Sacred Symbols, Episode 202: Scarce Silicon (Patreon)

Sony's annual financial report brings with it good news for the brand. PlayStation, as usual, is the most important vertical in its corporate family in Japan, pulling in the most revenue and raking in the highest profit (even more than Sony Pictures, currently in a renaissance of its own). Yet, with PlayStation 5 doing well, Sony has a serious issue: It still can't manufacture enough PS5s to satiate demand. Not even close, in fact. Such a situation isn't only allowing its competitor to catch up; it's also creating doubt regarding if they can even fix the problem at all. Yet, they're hoping to right the ship over the next year, where they essentially intend to double their sales. Will they succeed? Only time will tell. Elsewhere in the industry, Electronic Arts has pulled the plug on its 30-year FIFA franchise, opting -- as rumors indicated -- to go it alone. But FIFA is ready to fight back, and with eFootball in the mix, too, things should get quite interesting in the soccer space in the years to come. Plus: Elden Ring sells huge, Gotham Knights is cancelled on PS4, Outriders was a financial dud, and more. Then: Listener inquiries! Should cloud saving be free? When should Sony have a games showcase? What ever happened to Army of Two? Will Colin sell Last Stand Media to the communists?

Timestamps:

0:00:00 - Intro

0:08:14 - Chris soothes newborn babies and Cortana.

0:14:05 - Would Colin sell LSM?

0:15:42 - Toilet seat up or down?

0:21:03 - Catlateral Damage.

0:22:47 - Vita, PlayStation 3, 4, and 5 will receive firmware updates.

0:23:30 - There is only one person playing Babylon’s Fall.

0:25:08 - The FTC is investigating Sony’s acquisition of Bungie.

0:25:39 - There’s interest in creating an EVE Online adjacent FPS.

0:36:03 - Commander Shepard supposedly won’t be in Mass Effect 4.

0:45:42 - Take Two will keep Strauss Zelnick in charge.

0:46:44 - EA and Capcom intend to release more big games this year.

1:00:23 - Konami just had its most profitable year ever.

1:01:32 - WWE has signed up to make an RPG.

1:09:02 - Funcom is hiring for an open world Dune game.

1:13:01 - What do we think about Bethesda delaying Starfield?

1:27:20 - Does Sony need a big summer showcase?

1:36:20 - How much control do console manufacturers have over third party games?

1:36:19 - What have we been playing?

2:04:10 - Sony has released its financial data for the 2021 fiscal year.

2:27:13 - EA is ending its relationship with FIFA.

2:41:51 - Elden Ring has sold more than 13.4 million copies.

2:58:08 - Gotham Knights has canceled its PS4 version.

3:14:37 - Resident Evil: ReVerse is finally coming.

3:22:11 - Outriders has still yet to make a profit.

3:30:58 - PlayStation has revealed the top-downloaded games for April.

3:33:09 - News Wrap-Up

3:34:37 - Do certain games remind us of specific times?

3:41:47 - How do we feel about Army of Two?

3:48:12 - Why does Colin buy games he doesn’t intend to play?

3:56:16 - Is it anti-consumer for Sony to paywall cloud saves?

4:03:18 - What is the future of games that tell great stories?