Sacred Symbols, Episode 167: Sleepless in Burbank (Patreon)

It's been well over a year, but finally -- finally! -- Sony has given us some new, much-needed details concerning their upcoming slate of PlayStation 5 games. Word came by way of a tight, 40 minute presentation, and perhaps the biggest news of all was that Sony-owned developer Insomniac, already responsible for two PS5 games, will be delivering two more by 2023. First off, is Insomniac now Sony's uncontested crown jewel studio? And how could they possibly be working at such a rapid clip? We get into all of that, plus all of the other reveals and details from the Showcase, including a PS5 KOTOR remake, Square Enix's Forspoken, cross-gen exclusives God of War: Ragnarok and Gran Turismo 7, and more. We also delve into the week's other news, including the acquisition of a brand-new first party team in Firesprite, fixing Sony's inane game pricing scheme with Horizon: Forbidden West, the PlayStation debut of Alan Wake, and so much more. Then, we dive into some listener inquiries. What indie studios are impressing us most right now? Would we rather 4K resolution at 60 frames or 1080p at 120 frames? Could Parappa the Rapper be a good multiverse IP for Sony to explore? Did Colin sleep without any underwear on when he stayed at Dustin's?

Timestamps:

0:00:00 - Intro

0:13:02 - PS5 is making game sizes smaller.

0:16:15 - Focus Home Interactive has changed their name.

0:17:10 - Square Enix has released a post-mortem report on Babylon’s Fall.

0:23:51 - A blog post detailing the future of Marvel’s Avengers has been released.

0:28:29 - Stardew Valley has surpassed 15 million copies sold.

0:31:30 -  A few smaller news items.

0:37:42 - What have we been playing?

0:46:38 - PlayStation Showcase - Our overall thoughts.
0:49:50 - PlayStation Showcase - Knights of the Old Republic remake.

0:57:30 - PlayStation Showcase - Project EVE

1:01:15 - PlayStation Showcase - Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands

1:04:27 - PlayStation Showcase - Forspoken

1:09:47 - PlayStation Showcase - Rainbow 6: Extraction

1:11:32 - PlayStation Showcase - Alan Wake Remastered

1:11:46 - PlayStation Showcase - Grand Theft Auto 5 & Online

1:12:36 - PlayStation Showcase - Ghost Wire Tokyo

1:17:11 - PlayStation Showcase - Guardians of the Galaxy

1:20:30 - PlayStation Showcase - Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodhunt

1:23:51 - PlayStation Showcase - Deathloop

1:26:55 - PlayStation Showcase - Tchia & Kid A Mnesia Exhibition

1:30:26 - PlayStation Showcase - Uncharted 4: A Thief’s End & Lost Legacy (PS5/PC)

1:34:45 - PlayStation Showcase - Marvel’s Wolverine

1:39:48 - PlayStation Showcase - Marvel’s Spider-Man 2

1:44:20 - PlayStation Showcase - Gran Turismo 7

1:46:49 - PlayStation Showcase - God of War Ragnarok

1:50:04 - PlayStation Showcase -  Final Thoughts

1:57:07 - Sony has acquired Firesprite

2:10:18 - Horizon: Forbidden West will have a free upgrade path after some controversy.

2:20:31 - The PlayStation 5 may be supply constrained until 2023, but a PS5 Pro may be on the way.

2:36:55 - Alan Wake Remastered is coming to PlayStation.

2:45:33 - The CEO of Tripwire Interactive, John Gibson, has stepped down following a controversial Tweet (POLITICAL TOPIC)

3:10:58 - The Tomorrow Children may be getting a revival.

3:15:58 - A pre-wrap-up wrap-up.

3:19:38 - September will bring us new PS Now offerings.

3:22:06 - News Wrap-Up

3:23:20 - Will games that bomb and include popular movie actors discourage other actors to not take the roles?

3:30:03 - About which indie studios are we most excited?

3:36:36 - What games should we be able to finish but can’t?

3:42:14 - Should PaRappa show up in some other games?

3:47:23 - Will we see some modern re-releases of classic RPGs?

3:50:52 - 4K 60 or 1080 120?