#25: PS5 UI and the Microsoft-Gamestop Relationship

The Mash Those Buttons Show

Jarret and Nick are back to talk about the latest gaming news! But first, Nick talks about how he's playing Shadow of the Colossus with his kid and reminsces about how much he hated the horse (but he's better now.) Jarret, meanwhile, found himself invested in Watchdogs II only for it to start giving him computer problems he has not been able to resolve.
Sony debuted the PS5 UI this week and it has some nice user-friendly features. Nick and Jarret argue about the rationale of recording videos for Sony but agree the feature is useful. Sony also irritated players by pushing out an update to the PS4 which prepared it for inter-connectivity with the PS5. Included in the update was a change to parties that turned them into groups, making it harder to simply join up with other players on the fly, and a clause in the EULA that allows for Sony to record your conversations. The clause was in preparation for the PS5 offering a moderation system that would enable players to record and submit snippets of audio for review. Many viewed this as an invasion of privacy, which it is not.
Microsoft, on the other hand, was busy surprising everyone by cutting a deal with Gamestop. Gamestop would purchase Surfaces and use Azure for backend services while Microsoft would give the struggling retailer a cut all software purchased on any All-Digital XBox sold in a Gamestop for the lifetime of the console. Jarret appreciates Microsoft's out of the box thinking, while Nick argues that Microsoft should have gone all the way and outright purchased Gamestop.
Sega announced the release of a prototype for a Golden Axe reboot that upset the original developers behind the game, which lead to a discussion of crunch culture.
Gamefly was purchased by Alliance Entertainment, much to Jarret's confusion as he claims that other services like PSNow are more relevant in this time.
Finally, Pokeprincxss was forced to change her name after Nintendo came after her over trademark issues.

Episode URL: http://mtb.gg/2jx
Show Twitter: twitter.com/themashnetwork

Hosts:
Jarret Redding
twitter.com/jaastradamus
Nick Zielenkievicz
twitter.com/WookieeBH

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