[knock]
Hey,

Mom says you have to let me 
borrow your new graphics card.

KYLE: Previously teased in fun/corporate 
cross promotional PR just a few weeks ago,

was officially revealed this week.

Immediate side note, 
when I went to rewatch the trailer,

I noticed this banner on 
Xbox's YouTube channel. It says:

Which would lead one to ask,
"Why would I pre-order something

that I'm going to eventually play 
Day 1 on Game Pass?"

And I think what they mean here 
is the "and" is an option.

You have the option to pre-order

AND you have the option to 
play Day One on Game Pass.

It could be "or".
The end of the trailer says "or."

But if this said:

There's kind of no reason to pre-order.

It's like saying, "You can go on 
a second date with me

or take this $20,000 
and walk away forever."

They're gonna take the money.
Nobody wants to pre-order that bad.

Really, though, this couldn't be simpler.
The solution's obvious.

Just make it a plus sign.

What were they thinking?

But I'd say when I watched that trailer,
I had two main takeaways.

First takeaway:

The Stop the Music moment
doesn't really hit.

And when I say Stop the Music moment,
I just mean that part of a trailer where

the music's goin' great, right?
We have a lot of momentum.

But then suddenly, bwoo.
Stop the music.

Big reveal. 
"Whoa, they're doing WHAT?"

Music kicks back in.
Title.

Trailer's edited like you're supposed to 
throw your head back and say,

"Wha--?! A-- Whoa!
I can't believe they're going there!"

But, I don't know, 
it just seems like another place.

Anyway, it's kind of interesting that 
this collection of two classic games

would be so proud to advertise:

And I think it has something to do with 
what they're doing with Tony Hawk 4.

Here's what the Xbox website says:

So Tony Hawk 4, back in the day, 
tried out a new thing

where you'd have more open area levels

and you would skate around and pick up 
whatever little missions at your own leisure.

Tony Hawk 3 + 4, I think 
to be a more cohesive package,

has taken that fourth game and authentically 
streamlined it into the epic 2-minute format.

Kotaku confirms that's what they're doing.

So I wonder if including the water park in 
the same breath is explaining these changes

is their way of saying, 
"It's all good, alright?

None of this is bad.
We're not taking anything away.

In fact, we're giving you more.
We're giving you a water park."

And then the other big takeaway 
is obviously, "Woo,

look at Doom Slayer here."

Not just a hidden character, mind you,
but a Digital Deluxe incentive.

To me, an indicator that the Doom Slayer 
is teetering on the precipice of becoming

a mascot.
I do think it is less exciting in that

he looks identical to his in-game 
character model from Doom Eternal.

So does this Revenant.

And sorry that the best shot I could find 
of that guy is from the Switch trailer.

I think it's apparent to anyone whether 
they're really thinking about it or not,

the specialness of a crossover 
is reduced when

you're looking at a 3D model 
that has already existed before.

It's like, "Big deal.

You put Quagmire in Grand Theft Auto.

You're not gonna get a blog post 
about that anymore.

We've seen it."

I feel like the real magic,
the real fun of a crossover event

is when the guest character has to 
adhere to the host game's aesthetic.

Recent example: Sub-Zero in Fortnite.

He's both unmistakably Sub-Zero AND 
unmistakably a Fortnite character.

They really pulled this off.

Least they could do here is 
give Doom Slayer, like, a sideways hat.

Maybe give this guy a shirt 
that says "Gnarly Dude." Make 'em fit.

By the way, I don't believe these boards 
contain any original art.

It's basically, 
"Yeah, we took some PNGs we had

lying around from the last few Doom games 
and slapped 'em on some skateboards.

Enjoy those."
Those could've been cool.

All what I'm saying is they--
Maybe it would've been cool if they hired

some unique artist to do Tony Hawk-specific 
Doom original art for those boards.

Kinda like what Fortnite does.

I think the Unmaykr Hoverboard down here 
is pretty much a new asset.

Yeah, that's what the gun looks like.

So there you go.
That's a new thing.

And I think a funny thing about this,
just in case you are concerned that maybe