Sacred Symbols: A PlayStation Podcast

In early September, prominent CRPG Baldur's Gate III migrates from PC to PlayStation 5, and it sounds like it may just be what the doctor ordered. A deep role-playing experience chock-full of choice and consequence -- and layered with a thick patina of polish -- could potentially sell millions of copies on PS5. Will the critically acclaimed, purportedly amazing experience successfully catapult fro...

Is PlayStation doing well? It's easy to answer "yes" after reading Sony's recent quarterly financial reports, which shows exploding levels of revenue, with a lower-than-expected profit margin scaring markets (even as the Japanese behemoth remains in the black). Then again, that something as relatively cheap as Bungie's acquisition could in part affect the firm's wider earnings is a sign that Sony...

On this week's episode of Sacred Symbols, we delve into a series of perplexing and puzzling enigmas. Will Helldivers launch in October, as rumors indicate? Could PS5's new firmware update allow desperate husbands to dodge the ire of their angry wives? Should Anita Sarkeesian's sunsetting Feminist Frequency brand hold a positive legacy in our industry? Why is EA bringing Star Wars Jedi: Survivor ba...

At 40 million units sold after 32 months, PlayStation 5 is only half-a-quarter behind PS4's prodigious sales pace. This is a big deal for a console that was launched into a pandemic economy that made it extremely difficult for people to find a machine for nearly two straight years, not to mention afford one, what with eroding purchasing power due to inflation. Now, the question becomes -- with Pro...

It looks like we can finally -- finally! -- stop talking about Microsoft's acquisition of Activision Blizzard, at least on this podcast. That's because PlayStation settled on what it frankly could have always had, namely a 10 year deal for access to Call of Duty that runs into the mid-2030s, keeping the cash-cow franchise on Sony hardware for a long time to come. Is this an ideal situation for Son...

Sony finds itself in a pickle, or so it seems from the outside. With ever-burgeoning development costs comes the reality that new IP is an increasingly-risky endeavor. The safer and more reliable route, it could be argued, is in doubling-down on what works. And let's be real: Guerrilla-developed Horizon works. The two core games have sold 33 million units combined across PS4, PS5, and PC. The ques...

Like a meteor from the sky -- or perhaps a capsule drop from orbit -- Sony second party partner Arrowhead randomly released new information about its upcoming co-op-based third-person shooter Helldivers II, including new gameplay footage. Arcadey, difficult, and sarcastic, Helldivers II aims to recognizably evolve 2015's PS4, PS3, and Vita original, and a 2023 release window has thankfully been re...

Whether Microsoft completes its acquisition of Activision or not, the FTC's legal assault on the company has nonetheless exposed Sony's archrival's strategy for all to see. Xbox's argument is a simple one: Thoroughly outclassed by their competitors with access to orders of magnitude fewer resources over a continuous period of more than two decades, their only way to compete is through brute force....

Great intrigue surrounds Bungie's upcoming revival of its long-dormant FPS IP Marathon, first confirmed (but long-rumored beforehand) at the recent PlayStation Showcase. Post-show reporting outlines an ambitious service title, but questions linger about Bungie's current and continued handling of Destiny 2, not to mention if the storied developer finds itself newly-distracted by a demanding parent...

In another legendary Colin Was Right moment, Embracer Group has officially broadcast an SOS. The mega-publisher is in significant debt and severely overleveraged, with 17,000 mouths to feed over 131 studios making something like 250 games. But few of its products matter, it can't release enough quality fare to draw the requisite income to sustain its Ubisoft-sized headcount, and its products inevi...

The PlayStation Showcase left many fans disenchanted, but can Geoff Keighley's Summer Game Fest deliver some positive energy? It turns out that yes, it certainly can. Spider-Man 2 now has a release date, Prince of Persia, Sonic, and Like A Dragon are all getting new entries, known titles like Mortal Kombat 1, Witchfire, Remnant 2, Lies of P, and Banishers all look great, and new IP were revealed a...

We're more than a week distant from the recent, highly controversial PlayStation Showcase. And because we recorded our last episode directly after it, we did the best we could shooting from the hip. But with time to think, have our opinions on Sony's event evolved? We spend a lot of time talking about the fallout from the showcase, the various games that caught our eye (or otherwise), and where we...

We've waited so long for a fresh PlayStation Showcase that it came as a bit of a shock to be sitting there watching a new one. Yet we did just that, and frankly, we were left feeling a little bit underwhelmed. It's not to say that potentially-amazing games weren't shown-off, because they were. Out of the 34 titles seen, many of them looked great. But a lack of a truly meaningful first and second p...

Unbelievably, the moment has finally come: A PlayStation showcase draws near. By the time the hour-plus event concludes, it'll have been more than 600 days since the last showcase in '21. In other words, Sony simply has to bring the heat, and we suspect they will. This week, let's take the time to dissect PlayStation's potential first, second, and third party plans for its mid-gen coming-out, and...

A minor culling is underway at and around PlayStation, with a smaller first party studio going away and an in-production second party FPS seemingly cancelled. But it's unclear why this would necessarily be looked at as a bad thing. If teams and products aren't living up to their promise -- and if they presumably don't reach an ever-increasing quality bar internally -- shouldn't they be cut loose?...

In a recent interview, Hermen Hulst -- the head of PlayStation's first party studios -- spoke extensively about Sony's plans with its vaunted 10 in-development games-as-a-service. Through his words, we can begin to formulate a vision of a future where PlayStation first and second party games are both of the expected and unexpected variety, a marked change from a brand known first-and-foremost for...

Naughty Dog and Insomniac are the two studios often looked at as the bulwarks of PlayStation's first party family. But it's clear that -- over in Europe -- a third team is quickly climbing the depth chart: Guerrilla. In recent days, the team revealed a complete shakeup of their executive staff, and for the second time in just a few years, they're losing their leader to PlayStation proper. In other...

As it comes to grips with the new realities of an ever-consolidating market, Sony has opted to increase its aggressiveness by purchasing Firewalk Studios. Like Haven and Nixxes before it, buying Firewalk is an unusually premature move for a company that typically likes to conduct extensive second party dances before putting a ring on it. But its arch-rival and third party publishers alike have mad...

After witnessing its death in slow motion, Media Molecule is mercifully pulling the plug on its beleaguered project Dreams. And it's sad, no doubt. But here's the reality: Dreams was a bad idea and a waste of time. Sony voluntarily hamstrung its most creative team for the better part of two generations on a dead end, and you can't really blame artists-types for taking all the corporate rope you'll...

 A new Sony handheld is rumored to be in the works, but don't get all hot-and-bothered. It's not another PSP or Vita, but rather a device codenamed Q-Lite, essentially a DualSense controller with an 8-inch screen affixed to it that facilitates (presumably high quality) local remote play. But with PSVR2 seemingly floundering, is it a good idea to release another distraction from the main goal? That...

It's a week of surprise turnarounds and unexpected outcomes. First up: Has Sony flown too close to the sun? In trying to halt Microsoft's acquisition of Activision, it may have exposed itself to critical governmental and social attention it would have otherwise never garnered. And the deal's probably going to go through anyway. Meanwhile, reporting indicates PSVR2 is bombing in its first month on...

In September of 2018, one of the biggest PlayStation games of all-time -- Insomniac's Spider-Man -- came to PlayStation 4. Along with its '1.5-style' follow-up Miles Morales, the fledgling franchise has sold somewhere in the neighborhood of 40 million copies, and it seems like the original's direct sequel will launch five years to the month of its street date, in September of 2023. Word comes by w...

Rumors are percolating anew of a PlayStation 5 Pro console that may launch as soon as 2024, but in reality, this isn't news at all. Our very own tech analyst told us about PS5 Pro last year right here on this very show, and with more information now garnered, it sounds like this thing is really happening. Or is it? Deep economic pain lingers (with more potentially on the way). And how much more po...

Interesting news broke while we were recording the episode, and we made sure to incorporate it: Rocksteady's beleaguered Suicide Squad game (Kill the Justice League) has been indefinitely delayed from its May release on PlayStation 5, no doubt a response to the drubbing-by-consensus it recently took. Is such a move necessary, and could it right the game's trajectory? Did it even need saving it all...

As you well-know, Sacred Symbols doesn't work with any publishers, developers, or manufacturers. As such, we're excited to talk about PSVR2 for the very first time now that we've gotten our own purchased units in the mail. We go into some of our varying experiences so far, particularly with Horizon: Call of the Mountain, and Colin in particular wonders if his unit is broken or just permanently blu...