WEBVTT - TechStuff Grab Bag: The Update Edition 0:00:04.400 --> 0:00:07.800 Welcome to Tech Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 0:00:12.039 --> 0:00:14.840 Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 0:00:15.000 --> 0:00:18.200 Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio 0:00:18.280 --> 0:00:21.200 and I love all things tech. And you know, guys, 0:00:21.239 --> 0:00:25.919 technology changes pretty darn quickly, and that's just in a 0:00:26.040 --> 0:00:28.560 normal time. During the pandemic, you've got a lot of 0:00:28.560 --> 0:00:31.520 other factors that are weighing in that can make things 0:00:31.600 --> 0:00:35.040 change even faster. And some of the episodes that I 0:00:35.120 --> 0:00:39.840 have recorded in the last few months have already needed 0:00:39.840 --> 0:00:43.840 some updates. None of them really need a full episode 0:00:43.920 --> 0:00:46.360 as an update, however, So today's episode is going to 0:00:46.400 --> 0:00:49.519 be about a collection of updates on things that I 0:00:49.560 --> 0:00:52.760 have covered in the past few months since the outbreak 0:00:52.800 --> 0:00:57.080 of the pandemic. The first episode that I recorded at 0:00:57.160 --> 0:01:01.120 home was in the series that I did about the 0:01:01.200 --> 0:01:06.560 history of PlayStation uh. The first one was actually PlayStation 0:01:06.600 --> 0:01:09.679 Part three and the second one was PlayStation Part four. 0:01:10.400 --> 0:01:15.440 And now since then we've had a brand new console, 0:01:15.560 --> 0:01:19.160 the PS five debut. It came out on Thursday, November twelve, 0:01:19.520 --> 0:01:25.639 and I am recording this on Friday. Also, for some reason, 0:01:25.680 --> 0:01:27.920 there is a guy in a hockey mask totally getting 0:01:27.959 --> 0:01:32.760 in my personal space, but we'll just ignore him for now. 0:01:33.280 --> 0:01:37.840 When I recorded those episodes, we had an announcement about 0:01:37.880 --> 0:01:41.120 the PS five and a few details about the console, 0:01:41.600 --> 0:01:45.720 but that was about it. However, now it's out, it's 0:01:45.760 --> 0:01:49.520 actually available for people to purchase, well kind of. We'll 0:01:49.560 --> 0:01:52.080 get to that, and we can talk about some of 0:01:52.120 --> 0:01:55.680 the specs of the PS five and how it contrasts 0:01:55.800 --> 0:02:00.920 with its chief rival, the Xbox Series consoles A, particularly 0:02:00.960 --> 0:02:05.640 the the Series X, although the Series S is also 0:02:05.720 --> 0:02:08.239 in play, and I'll be sure to talk about those 0:02:08.280 --> 0:02:10.200 a little bit as well, to give you some updates 0:02:10.200 --> 0:02:13.680 on on those. Now, first things first, we got to 0:02:13.680 --> 0:02:18.079 talk about how big this ding dang darn thing is. Now. 0:02:18.120 --> 0:02:22.040 I do not own a p S five yet. I 0:02:22.120 --> 0:02:25.320 do plan on getting one eventually, and I also plan 0:02:25.400 --> 0:02:30.639 on getting a Series X console eventually, but I'm not 0:02:31.040 --> 0:02:33.120 in a rush to grab them right now, which is 0:02:33.639 --> 0:02:37.680 probably a good thing. I've seen photos of the PS 0:02:37.760 --> 0:02:40.280 five and I thought, wow, that's really big once I 0:02:40.320 --> 0:02:43.519 had something to compare it to, particularly a photo that 0:02:43.720 --> 0:02:47.800 had Trish Hershberger in it. Now, she's a tech journalist, 0:02:47.840 --> 0:02:49.760 She's an awesome person. I've met her a couple of 0:02:49.760 --> 0:02:53.560 times great person, and she shared a photo of herself 0:02:53.600 --> 0:02:56.799 standing next to a PS five and said it's big 0:02:56.919 --> 0:03:00.160 enough to be considered about half of a Trish. Now. 0:03:00.200 --> 0:03:04.560 To be fair, Trish is a total Hermia from Midsummer 0:03:04.680 --> 0:03:08.760 Night's Dream. Though she be but little, she is fierce. 0:03:09.560 --> 0:03:13.079 And what I mean to say is that Trish is um. 0:03:13.200 --> 0:03:18.240 She's not very tall. The PS five, however, is tall, 0:03:18.320 --> 0:03:22.880 at least as far as consoles go. It's fifteen point 0:03:23.120 --> 0:03:27.200 four inches tall to be precise, that's just shy of 0:03:27.400 --> 0:03:31.880 thirty centimeters. It's also ten point two four inches deep 0:03:32.360 --> 0:03:36.480 or twenty six centimeters, and it's four point zero nine 0:03:36.480 --> 0:03:41.320 inches wide or approximately ten point four centimeters. Now, that's 0:03:41.320 --> 0:03:45.760 if you have it standing upright and not down on 0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:50.400 its side. You can have it either way, uh, depending 0:03:50.440 --> 0:03:54.880 on your setup. But no matter how you position it 0:03:54.960 --> 0:03:58.440 that right there is a chalker. It weighs in at 0:03:58.480 --> 0:04:02.600 fourteen pounds that's about six point four kgrams. So part 0:04:02.640 --> 0:04:05.400 of the early discussion about the PS five is really 0:04:05.440 --> 0:04:08.240 just that it's so large that it can actually be 0:04:08.280 --> 0:04:11.320 a challenge to fit into an entertainment set up, depending 0:04:11.400 --> 0:04:15.520 upon the size you're working with. It also has the 0:04:15.520 --> 0:04:20.400 white wing like sides and a black center of the console. 0:04:20.920 --> 0:04:23.520 That's led some people to call it a reverse ice 0:04:23.520 --> 0:04:25.520 cream sandwich, where you would have the ice cream on 0:04:25.560 --> 0:04:30.920 the outside and the cookie bread in the middle. There 0:04:30.920 --> 0:04:34.000 are actually two different models of the PS five. One 0:04:34.040 --> 0:04:36.880 of them has a four K Blu Ray optical drive 0:04:37.279 --> 0:04:40.000 and the other one does not. And the one that 0:04:40.279 --> 0:04:43.760 does have the drive is the one that's a touch chunkier. 0:04:43.880 --> 0:04:47.120 That's the one that's the four point nine inches wide. 0:04:47.480 --> 0:04:52.120 The digital only version is slightly more svelt. The Blu 0:04:52.240 --> 0:04:57.040 Ray drive version costs four dollars at least as the 0:04:57.440 --> 0:05:02.240 suggested retail price, and the digital only PS five is 0:05:02.279 --> 0:05:09.000 at three um digital only, being digital only delivery, the 0:05:09.040 --> 0:05:13.960 console is physical, but apart from the optical drive, those 0:05:14.000 --> 0:05:18.039 two systems are the same internally. They have the same processors, 0:05:18.360 --> 0:05:23.600 same memory, same same storage, same performance. This is one 0:05:23.720 --> 0:05:27.160 of the things that sets the two PS five consoles 0:05:27.240 --> 0:05:31.640 apart from the two new Xbox consoles. One of the 0:05:31.680 --> 0:05:34.800 features that got hyped in the lead up to the 0:05:34.800 --> 0:05:38.480 PS five debut was that the system would load games 0:05:38.560 --> 0:05:42.119 much more quickly than the PS four, and we didn't 0:05:42.120 --> 0:05:45.800 have very many details about what this would actually mean, 0:05:45.880 --> 0:05:49.960 I mean, what does more quickly mean? And fortunately the Verge, 0:05:50.640 --> 0:05:53.800 whom I referenced a lot for this particular part of 0:05:53.800 --> 0:05:57.320 the episode, they have a helpful table that breaks down 0:05:57.360 --> 0:06:00.760 how long it took the PS five versus PS four 0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:04.600 to load certain titles that are available for both platforms. 0:06:05.000 --> 0:06:07.640 And that's also a good reminder that early in the 0:06:07.680 --> 0:06:11.240 lifespan of these next generation consoles, we're going to see 0:06:11.240 --> 0:06:14.520 a lot of cross platform titles that are available either 0:06:14.680 --> 0:06:19.120 for the previous generation or the more fancy schmancy new 0:06:19.200 --> 0:06:24.120 generation of consoles. There will be and there are games 0:06:24.120 --> 0:06:27.280 that are made specifically for the new generation, but a 0:06:27.320 --> 0:06:29.560 lot of those titles are going to be available both 0:06:29.560 --> 0:06:31.480 for PS four and PS five, which makes sense if 0:06:31.480 --> 0:06:35.000 you're a developer, because you want to sell as many 0:06:35.040 --> 0:06:38.479 copies as you possibly can, and maybe not everybody's going 0:06:38.520 --> 0:06:42.599 after a brand new console just now. Anyway, onto the 0:06:42.760 --> 0:06:46.920 load times. To fire up the new game Spider Man 0:06:47.080 --> 0:06:50.080 Miles Morales and I can't wait to play that one. 0:06:50.400 --> 0:06:52.400 But to fire that up on the PS four takes 0:06:52.400 --> 0:06:55.960 about a minute and twenty seven seconds, but on the 0:06:55.960 --> 0:07:01.440 PS five it was just seventeen seconds. Owls Now that's 0:07:01.440 --> 0:07:05.800 not to say all loading times will have that dramatic 0:07:05.920 --> 0:07:09.640 a difference or will be that fast. Death Stranding, which 0:07:09.680 --> 0:07:11.560 is a game that's been out for a while now, 0:07:11.960 --> 0:07:14.440 will load up in a minute fifty seconds on the 0:07:14.480 --> 0:07:17.760 PS four, and the PS five does it in fifty 0:07:17.800 --> 0:07:22.080 four seconds. So the PS five is faster, definitely, but 0:07:22.200 --> 0:07:24.360 not every game is going to load as quickly as 0:07:24.360 --> 0:07:27.840 the New Spider Man game does. Moreover, if we see 0:07:27.840 --> 0:07:30.600 the PS five follow the same path as most hardware, 0:07:31.040 --> 0:07:33.360 it will only be a matter of time before game 0:07:33.360 --> 0:07:36.480 developers release games that tax the loading speed of the 0:07:36.520 --> 0:07:39.800 PS five, and we'll be back to waiting two minutes 0:07:39.880 --> 0:07:42.320 or more for certain titles to load up. That's just 0:07:42.400 --> 0:07:45.080 the nature of hardware and software, and it ties into 0:07:45.120 --> 0:07:50.760 an observation called Worth's law. Worth's law states that software 0:07:50.880 --> 0:07:54.600 is getting slower at a rate that's greater than hardware 0:07:54.640 --> 0:07:57.000 is getting faster. So the hardware is getting faster, but 0:07:57.040 --> 0:07:59.800 software is getting slower faster than the hardware is getting faster, 0:08:00.040 --> 0:08:03.280 if you follow me. Essentially, it's an observation about software 0:08:03.280 --> 0:08:07.160 bloat and how as software gets more sophisticated, it does 0:08:07.200 --> 0:08:12.280 not necessarily become more efficient as well anyway. Another related 0:08:12.360 --> 0:08:16.320 issue is in storage space. The PS five solid state 0:08:16.400 --> 0:08:20.600 drive is eight five gigabytes, but again according to the 0:08:20.680 --> 0:08:24.559 verge of that, only six hundred and sixty seven point 0:08:24.680 --> 0:08:29.080 two gigabytes are actually available for storage for games and stuff. 0:08:29.400 --> 0:08:32.720 The rest of that hard drive space is reserved for 0:08:32.960 --> 0:08:35.200 system data, or I guess I should say the rest 0:08:35.200 --> 0:08:38.160 of the solid state drive space as a reserved for 0:08:38.200 --> 0:08:42.320 that system data. The six hundred sixty seven gigabytes is 0:08:42.440 --> 0:08:44.679 a lot. That's a lot of storage, no doubt about it, 0:08:44.720 --> 0:08:48.080 But some recent games that have just come out not 0:08:48.200 --> 0:08:51.360 too long ago are truly enormous, topping in it more 0:08:51.440 --> 0:08:55.480 than a hundred gigabytes for just one title, and some 0:08:55.520 --> 0:08:57.800 of them are getting close to a hundred fifty gigabytes 0:08:57.880 --> 0:09:00.800 or more. When you take that into a count, the 0:09:01.000 --> 0:09:03.960 massive amount of storage really means you might only be 0:09:04.000 --> 0:09:07.680 able to have four or five Triple A titles stored 0:09:07.720 --> 0:09:10.040 on your PS five and ready to go at any 0:09:10.080 --> 0:09:13.640 given time, and other times you may have to uninstalled 0:09:13.640 --> 0:09:17.200 games in order to install a new one, so that 0:09:17.280 --> 0:09:19.440 makes things a little tricky. Now. The PS five does 0:09:19.520 --> 0:09:23.160 have a slot for additional Sony certified solid state drives, 0:09:23.160 --> 0:09:25.880 to be added in so you can increase your storage, 0:09:26.280 --> 0:09:28.960 but there's no word yet on when those will actually 0:09:29.040 --> 0:09:32.840 be available. Reviews of other elements of PS five performance 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:36.600 are a little more modest. The console can put out 0:09:36.640 --> 0:09:41.359 four K resolution graphics with hd R and ray tracing 0:09:41.400 --> 0:09:44.000 and all that stuff, which is, you know, all about 0:09:44.080 --> 0:09:48.839 the visual appeal of this device, but these things only 0:09:48.880 --> 0:09:51.920 matter if one you happen to have a television that 0:09:52.040 --> 0:09:55.440 supports four K and HDR. If you don't, all that's 0:09:55.440 --> 0:09:58.040 going to be lost on you and to the people 0:09:58.080 --> 0:10:00.360 who are making the games have to be able to 0:10:00.480 --> 0:10:04.040 leverage those capabilities. They have to create assets in the 0:10:04.080 --> 0:10:08.000 game that use these features so that you can, you know, 0:10:08.559 --> 0:10:12.680 enjoy the benefits of them. So many of the reviews 0:10:12.720 --> 0:10:16.240 that I have seen uh say that the games definitely 0:10:16.280 --> 0:10:21.040 look better, but that the improvements and graphics are fairly subtle, 0:10:21.160 --> 0:10:26.000 Like the jump in graphic quality isn't as great as 0:10:26.080 --> 0:10:29.280 you have seen in previous generations, And that kind of 0:10:29.320 --> 0:10:32.240 makes sense to me. We're at a point of diminishing 0:10:32.280 --> 0:10:35.800 returns when it comes to stuff like graphics and video. 0:10:36.320 --> 0:10:39.800 There will always be room for improvement, but the jump 0:10:39.840 --> 0:10:42.640 from one generation to the next is going to be 0:10:42.840 --> 0:10:46.640 less obvious. It's not like going from eight bit graphics 0:10:46.640 --> 0:10:49.240 to sixteen bit graphics, or when we got up to 0:10:49.320 --> 0:10:53.840 sixty four bit graphics. Now the improvements are more polish 0:10:54.360 --> 0:10:58.400 than they are transformational. This isn't bad, mind you. It 0:10:58.480 --> 0:11:03.439 just means that the graphics are aren't necessarily a show stopper. However, 0:11:04.040 --> 0:11:07.280 the way the game's load and run seems to be 0:11:07.360 --> 0:11:10.400 spectacular based on the reviews. And on top of that, 0:11:10.920 --> 0:11:14.440 reviewers have said really good things about the new PS 0:11:14.520 --> 0:11:18.440 five controller. In the last PlayStation episode that I did, 0:11:18.480 --> 0:11:22.000 I said we had yet to see the controller. Now 0:11:22.000 --> 0:11:25.160 that we have seen it, folks are really digging it. 0:11:25.320 --> 0:11:28.840 The triggers on the controller have variable tension and haptic 0:11:28.920 --> 0:11:32.160 feedback built into them. Now that means that a game 0:11:32.160 --> 0:11:36.199 developer can create situations in which using the triggers feels 0:11:36.480 --> 0:11:40.560 different specific to whatever the context is within the game. So, 0:11:40.640 --> 0:11:44.240 for example, imagine you've got a game in which your 0:11:44.320 --> 0:11:47.920 character has a bow and they are drawing an arrow 0:11:48.200 --> 0:11:51.800 back with that bow, and the trigger that you're using 0:11:51.920 --> 0:11:54.880 is linking to that command to draw the arrow back. 0:11:55.320 --> 0:11:58.840 So as you squeeze the trigger, you feel an initial 0:11:58.920 --> 0:12:03.880 resistance which represents the tension on the bowstring. But let's 0:12:03.920 --> 0:12:06.080 say in another part of the game, you need to 0:12:06.160 --> 0:12:09.240 use the same trigger to just pick up a small item, 0:12:09.320 --> 0:12:12.240 and this time you feel very little resistance as you 0:12:12.280 --> 0:12:15.760 pull the trigger, which represents how easy that action is 0:12:15.840 --> 0:12:18.440 within the game to your character. So it's a neat 0:12:18.440 --> 0:12:21.320 way to add some immersive qualities to a game. You 0:12:21.360 --> 0:12:24.360 can stress that this thing that you're having your character 0:12:24.400 --> 0:12:28.480 do is harder for your character to do because you've 0:12:28.679 --> 0:12:31.559 increased the tension on the control itself. I think that's 0:12:31.600 --> 0:12:34.560 pretty genius. The controller can also make a lot of 0:12:34.559 --> 0:12:38.600 different kinds of vibrations. Gone are the simple days of 0:12:38.640 --> 0:12:41.960 the basic rumble pack. Now the vibrating motors inside the 0:12:41.960 --> 0:12:45.240 controller can be manipulated to simulate everything from you know, 0:12:45.360 --> 0:12:50.280 walking across crunchy leaves to flying through a war zone 0:12:50.360 --> 0:12:54.200 in a helicopter. And I think Sony is in better 0:12:54.280 --> 0:12:57.400 shape when it comes to exclusive titles for the PS 0:12:57.480 --> 0:13:02.800 five compared to Microsoft and situation with the new Xbox consoles. 0:13:03.240 --> 0:13:07.360 The pandemic has had an enormous impact on the development 0:13:07.400 --> 0:13:10.680 cycle for games, and it's also done a serious number 0:13:10.720 --> 0:13:14.280 on supply chain management. So it's actually pretty impressive that 0:13:14.320 --> 0:13:17.480 the console and any games are coming out at all, 0:13:18.160 --> 0:13:21.200 and not surprisingly, it could be a real challenge to 0:13:21.320 --> 0:13:24.400 find a p S five or an Xbox right now 0:13:24.480 --> 0:13:28.559 because supplies were limited due to that impact on production. 0:13:29.480 --> 0:13:32.080 But let's switch over to the Xbox for just a 0:13:32.120 --> 0:13:35.240 few moments, and switching is a good thing to start with, 0:13:35.480 --> 0:13:38.319 as one of the features on the new Xbox Series 0:13:38.600 --> 0:13:43.320 S and the Series X is the quick resume technology. 0:13:43.400 --> 0:13:46.719 So say you're playing a game and maybe you hit 0:13:46.720 --> 0:13:48.920 a spot where you're not making much progress and you're 0:13:48.920 --> 0:13:51.800 getting frustrated, so you decide you're gonna take a break 0:13:51.880 --> 0:13:55.320 from playing that game and switch to something else. Maybe 0:13:55.360 --> 0:13:58.800 it's another game, maybe it's a video, but the Series 0:13:59.000 --> 0:14:01.960 X will suspend your gameplay in the active game as 0:14:02.000 --> 0:14:06.000 you swap over to your other task. And then you 0:14:06.120 --> 0:14:08.040 let's say you load up a second game and you're 0:14:08.040 --> 0:14:10.280 playing that. Then you decide, you know what, I want 0:14:10.280 --> 0:14:12.800 to go back to my original game, So you back 0:14:12.800 --> 0:14:16.120 out to your little splash menu and you swap back 0:14:16.160 --> 0:14:18.760 over to the original game you were playing, and boom, 0:14:18.800 --> 0:14:21.840 you're right back in it, and it's super fast. The 0:14:21.920 --> 0:14:27.239 Series X and Series S are effectively putting their fingers 0:14:27.560 --> 0:14:29.400 on a page in a book for you, so you 0:14:29.440 --> 0:14:32.280 can just flip right back to that page without any 0:14:32.320 --> 0:14:34.640 real delay. You don't have to wait for the game 0:14:34.680 --> 0:14:37.680 to load back up into the system's memory. It's pretty 0:14:37.680 --> 0:14:40.880 impressive to see. And what's going on is that your 0:14:40.960 --> 0:14:45.040 game state from game number one is sort of flash 0:14:45.160 --> 0:14:50.240 frozen into storage memory on the Xbox, and this memory 0:14:50.320 --> 0:14:53.760 is really handy to the Xbox processor, so when you 0:14:53.800 --> 0:14:57.280 swap back to the game, the processor can just fetch 0:14:57.360 --> 0:15:00.600 the game state from memory rather than having to root 0:15:00.640 --> 0:15:04.440 around in the solid state drive for that information. As 0:15:04.440 --> 0:15:07.440 a feature, I think it follows under the quality of 0:15:07.520 --> 0:15:10.960 life category. It's not transformational, but it's really nice to have. 0:15:11.560 --> 0:15:15.560 The quick resume feature can accommodate between four and six games, 0:15:15.560 --> 0:15:19.920 depending on how complex those games are. One big selling 0:15:19.960 --> 0:15:22.960 point for the Xbox. Something that has been important since 0:15:23.040 --> 0:15:27.320 the very beginning is backwards compatibility. Sony has had a 0:15:27.400 --> 0:15:30.320 kind of spotty past when it comes to supporting games 0:15:30.360 --> 0:15:34.680 from older consoles. The company has made more dramatic departures 0:15:34.920 --> 0:15:38.960 from older system architecture, which makes it harder to adapt 0:15:39.080 --> 0:15:42.160 older games to later systems. The p S three in 0:15:42.160 --> 0:15:47.360 particular was a real challenge because the microprocessor architecture, while powerful, 0:15:47.960 --> 0:15:53.480 was very different from earlier PS state systems. So the 0:15:53.640 --> 0:15:56.520 Xbox follows a philosophy that's much closer to what we 0:15:56.600 --> 0:16:00.720 see with PC games, which really should surprise no body. 0:16:00.800 --> 0:16:04.280 And one of the attractions of the Series X and 0:16:04.360 --> 0:16:08.440 Series S consoles is that you can play older games 0:16:08.480 --> 0:16:11.520 on those systems and you'll end up getting an enhanced 0:16:11.680 --> 0:16:15.440 upscaled experience in the process. So you can pull up 0:16:15.480 --> 0:16:20.000 a real classic game like I don't know, Crimson Skies, 0:16:20.360 --> 0:16:23.920 I hope, and it should look pretty good. It's not 0:16:23.920 --> 0:16:27.640 going to magically, you know, convert up to four K resolution. 0:16:27.720 --> 0:16:29.440 It doesn't. It's not gonna measure up to the level 0:16:29.520 --> 0:16:33.040 of graphics you would see with a brand new game release, 0:16:33.480 --> 0:16:35.760 but it will look better than it would on the 0:16:35.800 --> 0:16:39.680 old original Xbox in theory. Anyway. I haven't actually tested 0:16:39.720 --> 0:16:42.360 this out because I don't have an Xbox yet. I 0:16:42.440 --> 0:16:46.160 just really like that game, you know, Crimson Skies is 0:16:46.200 --> 0:16:48.440 an awesome game, and I really want to play it again. 0:16:48.920 --> 0:16:53.600 Remake Crimson Skies, Xbox, go and go and make a 0:16:53.720 --> 0:16:57.400 you know, a new current generation version of Crimson Skies 0:16:57.440 --> 0:17:01.200 that game is amazing. Now, I allude did to it earlier, 0:17:01.520 --> 0:17:04.240 and I've talked about it in other episodes. But Microsoft 0:17:04.280 --> 0:17:07.760 has taken a different approach than Sony has with the 0:17:08.000 --> 0:17:12.520 two tiers of Xbox consoles. So the Xbox Series X 0:17:13.000 --> 0:17:15.240 is the one that has the optical drive, and it 0:17:15.320 --> 0:17:19.840 costs four dollars, just like Sony's top level PS five, 0:17:20.320 --> 0:17:24.200 but it also is a more advanced machine than the 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:28.800 digital only Series S is. The Series X has more 0:17:28.920 --> 0:17:32.640 data storage, it's got a faster processor, it can support 0:17:32.720 --> 0:17:36.600 four K gaming. The Series S is limited to fourteen 0:17:36.720 --> 0:17:40.480 four DP resolution for gaming. So while the two models 0:17:40.480 --> 0:17:44.040 of the PS five are identical except for one of 0:17:44.080 --> 0:17:48.560 them has an optical drive, the Series X is better 0:17:48.760 --> 0:17:52.720 future proofed than the Series S is. On the other hand, 0:17:52.720 --> 0:17:55.960 the Series S comes in at two dollars, which makes 0:17:55.960 --> 0:17:59.520 it one hundred bucks cheaper than the least expensive PS 0:17:59.600 --> 0:18:02.639 five one that doesn't have an optical drive. Also, the 0:18:02.720 --> 0:18:06.480 Series S and the Series X have a one terabyte 0:18:06.840 --> 0:18:11.000 storage expansion slot, where you can purchase uh an extra 0:18:11.200 --> 0:18:14.040 SSD up of a terrabyte and plug it into the 0:18:14.040 --> 0:18:17.400 back and thus more than double the amount of storage 0:18:17.480 --> 0:18:21.240 in your Xbox I think Microsoft is going to struggle 0:18:21.320 --> 0:18:23.679 a little bit on the game front, at least for 0:18:23.760 --> 0:18:27.880 new games, because many titles that were meant to debut 0:18:28.160 --> 0:18:31.280 along with the console have since been delayed by at 0:18:31.359 --> 0:18:34.520 least a few months. And again that's largely the pandemic 0:18:34.600 --> 0:18:37.399 having an effect in addition to the normal issues we 0:18:37.440 --> 0:18:40.240 see with game development where there can be delays. But 0:18:40.359 --> 0:18:44.960 Microsoft also has game Pass, which is a subscription based 0:18:45.040 --> 0:18:48.360 service that gives players access to more than one hundred 0:18:48.359 --> 0:18:52.040 titles if they subscribe to it. So rather than buying games, 0:18:52.080 --> 0:18:54.639 you subscribe to the service and that gives you access 0:18:54.760 --> 0:18:57.440 to these games and you can play stuff that maybe 0:18:57.480 --> 0:19:00.200 you overlooked or maybe you never had the cat to 0:19:00.359 --> 0:19:03.080 buy that particular title back in the day, and a 0:19:03.080 --> 0:19:05.480 lot of game journalists refer to it as the best 0:19:05.640 --> 0:19:07.879 deal in gaming, and it's kind of hard to argue 0:19:07.880 --> 0:19:11.760 with that. So let's say that I, Jonathan Strickland, have 0:19:12.119 --> 0:19:15.280 recently upgraded my television because honestly, the one I have 0:19:15.440 --> 0:19:18.399 right now is an outdated, regular old h d t V. 0:19:18.560 --> 0:19:21.439 It's not even a smart TV. This hd TV is 0:19:21.480 --> 0:19:24.000 from several years ago, works just fine, so I've never 0:19:24.040 --> 0:19:26.600 replaced it. But let's say that I go ahead and 0:19:26.640 --> 0:19:28.959 I upgrade. Now I've got a decision to make. Do 0:19:29.040 --> 0:19:31.719 I go with the PS five or do I go 0:19:31.880 --> 0:19:36.200 with the Xbox. This is legit a tough question for me, because, 0:19:36.560 --> 0:19:39.359 for one thing, I'm I'm an Xbox die hard fan, 0:19:40.080 --> 0:19:43.120 but I don't you know, I don't immediately fall into 0:19:43.119 --> 0:19:46.560 a camp of Xbox good, PS five bad. The new 0:19:46.640 --> 0:19:49.960 games for the PS five look insanely good, Spider Man 0:19:49.960 --> 0:19:53.680 in particular, and Microsoft looks to lag behind a little 0:19:53.680 --> 0:19:56.359 bit due to those production delays. On the other hand, 0:19:56.720 --> 0:20:00.880 the game Pass deal is fantastic, and I'm all a subscriber. 0:20:01.240 --> 0:20:04.080 But by that same logic, I could just continue to 0:20:04.280 --> 0:20:07.880 access game Pass on my Xbox One and then wait 0:20:08.000 --> 0:20:11.760 around a little bit longer to upgrade to a series console. 0:20:12.240 --> 0:20:15.480 In fact, I would probably do that even if I 0:20:15.560 --> 0:20:19.280 had the brand new, fancy television. I would probably get 0:20:19.280 --> 0:20:22.080 the PS five to start off and have a goal 0:20:22.200 --> 0:20:25.440 to get a series X later in the future. Now 0:20:25.440 --> 0:20:27.560 that's a moot point for me because I do not 0:20:27.760 --> 0:20:30.320 currently have a four K TV, so a lot of 0:20:30.320 --> 0:20:33.520 these enhancements would not matter. I wouldn't be able to 0:20:33.520 --> 0:20:36.440 see them because my television wouldn't be able to show them. 0:20:36.480 --> 0:20:38.520 And also I don't have a whole lot of time 0:20:38.560 --> 0:20:40.600 to play a lot of stuff right now. That's just 0:20:40.640 --> 0:20:43.760 a bummer. But when we come back, I'm going to 0:20:43.760 --> 0:20:46.800 talk about something else that needs to be updated, a 0:20:47.000 --> 0:20:50.399 video streaming service that I covered during the pandemic that 0:20:50.520 --> 0:20:54.480 ain't round here no more. But first, let's take a 0:20:54.600 --> 0:21:08.560 quick break on August, which feels like a million years ago. 0:21:08.600 --> 0:21:11.439 I know everyone says that, but man, it feels like 0:21:11.480 --> 0:21:15.040 this year has just lasted forever. Well anyway, On August seventeenth, 0:21:15.119 --> 0:21:18.960 I published an episode about Quimby, the streaming video platform 0:21:19.040 --> 0:21:21.480 that had been in development for a couple of years 0:21:21.840 --> 0:21:25.360 and had some big names in technology and entertainment behind it. 0:21:25.880 --> 0:21:28.960 And that episode is called Quimby Quibble if you want 0:21:29.000 --> 0:21:31.320 to check it out. I talked about how the original 0:21:31.400 --> 0:21:34.679 concept for Quimby, which would feature short form videos that 0:21:34.760 --> 0:21:38.120 lasted about ten minutes each, was intended to go after 0:21:38.200 --> 0:21:41.720 a market of folks, mostly young folks, who are looking 0:21:41.720 --> 0:21:45.080 to pass the time while waiting to do other stuff 0:21:45.119 --> 0:21:48.040 like maybe they're on a train, or they're waiting in 0:21:48.119 --> 0:21:51.360 line for a coffee or whatever, and how the pandemic 0:21:51.560 --> 0:21:55.080 was eliminating the very use case that Quimby was based 0:21:55.080 --> 0:21:59.400 off of, and I concluded with some skepticism about the 0:21:59.520 --> 0:22:02.520 long or viability of the platform, which I didn't think 0:22:02.680 --> 0:22:06.160 was particularly promising. Well, it's been a couple of weeks 0:22:06.200 --> 0:22:10.679 since the announcement in late October, but Quimby is sadly 0:22:10.760 --> 0:22:14.440 officially shutting down, and I hate that. I was right 0:22:14.480 --> 0:22:17.479 to be skeptical, and let's be fair, it was the 0:22:17.520 --> 0:22:20.879 only reasonable point of view to take given the circumstances. 0:22:20.880 --> 0:22:24.040 So I'm not really giving myself any credit here. It's 0:22:24.080 --> 0:22:26.480 like looking at the ocean and saying, I bet it's 0:22:26.480 --> 0:22:28.879 wet in there. It was kind of obvious on the 0:22:28.880 --> 0:22:31.840 face of it. I take no pleasure in the failure 0:22:32.160 --> 0:22:34.919 because I think Quimby was giving a lot of really 0:22:34.960 --> 0:22:38.160 creative people an opportunity to do what they love to do, 0:22:38.320 --> 0:22:41.600 and seeing something like that go away just stinks. But 0:22:41.640 --> 0:22:43.880 at the same time, I think the decision to pull 0:22:43.920 --> 0:22:47.200 the plug was the most responsible thing to do. So 0:22:47.640 --> 0:22:49.840 we're going to take a look at the short span 0:22:49.920 --> 0:22:55.560 of time from August to October to see what happened. Now, 0:22:55.960 --> 0:22:58.639 let me give a super quick recap of Quimby. I 0:22:58.640 --> 0:23:01.080 already mentioned the use case for the platform the short 0:23:01.119 --> 0:23:05.000 form videos of about ten minutes in length. Some projects, 0:23:05.160 --> 0:23:08.520 like some of the videos on Quimby, were a lot 0:23:08.560 --> 0:23:12.560 like a television series, with each episode being ten minutes 0:23:12.720 --> 0:23:15.639 right in a ten minute episode, but some were more 0:23:15.680 --> 0:23:20.240 like feature films that got divided up into ten minute chapters, 0:23:20.720 --> 0:23:23.480 which presents a challenge when crafting a story, but we'll 0:23:23.520 --> 0:23:26.720 get to that. Some were fiction, some were in the 0:23:26.840 --> 0:23:30.520 reality TV space. Some fell into the category of news 0:23:30.760 --> 0:23:34.159 or coverage of stuff like sports or lifestyle. It was 0:23:34.200 --> 0:23:37.479 a pretty broad approach to entertainment as a whole, just 0:23:37.600 --> 0:23:40.280 that it was all in a bite sized form factor, 0:23:40.840 --> 0:23:43.440 and the guiding logic was that people are using their 0:23:43.480 --> 0:23:46.359 phones to watch stuff more than ever, and frequently do 0:23:46.480 --> 0:23:49.119 so to fill up time where they normally would be 0:23:49.160 --> 0:23:53.040 doing nothing or at least nothing much. Quimby was meant 0:23:53.040 --> 0:23:56.520 to tap into the psyche of the TikTok fan base 0:23:57.040 --> 0:24:00.520 or snapchat platforms that excel in the present sentation of 0:24:00.560 --> 0:24:05.199 short form video clips. But Quimby would marry that with 0:24:05.320 --> 0:24:08.920 the original programming and high production value that you find 0:24:08.960 --> 0:24:13.240 in services like Netflix. So yeah, kind of bringing together 0:24:13.320 --> 0:24:17.199