1
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[knock]
Hey,

2
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Mom says you have to let me 
borrow your new graphics card.

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

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was officially revealed this week.

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

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

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

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

9
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And I think what they mean here 
is the "and" is an option.

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You have the option to pre-order

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

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

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But if this said:

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

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

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

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

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

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Just make it a plus sign.

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What were they thinking?

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

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First takeaway:

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The Stop the Music moment
doesn't really hit.

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

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

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But then suddenly, bwoo.
Stop the music.

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

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Music kicks back in.
Title.

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

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

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

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

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would be so proud to advertise:

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

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Here's what the Xbox website says:

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

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where you'd have more open area levels

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

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

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

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Kotaku confirms that's what they're doing.

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

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

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

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

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

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look at Doom Slayer here."

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

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

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

51
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he looks identical to his in-game 
character model from Doom Eternal.

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So does this Revenant.

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

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

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that the specialness of a crossover 
is reduced when

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

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It's like, "Big deal. 
You put Quagmire in Grand Theft Auto.

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You're not gonna get a blog post 
about that anymore. We've seen it."

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

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

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Recent example: Sub-Zero in Fortnite.

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

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They really pulled this off.

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

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

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

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

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

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Enjoy those."
Those could've been cool.

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

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

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Kinda like what Fortnite does.

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

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Yeah, that's what the gun looks like.

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

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

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maybe you're plunking down 20 US dollars 
on a swaparoo of pre-existing assets

78
00:05:08,878 --> 00:05:12,279
is that the bullet points for the 
Digital Deluxe Edition on the store page,

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in a very self-aware fashion, 
stress that each of those characters:

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To me, that is exactly technically enough
to shield this from being a quick asset swap.

81
00:05:24,437 --> 00:05:27,847
The value is in that horn toot.
Better show it twice.

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[two horn toots]

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But also, take a look at that cover 
for the Digital Deluxe Editions.

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You see what I'm saying?
This is mascot status.

85
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You don't do this unless 
Doom Slayer is huge.

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And by the way, if any 
of that footage was confusing,

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it's from a whole minute-long trailer just 
for the Digital Deluxe Edition of this game.

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And what this is and why it is so funny that 
they do still advertise Day 1 on Game Pass

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is that they also, at the same time, trying 
their best to discourage you from doing that.

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"If you want to play as the Doom Slayer,

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how about $20 on top 
of your regular subscription?

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If you wanna play 3 whole days before Day 1, 
slip us an Andrew Jackson.

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If you want this Wireframe Tony Shader
and access to the demo at some point,

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pre-purchase now."

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The message everyone is receiving is that 
while your 19.99 a month is really nice,

96
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it's simply not enough.
You need to be doing better than that.

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00:06:30,345 --> 00:06:35,629
However, let me be uncharacteristically 
fair to poor Xbox for just one moment.

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Back in 2020, back when Activision 
was its own publicly-traded corporation,

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you did have to digitally pre-order 
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2

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to access its demo as well.

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So some of this was really just
Activision business inertia.

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We can't stop is now.

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So while it's fun to see Activision characters 
finally mix with Microsoft characters,

104
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it's also kind of fun to watch 
Activision business and marketing

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mix with Microsoft business and marketing.

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There is a Digital Deluxe Edition 
of Tony Hawk 1+2,

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which was a measly 10 extra dollars.
And

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included The Ripper, who is, I believe, 
and icon in skate culture.

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But, curiously, there are no trailers that 
end advertising this Digial Deluxe Edition.

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There's not even a single trailer that is 
only about the Digital Deluxe Edition.

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I mean, there are no 
promotional screenshots, even.

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I had to pull this from the Tony Hawk wiki.

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He does look cool.
It's at least an original character model.

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[HONK]

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So it's hard to say if Tony Hawk using its 
final, dramatic seconds of its trailer

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to advertise way that you can pay more now

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is more of an Xbox influence
or

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a Call of Duty influence.

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Or maybe that's just how you end your 
trailer if you're, like, a big shot game.

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But for Tony Hawk, it wasn't there 
5 years ago and now it's here.

121
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But, to be clear with you, 
I do think it is cool that this exists.

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Back in 2021, when Vicarious Visions 
got sucked up into Blizzard,

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it seemed like there would 
never be a Tony Hawk 3+4.

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So it is encouraging that Microsoft 
was able to justify publishing this game.

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Now,

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we just have to hope that 
nobody plays it Day 1 on Game Pass.

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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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As the Doom Slayer 
becomes an official mascot,

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I do feel like it's time 
to call out somebody who is

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definitely, certainly become a mascot.
That's Astro Bot.

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Just in July of last year, 
Sony put out that:

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presentation, right?

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They had this slide for 
Exciting New Releases

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00:09:09,385 --> 00:09:11,918
and didn't even include Astro Bot.

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He wasn't their guy yet.
It wasn't worth mentioning to the investors.

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However, in November, 
after Astro Bot sold 1.5 million copies

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in its first 9 weeks,
Sony started to talk it up more.

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Look at this weird stat, by the way.

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37% of people who bought Astro Bot

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didn't buy any other first-party 
PlayStation title in the last 2 years.

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That is kinda crazy.

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But I feel like its a couple of recent 
ads that have really solidified this.

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Astro Bot's appearing in 2 ads 
co-starring Finn Wolfhard,

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who you might recognize as the guy

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who's got the Slimer subplot 
in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.

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[Slimer screaming]

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TREVOR: Yeah.

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KYLE: A legitimate, famous actor.

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Listen to how affectionately 
he talks to Astro Bot.

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WOLFHARD: Alright Astro, break's over.

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00:10:00,903 --> 00:10:03,877
KYLE: Yeah, I think it's apparent that 
Astro Bot is a good mascot.

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00:10:03,877 --> 00:10:08,735
But what I also appreciate is the 
marketing team seems to realize and recognize

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that their more serious human face IP
can be mascotified with Astro Bot robots.

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00:10:17,593 --> 00:10:21,986
Robot Joel and Ellie finding 
some big mushrooms and freakin; out

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is actually incredibly funny to me.

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00:10:23,809 --> 00:10:27,985
Last of Us is huge. It's a huge success. 
No one would argue that. However,

158
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some franchises just aren't 
cut out to become controllers.

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00:10:32,726 --> 00:10:37,369
Meanwhile, Astro Bot, 
practically born to become a controller.

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00:10:37,369 --> 00:10:40,661
They shoulda just 
put a little beard on this.

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There you go.
Last of Us.