Summary of Confidential: Contains Business Secrets! | Sacred Symbols: A PlayStation Podcast Episode 230

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00:00:00 - 01:00:00

The "Sacred Symbols" podcast discusses the current state of the economy and how it affects their show. They also discuss the difficulty of creating a clean version of the show, and Jared talks about leaving his job to pursue a career in video games development. Finally, the hosts discuss the pros and cons of living in different parts of the world.

00:00:00 Colin Moriarty and Dustin Furman discuss how turkey can be good, but there is a point to be made about when it is not so special and how people should eat it less often.
00:05:00 This YouTube video discusses the current state of the economy and how it affects Sacred Symbols, a PlayStation Podcast. The hosts discuss how the recession has affected their podcast and how they are trying to compensate by running a Black Friday sale.
00:10:00 In this episode of "Sacred Symbols", Colin discusses the global video game industry and its declining revenue. He points out that the industry has been declining for a few years now and was caused by a decrease in PS2 hardware and software sales as well as a rise in digital games. He also mentions that the global game industry was reported to have declined by 10 in 2008-2009 due to the global financial crisis.
00:15:00 The podcast discusses the difficulty of creating a clean version of Sacred Symbols. One listener writes in to say that he works as a doordash driver and enjoys listening to the show while driving, and that he has tracked down data on the show's average earnings over the past four weeks. Another listener writes in to say that he is "upset" that the show has become "a bit of a Minefield for obscenities and adult themed humor."
00:20:00 In this podcast, Sacred Symbols' Jared talks about leaving his job to pursue a career in video games development. He credits the show with inspiring him to take the plunge, and thanks the LSM squad for their support. Joshua shares an interesting quirk about himself, and Dustin offers advice on how to improve as a podcast host.
00:25:00 The hosts of "Sacred Symbols" discuss the pros and cons of living in different parts of the world, with special emphasis on the United States and Europe. They then ask a listener a difficult question about whether they would rather have one more day to live in the U.S. or have a long and healthy life living in Europe. While the answer is difficult to determine, the hosts point out that it's a life of shame to give in order to survive.
00:30:00 Chime is a bank with a variety of features for people who need them, such as a checking account, debit card, and credit card. They also offer basic banking features, such as overdrafts, early access to paychecks, and fee-free transactions.
00:35:00 Chime is a financial technology company that provides banking services and debit cards. Spot me eligibility requirements and overdraft limits apply. See chime.com for more information. Chime was the number one most downloaded banking app in the US in 2021 according to Apptopia. Kalinoff believes that happiness is different for each person, and that the key to achieving it is to focus on what you're currently doing rather than waiting for something else to happen.
00:40:00 The video discusses the idea that consciousness will one day be able to be replicated, and that this will lead to a decrease in the amount of human suffering. It also discusses the idea that nostalgia can be a powerful tool, and that it is important to be aware of the passage of time.
00:45:00 The first thing that this YouTube channel announced today is that the game God of War Ragnarok has surpassed 5.1 million copies sold through its first debut week. Additionally, the game sits at 94 in Metacritic, indicating that many people enjoy it. Dustin shares his thoughts on these sales numbers and how they compare to other games. Finally, Dustin shares that he is starting to question the value of DLC after games have come out.
00:50:00 In this episode of "Sacred Symbols," host Tyler Wilde discusses the possibility of DLC for "God of War" including a prequel, concurrent story, or even an epilogue. He also mentions that the game's 48-hour completionist requirement is a long one. Tyler agrees that premium content like "God of War" deserves a long, premium expansion and is content with the game's developers moving on to other projects. Shannon Sud, a former Santa Monica Studio employee, says that a Castlevania game in the style of "God of War" would be a perfect project for Konami to hand over to a first party developer.
00:55:00 In this video, the creator of the "Sacred Symbols" YouTube channel discusses the possibility of Sony using first-party assets from other developers in their own Castlevania game. He believes that this would be a good idea, as it would allow them to extract more value from the IP. He also mentions that Jessica Mao, an intern at Sony Santa Monica who worked on the game's music, is not credited. He asks the viewers their opinions on the matter, and asks if they think it is fair that developers have such a strong currency in the games industry.

01:00:00 - 02:00:00

The video discusses Sony's concerns about Microsoft's proposed acquisition of Activision Blizzard, and argues that this would harm competition in the video game industry.

01:00:00 The document states that Sony "strives to ensure that customers can search and discover the full breadth of experience on PlayStation," and that "products whose functionality and/or assets are copied but are not meaningfully different" are considered spam. It was sent out to all developers on November 2nd.
01:05:00 This YouTube video discusses how PlayStation Store content policies can exclude certain games and content from being available for purchase or download. Games that are excluded from sale can be taken down and developers can be suspended or terminated from their jobs. Although the policy has yet to be implemented, it is expected to go into effect in early 2019. Some readers of the video seem upset that their trophy collection may be affected, though others are more excited about the possibility of companies being punished for their actions.
01:10:00 The video discusses the success of Warzone 2.0, which has reached 25 million players in its first five days. Chris Reagan says that this success proves that "Twitter is the smallest by far of all of those companies," and that "the very people who can shut this thing down tomorrow won't stop using it."
01:15:00 The article John Walker wrote about a Marvel's Avengers spokesperson who was removed for offensive tweets reveals that the tweets were made 10 years ago and were not purposely hurtful. Walker says that the spokesperson, Brian Wagoner, should not apologize because he's changed since then.
01:20:00 In this video, Crystal discusses the company culture at his previous job, and how it led to people saying and doing stupid things. He then goes on to talk about how the company culture at his new job is also bad, and how one person who wrote in said that they don't like the video game Legend of Zelda because it fell the most from grace.
01:25:00 Sony is investing in Chinese software, and this move is confirmed by an article from Reuters. The investment is said to be in order to further differentiate PlayStation from its competitors on console, PC, and mobile platforms.
01:30:00 Sony is investing in Chinese games to increase its presence in the country, with seven games from the first two investment cycles making it to market so far. Some people have concerns about the company's future due to its partnerships with China, which could lead to increased censorship and investment from shady companies.
01:35:00 The video discusses how Sony has removed references to China and Taiwan from its upcoming games for the PlayStation 4 and PS5, citing concerns about censorship.
01:40:00 The video discusses two games - Lost Soul Aside and La Soul - and their similarities to popular Final Fantasy games. It also discusses Sony's past investments in game development, and how they could use this experience to create successful new games in other markets.
01:45:00 The podcast discusses the likelihood of an FTC lawsuit against Microsoft's proposed acquisition of video game giant Activision Blizzard. The article mentions that Google is also an opponent of the deal.
01:50:00 The document contains business secrets about Microsoft's plans to takeover Activision Blizzard, which is causing Sony to invest heavily in fighting the takeover. There is a three billion dollar kill clause if Microsoft does not follow through with the takeover.
01:55:00 The video discusses Sony's concerns over the proposed acquisition of Activision by Microsoft, and argues that this would harm competition in the video game industry.

02:00:00 - 03:00:00

The video discusses how a foreclosure of a major competitor can have anti-competitive effects and how Microsoft's recent behavior with the Call of Duty franchise shows that it is not intending to harm PlayStation gamers.

02:00:00 The video discusses how Sony would lose money if Microsoft were to continue selling Call of Duty games on their own platform, and how this would harm competition.
02:05:00 Microsoft argues that the acquisition of PlayStation will not harm competition because PlayStation is currently more popular than Xbox. However, this contention is Misconceived because Xbox has been gaining market share recently.
02:10:00 The video discusses how a foreclosure of a major competitor can have anti-competitive effects. Sony has been successful in building a lead in the industry through its investments in the quality of its platform and its competition on the merits. Microsoft has attempted to catch up by purchasing teams and developing its own games, but has had limited success.
02:15:00 This YouTube video discusses the profitability of Game Pass, which Sony has reiterated is not profitable. The video also discusses the argument that Microsoft is willing to make losses in the short term in order to build scale and increase its user base. It concludes that, while Sony may have been able to achieve profitability in the past, this is no longer the case due to the increased competition from Microsoft.
02:20:00 The redacted numbers in this document concern the importance of Call of Duty gamers to PlayStation, as well as their spending on games and other PlayStation services. Although the numbers are redacted, it is clear that Call of Duty is a major driver of user engagement on PlayStation and that its players are important to the platform's future.
02:25:00 The video discusses how the Call of Duty franchise is very important to Sony and how it generates a lot of money. It also discusses how the franchise is different from other video games and how it is not replicable.
02:30:00 According to Microsoft, Nintendo's differentiated model demonstrates that PlayStation doesn't need Call of Duty to compete effectively. This reveals Microsoft's true strategy: to want PlayStation to become like Nintendo so that it would be less close and less effective competitor to Xbox post transaction.
02:35:00 After discussing the different genres of video games, the podcast discusses how Sony may view the FPS genre as being dominant on console, which could be a powerful rebuttal to Microsoft's claim that it is the RPG powerhouse. They also discuss how Microsoft has not yet been challenged in the jrpg genre.
02:40:00 The video summarizes recent developments related to Activision Blizzard's relationship with Microsoft, including Microsoft's plans to make Call of Duty games available only on their Game Pass service and PlayStation Plus until 2027.
02:45:00 The video discusses how, based on past Microsoft behavior, it is questionable whether or not they will release their next console exclusive to Playstation. It also mentions how, if Microsoft does make a console exclusive game, it would be less valuable than activations.
02:50:00 Sony has a history of buying studios and keeping their games exclusive to their platforms, but this recent policy change with the remake of Final Fantasy 7 has been met with criticism.
02:55:00 The video discusses how Microsoft claims that its past behavior with Minecraft and Activision shows that it is not intending to harm PlayStation gamers with its upcoming Game Pass exclusive Call of Duty: Black Ops 4. The video also mentions that if Call of Duty were to become exclusive to Xbox, it is estimated that 1-2% of PlayStation gamers would switch to Xbox.

03:00:00 - 03:40:00

In this episode of Sacred Symbols, the host and his guests discuss ways to improve a game's design. They talk about how Sony's research into Call of Duty players could be helpful in improving the design of future games. They also mention how Gene Park's cancer diagnosis has impacted the gaming community.

03:00:00 According to a recent study, if Sony loses a significant proportion of its Call of Duty players, it could have a significant impact on its financial stability. Sony has hired research firms to study the issue, but it's not clear yet what the consequences of losing these users would be.
03:05:00 The video discusses Sony Interactive Entertainment's observation statement on the conflict between Activision and Sony over Call of Duty. Sony Interactive Entertainment argues that Activision's exclusivity of Call of Duty on Game Pass would have a profound impact on gamer preferences, and that their own data backs up their claims. They also criticize Activision for their business practices, and suggest that they will lose customers if Call of Duty continues to be exclusive to Game Pass.
03:10:00 Dustin talks about how he's getting more excited for Forespoken the closer the game gets, and how people might be able to switch to Japanese if they don't like the English accents in the game.
03:15:00 This YouTube video is about a possible future where PlayStation 5 consoles don't have a disk drive, but games can still be played on the system by downloading them to the console's internal memory. Shane Payne, a PS4 collector, has two suspicions about this future: 1) that the disk drive will be optional, and 2) that games that are downloaded will be stored on the system's internal memory, instead of the console's hard drive.
03:20:00 The video discusses how PlayStation 4 games can be read on Playstation 5 and PS6, and how Playstation 5 games can be sold or given away. According to the video, the primary reason people buy Playstation 4 games is for the collecting aspect. If Playstation 6 does not have a disk drive, the solution could be for the PS5's external disk drive to connect to the PS6.
03:25:00 This video is a transcript of a podcast in which Dylan Michael and Dustin Diamond discuss how people can enjoy older video games if they are not interested in new games. Dylan Michael recommends starting with Dark Souls, and then moving on to Bloodborne if it is not working out. Dustin Diamond recommends playing Dark Souls 3 first, followed by Bloodborne.
03:30:00 The podcast discusses how someone can become agnostic about video games after listening to the show for a long time. The boys share their own experiences of becoming agnostic about video games.
03:35:00 The host of "Sacred Symbols" discusses how he generally prefers PlayStation consoles due to their deep knowledge and understanding of the hardware, and how this has helped him to overcome any apathy he may have had in the past towards video game consoles. He explains that, although he does appreciate other platforms, he feels that PlayStation partisans are the audience for which the podcast is intended. He goes on to say that one of his main complaints about God of War is that it withholds guidance from the player too much, and that he is hopeful that a future video on game maker's toolkit will provide a more user-friendly solution to this problem.
03:40:00 This week's episode of Sacred Symbols discusses ways to improve a game's design. Chris is not present, but Colin and Dustin provide insights on how to improve a game's overall design. Finally, Gene Park is mentioned and his cancer is mentioned.