The Press Box - Ep. 204: New-Console Anxiety and Mark Ingram on 'Call of Duty' and Clowns

Episode Date: November 4, 2016

The Ringer's Ben Lindbergh and Jason Concepcion talk to their colleague Victor Luckerson about mid-generation console updates and the PS4 Pro, Nintendo Switch optimism, and Nintendo's mobile strategy. Then they bring on New Orleans Saints running back Mark Ingram to discuss his 'Call of Duty' love affair, gaming culture in the NFL, and his thoughts on creepy clowns. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Hello and welcome to Achievement-oriented Channel 33's gaming podcast. My name is Ben Lindberg and I'm a writer for the ringer.com and on the other line, my permanent co-op partner, Jason Concepcion. Hey, Jason. It's wonderful to be here. Once again, they're continuing to let us do this. I know. Against all odds. We've made it to episode two. I feel like we completed the tutorial last week and now we just got to grind. Just got to start climbing that upgrade tree. One more is a kill streak. Yeah, right. Speaking of which, later,

in this episode, we will be talking to Mark Ingram, whom most of you know as a former Heisman trophy winner and a current NFL running back with the New Orleans Saints. Jason and I are sorely lacking in football knowledge, so we know about his football background from Wikipedia, but we also know him as a huge Call of Duty fan, and today is the release day for Call of Duty Infinite Warfare and Modern Warfare Remastered. So we're going to talk to Mark about his history with the series and his play style and the Call of Duty subcommittee. culture in the NFL and a few other topics, including clowns and Kill Street Attack Dogs. But first, lest you think that this is just an FPS podcast because of how we started last

week, we are going to talk about something other than big budget shooters. And we told you last week that from time to time, we'd be talking to colleagues from the ringer. And we are making good on that promise today by bringing in Victor Luckerson, who is one of the ringers tech writers and frequently finds reasons slash excuses to write about video games, Victor, hello. Hey, Ben, Jason. How are you guys doing? We're doing okay. So we wanted to have you on to talk about some console news because it's an exciting and scary time in the console world.

Next week, the PS4 Pro comes out, which marks, I suppose you could say, the first mid-generation console update or overhaul that's not just a moderate. at facelift, but an actual step forward hardware-wise, it's not just a slim version of something. It's to some extent a different console. And we have the new Nintendo console, the Switch comes out next March, and Super Mario Run. Nintendo's first mobile platformer comes out on iOS next month. And it just so happens that you have written about all three of these things. So you are the perfect person to talk about these topics. And let us not forget the Xbox 1S that it's already out.

Yeah, sure. in the Scorpio, which is a ways away. Yeah, next year, right? Yeah. So over the summer, you wrote a great young man yells at cloud article called Stop Ruinning Console Games with PC headaches, which I think definitely spoke to me. I think spoke to Jason too. Same.

Yeah, so to quote from that briefly, you said, this is new territory for the console industry, and it could end badly for consumers. For more than three decades, gamers and console manufacturers have entered into an honest packed. I buy your system for a few hundred bucks and you, along with third-party developers, supply me with the best games you can make on that platform for five to seven years. This is how it's always worked. So now we are entering an unfamiliar world and you have mixed feelings. Yeah, no, no. I'm really like not that excited about it, to be honest. Like I said in the article, I like the simplicity of having a console that you can buy and guarantee to get the best

games possible on that system for at least five years. And we look at this new PS4 and the new Xbox. I think for now the games are going to be compatible with both the original PS4 and the PS4 Pro. But it's easy to imagine in the future them saying, oh, these games are only going to be possible on a PS4 Pro in virtual reality, for instance, or that kind of thing. So I feel like I spent a lot of money on a PS4 last year, and I am not fully confident I'm going to get my money's worth

because they have these new systems that are going to be their priority going forward. Now, so with this mid-generation release, I guess you could say virtual reality is like the value added here. I mean, there's 4K, which is you have to buy a television too, so that's a limited value added. What do they do after this? How do they keep rolling this out if this is really the new paradigm? Yeah, I don't know. I think when you think about virtual reality and sort of the need for the like increased fidelity and that kind of thing,

to create an immersive experience, it's sort of easy to imagine, you know, virtuality 2.0, 3.0, 4.0, et cetera, and sort of the iterative process going on through that, I guess. But I'm also curious about whether or how far we are from sort of like cloud. based gaming. You know, PlayStation already has the you can rent PS3 games on PS4 and play them emulated via the cloud. So I think like in the long term, maybe this is an issue sort of like an end of console issue, you know, and in the future we're going to be playing all over games via the internet anyway. So then maybe I want to be mad about having to buy a $500 box and being obsolete after two years, hopefully. Yeah. So I'm trying to imagine the appeal of the

PS4 pro to current PS4 owners. I mean, it seems like for now the upgrades are limited to things that only a small segment of the market would really care about. Like, if you get really into reading about gigaflops and HDR and 4K, then this is right up your alley. But for now, it seems like if you already have a PS4, the reasons to spend another $400 on a PS4 pro are fairly limited. Yeah, it seems like it. When I talk to people about, oh, are you getting the new PS4?

They actually talk about the PS4 Slim, which is a, it has the old specs of the console, but it's smaller and more affordable. So I feel like that's actually going to be the one that is a system seller. So, I mean, maybe it wants since it's a smart strategy because Sony's going to get sort of the people who always wait for the slim-down system to buy the PS4 Slim and maybe they'll get the hardcore gamers to buy the PS4 Pro. And I'll just be in the middle frustrated that we're going down this path. Yeah.

And I kind of went away from PC gaming to an extent at a certain point. And I think it did have a lot to do with that kind of pressure that you're talking about. It wasn't so much the expense of new hardware or the trouble of installing new hardware, although it was those things. But it was just the constant anxiety, the sense that I was falling behind that I was not playing games at the optimal settings and that I needed to upgrade to keep up with everyone else with their new sweet rigs or whatever. And I kind of realized that that's sort of an irrational fear, right? Because if you commit to console gaming, you're essentially just saying I'm going to stick with. the same hardware, and I'm not going to bother upgrading. And so basically playing a console game that is also out for PC is essentially the same as just playing it with an old PC and turning all

the settings down, right? And yet it doesn't bother me in the same way. Yeah, I don't know. I think with consoles, people historically have been very okay with the fact that it's not going to be the cutting edge thing. And I mean, that's been very successful for the industry for decades. So I'm really hoping that maybe these new systems don't succeed honestly because I really prefer a situation where every five years I get a new system. Maybe this is me being very selfish, but that's the console world that I've been enjoying for my entire life. I like to see it say pretty similar. I remember the first time I had like a Pentium 3 that I scavenged from something. I remember the first far cry was the game where I was like, oh man, I can't play this game at all. But the thing with

consoles and you're exactly right about you're essentially playing PC games on the lowest settings but speaking as a person who plays a lot of multiplayer you come away with a confidence that you're not playing anyone that has an advantage over you in processor speed and graphics speed um everything is going to be pretty much the playing field is going to be very level so i think you know there's there's that aspect to it as well but i mean victor as much as we're sort of reluctantly being dragged kicking and screaming into this future like isn't it amazing that we've made it this far, like, without having mid-generation updates? Because, I mean, you cover a whole host of devices that just get an upgrade every year, you know, whether it's a phone

or any other sort of device. It's more common to get frequent updates than updates every seven years or so. And software on consoles, obviously, is iterative and has been forever, you know, from Madden to Dynasty Warriors or whatever. We're completely accustomed to buying basically the same game every year with a few new features slapped on. So it seems like we are overdue for this as much as we might resent it. Yeah, I mean, obviously, in the post iPhone era, everyone's used to having to buy wildly expensive gadgets year after year. So I guess in that sense, the companies have waited long enough that for a lot of people

who are not as cummergently as me, it's not going to be like an outrage or whatever. But, yeah, I mean, I think sort of the mindset to upgrade has already sort of been ingrained thanks to other products, which could lead these things to be successful. But I also just think that people care about their other devices more than their video game consoles. Like, I think for a lot of people, the console is still sort of like a toy or just like an entertainment device that's not as essential as your phone or that kind of thing. So I think it's still going to be tougher for them to convince people that they need to upgrade their PS4 as often as they upgrade their iPhone, for instance. And there's some danger of a slippery slope here, right?

not only in the sense that it's possible that at some point these things might not be backwards compatible anymore, but also if it's profitable every four years, then someone's going to try to do it every two years and then every year. And maybe the price will come down accordingly, but still we'll be looking at more and more updates and more and more things to feel bad about not owning. And I guess the only thing that maybe could save us is if developers protest because they don't want to. to be devoting more resources to developing games for multiple versions of the same system? Maybe, man, I don't know. Maybe Nintendo can save us somehow with the switch. That's my hope, somehow. I'm going to say, I am a little bit surprised about the mid-consul generation paradigm.

And I would be surprised if it speeds up, just simply because Sony and Microsoft lose so much money on each console. You know, it's really about bundling consumers into a system more than it is selling hardware. I mean, they lose reportedly, you know, $60 to $80 on each console. Microsoft's probably more. So I think I would be surprised if this sped up any more than it is. Right. That's kind of why I think the sort of cloud-based model that they've been experimenting with

is sort of like where they'd want to go ideally because then they're not selling consoles at a loss anymore. They're focusing on software where they make all their money. So I don't really, I don't know exactly how far we are away from that being viable. But I think if you look at in the long term, that's where they'd want to be more than trying to sell more boxes in physical stores. I feel like kind of a hypocrite because you guys remember the N64 expansion pack? Oh, yeah.

That was my favorite thing. You just plug in this little thing and it doubles the system's memory to eight megabytes. And suddenly you get higher-res rogue squadron and you can play perfect dark and it looks really pretty. It was required for Majora's mask, I remember. Yeah, right. And Donkey Kong 64 too, except that game came with it. So I guess that's why I didn't mind that so much because, you know, you just slipped this little chip into a pre-existing port on the console, and it wasn't super expensive, and if a game really required it, sometimes it actually came with it.

So it was just kind of a cool thing that I could lord over my friends who did not have expansion-packed N64s and had to play with lower resolutions. So speaking of Nintendo consoles, let's move to the Switch. So the Wii U was the first non-virtual boy Nintendo console I never owned, and I was not alone in that. kind of was plagued by guilt throughout its life cycle for not owning it just out of habit of buying Nintendo systems, but I think they gave people fewer reasons to buy this one than maybe they ever had before. And so Switch is pretty important. And you are encouraged by what you have seen so far, which basically amounts to a three-minute video of attractive 20-somethings being super excited about the Switch. Right. They're playing Switch on a basketball court and like in the

airport and in these really bizarre scenarios, they don't seem that realistic, but I mean, they're pausing their actual pickup game to play 2K on the Switch. They're working out their super smash like strategies before the e-sports competition. Right. So what makes you mildly optimistic based on what we've seen so far? Well, first of all, to give my own Nintendo history, I guess I've got all this system since N64. I even got a Wii U, but I sold it after like six months. I wasn't feeling it. I got it for Smash Brothers.

And then once I got tired of that, I was like, you know, I kind of made a big mistake here. So I've been down on Nintendo recently. But the switch looks cool to me. I think the idea of a console that can be both home console and portable is really cool. Like the idea of being able to take a game you're playing right there in your living room and go with you. Maybe not like to the airport to hit on a girl. But, you know, on the subway or like on a vacation.

That's really convenient. But for me, the thing that's really cool about it is the fact that it's going to allow Nintendo to combine their home console and portable development teams. The big issue with all Nintendo systems is they have very few games because third parties don't like developing for Nintendo systems. And, I mean, it's a huge company with a lot of really talented designers, but they're often split between the DS line and the Wii line over the last decade or so. So if you can get those two teams together working on Game for One system, they might be able to get or have fewer the droughts that sort of seem to plague a lot of their, lighter systems. Yeah, and I think you and I are both sort of skeptical about the third party support, but Jason's buying it. Well, I mean, just just in the number of third parties that have been announced thus far, it's already like three times what the Wii U had, you know, throughout its

life. So, I mean, that's encouraging. I mean, they showed Skyrim being played on it, you know, what that says about, you know, the horsepower of the switch is unknown, but I mean, that's encouraging. Yeah, and I guess that would be my concern. I'm just trying to think of the personal use case for the switch for me, which is not the same as it might be for most people. I work from home and don't leave my apartment, as Jason knows. So I don't know exactly when I would make that much use of the mobile functionality. I mean, you know, if I go out for a quick chores or something, we have podcasts now. So I've kind of abandoned portable gaming to a certain extent just because of my lifestyle, which doesn't apply to everyone else.

So it might work out perfectly well for Nintendo. But aside from just wondering how I can incorporate it into my routine, I am kind of wondering about the hardware just because you figure that unless they are going to come up with some solution where they can downscale the home versions of the game for mobile, then you'd have to assume that they would just have to make everything playable on the portable system, and that would almost have to depress the capabilities, right? Right. From what I've read, and I don't think they have actually released any specific specs about

the system, there's some speculation that the sort of docking station will provide more computing power so that you can, like, have fidelity on a high-definition screen. But at the end of the day, like, the actual, the graphics are basically going to look more or less the same, like, on your big screen TV or on your small screen. And it seems like based on the companies they're partnering with, I think, Nvidia's providing the chips. And basically they're partnering with people are expecting something like definitely below PS4 Xbox 1, I guess above PS3 Xbox 360. Like not exactly clear where that lands or how much more powerful it is than the Wii U.

But I mean, when you look at that really small form back there, it's hard to imagine it's going to be that powerful. And also the fact that Nintendo hasn't made a super powerful system since I guess the N64 expansion pack thing that we were talking about earlier. Right. So do you think that's a disincentive for developers then? if you have sort of these two state-of-the-art systems that people are concentrating a lot of their resources on. And then if you want to develop for the Nintendo console, you have to sort of scale back your specs. Or is that just a necessity for Nintendo because they can't compete with Sony and Microsoft head-on? Yeah, I mean, they kind of painted themselves into a corner over the last decade. I feel like

the systems have been consistently, like, way weaker since the Wii. And developers, because developers have sort of already unified their development process with, like, PC and on PS4, Xbox being all very similar in the development process. They've sort of like given up, a lot of developers pretty much don't bother anymore to make different kinds of games for different kinds of systems. So that kind of like Hurst Nintendo, when they have this other thing that they're trying to do,

and no one's really like trying to do that kind of like specific multi-platform development anymore. So, I mean, personally, I kind of see they had this long list of third parties. I think they're going to get like stuff like Skyrim, like really old ports or that kind of thing. Maybe like a few exclusives, but I would imagine a lot of it's going to be ports from older systems or just things that like the B team is developing.

I mean, I think the last big Nintendo third party game I can remember is like Resident Evil 4 or something. That was a long time ago. So it's like it's not really not part of their strategy anymore, I feel like. They're a different kind of company than the one they used to like have all the games a long time ago. Yeah. And obviously for people like us with long Nintendo histories and loyalties, a lot of it comes down to the first part of games, which was one of the big reasons why I never got

a Wii you or, you know, I mean, if there's a Zelda game, which there is, and if there's a 3D Mario game, which there is, and maybe if there's a Metroid game, I'm probably going to buy the thing, regardless of what else is available. So a lot of it really does come down to that, although maybe that's not a sustainable strategy or a growth strategy for people who aren't already hooked on Nintendo franchises. Yeah, it's not a growth strategy, but I think it's a survival strategy. Like, you have to, you have to release those games. I think, you know, with the original Wii, the Nintendo really created a brand that was like, okay, this is for families, not so much gamers, you know? It's like, this is a revolutionary home entertainment device that's about, it's about control schemes,

not so much graphics. And it happened at a time when, you know, consoles were shifting towards, we're going to show you the horsepower. Like, here's the best games we can show you. Here's Grand Theft Auto. Here's, like, games that you're really going to want to play because of the power of these consoles and just created this kind of like dual system that Nintendo's been stuck in. Right for sure. I think it's going to be interesting to see like sort of how many Nintendo fans there actually are because when you think about the fact like their consoles have struggled but their hands are super successful and they have been, you know, since Game Boy. So now they're combining these platforms, like how many, are they going to have like one really big user base because you have the people

who like DS and the people who like Wii or whatever combined or is it, are they going to like continue off because people just don't care about Nintendo games that might anymore? So I think me interesting to see what happens with the combined platforms. Do you guys ever think we'll see anything like Game Boy again? I mean, I was thinking about this the other day. That Game Boy had a life of like 10, 11 years. Right. It's you, I don't think we'll ever see anything like that again.

Yeah, yeah, Dad. It was like comically out of date by the time. I think Game Boy came out when I was born in 1989, which I think might be the year it came out and then it was like, 2000, that's ridiculous. It was around in three different decades, which is absurd. It's absurd. So what do you think it means for Nintendo's mobile strategy or their mobile presence,

which to this point has been nearly non-existent, but seems to be ramping up at least slightly? What does it mean for that that they are still developing a system that they intend for people to take with them when they're on the go? Are they going to be competing with their own mobile games, or can they just keep them in completely different sort of silos. Well, I think the sort of different silos, it's definitely their strategy. Like, I think Sugar Miyamoto, the creator Mario, has talked about how Super Mario run the game they're making for the iPhone, which is a runner a la Temple run.

The idea of that is to get people like thinking about Mario again, exposed to Mario again, enjoying Mario and then saying, hey, if you want to get the real Mario game by then it's Nintendo Switch. So I don't think even, like the games they've announced so far are all sort of very mobile-centric and not necessarily that innovative or, creative and I think that's sort of on purpose because they're trying to get people to do these sort of like light, low calorie entertainment on the mobile with Nintendo branding and hopefully that I'll get you to go get the real thing on the Switch. Pay a little more money for those

experiences. But I guess it could if something like Super Mario Run is able to, I mean, if it catches on, if it's profitable, if it's not quite the same experience that you would get from the Switch or even say the 3DS, but people will play it the way they play Angry Birds. or Candy Crush or whatever the other popular mobile game is, then that could at least help finance Nintendo's other efforts, which would probably be a pretty welcome development at this point. Oh, yeah, for sure. Pokemon Go has been a huge money maker.

Only sort of for Nintendo because Pokemon has this weird Byzantine ownership structure that involves like four different companies, which is really strange. But, I mean, the game is making a lot of money. And you can imagine, like, Mario, which is also a super strong entertainment brand, being really popular on phones as well. So I think there's definitely, like, Nintendo has had a few years in the red under the Wii, which is very unusual for them. So they definitely need, and in addition to sort of like recalibrating their home console strategy, they also actually need money. So putting games on iPhone is going to be good for that.

Don't we all? Don't we all need money? When it all comes down to it. By the way, I apologize to everyone for my non-standard pronunciation of Mario. I'm pretty sure it's a New York thing. Wait, how do you say it? Mario. Is that not how you say Mario?

Well, I'm from New York. Oh, Mario. Mario. Mario. It's a New York thing. I'm pretty sure. Mario. Yeah, that's how he says it.

Yeah. What are they say in the movie? I'm trying to remember what they say in the movie. I don't know. I'm not sure that's canon. How do you say Wario? Oh, I do say Wario. Yeah, see?

Yeah, that's inconsistent. Yeah. Huh. I don't know. That's how I grew up hearing it. Wallaigi? How's Wallaweezy? I say it the way you say it, when I say it at all.

All right, Victor, good talking to you. You can find Victor's writing at The Ringer. You can find him on Twitter at V-Luck. Thank you for being the third tip of our Triforce. Thank you. Thanks, guys. Have a good one. All right.

So we'll be right back with our call-duty conversation with Mark Engram. Okay, we are joined now by the most athletic person ever to appear on this podcast in its entire two-episode run. and a little peek behind the curtain. We wanted to talk to someone from outside of the video game industry because Call of Duty has such cross-cultural appeal. And we had a bunch of options to choose from. And we did our due diligence, which mostly consisted of Twitter stalking, the various people that we could talk to to try to see how serious about Call of Duty they were.

And, Mark, your Call of Duty credentials checked out. I think you joined Twitter in February. of 2011 and you were tweeting about call of duty as of june 2011 so you've been playing for a while how did you get started man um i started back playing in college man uh and we would we we would play all the time man multiplayer zombies no matter what it might be survival mode you know there's just been so many different uh gaming modes that you can have on through call duty the past whatever seven years or eight years i've been playing the game so it's a game that i really really enjoy a lot of the game that I play pretty much the only game I play a lot of the time but

me and my friends and my teammates and we'll always be online with the headsets and we'll be playing multiplayer zombie campaign modes doing whatever man so it's a game that I really enjoy mark this is Jason personal question what is your kill-death ratio my kill-death ratio is probably like a little bit under one total like point nine seven right now like I got to do better. See, the thing is, is when you first start and, you know, you're trying to get all your perks and all your guns and all your attachments, you got to stay as close to positive as you can because if you're getting a hole early, it's hard to get out of it, you know? Any particular favorite perks all time in the series as a whole? Cold-blooded, of course, has to be one of my favorites.

Just don't, you're immune from all the, you know, score streaks, anything on the ground like a search. or anything. It won't get you. It just will just go past you. So cold-blooded, gung-ho. I like gung-ho a lot. And I'd have to say the extra, what's the, what's the, what's the one? Scavenger? Yeah, no, no, it gives you the extra boost. So when you're jumping, you can, it'll, it'll recharge you faster. Ah, man, I forget what it's called, man. Y'all going to make me go up on the, go logging on my server right now. Is it? Yeah, extra boost. That's what it is, but y'all know what I'm talking about.

Oh, okay, yeah, I was going to say, is it, is it dead eye? After burn. After, okay. Yes, after burner. You know what I mean? It helps you, it charges up your boost faster, so you could jump more and you could jump faster. You don't have to wait as long for your boost to charge up, your boost pack.

The thruster packs recharge faster. Yeah. So have you been tempted at all to try either other shooters or branch out into other genres, or are you just a one franchise man? Man, I've got to stay loyal to the call of duty, man. You know, I have people, I have friends, I was like, have you tried battlefield, have you tried this, if you tried that? I'm like, yeah, you know, but I've got to stay low to call the duty, man. It's always kind of been my thing, you know, ever since my first few years in college, we played a lot, and I've just been stuck on it ever since.

So is there a high point in the series? Did you have a favorite game or one that stands out more than the others? I definitely like, I like MW3 a lot. The one that's out right now, Black Ops 3, I like that a lot. What's the one that was out like in 2009, 2010? Now, was that in the, was that Martyr Warfare? That was Black Ops 2. That was Black Ops 2.

Talk to us about your play style. Like, you're going into a game, multiplayer game, let's say a death match game with your buddies. What's your loadout, perk load out, the gun you're going to use? What's the Kill Street loadout you're going for? Right now. have, I'm either using the ICR or the Razor back. I got the double magazines on there. I got Rapid Fire and I got the Elo site on there.

My perks is Koblen Afterburn and Gunho. My score streaks are it's a Cerberus, a race, and then a mothership. So those are the ones I try to go to. I don't always make the mothership, but on a cage mark, I get the mothership. All time, what's your favorite kill streak? throughout the whole series. My all-time favorite history. It has to be the mothership or the GI unit.

I like the GI unit or the mothership. Because the mothership, if you get that, two of your other teammates can get up in the mothership with you and shoot down on the board. In the GI unit, he just runs around and just killing everybody. Oh, my all-time favorite probably has to be the dogs, man. Yeah, it got to be the dogs. Yeah, the dogs.

Because I'm so into into the game right now, But the dogs are crazy, man. The dogs are the best. Dogs in World of War and then dogs in Black Ops, I love getting them. But, like, for them dogs, be out there a minute and kill you in one bite, God damn. I mean, that was the most overpowered thing. They absolutely get into you.

Those dogs be tearing you up, boy. Do you have, like, a greatest game, like a legendary game that you like to relive, whether it was just your greatest killed death score or whatever your best showing on a leaderboard? Yeah, you know, anytime you're number one in the winter circle, that's always bragging rights, you know? Number one in winter circle always is the best. But I had a game, I think. My best game ever was probably like 38 and 2. I think that's my best game ever.

I know so I have some friends who be going on there. They go 30 piece, 40 piece every time. Like it's crazy. But, you know, I'm just trying to hold my own. Stay over one. keep my killed death ratio positive. You know, that's all I'm trying to do. There be some people on there going crazy online, you know.

Some really good gamers, man. And how many of your teammates play? Is there, like, a big circle on the Saints? Is it big in the NFL in general? It's big in the NFL in general, but especially on the Saints, I have at least, even some of the young trainers, you know, like even the equipment guys. Like, it's not just players. It's just people in the entire organization in the facility.

we're all talking about, yeah, man, let's get on. We have a group chat. We'll all get on there. We was on last night at like 10 p.m., about four of us. Me, Tremont-Armsted, Senio Calamete, one of my friends, Raphael Bush. He plays for Detroit. So it's just a number of us that we all were teammates, and we're at different places now, but we all keep in touch so we could get on duty together.

Is there like a most unexpected, most surprising player who is serious about Call of Duty that people wouldn't guess? Or are you the most hardcore? Are there people who are equally into it? I'm into it. I'm into it heavy, but we got a couple guys that, like, I'm telling you, man, that can do that. That can do it. They can play that game, man.

Like, kill-deaf ratio always, like, over, like, 1-5, like, always getting 30 and 40 pieces. Like, I'm telling you, man, I know I have a couple guys on my team. Like, you know, Taron Arn said he's really good. Ashah Mabry, he's really good. you know, Senio Calamete, that's one of my friends, he's real good. Just a number of guys that I play with, Raphael Bush, I mentioned him. We got a couple other friends that were going to leave with us that's not on teams anymore that play that are real good.

It's just, man, if you get into the game and you have any type of competitiveness about you, like, you're going to master it where you can play pretty well. Like, those guys are real good. I'm okay. Like, I'm pretty decent, but, you know, we got some guys. You got some guys that can really play with anybody. So I think if you talk to anybody around the NFL, I think there's a number of at least 10 to 12, 15 people that's, you know,

solid players and call the duty around this team, you know. So football's a sport for disciplinarians, and you have some coaches who are tough guys. So what do they think about video games? I mean, are they okay with you guys all playing at night? Do they not know about it? Do you have to hide it? Well, I mean, I think you have to know, you have to get your work now.

know, so when we're going to work, and we're watching film and we're knowing all our plays, like, you know, if you come home and you get some downtime, you just want to relax and enjoy your, you know, gaming life. I don't think they have too much of a problem with it as long as you're performing and you know what you're doing when it's time to work, you know. And what is the peak period for gaming during the NFL season? What's the day or the time that you can get the most call duty time in? Monday and Tuesday, for sure.

Those are, if you, when you win some, you're. Monday, you get a victory Monday. So you get a lot of time to game on Monday. And then Tuesday is always a day off around the NFL. So you can get a lot of gaming in on Tuesday as well. So I think Monday and Tuesday would be the peak amount of hours that an NFL player can get some gaming in. As a player, how would you describe your playing style? Are you more, are you a camping guide? Do you prefer to like defend an objective? You want to run. You're like running back, you want to run. I'm running gun, man. I'm running gun. That's why I like that gun hope perk, you know, so I can shoot you while I'm a friend, you know.

So I got a running gun, man. I can't stand camping unless I'm trying to get, like, a bloodthirsty to unlock a camo or if I'm about to get a mothership. I might be able to stay in the corner and, like, you know, get a couple more kills. But my favorite game mode is kill confirmed because you really can't camp on kill confirmed. You know, you got to go out there and you got to confirm your. kill. So that's my favorite. I used to play death match all the time, but you can run into a lot of campers on deathmash.

So I kind of like to run a gun. So I like to kill-confirmed game mode. And I like to be able to run a gun. I might have a lot of death, but I plan on have more kills and deaths, you know? The thing I always liked about kill-confirmed, especially when you just get the game, is it's a great way to learn

a map because you've got to run around. What's your strategy when you first start? You just crack the wrapper off of a new Call of Duty. just downloaded it. What's your, what's your strategy for approaching the game, trying to figure out the maps, learn how to, the ins and outs of the game? So, if you, if you play the campaign, you can get a good feel for a majority of the maps, you know? So, like, when a map pops up on multiplayer, like, you're kind of familiar with it. But when I, when I first log on a multiplayer,

I'm just kind of just like, I'm not running just blindly. I'm kind of on the edges of the board, on the outskirts looking in, trying to figure out where everybody's at, where all the hot spots are at, so I can get familiar with the boards. Like I said, man, you don't want that killed deferation to start off bad because you're getting a hole and you can't get out of it. So, you know, I'm just trying to walk around the map a little cautiously and aware of everything

and just try and figure everything out as far as, you know, where all the high spots are at, where the middle of the board is, where the rock is high if it gets crazy, I just try and get a feel for the maps. What sport do you think has the most or the best pro athletes who play call duty? Hmm, I had to say football, man

I had to go to the NFL. I ran into, even since college, man, I think football players, we just had a good, good hand-eye coordination, some good vision to be able to periff all around the board. I don't know, man. I have some teammates, man, that can throw down on that call of duty.

So I'll put them up against some of the better players around the world because these guys, I know we go online all the time, and they always hold it down, man, always at the top, always having crazy KD ratios and getting crazy score streaks. And I'd have to say the NFL. Yeah. I was going to ask you about that because there are a lot of studies out there that show that

playing first-person shooters can actually help you learn. It can help your reflexes. It can help your spatial awareness, all this kind of cognitive benefits. And I wonder whether you think call of duty makes you better at football or football makes you better at call of duty? I think it kind of can benefit both ways because, Because, like, you have to be able to look quick and be able to react quick and be able to aim and shoot. And all your – everything has to be on high alert and everything has to be on point.

Because if you don't – if you just hesitate for one second, you're dead, right? So you have to be able to be on point, locate an enemy, tell the difference between the enemy and your own person because I like to play hardcore. So, you know, kill your own person and get kicked out and three kills. So I just feel like you have to be more aware And you have to be on point, man What's you seeing, what you're shooting And making sure that you're aiming

And you're hitting the right buttons If you're throwing a grenade If you're throwing a flashbang But you're firing at the hip Or aiming down the side and shooting You just, all your fingers and your thoughts All have to be moving together So I think it goes both ways

Because even on the field in the NFL, man You always have to be aware If you hesitate for a minute, you'd probably get knocked out So, you know, you just have to always be on point, man. And everything always has to be sound and crisp, just like you're playing multiplayer or campaign mode. Yeah. Where do you have your sensitivity settings? Are you one of those people who cranks it all the way up and you just have to barely touch the stick to turn around quickly?

Or do you have it set lower? I have a set like at like seven. So I'm not like medium, but I'm not crazy high where you're just spinning all around out of control. I just like to have a kind of, I like to be able to turn fast. but not so fast that I'm shooting all past my dudes that I'm aiming for or turning all around and making myself dizzy and stuff. So I know some people who play, like, they barely even, they're running, like, they barely even have to test a stick, and it's just, they're turning around,

fire and shooting, jumping crazy. I'm like, man, I'll be killed so fast with my sensitivity that high. Do you have a particular map that you like or a map size? You like the smaller maps? I like smaller maps, man. The smaller maps, it goes down on those maps. You have a favorite? On Modern Warfare.

Any of the series of it. Newtown is always legendary. Who doesn't like Newtown? Another one I like is I like that original, the original, the map on, I think it was Modern Warfare. The first one, it was like just in the desert with that little, it was like in that little, it was a real small board, but it had the, it had like a little AC ventilation running up the middle that you could. went up and it was just like sand. Oh, is it like surrounded, surrounded by a fence? It was like a little fenced in area?

Yeah, that board. Oh, yeah. What was that? What was that board called? You know, it was like the, it was like one of the first games, man. That was always one of my favorite, a classic board, man. You know what I'm talking about? Shipment.

Shipment. Yep, yep, yep. That was it. That was it. That was it. That was it. You got it. You know, there's so many games and so many boards.

I don't remember all the names. Kind of vision. I can kind of vision. visualize the boards that I love, you know? Last month you tweeted that if a clown ran up on you, you'd throw hands on site. Have you played the Call of Duty clown map side show? No, I haven't played the Clown Map yet. No, that's on the new one?

It's Advanced Warfare. I think it's DLC. No, no, I haven't played the Cowan Map. But yeah, the clown stuff is crazy. The clown stuff is crazy going on. You see clowns driving the car, clowns, and, you see clowns driving the car, clowns in the most like suspect spots you know i just don't know what's going on with the clowns everywhere but if one runs up on me you know i'm going to call the duty on man do you have

now do you have a theory about what's behind the clowns i don't know what's up with it i hear i hear that they're coming out the woods i hear that they're just messing with people in the streets like i don't know what's up with the clowns so i don't know what the clown's intentions are but if you have an evil mask on and coming out the woods i don't know i just feel like you're a threat you know So you just use call of duty as a verb. Can you use that in a football context? Yeah, I can call it duty. You know how you run up behind somebody and you just bat them upside the head with the gun, just,

bach, you know. Is that a penalty? Or like, I run around with the boxing gloves on. You know, you've got the boxing gloves now, so I'll be running around trying to hit people with the boxing gloves. It's fun, man. We use it a, we use call duty. It's fun for us all the time, whether it's just regular conversation or verbiage or, you know, it's just a game. It's a lifestyle, man.

It's a livelihood for it. So have you gotten to spend much time with Infinite Warfare? And if so, what are the changes you're looking forward to? I played a little bit. I played a little bit on the campaign, and I played the beta. I played the beta a couple weekends. I think that was like last weekend the beta was out. Last two weekends, I played the beta.

Yeah. And it was real cool, man. I'm trying to get adjusted to it. I like the fact that you could pick, like, what kind of style you want, whether you want, like, a traditional warrior or, like, a speed guy or a heavy defense person. I like that. And all the guns, you know, to be able to unlock new guns.

And all the guns are different on, like, the game. So I always look forward to seeing what guns are going to be my favorite. I usually go with an assault rifle or a submachine gun. But we enjoy it so far. Like I said, me and my teammates, you try it out on the day. later, we were liking it. I'm really looking forward to the Modern Warfare remastered that game as well. That's what I'm really looking.

I think I'm going to play that in a bunch. I think I'm going to play that a bunch. That game, when that game came out, it basically ruined my life for like a year because I couldn't stop playing it. What do you, so advanced warfare brought in like a mech suits and Infinite Warfare took you to space. What do you think the series goes after this? Where would you like it to go?

Man, I'm like where it's at. Like, I don't want to. to be too crazy, like futuristic. Like, kind of, like, did you play, um, Destiny at all? I don't know if you play Destiny. Yeah, I kind of, yeah, I kind of got into that a little bit, but I don't want it to go crazy, futuristic, kind of like that, you know what I mean? Well, the thing, the thing with Destiny is it's too much, like, that's too much work.

That's too much like going around and picking up, like, minerals and stuff. Mm-hmm, yeah. Like, I just really like to call it duty how they, you know, like, you y'all upgrade things, but you don't overdo it. Like, that's really why I like the game a lot. It's a damn uncomfortable with. It's a game that I played for many years. And I really enjoy all the game modes and all the systems, man.

Because, you know, the zombies, from the campaign mode to the zombies to the multiplayer, it's just plenty of things that you could do, man. Like, if you play multiplayer for a while, like, if you want to, like, get a new fix, like, you can get on zombies. Like, if you're tired of zombies, you can get back on multiplayer. Or if you're tired of those, game mode, you can't beat the game in campaign mode on different levels, whether it's on easy, super hard, or, you know, you can try to beat it. So I just like that. They keep adding a new little

twist and new little wrinkles to the game. Like, it's not going too overboard, but it's just always a new little twist and a little wrinkle that I really enjoy. So that's why I love playing called duty. That's why I always play it. So last question, you know, for people like me and Jason, I mean, we're just sitting at our computers and writing or podcasting all day, so we need an outlet sort of, you know, somewhere to let out our aggression and a first-person shooter can be good for that. But for you, you know, you are going from real violence in your day job to virtual violence when you're playing call of duty. So not to get too heavy here at the end of the interview, but, I mean, is it a good source of stress relief for you to come off the field and then, you know, shoot people in call of duty? or do you ever just kind of want to take it down a notch and play a puzzle game or something? Well, I mean, if I just want to relax, I'll just relax, you know.

I won't play the game, but it's just like I'm super competitive, man. I love winning and I love trying to upgrade my player, upgrade my weapons and prestige. I love doing all that, man. So it's just kind of like a fix, man. It's just kind of like that itch, man. You just want to come home and you want to compete. And your friends are talking mess. and you know, you want to sit online.

Put those dogs on them. Yeah, you want to see who had the best kill-deaf ratio, who's going to be in the winter circle. So it's just fun, man. It's just a lot of fun. And it's the things that we talk about, things that we enjoy. So I know we have a lot of violence and a lot of action on the football field, but gaming is still very fun to a lot of us.

So we really enjoy it a lot. And like I said, we're real competitive. And just like you guys, man, Man, we want to upgrade all our guns. We want to get all our attachments. We want to get that killed death ratio looking right. You want to get that, you want to be a prestige master. You know, it's just a level of clout, man, a level of respect.

You're getting the gaming world when you have great stats like that. So that's what we all look forward to, man. All right. Well, you can all follow Mark on Twitter at Mark Ingram 22 and see his sure-to-be-frequent call-of-duty tweets when he starts Infinite Warfare. Mark, thanks for talking to us and good luck out there. Thanks a lot. Thanks for having me.

I really appreciate it. Okay, so that will do it for episode two of achievement-oriented. By the way, achievements, as in video game achievements, you guys got it right. If you like the show, please subscribe to the channel 33 feed in iTunes or your podcast app. So you don't miss an episode. Feedback is welcome, and we hope that you'll help us spread the word. So we'll be back with another episode next week.