#373 | That's Okay Man, 'Cause I Like the Abuse

For prospective PlayStation 5 owners, America's new tariff regime has struck at a most inopportune time. Having carved through their backfill of PS5 units in America, and seemingly moving at least some of the console's manufacturing process out of China, Sony still has to foot the bill to import the machine. A $50 increase across the board -- on standard and Pro units alike -- has led to much consternation. What do we think about the whole situation? Beware: It's impossible to talk about this issue sans politics. Plus: Hollow Knight: Silksong gets a surprise release date in literally two weeks, storied 'closer' Rod Fergusson joins Cloud Chamber to help ship the beleaguered fourth BioShock, Triangle Strategy randomly launches on PS5 (but not PS4) three years after its Switch debut, long-time studio lead Pete Parsons leaves Bungie after more than 20 years, PS3 JRPG Tales of Xillia is finally being remastered, and more. Then: Listener inquiries! Is there a desire for more modern and grounded military shooters? Should Guerrilla abandon Aloy as Horizon's protagonist? What's our hype level (if any) for Borderlands 4? Is Dustin's hometown well and truly haunted?

Please keep in mind that our timestamps are approximate, and will often be slightly off due to dynamic ad placement.

0:00:00 - Intro
0:31:02 - Is Last Stand in trouble?
0:50:48 - Car totaled while listening to Sacred
0:53:46 - Our relationship with comments
1:13:53 - PS5 price increase
2:16:15 - Silksong release date
2:30:21 - Gamescom announcements
2:41:04 - Ghost of Yotei is getting a Legends mode
2:47:44 - Helldivers 2 x ODST
2:54:24 - Rod Fergusson is moving to Cloud Chamber to save Bioshock 4
3:09:49 - Call of Duty: Black Ops 7 launches November 14th
3:17:18 - Triangle Strategy is out on PSN
3:21:10 - Tales of Xillia Remastered launches in October
3:27:34 - Callisto Protocol sold 6-7 million copies
3:28:26 - Sony unloads EVO shares to a subsidiary
3:29:54 - Bungie leadership change
3:38:13 - What We’ve Been Playing (Doom: The Dark Ages, MindsEye, Mafia: The Old Country, Battlefield 6, Indika)
4:10:16 - Is the podcast parasocial relationship unhealthy?
4:17:20 - Is FPS culture shifting?
4:23:14 - Hype level for Borderlands 4
4:28:29 - Killing Aloy
4:32:55 - Spouses interrupting game time
4:38:06 - Colin doesn't play driving games because he doesn't drive

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