The Friday letters page is outraged over the Total War showcase, as one reader is not surprised the NEX Playground has been a hit.
Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk
Old wars
I know everyone is obsessed with the next generation right now but given all the problems we know it’s going to have, before it’s even announced, I find myself being more and more interested by retro games. I feel the PlayStation 2 to Xbox 360 era was the pinnacle of gaming, that we will never see again.
The PlayStation 4 era was good but by that time games were already getting too expensive, and the number of big budget genres had started to shrink. I think back to the PlayStation 2 though and it seemed like any company could come up with practically anything.
What I can’t decide on, though, is what was better: the PlayStation 2 or the Dreamcast? For me Sega’s console was so important because it was the first to have good 3D graphics, after the compromises of the original PlayStation, but it was so short-lived and most of its best games were arcade based.
If it had more role-playing games I would definitely give it to the Dreamcast, but it doesn’t so I’m just not sure.
Grackle
Your annoucement is in another castle
I watched that Total War livestream and I was genuinely shocked that the reveal of the second game was just ‘please tune into The Game Awards next week.’ I don’t think I’ve ever seen a publisher purposefully waste my time like that before; even the guy saying it seemed embarrassed.
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I’ll forgive them if it’s a good reveal, but I can’t pretend I’m not interested in Medieval 3. I’ve always liked the series and while I would’ve rather had Empire 2 that would’ve been my second choice.
I’m not a massive Star Wars fan, so I wonder how it’d even work, given that the Rebels have no way to stand up to a direct attack. That could make for an interesting game, but I’m not sure I see how it works as a Total War game without some serious changes (or I guess they could make it prequels only, but that seems unlikely).
Lieve
GC: We’ve never seen anything like it either, absolutely outrageous. Especially as we were really hoping the Star Wars rumours are true.
The one that got away
Much love from a daily reader, always a fan even if I don’t always agree with your reviews.
Today I introduced two of my kids to playing Tricky Towers on my newly Black Friday purchased PlayStation 5, having played it to death on PlayStation 4. They loved it as much as I do, laughing and joking with each other – in a world where Roblox seems to rule their gaming, I was so chuffed!
Anyway, my point is that I always look for your reviews, even with old games so I thought I would check out your review archive for Tricky Towers… but you didn’t ever do one! Any particular reason why? And did the Digi team ever play it? Ever thought of going back in time and doing the odd review of games that you missed?
Merry Christmas to you all.
Ben
GC: We’re going to be honest, we’ve never heard of it. We do try to catch-up with games we missed in the current year, in December and January, but we think going back to an obscure indie game from 2016 is not something that we’re going to have time for.
Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk
Square eyes
I finally got around to picking up a 4K OLED TV four months ago, as the sort of spec TV I wanted for gaming had come down to my price range. It was a 2024 Samsung S90D 55 inch for £800 in a Richer Sounds sale.
But having gamed at a desk since the early ‘90s, when we had a SNES hooked up to a 14 inch CRT in the bedroom, I just can’t get comfortable gaming slouched on a sofa. I need to be sat upright and close to the screen to feel properly connected to a game. So, all the consoles will be moved back to the 27 inch monitor I’ve gamed on since 2018.
No regrets with the TV though. The image quality is a massive step up from any screen I’ve had before. It really is lovely, so I will enjoy my TV shows, films, and sports on it.
For gaming I think I’ll eventually upgrade to a 32 inch monitor at some point. But I’ll make sure I test it out before buying as 32 inch, maybe a bit large for how close I like to be to the screen.
Simundo
Rogue decade
Nuclear Throne is 10. Hooray! Sorry, I meant… the greatest roguelike shooter ever made is 10. But why is Nuclear Throne still the greatest? Its weapons’ execution is satisfying and its characters diverse. To progress? Eliminate every enemy and move on. Continue for as long as you can live.
Isn’t that how gaming’s been done from the beginning? Little plot, big play. And all this goodness occupying less than 200MB on your disc space. Please give us a sequel, Vlambeer.
Henry
Secret sauce
So that new console doing so well in the US was pretty weird. I have literally never heard of it or anything like it before. But if it’s only got one camera I can’t see it being very accurate compared to Kinect, which is quite old tech at this point. Them pretending it’s ‘powered by AI’ is another red flag that it probably doesn’t work properly.
I’m not sure kids and casual gamers really care though. They’re still selling Just Dance and that has never worked. It has no idea how you’re dancing and while I’m sure it’s fun as an excuse to play a party game the idea that you’re being scored fairly is ridiculous.
The more important takeaway, though, is that Sony and Xbox are idiots for ignoring the family market. We’ve all been saying it for years but while Sony used to make a bit of an effort, especially in the PlayStation 2 era, all we get now is a new Ratchet & Clank game every five years or so.
Parents want low prices and kid friendly games, that’s it. Nintendo always seemed to understand this but even they’re getting more expensive nowadays, in terms of both games and consoles.
I doubt this NEX Playground will go anywhere after this Christmas, but it looks like it was very cheap to design and make, so even if it doesn’t there’ll probably be others like it to come after.
People wonder whether Apple or Amazon are going to try and take advantage of the decline of Xbox by releasing a console but instead we see that it’s a lot easier that it seems, if you get the price right.
Trepsils
There’s an app for that
For those that love Gran Turismo 7 but have always been fed up with lack of race information, especially in VR, there’s a free app for phones called Victory. When you open the app it automatically connects to Gran Turismo 7 like magic and gives you all the race info you need.
You can even have a pit crew talking to you, letting you know your position, tyre wear, fuel, and other stuff. It’s a gamechanger for me, as I use VR and the lack of info has always been a problem. Definitely worth checking out.
Rob
Dual formats
Interesting review of Metroid Prime 4, GC. Metroid is one of Nintendo’s flagship titles and created its own type of genre, which Castlevania borrowed from, but this new game didn’t make me want to instantly buy it and as I look at my Switch’s game library it shows more third party indie titles than Nintendo ones.
Super Mario RPG, Zelda: Breath Of The Wild, and Mario Kart World are the three titles I have – and maybe Donkey Kong Bananza in the future – but they’re competing against a whole host of third party titles.
Switch 2 has blown my mind, as to how top triple-A games seem to be running. To hear that Cyberpunk 2077 and the modern Resident Evil games are shaping up well makes this a good, diverse and handy device to have at gamer’s fingertips.
I use my PlayStation for the big titles I take very seriously, like any open world adventures like Cyberpunk 2077, and I’ll always play the awesome Final Fantasy 7 remakes on the more powerful console. But I’d never play indie titles on the PlayStation 5. That’s where the Switch comes into play, as well as a handy laptop.
Nintendo will be good for now, but I am hoping that the momentum doesn’t run out, as it’s been going for decades and although a couple of titles have not hit the mark, the majority have, like the ever impressive Animal Crossing and Super Smash Bros.
It’s a shame about Metroid Prime 4: Beyond not hitting the sweet spot but it could have been worse, I suppose. I am definitely cool with my use of the PlayStation 5 and Switch for the different styles of games for now, but always hoping that the Nintendo magic will continue to evolve.
Alucard
Inbox also-rans
Crazy to think the first GTA 6 trailer was two years ago, and we’ve learnt almost nothing we didn’t already know from the first rumours. Can’t wait for the third trailer as an apology for the next delay.
Keef
Legacy Of Kain is such a doomed franchise. I think it’s better to let it die. It wouldn’t be the same without Amy Hennig writing it anyway.
Heathcliffe
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