LastStandMedia
patreon
Sacred Symbols, Episode 380 | Don't Fall Away and Leave Me to Myself
🕑 Added 2025-10-10 16:00:26 +0000 UTCIf you're a regular purchaser of games, you're a stark minority within the very industry you know and love. We've known all about the revenue-related trends directing games as of late, but recent data indicates things are far more dire than they seem, particularly if you're a single player purist. For instance, a third of gaming consumers purchase less than one game a year; 12% buy one game a year; 18% buy two games a year. Only 14% of players buy at least one game a month! Yet, there's more money flowing than ever. Like, lots more. What gives? A migration of customers and their habits, of course! We discuss. Other news this week includes a brief Mark Cerny video celebrating Sony's collaboration with AMD for PlayStation 6, the reemergence of Marathon with invites to an NDA'd closed test, the bluest DualSense controller you could possibly imagine, rumors of a cancelled Reconstruction-era Assassin's Creed, and more. Then: Listener inquiries! Could Sony be on the precipice of adding to its family of first party studios? Is there a potential unfilled niche for medical-themed titles? Does PlayStation need to spin-up a new loyalty program? Forget about your favorite color. What's your favorite shape?
Timestamps:
0:00:00 - Intro
0:37:16 - Strange places to listen to Sacred
0:41:27 - Ben Debate
0:52:43 - Favorite shape
0:58:31 - Mark Cerny appears!
1:09:26 - New player purchasing data
1:29:11 - New Marathon technical test coming
1:49:59 - New early PlayStation lore
1:58:37 - New blue Dualsense
2:03:38 - PlayStation Concert cancelled
2:10:25 - Cancelled Assassin's creed leaked
2:33:10 - Expedition 33 sells over 5 million, new content coming
2:35:40 - New Circana data
2:43:33 - Top PSN downloads
2:47:34 - PowerWash Simulator 2 release date and Mina the Hollower delayed
2:54:28 - What We’re Playing (Ghost of Tsushima, Ghost of Yotei, Baby Steps, Mario Galaxy)
3:27:58 - SIE and Sword of the Sea?
3:31:39 - Will Rockstar innovate gameplay in GTA VI
3:37:38 - What's the end point of live service?
3:42:44 - What do "fans" want?
3:55:38 - PlayStation Stars still floating around
3:59:19 - Where are the medical games?
Comments
Sixth Gen Console Enjoyer
I noticed how Dustin has been programmed to repeat the propaganda that Yasuke was a samurai. Just low information analysis
Philip Dunphy
I love the Watanabe Mode in Ghost of Yotei, I just wish there was more variety to it.
Scott Talevich
They photoshopped Colin over the AMD guy in the video.
Nick
My favorite shape is the triangle due to it’s historical significance and importance to video games and 3D rendering.
Born-Blind
Where's that pic/thumbnail from? I know Colin has met Mark Cerny several times over the years but I don't remember there being an instance where a PC graphics card was on display in the background.
Scott Talevich
I was curious, so I checked. The only Sony published PS4 games that came out after the first two years of PS5 were two MLB: The Show games and My First Gran Turismo. Miles Morales, Horizon Forbidden West, and God of War Ragnarok were the only big ticket PS5 games that also got a PS4 version, and just in years 1 and 2. PS5 First Party Exclusives: Demon’s Souls, Sackboy, Destruction AllStars (lol), Returnal, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, Spider-Man 2, Helldivers 2, Concord (lol), Astro Bot, Death Stranding 2, Ghost of Yotei PS5 Second Party Exclusives: Rise of the Ronin, Stellar Blade PS5 Exclusives coming in 2026 and 2027: Saros, Wolverine, Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet So we basically got three crossover games in years 1 and 2 and then PS5-only basically from there. So, if PS6 mirrors that and launches in Nov 2027 we’ll get a few PS6 exclusives in the first two years and a few PS5 crossover games, and then full exclusives from then on for the next five years. Two years of half-crossover, half-full exclusives isn't a big deal to me. The problem wasn't the PS4, the problem was the years of wasted studio manpower on live service games that would never launch. PS6 should have more exclusive games overall.
Scott Talevich
Those stats from Matt Piscatella are not a revelation. The amount of games people buy hasn't really changed in four decades. What is a revelation is that Matt thinks his stats are new or surprising. The piece of the pie that is full game releases hasn't become smaller, there's just a new bigger pie sitting on the table next to it. The tie ratios for consoles (how many games were bought per system bought) have been in a pretty narrow band since the NES. It basically equates to 1.5-2 games purchased a year per system going all the way back to the NES. It has always been like this. Here's a random sampling: NES - 8.08 SNES - 7.72 PS1 - 9.43 N64 - 6.83 PS2 - 9.81 GameCube - 9.59 360 - 7.5 Wii - 9.05 PS3 - 8.92 Switch - 8.94 PS4 - 13.8 PS5 (estimate) - 8.5-10.0 Xbox Series X - Game sales are not reported In other words, nothing to see here. I don't know why Matt Piscatella thinks this is new information.
