Triple Click - Our Predictions For 2022

Episode Date: January 6, 2022

It's time! Kirk, Jason, and Maddy revisit their predictions for 2021, determine who won the big bet (and what game they'll all play this year), and then lay down some predictions for 2022.One More Thing: Kirk: The Frustration of Wanting to Play Cyberpunk 2077Maddy: WordleJason: Final Fantasy XIVLinks:Support Triple Click: http://maximumfun.org/joinJoin the Triple Click Discord: http://discord.gg/tripleclickpodTriple Click Ethics Policy: https://maximumfun.org/triple-click-ethics-policy/ Happy MaxFunDrive! Right now is the best time to start a membership to support your favorite shows. Learn more and join at https://maximumfun.org/jointripleclick 🚀  SUPPORT TRIPLE CLICK:Join Maximum Fun | Buy TC Merch💬 JOIN THE TRIPLE CLICK DISCORD🎮 Triple Click Ethics Policy📱 SOCIALS | @tripleclickpodInstagram | YouTube | TikTok | Twitch

It's time for some predictions. The Chiefs will win the Super Bowl. The Democrats will lose the midterms. Eldon Ring will be good. Welcome to Triple Click, where we bring the games to you. Today, we are going over our predictions from last year and making some new ones for 2022, figuring out which game we are going to have to play for the rest of the year. Going to be a fun one.

Let's go. I'm Jason Trier. I'm Kirk Hamilton. And I'm Maddie Myers. Hello. Hey. We're back. Happy news.

Happy New Year, everybody. Happy New Year. Welcome to 2022. This might be everyone's favorite episode of the year every single year. This is the most exciting. Most exciting time. Highly anticipated. Who will win? Oh, man.

So we have a lot of things to talk about today. But first, let's get a couple of things out of the way. As we head into 22, 2020, 2020. We're just going to call it 22. That's a lot of two. That's into the year 22. And you are looking at your. bank account or your credit card bills and you're like, you know what, I need to add some extra

spending on here and also support my favorite podcast. A common feeling, I think, that people have. You ever look at your credit card bill and say, hey, I need to spend more? This doesn't come up for you when you're listening to the podcast. That's not when you're thinking about it. It's when you're looking at how much money you have. You're like, there's too much here. You know what I want to do? I could be spending more of this. Check out triple click and find a way to support them. Yeah, go to show. If you love this show and you want to help us make it, become a MaxFun member. Go to maximum fun.org. Join. And not only will you get to support our entirely ad-free listener-supported show, you will also get monthly bonus episodes, including a couple in a row just now. We just did an episode. Yeah.

A Companion Pistar Games of the Year episode. We did our Other Things of the Year episode. One more things. Zazza. And as a special surprise, we've got a new Beans cast coming really early. coming next week and it is on the Matrix which I know a lot of people have been asking for we discussed all four Matrix movies it was a lot of fun it was a lot of fun yeah and some of the games too just a sprinkling of Matrix video games and so surprising no one we have a lot to say about the matrix yeah we have a lot of thoughts on all the matrices that'll be in the bonus feed if you're a member so become a member today and you will get to see that really soon and tons of we've The whole backlog full of bonus content is just building more and more every month.

Lots of good stuff in there. And before we get started, just want to give a quick shout out to Frisky Dingus 89 in the Discord because we have a triple-click Discord Fantasy Football League. And I promise to give a shout out to the winner. Frisky Dingus beat me in the fantasy championship. Congratulations to Frisky Dingus 89. Great handle and great winnings. And now Jason has to play Final Fantasy Six all the way through.

I know. Yeah, it really sucks. I can't believe I have to do that to myself. Now, I have to be an Eagles fan for the year. Wow. Even worse. Okay, so let's get to it. Today, we are doing 2021 predictions, revisiting last year's predictions, and going over our predictions for this year. And the reason that this is all very exciting for people who are not familiar with our little game is that every single year we have a contest. And at the beginning of the year, we make a bunch of predictions, and then whoever gets the most right gets to force the other two to, to play a video game of their choice.

So, you always use that word force. Yep. Well, that, you know, we all get to play a game together. We all get to play a lovely game. Yes. Yes. And have a nice time as friends. Definitely, we'd all be playing without the podcast.

Yes. No matter what, we'd all be playing one of these games. So, first we're going to go over last year's predictions, figure out who won. And then we will all give our predictions and our game choices for 2022. So without further ado, um, first of all, uh, I will go over. over the rules real quick because we try to make it a little bit of a challenge so our rules are no delays um no predictions based on inside information so none of our predictions for either year can be based on things. No cheating. Rumors we've heard right from our various sources and um was there one more

am I forgetting one more yeah nothing too obvious yeah just nothing too easy can can overrule a prediction that seems too obviously likely to come true oh and also like subjective stuff like we couldn't predict Eldon Ring will be good. That's not a valid prediction. By the way, that's just a gimme. I am predicting that. Just not for this game. I think the first year at split screen,

back when it was just being incurred, like, our first year, it was predictions. They were like, this game will be good. They were unbelievable. I don't remember them all, but they were, they were outrageous. There was some good ones. They're probably still on Kataka somewhere.

And the games we picked, my game is Sweet Odin 2. What are your games? My game is Analoga Hate Story. Christine loves wonderful visual novel. And my game is Resident Evil 2 remake, which neither of you have played, and I would love to play again. Soon we will find out which game we are playing. So, without further ado, let's do it.

We're going to go in order each of us reading all of our 2021 predictions, and we'll see how many points we got. Each one can be worth one point. No half points. That's another rule. No half points allowed. Oh, yeah. And if there are disputes, no half points. If there are disputes, it'll be a two-thirds majority.

over voting over the disputes. All right, let's do it. My predictions, 2021, let's go. Number one, Sony will buy Blue Point. I think you got that one. It's pretty safe one. That's a winner, indisputable. Number two, Hogwarts Legacy

will feature some sort of pro-trans message from the developers. So this is an interesting one. And Maddie had a similar prediction. Yeah, we both made the same prediction. I mean, I would say we both got it because... Well, okay, so let me explain. So on one hand, this game did not come out this year

as we thought it was going to. But on the other hand, Bloomberg News, is reporter Jason Trier reported in March or so that the developers of Hogwarts Legacy included like a trans character creator and are doing like actual messages of support for the developers.

But part of me feels like we can't really count this, like not just as a win because things can get removed from the game. The fact that the game isn't out yet means that anything could change. So, like, who knows, maybe some director took over. Maybe J.K. Rowling came in and said, actually, you can't do that. Or something, maybe something changed along the way. So I kind of feel like this is a loss for both of us.

But I don't know. What do you guys think? I mean, it's equal either way for me. So it's kind of up to you, Kirk. Like, either both Jason and I get a point or both of us don't get one. I think you don't just because the game didn't come out and it's not finished. And I do think, like, it's close. but, you know, the prediction is like the game will include this thing.

And I think that reporting that the game while in development is being given this feature, it's just not really quite the same thing. So I'm going to say that it does not count. Yeah, I agree. I think it said no. Okay, number three, the PS5 will not be available to buy, like just walking in a store or online, until November at the earliest. That at the earliest.

That's a win. Of course it counts. No, it does count, I think. No, it doesn't. Jason, if you had predicted that PS5 will not be available all year, that would be a win. No, that's what I... That's not what you predicted. But here's the thing, though.

He did. Absolutely. That's what I said. I didn't say November would be available. I said November at the earliest. Remember, you're forgetting the context here. You gave yourself such wiggle room, though. I mean, I think...

No, I didn't. The context here, nobody had any idea that it would be not... Hold on. Hold on, hold on. Guys. No, Jason, I'm telling you, you're right. You're right because you built a huge escape hatch into your people. prediction, but I do think that you're right. But I don't think that's true at all. The only reason I said November at the earliest is because it seems so far out. At the beginning of last year,

nobody had any idea. It would be unprecedented to say a console, a new console, wouldn't be available for that long to the point where Maddie's prediction was the average person will be able to get a PS5 before the... I know, and I lost that one. You don't need to skip ahead to the predictions I lost. We'll get to them when we get to them. We're talking about your prediction. I don't even think November at the earliest, it seems obvious now after having been through the year, but back then it would not, it did not seem obvious at all. I think you inadvertently built yourself a huge escape hatch that I am resenting and yet I must acknowledge that just based on the wording of this prediction, you are not wrong. Well, I'm against this, but I'm outvoted, so I guess I can't

do anything. But yeah, I just, I have to go by the wording. And the wording says November at the earliest, and that's just, that's accurate. Terrible. These are the kinds of things we can't allow going forward. We're very meticulous of that word. We got to be careful with our wording. It's true. Number four, Metal Gear Solid will come back in some new form, which did not happen. Number five, persona six will be announced to not happen. Number six, Bungee will sell itself, did not happen. Number seven, at least one Zenimax game will be announced not for PlayStation. That absolutely did happen. It's got Starfield and Redfall. Such an easy prediction. Again, I don't, Kirk, you guys, it seems easy now. Look, we can grouse about your prediction.

okay, you're going to win. We're allowed, okay? In January of last year, two months after Bethesda acquisition, people were like, no way would they not put Starfield on PlayStation. So I think it seems easy now. Anyway, that's three points for me. Eight, at least two of these, this falls, AAA third party games will be next gen only. That did not happen. Yeah, that didn't happen.

That did not happen. That was false. Which, again, seems crazy. But that's kind of hand in hand with the other one. Like this last year was unprecedented in so many ways. Anyway, Breath of the Wild 2 will come out this year and it will allow you to play a Zelda for at least part of the game. If only. If only.

Last one, E32021 will be entirely online and at least three big publishers will not participate. So it was online, but I don't think. I don't think the second half of this is here. I don't really think you can count it because most of them. main publishers that would be so a few three publishers didn't participate so new EA Activision but i don't think they would have participated anyway so the spirit of the prediction was basically that like some publishers that would have done it anyway would pull out and that did not happen so i'm going to give myself a no for this one okay so three points so to recap you got three

correct three for jason all right for jason let's kick you're up all right i'm up Oh, boy. Okay, this is going to be easy and fast. First prediction, Microsoft X-Cloud will be announced for the Switch. Nope. Second prediction, Netflix will announce that they're adding games streaming to their service more than their current Choose Your Own Adventure movies. Now, I think this is a no, but I was closer than I could have made this a better prediction

and gotten it right because Netflix did buy Night School games and they are getting more into video games, but they did not announce that they're adding game streaming to their service in the way that I was envisioning. They added games to their service. That's where you, you, if you had an... They announced they will be. Does that count? No, no, no, they added games to Netflix in November. They added mobile games.

It's not game streaming. Right. And they have not announced anything about games streaming. So they're doing games, but there's no streaming. Yeah. So I wasn't that far off, but I didn't get it. So it's a no. Number three, the new switch will be called the Switch 2.

No, it was called the Switch OLED model. Yeah, why didn't you guess that? It's so obvious in retrospect. Number four, a video game playing animal will become a streaming sensation. Now... This should have happened. Honestly, it's messed up that it didn't. And the bummer of it is there was an animal.

I can't remember like a fish that plays video games, but it had already been a thing when I made the predictions. So we pre-disqualified it. So that one is also a no. So up to number five, video games will play a role in at least one major political scandal. Actually didn't happen. There wasn't even a let's blame this shooting on video games scandal. So no. Number six, Valve will announce a new non-VR half-life game coming in 2022.

No part of that came true. Number seven, at least two major announced games will be fully canceled. This was a weird prediction. I didn't like it then. I don't like it now, and it didn't come true. Goodbye prediction number seven. Number eight, this is a weird one. Epic will lose its lawsuits against Apple and Google.

That's just a no. It's debatable whether Epic or Apple, Apple, Apple, Epic, Apple. It's debatable whether Epic or Apple came out on top of that lawsuit, but I do not think that you can make the argument that Epic just straight up lost in the way that this prediction was predicting. I feel like it was a good prediction, though. Yeah, because it was kind of against the grain. Everybody was thinking it was going to go the way that it did. Well, I think you could have more of an argument if Google had resolved, but that hasn't even come to a verdict.

Yeah. So Epic versus Google is still. That's right. That's still happening. God, how boring. Maybe that's why. It's just, who cares. Number nine, a noteworthy Republican will start streaming video games.

It's funny. I was even thinking of Josh Hawley for this. Yes. And yet, that guy goes the opposite direction and starts giving speeches about how video games are ruining modern men. So, like, that extremely did not happen. Thanks a lot, Holly. God. I mean, look, it's a good thing that he hasn't realized that he could be super charismatic and appealing to people and go full fast.

Sure, sure, sure, I'll take it. Number 10, a V-Tuber will go rogue against the company that made them a fantastic prediction that unfortunately did not come true. Hasn't happened. I get a big old goose egg zero for Kirk. Wow, you get zero? Yeah. I really went for it. I was like, I'm going to not care about winning this year.

And it really shows. I feel like you should have cared. We could have been playing Resident Evil, too. Am I too cranky? I'm going to try to not be cranky because I'm going next. Yeah, no, it wasn't that I kind of thought some of these might come through. Maddie. Maddie, Maddie.

I love Jason very much. I don't want the listeners to send in letters thinking I'm like legitimately upset about this. It's all for show. It's all jokes. But also breaking character. I am legitimately very upset about this and I will be crying myself. It doesn't matter. I also made some 2021 predictions.

Who can say if they're right or wrong? Only the three of us. So the first one, we've already discussed. I said the average person will be able to get a PS5 before they can get a COVID vaccine. I really didn't think PS5s would be as hard to get as they were. And boy, you sure still can't get them. So I did not get this. My next two were also deeply negative predictions, which really show my mindset last year.

The third prediction is kind of incredible. The pandemic would go on forever. A prediction I was right about. But anyway, here's number two. E3 will not happen in 2021, not even online. It did happen online. And number three, E3 will end for good. I still kind of feel like this should have happened.

Yeah, that would have been pretty cool. It is not ended for good. Number four, we will learn that Zelda is not playable for Breath of the Wild too. I would say I won this. We got a very extensive trailer depicting Link. and we got a moment in that trailer when Zelda falls into a pit and we got to see Link riding around. Yeah, I don't think we learned.

That's completely unprecedented, Jason. There's no evidence whatsoever that she's playable. But we didn't learn that she's not. There's a significant amount of evidence that Link is the playable character in this game. Zelda's literally never been playable in a Zelda game. They've repeatedly stated in interviews that she never will be. I don't know why anyone would predict otherwise, but I didn't make that prediction. I think that's true, but I just can't say that we learned definitively that she's not playable.

But we did. We saw that she's not playable in the trailer. But Nintendo didn't say it. Like they didn't confirm it. It's just a trailer. The trailers for Metal Gear Solid 2 claimed that the game was about Snake and then it turned out you were playing as a totally different character. Like trailers are always like trying to fool you. There will never in my lifetime be a game where you can play a Zelda. And it's like funny to me that people keep thinking that's going to happen. Anyway, I won that, but we're going to move on, even though I allegedly lost, according to two liars. Five, we will go another year without an Eldon ring trailer.

This would have been funny if it had come true, but it didn't luckily. Six, this is apparently the only one I'm going to win. Nintendo will not announce a Switch Pro. Nailed it. Unless you two are about to tell me the Switch OLED is the Switch Pro. You're about to come out in favor of that. And tell me that I actually love that. I think we knew what you meant by Switch Pro.

Absolutely not. That is an easy win. Fair enough. for you. Easy. This is a power. Clear cut. You mean clear cut.

I'm in clear cut win, not an easy. I'm incredible for getting this. Number seven. Maddie, I feel for you. I feel for you. I can feel the tension. I can feel the stress in your voice. In a way, in a way I'm winning, even though I'm losing right now.

Number seven, GameStop will be acquired and will pivot to a different kind of business. Obviously, I lost this, but I just want to say, I was right that some shit was going down with GameStop. And I knew that when I made this prediction, because it was an, really weird place as a business at that time. And it was like when that guy from Petco or whatever acquired them. And that was like what led to all the speculation on Reddit, the Wall Street Betts guys. The Chewy guy. Yeah, sorry, not Petco. Chewy. The competitor of Petco. So it's just interesting. I wish I had made a different weirder prediction. There's no way I could have predicted the Wall Street Betts thing. And of course I could argue here that Wall Street Betts actually

acquired GameStop and that their new business is being listed whatever the hell they're doing now. But that's silly. I can't really claim that. But I do feel like I was right in a way. You were on the right track. It's a good prediction. And it was kind of almost like a prediction that could have happened if that crazy Wall Street shit hadn't happened.

Well, it also couldn't have because I was reading articles about this to try to see how close I got to being right. And apparently GameStop has attempted to be acquired and has repeatedly failed because no one wants to buy them. So in that sense, I think it was a bad prediction and I should have known that that's true and that it was more likely they would go out of business. But yeah, there's no way I could have predicted the Wall Street bad thing. You were right. That's some shit went down with the GameStop. That's for sure.

If I had just been like there will be an absurd GameStop scandal. Like if I had just said that, I feel like you guys would have allowed it and I would have gotten it. Anyway, number eight, we've already decided this one is doesn't count. It's Hogwarts legacy. We'll include a gesture in favor of trans rights. Number nine, really thought I was going to win this one. Yeah. This felt pretty safe to me after I saw the Game Awards lineup.

The Game Awards Goody winner will be a game one of us actually wanted to win. There were so many options in there. And we were supposed to all pick a game at the beginning. We did. We all said games on our Game Awards predictions episode that we would have been okay with winning. And literally none of those games won. I can't make that. case. I feel like I could have for Death Loop or Psychonauts 2 or Metroid Dread. If any of those

had won, I could have said that. One of us wanted those to win, but none of those three won. Number 10, this is, this is tragic. We will learn that Bloodburn will be coming to PC. Why is this still not a thing? I don't understand. Just bring it to PC. I know. Come on. For crying out loud. We're playing Sweet Codin, too, I guess. Congratulations, Jason Shrier. You, win and we lose. I promise my 2022 game will not be a JRPG, first of all.

Second of all, yeah, we'll discuss logistics later. I'm very excited for you guys about to play this game because it's incredible. Maddie just rolled her eyes for this. I didn't roll my eyes. I didn't roll my eyes. I sighed heavily. Yeah.

I sighed excitedly. I sighed blissfully. I was like, ha. This game is not easy to play on modern platforms so we will have to discuss our plan after we record this podcast. Now I'm rolling my eyes. This game is not easy to play on modern platform. Can I play it on Vita? Still? I have it on my Vita. That was where I was playing it before. Yeah, it's on Vita. Anyway, we'll discuss that later. We'll coordinate the timing and figure out when we're all going to play it. You guys are both going to really enjoy this game because it's a good game of all time.

One can only hope. You'll dig it. The combat is much, much easier to deal with than Final Fantasy It goes by much faster. Do you think maybe Jason likes it when we play games that he really likes and we don't like? I think that's like something he's into? Like, well, I don't hope that you'll like them. I didn't want you to

dislike Final Fantasy 6. Well, we liked some parts of it. Yeah. No, it was fine. I think we're complaining here. I liked Kepka. I liked everything Kepka said. That guy is a real role model for me. Right now, honestly. I'm really feeling the Kepka vibes currently. Let me say that I have played like five or six hours as we've got into and that it's a pretty cool game.

Like I think we're going to have a good time. It's a cool game. Now you say that after. Well, I'm going to complain that I'm having to play because of you. Mattie is expecting the worst. We can DM about it later. Edit all the side of the episode. Make it sound like I was really excited.

Okay, sure. Thanks so much. I'll use my own. Maddie's excited plug in. All right. Yeah, it's a filter. New predictions. New predictions.

Let's do it. let's do it new predictions okay 202 Jason's up I'm up so first of all my game if I win in 2022

my game is Starcraft 2 oh okay so what we would do well so what we would do if I win is I think we would play one of the campaigns because I'm not going to make you guys play like all three of them

because that's a lot of ours one of the campaigns and then like some multiplayer or like maybe we stream some multiplayer or like we just play a bunch. So a combination of the campaign and multiplayer. It doesn't even have to be the full campaign. The multiplayer is what I'm most excited about.

But anyway, StarCraft 2. My predictions. Number one, Disney will quietly cancel Star Wars Eclipse. That's the game that was announced. The Quantum Dream game? From Quantum Dream.

I think that interesting. Okay. Between them now. So, okay, I'm going to just ask for clarification on quietly cancel. Oh, cancel. Okay. Quietly is just for four.

Okay, okay. Cancel. That's cleaner is better. That's fine with me. And it has to happen within the year, of course. Yes. That's actually quite a difficult prediction. Okay.

Yeah, well, these, I'd pick some tough ones. It's a good one. Okay, number two, Silk Song will be re-revealed and released on the same day. Oh, man. Oh, if only. I am. Okay, Jason. Cool.

I love a prediction in the spirit of wanting it to happen. I'm going to say that I'm fine with that prediction for reasons that will become clear in not too long. Number three, Apple Arcade will shut down. Oh, okay. Most of us have forgotten that it exists. Number four, destiny will get a Netflix series. Okay, I like it. Nice.

Destiny Netflix series. But not Destiny 2. Actually, sorry, let me, in the interest, in the interest of clarity here, let me say that by Netflix series I'm using as a shorthand for any sort of TV series. Okay. It doesn't have to be a Netflix. Destiny will get a TV series. Okay.

I'll put it. Okay. I should clarify that. Yes. Make sure that a destiny will get a TV series. On like a major network. Yeah. Some YouTube web series.

Not a YouTube series. Those already exist. Okay. Great. Number five. A major publisher will announce or release an NFT game and cancel it within two to four months. So a major publisher, one of the big video game guys, like Ubisoft or whatever, will either announce or release an NFT game.

It doesn't really matter if they're like, hey, this is out or hey, we're announcing it. What matters matters is that within two to four months, they will cancel it. Oh, but announcing it. Yes, I'm announcing it. Because the backlash will be so bad that they'll cancel it. And it'll be such a mess that they'll cancel it. And I think that for the spirit of this prediction, the time frame, I don't think, I'm giving myself some, like, if it's 4.5 months, I think that's still counts. It feels like a lot of wiggle room to me.

I was thinking about forcing you to make it too, Mom. I think the idea is that it's so rare for a game to be canceled, like, shortly after it's released or announced like that that I think it'll... Yeah, I see what you're saying. Like, it's like some sort of like play-to-own NFT-based game. Yeah, yeah. Or play-to-earn, yeah. And we'll be like fully canceled, which is a, that's a big prediction.

Yeah, exactly. It'll be fully canceled. And the point of the game is that it will be NFTs and you have to play with that. Yes. Okay. Okay. So, number six, Microsoft will announce a new Xbox. console, like a series Y or whatever.

Wait, so how new, does like the series pro, like if they release some version? Yeah. What, you think that's too easy? It's two years after the series X and nobody can buy a series X. That's not unusual for them to release like a slight update on, like a streaming only Xbox console. That seems totally believable to me.

I'm surprised they haven't done. I mean, the series S is already almost that. Jason, is the prediction that it will be a more powerful version of the series X? Sure. It would be a new series, like a series something else. Look, a new console is coming this fall, despite the fact that people can't even buy the series X. I think that's what's... Okay. Can we eliminate the streaming-only option? Because I really feel like that's likely to happen.

Okay, so yeah. I don't have inside info. I just think it's a good prediction and I don't want to leave that. Okay, so not a streaming-only one. Sure. However, I'm making that prediction. Right. Maddie then is like, I predict Microsoft releases a streaming box. All right. I'm going.

Number seven, number seven, Bobby Kodick will still be CEO of Activision at the end of 2022. I think that's a great prediction and you'll find out why soon. Interesting. Okay, cool. Number eight, Madden 23's cover will be John Madden. Oh, that's... That seems easy. That's going to be what it is, though. Why is that easy?

Because that's totally what they're going to do. that's such a gimmie know it's going to be Betty White like what do you it's going to be Betty White it's usually a player I'm just saying it's going to be John Madden throwing a football the Betty White

and the caption is going to say thank you for being a friend that's really the first man now that is a hell of a prediction well that is that feels like Maddie fan fiction do you guys think this is too easy you can veto it if you want I think it's pretty easy

Like, I think it's like pretty likely. I feel like they're gonna do something for him. For the past 20 years, like it's been players. Yeah, but that's, but he just died. It's like a huge deal to people. I am more. So what? No, I mean, I don't necessarily think that's like.

I feel like it goes without saying that they will honor him in some way in the game and that there'll be like some splashy opening cutscene. Will he be on the cover? That's the thing you're saying is unlikely. Okay, so what if it's like he will be on the cover? and there will not be, like he'll be alone on the cover. Yeah, alone on the cover.

No other players. It won't just be like he'll be in profile in the background or something like the cover of the game. Or no references to football on the cover at all. No, that's not what I'm. He'll be eating a meatball sub on the cover of the game. Okay, just John Madden, no players.

Sure, fine. Okay, only because playing StarCraft 2 is fun and I've already played that game. It's true. I'm automatic. radically less suspicious of your picks because StarCraft is a fun game. This will make it more challenging. No alternate covers.

So like sometimes all these sports games come out with different editions. So there's not like a little fold around. It's no premium edition. It's only John Madden. If you want to play this game, you've got to look at that guy's face the whole time you're playing. It's like in every frame of the game. He's a ghost. All right.

Number nine. Number nine, both Sony, Santa Monica and Gorilla Games will release and announce new projects this year. So both of them are coming out with Horizon and God of War this year. I'm saying both of them will also announce other secondary projects that they're working on. Each of them. That's my prediction. Each of them.

So Gorilla Games will release Horizon and announce something else this year. Killzone 5. Killzone 4. Yeah, it could be whatever. But I'm just predicting the Bell Bowdokewhip up. I hope it's not Killzone. They're finally fixing Killson. Number 10.

Number 10. This is kind of wishful thinking. it's kind of based on rumors. There's like a tiny bit of insight info of this is based on, but not something substantial really. So I'll give you guys that caveat and then I'll say it

and you can decide if you want to keep it or not. Nix it. Nintendo will release remakes or remasters of Zelda Winwaker, Zelda Twilight Princess, and both Zelda Oracle games. Hmm. I feel like I've heard you speculate about this a lot.

All of them... Well, and it's been widely rumored for a super long time. But this would be all released this year. So that adds a little bit of challenge to it. Right. Like do they release, it's basically the question is do they release a Zelda like HD double pack or would they

release those games separately? Well, so the Oracle games would have to be full on remake. So that makes this a little more challenging. They would have to be like in the style of Link's Awakening. And they all get released as the prediction. They all come out this year. And they all get released this year. Yeah. So that

makes a little more challenging. Yeah. What if they get released in some form on like Nintendo Switch online as like the original forms. That doesn't can. Okay. Okay. Sure. Okay. Sure. So they would need to have been working on all four of these this whole time. Right. Yes. That's what I'm saying. That seems hard enough to me. That's tough. I agree. And all this year I think is the tough part of that. Okay. So let me go over mine real quick. Um, number one, Disney will cancel Star Wars

Eclipse. Number two, Silk Song will be re-revealed and released in the same day. Three, Apple Arcade will shut down. Four, Destiny will get a TV series. Five, a major publisher will announce a release an NFT game and cancel it within a few months. Six, Microsoft will announce a new Xbox console, but not a streaming one. Seven, Bobby Kodick will still be CEO of Activision. Eight, Madden's cover will just be Madden. Nine, both Sony, Santa Monica, and Gorilla will release and announce new games. And 10, Nintendo will release, remakes or remasters of all of those Zelda games, Windmaker,

Twilight Princess, and both oracles. And put the alternate cover thing on the Madden prediction, because we will forget by next year when we're looking at this. We will. Yep, no alternate cover. Yep. Okay. Kirk, you're up. I'm up. Here we go. First prediction. No, wait, wait. I don't have to say my game last. Can I say my game at the end? Okay, sure. First prediction. Is it billions? No, I'm just kidding. My game is watching billions. First prediction. Apple will reveal a new VR-A-R device. That's too obvious, I think. Oh, yeah. Apple? Apple? Yeah, that's been rumored for years. Yeah, but it's never happened.

VR device? I don't know. There's like a, the first thing I see online is like Mac rumors, Apple glasses are coming. Secret ARVR product is coming in 2022. I don't feel like this is a rumor rather than a prediction. Like it's something that's been so heavily rumored that. I vote now. I don't know enough about Apple rumors to weigh in on this, but Jason's voting now.

Do you have, do you have a way to make this harder? Like, and they'll have an exclusive game that I'm. actually from a major publisher. Oh yeah, that would make it an interesting. We have a big exclusive game or something if you want to add someone like that. Won't they make their own games?

Or they'll have some type of publisher buy-in from significant video game studios. Yeah, but I don't think that's what they're going to do, though. I think it's going to be like a cool like AR thing that you can, that has like a bunch of Apple stuff. But I mean, I don't have to do it. I can make a different prediction.

but we're off to a great start here. Oh. Okay, so I'll do a different prediction. Okay, so instead, I will... Nintendo will finally announce a more powerful 4K switch, and it will be called the Switch 4K model. Is this why you were worried that we were going to yell at you? It just made all super easy.

No, that was like, I didn't want to do that one. I didn't think the Apple one was too easy, but if that's too easy. Okay. Do you not think it'll be called the Switch Pro? No, I think... Well, I don't know. I mean, I feel like... Yeah, I don't think it would be called the Switch Pro.

Well, then you can think it harder by saying it'll be called the Switch Pro. I feel like you can have the 4K one because at this point they might have changed their plans so heavily that like maybe that's... Yeah, it seems kind of unlikely that they'll even announce it. Yeah, just keep that one. Let's keep that one. Also, I don't think they're going to call it the Switch 4K model. I think they're going to call it like the Super Switch or like some other weird name that none of us could possibly guess because it's like Nintendo and they named a console the Wii and then the Wii U. Well, they also named a console the OLLL.

exactly like I I feel like it's not predictable you can have that one but it really has to be called switch 4K model and that's all yeah yeah that's part of the prediction okay okay great next Hollow Night Silk Song release date will be announced

as available now so the same prediction as Jason so we both will get that one and I really hope that one comes true I think we made that prediction like two years ago or one of us did anyways number three PlayStation 5

and new PC graphics cards will remain very difficult to purchase for the entire year. That's one of my bonus predictions. I think it's okay. I mean, I think it's obvious. I mean, I think it's likely to be true. No, you can say it's too obvious. I can think about a different one instead

if that's too easy. I mean, I just think that's inevitable at this point between crypto and supply shortage. You could throw in like Steam decks and Xboxes and... Yeah, I guess that's basically just saying, like, the supply chain problems will continue for all of 2022, which I... For all, for the whole year, you think that's too difficult, Jason? I mean, that's what, like, people are, like, that's what experts are saying, that this is going to be going on for at least another year.

And I don't think, I think it's like we have more context now as to that problem. All right. Well, let's, I'll replace that. What if I replace that with Valve will announce a new non-VR Half-Life game for 2023? Great. I hope that happened. Well, I'm scraping at the bottom of my alts already because I wrote extras, but I'm running out of predictions.

Sorry to be difficult. Okay, that one's hard. That one's more exciting anyways if it comes true. Nobody wants PS5s and graphics cards to not be getable. Okay, number four, a new in-canon matrix video game will be announced. So there will be a new matrix game and it will be like officially in canon of the universe. That's a good prediction. Number five, workers at one of the big publishers, EA, Ubisoft, Activision, etc., will successfully vote to unionize.

Okay. So this needs some proper, like, context here. Does this mean if, like, at Blizzard, does this mean that if the, I don't know, 80-person Overwatch team unionizes that counts? Or does it have to be all of the company? No, no, like, just like a group is fine. but at one of the major publishers. But it has to be a group at a major publisher. I think it has to be a larger group than that

because I think it's like almost inevitable at this point that some smaller faction within one of these companies is going to get enough votes. Like we already know Blizzard is handing out union cards. So like if even if they can get some small team of 30 people, like I don't think it's super unlike. Like I think it's almost inevitable that at least one team at Blizzard will unionize. I think a better prediction would be that an entire company

like forms a union concert. I think that's too hard. But that's so hard. I would say a company that's not Blizzard because they're too far along. So it just needs to be a major company, some segment at a major company like the right artists or something have to unionize because we've heard nothing about that. But Blizzard is right. They are mostly. Blizzard doesn't count. Okay.

Or Activision as a whole doesn't count. Yeah. Activision Blizzard don't count. But every other major studio, yes. Okay. Number six. The world of Eldon Ring will turn out. to be connected to the world of a song of ice and fire. Oh, that's a good one.

Oh, that's great. Excellent prediction. Okay, number seven, Valve will announce a Steam subscription service. Oh, another good one. Yeah, that is good. Thanks, you guys are making me feel so good about myself. Number eight.

No, these are some strong ones. Okay, so number eight, this one involves some subjectivity, but I think that we can make it work. This is going against the grain. A newer announced video game will use block chain technology in a way that we think is actually cool and interesting and that we don't think is a cynical money-making scheme. Interesting.

I can't even imagine what that will be, but I think we'll know it when we see it. No, I like this prediction, though, because I feel like we'll know it when we see it. Yes, I think that, yes, it's subjective, but I do think that we'll all be able to agree on that if it happens. Okay. Because every other, every implementation so far has been so scammy and terrible. Right. Has been gross and bad.

Right. This would be something where it's like, you know, this actually sounds cool. Okay, number nine, harmonics will bring back rock band in some form. I only laugh because I've been saying that I want this to happen. I don't think this is like a gimmie or anything. You know, Epic bought them to make Fortnite stuff, right? I know, but I don't know. So if we are all playing Fortnite, or we're all playing rock band in Fortnite, then that counts?

Oh, I think that'll count. Sure. If it's like, like, yeah. The Metaverse Rock Band. We can debate it. But yeah, if Metaverse Rock Band is what they're doing, then maybe that's what they're doing. That's fair. In some form. Okay.

Okay. Number 10, Sony will announce that BluPoint is making a PlayStation 5 Bloodbourne remake. Huh. Okay. Interesting. All right. That is my 10th prediction. And the game that we will play if I win is Alan Wake plus the Alan Wake D.L.C.

Yes. So, are you sure you want it to be that? Because I feel like we're going to play that anyway. We can wait. We can wait. We can wait. It's fine. We got plenty to play next year.

Who are you kidding? So to recap, my predictions are. One, Nintendo will finally announce a more powerful 4K switch, and it will be called the Switch 4K model. Two, Hollow Night's Silk Song release date will be announced as available now. Three, Valval announced a new non-VR half-life game out in 2023. Four, a new in-canon Matrix video game will be announced. Five, workers at one of the big publishers, not Activision Blizzard, but the other ones will successfully vote to unionize. Six, the world of Eldon Ring will turn out to be connected to the world of Son of ice and fire.

Number seven, Valve will announce a Steam subscription service. Number eight, a newer announced video game will use blockchain technology in a way that we actually think is cool and interesting and not just a cynical money-making scheme. Number nine, harmonics will bring back rock band in some form. And number 10, Sony will announce that Blue Point is making a PlayStation 5 Bloodborne remake. And we're going to play Alan Wake in the DLC if I win. God, that'd be so good. If you win, we're just going to be playing the PlayStation. 5 Blood War Remake.

That too. No, I know. That's true. Because if we win, all of your predictions come true, I think. That's true. That is how it works. 100% of them come true. Yeah.

All right. So my predictions, number one, we will see a Metroid Prime for a trailer this year. I hope so. I hope they're doing okay. Okay, okay. Number two. Bobby Kodick will not step down from a physician as CEO of Activision Blizzard. Okay.

That was the same as Jason's prediction. Is that right? Yes. Okay. I just worded it slightly differently. Well, so if it's the same prediction, I mean, You said not step down. So that, I guess, would be a loophole if he's fired and not asked to step down.

No, no, I didn't intend it to be. I meant people to be. He'll still be CEO at the end of the year. Got it. Yeah, we're both saying the same thing. Number three, someone will confirm the Switch Pro is on its way, whether it's Nintendo or reporter, but it won't come out in 2022. Okay.

So when you say Switch Pro there, there's a difference between. I'm talking about the Switch 4K model. Yeah. Okay. Let's use the actual brand name. I'm talking about a version. No, but no, this is a legit question. Because I think it's very possible that by the end of this year,

like someone reports that like there's a new, a switch successor in development, which I think would be very, would be different than a Switch Pro. The Switch Pro implication is that it's, the same exact games where is a Switch successor. Yeah, like an upgrade is always changed. I am envisioning a Switch pro that is an updated version of the switch

that can play Metroid Dredden 60 Frame, like all the stuff that people can do with that game. So not something with a switch. exclusive games. I think that's the distinction. No, not a whole new console. Not a Wii U to its we. The only distinction I would see there is like games that can only run

on the Switch Pro versus like not versus it plays all the same games. Weren't there are some exclusive games for that like 3DS, that more powerful one? Yeah, like two. So would if that in that case with that Is that really a distinction that I know. Okay, I guess I guess

it has to be clearly. I mean I'm basically saying I don't think it's going to come out in 2022, even if it's confirmed to exist. I'm saying it won't happen this year. Right, but I guess the question is, are you saying it's going to be the Switch Pro or it's going to be a Switch successor? Because I think there's a pretty big difference between those two. And it would be just different things. I believe you're saying a Switch Pro. You're saying a hardware refresh as opposed to something.

Yeah, I'm saying a hardware refresh. Do you want me to say someone will confirm the Switch will get a hardware refresh? Is that cooler with you? Sure. Yeah. That's a good way to put it. Okay. Number four, Breath of the Wild 2 will come out in 2022. And I would say that is, I'm sort of like... That's kind of a bold prediction.

Well, I don't know, because a lot of people are predicting it will come out with a hardware refresh. Hmm. For the switch. Yeah. It's currently, I don't know if it can be a prediction when it's announced for 2022. So their wording when they announced it was like... All right. I will replace it.

I will replace it. Okay, that is a fair. I think that's a fair criticism of that prediction, even though I kind of think it's not going to come out. I will replace it with one of my old standby. Their wording was, we're targeting 2022. So you could say that it's actually fuzzy, but they said 2022 in the trailer. So I don't know.

I don't mind replacing it. Number four, Nintendo will announce a game starring Princess Peach. Okay. If only. Love it. One day. One day. All right. Number five. The Mario animated movie will include a joke that implies Mario's mushrooms or drugs.

Number six. The Master Chief TV show. That's so specific. That's good. It just seems like something they would do. It does. Number six, the Master Chief TV show will not show Master Chief's face, by which I mean, of course, the actor portraying Master Chief. They will not show that guy's face.

So we won't even get like a Mandalorian-esque one moment. Okay. Okay, okay. I think that would be a pretty bold thing for them to do. And I am only, obviously this prediction, only applies to any episodes that air in 2022. If the show ends up not airing at all, this prediction is moot. And I only say that because that Halo show has been in development hell for so long

that I can't believe it even is airing in 2022. But supposedly it is. It's kind of a risky prediction. Okay. Number seven. I might have to take this one out because I wrote by this time next year it, oh, no, I forgot. I put the opposite. I wrote it will be possible to buy a PS5 or an Xbox series X.

I think that that can start. I think that's... Is that too risky? Yes. No, I think that can stay because that is a less safe prediction. Yeah, no, I think that is risky. I forgot I had it the other way. So to be clear, you're saying...

Right. You're saying it will be easy. You could just order it online right now if you wanted to. So at this point next year, we'd be able to go on Walmart. By when we are evaluating the predictions, any one of us could walk into a Best Buy and find a PS5 on a shelf. Or like order one from Walmart. That seems a lot ballsier to me.

Yeah, that's a good... Yeah, I'm going to lose it. Okay, so number eight, the Steam Deck will have a significant problem with its launch. And I put in a couple examples here. One is a delay of at least three months or more. Yeah, Red Ring of Death is another good example. My others were significant hardware issues like controls that don't work. I don't think a delay should qualify for this because it was already delayed and it's kind of got a nebulous date in the first place.

I think a hardware issue. It would be hard to pin that down. How about a delay of at least six months? But the delay isn't a hardware issue necessarily. It's a supply issue more than anything. I think the spirit of your prediction... But that qualifies as a significant problem with its launch. Okay, I could change it to...

It doesn't come out in 22 counts as... 2022 counts as a significant problem. Sure. If it doesn't come out this year, that would be a real problem. But I think there's a lot that could qualify as a problem that isn't a delay. So I think it's like a strong... Yeah, for sure. For sure. I agree.

Like predicting that there will just be some major hardware failure or some other serious problem. Like it could be like yeah a hardware failure it could also be I think it would qualify if like it sucks or like all most of the games don't work. Yeah I can't play games. Yeah if you turn it on and like suddenly half your seam library doesn't actually work even though they promised it would that certainly qualifies. Yeah like it'll like a big controversy where people are like ah this thing sucks. Those are the kinds of things I imagine. So I think you can take timing out and you have a lot of potential wins there. Yeah. Cool. Okay. Number nine by this time next. next year, we will consider NFTs to have been a failed trend.

This one's kind of tough, but... It's a little subjective, because we would consider that now. Well, but I think I'm wrong. Yeah, because there's definitely people out there making money on NFTs. So when you say a failed trend, do you mean a failed trend in gaming or overall? A failed trend in gaming. I'll add that. And I could say something like... I think you need something more specific.

than fail. At least three major studios will stop including NFTs when they'll start them. Yeah. I think you need something specifically, like something concrete like that rather than just because failed trend is a little too subjective. Yeah, something that's like... Yeah, if you want to do like some specific number of companies will back out or say they're no longer. What if like X number of companies say you're no longer pursuing

NFTs by this time next year? or by the end of 20. Like three. Like three major. Is three enough? I have at least three major studios. We'll say they're no longer pursuing NFTs. Sure.

Oh, yeah. Okay. I think that's good. But it has to be studios that were pursuing it at some point. This is a little bit like there was a prediction I made a few years ago that was like multiple games will be specifically marketed as not having microtransactions. Yeah. Which then I think I got. Loot boxes, you said.

Or loop boxes. Yeah. So like same kind of idea. This is like that. Yeah. But it's in my case, it's they had NFTs and now they're like. like, no, we're not doing that anymore. So like if Ubisoft this coming year, stop doing it, anyway, that would count. Number 10. Okay. Um, Overwatch 2 will announce a second black female

character. They won't do that. Is there only one currently? Yes. I'll do, I'll make that my thing. I just need another prediction. This is fine. I'm not going to win next year. Um, but anyway, Let's say I were to win. I would have you guys play the 2010 Xbox 360 remaster of Perfect Dark. Oh, man. I never played that. Oh, what? I know.

It's on Game Pass. Backwards compatibility, baby. I should play it. I checked and everything to make sure that it was possible to be played. Maddie, give us a quick recap. Really clever level design. Basically, if you liked Coldenai, the video game. Oh, sorry.

A recap of your prediction. That was wonderful, though. That was so wonderful. Can you give us a quick recap of Perfect Star? Anyway, that was great. Quick recap of my predictions, which was the actual question. One, we will see a Metroid Prime 4 trailer this year. Two, Bobby Codick will not step down from his position or be fired as CEO of Activision Blizzard.

Three, someone will confirm the switch will get a hardware refresh, but it won't come out in 2022. Four, Nintendo will announce a game starring Princess Peach. 5. The Mario animated movie will include a joke that implies Mario's mushrooms or drugs. Six, the Master Chief TV show will not show Master Chief's face. Seven, by this time next year, it will be possible to just buy a PS5 or Xbox Series X. Eight, the Steam Deck will have a significant problem with its launch, e.g., significant hardware issues, broken controls, doesn't ship at all. Nine, by this time next year, we will consider NFTs to have been a failed trend for games. At least three major studios will say they are no longer pursuing NFTs in the world.

games. 10. Overwatch 2 will announce a second black female character. I guess I have to add in playable. Yes, playable. Yes, not just someone's friend in the background. Yeah. Okay, those are my 10. All right. Well, we got our predictions. We did it, gang. We banged it out. Kirk, we got a special twist this year. What's our twist that you came up with? Our twist is that we're going to do one totally ridiculous prediction each, an 11th gonzo prediction that if it comes true counts for two points, but is never, ever going to come true. So let's do them really quick. Jason, what's yours?

My bonus 11th prediction is Microsoft will buy Ubisoft. Okay, sure. All right, my Gonzo prediction is, a video game character will gain sentience and declare independence from its creator. You made that last year with the V-Tuber. V-tubers aren't video game characters. That V-tuber thing is much more likely. Okay. Mine is Nintendo will finally announce a game starring Waluigi.

Walloigi game. And I mean you play as him. Like it's a warrior, like he's really the star. Starring Waluigi. I thought you were going to say Nintendo will localize Mother 3, which would be the most bonkers. All right. So those are our bonus ones. Those are worth two points each. And we'll add those to the list. I like, Maddie and I are both like, I'll hear some silly things that could happen. And Kirk is like, we will experience the singularity at last. Craig is like a video game character. Yeah, we will enter the Matrix for real.

We will be in the plot of Terminator 2 by this time next to you. Seems kind of probable to me at this point. But at least you'll get us to play Alan Wake if that happens. That's true. We will all enjoy it in the Matrix. What if Alan Wake is the character who gains sentience? That seems as likely as anything else. I mean, if anyone was going to, it would be Alan.

It's true. Well, okay. Let's take a break. That's it for our predictions. A little long, but we made it. Let's take a break, and then we'll be back with one more thing. Hey, I'm Annabel Goura Rich. And I'm Laura House.

And we're the host of Tiny Victories. My tiny victory is that I sewed that button back on the day after it broke. We talk about that little thing that you did that's a big deal to you, but nobody else cares. Did you get that Guggenheim Genius Award? We don't want to hear from you. We want little bitty tiny victories. My tiny victory is a tattoo that I added on to this past weekend. Let's talk about it.

My victory is that I'm one-year cancer-free. But my tiny victory is that I took all of the cushions off the couch, pounded them out, put them back, and it looks so great. So if you're like us and you want to celebrate the tiny achievements of ordinary people, listen to Tiny Victories. It's on every Monday on Maximum Fun. Are you feeling elevated levels of anxiety? Do you quake uncontrollably, even thinking about watching cable news? Do you have disturbing nightmares, only to realize it's two in the afternoon and you're up? If you've experienced one or more of these symptoms, you may have FNO.

News overload. Fortunately, there's treatment. Hi, I'm Dave Holmes, host of Troubled Waters. Troubled Waters helps fight FNO. That's because Troubled Waters stimulates your joy zone. On troubled waters, two comedians will battle one another for pop culture supremacy. So join me, Dave Holmes, for two, two, two doses of troubled waters a month. The cure for your news overload.

Available on maximum fun.org or wherever you get your podcasts. And we are back. Kirk Maddie, it is time for one more thing. But first, I just want to say, Swigod and two, while you're playing, I just want to say, Maddie, this will make you happy. When you have a random encounter, if you're, like, stronger than the enemy, you can choose let go, and then the battle will end. That's right. You let them go. So you never have to worry about, like, random, random, dumb encounters.

It's a very good game. Anyway, one more thing. Kirk, you're up first. Maddie remains skeptical. Okay, I'm up. Kirk, what's your one more thing? My one more thing is the frustration of wanting to play cyberpunk 2077. The way this is written, it sounds like a thesis statement or like a novel.

Right. the assassination of cyberpunk 2077. Cyber life or the frustration of wanting to play cyberpunk 27 in January 2020. Because I kind of want to play cyberpunk 2077 already.

I still haven't really played it. We played it a bit to talk about it for the show. And now it's in this very weird liminal state where it's good enough on PC that it's basically fine. It plays okay. I've played a little bit of it. I started a new game and I was like, I could totally play this.

But I know that in the near future CD Project Red is going to be releasing this significant update for the game that I know is mostly targeting the new consoles, but I think the PC version is going to get some new stuff as well. And it's going to be a big thing. So I want to wait for it, but I'm really just in this place right now where the game I kind of want to play is just a sort of an okay RPG where you sneak around and there's lots of conversations and it's cool looking. And like, I want to play the game. So I'll play a little bit and then I'm like, no, you got to just wait, man. If you just wait, you're going to be glad you wait.

And it's just been a very frustrating experience. Well, we're all going to play it. Does it help if we're all going to play it at the same time, like when the new stuff comes out? Yeah, sure. I remember my position last year when it came out was like, I want to play more of this, but I'm just going to wait until it's finished and fixed. So I'm excited for the new stuff. It helps.

It's funny mostly because it feels a little bit like waiting for cyberpunk 2077 to come out because it's the same feeling of like, I really want to play this, but I want it to be like the good thing. Because maybe when the update comes out, it's going to just kind of be disappointing and just kind of this like weak, whatever. It doesn't really change anything. And then they'll just be like, ah, I waited all this time for nothing and people are still kind of disappointed in the game. Or maybe it'll like legitimately make some things better. So I could still be disappointed again.

It's unlikely that it would be disappointing. Yeah. People seem like pretty excited. I don't know. I mean, when I reported, I reported on cyberpunk's development last year and I ran a big story. And the sentiment I heard from a bunch of people was like, expected it to be out in 2022. So really, it feels like this is when it was supposed to be out anyway.

Granted, a lot of people have left CD projects for the past year, so I'm sure that has had an impact, but still, I think it'll be in good shape. Kirk, have you tried playing DeSax, Human Revolution or Mankind Divided? Because that might scratch your itch. I thought about replaying Mankind Divided. Pretty cool game, but it's not quite... I want to play something new. Like, I want to play a new story, I guess.

And cyberpunk has a new story, and it's got Kianu. and I just got to hang out with Keanu in the Matrix again. Anyways, I hear you. I'm feeling that frustration. That's my one more thing. I think that I will continue to wait. Maddie, what's your one more thing? Mine is just sort of a public service announcement for people who don't go on Twitter.

Like Jason and I earlier this week had to tell Kirk about this game. That's a sensation on Twitter.com. And it's called Wordle, WordL, L.E, named after its creator whose last name is Wardle. which he made it for his partner. And there's an adorable New York Times story about how he made this cute little word game for his partner. And now everybody likes it because it's really fun. And you can only play it once a day,

which is tantalizing because it's the kind of word game that you just want to play over and over. So it is a word guessing game. You have to guess a five-letter word. You don't have any clues. You can start with any five-letter word. And then it tells you whether your letters are correct or not. and also if they're in the right spot or not,

but it doesn't tell you if the word, the final word that you're guessing has double letters. That's always a pain in everybody's spot. It's like the board game mastermind. Yeah, the double letters is, that was something I didn't even know was possible. Until last week, I learned that the very frustrating way,

though I did get the word in the end. It's also a lot like the fallout hacking game. Yeah. It's really mastermind. Wait, did you say mastermind, Jason? I just said, yeah, it's like mastermind. It's mastermind with words. Yeah, but to clarify it is mastermind.

I will say Maddie. To your point, I think the elegant brilliance of it is that there's only one a day, so by nature, you can't spend more than five minutes on it per day. And I think that's what makes it so soothing. You can spend more than five minutes on it for me, but your point stands. You can't spend more than the amount of time it takes you to finish one puzzle. Yes. And I think that's what makes it brilliant. I would say the amount of time you can't spend is you can't spend the amount of time that would make you feel exhausted and burnt out by the game. Exactly. Exactly. So it's just the perfect rhythm. And it really makes such a like, it really makes such a, like, soothing addition in my morning routine. I could get up, go to the bathroom, play Wordle. It's awesome. It is pretty great. And like my co-workers are playing it. The triple-click Discord is playing it.

There's a specific Wordle channel where I can share my scores and not feel like, oh, people don't want to see me tweet my scores every single day. Now I just share them in the channel. And people talk to each other about what they guessed and they use the spoiler tag so that they don't ruin the game for other people. And it's very fun. And I will also say that I can't really get enough of Wordle.

so I've just started playing boggle in my browser when I'm like, I really want more wordle. Just want to make words. Boggle is fun and it's a pretty good way to practice the skills that you need to play wordal well because it's all about noticing patterns and thinking about words and letters that go together and finding words. And I feel like they're sort of similar. But yeah, wordle.

Wordle is my recommendation. Google it and you will find the website and you can play it for free. You know, Maddie, given that you like words so much, I feel like you could probably find some kind of a job maybe that involves words that you could do. I don't know. That's true. I don't know. Those jobs are so hard to get.

That's true. I don't. A job that involves recording a podcast and having to play J.R.B.B. Way easier. Anyone can do that hours. Definitely easier. My one more thing is Final Fantasy 14, a game with a whole lot of words in it. It's kind of like the opposite of Wordle because unlike Wordle, which requires five minutes of your time.

Every day. One of Fantasy 14 requires dozens of hours of your time. Every day. Every day, even though there aren't dozens of hours in the day. It requires every single hour. I mentioned the other day. I mentioned the last week's episode that I had been sinking into it because my family was out of town and I had a couple of days to myself.

And so I just finished Storm Blood, which was the expansion from a couple of years ago. And, man, what a good game. What an all-encompassing, time-consuming, like, giant, massive sink of a game, but also a pretty good game that I am really enjoying. And that's all I have to say for now, maybe one day. It feels like I'm always two expansions behind So maybe one day in like five years I'll be like oh man just finish the new expansion

And Walker can't wait to talk about it guys But that tricky thing right where like you're playing Really optimized and well-balanced stuff Because it's been out for a little while But you're also not able to play the new stuff Which maybe there are things people complain about But you know you don't get to be doing the new thing With an MMO though isn't it

It's like just two expansions behind A lot of it is the story is the problem And so there's like a lot of I have to navigate spoilers, like the spoiler minefield for N-Walker and stuff, because a lot of the appeal of this game is that it's got the same characters that are just like going on this journey with you from expansion to expansion. And so, like, you want to see what's going to happen to them. And so there's some legitimate spoilers that you can run into.

I see. I want to avoid. And the mechanics don't really change that much. So it's not like destiny where, like, it's just really kind of balanced. I was thinking of destiny too. And like people who would pick up destiny to. and be kind of behind and they'd be like, well, I didn't play for two years, and now they just have all this awesome stuff to do, where it sounds like they're very different games, because

the story in Destiny 2 is never really the thing. The draw. Right, no, and this, the appeal is the story, whereas the gameplay mechanics, like, really haven't changed all that much. Some of the combat stuff has changed slightly over the years, and, like, there's a lot of stuff, there's a lot of inventory stuff, and a ton of different quests to wrap your head around. It's, like, the amount of time you could spend, I was talking to some folks in the Discord, some

people were saying they have spent like literally 3,000 hours playing this game. There's so much stuff you can do it. It's just incredibly overwhelming. Some people were like, you should make Kirk and Maddie play it for your 2022 predictions. I was like, they would literally quit tomorrow if I won Final Manor C-14. I don't think so. I mean, we've all played Destiny before. It wouldn't be that different.

I just feel like it would really change the gravitational pull of the podcast. We would just become a final. together. We would just all be talking about it because we would have to be to play it so much. The level of commitment and the monotony in this game, it's a different world. There would be a lot. Trust me. Fair enough. Destiny, you can see

all there is to see in like a couple hundred hours of play. This game, like you need a lot more than that. Even to get through the main, even if you're just like mainlining just the main story, it will take you like 500 hours just to beat what's out there already. Yeah, literally.

500 hours. And that's not even counting all side stuff, some of which is really cool. And like you can play, you can have the same character play every single class, but you level up from the beginning. So some people just like max out all the classes. And that's how they spend thousands and thousands of hours on this thing. But yeah, Final Fantasy 14, good video game. Maybe I'll talk about it more in depth another time when I've played a bunch more. But yeah, making my way through Shadowbringers, which I hear is amazing and has all the real good stuff. So excited about that. And that is it for this week's episode. We did it. Maddie.

We will talk soon about what our Succo 2 schedule will look like for the year. We'll do a triple play. Congratulations, Jason. I'm so excited. This is something, I mean, the thing is, I've been telling Kirk to play Succo 2 for like seven years. And you've made it your bet before. Oh, yes, it has been your plan. Several times. And you did get me to play the game.

I played a chunk of it, but did not finish. You've lost in the past. No, we've had ties. We had multiple ties. And yeah, I lost. But yes, no, very excited. It's going to be fun. You guys are going to enjoy.

it. I have a feeling you'll enjoy this more than Final Fantasy 6. Just saying, Maddie, I think you'll enjoy it. There's no way to know, but you know, I'll be honest with you either way. You can always know that's true. I appreciate it. It's Pokemon meets Game of Thrones, so you'll like it. Okay. That's a good elevator pitch. It's a good elevator pitch. That's the game. It's the game. You'll love it. All right. See you both next week. Yep. See you next week. Bye. Triple Click is produced by Jason Schreier, Maddie Myers, and me, Kirk Hamilton. I edit and mix the show and also wrote our theme music, our show, our show,

is by Tom DJ. Some of the games and products we talked about on this episode may have been sent to us for free for review consideration. You can find a link

to our ethics policy in the show notes. Triple Click is a proud member of the Maximum Fun podcast network and if you like our show, we hope you'll consider supporting us

by becoming a member at Maximumfund.org slash join. Find us on Twitter at Triple ClickPod. Send email the triple click at maximum fun.org and find a link

to our Discord in the show notes. Thanks for listening. See you next time. Maximum fun. org. Comedy and culture. Artist-owned. Audience-supported.