You may not have heard of The Embracer Group... but they've heard of you. Okay, maybe it's not that serious, but Embracer -- the holding company that owns THQ Nordic, Deep Silver, Koch Media, and others -- has been steadily acquiring dev talent for years. And now? Well, now they have a first party family of studios bigger than PlayStation's and Xbox's combined. It's not all AAA talent, of course, but such empire-building suggests that the future of publishing is in owning the entities that make games instead of just their projects. Plus: The Last of Us 2 gets some cool (and free!) updates, Rocksteady is preparing to discuss it's new project (finally), Yoshinori Ono is leaving Capcom after nearly 30 years, G.I. Joe is getting an all-new game, and more. Then: Does anyone actually care about Godfall? Is Overwatch 2 a bridge too far? Should Sony delay PS5 to avoid launching in a potentially devastating economy? Could there be more than one way to properly eat a pizza?
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#111: Corporate Imperialism

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

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?

Start building credit at https://www.chime.com/sacred

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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#301 | It's Never Too Late to Reinvent the Bicycle

Somehow, some way, we've made it to our 300th episode, and we did so without missing a single, solitary week between the first show in 2018 and today. We celebrated our milestone this past weekend with 500 listeners at a sold-out live show in New York City, and we're eager to reflect on what the experience meant to us. But the news marches on, too, albeit somewhat softly, and we'd be loath to ignore it. So let's delve in. The once-leaked Stellar Blade demo is set to be properly released on PSN by the time we publish, Embracer took a $800 million loss in selling Gearbox to Take Two, legendary game dev Shinji Mikami has founded a new team, Sony's Bend Studio seems to be going down the live service route, and more. Listener inquiries help us wrap things up, touching on topics like the golden era of RPGs, Dragon's Dogma 2's microtransaction drama, Nintendo's status as the ultimate gateway drug, and a listener too sick to come to Sacred 300 in NYC.

Start the Good Habit at https://www.tryfum.com/SACRED to save 10% off the Journey Pack today.

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

0:00:00 - Intro
0:31:13 - Live show video?
0:36:01 - Sacred friends on the train
0:38:39 - Too sick for Sacred 300
0:41:05 - RIP
0:46:23 - YouTube Premium
0:52:39 - Stellar Blade demo incoming
0:55:51 - Embracer sells Gearbox to Take-Two
1:02:46 - Community Game Help
1:04:11 - Final Fantasy IX teased?
1:08:50 - It Takes Two sales
1:15:32 - Shinji Mikami is back
1:21:20 - What Are We Playing
1:42:44 - Sony Bend’s Live Service Project
1:56:33 - Final Fantasy XVI's DLC
2:02:10 - PS Plus Games
2:08:11 - The rise of RPGs
2:22:50 - Dragon's Dogma 2 discourse
2:38:29 - The power of $40-50 games
2:47:48 - The future of GameStop
3:00:21 - What's wrong with comic book games?
3:14:56 - Nintendo, the gateway console
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#111: Corporate Imperialism

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