for Xbox One X.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Jeff Rubenstein: They're better than ever.

Larry Hryb: Yup.

Jeff Rubenstein: You're gonna want to get on that.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Jeff Rubenstein: There's now, I think I was reading, something near to 560-

Larry Hryb: There is, there is.

Jeff Rubenstein: 360 games, more than 360 games-

Larry Hryb: Way more.

Jeff Rubenstein: That's just amazing.

Larry Hryb: It's extraordinary.

Jeff Rubenstein: The team has done-

Larry Hryb: They're still churning them out. I mean, I love those guys and girls, they are some smart cookies down there.

Jeff Rubenstein: Well, thank you.

Larry Hryb: Thank you. Oh- [crosstalk 00:29:46]

Jeff Rubenstein: Yes. Yes, that's all the news I've got. Isn't that enough for you?

Larry Hryb: Well, it is. I mean, we're headed into E3, we talked about-

Jeff Rubenstein: Which is two weeks away.

Larry Hryb: Two weeks away. We got a lot going on. You can join us virtually or in person, for those of you that are going to Fan Festival, we'll look forward to seeing you.

Jeff Rubenstein: Mm-hmm (affirmative).

Larry Hryb: We have a lot in store. So we're not gonna do a show next week. We're able to do one this week, Jeff was traveling, so we couldn't get in. But he and I-

Jeff Rubenstein: Just put it on me.

Larry Hryb: He and-

Jeff Rubenstein: What we wanted to get in the studio-

Larry Hryb: I know.

Jeff Rubenstein: And at least talk a little bit because we hadn't been in so long.

Larry Hryb: So there you go.

Jeff Rubenstein: Here we are.

Larry Hryb: All right.

Jeff Rubenstein: Anything else? Look, it was mostly me talking-

Larry Hryb: No, but you-

Jeff Rubenstein: And this is Major Nelson radio.

Larry Hryb: No, it is, but it's more of a ... It's a royal Major Nelson ... It's we, it's we. Now if you have any questions, feel free to hit us up on Twitter, at majornelson, you have any complaints you hit it up, at jeffrubenstein.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, always.

Larry Hryb: Always.

Jeff Rubenstein: I love your complaints.

Larry Hryb: You know what I'm working on?

Jeff Rubenstein: No.

Larry Hryb: I got this ... This is in the quasi-gadgets section, I have a new washlet for my house.

Jeff Rubenstein: Go on.

Larry Hryb: For those of you who don't know, Jeff and I-

Jeff Rubenstein: We love our fancy toilets.

Larry Hryb: Independently, we have fallen in love with the plumbing in Japan.

Jeff Rubenstein: It's a wonderful country and that's the piece you can bring home with you.

Larry Hryb: Yeah, it sure is. So I have [Kohler 00:31:03], which is an American company, I believe they're an American company, they have sent me one of their washlets and I have been testing that. I'll post some photos.

Jeff Rubenstein: Okay.

Larry Hryb: It's quite, quite fancy as you would imagine.

Jeff Rubenstein: Can I come over and try it?

Larry Hryb: Yeah, absolutely!

Jeff Rubenstein: I would love to do that.

Larry Hryb: You can go bounce between the three different toilets.

Jeff Rubenstein: Look, I just wanna see it.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Jeff Rubenstein: It's one of those things where I invite people over and I'm like "Please, here's a magazine-"

Larry Hryb: "Here's the instructions."

Jeff Rubenstein: "Here's some nice music-"

Larry Hryb: "Here's the instructions."

Jeff Rubenstein: "I'm gonna leave you alone. See you later, have fun."

Larry Hryb: Yeah. Highly recommend it, it's-

Jeff Rubenstein: It should be part of the Kohler-Toto influencer program.

Larry Hryb: We absolutely are, for Pete's sakes!

Jeff Rubenstein: That's our ... This is an unpaid endorsement.

Larry Hryb: We have to ... You have to understand how important this is.

Jeff Rubenstein: I feel like your life improves.

Larry Hryb: Significantly.

Jeff Rubenstein: And I want you-

Larry Hryb: I'll tell you what I'm looking forward to, and this is a little bit inside baseball, can I tell you?

Jeff Rubenstein: How very inside?

Larry Hryb: Can I tell you?

Jeff Rubenstein: Go.

Larry Hryb: Cause you went through this, you have walked this path. I'm looking forward to teaching my daughter how to use it.

Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, absolutely, absolutely.

Larry Hryb: So, she's not quite there yet, but she will be.

Jeff Rubenstein: No, it's our duty as fathers-

Larry Hryb: Yes.

Jeff Rubenstein: To make sure our daughters have a better life-

Larry Hryb: Right, right.

Jeff Rubenstein: Than we had growing up.

Larry Hryb: And they can carry on this mantle that we have decided to take up. All right, I think let's end it on that note.

Jeff Rubenstein: A note we ... I guess if you've been listening to the show this long, you expect it.

Larry Hryb: Now, just a quick programming note. We talked about it, we talked about the briefing, which is Sunday.

Jeff Rubenstein: Sunday, June 9th.

Larry Hryb: Sunday, June 9th. We will be doing Inside Xbox. Should we tell folks when we're doing that?

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. We're doing it on Monday.

Larry Hryb: Monday. I don't know what the time is.

Jeff Rubenstein: I don't know either.

Larry Hryb: I should be ... Let me just double check. Do you have it in front of you?

Jeff Rubenstein: Looks like other people have been searching for it because it auto-filled on the search engine. I don't think we have issued the time.

Larry Hryb: All I know is it's Monday.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yup.

Larry Hryb: So it's Monday, the day after our briefing. We'll have an Inside Xbox, which is I'll be on the show, Jeff will be on the show, the rest of the cast of characters will be on the show. We'll talk about-

Jeff Rubenstein: I can't wait to get out there.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Jeff Rubenstein: I haven't been on in a while, so it'll be fun.

Larry Hryb: And, and, I think later, Wednesday, two days later? We're doing our show, this show, Major Nelson Radio on Mixer.

Jeff Rubenstein: So they know what we get to do?

Larry Hryb: What?

Jeff Rubenstein: Is we gotta play a bunch of games so we can talk about it.

Larry Hryb: Well I'm gonna see who we can get on for guests. I think I got one of those guests we talked about earlier, I think I'll try to get that person.

Jeff Rubenstein: Oh.

Larry Hryb: Right?

Jeff Rubenstein: Yes, that would be great.

Larry Hryb: I'll try to get that person.

Jeff Rubenstein: That would be great.

Larry Hryb: So, we'll see.

Jeff Rubenstein: I can't wait. I'm so excited.

Larry Hryb: We're excited, you know what, we are just-

Jeff Rubenstein: Next two weeks are just gonna fly by.

Larry Hryb: Yup. So, we're gonna wrap it up cause we gotta get ready. Thank you for listening, downloading the show and listening to it. Again, hit me on Twitter at majornelson. You can hit the blog at majornelson.com to find out more details, a lot of what Jeff talked about. And then Jeff they can find you on social where?

Jeff Rubenstein: At jeffrubenstein.

Larry Hryb: Now what about your ... Do you have an Instagram for your shoe collection?

Jeff Rubenstein: It's the same thing.

Larry Hryb: Oh, it is.

Jeff Rubenstein: At ... [inaudible 00:33:58]

Larry Hryb: If you really like Asian food and shoes-

Jeff Rubenstein: Coffee, coffee, coffee.

Larry Hryb: Jeff's the man. Coffee?

Jeff Rubenstein: Please say coffee.

Larry Hryb: And coffee.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, so there you go. I love me some coffee.

Larry Hryb: All right gang, we'll see you in a few weeks at E3. Thank you and get ready. Bye-bye everybody!

Jeff Rubenstein: Bye!

Larry Hryb: Hi, it's Larry Hryb, Xbox Live's Major Nelson. Welcome to the show 637. Sitting here at the end of April 2019. Hi, Jeffrey.

Jeff Rubenstein: It's been a little while.

Larry Hryb: You know, I was looking through our notes. Last time we were on the air was at Pax East.

Jeff Rubenstein: It's a lot quieter now.

Larry Hryb: It is. We're back in our studio. We're hanging out. It's lovely.

Jeff Rubenstein: But it's not as quiet as it normally is when we do one of these.

Larry Hryb: Right.

Jeff Rubenstein: There's other people in there! Do we know who they are?

Larry Hryb: We do. Don't worry. Don't look at Jeff in the face! We've got special guest, Mr. Scott Weber is joining us. Hi Scott.

Scott Weber: Hello. How are you?

Larry Hryb: You are... you work on the third party accessories team for Xbox.

Scott Weber: Correct. I do.

Larry Hryb: So, you are responsible for a lot of things. In fact, I was tweeting out earlier this week, and we had you on this week on Xbox to talk about the new headset.

Scott Weber: Indeed, yeah. A new steel series coming out. Arctis 9X.

Larry Hryb: We're going to talk about that later on the show, Jeff.

Jeff Rubenstein: I just want to... What is 3rd party accessories? What does that mean? For those listening. Want to start [crosstalk 00:01:30]?

Scott Weber: Okay.

Larry Hryb: Let's get in the nitty gritty of it.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, [crosstalk 00:01:32].

Scott Weber: 3rd party accessories is anything you walk into the store, and has that green Xbox bar across the top of it, designed for Xbox badge. That means it came through our program. So, they're the license partners. We have 30 plus license partners, and we make accessories for Xbox. We work with them in all sorts of categories. So, audio is probably our biggest category. But then-

Larry Hryb: Headsets and stuff.

Scott Weber: Yeah, headsets, Chad Headsets, big like, and super expensive. Cool. High-end headsets like Astro.

Jeff Rubenstein: I love all of them.

Scott Weber: All the super premium stuff. And then steering wheels is a big thing for us. Storage, working with CGate. And then, yeah, all sorts of other fringe stuff that's on the periphery.

Larry Hryb: So he brought a bag of stuff later. Some cool accessories.

Scott Weber: I got goodies.

Larry Hryb: Stuff that has been announced and stuff that we... I've never seen before.

Jeff Rubenstein: Well if you haven't seen it, does it really exist?

Larry Hryb: Well, I'm telling you. So we're going to talk about that later, but I wanted to just bring Scott in since he and I chatted on This Week on Xbox, and like "I got to get you on the show."

Scott Weber: Alright.

Larry Hryb: Got to get him on the show.

Jeff Rubenstein: You know there's a lot of other stuff you have to talk about to?

Larry Hryb: We talk about what we're playing. I already prepped him.

Scott Weber: I'm ready for it.

Larry Hryb: I prepped him. So do you want to start with what we're playing? Do you want to go into the headlines, Jeff? What do you want to do?

Jeff Rubenstein: Let's stick with the plan.

Larry Hryb: I mean, what are we going to sample?

Jeff Rubenstein: Let's ease into it. Like an old man into a warm bath.

Larry Hryb: [laughter] Okay, that's something I didn't need [crosstalk 00:02:45].

Jeff Rubenstein: That was a Seinfeld line or something.

Larry Hryb: Well, I'm playing Human Fall Flat.

Jeff Rubenstein: Really?

Larry Hryb: Yeah. Have you played that Scott?

Scott Weber: I have not.

Larry Hryb: It's a puzzle game. You can use... There are multiple... You should try it, we should try co-op sometime.

Jeff Rubenstein: Okay. Wait, okay.

Larry Hryb: It's co-op. Basically you're this...

Jeff Rubenstein: Like a rag doll, right?

Larry Hryb: Yeah. You're like this blobby, oozy old man sliding into a bath tub.

Jeff Rubenstein: See, I knew where we were going with this.

Larry Hryb: And it's, it's you have to solve puzzles. And it's a lot of fun.

Jeff Rubenstein: I believe it's like one of the more popular games on Xbox Game Pass.

Larry Hryb: I think it is too.

Jeff Rubenstein: I just feel like a lot of people were introduced to that game via the power of it being included within the 100 days.

Larry Hryb: Right. Because the barrier to entry, as they say, is like "I'll download this," and download it and hey, it's actually kind of fun.

Jeff Rubenstein: I've downloaded it, I've just never gone to it. Because I've watched people play on streaming services, and it just really fun. It just looks ridiculous.

Larry Hryb: It is. It is. So that's why I know there's a multi-player component to it.

Jeff Rubenstein: Alright.

Larry Hryb: Or co... I should say co-op, it's not multi-player. It's not PvP.

Jeff Rubenstein: Got it.

Larry Hryb: PvP.

Jeff Rubenstein: Can I smack you, though? Because I feel like I would probably do that.

Larry Hryb: Probably.

Jeff Rubenstein: Let's do that.

Larry Hryb: So I'm playing that. Of course I've been racking up the wins in Apex in the latest season of Apex.

Jeff Rubenstein: You're pretty... So, okay. So last week was Inside Xbox.

Larry Hryb: Yes.[crosstalk 00:04:02].

Jeff Rubenstein: And I was watching, and I love watching the chat as it's streaming by at near the speed of light.

Larry Hryb: It's faster than light.

Jeff Rubenstein: There was an Apex reference that you had in there.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Jeff Rubenstein: And someone was like-

Larry Hryb: Mozambique.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. Well, someone was like "Oh, he doesn't play Apex." And I was like "Excuse me."

Larry Hryb: [laughter]

Jeff Rubenstein: The comment was gone before I could possibly reply.

Larry Hryb: Well, I sent you my Battle Pass number. My Battle Pass level.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yes. You're like in the 40s.

Larry Hryb: 43 and seven eighths. It's like a hat size. [laughter]

Jeff Rubenstein: Really big hat. Considering I'm at like 15.

Larry Hryb: Right.

Jeff Rubenstein: I mean, because, you know, it is a grind to unlock all that stuff.

Larry Hryb: It is.

Jeff Rubenstein: That's pretty far ahead.

Larry Hryb: I'm grinding away. Do you play any Apex, Scott?

Scott Weber: I'm not an Apex play, no.

Larry Hryb: Okay. What are you playing, by the way?

Scott Weber: I'm on FIFA 19 all day, every day.

Jeff Rubenstein: I was playing a lot of that this week too.

Scott Weber: Yeah. So I'm deep into the Ultimate team levels there.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. Fut, you're Futmen.

Scott Weber: I'm a Futmen. Yeah. So we got team of the season coming out here in a couple of weeks, hopefully.

Jeff Rubenstein: Tots.

Scott Weber: Tots.

Larry Hryb: Tots, that's right.

Scott Weber: Tots, yeah. Very, very excited for that. Hoarding those coins, waiting for those new packs to drop.

Larry Hryb: Cha-ching, cha-ching. That's... Yeah, we've played FIFA a couple times.

Jeff Rubenstein: We have, you know, occasionally. I'm a big FIFA fan.

Larry Hryb: Yep.

Jeff Rubenstein: And you're a Madden fan.

Larry Hryb: In fact he's such a big football fan, sometimes Jeff will actually tune out of meetings to watch games live stream.

Jeff Rubenstein: Here's what I found out.

Scott Weber: Well, the champion's league is in the middle of the day. How are you not going to put it on?

Jeff Rubenstein: A lot, I'm mean... There's a lot of games during the middle of the day right now.

Scott Weber: It's very true.

Larry Hryb: I have to show you this. So if you follow me on Instagram, I put up an Instagram story. You can find me[crosstalk 00:05:40].

Jeff Rubenstein: Instagram.com, slash Major Nelson.

Larry Hryb: But I put up an Instagram story yesterday of you playing.

Jeff Rubenstein: I know. Like I can't do anything-

Larry Hryb: So I have that up there.

Jeff Rubenstein: -if I am not eyes focused on the monitor and typing out an important memo. Larry seems to be able to capture it, whether I'm playing Apex or watching Arsenal play during a meeting.

Larry Hryb: Let me show you this. Someone across from you in the meeting that we both know. And look at the bottom. He sent me a DM. Who's a big friend.

Jeff Rubenstein: [laughter]

Larry Hryb: This is one of the Game Pass guys, who was in that meeting. He's like "I knew it, I knew it!"

Jeff Rubenstein: That's not great. Yeah.

Scott Weber: Matt, where you going to call him out? I know him too. [laughter]

Larry Hryb: I have no shame.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, no, that's... At least wait like a week, so they go "Wait, was that in my meeting?" You know, "Could I have been more interesting?"

Larry Hryb: Well, it turns out, so Graeme Boyde, AceyBongos, you're familiar with him, he saw that and he ran into me in the hallway. He's like “Yeah, I kind of do that to.” Apparently when it's on he'll sit in the back of the meeting, quietly in a corner.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. That's when I put the laptop, I take it off the table and I put it in my lap. And I have it a little folded down. Look, it's the time zones. We have to deal with what we have to do. I'm finding my own work life balance at work.

Larry Hryb: We're going to talk about, so we talked about FIFA, we talked about that. So here's something you don't know. This is actually-

Jeff Rubenstein: It's going to be a very long list. How much time do we have?

Larry Hryb: It's a... So Scott here, on the third party accessories team, he actually hosts his own podcast on Mariners baseball.

Jeff Rubenstein: Really?

Scott Weber: I do.

Jeff Rubenstein: They're doing pretty well this year, aren't they?

Scott Weber: Yeah, they are. We'll see if it lasts.

Jeff Rubenstein: I know. The Phillies started five and one, and I was pretty happy too.

Larry Hryb: We're make sure we put a link in the show notes. We'll talk about it towards the end of the show as well.

Scott Weber: Sure.

Larry Hryb: But I just want to say he's also a fellow podcaster.

Jeff Rubenstein: That's good.

Scott Weber: Set up not as nice as this. We were talking about it before we came on.

Jeff Rubenstein: This is quite the setup.

Scott Weber: It's pretty nice.

Jeff Rubenstein: Up in here in Major towers.

Larry Hryb: This is a nice studio. We're fortunate because we've been doing this. I don't know if you know this, but... So I've been doing the podcast, my podcast, this podcast for how long, Jeff?

Jeff Rubenstein: 16 years?

Larry Hryb: 16 years. So we've done over 500 episodes.

Scott Weber: I heard the number at the beginning. It's impressive

Larry Hryb: It's ridiculous, it's ridiculous.

Jeff Rubenstein: Let's not get into the specifics of the number.

Larry Hryb: Yeah the number... It may be a hundred less. I don't know.

Scott Weber: It's hotly contested.

Larry Hryb: But I will say we have hundreds and hundreds of shows.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yes.

Larry Hryb: Can you agree with me on that, Jeff?

Jeff Rubenstein: I know. This is still one of my favorite times of the week. We actually talk about the things we do. I mean, we just play so much Apex, Larry.

Larry Hryb: You have to remember. So Jeff and I, obviously we're very good friends. I see him during the week. We're playing Apex at night. On the weekend sometimes I'll stop by your house, or we'll meet up somewhere.

Jeff Rubenstein: You're always in my neighborhood. I must have good stores near where I live.

Larry Hryb: Oh, it's the Asian food.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, it's pretty good. We have some... There are five Thai places I can walk to.

Larry Hryb: That's true.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.

Larry Hryb: Alright, alright.

Scott Weber: You live on the Ave.?

Jeff Rubenstein: Ah, no, no, but not far.

Scott Weber: Got it.

Jeff Rubenstein: And you know what else came out this week?

Larry Hryb: Oh, bring it back [crosstalk 00:08:38].

Jeff Rubenstein: I hate to keep us on track.

Larry Hryb: We hate to talk about games, but go ahead.

Jeff Rubenstein: Mortal Kombat.

Larry Hryb: That's right.

Jeff Rubenstein: It's so good. Mortal Kombat 11. Have you played any of the recent Mortal Kombat? Nine or ten?

Scott Weber: I played, the one, I think it was ten.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.

Scott Weber: Came out in like 2015.

Jeff Rubenstein: You can call it X.

Scott Weber: X.

Larry Hryb: Right, it's always that "Do I call it X or do I call it ten."

Scott Weber: Mortal Kombat X. Going to give it to you.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yes.

Scott Weber: Pretty fun. Pretty fun. And I'm not like a fighting game guy, but I mean I grew up playing Mortal Kombat. Right? That's a-

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, who didn't? I used to go to a bowling alley.

Scott Weber: Yeah.

Larry Hryb: Well, just so you know, Scott. Sitting in that very third spot one year was Ed Boone, the creator of Mortal Kombat.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, that's right.

Larry Hryb: Remember, we had him on the show.

Jeff Rubenstein: E3. Actually when Mortal Kombat X was first playable.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Jeff Rubenstein: And we had him on, and he told us how he designs all of the fatalities as stick figure drawings. And what's amazing is now playing Mortal Kombat 11 where there's the most just insane fatalities. You would think after now 11 games plus a number of like sort of side spin off games, there's no further ways to do a fatality. You're wrong.

Scott Weber: [laughter]

Jeff Rubenstein: You're wrong. The level... He's the nicest guy, and the weirdest stuff comes out of his brain.

Larry Hryb: Yeah, he's great.

Jeff Rubenstein: And they've gone over into like parody. I remember, if you go back to 1993-

Larry Hryb: Have they jumped the shark?

Jeff Rubenstein: No.

Larry Hryb: [laughter]

Jeff Rubenstein: You go back to 1993, and it was like "Oh, this is gruesome and uh." But now they're like, they're kind of funny.

Larry Hryb: [crosstalk 00:10:07].

Jeff Rubenstein: They're so over the top, especially Johnny Cage's stuff, it's legitimately laugh out loud funny. And Cassie Cage. A lot of these fatalities-

Scott Weber: I saw one of the Cassie Cage ones, yeah.

Jeff Rubenstein: -you're like, did that really happen. Yeah, where she does the heart, the thing. Anyway. It's just, you have to play it. There's even a fatality trainer.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Jeff Rubenstein: So you can just practice those.

Scott Weber: That's great, that's great. Would have been great in 93.

Jeff Rubenstein: Oh my. Back then, like back in the day. Because I didn't have internet. I'd never even bought a computer om 1993. I was a kid. You had to like go, and you had to watch people's hands, like at the arcade.

Larry Hryb: Right, at the arcade.

Jeff Rubenstein: Because people would not want to share it. Like maybe if I lost to someone like six times in a row, they'd be like "Here's how you do that kick."

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Jeff Rubenstein: You know, or whatever. But like you had to write it down, and you had to like memorize it. It took a lot. And then what you would do is you would hoard that knowledge. So I remember one time for Mortal Kombat 2 when it first came out, this must have been, I don't know, 94, 95. My neighborhood had one, and I had been, again, jealousy watching people, and I had picked up quite a bit.

Larry Hryb: Is this when you're Philadelphia?

Jeff Rubenstein: No, this is in south Florida. This is Miami.

Larry Hryb: Okay, south Florida.

Jeff Rubenstein: And then one of my best friends at the time, his parents where split up, and he was like "Hey, come on up. We're going to my mom's house. She lives in Boca." [crosstalk 00:11:21]. We went up to Boca. Boca Vista, phase two.

Scott Weber: There we go. It was number two.

Larry Hryb: [laughter]

Jeff Rubenstein: And Will Chamberlain, like basketball player, hall of famer Will Chamberlain had a restaurant called... And it was sort of like an arcade. Sort of like an early bar-cade. Like a restaurant as well. And we get there, and they'd just gotten their Mortal Kombat 2 machine.

Larry Hryb: Right.

Jeff Rubenstein: And people were flocking to it, but they had never played Mortal Kombat 2. They didn't know anything, and I knew all the moves.

Larry Hryb: Uh oh, so you were-

Jeff Rubenstein: So we get there, and there was like an hour wait to sit. And I put my quarter up, and I start playing. I'm starting winning. And then it's like "Okay, the table's ready." "I'll be right there as soon as I lose." "Okay, we're putting in our order." "I'll be there as soon as I lose." "The foods here." "I'll be ready as soon as I lose." "We're paying the bill."

Larry Hryb: You ran the table? [laughter]

Jeff Rubenstein: 24 straight matches that I won. I lost on the 25th. It was not fair, because I knew all the moves for like five different characters, and one person came up like five or six... I took him for like three bucks, which this was the 90s, that's worth like 80 dollars in today's dollars. And anyway, now you can just look it up. And now actually you just pause it and all the moves are there. Which is great for being able to level the playing field, and you find out whose actually good. I needed that level of like government secrecy to hold that over people in order to rack up that win streak. Didn't eat dinner that day, though.

Larry Hryb: There's a lot more things we needed to remember back in the day, you know. Like we've got... We needed to remember directions, now you've got it in your phone. You've got GPS in your phone.

Jeff Rubenstein: Life is so much better now.

Scott Weber: It is. You know, back then you could hoard that knowledge, or you could have someone call like the... If you had like Super Nintendo or something, they could call 900 number.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yes, yes.

Scott Weber: The Nintendo Power 900 number. And that was like three dollars a minute or something.

Larry Hryb: We actually-

Scott Weber: I mean it was absurdly expensive.

Larry Hryb: We actually work with somebody on our team who used to work on that line.

Scott Weber: That's amazing.

Larry Hryb: Because Nintendo is right around the corner from us. So he would tell us stories about that. How back in-

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, and advanced really high into the industry with that as their first job. Like sitting there with this giant book of tips.

Larry Hryb: Oh yeah. And he was describing the book to us on the Zeldas. It was... Anyway. So yeah, so Mortal Kombat. In fact, we like to surprise and delight on this show.

Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, go on.

Larry Hryb: You ready?

Jeff Rubenstein: Yes.

Larry Hryb: Alright.

Jeff Rubenstein: I'm surprised.

Larry Hryb: Get your NATO alphabet ready. Whiskey Three Seven Foxtrot Yankee Juliet Hotel Delta Queen Three. Foxtrot Nine Four Whiskey. Victor Foxtrot Delta Four Delta Kilo Hotel Whiskey X-raY Three. And then there's one more. If you can figure out what the one more is, you can get a copy of Mortal Kombat.

Jeff Rubenstein: Did you just activate a sleeper cell from like a Tom Clancy book?

Larry Hryb: I'm just, that was a code for Mortal Kombat 11.

Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, hey.

Larry Hryb: But you need to figure out what the last one is. And I'll give you a clue. If you watch, if you play FIFA or if you're from not the United States, it's how you refer to...

Jeff Rubenstein: That sport?

Larry Hryb: No. How do I say this? It is a... It is what... It's the last... I don't want to say anymore.

Jeff Rubenstein: People are like hitting fast forward right now to get this explanation.

Scott Weber: I mean, what do we got. We got 36 possible combinations of what I'm told.

Larry Hryb: It's the first letter of another name for zombies.

Jeff Rubenstein: Okay.

Scott Weber: Okay.

Jeff Rubenstein: Where did FIFA come from there?

Larry Hryb: I don't know, I went off the rails.

Scott Weber: There's a connection point later.

Larry Hryb: No, there may not be a connection. Anyway, good luck to anybody who got that. I'm sure it's already gone. So don't email me if you say it didn't work.

Jeff Rubenstein: No, you'll tweet at me, I'm sure.

Larry Hryb: Wow, that was a waste of time. Let's move on, Jeffery. Shall we? [laughter]

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. So Apex, we've been playing a ton of. And then Operencia. I know I've talked about his once or twice. This will be the last time. This is an Xbox Game Pass RPG.

Larry Hryb: Yes.

Jeff Rubenstein: Old school sort of in its make up, but very new in the way it looks. Just highly recommend it. It's just really fun. Based off of Hungarian mythology, which if you're like me, you know nothing about it.

Larry Hryb: What, that was your minor in college, wasn't it?

Jeff Rubenstein: Ah, no. That was Bulgarian. One country down.

Larry Hryb: Okay, sorry.

Jeff Rubenstein: Or two. Now I got to look at a map. Anyway, Operencia: The Stolen Sun. It's on Xbox Game Pass. Definitely worth getting after.

Larry Hryb: Yes. Get after it.

Jeff Rubenstein: You can. Oh, one more thing. Guacamelee 2. I think I've talked about before. So good.

Larry Hryb: Yeah, you have talked about before.

Jeff Rubenstein: It's so good.

Larry Hryb: Have you played that one, Scott?

Scott Weber: I have not.

Jeff Rubenstein: The original Guacamelee I believe is still on Xbox Game Pass. One of the best Metroidvanias. You're playing a luchador, an undead luchador. It's really good. It has the right level of challenge, fun, great music. Guacamelee 2 is more Guacamelee, which is-

Larry Hryb: Guacamelee-er.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yes.

Scott Weber: I've got a lot to play.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Jeff Rubenstein: You do.

Scott Weber: I've got a lot to play.

Larry Hryb: We all do.

Scott Weber: This is what happens with FIFA and Ultimate team. You'll like "I should play something else." And then they go "New content." More, new content.

Jeff Rubenstein: That's me with Apex. It's like "Alright, I'm going to play a game I haven't beaten yet." And then I'm like "Oh, all these people are on? Where are we dropping, boys?"

Larry Hryb: And then the new content for Assassin's Creed Odyssey.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yes. I downloaded[crosstalk 00:16:22].

Larry Hryb: Right.

Scott Weber: Oh my gosh.

Jeff Rubenstein: It looks so good.

Larry Hryb: Have you played that?

Scott Weber: I... Have I played it. I decided like a fool to 100% the game.

Larry Hryb: What?

Scott Weber: I did.

Larry Hryb: Now, Jeff, you did that, right?

Jeff Rubenstein: No.

Scott Weber: Every single location completed.

Larry Hryb: Assassin's Creed Odyssey, the latest one. How did you... How long did that take you?

Scott Weber: 110 hours.

Larry Hryb: Holy cow.

Jeff Rubenstein: And you know what, worth it.

Scott Weber: Ah, there's a sense of self accomplishment to it.

Jeff Rubenstein: Sure.

Larry Hryb: [crosstalk 00:16:44].

Scott Weber: You know, and I like that. They changed the achievement, which is really annoying. In Origins, when you got every single question, completed them all, there was a rare achievement that you got.

Larry Hryb: Right.

Scott Weber: And then they changed it. They made it easier in Odyssey, that you just had to travel to every location and not complete them. Even travel to like every island.

Larry Hryb: Right.

Scott Weber: So I didn't get that big, like, ding when I got every single one, but in my heart I felt it. I knew it. For me I felt it.

Jeff Rubenstein: Cassandra or Alexios?

Scott Weber: Cassandra.

Jeff Rubenstein: You are allowed to stay for the remainder of the show.

Larry Hryb: You passed.

Scott Weber: Cassandra.

Jeff Rubenstein: So this Fate of Atlantis DLC looks so good.

Scott Weber: It looks really cool.

Jeff Rubenstein: Because is spent, I think I only spent a mere 80 hours in Odyssey, and I can't wait to go back. So that's something I'll do this week. If stop being online for Apex, Larry, then I will be doing this. It came out this week. I'm going to link to a trailer, because I looked at this. This is not the first piece of DLC for the game.

Scott Weber: Correct.

Jeff Rubenstein: But this one was just like, this is the one you've been waiting for. And it's going to be a three parter, as well.

Larry Hryb: As any good story is.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yes. And epic in three parts.

Larry Hryb: An epic in three parts.

Jeff Rubenstein: I will link out to the trailer.

Larry Hryb: An epic Greek tragedy in three parts. Or is it? I don't know.

Scott Weber: Indeed.

Jeff Rubenstein: I don't know.

Larry Hryb: Alright. What else do we have for news there, Jeffery?

Jeff Rubenstein: Alright, so Mortal Kombat like we talked about. Now available on Xbox One. There are a couple different varieties. If you didn't pre-order to get Shao Khan, well you can still pick him up. He is an addable purchasable character, as well as Frost.

Jeff Rubenstein: Kingdom Hearts 3.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Jeff Rubenstein: I think I saw something that said this is the best selling game of the year so far. So congrats to Square Enix. They definitely... You know, good things come to those who wait. And if you've beaten Kingdom Hearts 3 and said "This is too easy." Well, there is a critical mode update to challenge you.

Larry Hryb: Is anybody saying that?

Jeff Rubenstein: I don't know.

Scott Weber: If they are, we've got them covered.

Jeff Rubenstein: I mean, it's not... I didn't beat it. So I would say it can... The battle was a lot of fun, I don't know if it was super hard. But anyway, this critical mode cuts Sora's hit points and magic points in half and decreases the frequency of situation commands and magic. Like when you summon like the electric light train or something like that that definitely helps sway the balance in these big battles. Anyway, it's now available as an update in Kingdom Hearts 3. You will see it if you try to start a new game. Don't forget, that game is enhanced for Xbox One X.

Larry Hryb: Yes. And it looks so good.

Scott Weber: Beautiful.

Jeff Rubenstein: So new trailer came out just the other day for Shores of Gold.

Larry Hryb: Oh.

Jeff Rubenstein: Shores of Gold is part of Sea of Thieves Tall Tales.

Larry Hryb: Yes.

Jeff Rubenstein: Which is a more story driven element coming to Sea of Thieves. Their anniversary update, April 30th. Which is really soon.

Larry Hryb: And also past their anniversary, but... [laughter]

Jeff Rubenstein: This is their anniversary year.

Larry Hryb: It's the same area, yeah.

Jeff Rubenstein: Anyway, coming for Xbox. If you have Xbox Game Pass or on Xbox One you have the game. Windows 10 PC coming out. There's a ton coming. There's the arena. But Shores of Gold, this tall... There's nine distinct Tall Tales. Each of which-

Larry Hryb: Is each one taller?

Jeff Rubenstein: -you can tackle as a solo player.

Larry Hryb: Is each one taller?

Jeff Rubenstein: We don't want to give away spoilers on this. That's no spoilers on Tall Tails.

Scott Weber: It's [crosstalk 00:19:59]progressive.

Larry Hryb: [laughter]

Jeff Rubenstein: No spoilers on Game of Thrones, and no spoilers on Avengers. Which I don't know if you've seen yet either. It's going to be a crazy weekend.

Larry Hryb: Yes it is.

Jeff Rubenstein: Like the next four or five days, it's going to be nuts. Anyway, so there is a trailer, if you want to get an idea of what's coming. But so many things are coming to the game. Besides Tall Tales, things like fishing, which people have been asking for.

Larry Hryb: I'll tell you what I'm really excited for.

Jeff Rubenstein: What?

Larry Hryb: Go ahead.

Jeff Rubenstein: Is it the harpoon?

Larry Hryb: Yes.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yes.

Larry Hryb: Yes.

Jeff Rubenstein: [laughter]

Larry Hryb: That harpoon. I can't wait to thump, stick in the side of a ship.

Jeff Rubenstein: Put in the side of a ship, put it in the side of a shark.

Larry Hryb: Right. Oh, there sharks.

Jeff Rubenstein: There's so many things you'll be able to do with it.

Larry Hryb: We can finally get, we can finally play again with Sketch from 343.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yes.

Larry Hryb: Whose afraid of sharks. [laughter]

Jeff Rubenstein: He's not going to be any less afraid. And now that the megaladon can appear at any place and any time.

Larry Hryb: Right.

Jeff Rubenstein: And then also ships are going to be damageable, that's a word, in more places than one. So you can like take out the mast, and you can take out like the...

Larry Hryb: Have you played Sea of Thieves?

Scott Weber: I have, yeah.

Larry Hryb: It's a lot of fun, isn't it?

Scott Weber: It's really fun.

Jeff Rubenstein: This is going to be a good time to go back, and I have a feeling a lot of people are going to be playing that. Jumping back in next week.

Larry Hryb: Yeah. I'm trying to get Craig from Rare on the show, or at least Joe. But they're getting busy to ship. And we had a little bit from Joe on Inside Xbox last week. Go back and watch that show. You'll get some more details of what Jeff talked about.

Jeff Rubenstein: Alright. Minecraft. Another game millions of people playing. Big update, if you have the Bedrock version of the game.

Larry Hryb: Yes.

Jeff Rubenstein: Which is basically if you were to download it now, that's what it would be on Xbox One, Windows 10, IOS, Android, and Nintendo Switch.

Larry Hryb: Wait whose missing? Oh, never mind. Go on.

Jeff Rubenstein: The Village and Pillage Update is out today.

Larry Hryb: Yes.

Jeff Rubenstein: And it really changes the different sort of villagers that you would encounter. First of all there's going to be a lot more of them. More things you can trade for. There's going to be a wandering-

Larry Hryb: Are they angry?

Jeff Rubenstein: Well, some of them are. The pillagers, these are like the newest mob that will appear. They can attack with a crossbow. Fortunately you can also now craft and attack a crossbow. So they've just added so much more to the game in the last couple... Like, if you haven't played Minecraft since like, let's say a year after it came out on Xbox one, there are so many more things, so many more animals, so many more things to do, so many more things to kill you. So many more materials to build with. Highly recommend you jump back in.

Larry Hryb: There's more, more, more.

Jeff Rubenstein: There's just a lot. And I love the building, but I really love, like the survival elements of the game, and so a new mob is good. And we will link out to our Minecraft dot net, where you can find more about that.

Larry Hryb: Yes.

Jeff Rubenstein: If you this weekend aren't busy with the third episode of Game of Thrones or Avengers-

Larry Hryb: Oh. are you watching Game of Thrones, Scott?

Scott Weber: Oh yeah.

Larry Hryb: Yeah, we are too.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, we're have to have a spoiler cast this summer. Not this one. If you're looking for something else to do between those episodes and that movie, Gears of War 4 and the Crew 2 have free play days this weekend.

Larry Hryb: Two different types of games.

Jeff Rubenstein: So if you have Xbox Live Gold, and if you're listening to this I'm assuming you do, by the time you're hearing this, you can find and install Gears of War 4 and the Crew 2 standard edition. We will link out to where you can find those links. Make it a little bit easier. You can play them free through midnight on Sunday, and they're also on sale... Well, the Crew 2 is on sale up to 70% off.

Larry Hryb: Fun.

Jeff Rubenstein: And Gears of War 4 is of course available as part of Xbox Game Pass, but if you don't have Game Pass, you want to try out Gears of War 4, why there's never been a better time to do it.

Larry Hryb: What are you waiting for?

Larry Hryb: Bless you, you alright?

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, that's it.

Larry Hryb: Okay. Little [inaudible 00:23:36] there, little sniff going on.

Jeff Rubenstein: A little. We're good, we're good. And that's the news.

Larry Hryb: That's just a little bit of the news. You want to catch up all of it, make sure you tune in to This Week on Xbox every Thursday on your console YouTube mixer.

Jeff Rubenstein: Facebook.

Larry Hryb: And this week you're have Scott on the show if you want to put a voice to a name and actual voice and a face to all that.

Scott Weber: See this mug.

Larry Hryb: By the way, you see what's going on across the table from you, Scott?

Scott Weber: Yeah.

Larry Hryb: Jeff's... What are you drinking there, Jeff?

Jeff Rubenstein: That's a taste of Japan right there.

Larry Hryb: Is that saki?

Jeff Rubenstein: No, no. That will be after noon.

Scott Weber: What time is it right now? [laughter]

Jeff Rubenstein: So I'm a big fan of Japan, of visiting Japan.

Larry Hryb: As am I. Have you been, Scott?

Scott Weber: I have been to Japan. My parents are actually in Japan right now, believe it or not.

Larry Hryb: So you've been?

Scott Weber: I have. I've been to Tokyo.

Larry Hryb: Okay, because we love... We talked a little bit earlier about you're a Mariners, you run a Mariners podcast. What's it called by the way?

Scott Weber: It's called Dome and Bedlam.

Larry Hryb: Dome and Bedlam.

Jeff Rubenstein: Okay.

Larry Hryb: Okay. But yeah, when we go over there, we usually go to the Tokyo Game Show, which is right next to where the Mariners Farm team plays.

Scott Weber: Ah.

Jeff Rubenstein: Chiba Marines.

Larry Hryb: Chiba. Yeah, the Chiba Marines.

Jeff Rubenstein: Well not only that, but I believe the Mariners were the first Japanese owned baseball team.

Scott Weber: Correct, yeah.

Jeff Rubenstein: That the owner of Nintendo or the president of Nintendo owned them for a long time.

Scott Weber: Indeed. No longer.

Larry Hryb: Okay. Who owns them now?

Scott Weber: It's basically all the minority owners that were a part of the team before all stepped up and they are the primary.

Larry Hryb: So they've gone from minority to majority.

Scott Weber: It's a collective group.

Larry Hryb: Got it.

Jeff Rubenstein: So it's safe to say that everyone here at this table is a friend and a fan of Japan and Japanese culture. And one of my favorite things-

Larry Hryb: Wait a minute, I have to ask one question.

Jeff Rubenstein: Please do.

Larry Hryb: So you're a fan of Japanese culture.

Scott Weber: Sure.

Larry Hryb: Jeff and I, independently, have Japanese toilets.

Scott Weber: [laughter]

Jeff Rubenstein: Toto washlet.

Scott Weber: They're serious about their toilets.

Larry Hryb: Do you have one?

Scott Weber: I don't.

Larry Hryb: Okay. We're not going to hold it against you.

Scott Weber: But I would absolutely, if given the choice.

Larry Hryb: Okay. It is the... I'll tell you this-

Scott Weber: This is more a lack of handyman.

Larry Hryb: [crosstalk 00:25:30]

Scott Weber: The thought of slapping on a toilet is like terrifying.

Larry Hryb: If Jeff can do it, you can do it.

Jeff Rubenstein: No, if I could. Believe me, it's not difficult.

Scott Weber: Okay. Alright.

Larry Hryb: But yeah, that is the ultimate accessory to your bathroom.

Scott Weber: Oh, it is.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yes. Japan is living in the future, and I realized it when I sat down.

Jeff Rubenstein: So one of the things that I love about Japan is that there are in all parts really of Japan that I've been to, vending machines everywhere.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Jeff Rubenstein: And they have for a very low price, sometimes as low as a 100 yen or less, which is like, I don't know, 90 cents or something, all kinds of delicious treats. And among them, their canned coffee is just phenomenal.

Larry Hryb: The leader.

Jeff Rubenstein: And out of all of them in my mind the leader is Boss Coffee, which is part of Suntory-

Larry Hryb: Appropriately named.

Jeff Rubenstein: And Suntory makes tons of stuff like whiskey and many other things that I don't have until after news.

Larry Hryb: Suntory time.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yes, exactly. Until after noon.

Scott Weber: Okay, got it. So saki, okay during this part of the podcast. But the whiskey comes later, right?

Larry Hryb: [laughter]

Jeff Rubenstein: Yes, exactly. So last week Suntory USA or whatever twitter tweeted out “We are making Boss Coffee available in the US for the first time.”

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Scott Weber: Wow.

Jeff Rubenstein: And this is like the real Japanese Boss Coffee.

Larry Hryb: It even has Japanese characters written on top.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, there's kanji on the top there. And I just cracked it, this is the first can I've had.

Larry Hryb: Oh, it is?

Jeff Rubenstein: Yes.

Larry Hryb: Oh my gosh.

Jeff Rubenstein: And I wanted to have it here on the show.

Larry Hryb: Well thank you Ann.

Jeff Rubenstein: So this is Boss Coffee flash brew cold café au lait, and my god.

Larry Hryb: It's good. Yeah, the good the stuff. Jeff got a couple of those.

Jeff Rubenstein: That is a little sip of heaven.

Scott Weber: I have not had mine yet.

Jeff Rubenstein: Right there.

Scott Weber: Want to get that.

Jeff Rubenstein: I brought a couple for you.

Larry Hryb: Yes you did.

Jeff Rubenstein: And I hope you enjoy them.

Larry Hryb: I will.

Jeff Rubenstein: And they're now selling them here in the US.

Scott Weber: On Amazon, right?

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. And you owe it to yourself.

Larry Hryb: Can you put a link in that. Let's put a link in the show notes.

Jeff Rubenstein: Oh yes. I'll be more than happy to do that. I'll bring that up. The world just got a little bit smaller, is how I would put it. Something I could never have except when I'm there, I can now have here. Obviously there's like 50 varieties when you're over in Japan. I like the one with the embossed can. This is good enough.

Larry Hryb: Okay. [crosstalk 00:27:28] the black one, right.

Jeff Rubenstein: There's a lot. Well, there's so many.

Larry Hryb: Yeah, right.

Jeff Rubenstein: But the one with the embossed can has like Boss anniversary or something like that.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Jeff Rubenstein: It's amazing.

Larry Hryb: Yeah, look it up online.

Scott Weber: Nice.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yes.

Larry Hryb: So, anyway.

Jeff Rubenstein: I will link out to Suntory USA.

Larry Hryb: Let's get back to games, shall we?

Jeff Rubenstein: This is my gamer fuel.

Larry Hryb: This is... Okay. Gamer fuel, the Japanese edition.

Scott Weber: Japanese coffee, Mountain Dew code red. Like whatever you want.

Larry Hryb: Alright, Scott, I want to talk to you about accessories. We talked at the top of the show about what you do. So you work on the team here that works, that kind of works with our partners to bring some cool stuff to the market. So tell me about some of the projects from the past you've worked on, and then we'll talk about some of the newer ones.

Scott Weber: Yeah. I've been on team for four years.

Larry Hryb: Right.

Scott Weber: So we've done a lot of cool stuff. A lot of cool co-branded stuff.

Larry Hryb: What were you doing before this? People always ask that. How'd you get [inaudible 00:28:18].

Scott Weber: Yeah, I have kind of a strange path. Business in college and then I was in music industry for a while. And then I did market research kind of on my own. Actually did market research for Microsoft for a little bit as an independent contractor. I kind of freelanced. And then I had kind of a side gig in journalism, writing about baseball for a while.

Larry Hryb: Right.

Scott Weber: And I ended up here.

Larry Hryb: Here we go.

Scott Weber: And then I didn't write about baseball anymore, because that's too much to do at one time.

Larry Hryb: But you're doing your podcast.

Scott Weber: Exactly.

Larry Hryb: And we'll link to that in the show notes as well. So you worked on a lot of different things. Some of the examples people are using right now are...

Scott Weber: Yeah. If you use any sort of audio headsets, like from Razor, from Turtle Beach, anything like that, we've had our hands on that.

Larry Hryb: Lucid.

Scott Weber: Lucid Sound, indeed. I mean, I've done a lot of cool co-branded stuff. That's some of the stuff I really like to do. Like for Gears 4, we did a headset with HyperX.

Larry Hryb: Yep.

Scott Weber: It's really, really cool. Going up to the Coalition and meeting with Rod and the whole guys up there to get the leather just right on the headband.

Larry Hryb: They're great like that, aren't they?

Scott Weber: Yeah.

Larry Hryb: It's the details.

Scott Weber: All the stuff with ID and getting that just totally cool is rad and being able to include awesome stuff in the box and all that.

Jeff Rubenstein: That's my daily driver, by the way, is that Gears HyperX headset.

Scott Weber: Oh, I love it.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yep.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Scott Weber: The audio quality in that thing is amazing.

Jeff Rubenstein: It's very good.

Scott Weber: Just so cool, yeah. So love that, and then... Yeah, anything from Seagate that you've seen come out in the store space?

Larry Hryb: The hard drives for storage.

Scott Weber: Yeah, so you know storage is storage, but we do extra work to make sure it's a great out of box experience.

Larry Hryb: Sure.

Scott Weber: Console. And then we also include stuff like trials of Xbox Game Pass or like for Sea of Thieves, there's an exclusive weapon that you can only get when you buy the Sea of Thieves hard drive. Midnight Blunderbuss, or something or to do-

Jeff Rubenstein: That's a beautiful hard drive, by the way.

Scott Weber: It's great, yeah. And so it's really fun, you know, working with the controller team and everyone on ID to make sure that we're like matching hardware so we can just like cool, kind of like for the ultimate collector. Like if you're a huge fan of a franchise, you want to own everything that there is to do about it.

Jeff Rubenstein: Sure.

Scott Weber: Just make this amazing portfolio of stuff that you can all put on your coffee table living room setup, whatever you want.

Larry Hryb: And this week we had you on This Week on Xbox because we announced a new headset. Now you have it with you, right?

Scott Weber: I do. It's in my bag of goodies.

Larry Hryb: So this headset is one that's Steel series, which everyone knows, is familiar with. But this is a special Xbox one, right?

Scott Weber: Yeah. So-

Larry Hryb: Jeff, take a look at that. I'm using that at home now.

Scott Weber: Like I said...

Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, that feels nice.

Scott Weber: It's really nice. I mean the Arctis line, they've had it on PC for a super long time. It's like, they say it's the most awarded headset. That's their whole thing, and when you put it on you kind of understand why.

Larry Hryb: Put it on, Jeffery.

Jeff Rubenstein: I will do that. The thing I like about, and I'm taking this one off, about Steel series is they've always had this like secondary band underneath there, because one at my work desk. I use a Steel series wired, and it always made it really comfortable.

Scott Weber: Yeah, it's like from ski goggle technology. That's what they did there.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.

Scott Weber: And it has velcro on the sides, so you can like adjust it. I mean it's like two points of tension release that you can have at the top. So you can move it up and down if you want.

Jeff Rubenstein: And the microphone is very unobtrusive.

Larry Hryb: Until you pull it into action.

Scott Weber: Yeah, it's a pull out, pull in. And so...

Jeff Rubenstein: I still like it.

Scott Weber: The thing I like about that though, is that I love to have a headset that like, take it on the bus. Play it anywhere you want.

Jeff Rubenstein: Because this has Bluetooth in it.

Scott Weber: It has Bluetooth. So if you're looking to like really splash on a headset that has this incredible sound quality, you can use it for music, you can use it for your apps, you can use when you play on a console, because it Xbox wireless so it connects directly to the console, just like your controller.

Larry Hryb: That's one of my favorite features. Check this out. When you mute it-

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.

Larry Hryb: -it's red.

Jeff Rubenstein: Oh. So you know. You can see it out of the corner of your eye. That's really smart, and I think you touched on something here. I have my gaming headsets, and they have... And I love them, but they've got like a big, rigid microphone there, and even if I can remove it, it's my gaming headset, and that's that.

Scott Weber: Right. They look very gamer-ry.

Jeff Rubenstein: Right. And then I have a separate pair of like Bose headsets or something. That's what I would wear on a plane or something like that.

Scott Weber: Yep. Me too.

Larry Hryb: But these are, so these are exclusive for Xbox, because they do have our wireless chip in it, which is-

Scott Weber: That's correct.

Larry Hryb: Which is, it has Bluetooth in it so you can connect to a mobile device. You can actually probably connect that to a PlayStation 4.

Scott Weber: Yeah.

Larry Hryb: Right. If you wanted to. But we have a different technology, which is our Xbox wireless technology, which there's a reason we have it. Why don't you talk a little bit about that.

Scott Weber: Yeah. I mean if you've ever played Bluetooth before, or anything with Bluetooth before, you know that there's degraded quality in your audio, and there's latency too. Like I mean-

Larry Hryb: It's also not reliable.

Scott Weber: No. It's really not. And if you have multiple devices connected via Bluetooth, I mean... We all use it, right? We know how noise and unreliable the tech can be. So for audio, like especially with wireless, I mean you know when you're playing [inaudible 00:32:58], it like drops and you get anything like that. It ruins it.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Scott Weber: So we want to have the most reliable connection possible. And so that's why we have Xbox wireless, where we just... I mean, we took the chip out of our, like, our controller and it's a little... Industry talk, but we externalize it and you just get like really, really great, reliable... And it's easy. The experience is so easy. Because everyone knows how to... You know, everyone using Xbox knows how to pair their controller.

Larry Hryb: Right.

Scott Weber: You just do the exact same thing on your headset.

Larry Hryb: Now on this headset-

Scott Weber: It will turn your console on.

Larry Hryb: I noticed that. Because I've had one for a few weeks. I was like, this is actually kind of cool. You press the power button on the headset and the console powers up.

Scott Weber: I've been playing with this a little bit, too. One of my peers on the team, and every time I power it on, it will like turn on his Xbox, and then switch his monitor.

Larry Hryb: Oh, that's troll, troll.

Scott Weber: And he's like “Stop doing that.”

Larry Hryb: Now, I've had some questions, because, you know I've had this for a few weeks. You guys got me one, so I've been playing around with it before it was announced. There's a lot of things, like it supports virtual surround. I mean, all the stuff you'd expect in a quality headset, right?

Scott Weber: Yeah, definitely. It supports Window Sonic and Dolby Atmos and all that kind of stuff. The quality, I'm sure you know, but the sound quality is top-notch[crosstalk 00:34:06].

Larry Hryb: And you can go in there, and I noticed there's a Windows app you can download, plug it in USB, and you can actually customize it.

Scott Weber: Yeah, you can.

Larry Hryb: Because a lot of folks have asked... I was answering some questions on Reddit about it. You should probably drop by there. But there's a slider for how much side tone, which is how much... They call it, what do they call it? Voice monitoring.

Scott Weber: Yeah. Mike monitoring.

Larry Hryb: So how your voice... Mike monitoring. So it's...

Scott Weber: Yeah, that's a very subjective thing.

Larry Hryb: Sure.

Jeff Rubenstein: I can't live without it.

Scott Weber: Some people despise it. I like a little bit.

Larry Hryb: Just a little bit.

Scott Weber: Just to know the mike is hot.

Larry Hryb: And so what we're talking about is when you're talking in a headset, is you hear just a little... It's kind of like you're on the phone, you hear a little bit of your voice back in your ear, so you know hey, this thing is working.

Scott Weber: Right, right.

Larry Hryb: There's a whole fascinating story about side tone and the Bell engineers back in the 60s that they discovered. We won't go into that.

Scott Weber: I was ready for it.

Jeff Rubenstein: On this we'll... On telecommunications today, our other podcast, we're cover that.

Larry Hryb: [laughter] But you can actually control side tone, you can decide when you turn it on if Bluetooth is on or off. The app has a whole ton of things you... You can certainly do the EQing and so forth, so it's a lot of fun.

Scott Weber: Yeah, I love this headset. And Steel series has been around for so long, and they're a great partner of ours.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, they make a lot of other really cool stuff. I think I have a Steel series keyboard.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Scott Weber: I mean, I've been using Steel series stuff forever. I mean, when I was in college playing Counter-Strike 1.6, I used Steel series headsets and microphones and all that.

Larry Hryb: So good stuff.

Scott Weber: Yeah. Great stuff.

Larry Hryb: So those are available, those are start-

Scott Weber: Today.

Larry Hryb: You can pre-order today, and they are available today.

Scott Weber: Yeah, you can buy them today. Microsoft stores and GameStop.

Larry Hryb: Right on. Alright. So what else did you bring? Because you got a couple things. Lets go to the other headset that you brought by. Because this one is one that I have a little bit of an emotional connection to, because when he pulled it out of his bag-

Jeff Rubenstein: Is it made out of wood?

Larry Hryb: No, you remember this one.

Jeff Rubenstein: Oh my god. I do remember that, yeah.

Scott Weber: Look at that.

Larry Hryb: So this one was in... This is the... What's the name of this product?

Scott Weber: This is the Hyperkin, oh the number is slipping my mind. Hyperkin chat headset.

Larry Hryb: So this is the one that a lot of people have been asking for.

Scott Weber: They're been asking for it forever. You've heard it, I'm sure.

Larry Hryb: Yeah, yeah.

Scott Weber: I mean, I see it, because I go to the Xbox One Reddit too, you know, and I see what people are asking for and what the latest features. And everyone's like, bring back that mono-chat headset.

Larry Hryb: So this is one that was like based on the same design as we had in the 360.

Scott Weber: Right.

Larry Hryb: It's a single ear-

Scott Weber: Modernized.

Larry Hryb: It's a single ear headset. It of course has a microphone on it. There's your batteries. And this one is... I think they announced this last year, right?

Scott Weber: They did announce it last year. Yeah they announced it I think at FanFest last year.

Larry Hryb: Right. So it's coming out, though, finally.

Scott Weber: It is. It is coming out. It's coming out in July.

Larry Hryb: Okay.

Scott Weber: That's when we're slated for now. Yeah, so this is wireless too.

Larry Hryb: Sure.

Scott Weber: This doesn't use the Xbox wireless technology. It just has a little USB dongle that plugs into. The same kind of wireless experience.

Larry Hryb: Into the console?

Scott Weber: Into the console, yeah.

Larry Hryb: Now, how much is that one?

Scott Weber: This is going to be 35.

Larry Hryb: 35 bucks for that guy.

Scott Weber: Yep.

Larry Hryb: And that's pretty straight forward.

Scott Weber: Yeah, it's really cool. I mean, we're always trying to listen to the fans and like execute on... Our job is to like fil the gaps in the whole ecosystem, right? So if there's something you want on the console, if it's possible for us to do it, we're going to do it. And sometimes there's challenges in getting it to market and just like executional stuff that... You know, and things happen. There's politics and stuff. But like we're doing everything we can. So please if you have feedback, continue to voice it, because we watch all that kind of stuff and drive to get solutions.

Larry Hryb: Now you had something else in there that you wanted to show us as well.

Scott Weber: Yeah, something else from Hyperkin here.

Larry Hryb: This is really cool, Jeff. I don't know if you've seen this one. Look at that.

Jeff Rubenstein: That, oh wow. Yeah.

Scott Weber: Alright. This is the Hyperkin...

Jeff Rubenstein: Hand it over.

Scott Weber: I mean, on radio here. Check the link the description below.

Larry Hryb: Yeah, this is the...

Scott Weber: Yeah, Hyperkin S wheel. So it is effectively called a speed wheel.

Larry Hryb: So it's a fully wireless wheel.

Scott Weber: It is a fully wireless wheel. You can see its fairly small form factor. You can actually, I see what you're pointing to on the back. You can mount it if you want.

Jeff Rubenstein: That's so cool. This reminds a little bit of a much, much, much better version, if you recall, way back in the day of Mario Kart on Wii.

Scott Weber: Yes.

Jeff Rubenstein: You could stick the Wiimote into essentially just a plastic ring.

Scott Weber: Just a shell.

Jeff Rubenstein: So it felt like it. But this is like fully realized.

Larry Hryb: Well, we had one of those on 360. Right.

Scott Weber: Yeah, yeah.

Larry Hryb: Yeah, so it was-

Scott Weber: It's... Yeah. I mean, Hyperkin, they also did the duke. So like they love the retro kind of stuff and modernizing it. So this is also Xbox wireless. It is, I mean, it's so cool. It is, yeah. You just hold it in your hands and you turn it from left to right. It's got paddles on it, your shifter paddles.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, exactly. And they have like a really good mechanical feel to it. Listen to this.

Scott Weber: It's got a pop. It's very clicky.

Larry Hryb: Now those are the paddles underneath now. Before you came here, off the air before we start, Scott, you were saying this is a controller?

Scott Weber: It is a controller.

Larry Hryb: So you know what that means, Jeff.

Jeff Rubenstein: We have to play FIFA with it.

Larry Hryb: Or Dark Souls.

Jeff Rubenstein: [laughter] Can you beat Dark Souls with the wheel. I love it.

Scott Weber: Yeah, it's a functional controller. And actually has like the right thumb stick. No left thumb stick.

Jeff Rubenstein: Left thumb stick, yeah.

Scott Weber: Left thumb stick is turning the wheel, with the accelerometer, right?

Jeff Rubenstein: Right.

Scott Weber: And then the right thumb stick is up there, it's actually on the upper left.

Larry Hryb: So you're right thumb stick is in the upper left to really screw with your head.

Scott Weber: Right. Exactly. But yeah, all the other buttons are on there.

Jeff Rubenstein: Hold it upside down. You'll be fine.

Scott Weber: Yeah, it's pretty cool.

Larry Hryb: And this wireless and it's also rechargeable?

Scott Weber: Yeah. Wireless. It comes with a charging dock. 120 bucks. And that is available actually on the 30th.

Jeff Rubenstein: You really, you need to feel that. You obviously feel, but I mean like the listener. I've never felt a controller quite like, and it's really high quality.

Scott Weber: Yeah, it's really nice. It's got kind of like a soft touch [crosstalk 00:39:30].

Larry Hryb: Got a nice weight to it.

Scott Weber: Good balance and weight. We've been using this around the office a lot. It's just... I mean, right now with Horizon 4 and everything that's like more... You know, it's a hardcore game, but it's more like casual than-

Larry Hryb: Sure. [crosstalk 00:39:43] Forza.

Scott Weber: It's more like you can lean back on your couch and play it and it's not as competitive. This is just perfect for that.

Jeff Rubenstein: Alright, I found it on the Microsoft store and I'm going to be linking out to the Hyperkin S Wheel wireless racing controller.

Scott Weber: There you go. That's it.

Larry Hryb: Now there's a whole bunch of stuff coming out, but one of the things that you brought by here, and I have not seen this before. Jeff, take a look at this. This is a prototype for what we're showing, but this product is... So explain what the product is and what it's going to do.

Scott Weber: So this PvP Mars, and this the light gun technology coming back. It's very, very cool. They've been working on this for a number of years. I believe I first saw this three years ago.

Larry Hryb: Okay.

Scott Weber: Behind closed doors at E3. The way that it works is it has actually a camera that plugs into the console via USB and it just-

Larry Hryb: So there's this little webcam-y kind of thing, separate device.

Scott Weber: Yeah, it's a little webcam. Just sits on your coffee table, sits on your couch, wherever you want. Just points at the screen, captures all four... It doesn't matter if it's projector, it can project on a wall. It doesn't matter. It just has to see-

Larry Hryb: The display.

Scott Weber: The display of it. It will calibrate. And then it's a low power laser that communicates back and forth. And what you get is you get this-

Larry Hryb: You turned it on.

Scott Weber: You get better latency, like really low lag-

Larry Hryb: Right.

Scott Weber: And the best accuracy you've ever seen. I mean, we all play Duck Hunt, you know.

Larry Hryb: Right, of course.

Scott Weber: This is a-

Jeff Rubenstein: Just shoot the dog and the duck will die.

Scott Weber: Yeah, just shoot the dog. I want to get a port of that game where the dog is shootable, because in my mind for years I[crosstalk 00:41:08].

Larry Hryb: You're going to call it Dog Hunt?

Scott Weber: Yeah. [laughter]

Larry Hryb: PETA will have a word with you.

Jeff Rubenstein: I was about to say.

Scott Weber: I was like, well, you know it sounded better in my head.

Jeff Rubenstein: We're fine with the ducks. Yeah, yeah, maybe dial that one back.

Scott Weber: Maybe just scare him off. We're just scare him off, yeah, yeah. Whatever, he can just stop mocking you, essentially.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yes, yes.

Scott Weber: Yeah. So this is, I mean it's really, really cool. It is coming in July.

Larry Hryb: But what's great about this is there's... It's a nifty gun, so it's... You can actually click it back, Jeff, you'll get a reload mechanic if you wanted.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. Like a pump action.

Larry Hryb: On the barrel. But what's also interesting on this one is you don't see the laser. You only see on the screen the reticul.

Scott Weber: Yeah, you just see it on the screen. Yep. That's it.

Jeff Rubenstein: What game would you use this for?

Scott Weber: So, there are two titles that PvP the company is actually bringing to market with this. They'll be bundled. One of them is called Cubit's Quest, and it's a platformer kind of. So there is a dog, you don't shoot the dog.

Larry Hryb: Okay.

Scott Weber: You shoot other things that... [laughter]

Jeff Rubenstein: They did focus testing.

Scott Weber: Yeah. It didn't test great. So you shoot like a crane and it will drop a power up, or... You're doing things to get through a level, essentially.

Larry Hryb: Sure, sure.

Scott Weber: Really, really fun. And there's a bunch of mini-games that come with it, and it's a blast. I've played it. And this supports up to four of these at once, too.

Larry Hryb: Wow. So is this one camera that supports four?

Scott Weber: One camera, and then you get up to-

Larry Hryb: This is actually more of a sensor, right?

Scott Weber: Yeah, I mean it is a camera that points at it, but that's just what the communication is.

Larry Hryb: What is going on there? I noticed that when you tilt it.

Scott Weber: Yeah, interesting. I've never done that before. [laughter]

Jeff Rubenstein: What are you?

Larry Hryb: Look in the lens.

Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, it doesn't... It's got like a gyroscope or something.

Larry Hryb: Yeah. It's got a little something in there, I don't know what that does.

Jeff Rubenstein: It's like a magic eight ball.

Scott Weber: They're really making sure. Answer unclear. That's my answer to this.

Jeff Rubenstein: [laughter] Well done.

Scott Weber: So it supports up to four of these, and so you can it all at once. And then the other one is more mature. Rated M for mature. Where it's called Voyage of the Dead, and you're on a cruse ship and zombies have taken over.

Jeff Rubenstein: I'm already sold.

Scott Weber: And it's very like kind of campy and funny humor and...

Larry Hryb: The cruise, is it the cruise part or the zombies?

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, I mean, “You thought the norovirus was dangerous, this cruise really has news for you.” I love like [inaudible 00:43:18]games. Like Time Crisis is one of my favorite games ever.

Scott Weber: Yeah.

Larry Hryb: Really?

Scott Weber: So you'll love Voyage. It's like a super similar experience, right? You're shooting weapon power ups and things like that and it's tracking all your stats at the top. So you're against your friends and all that. It's just so fun. And it's kind of that like on-the-rails as you're going through type experience.

Larry Hryb: Now has this been announced?

Scott Weber: It has been announced. Yeah. So it's coming in July. Early July.

Jeff Rubenstein: We need to get this. So in my neighborhood there's a fully functioning, there's a bar with a fully functioning Time Crisis 3 machine, which I've beaten so many times.

Larry Hryb: I know, because whenever I call you, you're down there.

Jeff Rubenstein: Usually. And like having this back in my home again would be amazing. It's been a long time since there was a home version.

Scott Weber: It has, yeah. I mean, that's one the... Hey, fill the gaps. That's what we try to do, right? When a partner has a... I mean, it's not like we told them. This is their idea. It's really, but you know. You know we played around with it and it's just such cool tech, it's really awesome. So we're very, very excited about this.

Larry Hryb: So that comes out in July?

Scott Weber: Comes out in July?

Larry Hryb: And how much will that be?

Scott Weber: Yeah. I believe... I don't want to speak on the price, because I'm not final on it, but it's super affordable.

Larry Hryb: Okay.

Scott Weber: And then we'll be, yeah, we'll have a bunch of announcement beats and futures on this coming up, so stay tuned for more on this.

Larry Hryb: So that's just a look. These are just a few of... How many accessories do we have in the portfolio now?

Scott Weber: Oh, so many. Hundreds.

Larry Hryb: Yeah.

Scott Weber: Yeah. Easily hundreds. I know we did over a hundred last year.

Larry Hryb: Wow.

Scott Weber: Yeah.

Larry Hryb: Lot's of stuff going on. Now this one, we'll need to find a link to link out to the light gun, because it's a pretty amazing... It's a fascinating update of the technology.

Scott Weber: It is.

Larry Hryb: This kind of old creaky technology from back in the day that's been really modernized and from the sound of it made really usable and quick.

Scott Weber: Yeah, definitely.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, I feel like the original light gun games came out probably in like the 60s or 70s or something like that.

Larry Hryb: I think Ralph showed us some when we were up here with Ralph Baer.

Jeff Rubenstein: And there is something about... It's just fun. Like you don't have to explain it to anyone.

Scott Weber: It's just so casual, yeah. Point and shoot. That's it.

Jeff Rubenstein: There you go.

Larry Hryb: It's kind of like a camera.

Scott Weber: Uh-huh [affirmative]

Larry Hryb: There you go.

Jeff Rubenstein: I like it. Bring it by.

Larry Hryb: Alright. Well, we're going to... Those are just some of the accessories we have, and like you said, we'll have links to those and all of the in the show notes here. And then maybe we'll have you on again in a few months to talk the refresh and whatever you guys got coming.

Scott Weber: Yeah. There's always a ton coming for a holiday, and you know, we're in so many different categories. I mean, we did keyboard mouse, and all sorts of stuff.

Larry Hryb: That's right. With Razer.

Scott Weber: Yeah. Razer Turret Keyboard and Mouse is out there, and... You know, there's just, there's so many different... We did a TV tuner once when we were backing that. So there's always a lot of fun stuff going on. And this holiday will have some.

Larry Hryb: What's you're favorite third party accessory? Do you have one?

Scott Weber: Oh gosh, I mean probably-

Jeff Rubenstein: Choose your favorite child.

Larry Hryb: Now, now.

Scott Weber: Probably for me it's my Seagate two terabyte SSD.

Larry Hryb: There you go.

Scott Weber: [laughter]

Larry Hryb: There you go.

Scott Weber: Just because every single day I use it, and it just improves the loading time so much, it's just really incredible. I'm fortunate enough to have worked on that and bring it to market.

Jeff Rubenstein: I have a friend who has one of those, and he said his load time in... He plays a lot of The Division 2.

Scott Weber: Yeah.

Jeff Rubenstein: And it speeds up loading by like 75% or something crazy.

Scott Weber: I mean, it obviously varies per title.

Jeff Rubenstein: Sure.

Scott Weber: But on some of the titles, you know you forget, and sometimes you're like “Oh, I'm playing this off the internal,” when it starts to take more than ten seconds to fast travel somewhere.

Larry Hryb: Right, right.

Scott Weber: Or when the-

Larry Hryb: Yeah, I have my SSD and I had it loaded with games like Overwatch.

Scott Weber: Yeah.

Larry Hryb: And I always get to choose first.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yep.

Scott Weber: Yeah.

Larry Hryb: Because I load in. Oh, okay, I'll choose first.

Scott Weber: That's a nice little. See, it can be a competitive advantage.

Larry Hryb: Well, in that mode, and I don't know if elsewhere.

Scott Weber: [laughter]

Larry Hryb: Yeah, there's just a lot of great of stuff, so we'll put a link off to all those things and we'll have you on again in the future.

Scott Weber: Sounds good.

Larry Hryb: And then, also, how do they find your podcast?

Scott Weber: Podcast, we're on Twitter at Dome and Bedlam.

Larry Hryb: Okay.

Scott Weber: And then we have a SoundCloud link to our podcast there. You can also find us on Apple podcasts or Castbox, whatever you use. Dome and Bedlam.

Larry Hryb: Whatever your thing is to listen to shows.

Scott Weber: Yep.

Jeff Rubenstein: Linking out to that.

Larry Hryb: Thank you Jeffery. Alright, we're going to wrap it up here, because we've got lunch to get to. We've got the rest of our day, and Jeff has...

Jeff Rubenstein: I've got to move on to a Suntory high ball. Because I finished my flash brewed cold café au lait.

Larry Hryb: Because it's that time. Alright, any thing else you guys want to leave before we go? I mean, we've got a crazy few weeks coming up. Jeff and I and are going to try to do another show on Mixer before E3.

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, we should do that.

Larry Hryb: We'll want to do that. We've got of course E3 coming up with Inside Xbox. We're going to be doing that. It's a-

Jeff Rubenstein: I can't wait.

Larry Hryb: Really?

Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, I'm really excited.

Larry Hryb: E3. Now how many E3s have you been to, Scott?

Scott Weber: This will be my third E3.

Larry Hryb: Okay. So it's, yeah, it's going to be fun this year in the Microsoft Theater.

Scott Weber: It's going to be really, really fun. Yeah. Jeff's trying to think how many he's been to.

Jeff Rubenstein: 13, I think.

Scott Weber: 13.

Larry Hryb: I think that's how many I've been to as well.

Scott Weber: Actually, this might be my fourth.

Larry Hryb: Okay. Yeah, you lose track after a while.

Scott Weber: If I'm already losing track, I'm not going to be able to know 13 when I get to it. [laughter]

Larry Hryb: Now one thing I did forget is the guys over at the gear store, Gear dot Xbox dot com, sent me an email today. When we post this show, which is April 26, I wore a green sphere on Inside Xbox. Those pins are now available.

Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, very cool.

Larry Hryb: You can download those.

Jeff Rubenstein: I've also seen a look at the things that they'll be making.

Larry Hryb: Hey, hey, hey.

Jeff Rubenstein: Coming up.

Larry Hryb: Spoiler. Don't.

Jeff Rubenstein: I'm just saying it's good.

Larry Hryb: Be cool. I know, I know.

Jeff Rubenstein: Can't wait till you get to see them.

Larry Hryb: Different bunch of stuff there, but I'm looking forward to it. Alright gang, we will... Scott, thanks so much for coming by.

Scott Weber: Thanks for having me.

Larry Hryb: And good luck to your Mariners this year.

Scott Weber: They're going to need it.

Larry Hryb: Okay. And Jeff and I will see you sometime in the future. We don't know when or where. You can follow Jeff on Twitter at-

Jeff Rubenstein: Jeff Rubenstein.

Larry Hryb: That's where you hit the complaints as well. You can follow me at Major Nelson, and we will talk to you guys later. By-bye everybody.

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 Hyrb: Hi, it's Larry Hryb, Xbox Live's Major Nelson. Welcome to the show number 633. Jeff couldn't be here. He's over in France. I don't know what he's doing over there, but he said he can't be there, so I said, “Who can I get? Who can I get to sit in for Jeff?” and I got Phil Spencer. Hi Phil.

Phil Spencer: I'm subbing in for Jeff today, I love that.

Larry Hyrb: You're subbing in for Jeff.

Phil Spencer: Jeff's much better at this than I am.

Larry Hyrb: I think he's over in ... I think he's overseas, he's working on upcoming because Crackdown comes out in a few weeks.

Phil Spencer: It does, I'm looking forward to that.

Larry Hyrb: You've been playing it. I know you've played it quite a bit. I haven't had a chance to play one of the latest builds, but it's feeling good. Right?

Phil Spencer: It feels like Crackdown.

Larry Hyrb: It feels like Crackdown.

Phil Spencer: Yeah, and I think which is what I wanted us to get to. For Crackdown for people who haven't played, it's been a while since I kind of ignored version two. I'll say version one launched and...

Larry Hyrb: Now you worked on that a little bit?

Phil Spencer: I did, yeah. Car wars. Code name with Dave Jones was the name of it. It was a fun, fun title to work on. You know we obviously launched it with the Halo beta on it and I think that kinda gave some a skeptical view on how this was going to turn out.

Larry Hyrb: But I remember that, because everyone's like "Ah, this is not going to be really good 'cause it's in the-"

Phil Spencer: That's right.

Larry Hyrb: "You're putting in on the beta." And then everybody got it and like, "Holy cow! Wait a minute!"

Phil Spencer: I loved it. I played a ton of it. I thought just the feeling, the physics, the movement of the agent, the leveling I thought was awesome. So, when I was playing this one, it was probably a year ago where I was spending a little more time with it and the agent to me just didn't feel right. But I say it feels like Crackdown not to downplay it. Crackdown is what it is, right? It's not meant to be... It's not a novel.

Larry Hyrb: Right

Phil Spencer: It's not hyper realistic graphics. I hear people say "Hey, why does it look like that?" Because that's how Crackdown looks. And if we were gonna make it look different, it wouldn't be Crackdown.

Larry Hyrb: It wouldn't be Crackdown.

Phil Spencer: Doesn't take itself too seriously. Terry Crews in the game was an awesome choice. And it kinda fits with the overall motif of the game. And I love it because it feels kinda like old-school Mayhem game. You're gonna play with your friend, you're gonna have a good time.

Larry Hyrb: Blow stuff up.

Phil Spencer: That's right

Larry Hyrb: A lot of stuff.

Phil Spencer: a lot of leveling, a lot of collecting. And I just ... I like that motion to gain something. I have fun with, not that we build games for me.

Larry Hyrb: Right.

Phil Spencer: But I just want-

Larry Hyrb: We kinda do, we kinda do!

Phil Spencer: That's not true, that's not true. But the ... I just want people to go into it ... It's Crackdown, so if you don't like Crackdown you're probably not gonna like this game. If you love Crackdown I think you will like this game.

Larry Hyrb: I know I was talking with the team that was working on it. They've got some cool stuff, over the next few weeks you'll start hearing more and more as we build ... get up to launch.

Phil Spencer: Yeah.

Larry Hyrb: But they were showing me the tech behind the cloud-based stuff, and it's kinda cool.

Phil Spencer: Yeah, you know that I thought we overplayed at the launch of the game. For some not necessarily the right reasons. Cloud, cloud was the game. And it's gotta be game game first before it's the how we build it. People don't care as much about how we build something.

Larry Hyrb: Sure.

Phil Spencer: They care about what we build. So tone that language down. I think in the end we're really happy in the tech that we invested in oh so many years ago with Cloudgine and Dave and stuff to make this work. So I feel really good about the use of the cloud and the use of the technology and [inaudible 00:03:34] and stuff to make this game the way play the way it plays. And I think the people who are interested in that will find some of the backstory stuff that we do on that after the game is out to be really great. I'll say another thing I really love is just seeing Joe Staten stepping in-

Larry Hyrb: Oh, Joe, yeah.

Phil Spencer: Obviously you've known Joe since back when he was at Bungie. And he's become such a spokesperson for this game. I think it's just awesome getting into a more public role in one of our games and I think it's great.

Larry Hyrb: Yeah I'm going to have him on the show when we get closer to launch.

Phil Spencer: He's really great at talking about the game. He has such a sensibility for how games are built and the hooks and it's really ... I just have a good time. Sometimes when you're in the publishing organization, you work on a lot of different things. It's not always easy to find something that's yours and that you can be the kind of out front person, but I think he's turned out to be the person who's out in front of that game in a very public way and I think that's great.

Larry Hyrb: Yeah, it's funny how Jeff isn't here as we were talking. But he just texted me, I'm gonna tell this story and he's gonna kill me. He says "Don't judge me, I'm at Starbucks." So he's in France at a Starbucks.

Phil Spencer: We should all judge him. Even in Seattle.

Larry Hyrb: @JeffRubinstein on Twitter, you can hit him up on Twitter. They can find you on Twitter, too.

Phil Spencer: They can at @XBoxP3. I've been a little less active on Twitter lately, I don't really like that that I'm less active. I gotta figure out how to engage more. The stream goes ... I mean, how do you do it?

Larry Hyrb: It's hard because it's ... I wake up in the morning, you're an early riser, right?

Phil Spencer: Yeah, yeah.

Larry Hyrb: You're an early riser. I'm an early riser. I check it out, see what's going on and reply to a few things because there's a lot of chatter that happens when you're offline. I mean, that's just the way it is. Stuff to keep up with. And it is, it's one of those things. You'll notice like on the weekends I'm more quiet, because it's just like "Oh man, I just want to spend some time-"

Phil Spencer: Yeah, you should with your family.

Larry Hyrb: With my ladies. But yeah, it's hard to do, but it's also exciting and fun because you know this, you and I have been doing this for a long time. It's the excitement you get out of people that just love the product.

Phil Spencer: Yeah, yeah.

Larry Hyrb: Love our games! And love gaming! It's really, really gets me going. So that's what it does.

Phil Spencer: I used to just love when it was a smaller community. Not that that's what my goal is anymore, but I almost used it as kind of an AMA type thing.

Larry Hyrb: Right

Phil Spencer: And I always get a lot of knowledge out of what people are asking. like I get a lot of where are people's questions, what are they worried about.

Larry Hyrb: What's going on here?

Phil Spencer: Yeah, that's right. And it's more difficult to do. That's on me, like the community's not doing anything wrong. I gotta ... It's been I say a month or two since I was in that mode on Twitter and I want to do that. Because that feedback from the community is great. I'm doing a little more of that on Xbox Live now. Because it's just sometimes a little bit easier when I'm online and somebody wants to play something, or just somebody wants to-

Larry Hyrb: What did we play last? You and I did Forza... Oh, we played some Forza a few ... when that came out.

Phil Spencer: Horizon, yeah.

Larry Hyrb: Horizon, that was a lot of fun.

Phil Spencer: Those guys. I mean, they are... Playground is ... They is magic. That game ... The hook for me in that game is just so good. And yeah, I've been playing that. You know... we obviously have our Game Pass commercial that we roll out every so often. Comes out of our mouths, but I have my story. Vermintide 2 I found in Game Pass. Which funny enough for me, I get a code to every game on Xbox. So I had it-

Larry Hyrb: But you never had a chance to look at it.

Phil Spencer: I hadn't really. And then it was-

Larry Hyrb: What drew you to it?

Phil Spencer: It was in one of the Game Pass quests. And if people have been watching, we've been trying to play with these ideas of GamePass quests where we'll build little challenges in games and you can earn Microsoft rewards for doing these things. And it's really a discovery mechanism. So I'm like ... We're early on a quest, and if you're going through the flow right now you can see that we're early on-

Larry Hyrb: We're trying to figure it out.

Phil Spencer: The user interphase though is not so great and also this rewards app pops in your face and it's all blue, and it's like ... But anyway, we're working through it, and so I sit down and I use our stuff. And send my feedback.

Larry Hyrb: As you do.

Phil Spencer: Yes, as I do. And the Vermintide was one of them. I think it was like get two achievements, or whatever it was, in Vermintide 2. So I said, "Oh, okay I'll launch this thing." Obviously you've heard me before tease we've got a lot of Warhammer and Vermintide games. Those guys are really prolific. A lot of games on the platform.

Larry Hyrb: Which is one way to say it.

Phil Spencer: But man, I've been playing this and I really like it. I mean, I'm kind of a ... I'm probably more just from my growing up more of a fantasy than sci-fi just in terms of my core.

Larry Hyrb: I'm the absolute opposite.

Phil Spencer: Yeah, and it's like ... And I respect that.

Larry Hyrb: Likewise.

Phil Spencer: But the, so I'm like "Oh, this is like 30-40 minute co-op strikes." Like this game makes a ton of ... I think they do a great job putting just hordes of enemies. And I think I've saved the planet from the hordes of rat men so many times. But I have a good time. Because I can play with new people, so I've been doing that. I'm trying to work through MCC legendary with some friends of mine, which is fun.

Larry Hyrb: The latest update is really nice.

Phil Spencer: It is. They've done a really good job and-

Larry Hyrb: You see that article on Kotaku last week?

Phil Spencer: Yeah. And I like the one about the kudos to 343-

Larry Hyrb: Yeah, because it came out and they kept working on it over the years, frankly. For the better.

Phil Spencer: Yeah, and I think it's awesome when we stay on things. I will say the quality of the launch wasn't where it should be.

Larry Hyrb: Right.

Phil Spencer: So, it's a little bit of two sides of the coin. I mean, you can't rewind time. So once you're in a situation, I love the fact that 343 didn't lean back, they leaned in. They rolled up their sleeves and learned from what happened. And then they stayed committed to the franchise and the fans, which I think is awesome. Obviously we need to learn on how we actually ... Not getting ourselves into that situation again, which I think would be fundamental.

Larry Hyrb: Right, it's come ... I'm looking at the studios here. Last year was huge. 2018 was huge. You stood on stage at E3, you announced all the studios. I mean, I'm looking at this, it's quite the portfolio you've collected. I mean most people collect like shoes and I don't know. They collect coins. Sometimes they get video games up on a cabinet. You're collecting studios from around the world! For us, though, for the gamers. For everybody.

Phil Spencer: The 2018 was a fun year. But you and I we've been on this journey now for a while.

Larry Hyrb: Yeah.

Phil Spencer: You know, what'd I say is ... This is only my fifth year in this role.

Larry Hyrb: Is it already?

Phil Spencer: I think coming up on my fifth.

Larry Hyrb: Yeah, you're right.

Phil Spencer: If I'm counting correctly.

Larry Hyrb: Happy anniversary.

Phil Spencer: I've run out of fingers at some point. I think at the beginning we tried to figure out what we were about, why we were here. Trying to get back to the soul of what it means to be an Xbox team. And then we put on our hats and said, "Okay, let's figure out a strategy for why we're going to be in this space. We don't want to just duplicate what somebody else is doing. If somebody else is doing a great job being what they are we, should have a unique reason to be in this industry."

Larry Hyrb: And what's ... And have a value of something that is valuable to customers that they can't get anywhere else

Phil Spencer: That's right. That's right. Whether that's hardware differentiation, whether it's ... And at the same time we were doing all that work, we were working on things. Like well, we've got to get our hardware in a better position. I love the S and the X and where they sit today, and I think we learned a lot about that. But I would look and I would say at the end of 2017, beginning of 2018 we really solidified the strategies ... our longer term strategies. Say decade-long strategies of what we're trying to do. And it's really about putting the gamer at the center of everything. Play the games that you wanna play on the devices you wanna play them on with your friends, wherever they are. And you should be able to cross-play with anybody. You should be able to, as much as we can, we're going to bring our content to you wherever you are. And that means we need to have a critically successful console ecosystem. We've gotta be great on PC and eventually we wanna be great anywhere that somebody wants to play one of our games. Or one of our partner's games.

Phil Spencer: When I looked at 2018, because I'm just ... Obviously early in 2019 I was trying to get my head around well what's this year?

Larry Hyrb: What's next, yeah.

Phil Spencer: And what I loved about 2018 and you know this, and it's not something we've talked about in the press a ton. But this time last year we did a really big reorg.

Larry Hyrb: Right.

Phil Spencer: Where we brought in a couple new leaders, 'cause we had a real good vision on where we wanted to go. At least we had solidified that.

Larry Hyrb: Came up with the idea and now you have to put everybody in place to execute that plan.

Phil Spencer: That's exactly right. And I would say what I love the most about 2018 is I feel like we have ... We got the right teams together. And I mean that, teams in kind of a plural. Some of those were added, as you said. Six new studios, adding the seventh at The Initiative and they're doing a great job hiring. And I think now we're execution mode. Like I look at 2019 and where we're going with future consoles, all this xCloud coming to PC in a much bigger way this year. Doing some things we had been talking about for a while for real on PC this year. And this is a year where it's not strategery, it's we're gonna roll up our sleeves and show. And I love that. I love the studio acquisitions as a part of that. I love the team as it's set up right now, and our leadership team. And how they're showing up the different leaders, some new, some that have been around for a long time. I think everybody sees it now that this is the year, okay, it's going to be ... This is ... Now it's go time.

Larry Hyrb: But I also want to point out, is that when you talked about the studio specifically. Some of them are going to have some stuff this year, and some of them like The Initiative won't have it for a little while.

Phil Spencer: That's right, that's right.

Larry Hyrb: So it's not like we're going to have all 12 studios, "Here's all the new stuff you're going to see." It's rolling, that's just the way it works.

Phil Spencer: Yeah, the real goal with the studios for me is to get a large enough studio base where we can delight and surprise ourselves and our fans with games. And it's on a regular cadence. So we're not always pinched to say, "Okay, well what can we announce?" Now we can say "What do we have to announce, and which of these things do we actually want to announce? And what do we want to let sit and percolate a little longer?" You know this, it's been a while since we were in that position with our internal studios. And I feel really good about that. As Matt Booty and I were sitting down and looking at all the different things the teams are working on, it's just ... The kind of capability that we have now as a first party organization, I do think it will continue to get bigger. But the ... What we have right now is just so different than the position we've been in the last five years.

Larry Hyrb: Without a doubt, I mean just even the games alone. Obviously people think about games with Compulsion and Ninja Theory. It's quite amazing, and I know you've looked at the pipeline and you're excited about the pipeline.

Phil Spencer: I am. I mean one of the cool things was Obsidian and seeing their announce at the game awards. It was ... I've seen what Ninja Theory's working on next and what their pipeline looks like.

Larry Hyrb: I'm dying to go out there to that studio. I know you went out a little while ago to visit them.

Phil Spencer: Yeah, we were there in November.

Larry Hyrb: I'm dying to go out to Ninja Theory, 'cause I mean that game. 'Cause as an audio nerd, that game blew my mind.

Phil Spencer: Oh, it's ... I'm actually going back, and truth be told I haven't finished it I was kinda at the second to last chapter. And I got stuck in some other things. So literally yesterday, I think I'll probably finish it today. I'm on the last chapter and I've got ... Yeah, you put the headphones on-

Larry Hyrb: We're talking about Hellblade if you haven't played it...

Phil Spencer: It's on Game Pass.

Larry Hyrb: It's on Game Pass.

Phil Spencer: It is. And yeah, the collection of things that the teams ... That the studios that have come together. I was out at Rare at the same time, we went to Rare, Playground. Saw what Playground's working on next. I saw what Rare is working on next and their continued growth and success with Sea of Thieves.

Larry Hyrb: Everyone's streaming that now, you see that?

Phil Spencer: It is ... I mean, it's such a fun game. A community, you and I have played it. [crosstalk 00:15:11]

Larry Hyrb: Yeah we've played it, yeah we've played it. I remember me running away from those guys and you're like, "Drop the sail! Go around the other side of the island!"

Phil Spencer: I always laugh when people come to me about Sea of Thieves and they're like, "Oh, it's the most tranquil, calming game." And I'm like, "You have not played the same Sea of Thieves that I have."

Larry Hyrb: No.

Phil Spencer: "'Cause when I'm playing, I'm always looking at the horizon. Is that a sail? Is that a sail?" It can be one of the most kind of on edge games. But Rare has done a really nice job in learning from the community. It get the feedback from some [inaudible 00:15:38] this game when they launched. I don't think people understand the role that the community has played in what Sea of Thieves has become.

Larry Hyrb: Right

Phil Spencer: And that feedback loop ... I mean I guess we could've sat back in beta for nine months or whatever, I'm not sure what that would've meant. But we said even before we launched that the gamer's voice is going to play a big role in how we grow this game. And that's not done. And we look at where this is going. Some of the stuff announced, some of the stuff unannounced. I think it's something that's long for us. We're big believers in the Sea of Thieves and where it's gonna go, and it's great to see Joe and the team continue to innovate there.

Larry Hyrb: Yeah, I had them on when we were down at the event in the Mexico City. I had those guys on, and I'm gonna have Joe on, Joe Neate, the executive ... I think I'll have him on the show in a couple of weeks.

Phil Spencer: Yeah.

Larry Hyrb: To talk about what they're working on. Yeah it's ... They have such a great job over there. So yeah you've been playing a lot of games that have been announced and haven't been announced.

Phil Spencer: Yeah that's always ... When I go dark on Live it's usually I'm-

Larry Hyrb: That's why he's not tweeting folks, because he's too busy playing those unannounced games.

Phil Spencer: I'm on a dev kit. And well, because it's showing up in the last two to three months when something's going to ship and giving some feedback is not always the most productive thing for a team. So-

Larry Hyrb: It can derail them, actually.

Phil Spencer: It can. So-

Larry Hyrb: "Phil says he wants this! Stop the presses!"

Phil Spencer: That's not what they say. It's like, "Just tell him we'll do it later." But so getting her in early, getting your hands on things if they're things, I don't know how to put this without ... Like if there are games that I have some history with-

Larry Hyrb: Sure.

Phil Spencer: Then I might have something to say about some of the kind of core values.

Larry Hyrb: And when you say history, as a player or as somebody who was in production.

Phil Spencer: That's right.

Larry Hyrb: Right? I mean, because you've played so many games both as a regular person playing them and as well as someone who's-

Phil Spencer: Then I put my other non-regular player hat on.

Larry Hyrb: Exactly.

Phil Spencer: What have you been playing?

Larry Hyrb: One of my ... let's see, Assassin's Creed: Odyssey.

Phil Spencer: I watched you! I saw ... Well I don't watch you, I see on Live that you're playing.

Larry Hyrb: That game is just, I got ... So I started playing in October when it launched. And then I said, "Okay I gotta put this-"

Phil Spencer: Yeah, you went away from it for a while.

Larry Hyrb: Right, because I went into Red Dead. And I finished Red Dead, went through Red Dead, and then I went back to it, and it just, it just ... The game just got bigger and bigger and bigger. I don't understand that game and how they shipped it, it's so huge!

Phil Spencer: And you played ... I remember you played a lot of Odyssey, too, didn't you?

Larry Hyrb: I did, yeah.

Phil Spencer: That's the thing. I'm letting our Origins, [crosstalk 00:18:00] You played a lot of origins. I'm letting Odyssey ... I've played, I don't know, ten hours of it.

Larry Hyrb: The combat's amazing.

Phil Spencer: The team does a fantastic job. That was another thing. I got to go out with Ubisoft and sit with some of the creators. I played that a year ago and played some of the other games. And just talked to the teams about whether it's a game that we're marketing or somebody else is marketing. I don't really care bout that.

Larry Hyrb: It's a game.

Phil Spencer: It's a game. So this one, since I played so much Origins I'm kinda ... I don't want to burn out on it. So I'm letting it sit for a little bit.

Larry Hyrb: It's so good.

Phil Spencer: I go back to it every once in a while. What else?

Larry Hyrb: I'm playing that. I was in North Carolina last month for The Division 2.

Phil Spencer: Yeah

Larry Hyrb: So playing the new Dark Zones that we've talked about over the past couple weeks. So playing a little bit of The Division 2 before it launches, of course. That's one of the ... I can do that too, Phil.

Phil Spencer: Yeah, yeah.

Larry Hyrb: So I'm playing that. We're still getting into Overwatch. PUBG just shipped Vikendi, which is the new snow-covered map.

Phil Spencer: Snow map, yeah.

Larry Hyrb: Yeah, the snow map. They shipped that this week, so we played that a little bit. Sea of Thieves, of course, trying to get the gang back in. And that's one thing I was telling Joe. I was like, "Look I love Sea of Thieves, but when I go in the world I kinda have to block out my calendar for an hour or an hour and a half." So that's why I know they're working on the arena stuff for a little bit-

Phil Spencer: A tighter loop.

Larry Hyrb: A little bit tighter loop, yeah. So yeah, those ... That's kinda what I'm focused on right now. I haven't had a chance I'll talk about ... Here's the headline that everybody is going to pick up on. I haven't had a chance to check out the new Mario on the Switch.

Phil Spencer: The... Not Smash Brothers.?

Larry Hyrb: No, the U.

Phil Spencer: Oh, the okay.

Larry Hyrb: the U. So I've gotta check that out. But yeah, man, just a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Yeah it's been and then one thing I'm really excited about is the Anthem VIP demo coming out this week. Have you had ... Did you play the demo?

Phil Spencer: Yeah.

Larry Hyrb: When we had internal access to it? A lot of fun

Phil Spencer: It is fun.

Larry Hyrb: I'm sure you gave your feedback to Casey.

Phil Spencer: Yeah, yeah. I like Casey a lot. And even Patrick back when a year, year and a half ago when we were looking at some stuff on that game. And it's great to have Casey there. He's such a strong, creative leader. It's fantastic to see him back at BioWare and doing cool things. Yeah, I mean, you play a lot. I see you online. I love the fact that I see your go-to's and then, which is awesome. And I think it's nice to be for both of us, I think, to be able to work in a space where kinda our hobby is our job.

Larry Hyrb: Yeah, well that's why you and I have talked about this off the air as well as on the air, it's we just love what we do. And I've been here I think ... You had a nice comment to me on Twitter that moment you were on Twitter a few weeks ago, where I'd just just past 18 years here.

Phil Spencer: Congrats on that.

Larry Hyrb: Thank you. Of which 15, 15 and a half were here at Xbox. Because it's fun! And we work with amazing, smart people. And you and I are blessed because we get to work with these people and you moreso than me, but represent the brand to a lot of people.

Phil Spencer: Yeah I mean going back to 2018, 2019 where we are. And I've done this kind of story too many times, but what I will say today is when I sit down with the teams ... And I did a couple of product reviews yesterday. Almost 100% of the time, the team sits down having made so much more progress on what they're working on so much more than I expected.

Larry Hyrb: Right.

Phil Spencer: And it's just awesome when you get to work with teams that are just accelerating on their own. Like they have their own belief, they have their own capability, they feel empowered. They know who their customer is, they know what they're trying to do.

Larry Hyrb: There's focus.

Phil Spencer: That's right, and you don't ... I sit down, I try not to say something stupid to slow them down, because they're just doing it.

Larry Hyrb: Right.

Phil Spencer: And -

Larry Hyrb: You get out of the way.

Phil Spencer: Try to get out of the way. And you know, I'd say a few years ago it was more about alignment, more about belief, what can I do to help, how do we untangle some things that maybe are tangled. But it's just so cool. I mean you think, I've been with the company for a long time and I say, "Okay, at some point somebody else is going to sit in this chair." And like that's just fair. But right now it's so much fun.

Larry Hyrb: Yeah. You know what I was thinking, I was looking at ... We're going to play a little Jeopardy.

Phil Spencer: Uh oh.

Larry Hyrb: What is 137 days and 15 hours?

Phil Spencer: I'm going to guess it's E3.

Larry Hyrb: There you go. E3. E3 Getting ready for that!

Phil Spencer: Yeah.

Larry Hyrb: I know I've been in some meetings and I know you've been in a lot of meetings as well.

Phil Spencer: Yeah, you know this is going to be a fun E3 for us. We ... Obviously there was some news about E3 in the fall and we had a discussion internally of, "Should we go big? Should we save some money?" You know, what does that mean? We decided, no, we're going to do our thing. And we're gonna go and be as big at E3 as we've ever been and I love that opportunity. I love the opportunity to be with our fans in the industry. And the industry conversations it's like a revolving door in Sarah Bond's team who runs business development for us.

Larry Hyrb: Right.

Phil Spencer: Right now and the third party's coming through, and what we wanna do at E3. A lot of interest. It is going to be fun. This team ... We gotta... Last year we changed venue which I think-

Larry Hyrb: Oh boy, did we. We upgraded.

Phil Spencer: We did, we did.

Larry Hyrb: The Galen was great, but wow.

Phil Spencer: Yeah, it wasn't ... Not that it it's the Microsoft Theater, but the Microsoft Theater is a special place. I love the location how it's right in the center of everything.

Larry Hyrb: Yeah.

Phil Spencer: And this year we're changing up a couple, as you know, things about how we're showing up at E3 I think again in a positive way. Though you know we've done it now for a while. This team. Like the team in ... I love how we throw a new wrinkle in, because I think it gets a lot of us a little bit on edge and try to be the where it is-

Larry Hyrb: That's the way it was last year.

Phil Spencer: That's right.

Larry Hyrb: Everyone was like, "The people that have been doing ... A lot of the folks on our events team, in all of their different parts, have been here for a long time."

Phil Spencer: They have

Larry Hyrb: So they were like, "Oh, I don't know." And it was great to see people roll their sleeves up and solve problems and get excited about the new location.

Phil Spencer: They did, they did. And I think it was world class.

Larry Hyrb: Yeah.

Phil Spencer: And I'm looking forward to this year. I'm thinking ... Interesting on how and who we get on stage and how we kinda do that this year. And then I think it's gonna be great. There's ... I think we're still going through some of the internal discussions about how much long term versus how much near term do we talk about. You know me, I'm always more of a proponent for just being as transparent as we can be. That said, you know, if things could change or something you don't want to head-fake people and say we're doing X and we're doing Y, but I feel really good about our plans and we'll kind of work through those things. With the larger organization.

Phil Spencer: But I think it's going to be ... I think the content that we'll have will be great. I think we'll talk about our future. I think we'll talk more about what the Xbox brand means to us. I think rightfully, most people when they think about an Xbox they think about a gaming console. We do as well. And I love the fact that the gaming console has played such an important role in our strategy, but at the same time we have millions of Xbox customers who we never see on console today.

Larry Hyrb: Yeah.

Phil Spencer: We see them on a phone, or we see them on a different device or on PC. And to really continue to push this idea that you can be a member of the Xbox community even if you're not playing your games on a console.

Larry Hyrb: Wherever you are.

Phil Spencer: Wherever you are. And we want to continue to make that possible. You can stay connected to your friends, you can stay connected to your content. One thing I'm doing, which I had a good time with when I was away over the holidays. I was playing games on xCloud.

Larry Hyrb: Really?

Phil Spencer: Yeah, yeah.

Larry Hyrb: You announced, we announced this last year. And I know that internally ... I haven't had a chance to do that yet. I've had my devices ready to go but I-

Phil Spencer: Yeah, so-

Larry Hyrb: Tell me about that.

Phil Spencer: It was fun. [crosstalk 00:25:44]

Larry Hyrb: Be careful!

Phil Spencer: No, I was just playing. I think that like anything, we want to make sure we get it as right as we can. And the best way for us to do that is to test it, test it for us.

Larry Hyrb: Play it.

Phil Spencer: I was, I don't mind saying, I was in Hawaii for a little while and I had my device and I'm playing and it's cool because when I'm doing it, I'm just on Xbox Live. Like I'm getting the same toast pop-ups, people inviting me to parties and stuff. Like to anybody else in the service, I'm just playing.

Larry Hyrb: You're just playing.

Phil Spencer: And I'm playing this game-

Larry Hyrb: That's the way it should be.

Phil Spencer: That's the way it should be. That's right kinda a ... So I am as much a part of the Xbox community in that context as I am when I'm sitting down in front of my X-

Larry Hyrb: Regardless of what device you're on or where you are

Phil Spencer: That's right. And there's I'm learning a lot as I'm playing games this way. It's helping me kinda think about the experience before we get it in the hands of customers. But I think it's just, when I think ... It'll be ... Let's be clear. It's gonna be years, I think, before this is the primary way millions of people are playing. But as ... Sitting at a company like Microsoft with the assets we have, I think we should focus on the now and let's go be great with the consoles we have in market now. And the games that we can go build. Let's think about our future and our kind of the existing spaces of console and PC, and let's go be real meaningful in those places. We've got significant work we've got to do on PC but I love the plan. But I think we should also have these kind of five, ten year views on where we think things can go. And I love the fact that we can play in all three of those horizons at the same time.

Larry Hyrb: Now I have to ask you this because your boss, the CEO of the company, of the ... The CEO of one of the most valuable companies in the world, Satya. What's that like, his engagement with gaming? I mean clearly you report to him, so he knows it's valuable to the company and it's a big deal.

Phil Spencer: Yeah. I'd say for Satya Nadella, our CEO, and Amy Hood our CFO, which are probably my two primary contacts. Incredibly supportive. And obviously when you're going and adding the studios that we did, in the last what now 8 months. Amy's got to approve all that as the CFO.

Larry Hyrb: The Chief Financial Officer.

Phil Spencer: Chief Financial ... And I've said this before. Satya looked at me on the last one we finally because we closed them all now, we've closed them all. And he was like, "Man, we're really in on content, aren't we?" I'm like, "Yes we are." But he loves the strategy. And I think he more than anything he trusts the team.

Larry Hyrb: Now Amy doesn't play a lot of games, does she? Was it you that were telling me the story about The Division?

Phil Spencer: No, I don't think so.

Larry Hyrb: Somebody was telling me this story about it, and I don't know Amy that well. But somebody was telling me this story, because she's our Chief Financial Officer. And apparently we were talking about The Division and she said, "Oh I love division!" No, not that type of division. Not long division, because she's a numbers person.

Phil Spencer: That's right. Yeah, Amy pays a lot of attention. She watches streamers, she stays-

Larry Hyrb: Oh really?

Phil Spencer: Oh yeah, yeah. She stays very connected. She's got younger kids. She doesn't have a ton of time so she doesn't play a lot, but I think as her kids are getting into the ages where they'll be playing she'll have that connection which is great. Satya just, I think for both of them, trusts in the team, belief in the strategy. Our critical components, big supporters. You know, there's certain things where I have to work like ... Take Game Pass. Satya will ... It's easy. He calls Game Pass the Netflix of Games.

Larry Hyrb: Right. A lot of people do.

Phil Spencer: A lot of people do. And it's not.

Larry Hyrb: Right.

Phil Spencer: Right? And that's not disrespect to Netflix. I'm a Netflix subscriber, I love it. But it is fundamentally different. The content that we have works differently than a video-

Larry Hyrb: Sure. A movie or TV show.

Phil Spencer: Where I watch it. Right, where there's a beginning, a middle, and an end, and then it stops. Not all games are like that. Games last longer. Some games have business models inside of themselves. People ... Some of the aspects that are similar, it's been really cool just to see the uplift in gameplay. People when they find ... I saw some interesting stat, I'm sure we'll kind of publicize them at some point. Human Fall Flat is a game that's done incredibly well in Game Pass. And when we watch those players we say, "Okay. Oh, here's a puzzle game that we don't know how it would've done on Xbox without the exposure of Game Pass." You can never kind of do the before and after of that. But now you see, "Hey, we got a lot of other puzzle games that all of a sudden are becoming more popular. And where are those players coming from?"

Larry Hyrb: All boats rise.

Phil Spencer: Yeah, it's actually. Literally, it's coming from people who their first real puzzle genre game that they play was a game like Human Fall Flat. I think how awesome is that that we have this kind of this system where people can try new content? Low friction, low barrier. Get exposed to something that is fun, creatively put together, a game I love. And then when they find, "Hey, I do like this. Thomas was alone, I'm going to go try that game. I'm gonna go find other puzzle games because I found that I like it."

Phil Spencer: And I don't know that that happens so much on a video service. I think it maybe happens some, but I don't know if it like ... I don't know if all of a sudden House of Cards is popular and people go looking for other political dramas or something. But in games, I think because of the community nature of it, because the business model of a lot of the games and stuff. It is, it works different than video. It works very, very healthy ways. Which has been awesome. So I love the discovery that happens in the in Game Pass and stuff. Satya is a big believer. And I mean, when you think about the consumer-facing businesses inside of Microsoft, the consumer products. And we do the brand analysis of what Xbox means. I mean, Xbox is a global consumer brand in so many markets. And they love that.

Larry Hyrb: It is, it's kind of amazing. We've talked about it. You've been here at the company a long time as well as I. To remember, I always tell people the story of when we were at Millennium, which is an old office park we used to be in-

Phil Spencer: The gravel pit.

Larry Hyrb: Next to a gravel pit. And I used to remind people that we would ... It was the team ... When I joined the team it was like 300 people. And now I don't even know how many people are in the Xbox work around the world.

Phil Spencer: It's thousands.

Larry Hyrb: It's thousands. And they're around the world, which is ... It's growing and growing and growing. And as you just alluded to earlier, there's tremendous aspirations to go beyond the console.

Phil Spencer: There is. And the growth is part of it. I think on a percentage basis we're one of the fastest growing groups around. Obviously the acquisitions have a large part of that. And going around the world, a love the fact that we no longer try to push everybody to live in the upper northwest corner of the United States.

Larry Hyrb: Thank god, yeah.

Phil Spencer: You can go do an acquisition or hire people once you've got a footprint in different places. Even remote employees. I had a good lunch with one of our strong Xbox Live devs who lives in southern California and works from his home. And he has for years. And I think you want to find the best talent. You want them to be able to be comfortable with where they live. You know, I think. I was down at Brian Fargo in inXile there in Malibu. Which is ... or Newport. Newport. And then they've got another part of their studio that's over in Louisiana. The Silicon Bayou. And I think it's great that we can actually put ... have footprints, have offices in different places. It lets us hire more different kinds of people.

Larry Hyrb: The talent pool is much bigger.

Phil Spencer: That's right, we're not always competing with ourselves. It is ... It means a little more travel. But I just think is the community and culture we have inside of our team, it is such a great addition.

Larry Hyrb: That's why I've been fighting for years, I want to get a studio out in New England where I'm from. There used to be a couple in Boston area-

Phil Spencer: There were, yep.

Larry Hyrb: But there's a lot of tech, a lot of students out there. I'll be going out there for PAX East in a couple months. And it is amazing how ... When I was growing up, and you grew up in the northwest.

Phil Spencer: I grew up in southern California and then I came up here to go to this college.

Larry Hyrb: Well when I grew up in New England, you know, there wasn't... Video games weren't a big deal. And then of course I moved out to Microsoft in 2000-ish. And I go back there now, and now it's like it's everywhere. And it's just [inaudible 00:33:36] same thing. Our business went from to the point from the 300 people on Xbox to the thousands around the world. Everybody games now.

Phil Spencer: Yeah. And that's ... You look at the stats, you look at the size of the business, the growth in the business. It is-

Larry Hyrb: Bigger than Hollywood.

Phil Spencer: And I'd just say it's mainstream. It's the number of people who play, or watch, or have interest in it. I think for us, as an industry, we have to recognize that the kind of responsibility with the reach that we have now. And I think we're doing more of that. You know, I love ... I'm on the ESA Board, which is the Entertainment Software Association, and Reggie's there. And Shawn's there. EA's there and Activision. It's like all of the main game publishers and first parties. I know Shawn's doing the D.I.C.E. keynote, Shawn Layden from Sony this year. I got the privilege of doing that last year. He and I had a short email exchange on those platforms as an industry with the amount of ... You think about how many kids on the planet their first use of any technology is through something like Minecraft. And I'm not saying that because we own Minecraft, could be Minecraft on the Switch or an iPhone.

Larry Hyrb: Right, whatever.

Phil Spencer: And then well what does that mean? I'm literally sitting in Jeff's seat today because I started playing video games with my dad who was an engineer, and a few years into it I wanted to figure out how these things were built. So I learned to program. Then I went to college and got an engineering degree because I wanted to figure out how things like that were built. And that whole STEM path, the social impact that gaming can have, it's such a great way to bring people together in a world where a lot of things are dividing us. Whether you're a that and I'm a this. And there's no overlap in that.

Phil Spencer: We have an art form in a society in gaming. A social that can really be an impact. Have a good impact on the planet. I love that. And I love seeing the industry start to grow into that. Realize that opportunity. And so many great people in the industry see that and grasp that and the work that happens. And we do it in a collaborative way. That's ... We're not competing on who's adaptable, who's more accessible. Let's actually be an industry that does the right thing for as many people as we can.

Larry Hyrb: Well before you ... I know you've got to wrap it up in a few minutes, because you need to go. But one thing I wanted to talk about last year was a big year was the adaptive controller. You kinda alluded to that a little bit. That was still huge, and we saw it in the commercial.

Phil Spencer: Owen, yeah.

Larry Hyrb: With Owen. Over the holiday. That's ... What a great product that is. And I know that you get comments all the time on social and I do all the time on social and in person. The difference that product made.

Phil Spencer: Yeah, the videos that we see, it's so ... I had a little bit of this when we launched Kinect. Kinect was more something I don't think we foresaw, but autistic children who couldn't play games and we're getting videos from parents who could play for the first time with their kids. And that was, I'd say an emergent capability. This with the adaptive controller was so like a team. I think we've said this before, it started as a hack-a-thon project at Microsoft. And so it's not like some executive upon high said, "Hey, we're gonna go do this."

Phil Spencer: This was community driven inside of the organization. And not just people on the games team. That came together to go build this thing. And now I see the impact that that has, and in kind of writing an awareness in the industry and growing an awareness in the industry that we want everybody to play. And when everybody plays we all win. I kinda love that, that tagline. And I like that tagline not as a Microsoft thing but as an industry thing. The Owen commercial, the first time I saw that, it's an emotional thing. I think on YouTube, they also have the backstory of all that. That is his best friend. In the-

Larry Hyrb: He's a real kid, a real story.

Phil Spencer: That's right. He loves playing video games, this whole thing. Like, "What do I love about video games."

Larry Hyrb: He and I were trying to play over the holidays and we never connected.

Phil Spencer: Oh, that's okay.

Larry Hyrb: I'll trying to play a game with him.

Phil Spencer: I just love the impact. And that's such a ... I think the adaptive controller was just a great manifestation of an industry that's starting to realize its place and its capability. A team-

Larry Hyrb: And responsibility.

Phil Spencer: And responsibility. Perfect, perfect word for it. And then the first thing we did when we had some early working models is we sent them to a lot of different companies in the industry and we said, "Hey, whether you want to do this, or you want to do something in your own skin or whatever. We think there's a real capability." And the response from the industry has been great. It's not a Microsoft thing. It's an industry thing and it all kind of builds on itself.

Larry Hyrb: I know that you've, you're famous. You've gone one record as famously saying, "If anybody else wants to use this technology then have at it."

Phil Spencer: That's right. And I think there's the adaptive controller, there's the text-to-speech, speech-to-text work that we've been doing in games. There's just toxicity online, obviously we talked about that. It all ... Again, you have to come back to are we building things that people love? Like responsibility without kind of engagement from people who love what you're giving them is the most important thing. And I think 2018 was a fantastic year as an industry for just the innovation for the art form. When you think about all of the great games that were put out. Red Dead was awesome. Nintendo just had an awesome, an incredible December. Sony first party has been doing a really good job. You see third parties, first parties doing incredible work.

Phil Spencer: We talked obviously a lot about where Sea of Thieves is and how that's grown in 2018. I think it's a real nice year for the industry to continue to push in so many fronts and I don't see that momentum stopping. Just as I go around and talk to different publishers, different studios. It's so ... People are really energized right now. There'll be natural cycles in terms of business growing, whatever. But I think that responsibility matched with the opportunity to reach so many people just has the creative community, as far as I can see it, more pumped about what they can do than ever before. Which, as a gamer, I'm incredibly excited.

Larry Hyrb: Back in 2018 and kind of a preview of 2019 by Phil Spencer. Thanks, man. I know you gotta go, you got a busy day today. More game ... You reviewing more titles?

Phil Spencer: I am. Yeah. And like I said, maybe I'm gonna sneak and finish Hellblade's last chapter.

Larry Hyrb: Let me know if you need any help. No, you have to do it. You must finish.

Phil Spencer: I'm right there. But yeah it's today ... Everyday is kinda stacked with stuff. But it's good. We're in here early in the morning, and I appreciate you coming over.

Larry Hyrb: Oh, my pleasure.

Phil Spencer: You beat me in today. So I came in-

Larry Hyrb: I feel good about that. I feel good about that.

Phil Spencer: And Jeff being at Starbucks gave me the opportunity-

Larry Hyrb: In France, in Paris, by the way.

Phil Spencer: Yeah, Starbucks in Paris. Come on, Jeff. But no, you guys are doing a great job just staying connected with the community that we have and giving people the information that they want. And I just appreciate the opportunity to come on.

Larry Hyrb: My pleasure, man. We'll have you on ... We've also got a new episode of Inside Xbox coming up in a couple of weeks. So we'll have some more-

Phil Spencer: I love Inside Xbox.

Larry Hyrb: Yeah.

Phil Spencer: I watch it-

Larry Hyrb: Every month.

Phil Spencer: Yeah.

Larry Hyrb: We'll have you on again. We had you on in Mexico City.

Phil Spencer: Yeah, that's right. That's right.

Larry Hyrb: I don't think you're on this next show, but 'cause when Phil comes on, he brings the heat.

Phil Spencer: No, I see these opportunities to talk with the community and there's things I want to talk about. So I'm probably a little less glitzy than some of your other guests. Hosts. Guests. But I'm ... Yeah, I appreciate it. So any time.

Larry Hyrb: That sounds fun. All right, we'll let you go and people can find you on social, on Twitter.

Phil Spencer: XboxP3, or P3 on Xbox Live.

Larry Hyrb: You're one of the four people I follow, so just follow me @Major Nelson and when he's tweeting. All right, man, we will talk to you later. Thanks, Phil.

Phil Spencer: Thank you.