The evening Inbox worries about the post-Witcher career of Geralt of Rivia, as one reader makes his predictions about Battlefield 5.
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Making the jump
Wondering what makes people buy new hardware. Is it the games or the brand? I bought the PlayStation 3 and 4 to continue playing the God Of War series and a I bought the Xbox 360 for Dead Rising. What has made other people make the jump? Do they buy out of brand loyalty or is it a hard researched decision leading to the best console of the time?
On the topic of a best ninja game (from a few Inboxes back), it should be Tenchu. But after trying it recently the controls are god awful and make effective stealth-ing impossible. It makes me think that it was the game that was bad and not me.
Lastly, this cold weather has been great for gaming and bad for my wrists.
bobwallett
Minor leaks
I guess it looks pretty certain that Battlefield V is going to be set in World War II then. Can’t say that feels me with too much excitement, especially given that means no helicopters. And if things like lying on your back are going to end up as the most important new features I think we can assume we’re not in store for some game-changing trendsetter.
I realise this are just random snippets leaking out, if they’re even true, but what I want to hear about is the destruction effects and an increase in the number of players. That’s what Battlefield needs to improve on. The co-op Conquest thing already sounds like a gimmick to distract from the fact that nothing else has changed.
I also liked the idea of a Battle Royale mode, but I feel that definitely would’ve leaked out if it was true. If Battlefield doesn’t do it I have a feeling that Call Of Duty will. Activision are not slow to jump on a bandwagon, or abandon an old one, but I’m beginning to think that DICE are a bit slower. After the disaster of Battlefront II they need to prove they’re still on the ball.
Sydon
Career twilight
I agree that Geralt in SoulCalibur VI is the most likely meaning of that hint, but I wonder if that’s also a sign of his future ‘career’ from now on: making cameos in other people’s games. I wouldn’t be surprised if he was in God Of War as well, considering CD Projekt seemed very chummy with Guerrilla Games and Sony in general.
I’m surprised he hasn’t been in Final Fantasy XV yet, considering all the weird cameos that’s already had, and if I was Nintendo I’d be trying to get a port to the Switch. But this all seems a waste to me. On the one hand I appreciate them not doing a fourth game if they don’t want to milk it, but the third game is very different from the other two so it’s not as if we’ve already had our fill of it.
Not doing another Witcher, or at least something with Geralt in it, seems like one of those actors that seems like they’re going to be the next big thing but then just end up appearing in random films before just disappearing altogether. Geralt deserves better than that if you ask me.
Collie
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Political action
Loot box! Come on guys, stop buying that **** this is our hobby and it’s being corrupted by this practice.
The ESRB, self-appointed regulatory body that lobbies for gaming companies to avoid incurring governmental injunctions, like those proposed back in day for Night Trap and Mortal Kombat, has decided that they will from now on put a sticker on games that have paid-for content as in-game extras.
This warning will not differentiate between mission levels and the detestable loot or gotcha gambling and with their recent statement denying the existence of gaming addiction, as verified by the World Health Organisation, it only highlights the insidious nature of companies that hire psychiatrists to increase a game’s microtransaction engagement.
Senators are getting involved in this issue now, and because of these greedy transactions gaming once again could become a scapegoat for political posturing.
Gaming companies’ decisions are harming the quality of games with this piecemeal portion approach and insidious use of gambling, and I hope to see them come their senses before things get any worse.
Col1815
Xbox Now
I had a free trial PS Now icon appear on my PlayStation 4 dashboard yesterday and found it prompted a derisory snort and I deleted it straight away. It reminded me how impressed I am with Microsoft’s attitude to backwards compatibility.
To be honest, I’ve not used PS Now so don’t know if it’s plagued by the early problems of streaming games of lag and reduced image quality. I recall watching a funny stream in the early days of PS Now, of someone playing a laggy Shadow Of The Colossus on PS Now and it was a fascinating study of self-control and frustration management. It honestly looked like completing Dark Souls on a dance mat would of been an easier challenge. What I do know though of PS Now, is it’s overpriced at £12.99 a month and offers none of the improvements to last gen games that the Xbox offers.
I actually think Microsoft’s backwards compatibility offering is over generous and only exists as they needed something to fight back against Sony with. I’d be happy to pay for a subscription service to play old games, not streaming them though but a service that lets you download them and with improvements. It’d be nice to see PS Now morph into something similar to Game Pass, for now though it strikes me as a poor offering and Microsoft deserve high praise indeed for their approach to backwards compatibility and also Game Pass.
Simundo Jones
Falling at the last
In response to Jack_the_Ripper9 and GC about Dead Space.
I feel that Dead Space 1 is a good game… Dead Space 3 is poor, however. I think Dead Space 2 is massively underrated, from its superb sound design (the best sound in any game, in my opinion) it’s fantastic gunplay, with a great variety of weapons, tense gameplay and epic set pieces, not to mention the cleverly designed HUD that keeps you fully immersed.
Number two was so good because it was a linear, well-oiled roller-coaster ride. The step from first to second reminds me of Uncharted 1 to 2.
It’s really sad to think that the poor third game brings the series down.
Skill Influx (gamertag)
Good but not that good
Regarding GC’s comments about Dead Space, I 100% agree.
I never really understood the love in to the Dead Space series, and it has always confused me when people list them as one of the scariest ever games. In my opinion, none of them are in the least bit scary. Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy playing through Dead Space 1 and 2, but I wouldn’t count them as classics. The weapons were dull to me and the story was almost nonsensical.
However, it was fun, anything that reminds me of Event Horizon I will enjoy.
Matt
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Educated guesses
I don’t know whether I believe those particular Grand Theft Auto rumours but if I was going to make up a story that was believable it would be pretty much along those lines. I think the obvious things at this point is that a new game is not going to be out anytime soon and that, as always, any dream that it’s going to be set outside the US is doomed. That’s why Vice City again is more believable than that last rumour about Tokyo.
For once I’m actually glad it’ll be America though as the state of the country now with Trump is almost like the earlier games come true. I’d love to know what Rockstar could do now in terms of satire, as I think they’d be hilarious.
The one other prediction I’d make though is that the next GTA release from Rockstar will actually be a Switch version of GTA V. I’d even go so far as to say I bet it ends up being an announcement at E3. GTA V was an Xbox 360 game originally, so there’s no reason it couldn’t work. I’m not sure about GTA Online support but if the game sells enough I can see Rockstar looking into it.
Koku
Inbox also-rans
I guess nobody took up PlayStation Plus’s offer of downloading Knack for free last month? I didn’t. Nor will I download Mighty No.9. Heh. So bad you can’t give ‘em away!
DMR
That’s blatantly got to be SoulCalibur VI that Geralt is in. I’m not sure I can really see him jumping around and fighting someone like Ivy, but I can definitely see why Namco would want him in there.
Popolo
This week’s Hot Topic
The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader Tom Meadows, who asks what single game have you put the most hours into?
Some games actually list the number of hours (and days) you’ve played them for, but even if you have to estimate what one would you say you’ve played the most and over what kind of time frame? How did the game hold your attention for so long and do you consider it to be your favourite video game?
Do you tend to play a small number of games for long periods of time or try to play as many as possible and never stay on one for too long? Do you think you were addicted to the game you spent the longest time on, and do you regret playing it for so long?
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