Truth Under Oath || CheckPoint 530

[@leshrac369]

I appreciaite Beej just giving us a detailed breakdown of his total playtime on the switch. He truely is the only switch player. ;)

[@awkesns]

Beej truly is a playerbase of one.

[@gamemasteranthony2756]

The gazebos appeared and THOSE D&D players (you know which ones) began rolling for initiative.

[@bookreaderman6715]

DnD? not with modern Hasbro (if that is the reference I think it is, nice)

[@kerfluffle3781]

Still using this as my main source of gaming news with 0 shame here.

[@dylanlusczek7104]

Same!!!

[@ASpaceOstrich]

Pretty much. I get my gaming news from here and then the communities of the games I'm interested in. Actual gaming news never seems to pick up big stories in those communities (Total War players having recently pulled off a successful, reasonable boycott despite being an audience for a product with literally zero competition for example) so I figure checkpoint and chillpoint will catch anything really big, and if it doesn't get caught by either of them, and its not from a game community I'm actually in, then it shouldn't bother me if I miss it.

@@dylanlusczek7104 S(h)ame!!!

[@Cineenvenordquist]

A lot of what they offer is shame. That IGN might be your thing?

[@Gulyus]

You know, there is so many levels of the first story's joke. "Alleged zombie survival mmo" works if you assume the allegation is that there was zombies (they were damage sponges that were quicker to jaunt past as a brisk pace than shoot), that the allegation that the game was a survival game (there was no survival mechanics) or if the allegation is that it was an mmo (it was an extraction shooter not an mmo...)

[@Gulyus]

..oh goodness that throwback to the older episode of Checkpoint was TWO YEARS AGO?!

[@FridgeEating]

"I hope everyone is grossed out" "I'm gonna go do some more research" Really impressed with how efficiently the author characterises both Kathleen and Beej in this scene. Really makes me feel immersed in the story as a reader.

[@jamescolvin8429]

I remember that Checkpoint episode on the app coalition (which was apparently 2.5 years ago?!?) But regardless, great job on the journalism!

[@Gulyus]

I know right?!

[@SgtDax]

I am glad Beej played a game by a company that wasn't Nintendo. It is good to get put of your comfort zone, every now and then.

[@Drunkennewt]

Journalism is meant to tell people important stuff, even if they didn’t want to hear it. By that metric, reporting on literal brain farting is real journalism.

[@gaz-l621]

There's always the chance The Day Before was a Producers-esque scam on the investors, rather than trying to bilk players!

[@ASpaceOstrich]

Thats the line I've heard. People have said this isn't the first time they've done this. Typing that out, I realise how much I sound like a misinformation sponge.

[@FFKonoko]

I think they were just first try thst accidentally got way more attention due to marketing beyond their means

[@AClockworkWizard]

The company is russian. There is no way it wasn't a scam of some sort.

[@THESP-rz3hg]

I'm always down for a "The Producers" reference.

[@shadogiant]

That's a racist as hell statement

[@mcbmghome]

I am 27 and I feel like I've been watching this news show for over ten years. Always love your work !

[@njnjhjh8918]

The gazebo garden analogy was accurate AFAIK

[@wehpudicabok6598]

I remember when that episode went up and I did not at all realize it was that long ago. I feel old...

[@LexYeen]

Don't forget to take your medication.

[@Harukurochan]

Kathleen’s discussion at the very end on how smell works literally unlocked a childhood memory of “The Magic School Bus”, because there was an episode that showed scent molecules going up and sticking into the inside the nose. So…thank you for that?

[@stevethepocket]

_The Magic School Bus_ is the only reason I remember anything about science. Oh, sure, I "learned" things in school and got an A- minimum on every single test, but I didn't actually retain any of that shit. I was going to give some credit to _Bill Nye the Science Guy_ too, but honestly I can't think of anything off the top of my head that I know thanks to that either.

[@armisg5664]

Beej's Nintendo segments have graduated to just basically being an ad for Nintendo. Not throwing shade, it's nice that people are passionate about the things they enjoy. :)

[@Ladyjessica0]

Kathleen’s disappointment comment was so good.

[@cheesypotatos5920]

According to my nintendo year in review. I played 3 games for a total of 9 hours, 8 of which where in April. Animal crossing, mario kart 8 deluxe and link's awakening. Twitch gave me my year in review and I clocked up 700+ hours of watching Japanese cat cafe streams. So I would rather watch an empty cat bed then play the Switch.

[@njnjhjh8918]

I'm getting that way too and I hate it. Not specifically twitch or cat cafe streams though. I just waste time and can't summon the energy to play my non-gachas

[@cheesypotatos5920]

@@njnjhjh8918 Don't get me started on gachas for some reason gachas and WoW are all I will play. I will become burned out and not want to touch anything for several months after. I last played WoW in August only now that I feel like playing a game and it's WoW. Not one of the several hundred games I own and can play at any time with no on going subscription fees. If each game takes 7 days to complete I have enough games to last until 2041 if I don't buy any more in the mean time. I also spent several hundred $ on a gacha in a single night and didn't even improve my team. I did promise myself never to do that again. But with llsif2ml coming out next year something tells me that promise wont last lol

[@TheCookieCrisp]

Pieces of my burrito are touching my brain.

[@ASpaceOstrich]

Because their plan was always to appeal to emotion, and they only lost Apple because they didn't get a jury trial.

[@dungeonmasterv]

Gazebo?... I waste it with my crossbow!!!

[@Tomwithnonumbers]

Spotify almost certainly know that was what the app coalition for, but Spotify are happy enough if Epic gets the app store fee changed or provides more options

[@TehAmelie]

For the question of The Day Before, I believe it's been established the turning point where society breaks down is when food production and distribution stops.

[@alanglass7949]

The trailer for Metaphor actually came out 6 months ago. I only knew about this game because I happened upon it while scrolling through the Atlus KZbin channel.

[@kingofspades110]

Boosting engagement for my favorite channel!

[@heyy13]

The same!

[@tomireland3644]

❤

[@ThePerformerMan]

Gotta love their realization of their nerve endings, don't even think about your eyes!

[@emilydegroot6436]

I love all of y'all, seeing checkpoint always makes my day so much better :) I hope all of you are having a good day!

[@EternalDensity]

consider: a new event called The Game Trailer Awards. and they give awards for the last year of game trailers as well as showing some new ones.

[@stevethepocket]

So it's kind of like Apple went "Sure, we're both trying to muscle out competition, but at least I'm honest about it!" and it worked. Though, yeah, that tracks. I _do_ have more respect for Apple's walled garden making it a legitimately more secure and trustworthy platform to use. I know a lot of nerds who are the type to champion Linux but consider Apple a second best option just because of how sleazy Google has become. If their phones aren't running a third-party Android fork that has all the Google stuff stripped out, they're just using iPhones, treating them like the appliances they were designed to be, and doing all the important stuff on their PCs.

[@TheNerdySimulation]

Great job pointing out the garbage business practices of Apple, Google, an Epic. Looking forward to the well-overdue story covering Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro for their equally (arguably worse) business practices.

[@pierrari458]

That exactly the reason why your sense of smell has the strongest and longest memory imprint.

[@Thorg42]

Thank you Kathleen and Beej. "I'm gonna go do some more research"

[@meander112]

Truth for the truth god! Oath for the oath throne!

[@mirageowl]

thank you Kathleen because I also had no clue!

[@jsrodman]

Would love an app store on android that wasn't entirely full of garbage. But not expecting that.

[@DCPTF2]

you won't get that from epic sadly, pretty sure they are shoving even more crypto into their EGS right now

[@stevethepocket]

People have been clamoring for Valve to port Steam to Android for at least a decade at this point, but even they would have to roll back Steam Direct and go all the way back to personally curating every game released on there to be worthwhile, because you _know_ their curation tools would collapse like a house of cards under the rock-bottom standards of the average mobile gamer.

[@jsrodman]

@@stevethepocket I don't know what Staan on Android would settle as. Just search features that let me categorically block in app purchases asd ads woukd go a long way. But it's certainly true that Valve has shown a string disinterest in pulling weeds. Fdroid is on average much better. But pretty narrow.

[@paulf.3346]

I sunk so many hours into TUNIC. An amazing game.

[@Jam3sA]

Viable carbon capture tech already exists, they're called trees

[@aragornk]

I would love for you guys to cover how the title for every ad on Atlus West's KZbin page for Metaphor: ReFantasio and Persona 3 Reload is suffixed by "Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC" even though these games are also coming out on PS4/5. I wonder how much Microsoft is paying Atlus to actively not advertise one of the platforms their games are releasing on.

[@User5770]

"Full time volunteers work for salary" I don't think that's what that word traditionally means.

[@Dialethian]

I suppose volunteers don't get severance, paid leave, etc?

[@User5770]

I genuinely have no idea if there's a real distinction or if they're just trying to play word games in order to insist employees are actually something else entirely.@@Dialethian

[@InfinityToPlanck]

Yeah, the carbon capture tech stuff is a bummer. The viability of the whole field is still up in the air with questions about cost, scalability, and reliability still very much waiting to be answered. Would be cool if it worked out but relying on it as a solution to Climate Change is a terrible idea even as a key component of a broader strategy is questionable. Also it is being coopted by fossil fuel companies and advocates as an excuse to not scale down or scale down more slowly which sucks as well.

[@TakariCritic]

I'm just here for the repeated "gazebo"s. Such a fun word. Gazebo. Ga ZEE bo... Bulbous buffount?

[@tuxbeej]

Macadamia

[@trident042]

I am always appropriately grossed out thinking about olfactory senses, Kathleen, but thank you for adding to that.

[@theacidburn117]

Love this show

[@soratorb]

I have a mini humidifier going full blast 24/7 and my apartment is still somewhere in the 30% range ;-;

[@charliek5964]

Sorry, chemist here. CO2 capture is unlikely to be viable. At least in the near term. Carbon free energy sources are a way better solution to climate change.

[@lucasenraraujo]

That reminded me to check back to see if there were further developments in nuclear fusion and it seems like there has! It's still a very expensive process and doesn't output that much more energy, but it seems like Japan has started (publicly) working on it too, so there's some hope for it (although we all know the big oil and other industries will try to crush it once it becomes more feasible, but progress is still progress)

[@jsrodman]

it's good to keep trying. Of course it's very bad to pretend it reduces urgency. Thanks for your work and I how you are well compensated.

[@charliek5964]

@jsrodman my friends in industry do well. I'm trying to get into teaching so I'm currently wandering the limbo of endless short term contracts.

[@ssgtmole8610]

Huffing Steam Decks: "I love the smell of melting capacitors in the morning. Smells like ... framerate!" 👃🥴🤠

[@gregoryvn3]

The Dread Gazebo returns!!

[@maxhajncl]

*pointing at UQ* OMG we made it to the big leagues! For Smells! (Gj on the Epic Reporting)

[@anthonee414]

Just want to point out that as far as I know the first real premier of metaphor was in a Nintendo direct I think in the summer of this year but I may be wrong just know it wasn't a world premiere

[@drdca8263]

Hm, with the sense of touch on one’s face, does that go like, through the spine and just ends up back on the head, or does it go directly? If directly, like, idk, how much different is that from smell? I guess because it is just one neuron doing the sensing and reporting directly to the brain instead of with other nerves in-between?

[@snowcookiemedia]

I looked in my moisturizing cream tub and it's half empty

[@Mac_Omegaly]

My gel tub is half filled. That's why I need to use more.

[@AidestheKiwi]

My brain suddenly feels very itchy...

[@Kaerusss]

Kathleen didn't watch the game awards yet did research melting plastic touching your brain to trigger sensory smell - not the journalism we expect but definitely what we want! :D

[@ssgtmole8610]

Epic lost my business when they overreached themselves with what felt like an attempt to turn their application into a rootkit on my computer. I got the impression that they should be allowed to convert my property into their domain - primarily for their benefit. Forget that. 😝At this stage I wouldn't put it pass them to put something in the Epic EULA stating they owned your harvestable body parts - or end-stage capitalism. "Harvest time. Harvest time. Sweet, sweet harvest time!" 🧟‍♀🧟‍♂

[@nelsonsalahub]

It’s even worse Beej, the fart is actually made of poo. Real poo

[@bkuwahara]

Favorite fun fact... All smell is particulate.

[@AotrsCommander]

HI! I think I may be That One Person who is the one that does NOT own a Switch, nor has any intention of ever getting one! Wierd, innit? (For the record, I have played only five games this year: Wrath of the Righteous (340 hours Christmas Day => April) Rimworld (April=>September and December, 600-ish hours), one quick 40-odd hours playthrough of Distant Worlds 2, a 50-hour replay of Planescape: Torment, and a few hours of the TIE Fighter Total Conversion project for X-Wing Alliance). Can you see why the Switch presents nothing of appeal...?)

[@Irsaan88]

When Beej said "I'm gonna go do some more research", did he mean he was gonna go smell farts? Because that was the current topic of smell discussion.

[@sallomon2357]

Turns out, their content isn't as far from their Commodore Hustle counterparts' content as we thought :V

[@MrBogThing]

but what is the AC of the gazebo and has it seen me

[@WraithTDK]

That still saounds like Apple is far worse. Yea, Google was making deals for exclusivity from their store, but other stores could have done the same. I know, I know, they leveraged the size and installbase (RE nearly every android phone ever) so that no one else could offer them as much, but it was at least an option. But more importantly "other people can open up shop and sell games on our platform, it's just far more difficult for them to secure deals because we have an unfair advantage" sounds a lot better than "you can't open up another shop here. Period. It's our platform. You'll deal with us, on our terms, or you won't be here at all."

[@spartanlink_047]

Franks? I'm sorry I thought we were using Kroner?

[@SparkSovereign]

And what do these prices map to in bushels of turnips? 🤔

[@spartanlink_047]

@@SparkSovereign it's going to depend on your islands local turnip prices.

[@CaptainUrielVentris7]

It's pretty clear the law is fucked when you're prohibited from undermining competition but outright preventing it is cool.

[@Lynxiro]

Was not there some plans for apple to allow sideloading? As a enduser mostly care about having options from where and what to get.

[@stevethepocket]

In Europe it's going to be mandatory starting sometime next year, but unlike hardware-level requirements like removable batteries and USB ports, that's not going to carry over to the rest of the world.

[@trise2033]

Sing it with me, kids: "Let's all laugh at an industry that never learns anything, tee hee hee!"

[@Dragiceoriginal]

I am irrationally bothered that the subtitle for the Metaphor story says Atlas instead of Atlus :(

[@Thoth_7]

That's not irrational.

[@bradbradson4543]

Please make the brain fart talk a youtube short

[@miquelfire]

I somehow got 800 hours on my switch on that page >.>

[@CityofLight11]

"Queenslend"

[@SonicSlicer]

Wow, Gravity Circuit didn't make the cut either on the Switch or on Steam? That's disappointing, I enjoyed the hell out of it.

[@ArtemisLuna]

Epic only lost to Apple in their case because it wasn't a jury trial, Apples lawyers only had to convince a judge (who's literal job is weighting each parties arguments on their legal merits) to find it their favor whereas in the Epic vs Google case it was in front of a jury of normal people who can contemplate a simply idea like "google forcing app devs to pay a large cut of (in-)app purchases and then banning them if they try to circumvent that cut by letting people buy in-app currency via an external source" is an unfair business practice that legitimately does harm Epic and other app devs, and juries are by their very nature, able to make a judgement based on their gut feeling of right and wrong regardless of how strong each sides legal argument was, and as little fucks to give as I may have for Epic, I think the jury made the right decision and hopefully it will set precedent that will go on to help other app devs in the future.

[@madcowmoo666]

The apple case is now under review and could get challenged by the FTC

[@inquisitorgaia4248]

Epic got a precedent, i bet they try to sue apple again.

[@draygosmith]

"Viable carbon capture technology"? You mean, like, a tree?

[@SunadoraZokushi]

As she describes E3... lol

[@adrianjorgensen3750]

But it is all Zelda all the time Beeji. It is.

[@hoopsiclemcgee4244]

Damn, I hadn't heard of Metaphor until just now. That is bad

[@hatchcrazy]

Learning about Kathleen's stint in Actual Literal Newspaper Journalism from the LRR 20th Anniversary videos has made Checkpoint make a looooot more sense.

[@Nightenstaff]

Eh, I thought the Game Awards was a decent enough time this year. Yeah, I wish the winners got more time to talk, but I felt engaged the whole show.

[@brettd2308]

Agreed. I quite like the Game Awards, but my one major gripe is that they should carve out some more time for the actual award winners to get their trophies. Some of the ones that don't even get on stage are baffling.

[@StookyBill]

engagement!

[@whathitwonder4037]

If you were to add up all the fart smells you've ever smelled it would probably form a ball of poop this big.. You can't see it, but I'm holding up my fist.

[@timezerohour8864]

your not bummers

[@KJayPlays]

I’m still on iPhone but really only because of the curated App Store. Wish Google would do something similar. At least in part. But making behind the scenes deals was not the way to go.

[@MarioofSevenStars]

Why do people complain about TGA being a trailer sjow case with mixed in awards? thats what i want

[@Doodlesthegreat]

But it's hardly what the people who make the games deserve. Unless it's the team behind The Day Before.

[@TyphinHoofbun]

Because in this case, it was less "a trailer show with mixed in awards" and more "a trailer casserole with a light sprinkling of awards shavings", and people feel like an event called "The Game Awards" should have more awards. Like, a plate of food with some salt sprinkled on top isn't called "The Salt Dinner".

[@jemolk8945]

The people talking about it aren't you, and would appreciate an actual award show. Really, I wouldn't have expected that to be so difficult to understand.

[@firstlast446]

@@jemolk8945 The people that claim to want actual developer focused awards should go actually watch the DICE awards, there's a reason that TGA gets views and DICE doesn't. Even the people that claim they want dev focused awards don't actually want to watch dev focused awards

[@austinhaltiner1489]

What has bothered me the most after the game awards is somehow the Baldurs Gate 3 fans have managed to be more obnoxious than the people throwing tantrums that Spider-Man 2 didn't win.

[@bandgeeks2005]

1st comment for algorithm.