Defining Duke, Episode 206: The Thread
Added 2024-12-09 19:24:58 +0000 UTCHey, all! It's time to submit your questions, comments, concerns, thoughts, and ideas for Episode 206 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 Friday, December 13th at 12 PM ET to make your submission.
Comments
Dear Medicated Matty and Coked out Cog, Is matt booty on drugs? legitimately WTF are they thinking targeting outer worlds 2 for 2025? The series x launched with exactly zero big exclusives/gamepass day ones. Then we waited until the next fall for forza and halo Then went another entire year without any big exclusives. Then 2023 comes with an unmitigated disastor like redfall and a flop in starfield. 2024 is the first actual great year for first party, 2025 is looking to be the same WITHOUT outer worlds 2, so why push it? Does this company have no memory of the famine years? These arent fucking nba youngboy mixtapes, they are huge AAA open world rpgs. Why the fuck would we want two FROM THE SAME DEV in a year?!? Has an extra year of polish ever hurt a game like this? My 'giving them too much credit' theory is they are planning a delay to farm the miyomoto quotes and "take all the time you need as long as its good" responses from social media, since the covid years psy-op'd the gaming community into thinking delays are a good thing. Anyway sorry for the rant, help me see the vision and thanks for the great pod.
seranas_choker
2024-12-13 22:14:54 +0000 UTCHi Dukes, I’ve been playing Indiana Jones and the Great Circle and loving every second of it—I’ve already finished the game twice! Now I’m playing it for the third time on my PC with Path Tracing enabled, and even without it, the game looks stunning. I’m a firm believer that gaming companies should invest in developing their own game engines. ID Tech has proven how well this approach can work. If Indiana Jones and the Great Circle were built on Unreal Engine, it would likely be plagued by traversal and shader compilation stutters, along with running at lower resolutions—just look at most Unreal Engine titles. On PC, the game runs like a dream, and on Xbox Series X, it features ray tracing with a locked 60 FPS at 1800p—a remarkable feat. With Microsoft’s backing, supporting custom game engines seems like the way to go. Thoughts?
Amjad
2024-12-13 06:30:05 +0000 UTCHi Dukes, The TGA’s just wrapped and great games like Okami and Onimusha are coming back. Tekken with Clive?!?! Great pacing?!? Witcher 4?!? This was a great show. What did y’all think? Have a “I wanted persona 6, but I got onimusha instead” type of day
AstroParrotKing
2024-12-13 04:23:40 +0000 UTCPretty bad year for playstation huh Matty? They did pretty well at the game awards.
Heezy
2024-12-13 04:05:20 +0000 UTCHello Santa Cog and Christmas Matty, With the Ad... I mean, Game Awards finished by the time this goes live, what are your overall thoughts on the show? Do you think they did a good job balancing the awards and major reveals? Have a 'I didn't care for Overwatch but Marvel Rivals has it's HOOKS in me' kind of day.
RK128
2024-12-12 12:53:50 +0000 UTCHey Dukes, very happy to hear Matty loves Marvel Rivals. Knowing Cog loved Midnight Suns, I imagine he's at least enjoying the banter between the characters in the lobby. The game is packed with love, polish, fan service, and I really like the gameplay too. Excited to hear your thoughts. Take care!
Kazden Risk
2024-12-11 19:56:41 +0000 UTCHey there Duke of Christmas Past and Duke of Christmas Future, I've recently started the Like a Dragon pilgrimage, in the *correct* order (K1, K2, 3, 4, 5, 0, 6, 7, Gaiden, 8), and it feels good to finally tackle these games, what series of games do you guys have, that you'd love to tackle in 2025 or when you have time? Have a great Christmas and New Year, and have a "Prequels belong in release order" kinda day
Macro
2024-12-11 17:21:01 +0000 UTCHey Cog & Matty, I started playing through the Dragon age games in July largely due to Matty’s channel and have really enjoyed the trilogy. I wanted to get some of Matty’s extended thoughts on Inquisition. Mainly, because I don’t think I’ve played a game recently that I thought was so good yet so bad at the same time. I love the scale of the story and the process of building the inquisition with returning characters like Liliana. I also really enjoyed Morrigan having a major role in the second half of the main story. Then the Trespasser DLC was my favorite part of the overall game. However it is held back by tedious grinding for power which can make the pacing of the story feel uneven at times. Horrible MMO style fetch quests, with combat that feels like a hybrid of DAO & DA2 making combat feel stuck in the mushy middle of those two games. Sorry for the long winded question. Have a, I had to drop the difficulty to easy on the DAO final boss because I didn’t bring a rogue to the fight kind of day.
Domenico Smarto
2024-12-11 16:28:58 +0000 UTCI actually like to workout while I play. I usually use an under-the-desk elliptical or use a stack of books as a stairmaster.
towtansua
2024-12-11 16:22:19 +0000 UTCHey Dukes Wanted to ask for a little Mental Health is Wealth advice. For my entire life I have had this irrational fear of driving but this year I finally went and got my driver's license in February. This was a very big step for me as I am 25 and honestly never imagined myself getting behind the wheel. Speed up to now I finally bought my car and started driving just last week. Because of this, I wake up every morning having severe anxiety that sometimes leads to panic attacks. While anxiety is nothing new to me I’m finding that this anxiety feels different and I’m starting to lose a lot of sleep over it. My main question is do you guys have any advice or tips on how I can push back my anxiety without completely giving up on driving? Love the show guys and all the work you guys do. Thanks for your time.
Vinsterx11
2024-12-11 14:50:34 +0000 UTCHowdy Dukes Long time listener, first time writing in. I’m currently in my junior year of college and would love some tips/advice on starting an indie game project. I’ve started a project with a couple of friends who are passionate about games as much as i am, and we would love to get some insight on how to make this long road ahead of us as smooth as possible. Anyways, big fan of the show and i hope your own project Matty is on the right track. Have a “can we have the next presidential debate hosted in Fortnite” kind of day
kurtcobainfortniteskin
2024-12-11 14:38:53 +0000 UTCHowdy gents, I find it weird how Todd Howard didn't want troy baker to play indie in the game but then listened to him and was happy with his performance. What are your thoughts on this? Source is BBC btw. Much love
David Markham
2024-12-10 23:08:16 +0000 UTCWhat’s up Dukes! Writing this on the treadmill in my health is wealth tank. Looking forward to hearing this episode in a similar position in a few days. Thanks for the motivation and reminders to take care of our health. Onto my question, now that Indiana Jones is out… Did it get screwed out of the game awards? Do you think it would've been in the conversation for at least a few categories, if not the big one?
Kenneth Koepnick
2024-12-10 23:01:21 +0000 UTCThe Dukes, Health is wealth, I am 40 and I decided to go in for a check in. i have my health insurance from my work. After listening to your segment last week I decided to check my health Shit happens, I wanna make sure I am there prepare. Stay cool guys, see you next year.
Raul Hernandez
2024-12-10 15:41:43 +0000 UTCHey Dukes, Have you both had a chance to play Marvel Rivals? I watched Matty's video and, aside from a few critiques, was generally positive and liked what he played. Cog, if you had a chance to play, how are you feeling? Have you two settled into your favorite characters? Are there any heroes you hate playing with or against? I never played Overwatch and this is really my first time playing a hero-shooter and I'm having a lot of fun! I really enjoy the variety of hero playstyles and the team ups. Makes jumping around to different characters a lot of fun and keeps the game fresh. My favorites to play so far have been Peni Parker, Winter Soldier, and Rocket Raccoon. Cheers and hope you two have a great holiday break! - JP
JP
2024-12-10 14:45:59 +0000 UTCHey Dukes, I got to say Indiana Jones is great. I normally play on PS5, so I’m playing this on PC and I’m enjoying it. The most important thing is the way it differentiates itself from Uncharted and Tomb Raider to a point where all three stand on their own IMO. The other two are some of my favorites and this fits right in. I need to ask tho, Matty what is this about your boy Todd Howard throwing shade at Troy Baker being cast as Indy? Troy is in a lot for sure, but he’s killed this role. I know that was before the game was released and I know there was no actual diss. Im just messing, but would like your thoughts. PS Temple of Doom takes place before Raiders and Last Crusade after Raiders, so the release order isn’t in chronological order. Might clear up some of the Marion stuff without getting too specific. Hope you guys have a good holiday with your friends and family.
Nik R
2024-12-10 13:27:05 +0000 UTCClosurei dear Dukes, I would love to write about my current journey with my life experiences on the health is wealth adventure. Now mine is more a mental battle than a physical one, while I could of course improve the body, the soul is what's needed my focus. It's December, a time I use to reflect on the time that's passed to bring me here, and let me share that I am truly blessed. This time last year, I left an awful job, car broke down, romantic relationship ended, and my best friend in the whole world moved on from this life. By far the hardest battle I have ever had to partake in, and the days I wished I could wave the white flag just kept coming. Until some lovely little story pulled me out. My fist time playing Persona in any capacity. 3 Reload had dropped, and I figured "I'm unemployed, i've got time" and what came next will forever stay on my heart. Hearing characters battle their own griefs, coming to terms with loss, or as the greatest character in the game, Aigis, understanding hers, and by proxy my own, mortality. The tears shed and feelings shared was unlike anything before, and finally I understood how to move on. From loss and hardships, I pulled myself up and promised to never stay down that long again. And I played the other 4 games to unlock the greatest experience of my entire time gaming. Now, I have a brand new car, a lovely job that treats me like a real human, my book is finally out and I for what feels like the first time, am truly happy. Mental health and the respect I have given myself is my greatest wealth, and it's thanks to seeing the light shone through a beautiful character like Aigis. I am more than the sum of the past, or the environment that made me. I am proud to be here, to share with you and everyone else, and to share in our yearly success, and be a shoulder in our yearly stresses. Much love to the realm, I've taken your time. Be happy, be healthy, and stay sexy friends!
EvanThePoet
2024-12-10 12:00:57 +0000 UTCGreetings Dukes, I've enjoyed the Xbox Series X controllers but I wanted more from it. The features of the Duelsense seemed cool and I finally got one with the 30th anniversary edition. Well, the Duelsense features do not impress me very much. So it got me thinking, what would we really want from the next Xbox controller. I'd want the shape to go back to the Xbox One style and either have back paddles or re-introduce the black and white buttons from the original Xbox controller. What say you guys? Thanks and have a "I just spent $80 on a controller just to not use it, but man it sure is pretty" kinda day.
Nevets
2024-12-10 09:17:28 +0000 UTCHello Dukes, I would like to wish you both a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Speaking of the new year, do you have any gaming resolutions for next year? I for one like to challenge my normal gaming habits and play a genre that is different at least once. I have surprised myself in the past. This year was VR gaming on the PSVR2. Wow it is wonderful even for a 43 year old gamer of 38 years. Take care duders and so that you know, I love your show and your personalities so much thatbI listen and don't even have an Xbox. Much love, health and wealth in the new year, Ansley
Shinobi-san
2024-12-10 09:07:19 +0000 UTCG'day Dukes! You've both endlessly proclaimed your excitement for 2025 RPGs like Avowed and KCD2 and so in that spirit I'd like to submit an underappreciated RPG for Game Pass Pick Of The Week: Citizen Sleeper. This 2022 roleplaying gem casts you as a ‘Sleeper’, a digital copy of a human consciousness in an artificial body, that has escaped corporate servitude and finds themselves stranded on a lawless space station struggling to survive. Have either of you played this one? I think both of you would find plenty to love in its bleak sci-fi world which can be smashed out in less than 10 hours, so I'd recommend it as something to knock over during the Christmas holidays. Plus, the sequel has been announced to release on January 31st and it too will be dropping into (all tiers of) Game Pass on day one! Thanks for all your hard work this year and wishing you and yours the very best these holidays. Much love to you both from down under, Shane.
Shane Bailey
2024-12-10 05:54:58 +0000 UTCHello Dukes. A bit of a random one, but why is Gears of War Judgement so universally disliked? It feels like it's completely forgotten, and when it is mentioned, it's not for nice reasons. I remember playing it back in the day and I know I enjoyed it quite a lot. In fairness, I was way younger back then but still. As I was (and still am) a massive Gears fan, the game didn't leave a bad taste in my mouth or anything like that. Dukes, give us the final Judgement for this game.
Petre Cismigiu
2024-12-10 01:06:02 +0000 UTCHey Big Boys, How are you guys feeling about The Mets giving Juan Soto a 15 year, $765 million contract to never make it past the Dodgers? Have a "a towering driver, down the line, Ohtani's broken through! It is gone! A majestic home run into the second deck. 7 to nothing LA" kind of day!
Jimbo
2024-12-09 22:13:03 +0000 UTCHey Dukes! I don’t write in much, but I want to thank you for the Health is Wealth segment. I’d specifically like to thank Matty for the turmeric tip. I’m a butcher, which means I work with my hands, and I’ve recognized some tightness and weird pain in my arms. I’ve been drinking turmeric juice for the last few weeks and I feel it helping a lot. Thanks again boys.
Diddy’s Dong Quest
2024-12-09 22:04:17 +0000 UTCGreetings Menenduke Brothers. I have a question for you both. How scary is Indiana Jones and The Great Circle? Cog mentioned something about a spooky section of the game made scarier by the sound design. I don't do well with horror elements in games. For example, Uncharted 1 was easy breezy, but that section towards the end with the Nazi zombies in the bunker activated my anxiety. Is the horror stuff in that ball park or something more? A Merry Christmas to you both, and have a "MUSTAAAARRRRRDDDD!" kind of day.
Chris banging ladies wearing the Green Goblin Mask
2024-12-09 21:35:57 +0000 UTCRed-nosed Dukes, Merry Christmas boys! I did my end of year Xbox in review. My top 3 were Baldurs Gate, Halo Infinite, and Cyberpunk 2077. Show us those stats Duke Boys. Matty, did you even turn yours on this year 😀 😃? Have a my team was on a bye week and still managed to lose kind of day
Mr. Scott If You're Nasty
2024-12-09 21:30:23 +0000 UTCHey Dukes! Now that the year is coming to a close, I wanted to ask you guys what your favorite backlog game you played this year was? I finally played through Earthbound this year and now it's fully cemented itself as one of my favorite rpgs of all time. Thanks for all you do and congrats on another amazing year!
TheUnchartedWolf
2024-12-09 21:24:00 +0000 UTCHey Double D's Happy Holidays! Indy and the Great Circle is getting very positive reviews. Do you think this game could be retooled as a VR game? It doesn't look as frenetic as Wolfenstein, so I get a VR vibe from reviews (I haven't played it yet). Thanks and have an amazing and well deserved break!
Anton Kaye
2024-12-09 21:15:25 +0000 UTCHey Did y’all peek the Tekken World Tour? Shout out to Rangchu dominating with a Kuma. The season 2 perks for customs and new moves for each character keep me excited for the future of Tekken.
Yo mamas so fat I had to rent a server farm just download a picture and I still didnt have enough space!!
2024-12-09 20:16:43 +0000 UTCThis year I got to take my kid to orchestral performances of the Nier OST and the FF7 Rebirth OST. Out of any game, what would you want to see a concert of?
towtansua
2024-12-09 20:15:11 +0000 UTCHello Dukes, this is a correction to a thing that Matty mentioned about PlayStation using Microsoft's cloud solution Azure for their online infrastructure - this is false, but to be fair, no one talked about. I even sent it to Colin, but I guess it wasn't solid enough for big boss. This was nowhere in the news, but a friend of mine close to the Amazon Web Services community, told me that Sony backed out from a deal with Azure, and went to AWS. It happened somewhere after the Zenimax acquisition. Don't have anything more tangible, but this case study should be enough: https://aws.amazon.com/solutions/case-studies/sony-interactive-entertainment-gdc22-case-study/ Love the chemistry between the hosts, such a shame they are on the loosing team (🤣), but nevertheless have a the-guys-did-not-read-my-psportal-correction-just-because-it-was-slightly-outspoken-while-the-false-claim-was-a-digrace-not-only-for-the-show-but-the-gaming-community kind of day 😅. All the best from Poland!
Germanos
2024-12-09 20:02:48 +0000 UTCGreetings true believers, How are the Dukes feeling about Marvel Rivals? I must say even as a long time Overwatch hater, this game has its hooks in me. All the characters are incredibly well done and the game is just so fun and replayable. I find myself still having fun after hours of switching characters and working with new teams. So who are you guys maining so far and who needs those inevitable buffs and nerfs? Keep up the great work gents and have a “cursed to be the only one playing support in a team filled with DPS players” kind of day.
Daniel J
2024-12-09 19:58:03 +0000 UTCLast week at about 17 minutes into the show, Matty joked about the absurdity of someone tweeting at him to kill himself then immediately after pressing send they “go and grab a banana from the fridge”. This begs the question: Matty, do you keep your bananas in your fridge? Store your bananas on the counter before people find out and the internet mob really comes out in full force. Just looking out for you, stay safe.
Snickled
2024-12-09 19:48:01 +0000 UTCHey Dukes. Know this ain’t Summon Sign but wanted to send a sort it out to Bethesda and their store. I bought the Great Circle collectors edition that was supposed to come with early access but last week was notified by UPS that the package wouldn’t get there until after the early access window ended. Same thing happened to me with Starfield and its collectors edition. Luckily Bethesda corrected their mistake this time around and provided codes to those like me who purchased and wouldn’t get their package in time. I’m glad they corrected their mistake this time but it was still frustrating to have to ping Bethesda’s god awful customer support team to get the code. I understand not providing a disk with the game on it in this day and age (sorry Matty) but the least you can do is guarantee I get my package and code prior to launch so I can be ready to play the minute the game goes live and not make me jump through hoops to play the thing I bought when I first am able to. Bungie figured this out. So did Sony. Gotta do better Bethesda. Ok rant over. Thanks and have a “Dishonored may be dead but at least Indiana Jones is providing me Diet Dishonored” kind of day.
Papa Fridge
2024-12-09 19:47:30 +0000 UTCHeyy Duke boys, I just wanted to stop by and wish you all a merry Christmas and happy holidays! You guys gave me plenty to listen to this year and I am looking forward to another year full of Duke and new memories! To thee what are some of your guys is holiday break games you both will be catching up on! I know mine will be finishing yakuza 4 and hopefully making my push to finally catch up to like a dragon by the end of the year! (Not infinite wealth) Take care and enjoy ur much deserved time off! Much love guys! 👏
MonstaPontes93 (Ricky Pontes)
2024-12-09 19:45:50 +0000 UTCHowdy dukes, Indiana is a hit im in awe with how much there is to do with each level but sadly that the NPCs is really stupid. Is it possible they used the same NPC as redfall? It can be frustrating but one or two updates should fix it did you guys have this issue? And have a Xbox are teasing something small for the game awards that isn't a console kind of day
David Markham
2024-12-09 19:44:37 +0000 UTCHowdy Daisy Dukes Matty, it’s been a turbulent week for you as a sports fan. The Mets sign Clay Holmes and Juan Soto, but, the Rangers are seemingly on the edge of imploding (2-8-0 in their last ten) and have dealt their captain to Anaheim in an attempt to stem the bleeding and revamp the locker room chemistry. Not to mention the accusations of soft tampering by the Senators. I must know how are you feeling about all this? Have an “All that for a first round exit” kind of day.
Holzer19
2024-12-09 19:43:28 +0000 UTCHey Dukes. Been enjoying playing Indy, it has alot of Dishonored vibes and the production levels are great. It really feels like a true Indy adventure, however, what is with the enemy AI? Did Machine Games borrow it from Arkane's Redfall and Deathloop? Truly they are the most stupid enemies I've played against even if it is very satisfying giving them a good punch in the face!
Shaun Sannerude
2024-12-09 19:35:54 +0000 UTCHi Dukes! Hope you're all stoked for the holidays! I wanted to write in this week about your tips on how I can balance wanting to start Indiana Jones even though I'm "only" 50 hours into Metaphor, but I had to instead write about your METS. Holy SMOKES they gave Juan Soto $765m/15 years! Seems like an ever so slight overpay in my humble opinion, as a Nats fan who was sad to see him go but was satisfied with the haul we got back from the Padres. I wanted to give you an opportunity to discuss this because this is wild news! Have a "Yankees fans are having a bad time and I'm here for it not gonna lie" kind of day! Best, Drew
Drew D
2024-12-09 19:33:39 +0000 UTCHey Dukes, I have to say it: JUAN FREAKING SOTO! We did it! #LGM Best, Sean M.
Sean Mason
2024-12-09 19:32:40 +0000 UTC
