The Teal Mask – one of two DLC expansions this year (pic: The Pokémon Company)
The Tuesday letters page wonders why gory games are so popular in the US, as one reader hopes for Star Wars video game news in April.
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Gotta make ‘em all
Up until a few years ago, I would have described myself as a fully fledged adult fan of Pokémon. I bet other fans can guess why I don’t anymore though and the answer is right in Monday’s Pokémon Day Direct: there are just too many games coming out too often. Two mainline games in one year is crazy and yet rather than finally giving Game Freak a break they’ve got DLC coming out this autumn as well.
I know The Pokémon Company is not quite the same as Nintendo but you would’ve though they’d understand that knocking these games out so quickly is going to lead to a loss of quality. Call Of Duty games get more time, money, and people working on them than this – much more as far as I can see – and that’s just crazy given how big Pokémon is.
It’s not even just the DLC, you had all those smartphone games and spin-offs, which are apparently in their third year, or whatever, and yet I’ve never even heard of them. It’s just too much. Even with Scarlet and Violet I wasn’t interested in giving it a go again, not until Game Freak takes some time out and starts to make these games seem special again.
Rolo
Rip and tear
It’s always interesting to me when a game does a lot better in the US than and here and the two most obvious examples I’m aware of, beyond sports games, are Mortal Kombat and now Dead Space. Neither are very big here but both seem to be massive in the US. The obvious connection? Both are hyper violent.
That in itself is interesting because I’d say that games in general have been getting less gory over the years, probably because publishers are trying to appeal to a wider and wider audience. I wouldn’t even say it was necessarily a problem – as long as horror games can do what they want I don’t think any game really needs to be that gory, and it can easily get a bit creepy in action games.
In answer to the reader the other day though, about what Mortal Kombat can do next, my question is how much more violent it can get. It keeps upping the ante so how bad can it get before NetherRealm think they’ve gone too far?
Lester
This might be the way
With the third season of The Mandalorian starting this week I wonder if we’ll finally hear about Ubisoft’s Star Wars game, which was rumoured to be in some way connected. Once Star Wars Jedi: Survivor comes out in March there won’t be any confirmed games with a release date, which is a bit of a shame.
Does GC know when there might be an announcement? Isn’t there usually a Star Wars con sometime in the spring? I’d say I’m only a mid-level Star Wars fan but I really like the shows and the fact that there still isn’t a decent game based on Boba Fett or Mando is kind of crazy after all this time.
Caine
GC: Star Wars Celebration starts on April 7 and will be in London this year. We’re not sure why it’s not May like usual, but there is a good chance there’ll be some games related stuff there.
And finally
With these GTA 6 rumours getting more common, and yet still not really saying anything important, I think it is likely we’ll see a first trailer this year. I don’t think Rockstar would’ve announced the game if it wasn’t relatively far along, so assuming it’s out in a year or two that makes a reveal maybe sometime this autumn likely.
It’s so long ago since GTA 5 came out I think some people have probably forgotten how massive that game was and how it’s going to dominate but gaming and mainstream news for months. Of course most of the mainstream stuff will probably be negative but its obvious that Rockstar play into and use this for publicity.
It sure is going to be weird to see both GTA 5 and GTA 6 in the top 10 every week though. Is there any other game series that has multiple entries selling well at the same time, because I can’t think of any?
Focus
Franchise without end
I don’t even know what to say about Ubisoft having 11 Assassin’s Creed games in development at once, even if some of them are smaller or mobile or whatever. The games are fun but I can’t believe there are many people that care about the plot or characters nowadays, so you’re not really buying the games because of the extended universe, or whatever, but purely because they’re pretty good open world games.
That doesn’t seem like much of a reason to start making endless VR games and multiplayer games and whatever. I know plenty of people that enjoy the series, especially Valhalla, but I’ve never spoken to a single person that’s ever played it in multiplayer before. Maybe they were just other games that got rebranded but I’d say not everything has to be Assassin’s Creed.
MasterGreen
Farewell to arms
I won’t send the screenshot I took, as it’s a Nintendo game I took it from. Readers can look on YouTube at the first ever trailer of Tears Of The Kingdom. The arm that is holding Gannon down, the green arm is the one that Link is using. My theory is Zelda asks whoever the arm belongs to lend Link its power.
Only a theory. I’m probably wrong, but there’s only one arm pinning Gannon down and lo and behold Link’s arm is the same. Watching YouTube channels, other channels, for example GameXplain and others, haven’t noticed this. So, I am putting it out there. I have not seen the leaked pictures, by the way. Why would I want to? I just go from what my beloved Nintendo feed us.
On another note, I finished Metroid Prime this evening. I finished it on the GameCube too. That first version was a lot harder. No option like this one, easy mode. 93% completion, I thought that was alright, now I’m 45 I don’t want the stress of playing through it like I did back in the day. I got all energy tanks, that will do me. Been reading you guys since 2001. Keep up the excellent work.
woz 007 (gamertag)/woz_007 (NN ID)
GC: Nintendo isn’t going to sue for a screenshot from an officially released trailer. As it stands, your theory sounds perfectly plausible to us.
Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom – whose arm is that? (pic: Nintendo)
Short story
A possible synthesis of the recent back-and-forth Reader’s Features: The Last Of Us video game is superior to the HBO TV series but the game is nonetheless a poor gaming experience.
A heavy focus on cinematics, intrusive QTEs, and clunky mechanics made the gameplay more an interactive movie than a video game. Probably why it was turned into a TV series.
ESS-DEE-95 (PSN ID)
Switch to arcade
Following on from RickAndRolla’s letter on Monday, regarding the lack of new racing games, I’ve always wondered why other racing games aren’t as prolific as on Nintendo’s (home) consoles.
I’m guessing it’s due to the lack of technical power of Nintendo’s consoles, compared to its rivals, but I’m also guessing that developers/publishers never bother as they’d be up against the Mario Kart of that system.
However, Mario Kart is not realistic and I’d love to see more Need For Speed/Forza style games on Nintendo’s home consoles.
I do have Crusin’ Blast and Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit for the Switch but the former doesn’t have any depth and the latter is a 10+ year old game which I completed on the PlayStation 3 back in the day (and have re-done since its remaster).
GRID: Autosport is good but it’s not arcadey enough and is more of a Gran Turismo style simulator. I enjoyed the two Gear.Club Unlimited games (made from former Test Drive Unlimited 2 staff) and both games’ DLC but the controls aren’t great (like Test Drive Unlimited 2) but I got used to it and completed both them and Car Driving School Simulator. I had fun with it, but it is just a port of a smartphone game with even less depth than Cruisin’ Blast!
Thank goodness I was gifted an Xbox One where, via Game Pass, I can play Need For Speed: Rivals, Heat and the 2015 reboot, and Forza Horizon 5. The reboot is my favourite of the three Need For Speed games. I haven’t gone onto to play Forza Horizon 5 proper yet.
However, I would like a few more ports or scaled down versions of the racing games I’m currently playing on Xbox on Switch.
LeighDappa
GC: A few years ago, there were a lot of rumours of a new Ridge Racer on Switch but, alas, it never materialised.
Inbox also-rans
Just a quick message to say there is no Hot Topic in the Monday Inbox listed. On Nintendo Store currently they have a Splatoon 3 Leisure Bag available for 500 Nintendo Points, plus £1.99 postage.
Andrew J.
GC: We’re a bit short staffed this week, especially on Friday, so there won’t be a Hot Topic till next week.
Do you guys ever review a game and love that game and really enjoy it, but it has quite a few flaws or gameplay issues that you didn’t mind at all but believe may be an issue for most potential players so even a game you love you score low?
Middlemiester
GC: We’ll comment on things like that in the review, but we can’t think of anything where we’ve enjoyed the game but thought nobody else would.
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The Tuesday letters page wonders why gory games are so popular in the US, as one reader hopes for Star Wars video game news in April.
