Sacred Symbols: A PlayStation Podcast

Latest Episodes:

#300 | We're Nothing If Not Consistent Apr 01, 2024

Show notes

Somehow, some way, we've made it to our 300th episode, and we did so without missing a single, solitary week between the first show in 2018 and today. We celebrated our milestone this past weekend with 500 listeners at a sold-out live show in New York City, and we're eager to reflect on what the experience meant to us. But the news marches on, too, albeit somewhat softly, and we'd be loath to ignore it. So let's delve in. The once-leaked Stellar Blade demo is set to be properly released on PSN by the time we publish, Embracer took a $800 million loss in selling Gearbox to Take Two, legendary game dev Shinji Mikami has founded a new team, Sony's Bend Studio seems to be going down the live service route, and more. Listener inquiries help us wrap things up, touching on topics like the golden era of RPGs, Dragon's Dogma 2's microtransaction drama, Nintendo's status as the ultimate gateway drug, and a listener too sick to come to Sacred 300 in NYC.

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Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement.

0:00:00 - Intro

0:31:13 - Live show video?

0:36:01 - Sacred friends on the train

0:38:39 - Too sick for Sacred 300

0:41:05 - RIP

0:46:23 - YouTube Premium

0:52:39 - Stellar Blade demo incoming

0:55:51 - Embracer sells Gearbox to Take-Two

1:02:46 - Community Game Help

1:04:11 - Final Fantasy IX teased?

1:08:50 - It Takes Two sales

1:15:32 - Shinji Mikami is back

1:21:20 - What Are We Playing

1:42:44 - Sony Bend’s Live Service Project

1:56:33 - Final Fantasy XVI's DLC

2:02:10 - PS Plus Games

2:08:11 - The rise of RPGs

2:22:50 - Dragon's Dogma 2 discourse

2:38:29 - The power of $40-50 games

2:47:48 - The future of GameStop

3:00:21 - What's wrong with comic book games?

3:14:56 - Nintendo, the gateway console

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#299 | None of These Things Happen For Free Mar 25, 2024

Show notes

Various leaks (and our own sources) have long-indicated the arrival of a so-called PlayStation 5 Pro console this calendar year, and now new reports have given us a great idea of what this yet-unannounced machine can do. Similar to 2016's PlayStation 4 Pro, PS5's Pro model largely keeps its CPU functionality in place, instead focusing on GPU-centric graphical boosts that promise to please the discerning eye. Combined with mysterious proprietary upscaling technologies and AI-related features, it sounds like PlayStation 5 Pro will be a beastly machine when it comes to aesthetics. But what about the all-important framerate? The news may be less stellar. And the price? Well, that remains to be seen. We discuss. Other news this week includes continuing and seemingly never-ending drama at Sony's great unforced acquisition error Bungie, stalled sales numbers for Sony's struggling PSVR2 hardware, exceptional performance for Helldivers 2 on the US market, the beginning of the end (or maybe more like the end of the end) of Kotaku, and more. Then: Listener inquiries! Between multiple cancellations on one end and Helldivers 2 on the other, what is our current assessment of PlayStation's embryonic games-as-a-service initiative? Does Resident Evil 5's setting and antagonists make the game truly un-remakable? Has 2024's schedule of strong releases unabashedly picked up right where 2023 left off? Has our show successfully infiltrated Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, corrupting its personnel?

Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement.

0:00:00 - Intro

0:18:17 - Sacred Symbols Military Base

0:20:27 - Use Sacred to make people think you're busy

0:27:44 - Boars Heads superiority

0:36:25 - Chris Chan catch-up

0:42:06 - concerning notification?

0:51:22 - Connie Booth goes to EA

0:59:09 - New Helldivers developments

1:03:09 - Palworld looking to release on PlayStation

1:09:07 - Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra

1:18:18 - Halo co-creator's thoughts on EA

1:24:50 - Callisto Protocol spin-off

1:29:01 - Tales series character artist has pass away

1:30:22 - What We've Been Playing

1:41:50 - PS5 Pro leaks

2:14:17 - PSVR2 stops production

2:43:33 - Trouble at Bungie

3:06:32 - Monthly sales data

3:07:56 - Kotaku EIC resigns

3:15:17 - Community Managers

3:23:37 - What's the best handheld console?

3:36:28 - Should Resident Evil 5 be re-written?

3:47:28 - 2024 best year ever for games?

3:53:25 - Gut check on Sony live service games

4:01:21 - What games need to go?

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#298 | I Know the Pieces Fit, 'Cause I Watched Them Fall Away Mar 18, 2024

Show notes

From this show's perspective, there simply aren't that many rational targets of acquisition in PlayStation's sphere, especially with a tightening economy all around us. But there are two teams in particular -- Helldivers' Arrowhead and Stellar Blade's Shift Up -- that seemed like obvious potential marks based on Sony's historical activity. But with Shift Up about to go public in South Korea and Arrowhead's CEO publicly stating they aren't being courted, are we overestimating these teams' want to join the family? Or maybe it's on Sony? Or perhaps it's something else... So let's discuss. Plus: Ex-second party partner Deviation closes its doors, Embracer continues its sell-off, a trailer leaks for Insomniac's cancelled Spider-Man multiplayer game, Final Fantasy XVI's PC port draws near, and more. Then: What do we think of Sea of Thieves' success in pre-order on PSN? What does a "community manager" do? Are Trophies worth protecting? Did Colin's undying love of Long Island unite two star-crossed listeners?

Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement.

0:00:00 - Intro

0:30:55 - Shoutout Ray

0:35:30 - Pride of Long Island brings Sacred fans together

0:39:57 - Sacred's Point of No Return

0:42:14 - Vice President Aaron Rodgers

0:47:58 - RIP In Peace

0:49:53 - Goth Girls

0:53:12 - Colin's Beyond 200 Promise

0:55:48 - Are new studios a good idea?

1:01:42 - Why is every game a lightning rod?

1:13:37 - New PS5 firmware

1:18:16 - Spider-Man: The Great Web

1:24:51 - PSN most-downloaded games

1:29:53 - Embracer jettisons Saber, 4A Games and Zen

1:31:18 - Helldivers 2 introduces flying bugs

1:35:26 - FF16 is coming to PC

1:38:12 - Mega Man tease?

1:40:58 - RE4 Remake surpasses 7 million sold

1:41:39 - System Shock Remake comes to PS4 and PS5

1:43:13 - MultiVersus returns

1:45:17 - What Are We Playing?

2:04:26 - Deviation closes

2:13:27 - Shift Up's evaluation

2:23:38 - Grandia 1 and 2 are coming to PlayStation 4

2:29:27 - PS Plus new games

2:37:48 - More games made for less money?

2:44:55 - Sea of Thieves is the most pre-ordered game on PS5

2:57:20 - Instruments over games

3:04:43 - Are community managers needed?

3:10:17 - Why does games media turn a blind eye to racism?

3:35:34 - AITA for protecting trophies?

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#297 | There's No Magic When the Tricks Get Old Mar 11, 2024

Show notes

The last week in gaming has been a bit of a downer, no doubt. But we don't dodge the news; we lean into it. And frankly, it's not all bad. Quite the contrary: Ghost of Tsushima is coming to PC, Spider-Man 2 has finally received a major update, and the STALKER Trilogy is migrating to console for the first time ever. But then there's drama surrounding a random DEI-slanted consultancy called Sweet Baby Inc., the closure of the storied media brand Rooster Teeth after more than a decade of running in the red, and word that the publisher behind 2023's biggest commercial hit wants to abandon the model it followed for greener pastures. Listener inquiries help us round-out a strange seven days, focusing on topics like crossover fighters, Marty O'Donnell entering the political realm, Helldivers 2's newest patch, and one listener who was 'caught' playing an anime game, and had a lot of explaining to do at the dinner table.

Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement.

0:00:00 - Intro

0:31:15 - Gaming’s Three-Fifths Compromise

0:33:07 - Arby’s x LSM

0:35:31 - Copium around laxative-gate

0:43:06 - Games to take to space

0:51:05 - Doordash disgust

0:57:35 - META

0:59:14 - Helldivers 2 patch

1:02:30 - Horizon Forbidden West PC specs

1:04:49 - Balatro age rating issues

1:11:41 - Persona 3 Reload DLC

1:16:04 - Rooster Teeth closed

1:40:27 - What Are We Playing?

1:57:05 - Ghost of Tsushima is coming to PC

2:08:14 - India Hero Project

2:11:52 - STALKER re-releases

2:17:26 - Spider-Man 2 update

2:20:04 - A counter-argument on 1st Party

2:33:34 - What developers should collaborate?

2:42:54 - Warner Bros. Live service comments

2:49:53 - Sweet Baby Inc controversy

3:11:34 - Marty O’Donnel is running for Congress

3:16:18 - When your kid exposes you as a weeb

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#296 | A Smooth Operator, Operating Correctly Mar 04, 2024

Show notes

There's no doubt that the console games space at large is predicated on some shaky economics, and recent layoffs are just the beginning of what will likely be a substantial purging of talent from the ranks of teams around the world. Late last year, we caught wind (via the Insomniac leaks) that Sony was planning layoffs, and would close one of its teams, too. This turned out to be true: 8% of PlayStation's workforce has been released, London Studio is no more, and multiple games have been cancelled, including a Twisted Metal project. Will these drastic moves help buttress the PlayStation brand's ever-narrowing profit margin, and allow the world-class brand to operate from a point of renewed strength? Or is the pain only beginning? Plus: Neil Druckmann may be burning out, footage of a never-released LittleBigPlanet product emerges on the net, cheaters begin ruining Helldivers 2, and more. At the end of our show, we field audience questions, as usual. Where do we fall on the recently-brewing localization fiasco surrounding games like Unicorn Overlord? How come Stellar Blade got such trouble for its fanservice while Final Fantasy VII Rebirth's blatant fanservice is celebrated? Should everyone be a little nicer to Geoff Keighley? Has Dustin's opinions on Aldi changed one listener's life forever?

Start the Good Habit at https://www.tryfum.com/SACRED to save 10% off the Journey Pack today.

Start building credit at https://www.chime.com/sacred

Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement.

0:00:00 - Intro

0:24:24 - RIP Richard Lewis

0:31:03 - Annals of manifested wishes

0:34:39 - Laxative-gate

0:39:55 - First apartment advice

0:45:09 - Aldi is awesome

0:54:01 - Potential baby names

0:55:05 - Best Podcast award

1:00:18 - Peloton LSM crew

1:02:13 - FFVII Rebirth discs are messed up in Asia

1:06:42 - Helldivers 2 cheaters

1:12:18 - LittleBigPlanet Hub leaks

1:14:55 - Remedy regains control of Control

1:20:39 - Supermassive Games layoffs

1:21:46 - NCAA Football is offering $600 to players

1:25:09 - What Are We Playing?

2:00:39 - Sony layoffs

3:22:41 - EA layoffs

3:31:36 - Neil Druckmann says he only has a few games left in him

3:41:00 - January 2024 Game Sales

3:43:44 - March PS+ Games

3:45:03 - Localization issues

3:55:17 - Stop attacking Geoff Keighley

3:58:39 - Proportional hypocrisy

4:02:18 - Multiple playthrough trophies

4:04:24 - Bloodborne leak woes

4:07:56 - Two-path system

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#295 | The Love That You Need Will Never Be Found at Home Feb 26, 2024

Show notes

The dam has broken. After paving the way just last week, Microsoft has confirmed its four games that are coming to PlayStation platforms, and they're arriving a lot sooner than any of us thought. One of them -- Pentiment -- is available on PS4 and PS5 alike right now, while Hi-Fi Rush isn't far behind. Multiplayer titles Grounded and Sea of Thieves will round things out, but certainly, this is just the beginning of the migration, right? Other news this week includes the release date for Elden Ring's long-awaited expansion, percolating PS5 Pro rumors suggesting a fall release, the beginning of Jim Ryan's goodbye tour, PSVR2's PC future, and much more. Listener inquiries help us round things out, as usual. Did Hiroki Totoki successfully diagnose Bungie's issues? Does Sony suffer and Nintendo benefit from a double-standard when it comes to porting and otherwise re-releasing their respective games? Could Resistance: Retribution's reemergence indicate a future for the dormant franchise? Is Brad saying "Colin" wrong on all of his shows?

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://www.betterhelp.com/symbols and get on your way to being your best self

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#294 | Sorry For Helldiving Feb 19, 2024

Show notes

It's been an unusual week in the PlayStation ecosystem, especially in recent years, where the exclusives and heavy-hitters from Sony primarily resided in the single-player sphere. But then a game like Helldivers 2 drops out of orbit, and suddenly we're brought back to the days of SOCOM, Killzone, and others, when PlayStation had an actual online identity, albeit a fledgling one. Could this be the beginning of a great new trend? Or does pessimism reign supreme? Other news this week includes the most vague, circular PR from Xbox that confirms -- yes, indeed -- Xbox games are en route to PlayStation beginning with four titles, while Sony releases a financial report that shows promising revenue and meteoric PS5 sales, but with serious financial warnings on the horizon. Plus: What the hell is Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet? Is there a rift between Konami and Bloober Team? Are people overreacting to the Tomb Raider Remaster's content warning label? Then: Listener inquiries! Where do we fall in the raging 'yellow paint' debate? What's our favorite JRPG battle system? Which order should the Castlevania games be played in? Was Colin's and Micah's recent visit to Cracker Barrel everything they hoped it'd be?

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#293 | Natural Selection Feb 12, 2024

Show notes

We know that Xbox games are migrating to PlayStation, and by the next episode of this very show, we'll have a much better idea of what a future slate of Microsoft products on Sony's console may look like. In the meantime, however, we're left to wonder how we got here in the first place. One could easily argue that PlayStation's and Xbox's rivalry essentially concluded with the end of the 360/PS3 era (Microsoft has been nowhere near Sony in terms of quality, mindshare, or revenue ever since), but we may very well be on the cusp of a true sea change not seen since the decline of SEGA. While we wait for answers, let's speculate and analyze to our hearts' content. Let's also delve into some other news -- Stellar Blade protagonist complaints, Disney's marriage with Epic, The Last of Us: Part III rumblings, and more -- and conclude with listener inquiries, like we always do. Are we amped for Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden? Is IGN's staff unionization drive a wise move in this environment? Do we overestimate the importance of the Uncharted franchise to gaming? Could we maybe tone it down a bit on the nearly-six hour episodes?

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#292 | Meet Me In Outer Space Feb 02, 2024

Show notes

A new State of Play presentation -- arguably the best Sony has ever executed -- has given us a plethora of items to discuss on this week's all-new episode of Sacred Symbols. For starters, we finally have a release date for the amazing-looking second party PS5 exclusive action-RPG Stellar Blade, which we cannot wait to play. We also got a lengthy glimpse at Team Ninja's Rise of the Ronin, confirmation of a near-remake of Until Dawn from Ballistic Moon, a fresh look at Death Stranding 2 en route to PS5 in 2025, and the confirmation of a new, MGS-like Kojima series, presumably on PlayStation 6 (!). And there's lots of other news, too, including the first details concerning Firesprite's upcoming title, Project Heartbreak. Likewise, MLB: The Show 24 and Horizon: Forbidden West's PC port have both been dated, obscure PlayStation vehicular combat game Hardware Rivals may be returning, classic shooter Spec Ops: The Line has been delisted, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is driving people insane, leaks indicate we'll be playing Xbox 'exclusives' on PlayStation very soon, and much more. Finally: Listener inquiries! Are recent rumors of a new Sony handheld to be believed? Have Battle Passes ruined online gaming forever? Is cross-media the future no matter how much it's resisted? Can we please stop with the double-spacing, once and for all?

Start the Good Habit at https://www.tryfum.com/SACRED to save 10% off the Journey Pack today.

Start building credit at https://www.chime.com/sacred

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#291 | The Guillotine Jan 29, 2024

Show notes

Our beloved games industry is currently mired in an economic crisis of its own creation. By rapidly expanding corporate headcounts during the pandemic -- and by foolishly forecasting 2020-era gaming habits would persist into future years -- many publishers and developers have found themselves dramatically overextended. In 2022, some 8,500 people lost their jobs in gaming; that number grew appreciably to 10,500 last year. Here in 2024, though? Not even a month into the calendar, we're sitting at around 6,000 job losses. And it's going to get way worse. How did pubs and devs get this so wrong? And how come the human cost falls upon the people who were hired, but not those that did the hiring? Plus: A reliable rumor indicates Until Dawn is PS5-and-PC-bound, Death Stranding 2's re-reveal may be right around the corner, Focus Entertainment foolishly rebrands itself, and more. Then: Let's wrap things up with listener inquiries, as usual. How do we balance multiple games at once? Could the harm leaks do to studios actually be overstated? Is paywalling New Game+ a step too far? When is the appropriate time in the day to shower?

This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://www.betterhelp.com/symbols and get on your way to being your best self

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