Mindless Short Tempers

[00:00:10] That was a terrible clap, especially for you. I was like if you were... Never mind. If I what? That clap? Okay. Why are you insulted already? Because I know you. It's nothing to do with you. Okay, but you're staring at me when you say it. You're sitting across from me. Oh, you're right.

[00:00:41] So the other day... Where the fuck do you want me to look? We're sitting across from each other. Yeah, so the other day... Oh, man. I was going to say that clap was like the equivalent of like an old man trying to fart. Can't say I've ever thought about that. Just, you know what I mean? Just dust. Do you ever just look up like weird news? Weird news? Yeah.

[00:01:12] Nope. Well, welcome back to episode 167 of Mindless Prattle. That's Jordon. I'm Ripley. We're going to talk to you about weird news. Yeah, are you going to say it? Say what? It's in the episode number. Six, seven. Okay. What? Was that not fun enough for you? That was exactly the right amount of fun.

[00:01:40] But I saw this article and let's see. The University of Calgary in Alberta, they broke a record. Can you imagine what record they might have broken? They broke a record. That's all you're going to give me? That's all I'm giving you. Not even a hint or nothing. You're not going to guess. I don't know why I'm asking. Yeah.

[00:02:09] This person broke a record. Okay. The most amount of snot covered ants that have ever been discovered. The University broke the world record for the most amount of people in dinosaur costumes in one area. It wasn't hard to beat. It was 682. So I think if you're listening and you go to a university, you could break this record. What does in one area mean? I feel like that's very subjective.

[00:02:34] A lot of world records are very subjective, actually, because of little things like that. I think I told you about this one the other day. This welfare check was called on this 91-year-old because they were worried she was dead. And they found this grandma gaming. Oh, yeah. She was 91 years old. And she was so busy trying to beat this level in one of those bubble popping games that she

[00:03:04] just didn't tell anybody she was still there. I'm just looking at weird news right now. I don't know why. It's fun. I saw... We talked about a little bit of games and anime and stuff last week, but I played the demo for a game that just came out called Pragmata? Pragmata? I don't know. I think it's Pragmata, yeah. Okay.

[00:03:34] Good for you. Just take your pronunciations wherever you want them. Anyway, it's a game where you play as a worker on a lunar colony. And I guess there was a moonquake. And why are you smiling at that word? I like it. Moonquake.

[00:04:00] And somehow it disrupts the AI that's controlling the base. And it basically just starts sending robots to kill you. So your goal is to take this child and reset it and then escape to Earth. But she's also a robot. So she's, I guess, good robot. I'm not really sure what the research they were doing was going towards.

[00:04:28] Because it was a colony for a corporation. It's not like a colony for expansion. So I don't know. But the combat was interesting. So you can, obviously, you know, you shoot at these robots and you do a little bit of damage. But you can use the girls' powers to basically hack into these robots.

[00:04:57] And they, like, open up their shielding so you can shoot them and do more damage. And doing the hacks, like, while you're in combat is a nice level of difficulty that's not, like, puzzle-like. But it's not, like, too difficult either. So it was fun to play. It's, I think it's $60 right now for the base game. Honestly, for a brand new game, that's a good price. It's got really good reviews. I mean, $60 is, like, the most they'll pay for any game. Yeah, so many games now are, like, $80, $90.

[00:05:25] Like, there were a few games I was looking at on Steam sale. And then they'd be on sale for $60. And I'm like, how is this 40% off? Like, what do you mean you're charging almost, like, $115 for something? Like, I don't, I don't, that. And it's not like they're paying game developers and testers more with that money. They're just greedy. It's just more profit for whoever's up top. Viva la revolution!

[00:05:55] Do you see the interview with the guy who burned down that warehouse? No, I didn't. Not interview, but I guess, like, questioning of him would be more accurate. Interrogation, I guess. Since he's arrested, allegedly burning down the warehouse. My apologies. That is true. Even though... Innocent until proven guilty. Yeah, even though he filmed himself doing it. But he basically was like, all you had to do was pay us enough to live.

[00:06:23] And yet we're out here, like, protecting these people that don't deserve it. Oh, no, he said that in the video, too. Like, as he was burning everything down, he was like, all you had to do was pay us enough to live. Yeah, he restated that, but then he added on to it. And the additions of what he said were interesting. And it was basically just like, you're out here protecting people who are, like, hurting us and hurting children. Meanwhile, we're just dying over here for your profit. I don't care. And people are like, this guy is so good. And then I just think it's so crazy because they're like, oh, we lost as much in profit. No, you didn't.

[00:06:52] You never had that profit to begin with. You could have had that profit in the future, but you're basically counting your chickens before they're hatched is what most of these companies are doing these days. That's any day. Any company in the history of ever will count their stock as their potential profit. So that's, I don't know where your stance is on that. With some stuff, they'll be like, oh, millennials are killing this industry because they're not spending money. Like, we're not making this money because millennials.

[00:07:21] Like, yeah, you shouldn't have banked on having that money when that was just a goal, you know? Those are two very different points that you're making. What do you mean? I mean, you're like the projections of what they were projecting to sell is what they base on, like their production rates and quantity of stock on. Right.

[00:07:43] So the potential profit is whatever it is, and that's what they use to make that stock. And whatever generation or whoever is buying up to, right, that's how much stock is used. So yes, by not buying something or buying less of something, the potential profit is down. But most of the stock is still just sitting there. So it's not hurting the industry.

[00:08:12] They just have more stock sitting there instead of moving. So the only downside for the companies is now they have to slow down production and lay people off because they're not making as much money. Like, that's what they're going off of, right? But at the same time, it's because they projected too much over what people can afford.

[00:08:36] Like, if you are not spending all your money on whatever product because you can't afford it, their projections don't include that. Like, they, for some reason, just assume people will keep buying the product even though they can't afford to live. And that's where the disconnect is. Well, I also think a big part of the problem is it used to be like consumers decide the market, right? Like, we, our choices, the things that we do, that's what decides what the company does.

[00:09:03] They're trying to do it the other way where they're like, no, you have to buy this because we produce it. Like, it's not, they're not doing things because people want them anymore. Yeah, it's called a monopoly, like, behavior. That's what a lot of companies, there's like, what, eight companies that run the world? Like, it's... People are angry. The illusion of choice. It's like, once people start to get hungry, that's when the shit gets real. Like, that's what happened in France.

[00:09:28] I re-watched, I re-read The Hunger Games because of it because watching that guy burn down that, it really brought to mind the fire is catching and if we burn, you burn with us. Like, you can't destroy your consumer base and then be surprised when they destroy you back, you know? There's more of us. That's all I know. It's like the Ants movie. Like... What's that quote? Let me see. What's that quote? We are ants. No.

[00:09:58] We march together. Ants. I don't know what quote you're going for here. Hopper said, like, one of the things he says, you let one ant stand up to us, then they all might stand up. Those pewdy little ants outnumber us 100 to 1. Oh, yeah. I mean, it's any society where you have a ruling class. It's an elite class or whatever you want to call it. Yeah. Just... Like, you have to find some balance between all the people and the 10 people in charge.

[00:10:27] And right now, that gap is getting bigger. Well, and you know, one thing I've told to you before is, like, they keep doing all these things, making people unable to afford stuff, and then switching jobs to AI and things like that so people can't even make money to afford stuff. Like, what are they going to do when nobody can afford to buy anything? Like, all the money in the world isn't going to do you any good if the people under you aren't willing to support you anymore. So, just food for thought.

[00:10:53] There's always people that are willing to support, like, some upper fucking echelon because they have a dream of one day I'll be there, too. And you're like, you won't. I don't know. Maybe I just read too much dystopian novels when I was a kid. Or, I don't know. Maybe I have empathy for other human beings. Thanks, but... It's like in New York, the mayor announced he was going to tax, like, millionaires or billionaires or something for, like, empty properties or something like that. Anything over $5 million, I think they said? Yeah, something like that.

[00:11:22] But then, like, people online were getting upset. And then I just, like, the community notes on it, like, bro, you make, like, $60,000 a year. This has nothing to do with you. It doesn't apply to you. It doesn't impact your life at all except for now your city has more money to spend on things like park cleanup. And, like, social services for things that you were going to use. Well, okay, the people who were getting angry about it weren't even New York citizens. That's it. Like, I think Mayor Momdani has done a really great job. Like, he's done everything he said he's going to do. I saw... Well, not everything.

[00:11:52] He missed some promises. There was a big thing. They're like, oh, here's all the promises he missed. And they're like, okay. Like, here's all the ones he kept, though. But I saw an interview. It was him and President Obama in a classroom. And the kid that they were... One of the kids that was there was like, I know your name. And told him his last name, right? And Obama said, do you know his first name? He goes, yeah, Mayor. Yeah, like, I just... Your first name's Mayor. What are you, dumb?

[00:12:21] I love that he does what he says he's going to do. He released his tax return documents and stuff. And I think it said he made like 100-something K max. And everybody was like, bro, that's poverty level in New York. And then he's not going to the Met Gala because he said he has a job to do. Which, historically, they said one of the biggest perks of being a New York City mayor is getting to the Met Gala for free. But he's like, nope, I got a job. I've never seen the appeal of the Met Gala. Like, what do they do there that's so... It just raises money for the museum.

[00:12:52] Like, that's it. It's just like cultural and artistic preservation. But it's mostly just another way for rich people to get a tax write-off. Like, this year, Amazon is hosting it. Like, ooh, you donated, so now you won't pay any taxes. I saw a list of corporations that didn't pay any income tax in 2025. And it was like, Disney, like, a bunch of very wealthy things. And then people are mad, too, because like, Disney, for example,

[00:13:22] fired a ton of people. And then... Wasn't that why you were saying that Avatar movie got leaked? Because the artists were upset about that? Avatar got leaked because it was supposed to have a theatrical live release. All these people worked really hard on it. The animation is so beautiful. But it was meant to go to theaters. Paramount decided to cancel that and make it only available on Paramount Plus for streaming.

[00:13:52] And somehow, it leaked to the whole internet. Honestly, it's a good decision from Paramount. From like most major studios, they don't make as much money going to theaters anymore. Just people just don't go to movies as much. That's... I think, though... It costs a lot more to get it into theaters than it would just to put it on a streaming service. Like, from their business perspective, it makes sense.

[00:14:17] From a consumer perspective of someone who is looking forward to seeing it in theaters, you're rightly upset. But it also doesn't make any monetary sense because several movies have proven in the past year that people just want original stories. They keep regurgitating the same storylines or remaking the same movies. But like Project Hail Mary has done so well, they have had to keep it in theaters for longer. And that's great for those movies. But you're comparing apples and oranges here. Avatar, this is what? The fourth movie in the series?

[00:14:47] The third one didn't do so great in theaters? Or the second one? Whatever it is? Right? They didn't release them in theaters, did they? What are you talking about? The Avatar movies? The third one? We went and saw them in theaters. Oh, you're talking about the blue people? Yeah. Yeah. What are you talking about? I was still talking about Avatar The Last Airbender. I'm not. I was like, they didn't release movies. What are you talking about?

[00:15:16] But they also, I feel like the Avatar films by James Cameron have dropped a lot of promises. They're focusing more on the visuals than making sure their movies are good. Like, story-wise, you know? Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Like, if they decide to put that Avatar, the blue people, on Paramount Plus or whatever instead of in theaters, it would make sense because their revenue from physical theater profits are down. And then, like, Iron Lung, for example, made, let me see.

[00:15:43] It made a crazy amount of money compared to, like, how much it took to do it. Because I think the problem is people are hungry for original stories. They don't want to waste their money to go see, like, a kind of shitty movie, especially with how expensive movies are these days. Like, I don't want to waste my time unless I'm really excited to see something or I just want to go to the movies with you. But, like, let's see. I wanted to see the profit because I think...

[00:16:13] Yeah, so it had a $3 million budget and it grossed over $63 million worldwide. So I think things like that just goes to show that if these companies actually wanted to make money, they need to start putting actual effort into their movies instead of just throwing some shit together and being like, why doesn't anybody want to watch it? I mean, that's with anything, though. I just think it's gotten much worse the past few years, you know? Like, I think it's just a reflection of everything that we've already talked about.

[00:16:43] Like, they don't understand that we don't need them. You know, we don't need to go to the movies. We don't need to buy extra shit. Like, we need basic things to survive. If we want to be entertained, why would we spend all this money knowing it's not going to be worth it in the end? Because you don't care enough about me as a consumer to respect me and my intelligence. You just assume I'm going to consume whatever slop you put out, you know? I mean, I've seen the younger generations like test scores.

[00:17:12] They're not headed in the wrong direction. I think that kids are hopeless in a lot of places. I don't know about kids. I don't know. I haven't seen like the test scores. I'm talking about like high school and like early adulthood. I still count high school as kids, though. As a... That's good. Don't date high schoolers. But... I wasn't planning on it. You never know with you. I'm married. Whoa.

[00:17:42] Whoa. Don't need your whole life story. Whoa. But I mean, it's just... It's the culture we're headed towards. It's more brain rot than anything like consumerism wise. I saw something really cool that aims at combating that, though. This guy invented an internet just for kids. So it's all self-contained. It still has games. You can look up research.

[00:18:11] Let me see. I would like to see the more... The details so I can kind of... The more details. Because I saw it on TikTok by the guy who invented it. But it's literally just a self-contained internet that you can only like play certain games. You can only do certain educational things. You can only message and talk to people that are your friends that have been approved by like your parents.

[00:18:41] But it just encourages more like play time and stuff rather than just consuming things like... The creepy videos on YouTube that should not be seen by children and are being seen by children. And I don't think parents understand that kids are very adept at technology. They're probably better than their parents in most cases. So parental controls. I hacked that shit when I was a kid. I guessed the password. I was like, whatever. You know? I guess the password...

[00:19:10] I feel like it's a lot more difficult nowadays than like picking four numbers. I was stupid though when I told my parents that I canceled parental controls. And they were like, oh, I will change the password immediately. I always told on myself as a kid. I never needed to get in trouble because I would just go and tell my parents what I did. And I'd be crying because I'd be so upset with myself.

[00:19:38] My mom said she was the same way growing up. Just telling on yourself, dude. Yeah. Like she said one time these girls in school like dared her to steal something. So she stole like a little makeup compact from a grocery store, I think she said. And she said she felt so bad. She started sobbing and went back in and apologized and gave it to them. And the clerk felt so bad about her sobbing and crying. He just gave it to her anyways.

[00:20:06] I started typing something and then my entire computer just like I saw the words typing after me. Like it just lagged. Oh, I hate that. It's very disconcerting. Sorry. My back and like neck all of a sudden feel like super tight. Like I need to stretch it out. Other than that, I've mostly just been playing Resident Evil.

[00:20:34] Like I'm on my second playthrough of nine, but I got to the spot that I really hated on the first playthrough. And I was like, I don't want to do this again. So I started replaying seven, which I told Jordan, I think that seven is one of the scariest Resident Evil games. I did tell him I thought it was the scariest, but then I was thinking about it and Resident Evil two and three scared me so bad. I haven't replayed them.

[00:21:01] Mostly because there's the nemesis and the tyrant in those and they just stalk you constantly. And it gets to a point where it's not even scary. It's just annoying. So I don't really like replaying those, but nine and seven are very replayable, but seven is fucking scary.

[00:21:23] I think even Jordan was sitting there watching me play and every so often I'm just like, ah, that game has some jump scares, but I feel like overall it's not that terrifying. It's like, it's just, it's just old people following you and they eat too many shrooms.

[00:21:47] Like, it's a, it's a big old person and he's strong, I guess. But other than him, like jumping out at you through walls, you're just like, ah, fuck this guy again. Like, all right. Yeah. Every day is always just like shuffling around in video games too. And I'm like, I'd be running. I, the stories in Resident Evil are fine. Like I'm fine with the stories. Like, got it. Good. Good.

[00:22:12] I just hate every video game that makes it so that your characters are wearing a 400 pound vest. I have gone days without sleep and worn 60 pound backpacks and I can shuffle faster than these motherfuckers in these games. And I'm like, why do you walk so slow? My walk speed is like their run speed. Like, it's so bad.

[00:22:41] And I'm like, are you like, you're in this scenario where like, isn't that game doesn't get his hand cut off? Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Like he gets his hand cut off, reconnects it. And then suddenly he walks slower. What? Move your legs. This, it's like the, the creators have never heard of adrenaline or basic fucking like shuffling. Like it's, I hate it so much with a passion.

[00:23:09] Some games would just be too easy if you could run faster, right? Not even run. Just walk a normal speed. But it's terrible. Plus in these games, you know, you've always got to find like, like in Resident Evil seven, you got to find three dog heads to unlock the door and get out front. Bro, I'm tiny. I would, there's a point where he's in the crawl space and he can see outside. Just bunch your way through the crawl space. It's not even wood. Like it's like, what, what is that stuff?

[00:23:36] The, you know, like some people's crawl space basement areas, especially in the South, they have those crisscross, like white. Maybe it's like plastic. Oh, the lattices. Yeah. Yeah. Like you could get out of that so easy. I'd be fucking gone. To be fair though, he is infected with mold. Like they did for Resident Evil seven specifically, right? They said his walking speed is intentionally slow to recreate a sense of helplessness and immersion. No, it pisses me off.

[00:24:04] I'm not immersed in the fact that I can't walk faster than a fucking shamble. Yeah. And it's not like your leg's injured. It's not like you got a limp. It's just like, oh, you're tired. So what? Yeah. Like if your life is in danger, there's not a chance you'd be walking that slow ever. Like it's crazy. I hate it. I know. I do. I think it's interesting. Resident Evil nine, the way that they handle it too.

[00:24:30] If you're in first person, you go faster than if you're in third person. In third person, if you switch Grace's POV to third person, it makes you go slower. I don't really know what the reasoning behind that is, but. Say that again? If you're in third person? Yeah. So Resident Evil nine, each of the campaigns has their own like default point of view. So Grace is in first person because they said that makes it scarier, you know? Yeah.

[00:24:58] But if you swap it to third person, they make her like run slower. That makes sense. How? Because you can see more. Like if you're swapping to third person so that you can see around corners or like see thing. Like if you can see around a corner in third person and it triggers like somebody chasing you, you have a slight advantage over first person that have to walk around the corner.

[00:25:25] So it probably just makes up for that difference by making you go a little slower because you can see further. I do wish they would make their AI like better. Like the girls tracking movements in Resident Evil nine is not as annoying as other video games. Like, you know, she doesn't constantly stalk you. But I think ever since playing Alien Isolation, it came out in 2014. Right.

[00:25:52] And another game has not come anywhere close to what their AI can do. Like, I don't understand how other games haven't figured it out. But every single time I play Alien Isolation, I'm still just as terrified as the first time because it's different every single time. There's just a few scripted moments where like you're going to be stalked as a part of the gameplay. But other than that, it's pretty much dependent upon what you do.

[00:26:17] He adjusts and learns that you if you use too many noisemakers or like exploding things like the alien will adjust to your play style. If you hide a lot, he'll start searching lockers and things more. I don't know what they did in that game to make it so amazing or like what they did in this AI. But I've never played another scary game that has that level of like, oh, okay, this is scary. This is serious.

[00:26:45] I think it's just the detail that they put into the logic behind it as opposed to just creating something that follows set patterns and paths, which is what a lot of enemies and enemy types in games have to do, you know? Yeah. And I mean, it does make it easier because you're like, oh, I know this guy's going to come around this corner. But in Alien, I'm like, I got to get out of the locker. He's going to start looking for me. Yeah. I've played a few games like that. Not where they like learn and adapt. But if you... What game was I playing?

[00:27:15] I think it was Avatar, actually. Yeah? Yeah. For... I think it was the Frontiers of Pandora, that one. There's a few times where like I would die in a base and I would come back and the enemies would take different paths when I would start over. And I'm like, you weren't there last time? Or they would walk slightly different. Or I'm like, what happened? Like eventually they're on the same like loop. But when you reload in, they'll be at a different point in the loop. So you're like, oh, shit.

[00:27:45] I got to adjust. Oh, yeah. Alien does that too. Because one time I saved the game with the alien literally right behind me. And I didn't know. And I was like, God, my save is fucked. Like, I don't know what I'm going to do. I loaded back in. He was gone. Yeah. Yeah. I was like, thanks RNG. But yeah, I've just kind of been in a creepy mood lately. I'll probably play some more 7 later after we've cleaned and done what we need to do.

[00:28:14] Because I was annoyed yesterday and stopped playing. The boss battles is where it gets me. Because if I die once, I'm like, fuck, I'm done. I'm out. Like, I don't want to play anymore. Because I just hate having to start all the way over in the boss battles. You know? Just. Yep, I know you're going to pop out right there. I know you're going to say this. Like, me and my sister used to have a lot of fun in Resident Evil 5 when we'd play the boss battles and we'd die over and over and we'd get really mad and we'd just start mocking them.

[00:28:43] Like, copying their lines and being like, You have a very, like, different approach to video games. And I think it's interesting. What do you mean? Is you play video games, right? For the entertainment and the immersion aspect of it. But not necessarily the challenge part of it. Like, on that triangle, you lean heavily towards experience and immersion.

[00:29:13] And when there's like two, like slight challenge, you're like, well, I don't like this anymore. And you just stop. I'm like. I do come back to it. Something. Okay. I just need to be prepared. I don't like not knowing. Yeah. Dude, she looks up like how video games end so that she can play them to that end. Like, it's. I do the same thing with movies. Like, I don't understand why you don't play. Like, if that's your, your thing.

[00:29:40] I don't understand why you don't play every game just going into it on like story mode. You know what I mean? Like, I play for. Most games I don't need to. Most games I put on like normal for a balance between the two because I like a bit of challenge and the story. That's what I'm going for, right? But you just entirely story and immersion. Okay. No. So I do like the challenge, but I get angry real quick. Like, I am fast to get irritated.

[00:30:08] And so a lot of times, like, I have to take a break and then I'll come back to it and I'm like, okay. But I will say when I was in high school, like, I would do it over and over again and just get angrier and angrier. And then I broke a PlayStation controller by throwing it once. And I was like, girl, you are almost an adult. You cannot be throwing your fucking controllers. Like, also, I looked up how expensive they were and I was like, I don't have $80 for another PS4 controller. You know?

[00:30:36] So now if I get really upset, I just, I'm like, okay, I'm done. I'm going to take a break and I'll come back later when my brain is calmer. Because I know how I am. I've always been that way. Like, I've always been extremely competitive. And if I, but if I'm not good at things right off the bat, then it pisses me off. Like, blame my parents. Okay. Like, like, you know, some people are like, oh, keep trying. Like, you got to do things until you get it. And like, you'll get better. No.

[00:31:05] In my family, if you're not perfect immediately, it's wrong. All right. Well, take us out of here, you short-tempered fuck. Hi, this is Ripley. That is Jordan. And this has been an episode of Mindless Prattle. We hope you liked hearing all about our irritation and all the different awards and things. But we'll see you next time. Okay. That was the last episode. What? I just got confused with the last episode. And I messed up the ending.

[00:31:36] All right. Goodbye, everybody. Goodbye, everybody.