The Switch 2 may not be the only new console next year (Picture: Salvo Lo Cascio and Riccardo Cambò Breccia)
The Tuesday letters page has some varying advice for the future of Xbox, as one reader dreams of a new The Thing video game.
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PLEASE NOTE: We are currently preparing content to run over the Christmas and New Year break and, as usual, we’d like this to include Reader’s Features. So, if you’ve had an idea for a feature, that you’ve never got around to writing, then sending it in now would be the perfect time. In can be on any subject, but anything taking a long-term view of recent trends or games would be particularly apt.
A busy year
So, we’re three years into the current gen and the rumours of new hardware are piling up. Ignoring the Steam Deck OLED there’s the Switch 2 and PS5 Pro which are probably going to be released next year, and rumours of a next gen Xbox in 2026. Presumably Microsoft would have to start hyping that up in 2025 at a minimum and probably at the end of next year. Perhaps in an attempt to direct attention away from the PS5 Pro?
We can all see that the Xbox Series X/S is not doing what it needs to but I think this puts far too much emphasis on the hardware. The Series X/S is in the doldrums because there’s still no good exclusives. If there were you wouldn’t need a next gen console, which I imagine wouldn’t be very much more powerful anyway.
On the reverse, the PlayStation 5’s line-up is getting very thin and that is quickly going to make it seem much less attractive. All these years later and Sony, and in particular Microsoft, just don’t seem to understand that it’s all about the games.
Do you think people were buying a Switch because the graphics were out of this world? That wasn’t even the most appealing thing about just the console, more that it did something different. I feel these are important lessons that shouldn’t need explaining at this point.
Focus
Series Switch
In response to yesterday’s letter from Gadfly, I’m not sure Microsoft releasing the next gen of Xbox early would actually go over that well. Next gen at this point really means killing guaranteed support for your current device and given the slow start I don’t think people in countries where it’s sold well will be too happy with that.
However, in terms of trying something different, I wonder if there’s a point where all current gen games having to support the Xbox Series S means there’s a possibility that with its lower specs, could there be a point where a Switch style device could actually run all the Xbox Series games?
My instinct tell me that there’s an architecture difference that would prevent it, but if they could release an Xbox Series Switch two to three years before the end of the gen, with support for all the games; then that would be a nice differentiator to PlayStation.
Tim
GC: One of the unintentional reveals from the Activision Blizzard court case was a hybrid Xbox device, so they’ve definitely thought about it to some degree.
Games machine
Xbox might be selling fine in the USA but it’s still selling less than the PlayStation 5 in its own backyard. I can’t remember the last decent game they produced, are we going back to Halo 2 or Gears Of War? I think they became more bothered with trying to beat Sony than just making great games.
They’re now trying to buy everyone up because the games they have been making are so poor, while Sony makes great triple-A games time and again. I’d go back to the drawing board if I was them and start making great games. Maybe a new Gears Of War game updated but different timeline or new characters’ story. Games are what will bring people back to the console.
Steve
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Reality check
RE: Colin Kelso. You don’t have to concern yourself with 8K. It is indeed just a marketing ploy. It may one day become a viable selling point at the cinema, but for home viewing it’s pointless! Besides, PS5 Pro will absolutely not be outputting games in 8K, unless Dave The Diver 2 is Naughty Dog’s secret project. The RTX 4090 graphics card costs over £1,600 and would struggle to achieve 8K. Us gamers do have unrealistic expectations at times. I suggest watching Digital Foundry once in a while, they offer a more sobering expectation of what PS5 Pro will deliver. The same CPU at a higher clock frequency isn’t going to magically make all games 60fps either.
We have witnessed a similar reaction to the Switch 2 rumours, with people now expecting it to run PlayStation 5 games at the same fidelity. Take a look at the specs of the ROG Ally and its price (£700). Actually, it’s currently £150 off at Currys. Those specs will surpass Switch 2 and that handheld cannot match the performance on consoles. Shrinking down components is a costly business. I would be surprised if Switch 2 will be comparable with the Steam Deck, which released a few years ago. Not that raw specs alone are applicable to Nintendo anyway. They will get the most from their hardware. Nintendo are the secret sauce.
Anon
Time to split
As much sympathy as I have for Free Radical Design and how badly they have been treated I do question what the point of a TimeSplitters 2 remake would’ve been. I don’t remember those games being particularly popular the first time around, when they were relatively unique, but being released today… what would be the point?
I do think there is too much emphasis put on keeping older franchises going when something brand new would probably sell better. I enjoyed TimeSplitters back in the day but I’m not that excited about the thought of a new one. However, I would love a brand new, modern game by the team that made GoldenEye 007. Doesn’t that seem more exciting?
Huey
Slim chance
I was put off buying a PlayStation 5 because of its large size and weird shape and figured there’d be a slim version out at some point I could get instead.
Then the ‘slim’ version came out and it’s not that much smaller and it’s still weird looking and now there are rumours of a pro console. So I may as well wait for the pro console and get all the fancy extra power or whatever.
But then when the pro comes out it’ll probably be too big and a funny shape and there’ll be rumours of the PS6 and I’ll Goldilocks myself out of the whole PS5 thing.
I think if there were any PS5 games which felt essential for me to play and not just “that looks fun and quite fancy” then I’d have taken the leap by now, and it doesn’t look like they’ve got anything coming soon either.
Fortunately Nintendo and indie devs can keep me going while Sony and Microsoft fumble the ball.
Euclidian Boxes
Dream franchise
Great RoboCop: Rogue City interview GC, I really enjoyed that. I like the attitude of the director guy too: hard graft and just getting on with it. I can think of several games companies I’d like to see embrace that attitude, instead of the endless grandstanding.
I wonder what his dream IP was though? Did you get any sense of what it might be? My hope would be Thing or Predator. Both have had games before but none of them have really managed to capture the essence of the films. Well, The Thing tried but it’s so old now it’s kind of hard to play nowadays.
Grant
GC: Thanks. Our guess would be Star Wars or Alien – unlikely but not outside the realms of possibility. At this point we’d imagine they’d have little trouble securing the licence for less easily exploitable IPs, like The Thing or Predator.
More: Trending
Choose games not consoles
In answer to the letter asking why are more PlayStation 5s being sold than Xbox consoles. One reason why I opted for the PlayStation 5 over the Xbox this generation is because I mostly play Japanese role-playing games, which tend to have the best catalogue on Sony consoles, going back to the PS1.
Now this does not mean I am a Sony fanboy, it’s just that it seems Japanese developers see more sense releasing their games on Sony consoles rather than on Microsoft’s offerings, because the PlayStations have always sold better in Japan. If Xbox had the better Japanese role-players then I would opt for that console instead.
It reminds me of when I got the Xbox 360 before the PlayStation 3 and bought the likes of Lost Odyssey and Blue Dragon, which were exclusive to the Xbox 360. And to this day I still have the Xbox 360 and those games, as so far it looks unlikely they will have remasters, but hoping they do.
I am not saying that Japanese role-players on the PlayStation 5 are the main reason why so many have opted to get one over the Xbox, but rather it is one of the reasons. Also, apart from the discounted prices, with exclusives like Gran Turismo 7 and God Of War Ragnarök, maybe they offer what most gamers want at the moment, when deciding between the two.
After all, I got the Switch because I wanted to play Mario Kart, which I cannot on the PlayStation 5 or Xbox. So having a choice of one console can still have limitations nowadays, even though there are cross platform releases.
orionz25
PS: Seasons greetings to GC and its readers.
Inbox also-rans
Hang on, the very day a reader writes in about Xbox starting the next generation early we then get rumours of exactly that happening. Surely that’s Inbox magic at its best?
Iceman
GC: Not that we’re ruling out the involvement of magic, but the rumour has been percolating for a few weeks now – there just weren’t any reliable sources until now.
I’m Imogen and I just love games.
Imogen
GC: So do we.
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The Tuesday letters page has some varying advice for the future of Xbox, as one reader dreams of a new The Thing video game.
