Gadgetory

welcome to the 359 I'm Roger Chang I'm Ben Fox ribbon I'm Afra dang 18 t scored a huge victory yesterday when a judge ruled that it was able to it's able to complete its acquisition of Time Warner for eighty five point four billion dollars this was a complete victory for 18 T over the Justice Department which had sued to block this deal the judge basically criticized the Justice Department for such bringing such a weak case and suggested to them that if they want to you know stay this decision that the judge wouldn't even do it so no concessions basically a complete victory 18 t is free to basically remake how the media world's gonna look like and it's gonna look a lot more like Comcast right Comcast did this with NBC Universal many years ago and now AT&T is gonna look a lot more like that I would probably say that's exactly right Comcast both as a service provider as well as runs NBC Universal so both content and an internet provider 18 t is now gonna be very similar the ironic thing is if the Justice Department had just asked for certain concessions like maybe there was they probably would've gotten them they got them from Comcast combo has had to agree to certain net neutrality rules for several years after the demerger 18 t is basically getting this deal with no concessions I feel like didn't they ask for concessions and AT&T said no sue us so that's what happened basically the Justice Department went overboard they said well well we'll consider this deal if you sell off big parts of Time world like CNN like the matters that was core to ATT strategy Comcast didn't have those kinds of concessions they basically I just had to agree to do certain things they did have to sell a lot of assets oh yeah so they're basically 18 t with the complete win so AT&T streaming service vs. Netflix coming out well there is a DirecTV now streaming service that they're already pushing very hard now they've got the added ammunition of Time Warner's content on top of that mmm so this isn't just about 18 T Time Warner this is potentially gonna kick off a number of deals Comcast has already said that they're prepared to make a bid for Fox already has a deal of Fox that if you're a big comic book fan following all this stuff Disney owns the Avengers Fox has rights to x-men the idea was if those two merged would be able to get some sort of super Marvel crossover there above Comcast whoops in buys Fox instead we're not gonna see that so how does this AT&T merger kind of open the door for that though basically Comcast had said a few weeks back we're prepared to make a bid for Fox we're just waiting to see what happens with the AT&T time order decision and the fact the decision went so overwhelmingly positive for 18t basically opens the door for a bunch of companies to look at other companies for acquisitions right and that includes our parent company CBS Viacom discovery Lionsgate and CMC there are a lot of smaller players out there that need to bulk up to a certain extent to go up against Netflix Facebook Google I mean those companies are gigantic and little ocbs we'll see what happens to our guys all right lastly III still going on Nintendo came big yesterday with several announcements but we wanted to talk about Super Smash Brothers ultimate Alfred your huge fan tell me why we should be excited so this is going to be the largest Super Smash Brothers ever it's got every single character coming back about 65 Wow yeah 65 and that's including two new ones they have Ridley and from the Metroid series he's the big dragon that you saw and then inkling from the new splatoon series but they've also been adding a lot of new features that make it a lot more competitive now that was a big criticism that they've had I can talk about this all day but I think we've run out of time I mean bottom line like why are you so excited what are you most looking forward to in this game it looks like it's actually competitive again like there was a lot of criticism with like the old ones where like they would add in these new different features that like kind of made it like not fun to play let seems like the opposite of what you should be doing yes all right four more of these sort of check us out and seen it I'm Roger Chang I'm Ben Fox Ruben I'm Afra ding thanks listening I had a quick question so with shielding are we back I don't know Brian is there bad we're back never left so what's it like I I read something with perfect shielding or something can you explain the tweets that he sent out I don't know I just read I read it something like omega-level thing okay explain which I'll explain I'll do it in the order that they came in so perfect shielding this is a concept that like you've seen in other games like Street Fighter and like the Dragon Ball Z fighter that's come out to where like you can block an attack but if you time it perfectly then you have a better window of opportunity to counter-attack they didn't really have that and like the old super smash brothers they had it in melee which was the one for the Gamecube where if you've timed the block perfectly it like reflected an attack and you had like a small a small window like there were a lot of mechanics in this one that like were and like the old competitive games but to see Nintendo like directly acknowledge that and bring that into the game that's like pretty important just because like for a while they've kind of been shunning like the competitive community yeah because it's more so like oh we're like we're making like party games these are like for you to have fun it'd be like imagine if somebody played like Wii Sports competitively mmm like I'm sure that is a thing somewhere but like for Nintendo to acknowledge that like if they hosted their own like Wii Sports tournament or something like that that that would be like huge Nintendo also introduced a GameCube controller right yeah so that's the other thing too so most of the competitive scene has always been playing using GameCube controllers so they didn't know if it would be coming back for this one for ultimate because the whole idea like the way that the joy Kahn's work and all this stuff I mean they introduced an adapter for the Wii U version of it but they didn't know if they thought like that might have been the last one so they're really like trying to appeal to like the competitive scene with this one just based on the people that they've invited all the and his Super Smash Brothers played competitively now yes okay yeah I'm really kind of third at me up there hoping that this is you have the theme our key competitive game yeah and then for like the Omega level stuff that I was talking about so when you're playing Super Smash rather you can pick all these different kinds of stages yep but the problem was in the originator of melee one was that like you could only even though there's like 25 something stages you could only really pick like four or five of them because a lot of the stages have all these like stage hazards like a racecar will come in and like hit you or something like that because it's supposed to be a fun party yet right right so Omega level was something they introduced in the Wii U version where it's just a flat playing field it's a completely flat and like that's kind of what final destination was in the GameCube version but like people only played on that it's like really boring if you just play the same stage over and over again so they did a mega level stuff for the Wii U version where every stage can you can turn it off so there's no stage hazards or anything like that but then that started being boring too in the sense that like well we're only playing on a flat level that's why the battlefield stuff that's new in this one so now there's Omega levels and battlefield levels battle feels the same thing but it's just there's a flat platform and then like three different platforms and like a triangle shape that you can like jumper okay sounds pretty awesome play a topic that's near and dear to your heart I haven't played smash since 64 but i used constantly ryan do you have any questions no i just wanted to announce that welcome everybody to the brand new podcast seen it as launching called smash net hosted by operating every single day seven hours long he's about that he would do it to see Alfred so into something it's freaking me out a little bit he's freaking him out a little bit yeah the Grinch's heart grew three times that day like it looks like he's gonna be a good game I haven't gotten my hands on it yet but those are some rare enthusiastic tweets from yesterday I know yeah it looks like an awesome game let's go ahead and farm it out to the chat what were your favorite takeaways from e3 I know several people are talking about Forza and then how pathetic was kind of met until Todd Howard people like Todd Howard I don't know who that is sorry everybody and who's your favorite player and smash and let's start with Alfred on that one I play Pikachu a lot like consistently in every game these Pikachu's is like a fun character he's fast and like yeah I like Pikachu I so I used to play the link a lot but that was like the n64 version those like the last version of smash that I had played Mario sorry you're gonna make fun of my are you yeah whatever I switched to me I switched to Falco for a bit in melee which is star Fox's yeah yeah co-pilot knife it was annoying wingman is the bird easily the arrogant man I have played a lot with Captain Falcon to which like you know if you can land the Falcon punch it's the most yes okay it's literally like f0 and then that series died out yeah it was like Oh cuz Captain Falcon wasn't even in the game right wasn't it was was first from the game guys a racer it was a racer he never fought was the thing it's weird because like there are so many characters now that are much more known for being in smash than were ever for the original game which is like like yeah G characters there that made it in like Fire Emblem Karen yeah I don't know that was me yeah I liked Marth yeah that's actually a really big deal so with Fire Emblem before it was even in the US but like Fire Emblem like March or get introduced yeah and melee yeah and then that actually helped like Fire Emblem sales like skyrocket and like the question like that's like why the series is so successful now Wow don't you think it's weird that they have the Mii characters to like do they do anything interesting yeah I mean you can like play with them and stuff like they have their own like certain set of moves and then you just like put your own face on it or whoever you want it to be oh so you play as yourself or whatever me that you make some people like if they don't have the character if the character that they wanted is not in the game like there's they'll make it yeah there's many costumes that you can do yeah they all fight the same way so like there's like some that you're gonna get like a waluigi costume for it because he's not in the game there's one we're missing all right do the questions yeah I'm from Mike Shaw I have Direct TV now got in on their introductory offer so I'm grandfathered in at $35 a month for over 100 channels an 18 t on grandfather me now that the so this deal is not gonna affect that I think that that's ultimately an 18 t policy I imagine if you dig through the fine print you'll see that they do reserve the right to change things up they always have that for legal reasons but there I mean they generally have been aggressive with pushing DirecTV now I imagine they'd want to keep you on as a customer and so I wouldn't be too concerned about any real radical shifts at least for the foreseeable future I to add into that and maybe this sounds too optimistic but do you think the DirecTV now is gonna get more channels for somebody like Mike because Time Warner is gonna get added in you know I'm still struggling to figure out what the immediate impact of this is I mean they've already got an HBO bundle he's signed for the elimin to plan you get HBO for free now and so they've kind of had a cosy a relationship with Time Warner already for instance they hold their their annual entertainment conference at the Warner Brothers Studio and so I don't really know if this is gonna lead to any more channels because a lot of the Time Warner stuff was already brought in so if you're a druggy V now customer you get most of that stuff it's really whether or not DirecTV now can sign deals with some of the other studios that are part of its network hmm from Mike Brown what does this mean for Game of Thrones and possible prequels ah well the game of thrones will still continue to be on HBO you'll be able to watch it 18 t will own these oldest content but I don't think they're gonna do anything radical to shift things Game of Thrones is a huge franchise those prequels are probably gonna be blockbusters no matter what and I can't imagine 18t would do anything to mess that up they call in the dragons using 18 like the service dies out like oh wait I've got a sprint they replace the Iron Throne with all like just gonna it's like a cell tower from Tyler Nichols do you think the Disney Fox deal will really go through I really want to see an MCU Fantastic Four I think we all do Tyler absolutely I'm a big fan of well I'm not a huge fan of Fantastic Four but I'd love to see them done justice in film which hasn't really happened yet but it's unclear if Comcast is coming in and they're basically coming in with a promise of a much larger bid than what Disney put in so if Comcast buys Fox then basically that crossover is done and I know there's a there's a lot of excitement over Avengers and x-men getting together but that's do you personally think and this is a lot of speculation on on this part obviously but Josh boy does asks would Disney or Comcast be the more likely candidate and I know you just spelled out how Comcast put the larger bid in but is it really down to dollars and cents is there other things like the audience reach that they can use to incentivize this deal who do you think really got the upper hand in its it's hard to say because Comcast hasn't officially rolled on offer yet it's believed to be richer than the one that Disney wants to offer I think it'll come down to which deal has a better chance of getting approval from regulators and that's not it's not about customer reach it's ultimately like who can get the deal done and I've heard arguments on both sides were both Comcast and Disney but it's at this point a little too early to speculate all right sir enjoy thrown shade as per usual we all know that the MCU is miles ahead kind of a checkmate against the DCE you can AT&T actually bring something worthwhile and comcast cellphones this is all just be rocking iPhone cyborg is just a giant phone 80 is not a Content company yeah that's so why would they do any differently that no concern I mean this company will be run by an 18-2 executive John stanky exactly oh yeah the stank I don't think been very mature guys he's gonna buy us now he's a telecom guy he's a network guy but he will be running the and he's been running ATT entertainment as is now but he'll be taking over for a Jeff because the the time war CEO what happens for that guy he basically runs off and buys an island right with all the money he has well done so I think he'll stay on for a little while from in an advisory position but then he's off with his his parachute he's going parachute but it's it's unclear I got it we don't know what expertise 18t will bring to to Time Warner in terms of especially from a Content perspective because these are these are telecom executives they're not entertainment executives mm-hmm I mean that's kind of like with Comcast and NBC though right like they didn't they for them it was more so like Oh check it out like you can now like watch the Olympics on like your podcast app something like that so isn't it more of like a reach definitely more of a reach more integration that content into its various services and yeah if you look at how Comcast has been run like they they've generally done pretty well I think that run fairly independently and like Universal has been a pretty successful studio since Comcast took over thanks in part to Fast and Furious the franchise right and HBO is like the Golden Goose in this whole situation yeah so yeah the expectation that AT&T would try to like mess with that too much to me seems really unlikely and that's funny I'm keep doing unless they're the ones who like push the pedal on more Game of Thrones prequels like let's just greenlight basically the entire it network if it has Thrones prequels I don't know it could happen yeah at this point it's really early to say what they'll do or if they'll do anything so one one element that we haven't thrown out there yet is president Trump so do you think that because President Trump had argued about this deal publicly and has complained so consistently about CNN right that that had any indication about what the judges position was because of like if the Justice Department decides to appeal could could it be viewed as political or what have you there was definitely a lot of speculation about what they're not this was politically motivated ultimately I think the judge sort of I think he he didn't take those arguments at all he didn't he didn't allow for any of the Trump stuff to be admitted in the course so I think he made his ruling solely based on the merits of that deal and yeah because I don't think anyone will 18 t might have been and might have benefit from that but the Justice Department in Trump obviously we're not benefited from the Trump factor being part of that case because that wouldn't really hurt them but as far as we can tell politics didn't play a role in the ruling gotcha here's one more good thought to consider we automatically kind of go to the whole Justice League and comic book franchise assets because nerds but there are lots of pieces to these puzzles to these mega corporations broadcast networks serene joy asks do you think Fox's broadcast rights to the FIFA World Cup will be a pivotal aspect of the bids considering that US Canada Mexico won the 2026 World Cup host ooh that's a really good question I imagine that yeah that that'll play a big role those are those are valuable rights let's see the International actually makes it to the World Cup because they're not i but i imagine yes that's that's a big fat big factor in the calculation for for both companies anything else we can think of that might also be mega contender like I'm kind of wondering that if there did the bid swooped in and just nicks the DCE you as in exactly done particularly well like well we just see the Justice League go away well I don't think they bought I don't think they go see you know I mean it's it's part of the package I mean if if I were John stanky for a day I would the first thing I would do would go anything all right let's reboot the DC you know we need to start all over it's a complete mess but only Wonder Woman stay yes you're right what are you six around you know rehearsed her film didn't really I feel like it didn't really hide that much into the rest of the like you could probably act was a good reason yeah so yeah reboot everything but one Roland because one of the woman's pretty good I mean that's what DC does is just kind of reboot stuff over and over again that's that's the comic-book industry right true but DC are kind of a granddaddy like look we complain about how the DC movies learn as enjoyable or successful as the Marvel ones but don't they make a ton of money yes well so the Justice Justice League film while it did make a lot of money from an absolute perspective it did it done progressively worse mmm the Justice League I think did worse than Suicide Squad did worse than Wonder Woman but you know like though and that was expected to be like they're there big fella meaningful film with Superman and Batman like two of the most recognizable characters in all pop culture and it's somehow does you're forgetting Superman do like really well they're forgetting the reviews are negative and it didn't it didn't generate interest for next films like as evidenced by the Justice League mmm a reboot a teen teen reboot the Justice League and all DC you heard it for Wonder Woman thank you you heard it here first all right I think that's about it I'm gonna get a call from you teen teens can aspire so hard we are at a time thanks everybody and thanks for being patient with us during the rocky turmoil scheduling here but we're back we're good we'll be Alec form Prague form Hogg form form but yeah thanks everyone we're back tomorrow and somebody somebody take us out here do it oh yes you can do it fine do it I don't even know what camera to look at don't do it while staring right at you okay the 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