The Friday letters page thinks Microsoft will do much better with Xbox as a third party publisher, as readers fall in love with indie hit Ball x Pit.
Games Inbox is a collection of our readersâ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk
Taking sides
So now that we know Battlefield 6 has been a big hit, and that Activision is definitely sweating, what do we think is going to happen next? Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7 is still going to sell more but the balance of power has shifted (or whatever it is the Rock used to say) and you know that Activision is currently demanding changes that make their games more like Battlefield.
The funny thing is that, as another reader pointed out, Call Of Duty is currently starting another of its sci-fi/unrealistic runs, that will probably last two or three games, so itâs currently as different from Battlefield 6 as it could be. Thatâs good from the point of view of variety for gamers but if Activision thinks that Battlefield did so well because of being realistic then thatâs all weâre going to get from now on.
To be honest, I am very impressed by Battlefield 6, and I think it deserves its success, even if it is very safe and not the reboot I was expecting/hoping. For me, itâs the best online shooter at the moment, but the campaign is still terrible, so thatâs one thing Call Of Duty still does better, as well as co-op with Zombies mode.
I think the two can coexist, but theyâll never be happy with that and whoever is seen to be behind will just want to be more like the other.
Wotan
The Apple method
People have been joking about a PS5 Pro+ lately, but I really donât see why that is such a bad idea. Not within the same generation but as something to do instead of the PlayStation 6. Smartphones long ago got to the point where thereâs nothing really new to do. Itâs all just pointless extras for the sake of it and the naming system is all messed up, because nobody wants to buy an iPhone 296.
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I canât believe that there is anything the PlayStation 6 is going to do that would possibly justify anything as expensive as the PS5 Pro, so why not just do small upgrades every few years that allow the previous model to drop in price. So, for example, the PS5 Pro+ would be the same price as the current Pro but the current Pro would fall in price to that of a regular PlayStation 5.
Iâm sure Sony wonât do it, but I donât really understand why, given all the risks involved with the usual method. Youâd think that if it was proven to work for Apple itâd be good enough for Sony.
Artur
Future Battlefront
Iâm not in the slightest bit interested in Quantic Dream making a Star Wars game but I do wander what the EA buyout means for the possibility of Battlefront 3. It did seem like there was a good case building for it, but will the new owners be more or less likely to go for it?
It seems to me they might want to kind of show off, that theyâre serious about things and have plenty of money, etc. So throwing a ton of money into an expensive game like that could make them look good.
Then again, Iâve heard that the buyout might get legally blocked in the US. I donât know about that but the whole idea of a company buying itself out, and then immediately going into tens of billion of dollars of debt ought to be illegal. At the end of the day, itâs ordinary developers that are going to suffer, losing their jobs.
Tacle
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Gone but not forgotten
Sad to hear of the death of Tomonobu Itagaki, as I loved Ninja Gaiden back in the day. Sadder still to think that I havenât really heard of him since the Xbox 360 era. I think he had a Wii U game, which I never played, but as far as I know thatâs it. A sad way to go for someone that I think had a major influence on the original Xbox.
At the time, Dead Or Alive (including Dead Or Alive Xtreme Volleyball) and Ninja Gaiden were really the only big name Japanese games on the Xbox and without them I donât think it wouldâve had any legitimacy at all. They were basically first party games by default, even if they werenât technically, and I have very fond memories of them. So sad to see him go, but at least he has a lasting legacy â especially with Ninja Gaiden 4 coming out this year.
Tommy
Unnecessary effort
Not too much to argue about in your ranking of the best and worst PokĂ©mon games, but I will say that another reason Gold and Silver is so beloved is because it went so above and beyond what was required. Itâs not just Kanto being in the game, itâs how they expanded everything so much beyond the first game, added so many new ideas and then all the other games⊠nothing.
Thereâre probably more new ideas in Gold and Silver than there are in all the other games put together. And no, being in 3D does not count as a new idea. Itâs very rare for any game, PokĂ©mon or otherwise, to see a sequel that good and I donât know there ever will be another one like it again.
Iâm sure every developer puts effort into the games they make but with Gold and Silver they did more than was necessary, and thatâs very rare. Hopefully PokĂ©mon Legends: Z-A is a step in the right direction, but I will be very surprised if what comes next is anything more than a small improvement.
Zeiss
A real ball
Ball x Pit! What is this madness? Well Iâll tell you, so it plays like a top-down shooter, Gradius and the like, but itâs more akin to Vampire Survivors, what with all the crazy weapons and even crazier combos and evolutions of said weapons, unlockable characters and crucially that âone more goâ hook that keeps you going back for more into the early hours, when you really should be in Super Mario dream land.
Anyway, itâs on Game Pass, so something to use your 23 quid a month on. Go on give it a try, you might like it.
big boy bent
GC: You do realise we reviewed it on Wednesday? Also, Gradius is not a top-down shooter. Sister series Salamander has some top-down sections but itâs still half and half.
Review embargo embargo
Just wondering if you are allowed to say if you have received The Outer Worlds 2 in for review yet/when can we expect your tries, etc.?
Also are you planning on reviewing the Tales Of Xillia remaster?
TheSpectre N8 (gamertag)
PS: Currently playing Ball x Pit, thanks to your excellent review!
GC: We are allowed to say for this one, yes. But only because thereâs a specific note in the NDA, that says exactly when weâre allowed to say (which was Monday). So our review should be 2pm BST on Thursday, October 23. We have no plans for Tales Of Xillia yet.
In the game
If Microsoft werenât a super rich company I would suggest they ditch hardware simply to focus on games, because I think theyâve got a really good line-up of games coming up. The Xbox Ally things seem completely pointless to me, especially given the price, but if thatâs a separate budget to the games side of it all maybe it doesnât matter.
But the thing is, not only does Microsoft have a good line-up for next year, with Gears Of War: E-Day, Fable, Forza Horizon 6, and Clockwork Revolution but theyâre the only ones that have the money to waste on triple-A games without it putting the whole company at risk.
Sony either canât or wonât make those games at more than one or two year, and nobody else makes anything else at that budget thatâs not the safest sequel or licensed game possible. Microsoft wanting to flex and prove theyâre still in the game could be a great benefit for everyone, since all of itâs going to be multiformat from now on anyway.
It will be ironic if after generations of failure they finally get the dominance theyâve always want as a third party publisher. Even if thatâs not the kind of influence they actually want. The extra irony is that if theyâd had a line-up like this 10 years ago they wouldnât have needed to go third party in the first.
I guess these things just take time, even for a $4 trillion company.
Goda
Inbox also-rans
Iâm a bit shocked at the amount of effort that has gone into that McDonaldâs x Street Fighter collaboration. Seems like more effort than goes into making the actual burgers!
Laggard
I still donât understand why all these Sonic Mario Kart clones exist, why is Sonic driving a car?! Surely heâs faster than the car? Iâve never played it but Sonic R made much more sense with them just running around on foot.
Bondie
GC: The thing is, Sonic R was rubbish but most of the vehicle-based games are quite good.
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