The Monday letters page wonders if Mass Effect will ever get a new game, as one reader looks forward to Halo: Campaign Evolved next week.
Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk
Sudden Fallout
Unbelievable that it’s taken Bethesda this long to remember that they own Fallout. It’s over a decade since the last proper game (no, Fallout 76 doesn’t count) and it’s taken a new Xbox boss, who’s probably only there to shut the whole thing down, to tell them to get a grip of themselves.
Funny how she’s only been in the job for a few months and now suddenly we’ve got two remasters, confirmation of Fallout 5, and a sequel to New Vegas 2 from Obsidian. Why did that need an exec that, by her own admission, knows nothing about games to get to?
The worst thing is apparently Obsidian were already working on a post-apocalyptic game that was so similar to Fallout that even before now other execs were asking why it was going to do be a different IP. Microsoft management of these studios is so bad it’s almost criminal.
They seem to want to give them creative freedom but that doesn’t mean just leaving them to do whatever they want. Do you think Nintendo devs are just sit around doing whatever they want all day? For any creative you need structure and limitations or nothing ever gets done, which Bethesda seems to be the perfect example of.
Ashton Marley
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Better late than never
So, no new Fallout for a decade and now we’ve got two new games and two new remasters? I guess Microsoft has finally had enough of Bethesda dragging its feet. Maybe if they’d put their foot down a while ago, they’d be in a better position now.
It’s the TV show having no games to go along with it that’s pushed them to this point, but it does all seem incredibly late to the party, even if they can probably knock those remasters out pretty quick.
The obvious thing to say is that Fallout: New Vegas 2 is the most exciting prospect, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to necessarily be a follow-up, it’s just another Fallout game from the same developer. That makes me even more optimistic about it, as hopefully it won’t be held back by having to tie into anything else. I look forward to playing it… in five years’ time, probably.
Barney
Tournament bonus
The World Cup this year could be a big opportunity for EA Sports FC 27. It’s bound to have got a lot more Americans interested in the sport and this year’s game will be coming out just a couple of months later.
I’d like to think that means they’ll make a special effort to make this a good one, that changes things up a bit, but I bet it’s not. The only effort they’re going to make is thinking up even more microtransactions to add. It’s a shame but that’s what you get when you know you’re a guaranteed hit and not bothering to do anything extra is just good business sense.
Kimble
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Mass pessimism
Since we’re finally hearing about plans for Fallout now, I couldn’t help but think of my personal favourite action role-playing franchise… Mass Effect. I honestly can’t remember when the last officially annoucement about it even was.
Last year’s N7 Day was a nothing burger and I don’t know what reason there is to hope this year will be any different. It’s such a shame what’s happened to BioWare, and EA in general, over the last few years. It feels like they don’t make anything anymore, except sports games, and aren’t interested in even trying.
I get that Mass Effect is probably not a cheap game to make, and BioWare have put out some duds, but most of those seem to be a result of EA management more than anything. I don’t know what to make of their upcoming buyout. A part of me hopes they’ll start paying for vanity projects to be made, to prove that it wasn’t a mistake, but the more realistic take is that Mass Effect has even less chance of getting a new game now.
Lenix
Retro machine
In reply to Michael Veal from Friday’s Inbox, I’d recommend the Evercade. It’s been a great way for me to discover old games I missed and would never have picked up otherwise, as well as indie titles I’d never come across in the wild, such as Goodboy Galaxy and the fantastic Roguecraft. Along with the arcade collections it houses, it’s my main console.
Looking forward to playing Banjo-Kazooie and Doom on it later this year!
JimESee
Fleeting storage
I would actually be very interested in a machine that could write games to cartridges, especially if it works on a console. It’d be the best of both worlds, because you’d be able to take the complete version, not just the launch day one, and even update it if there’s more changes later on.
One thing I think people forget is that floppy discs, CD/DVD/Blu-rays, and even cartridges don’t last forever. Disc rot is definitely a thing and I don’t think floppies are reliable for more than a few years.
Owning games and game preservation are important things, in my opinion but they can’t be done with the original releases. If you’ve got a copy of Ridge Racer, say, on PS1 there’s a fair chance it’s not working by now, especially if you’ve not kept it in special conditions.
I agree with anyone that says video games are worth preserving, and that we’re doing a bad job of it right now, but at the end of the day the only permeant storage is in the cloud, where the files get transferred from device to device, so they’re not trapped on just one aging system somewhere.
It’s a lot of effort and while I’m sure fans will do their best the publishers, I’m sure, will make no effort, even though it’s their resposnbility.
Korbie
Kratos for real
Am I the only one that thinks a God Of War TV show makes no sense? That one promo shot of the old actor looked dumb, and everyone was mocking it, and I don’t think a whole show with someone one wandering around with white paint all over them is ever going to look reasonable.
I get why it’s happening, because The Last Of Us was successful, but some things just work better in their original form and I feel that definitely applies to video games.
Lumpy
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Midnight rendezvous
I see that Halo: Campaign Evolved is released on Tuesday. It reminded me of buying the original, along with Project Gotham Racing and the original Xbox in March 2002. I cycled the two miles to my local games shop and arrived at 11:30pm for the midnight launch, chaining my bike to a nearby drainpipe. I was second in a queue of about 20 people, all male and all substantially younger than my 30 years. Many had their parents with them. At midnight we filed in to collect our pre-ordered consoles and games. Five minutes later I was cycling home with my precious bounty bungee corded to my bike rack.
I had booked the two following days off work, so set up the Xbox and played Halo and Project Gotham Racing until dawn. A few hours’ sleep later and I was back in front of the TV. Project Gotham Racing was a great racing game, but it was Halo that I was most impressed by. The controls and weapons were perfectly matched, and I loved the Covenant AI. I went on to enjoy the whole game, including the Flood levels.
That Xbox was the last Microsoft console I owned, so I haven’t played the franchise since Halo 2. The forced move to digital has blunted my enthusiasm for my hobby of almost 50 years recently. As a result, I doubt I’ll buy Campaign Evolved. I will however follow reviews and sales. I might even have a listen to the soundtrack too.
Coinslot-
GC: It’s out next Tuesday, the 28th.
Inbox also-rans
Played the Saros demo and I can see where the negativity is coming from. The combat does seem good but the whole thing is so grey and miserable looking. It’s really hard too.
Casper
Love the idea of a video game version of Odyssey, mentioned in the Reader’s Feature. It’ll never happen with anything big budget but I do wish there were more swords and sandals games that weren’t just generic fantasy.
Sider
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