Sacred Symbols, Episode 30: A Failed Empire

It's certainly convenient for those that us it. For those of us that accidentally press it all the time, well... =D

Colin Moriarty

The share button is amazing honestly. I'm always getting clips on Overwatch and Fortnite and taking screenshots on games like Horizon and God of wars using photo mode. This is infinitely better than me recording my Call of Duty sniping clips on my old ipod touch as kid.

Kamal Hans

Like we often say on the show, we get caught in our own silos. From my perspective, that game seems DoA, but as you (and others) are saying, it's awesome, and people ARE enjoying it. For all I know, this thing can come out of left field and sell millions. I just don't see how that's going to happen.

Colin Moriarty

It is going to be a real shame if no one supports DREAMS and it becomes dead on arrival. Every single thing I have heard about the game through its Beta has been glowing. Talks of the game winning legitimate innovation type awards with the depth and complexity of the systems at work. It seems clear now that Sony allowed this game all the time and money because they knew they had something truly innovative. These tools could evolve beyond just the player game relationship. Very cool to see Media Molecule once again be original and attempt to innovate. Really hope they get the support the game will almost surely deserve.

Brett Carlson

Yeah, we discussed this on today's episode (going live tomorrow). I can understand both sides, but I'm most surprised Ubisoft didn't anticipate the blowback.

Colin Moriarty

Of course it's not unheard of! It's 2019, though. PS5 will come out in 2020. It's not an elegant solution.

Colin Moriarty

Chris seems to be completely resigned to his fate.

Colin Moriarty

I played the AC: Odyssey DLC this weekend. I really don't see what the deal is about. If the writer wants the main character to have a child in 360 BCE, there's really only one way that can happen. As a culture it seems we may have lost touch with reality a little bit. I get that people saw their characters a certain way, but the whole game was narrative driven. There weren't even any relationships in the game at all anyway; every encounter was a one night stand never to be heard from again. I guess it's all a moot point now anyway as Ubi says they're changing the choices, cinematics, and trophy. It seems kind of off kilter to me though, as only 2.5% even have the trophy. Anyway, I'm glad to have played it in it's original form before they change it. :)

Jason Stafford

On the backwards compatibility thing... The PS2 required a PS1 memory card to work, the Wii required Gamecube controllers and memory cards to play Gamecube games, and the Wii U required Wii controllers to play Wii games, so it's not unheard of to require old controllers for BC. As for closing down stores, we have one example of Sony closing down a store. PS Mobile. They also disabled the activation servers, so if I ever have to reset my device, I'll lose access to my PSMobile games I've already downloaded. PSP still has a store, but it can't access it directly, you have to download the PSP games on either a PS3 or PC, then copy them to the PSP memory card.

Kaz Redclaw

I think capcom had crazy high expectations also. I think I remember hearing the target was like 8 million copies

John Lynch

I’m most of the way through Leon’s campaign. I’m very satisfied. RE2 is one of my favorite games of all time. I love survival horror. I think I’ve mentioned the evil within 2 to you a few times. I’ve got to say though this Remake is everything you could ask for. It keeps the spirit while making necessary changes. You can’t just blow through ammo like in older titles. Playing it on normal and looking forward to a more traditional experience in hardcore mode but I think you’ll enjoy the game. Have a good weekend!

John Lynch

Chris, regarding your pest problem I had a roommate who brought them in, I caught it early but I did it with supplies from a website called do it yourself pest control. The best way first is find out what kind of roach they are, but you’re going to want to use something that kills them. And an insect growth regulator. That kills the ones you have, and the regulator makes them grow deformed and they can’t reproduce. You may have to do that for a few months but it worked for me. I haven’t seen anything since around June. That being said, in an apartment complex if the nest is in a neighbors apartment it’s only going to be a temporary fix

John Lynch

Dunno. Disney's silence is conspicuous, in my opinion...

Colin Moriarty

I've seen Chris eat cheeseburgers, hot dogs, French fries, potato chips, saltines...

Colin Moriarty

I will one day bathe myself in ketchup.

Colin Moriarty

Hahahaha

Marc Boggio

As of last spring, it was the third best-selling Resident Evil game, so no worries. It had a slow tail.

Colin Moriarty

Very cool! It's also being very well received, which is great. I got my code mid-week; I sent one off to Chris, too. I think he's playing currently, but I'm working my way through the Metro 2033 Platinum first, and then gonna queue up REmake before going into RE2.

Colin Moriarty

Marc.

Colin Moriarty

I said cut the shit.

Colin Moriarty

Cut the shit, Marc.

Colin Moriarty

Northwest Studios? Haven't heard much, no.

Colin Moriarty

Wonder if the 2020 game could be the last SW game from EA and they just give up the licence early ? unless they green light something or Respawn immediately go into a sequel after Fallen Order launches, the future simply doesn't look any brighter with likely just another Battlefront to look forward to and this scaled back project in 2020. Walking away seems like it would be better for all parties.

Craig Mcguire

Regular ketchup is meh, but spicy ketchup is fucking delicious. But I was referring to his distaste of corn dogs... like corn dogs... who doesn't like corn dogs? Maybe it's just because im from the south, but its hard to find food I don't like.

Owen

Ketchup is for children. I'm on his side.

Sean P.

What does Chris eat?! Feel like everything that’s brought up to him “I don’t like it” lol

Owen

A buddy of mine loves ketchup so much that sometimes he’ll squeeze it out of the bottle into his mouth like if it was whipped cream. I don’t love it THAT much. That bullying reply to your nephew was hilarious. I’m always surprised you don’t play more of Assassin’s Creed, Colin. I’d say give Odyssey a shot. It’s probably the most fun I’ve had playing AC because of the abilities they give you and how “gamesy” it is with letting you get away with things like not dying when you jump from heights. Also, I’ve never really had an interest in Greece but its fascinating learning more about its history. I like the share button. I never used the back/options button on other controllers but I constantly use the share button to save screenshots and clips.

NeO JD

i remember hearing that Resident Evil 7 didn't sell that well, compared to past RE games. it's one of their lowest selling ones. hearing that made me really sad

B00ch

Just had a comment about resident evil 2. I live in Rhode Island, the smallest state. I’m 31 years old and have NEVER seen a billboard for a game in my state. This morning I was driving outside of the city of Cranston and there was a really high quality billboard for resident evil 2. Capcom is definitely spending a lot to market this game.

John Lynch

(Clearly I need to listen to an entire episode before commenting) To give something back to Chris, from your resident Canadian Cyborg Medic, a solid 20% of my patients have sinusitis on any given day and it sounds like that’s what Chris is dealing with. If he hasn’t knocked it out, tell him to pop by a drug store and pick up some Salinex (or whatever saline nasal spray exists in the good ol’ US of A); it will help whatever is clogging up his sinuses clear. Sudafed will help too, but don’t take it any time close to sleep and be sure to not take it for more than 3 consecutive days, lest it create a rebound effect and clog his sinuses up even more. If possible, get a prescription for mometasone, which is a corticosteroid nasal spray and will work better than the saline (but it’s not over the counter). Feel free to consult any of this advice with Erin, as I’d have to get my treatment plans cleared by an RN anyway 😂

Marc Boggio

Also once again I STRONGLY recommend to Chris that he tries RE7 on PSVR- the aiming reticle being tied to the head tracking makes the precision rival keyboard and mouse control. -CLS Premiere PC Dork

Marc Boggio

I elect myself to be Colin’s premiere PC dork 😏 So long as Sony keeps up the quality exclusive output, I’ll always own the PlayStation consoles... but ‘them PC framerates though 🥰

Marc Boggio

I'm just saying, the book is awesome.

Colin Moriarty

That's my hope as well. But it's the only near exclusive we have to talk about, so we gotta overthink it.

Colin Moriarty

That's awesome, hahaha.

Colin Moriarty

I also have all three Plats. And I am proud, son.

Colin Moriarty

Colin you have any thoughts on this mysterious new Sony studio making a new IP. They just hired the lead animator formerly from Naughty Dog and Rockstar.

Brett Carlson

As someone else that loves the Yankees + baseball, recommend watching the Moneyball movie - loved it.

Kenny Gutzler

I think we just have to stop over thinking about Days Gone. It’s a game about zom...er, freakers and a motorcycle gang trying to survive. I think it looks really, really fun. I actually get a Horizon type vibe but with a “modern” horror setting.

Tyler

Late, but a friend of mine had one of those Ron Popeil rotisseries. It’d make us laugh cause on the side was a big sticker that said “do not take set it and forget it literally”

Richard Duflo

Hearing Bioshock is a topic made me about shit myself. Bioshock is top 3 for me, if not #1. Have the platinum in all three games, hope you’re proud of me, Dad.

DRUGGNUTZ

We still haven't gotten copies.

Colin Moriarty

I'd have preferred they just constantly made interstitial moves as opposed to mainline ones. LOL.

Colin Moriarty

I'm generally not partial to BBQ sauce, period. Doesn't do it for me, unless it's on very specific food (like ribs).

Colin Moriarty

I'm feeling okay, thank you. =)

Colin Moriarty

No shit. Dreams do come true!

Colin Moriarty

Thank you! (Me too.)

Colin Moriarty

There's still an infrastructure cost associated with keeping Vita's store and online functionality going. I assume once the lines adversely cross on the graph, it'll be game over. 'Til then, I'm not worried.

Colin Moriarty

It's perhaps hyperbolic to say "they don't care," but they certainly don't seem to care that much, right? If they did, none of this would be happening.

Colin Moriarty

Thank you for your support, and welcome!

Colin Moriarty

I will indeed take a looksie.

Colin Moriarty

Thank you for your insight! Very interesting to consider.

Colin Moriarty

SIx degrees.

Colin Moriarty

Me neither, come to think of it.

Colin Moriarty

There go my hopes and dreams for a Resident Evil 2 Spoilercast

Colin, I appreciate your opinions on Solo and Rogue One, they are the best Disney SW movies, but none of my friends agree with me. But Disney, overall, has mishandled the SW franchise. I still hold faith for good games though.

Drew Sleezer

On the topic of sauces, you mentioned how good McDonald's ketchup is (which I agree). How about Wendy's BBQ sauces? Why is that shit so delicious? I go there just for the BBQ sauce.

MeatSpin11

Colin, you sound particularly chipper this episode. I hope this means you're in a good place right now.

George

Just wanna throw out I met my wife on PlayStation home in the resident evil 5 backlot I moved from Canada to the US to be with her. Lol I noticed three things that came up today in the podcast

Matthew Clarkson

Great episode! Looking forward to the Bioshock Knockback!

Daniel Boyer

I’d imagine that for as long as PS Plus lasts, then the PS Store will last. Your Vita will still need to sync with PSN to validate your installed game you got for free from PS Plus. The example of the Wii isn’t really a great example. Nintendo has no idea what they are doing with anything online related.

Zack E

I don't know if I agree that Disney doesn't care much about how EA is handling Star Wars. The Battlefront 2 microtransaction/lootbox fiasco was such a debacle that Disney got involved and told EA to cut the shit. Disney is fiercely protective of it's image and the whole "Game encourages children to gamble" narrative was a big no-no for them. Maybe this isn't serious enough for them to get involved, but I thought I'd add a little context to that part of the discussion. Great episode as always, guys!

Nate McKinney

I've been meaning to support your work for awhile and finally took the plunge Colin. Your Twitter post with the time stamps for Sacred Symbols sold me seeing the Rotisserie Chicken story! Say hi to Chris and Dagan for me!

Joey B

You might enjoy this look into THQ Nordic. <a href="http://www.thqnordic-investors.com/en/financial-reports/" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://www.thqnordic-investors.com/en/financial-reports/</a>

Chris B

Colin I have a little bit on insight of the Kingpins of THQ Nordic. They spent 4.9 million dollars in total for: Darksiders, Red Faction, MX vs. ATV and 3 other franchises. So 6 franchises for 5 million dollars. That's less then a million a pop. For context Sega bought just Company of Heroes IP for 11 million. Also Nordic just acquired the company responsible for GOAT Simulator. They bought Koch Media which in turn gives them Metro, Saints Row and Homefront for 140 million. So the conclusion to draw is that THQ Nordic most certiantly has a cache of resources and are committed to just be the only supplier of the middle market video game AKA Double A games. They are probably banking on these games to sell like 400k copies initially. With a game like the upcoming Metro Exodus probably on the higher end of their expectations. It is an interesting buisness strategy to be the only supplier of middle market games therefore making you the kingpin. Going to be a very interesting journalistic peice once we see where their end trajectory is.

Brett Carlson

Carly Simon...that woman used to babysit an old girlfriend of mine on Martha's Vineyard when she was an infant.

Forrest Hunter

I should also say I like a lot of the books as well. I think LOTR was to me what Star Wars is for others. 👍

Jimmy Valentine

I'm not going to lie, I don't get the fascination with Star Wars. I actually think the KOTOR games are the best pieces of Star Wars entertainment. Other than that, I'm not a big fan. I always felt like an outcast. Lol.

Jimmy Valentine

I haven't really liked or been interested in a Star Wars game since Bioware's early games

strawhatninja

Possibly so. I have no doubt people are going to do cool stuff with it (like the PT thing, which I say floating around on Twitter). I simply contest that many people will WANT to do anything with it at all.

Colin Moriarty

81 Metacritic. Not too shabby.

Colin Moriarty

How many comments are you going to leave this week?

Colin Moriarty

Interesting. Nerdy, but interesting.

Colin Moriarty

Hey, I'm pronouncing it like the man who invented the file format pronounces it.

Colin Moriarty

RE4 came out during my year-long hiatus from gaming, in which I only played a few games. That was one of them.

Colin Moriarty

I'll take your word for it.

Colin Moriarty

I would say that they've cause a comparable amount of PR damage. =)

Colin Moriarty

Hey, it's just one point of many. You do what you gotta do! Thanks for submitting your question.

Colin Moriarty

I think PlayStation will copy 'em; I just think it'll wait for PS5.

Colin Moriarty

You're a real son of a gun.

Colin Moriarty

I hope you enjoy. =)

Colin Moriarty

He was a master! LOL.

Colin Moriarty

They do. Or did, anyway. I think I got one with my launch unit.

Colin Moriarty

Yeah, the ending was wacky as hell, there's no doubt about it. Squandered a really cool idea.

Colin Moriarty

Keep imagining. =D

Colin Moriarty

I didn’t know about that twitter account. Thanks. The only exception I have to Colin’s answer is the part about us paying $79 because of our weak dollar is that we’re paid in Canadian dollars too lol. Seems like he’s trying to make it seem it’s not really $79..

Jason Price

Colin, do you think these people breaking the DREAMS BETA NDA are helping the game exposure wise by letting everyone see just how ambitious and outrageously creative the game is? I mean people have already recreated the opening of Dead Space and remade the P.T. demo. That's quite remarkable for a console game. Do you think Sony allowed Media Molecule so much wiggle room because maybe the PS5 architecture will support some type of creation tools?

Brett Carlson

Best version of RE4 is on pc, wasd and mouse is perfect for the controls

Tyson Williams

Wandersong is supposed to be really good actually

Tyson Williams

Pretty sure you’re wrong. Disney owns marvel as a whole and Spider-Man is Sony’s on the movie front only.

Andrew

The reason they say PDNY instead of NYPD In Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse is because it’s another nod to the story taking place in an alternate universe from our own, so in that universe Police Department comes first in the name

Tyson Williams

Colin I love you man. But two weeks in a row you’ve pronounced GIF wrong and I have to stop the podcast to leave this comment. I thought of all people you would be a hard G man. Like graphic. But excited for the rest of the show

Caleb Peacock

Generally agree that preordering is pretty useless... but I am another person in Canada who takes advantage of those big discounts, at least when it's something that I can have some amount of faith in, and I often cancel games that lose their appeal closer to launch. Obviously with the value of the CAD an $80 game costs basically the same as it does in the US... but practically that's still a larger number coming out of my bank account, and it's not like my expected salary suddenly shot up to compensate when the dollar tanked. The savings really help, tho it's worth recommending to other Canadian listeners to follow "Game Deals Canada" on twitter, good way to never pay full price for anything.

Travis Johnson

I remember when Resident Evil 4 came out for GameCube, i had a fever and stayed home sick. My brother went over to our best friends house who owned a gamecube, the game was so good that they packed up the gamecube and came to see me while sick, so that i could start a new game and experience what they just had experienced. We played the game together from beginning to end by meeting up every weekend. It was cool because we were all from puerto rico, so we could understand the spanish chanting by the enemies. But man has this game been ported everywhere.

Kenneth Oms

All dressed chips are good

Tyson Williams

This whole Star Wars EA fiasco is really disheartening to me and I'm sure many others. EA has caused more PR damage to the Star Wars brand then the Last Jedi. Two mediocre Star Wars games since 2013 is unacceptable. They should have a games group who takes pitches from different devs and them helps them with the projects.

Andrew

Hey Colin and Chris. Thanks for answering my question about pre ordering. I never thought of it as keeping the devs/publishers honest. It's a very fair point. Keep up the great work.

Jason Price

The Force Unleashed games are free on Xbox Game Pass now. They have aged pretty well and you can still pick them up and play without much of a learning curve. How can EA not even pull a game off like that in 5 years? Side note: PlayStation needs to copy the Xbox game pass!

James Galos

Can’t wait for Death Stranding to come out in 2019

Myles Rivera

Can’t wait to get off work to listen to this episode

Anton Le Platte

I remember Ron Popeil Colin, that shit was always on. I wanted all of the shit he peddled, don't know how many times I watched that infomercial...

Brian Borlaug

Ahh, the demo disc, same reason I called burned cds mixtapes I think. Just feels/sounds good. Also I do think the demo discs do in fact physically come with vr bundles

Ryan Harvey

I think your brief mention of Far Cry 5 makes this somewhat topical. I managed to get that game a little early and I was STOKED because Far Cry is one of my favorite game series. I got to the end and I was so excited to take down the final Seed. Imagine my surprise when the game pulled one of the downright worst twist endings ever conceived only to tease a post apocalyptic Primal-esque sequel. That ending was sadly one of my most disappointing gaming moments in 2018. Anyway, great episode guys keep it up!

Jimmy Champane

Imagine a Sucker Punch/Insomniac Star Wars game. 😢

Brandon Soto