(Music playing) Hi, it's Larry Hryb, Xbox Live, Major Nelson. Welcome to show #602, the podcast. We're back on track here. We've had a crazy month, but we're here. We're all back in the room. I've got Jeffrey joining us.
Jeff Rubenstein: I just hacked through some cobwebs to get back into the studio, Larry.
Larry Hryb: I know. It was a little dusty, wasn't it?
Jeff Rubenstein: It's been a month.
Larry Hryb: (Blowing). Way to blow the dust off, and then joining us right now is world's favorite necromancer, Laura Massey.
Jeff Rubenstein: Thank you.
Larry Hryb: Laura, how are you?
Laura Massey: Hello.
Larry Hryb: How are you? It's nice to see you.
Laura Massey: Hi Larry.
Larry Hryb: Diablo reference.
Laura Massey: Exactly. So good to be back.
Larry Hryb: It is. We tried to do a show a couple weeks ago, but we had E3 of course, and Laura, you were available. Jeffrey was out of time, but I said, "You know what? I really want to get us all in the studio at once, because we have so many E3 stories or E3 to talk about, and we have much to catch up on, and ooh, Jeff and I were at E3. You couldn't make it this time.
Laura Massey: Not this time.
Larry Hryb: You were welcome. I would've gotten you in.
Laura Massey: I appreciate that. I know you would've.
Jeff Rubenstein: You know what? But you got to watch in 4K.
Larry Hryb: Yeah you did.
Laura Massey: I did.
Larry Hryb: In beautiful 4K on Mixer on your Xbox 1S and. . .
Jeff Rubenstein: I frequent the gaffs, and rarely do you see just a very friendly thread where everyone agrees on everything, but people who really agreed, watching that, it was a very beautiful broadcast in 4K.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: People were like, I've never seen that before.
Larry Hryb: BeCause you remember when Phil Spencer comes out on stage, and his jacket, it was very finely textured.
Laura Massey: Was it?
Larry Hryb: Yeah very finely textured.
Jeff Rubenstein: Finely textured.
Larry Hryb: No, it's textured.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh.
Larry Hryb: You could see all the different threads in it in 4k, because you have 4k mono resolution et cetera, et cetera, so it was a lot of fun, but yeah, we had a really nice time at E3. It was a great, great briefing on that Sunday, which is weird. We moved it from Monday to Sunday though.
Laura Massey: Yeah, thathat was pretty weird.
Larry Hryb: Was that okay? Did you get out of your pajamas in time,or out of bed in time to go watch it? It was two in the afternoon. I figured you just slept in on Sunday.
Laura Massey: I had, unfortunately, other plans.
Larry Hryb: Oh.
Laura Massey: You know, we know, but I caught up on all the details-
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Laura Massey: After my plans were over.
Larry Hryb: Yes, you did good. Well it was a lot of fun. Jeff and I were there. A lot of people were there. Millions of you listeners also joined us online in the beauty of the 4K or not. Jeff, what did you think of the show. I mean, we had a good time.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Where were you sitting by the way?
Jeff Rubenstein: I actually I had good seats this year for the first time. Part of what I do is making sure that people are getting in their seats properly and getting good views. I work with a lot of YouTubers and folks you might know.
Larry Hryb: Just so you know we call that an usher.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes, but I had a suit on. Oh wait, oh yeah.
Larry Hryb: You had a little hat on.
Jeff Rubenstein: I was a glorified usher and then, kind of, I don't even know where I'm going to sit until all of our people got there and with about five minutes to go I got a note saying, "hey, everyone on our list is here." We were on Sunday this year.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: No traffic and it was actually really great. Then it was like oh, I should probably find a place to sit. I ended up sitting next to, do you know Jess Chobot?
Larry Hryb: Of course, I know Jess.
Jeff Rubenstein: She had an empty seat next to her.
Larry Hryb: I didn't realize she was there.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, she was there.
Larry Hryb: I was there. I was backstage.
Jeff Rubenstein: She's great we sat there and watched the show.
Larry Hryb: Was she there with her husband or just alone?
Jeff Rubenstein: He works for IGN now, so I think he was out probably working on the stream.
Larry Hryb: Right, right.
Jeff Rubenstein: But, yeah, so anyway we had a good show. I got good seats and I got to enjoy it, and it was great, because I was not in rehearsal so most of the stuff we saw . . .
Larry Hryb: That's right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Was news to me.
Larry Hryb: That's right.
Jeff Rubenstein: I enjoyed that.
Larry Hryb: I'd sat through a couple of rehearsals and it was a lot of fun, but it was a fun show and of course we had a great week. The First time the public's been allowed at E3 at the show specific.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Of course we had Fan Fest. We had Fan Fest activities going on. It was a blur for me Laura, from the moment I touched down on Friday to the moment I left the following Thursday. It was one blur.
Jeff Rubenstein: What was your favorite moment of the brief?
Larry Hryb: I can tell you what my utmost unfavorite moment was.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Laura Massey: There was an unfavorite?
Larry Hryb: Yes, so I will tell you this. I hosted the daily show on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, which I really enjoy. I love doing that, you know. It's just fun doing live TV. Well, on Tuesday we were doing our show from the show floor from our booth.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative)-
Larry Hryb: We get ready to do the show, and the show opened. We call it in show biz it's called the show open, you know, the top of the show. I'm there with my four hosts, and if you remember the way the stage was configured, Jeff?
Jeff Rubenstein: Mm-hmm (affirmative)-
Larry Hryb: It was about a foot off the ground. It was a very tight fit, you know. So we had this Minecraft queue behind us. As I'm looking into the camera, delivering, talking, hey, we're really excited to be here, and I'm telling folks what's going on, I feel this something touched my backside in the seat.
Laura Massey: Oh. What?
Jeff Rubenstein: Did you have another spider issue?
Larry Hryb: No, no, no, no. It was a person, or at least I think it was a person. If you look at the video, you can go back. I don't remember if it was the first open or the second or what break it was.
Jeff Rubenstein: I gotta find this.
Larry Hryb: You actually see me start scooting forward in my seat a little bit, because I'm trying to get away from whoever's trying to, you know.
Laura Massey: That's . . .
Larry Hryb: I'm going to find this clip. It was very strange.
Laura Massey: Especially on live TV. It's just not cool.
Larry Hryb: Yeah and so anyway, I was like so what's going on here. We finished after this two or three minute segment and I turned around and, of course, whatever happened the person was gone, or people, who knows?
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Or people, who knows? Laura, that's what I don't know.
Laura Massey: It could have been multiple.
Larry Hryb: It may have been a spider, I don't know.
Jeff Rubenstein: You remember that, we were playing a game and we beat it, maybe it was Far Cry or whatever it was. I'm like, yes. I'm like Larry's logged off and a spider was chomping on your leg or something like that.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I got bit, that's right. It was very strange. Anyway so it was a moment where I wasn't really expecting that.
Laura Massey: It sounds like you kept it professional . . .
Larry Hryb: Oh yeah.
Laura Massey: During the show.
Larry Hryb: Look the show must always go on. I have gone through some crazy stuff being on the air that I've never really talked about, because that's just live TV.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: That was kind of my unfavorite moment. I think my favorite moment of course is Phil coming out and talking about Xbox One X.
Laura Massey: Yes.
Larry Hryb: The new console which we've had a chance to play with here at the office and really excited for people to get their hands on it. It's just a lot of fun. It's really cool. That was probably one of my . . .
Jeff Rubenstein: Is this the first thing right after the briefing?
Larry Hryb: I think so.
Jeff Rubenstein: I think I found the clip.
Larry Hryb: I think it, please don't.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh.
Larry Hryb: Please don't, ahh.
Jeff Rubenstein: Here we go.
Laura Massey: We'll go and show . . .
Larry Hryb: I did Laura, I know you probably didn't watch all the shows, but I think it was that Tuesday show where I busted out my new microphone. My game show microphone.
Laura Massey: Oh you did.
Larry Hryb: My game show microphone.
Laura Massey: You did, you busted it out.
Larry Hryb: The very end.
Laura Massey: I missed it.
Larry Hryb: The very end of the show my wife found me this beautiful ECM, I think it was ECM 35, or ECM 50, which is basically the same kind of microphone that they use in the Match Game or . . .
Laura Massey: Bob Barker.
Larry Hryb: The Price Is Right. Real tall and anyway I snapped that up. I'm working on using it for future shows. Nobody mentioned it. I was really disappointed that nobody mentioned by cool game show.
Laura Massey: I'm disappointed too.
Larry Hryb: Anyway, it was a lot of fun to do the show. What was your favorite moment Jeffry, or Laurie even for you from back here?
Laura Massey: Yes. I think the biggest moment for back here was the reveal of Scorpio.
Larry Hryb: Right, the reveal of Xbox One X.
Laura Massey: The name.
Larry Hryb: Which nobody knew.
Laura Massey: Really? Did you know?
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Laura Massey: Yes.
Larry Hryb: I was briefed on it earlier prior to the announce.
Laura Massey: Yes.
Larry Hryb: Did you know?
Laura Massey: I did not know. They usually keep it under very tight wraps.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, very few people know.
Laura Massey: Probably in the single digits know the real name.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, yeah.
Laura Massey: Before it's actually announced.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Laura Massey: On stage.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: It was very exciting.
Larry Hryb: I'm sorry so you asked me about my favorite moment. My favorite moment without a doubt is the video I did with Leo De Castillo. He is one of our hardware engineers. He is the head of hardware engineering. He assembles an Xbox One X on screen. This was a video that we did about two days before leaving for E3, because we did it in the lab up here. It was just fascinating, because he puts it together. To me it was just so cool. It's the first time I'd ever seen it, because I didn't want to see it before, because that excitement you see from me on camera is real, so that was my favorite.
Jeff Rubenstein: No one would ever accuse you otherwise.
Larry Hryb: Oh really.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Here's why, everybody is doing unboxing, but this is the first time we did an assemble.
Jeff Rubenstein: You know what else everyone is doing?
Larry Hryb: What?
Jeff Rubenstein: Fidget spinners, including you right now Larry, I'm very disappointed.
Laura Massey: (Laughing).
Jeff Rubenstein: You're doing it without even realizing you're doing it.
Larry Hryb: There's the fidget spinner. I don't know why you're here.
Jeff Rubenstein: Just take it, no, no, no. By all means . . .
Laura Massey: There's a good story with it.
Larry Hryb: Get over it.
Laura Massey: This is a green fidget spinner.
Larry Hryb: Yes, it says Xbox on it, I know.
Laura Massey: It's an Xbox spinner.
Larry Hryb: I don't need it. Now you're doing it.
Laura Massey: Yes.
Larry Hryb: Now you're doing it.
Laura Massey: Yes, it's just something that happens.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Can you do some tricks?
Laura Massey: No.
Larry Hryb: Could you do that thing, the reason why people used to flip their pencils around their fingers, can you do it?
Laura Massey: No.
Larry Hryb: I can't do that either. I have zero dexterity.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's a bit . . .
Larry Hryb: Can you do it Jeffrey?
Jeff Rubenstein: No, no.
Larry Hryb: You know what I'm talking about.
Jeff Rubenstein: I know exactly what you're . . .
Larry Hryb: You know flip it around, it's like a spinner, anyway.
Laura Massey: No, but this is something that you got, you were talking to.
Larry Hryb: I was talking to some interns. Yeah, we had Xbox interns and of course I tweeted that and everyone is how do I get to be an intern. There's actually an official intern program, because Laura you are a result of that.
Laura Massey: I am.
Larry Hryb: You are a direct result of that.
Laura Massey: Exactly, I'm a direct result of the intern program.
Larry Hryb: I remember you as an intern.
Laura Massey: I remember . . .
Larry Hryb: We're not going to have this conversation again are we?
Laura Massey: The first time I was on the show.
Larry Hryb: It makes me feel old.
Laura Massey: Well, I also feel old, because it was 11 years ago.
Larry Hryb: Was it 11 years ago?
Laura Massey: It was 11 years ago.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh my god, oh my god.
Larry Hryb: Wow, okay.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, I just going to go ahead and link over to the careers page.
Larry Hryb: Yes, if you would please.
Jeff Rubenstein: Microsoft. Clink of students that graduate.
Laura Massey: .com/college.
Jeff Rubenstein: You too could be.
Laura Massey: Yeah, Microsoft hires out.
Larry Hryb: I'm sorry, before you say it. You could be the next host/co-host with me on this show, so anyway go ahead.
Laura Massey: Start as an intern and work your way up.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: Hey, it worked for me.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: Microsoft hires thousands of interns every summer and all throughout the year. It is microsoft.com/college, I believe.
Larry Hryb: Not only that, but they get a heck of a program.
Laura Massey: They get amazing. It's gotten significantly better.
Larry Hryb: They hire A list bands to play for them.
Laura Massey: Yes and they get amazing gifts and fidget spinners and all kinds of trips and things like that.
Larry Hryb: I'll tell you this and I can't speak for Jeffrey. Jeffrey and I are very similar in our backgrounds, except he grew up in Florida.
Jeff Rubenstein: We were grinders.
Larry Hryb: Laura, you were, I've always said you're the smartest person in the room. You were able to get an internship. I don't think back in the day, I could have ever gotten, they would not even return my calls. Right Jeffrey?
Jeff Rubenstein: I couldn't code my way out of a wet paper bag.
Larry Hryb: Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, nope, so.
Laura Massey: I think there are all kinds of interns now, like business interns, marketing interns. There might even be a media intern.
Larry Hryb: There could be that too.
Laura Massey: There could be.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: You've just got to go and look at the website and see what . . .
Larry Hryb: There'll be a link in the show notes that Jeffrey is going to put on there.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh yeah, I just put it on there.
Larry Hryb: Anyway interns. We're getting back to E3 a little bit.
Laura Massey: Yes.
Larry Hryb: You're favorite moment, I interrupted you, Laura.
Laura Massey: Right. Mine . . .
Larry Hryb: No, no keep that fidget spinner please.
Laura Massey: Okay. Mine was the reveal of the Xbox One X, because that's that everyone had been looking forward to. That was the biggest moment of the show by far.
Larry Hryb: Easily.
Laura Massey: Easily.
Larry Hryb: Easily.
Jeff Rubenstein: My favorite moment that was not a repeat of that, because for me it was the reveal of the Xbox One X, was actually the reveal of player Battlegrounds.
Larry Hryb: Ah, player unknown battlegrounds.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's coming to Xbox One. It's just awesome. That's a game so many people are playing. Very much looking forward to playing with a controller.
Larry Hryb: 42 games we showed on stage Laura.
Laura Massey: You showed a lot of games.
Larry Hryb: 42 games. In fact, somebody did the math. Our briefing alone was longer than Sony's and Nintendo's combined.
Laura Massey: Oh really?
Larry Hryb: Yeah. It was one of the longest we've ever done.
Laura Massey: Yes, I did notice that.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, yeah.
Laura Massey: It was very cool.
Larry Hryb: To the point of I think we should have had an intermission to take a bathroom break, so you didn't miss anything. Right Jeff, you could have ushered everybody back in.
Jeff Rubenstein: [inaudible 00:12:03].
Laura Massey: That's the benefit of being on Sunday.
Larry Hryb: Yes, that's the benefit of going on Sunday and just a lot of other things. Hopefully you enjoyed it. What about you Jeffrey, what was your favorite moment.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well other than player and player unknown. Actually I got to play a couple of games. The first game I got to sit down and play was Crack Down Three.
Laura Massey: Awesome.
Jeff Rubenstein: That was awesome. They had sore of a mode during E3, where it was just kind of cause as much mayhem as you can in ten minutes. You know what, you can cause quite a lot of mayhem. I used like a singularity gun that would shoot essentially a small black hole that would just pull everything into it. That was really fun. Jumping around collecting orbs, very much . . .
Larry Hryb: Did you play that game prior to working here?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Crack Down?
Jeff Rubenstein: The original Crack Down came when I was still in media and I remember writing an article that said, I bought Crack Down for the Halo 3 beta access.
Larry Hryb: That's right. We had the Halo. I remember that. I'll tell you that story in a minute.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, but it stands on its own and in its own is an incredible game.
Laura Massey: Yes, I remember that too.
Larry Hryb: Do you remember that? Because, I remember the bungee guys were upset, because we don't want to be connected with this game. Nobody knew what the game was and they thought it was going to be a stinker and it turned out to be Crack Down and it was huge.
Jeff Rubenstein: When you saw that they were touching it, oh they must not have faith that this is going to be good. Everyone is going to buy it for the Halo 3 access and then it was like no, this game is phenomenal and I got the Halo 3 access.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I think I've got the orb sound effect here some place. I should drop it.
Laura Massey: I'm sure you do. I think you've got all the sounds.
Larry Hryb: Actually here it is, hold on. (Plays sound). Yeah, there you go. That's not so nice. I'll link to that. I have it uploaded as a ring tone on my site.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's up there with the achievement noise. It just makes you feel.
Laura Massey: Do people still have custom ring tones these days?
Larry Hryb: I do.
Laura Massey: Do you?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I think I have one for you.
Laura Massey: I feel like that's something that you did . . .
Larry Hryb: Really?
Laura Massey: In the early 2000's.
Larry Hryb: Most people use vibration mode right now.
Jeff Rubenstein: What does Drew use? We kept hearing it. Oh he uses the Zelda sound when you lift a sword up. Like the da, na, na.
Laura Massey: Oh yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: We were playing Overwatch with him and it went off 50 times. It was like dude put the phone on your lap and put the vibrate on.
Laura Massey: Exactly.
Larry Hryb: I've got the loser horn from the Price Is Right. (Plays sound).
Laura Massey: What's that for?
Jeff Rubenstein: That is my favorite sound.
Larry Hryb: Really?
Jeff Rubenstein: TPIR Fail Horn.
Larry Hryb: Really?
Jeff Rubenstein: It's just baa, BA, baa, baa.
Laura Massey: What do you? What triggers that?
Larry Hryb: I have so many in here. This is (plays sound), got to have a sad trombone. I don't know, because I am an audio guy I have all these weird.
Laura Massey: I hope that's not mine.
Larry Hryb: No, that's not yours.
Laura Massey: Text message sound.
Larry Hryb: This one is actually a classic one. This one is a great one, (plays sound). Ah, Fall Out fans that was the mysterious stranger.
Jeff Rubenstein: Stranger.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I don't know where I got that one. Yeah, I've got a bunch of different ones in here. My favorite one though, I don't know how we're getting on ring tones, Laura.
Laura Massey: I asked a simple question.
Larry Hryb: Ring tones are, like this one is my ring tone (plays sound). I've talked about this a lot. That's the Harajuku Station in Tokyo, because all of the stations have a different . . .
Jeff Rubenstein: Have different sound effects.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: I think it was to wake you up.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: So that you know when you get there.
Larry Hryb: My understanding is the reason that it's that is the cars, the train cars are so packed, you can't seen what station you're pulling into.
Jeff Rubenstein: Ah, that also makes sense.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: The station I always stay at in Rappongi Hills was a bird tweeting in just a particular way, kind of like in The Witness. It just had like the right, I can still here it.
Larry Hryb: A friend of mine gave me this one and Jeff you, Laura you probably haven't heard this one, but this one is a famous one for those of you on the East Coast. "Please stand clear of the doors." (Spanish version). That's what you hear when you get on the Walt Disney World Monorail. I don't know why I . . .
Jeff Rubenstein: Take the New York ones. Stand clear of the closing doors.
Larry Hryb: I don't know why I have that, but here we go. Anyway, we can go through my collection Laura and you can . . .
Jeff Rubenstein: I think we just did.
Larry Hryb: No, trust me, we did not. Ahh, ring tones.
Laura Massey: I don't think I can remember the last time I heard my ring tone.
Larry Hryb: How did we get to that?
Laura Massey: Because the Crack Down orb.
Larry Hryb: Oh the Crack Down orb, yes, thank you. Thank you and the achievement sound and all the rare achievement sound and all the rest of those. I posted all these on my blog at majornelson.com. E3, we had a great show. Thank you to all the fans that participated in Fan Fest, it was fantastic to see you all there. It was a real, real wonderful, wonderful, scene. Than thank you to all the fans, even if you didn't join Fan Fest, because it was open to the public this year that came by the Xbox booth, saw me during the show. Hopefully, you weren't behind me during the live show.
Jeff Rubenstein: Did you get to play anything?
Larry Hryb: No.
Jeff Rubenstein: No, oh.
Larry Hryb: We had to do the live show. We did rehearsals. We had to get the shows written and editing. I was booked, I said from the moment I was wheels down to the moment I was wheels up, in I think 30 minute to 15 minute blocks.
Jeff Rubenstein: The president.
Larry Hryb: I was just can't stop, won't stop.
Laura Massey: Did you get a chance to walk around at all?
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: I have to know, what was it like for the first time having . . .
Larry Hryb: Packed, packed.
Laura Massey: Fans?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, have you ever been to Games Com?
Larry Hryb: No.
Laura Massey: No.
Jeff Rubenstein: Okay. Have you ever been on a packed Tokyo Subway train?
Laura Massey: No, I've not been to Tokyo.
Jeff Rubenstein: Or New York, or where?
Laura Massey: I've been to Pax.
Larry Hryb: No.
Laura Massey: No, not even.
Jeff Rubenstein: Pax is a rolling prairie in Montana.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Nary a soul to be seen.
Larry Hryb: You could definitely tell, you can definitely tell.
Jeff Rubenstein: I thought it brought a lot of energy.
Larry Hryb: Oh sure it did.
Jeff Rubenstein: I think in future years, I think you'll see better adaptation to that. You take an already busy event and you add 15,000 people. You're going to feel that difference, but I think it was good.
Larry Hryb: No, we had a lot of people that stopped by the booth. One of the games they loved playing was Lucky's Tale?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. They had a good giveaway on that one too.
Larry Hryb: Of course Thieves.
Jeff Rubenstein: Did you play Artful Escape? I played that one.
Larry Hryb: I did not play that one.
Jeff Rubenstein: If you imagine Queen, like the band Queen, not like Queen Elizabeth The Second, making a video game. I wonder what kind of video game she would make, waving simulator.
Larry Hryb: What's in my purse. Does she even carry a purse?
Laura Massey: I think she does.
Jeff Rubenstein: Tic-Tacs. What's in there? Does she need money?
Larry Hryb: I don't know. Does she need the keys to the Range Rover?
Jeff Rubenstein: She's all in the money. The face is the money.
Larry Hryb: That's her ID.
Laura Massey: Can you imagine someone carding the Queen?
Larry Hryb: That's a really good question, yes. Can somebody please ask the Queen. I know we have some listeners in Buckingham Palace? Could you please get to the bottom of this?
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm sure you have some informants there, yes. Anyway we had a great idea at Xbox lineup. Congrats or kudos to Chris [inaudible 00:18:43] and the ID Xbox team for creating just really awesome list. Ashen was one that people were really into, but this one I think was one of the one that was most talked about, not the most talked about at our booth and that was Artful Escape. It was just like a platformer where when you double jump you can glide by playing guitar. It doesn't make sense, but it doesn't need to make sense, not really.
Larry Hryb: It's games.
Jeff Rubenstein: The music was really cool. There's some elements like, it was like the band Queen meets Close Encounters of the Third Kind, but in a platforming video game.
Larry Hryb: Da, da, da, da, da, da, da, da.
Jeff Rubenstein: Worth playing when that comes out. I don't think we have a date yet, but it definitely turned a lot of heads.
Larry Hryb: Da, da, da, da.
Jeff Rubenstein: I also got to go to the Behind Closed Doors on a sequel to one of my favorite Xbox games ever, State of Decay II.
Larry Hryb: Yes, I was down there at the studio.
Jeff Rubenstein: I kept trying to sneak in to see it. Many of you may or may not know this, but away from the show floor we sometimes give media or other folks a bit of a deeper dive on some of the mechanics of a game, so they get to learn a little bit more than you would learn in the briefing.
Larry Hryb: Uh-huh.
Jeff Rubenstein: One of them was State of Decay II.
Larry Hryb: Uh-huh.
Jeff Rubenstein: I kept trying to sneak in and I kept getting kicked out, because the room was too full. It was just a group of three or four or five people at the time, but I finally got it. Just to see the enhancement of the systems and everything like that. Very excited. If you're a fan of State of Decay, the original one . . .
Larry Hryb: They really upped the RPG elements.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. There's co-op and there's just all kinds of stuff that I think, if wanted a lot more of everything, I think you're going to find that, very exciting.
Larry Hryb: E3 2017 is in the books now and we're thrilled and now we're focused to deliver all those great games this holiday and of course Xbox One X coming this holiday, coming in November.
Jeff Rubenstein: November 7th.
Larry Hryb: November 7th, Laura.
Laura Massey: Very exciting.
Larry Hryb: Got a lot of questions about when are pre-sales going to go on as people want to buy. I will will you know the moment I know. The moment we have it confirmed and you can do a click and pre-order. I will let you know. I assure you that. I just want to let you know.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's your job.
Larry Hryb: That's one of my . . .
Jeff Rubenstein: If you didn't let us know.
Larry Hryb: One of my many jobs.
Jeff Rubenstein: There would be a Major somebody else.
Larry Hryb: That would be not good, no. It would be a major something, major problem.
Jeff Rubenstein: Private First Class.
Laura Massey: Major problem.
Larry Hryb: I wonder if someone has ever said that before. Why did it take me?
Laura Massey: Why did it take you?
Larry Hryb: Why did it take me. Anyway, so that's what's going on. E3 has come and gone. Why don't we go through some of the headlines, because we've had a lot going on. We talked about Game Pass launched to everyone.
Laura Massey: Oh cool, great.
Larry Hryb: Is now available, which is for those of you that don't know, it's an an incredible value. Get access to a hundred plus games.
Jeff Rubenstein: Actually Larry.
Larry Hryb: Yes, Jeffey.
Jeff Rubenstein: Hot off the presses.
Larry Hryb: This just in.
Jeff Rubenstein: More games are being added to Xbox Game Pass on the 1st of July. That is potentially tomorrow depending on when you're hearing this, or it may have already passed. These are great games.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Coming into the Xbox Game Pass stable will be the definitive edition of Dead Island, Evil 6, Flame and the Flood, Guacamelee. I'll call that one my sleeper hit, which is a game by Drink Box. A good group up there in Toronto. This is a really awesome like metroid venue platformer, that is just fantastically done with amazing music. It's super smooth. Absolutely a must play as far as I'm concerned.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: That and other titles I'll just link off to that on majornelson.com. The Xbox Game Pass best deal in gaming getting better.
Larry Hryb: Dun, dun, dun.
Jeff Rubenstein: Then on a similar note. Games With Gold also announced, it's July. Come July 1st. Just more to play than . . .
Larry Hryb: Ever before.
Jeff Rubenstein: Time is your most precious resource.
Larry Hryb: Make sure you get outside and enjoy the good weather wherever you are.
Jeff Rubenstein: Not for too long, you'll get a sunburn.
Larry Hryb: If it's too hot come inside.
Jeff Rubenstein: Come in and play some games. A couple of games. Here's what's been announced for the first part of July. A game called Grow Up on Xbox One, I believe that's debuting directly into Games With Gold. Also Kane and Lynch 2 Dog Days. This is a game form Xbox 360 of course coming to you through the magic of backwards compatibility. This is a game that was really lauded for doing some very clever stuff in co-up multi-player game platforms.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: We should play through some of that Larry.
Larry Hryb: Yes. You know what we didn't talk about?
Jeff Rubenstein: What?
Larry Hryb: I just realized. We didn't talk about one of the big moments at E3, which was one of the original Xbox . . .
Laura Massey: Right, that's right.
Larry Hryb: Crimson Skies and others coming soon.
Jeff Rubenstein: We're going to have more details on it in the future, but that was a huge moment. I saw that, I got a demo for that before we announced it. I was like what?
Laura Massey: Uh-huh.
Jeff Rubenstein: They had this thing where they took an original Xbox playing Crimson Skies, system linked it to an Xbox 360 playing Crimson Skies [inaudible 00:23:44] and then system linked it to an Xbox One playing, so it's like the entire family playing Crimson Skies, playing Wild Chicken. Do you remember Wild Chicken? Do you remember who worked on it, Apollo? There was a guy who has, I think he's still got the game Wild Chicken. He worked on the game and he invented that particular mode. I was thinking of you Apollo, wherever you are. I never played Crimson Skies. I had it. What happened is I got my Xbox for Halo. I was going through a period in my life.
Larry Hryb: The original?
Jeff Rubenstein: I wasn't for the original. I wasn't playing a lot of games. I don't think I even had a system at the time. I was over at a friend's house and he put the Duke in my hand. We started just messing around with Halo, just riding in a map even. I'd never played a first person shooter with a controller before. They kept going on and I may have even left the house, and I just sat there transfixed and just kept playing Halo. The next weekend I went and bought an Xbox with Halo and with I want to say an Interguiden.
Larry Hryb: Interguiden, yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Had just come out. I'd never even . . .
Larry Hryb: Midtown Madness.
Laura Massey: Yeah, that's right.
Larry Hryb: SSX.
Jeff Rubenstein: Radio Future. I had Crimson Skies, because you bought Xbox Live was in a box at the time and it came with the game and a headset, if I recall right, is that correct.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: I immediately jumped into Halo and then didn't come up for air.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: If I remember I've heard the video, you were demanding chocolate milk, that was you?
Jeff Rubenstein: That wasn't me, no. Oh, also Games With Gold. We talked about the first half of July Grow Up, Kane and Lynch, Dog Days. Second half Runbow, that will be available. I think that may also be debuting too in Games With Gold, I'll have to double check that. That'll be available July 16th, Xbox One.
Larry Hryb: All right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Pirates of the Caribbean, Lego Pirates of the Caribbean.
Larry Hryb: All those Lego games are always fun.
Jeff Rubenstein: Perfect timing with the movie.
Larry Hryb: Kiddos.
Jeff Rubenstein: That will be available July 16th. Yet, if somehow, you say I need more.
Larry Hryb: I need more Jeff.
Jeff Rubenstein: I need more to play.
Larry Hryb: Jeff, I need more games.
Jeff Rubenstein: We've got you covered.
Larry Hryb: Yes, we do.
Jeff Rubenstein: The ultimate game sale.
Larry Hryb: UGS.
Jeff Rubenstein: This may be the first time you hear some of the titles. I just had . . .
Larry Hryb: They're starting to bust out, yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: I was handed a . . .
Larry Hryb: Sealed envelope.
Jeff Rubenstein: Sheet yes.
Larry Hryb: Hold on let's open it up, let's open it up. All right there you go Jeffrey.
Jeff Rubenstein: Thank you, thank you so much. Number of sales that range anywhere from 25% all the way up to, what's the highest number I've got 67, 80% off. 80% off, Super Ultra Dead Rising Arcade Remix. Some amazing sales here. You always will save more if you have gold. Some of the biggest deals I saw here, the Witcher. Witcher 3 Definitive. I think it's the game of the year version, I would call it the game of the generation version. How low would you go?
Larry Hryb: Jeff, how low would you go?
Jeff Rubenstein: Hundreds of hours, I gave $25.00.
Larry Hryb: I want to point something out. What Jeff and I have here is an early list. The prices may be a little bit lower, maybe, but this is the content that will be on sale, just check out my blog at majornelson.com for title pricing and information.
Jeff Rubenstein: There are just some incredible deals here. Basically, all of our first party games that you can think of Halo Wars 2, Dead Rising 4, 50% off on that one. Sunset Overdrive, State of Decay, Year One Survival edition, Rise, Recore, Quantum Break. Quantum Break is 67% off. Well worth your $19.00.
Laura Massey: Wow.
Jeff Rubenstein: There's really every major game that you can think of that has come out in the last few years is on sale at a dramatic discount. Definitely check out majornelson.com. I'm scrolling so much my hand hurts.
Larry Hryb: Ow.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's a real problem Larry. There's too many games on sale. Somebody stop it.
Larry Hryb: I'll make sure I tweet out. I'm sure that we'll have one of our partners may have some storage on sale. Usually with Xbox One all you need to do is . . .
Jeff Rubenstein: You're going to need a bigger . . .
Larry Hryb: Plug in. You're going to need a bigger boat, plug in an external HD, hard drive, USB 3 hard drive.
Laura Massey: USB SSD.
Larry Hryb: It can be SSD. I have one on my box.
Laura Massey: Yeah, I've seen it.
Larry Hryb: It's great.
Laura Massey: You should put that in the link.
Larry Hryb: I've got an 8 terabyte external and then an SSD that I do the games which are on there, so I can load quicker and things like that. Anyway. You're definitely going to need some more storage between Game Pass and this. One of the other things that's coming out very soon. A lot of people ask me about this is Custom Gamer Pictures. We've been beta testing it for some time. I've had it on my profile for a while, which nobody's figured out. I'm really disappointed.
Jeff Rubenstein: They always think you have ways.
Larry Hryb: No, no they haven't figured out what the image is, because it's not me.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh yeah, I have no idea what that is.
Laura Massey: I meant to look, because I can't, I have not noticed either.
Larry Hryb: If anybody were to get it.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, I know what it is. I know what it is. It goes back hint, we kind of just talked.
Larry Hryb: It was a callback. It was a callback from my earlier moments.
Jeff Rubenstein: From your ring tones.
Larry Hryb: There you go. Anyway, if you think you know what that is, hit me up on Twitter and let me know. Yeah, I'll tell you what it is after the show Laura. It's a deep cut. I'll just say that.
Laura Massey: Okay.
Larry Hryb: Although I do need to change it again. Anyway, hopefully we'll be rolling that out sometime in the future, but keep an eye on it on majornelson.com. We'll have all the details there. Had a great time hosting all those shows at E3 on Mixer. If you're not streaming on Mixer, what are you doing? Why aren't you streaming. Jeff and I co-streamed a little bit. Could we do that again?
Jeff Rubenstein: Sure.
Larry Hryb: How about tonight?
Jeff Rubenstein: I think that could work.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, do you want to co-stream with us?
Laura Massey: What are you co-streaming.
Larry Hryb: Probably Overwatch.
Laura Massey: Could we co-stream?
Larry Hryb: Could we co-stream? We will, but I have to solve that problem we talked about.
Laura Massey: Okay.
Larry Hryb: That technical issue that I'm having. Anyway. Actually we should talk about that for a minute. We haven't talked about what we're playing Laura.
Jeff Rubenstein: That was a news bit anyway, that Diablo 3, the Eternal collection. Now available on Xbox One. Take it away.
Larry Hryb: Laura, you're playing Diablo. This is the necromancer.
Laura Massey: Yes, can you see that I have been waiting this whole show.
Larry Hryb: I was going to ask you about it.
Laura Massey: Containing my excitement.
Larry Hryb: I wanted to ask you, what about that glow you have, so what is that glow Laura.
Laura Massey: That is the return to Diablo 3 glow. Something, I've been waiting for for a long time. The necromancer DLC has now been released.
Larry Hryb: Woo.
Laura Massey: Go to your Xbox. You can find it. It is $15.00 and is well worth it.
Larry Hryb: Is it? With all the bones coming up out of the ground?
Laura Massey: Exactly.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, it's cool.
Laura Massey: There is a new character along with patch 2.6.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, you need to roll a new character.
Laura Massey: You do have to roll. You can if you want to.
Larry Hryb: Because, the character is Necromancer.
Laura Massey: Yeah, but it's a brand new character class. Also the patch adds new additional [inaudible 00:30:39] and locations, so it's not just the new character class. There's a bunch of extra stuff in there as well. There's a new rift type called challenge rift which you play a rift with a, I don't know if it's a template of body kit, like the different stuff you can wear and different weapons and stuff like that. You have to use that kit to play through the challenge rift, to beat it at a certain time and you'll win the challenge.
Larry Hryb: I have to ask you a question.
Laura Massey: Yes.
Larry Hryb: Are you playing Hard Core?
Laura Massey: No.
Larry Hryb: What?
Laura Massey: Hard Core is Hard Core.
Larry Hryb: Yes, I'll play Hard Core with you.
Laura Massey: Wow, I only have one character that ever played in Hard Core and she's still alive.
Larry Hryb: You're keeping her that way.
Laura Massey: I'm terrified to keep her alive. No, I'm playing.
Larry Hryb: What level is she.
Laura Massey: She is either 14 or 24.
Larry Hryb: Okay. That's okay.
Laura Massey: Yes, I've been playing the last couple nights.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Laura Massey: Necromancer.
Larry Hryb: Why don't you stream. Just go to Beam and stream.
Laura Massey: That's simple.
Larry Hryb: It is, it's that simple. You just go right there.
Laura Massey: I don't know if there's new achievements.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm actually looking right at.
Larry Hryb: They're hard to get, it's a long road.
Jeff Rubenstein: The last time I played it, September of 2014.
Larry Hryb: That's before you joined the team.
Jeff Rubenstein: No, I joined in . . .
Larry Hryb: 2013, that's right.
Jeff Rubenstein: We played together.
Larry Hryb: Never mind, that's right.
Laura Massey: Though recently this May was the five year anniversary of Diablo 3 being released.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Laura Massey: It's been out for five years.
Larry Hryb: Uh-huh.
Jeff Rubenstein: I feel like we'll be playing, we'll be playing Overwatch in five years.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, right, right.
Laura Massey: I think this officially is the longest game.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh yeah. Complete five with Necromancer, reach level seven with Necromancer. There are new achievements.
Larry Hryb: You may have just sold me.
Laura Massey: Yes, so I am level 31, I think of Necromancer.
Larry Hryb: Oh wow, you're cooking through it.
Laura Massey: Yeah, it's not my first rodeo.
Larry Hryb: Oh I know, no, no, no it's not.
Laura Massey: I have all the special gear that helps you level faster and get through things faster. Like hell fire ring that just makes everything just much much faster, you get tons of life and extra experience and you level pretty quick. I just beat the skulls and king, if that tells you where I am in the campaign, which is at the very very beginning.
Larry Hryb: Correct.
Laura Massey: I've got all the awesome gear that makes you level up faster.
Larry Hryb: You've got a lot ahead of you though.
Laura Massey: I do.
Larry Hryb: Good for you.
Laura Massey: It's super fun if you like a chaotic character. A character that has lots going on, the Necromancer.
Larry Hryb: You have an army of skeletons.
Laura Massey: Yes and this has a focus on corpse explosions.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Laura Massey: After you kill something.
Jeff Rubenstein: Hey, you put that on the back of the box. I'd love to see that e-mail at Blizzard feature subject line corpse explosions. Then the e-mail.
Larry Hryb: Hey, is there any way we can get a few more corpse exploding in there?
Jeff Rubenstein: Explosions not quite where we need to be. Honey, what did you do today. Well, I really amped up the corpse.
Larry Hryb: Dismemberment, yes.
Laura Massey: There's one skeleton that you can choose which is a massive ghulum, that follows you and of course punches . . .
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I've seen him.
Laura Massey: His special skill is that he will go and die for you and create three or four corpses that you can then explode. You hit the Y button and he goes and he jumps and dies . . .
Jeff Rubenstein: Backing out of the room slowly now. This isn't for me.
Larry Hryb: Laura's down to . . .
Laura Massey: There's a whole category on what you can do with corpses. No just explode them. You can do other things with them.
Larry Hryb: Categories, categories of corpse issues.
Laura Massey: What I have right now, is you can revive them. Say, you just killed a bunch of bats, then you revive them and then you have a bunch of bats following you.
Larry Hryb: That's what you want, you want a bunch of bats.
Jeff Rubenstein: You really do. Do they live under a bridge like in Austin.
Laura Massey: No, not in this one.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh yeah, thank you. Thank you very much. There's the bat cave.
Larry Hryb: Yes, that's right. Okay, sorry. That was a deep cut.
Laura Massey: That was super deep, but yes I'm having a lot of fun with the DLC.
Larry Hryb: Good for you.
Laura Massey: I highly recommend it.
Larry Hryb: Good for you.
Laura Massey: If you need an excuse to get back into Diablo, this is it.
Larry Hryb: What else have I, boy I don't know. Overwatch the golf game.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh you're playing the Golf Club Two just came out.
Larry Hryb: Which we did in the video, which airs on Friday. I had to dress in my golf outfit. Check that out, this week on Xbox.
Laura Massey: Awesome.
Jeff Rubenstein: One could say, you're often dressed in golf appropriate outfits.
Larry Hryb: I was, the look of disapproval.gif. I actually, I'm in jodhpurs, I'm in quite a golf outfit, you'll see.
Laura Massey: Awesome.
Larry Hryb: All right, you'll see.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'll have to try that.
Larry Hryb: Ah, this week on Xbox, you can see it every Friday on your console, or you can find it on Twitter, so anyone moving along. Jeffrey, what are you playing?
Jeff Rubenstein: In addition to Overwatch like we do, my family is out of town.
Larry Hryb: Ah-oh.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's a real rager.
Larry Hryb: You're running amok.
Jeff Rubenstein: I poured myself a glass of Rose, like I do. I started up Dishonor 2.
Laura Massey: Awesome.
Jeff Rubenstein: This is my biggest, I would say stack of shame. It's the most shameful that I haven't played it. I loved the first Dishonor. I thought it was an amazing game back in 2012. I somehow let 2 pass me by and I am rectifying that now and you know what, it's amazing. You're not the only one causing mayhem with your corpses.
Larry Hryb: Please.
Jeff Rubenstein: Because, I've decided to play high chaos. Actually I basically decided, I'm not going to reset the game, the way I played the first one. There's probably a subset of us who do this, who it's like you want to do full stealth. I think I killed three or four people in the entire game.
Larry Hryb: Now what?
Jeff Rubenstein: It was accidentally, in the first one. First level 19.
Laura Massey: Ooh.
Jeff Rubenstein: A lot of blood on my hands, but you know what Emily Caldwin, who's one of the two characters you can choose from, along with Korver. She's wrong. These people, I've got to be honest, these people deserve to die. These nonexistent real people deserve to die, and so it's . . .
Larry Hryb: This is not like you Jeffrey.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's not like me. I don't think I killed anyone in Deus Ex.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: I like to go through. I like to leave no trace. It's like I'm going camping in a national park, you don't want to leave anything behind. It was like you were never there. I'm a different person here. Mowing, leaving a path of destruction. You will know me by the trail of the dead. I think that's a band or something or like that.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Not really my type of thing. I'm still playing EverSpace, so on Windows 10. EverSpace is a rogue like space battle game where ultimately you're just trying to make it from one end of the galaxy to the other, but you don't have enough gas. You keep making stops and each stop is sort of like self-contained level. You never know what you are going to get there, because it is procedurally generated. You might come in there and there might be like a lot of fuel and there might be some friendly traders. You might get in there and immediately be beset upon by enemies. You either, if you have enough gas, you can hightail it out of there, or you may have to, I've never beaten the game.
Every time you die you bring your money back and you get to sort of re-roll, but you get a little bit faster, a little bit stronger. A little bit more efficient at mining or whatever it is. Really fun game. Really pretty. This was part of the game preview program that 1.0 a month or two ago. I've just been getting a ton of fun out of that one. That's EverSpace.
Larry Hryb: EverSpace.
Jeff Rubenstein: The 800 pound talking gorilla in the room.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: Is still Overwatch and [inaudible 00:37:54] specifically. It's still amazing.
Larry Hryb: I'm staying on.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, we've got the lunar colony back now.
Larry Hryb: Which we've been playing.
Jeff Rubenstein: We've been playing with mixed success.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, absolutely.
Jeff Rubenstein: I think I've won one match on that. I got a loop box for that too.
Larry Hryb: I think I'm 50/50.
Laura Massey: That's still such a great game.
Jeff Rubenstein: Do you want to play tonight.
Larry Hryb: Co-stream.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, let's do it.
Larry Hryb: Hey, you know what I forgot to mention during the E3 segment is we announced some new Xbox Design Labs colors. Did you see my new console, or my new controller, Laura.
Laura Massey: That's right. I saw your E3 special.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, did you notice the number?
Laura Massey: Of course I did.
Larry Hryb: Did you see the number Jeffrey.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, I saw.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I got 360.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's pretty good.
Larry Hryb: They actually asked me what number I wanted. I said, I'll take 360 please.
Jeff Rubenstein: Very smart.
Larry Hryb: Old school. Check those out, the metallic triggers and . . .
Jeff Rubenstein: I've seen people that are big Overwatch fans making Diva SK or Soldier 76 SK controllers.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: I made a Florida Gator one. My first one. I need to make a new one.
Larry Hryb: A Syracuse one, you could.
Jeff Rubenstein: It is very similar to Syracuse.
Larry Hryb: They are . . .
Jeff Rubenstein: I have nothing against Syracuse campus.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Laura Massey: We're all orange by the way.
Larry Hryb: That's right. Just that you're burnt orange.
Jeff Rubenstein: I always felt like Texas was like creamsicle. It's sort of like with the white.
Larry Hryb: It thought it was more rust.
Laura Massey: It's more rust.
Jeff Rubenstein: Maybe.
Laura Massey: Dark orange.
Jeff Rubenstein: I just really like creamsicle.
Larry Hryb: You're right Laura, I just never realized. We have this orange blood flowing through all of us.
Laura Massey: That's right. We're all orange.
Jeff Rubenstein: The fates align.
Larry Hryb: The corpses explode. Getting back to the news.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, I just want to call out a few games that have either released recently or have been given release dates. One of them, a very popular game on PC, which had been announced some time ago to be coming to Xbox One is Conan Exiles. It's going to be coming to Xbox Game Preview on August 16th and it will come with a free expansion.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'll look forward to that. I always like to play, it's a good time of year to start a new game, maybe a little bit out of your wheelhouse, before like the heavy hitters start hitting in September.
Larry Hryb: COD.
Jeff Rubenstein: Everything.
Larry Hryb: Battle Front.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh Battle Front looks so good.
Larry Hryb: The list goes on and on.
Jeff Rubenstein: Another one for the Diablo fan in you, Pillars of Eternity. That's going to be coming to Xbox One on August 29th, the complete edition. This game I was watching it. I saw it at the booth. It looks really good. It is a dungeon crawling, hack and slash RPG if that sounds familiar. It comes from one of the most successful Kickstarters of all time. I think that this is something that you may enjoy. Pillars of Eternity, again end of August, so really not that far away. Another game that came out this week is Valkyria Revolution. I haven't had a chance to play this yet. Valkyria Chronicles is one of my favorite games of all time.
It's a last gen PS3 PC, so I was very happy to see Valkyria Revolution come to Xbox One. It's more of a dynasty warriors take on this world. I'm sorry, I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but when I do, I'll let you know what I think about that. Broken Age, this is another that I'm glad has come to Xbox One.
Laura Massey: Yes, finally.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, that is from Double Fine.
Larry Hryb: Ah good friends at Double Fine.
Jeff Rubenstein: This also came, actually I think this was there, this was the game that came from that first Kickstarters. Like the first game at Kickstart, that made it like a viable thing. It's coming out on Xbox. It actually came out on Windows 10 again this week, as well this week, and I happen to see a sale, $3.99. I just went ahead and picked it up.
Larry Hryb: I have a Tim Schafer story.
Jeff Rubenstein: Let's go.
Larry Hryb: Who of course . . .
Laura Massey: Did you see at E3?
Larry Hryb: I did. What happened was we were back stage. On Tuesday I had hosted a panel with Albert Penello who of course is a guest of the show. We have had someone from the Coalition, some from Turn Ten. We were talking about developing for Xbox One X. It was a panel. It's a funny story actually. It was Jeff Keley who had the panel going from this particular feeder, so all day he had a bunch of different panels. The panel before us was with our friends at Insomniac who are working on the Spider Man game.
Jeff Rubenstein: (Laughing). I remember.
Larry Hryb: Okay, so we're back stage and I'm in the green room. We're getting ready. We're going through. Everybody has an hour and I notice out of the corner of my eye, there's something going on on stage with the Spider Man panel. I look up and a light had caught on fire on stage. They cleared the stage and all the Insomniac people come back stage. The smell is terrible, because it's burning electrical. I'm talking. I know most of the guys at Insomniac. We're just kind of hanging out. We're talking. The agent from Marvel was there.
Jeff Rubenstein: Good old Ryan.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, he was there, because he was moderating. We were chatting. This was like ten minutes. I said, well it can't be that bad, because the fire marshal's not here yet. Three, two, one and there goes the fire marshal right by us, as if on cue. Okay, never mind. They go back on stage. They finally end up finishing. We had to cut unfortunately because of that the whole time was off and we couldn't do Q and A, because we had to cut our segment short. We come back stage and they're getting ready for the second one. I hear this ruckus coming down the stairs in the back stage area. I turn around and I see Tim Schafer coming down and right behind him is Jack Black.
Laura Massey: Really.
Larry Hryb: Whom I've know for a while. Jack looks at me and kind of did that oh, I've got you stare. Apparently Jack was a little on something, but it was, but it was good to see Tim back stage, ever so briefly. Grrr, go on Jeffrey. I'm sorry to interrupt.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm still looking at this ultimate game sale list and it's just phenomenal. One of the games that really jumped out at people was the new Metro, new open world looking Metro that debuted in our briefing. Metro and what was the name? Any way. What I've noticed is that a lot of folks were going back and playing Metro 2033 and all these other games.
Larry Hryb: Right, the Metro's.
Jeff Rubenstein: There was the Metro Redux.
Larry Hryb: Have you ever been to?
Jeff Rubenstein: Exodus, that's the one.
Larry Hryb: I'm the only one that's been to Russia, right?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes. Ethnically it's in me all the time.
Larry Hryb: I know, but I'm just saying. I've down in the Metro system in St. Petersburg. I could understand how they could put a video game down. It's beautiful, but you go down forever and you can realize it's a bomb shelter. You look around and that's like yeah, that's what this is.
Jeff Rubenstein: If you were enticed by what you saw with Metro Exodus during our briefing and you may want to take a look. You can pick up Metro 2033 Redux, is that how you say it?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, redo, Redux.
Jeff Rubenstein: Redo, five bucks. You can pick up Last Light for five bucks or you can get them both for $7.50.
Laura Massey: Wow, that's a deal.
Jeff Rubenstein: I think that's a heck of a deal.
Larry Hryb: Such a deal. Jeffrey, that's such a deal. How can you go wrong?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: We'll cut some bells and everything will be fine.
Jeff Rubenstein: Would you like to share it off my back, Larry? Definitely worth taking a look. I'm just going through this whole list. I'll link out to it, but these are just phenomenal. Even in the under, I want to spend less than ten bucks.
Larry Hryb: We've got you covered.
Jeff Rubenstein: There's plenty of games.
Larry Hryb: We've got you covered. Ultimate game sale, all the details on my blog at majornelson.com. I'll take that post. Pin it to the top. You can sort it by percent off and price.
Laura Massey: Nice.
Jeff Rubenstein: Look at you. You're really using sale.
Larry Hryb: Look, I'm just trying to provide. This is a service I provide you the Xbox community.
Laura Massey: That's fantastic.
Larry Hryb: What other news you got Jeffrey, because otherwise we're going.
Jeff Rubenstein: I think we're, I think we're.
Larry Hryb: We're getting in the homestretch.
Jeff Rubenstein: Used out.
Larry Hryb: We're getting in the homestretch.
Jeff Rubenstein: One last game I wanted to call out that is now available Dungeon Defenders 2. I've been waiting for this one for a while. It's got a four player online co-op.
Laura Massey: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's like an action tower defense game.
Laura Massey: Yes, it is.
Jeff Rubenstein: A lot of fun.
Laura Massey: Co-op tower defense super fun.
Larry Hryb: Tower of defense has never been my thing.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's not. It's tower of defense where you control the characters.
Larry Hryb: Oh, I know, I know.
Laura Massey: It's first person.
Larry Hryb: You're not a mouse cursor as a character.
Laura Massey: Should we talk about me and my game.
Larry Hryb: Oh boy should we ever. We have a problem, Jeffrey.
Laura Massey: Uh-huh.
Larry Hryb: Laura and I discussed it, we had a meeting.
Laura Massey: We had a meeting about it.
Larry Hryb: The only way to sum it. You can name the game of course is a feature that we've been doing on the show for a long time. For the first time ever.
Laura Massey: No one's gotten it right.
Larry Hryb: No one's gotten it right Jeffrey.
Jeff Rubenstein: Really.
Larry Hryb: The last show which was hanging out there for four weeks.
Laura Massey: Four weeks.
Jeff Rubenstein: Can you play the clip for me, I want to see if I can . . .
Larry Hryb: This is the . . .
Jeff Rubenstein: I don't know the answer.
Larry Hryb: This is the clip from the last name the game. We're going to play it again and we're going to keep it going until somebody guesses it. Here's the clip and we'll give you a hint on the other side. Ready Laura?
Laura Massey: I'm ready, let's go.
Larry Hryb: (Plays video clip).
Laura Massey: That was name the game from four weeks ago?
Larry Hryb: There's actually more.
Laura Massey: Was it more than four weeks ago?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, because we had the Mixer guys on four weeks ago.
Laura Massey: That's true.
Larry Hryb: Then you weren't with us.
Jeff Rubenstein: I've got to tell you guys, I have no idea what that is, but it sounds like something I would listen to.
Larry Hryb: I will say this Laura. Laura and I discussed it. We consulted the judges. We are allowed to give you a hint.
Laura Massey: Uh-huh.
Larry Hryb: What would you like that hint to be, Laura?
Laura Massey: Let's go with it's a space game.
Larry Hryb: Okay, there you ago.
Laura Massey: Because, that will narrow it down for you.
Larry Hryb: Yes, so if you . . .
Laura Massey: That's right, so we will continue with this name the game.
Larry Hryb: Yes, exactly.
Laura Massey: Until somebody gets it right.
Larry Hryb: Until somebody gets it right.
Laura Massey: Good luck listeners.
Larry Hryb: Get good, get good. All you need to do is e-mail us, major@xbox.com, lollipop@xbox.com. Do not hit us up Twitter. You're welcome to do that, but it doesn't qualify as an entry.
Laura Massey: Should we give people another guess, because it has been over a month.
Larry Hryb: Well, we just played it.
Laura Massey: Like if they guessed last for the last while.
Larry Hryb: Oh absolutely, yeah, yeah, I'm sorry.
Laura Massey: You get to enter.
Larry Hryb: If you sent us one and obviously now you know it's not right, you are welcome, I'm going to wipe that whole inbox out and you can start again.
Laura Massey: That's right.
Larry Hryb: Everybody from this point forward can enter again. You will not be disqualified if you enter.
Laura Massey: Right, good luck again.
Larry Hryb: It is a space game.
Laura Massey: That's right.
Larry Hryb: The password is space game. All right.
Laura Massey: Very good. Good luck to the listeners.
Larry Hryb: Good luck to you everybody and I think you'll get it this hope.
Laura Massey: Yes.
Larry Hryb: It's a space game. What kind of game is it Jeffrey?
Jeff Rubenstein: Space.
Larry Hryb: Game. All right, I tried. All right, thank you guys. All right moving along. We're kind of wrapping things up here.
Laura Massey: Are we going to have a gadget session?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, we do. We have a gadget, I have a brand new gadget here.
Laura Massey: You have a big gadget.
Larry Hryb: I have a couple gadgets. I'm going to talk about this one now.
Jeff Rubenstein: Okay.
Larry Hryb: Surface . . .
Laura Massey: That's new gadget?
Larry Hryb: Well this thing, that's the mouse.
Laura Massey: Ah-hah. I didn't know it came with one.
Larry Hryb: That's the matching mouse with my probably goosy finger on it. This is the mouse for the . . .
Jeff Rubenstein: Are you resting french fries on it?
Larry Hryb: I don't know what it was. It was that lunch we had. I don't know what's, this is a Surface Notebook.
Laura Massey: Awesome.
Larry Hryb: We announced this last last month.
Jeff Rubenstein: Surface laptop.
Larry Hryb: Surface laptop. I don't know, what's the official color of this Jeffrey?
Jeff Rubenstein: That is, oh man I used to know. It's . . .
Larry Hryb: It's blue.
Laura Massey: Space blue.
Larry Hryb: Space blue.
Jeff Rubenstein: Cobalt.
Larry Hryb: Cobalt blue.
Jeff Rubenstein: Cobalt.
Larry Hryb: Thank you very much.
Laura Massey: It's very nice. It looks gorgeous.
Larry Hryb: This is a beautiful laptop that I got from the Surface team. I'm going to be headed down to Comicon. I will be down at Comacon doing a little bit of work. They wanted me to have this to take. I love the screen. It's fantastic.
Laura Massey: It has a beautiful metallic sheen.
Larry Hryb: I know you came in and you, we didn't even get a hello from you, before it's like ooh.
Laura Massey: I absolutely love that.
Larry Hryb: You were mollified by the shiny object.
Laura Massey: Uh-huh.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's a good word Larry.
Larry Hryb: Thank you.
Laura Massey: Yes and there's a matching mouse.
Larry Hryb: Then I have a matching mouse.
Laura Massey: Is it one that goes flat? That flattens out yes. It's like the . . .
Larry Hryb: What's it called Jeffrey?
Laura Massey: Surface mouse.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's the Surface ah, something mouse.
Larry Hryb: Touch mouse. Surface mouse. Anyway this is . . .
Laura Massey: I've seen them before.
Larry Hryb: This is the newest one.
Laura Massey: This one matches the color.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Laura Massey: Of the laptop. It must be a cobalt blue.
Jeff Rubenstein: Surface arc mouse.
Larry Hryb: This is the Surface Arc.
Jeff Rubenstein: Not the Arc touch.
Larry Hryb: You can put it into . . .
Jeff Rubenstein: Arc mouse.
Larry Hryb: I'll have that with me when you see me. I may be hosting a panel at Comicon. You'll see that up there. On stage with me, so I'm very excited about that. Jeffrey, you've coveting this.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, no I really want that.
Laura Massey: It's gorgeous.
Jeff Rubenstein: Just watch your back Larry.
Larry Hryb: I know and how. It won't recognize you. I'll tell you the Windows Hello. Once you get used to Windows Hello.
Jeff Rubenstein: I couldn't do it if I wanted to.
Larry Hryb: Windows hello. You have it on your laptop, on your Surface book. Jeff has it. I love Windows Hello.
Laura Massey: It's very fascinating.
Larry Hryb: It's like bam.
Laura Massey: It's one of those that encourages you to forget your password.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, right, which I guess is . . .
Laura Massey: It's hard.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Laura Massey: Because, when he goes to password change day, remember what your old password was. I'm like, what was my password.
Larry Hryb: Password change day.
Laura Massey: It's a big day.
Larry Hryb: In everyone's life, Laura. It's a big day. Jeff, you seem to be slightly distracted over there.
Jeff Rubenstein: No, I'm just getting blown up on my phone. The show has gone too long.
Larry Hryb: Has it? Oh no.
Laura Massey: Oh no.
Larry Hryb: All right.
Laura Massey: It has been a long time.
Larry Hryb: We've got a bunch of other gadgets we need to discuss. We talked pretty much about the Surface laptop which is just delightful. I have a bunch of other things that I'm working on that we'll talk about in the future. I've got an updated Ero system at home.
Laura Massey: Awesome.
Larry Hryb: That's my Wi-Fi system. I've got brand new. The newest version. I'll talk about that on a future show. A bunch of other stuff. We've got a lot going on this summer. By the way, summer's here.
Laura Massey: Finally.
Larry Hryb: Finally. We've been enjoying it here in North America, sorry in the United States. We'll be celebrating the July 4th weekend.
Jeff Rubenstein: Canada Day.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's Canada Day.
Larry Hryb: When is it?
Jeff Rubenstein: July 1st.
Larry Hryb: July 1st.
Jeff Rubenstein: Of course Larry, I knew that.
Larry Hryb: They always want to get it in before us.
Jeff Rubenstein: Just like Thanksgiving.
Larry Hryb: I know, they want to get it before us. I want to thank you Jeff, because I noticed you wore your complete American flag shirt and shorts today.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well you know they have it at Old Navy for four bucks every year.
Larry Hryb: Jeffrey is shopping and he's channeling his inner Florida man as we know. Anyway have a great weekend everybody. We'll be play, Laura will be playing Diablo, not with me.
Laura Massey: Well, we have to fix your tech SU first.
Larry Hryb: Would you play with me really?
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Hard core?
Laura Massey: Maybe.
Larry Hryb: Maybe.
Jeff Rubenstein: Why would you play hard core, unless you really want the achievement.
Larry Hryb: I don't know. I just feel like that's what everybody is doing. All the cool kids are doing it, Laura.
Jeff Rubenstein: Larry, if the cool kids were jumping off a bridge and saying it was hard core.
Larry Hryb: No.
Jeff Rubenstein: I guess that's all you'd have to day.
Larry Hryb: No. All right, I want to thank everybody for listening. It's really a pleasure to have you join us every week. This is the longest running podcast at Microsoft, I believe. Did you know that? I did some research.
Laura Massey: I bet that's true.
Jeff Rubenstein: I don't think anyone is challenging that one.
Larry Hryb: The longest running and it's all . . .
Jeff Rubenstein: Episode 602.
Larry Hryb: Who knows, we've been going as Laura, at least 11 years.
Laura Massey: We have, that's true.
Jeff Rubenstein: Sometimes it feels like 11 years between episodes.
Larry Hryb: It does.
Jeff Rubenstein: We need to get better at that.
Larry Hryb: Sometimes each episode feels like 11 years. You never know. All right gang, we'll talk to you next time. Laura, have a great time. You can find Jeff on social media at?
Jeff Rubenstein: Jeff Rubenstein.
Larry Hryb: On Twitter and Laura can follow her at?
Laura Massey: Laura Lollipop.
Larry Hryb: I'm Major Nelson, hit me up at majornelson.com. See me every week. This week on Xbox and we'll see you next time. Thanks for listening.
Laura Massey: Good bye. (Music playing).

All right, here we go. It's about a day before the, uh, 2017 XBOX briefing. I'm sitting here in Phil Spencer's dressing room with Phil Spencer.
Phil Spencer: Wait a minute, wait a minute. Where are we?
Larry: We're in your dressing room.
Phil Spencer: This is not my, this is Larry's dressing room.
Larry: No, this is actually, this is a dressing room cause you were busy having, you, you, you a ... We're here, we're here at the Venue.
Phil Spencer: (laughs)
Larry: We're in Los Angeles, California.
Phil Spencer: Nice recovery.
Larry: We're at the, uh, we're at the Galen Center, which we've, we've been here for quite a few years.
Phil Spencer: Yeah.
Larry: Um, and we're-
Phil Spencer: It's a great venue for us.
Larry: We're, we're a little, little more than 24 hours away from you walking out on stage and revealing some cool stuff to the world.
Phil Spencer: Yeah. Yeah, this is, uh, this show's really come together. Uh, it, uh, I'm really proud of this-
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: And I think about my own personal taste and style and games that I love, and I feel like, uh, this is a show that I can, I can really get into.
Larry: And I'll say this. I mean, we're just, you, we only have you for a few minutes, and normally, we've done this like three years now, I think.
Phil Spencer: Yeah.
Larry: To get you out here and we just kind of chat right before the show. We're not, we're not-
Phil Spencer: You can fit me in. You gotta fit me in. It's hard. You're a busy man.
Larry: Dude, dude.
Phil Spencer: (laughs)
Larry: You, I sat through the rehearsal today. You were up on stage. You looked great. Everything was great. There's, there's a lot of film in this show. I can say that.
Phil Spencer: There's too much film.
Larry: Uh, but it, but more importantly, there it a blank-ton of games.
Phil Spencer: Yeah.
Larry: I mean that's, I'm really excited.
Phil Spencer: That's why we're here, right?
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: I mean E3, we usually don't do a lot of strategery on stage. We don't do a lot of pricey stuff.
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: We don't do a lot of-
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: We went, we used to do that.
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: We used to kind of show you how we built every feature, and what our deals were and stuff, and-
Larry: Power Point slides, (laughs) and all that stuff.
Phil Spencer: Yeah, and I'm like, "Let's make this show-"
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: "About what people care about."
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: Which is the games, and, uh, we have, obviously, Project Scorpio that we wanna show and kind of unveil to people.
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: But, um, we're gonna get into the games really quickly, and the game line-up is, uh, I think it's special.
Larry: Is it, is it an unveil or re-unveil? Cause you kind, we kind of did it last year. (laughs)
Phil Spencer: We did. And, uh, it's, I'm, I'm proud of the way, I mean, you know cause you've seen this show. Um, I'm proud of the way it kind of bookends what we did last year.
Larry: Yeah, yeah.
Phil Spencer: And then how it's gonna, you know, come out. You know this, what I'm kind of talking about.
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: I think people will get it when they see it.
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: Um, yeah, maybe this is, I think it's a reveal.
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: I think, you know, people are gonna ... they're gonna be able to understand now what we've been talking about for the last 12 months.
Larry: And you and I have been talking about, I think we first started talking about this E3 when we were, went down to Mexico last year.
Phil Spencer: Yeah.
Larry: I remember we were talking about that in the airport a little but, but I wanna ta, just let, let folks know, and you and I have tweeted about this, and certainly Aaron has and Mike has. We've been planning for this E3 for months and months and months and months.
Phil Spencer: That's right.
Larry: Yeah, I mean the first, the first big rehearsal, I think it was, I remember the exec review was like in December.
Phil Spencer: Yeah. Well, you know the, the thing about this show, and this isn't just true of our show, it's true of the other, uh, third parties, the other platforms selling Nintendo.
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: You know, you go back and look at it, these shows are viewed like 50 million, 60 million times.
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: Right? If you think about all the different places where they get put, and, so this is a serious place for us to tell our story.
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: Um, I even think, in a certain extent, it's cool to go back and look at these like five years later, so I think about, these are really cool ways to memorialize where the platforms were at a certain time, and-
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: Um, so I, I think we, I think the, the shows are important. Being on stage, kind of, getting the creators out there. I'm glad we spend the time we do.
Larry: Yeah. Yeah, it's kind of a-
Phil Spencer: We use a lot of time. You're absolutely right. It's a lot of time.
Larry: You know it's funny you say that about, you know, every year you go back and look at it. It's almost like we do a yearbook every year.
Phil Spencer: That's right.
Larry: Like a high school yearbook.
Phil Spencer: It's a time capsule.
Larry: Right? And we can go back-
Phil Spencer: Yeah.
Larry: And look at it and say, "Wow, that's, that's, that's a lot of stuff."
Phil Spencer: I mean I'll go back and I'll look at like the Halo 2 one, and you know-
Larry: That was amazing.
Phil Spencer: That, but at the time, and it's also just so funny to look at those old ones and realize how little production value there was. (laughs)
Larry: Well how sophisticated things are now.
Phil Spencer: Yeah, I mean it's a TV show now.
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: And, and more than TV, online is way bigger than the TV viewership.
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: Like, like you're all over the place with these things, and all the different languages, and we've got mixer here, we're going to be doing a lot of interesting things that. We're going to be broadcasting in 4K.
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: How fantastic is that?
Larry: And not only that, but we, you know, the other thing is I, I've been tweeting this out as well, is, um, I'll be co-hosting a live show on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from, uh, from here on the show floor.
Phil Spencer: I've see, is that the, the crows nest-thing?
Larry: I think that, I think that's up there, but I think, you know, Tina's got us over on the show floor as well.
Phil Spencer: Oh, OK, yeah.
Larry: Right?
Phil Spencer: Right.
Larry: Right. When the show opens on Tuesday we'll be over there.
Phil Spencer: Cause you do go where Tina tells you to go.
Larry: Well yeah, Tina's, so for those-
Phil Spencer: (laughs)
Larry: Tina's the stra, who's Tina? Tina's, Tina's the producer of the, of the show, and she's great. But, uh-
Phil Spencer: Yeah.
Larry: We're really excited to-
Phil Spencer: What about our screen?
Larry: Cou, could we talk about that?
Phil Spencer: No, but we should just say, "What do we think about that screen?" We won't say what it is, or-
Larry: It is jaw-dropping.
Phil Spencer: Yeah.
Larry: That's all I'm gonna say. (laughs)
Phil Spencer: It's ridiculous.
Larry: (laughs)
Phil Spencer: It's stupidly good.
Larry: Yeah, it's-
Phil Spencer: That is, uh-
Larry: (laughs)
Phil Spencer: I think maybe it'll be close on when we talk about what the screen is, and when this gets posted-
Larry: Right.
Phil Spencer: So I think if people get confused when they see this, and-
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: Like, if we haven't talked about it yet just wait a little bit.
Larry: Yep.
Phil Spencer: And we'll talk about it so it's somewhat close, but I'm really proud of the work that the team did to do something new.
Larry: Yep.
Phil Spencer: Um, and the investment we put in that, and I think the way it's gonna pop for both. People at home have the, the streams that we've talked about for people in the arena, which, you know-
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: Is so incredib, important to us.
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: Our fans are here, the Fanfest, like all that stuff.
Larry: There's energy in the room, cause when you walk out on stage, you, you know, you're sitting 20 feet, 10 feet from some of the fans and some of the members of the audience, right?
Phil Spencer: Well and the cool thing for me now, I know those people. Like-
Larry: Yeah you do. (laughs)
Phil Spencer: There are people every year-
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: This is when I see them.
Larry: Right.
Phil Spencer: And I don't see them other times of the year, but I see them, I recognize them by face.
Larry: Yep.
Phil Spencer: Uh, and, you know, then when I'm online at nights playing whatever I'm playing, like there they are. I'm playing with the people.
Larry: Right.
Phil Spencer: Uh, the fans that I've met here, and this is like, you, you know, you talked about your yearbook.
Larry: Yes.
Phil Spencer: Like, this is a little like family reunion-thing-
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: That happens. And every year the Fanfest gets a little bigger and better as we kind of learn how to do it. Um, but I love the fact that all the, the Xbox Fanfest people are right there on the floor. We know who they are. There's new people every year. Families come, and it's-
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: So it's, I think it's a real special time-
Larry: They have picnics out on the floor.
Phil Spencer: (laughs)
Larry: They're having a good time.
Phil Spencer: See that? (laughs) Yeah. They are having a good time.
Larry: Well the reason they have to, they have to pack a picnic lunch is because this is a long show. (laughs)
Phil Spencer: This is a long show.
Larry: Right? (laughs)
Phil Spencer: We just had that-
Larry: (laughs)
Phil Spencer: Cause I ... We usually go 90 minutes.
Larry: Yep.
Phil Spencer: We all know that. TV broadcast, 90 minutes, you kind of get the time booked with the broadcaster. All that stuff's important. Um, we were back in Redmond, we're kind of grinding on it. I'm like, "No, I really want these games in."
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: "We're gonna go long. So let's go talk to the TV, television. We're gonna, we're gonna go long."
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: And we just ran it today, and, and it's longer than even it was when I tweeted out that we're gonna be a little long.
Larry: Right, right.
Phil Spencer: So, uh, maybe I'll be talking fast (laughs) in certain sections.
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: Or something. But, uh, I just think that there's, I mean you've seen it.
Larry: There's so many games to show.
Phil Spencer: I don't know what you would take out. And I'd feel bad.
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: And it's not like we're reaching five years in advance to go pull something into the show.
Larry: No.
Phil Spencer: I mean, most of the things that are in the show, and this is kind of a principle I've learned is let's focus on the things that are kind of the here and now and we can put our hands on.
Larry: Right.
Phil Spencer: And even that I can't fit this stuff in the show.
Larry: Right.
Phil Spencer: So, um, show's gonna go long, and I will apologize for people if it happens to run past your DVR if that's the way you watch this.
Larry: But, but if it doesn't matter. Even if it runs past your DVR, which is, you know, which is unfortunate, you can always go get it online.
Phil Spencer: Yeah.
Larry: Or there's the VOD, the Video on Demand, and-
Phil Spencer: Which would be in 4K.
Larry: Yeah, and you know-
Phil Spencer: That's the way we'd go see it anyway.
Larry: Go, go to Mixer and you can, you can see, you'll be able to see the whole thing, and it's, it's, it's gonna be an extraordinary show.
Phil Spencer: Cause we had some new people in the arena today, and I was, cause I've seen, you, you and I have seen the show probably multiple times.
Larry: A few times, yeah.
Phil Spencer: And, and it always changes, and we tweak it a little bit, but, you know, it's always great to get the impressions of the new people that are here.
Larry: Fresh eyes.
Phil Spencer: And, yeah. People always, they kind of hit new things that maybe we've become kind of accustomed to.
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: But the impression's really been great. I mean, in the end what's important is what our fans and customers think, and-
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: Uh, we'll know that Sunday night, and-
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: Onto the week. But it's gonna be a great week. And E3, I know, is a time that you and I both love.
Larry: Now I gotta ask you this question. You, you're out on stage. I'll, I will say this. You're out on stage a couple of different times.
Phil Spencer: (laughs)
Larry: A few different times.
Phil Spencer: Too many times. This is, yeah.
Larry: Now are you gonna go backstage? Are you gonna flip your phone open and see what's going on on Twitter? Do you want me to text you? I mean, how do you want to handle that? Cause, I mean, that's-
Phil Spencer: No, I-
Larry: Do you, cause it gets distracting. You, you know, cause you're focused on making sure you can hit your marks.
Phil Spencer: I-
Larry: (laughs)
Phil Spencer: I get so nervous in coming out. I'm actually less nervous now, and most people think it's just cause I've done it more times.
Larry: Right. You're comfortable.
Phil Spencer: It's actually, again, because the people around me.
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: You know, when I'm down there, and I see th, and they're like, "Oh OK." It's, and I always have this thing. I come out and I'm like, "How long can I go?" You know, you think it's gonna be perfect. It's like buying a new car.
Larry: Right.
Phil Spencer: No scratches, no dents or anything.
Larry: Right.
Phil Spencer: And all of a suddenly I'm going to mess something up in the first five minutes.
Larry: Right.
Phil Spencer: And then kinda once you get your first door-
Larry: You're comfortable.
Phil Spencer: Then you're like, you just go.
Larry: You just have fun.
Phil Spencer: So you, so, uh, you roll with the thing. I try not to figure out socially, like, what's going on.
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: Because I wanna stay ...
Larry: In the game.
Phil Spencer: Yeah.
Larry: (laughs)
Phil Spencer: And this is going longer, but let me, like, one ... The games that are in our show this year mean something to me.
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: And that's not to say they haven't in past years.
Larry: Sure.
Phil Spencer: But I really wanted to put, um, certain developers, certain ideas into this show.
Larry: Yep.
Phil Spencer: So I really, like I have something to say, and it's why I'll apologize for how many times I, I'm saying something about a game. But I'm, I have something I wanna say about certain games, and why is this game here? And what does this game mean to us? And why do I think it's an important part of the portfolio? Third party games, exclusive games, like ah, it's not about-
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: Uh, being exclusionary of anybody. Um, so, like, I wanna have my head in the moment. Like when I'm looking at some of these assets that the game, these game developers have, again, some of the game play and stuff, it's like jaw-dropping.
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: Where we are. So I'm gonna stay in the moment, and uh, if you wanna text me like, "Hey, your fly's down," or something. (laughs)
Larry: I'm not going to bother you. (laughs)
Phil Spencer: (laughs) I appreciate that.
Larry: I don't wanna bother (laughs) ... your, your shoes ... Yeah, I was gonna say your shoes are untied, but you didn't even have shoelaces. I'm just looking at your shoes. (laughs)
Phil Spencer: (laughs) This is not the outfit. I'm not exactly sure what I'm wearing yet.
Larry: Right.
Phil Spencer: Uh, but this is, this is not the outfit. We'll figure that out probably tomorrow.
Larry: Well it's, just a reminder to folks, uh, if you're, if you're, you wanna watch this one the air, it's on, gonna be on Mixer.com/xbox. You can watch it at 2 o’clock. That's Pacific Time.
Phil Spencer: It is, yeah.
Larry: And that's 5 o'clock Eastern. I'll have, I'll have the links on my blogs, and, of course, I'll be tweeting it out. If they follow you at XboxE3 I'm sure you're going to be a backstage photo or something.
Phil Spencer: Major, what's Major Nelson at now on Twitter followers? A couple billion or something?
Larry: I, oh, one in, 1.6 million or some point? Awesome, awesome.
Phil Spencer: I don't, I don't know, I just, I just, you know-
Larry: Good job.
Phil Spencer: I'm just-
Larry: Hey, it's, it's, it's, it's, this is the, you know. You know better than anybody. We have an incredibly passionate audience, and I-
Phil Spencer: Yes.
Larry: I love waking up every day and coming to work with you, for you, um, with you, and the team members that we have. Cause we have some incredibly smart people that work with us that just want to make great games and great systems and great, great experiences.
Phil Spencer: Yeah, I, I appreciate you saying that. And I, I love working together. I think, you know, we've had a long history of working together.
Larry: Yeah. Yeah.
Phil Spencer: And going into this week, a lot of people don't see this. I see this. Um, nobody works harder at E3 than you do. Nobody works harder at Xbox than you do.
Larry: Oh you're kind, man. You're very kind.
Phil Spencer: But this week I know-
Larry: (laughs)
Phil Spencer: You've probably slept for the last month kind of trying to save up energy-
Larry: To get ready, yeah. (laughs)
Phil Spencer: But I, as, like, as a member of the Xbox community, as somebody that loves their games, loves our platform, honestly the work that you do-
Larry: You're very kind.
Phil Spencer: Through the year, but during this week, I know, is just a, is, is, like, a, a lot of hours.
Larry: Yeah, it, well I really appreciate that.
Phil Spencer: Thanks for that.
Larry: Thank you, man. I appreciate it. And I just want, I just get, I have fun because like you, you and I get to represent the, the thousands of people that work in Redmond, and around the world on Xbox.
Phil Spencer: That's right. That's right.
Larry: So we're, we're just fortunate-
Phil Spencer: That's how I feel.
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: When I'm out there, it's as a member of the team.
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: It's somebody who represents the work of the team. I do very little work on my own. Like, you know, it's, I'm a figurehead in a lot of ways. Um-
Larry: Yeah. Well you, you make a lot of decisions. (laughs)
Phil Spencer: (laughs) If somebody needs a decision and they're looking for somebody that ... Like, I have no problem, uh, making decisions that the team needs made.
Larry: Yeah.
Phil Spencer: Like, I think that's my job. But, um, but yeah, you know, the, the team ... some of them get to come down here, most of them don't. Um, so yeah. Being, uh, a representative of the team there. But you, you're just fantastic, and I appreciate that.
Larry: Thanks, man, I appreciate it. Well listen, I'll, I'm gonna let you go. I know you gotta g, get ready, and I'm looking forward to seeing what people think.
Be sure to tune in, uh, at Mixer.com/xbox at, uh, 2 o'clock Pacific. That's 5 o'clock Eastern. I'll put a link for all the times around the world. And if you miss, don't worry about it. Video on Demand-
Phil Spencer: There you go.
Larry: You can watch it anytime. It's gonna be, it's gonna be a long show. I'll say that. So all right. Phil, thanks, man.
Phil Spencer: Thanks Larry.

Larry Hryb: Welcome to show number 600. My name is Larry Hryb, Xbox Live's Major Nelson. Sitting across from me is-
Jeff Rubenstein: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. 600!
Larry Hryb: Yes, 600. Well, there's an asterisk there you know.
Jeff Rubenstein: Wind-aided.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, it's 600-ish.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's number 600. It's not necessarily the 600th show.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, and we were thinking about doing something special here but we said, "No. No, we're not going to do that."
Jeff Rubenstein: No, it's Friday. There's a long holiday coming up here.
Larry Hryb: We got a long holiday, a bank holiday on Monday.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes. I'm thinking about going on annual leave.
Larry Hryb: Are you? Apparently, that's the thing now.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's that time of year.
Larry Hryb: Apparently that's the thing now, but it's great to see you, Jeff. You and I haven't seen each other all week. This is the one time this week that we've seen each other. I didn't tell you what happened this week, did I?
Jeff Rubenstein: No, I just know that you've been feeling great.
Larry Hryb: Oh man, we did a bunch of stuff on Monday. I left the office, went home, slept until Thursday morning.
Jeff Rubenstein: How much NyQuil did you take?
Larry Hryb: I don't know what it was. My body was just so exhausted. I caught some weird flu when I was down at 343. I'm blaming 343 by the way.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's called Halo fever.
Larry Hryb: I don't know what it was, man, but it just wrecked me but I'm back.
Jeff Rubenstein: And better than ever.
Larry Hryb: You'll hear a little bit of it in my voice, but it's been a busy week this week. Later on in the show, we've got the gentlemen from Mixer coming by, Matt and James.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. In case, you've missed the news, Beam is now Mixer.
Larry Hryb: Mixer, the service formerly known as Beam.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes, with all of the wonderful things in terms of subset, second latency, and interactivity, and all of these things. We'll be talking about the future, really, of Mixer and where they're going.
Larry Hryb: Those guys will join us later.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: I'm really excited.
Jeff Rubenstein: You know Matt live.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I've talked to Matt before. We did a live show on Thursday. When I got into bed Monday night, I crawled out of bed two hours before that broadcast. Apparently, the internet liked my wardrobe.
Jeff Rubenstein: They always do.
Larry Hryb: I don't know why.
Jeff Rubenstein: Because your wife has good taste.
Larry Hryb: She does. She does. Anyway, here we are, it's Monday, you and I played what?
Jeff Rubenstein: It's show number 600. How many shows would you say have we done or have you done?
Larry Hryb: Easily 500.
Jeff Rubenstein: Easily 500.
Larry Hryb: Easily 500.
Jeff Rubenstein: I feel like I've probably been on close to 100 at this point.
Larry Hryb: You've been here for quite a long time.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, I'm in the, not the golden age of Major Nelson.
Larry Hryb: I'm not going to do like they do on Saturday Night Live where if you host five episodes, you get a jacket.
Jeff Rubenstein: Five timers club, 500 timers club.
Larry Hryb: Five timers, whatever it is.
Jeff Rubenstein: I still get to bring you breakfast. I've stolen that role from you.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. So you're all that. So thank you for that, by the way.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, of course.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. Last week, we didn't do a show. I was down in Los Angeles for the Destiny II event.
Jeff Rubenstein: You played a little Destiny, didn't you?
Larry Hryb: Yes I did. Played it on PC.
Jeff Rubenstein: All right. How'd it look, how'd it feel?
Larry Hryb: Yes, yes, and yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm very excited.
Larry Hryb: Had a nice chat with Luke Smith, who I've known for a long time. We're real excited. Of course, it's coming to Xbox One, coming to PC, it'll be in other consoles, the other console as well, PlayStation.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. Yeah. I think it's always funny when ... because Bungie is right down the street and-
Larry Hryb: From us, right.
Jeff Rubenstein: -I was in a series of meetings literally across the street from them all week, but you got to go down to LA to see them.
Larry Hryb: Right?
Jeff Rubenstein: And how many people ... We have E3 coming up in a few weeks and it's like, "Oh, all these people from right nearby."
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: There's a tremendous amount of game development that happens in Seattle and specifically in Bellevue for some reason.
Larry Hryb: I find this hard to believe, but I think it's a little more affordable than Seattle.
Jeff Rubenstein: Maybe.
Larry Hryb: I don't know.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, that's very rapidly going away.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, anyway. Enough about that inside baseball stuff. You don't [crosstalk 00:03:52] that, do you?
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, maybe I do.
Larry Hryb: Do you? Like I said, it's been a busy week. I was down at Destiny II, went down and back in that day. Last Friday did something we've never done before. That was a live This Week on Xbox.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, I saw that.
Larry Hryb: That was a lot of fun. Did it from the studio, brought in Bill and Toby. We talked about the latest update for Xbox One, some cool stuff. So, thinking about maybe doing that because again Beam, now Mixer.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, I mean-
Larry Hryb: Sub-second delay with the Q&As.
Jeff Rubenstein: You've been over 100 episodes. You got to mix it up. You do a live one.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Then you got to do an episode where you get a dog, and then a baby or something. A skateboarding dog. You should do that. Poochie, I hear, is available.
Larry Hryb: Poochie's still available?
Jeff Rubenstein: Poochie's available. Yeah. It didn't really take off. But you know, if you need a radical cohost, I recommend-
Larry Hryb: Yes. I have one. You.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, on this week on Window ... The one or two times a year where you're either on vacation ... You never take vacations, by the way. You really should take vacations.
Larry Hryb: Well yeah, you're right.
Jeff Rubenstein: You should. You should. You're never going to look back and say, "You know what? I'm really glad I worked every day." There's no perfect attendance award.
Larry Hryb: Well, if I do take these annual leaves, would you fill in This Week on Xbox for me?
Jeff Rubenstein: I would be more than happy to do that.
Larry Hryb: Would you? Because there are so few people ... I mean, everyone wants to do it, but there's not a lot of people that I would trust holding the show. I mean, it's really our show as the community.
Jeff Rubenstein: It is.
Larry Hryb: But I just carry the mantle forward.
Jeff Rubenstein: Exactly. You just have the teleprompter handy.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: But I feel like Graham's taking all the vacation.
Larry Hryb: He is.
Jeff Rubenstein: You should take some of it too, after he-
Larry Hryb: I don't know if you saw the back and forth he and I were having on Twitter, is he's ... I don't know if it's a threat, but he's threatening to wear a kilt to E3 this year.
Jeff Rubenstein: And he would probably do it properly.
Larry Hryb: As a proper Scot, he would, and I have nothing to do to that.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm happy for his culture. I think if he's going to do it true Seattle style, it needs to be a Utilikilt, with the big boots.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. Or actually, maybe the toe shoes.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: Those are pretty popular. The Vibrams, yeah. Those are ... It's a thing. Yeah.
Larry Hryb: No. Can we get out of here?
Jeff Rubenstein: We should probably talk about games.
Larry Hryb: Let's talk about games. You and I, of course the big news this week, lot of news this week, but you and I played the new Overwatch Anniversary Edition.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes, we did.
Larry Hryb: Did you unlock some skins?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes, not the two that I wanted.
Larry Hryb: Which ones?
Jeff Rubenstein: I want the D.Va. Of course, I want the D.Va skin.
Larry Hryb: Which one?
Jeff Rubenstein: The one that's sort of, she looks like ... it's like the greaser, like the '50s one.
Larry Hryb: So the blue one?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, the blue one.
Larry Hryb: I have that one.
Jeff Rubenstein: Of course you do.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. I liked it.
Jeff Rubenstein: I saw Michael McWhertor, who's a writer for Polygon, good writer. He just tweeted out, as I was driving in here, at a red light, looking at Twitter. In one loot box, he pulled two of that skin.
Larry Hryb: What?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. I mean, that is like, "Play the lottery tonight, Michael." Because you've already won. You've already defeated those odds.
Larry Hryb: You know my favorite thing is, we were talking about when we were playing last night, is that all of the characters now have a dance.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. I have to get that.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, and they may not call it just dance. They call them different things. I think one of them, I think Pharah does the Hustle. Do do do do do do do do do, do do do do do do.
Jeff Rubenstein: I kind of know that.
Larry Hryb: You do?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, a little bit.
Larry Hryb: All right, here we go.
Jeff Rubenstein: Do the Hustle. Yes. And then I really want Cyborg: 76. I've been playing more. It's a year old now. I've been playing more of this game than ever. Not too many games mature like that.
Larry Hryb: It's one of those games, and you and I have played them on our various services over the years, where you and I, we have our work lives and we spend a lot of time together at work. We have our families. We love our families. But it's like, "Hey. We want to get together and kind of hang out." And it's an easy game, because we've played it so much, and it's second nature.
Jeff Rubenstein: There's sort of like a standing date, is what my wife calls it. She's like, "Do you have a date tonight?"
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: And then it's like I look online and it's like you and Treit and True, and-
Larry Hryb: [Jervis 00:07:44].
Jeff Rubenstein: -Litheon, and Rabbit, a few others. It's like, "Okay, we have a quorum. Yeah, I got a date tonight."
Larry Hryb: Let's go. My wife does the same thing. It's funny, because we were playing the other night, and when we were playing the other night, she peeks in my office, says, "Who's the woman you're playing with?" And I was like, "There's no ..." And she was hearing ... because normally I have the voices turned down, so I play through my headset, and she's like, "Oh, okay."
Jeff Rubenstein: We're going to have to get my kid in here at some point, just so you can hear.
Larry Hryb: Winky face.
Jeff Rubenstein: Exactly. Everything she says, like an emote.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. Your daughter speaks like-
Jeff Rubenstein: Like D.Va.
Larry Hryb: It's frightening.
Jeff Rubenstein: And she keeps hitting the "Is this easy mode?" Over and over.
Larry Hryb: She does not. I told you that. Remember when it came out, I'm like, "That sounded like your daughter."
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm like, "You can only do that if you like hit 20 eliminations or something like that." What else have you, when you were out, were you just completely ... You were just kind of ...
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I was incapacitated. I wasn't really on Twitter that much. I was just doing a little bit of thing on Twitter. What was I playing? I don't think I was playing anything. Seriously.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's when you know you're really sick.
Larry Hryb: I couldn't even get to my console. I couldn't even get out of bed.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. There's times where I fantasized, I was like, "I just wanna be sick enough to not have to come into work, but feel good enough that I can just bang out games for like a week straight."
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Just to catch up.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Because I'm so far behind already.
Larry Hryb: My wife was so upset with you, by the way.
Jeff Rubenstein: Why? What did I do?
Larry Hryb: Because we did the show a couple weeks ago. And you know, I tweeted out the show was available, and you tweeted out few hours later, you were talking about my bedroom habits. She was like, "What did you say of me?"
Jeff Rubenstein: Is she not proud of her heat air vent thing?
Larry Hryb: The BedJet?
Jeff Rubenstein: The BedJet.
Larry Hryb: Got to call it by its proper name, dude.
Jeff Rubenstein: I went home and I showed that to my wife.
Larry Hryb: And what did she say? She kind of shook her head because you were-
Jeff Rubenstein: No.
Larry Hryb: Your wife is not amused by me, is she?
Jeff Rubenstein: She respects you. I think she doesn't necessarily have the tolerance for tinkering that your wife has.
Larry Hryb: I'll be clear. A lot of the tinkering I do in a sandbox. In other words, I don't expose her to it until it's kind of ready for prime time.
Jeff Rubenstein: If I put a 10 horsepower engine at the foot of the bed-
Larry Hryb: Oh no, it's under the bed.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, it still might be a bit more than she's willing to handle.
Larry Hryb: Fair enough.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm happy when she leaves the window open.
Larry Hryb: Tell her she needs to be more open in the bedroom.
Jeff Rubenstein: I ...
Larry Hryb: I caught you off-guard, didn't I?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, you did. She's not listening.
Larry Hryb: Good, so what are we playing?
Jeff Rubenstein: What are we playing? You know, I want to call attention to a game. People are always sending us information about titles they want us to play, and then hopefully talk about it on the show. I don't get too many of those from an @microsoft.com address.
Larry Hryb: What?
Jeff Rubenstein: And an engineer, someone who works here.
Larry Hryb: A coworker?
Jeff Rubenstein: A coworker who, he has designed a game in his own time, and it has now released. It's part of the ID@Xbox Program. It's an Xbox Play Anywhere game called A Walk in the Dark. And this is a puzzle platformer, sort of in the style of Super Meat Boy or VVVVV, you know that game where you flip upside down?
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Where it's like very short levels where you have to get through most of them. If you do it right, you can beat them in 30 seconds or less.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: But there's well over 100 levels, and it's about just getting through. Everything's like a one hit kill, so it's about doing these perfect speed runs time and time again. I played the first few levels, and it was kind of hard, and I died a few times, and I was like, "Oh, I gave it a shot." And for whatever reason, I picked it back up again.
Larry Hryb: Oh no. That's when you know it's scratching some itch.
Jeff Rubenstein: It did. It was enough to-
Larry Hryb: "I can do this better."
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, like, "You know what?"
Larry Hryb: "I can do this."
Jeff Rubenstein: "Let me give this one more go." And I was playing on a laptop, and with the Xbox Play Anywhere, just the save ported right over, and my wife was watching, and I ended up just playing for a good long time. Probably got up to about level 50. It's a fun game. I would take a look at it. It's definitely I would say reasonably bargain priced. It's called A Walk in the Dark. It is Xbox Play Anywhere, and congrats to our coworker for ... It shows that anybody can-
Larry Hryb: What was his name? Do you remember?
Jeff Rubenstein: I'll have to look it up.
Larry Hryb: It's funny, because I just want to explain to everybody, Jeff and I work at Microsoft. Microsoft's a big company.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well over 100,000.
Larry Hryb: When I joined the company, I think it was at 30. 30,000. But as Jeff said, it's well over 100,000 now, and unfortunately we just ... I know there's a lot of people that internally listen to this, and we just don't know everybody.
Jeff Rubenstein: Bruno Pereira Vidal.
Larry Hryb: So Bruno, there you go. Thank you for the game.
Jeff Rubenstein: Thanks for sending it over.
Larry Hryb: Thank you for giving us a heads up.
Jeff Rubenstein: And great job.
Larry Hryb: We've never met Bruno, but now we feel like he's now part of the family.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. Absolutely.
Larry Hryb: There you go.
Jeff Rubenstein: I think it just shows that anybody can, if they put their mind to it, and the ability to make a game is no longer something that, "Well, I've got to make this a full-time job. I have to join a major company that is creating games." One person can make a game, and make a good game. I think that's kind of awesome.
Larry Hryb: Hey, speaking of games, which is what we do here, big news this week. Game Pass-
Jeff Rubenstein: Xbox Game Pass.
Larry Hryb: Launches on June 1st with over 100 games, and if you're a gold member, you can get in now.
Jeff Rubenstein: Already have it now. So over 100 games. I was looking through. There's a huge variety of games between major blockbusters like Halo 5 or Saints Row 4, NBA 2K16. Also, a lot of really cool Xbox 360 games, strategy games, stuff that I've enjoyed playing over the years like Defense Grid, there's Banjo-Kazooie's in there, Gears of War: Ultimate Edition. There is a Bioshock, all of the Bioshocks are in there. Never been a better time to catch back up on those if you've never played them. It's pretty awesome how many ... Give you a little bit of inside baseball here, for media and folks that we work with, we're sending out hard drives. You're going to need ... There's so much to play, it's just like, "You're gonna need a bigger boat."
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Which is kind of great for [crosstalk 00:13:52].
Larry Hryb: And anybody can ... Everyone calls it like Netflix for gaming, because it's you pay one monthly price, one low monthly price, you get access to a boatload of titles.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, all you can play. More [crosstalk 00:14:03].
Larry Hryb: I want to be clear. There's been some questions out there. This is not streaming. You are downloading it and playing it, right there offline. So once you download it, you're good to go.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, you don't have to worry, "Oh, I don't have fast internet," or something like that. "Is that going to impact gameplay?" Absolutely not.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Once you've got it, you're playing it.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, you're playing it and there you go, and of course your save goes with you, it's ... You essentially own it, for all intents and purposes. So anyway, Game Pass is big. Check that out. We'll put a link into the-
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, yeah, dropping that in now.
Larry Hryb: We'll put a link in there, and you can figure that. What else came out this week, Jeffrey?
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, you know, in addition to Mixer, which we'll be talking about a little bit-
Larry Hryb: We'll do that later.
Jeff Rubenstein: Xbox Game Pass, you went and you played Destiny.
Larry Hryb: I did.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's been pretty busy. How about The Culling? You know these battle royale games?
Larry Hryb: Yes, I do. I've heard about them.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's a very, very big, very popular genre on the PC.
Larry Hryb: It's a genre that you haven't quite rung its bell.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well here's the thing, is I am terrible with mouse and keyboard. I've played The Culling at PAX East. At that point, I knew someone who was working with that team, and they'd let me know it was coming to Xbox, and I was so happy about that. Actually, we talked about that at the show.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, we did, at the show.
Jeff Rubenstein: I've messed around with Battlegrounds, PlayerUnknown's, I'm terrible at it, Rust, because mouse and keyboard. But now I get to play, starting June 2nd exclusively on Xbox One, the Culling is going to be bringing Battle Royale to console [crosstalk 00:15:33]
Larry Hryb: Mad Max is in Game Pass.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah-
Larry Hryb: I'm sorry. I was just looking through the [crosstalk 00:15:37]
Jeff Rubenstein: There's a lot of really good stuff. Why don't I just link-
Larry Hryb: Fable 3.
Jeff Rubenstein: There's a page, and I'm just going to link directly to it, that has just every title. So take a look. If there's more than a few games in there that you haven't played, it's probably going to be a great deal for you.
Larry Hryb: Anyway, sorry.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, so The Culling's going to be coming, how about GWENT public beta? You've been playing this, haven't you?
Larry Hryb: I have played. I did a video for it. I got my kegs, so loot crates, they call them kegs there. It's a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to that. That'll be a Play Anywhere title. It's not now. It's in public beta, right?
Jeff Rubenstein: It's in public beta, but it's free, and everyone's invited to download it, so I'll put a link to that. Yeah, GWENT was something I got very into playing The Witcher, and there's a lot of potential there.
Larry Hryb: Did you finish the DLC?
Jeff Rubenstein: No. I haven't even started the DLC.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I started ... I finished one. I've got to go back and do the other one. You've heard me rave about it.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm so far behind, I've been playing Mass Effect. I've gotten into that one, but that's a huge game.
Larry Hryb: I've been playing Prey a lot.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. I need to get to Prey.
Larry Hryb: You do.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's right up my alley, but I have to finish one game before I start the next one.
Larry Hryb: I know, I know. You're probably the same way I am where you can have one single player going and one multiplayer.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's exactly it. It's Overwatch or Mass Effect, and then in between there I'm trying to get in ID games whenever I can. Speaking of more ... The Circus of Values continues. So it's not just Xbox Game Pass.
Larry Hryb: "Hey, hey, hey. Welcome to the Circus of Value." You know who did that voice?
Jeff Rubenstein: You told me once.
Larry Hryb: Ken Levine.
Jeff Rubenstein: Really?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, from Bioshock. I remember you telling me about that.
Jeff Rubenstein: "The Circus of Values."
Larry Hryb: That's maybe the most memorable soundbite out of all those games. With all the little [crosstalk 00:17:11] sounds, and ...
Jeff Rubenstein: We should buy more things out of vending machines. The Japanese have it right, Larry.
Larry Hryb: They've got a lot of weird stuff in their vending machines too.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, the canned coffee, I was mostly talking about.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: You know, I booked a trip. I'm going to be going for a good long time this winter.
Larry Hryb: Are you going to Japan?
Jeff Rubenstein: For two weeks.
Larry Hryb: Oh that's ... Where are you going to go? Go to Tokyo?
Jeff Rubenstein: Of course we're going to Tokyo.
Larry Hryb: Flying to Narita?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. We're also going to go up to Sapporo and up to Hokkaido in the northern island.
Larry Hryb: Oh, yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: There's a lot of cool stuff up there.
Larry Hryb: I want to go up there.
Jeff Rubenstein: We were on a family trip a couple years ago, and I ran out of stuff to watch. There wasn't a lot I really wanted to watch on the TV that's built into the seat, and they had just a bunch of five minutes touring, "Oh, visit this city."
Larry Hryb: Yeah. Travelodge.
Jeff Rubenstein: I just love watching the one in the city I live in, because then I'm like, "No, that's not true. No. They're completely ... the traffic's terrible. They wouldn't be talking about it."
Larry Hryb: Right. Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Or, occasionally you see something you like. But I watched one on Sapp-o-ro or Sap-poro, I'm probably saying it wrong. This thing's like, it had just the most happy voiceover person, and I'm like, "My life is deprived by not having gone here to this snow festival and all." Anyway, so apparently they've ... We're going. I've never planned a trip this early.
Larry Hryb: I was going to say, that is not like you at all. Yeah, we haven't been to Japan ... You and I have never been together when we were working together.
Jeff Rubenstein: No. We should go on up. Yeah. No.
Larry Hryb: But I would love to go back to Japan.
Jeff Rubenstein: We've probably been to the same Tokyo Game Show before.
Larry Hryb: Oh yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Last time I was there was actually when the PS Vita was revealed. I was there for work.
Larry Hryb: Was I there for that?
Jeff Rubenstein: You would not have been invited.
Larry Hryb: No, I wasn't at the event. I'm just saying that year.
Jeff Rubenstein: No, it was a stand-alone event.
Larry Hryb: Because you guys were doing it off ... You do it at a hotel in downtown.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. It was near the Tokyo Tower, if I recall.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I do remember that.
Jeff Rubenstein: That was like six years ago.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. So, anyway, a lot has changed in that time, which brings us back naturally, of course, to Games with Gold. So Xbox Games with Gold is really good. Whenever we reveal, I love just going to Reddit, and just seeing the thread.
Larry Hryb: Well, I want to be very clear. Let me just tell you a little bit more inside baseball. I usually get an email about what they are a little bit before we announce them, and I always forward it to you. Because I have my own thoughts, and I never comment, because I want to see what your comments are, and you and I are pretty much dead on.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. This is a great month. This is a month just rife with AAA. At the first half of the month, June 1st through 15th, Assassin's Creed III.
Larry Hryb: AC3.
Jeff Rubenstein: Through the magic of backwards compatibility, and SpeedRunners, which will debut in-
Larry Hryb: It's a brand new title.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: You don't even own it yet.
Jeff Rubenstein: No.
Larry Hryb: And you'll already have it for free.
Jeff Rubenstein: Exactly.
Larry Hryb: If you're a Gold member.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's a cool looking title, I think a combative speed running game. Those all tend to be single player games, so it's cool. Second half, so we have Dragon Age, the original Dragon Age-
Larry Hryb: Which you loved.
Jeff Rubenstein: Which you might not have also played, through the magic of back compat. Watch Dogs, the original Watch Dogs, set in Chicago-
Larry Hryb: Which I finished, yep.
Jeff Rubenstein: That was the first game I ever bought for this generation.
Larry Hryb: What?
Jeff Rubenstein: I preordered it before I even worked here.
Larry Hryb: That's right.
Jeff Rubenstein: That was a lot of fun.
Larry Hryb: Do you remember that trailer?
Jeff Rubenstein: I do remember. That made a big impact. That was, I remember everyone standing around saying, "How is that possible?"
Larry Hryb: Right, "What?" Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: And then, also some DLC for a free title that I've also been playing, and that's Phantom Dust.
Larry Hryb: Phantom Dust. Classic OG style, OG Xbox.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. I played a bunch of that last night, and I had never played the original.
Larry Hryb: Right. Right. Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: And, it's really fun.
Larry Hryb: It is a lot of fun, isn't it?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. It's very different, but the combat is really cool, and once you sort of get used to the fact that it's an older style game with some conventions from 10, 15 years ago, there's a lot there. And considering it's free, you have no reason not to play.
Larry Hryb: All right. What else do we have?
Jeff Rubenstein: All right, so a couple games coming out. This one was announced this week, Hello Neighbor, a stealth horror game. I'm looking at the art, and I'll link to it, and it just reminds me if like 1987 Tom Hanks vehicle The 'Burbs was turned into a video game. It looks like that.
Larry Hryb: Okay. That's a call back.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. It's a movie that my grandparents rented for me a lot that they should not have rented for me, because it involves a grisly murder, when I was single digit age.
Larry Hryb: Yes. They still living in Philadelphia?
Jeff Rubenstein: Of course. Well, those things were kind of like not uncommon.
Larry Hryb: It's funny you brought up Tom Hanks, because when I was sick, I was watching, I was flipping through Netflix or Hulu or whatever, HBO Go, and I ended up on Cast Away.
Jeff Rubenstein: You know, I never watched Cast Away.
Larry Hryb: It has one of the most horrifying plane crashes.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's why I don't ... I travel a lot. Someone told me that, and I travel on planes a lot, and I refused to watch it.
Larry Hryb: As do I. But I watch it, and I'm like ... I had a 100 degree fever, and I was sweating, I was like, "Oh my God." It was terrible.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, that's why I will never watch that movie.
Larry Hryb: Seriously, it is one of the most ... Anyway, Tom Hanks.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, when you fly a lot, you kind of just have to ...
Larry Hryb: I don't know why it doesn't bother me.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, this is what I always say. I look around at the flight crew smiling, the flight attendants, the pilot. Would they have shown up for work if they thought there was any real risk, if they thought it was anymore dangerous than taking the bus? And the answer is no.
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's the way I look at it. They're here.
Larry Hryb: Did I tell you what happened when I was going down, did you see-
Jeff Rubenstein: No, don't tell me if it was bad.
Larry Hryb: No no, this is completely different. So it's famous. It's known globally that my travel karma is terrible. Okay, you've witnessed it.
Jeff Rubenstein: The worst, yeah.
Larry Hryb: So we're going down to the Destiny 2 event.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's a two hour flight? What could happen?
Larry Hryb: That's what I thought. So we get on board, I look to my right, I sit down at my seat, I look to my right, and did you see what I ... here, I'll show you the picture.
Jeff Rubenstein: I did see it.
Larry Hryb: There's a guy, all I see is the rear end of a guy in a jet engine.
Jeff Rubenstein: But all the way into it.
Larry Hryb: All the way, and clearly it just, and there was one guy, and then two, and then three, and then a supervisor, and then a lot of tools.
Jeff Rubenstein: I saw some fan blade box, something.
Larry Hryb: All of a sudden, we're on the ground for an hour. Oh, by the way, and that doesn't even include the live trout eggs that were being loaded on.
Jeff Rubenstein: What?
Larry Hryb: You didn't see that photo, did you?
Jeff Rubenstein: I missed that one.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, that was a weird one. I don't know what it was, but I looked out, and Jeff, you'll see this. Look at the-
Jeff Rubenstein: Did they need to fly the trout eggs down? Is there an emergency trout situation in-
Larry Hryb: Look at that. Could you look at that? Tell me what you see there.
Jeff Rubenstein: It says "hatching eggs." I wonder what they're-
Larry Hryb: It's not even just ... they're not live eggs, it is actively hatching.
Jeff Rubenstein: You're in the middle of it. You can hear, like, omelets being made in the-
Larry Hryb: And I'm going to hear this in the hold.
Jeff Rubenstein: Wow. Yeah, if you ever watch what they load onto ... If you ever just, as they're loading the plane, if you're sitting near the baggage ramp where they're putting stuff in there-
Larry Hryb: Like I was.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. It's like there's suitcases and all that stuff that you'd expect, but then there's always a bunch of other stuff. Like hatching eggs.
Larry Hryb: You know what I've not seen, that I hear is on a lot of planes?
Jeff Rubenstein: Mm-hmm?
Larry Hryb: Caskets. Because they're carrying the deceased somewhere.
Jeff Rubenstein: I guess so.
Larry Hryb: Anyway. Okay, way to bring the show down, Larry. Nice work.
Jeff Rubenstein: That was you.
Larry Hryb: Nice work.
Jeff Rubenstein: I shouldn't have brought up Tom Hanks. I really regret it now. Another bit of news.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: This is, again, a great weekend for bargain folks. If you don't want to spend any money at all, yes, you can play Phantom Dust, you can also, if you somehow haven't, you could play Fallout 4.
Larry Hryb: Ooh, and Overwatch.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. So there's a free ... And Overwatch?
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Overwatch is free this weekend too?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, this weekend.
Jeff Rubenstein: So Overwatch, Fallout 4-
Larry Hryb: If you are on Xbox One, this is what you should be doing.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, from the time that we've recorded this all the way up through midnight on Sunday the 28th, you can play Fallout 4. It's the first ever free weekend exclusive to Xbox Live Gold members. So good.
Larry Hryb: And of course, you download it, you play it, and if you decide you want to keep it, of course your progress ... You want to purchase it, it's available for a reduced price, and your progress is saved.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's about 67% off. And this was just about Game of the Year.
Larry Hryb: I love that game. You know I do.
Jeff Rubenstein: Two years ago? So there's no way you're going to beat it in a weekend. If you-
Larry Hryb: I haven't talked to Todd Howard in a while, which is always ... yeah he's always working on something.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, I'm sure you'll have the occasion to run into him at some point, but yeah, Overwatch Game of the Year Edition. There's too much to play. We're coming up to E3, and I know we're going to be traveling a lot.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: We got to buckle down, and we've got to beat some games. You got to beat Prey. Tell me about Prey.
Larry Hryb: All right. So I'll tell you a little about Prey. I'm enjoying it. I obviously am playing a lot of it. It reminds me a little bit of Dead Space, there's some open world elements to it. You know, the way they do the open world is, it's like you have a level to go through, and it doesn't matter how you get ... And there's multiple ways to get through this level. But one thing, there's this interesting ... You can go thought the space station and go to different areas, Jeff. What's interesting, there's also this other mechanic is, if you get to a certain area, you'll find an airlock that you can unlock to go outside and come around-
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, you do a lot of that stuff in Dead Space.
Larry Hryb: -to go to another unlocked airlock. So you actually have to discover it first-
Jeff Rubenstein: So once you do it from the inside-
Larry Hryb: It's kind of like a fast travel, but not really.
Jeff Rubenstein: And there's probably some hazards out there, aren't there?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, of course.
Jeff Rubenstein: That game looks really good.
Larry Hryb: You should try it.
Jeff Rubenstein: I know. I have it.
Larry Hryb: Really great, the puzzles are fun, the environment's fun.
Jeff Rubenstein: I hear it's scary.
Larry Hryb: Well, that it is.
Jeff Rubenstein: With these mimics, these coffee mugs that will attack you. Is that a thing?
Larry Hryb: Yeah. Yeah. It is.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, as someone who drinks a lot of coffee, that's frightening.
Larry Hryb: So, any who.
Jeff Rubenstein: Just a couple of other games I just wanted to talk about that are out now. Shadow Warrior 2, I'm hearing this one get some nice buzz, and anything from Devolver Digital is usually worth taking a look at. That's an ID@Xbox title.
Larry Hryb: Yep.
Jeff Rubenstein: And DLC for Halo Wars 2, Sergeant Johnson is fighting again, and that is of course an Xbox Play Anywhere title. So you buy that, you get that DLC on Xbox One, it also will be there for Windows 10.
Larry Hryb: Hey, you know what? We should cover this in the gadget section, or we can do it right now. You know what else happened this week is new Surface.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes.
Larry Hryb: Do you have any details on that?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. So it's the Surface Pro, it's got four times the amount of battery life, or 3.5 times, that's a lot more. As someone who used a Surface Pro as their daily driver, Surface Pro 3 before I got my Book, it already had pretty good battery life, so more than tripling that's pretty awesome.
Larry Hryb: And the I5 is fanless?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, and the I5 is fanless. The engineers here, they're always working under the hood. So I think if you were to just glance at the Surface Pro, the new Surface Pro, you might not know all the things that it does, but I think that-
Larry Hryb: That's why Panos needs to peel it back and romance it.
Jeff Rubenstein: This is the kind of stuff that people ask for. They're like, "I want more battery life."
Larry Hryb: Who doesn't?
Jeff Rubenstein: And that doesn't always happen.
Larry Hryb: Look, here's a few things. You want to have more money, you want to be thinner, you want to be younger, and you want more battery life. Who doesn't want those?
Jeff Rubenstein: Maybe not in that order.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, you choose what order you want.
Jeff Rubenstein: I would put battery life a little higher up than that, but ... Yeah, and there's some new Alcantara type covers. The same colors, they match up with the Surface Laptop.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: Which I was-
Larry Hryb: Did you like the burgundy?
Jeff Rubenstein: You know, the burgundy's very nice, but I'm a teal man, and the cobalt blue, that's the one that caught everyone's eye.
Larry Hryb: Yeah the cobalt blue. I think I'm going to swing that way too, because I just really like that. The burgundy's just a little too ...
Jeff Rubenstein: It's very rich the burgundy, and I think in different lighting it's going to look very nice. I think those are going to be your two most popular. I wouldn't sleep on the more champagne-ish color. I can't remember exactly what it was called right now, but it's ... You have your silver, which we've had in all of our Surface products, but there's more of a gold color.
Larry Hryb: If you want to take a look at any of them, just go to your local Microsoft Store.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: They have the new Surface Laptops, and probably by the time you listen to this, they may have the new-
Jeff Rubenstein: Surface Pro.
Larry Hryb: The Surface Pro as well. At least for you to look at. They'll be available in June, right?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes. That's correct. June 15th.
Larry Hryb: Okay, well there we go. So that's our gadget section, right?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. I need to get it, and they we can really talk about it.
Larry Hryb: Sorry about that. I still got a little bit of cough going on. What other news do we have here, Jeffrey? Again, if you missed anything, just go to my blog at majornelson.com. Follow me @majornelson and you'll hear all the details. You know what I really want to talk about? Far Cry 5, available for pre-order now.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. You know, if you want a lot of hot takes on the internet, then the Ubisoft team definitely obliges. Looks really cool. I saw a lot of stories coming out this morning. So after the reveal of the key art, we know it takes place in Hope County, Montana. It's very interesting. I was reading a lot about it. I'll link out to a story that talks a little bit more about what they're attempting to do with the game. We're big Far Cry fans. The thing that jumped out at me the most is that you could play coop for the entire game. Larry.
Larry Hryb: I'm sorry. I'm just looking at a piece of email that came in that's exciting. Go ahead.
Jeff Rubenstein: No way, so-
Larry Hryb: Coop the whole game, which you and I have done.
Jeff Rubenstein: So you've always been, since 3 and definitely in 4, you were able to play coop when you're attacking the bases or something like that, but then when it came to story missions, you couldn't play those in coop. Apparently, you can play the entire game in coop.
Larry Hryb: Which is what we love.
Jeff Rubenstein: Which is what we're going to be doing.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: So looking forward to that, and you can also customize your character. You can change, while it's a first person game, so I guess we'll see how that plays out, but you can play as both a man or a woman. You can change a number of different features there.
Larry Hryb: Do do do do do do do ...
Jeff Rubenstein: So I want to know who's doing the voice.
Larry Hryb: Do do do do do do do ... Take a walk on the wild side.
Jeff Rubenstein: I've never been to Montana.
Larry Hryb: That was more about you can change the play as a man or a woman.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh okay. Yes.
Larry Hryb: I haven't been to Montana either.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. We're not far from Montana.
Larry Hryb: Have I? Well, you were almost there when you went out to Idaho.
Jeff Rubenstein: I went to Idaho.
Larry Hryb: Right?
Jeff Rubenstein: I should have just kept on driving.
Larry Hryb: You should have just kept on going.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. Well maybe tourism will tick up.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, Montana.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm assuming we'll see more on this game. I don't know much, but I have to imagine we'll be seeing more soon, and as big of a Far Cry fan as I've been for the last couple, looking forward to it.
Larry Hryb: Alright. We're going to take a break now, and I'm going to go grab the guys from Mixer, and we're going to talk all about the Mixer news this week. You ready for that, Jeff?
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, I've never been more ready.
Larry Hryb: Here they are. Matt and James from Mixer.
Matt Salsamendi: Yo, what's up?
Jeff Rubenstein: How you guys doing?
Matt Salsamendi: Doing good.
Jeff Rubenstein: There's a lot of crowd noise in the back.
Larry Hryb: Just imagine that it's post. Now you guys have had a busy week. First of all, I want to back up a little bit, because we've chatted a little bit before. Matt, you and I have chatted before. James, I've never really had you on the show.
James Boehm : Yeah. Thanks for having me today.
Larry Hryb: This is way overdue, so I apologize. So it's great to have you guys. But I want to back up a little bit. You guys are the founders of Beam, which is now known as Mixer, right?
James Boehm : That's right.
Larry Hryb: So let's talk a little bit about that, how you guys started the company, and then of course, what an amazing week you guys have had.
James Boehm : Yeah, so in 2014, Matt and I were working with a group of content creators that voiced concerns over the state of the streaming industry. There wasn't really an option out there that allowed them to connect with their audiences in the way that they wanted to.
Larry Hryb: Sure.
James Boehm : So we, Matt and I, saw an opportunity to create something that we were personally really passionate about. We love streaming, we love watching streamers. So it started out as a passion project for us. That we were able to get a couple of our friend and content creators. We had worked on the platform and start growing it.
Larry Hryb: And there you go. And then a few years later, now just be clear, Microsoft bought your company lees than a year ago.
James Boehm : Yeah. It's been super fresh. We just launched in early 2016. We announced the acquisition in August of 2016, so-
Larry Hryb: I remember that.
James Boehm : You can imagine that it's been a bit of a wild ride, and we're so excited for what's next.
Larry Hryb: And then this week was a big week because you've relaunched the service as Mixer, which is the new name for the service. Can you tell us a little bit about why the name change? I mean, I know you posted something on ... Matt, and for both of you guys I'll put a link off to you Twitter accounts. I saw you posted something on Twitter the other day, which really a lot of people are like, "Oh, okay. I get it."
James Boehm : Yeah, for sure. We wanted to pick a name that represented everything that we've been building in the communities that were on Beam in the past.
Larry Hryb: Sure.
James Boehm : We wanted a name that represented us bringing people together. We wanted a name that represented communities, and the Mixer name really does that, right? We're bringing people together. We're creating a fun environment where people can interact with broadcasters, discover new content. What I think is really important, though, is we wanted a name that we could market globally. We wanted a name that we could take to the world. We wanted things like the dot com, and those weren't things that we could do with the Beam name.
Larry Hryb: Right.
James Boehm : Right? So the Mixer name really marks our passion for evolving the Beam community, growing it, bringing it to more people, more audiences across the world.
Jeff Rubenstein: So a lot of times, when I was first getting introduced to Beam, there was a lot of talk about the tech, sub-second latency ...
James Boehm : And FTL.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, all this stuff, but when I hear you talk about it, it's about community and how the tech sort of serves that. So you talk about how you're using your advanced tech to actually make it better for streamers, better for viewers.
James Boehm : Yeah. I think the important thing is the tech, like you said, is just the enabler. Right? At our core, we're about community building, and one of the most important things that you need to build communities is the ability to interact, right?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
James Boehm : And that starts with chat interaction, and on Beam, you have ... I'm sorry, on Mixer, you have super low latency chat interaction, so you can go in and with less than one second of delay be having a conversation. It's almost like you're on a Skype call with your viewers. And that makes it so much easier to hold really deep connections with your community. It makes it easier to grow them in the first place, and that's really important, but it goes further than that. As a community grows, you've got thousands of people watching. It's difficult to maybe read every single chat message, so we provide an interactive STK that allows game developers to interact directly into the games themselves.
Larry Hryb: Nice.
James Boehm : So what that means is that if you're playing Minecraft as a streamer, if you're playing the Java version of Minecraft, for example, you can install a mod that allows your viewers to create weapons for you, choose what enemies you have to fight, and really morph the game environment to be more fun and interactive.
Larry Hryb: And to take you places as frankly that you as a streamer just may not have thought you could go.
James Boehm : Absolutely.
Larry Hryb: Based on the audience.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes, I thought that was incredible. So we're pretty friendly with a guy down at Telltale Games, Job Stauffer. And I'd ran into him about a year ago. He was just coming back from the UK where they had done something where they allowed people to, in a live theater, play through one of their Telltale games-
Larry Hryb: I remember that.
Jeff Rubenstein: And it was like "Whatever the crowd chose, then that's what we did." And I was like, that completely changes the single player experience. So I was very excited to see you guys announce crowd play. Talk about that.
James Boehm : We did. So, Job's a great guy. Job at Telltale Games, they've all been working super hard to bring crowd play to life. The idea behind crowd play is that the Telltales game series, you're picking, essentially it's like choose your own adventure, choose your own outcome.
Jeff Rubenstein: Option A, B, C, whatever, right?
James Boehm : Yeah. And the options are pretty cool. So you've got games like The Walking Dead, Guardians of the Galaxy, and they had events where they would bring people into a room, and everybody shouting at the TV, everybody shouting at the content creator, like, "Hey. Let's go do this, let's go here-"
Larry Hryb: "No, no, no, let's do that."
James Boehm : "Save this person," right? So what Telltale Games crowd play does on Mixer is it allows the viewers to actually have a say in what ends up happening, and the way that works is we've got buttons beneath the stream that pop up in real time that correspond to what's going on in the game, and the viewers get to vote on different things, talk through the options, and it all happens super seamlessly and with super low latency.
Larry Hryb: And the democracy takes over, and the majority wins.
James Boehm : Exactly.
Jeff Rubenstein: Because in those games, you have to make those decisions quickly, and that could only happen though that tech.
James Boehm : Exactly.
Larry Hryb: Wow.
James Boehm : Yeah, so I think Job was telling us a lot of those decisions are only like five seconds or less, and that just wasn't something they could provide on other platforms, where it's 10 to 15 seconds of delay.
Larry Hryb: It's perfect for Mixer.
James Boehm : Exactly. With that 200 millisecond delay, you can instantly see what's happening and make decisions on the fly.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, well 200 milliseconds. That sounds like a lot when you say 200. 200 of anything can be a lot.
James Boehm : It can be.
Larry Hryb: But that's not.
James Boehm : It's about a fourth of a second.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
James Boehm : That's actually how fast it is.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, that's crazy.
Jeff Rubenstein: I think it's also interesting, because those types of games weren't necessarily good stream fodder before, because ... This all of a sudden makes it so much more ... I'm more interested now anyway, going back to some of the titles that I haven't played, and doing it that way, because you're playing in a room with other folks. I want to talk about this page, and I'll link to it in the show notes, which is-
Larry Hryb: What are we looking at?
Jeff Rubenstein: It's on your About Platform, and it's all these other things that you guys have either done or are thinking of doing. I don't know if there's any particular things you want to call out. Co-streaming is something that we're particularly, as Overwatch players, incredibly excited about doing, and I think we maybe we should start talking about co-streaming.
Larry Hryb: But we should always talk about, you know, you had a big week this week. We talked about the name change, we talked about that, but also it dovetailed with a lot of new features that are going to be available to the streamers, so I wanted to have you guys go though that.
Jeff Rubenstein: You said it better than I did, Larry. That's why you're the host.
Larry Hryb: Well, that's just trying to get it through there faster.
James Boehm : Yeah. We launched co-streaming, which is an industry first feature that allows up to four broadcasters to join their streams together, and have one consistent chat experience across all four of those streams.
Larry Hryb: Yup.
James Boehm : So as a broadcaster, if you're playing, let's say Overwatch, and you want to invite your friends, you can join your streams. All of your viewers can see those streams on one page, and get to chat with the other people from the other streams, but through one chat.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
James Boehm : So it's a really cool experience.
Larry Hryb: It seems simple, and it seems obvious, but no one's really done it properly before.
James Boehm : Exactly. So we're making it incredibly easy to get started co-streaming, and we've already seen some amazing, amazing streams out of it.
Larry Hryb: Oh, we need to do this, Jeffrey.
Jeff Rubenstein: See people follow you, you have the audience, but then when we play Overwatch, then they'll see who's actually carrying the team.
Larry Hryb: Wait a minute. Wait a minute. We should play with these guys. Do you guys play Overwatch?
Matt Salsamendi: I do.
James Boehm : I don't yet.
Larry Hryb: Okay, that's all right.
James Boehm : I do play some PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds.
Larry Hryb: See now that's something that Mikey Barr has been getting me into and I saw that you are going to play with him. He's been after me, in fact, he barged in. I was streaming on Mixer last week. Did you hear about what happened?
James Boehm : I didn't but I can take a guess.
Larry Hryb: I apologize in advance, things are gonna get a little weird here.
Jeff Rubenstein: They were weird before you walked in, by the way.
Larry Hryb: Yeah and starting with I don't know how I ended up here but I ended in this weird esoteric forum about weather. I like weather, I'm a weather nerd. This guy had taken this ... Remember the Weather Channel back in the day? The Weather Channel had this automated thing that you could put up that local cable-
Jeff Rubenstein: Local on the 8's.
Larry Hryb: Local cable companies would insert every 15 minutes. Anyway, the guy basically released that code into the wild and you could run your own. So I was running it on my Windows 10 machine and it popped up and said, "Is this game? Do you want to stream it?" With Windows 10, you guys, Mixer is built into Windows 10. I said, "Yes, I do." So I started streaming this Weather Channel, which is just a weather report and it filled up with about 200 people. Mikey Barr comes in, he's like, "What are you doing?" I said, "I don't know. Come play player." It just kind of went side, I told you, you wouldn't know where it went.
James Boehm : You're right, I didn't know where that was going, but I would've loved to see it.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, people were a little confused in the chat. I got the notice that you were streaming and I didn't know what you were doing.
James Boehm : Can you make that a thing? I would watch that if you were to do that.
Larry Hryb: I'm telling you, it was quite ... I'm going to see if I can find, while we're talking here, I'm going to kind of pull it up because I can pull up my video OnDemand and it was kind of crazy.
Matt Salsamendi: I know music is ... There you go. I know music is popular on Mixer and I've seen channels as like Monstercat that's always doing. I think it's about time for a Weather Channel that happens all the time.
James Boehm : Yeah, I've seen an auctioneer, like live stream auctioneers.
Larry Hryb: What's he auctioning? Or she?
James Boehm : They're auctioning stuff from this website. It's super random but-
Larry Hryb: Is this internal? [crosstalk 00:40:33] There was a bunch of stuff missing from my office. I think somebody was doing it from my office.
James Boehm : Quite possibly.
Matt Salsamendi: Larry Hryb's exclusive Xbox.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, here it is.
Matt Salsamendi: Here on Mixer.
Larry Hryb: I want to ask you guys a question though because for your launch, you did something really interesting. It was the first ever interactive fireworks show.
Matt Salsamendi: That was cool.
Larry Hryb: So this is not like fireworks like a screensaver on your PC. This is real pyrotechnics. Tell me, James, tell me about that.
James Boehm : Yeah, so it's an event we called Mixer Works where we launched actual fireworks that you'd see at any big event, controlled by the chats through Interacto. Matt was talking about interactive, how you can influence theme play but we took that model and that interactivity to the real world-
Larry Hryb: You brought it into real life.
James Boehm : With real fireworks. Not with just sparklers but huge, huge fireworks. People spent their sparks, they filled up to a certain cap, and then we launched off the fireworks.
Matt Salsamendi: Yeah, I think something over like four million sparks were spent during that event, which was like absolutely crazy.
Larry Hryb: Where do you guys set them off?
Matt Salsamendi: It was in the desert near LA.
Larry Hryb: Oh, like the Mojave?
Matt Salsamendi: I think so.
Larry Hryb: That's where we did Zero Hour for the Xbox 360.
James Boehm : That's cool. Maybe, I don't know.
Larry Hryb: Wow.
Jeff Rubenstein: You might have found like an old HDMI cable or something.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I could've. Who knows?
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm sure because of all the attention that Mixer is getting right now, there's probably people thinking, "Hey, I would love to start but I don't know how to start streaming. I've never done it before."
Larry Hryb: Everybody is streaming, I'm too late to the game. What do I do?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, what would you advise for just getting started?
Matt Salsamendi: That's one of the great things about Mixer, is just the ease of getting started. We're actually integrating into the Xbox One, through the guide. You just open your guide, go down to the broadcasting tab, and you just click start broadcasting.
Larry Hryb: It's that easy.
Matt Salsamendi: It's that easy to get started. You can setup some settings from there and then go live, and you're already live on Mixer. It's incredibly easy to get started on the Xbox One, and also if you're on PC, you can press Windows G which opens the game bar. That's also the ability to get started with just a few clicks.
Larry Hryb: Just a half a billion people have Windows 10, no big deal, so.
Jeff Rubenstein: For those who maybe aren't ready to create yet but want to know, what are some interesting channels to view?
Larry Hryb: Besides my Weather Channel.
Matt Salsamendi: That's where you start.
Larry Hryb: That's where you start, right.
Matt Salsamendi: That's where you start.
Jeff Rubenstein: Is there any new and exciting stuff or interesting things you've been seeing besides weather?
Larry Hryb: Auctioneer. [crosstalk 00:42:49]
Matt Salsamendi: Yeah, where you should actually start is our new Mixer channel one stream.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Matt Salsamendi: We announced that yesterday along with all the other awesome changes. The idea is that we're curating tons of awesome content across the platform, and providing one stream for new users, new community member to go and hang out and understand kind of who we are, what we're about, and hopefully find some cool content in the process.
Larry Hryb: I want to also be very clear is that when you're on Mixer, you talked about community at the beginning of the interview, and never more have I felt that. When I start streaming, and James, you've dropped into my chat, Matt, you've been in there, I don't know how you guys find out. I'm sure you have some tools that say, "Hey these people are broadcasting, and you just kind of go through." But it's great because you start connecting with people. Certainly, I work with you guys and a lot of your team, which are great, but I've also met a lot of other people that normally wouldn't discover what we're doing. You've got the discoverability, first of all it's the ease on the Xbox 360. One thing I wanted to bring up, it's like don't worry about it if you don't have an account on Mixer. If you have an Xbox Live account, when you go through the console, James, right? It handles that on the backend.
James Boehm : Yep, that's absolutely right.
Larry Hryb: You just go click, click, click, done.
James Boehm : Does it for you.
Larry Hryb: It does it for you and then obviously the same thing with Windows 10. You guys must have seen an incredible uptick in traffic. We talked about the auctioneer and just seeing different things that the-
James Boehm : It's been really cool.
Larry Hryb: Tell us what else you've got up your sleeve. You talked about some new mobile apps and things like that, right?
James Boehm : We launched a very exciting new mobile app called Mixer Create. The idea is it allows you to stream from your phone. It's in a beta on both iOS and Android. For iOS it's a closed beta with partners and staff, but for Android, anybody can actually go download it today and give us feedback. We're excited to get both of those rolling out wider. The cool thing about them in particular is the fact that you still have that same sub-second latency as you do across all of our other platforms.
Larry Hryb: Sure.
James Boehm : So if you're used to streaming on Windows 10 with sub-second latency interacting with your chat-
Larry Hryb: You now have it in your pocket.
James Boehm : You get the same thing in your pocket.
Larry Hryb: Wow.
Jeff Rubenstein: We'll link out to that.
Larry Hryb: We'll link out to that? The other thing that's exciting, you guys, is I'm terribly jealous because I love what you guys do but now you have a world class studio in the heart of Manhattan at the Flagship Microsoft Store on 5th Avenue, which I've been to, into that studio. It's unbelievable. You guys have been there, right?
Matt Salsamendi: Yeah, I have.
Larry Hryb: It's unbelievable.
Matt Salsamendi: It's very nice.
Larry Hryb: Tell us a little bit about that.
Matt Salsamendi: Yeah, so like you said, out of New York, out of the Flagship Microsoft Store there, we have our very own Mixer studio where we've been broadcasting eSports tournaments to just a ton of different content out there. We've had a bunch of our Mixer partners that are in the, I guess, the tri-cities area up there.
Larry Hryb: Tri-state.
Matt Salsamendi: Or tri-state, yeah. I'm not from there.
Larry Hryb: That's okay. Jeff and I are.
Matt Salsamendi: I've heard that term. We've had partners in that area go up there and get to actually broadcast out of there. Actually today we're launching Paladins Tournament.
Larry Hryb: Oh yeah.
Matt Salsamendi: We've got like six or seven of our partners up there right now recording out of that studio. It's really cool for our partners to get to leverage that and broadcast out of that studio.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I'm looking forward to it. I always love going back east and going home. I'm so excited to go back there and do that. Last week, I don't know if you guys, I'm sure you guys knew this, we did This Week on Xbox. We did a live version from the studio here. Jeff, I think we need to take that on the road. Will you go with me?
Jeff Rubenstein: I would love to do that.
Larry Hryb: I'd love to have you guys go with me too but it's so great to see. Mixer is everywhere. I mean look, the company you started, when did you start, 2014?
Matt Salsamendi: It was late 2014 that we started working on the project.
Larry Hryb: Right and then here we are a couple years later, three years later, and you have the CEO of Microsoft tweeting about your stuff. I saw Satya tweeted that the other day. Not bad gentlemen, not bad. It speaks to the incredible passion that you have for this and the technology and the roadmap. Can you give us a little hint about where we're gonna go from here?
Matt Salsamendi: I think the exciting thing with the new Mixer name is it allows us to bring the platform to more places, right?
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Matt Salsamendi: One of the important things is we're streaming E3 from Mixer, which is gonna be crazy.
Larry Hryb: No, no, no, you're not doing E3. You're doing it in 4k.
Matt Salsamendi: We're doing it in 4k. You know it.
Larry Hryb: Okay, that's big.
Matt Salsamendi: Yeah, so it's gonna be crazy. We're really excited for that and the technology that we're building around that event is ultimately going to help all the broadcasters on the platform expand their reach, expand their audience to more places. That's really going to be our focus.
Larry Hryb: I just want to apologize on behalf of everyone that if you do see me in 4k, I apologize. Okay, it's gonna be ... It's really exciting to see what we're going to do with year at E3 and you're going to be able to see some great stuff. You have an Xbox One S, you'll be able to see it in beautiful, and of course you need the TV and the whole Magilla.
Jeff Rubenstein: The TV with the thing and the screen.
Larry Hryb: The screen and the HDMI. I don't know. You gotta have all that stuff and seriously, if you have 4k at home you are gonna just love it. It's gonna be phenomenal and that's addition ... Are you guys doing sub-second streaming on 4k?
Matt Salsamendi: That's the goal so we're trying to get as many people on the sub-second pipeline as possible.
Larry Hryb: My God that's a lot of bits.
Matt Salsamendi: It's pretty crazy. We want it to be stable obviously for people, and it's a huge event, so we're working hard to optimize across a variety of different paths. The goal is to deliver as much of it as possible in less than one second of latency so people can hear all of our cool announcements right as they happen.
Larry Hryb: Great. Real time style. All right. Tell me, anything else you want to go over? Because you guys have a busy day ahead of you.
James Boehm : You know, Jeff you were talking about finding content earlier.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, oh right.
James Boehm : There's one thing we didn't mention that we're launching a tab on the Xbox dashboard through Mixer to showcase some of the very best content on the platform.
Larry Hryb: When you sign into your console, you go home, then you'll see a couple-
Jeff Rubenstein: Hit the bumpers there.
Larry Hryb: You hit the little bumpers at the top and you'll see some different tabs. Community, there's gonna be one there called Mixer and people are gonna find what under there, James?
James Boehm : Like I was saying, just featured content. The best content-
Larry Hryb: Auctioneers?
James Boehm : Maybe. It's not unlikely, well probably unlikely but it's a possibility.
Jeff Rubenstein: James, just be prepared for him to say he wants a permanent spot.
James Boehm : Yeah, he wants a permanent spot.
Larry Hryb: I'm not asking for my Weather Channel. I've already got a permanent spot with This Week, but if you're gonna give it to me ... You can actually go in there. I was showing it off on the stream. You can go in there and look and say, "Hey, here are the popular games right now." You can just click on Destiny and all of the sudden, here's everybody streaming Destiny and what's going on. There's just tremendous excitement in this space and it's exciting to see that with Mixer now available to millions of people worldwide now, that anybody can do this. I ask you, listener, why are you listening to this show? Why aren't you streaming?
Jeff Rubenstein: Why aren't we streaming this show on Mixer?
Larry Hryb: I don't have an answer for that.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. Well you did the first live this week on-
Larry Hryb: I did This Week on Xbox.
Jeff Rubenstein: We talked about, so-
Larry Hryb: We want to bring a podcast to Mixer. We just haven't figured out the right way to do it.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's too fast for us.
Larry Hryb: No, we can figure it out. We got faces for radio, we'll leave it at that. All right gentlemen, well thank you guys.
Matt Salsamendi: Thank you.
Larry Hryb: Matt, James, it's always good to have you in here. Looking forward to seeing what you guys have cooking up, and as you heard straight from these guys, tune in E3, Xbox E3 in glorious 4k. So go out and get that TV. Go out and get that Xbox One S. Gentlemen, we'll talk to you next time.
Matt Salsamendi: All righty.
James Boehm : Thanks so much Larry.
Matt Salsamendi: Thanks Larry.
Larry Hryb: Thank you Matt and James. It's always good to have those guys in the studio.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's good to have them on the team. It's nice having that stuff in here. I'm more motivated to stream then. We really got to do this co-streaming Overwatch. We need to do this. I'm very motivated.
Larry Hryb: What you don't like my Weather Channel?
Jeff Rubenstein: I think that could be a subchannel under the Major Nelson streaming umbrella mega corp.
Larry Hryb: It was so bizarre.
Jeff Rubenstein: There was people watching it though.
Larry Hryb: There was people watching, I just don't know what was going on, but anyway-
Jeff Rubenstein: That was a strong line of thunderstorms. People like to watch that. That could lead to tornadic activity.
Larry Hryb: Now here's the deal, see now you appreciate it because you did weather. I think I told you the story when I was in college, like when I was a freshmen year in college my dad's like, "What are you gonna major in, in university?" He says, "Weather." I said, "What Dad?" He's like, "There's always gonna be weather so there will always need to be weathermen." Or weather women.
Jeff Rubenstein: There's some truth to that. The thing is most people, I mean I've done this. I was on the track to become a weatherman. So everyone, they go through it, they don't know what they're doing. You just look, whatever the AccuWeather, whatever sort of subscription service we had tells you. Then once you get the job and you're already on TV and have been doing it for a while, that's when you go back and it's like through Mississippi State or something. Everyone gets a degree in meteorology well after they've been a weather person. When you're watching TV, they'll have that seal-
Larry Hryb: Do you have your degree?
Jeff Rubenstein: No, I didn't do it because I got out. You know what I need?
Larry Hryb: The AMS seal?
Jeff Rubenstein: The AMS seal. You get that after you're already on TV.
Larry Hryb: How hard is it to get that?
Jeff Rubenstein: There is some studying involved.
Larry Hryb: I'm sure there is.
Jeff Rubenstein: You learn about the different clouds and vortices and this-
Larry Hryb: Cumulus.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's the fluffy one, yes Larry. I found myself, and I was like 22, doing weather. "Hurricanes are coming in."
Larry Hryb: They're not stopping.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm like, at this point I'm just going to read ... Yeah, I'm like, "I am not trained to forecast this. Here's what the experts are saying."
Larry Hryb: Yeah. Here's what it's going to say on the crawl tonight.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, I was like, "Please don't, just please don't hit us." I was not gonna stand out there like they do, you know?
Larry Hryb: Oh, no.
Jeff Rubenstein: You can hit by a lawn chair or something flying through the air.
Larry Hryb: Getting blown away.
Jeff Rubenstein: No.
Larry Hryb: You can get struck by lightening.
Jeff Rubenstein: There's a lot of things that can happen.
Larry Hryb: It's deadly.
Jeff Rubenstein: You stay inside. I boarded up the windows and I stayed inside.
Larry Hryb: In front of your green screen.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Anyway, we're gonna wrap up the show here because I know you got to get going. I've got to get going. I've got to do-
Jeff Rubenstein: We have a nice long weekend. I got a lot of catching up to do. I've got to start playing [crosstalk 00:52:34]
Larry Hryb: In the US, in the United States it is Memorial Day Weekend.
Jeff Rubenstein: It is.
Larry Hryb: Which is a big, which is kind of the unofficial official start of summer.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, we went straight from winter into summer here in Seattle.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, everywhere else it was more of a gradual ascension in the temperature. For us it was like-
Jeff Rubenstein: It was 40 degrees last week and it's 80 degrees this week. Why not?
Larry Hryb: Seattle, why you do this? So we're gonna be playing this weekend. Maybe we'll stream this weekend. Do you have any gadgets you want to talk about? We talked about the new Surface Pro coming out.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm hoping to get ahold of one of those. It comes out mid June. I'm going to get ahold of both the Pro and the laptop and I'll be happy to talk to you about them. I'm excited.
Larry Hryb: I think I may get the laptop next week.
Jeff Rubenstein: Why do you get it first? This is literally my job.
Larry Hryb: I don't know.
Jeff Rubenstein: And they give it to you.
Larry Hryb: They reached out to me and I told them I'm going-
Jeff Rubenstein: Who's they? Let's talk off camera.
Larry Hryb: Okay. Okay. Okay.
Jeff Rubenstein: I want one.
Larry Hryb: Anyway, so-
Jeff Rubenstein: I have gadget lust.
Larry Hryb: We've got that coming in. We've got a few other things to do but next week don't think they'll be a show because I actually have to travel back east. I'm going to my niece's high school graduation. I'll be in Providence.
Jeff Rubenstein: The week after that we're gonna be down to E3 already.
Larry Hryb: The week after that we're going to E3 so it's-
Jeff Rubenstein: Is this the last show before E3?
Larry Hryb: This may be the last show because we're doing some rehearsals for some things. I can't really talk about much.
Jeff Rubenstein: I know you can't.
Larry Hryb: Neither can you.
Jeff Rubenstein: You're very well disciplined this year. I've seen no rumor posts saying Larry hints at this or that. That's good. I don't know, maybe we can find some time, maybe in the hotel. Maybe a pre-E3 stream.
Larry Hryb: Or even a post one. I can bring my little Mevo and we can do something. Maybe we can go up to do something right to Beam or Mixer.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, that would be great. Let's do that.
Larry Hryb: Okay, we'll do something. You guys want to see us from Mixer, let me know. Promise, no weather. Maybe a little.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah a little bit. We can't help ourselves.
Larry Hryb: Just to keep it local.
Jeff Rubenstein: I've got to keep my mom happy. Believe me, she was like, "Why aren't you a weatherman?" She liked my friend who is a weatherman.
Larry Hryb: You have a friend that-
Jeff Rubenstein: She's like, "Why can't you be more like Nick?"
Larry Hryb: So she gave up on you ever being a doctor?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, very quickly. I let her down.
Larry Hryb: That ship sailed. You could've been selling hot dogs like I was.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's true. I was bagging groceries where shopping is a pleasure.
Larry Hryb: Publix?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. That's my first job.
Larry Hryb: Which, by the way, I take it on good authority you claim they have the best sandwiches.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh yeah, Publix subs. We were down visiting my sister a couple weeks ago.
Larry Hryb: What's the secret?
Jeff Rubenstein: It's just Boar's Head meat.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, which [inaudible 00:54:55]
Jeff Rubenstein: It's just really good. You make it exactly how you want it. I love it. I love it.
Larry Hryb: Publix. There's no Publix out here.
Jeff Rubenstein: We're as far from Publix as you can get in the continental US.
Larry Hryb: You know who eats at Publix? A Florida man.
Jeff Rubenstein: All of them do.
Larry Hryb: All of them do.
Jeff Rubenstein: They're just chugging sweet tea.
Larry Hryb: All right gentlemen and ladies, and everyone who's listening in between, I want to thank you for finding the time to download the show.
Jeff Rubenstein: For making it this far.
Larry Hryb: For making it this far and God bless you. We are going to go away and do E3, so we will talk to you maybe before, maybe after, I don't know. If you follow me on Twitter @majornelson, and Instagram. I apologize in advance because I will be chatting during E3. Jeffrey, you can find him at ...
Jeff Rubenstein: @jeffrubenstein.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, that's how you do it. All right gang, we'll see you. If we don't see you before, we'll see you at E3. Thanks for listening and have fun.
Jeff Rubenstein: See you in June.

Larry Hryb: Hey there, welcome to the show. My name's Larry Hryb, Xbox Live's Major Nelson, joined by Jeffrey Rubenstein, hello Jeffrey.
Jeff Rubenstein: Why, thank you for-
Larry Hryb: Jeff, Jeff, not Jeffrey, I'm sorry.
Jeff Rubenstein: Mom, is that you? Is it time for school?
Larry Hryb: I know, I know. Apparently I'm the only one that calls you Jeffrey [inaudible 00:00:37].
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, just my mom, thank you.
Larry Hryb: Anyway, thanks for joining us, this is show 599 and we are currently, as we record this, Laura-less. She may join us, as we like to say in broadcasting, in progress.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes, we're being stood up right now.
Larry Hryb: She's got some important stuff. She's working on a lot of cool projects and, unfortunately, she had some things she had to fix up that needed her immediate attention. So she may join us mid-stream, we'll see.
Jeff Rubenstein: We should have my mom in.
Larry Hryb: I have not met your mother. She's down there in, where is she again?
Jeff Rubenstein: She's in Fort Lauderdale area.
Larry Hryb: South Florida.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. Right on the border of the Everglades.
Larry Hryb: Eyyzzzrrrr.
Jeff Rubenstein: You're just gonna bring up a Florida man story now, and I know exactly which one. No, we've never been to Sebring. Interesting story there.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: But she's a big fan of yours. I was down there a few weeks ago and, always, first thing-
Larry Hryb: Does she listen to the show?
Jeff Rubenstein: No, but she does follow you on Twitter. How's Captain Morgan doing?
Larry Hryb: That's right, [crosstalk 00:01:33]
Jeff Rubenstein: And she knows, she knows now.
Larry Hryb: She knows, she's just funning me.
Jeff Rubenstein: She's just teasing.
Larry Hryb: You're so funny. I've had my mother on this show. Maybe we should have your mother on this show?
Jeff Rubenstein: I think that ...
Larry Hryb: And then we should have Laura's mother, if we can even get Laura to ... You know what, Laura's mom you can come sit in because your daughter's never here anyway.
Jeff Rubenstein: We can have therapy, we can talk about how like she told me that I'll never get a job playing video games.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: And pretty much now my entire career path has been-
Larry Hryb: Video games.
Jeff Rubenstein: Fueled by spite.
Larry Hryb: Well I've done the same thing with my mom. It's like, "Hey mom, you were wrong."
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. I'm playing right now Mom.
Larry Hryb: Anyway, you and I have been, I'll be the first to tell you. Me, I am incredibly lucky and fortunate.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh yeah.
Larry Hryb: And Jeff I think you share the same sentiment I do. You know we worked hard and we worked with cool stuff. But now we get to work on cool gaming stuff here. And ...
Jeff Rubenstein: You should do what you love if you can.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, you know what, 'cause it doesn't feel like work. I have always been blessed when I've worked in radio. I've had jobs, you know the various jobs I've had, I've owned a hotdog wagon, I've washed dishes. I used to work in a retail store.
Jeff Rubenstein: We both done it. Yeah, yeah.
Larry Hryb: I've done all sorts of that stuff.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, all that.
Larry Hryb: And that stuff is important because you learn, frankly how to be an employee. And what you need to do. So, oh boy. We just ...
Jeff Rubenstein: That's it. The more you know.
Larry Hryb: The more you know. What are you playing?
Jeff Rubenstein: What am I playing? We're playing, of course we are playing Overwatch. There is no need to dwell on it.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's still really good.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: But in between matches ...
Larry Hryb: But, but could we talk about this other interesting Overwatch development. Are you okay with that?
Jeff Rubenstein: Which one? Oh, yeah let's do that. If you want.
Larry Hryb: You are apparently, a couple weeks ago, I think it was just about two weeks ago. You're daughter showed interest in playing Overwatch. And how did that go?
Jeff Rubenstein: I've been sort of planning this for a long time. Started with the first first person game she ever played.
Larry Hryb: It's the long game.
Jeff Rubenstein: It was Minecraft.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: And first thing I ever did was before she ever picked up the controller was make sure it was inverted.
Larry Hryb: That's right.
Jeff Rubenstein: So that we could be consistent as a family. The last thing I want to do is pick up a controller in my own home and be an alien in my own home. And not have it be inverted. So all she knows, down is up.
Larry Hryb: She's younger. How old is she?
Jeff Rubenstein: She's seven.
Larry Hryb: She's seven, okay.
Jeff Rubenstein: And so you know, I figured nature versus nurture.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: I couldn't make her a left hander, like me. It's bad enough. But I can make her an inverter and there she is. But I figured there is a lot of like, we play a lot of the mini games where you are throwing the snowballs. The Minecraft mini games are so much fun, you should try it. The Elytra Racing. So she is just getting used to maneuvering in a 3D space. She's gotten quite good at it. So at one point I was like, okay we gotta get her into a shooter. And someone that used to work here, Josh Kerwin, his kid, his whole family as a group they wait and they play Overwatch.
Larry Hryb: And he's now a Blizzard.
Jeff Rubenstein: He now works at Blizzard. The role he was meant to have. And at some point she was watching me play. And she was wanted me to just sort through the player sorter. The player gallery. Where you can see everyone. And I was like, "Let's see who do you want to be, who do you want to be?" And she fell in love with Mercy.
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Jeff Rubenstein: Everyone needs a healer.
Larry Hryb: Yep.
Jeff Rubenstein: So we jumped into a bot game. And with the easy bots and her being Mercy. You know she's figuring out that whole thing. And then she started noticing the play of the game. And that ...
Larry Hryb: How do I get that down?
Jeff Rubenstein: How do I get that? How do I play the game?
Larry Hryb: What is that? Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: And I've been spending a lot of time with Soldier 76. We are getting real close these days. And so she was like, well let me try him. And so we put her into practice.
Larry Hryb: Uh ...
Jeff Rubenstein: First time she uses a sim she got play of the game.
Larry Hryb: What?
Jeff Rubenstein: This is against the bots. It's not exactly high level play. But she got a good series of kills. And that was it. And she was like, "Oh my god that was great!" And then she was like, "I want to use Diva now." So she used Diva and she got play of the game on a self destruct.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: And there is no going back. I am like, "Hey we could always use a healer." And she is like, "Nope." And so now the way it ends up working is I am Mercy.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: And it's my job to keep her alive.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: And so we're running. She's upstairs, I'm downstairs. And we're both running a lot of multi players.
Larry Hryb: Good.
Jeff Rubenstein: So hopefully she'll be, I feel like you start them at seven.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: You know she could go pro. She could get into some Overwatch leaguing career.
Larry Hryb: She could probably retire by 11.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, that's what I aiming ...
Larry Hryb: Now what's interesting is that you were telling me this other story about how you went into, you were playing against the bots, or whatever the mode it is where there is humans versus bots.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, yeah it's like training.
Larry Hryb: And somebody chose the character she wanted. And she got very upset.
Jeff Rubenstein: Very upset!
Larry Hryb: And she didn't understand that mechanic, did she?
Jeff Rubenstein: No it was the first time. So she has learned to get very fast at picking Diva. Did I tell you about the other thing where we had to ground her off of Overwatch?
Larry Hryb: Tell this story, it's a good story.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'd been traveling. I don't know if you saw the Microsoft Education event where we announced the Surface laptop. I was in New York.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: And so I was gone and you know you get there a few days early. So I missed the weekend, I was in New York. And my wife was telling me like, "Oh she is waking up at like 7 in the morning." And my wife sleeps in. And she comes down stairs and she's like, "How long have you been playing Overwatch?" And it's pry been a couple hours. And so this weekend, this past weekend, we are awoken by the sounds of controller movements. She is playing on mute but we can hear that the game is on. And God knows how long she has been on it. And so we try to regulated that at least a little bit. So we yell downstairs, "Hey, turn it off. Go do something." Go play with blocks, I don't know.
Larry Hryb: Go read.
Jeff Rubenstein: Read, yeah. And she said, "Okay." And then we still feel like we are hearing clicking sounds of the controller. So I walk downstairs. We are above her. And I guess she hears my footsteps cause I go down there and the TV is off and she is just sitting there staring at a blank TV But the controller is right next to her and the controller is still lit up.
Larry Hryb: That's called a smoking gun.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes. And I am like, "Playing are you?" And she is like, "No." And I am like, "Okay, go do reading." So we go back up and I give it like five minutes. And then what I do is open up the Xbox app on my phone and I can see she is playing Overwatch.
Larry Hryb: Because she has different Gamer Tag than you.
Jeff Rubenstein: Exactly, yeah. So I am looking at her Gamer Tag and she is clearly playing.
Larry Hryb: Sure.
Jeff Rubenstein: So ...
Larry Hryb: You should have sent her a message, "I'm coming downstairs now."
Jeff Rubenstein: I really should have done that. That's a great idea. So I go to go again. And then this time, like very quickly, she scrambles and hits the receiver so it turns everything off.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: And I am like, "Were you playing?"
Larry Hryb: Uh oh. Teachable moment.
Jeff Rubenstein: And then I go, "Tell the truth here or it will be much worse." And she thinks about it and she goes, "No." And I hold up the phone and I go, "Yes, you were."
Larry Hryb: Busted!
Jeff Rubenstein: And now you are grounded off of Overwatch. I created a monster and now I've got to reign it in.
Larry Hryb: Now you've got to deal with it, yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: But she wants to be Diva for Halloween.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: She wants me to be Soldier 76.
Larry Hryb: [crosstalk 00:08:10]
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm a little old to start cosplaying. But Soldier is old.
Larry Hryb: I disagree.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well thank you.
Larry Hryb: I disagree.
Jeff Rubenstein: I am going to be Daddy 76.
Larry Hryb: Did you see the cosplay I had to do in the latest episode of This Week on Xbox?
Jeff Rubenstein: The last one I saw I think you were dressed as a farmer?
Larry Hryb: No, you will see this. The one that airs now, depending upon when you listen to the show, the latest one was a record this is a ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Why don't I just link to it?
Larry Hryb: No, no yeah. Just look for it on my Twitter. Don't worry about that. Or look for it on the YouTube channel.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh no, we are going to find it.
Larry Hryb: Anyway, so anyway you are playing Overwatch.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: You are also playing a few other things.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, so Forza Horizon 3, we talked about it I think on the last show two weeks ago. The Hot Wheels pack it is available now.
Larry Hryb: Now, I got to tell you. If you haven't played this, first of all, everybody loves Hot Wheels. I don't care who you are, what you are, but everybody loves Hot Wheels. You can not find anything wrong with this pack. It's just, it's awesome.
Jeff Rubenstein: This is not just a couple extra cars. This is not like a mode. This is a full map. Like in the vein of like Blizzard Mountain. Which is also fantastic. But it is like, I've never seen anything like this. It takes place as a couple of islands off the coast of Australia. And everything is like giant Hot Wheels tracks, bright orange with the blue junctions.
Larry Hryb: Right. Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: There is like spinny things that like sort of speed you up. It changes the mechanics in a way.
Larry Hryb: And of course, the loops.
Jeff Rubenstein: The loop to loop. I mean giant dinosaurs.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's just a joy to play.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: And it's challenging.
Larry Hryb: It will unlock that inner child in you. You and I were talking about this, we all had at least in my family, we all grew up with Hot Wheels. And running those orange tracks through the living room and under the couch and around the dog. And all that other stuff. So it was great.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's yeah. I feel like this has definitely captured something a lot of people, a lot of the folks that we talk to, YouTubers and such have been jumping on it. And it's a lot of fun. I know we linked to the trailer before. But if you ever played Hot wheels before, or toy cars, Matchbox even, whatever it might be.
Larry Hryb: Check it out.
Jeff Rubenstein: Check it out. This is probably for you.
Larry Hryb: So there you go.
Jeff Rubenstein: So yeah, so spending a lot of time with that. Also started playing Thimbleweed Park.
Larry Hryb: Oh yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: So, this came out on ID@Xbox of course.
Larry Hryb: About a month an a half ago.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, something like that. Yeah, yeah, Ron was on the show. It just in the past week has also ... It's an Xbox Play Anywhere Title. And the Windows 10 version of that is now available. So if you bought it on Xbox One, if you go over to any Windows 10 computer, you'll launch the store and you look at your downloads. You are going to see hey, I can get Thimbleweed Park now. So I did that. And I am just playing not even on a gaming PC. Just on a Surface Book. And of course it plays great. That's a funny, funny game. I haven't played an adventure game like this since, I think it was Indiana Jones and the Temple of Atlantis or something like that.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: This is like 1991 or something when I was in middle school. And I remember playing with a friend and it was really fun. It's cool going back but it's a very funny game. It's very self aware. They are constantly referring to the fact that they are in a game, and how people play games. Like before I was talking to someone dangerous, like one of the dialogue options was, "Should I save now because I really don't want to lose my progress?" And it was going into a whole conversation about how they made the game play friendly. And the voice is fun. I definitely recommend checking that one out, Thimbleweed Park.
Larry Hryb: Like I say, if you bought it on Xbox you know when it came out a month and a half ago you've already go it on Windows 10.
Jeff Rubenstein: You've already got it.
Larry Hryb: Just go over to the store. Go to your, I think you go into your library and there it is.
Jeff Rubenstein: And your save game, everything. Achievements, it all carries over.
Larry Hryb: What are you waiting for?
Jeff Rubenstein: That's a great question, Larry.
Larry Hryb: It's waiting for you right there.
Jeff Rubenstein: I think we should do something where you get to choose your dialogue options.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's a funny game. We talked about Voodoo Vince a couple weeks ago. I beat that.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: And I am still playing Mass Effect Andromeda.
Larry Hryb: I got to bring you over to meet Clayton. You haven't met Clayton yet, the original.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh no, I've met him.
Larry Hryb: Oh you have?
Jeff Rubenstein: I met him at Pax East.
Larry Hryb: Oh yeah, he's great.
Jeff Rubenstein: Doing a demo it was the first time I got to go hands on and I knew right away that this was going to be something I was going to want [crosstalk 00:12:13]
Larry Hryb: Well there is also something about getting a demo from the game from the game developer, the writer, the creator.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: There is a certain je ne sais quoi about that.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, tres bonne.
Larry Hryb: Oui, oui.
Jeff Rubenstein: So I know what you've been playing besides Overwatch.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: Tell us about Prey.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I've been playing Prey. It's one of those games I got into and I thought I would like it. But boy do I like it. I am having a good time with it. There is a great Skill Tree. It feels good. You know, throw those head phones on and it's great.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's scary? Because it kind of looks a little scary to me.
Larry Hryb: It does have those moments. It's kind of weird because I am playing it and feels a little like Bio Shock because you are on an abandoned Space Station. So it's kind of like that. And then you got these creatures, so it's got this Mass Effect meets Dead Space. Well maybe more Dead Space than Mass Effect.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: So yeah there's just a lot of these elements, and I'm churning away having a great time with it.
Jeff Rubenstein: You beat the Aliens games.
Larry Hryb: Yeah I did beat the Aliens game that's right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: There is interesting mechanic. And this really isn't a spoiler but each level is part of the ship. And you can either get through them by going to these doors and hitting it and you will load the next section. Or they've got this, it's not really fast travel because it's actually not fast at all, but you can open up these airlocks that go to the outside of the ship. You have to unlock them from the inside.
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh huh.
Larry Hryb: Unlock them and then you can go outside with your space suit and go to another part of the spaceship.
Jeff Rubenstein: So once you've unlocked it the first time, then you can go back.
Larry Hryb: Then you go outside.
Jeff Rubenstein: You can take the short or direct one.
Larry Hryb: Right, right. And there is things that happen outside that you have to deal with. So it's actually really kind of cool.
Jeff Rubenstein: It definitely sounds like a combination of Bio Space.
Larry Hryb: Bio Shock.
Jeff Rubenstein: Bio Shock and Dead Space. I guess Bio Space.
Larry Hryb: So I am playing that and that's a lot of fun. We talked about Forza Horizon 3. I'm playing a little bit of Gwent. You know that card game. You know, 'cause that's in Beta. So I am really enjoying that as always. I finished, since we last talked, I finished Little Nightmares.
Jeff Rubenstein: Another scary game, right?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, very scary but also very bite size. I think it took me four hours, maybe. I don't remember I kind of took my time on it. You should really play this Jeff. It kind of gives up the achievements pretty easy.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's good [crosstalk 00:14:21]
Larry Hryb: There is like, I think there's a 50 pointer for walking up and down a piano.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, that sounds like ...
Larry Hryb: That sounds like right up your alley.
Jeff Rubenstein: You know me pretty well here. I've been putting up some good numbers on the achievements.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, you have.
Jeff Rubenstein: I want to catch you. I don't think I am going to. You are coming up really close on the century mark.
Larry Hryb: I am, I am. Yeah, so I am getting close. I play it to play it, I have fun.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, well yeah. But it's also nice to get those achievements.
Larry Hryb: Well especially with, again I don't want to give too much spoilers, but there's certain achievements that would have been way easier had I known about them in Little Nightmares.
Jeff Rubenstein: Okay.
Larry Hryb: You know you can get them as you go through certain areas but then I had to go back and go through those areas again and get to them. And it was a little more challenging. But yeah, so Little Nightmares is just, oh boy, just play it.
Jeff Rubenstein: Okay.
Larry Hryb: Play it.
Jeff Rubenstein: Okay, I can do that.
Larry Hryb: It can be a little bit disturbing because there's nightmare material in here. There is nightmare fuel. You won't be surprised by that because of the title. But it's definitely a lot of fun. So check it-
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, you know the word little makes you think that's not so scary.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, so check that out. I am probably going to churn through Prey. One of the reasons I wanted to get us into the studio this week, even if I don't even know where Laura is, because next week I'll be headed down to Los Angeles. I will be going to the Destiny 2 event, Bungie slash Activision's Destiny 2 event. So I got to go down and that will be on Thursday so we won't be able to do a show next week. That's just a slight programming note.
Jeff Rubenstein: I am looking forward to that event.
Larry Hryb: Are you?
Jeff Rubenstein: Just to see what comes out of that. Destiny was my most played game in 20 ...
Larry Hryb: 14, 15
Jeff Rubenstein: 14 and 15 I want to say.
Larry Hryb: I don't remember.
Jeff Rubenstein: I know it's Overwatch this year. But I am very interested to see what they are going to be doing.
Larry Hryb: Why don't you come down with me? I know you're busy.
Jeff Rubenstein: I would love to.
Larry Hryb: I would love to.
Jeff Rubenstein: You talk to my boss?
Larry Hryb: I am actually, here is something interesting, I am actually coming ... I don't know if I can even talk about this but I will.
Jeff Rubenstein: This is going to be trouble. Alright do it!
Larry Hryb: I know, I know. I am going down to do the Destiny event and then I have to get on a plane early Friday morning. So what is that, Friday the 19th?
Jeff Rubenstein: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Larry Hryb: On Friday the 19th I am going to come back up here. We are going to do, I hope so I mean I shouldn't say this but I will. We are doing a live version of This Week on Xbox Friday afternoon.
Jeff Rubenstein: Really?
Larry Hryb: Pacific Time, yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: You are doing it live.
Larry Hryb: We are doing it live!
Jeff Rubenstein: Someone's got to do it live.
Larry Hryb: We are doing it live! So yeah, we are going to do that.
Jeff Rubenstein: Can you play us out Larry?
Larry Hryb: I don't even know what that means.
Jeff Rubenstein: Never not funny.
Larry Hryb: But yeah -
Jeff Rubenstein: I am looking for your Cosplay. Where is your Cosplay at?
Larry Hryb: It's going to be, okay listeners you are going to get a little inside scoop here because Jeff clearly hasn't figured out what's going on. We are recording the show on Thursday. The show goes, This Week on Xbox Live [crosstalk 00:17:01]
Jeff Rubenstein: I am like I always see these. How would I have missed this? Man, I am really bad friend.
Larry Hryb: So by the time this show goes live it will be available. I am doing some time travel on you, sorry.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh that was a great cosplay. Well done, Larry.
Larry Hryb: So we are doing This Week on Xbox, if all goes well we are going to do a quickie live episode, like 30 minutes.
Jeff Rubenstein: 30 minutes, that's a long episode.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, it is. Do you want to come by?
Jeff Rubenstein: I would love to.
Larry Hryb: Friday afternoon?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: So yeah, we're going to do that. We're working on some cool stuff. We're testing some cool tech up. You know what? I can't say any more Jeff.
Jeff Rubenstein: Alright, well I am excited.
Larry Hryb: I've said too much. I've said too much.
Jeff Rubenstein: Let's do it.
Larry Hryb: Anyway, let's go through some of the news headlines if you have them handy. And then we'll get cooking along here.
Jeff Rubenstein: This is a big week for basketball. Yes, the NBA playoffs are happening.
Larry Hryb: Remember whenever we go to E3, it's like the playoffs are right, assuming the Lakers are in.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah you don't need to worry about, certainly not the Lakers and you don't need to worry about the Clippers either. We're not going to have any issue. I know hockey, I don't think we have to worry about it either. E3 will be blissfully playoff issue free for the third year in a row. But a couple of basketball games. So one came out. So my favorite player of all time is Allen Iverson. We have the same birthday. And he's older.
Larry Hryb: I thought it was Jeffery Dean Camillionaire.
Jeff Rubenstein: Jeffery Dean Camillionaire I would say this generation's Allen Iverson. You know I lived in Philly and you know he sort of symbolizes the city; young, scrappy and ultimately unsuccessful. NBA Playgrounds, of which he is on the cover, is sort of like a classic NBA. Like in the vein of an NBA Jam, 2 on 2. So that is out and I know a lot of people have been having fun with that. But also NBA 2k18 is now available actually for pre-order Xbox One. But it's always a big deal when they announce who is going to be on the cover and it's going to be Shaq. And there's two versions, there's Shaq from the Miami Heat, Shaq from the LA Lakers.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: No Shaq from the Orlando Magic.
Larry Hryb: Those were big times down there. Weren't they?
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh yeah.
Larry Hryb: You were there when he was playing.
Jeff Rubenstein: I was in South Florida. But I never liked the Heat but I did like the Magic
Larry Hryb: You always had those, if I go back and watch those grainy VHS tapes, I see you sitting on the court side.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, I'm there court side.
Larry Hryb: With your glasses on.
Jeff Rubenstein: [crosstalk 00:19:16] Yes, exactly, and a giant foam finger. But I did have that Orlando Magic Shaq jersey. That was a big deal, you know. He was larger than life. I don't know that we've had an athlete that has come into the NBA where like, before they're even drafted it's that big of a deal.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Even Lavar Ball, well Shack did not have $500 sneakers. But that's a whole other story.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: So anyway that's been announced. You have NBA Playgrounds now, you have NBA 2K down the line. When that's going to be coming out in September. So plenty of basketball to keep you busy during the playoffs and into next season.
Larry Hryb: Basketball Jones ...
Jeff Rubenstein: What?
Larry Hryb: I don't know what's going on, I'm sorry.
Jeff Rubenstein: This is what happens when Laura's not here.
Larry Hryb: It's who we are. It's just ...
Jeff Rubenstein: So a game coming out that is an ID@Xbox game, that is something we had shown at GDC recently that I thought was really a cool game. So I am looking forward to getting into it again. In fact it will be out by the time, actually today. So by the time you hear this, it's called Human Fall Flat. And it's sort of like a [inaudible 00:20:25] space platformer.
Larry Hryb: What's it about?
Jeff Rubenstein: So you're like this 3D model of a human, it's completely featureless and whatever. And you do like a lot of physics based puzzles. Almost like, let's say like Bridge Constructor, but you're like bringing someone along.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Sort of how the physics lead to some crazy, wonky things. And some of the rag doll stuff is just really funny. So the human does only what you have them do. And you sort of control their grip and stuff like that. I'll play it this weekend and I'll let you know. But it was something that I had a lot of fun with at GDC. Actually, year before last. So good to see that one come out.
Let's see we had just a couple of other games ... Oh my gosh!
Larry Hryb: Ladies and gentlemen, Laura, that door you hear opening and closing. Hi, Laura!
Laura Massey: Hello!
Larry Hryb: Jeffrey and I were just running terribly amok.
Laura Massey: What was happening?
Larry Hryb: We're not quite sure. You'll have to ask the listeners. And they can't respond so you are on your own. We don't know. We just ended up in a swamp in Miami.
Laura Massey: Oh no.
Jeff Rubenstein: We did, we talked about it.
Laura Massey: Were there alligators there?
Larry Hryb: Could be, we ended up in a very strange place. It's just been very strange.
Jeff Rubenstein: Boa Constrictors
Larry Hryb: Thank you, you're back and we will try to behave now.
Laura Massey: Okay, back on rails.
Larry Hryb: So welcome!
Laura Massey: Thank you!
Larry Hryb: I let the folks know that you were ...
Laura Massey: Running late.
Larry Hryb: Had some last minute stuff that needed your immediate attention.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: And of course the audience is incredibly understanding so they're like okay.
Laura Massey: Thank you, buddy.
Larry Hryb: Again, they can't really say anything.
Laura Massey: I appreciate [crosstalk 00:21:47]
Jeff Rubenstein: I think they mostly just turned off the podcast as soon as they heard that you were not here yet.
Larry Hryb: Click!
Laura Massey: Keep you on track.
Larry Hryb: Was that that clicking sound?
Jeff Rubenstein: We heard it and the dial tone, didn't we? Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah. Anyway.
Larry Hryb: Anyway.
Jeff Rubenstein: Do phones still do that?
Larry Hryb: Do they?
Jeff Rubenstein: I haven't had a phone that plugged into the wall in ...
Larry Hryb: Do you have a home phone Laura?
Laura Massey: No, I haven't had one ...
Larry Hryb: Forever.
Laura Massey: Ten years maybe.
Larry Hryb: Right, since you moved up here, right?
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Larry Hryb: We have one.
Laura Massey: I don't know.
Larry Hryb: I think they still make a dial tone.
Jeff Rubenstein: I don't know.
Larry Hryb: That's a good question.
Jeff Rubenstein: Shoot, someone look into this.
Laura Massey: I know. So the other day I was calling somewhere, I can't remember, but like a landline. And it was busy. What is that tone?
Jeff Rubenstein: How is that possible?
Larry Hryb: [crosstalk 00:22:20]
Jeff Rubenstein: What are you calling a radio station? You're not the 100th caller.
Larry Hryb: Click, sorry Laura. Wow! Yeah, that's interesting because I remember ... I was telling somebody about, I was explaining to somebody how Xbox Live is like the dial tone of gaming. A younger person and they looked at me like, "Dial tone?" They didn't know what it meant.
Laura Massey: Oh no!
Larry Hryb: Cause you're right. You don't hear dial tones on mobile phones.
Laura Massey: [crosstalk 00:22:45]
Jeff Rubenstein: And then you said, "In my day ..."
Larry Hryb: Back in my ...
Jeff Rubenstein: We picked up the phone and we didn't know who was calling.
Larry Hryb: We didn't
Jeff Rubenstein: And we just said, "Hello?"
Larry Hryb: It was relaxed.
Jeff Rubenstein: Every time.
Larry Hryb: "Hello?"
Jeff Rubenstein: And then it was like, "Oh it's grandma."
Larry Hryb: Thank you for calling the Hryb residence may I ask who is speaking, this is Larry.
Laura Massey: Right.
Larry Hryb: And remember your mom taught you how to answer the phone.
Laura Massey: Exactly! And your mom taught you how to, when you are calling somebody's house, how to ask for the person -
Larry Hryb: Did you have rules? Like you couldn't call your friend's house after a certain time of night.
Laura Massey: There's always the nice rules, after 8.
Larry Hryb: What were the rules? Oh, it was 8?
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Larry Hryb: I think we ran 9.
Laura Massey: Okay.
Larry Hryb: Jeff?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah it was probably about 9 o'clock. Depending on who it was.
Larry Hryb: Now it's texting. Laura and I were texting last night at like 11 o'clock. Right? It's just like ba, ba, ba, ba, ba
Laura Massey: Whatever.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, whatever, whenever.
Jeff Rubenstein: I feel like texting is the new calling. I am only going to text someone if I really need to talk to them. Like, a call is almost like having a presidential summit.
Larry Hryb: Summit! Because if someone calls your house, especially at night, something bad happened.
Jeff Rubenstein: Always.
Laura Massey: Not good.
Larry Hryb: God forbid, right?
Laura Massey: Not a good thing.
Larry Hryb: Like I always felt bad when I was down in Florida, Jeff, and I called you. Remember I called you?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Because I was on my way back and my dog had died.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, that was a serious [crosstalk 00:23:53]
Larry Hryb: I don't remember why I called you. I was like ...
Jeff Rubenstein: You needed to talk to somebody. And I was there.
Larry Hryb: I did. I was in Florida and I didn't know where to go in Orlando.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: You didn't help. So, no, no. Anyway so, yeah, calling is strange. I don't know how ... See this is what happens Laura, we just dragged you in. It's like quicksand.
Jeff Rubenstein: Actually what were we wondering? Oh, before we started recording we were listening to like R and B hits of the 90's.
Larry Hryb: Bell Biv DeVoe
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, do you know that song Poison?
Laura Massey: Oh yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: We were debating whether or not you did.
Larry Hryb: She does!
Laura Massey: Yes, I do.
Larry Hryb: Wow!
Laura Massey: It was ...
Larry Hryb: Da, da, da, da ...
Laura Massey: Oh my gosh, that's my jam. Because that was one of the first songs in Dance Central. Back when we were testing out Kinect we were also testing out Dance Central.
Larry Hryb: Yes!
Laura Massey: And there was three or four songs.
Larry Hryb: But did you know it when you were growing up?
Laura Massey: Yes.
Larry Hryb: Okay, okay.
Laura Massey: Poison was the hardest one.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Laura Massey: Poker Face was the easiest one.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Laura Massey: And if you could make it to Poison then you were good.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Laura Massey: And so we would have Poison dance offs in the office.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: I failed Poker Face more than once.
Larry Hryb: Speak for yourself. Yeah, wow I guess ...
Jeff Rubenstein: We should have put stakes on it. [crosstalk 00:25:00]
Larry Hryb: We could have laid some money down on that one.
Laura Massey: What? Who would have bet against me?
Larry Hryb: Um ... I don't remember how that fell on either side.
Jeff Rubenstein: I think we were both just like, well we didn't know if that song was big in Texas.
Larry Hryb: That's what it was. Because we started talking and that's exactly what I said. I said, "Jeff and I both grew up in the east coast. Do you think Laura knows that?"
Laura Massey: Okay.
Larry Hryb: A lot of weird things happen in Texas. When you grow up in the East Coast, Texas is like a completely different country.
Laura Massey: What is so funny is that, speaking of music and being in Texas, I had cousins that lived in California and we went to visit them for the first time when I was in 9th grade. And they were shocked that I had heard of the Backstreet Boys.
Larry Hryb: Oh!
Laura Massey: They were like, "How did the Backstreet Boys make it to Texas?"
Larry Hryb: Yeah!
Laura Massey: And we're like, "It's another state just like yours. It's not any different."
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: There's not actually ...
Larry Hryb: I don't know how you ...
Jeff Rubenstein: The Backstreet Boys if they were going to get to California from Orlando they would have to go through Texas.
Larry Hryb: Maybe ...
Jeff Rubenstein: You probably knew first.
Larry Hryb: We just didn't know if you could hear them over all that gunfire.
Laura Massey: Oh come on.
Larry Hryb: So ...
Laura Massey: We still have high school dances and middle school dances where all these songs are played.
Larry Hryb: Well, [inaudible 00:26:08] when you were in high school and middle school.
Laura Massey: It's all the same.
Larry Hryb: So where you a Backstreet Boys fan?
Laura Massey: I was the perfect target demographic.
Larry Hryb: I know you were.
Jeff Rubenstein: Who was your favorite one?
Laura Massey: I don't remember their names.
Jeff Rubenstein: It was A.J. wasn't it?
Laura Massey: I don't know.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm going to just say it.
Larry Hryb: Because some of them, we had a couple of them on campus recently.
Jeff Rubenstein: What?
Laura Massey: What?
Larry Hryb: You didn't know this story?
Jeff Rubenstein: No.
Larry Hryb: You didn't know this story? So one of our good friends who produces The Daily Show, Tina. She grew up in Orlando.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's right. Edgewater High School.
Larry Hryb: She knew some of the guys. It wasn't Howie. It was one of the other ones, was out here. They were on tour. And they came through Seattle. I think it was like last summer.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, yeah. My wife went to that.
Larry Hryb: That's right.
Jeff Rubenstein: I did not.
Larry Hryb: And Tina happened to bring the Boys out here.
Laura Massey: Really?
Larry Hryb: And we had a great chat because I used to promote their records when I was working in radio in the 90's. Anyway, I didn't realize, I feel terrible I let ...
Laura Massey: You didn't tell me they were here.
Larry Hryb: I know.
Laura Massey: I could have given [crosstalk 00:26:59]
Larry Hryb: I know you probably had a really cool sequined jacket you could have worn or something. Or brought in your action figure.
Jeff Rubenstein: Signed your copy of Tiger Beat.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: No, right next to Jonathan Taylor Thomas.
Laura Massey: Oh my goodness.
Larry Hryb: I apologize listeners apparently Laura is not going to help us getting random. You are just going to exacerbate it.
Laura Massey: I'm sorry. It's just a very interesting conversation for me.
Larry Hryb: Yes, I know. Now I feel bad. So next time they are in town we'll talk to ...
Laura Massey: Yeah, I know.
Larry Hryb: I remember Tina called me and they called me like, "Hey do you want to come down to the Kia Arena? Do you want to come down and we'll put you backstage on the show." And I was so tired that I'm like, "No that's okay. I saw you guys in Lake Compounds in Bristol."
Laura Massey: I'm sure you saw them in their heyday.
Larry Hryb: Oh yeah. Lots of screaming. You were a screaming girl. I just realized it.
Laura Massey: No, I never went to any of their concerts or anything like that. I just knew of them. Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Radio.
Laura Massey: Radio.
Larry Hryb: And the videos.
Laura Massey: And the videos.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's never too late. We can, we'll have to get you on the next run.
Larry Hryb: Get you back, back, back.
Laura Massey: Oh goodness gracious. Wow! Wow! That one's to save for later.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's a shame you control the recording. Because now we can't take that and ...
Larry Hryb: We were in the middle of doing the news and I figured we stop if you have anything you want to share. Because we kind of went past the what we're playing part. I don't know if you had anything you wanted to share.
Laura Massey: Not too much. It's been a super busy two weeks for me.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, yeah.
Laura Massey: As you all know.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: I have just been playing the normal things.
Larry Hryb: You know Mini Metro came out with an update.
Laura Massey: It did?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, just FYI I saw that earlier.
Laura Massey: Download update now. Download update now.
Larry Hryb: Download update now.
Laura Massey: Yes, so I have just been playing the same things that you guys have always seen me play.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, that's fine.
Larry Hryb: Oh, oh. That reminds me I have something for you.
Laura Massey: Ah! Really, what do you have?
Larry Hryb: Hold on, hold on.
Laura Massey: I am holding while I download the Mini Metro update.
Larry Hryb: Jeff keep talking.
Jeff Rubenstein: This is great radio by the way.
Laura Massey: I know it is.
Larry Hryb: Here. That is from a friend of mine at Blizzard sent that up for you. Why don't you describe what that is.
Laura Massey: No way!
Larry Hryb: Why don't you describe what that is.
Laura Massey: This is a keychain from Diablo 3.
Larry Hryb: Yes. It is.
Laura Massey: And it is of Diablo.
Larry Hryb: Yes, so there you go. I didn't know, it's just a little something.
Laura Massey: It's a Diablo key chain!
Jeff Rubenstein: It kind of looked like a Scorpion.
Laura Massey: It does.
Jeff Rubenstein: And so I thought it was some sort of Scorpio thing. But ...
Larry Hryb: No, flip it over.
Laura Massey: It's like mini caricature.
Larry Hryb: It's not that obvious, it says "Diablo 3" all over the back.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well now I can see. It's also not purple.
Laura Massey: Yeah, it's like a caricature. Because he's got really short legs and a really long tail.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Laura Massey: But it's awesome! Thank you for this!
Larry Hryb: My pleasure, you know it's the least I could do.
Laura Massey: It's a very thoughtful gift.
Larry Hryb: For all that you do, it's the least I could do. Showing up late.
Laura Massey: Sorry, sorry.
Larry Hryb: Anyway, so you're playing the normal stuff. You're playing your Diablo.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: You know Jeffrey sent you an invite for Overwatch. You didn't join us.
Laura Massey: I didn't. I know. My schedule has been a bit weird lately.
Larry Hryb: That's not going to go unnoticed. That will go down in your permanent record.
Laura Massey: I know.
Larry Hryb: Just like running in the third grade.
Laura Massey: Running? What's wrong with running?
Larry Hryb: In class? You know, when you were in, you know-
Laura Massey: Running in the hallway?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, remember when the principal would go, "It's going to go on your permanent record!" I guess you never got yelled at. Jeff, I think you and I shared a similar life. Laura, she was a do be, we were a don't bes.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, apparently you are not supposed to fire a fire extinguisher into the English class.
Laura Massey: What?
Jeff Rubenstein: I hung out with some of the wrong kids.
Laura Massey: Oh no.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Laura Massey: A fire extinguisher? That's pretty serious.
Jeff Rubenstein: It wasn't a foam one, it was one that actually shot water.
Laura Massey: [crosstalk 00:30:07]
Jeff Rubenstein: I am pretty sure.
Larry Hryb: The kind you flip upside down?
Jeff Rubenstein: It was metal and huge. And it shot actual water.
Larry Hryb: Wow!
Jeff Rubenstein: And so we shot the water out.
Laura Massey: The three stooges, shooting water.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, that's ...
Jeff Rubenstein: It was not like seltzer thing.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: But not actually that much different.
Larry Hryb: Hey, hey, hey!
Jeff Rubenstein: But now that you mention it not that much different. Yeah, like [crosstalk 00:30:23]
Larry Hryb: Krusty the Clown what are you doing? Hey, hey, hey!
Jeff Rubenstein: Any more Borscht Belt jokes you want to throw out there?
Larry Hryb: Oh boy.
Jeff Rubenstein: Anyway that happened.
Larry Hryb: Alright, so moving right along if Laura doesn't have anything to play why don't we just go and continue with the news Jeffrey.
Laura Massey: Continue with the news.
Larry Hryb: Continuing with the news. Over to the news desk.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh boy, no. But that's actually kind of it. You know we have a recap of the Gears Pro Circuit, Paris action that was taking place. But the big news really is the Hot Wheels, the Forza Horizon 3 Hot Wheels expansion. That's your top story.
Laura Massey: Leading the way. I really want to try that out.
Larry Hryb: Did you play with Hot Wheels?
Laura Massey: I did not.
Larry Hryb: I think we talked about this last week.
Laura Massey: I really want to though.
Larry Hryb: No when you were young you did have Hot Wheels.
Laura Massey: [crosstalk 00:31:07]
Larry Hryb: Right, you did. Did they make like a tractor Hot Wheel?
Laura Massey: That would be the best.
Jeff Rubenstein: They had to have.
Laura Massey: That would be the best.
Larry Hryb: With the flames coming out the back.
Laura Massey: Yes! Oh my gosh I want that so bad now.
Jeff Rubenstein: I had a tractor Transformer. It was a Bone Crusher.
Laura Massey: They had 18 wheelers.
Larry Hryb: Did you have Matchbox too? Hot Wheels was always the souped up crazy fancy cars. And then Matchbox were always like the realistic cars.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Laura Massey: We had both.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I think we talked about this last time. I am sorry. We are re-doing ourselves. Jeffrey continue.
Jeff Rubenstein: No, that was it. Just play that. You should play that.
Laura Massey: Yeah. I really want to give it a try.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, you should.
Laura Massey: I've heard really, really good things about it.
Jeff Rubenstein: And how's the cars? So they have the souped up cars also.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: So it's like bringing it up into real life. But you can race it against a Lambo or something like that. Which I think I went back through. I finally afforded the Centenario.
Larry Hryb: Centenario.
Jeff Rubenstein: Centenario and the Coca Lite.
Larry Hryb: I told you ... [crosstalk 00:32:04] Stop it! I had to take lessons on how to say, "Centenario" last year.
Jeff Rubenstein: You probably had to talk about it.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, when we were announcing it.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: You're making fun of me. My wife has been yelling at me. You are the only two people in my life that make fun of me when I do that.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well you call me Jeffrey and you get [crosstalk 00:32:19]
Laura Massey: Ahh ...
Larry Hryb: That's because I think I travel more with you than I do with my wife sometimes.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's true. You know what, I should go with you to L.A. Let's get back on the wagon.
Larry Hryb: Alright, now.
Laura Massey: That was really, really funny. Thank you for sharing that.
Jeff Rubenstein: Of course. Yes.
Laura Massey: That made my day.
Larry Hryb: Glad I could amuse you. Alright, that's pretty much the news. We talked to, Laura before you came in we are not going to have a show next week I am going out to L.A. for the Destiny 2 reveal.
Laura Massey: Awesome.
Larry Hryb: So I'll be down there and then I am coming back and we are going to do ... I didn't even tell you this. I haven't talked to you in forever. I just told everybody else. So if you missed it the first time listeners, which you didn't because you were listening. We are doing a live episode of This Week on Xbox net Friday. Like live in studio.
Laura Massey: No way.
Larry Hryb: We are going to do it live!
Laura Massey: Doing it live!
Larry Hryb: Yep, so we are going to do that and details on that next week.
Laura Massey: Exciting!
Larry Hryb: It may get canceled, I don't know. I probably shouldn't have said anything. Whoops.
Laura Massey: Whoops.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well now they can't. So well played.
Larry Hryb: Too late now, too late now. So yeah, that's what's going on. And then after that we probably have one more show because then we are in the shoot for E3.
Laura Massey: Yep.
Jeff Rubenstein: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Larry Hryb: We're excited about E3 happening this year as always. We got our event on Sunday. I'll be hosting a few live streams as always. I got a couple of cool surprises for the live stream. That's all I can say. That is all I can say.
Jeff Rubenstein: I don't even know. I'll save it.
Laura Massey: I don't know either. It must be pretty good.
Jeff Rubenstein: I am going in pretty blind. I am just going to enjoy the show.
Larry Hryb: I mean, certainly we will have all the stuff we'll talk about it with Project Scorpio. But I mean I'll have you know, some new wardrobe things and some other cool stuff that I am going to be rolling out.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh!
Larry Hryb: Just keep it interesting.
Laura Massey: Yeah. Oh my goodness.
Jeff Rubenstein: Right.
Larry Hryb: I think I may take this thing with me, the streaming.
Laura Massey: Which one is that, the Amiibo?
Larry Hryb: This is the one that streams to periscope and what not.
Jeff Rubenstein: Or you could bring your Snapchat Spectacles.
Laura Massey: Yeah, I've seen ...
Larry Hryb: Did you see my videos? I sent them to you on Snapchat didn't I?
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: And Twitter.
Jeff Rubenstein: The thing that is weird about is that if you move the phone they wobble.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: And then I spend the entire length of the chat, the snap, just doing that.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, so if you are interested to see I have Snapchat Spectacles. Which are pretty much exactly what they sound like. And you can find me on Snapchat and it's pretty easy. I think I am the real major nelson. I don't even know what it is over there. I am just the major nelson.
Laura Massey: The.
Larry Hryb: The Major Nelson, so you'll see that. Yeah, but I'll be Snapchatting from the ... In fact I'll do that next week. I should bring them to Destiny.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Laura Massey: That'd be great.
Larry Hryb: I got enough to do, I got enough to work down there.
Laura Massey: You have a lot of things to stream, Amiibo, the spectacles.
Jeff Rubenstein: I think people will appreciate that though.
Larry Hryb: Amiibo and the spectacles. I got a couple other things. Anyway so yeah E3 is coming up, so next week no show. Maybe a show the week after. But we won't have much to talk about. Because we go quiet so we can save all the news for E3.
Laura Massey: Yeah, right up to E3.
Jeff Rubenstein: We haven't been quoted yet this year but I am sure there will be the opportunity for it.
Laura Massey: At some point.
Jeff Rubenstein: For some point for people to read into something that you say. It happens every year.
Larry Hryb: Well they do it on this show.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, that's what I am talking about.
Larry Hryb: Right, yeah exactly. Big announcements! Anyway ...
Jeff Rubenstein: You're just asking for it.
Larry Hryb: I know.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: You want to talk gadgets?
Larry Hryb: Yes, yes!
Laura Massey: Wait, before we move to that do you want to play Name the Game?
Larry Hryb: No we haven't done that. Oh, would you like to do that?
Laura Massey: I think it's time for a Name the Game.
Larry Hryb: Well you know what? If you're here.
Laura Massey: I am here.
Larry Hryb: The planets have lined up.
Laura Massey: The listeners are here.
Larry Hryb: And then ...
Laura Massey: So let's do Name the Game from last time.
So that was Name the Game from last time. And it was Little Nightmares.
Larry Hryb: Which we talked about earlier. You haven't played that yet have you?
Laura Massey: No.
Larry Hryb: Oh, you should.
Laura Massey: I've seen everybody talk about it on Twitter.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: It looks really good.
Larry Hryb: Yep.
Laura Massey: So the winner.
Larry Hryb: Who is it?
Laura Massey: Is Tom from Lincoln in the U.K.
Larry Hryb: Lincoln? There is a U.K. place named Lincoln?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: I thought that was just Nebraska.
Jeff Rubenstein: Ah, no. Yeah, Lincoln City has a soccer team.
Larry Hryb: Does he have his Gamer Tag?
Laura Massey: Yeah his Gamer Tag is Phaser to Stun.
Larry Hryb: Phaser to Stun.
Jeff Rubenstein: I like that, cool. What did he win?
Laura Massey: Oh my goodness. There is so many things here.
Larry Hryb: I don't know where you find my stuff.
Laura Massey: I ransacked your office.
Larry Hryb: I know you do this all the time.
Laura Massey: Yes, I don't know if I am going to find more things, I have just taken so many things for Tom.
Larry Hryb: There is more of those. It's packed in there.
Laura Massey: It's like one of those magical offices where things just accumulate. And you don't know how it gets there.
Larry Hryb: Good stuff though!
Laura Massey: Yeah, great stuff!
Larry Hryb: It's like some people call ... it's like the candy room in Willy Wonka.
Laura Massey: Yes.
Larry Hryb: Because there is all cool stuff in there. Anyway go ahead.
Laura Massey: Maybe games grow from the wall.
Larry Hryb: No, I can't show you photos of it because there is stuff in there you can't even see.
Laura Massey: Wow!
Larry Hryb: Right? Okay, go on.
Laura Massey: Okay, so Tom you have won a copy of Human Fall Flat which is a new ID@Xbox Title. Narcosis, which is also an new ID@Xbox title. NBA Playgrounds, also an ID@Xbox title.
Larry Hryb: We were just talking about that.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Laura Massey: Exactly. And that's not all, you also get a copy of Dark Siders: the Fury Collection.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Laura Massey: War and Death, which is a bundle featuring Dark Siders One and Two.
Jeff Rubenstein: A lot of people talking about three.
Laura Massey: Pretty awesome.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's good timing.
Laura Massey: And that's not all.
Jeff Rubenstein: What?
Laura Massey: You also get a copy of Forzer Horizon 3 Ultimate Edition. And ...
Larry Hryb: Yes, we are going to throw it in aren't we?
Laura Massey: Throwing in the Hot Wheels add on.
Jeff Rubenstein: Woo!
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Laura Massey: There you go Tom, enjoy.
Larry Hryb: Congratulations. Now there's all sorts of cool prizes you can win whenever we do a show. We like to do shows as frequently as possible.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Larry Hryb: And it's really simple. Laura explain to people how they play.
Laura Massey: It's super easy. All you have to do is listen to the sound effects I am just about to play.
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Laura Massey: Think really hard and then guess what game those are from. And send us an email. That's all you have to do.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: So why don't you go ahead and roll the tape.
Larry Hryb: I guess the only thing left to do now is ...
Laura Massey: Roll the tape!
Alright, so if you think you know what game those sounds are from all you have to do is send us an email. Lollipop@xbox.com and cc major@xbox.com.
Larry Hryb: Delightful!
Laura Massey: If you can hear our voice you can enter to win.
Larry Hryb: Woo hoo!
Laura Massey: Exactly. Super easy.
Larry Hryb: Alright.
Laura Massey: And for all the people who guess it right we are going to choose a random winner.
Larry Hryb: We'll take all the correct entries and put them into a virtual hat and then randomize, RND, parentheses, something, something, something.
Laura Massey: Something, something, winner.
Larry Hryb: Equals winner [inaudible 00:39:39]
Laura Massey: Exactly..
Larry Hryb: So good luck. Good luck to you lovely winner.
Laura Massey: Yes.
Larry Hryb: You're a winner right now you just don't know it.
Laura Massey: That's true.
Larry Hryb: Right? Right?
Laura Massey: All you have to do is send us an email.
Larry Hryb: Send us an email. Alright Jeffery, I'm sorry, we were talking about gadgets. You obviously have something ...
Jeff Rubenstein: No I jumped the gun. I am sorry.
Larry Hryb: No, you have something you wanted to share.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well yeah, I just want to ... I don't get that many things but I did get a new device that I am kind of enjoying.
Larry Hryb: Tell me.
Jeff Rubenstein: Which is the Fitbit Blaze.
Laura Massey: Ooooh! I haven't seen one of these.
Jeff Rubenstein: So I like to track. As somebody who is not in great shape but likes to track the few things I do so I can rationalize not actually working out consistently. I had 10,000 steps today time to go get some ice cream. The Fitbit Blaze, it checks all the boxes I was looking for. One, it does everything without you having to talk about it. Like specifically saying, if I go for a walk it just knows. If I go to sleep it tracks that sleep.
Laura Massey: Awesome.
Jeff Rubenstein: Which is really awful because ...
Larry Hryb: If you have ice cream it knows.
Jeff Rubenstein: It does, it's like your hand is moving towards your mouth. You know? It takes the temperature.
Larry Hryb: Tap, tap, tap.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah exactly. But I guess one of the best parts about it, in addition to like that functionality is that it pops out. This is the actual device. And you can replace these bands. It comes with what looks like reasonably functional wrist watch, like any sort of Timex or something would have. But you can swap it out for better looking bands. And they're actually pretty inexpensive for that type of thing.
Larry Hryb: That's been out for a while, hasn't it? The Blaze?
Jeff Rubenstein: There's a number of them. I think the newest one is smaller. And I had tried out the really thin one. The Alta and it just wasn't for me. It didn't do all the stuff I wanted it to do. The best part about this actually is that it's really good at syncing with your phone so that when I get texts, if I'm driving, they just pop up on here really nicely. So I don't have to reach for my phone when I see it. I use it as my alarm clock. It does like all of the ... It's funny, I haven't talked anything about exercise.
Larry Hryb: Does it play Snake?
Jeff Rubenstein: I wish it played Snake. It doesn't have a keypad.
Laura Massey: Does it tell you the time?
Jeff Rubenstein: Indeed it tells you the time. So yeah, I'm a pretty big fan of this. So it's the Fitbit Blaze.
Larry Hryb: Put a link to that.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, I can do that.
Larry Hryb: I actually used to have Fitbits when they first came out. I basically gave up on them because I kept losing them.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, yeah.
Larry Hryb: And I am convinced to this day, I'm actually convinced that that's part of their business model.
Laura Massey: Possibly. Or them going in the washing machine.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, that's there.
Laura Massey: That's what happened to mine.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well that's the other thing. The battery lasts about five days.
Laura Massey: Nice.
Jeff Rubenstein: Some of the other smart watches out there are like, you're lucky to get a full day.
Larry Hryb: That's right.
Jeff Rubenstein: While it's not quite as full functioned, not having to think about it is real nice.
Larry Hryb: That's great.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well I'm happy.
Larry Hryb: That's great.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's why I shared it.
Laura Massey: So how many steps have you done today?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, that's a good question. It looks like I have gone 3,506. I would have more but it was raining and I didn't walk here.
Larry Hryb: No ice cream for you.
Jeff Rubenstein: No I did not earn that.
Larry Hryb: Well then you know what we are going to have to do? Laura, you and I have never done this, he and I used to do this all the time. Through the Microsoft Campus we have a walking path.
Laura Massey: That's true.
Larry Hryb: That goes around and Jeff, you and I should go out and take that sometime. Because it actually goes right through by this office over towards the other. Basically all the offices we work in.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, I mean normally I do walk around. You get some good steps. But Seattle being what it was, we had like five days of really nice weather.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: And now it's raining again in [crosstalk 00:42:54]
Larry Hryb: It was like raining sideways.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Laura Massey: It's super windy.
Larry Hryb: I was like, this is not ... Anyway. It's going to come back. I've got an interesting gadget. It is a ... So Laura, I don't know if you know this, I think you do know this about me. I like to do different projects in my house.
Laura Massey: Yeah, I know this.
Larry Hryb: I like to, I mow my own lawn and do all those things because I like doing that stuff. It's fun.
Laura Massey: Sometimes you help out others, like me.
Larry Hryb: That's right, that's right.
Laura Massey: Install a Nest.
Larry Hryb: Or not, that didn't go well.
But I have two things. One of them is a battery powered lawn mower.
Jeff Rubenstein: Buh?
Larry Hryb: Exactly.
Jeff Rubenstein: How can a battery, like-
Laura Massey: Last that long?
Larry Hryb: It does. So I have what's called, it's called the Ego Power Mower, and you can get them at Home Depot or Amazon, and it's actually one of the top rated if not the top rated non-gasoline mowers on Consumer Reports.
Laura Massey: Even above the corded mowers?
Larry Hryb: That's what I recall, yeah.
Laura Massey: Wow.
Larry Hryb: This is, I mean it's ... I needed a new lawn mower. My lawn's not that large, but I needed a new lawn mower, and this one will go about 40 minutes.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Larry Hryb: Which is more than enough for what I need. But what's interesting is my favorite feature of this mower is the lawn mower, when you're all done, it folds down and then it can stand upright in my garage, which you can't do with a gasoline mower because it's all the liquids, the oils, and the gasoline inside. And it's great!
Laura Massey: So how compact does it get?
Larry Hryb: It gets, I'll show you. Here's a picture of it, I don't think I have a-
Laura Massey: 'Cause storage of a mower is a big deal.
Larry Hryb: It gets about that big.
Laura Massey: Oh wow.
Larry Hryb: Without this, and then it flips up on the side.
Laura Massey: So the handle completely flips down.
Larry Hryb: Yep.
Laura Massey: Turns more into a rectangle.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, and it's got a big huge battery in it that you can drop in, and obviously you have to charge it, but it keeps it going. And it's great.
Laura Massey: That's very cool.
Larry Hryb: So it's a lot of fun. Here's a bonus, you ready for this? 'Cause it's electric, it even has headlights.
Laura Massey: So you can mow in the dark.
Larry Hryb: I can mow in the dusk. To really irritate my neighbors.
Laura Massey: Yes.
Larry Hryb: But actually it's very quiet.
Laura Massey: Yeah, how loud is it?
Larry Hryb: It's not loud. I mean, it's loud. You don't hear the put, put, put, put, put. But you hear the blade whirring. I mean, it's not dead quiet but it's not as loud as a gasoline. So that makes, you know, so I've got an electric car. I have an electric mower.
Jeff Rubenstein: And an electric personality.
Larry Hryb: Aah, hello everybody! So anyway, it's one of the interesting projects. And then the other one is we're redoing one of our bathroom in our house, so I'm putting in a whole LED lighting sequence under the cabinets.
Laura Massey: Oh, nice.
Larry Hryb: So it's a whole series of hue lights that change color based on the time of day, when they sense somebody, what the weather's like outside. That's not done yet, that one's in progress.
Laura Massey: That sounds super cool. Do you control it with your phone like [crosstalk 00:45:35] lights?
Larry Hryb: You can. Yeah, I can do it right now.
Laura Massey: Wait. Right now, like when you're not on your home network?
Larry Hryb: Yeah. We'll see if it'll pop up here. I think it'll say like "out of home mode" or something.
Laura Massey: Wow. You can scare the people that might be in you're house.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, my wife would not like it. So yeah, see, it says "out of home connection" and I can just turn them on or, well I just turned the kitchen on. Okay, I'm going to get a call in a minute, turn them off.
Laura Massey: Why are you doing that?
Larry Hryb: Why are the lights going? My wife, I love my wife, she's very tolerant of my ridiculous, goofy smart home stuff. And she's like, "Make it stop." Like, I told you the Nest, you remember the Nest story right?
Laura Massey: Oh yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Laura Massey: With the fire alarm.
Larry Hryb: When they all started going off and she put them at the end of the driveway. Like, "Nope, we're done here. We're done here." We fixed that. Anyway, so that's my ... So, yeah, the electric lawnmower. It's ridiculously cool.
Laura Massey: That is [crosstalk 00:46:21]
Larry Hryb: And of course they make their whole line of stuff, so I can take the same battery and use it in a blower and a string trimmer and all the rest of that stuff.
Laura Massey: Do you have those things?
Larry Hryb: I don't, I don't. I've just started doing this, I was just so excited because it saves all that space in my garage, right? And it just flips right up.
Laura Massey: And all the maintenance.
Larry Hryb: So I have all my electric side with my battery, anyway. That's all. So if you have any questions on that let me know.
Jeff Rubenstein: Ego!
Larry Hryb: It's called the Ego.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'll look for that.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, look for that.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, the home automation stuff. Like, eventually ... Like, certain parts of it are really cool. All I know is like to turn the lamp off in my living room I have to talk to it, and I have to say the exact right word otherwise it'll turn on the light in the bedroom. So if I'm up late playing games and I want to turn it off but if I say the wrong thing it's going to wake up my wife.
Laura Massey: Whoops. Dangerous.
Jeff Rubenstein: Which is not great.
Larry Hryb: Well, here's the problem Laura, I'm going to hand you my phone.
Laura Massey: Okay.
Larry Hryb: So there's two here. Those are all the apps that are required for my home automation. It's all these little islands of technology that may or may not talk to each other.
Laura Massey: That's true, there are-
Larry Hryb: I think I've got like 15 different apps. You know, I've got the Heal app, I've got my home automation Z Wave system, I've got the Zigbee system, I've got my Iro, I've got ... It's ridiculous. Oh, that's my Bed Jet.
Laura Massey: Yeah, what's that.
Larry Hryb: I never told you about the Bed Jet?
Laura Massey: No.
Larry Hryb: Oh, this is one of those weird things. I think you and I talked about this off the air.
Laura Massey: Did we? Is this ...
Larry Hryb: This is the electric blanket replacement.
Laura Massey: Oh.
Larry Hryb: This guy was on, the inventor of Bed Jet, you gotta put this in the notes, was on like Shark Tank or something. And he pitched it and he got denied but he ended up raising funding anyway, and apparently it's quite successful. This is a device that instead of an electric blanket, I'm always cold, you said you're always cold when you're sleeping. My wife's always hot. And so I got this thing called the Bed Jet which essentially is a blower and it blows hot air or cold air in your ... Jeff's looking at it like I'm crazy.
Jeff Rubenstein: No, 'cause, well here's the thing. Well, first, it's a nice piece of machinery. But like with that, like I think a lot of couple's vastly different temperature requirements.
Larry Hryb: Body temperature.
Jeff Rubenstein: I want to be cold when I'm sleeping, and she's fine in the middle of summer with a down blanket.
Larry Hryb: No, listen to me.
Jeff Rubenstein: All right.
Larry Hryb: Listen to me. I know it's going to sound like an ad, but they are not paying, I bought it.
Jeff Rubenstein: I think we should like, FTC, we are not getting paid for these.
Larry Hryb: Hashtag no ad. So this device, you can have one for you wife too and you can have one on each side of the bed, it can blow warm air or cool air.
Laura Massey: So it's an air conditioner and a heater.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: It's and air conditioner for you bed.
Larry Hryb: Well, it's not really an air conditioner because it doesn't cool the air, it just takes room temperature air.
Laura Massey: It looks like a vacuum cleaner.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, it does. And, anyway, it blows warm air, and anyway, so that app, so I've got the app on my phone.
Laura Massey: You can control it with an app.
Larry Hryb: More importantly you can do the biorhythms.
Laura Massey: Okay.
Larry Hryb: Because it knows, well it doesn't know, but the body as you go to sleep at ten or eleven o'clock at night or whatever, at a certain like two o'clock your body will get cold or maybe warm again, so you can set it up. Jeff is making fun of me now.
Jeff Rubenstein: I just, you ever watch Last Man on Earth? So Carol, who was like a very funny comedian, she's been in a lot of stuff, and they always make a big deal of how she sleeps with this giant apparatus to like prevent snoring, but anyway, I'm seeing this giant thing.
Larry Hryb: Well what's funny is I got it when my wife was out of town, and I put it under the bed. So it's got the hose coming up and the whole thing. She's never seen this thing under the bed. She knows something, she knows there's like a [inaudible 00:49:59], but if I were to bring it up she's like, "Get that out of the house 'cause it's kinda large." So now you know. Now you've embarrassed me Laura, you've brought up the Bed Jet.
Laura Massey: I thought it was really, I had to click on it.
Larry Hryb: It's cool isn't it.
Laura Massey: Yeah, it sounds pretty cool.
Jeff Rubenstein: If you just have the name Bed Jet, like your mind can go a lot of places.
Larry Hryb: I'm telling you Jeff, it would work for you and your wife.
Jeff Rubenstein: All right.
Larry Hryb: Laura, it would keep you warm.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Larry Hryb: I'm telling you, this thing. And it's great because if you're really warm and all of a sudden you get really hot, you hit the cold, ten seconds you're cooled down.
Jeff Rubenstein: Ooh, I do like the idea of that.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: See, back when I grew up I had a more primitive version of the Bed Jet. It was called a blanket.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: And when it was cold I got a heavier blanket, and when it was hot I took it off.
Laura Massey: And opened a window.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes. But I will try the Bed Jet, because-
Larry Hryb: It's not cheap. But it solved a problem because we always had an electric blanket and I really don't like having electric wires over my body.
Jeff Rubenstein: It seems dangerous.
Larry Hryb: It just seems like, and then I had one that was underneath. And then they make this other thing, unrelated to the Bed Jet, which is like this mattress cover that has like liquid in it to cool and heat you up. But it just feel like liquid is, you know ...
Laura Massey: Yeah, liquid inside the house on a carpeted floor.
Larry Hryb: I mean, in your mattress, right? It just feels like that's ...
Jeff Rubenstein: I feel like we're like two glasses of wine away from like, Kathie Lee and Hoda, you know. We're just sitting there talking about stuff we don't really understand, passing judgment.
Larry Hryb: Anyway, so that's my-
Jeff Rubenstein: Time to get into the Chardonnay.
Larry Hryb: So the long and the short of this, Laura, now that we've been distracted, is that the home automation is, I think, ripe for a lot of development and consolidation. It's really just frustrating because I've got cameras on one system, cameras on another. Now to be clear, the Bed Jet is not, you notice it was in my home automation folder but it's just in my home folder. There's no automation ... That I'm aware of.
Jeff Rubenstein: I want to say, "Cortana, cool me down."
Larry Hryb: So I've got, then of course we've got Alexa, we've got the hue lights, I've got the Nest stuff, got the doorbell, I've got the front, the whole fricking this is just, it's crazy.
Laura Massey: I didn't know you had an Alexa.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: What do you use her for?
Larry Hryb: Do you want to know one of the best things I use her for? I'm serious. You can ask her weather all day long. Play the Jeopardy Skill. My wife and I play every night at dinner.
Laura Massey: What?
Jeff Rubenstein: What?
Larry Hryb: So what it is, it's an official Skill from Jeopardy, you know the TV show.
Jeff Rubenstein: You have to download that separately?
Larry Hryb: You download the Skill, it's free. And the writers apparently, because they have how many categories do they have? Six categories?
Jeff Rubenstein: Something like that.
Larry Hryb: I think yeah, in Jeopardy they have six categories. They take whatever extra question or two they have and they ask it in Jeopardy. So that day, they have that same category but it'll be basically related to that day, and you play it and you have to answer it and it has Alex Trebek. The only thing she-
Jeff Rubenstein: Wait, Alex Trebek reads it?
Larry Hryb: He doesn't read it. She reads it, but he intros it, "Very good, players, let's see how you did."
Jeff Rubenstein: All right.
Larry Hryb: The only problem with it is, they changed it recently so you say, "Hey, Alexa, let's play Jeopardy." And it's like, there's that moment of silence while she's thinking, and then it says, "Let's play!" It just screams at you. And my wife like shudders and jumps and it's he worst ... They don't like have a little musical, "Let's play Jeopardy!" They're like screaming at you.
Jeff Rubenstein: [inaudible 00:53:12] Gilbert would never have stood for that.
Larry Hryb: No, it is not ... Anyway, but other than that it's a great, do you have one?
Laura Massey: I do.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, so I'm serious. Add the Jeopardy Skill. And then at the end, depending on how you do, and to be honest with you my wife does way better than I do, it'll tell you like, "Hey congratulations, you got six out of six right, you did better than 20 percent of the people."
Laura Massey: Oh no way.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, so it kinda-
Laura Massey: A leaderboard.
Larry Hryb: And you can play it Monday through Friday, 'cause it's all related to the show. It's a lot of fun. So, play the Jeopardy. And then I also have it hooked up to the hue lights so I can say, "Alexa, please turn the kitchen lights on." Boom, they come on, "Turn them off," off. You know, the whole routine.
Laura Massey: You're very polite with your AI.
Larry Hryb: I am.
Laura Massey: Yes you are.
Larry Hryb: You wanna do something? Here, wanna do this? I'm serious, my wife found this one out. "Alexis, sing me a song."
Laura Massey: Does she sing Daisy?
Larry Hryb: No. She sings this country tune that you are gonna love. It is phenomenal, my wife loves that one.
Laura Massey: Alexa sing me a song, is it?
Larry Hryb: Yep.
Laura Massey: Okay. I'll have to give that one a try.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's Oasis. Just, you know, just a spoiler alert.
Yeah, no, in my house it's constantly, "Alexa, tell me a joke." Then it's followed by me having to explain the joke to a seven year old. So Alexa will just tell you endless amounts of pun based jokes.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, so we use that. Of course we have Cortana because that's Windows 10 stuff. So yeah, we're playing around with that stuff. But it's the home automation.
Jeff Rubenstein: We're in a golden age, Len.
Larry Hryb: I'm just, you know, I'm at the point now where I don't know what else I can ... I mean, I've got my garage automated. The garage doors are automated. The whole thing.
Laura Massey: That's right.
Larry Hryb: So when my car is on its way down the street the garage doors open.
Laura Massey: That's pretty cool.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: The car doesn't do that? That's your garage that does that?
Larry Hryb: It's a combination of the car talking to the house talking to the garage door, so it's at least two or three things happening, it's just complicated.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: I think I'm done with this project for now though, because I don't know what else I could possibly do.
Laura Massey: You have a doorbell.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, the doorbell.
Laura Massey: You have cameras.
Larry Hryb: Cameras. And then of course there's Sonos for days.
Laura Massey: Yes.
Larry Hryb: So I got that all going on. So yeah, there's all of that stuff. Currently right now, I'm trying to figure out how to code my Harmony remote when my wife turns the TV on to shut all the Sonoses off in the house. I can't figure that out.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative), that's a good one.
Larry Hryb: That's my current tech challenge.
Laura Massey: To turn it off.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. There's got to be a trigger I can-
Laura Massey: There must be a way to do it.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, so if you figure that out let me know. If anybody's done it let me know, hit me up at Major Nelson. All right, anything else now that I've completely brought you into my bedroom and given you a tour of my home? Do you have any home automation stuff Laura?
Laura Massey: The only automation I have is my Bluetooth smoker.
Larry Hryb: Oh, your smoker, right. For some reason I had this mental image of you sitting in a lounge in the back just puffing and dragging, and I was like what?
Jeff Rubenstein: Bluetooth Hookah.
Laura Massey: No, it's my smoker where I cook meats.
Larry Hryb: Which, has it yielded anything?
Laura Massey: Deliciousness.
Larry Hryb: I wouldn't know. Would you know Jeffrey?
Jeff Rubenstein: No.
Larry Hryb: We wouldn't know that.
Jeff Rubenstein: Is it working well?
Laura Massey: It's working very well.
Jeff Rubenstein: Okay, what's your specialty?
Laura Massey: Right now it's ribs.
Jeff Rubenstein: Okay.
Laura Massey: Baby back ribs.
Larry Hryb: Those are good to smoke.
Laura Massey: Yes, they're really good to smoke.
Jeff Rubenstein: Low and slow.
Larry Hryb: Poor baby.
Laura Massey: That's the way. Five hours, 225. I should have, ha ha ha, I should keep a barbecue journal but I don't. Of like, what I did, what worked well, what didn't work well.
Larry Hryb: You're already opening the app to do something. Can't you like tag it with a note or something?
Laura Massey: Yeah, that's a good point. I think there should be.
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Laura Massey: Find a way to do that.
Larry Hryb: I will say this though, I did get a few emails in the major@xbox email account asking if and when Nerd Trivia would ever come back, speaking of the ... 'Cause that to me is one of the best gadgets we had.
Laura Massey: Oh, thank you. Very kind. Thanks to listeners who were fans.
Larry Hryb: Yes, there's still fans. There's a lot of fans out there.
Laura Massey: [crosstalk 00:56:49] someday.
Larry Hryb: I know, I would love it to come back. What about you Jeffrey, other than your-
Jeff Rubenstein: I would also like Nerd Trivia to come back.
Larry Hryb: Would you? Do you have a smoker at your house?
Jeff Rubenstein: No, I've got a grill and I do some grilling. We just like kicked it back up. Because it's a pretty short grilling season here in Seattle. And so I bought more fuel and I feel like it's not getting as hot as it was.
Larry Hryb: Time for a new one.
Jeff Rubenstein: I don't want to, I'd like to be able to fix it.
Larry Hryb: What happens?
Jeff Rubenstein: I don't know, the flames are not going as high as they used to.
Larry Hryb: Do you want me to come over?
Jeff Rubenstein: If you want to, come on by. Make some burgers.
Larry Hryb: I'll come over with my tool belt.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. Like I take the whole thing apart to clean it. I just, for whatever reason when I put it back together it's just not as hot.
Larry Hryb: Well the flames are shooting out sideways.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's what I want. Yeah, probably, yeah.
Larry Hryb: Oh, here's your problem Jeffrey!
Jeff Rubenstein: It's got my cat. It's real small because we live in the city and we don't have like a ton of room for one of these giant things with the side burner and all that stuff. But, you know, I fancy myself a grillman.
Larry Hryb: I think that was a southern accent I just heard. Side burner.
Laura Massey: It was almost one.
Jeff Rubenstein: There was a little bit of a twang. I can kick into that, it might have been intentional.
Larry Hryb: All right, we're going to wrap the show up here. Again, we're not going to be here, thank you for coming in Laura, I know you're busy with some deadlines. You had your other, you know, your real job kind of pulled into effect here. But I want to thank you for coming by for that. No show next week, I'll be down at the Destiny 2 premiere, you can follow me at Twitter Major Nelson for all the details and updates on that. It's coming to Xbox One. And of course Scorpio, right?
Laura Massey: That's right.
Larry Hryb: That's right. Jeffrey, any final words you want to say?
Jeff Rubenstein: No. I'm looking forward to smoking some meats with you soon.
Laura Massey: Yeah, definitely. Any time.
Larry Hryb: If you're up early in the morning, like on a Saturday or Sunday and you want to know what's going on in the international football scene, follow Jeffrey Rubenstein.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. I try to restrict the soccer ones to not being too much, but sometimes I can't help myself.
Larry Hryb: I understand.
Jeff Rubenstein: Season's almost over Larry.
Larry Hryb: I feel the same way about my home automation stuff sometimes.
Jeff Rubenstein: There we go. Laura what about you? Follow you at Laura Lollipop?
Laura Massey: That's right, on Twitter.
Jeff Rubenstein: Why don't you throw in some photos of your barbecue, you know, yield?
Laura Massey: I can. I have before, but, you know. Some people complain about seeing food on Twitter.
Larry Hryb: Well E doesn't care.
Laura Massey: That's true.
Larry Hryb: I remember when he was always complaining about people, and he's like, "I don't understand why people are taking," remember he complained about Twitter because he didn't understand Twitter, and why people take pictures of food. Now he does them both, so, anyway.
We gotta get Ian, Ian Stepto actually. I talked to Stepto the other day, they want to come back on the show.
Laura Massey: Yeah, that's fun.
Larry Hryb: So, if you're around Jeffrey.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Where were you last time? Oh, you were in Iceland.
Jeff Rubenstein: Was I?
Larry Hryb: I think so. Didn't you go to Iceland on a holiday?
Jeff Rubenstein: I did.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I think that's where you were. Anyway. All right gang, we'll talk to you guys next week. Follow us on Twitter, say hello to us. You can follow me on Xbox, Major Nelson of course, and feel free to send a note over there hello. And make sure you enter to win cool prizes with Name the Game, 'cause we would love you to win. And we will talk to you guys in a couple of weeks, buh-bye everybody!
Laura Massey: Bye!

Larry Hryb: Welcome to show number 598, my name's Larry Hryb - X-Box Live's Major Nelson. Uh, welcome to the show, I've got Laura with me, hi Laura.
Laura Massey: Hello.
Larry Hryb: Good to see you over there.
Laura Massey: Good to be here.
Larry Hryb: After you, you took a two-show hiatus ...
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: ... as we say in the business.
Laura Massey: For quite a while.
Jeff Rubenstein: Did you cruise through the panama canal? I can only assume.
Laura Massey: (laughs) That sounds a lot more interesting than what I did ...
Larry Hryb: Why, why would you say that?
Jeff Rubenstein: South Pacific? I ... just a nice ...
Larry Hryb: That's interesting ...
Jeff Rubenstein: [crosstalk 00:01:00]
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative)
Jeff Rubenstein: I know somebody who did that recently.
Larry Hryb: I ... really?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, that's why I'm like 'that's really weird'.
Larry Hryb: Small world.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: Yeah it really is.
Jeff Rubenstein: And the Panama Canal makes it smaller.
Laura Massey: (laughs).
Larry Hryb: It's always fascinating how Jeff and I have found out how our worlds often collide.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: We share similar tastes in ...
Jeff Rubenstein: In really dumb arcana.
Larry Hryb: Yeah (laughs).
Jeff Rubenstein: You know?
Laura Massey: (laughs).
Larry Hryb: Anyway, uh, welcome back everybody, um, I wanna thank you guys for downloading the show ...
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: ... I know you have a lot of things to choose from. This is one of the very few family friendly gaming podcasts out there.
Laura Massey: Oh.
Larry Hryb: I was, I was doing ...
Laura Massey: Is that true?
Larry Hryb: ... a little bit of research.
Laura Massey: Interesting.
Jeff Rubenstein: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: Yeah. There's, there's a few but generally it's, uh ...
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: ... you know, we try to run a pretty clean show so you can listen to it with the kids in the car, or ...
Laura Massey: Exactly.
Jeff Rubenstein: I showered this week, I'm gonna be real clean.
Laura Massey: (laughs).
Larry Hryb: Well you were, you were, you are f ... always born family friendly. Uh, it's uh, woah what a week, what a couple weeks.
Laura Massey: Yes.
Larry Hryb: I was in Florida.
Laura Massey: You've been all over the place.
Larry Hryb: Oh boy, haven't I ever, I'll tell ya. I was in the lovely state of Florida, Jeffrey ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, there's a man from Florida ...
Laura Massey: (laughs).
Jeff Rubenstein: ... he has a Twitter account.
Larry Hryb: (sighs).
Jeff Rubenstein: It's accurate.
Larry Hryb: And I believe you know this, this ...
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs).
Larry Hryb: ... Florida man quite well.
Jeff Rubenstein: I, well I ... there are things that I've done, uh, pre-twitter that probably would've qualified.
Laura Massey: (laughs).
Larry Hryb: Yeah. I don't know about you Laura but, you know, we had pretty ... I had a pretty reckless youth and I'm glad that Twitter and Snapchat and the rest of these ...
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: ... recording devices were not around.
Laura Massey: To document said [crosstalk 00:02:14] ...
Larry Hryb: To document and stay with you forever and ever ...
Laura Massey: Exactly.
Larry Hryb: ... and ever and ever.
Laura Massey: Kids this days.
Larry Hryb: Ooh.
Jeff Rubenstein: I will say [crosstalk 00:02:20] ...
Larry Hryb: Yeah, kids these days.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... anyone, anyone who thinks 'kids today, they got it so easy' it's ...
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: ... can you imagine if your entire life had been record ... I mean it is now, all ... I mean, we're recording right this second.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Laura Massey: That's true.
Jeff Rubenstein: Um, but we at least got to have a few precious years.
Laura Massey: That's true.
Larry Hryb: A modicum of privacy.
Laura Massey: Of privacy.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: Yeah (laughs).
Larry Hryb: Anyway, uh, all right, so here we go. Um, we're gonna get into what we're playing, uh, what we're doing, how we're doing. We gotta name the game. I, I, I don't know if you listened to the show last week, Laura ...
Laura Massey: What happened?
Larry Hryb: ... but I did have Chris Charla do a 'name-the-game', cause he was ...
Laura Massey: Ouch.
Larry Hryb: Cause he was ... well it was an ideate X-Box game and he came in with a stack of ideate X-Box games to give away.
Laura Massey: He had lots of prizes.
Larry Hryb: So he's like 'hey, can I do ...
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: ... name the game?' And I'm like ehh ...
Laura Massey: Okay.
Larry Hryb: ... it was kind of awkward moment off the air ...
Laura Massey: (laughs).
Larry Hryb: ... and I'm like 'okay'. So ...
Laura Massey: All right.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's a ... he really ... you don't wanna see a grown man beg like that.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: (laughs).
Larry Hryb: Yeah, he was ... cause he was a big fan of the show and I said, 'well, Laura usually does it ...
Laura Massey: I'm sure he did it well.
Larry Hryb: ... but she's not here, okay'.
Laura Massey: I'm sure he did it well. (laughs).
Larry Hryb: (laughs). Anyway, but we'll do, we'll do that later on, we'll do name-the-game. We got a brand new winner and a brand new, uh, brand new prizes, brand new, brand new everything. Brand new show. You gonna go get ... (sniffs) can you smell that Jeffrey?
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh.
Larry Hryb: Can you smell the plastic on the show? (sniffs).
Jeff Rubenstein: Its, uh ...
Larry Hryb: (laughs).
Jeff Rubenstein: Can I peel it off [crosstalk 00:03:25] please? I love doing it.
Larry Hryb: There you go, ooh, nothing better than a good show. All right, let's, let's ...
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs).
Larry Hryb: ... get into what we're playing (laughter).
Laura Massey: Okay, okay.
Jeff Rubenstein: This is almost like when Laura's not on the show ...
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I know.
Laura Massey: (laughs).
Jeff Rubenstein: ... and we get stupid. But, you've been gone so long, I don't know how to get the ...
Laura Massey: You can't get back on the ...
Jeff Rubenstein: ... professionalism back.
Larry Hryb: You know, we talked [crosstalk 00:03:39] a little, we talked a little bit about it last week, I think we did, Jeffrey?
Jeff Rubenstein: I think.
Larry Hryb: Yeah we did, with with Chris, but I thi ... I don't ... I wanna make sure you picked up on this, Laura. Um, I know that I talked about, about a month and a half ago, about the whole Dr. Pepper scenario here with Microsoft?
Jeff Rubenstein: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Laura Massey: You talked about it on the show.
Larry Hryb: Diet Dr. Pepper, right.
Laura Massey: Yes I've seen, I've seen the saga.
Larry Hryb: So this is uh, it is, it has come to a close. A successful and happy conclusion.
Laura Massey: (laughs).
Larry Hryb: I have closure.
Jeff Rubenstein: You can make a bit ... you can fight city hall.
Larry Hryb: I do, I did, I just I did, I just sent email to the dining services people and said 'I ... this Diet Dr. Pepper thing ...'
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: Well you, I sent you the letter, do you remember ...
Laura Massey: I think you did, you sent me the letter ...
Larry Hryb: You sent one of them.
Laura Massey: ... and then you sent me the results.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. (laughs).
Laura Massey: And I was like, 'congratulations, Larry'.
Larry Hryb: That's right.
Laura Massey: 'You've moved mountains'.
Larry Hryb: That was one ... that was one of the letters, cause I sent a few of them ...
Laura Massey: I bet you did.
Larry Hryb: ... but that was one of them. Anyway, but enough about that.
Laura Massey: But you have moved mountains. And it's back.
Larry Hryb: It is back, it is back, we're ...
Laura Massey: Congratulations.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, thank you.
Jeff Rubenstein: Better than ever.
Larry Hryb: Uh, I do what you can do.
Laura Massey: (laughs).
Larry Hryb: All right, what are we ... Laura, what are you playing, what have you been up to?
Laura Massey: So, in my time off, a from ... from the show, I've played a few games.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, we're, I, can we talk about ...
Laura Massey: And ...
Larry Hryb: ... that for a minute?
Laura Massey: Okay.
Larry Hryb: There's only one person that can take annual leave and his name is Graham.
Laura Massey: Yes, true.
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Jeff Rubenstein: He's probably on it right now.
Larry Hryb: Okay (laughs) exactly. [crosstalk 00:04:38]
Jeff Rubenstein: I just had a meeting with, for Monday cause it's a bank holiday (laughter), I'm like of course it is, of course it is.
Larry Hryb: Uh, move to the U.K., you don't have to work 40 hours a week.
Laura Massey: That'll be great.
Larry Hryb: Or, I don't know what they do over there. They just, they have a different view. Uh, this, anyway, go ahead.
Jeff Rubenstein: They're not doing it wrong.
Laura Massey: Okay.
Larry Hryb: Yeah apparent ... yeah, you know what? You're absolutely right Jeffrey. Somethings doing it wrong, so [crosstalk 00:04:55].
Laura Massey: So I have been playing a few ideate X-Box games.
Larry Hryb: Go on.
Laura Massey: The first one, we had him on the show the last time I was on the show - the creator of Thimbleweed Park.
Larry Hryb: Oh yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh.
Larry Hryb: Absolutely.
Laura Massey: I've been diving into that and probably about six or seven hours in.
Larry Hryb: Yeah we, we had ... if you go back, you can actually listen to, it's Ron Gilbert: Thimbleweed Park.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: It's, uh, show number 595.
Laura Massey: Exactly. And it is super fun.
Larry Hryb: Did you play point and clicks? They were, they were, they were past that stage when you were getting into the computers right?
Laura Massey: Uh, I did play a lot of Monkey Island, too.
Larry Hryb: Oh, okay, okay, okay.
Laura Massey: I was a little, a little young, but right, you know, right when computers were getting big and we all wanna play computer games.
Larry Hryb: Is this before or after, was like your computer connected to the internet?
Laura Massey: Before.
Larry Hryb: Really, okay ...
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: So you were, so there was no issues.
Laura Massey: No (laughs).
Larry Hryb: Okay. What?
Jeff Rubenstein: I just, I just remembered one that I played, and I was way too young to be playing at the time.
Larry Hryb: What?
Jeff Rubenstein: So the very first ...
Larry Hryb: Don't even tell, don't say it, don't say it.
Jeff Rubenstein: Point and click game ...
Larry Hryb: Please don't say it.
Laura Massey: What?
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm gonna bring it on back around, it's Leisure Suit Larry.
Laura Massey: Oh, God.
Larry Hryb: I know, I know.
Jeff Rubenstein: And this was a game I think, my uncle who gave it to ... so, when we were like, I don't know I was maybe like 10 ...
Larry Hryb: I'm sorry Laura, he just t-boned your section.
Jeff Rubenstein: My uncle, I'm sorry.
Larry Hryb: Go ahead [crosstalk 00:05:59]. (laughter)
Jeff Rubenstein: I think this is ...
Laura Massey: Okay, let's finish this thought.
Jeff Rubenstein: I don't have a therapist but uh ...
Larry Hryb: Uh, yes you do.
Jeff Rubenstein: This is it.
Larry Hryb: It's us right here, this group therapy.
Laura Massey: (laughs).
Jeff Rubenstein: When I was ten, my uncle got us a computer and he ... now a bunch of games and had like Family Feud and Jeopardy ...
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: And whatever.
Laura Massey: Oh, I like those games.
Jeff Rubenstein: It was an 80-88, I learned doss.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: And, um ...
Larry Hryb: This got [crosstalk 00:06:13].
Jeff Rubenstein: And one of the games was Leisure Suit Larry.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: On a, on a CGA four-color monitor and ...
Larry Hryb: He let you play it? Or did you ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, I don't think he realized ...
Larry Hryb: Oh.
Jeff Rubenstein: Either he had no idea what the game was about, or thought it was funny. I beat that game, and ...
Laura Massey: (laughs).
Larry Hryb: Hey now! (laughs).
Jeff Rubenstein: I learned a ... I learned a lot, in fact it really probably shaped my formative years.
Larry Hryb: That ex ... you know what? That explains a lot of what I know about you.
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs).
Laura Massey: Explains a lot, yes.
Larry Hryb: Publicly and personally (laughs).
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs). And my viewpoint of people named Larry.
Larry Hryb: Yes exactly (laughs).
Laura Massey: (laughs).
Larry Hryb: Thank you.
Uh, okay, sorry about that.
Laura Massey: No ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Sorry.
Laura Massey: Bringing it back to ...
Larry Hryb: Usually I'm the one that interrupts, I've been trying to stop doing that.
Laura Massey: (laughs).
Larry Hryb: So I'm ...
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm the worst.
Larry Hryb: On behalf of Jeffrey, I apologize. Go ahead my friend.
Laura Massey: All right, bringing it back to Thimbleweed Park.
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Laura Massey: So, it is, really fun, I am super enjoying it, because it is very very funny. Yes, Larry?
Larry Hryb: Were, were, were you, were you an X-Files fan back in the day? Cause it has a little bit of X-Files-esque to it.
Laura Massey: It does, doesn't it?
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Laura Massey: There are two partners who are going to investigate ...
Larry Hryb: Yup. Yup.
Laura Massey: ... a murder.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: And they go to a town called ...
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Laura Massey: Thimbleweed Park.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: And try and figure out what happened.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, point and click.
Laura Massey: Exactly, and there are a few side adventures where you meet a character and then you play that character's back story.
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Laura Massey: Which is super fun.
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Laura Massey: And pretty funny.
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Laura Massey: And again, the humor is right up my street. Cause it's, uh, nerdy humor, computer game humor.
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Laura Massey: All kinds of things.
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Laura Massey: So, if you're a fan of Monkey Island and any kind of point and click then be sure to try this out, try it out.
Larry Hryb: All right.
Laura Massey: Super fun.
Larry Hryb: Thimbleweed.
Laura Massey: I ...
Larry Hryb: Thimbleweed Park.
Laura Massey: Yup. Currently stuck, which is surprising cause I usually don't get stuck but, I'm trying to find a way through a particular puzzle, it's about six hours in.
Larry Hryb: In Thimbleweed Park?
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: Okay. Do you want me to ...
Laura Massey: Where the agents get separated ...
Larry Hryb: If you want me to connect you with Ron just let me know. He may not tell you!
Laura Massey: Right.
Larry Hryb: He may say 'screw it, you're on your own'! That's what the games all about.
Laura Massey: Yeah, I'm worried that I screwed it up.
Larry Hryb: Uh oh.
Laura Massey: Because one of the agents gets trapped.
Larry Hryb: Uh huh.
Laura Massey: And that agent has something that I need.
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Laura Massey: To solve a different ...
Larry Hryb: The puzzle.
Laura Massey: ... part of the puzzle.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: And I can't get that agent out.
Larry Hryb: Well, you know that reminds me, you know, Ron and I talked about in the interview ...
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: Uh, in show 595, about, you know, there, there's ... and we've seen this over time, like back in the day like you, you described when you were growing up playing the game and I, I don't, I've never finished or played Leisure Suit Larry, Jeffrey, so, I don't know how ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Your loss.
Larry Hryb: I mean, I, I remember seeing it but ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Quite educational.
Larry Hryb: Well but there's certain points, games back in the 80s and 90s where you could screw up your game.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: And you would have to roll back or start over.
Laura Massey: Yes.
Larry Hryb: So that, that's a ... I, I don't know if it's possible in Thimbleweed Park ...
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: ... but, but that's and old-school game mechanic, as it were. Right?
Laura Massey: Yeah, it was, it was. So, I hope that's not the case.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: Where I can somehow solve my way out of this one, but um, I need, I need to, you know, maybe talk to someone and see, see how I might solve that one.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: Cause I've ... I'm kind of stuck.
Larry Hryb: Mm-kay.
Laura Massey: So we'll see.
Larry Hryb: So, if, if you, if you have any ideas or if you ... sounds like you may know where Laura is, hit her up on Twitter.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: You can find her at ...
Laura Massey: If you have any tips, hit me up at Laura lollipop.
Larry Hryb: Thank you.
Laura Massey: On Twitter.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. But, the, you know, just, just make sure you tag it as 'spoiler'.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Or something like that, but do don't spoil.
Laura Massey: Or try, try not to spoil.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, try not to spoil, so.
Laura Massey: Say, 'oh I, I was similarly stuck ...
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Laura Massey: ... here's what you do'.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. Just, just, just ...
Laura Massey: Say 'look for this item'.
Larry Hryb: Just point her in a direction, don't, don't, don't lead her, okay?
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Show her how to fish, don't fish for her.
Laura Massey: (laughs) Thank you.
Larry Hryb: As it were.
Laura Massey: As it were. Very good.
And, I played another game.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Laura Massey: It's on Windows. It's called Loot Rascals, have you guys heard of this?
Larry Hryb: No.
Jeff Rubenstein: No.
Laura Massey: It is a isometric dungeon crawler.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh (laughs).
Laura Massey: But, it's different, it's actually a turn-based dungeon crawler. So, the world is segmented in hexagons and you, when you move a hexagon then the rest of the world ...
Larry Hryb: What's it called? Loot ...
Laura Massey: Loot Rascals.
Larry Hryb: Rascals, I'm looking it up right now. Have I heard of it? Go ahead. Oh, it's new.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
So again, you, when you move a tile, the rest of the world moves. So there's, you know, baddies that you have to go kill. And when you do kill a baddie you get a card, and this card is how you increase your defense or increase your attack.
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Laura Massey: And the meta-game of this is to arrange your cards in such a way that gives you more bonuses. And so that's what I really love about this game is, is the card arrangements.
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Laura Massey: So, for example, a card might say 'does double damage if it's in an even slot', and you have to, you know, fill it out in the grid, and the grids have numbers, so you have to put that one in an even slot. And then there's another card that might say, you know, 'plus two to defense if it's in the bottom row'. And, there's all different kinds of rules that you have to follow to get ...
Larry Hryb: So,
Laura Massey: ... to get the most out of it.
Larry Hryb: So what is the game like? It's, it sounds like it's this ... I'm having trouble getting my ... I mean I'm looking at what it's about.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: But, how would you describe the game to somebody in terms of in, in, in a ... what's the elevator pitch for this, for this game?
Laura Massey: A turn ba .. turn-based isometric dungeon crawler.
Larry Hryb: With cards.
Laura Massey: With cards.
Larry Hryb: (laughs). Okay, there you go.
Laura Massey: With card bonuses.
Larry Hryb: Card bonuses, okay.
Laura Massey: And the loot is the cards.
Larry Hryb: Oh boy, there it is.
Laura Massey: Yup.
Larry Hryb: The loot.
Laura Massey: So every time ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Every game has loot these days Larry ...
Laura Massey: Yup.
Jeff Rubenstein: Your favorite game ...
Larry Hryb: I know, Overwatch.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... of like the last year, has ...
Larry Hryb: It's got crates. I know, crates, crates ...
Jeff Rubenstein: I bought 10 dollars worth yesterday.
Larry Hryb: Crates and crates and ...
Jeff Rubenstein: To get a intro.
Larry Hryb: You know what else has, uh, loot is, um, is the Guent beta. I'm playing the Guent beta.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, nice.
Larry Hryb: And ...
Laura Massey: Good for you, it has loot.
Larry Hryb: Well, it has kegs. And then you open up the kegs, you know.
Laura Massey: What are in kegs?
Larry Hryb: Cards.
Laura Massey: Okay you get more cards.
Larry Hryb: It's how you ... more cards, yeah. So ...
Laura Massey: In the kegs.
Larry Hryb: In fact, I just did a video on that last week.
Laura Massey: Oh.
Larry Hryb: Look for that soon.
Laura Massey: Oh, okay.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's really good. I, I've been playing it on, uh, on PC here and there, and it's just ... I, I enjoyed Guent ...
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: I, I played it a lot in the early game of the Witch hern ...
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: At some point I just needed to beat the game.
Laura Massey: Yeah, exactly.
Jeff Rubenstein: Um, but they really, like, made the most of it.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, anyway, sorry.
Laura Massey: Yeah, that's super fun.
Larry Hryb: My, my ... Larry interruptus again ...
Laura Massey: It's okay, it's just ...
Larry Hryb: I apologize.
Laura Massey: That's your nature.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I'm s ... I, I don't, it's, it's rude.
Laura Massey: (laughs).
Jeff Rubenstein: It's your show, it's on the table.
Larry Hryb: No, it's our, it's our show, this is, this is group therapy.
Jeff Rubenstein: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: You know, that's what I'm gonna rename the podcast, 'Group Therapy'.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes.
Larry Hryb: (laughs).
Laura Massey: There you go.
Larry Hryb: Right?
Jeff Rubenstein: This way we can, uh, we can probably make it tax deductible.
Laura Massey: Yeah (laughs).
Larry Hryb: Right, exactly. And you the listeners can make it tax deductible too. It's mental health.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's volunteering.
Larry Hryb: (laughs). It's mental health.
Laura Massey: Oh my goodness.
Larry Hryb: All right, so you're playing that, what else you got?
Laura Massey: Yeah, just talking about mental health, I watched Shutter Island the other night, have you seen it?
Jeff Rubenstein: Cutter Island?
Laura Massey: Shutter.
Jeff Rubenstein: Shutter Island, oh!
Laura Massey: It's the old movie.
Jeff Rubenstein: You, you know this, because you pointed this out when we were flying ...
Larry Hryb: So, so ...
Jeff Rubenstein: ... in past East.
Larry Hryb: When we, when you, when you fly into Boston you fly over some of those islands where they, where they ...
Laura Massey: Yes.
Larry Hryb: ... shot some of the exteriors.
Laura Massey: For Shu ... for that movie?
Larry Hryb: For Shutter Island yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Leo was on ... [crosstalk 00:12:07]
Larry Hryb: The Leo DiCaprio one, yeah.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: It's funny cause we, we, when, cause Jeff and I were sitting next to each other, remember?
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: And I said, that, that's exactly what I said, so that's so funny.
Laura Massey: There's the island.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, like, 'hey look down there' and Jeff's like, 'what, what?'
Laura Massey: Oh man, what a terrifying movie.
Larry Hryb: Cause, cause if you remember correctly, he was too busy not throwing up to remember that (laughs).
Laura Massey: Yes.
Larry Hryb: [inaudible 00:12:23]
Laura Massey: That's true.
Jeff Rubenstein: By the time we got to Shutter Island, I was ...
Larry Hryb: (laughs).
Jeff Rubenstein: ... my cookies were not tossed.
Laura Massey: (laughs). Oh, goodness.
Larry Hryb: Uh, anyway, what, what brought you to that?
Laura Massey: You mean why did I watch it, or ...
Larry Hryb: Yeah, what, what, how just ...
Laura Massey: I think, I don't know, someone said it was a good movie that I should watch, so we watched it.
Larry Hryb: You, you wanna watch a great movie?
Laura Massey: I do.
Larry Hryb: The Third Man.
Laura Massey: The Third Man? Not Birdman?
Larry Hryb: Third Man.
Laura Massey: Third ...
Larry Hryb: Thir, Thir, Third Man.
It is a Orson Welles film.
Laura Massey: Okay.
Larry Hryb: It is, I think it's got like a meta-critic 100.
Laura Massey: Really?
Larry Hryb: It is unbelievable.
Laura Massey: It is out on like Netflix or ...
Larry Hryb: Oh, it's on Netflix, it's pretty much on all the major streaming platforms.
Laura Massey: Okay.
Larry Hryb: Seriously, go ... it's one of those where I'm like 'okay this is pretty awe ...' And I watch it, I couldn't stop watching it.
Laura Massey: Really?
Larry Hryb: That's all, that's all, I don't want to say anymore. Seri ... have you seen it?
Jeff Rubenstein: I have not.
Larry Hryb: Okay, this is ... anybody who has seen it, you'll agree with me, it's, it's phenomenal, it holds up.
Laura Massey: I will add it to my list ...
Larry Hryb: Yup.
Laura Massey: ... of things to watch.
Larry Hryb: So should I, I'm sorry, was there a story with Shutter Island or you just talking about a movie you watched?
Laura Massey: No, you were talking about mental health and ...
Larry Hryb: Oh, okay, oh, that's right, that's right, that's right.
Laura Massey: Don't take me down that rabbit hole.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, yeah.
Laura Massey: That's pretty terrifying.
Larry Hryb: Well you know, it seems like we've been talking about mental health cause in, in the ... well, nevermind, I was gonna talk about my, my days on the movie set with Kevin Bacon but you don't wanna hear that.
Jeff Rubenstein: I think we do.
Larry Hryb: No, you don't.
Jeff Rubenstein: 'I'm only one degree away'.
Larry Hryb: That's, that's, what ...
Laura Massey: I'm only one degree away, too.
Larry Hryb: When, uh, when we shot, uh, Sleepers, it was at, it was at a ...
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: ... boys home slash mental institution.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: It was a very, very dark film.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, that was a ...
Larry Hryb: I didn't, I didn't, I didn't at that ...
Jeff Rubenstein: That was the 90s right?
Larry Hryb: At that point in my career, I didn't have the ability to pre-read the scripts, so I had no idea.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: That it was as dark as it was.
Jeff Rubenstein: And you were, you were ...
Laura Massey: I think I've seen that one.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... quiet boy number two or something?
Larry Hryb: No I was, I am scorekeeper at the, uh, football game.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, okay.
Larry Hryb: Because I, I, I've, you've never heard this story?
Jeff Rubenstein: I feel like I might've.
Larry Hryb: We, we had to go in, we, where, where, I was, I was being cast as a guard, cause I had a certain look back then, cause I was a sturdy, young, New Englander.
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs). 'Sturdy'.
Larry Hryb: And I, um, please don't read the, please don't read that Laura, you're gonna get disturbed.
Laura Massey: Oh, I've seen it, it's a very disturbing movie.
Larry Hryb: Okay, uh, we, we went in there like 'hey, we, we need 'x' number of guards, you're gonna be a guard for the scene, wha, what part of the field do you want on?' And I, I, I basically said 'I want to keep score' because I knew, regardless of what the camera angle was, there was only gonna be one scorekeeper!
Jeff Rubenstein: Yup.
Laura Massey: Right.
Larry Hryb: So, I couldn't say left side, right side, you know, this side ... I was, so that's why the ... and I think I'm only in there for all of maybe 120 frames.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: If that.
Jeff Rubenstein: That, that's, uh, almost as much as the E.T. documentary.
Larry Hryb: That's right, which was, by the way, it's three year anniversary this week.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh my God.
Laura Massey: What? No way.
Larry Hryb: Some, somebody sent me an email that was 'three years ago, this week, you and I were in the middle of, uh, Alamogordo, New Mexico'.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, that sounds about right.
Larry Hryb: Time flies, Jeffrey.
Jeff Rubenstein: That was fun.
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: That was a lot of fun.
Laura Massey: Wow.
Larry Hryb: Right?
Laura Massey: Three years?
Larry Hryb: Three years. In fact, I still don't think those clothes have lost their stench.
Laura Massey: (laughs).
Jeff Rubenstein: No, I've never been dirtier.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, all right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Laura Massey: (laughs).
Larry Hryb: All right, mental health, Laura, what else you playing?
Laura Massey: Okay. And the only other thing I'll talk about is, I did a lot of traveling on my time off and played a bunch of mobile games. And one particular mobile game has kept me coming back. And it's called Ballz - B A L L Z.
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Laura Massey: And it's a combination of like Brick Breaker, where you're trying to break bricks at the top, and, I don't know, I guess like Snude, where you only get to shoot one ball, and when you break a brick, the ball will bounce around and once it hits at the bottom, you know, your, that turns over. But you can get more balls to follow.
Larry Hryb: Now this is not, now I'm looking, thi, this, there was ...
Laura Massey: Mobile game.
Larry Hryb: There was a fighting game in 1994 out on Super Nintendo in the 3DO, it's not that?
Laura Massey: No.
Jeff Rubenstein: And I feel like there's an energy drink that I had at like, at Roscoe's in LA one time.
Laura Massey: It's probably called that B ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Called Ballz.
Laura Massey: Probably B A W L Z, I bet.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh you might, you might be right.
Larry Hryb: How do you know energy drink names?
Laura Massey: (laughs).
Jeff Rubenstein: She knows her way around.
Larry Hryb: My God.
Laura Massey: I ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh yeah, it's totally ...
Laura Massey: I work with ...
Jeff Rubenstein: B A W L S.
Laura Massey: Yeah, I work with computer programmers and ...
Larry Hryb: Ah, fair point.
Laura Massey: I am a computer programmer.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Yeah you are.
Laura Massey: They carry around power drinks all the time.
Larry Hryb: All right.
Laura Massey: So (laughs).
Larry Hryb: But you don't carry around a power drink?
Laura Massey: No, because that would probably kill me.
Larry Hryb: That would arrest you.
Laura Massey: That would make my heart stop.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, right.
Laura Massey: Too much caffeine.
Larry Hryb: Mm-kay.
Laura Massey: Bounce off the wall.
Larry Hryb: So Ballz.
Laura Massey: It would be the end of me.
Yeah, super addicting, if you need something on and airplane or on a bus, try it out.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Why don't we link to that ...
Laura Massey: Super addicting.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... so people, we don't, you know, we're a family friendly, you know ...
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Ovre, we don't send people ...
Larry Hryb: By the way ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Searching for balls on the internet.
Larry Hryb: By the way, I love how we talked about family friendly and Jeff decided to steer right into the gutter with Leisure Suit Larry.
Laura Massey: Yeah (laughs).
Larry Hryb: Can I just point that out (laughs)?
Jeff Rubenstein: Look, I have, I take both hands on the wheel in the passenger seat ...
Larry Hryb: I know.
Jeff Rubenstein: And I drive ...
Larry Hryb: Yank it ...
Jeff Rubenstein: ... right into the ravine.
Larry Hryb: Yank it over. Yeah, sorry about that.
Ballz! (laughing)
Laura Massey: Now you're the one.
Larry Hryb: What?
Jeff Rubenstein: You, you really gave it the rod-roddy on that one. [inaudible 00:16:47] (laughing). Ballz!
Larry Hryb: Ah. All right. Never a dull one here.
Laura Massey: All right, never a dull one, that's ...
Jeff Rubenstein: All right, I'm looking into that, I found it.
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Laura Massey: That's, that's it for me.
Jeff Rubenstein: Please go.
Laura Massey: Move on.
Larry Hryb: All right. Uh, I am playing, uh, what am I playing Jeffrey? I'm playing, of course, Overwatch.
Jeff Rubenstein: What?!
Laura Massey: Surprise!
Larry Hryb: Playing Zelda.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well what, what, you wanna dive in? We haven't really talked about the, uh, the current, like mode du-jour of Overwatch.
Larry Hryb: Oh yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, which we, we haven't gotten you ... we got you the achievement?
Jeff Rubenstein: No, I haven't, I have never, I have not beaten it yet.
Larry Hryb: Oh, that's right.
Yeah, we're playing, we're playing a little bit ... I'm playing Overwatch of course with the, with the crew as much as we can, Laura you're always welcome.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's still ...
Laura Massey: Thank you.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... so good.
Larry Hryb: Uh.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm like back into it again, I was playing during a meeting today.
Larry Hryb: You were playing Overwatch during a meeting?
Laura Massey: What, you're playing during a meeting?
Jeff Rubenstein: I had a meeting, I had a meeting with, uh, with some folks in Asia, and so it was really early in the morning, our time. And, I knew I was not going to be ...
Larry Hryb: Winky face.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes. Uh, and so, uh, the meeting was not easy mode.
Larry Hryb: (laughs).
Jeff Rubenstein: And, uh, and I knew I wasn't going to have anything that, that I was gonna have to say ...
Larry Hryb: Oh that's right cause you ...
Jeff Rubenstein: ... for like the first half an hour.
Larry Hryb: ... you work from home, I was like what ...
Jeff Rubenstein: I was at home, so I was ... man I had a heck of a game, on mute.
Larry Hryb: Good for you.
Jeff Rubenstein: Turn your mind off ...
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: And you just play ...
Larry Hryb: Yup.
Jeff Rubenstein: I, I had 28 kills with, uh, Hero 76.
Larry Hryb: Playing, uh, so playing ...
Laura Massey: Wow.
Jeff Rubenstein: [inaudible 00:17:52] 76. It's pretty ...
Larry Hryb: I'm playing uh, I'm playing that. I'm playing, uh, Zelda, I'm still churning through Zelda, that's my mobile game.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's also good.
Laura Massey: How far are you in?
Larry Hryb: Um, I don't want to give too much away, but I'm, I finished the 4 major things you need to do.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: And that's all I wanna say about that. But I'm just, I don't want it to end.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: I have the weird, can ... k ...
Laura Massey: Are you about to go into ...
Larry Hryb: Well, I wanted to tell you ...
Laura Massey: ... more therapy?
Larry Hryb: ... about a bizarre quest that I had, but it's not really family friendly.
Jeff Rubenstein: I think we, we're gonna have a little 'E' ...
Laura Massey: Maybe in the after-show ...
Jeff Rubenstein: ... next to this episode.
Larry Hryb: Should we flush that down the toilet?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: So, so there's this one quest, Laura, where you have to do something.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: And there's this professor, this individual who's like 'I don't believe you're Link'. Because Link has, uh, scars and tattoos. And I'm standing like what am I gonna do? Oh, I have to take off all my clothes.
Laura Massey: Oh no.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, I did that one.
Larry Hryb: (laughs). Right, you know what I'm talking about right?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yup. Yeah.
Larry Hryb: So is it ...
Laura Massey: To prove that you are Link?
Larry Hryb: Yes, so, I'm Link all right. So, uh, I, uh, I'm playing that. Uh, playing VooDoo Vince.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: Jeffrey's been playing that.
Jeff Rubenstein: I beat it!
Larry Hryb: Laura have you been playing?
You, oh you did?!
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, I, that game really clicked with me.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: And, um, like, just any time I had a free moment I would sit down and play it, and then it was probably about a good nine hours to ... nine, ten hours to beat it.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: Definitely a good value for, I think it's $14.99.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Um, and it was really fun.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I played, I played that and I was just having, you're right, it was just so good to go back and, and hit that up again. Played a little bit of City Skylines, which is out.
Jeff Rubenstein: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: Uh, Clicker Heroes, you should check that out Jeffrey, I think you'll love that.
Jeff Rubenstein: Okay.
Laura Massey: What is Clicker Heroes?
Larry Hryb: All you do is press 'A' and you get achievements.
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs).
Laura Massey: Yes, press 'A' for achievements!
Jeff Rubenstein: Downloading now!
Larry Hryb: Uh, we talked about playing Guent the card game, um, so I'm, you know, still, still churning through that. Uh, little bit of Fallout Shelter. Uh, there's just, there's just a lot going on right now, there's ...
Laura Massey: There sure is.
Larry Hryb: ... a lot to play. Um, and I'm just and then, what, what, we're, we're not gonna talk about that other game, you and I, we were talking about last night?
Jeff Rubenstein: What? Why not?
Larry Hryb: Well, I, cause I haven't played yet! I just signed up.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, I barely played as well.
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Jeff Rubenstein: Okay, then we'll, we'll talk about that ...
Larry Hryb: Let's, let's wait ...
Jeff Rubenstein: ... next week.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: I, I would say, outside of that, uh, in, in my house, uh the big game right now is Overcooked.
Laura Massey: Oh, yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: Um ...
Laura Massey: That's a good one.
Jeff Rubenstein: Because we're always at each others' throats.
Laura Massey: Yeah (laughs).
Jeff Rubenstein: So, now we're at each others' throats, you know, for c ... you know, for cause. Like (laughs) um ...
Laura Massey: For virtual threats.
Larry Hryb: Should we play that on the show here, maybe a packs?
Laura Massey: My God, that'd be amazing.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's really, it's really fun. Uh, and it, it's really, like the amount of yelling ...
Larry Hryb: Well, we'd need a forth. Who's a forth? Cause you have to play with 4 right?
Laura Massey: No, you can play with three.
Larry Hryb: Hmmm, okay.
Jeff Rubenstein: Ro ... Ron Gilbert?
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Laura Massey: (laughs) I'm sure.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Come back, we could talk about it, we'll get the answer.
Larry Hryb: Well you know what, you know what, maybe for the, you know I'm thinking about this, maybe for this packs, we'll hire a real psychologist to come in and give us group therapy.
Laura Massey: Oh my goodness.
Larry Hryb: Right? (laughs).
Laura Massey: Wow.
Jeff Rubenstein: It is an hour.
Larry Hryb: Uh.
Laura Massey: (laughs).
Jeff Rubenstein: Um, so that. And then, um, I've still been playing through, uh, Zelda, and, like you, and, uh, Horizon Zero Dawn, which is a fun game. So I'm playing a lot of stuff.
Laura Massey: Have you finished your four things in Zelda?
Jeff Rubenstein: No, I've only done two of those things.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: But, it's just so much fun to just wander around and say 'hey what's at the top of that mountain?' And oftentimes there's something [crosstalk 00:20:41] really cool.
Larry Hryb: So, so, I, I, I've described, I think I've described it on the show earlier right? It's the game that just says yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Laura Massey: Yes, that's true.
Larry Hryb: Right? Can I get struck by lightening? Yes you can.
Laura Massey: (laughs).
Larry Hryb: Can I go fishing? Yes you can. Can I cook this? Yes you can.
Laura Massey: (laughs).
Jeff Rubenstein: Actually, I'm on on island right now, that I sailed to.
Laura Massey: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: And, they took everything away from me, so I'm trying to figure out ...
Larry Hryb: Ooh, I'll tell you how to do that.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... what to do.
I know there's like a work-around, where if I backed up the save I could've like stashed my stuff somewhere.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: But, right now, I'm just trying to figure it out.
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'll, I'll let you know if I get stuck.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I, I, I had a great, I had a really fun time on that particular quest.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: It was just a lot of fun.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Anyway.
Laura Massey: Lots of fun things happening.
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: Do you wanna hit the news or what do you wanna do?
Larry Hryb: Well, what are you planning? We haven't talked [inaudible 00:21:24], we didn't really go through ... I guess we kind of did.
Jeff Rubenstein: We're playing the same things.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, we are playing the same things.
Jeff Rubenstein: We're playing, especially, I, I'm like so back on the Overwatch train right now.
Larry Hryb: (makes music sound). Wanna play later?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: We'll play tonight?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, let's do it.
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, easy mode.
Laura Massey: (laughs).
Larry Hryb: By the way, have you seen d ... apparently you play, is it, is it, Heroes of the Storm? What do you play?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes, it's Heroes of the Storm, has I think a Diva and a Lucy.
Larry Hryb: The d .. the Diva skin?
Jeff Rubenstein: No ...
Larry Hryb: It's a, it's ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh! It's the police.
Larry Hryb: YES!
Jeff Rubenstein: Like a [inaudible 00:21:45].
Larry Hryb: I ha ... I emailed a friend of mine at Blizzard, I'm like 'must have now'.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well also, Jeff Kaplan, who does, you see him in ...
Larry Hryb: I know Jeff.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... the videos.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. I, I, I know of him.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, but he, so, so many people want that, and they're like, 'well what if I'm not playing Heroes of the Storm?' So they did commit to, um, those will show up on Overwatch, in the game, wi ... you know, in some capacity later.
Larry Hryb: In the future.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah they figured it out but ...
Larry Hryb: Yeah that's such a, such a good ... Anyway.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yup.
Larry Hryb: All right, let's go through the news. And then we got some other stuff to talk about.
Jeff Rubenstein: So, I don't know if you saw this, um, li ... we, sort of like, a, a couple months in advance we tend to know things, and we'll see like on a, on a calendar, oh this announcement goes out this date, this announcement goes out that date. And I remember seeing a, a few weeks ago or a few months ago, something that said like 'Force the Horizon three Hot Wheels expansion'.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: I actually stopped a meeting and said 'wait a minute, what, what the what?'
Laura Massey: (laughs).
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, well, I don't know just ...
Laura Massey: Hot Wheels, lead the way!
Jeff Rubenstein: Seeing the words 'Hot Wheels", it, it just was like, okay, okay, whatever, I get some Hot Wheels cars. And then I saw the trailer, which we released this week.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: And, that was a stop the presses moment ...
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Laura Massey: (laughs).
Jeff Rubenstein: Where it's like, oh my God, I don't if you, have you seen this trailer Laura?
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: It's so good ...
Larry Hryb: Did you ...
Jeff Rubenstein: It's like ...
Larry Hryb: Did you have Hot Wheels as a kid?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, I had like [crosstalk 00:22:50] one of these things where you like ... yeah ...
Larry Hryb: Did ... and you had the orange tracks?
Laura Massey: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Did you like set them up through your house like through the living room and stuff?
Laura Massey: Oh, yes I did.
Larry Hryb: Yes you did, yeah you did!
Laura Massey: Yes I did!
Hot Wheels!
Jeff Rubenstein: So, if you haven't seen this, and I'll link to it, but imagine the Hot Wheels set you may or may not have had as a kid ...
Larry Hryb: Including ...
Jeff Rubenstein: ... or you saw ...
Larry Hryb: Including the orange track.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes, and loop-de-loops and all the stuff, as a playable space within ...
Larry Hryb: Force the Horizon.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... Force the Horizon three, with Hot Wheels cars, and it just looks great, so I'm gonna link to that and ...
Laura Massey: It's super awesome.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... you definitely wanna watch that. Um, that, that definitely got a lot of attention this week.
Laura Massey: I'm sure it did.
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, also getting a lot of attention this week ...
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... another trailer. Uh, Call of Duty World War two ...
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: ... was revealed. Now available, of course for pre-order on X-Box one, it'll be coming, uh, early this November.
Larry Hryb: It's gonna play great on Scorpio.
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh ...
Laura Massey: Oh yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Didn't even think about that.
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Laura Massey: (laughs).
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, trailer looks great, it looks super intense. So, um, you'll definitely want to take a look at that, and I'll be happy to link to that as well.
Larry Hryb: Please do.
Jeff Rubenstein: And as far as new releases, big one this week, is one that I think, uh, I'm too chicken to be playing, and that is Outlast two.
Larry Hryb: Why?
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, well, it's a scary game.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, but you don't, you like your scary games.
Laura Massey: You do.
Jeff Rubenstein: I kinda do.
Laura Massey: You played Resident Evil.
Jeff Rubenstein: I did, but I didn't finish it because I was too scared.
Laura Massey: (laughs).
Larry Hryb: Me too.
Jeff Rubenstein: It was really freaking frightening. Going into that first person mode makes a huge difference.
Larry Hryb: Agreed.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: Having played like most of the pre ... all of the previous Resident Evils ...
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Um, this one is one that I didn't, uh, or that I didn't get that far into.
Uh, another big release this week would be Sniper Ghost Warrior three. Uh, very different than Sniper Elite four, which ...
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... took place during World War two, this is a, sort of a future-looking ...
Larry Hryb: You and I played that.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: ... game. But, if you like sniping.
And then, uh, something that, if you had Halo Wars two, if you pre-ordered that uh ...
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: ... specific version of that, you would've already had this, but if you didn't, Halo Wars Definitive Edition is now available for X-Box one. So this is a, uh, a re-done version, uh, and improved version of the original Halo Wars. I played through this one.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, which was a lot of fun. Cause I've never ...
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... done it, the first time.
And, uh, just two quick more notes, one is Siberia three is now available for X-Box one, that's a long-running series, uh, that goes back to like the mid-90s I wanna say.
Laura Massey: Really, that long?
Jeff Rubenstein: Um, and then, uh Marvel vs. Capcom Infinite is now available for pre-order and pre-download. It's not hitting until, uh, September, but I'm just excited for that one.
You're not?
Larry Hryb: No, I'm just, I'm, I'm, I'm thinking about ... I'm actually thinking, I'm going through the mental index of E three.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: And all the stuff we've got coming up at E three. So that, that was the blank stare. I was, I was, I was actually de-crypting the encrypted part of my brain, that that was the ...
Laura Massey: (laughs).
Larry Hryb: (makes noise).
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs).
Larry Hryb: That was that look.
Jeff Rubenstein: Is that what that worrying ...
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... sound and the smoke coming out of the ears?
Larry Hryb: (makes noise). All right so those are some of the news headlines.
Jeff Rubenstein: Just a handful.
Larry Hryb: Hey, here's a little tip, you want a little tip Laura?
Laura Massey: Of course.
Larry Hryb: Um, so, we are in the process of rolling out on X-Box live ...
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: ... uh, custom gamer pictures.
Laura Massey: Huh, really?
Larry Hryb: Personal ones.
Laura Massey: Awesome.
Larry Hryb: So, uh, right now, it's to the X-Box insider program, but, here's a tip ...
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: Okay? If you go download the X-Box beta, uh, the X-Box app that's beta app on Windows ten.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: So, in the Windows ten store, you have to have Windows ten, and in the Windows ten store, there's two different version of the X-Box app. There's a re-released one and then there's the beta.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: Just search for X-Box beta, download that, and you can change your gamer picture in there which will ...
Laura Massey: No way.
Larry Hryb: Which will go right over the server. So I, did you notice I changed my gamer picture?
Laura Massey: I did.
Larry Hryb: You did?
Laura Massey: I didn't know that you didn't have to be in the insider program to do it.
Larry Hryb: That is the tip.
Laura Massey: That is the tip.
Larry Hryb: That is the tip. So you can go in there and change it. Now, I will say this, that you, to prepare yourself, make sure it is 1080 by 1080, and a lot of people saying 'why does it need to be that big?' Cause, we're making sure that everything's gonna look good on Scorpio later this year, so ...
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: 1080 ... what would you, what, what are you gonna have?
Laura Massey: Hmm, that's a good question.
Larry Hryb: Oh, I know the picture you should have. The one that you showed me once of you.
Laura Massey: (laughs) oh really? (laughs).
Larry Hryb: Yes. (laughs). You know which one I'm talking about?
Laura Massey: Yeah. In all my Texas regalia.
Larry Hryb: Yes, in your, with your hat and all of that stuff.
Laura Massey: (laughs). That'd be a good one.
Larry Hryb: Uh, you should, you should, you should customize your picture.
Laura Massey: Or maybe the lollipop that I [crosstalk 00:26:44] ...
Larry Hryb: The lollipop one, or maybe just the lollipop, right?
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Anyway, Jeff, Jeff did his which is a selfie.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Which is, [crosstalk 00:26:51] ...
Laura Massey: Boring.
Jeff Rubenstein: What?
Larry Hryb: I don't, I don't do selfies.
Jeff Rubenstein: It wasn't a selfie.
Larry Hryb: That's right.
Jeff Rubenstein: It was, it was a ...
Larry Hryb: What was that?
Jeff Rubenstein: ... a screenshot from when we were on stage at Packs.
Larry Hryb: Was that our show or was that ...
Jeff Rubenstein: That was our show.
Larry Hryb: That was our show. Okay.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, so I just took a, I went back, watched the archive version ...
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: And then I just took a couple freeze frames, it's hard to get a good one, so I look stupid in all of them but, uh, I just took one, I'll switch it later.
Larry Hryb: Okay. That's fine. Anyway, so that's my hot tip if [crosstalk 00:27:11] you wanna change your, if you wanna change your gamer picture now, anybody ...
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: As long as you have Windows ten and go download the free X-Box ...
Jeff Rubenstein: I'll, I'll, I'll link out to that.
Larry Hryb: Yes and the way you can you have the beta app is when you open the app ... first of all you download the beta, but when you open the app it'll say X-Box beta in the title bar.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative). That's a good tip.
Larry Hryb: So, it's pretty straightforward.
Laura Massey: Thanks for that.
Larry Hryb: But it's coming to everybody later this year, so.
All right we're, we're, we're hustling along a little bit the show, we've got a little bit of a time crunch, but we've got a name-the-game.
Laura Massey: Is it name-the-game time?
Larry Hryb: Uh, if you're ready, I'm ready.
Laura Massey: I'm ready.
Larry Hryb: Hold on. Jeff, are you ready?
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, never been more ready.
Larry Hryb: Dear listener, are you ready? Because, Laura, are you ready, why don't you go ahead and fire it?
Laura Massey: All right, this is name the game from last time. (music plays)
So, that was name the game from last week, and it was VooDoo Vince. Pretty easy one I imagine.
Larry Hryb: (music noises).
Laura Massey: Exactly.
All right. Winner. Would you like to know who has won?
Larry Hryb: Why of course, I ... and more importantly I think all the listeners wanna know who won.
Laura Massey: (laughs).
The winner is: Bernard from Antioch, California.
Larry Hryb: Bernard!
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Congratulations Bernard.
Larry Hryb: Congrats.
Laura Massey: You have a bunch of prizes.
Larry Hryb: Oh yeah?
Laura Massey: And, no kidding, these are a bunch of ...
Larry Hryb: No kidding, a bunch of prizes.
Laura Massey: [inaudible 00:28:35] X-Box titles, so ...
Larry Hryb: All right Laura.
Laura Massey: Thanks to Chris Charla for covering the ...
Larry Hryb: He always, he always helps us out cause there's just so many, you know there are over 500 games on ideate X-Box right now?
Laura Massey: Really?
Larry Hryb: Yup.
Laura Massey: 500.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, listen to the show last week, you'd know that.
Laura Massey: Goodness.
All right, prizes.
Larry Hryb: Go.
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs).
Laura Massey: Bernard, you have won a copy of VooDoo Vince.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Laura Massey: Lost Grim wares, Stolen Kingdom.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Laura Massey: Which is a new ideate X-Box title.
De formers, a new ideate X-Box title.
Outlast two, which Jeff just mentioned.
And ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Frightening.
Larry Hryb: Play at your own risk.
Laura Massey: ... Little Nightmares, which is a new Van Di Manco title.
Jeff Rubenstein: I think that's also really scary as well, just little, just a little (laughing).
Laura Massey: Just a little bit. Just kind of. (laughs).
Little screams.
Jeff Rubenstein: Depending on what you're into, this may or may not be the best or worst prize pack.
Laura Massey: And that's not all ...
Larry Hryb: Oh!
Laura Massey: Bernard, you also win an X-Box wireless controller, a Recon Tech Spi ...
Larry Hryb: [crosstalk 00:29:23] that was off my desk, is that ... we're giving it to Bernard?
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Well, congratulations, I can't think of a better person to get to have it so.
Laura Massey: There you go Bernard, congratulations.
Larry Hryb: Congratulations Bernard, and that means that you, dear listener, are going to get ready for another name-the-game.
Laura Massey: Yes.
Larry Hryb: Which is a weekly feature we do on the show, it's very simple. We play sound clip from an X-Box game, uh, it can be, uh, any type of game, we're gonna, there's gonna be a clip here.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: It's not ... sometimes it's easy, sometimes its not.
Laura Massey: That's true.
Larry Hryb: And you send us an email and tell us, uh, what you think it is. So, why don't we roll the clorp ... clip Laura and then you can give away the uh or you can give out the email address [crosstalk 00:29:54].
Laura Massey: Sounds good.
Larry Hryb: Are you ready?
Laura Massey: All right, here's name-the-game for this week. (music playing).
So that was name-the-game for this week.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: Like Larry said, if you think you know what game those sounds are from, super easy to enter this game, all you have to do is send us an email.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: Email Lollipop at X-Box dot com and CC major at Xbox dot com and tell us what game that is.
Larry Hryb: Yeah don't, don't enter on Twitter, Snapchat, Facebook ...
Laura Massey: That's right.
Larry Hryb: We gotta have an email so that we can put all the correct answers into a virtual hat ...
Laura Massey: And then pull out a random winner.
Larry Hryb: And then RND parentheses something, I don't know, I don't remember what the ...
Laura Massey: You ... that was really good.
Larry Hryb: Thank you. Thank you.
Laura Massey: Yup, you know a little bit there.
Larry Hryb: I know just enough code to ...
Laura Massey: Be dangerous.
Larry Hryb: ... to be bug infested. (laughs)
Laura Massey: (laughs).
Larry Hryb: So, anyway, thank you Laura, thank you for that.
Laura Massey: All right.
Larry Hryb: Good, good luck to everybody for name-the-game.
Laura Massey: Please.
Larry Hryb: We love to have you for show 598, which is this one right here. Jeff, what are you reading over there, you've got this intense look on your face?
Jeff Rubenstein: I'll tell you in a minute but you'll be excited. It's total, just, office stuff.
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Okay, we'll talk about that later.
All right, we're, we're gonna wrap the show up, we're running out of time here. I know you, dear listener, are not, but we are. We've got a lot coming up in the next few weeks, we have E three, we're getting ready for E three.
Laura Massey: I know, it's crazy, coming up soon.
Larry Hryb: Uh, coming up very soon. We've got a busy, busy, busy, busy, busy summer.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: Leading up to launch. I'm working on some really cool stuff that I can't talk about yet.
Laura Massey: Yup.
Larry Hryb: I'm always working on cool stuff.
Laura Massey: You always are.
Larry Hryb: This is really, really cool. Uh, so doing that. Um, do you have any, do you, do you wanna talk about any, any fun stuff, talk about any technology gadgets and or otherwise, cause I got a couple things.
Laura Massey: You have a couple gadgets?
Larry Hryb: Well this is ...
Laura Massey: You always have the funnest gadgets.
Larry Hryb: Well this one's weird, um, and I Tweeted this out over the weekend, Jeff knows what I'm gonna talk about. I'm gonna talk about my water flow in my bathroom.
Laura Massey: Okay.
Larry Hryb: So, I was really bothered because, you know, I, I travel the world.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: And I always take like design cues and ideas from the different places I stay within the hotels and what have you. And I noticed, I was like, I really don't like the aerated water.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: In my house. And apparently, I, I, there's this thing called the Laminar Flow, which is a physics which basically takes all the water molecules and lines them up in a straight line so it comes out in a pure stream.
Laura Massey: Really?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, so I bought some of these on amazon.
Laura Massey: Is this for the shower or for the ...
Larry Hryb: Um, it's just for the hand wash ... the, the basins in the bathroom,
Laura Massey: Okay.
Larry Hryb: Um, and anyways so I bought a couple of those and then popped them in, its ten seconds, you know, unscrew, screw in, you're done. Anyways, so I, I, I learned all about fluid dynamics this past weekend.
Laura Massey: Interesting, so how's your water?
Larry Hryb: It's great! I love it!
Laura Massey: It's coming out straight?
Larry Hryb: And nice and quiet too, cause you don't realize how much that aerator ... aerated water is noisy. (makes noise).
Laura Massey: So where does the aeration come in?
Larry Hryb: It ...
Laura Massey: Is it ...
Larry Hryb: It's ... I think it's being, you know, Jeff had, Jeff had the same exact question and I don't have the ... I'm not a plumber so I don't know. Uh, but it, somehow it's introduced in the filter that's in there, the existing filter.
Laura Massey: Oh, that's in the tap?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, that's in the tap.
Laura Massey: Nice.
Larry Hryb: So, anyway.
Laura Massey: [inaudible 00:33:44]?
Larry Hryb: Yes, yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: With all this plumbing talk, I think we're, we're back to a clean broadcast.
Laura Massey: (laughs).
Larry Hryb: We could talk about wash lets.
Jeff Rubenstein: We could, oh, we could do that.
Larry Hryb: Um, so anyways, that was really about it, I'm working on a couple other, uh, new gadgets and things I'm working on.
Laura Massey: Okay.
Larry Hryb: But, I'm not ready to talk about those yet.
Jeff Rubenstein: Did I talk about my TV?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I don't ... You, well ...
Laura Massey: I wanna hear about your TV.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, why don't you tell us about your television.
Jeff Rubenstein: I, I, I joined the four K revolution.
Laura Massey: I saw on Twitter.
Larry Hryb: Did you get a color TV?
Jeff Rubenstein: I got a new color TV from color time.
Larry Hryb: (laughs) wooh!
Jeff Rubenstein: Um, yeah, it's uh, a Samsung KS 8000. And I was looking at a few different models, um, I really liked the look of the LG. Um, there's a LG 860 or something like that, and uh, and which is a O LED and it's amazing looking and one of the best TVs ever made according to C Net but it's also ...
Larry Hryb: It's also ...
Jeff Rubenstein: 3000 dollars. Um, so, uh, it like sort of cross ref ... cross-referencing how can I play a game that has great response time for games? Has HDR so I can take advantage of the X-Box one S now. Has four K so I can take advantage of four K gaming, uh, with Scorpio, and I ended up with the Samsung KS 8000. Uh, it's beautiful.
Larry Hryb: Can I just share this, Laura, I gotta share this with you.
Laura Massey: Okay.
Larry Hryb: We're playing Overwatch last night ...
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs).
Larry Hryb: All I, all I, I hear the ... and again, the stream of obscenities ...
Laura Massey: Oh no.
Larry Hryb: Apparently the TV decided to shut itself of ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh yeah.
Larry Hryb: ... in the middle of a multi-player game. (laughs).
Laura Massey: Oh no!
Jeff Rubenstein: I was having a heck of a game.
Larry Hryb: And he was ... it was on fire.
Laura Massey: Oh no.
Jeff Rubenstein: I, I, literally was on fire ...
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... in the game. And, uh, we were just, we were pressing the point, uh, we were on Route 66.
Larry Hryb: Yup. And I hear ...
Jeff Rubenstein: We ended up winning that one.
Larry Hryb: Right. But it was ...
Jeff Rubenstein: But it was harder than it needed to be.
Larry Hryb: Because you just decided you ...
Jeff Rubenstein: I, right at a crucial point ...
Laura Massey: Uh.
Jeff Rubenstein: The TV shut off.
Larry Hryb: (makes noise).
Laura Massey: Oh no! [crosstalk 00:35:23]
Jeff Rubenstein: So there's that, so you know what, you're hearing the full, unbridle ...
Larry Hryb: (laughs).
Jeff Rubenstein: You know, I still love the TV.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: I ...
Larry Hryb: Even though it ...
Jeff Rubenstein: I would like to think maybe I sat on a remote somewhere or [crosstalk 00:35:29]
Larry Hryb: Well, you know, well I had this problem with my Samsungs, and I think I mentioned this, where we're playing and there's like 'you're gonna shut ... I'm gonna shut off in thirty seconds' 29, twent ... and I'm like ...
Laura Massey: No!
Larry Hryb: I'm like, why are you doing this?!
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Laura Massey: (laughs).
Larry Hryb: But this didn't even give you a pop-up. It's like, later!
Laura Massey: Aw. Black screen.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. Maybe I should, uh, look for a firmware update or something like that.
Larry Hryb: I, I'm not gonna judge you.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. Anyway.
Larry Hryb: Uh, and, well that's good, new TVs are always fun.
Jeff Rubenstein: It is, I am ready.
Larry Hryb: HDR right?
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, yeah.
Larry Hryb: Yeah you said ...
Jeff Rubenstein: So yes a mass spec looks really good on it.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: And a few other titles.
Larry Hryb: Forest is gonna look phenomenal.
Laura Massey: Oh yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, yeah, well Horizon, Horizon three already does.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, so there you go with that. Uh, anything else Laura, before we wrap-up.
Laura Massey: So, when does the Hot Wheels pack come out? Have they announced that?
Larry Hryb: May ninth?
Jeff Rubenstein: Um, I think, yeah, yeah.
Larry Hryb: I think it's May ninth. Wow.
Jeff Rubenstein: It is.
Laura Massey: Awesome. I'm looking forward to that.
Larry Hryb: Really?
Laura Massey: It should be really fun.
Larry Hryb: Mm-kay. Did you have a favorite Hot Wheels?
Laura Massey: Hot Wheels.
Larry Hryb: You know, I told them ... and this, please, don't take this the wrong way, Laura, cause I, I made ...
Laura Massey: Okay.
Larry Hryb: I was talking with the guys in the production, were talking ... working on this week in X-Box and if they really ... if Matel really wanted to make it a Hot Wheels tag, it would be cool if they put it in like a Barbie camper.
Laura Massey: Yeah (laughs).
Larry Hryb: Right, like this little square, you know, that handles really poorly ...
Laura Massey: (laughs).
Larry Hryb: (laughs).
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, my favorite Hot Wheels car growing up was a, uh, Reno Le-car.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Which ...
Laura Massey: Oh yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Which was like, uh, the tiny little hatch-back.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: That was like, probably, very poorly rated. But it had the doors opened, and so...
Larry Hryb: That was a ...
Jeff Rubenstein: ... that was my favorite.
Laura Massey: Particular interest.
Jeff Rubenstein: So you know that allows for [crosstalk 00:36:39] ...
Larry Hryb: I had one, I had, you know I had a bunch of those, but one of my favorite, uh, little mini cars was a Di Cass Corgie. Uh, Corgie had the license for the James Bond cars, so I had the one from Spy Who Loves me, which is the underwater lotus is free. The way ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, I thought it was like a dog.
Larry Hryb: No, no, no, no ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Like Corgie.
Laura Massey: Yeah, like a dog car.
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs).
Larry Hryb: Yeah, no no no no. So it was the, it was the coming ... at that point, I don't know who has the license now. So I remember cause it had little, it was like a little submarine.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Fins popped out.
Laura Massey: Oh, fun!
Larry Hryb: And it was a ... it was just, it was awesome, it was a little white, little white lotus.
Jeff Rubenstein: And, and then, and then your imaginary little James Bond came out in the wet suit and he had a full tuxedo underneath?
Laura Massey: (laughs).
Larry Hryb: No, he never had a wetsuit, cause he was in the car, they went underwater, and he came out, they never had a wetsuit. [crosstalk 00:37:16] In that particular one.
Jeff Rubenstein: Okay. Good.
Laura Massey: You have to have a wetsuit.
Larry Hryb: And, and I believe back in those days, when he was in the wetsuit, they used to call it, I think they called it Frog Men.
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs).
Laura Massey: Really? I ...
Larry Hryb: Frog Men. No, okay.
Uh, hey, uh, before we wrap up I just want to thank everybody, um, for their very kind words, I had a very personal situation happen a couple weeks ago.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: My dog died, um, and I, I posted a note and a picture of she and I on Twitter and I want to thank everybody. It was, it was, the outpouring was just, it was overwhelming. So, you've heard me talk about my dog on this, she was 16 years old, and ...
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: You, you've met her Laura.
Laura Massey: Yes. Sweet doggy.
Larry Hryb: And Jeff, I don't think you ever met her did you?
Jeff Rubenstein: No.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, so anyway, she was, uh, she was a delight and unfortunately. Uh, it always sucks where, where, where ... you know, I've always been an animal person, my sister's a veterinarian so we've ... animals are in my life and so it's just very nice to have that and so, that's all. I know anybody that's gone through it understands its and it's, uh, it sucks. But thank you for all ... thank you for all your kind words. You guys are awesome.
All right, well, on that down note, can you bring us back up, can you give me something to get us going here, anything, Jeffrey?
Laura Massey: Oh no!
Jeff Rubenstein: I cannot be entertaining on demand man!
Larry Hryb: I, I know you can, dance monkey dance!
Laura Massey: (laughs).
Larry Hryb: Uh, all right.
Laura Massey: Being entertaining on the spot is hard.
Larry Hryb: All right gang, we ... we'll talk to you guys later, have a great, uh, have a great time, we may be back next week, we may not. Uh, Graham may be here, he may not. Laura may be here, she may not.
Jeff Rubenstein: Wait, Graham might be here?
Larry Hryb: I don't know, if he's, if he's on holiday maybe he's gonna be [crosstalk 00:38:33] ...
Jeff Rubenstein: You never know half the time he comes here. (laughs).
Larry Hryb: Right, half ... exactly, he seems to be spending his holidays in America for some reason.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, it's like, you know how close you are to the French Riviera, Graham?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, exactly, wrong way.
Laura Massey: (laughs).
Larry Hryb: Or what's that, what's that party place? The uh ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Ibitha?
Larry Hryb: Yes! Ibitha, that's it, you've been there right?
Jeff Rubenstein: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: Younger Jeffrey's been there.
Laura Massey: (laughs).
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs).
Larry Hryb: All right ...
Jeff Rubenstein: We don't talk about those times.
Larry Hryb: All right we'll talk to you guys, thanks for downloading, uh ...
Laura Massey: Yeah thanks for listening.
Larry Hryb: ... downloading the show. Thank you, you can find us on Twitter and everywhere else. Uh, Jeffrey, you can find Jeffrey at ...
Jeff Rubenstein: At Jeff Rubenstein.
Larry Hryb: And you can hit up Laura with her, uh, tips for getting her agents out of the jam at
Laura Massey: At Laura lollipop.
Larry Hryb: I'm Major Nelson, you can find me here, on the podcast, on Twitter, and every week this week on X-Box right on your console. We'll see you next time, goodbye everybody!
Jeff Rubenstein: Bye.
Laura Massey: Buh-bye.

Larry Hryb : (music)
Hey everybody, welcome back. I'm name's Larry Hryb, Xbox Live's MajorNelson. I'm here with you in your ears, or in your speakers, in your car, wherever you're listening to us. I'm here with Jeffrey. Hi, Jeff.
Jeff Rubenstein: Hi.
Larry Hryb : Jeffrey!
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm sorry to be in your ear canals.
Larry Hryb : Well, it's- We all are. It's- it's- that's the beautiful thing of podcasting. Uh, Laura couldn't join us this week. She had a little last-minute emergency and we weren't gonna cancel the show because I'm really excited, Jeff. You- you know I'm a big fan of, of our next guest.
Our in-studio guest. He was - I believe, I need to check Wikipedia, but - I believe he was the longest-running editor of Thrasher magazine.
Chris Charla: (laughing) Not only that, but-
Larry Hryb : Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Christ Charla. No, that's not true. Hi, Chris.
Chris Charla: Hey. How's it going?
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughing)
Larry Hryb : Is it true that you won X-Games Seattle in 1994?
Chris Charla: I- I won X-Games [Wallingford 00:01:22].
Larry Hryb : Awesome.
Jeff Rubenstein: (chuckles)
Chris Charla: There weren't a lot of entries, but uh, yeah. Yes.
Larry Hryb : But you're here. But it's great to see you, Chris. Of course, you're in charge of our ID@Xbox game and we announced, uh, ear- earlier, I think, but- you know, depending upon when you listen to the show, but we announced, uh, recently that 500 games have been launched on the ID@Xbox program. Wow!
Chris Charla: Yeah, it's awesome, and- and- it's- it's been super fun so far and there's tons more coming, too.
Jeff Rubenstein: Do you remember the first one?
Larry Hryb : Uh, gee whiz. That's a great question, Jeff. I- Do I? I don't think I do.
Jeff Rubenstein: I- The- It- It seems like it was just yesterday.
Chris Charla: Yeah. I'm- What's- What's-
Jeff Rubenstein: I re- I remember the first one.
Chris Charla: Go ahead and tell m- tell us.
Jeff Rubenstein: It was uh, Strike s- Zero.
Larry Hryb : Oh, that's right.
Chris Charla: That's right! I remember-
Jeff Rubenstein: It's a space shooter-
Chris Charla: Yeah, yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Really fun space shooter.
Larry Hryb : Yeah. That's right. I remember that. Well done, and that- and so that was the first one, and w- I know there's a whole bunch that had came out, so which one did you guys look at and say, "This is number 500!" (laughing).
Chris Charla: Yeah, we- we really had to do that because, you know, when we were counting, we knew were getting close to 500 and then we were saying things like, "Okay, well, uh, are we juts looking at Xbox One, are we counting Windows 10-"
Larry Hryb : Right.
Chris Charla: ... Because we obviously help a lot of Windows 10 games ship as well-
Larry Hryb : Right.
Chris Charla: ... And then- And then the big question was like, "Well does a, does an Xbox Game Preview count? Because it's not technically at 1.0 but we still-"
Larry Hryb : Right. Right.
Chris Charla: " ... Have shipped something." Anyway, we- we- we took all these things into account. We had top men working on it-
Larry Hryb : Yep. Top men.
Chris Charla: ... And (chuckles) pricewater house coopers, and uh, we determined that City Skyline's was number 500.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yay!
Larry Hryb : Yay, which came i- which is now out of- now available on Xbox One, of course.
Chris Charla: That's right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Chris Charla: Yep.
Larry Hryb : That's, the- Well, congratulations. I wanted to get you on because obviously that's a huge milestone. I mean, any time- Any game that ships is unbelievable, but t- you work really closely with all these teams around the world!
Chris Charla: Oh, yeah. Yeah, we've had games ship now, I think on, uh, uh, maybe six continents.
Larry Hryb : Six-
Chris Charla: We've had- We've had [crosstalk 00:03:02] games.
Larry Hryb : Which ones? [crosstalk 00:03:02] Antarctica?
Chris Charla: So we haven't had anybody ship from Antarctica, so-
Larry Hryb : Well, we do hav-
Jeff Rubenstein: [crosstalk 00:03:05] base.
Larry Hryb : We do have listeners, apparently, I've been told we have listeners on this show from McMurdo base, so if you're in McMurdo base-
Chris Charla: That would be awesome!
Larry Hryb : ... Contact Chris Charla so we can get you an ID@XBox-
Chris Charla: Make a game!
Larry Hryb : Make- Make any game! Survival on McMurdo base! Or, what's- Wait a minute. Remember-
Chris Charla: The Thing.
Larry Hryb : Remember what happened the- uh, was it, like, back in the 60s where somebody was - I think it was down there - where he had to operate on himself? Do you remember that story?
Chris Charla: Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Larry Hryb : This- This, like, doctor or- There was no one there and he had to operate himself. I know. It's- it's morti- as mortifying as it sounds here-
Chris Charla: I didn't even want to see 128 Hours.
Larry Hryb : Anyway, so- So congratulations. This is really good. What are- Let's talk about some of the milestones in the program and- and frankly, where you're going from here?
Chris Charla: Yeah, I mean, so we- We launched a program, um, more than three years ago before Xbox One launched. We announced it, I think, 2013 at Gamescom.
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Chris Charla: We had incredible developer response. We still have amazing developer response. We still have new developers joining the program every day, and um, you know, we just worked as hard as we could to make sure that, like, it was just easy as possible for a developer to get their game out on Xbox One-
Larry Hryb : Right.
Chris Charla: ... And on Windows 10, and you know, it's just a testament to the- It's really a testament to the support of Xbox fans. Uh, it just, you know, how well the program has done, because they've generated, you know, hundreds of millions of dollars in sales for-
Larry Hryb : Right.
Chris Charla: ... For ID@Xbox developers, millions and millions of copies of games have been sold, and it's been, um, uh, a really successful program so far and we're- we're not slowing down.
Larry Hryb : And I want to point out, it's- obviously you're in charge of the program. You've got a whole team behind you.
Chris Charla: Oh, there's- Yeah. There's a- There's a, a huge team here at Microsoft who work on it and- and the- the other thing that's been probably the- the most amazing thing is from the day one of the program is, you know, we had a- we started with a really small little team and we would go to these different parts of Microsoft, and we were asking for big changes in how our, our back-end systems worked to accommodate independent developers, and we were not sure what reception we were gonna get, honestly.
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Chris Charla: We- We knew it was the right thing to do and we hoped other people did, and we would go into these meetings with like, you know, 10 people you had never met before, f- some- some part of Microsoft you didn't even really knew existed, but you kinda have to get through to ship a game, and you're a little bit intimidated.
Larry Hryb : Sure.
Chris Charla: You've got like, your eight-slide PowerPoint presentation and we'd go in there, and like, the first thing that would happen is they'd be like, "Oh, you're the indie guys. How can we help?" And then the second thing would be like, "Have you seen this game? Have you seen that game?"
Larry Hryb : Oh, really?
Chris Charla: And so the support really from inside Microsoft-
Larry Hryb : Really engaged. Yeah.
Chris Charla: ... Was just, like, ridiculous. Um, yeah, and then since- And we've- we've built the team up bigger and you know, continued to encounter the same level of awesome support from inside Microsoft. We have an unbelievable team of uh, really, really passionate, um, folks who are just super invested in developer's success.
Larry Hryb : W- Tell- Tell me a little bit about, you know, this show is a little bit abnormal because we're celebrating the 500th of ID@Xbox and we're not- we may go over some of the stuff we're playing. Right- Right, Jeff? [crosstalk 00:05:44]?
Jeff Rubenstein: I think we should do that, especially since there's some- I was making sure to play a bunch of ID@Xbox [crosstalk 00:05:48].
Larry Hryb : Do you want to do that right now, and then we can kind of talk about s- because I have a ton of questions, both from Twitter as well personally that I want to talk to Chris about the ID@Xbox program.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, I'm- I'm assuming you've been playing Voodoo Vince.
Larry Hryb : Uh, yes. That's an- Ah- It's a- This is not a video podcast, [crosstalk 00:06:01]. You need to say "yes."
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughing) He's nodding his head.
Chris Charla: Um, ro- One of the things I've really been enjoying and I find myself spending more time with a lot of, um, ID games recently because a lot of them have adopted, uh, the Xbox Play Anywhere program. VooDoo Vince being one of them, so, uh, during a conference call today, I was-
Larry Hryb : You were not. You were not.
Chris Charla: Oh, come on. That's like, my MO. I beat Dark Souls on a conference call.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's awesome.
Larry Hryb : (laughing)
Chris Charla: Um, but Voodoo Vince, I- I've really gotten into- I-I love that sort of e- exploratory, you know, 90s feeling game. I guess it came out probably in the first, uh, the first couple years of, uh, the 2000s. Um, but like, Ukulele's another one which I- I need to jump into. Um, but definitely getting into Voodoo Vince. Another game, uh- Into the Gungeon, I was playing. These are just like, in the past week, on my PC while I've been traveling. Uh, Spheroids I had a pretty good time with and Everspace, which is still in game preview. I'm waiting for a- Can't wait 'til they give achievements, but they've added a lot to that game.
Larry Hryb : Oh, yeah. Absolutely.
Chris Charla: Yeah, and uh, being able to play that and jump back and forth. Oh, and Snake Pass was another one, which was, uh, pretty cool.
Jeff Rubenstein: Snake Pass is awesome.
Chris Charla: Yeah, this- The, uh- I've played that-
Jeff Rubenstein: We talked about it a couple weeks ago.
Larry Hryb : Yeah, it was like I all of a sudden, like, this actually how a snake feels, I guess (laughing), right?
Chris Charla: Yeah, I mean, it is- You're playing it and you're like, "Wait, what do a- I gotta- you know, waggle the stick to make the- Oh, yeah! It's like a snake!"
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb : Yeah, yeah, that feels right! It's like a snake!
Jeff Rubenstein: And y- And- Yeah, that game is really, really fun.
Chris Charla: I- I played that and then I watched Planet Earth II, like, the part where-
Larry Hryb : Oh.
Chris Charla: I like your copier, by the way.
Larry Hryb : Do you [crosstalk 00:07:26] my copier-
Chris Charla: Yeah, it's right here (laughing), uh ...
Larry Hryb : My disc- My 4k version.
Chris Charla: Yes. Uh, because I wanted to test out my- my- I- I had gotten a 4k TV and that is the thing you test it out with, but that scene where the racer snakes are going after-
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Chris Charla: ... And I was like, "I wish I was that good in Snake Pass."
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Chris Charla: You know, to catch those iguanas.
Larry Hryb : No spoilers.
Chris Charla: Sorry.
Larry Hryb : Voodoo Vince! [inaudible 00:07:41]- Voodoo Vince. We're talk-
Chris Charla: Yeah.
Larry Hryb : So, Chris, we're just gonna talk about what we're playing and then we're gonna get back to this great 500 milestone. I haven't played City Skylines yet. I'm sure you have, and it's a lot of fun.
Chris Charla: You know, I haven't played it on Xbox yet.
Larry Hryb : Oh!
Chris Charla: I- I've played it a ton on PC. Uh, but I usually try and- I try and wait 'til the- G- I generally try and wait 'til games commercially available before I play it.
Larry Hryb : Right. Yeah, that's- I'm- I'm the same way, because you find out- You kind of- you kind of- I don't know. You- You just want to- You want to experience it the way that our- our- our fans and- and- and Xbox people- you know, everyone else experiences it.
Chris Charla: Ye- A- And I want to be able to talk about I on Twitter and I want to be part of the- you know what I mean? Like, I- I want to play it day one-
Larry Hryb : Right.
Chris Charla: ... But I want to play it when it's available so I can talk about it and-
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Chris Charla: ... In- Once in a while I'll break that rule. Like, Inside.
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Chris Charla: I played before, but-
Larry Hryb : Right.
Chris Charla: But uh ...
Larry Hryb : Yeah. So, uh, that's important to point out is that Inside was also an ID game.
Chris Charla: Yeah, absolutely.
Larry Hryb : And it's- it's interesting because you have had the scope of, of, of, of teams, you know, anywhere from single to double, two or three people, up to, uh, much, much larger teams that have worked around the world dispersed, right?
Chris Charla: Oh, yeah, absolutely. We have everything from, you know, o-one man or one woman teams, uh, all the way up to, you know, 200 person studios are coming through ID-
Larry Hryb : Wow! Yeah.
Chris Charla: ... And i-it's kind of uh, uh, like, um, you know, when we design the program, instead of kind of focusing on, you know, what was an indie game in 2013-
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Chris Charla: ... Uh, we kind of looked and said like, "How- How can we- you know, make this future-proof a little bit?"
Larry Hryb : Right.
Chris Charla: And so that was what a lot of the back end work was, and so-
Larry Hryb : So from a technology standpoint.
Chris Charla: It's- Exactly.
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Chris Charla: And so we've ended up enabling, um, you know, a lot of different game types. My favorite kind of trivia fact is the- the MLB is technically an independent developer because-
Larry Hryb : Right.
Chris Charla: ... RBI baseball is an ID@Xbox game, so you-
Larry Hryb : Right. Even though it's licensed.
Chris Charla: Right.
Larry Hryb : It's got licensed goods.
Chris Charla: We- It's made by- made by the MLB.
Larry Hryb : Right.
Chris Charla: And- And so they're- They're- They're an indie developer.
Larry Hryb : Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, does it- But it doesn't-
Larry Hryb : Technically. Oh, wow, wait a minute. My head just exploded.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. Right. MLB's okay.
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Chris Charla: It doesn't necessarily- It's not like the days of every game being like, sprite-based, 8-bit, four people making the game-
Larry Hryb : Yeah, exactly. Yeah.
Chris Charla: I mean, those games still exist, and are pretty great-
Larry Hryb : A-absolutely. There's some great ones.
Chris Charla: Um, but, yeah, there's some, like, very visually impressive games out there. Um ...
Larry Hryb : Yeah, exactly.
Chris Charla: Sort of defining ... Like, the definition of indie has changed significantly in a way.
Larry Hryb : Well, yeah- Well, how do you look at that? You know, because we get that asked all the time. How is an indie game versus a triple A title? I mean, is that- i- tho- those really the two categories?
Chris Charla: Ye- And we- we- we don't-
Larry Hryb : You don't?
Chris Charla: You know, we- we actually- you know, I- I come from the- the- the punk rock era-
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Chris Charla: ... And I spent, like, most of my 20s arguing about what was punk rock and what wasn't punk rock and- and-
Larry Hryb : Did you come to a solution?
Chris Charla: No! And so- so with, uh-
Larry Hryb : Time well spent.
Chris Charla: Yeah, absolutely.
Larry Hryb : (laughing)
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughing)
Chris Charla: Um, with uh, with um, with independent games, we decided early on we weren't gonna worry about that. You know, if a developer comes to us and says, "Hey, I'm an independent developer and I want to ship a game through ID@Xbox," We're like, "Sounds great," And you can be, you know, uh, one person or-
Larry Hryb : And then you look at their email address and it says so-and-so@ea.com.
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughing) Yeah.
Larry Hryb : Right?
Chris Charla: E- EA has another path onto the console. Um, but you know, if it's major league baseball or it's, you know, o-one person in South Africa, like-
Larry Hryb : Right.
Chris Charla: ... We're excited to, to see their games.
Larry Hryb : Yeah. Yeah, I was looki- I was talking with some of the people from your team when I was in Australia, and they told me about some of the games you guys are working on and some that aren't out yet, but I'd be- It's just, the richness, uh, the tapestry and the- that you have to select from, it's just- It's unbelievable.
Chris Charla: It's- It is amazing, and when we- When we first started the program, you know, one of our big goals was we wanted to make sure when Xbox players turn on their Xbox One, they have access to this huge, diverse array of content, and if you had asked me to say what that meant in, in 2013, I would have had an answer, and I would say by 2014 I was already completely blown away-
Larry Hryb : Right.
Chris Charla: ... And you look today at the breadth of content-
Larry Hryb : Over 500 titles.
Chris Charla: Ye- But- Over 500 titles and just, the diversity of, you know, things, you know, from Smite to Inside to Street Force Home to, you know, Thimbleweed Park, Her Majesty's Spiffing, like- this- there's just-
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Chris Charla: Like, so much variety in, uh, in the games that are coming from independent developers. It's- there's really something for everyone.
Larry Hryb : What has changed since you started the program in terms of- in terms of the technology or the approach or the types of games you're seeing? Talk to me a little bit about the cycles, you know?
Chris Charla: Y- Well, you know, what we see is we've seen, um, uh, w- what we're seeing now on Xbox One which I think is really cool is we're seeing sophomore efforts and junior efforts.
Larry Hryb : Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Chris Charla: So developers who have shipped one game on Xbox or two games on Xbox-
Larry Hryb : They cut their teeth.
Chris Charla: Yeah, and now they're working on new things and they're pushing the boundaries of their hardware, and you know, obviously Project Scorpio is gonna, you know-
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Chris Charla: ... Y-you know, change that even more. Um, but the really cool think, I think, that we're seeing is we're seeing developers at all stages of their journey, so we're seeing, you know, we're still getting lots and lots of, you know, um, console debuts coming onto Xbox One from developers and the ID@Xbox. At the same time, it's- we're seeing, you know, these veteran studios, and then the- the- one really fun thing is we're seeing groups of veterans, like the guys at System Era who made Astroneer, um, who have, you know, in-incredible resumes, um, come together with some new blood and then just make a new studio, make a new game that's informed by not only, you know, the- the- the kind of passion that the new guys are bringing, uh, but also the- the- the veteran stuff that the veterans have seen-
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Chris Charla: ... And you end up with a debut effort in Astroneer that actually is a, you know, stunning game.
Larry Hryb : I want to point out, also, the fact that this is y- 500 more titles, 500 more titles. These are purely digital titles.
Chris Charla: Yeah.
Larry Hryb : Right? I mean the- this is- uh, the- the days of shipping on a disc, while still exist for some- some part of the audience, these are all digital titles. That's amazing!
Chris Charla: Yeah. It's- it's super cool.
Larry Hryb : Yes, Jeffrey. You have something to add (laughing)?
Jeff Rubenstein: No! I was just wondering if- if- if out there, there are, uh, students who are putting together games, and um, and there's a lot of like, pretty well developed programs these days, and that are thinking like, how do I get it off the ground? How could I get onto Xbox? Ha- What is that first step for them?
Chris Charla: Yeah, so, I mean, th- they- First of all, y-you can just come to xbox.com/ID and apply, but the other thing that we announced at GDC that I think is really exciting is that-
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Chris Charla: ... The Xbox Live Creator's Program.
Larry Hryb : Now, what is that?
Chris Charla: So, it's a really cool program. So basically, you- you are home. You have a, a, a retail Xbox One. You can-
Larry Hryb : Just like you bought at Best Buy or Gamestop or anywhere else, right?
Chris Charla: [crosstalk 00:13:44]. Yep. You download, uh, I think it's called, um, oh, is it devmode app, um ...
Larry Hryb : .exe?
Chris Charla: Yeah.
Larry Hryb : (laughing)
Chris Charla: There's- There's a free app, uh- sorry, I just spaced on the name of it.
Larry Hryb : Ye- Right.
Chris Charla: Um, devmode activation, I think.
Larry Hryb : Yep.
Chris Charla: And it's a free app that's on the- the Xbox One app store.
Larry Hryb : On the- on the store.
Chris Charla: That turns your Xbox into a devkit, and then you can download free version of Visual Studio-
Larry Hryb : Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Chris Charla: ... And you can deploy a game from Visual Studio on your PC, a UWP game, um, to your Xbox One and it runs the sa- you know, the- the- your PC sees the Xbox as another PC-
Larry Hryb : Yep.
Chris Charla: ... Because Xbox One runs Windows 10-
Larry Hryb : Yep.
Chris Charla: ... And you can just deploy a game to your Xbox and immediately start playing it with your controller on your television.
Larry Hryb : Right.
Chris Charla: And so that was really cool. We announced that, actually, last year in, uh, 2015-
Larry Hryb : Sure.
Chris Charla: I'm sorry, 2016 at GDC.
Larry Hryb : Right.
Chris Charla: And so, in 2017 we announced Xbox Live Creator's Program. So now, in addition to doing all that for- for playing and testing, you can, uh, you can go get - without signing any NDAs, without, you know, signing any contracts - you can just go download Xbox Live.
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Chris Charla: Implement Xbox Live into your game. Most of the features, all the social features like Identity and Presence and Leaderboards, and then put that into your game and ship it on Windows 10 and on Xbox One.
Larry Hryb : So this is- This is the, I guess as- as- what- what programmers call APIs, right?
Chris Charla: Yeah.
Larry Hryb : These are your p- APIs that allow you to call into Xbox Live-
Chris Charla: Exactly.
Larry Hryb : ... Which is obviously a massive service with millions and millions of people, um, and easily implement that in your game.
Chris Charla: Yeah. Absolutely.
Jeff Rubenstein: Ah, linking to that in the show notes if that sounds like something you want to- But- It's like a four step process.
Larry Hryb : Right.
Chris Charla: Yeah, it's- It's really straightforward, and those games, um, they don't have everything that uh, that uh, that uh, uh, you know, a game that comes through the ID program or, you know, from a publisher like Electronic Arts has.
Larry Hryb : Sure.
Chris Charla: They don't have access to achievements and gamer score.
Larry Hryb : We don't- We want to keep those as pure as we can.
Chris Charla: That's right, and uh, and they don't have access to the multi-player features.
Larry Hryb : Right.
Chris Charla: We have those gated, but if there's no- there's nothing stopping a game, uh, you know, like a student game or something like that from starting as a game that's in the creator's program and then at any point, either it's during development or even after they launch, like, talking to the folks at ID and then just, uh, you know, becoming an ID@Xbox game and getting access to gamer score and achievements. So it's-
Larry Hryb : So you can go from the- the kind of the- the kiddie pool to the big pool to the Olympic pool (chuckles).
Chris Charla: Yeah, that's right, and- and- but I wouldn't- I would- I wouldn't say it's exactly a kiddie pool-
Larry Hryb : Sure.
Chris Charla: ... Becau- But I- Because I think we will see, um, we'll definitely see really cool games from students and experimenters-
Larry Hryb : Right.
Chris Charla: ... And hobbyists and makers-
Larry Hryb : So let's call it a sandbox.
Chris Charla: Right, but I think we'll see pros, too.
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Chris Charla: You want to get a game out really quickly, do a, you know, quick game, see ha- what the response is, and then decide if they want to take it to ID, but I think what's really cool is t- is two things. One is, it- make sure that every Xbox can now be used for creation-
Larry Hryb : Right.
Chris Charla: ... As well as playing, and then two, when you look at just the full spectrum for developers, whether you're, you know, um, coming through ID-
Larry Hryb : Right.
Chris Charla: ... Whether you're, you know, going through a, you know, a third-party studio or whether you just want to do it all yourself completely unmanaged, like, there's a place for you on- on the Xbox [crosstalk 00:16:40]-
Larry Hryb : If you want to make a game - and regardless, as you said, if you're one person or 10 people - we- we have a solution for you!
Chris Charla: Absolutely.
Larry Hryb : Right? At very, very low to almost no cost!
Chris Charla: Yeah.
Larry Hryb : Right? You may- may- you can use that console you already have at your house!
Chris Charla: Yeah, it's amazing.
Larry Hryb : [crosstalk 00:16:55] console. Yeah. That's fun. Yes, Jeffrey?
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm waiting to see what kind of game you're gonna come up with [crosstalk 00:16:59].
Larry Hryb : Me?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb : I- I- I'm-
Jeff Rubenstein: Ma- Major's Revenge?
Larry Hryb : I don't- I don't know what kind of game I would come up with. I've- I've had many of idea over the time and I know a great game when I see it, but it feels like I- I- I'm always- I'm always surprised at the creativity that comes through the program.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, yeah.
Larry Hryb : You know, like I say, we talked about Inside which is one of those zowie moments when you get to the end. I don't want to have any spoilers, and we all- we all got to the end, many of us did. Um, but yeah, the creativity in this space is great, but it's also great to see, you know, we had Thimbleweed Park and I had, uh, I had Ron on a few weeks ago and it was great to see, you know, Ron who's been in the games industry m- you know, longer than anybody in this room for the most part-
Jeff Rubenstein: Yep.
Larry Hryb : ... Shipping on that platform, right?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb : And doin- doin' some really cool stuff!
Jeff Rubenstein: And then you've got Cuphead.
Larry Hryb : Oh, boy. L- All right, so- I- I gotta ask yeah, when's Cuphead coming out?
Chris Charla: Th- It's coming out in 2017.
Larry Hryb : Okay.
Chris Charla: That's what the team has said, and uh, and, and so it's coming out this year, but you know, you think about that game, like when you- you know, start a program you think, "Oh, we're gonna get this kind of game, we're gonna do that kind of game-"
Larry Hryb : Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Chris Charla: Nobody thinks, "We're gonna get a game that is 100% hand animated in 1920-style paired with, you know, contra-style of run-and-gun gameplay."
Larry Hryb : Right.
Chris Charla: You know, tha- ah- you know, you can't- like-
Larry Hryb : That-
Chris Charla: Unless you're the- the Moldenhauer brothers you can't think that up-
Larry Hryb : Right.
Chris Charla: ... And then you see it and it is just, every time I see it - and I've seen it a lot - it, it just blows me away every time. I cannot believe this is an interactive video game.
Larry Hryb : Right. Ra- And- And of course, you talk about the- the story with Inside, which was very story-driven and the- I don't want to say it was simple gameplay, but it was very approachable.
Chris Charla: Yeah, absolutely.
Larry Hryb : Right?
Chris Charla: I mean, that game was in development for a long time. It's not a long game, but one thing that they did - and they're, you know, such great designers - was every second of that game, every place you were, they knew everything you might do there-
Larry Hryb : Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Chris Charla: ... And they basically had a custom animation for it, and-
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Chris Charla: ... And were ready to go-
Larry Hryb : Right.
Chris Charla: ... And it's just, uh, it's unbelievable.
Larry Hryb : And it's also, I love the- because Play Dead, right?
Chris Charla: Yeah.
Larry Hryb : They- They oh- they just recently won some D.I.C.E awards, right?
Chris Charla: Yeah, I think they won some D.I.C.E awards-
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Chris Charla: ... And they just won a BAFTA.
Larry Hryb : Yeah, the [crosstalk 00:18:53]-
Chris Charla: Or, a couple of BAFTAs.
Larry Hryb : And they just- the- it's funny 'cause they just don't- they just- they like to just let the game speak for themselves. Right?
Chris Charla: That's exactly right.
Larry Hryb : And that's always- That's always admirable. Uh, moving right along here, Jeffrey. You've got some other stuff we want to go over? You got some news?
Jeff Rubenstein: I don't know. Do you want to hit news? You want [crosstalk 00:19:05]?
Larry Hryb : We might as well hit news. I mean, we- we're- we're s- talking about games. If you have any- you know, we- we had some questions from Twitter, Chris, so while we're reading some of the news headlines, if you can go out to Twitter and grab some of those-
Chris Charla: Sure.
Larry Hryb : ... We'll answer those when we come back. Yeah, you're gonna stay here with us, but we'll answer those in just a minute. Let's go through some of the headlines we've got. Even though Laura's not here, we're gonna do Name the Game. I- I've asked, uh, Chris to pick up the mantle on that this week.
Jeff Rubenstein: Ooh!
Larry Hryb : So, we're gonna do that, but we- yeah. Let's go through-
Jeff Rubenstein: And- We have to- Is it gonna be a punk-rock game? We have to ...
Larry Hryb : No. Maybe- Maybe an ID@Xbox game. We'll find out. So ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Maybe. Well ... Um, yeah, so one of the big changes, uh, we've been listening to feedback and um, for the system itself, for Xbox One, we've released a- a- a number of fan-inspired feature updates to the community last month. More are coming, so-
Larry Hryb : Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... There's- There's quite a bit, but uh, one of the big things is Arena. We've been talking about it. Um, it's gonna be coming, now, to Killer Instinct, so you know, when you hear about the world of e-sports, people immediately think pro-gamers, people that, you know, do this-
Larry Hryb : Call of Duty, Halo ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Exactly.
Larry Hryb : Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Ah, well- And- But people that play 14 hours a day, you know, in, a-arenas and things like that-
Larry Hryb : Yep. Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... But really e-sports can be as simple as, like, you know, the- the equivalent of, like, the, uh, the Work League or something like that.
Larry Hryb : Yeah. I want- I want a beer league for- for e-sports.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes, exactly, a beer league, and- and y- now you're gonna be able to set that up. So we have a lot of details, um, and I can link out to that but-
Larry Hryb : Please do.
Jeff Rubenstein: It'll be easier than ever to set up a Killer Instinct tournament. Smite is actually gonna be supporting this as well.
Larry Hryb : World of Tanks.
Jeff Rubenstein: World of Tanks, which was the first, and Halo Wars II, so a lot coming there. Um, a party overlay.
Larry Hryb : Hmm.
Jeff Rubenstein: So, I don't know if you've tried out the achievements overlay. I am an achievement hunter, and so when I'm, uh, trying to, uh, uh, track a, an achievement where I'm like, having to collect- I'm actually doing this with Voodoo Vince where you need to get, like, 100 of the zombie sands, uh, zombie dust bags or whate- Wa- I actually got them, that one this morning. Uh, where you can do a little bit of an overlay that keeps track, uh, as you go.
Uh, if you haven't tried this, it's sort of like, I think Gears of War 2 was like, the first game where as you were getting close, when you did your first active reload, it would let you know you were getting your- your progress towards the achievements getting closer.
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, similar thing with the party overlay. So you can see, uh, who's in your party and who's speaking, uh, a-at any given time. Like, the little speaker icon on top.
Larry Hryb : Really helpful for Destiny Raids, uh, and you can move it around to any one of six- eight quadrants on the screen. Eight, not quadrants, I guess, sectors on the screen.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. So, and a number of the other features, but one that I know, Larry, you're definitely gonna want to take advantage of and that is captive portal support.
Larry Hryb : Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: So if you take that word by itself, "captive portal support"-
Larry Hryb : That's en- That's en- That's engineering speak, Jeffrey!
Jeff Rubenstein: ... A lot- What does that mean? Yes it is, uh-
Larry Hryb : But- but let- Why don't you tell us what it really means?
Jeff Rubenstein: It means, in layman speak, you can- you can use your Xbox One at a hotel.
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: So, um, all of these a- I've traveled with my Xbox One a number of times, um, and I have a travel router for different places on Wifi where you have - and hotels are the most common example of this - where you have to like, click through on a website in order to like, turn it on-
Larry Hryb : Accept the terms of agreement, where it goes high speed, low speed, what's your room number, etc.
Jeff Rubenstein: Ex- All of that stuff. Yeah, um, you will be able to do that directly through the Xbox One. That's something that, uh, we are working on and a number of other features that we're hearing from the community, so I know that's one of the ones I'm excited about. Um, a number of things involving clubs, involving, uh, beam and twitch broadcasts. A number of things- we'll link to that.
Um, and normally I'll pick out a couple of, uh, couple of games to highlight, um, and-
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... And, and in- I was like, "Oh, in honor of Xbox, uh, of ID@Xbox, in honor of you being here, I'll call out one or two-" But it actually, this is a great week for ID- Re- Like, an insane week.
Chris Charla: Unbelievable.
Jeff Rubenstein: So, uh, we talked about Voodoo Vince. A-again, this is an X- and XPA game. This was a game that I first knew about because Phil Spencer is a big fan of Voodoo Vince.
Larry Hryb : Well, what am I, chopped liver?
Jeff Rubenstein: Well ...
Larry Hryb : (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: Is there- Is there a MajorNelson Easter egg in the game?
Larry Hryb : There is ... (chuckles) I can't confirm or deny.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well (chuckles) ... We- Well- Well, ah ... We'll always have, uh, Kinect Sports. Yes.
Larry Hryb : Yes, that's right. Thank you.
Jeff Rubenstein: Um, where you didn't finish first in the-
Larry Hryb : Thank- Thank- Thank you Craig [Duncan 00:22:56].
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes, exactly.
Larry Hryb : (chuckles)
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, so, uh, it's an excellent game from the- that era. Uh, of the e- the OG Xbox era, um, of exploratory, third-person, character-based-
Larry Hryb : Platformers.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... Platformers and adventure and, I'm definitely having a lot of fun with that, that New Orleans theme. Flint Hook. This is a game a lot of people are talking about. Um, hearing it- it- uh, there's like a bionic commando sort of vibe to it. What can you tell me?
Chris Charla: It is amazing. So, super fun, basically like, uh, I guess you could describe it as an action platformer. Um, but you've got this cool hook, uh, you know, grappling hook mechanic, and the thing about the game that is just really cool is it's super fluid, and they've done some- you know, they've done are- a lot of work with the controller so you just, you know, from your thumbs to the screen is just like, there's no barrier, and so the game itself just flows really, really beautifully. They have a bunch of gifs online that you can see it and it's just- it's just unbelievable.
Jeff Rubenstein: So that's Flint Hook. Um ...
Chris Charla: Flint Hook.
Jeff Rubenstein: Two really beautiful games that came out this week. Uh- Sh- I do- Help me of- if I'm pronouncing this right? Shinesse, or Shinesse? Uh, the lightning kingdom? This is like an RPG and it looks really- it has a very cool cell-shaded look that kind of reminds me of like, like, Dragon Quest 8 which is one of my favorite games of all time. This has a really cool look to it, and something that I li- I like about it based on what I heard is it's not a 100-hour RPG.
Larry Hryb : Right.
Chris Charla: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's nice when you can actually fit one into your schedule, uh, and another game that just looks fantastic is uh, Wonderboy: The Dragon's Trap, and we have a- a great article, uh, on Xbox Wire that was written by, um, one of the, one of the devs, uh, from Lizard Cube, and we have actually a couple of animation gifs as well, uh, built into that. So definitely worth checking out and then-
Larry Hryb : What are these animated gifs?
Jeff Rubenstein: These animated gifs? Is it "jiff"?
Larry Hryb : Is, uh, is uh, is it like- [crosstalk 00:24:40]-
Jeff Rubenstein: [crosstalk 00:24:41]- I said it right, right?
Chris Charla: Obama said it was gif, so ...
Jeff Rubenstein: So like, he's got more authority than I do. 'Nother game with a very interesting visual style, in the complete opposite direction, is Late Shift.
Chris Charla: Yeah!
Jeff Rubenstein: So, ah- ah, the- Full motion video is back! I- It-
Larry Hryb : It is?
Chris Charla: From our friends at Wales Interactive, um, they put together a full-motion video game and they've done some really neat stuff with it. First of all, I think the cinematography is great. You look at still images or you look at it when it's moving, like, they did a really nice job, and um, it's an FMV game, like a classic FMV game, and you basically make these, uh- Actually, it's a little different than classic FMV games. So, it's not like Night Trap or Sewer Shark.
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughing) I- Sega CD owner right here. Yes.
Larry Hryb : (laughing)
Jeff Rubenstein: It's more like, uh, a choose-your-own adventure game. So there's not a lot of repeating video, it's really just like, you get to a branching choice and you have like, a very short amount of time to make a choice-
Larry Hryb : Dragon's Lair style, yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... And you've gotta sort of decide, like, hey, am I gonna, you know, uh, you know, how am I gonna choose how to progress the story?
Larry Hryb : Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... And, um, it really does have some meaningful branches. I think there's seven different endings, and um, so there's a lot of different things than can happen and uh, I was- I was really surprised, um, by the production values and uh, that's a pretty neat one.
Larry Hryb : Let's check that out.
Chris Charla: Yeah, so- ye- there's a bit of a renaissance there, like Her Story last year and-
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, and- Yeah, and Wales Interactive also did The Bunker-
Chris Charla: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... Which is another, uh, more traditional FMV game that was, um, super disturbing, so ...
Chris Charla: (laughing) Way to sell it.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb : You're right, you're right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Hey, sometimes you want that out of the way.
Larry Hryb : Yeah, you're right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Um, couple other non-ID titles, uh, Guardians of the Galaxy, uh, Telltale Series Episode One is out.
Larry Hryb : Yep.
Jeff Rubenstein: Um, kind of excited for this one. The Disney Afternoon Collection, um, as someone who played, used to come home from school and play DuckTales every single day.
Larry Hryb : Total- Stop it! Why you making me feel old?
Jeff Rubenstein: What? I was, uh, a little too old to be playing DuckTales, but-
Larry Hryb : Okay (laughing).
Jeff Rubenstein: I could beat- I could beat it in one go. Um, and this one's maybe right up your alley, Larry. Professional Farmer 2017.
Larry Hryb : You know, I've heard about that. I've heard about that and you know, you know I love my farming simulators.
Jeff Rubenstein: I know you do, and I love how they still use that sort of like, that- that- that italicized font that goes back all the way to like, Flight Simulator.
Larry Hryb : Flight Sim- Flight Simi- Yeah. Ohh.
Jeff Rubenstein: Exactly. It just- It lets you know who this audience is for, which you, Larry.
Larry Hryb : Lot of news out this week. Head over to majornelson.com or news.xbox.com, which ever is your fancy, and we'll make sure we uh, show you what's going on. There's- There's just so much, Jeff.
Jeff Rubenstein: There is, there is. One last thing, uh, Star Wars Battlefront 2 was announced last [crosstalk 00:27:07]-
Larry Hryb : Yeah! Was down in Orlando for that.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. That's pretty cool.
Larry Hryb : Lovely. Your- Your- Your, uh, old stomping grounds, huh?
Jeff Rubenstein: It- It is, uh, I came for the, I came for the Magic Kingdom and I stayed for the humidity.
Larry Hryb : Yes, you did.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes.
Larry Hryb : Yes, you did. It was ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Nine years.
Larry Hryb : It was- It was humid down there, but yeah, it was a lot of fun to go down there, so we've got a video up on this week on Xbox.
Jeff Rubenstein: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb : In fact, I dressed as a Jedi. Have you seen it yet?
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, n-no I haven't (chuckled) seen this.
Larry Hryb : (laughing) You've gotta see this one, it's great. The team did a great job, so you'll- uh, t- watch the latest episode of this week on Xbox.
Jeff Rubenstein: I will do that.
Larry Hryb : It's on my Twitter.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh. Okay.
Larry Hryb : Follow now, @majornelson.
Jeff Rubenstein: F- S- Uh, I don't ca- whatever. You know how to find me.
Larry Hryb : And Janina, uh, Gavankar, you know her? She's uh, she's uh, going to be playing, uh, Iden Erso- Versio-
Jeff Rubenstein: Apparently I've interview- Apparently I've worked with her before.
Larry Hryb : You have?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes.
Larry Hryb : She's- She's- She's a huge gamer. Um, and we've worked within a, in, in a number of ca- uh, different ways and-
Jeff Rubenstein: I rem- I remember- Yeah, once I realized [crosstalk 00:27:55]. She's great.
Larry Hryb : She plays everything. She's great.
Jeff Rubenstein: A delightful young lady.
Larry Hryb : She was in, uh, she was in True Blood and- You've seen her.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb : You'll know her.
Jeff Rubenstein: We worked together! We did- We did an E3 together!
Larry Hryb : But she [crosstalk 00:27:59]- Yeah. Yeah. What? How come you're not in this game, either?
Jeff Rubenstein: I, bu- Please. This is the alt- This is the burning question. Maybe I'm in Voodoo Vince as a- (chuckles) as a [crosstalk 00:28:08]-
Larry Hryb : Uh, [crosstalk 00:28:09]- Yeah. I'll have to go back and get all the collectibles to unlock the-
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughing) Ah, look for a microphone. So (coughs), anyway, so that- those are the news. You- you know how to find it. Uh, we ha- we said we were gonna take some questions form Twitter. You had a couple out here. Do you mind the- I've got a couple here if you want to go over them, Chris.
Chris Charla: Yeah, do- Wa- So what- Do you want to start or do you want me to start?
Larry Hryb : I'll- Let me- Well- Um, well- I got s- I got one up here right away from Megan-
Chris Charla: Okay.
Larry Hryb : ... Uh, Savannah wants to know, I want- He wants- I'm supposed to ask you about your zine, Incredibly Strange Games. What is that?
Chris Charla: So, uh, I do a fanzine.
Larry Hryb : Yeah?
Chris Charla: Um, I've done fanzines ever since I was like, six years old-
Larry Hryb : Right.
Chris Charla: ... And, uh, so I do a fanzine still, uh, about strange video games and it's printed in-
Larry Hryb : Also, which is even stranger (laughing).
Chris Charla: Yeah, yeah. No, I still- I mean, I ki- I mean, it's like using Cork Express or InDesign and stuff and-
Larry Hryb : [crosstalk 00:28:51], wow.
Chris Charla: ... Uh, there is like a blog for it, too, but to get to-
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm linking to that.
Chris Charla: Oh, okay-
Jeff Rubenstein: Incrediblystrangegames.com?
Chris Charla: That's correct.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes.
Chris Charla: Uh, but to get the- the- the real thing, you've gotta, you know, see me at a show and I- I usually have some, although it- recently in Seattle we've done a couple live nights at a bar that is smaller than this studio-
Larry Hryb : Really?
Chris Charla: ... And um, and so we'll have a couple different people come and bring and show- show off weird games and uh, and then we'll make like a little mini-zine for, just for that show. So ...
Larry Hryb : Wow.
Jeff Rubenstein: Is that the, the Grizzled Wizard or something?
Chris Charla: No, I- I wish. It's uh, or- Grizzled Wizard was awesome, but it's at the Fuse Box, which is up by the zoo.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, I've never- I'll have to go there.
Chris Charla: You c- I'll- I'll- You [crosstalk 00:29:28]-
Jeff Rubenstein: That's up near your house! That's up near your house, yeah.
Larry Hryb : [crosstalk 00:29:28].
Chris Charla: Yeah, yeah, it's good.
Larry Hryb : Okay, good. Fun. So, so yeah, so Megan wanted to know about that. Um, "Are you ever too old to skate?" You're a skateboarder.
Chris Charla: I am a skateboarder. No, you're absolutely never too old to skate.
Larry Hryb : Yeah. Yeah, I- I completely agree, and then finally, "Tater tots or nachos, and there only better be one answer?"
Chris Charla: You know, I really feel like Seattle doesn't have a lot of native foods, but Seattle does tater tots better than any place on- in the whole country.
Jeff Rubenstein: Y- You don't have to choose between tater tots and nachos if you go down to Ballard and you- there's a counter in a wall, I don't know what it's connected to, but you go up there and you get the Totchos.
Chris Charla: Yeah, we- you know, w- the- Damon's, which is the sport's bar closest to where we're sitting right now here in Redmond-
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughing) Yeah.
Chris Charla: ... Uh, has some of the best Totchos on the East side, so ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Seattle owns the Totcho scene.
Larry Hryb : I- I have no room in my diet for- for tater tots.
Jeff Rubenstein: Eh, maybe after E3.
Larry Hryb : No, I never! I don't like them spicy-
Jeff Rubenstein: You gotta live a little!
Larry Hryb : I don't! I just, they don't interest me, it's com- it's- I don't know. Whatever.
Chris Charla: Tater tots are amazing.
Jeff Rubenstein: Tater tot is like Seattle's national food.
Larry Hryb : Yeah, maybe- I-
Jeff Rubenstein: We don't have a lot to offer culinary-wise here, but [crosstalk 00:30:26] we've got tots.
Larry Hryb : Oh, I disagree. I disagree. As a gateway to Asia, you certainly do (laughing).
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, yeah. Y-you mean, like, good food. I'm talking like, bar food.
Larry Hryb : Yes- Yeah- Oh. Fair point, fair point, fair point. All right, so yeah, do you have any- Do you have any of the, uh, any (chuckling) Tw-Twitter response you want to r-
Jeff Rubenstein: Wel- O- One question that came up, uh, a lot was, uh, just about, uh, what's going on with the game Ashen.
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, which was, uh, with us at E3 a couple years ago, and uh-
Larry Hryb : Right. Can you remind people what the game is about?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, so um, it is a really cool low-poly game that we showed a cool teaser trailer, uh, uh, um, with some, you know, pretty violent stuff happening-
Larry Hryb : Yeah (chuckles).
Jeff Rubenstein: ... And uh, so I'm not gonna say more than that because I don't want to give away more than, than what they gave away.
Larry Hryb : Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, but, um, t-the team's still hard at work, and um, you know, this is a case where, um, you know, I saw uh, some, you know, video of latest build, or recently, um, but it's, um, it's up to the team when they want to announce what's going on, and- and- so we didn- you know, as- as excited as we are for the game, like, we can't say much more than-
Larry Hryb : Yeah. That's their- That's their project to own.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. That's exactly right.
Larry Hryb : Why they own the messaging on it, so we don't want to- we don't want to take away any thunder from them, so stay tuned. What else you got over there for questions?
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, another question was about - I think we already hit, but - it was just about hey, I'm f- My son's 14, he wants to get into game development, what should he do? Xbox Live Creator's Program.
Larry Hryb : Right there.
Jeff Rubenstein: Turn that Xbox into a devkit and get going.
Larry Hryb : Yeah. W-wouldn't it be awesome if you know, if your mom or your dad or your somebody, I mean, your family bought you an Xbox and then you came down one day and said, "I made a game." "How?" "I turned my Xbox into a devkit!"
Jeff Rubenstein: "And now I'm movin' out!"
Larry Hryb : Yeah!
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughing) "Get my own place."
Larry Hryb : "See ya later, gang!" Uh, well that's cool, yeah. So you can find- You- They can find you on Twitter. Where do they follow? @IOCat.
Jeff Rubenstein: IOCat, yeah.
Larry Hryb : Ioca- was there-
Jeff Rubenstein: All these things are linked.
Larry Hryb : Do you want- Do you want me to- Can you explain the story behind that Twitter handle?
Jeff Rubenstein: I- No.
Larry Hryb : (chuckles)
Jeff Rubenstein: It's uh- It's real- It's really old. It's from the Apple 2 days.
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Everybody needed a handle.
Larry Hryb : I remember. I rem- I remember the Apple 2 days.
Jeff Rubenstein: What was your first handle? Was it majornelson?
Larry Hryb : Uh ... (laughing) That's a great question. No, it wasn't. Um, so I actually, I actually- that's a good question because there was- before there were computers and I lived in the time there wasn't when I was a little boy, my dad ha- we- I had a CB radio.
Jeff Rubenstein: Nice!
Larry Hryb : Uh, I had a CB radio license, uh, so I had that. So my red- handle- my dad gave it to me, was "redcap."
Jeff Rubenstein: Hmm.
Larry Hryb : That was it. So, I don't know why, but that was what he gave me. So that- That has- That ha- That lived in- Lived and died right there, so, anyway, that's a way to bring a broadcast to an end.
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughing) Well, no, we can't- You've got other stories [crosstalk 00:32:49]?
Larry Hryb : Oh, I have many stories!
Chris Charla: I want to know this, uh, Diet Dr. Pepper story.
Larry Hryb : Oh, the Diet Dr. Pepper story. What happened was is so, um, Jeff came into the studio before we were recording and he showed me the Diet Dr. Pepper and I got very excited. I'm a Diet Dr. Pepper fan. I should not drink it, but I do. S- I have very few vices, Chris.
When I joined the company in 2001, um, I was like, you know, we had free beverages at Microsoft and I was like, "Oh, this is a cool, big deal," And they didn't have Diet Dr. Pepper, so I started wri - this is before I was anybody - I started writing an email to the people that- whoever this email address was, it was behind stock in the things, I'm like, "Hey, can we get Diet Dr. Pepper?" And n- like, every two months I'd send the same letter.
Two months later- Or, I'm sorry, two years later, it finally appeared in the coolers and I'm taking credit for it.
Chris Charla: Nice!
Larry Hryb : So I was really excited. Well, about six or eight months ago, Jeff was with me, we noticed the Diet Dr. Pepper was no longer there.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, yeah. We got- We got coconut water instead.
Larry Hryb : Right?
Chris Charla: (laughing)
Jeff Rubenstein: Some- Had- Something had to go.
Chris Charla: Something!
Larry Hryb : So I was like, "Wait a minute, wh-" And I was like, okay, maybe this- maybe it's a bad week, maybe they didn't resto- And I went to, like, six different coolers on campus looking for them. So I started my letter-writing campaign again, and I said, "Hey, um, what happened?"
So long story short is the Diet Dr. Pepper [inaudible 00:33:59]-
Chris Charla: I am drinking one right now and it really does taste more like regular Dr. Pepper.
Larry Hryb : Yes. So it's- it's- Anyways, so I'm very excited that I- So- So that's-
Chris Charla: That's- That's awesome.
Larry Hryb : I'm taking credit for it's- for it's- for it being implemented, going away, and- and returning at- it's triumphant return!
Jeff Rubenstein: Larry, that's a great, ripping [inaudible 00:34:15] but let's talk about the other thing that you're supposed to tell me about that I've been waiting to hear about.
Larry Hryb : Which one? The-
Jeff Rubenstein: The thing that happened in Orlando.
Larry Hryb : So- So Chris, let me tell you what happened [inaudible 00:34:21]-
Chris Charla: Oh, nice.
Larry Hryb : I was hoping- hoping, uh, uh, Laura's gonna be here to tell us. So I go to Orlando for the Star Wars celebration, which is a- which was amazing, and it's always so fun to be in Florida (coughs). So flat, Jeffrey.
Jeff Rubenstein: There's no topography.
Larry Hryb : It's just like, f- ... Anyw- Oh, you know, you know you [inaudible 00:34:35] trouble when apparently the tallest mountain in central Florida (laughing)?
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, it i- (laughing) It's- It's uh, it's a landfill.
Larry Hryb : It's- No, it's Space Mountain (laughing).
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, it- I was in South Florida. My- My sister lives, um, smelling distance from the [inaudible 00:34:48] road dump which is, uh, [crosstalk 00:34:50]-
Larry Hryb : Mara Del- Mara Del [crosstalk 00:34:51] (laughing)?
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, stepping into that one, Larry! At a- at a height of like, 400 feet, it is the highest point in South Florida.
Larry Hryb : Wow. Anyway, so I g- So I go to this hotel and I will not give out the name to protect the innocent, but I get to this hotel, Chris, after flying all day and we've all done this, you know, business trips and-
Chris Charla: Yeah.
Larry Hryb : ... I'm exhausted, and I just want to get to the room, and ... So I put my- Put- Slide my card, uh, into the door. The door opens, and I open the door, and on the little desk - this is your basic hotel room, you know, with the- with the bathroom and then you walk through in the bedroom - and I see there's like this- this- this bottle of champagne, and like, flowers, and there's some food. I'm like, "This is cool, someone-" And I'm- I'm kind of- This is all happening so quickly, but it's in slow-mo.
I'm like, "Why did somebody- Why? Nobody knew I was here. Why do I have this?" And as I step three foot, four foot, five foot into the room, I realize there is a couple without any clothes on in the bed.
Chris Charla: (laughing) Oh, my goodness.
Larry Hryb : And apparently, I barged in on their party. So, uh, they- they let out a gasp. I let out a gasp, and I said, "Oh! Excuse me!" And I looked at the gentlemen. I said, "I think you have things covered here," And I left.
Jeff Rubenstein: Did you really (laughing)?
Larry Hryb : I can think pretty quickly sometimes! And it was- It was rather embarrassing, so I went down to the manager and I said, "Let me pull you aside here, [inaudible 00:36:06], just FYI, this is-" And he was- He was mortified, and they put me in a different room, but it was just- it- I'd never had that happen, Jeffrey!
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, I hope the new room had the champagne and the food as well.
Larry Hryb : Uh, I do not recall seeing that. It was- that was a little disappointing.
Jeff Rubenstein: Hmm ...
Chris Charla: I feel like a fruit basket might have been good compensation.
Jeff Rubenstein: Bare minimum!
Larry Hryb : You think? You think? It was- It was one of those moments where I- I- I apo- So, whoever that young couple is that I interrupted, uh, well done and I'm sorry to bother you (laughing).
Jeff Rubenstein: Keeping the magic alive!
Larry Hryb : Exactly. So, uh, whew, that was uh, that was uh ...
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughing)
Larry Hryb : Thank you for- I was gonna hopefully- I really wanted to tell that when Laura was here because I- I- I kind of started telling this story and you made me stop.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, because I wanted to hear it in-
Larry Hryb : Well, I texted you.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes.
Larry Hryb : I texted you and I said, "You're not gonna believe this."
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, yeah. Funny thing is I totally believe that.
Larry Hryb : It- It is! This- The weirdest stuff happens to me when I'm on the road.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. Yeah. Yes it does.
Larry Hryb : Um, and then we were at- We were getting in to go see Mark Hamill. I didn't tell you this story.
Jeff Rubenstein: No.
Larry Hryb : We're going in to see. They did the premiere of the Last Jedi, uh, the trailer, and we were running late. It was me and somebody from the team, and this woman, uh, this- this- this woman, the security woman- the security guard standing there, I said, "Hey, we- we need to get in to see it," And she looked at me, she said, "We can't let you in. It's over capacity."
And there was this dead silence, and she looked at me and she said, "You're the Xbox guy. Let's go." And she brought me in the back and were standing on the side of the stage, it was really this special moment.
Chris Charla: Nice.
Larry Hryb : So, anyway, that's-
Chris Charla: That's awesome.
Jeff Rubenstein: Did you get to meet Mark and-
Larry Hryb : We- I did not because they were- I- I didn't to- I didn't want to interrupt them.
Jeff Rubenstein: Ah.
Larry Hryb : They were having their moment.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, I guess so.
Larry Hryb : But it was fun. Orlando! Yay!
Jeff Rubenstein: It's, uh, America's #1 travel destination. Probably.
Larry Hryb : It- It is, uh, is, uh- Am I going back there? No, I'm not. I'm sorry. Uh, t- Apparently I'm not going back any time soon, but hopefully- Hopefully we- you know, you and I need to go back.
Jeff Rubenstein: We've never gone together. We need to go to the Millennium Mall-
Larry Hryb : We need to go to the Millennium Mall?
Jeff Rubenstein: We need to go to the- I used to know the, uh, community manager at that Microsoft store there.
Larry Hryb : We need to go to Universal Studios if I'm allowed back on property.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. That would be fun. Harry Potter land.
Chris Charla: I hea- I heard the Harry Potter land at Universal in Florida was like-
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, it's pretty- It's crazy. Yeah.
Chris Charla: Unbelievable. Unbelievable.
Larry Hryb : Everybody says that.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's- It's very cool.
Larry Hryb : I can't wait 'til Star Wars land opens up over at Dis- at, uh, down at Disneyworld.
Jeff Rubenstein: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb : Anyway. I'm sorry, we're doing too mu- too much theme park talk. That's another podcast that Jeff hosts.
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughing) Ye- Central Florida's theme-
Larry Hryb : Inside theme parks.
Jeff Rubenstein: Inside central Florida.
Larry Hryb : So yeah, so, uh, anyway, hey, we've got, uh, we've got Name the Game which is we do every week. Laura couldn't join us, but um, I spoke to her and I said, "Hey, look. Chris Charla is coming on the show. Do you think he could do it? 'Cause I mean, he's the games guy!" I mean, he does a- he does a zine! So she said yes. So anyway, we're gonna play Name the Game. We're gonna play the last week's clip right now, and Chris you're gonna come back and tell us who the winner is. How's that sound?
Chris Charla: Sounds good.
Sound Clip: (music) (frogs croak) (crickets chirp) (scraping)
(music fades, then continues)
Chris Charla: So big congratulations to Hannah from Brighton, U.K., gamertag HannahLou, who correctly identified Thimbleweed Park-
Larry Hryb : Yes!
Chris Charla: ... And your prize, of course, is a copy of Thimbleweed Park-
Jeff Rubenstein: But!
Chris Charla: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: You- You came with your pockets stuffed (laughing)!
Chris Charla: That's right. That's not all.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's not all!
Chris Charla: Uh, in addition to Thimbleweed Park, which is a fantastic game, you will also get Flint Hook, a new ID@Xbox game-
Larry Hryb : Ri- Ooh! We already talked that one up.
Jeff Rubenstein: We talked about that-
Chris Charla: Which we already talked about.
Larry Hryb : Yep.
Chris Charla: Late Shift.
Larry Hryb : Yep.
Jeff Rubenstein: (scoffs) It's like we planned this out!
Chris Charla: Which we also already talked about. Super cool new ID@Xbox title.
Larry Hryb : Yep.
Chris Charla: Voodoo Vince-
Jeff Rubenstein: Hmm!
Larry Hryb : Which we also talked about. Yeah.
Chris Charla: Amazing, which may or may not have a majornelson Easter egg in it.
Larry Hryb : Can- Cannot confirm or deny that at this time.
Chris Charla: Uh, City Skylines.
Larry Hryb : Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb : Which was the 500th ID@Xbox ti- Woo!
Chris Charla: Uh, the 500th ID@Xbox game.
Jeff Rubenstein: (cheering)
Larry Hryb : Audio confetti, audio confetti, audio confetti (laughing).
Jeff Rubenstein: Woo-hoo!
Chris Charla: And-
Jeff Rubenstein: [crosstalk 00:40:00] post.
Chris Charla: Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy-
Larry Hryb : Yeah!
Chris Charla: ... From our friends at Tell Tale!
Larry Hryb : Wow. So that's- That is a great collection of games. Thank you, Chris.
Chris Charla: That's pretty awesome.
Larry Hryb : Thank you Chris, for- Thank you for all of those, uh, the- First of all, congratulations, Hannah, for all the great, uh, for identifying this. Now, you're probably listening right now saying, "Oh, come on, how do I get in on the free games, Chris Charla?" Well, it's easy! All you need to do is we're gonna play an audio clip right now which is from an Xbox game. It could be- It could be any one of the types of games we've talked about, but you play it on the Xbox and uh, you guess what that is, send us an email, major@xbox.com or lollipop@xbox.com. Tell us where you're from, and uh, and uh, we'll put all the correct winners into a pile and randomly pull one. How's that sound, Chris?
Chris Charla: I think that sounds awesome.
Larry Hryb : All right, you ready to play the clip from this week?
Chris Charla: Yeah. Absolutely.
Sound Clip: (music) (roaring) (whooshing) (roaring)
Larry Hryb : So if you think you know what that is, just send me an email, like I said earlier. Major@xbox.com, you can uh, CC lauralollipop@xbox.com. Good luck to everybody. We'll, uh, you can win cool games just like the ones Chris went over, right?
Chris Charla: Absolutely.
Larry Hryb : Right. Well, how are things going? You getting ready for E3?
Chris Charla: Yes.
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Chris Charla: Yes.
Larry Hryb : Yeah, you got- I mean, we- I don't know- We- we're not gonna talk too much about it because we do- We can't. Uh, but you're- It's always a busy time of the year for those [inaudible 00:41:30]. They must get excited when you call them and say, "Yeah, yeah. You want to be on the stage?" Right?
Chris Charla: Yeah. Who doesn't get- I mean, if somebody, if- You know-
Jeff Rubenstein: Right.
Chris Charla: Uh- It- It's the big show, right?
Larry Hryb : Right, it is the big show.
Chris Charla: It is the biggest stage in video games, and so the- to the extent we've been able to showcase some cool ID games there. It's been super awesome.
Larry Hryb : Or when we have them playable on the show floor, some- any- any of the events- w- events we're doing-
Chris Charla: Absolutely.
Larry Hryb : It's always- It's always good to see that, and you guys are- Maybe- I mean, I don't- I don't want to- I don't want to push it on you, but usually towards like around PAX, PAX Prime, we do a, we do a little ID game event here.
Chris Charla: Yeah!
Larry Hryb : Are we gonna do that again this year?
Chris Charla: Yeah, absolutely.
Larry Hryb : Uh, okay.
Chris Charla: I think it was already booked.
Larry Hryb : Oh, is it?
Jeff Rubenstein: Nice.
Chris Charla: Yeah, I- It- I'm pretty sure.
Larry Hryb : They haven't given us the dates, but just so- Just- Just if everyone remembers the past couple years, you and your team put together this- You- You round up these amazing developers. You bring them on, uh, to the Microsoft campus here, and then we just throw open the doors and say, "Hey, if you're in the area, come on down!"
Chris Charla: Yeah. We have a big open house at Building 92-
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Chris Charla: ... And uh, invite everybody in to play a bunch of ID games and last year I think we had 50 games and- and we had Halo Wars and the year before we had, I think, Big Halo and, uh-
Larry Hryb : Yeah. Big Ha- Is that what we call it? Big Halo (laughing)?
Chris Charla: You know, it's we- (laughing)
Larry Hryb : Big Halo, Baby Halo.
Chris Charla: Um, but yeah, it's really fun. Um, we throw open the doors for a few hours-
Larry Hryb : Hundreds of people show up. Yeah.
Chris Charla: Yeah, yeah. I think last year we had, like-
Larry Hryb : Many, many hundreds, I gather. Yeah.
Chris Charla: Yeah, tons.
Larry Hryb : Yeah, it was- It's a lot of fun because it's great to walk around and see- I mean, it always- Whenever any of the events you do, you see the developers who many, for the first time, are showing off their games to people that have never seen it before.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb : So they're looking through with really fresh eyes.
Chris Charla: Yeah, and- And there's- As a developer - and we talk to developers all the time, you know, what's working for you, what's not working for you- and, and those kind of events they love because you know, it's not just about getting- obviously getting to see people, most of these games that we show at these kind of events are not done yet.
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Chris Charla: And so they get to see people play their game before it's finished, so they get to see, like, oh, they're enjoying this part, they're not enjoying this-
Larry Hryb : Oh, they're having a hard time- Right.
Chris Charla: ... And it's, you know, and so- It's r- It's great feedback, but I think to me the thing that I always love and if a developer hasn't shown, uh, you know, publicly before, getting to see that happen for the first time is amazing, is that, you know, you've been working at- you're a developer, you've been working on this game for months and months by yourself. You- you hope it's good, and you put it out there in the public and when you see people start to play the game and they're smiling and they're laughing and they're getting their friends to play it-
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Chris Charla: ... That energizes you as a developer so much-
Larry Hryb : Right.
Chris Charla: ... And so, and for us, it's, you know, the- the guys who are, you know, on this program, um, getting to see the developers get energized energizes us and it's just, you know, there's that moment - for me, anyway - um, right before, you know, one of those events opens it's doors and you look around and there's like, you know, 50 new games and, you know, 50 studios and you're- it's just, like, super special to like, you know, be there for that and-
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Chris Charla: ... It's just really fun.
Jeff Rubenstein: One of the games I played last year that I had a really good time with was Deformers, and that's coming out really soon isn't it?
Chris Charla: Yeah, Deformers should be out, uh, uh, literally any time now.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. S- Maybe even by the time they hear this.
Larry Hryb : "Deformers"? What was it about?
Jeff Rubenstein: So it's sort of like an arena battler of like these squishy animal balls- I-
Chris Charla: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Like it's hard to- It- It looks really cool, and it's like, it's- again the- I think you can play with, like people of a variety of different skills, but there's definitely like some serious strategy to it.
Chris Charla: Oh yeah. Yeah. When you first play it's like super fun button mash-y fun, so you play it at a show or something-
Jeff Rubenstein: Yep.
Chris Charla: ... You immediately get into it, but when you play it more and more, like, you know, obviously if you're skilled, you- you win, and uh, so it's got like-
Larry Hryb : Kind of like life (laughing).
Chris Charla: Exactly. Li- Easy to access, and then, but it's actually got this deep skill thing to it which is really, really cool.
Jeff Rubenstein: And- And it's made by Ready at Dawn, who-
Chris Charla: Yep.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... I guess this would probably be the first game they've ever made to appear on Xbox, if I recall. They did the- the God of War games for PSP.
Larry Hryb : Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Change of Olympus and whatever the other one was. Um ...
Larry Hryb : You worked on those, didn't- Are yo- Are you in those games?
Jeff Rubenstein: I did. Actually, I'm- I'm in the credits, I believe, for those games-
Larry Hryb : Yeah!
Jeff Rubenstein: ... And uh, and then they did the Order 1886 and they're, you know, doing other stuff so it's cool to-
Larry Hryb : Ah-
Jeff Rubenstein: One of the- One of the marketing guys, I- I knew 'cause I used to work with them. That actually was kind of cool.
Larry Hryb : Yeah. Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Anyway. Keep an eye out for it, yep.
Chris Charla: Yeah. It's a [crosstalk 00:45:21] game.
Larry Hryb : Delightful. Yeah, so anyway, so we'll be doing that later this year, but yeah, you guys all have a lot going on. It's a- What was- So- What do you hope when you- We're kinda- kinda wrap the show up here, but when you look forward, what do you hope to get out of the next 500 games on Xbox?
Chris Charla: Man. If we got, uh, the same things that we got out of the last 500-
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Chris Charla: ... I would be completely satisfied-
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Chris Charla: ... But- But knowing what's coming, uh, some of the games that are coming are just tremendous-
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Chris Charla: ... And, uh, it- it- it- to me, like, um, like uh, you know, we try really hard on the program - on ID - we never want to sit around and say like, "Oh, yeah. We made it. Like, everything's cool." You know.
Larry Hryb : No.
Chris Charla: Like, we're always just focused on, like, hey, what can we do next? How can we shave two hours off a developer's journey onto Xbox? How can we make things a little bit easier? So we- we really focus on what's next and how we can fix things, but when I look at just the number of games that came out-
Larry Hryb : Right.
Chris Charla: ... From, um, um, that's awesome.
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Chris Charla: Uh, uh, when I (chuckles) look at just the number of games that have come out and just the diversity, it- it is just tremendous, and I think what you're gonna see in the next 500 - and we've got more than 1,000 games in development right now coming through the ID [crosstalk 00:46:27] -
Larry Hryb : Wow! Wow!
Chris Charla: ... Is uh, y- just an incredible flowering of what independent developers can do, and- and what you thought an independent developer could do five years ago or three years ago or six months ago-
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Chris Charla: ... Uh, compared to what independent developers are gonna be doing six months from now or two years from now-
Larry Hryb : Yeah, 'cause you- you're looking six, 12, 18, 24 months up the pipeline.
Chris Charla: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Uh, is, you know, and- and when we think about Project Scorpio-
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Chris Charla: ... It is gonna be, uh, ridiculous, and so it's- it's a- it's a great time to be a player on Xbox right now.
Larry Hryb : And I know that the- I don't want to ha- I don't want to put you in a position where you're, you know, representing every single ID@Xbox game, and I don't mean to do that, but since you work with them on a regular basis, what are some of the themes you see of, everyone talks about, oh mobile gaming is huge, and certainly the- it is huge for a certain audience, but how does that sit next to the ID gamer around it, behind it, above it, be- I don't know, right?
Chris Charla: You know, it- it's been really interesting. Um, we've seen games come to Xbox that actually started in mobile-
Larry Hryb : Right.
Chris Charla: ... And, you know and they do work to make sure it feels like an Xbox game and everything like that, and- and sometimes they do really, really well-
Larry Hryb : Right.
Chris Charla: ... Because it's, you know, it's about like, you know, is this game, you know if we're thinking just about Xbox One, you know, putting Windows 10 aside for a minute, um, does this game feel good with my hands on a controller looking at a TV in my living room?
Larry Hryb : Right.
Chris Charla: And, uh, and those kind of games can come from any place.
Larry Hryb : Right.
Chris Charla: Um, one thing that's been neat is we've seen some developers go to the- the mobile fields, really, really great developers, and now they're coming back to console. Um, they've learned stuff, but they- they want to be back in console, and um, it's amazing to see the games that those guys are producing.
Larry Hryb : I gotta say, I just- I just noticed this. Jeff, I don't know if you noticed this. You know, over the past month or so I've been playing Zelda Breath of the Wild.
Jeff Rubenstein: You and I both.
Larry Hryb : Right, and I think you have as well, right, Chris?
Chris Charla: Oh, yeah. Yeah.
Larry Hryb : And you have a [inaudible 00:48:12] pin on.
Chris Charla: No! It's not! It's- It's-
Larry Hryb : Is it? It looks-
Chris Charla: It's, uh, [inaudible 00:48:17].
Larry Hryb : Oh! It looks like [inaudible 00:48:18]- Oh! Okay.
Chris Charla: Yeah.
Larry Hryb : It looks like- From here, it looks like [inaudible 00:48:21], the guy that you give the- the seeds to. Doesn't it?
Chris Charla: Oh, yeah. No, no.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, is the [inaudible 00:48:24] name?
Larry Hryb : Yes!
Jeff Rubenstein: I was like, "I don't know what [inaudible 00:48:26] is," (laughing).
Chris Charla: Yeah, no, no, this is from a cool ID@Xbox game called [inaudible 00:48:30] that's being developed my Glumberland which is a two-person studio, um-
Larry Hryb : Where are they?
Chris Charla: They are in New Hampshire.
Larry Hryb : Ah! Jeff and I know New Hampshire very well!
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughing) We're going back!
Larry Hryb : We're going back!
Chris Charla: So, uh-
Jeff Rubenstein: That's good, that's a Xbox play anywhere game as well, is it not?
Chris Charla: Yeah. It's gonna be Xbox play anywhere.
Larry Hryb : Tell- Tell us a little bit about [inaudible 00:48:45]. When is that coming out?
Chris Charla: Uh- I do not know.
Larry Hryb : Okay.
Chris Charla: In the future-
Larry Hryb : In the future.
Chris Charla: ... But it's super, super cool looking game. Really, really cute style and it is basically a mash-up of a farming game-
Larry Hryb : Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Chris Charla: ... Uh-
Larry Hryb : So Stardew Valley-like?
Chris Charla: Yeah. Animal Crossing-
Larry Hryb : Okay. 'Kay.
Chris Charla: In terms of interacting with all these kind of characters, and then the things that you're raising are these [inaudible 00:49:04]-
Larry Hryb : Two people? Two people are doing this?
Chris Charla: ... And, y- That's right.
Larry Hryb : Right? Oh, my gosh.
Chris Charla: And, uh, yeah. Rebecca and Ben, and um-
Larry Hryb : Are they- Are they a couple?
Chris Charla: I think so, but I'm not sure, so I don't want to-
Larry Hryb : Okay. Okay, doesn't matter. (chuckles) It doesn't matter.
Chris Charla: And, um, and uh, and then there's a, a big Pokemon element in terms of these characters that you're raising and collecting.
Larry Hryb : Have you heard of that game, Jeffrey? Pokemon?
Jeff Rubenstein: The- The Poke-Mans?
Larry Hryb : (chuckles) The Poke-mons. I know you- I-
Jeff Rubenstein: Look, I- I'm not bragging about my Pokedex being 227. I wouldn't do that on a podcast or anything like that, but-
Larry Hryb : Yeah. Jeffrey. Jeffrey, brag- Nobody likes a bragger I believe is what somebody told me once (laughing)!
Jeff Rubenstein: I may have said that to you once on ... Bit me on the butt for that one. Yep.
Larry Hryb : Any-hoo, uh, yeah, that's- I remember [inaudible 00:49:43] because I saw that when I came down to San Francisco for doing our event.
Chris Charla: Yeah, you were at- at GDC.
Larry Hryb : Right, yeah. I remember that. That's- I can't wait to see that, but yeah, I would love to go back up to New Hampshire.
Chris Charla: Yeah. New Hampshire's awesome.
Larry Hryb : I don't- th- I- that- I don't think we've ever had a game out of New Hampshire.
Chris Charla: It- They may be- So we just shipped out first game from South Africa-
Larry Hryb : Okay.
Chris Charla: ... And, um, and, and yeah, this may be our first game from- from [crosstalk 00:50:02]-
Larry Hryb : Do you tra- Do you ha- Like, do you guys have a map, like, you know, a big map with the push pins on it?
Chris Charla: We- Actually- Well, uh, actually, um, somebody on our team, uh, has gone into like, Power BI-
Larry Hryb : Right.
Chris Charla: ... And we actually have a spinning globe that, uh-
Larry Hryb : (gasps)
Chris Charla: We have a gif of a spinning globe that shows where every ID@Xbox developer is.
Larry Hryb : Can you send it to me? If I- Or if you tweet it out, I'll re-tweet it.
Chris Charla: Yeah. Yeah, that would be awesome.
Larry Hryb : I'd love to see that. That'd be awesome.
Jeff Rubenstein: And Antarctica, just ... [inaudible 00:50:24] ...
Larry Hryb : Yeah. Just- Under-represented.
Chris Charla: Come on, guys.
Jeff Rubenstein: See, I know you're like, a, you're obsessive with- I've- Cause I remember a few years ago at PAX, you like, stood up in the middle of the [inaudible 00:50:31] and you're like, "Does anyone-" On your 3DS, like, 'cause you were trying to get, like, one last state, like, Indiana or something like that to get the street pass with.
Larry Hryb : Yeah. I needed Iowa.
Jeff Rubenstein: Iowa. It was an I state.
Chris Charla: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Um, th- Antarctica. Come on. We need it. We need to hit that seven- seventh continent.
Chris Charla: That would be awesome.
Larry Hryb : We need- H- Have you ever had one from my home state of Connecticut?
Chris Charla: I don't know if we have.
Larry Hryb : Oh, come on, nutmeg state! I need you to represent!
Jeff Rubenstein: Is it the nutmeg state?
Larry Hryb : Yes, it is. Yes it is.
Jeff Rubenstein: So there's a state completely around kicking a soccer ball between someone else's legs?
Larry Hryb : Uh, sure. Like, okay, that's- That's pleasant.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's very interesting. Okay. That's-
Larry Hryb : That's really- That's really what you're doing here on this show?
Jeff Rubenstein: That's what a nutmeg is.
Larry Hryb : No, I'm just- it is a spice.
Jeff Rubenstein: That, too.
Larry Hryb : Okay. Don't you- You have it on your- you have it on your-
Jeff Rubenstein: Your eggnog.
Larry Hryb : Your eggnog (laughing) once- us- Apparently that's all.
Jeff Rubenstein: Maybe not the best industry.
Larry Hryb : No, no, it's-
Jeff Rubenstein: The thriving nutmeg industry.
Larry Hryb : Yes, it's good right along with-
Jeff Rubenstein: B- Home of Big Nutmeg. Hartford.
Larry Hryb : (laughing) Big Nutmeg and Big Insurance. Uh, anyway, so yeah, there's- so you, you've uh, you've got gre- Anyway, man, I kn- I know I gotta let you go 'cause you've got- you've got some work to do (chuckles).
Chris Charla: Yeah.
Larry Hryb : So I really appreciate coming by. You're always welcome, Chris Charla. You're always welcome to come on the show. Uh, @IOCat. You can follow him on Twitter. Um, if you see- If they see you they- they can get a zine from you, right?
Chris Charla: That's right.
Jeff Rubenstein: I- I would like a zine.
Chris Charla: And- And I have to warn you, if you're wearing a Cuphead shirt and you're walking around, I will stop you and start talking to you.
Larry Hryb : Okay. That's g-
Chris Charla: I was just in L.A. and I saw somebody walking around with a Cuphead shirt and I was like-
Larry Hryb : Did he know who you were?
Chris Charla: W- Actually, yeah, he kinda did, and then- So wh- we're just ended up talking about Cuphead and, and Xbox for a long time, so, cool dude.
Larry Hryb : Oh. That's great. Well that's- That's beau- Isn't that great, when you're traveling, when- And certainly when you're going to Redmond in Seattle we run into people that are Xbox fans all the time, but Jeff and I, and just like yourself, you travel the world and you run into people who, I ran into this when I was in Orlando. The guy, uh, at, at TSA- Jeff, I didn't tell you this?
Jeff Rubenstein: No.
Larry Hryb : The TSA, the guy looked at the- you know, I hand him my, you know, I hand him my ID and my- my, um, my uh, airline ticket and he looks at, looks at it, looks at me, looks at it, looks like ... "Major Nelson. How's it going." I said, "What's up?" And so we start- We started talking about what we were playing. You never know where people you run into are-
Jeff Rubenstein: And then you were randomly - "randomly" - selected for, uh, a- a- [crosstalk 00:52:31] screening. Yeah.
Larry Hryb : You know, now that you mention it, I was. I was. They- they had me-
Jeff Rubenstein: Got any game codes in those pockets?
Larry Hryb : (laughing)
Chris Charla: I was checking into a tiny little- like, it was at your Gamescom and I was going up to meet my family in Scandinavia, and on- on the way I stayed in Hamburg for a night and I was checking into this tiny little, like, you know, whatever the cheapest hotel was I could find in Hamburg.
Larry Hryb : Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Chris Charla: I'm checking in, I'm all exhausted, and the guy just looks at me and, I was wearing a Cuphead shirt. He's like, "Cuphead. When is it shipping?" (laughing).
Larry Hryb : (laughing)
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughing)
Larry Hryb : That's awesome.
Chris Charla: It was kind of amazing.
Larry Hryb : Are- You're- You're kind of like, exhausted. You're like, "Wh- Wait a minute, what?" It's amazing how those moments just kind of snap into focus-
Chris Charla: Yeah.
Larry Hryb : ... And you're like, yeah, there's this- It just shows you to your point about the 500 games, how games of all sizes, shapes and sizes, touch everybody around this globe.
Chris Charla: Absolutely. It's amazing, and totally brings everybody together.
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Chris Charla: Like, if you see somebody with a Cuphead shirt on-
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, Cuphead!
Chris Charla: ... Kind of friends automatically.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, yeah. You've got something in common.
Larry Hryb : Jeffrey, did- do you have a Cuphead t-shirt?
Jeff Rubenstein: I don't. I don't have a Cuphead shirt.
Larry Hryb : Because I don't either. I don't either.
Chris Charla: Yeah. We may be able to fix that.
Larry Hryb : All right. I went- I would- I want a Mug Man shirt (laughing).
Chris Charla: I- I had people [inaudible 00:53:31] Mug Man shirt to my Cuphead shirt.
Larry Hryb : Wait, there's a Mug Man shirt?!
Chris Charla: Oh, yeah. Absolutely.
Larry Hryb : He's got the- the big nose like me-
Jeff Rubenstein: Right.
Larry Hryb : ... And he's blue, like me-
Jeff Rubenstein: Like you.
Chris Charla: Yeah.
Larry Hryb : Okay. I've- Well, either way. Maybe- Maybe you get Cuphead- Mug Man for him and Cuphead for me.
Chris Charla: We can- We can [crosstalk 00:53:42].
Jeff Rubenstein: That's a- That's a- That's a new, um, Twitter banner right there.
Larry Hryb : I need to cha- you know what else? You know, we talked earlier about um, about uh, some of the new features coming to Xbox. One of them is custom gamer pictures.
Jeff Rubenstein: I updated mine.
Larry Hryb : Yeah, I saw you updated yours. I updated- Did you update yours yet?
Chris Charla: I have not yet.
Larry Hryb : Yeah, I- I mean, I need to update my Cuphead.
Jeff Rubenstein: I still have my day one, you know, remember like on-
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... On the one-year anniversary, got that day one gamer picture?
Larry Hryb : Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: And so like I, just, like, I really like that one, so ...
Larry Hryb : I- I- I feel the same way. My original one was one- the toast one, which was-
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, yeah.
Chris Charla: [crosstalk 00:54:09].
Larry Hryb : Which we call "angry toast," because he's like, "Grr!" So I- I finally swapped it out and I did, uh, a great picture of the- the- the um, uh, the Scorpio engine. You know, the chip.
Chris Charla: Oh, nice.
Larry Hryb : And then I had- N- I now have one for Voodoo Vince so yeah, I'll change it out every now and then, but that feature will be coming to everybody very soon to Xbox, but, all right. We've been random enough in this show. Jeffrey, thanks for your time.
Jeff Rubenstein: Happy to be here.
Larry Hryb : Chris Charla, again, congratulations to you and everybody on the ID@Xbox game shi- ship, uh, team shipping 500 titles. Huge milestone.
Chris Charla: Yeah. Thanks a lot and thanks to all the developers who've been supporting the program.
Larry Hryb : Yes, thank you developers, and thank you fans. All right, gang. We'll talk to you next time. Buh-bye everybody!
Jeff Rubenstein: Buh-bye.
Chris Charla: Bye!

Larry Hryb: Hi, it's Larry Hryb, Xbox Live's Major Nelson, thank you for downloading the show. Jeff, good to see you.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's good to see you too, Larry.
Larry Hryb: Sitting across from you is an empty microphone, Laura is out of the office again, and you know what that means?
Jeff Rubenstein: We're playing hookie? Oh, we're gonna be off the rails.
Larry Hryb: No.
Jeff Rubenstein: What?
Larry Hryb: It means Albert's here. (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes! We've never seen you two in the same place.
Albert Penello: No, we did. Actually, last time, it has been confirmed after many years that we are not the same person because we were in the same place at the same time.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, we did one show.
Albert Penello: But this goes back to the tradition of every time I'm on the show, she just decides to-
Larry Hryb: Well, it's funny, because when I was- when I was talking to him, like, "Hey, Albert, can you come on this show because we're gonna talk about some Scorpio stuff", we'll do that in a little bit.
Albert Penello: Never heard of it.
Larry Hryb: But you, uh ... I looked at the schedule, I'm like, "Oh, hey, of course Laura's gone, thanks, so ..."
Albert Penello: I- Did I do something? I've been so nice to her.
Larry Hryb: I know, we all have. She's a tough read, she is.
Albert Penello: She bails every time I'm on the show.
Larry Hryb: She's a tough read. But anyway [crosstalk 00:01:22] It's great-it's great to see you, you are-you are the, uh, the director of Scorpio marketing?
Jeff Rubenstein: Senior director.
Albert Penello: Come on.
Larry Hryb: I know, sorry.
Albert Penello: [inaudible 00:01:29]
Jeff Rubenstein: You know how I know it's senior? Because of the gray hair. (laughs)
Albert Penello: Really? (laughs) From this crew?
Larry Hryb: Anyway, we usually- we ... you know, the show ... I got Albert on the show because we had some news, um, this week, depending upon when you're listening to this, that just recently broke about Scorpio, and you were involved with that, and I wanted to kind of get you on because I-I read the- I read the story over at, um, over at Digital Foundry, watched the video, and I'm-I'm not the smartest person in the world, um-
Albert Penello: Oh, Larry.
Larry Hryb: But my god, the techno-the technology that's in that video and what was going over, I felt like I was in an electrical engineering class, I stumbled into the wrong room.
Albert Penello: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: That being said, um, the article was called "Scorpio is console hardware pushed to a new level", and you should read it, even if you're not gonna understand every spec, which is why we've got you here, it is well worth reading.
Albert Penello: Actually, well he also ... oh, I mean, we're gonna be talking about ... he also has a great sort of article just for like what does it mean if you're not technically savvy, that's also really excellent.
Jeff Rubenstein: Scorpio made simple.
Albert Penello: Scorpio made simple.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'll link to all of those in the show notes.
Larry Hryb: But anyway, normally we do the show, we talk about what we're playing, and have some interviews, but I figured to let you know, there's such ... this is the first time, frankly, since E3 last year where we said, "Okay, we'll talk about Scorpio."
Albert Penello: Yeah, it was, uh ...
Larry Hryb: So let's do that.
Albert Penello: Yeah, we were joking before, what game have I been playing? The game I've been playing is getting ready to tell everyone about Scorpio.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Albert Penello: Uh, it is funny, because we have said very little since E3 last year.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Albert Penello: And I kind of joked that we announced, like, we said three numbers, we said 60 teraflops and eight cores and 320 gigabytes, and the most powerful console ever, and then nothing, really.
Larry Hryb: Well we kind of said four if you want to count 2017.
Albert Penello: Okay, and 2017, yeah, coming next year.
Larry Hryb: Right (laughs)
Albert Penello: So, uh, you know, people thought it was crazy to announce a new console at the beginning of the show, and then announce another new console at the end of the show.
Larry Hryb: But we did it.
Albert Penello: But we did it, and, uh, you know, the-the anticipation and the reaction was great. Um, and of course inside, you just want to, like, tell everybody everything right away.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. Now I must-I must tell a personal story, I'm sorry to cut you off, which is what I do in the show. Um, is ... Albert, I've known you a long time, you've been ... you and I have been working on the Xbox business for a long time, and I would- I stopped by your office frequently, "Hey, what's going on?", and you kind of tell me what, this is the plans for the next thing, you know, in this case Scorpio. So you and I have been chatting about this for quite some time.
Albert Penello: Quite some time, that's right.
Larry Hryb: And so I'm-I was so excited, obviously, when we announced it last year, and even more excited because we're sharing more details.
Albert Penello: Yeah, yeah, I mean, so the-the idea was, you know, uh, when we announce the specs last year, we made a claim, like, we stuck our flag, as it were, and said we're gonna build the most powerful console ever, and we're gonna deliver 4K games. And it was interesting because people, you know, they question things like that. "Are you really gonna be able to do it?," and "I don't understand? And I knew that we not only were gonna deliver it, I believe we would exceed it, and what's been great about today is that I think, um, we have been able to prove definitely with an outlet that is known for being very savvy and being very technically focused, we've been able to sort of tell the story that, yeah, we're gonna do exactly what we said we were gonna do, and better.
Larry Hryb: Let's talk about that for a second, because I saw some people online going, "Wait a minute, why would you- why would you just not do an event, why did you ... why Digital Foundry?" So tell me a little bit about why-why the decision to go with ... or to talk to Digital Foundry? I mean, they're well respected, as I always like to say, they're the pixel counters on the Internet. (laughs)
Albert Penello: Yeah. Look, I mean, here's the thing. The launch has been unorthodox, and I mean that in a great way. Like, we are doing things unexpected, and announcing a year early was unexpected.
Larry Hryb: Never happened before.
Albert Penello: Um, typically people think, "Oh, they're gonna do a big reveal event and they're gonna parade people out on stage", and we said, "No, like, this product is for core gamers. This product is a technical achievement beyond just a bunch of numbers on a page." And really, like, the guy, Richard and the guys at DF, that's what they do, they're an unbiased, well respected source, they're very knowledgeable, there's nobody like them, and we thought, "You know what, why, if I go out and tell the specs, and if anybody follows Neogaf they'll laugh at that, but if I go out and talk about it, you know, then people are just gonna say, "Well I'll just wait for Digital Foundry."
Larry Hryb: "Well that's just Albert", yeah.
Albert Penello: Well, exactly. And so I'm like, "Why don't we just go to Digital Foundry?" Then you don't have to wait.
Larry Hryb: Cut to the chase.
Albert Penello: So yeah, it was-it was-it was a, I think it was a, uh, I don't want say bold decision, but I think it was an out of the box decision, and for what we were trying to do I think it was a good one.
Larry Hryb: And let's be clear, it was a bold decision because, my understanding is you invited Richard-Richard-Richard Leadbetter from Digital Foundry to come in here. And we showed him everything, we didn't know ... and this is an honest to god true story, we did not know until the morning that article went up what was ... what he was gonna say, right?
Albert Penello: Uh, 100%. In fact, I, uh, you know, we, you know, you prepare for something like this.
Larry Hryb: Sure.
Albert Penello: We-we read his stuff, I read his stuff, your listeners read his stuff.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Albert Penello: You know what he's been thinking, you know what he's been saying. So we had a good idea that we were gonna exceed his expectations, because we knew what his expectations were.
Larry Hryb: Sure.
Albert Penello: So you plan, you have a day prepared, you want to ... you-you know what questions he's gonna ask.
Larry Hryb: You studied for the test.
Albert Penello: We studied ... but more-more than that, it's like, we didn't ... look, we built a great product. I mean, the people that have been reading the reviews, they know that, we're building a great product. And so we were gonna let the product speak for itself, and we were gonna have an expert come in. And the fact is that I was up at 5:40, I was up at 5:15.
Larry Hryb: So was I.
Albert Penello: I was here at 6:00, 5:56 with the crew, with hitting refresh on my browser just like anyone else, because again, when you do that, it's like ... look, you know the movie business, you make your movie, and you put it out and you're waiting for the reviews to come in, or you're waiting for what the feedback is.
Jeff Rubenstein: Can we back up a little bit? All three of us, I know, have read this article, but for those who ha- or are listening here now and haven't read the article, what did you show Richard?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, let's go through what-what he say and kind of ... because I know certainly he was ... he wrote a ... he did some videos, he wrote a lot of words about it, but tell us about it.
Albert Penello: Yeah, well I think, you know, we were really focused on the tech. So one of the pieces of feedback I'll just start with is, like, "Hey, they didn't show or announce any games, they didn't announce a date or a price." And, like, we all knew from going in, that wasn't what the goal ... there are other events, maybe some events that happen, you know, in the summertime, and later in the year.
Larry Hryb: In Los Angeles.
Albert Penello: In Los Angeles, perhaps, where things like that happen. But we-we knew that people were gonna have questions about what- about these numbers, and about what we were doing. So we wanted to bring the foremost expert in to do that, and so this was a tech, spec, and hardware unveil, it wasn't intended to be a game unveil. We did show him some-some engine demos, a Forza tech, we took him to Turn 10.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, he talked about that in the video.
Albert Penello: And he talked about in the video. Because we knew we needed to punctuate this with content.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Albert Penello: We needed him to see something running to validate the claims. Um, and so he did, but it wasn't a game reveal, it was a tech and hardware reveal. So what we basically did is we brought him in, and Mike Ybarra and myself just gave him a little bit of background on-on Project Scorpio and what our goals were. Um, we kind of told him, "Hey, you know, we want to-we want to get our mojo back, we want to be the platform where the best games are played on Xbox." That was our drive.
Larry Hryb: That's the goal.
Albert Penello: That's the goal. And we wanted to hit four things, you know, we wanted to hit ... we wanted to own 4K, we really wanted to hit a big beat around 4K. Um, we want it to be a great platform for developers, and I think people will hear maybe more news around our developer story. We have a really awesome developer story.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Albert Penello: Uh, we want it to, um, be, um, excellent, uh, for people who have 1080p TVs and we could talk a little bit about the fact that not everybody is gonna have 4K this year. And it needed to be a great Xbox, even if you don't have 4K. And it-it ... everything needed to work, and all the effort and energy we put into compatibility and upgradability, and things like that. So those were the four things we wanted to take him through, and we just spent the day, you know, taking him through all those- all those areas.
Larry Hryb: We-we heard a lot, or we saw a lot in the video, and we've seen some chatter online afterwards about the Scorpio engine. Explain, you know ... I want to kind of ... if we can go through his article and maybe talk about some of the things, and bring them down to, you know, to something I can understand.
Albert Penello: Yeah. (laughs) Well frankly, or something I can understand, too, because I still- I still sit ... I've been doing this for years and I still sit in awe, um, over guys like Andrew-
Larry Hryb: Yeah, these electrical engineers-
Albert Penello: You know, Kevin, and talk about the software and the hardware, still-
Larry Hryb: But I would like to point out that you-you do have an honorary pocket protector, so you are kind of a nerd. (laughs)
Albert Penello: You know what, they let me in the club, right? I'm the class clown, it's like, "You can come in. That guy's cool, let him in."
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, exactly.
Albert Penello: But so, no, you know, I've been working with those guys for along time, so-so I understand, but still, like, the passion and the deep depth and history of game development and hardware development-
Larry Hryb: From the Silicon point of view.
Albert Penello: Yeah, from Silicon, and Andrew from graphics, and Kevin, you know. [Gamel 00:10:06] from the platform perspective, these guys are wicked smart.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Albert Penello: Um, but no, like, uh, I think your question was explaining it-
Larry Hryb: The engine.
Albert Penello: Yeah, the Scorpio engine.
Larry Hryb: Well more about the engine, but more about explaining what we saw.
Albert Penello: Well there was two things, first off is when we announced Project Scorpio, you know, it's a cool name. And the Scorpio engine was really the sort of thing we're talking about.
Larry Hryb: You know that the Internet wants that to be the final name.
Albert Penello: I know the internet wants that to be the final name.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's already got an emoticon.
Albert Penello: Well, and it's now ... it is part of the final product in the Scorpio engine. That will be where Scorpio continues on into the product, that's-that's where that sort of, the beating heart of the product is the Scorpio engine. The other thing I like about it is, um, it is very easy, and I see this frequently, for people to think that building a console is like building a PC. That I just call up AMD and I say, "Give me that CPU and give me that GPU."
Larry Hryb: You go to PartPicker.com.
Albert Penello: It's like AMD's got a Fry's Electronics shop that we just go pick at, for those in the West Coast that know Fry's. And then that's it, that's how you make a console. And it's so much more than that.
Larry Hryb: Talk to us about that.
Albert Penello: It's so much more complicated. Well, you know, we, AMD is a great partner for ours, that AMD has IP, they have technology, we have IP and technology. Um, we work with them to scope the objectives and goals of the project, so there is AMD IP and there's Microsoft IP in these things, and we work together to build the Scorpio engine. It is not just simply a Radeon graphics chip and a Jaguar core that we've sort of just glued together. It's way more complicated than that, again, a reason why a guy like Richard Leadbetter's perfect to tell that story. So we wanted to sort of talk about all the customizations, because the Scorpio engine is something unique, and it's something that we're super proud of.
Larry Hryb: Should I think of it, you know, should people think of the Scorpio has like, this-this is the graphics engine, or this is the game engine, this is the sound ... what, is it all of those?
Albert Penello: Well that's the thing about a game console is you have what's called a system on a chip.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, SOC.
Albert Penello: SOC, you'll see an SOC which is the-the memory controller and the CPU and the GPU and the audio processing blocks and all of the command processors are all in one thing.
Larry Hryb: Whereas normally on a PC board they'd be broken out, correct?
Albert Penello: You'd have a ... well I wouldn't say sound card, but you used to have those. But in the old days-
Larry Hryb: Did I date myself again?
Albert Penello: I did.
Jeff Rubenstein: The sound blaster?
Albert Penello: You'd have a sound blaster, well you'd put your sound blaster in your 3dfx card. No, but you'd have these discrete components is what you'd call it, right, discrete components that do all these things. In the Scorpio engine and in modern consoles they're all in one place, and we call that the Scorpio engine.
Larry Hryb: Got it. So that's what ... so let's continue on with, you know, what he saw, and Jeff, you seem to have a question.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well yeah, I-I ... so we talked about six teraflops, I saw way more numbers come out in that. So six teraflops tells us something about just, like, raw power, but I think we're getting sort of a better idea of what that can now translate into.
Albert Penello: Yeah, I mean there's so many ... there are so many, um, numbers. (laughs) And each of them is important to do different things. Like, again, I hate ... I-I wish I could just come up with a great analogy, you know, about a car or something, because that's where I tend to go. But, you know, you generally think of the-the GPU as about rendering the pixels on the screen, and CPU is about AI and frame rate.
Larry Hryb: Moving those bits and pixels-
Albert Penello: And the memory, the amount of memory you have is how much, how much graphics quality can be stored, I'm really oversimplifying, I'll get slaughtered for describing it this way. And so all of these things need to work together. You need to have enough GPU to be able to-to drive, you know eight million pixels or whatever is on a 4K TV. You need enough CPU to feed that GPU fast enough so that your frame rates and your AI and all of that ... and by the way, things like load times are bound by your CPU as well. And then you need enough memory to store all those textures and all that information. And so the-the reason you see a lot of numbers is to sort of describe ... we've got six teraflops of GPU, that's about getting ... that's about driving a 4K display. We have, um, you know, we got to 2.3 gigahertz on our CPU which is crazy, both of these are crazy fast for the technology, but we made a ton of improvements like moving DX12 out of the CPU and into the GPU.
Larry Hryb: There's been a lot- a lot of people were talking about that and they're like, "Wait a minute, how do I get that?"
Albert Penello: Yeah, it's about freeing up ... it's about freeing up resources, so you take commands that you have to write in code and you embed them in the hardware, and then that frees the CPU to do other things. And then I have to have memory bandwidth, that's how fast the information and memory can feed the CPU and GPU. So all of these things have to work together.
Jeff Rubenstein: I guess to phrase it a little bit better, uh, when you mention, like, six teraflops, that talks about ... that's the GPU, but Scorpio's more than just about improved visuals, 4K visuals, correct?
Albert Penello: Well that-that's the thing about it. We built ... we had a goal, and as I said, the goal was to own 4K, to drive, to be able to drive true 4K games.
Larry Hryb: And we kind of started that, I'm sorry, with Xbox One S, because it's the only console with a 4K Blu-ray player.
Albert Penello: Yeah, we're ... look, we're committed, with HDR and 4K Blu-ray on Xbox One S, we're, like committed to 4K, like, we love 4K.
Larry Hryb: And there is a 4K, uh, drive in Scorpio we saw, right?
Albert Penello: Yeah. So we continue that-
Larry Hryb: We've confirmed that.
Albert Penello: In Scorpio, yeah, we've confirmed that with Scorpio. And so, um, we needed all these things to work together to be able to drive 4K. But that wasn't the only goal. So-so developers can decide what to do with this power, they don't have to build 4K games if they don't want to, that's one thing, they can go ... we're just giving them an unbelievable amount of horsepower to realize their visions, again, I always say we have to have a goal, our goal was 4K, but the developers are gonna choose their own path, and that's awesome. The other benefit is it just elevates the Xbox platform in general, it brings a ton of improvements to the library that you already own.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, and I think that's really important because when we talk about Xbox, we talked about Xbox One and Xbox One S and now Scorpio, that is the family of devices. And what does that mean, Albert?
Albert Penello: Well, there's a lot of analogies, and so I'll use two, and both of them break in their own way, but there's the analogy of the phone and there's the analogy of the PC. And when we started Scorpio, the idea was, this is the way that things work today. People upgrade their devices more frequently and expect that their-
Larry Hryb: Their tablets, their phones.
Albert Penello: Their tablets, their phones, and they expect that content just goes with them, and, oh, by the way, when I get the new iPhone or the new iPad, my old stuff is faster on it.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, works, looks great.
Albert Penello: And by the way, people then make, you know, improvements to those things that work on-
Larry Hryb: Those apps, right?
Albert Penello: Or there's the PC, which is game engines today are just inherently scalable, they have to work on game consoles, they have to work on low-end PCs and high-end PCs. And I can just ... I can ... the nice thing about PC is, I can buy as much performance as I can afford. And so neither one of those models are exactly what we're doing, but there-there's ideas in both. And so when I talk about the family, I guess the closest would be a PC, in that you can think of the Xbox One S as a great gaming PC, and you can think about Scorpio as a really badass gaming PC. I don't ... I don't, like, not get to play a PC because I chose one of the two, the settings might have to come down, I can only run it at 1080 instead of running it at 4K, I have to turn some effects off or maybe the textures aren't quite as good, but it's the same game.
Larry Hryb: It's the same game.
Albert Penello: And that was ... that's the model that we're using with Scorpio, is they are part of the same family, the games run on both, but we've designed Scorpio to be able to, sort of literally, turn the dial up to ... turn the dial up to 11 on Xbox One games if that's what's important to you.
Jeff Rubenstein: So I just got a 4K TV and my mind is currently still blown, I'm still just, like, walking around, like, my pupils dilated and stuff like that.
Larry Hryb: Well they're really gonna blow your mind, because I didn't tell you this, Albert, but I let him borrow my copy of, uh, Planet Earth II.
Albert Penello: Oh, I'm gonna watch that tonight at 4K.
Larry Hryb: I said that's the one.
Albert Penello: That is the one.
Jeff Rubenstein: So I'll be doing that. But I'm still just-just amazed at the size and all ... and just like the brightness and the resolution and everything, and I'm playing on Xbox One S. Um, and the HDR, ugh, yeah. So there's that. Um, but two days ago I didn't have a 4K TV, and we know that many people are gonna be adopting 4K in the next five, six years. For those that are still running 1080, what does Scorpio do for them?
Albert Penello: Yeah, I see that question a lot and I think it's great. There's a lot. I'll talk about the one thing that's probably the least understood last, I'll talk about the easier things first.
Larry Hryb: Go hard.
Albert Penello: So when we ... the first thing is, we have a, um, a hard drive in Scorpio that provides about 50% more throughput than the hard drive in the existing Xbox, and that's because we didn't want load times to be terrible when you're loading these big 4K textures. So we did a lot of work on-on a custom hard drive in our console. The nice thing about that is when I'm loading 1080p textures, the load times are much faster. So just by putting an Xbox One, uh, game in the Scorpio, your games are gonna load faster. Now, I think everybody knows today, load times vary from game to game, but all your load times are gonna be a lot faster on Scorpio for the existing games.
The second thing is as people might remember when we launched Xbox One S, that we upped the GPU clock just a little bit for HDR.
Jeff Rubenstein: Just a wee bit.
Albert Penello: And those that follow Digital Foundry will have noticed that a couple of games that have either dynamic resolution or dynamic frame rates saw a little bit of a bump. Um, you know, a couple of frames per second when running on the new box. That was one of our design goals with Scorpio, is that those games will also be able to take advantage of the power of Scorpio. So if you have games with dynamic, um, resolution or dynamic frame rate, you're gonna run at even better, higher resolution and higher frame rates, and in many cases, you should max out frame rate and resolution for an Xbox One game running on Scorpio. So there's another great reason.
Um, there is some filtering improvements, some texture filtering improvements that are inherent in the hardware. I will be out of my element to try and, um, try and describe what that means, but just assume that the texture quality, um, and the anti aliasing is a little bit better on Scorpio. This requires no work, by the way, on the developers, this is just inherent.
The last one is something called super sampling, and that's the one that the guys, that I think a lot of the enthusiasts are really excited about. And so, again I will give the ... I will give the way I would describe this to my wife. Um, when you ... if you're a photographer and you've got a 20 ... what's the latest, 20 megapixel camera? Like, what does an SLR take these days?
Larry Hryb: 20, let's say 30, 20.
Albert Penello: Okay, when you take a 20 megapixel picture, you've got 20 megapixels worth of information. Your phone screen is not 20 megapixels, but all of the data's there. So 20 megapixel pictures on a phone screen look great. When you shrink them down, none of the information is lost. So you kind of think of super sampling as the same thing. It's a way that you're ... all the 4K improvements that exist in Scorpio games, that-that information is still there even on your 1080p screen. So the better textures, the better anti aliasing, all that information is there, and then we do work and hardware to shrink it down to 1080p. So you basically get all of the 4K quality, but you're just on a 1080p display, just like you can see a 10 megapixel picture on your phone, but your phone isn't 10 megapixels.
Larry Hryb: Got it.
Albert Penello: So that's probably the best way I can describe it. What it means is, anti aliasing, just the quality of the art, all the graphics improvements that they're doing for the 4K games, you'll still see it, you just won't get the native resolution.
Larry Hryb: Right. Okay, my head's kind of blown.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, no, that makes a ... that was a good explanation.
Larry Hryb: Thank you very much for that. Yeah, I mean, because one of the questions we also see is, "Wait a minute, so-so should I buy an Xbox One S now or should I wait for Project Scorpio later this year?" What are we ... what are you telling people a-about that decision, because it's key, it's important to know, is that your-your ... and Phil said this last year on stage, your games go with you.
Albert Penello: That's right. I mean, the-the fact is that, um, people who own an Xbox One right now own Scorpio games. They have games that will be better on Scorpio. Their accessories work on Scorpio. Their, whatever you've got, your friends list, your achievements, your gamerscore, all that investment you've made on Xbox One is ... you're already a Scorpio owner in many ways.
Larry Hryb: So in some ways, this holiday, when some of these listeners, and many people hopefully will buy Scorpio, when they get their ... when they get it home they can just unplug their USB drive and plug it back in and they're off to the races.
Albert Penello: I love to tell that story, and this was one of my favorite ... you know, the things that go easy and the things you debate about at work always fun. One of the biggest discussions that I had to have with the hardware team was actually about the power supply. So we wanted the same ... you know, the-the power output of Scorpio, and I mean by watts, like-
Larry Hryb: Like gigawatts.
Albert Penello: 200 something watts of power, um, requires typically, you know, heavier duty cable. You think about how big the cable is in a PC. I wanted the same cable, so literally every port is the same. And look, we achieved it, we did it, but it was a bit ... it was actually a lot of work.
Larry Hryb: It was hard.
Albert Penello: And it was-it was a big discussion, because I wanted people who own an Xbox One S, if they choose to upgrade, they ... all you do is you set the new box on top, you don't even have to look, power supply, HDMI, HDMI, take the old one out, done, you're good. Plug your hard drive in, it's your box again. Um, and, like, that's a level of thoughtfulness we've put into the design that actually seems like a ... like, "Well, of course they would do that." But, you know, it was a lot of work.
Larry Hryb: It's one thing to-to design and in your head go, "Wouldn't it be nice if ...", but once-once you bring electrical engineers into the room, they-they put the pedal to the metal and they bring real facts.
Albert Penello: Yeah, exactly.
Larry Hryb: Right? Sometimes things can't happen.
Albert Penello: That's right. Well, there's all kinds of ... the big world you ship products in with varying rules and regulations that sometimes put a dampener on your-your party sometimes. But look, they-they knocked it out of the park.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. So the Digital Foundry, and again, Jeff, I'll put lengths in the ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, everything's in the-
Larry Hryb: Show notes, there's so much that Richard went over. Uh, were you surprised at, like, he must have been like a sponge just absorbing everything.
Albert Penello: It-it was interesting because, you know, again, I-I'll just use the sort of ... we made a movie and we sort of ... you brought a reviewer in to see it r-right off the bat. Um, it's funny, the truth is he actually said very little. I-I think you're right, I think he was absorbing a tremendous amount of information that was coming at home.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Albert Penello: Um, and, uh, you know, we didn't know. You know, I mean, obviously, I think he, uh, enjoyed getting to see things and enjoyed, uh, getting to-to be able to talk to people and ask questions directly. But, you know, he leaves and then you don't know.
Larry Hryb: Now also, um, we-we want to point out that, you know, everything that's over there, it's everything that he wrote about, I mean, that's accurate, right?
Albert Penello: That's-that's what we did, and we gave him the facts. We gave him the specs, uh, we gave him the tech, we let him ask questions of our engineers, and then it's up to him to report on his ... on his findings.
Larry Hryb: Lots-Lots of good stuff. Do you have anything else you want to add before we move on, because I mean, there's so much to go over. (laughs)
Albert Penello: You know what? Here's ... I mean, again, I'm-I'm just really, obviously, I'm tired. (laughs)
Larry Hryb: Yeah, you are.
Albert Penello: Because it's been a long and exciting day, I'm just ... I'm so jazzed about what we're doing, so jazzed about being able to talk to people about it. There's more coming, I mean, this is not the end of our unveils of Scorpio, it's actually the beginning, really, of our unveils around Scorpio. So, um, I'm just, you know, I can't wait for the holidays.
Larry Hryb: Last time we had you on, though, you were talking about 4K TVs, I think it was before the holiday, wasn't it?
Albert Penello: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: And so I wanted to see if you can kind of give us the-the, uh, 2017 Albert pitch on 4K TVs that you've been tracking. Jeff said he picked up one. Um, what are you seeing in that, I mean, we're seeing momentum in that area, obviously.
Albert Penello: Yeah, I mean, I-I, if you look at the industry numbers, the rate of 4K, uh, TV sales versus other ... versus 1080 sales is gonna go through the roof.
Larry Hryb: Of course.
Albert Penello: And I-I think that probably by next year, most people, if you're buying a TV, will be buying a 4K TV. Still, people don't buy TVs once a year like they do phones, so it takes a few years for that, uh, technology to adopt. Um, look, I think right now the sets that are coming out right now are really good. I think actually this year's sets-
Larry Hryb: 2017, yeah.
Albert Penello: Um, are probably the first time I would say I wouldn't be afraid of buying a TV. Of course, sizes go up, costs come down, features get added, you could just decide you never will buy a TV because the next year's one ...
Larry Hryb: Is always bigger, yeah.
Albert Penello: But if I think about, you know, these things are really ... you know, really driving 4K pixels, really delivering HDR, really getting the latency down in game mode, this is a good year. Like, I think you're safe. And I ... you know, as Jeff talked about, Jeff bought, uh, um, a very nice, uh, TV, um, that you know, even in the mid range sets, they're great, if you want to spend money on an OLED, those things are excellent. But you can get a really great 4K TV, I think, at a really reasonable price.
Larry Hryb: I want to ... I just saw a question here online about Project Scorpio, just to get back to that because we're just all over the place. When ... one thing we didn't show, we didn't show the visual ... we didn't show the box. I mean, we kind of did because we saw ... you see what's in the box, but what's-what's going on there?
Albert Penello: Well one of my favorite ... yeah, go ahead.
Jeff Rubenstein: What's in the box?
Albert Penello: What's in the box? (laughs) Oh, come on. Uh, actually, one of my favorite parts of the day, I'll tell this story. One of my favorite parts of the day was when we talked about the hardware, so not the silicon, and not the specs, but they actual box itself. Um, and as it turns out, to, uh, productize this level of performance, um, I mean, think about how big, uh, 4K capable PC card is ...
Larry Hryb: Oh, I've got one, it's a big boy.
Albert Penello: It's a big card.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Albert Penello: And we're trying to squeeze that into something that fits in your television. And so there is just ... there is so much innovation and work put into the hardware. And so there was three things people probably heard us talk about, they heard us talk about the Hovis method, the vapor chamber.
Larry Hryb: Explain the Hovis method and the ... I want to talk about those two things.
Albert Penello: So I'll get into ... I'll get into that. So Leo Del Castillo, who runs all of our hardware, he's actually run hardware, um, since the original Xbox, he's built every Xbox.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, he has.
Albert Penello: He actually brought all the pieces out on a table and literally assembled-
Larry Hryb: It was disemboweled?
Albert Penello: In real time. It was just a cage, and he put it together in real time as he was describing it, and I think Richard mentions that in the article. And really, the-the craftsmanship into being able to do that, to just literally put it together and so how things like ... we have to keep the hard drive cable, um, secure and away from the ODD drive because the vibration, the minor vibrations from the Blu-ray drive can affect the signal quality between the hard drive and the motherboard.
Larry Hryb: So let's be clear, this is not just putting components in a box, this is looking at every-every cable and every electron that's going around there and making sure it's optimizable.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm thinking, like, it's not just Tetris spatially, but in the way they actually-
Larry Hryb: Oh, it's-it's Tetris atomically. (laughs)
Albert Penello: I mean, look, that'll be a whole nother, like, the amount of density of this box. So, um, there was a couple things that we talked about, like in order to power the Scorpio engine and cool the Scorpio engine, what were the things that we needed to do? Um, vapor chambers are things that ... basically, it's a liquid cooling solution. Um, and really, if you go look, only the highest end PC cards have vapor chambers.
Larry Hryb: And what is a vapor chamber?
Albert Penello: It's a-it's effectively, um, a, um, a heat sink on top of a membrane that is filled with water. And just like a radiator in your car, as it heats up it turns to vapor, and then that vapor then is-is quicker to be cooled through the cooling process.
Larry Hryb: Sure, standard physics apply.
Albert Penello: As opposed to just typically on a PC when you've got the heat sink right on top of the chip. So we have a liquid cooling solution-
Larry Hryb: He seemed to like that idea.
Albert Penello: It is, well, because he knows that that's the kind of tech that's reserved for really high-end graphics cards. Um, and we've got it in the console, and is ... no other console has ever had a vapor chamber in it. Um, the centrifugal fan, you know, we use an axial fan today, um-
Larry Hryb: Okay, what does that mean? (laughs)
Albert Penello: Uh, so think about one as a ... one as like a squirrel cage, so one is a blower, and one, uh, god, I gotta think about how to describe this ... it's the difference between ... it's the difference between a fan that you have in your house, and a fan for like an eight track system. So like a regular fan is an axial fan, it just blows air. This-this takes air and compresses it.
Larry Hryb: Okay. So we see ... we usually see them as circles. Looks like-
Albert Penello: Yeah, so an axial fan would be like a typical PC fan you see that just looks like a fan.
Larry Hryb: And if you look at some of the graphics we released, you'll probably see the actual fan case right in the middle there.
Albert Penello: Yeah, the actual ... yeah, the actual cage for the centrifugal fan.
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Albert Penello: So basically what it does is it produces a much higher volume of air and cooling at a much lower fan speed, so that's how we're able to cool the box and not have it be loud. So we moved to a centrifugal fan for Scorpio. The last thing, one of my favorite things is the Hovis mes-method. So this is something that our team invented, um-
Larry Hryb: Who is this Hovis?
Albert Penello: There's really a guy, and I won't ... there's a really a guy whose last name is Hovis who works on the team, who basically came up with this method, um, for basically, uh, fine tuning the power, um, that each and every unique Scorpio ship with. So, um, anybody who overclocks their-their GPUs and stuff, the PCs kind of understands that you play with the voltages and you-you can run, um, your CPU at different voltages and-and sometimes you'll get a little bit more power, sometimes you can lower the voltage and get the same performance. So there's a distribution curve.
Larry Hryb: And this all lends to the fact that when those-those integrated circuit chips are coming off of the assembly line, there's a margin of error.
Albert Penello: There's a margin of error.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Albert Penello: They all perform-
Larry Hryb: They all perform this spec-
Albert Penello: Some require a little bit more power, and we're talking about, like, little tiny amounts of power to achieve the performance goals. Well, you actually waste power by just ... because you have to obviously power every chip to the needs of ...
Larry Hryb: Right, so you're like, "This is what we're gonna power this at x"
Albert Penello: That [inaudible 00:32:34] in Scorpio. Every single chip is running at the power necessary to power that particular chip.
Larry Hryb: So it's dynamic.
Albert Penello: So it is-it's dynamic to each console, it's more energy efficient, um, so we don't waste any energy in the box, and it's one of the things that allows us, uh, to keep it cool, because we are only running the voltages required to power-
Larry Hryb: So hopefully no electricity is being wasted.
Albert Penello: We're not wasting ... we are not wasting any electricity in the box.
Jeff Rubenstein: Man, I have a new life goal, and that is to get a method named after me. Yeah, I want the Rubenstein method.
Larry Hryb: Well there's a sandwich named after you, that's all you get. (laugh)
Jeff Rubenstein: Man, not even the best Reuben.
Larry Hryb: (laughs)
Albert Penello: Not even the best Reuben. So no, I, like, I jokingly call it the su-supercharge, intercooled, and dyno-tuned.
Larry Hryb: Okay, there's your car terms again.
Albert Penello: Right? There's my car terms, we've got the supercharger in the fan, we've got an intercooler in the vapor chamber, and we dyno-tune each and every chip to make sure it's running optimally, um, at the factory, each and every unit.
Larry Hryb: That's crazy. I mean, I don't even know what to say, because I remember when you were explaining it ... I must ... like I say, you-you ... I've been aware, obviously aware of the teams, what we've been working on for many years, because you and I talk all the time. But every time I would stop by and see you, I remember you would just get up on the whiteboard and you'd pencil it out, and I was like, "This is amazing." So to see it all come to fruition in this really concrete way is really extraordinary.
Albert Penello: It is, the team is ... you know, I think that we had clear goals. Um, the team is just operating, like, it has just been such a fun and sort of inclusive, just like, brainstorming and arguing-
Larry Hryb: Kind of reminds me of-
Albert Penello: Doing all the great stuff you want to do.
Larry Hryb: Reminds me of when we were working on 360, doesn't it?
Albert Penello: It does. It has ... there's a lot of that vibe, there's a lot of that energy right now. It's like this is gonna be an excellent product, we got a lot more good news, I think, for people, and we built the most powerful console ever. And today we told everybody and we proved it.
Larry Hryb: And-and over the next ... over the coming months and obviously leading up to launch, we'll have more news. More games, of course, that's gonna be the theme of E3.
Albert Penello: That's gonna be the big thing, games, games, games. Look, I get it, I hear the feedback, I want everybody to know, games-
Larry Hryb: Yeah, but what about the games, Albert?
Albert Penello: It's coming, that's ... today was about the specs, today we told you what the box does, you're gonna see games, we know.
Larry Hryb: What's interesting is there's this shim in between the great games that are coming and the hardware we talked about, you talked a little bit earlier about the developer platform, and we've-we have this whole interesting developer story that probably is gonna be coming out in the future, right?
Albert Penello: Yeah, I think-I think one of the things I'll just sort of tease is, like, I think one of the things that people wonder about this transition to these ... to the two console model is, am I gonna get two slightly less versions of the game than I would have gotten in the old model where I can just work on one, um, one platform for 10 years. We have put as much care and craftsmanship and effort and energy into the process for developers as we've put into the product for customers. That's a story that-that will ... that I'm excited to, you know, to be able to tell at some point.
Larry Hryb: Which, and just to put a fine point on it, and that means more games.
Albert Penello: That means better ... it means better games, because the developers are spending time on the content and the quality and not spending time making things work.
Larry Hryb: Right, which is critical, fun. Jeff, you had something to say?
Jeff Rubenstein: No, I'm excited, I'm ready, I'm glad I bought my new TV.
Albert Penello: Yeah, that's right, get your 4K TVs now, kids.
Larry Hryb: All right, Jeff, thank you, Albert. Albert's gonna hang out with us a little bit, but we're gonna kind of ... we want to tick through some of the headlines before we get going, even though everything almost pales in comparison.
Jeff Rubenstein: I mean it kind of does, yeah, but there ... you know what, there's still new things to play this week. Including the April update for Gears of War 4, so that's gonna include some chocolate weapons. Remember back at PAX in Boston, where you were hefting a 39 pound chocolate Lancer?
Albert Penello: Team creamy.
Larry Hryb: Well to be clear, (laughs) I asked for peanut butter, and the text I got from [inaudible 00:36:18] was "Crunchy or creamy."
Jeff Rubenstein: You can't just say things like that out of context. But yes, we did have creamy peanut butter, anyways. Yeah, okay, so now that we've said that, I think we should just abandon ... but oh, yes, new ... there are some new weapons, new maps, obviously the Gears team, uh, up in Vancouver, continuing to, uh, to support Gears of War 4, and the new maps coming will be, uh, Hotel, and The Slab. Um, also, Dead Rising 4 has a major piece of DLC, which really, like a couple of new game modes, really. One is a, uh, like a mini golf mode, and the other one is called Frank Rising, I'll link to a trailer for that, but Frank has been infected and, uh, now you're actually a zombie, and so it sort of turns the-the gameplay on its-its head.
A couple of new releases I want to call out this week. One is an Xbox Play Anywhere game, we know what that means, you buy it on Xbox, you play it on Windows 10.
Larry Hryb: And?
Jeff Rubenstein: Vice versa, you buy it on Windows 10-
Larry Hryb: You'll also be able to play it on your Scorpio later this year.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes, yes, exactly. So, uh, this one's an indie darling, it's called Enter the Gungeon. And so, uh, I know personally I'm gonna be jumping into this, but it's a very fast paced dungeon crawler shooter type of game, um, so you can definitely check that one out and, like all XPA games, you buy it once, you play it anywhere, and, uh, your save games, achievements, everything will go with you. Big release this week, Lego City Undercover.
Larry Hryb: Dun-dun-dun-dun.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes.
Larry Hryb: Albert, you like the Lego games.
Albert Penello: I love Legos.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I know you ... (laughs) I know you do.
Jeff Rubenstein: So like all Lego games, uh, two player co-op, which is always the best way to play through those. And then, um, want to call out an [inaudible 00:37:57] Xbox game, Use Your Words. So, uh, I know you've played, uh, Drawsome, or Drawful.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: You've played-
Larry Hryb: You Don't Know Jack, the Jackbox games, yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: And one of the best parts about that is-is when you're playing with folks who aren't gamers, they just use their phone, it doesn't matter what kind of phone you have.
Larry Hryb: Any device, yeah, just use your device.
Jeff Rubenstein: Then you can go ahead and you can play along with, and this is another one of those games, so great party game for people, if you don't have enough controllers or people who aren't gamers are intimidated by a controller-
Larry Hryb: Controllers are scary.
Jeff Rubenstein: For some people, uh, this can ... no one in this room, but, um, they can play along with you and be just as good, so that's called Use Your Words, and if you're looking for a party game this weekend, uh, worth checking out.
Larry Hryb: All right. What else? Did you go over the Duke Nukem news?
Jeff Rubenstein: There was Duke Nukem news?
Larry Hryb: Well, didn't you see This Week on Xbox on Friday? With me dressed as Duke Nukem?
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs) You sent me a picture with no context earlier in the week, much like team creamy, that gave me pause.
Larry Hryb: (laughs) What was it ... actually, Albert, did you see ... so This Week on Xbox, if you don't know, it airs on your console every week, and, um, I did a bit this week. Where is it? I've got it right here, here, show that to ... show that to Albert, here.
Albert Penello: Is this Mr. ... do I call you Mr. Nukem?
Larry Hryb: Well this is a little ... I'll let you kind of figure that part out.
Albert Penello: Major Nukem?
Larry Hryb: This was in front of the green screen, and I'll let you figure that one out. Uh, but yeah, go ahead and just tune on-turn on your Xbox.
Jeff Rubenstein: Two tickets to the gunshot.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Albert Penello: Bringing the guns.
Larry Hryb: That's right.
Albert Penello: Or I call them the pistols?
Larry Hryb: [crosstalk 00:39:25] More of a ... all right already, enough already. Hey, I don't see any of you guys in a tank top in front of-in front of five million people on the console.
Jeff Rubenstein: It takes moxie, yes.
Larry Hryb: Anyway, so that's ... but all the details you can find ... this news, much more over at my blog at MajorNelson.com, and This Week on Xbox, which airs every Friday right on your console.
Jeff Rubenstein: And this would, I'm assuming, be how to use Duke Nukem in Bulletstorm Full Clip Edition?
Larry Hryb: That's right, that's right. So ... great game, do you remember that game?
Jeff Rubenstein: I do remember that game.
Larry Hryb: That was so good. What are you playing right now, Albert, other than the ... other than the Scorpio game.
Albert Penello: Uh, I haven't had time to do anything.
Larry Hryb: I know you haven't.
Albert Penello: (laughs) I have not had time.
Larry Hryb: I know.
Albert Penello: I like games. I remember when I had time to play games.
Larry Hryb: Do you?
Albert Penello: Yeah. Feels like-
Larry Hryb: Did you get anything good lately?
Albert Penello: Did I get anything good-
Larry Hryb: Usually you find those good old school games that you're kind of collecting.
Albert Penello: Uh, I did finally get my NES Classic which I'm very excited-
Larry Hryb: With the really tiny cord?
Albert Penello: No, I bought the ... I bought the-
Larry Hryb: You bought the extender.
Albert Penello: I bought the extender and then I got the wireless ones. I like that thing a lot, actually.
Larry Hryb: What are you playing on it?
Albert Penello: Uh, you know, I went back and played a little Super Mario 3, oh, and Punch-Out!! I love the original Punch-Out!! I love that thing, it's great, they did a great job on that.
Jeff Rubenstein: Punch-Out!!, the first rhythm game. Once I started thinking about it like that I realized, "Oh, I'm not so intimidated."
Albert Penello: By the way, only time that I owned a Punch-Out!! arcade game for a while, and I was terrible at it when I was a kid, but once I played the-the NES version, I was able to go back, and I got pretty good at the arcade game after playing the NES game, which they're so different you wouldn't think that's true, but the rhythm is in the arcade game too, so there you go. I love Punch-Out!!
Larry Hryb: Love it. Have you got a chance to check out Zelda yet?
Albert Penello: Yeah, I bought my Switch, I got my Switch pre-order.
Larry Hryb: Zelda's good.
Albert Penello: Also a fan. That thing's really super cool.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, Ze-Zelda's amazing.
Albert Penello: Yeah, yeah, it's beautiful.
Larry Hryb: We talked about that on the last show too, lots of fun there. Anyway, all right, I think, uh, I think we're gonna let Albert go because you need to kind of relax, you've had a busy, busy day. I really appreciate you coming by the studio and kind of giving us the lowdown, explaining us to us in simple terms for me what all of it means. Um, but at the end of the day, all of ... what it really means is great games for you people.
Albert Penello: Great games. Thanks, guys, for having me here, I really appreciate it.
Jeff Rubenstein: Always good to have you.
Albert Penello: You can find Albert Penello, @albertpenello on Twitter, I'll put a link in the show notes, thank you, Albert. Jeff, you can find Jeff at?
Jeff Rubenstein: @jeffrubenstein.
Albert Penello: My name's Larry Hryb, Xbox Live's Major Nelson, uh, we may not be here next week, because I know I'm on the road, Jeff, you're on the road, too.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes sir.
Albert Penello: So if Laura wants to do a show I'll leave her the keys to the studio. Till then, see you guys later, bye bye, everybody.

Larry Hryb: Welcome back, everybody. This is show number 595. My name is Larry Hryb, Xbox Live's Major Nelson. We're in the studio. We took a little bit of time off. Well, we took a week off. Hi, Laura.
Laura Massey: Hello.
Larry Hryb: Laura Massey there. Hello, Laura. Sitting next to you is Jeff Rubenstein. Hello, Jeff.
Jeff Rubenstein: Hi, reporting in from the kid's table.
Larry Hryb: And, and joining us, he puts the brrr in Brexit ...
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: And every time he opens his mouth, he gets a plus 15 bonus on charisma, Mr. Graeme Boyd.
Graeme Boyd: What a ... you've been working on that. [crosstalk 00:01:11]
Larry Hryb: I have. I wrote that this morning in the shower.
Jeff Rubenstein: Topical.
Graeme Boyd: You wrote in the shower?
Larry Hryb: Well I, yeah. Sometimes, when you do your best writing.
Graeme Boyd: Oh, I see. I thought you meant, like, actually, physically wrote it.
Larry Hryb: No, no. I-I-I actually spend time on the show. It's nice to see you.
Graeme Boyd: Oh, it's a pleasure to be back again.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, you were ...
Graeme Boyd: [crosstalk 00:01:23] that long ago.
Larry Hryb: I was checking, you were actually over here, looking ... looks like you were here February 2nd.
Graeme Boyd: Oh. (laughs) Thank, thank you for tracking my schedule so closely.
Larry Hryb: (laughs)
Laura Massey: Very specific.
Larry Hryb: I'm tracking ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Welcome to America. (laughs)
Larry Hryb: (laughs) Exactly. How long will you be staying, Mr. Boyd?
Graeme Boyd: I leave today.
Larry Hryb: Again, you're doing that whole British Airways ...
Graeme Boyd: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: ... out at 5 or 6 o'clock.
Graeme Boyd: This always feels like it's kind of the highest point of the week for me ...
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: ... cause I get to see you guys.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Aww.
Graeme Boyd: And then I'm basically, like, I'm straight out the door.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: Well, it's not going to get any better than that. [crosstalk 00:01:53]
Larry Hryb: And then you're home, and then ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Plus 20 charisma.
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: And you're back tomorrow ... you land tomorrow afternoon ...
Graeme Boyd: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: ... at home?
Graeme Boyd: So, it's like, Friday lunchtime.
Larry Hryb: Friday lunchtime.
Graeme Boyd: UK time, which'll be the middle of the night ...
Larry Hryb: How are things going over there?
Graeme Boyd: They're good.
Larry Hryb: Yeah?
Graeme Boyd: Yeah. Um, you know, been an interesting week. You mentioned the B-word ...
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: ... upfront.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: Article 50, is that it?
Jeff Rubenstein: But number one in our hearts.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: (laughs) And then, as you may have heard, Scotland are now, or at least the Scottish government is agitating for another independence referendum, so, you know.
Laura Massey: Mmm.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: It's lots of exciting politics over on the world [crosstalk 00:02:25].
Larry Hryb: We-we tend, we don't really go, get too deep on politics around here, because you-you'll instantly piss off 50 percent of your audience.
Graeme Boyd: (laughs) Yeah.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: So, um, but with Scottish, it's okay, cause you're the only Scot that listens.
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Laura Massey: Awww.
Larry Hryb: No, I'm sure, I-I think we actually do have quite a, quite a bit of audience.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah, you must have a lot of listeners in Scotland [crosstalk 00:02:40].
Larry Hryb: Well, we have, we have even more now that you're on.
Graeme Boyd: Oh, okay.
Jeff Rubenstein: I want the whole Aberdeen football team listening in.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah, I'll do my best.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: I actually, um ... Aberdeen, uh, FC started selling, you know, like, decals for Xbox Ones and Xbox One controllers.
Larry Hryb: Oh, really?
Laura Massey: Really?
Graeme Boyd: Two weeks ago or something.
Laura Massey: Hmm.
Graeme Boyd: So, I bought a pack.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah. And, um ...
Larry Hryb: Did you bring any with you?
Graeme Boyd: I didn't bring them with me, no. [crosstalk 00:03:02]
Larry Hryb: Jeff would love, Jeff would love some.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah. Do you, um, do you leave stickers on your, do you leave that sticker on your Xboxes?
Jeff Rubenstein: No, I'm team no sticker.
Graeme Boyd: Excellent.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, same. Laura?
Graeme Boyd: Totally.
Laura Massey: Team, yeah, no sticker.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: No stickers.
Laura Massey: Clean.
Graeme Boyd: Is that consensus in the room, then?
Larry Hryb: Oh, absolutely.
Graeme Boyd: Oh, yeah, okay.
Larry Hryb: We-we, there's no reason to have the sticker on there.
Graeme Boyd: No, I agree.
Larry Hryb: I know, I know it's been approved by the HDMI authority. You don't need to put a sticker on to tell me.
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs)
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: It's got a port in the back. I can figure the rest out.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Graeme Boyd: So, I don't usually condone of stickers on-on Xbox Ones, but ...
Larry Hryb: But this, that's a different sticker.
Graeme Boyd: These are, like, branded.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. This is, this is ...
Graeme Boyd: Aberdeen FC. Anyway, so I tweeted a ...
Jeff Rubenstein: It's more of a skin, right?
Graeme Boyd: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: It's a skin.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's the different, different thing.
Graeme Boyd: I tweeted a picture of my, um, of the controller that I put the controller skin onto, and Aberdeen FC, like, picked it up and retweeted and stuff ...
Laura Massey: Oh, really?
Graeme Boyd: ... which was great, cool.
Larry Hryb: Wow.
Graeme Boyd: And then, it made, it got into this Scottish Sun, which is, like, you know, a big newspaper in Scotland on Sunday.
Larry Hryb: (laughs)
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Graeme Boyd: On their video games page is, there's a little box out, and [crosstalk 00:03:55].
Larry Hryb: Wait a minute. There's a video game page?
Graeme Boyd: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Larry Hryb: Wow, that's cool. So did they attribute you?
Graeme Boyd: Yeah, that guy that does it is great. He's a, he's a massive [inaudible 00:04:00] fan, and he's, he really likes [crosstalk 00:04:02].
Larry Hryb: So you know this gentleman.
Graeme Boyd: Uh, through Twitter.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah, yeah. Um, but, uh, yeah, no, he featured my actual ...
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: ... my controller.
Larry Hryb: Did you family see it?
Graeme Boyd: No.
Larry Hryb: No.
Laura Massey: Huh.
Graeme Boyd: I don't have any family in Scotland anymore.
Laura Massey: Oh.
Graeme Boyd: We're all down south now.
Larry Hryb: Oh, okay.
Graeme Boyd: All Southerners. Anyway, that was a bit of a tangent, wasn't it?
Laura Massey: That's cool you were in the paper.
Graeme Boyd: (laughs) Yeah.
Laura Massey: You tweet [crosstalk 00:04:20].
Graeme Boyd: Still get excited about that, though.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: That's the thing about the digital world, right?
Larry Hryb: Right.
Graeme Boyd: Is when you actually make the pages of a printed paper ...
Larry Hryb: That-that means ...
Graeme Boyd: ... you're like, "Oh, my God," [crosstalk 00:04:25]
Larry Hryb: That means somebody, that means somebody put it in, you know, into, they-they did it, they did the-the digital version of typesetting.
Graeme Boyd: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: Somebody approved it.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: It went into a printing press.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Somebody pulled that paper off, they put it into a newspaper, they bound it up. Somebody bought it.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: I mean, it's, you're right. It's a whole life cycle.
Graeme Boyd: Yes.
Larry Hryb: So, well done. Send that photo over, if you have it.
Graeme Boyd: I will, yeah.
Larry Hryb: Did you, did you tweet the ...
Graeme Boyd: [crosstalk 00:04:46]
Larry Hryb: What you should have done is tweeted a photo of you, your tweet.
Laura Massey: (laughs) Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: Oh, yeah.
Larry Hryb: From the paper. That would have been meta.
Graeme Boyd: Oh, you're right.
Larry Hryb: Right?
Graeme Boyd: Okay, I'll have to try and get a back issue.
Laura Massey: Yeah, see ...
Larry Hryb: Right?
Graeme Boyd: [crosstalk 00:04:55]
Laura Massey: ... see a printed version of ...
Larry Hryb: Tweet.
Laura Massey: ... of a tweet.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Now, you need to get back into the paper, and then do it. No one wants to, you know ...
Graeme Boyd: What, a picture of me in the paper holding a picture of the paper?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes.
Graeme Boyd: Oh, this has gone too far over.
Larry Hryb: This has gone, yeah. We were where ... Anyway, we usually talk about what we're playing. Have you had a chance to play anything? I know you, again, when you travel, you don't really have a chance to ...
Graeme Boyd: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: ... play.
Graeme Boyd: I've been quite bad. Last week was really busy as well, so ... So, unfortunately, the only thing I've really been able to play, um, was, while I've been traveling, is-is Zelda on the Switch.
Larry Hryb: Sure.
Laura Massey: Mmm.
Graeme Boyd: So, which was ... I was actually really looking forward to it, cause I knew I'd be on the plane for 10 hours, and it's really the first time I've actually had, uh, really a chance I've had to play Zelda at all, but then, also, knowing I was going to be able to do it on the move like that was ...
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Graeme Boyd: ... was quite exciting. And yeah, it was, it was ...
Larry Hryb: How far are you, cause, don't, no spoilers.
Graeme Boyd: I may be five or six hours in now, so I'm past all the initial, um, shrines.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: The world's just opened up to me.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: Which, like, I kind of, I knew it was coming, and I've heard everyone talking about how an amazing an open world game it is ...
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Graeme Boyd: ... but when it actually happened, I was, like, "Oh, my god. This is ..."
Larry Hryb: Well, and I know ...
Graeme Boyd: "This feels huge." [crosstalk 00:05:54]
Larry Hryb: I don't know if you listened to the last show, but the last show we did a couple weeks ago was when we were after packs, and Jeff was sitting next to me on our way over to ...
Graeme Boyd: Right, yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: ... to packs, and I was playing it. I-I-I'm probably about 60 hours in now.
Graeme Boyd: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, my gosh.
Laura Massey: Wow.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I'm-I'm playing the heck out of this game. Well, I just, it's-it's fun, and, you know, playing that, and-and ... we'll get to what I'm playing later, but go ahead.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah. It's pretty special. I did get started on Mass Effect: Andromeda as well.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Graeme Boyd: But again, like, maybe an hour or two hours in.
Larry Hryb: But then you had to bolt.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah. (laughs) Exactly.
Larry Hryb: You've been, you've been on the road for quite some time. Like, all week, right?
Graeme Boyd: Oh, well, just since Sunday, so not too long.
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah, it's a little bit longer than normal, but it's fine. But yeah, I'm really, I'm really intrigued by Mass Effect: Andromeda. I love the, I love the sort of set up and the setting and, you know, this idea, colonization and stuff. So, I really want to get more into that when I get home.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm about 10 hours in, and-and, also, this is a game that feels much bigger than previous Mass Effects have. Like, just even in some of the initial battle sequences, it was like, "Oh, I guess I can go kind of in any direction here."
Graeme Boyd: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: "Uh, I guess I'll go over here." So it's, it's, uh, I think, in terms of, like, scope and stuff, they've done a lot more. And that, I like the-the combat field. It feels pretty good.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah, yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: The fact that ...
Graeme Boyd: [crosstalk 00:06:58]
Jeff Rubenstein: ... just adding a jump, uh, a jet pack ...
Graeme Boyd: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... and, like, a dash, just adds so much.
Larry Hryb: Jeff, when I ... did you do the multi-player? Jeff and I did the multi-player.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, we did.
Graeme Boyd: No, I haven't tried it.
Larry Hryb: Oh, yeah, it's fun. We should try that.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah. Yeah, send me an invite.
Larry Hryb: Well, it's-it's the time zone thing.
Graeme Boyd: Let's coordinate our schedules.
Larry Hryb: The time zone thing.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs)
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: How do you feel about staying up till six in the morning?
Graeme Boyd: Uh, not so good. I get up at six o'clock in the morning, so, you know.
Jeff Rubenstein: There you go.
Graeme Boyd: [crosstalk 00:07:17]
Jeff Rubenstein: [crosstalk 00:07:18]
Larry Hryb: Get a little espresso ...
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: ... and grab your controller and join us.
Graeme Boyd: Yes. Yeah, just, um ...
Larry Hryb: Flat white for you.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah, that sounds nice.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, yeah.
Graeme Boyd: All right. So, we'll do that.
Larry Hryb: What else you playing? That's it.
Graeme Boyd: I'm a bit, I'm kind of striking out after that ...
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: ... to be honest, yeah. It's been, I've been late on games recently, which is a shame, but hopefully, things will calm down a little bit once I'm back home. I've had lots of planning meetings and lots going on.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Graeme Boyd: But, yeah.
Laura Massey: There is a lot going on, isn't there?
Graeme Boyd: Get back into things when I get home.
Larry Hryb: We have E3 coming up soon, must be lots to do.
Graeme Boyd: Well, that's it.
Larry Hryb: Planning.
Graeme Boyd: Yes.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Graeme Boyd: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. Yeah, I-I ...
Graeme Boyd: It is really exciting, but it's, uh, it's that, it's that interesting time of year where there's, there's lots of things forming.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: So it's quite, it takes up a lot of head space, right? You know, kind of keeping track of all these ...
Larry Hryb: Right.
Graeme Boyd: ... these thoughts and ideas and plans are forming.
Larry Hryb: And-and that's, well, that's why I'm writing your intro in the shower in the morning. That's the only ...
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: ... spare time I have.
Jeff Rubenstein: You have a whiteboard in there, Larry?
Larry Hryb: Maybe.
Laura Massey: Do you take your scuba whiteboard and pen ...
Larry Hryb: No-no, I actually ...
Laura Massey: ... into the shower?
Larry Hryb: It's funny, my-my wife actually found ...
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: ... something that writes, I guess children have, and they write on, like, the side of-of-of bathtubs and things.
Graeme Boyd: Oh yeah, yeah, like [crosstalk 00:08:19].
Larry Hryb: So, we have, we have a shower stall, and I write things on the side of that glass as I'm thinking.
Laura Massey: Are you serious?
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: Wow.
Laura Massey: You're, you really write in the shower?
Larry Hryb: You want a photo of it?
Jeff Rubenstein: There's where you get a good ...
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: Of the shower.
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs)
Graeme Boyd: What kind of things do you write in there?
Larry Hryb: Well, I just, like, hey, I've got ... you know, I've got, like, the personal side and the work side. "Hey, this is a great idea, let's do this."
Graeme Boyd: Oh, nice.
Larry Hryb: "This great idea ... Oh, I got to make sure I do this." So, it's just things I tend to forget, you know? It's just, I want to ... Sometimes, you just, you have these great thoughts, like, "Oh, that would be really cool."
Graeme Boyd: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: You know, things like that, so ...
Graeme Boyd: I like that.
Laura Massey: It's very interesting.
Graeme Boyd: Always ready to write it down, eh?
Laura Massey: Take it from the expert.
Larry Hryb: Well, you know, I used, I used to do this when I was in college, um, when I, or university, for those of you on the other side of the table. Uh, I-I would always, I had a book much like the book you have there, Graeme ...
Graeme Boyd: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: ... and I, I had labeled it. This is a true story. When I was a freshman, I labeled it "Larry's Life." And in it, I kept track of every single semester, every, every class I had, all the professors I had, the things I learned, and so, and so you can go back, and I look at it, and-and not only that, but then I would say, "Okay, so I know this is second year, this is what I need to do for next year," and so I have all my goals and everything in this, in this book.
Graeme Boyd: Wow.
Larry Hryb: So, that was ...
Laura Massey: That is incredibly organized.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I don't know what happened to me.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs)
Graeme Boyd: And now it's on your shower.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, now it's in my shower.
Jeff Rubenstein: I-I think you should pull out excerpts from time to time.
Larry Hryb: Would you like to see?
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, yeah. Larry's life.
Larry Hryb: I've got, I've got it somewhere.
Jeff Rubenstein: 1978 ...
Larry Hryb: Hey, hey, hey ...
Jeff Rubenstein: ACDC rules.
Graeme Boyd: That's a podcast on its own.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: Stop it.
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs)
Graeme Boyd: We could have a serialized podcast of Larry's life.
Larry Hryb: Well, you know, well, if you go look at the ... I hate doing this again, but if you go look at the, uh, the packs, uh, keynote I did, I brought, I brought a lot of that into this. Like, one of the ... and I'm sorry, I'm boring you all with this.
Laura Massey: No, no.
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Laura Massey: No, yeah.
Larry Hryb: One of the things that I-I taught, or that I-I spoke about, that I came up with, was when I was a freshman, I said, "You know what? I don't know anybody here," when I was at Syracuse University. "I don't know anybody. I'm here by myself. I got to figure this out. I am going to meet a new person every single day." And so through my freshman year, I don't, whether I was standing in line at the coffee stand, whether I was at the cafeteria, whether I was in books, whatever, "Hi, my name's Larry. How are you? I'm a freshman, what are you ..." You know, I mean, now, it would be probably kind of creepy.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah, I was going to ... Did the police get involved at any point?
Larry Hryb: Not-not to my knowledge.
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: But let's not talk about this ...
Jeff Rubenstein: That's a different story, right?
Larry Hryb: Then there's some, there are some restraining orders, but that's unrelated to this activity. Anyway, so that was, that was my tip, is ... I've got a lot of those.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. Seven habits of highly effective showerers.
Larry Hryb: Yes, exactly. (laughs) I don't think I can top that.
Graeme Boyd: I will never think of you in the shower in the same way again.
Larry Hryb: I, why ... now-now you've got your-your little book there, I see you ...
Graeme Boyd: I'm taking some notes.
Larry Hryb: You're taking some notes, "take note in shower."
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: What do you do to take your notes, Laura? What do you do to-to remind you, just write something, just, do you text yourself?
Laura Massey: I email myself.
Larry Hryb: Okay, you're one of those.
Laura Massey: [crosstalk 00:10:52]
Graeme Boyd: I do that sometimes, yeah.
Laura Massey: And then I triage my email by, if it's unread, I have to respond to it or read it ...
Larry Hryb: But you're responding to yourself. (laughs)
Laura Massey: So, I email myself, and it stays unread ...
Larry Hryb: Right.
Laura Massey: ... until I've actioned it.
Larry Hryb: Oh, I see. So, you don't do ...
Laura Massey: Usually, I remind myself, you know, "Email this person," or, you know, "Do this, do that."
Larry Hryb: Right.
Laura Massey: And then I keep it unread ...
Larry Hryb: Right.
Laura Massey: ... until I do it.
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Laura Massey: That's kind of my-my ...
Larry Hryb: That's-that's-that's fine, there's ...
Laura Massey: [inaudible 00:11:15] me.
Larry Hryb: I'm not, I'm not judging your workflow.
Laura Massey: Okay.
Larry Hryb: Used to, you know, it's, it's, back in my day, it was more analog, before, before email.
Laura Massey: I do have a to-do list at work in general.
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Laura Massey: I'm still very much an analog person that way, where I have this huge pad next to my desk that has everything I need to do ...
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Laura Massey: ... written, written down and I ...
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Laura Massey: ... absolutely love the feeling of crossing it off.
Larry Hryb: Oh, yeah, that's the life.
Laura Massey: Done, I do it just for that feeling, and then ...
Larry Hryb: Well, that-that's the one thing you don't get in the digital era.
Laura Massey: That's true.
Larry Hryb: You don't get that when you check the box in One Note or whatever, whatever to-do list.
Laura Massey: It does not feel as good.
Larry Hryb: It's like, you just check the list, it's ...
Graeme Boyd: You know which one my favorite is, is when you've forgotten to write something on your to-do list ...
Larry Hryb: Uh-huh (affirmative).
Graeme Boyd: ... and then you do it, so then you're like, you get to write it on your to-do list ...
Larry Hryb: (laughs)
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Graeme Boyd: ... and immediately score it out.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yep.
Graeme Boyd: That's the best.
Jeff Rubenstein: Productivity.
Larry Hryb: That's, that's cheap.
Graeme Boyd: No, it's ...
Jeff Rubenstein: No, it's good.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: You're rewarding yourself.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, okay.
Laura Massey: It's a good feeling.
Larry Hryb: Whatever. Laura, what are you playing?
Laura Massey: (laughs) So I, similar situation, where it's been a very, very busy couple of weeks ...
Larry Hryb: Mmm.
Laura Massey: ... at work. So many things, so many exciting things coming up that we can't talk about just yet.
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Laura Massey: Um, planning and doing those things, and, and then personal stuff at home has gotten a bit busy, too.
Larry Hryb: All right.
Laura Massey: So, the few things I've been able to play are here and there. Spotty, spotty play this week. I haven't had a chance to play Mass Effect 3 yet.
Larry Hryb: Okay. Is there a problem?
Laura Massey: [crosstalk 00:12:27]
Larry Hryb: What's the problem, you just have a time issue?
Laura Massey: I know.
Larry Hryb: Time management.
Laura Massey: I know that I'm going to have to set aside a good amount of time to really get into this game. (laughs) And, and play it, cause I just love the Mass Effect series. Um, but I've been playing VR games here and there.
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Laura Massey: So, playing [inaudible 00:12:41], which is ...
Jeff Rubenstein: So good.
Laura Massey: ... so fun.
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Laura Massey: And dipping into WoW here and there.
Larry Hryb: What?
Laura Massey: I know. I-I told you I was still playing WoW.
Larry Hryb: I know, we talked about this.
Laura Massey: Still here and there.
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Laura Massey: Yeah, every 30 minutes or so.
Larry Hryb: Laura partying like it's 2007.
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs)
Laura Massey: Yeah. It's still a really good game. They still update it all the time.
Larry Hryb: They do, they do.
Jeff Rubenstein: That was a good year, though.
Larry Hryb: That was. They did a lot, they do, they still do. And we have a lot of friends that work there ...
Laura Massey: Yes.
Larry Hryb: ... at Blizzard, so ... And there's another Blizzard game that we're playing called Overwatch. You might want to try that.
Graeme Boyd: Mmm.
Laura Massey: I have tried that. It's really good.
Larry Hryb: You haven't tried it with us, so you haven't tried it.
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs)
Laura Massey: I'm really, I'm really intimidated by you guys now. I watch your tweets, and you guys talk about how awesome you are.
Jeff Rubenstein: There's a lot of that.
Larry Hryb: No, no, no, no, no, no.
Jeff Rubenstein: Larry, Larry's daily, like, play of the game tweet.
Larry Hryb: I, da-da-da-da-da-da-da. I actually have a bunch I haven't even tweeted.
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs)
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Graeme Boyd: What level are you now?
Larry Hryb: Uh, 129, I think?
Jeff Rubenstein: Woah.
Larry Hryb: 129.
Laura Massey: See? Intimidation.
Larry Hryb: No, but ...
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm level, like, 50.
Larry Hryb: Look, so, the reality is, I think I've said this on the previous shows, is I tend to play Mercy ...
Laura Massey: Mmm.
Larry Hryb: ... the healer, which is your class. So I will say this. If you come join us, I will, I will let you play the healing class.
Laura Massey: That is super kind ...
Larry Hryb: Okay?
Laura Massey: ... considering you're 129 in Mercy.
Larry Hryb: No, no, it's 129 all over. That's not just that character.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's not like you rank, get extra moves or anything.
Larry Hryb: Right. Yeah. She's, anyway, so, go ahead, sorry.
Jeff Rubenstein: So you're welcome to join us, and I, you know what?
Laura Massey: Very kind.
Jeff Rubenstein: Here's the deal.
Larry Hryb: Here's the deal.
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: If you, if you come play with us, I will play under my alternate gamer tag, which has no ranking.
Laura Massey: (gasps) Will you?
Larry Hryb: Yes. (laughs) Okay? You know what that alternate gamer tag is.
Laura Massey: I do.
Larry Hryb: Okay? We-we'll play that, and we can, we'll play that. I don't know if that will help or not, but, there we go.
Graeme Boyd: It's really worth playing.
Laura Massey: Oh, yes. And I ...
Graeme Boyd: Have you tried Orisa yet?
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: I-I haven't had the chance.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I played her, played her quite a bit.
Graeme Boyd: How is she?
Larry Hryb: Uh, she takes a lot of getting used to. You know, she's got the-the, between the shield and the buffs and whatnot, it, um, it's, I still haven't warmed up to her yet.
Graeme Boyd: Okay.
Larry Hryb: I just, I just haven't played her enough and, it, as with anything with Overwatch, it's about team comp, and if you don't have the right team comp, then she just tumbles over, like any of the characters. They just tumble over.
Graeme Boyd: Right. Cause her ultimate is support-focused, isn't it?
Larry Hryb: Yeah. What it does is it throws down, like, this-this thing that looks like a drum, and it basically provides a-a buffing bonus to all the characters in the, in the area.
Graeme Boyd: Mmm.
Larry Hryb: You see this, like, tendril that comes out and connects and vrrr, you're getting, you're getting buffed and shielded and whatnot.
Graeme Boyd: Okay, cool.
Jeff Rubenstein: Little, little back rub.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, little back rub.
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: Little breakfast in bed.
Jeff Rubenstein: "Let me work that out for you."
Laura Massey: Yeah. Is that the VO from the commercial, or the trailer, for her?
Larry Hryb: The-the one that I did last week?
Laura Massey: Yes.
Larry Hryb: Yes, couple weeks ago.
Laura Massey: Is, is that ...
Larry Hryb: (laughs)
Laura Massey: (laughs) [inaudible 00:15:05] voice actress of the character, or is it just unrelated?
Larry Hryb: Uh, unrelated.
Laura Massey: Okay.
Larry Hryb: Unrelated. So, you should go ...
Laura Massey: [crosstalk 00:15:12] So the creepy girl voice is not part of the ...
Larry Hryb: No, she's actually, she's the actual person that invented it.
Laura Massey: I see.
Larry Hryb: So she ... Yeah, she's the ... the actual, the-the ... she may be the voice, cause it's more robotic.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: "Please stand behind the barrier." She's got a very robotic voice. Anyway.
Laura Massey: I see. Maybe it's a recording of her, but ...
Larry Hryb: It could be. Right.
Laura Massey: ... played back through a robot voice, yeah.
Larry Hryb: But processed, as we say in the industry.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: Go on. So, that's what you're playing.
Laura Massey: Yeah. I'm playing with work, life, and WoW games.
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: Well, I don't, from everything that I know about people that play Wow, they can't either have the previous two if you're playing that third one.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: Right? When you play WoW ...
Laura Massey: That's fair.
Larry Hryb: ... you have no work and you have no life. (laughs)
Laura Massey: Fair. (laughs)
Larry Hryb: Was that, would that be accurate?
Jeff Rubenstein: Ah, you're looking at the wrong guy.
Larry Hryb: So, Jeff, what are you ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, so ...
Larry Hryb: Wait a minute, wait a minute.
Jeff Rubenstein: What? What?
Larry Hryb: That's a fancy shirt you have on.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, you like that?
Larry Hryb: You normally don't wear a collared shirt like that.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, well, thanks for noticing.
Larry Hryb: What happened today?
Jeff Rubenstein: This is the, a very back handed compliment, right?
Larry Hryb: No, no.
Laura Massey: It is, isn't it?
Larry Hryb: It doesn't even have ketchup stains on it.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: Give me some time.
Larry Hryb: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: I, it's funny, cause I was, like, first time I've worn this shirt, and thanks for noticing, and I was driving in, and I had coffee in my hand, and I'm like, "I'm going to spill coffee on this shirt," cause it's white.
Larry Hryb: No, I like it.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, all right.
Larry Hryb: It's very nice. I don't see any coffee stains, so you succeeded.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. And I-I'm sure if it was on camera, it would have, like, a horrible effect on the camera.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: The-the people, that, we'd have to, if you were on camera, we'd have to have the epilepsy warning before ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes.
Larry Hryb: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: [crosstalk 00:16:30]
Graeme Boyd: Where were you when you first spotted it?
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, my wife bought it for me.
Larry Hryb: Ahhh.
Laura Massey: Ahhh. (laughs)
Larry Hryb: See, that's-that's, that's a ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Here's the thing. If I buy something that I like and I get home and she doesn't like it, it's just, it goes in the back of the closet.
Laura Massey: Oh, no.
Larry Hryb: Do you have ... and Laura, I don't know if this applies to you, but do-do you have, and-and Graeme and-and Jeff, do you guys have a particular color you always buy when you go out and, a shirt ... like, like, with guys, I know when, like, we shop by ourselves, Laura, I'm not judging or saying, but ...
Laura Massey: Okay.
Larry Hryb: Like, I always go to this one particular color that my wife gets so angry, cause I always buy the same color, and she never lets me wear it, and I don't know if that was the same with you guys.
Laura Massey: So you always buy the same color.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: Bring home the same color.
Larry Hryb: Right, of different types of shirts.
Laura Massey: But don't you have tons of that color in your closet?
Larry Hryb: Well, they've mysteriously gone, they've disappeared.
Laura Massey: Oh no. (laughs)
Graeme Boyd: Oh, really?
Larry Hryb: So ...
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm at the point where 90 percent of my clothes is video game swag.
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: So, a lot of black t-shirts.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Lot of black Hanes beefy tees.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, left to my own devices, it's going to be teal or purple.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Graeme Boyd: Ahh.
Jeff Rubenstein: More often than not.
Graeme Boyd: Really? Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Okay. That's good.
Graeme Boyd: Wow. Top to bottom?
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, yeah. That's why I loved, like, the Sunset Overdrive swag.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Like, I hoarded that.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Graeme Boyd: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: I got a lot of that. Matching shoes, too.
Larry Hryb: I do, I'm okay with the ... teal and purple? That's-that's ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Not together. I wouldn't wear them together.
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Jeff Rubenstein: It would [crosstalk 00:17:34].
Larry Hryb: Would about you, Graeme?
Graeme Boyd: I've noticed, as I've got older, I'm going more to blacks and grays.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: As a, as you can see. (laughs)
Larry Hryb: As I, as I can see.
Graeme Boyd: As a standard, I don't know what that says about me.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Graeme Boyd: Maybe that I think it makes, it's slimming or something.
Larry Hryb: Ah. Anyway.
Graeme Boyd: And, but, yeah.
Larry Hryb: I digress.
Laura Massey: What's your color? Is it purple?
Larry Hryb: Uh, the color that I'm not allowed to wear that I always buy?
Laura Massey: Yes.
Larry Hryb: Uh, it's this weird rust.
Graeme Boyd: Oh.
Laura Massey: Huh.
Larry Hryb: It's like this weird mahogany rust dark red, and my wife hates it.
Graeme Boyd: Ox blood.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, it's any of that, and so I just, apparently, I don't look good in it. But I always, I-I, I think I've, there's this part of me that's color blind-esque in this area. They all kind of look the same to me. I'm like, "Oh, that looks good. I don't have anything ..." I guess it's cause I realize, "I don't have anything like this color." My wife's like, "It's cause you look terrible in that color."
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Laura Massey: [inaudible 00:18:19]
Larry Hryb: That's how it goes. (laughs) Anyway, I digress. Jeffrey, what are you playing?
Jeff Rubenstein: No, you're good. So, um, I've been helping my brother move, and he's, like, sort of been on the countdown to moving, uh, out of state, and so, um, I have been letting him monopolize Zelda. And so I need another. I've been traveling a ton ...
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: ... so my travel game has been ... on my Surface, I've been playing Stardew Valley.
Graeme Boyd: Oh, yeah.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Crazy. And it is so good ...
Larry Hryb: Love it.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... and I don't understand why a game ... I don't understand why it has its hooks in it, me, the way it does. I, like, every day, I wake up, and I water plants ...
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... and then I milk cows and ...
Laura Massey: Yeah. What are you growing in your farm?
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, man. I'm growing amaranth. I don't even know what that is, but ...
Laura Massey: Oh.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... somebody asked for it. Uh, hops, and I'm brewing, uh, pale ale right now.
Laura Massey: Oh, my goodness.
Larry Hryb: Uh, you know, if you wanted to, you could move out to, like, Duvall ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Look.
Larry Hryb: ... which is a rural part of Seattle.
Jeff Rubenstein: If ... I'll tell you what.
Laura Massey: With their love of farms involved.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's made me think about, like, what's my post-apocalyptic plan?
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: I think about this a lot, and, too much.
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: And I feel like if I get a bunch of chickens and some mayonnaise machines, you just need to throw the eggs in there, couple hours later, you have mayo, and you can sell that for a lot.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: I-I ... (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: Mayo's going to be very in demand ...
Larry Hryb: I don't know ...
Graeme Boyd: Post apocalypse.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... cause, after the apocalypse.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: When the bomb drops or whatever happens ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: ... really, mayonnaise is what's going to be the economy?
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: No, actually what I think ...
Larry Hryb: (laughs)
Graeme Boyd: [crosstalk 00:19:32] I can follow. Sorry.
Jeff Rubenstein: Maybe, maybe for then, for DLC. But, I think, actually ... so, I've tried to think of, like, what would my role be ...
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: ... in post-apocalyptic society?
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: And I have, like, a ton of coffee, and I feel like coffee will be, like, a luxury ...
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: ... that whatever local warlord would love. And I have a lot ... all of my coffee stuff is manual, doesn't need any electricity. So as long as I have hot water, I can grind the stuff, and I was like, oh, I could put this all into, like, a backpack ...
Graeme Boyd: Hmm.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... and I could be, like, a traveling barista ...
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: ... that-that could offer up a taste of the old world in exchange for, like, a roof over my head and not killing me on sight. So, I think that's, that's the niche I'm going to carve out for myself, uh, you know, when ...
Laura Massey: Mobile barista.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, when we get into, like, Mad Max era.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, but until then, mayo machines in Stardew Valley, that's, it's really working out for me.
Graeme Boyd: Okay, good.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. So, uh ...
Laura Massey: Before you move on, though, I must ask. Have you played Farming Simulator?
Jeff Rubenstein: I have never played Farming Simulator.
Laura Massey: Okay. This is your next game.
Jeff Rubenstein: All right.
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Laura Massey: Talking about training yourself ...
Graeme Boyd: That's true.
Laura Massey: ... for post-apocalyptic ... (laughs)
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: That's-that's what my role will be. (laughs) I will be a farmer, because I've played Farming Simulator and I know all about the different things you have to do. (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: Maybe if you can, like, grow ...
Laura Massey: I can grow some things, yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... the hops, then I can brew the pale ale, and ...
Laura Massey: Together.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... let's just ... how about this.
Laura Massey: We could ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Let's have, like, an agreed-upon place.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: If there's a mushroom cloud someday, God forbid, of course. But, you know, first, I'll pick up my kid from school.
Larry Hryb: I-I don't know what's going on here.
Jeff Rubenstein: And then we'll meet. Let's meet somewhere.
Larry Hryb: I really have no idea what's going on.
Jeff Rubenstein: And let's sort it out.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: I'm enjoying it, though.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: To see this all coming together.
Jeff Rubenstein: No, I mean, cause we have to ...
Larry Hryb: Wait a minute, wait a minute, wait a minute. I'm sorry. I-I just, not to poke holes in your, your cute little plan here, guy, okay? (laughs)
Laura Massey: Okay.
Larry Hryb: So you're going to make coffee.
Laura Massey: Debbie Downer.
Larry Hryb: You're going to make coffee.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. Well, I-I, yeah.
Larry Hryb: And Laura, Laura, you can't really grow coffee in this area, so what are you going to be growing?
Laura Massey: Corn.
Larry Hryb: Okay. So, we got a little bit of a disconnect, cause I don't really want a corn drink.
Laura Massey: Hops. Hops would work.
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Jeff Rubenstein: Okay, but we're in, look, we're in Seattle. I'm not going to be growing the coffee. I'm just going to hoard ...
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... while everybody else is hoarding Costco or whatever they're going to be doing, I'm going to be going into ... We have, like, 8,000 Starbucks.
Graeme Boyd: Mmm.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm going to be grabbing all the beans, seal them away, and get enough to last for a long time, you know? And I, and then ...
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... again, travel around and see what I can [crosstalk 00:21:45].
Larry Hryb: If you just, uh, if you just, uh, trying to figure out what's going on here ...
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs)
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: ... and you're ... and you're looking at your device going, "I thought this was a gaming podcast."
Jeff Rubenstein: This is the prepper's podcast, right?
Larry Hryb: Yes, yes it is.
Graeme Boyd: In all seriousness, though, the-the ... um, post-apocalyptic DLC or whatever for Stardew Valley or for Farming Simulator ...
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Graeme Boyd: ... would be ... There's a game there.
Jeff Rubenstein: That would be pretty interesting, yeah.
Graeme Boyd: That'd be really good.
Jeff Rubenstein: You're walking ...
Larry Hryb: I'm going, I'm going to pay you money to download content that's going to blow up my farm, and then I have ... Okay. Sure, why not?
Jeff Rubenstein: Did you, did you ever play Sim City?
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: I mean, come on.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Yes, of course.
Graeme Boyd: I like that idea.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: Post-apocalyptic farmer.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: All right. Any, I mean, look. That's the way it's-it's going to need to happen, and I hope you're, I hope, I hope you find a-a niche after, after ...
Graeme Boyd: I need to give it some more thought ...
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: ... but I didn't realize people were planning out so much.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: But until then, while-while ...
Graeme Boyd: They know something I don't, apparently.
Larry Hryb: Well, yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: So, while electricity's still working, another game I've been playing ...
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... um ... So, I've, my in-laws are in town, which means I haven't been able to, my game room's taken up. I haven't been able to play Overwatch.
Larry Hryb: They-they set up, they set up shop.
Jeff Rubenstein: My God, yeah.
Larry Hryb: They took no time to move in.
Jeff Rubenstein: I don't know when they're leaving, by the way, which is not great.
Larry Hryb: Jeffrey, Jeffrey.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: The guest room is open in my house for you.
Jeff Rubenstein: Man, I'll have to come by.
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: Um, so, I've been playing, uh, games of my, on my laptop, and I've been playing a lot of, um, Xbox play anywhere titles ...
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... and a new one that came out this week is called Snake Pass.
Graeme Boyd: Mmm.
Jeff Rubenstein: And, uh, this game looks, I mean, it looks stunning. It looks like, uh, like a-a rare game from, like, maybe ten years ago. It has a very, aesthetic that's similar to, um, Banjo-Kazooie ...
Larry Hryb: Viva Pinata?
Jeff Rubenstein: ... or Viva Pinata, like ...
Laura Massey: Ooh.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... very colorful, but, like, with modern graphics. It looks very nice, and it's very interesting. It's like a ... I would call it a platformer, but you're controlling a snake, which I've never done in any game that I can ever think of. You cannot jump.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: So, you, you are sort of, it's kind of like you're driving, but you, a lot of the mechanics involve climbing, so it's, it's kind of like playing QWOP, but with no limbs, like, cause you're a snake. It's kind of hard to explain, but it's a very interesting mechanic. I've been having a lot of fun with it.
Laura Massey: Is the game a puzzle, puzzle platformer?
Jeff Rubenstein: It is, yeah. And most of it is figuring out, how do I get to this place?
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: And there's sort of like a delicate balance of, like, coiling. Being a snake is hard.
Graeme Boyd: Mmm.
Jeff Rubenstein: I didn't know this, but now I have a whole new respect for snakes. Um, and this one's very cute, so ...
Larry Hryb: Are you playing as a boa? Are you going to, like, wrap around somebody?
Jeff Rubenstein: You look like, you look like a coral snake. You know, like, one of those ones that will kill you in one bite.
Laura Massey: Are you, like, poisonous?
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, I, we haven't gotten to that point yet. You don't actually attack, at least not where I'm at in the game. I'm maybe about 20 percent of the way through. But anyway, for 20 dollars, it's-it's one of the best looking [inaudible 00:24:11] Xbox games I've seen.
Laura Massey: Mmm.
Jeff Rubenstein: And again, it's Xbox play anywhere, so you buy it once, uh, for Xbox or for Windows 10. You can just jump back and forth. Your saves go back and forth.
Larry Hryb: Hurray.
Graeme Boyd: Nice.
Jeff Rubenstein: So, yeah. Uh, Snake Pass. Check it out.
Larry Hryb: You going to put a link to that? You going to put the show notes ...?
Jeff Rubenstein: I can do that. I already put a link to-to the Aberdeen controller, Graeme.
Graeme Boyd: Did you? Did you find it, did you?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, of course.
Graeme Boyd: Oh, nice.
Larry Hryb: Uh, I'm playing, just to bring things up, uh, I'm playing Mass Effect. We talked about that, of course. We've mentioned Overwatch, my Overwatch, mad Overwatch skills, what's, apparently Laura ...
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: ... but you're overinflating them. I'm a, I must admit.
Laura Massey: Intimidating [inaudible 00:24:43].
Larry Hryb: Uh, playing that. Um, I am playing Zelda.
Graeme Boyd: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: I find Beedle incredibly creepy. I'll just say that.
Laura Massey: I saw your tweets.
Graeme Boyd: I don't think I've ... Oh, I have met Beedle. The merchant.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, Beedle's the merchant. He-he, we keep running into this particular mobile merchant. It's like, "Oh hey, it's you again! I think we were married in a previous life!" Yeah, okay, dude.
Laura Massey: Woah. (laughs)
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: Settle down, okay?
Laura Massey: Coming on strong.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, right?
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: So, anyway. But, yeah. I'm having fun with that, of course. Um, I'll give you some of my patented tips off the air if you'd like, Graeme.
Graeme Boyd: Fine.
Laura Massey: I-I heard that you were giving them to Shannon [inaudible 00:25:17].
Larry Hryb: That's right, yeah. Shannon, Shannon and I, uh, who runs our portfolio, we, she and I had a meeting, and we were waiting for the meeting to start, and she had her, she had her Switch, and I'm like, "So, what do you," you know, I was giving her some, we were finding out where we are in the game, and ...
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: ... whatnot, and, uh, I-I gave her a few tips.
Graeme Boyd: Nice.
Larry Hryb: Just a ... okay, so ...
Graeme Boyd: On that last podcast ...
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: ... when-when Jeff was watching you play and it didn't sound like I wanted to take any of your tips.
Larry Hryb: Well, that was ...
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: ... that was when ... That's, so ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Like, 1000 ways to die [inaudible 00:25:40].
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: Wait a minute, wait a minute. Wait a minute, Graeme. Now, you know when you, when you start a video game and it's usually an open world, you're trying to experiment.
Graeme Boyd: Right.
Larry Hryb: Like, can I do this? Can I do that? What's going on here? And here's what I, here's, here's, here's, the, what I've learned about this game with Zelda. You played enough of it, now, you're an hour or two in, a few hours in.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Jeff, you played it. Laura, you haven't had a chance to play.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, yeah.
Larry Hryb: It's the game that says yes.
Graeme Boyd: Hmm.
Larry Hryb: Can I chop down that tree? Yes, you can.
Laura Massey: Huh, really?
Larry Hryb: Can I get on that raft? Yes, you can. Can I go to that mountain? Yes, you can. Can I die this way? Yes, you can.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: Can I, can I fish with dynamite, literally?
Larry Hryb: Yes, yes, you can. So, there's, it's-it's the game, like I say, that just says yes.
Graeme Boyd: I like that.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: That's the way I describe it. Anyway, uh, so that's kind of what I'm playing. Uh, big game, I've also had a chance to play a little bit of Thimbleweed Park ...
Graeme Boyd: Oh, yeah.
Larry Hryb: ... which is now available. It's an Xbox play anywhere title. It's available on Xbox, uh, One right now. It's coming to PC soon.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: Um, but, uh, we've got Ron Gilbert, legendary Ron Gilbert. So, uh, I had a chance to catch up with him. So you guys want to hear, listen to that?
Laura Massey: Absolutely.
Larry Hryb: Thimbleweed Park is out this week, and joining me on the line is, uh, legendary Mr. Ron Gilbert. Ron, good to have you on the show.
Ron Gilbert: Yeah, thanks for having me.
Larry Hryb: Well, we have, we haven't chatted for a while. Last time I had you on was for The Cave, and it's so good to have you back. I know a lot of people have been, uh, excited for Thimbleweed Park. I fired it up on my Xbox One and some people saw that I was playing it a little bit early. Um, but, uh, lot of excitement around this game. Why don't you jump right in and tell us about it?
Ron Gilbert: Yeah. No, there has been a lot of excitement. I'm really, really happy about that. You know, we did a Kickstarter for it, uh, a couple of years ago, and it's ... you know, it's kind of, uh, it's a, you know, a point a click adventure, and, you know, Gary Winnick and I, we both, uh, created Maniac Mansion. We were talking a couple years ago about just the charm that those old LucasFilm adventure games had, and, you know, while a lot of modern adventure games, you know, I think are really good and I enjoy them, they-they really seem to lack whatever that charm was that those old games had. So, you know, we did a Kickstarter to kind of build this game, to see if we could figure out what that charm really was. And so, it was really kind of that, you know, impetus for doing the whole thing.
Larry Hryb: What ... so, I mean, I don't want to spoil, I mean, not, we're not going to give away game spoilers, but tell us about what, if you're able to encapsule, what is the charm? What did you find out at the end of your journey?
Ron Gilbert: I don't know that I really found out anything, to be honest.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Ron Gilbert: Um, you know, we've had a lot of people play the game. We had a lot of play testers come in ...
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Ron Gilbert: ... and we've, you know, had press that have played the game, and everybody says, you know, "Oh, yeah, this is exactly like those LucasArts games." So, I-I feel like we, we did recapture that charm, but I don't know that I could actually quantify what it is. I think some of it, you know, I've always looked at building adventure games as almost improv game design.
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Ron Gilbert: You know? That you, you design stuff and then you play it, and then you think of weird funny ideas, and you put them in the game, and you play them, and you think of more funny ideas, and you put those in the game, and it's just very kind of evolving, you know, improv design. And, you know, we certainly have done that with Thimbleweed Park, and I do think that as a little bit of the charm of that stuff.
Larry Hryb: When-when, you know, it's interesting you talk about that-that process, cause a lot of the, you know, for a lot of the, you know, these ... the big triple A games developers and designers I talk to, they talk about how there's so much pre-production and there's a point in the production where you can't really change anything, and so you're-you're saying yours is a little bit more fluid, but when, you know, with all of the-the iteration, and you're like, "Oh, this is funny, let's add this," when do you draw the line, and go, "Okay, we-we can't add any more. We got to ship it."
Ron Gilbert: Well, I think, I think you draw that line, you know ... we have, we have a process where we go through what we call content lock, right? And we do that ... for Thimbleweed Park, we did that about two months before.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Ron Gilbert: So, you know, two-two months from now, and content lock is really the point that we go, "Okay, you know what? We're totally done."
Larry Hryb: Right.
Ron Gilbert: Um, we're only fixing bugs at this point, and we're only fixing, like, serious bugs at this point, because we really need to get a very stable version of the game, you know, through tests. So, content lock is the point where we say, "You know what? We're kind of done, and we're, and we're not going to add any more content, uh, to the game."
Larry Hryb: You know, I want to talk, you talked about Maniac Mansion, which you were, you were the writer or the art director. You did, you pretty much did everything on that thing, you know, from ...
Ron Gilbert: I didn't art direct. Gary, Gary did all the art for Maniac Mansion.
Larry Hryb: Okay. Sorry about that. So, so, that was, you know, a few years ago. Um, 30 years ago.
Ron Gilbert: (laughs) A few.
Larry Hryb: What, you know, you talk, with this, with Thimbleweed Park, you did a Kickstarter.
Ron Gilbert: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: Which I, according to what I was able to research, started in, like, 2014, and you started development of the game in 2015. What was the timeline like for Maniac Mansion versus Thimbleweed Park, in terms of ... you know, Maniac Mansion probably was the-the-the target platforms, as there were fewer, maybe the development tools were a little simpler back then. So, what-what are the differences, uh, from a technical perspective, from back then to now? They must be pretty, pretty epic.
Ron Gilbert: Yeah. They're quite a bit different. You know, Maniac Mansion, when we first started working on it, was only for the Commodore 64.
Larry Hryb: Sure.
Ron Gilbert: So, we only had one platform. You know, it was obviously ported afterwards, but during the core development, it was only for that, for that platform. So, we only had to worry about one platform.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Ron Gilbert: Um, but tools, you know, we had no tools. I mean, we had to build all our own tools, right? If we wanted to do graphics for the Commodore 64, we had to build the graphics editor, right? You couldn't just go buy that stuff like you can now.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Ron Gilbert: Um, you know, we had to write our own assemblers and compilers and all that stuff. So, we were, you know, doing a lot of this very core tool development for the Commodore 64 version of the game. And it took about a year and a half to build Maniac Mansion. And, you know, that was the first game that we'd ever built, you know.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Ron Gilbert: So there was a lot of ...
Larry Hryb: Lot of learning.
Ron Gilbert: ... you know, kind of ... Yeah, a lot of learning. A lot of, you know, we have no idea what we're doing, let's just kind of do this. Um, you know, Thimbleweed Park took about two years, but Thimbleweed Park is a much, much bigger game than Maniac Mansion was. You know, Maniac Mansion, I think you had 46 different rooms that you could go to, and Thimbleweed Park, there's, um, over 90 different locations that you could go to, and it's just, it's a much more complicated game than, than Maniac Mansion was. So, it's really kind of hard to compare, you know, the development times ...
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Ron Gilbert: ... uh, that stuff.
Larry Hryb: Now, it's interesting you say that, because the games, you-you mentioned that the games, on the surface, they feel very similar, but you're saying once you kind of get down below and you peel it back, there's actually a lot of differences and-and, and Thimbleweed Park's much more complex.
Ron Gilbert: Yeah. There's a lot of differences, you know, if you look at it. Because, you know, if you first look at it, you know, it-it kind of looks a little bit like Maniac Mansion, right?
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Ron Gilbert: It has the kind of big bobble-headed characters and, you know, the way the rooms are laid out. But the, the art is actually quite different. You know, we're using a lot of very modern technology. You know, we use shaders and real time dynamic lighting. So you're, you know, you're walking around these, you know, eight bit rooms, but, you know, light is being cast on everything dynamically, and ... The way we've really always thought about the game was, you know, we-we wanted to build the game you way you remember ...
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Ron Gilbert: ... you know, Maniac Mansion and Monkey Island being. Not-not the way they actually were, but the way, the way you-you remember them being. So, we've, we've applied a lot of very modern technology to the game to kind of, you know, be able to simulate your memory of those games.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, cause, it's interesting you talk about all the dynamic lighting, and when people look at eight bit, they really don't think of things like that. But you're able to kind of use some of the modern tools to do things, back in the Commodore 64 days, that would have required, you know, those old digital sleight of hands, right?
Ron Gilbert: Yeah, yeah. I mean, things like lighting. I mean, we never could have done anything like lighting. Um, you know, we're also using really nice, you know, digital music for the game, uh, which, you know, we couldn't have done back then, and-and just the amount of memory that we have, you know?
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Ron Gilbert: I mean, modern computers, you know, essentially, have unlimited memory ...
Larry Hryb: Right.
Ron Gilbert: ... you know, for the type of art that we're doing, and, you know, building Maniac Mansion and Monkey Island, we were always just completely constrained by the amount of memory we had or the amount of discs that we needed to ship on. And we just don't have those concerns today, so we can do as, you know, as much animation as we want and as much sound effects as we want, and music, and all of these things, which, which really helps quite a bit.
Larry Hryb: Uh, talk, you talked about the music for a second. I was, I was looking, you've got Steve Kirk, who some people may know from another classic, Voodoo Vince.
Ron Gilbert: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, so Steve, Steve added the music here. That-that must have been a lot of fun, to work with him.
Ron Gilbert: Yeah, Steve is great. I-I, I love Steve a lot, and, you know, I like, I really like working with musicians that, you know, I trust enough to just go, "Go make me some music."
Larry Hryb: Right.
Ron Gilbert: You know, and they, and they, they can go off, and they can do stuff, and I just have complete trust in Steve ...
Larry Hryb: Right.
Ron Gilbert: ... to do that, you know. It's like we just, we talked about these very general ideas of kind of mood and feel and style, and then he just went off and did this music, and it's, it's wonderful music. I really like the music in that game a lot.
Larry Hryb: Now, I-I pointed this out when I was, before I did the interview, I, I, uh, called out to Twitter for some questions. You're on Twitter @grumpygamer. I'll put a, I'll put a link in the, in the, uh, show notes for, to your Twitter profile. But, uh, Ryan Brown wanted to know, have you played any free indie point and click games, and what do you think of those?
Ron Gilbert: Uh, yeah, I have, I have played some. I actually don't play a whole lot of point and click adventure games. I-I find that when I play point and click adventure games, I spend all my time deconstructing them ...
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Ron Gilbert: ... and not, and not actually enjoying them. So ...
Larry Hryb: Right.
Ron Gilbert: ... I don't, I don't actually play a whole lot of those for entertainment value.
Larry Hryb: (laughs)
Ron Gilbert: Um, the-the last one I played that I actually enjoyed quite a bit, um, was, it was called the, the Mermaid of the Milky Way, I believe, it was called.
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Ron Gilbert: I'm going to mess that name up, but that, but that one, that's kind of a, you know, a small indie eight bit game that I really kind of enjoyed quite a bit.
Larry Hryb: Just Brian from Twitter wanted to know, am I going to bang my head against my desk figuring out puzzles like I did 30 years ago in Maniac Mansion?
Ron Gilbert: (laughs) Well, you know, I hope, I hope you do, but in a good way, right?
Larry Hryb: (laughs)
Ron Gilbert: Because, you know, there's-there's puzzles that are kind of frustrating, and then there's puzzles that are just challenging and interesting, right? And, and, you know, the goal, as an adventure game designer, is to create puzzles that are-are really challenging and you spend a lot of time and, you know, when you complete the puzzle, you know, you're like, "Oh, I should have thought of that," right? "Oh, that was a great puzzle." Um, you know, it's kind of like the-the player should be kind of in this competition with the game and not this competition with the game designer.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Ron Gilbert: Right? As soon, as soon as, as soon as the player feels like they're battling me, then I-I feel like I've kind of lost them, right? They should be battling the game in the fiction of the game and the world and the characters and the narrative, and all of those things. So, so, I think puzzles can be hard and be challenging, but they shouldn't be frustrating, right? That's the kind of line that we try to keep.
Larry Hryb: What, you know, talking about Thimbleweed Park, what ... let's talk a little bit about the story and the narrative. What, what, where does it take place in-in-in the timeline, and what-what can folks expect?
Ron Gilbert: Well, the game takes place in 1987.
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Ron Gilbert: Which was the year we released Maniac Mansion, which was the kind of the reason we set the game in 1987. And, it's about these two agents, uh, that come to town because this body was discovered in the river just outside of town. So they've come to town to investigate, you know, who, who killed this person. But that's really kind of the tip of the iceberg, cause you-you really quickly realize when you're playing the game that it's really not about the body, right? That the agents are kind of here for very different reasons, and this, this town is really kind of this very screwy little town, and, actually, nobody really cares about this body, right? It-it-it sits in the river out by the bridge ...
Larry Hryb: (laughs)
Ron Gilbert: ... the entire game. And it's like, nobody really cares about it, and that's kind of, you know, what you discover as you're playing it is-is that that body is just, like, the tip of this kind of iceberg of oddness that is Thimbleweed Park.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, cause I-I-I've been playing it a little bit, and it's exactly right. I was like, "Wait a minute, but-but what about the body?" And, it's ...
Ron Gilbert: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: ... you're right. It's just, the-the story just kind of continues on past that. That's just this ... I don't want to call it a MacGuffin, but it's kind of just this thing to get you started. You-you know, and I don't, I don't want to spoil anything more about it. Um, but it-it's, you know, it is a lot of fun, because you talk about it being the spiritual successor to Maniac Mansion, and-and Monkey Island. Does it, does it exist in those universe, other than the time? Are we going to, are, I haven't gotten that far in the game. Are we going to see any crossovers?
Ron Gilbert: Well, there's a lot of, you know, a lot of stuff that we do that, you know, pokes fun at that stuff, and there's, you know, some, some weird little cameos that happen. Um, you know, since we made all those games, you know, it's really, it's interesting for us to, to put that stuff in. Um, they, they don't exist in the same universe per se, but-but we do a lot of, you know, little homages, you know, to our past work.
Larry Hryb: Are you, you know, are you surprised at how the point, some of the point and click games and these story-based games, um, like The Walking Dead and so forth, have really continued to, to go on and, you know, with, with the, versus, you know, these big triple A first person shooters and these massive open world games, that there's something, there's something kind of refreshing and simplistic to go back to these types of games?
Ron Gilbert: Yeah, there is, and-and I think that's, is, has a lot to do with the narrative-ness of it. You know, I mean, obviously, people love stories, right? We go to movies, we read books, we watch television. We just love stories. And, you know, the old adventure games did a really good job of telling stories. You know, I think that was one of the things that they did really well, and, you know, if you look at, you know, kind of, you know, what I call modern adventure games, you know, things like maybe Firewatch or, uh, you know, The Walking Dead stuff, right? They, they really have taken that narrative thing and-and really focused on it, right? They, they've, they've kind of lost the puzzle solving part of adventure games, but they've really kept the narrative. And-and I think a lot of that also has to do with, um, how diverse the audience is today.
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Ron Gilbert: You know, it was a very small audience, you know, back in the 90s for games. But, you know, thanks to a lot of the mobile platforms and stuff, everybody plays games these days.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Ron Gilbert: You know? So it's-it's not this weird little niche, and when you have a very diverse audience of people, you can have a very diverse, you know, styles of games, and I think that's where, you know, things like The Walking Dead and these more narrative-focused games have really started to shine, because they've really brought in a lot of different people into gaming.
Larry Hryb: You know, you mentioned back in the day, cause I played, you know, I played Monkey Island and-and, um, and, um, Maniac Mansion back in the day, and it was very different back in the 80s and-and early 90s, as you said, not-not just because of what you just mentioned, cause it was smaller, but because we really didn't have the Internet to go to and watch a YouTube walkthrough video. We had to go down to our corner computer store, uh, or maybe find somebody at school that was into that. Are you, are you, does that impact the way you develop the puzzles? Cause I remember hitting my head against the keyboard, "Gah, I don't know what's going on!" I didn't have anybody to talk to.
Ron Gilbert: Yeah. The, the Internet is interesting, right? It's-it's this kind of, you know, always on hint system that you can, you can go to, and I don't think it really impacts how we design puzzles, because I think it's the kind of thing that you can never really defeat, right?
Larry Hryb: Right.
Ron Gilbert: You can't, you-you can't design a puzzle that is Internet-proof, right?
Larry Hryb: (laughs)
Ron Gilbert: Unless there's, unless there's a whole bunch of randomness to it, and I, and I, and I think when you start adding a lot of randomness to puzzles, I think they become just more irritating ...
Larry Hryb: Right.
Ron Gilbert: ... than anything. So when we're designing the games, we don't really think about that. You know, there are people who are going to enjoy the game as they walk through the game with a browser window open, right?
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Ron Gilbert: You know, just following the thing, and they'll still enjoy the game, and that's fine.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Ron Gilbert: And there are other people that will enjoy the game, you know, by not looking at any hints. Um, YouTube stuff, you know, the walkthroughs and everything, that's, you know, or the let's plays and stuff, that, that's really interesting for narrative games, and ... you know, whether, you know, if somebody can sit down and they can watch, like, a four hour play through of, you know, The Walking Dead game or something, and go, "Well, I don't need to play it now, because I really saw the whole game."
Larry Hryb: Right.
Ron Gilbert: That's kind of an interesting question. You know, Thimbleweed Park is a large game, right? You're not going to be able to get through the game in four hours, so, you know, it's-it's not going to be the kind of thing you can just watch a quick video. But I think when you're designing games, you know, to kind of, you know, let's, let's play-proof them, in a way, I think you just need a lot of depth to it ...
Larry Hryb: Mmm.
Ron Gilbert: ... because what you want, is you want somebody to be watching a let's play video, and go, "Oh, I-I wish he would have done that," or, "I wish he would have gone here."
Larry Hryb: Right.
Ron Gilbert: And-and then that's the thing that makes them want to buy it, right?
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Ron Gilbert: If they see all the things that the person doing the video didn't do that they wanted to do, uh, then they, then they'll go purchase it. So, I think that's, that's kind of a depth issue that you want in the games.
Larry Hryb: You talked about, you know, Maniac Mansion and The Secret of Monkey Island, um, and-and Thimbleweed Park having some callbacks and the similarity, and it's very familiar. What are some of the things you were able to do in Thimbleweed Park in terms of play style or some features? You know, you talked about the lighting, and obviously some of those things, but maybe some things that you're able to kind of bring it up to-to spec with and modernize it. What were some of the thing you were able to do in Thimbleweed Park that you, that you weren't able to do in Maniac Mansion or The Secret of Monkey Island?
Ron Gilbert: Well, there's, you know, there's some small things, you know. In-in Maniac Mansion and Monkey Island, you know, we had scrolling, right? So-so you'd walk left and right, and the screen would scroll left and right. But we never had vertical scrolling, right? You could never walk up, right?
Larry Hryb: Right.
Ron Gilbert: You could only walk left and right, and, I mean, it seems like a stupid small thing, but, you know, there's vertical scrolling in Thimbleweed Park, right?
Larry Hryb: Right.
Ron Gilbert: And it's like, wow! We-we can do rooms that are really tall now ...
Larry Hryb: Right.
Ron Gilbert: ... and you have to walk up staircases and, you know, that's, that's a silly thing, because it's so easy and everybody does it today, but, you know, for us, it was, it was kind of an exciting, uh, you know, type of thing to do. I think the other thing is just voice.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Ron Gilbert: You know, there was, there was no voice in-in, uh, Monkey Island or Maniac Mansion, and-and being able to do fully voiced games where we get actors that, you know, help, kind of, you know, bring the characters to life, in a way. I think that's really cool. You know, I-I love, I love, I love audio. Uh, I love voice, uh, in games.
Larry Hryb: Well, it's interesting you say about the horizontal and the vertical, cause I remember, you know, playing some of those games back in the day, and I was, I was really into game development back then, and, you know, I-I wasn't a game developer, just a, just a-a game player, and I just remember, "Wow, this is amazing," and, you know, back in 87, I remember reading about all the sprites and all the different technology you guys had to use, uh, to really do what was, you know, essentially, now, looks like very simplistic, you know, just scrolling left and right, but that actually was a pretty big feature.
Ron Gilbert: Yeah, it was. I mean, scrolling back in Maniac Mansion, you know, I spent months working on that code.
Larry Hryb: (laughs)
Ron Gilbert: You know, to try, try to get that thing to just, you know, scroll left and right, and ...
Larry Hryb: Right.
Ron Gilbert: ... and, you know, like the, [inaudible 00:45:19] online games, they were our main competitor, and they didn't scroll.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Ron Gilbert: They didn't scroll at all, right, so we kind of felt that it was our big selling point, you know.
Larry Hryb: Right. That's a big feature.
Ron Gilbert: We-we-we scroll, you know.
Larry Hryb: (laughs)
Ron Gilbert: It was a bullet point on the back of the box, you know, scrolling rooms. Um, you know, so, that-that kind of stuff ... I think, you know, you're always trying to, trying to kind of push the technology, you know?
Larry Hryb: Right.
Ron Gilbert: It's like back in Maniac Mansion days, we were pushing the technology by having rooms that scroll, uh, and, you know, now, we push the technology by having dynamic lighting and all these other things. So, I think you're always just trying to, trying to push the technology to make the games a little more visceral.
Larry Hryb: So, Thimbleweed Park, the back of the box is, uh, rooms that scroll left and right and up and down.
Ron Gilbert: Vertical scrolling.
Larry Hryb: Vertical scrolling.
Ron Gilbert: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: We have voice acting. Are there any other bullets on the back of the Thimbleweed Park box that we should look at? (laughs)
Ron Gilbert: (laughs) Well, we-we have a swearing clown.
Larry Hryb: Oh.
Ron Gilbert: I suppose he probably deserves a bullet point.
Larry Hryb: Well, you know, that's interesting, cause-cause clowns are one of the big things I'm scared of, so I don't know if I'm going to ...
Ron Gilbert: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: ... and I, and I saw the, can we, can we talk about the clown's name?
Ron Gilbert: Sure.
Larry Hryb: Cause I thought it was brilliant.
Ron Gilbert: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Go ahead and tell us.
Ron Gilbert: Yeah, Ransom the clown.
Larry Hryb: I don't even want to know ...
Ron Gilbert: Ransom the insolent clown, yeah.
Larry Hryb: (laughs) That lives on the 13th floor of a hotel.
Ron Gilbert: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: I mean, that's just great stuff right there. Well, again, I don't want to talk too much about the game because I want people to experience it themselves, but it's, it's available now, uh, or it's available on March 30th on, uh, for Linux, Windows, uh, Mac, iOS, and Xbox One and Android, and it's coming to other consoles later this year. Is that accurate?
Ron Gilbert: Uh, it's not on, uh, the mobile platforms yet.
Larry Hryb: Okay. So ...
Ron Gilbert: We'll have it on the mobile platforms in a couple of months, but it is on the Xbox and, uh, Windows and Mac and Linux, yeah.
Larry Hryb: And-and the thing to point out is, this is actually, it's a play anywhere title. So when I buy it on ...
Ron Gilbert: It is, yeah.
Larry Hryb: ... Xbox One or Windows 10, I get the other platform. How-how do you feel about, I mean, how do you think about that? That's actually kind of cool.
Ron Gilbert: Yeah, I like that stuff. You know, things like cloud saves, right? Being able to play the game on one computer and pick it up on another computer is-is-is really neat, right? Because people are, people are so mobile, you know? They're kind of moving around, they're playing here, they go to a friend's house to play, and being able to have all your save games and all that stuff is, you know, is really nice to, to have. I really like that.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I know I'm going to be excited where I can, like, start it on my, I've already started it on my console, but then I can go to an office and while I'm waiting for a meeting to open up, open up my Surface and pop open Thimbleweed Park and work through a few things.
Ron Gilbert: Yep.
Larry Hryb: So, I'm really excited about that. So, thanks for being a part of that program. So, listen, Ron, I'll let you go. I'll make sure I link off to you on-on-on Twitter, as well, cause I know a lot of folks are going to want to, uh, hit you up there, so hit up @grumpygamer on Twitter for that. Thimbleweed Park is, uh, coming out, uh, it basically, by the time you listen to this, it will be out, so I want to make sure everyone picks it up and, uh, Ron, thanks so much for your time today.
Ron Gilbert: Yeah, thank you. This is great fun.
Laura Massey: Thanks to Ron Gilbert for that lovely interview.
Larry Hryb: He's great.
Laura Massey: He is, isn't he?
Larry Hryb: I mean, we couldn't really talk that much about the game because I don't want to give away the spoilers, but it was just great to talk about what it was like compiling games back in the day ...
Laura Massey: [crosstalk 00:48:10]
Larry Hryb: ... versus now, and ... Anyway, lot of fun there. Thank you, Ron. Uh, his-his game is available right now, Thimbleweed Park. Um, check it out.
Laura Massey: Absolutely.
Larry Hryb: Check it out. Jeff, you've got some of the news and headlines over the ... Now, to the news desk.
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, hey, thanks a lot, Larry.
Larry Hryb: Dun-dun-dun-dun-dun-dun ...
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: Very busy day on the freeways. Uh, first of all, have you downloaded this new Xbox One update?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, it's a big update.
Jeff Rubenstein: Huge update. Yeah, you'll know it if you have it.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: How do I know it?
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, because, cause you'll have it. First of all, your home screen is going to look a little bit different, right?
Larry Hryb: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: And things will load much faster.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: Speed.
Jeff Rubenstein: You've been asking for performance. Uh, you will receive it in this update. Uh, my favorite immediate change is one button, uh, to home.
Graeme Boyd: Agreed.
Jeff Rubenstein: Or one button to guide. So, uh, back in the day, as in yesterday and every day before that ...
Larry Hryb: Last week.
Jeff Rubenstein: You had to double, double tap the guide button or the Xbox button, you may call it, uh, in order to-to snap and bring up other things or-or go back home. Um, now, if you hit it once, you'll notice, it will just jump right out there. You can easily, uh, start beam streaming. You can access your pins. You can, uh, check out your achievements. Uh, and you can form parties. There's a ton you can do. You can even form parties now, uh, and do a lot of things with parties through Cortana. So, um, if you're, you're in a party and you want to invite people to a game, you can actually say, "Cortana, invite party to game," without pausing the game, without taking your hand off the controller ...
Larry Hryb: Yep.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... um, and you can do that now.
Laura Massey: Awesome.
Jeff Rubenstein: There's a-a ton of features [crosstalk 00:49:34].
Larry Hryb: There's also a little, if-if you're a gold member, we just, we, cause people forget, cause they don't follow me on Twitter or whatever, that we remind you ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Perish the thought.
Larry Hryb: ... to get your, uh, to get your games with gold.
Graeme Boyd: Oh, yeah.
Laura Massey: That's right.
Larry Hryb: So, a little note there, just, hey, just these are the games you can get this month. So, we're always trying to make sure you don't miss out on any cool freebies.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: So, I mentioned beam integration. You can now get, uh, get up and streaming, like, very, very, very quickly.
Graeme Boyd: So fast.
Jeff Rubenstein: So, you'll see, like ...
Graeme Boyd: It's brilliant, thanks for that.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... a little satellite dish ... Yeah. You hit the-the, uh, the nexus button, the Xbox button, and you will see, like, a little satellite dish, uh, down on the left. You hit that, uh, there's, like, two or three settings, and, um, you're up and going. And so, it-it's, what's cool is, uh, and I think it's the first time we've done this, when you take the update, uh, the first time you reboot, there's an option to watch a little video about all the new features there, and I highly recommend you do watch it, cause it really walks you through how to do all these-these new things. There's, uh, an amazing variety of things in-in terms of co-pilot mode, uh, which is, enables two people to work on something together. Might be good if you're playing with, uh, a small child and you want them to have certain controls over a game. Um, there's, uh, screen time limits for kids. Um, there's, for the more technical-savvy, there's a Bluray, uh, player bitstream passthrough.
Larry Hryb: We have some Atmos stuff coming soon.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. So there, there really is a ton of stuff. I'll link out to, uh, post that, really, details, everything.
Graeme Boyd: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: But-but there is an-an awful lot there. One of my favorite things, uh ... actually, you know, we had Ray Cox, stallion 83, on campus yesterday.
Larry Hryb: He was here in the house, yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: And, uh, he was doing stuff for beam and, uh, and for this new update, and he was, of course, taking, uh, advantage of the new achievement tracker. So, you can actually, essentially, pin an achievement so that, uh, it stays up, uh, on your screen, sort of in the [crosstalk 00:51:16].
Larry Hryb: There's a translucent window, and it tells you how you're doing.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: Oh, cool.
Jeff Rubenstein: So, if you're trying to get to a certain thing, and you ... instead of jumping back and forth to see ..
Graeme Boyd: Oh, yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... how, how much your, progress you're making, it'll just stay up there for a selected achievement.
Graeme Boyd: Nice.
Jeff Rubenstein: Um, so, if you're trying to grind something out, that's a good way to do it.
Larry Hryb: You know what I need, is, Laura, I think, and-and Graeme, I think you'll agree with me, do we need a Stardew Valley stream? I think we do, don't we?
Laura Massey: I think we do.
Larry Hryb: Jeffrey, we need to see ...
Jeff Rubenstein: I would love to watch you through this.
Laura Massey: [crosstalk 00:51:41]
Graeme Boyd: [crosstalk 00:51:41]
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: We need to see, uh ...
Laura Massey: We can see your farm.
Larry Hryb: I'm only going to ask that you do it if you're wearing overalls.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, let's see. What am I wearing?
Laura Massey: A straw hat.
Jeff Rubenstein: Actually, I-I'm ...
Larry Hryb: Yep.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... I, I, I need a backwards hat. I-I dress like ...
Larry Hryb: Oh.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... sort of like hipster farmer.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: It's going to be, it's going to be very ...
Larry Hryb: Backwards hat.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: I hear that's a ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, local ...
Larry Hryb: ... quite the thing.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... locavore.
Larry Hryb: I think you're a little older for that, though.
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, definitely a little too old for that.
Larry Hryb: (laughs)
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: Backwards hat thing.
Graeme Boyd: Backwards hat.
Jeff Rubenstein: So, uh, another piece of news. Have you messed with the, uh, elytra, uh, in Minecraft, which is the gilder?
Larry Hryb: No.
Laura Massey: No.
Jeff Rubenstein: All right. It, I highly recommend it. I've talked about it on the show before. Uh, you can, when you're playing in creative mode, you can sort of hover and float wherever, but there's actually, if you get these elytra wings, and I'm probably saying it wrong, you actually can fly very quickly, and it really is like a-a tremendous feeling of freedom, and saying that in Minecraft is saying something.
Graeme Boyd: Mmm.
Jeff Rubenstein: Cause it's, like, as free as a game you could ever have. Um, so, one of the things that I was doing, that was popular in my house, is sort of setting up a little obstacle course and try to fly through the rings. Well, now, there's a-a free update that has hit, uh, Minecraft, which actually, um ... it's called glide, and it, it's a free mini-game that lets you test your skills with elytra. So, I definitely recommend you trying that out.
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Jeff Rubenstein: Um, big news.
Larry Hryb: Yep.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: Destiny fans.
Graeme Boyd: Mmm.
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, so earlier this week, Destiny 2, uh, was first, uh, announced, and there was more of a reveal trailer that came out.
Laura Massey: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: Um, that was actually, um, depending on when you're hearing this, just, uh, maybe yesterday. So, uh, you get to see some looks, and we have a, uh, a blog post up on, uh, Xbox wire, and I, uh, you can also pre-order and pre-download.
Laura Massey: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: You can find that on majornelson.com. So, if you're interested in Destiny 2, I know I am, uh, this will be your first look at it, and no doubt, we'll be learning more pretty soon. It's coming out September 8th, which I feel like was the same day that the first one came out three years ago.
Larry Hryb: Sounds about right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Laura Massey: Sounds ...
Graeme Boyd: Was it three years ago?
Larry Hryb: Seems like just yesterday we were over there.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, 2014.
Laura Massey: Wow.
Jeff Rubenstein: In fact, we did a stream.
Laura Massey: We did?
Jeff Rubenstein: From the Bellevue Microsoft store.
Laura Massey: From the store.
Jeff Rubenstein: That was fun. That was the first time I had ever done a ...
Larry Hryb: Was I there?
Jeff Rubenstein: You couldn't make it. So, it was you, me, and Will Tuttle.
Laura Massey: Yes.
Jeff Rubenstein: Did a stream from the Bellevue store.
Larry Hryb: Where was I?
Jeff Rubenstein: It was pretty fun.
Laura Massey: I don't know. I think you might have been at another launch event.
Larry Hryb: Who knows?
Jeff Rubenstein: We made the front page of, uh, Twitch that day.
Laura Massey: We did?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes.
Laura Massey: Oh, no way.
Jeff Rubenstein: This is when beam was just a-a glimmer and a ...
Laura Massey: [crosstalk 00:54:00]
Larry Hryb: [crosstalk 00:54:00]
Jeff Rubenstein: ... that's all some [crosstalk 00:54:01].
Graeme Boyd: Have you ever been in the Scottish Sun, though?
Jeff Rubenstein: I've never been in the Scottish Sun.
Graeme Boyd: Wow, okay.
Jeff Rubenstein: The-the Fort Lauderdale Sunset, maybe.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, another Xbox play anywhere title, I know we were talking about Snake Pass and Thimbleweed Park. Uh, another one's coming next week called Enter the Gungeon. Um, so I'll, I can link to that. That's something that, um, I had heard about on PC for awhile, so it looks like it's very fast-paced and fun, and will be on Xbox One and Windows 10.
Graeme Boyd: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: And, uh, another game I just wanted to call out, uh, a lot of [inaudible 00:54:30] Xbox games coming out, um, this time of year. I mean, almost every day. Uh, a rogue-like strategy game called Has-Been Heroes. It has a really, uh, cool look and it, it almost looks a little, it's sort of like a washed-up sort of hero tropes in, like, an RPG. Uh, and just, when you look at it, uh, the way things are lined up, it-it kind of looks a little bit like a, uh, an old-school 16 bit Final Fantasy, uh, sort of layout, where you're on one side and the enemies are on the other, but obviously, very modernized. It's not a ...
Graeme Boyd: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: ... it's not pixel art. So, uh, might be worth taking a look at it.
Larry Hryb: Lots of stuff going on. Head over to majornelson.com or news.xbox.com. You can find out what's going on, when, where, how, and why, but what you won't see there because I didn't post it was, I tweeted it ... sorry, watching the new Game of Thrones trailer.
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Laura Massey: (laughs) Why are you doing that right now?
Larry Hryb: As we, look at this.
Graeme Boyd: He doesn't have enough time.
Laura Massey: What?
Larry Hryb: Look, I'll flip it over. See? It's right there.
Laura Massey: Oh, my goodness.
Graeme Boyd: Look at that.
Jeff Rubenstein: Can we, like, pause the show, and then ...
Larry Hryb: Should we?
Jeff Rubenstein: ... watch it? And then talk about it.
Larry Hryb: All right, we're going to pause the show. We'll come back, hold on.
Jeff Rubenstein: We put a link to that in the, uh ...?
Larry Hryb: We just watched it. You ready?
Jeff Rubenstein: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: Winter's coming, et cetera, et cetera.
Laura Massey: Winter is, is there, it seems.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. It's there.
Laura Massey: Man, that gave me chills.
Larry Hryb: Speaking of that ...
Laura Massey: [crosstalk 00:55:34]
Larry Hryb: ... speaking of that, we need summer here in Seattle.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: So have you, have you ...
Laura Massey: I am done with winter.
Larry Hryb: ... been reading about this, apparently, we, this is the most, this is one of the top rainiest seasons in Seattle we've had in, like ...
Laura Massey: Yes.
Larry Hryb: ... forever?
Jeff Rubenstein: Which, when you're talking about Seattle, that really means something.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: You know?
Laura Massey: I read a depressing tweet, which I didn't really want to read, but I saw it, and it said that since, um, October 1st, we've had five percent sunny days.
Larry Hryb: Uh, I can ...
Jeff Rubenstein: That's one out of 20. That's, like, less than two a month.
Larry Hryb: I-I can confirm.
Jeff Rubenstein: I can do math.
Larry Hryb: I can confirm that. My wife reminds me every morning when we wake up. "I can't deal with this anymore."
Laura Massey: Aww.
Larry Hryb: So ...
Graeme Boyd: I always thought I was a bit of a lucky chum, cause whenever I came to Seattle, the weather was usually pretty good.
Laura Massey: (gasps)
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: But lately it's been ...
Larry Hryb: It's, yeah.
Graeme Boyd: And last time I was there [crosstalk 00:56:20].
Larry Hryb: Your luck has worn off, my friend.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah, it has, hasn't it?
Jeff Rubenstein: Same thing happened to me. Like, when I lived in the Bay area, every time I'd come up here ... cause it was usually for packs or something in the summer, and I was like, "What are they talking about?"
Laura Massey: "Why is everyone moaning about this?"
Jeff Rubenstein: "It's just a urban legend ..."
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: "... cause they don't want people moving here." And then I moved here in November, and I didn't see the sun for, like, three or four ...
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Laura Massey: Months.
Larry Hryb: Months.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: And I realize, no, that's-that's not [crosstalk 00:56:42].
Larry Hryb: All right, so that's your weather, Game of Thrones, and game news for the week.
Graeme Boyd: I've got one other bit of game news that I noticed this morning that-that ...
Larry Hryb: Go ahead.
Graeme Boyd: ... I quite liked is that Far Cry 3 is now ...
Larry Hryb: Back in pat.
Graeme Boyd: Back in pat, yeah.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, that back in pat list keeps growing.
Graeme Boyd: It does.
Laura Massey: [crosstalk 00:56:53]
Graeme Boyd: And I thought ...
Larry Hryb: Way over 300 titles.
Graeme Boyd: I always loved that, um, speaking of farming, the mission in Far Cry 3 where you had to, you know, burn up the farm.
Larry Hryb: You had to burn up a farm, that's right.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, yeah.
Larry Hryb: I forgot about that.
Graeme Boyd: The specialist farm.
Larry Hryb: The specialist.
Jeff Rubenstein: What was the song that they played? I felt like they ...
Graeme Boyd: It's called "Make it Bun Dem." It's a Skrillex song.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, okay, yeah. I remember they matched the song really well.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah, it's like, when dubstep was-was the thing.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: It was quality though, yeah. It was a great mission.
Larry Hryb: Jeff and I played a lot of Far Cry 4.
Graeme Boyd: Oh, yeah.
Larry Hryb: We did the whole game co-op, didn't we?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. Well, all the, all the missions you could ...
Larry Hryb: In the, in the gyrocopter. We had a [crosstalk 00:57:25].
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, I don't think you can play the main missions co-op ...
Larry Hryb: Right.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... but you could do all the the, the forts or whatever.
Larry Hryb: Speaking of that, we got to get into Ghost Recon.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: I don't know how we haven't, but let's make a note of that. Is that something you'd play at six o'clock in the morning, Graeme?
Graeme Boyd: Eh, I'll play anything at six o'clock in the morning.
Larry Hryb: That's true.
Graeme Boyd: If I'm up.
Larry Hryb: That's true.
Graeme Boyd: Although it's usually Minecraft or-or Lego World.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: How is that?
Graeme Boyd: Uh, we've been enjoying it, actually, yeah. Finn really took to it well, yeah. So it's, um, I guess it doesn't have the same ... you know, Minecraft, everything, like, performs exactly as you expect it to.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: It's got that amazing sort of structure running through the game. Uh, I guess Lego World is a little bit looser than that, so you can be more intricate if you want to, but it's kind of more difficult to create really, uh, like, impactful things straightaway, but it's got a lot of depth. And the gameplay itself is more, I guess, is more objective based.
Larry Hryb: Mmm.
Graeme Boyd: You're going around, helping people and collecting gold bricks and stuff, but ...
Larry Hryb: Mmm.
Graeme Boyd: ... you know, visually and everything, it looks fantastic. We just love Lego, as well, so ...
Larry Hryb: We did, uh, we did do game news, your, uh, your TV news, your weather news ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Your post-apocalyptic planning news.
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: We have one more bit of news, movie news.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah?
Larry Hryb: Rogue One, now available digitally.
Laura Massey: Oh.
Graeme Boyd: Oh, is it?
Larry Hryb: I've already seen it three times. I've already ...
Laura Massey: Oh, my goodness.
Larry Hryb: ... on my Xbox, three times.
Laura Massey: That's great.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah, I need to do that.
Larry Hryb: Go watch, go watch the bonuses.
Laura Massey: They were good?
Larry Hryb: Yeah, they're-they're always good. I mean ...
Laura Massey: Is it, is it good the second and third time around?
Larry Hryb: Oh, yeah.
Laura Massey: Okay.
Larry Hryb: This is, this could be one of the most beautifully shot Star Wars films. It's just the-the-the frame and whatnot.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm on the, I'm on the hunt for a 4K TV.
Larry Hryb: Yep.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm-I'm about ready to pull the trigger, and I want that to be my first 4K Bluray, and play it on Xbox One.
Larry Hryb: Why, so I have ... actually, should be, should be in the house today, uh, I ordered by 4K Blurays for Planet Earth 2.
Laura Massey: Oh.
Graeme Boyd: Oh, nice.
Laura Massey: Awesome.
Larry Hryb: So, I'll let you borrow those.
Graeme Boyd: I didn't know they were out yet.
Larry Hryb: They just came out, like, this week.
Graeme Boyd: Did they?
Larry Hryb: I-I don't know, I'm, they usually come out in Europe, probably before then. Maybe they, maybe it's worldwide with-with the DVD.
Graeme Boyd: That's going to look ridiculous.
Larry Hryb: Right? So I'm looking forward to that, popping that ye olde Xbox One S and taking a look at it.
Graeme Boyd: I actually met a cameraman from Planet Earth 2 at an event we were doing for Dead Rising 4.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Graeme Boyd: I guess in December.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Graeme Boyd: And he had, like, his, what he does is he builds these remote control rigs ...
Larry Hryb: Right.
Graeme Boyd: ... with Steadicams on them.
Larry Hryb: Sure.
Graeme Boyd: And-and he can, he's basically built this modular system where you can fix any different type of ...
Larry Hryb: Sure.
Graeme Boyd: ... camera onto it. [crosstalk 00:59:42]
Larry Hryb: It's basically like Legos.
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs)
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Graeme Boyd: Yeah, yeah. It was really cool, and then he remote controls it all. But he was in, he was in the one where they had all the locusts.
Larry Hryb: I haven't seen anything yet.
Graeme Boyd: Oh, it's so good.
Larry Hryb: Okay.
Graeme Boyd: Anyway, so-so he's actually in the show, cause they do these really nice, like, making of bits ...
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: ... at the end of each episode.
Larry Hryb: Well, everyone wants to know, how did you get that shot?
Graeme Boyd: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Graeme Boyd: So you can see him in there, but he was saying that he had seen it in 4K, you know, as part of the production process.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Graeme Boyd: Like, back in October, November of last year, and he said it's just, it just blows your mind.
Larry Hryb: So did he go out, like, spend, like, two years in the ...
Graeme Boyd: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: ... in the, out back or out in the wilderness to get that one 15 second shot?
Graeme Boyd: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: I mean, there's amazing stories that come out of this.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah. Yeah, no, that's what they were saying, it's just like, you know, so much travel and so much time ...
Larry Hryb: Right.
Graeme Boyd: ... just to get those moments.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Graeme Boyd: That must have been amazing to work on that.
Laura Massey: Yes.
Graeme Boyd: I mean, what an achievement that-that ...
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: ... series is.
Larry Hryb: Precisely.
Graeme Boyd: Incredible.
Larry Hryb: Anyway, make, put a link off to those as well. All right. So, that's what we have. We've got name the game, Laura.
Laura Massey: Yeah, before we close here.
Larry Hryb: Before we close here, I mean, we're kind of bringing up the rear. We've got to get, Graeme's got to get on his airplane.
Laura Massey: That's right. Can't let Graeme be late.
Graeme Boyd: I have a story for you before we go, though.
Larry Hryb: Do you want to tell it now, before we ...
Graeme Boyd: Well, it up to you guys.
Jeff Rubenstein: Go for it.
Larry Hryb: Okay, sure, let's ...
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: We can't ...
Graeme Boyd: I guess it sort of fits in news, but I don't know if you saw this, but we had our first Xbox design lab controller ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh.
Graeme Boyd: ... proposal.
Jeff Rubenstein: It was not the first.
Graeme Boyd: Was it not?
Jeff Rubenstein: No.
Larry Hryb: Oh.
Jeff Rubenstein: Do you know the first, the first that I know of ...
Graeme Boyd: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... took place on Christmas, and it was stallion 83.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, that's right.
Graeme Boyd: Was it?
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, I sent him the controller. Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: Oh, my goodness.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: Oh, wow.
Jeff Rubenstein: Maybe it was the first in ...
Graeme Boyd: First in Europe.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... on the east side, yes.
Graeme Boyd: On the east side?
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Graeme Boyd: Is that what you call Europe?
Larry Hryb: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: On the east side? I like that. Ah, oh, well. Okay. Well, that takes the wind out of my sails a little bit.
Laura Massey: Aw.
Graeme Boyd: So thank you for that, but congratulations to stallion 83 and his ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, they're getting married in June. Sorry, I really ruined that.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Graeme Boyd: Well, no, no. It's all ... No, we had some, we met a guy called Erwin from the Netherlands maybe two years ago at Gamescom, two or three years ago. Um, and he's a massive Xbox fan, and he's-he's stayed in contact with-with a lot of people at Xbox on Twitter, especially, uh, over that time, and he got in touch with Adam Greenburg ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Graeme Boyd: ... and said that he wanted to propose to his girlfriend, and the way he wanted to do it was with a, with an Xbox design lab controller.
Jeff Rubenstein: How about, we'll put both of those proposals in the show notes?
Graeme Boyd: We totally should, yeah.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, I'll find those.
Larry Hryb: What I'm looking for right now, since you've dropped that one, is I just got an email, somebody sent it to majorxbox.com. Laura, I don't know if you saw this. And it was, uh, the first, we have the first one million, uh, gamer score person over in Asia.
Laura Massey: Oh, really?
Graeme Boyd: Oh, really? Wow.
Larry Hryb: I'll see if I can pull that up here. I'm trying to, desperately searching.
Graeme Boyd: Well, while you're doing that, I just want to say, congratulations to Erwin and to Mandy, his lovely fiancee. Uh, cause they're going, they're getting married, and she got a really cool Xbox design lab controller out of it, as well. So that's better than a ring, probably, isn't it?
Laura Massey: Yeah, maybe, maybe. What color did he choose?
Graeme Boyd: It was, uh, sort of pink and a kind of powdery blue.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: Yep, powdery blue is popular. This was stallion's. Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: It's almost like the reverse of that one.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Laura Massey: That looks a lot like ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Laura Massey: ... my custom controller.
Jeff Rubenstein: She won't use it, either. She's just, you know, she sort of has it up on the mantle.
Laura Massey: Aww.
Graeme Boyd: Ah, good on them. That's good.
Laura Massey: That's really sweet. Really sweet.
Larry Hryb: All right. Thank you for that. I can't seem to find that email, see if I can dig it up while Laura works on her name the game.
Laura Massey: Yes.
Larry Hryb: Laura, you got your name the game?
Laura Massey: I am ready now, let's name the game.
Larry Hryb: All right. You've got, you've got the recording. You press that little green play button right in front of you so we can play back last week's name the game, all right?
Laura Massey: Let's roll that tape.
So, that was name the game from last week.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: Actually, two weeks ago.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Laura Massey: And the game was Trove.
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Laura Massey: Pretty easy one. Anyway, the winner we have is Carl from Texas, and his gamer tag is CarlonXbox. Congratulations, Carl.
Larry Hryb: Do you know him?
Laura Massey: No.
Larry Hryb: You're from Texas.
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Laura Massey: I am from Texas.
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs)
Laura Massey: So are a lot of other people.
Jeff Rubenstein: Do you ever get the thing, like, "Oh, my, I have a friend of a friend who works at Microsoft, and ..."
Laura Massey: I get that all the time.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Laura Massey: "Do you know this friend?" I'm like, "Mmm, no."
Jeff Rubenstein: There's 115,000 people that work here. Yeah.
Laura Massey: There's a lot of people that work here.
Graeme Boyd: My mum and dad have been doing that lately with me. They met someone in the UK who knew someone who worked at Microsoft, and they keep asking me every time I'm home, "Have you looked up that guy yet?" And I'm like, "Chill out. I'm not going to know him."
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: But maybe you do.
Graeme Boyd: No, I don't think I do.
Larry Hryb: Oh, okay.
Graeme Boyd: Cause he's got like a, he, he sounds like he's super intelligent. Yeah. Not to say that I don't know lots of super intelligent people at Microsoft ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Hey, hey, hey ...
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: ... we, we take offense to that remark.
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: On behalf on Laura, I take offense to that remark. (laughs)
Laura Massey: Thanks, thanks, Larry. All right, let's tell Carl what he's won. Carl, you've won a bunch of awesome stuff here. You've won a copy of Trove: The Essentials pack, a copy of Goat Simulator with the new waste of space DLC, which is a really fun game. I should get that DLC, it should be super fun. You also get a copy of Dark Souls 3 and the new Ringed City DLC.
Jeff Rubenstein: Ooh.
Larry Hryb: Jeffrey.
Jeff Rubenstein: I need to get on that.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: Jeffrey.
Laura Massey: Looking at you, Jeffrey, on that one.
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm so out of practice.
Laura Massey: You also get a copy of This is the Police ...
Larry Hryb: "Step out of the car. This is the police."
Laura Massey: ... and a copy of Thumbleweed, excuse me, Thimbleweed Park, which we talked about earlier.
Larry Hryb: Talked about earlier today.
Laura Massey: Exactly. And that's not all. You also ...
Larry Hryb: What?
Laura Massey: ... get a copy of mass Effect: Andromeda, and the 2150 Mass Effect: Andromeda points, or, no, sorry. You get 2150 Mass Effect ...
Larry Hryb: Okay, not 2000, not 2200. 2150.
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Laura Massey: While is a really odd number.
Larry Hryb: Apparently, it's right under the-the tax limit where we have to tax you if it's more than that. I know I have no idea what that means.
Laura Massey: Okay.
Larry Hryb: Anyway, congratulations, uh, [inaudible 01:05:29] Carl. Um, Laura will hand-deliver your prize, cause you know Carl, like we discussed.
Laura Massey: Of course, cause ...
Larry Hryb: Texas.
Laura Massey: I know everybody who lives in Texas.
Larry Hryb: Yes, you do. Um, anyway.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: So, does that mean you have another one?
Laura Massey: I do. Let's do a name the game for this week.
So, that was name the game for this week. If you, too, would like to win awesome prizes, it's super easy. All you have to do is send me an email and include what game you think those sounds are from. My email is lollipop@xbox.com [inaudible 01:06:29] major@xbox.com.
Larry Hryb: Nice.
Laura Massey: Yep. And ...
Larry Hryb: You can also reach out to us for anything else.
Laura Massey: That's true. We like to know, you know, where all of our listeners are from ...
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Laura Massey: ... or how you're doing.
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Laura Massey: Just pop us an email.
Larry Hryb: If you happen to see that, um, if you have that issue of the, um, Scottish Sun. Is that what it is?
Graeme Boyd: Yeah. Scottish Sun, yeah.
Larry Hryb: The Scottish Sun.
Graeme Boyd: I think it was the Sunday edition.
Larry Hryb: (laughs)
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: Did you just try a Scottish accent there ...
Laura Massey: He did. He did.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... for a second?
Larry Hryb: Stop it, I know what you're going to ...
Jeff Rubenstein: You know exactly what I'm going to stay.
Larry Hryb: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: Do they have any no calorie soda up in, uh, Scotland?
Graeme Boyd: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah?
Graeme Boyd: Where is this going?
Jeff Rubenstein: What is it called? What's it called? Just curious.
Graeme Boyd: What?
Jeff Rubenstein: Is it, uh ...
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Graeme Boyd: Diet.
Jeff Rubenstein: ... a Coke-a light?
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Laura Massey: What? I don't know the, I don't know the reference.
Graeme Boyd: No, it's called Diet Coke.
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, Diet Coke, okay.
Larry Hryb: Diet Coke.
Jeff Rubenstein: Okay.
Graeme Boyd: Or, actually ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Well, in-in-in ... (laughs)
Graeme Boyd: ... Irn Bru is more of the ...
Jeff Rubenstein: I, yeah, yeah.
Graeme Boyd: ... sort of the stuff you drink in Scotland.
Jeff Rubenstein: Now, uh, well, I've traveled around. I've been fortunate enough to travel, uh, all over the world with Larry, and what I've noticed is, is he's a diet Coke drinker, especially when you've traveled nine or ten hours, uh ...
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: ... to Germany, for instance, and you need some caffeine.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Jeff Rubenstein: And where-where they call it Coke light.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: And-and, but whenever he orders it, he just affects this sort of, like, uh, a comical mustached plumber Italian accent.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: Coke-a light.
Jeff Rubenstein: Coke-a light.
Larry Hryb: I can't help, I don't know why.
Graeme Boyd: Even in Germany?
Larry Hryb: Everywhere.
Jeff Rubenstein: Especially in Germany.
Graeme Boyd: It's consistent to the, it's consistent ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Oh, yeah.
Graeme Boyd: ... bad Italian accent.
Larry Hryb: Apparently, I've been consistent.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah. I-I wouldn't really call it an Italian accent. It's just the ...
Larry Hryb: I don't know what it is.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yes.
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: Okay, now that you've thoroughly embarrassed me ...
Laura Massey: Aw.
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs)
Graeme Boyd: I'm going to look out for that.
Jeff Rubenstein: I can't get, I-I can't get you to blush very often, but that was worth it.
Larry Hryb: (sighs)
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: Thank you for that. Thank you, Laura. Good luck on name the game, and, uh, if you, don't, don't bring me a Coke-a light, please.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: All right. Uh, hey, I found that gamer tag. It's, uh, his, or her name, I don't know. It doesn't say. The gamer tag is sangrias, and they are from Seoul, Korea, and they are one of the first people in Asia to hit, uh, one million gamer score.
Laura Massey: Wow.
Graeme Boyd: Wow, congratulations.
Larry Hryb: So they got their gamer score achievement was, uh, you're too easy on you're a millionaire, or who wants to be a millionaire, so pretty, pretty ...
Graeme Boyd: Oh, that's, uh, clever.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative). Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Graeme Boyd: I appreciate that.
Larry Hryb: So, anyway, I wanted to say, uh, Sang was your name. I wanted to say congratulations. Uh, we got your email, and giving a little shout out to you.
Laura Massey: Yeah. That's quite an achievement.
Larry Hryb: All our-our fans in Asia, especially ... I've never been to South Korea. Do you have diet Coke in South Korea>? (laughs)
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: I want to go. We should go there.
Larry Hryb: We should go.
Graeme Boyd: I want to go there.
Larry Hryb: We should, do you want to go?
Graeme Boyd: I've never been further than Germany in that direction, on the east side.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: Oh, okay.
Jeff Rubenstein: You've come, you've come to Tokyo Game Show with us, haven't you?
Graeme Boyd: No, none of, I've never been.
Larry Hryb: Oh, boy.
Laura Massey: Never been to Tokyo?
Jeff Rubenstein: We need to make this happen.
Larry Hryb: Wow. That's, that's, Jeff and I have stories to tell about that.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: Oh, do you?
Larry Hryb: Independent of ...
Jeff Rubenstein: It's amazing. It's ...
Graeme Boyd: Okay.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: Are they off air stories?
Larry Hryb: Uh ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Ah ... a couple of them.
Larry Hryb: (laughs)
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: Some of them.
Larry Hryb: Anyway, uh, so anyway, congratulations, Sang. I want to thank you. You're a big fan of the show. Sent you this, sent you this email as well at lollipop@xbox.com.
Laura Massey: Okay. Great.
Larry Hryb: So, I want to thank you, Sang ...
Laura Massey: Thank you.
Larry Hryb: ... for listening and your support of Xbox.
Laura Massey: Yes.
Larry Hryb: What else we got there, Graeme? Did you check into your flight yet?
Graeme Boyd: I have checked into my flight, yeah.
Larry Hryb: Did you pack your bags? You're all set to go?
Graeme Boyd: I'm all set, yeah.
Larry Hryb: Did you or anybody else come in contact with your bags when you packed them?
Graeme Boyd: Um ...
Larry Hryb: I'm sorry.
Graeme Boyd: No.
Larry Hryb: (laughs)
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Graeme Boyd: He's sending us all to TSA.
Larry Hryb: Getting all TSA for some reason. I don't know what's happening.
Graeme Boyd: No, I'm all set. Just need to drop the hire car and get on the plane. Get the Switch fired up again.
Larry Hryb: Did you charge it up?
Graeme Boyd: I have. It's what I've been doing this whole [crosstalk 01:09:49].
Larry Hryb: I have a, I have a USBC battery that I use on the airplane.
Graeme Boyd: Oh, that's a good idea.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, that really, cause some of my devices are [crosstalk 01:09:54].
Graeme Boyd: I think I've got access to a plug on the plane.
Larry Hryb: I think you do, too.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: That BA flight, you have, you have [inaudible 01:09:59].
Graeme Boyd: Yeah. You [inaudible 01:10:00] in BA, British Airways, eh?
Jeff Rubenstein: I don't mind it, yeah.
Graeme Boyd: That's good.
Larry Hryb: I miss the old days of BA when they used to fly the Concord.
Graeme Boyd: Oh, right, yeah.
Larry Hryb: I remember that.
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: Did you do that?
Jeff Rubenstein: Did you ever get on it?
Larry Hryb: I never got on the Concord. I saw it land and take off a couple times from JFK ...
Graeme Boyd: Mmm.
Larry Hryb: ... but never ... cause it would come out over ... You remember the Concord, of course.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: It would come out and would go up over, sometimes it would go up over Connecticut, and we would hear the sonic boom ...
Laura Massey: Really?
Graeme Boyd: Wow.
Larry Hryb: ... um, in the morning when it was coming out of hyperspace. (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: Is that ...? (laughs) We're going into hyperspace.
Graeme Boyd: Wow, it's different than how I remember it.
Laura Massey: Pretty much hyperspace.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, exactly, so I-I just remember that, and it was, oh, God. Such a, such a .... There's actually one of those in Seattle, did you know that?
Graeme Boyd: No.
Larry Hryb: Down at the Museum of Flight, they have one of the, one of the ... So if you ever get to Seattle and you want to go to the Museum of Flight, they have one of the Concord, Concords there, Concord, Concord, however you want to say it. It's not grape, so it's not Concord.
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: Uh, and they also have one of the old Airforce One aircraft.
Laura Massey: Mmm.
Graeme Boyd: Oh, wow.
Larry Hryb: There's a lot of really good stuff down there at the Museum of Flight. I, you want to hit that on your way out?
Graeme Boyd: Maybe I will, yeah. Do a flying visit.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: You have nothing, you have nothing ... God. That's why I unfollowed you on, uh, Twitter.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah, yeah.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: Cause of the puns.
Graeme Boyd: Oh, come on. You never followed me.
Larry Hryb: Not true. I was, for, like, 15 minutes, then ...
Laura Massey: Oh, no.
Larry Hryb: ... I don't ...
Graeme Boyd: (laughs) And then he was out. [inaudible 01:11:09]
Larry Hryb: Uh, so yeah, I don't know. Usually we talk about gadgets and cool electronic stuff. We've, uh, have been around. I don't know if we have, do you have anything, Laura? Nothing you want to talk about?
Laura Massey: Nothing I want to talk about, no.
Larry Hryb: All right.
Jeff Rubenstein: I would love to hear your ... and-and not just the folks in the room, but anyone who's listening, like, any good 4K TV recommendations.
Graeme Boyd: Mmm.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: Kind of looking at the Samsung KS ...
Larry Hryb: Well, it's Samsung or the LG, are really the two.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah, those seem to be the two ...
Larry Hryb: Is that, is that what you have over in ...
Graeme Boyd: I went Panasonic.
Larry Hryb: You have Panasonic?
Laura Massey: Mmm.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah. I actually, I mean, I'll be honest and say that the one I got, it's-it's pretty entry-level.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Graeme Boyd: But it's kind of, like, it's entry-level but it has all the specs that I wanted, you know. I mean, I didn't really compromise on anything.
Larry Hryb: Right.
Graeme Boyd: I don't want to keep the price [crosstalk 01:11:47].
Larry Hryb: What is it missing?
Graeme Boyd: I love it.
Larry Hryb: What is it missing?
Graeme Boyd: It's, so, the, I don't think the HDR is, like ... so, I only found out afterwards that, you know, there's, there's various ...
Larry Hryb: Multiple flavors of HDR.
Graeme Boyd: ... [crosstalk 01:11:57] of HDR, yeah.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: So, I hadn't really done enough research there. But it, honestly, it didn't really bother me, cause I wanted to use it more for ... It's-it's-it's our main family TV.
Larry Hryb: Sure.
Graeme Boyd: Right? So it's doing a lot of different things, so, um ... I'm absolutely delighted with it, though. Like, I honestly think it's some of the best money I've ever spent on, like, literally anything in my life.
Larry Hryb: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Graeme Boyd: Cause everything just looks so much better on it, and then when you do stick in a, you know, an ultra HD Bluray on your Xbox One S ...
Larry Hryb: I want to see what Planet Earth looks like.
Graeme Boyd: Oh, yeah.
Larry Hryb: That's, that's what I'm looking for.
Laura Massey: Mmm.
Larry Hryb: I'll do that tonight when I get home.
Graeme Boyd: We watched, um, uh, Revenant on it. Like, I've watched it, like, three times.
Larry Hryb: Really?
Graeme Boyd: But I never watch a film multiple times, but it just looks so incredible.
Larry Hryb: Did you watch The Martian?
Graeme Boyd: No.
Larry Hryb: Oh, you got to watch The Martian.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah?
Larry Hryb: That in 4K is delightful, right, Laura?
Laura Massey: I have not seen it.
Larry Hryb: You haven't seen it in 4K?
Laura Massey: Not in 4K.
Larry Hryb: Ooh.
Laura Massey: I've never actually seen a movie in 4K.
Larry Hryb: Oh. It's, I'll tell you this.
Laura Massey: All you guys have them, so ...
Larry Hryb: I'll tell you this.
Laura Massey: ... invite me for ...
Larry Hryb: It's tough to, um ... because we were so used to watch things on Netflix and Amazon and Hulu, things are streaming and they say they're 1080p. Um, they're highly compressed.
Graeme Boyd: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: And when, even when you see a Bluray disc, it looks so amazing cause it's not compressed, so ...
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: ... it's like, "Wow, it looks ..." And then you get to 4K, and it's just, it's just that much sharper. You know, if you have HDR, the colors pop a little more. It's just, it's-it's-it's a ... and I can't even imagine what Planet Earth is going to look like, cause those images are stunning anyway.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: This is just completely ... And then what's great about Planet Earth is I know it's none of these, you know, these crazy visual effects and, you know, it's not digital. This is the real deal.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: This is, this is Planet Earth, the way it's meant to be seen.
Graeme Boyd: Absolutely. That's the one. That, that is going to shift 4K TVs.
Larry Hryb: You know, if you want, we can probably, we can probably order it and have it delivered to the, to the, to the gate before you check in.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Graeme Boyd: Oh, really?
Larry Hryb: Amazon could probably do that.
Graeme Boyd: Ooh. I'll wait until I get home.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, it must be a little ...
Graeme Boyd: And it's Rogue One, is that going to be available in ultra HD?
Larry Hryb: Well, it's, I got to tell you something. Um, you know, Rogue One, this is, I got to call my friends at Disney, cause I'm horribly confused. They did, Disney is known for marketing their films, and you can't swing a dead cat without knowing a movie's coming out, like the Beauty and the Beast. They kind of stealth-released this digitally.
Graeme Boyd: Mmm.
Larry Hryb: And I can't find out when the Bluray's coming out. I certainly don't know if it's coming out in 4K.
Graeme Boyd: It's next week.
Larry Hryb: Is it next week?
Graeme Boyd: Yeah, cause I saw it, I was in Walmart or whatever, and I saw it in there.
Larry Hryb: Cause I-I ...
Graeme Boyd: It's, like, next Tuesday.
Larry Hryb: I was looking over on Amazon, and I-I couldn't find it, and I don't know what's going on. So, that's, I got to order that, as well. So I-I, the answer is ...
Graeme Boyd: I want to see that in 4K. That would be nice.
Larry Hryb: It's, has Finn seen it yet?
Graeme Boyd: No.
Larry Hryb: Uh oh.
Graeme Boyd: That's okay.
Jeff Rubenstein: How old is Finn?
Graeme Boyd: Uh, he is six, going on seven.
Jeff Rubenstein: Might be ... I don't know if this movie's, like, necessarily ... it's a little darker.
Graeme Boyd: I gave him the option, and I was ...
Larry Hryb: Well, you've seen it.
Graeme Boyd: ... always going to see it first. I saw it, yeah.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: I was going to see it first and then kind of give him the ... But he's at sort of an age now where he's self ... he sort of says, "I'm not sure I want to see it in the cinema, let's wait for, you know, Bluray or whatever," cause he wants to, you know, control the experience a little bit more.
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative), mm-hmm (affirmative).
Graeme Boyd: Which I think is very mature of him, you know?
Laura Massey: It is.
Graeme Boyd: He knows his limitations.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: He was the same with Power Rangers. I was like, "Come on, let's go and see Power Rangers. Looks really good," and he was like, "I think it might be a bit scary."
Jeff Rubenstein: Hmm.
Laura Massey: Mmm.
Graeme Boyd: "So let's wait for DVD."
Larry Hryb: He's self-policing.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah, he is.
Larry Hryb: Interesting.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah, he's a good lad.
Larry Hryb: I-I can't, I'm sorry, I'm looking, I'm over on Amazon. It's-it's unclear to me.
Graeme Boyd: Hmm.
Larry Hryb: It's completely unclear to me.
Laura Massey: It's very strange.
Larry Hryb: Like, I'm going to, here, I'm going to put this up on the screen. You guys, let's ...
Laura Massey: Usually, they're very on top of it.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, I don't, I don't know what's, I don't know. Maybe I, maybe I just don't know how to run the web anymore. That's entirely possible.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Graeme Boyd: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: Like, there's a theatrical version. So, this is buy the movie in HD. You know, I click on Rogue One, right?
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Larry Hryb: And where is it?
Jeff Rubenstein: More purchase options, maybe?
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Larry Hryb: Anyway.
Laura Massey: Internetting is hard.
Larry Hryb: Internetting is hard. Anyway. All right, gang. We'll let you guys go. Um, we will, uh ... Graeme, I want to thank you again for coming over.
Graeme Boyd: Thank you for the invite, as always. It's a total pleasure.
Jeff Rubenstein: I can't believe you flew over here.
Graeme Boyd: I mean, this generally is one of the highlights of my week every time I come over here.
Laura Massey: Aww.
Larry Hryb: Oh, you're so kind.
Jeff Rubenstein: You flew here just for this.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah. (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: I'm touched.
Graeme Boyd: Well, I was in, I was in conferences, so, you know, this is a nice, a nice, uh, gearshift, let's say.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. We-we, that, we're a little more, I'm-I'm pretty sure you didn't talk about some of the things we talked about here on, in your conferences.
Graeme Boyd: No, no.
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs)
Graeme Boyd: None of, none of this. No, it was good fun.
Larry Hryb: That's good.
Graeme Boyd: I moderated a panel for the very first time.
Laura Massey: Cool.
Larry Hryb: Good for you.
Graeme Boyd: Which I really enjoyed, actually.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: It was ...
Jeff Rubenstein: You're very moderate.
Graeme Boyd: Uh ... Thank you.
Jeff Rubenstein: Yeah.
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Graeme Boyd: Uh, I'll take that as a compliment.
Larry Hryb: I have nothing to add to part of the ...
Laura Massey: So many puns.
Jeff Rubenstein: (laughs)
Laura Massey: This is the punniest ...
Larry Hryb: Laura, just, all we can do is shut up.
Laura Massey: I know.
Larry Hryb: Just-just keep our mouths shut and not contribute to the ...
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Larry Hryb: ... nonsense. All right, guys. Uh, you can find Graeme on Twitter at ...
Graeme Boyd: AceyBongos.
Larry Hryb: You know him, you love him. If you want to, if you want the pun of the day ...
Laura Massey: Mm-hmm (affirmative).
Graeme Boyd: Yep.
Larry Hryb: ... you go to AceyBongos.
Graeme Boyd: I do my best.
Larry Hryb: Nothing but highbrow humor there. You can find Jeffrey at ...
Jeff Rubenstein: Uh, Coke-a light. Oh, I'm sorry, uh ...
Laura Massey: (laughs)
Jeff Rubenstein: JeffRubenstein. That's-a Mario.
Larry Hryb: Laura, you can find Laura at ...
Laura Massey: You can find me @lauralollipop.
Larry Hryb: And you guys know where to find me, Major Nelson. You'll see me on your Xbox every Friday, uh, with this week on Xbox. What else can ... they can find me on Facebook, too, right, Graeme?
Graeme Boyd: Yeah, Facebook and ...
Larry Hryb: Twitter.
Graeme Boyd: ... Twitter.
Larry Hryb: Twitter.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah, and you've got a majornelson.com.
Larry Hryb: Yeah, we do. We-we got a, the show is amazing. There's, everybody gives us great feedback. Here's, you know the secret is we try to keep the show under 10 minutes every week.
Graeme Boyd: Oh, right.
Larry Hryb: Cause we know the average, the average, uh, you know, the average, uh, attention span is pretty low.
Graeme Boyd: Check you out with the data.
Larry Hryb: Well, we just know. You-you don't, you want to, you don't want to know how scary the data is, in terms of, in terms of when people tune out. It's, what is it, seven seconds, Jeff?
Laura Massey: Yeah.
Jeff Rubenstein: That's about how much you get on Facebook, yeah.
Larry Hryb: Yeah. So, there you go.
Graeme Boyd: Got to grab them.
Larry Hryb: Got to grab them. All right, gang. Graeme, we'll have you on again when you're back over here. Hopefully, you'll be over before E3, right?
Graeme Boyd: Hopefully.
Larry Hryb: Yeah.
Graeme Boyd: Yeah, I'll let you know.
Larry Hryb: Right on.
Graeme Boyd: That would be nice.
Larry Hryb: All right. Safe travels, my friend.
Graeme Boyd: Thank you.
Larry Hryb: Laura and Jeff, we'll see you guys next time, and you, dear listener, thank you for your time. We'll talk to you next time. Bye-bye, everybody.
Laura Massey: Bye-bye.
Jeff Rubenstein: Bye.