The Tuesday Inbox still doesn’t think Xbox can challenge PlayStation on first party games, as another reader has ideas for Mario Kart 9.
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Fan-tastic changes
As interesting as the PlayStation 5 vs. Xbox Series X arguments have been recently, I have to admit I’ve been more won over by the idea of spending a little extra to get a gamer PC and taking myself away from the eternal console battles (while still probably taking advantage of Games Pass Ultimate).
The cheaper games and the better graphics are the obvious draw but what really excites me is the idea of mods, since that’s something that barely exists at all on consoles. I love the idea of fans making new additions to classic games, added higher resolution texture packs, or simply fixing bugs and glitches before the developer gets a chance.
It all seems to encourage the idea that the player owns the game, which is how I prefer it. I don’t like to be sat there hoping a company will throw me a bone or knowing they don’t want me to change their game at all. But I have to admit I’m not sure about too many specifics, so what are considered to be the best ones? Curious to know what existing PC owners think, as I’ve heard about a lot of good Skyrim ones but I’m not really sure which ones exactly.
Xane
GC: Clearly it’s the Thomas the Tank Engine one for Skyrim. Or maybe the one with the posh crabs.
Betroid Ultima
I’ve no idea of the details legal implications but am I the only that thinks spending 14 years making a 2D version of Metroid Prime is a bit mad? It looks great, don’t get me wrong, but this is Nintendo we’re talking about here, so there’s zero chance of them letting them distribute it, even for free. They’ll threaten to sue them and they’ll have to take the game down from web but what happens if Nintendo gets extra litigious and decides to seize their computers or something? It’s not as if Nintendo don’t have a history of stomping on these things.
I’m sure many will see this as Nintendo being in the wrong but I have to say I’m not really that sympathetic to the fans. Nintendo make the rules perfectly clear and yet people keep doing these things. I can’t help thinking they’d be a lot better off if they just made a clone and were actually able to sell it as an indie game.
Gareth Roseman
Skipping ahead
I completely understand the concerns raised about Sony at the moment and broadly agree with them. What bothers me in particular is how silent Sony is being through all this. It feels like we’ve barely heard anything from them since launch. I know it’s difficult to get interviews done during the pandemic but I’ve barely seen anything from them outside a few business websites. Is Jim Ryan really too busy to jump on Zoom for 10 minutes or is it, as I suspect, that he’d find it difficult to defend the actions at the moment. Or rather the lack of action to counter Microsoft.
On the other hand though I can’t help but notice that complete lack of interest in Halo Infinite or any of Microsoft’s (vaguely) announced first party games. Maybe it’s the circles I move in but I know no-one that is excited about the game and seem to see very little conversation about the game online.
Just as all the interest is how to buy a PlayStation 5, with much less desperation for the Xbox Series X, it seems to me that in terms of anyone that has any kind of preference for what they play, as opposed to getting as many games as cheaply as possible, the choice is always Sony. It took Sony basically four generations before their first party games were considered top flight and really don’t think buying Bethesda is going to skip Microsoft ahead to that degree.
Woland
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Unbeatable logic
Some great ideas about Mario Kart 9 in the Reader’s Feature at the weekend and I think the central premise, that the Switch Pro might be used as an excuse to have two Mario Karts in one generation, makes a lot of sense to me. I think the reader is right though, that 9 would have to do something very different to justify itself in this situation.
I really don’t see that as a problem though as Nintendo did a whole single-player campaign for Splatoon 2 and just made it DLC, so I don’t see them having any problem doing something similar for a new Mario Kart and just having it in the game from the start. The Smash Bros. style approach with the drivers also seems like a no-brainer, especially as the driver doesn’t affect the driving in any way – Mario Kart isn’t like Smash where you’ve got to work out a whole new moveset for each character.
I feel like the fact that we’ve thought of the idea already though immediately ensures it will never happen. Nintendo never do what you expect, so by that logic if you think of it Nintendo will never do it.
Grace
Big G
Surprisingly, I found myself quite enjoying Godzilla Vs. Kong and as always seems to happen to me when watching a good genre movie I like to play a video game version of it if I can. Then I remembered there was a surprisingly good one in the PlayStation 2 games Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee and Godzilla: Save The Earth. For those that didn’t play them these were a sort of slow-paced Power Stone game, where you really got a feel for the monsters’ size as the hit each other with tankers and knocked down buildings.
It was a bit clunky but I think that kind of made it feel more realistic given the subject matter. It’s still the only decent Godzilla game I’ve ever played too, because if you play as the big G it just seems unrealistic if you take damage from humans and if you’re playing as a human there’s not much any one individual can do. As the new movie proves it’s watching two kaiju punch each other in the face that’s fun and those old games got that right. I’d love to see a next gen sequel.
Crispo
Physical value
There’s a part of me that thinks it’s cool that antique video games are now worth the same as other accepted art forms but then there’s the other side of my brain that thinks spending half a million on a copy of Super Mario Bros. is morally bankrupt. If you’ve got that much money to waste on something that isn’t even the first copy or anything go buy a hospital a new ICU or something.
I guess this is another thing that will just cease to exist once we switch solely to digital downloads and streams. I don’t see the next consoles having a disc drive at all so unless you want to put the game on a USB it’s going to be pointless to have a physical copy. Although I suppose pointless sums up most collector’s editions, so maybe they’ll carry on regardless anyway.
When you think about it, It is crazy the things we attribute value to. Especially with video games where it’s really only the experience itself that’s important. You can’t put that in a box and sell it on eBay though.
Drinky
GC: Let us introduce you to the world of non-fungible tokens (NFT). We think it’ll make you quite angry.
Change of guard
It may only be Everybody’s Golf (in all but name) going multiformat but what is going on at Sony at the moment? First MLB: The Show, now this. They might be minor exclusives but they’re still exclusives. Considering that’s the one thing they have over Microsoft at the moment why would they let even on slip through their fingers?
There’s been a lot of PlayStation scepticism in the last few weeks and I’m really not surprised. It feels like a sea change is happening and Sony are doing nothing to avoid capsizing.
Cymond
As clear as mud
RE: k and PlayStation VR only being compatible with PlayStation 4 games.
K is right and didn’t mean PlayStation VR doesn’t work on PlayStation 5, just that only PlayStation 4 VR games run on PlayStation 5 through back compatibility. Sony have emphasised a few times that PlayStation VR is not native to PlayStation 5, so no PlayStation 5 VR games, and that they’ve not announced any PlayStation 5 VR games. You need the PlayStation 4 version of games to play VR modes on PlayStation 5, like with No Man’s Sky and Hitman 3.
I believe Sony has listed PlayStation VR as a legacy device. You even have to request a free camera adapter from Sony for PlayStation VR to work on PlayStation 5, as the new camera isn’t compatible with PlayStation VR; I got my adapter just before Christmas.
They are still supporting PlayStation VR though and there’s nice looking games coming up, and Doom 3 VR was just released which is well priced and very good. No Man’s Sky also recently released a patch that improves the VR experience on PlayStation 5 over PlayStation 4 by some margin. But you’re still playing the PlayStation 4 version, just optimised for PlayStation 5.
Resident Evil Village being a PlayStation 4 game could potentially get PlayStation VR support but I very much doubt it. We haven’t heard anything and I think the PlayStation 4 wouldn’t be powerful enough to run it in VR. As Resident Evil 7 VR is still exclusive to PlayStation VR, some four years after it released, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Resident Evil Village’s VR debut on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation VR 2. That’s my hope anyway.
The most important thing though is that it’s not confusing and only takes 30 minutes of google searches to sort of get the idea without still being 100% certain exactly what the deal is.
Simundo
GC: That about sums it up.
Inbox also-rans
First we have one YouTuber making the world’s biggest PlayStation 5, now we have another one making the biggest Switch. Am I the only that doesn’t get it? And what’s the world’s second biggest Switch? Isn’t that just like a normal console?
Clavdius
So Monster Hunter Rise has already sold 5 million copies? I know we all said it would be an instant, but wow… that’s super instant.
Kobol
This week’s Hot Topic
The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader Paulie, who asks what is your favourite first or third person shooter?
FPS games used to be the dominant genre up until recently but have begun to fall out of favour, especially with the rise of third person equivalents. Games like Call Of Duty and Battlefield are still very popular but what’s your favourite and why?
Which do you prefer out of first and third person views? And do you play the games primarily for their single-player content or their multiplayer? Which upcoming games are you most looking forward to and how do you see the future of the genre?
E-mail your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk
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, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.
You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.
MORE : Weekend Hot Topic, part 1: Most wanted video game upgrades
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