PlayStation 6 will be an even more difficult choice (pic: Metro.co.uk)
The Wednesday letters page wonders if zombie games are going out of fashion, as one reader suggest rebooting Halo as a strategy game.
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Au contraire
I read with interest Sentinel’s letter on Tuesday, about why he’s decided to get an Xbox Series X instead of a PlayStation 5 and I have to admit his reasoning was perfectly sound, even if I feel it is very fatalistic towards Microsoft’s inevitable dominance.
Perhaps they will take over the lead in the industry, perhaps they won’t, but even if they start to claw back market share from Sony it’s going to take many years before they manage it, let along end up in as dominant position as PlayStation is right now.
Maybe this will be a harder choice with the PlayStation 6 but as someone else that hasn’t yet made the jump to the next gen, I don’t see how PlayStation 5 isn’t easily the best choice in terms of console and games.
One thing I do agree with Sentinel, though, is that the June showcases will be important for a final decision. Although the only thing I can imagine putting me off the PlayStation 5 is if Sony’s live service games seem like a bad change in direction.
Hudson
Better the devil you know
I am fully ready to see a super rich Nintendo throwing their weight around. I know they’ll be just as bad as Sony and Microsoft given the chance but a change is as good as a rest, as they say, and I’d like to see what things would look like if Nintendo was the one going around buying up developers and signing up exclusives.
I realise they’re not suddenly that rich and that they wouldn’t probably do that even if they were but it’s fun to think about. It’s weird how Nintendo are continuously underestimated and yet not only do they usually win out in the end but they seem to do it without compromising their own standards.
Golem3
Missing the boat
Glad to see Dead Island 2 getting mostly positive reviews but as GC’s review implied I do think they’ve missed the boat by several years. Not only does nobody seem to remember Dead Island but Dying Light 2 didn’t go down nearly as well as the first one despite it, in my opinion, being a much better game.
It sounds like Dead Island 2 is also a major upgrade on the first so I wonder if people just aren’t interested in zombie games anymore? Especially first person ones?
I guess everything goes out of fashion eventually but you would’ve thought that with The Last Of Us that zombie games would be getting more popular again, not less. Especially with all these mods about giving the PC version a first person view.
Penfold
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Change of role
I saw a rumour saying that Tango Gameworks’ next game was a Japanese role-player. I hope this is true as it would be nice to see Microsoft support their only Japanese developer by helping them make a game that actually represented the roots of the studio.
I liked Hi-Fi Rush but it really just felt like an American made game and I found the writing and characters pretty unappealing. I’d love to see what Tango would do with a big budget and no strings attaching it to an existing franchise.
The whole genre could do with new blood and this would be a great opportunity. Now watch their next game be The Evil Within 3 and nobody buys it again.
Beezer
GC: The source on that rumour is pretty dubious but we’re all for Tango trying new things. We haven’t liked any of their horror games.
Modern licensing
Like D Dubya on Monday, I also miss the custom soundtrack option from the Xbox.
Blasting around London to Block Rockin’ Beats in Project Gotham Racing or making my way to the ring to Led Zeppelin’s Immigrant Song in WWE Raw… it added a little something to the experience.
It must be technically easier to achieve now with streaming services, but I imagine that would bring licensing issues that console manufacturers would rather not get into. Score another point for physical media there…
FoximusPrime81 (gamertag/NN ID/Twitter)
Original version
I agree that Halo has had its time and there’s just nothing left of it to save. The whole look of the games is just ripped off from Aliens/James Cameron in general and while the combat was revolutionary at the time that was over 20 years ago now.
To keep the game still playing like it used to it ends up feel very old fashioned and not appealing to new players. Microsoft can keep making new games as smaller budget games but I don’t think they’re really interested in that.
Personally, what I’d do is reboot it as an action strategy game like it was originally intended to be. A sort of real-time strategy game but where you could take direct control. It probably won’t be as popular but at least it’d be something new.
I’m not sure I’d trust 343 Industries with it though. They were terrible at being a budget Bungie when they were copying something that was already well-defined, let alone something that never actually existed.
Focus
The worst of both worlds
So a day after we have some, correctly, pointing out that people don’t understand the problems of AI are dismissing because it doesn’t directly affect them (yet) we have someone in the Inbox doing exactly that.
This is going to become a massive mess very quickly and the worst thing is I doubt we’ll ever get to the point where we’ll get any improvements for games from it, as it’ll blow up before that happens.
Ironst
Phase 2
I realise no one has an answer to this but I’m still confused as to how important exactly Sony’s planned live service games are supposed to be to their upcoming plans. If they were just essentially side projects I don’t think anyone would care too much about them but if The Last Of Us multiplayer is one of them I can only assume they’ve thrown a lot of money about and Sony is planning to promote it as a major release.
For me, that starts to become a problem as I really don’t want to see Sony wasting time and money on such games, that are going to polarise fans, be stuffed with microtransactions, and stop developers from working on ‘proper’ games.
Wasting Guarilia’s time on the Horizon multiplayer game also seems like a bad idea, especially as that will be four Horizon games in just a few years, none of which, I feel, are up to the standards of Sony’s best games.
It all smacks of that issue recently discussed, where companies are making decisions based on trends five years ago, and when the games are actually ready to be released they’re already and outdated. I know I’m not interested in any of these games. Is anyone else?
Datea
Inbox also-rans
I don’t know if this has been mentioned before, but Currys is currently doing Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom pre-orders for £45 if you use the promo code ZELDA25 at the checkout.
ANON
As someone that has actually played a fan translation of the original Clock Tower I would be very interested in a remake. I hope WayForward are making it, because that implies that it will stay 2D and, hopefully, still be a point ‘n’ click adventure.
Gadja
This week’s Hot Topic
The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader Roland, who asks if you could reboot any series what would it be?
What franchise are you currently unhappy with and what would you do to fix it? It could be a soft reboot, which keeps the the same continuity but focuses on new characters and gameplay or a hard reboot that doesn’t necessarily keep anything from the previous games.
What are your main issues with the franchise at the moment and why is an ordinary sequel unlikely to fix them? Do you think the reboot could’ve been avoided if changes were made earlier or do all series need them from time to time?
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The small print
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The Wednesday letters page wonders if zombie games are going out of fashion, as one reader suggest rebooting Halo as a strategy game.
