The Monday letters page thinks Forza Horizon 5 on PS5 would be the final straw for fans, as one reader looks forward to more Mario RPGs on the Switch 2.
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Less than a rumour
I think there’s one possibility that people don’t seem to have really talked about in terms of the Switch 2 at the moment and that’s what if the reason it hasn’t been announced yet is because it’s been delayed? When Nintendo said it would be announced before April that just meant this financial year, I don’t think anyone thought they were going to do it on March 31.
Nintendo might not have said anything about a delay, but looking at things from the outside that’s exactly what it looks like to me. Whether it’s to do with these Trump tariffs or not I don’t know (obviously) but it could just as easily be because their launch games aren’t ready yet or a combination of a dozen other things.
What I’m saying is that I think we should both prepare ourselves for disappointment and not assume we know anything about what’s going on until there’s confirmation. Who knows how long a delay could go on for, but I certainly wouldn’t bet on seeing it in early 2025. I’m not saying that’s not possible, but a lot of people seem to think that’s all but confirmed at this point and yet it’s barely even rumoured – it’s just what fans assume and hope.
Zeiss
Nowhere to go
I think it’s clear that Nintendo has a huge problem ahead of it for almost all its franchises, and not just Zelda. They’re basically in uncharted territory now, where nobody has any idea what they’re going to do. That doesn’t mean Nintendo can’t figure out something good but there are basically no easy or obvious ways to go now, and that is both exciting and filled with risk.
I can imagine maybe Mario is slightly easier than others, just because the series is so malleable anyway and the rumours of a Donkey Kong focus sound like something different, but I have to say I have no idea what you do for the next Zelda or Mario Kart.
I do feel Metroid has a lot more room to expand but that probably all depends on how well Metroid Prime sells. That whole universe is kind of underdeveloped at the moment but previous attempts to expand it have had mixed result, to say the least.
Johnson
Forza future
If Forza Horizon goes to PlayStation 5 then that’s the final straw as Xbox goes as a console format. If Forza is multiformat then here’s no reason Halo and Gears Of War won’t be either and at that point what’s the point in owning an Xbox console?
I know they say that doesn’t matter now but I don’t want to do all my gaming via streaming. Game Pass isn’t on PlayStation so what does Xbox mean to me except just another third party publisher? I don’t know how they think they have a future as anything else and I just hope Sony doesn’t go the same way.
All the ‘This is an Xbox’ feels like the last days of Dreamcast to me and it’s kind of sad.
Gribby
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RoboCop-o-vision
Following on from Grackle’s letter the other day, I’d also heartily recommend RoboCop: Rogue City for the paltry sum of £17-ish on the PlayStation Store.
There have been several top notch licensed games over the years but few that make you feel you’re actually in the shoes of a legendary character.
GoldenEye 007 was great for tons of reasons but to me its greatest success was making you feel you were Bond, to the extent you fancied a vodka martini once you’d holstered your Walther PPK. Suffice to say I’m practically craving baby food playing as RoboCop.
I think the first person perspective definitely helps with the immersion – it’s a reason I think the new Indiana Jones game could work really well, and why the many Batman games, whilst mostly terrific, never leave me thinking ‘I’m Batman!’.
There’s one obvious exception though that I haven’t played yet unfortunately, and that’s Batman: Arkham Shadow and it seems to me RoboCop would be an even more perfect character to bring to life in VR. I mean, imagine the fun developers could have with your visor if you breached the fourth directive, and because Murphy isn’t known for being the most mobile of characters the pace seems uniquely suited to VR.
I know Inbox magic has been summoned a few times recently but if there’s any left?
Andrew Wright
GC: Arkham Shadow is great but you’re right, RoboCop VR would be a good idea too.
Local knowledge
The thing that annoys me about Watch Dogs: Legion is that because it was a flop Ubisoft and others will take that as proof that games shouldn’t be set in another countries and the next one will be just America again. They won’t take into account that it was both a bad game and a bad representation of London, by people that clearly weren’t very familiar with it.
Although to be fair, I guess it must be difficult for anyone to make a game about a city or culture they’re not familiar with, which is why everything is always just America – because nobody’s going to set up a new developer in London or Rio de Janeiro or wherever just to make one game.
Stimpson
Regional variations
In response to a reader who claimed that Dragon Age: The Veilguard and Star Wars Outlaws were not really discounted for Black Friday, I am not sure where they were looking for discounts for these games or how much they think a decent discount is.
From the week of its release, physical copies of Dragon Age: The Veilguard have been 30%+ off via Amazon.com.au here. Currently discounted copies are between 30% to 35% off, depending on the version you wish to buy.
Star Wars Outlaws is currently on sale between 40% to 60% off, pretty big discount in my books.
If the reader was only looking on the PlayStation Store, then no, very minimal to no discount. Just goes to show that physical media is not only better for game preservation, but also often much cheaper for games in general. In my opinion digital games should actually automatically be cheaper for the customer since distribution costs are much less for the publishers.
Sigmar
PS: Evidence provided for GC on prices.
GC: In the UK, Star Wars Outlaws has certainly been discounted, but perhaps not as much as some expected. The cheapest on PlayStation 5 is 44% off at Argos, but most retailers have it at around 35% off. There have been no significant cuts for Dragon Age: The Veilguard over Black Friday, so we guess Australia has it better in that regard.
Not Resident Evil
RE: Silent Hill 2 remake. I’ve found I’ve started enjoying the game more since I switched the combat down to easy. The game is brimming with atmosphere but then I have to do another boring melee fight with a monster, and it was starting to ruin the game for me.
I feel like a cheat, but it’s meant I can just enjoy the setting rather than worry about if I have enough health potions. The hospital was so good and had me thinking ‘not in a million years would I go there’ which is what I wanted.
Simon
GC: That’s a perfectly reasonable approach, the combat is a minor part of the game’s appeal.
Full control
Crazy to think about The Witcher 4 in the next few years, alongside possibly Elder Scrolls 6! It was great that CD Projekt Red acknowledged Cyberpunk 2077 as a launch that should not have happened the way it did, but I thought they were forced into it to hit a deadline of which the powers that be needed to be hit no matter what!
Whereas No Man’s Sky’s launch was mainly the developers; an incomplete game needing more work and development time, which the company definitely made up for with continuous, well-designed patches and free updates!
It was different for CD Projekt Red, who I believe would have wanted to finish it properly even if it took them another year and a half! But, like No Man’s Sky’s development team Hello Games, CD Projekt Red have patched up and updated Cyberpunk 2077 and it is now near what the original dream was for the game.
I know waiting many birthdays is how long big games are likely to take to create, and this raises other questions. An entire console generation can come and go as technology keeps racing on ahead! Luckily there are enough games companies for now to fill the space until The Witcher 4 and Elder Scrolls 6. Like for example Beyond Good And Evil 2 which should be about ready by now… oh, wait! At least the indie gaming world will fill in the gap whilst the triple-A games companies continue their gaming quest.
Alucard
GC: That’s not true at all. Cyberpunk 2077 was published by CD Projekt themselves, nobody set the deadlines or okayed the release but them.
Inbox also-rans
So with all three of the Mario role-playing games having recently got new games or remakes that basically guarantees that there’s going to be a new one for the Switch 2, right? I wonder if it’ll be a sequel or a brand new franchise combing elements of all three? That’s be my preference.
Sanj
GC: Nothing is guaranteed with Nintendo, but that is one bet we would take.
Is Metaphor: ReFantazio going to get a director’s cut like all the Persona games? The likelihood is what put me off buying it, even when it was cheap during Black Friday.
Oscar
GC: Nothing has been announced, but this is also something we wouldn’t bet against.
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