Home Artists Posts Import Register

Content

For your viewing pleasure.

Files

Phoenix Down | Sacred Symbols: A PlayStation Podcast Episode 147

Let's face it: It's been a pretty dour few weeks in PlayStation Land. That's why it's such good news that -- this week -- things are far more positive. For starters, Sony has wisely reversed course on its intent to close the PS3 and Vita digital stores down this summer. They also recently entered into a second party agreement for a new multiplayer game made by a fresh team packing some serious firepower. They may even be investigating a TV show-and-movie-driven expansion of PlayStation Plus. Heck, it even sounds like a KOTOR remake is in the works, while Tales of Arise has been dated on PS4 and PS5, and much more. But it's perhaps all capped-off by the biggest news of all: After five months on the market, PlayStation 5 is the best-selling console by units sold in industry history. So let's work our way through the deluge! Once we tackle all of the news, of course, we wrap things up with a litany of listener inquiries, as tradition dictates. Is Insomniac overtaking Naughty Dog as Sony's most important first party studio? Are audio diaries the best type of in-game collectible? Are PlayStation games about to launch on PC en masse? Can Colin survive a day without his meds? Get some Sacred Symbols merch! https://LastStandMedia.shop A new episode of Sacred Symbols: A PlayStation Podcast launches each Friday morning. To receive instant, ad-free access, as well as other perks, please support the show on Patreon at http://patreon.com/LastStandMedia You can also subscribe to the audio version of the podcast on iTunes, Google Play, and other podcast providers, or use this link: https://open.spotify.com/show/1GKTOA7ZhIfrxIxSR0rg25 Listen to Colin's retro and nostalgia podcast, KnockBack (also available on podcast services): http://bit.ly/KnockBackPod 0:00:00 - Intro 0:08:42 - A couple corrections and a few quick news items. 0:16:46 - Let’s get into the Days Gone controversy a bit. 0:32:32 - What have we been playing? 0:57:13 - Sony has reversed course and will not close the PS3 and Vita stores. 1:17:39 - Sony has revealed an exclusive partnership for a multiplayer game with Firewalk Studios. 1:44:55 - Cyberpunk 2077 sold more than 13 million copies in 2020 alone. 1:48:23 - Tales of Arise is coming to PS4 and PS5 and has a release date. 1:51:05 - A Knights of the Old Republic remake is on the way. 1:56:16 - Is a video service coming to PlayStation? 2:03:26 - The NPD group has revealed new sales data. 2:10:24 - The 21st Annual Game Developer’s Choice Awards nominations have been revealed. 2:11:33 - Some big personnel shake-ups have come to light. 2:16:13 - Extremely OK Games has announced their next game. 2:17:03 - More news of corporate consolidation in the video game sphere. 2:18:51 - News Wrap-Up 2:20:04 - What purpose does IGN serve? 2:29:15 - Could a remake of The Last of Us be a different story? 2:34:43 - What is Sony’s strategy in releasing their games on PC? 2:45:15 - What do we like (and dislike) about collectibles in games? 2:50:26 - Why should Sony make another handheld console? 2:58:04 - Will Insomniac replace Naughty Dog as Sony’s premier studio? #SacredSymbols #PSVita #PlayStation

Comments

Anonymous

Great episode so far! I just want to point out that in the Jaffe interview, Garvin stated he left Bend a week(!) after Days Gone shipped, which made me think he was kicked out. In the interview, he was very candid, and talked a lot about his shortfalls in a managerial/leadership position.

Raul Hernandez

Great episode so far, I had to stop it after the talk about Ryan McCaffrey,, he is an XBOX expert and the only reason why I still listen to Podcast Unlocked. Ryan’s one on one interviews break news. I think he maybe he doesn’t want to be a main person at IGN like previous people. I like his Tesla podcast, go listen to that.

BryanK75

I don't mean to be an asshole but unfortunately the financial data used in the video about Apple, Sony etc is not accurate..... I understand cnbc reported Apple have 200 billion or more in cash on hand but that is a complete misunderstanding of how accounting works. Apple has 76.8 billion cash on hand, they invested 100 billion in longterm investments which means that is not accessible for 7 years or more (meaning it is not cash on hand now), They also had a huge stock buyback which diminished their cash. Microsoft has about 110 billion cash on hand (was 131.9 before Nuance acquisition) but both of these companies have over 50 billion in debt that they have to pay off, meaning they will keep over 60 billion cash as a matter of prudence (accounting principle). Sony has 45 billion cash (more than Tencent) and at a glance, that looks like less than half of those behemoths you mentioned but Sony only has 7 billion of longterm debt.... meaning they could possibly raise tens of billions in debt to acquire whatever they want or use a combination of cash and debt. One of the best site to use to find accurate financial figures is Macrotrends or just go directly to the financial reports of the company.... Cash on hand = Cash and cash equivalents + marketable securities (under Current Assets). https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/AAPL/apple/cash-on-hand

KomakiKhaos

Another 3 hour banger

ReadyPlayerNice

I think seeing podcasts like yours vastly outperforming those of IGN is a big result of trust or lack thereof. For the inclined viewer/reader it has become quiet apparent over recent years just how much of a puppet many of these large outlets have become and people just aren't all that interesting in listening to hours of content from that type of source. Even when they do shake their fingers at major publishers, it's done in a way that is so obvious they're doing this to portray some semblance of genuine objectivity -- but I don't think too many people buy it. Hiring better writers won't solve this problem, it appears their business model has simply now trapped them in this cycle (say nice things and receive industry leading access).

OCEL0T

I feel like they should listen to the interview

BryanK75

Yup... they're struggling and the Microsoft money or exclusive interviews or other quid quo pro is on the table and too hard to pass up.

Toren R. (KESA)

Ya’ll wanna talk about “consequences?” ok, lol. Let’s talk about consequences. BEND Took 5 years to develop a buggy, good-at-best, 3rd person action game about a rugged brunette man in post-apocalyptic world overrun with <strike>zombies</strike> “freakers,” using a non-proprietary engine. Despite all that, Bend had the nerve to ask Sony for funds to spend another 5 years to make a sequel when there is a Last of Us HBO show around the corner and probably a new game in the pipeline at Naughty Dog. And when Sony took the only action that made sense and said “Yeah, that’s gonna be a no for me, dog,” John Garvin thought best to get in front of a camera and blame not getting a sequel on consumers for not buying his game day 1? Lol ok. Try taking less than half a decade to make a game about something even remotely original that, idk, runs decently the day it comes out. PS my spicy attitude is all in good fun. Colin is right in that supporting the studios financially is absolutely the best way to communicate to the powers that be that you want more of whatever it is a studio is making. There is just something in John Garvin’s messaging that puts a little extra hot sauce on my huevos. If making a sequel to DG was his passion, then it is a shame that that choice was made by other people. love the podcast and hope everyone is happy and well &lt;3

LastStandMedia

I'm afraid I don't understand; we talk overwhelmingly (and exclusively?) positively about Ryan.

LastStandMedia

Yeah, like I said: Whatever you want to do is fine by me. I think he should have just said more clearly what I think we all know: All actions come with consequences, even consumer actions.

Toren R. (KESA)

&lt;3 I agree 100%. btw, did you catch on Jeff Ross's podcast with Jaffe, he mentioned that Sony had used a 3rd party "mock review" vendor, which preemptively scored Days Gone at like a 60-Something% and that score is what Sony used to determine marketing dollars for upcoming releases? I didn't know that, and I haven't heard much commentary about it, but I know I had been wondering why Sony PR left sent DG out to die and it might have been as simple as it didn't score well enough internally. super curious to get your supa hotttt take &lt;3 Hope all is well.

Anonymous

I don't know Garvin and he may be a smart dude, but he clearly has a chip on his shoulder. His comments reek of entitlement and seemingly expose a complete lack of knowledge on marketing, pricing strategies, price elasticity and WTP in the gaming market, etc. As a dev/writer, he obviously doesn't need to know these things, but then he should know better about sounding off like that. Also, he mentioned piracy and while I understand how much it would suck as a dev to look at the numbers on torrent sites, there is a controversial study commissioned by the EU that did conclude, specifically for video games, piracy might actually help to increase sales in the long run. 200k pirated copies doesn't mean you lost out on 12 million more dollars worth of sales, but that's just a side point. Colin, I agree with your choices have consequences point, but I still feel like Garvin sounded pretty foolish and IF that was his point, he completely undermined it by putting all the blame on consumers.

Kenny C

Colin....I've put of ton of hours into Destiny 2, played all those hours on my own. Definitely give it a try, the gun play is really fun and feels great overall. Even when you do the strikes paired up with two other randoms you still just kinda do your own thing and the goal is the same for all of you. Plenty to play as a solo player though.

Anonymous

Colin I don't understand you, you want exclusive stuff for the PS5 and you got it with the yuffie DLC and now your complaining cause it's not on ps4 lol also IT'S FREE!! Just download it lol

Anonymous

yuffie dlc is only free if you buy the ps5 version of the game. if you own the game on ps4 you get the ps5 upgrade for free but you have to pay for the dlc

Michael Miller

I think Crash 4 jumped so high in the NPD’s this month because of the recent next gen release it had.

Anonymous

Colin was on the ball this episode, an extra pep in his step for sure

David P

Interesting tidbit: Two banjo-kazooie games came to GBA after Microsoft aquired Rare. There was also a 2015 interview where a former chief officer said the idea for a handheld came up multiple times but abandoned it quickly after, only going as far as drawings since it would've taken attention away from Xbox 360. https://www.looper.com/239552/why-we-never-got-an-xbox-handheld-console/

Anonymous

Colin says something like “...as everyone knows...” quite frequently and then he’ll say something that I didn’t know at all. It happens like 18 times a podcast haha. I’m like bro nobody knew that hahaha.

BlindRiot

Insightful as always...you kids are alright.

BlindRiot

I’ll take an Insomniac game over a Naughty Dog title every time.

Trapgunner

I also went and bout a copy of Tales of hearts R when the store closure was announced. I wanted a physical copy and it being a gamestop exclusive here in the us means its a lot rarer than some of the other physical copies. I luckily found a new copy for a decent price. One of the ps3 games that shot up exponentially was the best of PlayStation network vol 1 since it contains some digital only games on disc. Most notably Tokyo jungle.

Blake Wall

Don't worry Collin I know what it feels like to forget your meds and become dangerously goofy

Giovanni D'Amico

Colin, just want to let you know how much I enjoyed the extended review-like talk about Outriders. It's not something I'm playing or necessarily interested in getting into, but I really enjoyed that you got into the weeds and talked about what you specifically liked and disliked. Great stuff - you mentioned that you don't usually get into this type of analysis, but I'd love to hear more of it.

Hozi

Big topic we need to Discuss if possible: Trailer for Ratchet and Clank PS5 came out today, amazing. Gets me hyped for PS5. RETURNAL COMES OUT IN 4 DAYS! Why is Sony PR mucking up this badly. (it's the Titan fall 2 mess all over again.) They should be pumping out adds for Returnal left right and center, not doing short previews with media outlets! I'm saying it now, Returnal's sales will fall flat on arrival not because the game was bad but because Sony looked the other without giving it even a chance. Debate and best regards two C's and a big D, from Hozi.

Anthony Masters

Are you able to/looking to get a refund on the PS Vita dev kit?

Jamie Milligan

Just three cuties putting the rest of the game journalist industry to shame. As usual.

LastStandMedia

Thank you! I don't flex that muscle anymore after many years of flexing that muscle often. It felt good!

Blake Wall

It can be scary for me there is about a 1/4 chance that it can be funny though but most of the time it's not a good time

Blake Wall

I am just happy I got the help I needed when I was young because I have medicine that actually works unlike a lot of people with my condition