[knock on door] 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 as 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,
that 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 you're plunking down 20 US dollars on a swaparoo of pre-existing assets
is that the bullet points for the Digital Deluxe Edition on the store page,
in a very self-aware fashion, stress that each of those characters include:
To me, that is exactly technically enough to shield this from being a quick asset swap.
The value is in that horn toot. Better show it twice.
[toot]
But also, take a look at that cover art for the Digital Deluxe Editions.
You see what I'm saying? This is mascot status.
You don't do this unless Doom Slayer is huge.
And by the way, if any of that footage was confusing,
it's from a whole minute-long trailer just for the Digital Deluxe Edition of this game.
And what this is and why it is so funny that they do still advertise Day 1 on Game Pass
is that they are also, at the same time,
trying their best to discourage you from doing that.
"If you want to play as the Doom Slayer,
how about $20 on top of your regular subscription?
If you wanna play 3 whole days before Day 1, slip us an Andrew Jackson.
If you want this Wireframe Tony Shader and access to the demo at some point,
pre-purchase now."
The message everyone is receiving is that while your 19.99 a month is really nice,
it's simply not enough. You need to be doing better than that.
However, let me be uncharacteristically fair to poor Xbox for just one moment.
Back in 2020, back when Activision was its own publicly-traded corporation,
you did have to digitally pre-order Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1+2
to access its demo as well.
So some of this is really just Activision business inertia.
We can't stop is now.
So while it's fun to see Activision characters finally mix with Microsoft characters,
it's also kind of fun to watch Activision business and marketing
mix with Microsoft business and marketing.
There is a Digital Deluxe Edition of Tony Hawk 1+2,
which was a measly 10 extra dollars
and included The Ripper, who is, I believe, an icon in skate culture.
But, curiously, there are no trailers that end advertising this Digial Deluxe Edition.
There's not even a single trailer that is only about the Digital Deluxe Edition.
I mean, there are no promotional screenshots, even.
I had to pull this from the Tony Hawk wiki.
He does look cool.
It's at least an original character model.
[HONK]
So it's hard to say if Tony Hawk using its final, dramatic seconds of its trailer
to advertise ways that you can pay more now
is more of an Xbox influence or
a Call of Duty influence.
Or maybe that's just how you end your trailer if you're, like, a big shot game.
But for Tony Hawk, it wasn't there 5 years ago and now it's here.
But, to be clear with you, I do think it is cool that this exists.
Back in 2021, when Vicarious Visions got sucked up into Blizzard,
it seemed like there would never be a Tony Hawk 3+4.
So it is encouraging that Microsoft was able to justify publishing this game.
Now,
we just have to hope that nobody plays it Day 1 on Game Pass.
And that's Delayed Input. I'll be back next week.
Thanks for watching.
As the Doom Slayer becomes an official mascot,
I do feel like it's time to call out somebody who is
definitely, certainly become a mascot. That's Astro Bot.
Just in July of last year, Sony put out that
Game & Network Services Segment presentation, right?
They had this slide for Exciting New Releases
and didn't even include Astro Bot.
He wasn't their guy yet. It wasn't worth mentioning to the investors.
However, in November, after Astro Bot sold 1.5 million copies
in its first 9 weeks, Sony started to talk it up more.
Look at this weird stat, by the way.
37% of people who bought Astro Bot
didn't buy any other first-party PlayStation title in the last 2 years.
That is kinda crazy.
But I feel like its a couple of recent ads that have really solidified this.
Astro Bot's appearing in 2 ads co-starring Finn Wolfhard,
who you might recognize as
the guy who's got the Slimer subplot in Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire.
[Slimer screaming]
TREVOR: Yeah.
KYLE: A legitimate, famous actor.
Listen to how affectionately he talks to Astro Bot.
WOLFHARD: Alright Astro, break's over.
KYLE: Yeah, I think it's apparent that Astro Bot is a good mascot.
But what I also appreciate is the marketing team seems to realize and recognize
that their more serious human face IP can be mascotified with Astro Bot robots.
Robot Joel and Ellie finding some big mushrooms and freakin' out
is actually incredibly funny to me.
Last of Us is huge. It's a huge success. No one would argue that. However,
some franchises just aren't cut out to become controllers.
Meanwhile, Astro Bot, practically born to become a controller.
They shoulda just put a little beard on this.
There you go: Last of Us.