Smash this Mug || CheckPoint 494

[@wearwolf2500]

I'm not sure if I want Microsoft to own Activision, but I am sure I don't want Activision to own Activision.

[@EricChoiniere]

I would like Bobby Kotick to enjoy a retirement, ideally without making more money than he already has, but I know that's very unlikely

[@empath69]

At this point, I'm not sure Activision wants Activision to own Activision.

[@raijin2950]

@@EricChoiniere I'd like Bobby Kodick to go to jail, basically zero chance of that happening though.

[@PlebNC]

@@EricChoiniere It's truly a disappointing world where scummy CEOs get multimillion dollar bonuses for being fired.

[@lilyoftheveil666]

Ideally the workers should own Activision, but that's very unlikely in this current political climate

[@jackielinde7568]

Graham: "Hey, Kid! Wanna hear about a couple of class action lawsuits?" Me: (enthusiastically, with a thumbs up.) "Yeah!" Graham: "Great!" I love when a bit works out well.

[@OneOfTheStorms]

In the name of the unholy Algorithm, I submit that I look forward to Graham's return unto face keratine and am most overjoyed to see the inklings of beard once more being formed.

[@plufim]

When my mother got hair back after chemo, it grew out curly, and like... CAN YOU IMAGINE??

[@johnathankorba5095]

Fuzzy grant is happy grant.

[@AngelKitsuneVixen]

It's so good to see Graham doing better. He has hair again!

[@LateSleeper]

THE BEARD WILL RETURN!!

[@ObadiahtheSlim]

I too enjoy the face keratine.

[@ErynTzun]

It's so pleasing to hear Graham say 'Todaaaay' and know he's okaaaaay.

[@lexslate2476]

i may have cried when i heard that he was okaaaaay. it's been a stressful year, and the LRR peeps are important to me.

[@CapnHat87]

Can't wait for inevitable "Suck it up Mushroom Boy" Checkpoint shirt.

[@TheRoadrunner76]

Seeing Graham's mustache starting to grow in isn't something I thought I would get excited about but I very much am 💜

[@RvEijndhoven]

Truly, a 'nature is healing' moment, un-ironically.

[@oyleslyck]

Beej channeled his Gardening with Greg persona with the rage at the Nintendo store website.

[@Carsonogenics]

One of my favorite parts of checkpoint is the “stark hair growth update”

[@Ranakel]

We can feel so hard Beej's frustration at having the perfect story that gave the perfect segue for promoting the checkpoint mug. 10/10 transition, it's all right there. And there's no checkpoint mugs anymore. Tragedy of modern times, really

[@TheLivingGale]

Thank you for calling it Aotearoa, Beej. Much love.

[@PlebNC]

My favourite patch note this week was for Warhammer Darktide. The note said something to the effect of "Fixed NPC shooting without a gun in Prologue" followed by 3 emojis of pointing right, smiley with shades and pointing right. I didn't notice the bug but the emojis make me think that the NPC was posed like he was holding a gun, the gun model wasn't rendering but still able to fire like it was shooting using Ork-ish power of belief or Issaac Clarke's foam finger.

[@MartyCa]

Beej said Aotearoa, HE SAID IT!!!!

[@solidazoriginal]

Love Beej for the use of Aotearoa

[@Chozo_hybrid]

Warmed this kiwis heart too.

[@AnInnocuousBlueCube]

Chur

[@RobertJW]

Yup!

[@WriterRaven_]

Same here. ^_^

[@CodyDockerty]

agreed

[@simonteesdale9752]

I know several other kiwis have said this, but I love Beej using Aotearoa. Nga mihi.

[@CodyDockerty]

Hey Dr Checkpoint, thanks for using Aotearoa. It actually means a lot

[@owgirl]

Kia Ora, thank you for saying AOTEAROA!

[@bmw120k]

As someone who works in nonprofit for a large government agency, the "which I guess its cool that you got your own court" snark during the classless action bit got one of the most visceral guffaws ive ever had watching LRR. Great episode

[@Eon2641]

I mean... those parents aren't entirely wrong. No, Fortnite isn''t _literally_ addictive (not anymore than other escapism) and they didn't _actually_ hire a psychologist to make it that way, but they absolutely did design its storefront with the help of research from unrelated psychologists to exploit their player base as much as possible, as have many devs. And that is a bad thing, considering their target demographic is young children. It's just not an _illegal_ thing, hence the somewhat hyperbolic and specific framing so they could get their case heard in court.

[@definitelynotlazav]

In fairness to the kid who spent 600 bucks on fortnite, the game is primed in pretty much every single way it can be to funnel children into an eternal stream of monetary purchases. The idea that there's a secret psychologist behind it all is laughable, but it is a money pit baited specifically for children in many ways.

[@LRRVG]

To clarify: how does a 10yr-old have *access* to $600??

[@adiuntesserande6893]

@@LRRVG Not legally, I'd wager!

[@IKMcGwee]

I'm guessing the cc info is saved on the console for quick sales?

[@TheRealWormbo]

@@IKMcGwee A game doesn't need to be "addictive" for a way too young child to gratuitously spend money it doesn't know it's actual worth of.

[@DimT670]

One would think that the focus would be on the business model. Making it about the game itself is kinda moronic. "your honour, this game is just too good so in suing" is probably not gonna go far anywhere

[@houseofshadow6380]

>Starts "the news," as dubbed by my wife. >Sees that its 21 minutes. >Swoons.

[@thcollegestudent]

While of course the responsibility of restricting access to games and micro-transactions is the parent's chiefly, I have no doubt in my mind that epic has gone to great lengths to encourage addiction. It sounds like the article is talking about a "Human factors" psychologist, thats a scientist that basically studies how humans interact with technology and work out ways to make it easier. Things like where we would tend to look for something on a GUI or menu system, or stuff like the axe as described. However I have no doubt that Epic, like every other game with gambling and mic-transactions took a page from a book called "Thinking: Fast and slow" to work on making their game as compulsive as possible.

[@thewonderdoc2999]

Those patch notes made me shout out in laughter so suddenly I had to actively muzzle myself to not wake my roommate(1:30am)

[@ASpaceOstrich]

As someone who was vaguely following the development of Fortnite back in the day, it was really surreal to see that Unreal Engine 4 tech demo suddenly everywhere as a battle royale game years after it stopped being relevant. Its like Roblox all over again.

[@RobertJW]

Does that mean that I get to retroactively declare my lovely Checkpoint mug “Limited Edition”?

[@jaycube64]

The beginning of this video took me waaaay back. I was waiting for Graham to block Andy from using the Gentleman’s room.

[@neuroflare]

I recently smashed my checkpoint mug and now I'm very sad and I know it will never come back and that makes me more sad

[@porcelainmannequinn549]

"Nobody ever sees or reviews unless I dredge them up for watch + play" Now I'm curious if watch + play copy ever was the first copy of the game sold

[@RayneOfSalt]

Nintendo says we need a reliable internet connection? Here in Australia? Sorry, we don't have that.

[@schizoidembolism]

Good pronunciation on Aotearoa

[@ProfessorCFT]

I honestly love it when everything after the credits is over half the video.

[@shandius194]

I think a LRR worst games of the year Watch and Play would be a lot of fun

[@senseisleepyhead]

17:24 That "homework" thing such a cool way of thinking about games' value/quality!

[@RtxtDriver]

Great pronunciation of Aotearoa ~!

[@RobertJW]

Consistently good!

[@FogelTheVogel]

I like how Graham is just growing all of the hear above his neck at the same speed and length.

[@BritBox777]

Glad to see G is getting his hair back, I hope that means the treatment went well.

[@Tr1sh4Lynn]

He announced that his oncologist cleared him officially during Desert Bus.

[@seanfernan9334]

The commemorative coin looks like the pre order bonus I got for preordering the super smash bros 3ds.

[@hakonhjorvars3174]

Graham's Maitre'd persona reminded me very much of Red Dwarf's Kryten and I love it

[@natetwehues2428]

Why am I enduring Mushroom Boy's piss?

[@jacefairis1289]

"suck it up, mushroom boy" caught me SO off guard lmfao

[@notoriousresearcher]

Can I just say how much I love the patch notes segment. A genuine spark of joy in my day. 😂

[@wearwolf2500]

I really enjoy my Checkpoint pen holder.

[@theunwelcome]

all deit beamed, indeed

[@Cathowl]

I hope it amuses you to know that midway through the video I was distracted by how Graham with his hair growing back looks like pre-treatment Graham on a transparency layer over mid-treatment Graham.

[@EricChoiniere]

A bit more growth and Graham will be at his Chris Hadfield stage

[@SuperSovereign1]

Yup, Wreckfest is marked as gold rated and functional on the Steam Deck according to protondb.

[@ff0213]

Those in the splash zone during Beejs piss spray I hope had umbrellas and raincoats

[@lexslate2476]

Graham is looking more like Graham, but seems to have not lost that 'Large Goblin' touch. Editing the prompter on the fly? Nice. Also I am happy with my Checkpoint Portable Holes. It is a good hole. I use it to transport fluids from the kitchen to the inside of me. You should order more so I can give them as presents. All dee is beamed indeed. All dee it beamed.

[@rkk667]

Yay, Aotearoa!

[@EricChoiniere]

Kinda sad that your comment has a "Translate to English" which changes it to New Zealand

[@proteincurry]

He protecc He attacc But most importantly Him hair grow bacc

[@coaxtl1413]

Great episode. So many rage-Beej moments. And it is great to see Graham looking so well!!

[@dougystyle79]

So glad I got my Friday morning coffee mug when I did!

[@TheCrosshare]

Aldeit beamed, aldeit beamed indeed. Good note to end 2022 on!

[@mweepigeon]

Incredible patch notes this week omg

[@Danielsworlds]

Nintendo is one of the most anti consumer companies. And they go out of their way to do it. Like they seem to not want people to enjoy what they make

[@nicholasfalasco8539]

great stuff. thanks gang.

[@pyredynasty]

I like to imagine the sketch at the beginning happened at a Wendy's

[@johnn1199]

Engagement? On *my* Checkpoint? It's more likely than you'd think!

[@daxdowney5230]

The Nintendo store, even outside of holidays, shits the bed when trying to do anything, especially if you want to buy a plushy.

[@firstlast446]

Anybody can show up to most competitive tournaments beej, it's not like you have to meet some sort of standard

[@jcblacksmith]

Aldeeitbeamed my guy And also with you

[@rickbowker4179]

Yay! The beard is coming back!

[@stevethepocket]

Wait, is "derrière" literally just French for "behind", as in the _preposition_ "behind"?

[@Tr1sh4Lynn]

Yes. There is an accent over the middle E.

[@simplydavemn]

Woohoo! Graham is sporting my haircut! though luckilly, for him it will just keep growing out. Hopefully this means his treatment went well.

[@SAJewers]

Apparently CrossfireX is not a remake of the boardgame Crossfire, as Beej speculated, but rather an FPS developed by Remedy and published by Microsoft.

[@EricChoiniere]

Based on the F2P shooter I used to play in high school

[@ojrmk1]

Is it weird that when I hover over the video when the credits roll and see it's less than half over I get really excited?

[@waderedsox]

wreckfest runs great on steamdeck my dude

[@mowinckel10]

"That must have been the lowest reviewed lego game ever" No Graham, there have been some gaaaaaarbage lego games. Like barly playable garbage

[@TheDavidVAs]

I want "Aldeit beamed" on a shirt.

[@3playerpolitics]

Aldeit beamed.

[@Scrimshaw_DuBois42]

Somehow I missed this episode and didn't realize I did until 4 days after I watched the episode that came out *after* this one. Essentially, B-B-B-BONUS CHECKPOINT

[@plufim]

Nintendo AU NZ have been doing smash and mario kart trouneys like this for a while now, and yeah, it's pretty cool in it's simplicity.

[@plufim]

Splatoon 3 as well, IIRC. There's always at least Gold points as a prize

[@DannyboyO1]

When the credits appear and I see there's another 10 min to the vid... "Today is a *good* day." ^_^

[@OmegablueWolf]

With out Call of Duty, Sony and others will need to figure out their own patriotic murder simulators, spurring competition ! or somthing like that.

[@lostmarble540]

huh, so that's how you pronounce gyre

[@startingfromlevelone9510]

The Australian Smash tournament shirts are cool

[@bgarrigus]

Is there no one in Microsoft who remembers the whole Internet Explorer suit?

[@velvetisis]

You'll get caught up in the! CROSSFIRE!!

[@TimChuma]

cry laugh emoji

[@LookingForSocks]

Now reminded of my eternal disappointment that Bethesda discontinued my absolute all time favorite mug. Good mugs are important.

[@ExhaustedElox]

That Smash tourney is copying the LRR store. They are selling Cup, and Coin, and Shirt.

[@gabrielrussell5531]

So Microsoft buying Activision is too much, but they wouldn't stop them buying Bethesda, a company I actually give a shit aboot? That ain't right.

[@lilyoftheveil666]

There was a different FTC administration when the Bethesda deal was going through. The current administration actually seems to care about monopolies.

[@ElegantBoar]

Can we just solve this whole issue and make a heap of people really happy by them just buying the Blizzard part of the company and booting Bobby?

[@stevethepocket]

Which half of the company includes the Crash and Spyro franchises? Because their recent games have the Activision branding on them, but they were actually part of Blizzard's parent company Sierra before the merger.

[@biggerdoofus]

"Fortnite had a psychology make it as addictive as possible" ...Yes? Like, that's literally what game design is? I mean yeah, they should also put sensible features in like exit points that players can recognize as good times to stop playing, but I don't think the psychologist would be the one handling that.

[@hughcaldwell1034]

There's a difference between enjoyable and addictive. A qualitative difference, not just a matter of degree. You can make an enjoyable game that makes you want to come back and keep playing without making it addictive, and that's what game design should be.

[@absolutelypositivelyme]

Enjoy this engagement that I hand crafted just for you ❤️

[@sarah_757]

Another terrific episode thanks!

[@alexfisher4442]

I had the same problem with the nintendo store when I tried buying a new switch dock! It only ended up finally working when I used Edge and checked out as a guest. It took me TWO HOURS on what should be like a 5 minute transaction. Fucking joke of a website

[@MeinTofu]

Wreckfest is rated Gold and verified for Steam Deck, just fyi ;P

[@paultuck]

Congrats on selling out the Checkpoint mug!!

[@dessilk]

Engagement to please the algorithm gods

[@MrUglama]

You know what, i would value LRR Games awards, hearing your opinion, with some comedy, would be interesting

[@Doodlesthegreat]

Say, speaking of "Watch & Play," will it be coming back soon?

[@TalonSilvercloud]

Unhinged Beej is excellent.

[@TheMNWolf]

I had no problem puchasing Metroid Dread digitally the other night. Nintendo hates Canada, confirmed. Or, maybe just Beej.

[@TheMNWolf]

By which I mean Nintendo hates just Beej. I have no data on how Beej feels about Canada.

[@sharktoothjack8854]

If it's a casual tournament with a low-value prize pool, then maybe they'd leave in some of the randomness-generating factors that serious Smash competitions restrict or eliminate - like weird stages and items. In which case, even if some big name from the competitive community shows up, they wouldn't just immediately win, there's a possibility of bad luck

[@EternalDensity]

I'm not anywhere near fluent in French but I know which word in that title is 'behind'.

[@Zorajit]

I can no longer buy CUP

[@Sahdirah]

At least we’ll always have DISK

[@evo3314]

so, about the AU and NZ smash tournament. the three things you need is a switch, smash and reliable internet. no one going to point out that nintendo internet here in Oceania is crap no matter how 'reliable' the internet actually is?

[@donaldtNS]

Is it bad that I heard about someone spending 4,328 Norwegian krone (based on market rates at time of comment) on Fortnite and thought "is that high enough to warrant a class action lawsuit"?

[@thebassistsoldier]

The facial hair is returning!! Supplication for the algorithm!! (These are 2 different thoughts. Yay on hair coming back though!)

[@CarlLevitt]

When anyone talking about antitrust uses the term "blockbuster" they are at least hinting at if not explicitly referring to a series of cases in the 40s and 50s that dealt with the creation and distribution of movies. The Paramount Consent Decree prohibited a bunch of tactics like bundling movies so that theaters had to buy shittier movies to be able buy the good movies. It also led studios to divest themselves from actually owning theaters. Almost as if controlling the creation and the distribution of content is anticompetitive (absent a compelling argument to the contrary). To be clear it is how it *should* be but antitrust has had basically no teeth on vertical integration. There is no per se rule and no one wants to spend the absurd money on economists to argue about the rule of reason. As an aside, the Paramount Consent decree was vacated in 2020. The main argument was that technology had changed how the industry operates. This is suspiciously like Microsoft's arguments in the 90's regarding web browsers. (RIP Netscape). I anticipate the same tech based arguments to show up this time.

[@rakinh]

"Das good thump"