Microsoft Reveals Next-Gen Xbox Details - Kinda Funny Games Daily 03.12.26

12 Mar 2026 · 1 h 6 min · 29 chapters

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In short

Kinda Funny Games Daily: Episode Summary

Podcast Information

  • Podcast Title: Kinda Funny Games Daily
  • Episode Title: Microsoft Reveals Next-Gen Xbox Details - Kinda Funny Games Daily 03.12.26
  • Hosts: Greg Miller, Tim Gettys, Blessing Adeoye Jr, Snowbike Mike, Stella Chung
  • Date: March 12, 2026
  • Episode Description: Discussion about Microsoft's next Xbox, a new game from the former Overwatch director, and Valve's Steam verification program.

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Key Segment Summaries

  1. Microsoft's Next Xbox - Project Helix
  2. Announcement Details:
  3. Project Helix won't reach alpha until 2027.
  4. Features a custom AMD chip and significantly improved ray tracing performance.
  5. Will integrate a new version of AMD's FSR upscaling technology.
  6. Developer Insights:
  7. Microsoft emphasizes a closer integration of Xbox and Windows, allowing for cross-platform functionality.
  8. Developers will receive alpha versions of Helix to prepare games for launch.
  9. Game Preservation:
  10. Microsoft plans to re-release older Xbox titles as part of its preservation initiative.
  11. Emphasizes the importance of maintaining a digital library.
  1. New Game Announcement: The Legend of California
  2. Former Overwatch director Jeff Kaplan reveals a new open-world FPS.
  3. Set on a fictional island resembling California during the gold rush.
  4. Game features:
  5. Multiplayer at its core with procedurally generated islands.
  6. Players can build, craft, and engage in optional PvP.
  7. Initial reactions highlight skepticism about the game's appeal and mechanics.
  1. Valve's Steam Machines and Verification Program
  2. Valve announces details for the Steam Machine Verified program.
  3. Games must run at 1080p and 30fps to be verified.
  4. Plans to improve anti-cheat support for competitive games on SteamOS.
  1. Pokemon Pocopia Launch Sales
  2. The game sold 2.2 million copies in its opening weekend.
  3. Positive reception from shareholders boosts Nintendo's stock.
  4. Discussion on whether new players should invest in Pocopia based on gameplay styles similar to Animal Crossing.
  1. BAFTA Game Awards Nominees
  2. Nominees for Best Game include titles such as Ark Raider, Blueprints, and Indiana Jones.
  3. No significant snubs noted, with the nominations reflecting a strong year for gaming.
  1. Wee News Channel
  2. Updates on various smaller news items, including:
  3. PEGI rating changes for games with loot boxes.
  4. New game releases such as Super Meat Boy 3D.
  5. Silent Hill 2 Remake surpassing 5 million players.

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Key Takeaways

  • Next-Gen Xbox Vision: Microsoft's strategy focuses on integrating gaming across platforms and enhancing developer support.
  • Jeff Kaplan's New Direction: Interest in a Wild West FPS may challenge traditional gaming mechanics with its unique setting and multiplayer focus.
  • Steam Machine's Ambitious Goals: Valve's verification program aims to ensure a quality gaming experience on the Steam Machine, with a focus on compatibility and performance.
  • Pokemon's Resurgence: Pocopia's strong sales indicate continued interest in Pokemon games, especially among newer audiences.
  • Recognition of Outstanding Games: The BAFTA nominations highlight a diverse selection of innovative games from the past year, showcasing the industry's growth.

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Additional Notes

  • The episode featured lively discussions, humor, and insights from the hosts, showcasing their passion for gaming and industry trends.
  • Audience interactions, including SuperChats, contributed to the community feel of the podcast, allowing for real-time engagement.

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For more information, check out the full episode on your preferred podcast platform.

Written by AI. May contain mistakes. Listen to the episode to check what was said.

Chapters

Tap a time to open that second in VO

Hosts Chat About GDC Events

1:52 to 3:18

Snowbike Mike and Stella Chung discuss their experiences at GDC.

“I saw you had to look down to make sure you had the date right, and that's how I feel.”

Stella's Game Previews and Coverage

3:18 to 4:00

Stella shares her gaming experiences and where to find her coverage.

“Dude, I can't even name all the different games that I've been previewing.”

Discussion on Recent Game Plays

4:00 to 4:50

The hosts discuss games they've been playing lately.

“Before we get into the show, one final question for our gal Stella.”

Community Engagement and Support

4:50 to 5:10

Acknowledgment of community support and engagement opportunities.

“And of course, ask her about the news because this is kind of funny games daily.”

The Roper Report Introduction

5:10 to 5:27

Introduction to the news segment, The Roper Report.

“Thank you to everyone who supports us over on Patreon, on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, no matter where you are.”

Microsoft's Next Xbox: Project Helix Details

5:27 to 8:23

Discussion on Microsoft's plans for the next Xbox and its technology.

“Stella, we got a lot of news and some fun stuff to talk about because, of course, story number one, Microsoft's next Xbox, Project Helix, won't reach Alpha until 2027.”

Developers' Readiness and Technology Alignment

8:23 to 10:48

Exploring the implications of Xbox's technology alignment with PC and game development.

“It's creating a unified development environment where the vast majority of code that your game runs on Xbox is the exact same code that runs on other platforms, says Ronald.”

Game Preservation and Backward Compatibility Discussion

10:48 to 14:01

Discussion on game preservation and Xbox's catalog for PC gamers.

“To be fair, there was a pandemic, but, you know, still.”

Xbox Back Catalog on PC: Game Preservation and Gameplay

14:01 to 16:40

Discussion on Xbox's back catalog for PC and the implications for game preservation and user experience.

“we're going to bring the Xbox back catalog to the PC gaming that's really interesting to me because I know a lot of PC gamers they're not going to want to give a keyboard and mouse, right?”

Concerns About Physical Media and Game Optimization

16:41 to 21:19

Exploration of the importance of physical media and optimization challenges in Xbox's new console.

“Let's jump into some super chats over here.”
Show all 29 chapters

Super Chats and Audience Interaction

21:20 to 24:20

Engagement with audience through super chats, discussing console pricing and game experiences.

“Let's see if we have any more Super Chats going on.”

Future of Gaming: Overwatch Director's New Project

26:21 to 28:00

Announcement and discussion about a new open-world FPS game revealed by a former Overwatch director.

“For whatever you love, infinite worlds await at the most magical place on Earth.”

PC Gaming Setup and Rules

28:00 to 28:42

Learn about effective PC gaming setups and maintaining focus during gameplay.

“And I'm sure if you tell Andy and Kevin that, they might be doing this of like, maybe we have to look at that.”

The Legend of California Game Reveal

28:42 to 30:39

Explore the details of Jeff Kaplan's new game, The Legend of California.

“Story number two, former Overwatch director reveals the Legend of California, an open-world online Wild West FPS coming.”

Gameplay Features and Comparisons

30:40 to 33:11

Discuss gameplay mechanics and comparisons to other survival games.

“Leverage robust gathering and crafting systems to transform the California wilderness into everything you need to survive from weapons for protection and tools for expansion to delicious meals to stay fed and ready.”

Concerns and Expectations for the Game

33:12 to 36:28

Examine concerns about procedural generation and the overall game structure.

“There's a lot that I'm like, where is this?”

Potential for Story and Multiplayer Dynamics

36:29 to 39:16

Discuss the potential story elements and multiplayer dynamics in the game.

“We never worry about other people and their bases, right?”

In-N-Out Franchise and Roleplay Ideas

39:16 to 40:37

Imagine fun roleplaying scenarios within the game's Wild West setting.

“I guess like a survival crafting open world Western game, was not like my, oh, this is something I would think Jeff Kaplan just re-emerges in my life, and it's like, this is what I got.”

Steam Machine Verification Program Details

40:38 to 42:05

Learn about Valve's new Steam Machine verification program and its requirements.

“This coming from Jacqueline Thomas at IGN.”

SteamOS and Competitive Gaming

42:05 to 45:18

Discussion on SteamOS's potential to support competitive games with anti-cheat functionalities.

“My mind doesn't jump to how well it will perform.”

Choosing Between Steam Machine and Project Helix

45:18 to 46:36

Debate on the merits of the Steam Machine versus Project Helix and their gaming libraries.

“When we first heard about it, I was like, getting that immediately for my living room.”

Anticipation for Future Xbox Features

46:36 to 48:02

Speculation on how Xbox features like Quick Resume will translate to PC.

“trying to figure out how to do just resume, like, you know, quick resume.”

Pokemon Pocopia Launch Success

48:02 to 51:45

Highlighting the impressive sales figures and appeal of Pokemon Pocopia on Nintendo Switch 2.

“Pokemon Pocopia has launched big on Nintendo Switch 2 and sold 2.2 million copies over its release weekend.”

BAFTA Game Awards Nominees Discussion

51:45 to 55:18

Reviewing the nominees for the BAFTA Game Awards and predictions for winners.

“But if you're looking to have a low-key chill weekend with your friends and just sit there and binge watch One Piece live action season two, then you should be playing Pocopia.”

Wii News: Game Updates and Announcements

55:18 to 56:00

Covering various game news including ratings and upcoming releases.

“Ball Pit now available for iOS and Android.”

Excitement for Super Meat Boy

56:00 to 57:20

Discussing their excitement for the upcoming Super Meat Boy game and personal experiences with it.

“I'm so bad at games like that, but it's very fun.”

Community Engagement and Events

57:20 to 1:01:10

Engaging with audience comments and discussing recent gaming events, including the mix event.

“We got Darth Anslow writes in and says, Stella rocks.”

Microsoft's Peripheral Future

1:01:10 to 1:03:46

Speculating on Microsoft's potential release of their own peripherals for Xbox and discussing current offerings.

“Gaser writes in and says, Stella Tax, happy to see her again.”

Wrap-Up and Upcoming Shows

1:03:46 to 1:04:44

Wrapping up the show and teasing upcoming content, including Gamescast.

“You're not going anywhere because you're on Gamescast after this.”
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Transcript

Automatic transcript. May contain errors.

0:00Jay Peters:Spring is here and there's a whole new way to chai at Starbucks that's made perfect for you. Choose your sweetness, dial it up, or keep things light. Add a touch of pistachio, a hint of strawberry, or vanilla, or make it a spring classic with lavender. Because this season, there's endless ways to chai at Starbucks. You said you were over him, but his hoodie is still in your rotation. It's time. Grab your phone, snap a few pics, and sell it on Depop, listed in minutes, with no selling fees. And just like that, a guy 500 miles away just paid full price for your closure. And right on cue, Hey, still got my hoodie?

0:40Jay Peters:Nope. But I've got tonight's dinner paid for. Start selling on Depop, where taste recognizes taste. List now with no selling fees. Payment processing fees and boosting fees still apply. See website for details.

0:51Jacqueline Thomas:Start your business today with the industry's best business partner, Shopify. And start hearing... Sign up for your$1 per month trial today at Shopify.com slash Kinda Funny. If you want to get our shows ad-free and our exclusive shows, go to Patreon.com slash Kinda Funny.

1:11Chris Scullion:Today on the gaming news, you need to know about new details on Project Helix from Xbox.

1:16Tim Gettys:A new game announced from Overwatch's former director and Valve breaks down the Steam Machines verification program. We'll have all this and more on Kind of Funny Games Daily.

1:36Sean Hollister:What's up everybody and welcome into your Kind of Funny Games Daily for Thursday, March 12, 2026.

1:43Chris Scullion:I'm one of your show hosts, Snowbike Mike, and today I am joined by the lovely, the incredible, and the powerhouse, Stella Chung.

1:51Tim Gettys:Hi, Stella. How are you?

1:52Greg Miller:Good. How are you?

1:54Tim Gettys:Are you feeling, GDC? It's Wednesday. How are we feeling today? I know.

1:56Greg Miller:I saw you had to look down to make sure you had the date right, and that's how I feel.

1:59Chris Scullion:Yeah, I'm feeling it today. I've had a long week right now, and I'm ready for the weekend, but I've been having a ton of fun, and that's all that matters.

2:07Greg Miller:I was just saying, we've been running into each other at events all week. It's been great. We just discovered our shared love of Pikmin.

2:13Chris Scullion:We've just been nerding out about Pikmin. And I'm sure one of our incredible best friends out there, Lakerhead, just heard that and freaked out because they love Pikmin as well. They're the best. Yeah, we love Pikmin, you and I.

2:25Greg Miller:I saw someone in chat say you almost died to a light breeze.

2:28Chris Scullion:Yeah, yeah, a light breeze almost took me down, Stella. A lot to tell you, you know what I mean? Okay. I need some time. Are you okay? You know what? We should have talked beforehand. I think, you know, I think you brought it up recently. You had something going on with your nose and feeling stuffed up.

2:43Greg Miller:Sinuses, yeah, yeah, yeah. Oh, that's what it was.

2:45Chris Scullion:I've been feeling that for the past two weeks. So I've just been really stuffed up in one nostril. And, of course, that affects everything about you. So I'm just, I'm thrown off. And I've been telling the chat, I'm like, if you want to kill me, now's the time. Because I'm at my weakest. Okay? But just know I'm going to bounce back. That window will be closed.

3:02Greg Miller:There's no honor in that, though. I want to fight you at your strongest. Thank you, Stella.

3:07Chris Scullion:Stella, how are you doing? It's great to have you in the studio. I know you're going to be doing a bunch of stuff with us today. Yes. Because you're here for GDC. But how is your GDC week going?

3:15Sean Hollister:What have you been attending and doing?

3:17Greg Miller:Pretty good. Dude, I can't even name all the different games that I've been previewing. But I've been doing a lot of previews. A lot of, let's see, a lot of game previews, developer interviews. There's one that I'm very excited to share, which is from a game called Sound System, which the original Guitar Hero devs have been working on, which is very cool. Yeah, it is as cool as you think it is. So, yeah, that's probably one of my favorites that I've looked at. That's great.

3:40Chris Scullion:Of course, for all the best friends out there who know you and maybe some of the audience members that don't know you, Stella, where would all these previews and all the cool coverage that you're going to put out from your GDC go where we can watch it and find you?

3:52Greg Miller:Yeah, it would be on my YouTube, Parallax Stella. So then, and that's everywhere on Twitch and stuff as well. So, yeah.

3:59Sean Hollister:Find it all there. What have you been playing?

4:01Chris Scullion:Before we get into the show, one final question for our gal Stella. What have you been playing lately?

4:06Greg Miller:You know what? Honestly, I've been playing a lot of Abiotic Factor.

4:09Chris Scullion:Oh, great game.

4:11Greg Miller:Have you played it?

4:11Chris Scullion:Me and the boys played a long time ago. Yeah. Thanks to one of the best friend's recommendations. Didn't give it enough time. It's one of those games. You play it for a night. You laugh. You have a good time. You're like, I'll play that again. And then you got to really dive into that one.

4:24Greg Miller:Yeah, it's really good. We were getting into the really gritty part of the story. Oh. Yeah, yeah. It's like we can't really stop quite yet.

4:33Chris Scullion:Okay, so you're really going after it. Oh, yeah, yeah.

4:35Greg Miller:I think we're like end game ish. So, okay.

4:37Chris Scullion:Okay. Great to know. And are you streaming that?

4:40Greg Miller:I am. Yeah. Far too long.

4:44Chris Scullion:Before we jump in, shout out the sky who super chatted away and says, Stella, my queen. Well, Stella is here all day with us.

4:51Tim Gettys:So get your super chats in. You can ask her about GDC. And of course, ask her about the news because this is kind of funny games daily. Each and every weekday we run you through the nerdy news. You need to know about live on Twitch and on YouTube. Of course, you can be part of the show by super chatting your thoughts, opinions, and questions on YouTube.com slash KindOfFunnyGames. And of course, we couldn't do this without you.

5:11Chris Scullion:Thank you to everyone who supports us over on Patreon, on YouTube, Apple, Spotify, no matter where you are.

5:16Tim Gettys:Thank you for your support. And thank you to our Patreon producers, Carl Jacobs, Omega Buster, and Delaney the Psalm Twining for supporting us on Patreon.com slash KindOfFunny.

5:26Chris Scullion:Let's begin the show with what is and forever will be the Roper Report. It's time for some news. We have six stories today. Oh, Pinker's Dazzo!

Read the full transcript

5:39Sean Hollister:Stella, we got a lot of news and some fun stuff to talk about because, of course, story number one, Microsoft's next Xbox, Project Helix, won't reach Alpha until 2027.

5:51Tim Gettys:This coming from Jay Peters and Sean Hollister at The Verge. We're here at the 2026 Game Developers Conference where Microsoft VP of Next Generation, Jason Ronald, is talking about a topic near and dear to many gamers' hearts, the future of Xbox. Ronald says that the next Xbox, codenamed Project Helix, will have a custom AMD chip with, quote, an order of magnitude increase in ray tracing performance, end quote, up to and including path tracing. It will also include a next-gen version of AMD's FSR upscaling technology that relies on machine learning and includes frame generation that can improve the perceived smoothness of a game by imagining new frames between existing ones.

6:41Tim Gettys:In a post on X, AMD exec called it FSR Diamond, saying it's designed to be natively optimized for Project Helix and deeply integrated into the GDK. But don't expect the next Xbox soon. Microsoft will begin sending out alpha versions of Project Helix to developers in 2027, Ronald revealed here at GDC. Ronald also confirmed that the Xbox and Windows are getting closer together beyond the fact that Project Helix will play PC games too. Quote, PC is becoming an increasingly important part of Xbox. We're bringing the best of Xbox to Windows itself, says Ronald. Microsoft is bringing the Xbox mode that originally shipped with the Xbox Ally handheld to more Windows computers to select markets starting in April, as well as advanced shader delivery, which precompiles shaders so you can download them alongside a game or its updates instead of having to wait when you launch a title.

7:43Chris Scullion:Which, Stella, we're going to talk about that. A lot of time wasted waiting on these shaders to compile. I'm ready for that.

7:49Tim Gettys:Ronald says the Microsoft team's been doing a lot of work behind the scenes to make the Xbox mode feel distinctly Xbox and stay consistent as you migrate between devices and cloud. He says gamers play three to five games at any one time on average, and you should be able to pick up and play whether you're on console, PC or cloud. As we spotted outside the keynote, Microsoft wants game developers to just build once for both Xbox and Windows, instead of building twice for both. It's creating a unified development environment where the vast majority of code that your game runs on Xbox is the exact same code that runs on other platforms, says Ronald.

8:33Tim Gettys:And while he isn't promising all games will be this way, Ronald suggests that you won't have to buy those games multiple times too. The already existing Xbox Play Anywhere program lets you buy once and play on any screen, he says. The catalog of Xbox Play Anywhere games now has more than 1 ,500 titles, Ronald says. I promise I'm almost done. You're doing great. As part of the 25th anniversary of Xbox, the game preservation team will also re-release an unspecified number of older Xbox titles under its Xbox preservation program, Ronald says. As one of the largest publishers in the industry, we feel a deep responsibility to preserve games from the past.

9:16Tim Gettys:And he hints that some of our most iconic first-party franchises are returning this year. Does game preservation mean classic Xbox games are coming to PC? See, an official summary of his remarks make it sounds like that as part of the Xbox 25th anniversary later this year, we'll be rolling out new ways to play some of the most iconic games from our past. Ronald won't tell us when we asked him outside the venue, only saying that more news would come when Microsoft announces those 25th anniversary plans.

9:50Greg Miller:Yeah, take a deep breath.

9:51Chris Scullion:A lot to talk about. Let's go back up to the top. I should have broken down by each one. Let's talk about the hardware. 2027 for the alpha version, teaming up with AMD. What do you take from all of that?

10:03Greg Miller:Yeah, I think I'm very interested to see how this is going to work. We know that Xbox has been getting pretty close aligned with PC now for the longest time. I know a lot of hardcore fans are like, oh, my God, why PC? I don't know. They kind of go hand in hand at this point, and it's fine. And we do see Xbox expanding outside of the box, right? And we see that it's actually been working out a lot for them. Um, so working with AMD, that's pretty good. I am worried about how, okay. So rolling out alpha versions in 2027, that means they can make a limited amount, which is great because we all know that it's impossible to get all these different parts for hardware now.

10:40Greg Miller:So that does make me a little bit concerned about the consumer models whenever they do end up releasing, which I feel like they might get delayed. But as long as the developers have them ahead of time, that's perfectly fine. Cause we did see with the current generation, a lot of developers were actually not ready to move on to that technology, which honestly is why I'm glad that we're kind of taking this slowly so developers can learn what new tech they need to get on board with and they can take your time with it so that it's not like catching up after three years. To be fair, there was a pandemic, but, you know, still.

11:13Greg Miller:Yeah, it's going to be interesting. I do want to know if then in turn PC games can be played on Xbox, but I don't think it'll go that way.

11:23Chris Scullion:Okay. Well, I do agree with you. It is exciting to hear that 2027 Alpha models will be going out to developers, right? It's all about GDC is about the developers, not Mike the consumer.

11:34Tim Gettys:So it is about, hey, we are ready to ship these units to you so you can start building games for the next generation of Xbox. Clearly, they're reaffirming Xbox isn't going anywhere, right? And we want to make sure that games are there. We talk about launch lineups being always important.

11:49Chris Scullion:The sooner you can get out to developers, the better. to make sure that launch lineup is stronger and get them ready for the next level of tech. I also love the idea of like unifying,

11:58Tim Gettys:hey, whatever code you build for Xbox is going to be what it is for PC or vice versa, right? I think the big one here is playing PC and Xbox games. How can we make it easier? We talked about Xbox Series X and S and then also adding on PlayStation, Nintendo, PC. How does Xbox in third place make it easier for more developers to come and make great games on their platforms as easy as possible, right? If you're worried that your project won't sell as well

12:26Chris Scullion:on the third place console, then it better be as easy as possible to put it on there so you have an easier justification for that. I also am excited about AMD teaming up with this, right? We talk about it all the time with Andy and NVIDIA here, kind of funny, but like the next tech and what you see on PC compared to your console, right? We talk about path tracing. We talk about neural network, deep software learning, right? We talk about these multi-frame generations. It's like when you see it on PC running, it is somehow a different level than on my Xbox.

12:57Tim Gettys:And I'm always impressed by that. So I am excited to see what the console can do this next generation as well.

13:03Greg Miller:It's very funny to see consoles finally catch up to where PCs are. Like it's a long time coming finally, which is great. Yeah, it's so funny because like frame generation and that relying on machine learning has been around forever, right? And I actually did see someone comment on like, oh, I see that Xbox changed their wording from AI to machine learning. And it's like, okay, here's the thing. AI is kind of the new buzzword, right? Like gluten-free was the buzzword for a while, right? For stuff that you already knew was gluten-free, like fucking rice. I was like, yeah, of course that's gluten-free.

13:35Greg Miller:What the, yeah. So they're like, oh, they did machine learning instead of AI. It's like, it's a real thing. Just look it up, you know? Of course, of course.

13:42Tim Gettys:we also talk about your back catalog this is the next one oh god what will happen here they kind of tease it as if hey this back catalog I took it as maybe more new titles but then I think it's also hey we're going to bring we're going to bring the Xbox back catalog to the PC gaming

14:06Greg Miller:that's really interesting to me because I know a lot of PC gamers they're not going to want to give a keyboard and mouse, right? So with game preservation, obviously, yes, it's going to work really well with a controller. You can hook up a controller to the PC, but I'm wondering if people want to play with keyboard and mouse, how is that going to work out? Because that's like a whole other thing that they have to account for. Of course. But also we were talking about, you know, PC verification, you know, the verification for that new platform. So it's going to be interesting. Either way, I think it'll be really cool.

14:36Chris Scullion:Yeah. I mean, at the forefront, the Xbox mode, right? Being unified across all the platforms is the big deal here.

14:41Tim Gettys:Kind of having that Xbox feel on every device that you go to and making sure it's aligned with every device is a big deal. And of course, putting controller at the forefront. We see it.

14:51Chris Scullion:We'll talk about it with the Steam machine and that being like, hey, everything has to run with the controller. They want you to feel like you're playing an Xbox no matter where you're at.

15:00Tim Gettys:But bringing four generations of Xbox titles no matter where you are to every device is a big deal because we talked about that. game preservation is a big deal for gamers and of course developers who want to see those games you love come with you. You want to see that digital library

15:16Chris Scullion:follow you to every console, right? And the idea that, hey, I loved this last generation and Xbox One was, hey, we're going to make a big push to bring back all these old titles

15:26Tim Gettys:that you probably purchased and loved. We're going to upscale them and make them run better. They're going to have better frame generation as well because they're running on stronger hardware.

15:34Chris Scullion:But now, as we kind of talk about this PC console hybrid, it's like all right well all my games coming will i be able to play this on another device and it sounds like jason ronald and his team definitely want that to make sure it's a big

15:46Greg Miller:point that it will happen yeah i will be curious to see how they do backwards compatibility because you can't talk about great game preservation without talking about physical media yes having a digital library of these older games that have been restored that's great but maybe you want the original experience and if you already own these older games i think this new console has to be able to play those physical discs so that'll be something that i'm very interested in um looking into because with all the tech that they have in that little box now there's got to be something that helps that base game kind of run better especially if they do work on the original games coding and everything so i think it'll be interesting to see physical media is coming back

16:26Chris Scullion:so you know you saw that this generation they didn't they didn't disc or didn't ditch the disc drive right they still had it i had a lot of d's on that but they didn't ditch it right they kept

16:37Tim Gettys:it and we know with the backwards compatibility program if you do have the disc you can plug it right in and play so yeah of course i would wonder if this is going to be the same thing for the next

16:47Chris Scullion:generation yeah on your pc that might be a little bit different i think you i assume it would go down to the digital library side of things where yeah yeah you might own 50 cent blood on the sand and it might be on disc but you can't play it digitally unless you you know have it already so one of those.

17:02Tim Gettys:Stella, we got a lot to talk about. Let's jump into some super chats over here.

17:11Tim Gettys:Birthday tax coming in from the Peaceful Warhead says, birthday tax from my lovely girlfriend, Door Blob.

17:18Sean Hollister:Her B-Day wishes to meet Snowbike Mike someday.

17:23Tim Gettys:Well, thank you so much. Happy birthday to your girlfriend. I'm sure one day you'll have a chance to come see me. We will have some fun. I'm sure with the kind of funny crew out there.

17:34Greg Miller:Someone said, is that a family name? Yeah, door blob. It's amazing.

17:41Tim Gettys:Tree Roy writes in and says, it sounds like Xbox may be prioritizing optimization the same way Crimson Desert is, which is huge. I mean, you talked about pre-loading shaders, Stella. Optimization, what do you think about that?

17:55Greg Miller:Please. I leave it on and I walk away and I come back and it's stuck at 99 % every time, no matter what game I'm playing.

18:03Tim Gettys:I'm excited for that because there's nothing worse in play than being ready to gear up and play with your squad or your friends or yourself. And next thing you know, you're hit with another loading screen of,

18:13Chris Scullion:we have to pre-render all these shaders, right? I just updated the game. I'm ready to play. This should be locked in. No, it's shaders time, which is just like such a gut punch. I know it's not as long as you think. It is kind of long still though, but like it's one of those, nothing is worse than that right there and it'll be interesting to see how they do that right he talks about taking your update also like updating the shaders wall to doing the update what does that look like i'm excited to see i hope it's one smooth transition because yeah nothing worse than

18:44Greg Miller:that no you know you actually bring up a good point that makes me think about you know we know that xbox has been trying to be a little bit more eco-friendly if all these things can happen i wonder if the shader compilation would happen happen like overnight when you put your um xbox or I guess this new project into sleep mode and such, I wonder how much power it's going to consume to do that sort of thing and how it's going to work passively. So that'll be something that I'm curious to see because I know they've been trying to dial back in the power consumption and also be more eco-friendly going forward.

19:15C.

19:16Tim Gettys:Berry writes and says, I don't believe Helix is going to have Steam support like previously rumored. I do not see anymore how they will make money off those purchases.

19:27Greg Miller:I don't know. I don't think, yeah, that was my question, whether or not PC games would be able to be playable on that console. From Steam, I'm sure people are going to jailbreak it, but I don't know if directly.

19:40Chris Scullion:Really? They talked about having an open marketplace, welcoming different storefronts. That has been the messaging. Now, of course, that is under a different leadership change. We don't really know where Asha stands, but as of right now, it still does feel like it's like, hey we're gonna put multiple storefronts on this you see what the xbox raj ally of like you can

20:01Sean Hollister:boot up into xbox mode quickly swipe that away and you are on a desktop when they say pc and xbox

20:07Greg Miller:gaming i do feel like we're gonna see that okay i do it depends on steam it depends on epic on oh my god uh ea uh gog or gog however you say it there's so many different platforms i wonder if there's a way to consolidate all of that under that, please do it. Just any way to make it easier. But I do feel like Steam would be a huge get because we already have Xbox games that are available on Steam now. And a lot of the cross play is on that. So if they're going to pick any platform, I would think that it would definitely be Steam for sure. But I don't know. I don't like to speculate until we get actual.

20:40Chris Scullion:I mean, yeah, that's the fun part. It's like we are talking about GDC, all about game developers,

20:46Sean Hollister:which is not us on the opposite side, which is the consumer waiting for the actual announcement and what does all this mean to me, right? Like you can hear all the specs in the world. You can hear about Play Anywhere. You can hear about this, but it's like once we get the real stuff, then we'll know. But as of right now, it is exciting. Xbox getting out in front, making sure game developers know

21:04Tim Gettys:it's a great place to hopefully build and sell your game and live your game here. So we'll see if that works out for them. But I am excited for the next generation. I'm looking forward to seeing what this hybrid console will be. Kind of big expectations and a lot of excitement for it, Stella. Yeah. Let's see if we have any more Super Chats going on. Aaron Lime writes in and says, this console sounds expensive.

21:26Sean Hollister:Why would people want a$1 ,000 console for PC games with blur frame gen? Okay, we're just slapping things together. Blurry frame gen. Dev should optimize. Not really on frame gen. Okay. So they don't like frame gen. Don't rely on frame gen.

21:47Greg Miller:You know, you've already been experiencing that on your TVs, right? that's tech that's everywhere already. Okay. Also on your phones. I mean, it's not new. And I understand what you mean, that you want it to be purely from the game standpoint. You want that tech to be crisp, clean. I totally get that. Honestly, this just lets developers who may not be up to date on that sort of thing or haven't been able to have hardware that is that strong to be able to play those games. Because let's be real, not everyone is like us. Like we are in the very upper part of like gamers, like where it's a little bit past a hobby, right?

22:18Greg Miller:Yeah. So, of course, we're going to have all the best gear, build the best PCs. The bells and the wigs. Yeah, exactly. But some people, they just play on really small laptops or stuff. So it's like you have to understand that there needs to be a wider range of playability for these games. So that kind of just allows us to upscale it to the fancy rigs that we have.

22:38Tim Gettys:I mean, I expect the next generation to be the very best possible.

22:42Greg Miller:Yeah.

22:43Tim Gettys:And when I hear them teaming up with AMD and they talk about all the tech behind it, I'm hoping that I get the best possible thing. And if that's where the technology is taking gaming and game developers, then yeah, I want that for sure. Now the price of the console that's yet to be determined, right? We're still waiting on the steam machine. We don't know the price of that. You don't know the price of the PS six.

23:04Sean Hollister:We don't know the price of the next Xbox Nintendo. They just came out with their console and they're, they're fighting off the tariffs the best that they can before they have to raise any prices. We don't know where we're going to be next year, two years from now we will see when all these prices come out but of course it does seem like a new generation of xbox yeah can they hit the console price that we usually are about or will

23:28Greg Miller:it be higher i don't know i think it'll it will most likely be higher but i don't know well i i definitely wouldn't be ditching my pc for this but it would be very tempting just because i want something in in the living room to play games that i can play at my desk right that's

23:45Tim Gettys:what gets me excited Stella is that PC in the living room my dream situation and having it if it is shared with Xbox and somehow Steam

23:53Sean Hollister:is on that and all my libraries follow me around this is what I've always wanted in the living room so we will see if that does come true but yeah

24:01Chris Scullion:Jason Ronald had a great presentation on that during GDC I'm sure that will go live to the GDC vault one

24:07Tim Gettys:day you'll be able to read that there's a big Xbox wire post from Jason himself detailing all of this and They are celebrating the 25th anniversary. I'm sure announcements will be right around the corner. Stella, we got plenty more news to get through.

24:20Chris Scullion:So let's kick it to ads and then we'll be right back with story number two.

24:25Jacqueline Thomas:This episode is brought to you by Shopify. When we started kind of funny in 2015, boy, let me tell you, I had a harsh lesson in what it takes to run your own business. We were the hosts, writers, producers, art department, tech support, garbage men, and so much more. We needed help, and that's exactly what Shopify does for millions of businesses right now. Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world and 10 % of all e-commerce in the U.S. From household names like Aviator Nation, Chubbies, and Death Wish Coffee to brands just getting started. Shopify is your commerce expert with world-class expertise in everything from managing inventory to international shipping to processing returns and beyond.

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27:32Chris Scullion:Well, it is a decade old, my PC.

27:34Greg Miller:Yeah, we were sorry. Isn't that crazy?

27:37Sean Hollister:Yeah, so I started streaming 10 years ago, which probably would have put me buying my first streaming PC seven years ago. Wow. Which probably would have been I bought the gaming PC a year or two afterwards. So both my PCs right now. Okay, I see, yeah.

27:51Chris Scullion:Yeah, both my PCs right now are probably, I would say close to anywhere between five to seven years old. I've only upgraded the GPUs. Yeah. So I've never gone past that. And I'm sure if you tell Andy and Kevin that, they might be doing this of like, maybe we have to look at that. Well, you know what? They run great. I have a ton of fun. I am also the very basic PC user, Stella, as the audience knows. And like my friends knows, I have a rule. It's like you turn on the one streaming PC that does Google to go to Twitch and it does OBS. And then I go over to the other one. That one goes to Steam, Epic, Xbox.

28:25Chris Scullion:You keep it on that and you just stay focused. Stay focused, Mike. Don't be, don't ruin it. That's what I say every time. Don't ruin this.

28:32Greg Miller:Yeah, just don't deviate from any of that.

28:34Chris Scullion:Nothing more frustrating than that screen going all blue, Stella, and not having answers, you know?

28:40Jay Peters:Oh, my God.

28:40Chris Scullion:That's my rule on PC gaming. That's pretty smart.

28:44Sean Hollister:Story number two, former Overwatch director reveals the Legend of California, an open-world online Wild West FPS

28:52Chris Scullion:coming. This from Chris Scullion at VGC. We have a trailer.

28:57Tim Gettys:Former Overwatch game director Jeff Kaplan has revealed his next game, The Legend of California. The debut offering from Kaplan's new studio, Kinitsugami. Kinitsugami?

29:11Sean Hollister:No, that's not it.

29:14Greg Miller:Kintsugiyama?

29:15Chris Scullion:Thank you so much. Like, holy shit. I didn't do the Greg where I reached up. I was like, you know what? I don't got that. Thank you. Say it one more time for me, Stella.

29:24Greg Miller:Okay. Kintsugiyama. Yeah.

29:30Chris Scullion:Yeah, I'll hold that in my back pocket. You're there for me.

29:32Sean Hollister:The Legend of California is a Wild West themed first person shooter set during the gold rush,

29:38Tim Gettys:but in a fictional island of California rather than the real life version. Quote, explore, gather, craft, build, hunt and fight your way across a vast untamed frontier. The game's description on Steam reads, whether you choose to travel alone or work together with friends, your mission on this mythical island is not just to survive, but thrive. Stay strong, stake your claim, and become the true legend of California, end quote. The game has multiplayer at its core and offers procedurally generated islands, which have key landmarks in the same place each time, but randomly moves other elements around.

30:16Tim Gettys:We handcrafted the world so the shape of California is always the familiar shape of California, except it's an island, Kaplan explained on the Lex Friedman podcast. The game's description adds master FPS combat that rewards precision and skill, whether you're hunting wildlife to stay alive, tracking down hostile encampments for some quick coin or defending your territory against enemy players in optional PVP. Leverage robust gathering and crafting systems to transform the California wilderness into everything you need to survive from weapons for protection and tools for expansion to delicious meals to stay fed and ready.

30:56Sean Hollister:establish and expand your own ranch build a mine, add stables and unlock powerful new crafting stations to further customize your slice of the wild play online on persistent multiplayer servers where you can forge your own legacy

31:12Tim Gettys:solo or form a company with up to three other players sharing resources, buildings, progression and more Stella, what if I told you that

31:22Sean Hollister:two days ago, I asked my friends I said, whatever happened to Jeff Kaplan? What's he working on? And then quite literally 20 hours ago, Lex Freeman put out a five-hour long podcast with this guy. Five? Five hours long. So I'm sure we're going to get a lot of news coming from that podcast over the week.

31:40Tim Gettys:But a five-hour long podcast also talking about his new game. What a weird coincidence that is.

31:46Greg Miller:You know what? I think you can just predict the future.

31:49Tim Gettys:That's crazy.

31:50Greg Miller:You have like this weird form of like, oh, yeah, whatever happened to that one thing? And it just appears.

31:53Sean Hollister:We were sitting there going, man, because we brought up Aaron, who's the new game director. And we said, oh, man, what's up with that guy, Jeff Cavill? What's he working on? And boom, here it is. An open world survival crafting game set in a California island. What do you think about this?

32:14Greg Miller:So, OK, the description. Hold on. I want to go to that real quick. It says master FPS combat that will reward that rewards precision and skill. and then they show one of the clips of uh hip firing and he hits someone's kneecap and they die and i'm like i i suppose back then they would have died with one hit so it's like i i want to know the definition of that as someone who really values the fps skill and such i'm like okay i want to know this does kind of look i know people are gonna make this comparison but it does kind of remind me of red dead online and if rockstar could just fucking get it together and support that, that would be amazing.

32:51Sean Hollister:Yeah.

32:51Greg Miller:Because it's constantly ruined by hackers. Anyways, not a big fan of the name.

32:57Sean Hollister:Let me rewind the name on that one. Let me see.

32:59Greg Miller:The Legend of California.

33:01Sean Hollister:The Legend of California.

33:02Greg Miller:Okay. Anyways. Okay, Chad, I'm sorry. I swear to God, I'm not going to just shit on this game. Okay. I'm just, first reactions. Okay. Okay. Just my reaction. Just my opinion. First reactions.

33:12Chris Scullion:Stella reads survival crafting game.

33:15Greg Miller:I do. And I've seen a thousand times, Stella. So like a factor and stuff. Yeah. Yeah. I think this is cool. I like the look of it.

33:22Chris Scullion:Okay.

33:24Greg Miller:I, the setting. Sure. It looks like there's a lot of snow. Okay. Well, I don't want to. Okay. All right. Sorry. There's a lot that I'm like, where is this? Wherever you want to go. Where is this coming from? Like, where is this? Where are we going to be at? It's an Island now. Also, I might be one of the weird people that doesn't like procedurally generated things in survival games like this. Oh, okay. Because I like knowing, you know, in playthroughs, right, you know where to go for certain things. It may or may not be there depending on like the time of day that you're there. If other players have been there to like farm certain resources.

33:55Greg Miller:But I'm not really a big fan of that as much anymore. Having set things for a map, I think, is very useful.

34:02Chris Scullion:They said they'll have set POIs that kind of are in the same spot for you. But then procedurally generated around that. There will be new, fresh areas for you to explore, which I do like. Right. Like for me and my friends, as we play a lot of survival crafting games, I do find I like when it is fresh and different every time to kind of give you that wow factor. I appreciate having the set touchstones of like, hey, this is where we're at. This is where we kind of know where the map is. But I do I do like it fresh for me. Yeah.

34:30Greg Miller:I don't mind if it's something like in a puzzle game where, you know, puzzles are slightly different for each person. Right. Just because how are you going to know where to go for a certain quest? If you look it up, it's like, oh, it might be on one of these three. islands you know um so that's one thing that does concern me the crafting element we didn't really get to see a whole lot of we got to see someone building um we saw him well of course he's

34:53Chris Scullion:chopping wood yeah he's building the cabin we saw mining ore as well uh they touch on a lot of it right you'll have hunting so you have to cook you have to make meals for yourself you'll have to feed yourself you'll have different uh crafting stations so it's giving like icarus vibes to me Of course, we played a lot of Icarus here at Kind of Funny. It's giving Icarus vibes meets Wild Wild West.

35:15Greg Miller:So, okay, what I'm curious about is the way they described this is actually a little bit confusing. Okay, so play online or in persistent multiplayer servers where you can forge your legacy solo or form a company with up to three other players. Okay, a company. Yes. So I think that means like a team that you can party up with, I suppose.

35:36Sean Hollister:Yeah, this will be your crew, your group of four people running around.

35:39Greg Miller:But then it says, defend your territory against enemy players and optional PvP. So I'm wondering, how many players will be in a single server? Yes. And what will be the persistent multiplayer server? Like, what will that look like? Because there are different ways that you can host, and there are different ways that you can buy servers to host as well. So I'm wondering, is this going to be kind of like a Dune Awakening sort of thing, where it's almost like an MMORPG? Yeah, yeah. Slightly, slightly, where you can go and build your base, and other players will also be progressing through and such where time just goes.

36:13Chris Scullion:I'm kind of thinking Rust and how that works. My mind goes to Rust back in the day on that one. It is interesting, as you brought up, Stella, right? Like when I think of the different ways we've played survival crafting games, it is usually me and my friends versus PvE, the AI. So it's like, hey, my base is always there. We spread out. We never worry about other people and their bases, right? And that's where you get into the Rust of it all. There's been a couple other games. Dune Awakening is a great pull. There's one more of that sci-fi weird game that we played with the crazy bus in the arms, and everybody built homes right at the beginning area, and then they had to tear down everybody's homes because there was too many homes at the starting area because that's as far as we all got.

36:52Sean Hollister:I forget what that one's called, but it will be interesting. How many players are on the map at the same time?

36:57Chris Scullion:Am I loading into a new map every single time, and my base placement is being put around those places? Maybe that's how it goes, but that's an interesting one.

37:06Greg Miller:once human thank you chat that was the game oh yeah that's right yeah yeah yeah um it seems like rest why she's so perplexed because i asked questions timber you have to ask questions because we don't know we've been given it's like we've been given details but not really details yeah it's it's vague descriptions of something and also i don't know become the true legend of California what what does that mean to you what what does being a true legend

37:38Chris Scullion:of California mean to you what does that mean to me yes me and Chris Sanka giving orders to Washburn Andy and JD all the time of go get me more or go get me more wood as we build this gigantic estate in the middle of the countryside and then we get bored three days later because we've just been doing nonstop resource gathering and we just hate that you know so I'm hoping for some like I don't know if I'd call it mission structure because it will be interesting of like what this looks like they clearly like got to a little bit of like there seems to be a jail so maybe you'll have some sort of heist or breakout sequence I don't know if it will be GTA GTA online with the missions or if it will just be hey here's a survival crafting open world game you make the fun you make the memories but I do like banging into other teams.

38:26Chris Scullion:So I will, I mean, I am interested in that.

38:29Greg Miller:Yeah. It'll be interesting because we weren't given a whole lot about the story, which even with survival crafting games, we are usually given an underlying story. And if it's like rust, there really isn't much to progress in a story, right? Cause that's more about survival. But then if you play a biotic or if you play any other survival games, I'm, I'm blanking on them right now, but it's like, Oh, like the forest and such, right? You're just like, okay, there is a story here. And I think that would be the most interesting part to this. But also I bring up the server space because what if you open up, how do you move servers if you want to, right?

39:02Greg Miller:Say your server is now less populated. Can you move over? But that's if they do have persistent servers that they officially support. So I know I'm getting into the weeds of this. I'm so sorry.

39:10Chris Scullion:No, that's all right. I mean, these are the questions you got to ask. I think for me, it's like one of those, when I hear this, I go, oh, I did not expect this from Jeff Kaplan. Yeah. I guess like a survival crafting open world Western game, was not like my, oh, this is something I would think Jeff Kaplan just re-emerges in my life, and it's like, this is what I got. I was thinking something a little bit different, so it did kind of hit me with the one-two punch of,

39:32Sean Hollister:oh, I'm going to have to reset my expectations. I saw it, and I go, okay, a Wild West open-world survival crafting game. Is this something I want in 2026 and beyond? I'll keep an eye out for it.

39:45Greg Miller:I'm not opposed to it. Okay. But it really depends on what the gameplay loop is like and what else they offer other than just... be in the Wild West. Yeah. See, now Legend of California, me becoming the Legend of California would be opening up my first In-N-Out.

40:00Chris Scullion:That's brilliant.

40:01Greg Miller:In-N-Out cabin. Franchising that. Yeah, but it would be like the shittiest first rendition of burgers, right?

40:07Chris Scullion:You could do that.

40:08Greg Miller:I know. So if we can do that.

40:10Chris Scullion:You could be the person that masters cooking.

40:11Sean Hollister:You could build up a big place and play around. You know what I mean? What do they call that in the GTA Online world? Oh, RP?

40:19Greg Miller:Yeah, you could RP as the first ever. in and out and you can have some fun. Yeah, that could be cool. If they have RP servers, that would be cool. But again, we have no idea what the server structure is going to be like. Well, you just tell people that you're RPing.

40:30Chris Scullion:Like, please don't shoot me. And then Mike and his boys,

40:31Sean Hollister:oh, I'm not on comms. I didn't hear anything. I murdered them. That's how it goes. Let's move on to story number three. Valve finally details the Steam Machine's verified program. This coming from Jacqueline Thomas at IGN. While we continue to wait for Valve to launch the Steam Machine amidst painful hardware shortages at the hands of AI, hyperscalers the company has released some details on its verification program at gdc 2026 much like the steam deck one of the big selling points for the steam machine is going to be the quote steam machine verified end quote program that'll let you know at a glance whether or not a game will run on the steam machine we've known that this program has been a thing since valve announced its mini gaming pc back in november but at gdc 2026 valve laid out the actual requirements the biggest difference from the steam decks verified program is that for a game to be verified on steam machine it needs to run at 1080p with 30 frames per second beyond that any game that's verified on steam deck already will automatically be verified on steam machine Valve can carry over the verification because, like with the Steam Deck, a game needs to be able to use a controller 100 % of the time to earn that green checkmark.

41:53Sean Hollister:Valve is also working on making more games playable on SteamOS as a whole. In the same presentation, the company claims that it's working on improving SteamOS' anti-cheat support. Developers should be able to opt in to bring their anti-cheat programs over to SteamOS, which should allow more competitive games to run on the steam machine the deck or whatever other hardware people choose to install steam os onto interesting i like that end point okay more games

42:22Chris Scullion:because the anti-cheat was a big deal at the beginning of the lifespan of the steam right deck where it's like oh i want to play destiny i want to play this game it's like oh well the anti-cheat doesn't work with that you can't play and you're like oh what a letdown now it seems like they're working with that which is great the big one there of course to be steam machine

42:40Sean Hollister:verified stella you must be 1080p with 30 frames per second minimum yeah yep i think that's fair

42:48Greg Miller:honestly at this point that is very fair um because we're not it's not let's see yeah steam deck yeah okay so it's not the steam deck anymore right it's a machine now that should be able to actually play slightly heavier games like hell divers hell divers too uh you can actually you can't technically play it on the steam deck but it's very bad you have to lower everything super low and it's i do believe you get maybe under 30 fps when you're playing it on that this feels like the bare minimum for something from steam specifically uh it is interesting that they're saying that it should allow more competitive games to run on the steam machine um i would be curious to see that say i'd be curious to see how apex legends would run i was gonna say yeah i mean

43:31Chris Scullion:what are some of the ones that you go to when you think of their anti-cheats and their games. My mind doesn't jump to how well it will perform. It is strictly just the anti-cheat being the wall of we're not allowing that through right now. I do like that they're trying to work with developers.

43:48Greg Miller:I think I remember when the Steam Deck first came out, there was a game that people bypassed the anti-cheat by downloading it on Steam Deck and then playing it that way. I'm sure they are looking at that. I know they probably have a very comprehensive team that is looking at different possibilities. but it would be very interesting. I don't know. I'm really excited for this. Okay, if you could only buy this or Project Helix.

44:13Sean Hollister:That's a tough one, Steve.

44:14Greg Miller:I know, right?

44:15Chris Scullion:As of right now, with the details in front of me, I would probably go Project Helix, even though a lot of my gaming library has shifted over to Steam, where the Steam Deck has been great for me. I really play, I play 90 % of my games on Steam right now.

44:31Sean Hollister:So it's like the idea of bringing the Steam machine into the living room, having a controller compatible with the big Steam OS, big screen mode,

44:41Chris Scullion:like this sounds great for me. But on the flip side, I've been really in tune with my Xbox ROG Ally, and I love that it plays my Xbox games and my Steam games, right? And if that is the cell of the Helix,

44:53Sean Hollister:where it is this PC and console with other storefronts and all of a sudden I am accessing my Xbox and I got my Game Pass and I have my cloud and all of this. And then on the flip side, I can somehow still get Steam in.

45:06Chris Scullion:Like that's the ultimate machine. So I will say Helix is going to be on my first to-do. But I am interested in the Steam machine.

45:14Sean Hollister:Great question because I was going to ask you, are you interested in the Steam machine?

45:17Greg Miller:Oh, absolutely. Yeah, yeah. When we first heard about it, I was like, getting that immediately for my living room. But it is going to be interesting too, because let's be real, we've got like finite money, right? So we've got to be able to plan things out. Games are also getting more expensive. We know hardware is getting more expensive, including this. So I'm also torn, but I think I really do love the Steam Deck verification. So Steam Machine, or whatever it's going to be called, that verification process, I think that'll be very valuable. That is kind of why I chose the Steam Deck over the ROG or ROG Ally stuff.

45:52Greg Miller:So I think I'm going to need more information on both.

45:55Chris Scullion:Of course, of course. I mean, we are waiting on the consumer side for way more information, right? Like we're waiting for a release date.

46:01Sean Hollister:We're waiting for price points. We're waiting for those wow factor buzzwords to sell me on this and also to show me all of this, right?

46:08Chris Scullion:I think Xbox did such a great job last generation with quick resume, right? Smart delivery was a big deal. Play Anywhere was a big deal. So it's like when we go to GDC and Jason Ronald is talking about that, but not talking about that on the consumer side of things. Those are the things that your mind jumps to.

46:24Sean Hollister:It's like, are they going to bring quick resume somehow to PC on this Xbox mode? Are they going to bring smart delivery where everything is ready to rock? I would assume those are the touchstones

46:33Tim Gettys:that they're going to go for.

46:34Greg Miller:I do not envy the software team trying to figure out how to do just resume, like, you know, quick resume. Because I don't know how you would do that on a PC-like device, but you know what? That's not my problem.

46:45Chris Scullion:We'll see if that carries over. Is that a major player for this?

46:49Greg Miller:Would that be your make or break for you?

46:51Chris Scullion:No, not at all. I actually, surprisingly, less and less use Quick Resume. The less I play my Xbox and the more I play Xbox games on Steam and on PC, of course, I don't think about it. But even when I was on my Xbox, I wasn't a Quick Resume guy. I am a jump out of it, full close that, go to the next thing. I would say I rarely used Quick Resume. I think it's a cool and novel feature, but I am not someone who juggles three games at once and needs to be bouncing between them with no load times. Like, that is a crazy thing. To me, at least. I do think that's a crazy thing.

47:25Greg Miller:Everyone with ADHD, me included, is offended. How dare you?

47:29Chris Scullion:What do you mean by jumping between three games at once? Yeah, what do you mean? You don't? No pause screens. I never do that.

47:35Sean Hollister:Okay, that's very fair. No identity coming in with the troll, but thank you for the super chat, says, I think it's cute that people think the steam machine will still be released. Do you think this company backs out all of a sudden and doesn't release this, Stella?

47:49Greg Miller:No, it is far too early to make any assumptions about that, right? We also don't know what the fuck's going to happen in the future, like whether or not we're all still here. So let's just like, you know what? We'll just take it one day at a time, you know?

48:01Sean Hollister:Let's go to story number four. Pokemon Pocopia launch sales announced. This coming from Tom Phillips at IGN. Pokemon Pocopia has launched big on Nintendo Switch 2 and sold 2.2 million copies over its release weekend. Across four days, the new Pokemon Life Simulation game shifted 1.1 million copies in Japan alone despite supply constraints for its physical version being reported in several countries. Indeed, such has been the game's popularity that Amazon recently raised its price of the box copy by$10 up to$80. Nintendo shareholders have also reacted positively to the game's performance, sending the company's stock price shooting upwards.

48:46Sean Hollister:While 2.2 million copies is less than 5 million already sold by Resident Evil Requiem, it's important to remember that this game is an exclusive for the Switch 2,

48:56Tim Gettys:a console which is still relatively modest, has a relatively modest user base. Just over 17 million Switch 2 consoles have been sold so far, meaning just shy of one in every eight owners already now has a copy of Pokemon Pocopia. Stella, are you one of those human beings that has Pocopia?

49:17Greg Miller:I literally posted on Blue Sky asking if I would like it because I don't know. So here's the thing. I'm going to get a lot of shit in chat about this. I didn't grow up playing the Pokemon game, so I don't have that close of a connection to Pokemon except for the show, right? The original series. so for me seeing this being a more casual intro to Pokemon I'm like oh I think I could be into this and it's crafting right and it's very cute but it was the $70 price point that was holding me back because I wasn't sure if I would like it right it's not the fact that it's$70 it's just that I wish there was a demo or something that could tell me how it would be right you know even if it's just like the intro thing okay so that's what's been keeping me from

49:56Sean Hollister:winning it let's rewind for a moment let's dig a little bit deeper are you into games like Animal Crossing Yeah. Maybe Minecraft, Dragon Quest Builders.

50:03Greg Miller:I haven't played Dragon Quest. Okay, that's fine. Someone else brought that up.

50:06Sean Hollister:Those are the three big kind of like touchstone of this game that would be in the similar genre. So if you're into that and you have a creation and maybe a fantasy of one day becoming a Pokemon master and you're like, I'd like to get to be in that world. Yeah. It is very much Animal Crossing meets Pokemon.

50:24Chris Scullion:It is Minecraft, craft your own little world meets Pokemon, right? And so I will say in the office, Roger and Joey, both non-Pokemon people, like this game a lot.

50:35Sean Hollister:And it's their kind of first Pokemon game.

50:37Greg Miller:Oh, really? I'm not alone. Okay, cool.

50:39Chris Scullion:If this is going to be your first one, I think it's really well written. When the Pokemon are fun, it's not just Scyther, Scyther, right? Like they all have their own dialogue. It is actually cute, heartwarming. It is a really fun, whimsical little kind of story and world that you get to be in.

50:54Sean Hollister:You're not catching or fighting them, right? It is just like you're attracting them with their habitats and then they show up. You build a home for them. But I'm loving this game.

51:03Chris Scullion:And to hear it's selling very, very well is no surprise to me. One, Pokemon rules. People love Pokemon. Two, Animal Crossing took over our lives in COVID. And we're, of course, chasing that high, like wanting another Animal Crossing. But the idea that this is Animal Crossing mixed with Pokemon, yeah, that's called a major win. So I'm seeing everyone in my life buy it, play it, buy a Switch 2 for it.

51:28Sean Hollister:Like, it's been a wild weekend. So$2.2 million over, what, four days this weekend? I expect that to continue to skyrocket.

51:36Greg Miller:Okay, but now, Mike, should I buy this game or should I buy Mario Tennis Fever? Because that also looks really fun.

51:42Chris Scullion:I love Mario Tennis Fever.

51:44Sean Hollister:And if you're a competitive sportsger like me, then Mario Tennis Fever is your game. But if you're looking to have a low-key chill weekend with your friends and just sit there and binge watch One Piece live action season two, then you should be playing Pocopia.

52:00Greg Miller:Oh, man. It's my two different gamer personalities clashing right now. I know.

52:04Chris Scullion:You're just like, Stella, you and I are so similar. Yeah. Guess what? You have to buy both.

52:08Greg Miller:That's what I'm going to end up doing. The Nintendo store is right there, so I might just stop by and get it so that I don't have to pay the$10 extra on Amazon.

52:15Sean Hollister:Of course, let us know if you are the one in every eight Switch 2 owners with a copy of Pocopia. That is insane to say. Number five, story number five, the BAFTA Game Awards nominees have been announced. The nominees for Best Game are Ark Raider, Blueprints, Claire Obscure, Expedition 33, Dispatch, Ghost of Yote, Indiana Jones, and The Great Circle. Anything wowing to you, Stella? Ellie, you did a fantastic job hosting the Dice Awards with the one, the only Greg Miller. The two of you, another killer year. Thank you.

52:49Chris Scullion:Awesome opening. Great ceremony throughout. Awesome to see incredible people. Of course, got their flowers awarded. Shown so much love. It's a great show.

52:59Greg Miller:It is.

52:59Chris Scullion:You look at the BAFTA Awards, best game of the year. What do you think about this?

53:04Greg Miller:You know, all of these games are really good. And I honestly, at Dice, we never look at who wins. We'd like to discover it with the crowd, right? So we were like, oh, man, Blueprints actually might take it. Because it had been winning quite a few. I would love for them to win it. But I do think, oh, you didn't ask me who I think is going to take it. But I think it's going to be color obscure. Oh, okay.

53:28Sean Hollister:Of course, of course. I mean, this seems in line with most of the shows that we've seen. It's probably missing a Donkey Kong in this that I think I've seen with most of the other games.

53:38Chris Scullion:Like if I was to compare Jeff Keighley and all the things that we see in the top tens of most outlets, Donkey Kong is usually in that. But I mean, we've seen Indiana Jones get a lot of praise. Ghost of Yote got a lot of love. Dispatch was phenomenal. Expedition 33 has won every award show there's been known to man. Of course, Blueprints, Ark Raiders, all these games are great. So it's not like anything doesn't fit here. No, no, no. And I don't think there's crazy snubs out there either. No. Hollow Knight Silk Song somebody brought up. I know, yeah.

54:07Sean Hollister:You'll see Hollow Knight Silksong in this great poll chat.

54:10Greg Miller:Yeah, I don't know. It's tough. Oh, yeah, Death Stranding 2. It's tough. There were a lot of really good games that came out, so they can't all fit into best game, but I'm sure there are other categories that they've been put into, which helps a little bit.

54:24Tim Gettys:Stella, of course, if Blueprints were to win the BAFTA Game Awards nominees and become the number one spot, that would be huge dues. But if I need something smaller to round out this show, what would I do?

54:36Greg Miller:That was very good. You'd go to our last story, the Wii News channel, where we cover all the small news items you need to know about.

54:43Tim Gettys:Love that. Let's go to the Wii News network right here.

54:45Sean Hollister:We have from VGC, Peggy has announced that all games with loot boxes in them will soon be rated 16 and up. The European Game Ratings Board announced today that starting in June, it will be introducing a number of minimum age ratings for games with certain interactive risk features.

55:06Tim Gettys:what they call that.

55:08Greg Miller:I'd be curious what they give Roblox then again.

55:10Chris Scullion:Hey now. I have so much to talk about with Roblox.

55:16Greg Miller:Okay, we'll talk. We'll talk.

55:18Sean Hollister:Ball Pit now available for iOS and Android. Played that at all? No, I need to. That's a good one. Took over the Borderlands 4 DLC story pack number one. Mad Ellie in the Vault of the Damned launches March 26th. I feel like I'm like one of the only human beings that enjoyed Borderlands 4. And so it's like for me, I'm like, oh, I am excited for that.

55:41Chris Scullion:I'm like, yeah, yeah.

55:42Greg Miller:No, I'm not going to shit on a game that you're like, yeah, enjoy it. If it brings you joy.

55:47Sean Hollister:I had a good time. I had a good time. From Noble, my dude, says Super Meat Boy 3D launches March 31st, according to the Nintendo eShop. Hey, now, played the demo on Steam.

56:02Chris Scullion:Really enjoyed it.

56:03Greg Miller:It's really fun. I'm so bad at games like that, but it's very fun. I'll watch you play it.

56:08Chris Scullion:Okay. Well, you should play it yourself. It's a really good time. Because, you know, Stella, you're competitive like me. You're going to love it. You said that first time, and you're like, no, I can be better. And then you get a little bit better. Then you get a little bit better. But I would have been good at it immediately, Mike. Then you die, and you whip the controller across the wall. You get a new controller, and you get right back after it. I'm so excited for this one because I'm pumped up to play the game. I've never played a Super Meat Boy besides this. Really? My first one. What? I should go back and play the 3D parts, of course.

56:35Chris Scullion:But I really like the cute art style. I love the 3D look of it. I love the gameplay. I'm all in on this. I also drafted it for my fantasy critic. This is a big deal of like, I need big points. Oh, okay. 92. Okay, so you're biased. Yeah, exactly. Don't listen to me when you're on this game.

56:52Sean Hollister:Silent Hill 2 Remake surpassed 5 million players.

56:56Greg Miller:Wow.

56:57Sean Hollister:You like Silent Hill?

56:59Greg Miller:It's very scary, so I like watching people play it. I love that. So I can live it through them.

57:04Chris Scullion:Yeah, we've been a Silent Hill household over here with me and Roger inside the studio. We've really enjoyed Silent Hill 2 and, of course, F as well. So that's been great.

57:12Sean Hollister:Stella, let's go into some super chats. And then, of course, you're wrong where I asked the audience watching live to keep us honest while we are moving on with the show. Jumping into some fun ones right now. We got Darth Anslow writes in and says, Stella rocks. I met you at the mix. You were so kind and fun. Keep up the great work. Oh, shout out.

57:33Greg Miller:Oh, that's so sweet. Thank you.

57:35Sean Hollister:Some fun events over this week that you've gone to? What have you enjoyed?

57:38Greg Miller:Oh, well, I definitely enjoyed the mix put on by Kind of Funny. That was it.

57:43Sean Hollister:Thank you.

57:44Chris Scullion:Thank you. That's great. That's great. Shout out to Justin putting on a great show, teaming up with Tim and Greg and the whole crew here. It's been fantastic. But the mix, late night when you go there and actually have all the developers putting on the game. Oh, it's so fun, yeah. It's an awesome party. Really good time. I'm a Day of the Devs stan. I love Day of the Devs.

58:00Greg Miller:This is my first year.

58:01Chris Scullion:my favorite so fun it's so san francisco it's the best community it's free for all ages you can

58:08Sean Hollister:bring your families it's in the heart of sf it's the coolest it's so good uh next one coming out from jordan white who writes in and says do you think microsoft will come out with their own xbox mouse and keyboard peripherals so if so what features or buttons would you like huh that's a great question i will say that they've already teamed up with so many other teams for Xbox peripherals.

58:31Chris Scullion:I believe there's already, well, I know I have the Razer Master Chief Edition mouse and keyboard. Very clickety clackety. The office is mad at me every time I use it. Then there was 8-bit dough or you know what I'm talking about, Chad, but it was see-through green and the mouse had the iconic green and red buttons on the side for your A and B buttons, which were very cool. Oh, that's cool. Yeah, they have a bunch of

58:59Greg Miller:Wait, that could be really cool. Okay. Yeah.

59:01Chris Scullion:They have a bunch of peripherals. Do I see them making their own? Probably not. Will you get some Xbox certified with the logo on it? Ones, yes.

59:12Greg Miller:Ooh, I would love if on the keyboard there was like a button for like muting and unmuting. Okay. You know, kind of like on controller and such. That'd be really great because some of you on console don't know how to mute your fucking mics. So that'd be great.

59:25Chris Scullion:Gone are the days of the Xbox Kinect. I miss it so much. where you just hear everyone's entire life story. Oh, my God. Yeah.

59:32Greg Miller:You hear their marital problems in the background. You're just like, oh, my God, man.

59:36Chris Scullion:You hear the fridge opening and closing. It's like, okay, how is this microphone so good? We got to mute it. I think that's a lovely idea. That's actually a really good one that they should think about. Of course, you'll probably have the Xbox Jewel, which will take you to the homepage. But I like the mute, Stella. I would appreciate the mute. You know, I guess I'm saying this. and it's like, well, Mike, you could just map it to any button on your keyboard.

59:59Greg Miller:No, but it's nice to have a dedicated button for it.

1:00:01Chris Scullion:You know what happens is, I'll map it

1:00:02Sean Hollister:to some crazy key over on the far side and I'll forget it. Yeah, you never use it. I'll forget which one it is, and then I'll never use it. So that's on me. That's my bad. Kebabs writes in and says, Legend of California sounds like a Soarin' update from Soarin' California, of course.

1:00:16Greg Miller:Dude, it sounds like an amusement park ride. It's like one of those, like, here's, you know, it's one of those really family-friendly, like, little rides that you go through and you go through like a mineshaft. It's like, oh, and here's where we farm for gold. I don't know.

1:00:31Sean Hollister:I'm just a Billy, writes in and says, just here to say, hi, Stella. Hi, Mike. Hello, Billy. Thank you so much for saying hello to the both of us. Goldfishboy writes in and says, I finished getting all the achievements for High Guard hours before it closed. My brother and I are staring through a window waiting for the enemy to plant the bomb just so I could defuse it.

1:00:50Chris Scullion:It was hilarious. Of course, last night was the end, I believe, of high guard saw some tweets go out right there cool to see people I know a lot of people were like I really enjoy this game I've gotten all the achievements before it shuts down

1:01:02Sean Hollister:holy crap I know a lot of people like that so yeah pretty cool they had some fun with that with your brother and friend that's great

1:01:10Tim Gettys:let's see what else I got here for you Steve Barry writes in and says I do

1:01:16Sean Hollister:not believe Helix is going to have Steam support like previously rumored oh I

1:01:20Chris Scullion:already read this one I don't see it anymore making

1:01:22Sean Hollister:money very interesting I'm really interested to see like like you said previous generations i'm like there's no way xbox would put any other storefront on there why would snow bike mike buy xbox games when i can just buy them on steam right but like it will be interesting they're in third place they're going to do something weird they do something different they're trying to get you to jump on board what will be that consumer wow factor right yeah but also snow bike mike will do what snow bike mike wants to do you know what i mean of course i mean i'm a pc gamer now it's crazy i've played so much PC.

1:01:51Sean Hollister:I'm a mouse and keyboard guy.

1:01:55Greg Miller:I do agree. High Guard did deserve better.

1:01:58Sean Hollister:Gaser writes in and says, Stella Tax, happy to see her again. The best host. Shout out to Stella right there. Science D writes in and says, give this to Stella, please. Stella,$5 out of my pocket to you.

1:02:09Greg Miller:You gotta give me that$5.

1:02:11Chris Scullion:W Go with the$2. Stella rocks, Mike rocks. That's it. Love that. All for the super chats, of course. I ask you to keep us honest throughout the show with you're wrong over at kindoffunny.com slash you're wrong. Let's see what I got here. Jepo writes in and says, Mike, where's Pirate Yakuza at the BAFTAs? It deserves a nomination. Not a you're wrong, but a fun little call out. You got me. We're not the ones who made that list. The chat knows that Mike reads a mile a minute, so you just put something in there. I'm like Ron Burgundy. I'm going to read it. You know what I mean? I'm trying my best not to read it.

1:02:41Chris Scullion:Oh, no.

1:02:42Greg Miller:You should not have told me that. You got me on that one. You should not have told me that.

1:02:45Sean Hollister:Let's see. Let me see. Let me see. Kebabs writes in not a you're wrong but just adding two we news items you missed you gotta send this to bless okay he can't be sending me we news items after the end of the show but let's see on the Peggy story NFTs and blockchain stuff now guarantee an 18 plus rating AO on ESRB of course adults only also the original this is an Xbox announcement video has been taken offline I did see that of course that was the old Xbox marketing stuff now they've changed that so they've removed that stuff. So yeah, we will see what the new marketing stuff in there.

1:03:23Greg Miller:It's so funny. Cause like with major, major companies, people always like to assume the worst immediately, but it's like, no, you see a lot of campaigns get retired. They take all the ads down and you know, they swap over. Yeah.

1:03:34Chris Scullion:It is a funny one to me of like, everybody's like looking that up again. I'm like, didn't really think much of it past this. You know what I mean? Like, all right, cool. Stella, that is all the news that we need to talk about here on kind of funny games daily. It's Thursday. It's March. It's GDC. You're going to knock. You're not going anywhere because you're on Gamescast after this.

1:03:54Greg Miller:It's so funny. You have a full day. Yeah, Greg was like, okay, so Chad, here's the thing, right? Greg was like, oh, hey, do you want to be on Kind of Feudy? And I was like, yeah, okay, great. I can redeem myself, maybe. And then, like, three days later, he's like, hey, do you want to be on Gamescast? I was like, yeah, okay, I'll just come a little bit earlier. And, like, the week before GDC, he's like, fuck it. You want to be on Kind of Funny Games Daily, too? And I'm like, oh, my God, fine. I'll just spend my whole morning here. It's fine. I love you guys.

1:04:19Chris Scullion:So we got to tell him buy me lunch. That's what we tell him. Oh, yeah, exactly. Buy me lunch, Greg, and I'll do it all. Stella, it's great to have you. It's great to be spending time with you. You know, I love that. The audience here loves hanging out with you. And you're not going anywhere.

1:04:31Sean Hollister:So I won't keep you all. Let's keep the day rolling. We're going to move into Gamescast. Paris, Emron, the Don Con, Stella, and Blessing all taking over your Gamescast.

1:04:40Chris Scullion:Then after that, we have a very awesome Gamescast play stream. It's going to be Blessing and Roger playing Ghost of Yotei Legends. so they'll show you and inform you all about that. That's the day for you. It's a whole lot coming at your way. So thank you all so much for tuning in.

1:04:54Tim Gettys:It's been our pleasure to share with you. Have a wonderful day.

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From the publisher

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New details about Xbox ‘Project Helix’, a new game announced from Overwatch’s former director, and Valve breaks down the Steam machine’s verification program.

00:00:00 - Start00:05:00 - Microsoft’s next Xbox, Project Helix, won’t reach alpha until 2027 - Jay Peters & Sean Hollister @ The Verge00:23:35 - Ad00:26:15 - Former Overwatch director reveals The Legend of California, an open-world online Wild West FPS - Chris Scullion @ VGC00:37:50 - Valve Finally Details Steam Machine's Verified Program - Jacqueline Thomas @ IGN00:45:19 - Pokémon Pokopia Launch Sales Announced - Tom Philips @ IGN00:49:56 - The BAFTA Game Awards Nominees have been announced00:51:50 - Wee News!00:54:33 - SuperChats & You‘re Wrong
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