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Sacred Symbols, Episode 108: Peak Performance (Patreon)

Published:
2020-07-24 16:00:19
Edited:
2020-07-24 17:08:12
Imported:
2022-01

Downloads

Content

We already know PlayStation 5 was primed to provide a technological quantum leap to AAA projects, but what it'll be capable of in its first round of games is fairly surprising. Sony-owned Insomniac has revealed that its launch game -- the kinetic Spider-Man: Miles Morales -- can run at 60 frames-per-second in 4K resolution, which is virtually unheard of on current-gen consoles. But nothing is free, so at what technical cost are such results achieved? Let's chat about it. Plus: Ubisoft escalates next-gen's pricing wars, Madden NFL 21 says goodbye to the Washington Redskins, NHL 21 is staying on PS4 (for now), Final Fantasy VII Remake: Part II's mysterious development situation remains as murky as ever, and much more. Then, listener inquiries! How do we balance gaming as a hobby with our real-life relationships? Will standalone expansions become more common as development costs rise? Do Sony's outspoken studio heads help or hurt their respective brands? If a person doesn't return a shopping cart after use, should they go to prison?

Timestamps:

0:00:17 - Intro.
0:01:44 - Sacred Symbols+ housekeeping.
0:08:05 - A correction concerning Watch Dogs 2.
0:12:10 - A correction concerning PS3's launch SKUs.
0:12:56 - What's going on with this Gamer Girl game?
0:17:45 - What do we think of Prophecy, Sucker Punch's cancelled (and leaked) game?
0:22:01 - Does Colin replace his shower poof regularly?
0:23:53 - Irish people.
0:26:41 - Our vernacular is rubbing off on listeners.
0:27:38 - Is returning a shopping cart the best way to judge character?
0:31:06 - More details on Colin's oral hygiene practices.
0:32:15 - Let's talk about cookouts.
0:38:21 - What have we been playing?
0:54:25 - Was putting Ghost of Tsushima out after The Last of Us: Part II the right move?
0:57:25 - Ubisoft has revealed their next gen games this year will be $60.
1:02:52 - Yves Guillemot further addresses the recent allegations at Ubisoft.
1:13:35 - Spider-Man: Miles Morales will have a performance mode for 4K 60 FPS.
1:18:35 - Final Fantasy VII Remake: Part II is in active development.
1:24:25 - The NPD report for June 2020 is out.
1:28:09 - Shin Megami Tensei: Nocturne is being remastered for PS4.
1:29:52 - A few games from the Xbox Games Showcase are also coming to PlayStation.
1:33:16 - Madden is preparing for the Washington name change.
1:37:31 - NHL 21 will not get a next-gen version this year.
1:38:50 - Spike Chunsoft is taking over Danganronpa's western publishing.
1:41:55 - Rocket League is going free-to-play.
1:43:28 - Minor game announcements and release date information.
1:45:02 - This week's new releases for PS4, PS Vita, and PSVR.
1:55:08 - Why don't more big studios expand into multiple teams and locations?
1:58:35 - How do we feel about outspoken studio leads?
2:01:44 - How do we balance gaming and relationships?
2:05:41 - What are our thoughts on Filip Miucin's attempted return?
2:15:29 - Will the PS5 do better than we think, even in a bad economy?
2:19:53 - Due to rising costs, will we see more stand alone expansion-style games?

Files

Comments

Dennis Johnson

While I'm hear by myself, I'd just like to say thank you.

Dennis Johnson

Thank you on behalf of everyone else to follow.

Khyle Claeys

On behalf of this other guy, I'd also like to say thank you

Mitch Orobko

On behalf of Dennis , Khyle and myself. Thank you

Shaun Wilkinson

Chris was far too kind on that Xbox show... it was bad, really bad, and with today’s news it’s looking worse by the hour. It’s very disappointing to see.

Jack Doheny

I’m Irish and Aoife is pronounced EE-FA I’m proud of Chris he got it well done lmao

Anonymous

Hope you two have a great weekend! Thanks for the show and I look forward to the next ss+!

Jake Z

Watch Dogs 2 is delightfully silly. It succeeds at simultaneously celebrating internet culture and satirizing it.

Will Hahn

I’m glad you guys mentioned the load times for Ghost. I was shocked with how fast it loads, especially when you are fast traveling. It’s actually fast. Lol.

Jake Z

I only bought a loofah recently to scrub off dead sunburned skin and they do not do the job! Overrated!

Alex Bolton

Chris nailed the Aoife pronunciation! You pronounce it like Eefa, had to learn this with my roommates sister

Jake Z

I started saying "wild" more after listening to Andrew Schulz use it so expressively. I do think it's come around again as a common reactive expression amongst Zoomers, along with "unreal."

Campbell Parker

Hey shaggers. My mums name is Oenone, seems to be a huge challenge for anyone to pronounce. It's an ancient Greek name but we're very Scottish so it's always a point of consternation.

Samuel Ashley

I loved the TLoU2 and the narrative it told, but it’s so refreshing to have Ghost to play after it. I can pick up and play this game in small chunks, and just have fun exploring while not really having to worry about progressing the story. Also with how long Ghost is, I think Sony was smart to release the two games in this order.

LastStandMedia
>>40933508

I'm only able to play Ghost in small chunks. I dunno... it's just not speaking to me, even though I very much want it to!

Kenneth Oms

Every SS episode Chris proves to me that he has never experienced life. How do you not know what bake beans are? No Hispanic would consider bake beans just beans. We call it, white people food.

Anonymous

Colin, this is very much an assassins creed in japan game, so it makes sense why its not speaking to you as much as it is to other folks

Kyle Goodrich

That bean debate almost got intense. I agree though Colin - Chris is totally giving the impression he doesn't know what baked beans really are.

Anonymous

Colin, phantasy star online 2 is already localised in the west.....I've been playing it on my Xbox one.

Jake Z
>>40935700

I think Colin would be enjoying it if it were set in the post-apocalypse.

Kendrick Calles (Ca-Yes)

Really got worried that Colin and Chris were gonna come to blows over the baked beans debate.

Chris

I think coming off the just brutal intensity of TLOU 2 (btw, glad to hear it grew on you, Colin), I think Ghost is just a welcome change of pace. I remember, a few hours into TLOU 2, I was like “omg, wow... I completely forgot this is not a normal game series.” I will go back for the platinum, but basically I put all games down for a month til Ghost and was happy to just dive into this pretty, very video gamey game, where you’re designed to feel powerful and just enjoy the scenery.

Sumojoe118

I'm getting a bit burnt out with Ghost. After spending 20 hours clearing the entire first section of the map I've moved to the next part and it seems like its just gonna be more of the same thing. I'm hoping the gameplay gets a bit more diverse.

Chris

Assuming their reluctance to have a female lead was based on any data, I bet Ubisoft was petrified of taking any amount of risk while fending off a hostile takeover from Vivendi for years. Here’s hoping that a new creative lead will be more willing to green light “riskier” things, including some more variation in their game design.

David Graham

CLS: The number oneth podcasting brand on the internet.

AllTooEasy_

I’m going to prep a submission for the Ghost spoilercast but as a first draft... I am enjoying the combination of TLoU2 and then Ghost very much. They work well together and make me enjoy the playstation experience BUT I just wanted to point out 2 large double standards I’ve noticed people fall into. The killing of Dogs in TLoU was viewed as a big point of contention, well you kill dogs in Ghost. Why isn’t it mentioned? And Chris made a critique that TLOU “ran out of game” to show the character essentially arguing that gameplay loop was too repetitive... but Ghost is wayyyyyy more repetitive in gameplay, in animation and general experience but I’ve heard no mention of it. Sorry for wall of text.

Zack Forney

The bathing saga that has continued for weeks continues to kill me lmao

Anonymous

On the topic of shopping carts, My friends and I have always called my need to put carts back as a "Superhero Complex." A need to do everything for the good of all mankind.

Miles Williams

I absolutely judge one's character on if they put the shopping cart back or not. I was a cart pusher at Walmart when I was 19. I did it for about a year. I saw so many people that wouldn't even push the cart to you if you were five feet away from them gathering carts. Nothing in my life has made me want to beat someone to death as much as that. 😂

Mark Zebro, Jr.

I can’t wait for episode 40,001th

Brandon Soto

Halo 100% should have looked next-gen, and it did not. All exclusives are on PC, some on Switch. No reason to buy Series X Day-1. Another generation where Xbox will lose.

Wayde

Xbox showcase was a letdown tbh

DarthLemon616

Glizzy Gladiator Chris 😅

hugplx

Re the female protagonist thing, it entirely depends on the game. If it's an rpg where I'm making choices and actually 'role-playing,' (fallout, new AC, mass effect etc) then i won't get if it i can't play as a man. It pulls me out of it when i can't play vicariously through the protagonist. It's much more evident with me with reading fiction. It's an escapism thing I think. Games like TR, tlou2 and Horizon however aren't that. They're like watching monies. It doesn't matter what i play as. If Witcher 4 had a female only protagonist, that'd be an issue for me. I'd struggle to get into the game the way i did Witcher 3. I wouldn't rage or anything, it just wouldn't be for me.

Sumojoe118

I think we should give Square Enix the benefit of the doubt with the next parts of FF7. They've have tons of shennanigans over the years leading up to the release of FF15, Kingdom Hearts 3, and FF7, all of these games turned out great. I'm confident what ever they do to continue 7 will be great!

Wayde

Love how Americans try to be all inclusive even when its bad business. Female character in games don't sell in a ton of other countries. While I agree western games have no issues it just doesn't play to the core audience in most Asian and some European countries.

Lee Bull

Is Chris blind or in denial? The xbox showcase was at best a 5/10. Wouldn't argue if someone scored it a 4. I Nice announcements but no gameplay. In the case of Obsidians game and Fable not even in engine footage. Halo looks legitimately like a 360 game. All that event did was damage the brand and push PS5 sales. Maybe Sony had a sneak peek and that's why they doubled production recently 🤷🏻‍♂️

Lee Bull

Colin... You often mention wanting shorter games to digest, and wanting more variety and bravery from devs to do something different, Ghost isn't speaking to you because it's the Sony formula... Again. Please try Hellblade. It's 5-6 hours and it would definitely speak to you. It's in the vein of Gone Home and Journey. Short, memorable, a one and done experience game. You are missing out man.

Real Radec

Thank you for spitting the FACTS about PlayStation All-Stars not being a bad idea. Sony should definitely try again with that franchise (change the name obv) since it's mostly been singleplayer games as of late. They could do this with bringing back Starhawk/Warhawk as well.

Erk-Prime

Bob Villa 😭😭 #PBS

Henry Maxwell

A little help for Chris when discussing graphics, Bump maps haven't been used since the PS2 days. Normal Mapping is the replacement since PS3 on. PS5 will likely make Vertex Displacement Mapping more popular and eventually replace Normal Mapping. Here's a rundown of the difference: Bump mapping; baked in lighting on a surface in the world for higher detail per surface. The lighting does not update on the surface during gameplay on a fragment level. Normal Mapping: A texture that tells each pixel on a surface how to react to the lights around it. This information updates in realtime so lights no longer have to be baked, but render bump maps meaningless. Vertex Displacement Map: A texture the tells the physical offset of the location of each pixel on a surface as well as its angle. This is expensive but does all the previous maps' jobs while still faking higher detail geometry. The benefit here is that you can manipulate the micro-texture detail in real-time for advanced interaction fx.

Zack Fair

Colin I feel you know nothing of the culinary foods we have in the UK, the food over here is excellent and feel like you've only tasted a small amount to be able to comment on with authority. You are right that we do good breakfasts though, one is a English breakfast, which consists of Bacon, sausage, fried or scrambled eggs, hash browns,mushrooms and beans and tomatoes with toast or eggs fried bread

Anonymous

Haven't listened yet but looking forward to hear both of your thoughts on the Xbox showcase. Definitely not expecting to hear good things considering how much of a letdown it was

Dom posa

Lock on would not work with this game. Keep playing it and you will get it. These Sony games are nothing alike besides being open world in 3rd person

Zach Brown

I know you don’t want to talk about TLOU 2 anymore, but I’m glad you enjoyed it and saw it through to the platinum (only my 40th, so I’m a little less than half the platinum man you are). Hope you caught the couple of Bioshock nods, and not just the death by gold club. I loved seeing the one gate in Seattle with the code 0451, a nod to the first door code in Bioshock, and variants found in Bioshock 2, Infinite, and even System Shock (and Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, for that matter). Lots of smart, dark worlds ties together here.

Haydyn

I'm in my final year of studying a Bachelor of Journalism and anyone who plagiarised any of their journalistic work has been terminated from studying the degree without a second chance. Genuinely baffles me when people think its a good idea to plagiarise.

Brogan Trull
>>40946241

I put them back because I worked as a greeter and had to collect those carts one summer for hardly any money at all. You're doing the right thing. Same reason I put my stuff reasonably together after a dinner out for the busser to clean up quickly instead of leaving sloppy stuff everywhere (bussed for a summer and did dishes at a restaurant).

Bryan Lozano

Colin trust me you definitely dont want a lock on camera later in the game when there’s a lot more enemies. Also this isn’t assassin creed like, this is sly cooper like. Put some respect on his name!

Tyler Cumerford

Hey Topher, Why in the fuck would I get a cart off of the gravel that was "considerately" placed next to my car 40 spaces down from the store and violently vibrate my hands until they're numb rolling the cart all the way into the store when I could just grab one from inside after a brisk walk to the front lobby? Are you nuts?

Alex Cabrera

Aoife is an Irish girls name. Pronounced EE-fuh Chris was correct

Zack Fair

They is a woman named Aiofe Wilson who works for Eurogamer, surprised Colin has not heard of her and the name considering he talks about Eurogamer

Zack E

So the made up descriptions for the games are certainly funny. But is it a bit disrespectful? I know the purpose of the game release segment isn’t to sell the audience on the game, but just to introduce it and acknowledge its release. However, I don’t think this made up description is really adding anything to the show. Now, there were certainly humorous takes on the actual descriptions, and maybe some people thought that was sometimes mean spirited, but I think that had much better context. And most of the funny takes were on the ridiculous grammar some of the descriptions would have. I just don’t know if I feel comfortable with the made up descriptions. And because the Drop doesn’t seem to exist anymore, if the choice is now no game release segment, or this made up description segment, I think unfortunately I’d vote for not doing it at all. I’m sure I’m in the minority, but I would take a serious look into this segment. I just think it can give off bad vibes at some point. It’s not your responsibility to properly give attention to new PS games. But, is it at the same time irresponsible to make up descriptions for them?

Zack E
>>40973883

I find it odd that some defense of how Halo looks is the fact that it is being built for Xbox One as well. ......isn’t this is exactly what people have been concerned about Xbox’s play everywhere strategy? It’s not always just PC-like graphics settings sliders. You’re going to be handicapped by the lowest common denominator. And this is going to manifest itself from day 1 at the design stage.

Anonymous

Is no one going to talk about spongebob battle for bikini bottom in the top 25 last month? That’s amazing lol

NeO JD

“...you can just book it with your hotdog.” Picturing Chris running with a hotdog is silly. “What about an RPG?” I know it’s not a Sony Studio, but damn it Colin, PERSONA 5. In terms of the Ubisoft sexism claims, the data for Odyssey pointed out that 2/3 of the players chose the male lead. On another note, with TLOU2 you could see in the comments some of the sexist players who wanted to play as Joel again, and hated playing as a woman. It’s sad really. I agreed with Josh before you recorded this episode, but I’m agreeing even more so now after that lackluster Xbox showcase. I expect the PS5 to be a hot item until supply catches up to demand.

LastStandMedia
>>40942071

I think I talked about this on a past episode, but the way you kill dogs in TLoU2 -- the viscera and the sounds and the context -- make it a different thing. At least for me.

Quintin Propes

So hear me out. In this age of conspiracy theories, Sony doesn’t release the drop anymore because of you and Chris being the only way they get talked about. So you’ve beaten them yet again by just sorting and looking for new releases. I’ve got another idea though. Get a list of the new releases weekly, choose 10 or so (or all of them whatever), and make a separate post with the list and let your Patreon’s come up with their own descriptions and read them on the show!

Luke Silletta

I think it makes perfect sense that Ubisofts cross gen games stay at 60. Its just weird for people who aren't enthusiasts going into the store. Why is this 10 bucks more? Its the exact same game right? Can I just buy the PS4 version and use backwards compatibility then? Just too much confusion that is solved with keeping this run of games 60.

Brian Lau
>>41068948

Agreed. I also think these games are just a straight port to next gen similar to when Assassin's Creed Black Flag came out. The two versions looked almost exactly the same. They must assume there will be blowback once people get their hands on Valhalla and Watch_Dogs: Legions and do graphics comparison.

Anonymous

Great show guys. Your gamers block is very real colin. I felt that way with tlou 2. I got to abbys part of tlou2 and just kinda gave up. I want to beat it but idk why the game feels like a drag.

Joseph Tartaglia

The critique of Ghost being just another open-world game that also suffers from being the last IP to drop in the generation is so completely misguided. You must give the game time to marinate. How many times has this been the case? Sony is growing up with its user base as the majority of its consumers are in their mid 30s. Why are short attention spans and mental dread knocking down the greatness of this game? Just take your time and play as long or as short as you can, but definitely play it. Sucker Punch worked 5 years on this...the least you can do is play it through.

Josh Lucas

After rocket league goes free to play, new players won’t be able to get it on steam. If you already own the game on steam, you’ll be able to continue to play it there.

kentuckyfried

re: the discussion at 50 minutes, I’ve seen this comment echoed so many times by xbots on twitter...that Sony only knows now how to do the big open world, film-like experiences. It’s something that’s plagued the ps4 gen quite a bit. It seemingly took an eternity for these to arrive and when they did, they might seem somewhat samey (I didn’t get this ennui bc I haven’t played horizon, god of war, or days gone, ended up playing other things during those times or nothing at all). That’s not entirely true that Sony doesn’t know how to diversify their titles. I actually preferred last gen bc there was that diversity of first and third party titles (maybe not as much as ps2), but it seems like Sony has gotten a bit risk-averse and I can only imagine they lost a shit ton of money taking all those insane risks (hardware and software-wise). For instance...I will always regret this, but I think MAG had some potential. It was the unfortunate victim of coming out at the wrong time when COD was still at its full strength as a franchise. I played it a little but mostly my time was devoted to other games and it didn’t get much love...by the time I got back, it was a bit too clanned-up to be accessible to most people and not long after that it seems, they pulled the plug and even shuttered Zipper Interactive. Same with other things like PS Allstars, Modnation Racers, Resistance 3, etc etc. It’s my hope that we see something different in August and the months to come.

Kelly Perkins

I really like fmv games, but that gamer girl gamewas absolutely rediculous. As a female but not a streamer it's also slightly offensive. There are actual female gamers out there that are not this stereotype shown in this game. It's just all unnecassary.

Kelly Perkins
>>41148146

Also beans on toast is a British staple. That's your go to meal if you can't be bothered to cook dinner. Sprinkle abit of cheese on top and it's then posh haha

Devon McCarty

Filip Miucin can get right the fuck out of journalism in general. Initially, I had given him a little bit of a break, thinking that he made it to IGN because of his raw talent and that since he wasn't formally trained, he couldn't be held to the same standard as someone that has gone through specific mass communication training. But, I'm looking at his LinkedIn profile right now, and this motherfucker attended Palomar College from 2010-2014 to get his AAS in Mass Media. Then attended California State University San Marcos to get his B.A. in Mass Communication from 2015-2016. When I went to college, my classmates and I spent a lot of time discussing Jayson Blair, Stephen Glass, and Brian Williams. Those were the godfathers of plagiarism. We also spent a lot of time discussing the work of Sean Penn and whether or not an actor can just "do journalism" whenever they feel like it. I can't imagine someone spending six years in college to pursue a degree in mass communication, without ever taking the law of mass communication class, ethics of mass communication class, or any number of basic pre-requisite courses one would have to take in order to get their degree. Those colleges should take his credentials back. He clearly didn't use them. Keep up the great work.

Anonymous

Best game drop ever. Laughed like a maniac. Love it

Pete

Hey Colin, Your comment on not feeling Ghosts resonated with me. I just finished The Last of Us Part II this past weekend. The game was so emotionally draining that I haven’t been able to pick up anything since. I tried two games (a VR game and an FPS) to try and cleanse my palette, but had to put them down soon after. This has actually happened before with Red Dead Redemption 2 and The Witcher 3. After finishing both those games, I had to take a month hiatus before I wanted to play another game. I’m hoping that starting a NG+ and getting the platinum for TLOU2 will maybe bring me some closure, but since you already did that and it didn’t really work, I’m hesitating a bit. Anyway, let us know what works for you, any advice to get out of this slump would be appreciated. Cheers, Pete

LastStandMedia
>>41047481

Conspiracies aside, I think the culprit is ultimately that they folded all of the regional PlayStation Blogs into one, and since different games come out in different territories at different times (and sometimes not at all), I think it's made doing the Drop impossible. That's my theory.

LastStandMedia
>>41139559

I agree that Sony is becoming more risk-averse... but it's also working for them. I want to see more variety. In some ways, we do have it: Gravity Rush, Knack, Until Dawn, etc. But I think they can -- and should -- do more. If there will be 3-4 big exclusive pops for PS5 a year, two of them should be something different than this increasingly-worn formula.

LastStandMedia
>>41325181

I really do think that it's the order of operations that's got me down. TLoU2 was just so... visceral. And it's hard to jump into anything else when you just got the shit kicked out of you like that. That said, I did hit a bit of a groove with Ghost last night, so that's good.

Dave Carsley

I don't mind playing as a female lead, but I'm not going to lie, I don't want to play as an ugly female lead. I don't really care if people think I'm horrible for that. I'm a human male, and I think if people (male and female) were honest, they'd much rather play as Chloe from Uncharted than some Amy Schumer looking chick. We're humans; we like looking at attractive humans.

Tyson Williams

I just realized I got "that's wild" from Chris as well, I say that all the time

Robert Byers

Just an FYI. I’m late to listening to this episode. I’m a weirdo that listens to this through the Apple Podcast app every week because I refuse to let old habits die and use the Patreon app. I’ve noticed that a lot of episodes lately on the free feed podcast there are a lot of bad jumps in the audio late in the episode where parts repeat or jump around multiple times.

Orion88

2 comments after Sony earnings call, PS5 launch very well could be the biggest console launch yet and while I agree, DLC isn’t my favorite, it’s it going anywhere any time soon as it’s the primary revenue driver of Sony in the PlayStation universe. In fact, it’s now going to be practically required going forward that ALL games have DLC as the costs are largely baked into the original sale and they constitute all profit. (41% of PlayStation profit game from DLC). This figure is staggering as it dwarfs income from new releases like Last of Us 2. Pretty sure That’s why LOU2 multiplayer is stand alone becasue that’s where Sony plans to make all the profit on the game!