Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – does it get any worse? (Picture: Activision)

The Monday letters page hopes for a break from formula with GTA 6’s plot, as one reader wants the Zelda movie to be like Lord of the Rings.

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Less than marvellous
So it’s not a good month to be a exec in charge of movies or games is it? After The Marvels bombed, perhaps signalling the beginning of the end of the superhero era, we have Call Of Duty getting ripped apart by critics, and I’m sure it’s going to get even worse as the week goes on.

The difference is that The Marvels reviewed okay and was rejected by customers, whereas Modern Warfare 3 is being reviewed badly and yet it seems people are buying it anyway. Even though the stories of it being just DLC have been around for months now and they’re very obviously true.

I suppose probably casual gamers don’t know about the whole DLC thing but even so, I find it hard to imagine that anyone interested enough in buy Call Of Duty at launch hasn’t noticed the negative waves. And yet apparently is almost broke the internet with everyone logging on Friday. Maybe it literally is too big to fail?

There’s certainly never been any Call Of Duty game that’s been treated anywhere near this negatively, so from a critical perspective it is clearly the worst ever, but apparently that doesn’t matter? How bad would it have to be for people to reject it? Or is it a case of having multiple disappointments in a row? Whatever it is, now is definitely the time for Sony to release a COD killer PlayStation 5 exclusive, now that Microsoft owns the franchise. (I bet they don’t though.)
Gandalf2

A question of scale
The end of Mario Kart 8 does shine a light on something I’ve thought about with the Switch 2 for some time… that being what is Nintendo going to offer for its franchises like this. that is more than ‘better graphics’? And if the Switch 2 is backwards compatible why will people get Mario Kart 9 instead of still just playing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe? Nintendo has a few like this, Super Smash Bros., Animal Crossing, Mario Tennis, and Golf, etc…

PlayStation 4 or greater power will allow them to noticeably upgrade the graphical fidelity and world size of these games, so is that just what we are going to see? I don’t think anyone playing Animal Crossing is thinking ‘I wish the graphics were as good as God Of War’.

Nintendo needs to launch the new console with something that is noticeably better all round thanks to the new hardware. Zelda would do that. Tears Of The Kingdom, for all its quality would benefit greatly from a more powerful machine, but it’s just come out. A 3D Mario is probably the only other option, as the extra power could be set to work on bigger more complex worlds, seamless loading, etc., while closing the gap between Super Mario Odessey and the Mario movie in terms of graphics. Metroid Prime 4 probably has a chance to blow the doors off in the same way, if it’s a Switch 2-only title.

That does raise another question though, the gap between Nintendo’s A-tier studios working on Mario and Zelda and its B-tier studios/second party partners is quite large. Look at huge gulf between Zelda Tears Of The Kingdom and the Pokémon Violet/Scarlet titles. Those other developers are going to need significant investment and time to bring them up to standard on the new hardware, they weren’t even at the races on the old hardware.

I’m not expecting Game Freak to turn in a Pokémon Legends 2 that looks like Horizon Zero Dawn, but if the Switch 2 is comparable to PlayStation 4 they need to be competitive at least. Nintendo are about to run into the scaling problems Sony and Microsoft’s developers and partners have been dealing with for the best part of a decade now.
Marc

GC: Apart from Game Freak (who are not technically a first party studio) we’re not sure there is any gap, just bigger and smaller budget titles. Your final point, about scaling issues for more complex hardware, is a serious issue though.

The Lord of Zelda
I’m on the side that hasn’t asked or wanted for a Zelda movie. Deciding to go live action must have been difficult but I can see some logic. Mario is kind of kid friendly but Zelda has always been much more serious or more grown-up if you like. It does tell a story, albeit one you kind of build the experience yourself but still much more than Mario, Sonic or Pikachu.

Does everyone remember what happened when Nintendo made The Wind Waker after Ocarina Of Time? They were crucified for making Link look cartoony. If they’re going through with it, then it needs to be on par with something like The Lord of the Rings and really go hard on effects and story and make it an epic trilogy or something. It really does need to be something special to live up to the lineage of the best series of games ever.
Phil

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Morale blow
Concerning the recent feature on the upcoming Zelda movie. They’ve overlooked one essential thing in formulating their manifesto of impending Nintendoom.

You are seriously underestimating the amount of physical cash Nintendo has at its disposal. We all want a Zelda movie to be good and perform strongly, but if it doesn’t? Even a tanked blockbuster movie can’t sink Nintendo. In fact, they could take the hit many times over.
David M.

GC: It might not affect them much financially but there’s no doubt that the Zelda film not doing well would be a psychological blow to Nintendo.

Business speak
On face value Phil Spencer sounds like a proper clown saying Sony is part of the Xbox family. But if he was really that stupid, would he have risen to his current position?

There’s always the Peter Principle, which would account for it but I do wonder if what he said was deliberate to draw attention away from something Microsoft wanted to bury but I have no idea what that might have been.
Mitchell

GC: He’s just a business exec talking up his product, we doubt he really believes half of what he says. The same goes for anyone at Sony and Nintendo.

Betrayal is mandatory
Something I’ve been pondering is which Grand Theft Auto has the worst story and narrative? For many people, they’d say that many of the titles share similarities. You work for someone awful, Vlad in GTA 4, Leone Crime Family in Liberty City Stories, and FIB in GTA 5. Do the dirty work and you’re usually betrayed. This is also the overall plot for Red Dead Redemption.

So it’s a commonplace theme, that I’m hoping is fixed in the sixth instalment, because we’ve seen too many clichés. The American Dream has been prevalent in many of the instalments. It’s also somewhat of a theme in the fifth game and this is my personal worst tale of every single game. It’s a retcon of Red Dead Redemption. You work for the government, carry out tasks, and eventually you’re requested by either Devin Weston or Steve Haines, to betray your compadres.

Of course, that’s not the canon ending, but it still reeks of that usual predictability, which is why I’m praying that Grand Theft Auto 6 works differently. I’d say that the story should remain a focus on the dual central characters, Jason and Lucia. Refrain from a higher power and a gang or an organisation that we’ve seen countless times.

I’d say that could affect the overall quality of the narrative and it will present us with no reason to care for and about these central characters. This focus on a Bonnie and Clyde storyline needs to remain just that. No shady government business. No dirty work. No loyalty to anyone else. Just a crime-fuelled love story
Shahzaib Sadiq

Agent 48
Not sure how many people would’ve seen the new David Fincher film The Killer on Netflix, but I can’t have been the only person watching it thinking it was more like a film version of Hitman, than the official Hitman film.

No spoilers here but the start, the atmosphere, the pacing, the locations, they’re all here. Odds on that Fincher is a Hitman fan.
TheTruthSoul (PSN ID)

GC: We think the film is based on a comic, so maybe they were Hitman fans.

More: Trending

Just business
As I’ve always understood it, and appears at least in the past to have been well documented, the multiple Sony divisions haven’t always seen eye to eye when it comes to the PlayStation brand, with many of higher ups being against the decision to enter the video game industry in the first place.

It was down to Ken Kutaragi to persuade then boss to take the fight to Nintendo after the Nintendo PlayStation fiasco, the rest being history, as they say.

Despite all of Sony’s success with PlayStation I think it’s clear to see not all is harmonic in that particular division right now.

It’s true that the PlayStation brand has been the bread winner for Sony in its recent history, which has no doubt had many board members opposed to the initial proposal of a video game brand by Mr Kutaragi eating humble pie. But overall profits are down 29% from the previous year and PlayStation is a part of this due to a plethora of factors, not to mention stiffening competition and a changing video game landscape of the likes nobody has seen before.

I can imagine Sony Pictures salivating at the prospect of a Legend Of Zelda movie printing money if the Super Mario Bros. Movie is anything to go by; Nintendo may have even got a great offer to partner with them.

Mergers and partnerships, acquisitions and closures, new studios and lay-offs, not to mention the imminent announcements of brand new hardware. What unforeseen circumstances could be next?

Things are changing evermore quickly in this space, and it’s still early days for the industry.
Bad Edit

GC: Sony Pictures working with Nintendo is not something either company would think of as strange, it’s just a business deal; the same as when Sony signed up to use Microsoft’s cloud gaming and AI tech.

Inbox also-rans
I’ve written in a couple of times about replaying Super Mario Galaxy 2 and I completely forgot about Throwback Galaxy! What a game this is (although that purple thing is still annoying).
Simon

Am I the only that didn’t really like Baldur’s Gate 3? Maybe I’ve not got the patience for it but it just all seemed like too much like hard work.
Pena

This week’s Hot Topic
The PlayStation 5 turned three years old on Sunday, and the Xbox Series X/S two days before that, so for this weekend’s Inbox we want to know how you think they’re both doing.

Do you own either console and if so, what do you think of them in terms of the hardware and the current software line-up? If you don’t own either console, why is that and what would convince you to get them?

What are your hopes and expectations for the future, for both formats, and do you think this console generation has so far been better or worse than the previous one?

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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.

You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.

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MORE : Weekend Hot Topic: Your favourite Call Of Duty game

MORE : Games Inbox: The best Mario Kart games, GTA 6 breaking the internet, and the wait for Mass Effect 6

MORE : Games Inbox: What will be in the GTA 6 trailer, Shepard in Mass Effect 4, and Modern Warfare 3 fans

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The Monday letters page hopes for a break from formula with GTA 6’s plot, as one reader wants the Zelda movie to be like Lord of the Rings.