The Monday Inbox has more top tips for paying for Xbox Game Pass, as one reader tells a strange story of abandoned next gen consoles.
To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk
Advance warning
An interesting Reader’s Feature at the weekend, about Returnal, a game I’d barely even registered (and wouldn’t have remembered the name of if not for the feature). I agree that if it’s not good then it’s going to get picked on by Xbox fans and if it’s the reverse then Sony fans are going to use it as evidence of the PlayStation’s superiority. Unfortunately for it though, if it’s somewhere in the middle than that’s still going to be seen as a negative.
Looking at the list of upcoming PlayStation 5 games though I am struggling to be that excited about any of them in advance. Which, I should hasten to say, is very different from not potentially being interested when they’re closer to release and had good reviews.
But Ratchet & Clank has never interested me, no matter what it looks like, and I felt Horizon Zero Dawn was good but no exceptional. God Of War was fantastic but we know nothing about the new game, not even it’s proper name, so it’s hard to feel anything about it.
Maybe that does put more pressure on Returnal than I thought but if it does turn out good then I hope it encourages Sony to make new IP, as that’s the aspect I’m most interested in. Even if God Of War does turn out to be better.
Purple Ranger
Sony PlayBox: Microsoft Edition
RE: Theoretical game changer. Microsoft has designed this system using browsers for Game Pass on mobile phones and has mapped out some of the games with touch controls. While this is fine for some games there is a concern that this may cause a dumbing down of controls for console games so they can be used more readily on mobile phones. That aside there is of course no reason why a Game Pass game should theoretically not work perfectly on a PS5.
Unfortunately, while the game is working perfectly how do you actually give commands to the game? Since you are streaming the PlayStation 5 controller would have in effect to send signals to a Microsoft server, which of course would not recognise them. That leaves of course the possibility of trying to use an Xbox controller in the hope that it would somehow bypass the PlayStation 5 completely and work with the streamed signal. I rather doubt that would work. Even if it did it would undoubtedly invalidate your warranty if discovered.
Disappointed to see that Sony is planning more exclusives as it just reduces consumer choice. The strategy is of course double-edged, as it may prove difficult to retain the overall quality. One is also tempted to wonder how many exclusives the market can support without cutting into your own sales.
John A
Format hopping
I bought two PlayStation 5s and Xbox Series S on launch day. The PlayStation 5 and Xbox for my son and a PlayStation 5 for myself.
My son lost interest in the PlayStation 5 within a month and sold it on (he didn’t sell it for a profit in any way, I may add). He felt there wasn’t any decent games for it to justify its existence and so went back to his PlayStation 4.
His Xbox Series has also been forgotten about and hasn’t been used since Christmas. Again, for the same reasons as the PlayStation 5 and has returned to his Xbox One.
He got pretty bored of Game Pass, spent more time looking through the games than actually playing them. Pretty much like I do on Netflix!
Anyway, it was his birthday in March and he decided he wanted a gaming PC, so now he’s been put up for adoption.
I joke, I bought him a PC and now he spends his time playing Minecraft on a £1,000 machine. And I’m just here playing the SNES with better looking graphics with my youngest son.
ka-tet
Currently playing: James Pond 2: RoboCod and Goof Troop
GC: Why would you use an Xbox One if you owned an Xbox Series S, regardless of whether there were any new games or not?
E-mail your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk
Ultimate snack
I’ve been reading the Inbox about using the Microsoft Rewards points to pay for Game Pass Ultimate, there is another way.
Pringles have a promotion for a chance to win an Xbox Series X for every time you buy a tube of Pringles, so I got the small cans for 85p.
If you don’t win you get a code for a week’s worth of Ultimate.
You are allowed to redeem two codes per household, but you could always give the number on the bottom of the can to someone else who could redeem it for you/ I did and got seven months for £23.80. The ones I didn’t eat I donated to a food bank.
Cassius2K
Share and learn
Just wanted to thank the Inbox/Underbox for the helpful Microsoft Rewards tips, GC’s community is good for info.
Most helpful was learning the points have no expiration date but the redeemed vouchers do. Also, that you can gift points to an account by setting up a family group.
Simundo
No change
I’d like to thank GameCentral for keeping my Reader’s Feature from 2014 up on the site. It was about my 30-day PSN ban back in the PlayStation 3 days.
The reason for thanking you is because I see someone else also had an issue with another player on PSN and had also gotten a ban. My article popped up when he went to search for help with his problem.
After reading the latter Reader’s Feature, it’s shocking to see that as regards Sony’s grief reporting system, nothing has changed in six years!
That the person who reported first, regardless of if the reporter was originally in the wrong, gets the other banned still sounds and is so wrong!
After playing through my pile of PlayStation 3 games and buying what remained on my wishlist, I would later sell the console and never return.
To revert back to the statements at the end of each article, I never did get a PlayStation 4, PS Vita or PlayStation 5. Instead, I did ‘return back to Nintendo’. I missed the Wii U and got a New 3DS XL and now currently own a Switch.
Oh and I never did re-see the player I had an issue with…
LeighDappa
Sounds expensive
GC, you might be able to answer this, or a GC reader, but I’ve just gone out to Currys PC World and bought a Samsung Q50T Dolby Atoms soundbar and rear speakers. Now, I know Xbox Series X does support Dolby Atoms and at this moment in time PlayStation 5 does not. Going out and buying an Xbox Series X for the few games that do support it isn’t worth it at the mo’ but will be soon as Xbox Series X start banging out their games.
But if Sony wanted to, could they support it with a simple update or would it need to be a PS5 Pro when they come out? I’ve been watching football/movies on Sky in Dolby Atmos and it really is fantastic and if it was supported in game will be amazing.
David
GC: As far as we understand it’s mostly just a case of paying Dolby for the licence, but we’re not sound experts so we’ll leave that for someone else to confirm.
Dead games
It’s interesting to see the narrative that Sony are the Sauron of the gaming industry at present. I can understand why folk were annoyed about the PlayStation 3 and PS Vita game stores closing, but only after allowing my initial reaction to pass… (who cares about online stores for two dead consoles?).
I strained my brain though and considered that given the impact of the pandemic folks must be relying on the older machines and games than usual or (more probably) there’s always been a whole lot of people
who still game on those machines, and I’m just oblivious!
I guess my perspective on gaming over the past three and half decades has always been about excitedly looking forward to new consoles and new games rather than looking back. I think it’s one of the reason’s Game Pass, while great value for many, has never really appealed to me.
I see now that Sony have carried out a neat U-turn on closing the stores, due to the people’s response, and surely this can only be a good thing. It shows that they are at least flexible enough to take on feedback and they aren’t made entirely from arrogance… maybe.
So far as the lack of messaging from Sony goes, I never much noticed until I saw folk speaking of it here. In mystical magical Iain-land (where I live) I was just of the view that there’s a pandemic. There’s fewer new games than I’d like, but the world isn’t in a normal place so I’m quite happy to wait and see what’s what. As far as communication from Sony is concerned, I’m happy for them to let their games do the talking, and in time when the games begin to arrive, only then shall they receive my fiery judgement!
ArkadePerfekt
GC: It’s more that people don’t like the idea of video games disappearing into the void whenever a company shuts down a server.
Inbox also-rans
I see you’ve written about the madness of NFTs in the Inbox so thought you’d be amused by this one. Pet rocks on the blockchain. Started in 2017 and during the NFT craze traded tens of thousands of dollars worth of pictures of rocks.
Anon
GC: …
Sorry if this sounds like a really dumb question. Do you need to subscribe to Game Pass first before you can claim any of the rewards, i.e. creating a basic Game Pass account isn’t sufficient?
Alek Kazam
GC: We don’t really use Game Pass ourselves but we’re sure a reader can help.
This week’s Hot Topic
The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader Watson, who asks you to imagine a brand new fighting game featuring your favourite characters.
If you could create a fighting game featuring existing characters from another game, film, TV show, or comic what would it be and how would it work? Do you think there’s any genuine chance of it happening and do you honestly feel it’d make for a good game?
You can include crossover ideas like Marvel Vs. Capcom, as well as an equivalent of Super Smash Bros., but try to make your suggestion relatively grounded, with a manageable roster of characters and plausible moves and features.
E-mail 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, 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.
MORE : Weekend Hot Topic, part 1: Longest time spent on a single-player game
MORE : Weekend Hot Topic, part 2: Longest time spent on a single-player game
MORE : Games Inbox: Xbox Game Pass on Switch, Dragon Age 4 hopes, and PlayStation Plus Video Pass doubts
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