The Tuesday Inbox tries to guess what the PlayStation 5’s secret feature is, as one reader admits he’s getting nowhere with Dreams.
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The generation after
With people speculating about the cost of the PlayStation 5 I can say right now that I won’t ever pay more than £400 for it, and that’s only if it’s the equivalent of the Pro version. I don’t say this to imply that Sony would be crazy to charge more for it or anything like that but I just cannot justify spending more just to be a day one early adopter.
Part of that is simply the money but part of it is also knowing that the hardware will probably be more prone to being faulty or in some way inferior to whatever is released a year or two later. Again, not Sony or anyone’s fault, I don’t know how you get round that, but I know I’m not spend £100 or so just for bragging rights. (Or maybe that’s because I know less people nowadays that would be interested in the brag?)
I used to be against but I can’t help but think that streaming would avoid all this problem if it was reliable by now. No need to spend anything on hardware or starting a new generation if all you’re doing is adding another subscription to the list. Hopefully the next generation after this launches will be a lot simpler affair (that Europe will end up getting four months after the US).
Coolsbane
Dreams shattered
I have been playing around with Dreams and I’m kind of in two minds about it. On the one hand it is an amazing thing they’ve built and it’s straight up unbelievable that they did it with less than 50 people. On the other hand though I… I think I’ve already given up any idea of actually making anything for it?
I admit this is totally my fault, and a combination of laziness and lack of time, but it’s just all too much work. I know you didn’t give it a score and it isn’t a game but somehow I though it would be more like LittleBigPlanet, even though I realise now that’s impossible because not being in 2D makes it much more complicated.
I’ve also struggled to find much of interest from other people. Or rather, I should say there’s tons of interesting stuff but not very much that’s really much fun to play. I know how that sounds, given I haven’t managed to contribute anything at all, but I kind of don’t know what to do with it all now. I don’t regret the money as it’ll obviously go on for years but I just don’t feel there’s anything I can do with it right now. And yes, I realise you said that in your review!
Ludwig
Speaking too early
I have no idea what this secret PlayStation 5 feature is but I’m very surprised it has leaked yet. Considering how terrible companies usually are at keeping secrets I would’ve expected that one to have been everywhere by now. Whatever it is Sony’s doing to keep a lid on things I wish others would do as well. Although I suppose Sony don’t have to worry about GAME releasing a photo of a ray-tracing T-shirt early or anything.
Can I also say it is shocking to me that it’s now nearly a year since the PlayStation 5 was announced. Whether the next gen comes out this year or not I think it’s pretty obvious that they started talking about it early and now that there’s problem, even if they are out of their control, the whole thing’s dragging on so long people are starting to get fed up of it.
I could well believe the console won’t be shown off till Tokyo Game Show now. I don’t see how it’s going to be next month with the coronavirus and the lack of advance warning. Thank god someone is threatening to release a new game next month, at last.
Cassell
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Product warning
I find it quite unsettling that GC didn’t feel an obligation to warn some uninformed gaming hobbyists about how appalling the Tiger handheld games really were. You can laughingly look back at the Spectrum days of basic gameplay but they were (and still are) actually playable. The Tiger games are a far more questionable definition of the adjective playable.
They were so irredeemably awful in nearly every single aspect that I can barely contemplate the notion that they deserve to be resurrected other than to resend them back to Gehenna. What’s even more mind-bogglingly mind boggling is that they released a headset called the R-Zone. I kid thee not GC, a headset! Around the same time as Nintendo’s truly awful Virtua Boy too. For those not well versed in the terrors of a creative void then seek it out on the Internet and shed a tear for a world in which such horror exists.
If anyone else was traumatized as a youngster then please join the #saynotoTiger movement and put an immediate end to this malicious evil.
Al Gore Rhythm
PS: For the love of god, a headset GC!
GC: We’ll be honest, we didn’t really remember those specific ones. Nor had we seen the R-Zone until now…
All good things…
I’m late to the party I know, but having bought a Switch and Zelda at launch I’ve only just started to play it in earnest with my five-year-old son. What an amazing game and being a lapsed gamer I haven’t felt so excited about a game in a long time.
We are only a about a third of the way through I think, one Divine Beast completed, all towers activated and most memories found. I’m already feeling sad at the thought it will end, albeit we’ve got lots to do still and I’m looking forward to the sequel. Has any other reader felt like this about a game, so early in and if so what was the game?
Imran
Three questions
Hi GC, a few questions for you today:
Firstly, is there any news on when The Stanley Parable Xbox One port is arriving?
(I thoroughly enjoyed it on PC and the chance to play it again with extra content and Xbox Achievements, I can’t pass up the opportunity.)
Secondly, has there been any talks of Tales Of Arise being delayed for the next generation of consoles or do you think it will still make it out for this set of consoles?
Lastly, have GC seen any of Wales Interactive’s upcoming FMV game The Complex?
(I really enjoyed their previous game Late Shift, despite its flaws, and I can’t wait to get stuck in to this, but I haven’t seen many previews so I worry it may be delayed, as last I heard it is due out end of March 2020.)
Great to see you guys keeping up the good work (as always!) and thanks for any info you can provide.
TheSpectre N8 (gamertag)
Currently playing: Shining Resonance Refrain, Final Fantasy 15, and Tales Of Vesperia: Definitive Edition (all Xbox One)
GC: The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe has been delayed until the middle of this year, but Tales Of Arise isn’t even that specific. We did have a preview for The Complex planned, but we confess we’d forgotten about it until now – we’ll try and see if we can get it sorted.
Nothing new
If you own a PlayStation 4, Xbox One, or PC it truly blows my tiny little mind there’s gamers who say they’ve got nothing to play. The Switch I’d understand more, as most buy a Nintendo machine to play Nintendo exclusives and you could be wanting a bit there. But even after only three years the Switch has a really good catalogue of games if you were stuck for a Nintendo exclusive to play.
I’ve large back catalogue on my PlayStation 4 to play, which will take me years. I’ve no qualms about this as I’m happy to get to them when I get to them, especially as they will run on PlayStation 5. I have Game Pass and I’m focusing on getting my money’s worth out of that service. Just on that service I’m currently playing A Plague Tale: Innocence and want to enjoy before they leave the service Two Point Hospital and Wasteland Remastered (both released tomorrow), Mutant Year Zero: Road To Eden, Remnant From the Ashes, Void Bastards, Wargroove, Bloodstained: Ritual Of The Night, and Hellblade: Senua’s Scarifice. Ori And The Will Of The Wisps is in a few weeks too.
The triple-A drought ends next month with Nioh 2 and Doom Eternal and Resident Evil 3 not long after. So that should take the edge off for some, but there’s so many other stinking games to play I honestly do a double take when someone says they’ve nothing to play. Really nothing, out of all the games, nothing, not one, hhmmmm.
The pernicious psychology used in games for services, etc. has been a recent topic. Jim Sterling’s got a good vid on it and I genuinely wonder if some are disproportionately focused on the new as it brings with it hype, excitement, and other heightening effects. I’m no psychologist and not suggesting gamers who say they’ve nothing to play are dangerously addicted to the legitimate excitement something new brings.
But I can’t help feel someone who says there’s nothing to play just hasn’t looked very far or wide and might be a bit too focused on the new. It might just be that someone has very specific tastes that are not being catered for, which is fair enough but I think there’s is something about large chunks of society in general obsessing about the latest and supposedly greatest.
Simundo
GC: Nobody has said they have nothing to play. Some people have complained that no major new games have been released for an unusually long time, which is true. We’re not sure why people keep misrepresenting this complaint.
Catch up on every previous Games Inbox here
Fake news
It’s been great fun reading the Inbox lately, mainly due to the conjecture on if the next gen will release on time. People are dying, and all they can worry about is if their Christmas will be ruined. Console launches are a mixed back anyway. Which gets me nicely into the next topic. My favourite console launch has to be the PSP. The ability to play PlayStation 2 type games on the go was a game-changer when it launched. It seems crazy now that we have the Switch handheld, but the PSP flew off the shelves and everyone had one. I’m still picking up games for the system in 2020, which brings me to my backlog.
My backlog of games is staggering. I have games for the PlayStation 2, PSP, Game Boy Advance, Xbox 360, 3DS, and Switch, which I still have not had a chance to play. What the hell: chuck in Zelda: Twilight Princess for the GameCube as well. The current lull in games for 2020 is a god send as I can slowly chip away at some of these games that have been gathering dust for all these years. The backlog is only going to get worse once the next gen consoles launch, as I can then go and pick up a PlayStation 4 dirt cheap and stockpile some games that I have missed.
Bit of a digression, but I have always been a Pro Evo guy, but seeing as the Switch doesn’t have the greatest football game of all time, I reluctantly bought FIFA 18. Got into the game, found the Ultimate Team mode, played a few games and was really liking it. Tried to play the next game but was told that I needed a team rating of 80 to play it. Tried tinkering the team to accommodate this and then stopped when I couldn’t. Then it clicked. I would have to spend some money to proceed. Now I know what all the fuss about microtransactions were. It basically means I bought half a game. I won’t be buying another FIFA.
GTH
GC: Everyone in the Inbox that has mentioned the coronavirus, and its possible effect on the next gen, has been very careful not to trivialise the issue. We’re not sure why you’re pretending otherwise. And unless you live in Japan we’d hardly describe the PSP as ever having flown off shelves.
Inbox also-rans
Happy 40th birthday HAL Laboratory, now get a move on and make Pokémon Snap 2! GC’s already asked Game Freak about it twice!
Zebra
Did anyone else’s eyes just glaze over with Phil Spencer talking about his Xbox Series X teraflops? Just announce some games already, I don’t care whose number is bigger than whose!
Cantwell
This week’s Hot Topic
The question for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader Hammeriron, who asks what’s your favourite online multiplayer game?
It can be any game on any format, regardless of whether it also has single-player or offline components. What is it about the game you like so much and how much have you played it? Has the game been running for a long time and if so when did you start and how regularly do you return to it?
In general, how much do you enjoy other online multiplayer titles and is your favourite a one-off of just one of many similar games? If it’s part of a series how often do you buy new entries in the franchise and if it’s unlike your normal taste in games why do you think that is?
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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.
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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MORE: Games Inbox: 2020 video games backlog, Sonic Adventure 3 prediction, and Dante vs. Bayonetta
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