Sacred Symbols+, Episode XXI: Our 2020 Predictions

Got around to listening to this today and wow this was cancerous. C&C unleashed every ounce of pessimism, cynicism and skepticism they had on PlayStation.

Marvinarviin

I truly understand, I hope I didn’t come off very abrasive haha

Zach Theuriet

Thank you! We love you.

Colin Moriarty

I don't know, none of it means anything to me. LOL.

Colin Moriarty

I’m not seeing many people talking about the confusion between 8K playback and 8K graphics. There will 100% be no games running in 8K, but instead the system will support 8K playback (I.E. movies, shows, Netflix, etc). It seems the power of the system is more in-line with 4K 60fps or 144fps 1080p. I understand that you(Colin) and Chris are not exactly the most tech savvy folks, but it is something that when I hear I have to say something. Thanks! Zach

Zach Theuriet

Hi C&C love your show.

PSNow on paper sounds like a solid offering, too bad in reality it feels terrible to play everything. Hopefully with the new BC rumor PSNow introduces downloads for PS3.

Lawson72

Haven’t seen any other comments on it, but if you are wondering about the hardware aspects of the PS5 and Series X Digital Foundry has some great breakdowns on their YouTube channel. I think in one of their latest videos they talk about how backwards compatibility on PS5 will essentially work by allowing the processor to scale down to the power of PS4 and PS3 by using less cores. Also it’s good to point out that if you’re looking at a comparison of the power to what these cards will have it sounds like they will be Sony engineered AMD 5700XT GPU’s which are already available to consumers close to the $300 price point so I think the $500 expectation of next generation isn’t to crazy of an assumption. If you find some time during the madness of moving to sit down and check out the Digital Foundry videos I think it would go a long way to adding to your knowledge of the upcoming console generations. Best, Brandon

No problem Colin appreciate the response.

Reg

Hey C&C, Firstly, thanks for all the great content. I appreciate all the work you guys do. However, it would be remiss of me to not mention that I think your coverage of PS Now has not really been fair. I did some research, and much to my surprise, it seems the two services are quite comparable. Both are 9.99 and have a large library of games, with new games coming in and older games phased out. Both offer downloadable games to the console, with the exception of PS3 games due to the wonder that is the cell processor I would assume. PS Now even offers streaming support to multiple devices (phones, tablets, PC) by default, which Microsoft is yet to match with xCloud. I know a big caveat is that first party games go to Game Pass day one, and Sony has been reluctant to do this on PS Now. But we have to acknowledge that both the quality and quantity of Sony first party games thus far doesn't make it a fair comparison. To be clear, I'm not advocating that PS Now is better value than Game Pass, I just feel that you haven't really given it a fair shake. To be fair, Sony's marketing and PR hasn't really done a great job in promoting PS Now and it's feature set. But I guess that is what irked me the most and prompted me to write in. I listen to the podcast assuming I'm going to get informed opinions on all things PlayStation. At least w.r.t. PS Now I feel that has not been the case. I know you mentioned that you haven't actually subbed yet to PS Now, so I'm looking forward to your thoughts once you do. In any case, the competition and development of these two game services is surely going to be interesting to watch in 2020. Kind Regards, Pete PS. Sorry for the wall of text. Besides the above little gripe, great episode!

Pete

Someone shared with me this really beautiful image from Dreams of this breakfast that looks photorealistic. It's awesome-looking. And my first thought was, "so what? This isn't a game."

Colin Moriarty

We do a PlayStation podcast. Clearly we like the brand.

Colin Moriarty

I'm not mad at your feedback. We literally solicit your feedback! We talk about all the things we got wrong on the next episode from the previous episode. We actively read comments from the audience that disagree with us. I take umbrage with your tone. And I think I have the right to do that. We can agree to disagree.

Colin Moriarty

Can't say I was as bothered as you are about it, but I was hoping for some fun predictions from Colin and Chris. Instead it leaned way more towards being pessimistic about Playstation being able to do anything well. While I do get that they mess up plenty and should rightly be called out, it's not like they don't. C&C do it all the time, so just thought they would try to be more positive for a change, considering it's all speculative. I would like Colin to debate with Chris a bit more sometimes. When it's clear Colin doesn't fully agree with a negative take on something like Sucker Punch not being able to deliver with Ghost of Tsushima. But most of the time he just tends to agree, there's nothing wrong with a bit of disagreement here and there. Makes it more fun and dynamic to hear both sides of the coin.

Edson

Great predictions throughout bit pessimistic but interesting nonetheless. I'm only hoping the media molecule prediction of Colin's won't come into fruition. At the same time I agree that MM needs to start doing games and not 'engines for dummies'.

Zibi Majewski

Damn Reg, calm down. The guys are obviously just giving tough love. Of course there are positives, but you and I and pretty much everyone knows what those positives are.

Chase Blauvelt

Witcher 2 is also awesome. i know 3 gets the credit for being revolutionary but I thought the ending was really cool. i don't know who else i would give it too. no other developer is consistent in greatness. plus i'm easy to please

B00ch

Let's see how Cyberpunk turns out before we go giving them that title.

Nate McKinney

Wow do you have a glass jaw Colin? with this reply it's safe to assume that. If I wanted a cheerleader I wouldn't be here. There is a big difference from being a cheerleader and dropping the occasional positive. When was the last time Chris said anything positive about PlayStation on a PlayStation podcast? or is even asking that question enough for you to tell me to look elsewhere?

Reg

Sony sold 150 million PS2s and then proceeded to fuck up the PS3 for several years. If you think Sony should blacklist a podcast over giving opinions, then it's safe to assume you're looking for a cheerleader podcast, in which case I'm happy to point you in the right direction.

Colin Moriarty

They've made one great game!

Colin Moriarty

I suppose.

Colin Moriarty

It'll be interesting to see what the resolution will be on PSVR/VR2. If they could achieve even 1080p, that would be huge. I doubt VR will run in 4K.

Colin Moriarty

I think the Game Pass model is smart, and gives Microsoft potentially tens of millions of recurring monthly charges, whilst most people only buy a few games a year. It's a gambit, but this could potentially make them huge profits, even putting games on it day one.

Colin Moriarty

Like you said, they grabbed Insomniac for that reason, and Polyphony, Japan Studio, and London Studio all have VR expertise. Sony doesn't need RAD, IMO.

Colin Moriarty

Wow what an obnoxious episode this was it came across as a shit on Sony episode. Yes Sony make plenty of errors but this ep was ridiculous. The "clowns" have managed to sell over 100 million consoles but yes they are going to stuff up the ps5. Chris sounds like he struggles to find one positive for playstation. No wonder you are blacklisted by Sony as after listening to this if I was at Sony I wouldn't deal with either of you. Don't get me wrong you should call out Sony when they do wrong but this ep was a reach we had Chris and Colin complain about the form factor of a console not yet released and Chris saying that tlou2 was going to disappoint give me break.

Reg

I think CD Projekt Red is probably the best developer in the industry

B00ch

For Chris's final prediction, Final Fantasy VII fits the bill for a PS1 remaster.

Ryan Rouse

I have to say the rumor that Sony's PS5 has 9.2 tflops made me hopeful, if this is the case it seems like they went for jsut the required amount of power for 4k resolution at 99% of all times and a good basis for a great VR experience. I hope in 2020 we can also skip the resolution mass hysteria we experienced in 2013 and early 8th gen and get back to what makes gaming truly great

SteelChevron

I think backwards compatibility won’t be an issue with PS4 stuff at all. As for older generations, I think it’ll work just like PS4 where you can play whatever you have digitally but that’s it. I can’t picture Sony copying Game Pass cause Game Pass is still Xbox being crazy to save face to me. I literally own ZERO Xbox One games because I’ve used Game Pass deals to play all their exclusives. And like you guys said, as long as Sony has the best exclusives, they don’t need anything else. I think it’s too early for Spider-Man 2 footage already unless it was a short teaser. Venom is a no brainer though as it was teased in 1.

NeO JD

I'm in a similar boat. The two things that might get me to buy a PS5 further down the road are Spider-Man 2 and Bloodborne 2. It really is just a question of whether or not you will find their exclusive games compelling enough.

Jack Sibert

Colin can you give me a single reason to get a ps5. I have an expensive and powerful PC and other than a hand full of exclusives, can you give me a reason the ps5 is worth 5 to 6 hundred dollars

Frank Casamento

As to why would Ready at Dawn be a good addition to WWS. VR. They've made some of the best VR content to date. I'm sure that was a part of Sony wanting Insomniac. If they care about pushing VR into the future adding Insomniac and RaD would be huge, they've made a lot of AAA VR and obviously Insomniac is now on board and will be making those games for PSVR not Facebook.

Jeremy

I think it's in the cards. We'll see.

Colin Moriarty

Not sure we needed this update!

Colin Moriarty

Welcome to reality.

Colin Moriarty

The controls need to be fixed.

Colin Moriarty

RE4 feels like trash to play by today's standards. I can't say I agree with you.

Colin Moriarty

Stop complimenting Chris!

Colin Moriarty

It'll be SOCOM or Killzone.

Colin Moriarty

Bluepoint joining the family would be awesome. The PS nostalgia inside me wants to see them tackle games like Legend of Dragoon, Syphon Filter etc.

Real Radec

"All of ours" speak for yourself only please.

Jeremy

Dude the PS4 is already doing the exact same thing you're talking about with every single PS4 game, the machine is not reading the game from the BluRay disc at all because it would be way too slow. It just uses the disc as an authentication disc. HDD's are faster than BR discs but they are significantly slower than SSDs of course.

Ege

Hey Colin, One thing regarding the PS5 that i've not seen talked about is the implications of the new storage standard on the system- the solid state drive and how it impacts the consumer. Sony has spoken about how it will positively affect the gamer, but neither Sony or the games media at large (from what I've seen) have spoken about the negative implications of this design choice. By Sony's own statements, games will be expected to load in 2 seconds instead of 30 seconds. In order to accomplish this- the game that is being played will need to be digitally located on the drive. If someone is purchasing physical copies of games, the games will need to be COMPLETELY installed onto the solid state drive (SSD). Meaning, going forward, all physical discs will become glorified product keys for download on the PSN. I personally dont mind, but outlets dont seem to be discussing this and it seems like a pretty big deal- that games could largely disappear in a physical capacity (or suffer unimaginable load times). Second- I really dont see Sony dishing out for a reasonably sized SSD. I can see them launching the system with a 500GB SSD- to save on cost. SSDs are getting cheaper, but they're still prohibitively expensive when you scale up to the terabyte/multi terabyte storage range. I currently have a 1.5 TB drive on my PS4 Pro, and im constantly having to delete to make room for new stuff. If Sony does keep the cost of the PS5 low by skimping on SSD size, I can forsee gamers running out of space comically fast. For reference- Destiny 2's installation size is 100+ GB. Thanks for reading my lengthy post (if you did), I just really haven't seen this discussed that much, Jack Sibert

Jack Sibert

Yes, please.

Biv

Until every first party title is on Gamepass, it's 2nd tier. This rotating your top games out stuff doesn't fly. Put them all in, leave them there. Rotate the third party games.

Biv

It's time to give Chris his own Xbox show under the CLS umbrella 😂

Alexander Ivarson

I think the problem is can Dreams even hit 1 million copies sold...?

Zack E

PS Now is already the competitor to Game Pass. Every PS4 and PS2 game is downloadable, and can exist on your system the same way you download PS+ games. PS3 games aren’t. And it’s not going to happen, even with PS5. The answer for PS3 backwards compatibility will probably always be streaming. Maybe they will get an emulator working with PS5, but I doubt it because it’s clear they will want to put money and capital into PS Now to prepare for the Stadia and XCloud competition. Sony just made mistakes with PS3 architecture, and will have to live with it. The only significant difference with Game Pass is that Xbox published games are available at launch on Game Pass. I highly doubt you’re going to see Sony want to do that anytime soon with PS Now. Just think PS Now is starting to be this topic discussed with ignorance (with all due respect obviously, only trying to provide constructive criticism) within Sacred Symbols, but I suppose it’s up to Sony to do a better job at communicating what the service offers and it’s future plans for it. First step is to offer a package that bundles PS+ and PS Now.

Zack E

isn't MGS4 locked to PS3 and 1 on PS1/PSP/Vita?

JD

“Every single Metal Gear game is available on other platforms now... you can play 1-5 on Xbox.” If only this were true...

Cannonball_Jones

An update to my P5 Royal prediction I think they'll sell more due to adding French, German, Italian, and Spanish localization options more than just English and Japanese

NotYurRealDad

I just realized the Sacred Symbols + logo is different than the normal one and actually puts a + in the circle button. I’m an idiot.

Caleb Greer

I continue to be perplexed by your expectations of what Dreams needs to do to be successful. Yes, they are first party, but Mm is a pretty tiny indy dev. If they get anywhere around a million sales over the next year, that's a success. They have said repeatedly on thier streams that Dreams is planned to be a slow burn over many years, not a giant blow out. And thank god they didn't just make games. This is the single most impressive piece of software on the entire platform.

Biv

I really don’t want a remake of RE4 unless it adds a lot of different elements to it. I feel like RE4 has been ported so much that i want it to stay dormant for a while.

Kenneth Oms

I see no need for a RE4 remake. The game still holds up really well both visually and gameplay wise. IMO it would be better to remake Code Veronica

John Apocalypse

Awesome to have this episode today. Keep up the amazing work and I look forward to hearing you in 2020, Chris! Keep it up!

Gabriel Garcia

Really hope you’re right about Socom. I need that shit in my life. As for that Spider-Man 2 prediction, the symbiote was shown in a post credits scene of Spider-Man. Venom is absolutely coming in the sequel Thanks for another great episode!

Richard Duflo

Outside of gears and Halo, the biggest game on gamepass is GTAV which is also on psnow.... I just don't get why a service that costs more with fewer games is "better"

Shawn Hayden

As a recent purchaser of an Xbox one X and game pass, there is very little value jump on game pass vs psnow, and it costs nearly double. PSNow has alot of the same games (pubg, wolfensteins, etc.) Plus God of War (arguably better than anything on game pass), Infamous, every Uncharted game.... Game pass has Halo, Gears, and really that's it. They don't have every first party game on there like I assumed from the way it gets talked about. It's time to stop pretending Microsoft is doing anything better outside of it's marketing with game pass. The two services are extremely similar in content available, with game pass having a slight edge, but psnow I feel is better value for it is much cheaper since the price change.

Shawn Hayden

Chris' attitude towards PS4 backwards compatibility on the PS5 in this show reflects all of ours, if I may be so bold. Hope you have a happy new year, gentlemen!

Max Stahl

Oh, I know!

Colin Moriarty

Many gifts for you this holiday season.

Colin Moriarty

I’ve just finished ep 78, what a gift to download this right now! tnks Colin.

Marco Maluf

You Da Man Colin 👊😎

Andrew Cuschieri

You're welcome!

Colin Moriarty

<3

Colin Moriarty

Possibly, but it seems dubious. Who is stacking dev kits on top of each other, and why? I've never seen dev kits stacked on top of one another in my life.

Colin Moriarty

Enjoy!

Colin Moriarty

Thanks for making post lunch work great again!

Joseph Sorisho

Hell yes <3

Adam Barnes

Heading to the gym so this is perfect timing :) Btw while there is a good chance the V shaped vent design on PS5 devkit may very well make it to the final iteration, there was a dev or insider who noted that the V shaped vent was designed to allow multiple devkits to be stacked vertically during testing etc. without overheating issues. Apparently that was a problem with simple box PS4 devkits in the studios.

JD

Yessss, just what this work day needed!!!!!

Brandon Lahood