Games Inbox: Will Metroid Prime 4 be in today’s Nintendo Direct?

The Tuesday letters page tries to explain the age rating for Still Wakes The Deep, as one reader offers a warning about Elden Ring’s DLC.

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Direct predictions
Glad to see we finally got a date for the Nintendo Direct, although I’m not sure why it had to be only a day before. I seem to remember the E3 ones used to be announced many weeks in advance. I agree with the logic that at 40 minutes long there’s got to be something major in there. Nintendo knows better than to bore people for that long with only minor games. After all, they invented this whole format.

Metroid Prime 4 seems by far the most likely candidate and I think a release this year followed by a revamped version for the Switch 2 makes perfect sense. What better way to prove the new console’s power if the game looks significantly better on it? So I think it will be definitely be shown today, for a Christmas release.

It reminds me of a rumour a few months ago that said Metroid Prime 4 will be out this year, along with two Pokémon games. I can see that happening or maybe this rumour about a top-down Zelda remaster or new game? There’s no way Nintendo is going to go five years without a new Zelda game and they always get someone else to do the remasters, so it could easily be ready by now.
Onibee

Oh Mother
I’m not expecting huge announcements in the Nintendo Direct tomorrow, on the basis that Switch is in its twilight era, but a localised version of Mother 3, or maybe a couple of Goemon games being added to the Nintendo Switch Online subscription would be enough to get me very excited.

I don’t think that will happen, but you never know.
John Atkinson

GC: Goemon isn’t impossible, but Mother 3 is several leagues below Hollow Knight Silksong in terms of likelihood.

Beyond Ultimate
My bet for what they’ll do with the next Super Smash Bros. is that it’ll definitely be a Mario Kart 8 Deluxe port solution. They can add a few new characters, and maybe a new single-player mode, but I really don’t see what they can do beyond that, given that Ultimate is pretty much perfect for what it’s trying to do.

In this day and age, of multiplayer games lasting forever, Super Smash Bros. should really just become a live service game, but I don’t know that Nintendo would do that. They’d probably think that a new game would sell just as well, even if it was just an enhanced remaster. They may be right too but with every passing year I wonder if that’s the way that all sequels will go, even Nintendo ones.
Deckard

Just business
As a fan of the original Alone In The Dark I bought the recent reboot and while it had some problems I thought it was generally well done and a very authentic homage to the first game. So, I was very saddened to hear that the developer has already been shut down, yet another victim of the awful Embrace Group.

And then we find out how much EA is paying its execs to come up with the great idea of laying off hundreds of developers. I know it’s not just gaming that acts like this, it’s just business, but it’s really disgusting to hear about. No wonder most developers that see even a hint of success go off and start their own studio or become indie.

I used to think making games for a living would be the ultimate job, now it just seems like a nightmare. My sympathies to all those affected.
Benson

Passive violence
Not that I’m a fan of ratings and censorship but I believe I can explain Still Wakes The Deep getting only a 16 rating, despite using the c-world and being inspired by The Thing. I think that swearing only has a small influence on the age rating and that it’s basically not being penalised at all for the violence.

You said there isn’t that much gore in it, which makes me think that the reason that otherwise inoffensive games like Assassin’s Creed haven an 18 is because you take part in the violence, you don’t just watch it. That seems pretty silly given how movies are, but I think it’s just a hang-up from people in power still not really understanding video games.

I have to admit I am surprised that multiple uses of the c-word didn’t get an auto-18 rating. I’m not even sure that GTA has used that word before. But yeah, I doubt they play/watch these things properly, especially when it’s more of an indie title.
Statler

Second time round
Just a heads-up for anyone who is planning on getting the Elden Ring DLC to check their save files, even if they did beat Mogh first time around.

I redownloaded the game over the weekend to get back into the hang of it and make sure I had beaten the necessary boss (yes, according to my trophies) but what I didn’t realise was that I had started a New Game+ after finishing the first time, and as such was right back at the beginning.

Now I need to play through significant parts of the game just to reach the point where I can start the DLC and will almost certainly not be ready by release day. At least my character is stupidly over-levelled for the early sections, so I’m making faster progress than first time around.
TGN Professor

GC: This is exactly the position we were in. The problem with New Game+ is it deactivates all the fast travel sites, plus you have to beat Radahn and Morgott again if you go the Consecrated Snowfield route. It didn’t take as long as we first feared but it is still several hours of work. Also, don’t assume you’re over-levelled for the DLC itself…

Intractable problem
I really don’t see the point in continuing Starfield with more DLC. The game is fundamentally not fun to play, with boring combat and space combat, an uninteresting plot, and forgettable characters. That’s not a good foundation for a game Bethesda is talking about getting support for a decade or whatever.

I’d much rather they switch all resources to The Elder Scrolls 6 and Fallout 5 but I think they’re too stubborn to admit that Starfield is just nowhere in that same league. I don’t see how they’re going to fix any of those problems and I’m not sure if they’re too proud to even admit the problem exist.
Bowie

Episodic gaming
I hadn’t heard the rumour about Spider-Man 3 being split into two parts before, but that’s an interesting way to address the problem of rising costs. My question is whether each part will be as long as Spider-Man 2 or half the length? If it’s going to be shorter then the game will basically be twice the price of the previous game, so the guy that wants to spend £150 for a new game essentially gets his wish.

If each part is the same as a regular game though I’d say that’s a good way to both save money and get games out more quickly. Would it have made sense to split Elden Ring in two and sell it that way? Probably not but something like Baldur’s Gate 3 could easily have been split into three and sold at a third of the main game.

You’d essentially be getting a paid-for demo of the full game, which seems like something that would appeal to publishers. It seems less wasteful for people not sure they want to pay more and means they waste less money on a game they never beat – because they can’t sell it on because it’s digital.

It’ll probably be a less interesting movie style part 1 and 2 though, and Sony won’t bother using it as a way to change how games are sold but I think it could work that way.
Lester

Inbox also-rans
Is it worth buying Super Smash Bros. Ultimate if I’m going to be playing it for the single-player mode only?
LoRd SiNn

GC: That’s not an easy question to answer but we’d say yes… if you enjoy the majority of the characters and are a big Nintendo fan in general.

RE: The Inbox letter about a PS5 Pro. If it manages to make Gran Turismo 7/PlayStation VR2 even a little bit better than it already is, I would buy one. It’s easily my biggest time sink over the last year.
r-s-w

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The small print
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