Games Inbox: PS5 State of Play this autumn, Quake 2 memories, and Baldur’s Gate 3 accessibility

When’s the next one?(pic: Picture)

The Wednesday letters page is frustrated at the lack of DC Comics games in recent years, as one reader hopes for Silent Hill 2 at Gamescom.

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Autumnal hopes
It sounds like Gamescom isn’t going to be all that exciting this year but since Sony aren’t there anyway, I ask the question I know nobody knows the answer to: will there be a new State of Play this autumn? As a reader said the other day, you would assume that Project Q, and apparently the PS5 Slim, demanded it but with Sony the way they are at the moment I don’t think you can guarantee it.

The bigger question is what exactly are Sony waiting for? We now know it wasn’t the Activision Blizzard buyout, but if it was just the fact that games weren’t ready what was stopping them announcing them as pre-rendered trailers? They’ve done that a hundred times before and they did it during their summer showcase too, just for boring live service games nobody cares about.

But why was it okay then but not for whatever their next big single-player game is? We know from job ads that there’s going to be a Ghost Of Tsushima 2, so why hasn’t it been announced? What difference does it make if it’s not out for two or three years when Sony regularly announce games that far in advance?

And why, even if that seemed a good idea at first, did they not cave in and announce it, and others, this summer? What made them think, ‘Everyone is getting really fed up that we don’t announce anything new, let’s keep annoying them.’ I just don’t get it.
ZeroX

Missed opportunity
I will never understand how Warner Bros. managed to mess up so badly with its comic book games. They were riding high with the Batman games, even if Arkham Knight was a bit of dip below the others, and then… nothing. For a decade.

They cancelled so many games and yet somehow Gotham Knights was the one they decided to okay, which makes no sense to me. Now they’ve probably been told to reboot everything again to align with the new movies, so we’re back to waiting another decade, while all the talent from the studio gets jobs elsewhere.

What a mess, and yet exactly the same thing seems to have happened with Rocksteady, with all their top staff leaving too, before Suicide Squad is out. It’s all a massive mess.
Skeez

Console preference
I’m not sure why Microsoft cares about games like Persona 6 being multiformat or not because they always sell far better on PlayStation, to the point where it’s almost not worth releasing them anyway. I remember thinking that all the way back with Metal Gear Solid 3, which was hyped up as being this massive thing that it was coming to Xbox 360… and then nobody bought it. I’m sure it’ll be just the same with Persona.

Some games are just better suited to certain consoles. For the people that complain Nintendo should go multiformat I’m not even sure their games would sell half as well on other formats, that they don’t control. Breaking the status quo might sound a good idea in theory but there’s a reason things have shaken out the way they have.
Lemmy

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Perfect explanation
It is totally acceptable to give a game 10/10. It does not mean ‘perfection’. That definition is reserved for quantitative matters, whereby a perfect score is mathematically achievable by very precise parameters, such as a spelling test. Where the end product is either right or wrong.

This doesn’t apply to games. 10/10 means outstanding in many areas. This does not and cannot mean perfection. The medium is too interpretative. It will always mean that some 10/10 games aren’t held in the same regard by others.

That’s OK, though, because a lot of 8/10 games aren’t either. Like GC points out, if you remove the potential for a game to be awarded a 10, then what’s the point in rating it out of 10? And by extension, every mark is pointless, because the ceiling will always be open to interpretation.
Jim Wagon

Ongoing journey
Just wanted to say thanks to Nick The Greek, I’m glad he enjoyed my Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom photo features. Our games of Mario Kart 8 on the Wii U were fun, hope you’re doing well. Hopefully some other readers enjoyed my features too. Thanks to GameCentral for putting them all together, they looked really good.

I’ve still not completely finished with the game, just working through the last few shrines and lightroots now. There’s still plenty of pleasant surprises cropping up. It is without doubt for me the best Zelda ever, finally beating even Ocarina Of Time. An absolute 10/10 classic!
Ryan O’D

Fair compromise
Like DarKerR’s letter on Tuesday, I’ve wondered why Baldur’s Gate 3’s local co-op is a struggle for Larian Studios on Xbox Series S, when the game has released on less capable hardware in the Steam Deck and the PC minimum requirements are less capable than the Xbox Series S.

It turns out the feature is there but disabled on Steam Deck and only playable unofficially through a workaround. This is a short and sweet tweet about it from Larian.

As for the minimum PC specs, I’m expecting the performance is not great or close to the standard Microsoft would accept for Xbox Series S. So, I think it’s as Larian say, getting local co-op running on Xbox Series S to an acceptable standard will take some optimisation and time.

I agree with the sentiment of the letter though, that we should embrace the positives of having a budget console option rather than slap it down. Budget options do mean comprises though. For me, lacking a split screen feature would be an acceptable comprise for a budget option.
Simundo

Complex systems
I was debating buying Baldur’s Gate 3 when it comes out on the PlayStation 5. I did try Divinity: Original Sin 2 after reading GameCentral’s review but bounced off it after 10 or so hours.

It seemed very unintuitive and obtuse, I didn’t pick up a bedroll when it didn’t tell me that mechanic and it looks me ages to figure it out. Is Baldur’s Gate 3 a bit more user friendly?
Charlie

GC: It is more intuitive but it’s also just as much a sequel to Original Sin 2 as it is Baldur’s Gate 2. Our review should be finished soon but the interface will likely be a bit different on PlayStation 5.

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First person memories
Great review of Quake 2, your description of its influence really took me back.

I recall when it first came out, one of my friends’ dads had an absolutely monster PC for the time, complete with a brand new graphics card. The thing was out of this world! I had an Amiga at the time, but I used to love going over to his house and seeing what this mighty PC could do.

He showed me Quake 2, with its ability to use the power of the GPU and it blew me away! From the Aliens dropship style opening to the use of light and shadow (we would replay the same scene with the GPU on and then off to see the difference). I remember firing missiles down a tunnel and seeing the light reflect off the walls in a way that I had never seen before.

Even things like being able to look up and down in a first person shooter – it may not have been the first to do this – I don’t know – but I’m pretty sure it was the first one I played and it was a game changer!

I have such fond memories of Quake 2, to me, of those early first person shooters I always rated Quake 2 higher than Wolfenstein or Doom. I loved Dark Forces, but that was the Star Wars element. I honestly don’t think we would have had Half-Life, and as a result Portal, had it not been for quite how groundbreaking Quake 2 was. And at only £8 I think it’s a purchase I’m going to have to make! Oh – wait – it’s on PC Game Pass!

I know this stuff may not sound groundbreaking – but it really was!

Anyway – thanks for the memories, I hope the remake lives up to them! They do say you should never go back…

Have fun gaming y’all.
The Dude Abides

GC: Star Wars: Dark Forces allowed you to look up and down, but it was a bit of a fudge. Duke Nukem 3D did it properly but still used 2D sprites for enemies. The original Quake was the first where everything was proper 3D.

Inbox also-rans
I hope we see something of the Silent Hill 2 remake at Gamescom. It took so long for it to be announced and now it’s taken so long for us to see anything of it. It’s very frustrating.
Jules

I wonder if GTA 6 will have any kind of exclusivity? Rockstar and Sony always seem pretty chummy and it does seem an obvious way to counter Xbox’s in-roads. PS5 timed exclusive anyone?
Stennet

This week’s Hot Topic
The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader Johno, who asks what new gaming hardware are you playing to buy in the future?

Christmas will be here soon enough and with rumours of the Switch 2, the PS5 Slim, the PS5 Pro, and Sony’s Project Q are you starting to save up for new hardware? If you haven’t entered the current generation yet are you planning to get a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X/S this year? And if not, why not?

How much are your spending plans affected by the ongoing cost of living crisis and have you had to abandon plans to buy new hardware (including controllers, VR headsets, and PC components) this year or in the future?

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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 : Games Inbox: Starfield 10/10 review, PS5 Slim redesign, and Assassin’s Creed Mirage nostalgia

MORE : Games Inbox: The price of the Switch 2, the worst sequel ever, and Zelda: Ocarina Of Time score

MORE : Weekend Hot Topic: Video games you’d give 10/10

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The Wednesday letters page is frustrated at the lack of DC Comics games in recent years, as one reader hopes for Silent Hill 2 at Gamescom.