How 2XKO's Development Cycle Should Unfold

2XKO is nearing its launch in the Closed Beta phase where PC players would have to sign up while console players would have to wait a little while. I have thought to myself on how the game's development cycle should unfold, so let's jump right in.

Updates in the Pre-Launch Phase:

In Alpha Lab 2, 2XKO got a hotfix to fix a couple of bugs. And when Closed Beta comes, the game should have updates every two weeks, up until launch. That is the point of games in their pre-release stage of development. They do frequent updates until the point when they get ready for launch. I think this process should work in the pre-launch stage.

Open Beta Development Cycle:

Of course, Open Beta is an important milestone during game development that serves as a public test. For the Open Beta phase in 2XKO, I want the servers to stay online because the devs has stated that once Closed Beta starts, they are staying online outside of any necessary maintenance and I agree with this practice and it's by no means a bad idea because they are unlikely to follow the same cycle MultiVersus' had just by taking the Open Beta servers offline to put the game on hibernation in preparation for launch. It's better to leave the servers online while preparing 2XKO for launch so that the player base wouldn't be so lackluster and fell short of the average player base.

Bringing Open Beta to Console:

Since 2XKO's Closed Beta is limited to PC players, I believe that console versions should get access to Open Beta with the PC version so that console players can not just play the game, but shape it so that it can be healthy as it deserves to be for launch and produce the marketing hype. Closed Beta is known for inviting players that registered while Open Beta is known for making the game publicly available for everyone to play and test, even on consoles. Now, why I want Open Beta to include console versions is because Open Beta is a public test for everyone to participate freely. We don't know how long the Closed Beta in 2XKO would be, but we can find out how well the phase goes.

Champion Release Cycle:

In Alpha Lab 1, 2XKO started out with six Champions. It became a starting point for the game, especially when developers are doing some testing for bugs. Alpha Lab 2 saw the introduction of Jinx while the upcoming Closed Beta phase will see the introduction of Vi. Having eight Champs is a good deal on Closed Beta, especially when it marks the first step of rolling the game globally to everyone. During the course of Closed Beta and Open Beta, I want to see new Champions get released every month. At launch, I want to see two new Champion releases on each Season.

Battle Pass Release Cycle:

Alpha Lab 1 and 2 each got a Battle Pass and Closed Alpha will have a new Battle Pass. At launch, I like to see new Battle Passes get released on Act I on each Season.

2XKO Esports Circuit:

And finally, I like to talk about 2XKO esports. After the launch of Alpha Lab 1, a lot of people started online tournaments in 2XKO. That driven the devs to make an influx of bug fixes. Alpha Lab 2 didn't allow that because it was a weekend long playtest. Fortunately for Closed Beta, tournament hostings are welcome, but will only be on PC since Closed Beta will only be available for PC. What I want for the 2XKO esports circuit to have a duos format throughout. Can be a hybrid to have both online and offline events.

Now, if 2XKO is going have a development cycle, this is how I want to unfold, so, Riot, if you are reading this, I hope you get my idea. That or at least give us a roadmap of what to expect when Closed Beta begins.

Joe's Monologues - 7/26/25

Hello, everyone. Today's Joe's Monologues is potentially the last of the month and it's gonna have exciting things that I'm going to talk about, so without further ado, let's dive right in.

Update Regarding Our Trip:

First off, me and my family were supposed to visit Indiana, but apparently, we won't be able to visit there because of crisis reasons that associate with airports and airlines facing a crisis. To be honest, I am a little disappointed that I will not be going on a forest show where we drive through the road while watching trees through Portage. But I am fine with that because I know for a fact that we might go for the less innovative and cheap airline. Regardless, I did visit my old stomping grounds on November. I got to see bare trees and trees that have orange and yellow leaves and experience kids going to school for the first time since I moved to Arizona. However, the first time was better because it was on June and that's when the weather was nice and the forests made me think of Elora, especially when they have green leaves.

But it did fill out the Indiana-shaped sadness in my heart, though, especially when I loved being around those people there to bolster seeking my old friends and I'm going places I have been to. Big places I visited that have a lot of people were Franciscan Health, City Lanes and Blue Chip. Ones that were well-liked were City Lanes and Blue Chip with Franciscan Health trailing behind due to my mother getting sick. Let's not forget that Franciscan Health was formerly St. Anthony Memorial Hospital. Even though it was trailing behind, I got to visit there and it retains its charm. I just like being around those people, especially when I'm seeking my old friends back in the day. But the only conception is that the bowling alley is number one due to me and my family having nostalgic fun.

But that is not the only one that came to me. Remember what I said that my old stomping grounds in Indiana has the street that has its charm? Well, Franklin St. is not the only one because another street being Tilden Ave. has its charm because that's where you'll find the cemetery at and where my bus driver has taken me through when I was in high school.

I was able to conquer my fear of flying in a plane that I felt no tingle on my stomach when taking off and sat near the window to have a better view at the sights. I call it the Buena Vista Effect. It's when you sit near the window in a plane, you'll have a better view as Buena Vista is a Spanish term for good view. I don't know when I'm visiting my old stomping grounds, but it's only a matter of time.

32GB RAM Can't Be Beat:

It has been a week since I have upgraded my gaming computer to having 32GB RAM. So far, the performance has been greatly improved and I was able to play most of my games well. It is way better than having 8 GB RAM, which is the bare minimum for gaming. I am making 32GB RAM my new standard from here on out. For those of you asking if I could upgrade my gaming computer to have 64GB RAM or higher, it's not happening anytime soon. 32GB RAM is more than enough for future-proofing and higher resolution gaming and I currently have no plans to expand to 64GB RAM or higher due to being so expensive.

2XKO:

The devs have dropped an update regarding 2XKO. It comes in not one, but multiple announcements. First off, the game is entering Closed Beta on September 9. Closed Beta is the first phase of game development that marks the start of bringing it to everyone globally. But in order to participate in Closed Beta, new players that never participated in Alpha Lab 1 or 2 must register for a Riot account, and since Closed Beta marks the start of shipping 2XKO to everyone globally, new players that registered will get a guaranteed invite and wouldn't be left behind. When Closed Beta starts, invites will start rolling out and gradually to new players, the ones that has never participated in a single playtest and registered during the course of Closed Beta and the servers will remain online from here on out, which is by all means a good thing, especially when they aren't following MultiVersus' footsteps to let 2XKO fail and allow it to prematurely bite the dust.

But there is one catch. Because they intend to keep the game running and online outside of any necessary maintenance, the Closed Beta will be only for PC, so console players will have to wait a while longer, probably until either Open Beta or official launch. But cross-progression is coming that if you start on PC first, you can switch to console with progress you made on PC. Since the Closed Beta is only for PC, existing players that participated in any of the Alpha Lab playtests on PC are already in. Luckily for existing players that participated in any of the Alpha Lab playtests on console, they will automatically gain access through the Riot Client on PC, which is only downloadable by installing one of the games on the website, so technically, console players that participated in either playtest are already in and they can download it from the Riot Client.

There's even gameplay changes that they made based on player feedback from Alpha Lab 2. Those changes established faster gameplay to make timeouts any less frequent and involved UI changes, like the text of player names are now black, the text of the Champ names are in italic and the name of the fuse is now located above the health bar. We don't know how will the gameplay unfold during Closed Beta, but we can see it in action at EVO as they are setting up their booth there.

And to make things even spicier, 2XKO is teaming up with Chipotle to bring spicy goodies and giveaways. It all starts off at EVO 2025 where they will be setting up the demo on custom-designed 2XKO x Chipotle arcade cabinets. Chipotle is running daily and hourly brackets starting at 11:00 AM. There is spicy rewards up for grabs. With Chipotle being a launch partner, the Closed Beta launch is set to become even spicier.

Now let's talk about the next Champ coming to 2XKO. That is Vi, the Piltover Enforcer. Now, Vi is known for wielding Hextech gauntlets with the blue Cherry Bomb effect in them. She is a powerhouse in 2XKO and she's gonna be playable starting in Closed Beta and at the devs' booth at EVO 2025, which is around the corner. So why is it that Vi is coming to 2XKO and why I wanted her to be in the game? Well, there are three reasons on why Vi deserves to be in 2XKO.

The first reason is straight up Jinx's debut and Arcane's lore. In Arcane, Vi and Jinx are childhood sisters of Zaun and their parents were killed by Vander. At the beginning of the series, Powder came to be until in Episode 3 where she becomes Jinx, and Vi is still related to her. It's considered canon in Arcane.

Second reason, a perfect opportunity for those who didn't get invited to Alpha Lab 2 due to being a smaller playtest than Alpha Lab 1 is that they are likely to try both Jinx and Vi out on the same team when Closed Beta starts. I figured that having them on the same team would make it canon to Arcane since 2XKO will have Champions that were featured in Arcane also. Now, if I am correct, there were skins of them in Fortnite, but will not make a return sadly.

Third reason, after having four male Champs in the roster and Vi makes her debut as the fourth female Champ in 2XKO, it created an even gender composition on the roster created from having four male Champs and four female Champs to work with at the start of Closed Beta.

If I recall the last time when they revealed the sixth character, I expected the sixth Champion to be female Champion to even the gender composition, but it was revealed to be a male champion, which was Braum. When Jinx was revealed as the seventh Champ, I had a desire for the eighth Champ to be a female and it has been fulfilled as Vi made her way. To have a fourth female Champion in 2XKO when there are currently four male Champs is a wise decision. Which means it's likely that we can be able to experience an initial 2XKO Female Tag Team Match to feature Ahri, Illaoi, Jinx and Vi in Closed Beta and potentially at EVO. That will bank on the fact of girls and women needing the same level of attention as boys and men, especially inside the line of women's sports leagues.

I am using this splash art that contains the eight characters that will be played starting in Closed Beta as a thumbnail for my reaction video, but will have the text to distinguish things. If you're not familiar with this font, it is used in the following games in the original trilogy of the Sly Cooper franchise and Thieves in Time. Honestly, I wanted 2XKO to have ten champions on Closed Beta, but having eight Champs at the phase where 2XKO gets released globally is a good deal, especially since 2XKO is a 2v2 fighting game and it holds an even gender composition of four male Champs and four female Champs. Now, since we're going into Closed Beta, the game is in a pre-release stage of development. This means the game will have bugs and may not work properly like it should and may crash.

Forgot to mention about something cool I heard in the EVO Announcement Show. You know that the number 8 was mentioned many times? The 8 meme showed that Top 8 is back, we got eight games in the main lineup and eight games in the extended lineup. To top the 8 meme off, we have eight characters being played at the 2XKO booth and at the start of Closed Beta.

Now, will the game stay at eight Champs? Absolutely not. League of Legends and VALORANT get new characters endlessly, so it's likely that 2XKO will get new Champs beyond Vi, hopefully during the game's pre-release stage of development. Just have faith in Riot as they are developing their game.

As we're getting closer to 2XKO's launch in its Closed Beta phase, the game's ESRB rating has been updated to still be rated T, but for violence, mild blood, mild language and alcohol reference and it's gonna stay that way going forward as Closed Beta marks the start of releasing the game globally to everyone and it's considered the real deal. Previously, it was rated T for use of alcohol, blood, suggestive themes and violence, but it was actually incorrect. There aren't any suggestive themes, there is small blood stains and the tavern stage conveys an alcohol reference. And you'll hear bad words at a mild level due to making the voice acting any less repetitive, unlike in Arcane where there are swearing at an explicit level and puddles of blood. I may not make it to EVO to go to their booth and try the demo, but I can wait until September because there is one game to hold me off until then.

Speaking of EVO, there was supposed to be a Keef skit about how people reacted to the EVO 2025 lineup, but apparently, it was postponed due to his adventure in Japan he had and ensuring that it's done at the quality level. So according to this, I don't think that this year's EVO skit is likely gonna see the light of day. I think next year's EVO skit is likely to happen. But the extended lineup will still be on next year's EVO.

What I found intriguing is that Deen TV has covered SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level. Deen and Noid played that game. Deen was talking crap and making tropes about the characters in the game, even the chili dogs part. Sonic likes chili dogs, so... Anyway, like if Deen TV covered SEGA vs. Capcom and Hunter x Hunter: Nen x Impact, they should also do 2XKO because I want to hear Deen make crazy quotes on characters, like "Sister vs. sister," "You're gonna give them the literal axe, Darius?," "Bang, bang, bang!" "The nine-tailed fox strikes back," "Show them what you got, Jinx, or should I also say Powder." "Dang Powder. Hmm? You think Powder fell down a well, Jinx?" and so on. I want them to do 2XKO for their Father and Son Beatdown, but they gotta sign up to have access to the Closed Beta on PC.

SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level:

And speaking of SEGA vs. Capcom, the game is indeed memory-intensive and loading a match while I had 8GB RAM at the time caused a bottleneck. It takes a higher capacity of memory to play this game and with that much memory I'm having, I can be able to play this game well. But the catch is that the RAM usage is not going down, so I turn it off and relaunch it. What has happened is that SEGA vs. Capcom was showcased at Combo Breaker as a Mystery Tournament to shock everyone. That driven commentators and attendees to try this game out, especially when it has been on the radar for quite some time and well made.

What is next? Well, they have a "red patch" for BETA 2.75 coming, hopefully fixing the analog issues and the controls. After that, it's off to Beta 3 where it is an overhaul and Linn Kurosawa from Alien vs. Predator will make her debut along with possibly Sakura from Sakura Wars. She was supposed to release next, but her development time takes a long time because she is three characters in one, so they had to do Batsu from Rival Schools next instead due to him being much faster to work with. Since Beta 3 is an overhaul, what I want for it is a core mechanic that 2XKO has; Duo Play. What I mean is that the game must have up to four players generally in all modes since Tag Mode is only available to keep it traditional and two players on the same team get to control their own character.

For context, this game was made before 2XKO. Both games have tag battles, but with the exception of Jinx, none of the current characters in 2XKO are faithful to the current characters in SEGA vs. Capcom. Jinx had to be an exception because like Mega Man X, she has an arsenal of weapons as she is the Marksman type Champion in League of Legends.

SEGA vs. Capcom just finally posted on X after nearly two months of silence with an art that shows that they are bringing Special Partners into the game. According to the art, there will be 20 Special Partners, ten on each side and they will be similar to Marvel vs. Capcom 1's Special Partners system, hoping we can choose one ourselves and even Skullgirls Mobile's Guest Stars system. Who are the Special Partners? We can find out. Looking at the at HUD on the art, it's likely that we can choose a Special Partner after choosing our characters.

Conclusion:

And that's for this Joe's Monlogues post. August is almost upon us and summer is coming close to an end as you must get ready to go back to school and that is my favorite part. Once school starts, grab your supplies and get ready to learn and always make good choices. This means you must stay out of trouble and follow directions, or you'll face consequences ranging from timeouts and expulsions.

32GB RAM Upgrade

Gaming computers are known for not just gaming, but also taking care of business. I am having fun with my gaming computer. I was able to stream and MultiVersus well and all that stuff that the GPU and CPU I'm having are powerful enough to play every game well. However, there was only one flaw I had at the time; not enough RAM. What this means is that I didn't have enough RAM to play memory-intensive games as I had 8GB RAM at the time. This amount is the bare minimum, but only runs older and less-demanding titles well.

You see, I am a part of the gaming community and that ignited my love for gaming. I went to Amazon to look for another gaming computer and I have decided to let it go and stick with playing less memory-intensive games. But fast forward into today, I have noticed that I can be able to remove a pair of 4GB RAM sticks that add up to 8GB RAM and replace them with the pair that contains the higher amount of RAM and I had the money and tools to do so, so what's stopping me?

I went to Amazon and have ordered a pair of RAM sticks that have a higher amount of memory. The one I have ordered is a pair of 16GB RAM sticks that make up to 32GB RAM, which is becoming the new standard for gaming and multitasking that it becomes the new sweet spot. Upon doing so, performance has been greatly improved and became so much better than with having 8GB RAM.

What does this mean? It means the memory my gaming computer has expanded. Multitasking became superior and has more than enough room. Practically speaking, along with a powerful and a dedicated GPU and CPU, it takes a gaming computer with a higher amount of RAM to establish better and smoother performance and with a bigger capacity I'm now having on my gaming computer, I can be able to experience shorter load times, better visuals and play memory-intensive games and up content creation without experiencing a single bottleneck. Here's what this means on the following things.

Memory-Intensive Games:

Playing memory-intensive games while having 8GB or 16GB RAM has huge bottlenecks caused by longer load times and stuttering that I had to stick with playing older and less memory-intensive games. But with the help of 32GB RAM, all of that will be remedied. I have memory-intensive games on my Steam wish list and I'll be ready to become a modern PC gamer.

Smooth Content Creation:

I am still on the verge of becoming a content creator and now that I have more memory, I can be able to do video editing, make complex videos on my Wrapper: Offline career and take care of business without experiencing a single bottleneck.

Higher Resolution Livestreaming:

Livestreaming while having 8GB RAM comes with a bottleneck when on 1080p or higher and being disciplined to lower the settings is just annoying and a pain. Now that I have 32GB RAM on my gaming computer, 99.9% of the RAM bottleneck on livestreaming on higher resolutions is going to be alleviated.

SEGA vs. Capcom: The Next Level:

When this game starts loading before a match, it comes with a RAM bottleneck, which is struggling to load a match despite closing other programs. The game struggled to load and been stuck in limbo when I had 8GB RAM at the time due to being a memory-intensive game. This applies to playing a memory-intensive game while having 8GB RAM to cause a bottleneck. 16GB RAM is enough for matches to load, but every time it loads before a match, the memory usage gradually increases up until the point where the game struggles to load before a match and gets stuck in limbo and never goes down. But thanks to having 32GB of RAM on my gaming computer, I can be able to have a lot of space and not worry about the usage getting up to the point where the game will struggle getting into the match for a little while. I'm looking to livestream this game now that I have more RAM and it's gonna be a part of the better performance showcase stream. However, there is a catch. Since the memory usage gradually goes up every time the game loads before a match and wouldn't go down, I have to close other programs first, even with 32GB RAM on my gaming computer.

2XKO:

Not a memory-intensive game, but I'm happy to announce that 2XKO will be one of the fighting games that I will be comfortable playing anytime on both PC and console since a paid subscription is not required to play this game online and will be well-playable while having 16GB of 32GB of memory. The only conception is that 32GB of memory is overkill for 2XKO and my GPU and CPU are powerful enough to play it well. Alpha Lab 2 went strong with a lot of improvements from Alpha Lab 1. But I didn't get my invite to Alpha Lab 2 because it was a small playtest. I was stoked to try Jinx out too and I had zero luck. To not receive my invite to Alpha Lab 2 is a dang shame and does sting and I was a bit disappointed. They had to downsize that because they need to focus on launching the game sooner and we understand that.

And I just received a tweet from the 2XKO devs. They said they are now heading to EVO and setting up their booth there and they have exciting announcements to give us tomorrow morning and it's likely that they are gonna reveal the 8th Champion.

Further Future-Proofing:

It's possible that future-proofing can be done while having 16GB RAM, but 32GB RAM can expand future-proofing even further for games coming out this year and beyond. I now have that much memory I need for further future-proofing.

They also have a pair of 32GB RAM modules that make up to 64GB RAM, which is overkill for pure gaming and leaves a ton of room for multitasking, but since I heard it is very expensive and a waste of money, I have no plans to upgrade my gaming computer to 64 GB RAM, so upgrading to 32GB RAM is enough. Here's a breakdown on each amount of RAM with fun quips.

4GB RAM and less - Your kid isn't advanced enough to be a gamer and can't handle the concept of modern gaming.

8GB RAM - It's likely that your kid can be laughingstock for being uncool because they are stuck playing a low graphical game.

16GB RAM - You would disappoint your kid at their birthday without being obvious that you wouldn't allow them to play a cooler more modern game that every other kid is playing right now.

32GB RAM - This is the only amount that will make your kid look cool in front of their friends and become the most savage gamer on the block.

64GB RAM and more - An amount that will never be required because they don't have the balls to get it, and giving this amount to your kid will make them a legend.

Gaming computers have become more popular than mainstream computers due to each of them having a dedicated GPU to accelerate graphics, especially when it comes to gaming, multitasking, taking care of business and doing Vyond. Ideal amounts are usually 16GB and 32GB, with 8GB trailing behind due to better performance benefitted by the higher amounts. When upgraded to 64GB RAM, dimishing returns occur. To be clear, the only conception is that 16GB and 32GB are enough since upgrading to these amounts sets the balance between spending and gaming. But 32GB of memory is becoming the new standard in 2025 and beyond so that they wouldn't have to worry about a single bottleneck for the foreseeable future.

I now have more memory than when I had 8GB RAM at the time, I am looking forward to getting more games on Steam.

The PS1 and PS2 Became Gems of the Gaming Industry

Did you know that both the PlayStation 1 and 2 became the bestselling Sony consoles all over the world? Sony became kings of the gaming industry in their time in the PS1 and PS2 eras. So today, I like to talk about Sony's first two of their consoles that became gems of the gaming industry.

The PS1 era became the community's most favorite era because of the polygon models, the original Crash and Spyro trilogies and the iconic start up screen. 1994 is when the PlayStation brand was first established. What is so special about the PS1 era is that it became the most charming era. It has great games that launched franchises. Crash Bandicoot became the mascot of the PS1 after Polygon Man was rejected. Our orange marsupal became well liked that his first game became a huge success, along with the rest of the original trilogy.

Naughty Dog has first developed Crash Bandicoot, which Universal Interactive owned the rights to. The developers went through an amount of stress during the development of the original trilogy. Even during crunch time, Universal wouldn't pay for the air conditioner during development of Crash 3. Naughty Dog wasn't the only company that Universal has brought on. They also brought on Insomniac to develop the original Spyro trilogy. Universal now has two IPs created just for them and they were the publishers of the original Crash and Spyro trilogies.

Along with the polygon models, the original Crash and Spyro trilogies became the source of fueling the PS1-era with charm and the reason why the era is believed to be community's most favorite. As a turned out, there is one other reason why, which is console ports of retro games that were first released in arcades and they became a part of the PlayStation's massive library. This factor showed that the PS1 has sold really well, even in Japan since Japanese game companies were able to develop their games for it well without losing any money. The PS1 became well-sold because of its widespread third-party support, attention to detail, a massive library of games and high quality games.

Over to PS2. We have experienced a lot of charming stories we already heard for generations. During launch, the PS2 has sold the most units because of the same factors the PS1 did and backwards compatibility to PS1 games and accessories. Sony now has two legendary bestselling consoles that became gems of the gaming industry, all on a silver platter and ready to go for emulation. The experience of the legendary consoles became well-liked by gamers that were born in the 90s and when they became adults, they feel the nostalgia in them.

Remember the part where Jim Ryan has disrespected us retro game fans just by talking down to the golden age that is revisiting PS1 and PS2 games while he was at a Gran Turismo event? That part reminds me of something familiar... Oh, I know. It sounds a lot like two things. First off, the sadistic joke Mike Z has created. During One More Once, Mike made an "I can't breathe" joke. When he made that joke, it alienated a lot of users from playing Skullgirls and they made calls to get him off of EVO, until he apologized to the whole community and he regretted making that joke. Now let's go on to the next one, two Mightykeef skits that involved disrespecting. One for anime and the other for Persona 5. When he simplified anime as cartoons, the thoughts of an anime watcher emerged. One is the aggression while the other is reasonability. The skit about Persona 5 also has that. These events have occured in 2020, the year when the COVID-19 pandemic has hit.

Resources, time and money are indeed finite when it comes to developing a new console. Ryan has stated that after he apologized about his rude comment. But the PS3's unique structure and Cell processor are the reason why none of the modern consoles were backwards compatible to PS3 games. But PlayStation Plus Premium has resolved this enigma just by offering a vast catalog of PS1 and PS2 games with emulation features and PlayStation 30th Anniversary became even more exciting because of it and future anniversaries of the brand will be even more exciting going forward. We can be able to finally revisit our cherished titles we played in our childhood on PS4 and PS5 after nine years since the PS4 came out. The PS2 boot up screen is still here, but the PS1 boot up screen has not returned. There is one game that I found interesting to play and experience.

Now, if you're around on the year when Sly Cooper and the Thievious Raccoonus released, one of the games in the PS2 era was Disney's Stitch: Experiment 626. But what makes this game interesting to experience?

Well, the game serves as an origin story and a prequel to the the 2002 animated film that entails 626's standalone adventure where he is ordered by Jumba Jookiba to collect DNA across the world of Greemas to assist him in performing more experiments. There are weapons and gadgets that navigate 626 on certain levels and squid bots that have a film reel. Each film reel has scenes of the movie.

The game was originally gonna be called "Experiment 626: Stitch on the Loose!" but they renamed it to "Stitch: Experiment 626" for unknown reasons. But what I'm gonna say is that it points out to the fact that the game serves as an origin story and a prequel to take place before the events of the film where our blue furry lad escapes from the United Galactic Federation and goes to Hawaii to befriend a charming Hawaiian girl and her big sister. While a classic Disney game, it became a PS2-exclusive as Sony is the publisher of the game. However, the game wound up with mixed reviews upon release and couldn't become critically acclaimed.

During June's State of Play, we got a number of classics announced. This month, Deus Ex: The Conspiracy has launched and this game was produced by defunct video game companies. Unfortunately, there aren't any deep logos. Coming in July, Twisted Metal 3 and 4 are coming to the catalog. This marks the possibility to complete the original quadrilogy just in time for Peacock's TV series adaptation's second season. And lastly, coming in August, Resident Evil 2 and 3 are launching into the catalog. That comes with completing the original trilogy and is in preparation of the upcoming Resident Evil Requiem. In total, we have one PS2 game and four PS1 games coming out this summer. This shows that PlayStation Plus Premium is reigning supreme so far that we're getting the very first Deus Ex, the last two Twisted Metal games of the original quadrilogy and the last two Resident Evil games of the original trilogy.

During this year's Days of Play, Myst and Riven were revealed. These are point and click puzzle games that first came out on PC before being ported to consoles. They may not be on my wish list, but they at least have silent logos and to my knowledge, since playing retro games is considered a break from playing modern games, playing Myst and Riven is considered to be a break from playing violent video games.

Desiring to revisit games from our childhood is what makes Sony being kings of the gaming industry in their time on their first two consoles so interesting and special. Our desire has been fulfilled by PlayStation Plus Premium and its ever growing classics catalog. Like Nintendo Classics on the Switch, that became the heart that revived classic gaming, especially for PS1 games since they aren't on PS Now. The golden age of PlayStation is back, with the PS1 being the shadiest like Bob Burgers' first season and the Simpsons' first two seasons. They are the golden age ones. Since the PS6 and Sony's new handheld console are in the works, it's likely that we can continue using PS Plus Premium and play retro games on these new and upcoming consoles.

Speaking of becoming the heart, Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls became the new heart of the FGC to surprise the community after Arc System Works is leading the way of the development of their Marvel fighter. I have the link to the post about it, so go check it out if you're interested.

https://rpggameroom.blogspot.com/2025/06/blog-post.html

Joe's Monologues - Sly Cooper

The next Joe's Monologues will focus on one thing that I loved as kid. If you're around on the time during the PS2 era, the franchise that began in 2002 was Sly Cooper, and that what I'm gonna talk about specifically on this post. Consider it as my own and simple iceberg for the thieving and sneaky anthropomorphic raccoon.

How the Franchise Started:

In 2002, Sly Cooper and the Thievious Raccoonus came out on the PS2 by Sucker Punch Productions and it is a platformer that uses lives and is inspired by Crash and Spyro, where as taking damage can lose a life. But it uses a lucky charm system that can protect them from damage. Take damage and you lose a charm. It's similar to Crash and Spyro that taking damage can lose a charm and taking damage while having no charm can lead to losing a life and the encompassing hub worlds have levels. The game involves collecting clues to open vaults on each level, which defines a platformer game.

The first game became the starting point of the franchise. It entails the origins of the manual that is a prized possession, the Thievious Raccoonus. The book became a treasure to the Cooper family, until the group of villains known as the Fiendish Five showed up to not just ransack the place, but take the Thievious Raccoonus and tear the pages and split into parts of the world to commit crimes as well. Following the ransacking, Sly was taken into the Happy Camper Orphanage where he met two of his loyal buddies, Bentley and Murray. Together, the trio track down the Fiendish Five and retrieve the book.

Innovation of the Franchise:

After the success of Sly 1, the following game has introduced innovations to make it look different than the first game. In 2004, Sly 2: Band of Thieves marked the start of trying new things. That involved not just playing as Sly, but also Bentley and Murray, thus making a Mickey, Donald and Goofy-style trio. The trio comes with different moves and have their own health bar rather than the charm that protects from damage. The game did away with the lives and there is grinding coins to purchase abilities in the ThiefNet. They have missions to partake and the clues are scattered across the map since the platforming genre was done away since the home worlds are all in one world.

Then when Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves came out in 2005, it retains the core gameplay and mechanics from Sly 2 and has new additions and new characters beyond the trio. But there is a catch. In certain jobs, the side characters are playable and that's what makes Sly 3 so enjoyable and crazy. However, Sly 3 doesn't use clues, but they have master thief challenges and offers an option to replay the prologue and jobs you've already done Sly 2 doesn't offer.

Interestingly, Sly Cooper was not the first franchise that has the original trilogy that has the first game being a platformer and the sequels having innovation because the Gex franchise was the first to have that, with the first game being a 2D platformer and the sequels being Super Mario 64-style platformers in the original trilogy. That's called innovation.

Thieves in Time:

After the compilation of the original Sucker Punch trilogy, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time came to take place after the events. But after Sucker Punch moved on to pursue Infamous, Sanzaru Games stepped up to remaster the original trilogy and develop Thieves in Time. It is a modern Sly Cooper game where the ancestors of the Cooper Clan are featured to be playable on each episode. I played it back in the day on the PSVita first and it was okay. The first half was peak, but the second half was just meh. Regardless, the animated cutscenes were peak and the graphics blew me away. They were able to copy paste the physics from Sly 3 and started from there to make a modern Sly Cooper game, but not all of it.

What has really soured us the most is that the game has ended in a cliffhanger where Sly travelled to the past and ended up in Egypt. A story DLC was planned to resolve the cliffhanger, but due to the poor sales of Thieves in Time, Sony rejected it. They were supposed to develop Sly 5, but Sanzaru had planned not to.

Revisiting the Originals:

Ever since PlayStation Plus Premium launched, I wanted to revisit the original trilogy and two years later, my desire has been fulfilled after hearing that Sony got a new PS2 emulator. In last year's Day's of Play, we saw the first game launched into the catalog. And during PlayStation 30th Anniversary, sequels in the original trilogy came.

Back in the day when I was a kid, I played the whole original trilogy and in this generation, I played the first one and the second one on stream and I will soon revisit Sly 3 and its crazy adventures created by new members of the Cooper Gang beyond the trio. I got my 3D glasses and I'm going to wear them because some areas are in 3D mode, meaning that I need to put on 3D glasses when I'm on certain areas.

I said that I'm gonna dive into Sly 3 soon, but decided to delay it until I upgrade to a higher RAM because HD recording and streaming and memory-intensive games and tasks consume a significant amount of RAM. That's why certain games I have on my library took longer to load when I'm having 8GB RAM on my gaming computer. The only thing about revisiting the original trilogy is that it bears the mind of the Cartoon Network skull and the Buena Vista International logos, the ones that given me the chills. It has gone to heck from both logos. That happened during my childhood and also during this generation. But you see, what I'm saying is that revisiting the original trilogy really had its perks that making a dream logo combo of Shadowmachine, Stoopid Monkey, Sony Pictures Digital, Williams Street, Cartoon Network and Buena Vista International Television would be chaotic.

Astro Bot's Wild Performance:

Astro Bot's excellent performance saw Sony being convinced to revive their old IPs, including Ape Escape, Jak & Daxter and Sly Cooper. Herman Hulst has announced that they are bringing their old IPs back into the limelight. The game became critically acclaimed that Sony looked into their hearts and give their nostalgic IPs back some love. That really changes everything for PlayStation.

What I Want:

If Sly Cooper is making a comeback one day, a lot of people wanted developers to dive right into a Sly 5 to resolve the cliffhanger. I'm with them, but what I want is that I want the developers to start over and remake the original trilogy to be in HD and replace Thieves in Time with something fresh. I like the fresh new fourth game to be completely on par with Sly 3 because the second half of Thieves in Time is just meh that it wasn't completely on par with Sly 3. That's why the subsequent games in the original trilogy were better.

Old Man Sly:

In honor of getting my privilege to revisit the original trilogy because of PlayStation Plus Premium, I have planned a new Old Man Sly series on my career. It was on hold until the time I get a gaming computer. What Old Man Sly, the series is about? Well, Old Man Sly is about an old man dressing up as Sly Cooper never behaving. I originally said that I would put my career on hibernation until I get another gaming computer that has a higher amount of RAM that is the sweet spot of gaming. But decided to return to my career if I upgraded my gaming computer to have at least 16GB RAM for better performance. But upgrading to 32GB RAM is overkill and optional for Wrapper Offline, but required for modern gaming and superior multitasking.

Here is the final thumbnail of the next Old Man Sly where the Cooper Gang goes to Hawaii to recruit a new member of the Cooper Gang there and Old Man Sly misbehaves there. Along with the gang, what you're seeing in this thumbnail are changes I made to the characters, the Hawaiian flag and an arrow pointing right between the silhouette of a new member with a question mark and Hawaii to represent that the new member is located in Hawaii. The next one is gonna be big and ambitious that you will soon find out who the new member of the Cooper Gang will be and why Old Man Sly is misbehaving at Hawaii once I upload it. Why am I pointing the next video to associate with going to Hawaii is because none of the games of the franchise involved going to Hawaii, so I am encourging that for a new Sly Cooper.

Summary:

Sly Cooper became a well-liked franchise that has a dedicated fanbase, especially to the original trilogy. The following games became fan favorites due to the innovation introduced in them that the first game was a Crash Bandicoot-style platformer, but with hub worlds that are encompassing and have entrances to levels like Spyro. I played the original trilogy back in the day when I was a kid and I get to revisit them since PlayStation Plus Premium has launched. I have played Sly 1 and Sly 2 in this point of time, so I will soon revisit Sly 3 and its crazy adventures once I upgrade my gaming computer to a higher amount of RAM, especially when I'm playing memory-intensive games like Marvel Rivals and multitasking.

Thanks to Astro Bot's wild performance that convinced PlayStation to bring their beloved nostalgic IPs back, our sneaky and thieving raccoon may be making a comeback one day. If Sly Cooper makes a comeback, I like the original trilogy to be remade in HD and Thieves in Time to be replaced with something fresh that is a great modern Sly Cooper game that is completely on par with the third game.