The holiday season is here, and it's thus time to employ the first of our traditional yearly wrap-up episodes. Let's take a gander back at the year that was, not only in PlayStation, but in the gaming world surrounding the brand, too. Each Sacred cast member brings five 'moments' to the table, and naturally, they're of a wide array. Jim Ryan's retirement, PlayStation 5's domination, PSVR2's irrelevance, Bungie's problems, Unity's meltdown, Yuij Naka's prosecution, Baldur's Gate 3's success, PS5 Pro's inevitability, and more are on the board. Let's get to each topic -- and more! -- as we wind our way through 2023 with a keen eye toward 2024.

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#286 | Our Favorite PlayStation Moments of 2023

Sacred Symbols: A PlayStation Podcast is the internet's premiere weekly PlayStation show dedicated to coverage of PS5, PS4, PSVR2, and Sony's deep gaming legacy stretching back to the mid-'90s. Join 20+ year gaming industry veteran and PlayStation brand expert Colin Moriarty -- along with his co-hosts comedian Chris Ray Gun and producer Dustin Furman -- as they go through the news of the week, highlight the best recent games, and interact with their incredibly loyal audience, all without taking anything too seriously. New episodes post each and every Monday. To get early access to each episode, join thousands and thousands of your fellow listeners by supporting the show on Patreon at patreon.com/laststandmedia  

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Video Games

Games & Hobbies

Hobbies

Games

Leisure

Times, they are a-changin'. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is rightfully pleased with Xbox's performance on the PlayStation Store, bragging about being the biggest publisher on PSN while presenting Microsoft's recent financial report. His company has seven games in the top 25, more than even Sony itself. So, uh, batten down the hatches, because you're inevitably about to get way more Xbox on PS5. Plus: Fresh leaks show us how Sony's digital games have sold in recent years, Square Enix writes-down $140 million in losses while cancelling multiple games, Take Two guts its Private Division label, Kingdom Hearts promises to horrify in film form, and more. Then: Listener inquiries. Based on recent moves by a rival, would Last Stand Media ever consider going platform-free with all of its content? Which drug from the Fallout universe are we most likely to become addicted to? How can a small indie game garner any attention in such a crowded market? What is it that Chris actually does all day?

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

0:00:00 - Intro
0:19:34 - RIP Claire, the Dutch Shepherd
0:25:56 - Sacred subs
0:29:40 - Take the leave Dustin
0:42:47 - Why is Chris busy?
0:55:25 - The last time we applied for a job
1:06:18 - Platform focused podcasts
1:26:41 - Returnal comic
1:38:59 - Firesprite director laid off
1:40:35 - New PSN social feature
1:51:06 - Rise of the Ronin is outselling Nioh
1:56:08 - Shinji Mikami wants to get away from survival horror
2:04:34 - Private Division closes Roll7 and Intercept games
2:16:16 - A Kingdom Hearts film is coming
2:21:04 - AAA GI Joe
2:23:24 - 750 million downloads for eFootball
2:24:22 - What we’re playing
3:04:12 - Xbox's 3rd party future
3:25:38 - PSN sales data leaks
3:41:57 - Square Enix cancelations and changes
4:00:06 - March NPD
4:07:55 - New PS Plus games
4:12:04 - Publicity for a small game
4:16:41 - Fallout chems
4:21:37 - Video game gambling
4:28:25 - Underrated influential games
4:36:00 - Crunch vs over hiring
4:39:17 - PSN stats
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#305 | Man the Floodgates

Embracer Group's downfall will be long-studied as an example of capitalistic hubris you rarely see, even in our ruthlessly capitalist society. Following mass layoffs, spin-offs, and studio closures, Embracer will ultimately split into three smaller, more manageable entities, instead of acting as a lone unit with more employees than the entire PlayStation brand, including all of its studios combined (seriously). It's just another example of people in positions of power somehow knowing less about their industry, the economy, and business than completely random people that do a video game podcast. Other news: Stellar Blade's "Hard R" controversy, the permanent closure of LittleBigPlanet's UGC servers, the cultural revival of the Fallout franchise on the back of a successful Amazon show, and more. Then: Listener inquiries! How do we feel about Ubisoft's apparent abandonment of the Watch Dogs franchise? Are gaming cookbooks the new rage? Can you be a fan of video games without actually playing them? Will British people ever acknowledge Americans' acumen with a map?

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
0:21:44 - Where is Sacred 300?
0:25:25 - Sacred through college
0:32:10 - Quintin's surgery
0:39:52 - British people
0:46:20 - PS Stars points correction
0:52:35 - LBP goes offline
1:09:36 - Hard R Shop
1:32:07 - Fallout show is getting another season
1:44:57 - Metaphor ReFantazio releases October11
1:48:53 - What we’re playing
2:36:34 - Embracer's downfall
2:53:42 - Watch Dogs is dead
3:01:11 - Dustin raising a gamer
3:09:56 - Is capitalism the problem?
3:13:29 - Gaming cookbooks
3:21:51 - Colin’s trophy inconsistencies
3:25:03 - Am I broken?
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#304 | Too Big to Succeed

For better or for worse, modern console manufacturers like Sony and Microsoft -- and even Nintendo -- are slowly learning that sustained success in the mid-to-long-term will require a wider view. Whether via mobile, or PC, or even your competitors' own machines, a certain message is getting through to the powers-that-be, and when it comes to Sony, the Japanese giant seems committed to opening a second front on home computers in particular. Thus comes word of a new PlayStation overlay that will launch with Ghost of Tsushima on PC this May, another step in a direction towards an inevitable conclusion. Other news this week includes so-called "transmog" drama in Helldivers 2, pending layoffs at publisher Take Two, compelling rumors of remakes for the original Persona game and its sequel, additional PS5 Pro details, and more. Then: Listener inquiries! Do we track our gaming backlogs? Does Tencent's minority ownership of Stellar Blade developer Shift Up give us pause? How far back in time could you go before you could -- in no way, shape, or form -- explain what a video game was? Can British people ever overcome their insane shared vocabulary?

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
0:26:55 - Sacred in Antigua
0:30:12 - British Vernacular
0:36:22 - Colin's Networking Solution
0:41:10 - Chris Ray Trump
0:43:09 - Dustin's vacancy
0:55:45 - Marriage insight
0:58:05 - Chess.com
1:10:39 - Ampere Analysis
1:16:23 - No Helldivers 2 transmog
1:22:04 - Take Two layoffs
1:36:08 - Ascendant Studios furloughed
1:37:37 - Persona remakes?
1:42:16 - March top downloads
1:45:39 - Possibility Space shut down
2:01:37 - Keanu Reeves cast in Sonic 3
2:02:48 - What We’re Playing
2:37:58 - PlayStation trophies on PC
2:56:54 - New PS5 Pro leaks
3:19:02 - Have we used Backloggd?
3:26:16 - Will companies chase the success of Helldivers?
3:35:47 - How do you explain video games to the past?
3:43:32 - Shift Up and Tencent
3:48:33 - Divergent timelines and parallel universes
3:54:57 - How do our personalities play into our taste?
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#303 | The Unified Field Theory

We've long-wondered what Sony's plans were with its dormant SOCOM franchise (or if it even had plans at all). After all, we can't just ignore the success the likes of Ubisoft have found with titles like Rainbow Six: Siege, and even in a post-Zipper Interactive world, it always felt like PlayStation's tactical shooter never really got a fair shake at success after its PS2 heyday. So color us both pleased and surprised when information from the resumé of a deceased actor pointed towards a SOCOM game that no one had ever even heard of: SOCOM 111. While it's fairly clear this project never got off the ground (or did it?), its existence gives us a fleeting glimpse into Sony's potential plans, and frankly, we can help but wonder if Zipper's defunct series may yet see the light of day in the future. Other news this week includes a release date for Star Wars: Outlaws, Vampire Survivors finally migrating to PlayStation platforms, Stellar Blade going gold, potential hiring for a new God of War game at Santa Monica studio, copious Destiny 3 and Dead Space 2 Remake rumors, and more. Then: Listener inquiries! Will PlayStation's colorful old logo ever make a return? Do we ever rename the characters in our digital adventures? What's our worst 'losing progress in a game' experience? Should one listener extract his stolen garbage bin from his neighbor, no matter the cost?

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

0:00:00 - Intro
0:42:47 - Do you know what we look like?
0:46:42 - Colin's internet problems
0:55:01 - The return of Hector
0:57:14 - Micah Stan
1:00:19 - "clowns, the good kind"
1:07:05 - Plane worries
1:12:45 - Garbage can situation
1:21:36 - Portal hack correction
1:23:55- Stellar Blade has gone gold.
1:29:25 - Santa Monica Studio gearing up for a new God of War
1:37:47 - Dead Space 2 Remake drama
1:54:14 - Sea of Thieves PS5 closed beta
1:59:48 - Is Destiny 3 in development?
2:15:30 - Yuji Naka returns
2:19:41 - Fallout 4 next gen update
2:29:37 - What we've been playing
3:16:44 - New SOCOM rumors
3:32:42 - Star Wars Outlaws has a release date.
3:45:56 - Vampire Survivors is coming to PS5
3:53:25 - New PS Plus games
4:00:37 - Cozy games
4:09:08 - Will the original PlayStation logo come back?
4:15:23 - How do we name characters in games?
4:20:59 - Why do games keep getting greenlit?
4:28:00 - Game crash woes
4:33:38 - Ubisoft hate
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#302 | SOCOMeback

It was just a couple of weeks ago that we were discussing the newest PlayStation 5 Pro rumors, and now we have fresh scuttlebutt to parse through, particularly concerning our precious framerates and the potential of the still-unannounced console. But we can't help but also wonder what PS5's market potential will be. Will it spread the field or, as it's recently been suggested, merely sell to existing PS5 players? Heck, is there any saving console gaming at all in the long-term? Let's take some time to chat about all of that, plus other news: Helldivers 2's new patch, day-one games coming to PS+ Extra, Silent Hill 2 Remake's ESRB rating, revised PlayStation 2 sales numbers, and so much more. Then: Listener inquiries! How much to we absorb a given game's internal lore, codices, documentation, and so on? Are we ever going to figure out what a 'Soulsborne' actually is? Could a new Shark Tank-like show aimed at indie games help exciting products find their audience? Is Dustin hiding anything else from Colin and Chris that he'd like to talk about?

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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
0:27:41 - Is game drama exclusive on Twitter?
0:44:39 - Universal LSM fans
0:59:49 - Retro PlayStation Magazine
1:04:05 - Chris's Red Pants
1:12:37 - Tips for moving in together
1:18:10 - IGN's Zelda April Fools
1:21:19 - PlayStation Store Spring Sale
1:27:56 - New PS5 Pro news
1:41:51 - Helldivers 2 update
1:44:42 - PS+ Game Catalogue Day One games
1:50:55 - New PS2 sales data
1:57:16 - Portal hack reported to Sony
2:01:38 - Silent Hill 2 rated
2:19:10 - KOTOR Remake is alive
2:29:03 - Dragon's Dogman 2 Sales
2:29:59 - Unicorn Overlord 500k Copies sold
2:31:47 - Hollow Knight: Silksong incoming?
2:37:33 - PS5 Minecraft port
2:40:12 - What are we playing?
3:33:30 - Do we read collectibles and lore?
3:44:51 - "this will make me sound like a hater"
3:54:20 - Updated thoughts on the Portal
4:08:48 - What does SoulsBorne really mean?
4:20:54 - Pixel Pitch
4:31:20 - Post-game emptiness
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#286 | Our Favorite PlayStation Moments of 2023

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