Episode 607: The Miami Heat Are Becoming Vice City for GTA 6

GTA 6 isn't even out yet and the Miami Heat are changing their name for it. On November 18th, the night before launch, the Heat become the Vice City Heat — new jerseys, a new court, a "Welcome to Vice City" sign, all on ESPN. Raz and Jake try to figure out what Rockstar paid, why the NBA said yes, and why Coca-Cola still bothers advertising at all. Then the GTA 6 ESRB rating drops, and it says more than Rockstar has: decapitation and dismemberment, strip club private dances, and cocaine you can carry around and snort straight off your hand. Plus the NFL fining a guy for a fake beer celebration and cutting straight to a Bud Light ad. Also: Steam's record $1.7B September, why gaming is the most cost-effective hobby on earth, Gears of War: E-Day, MW4 and DMZ, and everything changing in Wardogs Season 2 — progression wipe, rain maps, trait system, and the economy rebalance. And to close it out: David Grusch's alien species lineup on Joe Rogan. Grays, 7-foot reptilians, "very beautiful" blue-white beings. Jake is convinced there are alien bases in the ocean and that we've explored way more than 5% of it. Raz brings up the Antarctic. Nobody wins. 0:00 - Intro 1:08 - Pre-show recap: does texture even matter? 2:35 - Patreon shoutouts 4:18 - What we're playing: Blood of Dawnwalker & Tarkov 5:55 - Open-world fatigue is real 9:38 - Crusader Kings 3 & a W for targeted ads 13:53 - GTA 6 is six weeks away 14:22 - The Miami Heat become the Vice City Heat 20:21 - The NBA's squeaky-clean image 25:16 - Why does Coca-Cola still advertise? 32:51 - What did Rockstar actually pay? 35:43 - GTA 6 ESRB rating: M for Mature 37:24 - Buying Vice City as a kid 38:15 - What the ESRB rating reveals 40:43 - Snorting coke off your hand in GTA 6 43:04 - NFL fines a fake beer, airs a Bud Light ad 47:12 - Will your nose collapse in GTA 6? 49:24 - Steam's record-breaking September 52:08 - Gaming's up 54:19 - Gaming is the best hobby, prove us wrong 1:00:18 - Real friends from video games 1:02:55 - Why Steam is a great company 1:05:54 - Ace Combat 8 & the origin of "Razinon" 1:06:33 - Gears of War: E-Day 1:08:39 - Star Wars Galactic Racer? Skip. 1:09:37 - MW4 & everything hinges on DMZ 1:10:55 - Wardogs Season 2: the progression wipe 1:12:38 - Rain maps: snipers and helis nerfed? 1:16:37 - Night matches in Wardogs? 1:17:11 - Economy rebalance: infantry needs a buff 1:19:47 - Give us a loadout builder 1:21:22 - Teased: anti-air, Molotovs & jets 1:23:02 - David Grusch on Joe Rogan 1:24:00 - The alien species lineup 1:29:41 - Disclosure before Trump's term ends? 1:31:31 - Underwater alien bases 1:32:15 - "We've only explored 5% of the ocean" 1:38:01 - Map our own planet first 1:39:40 - Why would aliens be beautiful? 1:40:19 - Outro 1:41:05 - Post-credits: the James Cameron argument _Note: timestamps may be slightly misaligned on podcast apps (but not on YouTube) due to dynamic ads._ The podcast is available wherever you listen to podcasts, and ad-free & early access versions - as well as bonus episodes - are available to all of our Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/thedropshot) supporters. We stream the podcast live on our YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/c/thedropshotpodcast) every Saturday morning at ~9 o'clock Pacific Time. We typically start the stream 30 minutes early to answer viewer questions, banter, and chat. Links for everything are below. Thanks for checking us out! 🔹Streaming schedule (Pacific time): 🔸Saturday ~9 AM: Gaming news and stories of the week 🔹The Dropshot: 🔸Website: https://www.thedropshot.com 🔸Twitter: https://twitter.com/TheDropshotPod 🔸Discord: https://discord.gg/B4Nsarq 🔸YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/thedropshotpodcast 🔸Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thedropshot 🔸Donate: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=YVR98VF4S945G 🔸Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thedropshotpodcast/ 🔸TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thedropshotpodcast 🔹Razinon: 🔸Twitch: https://www.twitch.tv/razinon 🔸Twitter: https://twitter.com/razinon 🔸Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/razinonttv 🔹Jakedown: 🔸Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/jakedown_ 🔸YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jakedown #TheDropshot #Dropshot #DropshotPodcast #GamingPodcast #GTA6 #GrandTheftAuto6 #ViceCity #Rockstar #Wardogs #Steam #PCGaming #MiamiHeat #ESRB #DavidGrusch #JoeRogan #UAP #Aliens #Podcast #GamingNews #HotTake Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices