Two Whole Hours With Shuhei Yoshida | Sacred Symbols+, Episode 437

It's me, Colin. In my lengthy experience covering PlayStation professionally, I've had the pleasure of speaking with and interviewing legendary Sony executive Shuhei Yoshida many times. But today, I'm pleased to present you our very first chat in more than eight years. (Indeed, I approached him to talk with me because so many of you asked me to. So thank you for that.) Shu and I touched on a lot of things here, far too many to list. Some points of interest: Thoughts on Sony's pursuit of games-as-a-service, Jim Ryan's seeming ultimatum to go indie or leave, the process of both buying and shutting down first party studios, whether the abandonment of PlayStation-published shooters at the beginning of the PS4 generation was a mistake, future potential for a PlayStation All-Stars-like product, details on Sucker Punch's cancelled game Prophecy and Santa Monica's cancelled untitled sci-fi title, why Sony never purchased Quantic Dream, the perceived loss of the brand's Japanese identity, and much more. There's a whole lot in here for PlayStation nerds, so please enjoy.

To support Last Stand and get access to Sacred Symbols+, join us on Patreon:   / laststandmedia  

Timestamps:

0:00:00 - Intro
00:04:44 - The GamesBeat interview
00:12:28  - Sony’s on and off shift with online games
00:24:12  - Should PlayStation release games day 1 on PC?
00:26:21   - Should Sony investigate games on other platforms?
00:32:34  - Xbox games on PlayStation
00:37:48  - Is it better for Sony to be less reliant on first party?
00:41:16   - What goes into deciding an acquisition?
00:48:38  - Studios that got away
00:50:38  - Buying Insomniac
0:53:10 - Closing studios
00:57:53  - Where does 2nd party fit in?
01:09:54  - Growing PlayStation in China with censorship
01:13:56  - PlayStation All-Stars
01:18:21  -  PlayStation's Japanese identity
01:24:06  -  PlayStation becoming more US focused
01:31:31 -  Sucker Punch's Prophecy
01:36:01 - Santa Monica's canceled game
01:42:09 - Demon's Souls
01:48:52  - The opportunity cost of live service
01:55:45 - Reaction to Intergalactic
01:57:03 - Boomerang controller