Sacred Symbols: A PlayStation Podcast

SEGA never stops trying to make Sonic the Hedgehog relevant again. Indeed, the storied games publisher even announced a foray into feature films some months ago. But now, that mere announcement has been given life and motion, and... well... the results are highly disturbing. But with the filmmakers' decision to heed fans' calls for design changes, have we reached Peak Entitlement? Let's chat about it. Plus: Sony reveals perhaps the most disappointing lineup of free PlayStation Plus games yet, Dreams is getting its first big update, Rage 2 is ready for launch, and Bloodstained finally has a release date. And what's that, you say? You have some input, too?! Why, of course you do, listener! So let's take your inquiries, per usual, touching on topics like the publisher-developer relationship, how to (maybe?) not support crunch in game dev, and the reinvigoration of the single-player FPS genre.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It feels like we've been waiting forever (and we kinda have), but our long national nightmare is finally over: Sony Bend's PS4 exclusive Days Gone has arrived. Now that it's on store shelves and in folks' hands, we thought we'd do a special episode of the show all about the game, giving our in-depth opinions about all it has to offer, and delving headlong into the plot with reckless abandon. (This podcast contains substantial and consistent spoilers, as the title suggests.) We also corralled a ton of your questions, comments, concerns, thoughts, and ideas about the game, which we've sprinkled throughout our program. So top off your gas, load your shotgun, and ride off with us to Central Oregon. There are zombies... we mean, Freakers... to kill. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

PlayStation 4 is getting kinda jealous. After all, we've been heaping all this attention on its successor over the last couple of weeks, and it thinks we've forgotten about it. So let's prove it wrong with a heaping helping of PS4 news and info! For starters, new PlayStation 4 sales figures have been announced, and with PS4's all-new exclusive Days Gone now released, you'll be pleased to know that (free!) DLC is on the way. Plus: Bloodborne is now a board game, Kingdom Hearts III is getting new content, a Persona 5 Musou is en route, Square Enix will announce new games at E3, and much more! Then, to wrap things up, let's talk to the audience (that's you!) about topics ranging from playing Sekiro the really hard way and if DualShock 5 should have more buttons to Horizon's sequel and the reality of 8K gaming.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sure, we talked about PlayStation 5 extensively last week, but we just can't get it off our minds. This is especially true considering an extra morsel of information we weren't aware of until recent days, a morsel all about price. We jump into the new info, plus take a bunch of PS5-related questions from the audience, 'cause it turns out you want to talk about it a whole bunch. Then again, we still need to dwell in this generation, and so there's plenty of news to cover there,  too, including Mortal Kombat 11's leaked DLC roster, The Last of Us: Part II passing a key production milestone, and all the juicy (and nerdy) details about Konami's upcoming Castlevania compilation, plus more. Then, we put a bow on everything by considering the possibilities of more Xbox-Nintendo collaborations, the future of outrage-driven games journalism, and the possibility of upgrading your PS4 games to PS5 games... for free!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This week was already going to be zany here on Sacred Symbols. That's 'cause there's a ton of news to get through, including the roll-out of the long-awaited, vaunted PSN name change functionality, new tidbits relating to Ghost of Tsushima and The Last of Us: Part II, kinda-sorta-maybe confirmations concerning new entries in the Horizon and Killzone franchises, and much more. Hell, we even learned more about Respawn's upcoming (entirely single-player?!) Star Wars game. But then something quite unusual occurred: An interview with Sony's Mark Cerny was released, like mana from heaven, and within it was a shocking amount of information about PlayStation 5 (though they won't yet call it that). For the first time, we have actual answers to common PS5-related questions (like backwards compatibility, various confirmations on components, PSVR integration, and more). So it's only right that the World's Most Beloved PlayStation Podcast jumped into the details with all the gusto you'd expect from such a mighty show. Thereafter, we round things out with listener questions, including one that presents a puzzling inquiry: Is there an unsolvable tension between art and play?   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Over the last couple of weeks, a debate has raged within the gaming industry: Should games be easier? Should they be more accessible? And are those two things actually the same, or in some way, shape, or form different? On this episode, we take the time to drill down deep and get to the bottom of some lingering questions about game difficulty, disabled players, and the Games Are For Everyone philosophy. But no episode of Sacred Symbols would be complete without copious news and plenty of letters from the listeners. Borderlands 3 has a release date and couch co-op, the UK's Prince Harry thinks parents are helpless against their Fortnite-playing children, GameStop is hemorrhaging money, and much more, while fan inquires range on topics from Mega Man Battle Network and The Elder Scrolls VI to PlayStation Plus, PlayStation Now, and the dreaded PlayStation Store. Oh, and we gush about Phoenix Wright for a bit, too. Objection?! We think not. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Like virtually any gigantic multinational corporation, Sony has seen its share of ups and downs. Its most recent upswing, however, was overseen by Kaz Hirai, who -- from 2012 to 2018 -- served as Sony's CEO after nearly two decades cutting his teeth on the PlayStation brand. Now, he's on the verge of retirement, and so it's time for us to say goodbye. But fear not, for there's plenty of video game news this week, too. Borderlands 3 is real (shocking, we know), Dreams' Early Access is right around the corner, DriveClub is driving off a cliff, and a prominent Japanese developer left his studio over concerns of censorship. As always, we round out things with your queries, touching on topics ranging from Trophies on other hardware and remastered soundtracks to the status of Ready at Dawn and our lack of Mortal Kombat 11 coverage. Oh, and one listener makes a bet with Chris, and PlayStation 5 is involved. How intriguing!    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're barely through the first quarter of the year, but the new releases keep piling up. This week, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice joins the fray (and many others' backlogs), and we have a word or two to say about it. But after catching up on what we've been playing, we take a sharp turn into the news. Sony's new Nintendo Direct-like State of Play initiative debuted, with a few announcements and release dates worth noting, particularly when it comes to PSVR. Persona 5 is also back in the news with a mysterious announcement of an announcement, Konami piles on the classic compilations (Castlevania!), and a new Lord of the Rings game appears to be PlayStation 5-bound (yes, 5). Then, with your encouragement via listener mail, we leave the Sony ecosystem for a bit, diving deep into Google's Stadia announcement, the controversies surrounding Epic's new digital game store, the nature of game pricing, and much more. After all, we may be a PlayStation podcast... but it's good to venture outside every now and again. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Division 2 has finally arrived, and players around the world are having a blast. So too are we here at Sacred Symbols, and so we delve deep into our experiences so far, while also pondering the obvious: Does this game have the long tail its competitor, Anthem, so severely lacks? There's lots of news to get through this week, too. Borderlands 3's announcement is imminent, Turtle Rock's Left 4 Dead spiritual successor is in the works, a new Sonic the Hedgehog game is a-comin', the Uncharted movie's ex-screenwriter apparently loathes Neil Druckmann, and much more. And what would Sacred Symbols be without letters from the listener, letters ranging on topics from Ghost of Tsushima's release window and Capcom's meteoric upswing to the pros and cons of turn-based combat and the glory of the South Park RPGs. There's much to get through, agent. Let's do it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When it comes to the gaming industry, the war for your time and money is a relentless slog. It almost makes you wonder if -- in trying to give you more -- you're actually getting less, not only in content, but in creativity and wonder, too. A listener question sparks a conversation surrounding just such a topic, and we naturally delve head first into it. But before we get there, there's some news to attend to. One upcoming PS4 exclusive (Days Gone) has gone gold, while another (Death Stranding) seems to be falling behind. New firmware brings PS4 Remote Play to iOS devices. PlayStation is breaking the Chinese gaming industry wide open. And did you know NIS is bringing a new Vita game out... in 2020?! We discuss all of that, plus much more, rounded out by even more listener questions, like: Where's Killzone? Will Legend of Dragoon ever come back? And does Colin really hate gum more than anything else on Earth? The answers may just surprise you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The longest slow death in world history is about to finally conclude. After more than seven wonderful, memorable, and possibly even unnecessary years, Sony has finally pulled the plug on the production of new PlayStation Vita units, signaling the end of the handheld's tortured life. But are we really, truly in its final chapter? We discuss. Plus: The news! Respawn is readying the reveal of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Horizon: Zero Dawn passed a huge sales milestone, The Division 2's puzzling season pass has finally been explained, Phoenix Wright has been dated for PS4, and more. Oh, and how about some questions, comments, and concerns from the audience, like: Why does EA refuse to publish the Mass Effect Trilogy on PS4? Should great game studios be held to a higher standard than their mediocre peers? Will BioShock 4 ever materialize? Is "moist" a worse word than "damp?" Listen, and find out...  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Anthem is finally out in the wild, and it's arrived with a noticeable commercial and critical thud. But is it as thoroughly mediocre as it seems? We go in-depth into BioWare's newest online loot grind, and give you our candid thoughts. Then -- per usual -- we delve into the news. Media Molecule's Dreams is finally coming out (sorta), Bethesda has outlined Fallout 76's year-long content plan, The Outer Worlds may be closer than you think, Square Enix goes on a Mana-related trademarking binge, and more. Rounding things out are listener questions on topics ranging from the future of Mega Man Legends 3, the symmetric vs. asymmetric analog stick debate, Nintendo and Microsoft's increasingly cozy relationship, and the best JRPGs to enjoy for a player new to the genre. Enjoy this week's episode. Just please don't use the term "Looter Shooter." We beg you.    Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

At the center of any enterprise is money, and the gaming industry is no different. But with the recent layoff of a staggering 800 people at gigantic (and profitable) publisher Activision Blizzard, questions are starting to be raised about the financial viability of game development as-is, and the treatment of the thousands of talented men and women that make the games we love. Se, we dive head-first into the subject. There's also plenty of news to get through. A high-ranking Sony executive has spoken openly and candidly about PlayStation 3's struggles. Is that a good sign for PlayStation 5? Also: Hollow Knight's getting a sequel, Tokyo RPG Factory's next game has been revealed, The Division 2's open beta is inbound, and both Catherine: Full Body and Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night have much more release clarity for we, the western gamer. As usual, we round things out with your letters, including a chat about hunting games, the longterm viability of the Battle Royale market, the future of EA's NCAA Football series, and violent video games' relationship to real world violence. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Late last year, we learned that Sony would skip E3 in 2019, an unprecedented exit from the world famous trade show that began way back in the mid-'90s. But with the recent words of a top PlayStation executive, we now know for sure what we earlier suspected: The company feels June's annual gathering has grown increasingly irrelevant. Is their stance forward-thinking? We discuss. Plus: We open up to you about our relationship with gaming PR, wish the very best towards those likely facing layoffs at Activision Blizzard, recount January's best-selling PSN games, commiserate over Disney's relationship with EA, and more. Your questions, comments, and concerns round things out, as always, on topics ranging from subtitles in games and the ethics of using walkthroughs to Japanese voice acting and the old 3D fad we all hated. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ready or not, a brand new battle royale adventure has joined the fray. It's called Apex Legends, and it's a free-to-play Titanfall spinoff from EA's Respawn Entertainment, launched on PS4 as a complete surprise to everyone. That's all well and good, but can the market sustain another one of these types of games? And why does it seem like Electronic Arts is competing with itself? We sort through it all. Then: Sony's recent financial report shows a healthy company and a very healthy PlayStation 4, but what does the future hold for the Japanese behemoth, what with a serious threat from Microsoft's Xbox brand on the horizon? Plus: Quantic Dream officially leaves Sony's second party family, GameStop could be in serious financial jeopardy, 2K announces a brand new studio, and more. And for dessert, your inquiries and thoughts, including on PlayStation 5's hypothetical launch library, the wisdom behind buying a PS4 late in its lifecycle, and the possibility of a new middle market emerging for A (not AAA!) games. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices