#318 | Hey Man, Wake Up and Smell the Concrete

While Sony may have purchased Bungie with specific end-goals in mind, it's clear -- some two years later -- that the deal hasn't improved PlayStation whatsoever. In fact, it's becoming increasingly nebulous why the acquisition was made at all, with Bungie hemorrhaging money, laying off hundreds, shedding high-end talent, and churning through funds that could be better spent by Sony's actually reliable stable of teams. With further layoffs, the creation of a new spin-off first party squad, and drama galore, there's plenty for us to get into on this topic alone. But there are other things to discuss, too: Firesprite is seemingly making a PlayStation 6 game, Until Dawn Remake got an ESRB rating, Activision's compelling white paper makes a great case for skill-based matchmaking, and more. Then: Listener inquiries! Do we have any nostalgia for pandemic-era gaming? Would Sony have been wise to rely more heavily on established IP for their games-as-a-service push? With studio failures aplenty, is it even worth getting into game dev at this point? How has Colin been dealing with Boar's Head's darkest days ever?

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0:00:00 - Intro 0:28:15 - San Diego Live show! 0:29:55 - where baby? 0:36:39 - Will CCDF work at LSM? 0:45:46 - Boar's Head listeria outbreak 0:53:52 - Stolen pet waste basket 0:59:22 - Mega Man figure jar 1:03:51 - Cleaning in the shower 1:07:50 - New PSVR2 and PS5 pricing 1:14:33 - Astro Bot Dualsense 1:16:44 - Until Dawn Remake gets rated 1:20:43 - Voice actors strike 1:23:12 - Skill Based match making works 1:32:51 - Legacy of Kain returns? 1:42:57 - Alien Hominid 1 and 2 remastered 1:46:20 - Armored Core and Silent Hill sales and downloads 1:47:37 - What are we playing? 2:08:23 - Bungie Layoffs 2:52:06 - Firesprite's future game 2:59:00 - New PS Plus games 3:03:31 - Gaming with Biden and Trump 3:06:23 - PlayStation's creativity 3:12:34 - Pandemic gaming 3:19:58 - New vs old IP for live service 3:26:43 - Why pursue a career in games? 3:38:06 - Requirement to keep games going Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices