The Monday letters page wishes that Nintendo would help out more on Pokémon, as one reader has a theory about PS5’s live service games.
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Maybe next year
So we’ve seen the tiniest amount of movement on the price of the Xbox Series X over Black Friday, which makes sense as Microsoft’s console is in second (well, third) place and has been a bit more in stock generally than the PlayStation 5 this year. But my obvious question is when we will start to see discounts on the PlayStation 5.
Unless there’s suddenly some deals on Cyber Monday, which I very much doubt, could there be for Black Friday 2023, if you assume the stock situation will be even better by then? I would like to think so, for the obvious reason that I can’t afford (or rather, justify) one at the moment and I’m hoping I can just put things off until next Christmas. Especially if the game situation probably won’t get much better until the middle of next year.
I don’t know though; I suspect it will only be a very small price cut at most and that they’ll still rely on hardware bundles to try and make them seem like better value. You’d have to say that the global financial crisis, whatever they’re calling it, couldn’t have come at a worst time for the games industry. Or me.
Tommo
Day one freebie
Has anyone considered that the reason that Sony is so keen on making so many live service games is not so much that they’re jumping on the bandwagon, but because they see that as their alternative to Game Pass?
Assuming all these live service games will be free to play, which I know they haven’t confirmed yet but I think is a given, if you have 10 or more of these then suddenly you’ve got yourself a whole bunch of first party games that are free from day one on PlayStation 5.
The problem with this is that they’re probably not the sort of games people would want to buy the console for (although who knows at this point!) and Sony won’t have all 10 out for several years, but I do think this may have been their logic for it and it actually seems pretty sensible to me. Although that means all eyes are going to be on that The Last Of Us multiplayer game. Let’s hope there’s not too many microtransactions…
Angel Eyes
GC: That’s a very interesting thought.
No way back
Well… Black Friday 2022 sucked, didn’t it? I didn’t see a single thing that came even close to tempting me to part with my money. Gotham Knights and Saints Row? Yeah, right. I’ll just wait another couple of months until they’re paying me to take them off their hands.
I know it’s been a funny year and anything any good, like Elden Ring, doesn’t need a discount, but it’s still weird to see Black Friday go buy without any good bargains for software or hardware. The pandemic has been such a massive thing for the games industry, at first a good thing and then a major problem… when will it ever be back to normal? Will it ever be back to normal? Probably not, not in the same way, I wouldn’t think.
Esmer
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Some like it Hoth
I’ve just beaten God Of War Ragnarök and I’m very much on the side of it’s good but it’s not as good as the original. Nothing about it was bad but I thought there were too many areas that were too similar to both each other and the original game. I know it’s probably the myths themselves but how many icy worlds do we need?
The story was a problem for me as well, as it felt very meandering for a lot of the time, where it wasn’t clear what the big picture was. You always knew what your next objective was but the whole plot can basically be summed up as ‘I guess we better do something about Odin.’
The ending was good but again, not as good as the original and I felt a little anticlimactic. I liked some elements – obviously I can’t get into spoilers – but overall I thought it was good but not great, which sums up the whole game for me. GC’s 8/10 review was spot on as far as I’m concerned.
Cuit
Last choice
A quick thought for Stephen’s co-play conundrum. If your choice of co-op game is Portal 2 or Wolfenstein Youngblood then it’s not really a choice.
Get Portal 2, it is gaming heaven and one of the few games I have ever replayed.
I got Wolfenstein Youngblood free with my graphics card when it first came out and I would describe it, on PC, as pretty but boring. As a result, it remains unfinished by me.
For co-op there is always the old faithfuls of Overcooked 1and 2 as well. On PC, at least, you can either do couch co-play or online co-play.
Hope that helps!
The Dude abides
GC: We think you’re being a bit harsh on Youngblood there, but we agree we’d definitely play those other games first.
Nintendo-ish
There has definitely been a lot of technical chat lately, and as a Switch gamer I feel it. I haven’t picked up Pokemon (the best gotta catch ‘em all on Switch is the already technically suspect Shin Megami Tensei 5, anyway) so can’t comment on how much the performance shortcomings impact on the experience. It does look bad though, judging from Digital Foundry and other online discourse. Some of the screenshots are laughable.
I do feel for those fans (the non-crazy ones) complaining online, after playing Xenoblade Chronicles 3 it doesn’t make a lot of sense for Nintendo to then put something that looks and runs like Pokémon out. Say what you like about Sony’s identikit games but they have got the technology consistency down with their studios, Nintendo merged their handheld and home console divisions years before the Switch’s release and are still struggling. Fire Emblem is another that seems a generation behind Zelda and Mario.
Nintendo have always seemed like an old-fashioned company and for better or worse overly reliant on individual geniuses (who aren’t getting any younger) to get projects done. Very Japanese you could say. It’s an interesting contrast to Capcom, who with their RE Engine embedded across multiple studios are able to consistently knock out impressive, technically accomplished games. Including probably the most technically impressive game on Switch in Monster Hunter Rise.
Why don’t Nintendo, a much richer company do that? Monolith Soft with their work on Xenoblade Chronicles and recent Zeldas would seem perfectly placed to provide those tools. With any luck this is the plan for game development on the Switch 2.
It’s a shame, as outside the Pokémon discourse the Switch has had a barnstorming end of the year. The Splatoon and Xenoblade sequels look and play terrifically and the ports of classics like NieR:Automata, Tunic, and Persona 5 more than hold up on the system. Then they’re Bayonetta 3 still on the backlog, which is now so stocked I won’t be picking up next year’s Zelda till Christmas.
Marc
GC: Technically, Game Freak and The Pokémon Company aren’t Nintendo proper, but you’re still right and this shouldn’t be happening. Fire Emblem, which is another game whose graphics were given an unjustified free pass, which somehow Scarlet/Violet missed out on, is also primarily third party.
Escape from battle royale
I’m not really a Call Of Duty fan, but I have to say I’m absolutely loving DMZ. The AI is tough and well scripted, the area is large and interesting, the tension with human opponents in the mix, and a limited time to extract, keeps you on your toes.
For a free game, it’s really good. If you like co-op shooters or games like Escape From Tarkov or Hunt: Showdown, it’s about the best I’ve played recently.
Matt (He_who_runs_away – PSN ID)
Answers on a postcard
I’m from the US and I also agree that crossplay is ruining the gaming experience. At this point I truly believe and feel that gaming is becoming boring when it involves the PC, because of cheats, hacks, etc.
I myself own Xbox and PlayStation, so if I wonna play with friends on either devices I can, and friends on either device understand that I have other friends that I wonna play or they want me to play with them (at least my friends understand).
There is no need for crossplay, not at all. If people complain about it, too bad. Buy a PC and learn and buy an Xbox and PlayStation, so that you own three different gaming devices, so that you can play with friends that may also own the devices as well or make new online friends.
Sony and Microsoft, I hope you can see this message but you guys can get the point of why crossplay is a bad thing for the community and health of playerbase. Remove crossplay from all games and let the people cry about it.
People can’t make excuses saying ‘PC is overpriced’. That’s because PC is superior to consoles.
One last thing to mention: to hell with crossplay and people that complain over little things. Because people like these make excuses and are jealous in their own way. There is no need for crossplay, not for one bit.
Gamer of all Devices
GC: We are so confused.
Inbox also-rans
These days, buying a console when it’s just released is like getting into a swimming pool that hasn’t been filled with water. You’ll wait for all the best games to come out for years.
Henry
GC: That’s good, we may steal that.
Just to warn anyone that may have an account there, apparently there’s been a massive data leak at GameStop. I’m not sure if there’s any left in the UK but it’s definitely time to change your password.
Nukeo
This week’s Hot Topic
It’s The Game Awards next week which, especially in the absence of E3, has become the biggest single venue for new game announcements and footage of upcoming games, so we want to know… what are you hoping to see?
It doesn’t matter whether the game has already been announced, as long as there’s a reasonable chance of it being revealed next week (we’d say GTA 6 is very unlikely, before everyone writes in about that – but who knows).
If it’s a game that’s been announced but for which little or no footage has been shown, what are you hoping for in terms of the first trailer and what the game itself will be like? Overall, what is your most anticipated game of 2023 and beyond?
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The small print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.
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