Cup of Jones - May 31, 2018

The Gametrailers Brand was bought by IGN they own all rights to it, so I'm pretty certain it's someone on their social media staff operating the twitter account.

WarmFeelings

Hey Jones! Business question: I’m not sure if you’re aware, but a while back a fellow Ally created EZA fan survey at ResetEra. It was made purely for fun and the sample size was pretty small, but some of the results were kinda interesting. For example, Hall of Greats won the “Favorite ongoing streaming series?” category by a landslide. Out of 233 responses: 61% -- prefered the Hall of Greats 16% -- prefered Amateur Gundam Construction 14% -- prefered Dumb/Fun Game Monday What’s your reaction to this and would guys consider doing HoG streams more often, like once every two months? Link: <a href="https://www.resetera.com/threads/easy-allies-ot-the-new-era.703/page-291" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.resetera.com/threads/easy-allies-ot-the-new-era.703/page-291</a>#post-8137450

the_finnish_ally

Hi Jones! Looking forward a little bit past E3, I was wondering what general plans you have for Easy Livin this year. What changes might be made from last year and can we expect you to go bigger and better with a 51 hour stream this year? I especially enjoyed the full playthroughs and thought games like Sunshine in particular where the Allies were able to trade off playing, shine for shine, were ideal entertainment. I know that last year you announced Easy Livin at the end of one of your E3 streams. Can we expect confirmation that soon this year? Enormously excited for your E3 coverage, and can't wait to kick back and relax with Easy Livin. Love and Respect, Barry

Doug

Morning Jones, While rewatching some old GT reviews and Countdown (that's something I am doing because it's fun and because listening to your sweet voice is good for learning how to speak English), I was wondering. You give FFXIII a pretty good score when it released but then consider it one of the worst FF of all time in a countdown. Because the person who reviewed the game at the time liked it, but then he was no longer part of GT staff when you made the Countdown. That's kind of the same thing with The Last Guardian, some of you loved it, some hated it. It's a good thing to have different opinions among your group, but when you review a game, it's only one opinion. I'm not saying we should have nine reviews of every games, but have you consider having two reviews of the same game when you have opposite opinions about it, with two different score ? L&amp;R Aurélien

Aurélien GRANIER

Business Question: Brandon. I bet this has come up before but I have yet to ever find the answer. I know the old game trailers twitter account is still active. Who runs that account now? And what would be the chance of gaining access to that account in order to further promote Easy Allies? You mention that people still don’t know but here are 600k followers of GT and that could be a great opportunity to gain even a margin of those people onto Patreon. Feel free to link me somewhere else if you’ve already answered this.

I was late with the post this week. It went up yesterday. Apologies!

Easy Allies

Hi Brandon, I have a follow up from the studio question last week, you mention that once the 50K goal is reach you and the allies will do fundraiser and stream 24/7 to make sure the 50K goal is continue to be reach each month. In my opinion this is the wrong approach, because this is fixing the problem once it shows up instead of preventing from happening. If you reach the 50K you will be able to search for the studio, but you will be limited to find a studio with the money that you have available and I know that you will search for the best location possible, but still, it will be the best location with the money available. I think is better to find the location that you need first. That's why fundraiser outside of Patreon makes more sense. The reason why I think is better, is because for the 50K goal to be reach we need that around 4,000 to 5,000 patreons to add an extra dollar a month, but this means that it will be an extra $12 a year for each patreon, and EZA is worth it, but not everybody has the budget. If you do a fundraiser we can get 25k if 5,000 patreons donate $5, this will be $7 less (a year) that if we do it on patreon and even if you need to do the fundraiser again in the same year, this will mean $10 that it will be $2 less that if we use Patreon. *The reason why I said twice is because you can do a fundraiser every 6 months to keep the studio. And I'm only taking in consideration a set amount of patreons, but there are a lot of people from this community that are not patreons, because they are unable to do a monthly commitment, but they are willing to do a one time donation. You will be able to search for 2 or 3 locations that has everything you need, pick the best one for all the Allies and the goal can be the deposit of the location plus 6, 9 or 12 months of rent. The best part is that you will have money set aside for any emergency and the salary that you and the allies receive will not be touch, please keep this option available because just like you there are a lot of people from this community that want you to have your own studio, because of the many possibilities that the studio represents (collaboration, multiple allies streams, etc) Thank you for taking your time to answer my questions, and Happy E3 week

I just listened to the Q&amp;A for May and I have an idea to figure out who leaves the garage messy. I suggest getting a few sharpies and having the everyone mark their own can or drink with their initials. That way when drinks are moved people will be able to find their drinks. Also, if no one cleans their drinks, you can figure out whose drink it is.

Victor Ko

I think Mario+Rabbids, and Mario Odyssey ( which was leaked minutes before being shown similar sotc) demonstrate that reveals can still be just as evocative even when leaked, because even if you know the name or seen screenshots of a upcoming game doesn't mean you know the exact details of what will be showcased, and that still leaves plenty of room to be surprised.

WarmFeelings

This is the easiest method with the new setup. I'll get cozy with it! - Brandon

Easy Allies

I am almost missed my first question getting asked last week cause you pronounced my last name slightly off and it took my brain a second to realize you said my name. For future reference my last name is pronounced KUZ (like, just cuz)- LOW (like cow) - SKI (the downhill skiing). And I do have an actual question. Do you have any tips for recovering from a lost voice? In the past I think you've said to just talk as little as possible, which I've done over the past two days to recover from losing my voice, but do you have any other tips for recovery? Since you both you and Amanda rely heavily on your voices for your work, I'm hoping you have some helpful tips.

Daniel Kozlowski

Jones! E3 coverage promo video on YouTube with the stream schedule?

VGJunky

And I thought my post was long this week :P

Snowcone Guy

Hello Jones. After hearing the news about the upcoming pokemon titles I decided to rewatch THE best tribute to a game in the Hall of Fame. Brandon playes pokemon. After watching throu this show that you yourself refered to as catching lightning in a bottle, I began thinking about what the series ment to me and if there where any questions about it i wanted to ask you. However. Due to me watching Brandon plays pokemon on youtube I was recomended a episode of something called pokemon generations. a series of short films between 3-5 minutes each. I also still had your unstatisfactory conclusion of team Rocket and Geovani. So if you still feel unsatisfied about that whole debacle I would recomned watching episode 2 and 5 of pokemon generations. and if you are still up for more I think you whould enjoy episode 3 and 10 aswell. I also want to thank you and all the other allies for what you do and say that I look forward to spending a lot of time watching your E3 coverage in the near future. Love and Respect, Brightspark

(Sorry if this is double posted, it was there one minute and gone the next - trying again) Hi Brandon, please forgive me for the long post. I've wanted to ask you this since the beginning of Easy Allies but I wasn't quite sure how to word it but now after several revisions I'm going to go ahead and give it the old college try. Before I propose my idea to you first I want to explain where I'm coming from. Back in the late 80's early 90's my video game magazine of choice was Electronic Gaming Monthly. One of my favorite things about EGM was the way they reviewed games. Do you remember the EGM Review Crew? To explain the review crew to people that don't know: The EGM Review Crew was usually a team of Four or sometimes Five editors at the magazine that would give a number grade to recent games that month, for instance Secret of Mana could have come out that month and the editors would give their scores (8/9/9/9) while also sharing a paragraph of their thoughts on the game. Sometimes a game had roughly the same score across the board but other times it could vary like for instance Batman and Robin for the Sega Game Gear (7.5/7.0/6.0/5.0). The great thing about this was that over time you would get to know the editors and what their tastes were and what their hang-ups were so you would keep an eye out for what, say a Steve Harris or Ed Semrad thought of that months Fighting Game or RPG etc of course you could also vehemently disagree with their scores as well. That was all part of the fun. The magazine had a big cover story featuring a game to get you hyped each issue which was always fun to read but the review crew was a great way to get a quick idea if a game was worth giving time to, this was especially true in the time of Blockbuster game rentals. For example I owned a Sega Genesis then and while there were a great many games on that system there was also a lot of hot garbage to sift through to get to the good stuff. I could quickly glance at the review crew section and see what games had a nice average, it was like their very own in-house Metacritic with critics only from that very magazine that you knew and trusted. One of my favorite things was seeing the review section with a big transparent red number grade on top of the wording, it was always the first place I would look in a copy of EGM after purchasing it from a local 7-11 or grocery store. The Review Crew section was a place I would re-visit again even months later to reference a certain score for a certain game that I might rent or possibly purchase. The Review Crew was always there for me to reference repeatedly in a stack of magazines on my bedroom floor whenever I needed it -- This was way before the Internet after all. Easy Allies dot com is a great website but the only reason I need to visit the site is EZA's updated weekly schedule. If you are an EZA Patron you pretty much get all of the information you need right there on Patreon and if you subscribe to EZA on Youtube or Twitch as well as Twitter you're not going to miss a thing. There's a real need for an EZA.com, interest from a new fan or a company, everyone needs a website to show the world what they are all about, their brand etc -- BUT I think I have an idea how to get people to not only visit multiple times a week but forever visiting and referencing the site just like a trusty old magazine stack in the corner of their bedroom. That's right! I am proposing *Drumroll please!* The Official EZA Review Crew! I don't have to tell you that Easy Allies has Nine members! Count em' Nine Guys who play video games! It's their job, their livelihood! Just hear me out, I know that the official Easy Allies Review is very important, it's always well written, edited and voiced by none of than you 'the voice' Brandon Jones but I also know that EZA is not a Hive Mind. You guys aren't the Borg. Each of you has your very own opinions about games. Just ask Ian about The Last Guardian which EZA awarded the GOTY. Ask Kyle about Persona 5, on second thought, don't ask him. I'm not saying you need to get rid of the trademark EZA review that represent the company, the EZA review that appears on Youtube is THE Official Review of Easy Allies, and it always will be. I like to think of it as the Cover Story and Review all rolled up into one and shows the industry that you guys are pros but what I propose is a change to the Review Section of the EZA website to include Number Scores from fellow Allies. It doesn't have to be all Nine of you for each game, just those of you that have happened to have played that certain game and have a strong enough opinion to give it a grade and a quick and short sentence or paragraph on why they recommend said game or do not recommend it. Like I said EZA doesn't share one brain or one opinion and that's what I love about you guys! Each of you have different personalities and senses of humor, quirks etc. We know you as individuals. For instance I foresee Kyle shooting this idea down since he doesn't review games. But he has strong opinions on the games he plays. How great would it be to be able to peruse the EZA Review Section and see quick number grades that Kyle has given to games he's played these past few years? Just picture Kyle rating games based on their faces alone! Imagine the wild score differential between Kyle and Damiani! So here's an example of the EZA Review Crew or a better name that's not so blatantly stealing from EGM but an homage of their idea maybe the EZA Review Garage, Archive, Vault? The Last Guardian (PS4) Brandon (9) "I would rate it higher if Rockstar made it!" - Blood *Original Reviewer* (10) "I would give it an 11 if I could." - Huber (7.5) "Two words, No Shotgun." - Ian (5.5) "Don't tell me I have to own a Pro to play this!" -- I'm being cheeky but you get the idea of the possibilities! I know what you are thinking! Great Idea, Jason but we don't have the time to implement this, it would be a massive undertaking. I know and I understand but I think if you chose maybe the fourth Tuesday group stream of every month to go over past game reviews (and when you caught up to the most recent month's reviews), each Ally could call out a score and a thought and it could slowly be recorded and added to the site and voila one day it's finished and you have a huge EZA Review Vault that people could go back to and reference to get an idea of what Blood thought of that old racing game, Ben thought of that JRPG and Brandon felt about that Open World game. A place to visit over and over from fans new and old till the end of time. This could be awesome, this could be your legacy! I should also explain the reason this is so important to me. EZA is to me now what EGM was to me then. My source for games and information on the industry but with a human touch and no pandering attention grabbing headlines. EZA has replaced EGM in my heart. EGM was so very important to me back in the nineties, I looked up to those editors and I took what they thought of those games to heart just like I do now as an adult to you and the other Allies. Sure there are other voices out there talking video games but you guys, The Allies -- You nine are my one and only true review crew. Thank you for hearing me out. I feel a little silly, a little embarrassed but I just had to express these thoughts to you, finally. Love and Respect, Jason Walstrom aka The Jastrom.

Jason Walstrom

Just to offer my own two cents. Even for people that are in that tier, if you are not on Patreon in less than 3 minutes after that post goes up, then your chances of getting your question answered are basically zero to none. Therefore the early access and the option of viewing it live remain the only real benefits to being at that tier, and they have to give people an incentive to stay there.

BeatenDownBrian

Not even sure myself if this is a personal or business question, but basically I wanted to ask if the group ever feel pressured to “react” to stuff during E3 nowadays? I mean sure, Huber losing his mind for Shenmue 3, as well as the reactions of the others to the FF7 remake back at GT were great, but I feel like they were great because it was just so unexpected, and it was 3 dudes that just couldn’t help themselves in the moment. However, ever after that it seemed like a lot of people were tuning in simply for reactions. I’ll often see people talking about things like how they want the Allies on the bigger screen with the conference in a small window, because they want to see reactions. For me, the whole reason I like watching E3 with you all, is because of the commentary and analysis that you provide over them. I guess maybe I just don't fully understand the love people seem to have for reaction videos, and sometimes I wonder if that love, and that expectation, leaves you feeling like you HAVE to react to stuff. Just personally I’d hate for that to be the case, as honestly I feel like when people are pressured for this type of thing, it usually ends up being a worse overall viewing experience.

BeatenDownBrian

[I know this is a long post but I think it's important to not cut anything out] Hello Brandon, hello chat. E3 is almost here. I can't wait for it, and like the last 2 years, I will watch every single one of your live reaction streams, because if there is one thing better about E3 than seeing new game announcements as they happen, it is seeing them AND your immediate reactions. Will Huber stand up? Will Ian shout? Will Kyle put up his hoody and kneel on his chair? Those moments are pure gold to me, and the best type of content that is coming out of EZA. With that subjective premise set, let me get to my actual topic. It's the one thing that can spoil this fun or even ruin it: Leaks. E3 leaks. When Nintendo held their January 2017 reveal event for the Nintendo Switch, you guys knew about pretty much every first party title and their names, as someone posted images of the demo stations on 4chan. When Sony dropped the bomb and showed a trailer for Shadow of the Colossus remastered, it took less than a second of vague footage, for Damiani to shout "It's Shadow of the Colossus!", because he looked up leaks before the stream. For me the best part of a live reaction is when a vague trailer becomes more clear, you guys get your first suspicions what game it might be, and then something confirms those suspicions, and you go totally bonkers. And the publishers are even helping us in creating such outstanding moments, by designing many of their reveals to start out vague and unclear on purpose. But once you got spoiled by leaks, we get robbed of those moments of authentic and emotional discovery. The process of "Being clueless, having a suspicion, building up tension, and then bursting with joy when you know the game for sure" becomes a simple "Ticking off games from the leak list. We knew this was coming, 4chan was right." Now I totally understand, that you have to look at news and leaks in order to stay up to date and do your job. But I think that the balance between the 2 extremes of reading leaks and going on media blackout can be improved. So here is what I propose: During the time leading up to E3, you do your job and keep up with all the news, even if they might contain E3-spoiling leaks. BUT: You do an oath to not look up anymore leaks or spoilers on the day of the press conference, or at least starting several hours before the event. Because chances are high, that someone with a smart phone quickly makes a picture of some demo station or floor booth in the hours leading up to the conference. While I can't get enough of you talking about news, leaks and rumors on the EZA podcast, I am not tuning in to your live reaction streams to get the latest news and bits. I am not watching those as a substitute for what may be happening on Twitter, Kotaku and 4chan. I am tuning in for your genuine, authentic and unspoiled reactions, and I want to explore all the surprises together with you. So those few precious hours of live reaction streams that we have every year should be the one exception where (in my opinion) it isn't your job to be an all-knowing source of news, but rather just 9 humans reacting to some emotional surprises.

Snowcone Guy

Not a question, but on the two episodes before this, and again in this episode you mentioned how you thought there might be a lot of people who don’t like using Patreon, because on the night of the fundraiser you saw a lot of names you didn’t recognise. While that might be true to a degree, I also wanted to point out that on that night we were able to choose whatever name we liked to attach to our donation. I saw a lot of jokey/meme names being used on the night, and just wanted to highlight that some people may not have attached their regular username to every donation they made, which would explain at least some of the names you'd never seen before.

BeatenDownBrian

I really love the Q&amp;A but as I listen with headphones at work the microphone quality can sometimes hurt my ears due to the either hangouts auto adjusting for volume or some serious distortion at times. Would you guys be able to get some cheap usb mics that would sit on the desk for each ally? Doesn't have to be amazing but webcam audio is really hard to listen to. Some from that decent 20-40 dollar range you know?

Hey Brandon, Greetings from Japan! I was wondering if you had some thoughts on the big wide world of rhythm gaming! Konami and SEGA have been huge in keeping the genre alive with consistent updates and a ton of titles that use a wide variety of input methods (touch screens, buttons, touch surfaces, motion, analog dials), but unfortunately this has been limited to the arcade space. While incredibly interesting games like Choonithm have only seen a release in Japan (mainly due to song licenses), there are a few titles such as Sound Voltex, Beatmania 2DX, Museca, Dance Rush (all games from Konami) that have seen release across the United States via Japanese Arcade chain Round 1. The newest Dance Dance Revolution (DDR) somewhat recently saw a release through Round 1, but also through Dave &amp; Busters, a much larger chain of stores. The World Champion of DDR in 2017 was American. As rhythm gaming often isn't covered I would be curious to get the allies' opinion. Maybe have a select few go check out the games available at Round 1, and report back via a Frame Trap episode. What are your person opinions on rhythm games? Much Love, Hedgey

Hedgey

Hey Brandon Slightly insane reward tier idea,totally understand if you don’t like it however. Given that you already accept and do a showcase for community creativity, how about offering a chance to submit a script for a review? Now before anyone listening panics I feel like I should put in a few caveats. What I'm not suggesting is that we tread on yours or any of the other Allies feet. Creative control ultimately should rest with you guys. I’d be looking at this as an opportunity to highlight and review titles that you and the other Allies would not necessarily have time to review yourselves. Especially given your currently packed workload. It could also be made perfectly clear that it’s a community submitted review if a video was produced as a result. Lets face it there are so many indie titles out there these days, that there could be ample space for this to exist as it’s own thing. You could also set it at a tier at least $50, so only seriously interested party's could apply. Obviously there are the logistics of simply organizing this thing to consider, and I completely get you not wanting other people being involved on that level. Maybe there’s a more simpler interpretation of the idea that could be born from this, if it holds any interest for you at all. Just wanted to throw it out there, as I'm sure there are some budding reviewers / creative writers who would love their work to be read out by you someday. All the best for E3 love and respect Diablo169

Diablo

Suggestion: when the day comes for a studio I'm sure it will have a green screen and/or a video wall/projector. To help patrons who will miss the garage perhaps you should take high resolution photos of the garage before you tear it apart to use on your studio backgrounds. A little meta or funny, but it could be fun as a transition.

Matt Brookbank

First of all, wow! I loved the new look podcast – pristine is a word that comes to mind. I know from working in live TV that live switching between cameras is not easy, especially when you are using the flow of conversation as a guide and with the disadvantage of not being able to communicate to your panel which camera is live moment by moment. Live directing/vision mixing is a complex craft and props to Ian who I thought did a bang-up job given that he is getting back into doing it. I know it can only get better over time as both Ian and the panel get more practiced at it. One suggestion; under the titles, I would begin on the wide shot and then cut to the single of Kyle as he begins speaking. It will visually introduce the panel and then establish Kyle as the moderator and give him authority over the proceedings with the audience. It may also be worth rehearsing the opening so that all the panellists know which camera to look at during the intro so that they can look down the barrel of the lens and really connect with the audience in that moment. Watching Brad on the podcast gave me pause for thought; he’s the only core ally to my knowlege who does not have his own show. This may be by choice or availability as he does his fair share of streaming and may be busy behind the scenes in ways we are not aware of but watching his style of commentary gave me two ideas for a show he could do if he was up for it. Brad Rant: Brad comes up with the best Star Wars sign off rants on the podcast and rants well in general and I for one find them funny and entertaining and would be up for a weekly gaming/movie rant editorial. Rad Brad: Often referred to as Easy Allies OG gamer by the other allies and due to his encyclopaedic knowledge of gameplay and skill playing games; I would love to see him take a game or a franchise and discuss the pros and cons, ins and outs of the gameplay mechanics and gameplay overall. L&amp;R Elliot

Elliot Moscow

I heard you mention your friendship with Colin M. So I figured I'd ask... Brewing in southern California right now is a movement often referred to as the intellectual dark web, which Colin M. is apart of, along with many others including Joe Rogan, Eric Weinstein, Christina Hoff Summers, Dave Rubin etc. I know you have expressed pro-politically-correct sentiments in the past and was curious how your views contrast with the discussions being had on the "IDW"

D.M. Deyo

Hey EZA, unless I missed something this episode still hasn't received an audio only version? It never showed up in my podcast RSS and I just came and found this post now when I realized I hadn't heard a Cup of Jones in awhile.

Jason Rumsey

Hey Jones, Is there incentive in the distant future to have EZA be a platform for independent creators similar to GameTrailers? GT partnerships with independent creators were a unique aspect of the site I valued highly, after-all it was through GT that I discovered: GameTheory, HAWP, ScrewAttack, and Mega64. So, is this a feature that could one day be an addition to EZA? Or is the goal to stay focused exclusively on content created in-house by the nine? PS: My Journey to EZA: Gameinformer&gt;X-Play(Adam Sessler as a guest is the dream!)&gt;IGN&gt;GameTrailers&gt;GameSpot&gt;Rev3Games&gt;{EZA}

WarmFeelings

Hey Brandon! I was wondering about the 50k goal and how exactly it would work. There have been other goals that have been reached previously and then the patreon fell blow those goals for whatever reason. Once you acquire a studio, you can't really just say, "We aren't going to have a studio this month because of the amount on Patreon" like you can do right now with recording shows. This is a space to move into that can't be turned over every month based on support. I would love to see a studio, but I just worry about with the goal being such a high tier and about it's long term success. A possible solutions that I've seen in other communities is that they perform fundraisers to keep their studios open. Is this something you have considered especially after the success of the fundraiser for the equipment for E3? At the very least such a fundraiser would give a little money in the bank in case the patreon fell under the 50k tier. L&amp;R as always, Maggie.

Maggie Frayer

Hey, what would it cost to make Easyallies go all-in on 4K? Would like to see you guys as sharp as possible on my new shiny TV😊 This could also be a nice goal for the kickstarter ;)

Stefan Bien

Hi Brandon! You briefly mentioned 2 weeks ago on cup of Jones that you don't have kids (outside of your pets). You're not the youngest seedling in the field anymore, so i'm just asking for Brandon Jones' official stance on real kids. Think about all the possibilities you could do with EZA babies branding! All joking aside you don't have to answer if you feel it's too personal.

Hi Jones, relatively new patron here, so apologies if this has been asked a lot. I had primarily been an audio-only listener of the podcast and frame trap, but after becoming a patron, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed the variety of other content that EZA puts out. I'm curious what the development process is like when coming up with new shows. Is it an all hands on deck with all of the Allies, or just the ones that are behind the idea? Is there a medium or hobby (or even game genre) that you or the Allies would like to create content around, but haven't. If so, what is it?

DashTwenty7

Business question (I guess) - Hello Brandon, my question is about naming inconsistencies between various EZA shows: the podcast uses the format "Easy Allies Podcast #xxx - Date", Frame Trap uses "Frame Trap - Episode xx "EpisodeName" ", Friend Code is just "Friend Code: EpisodeName", with no episode number whatsoever, and Fiasconauts is just all over the place with numbering and random capitalizations. I know this may sound petty and it could just be a pet peeve of mine, but I feel like the channel could look a bit more organized with a standard naming policy throughout all of the shows (Especially adding episode numbers for Friend Code). Blood keeping the playlists organized and up to date is already a huge help. Sorry for the rambling message, keep up the good work, Jako from Italy (Pronounced Yako)

Hi Brandon, congratulations on the new studio setup. I have noticed the upgrade in quality and I wondered why all the videos are not in 4k resolution on YouTube. I thought all camaeras shoot in 4k now. L&amp;R Fabian

Fabian Winkler

Wow, Cup of Jones looks great! I totally support your view on the studio, you can make it look whatever you want (like a garage even) without loosing "the vibe". The important thing is it will be more comfortable, professional and you could do cool new things that weren't possible in a garage.

You can give the Switch a name in the settings menu. I did expect that answer though ^^ So, what games are you looking forward to at E3 2019? (no typo!)

Just so you know, this was real bad on my laptop, I checked other devices such as my TV and Tablet and it's not as bad. Fairly confident a little EQ and better mic placement can fix this. L&amp;R

tahitianwarrior

Personal Question. Hey Jones, a lot of the time when thinking about what games are the most appealing to me, I think about games having, or lacking, a "soul". I'm not sure what contributes to my perception of a game having a "soul" or not. Souls (games) and MGS are two of my favorite franchises of all time, both of these franchises are completely saturated in their own identity and style, and I think that might be what I perceive as soul. Have you thought about games in this way? If so, what do you believe might contribute to this? Would you take an idea so nebulous as this into account when reviewing a game, or do you stick to what you can see, hear, and touch?

CostlyMistake

Hi Jones! Please talk about Fatal Frame, Fatal Frame 2 if you need some direction. I've always had my fingers crossed to hear a good talk about that series from the allies. Also, do you feel Fatal Frame being partially owned my Nintendo has helped or hurt the series?

Parasitepaladin

My journey begins with Gametrailers honestly. It all started when I wanted to find a high quality game trailer about 14 years ago and I wound up at GT. I started watching more videos. I found that the reviews and I shared similar tastes, I got into retrospectives etc. I've been a long time fan. I like others now Jim Sterling, Super Bunnyhop, loved TB (RIP), Angry Centaur Gaming, etc. But it all started with old GT. Sidenote: Who are you looking forward to running into at E3 this year? Shane Satterfield, Daniel Keiser, Keeley, Patrick Morales, do you often see those guys at E3? I remember you ran into Keiser a year or two ago and posted a pic on Twitter. It was just really nice to see old cowokers are still buddies all these years later.

I hope you're doing well today

Hello Brandon My question to you for this Cup of Jones is that I remember on a Easy Allies podcast ( I do not remember which episode it was ) Kyle said that he would do the Spider-man review as his debut on working on a review. I would like to know if that is still happening or was he just joking about it (Sometime I cannot tell if Kyle is joking or not). I would love to watch you read a script written by Kyle for the review.

Lastly Personal Question: Which ex GT Member/s did you learn the most from?

Sekiro505

Are you guys going to try reflectors for the lights?

Sekiro505

In the past E3s you guys have put a red cloth as a background. Which I liked. Would you guys ever try a different background for the main podcast . Im in no rush for the a new studio but this or something else to the background it could make it more unique.

Sekiro505

I love this new look but I would at least to try the desk one too and play around with that

Sekiro505

Couple of comments this time. Be sure to answer which ever you see fit

Sekiro505

Hey Mr Jones. Love the camera work on podcast #114 it's a brand new show and it looks awesome. On the other hand, audio quality was in for a serious downgrade with the lavalier mics. As an audio engineer, is striked me instantly. Just thought i'd let you know even if this has probably been fixed by the time you read this. You lost a lot of high end and definition, you can notice it if you watch podcast #113 or even right at beginning of most recent podcast when the cam switches to Ian who still uses a condenser mic. Nothing good EQ couldnt fix unless your mics are low end lavaliers. Another source of this could be the actual setting on the lavalier mic preamp. They sometime have low pass filters and -10db pads on that can affect sound clarity. Audio is often the last cart of the wheel (not at EZA but in general) but it has a huge impact, I personally had to stop watching the podcast 5 minutes in. Sending you lot's of love from France to you and all the allies around the world.

tahitianwarrior

Brandon, a little over a year back I asked if you thought it would be worth going to Disney World and Universal Studios in Orlando. You recommended we go. Just wanted to drop a line and let you know we finally did go. During the E3 fund raiser, my brother and I were in Orlando. We went to all four Disney parks and both Universal Studios parks. They were excellent. Hope to go again in the future. Thanks for the recommendation.

Thorfkin

Last week's discovery comment that walked through a trail of YouTube channels before landing on EZA finally pushed me to make my own coverage industry post to share with you. Whereas their's filtered through youtube personalities, mine started with gaming magazines. I graduated to the various big gaming sites like Gamespot, IGN, and of course GT, but it wasn't until 1UP.com and its parade of personality-based shows, podcasts and features did I really get invested in any one destination. Putting faces forward that way and ditching the industry-standard site-wide "voice" really attracted my attention to their brand. The site's eventual downfall at Ziff's mismanagement really hurt. 1UP had also made me aware of NeoGAF, which helped make me more aware of industry coverage and personalities at large. This includes witnessing Jeff Gerstmann's dismissal and watching Giantbomb really take off soon after. And for good reason, as it filled that desire for personality-driven content nicely. I happily followed the former Gamespot Hot Spot crew on to their next venture. Years later, GT started grabbing more of my attention as more and more of its' faces started getting in front of the camera. I didn't latch on immediately, as the on-camera chemistry wasn't nearly as strong as it was towards the end. But I was all the way onboard with the Final Bosman, which was a huge starting point for my appreciate of edited and well-produced gaming coverage. The timeline since that debut is well-known here, and I've only grown more fond of the allies and your work since the exodus to Patreon. However, Easy Allies has had an interesting impact on how I perceive games coverage, especially since deciding to support the Patreon and seeing Cup of Jones for myself. There's no way to oversell how hard the nine of you work to earn every cent you receive, and despite the upset since leaving Defy, I still feel your content has done nothing but improve since I first started watching you all. As I've become more and more familiar with your combined work ethic and genuine passions, a knock-on effect of how much more I perceive other outlets has started to emerge. Very few content creators seem to be able (or in some cases even willing) to make time to consume other gaming coverage entertainment I feel. Part of me is as fascinated as dissecting and contrasting that relationship as you appear to be comparing and scoring games advertising. (As an aside, I absolutely adore this aspect of you and your team, and that it isn't merely laced in unending cynicism like in so many other places). So as I grow more familiar with the tremendous work Easy Allies puts out every week and give you more and more of my limited time, I can't help but compare what you do to the other outlets that used to command my attention in the same way. For instance, in the ten years Giant Bomb has persisted, the site has completely abandoned any form of edited, short-form content, preferring to stick to endless hours of stream archives, uncut quick looks and other open-ended content that can get through a production pipeline in record time. Jeff Gerstmann has vaguely mentioned for years that he has plans for the website, but a decade later they still use the same bumpers they started with, have publicly contemplated abandoning the scant amount of written reviews they still bother to do, and have put forth zero vision for their future to their subscribers. I still more or less enjoy the harder, more mocking view their crew has of the gaming industry, but I never really had this perspective until I fell more in line with Easy Allies and the insight you provide on Cup of Jones. I'd never ask you to talk negatively of any other outlets, content creators or channels, but I am genuinely curious if you still have time to view the rest of your industry and what you takeaway from what you see for yourself. You're the first, most interactive host I've come across that takes criticism genuinely seriously rather than lacing it through thinly veiled contempt. And for that you and the allies have my respect!

Kirbu

Whoa, thanks for the editorial treatment! I was not expecting that. I was worried that I had sort of spewed it out stream of consciousness style after hearing about TB, but I'm happy to have been able to make something helpful out of unfortunate news. This lil' Cup of Jones thing is pretty weird and wonderful. Also just to finish the story (and for metrics' sake :P) I found you guys after searching for some in-depth Breath of the Wild discussion after finishing the game. I stumbled across Zelda Talk, and I guess the rest is history.

RobBobWill

What is your favorite reveal from past E3s? What gave you the "Huber Shenmue 3" excitement?

Kate Bishop

CoJ looks great but you seem less 'at ease'. Do it where you prefer :)

Sven Van Lathem

Man, I really enjoy this set up. Jones, this feels like I'm hanging out with Mister Rogers. I mean that in the most positive way you can take it. This looks very professional yet personal and intimate.

Freydohh

Hi Jones! What is your familiarity with music theory? Can you read sheet music? Do you play any instruments? Just curious, as you are a talented performer!

Alec Church

That's a really good point. The Sony press conference will start at something like 2-3am here. I'd still like to watch the reactions "as live" but being able to successfully navigate through YouTube for that video without first having to scroll past all of the "E3 2018 UNCHARTED 5 TRAILER" etc thumbnails will be nigh on impossible.

Greg

Holy smokes, that new camera is a big improvement. Can't wait for E3!

mr. jones, I am currently embarking on a years long quest to play all the numbered Final Fantasy games with a friend. We are currently in the middle of FF6 right at the point of the big world change and I have to say, we are underwhelmed. I realize this is your favorite Final Fantasy game and I just wonder, have you played 5? Am i missing a core mechanic? Can you tell me your favorite character? Thanks

Sean Dupree

Hey there Jones I know there has been a lot asking for and talking about having guest interviews and I fully understand why you don't want them done in your home. To this end I feel if you setup the interview to be recored else where eg: public park/beach, a cafe or their work place. You could then work through slack to setup a list of questions and have a couple of the allies go and do the interview. Which with your new equipment that interview can be played during the podcast and maybe discussed as well. I am also aware that this would require a ton of work by all allies there's scheduling, preparing the questions, filming and then editing that before it could be used during the podcast. However even if done rarely it would still give us the best of both worlds until that magic day when you move into your studio. In any case Thank you and all the Allies for just being generally awesome.

It is a new month now, probably a whole lot of payments that did not go through.

What is going on with the showed amount of money you get a month? On the page it says $33,636 witch is a dip of 13k from what you said this episode. My calculations on the other hand says that you are at $52.879 (Thats studio levels!). So is Patreon doing something different or is it just an error? And how is your amount normally calculated. Is it just the amounts added together or is it after the cut to Patreon? -Søren Lundquist

Reposting my question from last week as it wasn't answered. If it wasn't answered for a reason that's cool. Hi Jones, what kind of hours did you guys work in the GT office? Was it a regular old 9-5 with some extra hours here and there for streaming/shooting or was it more relaxed? Would it be any different when you get the INEVITABLE Easy Allies office/studio gets funded? Would you guys still stream from home?

Maybe it disappeared as have happened a lot?

Benny Samuelsson

Thats awesome. Maybe send this to ian's twitter :)

Sven Van Lathem

Hi Jones, do the other Allies watch Cup Of Jones aswell? Or are you giving a small feedback from it? I ask this because sometimes i feel like they don't know previous requests the community had here on CoJ. For example, a couple of months ago, someone asked if it would be possible to change the dates in the titles to make it more worldwide friendly. (May 12th 2018 instead of 05/12/18). This has been done once lol. And then you went back to the old way. I'm guessing Ian, Don, Damiani arent aware of this. Just an example but you get my point. The thing is, sometimes you answer 'thats Kyle's decision', 'thats Hubers call',... but are they aware of our questions here? :) L&amp;R ps: i know that Blood does, of course

Sven Van Lathem

Jones, I just want to say how HUGE an improvement this newest Cup of Jones is in production values. It truly looks fantastic. I also appreciate that you took the time to get to get good framing and leveling, because I do have to bring it up every time the framing is off or the shot isn't level, which happens a little too often (particularly with Frame Trap). Of course, you all have a peculiar situation where you don't have the luxury of a stationary camera and desk setup, so I totally understand, but I always appreciate when the video starts up and everything looks well-framed. Just wanted to give you a shoutout for the excellent use of the new equipment on a show I wasn't totally expecting it on. Thanks for putting in the time and effort. Love and respect, Josh Read.

Josh Read

thanks so much for doing my thing!!

David Warren

Hey Jones, with all the new equipment how are you fair for space in the garage? Also Mary Poppins is just another James Bond situation.

Cash

My journey to EZA: I stumbled across a link to The Final Bosman in a local gaming Facebook group. I think it was a Nintendo one, but I can't recall which. I remember going into the video thinking "Ugh, this guy is gonna just say some terrible smug bullshit" but I laughed my ass off within the first minute and I was sold. Within days I had watched dozens of episodes. But also, I was vaguely aware of GameTrailers because I was at the time the Managing Editor of Nintendo World Report, the fine publication that Daniel Bloodworth came to GT from. NWR and GT had worked together a few times, with Jonathan Metts and Neal Ronaghan appearing on GT during an E3 livestream during (I think) the last E3 that GT covered. So when I put together that this Bosman show was the same channel that Bloodworth was at, even though I didn't really know much about Bloodworth, I really started paying attention. I subscribed to GT Time, and remembered really enjoying the first episode of that which released after I subscribed. That would actually be the last episode of GT Time. I stumbled across GameTrailers literally days before Defy would shut the doors, and I was crushed. Then I became an EZA Day 1 patron, and the rest is history. Cheers.

Andy Goergen

E3 hype question: Hi Brandon, I feel like you enjoy a good story shooter from time to time, so I wonder what your thoughts on “Witchfire” are? It was definitely one of my favourite trailers last year, especially with the misleading genre opening that had the line: “by the creators of The Vanishing of Ethan Carter”. I feel the fantasy-shooter aspect is quite unique - is there a spot for this game on the EZA hype train? PS: If remember correctly you had some love for “Bulletstorm” by the same studio (The Astronauts).

wouldyoukindly

Hey Brandon, What camera was used to film the original Allies assemble and patreon announcement videos on the Easy Allies youtube channel? What happened to it? In my opinion, those two videos contain the most professional, natural, and correct looking footage you guys have ever produced. If you guys could recreate that look with the FS5 and all of the micro studio cameras I think you would be golden. By the way, Cup of Jones looked pretty good for your first time using the new set up. Kudos. You don't have to read this part for Cup Of Jones. FS5 tips - Since you guys don't color grade your videos in post (I'm assuming) I recommend you use picture profile 6 (PP6) in the FS5 menu and use the in-camera color and level settings to adjust everything. The menu is extensive enough to get the job done. Using any of the cinegammas should give you a good starting point for your footage. Cinegamma 2 is limited to 100IRE (suitable for broadcast) and cinegamma 4 which isn't limited to 100IRE raises the shadows for better lowlight capture. Cinegamma 1 &amp; 3 are variations of cinegamma 4. One recommendation I can give is to settle on a single resolution and framerate for everything while using the XAVC codec. I personally recommend shooting in 1080/30 at 50mbps. Shooting at 1080 in the XAVC codec gives you proper 10bit 4:2:2 and the best balance between image quality and file size. 4K for streaming is not really a practical option at this time, 1080/60 is great, but the bitrate needed for it to work properly and get any real benefit in the image quality is not worth the bandwith needed to do so. When dropping down to 720/60 you lose a lot of the information the sensor is able to capture but the higher framerate for faster-paced games while streaming might look better to your audience. Just my recommendations. I hope this information can be of some use to you guys. If Ian is interested in learning more about how to use the FS5 then here is a link to a video that explains quite a bit, if he hasn't already seen it of course. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z7hV4Tho_o" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Z7hV4Tho_o</a>

MLegend (SmoothGradient)

hi jones, with the eza taking place on your garage has your electical and bandwith consumption skyrocketed? did you switch to a business offer? just curious

I don't know how all the coverage/shows are going to look during E3, but the new gear/setup looks really good. Finally we get to see the real colours of the garage and everybody's skin colour. :-) Only the tuesday livestream looked kind of grainy/noisy to me. Maybe the camera/Xsplit or something else is making a weird compression of the video. You'll probably figure it out! PS Note to myself, write fewer /s in a comment.

Backlog Crusader

Speaking of clips from E3, how will I avoid spoilers and go right to the reactions videos if I have to watch them after the fact? Can you send out links from Patreon to the reactions videos somehow so I don't have to go to youtube? (I always get spoiled for trailers released during the press conferences when going to Youtube or searching videos during E3).

Benny Samuelsson

Hey Jones I don’t know anything about Don, but for some reason he’s won the hearts of all the allies. Can you give us some Don HYPE?

Kola Aina

Hey, Jones. What's one of your favorite games of all time that you've never played? The thought came across me while Kyle was doing his stream of "For The Frog The Bell Tolls". I fell in love with the game and yet I'll probably never play it in my life. Especially for someone in the strange circumstance of growing up in the era of Let's Plays and Twitch streams, if there was a game I couldn't play due to money restrictions or not having the right platform, I could easily sit down and watch it. Is there any scenario like that for you? Are there any games you've seen streams of or watched one of your friends play over the years that you've been enamored by despite having limited experience playing it?

Yes please

Olf Himself

How about streaming full playthrough of Detroit: Become Human during Easy Living? You can assign three allies to each character or pass the controller after each chapter. I believe this can be a fun stream similar to Until Dawn's stream back at GT, which (I think) many of us really loved.

Alexander Zyryanov

Another way to see this is you get Ian on every podcast now =)

I already miss the good old day's when the shows were printed on paper. Speaking of the "good old days", what is the oldest video game you've played? It's probably not your first game, and Pong is not an answer :3 Many classic games still hold up in their original formats, though many of us do not play what is not on our latest consoles. The Allies will often refer back to the SNES or Playstation, but is there a single game or series from before those generations that you would think about revisiting, or would even like to see remade, in this unbelievable 2018 landscape?

Mac

Hi Jones, I just wanted to chime in on your Emily Blunt / Mary Poppins Returns rant with some info you must have locked away in your brain to never return, lol. You say you can't remember this happening before, but what about Superman Returns with Brandon Routh? It was my understanding that the movie just basically re-cast everyone and pretended that nothing ever happened to the original actors. What say you, Jones? -Alex C.

Alex Castellanos

When Kyle is finally caught up on Box Peek, that's when the gunpla streams will return.

Alex Castellanos

I like that idea of including the additional info with reviews (Time played, previous experience with the series, etc). Just sayin'.. putting it in the YT description would be good enough

Hey Brandon, Have you seen Solo yet? If so, what did you think of it? I won't say anything spoiler-y here, but as someone who did not like The Last Jedi, I thought the movie was great. The movie had lots of interesting references to the rest of the Star Wars universe and did some great world building. I feel like there's a lot to discuss about ways it ties into the OT. Maybe you guys could do a Spoiler Mode on it?

Matt Kuryloski

Hello Jones! I really liked the most recent podcast with all the new equipment. It’s a huge improvement! My only concern is... with this new setup, will Ian never have a seat at the desk again since he’s on the switcher? It’s great that he will be there for every episode, and I know he can still chime in during discussions, but I’d hate for him to forever be placed in the background and reduced to just chiming in occasionally. Or am I mistaken and do you plan on having that position be an equal part of the discussions?

Corey Swafford

It's the summer of football! ...or soccer, for some. :) Any interest in the World Cup? It starts on the June 14th, a month full of games. I'd like to use this platform and encourage people to go to the Easy Allies Forums. I made a thread for the World Cup there, and there are instructions on how to join an EZA league. You see, FIFA has this Bracket Challenge on their site where people can make their predictions on how they think the tournament will go. I made a league for us EZA fans, and there's a code and instructions in the thread how to participate. It adds a little competition to the mix and is just generally good fun. Take a look maybe, and enjoy the games regardless!

Ville Ranto

I've been watching for a little over a year now and I just realized that I have no recollection of where I first came across Easy Allies. My guess is the podcast somehow, something on YouTube, or E3 reactions. I do remember that I had seen the Shenmue 3/FF7 reaction before but I didn't make the connection of Huber, Ian, Brad, and Kyle back to that right away. YouTube is powerful for discovery

VGJunky

Question: Have you guys been scoping out studios around town yet, and if so, do you have some lined up? Finally, what would the wait time be to actually get in their?

Tyler Travis

Hey Mr. Jones! Concerning the Monthly Q&amp;A, up until you went live I was able to access the most recent one because of the video being accidentally listed public and while I appreciate being able to watch it as I always enjoy them, it did get me wondering: What’s the issue in having the video being watched live for all? Don’t get me wrong: I completely understand the necessity of having only questions taken by Patrons at that tier, it just has always felt like a disconnect to me to be able to watch it after the fact. If the video was forever locked behind the $20 tier instead of being EVER publicly viewed, I can understand that because it provides more value to the tier beyond just submitting a question akin to Love &amp; Respect (with obvious differences of course). On the flip side, if EZA is willing to let people watch the video after a set period, why not open it up live for everyone to see it as it’s being recorded? Once it’s over, people who missed it could watch it if they couldn’t catch it live like how the video is normally made available, just a little bit sooner. Just something I’m curious about. Either way, thanks for taking my question and have a great day! Cheers! P.S. I love the increase in frames per second. I was surprised how much of a difference it is!

Brandon K Gann

Here is my journey: After taking ten years off gaming during college/career stuff: Dtoid -&gt; Final Bosman -&gt; Gametrailers -&gt; Crying -&gt; EZA

Tyler Travis

You seem kinda tired, I would be fine if you skip some cup of jones to pick up some sleep

Im kinda missing the old camera angle to be honest. The microphone-jazz music combination really worked for me.

Hey! by any chance are we going to see the gunpla streams return?

Daniel M

Right here in the Patreon comments. Just ask a question and it will added for the next Cup of Jones.

Professor Metal Gear

Where do we submit questions for Cup of Jones? :)

MarziiBarks

Hi Brandon, Gengar's placement makes me happy. Thanks,

VGJunky

WOAH NEW LOOK WOOH. GOOD MORNINGN.

ZatVunDoot

Is there one particular thing you do every year in preparation for E3, something to relax you or get you mentally ready days before the event? If not, do you have something you do once E3 is over, a palette cleanser of sorts after the madness is over?

Professor Metal Gear