The morning Inbox realises that none of this years Nintendo leaks have been real, as one reader asks about modern text adventures.
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PLEASE NOTE: Were currently preparing special content to run over the Christmas and new year break, and as usual wed like this to include a number of Readers Features. So if youve been meaning to write one but never got round to it, now would be the perfect time. The topic doesnt have to coincide with the time of year, just anything video game-related that youre interested in and which you think others might be too.
Battlefield casualties
Im exaggerating, of course, but one of the things Im most looking forward to next year is seeing digital sales being added to the usual weekly UK sales charts. I assume we still wont get numbers but I am very curious to know how some of the big franchises are doing this year. As far as I can see its been a bad year for them, with Destiny 2: Forsaken, Battlefield V, Assassins Creed Odyssey, Hitman 2, and even FIFA doing worse than last year. The only ones I know that did better are Nintendo games, Call Of Duty, and Red Dead Redemption II.
Its Battlefield V that worries me personally because Im a big fan of the series and have been enjoying the game very much. But its very obvious that it doesnt have anywhere near the hype as usual and that not nearly as many people are playing as I would think. But for me it has the best gunplay of the series, the maps are great, and the new modes are all very good – and thats before Battle Royale is added to it.
I really hope when thats added that therell be a second chance for the game as I think its become almost the hidden gem of the year. If you can call a massive game like that hidden. Even the extra story DLC was good with what I would say is the best of them so far. Underlying this is that I fear that DICE are not having a good time of it lately, with the Battlefront games also having trouble. I really hope that EA isnt going to get the hatchet out on them, but I assume theres going to be a big rethink for Battlefield 6.
Psimeister
Leaky record
I didnt really twig this until now but I dont think there was a single real Nintendo leak this year. We had the big one about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate that I couldve sworn was real and really thought was going to be proven when Ken was the first reveal in the Nintendo Direct. It was backed up by what looked like very real photo evidence but which I realise now mustve been doctored. But… why? I mean, that stuff mustve taken a lot of effort and for what? To be forgotten about the second the real reveals are made?
Id almost say it was more crazy than the guy that 3D printed the fake Switch console. At least then there was a lot of speculation about what the Switch was and lots of people were trying to imagine it for themselves. But why make up really complicated Smash rosters that are going to be disproven in a few days?
Which brings me to the Star Fox: Grand Prix. That also had photo evidence and yet in the light of nothing else being true Im also going to assume thats a fake. A shame, as I think a Star Fox and F-Zero crossover could work but Im not going to believe a word it till I see someone from Nintendo confirm it.
Kodo
GC: There was some minor stuff with Mario Tennis and Yoshis Crafted World but that was all.
Text is not dead
I was wondering, are text adventures truly extinct? Games such as The Hobbit were highly popular in the 8-bit era but I fear that advances in technology have removed any need for the genre to exist, at least in the mainstream marketplace.
I want to believe that text adventures could make a comeback, but not on consoles because who would want to read lots of text on their television screen?
Maybe Im remembering the genre with too much fondness but I think that in this age of instant gratification it might be nice if we had to use our brains a bit more whilst playing a game.
The hardcore text adventures like Espionage Island didnt have any graphics at all which meant that you had to visualise the games events and locations in your head.
msv858 (Twitter)
GC: Since theyre so easy to make, from a technical point of view, there are still lots around and plenty of fan communities. There are a few on Steam too, including Stories Untold – which had quite a bit of mainstream success last year.
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After the partys over
I know I am (very!) late to the party but I must mention how much I am enjoying gaming on my 3DS. I only bought it this year but so far the games I have played on it have been super fun (a personal favourite has been Luigis Mansion 2).
3D really does add a lot to gaming and it makes me wonder what has happened to glasses free 3DTV technology. I really thought that it would be a common thing by now with large 3DTVs at reasonable prices but unfortunately this has not happened.
The death of 3DTVs that did require glasses proves that the general public are not willing to sit in the house wearing such things (another reason, along with motion sickness, that VR will always be for the hardcore). With talk of an updated Switch a 3D handheld-only model would do me nicely. Zelda: Breath Of The Wild in 3D, yes please!
TheCRASSman
GC: That seems incredibly unlikely. Nintendo UK dont even sell the 3DS officially anymore, just the 2DS.
Panzer secrets
Additional info to add to the interesting article about the Panzer Dragoon series update: Panzer Dragon Orta on the original Xbox also includes the original Panzer Dragoon as an unlockable extra.
A bit of really nerdy extra info is that it can actually be used as a loader to force the main game to display in 480p on late version (v1.6) Xboxes. Those Xboxes had a quirky video encoder which only played some games in 480i/60Hz despite the fact the games themselves supported 480p.
Malcolm Lawn
GC: Wed completely forgotten it had the first as an unlockable.
Dad dancing
I downloaded the demo to both of the Persona dancing games the other day out of curiosity, despite the fact that I have been historically terrible at rhythm action games. Because as any girl who has ever met me can attest to, I gots no rhythm!
And you know something? Im still terrible at them! It only takes about 10 seconds for me to become overwhelmed by all the button prompts flying all over the place on screen.
Its not as humiliating as Space Channel 5 or Gitaroo Man. I wasnt sure when I was supposed to start hitting the buttons in the former and having to basically draw lines with the analogue stick in the latter is way beyond my barely functional dexterity.
I dont know why I suck so hard at this genre – I beat Ninja Gaiden all by myself you know! Rhythm action just must be my kryptonite.
Shame, as Mitsurus nightclub wear is so shway… as Barry Allens daughter is fond of saying.
DMR
Not playing ball
Completely agree with the Readers Feature about Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. It has exceeded my expectations so much Im kind of in awe of it. See what difference a good single-player mode can make!
The only slight problems I have, other than the lack of text descriptions, is that there are no Final Fantasy spirits and only two songs! Obviously thats no accident and was presumably because Square Enix refused to give the licence for anymore but how weird! Castlevania, Street Fighter, and Mega Man have basically got a ton of free advertising in the game and this could be enough to actually force Konami into making a proper new Castlevania.
I realise Final Fantasy doesnt need that kind of hope but I dont know what they were thinking by being so stingy. Unless they just want to cultivate a reputation as the party pooper of the group.
Dookie
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One loyalty
Sorry Im late to the party regarding last weekends Hot Topic about loyalty. It was a very interesting topic and a good read. May I add however I dont believe in loyalty whatsoever, unless youre into football and you go and support your beloved football team. I remember when I was younger I used to buy singles from WHSmith because I liked the band artist and I want them/he/she to do well in the charts and see them on Top of the Pops on a Thursday evening.
I have mates who are loyal ones: Sony-only, whether its a camera, phone, and obviously PlayStation 4. My other mate is Panasonic through and through, again the same old story. Another one Adidas, etc. Now Ive never understood brand loyalty ever. Me personally, I buy what offers me the best value for my money and provides me with my personal needs, it doesnt matter who or what company makes the TV, the phone, the game, and console, etc. I think its all down to money if were all honest about this. If everyone could afford all the three main consoles and games then everybody would have the best of all the worlds, being able to afford what all three corporate gaming companies has to offer.
If you can only afford one of the big three consoles, or even maybe two of them, at the end of the day you are going to defend your brand console and game studio to the hilt, no matter what anyone says to you because its only human nature.
We naturally defend ourselves because gaming is not cheap these days, so we all want to justify our purchases to the max; so were not kidding ourselves weve wasted our money backing a dead horse. Ive Been there with the Sega Saturn, no not because I loved Sega. I actually owned the Nintendo SNES and never owned the Mega Drive as platform games just wasnt for me. I was a Street Fighter guy. But when I owned the Saturn it was a complete waste of my £400 from start to finish. I remember buying it because of the game Virtua Fighter and my impatience as I should of waited. Yet I tried to defend it because of the all the money I had spent.
Again, loyalty: whats that? Do me a favour, Ive never understood it or agreed with it because at the end of the day every corporate business out there has no loyalty to us the consumer. Because all they want to do is just make money and more money from us and thats it full stop. Like I mentioned earlier, theres only one loyalty in life and thats your football team you support. Players, managers, and chairmen come and go but the fans will always remain the same whether your team is in the Premiership or the non-conference league. Keep marching on together!
JAH
Inbox also-rans
Nice interview with Suda51, GC. I had no idea he hadnt actually been making games for all this time, that seems like a real waste of his talents. I hope he gets the killer7 directors cut made, but sounds like it all hinges on Travis Strikes Again being a hit. Lets hope its good!
Doshin
Thank you for your kind words bigdaddy watt. I didnt know about the two free games every two weeks. Thank you. You can get free content for Dishonored 2 and Dishonored Death Of The Outsider game, here is the article with information.
Andrew J.
This weeks Hot Topic
As the last Hot Topic before Christmas the subject for this weekends Inbox is what game have you enjoyed the most this year that wasnt released in 2018?
Well do our usual Readers Top 20 in the new year but what was your favourite game this year that came out before 2018? It can be from any time period, from this gen to the 8-bit era, but what did you enjoy the most and why?
How often do you play older games and was your favourite something youd played before, or was it perhaps part of a backlog? Or is it something you picked up for cheap and youre just now catching up on recent releases?
E-mail your comments to: [email protected]
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