DSP Cries It- Refuses To Play MIXTAPE Because Of Music

Added: 2026-05-16

[00:00:00]All right, guys. Before we get on with the actual video from DSP, I have to say this is insane.

[00:00:06]This is about to be 3 minutes of totally un-interacted gameplay. She never once touches the controller. She just has her hands off the controller and just lets it go.

[00:00:18]And the game literally plays itself.

[00:00:21]Oh, because she didn't slide, just ran through the barrier. Because she didn't jump, just climbs over.

[00:00:27]She keeps doing that over and over of not hitting slide, not hitting jump, and still just having the game play itself.

[00:00:36]This is the perfect DSP game.

[00:00:39]Like, you have no idea. This is the perfect the perfect DSP game.

[00:00:46]As I explained why I personally hate mixtape in just under 3 minutes of totally un-interacted gameplay.

[00:00:52]It's Again, not even touching it. And there's multiple creators going, "All right, guys. I took my hands off the controller. You see me on like they're having themselves on camera. Here are my hands, guys. There's no one touching the controller. Let's see what happens." And the game just plays itself.

[00:01:06]Really feels like they wanted to make a movie, realized it would never pass in a theater, so decided to make an interactive video game with no interacting.

[00:01:16]Which is perfect for DSP. He can sit there with the controller on his lap staring at chat the entire time looking for money.

[00:01:24]Completely ignoring everything that's going on the screen, ignoring everything going on in the game, ignoring the characters, what little story there is.

[00:01:30]Just ignore all of it and just stare at chat begging for money.

[00:01:34]This game is perfect for him.

[00:01:39]And so, of course, he's going to hate it. Wait, what?

[00:01:42]Yeah. He's explained that he doesn't want to touch the game. He's going to hate it, blah blah blah. It's stupid.

[00:01:48]It's worthless. It's not his type of game, even though this game was literally made for him.

[00:01:53]There's a reason why game journalists are giving this a 10 out of 10.

[00:01:58]You know, the people that couldn't beat the Cuphead tutorial. Yeah, they're giving this a 10 out of 10.

[00:02:06]This game, which again, we're we're now 2 minutes into the video.

[00:02:10]They've not once touched a controller.

[00:02:12]The game literally plays itself.

[00:02:17]Now, this sequence could have been cool if you got to you know, do all the timing.

[00:02:22]And there's no story whatever going on background, but no.

[00:02:25]He's literally just taking his hands off the controller and starting chatting waiting for money.

[00:02:30]All right. On to the actual video with DSP.

[00:02:34]Hello. And welcome to James the Lesser Express Lane, where we get you in and out as fast as possible with like I said in the intro, DSP wants something to do with mixtape. Even though the game was literally made for him, it's called DSP mixtape.

[00:02:50]Let's watch.

[00:02:52]I dust busted I dust busted the whole office up and I rearranged them. And I was like, well, I got a few minutes, let's see what's going on. I open up X and it's mixtape mixtape mixtape mixtape mixtape. I went mixtape, what the hell is mixtape? And I started thinking in my head, I've heard this game before, I've heard of it. Oh, yeah, mixtape. That was that game that is one of those random artsy fartsy looking games.

[00:03:12]That has a lot of music in it that is copyright claimed. So, if he were to play it, all of his stream would get copyright claimed. that probably a year ago when we're watching either Summer Games Fest or the Game Awards or whatever. It was one of those games that was presented to us as a really weird out there game. It it It's kind of like this line of games that has been coming out recently in the last few years. Remember that one that was like Welcome to Volcano High or something like that where everyone was like a furry and it's a coming-of-age story about I guess being a furry or something.

[00:03:42]Uh how did Cartman put it? Put a woman in it and make it gay. Yeah, it's that category game.

[00:03:47]I don't know. And then so this one is like, oh, it's It's to be three teenagers and set either in the '80s or '90s and it's confusing cuz it seems like the music is from the '80s but I guess the game is supposed to be set in the '90s.

[00:03:57]And the whole point of the game is that they're three teenagers, their coming-of-age story, you know, they're coming into a from from youngsters to adulthood and the whole game is based on licensed to music, okay? That's nostalgia bait.

[00:04:09]And apparently the game is really like edge Oh, look, the kids can can attack things and make them blow up by flipping them off. Ooh, edgy, right? Oh, look, they're skateboarding through town and they're not supposed to be doing that.

[00:04:21]Like if it was a 2D Super Nintendo game, it would have sold gangbusters.

[00:04:27]It would have just sold all the copies.

[00:04:29]If you know, it was 1994.

[00:04:31]Ooh, they're doing the rebels. Ooh, right? So, I just totally remember that when I was watching this during the the game festival or whatever, I was like, "Oh, it's another one of these real artsy games. It's probably not going to be very good, you know, it looks really silly." Meh, and then you move on, right?

[00:04:49]I didn't know when the game was coming out. I didn't follow its development. I didn't really care at all because to me when I see a game like that, it's kind of like the same reaction I have when I saw that Volcano High game. It's like that's not for me, you know, I'm in my 40s. I like games that have like meat to them. And and listen, don't get me wrong.

[00:05:05]>> [clears throat] >> There is a place in gaming Wow, that loud [ __ ] lip lip smack. for these kind of games. There absolutely is. And there's a place in gaming for games that aren't super heavy on gameplay cuz I think that's what a lot of people are critical of these days is if a game doesn't have enough gameplay, then that game isn't a valid game. It should be a movie instead. But I would contest that to take a look at a game that I'll be playing this week, Directive 80/20. And just in general, the games that Super Massive Games has made, you can also go back in time and look at the history of like Telltale Games, right? So, The Dark Pictures Anthology. Or what about Telltale Games like The Last of Us or the Batman games that they made and stuff like that where it is an ongoing narrative, but you make choices. And the choices you make Yeah, you make the choices unlike in Mixtape where it's just No.

[00:05:51]You sit there with the hands on the controller.

[00:05:53]Like the dialogue that you say can actually change the outcome of the game and make it that a character lives or dies or either will move on to another part or hell could die right away right at the beginning. Maybe two characters can team up to help each other but or they could be really angry at each other's throats depending on what you choose. I think that's valid for a game in the modern era. Also, I hear people always criticize walking simulators, right? Oh, this is a game where all you do is walk around and you click on stuff you read documents. Those can be engaging. I have played some pretty good walking simulators over the years that actually were entertaining experiences.

[00:06:22]And one of the things that I've always said as a creator for 18 years now is the length of the game is not directly representative of the actual enjoyment factor you can get out of it. I would much rather have a 5 to 10 hour amazing rememberable rememberable memorable experience Gee, DSP starting on the booze a little early, huh? Brilliance.

[00:06:43]Then a game that's 40 hours long but insanely repetitive, boring, grindy, and just not rememberable at all. Okay?

[00:06:49]Seriously, and I mean I've been talking about games like this recently. Crimson Desert, a game that really just feels like a buffet of slop but has so much content but none of it's really memorable or meaningful, so who cares?

[00:06:57]I'd much rather play the shorter game.

[00:06:59]So, I just want you to understand where I'm coming from in my perspective.

[00:07:02]Mixtape is only a couple hours long apparently.

[00:07:04]And it has maybe 10 minutes worth of actual gameplay in it. I did. As we're about to look at this Mixtape game and basically what's going on and what's happening right now with it. Okay?

[00:07:14]Let's take a look. Now that they're very loud and smack.

[00:07:19]So, basically in the Hey, there's the video we just watched. last several days on social media, this game has blown up for various different reasons. Okay? Let's just take a glance at some of the initial things that come up when you just search for the game. Okay?

[00:07:31]Explaining why I personally hate Mixtape in just under 3 minutes of totally uninterrupted gameplay.

[00:07:35]Okay? Mixtape is absolutely terrible. It isn't even a He holds his hands up and says, "Guys, I'm not even touching the the I'm not even touching the controller and it plays itself. video game, it literally plays itself. Do not buy.

[00:07:47]Here is the IGN review for Mixtape. 10.

[00:07:51]Okay. A musical delight from start to finish. Mixtape sets a new standard for coming-of-age stories in video games, and does so with a masterful sense of style. Our 10 out of 10 review. And then you have people who, as you can see, this is not a regular Twitter user. This is someone who's basically a gray check mark, which means oh, I'm an industry insider, or I own a company. So, this is supposed to be a big dog talking. It's actually funny, his name is Muad Dog. If you're mad at this score, you're outing yourself as never having hobbies, never having a friend group, never having a relationship, and never being able to just stare at the ceiling with a buddy talking about life.

[00:08:27]Sounds like you, DSP. No friends, no relationships. Sad face.

[00:08:35]That seems a little defensive, doesn't it?

[00:08:37]Dude, oh wait, someone's critical of a 10 out of 10 score from IGN. You never had a relationship before. You're a loser who sits at home alone. Huh? Yes, you.

[00:08:47]Wait. Whoa. Can we take a I know, it's not a 10 out of 10. It's not even a 7 out of 10.

[00:08:52]It's on Game Pass. You can play it for free.

[00:08:57]I'm not letting that touch my PC. Fuse steps back, that sounds pretty harsh.

[00:09:00]Okay? So, if you're wondering what some of the criticisms are of this game, okay? We can take a look at one literally right here. Now, remember, this game is supposed to be nostalgia. This game is supposed to be 80s and 90s nostalgia, a time when everyone was into cassette tapes and certain kinds of clothing and music. So, there's a scene in the game Not that he would know, cuz he wasn't into any of that, guys. He was too busy playing with the Grayskull castle up in his attic. Only one dad was at a supervisor, though.

[00:09:29]where you have to rewind a tape. Okay?

[00:09:32]Take a look at the tape that's in the game. The tape has no opening where the tape is read. They're trying to rewind the tape using a pencil, but anyone who actually had a cassette tape would know you can't rewind a tape using a pencil.

[00:09:42]What would happen is the actual tape would come out of the top of the tape.

[00:09:45]The only way you would ever do this is if it got stuck in a tape recorder and you needed to manually get the tape back into the cassette. That's why you would do it. The cassette is rendered upside down where this should actually be on the bottom. And that's just a few things that's wrong with the scene, and this is a key scene of the game where they're trying to say, "Ooh, nostalgia." The people who made the game don't even understand how cassette tapes work.

[00:10:04]That's pretty bad. Okay.

[00:10:06]That is pretty bad, I'll admit. Okay.

[00:10:08]Now, continuing on, it seems like there has been a humongous PR campaign for this game.

[00:10:16]For example, that he wasn't a part of.

[00:10:19]Probably another reason why he's salty, even though this game is literally made for him. example, this company, Annapurna Interactive. If you're not familiar with Annapurna Interactive, okay, they're a company that have put out a ton of indie-style artsy games in the last decade. Some of these games I absolutely love, like Stray, the game about the cat in this post-apocalyptic robot-populated world.

[00:10:41]I think it's one of the best and most creative games I've played in many years. I hope they make a sequel. Okay.

[00:10:45]Take a look at some of these other ones.

[00:10:46]What Remains of Edith Finch, amazing narrative game. Sure, the gameplay elements weren't very good, but the story itself was unique and so gripping and interesting. Yeah, a common theme of "Yeah, the story wasn't very good and the gameplay was atrocious, but it exists."

[00:11:01]Okay. Outer Wild, 12 Minutes.

[00:11:04]You can keep going to some of these that I've played and I really have enjoyed. I just recently tried Lorelei or Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, and I didn't get to play it much, but I thought it was really good. Uh it hooked me. Um so some of these games are notable games. However, there is kind of a common theme. They're all very artsy, right? They really are. They're very artsy artsy games where this isn't the kind of mainstream game that would blow up or anything. So, Annapurna actually put together this crazy package of stuff that they gave influencers, okay? And I I want to say that who the [ __ ] is Blue Thunder at Summer Games Fest? Does anyone know who this is?

[00:11:38]13.8k followers. I mean, that's quite a few followers to have.

[00:11:42]Just on Twitter.

[00:11:45]Well, he got this game early and they sent him an insane press pack. Okay, this press pack that they sent the guy included like an actual replica of the mixtape CD that they have in the game. It had like headphones. It had all kinds of little like chachkies and collectibles and things. Like basically it's humongous paid advertisement for the game. And he actually put out this post on X about it on May 8th without disclosing the fact that it was blatant advertisement for the product and therefore he violated X's rules and I'm shocked that this guy's Twitter isn't shut down because that's actually illegal. You actually can't do a promotion without dis Uh Mr. You played Mario and Sonic at the Olympics and when people made fun of you for getting like $12, "Ah, it doesn't matter guys. They didn't pay for it. Sent to me for free as a review copy."

[00:12:28]Yeah, he's done that before. closing it's a promotion. That's a huge lawsuit.

[00:12:31]In fact, Xbox themselves got sued about for this about a decade ago. You can't do that. And this guy did it. Okay?

[00:12:37]Anyway, continuing on. This game makes you feel like a child. Xbox share mixtape. So, Nico seems to really like the game.

[00:12:45]Okay? This I'm going to skip this cuz this is a stupid point. Here is all the reviews for mixtape.

[00:12:51]IGN 10, VGC 10, CGM 10, Destructoid 10, WellPlayed 10, Xbox Tavern 10, The Sixth Axis 10, Gaming Trend 10, DualShockers 10, PSLS 9, Rectify 9, GameSpot 9, Push Square 9, Monster Vine 9, Nintendo Life 9, Game Reactor 9, Game Informer 9, >> I It's insane it's getting these kind of reviews when it's not that good a game.

[00:13:07]>> I Okay.

[00:13:10]But then when you actually scroll down you read people who played it, not the games journalists, okay? But people who actually played the game.

[00:13:16]Entire portions of mixtape is a joke. 10 out of 10 for IGN and entities that don't want to play games. AstroTurf soy.

[00:13:24]How much of this game can you finish without actually touching the controls?

[00:13:28]Probably about 90%. Okay.

[00:13:31]Yes, take a look at this. I'm not going I'm not going to press play on this cuz it's so absurd. There's actually a part of Mixtape where two underage kids make out and they actually turned it into a game. Like it's a mini-game where they're actually have tongue wrestling.

[00:13:44]Okay? Underage kids tongue wrestling.

[00:13:46]And now obviously there's tons of media, movies, TV shows where kids are kissing.

[00:13:50]But I don't think there's ever been a game that's tackled actual like tongues, you know, going crazy. It's a little I I would say it's a little out there. It's a little bizarre. Some people say that's artsy and some people would say that's pedophilic. I don't know. I mean it's weird. Admittedly I Remind you of Derek. He's the expert on that so you might want to ask him there DSP. think this is [ __ ] weird to be in the game. Okay?

[00:14:10]First thing I did in Mixtape was unintentionally crash into a car to see if anything happened. It did not. So I The thing is I can't press play on any of this stuff. And you might say, "Phil, why aren't you pressing play on any of these video clips to show us what you mean?" Well, because Mixtape has a licensed soundtrack. And when I say that, I mean the entire game is a licensed soundtrack. There is no actual music in Mixtape that wasn't paid for.

[00:14:32]The game seems to have an insanely Makes me wonder what's going to happen when the licenses expire on the game. huge budget because it's got tons of '80s and '90s music in it. And every moment you're playing the game, it's playing one of these songs. So if I play any gameplay at all, this video and stream will get claimed on YouTube for Content ID.

[00:14:50]And I think that's why he's hating the game.

[00:14:53]Like this game is the perfect DSP game. Sit there with a controller on the desk while staring at chat begging for money.

[00:15:01]It's literally made for him.

[00:15:03]But how is he supposed to collect his pennies from ad revenue?

[00:15:10]He loses ad revenue, well then there's no point in playing.

[00:15:13]Okay. You might say, "Oh, well that's kind of silly. Didn't they put in a streamer mode into the game to prevent They did not and they even explained why they didn't cuz the music is part of the game. at this issue so people could stream and share their gameplay experiences?

[00:15:25]No, they didn't. And the game developers actually posted up publicly and said, "We decided that artistically this game needs to have the licensed soundtrack.

[00:15:34]And if you're playing it without it, you're not really getting the full gameplay experience. Therefore, we decided to not have a streamer mode in our game to retain the artistic integrity of the game."

[00:15:45]The artistic integrity of the game? You mean you threw money at music other people made 30-plus years ago to be in your game?

[00:15:54]And you think that's art?

[00:15:56]You didn't have someone make music that sounds like music from that era so it would be original to your vision of what it should be, you just paid for other people's work to be in yours, and you think that Says the guy that hasn't made anything on his own in ever.

[00:16:11]Now, he did make a couple of reviews, but those reviews were of something other people made.

[00:16:17]And he was copying No Nostalgia Critic and AVGN and all that. That's art.

[00:16:23]If you say so. That sure doesn't sound like artistic to me, it just sounds like you're made of money and you throw it at people to make something.

[00:16:30]Anyway, um continuing on, the overwhelmingly positive reviews of Mixtape on Steam are actually a perfect example of selection bias, cuz you see, anyone who has a good taste in games ran as far as possible in the opposite direction of this game the moment that they learned literally anything about it at all. Since they did not buy the game, they cannot leave a review on Steam.

[00:16:46]This leaves only the gamers with the most abysmally terrible taste that you can imagine, and industry shills who got review copies, were the only ones delusional or dishonest enough to give this game a good rating.

[00:16:55]There's my post about it from yesterday, but that's kind of irrelevant because I'm talking about it right now. Um And so, we can keep going, all right?

[00:17:02]But ultimately, when it comes We can, but I think I'm a little tired of you bitching.

[00:17:08]Again, this game was made for him.

[00:17:10]It's literally called DSP's Mixtape.

[00:17:13]All right, it's not literally called that, but it's a game where you don't have to press any buttons. You set the controller down after hitting start and just stare at your phone for 2 hours while the game plays behind you.

[00:17:23]It'd be the perfect night stream.

[00:17:27]You could beat it in one night stream.

[00:17:28]Not have to touch any controls.

[00:17:31]And try to beg for money.

[00:17:33]But because of the music, can't get his ad revenue.

[00:17:37]Here.

[00:17:39]Well, that guys, I'm going to let you go. Thank you so much for watching. As always, like, subscribe, and have a damn blow and have one hell of a day.