Easy Allies Podcast

[@NikkiNom]

Blood is absolutely rocking that jacket. Like, legit. Also Jones with the tie. Professional af

[@happyfundave]

With you on Blood, Jones looks a bit like middle management who is overworked

[@dudeman2706]

CORRECTION (ish): This is speculation on my part, but when Jones short-circuited and said Xbox was "currently rebooting Splinter Cell," perhaps he meant to say Perfect Dark? (Since both are spy games, that might be what caused the mix-up). He said this while listing shooting franchises Xbox now owns, so he could have also been talking about Quake, which is heavily rumored to be in the works but not yet confirmed.

[@redgyrados2000]

Correction: Regarding "Don Legacy", the clue specifically said it was in 1982, and Tron Legacy didn't come out until 2010

[@mugdays]

CORRECTION: The Vito Corleone line is "Look how they massacred my boy."

[@ishrov2303]

How did you miss Tifa and italian senate news? I thought Jones was into hentai.

[@SStyle5]

I need a Jones Hentai Review show

[@Kango234]

I was waiting for it during Also this week and left disappointed.

[@hoopyy782]

I know it sucks Bobby Kotick will make 400 million but he's an Activision shareholder with over 4 million shares. Microsoft or anybody else cannot just fire him and steal his stock.

[@librarygary1618]

Is he forced to sell those stocks when they let him go or can he just sit on them and wait for the company to be valued even higher after he leaves lol

[@hoopyy782]

@@librarygary1618 I assume MS buying Activision means they buy 100% of the shares, Bobby's shares included.

[@librarygary1618]

@@hoopyy782 I don't know anything about stocks but if the company still exists wouldn't the stock still exist? Do we know if Activision Blizzard would be completely dissolved into Microsoft? Can't publicly traded companies be owned by other publicly traded companies?

[@arnoldoaad]

My biggest fear with the acquisition regarding the use of properties is that they will not give much attention to those smaller IPs at all, just like how its happening now already. I saw a lot of people saying that Halo Infinite was fine but it was a crime that it wasn't ready for the release of the new X-Box, that it had to wait over a year to be ready, I think it an even bigger crime that the new X-box released without Banjo Kazooie, not to mention that its been 13 years since the last one. I know that the acquisition will be formally completed until mid-2023 and then who knows how many years it will be until we see a project that started under this new management be out, but what assurance do we even have that something like Crash will not have exactly the same fate as Banjo and just be ignored and forgotten?

[@JazGalaxy]

The only silver lining to your very correct observation about the way Microsoft treats its third parties is that it’s been a relatively short time since Phil Spencer has been head or Xbox. The previous strategy for the train wreck of Xbox One was to not make first party games and instead “partner” with other studios who has already incurred the initial cost and had something with some steam behind it. This is something that makes sense on paper, and how Microsoft wound up spending money to produce tomb Raider in exchange for only limited exclusivity. That blew up in their face, and that set the table for where we are now. Microsoft has a dozen or more studios making WHO KNOWS WHAT at this point. They put o. Battletoads. It’s reasonable to assume that they are doing the same thing with other licenses behind the scenes.

[@Kango234]

I was kind of worried that patron game would be too complicated, but that was one of the hardest laughs I got from this show. It seemed almost designed to be as annoying as possible.

[@Iamcorrupt91]

Jones' totally exasperated dad sigh when Blood cut him off from trying to finish out or wars was majestic.

[@lexas1911]

CORRECTION: God o War pc port was not developed in Santa Monica. It was made by Canadian studio Jetpack Interactive… according to VGC.

[@SteveSummon]

STONE COLD appreciates the support. He WILL have that Elden Belt around his waist come Feb 25, you can count on that.

[@elementInfinitium]

Your video is hilarious and always makes me laugh

[@DillonTaylorVA]

Jones is really taking a queue from Kyle with this new opening segment. Peak anti-humor and I'm here for it!

[@karloluffy]

The weirdest thing about the acti/ms news is the video game media/journalists cheerleading it :(

[@Segab]

"journalists" that are cheerleading it are just fans with a blog. Not that there's anything wrong with that, I just wish we'd stop calling them journalists.

[@adeadphish7931]

This episode made it clear we are living in the lamest cyberpunk dystopia ever o.o Also, the journey of emotions that Isla went though during the game was truly incredible

[@geoffbaumgartner5335]

Brad with the correct take @1:04:00 They probably will clean up A/B, but that's just a bonus. It's only about $$ in the end. Phil comes across as a nice, cool guy, but... just make great games, don't use MS's pockets to brute force your way to the top. I'm not into this, even though it effects me much less than Bethesda as a primarily PS & Nintendo gamer. I like physical games, I don't really want a Netflix for gaming, or an Xbox, or to play on my PC, but... I'm old and prob in the minority now, but I'll adapt, I guess.

[@pkstarstorm8856]

"Who Gamed It" should be trying to figure out which ally killed a videogame character, think it would be more fun that way.

[@yodal_]

CORRECTION: AGDQ stands for Awesome Games Done Quick

[@MarkusAxunIllianus]

"Who gamed it?" - Since it is so reliant on visual clues, I think the format would profit from viewers being able to see those clues.

[@Nexdex]

...it's a bit, there is no visual

[@MarkusAxunIllianus]

@@Nexdex Oh, I get it now. But still kinda weird.

[@MichaelROLeary]

Indiana Jones isn't on Disney+ because the existing movies are owned and distributed by Paramount, Indy 5 will be the first Disney production. Similar thing happened with Star Wars when Disney bought Lucasfilm, Fox still owned A New Hope outright and Disney had to license it when they released boxed sets until that acquisition happened.

[@sonofsparda1810]

Thank you for the shout-out Jones, didn't expect that xD Since Brad was wondering, most of the information I posted in the last episode's correction in regards to Days Gone came from David Jaffe's podcast with ex-Bend seniors Jeff Ross and John Garvin, co-directors and writer of Days Gone.

[@godribbon]

Jones says he loves Phil so many times

[@stayinthepocket]

Smash Bros but a shooter. Chief. Doomguy. Captain Price. Couple Overwatch characters. It'd be hell to balance but if done right It'd be a massive hit.

[@closedmouth]

jones REALLY wants to be friends with "phil"

[@NMac30]

I was greatly awaiting the crews commentary on the acquisition. Love you guys! Great as always! Every week I look forward to two podcasts: you and MinnMax! 😉

[@Axl124124]

lol fucking huber . "Now that's what I call guitar hero volume 1". I want this!

[@theoutbackpandas8641]

Correction kinda; 5:51 Artemis is the current Chapter 3 map specifically; preceded by islands Apollo (which it sits on top of) and Athena.

[@quiet451]

This was a really fun podcast. Everyone was poppin'.

[@TheKingdoug87]

This was a fantastic episode. All 5 Allies on point. Keep up the excellent work. L&R

[@trendmaster0]

Everyone keeps talking about moving people to their platform... Game Pass is the platform they are building. Didn't they say a few years ago that Nintendo and Sony aren't their competition anymore. They want to get Game Pass on PS, I think. They don't NEED to develop a game console just to get the money. Phil's job title is important: he is CEO of Microsoft Gaming, not XBox. XBox is a division of Microsoft Gaming as they try to be the facebook and Netflix of gaming, everyone has access to it no matter the device.

[@zackburrows6273]

Not a correction, but I actually have a fun story about Greg Hasting’s Tournament Paintball. When I was a kid I asked for a GameCube for Christmas and got an Xbox instead. Why? Because my parents were part of Amway at the time which had a partnership with the game and had it feature their energy drinks in it 😂

[@giorgoskilkis]

A lot of people hoping that Microsoft will "fix" blizzard but let's be real here. They bought them for CoD, Candy crush and WoW for money.

[@JazGalaxy]

There’s no fixing blizzard. When you buy a studio, you are buying two things: IPs and talent. Most of the talent that made blizzard, blizzard is gone. All that’s left are the ips. And those are mostly run into the ground.

[@Starfals]

This has to be the best name ever for a betting team xD Holy giant chungus batman

[@stevenbieler]

Andy Strauss of Rocketbeans uses AI Voiceover from Skyrim to write fully voiced audiobooks.

[@tomofthepops]

I don't think Sony are worried right now, PlayStation yearly revenue is higher than Xbox & Activision-Blizz put together. Even losing call of duty and taking a few bill off the revenue it would still be higher.

[@JazGalaxy]

“Worried” is probably the wrong word. But this is a seismic shift and only a definite sign that something has gotten “out of hand”. Bethesda games are system sellers, no matter what the haters think. Call Of Duty is a decider, “all other things being equal”. The bottom line is that at the beginning of this generation, the attitude most critics had was “ it doesn’t matter what console you get”. Now that is definitively not the case.

[@pabloleiva8568]

I'll miss the Or Wars intros :c But this podcast was hilarious. Huber and the knife kills broke me

[@SGJetPro]

I always thought the beginning of kyle’s or wars sounded like a roller coaster creaking while approaching the first peak.

[@stblanco516]

Appreciate the “Nice” there Jones! Sometimes you can’t help yourself when you hear that sweet, sweet number

[@kingofthesharks]

1:27:19 Dragon Age Inquisition also won GOTY at the Game Awards so it isn't that weird that DICE also awarded it. 2014 was just a weak in-between year in general perhaps. Sandwiched between 2013 (Zelda, TLOU, GTAV) and 2015 (BBorne, MGSV, Witcher3)

[@redgyrados2000]

iirc Inquisition got a lot of GOTY awards, it's a kind of weird thing where it was huge at the time but a few years later no one cares about it anymore

[@philbarton2832]

@@redgyrados2000 I care about it but I think people know bioware are at a low point these days so aren't confident the next installment would hit those highs.

[@tuliobednarczukpecinemisko5606]

I love the way Jones asked"Are you scared?". The Star Wars prequels are awesome!

[@TylerNessss]

57:00... well done Phil. You only needed like 100 billion dollars from papa MSFT, to still be behind Playstation... unbelievable you pulled that off :| Like.. in what universe is that impressive?? Complaining about Chinese companies being dominant and taking over everything. But when MSFT needs around a 100 billion to keep playing with the big guys all is fine because... Phil is suuuuch a good guy. Lol!!

[@philbarton2832]

Phil can still be a nice guy even with Microsoft buying up everything. He comes across as a gamer and relatable so I'm glad he's in charge there instead of some corporate generic suit. These two massive purchases only made it more apparent how far xbox had fallen behind its competitors and what lengths it needed to do to make up ground.

[@Axl124124]

"Get a diablo skin in overwatch" - huber, "that's the same company" - everyone else . haha

[@antivanti]

Project Entropia / Entropia Universe did the metaverse thing back in 2003 with the hole "buy a plot of land for real money and exploit it". I remember them selling an island, a space station and a dang moon. Including ability to sell plots of land and take taxes. And they didn't need any NFTs to do it btw... NeoPets started in the 90s and allowed you to trade unique pets... also no blockchain necessary... Diablo 3 had a real money auction house at launch where you could buy and sell unique loot... also no blockchain needed

[@bobbob-cd9yl]

Hearing Phil mention games I have never heard of such as Hexen and shit like that exites me as it would be dope if we could revive some dead franchises. PLZ bring back starcraft as an RTF or FPS OR heck have the coalition do a gears type starcraft game

[@JazGalaxy]

The problem I have with it is.... Microsoft already owns franchises. They own Lionhead. They own FASA. They Own Crimson Skies, Mech Warrior, Black And White, Shadowrun, etc. If they aren’t redirecting the franchises they already own, what hope do I have of them resurrecting ones they bought?

[@bobbob-cd9yl]

@@JazGalaxy they dont own Topps which own mech warrior, Lionhead does not exist, EA ownes black and white, they also dont own shadowrun

[@SunDancerGE]

correction Jones: RotJ was 39 years ago... next year it'll be 40.... not 30 ;)

[@ThisAlbino]

If we lived in a Cyberpunk world, Jones would be a Corpo.

[@JazGalaxy]

I don’t understand the murder game. Is anyone else lost on it?

[@charoleawood]

Think of it as improv theater

[@stevenbieler]

Jones showed his age when he said Return of the Jedi came out 30 years ago. 😂

[@rygar8bit2]

Give me that PlanetSide style MMOFPS StarCraft game and add some RTS elements as well.

[@stayinthepocket]

Blood. Rouge-like Pitfall is literally Spelunky.

[@edwinleskin3112]

Wowwww the vibe was STRONG

[@edwinleskin3112]

Also I'm liking this jaded Huber era we are playing with

[@zhaf]

My guess it that Microsoft make everything exclusive and tell Sony that they can have all that when they allow Game pass on PlayStation.

[@Starfals]

Raven going on a strike, and all of the MS news... makes me hopeful that they might be able to do something in the future (not COD related)

[@Maztuhmind]

Blood is right about Guitar Hero and it's what I've been saying. A good amount of why that franchise died was because of how it was handled and marketed, not the games themselves. Brad seem to be unfamiliar with the passionate community it had and still has with Clone Hero but if this is done right, Guitar Hero and hopefully DJ Hero can come back in at least close to the state that they were in when they were relevant.

[@myname9130]

I just don't see it. Those plastic instruments are core to the experience and I just don't see them ever picking up the same zeitgeist they had in the mid-2000s, for most people they eventually just became a nuisance. Not to mention how expensive licensing so many songs from major labels must be

[@Maztuhmind]

@@myname9130They don't have to sell plastic instruments like they did back then and can treat it more as a niche thing like plenty of other things. Licensing music won't be an issue since Harmonix is still selling new dlc for Rock Band 4.

[@edwinleskin3112]

Jones in a tie and blood in a jacket creates a fantastic energy between

[@overtherenowaitthere]

HELP I CAN ONLY STARE AT THAT SICK JACKET

[@justahuman4862]

When you were going through the companies you said "radical entertainment" I wish the continued Second Sight

[@TylerNessss]

"We're in 3rd place" Is that actually true?? Or did they just initiated the BUY of that 3rd spot? It isnt even final yet. So weird that they just paid a 70 billion entry ticket to start paying 1000s and 1000s of salaries. They didnt produce anything yet, but!! But but but! They passed Nintendo now... which feels weird on so many levels. Its the purest vs the suit. When its Kottick or EA people hate that stuff, but when its MSFT buying their leadership position, since theyre clearly not able to earn it, then all of the sudden its fine...... weird

[@redgyrados2000]

This is such a weird take. Yes, MSFT will have to pay ABK's workers, but they also now own all of ABK's games and get the profits from all of them.

[@librarygary1618]

I thought he meant 3rd place as in behind Sony and Nintendo lol

[@ETragosaurs]

What is this new opening segment? I don't understand what is happening.

[@luklopskywalk]

DOLMEN!

[@stevenbieler]

Give the Halo guys StarCraft and have them make a proper Ghost version.

[@JamesFenczik]

DMT is the ultimate VR experience.

[@TripodDetergent]

Is Jones cosplaying as Jim Cramer?

[@godribbon]

CORRECTION: In a way there IS a Grand Theft Auto movie, released in 1977 and directed by Ron Howard. Obviously a different IP but noteworthy because of the similarity between the movie poster and the UK box art for GTA3 Also Michaelangelo had nunchucks in the UK he just never used them

[@felixvanderhallen1418]

A mass effect style starcraft game would be awesome

[@stevenbieler]

It’s also Hero Turtles in Germany. The best version of the intro is also the German one thanks to Frank Zanders raspy voice.

[@NickBLeaveIt]

What about "Ben Maury Povich"?

[@NCRLouTenant]

My biggest fear is Embracer Group being bought up, as Embracer owns a ton of smaller teams and have been supporting risks in the gaming sphere and losing that would be a huge blow.

[@elementInfinitium]

DOLMEN

[@MrMagz924]

Correction: The FPS Jones was thinking Xbox was rebooting is Perfect Dark

[@spencercollison1695]

The way you guys talk about the metaverse sounds like what was said pre-internet circa 1989. There's a reason these companies are spending the equivalent of a small countries gdp. Also Ms has done a deal with Qualcomm specifically to do with augmented reality. The thing is once the tech is ready its simply going to allow us to do too much stuff to be ignored🤔

[@JazGalaxy]

The money pouring into the Metaverse is PURELY because of the success of Bitcoin and rich people not wanting to “miss out” on what they see as being the sequel.

[@spencercollison1695]

@@JazGalaxy That might be true but it's the investment in hardware that will enable the experience is more what I'm referring to. The application of vr/ar technology now being used in the aviation, architecture, engineering, education, military, medical sectors etc is undeniable. People aren't seeing how transformative this is. I believe in 20/30 years it'll be the difference between the last transition of the Internet except on a whole new level. Let's see what happens. Exciting times!

[@zhaf]

Alibaba a is Chinese EBay/Amazon type of company. Also becoming too big for it’s own good.

[@pheria]

These Isla analgoies are the BEST. Putting the rich bully in a new school, and naming your band first in middle school re: metaverse. Love 'em

[@ThisAlbino]

What was Blood's point about not being able to turn off real world stimuli? Has he never been asleep?

[@ubersoldat91]

It's not often you can even get Blood to hide in his jacket at 30:20

[@charoleawood]

I think you meant at 30:13

[@stblanco516]

Closest thing to compare this to, and I know that sports is not a big thing for most here, but it feels the same as when the former LA Clippers owner Donald Sterling, was forced to sell the team due to his blatantly racist remakes, BUT still made $2B because of the sale! Hopefully Microsoft buys Bobby out, kicks him to the curb, and actually created a better culture, however the last one is a stretch.

[@stonehorn4641]

"Who Gamed It" is worthless if we can't see it :shrug:

[@michaelmoratto]

They can't see it either

[@kusi3503]

There is no actual picture

[@stonehorn4641]

@@michaelmoratto yes they can, he's showing them on the screen in front of them, as I understand it.

[@michaelmoratto]

You might really get a lot out of watching Improv! I've been listening to way too much Comedy Bang Bang recently, and like as soon as I heard Jones go "as you can see in this uhhhh 'picture'..." I could tell we weren't gonna get some crazy weekly photoshopped image. We'll probably get something at the end though! Thinking about it now, as the crime scene develops there are going to be WAY too many variables to do a fresh three new images every week

[@charoleawood]

@@stonehorn4641 There is no image

[@TheEveryMan505]

Love the tie jones

[@charoleawood]

55:05 I thought Warcraft was an excellent movie, my two cents. And I don't even play Warcraft

[@charoleawood]

1:25:06 And I also think Phantom Menace is a good movie.

[@TheKingdoug87]

I love the Warcraft movie and never played any Warcraft.

[@violetlazuli3998]

I really enjoyed the war craft movie, though there were some really bad moments and I hated how they changed the ending compared to the game. Humans losing would've been better

[@charoleawood]

@@violetlazuli3998 I'm gonna watch it again, it's been a while, I don't remember everything but I do remember being rather blown away by it.

[@violetlazuli3998]

@@charoleawood its on my list to rewatch soon too. Just a fun time

[@neuroflare]

Didn't Bosman start Or Wars with a soundlike he was tuning a radio?

[@kingofthesharks]

After looking back at both giant MS acquisitions (bethesda+ActiBlizz) I find it funny that none of those IPs personally affect me and my tastes. Maaaaaybe ES6 cuz I played Skyrim 180 hours when it was on top of the world, but it's crazy how big those other franchises are despite me not playing them (tho I do have Doom in backlog). I'm sure it'll still affect me indirectly somehow, cuz it definitely affects my friends/relatives who played WoW and CoD, etc.

[@elitedrigo3400]

Jones is OBSESSED with Bobby to an uncomfortable level IMO..lol. The more you talk about him the more powerful he feels to me haha. Just a weird feeling, prob just a me thing. L&R!

[@___IG]

People like saying "Bobby." If his name was Sanjaya or Florence, I don't think things would be the same.

[@elitedrigo3400]

@@___IG LOOOL. That’s funny. Sanjaya made me laugh, well done.

[@T.R.A.N.C.E]

Jones is the man, and so is Huber, Brad and Blood.

[@___IG]

Isla's so aggro lol

[@zhaf]

That Jones - Bobby impression was spot on. XD

[@MarkusAxunIllianus]

Thank you again for Or Wars. Best bit ever!

[@RandyVie86]

Funny how Isla is the one with all the "male chauvinistic" tendencies to have to keep pointing out that her therapist is gorgeous... would have expected that of Bobby....

[@jimjimjim6841]

That was weird.

[@johannesmeier5550]

Sony should just buy Konami and From Software. You all know where this is going... ;-)

[@philbarton2832]

Don't toy with my emotions Johannes!

[@zhontigue]

great episode from jones

[@iXiClub]

M A S S I V E C H U B S

[@glungusgongus]

Jones was prolly meaning Rebooting Perfect Dark not Splinter Cell

[@librarygary1618]

Did someone forget to actually edit in the picture you were analyzing for the "who gamed it" segment? Lol

[@charoleawood]

No, they're doing a kind of table-top roleplay of crime scene investigation, they're inventing the crime scene photograph together but they're not actually looking at anything. Like D&D when played without visual aids, the photograph has to be agreed upon without breaking character.

[@librarygary1618]

@@charoleawood I just went back to the beginning of the segment and clocked Brandon's "Wink Wink". Huber's acting was so Oscar worthy I actually thought he was looking at something lmfao

[@charoleawood]

@@librarygary1618 I love it :)

[@PrematureProcrastinator]

Es6 is gonna be exclusive guys. He already confirmed that. ESO will remain multiplat.

[@PrematureProcrastinator]

Why are people using the same arguments that they did just after the zenimax announcement. "This is about getting exclusive games on platforms where gp exists."

[@milesdyson7429]

EZA is misunderstanding the Kotick situation. He's not the owner of a burning house who sold it to Microsoft for $68.7bn. The real owners are ATVI shareholders, who get $95/share (Bobby gets $400m, but he's already a billionaire). The "justice" you're talking about is the drop in stock price that probably helped this sale happen. Some of that is from lower COD sales and Blizzard issues, but a decent chunk is from Kotick's reputation. He's almost certainly getting the boot once the sale is final, that's his "justice".

[@99Ruken]

Disney gaming metaverse is kingdom hearts, Nintendo is smash bros, Sony would have been PlayStation all star or PlayStation home and Microsoft we will see what happens

[@AnubisofScorpio]

Saying Overwatch 2 shouldn't exist but suggesting WoW 2 should makes no sense. And before someone says to update the engine, it's been updated, it doesn't even support 32 bit anymore iirc which is what it came out as to begin with. The whole thing is a WIP. Same thing goes for the COD and Fifa arguements made after, yearly releases instead of one product to build on. And considering Destiny 2, WoW still has all its content available.

[@sagii86]

This is much more substantial acquisition than Bethesda. Starcraft, Warcraft, Diablo, Crash, Call of duty, Overwatch, Tony Hawk. Reimagining these franchises would put MS way ahead in terms of quality.

[@gamedrop3262]

Nice sentiment but i cant picture any one of those titles making any kind of impact. . .too little too late for bliz sorry.

[@sagii86]

@@gamedrop3262 Time will tell. Same thing said about bethesda. Fact is, MS have the most beloved franchises in the history of video games with Bethesda, Activision and Blizzard.

[@JazGalaxy]

@@gamedrop3262 yes and no. The industry is led. And Sony led gamers to want to buy AAA movie-games that show well in cinematic E3 trailers. Gamepass and the death of e3 will put that concept to the test. Now that people can try out games and not invest 70 dollars into them, We may see a rebirth of arcade style games. If a game doesn’t make itself immediately apparent, people will move on the way they do with ROMs. As someone who hates movie-games, I’m all for it.

[@philbarton2832]

Reimagining those franchises would be a huge risk and could backfire especially when you consider alot of key blizz employees have left and moved on. I hope for the best but to see that outcome would take a monumental shift and not to mention many years down the line whereas Sony's first party studios are mainly huge hits commercially and critically. Sony don't have the kind of funds Microsoft have so will continue to aquire smaller companies but smartly

[@RandyVie86]

Alibaba is for asia if you would combine Amazon, ebay and wallmart (and a sprinkle of whatever wholesale big business you guys have in the states)

[@Arashocky]

The day Jones and Blood's podcast outfit was born!

[@robatfreedomhouse]

Vodafone is one of the top cell phone networks in the UK.

[@Hazz3r]

British based but it's a huge multinational.