Epic Games Store – do you care where you buy from?

The morning Inbox wonders if Nintendo will be at Microsoft’s E3 event, as one reader suggests Bethesda get modders to make Elder Scrolls VI.

To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk

 



Big deal

Is anyone else having trouble getting upset about all these constant complaints about Epic Games? I’m not solely a PC gamer but I couldn’t care less which store or launcher I use to play my games. And I’m perfectly happy to know the developers are getting more of a cut of the profits than on Steam. I know it’s a bit more complicated than that, but not much more.

Most of it just seems to be the usual tribalism that gaming seems to encourage, which is bad enough when it’s organised around consoles but a PC online store? I mean, fundamentally-speaking, who cares? Epic has said that prices will come down in the future too, so combine that with the developer cut and it seems like it’s actually better than Steam.

When a game is made a console exclusive that’s really annoying because it means you either have to buy a new console to play it or just miss out. On the PC you have the inconvenience of… visiting a different website? If they buy the Rocket League developers then I don’t see how that makes much difference. They only make one game and they’ve already said everything will come to those that bought it on Steam so, what’s the big deal?
Hovis

 



Fan made

I think it’s inevitable that The Elder Scrolls VI is going to be even more ‘streamlined’ (or whatever buzzword the use) than Skyrim when it eventually comes out. A game like Morrowind is much too complicated and unforgiving for mainstream gamers and Bethesda can’t afford to only make Dark Souls money out of what they’re doing.

I’m nervous of even imagining the graphics being that much better. As a developer they’ve consistently underperformed on that and it’s only the failure of Fallout 76 that might possibly have convinced them that maybe they should get a new game engine.

Hopefully they’ll at least improve the combat though, and maybe make it work properly in third person, but I’m very pessimistic about the whole thing to be honest. If I was them I’d employ a bunch of modders and get rid of Todd Howard. The fans seem to not only have a better grip on the franchise but put far more effort into bug-fixing and improving the graphics.
SMithe
PS: Failing that, at least do a Morrowind remake.

 



Full blast Microsoft

The idea of a Forza game on Switch really is pretty wild, even if it’s not the ‘real’ Forza. I can see what Microsoft are trying to do with all this but it’s also kind of obvious that this is their last throw of the dice. If this doesn’t work out their games business is done. You can’t lose out to Sony three times in a row and then have your streaming service not catch on either.

I’m sure Microsoft know that though and I can’t wait to see them go full blast with their announcements. I’m just not sure if we’ll see anything substantial this year or whether most of it will be next year.

Looking forward to the Nintendo stuff at least though. It will be crazy if they get Miyamoto or someone up on stage at the Microsoft E3 event, that’d be like the Berlin Wall coming down in video game terms. If they announce Master Chief for Smash Bros. as well I’m not sure the Internet will ever recover.
Bodie

 

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Good match

For years now I have thought the perfect Game Of Thrones game would be a Fire Emblem clone made by Intelligent Systems.

You can keep the permanent death feature and it would feature all kinds of strategies and battles.

It’s the perfect match if you ask me!
Fatys Henrys

GC: It is actually.

 



Happy birthday

I’ve not seen it mentioned here, but I just wanted to express how impressed I am with the anniversary update on Sea Of Thieves.

The Arena is a blast and the new additions to adventure mode has really revamped the game. For anyone who grew bored of the game or has been on the fence, I really suggest giving it a go.
Wallace

 



Paying twice

PlayStation Plus as a game service has been declining for some time, with May’s games looking particularly poor. To me it seems Sony are separating their services, so PS Plus is for online play and PS Now is where you get to play older games. Sony seemingly now want us to pay for what we were originally paying PS Plus for.

I read somewhere that PS Now has 700,000 subscribers, which is considerably higher than I thought it would be.
walleroo

 



Retro reading

I think this book will be of interest to a fair few readers. Chris Scullion, a former Official Nintendo Magazine writer, has recently published a NES encyclopaedia which covers every game ever released on the console.

I never had a NES so it isn’t something I’ll personally pick up, but I’m sure plenty of GC readers would love it as it looks absolutely gorgeous.

I’m also hoping the book does well enough that he can write one for the N64 in future as that’s a console still very close to my heart…

Thanks and have a lovely weekend!
Anon

 



Never too late to change

So I see the director of Sonic The Hedgehog is now promising to change the design of Sonic, following the fan ‘response’. It’s not out till November, so maybe they’ve got time, but I’m dubious how much is going to change considering all the merchandise and everything must’ve gone off to be made long ago.

Like another reader said it seems incredible that such an expensive movie could’ve been looked at by so many people and they all thought that design was okay. And yet with the Pikachu film they seem to have been very careful about even the most obscure pokémon.

I hope Sega, and filmmakers in general, have learnt something here. If you’re trying to appeal to fans maybe ask them before you change an iconic design. Or maybe, I dunno, have some on your team. They clearly have for the Pokémon film.
Cushing

 



Review Quest

Did you receive a review unit of the Oculus Quest? I understand it’s not out yet but the embargo lifted once Mark Zuckerberg announced the release date.

There’s plenty of positive reviews out there already but I haven’t seen any news from GameCentral or Eurogamer, which are my go to sites.
Anon

GC: We haven’t got one, so it sounds like they haven’t made it to the UK yet. We’ll have a word. And thanks for the patronage!

 

Catch up on every previous Games Inbox here

 



The From look

Love the look of that FromSoftware artwork. The designs are always a highlight of their games and I love how distinctive they are. Even when they’re just dealing with dragons and other clichéd monsters the From versions look completely different and unlike anyone else’s.

I’d love to think they’re from Bloodborne 2 but without any evidence it’s probably best not to get too carried away. Although I assume Sony knows how well received the game is, so I don’t think hoping for a sequel on PlayStation 5 is too outlandish – even if it never sold as much as something like God Of War.

I still think those rumours about George R. R. Martin working on a game with them could be true. It’s just too weird to make up and Martin does like games. I also like the idea of a sort of open world Dark Souls. Something different but still familiar, hence, perhaps, the dragon. It’ll probably turn out that Japanese text says, ‘These are definitely not from a new game’ or something but whatever From are doing I’m there for it.
Col. Saunders

 



Inbox also-rans

I was reading last month’s Edge magazine the other day and saw that you can buy an Elder Scrolls Official Cookbook. You can also buy a Game Of Thrones and World Of Warcraft one too!
Andrew J.

GC: How odd. But wouldn’t Zelda: Breath Of The Wild and Final Fantasy XV be better candidates for such a thing?

RIP Peter Mayhew, the man behind Chewbacca. Not strictly game-related perhaps but I bet there’s few people here that don’t appreciate his performances.
Ishi

 



This week’s Hot Topic

The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader Purple Ranger, who asks what is the best PlayStation exclusive ever?

With Days Gone receiving mixed reviews but strong sales we want to know what you think is the best exclusive released on any PlayStation console, from 1 to 4 and including the portables. Anything is eligible as long as it was a PlayStation console exclusive at some point – it doesn’t matter if Sony themselves published it or not.

Why do you like the game so much and do you feel it was important to the success of the host console? Did it make any special use of the console’s unique features and how did it compare to other exclusives of the same period? (We’ll be running similar Hot Topics on Microsoft and Nintendo games in the future.)

E-mail your comments to: gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk

 

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