Games Inbox: Is GTA 6 the only game you’re buying this autumn?

The Wednesday letters page suggests making a Halo vs. Gears Of War game, as one reader sticks up for Splatoon Raiders and its Metacritic score.

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

Single focus
I had an interesting conversation with a mate yesterday, where we were talking about GTA 6 and our video game ‘budgets’. I was complaining about how many games are coming out in September and how it was going to be hard to choose which ones to get, especially when you know you’re probably not going to play anything else for a long while after GTA 6 comes out.

To my surprise he just said he isn’t getting anything because he doesn’t see the point. He said he’d be too distracted thinking about GTA 6 and would rather just save the money for microtransactions in GTA Online 2 or whatever it turns out to be.

This is a pretty hardcore gamer too, I’ve always thought roughly the same level of interest as me. It makes me wonder how widespread this attitude is and if its means that everything that isn’t GTA 6 is going to have an even harder time of it this year than we already thought.
Focus

Pro Plus
To me the PlayStation 6 seems a complete non-starter. My prediction of what will happen is that it’ll just be a hardcore option, that’s basically a PS5 Pro Plus and super expensive. There’ll be some rich superfans that will want it but to everyone else it’s a non-starter. That’s where the handheld will come in, which will be like a scaled down PlayStation 5 and be more affordable (but probably not that affordable).

I don’t know whether they’ll still keep selling the PlayStation 5, but they should (which means they won’t). Sony needs to keep making and selling new hardware to pay the rent and that’s impossible now, due to the component crisis and the fact that there’s nowhere left for console power to go anyway.

It’s not a great set of options, for customers or publishers, but I just don’t see anything else that can be done. At least they’re in a better situation than Xbox but that’s about it.
Zeiss

Score raiders
I have been playing Splatoon Raiders daily since it released on Thursday and I can totally understand the user scores it is getting on Metacritic. It doesn’t do any one thing outstandingly, but the overall package is just pure, relatively simple fun.

I am pleasantly, really surprised with the game and look forward to playing a lot more of it!
Pigfish2 (NN ID/PSN ID)

GC: So you wouldn’t say it was the seventh best game of all-time?

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

Xbox crossover
I have been playing Halo Campaign: Evolved and I would say that it’s… quite good? The original game holds up but the remake itself is adequate but not much more than that. It must be hard to know how much to change in a remake, and they probably made the right choices overall, but it does all seem a bit small and very repetitive. Very, very repetitive.

That was the problem with the original, and the reason I was always more into the multiplayer, and I think you can see the problems with the new levels. They are well made, and the second mission comes up with a clever excuse for varying things up, but it’s all still bits and pieces from previous games stappled together, for a sort of greatest hits of Halo situation.

It was fun but as GC said in their review, it doesn’t seem to have any ideas for how things could evolve in the future, beyond a few new weapons and aliens, and other minor changes. Maybe Halo is just done? Or maybe it should do a crossover with Gears Of War. Both those games are old-fashioned shooters that are past their best, maybe they could boost each other?

I always wondered if they might do that at their height and I’m not sure it’d be that hard. As I remember Gears Of War is set on a colony world, but I don’t think they’ve ever mentioned Earth. So maybe you could have them being invaded by the Covenant and them recruiting the Locusts as a new race.
Taylor Moon

Modern winner
Your article about the PlayStation 6 and the possible hurdles that it faces inspired me to ask the internet what the most expensive games console is. Apparently, it’s a Stuart Hughes Wii Supreme, which is ultra rare and made of gold and diamonds. Released at just under three hundred grand, if you’re fortunate to own that machine it’s probably worth more now.

Limited global availability seems to drive up the price of consoles and games, so I expect that special editions of consoles are where the real money is. I have no real desire to own a super expensive or super rare anything, but I have always admired the Panasonic Q GameCube. There’s a boxed one on eBay, a bargain at £2,499.
Michael Veal

GC: We were going to suggest a Neo Geo AES, but the sad truth is the most expensive standard edition console is probably the PS5 Pro, even adjusted for inflation.

Ongoing campaign
That Sony tweet about the record player is hilarious. I can just imagine some non-gamer coming across the comments and being completely confused. I am fascinated to know how all this is going to end, especially as Sony doesn’t seem to have any plan other than hoping people get bored of complaining.

I suppose they probably will, but what if they don’t? What if every GTA 6 trailer and eventual PlayStation 6 video is just endless complaints about the enforced digital-only future? I can bet the boycott isn’t going to work but people trolling Sony forever? That I can see being a long-running thing.

I can’t pretend I don’t buy all my games digitally now but that doesn’t mean I don’t want there to still be an option for physical, and I think that’s what Sony underestimated. It’s especially bad as you know that’s only the first step in taking away even more rights and options, like with these weird GTA 6 download restrictions.

It’s interesting to me that Xbox is being quite sensible for once and staying out of the picture. We all know they’d love to do the same thing, but right now they’re just letting Sony stew in their own juices. Good luck to everyone complaining, I think I’m going to go write some pro-disc comments on the latest PlayStation video!
Hammeriron

Mastering the Chief
Maybe I’m looking through rose-tinted glasses, but the Halo remake is pretty impressive to me. Not sure how many times I’ve played through it already, but I’m having a blast as Master Chief. I’m loving the subtle changes, like being able to run and also being able to use the sword.

Keep up the good work.
DB

GC: Thanks.

Don’t miss Gaming news! Add us as a Preferred Source

As a loyal GameCentral reader, we want to make sure you never miss our articles when searching for gaming stories. We have all the latest video games news, reviews, previews, and interviews, with a vibrant community of highly engaged readers.

Click the button below and tick Metro.co.uk to ensure you see stories from us first in Google Search.

Add us as a Preferred Source

Advertisement

Wait it out
As the saying goes, ‘Unity is Strength’. And it’s true. A mass boycott towards future PlayStation digital games/consoles might well be effective. Conversely, a protest as a much smaller percentage of the PlayStation 5 user base would have a negligible effect. The numbers aren’t looking too good at the moment for a mass boycott.

Looks like the big cheese at Sony have all decided to sit tight, keep shtum and ride out the backlash. They’ll probably get their way in the end. Let’s wait and see what the Microsoft response will be. It’s certainly going to be a very interesting 18 months or so in the gaming industry.

As for Sony (gaming division) they haven’t been quite the same since Ken Kutaragi was elbowed aside all those years ago.

And on a lighter note,

1. I deffo care about the Tomb Raider franchise. The Tomb Raider remake of a remake, February 2027, is, out of all the titles that are on the Microsfot store release list, the game that I’m looking forward to the most. That could well be a day one/week one buy, depending upon the reception it gets. I’ll get it on disc, though, then I’ll have the option of a trade-in after a month or so. That’s one up for physical.

2. There’s a tornado, nay, a ‘furious tornado’, right at the beginning of PS1 Tombi. You have to find it and then use it to clear the fog in order to progress. A gem of a game; costs a small fortune these days on PS1 physical. Relatively cheap on the PlayStation Store. Digital fights back.
Paul C.
PS: TOCA 2 on PS1 got a mention in the Underbox a few days ago. One of the finest racing games ever made, in my opinion.

Inbox also-rans
Calling Splatoon Raiders the best Nintendo game ever is silly but I’ll say one thing for it, there’s not a single glitch or bug and it’s 60fps the whole way. Given the performance problems with the Halo remake that’s kind of embarrassing… for Microsoft.
Bonce

Did He-Man And The Masters of the Universe: Dragon Pearl of Destruction ever come out? Its release date came and went and I never saw a single review.
Wander

GC: No, it was quietly delayed and doesn’t have any release date at all now.

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.

You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, 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: Games Inbox: Why isn’t there a Skyrim remake?

MORE: Games Inbox: Are people still excited for Tomb Raider games?

MORE: Games Inbox: Is the EA Sports FC 27 Ultimate Plus Edition worth it?