Sacred Symbols, Episode 349: The Thread
Added 2025-03-05 20:00:03 +0000 UTCHi!
Submit your questions, comments, concerns, thoughts, and ideas for this week's episode of Sacred Symbols in this thread.
As always, please keep your inquiries well-written and pithy. Novels, poorly-written posts, etc. are politely ignored.
You have until Thursday, March 6th at noon ET to submit.
Talk to you soon!
Comments
Hey all So i’m replaying Last of Us Part II currently (a comfort game of mine) when i see Neil Druckman has stated to not bet on seeing a Part III. Are you buying this or is Part II a great way to just end it moving forward? Have a good show
Treilond
2025-03-06 00:13:45 +0000 UTCWhat's the most you've ever pooped in a day? I went 5 times one day this week. Much love!
Extor
2025-03-06 00:12:26 +0000 UTCHi CDC, After last week's show regarding the lay-offs and closures at WB, I wanted to write in with my thoughts on the overall industry issues and discussion, because the discourse surrounding such issues in the video game media is quite frustrating in my opinion. I believe you guys genuinely present an holistic and informative view to your listeners but the overall landscape of podcasts and journalists often talks about market and financial realities they have no basic knowledge about. While I understand the frustration surrounding lay offs and business decisions made in the videogame industry, I just believe, as an overall standpoint, that the general rules of the market apply to this industry, just as much as they apply to any other one, and we need to come to terms with that. Last week you guys were wondering how much is enough? Why can't Dead Space Remake and other games be considered successful with what they achieved? While I can relate and understand that as a gamer, when thinking about it more broadly, it makes sense why those games were seen as failures. It's about growth potential, the cost of capital and opportunity cost for investors. I mean, if investment funds and other institutional investors can generally apply their money to a bunch of things that will give them 10% yearly returns (this is generally the benchmark used when evaluating investments and the opportunity cost associated with them, since safe choices like investing in commodities or ETFs have been providing similar yearly returns), why would they invest in game publishers and studios that don't provide any growth, whose market seems stagnated, whose activity entails more risk... there is talk about "greedy" executives and shareholders but I mean, if we were in investors' shoes and we were trusted with enormous amounts of capital to deploy, what would we do? Deploy it in growth markets/other safer investments or would we put our money on publishers and studios that do games like a Dead Space Remake? It's not that selling a couple million copies is not enough to be profitable, it's the fact that such value proposition does not attract investors. Private companies and indie developers can operate that way, but publicly traded triple AAA companies just cannot sell this as an attractive proposition to the market. I just wish there was a bit more in depth conversation and knowledge about such realities of the market when discussing this, because nowadays its very common to see videogame "journalists" or personalities talk smack about executives and leaders because these leaders have no knowledge on games, when in reality these people also have no clue what they are talking about business and finance wise, but they don't hesitate to talk about such complex issues and realities on a daily basis. Keep up the good work. Best regards.
Miguel Almeida
2025-03-06 00:11:09 +0000 UTCGreetings gents. Lately, I've been on a PC gaming kick, as that's where the majority of my interests have been. I've played a lot of Xbox, Playstation, and Nintendo games in the past but have been less interested in console gaming recently. I also just bought my girlfriend a new PC, so she and my friends focus on PC gaming. Recently, I was considering buying a PS5 Pro, but my wife says it'd be a waste of money with most Playstation and Xbox games available on PC now. Is it worth the $800 for the average PC gamer to buy into Playstation when so many titles are now on Steam and EPIC? Thanks... I'll hang myself and listen.
Eugene Ahka
2025-03-06 00:10:43 +0000 UTCHey crew, quick question. What the fuck is Colin playing? Never heard of it. Play a real game like madden. (Only kidding of course)
Non Binary Robot
2025-03-06 00:09:37 +0000 UTCHey Sacred Crew, I just finished playing through Death Stranding again, and I forgot how much of a tear-jerker it was. I haven’t played it since the Covid lockdowns and it was incredible to experience it all over again. What are some games that have gotten you guys right in the feels?
PuppetpalClem
2025-03-06 00:00:41 +0000 UTCTotally unrelated to gaming… but Colin (and Dustin as a fellow emo kid)… Long Islands very own Brand New (my personal favorite band of the genre) has returned with a short run of dates and a potential new album after a decade-long hiatus. As a fellow Islander… any love for for BN, and if so, what kind of excitement we working with?
Jason Vanover
2025-03-05 23:41:32 +0000 UTCDear Esteemed Gentlemen of the Sacred Order, I write to you today with a grave concern, one that has been festering within the depths of my very soul. How, in the name of all that is holy (and unholy, for that matter), have we allowed Dagan to officially brand himself as "The Dagster"? I feel like I vividly remember earlier episodes of Constellation where the weekly guests would make fun of this title, but now nobody seems to bat an eye whenever he refers to himself in the third person as this god forsaken nickname. Is there no oversight? No quality control on the nicknames within your hallowed halls? Are we to simply accept this? I demand an explanation, and perhaps even compensation for having to endure this atrocity. Obviously this is all in jest, but still, I find it quite funny how it has become completely normal for him to be "The Dagster." How can that be? Take Care as Always, Josh
Josh Bartlett
2025-03-05 23:34:33 +0000 UTCWhat’s up CDC, SplitFiction reviews are here, the current Metacritic score is sitting at 91. Are you guys gonna play this? Honestly I’m still dumbfounded Colin hasn’t at least tried It Takes Two. Game design is top notch. Thanks boys and have a great day.
Remington Wilson
2025-03-05 23:33:50 +0000 UTCHey CDC, Long time listener first time caller. I want to issue a stand down when it comes to Dave the Diver. Every time the subject of the ridiculous crossovers that happen in gaming now comes up, Dave the Diver always becomes the target of criticism for its inclusion of Godzilla. As someone who grew up watching the old Godzilla films they rarely took themselves too seriously. In a game where the bosses are underwater kaiju in their own right, that you kill only to serve up as sushi, I would argue that the Godzilla x Dave the Diver crossover is the least contrived of the string of games featuring nonsensical crossovers. As someone who works alone outside all day every day I listen to almost all the LSM shows and I appreciate and love you all for keeping me company every day. Anyway I’ll hang up and listen now. Keep on keeping on.
Aaron Temple
2025-03-05 23:33:17 +0000 UTCHowdy boys Niel states they must get not do a Last of us part 3. Do you think this is to not overshadow INTERGALACTIC Or do you think they will just write off the last of us through the TV series so they can focus on other projects? Have a EA have there first over 90 metacritic since mass effect 3 kind of day
David Markham
2025-03-05 23:31:22 +0000 UTChey guys< well it's that time of year again... in case it's not in the write-up, sony has deployed ps3 os ver. 4.92 today. will you all be dragging these archaic machines out this weekend to ensure they are current and most secure? take care!
K. Huntington
2025-03-05 23:25:36 +0000 UTCHello boys, I couldn't help but notice while perusing the Forza Horizon store page on the Playstation store that it will have PS5 pro enhancements. I find it very interesting that not only is Xbox giving us their games but also potentially the best console versions. What are your thoughts?
Tim Russell
2025-03-05 23:14:17 +0000 UTCHey Super Sacred Studs, With Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4 officially revealed and launching this July, it’s a surprisingly quick turnaround from announcement to release. With EA’s Skate also making a return in the next year or so, do you think this signals a broader resurgence of extreme sports games? Could we see other classics like SSX or Aggressive Inline make a comeback, especially with nostalgia for that era being so strong? Love all the amazing content and stay sexy my friends!
BlueMoose
2025-03-05 22:45:10 +0000 UTCHi CDC, Chris mentioned last time that he wondered what the patent on the Nemesis system from Shadow of Mordor covered. I'm a US patent attorney, and if you want to know that the patent covers, read the claims of the patent, particularly the first claim. The claims describe the specific legal protection provided by the patent, and a product has to have or perform every element of one of the claims to infringe. The first claim of the first Nemesis patent (US10926179) has four specific steps that are fairly detailed. Briefly, after a player does an action to a first NPC enemy, actions of a second NPC enemy are changed based on that specific prior player action. So if another team wants to make a game with a system similar to the Nemesis system, they can design a system that has similar features but omits one of the elements in that first claim. As we lawyers always say, "it's complicated" and "it depends," but I hope this makes things less murky. Shout out to my fellow Michigan Law grad, Hoeg.
Peter K
2025-03-05 22:42:22 +0000 UTCHey Punkheads. I'll keep it short: you know I love you boys, but last week's Wonder Woman conversation was the most "oh my GOD what is happening" bullshit I've heard on the show in forever. Dustin, you're free and clear, you didn't contribute to this. But Colin and Chris, how the hell did you carry on a conversation about a character for an entire segment when "she's like, old, right?" was the best you could come up with? I'm not saying go and read the comics or watch the movies, but holy shit, peruse a few Google images or a wikipedia paragraph. Chris questioned what a Wonder Woman game would even be. Guys, she's strong as hell, cuts jabronis down with a sword on the regular and is super hot. God Of War, Stellar Blade, Shadow Of Mordor, she's all of these things. Have a good show, but surely, you must stand down.
Ian (616Entertainment)
2025-03-05 22:41:24 +0000 UTCLook, fat - it seems Neil Druckmann just yeeted our hopes for The Last of Us Part III into the abyss, saying he wouldn’t ‘place a bet’ on it. Is Neil’s ‘no bet’ comment just a fancy way of saying he’s tired of us arguing about Abby’s biceps, or do you think he’s got a secret script stashed somewhere that will eventually come to fruition? How many more years does Neil have at the wheel?
Craig Hooligan
2025-03-05 22:33:47 +0000 UTCDear Sacred Symbols, I just wanted to show my PS3 some love after it's recent 4.92 firmware update. My PS3 has been getting a ton of use lately. I dusted it off mainly to play the first Silent Hill. I did not want to feel like a poser diving straight into the Silent Hill 2 remake, and I remembered buying a digital copy of the first game a lifetime ago. I could not believe how good the game was and I felt like a moron for waiting so long to play it. Shout out to all of the PS3s going strong out there. But good luck getting to the PlayStation store or syncing trophies. Those are the moments where I know death is near.
Rob Kvasne
2025-03-05 22:33:38 +0000 UTCHello Sacred Studs! My question is aimed more towards Colin, but Dustin & Chris are welcome to answer if they would like: With Neil Druckmann's latest interview with Variety in regards to the future of The Last of Us, it had me thinking: despite the unanswered questions with Part II's ending, what if that was, in fact, the last entry? Given the ongoing visceral feedback in regards to the game, not to mention the amount of leaks that happened just a few short months before the game launched, what *if* Neil and the team don't want to deal with that again. I know, Neil, had commented how there "maybe one more chapter to the story," not only were these conceptual thoughts, but the team is hard at work on Intergerlactic and the thought of making a Part III given how long it took for Part II to come out probably had them second guess some decision making. Furthermore, Neil, has his Twitter account locked; could that be him just leaving the platform, or was he tired of getting the hateful messages and replied whenever he tweeted anything? Would love to hear your thoughts. Be safe out there and love your content.
Kowabunga Kody
2025-03-05 22:31:31 +0000 UTCHey Sluts, do we think Neil Druckmann is lying about there being no TLOU Part 3 ideas? Or are Sony and Naughty Dog truly backing down from the hate Part 2 incited? We always mention all the failed gaming boycotts, but perhaps that one actually worked?
Diddy’s Dong Quest
2025-03-05 22:26:49 +0000 UTCG'day gents, I am going to throw out a hot take on studio closures. Everytime there are layoffs and studio closures most people seem very quick to point the finger directly at upper management. Why are consumer habits never mentioned? The report mentioned last week stating that the top 10 games are responsible for 40% of playtime rings all kinds of alarm bells to me. The industry has likely never been this top heavy, and this fact really highlights how the vast majority of studios truly are vying for their portion of an ever shrinking pie regardless of how much money the industry is making at large. Will the consumer ever look at the studios in the face and say, "It's not you, it's me?"
Josh Bailey
2025-03-05 22:26:20 +0000 UTCHey guys, I just finished replaying Resistance 1 + 2 for the first time in around 15+ years. It’s amazing how much these games still hold up all these years later, and I was surprised how much Halo influence was prevalent, especially in the first game. My question is, why is Sony keeping this franchise off modern hardware with a re-release or a new entry. I know Ted Price recently spoke on a potential 4th game that was pitched to Sony, but where do you see the franchise realistically going from here? Do you see it ever even coming back? And if so, in what capacity? Thanks as always.
Michael Lepre
2025-03-05 22:26:01 +0000 UTCWhat's up sacred hunters, What does the incredible success of monster hunter wilds mean for the horizon live service game? Besides last of us online, rip in peace, I feel like this game makes the most sense to succeed. I also wonder how soon we will see the game. Sony also recently moved one for the destiny vets over to that team. Are they trying to move it forward? If they could get it out in the next year or so they could really capture the monster hunter audience that's eager for something knew. Always keen to hear your thoughts. Yinz stay classy.
The GophersLoafers
2025-03-05 22:25:09 +0000 UTCHey CDC. Please list 5 things you achieved this past week.
Dustin we haven't heard from you in awhile
2025-03-05 22:05:09 +0000 UTCWhat's up guys, If you've been on Twitter lately you'll have noticed that everyone is up in arms over Trump imposing tariffs on imports from China as they fear significant inflation of video game consoles. TSMC just invested $100 billion into its US facilities in AZ and is opening 3 more where it will mass produce semiconductors. Do you feel this, as well as manufacturers having the foresight to meet supply and demand, might curb rising cost of electronics, including game consoles? Thanks for all you do and stay well!
ReggieFilsaiMesBunz
2025-03-05 22:02:42 +0000 UTCHey boys, Not a monster hunter guy myself but just seen that wilds just sold 8 million in 3 days, that is crazy numbers. Is it deserving of this success? Also I love that Capcom is back in full force. All ready for a new resident evil! Thank you for reading have a great fucking day! Oh and I read that on pc gamer btw for the news.
JustKyle92
2025-03-05 22:01:53 +0000 UTCBig Daddy Colin, I used to be afraid that when you eventually join that Great Backlog in the sky that I would have to perma-sleep myself for want of decent Playstation coverage. Those fears were quickly assuaged by Chris and Dustin taking the reins during last week's episode while you were getting your butthole probed or whatever. It was very entertaining to hear your words come out of Chris' mouth and indeed both your boys provided insight and entertainment. Did you listen back to what they had to say? Will you? How did it feel seeing your little cherubs blossom in your absence? I will hang up now and await the heat death of the universe, Jord
Jordan
2025-03-05 21:36:31 +0000 UTCColin, Are you aware of what kind of debauchery you enable by not being on the show? In last week's episode after you left Chris proceeded to mock you and your frequent use of the phrase, "Let's go around the horn.", by taking out an actual Demon Horn and dancing around it. From there him and Dustin performed satanic rituals amd carved demonic imagery which they dubbed, "The true Sacred Symbols." I know you don't listen to recorded shows, so I hope you just take me at my word that all this happened.
Dave Ramos
2025-03-05 21:34:31 +0000 UTCWhat’s up hard C’s and big D, While western studios have been busy shoveling out a constant load of mediocrity recently like Concord, Dragon Age and Avowed, we keep getting banger after banger from the East like Lies of P, Stellar Blade, and Wukong. I know the internet has been complaining about the over-saturation of the “man with stick” genre as Chris refers to it, but as long as South Korea and China keep pumping out quality releases, I’ll be eating good. A question for my fellow western Pennsylvania Dustin, have you seen or heard anything about The First Berserker: Khazan? It’s dropping at the end of the month and I’m definitely stoked for this one. It’s been flying under the radar since it was first shown at the 2023 game awards but the demo came out in January and the game (I think to many people’s surprise) plays phenomenally with tight combat and solid boss fights. Anyway, as a partaker in the “man with stick” genre, I highly recommend checking this one out. I appreciate the consistent quality LSM content from you guys, the Dukes, the summoners, and the brick punchers. Take care boys.
Headshot Juggernaut
2025-03-05 21:33:49 +0000 UTCno. lol. i guarantee you a lot of people who pay for the 10 dollar upgrades do it cause they want to auto plat the game again
KB
2025-03-05 21:33:42 +0000 UTCThese mf'ers were pro exclusive when they thought all of Bethesda and ABK games were gonna be tied up to gamepass. Now that the damn has broken, they've gotten there marching orders from Phil.
KB
2025-03-05 21:32:43 +0000 UTCHello lads with all the recent talk online surrounding exclusives is it just the one company and its fans that think that they are not important to the console ecosystem system of your choice or are they perhaps more forward thinking than I am I’ll sit back and await your response thank you for all the good you bring to my world with your content
Rayner 38
2025-03-05 21:27:52 +0000 UTCColin, recently I started to lift weights and I started at 1 pound weights at the start of the year and I have been increasing it by one pound every week. I am now at 10 pounds and my god it's starting to get heavy and I am starting to see some muscle growth. So when you said that you went from lifting 30 pound weights to 40 pound weights. my mind was blown, Colin how long did it take you to build up that strength?
Steven Campos
2025-03-05 21:25:36 +0000 UTCChris, There was some heavy Colon talk on Sacred last week and you didn't even bring up the Snark Tank bit. Shannon Sharpe would be very disappointed in you.
Christopher Gourley
2025-03-05 21:15:23 +0000 UTCGood day sacred gents. It was an unexpected treat to see Chris and Dusty boy taking the lead in last week’s episode, it was an interesting show and I loved listening to the sacred sons without daddy Colin’s supervision. My request for Colin this week is to read the 2 questions that were not addressed last week during the WB segment. Chris and Dusty to their credit knew that they are not equipped to answer them,so I am hoping to hear your thoughts on them as they are related to the business side of the WB debacle. Thank you for the amazing content as always and I wish you a great week.
Hashim Barakat
2025-03-05 21:12:37 +0000 UTCHi CDC, Last episode, Chris asked what do studios expect when they deem well selling games a failure. Made it seem like there are some crazy expectations. Recently there was a twitter thread from former Square Enix executive Jacob Navok who actually explained it. it. Quote from one of the articles talking about it: Navok noted that if a game costs $100 million to make over five years, it has to beat what the company could have returned investing a similar amount in the stock market over the same period. “For the 5 years prior to Feb 2024, the stock market averaged a rate of return of 14.5%. Investing that $100m in the stock market would net you a return of $201m, so this is our ROI baseline,” he explained. That doesn't seem too crazy to me. It actually makes me scared for the industry if games like FF16 and Rebirth can't even beat that. Thoughts?
Filip
2025-03-05 21:12:27 +0000 UTCWhose chair is squeaking and what’s the address for the P.O. box to send grease?
Derrick wears Vaseline-filled socks
2025-03-05 21:09:30 +0000 UTCGreetings haters, We've all bemoaned the protracted dev cycles, ballooning budgets, and padded playtimes of modern AAA games. Is the runaway success of Hazelight the blueprint for the future? Hazelight games are made relatively quickly for a reasonable amount of money and they don't waste the player's time. All they're concerned about is delivering a tight, fun experience and the market seems to be responding positively. Instead of charging more money or chasing live service trends, was making smaller, more focused games the answer all along? Have a great one!
A Sonic fan from Ohio that gives us money
2025-03-05 21:02:35 +0000 UTCHey Gents, Recent rumors from Jeff Grubb suggest that Sony is internally debating whether to host a State of Play or a full Showcase this summer. While the naming difference may seem like semantics, the general consumer perception of a "Showcase" carries more weight and expectations. Could this year's summer event be one of Sony’s most important showcases of this generation? PlayStation gamers have been eager for more first-party content, and this presents a crucial opportunity for Sony to deliver. With multiple announced titles, this seems like the perfect time for substantial gameplay reveals for Intergalactic, Ghost of Yotei, Saros, and the new IP from Cory Barlog’s team at Santa Monica. What say you? Thanks.
KB
2025-03-05 20:58:00 +0000 UTCHey guys this one is for Colin although I would love to hear everyone’s take on it. I’m having an ethical dilemma regarding trophies. I enjoy getting the platinum for multiplayer games (right now I’m working on Destiny 2) but for most online games if you get all the trophies for one version (i.e. the PS5 version) and you boot up the PS4 version most of the trophies will auto pop. Now my question is this: is it wrong to get the extra platinum this way? I know your feelings on this regarding single-player games, but if there is no way to replay a multiplayer game without say deleting your account then is it wrong to cash in on the extra platinum? Thanks for all of the amazing shows.
Braxton Wilkerson
2025-03-05 20:51:02 +0000 UTCI was going to say, I’m 6’4 and have wide shoulders. I need a 2X just for it to not be too short lol
Queefer Sutherland
2025-03-05 20:47:41 +0000 UTCHey CDC, In regards to last week's episode with the size of the shirts and your annoyance with it. I have multiple tall friends that are not obese that have to wear large for the length it gives. Medium just isn't long enough. So you could look at it as a lot of your fans are tall. Although contrary to my point we are one of the fastest countries on earth so you probably aren't too far off here. I'll shut up and listen now
Vault101guy
2025-03-05 20:44:55 +0000 UTCSacred symbols squad, I hope you're all doing well. I'm reaching out with a special request that means a lot to me and my family. My son, Bishop, is scheduled for surgery on March 6, 2025, and I would love for this moment in time to be documented in a meaningful way. Sacred Symbols has been an important part of my life, and I hope to one day share with Bishop not only my love for gaming but also the connection of Sacred Symbols It would mean the world if you could take a moment to wish him luck on your show. That way, when he’s older, I can look back and tell him about this time in history and the support he had from the sacred squad. Thank you for all that you do. Your show is more than just a podcast—it’s something that brings people together, and I truly appreciate it.
Adeezydadon
2025-03-05 20:43:10 +0000 UTCHey Willy Smoochers, I was on the Metal Gear subreddit the other day and couldn't notice a tonne of bitching about the $70/€80 price point for Delta on PSN and Steam. Is it just me or is it not a little retarded to whine about pricing when you're choosing to buy the more expensive digital version over the cheaper physical option? Linking this to a wider observation, does the popularity of digital over physical actually prove that gamers are not as price sensitive as they would like to make out? Perhaps Colin's right that there's a degree of faux outrage on the pricing this gen. Smooches, Nick
Your Boi Nicky V
2025-03-05 20:42:05 +0000 UTCHello gentlemen, I hope everyone is doing well. So, if/when you end up in a nursing home which console do you think you will be playing? I am 50 y/o so I imagine the nursing home I will be in will most likely have a dusty Wii for us to play. You three are younger so I hope they have something more current.
Michael J Sutherland
2025-03-05 20:41:39 +0000 UTCHey guys hope you’re all well. Colin, how’d your doctor appointment go? Did you have to turn your head and cough? I hope you’re all good. PS: regarding the colonoscopy conversation from last week, I’ve had a colonoscopy every year or so since I was in 6th grade. I’m 35 now. Long history of ulcerative colitis and, even though I’m 100% fine now, they still want to do check ups. I absolutely hate the prep but love getting the anesthesia lol. Anyway, take care guys and have a good weekend.
Jason Green
2025-03-05 20:37:41 +0000 UTCHello SS Crew, I purchased the Midnight Black PlayStation Portal and WOW is this device amazing! The latency in my home is very low and I can even play some great turn based games remotely during my lunch break at work (chipping through Persona 3 Reload) I have a significant gripe with this device though! It has no Bluetooth support for headphones, opting for a headphone jack and the PS Pair functionality for PlayStation headsets and earbuds. While not as bad, it feels like another Vita memory card style choice on their part. Why can’t Sony help themselves from forcing in proprietary tech into their handhelds, instead of just doing right by the consumer? I’ll hang up and listen
Connor Bright
2025-03-05 20:36:49 +0000 UTCHey CDC Last week you all discussed how the nemesis system would work in other games. If what I've read is true it was initially developed for a Batman game (based on the Dark Knight movie) Monolith was developing at the same time as Arkham Asylum, where if an enemy defeated Batman they'd level up, get stronger and be harder beat later on. Thanks and keep up the great work!
Carter
2025-03-05 20:36:29 +0000 UTCSalutations and Greetings! On the variety interview with Neil Druckmann that just dropped where he said "maybe this is it" in regards to the last of us part 3; I think it would be financially silly for there not to be a tlou 3 in the works, especially with the show ready to outpace the games before the end of the 4 season run they talk about. If this is a smokescreen (seems like Neil has gone back and forth on the record on this topic himself), then my question is why is the videogame industry so freaking precious with stuff like this? The games they are working on are not DEFCON 1 level top secret items like the epstein list... No other entertainment industry does this. A movie is announced, worked on with a somewhat public eye, and then released without any secrecy about the fact that it exists. I wish the videogame industry could take notes here. What would the point of this statement from Neil be if he KNOWS they are currently in some level of production on TLOU 3? Sorry for the rant, I guess my mind just really wants what he said to not be true.
Kyle Day
2025-03-05 20:30:45 +0000 UTCGentlemen, Against my better judgment I dove into The Veilguard. Two things strike me immediately. The first being that his game has serious flaws, having almost nothing in common with my beloved DA: Origins. The second is that boy do I find Thedas, its lore and politics so interesting! I believe I’ll see this game to the end only because I enjoy spending time in this world so much, weird combat and terrible dialogue be damned. Have you ever suffered through a piece of media this way?
Spencer Conwell
2025-03-05 20:29:47 +0000 UTCDear Sacred Fats Colin did you see the trailer for Terminator 2D: No Fate? As a connoisseur of beautiful pixal art I thought it would be right up your alley.
Flint Dibble and the Dibble singers
2025-03-05 20:29:30 +0000 UTCHey CDC, Just want to check in on how everyone feels about their PS5 Pro purchase now that we’ve had a few months? Up until now, I haven’t experienced anything drastically noticeable in terms of improved performance, and I have been corrupted by the need to constantly look for even the smallest micro-enhancements in any hardware/game settings that I come across. However, if I was still playing on the base PS5 model know that I would be constantly asking myself: “I wonder how much better this game experience would be if I had the pro console?” Thanks for being the best and most consistent podcast team in the world!
Unsharted Drake’s Misfortune
2025-03-05 20:28:53 +0000 UTCWhat the fuck, man?
Ember's Arcade
2025-03-05 20:28:08 +0000 UTCWith the confirmation of THPS 3/4 Remastered, it brings to mind a question: if some other sport or activity could be turned into a video game in a cool way like THPS, what would you pick? How might the mechanics work? THPS feels like bears elements of precision and timing akin to fighting games but also has exploration elements, all wrapped up in the core skateboarding mechanic and feel.
Javin Mather
2025-03-05 20:27:10 +0000 UTCHello Fearless Leader, Bold Second In Command, and Unpredictable Wild Card I always wondered... Are the Lilly Mo games in a connected universe? The games Colin helped make I mean Take Care🙏🏾✌🏾
BMJ614
2025-03-05 20:24:06 +0000 UTCHey Sacred crew, The recent returnal talk because of Saros announcement, has got me thinking about how I didn't know the value of the astronaut item until the last biome. I didn't realize it essentially gave you an extra life, and would always discard or not purchase it. If I had, the game would have been much easier. Has there ever been a time where you realized late in game how valuable an item was? Thanks for all the content. And happy 44th birthday to me this Sunday.
Angel DeJesus
2025-03-05 20:23:42 +0000 UTCHey fellas, Just wanted to drop a quick note about the RSS feeds. I primarily listen to Sacred Symbols and jump into the others based on guests and topics. Having the feeds split up is perfect—no more wading through everything just to find what I want. My OCD thanks you. Also, re-adding the feeds was comically easy, so the outrage over it feels like peak internet nonsense. On another note, I recently realized my sub had been stuck at the $5 tier for a while. When things got rocky in the community, it hit me how much you guys actually mean to me. This podcast is something I'd gladly pay more for—so I did. Upgraded to God Tier not just for the shoutouts, but because you’ve given me so much, and I wanted to return the favor. Keep killing it—you’ve got my support for life. — RJ
Remington James
2025-03-05 20:23:29 +0000 UTCHey Guys, Adult Swim comes up occasionally, so I'd be remiss if I didn't mention the passing of George Lowe, the voice of Space Ghost. Do you guys have any specific memories of watching Space Ghost: Coast to Coast? It was instrumental in shaping my young teenage mind around animation, and without it, I doubt Cartoon Network would've had the same trajectory it ended up having. Thanks as always, I'll hang up and listen.
Surge!
2025-03-05 20:21:56 +0000 UTCDamn, he said TLOU3 isn’t happening?!
Ben
2025-03-05 20:20:53 +0000 UTCWith our tongues
Ben
2025-03-05 20:20:16 +0000 UTCHow’s it hanging dorks? I know I’m late to the party but I just started diving into Chris Chan and I wish I did it sooner, A real once in a life time individual Black Sonichu had me on the fucking floor. Take care gents and keep up the excellent work!
Spongeboy me bob get a glass I’m squirting
2025-03-05 20:19:53 +0000 UTCSalutations, syphilitic superstars of (the) SS. Super random question for Supreme Leader Mao Tse-Moriarty. Not to give First Secretary Furman or Minister Maldonado (Reichsführer Raygun?) any ideas... but can you imagine any scenario where you'd hire someone to LSM and give them some form of profit-sharing? For example, if there's some big name and you wanted them to have a show on LSM, but you paid them by giving them a percentage of Patreon revenue proportional to how many subscribers their show’s specific RSS feed has. Or any other example you can think of. 50% of AdSense revenue their show gets on YouTube; whatever. Even if you can't think of an existing person you'd want that badly, do you imagine there's a hypothetical scenario where that happens? Love you. Keep smokin' them slitty symbiotes.
Ben
2025-03-05 20:19:51 +0000 UTCHello CDC, Do you guys feel like games these days are consistently overextending the final story sequences by like 3-6 hours? Open World games and RPG games are really bad offenders here. After what could potential be 40, 50 or even 70 hours, I am usually ready for a timely and satisfying ending so I can move onto the next game I am excited to play. I know "games are too" long is a common topic here but I personally find drawing out the final hours of the game to be the worst part of that, especially when I am playing at night before bed and thinking "tonight is the night I am going to finish" only find out I will need 3 or 4 more play sessions. Take care, I will now hang up an listen.
James York
2025-03-05 20:19:42 +0000 UTCI was a stander as kid until at some point I gained consciousness and realized I could simply lean forward lmao
Judah Bailey
2025-03-05 20:19:39 +0000 UTCHey guys! JOHN CENA TURNED HEEL for the first time in over 20 years! That is all!!
EugeneLevyBassist
2025-03-05 20:18:54 +0000 UTCI totally agree. Timeline wise we’re soon reaching the point where PS4 truly started firing on all cylinders. I’ve stayed patient for this entire time, but I’ll only begin truly being doom and gloom about the PS5 if we don’t have a banger showcase in the next 12 months so we can start building some anticipation.
Judah Bailey
2025-03-05 20:18:22 +0000 UTCHey Colin, Who's in Paris?
Ethan Barcelos
2025-03-05 20:16:58 +0000 UTCWhat’s up AJ, Big Justice, and the Rizzler A lot has been said lately about prolonged dev times and often times it’s attributed to meeting the fidelity demands gamers expect on PS5. However how can this be reconciled when dev times for Nintendo Switch games are taking just as long? Breath of the wild to Tears of the Kingdom was 6 years. Splatoon 2 to Splatoon 3 was 5 years while the wait from Splatoon 1 to Splatoon 2 was only 2 years. Xenoblade 2 to Xenoblade 3 was 5 years while Xenoblade X to Xenoblade 2 was only 2 years. That’s not even mentioning how long it’s taking to get a new 3d Mario game or a new Retro Studios game. With this being considered what do you guys really think is the cause for these long dev times. Thanks as always!
Vincent Castroll
2025-03-05 20:16:46 +0000 UTCHey boys. Colin, when you did the first episode ranking PlayStation IP, you mentioned that one of the franchises couldn’t have so many people clamoring for it due to its softer sales in the PS2 generation, which is something you’ve expressed a few times before. It got me thinking though, is it not possible that the interest in any given franchise is bigger than sales numbers from three generations prior would suggest? Something that I’m sure has slowed down in the digital age is the proliferation of pre-owned games. About 90% of my PS2 library and literally every GameCube, NES, and DS game I owned as a kid was second-hand. And from there I shared dozens of those games with several of my friends. What I’m really asking is this: Should Sony really write off the idea of giving some franchises another at bat because they didn’t sell crazy numbers 20 years ago? I’m sure the number of actual players interested in returning to these IP would be much higher than the data would suggest. Thanks for reading, I’ll hang up and listen.
Judah Bailey
2025-03-05 20:15:31 +0000 UTCHey Sacred Boys. In a story by Variety, Neil was asked about about the The Last of Us 3 and said "I guess the only thing I would say is don’t bet on there being more of Last of Us. This could be it.” What the hell is going on man? Just a year ago in the Grounded 2 documentary he said he had a concept for a story. Colin I believe you've said Part 2 needs a sequel way more than Part 1 did. I agree. I cant help but feel like I would've rather not had Part 2 at all if I knew the story would end in such an unsatisfying place. Anyway, take care and look for the light.
Michael Welter
2025-03-05 20:11:12 +0000 UTCWhy / how do people do it sitting down??
Brandon Stark
2025-03-05 20:09:50 +0000 UTCHey cdc, Did you guys see that Acclaim Entertainment is coming back from the dead? I gotta say not only did I not expect this I also did not expect pro wrestler Jeff Jarrett to be one of the ones helping to resurrect it. Crazy world. Reading through the news circulation about its resurrection I respect their vision in being a publisher first and foremost with a goal to support indie development and new original I.P. That’s the most lucrative direction for them if done so responsibly. I also like that they are going to try and revisit some of Acclaims older properties if they can. Obviously a lot of those are tied to other companies however, if we were to get some of Acclaim’s more obscure I.p. Back I’d love that. Even ports of some of their games brought to modern consoles or original games from Acclaim comics I think would be awesome. Maybe revive the cancelled 100 bullets!? Let’s go! What are your thoughts? What Acclaim properties would like to see brought forward if any at all? Do you also think that this will pan out good for them in the long run or will this venture ultimately explode like a Jeff Jarrett guitar slam to the face!!? Thank you
DonutSuplex
2025-03-05 20:09:42 +0000 UTCHey CDC With Forza horizon five coming to PlayStation do you think Sony needs to compete with it by making motor storm into a free roaming racing game like Forza horizon five.
Jeff Kenney
2025-03-05 20:08:58 +0000 UTCHey guys, A recent leitmotif on the podcast is how awful Google is. Well, let me use the California fires of all things to propose an alternative. Ecosia is a German non profit that use 100% of their profits to plant trees. According to their website, they've planted over 200 million trees so far. Some of them in the states. They use Bing for searching so the results are decent also. So if Google is as awful as you think, why not plant a tree with your searches? Cheers, Cristian
Cristian Colta
2025-03-05 20:08:27 +0000 UTCHey gents, I want to push back on a premise I hear on this show almost every week. The idea that 1st party output has been weaker on PS5 than PS4. It’s simply not true. PS5 has been out for just over 4 years, and 1st party has released the following: Miles Morales, Rift Apart, Returnal, Forbidden West, Ragnarok, Spider-Man 2, and AstroBot. That’s a little under 2 games per year, each of which have been strong game of the year contenders, and not even including the excellent God of War and Horizon DLCs and the Astrobot pack-in game. And looking forward to the next 2 years, we can fairly assume we’ll at least keep that same pace with Ghost, Wolverine, Saros, and Intergalactic. In what universe is this output considered weak from a single publisher? Now Let’s compare to PS4. In 7 years they released the following games. To make the comparison fair, I’m including Insomniac and Housemarque games published by Sony before they went 1st party: Kill Zone, Knack, Resogun, Driveclub, Infamous, Little Big Planet 3, Ratchet, uncharted 4, Alienation, Horizon, knack 2, Matterfall, Lost Legacy, God of War, Spider-Man, Concrete Genie, Days Gone, Dreams, Ghost of Tsushima, and Last of Us 2. That’s just under 3 games per year. And if you exclude the games that are below Sony’s current level of quality, the output is basically the same as PS5. That last part is obviously subjective, but I think I'm being conservative by only excluding Knack, Knack 2, Dreams, Driveclub, and Concrete Genie. So what am I missing? Do you guys really think there’s been a downgrade in output, or can we put a stop to this nonsense once and for all? Thanks, Alex
Alex Watson
2025-03-05 20:06:07 +0000 UTCGood day gentlemen, Colin, how's that chair treating you? Any updates? Was it worth the money and time you had to wait for it?
Saúl Nolasco
2025-03-05 20:05:44 +0000 UTCGentlemen. My question is brief but important. What if GTA 6 isn't the industry pillar all expect it to be? I know this seems insane. But history has shown nothing last forever. It's been 12 years since the release of GTA 5. I would imagine many on the team who built GTA 5 from the ground up so many years ago are no longer with the studio. Hell it has now been five years since the franchises co-creator / lead writer, Dan Harmon left the studio. We have seen franchise after franchise fail to live up to player expectations recently. Could this happen again with the most anticipated game of the decade? What say you Sacred crew?
Tim J Weckwerth
2025-03-05 20:05:38 +0000 UTCAlright sacred boys. Was the quote that Neil Druckman said about Last of Us part 3 possibly never happening taken out of context or has the tv show and Intergalactic pushed the game way too far back to even confirm. What say you.
Florida Man
2025-03-05 20:05:33 +0000 UTCHey fellas, Thoughts on why The Last of Us tv show would need 3 seasons for Part II, seeing as Part III is in doubt. Take care, Dom
Dominic Leone
2025-03-05 20:04:36 +0000 UTCHello SS, Anyone else feel gaslit by neil druckmann? Did he not explicitly say at the end of the BTS TLOU2 documentary he has a concept for a 3rd story, a "one more entry" in the series? And now he's saying its not happening? Is he lying? Did we misinterpret what he explicitly said? Is he gonna shadow drop TLOU3 like its a new album? I'm losing my mind (not really) Thanks for addressing my spiral - GD
gd
2025-03-05 20:04:15 +0000 UTCHey CDC, I just wanted a chance to provide a reply to Dustin regarding international prices of games. Here in Australia, a new game can be $129 on PSN store but $89 physically. It still pays to have a disc drive down under.
Mark Corlson
2025-03-05 20:04:05 +0000 UTCHey Colin, please tell me you watched the recent Piers Morgan Uncensored, featuring The Powerhouse?..
Andrew Cuschieri (Drew The Gamer)
2025-03-05 20:03:15 +0000 UTCHey guys, why do I wipe my ass standing up? Thanks?
Singing Fugu Fish
2025-03-05 20:02:34 +0000 UTC
