sorry to Plante but i can't give credit for his From Soft gambit, he specifically said one of the 5 major PUBLISHERS gets acquired. the letter of intent discussion is just a smokescreen, FROM categorically does not count.
Unrelated but I bought Lil Gator Game based on y'all's recommendations and I cried. My sister's ten years older than I am and I remember her coming home from college and not being able to play all the games we used to. I've never had a game hit this close to home before. So good thanks Besties
It’s a game that I think is just fun and cute and gets so many things right that I can recommend it to anyone, but if you had a sibling or good friend you played with as a kid, it will hit so hard and I think its a great kind of nostalgia game despite not feeling old in any way
Lawyer here, though I do not draft or litigate contracts: does anyone have the text of the letter of intent relating to the From Software acquisition? Because all things being equal, I would assume that a letter of intent is non-binding, unless there is language to the contrary. And even “binding” language would not make the purchase a done deal, because the letter would probably contain something akin to a liquidated damages clause that would specify how much the would-be purchaser would owe From Software in the event that they decide not to go forward with the transaction.
I feel like a letter of intent fits the criteria as the most realistic confirmation that Chris was right about what was going to be happening last year, though. I would make the case that Chris brought up that the entire process moves extremely slowly and it would not be unusual for such an acquisition to not fit into a single year, making any movement a pretty reasonable positive. On top of that, the way all parties will keep information close to their chest means we necessarily know whether this is happening or not until a lot has happened behind the scenes. I get that the letter might not seem like enough but I also don’t know if it’s entirely fair to say the only win condition is if that all happened start to finish before January.
When some of you are missing and the closing music plays, and all four of your voices yell “Besties!”, it’s like getting jump scared by the missing hosts’ ghosts. Please record all 10 combinations of 2 or 3 of you so the end stinger accurately represents attendance /j
Much love to Chris for trying his best when so clearly in the wrong lol not only was it not a company he listed in his prediction but also it wasn’t that Sony wanted to buy FromSoft, its that FromSoft’s owner wanted to be bought by Sony and Sony didn’t want to buy them! So both the company and the direction of intent to purchase were off, I think Sony only wants their video game IP and they wanted to fully get bought? Either way, I respect the moxie
My question for the pod if anyone would humour it, after the whirlwind of discussion of new titles for Goty - what is the the last game you guys replayed, that you had played before and wasn’t released in the year you were playing it?
A propos of Silksong, I got burnt out trying to stay on top of all the goty contenders this year and started a new playthrough of Hollow Knight and I’ve plowed through that game in the last two weeks. Even for a hard game, there’s something soothing about returning to a game you know like the back of your hand. Have any of you guys had such an opportunity lately? The closest I can think of something like that being brought up on air is Russ replaying the old Castlevania games on a modern emulator handheld I think, which I am super on board with, as well, but curious if any other besties had any other examples
1. Snake Draft! PLEASE! It's very frustrating listening through the pod knowing that one person gets a whole turn advantage at every stage of the draft. I get that it's two besties who respect and admire each other and are happy to let this kind of thing go, but it's so frustrating as a spectator
2. Baldur's Gate 3 almost certainly had a higher budget than Astro Bot. Possibly by 3 to 5 times. I understand that the spirit of the prediction is explicitly AAA, but this description is so fluid that it'll be very hard to nail this exactly. Would Civ 7 count? Would Elden Ring Nightreign count? Subnautica 2? Marathon? I feel like this is going to be a litigious minefield :(
3. I love the spirit and the inventiveness of the draft, but it doesn't emotionally work for me :( A big part of predictions is the emotional attachment that someone has to their big (and potentially quite embarrassing if wrong) swing. Furthermore, the draft really lets a ton of very inoffensive and/or safe predictions through. I kind of need you to fight and have an emotional attachment to a prediction you made, whereas pretty much all of that rhetoric is gone because both sides want to hold back their powder so they don't influence the draft. That's... not very interesting. I'm sorry! I'M SORRY!
Sony's not acquiring KADOKAWA (the owners of FromSoftware), they simply became the biggest shareholders with a 10% stake and entered a "strategic capital and business alliance" with them. There's no full acquisition in the books and no point to be granted here by any measure. Sony also already owns 14% of FromSoftware (KADOKAWA owns roughly 70% and the remaining ~16% is Tencent).
I'm a couple weeks behind, but I have to get this out re: best console. The most important gaming machine in my life. Mac, in the system 7.5 era. I mean, it definitely wins every rubric category over PCs of the era.
That's not a controversial statement, it's just facts.
And that platform enabled Bungie to make Marathon, which introduced modern FPS multiplayer (building on the Doom framework, but with tons of important innovations).
Personally, that was also the first place I modded a game, and downloaded mods from the internet, because it was so damn easy to do. (I even modded the OS graphical elements). I remember the struggle of trying to download the 430 mb Marathon Eternal mod on a 28k modem. Just staying connected to the Internet for that many consecutive hours was totally novel.
sorry to Plante but i can't give credit for his From Soft gambit, he specifically said one of the 5 major PUBLISHERS gets acquired. the letter of intent discussion is just a smokescreen, FROM categorically does not count.
Make a Haunted Chocolatier prediction, cowards!
Unrelated but I bought Lil Gator Game based on y'all's recommendations and I cried. My sister's ten years older than I am and I remember her coming home from college and not being able to play all the games we used to. I've never had a game hit this close to home before. So good thanks Besties
It’s a game that I think is just fun and cute and gets so many things right that I can recommend it to anyone, but if you had a sibling or good friend you played with as a kid, it will hit so hard and I think its a great kind of nostalgia game despite not feeling old in any way
Lawyer here, though I do not draft or litigate contracts: does anyone have the text of the letter of intent relating to the From Software acquisition? Because all things being equal, I would assume that a letter of intent is non-binding, unless there is language to the contrary. And even “binding” language would not make the purchase a done deal, because the letter would probably contain something akin to a liquidated damages clause that would specify how much the would-be purchaser would owe From Software in the event that they decide not to go forward with the transaction.
TL;DR: Chris does not get this point.
I feel like a letter of intent fits the criteria as the most realistic confirmation that Chris was right about what was going to be happening last year, though. I would make the case that Chris brought up that the entire process moves extremely slowly and it would not be unusual for such an acquisition to not fit into a single year, making any movement a pretty reasonable positive. On top of that, the way all parties will keep information close to their chest means we necessarily know whether this is happening or not until a lot has happened behind the scenes. I get that the letter might not seem like enough but I also don’t know if it’s entirely fair to say the only win condition is if that all happened start to finish before January.
When some of you are missing and the closing music plays, and all four of your voices yell “Besties!”, it’s like getting jump scared by the missing hosts’ ghosts. Please record all 10 combinations of 2 or 3 of you so the end stinger accurately represents attendance /j
The SteamOS handheld was a freebee. Valve detailed branding guidelines for SteamOS devices and Lenovo has all but announced one already https://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonevangelho/2024/12/19/lenovo-all-but-confirms-new-steamos-handheld-with-surprise-event/
(it has a Steam button)
Much love to Chris for trying his best when so clearly in the wrong lol not only was it not a company he listed in his prediction but also it wasn’t that Sony wanted to buy FromSoft, its that FromSoft’s owner wanted to be bought by Sony and Sony didn’t want to buy them! So both the company and the direction of intent to purchase were off, I think Sony only wants their video game IP and they wanted to fully get bought? Either way, I respect the moxie
My question for the pod if anyone would humour it, after the whirlwind of discussion of new titles for Goty - what is the the last game you guys replayed, that you had played before and wasn’t released in the year you were playing it?
A propos of Silksong, I got burnt out trying to stay on top of all the goty contenders this year and started a new playthrough of Hollow Knight and I’ve plowed through that game in the last two weeks. Even for a hard game, there’s something soothing about returning to a game you know like the back of your hand. Have any of you guys had such an opportunity lately? The closest I can think of something like that being brought up on air is Russ replaying the old Castlevania games on a modern emulator handheld I think, which I am super on board with, as well, but curious if any other besties had any other examples
Give him the quarter point, he needs it
“There will be no outright acquisition (at least not yet)” - Polygon
No point!
https://www.polygon.com/news/499710/sony-kadokawa-fromsoftware-largest-shareholder-acquisition
I bet no one predicted that Atari would tease a new hand held console this year: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTYvmMf6D/
A couple of stray thoughts
1. Snake Draft! PLEASE! It's very frustrating listening through the pod knowing that one person gets a whole turn advantage at every stage of the draft. I get that it's two besties who respect and admire each other and are happy to let this kind of thing go, but it's so frustrating as a spectator
2. Baldur's Gate 3 almost certainly had a higher budget than Astro Bot. Possibly by 3 to 5 times. I understand that the spirit of the prediction is explicitly AAA, but this description is so fluid that it'll be very hard to nail this exactly. Would Civ 7 count? Would Elden Ring Nightreign count? Subnautica 2? Marathon? I feel like this is going to be a litigious minefield :(
3. I love the spirit and the inventiveness of the draft, but it doesn't emotionally work for me :( A big part of predictions is the emotional attachment that someone has to their big (and potentially quite embarrassing if wrong) swing. Furthermore, the draft really lets a ton of very inoffensive and/or safe predictions through. I kind of need you to fight and have an emotional attachment to a prediction you made, whereas pretty much all of that rhetoric is gone because both sides want to hold back their powder so they don't influence the draft. That's... not very interesting. I'm sorry! I'M SORRY!
Sincerely, thank you for the feedback!!
For clarity:
Sony's not acquiring KADOKAWA (the owners of FromSoftware), they simply became the biggest shareholders with a 10% stake and entered a "strategic capital and business alliance" with them. There's no full acquisition in the books and no point to be granted here by any measure. Sony also already owns 14% of FromSoftware (KADOKAWA owns roughly 70% and the remaining ~16% is Tencent).
I fear for this podcast when Silksong actually comes out and we need a new yearly meme
I'm a couple weeks behind, but I have to get this out re: best console. The most important gaming machine in my life. Mac, in the system 7.5 era. I mean, it definitely wins every rubric category over PCs of the era.
That's not a controversial statement, it's just facts.
And that platform enabled Bungie to make Marathon, which introduced modern FPS multiplayer (building on the Doom framework, but with tons of important innovations).
Personally, that was also the first place I modded a game, and downloaded mods from the internet, because it was so damn easy to do. (I even modded the OS graphical elements). I remember the struggle of trying to download the 430 mb Marathon Eternal mod on a 28k modem. Just staying connected to the Internet for that many consecutive hours was totally novel.
i’d give Plante up to a half a point for the letter of intent, but i would imagine i’m in the minority
My 2025 prediction for The Besties.
"Special Guest" - Billy Basso || Video Game Dunkey