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Welcome to Prankers.

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Today I'm gonna prank my dad into funding 
a God of War Game-as-a-Service.

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KYLE: This week, we were 
graced and inconvenienced

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by a brand-new Xbox Developer Direct.

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Last year I thought it was funny

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that they used the exact same 
opening song 2 years in a row.

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[bright music]

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Now, this year it would be silly 
to assume they'd try anything new.

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It's copy and paste at this point.

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[same bright music]

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Why that's weird is that Xbox's whole business 
has changed dramatically since January of 2023

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and so has its marketing.

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But for some reason, 
the Developer Direct remains unchanged.

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Someone at Microsoft likes these 
exactly the way they are.

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But you know what?

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That makes the small ways in which they 
are different stand out even more.

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Here are:

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Firstly:

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For some reason, 
there was a brand-new warning

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at the beginning of 
this year's presentation.

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I'm not sure that would 
stand out to anyone, right?

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That doesn't seem unusual.
But Xbox has never done that before.

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Even looking at their 
most recent game showcase,

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all they had was this 
Mature Content warning.

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But the Developer Direct warning 
doesn't stop there.

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Turns out, 
it's not really a warning.

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It says:

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Oh, got it!
So this is just commercial time.

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Back when Xbox deleted day-one benefits 
from the regular Game Pass tier,

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I was making light of the fact they 
couldn't say their favorite phrase anymore,

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"Day 1 with Game Pass."

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Look, Game Pass Ultimate 
is the one that has Day 1 games.

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Core and Standard do not.

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How silly of you to think 
Standard Game Pass would have Day 1.

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But they just keep saying it.
Nothing's actually changed.

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You gotta read between the lines.
PC and Ultimate is implied here.

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[HONK]
You know what,

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you'll figure it out 
when you get to the website.

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The good news warning continues:

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It sits in the same portion 
of a presentation

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where you would typically have 
some sort of disclaimer.

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However, at this point, 
it is purely commercial speech.

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And this, to me, IS Xbox right now.

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This is the current mission statement 
of the Xbox brand.

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Finally:

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appears
and then a silly little animation for it.

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And that's really what they give you.
They give you a little show.

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Less than ever, this feels like 
developers directly talking to you

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and more like they're just 
putting on a little play for us

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that was written by their PR managers
who are grinding their teeth backstage.

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Consider this moment here.

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MARTY STRATTON: --at our 
most ambitious game yet.

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This is Doom: The Dark Ages.

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HUGO MARTIN: That was so stupid
I mouthed the words.

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[everyone laughs]

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KYLE: I think that's a fun, 
honest, humorous moment.

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However, it is only funny, 
it can only exist,

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'cause everything up to that point 
WAS rehearsed, WAS scripted.

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It's funny because of how weird 
everything else feels.

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This could be filled with developers

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genuinely talking off-the-cuff about 
what they've been working on,

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but for the most part, it's fluffy, 
meaningless mission statements.

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JASMIN ROY: At Compulsion Games, 
we love to craft around central themes.

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Another big difference between 
Developer Directs in previous years is:

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The very indignity of seeing PS5 advertised 
in an Xbox showcase.

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Now, one might think, 
"Obviously in previous years

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they were all Xbox exclusives.
There was no opportunity to put PS5 in here."

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But no, look at Visions of Mana
and Minecraft Legends here,

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free from the blight 
of PlayStation references.

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By the way, they only did 
these funny doodles Year 1.

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They stopped that immediately.

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But yeah, even as recently 
as last year's Xbox Showcase,

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they didn't mention the PS5.

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But why would you?
You don't do that kind of thing.

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Nintendo doesn't do that.
Sony doesn't do that.

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You don't talk about-- You don't 
advertise other people's consoles.

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That's ridiculous.

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[drawl] Well, lookee here.

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While this may not seem like 
a big deal at first glance,

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it is the indubitable flag 
representing the pivot.

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"From this day forth," says Xbox,
"We do not fear the PS5.

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'Cause remember:

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So really, if you buy this on PS5,
you're only hurting yourself.

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Really, it's kinda stupid 
if you don't give us $20 a month.

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Kinda just wasting your income.

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Kinda think you're bad at economics."

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Last big change,
for the first time in one of these:

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Remember, 
the beauty of a Developer Direct

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is that there are no 
manipulative, hotshot trailers,

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no fancy editing.
Give me sloppy editing.

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HAZEL'S MOM: As long as you 
didn't forget the--

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HAZEL: --flashlights and batteries.

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HAZEL'S MOM: Oh shoot, 
we've got 5 minutes.

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KYLE: Yeah, that hits the spot.
And you know what else?

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I like it when developers are talking,

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not reading off of some 
teleprompter somewhere.

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STRATTON: A lot has changed since then
but our team is as passionate as ever.

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KYLE: That's what I'm talkin' about.
Trailers are for other shows.

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Developer Directs, 
50 minutes of authenticity.

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But really, the most exciting portion 
of this Developer Direct

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was not just the revelation 
that a pretty nice Ninja Gaiden 4

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is in development 
from Team Ninja and Platinum Games,

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but also that Ninja Gaiden 2 Black exists
and it looks better than this new game.

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And you can:

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Kind of confusing sentence.
I see now why they're typing out PS5.

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But what I mean to say is,
after all this, I do wonder if

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the tried and true Nintendo Direct method 
of trailer, explanation, information

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is still the best way 
to do this kind of thing.

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Look at how they introduced Expedition 33.

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[somber piano plays]

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[French singing]

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GUILLAUME BROCHE: Bonjour, everyone.

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KYLE: Yeah, they were in no rush
to show you that video game.

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First things first, 
look at these tall ceilings.

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To be clear, though, 
I do think Expedition 33

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brought the best presentation 
of the entire direct,

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demonstrating clearly how it's both 
similar and different to your expectations,

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unafraid to expose its pointlessly 
complicated passive effect system,

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and a true enthusiasm 
to introduce the world map.

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Okay, almost true enthusiasm.

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Try to tell me when this developer 
reiterates that there's a world map,

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that it comes off as unscripted.

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TOM GUILLERMAN: --a completely 3D 
and navigatable world map.

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Yes, we've got a world map.

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KYLE: To me, it's just incredibly off-putting 
how seemingly afraid they are

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to just let developers speak freely 
in a potentially sub-optimal manner.

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"What if it's not entertaining enough?
We could lose viewers."

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But, in fairness, 
they never promised a documentary.

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In fact, I wonder if that WAS a warning.

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MENACING VOICE: Enjoy the show.

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KYLE: Despite that, 
despite the abundant artifice,

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I do think Developer Directs are one of the 
most interesting ways to present a showcase.

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That they really-- They spend a lot of 
time on the games themselves.

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50 minutes for 4 games 
is actually pretty crazy.

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And I really, really like that someone 
at Xbox recognizes

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that some of these mid-budget games 
are truly interesting

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and deserve the full spotlight.

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I don't think it was a better 
presentation than last year's

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but I'm going to give it a better grade

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because my expectations are just 
generally sinking across the board.

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Therefore:

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And that's Delayed Input.
I'll be back next week.

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Thanks for watching.

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Alright, so one of the things that 
actually stands out to me the most

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from the entire presentation

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is how soft and silly the new Doom looks.

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That's right, I'm officially putting 
Doom: The Dark Ages

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on Dum-Dum Watch.

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Doom is dangerously close 
to transitioning from

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this absolutely unassailable, 
cool guy franchise to

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an absolute dorkfest,
at least how it's presented.

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Doom somehow became some sort of 
Do What the Circle Tells You To Do game.

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Hit an enemy until a purple circle appears
and then walk over and kill it.

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It's made clear, just looking at it,
that the Doom team

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is trying to take this franchise in a more
wide market direction.

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And they'll even tell you that.

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STRATTON: