Xbox may be jumping in to other consoles (Picture: Microsoft)
The Tuesday letters page reacts to rumours of Hi-Fi Rush and Sea Of Thieves going multiformat, as one reader can’t cope with 30fps anymore.
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Changing times
Looks like we’re about to see a whole new era for Microsoft, if these rumours about going multiformat are true. Xbox fans are distraught and PlayStation fans are celebrating but I really don’t think it’s good or bad news for either side. As GC points out, Microsoft is now the biggest publisher outside of China and many of their games are massive hits on PlayStation, from Call Of Duty to Diablo.
Microsoft’s console business has never been very successful – even in the halcyon days of the Xbox 360 it still came last that generation – to the point where I think having a console is actually holding Xbox back now. Much better to get Halo and Forza on PlayStation, where more people can play them and Xbox reaps the financial rewards.
I’m not sure that’s necessarily what’s happening here though. Microsoft won’t want to give up on hardware unless they really have to, but I don’t see Sony allowing Microsoft games on the PlayStation 5 while the Xbox Series X/S is still going. Unless… Microsoft pay them a bunch of money or do some kind of deal, which is probably the way it will go.
I’d say I’m maybe getting ahead of myself but all these different people getting the same rumours at the same, that to me suggests that something is happening soon. So maybe the Direct next week will be one to remember.
Purple Ranger
Big news
We’re barely a week into January and already we’re looking at what may be one of the biggest news stories in gaming history. Maybe not, maybe it’ll be a slow transition, but I find it hard to believe these rumours about Microsoft making their games multiformat aren’t true.
The question for me is how many of them. Will it just be minor games like Hi-Fi Rush and multiplayer stuff like Sea Of Thieves? Or could we really be looking at the impossible and we’ll get Halo on PlayStation?
If I had to guess what happened, I’d say that all that stuff about reaching more formats was just talk but then Microsoft looked at their hardware numbers and started to ask themselves: why our are games exclusive? For Sony and Nintendo they sell their consoles but that’s not so true of Microsoft, so why not make more money selling them on other formats as well?
It’s never been done before but I don’t really see why not. Microsoft don’t have to give up making the Xbox consoles, it just matters even less if they don’t sell that well. I have no problem with the move at all, but it sure is going to be weird knowing that Halo 6 sold more on PlayStation 5 than Xbox Series X/S.
Cubby
Friends with benefits
Last year I played some excellent games. From Diablo 4 (pretty good but bailed before even finishing the campaign) to dipping my toes in Remnant 2, A Short Hike (loved it!), and the amazing Armored Core 6. But Baldur’s Gate 3, not really sure what to say except that it is remarkable.
Every aspect of it is sublime, and I would encourage everyone to at least try it (but be prepared for a lot of Googling/ Reddit/YouTubing to understand all the systems, etc.).
Only thing which is a bit weird is how thirsty all your companions are! Lae’zel basically wanted to do the dirty with me after three or four convos and you have to be careful otherwise some friendly conversations seem to quicky head towards the same outcome! I just want to be mates with most my team.
Anyway, playing it on Xbox and just at level 5 now and can’t stress how good it all is.
Tom
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Solid suggestion
As much as I’d like to see a decent new Metal Gear Solid remake I feel like it’s just delaying the inevitable. Are Konami just going to do remakes forever, now that Hideo Kojima is gone? After the remake of the first one are they going to do the second as well? Then what? Surely the fourth doesn’t need a full remake, so even by that point they’re out of things to do. And even if they do that, that only leaves five and they’re really out of options.
Konami need to bite the bullet and make a new game. Find a bright new director, that maybe was a fan of the originals, and give them full creative control. Except, I wouldn’t make it about Solid Snake and the usual characters. Create all new ones and a new storyline and just do something in a similar vein with similar gameplay. That’s my advice anyway, I’m sure it won’t be followed.
Mobius3
Not a competition
So, thanks for publishing my Disgaea retrospective at the start of the holidays. With them, I have hit triple figures for you guys! That said, my first was in 2010, so I’m not quite as prolific as you might imagine from that. Still, at the risk of coming across as dreadfully arrogant, I wonder what my nearest rival is on? If you even keep track of such things.
On to a larger point, I don’t imagine Disgaea will ever make any significant changes to their formula because… it works. For the most part. And whilst I maintain that it would not take an extravagant amount of time and money to make meaningful additions to the gameplay, it will still take more of those things than they have so far been willing to spend. It’s a pity, isn’t it?
That being said, there is something Disgaea 7 does have over one of its big budget rivals. I’ve been going through Persona 5 again (vanilla edition) just to see if I can get a Platinum, and my word the translation is really bad. Like, just one more draft of the script would be all it took. In contrast, the dialogue in Disgaea 7 is much sharper. Especially Pirilika, as she is always getting common phrases wrong. Like, ‘keep your ears pealed’ becomes ‘keep your face peeled.’ Lovely.
What makes Persona 5’s translation woes all the stranger was how long it was in development. It’s clear they ran out of time, and yet, unless my memory is hazy, the translation was much better in the two previous games. Very odd.
Thanks again and Happy New Year everyone!
DMR
GC: We don’t keep records, no. It’d be a bit creepy if we did, to be honest.
No way back
I’ve given it the old college try but I can’t go back to 30fps having played all but three games at 60fps in the last… it’s got be at least four years. Those games being A Plague Tale: Requiem, Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom, and Alan Wake 2.
Thankfully the current gen’s performance modes have been excellent but as the gen pushes graphics more it’s inevitable we’ll get more games locked to 30fps on console. Thus, why I’ve endeavoured to go back to 30fps by playing on quality mode in games. Most recently RoboCop: Rogue City and currently Star Wars Jedi: Survivor on PlayStation 5.
But I can’t go back and switched to performance modes on both and immediately felt so much happier with how the games feel on it.
Of course, most of my favourite games were played at sub-30fps on the host hardware, like Bloodborne. But the bar gets raised and you get used to the new standard.
It’s not a deal breaker. Tears Of The Kingdom is my favourite 2023 game and I bought a Switch especially for it. But I will from now on seek out the hardware that will give me 60fps, be it a PS5 Pro or most likely a beefy PC at some point.
Simundo
No change
Am I mistaken or has the increased digital sales slowed the decrease in price for pre-owned games?
Just for example, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Elden Ring are sitting around £30 each even now.
Compared to when Resident Evil 2 remake came out. I waited about 2 or 3 weeks and got it for £20.
Bobwallett
GC: People are probably holding onto Elden Ring for the DLC and we think Sekiro had a relatively short print run.
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Changing strategy
With the news breaking of Xbox games heading to PlayStation 5 and Switch this year, it appears we could potentially be witnessing the beginning of the end of Xbox consoles and the much speculated rebirth of Microsoft as a multiplatform third party publisher. A precipice we’ve arrived at perhaps sooner than could have been expected.
Behind the scenes, it seems clear that 2023 was a do or die year for Xbox, one heroic final stand to remain in the console business and judging by their typically glacial output of exclusives, it would be fair to assume they blew everything they had in their arsenal in that crucial effort.
Evidently, that napalm strike proved ineffective, with sales of their console going into further decline instead of proceeding with the bursts of growth that might have been anticipated.
From the perspective of the Microsoft accountants clamouring over the spreadsheets of their gaming business, you couldn’t blame them for believing that the console business wasn’t a hill worth dying on and despite the denials from Phill Harrison to the contrary, it feels like it’s just a matter of time now before a retreat is signalled to pull back to the safer more widespread appeal of the multiformat IP they’ve feathered their nest with.
Of course, Xbox’s remaining loyal supporters will despair if this does prove to be the case, yet the thing these fans like to so often point to in their praise (that thing being Game Pass), while probably won’t have saved their console, will more than likely continue a perhaps prosperous existence on PC and smart devices.
So, not all doom and gloom, is it?
Ian
GC: Microsoft is now the biggest publishers in the West. Whatever changes they may be making, they’re not doing this as some knee jerk, panicked reaction.
Inbox also-rans
I can only imagine how justified that Baldur’s Gate 3 director must feel right now. He can basically do anything he wants for any budget – can’t wait!
Jono
If there is one thing that would make me want to play Alan Wake 2, it is that song. It is extremely my jam. I can’t get it out of my head.
Ali K
GC: It’s definitely the best bit.
This week’s Hot Topic
Since this is the first Hot Topic of the new year the subject is obvious: what new games are you most looking forward to in 2024?
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What are your expectations for the year in general and what new hardware do you expect to be launched – and do you intend to buy it?
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The Tuesday letters page reacts to rumours of Hi-Fi Rush and Sea Of Thieves going multiformat, as one reader can’t cope with 30fps anymore.