The Monday Inbox is worried about the lack of news on Elden Ring, as one reader imagines a Sega Cinematic Universe.
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Hardware limit
That news story about the PlayStation 5’s components costing £345 is very worrying because it suggests that the cost to us, the customer is going to work out at something like £400, if you take into account previous consoles and how much they cost in the US. I’m really not sure I’m willing to spend that much on any console, especially not if the Xbox Series X is the same.
I actually think Microsoft has the right idea in that the Xbox Series X seems to be the more expensive/powerful one and they’ll release a cheaper/less powerful one a bit later (presumably the Xbox Series S). Thinking about it I don’t know why it’s always been the other way round before, although I suppose it’s because they want hardcore fans to double dip.
Either way I think my limit for either console has got to be £350. I might be prepared to go a little higher than that if the launch games look really good, but let’s face it they never do. Still a lot of questions to be answered about this upcoming new gen and it’s hard to guess how it’s all going to turn out.
Tiggs
Sega Cinematic Universe
I saw the Sonic The Hedgehog movie and I thought it was… okay? Like others have said you could’ve put any kind of cute looking animal character in the role and it wouldn’t have made much difference, but it worked well enough. It would’ve been nothing without Jim Carrey, but that was a fairly genius bit of casting.
It seems to be doing well in the States so I guess that guarantees a sequel. I imagine there’ll be tempted to set that all in, or mostly in, Sonic’s world but that could be a mistake given how weird that would be for the average audience member.
But that’s two good-ish video game movies in a row now, after Detective Pikachu, so I guess the secret to making them is… to base them on old family-friendly games and stop trying to make serious movies about them? Or at least I imagine that’s the lesson Hollywood will take. Maybe we’ll get a Sega Cinematic Universe out of all this?!
Clancy
Trust in indie
RE: Alternate and not enough games being released. Although I agree with points of the feature I strongly disagree with the conclusions.
As budgets go up for triple-A games there’s less. I’m fine with this as triple-A games are time sinks, so less but higher quality is good. But also because there’s so much choice outside of the triple-A model now from triple-A indies to plain old indies and mobile gaming.
The triple-A indie the writer holds up, Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice, as a desirable model for it allows more risk is well and truly entrenched now. Only last gen when Limbo, Braid, etc. kicked off the indie boom, talk was of needing new financial models for games beyond triple-A. We now have them with mobile, digital distribution and triple-A indies.
On Game Pass alone there’s A Plague Tale: Innocence, Afterparty, The Banner Saga 3, Blair Witch, Bloodstained, Brothers: A Tale of Two of Sons, Dead Cells, Frostpunk, Indivisible, Kingdom Come: Deliverance, Mutant Year Zero: Road To Eden, Outer Wilds, Remnant From The Ashes, The Outer Worlds ( the devs talked on exactly this topic, that their smaller budget allowed more risk), Void Bastards, and Subnautica.
Most games released now reside outside the triple-A model and the amount released and quality is very high. You want to see a real gaming drought you should have tried being an N64 owner. In terms of releases and choice gaming is in good health. Of course, it’s not all roses with the way in which large parts of the industry have/are trying to monetise ever more aspects of gaming, although the backlash to that is putting up a good fight. But it’s certainly not the doomsday scenario that’s being peddled about recently on GC by some.
Simundo
GC: None of that changes the situation over the last three months though, when there have been very few indie games of note either.
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Direct contradiction
I think those commenting on Nintendo and how unpredictable they are in the absence of a Nintendo Direct recently should remember one thing. Nintendo don’t push out Directs based on a periodic calendar, they do so based on their release calendar.
They would be unlikely to publish a broad Direct, telling people about several games coming soon until after their next big launch, as they wouldn’t want to dissuade anyone from buying Animal Crossing, because they want to save their pennies for that something else that follows which they may not end up getting either.
There is a good chance we will get an Animal Crossing Direct before its release, but I don’t expect a general one for at least a couple weeks after Animal Crossing launches.
Antony White
GC: That’s not the way they’ve ever done things before, as you can see from this list of previous Directs.
Infinite funds
According to German website Xbox Dynasty, the budget for Halo Infinite is rumoured to be a staggering $500 million. That would easily make it the most expensive video game project ever produced, with the developmental budget coming from Microsoft and 343 Industries.
Surely this can’t be true? Unless they are adding several games worth of content this makes little sense. If it’s true and it’s a regular 10-hour game campaign, this is a colossal mismanagement. What are your thoughts?
Jez
GC: It seems unlikely, but that is the same figure that was thrown around for Destiny. Video game budgets are so rarely revealed it’s very hard to know what is and isn’t normal; especially if it involves the creation of a new game engine and excessive marketing, both of which are likely with Halo Infinite.
State of State
Can I ask for reader opinions on State Of Decay 2? Has it been improved since GC mauled it on release? It seems like a game I should love but I played the first and I got bored of it very quickly. So if any reader has played it recently could he/she let me know if the developer fixed the issues and made a good game eventually or is it still a steaming pile?
Also, are people using this mini-drought to tackle any backlogs? I know I have been. I’ve recently finished Wolfenstein 2 (great game, fingers crossed for a proper sequel/ending), Call Of Duty: WW2 campaign (not terrible), midway through Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare, and Far Cry 5. Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order’s finished (not bad, but far from polished and probably lacking some extra content due to a rush job?). Fair bit into what you can do in Subnautica 2 (still early access though). Quantum Break is three chapters deep but it is hard to maintain enthusiasm to actually finish it, but I’m so close.
I’d say I’ll be ready for Metro Exodus, when it hits Steam. Unless I keep going back to Apex Legends. Still bad at it but great fun for a quick online blast.
Bobwallett
Making headlines
I wonder if Sony are beginning to regret announcing the PlayStation 5 so early on? Microsoft didn’t really have much choice given how the Xbox One has done but PlayStation 4 sales were doing fine, and had loads of big games still to come. But now they’ve got the coronavirus and expensive components to deal with this year, that could lead to the PlayStation 5 being really expensive AND very scarce.
That’s going to create a lot of upset people at Christmas and probably some very negative headlines. If there’s two good reasons to delay until next year I wonder if that’s what they’ll do.
Pinky
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Nerf herder
I thought it might make a good weekend Hot Topic to find out which game or character had the biggest nerf in a later game?
In video gaming a nerf is a change to a game that reduces the desirability or effectiveness of a particular game element. The term is also used as a verb for the act of making such a change. The opposite of nerf is buff (in one of that term’s two usages).
Today I’m playing the 30th anniversary edition of Street Fighter 2. I’m playing the original Street Fighter 2 where you can only choose the original eight characters.
For the life in me today I cannot beat Dhalsim. Dhalsim! A character that I can always beat happily. He’s just got an answer for everything right now. They definitely nerfed him in the next editions.
Milena in Mortal Kombat X got nerfed about a year into her existence. They made it so when you used the special version of her ground roll it couldn’t phase into a more damaging combo anymore as the juggle didn’t exist anymore. I was upset about it and stopped playing as a result, as all of my combos were coming from that.
I’m sure this isn’t the first time it’s happened. I’m sure it will usually be done to make the game better. But I’d like to hear how everyone else feels about the situation.
Nick The Greek
GC: That’s probably a bit too specific for a Hot Topic but feel free to discuss it in the weekday Inbox.
Inbox also-rans
Is anyone else getting a bit worried about Elden Ring? We don’t seem to have heard anything about it since it was announced and yet it’s supposed to be a current gen game. Surely that means it’s due out this year? Has there been any news I’ve missed, GC?
Strafer
GC: There hasn’t been so much as a rumour about it in months.
You mentioned the possibility of Marvel Vs. Capcom 4 recent, but how likely is that to happen? I would love for that to get the proper big budget treatment as Infinite was such a disappointment.
Jek
GC: It’s been a fan rumour for a while now, but there’s no hard evidence that it’s being considered.
This week’s Hot Topic
The question for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader Trantor, who asks what’s your favourite ever console launch?
With the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X due out this Christmas, what previous launch do you remember most fondly? Was it purely because of the console and the games or did the hype and marketing surrounding it help to make it feel even more exciting?
Do you tend to buy new consoles as soon as they come out or do you usually wait a certain period of time? If so, what are you waiting for – is it more games, a price drop, or something else? At the moment how likely are you to buy a new console this year?
E-mail your comments to: gamecentral@ukmetro.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.
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: Weekend Hot Topic, part 1: Readers’ Top 20 of 2019
MORE: Weekend Hot Topic, part 2: Readers’ Top 20 of 2019
MORE: Games Inbox: Sonic The Hedgehog movie weekend, Prince Of Persia reboot, and PlayStation Game Pass
