Sacred Symbols: A PlayStation Podcast

With Bend Studio laying off 30% of its staff as it gears up to enter a lengthy pre-production stage, it's clear their next release (should it ever materialize) will be on PlayStation 6. This is just the most recent example in a lengthening string of Sony absolutely botching its first party initiative, deploying teams on projects that make no sense, purchasing studios that have never even released a game, and complicating a service game strategy that -- at least on paper -- made a lot of sense. Where does the buck stop, exactly? And how lucky is Sony and the PlayStation brand that they've been able to coast almost entirely on external content and commercial inertia all the while? Plus: MindsEye is a complete disaster, Stellar Blade becomes PlayStation Publishing's most-played single-player PC port, Capcom and Konami reveal Resident Evil Requiem and Silent Hill Remake respectively, the Outer Worlds 2's $80 price point infuriates some, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 is somehow coming to PlayStation 4, and more. Then: Listener inquiries! When Colin talks about a hypothetical AAA Mega Man game, what exactly is he envisioning? Why did Microsoft include the PS5 logo so readily during its showcase? Will GameStop ever stop selling opened games as new? Will Dustin and Brad one day own Last Stand? 0:00:00 - Intro 0:32:13 - Habroxia Special Edition 0:46:31 - LSM at TooManyGames! 0:51:17 - Sacred proposal 0:54:05 - Bradstin 1:05:28 - Mindseye refunds 1:24:59 - Stellar Blade is PlayStation's biggest single-player game on Steam 1:35:14 - Bend Studio layoffs 2:01:18 - Tencent acquires 15% of Arrowhead 2:05:17 - Resident Evil: Requiem announced 2:15:18 - Silent Hill Remake announced 2:22:30 - Persona 4 Revival 2:28:38 - Black Ops 7 2:35:05 - Gears of War: Reloaded PS5 beta incoming 2:41:41 - Halo coming to PS5 soon? 2:51:16 - The Outer Worlds 2 is $80 3:00:32 - DualSense will connect to multiple devices 3:04:05 - Mina the Hollower launches this Halloween 3:04:55 - New PS+ game catalog entries 3:12:11 - What We’ve Been Playing 3:29:30 - What would a new Mega Man game look like? 3:34:25 - Should we keep going to GameStop? 3:38:06 - Is the future handhelds? 3:52:28 - PS5 logos at Xbox's Showcase 3:58:27 - Alex Hutchinson's Game Pass comments 4:11:25 - Pandemic hiring sprees fallout Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

Since we published our previous episode, Sony not only announced it was having a State of Play event, but that event has already happened. Thus, we have much to discuss throughout this lengthy episode, an unexpected surprise for the PlayStation faithful. In short, the most recent State of Play was a great showcase of nearly 30 upcoming PlayStation 5 games, with some PS4 and PSVR2 mixed in there, too. And -- for those that care -- more than a half-dozen of the games are PS5 console exclusive, nipping that entire argument in the bud. In the realm of Sony second party, we've learned about a Marvel-themed fighting game from Arc System Works called Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls, while Tecmo Koei's Team Ninja is hard at work on Nioh 3. Elsewhere, we were given the first glimpse at IO Interactive's long-in-development James Bond game called First Light, a brand-new Lumines offering from the creators of Tetris Effect, the return of Capcom's seemingly-beleaguered Pragmata, something fresh from Grasshopper Manufacture called Romeo Is A Dead Man, a late-September release date for Silent Hill F, our first look at the sequel to Iga's Bloodstained, and -- yes indeed! -- confirmation of Final Fantasy Tactics coming to PlayStation in just a few months in the form of The Ivalice Chronicles. "No games?" Maybe if you don't like or play video games, perhaps. Other news this week includes our first look at Witcher 4 via a controversial UE5 tech demo, rumors of a native PS5 port for Red Dead Redemption 2, and more. Then: Listener inquiries! Should 'game length' be considered a spoiler? How do we feel about pinball video games? Do we ever mess with the PSN's 'activity cards' while playing? Is Dustin poised to elope with Brad?Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement. Timestamps:  0:00:00 - Intro 0:26:17 - Habroxia Special Edition 0:36:59 - Too much to play 0:42:31 - Look or talk like Jar Jar? 0:44:49 - This week’s “situation” 0:51:21 - MLMs 0:57:49 - State of Play overall thoughts 1:10:07 - Lumines Arise 1:14:44 - Pragmata 1:21:10 - Romeo Is a Dead Man 1:28:46 - Silent Hill F 1:34:33 - Bloodstained: The Scarlet Engagement 1:40:12 - Digimon Story Time Stranger 1:45:17 - Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles 1:57:37 - Babysteps 2:02:06 - Herogami 2:04:37 - Everybody’s Golf Hot Shots 2:10:32 - Ninja Gaiden Ragebound 2:14:08 - Cairn 2:17:55 - Mortal Kombat Legacy Collection 2:25:34 - Playstation Fight Stick (Project Defiant) 2:35:44 - Metal Gear Solid Delta 2:37:48 - Nioh 3 2:43:17 - Thief VR 2:47:48 - Tides of Tomorrow 2:50:49 - Astrobot update 2:57:47 - Sea of Remnants 3:00:46 - Sword of the Sea 3:04:57 - FBC: Firebreak 3:08:39 - Deus Ex on PS Plus Premium 3:11:43 - Twisted Metal 3 and 4 on PS Plus Premium 3:14:22 - Resident Evil 2 and 3 on PS Plus Premium 3:16:07 - 007 First Light 3:27:37 - Ghost of Yotei 3:28:48 - Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls 3:39:11 - Apple Pay on PS5 3:39:43 - Witcher 4 UE5 tech demo 3:48:01 - People Can Fly cancels two games 3:49:22 - Red Dead Redemption 2 PS5 port 3:51:06 - MindsEye executives leave 3:54:56 - Shift Up’s Project Spirits 3:58:54 - MediEvil and Tenacious D’s canceled movie 4:04:17 - Elden Ring Nightrein’s success and PSN charts 4:09:43 - What Are We Playing (Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Borderlands 2, Dead Island 2) 4:25:37 - Is game length a spoiler? 4:28:47 - Pinball video games 4:33:54 - PlayStation activity cards 4:37:54 - AI making games 4:42:40 - New console reviews 4:48:02 - Fixing inverted controls for a kid Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

The global economy is in a tumultuous state, inflation has carved away everyone's purchasing power, and prices are almost universally going up. So naturally, PlayStation will follow suit and jack its rates up too, right? Well, no. Instead, they're doing the exact opposite of what seems natural: For their annual, weeks-long Days of Play sales event, Sony has slashed prices on PS5 and PS5 Pro, PSVR2 and DualSense, and even DualSense Edge and the Access controller. Is Sony's boldness in risking economic erosion worth it? Is its strategy simply to put its boot on Xbox's neck once and for all? We discuss. Plus: If all went according to plan, The Order: 1886 would have gotten two sequels, EA cancels its Black Panther project while shutting down the studio behind it, Build A Rocket Boy suggests there may be a paid, organized campaign against its upcoming title MindsEye, and more. Then: Listener inquiries! What does Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's success mean for the future of global JRPGs? Could Star Wars Battlefront be revived on the basis of a recent resurgence in popularity? Is Colin ignoring an obvious connection between Souls games and his beloved Castlevania? Should we invest thousands in a commemorative Concord plaque, currently for sale on an online auction site?Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement. Timestamps:  0:00:00 - Intro 0:39:27 - Store bought pasta 0:47:19 - Micah cooked Colin 0:49:13 - **TLOU2 spoiler** Jerkin Joel 0:53:34 - New YouTube censorship words 0:58:50 - Concord plaque found 1:07:37 - Days of Play 2025 1:17:56 - The Order's canceled sequels 1:26:43 - EA cancels Black Panther game 1:39:50 - MindsEye under attack? 1:57:53 - PS+ for June 2:05:40 - Dragon Quest 1 and 2 HD release date 2:09:53 - Video game sales numbers 2:38:38 - What We've Been Playing (Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Shovel Knight Dig, Powerwash Simulator Shrek DLC, Borderlands 2, Death Stranding) 2:47:09 - Gaming "moment of clarity" 2:52:29 - More JPRG settings 3:07:37 - PlayStation's return to handheld 2:08:32 - Watching a playthrough to catch up 3:14:16 - Battlefront 2 resurgence 3:22:31 - When will Colin play a Souls game? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

The last couple of weeks for Bungie have been nothing short of catastrophic, calling into question whether their upcoming extraction shooter Marathon has any chance at all in finding market success. We've long discussed whether Sony should have bought Bungie at all (they shouldn't have), but now that they're so deeply invested, how do they get the team out of this mess? And what does all of this hullabaloo -- about stolen art, poorly-reviewed gameplay, and lackluster audience reaction -- say about the team's future, full stop? Meanwhile, things aren't much better north of the border, where Quebec-based Haven recently parted ways with founder and once-famous producer Jade Raymond, who has now left three different teams without any sort of release. Is Fairgame$ DOA? Maybe not, but we have lots of new information on the recent closed test of the game under the moniker Project Hearts, and... well... it's not sounding great. Also: MLB: The Show is seemingly getting a mobile release, PlayStation Stars is going away unceremoniously, Stellar Blade 2 is in active development, Xbox's Hellblade II is coming to PS5, Kojima's Physint is at least five more years away, and more. Then: Listener inquiries! Keeping in mind Sony's typical naming conventions, what will PlayStation 6's controller be called? Do we also find delight in Darth Vader's AI voice in Fortnite? Is the PS5 Pro truly worth purchasing before prices likely go up? Has Chris ever seen a ghost?Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement. Timestamps:  0:00:00 - Intro 00:44:13 - Best man bromance 00:46:03 - ghoul-ing 01:04:41 - Haven/Jade Raymond reflections 01:37:51 - Bungie art theft reflections 02:33:15 - MLB: The Show mobile 02:38:25 - PlayStation Stars is over 02:51:24 - Stellar Blade sequel coming 02:56:49 - Kojima's next game is far off 03:01:41 - Hellblade 2 is coming to PS5 03:05:56 - Randy Pitchford on Borderlands 4 pricing 03:26:21 - Circana data 03:35:21 - New Naughty Dog logo 03:37:18 - Doom: The Dark Ages surpasses three million players 03:40:44 - What Are We Playing (Doom The Dark Ages, Stardew Valley, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Shovel Knight Dig) 04:05:34 - Iconic PlayStation Games 04:16:19 - ChatGPT game hints 04:19:15 - DualSense 2? 4:22:38 - AI Vader in Fortnite 04:28:19 - "Editions" releases 04:35:04 - Current thoughts on PS5 Pro Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

PlayStation is booming, at least depending on how you look at things. On the one hand, Sony's annual financial results are incredibly strong: PlayStation drove more revenue last year than any gaming entity ever has in the entire history of the industry. Meanwhile, PS5 will surpass 80 million units sold soon, and has become the default console for most players this generation. But there's a downside; indeed, Sony is doing all of this damage with one hand tied behind its back, as major exclusive releases have slowed down to a trickle, while the level of behind-the-scenes mismanagement becomes ever-starker. As we were wrapping our episode up, word dropped that first party studio Haven lost its founder and biggest name, Jade Raymond, apparently after a tumultuous testing of Fairgames, boding poorly for the future of that product and team. Maybe this entire initiative was a bad idea, after all? Plus: Death Stranding 2 goes gold, Stellar Blade is coming to PC, rumors percolate about a Grand Theft Auto IV remaster, and more. Then: Listener inquiries! Will Final Fantasy XVII be turn-based? What does the 11th hour saving of Giant Bomb mean for the future of games media? Could Game Pass' undeniable value proposition begin peeling away the Sony hardcore? Who should we cast Obesaga on, so that we can have an overweight cast member for representation's sake?Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement. * Your browser is holding you back. Level up here:  https://operagx.gg/SacredSymbols [https://operagx.gg/SacredSymbols] Sponsored by Opera GX! Timestamps:  0:00:00 - Intro 0:19:30 - No more sad write-ins 0:22:20 - How are we doing? 0:31:22 - LSM needs more diversity 0:43:46 - This week's "situation" 0:47:08 - HBO MAX 0:54:09 - Guy waking up meme 0:59:22 - Sony FY2024 financials 1:20:50 - Capcom continues to dominate 1:26:38 - Death Stranding 2 goes gold 1:37:18 - Stellar Blade coming to PC 1:44:33 - Tati Gabrielle trained on online hate 1:57:10 - GTA IV Remaster? 2:04:34 - Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra delayed 2:10:21 - PS Plus updates 2:13:51 - Fallout Season 2 in December 2:17:01 - What We’ve Been Playing (Indiana Jones and the Great Circle, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Doom Eternal, Doom: The Dark Ages, Tomba!) 3:16:24 - Final Fantasy returning to turn based 3:20:16 - Gatekeeping 3:35:18 - Giant Bomb goes independent 3:42:44 - Moon Studio in trouble? 3:55:14 - More Xbox games to PlayStation 4:03:13 - Will the value of Gamepass convert PlayStation users? 4:13:43 - Jade Raymond leaves Haven Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]