Defining Duke, Episode 265: The Thread
Added 2026-01-26 17:42:11 +0000 UTCHey, all! It's time to submit your questions, comments, concerns, thoughts, and ideas for Episode 265 of Defining Duke.
Great ways to get your write-up used: Be pithy, be topical, and be insightful. Walls-of-text, posts littered with poor grammar and punctuation, etc., are promptly (though respectfully) ignored.
As this is an Xbox podcast, be sure your submission makes sense within that realm. You have until Wednesday, January 28th at 3 PM ET to make your submission.
Comments
g'day dukes! i love the idea that Double Fine's new game can succeed in a contemporary video game landscape; however, its 2026 and risky bets and new ips aren't gonna please the shareholders who fund the operation (microsoft). We all need to protect Double Fine at all costs and support Kiln. If this is the last bastion for creativity in xbox's first party, lets throw it a party. Make some mugs, smoke some nugs, and play Kiln. Just a thought
Je Ne Sais Queer
2026-01-26 23:30:05 +0000 UTCThis is for Matty, do you plan on watching the new Silent Hill movie? It just released and is a retelling of the second game. While it may only have a 7% on Rotten Tomatoes and a 31 on metacritic, a 7% is 7 times more than a 1% so if you look at it from that perspective it's actually pretty good.
Derrek Beeck
2026-01-26 23:10:59 +0000 UTCHey fellas, Hello from Australia. After the xbox direct, I was disappointed in no State of Decay 3. Are we to assume that it will be released 2027. It was announced nearly 6 years ago now and teased on and off since then. What are your thoughts on; the state of the game/developmen, game announcements that are way too early, and when you think we'll finally get to see a deep dive into it.
Buzzard
2026-01-26 20:04:05 +0000 UTCGentleman, These rising hardware prices have a negative effect on more consumers than positives, but can I express a positive that I've experienced throughout these up and downs? I've upgraded my GPU every generation for basically free. I've resold my used* GPUs for what I've paid every time by just being dialed in with restocks and selling at the right time. I just got my 5080 Founders over this past weekend for $1,000 and already sold my 4080 Super for what I paid ($1,100) after having it for 2 years. I did the same think with my 3080 TI and my 2080 TI prior to that. Luckily I already did a case rebuild in Winter 2024 as the cost of RAM and even my NVMEs has shot up. I'm absolutely sympathetic towards people trying to build their first PC, but if you already have components and a little online prowess for restocks you can make a negative into a positive! Have you ever done anything like this? Not in a scalper way! Have a.. "Mr Matty pulls up to the cookout, smells smoked turkey legs, locks eyes with Cog, and someone starts playing Ebony and Ivory" kind of day.
Zachary Abell
2026-01-26 19:53:36 +0000 UTCHi Dukes. Well looks like Highguard might be a hit. Of course with these live service games, we need to see in the long term. But Dukes, especially Matty. Do we all own Geoff an apology? He was very confident on twitter over the weekend about this game. What do you think of Highguard? Was Geoff right?
thejjuan1
2026-01-26 19:51:18 +0000 UTCFirst time write-in, long-time viewer. By removing the classic good-and-evil morality system—one of Fable’s core identity pillars—and launching without co-op in favor of a reputation-based approach, should the new Fable have been delayed to better preserve its DNA, or is this a definitive statement that this is simply what Fable is now and will be going forward? As a developer I respect the work and passion here, but as someone who grew up with Fable, I can’t help but wonder if something special is being lost. Have a “the game won’t judge you, but Albion will” kind of day.
SPATARTAN
2026-01-26 18:55:03 +0000 UTCHello Non-Romantic Cog and Forza Bro Matty. While I can guess that many are going to write about Fable, Forza Horizon 6 (we see you, Forza Bros), and Beast of Reincarnation—all of which look fantastic and I can definitely see myself playing on my Series X—the one I want to vouch for is Kiln. I have huge faith in Double Fine, as they’ve been Xbox’s most creative team for a while now. From the fantastic Psychonauts 2, to Keeper (which I adore), and now this pottery-brawl multiplayer attempt that’s giving me major Crash Team Rumble vibes. If the cards are in its favor, I can see Kiln being a fantastic, unique multiplayer experience. And if it really delivers on those CTR vibes, I can easily see myself playing it for many hours. Sure, we all wanted Fallout 3 or something equally massive, but for me this was my second favorite game of the show—just for being such a fun and unique attempt, and for not being another hero shooter like Highguard. So what say you guys, now that a week has passed and the Fable post-nut clarity has worn off? Have an “Oh cool, a full lobby—aaaaannnnd they’re all dick-shaped pot players” kind of day.
PropellerDoggo
2026-01-26 18:37:30 +0000 UTCHowdy Dukes! Curious to get your thoughts on Highguard as it will be out when you record. Not sure if either of you had the chance to check it out, I won't since there is no Linux support. But, my prediction is that this will actually be fine. Geoff is going all in on this game on X and I think the initial negative wave of publicity may get people to check it out. All press is good press as they say. We will see and I could be wrong! Have a "Highguard is the true Titanfall 3" kind of day
empty_0
2026-01-26 18:19:30 +0000 UTCLove Peep Show.
BRING OUT THE OLIVES
2026-01-26 18:07:00 +0000 UTCEllo you wee chicken chasers! Boys boys boys. The Fable hype train pulled in and it looks like we all got our tickets and climbed aboard however, I would like to potentially dish out some homework to you folks across the pond. The Office cut to camera techniques have been covered by the industry after the IGN interview however it was also stated that Playground has taken huge inspo from shows like the I.T Crowd and Peep Show... With Matt King and Richard Ayoade already shown off in the game I want to know if you have any familiarity with these actors or shows? Walk into any office or workplace in the UK and drop a quote from either show and you're sure to have a one liner thrown back your way. The point being that these guys are absolutely huge over here and so I wanted to put the shows a little more on your radar to check out if they are new to you. Personally I'm praying that Playground have rounded up a much larger number of our funny chaps and are keeping their involvement hidden until closer to release. We had John cheese, Johnathon Ross, Stephen Fry and the like in the original trilogy so chucking in our new crop sounds about right. Have a "try not to throw our lovely British gifts in the waters of Boston " kinda of day
Blurry
2026-01-26 17:53:53 +0000 UTCA Fable-rific day to you Dukes, I’ve noticed in the last year or two that there seems to be a lack of “benefit of the doubt” with games from know studios. Playground is a great example with Fable, after seeing what we saw last week, how can someone think “idk man who knows how this will turn out.” I understand that games like Veilguard have been examples to the contrary, but these are studios we know are largely gutted of the historic talent. It seems deeper rooted than that, like people just expect every game to be bad and need to be proven otherwise. Does anyone really think Wolverine is going to be bad for example?
Mike Carley
2026-01-26 17:52:56 +0000 UTCHowdy, Dukes! Statistically speaking, the older you get the more likely you are to develop an acute, chronic disability. With this knowledge in mind, how, if at all has your relationship with accessibility in gaming changed? Do you frequently consult the accessibility settings in your games or on your consoles? Have you partaken in acquiring any accessibility related hardware? Personally, the first thing I do when I boot up a game is navigate to the accessibility menu. I always play with subtitles on, increase text size and turn on letterbox opacity. I turn speaker names on, and if available directional subtitles. This allows me to identify the source of a sound from any character off-screen. Lastly, I turn any rapid button presses into a simple hold or toggle. This is particularly helpful for gamers with arthritis. As someone who has a family history of arthritis, rapidly pressing the same button in quick secession can be quite a toll on the phalanges. I also exclusively play wearing my prescription eyeglasses. Outside of playing on a handheld or at a monitor, I'm never not wearing my glasses when I play. I'm like Velma from Scooby-Doo without my glasses, just not as hot and I'm a dude. With the Dukes preaching the gospel that is Health is Wealth, I feel it's important to get the Dukes on the record as it relates to accessibility. Perhaps you could even share some of your favorite games to prominently feature robust accessibility settings? Whether it's titans like Naughty Dog and Playground Games, or indie hits like Ball X Pit, it's wonderful to see the progress the accessibility community has made in gaming. Until next time Dukes! Have a, if Forza Horizon 6 is as good as Forza Horizon 5 and isn't nominated for Game of the Year, I'm literally going to commit a fucking war crime kinda day!
Raisin
2026-01-26 17:46:02 +0000 UTC
