Paris Lilly

Okay.

All right, we are back.

The Roper Report. Are we doing it?

Thank you, Kevin.

Welcome to Kind of Funny Games Daily for Wednesday, April 2nd, 2025.

Digital Co.

There he is. Now you hear me. I think I'm watching and I'm like, oh my God, I want to jump in and say something. I think you hit on a lot of it. But and I have to bring PlayStation into this for a second. Part of what's happening right now is growth is these are businesses. They got to make money. Right.

Clearly, Microsoft has invested a lot of money into their gaming division that is driving a lot of this. I think what Tim said about Game Pass factors into this as well. Game Pass is. did not become the thing that they thought it was going to be. So now you got to subsidize it. You got to continue to grow. You got to find other avenues to get people to play games.

And the only reason I want to bring PlayStation into it is this. How many copies has Astro Bot sold? Great question.

Right, and the reason I'm even bringing that up is it obviously just one game in a year. A lot of us thought that it would, but it only sold 2 million copies for the sake of this argument, right? But there's 60-plus million PlayStation 5s out there. People aren't buying as many console-exclusive games as they used to be.

I don't think GastroBots have all a fair example to use for that, though, compared to God of War.

I'm glad you said that. What about Ratchet and Clank? What about Returnal? You're using all the bad examples, though. I just said Ragnarok. Ragnarok. Ragnarok sold incredible. Did it? Yeah. What's the number on Ragnarok? Wasn't it like 9 million? Is that really enough? That's my point. This is what I'm saying. The fact that you have that many consoles out in the wild and that's your attach rate.

Okay, that's a little better. But the point I'm trying to make on this overall is even if you have these critically acclaimed games and you're locking it down to one console, you're limiting yourself as far as growth goes. Xbox, as Blessing already said, they clearly don't care. They care about the console, but it's not all about the console for them. They clearly told us this. Yeah.

They are telling us repeatedly, especially if you look at what Phil Spencer has said since we interviewed him and over the past year, they're going beyond the console. Their marketing now is beyond the console. They're like, we'll give you a console if that's where you want to play. If you don't want to play there, here's the PC, here's the cloud. We'll put it on PlayStation, all of that.

They're just trying to make money at this point. They're trying to grow. I me personally, even though I've been on X cast and all that, I would rather have quality games than worrying about the hardware because they they've told us it's not about hardware from them anymore. So that's just where they're going.

And here's my pushback to that, not to turn this into some silly brand war, because I know we don't care about that, but they're clearly evolving to where they wouldn't be putting their games on PC. They wouldn't be pushing cloud on portal now. They're not being as aggressive as Xbox is. I'm not saying that at all. And I agree with you, Tim.

Hardware still matters to them, but it's clearly not enough. They're spending so much money on these games. Spider-Man had whatever ridiculous budget it did. I'm sure God of War did. I can only imagine what Ghost of Yota is going to have. And if they're not getting that return on investment, you've got to figure out another way to grow. And you've got to put it on another platform.

Can I push back on Nintendo really quick though? Go for it. Can I push back on Nintendo and then I want you to finish your point. We forget how much of a failure the Wii U was. No, we don't. Paris, I think about it every day of my life. No, no, but the point I bring up that everyone's, well, what about Nintendo? They're doing great. They're doing great this generation, of course.

But it was just a generation before where it was a massive failure for them. Who knows where they'd be right now if the Switch didn't take off the way that it did. That's the point I'm making.

I'll push back on another thing. Like you bring up Valorant. I think the Fortnite phenomenon comes into this as well. Whereas we only have so much time to play games, right? Like I always just use my kids as an example. They invest all their time into Fortnite. They're not playing anything else.

It's not like when I was their age, I'm playing all these different games because they were shorter experiences, single player experiences. Now with these live service games, if you're at the top of the heap, obviously like a Fortnite, They get all the engagement they get all the time because that's where all these kids are playing.

So I do think it was important that Astro Bot won game of the year to show that maybe we need to get back to that cadence of these smaller, smaller experiences so that we're playing more games. Because to just the overall point of what I'm making is I don't think people are buying as many games anymore. And that's why you're seeing all this this change. And obviously, Xbox was in third place.

So they had no choice but to be aggressive with all the acquisitions that they made. They got to get a return on investment. So I think that forces it as well. And again, I wasn't trying to make this some console war nonsense or whatever. I was just one. I was bringing PlayStation in as an example because I don't think they're immune to this. They're clearly changing as well.

And I agree, and I'll say this one thing, and I'll get out of here, and I appreciate you having me on. I agree with you, Bless. I think they're doing the long play, 100%. Yeah. Here's what I wish in the short term. Here's what I wish they would do in 2025, is rip the fucking Band-Aid and just come straight out and say what you're doing, because it is crystal clear.

exclusives are no longer a thing for xbox i mean if you go by what matt booty even said it really sounds like if they could do more day and date on playstation they would but not all development studios are set up to do that so that's why you're seeing indie come a few months later obviously it makes sense that the outer worlds 2 stays on playstation but there is going to be a day when you're going to see master chief on a playstation it's happening

And I think people just need to prepare themselves for that now. I think it's weird. I will always think it's weird, but it's just the reality of change of business.

Target acquired.

Many thanks again for your help. You should have been honest.

I'm the final boss right now. Very difficult, if you remember. Kicked my ass a little too many times. I would give Donkey Kong Country Returns HD a 7 out of 10 as well. I'm right there with IGN and GameSpot on this. I... Love the original, but only in the context of when it came out and the time and like platforming around it.

What is it? So, I mean, dude, I don't want to put words in your mouth. Do you have anything to say? I don't have beef with you. It was a struggle. You heard it. I was like, I liked him. I know. I liked him. You very quickly, my brother was like, oh, he got there fast. No, but let's talk about it. Let's talk about it. Because one of your beefs was that on the Game of the Year episode yesterday.

Mainly because Tropical Freeze so much better in every single way, I think. And this game, the HD version, solves many of the issues that the original had. The issues being it was on the Wii. And Nintendo loved putting horrible gimmicks into games on the Wii that legitimately, I feel like almost across the board, you could remove the gimmick from the Wii game. And it's a better game. Yeah.

And age has shown that. And I think it's specifically with Donkey Kong Country Returns HD mechanics like the blowing where Donkey Kong just needs to blow on things. It's horrible. It's never fun in the game. It never feels good. It doesn't feel like it's doing anything useful for adding to the gameplay or the experience at all. So it's still being there. Kind of a bummer.

The original game having waggle controls for the role, one of the most bizarre gameplay choices for a precision platformer that I've ever experienced. So getting rid of that makes this game better just from the jump. But yeah, so what are your memories of playing Donkey Kong Country Returns as the original?

Yeah, so I'm conflicted in a lot of ways, because I think that the quality of the game in terms of level design and what's actually here is higher than a 7 out of 10, but I do think that this package for this version in particular, the price outraces. Yeah, the price is the big thing. Absolutely outrageous.

It does also add the... So the original game came out in the Wii in 2010, then they ported it to the 3DS and got rid of the waggle and added, I think, like eight levels. This version looks better than both of those and includes all of the levels from both versions, which is great. In some ways, though, there's visual downgrades from the original Wii version. Some of the effects are gone.

Some of the coloring just doesn't feel authentic to what the original looked like. So not everything is better, but I'd say overall, this is the better looking game.

Yeah, I mean... The fact that the original was a Wii and looking at this, there's no way to say it's not a remaster. It very much is. In any way that you can graphically improve it compared to the Wii, they did. It's just I don't think that every improvement actually is an improvement. You know what I mean? Just because something's technically better doesn't make it artistically better.

And I think that that's something that is very true about a lot of Nintendo games. A couple of interesting things here, though. Donkey Kong Country Returns was announced at the first E3 I ever went to. which is just crazy to think about the time.

And then, Paris, I realized how old I am because there's been less time between the original release of Donkey Kong Country 3 on the Super Nintendo to Donkey Kong Country Returns, 5,116 days, than the original release of Donkey Kong Country Returns and this version right now. Yeah. which is 5,169 days. Crazy stuff, man. I hate that. I hate that. Also, where's our new Donkey Kong Country games?

That I gave you a weird look. Yes. That looked like I didn't respect you or something. And I want it clear. There was one weird look. And that weird look was about your number seven. So you know, you know how not worth respect. Cause that's my thing. You brought it up in a way that I'm like, huh? It can only be one thing, but it can't possibly be that one thing. I had to make it fun.

And Tropical Freeze is absolutely amazing. And that's another thing. Tropical Freeze had David Wise, the composer of the original games, back and blew it out of the park. You get what I'm saying? Knocked it out of the park. Blew it out of the water. This one didn't have David Wise. And the soundtrack, still good, but does not hold a candle to Tropical Freeze.

And I think that's kind of what the biggest problem about this game is that Tropical Freeze exists and is cheaper. And I think that there's a ton of people, I know, there's a ton of people out there that haven't even played Tropical Freeze. And if you're choosing between the two, play Tropical Freeze. I think that's an absolute no-brainer from any perspective you look at.

Having said that, there's a great game here. I think that this game represents a... Oh, it's worth your time. It's definitely worth your time. It's not worth $60. But it is definitely worth your time. It is brutally difficult in a lot of ways, to an extent that they didn't need to go that hard.

Most of the game feels very modern compared to the original games, where it is a little easier, a little bit more about the adventure than anything. But then you get to a certain point, and some of the levels are just frustratingly difficult. And I can see a lot of people kind of giving up on the game, and just putting down, being like,

I'm not having fun anymore because of these barrel rocket levels. Very Flappy Bird inspired, which is not necessarily what you want from a game of this prestige, right? Some of the boss fights, very uneven. Some of them are very cool and interesting, but I feel like over half of them are probably like... Didn't really enjoy my time with that.

Let me get back to the platforming levels because the platforming levels are great. This comes from an era where I feel like the birth of the cinematic 2D platformer kind of started. And this game is a great example of it. Every single level has its own unique locations and vistas and platforms you're interacting with and enemy variety and just gimmicks, but in a good way.

And I really feel like the team over at Retro back then played like the Uncharted games, the original Uncharted games. They're like, okay, but what if we added that energy to a Donkey Kong game? And what I really love about Returns in particular is things like you're seeing right here of He's a giant ape. They treat him like an ape. You know, he's not just a plumber jumping around on things.

It's, like, just because there's similarities with other platformers, like, there's a bigger emphasis on, like, grabbing and climbing and swinging and things like that that I just feel like really kind of... You can see the love that Retro had after making the Metroid Prime series and just being like, all right, we took... a 2D Metroidvania, like exploration-based game.

And how do we turn that into a 3D adventure but keep the spirit of it? With this, you could really tell they're like, all right, how do we keep what made the Donkey Kong Country games so special and what they were, the essence of them? But how do we make it more modern and actually lean into what Donkey Kong can uniquely bring to gameplay? And they did a great job with it. And playing this game,

um for as many faults as i have with this version of it and the price and all that stuff the actual game design is impeccable yeah and i kept thinking like man i can't wait to see what retro does next like i metroid prime 4 like we're we're supposedly getting it this year like i supposed to the

Team over there just gets creativity and gameplay so much better than most other developers that I can't wait to see anything that they work on. But anyways, it's great to go back to one of these platformers because this is a classic at this point, and I do love it. I just think that it is a really good example of...

Sometimes when a better version comes out later, it can kind of take the place of it and feel like, all right, tropical freeze is a must play. This is a, if you'll really like tropical freeze, maybe you get this on sale and play through it later type deal.

It had to be fun.

Look, personally, Tim Geddes, I'm very happy that this game is on the Switch. I think that it is a great classic platformer. ZOBGM says, I think this is still a must play, but Tropical Freeze is just a perfect game. trust me, I have so much love for this game, but playing through it, I've been bouncing back and forth just to go like to tropical freeze.

And it's like, it's crazy how much better tropical freezes. Like, I don't even think that there's a question in terms of bosses, in terms of like, even the things this game does. Great. Tropical freeze just doesn't have much better. Uh, But yeah, I agree with you that in terms of the game preservation, it's awesome.

And I want to see because I wouldn't want this game stuck on the 3DS or even worse, the Wii with its controls and stuff. So, yeah, like that's awesome. But the pricing structure is just totally out of whack for what they're offering here. And I also think that there were some things that they could have, like,

improved even more like they add a modern mode that kind of can make things a little easier for people but the nintendo games are really good at adding a ton of options to make the games accessible to people of all ages or anything to be able to play through um and i feel like they could have even went harder with uh making this easier for some people because some of these levels are just absolutely brutal um anyway that's donkey kong country returns hd

Story number three is something we're going to talk about right after a word from our sponsors. This episode's brought to you by MeUndies. At some point in our illustrious love lives, we've all asked our partner the same age-old question that guys have probably been asking for thousands of years. Am I big?

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You say wild shit. You say wild shit. I'm going to respond. I'm going to respond. I respect the fuck out of you. And I love your takes and perspective on stuff. But when you're saying some shit, I'm like, no, bro, no.

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Visit BetterHelp.com slash Kind of Funny to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp, H-E-L-P dot com slash Kind of Funny. BetterHelp.com slash Kind of Funny. And we are back, everybody, with story number three. Close the tap. I'm having a bad day, y'all. I apologize. I don't know why.

I was just saying, like, my brain's not hitting the fucking right shit it needs to, even in that statement. What the hell did I just say? Story number three, everyone, is Assassin's Creed's game and Assassin's Creed games and Metal Gear Solid Delta. are tipped for a Switch 2 release. So many Switch rumors, Paris. Oh, yeah. What an exciting time. This comes from Tom Ivey at VGC.

So I made a beef. Exactly. I deserve that one. I love it, though. Obviously. I love the fuck out of you. Respect the shit out of you. But I can't wait to hear what your number seven is. Oh, it's going to be great. It's going to be great, everybody. But hey, that's not what we're talking about right now. Right now we're talking about kind of funny games daily, each and every weekday.

Ubisoft is reportedly working on half a dozen Switch 2 games, while Metal Gear Solid Delta Snake Eater has also been tipped for release on Nintendo's unannounced console. That's according to industry insider NateTheHate, who has a strong track record of breaking news prior to its official announcement.

The latest episode of their podcast claims Nintendo Switch 2 will be revealed this Thursday, January 16th, It goes on to discuss a number of third-party games reportedly set to be released for the console, including Final Fantasy VII Remake in 2025 and its sequel, Rebirth, in 2026.

One title that will be there within the launch window comes from Ubisoft, and it's going to be Assassin's Creed Mirage. Assassin's Creed Shadows, which will be released for PS5, Xbox Series, and PC in March following a recent delay, is expected to come to Switch 2 at a later date. Quote, to my understanding, Assassin's Creed Shadows is one of those in-development ports.

It just won't be ready for launch, and it probably won't be ready for the launch window, it was claimed. I've been told that Ubisoft's doing more than half a dozen games for the Switch 2, and a lot of them are going to be late ports. These are from a range of franchises like The Division and Rainbow Six Siege.

There was also some discussion and consideration of doing a Mario Rabbids collection, so it would have one and two in a single package. Some other third-party games I've heard include Metal Gear Solid Delta, which is coming out in 2025.

Right now, it lacks a release date for all platforms, and I'm hopeful that maybe it's a day-and-date release when it does come to Switch 2, because if that game, let's say, comes out in the summer of 2025, there's no reason it shouldn't be day-and-date. Where do you want to start?

We run you through the nerdy news that you need to know about live on YouTube.

Yeah, I mean, that's Nintendo, baby. It is interesting. I do think that it's going to be... I've been saying for a while, I think that we're going to be getting a lot of the third-party games on Switch. I keep championing Elden Ring. I think we'll be there, and I think it'll be a big deal for Nintendo. But I don't think it's going to be like...

I still think at the end of the day, it's going to be the least powerful system. Oh, of course. Yeah, exactly. And it's still going to not be the place that people that are already on PS5 or Xbox are going to want to play these third-party games.

But I do think that there is a very, very large audience that we clearly see of Switch owners that don't own the other consoles that now might play Metal Gear

solid or some of these uh ubisoft games or whatever very interested to see how they run what it looks like um and if the dlss and all that stuff can actually get things where they need to be i'm hopeful though i feel like where the timing of the switch to coming out is a good place uh in terms of technology in terms of where the advancing techs are and uh the

being so far into this handheld race that we are and Nintendo obviously having such a leg up in consumer base and also just kind of outputs where they've had with this success of the Nintendo Switch since 2017. I think it's a great time. Metal Gear Solid, that would be rad to have, right? And even just the support of Ubisoft.

Ubisoft traditionally has supported Nintendo consoles, like, I mean, infamously, right, even the Wii U, right? We did get Zombie U as a launch title. Yeah, we did. And in addition to that, they did put Assassin's Creed 3 and, like, all those era games. So...

I feel like the Ubisoft's not so much a surprise, but even thinking about it, Assassin's Creed Mirage, that does give us an idea of the power. Yeah, and that's my thinking.

Totally. Yeah, yeah, yeah. And, yeah, there's so much exciting stuff coming from this. And, again, I do think that it's... Very important to look at third parties and Nintendo and just the fact that this might be the first time since the GameCube there's been any level of parity between PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo in terms of game releases.

And with, again, the success that the Switch has had and continues to have. I mean, even just putting out Donkey Kong Country Returns now. They've been putting out games constantly throughout the last...

year and a half um way longer than i expected but i am of the camp now like i keep seeing online people getting upset at nintendo for not announcing the switch 2 and i just think that's kind of silly where it's just like yo we know it's coming like it's they're still putting the games out for the switch i'm ready for the new hardware i there's nothing i'm more excited for than the switch completely great but it's like i do

This is just what I need to live with at all times.

Yeah, me too, for sure. But I also just feel like at the end of the day, like that stuff isn't the exciting stuff. You know what I mean? Like the exciting stuff is going to be seeing the next 3D Mario and all that. Oh, my God. But, yeah, no, I – We might be two days away from a Switch 2 announcement, so I'm very, very excited. Stay tuned here.

We don't ever know. It is very scary. I'm like, where did he come from?

Obviously, if anything is announced, kind of funny he's going to be here reacting and going freaking crazy, I'm sure. We got some super chats here. DJ Kento says, do you think the Switch 2 will get Cyberpunk, and if so, run it better than Steam Deck? I do think it'll get Cyberpunk. I do, too. I don't think it'll run better than Steam Deck.

Story number four. Microsoft is reportedly going to reveal a new entry in a legendary Japanese franchise next week. This comes from George Yang at GameSpot. Microsoft is reportedly announcing a new entry in a, quote, legendary Japanese IP during its Xbox Developer Direct on January 23rd.

Along with this new game, Microsoft will also show off Doom the Dark Ages, Claire Obscure Expedition 33, and South of Midnight. According to Windows Central, this IP has decades of history and should make a lot of fans happy. The phrasing is rather vague, so fans have been speculating what the game could be. it be. I am very excited for multiple reasons.

I think Xbox has done a great job with its developer directs. I feel like every year has something cool or interesting, and I like that they're continuing here straight up saying, hey, you're getting a big game announcement, like a returning game announcement. Cool. Let the speculation begin. But on top of that, confirmed South of Midnight, Expedition 33, Doom the Dark Ages.

Oh, he made a lot of contact.

Games that we're excited about. We're going to get to see more. That's very, very cool.

Let's see.

it's enough contact that it dripped down to my earlobe okay oh he's making faces now god i don't even have stars with the season hasn't even started yet there's nothing the threat is an empty one i hate it uh but i love this show everybody and also i love you loving what we do supporting us with the kind of funny membership on patreon youtube and now spotify and apple podcast to get all of our shows ad free watch us record them live and get a daily exclusive show

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I mean, like, that's the thing. Like, there's so many things it could be. Yeah. You know, legendary Japanese IP new entry. Like, okay. Yeah. Endless opportunities. Yeah, what does that mean? A Final Fantasy, a Dragon Quest, a Resident Evil, a Ninja Gaiden.

Like, there's so many things that it could be. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, I don't know. But I like it too because I feel like this being an Xbox developer direct, I don't expect it to be Kingdom Hearts 4. I don't think that it's going to be the biggest thing of all time for what this could be. But I do think that Oli was announced. But I think it's going to be exciting to a group of people.

And at the end of the day, that's really all you can ask for. Because the worst thing is when it's like, well, who's this for? My gut tells me whatever this is going to be, we're going to know who it's for.

Yeah. That would be interesting. Especially with where Xbox is at currently. They have so much IP.

I mean, look, legendary Japanese IP, new entry. I feel like one of the go-tos right now just thinking about, okay, what could it be and what are we expecting? What are we waiting for an announcement of? Persona 6, obviously, I think, is the easiest jump to point. They're not going to do that here.

persona six like especially after metaphor and everything like persona six would be i think that's a showcase premier placement uh type thing right um but again going back to the the placement of it all like last time we had a developer direct i think we got some indiana jones stuff like yeah and here we're getting south of midnight and and doom like yeah

I really like that these don't just need to be the smaller titles. It's cool when it is smaller titles, like Pentamids and things like that. But, I mean, to be getting an update on... I just love that Xbox has enough stuff to talk about throughout the year at this point that they can have things that aren't just the...

I am too. Everything I've seen of that game, I'm like, oh, this looks.

Yeah. Oh my God. That excites me. Cause like I, for some reason I, I, I was surprised when you even got to go see it. I was like, oh, when we seen this game, I was like, I thought that it was going to be like way down the line. I got that. I was like, hey, look at this game we're working on. But it's like, no. Okay, cool. We're getting close. So we in the chest in April. I mean, man.

For a chance to be part of this show, though, you can submit your thoughts and opinions as YouTube Super Chats. So if you have any questions for Paris, any just compliments for Paris, please send them our way. A little housekeeping for you. We've been teasing something big coming this Wednesday. And now we can actually tell you what it is.

Yeah, I mean, that wouldn't shock me.

That was my first thought when I saw it. Very cool. Robbie Robb super chats in saying Sonic is a legendary Japanese franchise. It's not going to be Sonic. Sonic has more than enough places to do their own announcements at this point. Like their Sonic centrals and all that. And also we just literally got Sonic Shadow Generations.

I think we're a little off from the next announcement of a Sonic game. Apple's dude, one, two, three says a new Castlevania. I think it's about that time. It's always about that time. You know what I mean? One day, one day we're going to get a Castlevania. I don't think it's, I don't think it's going to be Castlevania.

Yeah.

Yeah. So, I mean, that is legendary Japanese IP though. God, that could mean so many different things. Yeah. I'm trying to think of what I hope it is. I mean, at the end of the day, I hope that it's something I'm interested in. And there's a ton of things that could be. But if it's Dragon Quest, I'm like, cool. I'm happy for you, Jared Petty, but I'm not happy for me.

Let's move on to story number five. The Witcher 3 director reveals new open-world RPG, The Blood of Dawnwalker. This comes from Andy Robinson at VGC. A group of lead developers behind The Witcher 3 have revealed their new RPG, The Blood of Dawnwalker.

Developed by a new Polish studio, Rebel Wolves, which is cool as hell, and published by Bandai Namco, The Blood of Dawnwalker is described as a single-player open-world dark fantasy action RPG. What a genre.

And it has a strong focus on story and narrative. The game is being developed with Unreal Engine 5 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S. A debut trailer was published on Monday with the full gameplay reveal planned for the summer. You play as Cohen, a young man turned into a Don Walker, forever treading the line between the world of day and the realm of night.

Synopsis for the game reads, Use your skills and combine vampiric strength with human resolve as you take on a quest to save the ones you love. Face your foes, be they human, monster, or the ticking clock itself. But remember, the real evil may bask in the sun's light, and the most loyal of allies could lurk under the cover of night.

Rebel Wolves is helmed by The Witcher 3's game director and head of production slash secondary game director for Cyberpunk 2077. The game director is joined at his new Warsaw, Poland-based studio by Witcher 3's art director, as well as a writer for Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077, and Thronebreaker, a design director for Witcher 1, and an animation director for Witcher 3. I mean...

Tomorrow, on Wednesday, you'll be able to see a very special Kind of Funny Gamescast. After 31 years at PlayStation, Shuhei Yoshida is out on his own and his first stop, the Kind of Funny Gamescast. Wednesday at 4 p.m. Pacific time, Shu is going to sit down with Greg to talk about his career, the Vita, and his future. Don't miss it live on YouTube and Twitch and then later on podcast services.

Kind of an all-star team. Oh, yeah. We've seen this happen a couple times where very, very established members of incredible teams leave to do their own thing that's very similar, almost a spiritual, not successor, but in the vein of their previous work. And we haven't seen too many examples of it succeeding yet. That's true.

which is a bummer because I just think that like, you know, it's, there's a lot of things to go into it, whether it's budget resources of when you're known for making a game this big, and then you make a game that tries to be that big, it can kind of cause some issues. But I think that it's good that this is backed by Bandai Namco.

I feel like there's this, what we're hearing and seeing so far seems like there's a bit more buy-in for it all.

Yeah, this really feels like a Healy event type reveal.

Yeah, definitely. I hope it's big, though, Paris. Yeah, me too. I hope it's real big. It's good. Specifically, I need to ask, am I big? But that's a question for another time. If I was looking for something small, Paris, where would I look?

I will not apologize for the MeUndies ad, by the way. It is one of my favorite things ever. The Witcher, Sirens of the Deeps coming to Netflix on February 11th. What is this? Is this an anime spinoff of the Netflix Witcher show? I think so. I don't know. Just looking at the name, I'm like, that's what that sounds like. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's anime.

uh everhood 2 launches march 4th on nintendo switch and pc the legend of zelda wind waker original soundtrack is now available on nintendo music i'm still loving nintendo music ferris like it's the guy this drip feed is getting me because i'm like you know what i'm listening to today wind waker yeah okay it just gives me an excuse to whatever they release i'm like i guess i'm going back dragon roost question is wind waker on the switch

no it probably will be soon it's criminally not on the switch yeah it's that and twilight princess which got hd remakes or ports whatever on uh the wii u yeah those are pretty much two of the last like five wii u games that have not made their way to the switch we got those xenoblade chronicles x but they're remedying that that's coming out uh nintendo land um NES Remix. And I think that's it.

Let me know if I'm wrong, everybody. Oh, Star Fox Zero, but let's let that fucking thing die. I don't think there's a game I have more beef with than Star Fox Zero in the history of video games. Star Fox, one of my favorite franchises. And they just... Yeah, I know. That's what they did.

Megagon Industries has announced a January 21st, 2025 release date for Lonely Mountain Snow Riders on Xbox Game Pass. Snowbike Mike is hype. Blizzard announced today the next season for Diablo 4 is Season of Witchcraft. Starting January 21st, 2K has announced PGA Tour 2K25 for Xbox Series X and S, PlayStation 5, and Steam.

gets its first teaser donkey kong country hd reviews are in and more games are rumored for switch 2 we'll have all this and more because this is kind of funny games daily what's up and welcome to kind of funny games daily for tuesday january 14th 2025 of course i am tim gettys and i'm joined today by paris lily

It's going to be a very special episode. How cool is that? Oh, no, it's awesome. That's awesome. I'm excited. I'm excited to tune in myself and check it out. And congratulations to Shu on an amazing run over at PlayStation. Yeah, but can't wait to hear that myself as well.

The standard edition of the game will be released worldwide on February 28th, 2025. And that's it. Right. Yeah. Let's do you're wrong. Let's see what we got wrong. Nothing. We got a couple things, but I doubt it. Let's see. All right. We got... I appreciate this. We got a you're wrong that then you're wronged themselves for being wrong about the you're wrong.

Drew writes in saying David Wise did actually work on at least a couple of tracks on Donkey Kong Country Returns. And then he replies, nope, Tim was right. I think I think what he was saying was that a lot of the songs were originally composed by David Wise because they were just arrangements of the Super Nintendo music in the new one.

Robbie Rob says, for the power of the Switch 2 and Assassin's Creed Mirage, the game does run on iOS devices with the iPhone 15. Same with Capcom games like Resident Evil 4 and Kojima's Death Stranding.

The thing about the iPhone comparison to me doesn't fully add up because the iPhone is like a thousand dollar plus device that like, look, I'm a fucking idiot, but I'm pretty sure my iPhone is more powerful than my switch by like a long shot. Right. Like that's just how that works.

Yeah. It's like, yeah, it's iPhones are very, very powerful and very costly.

uh the fifth gen game the fifth game at last year's developer direct paris was missing was hellblade 2 there you go i knew i was forgetting something yeah um yeah there we go wow pretty good i'm are we just efficient because i feel like we didn't even go all the way to the to the end of the hour oh yeah i mean well we still got some super chats okay all right yeah we're hanging out paris and also thing is there anything you want to talk about um

And then a lot of y'all have made comments about the Kind of Funny anniversary logo, the 10-year anniversary logo, the water bottle and notebook that we got for the team. So the new anniversary merch collection is now available on kindoffunny.com. You can get the notebook, you can get a water bottle, and you can get it on a T-shirt in two colorways, the blue and the orange. Both look fantastic.

I mean, I am a Nintendo fanboy through and through my entire life. Like I said, I am not even close to as excited for anything as I am the Switch 2 being shown. I'm just, it's easy. My whole thing with Switch 2 is don't get cute. Just keep doing what's working.

So with that, Mario Kart, Mario 3D. Like, those are the things. Seeing a new Mario Kart is going to get me incredibly excited. And because it's funny, like, we look back at the different generations of Nintendo, and I remember going from the Wii to the Wii U, and when it was confusing and all that stuff, to me, I'm like, but at least it's HD. Mm-hmm.

I love Nintendo, and I love tech, and I hate how behind they are on everything. But that jump to HD, I'm like, I'm going to get to play Smash Brothers in HD. It's not going to look like Brawl that's all fucking muddy and just shitty looking. It's going to be crisp and 1080, and I can't freaking wait for that. And then imagining, oh, my God, we're going to get a 3D Mario game that's in 1080.

We're going to get a Smash Brothers, a Mario Kart, a Metroid. And we didn't get a lot of those things. We got Mario Kart. We got Mario 3D World, which is one of my favorite ones, but it's not like Odyssey, right? It's not what we expected to get from the follow-up to Galaxy. And then we never even got the Metroid. We never got the Metroid.

For years, it's like, oh, Retro's going to put out Metroid. And they put out Tropical Freeze, which I love. But it wasn't Metroid. We're now getting Metroid. So I'm just like, all right. The things are all finally happening. And at this point, it's like, all right, we're well into Nintendo being 1080. Not always. But to me, it's just like, keep doing what you're doing. Play the hits.

That's what I want from Nintendo. There's going to be a lot of surprises because that's what Nintendo does too.

Shout out to Campfire Designs for killing the design. Remember, we are an 11-person business all about live talk shows. Today, after Games Daily, you'll get Gamescast. That is Greg and Paris dropping their Game of the Year top tens. And then the stream. Here's the thing. I think Greg's going to get way more shit than you do about your list.

I mean, that's my thing. I'm firmly a 3D Mario at launch believer at this point. But it's either going to be Mario Kart or 3D Mario. But the evidence is stacking against me where I'm like, I think it's going to be Mario Kart, just based on what people are saying. In my heart, though, I think it should be 3D Mario. But... Hey, we're going to find out hopefully soon. I mean, soon no matter what.

Even if it's not this week, we're going to find out by the end of March, they're saying. I keep saying this, but I don't know if you've heard me say it. My prediction for the 3D Mario is that it's going to be a Mario Donkey Kong joint. I think it'll be like a 3D Mario Donkey Kong adventure. They have the theme parks. The movie now features them as if they're all together.

It's like, yeah, it just makes sense. It adds up. Besides those games, is there any other one that you're like, That's what I'm hoping for, and that's what I want to see.

Well, so that's the other thing. We're talking about Wii U ports. Kid Icarus Uprising on the 3DS, I hate that it's stranded there.

Fantastic game that would make so much sense on the Switch, and I feel like it's inevitable. Like, it's going to happen. I just don't know when. I don't think that that needs to be, like, a launch game. No, no, no, no, no. But, I mean, yeah, it being a port, like, I'm surprised, actually, that we didn't get it in this final run of the Switch. Yeah. And it's not too late.

I wouldn't be surprised if we get a Kid Icarus Uprising Switch port.

um that it's backwards compatible with switch 2 but they're still going to be putting out switch games um and then yeah chris h says fire emblem yeah i'm still convinced we're going to get those fire emblem i think it was three and four remakes or whatever like we're about to get a whole bunch of oh yeah so very very excited and i'm not crazy galaxy one and two are not on the switch right

galaxy one is is is it like in the shop or whatever no yeah what is paris yeah you want to just buy a nintendo game on a nintendo system what are you talking about no it's in mario 3d all-stars which was only available for like three months and then they delisted it that's why i didn't know you fucking it's nintendo what the fuck yeah one of the most bizarre choices they've ever made like the game sold incredibly well and it would just keep

Yeah, it would. It's not like, oh, it only sold well because it was a limited thing. What the hell? The weirdest of weird Nintendo decisions.

But it was not over. It's over. We didn't even have it for the whole year. Yeah. Yeah, 3D All-Stars had 64, Sunshine, and Galaxy 1. But Galaxy 2 never got ported. Are you a Sunshine guy? I love Sunshine.

Yeah.

I know. Neither does Andy. I mean, it's the worst of the 3D Marios by far. But I still love it.

It's a great time. Yeah. Broken is all shit. But, like, great time. But we can agree Galaxy 2 is better than Galaxy 1, correct?

That's why I want a Galaxy 3. It's like, give me that. Yeah, that'd be awesome. And that's it, everybody, for Kind of Funny Games Daily. What a fun day. And it's just beginning. You're about to get Paris and Greg's personal top ten list for game of the year strapping for Paris' number seven, y'all. It's going to be an adventure. I don't know what it is, but I think I know what it is.

I love that it's the two of you as well. Yeah. Yeah. Man.

Anyway, Paris, always a joy to hang out with you. I'm glad that we've squashed the beef.

So, yeah, hang out with us all day. We're doing Gamescast. After that, we're going to be doing the super fun movie game stream with Roger, Nick, and Joey. You're going to want to see that. But until next time, I love you all. Goodbye.

goals approaching everybody and then the stream after that oh man hard to explain but you're gonna want to be there roger joey and nick are going to flex their movie knowledge in a new game there's this sensation sweep in the nation of the kind of funny studios where nick is addicted to some wordle type movie game yeah and will not leave roger alone like i don't know i don't know why he needs roger to be a part of this he could just be uh like a solo he knows the website

So rare. So upsettingly rare. Also, having you in the studio, always a fantastic time. I love having you at the desk. I feel like you get so much happier when you get to actually be here. Oh, 100%. Doing shows. I love it here. Yeah.

That's the thing. It's literally something that simple.

you guys are about to learn a lot about the recent culture of this studio. Uh, but in a real talk, there's this game they're playing and it is a blast. It's like a movie connection game. Uh, send it to nurdle. People are saying is what it's called. They could work on the name, but you know, it's fine. Um, anyway, check that out. Uh, after the games cast great day of content here.

Uh, we already got a super chat in here, uh, from send nuggies requesting need demanding a Paris emote here in the KF chats. If he allows it, you know,

I think it's time. I think it's time, too. If anybody's listening that can make that happen, please do. Greg, talk to Andy. Andy, talk to Roger. Roger, talk to Joey. I don't know exactly how the whole emote process works, but we need to do it.

Good question.

Get this guy a water bottle, Greg. Please. Jeez. Oh, man. If you're a kind of funny member, of course, you also get today's Craigway.

You got cut up there a little, Kev. The first story, the first teaser for Until Dawn, the movie, is here. We're going to live react to this. Paris, are you an Until Dawn guy? Not really. Yeah, I played the first, loved the first. We did it on stream. But like, I am not like the Until Dawn expert by any means. Greg Miller, come back. We actually want you now. Yeah, see? It's time.

Yeah, because Greg's a little higher on the knowledge of retaining the characters and all of that stuff here. So I want him to come out to react to this thing as well. But I'm excited that the movie's happening. I want to see this. Because the story of the game, I like a whole bunch of teen horror type situation. Good vibes all around.

Fantastic stuff. Of course, you can check that out now. We did our Game of the Year yesterday, and all this week we're going to be doing our personal top tens, including today. That's right. You and Greg. Me and Greg. Which I'm really excited about.

Let's talk about this. Let's talk about this for a second because first off, I hate Greg Miller. He causes so much problems all the goddamn time. I wasn't on the KF podcast yesterday because I was on other shows and then I had to actually do business stuff and get some fucking work done. Greg, figure it out, okay? He's having fun with you and Nick on the KF podcast.

yeah budgets you know what i mean yeah i think it's probably the right move to make a movie at the low budget for this type of thing to actually make the money back be a success i mean i agree that like yeah like but i feel like a lot of these horror movies have that vibe and um what did he direct before because he i know he did shazam but then before that like what got him shazam was a bunch of really good horror movies i'm gonna look this up this is why i'm not playing who is the man who is the actor that that i recognize oh

Yeah, some of the better Conjuring movies.

Yeah. I like the idea. I like the video game-ification of it, of just coming back and all that. I think that's a pretty smart way to do a video game movie.

Does that feel appropriate for the Until Dawn universe? That seems kind of a step away.

So this movie's coming very, very soon. I think it's interesting that instead of dropping a trailer, they did drop this kind of like a little bit more behind the scenes. Let's explain what this is.

He gives me the headline of the KF podcast, and it is Paris Lilly has beef with Tim Gaines. And, of course, I immediately roll my eyes, and I'm just like, what did Greg cause? Like, what could have possibly happened here? And on the drive into work, me and my brother listened to the opening of the episode just because I wanted context. I was like, I know it's bullshit, but, like, what is it?

So far, I've liked, not loved, but liked, I think, all of the PlayStation movies that they've made. Uncharted, Gran Turismo.

Interesting stuff. We'll see. I'm hopeful.

Yeah.

They didn't give us much. I thought they were going to give us more to talk about, but cool.

Thank you, Greg.

Story number two. Give me a water bottle. Talk about how good dinner was. Donkey Kong Country Returns HD gets a review roundup here. It has a Metacritic of 77 currently, Open Critic of 78. Logan Plant at IGN gives it an 8 out of 10, saying Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is a passable remaster of an amazing platformer.

More modern improvements and a larger graphical update would have been nice, but this is still one of the greatest 2D platformers Nintendo has released this century. Alex Olney from Nintendo Life gave it a 7 out of 10. Donkey Kong Country Returns HD is a fine way to play the 2010 original, but it's also lacking any real reason for fans to double dip beyond waggle-free controls.

It's less of a remaster and more of a port, to be honest, which would be all well and good if it wasn't being sold at such a premium. There's plenty of fun to be had, but we can't help but walk away from it with a slightly sour taste in our mouths. Our advice? Grab the superior Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze instead.

Steve Watson GameSpot also gives it a 7 out of 10, saying the 2010 franchise revival gets a makeover and some modern conveniences. But while difficulty spikes make it tough to recommend for anyone but the most dedicated DKC fans. Paris, are you playing this? Do you have it yet? No, I don't have it yet. Have you played the original? Yeah, yeah, I played the original. I am playing this.

Hey, you know, I had to make myself the center of attention to come on here. So I purposely do it in the chat. I heard what you said, Barry. You got damn right. I see it in the chat. I want the people who want me to come on.

He runs backstage to come out. Hey, Paris, we love you. How you doing? No, no, good. I just wanted to chime in on the Stalker 2 stuff because I've been playing the day one patch this morning. It fixed a lot. It really did. I'm not seeing as much pop in anymore. I'm not seeing like these the controls aren't as janky as they were previously. So it's done a lot.

It's a very playable, fun experience for what Stalker is. So, you know, I just want to update because I know our conversation.

conversation that was a big topic about and you already said it why did they give us the game in the state that they did because that's how we're going to review it versus what people actually got day one was a different experience because you know I've seen so many comments since yesterday people going well I'm not having those issues I'm not having this I'm not having that and then sure enough

I played it this morning and I'm like, hmm, they're right. It's a lot better than it was before this day one patch. So kudos to the team for getting it out.

Yeah, I'm going to continue to play, and I'll probably, you know, over the next week or so, update it even further because I do want to take it to completion, like I said. I'm looking forward to Gamescast. Avowed. We're going to talk about a fun combo.

I've been listening to you the whole time. I'm mobile today. I'm in.

I thought Barrett accidentally played a YouTube video. I did not realize.

really no i've been listening to this whole conversation i didn't select you at the beginning i'm like until 2027 but you pretty much checked it out on on the pros and the cons 2027 my full expectation would be this handheld is an xbox that can do everything the xbox under my television can do as far as backwards ability goes i have access to my full digital library the whole thing what you're talking about this this asus thing allegedly is

we already have the Rogue Ally, right? We already have the Legion Go. What I think Xbox is doing is they're curating the PC, the Xbox app for PC, right? On mobile devices. So essentially this new one, yeah, I'm sure they're gonna have Xbox branded control style, you know, the Xbox home button, stuff like that. But your handheld today will be able to do the same thing with software updates, right?

Because I think they're trying to make the PC handheld more friendly because again, let's be real. You already said it, Greg. The Steam Deck is the dope right now. That's the one. That's my preferred handheld that I use. Windows handhelds are too clunky. I don't like the UI. It's too cumbersome. I would rather play games on my Steam Deck. So they need to make Windows handhelds more user-friendly.

And I think that's the goal this year. So we'll obviously see, I'm assuming at Summer Game Fest or whatever, they'll debut this thing and we'll see what it is. But whatever this ASUS handheld's going to be, Windows handhelds will be able to do the same thing as far as a UI goes. Because like I said, you're essentially playing PC games on there, right? So PC Game Pass, stuff like that.

I'm more excited for the 2027 one, kind of like you were already saying. That's the one, even though it seems like it's far away, to what Blessing was just saying, as far as price and all that. But I'm more curious about, all right, what is the screen size going to look like? What is the battery life going to look like? What is performance is going to look like?

Because if you think about it, Phil has kind of already hinted that they're not really subsidizing these things anymore. So I do expect it to be expensive. And I also think with this new multi-platform strategy, the handheld is probably going to be more desirable than the console, in my opinion, unless you're tied into Game Pass or something like that. You know what I mean?

So I'm not expecting it to be cheap. It's probably going to be pricey. But I think 2027 gives them time for more of a proof of concept. Let's see what this one does. Let's see what the Switch 2 does from a performance standpoint, because I'm assuming the Switch 2 is probably going to use some form of DLSS. So I'm assuming whatever this Xbox handheld will do some form of FSR as well.

So to kind of increase performance and then have better battery life, things like that. So there's still a lot of questions. you know, to ask, you know, that still need to be answered about this. And I think 2025 is just step one in a long form process, which is probably why we're not getting Xbox's version of his handheld until the next gen, which we're assuming now is 2027.

Yeah, don't get me wrong. I mean, you know, I'm a tech junkie. So like you said, I'm probably buying a day one anyways. But I think for the average person, if you already have a Legion 2 or a Rogue Ally or something, you may not necessarily need to run out and go get this one. Or if you love your Steam Deck, you probably just stick with your Steam Deck in the short term.

And again, wait until 2027 to see whatever this Xbox branded handheld is going to be.

Thank you. Love you guys. See you soon. I will see you Monday with my son. Bring him in the studio.

Why is this? No, I think I think you're I think you're spot on. I think you're nailing it. I mean, look, let's the reality of this. I think everything that Phil has talked about about, hey, let's get games on more platforms. And I don't want to, you know, limit a creator and all that. I think he's genuine in what he's saying. But I do think the financials has has accelerated that vision.

to get to where we are to the point where, and I don't know if you had this in the story about the hardware question I asked him as well, because I straight up asked him, I go, well, if you're putting these games everywhere, why would I get an Xbox?

You know, and his answer to that is, well, we're going to make the hardware unique enough and desirable enough that you would choose to buy the hardware versus we're going to make you buy it to play our games, which is fair. I get it. But let's see that play out in practice. Let's see whenever they announce this thing, what is it going to be? How is it going to be priced that I go, you know what?

Even though I can't play Nintendo or PlayStation games on this, I'm still going to go buy it because I want an Xbox versus why am I buying this? Because I can just go play all your games on my Switch or on my PlayStation.

Of course, of course.

yeah and i asked him about that and i mean he's for all intents and purposes that's where they're headed that's that's i think that's the future of what we're going to see between what he's talked about what jason ronald just talked about at ces which we'll see more of later this year they're going to create a custom version of windows xbox os that is simplified like steam os that you're pressing a button you're into the quote-unquote xbox experience but then if you need a desktop mode that is going to be available too which

You know, he also alluded to about the open platform thing. He's not shy about talking about that either. I do think you're going to be able to have other digital stores on whatever whatever their next hardware is going to be.

I can answer that question. Thank you very much. Because, look, I'm shamelessly going to say we also talked to Phil Spencer as well.

Yeah, yeah.

He just fucking plays me off the stage.

He will always have to answer this question because to your point, I don't think they can specifically put a timeline on when one of their games is going to go to another platform. Let's just take South of Midnight as the example, right? That's a small team, that compulsion. All the resources are probably being put into, let's get it out on Xbox and PC day one.

And then later on, they're probably going to be able to focus on, all right, let's get it to PlayStation and Switch and wherever else, right? Yeah. To me, he's being as crystal clear as he possibly can that with the no red lines thing. He's telling you, expect every Xbox game to eventually show up on another platform. If they can be day and date, they will.

If they can't, they will when they have enough time and resources to port it over.

What do you have to say?

What the hell? Yeah. Do you want to just talk for a bit? Want a Paris monologue?