GTA 5 – is it unbeatable? (pic: Rockstar Games)
The Wednesday letters page wonders if Game Boy and GameCube support might be in the Nintendo Direct, as one reader hopes for Persona 6 news.
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Repeat performance
I’d say it’s shocking how much GTA 5 has sold but it’s not really. I mean, the numbers are crazy but if I didn’t know better and was told the most successful game of all time was an open world crime simulator where you can pretty much go anywhere and do anything I’d nod my head and agree that makes sense. Especially when it’s pointed out that it’s been selling non-stop since 2013.
We know that Rockstar is working on GTA 6 now but they’re clearly not in any rush and, again, it’s obvious why considering that, together with GTA Online, they’re making a lot of money by just keeping things as they are.
The question Rockstar must be asking themselves is whether GTA 6 can ever beat GTA 5? I’m sure they can make a better game, by just being more or less the same but with better technology, but do they have it in them to make GTA 6 another 150+ million seller? Was GTA 5 lightning in a bottle or is it a simple formula that can be easily repeated?
I don’t have the answers and I think Rockstar’s slowness to replace it shows they’re not sure if they do either. GTA 5 may be in an Avatar-like position where others, including sequels, can come close but they’ll never be quite as big.
Zowie
Zelda Direct
So the rumours were on the money and we’re in store for the first Nintendo Direct of the year. At first I was surprised to find it was 40 minutes, which is about as long as they ever get, but I imagine 20 minutes of that will be spent on Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom. I can’t see how it wouldn’t be, given how little we know about the game and how it’s out relatively soon.
Although… May isn’t tomorrow so maybe they could have a bunch of new games to announce and they’ll haze a dedicated Zelda Direct? Nah, I think that’s wishful thinking. There’s already a few games scheduled and I really doubt they’re going to have any other major games before the mid-point of the year when they’ve got Zelda to promote.
No, I’d be surprised if there was anything new that wasn’t just indie games and remasters. But I guess we’ll see!
Cranston
Console filler
Since we’re not expecting Nintendo to have many new big name games to announce at the Direct I wonder if one of the things could be more Virtual Console support, especially for the Game Boy and GameCube? That’s been asked for a lot by fans (including me!) and does seem like the sort of thing that would be relatively easy to do and count as useful filler for their release schedules.
I feel the portable games are kind of a given at some point but how would the GameCube work when they’d also probably like to sell remasters of things like Metroid Prime and the two Zeldas? I guess that probably explains why they haven’t done it so far but I hope for once they’re generous with their plans and we can get easy access to all the Nintendo classics on one system.
Domino
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Persona choice
If we’re unlikely to have a proper E3 this year I wonder when we’ll start to hear about Persona 6? Maybe at the Tokyo Game Show? I’m really curious to see what they’ll do with it in terms of the style and presentation and whether they’ll try to revamp the combat into something more modern.
I’m surprise they didn’t with Persona 5, when they easily could of, so do they consider the turn-based action essential to what makes Persona or could they do a Final Fantasy and start to add real-time action? Personally I hope so, as I like to see a franchise evolve, not be stuck in time, but I’m not sure I’d bet on it happening.
Kramer
Company loyalty
For the first time in my 30+ years as a gamer it was so nice to see a company sticking by their workers rather than the shareholders. It wasn’t Sony, it wasn’t Microsoft, but Nintendo.
Rather than letting go their people they say to investors, ‘No we are keeping them on and paying more. You have had your share.’ That’s how it should be if I’m honest. Makes me want to go out and buy a Switch.
David
Dead man’s hand
A real shame to hear about Midnight Suns not selling well, especially as that presumably means no extra DLC or a sequel. I’m not really sure why it didn’t do better either, if you assume that simply being a strategy game wasn’t the problem. I do wonder if it’s the card game element that was the problem though. A lot of indie and mobile games may use cards but I think that’s part of the problem.
On the one hand being based on cards makes the game sound not very action packed and on the other, even if that doesn’t put you off, it feels like a thing you only get in free or very cheap games. Especially with Marvel Snap (which is a great game) only having come out a few months early.
I don’t see the release date as being much of a problem so I think the only other issue is that the graphics don’t look great in screenshots. They’re actually very good when you see the game playing form its overhead viewpoint but when they do the Mass Effect style stuff close up, it’s not great.
That doesn’t matter when you’re playing, as all that stuff feels like a kind of bonus, but I think it probably put casual fans off. It’s a shame, as a I would’ve liked to see Firaxis, and strategy games, have a massive hit but maybe XCOM 3?
Paradragon
Playing yourself
This came up in my YouTube feed recently it is a two minute video showing Pierce Brosnan playing Goldeneye 007 on the N64!
Andrew J.
PS: Looking forward to the Nintendo Direct tonight. I’m hoping they will have Advance Wars 1+2, Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom, and the Zelda console. For the release of the Mario film in April I am hoping they announce a new Mario game, new Mario merchandise/amiibo, and a Super Mario Galaxy 2 port. If there
is a new Mario game announced for April I expect it will be a 2D New Super Mario Bros. or a spin-off of something like Mario Golf or possibly Mario DLC.
Obvious appeal
A lot of Nintendo news at the moment – and hopefully more to come on Wednesday – but the fact that the Switch has now beaten the PlayStation 4 as well, and could end up as the most popular console of all time is just incredible. Imagine what it would’ve done if there was no Wii U and didn’t three years of catching up to do? It may already have claimed the top spot.
It’s not hard to see the appeal either, with the quality of the games and the novelty of the hybrid design clearly appealing to many people in all walks of life. That makes me think that there’s no way Nintendo will change the design that much with whatever comes next. They might not like to do the obvious but even they don’t tend to leave money on the table like that.
Miyamoto said the new console would do something majorly different but that could be anything. For all we know he’s talking about 4K or DLSS rather than the thing coming with a built-in motion sensing fishing rod, or whatever. I’m sure there’ll be something whacky about but I’m willing to bet that the theory about a May 2024 launch with a remastered Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom is pretty much what’s going to happen.
Benson
Inbox also-rans
So when Forspoken inevitably gets slashed in price would you advise giving it a try then? I have to admit I’m curious to see what a new PlayStation 5 exclusive Square Enix game looks like in terms of technology.
Torte
GC: Not really, no. If nothing else the graphics are very underwhelming.
I can’t believe those Grammy nominations either. It’s like they took a random list of names, of only American games, and just called it a day. If these soundtracks are so good how come no one else has ever mentioned them?
Stintz
This week’s Hot Topic
The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was inspired by reader DM58 and asks what video game would you most like to see turned into a TV show?
Video game movies have seen some improvement in the last few years but it’s TV show The Last Of Us, along with Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and Arcane, that has been the critical breakthrough, so what other games and franchises would you like to see get a similar treatment?
What format what you like it to have in terms of being live action or animated? Are there any particular actors, directors, or writers you’d like to see involved and how many episodes and seasons should the show run for?
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The Wednesday letters page wonders if Game Boy and GameCube support might be in the Nintendo Direct, as one reader hopes for Persona 6 news.
