Sacred Symbols: A PlayStation Podcast

Geoff Keighley's 'The Game Awards' festivities didn't disappoint this year. Quite the contrary, it was arguably the single strongest showing of new game announcements the industry has seen in seemingly forever, and it was capped-off with what many of us have long awaited: Naughty Dog's new game. For the first time since 2005's Jak X: Combat Racing on PlayStation 2, Sony's crown jewel studio is readying a product that's aligned neither with Uncharted nor The Last of Us. It's called Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, it's about a spacefaring bounty hunter and a mysterious alien planet, and it's coming to PlayStation 5 at an undetermined point in the future. Naturally, we have much to discuss. Other TGA announcements of note include a surprise update for Helldivers 2, Capcom reveals in the form of new games in the Onimusha and Okami series, a brand new multiplayer Elden Ring spin-off called Nightreign, our first look at Borderlands 4 and The Witcher IV, the long-awaited revival of the Turok IP, the first new 2D Ninja Gaiden in more than three decades, and much more. And there's a regular ol' episode of Sacred Symbols underneath all of that, too, focused on the purported leak of Bend Studio's new game, the death of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, a serious lawsuit filed against Bungie by a fired executive, final word on long-defunct vaporware PS4 project Wild, and more. We wrap things up with listener inquiries on topics like rumors of an upcoming Steam console, parasocial relationships in the creator space, the ability of dialogue to ruin a perfectly good user experience, and a conundrum surrounding perpetual hiccups and $100 million. Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement. 0:00:00 - Intro 0:35:57 - Tri Breaker is out now! 0:40:41 - Colin and Charli XCX 0:43:38 - $100 million but hiccups 0:50:04 - PlayStation Wrap-up 1:05:33 - Sony shares are trading higher than any point since 2000 1:07:19 - Thoughts from employees about Sony x Kadokawa 1:14:02 - Ex-Bungie director is suing 1:22:44 - UI designer leaks Bend's next game 1:27:37 - Apple and Sony are partnering on PSVR2 controllers for Apple Vision Pro 1:35:09 - Publishers are worried about their releases around GTAVI 1:37:13 - Suicide Squad support is ending 1:41:39 - What Are We Playing? 2:15:08 - The Game Awards announcements 4:04:44 - New info on Wild 4:12:28 - New PS Plus games 4:15:23 - PSN top games 4:18:16 - Does Steam OS going everywhere affect Sony? 4:34:06 - Too many tutorials 4:41:05 - Our thoughts on parasocial bonds 4:52:25 - Realizing you've changed through media 4:59:36 - Are clips hurting the industry? 5:11:10 - Main Quest vs Side Quests Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

News is admittedly slow as the industry awaits major announcements at the imminent Game Awards. But a specific interview was recently released that still gives us plenty to discuss. The website Eurogamer sat down with ex-PlayStation executive Shawn Layden for a fascinating chat about the present and future of the console space, and he had tons to say. We spend a lot of time dissecting his thoughts on topics ranging from PlayStation 6 and console agnosticism to Sony publishing on Xbox and perhaps the most important issues of all: The cost to develop increasingly long and expensive games that few people even bother to beat. Other news this week includes the shuttering of Ubisoft's beleaguered shooter XDefiant, the announcement of a blatant ripoff of Guerrilla's Horizon series called Light of Motiram, FromSoft's puzzling claim that it's not working on an Elden Ring sequel, and more. Listener inquiries help us round things out, per usual. Is Sony quietly giving PSVR2 a new push? How can Square Enix still be publishing PS1 games? Will Sony's E3 2013 'game sharing video' truly resonate throughout time? When will the audience learn that -- yes, indeed! -- you should definitely listen to our rock-solid relationship advice? Try VIIA! https://bit.ly/viiasacredsymbols and use code SACRED! Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement. 0:00:00 - Intro 0:15:43 - Spotify Wrapped 0:32:06 - The chips in the microwave was a red flag 0:38:25 - Breakup advice 0:45:05 - Gooner rankings 0:55:07 - Joker 2 1:04:47 - The PlayStation startup returns 1:22:10 - BBC interview with Hulst and Nishino 1:43:59 - Horizon ripoff Light of Moritam 1:52:56 - Fromsoft on Elden Ring 2 2:01:17 - Xdefiant is shutting down 2:15:58 - Foamstars support ending 2:21:10 - What are we playing? 2:39:56 - Shawn Layden interview 3:41:16 - The famous "game sharing" video 3:52:10 - PSVR2's new push 4:03:07 - Picking a game for friends to play 4:11:18 - Square Enix is printing new PS1 games 4:13:12 - "Global Subscription Optimization Manager" 4:18:51 - "Take care guys" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Over the past year or so, rumors have percolated surrounding a future PlayStation handheld, but in reality, no one knew what the exact nature of this hypothetical device would be. Could it be a successor to PSP and Vita? Or perhaps a portable PS4 or PS4 Pro? Well, it's neither of those things, if recent reporting is accurate. Instead, Sony is apparently building a fully portable PlayStation 5, which -- if accurate -- could completely upend not only the core gaming market, but the traditional cadence of console generations, full-stop. But perhaps the biggest question about a PS5 Portable is this: What does it mean for PlayStation 6? Other news this week includes an update to Sony's pursuit of Kadokawa Corporation, the retirement of legendary PlayStation executive Shuhei Yoshida after 31 years with the brand (and 38 years at Sony itself), a surprise upward revision of PlayStation 2's once-static sales number, and much more. We round things out with listener inquiries, as we always do. Do we have any preliminary "gaming plans" for 2025? Will the west's catastrophic demographic collapse have equally catastrophic ramifications for the gaming space? What does it mean when a game (or gamer) is called "sweaty"? Have we officially reached peak "Fantasy Slop Nerd" voice? Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement. 0:00:00 - Intro 0:27:35 - Chris Chan's spawn 0:35:10 - Bluesky 0:55:19 - Sacred celebrity look-alikes 0:56:44 - Fantasy nerd slop voice 0:59:47 - PS5 selling faster than PS1 1:02:26 - Alan Wake corrections 1:04:35 - Updated PS2 sales numbers 1:10:17 - Troy Baker is in Naughty Dog's next game 1:20:43 - My First Gran Turismo 1:24:03 - Helldivers 2 Controller incoming 1:32:18 - Dino Crisis and RE: Directors Cut can be bought a la carte 1:34:49 - Cyberpunk 2077 surpasses 30 million, Witcher 4 is in production 1:37:34 - What Are We Playing? 2:19:39 - PlayStation is working on a new handheld 2:40:32 - Kadokawa updates 2:54:45 - Shuhei Yoshida is leaving PlayStation 3:17:48 - New PS Plus games coming 3:26:10 - Gaming mission statements for 2025 3:35:29 - Gaming needs new markets to grow 3:42:04 - What does being "sweaty" mean? 3:47:41 - AI gaming companies This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Give online therapy a try at https://www.betterhelp.com/symbols and get on your way to being your best self Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The industry was recently set alight by a pair of articles from newswire Reuters indicating that Sony is interested in buying Japanese media conglomerate Kadokawa Corporation, and indeed, Kadokawa itself has since confirmed the reporting. Such a move has massive implications for Sony's increasing dominance in the anime and manga spaces, and it's likely this attempt at M&A is squarely focused on that first and foremost. But acquiring Kadokawa could be a huge boon for the PlayStation brand, too, considering it owns the likes of Spike Chunsoft and Acquire, and perhaps most importantly a controlling share in FromSoftware, too, the prolific studio behind Elden Ring, Bloodborne, Demon's Souls, Dark Souls, Armored Core, Sekiro, King's Field, and more. Should Sony nab Kadokawa, does that mean FromSoft would join PlayStation Studios as a proper first party team? Could further emphasizing Sony's Japanese identity provide a valuable path forward for PlayStation? Other news this week includes fresh PlayStation 6-related rumors, word out of Square Enix concerning Final Fantasy VII Remake: Part III and a potential 2D-HD version of Final Fantasy VI, PlayStation Portal's awesome upgrade to allow cloud gaming without PS5, and more. Per usual, we wrap things up with inquiries from our beloved audience. What are our thoughts on this year's iteration of Geoff Keighley's Game Awards? Which difficulty settings are most appealing to us in the titles we play? How does Colin deal with any negative feedback surrounding the games he writes? In one listener's quest to invite another to be his Best Man, could it be that their shared romance is the real story? Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement. 0:00:00 - Intro 0:15:36 - New Chris video 0:25:23 - Why the Chris hate? 0:33:40 - This week in Situational Advice 0:45:12 - Best Man Bromance 0:47:52 - Sacred helps hearing loss! 1:07:55 - PlayStation Black Friday sales have started 1:11:42 - PlayStation 6 rumors have begun 1:14:50 - Shakeup at PlayStation mobile 1:23:36 - Final Fantasy VII Remake Part III is in full development 1:30:20 - SE producer sees FFVI as a logical target for HD-2D 1:37:36 - Remedy's financials 1:44:00 - Splinter Cell movie is dead 1:48:02 - What Are We Playing? 2:29:17 - Sony is trying to buy Kadokawa 2:58:36 - PlayStation Portal update with cloud gaming 3:11:14 - Black Myth Wukong's GOTY nomination 3:33:35 - Knockoff game on the PSN store 3:42:13 - Getting more from higher difficulty 3:54:16 - The design of PS5 and PS5 Pro 4:01:20 - Dealing with criticism of your own game 4:07:46 - Minimizing griefing in multiplayer Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices