LastStandMedia

Defining Duke Ultimate, Episode 29: The State of Cyberpunk 2077

The maligned RPG Cyberpunk 2077 has continued to try and crawl itself back to the pedestal of which it sat up for a long while. Failed patches, continued controversy, lies, and deceit have led to customers being angry with the heads of CD Projekt Red and it doesn't seem to be letting up. With patch 1.3 dropping, Matty and Cognito take a look at the state of a game that had the potential to take over and it certainly did albeit in the worst way imaginable. Can this once delisted title make a N...

Defining Duke Ultimate, Episode 29: The State of Cyberpunk 2077 (Video)

For your viewing pleasure.

Sacred Symbols+, Episode 113: A Little Inspiration

Many of you miss Fireside Chats, Last Stand's original podcast that ran from 2017 until 2019. Within, I interviewed all sorts of people from all walks of life, and while I still chat with folks about games, I wanted to make an exception today and expand the net a little. Welcome popular YouTuber Finn Mckenty -- also known as The Punk Rock MBA -- to the show. Finn's specialties are music and business, but today, we discuss being an online creator. Beginning with fanzines and even applying to G...

Sacred Symbols+, Episode 113: A Little Inspiration (Video)

For your viewing pleasure.

Blue Balls - Lockmort's Edits

I WANT TO BELIEVE

KnockBack, Episode 184: The Last Days of Summer and Back to School

The summer is all fun and games, but 'back to school' always looms on the horizon. The further we get into the dog days, the closer we get to the next grade, and it's those weeks -- usually in August, but sometimes in July or stretching into September -- that are our focus during this episode. What was our routine? Were we excited to go clothes shopping? To get school supplies? To find out who our teachers are? Or did we dread returning to the classroom, and do everything we could to avo...

KnockBack, Episode 184: The Last Days of Summer and Back to School (Video)

For your viewing pleasure.

Sacred Symbols+, Episode 112: The Writing (and Playing) of Trigger Witch (Video)

For  your viewing pleasure.

Sacred Symbols+, Episode 112: The Writing (and Playing) of Trigger Witch

We love our indie games here on Sacred Symbols, as you know, and I (Colin) would like to take a moment today to discuss one of them in-depth: Trigger Witch. The reasons I want to discuss this title, not surprisingly, are manifold. For starters, it's really fun. It's a twin-stick shooter about an arsenal-wielding witch, and it's charming, witty, and appropriately bite-sized. Also, my buddies over at Rainbite made this game, which you should note. But even more interesting than that, to me...

Sacred Symbols, Episode 163: Liberty, Vice, and Everything Nice

These slow summer days have been suddenly interrupted by a most-tantalizing rumor: PlayStation 2's classic trilogy of Grand Theft Auto games are migrating over to PS4 and PS5, reworked and modernized (though not remade!) for a new generation. Yes, it's true that GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas are already natively playable on PlayStation 4, but in their stubbornly-old formats. Let's talk about returning to Liberty City, Vice City, and San Andreas in full, retro effect, and how excited we ar...

Sacred Symbols, Episode 163: Liberty, Vice, and Everything Nice (Video)

For your viewing pleasure.

Timestamps to skip ads:

0:24:43

1:00:36

1:25:08

Defining Duke, Episode 32: Xbox Gears Up for Big Gamescom Showcase (Video)

For your viewing pleasure.

Timestamps to skip ads:

0:01:19

0:28:31

1:00:12

Defining Duke, Episode 32: Xbox Gears Up for Big Gamescom Showcase

Joining us this week in one of our longest episodes to date is the Man With A Million, Rand Al Thor! Matty, Cognito, and Rand team up for the perfect week as Xbox blew the lid off all their plans for upcoming content. For starters, three different showcases arrived for the company this month. One has already passed which is ID @ Xbox's Twitch indie showcase. What Game Pass additions and indie gems caught the boys' eyes? Later in August is the headliner, Xbox's Gamescom show. It aims to provid...

Defining Duke Ultimate, Episode 28: Back 4 Blood Beta Deep Dive

Over the weekend, we got to lay our hands on arguably Xbox's largest third party investment across Day One Game Pass titles. That game is the highly anticipated Back 4 Blood which aims to carry the Left 4 Dead torch which is sorely missing a third entry. With this void remaining present, Turtle Rock aims to strike at the proper time and capture a hungry audience. The question is, when the nostalgia wipes off and we see it clearly for what it is, is it enough? For that, Matty & Cog team up...

Defining Duke Ultimate, Episode 28: Back 4 Blood Beta Deep Dive (Video)

For your viewing pleasure.

Sacred Symbols+, Episode 111: Call-In With Colin III

It's been about a month since we did a Call-In With Colin episode of Sacred Symbols+, so we figured it was high time to return to the format. On today's episode, we talk to callers from all over the godforsaken place about topics they bring to the table. If only Resistance or Killzone can return, which should it be, and why? Is Sony about to jump back into the multiplayer space in a big way with its recent second party studio deals? Will SOCOM live again? Are JRPGs finally healing, and can we...

Sacred Symbols+, Episode 111: Call-In With Colin III (Video)

For your viewing pleasure.

Let's Plays: An Indefinite Delay

Hey!

I wanted to take a moment to write to you today to share an unfortunate piece of news: We’re indefinitely delaying (cancelling, really, but more on that later) our planned Let’s Play series.

To catch you up (and cut right to the chase), you may recall that -- earlier this year -- we surpassed a couple of stretch goals in machinegun-like fashion. One goal was to deliver some Let’s Plays, whi...

KnockBack, Episode 183: Iron Man (2008 Film) (Video)

For your viewing pleasure.

KnockBack, Episode 183: Iron Man (2008 Film)

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is pretty much the biggest thing to ever hit cinemas, but it started innocently enough back in 2008 with Iron Man, the Jon Favreau-directed, Robert Downey Jr.-led superhero flick that's... well... pretty damn good, actually. Indeed, it only grossed half a billion dollars at the box office, pretty mild results for what would follow! The film may be missing a villain, but it comes packing a whole lot more: A complex, human, and deeply-flawed protagonist, a fun worl...

Sacred Symbols+, Episode 110: The Technological Angle (Video)

For your viewing pleasure.

Sacred Symbols+, Episode 110: The Technological Angle

Sacred Symbols prides itself on being an expert (and silly) location for games analysis, but when it comes to technology -- the actual hardware itself -- we're not quite as expert. That's why it's good to call in someone like today's special guest. Thus, we ask you to please welcome Tom from the popular YouTube channel Moore's Law Is Dead and the tech podcast Broken Silicon. During our 100 minute talk, we delve deep into PlayStation 5 and the technology within. We also talk about a lot of oth...

Sacred Symbols, Episode 162: Distant Horizon (Video)

For your viewing pleasure.

Timestamps to skip ads:

0:27:55

1:02:17

1:31:28

Sacred Symbols, Episode 162: Distant Horizon

The news out of Sony-owned studio Guerrilla is bad, at least if some recent rumors are true. Horizon: Forbidden West -- once promised for both PS4 and PS5 this fall -- is likely going to come out in 2022, instead. This leaves PlayStation 5 fairly barren for the rest of the year, with only the likes of Kena and Deathloop filling in the timed-exclusive gaps. Should PlayStation fans be disappointed, or even worried? Or is the old adage as true now as it has always been: A delayed game is never w...

Defining Duke, Episode 31: Halo Infinite Suffers A Major Leak (Video)

For your viewing pleasure.

Timetstamps to skip ads:

0:01:28

0:21:50

1:06:01

Defining Duke, Episode 31: Halo Infinite Suffers A Major Leak

Alongside a fantastic technical preview for Halo Infinite's multiplayer came some scary news for fans who have been waiting years for Infinite to finally drop. For starters, story spoilers are spreading throughout the web thanks to campaign files which were data mined from that very technical preview. That's not all as the very fitting battle royale mode may have also been discovered thanks to some voice lines uncovered by Jeff Steitzer! What do all these leaks make for the future of this mak...

Defining Duke Ultimate, Episode 27: Our Extended Thoughts on Halo Infinite's Technical Preview (Video)

For your viewing pleasure.

Defining Duke Ultimate, Episode 27: Our Extended Thoughts on Halo Infinite's Technical Preview

Finally! After months upon months of questions being asked and the clock ticking, the Defining Duke gang laid their hands on Halo Infinite. Joining us is, of course, Chris Ray Gun who brings a ton of Halo expertise to the table. Together we dive deep into the gunplay, maps, sound design, equipment, dynamic elements, and much more that makes up Halo Infinite. The phrase we used to describe all of this? "It's Halo." Something we haven't been able to say for many years.

Sacred Symbols+, Episode 109: Will Activision-Blizzard Pay the Piper? (Video)

For your viewing pleasure.

Sacred Symbols+, Episode 109: Will Activision-Blizzard Pay the Piper?

We didn't anticipate that we'd revisit this subject so quickly, but the circumstances demand it. Back on Episode #107 of Sacred Symbols+, we invited lawyer, commentator, and Last Stand Media contributor Rick Hoeg to the show to discuss California's pending action against Activision-Blizzard, the largest and most lucrative entity in all of gaming. To understand the fundamentals, we encourage you to listen to that show first. This week, we go into all that's happened since that chat: The walkou...