In short
Kind of Funny Games Daily (Mar 23, 2026) covers AI in games via Crimson Desert, plus Xbox’s Stranger Than Heaven Partner Preview, Minecraft Dungeons 2, and NVIDIA’s DLSS 5 details.
Guests/hosts
Greg Miller (host). “Snowbike Mike” (Mike; returning after illness). No other guests appear; discussion includes references to IGN writers (Wesley Yin-Poole, Brendan Graber) and VGC/Andy Robinson.
Key claims
- Crimson Desert shipped with AI-generated image assets unintentionally included; Pearl Abyss launched a “comprehensive audit” and added Steam disclosure after community reports. Statement says assets were meant as early placeholders and will be replaced in upcoming patches.
- Crimson Desert Steam reviews improved after a patch: fixes to keyboard/mouse controls, responsiveness, storage box, difficulty nerfs, more fast travel; ~70% positive overall, 77% for English.
- Xbox Partner Preview (Mar 26) will feature Sega, GSC Game World, Owlcat, including RGG’s Stranger Than Heaven, Stalker 2 update, and Expanse Osiris Reborn.
- Minecraft Dungeons 2 announced for fall 2026.
- DLSS 5: NVIDIA says it takes a 2D frame plus motion vectors; trained end-to-end on scenes (hair/fabric/translucent skin, lighting). Critics worry controls are limited.
Notable examples
Crimson Desert AI-looking paintings; Josh Sawyer’s advice to make placeholder art obviously temporary; PS5 blurry visuals; “invisible guy” Stalker 2 anecdote; DLSS described like a “Snapchat filter.”
Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.
Chapters
Tap a time to open that second in VOReturning Hosts and Show Dynamics
2:04 to 4:16
Hosts Greg and Snowbike Mike discuss Mike's return and current industry topics.
“Welcome to Kind of Funny Games Daily for Monday, March 23rd, 2026.”
Crimson Desert's AI Controversy
4:16 to 7:48
Discussion of the controversy surrounding AI-generated assets in Crimson Desert.
“Gold stars for Barrett for rising to the challenge and meeting my freak.”
Trends in AI Usage in Gaming
7:48 to 14:00
Exploration of the implications and trends of AI usage in the gaming industry.
“I thought we were going to talk about a different story to kick off the show.”
AI Usage in Game Development
14:00 to 15:00
Exploration of AI's impact on game development and its implications for quality.
“Some have held strong not doing it, but we're seeing even the biggest and the baddest put AI in their games.”
Rockstar's Reputation and Expectations
15:00 to 16:10
Discussion on Rockstar's commitment to quality and expectations for upcoming titles.
“And I say no because I do think take two and Strauss Zelnick out of it.”
Concerns About AI in Major Titles
16:10 to 17:30
Concerns about the use of AI in major games and comparison with industry standards.
“There's a destiny stuff, the bungee stuff.”
Crimson Desert Review Improvements
17:30 to 19:30
Analysis of the improvements in Crimson Desert's reviews following updates.
“And then there's going to be the teams who are like, I use AI.”
Game Mechanics and Player Experience
19:30 to 22:50
Shared experiences and opinions on Crimson Desert's gameplay mechanics.
“That percentage jumps to 77 % for English language reviews.”
The Future of Crimson Desert
22:50 to 25:20
Discussion on the potential future of Crimson Desert based on community feedback.
“Like I don't like cliff and I don't, his story is a gray main and what they're doing with the world.”
Comparing Crimson Desert to Other Titles
25:20 to 28:00
Comparison of Crimson Desert with other popular games and player expectations.
“I mean, we've even seen it on the Kind of Funny subreddit, right?”
Show all 32 chapters
Crimson Desert's Open World Appeal
28:00 to 28:40
Discussion on the open-world gameplay and personal preferences in Crimson Desert.
“When I think of Skyrim and everything that Bethesda does, when I do think about Crimson Desert, it is that like, here's the world, do whatever you want in it, right?”
Character Options and Player Experience
28:40 to 29:45
Exploration of character options in Crimson Desert and the community's response.
“And final one here comes from Jenny who says, I wish Crimson Desert had a female main character option.”
Sega's Stranger Than Heaven Preview
32:15 to 34:00
Discussion about the upcoming Xbox Partner Preview featuring Sega's game.
“We're the greatest partners of all time!”
Excitement for Upcoming Game Releases
34:00 to 36:25
Hosts express their excitement for various upcoming games including RGG's project.
“Microsoft has announced its next Xbox Partner Preview digital event will take place this week on Thursday, March 26th.”
Discussion on Stalker 2 Updates
36:25 to 38:00
Hosts discuss the updates for Stalker 2 and their past experiences with the game.
“Of course, I brought up the Telltale game.”
Minecraft Dungeons 2 Announcement
38:00 to 41:20
Hosts discuss the announcement of Minecraft Dungeons 2 and their expectations.
“Brand new reveals world premieres and Game Pass announcement.”
Predictions and Anticipations for Xbox Event
41:20 to 42:00
Hosts share their predictions for the upcoming Xbox event and discuss previous announcements.
“open critic it was like 70 something okay but i think think it's going out i think i think it is because we all had so much fun with that.”
Crimson Desert Trailer Insights
42:00 to 42:30
Discussion about the number of players in Crimson Desert based on the trailer.
“Barrett, if you go back to the trailer at the very end, they show six light up spots.”
Upcoming Xbox Partner Preview
42:30 to 43:10
Preview and expectations for the Xbox partner preview event and its announcements.
“Of course, like I said, March 26th is the Xbox partner preview.”
Nvidia's DLSS 5 Technology Discussion
43:10 to 43:30
Discussion on Nvidia's DLSS 5 and the backlash it received from gamers.
“It's the only news of the day, probably.”
DLSS 5 Technical Breakdown
43:30 to 46:00
Insights into how DLSS 5 operates and the controversy surrounding its implementation.
“Team Green has released some comments that have clarified what it does, for better or worse.”
Ongoing Reactions to DLSS 5
46:00 to 46:30
Reactions and opinions on DLSS 5, including memes and discussions of its impact.
“Yeah, no, I have nothing to add to this one.”
The Last of Us HBO Series Cast Update
46:30 to 47:10
Announcement of new cast members for The Last of Us HBO series and their roles.
“The Last of Us adds Michelle Mao as Yara and Kyriana Cratter as Lev for season three of HBO series.”
Discussion on Casting Choices for The Last of Us
47:10 to 49:40
Discussion on the significance of casting choices for characters in The Last of Us series.
“Caitlin Dever arc, which is believed to be the focus of the last of us third and likely final season.”
Speculation on The Last of Us Season Three
49:40 to 52:20
Speculation on the upcoming season of The Last of Us, focusing on story directions.
“Like, am I like what I'm more interested about this season?”
We News: Industry Updates
52:20 to 53:50
Quick updates on various news items in the gaming industry.
“Where would I take you to our last story?”
Capcom's AI Positioning
53:50 to 55:40
Capcom's stance on AI-generated content and its implications for game development.
“I'd love to know about where we're going.”
Final News Roundup
55:40 to 56:01
Final thoughts and news roundup on various gaming topics discussed.
“I was like, they were such the lightning rod there with Resident Evil 9.”
Discussion on Atomic Owl Release and 2D Platformers
56:01 to 57:20
The hosts discuss the upcoming game 'Atomic Owl' and draw comparisons with popular 2D platformers like 'Celeste' and 'Katana Zero'.
“They don't take the platinums away, right?”
Community Engagement and Super Chats
57:21 to 58:20
The hosts interact with viewers through super chats, discussing game experiences and viewer comments on various topics.
“Sky says, reminder to get your yearly snake vaccine.”
Discussion on Game Development and DLSS5
58:21 to 59:54
The conversation shifts to the challenges of game development, focusing on the implications of DLSS5 technology and its reception among gamers.
“We only did that one weekend where we did Friday night and Saturday.”
Debate Over AI Commentary in Games
59:55 to 1:02:06
The hosts discuss the introduction of AI commentators in games, exploring the reactions and implications for gameplay.
“No, but again, I am on a reading tear right now because of audio books.”
Transcript
Automatic transcript. May contain errors.0:00It's not just something you made. It's the privilege that you get to work with your hands. It's building something that serves a purpose. Proof that you have the grit to keep going. At Timberland, we understand you take your craft seriously. And we do too. Which is why our products are built to the highest quality. We put in the work so you can perfect yours. With purpose in every detail and crafted with intention. Timberland. Built on craft. Visit Timberland.com to shop. Spring starts at The Home Depot, and we are bringing the heat to your backyard this season. Fire up the flavor with our wide variety of grills for under$300, like the Nex Grill 4-Burner Gas Grill that's perfect for hosting your spring cookout.
0:43Then set the scene and turn your outdoor space into the go-to spot the patio sets for every budget. Bring it this season with grills that deliver flavor and patios that set the vibe from The Home Depot. Start your spring with low prices guaranteed at The Home Depot. Exclusion Supply, see homedepot.com slash price match for details. Refreshing Wild Cherry Cola meets smooth cream.
1:08The treat you deserve. Pepsi Wild Cherry and Cream. Treat yourself. Protein is now at Starbucks, and it's never tasted so good. You can add protein cold foam to your favorite drink or try one of our new protein lattes or matcha. Try it today at Starbucks. If you want to get our shows ad-free and our exclusive shows, go to patreon.com slash kindoffunny. Today, in the nerdy news, you need to know about it. Good and bad news for Crimson Desert. Xbox announces a partner event featuring Stranger Than Heaven. And NVIDIA confirms DLSS 5 is redrawing games. We'll have all this and more because this is Kind of Funny Games Daily.
2:03What's up, everybody? Welcome to Kind of Funny Games Daily for Monday, March 23rd, 2026. I'm one of your hosts, Greg Miller, alongside, out of the iron lung, making his return to Kind of Funny content. The one, the only, the master of hype, Snowbike Mike. Happy Monday, Greg. I am back. Thank you for the time off to get better and back on my feet. and I'm feeling good. You say get better. I don't believe you. Just heard you hacking along up in the bathroom and sneezing and then over here you're still hacking right before we go live. Yeah, it was funny. The neighbors saw me yesterday and like I have some really great neighbors, but we don't talk much, right?
2:43It's like the pleasantries but they're like, oh my god, you've been dealing with allergies. So they've been hearing me hacking up along for the past week. And it's like once a year here in San Francisco, from December to this March window, something happens to me, whether it be the cold, the GDC bug, or maybe it is allergies. But I get my butt whooped for about a week. Really stuffed up. And so I'm feeling a little bit better today, though. I missed you. I missed you, too. I don't like being away from work. It was weird not having you around, you know? Yeah, it's not fun. I watched all the earbuds, though.
3:18Every earbud. We're just doing the one, right? We're just doing the one. You have to watch them all. You gotta watch them all. ScienceDog official super chats just like you can on youtube.com slash kindoffunnygames it says we love Mike we love Mike welcome back Mike we're happy to have you and of course you've missed nothing haven't been any big reviews industry shaking news AI just getting worse by the day nothing like that's happened it seems like we're just going to do it all over again why don't we run it back everybody because this is kindoffunnygames daily each and every week down a variety of platforms we run you through the nerdy video game news you need to know about if you like that of course Pick up a membership, patreon.com slash kindoffunnygames, youtube.com slash kindoffunnygames, Apple, Spotify, get everything ad-free.
4:01Remember, we couldn't do this without our producers over on patreon.com slash kindoffunny. So thank you, Carl Jacobs, Omega Buster, and Delaney the Psalm Twining. For now, let's begin with what is and forever will be the Roper Report. Time for some news!
4:26Six items on the report. A Baker's done it! Gold stars for Barrett for rising to the challenge and meeting my freak. Number one, Crimson Desert Dev launches, quote, comprehensive audit, end quote, of AI in-game assets. I'm sorry, of all in-game assets after AI-generated art was, quote, unintentionally included in final release. This is the one, the only, W-Y-P at IGN.com. Wesley Yin Poole. Before we even start, Barry, give me the one. Every video game developer, every fucking disconnected, dumbass CEO, I don't even need to read the story. This is exactly what we're always fucking talking about.
5:14We don't use AI, but when we're in pre-pro, when we're in alpha, we just use AI to put things in there so we can, then you fucking forget about it. You become a headline looking like a stupid dumbass motherfucker. Back to IGN.com. Crimson Desert developer Pearl Abyss has launched a comprehensive audit of all in-game assets after admitting the use of AI-generated image in the final release should have been disclosed. After the hotly anticipated open-world action game launched this week, players were quick to spot signs and paintings that looked very much like they were generated by AI. IGN's Brendan Graber, shout out to Brendan, second kind of funny day of content in a row where he's getting name dropped.
5:56Here we go. The king of wikis over there found further examples of in-game images with the telltale signs of AI. Crimson's Crimson Desert's use of generative AI art put Pearl Abyss in violation of Steam's AI content policy, which requires generative AI use to be disclosed on the game store page. There was no disclaimer on Crimson Desert's Steam store page as of Saturday, but on Sunday, a disclosure was added. Pearl Abyss has released a statement regarding the matter.
6:52with work that aligned with our quality standards and creative direction. Following reports from our community, we have identified that some of these assets were unintentionally included in the final release. This is not in line with our internal standards, and we take full responsibility for it. We also acknowledge that we should have clearly disclosed our use of AI. While these tools were primarily used during early production, with the expectation that these assets would be replaced prior to release, we recognize that this does not excuse the lack of transparency. We sincerely apologize for these oversights.
7:27We are currently conducting a comprehensive audit of all in-game assets and are taking steps to replace any affected content. Updated assets will be rolled out in upcoming patches. In parallel, we are reviewing and strengthening our internal processes to ensure greater transparency and consistency in how we communicate with players moving forward. End quote. Mike, what do you think? You know, Greg, you guys got me. You are blessed. I thought we were going to talk about a different story to kick off the show. But we'll go right into AI. I'd like to keep you. And, yeah, we'll cycle back with what we've been talking about all week long last week with AI in games.
8:03But this is another one. This feels like the growing trend that we're going to see more often, right? Yeah. Hey, we had this placeholder totally spaced on it, didn't bring it back. Our bad on this, right? This seems like what's going to be going trending-wise here. And it's unfortunate. I thought Josh Sawyer had a great tweet up over on blue sky where he's like, when we do placeholder arts, we make it weird and dumb. I didn't see this. Let me read it. Yes. Josh has it up. Audio listeners. It's worth coming over to see the visual placeholder assets in a game should look obnoxiously temporary. So obvious that no one would mistake it for the final release in past games.
8:38We've used the doge dog RIP as an icon, hot pink versions of characters. Our CEOs had, et cetera. If you use temp assets that seem passable, it may stay there. Bambi upside down from a spit. This guy drawing his little thing. Adorable. So I like that call out from Josh Sawyer, right? I think that's a guy I can look to learn from and be like, Hey, that seems to be the right call, right? I get the temp assets that you want to kind of set the vibe, the right tone when people are playing through it, kind of talking about it in pre-stage. But like when we get to the final moment, you probably shouldn't forget that it's there.
9:13And it seems to be that's what we're doing here, right? You see the statement. Of course, that's going to be the easy cookie cutter answer of like, hey, our bad, everybody. We'll work to get that out of there, right? But hopefully, we're learning. You have the message at the top of the show. Hey, CEOs. Hey, game developers. All the teams out there. Here's the message. Nobody likes AI. If you're using AI, you might as well get ahead of it and just say, hey, we're using AI at the beginning of our stages to help build out these worlds. We're hopefully taking them out. and then at the end say AI was used in this.
9:45You'll probably get a better response than hiding and then having this conversation. Well, it's the whole thing of like just putting it in there for getting changed. You're like when you're making a cake, you can't accidentally put your, I'm putting placeholder rocks in it. And then there's rocks in the end cake. We know there's gonna be rocks in the fucking cake. Sonny Noel says, every time I see this, I hear a quote, we're sorry, but in actuality, I feel like they're only sorry they got caught. That's part of it where it's like, I'm Greg Miller. I talk about video games, play them, and give my best opinion of them.
10:12I've never made a video game. I don't understand making video games. However, for the developers I have talked to, for the builds pre-alpha, I've been lucky enough to be showcased, touch, play, see in a documentary. Oh, we needed this to set tone. You needed these fucking weird-ass paintings to set the tone. Like, that's so the end. I'm putting the fucking bride and groom on top of the cake. You can look at what you've made and see gray boxes there, see bright yellow color to know something needs to go there. You don't need to put something. This one, more than anything, smacks up. We're sorry we got caught.
10:53We were hoping we could slide this one past you, but we didn't realize that everyone knows AI sucks, generative AI sucks, and they can spot the fucking shit you make. When you make terrible shit, we can spot the shit you make. Barrett, what do you got for me? uh this is from someone who's at gdc uh they uh bs that's a blue sky tim saying i was in multiple rooms at gdc where management of game studios let their hair down and said everyone's using it gamers hate it so we just have to hide it now but none were actually able to explain if and how ai were making games faster to develop or better at all and especially with uh talking about like setting the tone and like uh creating like kind of early art pieces to like figure out what you want your game to look like using ai is such like a i think a bullshit reason to like set that up uh you know uh what's the what's the psychonauts uh documentary psychodicy right like there's artists working on early art assets to figure out the tone that is like a job people have to figure that stuff out uh i i don't want like the excuse of like oh we're just we're not creative enough then find somebody creative enough to help see through your vision.
12:03No need for it. Kebabs also super chast. I don't think they forgot. And this is also hail Brendan. Hail Brendan indeed. Yeah. I don't think they forgot. I think they knew exactly what they were doing. I think a lot of these companies that we see will have this situation come up. Probably know what they're doing and are very aware of it. Right. Yeah. What's let's talk about the flip side, Greg flip flop. Crimson desert comes out and says, Hey, we use generated AI to placeholder asset stuff. We left it in the game. how much sales do you think affect this i'm not at all i don't you know what i mean i think it's like i we all want to act like you know we'd be offended and you wouldn't do it but i mean like this thing two million in a day or whatever it was like i i don't think you're throwing off that two million mark yeah you're over two million for sure what is the fear of coming i'm just saying that right like press like this i feel like the numbers would not change right i feel like this game would have sold very well on day one throughout the first weekend if it even said hey we have gen ai stuff out there are bad right or like anything like that i don't think it changes for a game of this scale and i think that's reaching this wide of an audience you know roger was on here last week talking about how his trainer at the gym who doesn't play games was talking about this game like when you cross that rubicon like no that you the train doesn't stop for something like that not to mention you know as much as again we are all and i mean i'm including the people who listen to games daily every day are like man gen ai sucks we hate it the general public doesn't necessarily feel that way.
13:24They're using a fucking chat GPT to plan their grocery list and do all these different things. And they're seeing a use in it, not understanding the way it's going to hurt creatives, the way it's going to already hurt. It's hurts the environment, et cetera, et cetera. And so on. So it's like, no, I don't think coming out and saying that wouldn't get in the way of anything other than bad press for a game that they've been trying to get as much good. I'm still shocked where we are, that they did reviews. I think this game would have been a fascinating case study in, Hey, we're not we did that last preview event in la and even have that which the previous came out of that positive right yeah have that lift very late like right before it and be like the statement is yo we see you the community we believe in this game we think this game is so humongous that you need to go experience it not have a review especially because they had a rough start reviews for patches and things like that but well now we continue down the track see more of these statements in the next couple of months with games releasing of people saying oh gee jimmy jillicers we forgot yeah of course that's gonna go on every i think until steam has some kind of actual like all right you fucked up and you didn't say it so we're taking you off the store for 48 hours i don't fucking know until there's like some actual repercussion for forgetting i think it's a lot of oh shucks we didn't know there's a monolith at the end of the year gta6 maybe do we see ai usage in that all of your favorite companies around the globe now have kind of succumbed to this and started using AI.
14:50Some have held strong not doing it, but we're seeing even the biggest and the baddest put AI in their games. So let me then be naive. And I'm going to say no. And I say no because I do think take two and Strauss Zelnick out of it. You have Rockstar, who understands that they are Rockstar. And Because they've earned it, I would say, have a pride, a reputation, and an ego that they're fucking rock star. And I feel like them opening that door immediately waters down the product. Immediately takes away from, here's a game we've handcrafted for this many years that we're trying to make the best video game of all time.
15:37Because, you know, there's so much Starfield talk last week, right? I kept bringing up the conversation with you from back before lunch where you're like, this needs to be a game of the generation for Xbox. like clearly GTA six needs to be a game of the generation. If not the game of the generation, they know how high people are riding on that, betting on that, wanting that. And I just feel like for the team they have. And again, maybe I'm just being naive. Maybe I'm just being naive. They wouldn't fuck with that. But of course, then you get into a million different scenarios where look at the marathon stuff.
16:10You keep me honest. There's a destiny stuff, the bungee stuff. Remember where it was stuff they did leaked in, but they didn't seem like they knew about it and it was one art person. There could always be one art person that is like, I don't know if I can gen AI this so I can cut off a few hours of crunch where I can't. I'd like to go home and see my family. You know what I mean? So I'm going to do this and I'll remember to take it out and you don't take it out and then something spirals out of control. Do you think they do? I am just aligned with you, Greg, as I am optimistic Mike, right? And I like to put Rockstar at the very tippity top, but I've also seen teams like Activision where I think, oh, no way, Call of Duty with how many people they employ, all the talented developers that work there.
16:49There's no way that they would be using AI. Well, that pie on my face. So it's hard to believe not that. The real shitty thing is this won't change anything regarding Gen AI. COD sells millions when Gen AI is even more blatant in it than this. I hate it, but I don't see it ending anytime soon. Well, no, it's going to keep coming in. But back to your point is I think Rockstar would be appalled to hear you put them in the same sentence as Activision slash Call of Duty. Yeah, I think we all hold Rockstar up to this super high tier, but in reality, they're all up in the same umbrella, and they're all doing the same things, right?
17:26And so who is the ones that will say, hey, we put our foot down. There's no AI in this. Who are the ones that said, ah! You saw with Playground. Ah, we fucked up. We forgot. You know, AI was in it. My bad. And then there's going to be the teams who are like, I use AI. This is it. Yeah. We'll see moving forward. I like to believe, Greg. I want to believe. I want to believe. I want to believe I want to believe but we'll see I'm looking through season and we're gonna move on to a different crimson desert story here I think the one you were expecting maybe uh
17:56no we're just move on uh we move on to story number two also in the crimson desert lane uh crimson desert steam reviews jump to mostly positive as latest patch makes significant improvements this is once again W Y P Wesley in pool at IGN.com Crimson Desert Steam reviews are improving moving up from mixed to mostly positive on Valve's platform as developer Pearl Abyss releases game changing updates as IGN reported Crimson Desert launched big on Steam with nearly 250 ,000 concurrent players but was met with mixed user reviews much of the early criticism from players were revolved around the controls which some called clunky and unnecessarily complicated there were some performance complaints too For example, PS5 owners joined forces to work out the cause of blurry visuals, an issue that was also on the PC version.
18:51Today's patch addresses keyboard and mouse control complaints and improved control responsiveness with the promise of more to come. But it also made a long list of quality of life improvements, including the addition of an actual storage box, nerfs to a lot of the difficulty in-game, and more fast travel points. And there are some key fixes too, detailed in the patch notes. This update, which arrives just a few days after Crimson Desert came out, really does change the experience in quality of life terms and should make the game more easy going overall. Now Crimson Desert Steam reviews are mostly positive across both English-only reviews and all reviews.
19:28At the time of this article's publication, 70 % of the 37 ,660 Steam user reviews were positive. That percentage jumps to 77 % for English language reviews. Quote, we are currently reviewing various elements based on your gameplay elements based on your feedback it will roll out further improvements and fixes in subsequent updates Pearl Abyss said we remain committed to improving Crimson Desert and your experience in PyWall thank you once again for your continued support Snow, Michael Michael you of course sidelined by the GDC play during Crimson Desert week You were supposed to do a stream and he jumped on the grenade for you.
20:11Have you started Crimson Desert? And what has your experience been like? I've played three hours of Crimson Desert while I've been away. And it has been clunky for me. It has been a rough start so far. I am trying to get past that and master the controls. But so far, I have not been in love with the moment to moment. Hey, my hands are on the sticks. And like, I feel the flow. I'm in control. And so we'll see if I keep going back to that. I have a lot of fun games that I'm currently playing. So it's like Slay of the Spire 2 is eating up my time. Zelda, Ocarina of Time, I'm all about right now. So it's like playing a lot of good games.
20:47But on the flip side, for me feeling that, maybe they'll be addressing this. But what I like to see is, hey, they're listening to player feedback. They're getting on it right away, right? That's the big positive news here. Yeah, you know, last week there was an ongoing Crimson Desert coverage beat here at Games Daily, Gamescast, kind of funny, and I loved it. I thought we had so many great discussions. and it was an ongoing thread with me and bless of like, it's going to be fascinating to see what this game looks like in six months, 12 months, 18 months. Because again, you know, at that clip where we were talking about, again, Brendan on Gamescast and his things are like, I just published my wiki on how to do all this stuff and they just patched it all.
21:24So none of it makes sense. You don't need to worry about it anymore. Like they're fixing slash updating, patching the game at that kind of clip to really answer fan feedback and player feedback. you know I put so many people are like oh man but it invalidates reviews and it does this it's like fuck that it's great for the people playing the game and that's who these people are trying to serve it doesn't matter what that is and I'm happy to see them get in there and fix it a super chat in this comes from Onimus Prime who says No Man's Sky Cyberpunk 2077 Halo Infinite Destiny Vanilla we have examples of comebacks is that possible for Crimson Desert or the problems people have on fixable stories characters, et cetera.
22:05Wow. I, as a reviewer who did not vibe with this game whatsoever, I think it's silly to put into the conversation of this. I wouldn't lump, I wouldn't lump Crimson Desert into the, into that conversation at all. Crimson Desert is just a piece of art that either resonates with you or doesn't resonate with you. And I think that's the long and short of it, where it's like the games you're talking about here had like No Man's Sky is a completely different game. When we read what they're doing right now, and maybe that'll be the thing with Crimson Desert, but what they're doing here is adding more fast travel points, fixing clunky combat, you know, like that's not the same as, Oh shit.
22:38We didn't have aliens in the game or whatever the fuck it was. You know what I mean? We didn't deliver any of the promises. Crimson desert is something that has already come out and already spoken loudly to an audience that people love it and are obsessed with it. And it's like, to your point for somebody like me, unfixable. Yeah. Like I don't like cliff and I don't, his story is a gray main and what they're doing with the world. They're really cool puzzles. combat that's easy to get into challenging boss fights i bump into that's all great but if there isn't a narrative backbone to what i'm doing if i don't care about the world then i'm just doing things and i can go do those things as i said in my review in zelda in starfield in the witcher like there's a million different games to go get the pillars that crimson desert is based on and go from there yeah so yeah for me that i don't think it's a broken game at all i think it's just a game that appeals to a kind of gamer that isn't me.
23:29Of course. I think the people who are playing it are going to really enjoy that and appreciate the updates like you talked about. That's what it's here for. Fuck yeah. And hey, maybe if you fell off, you want to give it one more try. Maybe some of these updates will start addressing your issues there. But it's been fun to hear the conversation, to watch a lot of the gameplay streams from various different areas. And then, of course, play it myself and have this fun conversation of like, you either like it, you love it. A lot of people are just spending time enjoying their time in it. So it's pretty cool.
23:57It's a different one. Well, I think you see it with the streamers. You see it with the subreddit. You see it with the thing. There's this type of player who just wants stuff to do. And that's what we were saying. People were obviously trying to turn it around and fight people. I think it was Schreier who was talking about its content for content's sake. But there are people who just want content like that. And one of the things I found fascinating when we were either in – I think it was when we got our codes, we had to go to like a – I for us went to a discord thing where they had Pearl Abyss there and they had PR there and yada, yada, yada.
24:30And I, the will powers from Pearl Abyss and then their PR company who does third party stuff. And I think it's here, but it might've been an interview somewhere else where will powers, the PR guy for Pearl Abyss was like, one of the reasons this game resonates with me or whatever is the idea that when you sit down as an adult and play a game, you don't necessarily have the six hour gaming binge in you. Right. And he was like, when I sit down for 15 minutes, it can be as simple as I go off and harvest lumber. or I go get stoned, and I feel like I'm making progress. And I was like, oh, that's an interesting angle.
25:00And I know there are so many of those games. Yeah, we've heard about that a lot. We've had that conversation with a lot of these big games of, oh, I don't have time for two hours being locked in to complete this. I don't have five hours in my night to really make a big effort in this. But having those small milestones, those small chunks that you can go, hey, that's a win for the night. That's fun for gamers. And I think for, again, gamers who maybe can't consume content as quickly as we do, and I shouldn't even do that. I'm trying to speak for an audience I'm not a part of but oh man this story it sucks and Cliff's like if you're doing a week where you're like alright cool I harvest lumber here and I did stone here and then on Wednesday now I'm going to go make the sword better and now I can go fight the boss and like you're not thinking about it that way you're thinking about it very much in the gameplay mechanics of it which I understand 100 % I got a few more crimson desert ones in here for you Mikey okay eco is Matt 1992 super chats like you can on youtube.com slash kind of funny games and says i feel like initial reviews were lower due to social media people see quote-unquote okay reviews and just agree and hop on the bandwagon one single small patch doesn't change the game's overall review sentiment oh you're hung up on reviews i don't think that's what matters i think it's the commitment of a developer to serve their audience and we're going through and changing this and refining this and again reviews are that opening salvo of a of criticism of uh how people are going to talk about a video game and then from there it's in the players hands and so in the same way we're still talking about right now because of patches and updates or whatever i think the ongoing narrative now becomes the social media the youtube the tiktoks the whatever of the people are like i'm 300 hours in and i just found this crazy fucking demon over here whatever the fuck's going on you know what i mean like that is the thing that then people still see go oh shit maybe i should jump in and they did this and they're still updating and they fixed the thing that people were complaining about.
26:49I mean, we've even seen it on the Kind of Funny subreddit, right? Somebody put in, I wish Andy played a little bit longer to see this crazy technique with the horse. The guy was like punching the horse and showing. Yeah, but I couldn't tell if that was a joke or not because it was horse physics of like he rippled, right? Yeah, it's like one of those things like you're just going to see more and more of this game and they'll either speak to you or it will get you excited about something new you can go see. So that's kind of cool. Metal Baby Mario says, how would you, Greg, compare Crimson Desert to Kingdoms of Amalur, which is also a single-player MMO?
27:17I, of course, adore Kingdoms of Amalur. I think Kingdoms, this is something you've probably seen in the conversations out there. I think Kingdoms of Amalur is immediately more rewarding. I think you are immediately into, you are doing cool shit in combat. You are tearing it up. You're getting the gold. I think, again, take it or leave it. I think they're putting story front and center there of, you are this character. You are fighting this out. Now go talk to this person. Get that side quest. Engaging things, fun stuff. it is a big MMO like world that you're running around very colorful wow vibe to it but like I instantly am having fun in that game in Crimson Desert I did not find myself having fun in that game it was more of a time to holy shit this is great way longer in Crimson Desert if it happened for me at all uh Yel Sing says from what I've seen and played Crimson Desert is for MMO nerds Mike you're an MMO nerd I'm an MMO nerd and I like I mean when I think of wow and all my time with WoW and how much I loved WoW and how they expanded the world of Azeroth and the things you can do inside of Azeroth.
28:17That's my dream open world, right? When I think of Skyrim and everything that Bethesda does, when I do think about Crimson Desert, it is that like, here's the world, do whatever you want in it, right? Go over that crest, explore what's on the ridgeline. Oh, you want to stay home, bake a pie? Oh, you want to knock down the wood? I do want to stay home and make a pie. Yeah, these are things that I want to do. And so for me, this kind of does speak to me when I think about Crimson Desert. It speaks to the play style that I like. Okay. And final one here comes from Jenny who says, I wish Crimson Desert had a female main character option.
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28:47I'm tired of the excuse about, quote unquote, it has to be this guy, end quote, when clearly there's no connective tissue there. You do unlock a female character playable very early. She plays differently. She has a gun and all this other stuff. But there's going to be stuff where you're forced to go be Cliff or whatever. I think the bigger thing is I saw so many people on the Crimson Desert subreddit being like, oh my God, Black Desert Online has like the best character creator ever. It'd be awesome. and I was watching a video. I'm like, damn, that really would have been cool if I wasn't just Cliff.
29:15I'm here with my gigantic fucking forearms. Yeah. Veiny is, he looks like he's got two cock arms. They're so veiny. Wow. They're just veiny as fuck. You know what I mean? He's been working out, man. Fucking, yeah. If I'm gonna have generic ass Cliff there. I'm so excited when I got a helmet to put on him. I mean, it would be a fun conversation to have of like, here, Crimson Desert team behind the scenes of like, why Cliff? Why not use that engine of like, hey, we have this awesome character creator in our previous game. let's put it here does he really need to be cliff can he just be anybody and just have fun uh what the decision on that one well the decision on this one is that we love you and hopefully you love us and if you love us you should pick up the kind of funny membership of course patreon youtube spotify and apple you can go get it get all of our content ad free get your daily dose of me greg miller in a 15 to 20 minute podcast we call greg way each and every weekday and of course get good karma for supporting an 11 person 11 year old small business but right now you're not using your benefits so here's a word from our sponsor this episode is brought to you by patreon.com slash kind of funny yeah yeah yeah yeah we'd love you to come give us ten dollars and get all of our shows ad free get your daily dose of me and get good karma because patreon is the best place that gives us the best revenue share on the kind of funny subscription but if If that's not your style, we'd love it if you came over and signed up for a free account.
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32:29New Habitats. Zootopia has a secret reptile population. You can watch the record-breaking phenomenon at home. Zootopia 2, now available on Disney Plus Rated PG. And right now you can get Disney Plus and Hulu for just$4.99 a month for three months with a special limited time offer ends March 24th. After three months, plan auto-renews at$12.99 a month. Terms apply. This episode is brought to you by Palmolive. Family time isn't just the big moments. It's weeknight dinners. Sitting around the table, everyone talking all at once. So when the plates are empty and the sink is full, use Palmolive Ultra.
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33:42Coverage options are selected by the customer. Availability, amount of discounts and savings, and eligibility vary by state. And we're back with story number three. Sega's Stranger Than Heaven will headline an Xbox Partner event this week. We go to VGC and Andy Robinson. Microsoft has announced its next Xbox Partner Preview digital event will take place this week on Thursday, March 26th. Partner Preview is Xbox's event series that focuses on upcoming games from third-party developers. According to an announcement, this week's installment will include news on upcoming games from partners including Sega, GSC Game World and Owlcat Games quote plus brand new reveals world premieres and Xbox Game Pass announcements end quote the March 26th partner preview will feature an in-depth look at RGG's new project Stranger Than Heaven an update on Stalker 2 Heart of Chernobyl plus a new look at the Expanse Osiris Reborn this game looks dope as hell quote that's not all we'll have for you with first looks and announcements from more great games coming to Xbox consoles Xbox on PC and Xbox Game Pass Microsoft said.
34:55The event will broadcast digitally on Thursday, March 26th at 10 a.m. Pacific. Morning starts. I like that. You like that, Mikey? You like that? What do you think of the first Stranger that happened? I'm so happy I'm back to work because I would not want to miss this. Oh, yeah? And I am pumped up. It's a great lineup right here. It's a nice little... I mean, we are getting so many showcases, partner previews, indie developer directs to start off the year. I'm having a great time. I love seeing games. Love seeing new games. Love seeing returning titles come back into my life. Now, when you put RGG studios in the mix and you show me stranger than heaven.
35:31Yeah. I get really excited about this, right? Like this looks dope. 1943 setting up Yakuza some more. Like I'm into that. Right. I love that. And then you also brought it up. We're talking about an expanse video game. Shout to the telltale expanse video game. That wasn't telltale deck nine. I think made that telltale. I thought they were Telltale. Yeah, it might be under Telltale's name. I don't remember the Telltale lineup. Yeah, it was a Telltale game. I want more Expanse in my life. Can you throw up the Expanse trailer? Because remember, this trailer was so good. Yeah. Tim and I bought the book.
36:05Have you watched the show yet? No, because people are like, we're going to buy the book. We bought the book, and I read one chapter, and Tim read one page. But we're going to work on it. You know what I mean? We're working on it right there. The Expanse of Cyrus. Don't be afraid to start the show. The show's really good. I mean, it is going to take up a lot of your time when you are a father and you don't have much time, but the show is really good. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And this game looks really good. I'm super excited to see more of this. I want more Expanse Universe. Of course, I brought up the Telltale game.
36:33Fun, cool, to get more in the universe. Now a full-fledged game that looks awesome, kind of like Mass Effect vibes. Really excited for that. We're going to be riding the high off of Project Hail Mary this weekend and throughout the week. Do you watch it? Not yet for me, but I think people are going to be really excited about, like, a sci-fi universe and once again like i said i know there's the books for me i watched the show i loved the show i can't wait to be in this universe i want i want it i really want it yeah i mean the game looks awesome i want to know more about this to the fact that they're part i mean one of the three that are getting a lot of news here or you know uh layout i'm very into i'm very excited for that one yes of course everybody we will be live reacting to it here on kind of funny of course youtube.com slash kind of funny games twitch.tv slash kind of funny games 10 a.m it'll take the normal slot of games daily maybe it'll be games daily i haven't had enough time on my desk to actually lay it out because we do have an embargoed preview so maybe you're getting two games cast maybe this is games daily we'll figure it out don't worry about it but we'll be live and you got to come hang on and of course stalker 2 yeah an update with that team right what have they been working on what are they adding to this game this was a game that i was really into but got my butt absolutely whooped in it i gave up on it yeah so it's like i i really am into the idea of playing Stalker 2.
37:42I don't know if I'll ever get there, but I would love to see more content come that way from that team and see if one day I'll get into it. This is punishing. It was cool, man. That invisible guy was chasing me all around in the fields and I was trying to shoot it. I'm surprised. Stalker 2 came out a while ago, right? 2024. Right, okay. What are they bringing here? What are they talking about now? What's the update? And then what else will they show? Also, first kind of showcase. Brand new reveals world premieres and Game Pass announcement. In the Asha Sharman rain now. Asha Sharma. New rain. So this is kind of exciting.
38:17I don't think we'll see the true vibe until June for her and the team. Do you see her? Oh. Does Asha have something going on in this? Does she pop up like, hey everybody, I'm Asha. Happy to meet you. Is it her and Phil? Do we see Phil too? I thought that's June. No, I'm going to go with June. I think we don't see her. Putting the games up front and center. I forget what these usually look like. In terms of, they're not the developer directs that have that nice circle. I feel like Sarah Bond and Matt Booty and Phil have appeared. Trying to get to you and Matt Booty. So it'll be exciting to see.
38:47But I love that I'm back to work for this. I can't wait to see the other games. Well, don't get ahead of yourself. This is Thursday. Let's see if you're still standing by then. Okay. I don't want to miss out on any more work. Let's see who's still standing by Thursday. We'll figure it out for them. Do you have any predictions? Plus a brand new reveals, world premieres? No, I have no predictions for you right now. you got anything coming out of your back pocket yeah what uh what's the uh what are we uh life is strange reunion that's this week right is that tomorrow or is that okay another life is strange reunion release date march 26th that lines up right they could have that's that day yeah they'll say something about that shit that'll be there i can put that out there life is strange chloe maybe that's you no i don't know uh you know hold on let me i think it's in we news let's make sure hold on don't don't go anywhere don't go anywhere don't go anywhere look at this i don't think blessing put it in here no there it is tossing in the top barry if you don't mind minecraft dungeons 2 has been announced oh this is from the top of we news i'll read the steam description the next chapter chapter in minecraft dungeons begins in the fall of 2026 a new threat is descending upon the land become a hero and clash with forces of evil once more.
40:01I forget. I know this is partner direct. I know they own Mojang. Who's the one who does Minecraft Dungeons though? I want to say Blackbird Interactive. That sounds right. That sounds really good. There's two different Minecraft games. There was Dungeons and you know the other one. So on the developer of this one, Steam has Mojang and Double Eleven. I think you could fart around and fudge it and say that this is one of them. I thought this was a weird one just to have announced over the weekend. Come on. Well, they had a big Minecraft announcement party there. Yeah, but nobody cares on the weekend.
40:33Come on. They're making a Minecraft amusement park. Did you see that? I didn't see that because it was the weekend. Come on. You know what I mean? Help us out here. Let me be dialed in on a weekday. Let me have a job. Well, let's take a moment to talk about this because this is an exciting announcement. Very much so. Baby's first ARPG, which we talked about on the last one, a surprise little hit for families and gamers alike. Like, I'm into this game. 100%. I'm excited to see more of it. Joey and I loved it. Platinumed it. I'm surprised that we're getting a second one. yeah honestly i thought with minecraft dungeons and legends they'd be kind of one and done it's like hey we gave them a try tested the market see where we go from there yeah to see that we're getting a dungeons too that's a thumbs up for me too i'm very excited as much as i like dungeons one to see what they're going to bring to the table and in fact i'm so into it i it's my final ad of the fantasy critic team ecto one games did pick up minecraft dungeons too minecraft dungeons open critic it was like 70 something okay but i think think it's going out i think i think it is because we all had so much fun with that.
41:31I really feel like you look at that, you go, especially if you're like, we're doing another one. Yeah. Let's double down on what people really like. Let's have it come out of the gate with a whole bunch more content, a whole bunch more stuff. And I think an audience now looks at that and goes, man, I've heard good vibes about it. Let's go. I'm expecting more than I give you a thumbs up on whatever the open critic was. It was 70, 72, 76. I'm expecting at least an 80, which ain't banger numbers, but I'm probably fucked by the chance I'm locked on so many goddamn games. You ready for my, I don't believe in this half-life game anymore.
41:57Yeah, go for it. I'm going for a shot in the dark, a theory here. Barrett, if you go back to the trailer at the very end, they show six light up spots. I think it's going to be six players. Oh, hot. Four. Okay. Yeah. That's my thought right there. Cause it goes, it shows one, two, three, four, and then it adds five and six on the colors right here. Okay. And then they take some all away. I think we're getting six players on this. Damn. You asked me that's worth 20 points. You know what I mean? This would be fun. But yeah, I'm looking forward to this. Me too. I'm glad. I'd love more details. I'd love to see it, especially for 2026.
42:29I feel like that snuck in, you know what I mean? Back in the year. Let's go for it. Of course, like I said, March 26th is the Xbox partner preview. Stranger than heaven stalker to update the expanse. Osiris reborn plus brand new reveals world premieres and Xbox game pass announcements. It is 10 a.m. On Thursday, our normal games, daily time slot. We will be live. We will live react to it. Then we will do a show after it. Will that show be games daily? or will that show be another Gamescast? I vote Games Daily so we don't double up the Gamescast feed, and there's no Tim to talk me down, so that's probably what it'll end up being.
43:01Don't worry about it. You know what? What am I saying? Let me check in with Tim Jr., CEO of Barrett Courtney. Hey, man, here's the thing, though. It's the only news of the day, probably. Do we really want to set the expectation that live reactions are a part of Games Daily? Like, I don't know. We're going to cut out the live reaction. It sounds just like Tim. That's crazy. no I say roll with games daily the motion passes rest in peace Tim let's move on to number four Nvidia confirms DLSS 5 is redrawing games this is Jacqueline Thomas at IGN.com formerly Imagine Games Network Nvidia announced DLSS 5 on Monday which was swiftly followed by immediate backlash from gamers and developers alike and while Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has claimed People are wrong about their distaste for the fledgling technology.
43:55Team Green has released some comments that have clarified what it does, for better or worse. In a statement to YouTuber Daniel Owen, Jacob Freeman, GeForce Evangelist for NVIDIA, clarified some of the finer points about how DLSS 5 actually works. And just like Death Stranding 2 animator Mike York suggested, it seems the algorithm is just taking frames from the game along with motion vector data and drawing a new image that's pasted on top. When Owen asked whether or not the model is just taking a rendered frame as input, Freeman responded, quote, yes, DLSS 5 takes a 2D frame plus motion vectors as input, end quote.
44:33Then he clarified, quote, DLSS 5 is trained end-to-end to understand complex scene schematics such as characters, hair, fabric, and translucent skin, along with environmental lighting conditions like front lit, back lick, or overcast, lit not lick, all by analyzing a single frame, end quote. NVIDIA has made the claim about quote unquote complex scene schematics before, but because the model is only taking the rendered frame and motion data's input, it has no way to know definitively the values given to various in-game objects by developers. Owen was told the same thing I've been told by NVIDIA too, that developers will have quote, detailed controls such as intensity and color grading.
45:16Artists can use these controls to adjust global contrast, saturation, and gamma, and determine where and how enhancements are applied to maintain a game's unique aesthetic. But given what NVIDIA has shared about how the model works, these controls seem limited to the kind of sliders you'd find in Adobe Lightroom.
45:48we've talked it today. There's a lot of shows last week about how a lot of yikes, yikes, yikes. And here we are again. Yikes. Mike, you got anything new to say under the sun about this? Other than you hope people just don't use it. Yeah, no, I have nothing to add to this one. A long conversation last week. A lot of fun memes coming out of that one. A lot of just giggles and a lot of kind of grabbing your hair going, what are we doing? And you know, I'm not the tech guy. I don't understand much of this, but then when I read it, I go, oh, it's just a Snapchat filter put over this. That's great. That's what I needed.
46:20Yeah. Well, they were just don't love that. That's where, you know, Jensen would pop up and say you're completely wrong. Yeah, exactly. We will continue to watch this nightmare unfold and see if anyone actually tries it. Greg, it's going to be great. Every game is going to look. Ours have complete control. Complete control. Complete control. Number five on the Roper Report. The Last of Us adds Michelle Mao as Yara and Kyriana Cratter as Lev for season three of HBO series. This is Nelly Andriva over at Deadline. The Last of Us has cast two key roles from the second game. Siblings Yara and Lev, Bridgerton's Michelle Mao, and Kriyana Cratter, Star Wars skeleton crew, are joining the upcoming third season of the HBO post-apocalyptic drama as series regulars playing Yara and Lev, respectively.
47:08Sarah fights Yara and especially Lev are a major part of Abby Anderson's, Caitlin Dever arc, which is believed to be the focus of the last of us third and likely final season. Lev is the Lev is a Duro Duro Duro. What do you say there? No, it's like neuter. So Duder antagonist of Abby's Duder. I've never seen this in my life. People are too fucking smart. I like that. This is why I don't write about movies or TV of Abby storyline in the naughty dog game serving as our partner and moral compass. Like in the game, Lev Cratter is a 13-year-old transgender boy. HBO held an inclusive casting call for Lev with young actors of different backgrounds auditioning.
47:49It was won by Cratter, who was a child herself at 15. Cratter was a main cast member opposite Jude Law and Ryan Kira Armstrong in Disney's... Jude Law was in Star Wars Skeletal. There it is. He was really good in it. And this wasn't a cartoon? Or was it a cartoon? No, it was like, it was Star Wars Goonies and no one watched it. and it kicked ass. It was really good. Okay, great. Maybe I'll watch, is it been appropriate yet or do I have to let him get a little bit older? We'll talk off air. Like, I don't know what his level of, like, what thing, what is scary and what isn't. She also had a reoccurring role on Disney Channel's Bunked.
48:27Mao is coming off a major role as Sophie, Sophie's evil stepsister, Rosamond, in the Cinderella-themed season four of Netflix's Bridgerton. Greg, I'll just, I'll kick it right to you. You're the PlayStation guy, the last of us, man. You happy with this? I mean, I know nothing about these people. I seen this go. The, obviously what I had seen run within our circles was that this was happening. And Lev, a 13 year old transgender boy was being played by a female actress. Yes. And that not somebody from the transgender community. And I saw people were very upset about that. And so I'm trying to find an image of these people, but I don't have the bandwidth to talk while you also kick it to me.
49:06Yeah. I don't know either of these people. I wish them luck. Let's talk about season three. Yeah. What's your excitement level for that? You know, I think a lot of people talked about season one season two. It seems to be like, yeah, we're just like here. And then season three, where? Yeah. Season three. I'm excited for it as much as anything else. I don't know. I'm going to watch it week to week. I'm sure we'll be doing reacts to it. All that jazz. It will be that, you know, you brought up the experience. You should watch the experience. How many, and you're like, but it's a commitment. like how many seasons of the expanse are there whatever six to seven yeah see like jen and i are good for that sunday hbo show we like a sunday hbo show so like this is this falls in this perfectly to here you go something we like obviously the source material of and let's go off and see what's up so like i'll go do that for sure what six seasons 62 episodes got a lot of stuff you know what i mean and not to stop us but i mean like and it gets good we gave you know when ben was born we gave the sopranos an honest honest college try there but like we didn't you know we didn't finish the entire run.
50:07That's a lot of, a lot of episodes. You know what I mean? But anyways, I'll be watching this. Yeah. Like, am I like what I'm more interested about this season? Right. And this is an interesting conversation to have here as we go through people talking about, okay, well we're casting a female as a transgender boy. When we could have found a chair and gender boy, transgender boy to be the, it's also harkens back to this whole thing of like, no Neil, no, no Hallie in this. Like the, you know what I mean? This is, this is uh what's his face uh craig mazen at the controls with no counterpart to it not that i'm saying it would have changed or anything else if neil had been there blah blah blah blah but i'm more interested of like what does a season of the last of us without neil without hallie actually look like when it's just craig there running ship running okay we'll see but yeah i you know like i'm interested in it of course yeah i enjoyed the first two seasons of the last of us uh but yeah i'm not like i'm not beyond hyped i'm not like oh my god now granted i assume it's because i have no idea when this is launching maybe you know like the build up to that first episode i'll be more into it okay but like right now i'm like yeah cool you know like last was a lot so more of this is cool great you or what is your hype level are you not hype no i'm off on that one yeah i fell off after season one see barnell says greg it's going to be awful honestly though that's one of the things i'm saying is i would like to watch and see is that the case you know what i mean does what i think season one being probably the best adaptation of a video game right go to this where And now we have no Neil there and not that he's like the missing link or anything, or he's infallible.
51:33God knows nobody is, but is it the thing that we're going to get to this? And it's like, well, this isn't the last of us anymore. But the whole thing, the chat right there is talking about season two was awful. I liked season two. I don't, I didn't have a problem with season two. I know. I know that that is blasphemy to say on the internet now, but I, I legitimately am like, I don't know. I love Catherine O 'Hara. She was great in it. Had a lot of fun with it. Like it was another telling of a story of that. I know really well. So like, cool. That's fine. Then yeah, you're ready for season three.
52:03I am ready for season three and see how this plays out. But Mike, when season three debuts, which might already be known and we just don't even fucking know. Now again. Okay. Go forget it. That'll be big news, but I have no idea when season three debuts. So take me somewhere with smaller news. Where would I take you to our last story? The we news channel where we cover all the small news items. you need to know about, Greg.
52:30Number six, WeNews. We already talked about Minecraft Dungeons 2 has been announced. Congratulations, everybody. From Eurogamer, Microsoft has lost another two long-serving members of its senior team. Corporate VP of Partnerships, Business Development, and Marketing, Lori Wright, and General Manager of Gaming AI at Xbox, Haiyang Zhang, both announced their departures on LinkedIn. Best of luck to both of them wherever they go I'm not familiar with Both of them but I will say The VP Partnerships in Business Development And Marketing I had my eye of like thinking back You had your eye on that job you want to get over that Had my eye on over the years all of the Partnerships that we've Seen with Xbox Game Pass We kind of talk about Sarah Bond and bringing that content And stuff but like they've done a really good job With Xbox and Microsoft teaming up With companies that I want to give me benefits right when i think about riot games we've seen other mmos team up and other things i really enjoyed that so i look forward to more of that hopefully yeah i you know it's that's what jumps to you and i understand that i appreciate for me it is the departure of the general manager of gaming ai at xbox what does that mean yeah what does that mean of course asha coming over from the ai team which granted was rebranded i know and then of course this microsoft copilot coming to your Xbox right now.
53:50What does that mean? I'd love to know about where we're going. I'm sure it'll be great, though. Xbox, order me a Domino's Pizza. I can't do that for you, Greg. I know. It'd be the opposite, right? Of like calling Dominic. No, don't call Dominic. Wasn't that a thing? Yeah. Well, yeah. Yeah. Remember that? That was a thing. Your Kinect. Remember that? Got it. Love that Kinect. You love that Kinect. From Automaton. Capcom says it will be using AI-generated content in its games. Fuck me. Will not. Oh, sorry, I missed that. Will not be using AI-generated. You know what? You should highlight that, everybody.
54:27Quote, our company will not be implementing any AI-generated assets into our video game content. On the other hand, going forward, we plan to actively utilize this technology in order to improve efficiency and productivity in game development. That is why we are currently testing out various methods of usage across our departments. Testing out various... That is why we are currently testing out various methods of usage across our departments, including graphics, sound, and programming, end quote. Graphics wrote in the briefing session summary. Great job, Capcom. That's exactly what you do. Slide in there, just say, we won't be doing that.
55:00Except for these places where we won't be doing that. Which again is back to the bigger news, not the we news, but the bigger news, right? Where it's like, we've had this conversation all last week. AI, not inherently bad. There's good uses that could save developers time and make their jobs easier and run a fucking spreadsheet, do all the bullshit nobody wants to do, and you have to Google how to do this in Excel. But then it's the generative AI business where we're trading games and taking jobs and doing these kind of things. So Capcom seeming to do what I would like to see more people do, I think, of, yo, we're not putting that AI-generated shit in our games, but back-end bullshit.
55:38Just being a business, it sounds like, it'll be there, but... What am I... Oh, the NVIDIA thing. I was like, they were such the lightning rod there with Resident Evil 9. It's interesting to see them come out and make this statement now, isn't it? Sony has removed 1 ,000 more shovelware games from the PlayStation Store. Those could have been easy platinum. Do you lose platinums, Craig? You do. Well, no, they can't take them away once you got them. They don't take the platinums away, right? No, no, no, no, no. Penny Parker joins Marvel Tocan Fighting Souls roster. That's cool. Nice. And then Atomic Owl launches May 20th on Xbox, PlayStation 4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
56:15and that ladies gentlemen and NBs is it for the one the only we news we turn our lonely eyes to the super chats what am I looking at atomic allergy to say should I be aware of this blessing putting in the we news channel I appreciate bear bringing up the trailer so we can see it looks like a 2D kind of almost Celeste style platformer here to start I bet you there'll probably be some like Aurea ask action I'm hoping for okay but kind of kind of cool. If you're listening, audio listeners, this would be a blessing in Andy Barrett joint video game. When you think of 2D action platformers, maybe like a Katana Zero.
56:56Yep, that's where my brain went. Thank you, Barrett. I know Barrett. I thought Katana Zero looked better, though. Well, yeah, I'm just trying to paint him a picture of what you should be imagining here. Yeah, it feels like an interesting combination of Celeste and Katana Zero. But yeah, Katana Zero's art style is like one of the goats. Let's be real. It's hard to hit that again. Over in the superchats on YouTube.com slash kindoffunnygames, Sky says, reminder to get your yearly snake vaccine. Of course, everybody got bit by snakes, and that's why they weren't here last week. Big week last week.
57:34Casper says, not sure if this is a Gregway or a Gamescast before. Would it be nice to have a video slash conversation from a reviewer on broken games being beta tested until three months down the line when they're finally fixed. I feel like we've talked that to death already, both in Crimson Desert, Gamescast staff last week with me and Bless, and then yeah, for sure in Gregway last week, but yeah. Will says, when do we get the Greg, Ben, and Mike Ocarina of Time 30 years later review? We are anxious. Is he ahead? He's got to be ahead of me. Oh, no, no, no. He plays fucking Spider-Man every day and skate every day.
58:02And then what's the other one he's been on lately? Oh, he's back to Astro Bot. Kid cannot be stopped in Astro Bot. Can we set him up with a wheel for Forza? Would he dig that? Do you think if I put the wheel with the pedal in front of him would it be too much? Or would he be into that? He would have to relearn to play because he knows how to play with a controller. That's true. But he'd be into it probably for a little bit. Get it set up. Where did you guys stop? I've talked to you before about this. We only did that one weekend where we did Friday night and Saturday. Yeah, but I don't know how far you got.
58:31Where did you get to? This is my first time playing. All this is new. Yeah, but I think we got just out. We got Mount Doom. No, we saw Gannon through the window and came. He's a four-year-old boy. You know what I mean? He fought things in the Hyrule field. That's cool. Hey, it's dangerous out there. It is dangerous. Don't go alone. Let me go on the super chats and see who's talking about stuff that isn't stuff we already talked about. I scroll to the bottom. Mr. Hawk says, four months of stress and worry, but your boy got a job offer. Thanks for helping me stay sane, kind of funny, and all the kind of funny best friends.
59:05Congratulations, Mr. Hawk. That was Mr. Hawk? That was. for you big dog uh special case says i worry in the near future big game reveals at tga sgf etc could be the dlss5 version that is shown essentially the killzone 2 situation will be more common occurrence i don't think dlss5 i mean you say in the near future so maybe i'm being too broad i don't think dlss5 is going to be approachable enough for people since that again like we talked about last week with the debut they're running a one one graphics card is running the game one graphic card is running this tech like we're not to the point where it's going to be everywhere and they would have to put it at the bottom saying it's running on X Y and Z and so the people would tear it apart and again if the devs we keep quoting are correct of like yo this ain't it I don't think you're going to see devs necessarily run to it as much as some checkbox to put in with their hey we launched this do you know anything about this kill zone 2 that they put in there yeah don't you no I don't remember back in the day when kill zone 2 debuted its first trailer okay it looks stunning and amazing and it was like that was all just bullshit and so like for years that was the thing of like anytime any game debuted it was compared to Killzone 2 oh yeah Killzone got dragged for that really really bad Danto 42 says no lie Star Wars Skeleton crew was really good there you go confirmation Smooth Segway says welcome back Mike please try to stay away from snakes in the future we missed you especially Andy Adam says Greg any progress on reading book one of the Expanse I watched the show back in the day and it just finished reading book six.
1:00:39Can't put it down. Great series. Incredible writing. No, but again, I am on a reading tear right now because of audio books. So maybe I try the expanse book one as an audio book. Okay. Okay. Uh, Vinny, or sorry, vinyl says, uh, Greg, I started my first playthrough of star field over the weekend and I'm absolutely loving it. Oh, hell yeah. Good for you. I'm on my sixth or seventh new game plus now. That's great. It's fucking great. You know what I mean? I'm setting this thing up right now. I'm ready to rock. How's the content? New stuff. Great. I mean, the tracker line stuff last week was awesome.
1:01:09And I'm playing like literally it's so good that I went through the unity, started this new game plus, and it's what I've run to. Well, I started, I restarted the watchtower stuff, which was the creation for King Gaff because I got lost where I started it when it launched. And it was, but then part of it is like, you know, this is a conversation. I'm doing the watchtower content and I'm doing, I'm doing all the trackers stuff right now to get the cool. They have really good drops on it. So it's like, I, now that I'm back with a new character, I got to run through and get all my stuff. Ah! Let's get your rungs here.
1:01:41Yep.
1:01:44No. Okay, here we go. Deuteragonist, which I couldn't say is pronounced this way. Deuteragonist. It's usually described as a secondary character, usually a foil to the primary character, such as Han Solo's ruggedness to Luke Skywalker's straight face. Oh, okay. Deuteragonist. Never going to remember that, but I appreciate you writing in Eric Allen. And then Mad Rocks says, note, Capcom has an AI commentator in Street Fighter 6. The AI voices. Okay, yep.
1:02:20What do you believe? What do you do? I don't know. What do you fucking do anymore? We'll be talking about it a lot. We will be, and it won't matter. Everybody, this has been another episode of Kinda Funny Games Daily. Remember, each and every weekday, we're here on twitch.tv slash kindoffunnygames, youtube.com slash kindoffunnygames, Apple, Spotify, of course you I'm a podcast service around the globe you can watch for free, you can super chat to be part of the show, you can go be a Patreon producer you can support us on Patreon.com YouTube.com slash Kind of Funny Games, Apple, Spotify get all of our shows ad free, get your daily dose of me, Greg Miller, and of course get good karma for supporting an 11 person, 11 year old small business on yet another humongous week, if you didn't watch The Buzz this week, which was hosted by Nick you know, let me tell you you got embargoed previews all week long now you got on thursday this we're to do a live react to the xbox thing on friday you got a live gregway there's a lot going on everybody and we couldn't do it without you until next time it's been a pleasure to serve you like subscribe share ryan reynolds here from int mobile i don't know if you knew this but anyone can get the same premium wireless for 15 a month plan that i've been enjoying it's not just for celebrities so do like I did and have one of your assistant's assistants switch you to Mint Mobile today.
1:03:34I'm told it's super easy to do at mintmobile.com slash switch. Upfront payment of$45 for three-month plan equivalent to$15 per month required. Intro rate first three months only, then full price plan options available. Taxes and fees extra. Default terms at mintmobile.com. Every act of change begins with a neighbor. When neighbors connect through the Feeding America network, small actions ripple into lasting impact. Feeding America, led by neighbors. Give now to end hunger at feedingamerica.org. Jackson Hewitt will do your taxes for$149 or less, no matter how complicated. So if you're a delivery driver, slash handyman, slash wedding DJ, you pay only$149 or less.
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From the publisher
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Good and bad news for Crimson Desert, Xbox announces a Partner Event featuring Stranger Than Heaven, and Nvidia confirms DLSS 5 is re-drawing games.
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Run of Show -
- Start - Crimson Desert Dev Launches 'Comprehensive Audit' of All In-Game Assets After AI-Generated Art Was 'Unintentionally' Included in Final Release - Crimson Desert Steam Reviews Jump to 'Mostly Positive' as Latest Patch Makes Significant Improvements - Ad - Sega’s Stranger Than Heaven will headline an Xbox Partner event this week - Nvidia Confirms DLSS 5 Is Re-Drawing Games - ‘The Last Of Us’ Adds Michelle Mao As Yara & Kyriana Kratter As Lev For Season 3 Of HBO Series - Wee News! - SuperChats & You‘re Wrong
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