New iPads, Foldable Phones, and Diablo Immortal

Neil Ross here and it's time to get altered and

get geeky on Altered Geek with Steve Megatron.

Hello and welcome to Altered Geek. I'm your host

Steve Megatron Phillips and joining me this week

is Michael Booth, Ninja Power. He is back. I

am. Because I don't know. How many episodes that's

in between? Two. Okay. You record them now? Well,

I'm cashing them for November and December. Yeah,

I saw you post that. That you're getting a back

catalog ready for the end of the year. Yep, so

that I can more or less just kind of veg at the

end of the year. Which, I mean, who doesn't want

to do that, right? Exactly. So So you mentioned

you got a new iPad I Did for anyone that cares

when the episode record is November 7th, so I

The new iPads came out today I did not reorder

one because it took me a couple of days to decide

whether or not I was gonna get one I don't know

if I had I Think we recorded The day they announced

them I Think so and yeah, and I hadn't quite

made up my mind and I knew I liked the way they

looked and stuff like that But it wasn't till

like two days later when they put out someone

released Supposed geek benchmarks Which you know

that's not That doesn't really show you like

real -world performance but it gives you an idea

of how powerful the device actually is. And those

the numbers that they were able to get off of

the new iPads rivaled. They were well, let's

put this there in spitting distance of Apple's

2018 MacBook Pros. In terms of horsepower. So

that means that they are better than my 2012

and 2016. MacBook Pro, okay So that just kind

of made me go. All right, I Don't I and I think

we had this kind of conversation like on the

last episode too, which is you know computing

needs change You know, oh, yeah And it's like

I don't I I think I said that I don't need to

buy a MacBook like when I bought my 20s my MacBook

and you know february 2017 i i told myself and

my wife and she didn't believe me at the time

but you know i i kind of for the first time in

my life i actually believe myself and um with

the last two weeks that have gone by i'm pretty

sure or at least the last week that's gone by

i'm pretty sure i do think that i don't know

that i will buy another full -on computer um

or a traditional computer anyways because i don't

i don't need that and the fact that now a tablet

rivals what those can do. Or at least what I

use a computer for. Yeah, that's true. That is...

Yeah, that's kind of astounding to me. And the

only shortcoming I can think of from the iPad

being... I've seen this reflected in a couple

of places in a couple of reviews. The only thing

I can see the iPad being held back from, especially

the new one being that has USB -C, from being

like a full -fledged replacement is that it doesn't

support thumb drives. So you can hook up a number

of USB -C devices to it. You can hook up an SD

card reader and you can get your photos off of

it that way. But if you plug in like a USB -C

thumb drive or I have a USB -C to USB adapter

for it. And if I were to plug a thumb drive into

that, the iPad just doesn't do anything with

it. But that's not a limitation of the hardware.

That's just as a software fix. So they'll probably

tackle that later on. Yeah. I mean, that's something

that can be fixed in an update because they already

have an app on iPhone and the iPad called Files,

which is just a place where you can store generic

files. And when you're in an app, you can get

access to those files. So there's already a place

to load and unload files from a USB drive. The

iPad just doesn't recognize a USB drive when

it's plugged into it. So it's something that

can be fixed. And I think once they do that,

that could solve a lot of problems. But right

now, I use iCloud, and I have There's a folder

on my it works kind of like dropbox. So there's

a folder on my desktop or actually anything on

my desktop Is stored in the cloud and then I

can access it both on my phone and on my ipad

so it's Like I have a way of moving files around

without needing a thumb drive. So I don't have

that issue But i'm i'm recording my end of this

from my ipad And I've got my blue microphone

hooked up to it and I've got Skype going and

I've got Twitter and a browser going So it works

for my needs but the real the real crazy thing

about it This is gonna sound kind of weird because

I like to think that I'm down with like tech

and bring on like the new thing but it's like

somebody told me like Eight what did I say on

Twitter was like? Eight to ten years ago that

we would be where we are right now with portables

Rivaling full -on computers. I never would have

believed you. Oh, no. No, like I I you know,

you always expect one to outpace the other And

That's simply not the case and it makes me kind

of sad that there's so much Compute power just

wasted sitting in people's pockets Well, yeah,

it's ridiculous I I can only so the only example

I have of like where I'm going with this is like

when the PlayStation 3 first came out There was

a project. It was a medical project called holding

at home. Mm -hmm where when you weren't using

the ps3 you could leave it on and after like

30 minutes of inactivity it would launch the

folding at home program and it would run um it

had to do with like dna sequencing or genetics

okay but a university i think it was like stanford

or someone something about some school on the

west coast was everyone can Google it, what it

was on Wikipedia or something, but it was like

protein sequencing to try to find tiers for things.

And so you were dedicating the access power in

the PlayStation 3 when it wasn't being used to

help solve world problems. Interesting. That

was a really cool idea. And you could log in

and you could see how many protein sequences,

like the PlayStation 3, yours had crunched compared

to how many people had been... There were stats

that you could see, like what you had done, how

long you had been doing it, and all this other

stuff. And I can only imagine if something like

that could be done on these devices that we all

walk around with in our pockets. The only issue

is they need to come up with a better battery

system. Yeah, I get that. Like I realized, you

know, we're having the conversation now and it's

like, well, it's because they're not always plugged

into power, so you can't really do that. But

it's like. They can still do like something.

I mean, they're running tasks in the background

all the time, you know, and it's it's not like

they would just do it without your consent to

be something that you would have to opt into

like. I mean, I've got. There's just all these

things around us that have all this processing

power and it's not being used for anything. It's

like we're just everyone's just hoarding Compute

power it's such it's such a waste What these

things are actually capable of and what they

actually do is it's so weird to me, but Yeah,

I never would have believed anyone if they had

tried to been tell me that this is where we'd

be Like 10 years ago, like I I never would have

believed it But here we are I do I've only spent

I've only had it for about 12 hours. I I do like

it. I went with the larger 12 .9 9 inch size,

which was quite a step up from Had an original

9 .7 inch iPad Pro, which is kind of the size

I've stayed with since they came out in 2010

So it's a it's it's a it's a big step up and

I did go I got the pencil again, too I've been

kind of messing around with that But this is

like the first real thing. I've actually done

with it all day. Otherwise, I've just been browsing

the internet and Just tinkering with it Yeah,

and then texting people and and why I'm browsing

Twitter and stuff like that Like I would normally

would do on my phone, but I was just using the

iPad to do it Just because I want to get like

a handle on all the all the gestures or anything,

but this is like the first time I've actually

recorded any type of like a Podcast with it and

I'm trying to come up with things to do With

it like creative wise I want to use some like

the video editing features in it and see how

quickly I can turn on like maybe like a Something

video related and just see how all that all that

works, but that's That's a little ways down the

road, but I Think my next step is going to be

trying to figure trying to figure out how to

actually incorporate it and use it at work Because

like I said I got the pencil and the entire piece

is like the size of a sheet of paper mm -hmm

and they have a It has the function where if

it's a you know The screen is asleep, and you

tap it with the pencil it will wake up and launch

into the notes app So you can just use it like

a piece of scratch paper. Oh, that's cool, and

I set it so that every day Like every time you

tap on it from the lock screen it will go back

to that same note So you can just use it like

it's your pad of paper at the desk for the day

and then every day it'll roll over and start

a fresh one and Save the other one So you can

go back and look at like the previous days notes

meanwhile you start with a fresh page every day,

and I'm Trying to work up the nerve granted get

again. I've only had it for 12 hours I don't

work again until Saturday, and this is a Wednesday

or I'm recording this I'm trying to work up the

nerve actually bring it to work and put it on

the desk where I put My scratch paper anyways

and use it for productivity purposes yeah, and

actually use it in a working place environment

Which I don't think will be a problem. I have

a bag I can carry then everything But it'd be

really interesting to see if I can actually make

it work that way Yeah, that's enough about that

like I I really like it I before we started this

I was well, you know, I was gonna use it to transition

transition into something else, but What have

you been up to? Well, I've been kind of paying

attention to a lot of various things in in geek

news And we've kind of brought this up the other

day about the foldable smartphone and I just

mentioned it just based on the The the Motorola

razor for that's that's in development, but not

fully out there yet just from what I've seen

of it and It's not an actual item or or displayed

item yet. That was just like the the the render

shots of it, but There's a company the Royale

flex pie or flex pay or something I Don't know

it's a weird name, but it It came out. Well,

they they've released information on it. Anyway,

and in digital trends did a review And they said

the world's first foldable smartphone is awesome,

and you shouldn't buy it And you know so they

they Kind of you know explain about how the foldable

design works how the displays work there was

like a software glitch between Trying to have

the device figure out which screen you're using

And then being able to like twist it so you can

use the the camera on on a certain side and see

what you're you're shooting and everything from

a different angle, but They They said that you

can use, because the screen's plastic on that

one. This is not glass, obviously. They said

that you can fold it 200 ,000 times until it

degrades. It means you can fold it 100 times

a day. This screen should have no problem lasting

five years, but most people don't have that kind

of self -control. We grab our phones at every

instant. Do you have to open it to use it? I

don't think so, but I think if you're, you know,

folding it out to use it as the full device,

but... They said that it's got clunky software.

It's You know, it's it's interesting but there's

also the cost is like way up there because they're

like six gigabytes of RAM to start out with and

120 gig storage and it's like $1400 all the way

up to like two grand for like a 512 storage and

eight gig of RAM in it for an unproven unknown

brand and then Samsung later reveals later that

day their first foldable smartphone of the galaxy

10 and with, you know, shots of theirs, too,

and it looks a little bit like a mini tablet

when it's folded, which is kind of interesting.

But I don't know if it's like a phone or if it's

like they purposely had, but it's a little bit

bigger device. It's not an actual like full on

smartphone. It's like a morph between a smartphone

and a tablet. How they they display it. But it's

really strange, but I guess I've been working

with Google's Android department to try and come

up with a better system and more of a native

than what they've got currently. Which is good,

but I don't know if I trust Samsung again after

having owned one recently. And then LG and Hawaii

are coming out with their own foldable phones

too, but I like the concept. I don't know what

the implementation is going to be like, but I

like the concept of it. So this goes back to

like, kind of like what we were talking about,

what I was talking about with the iPad Pro. Like

technology, getting to where it is right now,

I never thought it would be there. And by that,

I mean, I thought like our computers would be

way faster than they are now. Like personal computers,

I thought would be way faster. I thought tablets

and phones would get where they are now, but

I thought, I always thought that computers and

phones would keep that, or computers and notebooks

and computers would keep that same lead that

they have, right? So that, I felt like, I feel

like this is the beginning of me kind of like,

like I'm a pretty text -heavy guy and I like

the latest stuff, but I think I'm coming up against

that barrier where it's like, you know, when

you start, you start getting older and things

kind of start settling in and that's just the

way that it is. I feel like I'm getting to that

point where I'm not going to be very pliable

or receptive to new tech. And I think the foldable

phones, like I've seen OLED TVs get rolled up,

but I've never seen one that that Maybe maybe

the way that they they're they're saying is kind

of like the we have the near edge to edge display

now which is not really edge to edge, but like

maybe it's not really folded, but it's still

like It's almost folded, but it still has that

bend in it, you know, like yeah Right and that's

obviously what they're going for but like to

me man I I Went and bought Don't I I usually

don't buy extended warranties on things all right

I bought Apple care once and that was on my very

first iBook back in 2004 because I'd never had

a Mac before I didn't know what I was in for

and I wanted to be I wanted to have some extra

coverage right Never got it on an iPhone Never

got it on an iPad. I don't get it on my Mac.

I haven't gotten any Mac I've purchased since

then but when I went in and bought my iPad today

I got apple care on it. You stupid cat. Hey!

No! Stop! No! So, oh good lord. Getting the third

degree. I'm gonna throw something at him and

then he'll stop. So, well, okay. So, holy cow.

I bought AppleCare on it because these new liquid

display, the Apple marketing as the liquid retina

display is an LCD with rounded corners. Okay.

Okay. I bought AppleCare because I don't trust

this rounded corner stuff on an LCD. Like LCD

is meant to be a rectangle or a square. Like

it's not meant to be shaped, if you will. Like

I can't even imagine myself. I feel like by the

time Apple gets around to making a foldable phone

Because if that's what everyone's going to do,

that's what's going to happen like I don't Unless

that's all they offer. I don't see myself Making

that jump like if I don't trust a rounded off

LCD display there's no way I'm going to trust

folding my phone Like I'm just getting that I'm

getting rigid like that with my With technology

It's like the stuff isn't meant to do this we

should stop making it do this I'm kind of getting

to that point with certain things but Like my

my version of Windows and so on but When it comes

to some of the tech, I'm kind of interested in

seeing how it plays out. And more so, I just

missed the days of having a flip phone. It has

really nothing to do with the fact that I per

se like this technology or not. I just liked

having a flip phone because it was smaller. Not

to say that these are gonna be any smaller. They're

probably gonna be twice as thick. because they're

folded in half, but Didn't Nokia just release

like a phone Like one of their original phones

their most popular phones, but it now runs Android

yeah, it's yeah, it's something like that I want

to Kind of do something like that, but I don't

want to get like an old, you know updated piece

of hardware either I still want I still want

a smartphone. It's just I don't necessarily like

I don't know like I just want something I can

like easily get on my email and social media

and for the rest of it like I Really don't use

my phone for a whole lot else although if The

ability was there I would more than likely like

if I had my editing software on my phone I would

probably edit on the go or I would I've already

proven that my Blue Yeti can be plugged into

my phone through the USB port. And that works

and that sounds great. And I've done recordings

from it, although the software on it kind of

sucks because they don't really have a dedicated

Android software for that. But I've done like

the Spreaker, which is our podcast host. I've

used that on there in recorded episodes or recorded

clips. And it actually works really great for

that. So, I mean, it's if I could do a lot more

of what I do on my PC on my phone, I would be

more up to use it for things. But again, like

I like the convenience of having the multiple

screen set up that I have and being able to kind

of jump back and forth between things. But I

and I get it like not wanting to. to kind of

flip the switch and go to new hardware because

they're constantly finding something new. But

I am interested in seeing at least what these

foldable smartphones do or how they look in person.

Do you know why I'm skeptical of the foldable

phone beyond the fact that it's a foldable phone?

It's because like people that we they've tried

manufacturers have tried the Like I feel like

there's a step that's missing here right like

where's the phone that has like Where's the phone

that has like four displays on it right so you've

got it got the the front one Like we have now

and then you can open it up and maybe there's

two separate displays in there and there's the

hinge in the middle, but it's still two displays

and then like you close it and on the backside

there's the display. Like I feel like we're missing

a step here. Like. I don't I don't know where

the marketing is going. Oh well, people want

this because they they want this. Giant square

that like they want to be able to unfold it and

look at a square to be able to do. something

I feel like there's a step like because because

we've seen the phones where They have the front

and then they have like an e -ink screen on the

back so like you can get Generic information

like when the phone is like face down Yeah, like

like like those never took off like I don't get

where this is ZTE actually came up with a foldable

phone it but it had a hinge right And it you

could have different things going on the two

different screens and they still had like the

You know the the outlying screen effect to it

and yet it never blew up It's just what is these

are foldable that everybody's kind of losing

it. Well, I See that's the thing. I don't it's

also like the mic. There's the you remember the

Microsoft Courier Vaguely, which was like basically

two iPads like fold it over on each other. Oh,

okay. Yeah It would unfold it and you'd have

the two two displays that you're supposed to

be able to it was like the surface It became

the surface, but the surface is just one half

of what the courier was Like We're baby steps

here like we're missing a step like you don't

even know that a phone of this Type would sell

you know I'm saying like I don't get the I Don't

know It it just it baffles me and like I said,

I eat you know in in another two to four years

The foldable phones would probably be what the

thing is and I'll have an Apple foldable phone

Like I'm not saying I won't ever have one. I'm

just saying like you I look at it right now and

I I Used to consider myself like a forward -thinking

guy, but I can't see this I don't see this I

see it as a way to like sell stuff and maybe

it'll start out like the phones they were like

I You know what it is. I feel like this is this

is the When iPhones all had like the three and

a half inch screen and the four inch screen and

Everyone started making these giant phones. Yeah

to try to sell more phones because they thought

that's what people wanted, but it didn't really

do anything to stop Apple from selling phones.

And then when Apple broke and made their larger

iPhones and smashed a ton of records and all

of a sudden, now the Android manufacturers have

nothing to... separate themselves like I feel

like I feel like this is that again it's like

okay we need to do something before Apple does

it and takes all of our money like I feel like

that's what this is like they're all trying to

hit this this imaginary mark to try and like

one up Apple right well it's like we have no

we have no and I'm keep in mind here I'm not

sitting here saying the ios is better than android

i'm not that's not what i'm saying here what

i'm stating is actually the companies are trying

to they're trying to they're trying to give a

reason to switch yeah to make you want to buy

their device and because it used to be we have

the larger we have larger phone sizes but they

still didn't they they may have sold more but

they still didn't make as much money as apple

did selling three and a half and four inch screens

So now they're trying to find The next thing

and the next thing is to make this Foldable display

like and it's not like but I think that's I feel

like that's what it is it's not even like we're

just trying to find a reason to get people interested

in our phones and in that in that respect, I

think they're just going after a Foldable phones

won't be a thing. No they will be a niche market

that will be smaller than tablets I Think I don't

think it'll last as long either I think that

I don't I don't think this will have like a lasting

effect I think the technology they're developing

through it will have a lasting effect with other

types of displays But I don't think it'll catch

on as a whole with the smartphone department

after this whole thing goes over You know what

baffles me is where's the where's the technology

that gets us where's the display technology or

the hardware or just the technology in general

that gets us to like the do you remember in iron

man 3 the cell phones they had it that iron man

had where it was just that piece of glass yeah

like when do we get to that well you remember

a few years ago they had the the roll the rollout

like clear uh like tv screens Vaguely I mean

they kind of it was one of those things from

like One of the computer electronic show like

and then they just kind of like it just disappeared

after that I think that that's what OLED I mean

Oh technically an OLED display could do that

You just have to hide what's driving it Most

of most of what you see with an OLED TV is Something

that they have to hold the screen flat In fact

one of the OLEDs you can buy it's you're you're

literally just buying the OLED panel in a frame

and Then there's a separate box that goes in

your entertainment center And a cable runs to

the TV that that box holds the guts that drives

the TV Hmm like like it So it's a matter of like

how do we wait this display so it actually stays

flat instead of like wanting to curl up on itself

Okay And that's that's that's mostly like what

an OLED is and you can tell like if you go look

at OLED you turn it sideways like the top like

three -quarters of it or like two I'll say two

-thirds two -thirds of it is like Five millimeters

thin and then the bottom third is like little

panel that that protrudes to hold the guts of

the TV that actually drives everything and where

you connect everything to like your IO and all

that stuff like that stuff could all be like

separated out and put in a box somewhere and

then essentially you could you could have that

like you could have a projector screen like it

would look like a look like a projector screen

but it would be better because it would be actually

self -lit you know but I don't know, man. It'll

be interesting to watch it come and go and to

see all these guys chase after the same thing

and what they are able to do with it. I just

don't... I don't know, man. I mean, I'm not even

one of the guys that wants a display on the back

of my phone. When I put it upside down, I put

it upside down because I don't want to see my

phone screen. In and again the use case scenario

for me to need a phone and then to have to Need

to have like more phone in front of me on a daily

basis That that does for me that doesn't exist

But I'm not everybody I know people will buy

it. I just don't see I Just think it's a gimmick.

I think it's this is the new hotness. So everyone's

gonna it kind of reminds me of the T -Mobile

sidekick yeah And the way like the screen would

like flip up to reveal like the full -size keyboard

mm -hmm. I don't know that just popped into my

head I Don't know it's just it's an interesting

development and and they're replacing to the

the glass layer that's in them with like an advanced

composite polymer Which is interesting, but there's

also called plastic. Yeah, I feel like that But

they make it sound big. Yeah. Well, everyone

does. I mean, every smartphone uses Gorilla Glass,

but every manufacturer calls it something different.

So it's like whatever. It'll be interesting to

track it. I just don't. Like I said, I'm getting

that tech. I feel that tech. Every day I feel

that tech curmudgeon syndrome. Coming on We'll

see how well it blows over when it comes out

though I think Samsung is supposed to have like

a limited edition market for it They're they're

not like I think it's more so just so they can

say they have one That's I I feel like that's

what everyone's doing and that they're just like

I said, they're they're going to say they're

going they're doing it because Apple isn't and

They need a way to differentiate their phones

from what Apple is doing. So we'll see what happens.

But speaking of seeing what happens, we have

the Diablo Immortal debacle. Which was online

and it's been fun just because I didn't catch

it when the video went dropped originally and

then just watching Reactions pile in on Twitter

and then I'm like, what is this all about? And

then I had to actually like look up a bunch of

articles which you can find them anywhere and

There's people on both sides of it It's really

funny to watch the the video where they've get

the keynote of the guy standing there talking

about the lore the game and then it's like dead

quiet in there for no apparent reason and then

the the comments that are cycling through are

like ooh Death to the Diablo all this other like

hate crap in there and It's like okay. If it's

not your cup of tea. Don't download it but Like

I don't first of all my Twitter feed Which is

primarily a bunch of guys in the gaming industry

they were blasting the comment or that like Came

across like super entitled mmm like in his approach

like talking to the dev the way the way that

he talked to him and Asking if it was like an

early April Fool's joke like that is just That's

rude first of all It's like no one knows how

to and no one knows how to behave anymore. I

feel like There's there's no filter and it's

it's Whatever I I had I had a thought and I put

it up on Twitter myself and Here's the thing

I'm going to download this game. I'm going to

play this game I don't know that I'm going to

give it any of my money, but I do know that and

I've thought about this Don't play games on my

phone, but I'll play games. I'm like my Nintendo

DS every once in a while and I Have no problem

paying 20 to 40 dollars for a DS game all right,

and We can add by extension the switch to that

because let's be honest the switch is just a

very fancy Kindle player with Controllers on

it yeah, so like I bought switch games for $60

And that's primarily a mobile thing like I I

Would be willing yeah, I will go on record I'd

be willing to pay $40 for this game If it didn't

have if it if the $40 version was like rebalanced

So it was an actual game that wasn't based on

micro transactions Now I can see that that having

said that I don't know how the game is gonna

be balanced We know it's going to have microtransactions,

because what doesn't? We know it's probably going

to be free to play, which means it's going to

be balanced towards microtransactions, but that

doesn't mean it's not going to be good to play,

right? That just means it's going to have microtransactions

in it. The game could still play like Diablo

and be just as grindy as Diablo is now, and it

could be just as fun as Diablo is now. It'll

just have microtransactions. Not the end of the

world. The issue is is how fast are you gonna

hit that wall where you feel like you're grinding

because they want you to pay you know I Just

don't see Like I didn't see this backlash when

they announced Diablo 3 for the switch you know

like maybe it's because it's Diablo 3 and Everyone's

already played Diablo 3. Well Diablo 3 came out

in like spring of 2013 I remember because both

my friends got laid off the same week it came

out and Yeah, it's an older game. Yeah, I mean

we we all played it the thing that people seem

to forget is it was loaded with microtransactions

to Right they they had a house in the online

Hooked to being always online and all that stuff

Yeah, which there's, you know, they took out

the auction house because, you know, it just

wasn't feasible on that game. But it just means

that they just saved the idea for micro transactions

in their mobile strategy. And the thing is, is

both games required to be online. So it's not

like, I mean, yeah, it wasn't this back. I mean,

there was backlash for Diablo three back when

it came out, but people still played it tons,

tons of backlash. There were people that were

complaining about the way Diablo 3 looked. I

still bought it. I had the version, you gave

me one of your demo keys, and I bought it on

my Mac, and then I was like, this needs to be

played with a controller, and I bought it on

the PS3, and I bought it again on the PS4. But

that said... What I was getting at is maybe they

weren't upset about the switch version because

everyone that wanted to play Diablo 3 has already

played Diablo 3. They're not out anything because

it came to the switch, right? But the flip side

of that is Diablo said like a couple weeks ago,

not Diablo, Blizzard said a couple weeks ago,

they're not going to have any information about

Diablo 4. Like at BlizzCon. And I think it was,

I think. Think what most people got mad about

was they're not announcing Diablo anything about

Diablo 4 but here's this mobile version for cell

phones, which Cell phones have come a long way

First of all, it's not like it was But I think

I think one of the the big criticisms though

is that I saw and I haven't really dug into it

because they don't really Want to dig into it,

but some people are saying it's just a reskin

of a Japanese or a Chinese game It's not but

they worked with a Chinese company to build it,

right? So But they but that company made a game

that looks exactly like that plays exactly like

this But the first side of that is there are

tons of games that all play the same, you know

You played one first -person shooter you've played

them all right. It's just a different skin. Yeah,

so That in itself doesn't bother me and Really

what it's gonna come down to is Like how fast

is it do I hit that wall where I feel like the

game wants me to pay to make progress and At

the end of the day I came down that my stance

on it was and I posted it on Twitter and Facebook

I said to everyone why to everyone whining about

Diablo on mobile if you can make a machine to

print money you would too Also, you're not kidding

anyone. You'll play it. You'll give Blizzard

loads of money in micro transactions Loads of

money Blizzard will use for oh, I don't know

Diablo 4 like it Yeah, everyone that's mad is

gonna play this game you know why they're gonna

play it because it's gonna be free to try that's

why and That's where Blizzard is going to be

able to shine That's like they're gonna there

that's where Blizzard is gonna do what Blizzard

does and they're gonna get you hooked on like

how good it feels to play that game and Like

all the rewards you get the loot you get and

all this other stuff And you're gonna want to

keep playing it and then you're gonna want to

give them money And I know I know at a certain

point even when I play even if it doesn't get

grindy Like if I play it enough if I spend enough

time playing the game I will probably want to

give them money for it, which I did with Star

Trek online Right like and I feel like I've done

like I've paid for free to play games before

like I did war thunder like I I put like I think

I put 80 to Just over a hundred hours into war

thunder and then I dropped like 60 bucks on it

like because This I just played 80 to 100 hours

of your free game and I had a blast like Here's

60 bucks You know and when I came back to Diablo

3 this this year like I I bought the expansions

because Like you said Diablo 3 came out what

five years ago, and I'm playing it again now

mm -hmm like Here's some more money because I'm

still having fun with your game like that's but

that that's me. That's how I am like a Unless

unless there's something where I feel like I

got burned like with fortnight like i'll give

you money like I have apps on my on my phone

that I I paid for my twitter client I paid it

was uh It was five dollars on my phone And 15

for it on my ipad and I think I paid 25 for it

on my computer So i've paid Almost $40 to use

a Twitter app Like and and Because the way the

app store works when they release an update.

There's no way to up like pay for an upgrade

So when they would release a new up like a major

release like you would get updates But when they

would release like a brand new version that was

like a complete retool like they would sell it

again So I bought it again Because it's a really

good app But the most recent one that they did

they they released it as a free update but they

did this really interesting thing where they

have it's they put in like a tip button and So

there's like 99 cents to $1 .99. I think the

highest amount you could tip us $5 and If you

whichever one you tipped Like if you tip the

lowest amount, they unlocked a couple of hidden

features. Like each tier unlocked a couple of

hidden features. But if you tip the most, which

was five bucks, it unlocked all of the hidden

features. And I ended up tipping them again.

And it's because I use their app all the time

and they make a good app. Like if someone makes

something good, I'm going to pay them for it.

Like that's just the way I am. And I feel like...

you know blizzard being blizzard i mean i i can't

i can't believe it took them this long and they

have to know that the they have to have the metrics

on how many people are actually going to play

this because they have a mobile game already

they have hard stuff yeah and the thing is is

people that like diablo are going to be rabid

enough to download it anyway to try it i mean

i know i'm going to try it when it comes out

um 100 It actually sparked me to redownload Diablo

3 So I can go back in and play it since all the

recent updates like I didn't I haven't played

it in so long I think it's been like three or

four years since I played it It was probably

been about three actually, but they've come out

with The necromancer and which I didn't even

know like that was my favorite Character to play

in Diablo 2 and I played the crap out of that

for years And so I mean, I'm downloading it again

to try, you know, playing the game again. But

no, I mean, I'll give this a shot. I mean, it

takes place between D2 and D3. So yeah, story

wise. I mean, I don't know why anyone wouldn't.

Right. It's more than more than likely is 90

90 percent sure it's going to be free. Right.

Like, yeah. But like I'm saying, though, even

if it is free, if there is like an option in

there, like when you go like the. Pay your microtransactions

to get whatever it's going to be like for you

to advance faster in the game like if there was

an option to Pay us $40 and we'll rebalance the

game like I would 100 % do that like I Don't

know I'm And I I feel I feel bad because like

I don't feel like mobile is a bad ecosystem I

feel like because it took us 10 years to get

where we are right now with phones, that's what

made it a bad place. And I feel like, too, that

everybody just wants to hate on the newest thing

that comes out with the most like to dislike

ratio. Well, there's that. But like we know when

the app stores first came out, there was that

race to the bottom, right? Remember EA tried

selling games for like 20 bucks. I bought mirrors

edge on the on my first iPad for 15 like but

there was that race to the bottom because You

didn't want to be the guy that made the Tetris

clone that was $15 when there was another guy

that made a Tetris knockoff That was 99 cents,

right? Mm -hmm. So Then it became well, how much

can we actually put into a game if we know we're

Only gonna get 99 cents from somebody, you know,

like I Remember that the bottom fell out so fast

on the app store. It didn't have time to build

the ecosystem where get like Productivity applications.

All right, like I'm trying to think we'll like

take my Twitter client for example. All right,

like I paid $5 to $10 for that because it was

a really good Twitter client. And I like that

way better than Twitter's free app. I feel like

productivity apps, people are willing to pay

for. But when it comes to games, they didn't

have a chance to, the app store didn't have a

chance to mature to be a place where people could

buy real games. And I feel like only through

recent games like Fallout Shelter, which is still

a very mobile forward game, I would say, but

you've got Fallout Shelter, Fortnite, and PUBG.

I feel like those games, and mostly Fortnite

and PUBG, I feel like those games are changing

the conversation about gaming on mobile devices.

I think that Diablo could do that too Because

right now the other big names that you have like

fallout shelter That's very mobile for that's

like sim tower like sim tower would be great

as a mobile game. Oh, yeah, but that's essentially

what fallout is is like a Weird version of sim

tower and then you've got You know blizzards

got Hearthstone Know but Bethesda has some elder

scroll card game, but give card games you have

all these card games But those are really easy

to make as a mobile game because you're just

moving cards around It's not like you're making

like an action game or a shooter or anything

like that like I feel like the market is just

getting to where Maybe there's a possibility

that someone could make a game now that people

will be willing to spend 20 to 40 dollars on

I know I go through the games the game side of

the app store like Three or four times a week

to try to find something to play and I can't

find anything. I have four games on my phone

I have none And I don't I don't play them like

I play them like maybe I'll play one like Five

times a month and a lot of the games I'll download

be like, oh this looks interesting. I'll download

it I'll play it for like a hot second an ad will

pop up and I'll immediately delete it It's that's

the same route for me. I don't I don't deal with

ads like That said when I was on vacation in

Dallas, I found this one really cool this really

nifty game I don't know if there's a an Android

version of it, but it was called tornado .io

and you just plays this tornado and you just

have to go around and Destroy as much stuff as

you can and make yourself into a bigger tornado

Until the time runs out. Mm -hmm and it's just

it's very therapeutic and I played it like every

day that I was in Dallas and then the day that

we were flying back uh I paid for it like it

was a free to play and it had like you could

pay that you give them five dollars to unlock

the game and remove ads um I I gave him the five

bucks I was like okay I've played this enough

here's your five dollars and still uh maybe two

or three times a week I'll take it out and I'll

play like a couple of rounds because it's just

you just swipe your thumb around on the screen

just controlling this tornado going around ripping

these houses and picking up these chickens and

fence posts and I don't know it's just a fun

little game to waste time with but I don't know

maybe it's coming back around I just think that

getting mad about a game I don't I wish that

was like the worst I don't think my wife I don't

think my life is especially bad but I feel like

if you have nothing to worry about other than

a game, I want your life. Like, if there's nothing

else in your life that is going to make you mad

or upset or anything than a game, I want your

life. Like, that's... Oh, to be that person.

But I don't want to live in your parents' basement.

No, no. I don't know. I'm I'm not that concerned

with the way the game's going. I yeah, I I think

it's really silly on their behalf all these people

that are just losing it and It's funny one of

the hosts of geek responsibly on geek cast radio

is Says Diablo mobile announcement was tough

to watch I get it I really want something new

for PC or ps4 but damn the booze from the crowd

were rough like Like I get it too like I mean

I I want Diablo 4 but obviously like they're

putting their time into developing a Game that's

gonna be good with a good storyline. So this

is how this is how we're going to get Diablo

4 and if this is how we get Diablo 4 then That's

that's fine with me. Yeah like I feel like see

that's the thing like every game I feel like

I talked to somebody at work about this who's

a big fan of World of Warcraft like I feel like

every game that Blizzard makes like Blizzard

has a bunch of money Blizzard has a ton of money

Blizzard can make the sequel to any game that

they have that they want they can do that but

the bottom line is Blizzard is a company and

if they can find a way for each game that they

each franchise that they have To generate its

own money Rather than one franchise paying for

another They're gonna go that route first oh

Yeah, you know I'm saying like like yeah, they

made a crap ton of money off of Diablo 3 and

that's great, but They Diablo Diablo is a franchise

right now is the only one that they have that

doesn't have its own Profit Center like overwatch

has loot boxes makes tons of money Hearthstone

has the cards the card packs makes tons of money

World of Warcraft has the subscription Like Diablo

doesn't have anything there's nothing About Diablo

as a franchise that is printing them money, and

if this is how they it happens. This is how it

happens so Yep So on a lighter note Other than

people whining about video games We I'm trying

to see if I can get into various conventions

next year okay, just to be there and cover the

events because I Think it'd be fun So I I was

too late for SDCC, but obviously, like I live

way too far away from that, but it would have

been funny to see if I could get it. But I did

get a C2E2 pass. Which I did not expect. So,

yeah. I would have gone to like Motor City Comic

Con except for the fact that it lands by my anniversary

every year and that's like kind of a no -go.

And so I'm like, not going to happen. But yeah,

it's. I was really surprised to have to have

gotten that one, so I'm going to try my hardest

to make that event. Know that it's there, but

it's in Chicago, so. Not a huge deal That's good.

Just mostly just driving Blanchard's like you

can crash on my couch And I'm like, okay So but

yeah, I thought it was kind of an interesting

You know the thing to kind of come up while I

was messing around with that so I Don't know.

Is there anything else you want to bring up on

this? well real quick i've got batman the animated

series on blu -ray yes that's right um i just

want to say a special shout out to amazon for

banging the crap the ever -loving crap out of

my collection um they shipped it in one of those

they didn't ship it in a box they shipped it

in one of those um the soft packs it's the soft

packs that has like the the bubble wrap inside

of an envelope They shipped it in one of those

so the the corner there's like some Creasing

and some stuff like that and I hit him up on

Facebook and I said you're not Facebook with

Twitter Oh, we're so sorry about that. Get back

with us. I said this is a limited set. It's you

know, it's it's they're numbered and I was like,

I you know, I appreciate you trying to do something

but I'm not sending it back because I don't want

to risk not being able to get a Set of it, you

know Plus it's not like it's not like the discs

themselves were damaged It's just the case. Yeah,

bitch, you know, whatever it's gonna once I'm

done with it. It's gonna go on a shelf I'll probably

never touch it again That's probably true, but

it looks like We talked about this on the last

episode with like HD remakes and stuff like that

like That the remakes look like you remember

the game looking like the first time you played

it You know, this looks like how I remember Batman

the animated series looking like when I watched

it on a standard definition TV. Like, but it's

in HD. Like it's not, I'm not saying like, you're

definitely not watching the DVD version. Like,

if the DVD version, the DVD version is what you

got when you watched it on TV, but this is how

you remember seeing it. When you were a kid watching

this The just a couple of things that kind of

irked me about the whole thing was that the episodes

and they did this on the DVD to the episodes

are in Production order not aired order who?

Which is really weird because like you it's like

the second episode has like it's the Christmas

episode with the Joker and Robin Okay, like that's

the second episode in the set like Because that

was the second episode in the production order

So you go, you know, it's like you have on leather

wings and all of a sudden Robin is there and

the Joker is a thing And then the next episode

is there neither one of them are around So this

is kind of weird but then I then you realize

that like Batman The anime series isn't really

serialized TV Every episode is more or less one

-off unless it's actually a distinct two -parter.

So it doesn't really matter the aired order And

so I once I kind of got that I was like that,

okay All right now I now I can just watch this

and enjoy it because at least they the two -parters

Do air the way they're they they're supposed

to because that's how they were done production

wise you had part one and then part two But like

you know to watch on leather wings and then to

have a christmas episode and you're like that's

not how this would be because you know that's

not how it was anyways so that was a little nitpicky

but then i got over that and um i think i'm only

on episode 12 of season one uh i'm i just watched

the one where i don't remember the one i just

watched i've already seen my most hated one though

and that's the one where he's like he forgets

who he is He's in that mining camp. Yep. I hate

that episode. I do too. It's the music that There's

only one song in that entire episode and they

keep spinning it up and it's the most annoying

music I 100 % agree with you like I can't It's

like it's such a distinctive episode and it's

just like I can't like my wife was here where

that one was on I said this is I hate this episode

I hate it. She's like why I said because the

music it's the same There is no change in the

music They use the same song the entire time

and it just they keep starting the song over

like Every single time and so she just started

laughing at me because I would cringe every time

it would start over It's like and it's like the

longest 22 minutes ever It feels like it I remember

doing that Like cringing when when I had to watch

it for legends of the dark night with Mike Blanchard

we were watching he's like, oh, but I like this

and I'm like I can't stand this episode Nails

on a chalkboard man. Um, I mean I like what they

did with the character and everything but like

yeah, the the music was kind of jarring Yeah,

I feel like it was like the villain was like

something out of like the 80s like really something

out of the 80s Oh definitely like something I

would have seen on cops Yeah okay super cheesy

yeah yeah so or cops or captain planet it seems

oh more captain planet yeah or pirates of dark

water was that boss fog yeah no that's no that

was boss fog is duke's a hazard well there was

um oh i can't really was his name blight is that

his name i'm gonna find out he looks like a fat

pig He's like an anthropomorphized pig. Let's

see. I'm pulling up the villains right now. We

got the... His name was Hoggish Greedly. Yep,

that's it. Okay. Yep. I was close. Yep. So, but

no, it looks great. It sounds great. But today,

funny... funny story here today I was trying

to think of something to do on my iPad because

it it has a really nice display on it and it's

supposed to be one of the most color accurate

displays that you can get on the market and so

I'm thinking well I have Batman the animated

series and it came with digital copies and so

I was like well why don't I watch a couple of

episodes on my iPad just you know just take it

all in you know see see how it goes Well, I,

you redeem the digital copies through Voodoo

and I'm like, okay, whatever, that's fine. So

I redeemed my digital copies and I put the Voodoo

app on my iPad and I go in to like find them

and there's the standard definition versions.

And I was so like, I, I was shocked because it's

like, they have the HD version on the DC universe,

but The the the the blu -ray set that you know

I just spent a hundred bucks on comes with standard

definition digital copies Mm -hmm like come on.

That's a joke right and so I added one of my

friends Justin sluss from high def disc and Just

I wasn't like complaining to him like he could

do anything about it, but I was just like you

know What do you think about? them only including

standard definition digital copies on the blu

-ray set that's kind of shitty and You know he

he agreed with me and whatnot and Then I sat

down to have dinner with my wife, and I noticed

I had an email on my phone And it was from voodoo

saying that they worked it out with Warner Brothers

to up the standard definition versions to their

HDX And then they also added Subzero and Mask

of the Phantasm. Mm -hmm. And as well like there

was like no no upcharge or anything like that

they just and I I didn't I didn't include them

like when I added my buddy on Twitter to talk

to him about it I didn't include voodoo and say

anything about them at all I was just here's

this email that had a code for me to change all

my stuff over to the to the HD version So it's

like I was like, oh cool like I'm bummed about

this and then like maybe I should be bummed about

more things because apparently if I'm bummed

maybe like an hour later I get an email that

says oh look here's that thing that you were

bummed about we fixed it nice like it it was

great just to be able to and and and before we

sat down here to record I was I watched a couple

of episodes on my iPad the looks look good on

there and it of course it fills the whole screen

because the iPad is four three just like the

just like the show is so but other than that

i think that's that's all i've got i haven't

really been playing any games um i'm looking

forward to uh fallout 76 next week yeah i heard

that that was um gonna be out yeah i'm see the

thing is i have a core group of people that i

play online games with And I think we will enjoy

it. I think it will be a game that my friends

and I will enjoy But like every headline that

I've seen makes me kind of go Maybe I shouldn't

buy this But I have to weigh I have to weigh

like what the head again. I don't read the articles.

I don't read the reviews I have to weigh what

the headline is against Playing games with my

friends if that makes any sense what you're gonna

enjoy versus what that it's trying to tell you

Exactly it's like it's like am I gonna care about

what this article actually is am I gonna like

they're talking about like the frame rates in

the field of view and and a couple of glitches

here and there and in a beta I'm like am I gonna

care about any of this stuff when I'm roaming

the wasteland with like four of my buddies like

no no I'm not like So I've just I've been trying

to avoid that stuff, but yes, it's kind of hard

and then I said to keep telling myself Maybe

play with my friends gonna be good and be playing

with my friends So hopefully the next time I

record I'll have something to share about that

But yeah sounds good though, yeah Really cool

that you lucked out on the BTS though Yeah I

am I said is like 30 ,000 of like 69 ,000 copies

Which is great because I swear I had my order

in like before they they took them down To increase

the order from 30 ,000 to 70 ,000 But it's like

one of those things where it's like my order

number or my the number on my box means like

If they hadn't increased that lot, I wouldn't

have gotten it You know, but but I got like but

like I said I got my order in before so it's

like one of those things where it's probably

like They probably put the numbers on them after

they had printed them all up so it's like it

doesn't matter when you placed your order, you

know, so But yeah, that's it's still I'll stick

with my my SD ones only because I rarely pull

them out I did the I did the cardinal sin thing

though that you shouldn't really do with a collector

set I gave my wife the pop cap things to put

on her desk at work So Just in case anyone's

wondering because I really don't care about them.

I I kept the part that actually matters The discs

yep, so and I'm I'm trying to find my Batman

animated coffee table book I Think it's down

in my basement, but I'm not sure I need to find

it and pull it out so I can put them both together.

I told you about that, right? Did I mention that

in the last report? I don't know. It goes for

about 100 bucks now, but I bought it in like

the late 90s when I really got into Batman the

Animated series. It was a coffee table book by,

I think, I don't know if it was by Bruce Timm

and Paul Dini. But I know that they were heavily

involved in it and it's about them. It's a basically

the making of Batman the animated series Okay,

and in a coffee table book it's called Batman

animated. I don't I looked it up I don't you

can get it anymore. It's out of print, but it's

like a hundred dollars a copy now Yeah, most

of the stuff back then is on a print Yeah, I

I think I have it in a in a box down in my basement,

but I'm not 100 % sure on that so I want to find

it so I can display it along with the animated

set, obviously. So, that's all I got. I'll stop

rambling. We're good. Unless you got more. I

have nothing. So, I think this is a good cutoff

point. So, you can find us on the social medias.

I'm at scp21. I am at boothninja81. So, until

next time, get altered, get geeky with the Altered

Geeks. Bye!