Episode 8 | New Dad Gaming

[0:09] the kids are almost in bed there’s a few adult beverages not enough and it’s time to podcast welcome to New dad gaming the show about fatherhood gaming and new

[0:18] dads figuring out their gaming lives as always my name is Trevor and I have a four-month-old my name is Gavin I have a almost

[0:27] three-month-old I’m Jeff I have a two and a half old and a 5-year-old beautiful gentlemen how was your week in fatherhood and gaming Gavin

[0:37] if I throw it to you uh fatherhood pretty good um she’s doing lots of fun adorable things uh uh today we went to the library uh in Toronto you have like

[0:49] these uh like every Tuesday at least at our Branch uh it’s like this free storytime singal thing or you just sit for half an hour and sing songs and

[0:58] bounce them on your knee so that was pretty fun a lot of cute babies there too um yeah know everything’s going pretty good we’re having some quality

[1:06] time and uh and as far as gaming goes I’ve I finished off Metro the first one of the two I got thaty I’m trying to clear my dance card for climbing that

[1:17] ladder one game down just 50 more to go you’ll be all which is hilarious because the game essentially ends with you climbing a ladder oh perfect yeah I wish

[1:26] I wish I did that on purpose that’s awesome yeah so uh you did you totally did um yeah know Gaming’s going pretty good there’s um I want to try to get

[1:34] back into PC gaming again but because I spend my entire day on my PC making games I don’t want to look at games on my PC anymore even though like really a

[1:46] monitor and an HDTV are just the same thing pretty much and a console and PC the the guts are pretty close uh but there’s something different about

[1:56] sitting on the couch and putting my feet up um which which is which is more relaxing I guess but yeah F yeah just to add on that I mean I think I’m so I’m

[2:06] full PC now I mean I have an Xbox 360 haven’t bought the new stuff but definitely miss the coach thing like you can run a cable to it and you can

[2:15] kind of capture it but it’s never quite the same but I do find there’s like a bit of accessibility to it in the sense that um if I’m working on a project and

[2:22] it’s super late and like I can literally just toss in a game of hearthstone or of Rocket League like do you know it’s like who we need the counter Hur

[2:31] Stone sry fine good game man but let’s go with the rocket league and it’s just finished up this task my brain is just fried all right so fine just grab a

[2:42] 10-minute match of Rocket league and then hop right back to it and what’s great is it’s just a matter of grabbing the controller play it put it down get

[2:49] back to work as well it’s not a when you’re s i find sitting down with a console it’s such a um specific task it’s like okay now I’m going to like

[2:58] move myself physically over to this area for the purpose of gaming and get into it so it’s like running a bath it is exactly running a

[3:09] bath it’s it’s basically like console gaming at least for me it’s like running a nice warm bath you pour yourself a nice glass of wine I like my warm baths

[3:18] yeah it’s like you you enjoy that nice soak whereas like I find sometimes how I treat PC gaming is it’s more like that quick shower just to get the job done

[3:26] you know I just got I got to wash my hair and get work is there some magazine that we can like plaster these quotes on to sell conso let me let me let me Pitch

[3:37] something to you you bring a TV into the bathroom which is a bad recipe no and then you get your console and you put it into the bathroom as well and now you’re

[3:47] soaking and you’re gaming you combine wir controllers it is now actually possible and not exactly lethal it’d be fine there’s not enough power in the

[3:57] battery to do any real damage no maybe prevent sisters or brothers for our kids but that’s okay yeah if I’m

[4:06] a and and the change rapidly change gears again for no particular reason I can remember when when my son turned like the two months I found the two

[4:15] Monon and the 3 months a really great turn cuz I think the first month is really just such survival you’re getting your feet on the ground again you’re

[4:25] figuring out what it’s going everything is terrifying like this this thing is going to die any

[4:31] minute have two you’re just like whatever okay yeah so the second one by the time the second one comes around like I think like it’s going to

[4:44] be like we we’ve we’ve done this dance we know what we’re doing but yeah like that first month and the kid the baby doesn’t do much for you like there’s no

[4:52] acknowledgement there’s no you can’t play with it you can’t do it this should we should we let that

[4:59] just roll for a second that’s to perfectly punctuate the they do a lot for you they give you headaches they you anxiety which is so

[5:09] it’s all it’s all input there’s no output and then all of a sudden at the two to three month Mark like they laugh at you for the first time you can start

[5:17] to do things to get them to giggle like they’re playful and they’re they’re now exploring and it’s fun like man so that that’s so far has been one of my

[5:24] favorite turns I imagine every other month is probably going to be a new favorite but yeah that this this two to three month is such an

[5:32] incredible switch compared to what the first month was which I agree I’m going to tap it I’ll be right back he’s out he’s done that’s

[5:44] it he has dropped the microphone he’s full on Dad mode that’s what happens right so what’s great about it though is he didn’t mute

[5:53] his mic before he left no that’s go that’s okay oh there we go look at that quiet like a pro look at this the rescue perfect baby Jeff how was

[6:03] your week in gaming and fatherhood uh fatherhood was I guess we started like swimming lessons and uh stuff like that that’s kind of

[6:12] after school so most kids go to the swimming lessons at the same time but my oldest is really great at swimming he can do um he’s actually in like a

[6:22] separate class but in the same pool and the youngest screamed the entire time kind of what is happening to Gavin right now entire time and he’s two and a half

[6:31] so he’s terrified he’s like scared of the water he just wants to be with his brother so it’s like a brotherly love which is awesome but dude you need to to

[6:42] chill out so that was 30 minutes is horrible end they’re switched so I switched classes it was a little bit of a dad moment there

[6:52] but they’re good oh you’re back you’re good yep uh in terms of gaming um nothing much really just got back into rocket League a little bit more with the

[7:03] expansion packs and of other stuff yeah um but otherwise a whole bunch of stuff was released for PlayStation today

[7:12] that I really want to get my hands on but I’m just going to waited out for for sales man so much like so much stuff like there’s a crazy game wild uh

[7:23] boundless was one another one looks Minecraft like there’s they finally put a date on no man’s Sky which is is ridiculous June

[7:33] ridiculous June it’s going to be hard to be interesting to see if they can keep up the momentum there’s so much hype for it

[7:39] right now I know you’re upset about June because that’s when the kids are off from that’s right summer you’re like really June I can’t do that why can’t

[7:48] you just at least wait till September then like why why it got to sit there when the kids are like let’s go play outside you’re like

[7:56] no come on guys think of the dads think of the dads you want to play here yeah but man just Street Fighter New Street Fighter coming out there I

[8:06] mean we did this list last time that it’s still daunting like Battlefront comes out Battle Born comes out OverWatch comes out those two are

[8:13] getting into their betas currently so a bunch of game plays leaked just follow follow it’s gonna be

[8:21] doomsday for Gavin he’s just not gonna be on the show anymore all time be like a little falled icon like in his stead with a crying B in the background B

[8:32] head um I’m for getting a big one Fallout um I wanted to get into um Divinity original sin which is kind of like a

[8:41] Diablo uh esque game and I couldn’t play it on my crappy Old Mac but I can play it on PS4 now and it’s got online co-op and Coach Co-op kind of neat but again

[8:53] 60 bucks I’m not g to spend your wife in on that one that would be a good one to test she will not do it but

[9:03] it babe you’re gonna love this game we totally have to get it as relationship building relationship building what are you

[9:12] doing n that’s the hours too man like that that one looks massive like it is a big one so I’m I don’t know if I’ll and there’s just and Gavin like I’m

[9:22] surprised like imagine you’re torn between not necessarily torn but I mean there’s fall of 4 then just cause 3 Just Cause was your J

[9:30] right they’re they’re both coming in my way I’m I’m going to cave on both of them but uh but that’s the thing is like that they’re the two that I’ve picked

[9:41] like those are my like I’m not really worried about I’m not gonna Battlefront looks phenomenal but I I don’t have time for multiplayer

[9:51] right now because multiplayer requires a play session that is on like your teammates want you there your teammates can’t have you like I gotta I got a heat

[10:01] of bottle guys I’ll be right back like there’s a like Vader coming over a snowy Dune at us and you left us now we’re dead um we’re like thanks baby trenches

[10:15] or like the others like I I’ll just pause it and you know be to my daughter and then uh when she’s back to having a nice nap and she’s snoozing and doesn’t

[10:23] require any of my attention and I was like okay resume um so I like that sty style of play and I think it’s just more

[10:31] conducive for this age um maybe later on when like like I right now Jeff like you got bed times and stuff yeah that are uh and babies that now can communicate with

[10:43] you and you have bed times and stuff this like such a sad statement guys have bedtime oh it’s

[10:51] amazing I love it they like go to bed and they sleep oh my God like we’re we’re quite fortunate but like it’s also just a matter of it’s like okay sweet

[11:01] I’m taking advantage of this and I’m going to CCH some sleep as well so I think right now too is like my work is very busy uh because I got a couple

[11:10] projects that are coming close to their ends and uh that’s of course the final push kind of things so um because of that what time I have is pretty evenly

[11:20] divided between like fatherhood and work and then I might grab like a half hour to an hour here and there to sit and play so to also the financial investment

[11:31] for Battlefront like it’s not exactly a cheap game and to get all of the maps that you’re going to want to keep because like playing a like I know with

[11:39] Battlefield um if you didn’t get the map packs your servers would start to dwindle when a map pack was released because everybody go play the new maps

[11:48] um and the matchmaking would not have many people to pair you with because everybody’s over in the new playground that you didn’t buy access to so to stay

[11:58] on top of that DLC it’s like yeah that’s great but that’s a lot to invest which would just go un enjoyed so if I don’t have time to enjoy it why invest in it

[12:08] when I have two other games that are gonna tickle me pink so why not because yeah just like besides the cash it’s the it’s almost like a bit of

[12:18] a dice roll as far as how much time you’re going to get cuz who know like as we’re going through different phases of Parenthood cuz maybe I don’t know like

[12:25] two months from now my kid starts going down a lot and then he goes to a where he’s not so all of a sudden like we all have a mutual friend who might may still

[12:34] join up on some podcasts as a the drop in from time to time and was having some sleep sessions with a kid or like just sleep sleep training and just couldn’t

[12:43] do it just was not able to do it so if you’re dropping like 60 to 80 for a game can’t wait to play this oh wait baby never mind that’s that’s a that’s a

[12:53] great looking well you don’t even probably have a box it’s probably download There’s a great looking box I bought so I think like it’s kind of

[12:59] funny with the Advent of all these gaming and Gavin I mean you mentioned going back to PC gaming like one of the penultimate benefits of it I think

[13:08] is the ridiculous sales on it where it’s just like there’s such a crazy backlog I saw today uh Dragon Age Inquisition was down 50% from the original price and

[13:20] that’s I’m going to keep going like by Christmas I wouldn’t be surprised if that’s like 75% off yeah so yeah it’s almost being a parent given like our

[13:29] timing that we have for games it almost feels like that crazy sales Arc that seems to follow all the new releases like really caters to us and then

[13:38] ideally you pick like just maybe one or two within a year that like like this is my guy this I put put my money on this horse this is going to be my game even

[13:48] before the baby like I would I would pick games where I’m like yeah you’re you’re a day one and I’m going to get this one day one because I know I’m

[13:54] going to play it I know I’m going to love it and it’s going to scratch that itch um you know it’s usually like a you know Skyrim or even like Grand Theft

[14:05] Auto 5 that was a day one purchase um like games like that where it’s like I’m gonna love it I’m gonna play it I’m gon enjoy it so I’m just gonna go buy it uh

[14:15] were there’s other ones where it’s like yeah I am going to probably really enjoy this game but like you know I’m not jonesing for it so bad right now like

[14:25] I’m getting my gaming fix with these couple titles that I don’t need to buy everything the first day it comes there they can wait they can stew and you know

[14:36] it’s not even a matter of price it’s just a matter of priority and it’s like no I’m having fun with these ones I don’t need another game right now I it’s

[14:43] like buying another book when you got three other novels on your nightstand it’s you know you don’t need to like finish your books and then buy that

[14:51] novel and you might get lucky and it’ll be in paperback by then you’ll get it for Less so it’s the same sort of principle I’m in the same boat

[14:59] but as long as you like if you can hold off on a game and not get spoiled then that’s all the better right it’s kind of like like Uncharted 4 would

[15:08] be a day one buy for me just because I know somebody out on the Internet is going to spoil the ending and then that that would be my game spoiled right

[15:16] whereas a game like Fallout or something you kind of create your own path there is an ending I’m sure but you create it’s all about the journey right versus

[15:25] Uncharted where it’s like a 12-h hour compact like if I was spoiled on Last of Us that would like that would have ruined the whole game for me like I’m I

[15:35] can’t take that kind of stuff so those ones will be day one I don’t want to be spoiled it’s like a book right it’s like someone telling you ending of a book for

[15:45] like I just beat last of us this summer like my first playthrough ever and I managed to avoid getting it spoiled for me that Community was pretty good at

[15:55] that yeah yeah from not spoiling it but a lot of people there well just YouTube comments don’t go on the YouTube our comments

[16:03] yes our comments are great yeah no but I mean with like I know that I feel you almost have to search for it a bit harder than with other spoilers like

[16:11] with TV show if you don’t want to be spoiled on it like people want to get on and talk about what’s happened and then now you’re kind of ruined with a game I

[16:18] mean it’s so new not Nuance but involved like the entire path of how you’re going to possibly get there like I’ll say for instance like I you’re mentioning some

[16:25] sort of twist I still don’t know what that is for Last of Us it feels like it it doesn’t feel like something that would just be punched in your face like

[16:32] if you search Last of Us like the first sentence on Google is hey guess what here’s like the ending he was a

[16:41] ghost yeah it was his brother but yeah so fortunately it kind of feels like games you have to work a little bit harder to get spoiled because yeah I

[16:51] have no idea what I I have no idea what’s ever happened in an Uncharted game I I don’t know what’s happened with Last of Us at some point I do intend to

[16:58] like play play those ones cuz those in particular seem like events as far as gaming that’s defining our kind of too like there’s a lot of things that

[17:07] happened between point a and point B even if it gets spoiled for you you can still enjoy it like I was uh it was shortly after I first met my wife in

[17:17] college she is having me read through the Harry Potter series um because she absolutely loves Harry Potter um and now I do too not just because I have to

[17:27] spoiler he’s a wizard but no she was having me read through all the books and I was partway through a particular book and my roommate um who had no interest

[17:36] in the series whatsoever but had found out what had happened in the most recent book and it was a pretty big thing um and I’m not going to be that guy so I’m

[17:44] going to say bag about all this even though there things like been out for so long um but yeah no he basically like so and so dies and I’m like I was literally

[17:55] a chapter away from that point and this was like a few books in I’m like really man like I’m this close and then it’s like

[18:04] somebody just you know kicking in the door like the Titanic’s gonna sink it’s like oh come on you do that there’s got to be some leniency for dads right like

[18:15] we don’t have the time to these games in a day that some people will get a day one some teenager and then sit down play through 14 hours of it in a single

[18:24] playthrough and then post all their comments on you know just to ruin it you do have SE they’re posting all their comments in 4chan so it doesn’t

[18:34] matter it’s like you guys you guys did you see what happened with that oh sh sh there’s there’s a dad here there’s a dad here there’s a father keep it down keep

[18:43] it down now the um yeah by way of story into segue as far as gaming week the um salot more rocket League hone as always

[18:53] but rocket League had an interesting one where um Alo before I do I’m using that as a transition to what we’re going to talk about so first I’ll say my kid’s

[19:03] going crazy with his sleep hours and he’s teething so he he’s created a new habit where he wakes up at 3:00 or 4 in the morning and just stays awake for two

[19:12] or three hours like with amazing amounts of energy so that’s been fun for the little while seems like he’s getting a little bit over it so yeah you say

[19:22] frozen washcloth yeah and like the various like teether type things that we had for him it’s not he’s not in a terrible amount

[19:30] of pain fortunately it’s really just a little bit of discomfort and he just boom awake so awake um so that that’s been fatherhood for me recently it’s

[19:41] like trying to soothe him and soothe myself as it’s 3 in the morning but with um yeah gaming rocket League playing away still having a great time with it

[19:53] the playing this one team and all they named all the exact same so I guess they were some sort of team together or like always play together it’s like bam like

[20:02] bracket one bam two and Bam three and end of the game and just say like yeah okay whatever replay and I get matched up with the same guys the next thing you

[20:11] know like I’m looking in the chat and they’re just like they’re just blasted me it’s like f you like my gamertag is good times and it’s like f you good

[20:20] times you suck you’re just like the stream of it they’re hating me so hard like what is this like we’re we’re car is like hitting a soccer ball like what

[20:32] and you don’t even know like what I didn’t say anything to I don’t know if I like cut you off like or something s in my rocket car playing

[20:41] soccer wife got the finger the other day driving the speed limit like someone was behind us and we’re driving the speed limit and they’re honking and then they

[20:49] pass us and give her the finger I I knew that they were G to pass us and do that so I already had mine locked and loaded so they got in return like I see your

[20:57] one and I raise you two or twist they didn’t have one and they saw yours they’re like I’ll show this guy yeah you’re the aggressor but no it’s just

[21:07] sometimes people take things way too seriously it’s like yeah it’s whatever it’s just a game or it’s just a TV show or it’s just this or that it’s a calm

[21:14] down Life’s too short to get yeah I literally don’t think and we we got beaten terribly on the previous game so I don’t think it wasn’t like he was

[21:21] angry because they lost so I think it was if anything I think it was probably trolling like they were hoping to get a rise out of me and respond but yeah sure

[21:30] I’m going let me let me just let me just correct you on the internet I can’t wait this will work out great for me you click next game right you’re like I

[21:37] believe you were incorrect on the internet I want to fix this yeah that’s not gonna work and then yeah and then as a resolution they’re like oh that’s an

[21:44] excellent point well said sir I will rethink some of my Life Choices rocket League I I hear I hear um a a disagreement coming to a reasonable

[21:56] conclusion on the Internet is one of the first signs of the Book of Revelations hey yeah and when that happens that’s when

[22:05] The Four Horsemen come over the hill and the seas turn to blood jeez something like that or YouTube comment says great job I think I

[22:14] think it’s even rarer than that it’s it’s more rare than that would ever happen um yeah I use as a segue anyways because rocket league is a game heavily

[22:23] focused on multiplayer you really are only you can play Bots But ultimately it’s just about playing multiplayer competition yeah most of the the games

[22:32] that we even mentioned there battleborn Battlefront and basically any game that we had listed off rattled off going to have multiplayer it’s going to be online

[22:40] the current landscape has every game with some online component where they’re interacting with people who if that continues to be the

[22:48] push like what is that future and that just kind of gets into what we had started to talk about today as far as what is that future of gaming so even

[22:57] already with games and the ability to chat and with such a huge push for multiplayer is every game our kid going to play have that online component is it

[23:07] going to be multiplayer is going to be a bunch of bullying online through it that we’re going to have to be aware of like what like hech technology are they even

[23:16] going to use like to play these games in the future so I mean as much as we’re looking now into our six-month window for games that are coming out with the

[23:24] current landscape of where we are like where we what will our kids be playing like VR bullying swirly great

[23:36] in DLC to protect yourself yeah actually they kind of already do that though like when you die in a first- person shooter and people like teag you

[23:44] like that’s what that is but what will be the more advanced form of teabagging that’s your face that’s what it’s going to be is

[23:53] you’re going to have to endure that stuff with the Oculus on your face oh the Oculus like compresses like in time with it releases like a like a

[24:03] misty fog tears just tears just your own tears yeah but so is it like um so I mean Battle Born just in one example like it’s a it’s MOBA style so it’s like

[24:17] team versus Team online you and four five whatever go against another guy four and five there’s a huge push for that there’s that League of Legends uh

[24:25] Smite ton of these type of games and those right more we grew up on solo experiences are we going to see like this push this constant

[24:37] proliferation of multiplayer experiences given it’s like I was going to say like easier development that’s not quite case but

[24:45] just the an ability for that once there’s no such thing as a story so it it’s never quite done it’s about playing in constant matches you think our kids

[24:53] will be playing more multiplayer games than we are currently they’re going to lose single player well I think the the line for multiplayer and the idea of

[25:00] multiplayer is starting to get a little bag and zone now um because when you look at games like uh oh oh Dark Souls um Dark Souls it doesn’t like it

[25:13] does have a multiplayer s component in the way of communicating with other players and where they die um you know even with the Mario maker like yes

[25:24] somebody made that map but then you also see on the map where people failed yeah notes all pop up I think that’s that sort of trend right now with social

[25:33] media and Twitter is that incessant need for us to share everything like even the new PlayStation 4 controller has a button to share what you’re doing and

[25:44] you can link it with your Facebook or Twitter account so if it isn’t just multiplayer interaction if it is only a single player experience as far as

[25:53] narrative goes and it is a story focused item um there’s still that I think component of well yes I’m experiencing this by myself but I need to tell

[26:04] everybody about it or else it’s not real um yeah I can I could see that with um like game mechanics right I think are changing right like Mario maker and uh

[26:14] Demon Souls Dark Souls uh even no man’s sky right so you’re in this huge connected Universe not likely to see anybody but you are still connected

[26:24] right so it could happen that’s a little bit of a different but it’s built within the game so I think again the lines are being blurred but in maybe a good way

[26:32] it’s just I think it will take some information and some teaching to your kids just to to what you put online what you say to people online and and what

[26:44] cyber bullying is because that’s going to be a big thing it is like to be able to not get uh to understand to just be like just don’t respond to it you don’t

[26:55] need to like if they’re trying to troll you and into a reaction then if you do anything to cater to that then they they’ve gotten what they wanted they’ve

[27:06] The Lure has caught the fish um even becoming the bully too right like if you it creates a sense of community so you get online with your friends and you can

[27:15] actually become the bullies to someone that’s not you know in that game or in your you know friends list or playing from another part of the world and may

[27:25] you know not be part of you so it’ll be different uh like i’ I’ve sought out when playing multiplayer like I’ve sought out individuals because it’s like

[27:37] okay I’m tired of that person around I’m going after them but like I’ve never done it verbally it’s just been a matter of I still played by

[27:46] the rules of the game yeah I focused all of my attention on that person so I was kind of but I wasn’t doing it UNS sportman Le

[27:56] like it was like if if you’re playing hockey and it’s like all right I’m G to check this person every opportunity I get um because I just want to put them

[28:07] into the boards because they tried to trip me and I didn’t like that I think we made a new parenting a parenting technique right you get online your kids

[28:15] online you get on somewhere else and you come in and keep checking them or killing them just saying no you’re not from a real helicopter in Call of

[28:26] Duty you’re just in a Blackhawk watching your kid just pounding them the snare where it’s just like you’re kid like you’re

[28:35] online playing a game a guy’s bullying you teabagging you like calling you out in the comments and you’re like who is this guy like he keeps teabagging me and

[28:42] then you hear from the other room your kid like I keep teabagging this guy this is hilarious like what son how dare you you’re the prompt yeah it’s curious

[28:53] though because we’re not like we we’re participating in it now but I don’t it’s good to in some ways I think we’re almost ill

[29:00] equipped to assist or direct I mean we obvious to we’re going to learn and do our best but like at the moment as far as like great techniques in dealing with

[29:09] online bullying especially from a social media aspect when you like though is just don’t engage it just

[29:21] don’t engage it’s like dealing with any sociopath don’t engage um and like sometimes bullies are coming from a place where they have a lot of

[29:32] rough stuff going on in their life so like you’re actually helping them by not engaging because you’re helping them not participate in that activity um you know

[29:44] it’s I think that’s the one of the best tools to do and it’s it’s a very hard practice to execute because bullying can really get under your skin and and

[29:55] people can really rub you the wrong way and get you fired up and into the callar and you just want to like no don’t call me that that’s not what I you want to

[30:03] fight back um and you that’s when you get that’s when you react the way that they are looking for like they’re looking for you

[30:14] to see their actions as uh as getting under your skin as soon as you show them any evidence of it working

[30:24] then then they’ll they’ll keep coming at you um I think it’s just a matter of just don’t don’t engage with it and that’s one of

[30:33] the primary ones there’s certain times where that won’t work uh it’s not like that’s a that’s I just solve bullying everybody listen he did guess um myself

[30:42] growing up that was something I discovered um was it was partly due to gaining confidence a little bit later in my

[30:51] adolescence um and part of that was like finding ways of no longer having to worry about being physically bullied

[31:00] um but even the the emotional bullying was the hard thing for me and I realized that it’s like well if I don’t if I don’t

[31:09] participate with them they get bored and I’m no longer providing them with what they need which is an opportunity to look big in front of their friends and

[31:19] if I don’t give them that opportunity to look big in front of their friends they’re just going to go and break a cafeteria tray and that will do the

[31:24] trick and then nobody got hurt except for maybe the cafeteria ladies can be upset because another trade got broken but uh I I don’t I don’t provide them

[31:33] that outlet and that helped so I think with online it’s you know there’s block buttons for a reason if somebody really harasses you you file a complaint even

[31:43] anonymously if they’re doing it to you they’re doing it to enough people that they won’t know who filed the complaint anyways I think the big thing will be

[31:51] exposure too because when we were growing up uh we were exposed kind of online gaming maybe when we were 12 13 so we had grasp on bullies now like my

[32:01] kid is five he can get on the 3DS and get into Wi-Fi and he might be communicating with somebody that’s 35 years old trying you know either praying

[32:11] on him bullying on him whatever so I think it’s a matter of when we expose our kids to that and when they kind of fully understand what a bully is how to

[32:20] deal with somebody that’s not their age and and can outsmart them right it’s yeah that’s where parenting that we were exposed to

[32:28] in our own schoolyard so they it was a Level Playing Field but now they might be you know uh punching above their weight class so to speak and it’s like

[32:38] it it’s a different sort of of playground yeah I guess in some way that kind of relates to a hope that I have for the future in gaming I don’t know

[32:47] that we’ve seen it any pro like any direction of it not of going this way but ultimately if everything does keep making a push to be online super social

[32:58] um multiplayer like if you lose that ability to have fantasy and then power fantasy in the sense that when when you become Nathan

[33:06] Drake like wait is geez it is Nathan Drake I said it I’m just like oh no I don’t think that sounds right and you’re like who are you talking about right

[33:17] correct but when you become when you become Nathan Drake like you’re ziplining around you’re fighting you’re a swashbuckler like you get to become

[33:24] that character like that’s the escapism that’s the power when you’re just one of five Master Chiefs fighting five Master Chiefs and you suck at that

[33:33] game like you’ve just there’s no there’s a competitiv competitiveness to it and there’s a decent chance you’re not going to be the best of it so you’ve lost that

[33:40] whole what what what ultimately was one of the best avenues for it and I guess like I’m hoping in the future as they keep going for the kids that um so much

[33:50] multiplayer push doesn’t result in a complete lack of single player which enables some of like some of the Great Moments of gaming as far as escapism and

[33:58] enjoyment you can’t have that personal experience in a pack mentality um and I you made a very good point with Halo and how like you know it

[34:09] it’s looks like a beautifully put together game but that choice to do um like two separate narrative arcs with four player co-op in each um it removes

[34:24] that opportunity of having it be just which one that the you talk about the new one yeah um have it just be the story of Master Chief um because even

[34:34] master chief his story there’s others along the along for the ride with him where before it was always him and like the NPC of Cortana who was just kind of

[34:45] a parrot on his shoulder um but there wasn’t other people uh by his side shooting and fighting by his side and I think that was one thing about the game

[34:56] that kind of made me scratch my head and you know I think having four-player Co-op is a fantastic idea other Halo games it was just you would have four

[35:05] duplicates of Master Chief and nobody would really question it because it didn’t matter when you’re playing Co-op I think it was a challenge for the

[35:13] writers to try to figure out a narrative that incorporated four players but I think maybe they might have had an opportunity that they missed out on and

[35:22] having if you want to play single single player um just play the master chief campaign if you want to play four player co-op with like a single player

[35:33] narrative you can play as the uh oh uh Sergeant walk or I can’t remember the new protagonist name but there’s a new Spartan Spartan walk I think his name is

[35:46] but him and four or three others are trying are basically tasked with hunting down Master Chief so instead of hunting down Master Chief and his friends to

[35:56] maybe just hunt down Master Chief I haven’t played the game yet I don’t know a whole whole bunch about it so I could be entirely wrong that could be exactly

[36:04] how the game’s constructed for all I know just blowing smoke but um there’s certainly like uh left for dead was another game where atmosphere was

[36:15] awesome everything was great but and even the story there was a bit of a narrative there but at the end of the day it was just the four of you shooting

[36:22] at zombies um and Co-op can sometimes get in the way I think one of the few games that did Co-op multiplayers uh with a full narrative

[36:34] Arc successfully was in Heroes of a war series um because you were fighting with a platoon and those characters were with you regardless of whether you’re playing

[36:44] by yourself or with others um so that kind of when Dom was by your side it was either Dom controlled by the AI or Dom controlled by your buddy online

[36:57] but it didn’t affect the narrative The Narrative was still about about you getting through and uh yeah I think it’s it’s a very hard balce to strike to let

[37:09] everybody play together through the story but not have it affect your individual story arc of I want to feel the power fantasy of being this

[37:19] hero character um I don’t think the new Laura coft series would work it would have worked successfully as a co-op them

[37:26] because it’s about Laura cof dealing with becoming Laura cof um so yeah I think sometimes it fits sometimes it doesn’t it’s the same as why you know

[37:37] cormack McCarthy didn’t really write any musicals you know it’s it’s it’s not his thing um it’s it’s a little bit too

[37:47] cheery yeah and I think I think with the co-op stuff too is that basically people are jerks so if you get let’s breing it down down for a

[37:57] second guys people are jerks okay they are like I remember counter I just imagine you telling this to your kids too all right all right Sons time for uh

[38:07] don’t go on lesson the first human beings are horrible here jerks I I remember counter- strike way back when in my day and you be terrorist versus

[38:18] counter terrorist and every single time you start you start You Pick Your Weapon you’re ready to go the countdown’s going 5 4 3 two one go you’re supposed to

[38:28] strategically get into place and and get the other side there’s always one jerk just loading off his gun into the other guy’s head and there’s no team damage

[38:37] but he’s just loading it and he’s just firing it off just to be a jerk or blocking another person or you know jumping up with his knife and trying to

[38:44] hit him in the head so it’s just if you have a great team and it’s a four player co-op story mode you could have one of the best experiences of your life but

[38:54] you’re really connecting to anybody that’s out there and it’s it’s not I to me it’s not a good mechanic that way if it’sing with

[39:02] somebody who’s not into it right yeah you know it’s like if if you’re playing makeb believe and you all want to play make believe but then there’s some yahoo

[39:09] just jumping around like a jack rabbit you’re like what you’re totally taking us out of this sci-fi fantasy experience right acting like a

[39:18] buffoon um because the character that you were embodying in this narrative would not do that see to be getting younger too as

[39:28] far as like like Zelda Zelda Triforce the new one that just came out like as a multiplayer experience so like a Zelda game same dungeon crawling stuff has

[39:39] like the Super Nintendo kind of um aesthetic to it but there’s supposed to be three of you like you’re supposed to join up with friends and like buddies

[39:46] and such and it’s like man that’s a really young targeted game yeah to start be pushing this type of stuff and yeah like maybe it gets more in like the

[39:57] having having to have people like involved in it like having to have multiplayer and like having so much focus and effort being

[40:05] put into it and what we lose from it well they have like with with Zelda they’ve done some multiplayer in the past but it was like you physically

[40:13] would wire your game boys together um right yeah but yeah it is kind of tough to see where what what gets sacrificed in regards to

[40:24] storytelling techniques um for the sake of being able ble to cater to multiple different people with multiple different uh decision making

[40:34] capabilities uh and also needs from the story so it’s is a bit of a juggling act and sometimes it’s like you know what maybe we’ll sacrifice this gameplay

[40:44] component and this multiplayer component or at the very least the interactive multiplayer like the the active multiplayer as opposed to passive

[40:52] multiplayer like with uh Mario maker or with the uh like Demon Souls where you can kind of leave little notes and stuff um actually even uh Dying Light I’m

[41:04] playing that right now there is a co-op component but you don’t have to do it uh and that was actually something the previous game that that same company

[41:13] made the Dead Island game um all the cutcenes had all four characters that were available for Co-Op uh regardless if you’re playing Co-op or not like the

[41:26] story Contin with all four of those characters even if you were playing a co-op game with three other people and all four of you were the exact same

[41:33] character cutcenes would still have one of each character oh that’s neat so it would it would maintain the Integrity of the plot but it would also be a little

[41:43] weird to see duplicates running around in the environment it would remove you a bit Dead Space did that well though like a duplicate I remember that one but

[41:52] again hard to find someone to play with who like a fool Yeah well yeah and I had a kid my friends at that point did not have kids so I could only play you know

[42:03] one chapter and then I’m sorry I’m cooked I got to go to bed and they’re stuck there so they would finish the game and I would

[42:12] not yeah geez like that yeah now that we’re playing anything we play multiplayer too like it really kind of needs to be level um I had I started to

[42:21] play a little bit of Diablo I unfortunately never really got very far buddies of mine blasted ahead like they’re so like they’re level whatever

[42:29] 90 every mythical legendary weapon you could possibly imagine and like my guy’s like level six he’s got he’s got like a slingshot it’s just like well like we’re

[42:40] never playing again like it’s just cuz yeah baby baby duties call so there was just no chance to keep up with the leveling with what to possibly be able

[42:50] to play with other people no and I think like with this whole overall talk I do think the way technology is going it will be more multiplayer Centric or it

[43:01] all blows up and you know Facebook Twitter everybody like the Privacy cloud or whatever implodes and nobody posts anything about anybody’s lives when we

[43:11] all go back to the old days but more than likely we’ll all be interconnected even more so and maybe we’re not giving our kids enough credit because they will

[43:21] grow up with it and maybe know how to deal with it as they’re learning it versus us where we learned it but it was at a different time right so we did the

[43:31] same sort of thing between us and them that fell on their swords and made the bad choices online yeah yeah yeah like learn from

[43:39] my yeah who have made examples of themselves yeah for the following generations to see the idea of information permanence right and like

[43:50] we’ve and our generation has pushed it to its worst possible Corners right as far as like we we they really figured out like

[43:58] this is like like chats are kind of a bad idea and with you know sorry to mention Hearthstone again but they they didn’t implement the chatting system

[44:06] like you just can’t chat to the guy you’re playing against you can emote so you can say things like um oops or like great play or whatever else you want to

[44:14] do but that’s it like because they ultimately looked at it they thought they looked at the landscape and they said this there’s going to be nothing

[44:21] added to allowing people to chat um and have those kind of angry conversations uh rocket League like you can stop the game and type something but it’s way too

[44:30] hectic too so they implemented a quick quick kind of yeah kind token kind of system as well yeah just like hey like nice shot good pass go defense like

[44:40] fun type of stuff so in many ways like we’ve found all the nooks and crannies and the dark Alleyways of how gross and awful things can get and now get and now

[44:51] we’re building the new stuff like we our ages are have gone at least got the taste of how awful it can get so all new conversations in many ways start with

[45:01] okay what can we do to make it better like what is your abuse system like that’s the conversation people have now as far so perhaps I think I think we’re

[45:10] seeing that already like as you said with with hearstone and I also with the Wii U um I I think what what the personally

[45:20] here here’s how I see the issue of human interaction with online gaming being solved and it’s with Emojis because it’s really hard bring

[45:32] bring bring this home Gavin yeah let’s do this but yeah no just okay with the Emojis they’re kind of it’s a modular Communication System

[45:43] where you can’t really add too much pepper to it so to speak like you can’t there’s no Emoji for like derogatory statements like it’s really like a

[45:53] smiley face frownie fa face you know poo shape thing or whatever like it’s even the worst Emoji is juvenile at best so I I think having things like uh like prean

[46:10] communication like a modular communication system for each game that’s catered to a particular style of the game will remove that it’ll allow

[46:20] players to still communicate what they need to communicate in regards to the game play so like if you are playing something like a Battlefront um you’re

[46:27] able to tell people to like attack that Target but not only are you telling them to attack that Target but you’re telling them to attack that Target in a voice

[46:37] acted like properly sounding audio clip of a character from that universe as opposed to just some like pre-teen guy who’s still figuring out what his voice

[46:45] sounds like shouting it at the top of his lungs microphone so I I think those sorts of communication methods will will help with that because it’ll allow

[46:56] people to say what they need to say for the sake of the game being able to move forward um but it will remove and mute their ability to say anything but

[47:06] see got little thumbs up little thumbs up emoji there for you and he didn’t call me a name no no you brought it home Gavin good work go

[47:17] it was it was out of the Poo emoji and I thought your uh your explanation did pretty well actually yeah oh yeah so yeah know um Jeff like

[47:28] closing thoughts on how future gaming will be I guess kind of we’ve kind of taken it to more of the multiplayer stint but uh no I think it

[47:38] will be more interconnected for sure and I think we just need to monitor our kids like any good parent would and just um even U be in their world a little bit

[47:50] because I know a lot of parents get disconnected from what their kids are doing so even I think it with our generation it might not be the same same

[47:57] problem cuz we’re mostly technology um kind of into technology and we can ride along with it so enthusiastic to because yeah yeah

[48:08] yeah we’re wanting to be around with them so we’ll be the lame parents being like can I play Battle 18 with you but honey I have to play the video game the

[48:19] the boy wants to test it out I got to beat it first to know if there’s any bad words kind of what kind of am I but I

[48:28] think we’ll be more involved and I don’t think it’ll be an issue I just think it’s a monitoring issue and just see what happens and where there are issues

[48:37] U find Solutions and and correct it right um but I think that’s kind of goes back to what we’ve talked about on just um just watching our kids and it

[48:48] will be interconnected I don’t think it will implode I don’t think people will go back to just solo single player come over my house kind of games it’ll be all

[48:56] online it’ll be one huge uh Community hopefully and whether or not they go like the universal em like Emoji kind of way to create that experience in each

[49:07] game and kind of control the experience or if it’s more Loosely based and have people yelling screaming at each other I don’t know um but again monitor it um

[49:18] but I think that’s the feature is just everybody’s talking to everybody yeah hope do yeah like I said as long as we know how bad it can get

[49:28] they people are getting smarter we are knowledgeable about and I think ideally we’re looking at a very bright gaming future for our kids oh there’s gonna be

[49:37] a lot of fun stuff out there I hope so I want to play a lot of fun stuff I can’t wait to play my kids games I seriously can’t I turn on the 3D though I turn on

[49:46] the 3D and play some Mario Karts that’s awesome so everyone that will do it for this week as always we’d love to hear from you if you have

[49:56] questions or show suggestions you can reach us at our website at newad gaming.com we do this show weekly and you can ALS please like And subscribe on

[50:06] us on YouTube or where any fine fine podcasts are finded so we’ll see you next week and as always I am Trevor and I have a

[50:15] four-month-old I am Gavin I have an almost three-month old I am Jeff I have a two and a half and a 5-year-old great have a great week guys

[50:25] see you