Sacred Symbols, Episode 73: Try, Try Again (Patreon)

Did you know that -- in the United States -- Anthem is the eighth best-selling game of the year? This little factoid tells us a whole lot. It indicates that our instincts as enthusiasts don't always speak for the wider market. It suggests a void in our understanding of meaningful metrics in the world of games-as-a-service. And it confirms perhaps the most unfortunate fact of all, at least for EA and BioWare: Lots of people paid good money to play their game, and few people cared to stick around. Yet, in a bold move, the publisher-developer combo are secretly planning to revive their beleaguered shooter with a slate of reported updates, tweaks, and overhauls, begging the question: Is such a move wise? We discuss. Then: DualShock 5's patents suddenly appear from out of Japan, it looks like Dreams may be hitting retail sooner than we thought possible, Microsoft's X019 event serendipitously reveals new PS4 games, and Deep Silver reaches out to the hardcore. Plus: Listener questions, comments, concerns, thoughts, and ideas! Could Sony engineer a PS4 buyback program to help sell PS5? Is Remedy running damage control over Control's sluggish sales? Does Shenmue III stand a chance? If vegans hate meat so much, how come they're so eager for food that tastes like meat?

Timestamps:

0:00:17 - Intro.
0:01:55 - Corrections.
0:03:01 - Sony reveals some pretty great Black Friday/Cyber Monday deals.
0:08:29 - Even more corrections.
0:11:48 - Vegan Talk.
0:15:58 - Listener Who Shit His Pants on a Date, Part III.
0:19:26 - A largely forgotten about piece of PS4 launch era lore.
0:21:30 - What have we been playing?
0:39:57 - A new patent appears to show DualShock 5.
0:47:13 - Bioware is planning to comprehensively fix Anthem.
0:53:57 - Dreams' retail release date may have just leaked.
0:57:53 - Naughty Dog is hiring for a multiplayer project.
1:01:00 - These were October's best-selling games in the US.
1:02:38 - A recent interview revealed new insight into Deep Silver.
1:06:20 - Minecraft Dungeons is coming to PS4.
1:09:45 - A release date for Wasteland 3 has been announced.
1:10:45 - Rust is coming to PS4.
1:11:31 - Path of Exile is getting a sequel.
1:12:39 - A new Street Fighter V iteration is coming.
1:13:29 - Two new Pearl Abyss MMOs coming to PS4.
1:14:25 - The Mega Man Zero/ZX collection has been delayed.
1:15:25 - Minor game announcements and release date information.
1:16:20 - Why is indie game cover art so bad
1:18:21 - This week's new releases for PS4, PS Vita, and PSVR
1:30:10 - What’s up with that weird press release about Control’s sales?
1:34:16 - Could Sony engineer a PS4 buyback program?
1:36:07 - How long will we have access to the PS3 and Vita storefronts?
1:40:32 - What are our opinions on PC gaming?
1:43:48 - What does A, AA, and AAA mean?