Sacred Symbols, Episode 108: Peak Performance

Yeah, there's much to talk about with their new financials.

Colin Moriarty

Yeah, that's an app issue. Sorry. =\

Colin Moriarty

You don't want to play as some homely broad, is what you're saying?

Colin Moriarty

Well, it is indeed wild.

Colin Moriarty

The patreon app is probably the worst.

Jacob

2 comments after Sony earnings call, PS5 launch very well could be the biggest console launch yet and while I agree, DLC isn’t my favorite, it’s it going anywhere any time soon as it’s the primary revenue driver of Sony in the PlayStation universe. In fact, it’s now going to be practically required going forward that ALL games have DLC as the costs are largely baked into the original sale and they constitute all profit. (41% of PlayStation profit game from DLC). This figure is staggering as it dwarfs income from new releases like Last of Us 2. Pretty sure That’s why LOU2 multiplayer is stand alone becasue that’s where Sony plans to make all the profit on the game!

Orion88

Just an FYI. I’m late to listening to this episode. I’m a weirdo that listens to this through the Apple Podcast app every week because I refuse to let old habits die and use the Patreon app. I’ve noticed that a lot of episodes lately on the free feed podcast there are a lot of bad jumps in the audio late in the episode where parts repeat or jump around multiple times.

Robert Byers

I just realized I got "that's wild" from Chris as well, I say that all the time

Tyson Williams

I don't mind playing as a female lead, but I'm not going to lie, I don't want to play as an ugly female lead. I don't really care if people think I'm horrible for that. I'm a human male, and I think if people (male and female) were honest, they'd much rather play as Chloe from Uncharted than some Amy Schumer looking chick. We're humans; we like looking at attractive humans.

Dave Carsley

I really do think that it's the order of operations that's got me down. TLoU2 was just so... visceral. And it's hard to jump into anything else when you just got the shit kicked out of you like that. That said, I did hit a bit of a groove with Ghost last night, so that's good.

Colin Moriarty

That's what I like to hear! <3

Colin Moriarty

It's absurd, but I'm still gonna play it. =D

Colin Moriarty

I agree that Sony is becoming more risk-averse... but it's also working for them. I want to see more variety. In some ways, we do have it: Gravity Rush, Knack, Until Dawn, etc. But I think they can -- and should -- do more. If there will be 3-4 big exclusive pops for PS5 a year, two of them should be something different than this increasingly-worn formula.

Colin Moriarty

Close enough.

Colin Moriarty

I'm finding enjoyment with it. I think I just wanted more Infamous. =)

Colin Moriarty

Thanks! I got into a bit of a groove with Tsushima last night, so that was cool.

Colin Moriarty

Conspiracies aside, I think the culprit is ultimately that they folded all of the regional PlayStation Blogs into one, and since different games come out in different territories at different times (and sometimes not at all), I think it's made doing the Drop impossible. That's my theory.

Colin Moriarty

Hey Colin, Your comment on not feeling Ghosts resonated with me. I just finished The Last of Us Part II this past weekend. The game was so emotionally draining that I haven’t been able to pick up anything since. I tried two games (a VR game and an FPS) to try and cleanse my palette, but had to put them down soon after. This has actually happened before with Red Dead Redemption 2 and The Witcher 3. After finishing both those games, I had to take a month hiatus before I wanted to play another game. I’m hoping that starting a NG+ and getting the platinum for TLOU2 will maybe bring me some closure, but since you already did that and it didn’t really work, I’m hesitating a bit. Anyway, let us know what works for you, any advice to get out of this slump would be appreciated. Cheers, Pete

Pete

Best game drop ever. Laughed like a maniac. Love it

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. =)

Colin Moriarty

Filip Miucin can get right the fuck out of journalism in general. Initially, I had given him a little bit of a break, thinking that he made it to IGN because of his raw talent and that since he wasn't formally trained, he couldn't be held to the same standard as someone that has gone through specific mass communication training. But, I'm looking at his LinkedIn profile right now, and this motherfucker attended Palomar College from 2010-2014 to get his AAS in Mass Media. Then attended California State University San Marcos to get his B.A. in Mass Communication from 2015-2016. When I went to college, my classmates and I spent a lot of time discussing Jayson Blair, Stephen Glass, and Brian Williams. Those were the godfathers of plagiarism. We also spent a lot of time discussing the work of Sean Penn and whether or not an actor can just "do journalism" whenever they feel like it. I can't imagine someone spending six years in college to pursue a degree in mass communication, without ever taking the law of mass communication class, ethics of mass communication class, or any number of basic pre-requisite courses one would have to take in order to get their degree. Those colleges should take his credentials back. He clearly didn't use them. Keep up the great work.

Devon McCarty

Also beans on toast is a British staple. That's your go to meal if you can't be bothered to cook dinner. Sprinkle abit of cheese on top and it's then posh haha

Kelly Perkins

I really like fmv games, but that gamer girl gamewas absolutely rediculous. As a female but not a streamer it's also slightly offensive. There are actual female gamers out there that are not this stereotype shown in this game. It's just all unnecassary.

Kelly Perkins

re: the discussion at 50 minutes, I’ve seen this comment echoed so many times by xbots on twitter...that Sony only knows now how to do the big open world, film-like experiences. It’s something that’s plagued the ps4 gen quite a bit. It seemingly took an eternity for these to arrive and when they did, they might seem somewhat samey (I didn’t get this ennui bc I haven’t played horizon, god of war, or days gone, ended up playing other things during those times or nothing at all). That’s not entirely true that Sony doesn’t know how to diversify their titles. I actually preferred last gen bc there was that diversity of first and third party titles (maybe not as much as ps2), but it seems like Sony has gotten a bit risk-averse and I can only imagine they lost a shit ton of money taking all those insane risks (hardware and software-wise). For instance...I will always regret this, but I think MAG had some potential. It was the unfortunate victim of coming out at the wrong time when COD was still at its full strength as a franchise. I played it a little but mostly my time was devoted to other games and it didn’t get much love...by the time I got back, it was a bit too clanned-up to be accessible to most people and not long after that it seems, they pulled the plug and even shuttered Zipper Interactive. Same with other things like PS Allstars, Modnation Racers, Resistance 3, etc etc. It’s my hope that we see something different in August and the months to come.

kentuckyfried

After rocket league goes free to play, new players won’t be able to get it on steam. If you already own the game on steam, you’ll be able to continue to play it there.

Josh Lucas

The critique of Ghost being just another open-world game that also suffers from being the last IP to drop in the generation is so completely misguided. You must give the game time to marinate. How many times has this been the case? Sony is growing up with its user base as the majority of its consumers are in their mid 30s. Why are short attention spans and mental dread knocking down the greatness of this game? Just take your time and play as long or as short as you can, but definitely play it. Sucker Punch worked 5 years on this...the least you can do is play it through.

Joseph Tartaglia

Great show guys. Your gamers block is very real colin. I felt that way with tlou 2. I got to abbys part of tlou2 and just kinda gave up. I want to beat it but idk why the game feels like a drag.

Adamthm

Agreed. I also think these games are just a straight port to next gen similar to when Assassin's Creed Black Flag came out. The two versions looked almost exactly the same. They must assume there will be blowback once people get their hands on Valhalla and Watch_Dogs: Legions and do graphics comparison.

Brian Lau

I think it makes perfect sense that Ubisofts cross gen games stay at 60. Its just weird for people who aren't enthusiasts going into the store. Why is this 10 bucks more? Its the exact same game right? Can I just buy the PS4 version and use backwards compatibility then? Just too much confusion that is solved with keeping this run of games 60.

Luke Silletta

So hear me out. In this age of conspiracy theories, Sony doesn’t release the drop anymore because of you and Chris being the only way they get talked about. So you’ve beaten them yet again by just sorting and looking for new releases. I’ve got another idea though. Get a list of the new releases weekly, choose 10 or so (or all of them whatever), and make a separate post with the list and let your Patreon’s come up with their own descriptions and read them on the show!

Quintin Propes

Persona 5 is a third party kinda-exclusive.

Colin Moriarty

We talked about its sales position?

Colin Moriarty

I don't look at bylines very much.

Colin Moriarty

A broken clock is right twice a day.

Colin Moriarty

Just do the right thing, Tyler!

Colin Moriarty

I've been in situations fighting 4, 5, 6 guys at a time, and I'd love a lock-on.

Colin Moriarty

People just need to learn to do their own work.

Colin Moriarty

I honestly didn't notice any of that.

Colin Moriarty

People are saying this, but I literally don't get why not. Doesn't make sense.

Colin Moriarty

That'll be the next episode of +!

Colin Moriarty

Stop being so sensitive.

Colin Moriarty

Write in when the thread goes live and we'll correct!

Colin Moriarty

The man.

Colin Moriarty

Yeah, it's not a bad idea to celebrate your brand like that. But you need to do it right.

Colin Moriarty

I will. One day.

Colin Moriarty

Yes, I suppose foreign sensibilities might play a role, too.

Colin Moriarty

This is very true.

Colin Moriarty

I had to look this up to even maybe understand.

Colin Moriarty

I still haven't watched it.

Colin Moriarty

It certainly doesn't look good.

Colin Moriarty

=\

Colin Moriarty

People are lazy and don't care!

Colin Moriarty

The only disrespect is Sony not acknowledging these games existence and casting them into the abyss!!

There’s No I in LLC

We've really gotta move on!

Colin Moriarty

I think I talked about this on a past episode, but the way you kill dogs in TLoU2 -- the viscera and the sounds and the context -- make it a different thing. At least for me.

Colin Moriarty

=)

Colin Moriarty

Yes, that could have certainly played a role.

Colin Moriarty

Yeah, I'm just failing to find my rhythm with it.

Colin Moriarty

He's an interesting man.

Colin Moriarty

“...you can just book it with your hotdog.” Picturing Chris running with a hotdog is silly. “What about an RPG?” I know it’s not a Sony Studio, but damn it Colin, PERSONA 5. In terms of the Ubisoft sexism claims, the data for Odyssey pointed out that 2/3 of the players chose the male lead. On another note, with TLOU2 you could see in the comments some of the sexist players who wanted to play as Joel again, and hated playing as a woman. It’s sad really. I agreed with Josh before you recorded this episode, but I’m agreeing even more so now after that lackluster Xbox showcase. I expect the PS5 to be a hot item until supply catches up to demand.

NeO JD

Is no one going to talk about spongebob battle for bikini bottom in the top 25 last month? That’s amazing lol

Derreck slone

I find it odd that some defense of how Halo looks is the fact that it is being built for Xbox One as well. ......isn’t this is exactly what people have been concerned about Xbox’s play everywhere strategy? It’s not always just PC-like graphics settings sliders. You’re going to be handicapped by the lowest common denominator. And this is going to manifest itself from day 1 at the design stage.

Zack E

So the made up descriptions for the games are certainly funny. But is it a bit disrespectful? I know the purpose of the game release segment isn’t to sell the audience on the game, but just to introduce it and acknowledge its release. However, I don’t think this made up description is really adding anything to the show. Now, there were certainly humorous takes on the actual descriptions, and maybe some people thought that was sometimes mean spirited, but I think that had much better context. And most of the funny takes were on the ridiculous grammar some of the descriptions would have. I just don’t know if I feel comfortable with the made up descriptions. And because the Drop doesn’t seem to exist anymore, if the choice is now no game release segment, or this made up description segment, I think unfortunately I’d vote for not doing it at all. I’m sure I’m in the minority, but I would take a serious look into this segment. I just think it can give off bad vibes at some point. It’s not your responsibility to properly give attention to new PS games. But, is it at the same time irresponsible to make up descriptions for them?

Zack E

They is a woman named Aiofe Wilson who works for Eurogamer, surprised Colin has not heard of her and the name considering he talks about Eurogamer

Zack Fair

Aoife is an Irish girls name. Pronounced EE-fuh Chris was correct

Alex Cabrera

Hey Topher, Why in the fuck would I get a cart off of the gravel that was "considerately" placed next to my car 40 spaces down from the store and violently vibrate my hands until they're numb rolling the cart all the way into the store when I could just grab one from inside after a brisk walk to the front lobby? Are you nuts?

Tyler Cumerford

Colin trust me you definitely dont want a lock on camera later in the game when there’s a lot more enemies. Also this isn’t assassin creed like, this is sly cooper like. Put some respect on his name!

Bryan Lozano

I put them back because I worked as a greeter and had to collect those carts one summer for hardly any money at all. You're doing the right thing. Same reason I put my stuff reasonably together after a dinner out for the busser to clean up quickly instead of leaving sloppy stuff everywhere (bussed for a summer and did dishes at a restaurant).

Brogan Trull

I'm in my final year of studying a Bachelor of Journalism and anyone who plagiarised any of their journalistic work has been terminated from studying the degree without a second chance. Genuinely baffles me when people think its a good idea to plagiarise.

Haydyn

I know you don’t want to talk about TLOU 2 anymore, but I’m glad you enjoyed it and saw it through to the platinum (only my 40th, so I’m a little less than half the platinum man you are). Hope you caught the couple of Bioshock nods, and not just the death by gold club. I loved seeing the one gate in Seattle with the code 0451, a nod to the first door code in Bioshock, and variants found in Bioshock 2, Infinite, and even System Shock (and Ray Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451, for that matter). Lots of smart, dark worlds ties together here.

Zach Brown

Lock on would not work with this game. Keep playing it and you will get it. These Sony games are nothing alike besides being open world in 3rd person

Dom posa

Haven't listened yet but looking forward to hear both of your thoughts on the Xbox showcase. Definitely not expecting to hear good things considering how much of a letdown it was

Dave W

Colin I feel you know nothing of the culinary foods we have in the UK, the food over here is excellent and feel like you've only tasted a small amount to be able to comment on with authority. You are right that we do good breakfasts though, one is a English breakfast, which consists of Bacon, sausage, fried or scrambled eggs, hash browns,mushrooms and beans and tomatoes with toast or eggs fried bread

Zack Fair

A little help for Chris when discussing graphics, Bump maps haven't been used since the PS2 days. Normal Mapping is the replacement since PS3 on. PS5 will likely make Vertex Displacement Mapping more popular and eventually replace Normal Mapping. Here's a rundown of the difference: Bump mapping; baked in lighting on a surface in the world for higher detail per surface. The lighting does not update on the surface during gameplay on a fragment level. Normal Mapping: A texture that tells each pixel on a surface how to react to the lights around it. This information updates in realtime so lights no longer have to be baked, but render bump maps meaningless. Vertex Displacement Map: A texture the tells the physical offset of the location of each pixel on a surface as well as its angle. This is expensive but does all the previous maps' jobs while still faking higher detail geometry. The benefit here is that you can manipulate the micro-texture detail in real-time for advanced interaction fx.

Henry Maxwell

Bob Villa 😭😭 #PBS

Erk-Prime

How is Witcher not like TR, TLOU2, and Horizon?

Ben Williams

Thank you for spitting the FACTS about PlayStation All-Stars not being a bad idea. Sony should definitely try again with that franchise (change the name obv) since it's mostly been singleplayer games as of late. They could do this with bringing back Starhawk/Warhawk as well.

Real Radec

Colin... You often mention wanting shorter games to digest, and wanting more variety and bravery from devs to do something different, Ghost isn't speaking to you because it's the Sony formula... Again. Please try Hellblade. It's 5-6 hours and it would definitely speak to you. It's in the vein of Gone Home and Journey. Short, memorable, a one and done experience game. You are missing out man.

Lee Bull

Is Chris blind or in denial? The xbox showcase was at best a 5/10. Wouldn't argue if someone scored it a 4. I Nice announcements but no gameplay. In the case of Obsidians game and Fable not even in engine footage. Halo looks legitimately like a 360 game. All that event did was damage the brand and push PS5 sales. Maybe Sony had a sneak peek and that's why they doubled production recently 🤷🏻‍♂️

Lee Bull

Love how Americans try to be all inclusive even when its bad business. Female character in games don't sell in a ton of other countries. While I agree western games have no issues it just doesn't play to the core audience in most Asian and some European countries.

Wayde

I think we should give Square Enix the benefit of the doubt with the next parts of FF7. They've have tons of shennanigans over the years leading up to the release of FF15, Kingdom Hearts 3, and FF7, all of these games turned out great. I'm confident what ever they do to continue 7 will be great!

Sumojoe118

Re the female protagonist thing, it entirely depends on the game. If it's an rpg where I'm making choices and actually 'role-playing,' (fallout, new AC, mass effect etc) then i won't get if it i can't play as a man. It pulls me out of it when i can't play vicariously through the protagonist. It's much more evident with me with reading fiction. It's an escapism thing I think. Games like TR, tlou2 and Horizon however aren't that. They're like watching monies. It doesn't matter what i play as. If Witcher 4 had a female only protagonist, that'd be an issue for me. I'd struggle to get into the game the way i did Witcher 3. I wouldn't rage or anything, it just wouldn't be for me.

hugplx

Glizzy Gladiator Chris 😅

DarthLemon616

Xbox showcase was a letdown tbh

Wayde

Halo 100% should have looked next-gen, and it did not. All exclusives are on PC, some on Switch. No reason to buy Series X Day-1. Another generation where Xbox will lose.

Brandon Soto

I can’t wait for episode 40,001th

Mark Zebro, Jr.

I absolutely judge one's character on if they put the shopping cart back or not. I was a cart pusher at Walmart when I was 19. I did it for about a year. I saw so many people that wouldn't even push the cart to you if you were five feet away from them gathering carts. Nothing in my life has made me want to beat someone to death as much as that. 😂

Miles Williams

On the topic of shopping carts, My friends and I have always called my need to put carts back as a "Superhero Complex." A need to do everything for the good of all mankind.

Gen_Lee_Accepted

The bathing saga that has continued for weeks continues to kill me lmao

Zack Forney

I’m going to prep a submission for the Ghost spoilercast but as a first draft... I am enjoying the combination of TLoU2 and then Ghost very much. They work well together and make me enjoy the playstation experience BUT I just wanted to point out 2 large double standards I’ve noticed people fall into. The killing of Dogs in TLoU was viewed as a big point of contention, well you kill dogs in Ghost. Why isn’t it mentioned? And Chris made a critique that TLOU “ran out of game” to show the character essentially arguing that gameplay loop was too repetitive... but Ghost is wayyyyyy more repetitive in gameplay, in animation and general experience but I’ve heard no mention of it. Sorry for wall of text.

AllTooEasy_

CLS: The number oneth podcasting brand on the internet.

David Graham

Assuming their reluctance to have a female lead was based on any data, I bet Ubisoft was petrified of taking any amount of risk while fending off a hostile takeover from Vivendi for years. Here’s hoping that a new creative lead will be more willing to green light “riskier” things, including some more variation in their game design.

Chris

I'm getting a bit burnt out with Ghost. After spending 20 hours clearing the entire first section of the map I've moved to the next part and it seems like its just gonna be more of the same thing. I'm hoping the gameplay gets a bit more diverse.

Sumojoe118

I'm gonna keep plugging away at Ghost, no doubt.

Colin Moriarty

I'm saying for PlayStation.

Colin Moriarty

He doesn't. There's no way.

Colin Moriarty

I really don't think he knows what baked beans are, and I'm concerned about that.

Colin Moriarty

I think coming off the just brutal intensity of TLOU 2 (btw, glad to hear it grew on you, Colin), I think Ghost is just a welcome change of pace. I remember, a few hours into TLOU 2, I was like “omg, wow... I completely forgot this is not a normal game series.” I will go back for the platinum, but basically I put all games down for a month til Ghost and was happy to just dive into this pretty, very video gamey game, where you’re designed to feel powerful and just enjoy the scenery.

Chris

Really got worried that Colin and Chris were gonna come to blows over the baked beans debate.

Kendrick Calles (Ca-Yes)

I think Colin would be enjoying it if it were set in the post-apocalypse.

Jake Z

Colin, phantasy star online 2 is already localised in the west.....I've been playing it on my Xbox one.

Tomas Pacheco

That bean debate almost got intense. I agree though Colin - Chris is totally giving the impression he doesn't know what baked beans really are.

Kyle Goodrich

Colin, this is very much an assassins creed in japan game, so it makes sense why its not speaking to you as much as it is to other folks

Every SS episode Chris proves to me that he has never experienced life. How do you not know what bake beans are? No Hispanic would consider bake beans just beans. We call it, white people food.

Kenneth Oms

I'm only able to play Ghost in small chunks. I dunno... it's just not speaking to me, even though I very much want it to!

Colin Moriarty

Yeah, that's too much.

Colin Moriarty

That's wild.

Colin Moriarty

I don't like it when he wins.

Colin Moriarty

I loved the TLoU2 and the narrative it told, but it’s so refreshing to have Ghost to play after it. I can pick up and play this game in small chunks, and just have fun exploring while not really having to worry about progressing the story. Also with how long Ghost is, I think Sony was smart to release the two games in this order.

Samuel Ashley

Hey shaggers. My mums name is Oenone, seems to be a huge challenge for anyone to pronounce. It's an ancient Greek name but we're very Scottish so it's always a point of consternation.

Campbell Parker

I started saying "wild" more after listening to Andrew Schulz use it so expressively. I do think it's come around again as a common reactive expression amongst Zoomers, along with "unreal."

Jake Z

Chris nailed the Aoife pronunciation! You pronounce it like Eefa, had to learn this with my roommates sister

Alex Bolton

Fair enough.

Colin Moriarty

Yes! Makes me excited for what PS5 can do.

Colin Moriarty

I only bought a loofah recently to scrub off dead sunburned skin and they do not do the job! Overrated!

Jake Z

I’m glad you guys mentioned the load times for Ghost. I was shocked with how fast it loads, especially when you are fast traveling. It’s actually fast. Lol.

Will Hahn

Maybe I'll get to it one day...

Colin Moriarty

Fair enough.

Colin Moriarty

<3

Colin Moriarty

Interesting!

Colin Moriarty

...

Colin Moriarty

You're welcome.

Colin Moriarty

okay?

Colin Moriarty

message next time,

Colin Moriarty

all in one

Colin Moriarty

Let's get it

Colin Moriarty

Watch Dogs 2 is delightfully silly. It succeeds at simultaneously celebrating internet culture and satirizing it.

Jake Z

Fuck Filip Muicin!

McHooliganXXL

Nothing wrong with being optimistic

Gabe

Hope you two have a great weekend! Thanks for the show and I look forward to the next ss+!

Gabe

I’m Irish and Aoife is pronounced EE-FA I’m proud of Chris he got it well done lmao

Jack Doheny

Chris was far too kind on that Xbox show... it was bad, really bad, and with today’s news it’s looking worse by the hour. It’s very disappointing to see.

Shaun Wilkinson

On behalf of Dennis , Khyle and myself. Thank you

Mitch Orobko

On behalf of this other guy, I'd also like to say thank you

Khyle Claeys

That is all.

Dennis Johnson

Thank you on behalf of everyone else to follow.

Dennis Johnson

While I'm hear by myself, I'd just like to say thank you.

Dennis Johnson

Bless you, sirs.

Dennis Johnson