Sacred Symbols, Episode 291 | The Guillotine
Added 2024-01-26 17:00:15 +0000 UTCOur beloved games industry is currently mired in an economic crisis of its own creation. By rapidly expanding corporate headcounts during the pandemic -- and by foolishly forecasting 2020-era gaming habits would persist into future years -- many publishers and developers have found themselves dramatically overextended. In 2022, some 8,500 people lost their jobs in gaming; that number grew appreciably to 10,500 last year. Here in 2024, though? Not even a month into the calendar, we're sitting at around 6,000 job losses. And it's going to get way worse. How did pubs and devs get this so wrong? And how come the human cost falls upon the people who were hired, but not those that did the hiring? Plus: A reliable rumor indicates Until Dawn is PS5-and-PC-bound, Death Stranding 2's re-reveal may be right around the corner, Focus Entertainment foolishly rebrands itself, and more. Then: Let's wrap things up with listener inquiries, as usual. How do we balance multiple games at once? Could the harm leaks do to studios actually be overstated? Is paywalling New Game+ a step too far? When is the appropriate time in the day to shower?
Timestamps:
0:00:00 - Introduction
0:19:23 - Best wishes for Alex!
0:31:58 - Double space = existential crisis
0:33:12 - How do LSM fans find each other?
0:38:17 - Winnie the Pooh'ing is not ideal
0:42:27 - Dog named after Dustin?
0:45:12 - When should you shower?
0:51:57 - Does Mega Man get any better?
0:53:38 - Death Stranding 2's title has leaked
1:07:18 - New PS5 firmware
1:07:30 - PSN Top Downloads 2023
1:10:07 - Is "Fast Travel" boring?
1:21:44 - The Final Fantasy XIV TV show is dead.
1:26:40 - What Are We Playing?
2:03:19 - Layoffs are hitting the industry
2:38:18 - Until Dawn could be coming to PS5
2:52:00 - Focus entertainment is renaming
2:58:18 - How important is identity?
3:22:21 - What are the best retro style RPGs?
3:25:50 - Do we do post game content?
3:34:17 - How do we handle multiple games at a time?
3:40:06 - Why are game leaks bad for a company?
3:47:32 - Should reviews account for monetization?
Comments
One blast from the hose will take care of both.
MomsLikeMe
2024-02-17 14:43:30 +0000 UTCWhat about just washing the swamp ass and ballsack?
Joshua Brown
2024-02-17 09:33:21 +0000 UTCno Hard work plays a huge part in being successful.
Hose A Contra Razz
2024-02-05 16:32:49 +0000 UTCStrong disagree luck plays into everyone’s lives everyday. Just the fact he was born into middle class America in the 80’s makes him luckier than a child born into Haiti or some other 3rd world country that dies by starvation. What a completely ridiculous take, lol
Dustin Johnson
2024-02-05 16:15:35 +0000 UTCNone of you three do anything that warrants showering every single day lol. You’re constantly washing away good oil and replacing it with chemicals, and you’re washing your good bacteria away as well. Meanwhile, your skin is more likely to be cracked and let harmful bacteria in. You have been dismissed.
MomsLikeMe
2024-02-03 20:20:59 +0000 UTCThank you for this! I am half black and half white and I notice the difference of how society treats my white side of the family versus my black side and also how I get treated comparatively to either. The truth of the matter is that race is a part of someone’s identity there a major cultural difference between my black family and my white family even though we all live in the same state (which pushes back a little on Colin’s black neighbor having the same exact culture as him). Some thing my white family will never understand is the slight differences in how I am treated in situations compared to them. I was called the n-word growing up by classmates. I’ve been denied places to rent due to my skin collar. I’ve had people comment on my vernacular (you speak so differently compared to what I expected), you don’t act ghetto, and etc. While I would like everyone to just treat people as people, that is not reality. It is an ideal that we are nowhere near achieving
Dustin Johnson
2024-02-02 18:05:12 +0000 UTCcolin would hurt people because he’s dumb and insecure.
Ryan
2024-02-01 16:06:05 +0000 UTCAre you ok
Cormac
2024-02-01 15:43:08 +0000 UTCHello boys, A surprisingly in-depth Death Stranding 2 trailer showing the crazy world showing we might be getting more of the same, but with a twist. I am going to go back and finish the first one and I'm sure I'm not alone after seeing this trailer. Did the secondary reveal get you more or less excited to hop back into the world of Bridge?
Nathan Densley
2024-02-01 01:13:00 +0000 UTCHey CDC, What a State of Play! Judas was the crown jewel of the show for me. Great characters, biting satire, and cinematic gameplay check all the boxes I'm looking for from the one and only creative engine that is Ken Levine. I'm now going on media blackout in regards to this game. Did the trailer give your balls the tingle? Are you doing the same blackout?
Nathan Densley
2024-02-01 01:05:21 +0000 UTCI feel it needs to be pointed out about "Window facing jobs" in Japan are a result of it being very hard to fire people in Japan. The idea of the Window facing job was originally used for senior but not necessary staff to be given a comfortable last few years before retirement. However, currently it is often used as a punishment. When the company wants to fire someone, but can't. So they give them meaningless tasks (often in a windowless room) to do while being cut off from work colleagues. The idea is the employee will soon quit or early retire.
NinjaDC
2024-01-31 13:00:31 +0000 UTCit’s true. if people are close to colin they are suspect. colin’s behavior and opinions are unacceptable
Ryan
2024-01-30 22:50:08 +0000 UTCIf you double space on an iphone it automatically adds the period. So, either the tech wizards over at apple are all boomers, or it's still an acceptable way to write.
Supertom
2024-01-30 21:56:06 +0000 UTCI have two complaints, first , Colin there’s not such thing as luck maybe blessed, you worked hard to get where you are at , never sell yourself short. Second , Chris is in a bubble that thinks the American dream is not real , he’s been conditioned to think that , people want success by not working hard for it and making sacrifices. People want the American dream given to them.
Hose A Contra Razz
2024-01-30 21:54:23 +0000 UTCIf you have ways to measure productivity, you can just take away the ability to work from home from those individuals. If your company has a physical location of course
Gooch Gobbler
2024-01-30 18:09:26 +0000 UTCIf your company has standard measures of tracking productivity this argument falls apart. Any company should have that any way, regardless of WFH or not. If your productivity drops, you cannot WFH anymore. Problem solved
Gooch Gobbler
2024-01-30 17:04:47 +0000 UTCi know exactly what a fascist is. colin would vote in and apologize for the worst elements of this country. there is a comprehensive definition by umberto eco if you want to look it up. it fits the worst elements of this country to a t and colin would apologize and vote in all of it. because he’s a malevolent insecure moron
Ryan
2024-01-30 16:14:57 +0000 UTCSuch a bad take on fast travel, games are not about player choice and accessibility. They are about what the developer wants them to be, unless of course all you care about is $300M blockbusters that have to sell to everyone. This is why AAA games just can't be great anymore, it is always about holding the players hand rather than just making something special. Why care so much about the human element, when making a game has to be the QoL player friendly experience. You may as well let the AI have it's fun, because clearly imagination and passion are not at the top of the list of priorities based on your perspective.
Lawson72
2024-01-30 15:30:58 +0000 UTCYou don’t even know what a fascist is 😂 you hate him so much but you pay to be here. You’ve got a two digit IQ and it shows.
Adam Barnes
2024-01-30 10:06:38 +0000 UTCOnce again, thank you for continuing to support LSM.
Cormac
2024-01-30 07:44:16 +0000 UTCCan I get a cursive “Fear Fun Fart” sign for my kitchen? 🤷♂️
Draven E.
2024-01-30 03:55:29 +0000 UTCcolin is a whiny perpetually aggrieved fascist.
Ryan
2024-01-29 21:03:08 +0000 UTCYou’re mentally ill. Seek help.
Adam Barnes
2024-01-29 20:46:39 +0000 UTCThe only moron around here is you, lad. You prove it every week when I come to the comments section and find you in here. Take it back to reddit, Resetera, or wherever you came from.
Adam Barnes
2024-01-29 20:45:08 +0000 UTCThe transition from the fart debate to that genuinely spine-chilling letter had me on the verge of tears. Thanks boys
Kevin Garcia
2024-01-29 19:38:53 +0000 UTCThey dropped it early, last Tuesday, to avoid publishing a Palworld discussion that may have been outdated by normal Saturday publish. Next one will post 2/3 as scheduled.
PluuusRyan
2024-01-29 17:29:12 +0000 UTCIs it just me or has the Sacred+ not dropped yet?
Ross Stoddart
2024-01-29 17:10:23 +0000 UTCDamn you got him there 🤣
Ross Stoddart
2024-01-29 17:10:08 +0000 UTCI was almost convinced the SS+ interview would be Cliffy B, but Jonathan Blow is even more intriguing. I would also be very interested in the possibility of Colin interviewing Phil Fish.
Nikitas Gagas
2024-01-29 16:59:12 +0000 UTCNo. It literally means they want to make everything the same. Fascistic would be if they forced people to do so without any say whatsoever. It’s not at that point yet. You’re taking what i said and twisted it when it’s laid out plainly in what I said
PairOfShuse
2024-01-29 16:57:47 +0000 UTC"...does want to sterilize everything". Wouldn't that be considered fascistic though? This is very reminiscent of how the Catholic church forced Hollywood to follow strict moral guidelines during its Golden Age. This topic requires more critical thought because it is a problem.
Nikitas Gagas
2024-01-29 16:54:51 +0000 UTCI live in Spain now, most Spaniards are white European or slightly darker. This is probably less a result of moorish interbreeding and more a result of generations (eons) of evolution resulting from life under the brutal Mediterranean sun. We have 350 sunny days or more a year here in Valencia. The Spanish lived under moorish rule (at least in part, some parts of the peninsula were never occupied) from around 800 AD to the 1490s. Many Spanish words and places have Arabic roots as a result
Timothy Martin
2024-01-29 16:05:16 +0000 UTCThe practice of double-spacing after a period is the required format for screenwriting, which is largely because of the Courier font still being a standard. In any case, I'll be double-spacing on my deathbed as I write the very last sentence of my will.
Kevin Cooper
2024-01-29 14:36:14 +0000 UTCWill Maury Moriarty consider himself a Long Islander, even though he was born in Virginia?
Travis B
2024-01-29 14:25:53 +0000 UTCChris shitting on the Nuclear Family is really disappointing. His anger is misplaced
Alexander Dean
2024-01-29 14:13:55 +0000 UTCLooking forward to the SS+ with Chris Chan
SnipaMasta
2024-01-29 12:52:16 +0000 UTCI’m gonna be honest Colin, I’m pretty disappointed with your guys’ opinions on the games industry betting big on its future in 2019 / early 2020. At that point in history, we were in the midst of the greatest economic revival in the history of our country, so these publishers and developers had no reason to disbelieve that it was going to continue. Corporate America, moreover, believed that Donald Trump would be reelected, and therefore their corporate upswing would continue unabated. Lastly, nobody could foresee an intentional global pandemic, and the stolen election it facilitated. Before he left office, when Trump said “you’ll be lucky if you have a country at all,” well, frankly I often find myself struggling to not hear those words, reverberating, through my head.
Saint947
2024-01-29 08:49:29 +0000 UTC@longlivespoons on twitter
Jordan
2024-01-29 05:50:28 +0000 UTCHi Col, I double space. It looks better.
Andrew
2024-01-29 03:15:53 +0000 UTCi really really dislike colin. mostly because he’s a fascist and he’s dumb. i dislike colin so much that i think that everyone that likes him or close to him is sus
Ryan
2024-01-28 21:47:06 +0000 UTCJust about every Metroidvania since 2017 lol. We all have brainfarts, but this was a "yell at the radio" moment for me.
Tonys_Always_Write
2024-01-28 20:41:21 +0000 UTCColin’s shoving a Brillo pads up his ass durning every showering
Travis B
2024-01-28 20:37:27 +0000 UTCI love Comrade Colin 🔥
Romeo
2024-01-28 19:01:11 +0000 UTCNot sure why Colin thinks Mike Ybarra is more talented than current Xbox execs? He was in charge of the disastrous Xbox One launch UI.
Bryant
2024-01-28 18:53:11 +0000 UTCNo Colin, please continue.
Aladin_Run
2024-01-28 17:36:51 +0000 UTCThose icons that you can put around the map are in Ori, I believe. (In regards to CM talking about Prince of Persia.)
Ib Saint
2024-01-28 16:43:23 +0000 UTCMy guess is Mystic Ryan
Josh Lucas
2024-01-28 10:57:06 +0000 UTCPretty sure we have anal glands inside your butt that helps lubricate and it definitely leaks out at times.
Cody Mahoney
2024-01-28 07:35:55 +0000 UTCBecause it seems like you really dislike the host and content, so why subject yourself to that, and others to the negativity?
PluuusRyan
2024-01-28 07:03:31 +0000 UTCPlease Colin, for the love of god, stop singing. Or trying to sing, I should say.
Danio
2024-01-28 05:55:04 +0000 UTCI think that original FFVII sucks gameplay wise so I'm not going to play it before the Remake. No way. But planning to play Rebirth without Remake is totally wierd, I agree with that.
Danio
2024-01-28 05:53:35 +0000 UTCI'm glad Chris convinced Colin that particles exist
IceCreamRickShaw
2024-01-28 04:33:33 +0000 UTCwhy not?
Ryan
2024-01-28 01:20:00 +0000 UTCno, colin has to stop being a moron.
Ryan
2024-01-28 01:19:44 +0000 UTCGo away.
Adam Barnes
2024-01-28 01:15:48 +0000 UTCRyan, why are you still here?
Adam Barnes
2024-01-28 01:14:33 +0000 UTCFor the record, even Winnie the Pooh has the decency to sleep in a night gown.
Thursday-Lane
2024-01-28 00:51:35 +0000 UTCHey, if we’re not going to get a The Order: 1886 sequel I would enthusiastically welcome a TV show. That world begs to be further explored.
Nikitas Gagas
2024-01-27 21:09:01 +0000 UTCand my post was more about colin being an annoying hypocrite who hates that people don’t take him seriously because he plays garbage for trophies
Ryan
2024-01-27 19:37:29 +0000 UTCwatch a summary then. the og ff7 is bad. plodding gameplay and story.
Ryan
2024-01-27 19:02:10 +0000 UTCRyan, you NEED to play the original FF7 to understand FF7 remake. It’s that simple, “can” you play ff7 remake with no ff7 original playtime? Yes but….you will be missing out. It’s like watching the matrix resurrection without seeing the other matrix movies, when the Merovingian shows up in resurrection you’d have zero idea who he is or why he is. Sure you don’t need to know but without it you’d be lost and it would leave out a huge section of the story
Andy
2024-01-27 19:00:32 +0000 UTCWho’s the most requested guest? I feel like it’s Jackie T (Jack Trenton) but….my balls tell me it’s not.
Andy
2024-01-27 18:54:49 +0000 UTC“I don’t know what your ass looks like. But my shitty ass doesn’t exist” -Colin Moriarty 😂
Cyprus Davis
2024-01-27 16:17:28 +0000 UTCI've always thought Mulder and Scully were solid dog names
Zack
2024-01-27 16:13:25 +0000 UTCIt will look so good on the steam deck OLED. Do it!
Michael Mashpotato
2024-01-27 13:02:37 +0000 UTCWas just looking at it for Steam Deck. £16 I think. Might be nice on my new OLED model!
Matt Wiles
2024-01-27 12:53:00 +0000 UTCRegarding the layoffs; WFH doesn’t work in most scenarios. Yes there will be people here who say they are ‘more productive’, but the majority take the piss. It was great for a year or two, people were working, but it slowly became the norm and people started to slack off at home. Me and you might be productive, but think about the average worker, the distractions at home, the temptation to leave your desk and slack off doing something you want to do. It doesn’t work!! I manage a shitload of people and can confidently say that 25% do work hard at home but the other 75% are doing less than pre-2020. That, combined with the poor forecasting is the result of layoffs.
Matt Wiles
2024-01-27 12:52:26 +0000 UTC🥲
NecrumOddBoy
2024-01-27 12:44:59 +0000 UTCI watched that exact Michael Jackson interview with Operah only a few days ago too, don’t know how I ended up watching it either lol.
Alex Roberts
2024-01-27 10:32:49 +0000 UTCColin, as someone who works in remote places all over the world, I am often forced to take up to 4 connecting flights to reach a particular destination. Such trips require spending as much as 40 hours traveling. If I have a little extra musk at 6am at a particular airport, I want you to know it might be my second morning traveling. As for the rest of the pungent people without excuses, yes, they must be stink shamed.
Thomas Ian Foley
2024-01-27 08:54:31 +0000 UTCog is garbage
Ryan
2024-01-27 06:09:49 +0000 UTCyeah don’t. og is garbage. colin is just a hypocrite freak
Ryan
2024-01-27 06:09:35 +0000 UTCcolin crying about people playing ff7 remake without playing the original. while playing garbage for trophies and chastising people for not worrying about what he’s playing. he’s such a hypocrite freak.
Ryan
2024-01-27 06:08:55 +0000 UTCChris: sweet baby inc isn’t raising your retirement age, there are more important people to worry about. Yes, there is always something more important to worry about on a grand scale. But Sweet Baby Inc while, is not fascistic, does want to sterilize everything to be a homogenous blood of all the same thing, with the same talking points, and the same grievances. Our hobbies are important and play a role in our lives to a great degree as well. Two things can be true at once
PairOfShuse
2024-01-27 05:01:05 +0000 UTCI basically haven’t either. For years I didn’t play VII Remake, in part cuz of Colin’s advice to play OG first. I just finished Remake having never actually done OG and am glad I finally did..
PluuusRyan
2024-01-27 03:30:53 +0000 UTCBrooo a SS+ with John blow is so exciting. I love both Braid and The Witness, but I know the convo won’t be centered around that. Also does anyone know if Colin’s t-shirt guy does business with the Public? His Enix shirt looks dope and high quality.
Dylan Michael
2024-01-27 02:38:27 +0000 UTCI shouldn't need to play an old game to understand a remake. That is the point of a remake. I'll never play Final Fantasy.
Beau!
2024-01-27 02:33:47 +0000 UTCWhen Chris said put your ass where your mouth is I almost had a stroke from laughing so hard. That whole segment was outstanding lol
Joe Perez
2024-01-27 00:32:46 +0000 UTCColin, I really appreciate you taking the identity question, largely because my perception has been that you see this is a complete open-and-shut “debate”, as it were. I was happy with the open-mindedness of the chat overall and appreciated Chris specifically mentioning that, yes, there are certain traits that bear more weight to people's identity. Colin, your perspective seems to always come back to immutable characteristics and their relative lack of value. I think the big asterisk that needs to be applied is whether the immutable trait is tied to a historically marginalized group of people. As great as it would be to imagine our society not seeing things like race, gender, sexual orientation, etc, it simply shouldn't be ignored that there were at best social stigmas and at worst literal enslavement that have contributed to generations of inequality. Another point I've heard you make often is that economic status is really the most important factor when considering what makes us distinct or similar. Again, with race in particular, it doesn't make sense to completely divorce these, considering the historic oppression that has ramifications for generations (barriers to buying a house and voting, higher incarceration rates, lower college rates, etc.).
PluuusRyan
2024-01-27 00:31:11 +0000 UTCOn fast travel: I played the majority of Cyberpunk 2077 just driving around, and rarely fast traveling. Especially with 2.0/2.1 with that highway made it so easy to be immersed yet not annoyed. Even when fast travel is an option, try avoiding it if traveling is fun in that game! I fast travel everywhere though when doing things like killing the cyber psychos.
Anthony Palerino
2024-01-27 00:29:53 +0000 UTCFor gods sake can Sony give us a Bloodborne remaster? Instead we get the rumored Horizon remake, 2 last of us games and now Until Dawn. Does Sony hate us?
Michael Mashpotato
2024-01-26 23:12:52 +0000 UTCPicture Colin going throughout the rest of his day randomly stopping to think about poop particles.
NeO JD
2024-01-26 22:01:37 +0000 UTCThose custom icon things were a thing in Hollow Knight as well. Although the screenshot thing is definitely unique to PoP
Bogey Zero
2024-01-26 21:05:41 +0000 UTCJonathon Blow is spot fucking on about people not working while being “work from home” for a corporation. Ask a friend or family in this position and 9/10 of them will say they don’t put more than 4 “good” hours in in a given day. Prioritizing that work life balance 💯
SeanG123
2024-01-26 20:54:05 +0000 UTCJust an FYI, almost every Metroidvania I have played since Hollow Knight's release definitely has the map/icon feature you are talking about Colin.
Tonys_Always_Write
2024-01-26 20:38:44 +0000 UTCCan we get the link to the sizzle reel?
B
2024-01-26 20:15:46 +0000 UTCI’m about 40% through Prince of Persia. It’s great but it’s no Blasphemous 2 which imo is a master class in Metroidvanias. It’s a shame not many people played Blasphemous 2.
Michael Mashpotato
2024-01-26 19:47:39 +0000 UTCThe guest: Tom Sweeney On the topic of fast travel, I really like when games either let you disable it (or mod it out) when there are diegetic reasons for fast travel in the world, like carriages in Skyrim. So you get that immersion while also being able to exchange resources for convenience. Playing through the Outer Worlds again right now, and I really like how the only place you can fast travel to on Supernova difficulty is your ship. To Dragon’s Dogma 1’s credit, the exploration is really fun so I’m hoping the sequel keeps that trend especially with nighttime being uber dangerous.
Noah Friscopp
2024-01-26 19:33:48 +0000 UTCYou've never heard or smelt every single type of fart like Chris said but man that off the cuff remark made me spit my coffee as I was drinking it.
Davario
2024-01-26 18:34:19 +0000 UTCThe double space after a period is wild. Born in ‘87 and I was never taught that, even on a typewriter.
Brandon Garvin
2024-01-26 18:34:09 +0000 UTCThe fart talk had me howling . “Put your ass where your mouth is”, man, I would love to see Chris do a standup routine, that dude is quick witted
John
2024-01-26 18:26:40 +0000 UTCYeah. Odor has substance.
Zeke the Plumber
2024-01-26 18:26:15 +0000 UTCColin that is how smell works. What you’re smelling is the particles entering your nose. However tiny those particles are, yes they are physically there, even in gas form. So yes when you fart into your sheets, there are poop particles in your sheets until you wash them. Now that’s true even if you’re wearing underwear, but you are letting a lot more through when you’re not wearing any.
Bogey Zero
2024-01-26 18:24:48 +0000 UTCMy mind immediately went to him when Colin mentioned a secret guest
Jonathan Perez
2024-01-26 18:20:39 +0000 UTCCongrats on interviewing Walt Disney. Excited to hear his thoughts on Lies of P 2
Zeke the Plumber
2024-01-26 17:59:56 +0000 UTCIt’s Marty Sliva
Joshua Brown
2024-01-26 17:49:23 +0000 UTCHi, I was Tendercrisp Bacon Cheddar Ranch (named after one of my favorite Burger King sandwiches and commercials of yore), and I'm sorry you had to read my obnoxiously long name. I thought I had changed it before submitting my question. My apologies, it won't happen again.
HORSE the Patron
2024-01-26 17:37:09 +0000 UTCHoping your surprise guest is mystic Ryan
Pretendo
2024-01-26 17:30:56 +0000 UTCHey guys. Just FYI, some phone providers also offer apple+ for free, you just have to activate it. I have it through T-Mobile.
Angel DeJesus
2024-01-26 17:29:40 +0000 UTCThe term partner is used by a lot of people to be more inclusive of all relationships. Personally, if would never call my Wife, my partner, but that’s just me.
king_ryan_james
2024-01-26 17:20:30 +0000 UTCSorry to hear your dick fell off, Chris Thoughts and prayers
Zeke the Plumber
2024-01-26 17:07:26 +0000 UTCHoly Shit they got Chris Chan
Matthew Two T's
2024-01-26 17:05:22 +0000 UTCLet's roll
drew
2024-01-26 17:02:55 +0000 UTCBoom!
Bad Hair Day Caveman
2024-01-26 17:00:53 +0000 UTC
