Sacred Symbols+, Episode 364 | Sacred Symbols x Defining Duke: The Great Flattening
Added 2024-01-23 01:25:50 +0000 UTCIt's been awhile since we've published an episode of Sacred x Duke, so why not get our first entry of 2024 into the wild? Today, Last Stand's PlayStation and Xbox podcasts combine to discuss topics of mutual interest, including compelling rumors of Xbox exclusives migrating to PS5 and Switch and the seemingly-changing direction of publishers like Square Enix. But we also touch on some more partisan issues just to get "the other side's" take: Xbox's recent showcase, the lack of a PlayStation Studios roadmap, and even a robust discussion about the mega-popular game Palworld, which may or may not get sued into oblivion by Nintendo (probably not). The only question we really have now is: Where's Chris?
PLEASE NOTE: This is Saturday's episode of Sacred+, which we wanted to publish earlier so that nothing would be out-of-date by the weekend. The next episode of Sacred+ will publish on Saturday, February 3rd, as scheduled.
Comments
Love the crossover shows always great hearing more Cog and Matty with the scared gents
Colton Cotten
2024-02-01 19:54:11 +0000 UTC7 million players played it on Xbox
Owen
2024-01-31 18:26:55 +0000 UTCAlways funny hearing people say sea of thieves and Hi-fi rush are “leaving Xbox”. They aren’t leaving anything lol Not Xbox and will still be on game pass while players can buy them on different platforms.
Aaron
2024-01-30 00:41:17 +0000 UTCI feel like there is a perfect lull right now in PlayStation for Sly Cooper to make his triumphant return. He must be the one to save us from the doldrums of a lack of releases for the PlayStation side this year. I know Matty would agree!
SnipaMasta
2024-01-28 16:19:12 +0000 UTCI got the platinum in Resistance 3, and it was an unifinished above average shooter. The whole ending played without sound for me, and there were other issues (I'm pretty sure you couldn't jump with move/sharpshooter combo cause you'd need like an extra hand to reach the button). It simply came out when everything needed 3D and move support, which detracted from the quality of the main games. MP was a laggy dud, story never took off across 4-5 games (even if the premise was promising), you were running around farms/power plants and squashing bugs throughout the majority of this franchise, which isn't the most exciting thing ever. Dorky alien fps games just inherently aren't as popular as games like COD, and this series just didn't have the pedigree of Halo to make a dent. This game had nothing on Killzone 3, and it was released half a year after it. I'm honestly not surprised that it didn't sell well, and the franchise is on ice. Let it RIP in peace on PS3.
MISZCZOGRZMOT
2024-01-28 16:16:14 +0000 UTCLike?
Bartevious
2024-01-27 18:29:44 +0000 UTCGreat fuckin’ episode guys, that is all!
Gareth Handa
2024-01-27 16:12:55 +0000 UTCThere was no 'saving' Forspoken. It wasn't a terrible game it just wasn't up to the high standard of much of their current output. PlayStation had to take it to get exclusivity rights to Final Fantasy. It's failings are firmly on Squares shoulders not Sony's. I suppose you could argue the same for Xbox, Redfall was in development before they acquired Zenimax there was obviously only so much polishing of a turd they could do, they kind of just had to release it.
Davario
2024-01-27 02:20:16 +0000 UTCIn terms of Palworld, they can get away with it because copyright and trademark protection is very specific. Unless they are directly copying pokemon designs and names they really can't be prosecuted. It's like copyrighting your script doesn't mean you own that story idea, just those exact words and telling of it. If the Hollywood studio you sent it to just so happens to release a movie with the exact same treatment story, but the core script writen by another, there is nothing you can do. Trademark gets more blurry, but is specific too and deals with merchandising and marketing. As in, Nintendo might file a trademark complaint if Palworld releases Pal plushies that look like Pokemon they have the trademark for toys for. But I highly doubt they are going to release Pal toys.
NinjaDC
2024-01-26 18:45:50 +0000 UTCHockey season starts the day after the Super Bowl
Glen Yelenovic
2024-01-26 17:57:09 +0000 UTCThe fact Matty holds Forspoken against Playstation and doesn't hold Redfall against Xbox... I don't even know what to say on that one.
Jacob Lesperance
2024-01-26 17:16:36 +0000 UTCMatty makes data up about gamepass all the time, lol. Fan of his show, but he just says things with no data.
Jacob Lesperance
2024-01-26 16:05:03 +0000 UTCIt will be similar to the first game, but much higher fidelity. It’s definitely not a game for everyone. I enjoyed the first but will only play this one because it’s on GamePass
My most hated race is the 400m dash
2024-01-26 12:33:10 +0000 UTCwhen I listen to sacred I think they get too negative about Xbox. Think it goes both ways
Owen
2024-01-26 06:21:09 +0000 UTCWas Cog talking about E3 2013 when he said that PlayStation delayed their conference to react to Xbox? Because I have no recollection of that. I'm fairly certain they went on at their regularly scheduled time.
Joseph Gedgaudas
2024-01-26 00:06:10 +0000 UTCDustin unleashed.
NeO JD
2024-01-25 15:06:33 +0000 UTCReally enjoyed this combo. Diverse, interesting viewpoints from everyone.
Matt
2024-01-25 00:35:12 +0000 UTCR.I.P. Chris, you'll be missed.. I think it's obvious that right now Xbox has a stronger lineup for 2024. That said, I'll be all over FF7 Rebirth when it comes out. FF16 was my game of the year last year; and FF7 is my early guess this year. But I'm also going to be all over Hellblade 2 and Indiana Jones. It's nice now that Xbox has games because it went so long without them, haha.. That's why the hardcore are upset, because Xbox finally has it's own games and they're just gonna give them to everyone. As someone who games almost everywhere (Steam, XSeX, PS5, not Nintendo), I couldn't care less about exclusives. And it's obvious why Microsoft is doing it. The console war is over, they lost. So now they "change the conversation" and find other strategies to succeed. First game pass and releasing on PC, now release some of their games for sale on other consoles. They don't need to have the best selling console, they just have to make money. It would be cool to see something, but it doesn't bother me that Sony may not release a big AAA first party exclusive this year, I just find it curious as an observer of the industry. Fingers crossed for a State of Play soon revealing an unannounced first party AAA game coming in the Fall. A new Uncharted to go up against Indiana Jones would be cool, haha...
Matthew Cooper
2024-01-25 00:16:43 +0000 UTCFound Matty's take on Playstation pretty odd tbh, basically looking at everything in the most negative light and acting like Sony are scared shitless of Xbox. Not that everything is all rosy at PS, but he went way too far in the negative direction, even acting like they've had a number of misses (..."releasing duds...") which is just false. Forspoken is the closest thing to that and it's a mere marketing deal, hardly a Sony game. (Also Cog complaining about the TLOU 2 remaster - a $10 upgrade for a directors cut pretty much - is very odd. That's not a bad deal) It is weird how we know so little, but that seems to be Sony's direction going forward in terms of announcements. I will say if we don't hear anything substantial from 1st party by this summer, then it's very strange. But we know these studios are working on things so we have to hear about them at some point, and I'd have to assume we'll start to hear about even 2025 games by this summer. Honestly Dustin kinda nailed it, it really doesn't matter for the vast majority of casual gamers, who have a great selection of games coming to PS5 this year that we already know of, even if none of it is 1st party. That's going to keep most people going until the next slate of 1st party games. I think sometimes the Dukes are too bogged down in their Xbox mindset, thinking of what's coming to Gamepass for "free" and the long list of Xbox 1st party games which we already know is coming. It's just a different strategy Sony have, doesn't mean either are the wrong one.
Deemac
2024-01-24 19:55:33 +0000 UTCIf Indiana Jones doesn't sell as well as Disney wants then it will come to PS5 calling it now
Walker Simmons
2024-01-24 18:56:20 +0000 UTCI had no idea Palworld was on GamePass until Matty said it was. I bought it on Steam.
ZG114
2024-01-24 15:09:33 +0000 UTCNintendo needs to step in and help the Pokemon company make a truly great Pokemon experience. Until then gamers will flock to the Palworlds and other replicas. Gamers want a new experience and Arceus is close but not there yet. Scarlet and Violet although a good overall game is an abomination of an experience. It’s sad that broken Pokemon games sell 25 million copies with a snap of a finger. I say let Palworld live. Maybe Nintendo will wise up and make a Mario/Zelda quality experience of a Pokemon game.
Michael Mashpotato
2024-01-24 14:11:01 +0000 UTCIs the third party outrage real or just similar to the twitter fueled hogwarts legacy boycott.
Simmo
2024-01-24 13:28:26 +0000 UTCThe Dukes are always on brand.
Gonçalo Ferreira
2024-01-24 12:56:02 +0000 UTCPalworld became popular because of Game Pass? 🤦
Link
2024-01-24 04:13:34 +0000 UTCI'm about 30min away from finishing this episode, but I feel a missed thread here is the Live Service sector itself is falling off. Look at Bungie; for such a long running service as Destiny to come up short right around the time that Fortnite is having to diversify beyond battle royales, and laying off staff, to Sega canceling Hyenas before it even launched. This downward trend of service games seems to be what's caused Sony to pivot away from going all in on ten live service initiatives. Separating GaaS from sub services like Gamepass, I think it's clear that sticking to the traditional model like what Larian did, and the success WB had with Hogwarts shows that Live service is dying off and that PlayStation may not be missing out on a trend that's already on the way out.
Dan Sing Izzy Rae Lee
2024-01-24 03:08:36 +0000 UTCI totally get that, honestly.
Quinnton from Spokane
2024-01-23 20:53:41 +0000 UTCI personally feel like I’m in the 1% of biggest Xbox fans in the world. If Sony began to get all of the Xbox exclusives, I would jump ship to PlayStation. I would take it personal and besides that, why stay; it’s not like PlayStation games are coming to Xbox.
Ib Saint
2024-01-23 18:05:58 +0000 UTCyou guys are the first ones to talk about Palworld the exact way i wanted it to be talked about thank you
Tomde (Tom DeSantis)
2024-01-23 18:00:53 +0000 UTCI got away from consoles because everything worth a damn ends up on pc anyway.
Cory Knudsen
2024-01-23 16:12:23 +0000 UTCHahahahahahahaha fuck that had me dying at the end Dustin
Otacon_Ocelot
2024-01-23 15:51:52 +0000 UTCI echo a lot of Colin’s thoughts on Hellblade. Personally I think it looks really good, but cannot help but get the gut feeling something is definitely up with this game. Giving me major Order 1886 vibes: 7 years in development and just announced it’ll be like 7-8 hours long, no physical release, and most importantly we’ve been hearing about this game for 5 years and most of what we’ve seen is this woman in a fucking mo-cap suit. What is the obsession with the mo-cap/face animations when you won’t even show us what the game actually is? Smells funny
John
2024-01-23 14:38:12 +0000 UTCI watched the Palworld gameplay trailer with my kid, all he could say is “Is this a new Pokemon?”. I was shocked at how similar the creatures are… even down to the color palette.
Bad Hair Day Caveman
2024-01-23 12:23:19 +0000 UTChard agree with matty’s take on missing the old playstation. i’ve been toying around with my ps3 recently and the depth and breadth of output on that machine is simply unmatched by modern ps’s third person over the shoulder output. motorstorm, killzone, resistance, ratchet, sly, uncharted, the last of us, littlebigplanet, infamous; i feel like that generation bridged the gap between old, creative sony vs modern, prestige sony really well
Matt H
2024-01-23 05:06:47 +0000 UTCDidn’t he get the plat?
Dylan Gibson
2024-01-23 03:16:08 +0000 UTCIm glad Collin is pulling for Lions 💪
Otacon_Ocelot
2024-01-23 03:08:31 +0000 UTC*Not games related* Maan that bit on the Bills earlier… damn we can’t get past the divisional. Idk, their defense was down multiple guys in key spots and the offense went from pass heavy to start the year to the most run-heavy by season’s end with their OC change to Joe Brady (which is ironic considering how many good things Brady’s done with the passing game in prev years with LSU and even the Panthers to an extent). I just think that their only real chance to the Super Bowl this year was going to be with Josh Allen doing freakazoid things..again, as demonstrated many many times in his career. And tbf that almost worked, but injuries and offensive/coaching inconsistency is, ultimately, what got to them IMO.
Andrew
2024-01-23 02:55:02 +0000 UTCIt’s been too long since the last Sacred x Dukes. Love to see it back again!
Daniel J
2024-01-23 02:46:24 +0000 UTCMatty typical response, a game is doing well because of gamepass...
larry Seitz
2024-01-23 02:19:12 +0000 UTCIf Nintendo or GameFreak were to sue and win a lawsuit against Palworld, GTA is done for. They have so many cars and clothes that look very identical to real cars. Especially in GTAOnine.
Jeff Caseres
2024-01-23 02:18:58 +0000 UTCChris has been super busy, moving back and forth from coast to coast while also being violently ill, he managed to played 35 minutes of Spiderman 2 and announced it as his GOTY. Get well soon.
Colby Freda
2024-01-23 01:53:34 +0000 UTCTo podcasts enter… One podcast leaves…
Zeke the Plumber
2024-01-23 01:42:21 +0000 UTCGgwp
Joshua
2024-01-23 01:36:20 +0000 UTC*ahem* LETS FFFFFFFFFFF GOOOOOOO
FoundWaldo
2024-01-23 01:36:20 +0000 UTCHere come the "Is Chris leaving the Show?" crowd.
Joe B
2024-01-23 01:34:50 +0000 UTCI love been spoonfed content like this
Tom Gentry
2024-01-23 01:30:37 +0000 UTC
