Games Inbox: What video game console is best to get for Christmas?

The Wednesday letters page tries to choose between the Nintendo Switch 2 and PS5, as a reader gives his positive verdict on Gears Of War: E-Day.

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Christmas choice
With Christmas coming up (as soon as Halloween is over the shops will be full of it, I’m already dreading it) I have a difficult choice to make: do I buy a Switch 2 or a PlayStation 5? I’m still last gen only at the moment, with a Switch 1 and a PlayStation 4, and my vague plan was to get a PlayStation 5 when GTA 6 came out.

I thought that was going to be last year, when the Switch 2 was too recent to consider, but a year later and I’m a lot more tempted, especially with the Zelda: Ocarina Of Time remake out soon. I’m also strangely less interested in GTA 6 than I thought I would be. As a few other people have said, it seems disappointingly similar to the last game so far and doesn’t seem to have any new ideas or features.

The graphics are amazing and I’m sure the open world will be too, but I was hoping for something more. What I couldn’t say – maybe there isn’t anything else it could really do – but it seems underwhelming to me.

I probably will get a PlayStation 5, and GTA 6, at some point but I really can’t decide what to do this year. If only Nintendo would make its future plans more clear I’d probably go in that direction, but their secrecy is very frustrating. I don’t want to buy a Switch 2 game and have their big 2027 games be another couple of Kirby titles.

Curious to know if anyone else is in the same position.
Serge

Final form
Getting the PC version of GTA 6 in the spring seems pretty obviously the time to do it but it made me realise that not only has Rockstar said nothing about the online mode but we haven’t heard anything about the Roblox style user-generated content.

I realise that was only a rumour, but it seems like the most obvious thing ever to do, and the kind of thing that would send GTA into the stratosphere of popularity. My guess is that it’s going to be a three part plan and that we’ll get the campaign in November; the online in the spring, possibly at the same time as the PC version; and then the Roblox stuff later in the year or even in 2028.

GTA 6 is going to be around for at least a decade, and not all the bits are going to be available from the start. When it is all done though, it’s going to bigger than the rest of the games industry put together, in my opinion.
Joss

Good note
I’ve just beaten Gears Of War: E-Day and I would say I generally enjoyed it. I realise that’s not the most positive thing you could say but there’s no getting away from the fact that it is very one note and not very different from the original games.

You spend the whole time doing nothing but shooting the same collection of bad guys and everywhere kind of looks the same, but… I’m not going to pretend I didn’t enjoy it. It’s really good combat and I liked the cover aspect, which I feel has become less common in recent games.

I don’t know if a new trilogy of games that are just like this is a good idea, but I would give the game a solid 8/10. I haven’t touch the PvP multiplayer yet either, so there’s actually more to it that I haven’t seen yet.
Bilbo’s Foot

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Slow build-up
I admit I had completely forgotten about The Duskbloods until the reader mentioned it the other day in the Inbox. Surely it can’t still be coming out this year if we’re well into October and we still don’t have a release date? It’s Nintendo, so I guess they could announce a Direct tomorrow and that’s that, but that doesn’t feel like something likely to happen.

Since it’s a multiplayer-only game I’m not actually that interested in it, despite being a big From fan, so I’m desperate for it get a date and come out so that we can move on to whatever they’re doing next. As everyone is saying, it feels ages since Elden Ring and we have no idea what they’re doing next, only that it’s not Elden Ring 2.

I do find that exciting, as I do feel they’re building up to something that’s truly groundbreaking, that is worth all the secrecy. On the flipside, if they just announce Dark Souls 4 I will be so disappointed.
Colbat84

Sloppy future
Your article on Epic Games making a game using mostly AI felt like the beginning of the end for many employees in the game industry. I was going to say hopefully they get the message if it doesn’t sell well, but it is happening whether we like it or not… just like in the film industry.

I read massive sound stages around America are now just gathering dust as a lot of filmmakers just use AI now, as it’s cheaper. Sad times where we just end up with generic AI slop games without the input and, more importantly the imagination, of the people making the games.
TWO MACKS

GC: We don’t think any film stages are standing idle because of AI, except in the sense that strikes were caused because of people protesting against its use.

Land of confusion
The lack of a PlayStation 5 console bundle for GTA 6 really is peculiar. I don’t need one because I have a PlayStation already, but it seems like such an obvious thing to do that the fact it’s not happening just shows how much has changed about gaming in the last few years.

I feel that I don’t understand anything anymore or align with what companies want to make and sell to me. I guess I’m getting old but I’m only 36 and that seems too early to get completely out of touch, right? And even then, aren’t we constantly being told that the average age of gamers is getting older and older, and is now somewhere around 40 years old, so shouldn’t publishers be lining up to make things to suit me?

I don’t mean that in an entitled way, I just mean that if a middle-ish age hardcore fan is not the main target group for video games then what is? I guess you could say kids for Fortnite, Minecraft, and Roblox but those are three giant games that there’s basically no viable clones for. There’s a few other popular free online shooters, but basically it’s just those three games and nobody else gets a look in.

So what are publishers doing? Are they trying to make the complete opposite, to appeal to a different group or are they just slamming their head against the wall again and again, in the hope that they somehow break through? I think we all know the answer to that one.

So little of the modern world makes sense to me and I’m bitterly aware that makes me sound like I’m in my 80s, not my 30s. That’s the point I’m making though. When did it all stop making sense? Why does no one in charge seem to want to improve things? Because they’re making money, somehow, I guess, is the obvious answer. Or they’re convinced this is the best way to make lots of money. I’m not convinced they’re right though.
Gordo

Sharpe observation
If it helps, I too would love to see a Sharpe video game. I’ve never understood why we don’t see more European-based games where you’re using a sword, that aren’t just medieval. Using a sword and a rifle that has a long load time seems like it would make for a great gameplay loop.

It can be realistic or it can have horror aspects, like Valor Mortis, but you just don’t see things like that, even though Assassin’s Creed has kind of been doing it forever (it doesn’t always have guns, but it often does). I’m not sure Valor Morits is going to be a big enough hit to inspire a new trend, but here’s hoping.
Zeiss

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Currently unconvinced
So, the juggernaut that is GTA 6 is almost here and I’m one of those who has not pre-ordered it. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve played almost every GTA since the first and generally enjoyed them but I don’t feel the core gameplay has really moved on since GTA 3 and 4. I have played the last instalment but found it lacking in enjoyment for me personally, although I have friends who loved it. Which leads to my dilemma; can I trust any review about GTA 6?

We already have people proclaiming it the best game ever, a generation defining game, and other superlatives that are absolute guesswork. My instinct is that anyone who adores GTA 5 will likely love the latest instalment and rave about how good it is with 10/10 reviews coming from many sites and gamers. For people who dislike GTA it probably is not going to persuade them any differently and there will perhaps be the odd site who will want to put out a poor review, purely to be different.

What I’d like to see is a truly honest and reflective review. Perhaps done by two people, one with a foot in camp A and the other with a foot in camp B, who then come to a consensus on what this new instalment is actually like. I feel finding the truth amongst the noise generated by this release is going to be hard but I’m not stumping up £70 (or more!) upfront without knowing how well this will run on our current hardware or what the core gameplay loop is going to be like.

Is it just GTA 5 with better graphics or does it offer something more? If it is the former I will be happy waiting this one out for a sale much further down the line.

Chances are I will play it at some point, but it is going to take some convincing for it to be in 2026. However, and I appreciate that this will put me in a minority of people reading this, I’m coming to the end of my The Witcher 3 replay (currently halfway through Blood And Wine), with the next expansion, Fable, and Final Fantasy 7 Revelation on my watch list for next year.

I’m going to need something to see out the rest of 2026, however, and nothing is holding my interest right now. Perhaps I’ll look at the well-reviewed Star Wars Zero Company or Order Of The Sinking Star. Or maybe I will cave to the hype and end up playing GTA 6 after all. Time will tell!
Adam W

Inbox also-rans
You’re right GC, it does say, ‘Oh, Banana!’ on screen. You’d think I would have noticed that after collecting all 1,000 of them. Starting to worry about myself now.
PjDonnelli

I have never heard of Planet Zoo before, but those screenshots look great. I’m actually fairly tempted because I know my girlfriend will like it too.
Hoghast

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.

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