The Monday letters page argues that the PS4 was the peak of console gaming, as a reader looks forward to the new Mortal Kombat 2 movie.
Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk
Undisputed favourite
I see that Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 has won Best Game at the BAFTAs, so it got a clean sweep at all the major video game awards, which I believe has happened only one time before, with Zelda: Breath Of The Wild. However, unlike, Breath Of The Wild, I have not played the game.
I don’t generally like role-playing games, especially Japanese style ones, and this one also seems very serious and plot heavy, which makes it even less appealing to me. And yet I can’t argue with the reviews or the awards, so I’m thinking of giving it a go.
I would appreciate the opinions of some readers though, as it’s expensive for an indie game, and I’m worried it’s not going to live up to the hype and I’ll be out of pocket after finding out. Is it fun? Is the story good? Is the combat difficult? I’m not really sure what to expect.
Paulie
Low bar
I am a fan of the original 90s Mortal Kombat films – even Annihilation – and I enjoyed the 2020 film (I understand the criticism of Cole Young but overall, I enjoyed the film). I am really looking forward to Mortal Kombat 2 next month, with Karl Urban as Johnny Cage, and I have been in spoiler free mode for months now and not watched anything apart from the first trailer, but the only thing I’ve read is there are lots of deaths. So that’s a plus if true! Are you guys fans of any of the films?
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I am only messaging as I saw your Street Fighter article. For me I don’t like the look of the film plus that horrible music in the trailer, but I have never been a massive fan of the franchise, although I suspect it will be dumb fun with nods to the fans.
Simon
GC: We have a soft spot for the first film, which is still one of the best video game movies ever. Although that says far more about the others than it does Mortal Kombat.
Peak gaming
Just a quick a quick message of agreement with the reader’s article this weekend, lamenting the loss of the PlayStation 4 generation and his/her hopes that it might return. I also believe this to be the pinnacle of gaming in terms of ease of development for companies and the quality of game that was created.
For me, it was the absolute sweet spot for what I wanted from games in terms of graphics and depth and I’ve come to see it as a dividing line in my nearly 40 year relationship with games. At this point I just feel totally checked out on what’s being created and the conversations that take place around it, which are usually quite negative and rightfully so considering what’s been going on.
I’m sure I’m not the only one who finds the idea of a new generation of consoles quite antagonising. Another example of rampant greed and in my view anti-consumerism. No doubt it’ll be claimed to be a massive success whatever happens and the usual sycophants will eat it all up.
Chris
Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk
Dead keen
VR for me is far from dying.
Shrinking headsets down to the size of glasses will make it less geeky, of course, but will immersion not be lost unless some shields are fitted?
If the size of glasses, will they not need expensive prescription lenses for current glasses wearers?
I think VR is truly amazing and for that reason don’t see it dying. Whether anyone will risk lots of money in the far future making triple-A VR games is unknown. For me, without triple-A games VR is still a must buy purchase, as there are still plenty of apps which interest me and some of which give me ‘wow’ experiences.
In my opinion, it is worth buying just to watch/listen to YouTube music concert type videos, but I do a lot more than that on it.
Am overall disappointed how few adult friends that have had a try on mine have gone on to buy. Having said that, one set of grandchildren and my niece’s children have a Meta Quest 3, after trying mine, and it wouldn’t surprise me if when old enough two other sets of grandchildren buy.
Sir
Silicon Ford
As a big fan of 90s arcade racers and games like Burnout I’m very excited for Star Wars: Galactic Racer.
I was really pleased to find it’s the first game from a studio made up of ex-devs from Burnout studio Criterion Games.
Both studios operate out of Guildford, which has an impeccable gaming pedigree. Guildford is only 20 miles from where I grow up as a kid, and it was a buzz walking by the Bullfrog building in the 90s.
Simundo
Amiga Part 2
There is another interesting Kickstarter just started for retro fans, it is a documentary Blu-ray about various Amiga games, which include the recently mentioned on GameCentral Defender Of The Crown, one of Game Central’s and readers’ favourite UFO: Enemy Unknown, and Beneath A Steel
Sky by Broken Sword creator Charles Cecil.
The Kickstarter only runs for two weeks, so it is a short campaign and it has already met it’s funding goal of £10,000. It has interviews with some big names like Geoff Crammond (Formula 1 Grand Prix), Jon Hare (of Sensible Software fame), Julian Gollop (UFO: Enemy Unknown), Peter Molyneux (Populous 1 and 2), Martin Edmondson who made Driver 1 and 2 on PlayStation, and Charles Cecil, as well as many others.
This is for Volume 2 of the Blu-ray and digital version but there is also an option to buy Volume 1. I know there are a few Amiga fans in the Inbox and Underbox, including myself and Commodore Fan! Here’s the link for the Kickstarter if you are interested in backing it.
Andrew J.
Late result
I really find it hard to take the BAFTA video game awards seriously. Every year it’s the same: narrative and British made games always do suspiciously well and anything action-based or from Japan is ignored. It’s so blatant I don’t know how they think nobody notices.
Besides, it’s pointless late doing it in April anyway. Especially when your winner is the same winner everyone else picked out four months ago.
Kimbo
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Smooth egg
I’ve enjoyed the retro discussion in the Inbox recently and was fascinated to learn from the Nigel Alderton interview that Chuckie Egg was a pioneer in one or two pixel movement, compared to the then standard eight pixel movement. I remember playing the game at the time and the smoothness and fluidity of the controls compared to its contemporaries was hugely noticeable and transformative. It just felt so much more responsive and fun to play than what we were used to, but of course at the time most of us didn’t understand the technical reasons as to why that was the case.
This leads me somewhat surprisingly to the current generation as there has also been a discussion questioning whether the PlayStation 5 in particular is worth it over PlayStation 4.
I was lucky to get a PlayStation 5 few months after release and I have to say my answer to that question is absolutely ‘yes’ for a similar reason to the gameplay smoothness of Chuckie Egg, as 60fps on PlayStation 5 makes a huge difference to how games feel to play.
On PlayStation 5 I always choose performance mode over resolution mode and out of curiosity I sometimes briefly switch over to compare the difference to resolution mode, which is often 30fps, and the difference is incredibly noticeable and jarring.
I would also add that the improved resolution is lost on me, as I usually see no significant difference in visuals between the modes. Many PlayStation 4 games run at 60fps on PlayStation 5, compared to 30fps on PlayStation 4, either through updates or free upgrades, and I find the difference to be a real leap from last gen.
Many of the Assassin’s Creed games have this upgrade on PlayStation 5, and whether you like those games or not, they are a fantastic showcase for the difference that 60fps makes to the gameplay experience.
ameisa (PSN ID)
Inbox also-rans
So, clearly the right answer to what makes you cry in games is Ori And The Will Of The Wisps. That ending was so bittersweet, it is hard not to feel something. But it was truly emotional, and you can’t say that about many games.
Tom
The only game I can think of that made me cry was Doki Doki Literature Club. It’s a big shame Android have taken it down, it’s an excellent representation of mental health.
Charlie
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