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Sacred Symbols, Episode 425: The Thread (Patreon)

Published:
2026-08-19 19:00:07
Imported:
2026-08

Content

Hi!

Submit your questions, comments, concerns, thoughts, and ideas for this week's episode of Sacred Symbols in this thread.

As always, please keep your inquiries well-written and pithy. Novels, poorly-written posts, etc. are politely ignored.

You have until Thursday, August 20th at noon ET to submit.

Talk to you soon!

Comments

Colebra

Hello Lads, was just checking in on Colin and Micah and seeing if they had any flooding sounds like West Virgin is getting a lot of rain and was hoping you guys are okay! Also hoping everyone else in the LSM fam and community is safe if you are in any area that is getting the bad flooding. Be safe!

MegaMatty

Hey Sacred Sacks, It’s been yet another week of distressing Playstation news! With Horizon Hunters Gathering seemingly in trouble, Horizon three being very far away, Wolverine continuing to be trashed, and news that the Last of Us Factions was an all consuming project at Naughty Dog before being cancelled. All this on top of what feels like bad decision after bad decision from Playstation’s top brass this generation has left me wondering, what can Sony realistically do to earn their goodwill back? And more concerningly, do they even need to? As Colin has pointed out, the eroding of the core gamer is happening, and does that mean Sony doesn’t even need to earn themselves any goodwill? Can they simply exist on the backs of other massive games and just endure without a dedicated core gamer base anymore? What’re your thoughts and what would you do to right the ship, if at all? Thanks, I’ll keep hoping Hulst gets canned, and listen.

mizrazik

Hey CCD, I was at King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard's festival Field of Vision this weekend, minding my own LSD brained business, rocking my Sacred tee, when a fellow listener jumped in my path to give me a much deserved stand down. Being that I was zooted out of my mind, before I could issue a response, they had disappeared into what I could only imagine was another deminsion. Just want to give a hearty Stand Down to all the other Gizzheads on here, and remember boys, Nonogon infinity opens the door. ps: you should check them out if you haven't already, I think you'd really dig them. For Collin: Polygondwanaland Chris: Nonogon Infinity & Dustin: Murder of the Universe

Joe B

Hey CDC, Im not writing this having expected the Wolverine console plate covers to be made for any model outside the Slim & Pro model, but how big of a fuck you is it to the original day 1 investors of the PS5 that not only do they get an inferior device, but any cosmetic items sold after the fact are now only available to those who waited. I know "early adopter" this, and "you get what you pay for" that, but how does Sony not see the bad taste this gives to their hardcore original investors? PS5 sold 45 million units before the slim was even announced. They're not an essential purchase and dont have any impact on the console itself, but it still is a cool new cosmetic product that day 1 buyers dont have an option to use. Do you think Sony should be making a limited amount of these plate offerings for their original PS5 models?

JoDoMac

Hey CDC, I wanted to share my two cents on how people choose what to play in a world where the options feel almost endless. Personally, I try to stick to one evergreen multiplayer title—Call of Duty—and then have a single-player game going for when I’m not hanging out with friends. When it comes to picking that single-player game, my process is pretty straightforward: I head over to PSN Profiles, pull up the platinum trophy list, sort it by number of achievers, check the guide, and decide whether it looks like the kind of experience I actually want. It’s not always easy to stick to this rule (I’ve been known to fire up Genshin Impact every now and then), but the intention is there. Having a PS Plus Extra subscription also helps a lot by narrowing the field. At the end of the day, to each their own—find what makes you happy and lean into it. Happy gaming!

Smegaladon

Hey CDC, Anyone pick up on Jason Schreier mentioning the Blue point GOW live service game had you play as Atreus? Not sure if this is new news, but I can see why that didn’t work out…

Smegaladon

Anyone surprised Hunters Gathering is in trouble? It looked lame and gay, just like concord and Fairgames. No one wants to play lame and gay purple games.

Hard At Work Matt

Unique new father question Hey guys — since you were talking about Irish twins and finding time to game with babies, I think I might have you beat. I have a one-week-old daughter right now, and in about six weeks, I’m having another baby. Not twins. Not even really Irish twins. Two babies, about two months apart, from two completely separate pregnancies. My wife just gave birth to our daughter, Seraphina. But before she got pregnant, doctors had told us she couldn’t get pregnant, so we had already gone through the entire surrogacy process — contracts signed, money paid, everything. And then, surprise! She got pregnant too. So now I’m doing the newborn thing knowing that in about six weeks, we’re doing the newborn thing again. The funny thing is, I actually have still been finding little pockets of time to play games. It’s just completely changed how I play. I think having a baby has accidentally turned me into a mobile gamer. During feedings or when I’ve got a few minutes, I’ve been playing stuff like Balatro and even RollerCoaster Tycoon on my phone. Anything I can play one-handed or put down immediately has become my best friend. And honestly, you guys have been getting me through a lot of the 3 a.m. bottle feedings too, so shout-out to the podcast. I guess I’m already learning that gaming doesn’t necessarily disappear when you become a dad. It just has to fit around being a dad first — and sometimes that means your PS5 gets replaced by Marvel Snap on your phone at three in the morning. But I still need an answer to the most important question: If Irish twins are less than a year apart, what the hell do we call two babies born six weeks apart? Because I feel like this deserves its own category. Sorry for the long message

Steve Harvey Oswald

Greetings gents, Colin, what is the statute of limitations to congratulate someone on the birth of their child? Having welcomed my baby boy into this world on July 4th, I’ve been too caught up in the magic to write in and welcome Little Leon and celebrate Dustin’s fatherhood. Dustin, it’s been a joy listening to your early experiences as they closely mirror my own. But much like a “Happy new year” in February, have I missed the moment? I look forward to a day when our boys exchange racial epithets over neuralink on a sweaty Halo 8 match. Congratulations Dustin!

Clark Petri

CDC, I would like to issue a correction to the official Sacred Symbols record. Last week, while discussing Marvel Tokon, Chris commented that Green Goblin has not been playable before. My older son, who when he was five spent 50+ hours flying around as “Gween Gobwin” in Lego Marvel Super Heroes, would like to politely disagree. And while I offer this correction with a knowing smile, I absolutely concur with Chris’s broader point: it is really cool to fly around on the glider. Take care gents. Clark Petri

Drew

Hey Sacred Crew, Do we really think Sony doesn't care if their physical-games-audience makes the transition to digital with them? I think they need them to stay, and are gambling big that they will. Based on my spending on physical and digital, the 20% physical auidence could account for over 45% of game sales on the platform. This aligns surprisingly well with the Insomniac leak and the digital/physical split for first party sales. I probably seem like a safe bet to continue with Sony since I'm already spending a lot on digital. Yet, all my digital purchases moving forward will be on Steam. I think Sony's hand could easily be forced if physical consumers realize they are highly engaged and their wallet vote matters. Dustin, any idea what your spending split on the platform has been?

Towers

Gentlemen, more Playstation live-service bombshells have dropped this week. Between rebooting the newest Horizon game & allegedly working on Intergalactic with a ghost crew for the sake of a canceled multiplayer game, I can only say this; Hermen Hulst - when will you learn? When will you learn that your actions have consequences?

Drew

Hey Boys, Are we ready to admit that Sony's live service efforts were ill advised with the news coming out about Horizon? Pursuing live service means you inherit all the risk, compete for players already spending on your platform, and weather opportunity costs. An owner of a casino doesn't start playing the slots somewhere because some players at their casino are hitting it big- they make their location the best place to play and enjoy the risk free profits of those that are gambling.

TheBurritoHero

Hey CDC, Here's a novel concept for you guys: I want to talk about video games. But not why I love them or specific games on the horizon that I'm anticipating. I want to discuss the fact that I have felt my passion slowly fading over the past few months. Like you three and the overwhelming majority of the listeners of Sacred Symbols, I have loved video games for as long as I could hold a controller. But recently, due to the constant bombardment of bad news, stupid drama, and general negativity, I have slowly felt myself drifting away from my favourite hobby. I haven't even touched a controller since I finished Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster at the beginning of July. I know that's only a couple of months, but that's an extremely long time for someone like me: I used to play every single day, and when I wasn't playing, I was thinking of playing. Maybe the September glut will get me back in the saddle, but maybe it won't. I know you guys can't really afford to simply not touch a controller for weeks at a time due to your jobs, but I was wondering if you've ever felt this way about a hobby or activity that you love or have loved in the past. Thanks, and keep flicking that chicken's cloaca.

Michael Alaimo

Hey fellas Marvel Tokon’s PC version was already cracked. Despite every attempt by Sony to avoid this including literally sabotaging the game by adding a bajillion layers of DRM to it, which has ruined the performance of the PC version on even higher end machines. This cracked version is proven to run so much better than the retail version that even a 1000 series GPU is running the game just fine. Sony cares so much about this sorta stuff yet will completely sabotage their own product just for it to be cracked anyway. It’s honestly sad in my opinion. What do yall think?

Mykal

Mr. GUN, I have a bone to pick with you. What’s the deal with Bloodborne?! I was doing my regular PSNProfiles creeping, when all of a sudden I see that you have played through and beaten Bloodborne, one of the greatest PlayStation exclusive games ever created. I am terribly upset that you have withheld your updates from the audience. Shame on you. Take care, guys

Professor of Logic at the University of Science

Hello Sacred Cucks I'm following up on the data center conversation last week as a community organizer who organizes against AI data center proposals. I wanted to note that, while it's true that water usage amounts is a concern for data centers and there are real cases of wells going dry due to data centers or other industries that aren't held accountable, water usage amounts is often one of the weaker arguments against data centers. Especially with how fast technology is progressing, the amount of water being used is being kept under control more and more than it has been in the past. Overall, though, water contamination concerns are still very real and present, alongside noise, property values, and heavy, years-long construction roadmaps. But for me, the biggest problem is endless corporate extraction out of communities that doesn't pencil out into real benefits, especially when you're in a state like mine, where we're actively courting AI data centers by handing out billions of dollars in tax cuts and exemptions to the largest corporations in the world. And yes, crazies are out there on all sides and something like a data center coming to town has a tendency of bringing out the crazies. Sometimes, good community organizers have to strategically separate themselves from the crazies and/or boot the crazies out of the base entirely. One of the hardest parts of the job is managing some very passionate people who can sometimes have destructive tendencies. P.S. looking forward to hearing how the game ownership conversation went. Lots of great organizing work that can be done there across the games space

Animated

Why? Thank you.

Lorenzo Von Matterhorn

To the mighty SS Crew, Can we please stop moving the goal posts for GTA and Rockstar. Up until a month ago if anyone suggested to release a $100 standard edition of a game masquerading as a 'Deluxe Edition' or revealed gameplay behind a paywall they would rightfully be laughed out of the room. But because its Rockstar and they're 'that guy' they get a pass. Well this is an industry that take the mile when given an inch. No chance other publishers don't follow this method, a $90 'Deluxe edition' for Judas then cutting content for the 'Standard' $70 release here. An exclusive trailers for Intergalactic behind PS+ Premium there. These will get passed off as, oh its ok because its Ken Levine's new game or it's Sony's big IP for the year. Microtransactions, battle passes, loot boxes and early access periods among everything else that's slowly eroding the enjoyment and creativity in this hobby all started because it was ok for that one instance. Bad behavior is still bad behavior even when it's your favorite child! PS: As a sidenote, Early access is never early access, its just delayed access for those not forking out an extra fee.

NeO JD

The worst part of the Horizon Hunters Gathering news is that this is likely going to happen 2 more times with their other in development games. IYKYK. Col, I know you defend them chasing this trend but will enough ever be enough? PS: The boys AND Micah are down for a Fortnite stream. You can’t say no now.

Brando-Kazooie

Hey fats, Assuming Sony doesn't give up on their live service strategy, what are some pitches/ideas you do have for live service games from sony? I sure don't. At this point Sony live service games are just Star wars level brand damaged. How do you resurrect the brand?

Elevating small talk to medium talk

Hey guys, long time, first time. I think this whole GTA VI-Netflix deal is because we’re going to see Netflix in some capacity inside the game. Maybe even interact with it somehow. Thoughts? Cheers, you sponge-worthy bastards.

Shawn Willey

Hey boys, I was browsing my cross-media bar this past weekend and decided to finally boot up Saint Slayer. Having just rolled credits on it the other night, I have to give you and the team at Lilymo huge props for delivering an awesome ode to classic Castlevania. The look, the feel, and especially the sound of it all took me back to the days of summer I loved most of playing games like what you’ve created here. I knew the game would be good, but it truly surpassed my expectations. Congrats on Saint Slayer, and I’ll go hang up now and wait for the rpg to release one day.

DWreckt

Привет Отцам символов святых (use Google Translate or just learn Russian as the motherland demands of you...no, demands of all of us), In line with last week's gaming "Bill of Rights" discussion, I submit the following motion for legislative consideration: 1) No game shall be deemed admittance to Valhalla (i.e. PSN) without trophy support or if said trophies can ever be rendered unattainable, either due to malfunctioning programming or decommission of server operation. Perhaps I may be missing the forest from the trees with this one - wouldn't be the first time - but it's fresh on my mind after abandoning the platinum chase for Saturday Morning RPG (PS5) when I learned its trophy list is bugged and all hopes of a patch to address support have gone unanswered. Plus a few months back Time Crisis debuted without trophies and I damn near punched a baby. There are few sorrows as intense as discovering a trophy can never be attained, like knowing you can't rise up the social ladder due to late stage capitalism or that your dating app matches are just Russian troll farm actors. Such is the plight of man. May your victories be many and your trophies platinum-hued. Sincerest Regards,

Make America Grodd Again

To me my Sex Men. I was wondering if you guys had heard the story about a little game called plantation simulator. The game title describes itself so I won’t get into that instead I’ll talk about the devs ingenious plan. A bit after release they released a 1.2 update titled “We fixed the Game”. This update changed all the workers from Black to white which has infuriated early adopters. They have been leaving comments such as “racist” “false advertising” and calling for historical accuracy. Personally I thought this was hilarious and wondered how it made the boys feel inside. I’ll hang up and listen now.

Robert Friemering

Greetings Sacred Ones, Everyone talks about Netflix & TakeTwo like this was something new. Netflix has been trying to get people to play games through Netflix for years. In the app on TV you can play select games that are usually paid. On Android it's another store to download more games to play from Netflix. You can play android versions of the PS2 games that have been out for years to buy a la carte but with a Netflix subscription most people have, you can just download & play. Netflix is still just trying to get people to know you can play some games with Netflix.

Brendan

Hey Boys, The PS3 store’s search functionality is currently broken. Coinciding with the store’s shutdown in certain Latin American countries a few days ago, the US PS3 store, which should work until July 2027, has not been able to execute a search or even load in the search bar. All I want to do is go on a DLC shopping spree for my PS3 games before these become permanently unavailable, but some are now impossible to get to without the use of the search bar. This is all shortly after DLC pages on the PS3 store became separated from their corresponding main game pages, as covered a few days ago by friend of the show Mystic Ryan. I know Colin loves his abandoned mall content, but if you ever wanted to see a digital version of dilapidated infrastructure, take a trip to the PS3 store! Colin, please read this question aloud so that you may put your proverbial thumb on the scale and let Sony know that I’m trying to give them money. Thank you for writing in! Brendan

Luke Childs

Dear Colin, Dustin, and Chris, A little over a year ago, my kids stole my phone and wrote into Sacred Symbols about me. I doubt you remember it, but I figured the story deserved an update. At the time, I was going through a divorce, wasn’t living with my kids, and was in the worst place I’d ever been mentally. I came very close to ending my life, but instead I checked myself into a mental hospital. A year later, I’m still here. I went back to what I was good at: plumbing. I have a good job, I’m getting ready to move into my own place, I’m getting my finances back together, and most importantly, I’m still here for my boys. This was probably the worst year of my life, but strangely, it may have also been one of the most important. The best way I can describe it is that turning your life around is like turning a ship. You can turn the wheel, but for a while you’re still moving in the same direction. You just have to hold the damn wheel long enough for the ship to finally turn. Mine finally did. So if anyone listening is going through their own version of hell: give yourself the chance to find out what happens next. And for anyone who remembers those kids writing in about their dad: Their dad made it. Thanks, guys. Luke

Chris Holker

Hey CDC, Has anyone really been far as decided to use even go want to do look more like? Thanks Ima go Super Sonic in Fortnite and listen.

Heezy85

Hello boys! Surprise surprise! The Wolverine PS5 Pro console covers sold out pretty much instantly (likely scalpers). Why can’t Sony do a preorder in which they don’t have a limited number? I can understand that for a console they can only manufacture so many but this is just a piece of plastic. How hard can it be! P.S. Shout out to Mortal Shell 2, nobody seems to be talking about it.

Paul E.T.

Hey Guys, I’ve long lamented the slow disappearance of the true pop-culture communal event. These shared moments I experienced with friends and family (watching series finales at the same time, E3 press conferences etc.) were such big parts of my childhood and early adulthood throughout the ‘90s and ‘00s. With that in mind, my question is this: is Rockstar/Take-Two chasing that long-lost feeling by “airing” the extended look of GTA VI early on Netflix? You might say that putting it behind a paywall does the opposite, but I could see kids going round to their friend’s place whose family has Netflix to watch it together. Something about it also feels old school to me. It feels more special than a YouTube Premiere or live stream. It’s not airing on the “tube”, but it kinda is. And yeah, it’s an ad. But it’s also the first proper in-depth introduction to the biggest media release in history. You could say it has a tinge of the stinge, and I partly agree, but I also think it’s kind of cool that a lot people will be huddled around their TV at the same time to watch this moment together. What say you? Cheers

Hugh Janus

Hey CDC, Just wanted to get your thoughts on the Bloomberg report that Guerrilla is rebooting Horizon Hunters Gathering after the negative playtest feedback. It’s another chapter in this ongoing saga, and I’m curious how you’re reading the situation. I strongly believe Sony’s entire GaaS push has been a massive failure at this point. Concord, the cancelled projects, the constant course corrections, the wasted years and resources which is becoming unmeasurable… it’s been one self-inflicted disaster after another. I feel a real distaste for Sony’s current trajectory. Watching them repeatedly chase this live-service dream while neglecting the strengths that actually made them successful has been frustrating to follow. Any notion that they should keep pursuing this model feels delusional to me. We shouldn’t be celebrating or making excuses for these GaaS experiments going forward. They need to stop doubling down on something that keeps failing and instead focus on what they’re actually good at: building a great platform for games. Do that well, support strong single-player and creative experiences, and the rest will come to them naturally. They are already the default console. What say you?

Armbarmitzvah

Symbolic Ones, Last Wednesday my wife and I went to the 38 week pregnancy check up for our daughter, who was due on August 24th. They measured her heartbeat and measured my wife’s belly and said everything was looking great. They gave us a long list of statistically highly unlikely things that could happen and what to look for. They said to keep doing kick counts, and if they drop below ten kicks in two hours to call the labor and delivery line. Thursday night the baby wasn’t as active but was still within range, but Friday morning she was barely moving. My wife called L&D and they told her to drink a glass of ice water and go in a quiet room and feel for kicks and count them. My wife then called her Mother who lives five minutes away and told her that she was really worried and wanted to have our son picked up so she could focus on the baby. Mom’s response was “I need to take a shower.” My wife called me and I started the hour long drive home to pick her up and go to the hospital. My drive goes through a two lane windy mountain road where a cavalcade of psychopaths drive way too fast, crossing over the opposite lane on blind corners to go around those who have the audacity to only go 5-10 mph above the speed limit. That day, I was the psychopath and this was the one time I got stuck behind a car who drove at speed of smell and didn’t use any turnouts. As i started to rage and panic spiral I decided to distract myself with the dulcet tones of the Sacred Crew. 3/4 of the way up the road with 20 minutes ETA to our house a fucking tree falls down 10 cars ahead and closes the road. My wife sees that I’m 20 minutes out and not moving and loads our toddler into the car and prepares to go to the hospital. At this point my Mother-In-Law calls my wife and tells her to turn around and drop off our son. She said no and that she’s going to the hospital. Meanwhile, I text my wife and make a U-turn and drive 6 miles back down the mountain to a single lane side road, which i drove half on the shoulder and half on the road to avoid having to stop and wait for incoming traffic. We get to the hospital within 3 minutes of each other, and after checking the vitals on the baby they prep for an emergency C-Section. I’m holding my wife’s hand and they do the procedure and we hear “true knot” and they pull my daughter out. There’s a knot in the umbilical cord and it’s wrapped around her neck twice. I go over to the table to see her and she’s blue and purple and not breathing. I realize that having my giant ass hovering over them is not going to help anything so i turn around and see my wife’s cavernous wound and I almost lose it. They get my daughter breathing and I hear that first cry and I know that we’re going to be okay. I cut the cord (which does indeed have a big knot in it) and they put my daughter on my wife and assure us that she’s fine and there are unlikely to be complications based on all the readings they took. They also tell us that my wife saved our daughter’s life by doing the kick counts. If she had gone a few hours later they would have had to airlift our daughter to Stanford Hospital to try to save her. A nurse told us that in 28 years she’s only seen a knotted cord one other time. Our daughter is beautiful and healthy, and my wife is on the long road of recovery and healing. Please welcome the newest member of the Sacred Symbols family, Dahlia Helena (Dolly-Yuh Hell-ay-nuh). Thank you for helping distract me during the most sobering and terrifying time of my life, and i feel it appropriate that as I drive her to her first check up, we’re listening to the same episode. When she’s 10 and fires off anglo-saxon epithets that would make a long haul trucker blush, we’ll have you to thank/blame. Ps- any chance I can get a “Stand Down” onesie made for her?

LameDumbAndGay

Hey guys, Thank god Guerilla put their entire staff on hunters gathering for years instead of finishing the trilogy, am i right fellas? That is all.

Phil Jenkins

Hey CDC. In the wake of the GTA VI leaks, am I wrong in thinking times have changed so much over the years, that nobody really cares? The showcases and the game deep dives we get, that show 15 to 20 minutes of a game, has caused a lot of people to be unphased, or as Colin says, go media blackout. On top of this, the shear scale of the game means any leaks will barely mean anything to the vast majority of consumers. Whatever this moron hopes to achieve, it does not include EmRockstar backing down and pandering to their tantrum. What say you?

Vitali

Hello Colin, Chris, and Dustin, Another week, and it seems like another disaster at PlayStation. At this point, I’m starting to wonder if the main objective of PlayStation executives is to run the company into the ground and squander whatever goodwill they have left. And, honestly, they seem to be succeeding. Knowing what we know now about Guerrilla’s new Horizon live-service game, how much more time and money is going to be lost on this project? And with Jason reporting that Horizon 3 is still far, far away from release, hear me out on this: I honestly believe Guerrilla Games would have a better chance of turning Killzone into a successful live-service game than Horizon. Sony has so many dormant FPS IPs that could potentially work as multiplayer shooters—Killzone, MAG, SOCOM, and others. Why not revive one of those instead and give it a fresh spin as a live-service or multiplayer game? I know it sounds crazy, but what do you guys think? Would Guerrilla actually have a better chance with a Killzone live-service game than with another Horizon project? Love what you guys do. Keep it up!

Paul Smenis

Good day gentlemen, I saw Facebook’s latest arrival on the Cancel PlayStation Express: “Digital isn’t the future! Sony is secretly delisting 13 games! This is killing the industry!” — followed, naturally, by about 12,000 comments demanding Jim Ryan be tried at The Hague. So, being Facebook, I committed the cardinal sin of actually looking it up. The 13 games include Finger Fitness, Run & Jump Guy, Fox’s Zen House, Boned Again: Survivors, and O-VOID: Console Edition. Which raises the question: is this really damning evidence that the all-digital future is collapsing, or have we reached the point where “Finger Fitness is being delisted” can generate a full-scale console-war constitutional crisis? I genuinely don’t know how I’m supposed to keep gaming on a Sony console now that Karen Sheep from Facebook has informed me Sony is actively killing my hobby by denying future generations access to Finger Fitness. I suppose the only responsible thing to do is track down the physical copy, fire up my Windows 95 IBM tower, open the sacred disc tray and preserve it for humanity. There are absolutely legitimate concerns about digital ownership and preservation — but does breathless clickbait like this actually hurt that argument by turning every routine delisting into “Sony is deleting gaming”? Lastly, Chris, can you please will into existence a playable “Pizza Time” DLC expansion for Marvel Tōkon? I don’t care what buttons I have to press. I just need Spider-Man to stop mid-fight, yell “Pizza Time,” and trigger an “I offered you friendship, and you cheesed in my face!” side quest. Thank you. I'll now dye my hair blue and listen.

Paul Smenis

Colin: if PlayStation announced tomorrow that every first-party studio had to choose between making a sequel to its safest franchise or taking a genuine creative risk on a new IP, which studios do you think would actually choose the risk—and which ones would you want to? P.s, I asked ChatGPT to write a "Colin bait question"

Nevets

Sacred Gents, The fast food industry has hit my autism hard! Wendy's has Sonic kids meals and McDonald's has Godzilla. What franchise would you be willing to purchase a kids meal for as a disgusting old man? Thanks and get that foot out of the grave!

Manuel Nascimento

Hey CCD, and glad to have the D back, since one can't live without the D... On a more serious note, I've got a proposed solution to the whole "death of physical" debate: why doesn't PlayStation just sell physical games directly to players through playstation.com? They've said the digital-physical split is around 82%-18%, so they could easily capture some of that 18% by selling directly to the players who really want physical copies — a lot of whom are collectors anyway. This way, PlayStation cuts out the retailer's margin, and it would probably curb a chunk of the second-hand market too, since people buying directly from playstation.com are more likely to actually want to keep the disc rather than resell it. PlayStation could even throw in a digital license tied to the buyer's account, so they can still play at launch even if the disc hasn't arrived yet — no shipping anxiety. The only downside I can see is that this means PS6 would still need some kind of disc drive, maybe as an external attachment — but that seems inevitable anyway, since they'll need to keep supporting PS4 and PS5 discs on PS6, right? What do you all think? Cheers.

PapercutClitSlitter

Hey CDC, With the ongoing massive leaks of GTA VI, just how damaging could a Last of Us Part II situation be for a game of this scale? I'm writing after seeing yet another upload just 5 minutes ago showing a fly through of Vice City, and the leaker spelling his name in bullets proving he has access to the game himself. Still 3 months from launch, it feels inevitable we're gunna be seeing endgame content and story spoilers all over the internet soon enough. How have Rockstar fucked this so badly?

Michael Limauro

Hey guys, After recently finishing Pragmata, I was impressed with Capcom’s ability to innovate and create fun gameplay that is truly unique. What is one AAA game released the last few years that has impressed you with gameplay mechanics that have not been done before? In the AAA space, Alan Wake 2 from 2023 with the light/darkness puzzles and Death Stranding 2 from 2025 with the electric vehicle charging come to mind for me, but I’m interested in hearing your thoughts!

Sam Ward

Hey CDC, How much longer do we have to wait before Sony send Herman Hulst packing and bring back Shuhei Yoshida to man Sony 1st party? It feels like everything has gone downhill since Hulst took on the role and it doesn't look like there's an end to the embarrassment he's caused

William J McCartney V

Hello boyos, Wish me luck with quitting smoking weed, I'm trying to get out of the grocery store and into the electrician union. Also how do you feel about me being in a state where its legal, yet still being tested for weed. Either way thanks for all the content and have a good week!

Bigslow

Hey Colin, Dustin, and Chris, I’m writing in because I’ve hit my absolute limit with the state of the video game community. What used to be a hobby defined by fun, whimsy, and an escape from the daily grind has devolved into an insufferable, 24/7 outrage machine. Take the latest GTA 6 situation. Beyond the leaks, we have a hacker group publishing a self-righteous manifesto with "commandments" demanding how studios operate. It’s peak entitlement wrapped in pseudo-activism. Then there’s the endless, exhausting meltdown over Sony moving away from physical media and discs. If people actually cared about the real threats to their gaming libraries, they’d stop whining about platform shifts and start pushing for digital consumer rights and account security. That is a fight worth having. Video games used to be the one place to get away from the endless noise and complaining of the real world. Now the community is the noise. Everyone wants to be mad, everyone wants to play the victim, and no one seems to actually enjoy playing games anymore. Am I just getting old and cynical, or has the community completely lost the plot, and its sense of fun? Best, Bigslow

william planas

Hey sacred gents , Is anyone going to check out The Sinking city 2? With all the big game releases coming up , it looks like this one was swept under the rug this week. While I'm only a few hours in, it's truly peak survival horror. It is this years Chronos a new down except in 1929 Massachusetts. Fans of the genre should for sure check it out. Just want to give it a shout out.

Zack Apuzzo

Dear sacred gods. I come before you today... humbled... and humiliated... to ask you for one thing. I want you to fire Herman Hulst.

Angel Urbina

Hey CDC, So Fortnite’s got a new season coming up on the 20th and it’s going to feature a bunch of gaming skins like Megaman, Sonic & Sora among others. Any chance of checking it out, for a stream maybe? If not what would Fortnite need to do to get you? I wasn’t really a fan until they added the Zero Build mode.

Daniel Breiter

Hello Sacred Symboys, I saw an article on social media yesterday reporting that a bunch of digital games are being delisted, with a clear intention to rage bait and rile up the crazys in light of the non-physical future. As expected, all the comments were something like, "This wouldn't happen if you owned the disc!" or "This is just the start.." Looking into it even a drop you immediately realise this is the shovelware bullshit we've been begging Sony to take down. Modern classics like, Run & Jump Guy, and Retro Highway. It makes me sad that people that actually care about the ecosystem are being drowned out by nonsense, and that everything is tackled with inherent bad faith. I don't have a question, I just wanted to share my growing disappointment in humanity hope to pass some of that burden onto you.

In The Wrong Tax Bracket

Hi C, C, and D! First time, long time! Colin, any advice about working out daily and what to look out for? I appreciate you saying you made a non-negotiable daily thing out of it, similar to brushing your teeth. Very inspiring. I'd love to hear more about your actual routine (warm-up, calistenics, cardio, weight-lifting, etc..). GTA VI highly motivated me this past year to lose weight (lost 8kgs, 8 more to go) and for the past three weeks I've been hitting the gym everyday not just 2-3 times a week. Alongside that, I'm now minding my protein intake and eating even better health-wise than before. I want to be jacked for GTA VI when it launches. I will maintain this habit far past that however as we're preparing for a kid in the coming years and I know the health of the father is the most important. Sorry for the wall of text, tried to be as concise as possible. Much love, Raphael