Sacred Symbols: A PlayStation Podcast

#406 | Now You're Here, Now You're Away

In the world of PlayStation, this past week was one of mystery. For instance, the director of Uncharted: The Lost Legacy seems to be rather blatantly teasing a new Uncharted game on Instagram. But is he actually? Meanwhile, the promise of PlayStation on PC seems to have gone totally up in smoke, with the quiet removal of related iconography from the PSN. Could it be a sign of things to come? Plus, Sony's aggressive new position on the PlayStation Store continues to bear fruit, as even more games are deleted and unpublished that never belonged there to begin with. Are we finally getting the storefront we deserve? Other news this week includes intrigue surrounding an interview with Sony CEO Hiroki Totoki, changes incoming for PS5's UI, potential teases for remakes or remasters of Persona 1 and 2, the wet fart that was the Tales series' 30th anniversary, and more. Then: Listener inquiries! Do you have to play the original Resident Evil trilogy on PSone to be a "real" fan, or do the remakes suffice? Why is Square Enix so hesitant to do anything with Chrono Trigger? With Capcom's Pragmata right around the corner, what are our last-minute thoughts? Is Dustin hiding his PlayStation Trophies because he's a fake gamer? Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement. 0:00:00 - Intro 0:21:17 - Back to the spread 0:21:52 - Read the names 0:28:09 - How's everyone doing? 0:46:11 - Dustin's hidden trophies 0:47:51 - Tacos or burritos 0:55:03 - Colin was wrong? 0:55:33 - Uncharted tease? 1:15:52 - PC and Crossbuy icons removed from PS5 OS 1:30:43 - Hiroki Totoki interview 1:39:00 - new PS5 interface? 1:40:33 - PSN delisting continues 1:50:16 - The Playerbase 1:58:49 - Persona 1 and 2 remakes/remasters? 2:05:25 - Bandai Namco doesn't have anything for Tales 30th anniversary 2:11:38 - 007: First Light Dualsense 2:18:27 - Top PSN downloads for March 2:27:42 - What We’re Playing (SuperStation One, Returnal, Starfield) 2:51:09 - Games industry guardrails 3:11:39 - Remakes vs Originals 3:28:01 - PlayStation theme park 3:33:47 - Where is Chrono Trigger? 3:39:14 - Pragmata worries 3:44:42 - PlayStation Experience Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

#405 | Waiting Like the Stalking Butler

We're in the midst of a promising month of releases on PlayStation 5, and our patience is finally about to be rewarded. For starters, Housemarque's first party third-person shooter Saros has gone gold. So, too, has Capcom's beleaguered (yet incredibly promising) Pragmata, which was first revealed in 2020 for a 2022 release. Starfield's and Hades II's PS5 debuts, Mouse: PI For Hire's launch, the Konami-published Darwin's Paradox, the undoubtedly addictive Vampire Crawlers, and much more have us asking: When are we supposed to find the time to play all of this? It's a good problem to have! Plus: Sony purchases British machine learning firm Cinemersive Labs, Neil Druckmann teases the future of The Last of Us, Stellar Blade developer Shift Up buys Shinji Mikami's new studio outright, Disney executives are apparently interested in acquiring Epic, MindsEye's bizarre drama gets even weirder, and more. Then: Listener inquiries! What's the status of Fairgames? Are there any Life Is Strange fans in the LSM crew? Should gaming be more accessible to the poor? Is it possible that the Artemis II astronauts will listen to this episode of the show while en route to the moon? * Sign up for your $1 per month trial period at https://www.shopify.com/sacred [https://www.shopify.com/sacred] * This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Get 10% off at https://www.betterhelp.com/symbols [https://www.betterhelp.com/symbols]  Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement. 0:00:00 - Intro 0:31:27 - Never give up Krystal 0:33:51 - Ernie Anastos RIP in Peace 0:40:52 - First to platinum Saint Slayer 0:46:23 - Artemis II 0:56:09 - Nate's next career 1:01:14 - Sony spins off TV business 1:08:05 - Sony acquires cinemersive 1:14:05 - Saros goes gold 1:22:38 - Pragmata goes gold 1:27:36 - The Last of Us 3 tease? 1:38:35 - Shift Up purchases Shinji Mikami's studio 1:48:31 - Disney rumored to buy Epic 1:59:02 - MindsEye gets weirder 2:09:43 - New PS Plus games for April 2:14:02 - What We’re Playing (Returnal, Saint Slayer: Spear of Sacrilege, Marathon, Resident Evil Requiem, Crimson Desert, Marathon, Raccoin, Croc) 2:45:49 - Is gaming really for the rich? 2:59:10 - Is this crash worse than 1983? 3:12:46 - Are we Life is Strange fans? 3:19:32 - The state of Fairgames 3:23:40 - PSSR update 3:27:27 - PlayStation Direct preorders Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

#404 | Every Single Hope You Had Shattered

It's another week of bad news for PlayStation, as PlayStation 5 -- as well as PS5 Pro and PlayStation Portal -- are getting another fresh round of global price increases. While every previous gaming generation got progressively cheaper over time, our current gen is becoming substantially more expensive, and things are clearly starting to get to a breaking point. There's much to say. Also, more bad news: Newly-minted first party shooter studio Dark Outlaw Games has been unceremoniously shuttered after only a year. Such a move speaks yet again to the uneven leadership, tastemaking ability, and decision making at the top of PlayStation Studios, and begs the question how much bloodletting we need to see before anyone takes responsibility. If this sort of thing doesn't fall on Hermen Hulst's shoulders (an idea which doesn't really make any sense in and of itself), then who or what is responsible, and when will the poor stewardship of the brand's own games and studios finally cease? Plus: PlayStation cuts down on its years-long mobile gaming investments and initiatives, Sly 4 studio Sanzaru at one time readied a pitch for a Jak & Daxter remake, we nearly got a Breaking Bad game on PSVR, Epic Games lays off 1,000 employees, Pearl Abyss owns its AI mistakes in Crimson Desert, Microsoft Flight Simulator on PS5 gets PSVR2 support, Marathon sells a purported (and somewhat soft) 1.2 million copies, and more. Then: Listener inquiries! With Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth courting older gamers on average, is Final Fantasy officially finished with the younger generations? Are platform holders and publishers intentionally underpublishing physical copies of games to drive customers to digital storefronts? Do we believe the incessant rumors that Witcher 3 will get an expansion more than a decade after it first launched? Could Colin be the undisputed typing champion of Last Stand Media? Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement. 0:00:00 - Intro 0:31:24 - Shoutout to Tyrell 0:33:44 - New York authentic experience 0:46:37 - Nitrotype 0:55:08 - PlayStation price increases 1:29:28  Dark Outlaw Games closed 2:12:51 - PlayStation moving away from mobile 2:38:52 - Sanzaru pitched Jak & Daxter remake 2:49:14 - Firesprite was working on Breaking Bad VR 2:57:33 - Epic layoffs 3:17:54 - Pearl Abyss apologizes for AI art in Crimson Desert 3:20:20 - Flight Simulator is getting PSVR 2 support 3:24:38 - Minecraft Dungeons 2 announced 3:28:22 - Marathon predicted sales at 1.2 million 3:43:29 - February sales data 3:49:07 - What We’ve Been Playing (Chronicles of the Wolf, Returnal, Resident Evil Requiem, Marathon, Crimson Desert)4:21:16  Is Final Fantasy doomed? 4:35:49 - Is Dragon Quest like Pokemon? 4:42:48 - AI flooding indie games 4:55:09 - Physical games low stock 5:01:27 - Witcher 3 DLC Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

#403 | Not For Me, or Anyone Else

The drama around DLSS 5 has overtaken the gaming industry during the last week. Nvidia's image upscaling tech has been present in our space for years, but its newest iteration (set for a proper fall release) has many people scratching their heads. Have we gone from frame generation to art reinterpretation? Why is this technology being deployed so aggressively, anyway? And how come so many companies were so excited about it until they saw the overwhelmingly negative audience response? Let's delve headfirst into the mystery of the Yassified Grace, and all of the fallout therein. Plus: A fresh rumor indicates PlayStation Network branding will disappear later this year, Sony has apparently automatically refunded people for any spending in the now-cancelled Highguard, PSVR2 second party FPS Firewall Ultra has silently been delisted, PlayStation 3 received its random annual firmware update, legendary Tom Clancy developer Red Storm has been gutted, and more. Then: Listener inquiries! Have any of us messed around with a PS3 emulator? What's going on with Street Fighter 6's creepy new storyline? With Bravely Default skipping PS4 and PS5, is it safe to assume Square Enix isn't actually done with exclusives? Did two Sacred Symbols fans miss each other by mere seconds in a Dollar Tree parking lot? Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement. 0:00:00 - Intro 0:17:29 - Sacred Symbols missed connection 0:18:46 - The Oscars Vs The Game Awards 0:27:32 - New Titans logo 0:32:29 - This is life huh? 0:35:29 - DLSS 5 1:14:13 - Sony is dropping the PlayStation Network branding 1:27:46 - Sony refunding Highguard purchases 1:34:14 - Starfield is officially coming to PS5 1:41:19 - Portal update 1:48:15 - Firewall Ultra delisted 2:02:31 - New PS3 Firmware 2:07:15 - Layoffs at Red Storm 2:13:26 - Exodus gameplay 2:18:24 - Saudi Arabia buys 5% of Capcom 2:19:50 - What We’ve Been Playing (Minishoot Adventures, Chronicles of the Wolf, Resident Evil Requiem, Marathon) 2:59:57 - PSNProfile leaderboards change 3:05:44 - Giving up on gaming 3:12:18 - PS3 emulation 3:21:05 - Bravely Default only on Xbox 3:23:33 - Flopathon website 3:29:19 - Street Fighter 6 controversy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]

#402 |The Story Was Quite Clear

With Sony abandoning its chase of easy PC dollars, the megalithic Japanese company instead seems intent on maximizing its dollars at home, and reasonably so. While reporting indicates PlayStation's PC sales were stymied by staggered and unpredictable releases, that was already obvious. What's less clear is how Sony's pursuit of profit might affect the status quo, with a lawsuit in the UK over PSN monopolization and blatant A/B testing for dynamic digital pricing happening right before our eyes. What does the future hold as we begin to move towards next-gen? Plus: EA lays off members of the Battlefield team that created America's best-selling game in 2025, Nagoshi Studio and its Yakuza-like title Gang of Dragon are in big trouble, a LEGO PlayStation (1) console is seemingly en route for the holiday season, adventure classics Myst and Riven are PS5-bound, Crimson Desert finally emerges on PS5 Pro, and more. Then: Listener inquiries! With id finding so much success with the revived Doom trilogy, could Quake be next? What was the deal with that cryptic Bluepoint Tweet from 2019, anyway? Are physical-only players being hurt by the underproduction of copies of big games? Is Dustin intentionally making mistakes in his edits to sabotage our entire operation? * Visit https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/SACRED [https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/SACRED] and use code SACRED and get $50 in lineups when you play your first $5 lineup! A special Magic City Max Discount promotion is live in the app right now. Jalen Johnson only needs 0.5 POINTS during the Hawks vs Magic game this Monday 3/16. Open the app and make it rain! * This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Get 10% off at https://www.betterhelp.com/symbols [https://www.betterhelp.com/symbols] * Get 50% off and free breakfast for a year at https://www.factormeals.com/sacred50off [https://www.factormeals.com/sacred50off] and use code sacred50off  Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement. 0:00:00 - Intro 0:28:57 - Ragebaiting Dustin 0:38:33 - Geno Smith 0:38:56 - Neighborhood drama 0:45:22 - Sony's issues with PC releases 0:54:22 - UK case vs Sony digital storefront begins 1:13:40 - Sony testing dynamic pricing 1:33:32 - EA layoffs 1:45:23 - Nagoshi Studio is in trouble 1:56:33 - A PS1 Lego set is coming 2:05:55 - Crimson Desert console specs 2:13:43 - Pragmata moves up release date 2:15:36 - Myst and Riven remake coming to PS5 2:19:38 - Falcom revives Dragon Slayer 2:27:09 - New PS+ game catalog titles 2:31:27 - What We’re Playing (Resident Evil Requiem, Minishoot Adventures, Marathon, Pokemon Pokopia) 3:38:42 - Preordering physical games 3:48:05 - New Quake? 3:56:13 - Can Sony pull people away from established games? 3:59:50 - Do Sony studios have too much power? 4:02:27 - What was the point of Bluepoint's old tweet? 4:05:03 - Starfield interference Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices [https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices]