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The silence surrounding The Last of Us: Part II has been somewhat deafening, what with PlayStation 5 hurtling toward us on the horizon and PS4's most important and anticipated exclusive still unreleased. Our patience has been rewarded with precious new information, however, including the game's release date, and there's a whole lot to discuss, including for all you Joel fanboys and fangirls out there. Then: Borderlands 3 sells big (with seven out of ten copies purchased digitally), Sony promises a green PS5 (though not literally), and WB Montreal's Twitter account comes out of a long and dark slumber to tease a new Batman game (or so it appears). Listener questions on issues ranging from the lackluster state of the physical games market to the perilous finances of subscription services round out this week's offering, including tons of non-TLoU information from Sony's State of Play event concerning both PS4 and PSVR . Let's trek forward, friends! It can't be for nothing.

Timestamps:

0:00:17 - Intro.
0:01:32 - This week's KnockBack and Sacred Symbols+ are both dedicated to The Last of Us.
0:03:25 - Is original reporting in the games industry a relic of the past?
0:07:53 - A quick update on Colin’s OMAD diet.
0:09:23 - What have we been playing?
0:12:23 - Should someone check out Borderlands 3 if they didn’t like 2?
0:14:04 - Are Colin’s expectations too high for new releases?
0:19:03 - How well did Sony do with the newest State of Play?
0:22:42 - The Last of Us: Part II has a release date.
0:29:08 - A Death Stranding PS4 Pro has been announced.
0:30:31 - A few new PSVR announcements from State of Play.
0:32:12 - Other various announcements from State of Play.
0:33:25 - Sony aims to make PlayStation 5 a greener machine.
0:36:32 - Is a new Batman game being teased?
0:39:00 - Borderlands 3 is a commercial success.
0:41:04 - A new Terminator game is coming out soon.
0:42:18 - Ghost Recon: Breakpoint's road map has been revealed.
0:43:47 - MediEvil has gone gold, and a demo is available now.
0:44:45 - It looks like E3 as we know it is going away.
0:48:35 - Minor game announcements and release date information.
0:49:38 - This week's new releases for PS4, PS Vita, and PSVR.
0:57:55 - How will big publishers adapt as physical game sales decline?
1:03:50 - What kind of finish will PS5 hardware have?
1:08:21 - How will game subscription services affect sales data?
1:13:38 - Should Sony implement a rewards system like Xbox?
1:17:29 - Which recent games have exceptional UI?
1:21:18 - What could PlayStation 5's launch library look like?

Files

Comments

Nathan Favreau

Ohh yeah baby! Let’s get it!

Barrel Titor

I really don't care for Last of Us at the moment. Oh well.

Devon McCarty

Downloading this to listen to on the commute home. The game I'm most excited for is Arise: A Simple Story. That game is off-kilter enough to be right up my alley. Plus, not sure if you guys ever wasted hours back in the day on Newgrounds.com, but there was an animated series, Bitey of Brackenwood, that would fit perfectly in that world. Would love to see Piccolo and Brackenwood team up

Will Hahn

Hey, Colin! Thanks for reading my question at the beginning of the show! It was great to hear your guys’ perspective on the article and helped me realize my interpretation with it was a little off! Lol.

Barry M. Johnson

Thanks for the many shout-outs to Habroxia! I did indeed choose the word "myriad" with Colin in mind. Glad to hear that you are playing Tales of Hearts again Colin! I really enjoyed that game. The Wonder Chef is my favourite collectible mechanic of any game. It makes me smile to see a random object with his chef hat on top and know He's hiding there with a new recipe :D

Tony Rivera

A day late and a bounty full.. just the way I like me scurvy booty. Yhargh!! Keep ‘em comin’ m’lads!!

Anonymous

Hey Colin, just wanted to add to the discussion of subscription revenue and game sales. Last year, Phil Spencer told Jeff Gerstman in a Giant Bomb interview that Game Pass subscribers actually *bought* more games than non GP customers, and saw significant sales increases over their internal projections with Sea of Thieves. It’s important to note that GP customers get 20% off games featured on the service during their entire duration, as well as a discount on DLC. Thanks for the great content!

Anonymous

"the souls still burns" Demon Souls remaster confirmed?!

Anonymous

Hey Colin I wanted to ask you a question. You said gears 5 bombed but really how can you say that with such little data out there. The only data we know is Xbox physical sales in uk and not digital sales. I find it very weird when you talk about gamepass and other services but you seem to lack any insite of this but you get your views and data comes from Twitter usually by dodge in charter people. Even if gamepass is something that offered easier access to the game we don’t have much sales numbers from pc and Xbox digital. I feel like saying something bombed is so tuff to say when we seriously aren’t getting any real data

Anonymous

I am super fucking hyped for the new batman game if it actually involves the Court of Owls. Night of the Owls is probably one of the best storylines in all of comic books in the last 20 years, I'm not exaggerating. When I saw the announcement I lost my shit because I've been dreaming about a Court Of Owls videogame for years. I don't know if you are much of a comic book guy, but you should definitely check it out.

LastStandMedia

That's an interesting point, but it's kind of apples to oranges, and is another way Microsoft is obfuscating the numbers. Just because people who bought Game Pass also bought more games doesn't mean more games are being sold.

LastStandMedia

When I talk about numbers, I sometimes glean information from behind-the-scenes sources I cannot tell you about or point to. I'm not saying that's what happening here; just saying it often is the case. The Gears 5 UK numbers are important because, even assuming a massive increase in digital sales, they're still far down by Gears' standard.

Big Swingin' Rick

Code Vein looks cool, there is a Demo on the PS Store that would make for a good let's play. Imagine an AA quality anime Bloodborne

Patrick Dougherty

Really looking forward to your input and getting into the nitty gritty about TLoU2.

Anonymous

Colin, quick correction about the Sony Rewards thing. You and the listener are both correct that Sony does have a rewards program that can be tied to your psn account. You do earn points on money spent on psn, that can then be redeemed for gift cards, Sony products (cameras, headphones etc) and games. The thing that you were both off about is that, until recently, you could earn points for getting trophies, HOWEVER points for trophies will be expiring in November. I am enrolled in Sony Rewards, and got an email a few months back about Sony discontinuing points for trophies. I would imagine that this is a direct result of all of the bullshit trophy games readily available for cheap, looking at you My Name is Mayo. I’m personally sad to see this “feature” leave, as it has driven me to attempt platinums in a few of my games. I refuse to stoop to the level of playing garbage games just for the platinums, but I’d definitely wager that there are people who have abused this. I don’t believe I can share pics here, but I’d be more than willing to dm you a few on twitter if you are curious. Thanks for the great content, and for keeping Tuesday thru Friday great.

There’s No I in LLC

You'll pay for making me wait 24 hours extra for this episode.

Kenneth Oms

It’s Marcus From PSP! We need plublicity for the PSP! I miss that kid. Also Colin, let me know if this would be better as a question for next week, but I buy my games physical still and sell them to people on eBay/posh mark and make some of my money back that way. But Sony or whoever packages the games are awful. When I buy physical, brand new. the disc inside of the case is loose and you can hear it moving inside the case.

Nate McKinney

Great episode guys. As for the Court of Owls, it's basically this secret society of elitists, the oldest families in Gotham, etc. that have been shaping events behind the scenes since Gotham's founding. (Think the Patriots from MGS on a local level and with less AI's, and they have ninjas). The Court of Owls is one of the best recent Batman stories, I highly recommend it. #NoMoreRoadmaps

Nathan R

“I guess I really don’t know” Colin. Story of my life.

Nate McKinney

Also, let's be honest, Colin. We all know your unit isn't understated. We remember, the Event Horizon.

David Graham

An excellent episode, as per usual, Col.

NeO JD

When we will know more about this game you’re working on?

Gabriel Garcia

In addition, PlayStation used to have a credit card backed by Capital One which would give you a lot of value. You'd get 5% off games from the store and 50% statement credit for PS+ after spending $3000 in a year, and 10% off PSNow, Vue and music. https://blog.us.playstation.com/2017/09/29/introducing-the-new-playstation-credit-card/ I tried to sign up recently and was declined for the card for having a short credit history, but if you try to sign up for the card now you'll find that you can't. Instead, you get to a page that says the rewards program is going through a transformation and that well hear more in November. Maybe they're bringing in the rewards of the credit card and the program into one thing but who knows.

Adam Barnes

If you do end up doing physical copies of the Sacred Symbols game will your patrons get early access to preorders or anything like that? I NEED IT! <3

Anonymous

Just 2 things: [1] Agent Orange wasn't exactly a nefarious chemical during the war - it was an herbicide used to eliminate or significantly decrease the foliage so that satellite/air surveillance could better assess troop movements on the ground in Vietnam. The really bad shit didn't start to happen until 20, 30, 40 years after. [2] Eating one meal a day causes a massive blood sugar spike and doesn't stimulate your metabolism on a regular basis, so yo are potentially setting yourself up for severe metabolic disorders later in life (diabetes, for one). Trust me, I'm a pharmacy student ;) Maybe eat one big meal (slightly smaller than your 5 guys norm!) and snack on low carb stuff throughout the day, with a small carb boost once or twice a day (fruits, milk, bread, etc.). Want you to live forever bud, and keep CLS going! Just looking out, take my input with a grain of salt ;)

Ryan Murdoch

OMG I need this too!!!!!. Don't give us a taste of your sweet fruit Colin, and then not give us a physical!. And yes, we need a manual!!!

Daniel Schiffer

Hiiiiii guys. I don't think it's fair to paint Sony with the "green corporate propaganda" brush. Yes, they're doing this for their bottom line but in contemporary management a new wave of theory is gaining momentum called the triple bottom line. Profit. Community. Environment. From the sounds of it Sony falls into this category, why else would they be backed by the UN. And they provided humble statistics which we can assume is backed by data. I just think we should praise, not criticise a company that takes from the environment and is trying to do their part to give back.

Daniel Schiffer

Great Ep. As always guys <3

Forrest Hunter

“I want the smallest possible unit and I want it to be black.” Giggity.

Elias Salcedo

I honestly don’t see the problem with white phosphorus in the game when in Black Ops 1 you see your team die from Mustard gas and it also incorporated the use of Napalm strikes

LastStandMedia

This could be a pertinent letter to submit for next week, considering we'll be talking about Sony's new direct-to-consumer initiative.

LastStandMedia

Well, that's why I said my first instinct was to criticize them, but it didn't really pan out that way.

LastStandMedia

It's an incomprehensibly stupid argument for this very reason... and many, many others like it.

Anonymous

I don’t own The Last of Us , but I will give it a try when it’s on PS+.

Mr Worry

All I've wanted since April 20th 2011 was more Socom. And to see boobs.

Daniel Schiffer

That's fair. Just seemed like an overly indifferent or negative response to something that should be celebrated. Surprised Chris didn't.

Dave Carsley

You guys completely skipped over the tragic deaths of your two black friends. I guess that headline about your "racist" women's day joke must have been true all along! 👌👌👌

Tyson Williams

I wish we'd get a proper terminator game where you play as a normal person in the 80's running from the terminator

Orion88

I agree Manuals used to be such an awesome part of a new game. I used to love the manual that came with the original Starcraft, the art was awesome.

Daddy Dilkers

Man I really hope the remaster Colin keeps hinting around is Demon’s Souls. I’d kill for a Demon’s Souls remaster. At least 3 infants and or 6 adults. Nothing more, I’m not a monster.

Damian Castillo

Colin. I think explaining inverted vs. normal is not difficult. Normal players control their games with a focus on the reticle and this is their mind is what they are controlling. So if they want the reticle to go up, they move the thumbstick up. Inverterd players control their games with a focus on the characters head/camera. So if they want the character to look up, the move the thumbstick down because your are controlling the characters head. The reticle for a Normal player is center stage and the characters head/camera just happens to follow it. The characters head/camera for an inverted player is center stage and the reticle just happens to follow it. The crazy thing is that VR breaks the two apart. In VR, the head and reticle are finally controlled independantly. So inverted players feel at home moving their head around as they always have which means you lean your head back to look up, and inverted players feel at home moving the reticle with their hands as they normally would. In my opinion, VR helps explain why we have two different ways of looking at the traditional movements on the game screen. I am an inverted player because to me, I am moving the characters head/camera and the reticle just happens to follow it. My daughter is a normal player and her focus is moving the reticle and the characters head/camera just happens to follow it. This is how I make sense of it at least and there is no right or wrong way .

Damian Castillo

By the way. Inverting Y does not make sense for an inverted player because in real life you can't invert the movement of a camera. When you move a camera left, you see what's on the left. But when you want to see above you, you lean the camera downward to look up just like we do in a video game.

Anonymous

If you really use the stick in the back of the head analogy, you should also invert X.