Sacred Symbols, Episode 164: Get to the Chopper! (Patreon)

In 2015, Sony quietly opened a brand-new, British first party team called Manchester Studio. Their charge? Make PSVR games. And so they did. Or, they tried to, anyway. Five years later, before even announcing their project or even leaving pre-production, the studio was shuttered, and now -- for the first time ever -- we know what they were working on and what went wrong. Their search-and-rescue virtual reality adventure sounds interesting, but leadership left much to be desired, and their execution was non-existent. So let's discuss. We'll also get into Call of Duty: Vanguard's proper reveal, chat about relics of The Last of Us: Part II's scrapped multiplayer functionality left in the game's code, wonder at the first-ever release of the original Quake on PlayStation hardware, and more. We'll also get into the mailbag, fielding your questions on topics ranging from emotion in our medium and the meaning of AAA to corporate consolidation and an unfortunate catastrophe concerning a Kit-Kat.

Timestamps:

0:00:00 - Intro

0:05:47 - Is Sacred Symbols too long?

0:16:38 - Corrections and concerns.

0:20:15 - A few smaller news items.

0:21:21 - We have to keep talking about Abandoned.

0:37:13 - Should PlayStation buy Splitgate?

0:43:01 - Is splitting a Kit-Kat the wrong way domestic terrorism?

0:47:12 -  What have we been playing?

1:05:11 - What happened to Sony’s Manchester studio?

1:16:50 - Call of Duty Vanguard has been officially revealed.

1:32:27 - Data mining efforts may shine some light on The Last of Us Part II multiplayer.

1:41:19 - Quake II has been remastered for every platform and is out now.

1:45:15 - Outriders may not have broken even yet.

1:56:35 - The studio acquisitions keep on coming.

1:58:00 - The NPD Group has dropped sale numbers for July.

2:00:54 - NHL 22 is coming to PS5.

2:01:53 - News Wrap-Up

2:04:18 - Are loot boxes really comparable to trading cards?

2:13:57 - What does AAA mean in gaming?

2:15:40 - Should Sucker Punch make Sly Cooper 5?

2:24:24: - Is it practical for indie developers to make games for older consoles?

2:31:06 - Does consolidation make more room for indie developers to thrive?

2:34:24 - How do video games affect our mental health?

2:41:48 - We’re getting even more Skyrim.