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KnockBack, Episode 216: Game of Thrones (Season 2) (Video)

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KnockBack, Episode 216: Game of Thrones (Season 2)

While lots of viewers obviously love the first season of Game of Thrones, it's the second season -- which first aired on HBO in 2012 -- many consider the beginning of the series' long-running and well-earned golden era. There's action all over the map: In the far-north with rumblings of 'A King Beyond the Wall,' in Winterfell and the Iron Islands, which stir with and fall victim to the spirit of raiding, across the Narrow Sea in Essos, where we discover a desert city called Qarth, and certain...

Sacred Symbols+, Episode 175: Dustin Mailbag (Video)

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Sacred Symbols+, Episode 175: Dustin Mailbag

To complete the trifecta of recent Sacred Symbols+ mailbags, I (Dustin) hopped in to record! Don't worry though, as I tried to keep the questions not completely weeby (but I did sneak in a few). Are there any mediocre games I love? What multiplayer games had me hooked? What are the issues PlayStation 5 needs to improve on? Will Elden Ring impact the future of FromSoftware games? Let's discuss!

Sacred Symbols, Episode 195: Expanding the Map (Video)

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Sacred Symbols, Episode 195: Expanding the Map

In recent years, Sony's first party family has grown mightily, with sensical additions like Housemarque, Insomniac, Bluepoint, and others filling obvious roles. That's why the outright purchase of fledgling, game-less second party partner Haven is a little confusing. Yet, through the lens of the modern industry -- which is crunched by worker shortages, high budgets, and even higher expectations -- perhaps this acquisition can be justified from personnel, creative, and even geographic perspect...

Defining Duke, Episode 64: PlayStation Keeps Buying Studios + The Witcher 4 Announced (Video)

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Defining Duke, Episode 64: PlayStation Keeps Buying Studios + The Witcher 4 Announced

It's a mixed bag kind of week. From chicken wing and soda slander all the way down to the latest at CD Projekt Red, this episode covers a lot of ground if I do say so myself. A new Witcher game has been announced, PlayStation gobbles up another studio in a most organic way, and former Microsoft partner Moon Studios is in big trouble. Plus news on a Ubisoft showcase and the latest on the Xbox x Steam Deck integrations. There's plenty of discussion to go around, so get cozy and let's chat about...

Defining Duke Ultimate, Episode 60: 15 Questions With Matty (Video)

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Defining Duke Ultimate, Episode 60: 15 Questions With Matty

It's mailbag time! You write in and I answer. We talk game development, the process of video game reviews, Fallout, publisher blacklists, Xbox acquisitions, and much, much more. Please do enjoy!

Sacred Symbols+, Episode 174: Elden Ring Spoilercast and Review Discussion

After much anticipation (and a short delay), Elden Ring has finally arrived. Coming off of the critically acclaimed and award-winning Sekiro: Shadow Die Twice, FromSoftware has returned with its most ambitious title to date. Elden Ring not only shocked the industry through its detailed and content-dense open world, but also their most dedicated fans. Over the past few weeks, the game has become a phenomenon, breaking out of the traditional gaming spheres and into mainstream conversation. ...

Sacred Symbols+, Episode 174: Elden Ring Spoilercast and Review Discussion (Video)

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KnockBack, Episode 215: Toy Story

While Toy Story wasn't the first 3D animated offering, it was certainly the film that proved the technique viable, desirable, and even preferable to the old ways of doing things. It also made a boatload of money, which never hurts. When it launched in theaters in late 1995, Toy Story left audiences enamored with its characters, blown-away by its visuals, and instantaneously hungry for more (it would take four years for more to arrive). At a brisk 80 minutes, Toy Story doesn't linger. Ins...

KnockBack, Episode 215: Toy Story (Video)

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Last Stand Turns 5

Hello!

Five years ago, on March 20th, 2017, I launched the company that you today know as Last Stand Media. Somehow, I’ve been doing this longer than I was in college. Time flies.

I don’t know what I expected to achieve when I struck out on my own, but I truly didn’t expect this. I remember telling Joe Rogan during my first appearance on his show that -- when the dust settled after the hullabaloo that surrounded me at the time -- I’d love to sustain a thousand paying suppo...

Sacred Symbols+, Episode 173: Chris Mailbag

It's been a while, but Chris is back with a new mailbag! What is a dream IP and studio mashup? How is the new Destiny 2 expansion and what is Bungie's future with PlayStation look like?  What is the best way to deal with depression? How should Legacy of Kain return? Hit play!

Sacred Symbols+, Episode 173: Chris Mailbag (Video)

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Sacred Symbols, Episode 194: Stunning Wizardry (Video)

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Note: The HD version may still be processinging at the time of release.

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Sacred Symbols, Episode 194: Stunning Wizardry

After much waiting, we've finally been treated to a deep-dive into Hogwarts Legacy, the controversial Harry Potter-aligned game slated to launch on PS4 and PS5 later this year. Developed by one-time Disney outfit Avalanche, Hogwarts Legacy is -- in a word -- ambitious. Like, really ambitious. And it looks awesome. So let's discuss. Plus: News! The very Supermassive-2K title we told you was coming on this show a month or two ago, The Quarry, has been announced, while FromSoft's Elden Ring is a...

Defining Duke, Episode 63: Perfect Dark In Trouble + Huge New Starfield Details Revealed (Video)

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Defining Duke, Episode 63: Perfect Dark In Trouble + Huge New Starfield Details Revealed

Out of all the studios that have been added to their first party stable in the past five years, The Initiative is the only one that Xbox has attempted to build from the ground up. Everything has been brought in with huge acquisitions. This is important for the team to nail and things are looking mighty unsteady at this moment when looking at a recent report detailing almost half of The Initiative's talent leaving the new studio. Leadership issues, bottlenecks in production, and shifts in desi...

Defining Duke Ultimate, Episode 59: The Dire State Of Halo Infinite ft. Chris Ray Gun (Video)

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Defining Duke Ultimate, Episode 59: The Dire State Of Halo Infinite ft. Chris Ray Gun

Halo Infinite was one of Xbox's smash hit releases in holiday 2021. It was showered by both critics and fans alike with praise as the framework for the future of Halo. Sadly, it has remained just that as we reached March of 2022 which is four months after the game's multiplayer released. Things are quite stagnant as of this moment in time and key features like co-op campaign and possibly forge look to be delayed. With such a messy situation, we had to phone in LSM Halo expert Chris Ray Gun to...

Sacred Symbols+, Episode 172: Saudi Arabia Has Entered the Chat (Video)

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Sacred Symbols+, Episode 172: Saudi Arabia Has Entered the Chat

A few weeks ago, I (Colin) conducted what ended up being a mega-popular episode of Sacred Symbols+ with an expert on China. Why was that relevant to this audience? Well, China is spending a whole lot of money on gaming, and we should at least know what we're getting into. A smaller national player has also entered the arena, though: Saudi Arabia. With one of the world's largest sovereign wealth funds, the Saudi government -- a totalitarian, dynastic Islamist monarchy -- owns pieces of Take Tw...

KnockBack, Episode 214 | Game of Thrones (Season 1)(Video)

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KnockBack, Episode 214 | Game of Thrones (Season 1)

When it comes to HBO's mega-hit Game of Thrones -- arguably the single most famous offering in the four decade-long history of cable television -- there's so much to say. Like, tons. Infinite amounts, even. So, we've decided to tackle Game of Thrones here on KnockBack with an episode dedicated to each season, in an attempt to do some justice to something so grand. The first 10 episodes set George RR Martin's epic story (derived from his novel series A Song of Fire and Ice) into motion. W...

Sacred Symbols+, Episode 171: QA Is Good, Actually (Video)

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Sacred Symbols+, Episode 171: QA Is Good, Actually

Welcome Kendrick Luckenbach to the show. For four years, Kendrick worked in the QA trenches at San Diego Studio, where he toiled away on Sony's all-important MLB: The Show franchise. He even got a crack at some second party products, like Ready Set Heroes, and applications, like PlayStation Vue. I (Colin) wanted to invite Kendrick onto the show to bring balance to the industry-wide conversation surrounding labor, and quality assurance in particular. After all, we had a pro-labor episode not t...

Sacred Symbols, Episode 193: The Small Scream

God of War is a big PlayStation franchise, and word is it's about to make the leap to the small screen. As in, a TV show, apparently on Amazon Prime, led by the same minds that helped The Expanse and The Wheel of Time make the leap from page to moving image. But can God of War actually work as a serial? We discuss. Plus: Gaming news galore! Returnal is getting free DLC that adds co-op and an endless mode, while Capcom unveiled a Dino Crisis-like game called Exoprimal that's... well... primed ...