Defining Duke, Episode 218: The Thread
Added 2025-03-03 19:51:28 +0000 UTCHey, all! It's time to submit your questions, comments, concerns, thoughts, and ideas for Episode 218 of Defining Duke.
Great ways to get your write-up used: Be pithy, be topical, and be insightful. Walls-of-text, posts littered with poor grammar and punctuation, etc., are promptly (though respectfully) ignored.
As this is an Xbox podcast, be sure your submission makes sense within that realm. You have until Wednesday, March 5th at 3 PM ET to make your submission.
Comments
Lord Crognito: The Beefy Croc Expert lol?
RK128
2025-03-05 21:17:30 +0000 UTCHello Throat Man Matty and Croc Man Cog! Did you guys notice Tony Hawk Pro Skater 3 and 5 is Play Anywhere? As someone who owns all of the consoles, a ROG Ally and a PC. I am starting to pay attention to Play Anywhere a bit more. I have always been a PlayStation fan since the PS3 days and it’s kind of a bummer that if I buy a game in PS5, it is forever locked to that console and I can’t bring it with me and my ROG if I were to go on a trip. Thoughts about building your libraries with Play Anywhere? Love y’all keep it up! And shout out to Sov man, he’s been in my mind this whole week. Prayers for him and his family. ❤️
Jeff Caseres
2025-03-05 17:30:31 +0000 UTCHello Mr. ThroatyPlays and Lord Coatnito I've been thinking about the fact that some of the studios we grew up with aren't quite what they once were and how, in a way, its bringing back the spirit of gamestop roulette (not to steal from retro rebound). What I mean though is remember the days of walking into gamestop unsure what you'll walk out with and whether or not its going to be good or bad. It feels like we're back to that all be it with less need to leave the gamer throne. It feels like in the 360 era if we saw Bethesda, Bioware or even Ubisoft we knew what it was and we'd see you day one BUT it seems like the brand is losing its meaning and gamers are starting to be more in a "wait and see" kind of mode when it comes to new games. My question to you guys is, do you think this is all bad or is there a light of potential for new stars in the making and do you think the element of surprise, when we weren't quite sure who would bring a banger, is back in the gaming industry?
STATS
2025-03-05 16:38:09 +0000 UTCLook Matty, If I ever hear you complain about the Mets again, I might just finish what The Veilguard started and end you. Why? Because I am a lowly Marlins fan (and yes, it hurts just typing that). We have real problems. It's like trying to win game of the year with the dev team that made Life of Black Tiger. Now that that’s out of the way, I’ve got a quick health is wealth write-in. I recently started training a fellow gamer and dad (I’m a personal trainer), and I told him about your podcast and this segment you do. I think the sense of community and camaraderie has played a huge role in making his fitness journey stick. Over the last five weeks, he’s dropped a couple of waist sizes and added weight to all his lifts. Normalizing strength and health in the gaming community is something I can really get behind. Keep it up, and thanks for all you do!
Alex Nuche
2025-03-05 16:15:01 +0000 UTCBlessed Day Blue Blur Matty and Unleashed Cog, If you weren't aware, the Sonic community impresses again with another PC port. Through decompilation, the 360 version of Sonic Unleashed is playable on PC without emulation. It offers higher resolution options, frame rate improvements and more quality of life changes. While I'm excited for this as a huge Sonic fan, the bigger story is that the tools used for this project are now open source, meaning any 360 game, with enough work, could natively run on PC. What do you both make of these efforts? Do you think MS will reach out to the team and leverage these tools for bringing the 360 BC library to PC? Have a 'I'll stand on the fact the Werehog isn't that bad, just not what fans wanted' kind of day. Source - https://github.com/hedge-dev/UnleashedRecomp https://github.com/hedge-dev/XenonRecomp https://github.com/hedge-dev/XenosRecomp
RK128
2025-03-05 11:27:49 +0000 UTCGentleman, I have a quick starting question for you. I’m no mathematician, in fact I majored in creative writing, but correct me if I’m wrong … Croc + Cog = Crog?
Shard of Odium
2025-03-05 08:24:50 +0000 UTCI’m not going to buy physical copies of a 360 game for my old ass Xbox 360 that uses component cables lol.
The Great Santini
2025-03-05 08:14:16 +0000 UTCHey Condominic Santitsago Cog and Marcum Feindick Matty, Dudes, with even GameSpot reporting on this Gears collection, it looks as though it's actually happening. Do you boys anticipate 2 and 3 will receive the Ultimate Edition treatment or are more straightforward remasters likely? Also it looks like a day one PS5 release. If Microsoft are willing to make that move with one of their staple franchises, is it safe to assume it will be the same for all newly announced games going forward? Have a 'titty gobbling Matty discovering that Beserkers are the only female locust' kind of day, Nick
Your Boi Nicky V
2025-03-05 07:45:28 +0000 UTCHey Dukes, Kind of an awkward write-in and I was featured on the show last week so i understand if this doesn’t make it in. To Cog specifically, what was your opinion on Colin’s use of the N word on Constellation this week? I don’t want to stir drama but I was genuinely surprised to hear him say that publicly. I don’t care what people say in their private lives or in their own homes but I think saying it publicly is going too far. I also think it was unusually tone deaf for Colin considering there was a Black employee on the episode. It’s like Colin himself always says, you shouldn’t put people in “situations” where all the options are less than ideal. And what was the point? All this to make some sort of point in the culture war? Sorry for the rambling but this has me feeling conflicted as a bi-racial person that loves LSM and I would appreciate hearing Cog’s opinion.
Gabriel Baker
2025-03-05 06:52:01 +0000 UTCYou could always buy (or don’t) physical 360 copies and then use a 360 emulator
Bartevious
2025-03-05 05:59:55 +0000 UTCMatty, In a recent video you talked about how Forza 5 Premium edition was leading preorder charts due to early access. I don’t think it’s fair to base it solely on that, as the premium edition is also the cheapest edition that comes with all DLC. Just don’t want it to become too strong of a narrative without that being considered. Cheers and have a great show fellas.
Bartevious
2025-03-05 05:57:13 +0000 UTCMaybe too late, but playing thru avowed currently and wondering what if any are your favorite "grey" decision points from any previous RPGs .
Vito Chiaramonte
2025-03-05 04:28:54 +0000 UTCHey dukes As a person who works ten hours a day and has minimal time to game as of late, how do y’all manage multiple games? How do you manage when the games are 80 hrs plus? P.s: can we just acknowledge that cog has the best “hell yeah” in the industry? Every time someone says anything cog agrees with, we get best hype inducing “hell yeah!”. Keep up the great work!
Sofreeto Bandito
2025-03-05 00:32:03 +0000 UTCDUKES, All I gotta say is that WWE is peak fiction. They fucking did it. After all these years, John Cenahas turned heel for his final run and I couldn’t be more excited. Have a “Make a wish has now been updated to Break a wish” kinda day!
Not John Cena
2025-03-04 21:25:39 +0000 UTCPSA to Lord Crocnito, if you like the feel of Crocs but hate the look, they actually sell normal looking shoes on their website. I bought a pair of normal looking brown loafers a few years ago but the insides are Crocs meaning you can be comfortable and not publicly shamed for one great price.
ThroatCoatGoat
2025-03-04 20:10:48 +0000 UTCHey Dukes Got to give it up to the Monster Hunter Wilds crew for selling 8 million copies in 3 days. Also the constellation topic you brought up about funerals Cogs made me think about my recent experiences, so all I’ll say is have a I’m not crying, your crying cog kind of day.
Florida Man
2025-03-04 18:56:51 +0000 UTCHello cog and his cohost Wrestler Jeff jarrett is bringing back the publisher acclaim. Have a "are you sure about that?" Kind of day
Josh Ashley
2025-03-04 18:44:35 +0000 UTCHey Dukes, Tony Hawk 3+4 was officially announced…which collection has the edge over the other? I have 1+2 but only played maybe 7 hours but had a lot of fun. Is there anything 3+4 will do more and/or better then 1+2? Keep rockin’, crocin’, and Hawkin’ 😏
pen in pant
2025-03-04 17:53:50 +0000 UTCHey Dukes, Matty, thanks for the shoutout on Kena: Bridge of Spirits. I just started it recently and I'm about 6 hours in. This game is incredible considering it's the studio's first game. The combat, the exploration, and the story are all compelling, and I love having the little Rot guys following me around with all the different hats you can collect. This game has great pacing and little quality of life things like a map showing you what collectibles you've already found. The story is heartfelt without being overly verbose which really gives the visuals and animation the space. Are you still enjoying the game? Would love to hear more of your thoughts on the game. Thanks for all that you do, Dukes! P.S. Matty, I know you aren't the biggest movie buff but check out Flow if you get the chance. Very emotional story, without a word spoken, about a unlikely group of animals working together during a flood. It just won an Oscar for best animated movie beating out your beloved Inside Out 2.
JP
2025-03-04 15:10:46 +0000 UTCHey Dukes, What's the temperature check on your hype level for Atomfall? It's hitting gamepass later this month and I feel like it's going under the radar a little! I watched the IGN gameplay deep dive video and this looks like the Fallout game in the UK we've all been looking for. It's quickly climbing my list of most anticipated games. The exploration, mystery and choice and consequences all seem right up Matty's ally! Rebellion are a great studio if this lands it could be epic. Are either of you gonna give it a try on the 27th? Thanks dudes! Have a 'If Bethesda don't make a new Fallout we'll do it ourselves" kinda day!
Leeiscooljenkins
2025-03-04 11:02:39 +0000 UTCHey dukes! Matty, your recent rediscovery of Sudoku reminded me of how I use to play Nonogram puzzles all the time. I recently bought two books, and my wife and I have been doing puzzles together. Have you or Cog ever done these? If you like them, there is a Nintendo DS version of it called Picross 3D, which is (as the name states) three dimensional Nonogram puzzles. Thanks, and have a "wonderful" kind of day
ajwhite
2025-03-04 04:42:52 +0000 UTCHowdy dukes, Call of duty 2025 is rumoured to be MW4 Also looks like warzone is in trouble with delaying verdansk Alot of streamers claim that verdansk won't bring them back to call of duty, When will we see the call of duty fall off point.? Would love to hear your thoughts.
David Markham
2025-03-04 03:50:34 +0000 UTCDukes, I recently got a beefy gaming laptop (that somehow has a 4090 in it) and with it, I became a first-time Gamepass subscriber. To my surprise and utter disappointment, the original Gears trilogy is not available on PC. What the hell is going on? I was looking forward to playing Gears 2 and 3 for the first time but I guess I’m SOL. Do you think they’ll release a remastered trilogy on PC any time soon? Thanks for all that you do!
The Great Santini
2025-03-04 03:43:45 +0000 UTCHey MrThroatcoat and Lord Cursed Crocs, My gaming time has been severely cut down with my now 3 month old daughter, but I’ve been getting back into reading a lot more. Matty, I’ve been keeping note of the games industry books you’ve mentioned, and I just finished CliffyB’s. Are there any you recommend? I’m currently reading a making of KOTOR biography by Alex Kane and have Masters of DOOM on deck.
Broderick Fleming
2025-03-04 03:39:52 +0000 UTCYo Matty Now that you are playing Tribe Nine , will you watch the anime to see what happens before the game? Also, Akudama Drive is another Too Kyo Games anime that I think is really good.
Ed
2025-03-04 02:34:31 +0000 UTCGood day gents Do you believe Fable could be delayed to put it on new hardware possibly? I was thinking what the new Xbox would need to show out and if they could drop a couple good 'timed' exclusives around it that would be an appealing offer. Also with Rumor that CoD is being developed on Next Gen Xbox Kits. Anyways. I'll hand up and listen.
MJPGrass
2025-03-04 00:41:50 +0000 UTCHey All-Natural Double D's, Suikoden fans are having a monkey's paw moment. They're getting a new game! But it's a gotcha for the phone. Have fun rolling for goonable j-pegs to min-max your teams just for those units to be worthless in a couple months. Have a "COG blaming his imaginary kid to get a refund on the thousands he dropped Suikoden: Star Lead" kind of day!
Big Dumb Stupid Idiot
2025-03-04 00:31:12 +0000 UTCHi Cog & Matty, I'm looking for some advice. So I was a freelance game reviewer on YouTube. I managed to support myself for 3 years but the work dried up. After months of searching I couldn't find anything with my experience or my degree. I just started a new retail job and I run two YouTube channels but they're not big enough to support myself yet. So two things; how do I stay positive after a major career setback and try to find the balance between work, my YouTube channels and life. I know this was a long one but thanks for reading and have a great day :)
Adam Conner
2025-03-03 22:41:00 +0000 UTCHowdy Dukes Over the past few years we’ve seen many rounds of layoffs in the gaming industry. We’ve also seen gaming development budgets skyrocket to the point that even 5 million sold might be break even territory. With this has come calls to rewind a bit and scale down budgets to something more akin to previous generations. However, there’s one item that many people seem to forget. Yes, we got fantastic games for much cheaper in generations prior, but many of those games had serious crunch during development. Crunch was a large budget reducer, given so many people did their own jobs plus many others at the cost of a single workers salary. Those extra salaries are big budget items during development now. Do the Dukes think that we can get games of a quality like FF7 Rebirth or, fingers crossed here, Fable using reduced resources without something akin to crunch making a return to the industry? Thanks and have a “I’m not actually advocating for this, but figured it’d make a fun thought experiment” kind of day. (Last name is ‘Nix’)
Adam Niksch
2025-03-03 22:28:50 +0000 UTCWhat’s up Duke boys, Matty on your last episode of Summoning Signs you were talking about skating and the pressures of not wearing pads. Around the THPS day I was an avid skater. I was a card carrying member of the Vans Skatepark in Orange County, I’ve skated at Bob Burnquist house, Tony Hawk actually helped me drop in on that huge halftime at Vans; I use to with with Riley Hawk with somewhat frequency at the Carlsbad Skatepark and typically I would always wear my pads. Street skating however was 100% different, you would always run into the older kids who would straight up call you the F-slur if they caught you wearing pads. Once such a situation happen and I left the pads behind… Happen to be the same day I get speed-wabbles as I was thrashing an unusually steep street and landed directly on my knees imbedding rocks and dirt a half inch into my skin. The type of crash I should have got stitches for but my mom didn’t have time to take me the hospital so fuck it. Sorry for the long post but hearing you reminisce about old skate days maybe you want to do the same. Anyway have a “Skate or die” kinda day.
Davy Sueppel
2025-03-03 22:24:35 +0000 UTCHello dukes ! I wrote in about hmm 7 months ago saying I had bought an Xbox to be part of the conversation due to enjoying the podcast so much . I played starfield and haven’t used it since . I’m looking into how to organise a refund from you guys Thanks In all seriousness still love the podcast just as much as day one Cogs positive energy and outlook really does brighten up my day And Matty someone that puts in as much effort as you into each thing he does you can only respect No questions just blowing smoke Keep up the great work dudes
Sir Poops McGuffin
2025-03-03 22:07:13 +0000 UTCDear Dukes, I'm more cautious of AI myself, but one idea has been sticking with me. One thing on the MUSE AI story that many outlets have not discussed was using AI for realizing and fleshing out difficult concepts for games. Think about about how many trailers in the past 20 years have been CG or artificially created (the Cyberpunk demo for example) which was the creative vision, but was not achieved due to time, budget and/or coding limitations. Those resources could be created and applied to AI to develop a difficult concept to help overcome the development challenges of implementing them. It does shed some light to the "human creative" element we want, but also could potentially provide the tools to ambitious ideas happen. Keep up the good work.
Zugdar
2025-03-03 22:01:13 +0000 UTCMatty, Gamespot published an article titled: "Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Is Picking Up Where Lost Odyssey Left Off." How excited are you? Honestly, I’m always skeptical when it comes to ambitious new games from first-time developers. Of course, there are exceptions (like Lies of P and Stellar Blade), but more often than not, these games have great ideas—only one or two of which are actually executed well. The entire marketing campaign for Expedition 33 revolves around its combat and story, and that worries me. What happens between fights? Are there side quests? Loot? Minigames? Puzzles? Am I the only one concerned?
Michael Elady
2025-03-03 21:39:20 +0000 UTCGreetings, Dukes! Thoughts on the Tony Hawk announcement that happened 3/4? At time of writing it’s still a mystery, but let’s hope it’s awesome. The 2020 remake is a top 5 game for me. Thanks for reading and take care :)
Brandon Stark
2025-03-03 21:20:54 +0000 UTCGood morning my fellow Duke Boys, I wanted to take a very brief minute and give a shout out to Stalker 2. I just finished the game, and wow, it's better than Fallout 4, better than Starfield, and better than Dragon Age.... Inquisition. Of course it's better than Veilguard. It sits at a 73 on Metacritic, which to me is another indictment of game journalists and outlets. There are some who won't like the survival mechanics, and it is hard, but to any who enjoyed Fallout or Starfield, give this a shot. It truly is a fantastic and rewarding experience. Another true Gamepass gem I'm not certain I would've played otherwise. Take care Dukes!
Mr. Scott If You're Nasty
2025-03-03 20:31:46 +0000 UTCMatty, what is happening to your co-host? Cog out here crab walking in Crocs at a movie theater while King is taking glizzys to the face. What is the trip to Tokyo doing to this man?
sotelo74
2025-03-03 20:10:08 +0000 UTCHey Duke Boys, First time writing in, this question is for Cog, I wanted to ask if you have ever played Judgment, the spinoff of the yakuza series? I’ve been playing the first one on Xbox and I got to say this game is so great with its mix of yakuza combat and detective gameplay, I’m surprised nobody really talks about this game. Just wanted to give props to this forgotten series kind of day
Jacobmd36
2025-03-03 20:04:44 +0000 UTC
