Sacred Symbols: A PlayStation Podcast

When it comes to gaming, anyway, Coronavirus has officially claimed its greatest victim yet: The Last of Us Part II. As predicted on this show more than a month ago, COVID-19 has forced Sony's and Naughty Dog's hand, and the most anticipated PS4 exclusive of them all hasn't only been delayed, but delayed indefinitely. We don't know when it's coming out, now, and it's a huge deal, which we discuss...

Are you losing your mind yet? Hopefully not, for while Coronavirus is running roughshod over societies around Earth, imagine how bored you'd be if you were isolating yourself and surviving a pandemic in, say, 1900. With the Internet, video games, streaming TV, and much more, we can stay entertained and connected even through these trying and historic times, but it doesn't mean it's not taking a to...

Here on Sacred Symbols, we like to make fun of Chris Ray Gun for all sorts of reasons, but it's his undying love of Doom that's perhaps easiest to target. After all, he brings it up nonstop. But this week is Chris' week, friends, because Doom Eternal has finally arrived, and our young Puerto Rican friend is hyped up and ready to talk all about it. Let's give him the floor, shall we? Then, let's ju...

This episode of Sacred Symbols -- like every one before it -- will become a time capsule. It's just that, in these seemingly historic days, this time capsule might be a little more real than the rest. The world is going through a tumultuous period, and in our little corner called The Gaming Industry, we certainly aren't immune. E3 is cancelled, for starters, but that's no surprise. And word of dis...

While we await news of PlayStation 5 from Sony (seriously... what the hell are they doing?), news has emerged from two important -- and very different -- projects. First, Ghost of Tsushima, arguably the last of the big PlayStation 4 first party exclusives, finally has a release date, and it's a lot sooner than any of us expected. Then, a more unexpected nugget: The Last of Us is getting an HBO ser...

Back in 2007, Platinum Games was founded by some of (at the time) Capcom's heaviest hitters, including Shinji Mikami and Hideki Kamiya. Some 13 years later, the team is one of the most respected independent development studios in the world, and it's finally ready to shed its shackles from publishers like SEGA, Activision, and Nintendo, and strike out on its own. So let's chat about it! Plus: The c...

Persona 5 Royal comes to western PS4s soon, but an interesting controversy has overtaken the hype. Buried within the massive JRPG's original release are a couple of scenes that a small group of players found homophobic, and in response, Atlus is making some key edits to lessen the blow. The question is, should the publisher be making these changes? Are the scenes even offensive at all? Let's chat...

The American publication Bloomberg is typically a reliable source of information, and a recent story within its pages tells an interesting tale. It appears Sony is having a hard time keeping production costs of PlayStation 5 down, so much so that it's delaying the Japanese corporation's ability to determine what it should charge for the console, or if it can even turn a profit selling it. There's...

By now, you've undoubtedly heard of the Coronavirus, a lethal illness originating in mainland China that has so far claimed the lives of more than a thousand people. What you may not have considered, however, is how this might affect PlayStation 5. No: We're not kidding. Game consoles are manufactured in Chinese factories, and it's entirely possible that Coronavirus could delay PS5's launch, a pos...

PlayStation Plus' free game offerings have always been a little hit or miss, but this month, an essential compilation comes to the service: The BioShock Collection. BioShock, BioShock Infinite, and even BioShock 2 are some of the best games last-gen has to offer, and the original title in particular is an absolute must-play. If you haven't enjoyed these gems yet, you should, and we tell you why no...

When money flows from companies that call communist dictatorships home, those funds typically come with strings attached. Activision-Blizzard learned this the hard way just months ago, but it hasn't stopped western teams from accepting this cash with reckless abandon. The next business about to get gobbled up by Chinese conglomerate Tencent is the Norwegian MMO dev-slash-pub Funcom, and Tencent is...

The year started out quietly enough... that is until all of the delays began and started ruining our lives. Final Fantasy VII Remake. Cyberpunk 2077. Dying Light 2. The Avengers. Even that completely random Iron Man VR game wasn't immune! But should we be concerned about the reworked schedule? Or has the shifting calendar serendipitously bought us precious time to catch up on our backlogs? We disc...

For nearly a decade, WB Montreal has existed in the shadow of its better-known and more-beloved sister studio Rocksteady. But finally, it appears the Quebecois dev is poised to break out. Yet again, the team has teased a vague image on its social media channels that almost certainly points towards a new Batman game, something WB Montreal has dabbled in in the past with 2013's Arkham Origins. But w...

Most of you know EA-owned DICE as the Scandinavian creators of the Battlefield series (and the resuscitators of Star Wars Battlefront, too), but tucked quietly away in Los Angeles is a DICE support studio aptly called DICE LA. DICE LA is essentially the remnants of the old Medal of Honor team Danger Close that's since been relegated to secondary status, but it appears all of that's about to change...

2019 was an interesting year for games. While we eagerly await The Next Generation (no, not the Star Trek show, you godforsaken nerds), a litany of good, great, and even fantastic games hit our precious PlayStation 4 in recent months, and now that the last year is in the books, it's time to look back on some of the best titles '19 had to offer. Without further ado, here are our favorite games of t...

It wasn't even a year ago that prolific Polish developer CD Projekt and The Witcher's creator Andrzej Sapkowski found themselves in a legal battle over the beloved fantasy IP. But times certainly do change. Both sides of the dispute have announced that, in the wake of their dispute, they'll now be working more closely together than ever. Go figure. But what does it all mean?! We discuss. Plus: Wha...

As PlayStation 5 lumbers toward us like an AT-AT stomping across Hoth (but in a good way), the calendar has left us with precious few PS4 exclusives of consequence. The Last of Us: Part II is obviously the King of the Unreleased, and Dreams is a commercial long-shot, but Ghost of Tsushima might just be the most intriguing of the bunch. One part third-person action game and another part historical...

Since 1997, Sony has published an annual baseball game -- once eponymously called MLB and more recently dubbed The Show -- that has lived exclusively in its ecosystem. Indeed, for the last 15 years or so, PlayStation has dedicated a first party studio to essentially (and obsessively) focusing on America's pastime. So recent news that MLB: The Show would begin publishing outside of PlayStation plat...

In December of 1994, the original PlayStation launched in Japan, and the rest (as they say) is history. Fast-forward 25 years, and the PlayStation brand is an absolute powerhouse. PSone, PS2, and PS4 have all surpassed 100 million sold (only one other home video game console has ever done the same), and even those that fell short -- PS3, PSP, and even Vita -- have all left an indelible mark on our...

Beloved publisher-slash-developer Capcom has been experiencing a renaissance of sorts over the last few years, fueled not only by new games like Monster Hunter: World, but by a litany of re-releases and remakes, too. At the top of the pile is Resident Evil 2, an astounding revisiting of a '90s survival horror classic that sold millions. So it should come as no surprise that a remake of Resident Ev...

Did you know that -- in the United States -- Anthem is the eighth best-selling game of the year? This little factoid tells us a whole lot. It indicates that our instincts as enthusiasts don't always speak for the wider market. It suggests a void in our understanding of meaningful metrics in the world of games-as-a-service. And it confirms perhaps the most unfortunate fact of all, at least for EA a...

Death Stranding is finally here, and we use the word "finally" lightly. Conceived and developed at light speed compared to many of its AAA contemporaries, Hideo Kojima's new game came to fruition relatively quickly, and with lots of expectations in tow. What it delivers is one of the most unusual experiences we've ever played. And we mean that in the best way possible. So join us as we gush about...

Nary a decade ago, many an industry analyst wondered if console gaming was dying. Would mobile take over? Could Facebook become the new dominant platform? With PlayStation 4 now securely occupying the spot of second best-selling home console of all-time (behind PlayStation 2), questions like those sure do seem quaint, don't they? Let's discuss PS4's new sales figures, what they mean for the brand,...

Obsidian's all-new open world RPG The Outer Worlds is a blatant (and in some ways even shameless) ode to its 2010 cult hit Fallout: New Vegas... and it should come as no surprise that it's pretty damn good. So let's spend some time talking about why, and celebrate the many things it does so very right. But let's also not neglect the news! The Last of Us: Part II has been delayed, Ubisoft admits it...

As we settle into the fall months, rumors abound. A new photograph seems to confirm the v-shaped PS5 dev kit design that was earlier making the rounds, much to our chagrin. But does it actually matter? Guerrilla Games is mo-capping, while Sony Bend is pre-producing. But should we be surprised? The US Congress has officially put Activision-Blizzard on notice over its behavior regarding Hong Kong an...