Sacred Symbols: A PlayStation Podcast

For some strange reason, rock solid survival horror is somewhat scarce these days. (Indeed, if you think about it, that's kinda always been the case.) But with Resident Evil 2's long-awaited remake finally out, it's fair to say that our hunger for the undead is satiated, in the best way possible. After chatting about RE2, though, we get into the news. The NPD Group has released the best-selling games in America for the year of 2018, and the results may surprise you. Meanwhile, Ubisoft has added "Light RPG Elements" to Far Cry: New Dawn, making us even more excited for the game. Oh, and did you hear those rumors about Fallout 76 going free-to-play? Well, they're not true, and we'll tell you why. We cover all of that, plus more, rounded out with listener questions, comments, and concerns on topics ranging from Anthem's lack of PvP and its unimpressive demo performance to fixing the broken Trophy ecosystem and willing into existence a brand new modern shooter... if the market could even support one. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In 2013, Electronic Arts signed a promising (and lucrative) deal with Disney to be the exclusive developer and publisher of Star Wars video games. Fast forward nearly six years to 2019, and EA has very little to show for it. With the most recent cancellation of yet another EA-developed Star Wars game, is it time for Disney to work with other publishers? We discuss. Additionally, we tackle other news items from the past week, including Guerrilla Games getting an extended peek at Death Stranding, Bungie remaining committed to Destiny's long-term future, Ubisoft bungling in-game relationships in Assassin's Creed: Odyssey's DLC, and much more. Plus, we tackle plenty of listener inquiries, including where Resident Evil should go in the future, the wisdom of revitalizing PlayStation Home, THQ Nordic's possible "Moneyball" tactics, and perhaps the most important question of all: Is a corndog a popsicle? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

This past week, something seemingly unthinkable happened: Developer Bungie and publisher Activision parted ways when it comes to the mega-popular Destiny IP, and weirder yet, the measure seems completely amicable. So let's spend some time dissecting this significant business move from all the angles. Also: PlayStation 4 continues to set the world on fire with both hardware and software sales, as it eyes 100 million sold. But does that milestone truly matter? Plus: GearBox Software's co-founder and CEO is being sued, Sony makes a covert corporate purchase, Catherine abandons Vita, and Ninja Gaiden might be making a comeback, and we answer listener questions concerning speedrunning, game narrative versus design, future retail and digital pricing, and the perfect DualShock 5 controller, in addition to much, much more. (Oh, and we render a final verdict on sour cream and onion potato chips, too.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We like to do things just a little differently here on Sacred Symbols, even with tried and true industry-wide traditions like Game of the Year. For our First Annual Prestigious Sacred Symbols Game of the Year Awards, we opted to dole out 20 accolades, but not in the way you'd probably expect. What's the best action game? Best RPG? Best exclusive? No, no, and no. Instead, we dole out our high honors like The What Could Possibly Go Wrong Award, The Best Unintentional PlayStation-Related Entertainment Award,  The Game I Forgot I Played And Couldn’t Tell You Anything About Award, and much more. Of course, we also cover the news! The return of Telltale's The Walking Dead has a release date, From Software both apologizes to and teases its audience in the same interview, EA and BioWare are prepping two Anthem demos, et cetera, with your questions, comments, concerns, thoughts, and ideas sprinkled in, as always. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's a new year, and it's time to get down to brass tacks. 2019 will almost certainly bring with it the first concrete details -- official or otherwise -- concerning Sony's PlayStation 5, and it's high time we start speculating. But while much of today's episode of Sacred Symbols is indeed dedicated to PS5, not all of it is. Rather, today's show is totally structured around your questions, comments, concerns, thoughts, and ideas, not only about what's next in the World of PlayStation, but about what has been, and what is right now. We'll get back to normal order next week. For now, let's gather 'round the digital fire and chat, shall we? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Before we get into our Game of the Year awards in a couple of weeks, we wanted to clear our plates (so to speak) by touching on some of the greatest (and worst!) PlayStation-related moments of the last calendar year. For instance, God of War, Detroit: Become Human, and Spider-Man gave us a trio of amazing PS4 exclusives that lifted our spirits, but the likes of the PlayStation Classic and Sony's initial attitude towards cross-platform play left us a bit sour. Then there's the nebulous stuff -- such as Sony exiting next year's E3, the company acknowledging PlayStation 5 for the first time, and the like -- that have left us excited, but also nervous. Let's work through it all, with a ton of listener memories and thoughts complementing our own. We also get into some recent news, too, including the long-awaited Dreams beta finally arriving on the scene, Sony's inability to manufacture the Vita carts publishers ordered, and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Colin is just about near death with some sort of winterborne illness, but he and Chris gather for their weekly ritual -- bestowing upon you some PlayStation goodness -- nonetheless. Kingdom Hearts III doesn't come out until late January; yet, the game has leaked, and spoilers are abound. We discuss the fiasco in spoiler-free fashion. Also: Metro Exodus has gone gold and gotten a bumped-up release date, Detroit: Become Human hits a sale milestone, Uncharted guru Amy Hennig is set to receive prestigious honors, the Game Awards have us rethinking our most-anticipated games of 2019 podcast from last week, and much more. We also integrate plenty of your questions, comments, and concerns (as always), including on if in-game ads have gone too far, if games media needs to fundamentally rethink how it reviews games, and if developers are perhaps too focused on quality over quantity. Have at you! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

2018 is just about behind us, and 2019 lies just around the corner. To celebrate the coming year, we sat down and sifted through our most anticipated games of the next 12 months. Chris came packing 10 games; so did Colin. Through some very complicated mathematics (not really), we made a solid list of 16 games, cobbled together to represent our collective excitement. The rules? The games in question have to be playable on a piece of PlayStation hardware, and have to be aiming (at least somewhat) for a 2019 release date. That's it. So enough talk! Let's do this. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Should video games be censored, or should anything go? The PlayStation ecosystem has recently found itself having to answer this important question, one framed around a peculiar (and often distasteful) grouping of fan service-heavy games. Some niche devs are claiming that they're being stymied, the consumers of those games aren't happy about it, and Sony itself has admitted that the rules are shifting. So, let's chat about where to go from here. Plus: December's PS+ games have arrived, GameStop posts a major financial loss, the FTC has its eyes on lootboxes, Fallout 76's drama continues, Rocksteady isn't making a Superman game, WayForward joins the Bloodstained team, and much more, enveloped -- as always -- by your questions, comments, and concerns. Oh, and it's Chris' birthday, so Colin got him a very appropriate gift. More details within. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The holiday gaming season arrived with a massive dud with the launch of Fallout 76, the online-centric Fallout game that's being poorly received both critically and commercially. What does it all mean for Bethesda as a publisher, its world-famous Bethesda Games Studios dev team, and fans alike? We delve in with our thoughts, and plenty of listener questions, too. Plus: PS4 continues its sales domination, Media Molecule's Dreams is getting a beta before year's end, Rockstar has abandoned its PS3-exclusive vaporware Agent, Kingdom Hearts III has gone gold, and Square Enix filed a new Parasite Eve trademark. Also: One listener asks what PS5's launch library could look like, and much, much more. Let's go! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

E3 began way back in 1995, and each and every year since, Sony has shown up with its PlayStation brand, often in a major way. But in 2019, that all changes. Sony has announced that it won't be at E3. At all. No press conference. No show floor offerings. Nada. This is a huge deal, and it gives us an enormous amount to chat about. Plus: PlayStation 4 turns five, Square Enix is toiling away on a PS5 title, THQ Nordic has an astounding 55 games in development, and much more. Listeners also chime in with questions about dormant franchises like Jet Moto and Parasite Eve, and one fan inquires about our respective audio setups, too. So let's get going, shall we? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Red Dead Redemption 2 is -- beyond a shadow of a doubt -- one of 2018's very best video games. Indeed, you could rather easily make the case that it's 2018's Game of the Year, period. To celebrate Rockstar's brilliant new Wild West experience, we decided to do an episode dedicated entirely to RDR2, in Spoilercast form. You know what that means: We're going to spoil the heck out of the game, so don't listen if you haven't beaten it yet! We talk about the characters, the setting, the story, the gameplay, and much more, and integrate plenty of your questions, comments, and concerns into the mix, too. So go gather the fellers, light the campfire, and get-ta listening. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just when things seemed to be going swimmingly for Square Enix, bad news strikes: Not only has most of Final Fantasy XV's DLC been cancelled, but the game's director -- one of their most vital employees -- has left the company. Combined with a $33 million loss over the past six months, the famous Japanese publisher may not be in fighting shape. We discuss. Plus: Red Dead Redemption 2 keeps selling huge, Activision is disappointed with Destiny 2's performance, Supermassive Games is still in the PlayStation exclusive fold, and Colin wonders aloud if he's going senile. Oh, and should Twisted Metal go Battle Royale? That's just one of the many listener questions we answer, too. So come one, come all! Let's get nerdy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The PlayStation news never stops rolling in, and with new PS4 global sales figures, random NPD releases concerning lifetime Vita and PSone software numbers, and fresh information about both the Medievil remake and the recently announced MLB 19: The Show, we have plenty to keep us busy. But we also wanted to take time to focus on the non-PlayStation fiasco surrounding Blizzard, Activision, the Diablo franchise, and... well... many gamers, including many of you. Why is the gaming industry becoming so increasingly toxic, and how can we repair the many rifts that exist around us? Did Blizzard commit a rare faux pas, are gamers expecting too much, or is the truth (as usual) somewhere in the middle? Plus: We remember Monster Rancher, discuss innovations from the multiplayer realm, give a fair shake to Fallout 76 and Kingdom Hearts, and gush over Netflix's Castlevania series. (And much more, of course.) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sony has finally revealed the 20 games that are set to come loaded onto each and every PlayStation Classic. The lineup has pleased some, but has left many others disappointed (and dare we say aghast). Not surprisingly, we jump into the ongoing conversation. Plus, Shawn Layden finally talks specifics when it comes to PS4's Medievil remake, Spider-Man sets sales records, Bethesda continues to pay for the trap it set for itself with Starfield and The Elder Scrolls VI, there are problems galore with the PSN name change beta... and one intrepid listener asks what Sony thinks when its hardware appears in porn, which is a surprisingly great question. Speaking of questions, we wade through many other listener inquiries, too, including ones about review scores, midnight launches, and much, much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices