The Thursday letters page is curious about Warhorse’s Lord of the Rings game, as a reader is dubious that Nex Playground has a long-term future.

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

Likely candidates
So Sony is moving its not-E3 State of Play back a week to June, just days after deciding not to put its single-player games on PC. I’m going to take that as a positive sign, personally.

I’m sure Wolverine will be the focus but I also expect to see Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet, something God Of War related, and probably the Marvel fighting game. There’s surely got to be something new though and that’s what I’m most excited about.

Now that Bluepoint are no more we’ve kind of lost our prime candidate for a developer that hasn’t done anything for a while, but there’s always the Days Gone team and the Astro Boy lot. I just really hope we get some kind of IP but, if I’m honest, I think the most likely reveal is for a new Uncharted.

I’m not against that idea but I think Naughty Dog were probably right to get out when they did and that it’s going to be very difficult to do anything new with the concept.
Focus

Quiet megaton
This fashion for boring game announcements is really getting me down. GC were one of the first to point it out, with Sony being one of the worst for it, but now everyone seems to think just putting out a tweet is all you need to do to announce a game. How far we have come from E3.

That was quite the megaton annoucement Warhorse had, with a new Kingdom Come and a big, open world Lord of the Rings game and… I felt absolutely nothing finding out about it. Because I was told and shown absolutely nothing and the developer couldn’t be bothered to make it seem exciting.

I’m especially interested to see if the Lord of the Rings game covers the events of the books/films or if it is going to be set in a different age of Middle-earth. I don’t really mind either, as long as it’s good, which I would very much expect from Warhorse. Just please give us a trailer, or something, to latch onto next time.
Qwos

Three-way fight
So now we’ve got all three console manufacturers lined up for showcases this summer, even if the Nintendo Direct one is still a rumour. Gaming always benefits from when Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo are competing, and since all three of them are vulnerable, in different ways, at the moment, I find that very encouraging.

I’m not going to try and guess exactly what they’ll show, in terms of anything brand new, but I would have thought that all of them realise they’ve got to make an effort this year. That’ll mean lots of talk about who has ‘won’ E3 or not-E3 or whatever we call it now, which is great for the one that comes out on top.

I think that’s a good thing. If Sony in particular realise they can end up looking worse than both then I think that’s the best way to motivate them to make an effort.
Korbie

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Arcade perfect
What an interesting letter from Tim Keeling, about needing to repair coin-op arcade games, and what a cool hobby to have. Regarding video game cabinets, I would have assumed that they were tough simply because any object left in the hands of the public would automatically receive rough treatment. Just imagine all of those wrenched joysticks and those buttons mashed in frustration.

Back in the arcade days, I vaguely remember seeing somebody playing a Track & Field cabinet with a couple of ping pong balls attached to their palm, so they could work the buttons faster.

Good to hear that Tim has a Defender cabinet. The Star Wars game, especially the cockpit version, was indeed great but Defender had everything for me. The game was exciting to play and offered cool visuals, plus nothing else sounded like it. That cabinet sounded mean.

My least favourite game in the arcades was probably Dragon’s Lair, which was expensive to play and just a series of quick time events. There were better Laserdisc arcade games. I remember enjoying the Mach 3 cabinet a lot.

Consoles are neat and convenient, but it must be great to have several full-sized arcade cabinets in your home. Although it sounds like the machines need a lot of upkeep.
Michael Veal

Out of time
I don’t believe for a second that we’ll ever see a new Deus Ex or TimeSplitters games. Who is going to make them for a start, given what Embracer has already done to those developers? And when are they going to come out? A good game costs at least five years to make nowadays and a new Deus Ex would definitely need that and more.

So this would be a next gen game? I’ll be honest, I don’t see Embracer lasting that long, unless they decide to make it with AI or some nonsense. I’m just waiting for the first company to try that and I actually encourage it, because hopefully it’ll put everyone off it so much that we’ll never have to live with the fear again and they can stop laying everyone off every five minutes.
Lentz

Quickly forgotten
Now Forza Horizon 6 is out on Game Pass I’ve been having a go and enjoying it a lot more than Forza Horizon 5. I’ve got up to the first showcase and that immediately made up for the lacklustre offerings from its predecessor.

In the run up to Forza coming out I was discussing with some people other arcade racers and the dwindling options.

Split/Second: Velocity was fondly recalled, alongside the stupidity of the release dates with Blur that ruined both their chances.

Fortunately, Microsoft’s approach to backwards compatibility meant that I could dig out my copy of Split/Second on the weekend and have a good go on it.

It still holds up pleasingly well. The graphics are still pretty decent, although I’m less keen on that yellowy sheen that reminds me of the first season of 24 for some reason.

The central gimmick of triggering various explosions and catastrophes around the tracks, like scenes in an action movie remains a delight. The risk/reward of immediately hobbling an opponent or saving for a large three charge to scupper multiple racers or dramatically alter the course is wonderful.

There is some egregious rubber banding though, and a track map would help too, but overall I think it’d be popular if it got a re-release, even without a remake/remaster overhaul.

Sadly though, Disney dipped out of making games shortly after it came out and it’s unlikely to see a sequel. But I would love to see another developer do something similar, maybe we could get a much-needed new Burnout and include the spectacular over the-top-chaos of Split/Second.
Euclidian Boxes

Studio sequel
For anyone who, like me, was a little disappointed by Saros, at least in terms of anything that wasn’t the gameplay, the director of Returnal has set up his own company. I think him having left was why Saros didn’t hit quite the same spot in a lot of ways.

Not sure from their annoucement what sort of budget their first game will be getting, but if it’s relatively low we might be something from them sooner rather than later.
Johnson

Whale bait
I’m highly suspicious of the Nex Playground – it smacks of a product designed to convince Microsoft or some other tech big hitter to buy the company and give the owner a job and some stock options, before leaving to set up a new company so they can sell it to a big hitter, in order to get a job…

From reading Cory Doctorow’s book, Ens***tification (don’t know if you can print that), earlier this year it seems that the whole modern tech industry is built on that merry-go-round.

I can’t put my finger on why I doubt them so much. Maybe the fact you have to subscribe if you want more than five games, and can’t simply buy them. But so many things are subscription-based now when it should just be a one-time purchase, so there must be more red flags in there for me.

Mark my words though: Microsoft will buy that tech soon, they’ll close the service, and everyone who forked out hundreds of hard-earned coins will end up with an expensive plastic box.

Maybe it will be used for Kinect 2.0 on the Xbox HAL.
FoximusPrime81

Inbox also-rans
If Fable looks as good and plays as well as Forza Horizon 6 we are in for a real treat.
Dirtystopout

GC: It’ll almost certainly have better combat.

I wonder if From’s next game will end up being another Amored Core. It doesn’t seem that long since the last one but it seems more plausible than having a big scale game, like Elden Ring, and The Duskbloods on the go at the same time.
Smithers

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American Airlines pilot Captain Steve has revealed why passengers are sometimes instructed to fully switch off their electronic devices rather than just place them into Airplane Mode

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If you’ve previously flown by plane, you’ve probably heard cabin crew staff or the captain telling you to switch off your mobile devices. While many remain doubtful about the importance of this guidance, an airline pilot has clarified why passengers receive these instructions occasionally.

American Airlines’ Captain Steve (recognised on social media as @CaptainSteeeve) posted on TikTok responding to one of his followers who questioned why she’d recently been instructed to switch her mobile phone off entirely rather than simply activating Airplane Mode. “There’s a good reason for that,” the pilot replied.

He expanded on the situation: “If you are in bad weather and you are going down to minimums, many of their airlines have in their operating procedures to make a PA that you are turn everything off in the back of the plane.”

But what’s the reasoning? “It’s so there isn’t any possibility that there’s any sort of interference with the navigation equipment,” Captain Steve highlighted.

Regarding activating Airplane Mode, he noted this advice originated in the 1990s when mobile phones started becoming widely owned.

“Back then they did some tests and there was some indication that all of those devices in the back of the aeroplane – that long metal tube you’re in – could cause some interference to the navigation,” Captain Steve explained.

However, he proceeded to suggest that above 10,000 feet it’s “not really that big of a deal”, while at lower altitudes during landing preparations, the situation differs considerably.

“You want to be lined up precisely on that runway and if you’re in bad weather and can’t see out until the last second when the plane is about to touch down, you don’t want to have a surprise when you break out from the clouds,” Captain Steve elaborated.

Consequently, it is crucial for pilots to minimise any interference with their navigation equipment.

“So when the weather is bad, let’s say they are going to do an auto-land – what’s called a ‘cat 3 landing’ – into fog or bad weather, the pilot may come on and say, ‘Folks, I need you to turn everything off’,” the pilot added.

He concluded by emphasising: “If you hear that on the PA from the captain, absolutely go and turn everything off. It’s very important that you do that.”

Responding to the video, one TikTok user remarked: “The sad thing about all this is that we’re depending on all the rest of the people in that aircraft to actually do the right thing and listen that’s scary.”

Another individual highlighted: “If my $400 iPad can interfere with the avionics and control systems of your $170M aircraft… that’s a problem. They probably can’t, but just the fact that it’s a consideration is a problem.”

A third commenter, however, remained unconvinced. “The early analogue phones caused interference occasionally,” they wrote. “The new digital smart phones cause zero interference.”

Ebola is a highly contagious disease transmitted through contact with bodily fluids, which frequently causes fatal haemorrhagic fever, rapid multi-organ failure and internal or external bleeding

Screening has started at a major US airport after an outbreak of the highly contagious Ebola outbreak in parts of Africa.

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began screening some travellers at Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport on Wednesday, May 20 as health officials respond to the outbreak.

This comes just days after the CDC said any US passport holder who has visited the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda or South Sudan within the past three weeks will be barred from entering the country. The ban will last for at least 30 days, according to an order issued by the CDC on Monday.

Ebola is a highly contagious disease transmitted through contact with bodily fluids. It frequently causes fatal haemorrhagic fever, rapid multi-organ failure and internal or external bleeding.

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“Ebola is one of the most infectious diseases out there. I’m not an alarmist, but I’m very concerned,” said CEO of Wellness Equity Alliance, Dr Tyler Evans.

Ebola cases are continuing to spread across parts of East and Central Africa and the World Health Organization has declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern.

At least six Americans are reported to have been exposed to Ebola.

An American doctor who contracted Ebola in the DRC has been flown to Germany for treatment, along with his wife and four children, as the World Health Organization warned of the “scale and speed” of the outbreak.

Federal health officials have said that the screening process at the busy O’Hare airport is intended to prevent the virus from entering the US.

People who have travelled through Uganda, the DRC or South Sudan within the last 21 days are being denied entry unless they are US citizens or permanent residents. Returning citizens and permanent residents arriving from those countries have to undergo additional screening measures at the airport.

Officials are checking travellers’ temperatures, enquiring about potential exposure and collect contact-tracing information.

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Those who show symptoms or have a fever will be taken to a quarantine station at the airport for a second evaluation.

If cleared, the traveller will be given a care kit with instructions to monitor their temperature twice a day for the next three weeks.

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that he is concerned about the Ebola outbreak.

When asked by a reporter about his concerns over the virus, Trump responded: “[I] certainly am.

“I think that it’s been confined right now to Africa, but its something that has had a breakout.”

The MPs went on to note: “The burden of higher standing charges is particularly acute for Scotland’s remote and island communities, who also experience higher levels of fuel poverty and, in many cases, are bearing the brunt of the infrastructure required to deliver UK-wide clean power ambitions.

It’s no secret that Makerfield has been at the heart of political attention since former Labour MP, Josh Simons, announced he was stepping down.

Mr Simons said he was giving up his seat so the mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham could enter Parliament and “drive the change our country is crying out for”.

Since then, it’s been all eyes on Makerfield, for an unconventional by-election that may decide not only the fate of the constituency, but the country.

If he wins, some of Mr Burnham’s supporters believe he has a path to becoming Prime Minister before Parliament breaks for the summer recess.

So, what have smack barms got to do with all this?

On Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, the panel (Josh Simons, broadcaster Jo Coburn, and author Will Self) discussed the political storm.

Naturally, the conversation turned to Mr Burnham, the by-election and Mr Simons’ part in it.

Josh Simons was most recently the Labour MP for Makerfield and left the Commons on May 18 (Image: Roger Harris/UK Parliament)

When asked for his thoughts, political commentator Mr Self began by talking about when he last visited Wigan and had a smack barm.

He described a smack barm as the “end bits of chips out of the bottom of the pan”.

However, he didn’t get it quite right, and may have been confusing it with a scrap barm.

Served in between a classic barm, a smack barm and pea wet is a potato special, as it’s known in Bolton, with pea juice providing a condiment of sorts.

Barms aside, Mr Self said he paid just 10p for a smack barm on his last visit, clearly quite a while ago.

“It’s a poor constituency, it’s a very poor constituency,” he said.

According to Mr Self, Labour is searching for an “organic figure to unite them with their past, who’s going to cancel out time”.

He said the ‘Burnham factor’ is rooted in a kind of nostalgia for an idealised past that never really existed.

Andy Burnham is one of the party’s most popular politicians, dubbed the “King of the North” (Image: Stock)

Mr Simons defended his decision to resign his seat and said: “Over the last 40 years, the basic way that we run our economy is shafting my constituents.”

“Still eating smack barms,” Mr Self retorted.

“They’re now probably £1.50,” said Mr Simons.

“What are they supposed to feel if it’s £1.50 for a smack barm?”

We put it to our Bolton readers, as barms are often a highly debated topic, have you ever tried a smack barm?

Or should this speciality be left with our friends down the road?

The incident involved a red Gazelle e-bike and occurred at around 9.36pm on Monday (May 18).

The suspect was arrested at an address linked to a tracking device that the owner of the bike had place on it.

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A North Yorkshire Police spokesperson said: “The victim discovered the theft at around 10pm and was able to provide officers with live tracking information.”

Neighbourhood Policing Inspector Jen Stockwell said: “This case demonstrates the speed and effectiveness of our officers, who acted quickly on tracking information to recover the stolen bike and identify a suspect.

“New powers introduced under the Crime and Policing Act are helping us respond faster than ever to theft offences.

“We would strongly encourage cyclists to consider fitting tracking devices to their bikes where possible. Technology like this can make a significant difference in helping us recover stolen property.

“We take bike theft very seriously in York and remain committed to protecting our communities and pursuing those responsible.”

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Fire crews remain at the scene in Summerston after flames ripped through the roof of a terraced property on Wednesday evening.

Emergency crews are battling a house fire in Glasgow where dramatic images show thick black smoke pouring from the roof of a residential property. The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service confirmed they were called to Blackhill Road at around 7.48pm on Wednesday May 20, following reports of a blaze at a home.

Footage sent to the Record shows huge plumes of smoke rising above the Summerston area and visible from a distance across the city. Another video filmed closer to the scene shows flames ripping through the roof of what appears to be a terraced property.

Four fire appliances and a height vehicle were sent to the scene as firefighters worked to tackle the blaze. Crews remained in attendance on Wednesday night.

It is not yet known if anyone has been injured. A spokesperson for Scottish Fire and Rescue Service told the Record: “We received an alert at 19.48 on Wednesday, May 20, to reports of a house fire at Blackhill Road, Summerston, in Glasgow.

“Four appliances attended with one height appliance also in attendance. Crews remain at the scene.”

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The Environment Agency has been leading a criminal investigation into the illegal dump near residential homes in Wigan

A man has been arrested as part of an ongoing investigation into the illegal dumping of waste, including at the notorious toxic site on Bolton House Road where an estimated 25,000 tonnes of material has been discarded.

The ‘ocean of rubbish’ first emerged last summer in Bickershaw when a week-long fire saw some of the waste burn, forcing nearby schools to close. A criminal investigation is underway to find out who was responsible for dumping the rubbish at the former scrapyard.

And earlier this year, a closure order banning access to the illegal waste site was granted. This was put in place to prevent access for any unauthorised individuals.

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Officers from West Midlands Police, working in support of the Environment Agency, secured the arrest of the suspect. A 58-year-old male from the Birmingham area was arrested for environmental, fraud and money laundering offences.

The suspect has now been released on conditional bail pending further investigation. No further details were released by the Environment Agency, who are leading the criminal probe into the towering dump near homes.

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The investigation is being led by the EA’s National Environmental Crime Unit, which is seeking to find those responsible for the offending. Angry locals said multiple lorries carrying rubbish to the site piled waste up to 20 metres high over several months beginning in January 2025.

Shocking images show thousands of black bin bags full of household rubbish like nappies as well as harmful chemicals and plastics littering the area.

It’s thought a clean-up could cost £4.5m. The Government said in March they would directly fund the operation to clear the site.

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Last year, after a major blaze at the site, former Makerfield MP Josh Simons said he had ‘been pushing the Environment Agency every time [he] meets with them to move further and faster’.

Ian Crewe, Area Director for Greater Manchester, Merseyside and Cheshire at the Environment Agency, said: “The illegal dumping at sites across England are an attack on our communities, and the Environment Agency shares their disgust at these horrendous crimes.

“Our teams have been working relentlessly on this investigation, and yesterday’s arrest are a vital step in collecting new evidence and progressing it further.”

Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds said: “We are cracking down on waste criminals – putting an end to the damage they cause, by boosting funds to tackle waste crime, putting more boots on the ground and and giving stronger powers to our enforcement teams. If you dump waste illegally, we will come after you.”