The evening Inbox imagines turning Alien Isolation into a Battle Royale game, as one reader suggests a Super Mario Land remake.
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Sequel story
Just returned to Horizon Zero Dawn after picking up the DLC, The Frozen Wilds. The base game is on sale at £20 and the complete edition at £30 on the PSN store, it’s well worth that money. I’m finding it just as enjoyable as ever, but I wouldn’t say I’m clamouring for a sequel.
Central to the game’s enjoyment for me was discovering the origin story of Aloy and the machines. The premise of it is just a really neat idea and it played out brilliantly though the 25 hours of the main story quest lines, as you went about the map piecing it altogether. Like Wolfenstein: The New Order and The New Colossus, the story element meshed with the well implemented gameplay mechanics to make a game that was a cut above many of its peers in the same genres.
There’s plenty to work with for a sequel, like new machines, but I find it hard to imagine any expansion of the back story would be as compelling as the central discoveries in the first game. The tribe story lines are not very interesting to be honest, and a sequel more focused on tribal shenanigans doesn’t sound appealing.
Like Bloodborne though, I would warmly welcome a sequel while preferring new IP. I think a Horizon sequel is inevitable and I wouldn’t mind seeing it held back for a PlayStation 5 launch title, it’ll look stunning and hopefully I’ll have a 4K/HDR TV by them.
Simundo Jones
Remake Boy
I got to wonder whether anyone who has actually played a Game Boy recently genuinely wants to pay money for recreation, whether it’s got built-in games or not. Don’t get me wrong, I loved mine at the time but even back in the day it was really low tech. Playing it today it’s hard to even understand what you’re looking at.
It was originally successful because it was reasonably cheap and the batteries lasted forever, neither of which are issues today. I mean, I’m not telling Nintendo not to release it but I do wonder whether people pulling for there to be a Classic Mini version have actually gone near one in the last 20 years.
What I’d actually be more interested in is a remake of Super Mario Land. That’s a really underrated platformer and I’d love to see it get treatment similar to Metroid II. I think that showed the way how to deal with presenting Game Boy games in today’s world.
Finbarr
Alien Battle
In response to Grant’s question about adding a Battle Royale mode to other games, I myself have found Fortnite a lot of fun and feel there are numerous games that could add this game mode. I agree GTA Online on-foot mode would be perfect.
I had thought about this myself and had only really considered multiplayer games such as Splatoon, but Zelda would also be interesting and would be a great way of adding further life to an awesome game world.
I have recently been playing Dead By Daylight and wonder if they could introduce a Battle Royale mode where perhaps there are one to five killers and everybody else plays as a survivor, the last person standing wins. That could be a nervy game.
Or something similar with the Alien Isolation map, the alien would have to be AI, otherwise the suspense would be killed immediately when a player controlled alien just randomly gets stuck in a corner whilst trying to climb the walls! Although if you were getting dropped off by a battle bus/spaceship I would be tempted to avoid the Nostromo entirely!
Will N
GC: That sounds like it might be quite similar to the Friday The 13th game.
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Such stuff as dreams are made on
Happy new year GameCentral. I managed to get myself a Nintendo Switch last year and have been very happy with my purchase. It has now become my go-to console for all my gaming needs, bar one. My PS Vita is still used on a daily basis, all because of one certain game: TxK. This game is just so good! I have been playing it for years now and still can not put it down.
I know there was a news story a while back with Atari threatening the immortal Jeff Minter with court action in regards to TxK and Tempest 2000 but that all seemed to go quiet, did anything come of that?
But my real question is what are the chances of Jeff Minter porting this amazing game over to the Switch? Being 47-years-old and having grown up playing most of Jeff Minter’s games, from Attack Of The Mutant Camels to Space Giraffe, I would be in gaming heaven if this game ever did appear on the Switch.
Living in hope.
Richard
GC: It seems unlikely, but only because Jeff Minter is now working on Tempest 4000 for Atari.
Wood for the trees
I completely agree with Shirobah in this morning’s Inbox. VR is absolutely fantastic and highly immersive. I get resolution can be a problem for some people, and while there is a noticeable drop (on the PlayStation VR at least) once you are immersed in the game and you’re not looking at every fine detail you barely even notice – or at least I don’t anyway.
I have Skyrim VR and am thoroughly enjoying it, but again I agree that VR is at its best in smaller games that are designed with it in mind from the word go.
One game I have thoroughly enjoyed recently, despite lukewarm reviews, was Star Trek: Bridge Crew. I was on with a few random guys yesterday and hilarity ensued when we couldn’t figure out how to get the Enterprise to warp speed. Captain Kirk would not have been amused.
OldMiley (PSN ID)
Tainted love
I’m willing to bet that Microsoft’s plans for the ‘Career’ mode on the Xbox One were drawn up before Star Wars: Battlefront II poisoned the well for loot boxes. I just don’t see them doing anything like that now, since it would basically be tainting the whole console. Especially as you know microtransactions would be involved, given how they’ve worked previously with avatars.
Although I think their situation is probably a bit different to others, as they’ve got a whole console to support and they don’t want to make it seem like anything would be bad on it. I see the whole Battlefront fuss isn’t stopping PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds adding loot boxes with stupidly low chances to the PC version.
I know they’re just cosmetic, and so don’t affect the game, but I think we have to accept now that to those with an addictive personality that doesn’t make any difference. Especially when the games are pushing them so much.
Coombs
Thumping good time
I’ve just purchased Thumper on sale from the Nintendo eShop for around £10 and I can’t recommend the game strongly enough.
I’ve genuinely never played a game that’s so immersive and demands such concentration whilst putting a great big grin on my face. As you mentioned this morning (I think), this game must be absolutely incredible on PlayStation VR.
adams6legend
GC: It is, but as you now know it’s still amazing even on a normal TV/portable.
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Something of value
On Monday GC replied to a letter questioning Bayonetta 1+2’s £50 price tag on the Switch by saying that they ‘are uncomfortable with the idea that a game should be deemed virtually worthless merely because it’s a few years old.’
I certainly wouldn’t describe it as virtually worthless, but I think full price is a bit much (especially as one of the games is only a download).
I also disagree with GC’s point that it isn’t the case with books, movies, and music.
I looked up the DVD prices of the 10 most popular films of 2009 (the year the first Bayonetta came out) in a popular shop. Most were just 50p each, and even the most expensive was only £2.50.
It’s a similar story with books or CDs the same age.
The cost of converting the game to the Switch would have been peanuts, as it’s not been enhanced like many HD remakes. And with the option to buy the first game on Xbox 360 or PlayStation 3 for £2 and the sequel on Wii U for £8 Nintendo could have gone for a more mid-price option.
I think that Nintendo are very mean with their back catalogue, with few compilations, bundles, deals or even older titles available online as downloads. I think this is needlessly restricting their audience, and selling a few at full price will generate less money than selling more at a cheaper price.
I wrote a reader feature on this a while back, which you can see here.
Incidentally I’m currently enjoying the Game Pass on Xbox One, which lets you play over 100 titles for just £1 (usually £8 a month), and is a similar idea to the one I suggested in 2016.
Jean-Paul Satire
GC: Avatar was the number one movie of 2009 and the Blu-ray is still £13 on Amazon. Obviously, everyone wants everything to be as cheap as possible, but an unwillingness to attribute significant monetary value to video games is the road that has led us to free-to-play and loot boxes. Nintendo’s Satoru Iwata, amongst others, warned of this many years ago.
Inbox also-rans
Playing PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds on Xbox One for the first time this week, it is a good and intense game and highly recommended. Currently available to download for £17.99 at cdkeys.com and includes a free copy of Assassin’s Creed Unity on Xbox One.
stanley71
Nice interview with the Monster Hunter guy, GC. I love how you guys always seem to get on with the developers so well and chat with them. Do they get boozed up for this sort of thing, I always wondered?
Kimble
GC: No, not at all. They’re usually there doing interviews all day, so they’d be hammered by the end if they were drinking.
This week’s Hot Topic
Since it’s the first weekend Inbox of the new year there’s only one obvious question to ask this week: what 2018 video game are you looking forward to the most?
You can find our list of the biggest name releases here, which includes the current best guesses as to whether games will or won’t be out this year – so do try and keep your choices as realistic as possible (for the sake of argument let’s assume that The Last Of Us Part II will be released in 2018, even though the real chance is probably no better than 50/50).
What we’re most interested in is why you’re looking forward to your chosen games, and what you expect from them. What do you think of the current line-up compared to previous years, and are there any major forthcoming games you’ve already discounted?
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The small print
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You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word 4Player viewer features at any time, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.
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