Sacred Symbols, Episode 404 | Every Single Hope You Had Shattered (Patreon)

It's another week of bad news for PlayStation, as PlayStation 5 -- as well as PS5 Pro and PlayStation Portal -- are getting another fresh round of global price increases. While every previous gaming generation got progressively cheaper over time, our current gen is becoming substantially more expensive, and things are clearly starting to get to a breaking point. There's much to say. Also, more bad news: Newly-minted first party shooter studio Dark Outlaw Games has been unceremoniously shuttered after only a year. Such a move speaks yet again to the uneven leadership, tastemaking ability, and decision making at the top of PlayStation Studios, and begs the question how much bloodletting we need to see before anyone takes responsibility. If this sort of thing doesn't fall on Hermen Hulst's shoulders (an idea which doesn't really make any sense in and of itself), then who or what is responsible, and when will the poor stewardship of the brand's own games and studios finally cease? Plus: PlayStation cuts down on its years-long mobile gaming investments and initiatives, Sly 4 studio Sanzaru at one time readied a pitch for a Jak & Daxter remake, we nearly got a Breaking Bad game on PSVR, Epic Games lays off 1,000 employees, Pearl Abyss owns its AI mistakes in Crimson Desert, Microsoft Flight Simulator on PS5 gets PSVR2 support, Marathon sells a purported (and somewhat soft) 1.2 million copies, and more. Then: Listener inquiries! With Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth courting older gamers on average, is Final Fantasy officially finished with the younger generations? Are platform holders and publishers intentionally underpublishing physical copies of games to drive customers to digital storefronts? Do we believe the incessant rumors that Witcher 3 will get an expansion more than a decade after it first launched? Could Colin be the undisputed typing champion of Last Stand Media?Timestamps:0:00:00 - Intro

0:31:24 - Shoutout to Tyrell

0:33:44 - New York authentic experience

0:46:37 - Nitrotype

0:55:08 - PlayStation price increases

1:29:28  - Dark Outlaw Games closed

2:12:51 - PlayStation moving away from mobile

2:38:52 - Sanzaru pitched Jak & Daxter remake

2:49:14 - Firesprite was working on Breaking Bad VR

2:57:33 - Epic layoffs

3:17:54 - Pearl Abyss apologizes for AI art in Crimson Desert

3:20:20 - Flight Simulator is getting PSVR 2 support

3:24:38 - Minecraft Dungeons 2 announced

3:28:22 - Marathon predicted sales at 1.2 million

3:43:29 - February sales data

3:49:07 - What We’ve Been Playing (Chronicles of the Wolf, Returnal, Resident Evil Requiem, Marathon, Crimson Desert)

04:21:16  Is Final Fantasy doomed?

4:35:49 - Is Dragon Quest like Pokemon?

4:42:48 - AI flooding indie games

4:55:09 - Physical games low stock

5:01:27 - Witcher 3 DLC