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Defining Duke, Episode 299: The Thread (Patreon)

Published:
2026-09-21 18:04:07
Imported:
2026-09

Content

Hey, all! It's time to submit your questions, comments, concerns, thoughts, and ideas for Episode 299 of Defining Duke.

Great ways to get your write-up used: Be pithy, be topical, and be insightful. Walls-of-text, posts littered with poor grammar and punctuation, etc., are promptly (though respectfully) ignored.

As this is an Xbox podcast, be sure your submission makes sense within that realm. You have until Wednesday, September 23rd at 3 PM ET to make your submission.

Comments

Raisin

Sup, Dukes! I wanted to get y'all's take on director of Fable, Ralph Fulton, and his comments on why Fable was afforded a 10-year dev cycle. I'm quite looking forward to Fable, but there's a dissonance in Playground being given a decade, but Undead Labs was let go without as much of a second thought. Either way, I'm rooting for both Fable and State Of Decay. I just find it interesting Xbox doesn't view State Of Decay the same way as Fable. To me, Halo, Gears, Forza, Fable, and State Of Decay have always been the fab five of Xbox.

They Now Call Me UNC.

Mat Piscatella doesn't care about Gamer people (Kanye West impression)

NeighBuRrR

What's good dukie brothers Question for Matty. Trails FC remake was so good it made me play and finish the old second chapter on steam earlier this year. Does anything in this new game warrant a double dip in this entry or should one focus their efforts on continuing the series. SC was so peak I didn't mind how it looked on played, but I did steamroll the game in 30+ hours skipping side content and playing on easy.

Michael

Who would you say has had a better career, Nolan North or Troy Baker?

Michael

Who would you say has had a better career, Nolan North or Troy Baker?

Michael

Any word on Silksong: Sea of Sorrow (DLC). Still on for 2026?

Mr. Scott If You're Nasty (edited)

Comment edits

2026-09-23 11:00 Lord Cog! I just think you should call Matty up to the front of the congregation. When he was "sick" he was actually playing Wolverine. Everyone knows when you're truly sick you don't want to play video games. Your partner in hosting played hooky and left you holding the bag! Haha just kidding Matty!!! Welcome back
2026-09-21 18:32 Lord Cog! I just think you should call Matty up to the front of the congregation. When he was "sick" he was actually playing Wolverine. Everyone knows when you're truly sick you don't want to play video games. Your partner in hosting played hooky and left you holding the bag! Haha just kidding Matty!!! Welcome back Edit: Thanks Matty, now we have more layoffs. Super interested in hearing your thoughts about Activision taking the next Halo project.

Lord Cog! I just think you should call Matty up to the front of the congregation. When he was "sick" he was actually playing Wolverine. Everyone knows when you're truly sick you don't want to play video games. Your partner in hosting played hooky and left you holding the bag! Haha just kidding Matty!!! Welcome back Edit: Thanks Matty, now we have more layoffs. Super interested in hearing your thoughts about Activision taking the next Halo project.

thejjuan1 (edited)

Comment edits

2026-09-23 11:00 Hi Dukes. Cog I need your thoughts on Bungie returning to Destiny, and did you know? With you hinting at this last week. Especially them un-vaulting everything and continuing support of Destiny 2. This is crazy news because things like this don’t happen often. How many times a community gives pushback and makes a meaningful change. Matty it’s not too late for discs. See you for the big 300, next week. Guardians make their own fate.
2026-09-21 18:36 Hi Dukes. Cog I need your thoughts on Bungie returning to Destiny, and did you know? With you hinting at this last week. Especially them un-vaulting everything and continuing support of Destiny 2. This is crazy news because things like this don’t happen often. How many times a community gives pushback and makes a meaningful change. Matty maybe it’s not too late for discs. See you for the big 300, next week. Guardians make their own fate.

Hi Dukes. Cog I need your thoughts on Bungie returning to Destiny, and did you know? With you hinting at this last week. Especially them un-vaulting everything and continuing support of Destiny 2. This is crazy news because things like this don’t happen often. How many times a community gives pushback and makes a meaningful change. Matty maybe it’s not too late for discs. See you for the big 300, next week. Guardians make their own fate.

Hemorrhoid King

Hey Dukes! I wanted to ask about what it took to make a career out of what you guys do now/if its something even possible for someone like me. I am 33 with a beautiful wife and 15-week old baby girl. While I love them dearly and recognize how fortunate I am, to be honest I have had a very tough time adjusting and losing my time to play/discuss games. It has made me realize more than ever that is where my real passion lies, and I fear my mental health is declining without it. I have had a career in software for ~10 years, and was very fortunate to have helped take a company to IPO around 7 years ago. Thanks to that, my finances are what I would consider strong, but obviously not to the extent where i can just do whatever I want and not worry about money at all. I would say im in Coast FIRE mode, where I essentially just need to pay for living expenses and dont really need to worry about investing any more. In short, I love my wife and daughter but I am unhappy day-to-day work right now. I want to pursue what I enjoy, but I know there is basically no chance I can make what I make now, and I don't really even know where to start if I am being honest. Anyways, thanks for any thoughts/insight you may be able to give, thanks guys!

Alex Morgan

I’m incredibly keen to hear the Dukes thoughts on this👀!

Daniel Czarny

Hey Dukes! This past week it was discovered that the XBOX equivalent to the Platinum Trophy may be a Mythic Achievement which if handled correctly could be very cool. My question is what would you both like to see from this in regards to how it is handled visually and when it pops; I am hoping for something very cool, and perhaps a further breakdown of sub Mythic achievements. Have a Throat Coat Season is upon us kinda day :)

Raisin

While I will defer to Cog, since he's the Destiny expert, I don't see a similar thing happening with discs. Mainly because, in spite of incessant and venomous guerrilla-warfare-like assaults on PlayStation's official comms channels, the PS5 Pro is sold out, and Wolverine sold more than 2 million copies in its first two days of release. Interestingly enough, one in five copies sold were physical. Compared to first-party titles, this is down year-over-year. I think the biggest difference is simply that Bungie had to do this. PlayStation, unfortunately, doesn't have to do anything. Until people materially change their buying behaviors, nothing will change. And based on recent Circana Player Engagement tracking, consumers, customers, gamers—whatever nomenclature you prefer—they're all bark, no bite!

Tom Sweeney

Hello Dukes, Matty, with the intense discussion around Wolverine I wanted to ask a more interesting question, how to we get people to finish games? The game was clearly designed for anyone to finish it, whether to its detriment or not a lot games are follow suit in different ways. FF7 Revelation is allowing players to skip dialogue and level up during the story, while series like trails are remaking there games due to poor sales/response to there newer titles. Do you think there are more elegant ways for developers to have people finish games, or is it something you can’t control? Anyway, have a great day gents!

RK128

Blessed Day Super Sonic Dukes, I wanted to give spotlight to a damn cool Sonic thing that I think you both will get a kick out of. Death Battle had a new episode and it put Shadow the Hedgehog and Mewtwo together for a huge brawl. The music and animation for the fight rival the animated shorts SEGA's been putting out. To say it lifted my spirits would be an understatement. Between that and all the exciting Sonic news (Frontiers beta stuff, Sonic Racing DLC, etc), we are in a golden era for Sonic. Any of the recent Sonic news appeal to you guys? Have a 'my goat keeps WINNING' kind of day. Link: https://youtu.be/xbtvtRnALGU?si=9m_sGjNtJdzBKS-t

empty_0

Howdy Dukes, some early reporting that there may be Xbox and Blizzard layoff this week. Did the Green Reaper strike again? We knew more layoffs were coming but right after Blizzcon announcements is such weird timing. Have a "Brad is going to need to buy that costume" kind of day

boogersupreme

Howdy gentlefish, Wolverine: Let's talk about it. From Matty's video about the game being an inflection point, Brad saying it's the most 6/10 shit of all time, Colin saying it's pretty good, and Chris having the meat of 2 Snark Tank episodes about how he didn't like the game, the response to Wolverine has been all over the place. I played the game, platinumed it, and traded that shit in. I enjoyed the game while playing it until the halfway point, but I cannot shake a feeling of immense disappointment. Having seen the leaks and what could have been, I don't think I've been this disappointed in a game since Halo 4. Where does Insomniac go from here? How does PlayStation Studios recalibrate? Does the public response of the game and strong sales data indicate that people like me and Matty who are upset at PlayStation's modern direction simply not matter? Thanks for all you guys do and have a "will Wolverine ever get Jean Gray's swamp ass stank out of his nostrils (?)" kind of day.

SnakesBandana

If you want more remakes you should buy the 2nd Chapter remake.

BigDumbStupidIdiot

Hey Duke Dudes, With Sony re-aliving Destiny 2, what does that mean for Destiny 3 and for Bungie? I feel like this is Bungie pulling the emergency shoot. Marathon is D-E-D, dead and unable to sustain the studio. PlayStation's coffers are too dry to drop $600 million (maybe more) and wait 6, 7 years for Destiny 3. What are your thoughts, Lord Cognito? I hope Bungie can survive to keep all these talented devs in the industry. Have a "no one makes my fate but me," kind of day!

Klaw117

Well done, guys. Not even a week has passed since Brad showed up, and now that Green Reaper has brought rumors of layoffs at Xbox and Blizzard with him. EDIT: Scratch that, they're not rumors anymore, they're real. Dang it, Brad! Now that the obligatory Brad joke is out of the way, here's my actual question. Is Kojima really known for mismanagement, or is he just expensive, and people are conflating the two? Besides MGS5, which had a whole new engine built for it, and DS2, which had COVID issues, what has he actually had problems shipping? There seems to be a narrative forming, which wasn't this prevalent two weeks ago, that he constantly mismanages his projects. It feels like everyone's getting up in arms over this because Sony and Microsoft are involved with Kojima this time. Have a "quick, who do we lay off to pay for Kojima" kind of day! Side note (ignore this to cut down on length if needed): Cog and Brad mentioned people buying from Steam over EGS last week. It's worth noting that the hatred for EGS is unique. EA and Ubisoft are back on Steam but when they dabbled with exclusivity via Origin and Uplay, they got nowhere near the amount of hatred EGS got since they only made 1st party stuff exclusive. EGS took crowdfunded games already announced for Steam and made them exclusive. People haven't forgotten that, so they'll pay for games on Steam rather than get them for free on EGS.

I'm Nucking Futz

Hey Dukes, I hope the "Green Reaper" has not caused any damage and welcome back Matty. So, I have to throw some caution to everyone excited about the Destiny revival. I am one that was excited to watch that video about Destiny coming back in some shape or form. However, immediately after I remembered that Bungie has 1/3rd of the staff of when they were working on Destiny 2. Expectations are very high but I think everyone needs to be cautious as there is no way in hell the content will be a Destiny 3. Am I wrong? Take care and have a "I bought too many games this month so could only take my girl to Olive Garden for a romantic dinner" kind of day!

Timewheel

Hi Dukes, a questions from the fjords of Norway. A Norwegian tech site, Tek.no, recently ran a price comparison on disk vs digital. They tracked a "hardcore gamer" persona who bought 12 games over the course of a year: Buying the digital versions cost roughly $264 more than buying the same games as physical copies That's about 40% more expensive overall Physical copies also come with better ownership — you can lend, trade, sell, or give away the game So how much more expensive do we think digital will become when the option of disk is gone? All I know is that the old Vikings would never stand for this shit. Companies would soon see longboats arriving at their shores.

Pedro Miguel

I agree with you. I felt Matty glossed over one key aspect in his tweet about the news: the constant pushback came from the strong core and the majority of the Bungie fanbase. They not only made their voices felt on social media, but they also showed up in the only quantifiable measurement they had. The high player counts for Destiny 2 after they ended active development solidified their movement, and the lows on Marathon strengthened their fight even more. This is coming from someone that has never played a Bungie game outside of Marathon, which I love. On the other hand, the fight against the end of discs is not as clear-cut as the fight for more Destiny, mainly because there’s no clear vector to strike. Not spending money on any PlayStation product or service going forward would be the most logical way, but the issue is that there are more people who don’t care or are indifferent to discs than those who do. Hijacking social media posts with no real substance in the messaging gets stale after a while, and a blackout with an end date is a little counterintuitive.

Phil

Hey Dukes. Naturally I'm jumping on the breaking news like everyone else. I have seen some opinions that frame this as good news. But to me it looks like everything is being nearly packaged into boxes incase portions of the business need to be sold off. Xbox itself still has Playground, Coalition and InXile. I believe largely due to the fact they have massive projects about to land, we will then learn more about their futures after the fact, just in time for the final round of 'reorganisation'. But this leaves Xbox largely as the Hardware and ecosystem with all the development talent organised into appropriate pools. Cheers, Phil

JP

Hey Dukes, What's the bigger news in your opinion: Halo moving under Activision or Obsidian moving under Bethesda? Both changes make sense to me. Halo hopefully will get some time to breathe and eventually have a better release cadence with new leadership. For Bethesda, maybe Obsidian can show them how to release more than 1 game a generation.

Malevelon Creek PTSD

Greetings Duke Boys, Well the Green Reaper has struck again, as Xbox has just laid off another 268 people across its various teams, stating their company is "3 quarters of the way" through its planned restructuring. Along with the layoffs comes the news that Activision will be helming the next Halo entry, and I'm personally cautiously optimistic about an Activision developed Halo. What are your thoughts? Have a "Brad isn't beating the allegations" kind of day!

Funkrat

Brad scares me

AJWhite

Hey guys, The 2nd wave of Xbox layoffs appears to be hitting about now, and to make light of a dark moment, the changes and restructuring seems to be mostly for the best. I need some input from you guys though on a particular studio; Arkane. At the end of the post, they state "consultation is expected to continue throughout the year". Can y'all please enlighten us on what this means, or what you think it means? Do you think they have a buyer, and if so, who would it be? Thanks boys

Matt Vidrine

Dukie Boys: With another round of layoffs hitting Xbox and the announcement that Activision will make the next Halo game, do we think this is a positive or negative for Halo in the long run? Or is Xbox basically just Bethesda and Activision assembly line now that will crank out annual releases? Thanks guys!

The Ghost of James Soler

Hey boys, news broke this morning that Halo Studios is closing (I think), and Activision will take over halo. When do you think we’ll see the first Activision Halo? What could this mean for Halo exclusivity moving forward? Have any Activision developed games been exclusive? Will Halo just turn into COD in space? Best, Ghost of JS

Captain Hero

Dear Dynamic Duo As widely predicted, the sword of damocles has fallen on Halo Studios. While we can feel sympathy for the devs impacted, I think most would agree things couldn't keep going as they were. While we don't know exactly who at Activision will be spearheading the next Halo game, this does feel like a logical choice to a) ship games consistently b) not over extend on external contractors. One thing that I do find exciting is that Activision knows how to ship good zombie content. This could bode well for a Flood centric Halo game. And 'Worlds edge' moving under Activision also looked interesting. Does this increase the chances of that studio taking a crack at Halo Wars 3 some day? I would love to see either option happen. Am I huffing too much copium though?What types of Halo games do you think we are likely to see under Activision? Personally, I am less interested in the 'traditional' big bang mainline Halo games, and would like to see Xbox explore different genres and areas of lore with the franchise. Playing a whole Campaign as the Abiter. 'Aliens' but with the flood and ODST. Lets get experimental! Cheers, Captain Hero

The Ghost of James Soler

Hey Dukes, This health is wealth inquiry is mainly for Lord Beefy, but i’d like matty’s input as well; How do you handle getting back in the gym after sickness or injury. I missed about 10 days and was struggling to hit my usual baseline when I returned to the gym. Should I power through it and just take longer? Lower the weigh and/or reps and work my way back up? Help me lord beefy, you’re my only hope! Best, Ghost of JS

SnakesBandana

The Green Reaper sends his regards.

Risen

Hello, A lot of the news in the Xbox Reset is (likely) good news. Why do we frame all of it as bad? I’m confused by it, because I thought what was bad had been the stagnation and decline of the brand over more than a decade. If Xbox had been growing, there wouldn’t be such austere changes. So, please steel man why this is “bad news” outside of the straightforward, and predictable, human cost? Otherwise, I think Brad’s Curse is a fallacy. Cheers, Risen

Daniel Navarro

Hello Dukes, This goes more to Matty, I bought trails in the Sky FC in late August as a hold over for Fire Emblem soley because of how you talk about the greatness that is Trails. I finished it this past Sunday and was completely blown away at the ending. I started Fire Emblem and played for about an hour and i felt the pain from the sirens song that is Trails in the Sky SC. Needless to say i bought it Monday evening when my wife asked me to put gas in her car. With all that being said my question is this, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO ME????? Serious question though, is there a trailer for 3rd Chapter after it finishes like 1st chapter or will i have to play the original? Thanks

Adam Niksch

Hey Dukes It finally happened. Halo Studios is effectively no more and the franchise has been moved to Activision. While this wouldn’t be my first choice (icing the franchise aside, I still think id is my preference), I have to say the thought of a Raven Software developed Halo game is kind of exciting. What are your feelings about this news? Should the new team continue the convoluted mess of the story that Halo Studios left behind or just reboot the franchise entirely? Have a “please don’t make Halo: Modern Black Ops Warfare” kind of day.

thejjuan1

Now it’s just spooky on how consistent it is.

Caleb Greer

Brad what the fuck, man. Some of this is good or neutral news IMO, but his Xbox PR hit rate is always 100%.

Hector

Hello Dukes, The Green reaper has struck again, why must you tempt fate when you know ruin will follow, all jokes aside I am not too hopeful with Activision taking over, COD is fundamentally a different game than Halo, anyways have a good one.

Ilostmytacos

Sup dukes first time giving a question so I hope it's a good one, with the shake up of xbox with the restructuring and rare now under Activision do you think its likely for them to return to platformers? perhaps crash and spyro or my personal pick a reboot of banjo. Hope you have a Asha gutting Halo studios kinda day.

William

Hey all. Regarding the news of Activision now being in charge of Halo, I’m wanting to get a sense on how you’re all feeling about it because I am certainly conflicted. I absolutely believe that Halo Studios wasn’t capable shepherding the Halo franchise any longer, so a big change absolutely needed to happen…BUT I’m conflicted about Activision being lead on it. Activision certainly has a pipe line where they ACTUALLY get games out, so we might not have to wait 6-7 years between Halo games, but I want the franchise to be led with the care and intent that it deserves (please do not annualize this thing) Interestingly enough, It seems as if a new team, separate from the CoD studios, is being formed to make this new Halo games, which is promising, but who is running the show? (I really hope that they utilize the talents of people at Raven - they would make an incredible Halo campaign) I just don’t get a real sense of what this game even looks like. A more traditional Halo experience? A reboot? Finally a BR mode? I really don’t know. Anyway, sorry for the rant. As Halo fan, I want the lore and feel of Halo to be respected and maintained, and I’m not sure what that looks like with Activision. Very conflicted. Thanks for reading and be well Dukes.

Raisin

Troy Baker. He has a far vaster range of performances: Higgs (Death Stranding), Nathaniel Essex (Wolverine), Joel (TLOU), Sam Drake (Uncharted), Bruce Wayne/Batman (Telltale), Delsin Rowe (inFamous), Pagan Min (Far Cry), Booker DeWitt (BioShock Infinite), Kanji Tatsumi (Persona 4), Revolver Ocelot (Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain), Indiana Jones (Indiana Jones and the Great Circle), Rhys Strongfork (Tales from the Borderlands), and more. No disrespect to Nolan North, but I don't think it's even close.

Brandon A

Hey Dukes! With the latest news of some studios under Xbox being combined, I’m curious if you think other Xbox studios could be combined. Personally, I’m curious to see what ID Software and MachineGames joining forces would look like. Not only do they make similar games, but they’ve collaborated on Doom and Quake on numerous occasions. And if Xbox has already committed to Doom, Quake, and Wolfenstein to release in the future, why not combine these studios and leverage ID Tech? I would love to hear your thoughts!

Cody Braman

Hello Dukes, I want it on the record, I asked a question if Obsidian and Bethesda should be merged a few months back. Turns out that’s exactly what happened. I think this is a great move personally. I think this will make all teams better. Do you agree with this decision? As always have a”the real Kobayashi Maru: Halo under 343/Halo Studios vs. Halo from Paramount!” kinda day.

Tis Toastie

The Green Reaper has to be stopped. We simply cannot survive another appearance

Pedro Carrasquillo

Hey dukes, with all the news of the shake ups I just want bring everyone to the front of the congregation.. I see Ninja Theory closing and Halo studios getting reassigned.. I don't wanna hear any complaining.. yes it sucks they are going away but where were y'all when hellblade 2 dropped? It got clowned and then no one played it. Same thing with infinite, no one really was feeling it and then the player count went away. This is what happens when there is mismanagement followed by accountability. Have a Asha plays no games type of day

kyle disanjh

Greetings boys! Just came here to say Brad straight up can't keep getting away with this. Much love

Florida Man

Hey Dukes. What a week, what a week. Sony getting all the hate and now Xbox is like, “Hold our beers. Sad to see so many layoffs in such high positions. Should we just go back to playing the games of our youth, instead of playing newer games. Have a Giants self destructing with injuries kind of day.

Chaise

Let Asha cook

J Reid

Greetings cog and I'm sorry Matty there's no time for my usual gothic nonsense this week because OH MY GOD WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!! How could you tempt fate like that? In all seriousness how are we feeling? This move actually makes me hopeful for halo but nervous for obsidian. Hopefully Bethesda learns from them as opposed to trying to force them into Bethesdas way of doing things. Have a, going from dawnwalker to wolverine wasn't the best idea, kind of day!

Scott Holdsworth

Gentlemen. Did anyone else notice that Matt Booty’s job just got a lot easier with only Coalition, InXile and Playground the only remaining studios in Xbox Game Studios? Shit I might put my hand up for what could now be the easiest C Suite job in gaming. Keep the Reaper at bay Scott Holdsworth

Alex Kilgore

Hey dukes So halo is now apart of activision. Everyone online seems to either love it or hate it. Not a lot of in between. For me, this is absolutely a win. Halo studios/343 hasn’t done anything meaningful with the game since halo infinite. Halo combat evolved was good but not a necessary addition to the series. What do you guys think? I believe we need to give activision a chance to prove they can handle Halo. I mean they can’t be worse than what we had. Love the show and I hope you have a “I just got promoted! And now I’m laid-off” kind of day.

Jaydan Prior

G'day Dukes, What are your thoughts on a potential Call of Duty: Halo? I bet the idea makes alot of people's skin crawl. But giving Halo to the MW4 teams once the latest CoD is released could actually be on the table. It would guarantee a new Halo within 3 years that gets into the hands of at least 15 to 20 million gamers. Interested to hear your thoughts

K. Huntington

hey guys, can we just simply get a round of applause for the xbox grim reaper brad ellison for this weeks news? bang up job brad. fantastic.

FisnikTheGamer

Hey Dukes, are you excited for the future big title from activision: „Call of Duty: Halo“. I don‘t think its out of the question that both franchises made a fusion. Do you think there is a possibility for that outcome? Thanks for the great podcast every week. Have a „I really like Wolverine even if Matty will hate me for it“-kind of day.

Lucas Jägerskog

Hi Dukes, First time writer and listener since day one. With this round of restructures and layoffs, I think Xbox game studios as an division and a publisher is numbered. Ithink they will just use Bethesda and Activision instead. And Xbox game studios still don’t have a new boss since Craig Duncan resined. What do you guys think?

McHaggis

Ahoy me old chums. The movement of Halo to Activision to me indicates a bigger shift in Xboxs strategy. Asha seems to have come in and rightly questioned why does it take so long to make games. My hunch is that whatever Halo looks like, a new game will be out before 2030. Interested to know your thoughts. In the meantime stay frosty and check your corners

FarmerJimmy

Activision handed the reigns on Halo? No breath holding here, but it's about time Xbox tries a different avenue of approach. Now if only they could create a new IP🤔...

Tomas Mendez

We already kind of knew about the second round of layoffs were coming, does this still count as the Brad effect?

Pedro Miguel

Hey Dukes! As a non-Xbox user who has followed and listened to you guys for a while now, one of the standout qualities both of you have pointed out over the years about Xbox has been the diversity in their output. Hindsight is 20/20, but would the Dukes concede that the importance of this aspect was a little exaggerated given their current pivot with Asha? I understand that in some cases, i.e., Halo and Fallout, it was long overdue to make some changes to revitalize the IP. Yet it seems that they want to turn their studios into assembly lines for their big IP, à la Activision with Call of Duty, and rely on big games. I get that everyone has their own preferences, but whenever a topic around PlayStation output comes up, the conversation always turns sideways due to all their games being third-person and over-the-shoulder and using similar mechanics in all of them, but wouldn’t this be the case with Xbox going forward? One of the criticisms lobbied against PlayStation’s output this generation is that every game feels like a safe sequel to the previous installment on PS4, and yet Xbox is relying on the same franchises since their inception, and no one bats an eye. It just seems that there’s a double standard since the start of this generation regarding the overreliance of IP between PlayStation and Xbox.

harry smiff

Duke Nukems! With the recent announcements from Bungie and Halo, it made me think of a timeline where Bungie stayed with Microsoft and became the de facto Halo studio. My question is do you think the series would’ve stayed at or perhaps even eclipsed the peak of its powers if Bungie didn’t go down with Noble? Remember Reach and Cog, thanks for the great insight into MGS1 from my write in last week.

JoochMcGooch

Hello Royal Dukes, I wanted to send this as semi mental health is wealth/ appreciation write in; listening to an older episode from July Cog was talking about checking on his mom during the storm and she told him he was a good son. This brought a manly tear to my eye as my mom passed away 2 years ago and you guys and all LSM helped tremendously to keep my spirits up. Tell your mom you love her boys, we are never promised tomorrow. PS: Matty was right in this July episode when Cog wondered who was getting to work on Halo.

Family Falls

Mythic achievement unlocked? Hey dukie boys, Now that Xbox has announced its platinum equivalent. I was wondering what you guys think? Ever since they announced they were working on it, I've wondered how they could do it without overhauling achievements, even though I think PlayStation refined them. Xbox started it, and at the time, arcades were the rage. Everybody was obsessed with high scores; hence, the gamer score. I guess I hope they would be a little bit more creative, like naming it the high score to keep the arcade spirit. Like, if he got all the achievements, you got the high score. Say you 100 percent 5 games; you got 5 high scores with a 5,000 overall gamer score. Idk, sry for the long post; would love to hear y'all's thoughts.

ElektricMD

Hey Sacred Gents! At the risk of contributing yet another physical versus digital games write-in to the pile, hear me out. Could Sony’s move away from physical games eventually be connected to Soneium, Sony’s blockchain platform? I’m wondering if the endgame isn’t simply non-transferable digital licenses, but digital ownership that could eventually be transferred, sold, or gifted, with Soneium providing the infrastructure to verify ownership while preventing duplication. That could preserve one of the biggest benefits of physical games without requiring discs at all. Is it possible Sony is building toward something like this but simply isn’t ready to talk about it yet, or am I connecting dots that aren’t there?

Ty Dame

Hey gents, is it just me or do I struggle to hear Cogs beautiful voice at times? I find myself having to adjust the volume up and down throughout the episode depending on who is talking. It’s also possible the paintress has gommaged my ear drums as I turned 33 this year. lol. Anyway, just curious if anyone else has given this feedback, much love from Texas. 🤘

ShinyRyuji

Hey Sacred crew I just rolled credits on Wolverine as I’m typing this and I just have to say I’m truly baffled by the reviews. There is nothing about this game that’s a 6/10. I mean the combat is just Arkham combat but with a Wolverine flare like Spider-Man before it. When did Arkham combat become bad?? Anybody that participated in the fart trail stuff is so disingenuous. He has always had that power. I’m starting to notice a thing with reviews and not just game reviews. People are reviewing things for what they can compare them to and not what the actual product is. This is a linear Wolverine game and he only can do much in the vein of uncharted. There is also a disconnect from people who play games for a living and actual consumers. I could go on but I’ll end it there. I love the game and it’s solid 8/10 like the other insomniac games this generation.