PS4 Pro – is a PS5 Pro inevitable? (pic: Sony)
The Friday letters page is confused by Microsoft’s GTA 6 release date reveal, as one reader looks forward to replaying The Witcher 3.
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Mid-generation crisis
Although we’ve heard the first rumblings of the PlayStation 6 it’s good to know that isn’t going to be out anytime soon. What I do wonder though is whether there’s going to be a PS5 Pro and an Xbox equivalent? Considering the small leap in graphics from last gen to this I can’t really see the point of it but getting to charge people another £500 for a new console has got to be very tempting for both companies.
Plus, you’ve got a generation that’s likely to be longer than normal, because of the slow start, and the fact that the PlayStation 5 is less powerful than the Xbox Series X, so Sony may feel they’ve got a bit of catching up to do. I suspect they will definitely go for a Pro version and that Xbox will be bound to follow.
I don’t think it’s for me though. It’s too expensive, I have too many monetary concerns at the moment, and I can’t imagine the differences will be anything other than minor. It will put all those people that suddenly claim to care about 60fps to the test though, as I suspect that is the major feature the PS5 Pro would push. Would you pay another £500 for a console that ran everything at 60fps? I know I wouldn’t.
Looper
Unofficial date
What an odd thing that GTA 6 rumour from Microsoft was. Apart from the whole argument making no real sense (whose to say Microsoft won’t buy Take-Two next or make an exclusive arrangement with them?) why are they quoting random websites on the release date of a game that they fine well know has no official information on it.
If the investigators know their games, and from some of their comments they seem surprisingly clued in, they’ll know that Microsoft is either conning them or… releasing secret information for no reason? I wasn’t really paying much attention to this whole Activision Blizzard thing till now. but I’ve got to agree with those that think Microsoft is beginning to panic.
If this doesn’t go their way, it will be a huge embarrassment for them. and I imagine Phil Spencer’s position will suddenly be looking a lot less certain. Especially if Game Pass isn’t doing as well as we all imagined.
Cranston
Christmas rerun
Definitely looking forward to replaying The Witcher 3 over Christmas. I am a bit worried that they didn’t really talk about the console versions though, considering they’re out soon, and to answer your question: no, I don’t trust CD Projekt like I did anymore.
Since it’s a free upgrade for me I won’t be at risk of wasting my money but if I didn’t already own the game then I would not be buying it new this year. I’d wait and see the reviews and feedback until I was perfectly confident it worked properly and I wasn’t going to have to wait till next summer to play it as intended. I’ll give CD Projekt a second chance but not at my own expense.
Gaston
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Gift of co-operation
Does anyone know if it’s possible to ‘gift’ someone a game on the Switch? It’s my mate’s birthday this weekend and I’d like to get him a game, preferably one we can play online multiplayer together, and it would be nice to send him one digitally, as opposed to just transferring him the money or a voucher and saying ‘buy this game’. I seem to remember you could do this on other consoles…
I was going to get us both Wolfenstein: Youngblood as it’s only £4 in the eShop sale, and I still might, but the mixed reviews put me off (probably still worth £4 though!) But I’ve just seen that the recent port of Portal 2 has online co-op, as well as great reviews, so I think I’ll get that instead. Any other online multiplayer recommendations much appreciated!
Stephen (SteJFin – NN ID)
GC: You can’t get much better than Portal 2, but we haven’t played the Switch port. There is no gift option on the Switch though, as far as we know.
Legal advice
Apparently Sony have rejected the 10 year deal for Call Of Duty and are all-in on trying to prevent the deal, demanding to the CMA Activision must remain independent. There is some gross exaggeration from both sides, but Sony has taken it to another level.
I’m no expert on the law, but this guy is, so I believe him when he says Sony’s arguments are weak. To be honest, you don’t even need to be a lawyer to see the blatant hyperbole from Sony’s claims. So if PlayStation will cease to exist without Call Of Duty, is somebody going to warn poor Nintendo?
Anon
Uphill struggle
I’ve just read a thing pointing out that the Silent Hill 2 reveal trailer has 5.7 million views on the PlayStation YouTube channel. That is a lot more than I would’ve expected.
As far as I can work out the most any of the previous games, even the good ones, sold was a couple of million so there seems to be far more people interested in the remake than there ever was that played it the first time around. I wonder why?
They hype and curiosity is the obvious reason but I wonder what they’re expecting? If it’s a Resident Evil style action schlock fest I think they’re going to be very disappointed. Assuming the remake is actually good then it is a properly scary game that I don’t think is ever really ‘fun’, just fascinatingly disturbing.
Is that the sort of game that would sell? It doesn’t sound like it to me and I wonder whether this is going to be a Shenmue 3 style situation where there’s lots of apparent interest at the beginning but when it comes to ordinary people buying the game, and generating any profit for it, no-one turns up.
Konami has bet a lot on this, given how many games they’ve stated, but so far their bet is paying off. We’ll see what the situation is like when they finally cash in their chips though….
Pippin
Review feedback
Bit late, but I think reviews scores are necessary for indecisive people. Fence sitters need a push one way or the other and a score will help them out more than you think.
Have you guys ever received a death threat over a review or had a mean letter sent in over one?
Bobwallett
GC: We’ve had plenty of mean letters, yes.
Instant remaster
I’ve put in about 30 hours of Pokémon Violet now and I would describe it as a great game in desperate need of a remaster.
There are so many little quality of life improvements to the game, one button to put a pokémon in the lead of your party, one button to fully heal them without going in your inventory, an option to get a suggestion on whether to learn a new move or not. The new gym challenges offer interesting diversions, the let’s go auto battle drags in the nice improvements from Legends: Arceus – the list of good things goes on.
But the performance and the graphics of the game world are awful. Individually, in close-up, the pokémon and people are brilliant, but everything else is just so low quality. My main disappointment in Legends: Arceus was the lack of any stunning vistas. Nowhere Zelda: Breath Of The Wild style, where you’d stop and enjoy a beautiful view. Scarlet and Violet continue this; just bland scenery, ugly geometry, boring textures. Where’s the artistic flair? Why can’t the world’s biggest IP afford to make a beautiful game?
I will plough many more hours into Violet, I’m halfway through filling the ‘dex; I want to shiny hunt now I can see them in the overworld, it’s fun to play, I just it was better to look at.
Euclidian Boxes
GC: We don’t disagree but wanting the graphics to be better isn’t a question of performance. A performance issue implies the game is trying and failing to do something, like maintain a steady frame rate. It’s not just you, but the word seems to have taken on a very ambiguous meaning in recent months.
Inbox also-rans
Your review of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet was spot on, glad to see someone still has a soul.
The Honest Guy
Sonic Frontiers is discounted to £34.99 on the Xbox store, be rude not to snap that up.
Al3xdelarge (gamertag)
This week’s Hot Topic
The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was inspired by reader Grackle and their recent Reader’s Feature about the best-looking games on the PlayStation 4.
If it’s expanded to include all last gen consoles (so Xbox One, Wii U, and Nintendo Switch) what do you feel was the most technically impressive game of the last generation, as well as the one that made the most impression on an artistic level?
How impressed where you by the improvements made during the course of the generation and where you satisfied that they were a significant advancement on the Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 era?
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The Friday letters page is confused by Microsoft’s GTA 6 release date reveal, as one reader looks forward to replaying The Witcher 3.
