The new Witcher probably won’t be at Summer Game Fest (pic: CD Projekt)
The Thursday letters page is seeing Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom in its fried eggs, as one reader looks forward to Croc HD.
Not the same
I want to start by saying I wish companies would just stop all the messing about and go back to having E3. Doing the same thing, at the same time, but not as good is just silly. You’re putting what I bet is the same amount of money into doing something that is generating far less hype and is really confusing and difficult to follow.
I guess Microsoft might be pleased that they’ll finally get to win a (not) E3 but other than that I don’t know what to expect, except disappointment. It’s Summer Game Fest tonight and the line-up of guaranteed games is not very exciting, unless you’re a big Mortal Kombat or Alan Wake fan. I’m not even especially excited about a Persona 3 remake, as I’d much rather see Persona 6 – which doesn’t seem to be on the cards.
Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree DLC would be interesting, I’d definitely be excited by that, nothing else that seems to be a possibility is very interesting to me. I want to see the new Bioshock, The Witcher 4, the new Tomb Raider, and some new Star Wars games, not all these second stringers. If the biggest surprise of Summer Game Fest ends up being something lame like more Death Stranding 2 footage I’m going to regret even staying up for it.
Maybe there’ll be some better surprises but the problem with these events is that when they do announce something brand new all you get is a 30 second bit of CGI that never explains anything anyway. I preferred E3 and how things used to be.
Echo
Least best solution
So it’s Summer Game Fest tonight and I’m trying to be optimistic. We’ve had so many disappointments this year that the odds are this will be another one, but at some point it has to all stop, right? At some point they actually have to announce some new games, whether it’s Microsoft and Sony or third parties.
It’s a strange irony that in a year in which we’ve had so many great games, even just in the last couple of weeks, the release schedules are getting thinner and thinner, to the point where there’s getting increasingly less to look forward.
I’m not in marketing, thank god, but I can’t believe there isn’t a better way to handle all this. And I swear, if Sony end up making an announcement at the Summer Game Fest, instead of just doing it at their own event I will shake my head until it comes clean off.
Gonch
There are dozens of us
I can say for sure of at least one person is excited for the Croc HD remake. It was one of the games my brother and I got with our PS1 as kids and it remains one of his favourite games ever.
He has made no secret of his desire for a remake, so when I tell him the news (he is out as I write this), I know he will be ecstatic. In fact, I find myself pretty excited too, so make that at least two people!
Pigfish2 (PSN ID)
Risky bet
Great article about the PlayStation Showcase, I was disappointed overall but some of the footage shown got me excited (hello Alan Wake 2). I do feel that Sony is playing the long game though (no pun intended), they’re purposefully announcing games closer to the release dates, so expect a shorter wait between announcement and release.
Perhaps they’ll host game specific State of Play YouTube streams on an ad-hoc basis, that would be nice. I do feel however that Sony presented mostly third party titles to help strengthen the idea that third party games need to be kept third party and that large acquisitions are bad for business overall, a subtle message to perhaps further hinder Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard.
By showcasing too much first party software all at once Microsoft could point the finger and say ‘Look, they’ve got plenty to offer, they don’t need Call Of Duty’. Just a theory but I expect first party studio announcements to come much later in the year.
A showcase similar to E3 2016 would have been great but that would make Sony look too strong. The landscape is changing in the wake of the modern era and I feel cards are been held very close to ones chest.
A Fan
GC: It’s certainly a plausible theory, but it sacrifices so much for, very possibly, no gain. And it’s not as if their newly announced exclusives are out soon anyway: Fairgame$ and Concord aren’t planned until 2024 or later.
Less than ever
For a second there I was really excited, when I thought your story said that BioWare were working on a new Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic. Then I did a second take and realised that they were actually stopping working on that Star Wars MMO I had no idea was still going.
I’m not going to be the first to say it but why on earth were BioWare not put to work on a new Old Republic game? EA has the Star Wars licence, they own BioWare… that’s the biggest no-brainer in the history no-brainers.
And then to make things worse Disney get some no-name studio with zero experience to do a remake and, what do you know? They’re not up to it and the whole thing gets cancelled. That’s like get -1 new Old Republic games.
Lamento
Flawed vision
What are GC’s thoughts on the Apple Vision Pro? Obviously, the price tag of $3,500 is obscene, even for Apple. The tech is super interesting for what the technology may lead to for future headsets. Apple were strangely vague on its use for gaming.
The aspect I found most interesting is being able to play video games on a large screen, which was demonstrated by viewing movies in a cinema-like experience. You can do this already with current VR headsets, but not on this level. I’m more intrigued by the possibilities for augmented reality games, rather than the closed-off experience of Virtual Reality.
Hopefully this new technology influences Microsoft to revisit Holo Lens or Sony to develop something similar which isn’t just focused on VR. A headset geared more towards gaming and is affordable. Even if I sold a kidney, the Apple Vision Pro isn’t something I would be willing to pay for. But I can’t deny the technology is exciting.
This guy does a great job of describing his hands-on with the headset. Notable downsides being the battery life is only two hours and the headset is quite heavy, which are deal-breakers on their own.
Anon
GC: We look forward to using its progeny in 10+ years’ time, when the tech is convenient and the price is reasonable.
Portable Hell
For anyone wondering, Diablo 4 plays really great on the Steam Deck, really well optimised.
You will need to install the Battle.net player then go as normal. Plenty of guides out there will show you how. I’m assuming Blizzard didn’t have Steam Deck in mind, but it works great. See you in Hell!
r-s-w
True surprise
In February 2023, thanks to Game Pass, I played and completed Life Is Strange: True Colors, a game I wouldn’t normally play but I wanted to try something different and I loved it, whether it was the characters, the licensed soundtrack, or even the feel of the middle-of-nowhere town.
It was at the start of chapter 4 in Alex’s flat when I noticed I was falling in love with Haven Springs.
I loved the game enough to buy it physically on Switch (where it doesn’t look as good but it’s not too bad). I have recently re-completed it and now it’s DLC (in June) and I still love the whole game.
In the four months between first playing the game and re-finishing the story, the characters have not been off my mind.
It might sound sad, but I wonder what they got up to after the games’ events.
I’m guessing the story was really well-written or the actors were very convincing as no other characters from another game (other than The Last Of Us Part 1) have really stuck around in my mind after I’ve finished it.
I was wondering if this has happened to any other gamer with any other game (or film)?
LeighDappa
GC: Life Is Strange 2 was disappointing but we’d strongly recommend the original Life Is Strange and spin-off Before The Storm. There’re even some characters that later appear in True Colors. We know there are a lot of quite well received Life Is Strange comics, that take part after the events of the game, but we’re not sure there are any specifically for True Colors.
Inbox also-rans
PETK: people for ethical treatment of Koroks. Stop the hate! They’re adorable!
Nick The Greek
I was making breakfast earlier and nearly had to break out my Royal Bow when I saw this egg keese coming at me!
Anon
GC: That would make a tasty potion!
It’s an edible ice keese! (Picture: Anon)
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.
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The Thursday letters page is seeing Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom in its fried eggs, as one reader looks forward to Croc HD.
