The Monday letters page has been trying to pick up a cheap Xbox Series X before the price rise, as one reader fears Star Wars games are going to become rare in the future.
To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk
But why thou?
Not surprising that GTA 6 has been delayed, given all the warning signs. It’s obvious why Take-Two didn’t say anything either, given what’s happened to their stock price, now that the delay is confirmed.
It’s going to be interesting to see all the publishers trying to rush their games out before May next year now, which is inevitably going to lead to a lot of unfinished games and bugs that are fixed later with patches. So there’s that to look forward to.
One question I don’t think I’ve seen many people even bothering to ask though – given we’ll never get a proper official answer – is why? Is it just non-specific polishing or was there something not working in it? Maybe a gameplay mechanic needed tightening up? Or maybe GTA Online 2 wasn’t up to snuff?
If we do get an official comment, I’m sure it’ll just be polishing that was needed but I feel over a year’s delay had something a bit more going on than someone forget to schedule in the QA at the end of the project.
Kanker
Exception to the rule
Nice couple of Star Wars features at the weekend. I haven’t played TIE Fighter, so I can’t say whether it deserves the praise or not, but the comments on the ones I have played seem about right. But I do worry that these sort of big licensed games, that do well but don’t blow the doors off, are gong to become rare in the future.
It must cost a fortune to make something like Star Wars Outlaws and to have it flop, like Avengers and Midnight Suns before it, and that destroys the myth of the licence printing money. Obviously Spider-Man does but that’s very much an outlier.
By the logic of live service games that means that companies will just keep trying again and again until they repeat its success (or go bust) but somehow I don’t think that’s going to happen this time. That’s a shame. I’d much rather have a steady stream of new Star Wars and Marvel games than more live service tripe.
Netts
Waiting game
I didn’t realise that the Xbox Series X is more expensive than the PS5 Pro in the US now, that is crazy. Why cut the legs off the console in your best (and almost only) region? It’s very obvious that Microsoft just do not care about hardware sales anymore and have given up trying to push their consoles or subsidise them in any way.
But do they really make enough money from their other games to justify keeping Xbox going? Obviously Call Of Duty sells like hotcakes but nothing else they have comes out often enough to make a dent, even if it is popular. And Game Pass and cloud gaming aren’t anywhere near big enough to make up for the difference.
Cloud gaming will be some day, and I guess that’s Microsoft’s long term plan? They’re rich enough they can just tread water waiting for technology to catch up and for Sony to become irrelevant.
Austin
Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk
The usual delay
I predicted it. I always had that inkling that the inevitable would occur: Grand Theft Auto 6 is delayed to the calendar year of 2026. May to be more precise. Was this not a certainty? Did those who truly refuse to acknowledge the pattern of Rockstar releases truly fail to see this coming?
Sorrowful we all are, but it was an expected choice to be made. It is no longer a heartbreak, but a expectation when Rockstar chooses to develop a new title. A year long delay is painfully harrowing, but we have a release date at long last. The impatient will predictably whine, complain, and curse.
The content creators will also curse for clicks and views. I will however bide my time and hopefully I’ll be able to pre-order soon. We also deserve screenshots, a second trailer, and more details to be unveiled. At least a portion of damage control.
Shahzaib Sadiq
Unofficial mascot
I’d be surprised if anyone was that bothered about losing Sackboy as a mascot. Don’t get me wrong, most of the games he was in were pretty good, but I don’t think he as a character had anything special going for him. He didn’t talk and didn’t have any clear personality that I could work out, other than he’s… happy all the time?
Astro Bot is kind of the same in that regard and neither of them have a very unique or interesting design. Sony should’ve bought Lara Croft and made her the PlayStation mascot. The series was in trouble as far back as the PlayStation 2 so I’m not sure if the idea ever came up. It’s probably too late now, but that’s who I associate with the PlayStation the most.
Lennox
Save to spend
I second Adam W’s stance on Game Pass and also the Microsoft rewards system. My Game Pass Ultimate is coming to an end this week, but the last time I bought a year of Xbox Live off CDKeys it was 35 quid and a two week trial of Ultimate cost a quid, so £36 for eight months of Game Pass Ultimate. In the last few months alone I’ve played Far Cry: New Dawn, Watch Dogs: Legion, Mullet MadJack (highly recommended that one, it’s insane), Indiana Jones And The Great Circle, and right now Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, as well as things like Oblivion and Balatro available to try.
Not bad for a 36 quid initial outlay. Now I like a triple-A big budget game too, but like many others I baulk at the ever rising costs of new games. £50 was probably my jumping off point; having said that I have bought day one things such as Hogwarts Legacy, Resident Evil 4 remake, Mortal Kombat 1, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Star Wars Outlaws, and most recently Assassin’s Creed Shadows, but this is where the rewards scheme comes into play.
I would love to own all my games as physical copies, but these days that’s just not very viable. I have always sold and traded when needed and at 70-80 quid a go that’s very needed nowadays, but those times are over. EBay and Facebook Marketplace are awful for trying to sell your used games. So, with the rewards I have spent, in real money, £10-35 each.
Depending on how many rewards I had saved at the time, I spent all the rewards on Assassin’s Creed Shadows and paid just a tenner in real cash. That was five weeks ago or so and I already have saved up about 23,000 points, that’s about 20 quid in five weeks. So for me, when games are costing 80 quid a pop, Game Pass and Microsoft Rewards are a god send, otherwise I may have been forced out of my 35 year hobby by now.
big boy bent
Dead franchise
Pity about the EA job cuts. I haven’t really been a fan of most of EA franchises but I hope this doesn’t impact Motive Studios, who did a superb job on Dead Space.
I don’t know if it sold well enough or not but Motive making a Dead Space 2 remake would have been fabulous.
iceltichghost
GC: Motive is helping out with the new Battlefield and working on an Iron Man game. The Dead Space remake didn’t do well enough for EA though and there aren’t going to be any more.
One and only
I can’t imagine there was a single soul on earth, other than me, picking up an Xbox Series X disc version at the weekend. Smyths were good enough not to slap on the extra £20 price hike yet, unlike Argos.
I picked up an Xbox Series X at the start of the gen during the pandemic. I wanted a PlayStation 5 but the opportunity came up to get an Xbox Series X and I thought that would do until I got a PlayStation 5 and duly sold it when I did finally get Sony’s machine.
I’ve always regretted it, especially now as Game Pass is reaping the benefits of Microsoft’s grotesque spending spree. But the main reason is it was so much easier for online games with my family, who all have Xbox.
I decided the next time the Xbox Series X went on sale I’d pick one up again. But it never did, all the while the PlayStation 5 had several sales and a bargain Astro Bot bundle.
Game Pass can still be had for far below the monthly price of £14.99 though. I bought 12 months of Game Pass Core from CDKeys for £40 and upgraded to Ultimate and the conversion rate gave me seven months of Game Pass at £7.85 a month.
Not the ridiculous deals at the start of the gen where I bought two years of gold for £85, I think, then converted the whole two years to Ultimate for £1. But still good.
Also, that prized delisted digital copy of the excellent PlayStation 3/Xbox 360 version of Daytona USA I said goodbye to is going to receive an inappropriate amount of attention. What a game.
Simundo
Inbox also-rans
I’ve been playing lots of Unicorn Overlord this weekend (such a good game) but also put on Portal 2 for the first time in years. I didn’t enjoy it at the time of release, as I found Wheatley annoying, but I’m really enjoying it this time – it is actually quite funny and the puzzles are great. Suddenly I want Portal 3!
Simon
I am enquiring about the physical release of Forza Horizon 5 and Indiana Jones And The Great Circle on the PlayStation 5 physical disc release, however nothing appears to be forthcoming. And I’m sure you said that their would be physical releases.
Alan Stephens
GC: Forza is not getting a physical edition and Indiana Jones already has one, that’s always been the plan.
I’m still upset that after so many years waiting and hoping for it that Shenmue 3 was so boring and did nothing to further the story in any meaningful way. It’s like if GTA 6 finally releases and is a match-three puzzle game. Sorry I just wanted to have a little vent and knew this is a safe place.
Mark Matthews
GC: That’s okay. It was a baffling choice, that completely squandered probably the only chance the franchise will ever have for a comeback.
If EA do go under, it looks like we’ll now never get the Need For Speed Underground (1 and/or 2) remakes gamers have been asking for, for 20 years.
LeighDappa
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.