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[Bahorel]

Bravo, my dear, bravo.

 

[UrbanRats]

The fact that they look at each other, before going serious, is the best part.
GJ.

 

[Ultimadrago]

Finished Trails in the Sky the 3rd. What a game. With some speedhacks the game holds up really well. .

Man, I'm looking forward to this. How long did it take you to complete? I am going through Gravity Rush Remastered now because I wanted a RPG break after spending well over 100+ hours on P5. I'm planning to get to it soon after finishing GRR, which I'm not too far from completing now.

 

[Primethius]

OMG this is amazing!

From the April Q&A:

Ian: "I don't even remember who made Horizon but they were like... They knew. They knew. They were terrified. They were like, please hype this up in the week we've got, before Zelda comes out and destroys us."

Reality: Both games sold extremely well, there's no evidence one hurt the other because they were on different systems with different fanbases. Hell, Horizon outsold Uncharted fucking 4's first month in the US.

I like Ian and his hot takes are often funny but it's cringeworthy when he pulls shit like this. No regard for facts, just make shit up to try and prove a point.

It's been a pretty common misconception for some reason amongst many folks that Horizon was scared of Zelda despite:

- Announcing its release date first
- Having an earlier review embargo reveal

And as of now, its likely actually has sold more than Zelda. It's a new IP vs established franchise to boot. So...

 

[Roberto Larcos]

Is Easy Allies notable enough for a Wikipedia page? I know it sounds stupid, but it's one of those small things that adds a bit of credibility to a site - especially in games media, where so much is fan-run blogs or YouTubers.

 

[Mikey Jr.]

From the April Q&A:

Ian: "I don't even remember who made Horizon but they were like... They knew. They knew. They were terrified. They were like, please hype this up in the week we've got, before Zelda comes out and destroys us."

Reality: Both games sold extremely well, there's no evidence one hurt the other because they were on different systems with different fanbases. Hell, Horizon outsold Uncharted fucking 4's first month in the US.

I like Ian and his hot takes are often funny but it's cringeworthy when he pulls shit like this. No regard for facts, just make shit up to try and prove a point.

Ian gonna Ian.

I wouldn't put too much stake in that. When it comes to gaming news, he usually gets a lot of stuff wrong. He even admits he's not much of a gamer compared to everyone else.

 

[Bloodworth]

From the April Q&A:

Ian: "I don't even remember who made Horizon but they were like... They knew. They knew. They were terrified. They were like, please hype this up in the week we've got, before Zelda comes out and destroys us."

Reality: Both games sold extremely well, there's no evidence one hurt the other because they were on different systems with different fanbases. Hell, Horizon outsold Uncharted fucking 4's first month in the US.

I like Ian and his hot takes are often funny but it's cringeworthy when he pulls shit like this. No regard for facts, just make shit up to try and prove a point.

Both games have done really well, but Ian's not making that story up. That happened. Terrified probably isn't the right word, but Sony was definitely concerned that Zelda was going to dominate the conversation as soon as it came out.

 

[Holundrian]

Man, I'm looking forward to this. How long did it take you to complete? I am going through Gravity Rush Remastered now because I wanted a RPG break after spending well over 100+ hours on P5. I'm planning to get to it soon after finishing GRR, which I'm not too far from completing now.

About ~40 hours being super thorough and trying to read everything that is there to read.
Didn't really play anything the entirety of April despite having the games cause q1 was so exhausting. So I was a bit worried that I might not be up for 3rd but I think I was engrossed within the first hour.

 

[Primethius]

Both games have done really well, but Ian's not making that story up. That happened. Terrified probably isn't the right word, but Sony was definitely concerned that Zelda was going to dominate the conversation as soon as it came out.

I don't mean to be argumentative but I just don't see that being the case when it comes to sales.

Horizon had a huge marketing campaign as evidenced by its stellar sales. Review embargos have always been part of the marketing blitz so I'm sure while Sony was to some degree thinking, "oh a competitor is releasing a big game and a new system", I just don't see where it becomes more than a worry any competitor has when another competitor releases something.

The big differentiating factor I think is that Zelda was poised to be a system seller and Horizon was more so targetted towards the mass market. So things such as "dominating the conversation" become increasingly irrelevant factors when judging sales and their impact. GAF is a perfect example of this because the forum is absolutely not remotely representative of mainstream market sales trends but certain games definitely dominate the conversation more than others.

And I think that shows with Horizon. It certainly hasn't dominated the Internet conversation the way Zelda has. And yet, the PS4 still sold like crazy in March in NA (despite the Switch launch) and Horizon went on to be a massive opening for a new IP.

I honestly do think this is another mainstream vs. internet disconnect.

 

[Bloodworth]

I don't mean to be argumentative but I just don't see that being the case when it comes to sales.

Horizon had a huge marketing campaign as evidenced by its stellar sales. Review embargos have always been part of the marketing blitz so I'm sure while Sony was to some degree thinking, "oh a competitor is releasing a big game and a new system", I just don't see where it becomes more than a worry any competitor has when another competitor releases something.

The big differentiating factor I think is that Zelda was poised to be a system seller and Horizon was more so targetted towards the mass market. So things such as "dominating the conversation" become increasingly irrelevant factors when judging sales and their impact. GAF is a perfect example of this because the forum is absolutely not remotely representative of mainstream market sales trends but certain games definitely dominate the conversation more than others.

And I think that shows with Horizon. It certainly hasn't dominated the Internet conversation the way Zelda has. And yet, the PS4 still sold like crazy in March in NA (despite the Switch launch) and Horizon went on to be a massive opening for a new IP.

I honestly do think this is another mainstream vs. internet disconnect.

Yeah, I'm not arguing against the sales numbers at all. I'm just saying that was a real conversation that happened before the release of Zelda. They sent additional copies for more people to try to play and discuss the game before Zelda came out.

I do think there has been plenty of talk in favor of Horizon since, there are just going to be those direct comparisons due to how closely they came out and how Zelda has done things differently from a lot of other open world games. And as I mentioned on the Q&A, the games probably just don't complement each other well to play at the same time.

 

[Pie and Beans]

Ian's raging hate boner for Horizon was incredibly grating over the past year.
In the podcast when he tried to sling shit at Horizon's art style for being "too detailed" for instance, the eye rolls were almost at cardiac arrest level. It becomes especially obnoxious when he's doing his "that one big game I played and liked this year is all I will talk about" shtick and runs that into the ground in conversation about other games.

A bit of work needed on the Don't Skip thumbnails btw. Red text without outlines or background makes for bad composition. Really hope they produce more and more of them (not finishing the game for a Don't Skip is absolutely fine so they should not hold back on that end) and get some more Spoiler Mode's out in good time rather than anything else.

 

[Bloodworth]

A bit of work needed on the Don't Skip thumbnails btw. Red text without outlines or background makes for bad composition.

The first two came out fine, but I had nothing but bad options for art related to The Disney Afternoon Collection. When I did the mockups, I mentioned that this approach could be difficult with some images, but it's what Ben preferred. We'll keep trying to see if it continues to be a problem with future episodes.

 

[Elfforkusu]

From the April Q&A:

Ian: "I don't even remember who made Horizon but they were like... They knew. They knew. They were terrified. They were like, please hype this up in the week we've got, before Zelda comes out and destroys us."

Reality: Both games sold extremely well, there's no evidence one hurt the other because they were on different systems with different fanbases. Hell, Horizon outsold Uncharted fucking 4's first month in the US.

I like Ian and his hot takes are often funny but it's cringeworthy when he pulls shit like this. No regard for facts, just make shit up to try and prove a point.

Is he wrong though? Would it have done better without Zelda (and the Switch) dominating social media/etc immediately?

Seems like it's speculation either way, so what's the problem?

e: Probably should've read what Blood wrote before replying. So, it's not even that it's speculation, it actually happened

 

[Pie and Beans]

The first two came out fine, but I had nothing but bad options for art related to The Disney Afternoon Collection. When I did the mockups, I mentioned that this approach could be difficult with some images, but it's what Ben preferred. We'll keep trying to see if it continues to be a problem with future episodes.

If a straight drop shadow is out, a rounded rectangle background (plain colour, or metallic) would still fit the 'its a CD players skip button' name concept. Red text is always gonna prove a problem if no black, gray or navy background is gonna let it lay.

 

[Primethius]

Yeah, I'm not arguing against the sales numbers at all. I'm just saying that was a real conversation that happened before the release of Zelda. They sent additional copies for more people to try to play and discuss the game before Zelda came out.

I do think there has been plenty of talk in favor of Horizon since, there are just going to be those direct comparisons due to how closely they came out and how Zelda has done things differently from a lot of other open world games. And as I mentioned on the Q&A, the games probably just don't complement each other well to play at the same time.

Ah gotcha. Thanks for the additional details.

 

[WarRock]

I'VE BUILT IT IN THE GAME JOHN

https://giant.gfycat.com/AnxiousSecondaryAntelope.gif

You are the best person.

 

[Prompto]

New favorite gif

 

[dickroach]

glad the best-ofs are back. great work, budday
also, I gotta ask how you choose what you put in each video. like, you're not watching 60 hours of streams each week are you??

 

[farisr]

I watch the stuff that I usually watch in its entirety (podcast, frame trap etc). The stuff that I don't normally watch, I've set it up so I skip 3-6 seconds at a time per keystroke looking for expression changes and audio cues and what not, stop and go back just to see what was said or what led up to it etc. Then at the end of the week take a look at the twitch clip from the past 7 days to see if I missed anything (pretty rare). Also make sure to read through this thread as well.

All said and done, for the streams/vids I don't watch I think it probably takes me anywhere from 5-7 hours to go through.

But yeah, I do this for every single video/stream as that's what the purpose of this series was to begin with (to try to get moments from everything if possible since most people do not have time to keep up with it all)

 

[Philippo]

When you're at a party having fun and bump into that one guy you hate with all of your guts.

 

[Primethius]

Is he wrong though? Would it have done better without Zelda (and the Switch) dominating social media/etc immediately?

Seems like it's speculation either way, so what's the problem?

e: Probably should've read what Blood wrote before replying. So, it's not even that it's speculation, it actually happened

Sales talk incoming: (skip wall of text if not your thing)

Nah, there's nothing to suggest that without Zelda, the PS4 and Horizon sales would be better or were impacted negatively at all.

Just in terms of sales data, before Horizon month (March NPD), the PS4 was actually down year over year in sales. But for March, PS4 was signficantly up year over year that it made up for the deficit in Jan/Feb and made it so for the year as a whole, PS4 sold more in 2017 vs. 2016. And it managed to do so in the month that Switch launched.

On top of this, Horizon debuted to more sales than Uncharted 4 in NA and did gangbusters everywhere else. There's nothing to suggest that Zelda and Switch had an impact because as mentioned above, one: the data shows the PS4 doing better than last year and two: the demographics both consoles target are largely very different.

I think the amount of folks interested in both Horizon and Zelda were extremely small and basically an irrelevant number when it comes to actual sales.

 

[abrack08]

EDIT: Nevermind, I should watch the QA before commenting.

 

[Elfforkusu]

Sales talk incoming: (skip wall of text if not your thing)

Nah, there's nothing to suggest that without Zelda, the PS4 and Horizon sales would be better or were impacted negatively at all.

Just in terms of sales data, before Horizon month (March NPD), the PS4 was actually down year over year in sales. But for March, PS4 was signficantly up year over year that it made up for the deficit in Jan/Feb and made it so for the year as a whole, PS4 sold more in 2017 vs. 2016. And it managed to do so in the month that Switch launched.

On top of this, Horizon debuted to more sales than Uncharted 4 in NA and did gangbusters everywhere else. There's nothing to suggest that Zelda and Switch had an impact because as mentioned above, one: the data shows the PS4 doing better than last year and two: the demographics both consoles target are largely very different.

I think the amount of folks interested in both Horizon and Zelda were extremely small and basically an irrelevant number when it comes to actual sales.

IMO:
1. This might be taken as proof that Sony's countermeasures (sending out the game early, etc) were effective
2. "PS4" sales don't seem a particularly useful metric to me wrt Horizon specifically, there are lots of reasons to buy that system
3. Comparing to Uncharted 4, LTD seems like a much more interesting metric to evaluate (we'll need to give some time to see this obviously) than first month sales
4. Even without specific crossover fans buying Zelda over Horizon or Horizon over Zelda (I agree that this is probably a miniscule number of people making that either/or choice), the general *buzz* of a new console launch could absolutely have dampened the launch of other games.

 

[Ashtar]

Hey you edited that video!

I was trying to find that GI Joe rise of cobra review but I can't which series does Damiani watch his old reviews? I liked watching GT videos even for games I knew I'd never play

 

[EdReedFan20]

I'm sure this game has been played to death already, but if the nine members of EZA were the nine members of The Fellowship of the Ring, which one would be which.

For me:

Bloodworth: Gandalf
Jones: Aragorn
Don: Boromir
Damiani: Gimli
Ian: Legolas
Ben: Frodo
Brad: Sam
Huber: Merry
Bosman: Pippin

 

[Primethius]

IMO:
1. This might be taken as proof that Sony's countermeasures (sending out the game early, etc) were effective
2. "PS4" sales don't seem a particularly useful metric to me wrt Horizon specifically, there are lots of reasons to buy that system
3. Comparing to Uncharted 4, LTD seems like a much more interesting metric to evaluate (we'll need to give some time to see this obviously) than first month sales
4. Even without specific crossover fans buying Zelda over Horizon or Horizon over Zelda (I agree that this is probably a miniscule number of people making that either/or choice), the general *buzz* of a new console launch could absolutely have dampened the launch of other games.

The only Sony strategy in question is sending the copies early to reviewers, which has a negligible impact on actual sales (as opposed to something like an embargo date + good reviews + marketing blitz).

PS4 sales are a good metric because showing that the console is up in sales when the Switch launched shows the divering demographic markets between PS4 owners and Switch owners at launch. And if the hardware sales aren't dampened, there's nothing to suggest software would be dampened either.

LTD comparisons are irrelevant in looking at the impact of a title at launch vs. another title at launch. Both systems will have other software that impacts each titles legs regardless (e.g. MK8 will have a bigger impact on legs for Zelda and other SP content on PS4 for Horizon).

The general buzz is just internet talk and not a dominating factor for sales. Look at titles like Ghost Recon and For Honor. They barely have internet buzz around them the way other games do and both are two of the biggest selling games this year.

A title like Nier gets more internet buzz than For Honor for example but For Honor mops the floor with Nier sales.


--

Blah, I'm writing long sales talk posts in an EZA thread. Apologies. Just gonna drop it here. Don't want to clog the thread with OT stuff.

 

[Visceir]

Hey you edited that video!

I was trying to find that GI Joe rise of cobra review but I can't which series does Damiani watch his old reviews? I liked watching GT videos even for games I knew I'd never play

He adds all the links and timestamps into the description of the video.

 

[Saucestin_Roast]

Ian's raging hate boner for Horizon was incredibly grating over the past year.
In the podcast when he tried to sling shit at Horizon's art style for being "too detailed" for instance, the eye rolls were almost at cardiac arrest level. It becomes especially obnoxious when he's doing his "that one big game I played and liked this year is all I will talk about" shtick and runs that into the ground in conversation about other games.

I don't wanna bring too much negativity in here but as a huge Easy Allies fan I do find this quite annoying sometimes. Ian can just make me roll my eyes. Broadening one's horizons is never a bad thing, no pun intended.

 

[FUNKNOWN iXi]

I'm sure this game has been played to death already, but if the nine members of EZA were the nine members of The Fellowship of the Ring, which one would be which.

For me:

Bloodworth: Gandalf
Jones: Aragorn
Don: Boromir
Damiani: Gimli
Ian: Legolas
Ben: Frodo
Brad: Sam
Huber: Merry
Bosman: Pippin

• Gandalf: Jones (brings it all together)
• Aragorn: Bosman -- Return of the King: The Final Bosman
• Boromir: Blood -- Borormir corrupted by The Ring: Cold-Blooded
• Gimli: Damiani
• Legolas: Ian
• Frodo: Ben
• Sam: Don (the one who gives us hope when all hope is lost, the watchful guardian)
• Merry: Brad
• Pippin: Huber

 

[LiquidSolid]

Yeah, I'm not arguing against the sales numbers at all. I'm just saying that was a real conversation that happened before the release of Zelda. They sent additional copies for more people to try to play and discuss the game before Zelda came out.

I do think there has been plenty of talk in favor of Horizon since, there are just going to be those direct comparisons due to how closely they came out and how Zelda has done things differently from a lot of other open world games. And as I mentioned on the Q&A, the games probably just don't complement each other well to play at the same time.

Real conversation from Sony, within the media or within EZA? Just wanted a little clarification.

Either way, it still seems like an enormous leap to go from that to "they were terrified they were going to get destroyed by Zelda." Shit's ridiculous, especially since he was using it to argue that Horizon should've been delayed, as if it was in fact "destroyed."

Pie and Beans isn't wrong that he can get really obnoxious at times, especially when he starts making shit up about other games to try and prop his 'one true game' up.

3. Comparing to Uncharted 4, LTD seems like a much more interesting metric to evaluate (we'll need to give some time to see this obviously) than first month sales

Huh? First month sales of a new IP vs an established, huge franchise like Uncharted isn't an interesting metric? Seems like you're moving the goal posts. Horizon's sales are insanely impressive, pretty sure it's Sony's best first month sales in the US since God of War 3 (though I could be wrong).

@Primethius: Did we end up getting March PS4/XBO sales data? Last I looked, we only had Switch numbers.

Hey you edited that video!

I was trying to find that GI Joe rise of cobra review but I can't which series does Damiani watch his old reviews? I liked watching GT videos even for games I knew I'd never play

There's like three fairly lengthy streams of him going through them on Twitch. Pretty sure they didn't want to put them on Youtube because IGN owns all that stuff these days.

 

[Ashtar]

He adds all the links and timestamps into the description of the video.

so these are just just his streams ?

Also watching the Q&A for the first time and I'm pretty sure Damiani was referring to PoP 2008, but PoP: Forgotten Sands actually had those things he was asking for.

 

[Elfforkusu]

Huh? First month sales of a new IP vs an established, huge franchise like Uncharted isn't an interesting metric? Seems like you're moving the goal posts. Horizon's sales are insanely impressive, pretty sure it's Sony's best first month sales in the US since God of War 3 (though I could be wrong).

@Primethius: Did we end up getting March PS4/XBO sales data? Last I looked, we only had Switch numbers.

The comparison isn't Horizon vs Uncharted 4, but rather Horizon (real world) vs Horizon (hypothetical world where the Switch doesn't come out in within a few weeks). My suggestion isn't meant to move of goal posts (what goal posts? Who's kicking and what are they kicking and what game are we playing?), just to suggest that one data point ("Horizon sold better than Uncharted 4 for a month in the US") is perhaps not indicative of potential negative effects from competition.

To whit: maybe it's a mega-hit saleswise (instead of just a "hit") if it comes out in a quieter time?


e: I don't think it's unreasonable in any way to suggest that Sony would be scared (read: concerned, cautious, wary) of the prospect of losing out on millions of dollars because of poor release timing, and that they'd take necessary steps to try to mitigate those potential losses. I think delaying games in this situation tends to be a bad decision for other reasons (marginal cost), but the concerns are real.

 

[Mikey Jr.]

I would love a "Road to E3" thing for the allies to do.

Every day for the next 30 days until E3, the allies talk about what games they are excited to see or hear more about.

So day 1 would be about God of War. What they hope to see, etc.

Day 2, Mario Odyssey.

Day 3, what Retro Studios is working on

Day 4, what they hope Sucker Punch is working on.


Doesn't have to be super produced. Just record them in big chunks with the allies talking to each other, then just splice them up over the next 30 days. Each video maybe only a few minutes long. 5-6 minutes or so.

 

[tamaster92]

+1000 werehogs

That is incredible

 

[Primethius]

@Primethius: Did we end up getting March PS4/XBO sales data? Last I looked, we only had Switch numbers.

Yea, using the prediction winners we got a pretty good estimate for both consoles which was:


PS4: 419.5k
X1: 245.5k

*snip*

Here's the thing. At this point, all available data points to Horizon not being impacted by Zelda in any noticeable way, if at all. So statements to the contrary need to provide data to support their position other than just speculation.

 

[WarRock]

Brad vs Damiani was intense whew.

I must mention that between the Shining Finger shout out during group stream and his mention of wanting to be a Gundam in Easy Update, Ben is begging to be photoshopped into G Gundam's intro.

 

[Primethius]

Finally catching up on some group streams. The Mario Maker one was fantastic. I'd totally watch more of this.

Don's sign off too, LOL!

 

[Elfforkusu]

So... Ben mentioned that the Trails "Don't Skip" is turning into quite a thing, has there been any consideration into just turning that thing into a review?

 

[Primethius]

The MK8 group stream is pretty strange for me. I don't know where to look. Damn it split screen!

I've noticed I end up gravitating towards the top left or bottom left player but I just can't keep track of the stuff that's going on.

Luckily, the conversations are more than entertaining enough to make up for that.

 

[Vinc]

85 hours into Persona 5 and I do not want it to end. My god. I wasn't that hot on it at first, but boy does that game go places. I really think this may be my favorite game of all time now. Legitimately floored.

November 20 spoiler but

Spoiler

Pancakes

murdered me.

 

[plasmawave]

Outlast 2 full play through when?

 

[Hasney]

Outlast 2 full play through when?

Thursday/Friday depending on your timezone.

 

[TheDarkKnight774]

Outlast 2 full play through when?

See their website for the exact time

 

[IdreamofHIME]

Another good friend code. Good dynamics with those 3.

 

[Hasney]

Another good friend code. Good dynamics with those 3.

Hopefully Damiani reminds us every week Kyle is there that it's the podcast for all things Nintendo.

 

[LiK]

Listening to EZA ep 55 and they're talking about modern 3D platformers from the email about Yooka Laylee but they didn't mention Super Mario Odyssey specifically. Just a small mention of other Mario games. But they made very good points about Shovel Knight.

 

[Axass]

I'm sure this game has been played to death already, but if the nine members of EZA were the nine members of The Fellowship of the Ring, which one would be which.

Blood: Gandalf
Brandon: Aragorn
Damiani: Boromir

Don: Gimli
Ian: Legolas

Kyle: Frodo
Ben: Sam
Brad: Merry
Huber: Pippin

 

[Vinc]

Post-Persona 5 life ain't gonna be easy. I have a billion games to play, but I really don't know what to move to after P5. Probably Titanfall 2 as a palate cleanser, I guess.

I don't want this game to end. I hope we don't have to wait as long for 6. Can't wait for a potential Spoiler mode episode on this!

 

[Auctopus]

Cracking up at the idea of Kyle and Ben as Frodo and Sam. Think Huber should be Gimli really though. I'd be willing to be "...and my Axe!" is one of his favourite lines in the film.

 

[LiK]

Post-Persona 5 life ain't gonna be easy. I have a billion games to play, but I really don't know what to move to after P5. Probably Titanfall 2 as a palate cleanser, I guess.

I don't want this game to end. I hope we don't have to wait as long for 6. Can't wait for a potential Spoiler mode episode on this!

I really hope they do a P5 Spoiler Mode soon. Just listening to their impressions on Frame Trap was a delight.