Sacred Symbols, Episode 290 | In the Black and the White, a Technicolorful Life (Patreon)

As we wade through the mundanity of the turn-of-the-year -- when very few new games come to market and we work through our respective backlogs -- hope sits on the horizon. After all, the drab is about to turn into the delightful with the release or near-release of the likes of Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, The Last of Us: Part II Remastered, Granblue Fantasy Relink, Persona 3 Remake, and Helldivers 2, among others. And as we look forward to all of that, we have news galore to cover, too. Square Enix's Splatoon-like Foamstars is coming to PlayStation+ day-and-date, but is its mild use of AI art egregious? (And what about its strange proximity to Helldivers 2?) Ubisoft+ is being reformed as a more value-rich proposition for consumers, so why did so many outlets blatantly take one of their executives out of context following a recent interview? PlayStation Productions is pursuing an Until Dawn film based on the cult-hit PS4-exclusive horror game, but are we starting to beat a dead horse? Plus: Listener inquiries! Are we getting too fast and loose with the term 'live service'? Why do some developers and publishers choose to hire diversity consultants? Should we expect an exorbitant number of Steamboat Willie games in the near-to-mid future? Will Chris continue to be bullied over his love of Julia Louis-Dreyfus?

Timestamps:
0:12:18 - The Bradley Ellis Effect

0:16:26 - Sacred 300 Info

0:28:21 - What's the issue with fan montages?

0:46:02 - How does Colin survive?

0:48:06 - Colin's NFL predictions

0:49:33 - Julia Louis-Dreyfus thirst

0:55:07 - Sacred Symbols drinking game?

0:57:04 - LSM Newsletter?

1:01:47 - Tracking what the listeners play

1:03:18 - Ubisoft on subscriptions

1:18:11 - Larian CEO's take on subscriptions

1:42:46 - Helldivers 2 goes gold!

1:50:32 - Street Fighter 6 has sold 3 million copies

1:51:36 - Will Final Fantasy XVII go to a younger dev team?

1:56:48 - Remedy Rockstar lawsuit

1:59:25 - Tomb Raider I-III looks great!

2:06:19 - UK's Game no longer does physical game trade-ins

2:09:17 - SandLand has a release date

2:11:32 - Top Spin is coming back

2:11:58 - The Transylvania Adventure of Simon Quest

2:12:41 - What Are We Playing?

2:38:47 - Foamstars has a release date and is coming to PS+

3:08:35 - Until Dawn movie is coming

3:22:51 - Circana sales data for 2023

3:28:46 - Should we redefine "live service"?

3:33:16 - How are we spending our time with all these JRPGS?

3:37:02 - What is Sweet Baby Inc?

3:55:11 - How do our dogs behave while we record?

4:00:01 - Will Steamboat Willie games be the new trend?

4:04:06 - 60% of PlayStation games play offline single-player games