The Tuesday letters page doubts Microsoft knows what Xbox is doing for the next gen, as a reader struggles with a backlog of hundreds of unplayed games.
Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk
Give me a reason
I think one of the main problems with talking about the PlayStation 6 and the next generation is that many people still haven’t upgraded from a PlayStation 4 yet. I thought I was in the minority on that but then I find out that half of everyone hasn’t and it’s not hard to see why.
I didn’t want to get a PlayStation 5 until there was a good range of top quality games, that couldn’t possibly be done on the PlayStation 4, but that never happened. Everything was either cross-gen or was good but looked like a PlayStation 4 game, like Returnal.
I guess Spider-Man 2 was an improvement, but I don’t particularly like that character, so instead I’ve been waiting for Naughty Dog’s new game and the next wave of games that will hopefully be properly next gen-only. But now I don’t know if they’ll ever happen. I bet Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet ends up cross-gen anyway, so I may end up skipping the PlayStation 5 generation entirely, and I’ll have barely missed a thing.
Thomas
Nobody knows
I don’t think Microsoft is straight up lying about making a next gen Xbox but I don’t believe for a second they have any kind of plan or know what exactly they’ll be doing in the years to come. The quotes from Sarah Bond are very vague and if that was meant to be an attempt to prove they’re still committed to hardware I don’t think it worked at all.
Ultimately though, I don’t think it will matter. The Xbox One sold less than the Xbox 360, and the Xbox Series X/S sold less than that. And that was while both were still expected to be contenders at the start of the generation. Now everybody knows that Xbox has not been doing well and is not a safe bet, right from the start.
Expert, exclusive gaming analysis
Sign up to the GameCentral newsletter for a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning.
If making an Xbox branded PC is not the plan it really should be, because that’s the only thing that’s going to work. And even then it’ll only be for rich superfans, like the ROG Xbox Ally.
Wendle
Forgotten worlds
Nice review of Lumo 2. I’d never heard of it, or the first one, but it’s nice to see a game that’s nostalgic for the sort of games that I actually grew up with, rather than a bunch of NES games I’ve never heard of.
The sad thing is that as that generation gets older there’s going to be less people left to worry that all these old classic British games are being forgotten. An American or Japanese company is never going to do a remaster for Jet Set Willy or a compilation for the work of Graftgold. A homage in an indie game like this seems to be the closest we’ll ever get.
Mouldy
Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk
Too much quality
When I read all the doom and gloom on the internet about gaming being too expensive or games being better 10 or 15 or 20 years ago I sometimes feel like I’m living in an alternate reality. There are of course huge issues with the industry at the moment, but in terms of games 2025 has been incredible, and it’s time not money that’s the real issue.
So far this year we’ve already had Blue Prince, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Hades 2, Monster Train 2, Split Fiction, Hollow Knight: Silksong, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Donkey Kong Bananza, Mario Kart World, despelote, Sword Of The Sea, Shinobi: Art Of Vengeance, Absolum, The Roottrees are Dead, Silent Hill f, The Alters, and Ball x Pit to name just a few. There’s a huge variety of experiences in that list, and surely no one has the time to play them all!?
drlowdon
Change of venue
In my opinion it’d take a lot to make a Resident Evil 0 remake work, and I don’t know if Capcom want to spend so much time and money on what is nobody’s favourite entry.
As you point out, the problem is that the second half is all set in the Spencer Mansion and while it’s mostly different areas to the remake how is that going to work when presumably a new remake is going to come in a few years time?
If I was Capcom, I wouldn’t want anything to steal the thunder from that, so my suggestion would be to set the second half somewhere else. You could still use similar locations and puzzles but just don’t involve the mansion. Extend the train sections, because they were the best, and make it end up in a nearby laboratory or something.
Bonzer
Portable handheld
Rather than worry about how difficult it is to emulate the DS on a Switch surely the obvious answer to the problem is just to release a new DS/3DS combo console and let you play the games on them? It must be dirt cheap to make that sort of console nowadays, especially given how basic the touchscreens were, and it would be backwards compatible with all your old cartridges while also allowing you to buy everything digitally.
The problem with only having the consoles emulated is that they add the game so slowly it’ll be years until it’s anywhere near the best the console has to offer and even then they’d probably never add the more obscure stuff like Soul Bubbles or Solatorobo.
I don’t think Nintendo would do it, because they want people buying stuff on their Switch ecosystem, not using original carts they already had, or bought in a car boot sale, but I think it’s definitely the best option. Plus, it would have the benefit of being an actually portable console, rather than a console you can fit in your bag, as long as you don’t bring too much else with you.
On that note, I wish they’d re-release some kind of new version of the Game Boy Advance as well. I love my Game Boy Micro and while that’s probably a bit extreme for most people it’s much better than these giant handhelds we’re getting right now. I’m actually relatively surprised we’ve never had a Mini Classic Game Boy, but maybe they think those games are too outdated now.
Limpton
Big player
I find it interesting that gaming got away relatively likely with the big Amazon online outage. That must mean everyone else was using Microsoft Azure, which just goes to show you how much of gaming they control now.
Even Sony is going to be using their cloud streaming tech, which makes it even weirder that despite controlling so much of the technology and the developers, Microsoft still seems like a minor player in gaming. No wonder they don’t know what to do about the next gen.
Paulie
Good problem
I thought Silent Hill 2 remake was exceptional and the praise for Silent Hill f at the weekend just reaffirms I really want to play it.
But like many I have a backlog problem I really want to deal with. Just from this year I have an unopened copy of Donkey Kong Bananza and day one digital copy of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 to play.
But across mainly PlayStation but also Switch, Xbox, and PC I’ve hundreds of unplayed games.
I also have PlayStation Plus Premium until February 2026 and Game Pass until April 2026. I’ve thankfully resisted the urge to load up on Game Pass while codes are cheap. I will let both expire. I gotta sort out that backlog.
Another problem is a new game will release that I want to play that overrides all others, like Silksong. I just finished my 100% completion playthrough at just under 100 hours. This pattern will have to stop until the backlog is cleared.
Very first world problem I’m aware. To have so many good games bought and paid for across many devices to be enjoyed on a lovely 55 inch OLED TV.
But I do want to get to the point of finishing a game and then buying the next as I need something to play. I expect my wishlists will be longer than War and Peace by then.
Simundo
GC: Hundreds? Wow.
Inbox also-rans
I downloaded the Arc Raiders playtest. It wanted me to make another account to play it. I deleted it.
Bobwallett
People complain about the rising cost of DLC, and it does seem to be out of control, but I don’t think I’ve bought any since… Alien Isolation? And that wasn’t really worth it. I’ve never played any DLC that was.
Gauntlet
Email 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 via email or our Submit Stuff page, 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.