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What secrets will The Game Awards have in store?

The Game Awards – what secrets will it reveal?

The evening Inbox mourns the death of Prima Games, as another reader prepares his Black Friday most wanted list.

To join in with the discussions yourself email [email protected]

More new than ever

Just seen this tweet about The Game Awards and it got me pretty excited. Theyre promising more new game announcements than theyve ever had, which is quite a claim as they usually have five or six good ones and at least that many again smaller games. Microsoft and Nintendo have also announced stuff there for the first time too (I dont think Sony because they had PSX, except they didnt this year) so we could be getting our first look at Metroid Prime 4 and/or Bayonetta 3. Perhaps even something brand new.

I assume Microsoft hasnt actually got anything new to show, or theyd do it X018 this weekend, but who knows. We might get a bit more on Halo Infinite or Gears Of War 4.

What Im most looking forward to those is surprised. New games we never heard of or had been leaked before. Not even E3 really does that anymore and I miss the element of not knowing. Something new from Warner is well overdue, whatever game the people behind Life Is Strange: Before The Storm are working on, anything new from Activision, a new From game… and thats just the games I can half guess at.

Its not on till December 6 so hopefully this can ensure the year does end with a bang and not a whimper.
Cranston
PS: Are GC one of the judges for the awards again? I remember you were last time?

GC: Were one of the judges for this year, yes.

On December 6 #TheGameAwards will stream live on a record 40 global video platforms. With our biggest lineup yet in terms of new game announcements, it's going to be a very exciting night filled with surprises and celebration. Worlds Will Change. Will You? pic.twitter.com/0hQ8lz5CHw

— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) November 9, 2018

Against the current

I cant believe Im saying this but Im not enjoying Red Dead Redemption II as much as I thought I would. I have adored every other Rockstar game, including the first Red Dead, so I was expecting myself to love II just as much. But so far it really hasnt clicked with me and with all the gushing praise I hear about it, It makes me think I must be a crazy person. Its undoubtedly gorgeous and the story is good, but what Im really not liking so far is the all the role-playing mechanics.

There is so much to monitor that I dont think its fun. I have stamina, the horse has stamina, there is a core bar, health bars, I need to make sure the horse is clean and my weapons are clean, I need to contribute to the camp, its all a bit too overwhelming for my tastes. Weirdly, I didnt mind all that stuff in GTA: San Andreas but I think in that it was a lot more basic. Or maybe its because with limited gaming time compared to when I played San Andreas as a teenager, I dont want to spend my spare time making sure my horse is clean just to make sure its stamina can reload quicker.

I get that for a lot of people it adds to the immersion and Im pleased that others are really enjoying it, Im just disappointed Im not enjoying it as much alongside them. People tell me to keep going as it opens up and gets better, but six hours in Im not sure if Im already past that.
Angry_Kurt (Twitter)

Down the list

I was so excited by the announcement of the PlayStation Classic. It was the perfect Christmas present to myself and would look great beside my other mini consoles from Nintendo. However, after the full line-up was revealed I felt a little underwhelmed. Dont get me wrong, I didnt expect all 20 games to be to my tastes (the NES and SNES mini consoles didnt either) but the PlayStation Classic just seems to be missing that one little thing that makes me want to get it right away.

And after reading some hands-on impressions I think Ill cancel my pre-order and save the £90 for now. I will probably get it sometime down the line but it has definitely dropped off my must have list for Christmas. On a positive note, Im still enjoying Spider-Man and cant wait to get stuck into Red Dead Redemption II and Smash Bros. over the Christmas break!
goldbricks23

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All planned out

I am also looking forward to the Black Friday sales. I will be buying Divinity: Original Sin II which is already being discounted and will probably be around £20. PES 2019, which should also be around £20, as that was the price for last years version on Black Friday and I will probably grab the arcade edition of Street Fighter V for probably around £10.

I was also thinking of getting a 4K TV but have decided against upgrading my TV until the next gen consoles get released. I also think you will get decent PlayStation VR deals as it is only £200 at the minute so I could see it at £150 during the Black Friday sales and if so I will be purchasing one. I love the Black Friday sales and I dont get the people that moan about it if you dont like it, dont buy during it.
TheCRASSman

Deaf to criticism

With The Quiet Man I can only assume that they were going for the same thing as Ico. Where you do not know what Yorda is saying the first time you play the game but can replay it to reveal her dialogue.

They however seem to have missed the bit where you do not need to understand Yordas words to enjoy the game. And that Ico cannot understand Yorda either.
PazJohnmitch

GC: From what we can gather not hearing the dialogue may have been a mercy…

Closing the book

After the news that GamesTM and GamesMaster are closing this month apparently Prima Games have gone bust too. They make all those super expensive strategy guides you always see in shops, so actually Im kind of surprised they lasted thigs long given how long GameFAQs has been a thing.

I have bought a surprising number of them over the years though, even if not recently, and they were always very well made and interesting – almost like behind the scenes making ofs/art books than just a strategy game. I love seeing all the artwork and secrets and it wont be quiet the same just reading it off the web, peering between the hordes of ads to read the sentence of content you actually wanted.

I dont imagine there was anything they couldve done to avoid it, theyve done extremely well to last this long, but so ends another aspect of the games industry that will never come back.
Big Al

Acceptable flaws

RE: My last letter. My summation that immersion was a matter of opinion probably wasnt a good way of putting it, in hindsight. I agree with what you said in reply and feel that whether a player feels immersed enough to forgive a game for its flaws is an interesting topic.

Clearly a lot of people feel immersed enough in Red Dead Redemption IIs world to forgive its flaws, just as Starlinks flaws arent a deal-breaker for me.
Andrew Middlemas

GC: You made an interest point. No game does everything equally well, so it really does depend on each persons individual priorities.

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Red Dead Redemption 2075

I too usually find myself feeling the pressure to complete a game.

I loved Spider-Man but seeing as the trade-in price for it was slowly decreasing each day that I had it I felt that towards the end I was twiddling my fingers waiting for the cut scenes to finish. Did I really need to do the remaining challenges now that the main storyline was finished?

You see, like some I am not an extravagant millionaire who has a back catalogue of unopened games acting as a makeshift totem pole, I am a poor gamer. I can only afford a new release once every few months and even then I will have to trade it in to put towards the next new release.

Because of this I find myself very rarely buying digital games, and never a new release.

But Red Dead redemption II was different…

I realised that buying the disc would mean going to the shop and the install time eating in to my actual ability to play it on my day off, so I did the unthinkable and downloaded it overnight. Digitally!
I started to play in my usual way, but then it dawned on me, I have this game forever!

It doesnt matter if it takes me one day or 10 years to complete, its still going to be there (hopefully). I could be playing this in the year 2075 on my holographic screen with the Xbox 32 installed into my pensioner brain. I could even be playing it in VR on a hoverbus laughing with my son about how awful the dated graphic look.

I wouldnt have to buy the Xbox One mini because I would already have this great game that I had been playing for the last 20 years!

So I stopped, and the realisation was tangible, I could play this game… at a snails pace and it didnt matter. I couldnt trade it, I cannot do anything else with it other than simply play it.
Rob

Inbox also-rans

Is it okay to give a plug to GameCentrals weird great-uncle Digitiser and let everyone here know that Digitiser The Show is launching on Sunday at 9pm on YouTube?
Dominic

GC: It was already mentioned earlier in the week.

YouTube on Switch. Great, thats all we need, another port…
Bad Edit

This weeks Hot Topic

The subject for this weekends Inbox was suggested by reader gaz be rotten and asks what do you want from the next generation consoles?

It looks increasingly inevitable that the PlayStation 5 and the successor to the Xbox One will at least be announced next year, so what are you hoping theyll be? How much of an improvement do you want and expect from the graphics and are there any features, such as motion controls, VR, or streaming that you think will – or should – become a new standard?

What kind of games do you want to see on the new consoles and what new features do you hope theyll include? What would a new console have to have for you to consider getting it and do you think the next generation is coming too early or about right?

E-mail your comments to: [email protected]

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The small print
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