Games Inbox: Why I pre-ordered a PS5 Pro
The Thursday letters page discusses the problems in using the name Nintendo Switch 2, as one reader wants more Warhammer 40,000 games.
Quality reasons
I put in an order for a PS5 Pro. I think Digital Foundry summed up, if it’s something you should bother with and they just confirmed it should give you the Quality 60fps mode it’s advertising – from what they’ve seen so far. If you’re already happy with the base machine’s Quality 30fps mode then don’t bother.
I play all games on my PlayStation 5 games in Performance mode. On newer titles like Alan Wake 2 and Silent Hill 2 I’m seeing a bigger downgrade in graphics playing on that mode. So, to have the best of both modes is something I’d like.
All these satellite products like the Pro, Edge, and Portal are about offering a product that fulfils a want from a slice of their customer base.
I’ve zero interest in an Edge or Portal but would get a lot out of a Quality 60fps box.
The main base product is on sale again right now. I get the criticism over these products at a time when Sony is not announcing games, spitting out unnecessary remaster after unnecessary remaster, and their live service plans are a public embarrassment.
But please remember that you’re not expected to buy these products and can pick up the base digital version right now for a very reasonable £335.
Simundo
Maximum football
With all this talk about EA Sports FC being a bit of a lost cause do you think it’s come to the max it can be and can’t get any better? It’s a bit like Call Of Duty, it might have the sales but to me it’s came to the max it can be. Call Of Duty has got a bit boring; a bit of the same old stuff, just new maps.
I wonder if EA Sports FC has come to the same point in its life that they have done everything they can do and can’t take it to another level because it’s maxed out. I mean, it’s like a TV show. Sooner or later the ideas run out and it finally comes to an end, maybe it’s happened to EA Sports FC.
David
FIFA 26
What’s happening with the FIFA licence to make the games now?
I don’t remember reading anything about that for a good while. It’s looking like they shot themselves in the foot when they tried to hold EA over a barrel.
The way things are now I don’t see anyone falling over themselves to acquire it any time soon. Konami might have been a safe pair of hands at one time but not anymore.
P.Ella
GC: FIFA did initially make a lot of noise about developing their own game, but they didn’t give the impression they understood what that would involve. Nevertheless, there have been persistent rumours that 2K will or have acquired the licence but there’s no real evidence.
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Positive support
Absolute kudos to the people making Stalker 2: Heart Of Chornobyl while being invaded by Russia. So sad to hear some of their team died protecting their country. I’ll be buying the game no question, no matter what the reviews are (but I expect them to be very good).
I learnt through GC that Ukraine has quite a strong game development industry, with lots of support studios and the like, as well as indie developers. I hope that when the war is finally over that publishers will rush to support them and open more studios. That’s the sort of positive economic support I would love to see.
Clancy
Do you believe the news about XDefiant? (Ubisoft)
Keeping quiet
I notice a sudden rash of games companies pretending to deny certain rumours but not actually denying anything when you look at the small print. Xbox do this all the time and Ubisoft now, with the talk of XDefiant being shut down. They say it’s not going to be, but I bet it is.
It makes me think that maybe Sony are being more wise than people give them credit for by not communicating more than they have to. I do agree it’s annoying but at least they’re not constantly having to lie to people or just coming across as not having a clue.
The way Ubisoft has handled the controversy over Assassin’s Creed Shadows has been really bad and they’ve clearly made it worse than it would’ve been. The weird thing is they don’t seem to have had any plan for coping with it, but surely they must’ve known what some people would say? Another example of publishers not seeming to know what they’re doing.
Leppy
Gamematic universe
I see that Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 has been far more successful than expected, especially given no one really cares about the first one. I wonder what this is going to mean for the future of Warhammer 40,000 games? Lots of more of them, obviously, but there are already tons anyway – all from completely different companies and in completely different genres. Games Workshop just doesn’t seem to be able to say no when just about anyone asks them for the licence.
My hope is that now they’ve had a mega hit they can start to make it all seem a bit less random and maybe create connections between different games. Maybe revive Dawn Of War, for example, and have characters crossing over from Space Marine. Create some more games, like a grand strategy and a squad-based game maybe and add them too.
Make it like the MCU but for Warhammer 40,000 and video games. We’ve still never seen that sort of thing in video games, which is kind of surprising when you realise how many movies have tried to copy Marvel. But then it takes a long time to make games, so I suppose that’s an additional organisational headache they feel they don’t need.
Ironically, it might have helped things like the Avengers game and Midnight Suns but I’m certain it could work and not be annoying for Warhammer.
Tacle
Uncle at GAME
Can I ask… when do retailers find out about incoming products? I was in a known retailer last week and when I asked about a certain upcoming games console he said he had a briefing in his managers pack RE: said certain console.
Was this bull plop or do retailers really find out this early?!
Thanks once again for all your great content.
Sid Spector
GC: That’s a good question, that we have no real insight into – but perhaps a reader that’s worked at a retailer does. There have been some reports of Nintendo supposedly prepping major stores for a reveal, in America at least, but it seems very unlikely that low-level store managers in the UK would already know about it and not have immediately leaked the news all over the internet.
Clever marketing
Assuming it is a relatively similar device I think it would be mad to call the next Nintendo console anything other than Switch 2. I think the Wii U stands as perfect proof of this, so Nintendo are not going to make that mistake again.
But the other problem of the Wii U is that people looked at it and didn’t realise it was a new console. Adverts mostly only focused on the GamePad, which made it look like a peripheral. The problem with a Switch 2 that looks pretty much the same as the current one is that people will just think it’s a minor upgrade like the OLED or maybe just the Nintendo equivalent of the PS5 Pro – especially if it’s expensive.
I’m certain Nintendo has foreseen these problems but I can’t for the life of me imagine what the solution is. Maybe if the graphics are a massive jump, but that seems unlikely based on price and weight limitations. Maybe if there’s some other gimmick on top, either software or hardware? But how could you possibly predict that?
Microsoft claim their next gen console is going to have the biggest jump ever and that’s equally inexplicable but perhaps both they and Nintendo are talking about something similar? AI is the only thing I can think of but how is that going to help anything beyond increasing resolution and minor tech stuff like that? Can’t wait to find out!
Cranston
Inbox also-rans
I don’t think you can draw any conclusions about Switch 2 games being cross-gen from Pokémon. Pokémon games are always the worst technically and I doubt they’d look any better if they were Switch 2 only. Game Freak just haven’t got it in them.
Renton
Agree on Silent Hill 2 remake being worth all the high reviews. Personally, I wouldn’t do any more remakes though. I like Silent Hill 3 but it’s a step down and not worth it, if you ask me. I think, especially given the grief they were given beforehand, that Bloober Team have earned the right to do an original sequel now.
Zeiss