Games Inbox: Are live service games becoming less popular?

The Friday letters page hears more tales of people getting teary-eyed over video games, as a reader is frustrated at Borderlands 4’s hidden extras.

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

End of an era
I would love to think that the rule of live service games is finally coming to an end. Hearing that they’re all in decline is music to my ears, especially as it sounds like once you strip out the live service titles, ‘proper’ games are actually doing pretty well right now.

The big question is whether this is just the old guard losing their grip, to be replaced by newer live service games, or whether the whole idea has run its course. I’d like to think it’s the first, obviously, and there hasn’t been a big new hit since Marvel Rivals, unless you count Arc Raiders – which isn’t free.

The problem is that the main reasons these games are successful is because they are free. That’s the main reason people play them and I think if they were completely different games, as long as they were free they’d probably be just as popular.

People aren’t playing these multiplayer shooters because of what they are but because they don’t cost £70. Obviously, the games have to have a certain level of quality, but would anyone pretend Fortnite or Apex Legends are the best games ever?

We’ll see what happens over the coming months, but I imagine GTA 6 is going to be very bad news for a lot of these games, if they’re already on the ropes before it even comes out.
Tolly

Keep it at home
I really don’t think Sony should release a dedicated handheld system, it wouldn’t be powerful enough. I think the PlayStation Portal is a great bit of kit, and even in the new 1080p high bitrate settings it barely uses more than a 25MBs download.

I get over 1GB speed at home and anywhere between 40-1,000 on my mobile hotspot so that’s been my portable system for a while now and I do own a Switch 2. I’d much prefer a 120Hz HDR enabled 1440-4K model and would be happy to pay for it. Inbox magic, please.
P B

Good AI vs. bad AI
Regarding Oscar’s worries about ‘AI slop’ being used to bridge the power gap in the new PlayStation handheld, it’ll definitely have a ML upscaler like DLSS (so, PSSR 2 or its successor, since it’s PlayStation). That’s just how modern graphics work and I wouldn’t be too worried about it, as ML upscaling has been a game changer on Switch 2 and is now finally allowing PS5 Pro to consistently outshine the other home consoles.

DLSS 5, the technology that was just announced to ‘yassify’ existing games is Nvidia technology so you won’t be seeing that on PlayStation or Xbox anytime soon (they use AMD, which is about three to five years behind Nvidia with upscaling, frame generation, etc.).

The only console that uses Nvidia chips is Switch 2, and it’s too underpowered to ever run something like DLSS 5 which hasn’t even come to high-end PC gaming (and might never, given the backlash). So, we’ll have to wait at least another generation or two to finally have Mario look like Bob Hoskins the way he’s supposed to.
Magnumstache

Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Doctorin’ the TRYDIS
Thanks for that interview with Nigel Alderton. I always enjoy David Jenkins’ enthusiasm and depth of knowledge on these matters. I particularly liked the gentle prodding towards indie games. It would be great if this interview led to Alderton re-entering the industry after all these years. Please keep up the good work!

Incidentally, does anyone remember Doctor What on the Spectrum? You had to reunite the eight doctors spread across space and time and get them all into the TRYDIS without breaking BBC copyright. Loved that game!
GLEN

GC: Thank you.

Welcome homework
Loved the interview with Nigel about his game Chuckie Egg. That was the game that got me into gaming as a young boy, when my aunt who was a teacher brought a BBC computer home with Chuckie Egg on it.

I was so sad when she took it back to school but a few years later, I was given a C64 for Christmas and Chuckie Egg was one of the first games I bought for it.

God bless you Nigel, you are a true gaming legend. I will be getting the new iPhone port for sure.
Mark Matthews

Hidden extras
I recently bought Borderlands 4 and have mixed feelings. On the one hand, I am really enjoying the game itself. The world, combat and build-crafting are all awesome, in my opinion. And the story, whilst it is by no means good, is at least not intrusive. And some of the stories are genuinely weird – already the one where you have to help the guy hatch then mate his thrasher Daisy had me in tears.

But the price of the game is mad.

I just got the base game which £50 in the sale. I now need to spend more than that if I want to get the vault hunter and bounty packs. Which seems to be a lot considering the game didn’t come out all so long ago.

Are these add-ons worth it? I was thinking maybe of just getting the bounty pack for now and see if the vault hunter one goes on sale down the line. Borderlands 3 is only £5 at the moment, for example!

There’s a global cost of living crisis on, so I do think publishers need to be more sensitive with their prices.
Tom

GC: The most recent DLC was good, it just wasn’t cheap.

Lonely fox
I’ve only ever cried once whilst playing a video game. It was after completing Sonic 2 on the Sega Master System without collecting all six of the Chaos emeralds.

When Sonic stops running after the end credits he looks up to the stars and there is a picture of Tails (his fox friend for the few who aren’t familiar) alone.

As a young boy at the time it made me feel really sad. However, I collected all the emeralds on my next play though and it was very rewarding to see Sonic and Tails together up in the stars afterwards.
A bit embarrassed writing this but, hey ho!
Adams6legend

Interactive melancholy
I wouldn’t say any game has made me cry but one game did make me put the controller down, look away from the screen and contemplate just how sad that scene from the game I had just witnessed was.

It was very well done and if that’s what they where going for then they completely nailed it.

The game is called Lost Words: Beyond The Page and is written by Rhianna Pratchett (Terry Pratchett’s daughter). The voice acting is top notch too, adding to the emotional side of it.

Spoiler alert!

It’s about a young girl who is writing a story, you play as the character in her story while she narrates it. All while visiting her sick grandmother in hospital and showing off to her proud grandmother the next chapter she had just written her.

The Forest Quartet is not as sad as Lost Words, but it is quite poignant in places. Which is about a jazz quartet who’s lead singer has passed away and they try to play one last gig in the woods in her honour. It’s also quite good if you are looking for that sort of melancholy type of game.
freeway 77

Inbox also-rans
Kudos to whoever recommended Beyond Words on the Switch to play. My wife and I have been loving it. It’s surprisingly tricky and a nice change from everything else we usually play.
neil

Metro 2039 looked good but oh boy, that dev’s voice! He’s got to be a voice actor as well, right? He’s so gravelly I could park my car on him.
Winston

Email 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.

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