The Monday letters page thinks the fighting game community is the least toxic in gaming, as one reader looks forward to KoROBO.
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Generational increase
There’s been a lot of talk about the Nintendo Switch 2 lately but not of the most important factor: how much is it going to cost? Obviously, that depends on its power and whatever gimmicks it might have but the original Switch was £280 at launch, while the more recent PlayStation 5 was £450.
Every rumour I’ve heard says that Switch will be more expensive. I sincerely doubt it’ll be as much as the PlayStation 5, but I’d be surprised if it was any less than £350. Nintendo likes to keep their hardware cheap but they’re not immune to getting carried away with success and right now they’re probably thinking they can charge top dollar for a more powerful, upgraded Switch.
I’m not saying they’re wrong but only as far as dedicated gamers go. If they can’t keep costs down then I would advise them to release the Switch 2 Lite as soon as possible, if not at launch. Everyone loves Nintendo but everybody loves feeding their family too, and I feel a lot of the Switch’s success is due to it being the cheapest option.
Focus
Hardware churn
All this technobabble nonsense about the PS5 Pro and I will eat my hat if any normal person can tell the difference about anything it does without using a side-by-side comparison from Digital Foundry. I guess I understand why Sony is doing it, given it’ll be a premium product made at little extra effort, but I really do not understand why anyone would upgrade to it if they already own a PlayStation 5.
If you’re rich then good for you but one PS5 Pro could buy you nine or so games at £70, let alone how many cheaper ones you could get. Whatever floats your boat, but I’ll be glad when the leaks and speculation are over and Sony will finally be able to concentrate on games and not hardware. Although what’s the betting they come up with some useless peripheral afterwards? They’ve been obsessed this generation.
Paulie
Forgotten birthday
A minor anniversary for many I’m sure, but this week is the 20th anniversary of Gradius 5. The last attempt to make a big budget entry in the series and one of the best games from Treasure. I’m sure it won’t be acknowledged by Konami but the reader on Monday saying that they didn’t understand why they didn’t revamp Castlevania… well, I feel the same about Gradius.
Sure, the name doesn’t mean much nowadays but that’s only because it’s been neglected. These games were a big deal back in the day and it’s very easy to imagine lots of different ways to make a modern version, with everything from Star Fox to No Man’s Sky (which has clearly taken some influence from the ship designs) offering a possibility. I’m not holding my breath though.
Gannet
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Mindful fighter
I’ve never been very good at fighting games – I haven’t really got the patience for them – but I do admire the community around them. They seem a lot friendlier and less toxic than for most other games and they really seem to punch above their weight, given fighters never really sell that much and yet Evo must be the best known tournament around. Or at least it’s the only one I’ve heard of.
I’m not sure I’d attend a European version, but I’d probably watch the highlights or something like that. I’m also in favour of more crossover fighters from Capcom and whoever. They’ve always seemed the most accessible and fun of these types of games and if it was for something I’m interested in, like Marvel or Sega, then I’d definitely give it a go.
Sometimes it’s not just about raw numbers but mindshare and I think most people probably know a lot more about Street Fighter or Mortal Kombat than they do League Of Legends, even though that’s much more popular.
The Gonch
Chibi legacy
KoROBO is a spiritual successor to the Chibi-Robo games from the GameCube and other Nintendo consoles, live on KickStarter now. KoROBO is being made by the creators of Chibi-Robo, I’ve just backed it for a physical copy with other options available for a digital version, soundtrack CD, and art book. The campaign closes on August 23rd at 4pm BST.
Andrew J.
PS: Don’t forget to get your Xbox 360 up to date before the 31st July 2024 and buy any games that will be lost when the Xbox 360 Digital Store closes at the end of this month. Just plugged mine in to do the system
update and to download Hydro Thunder Hurricane, which I bought for £2 on sale.
GC: That’s great and all but were any of the Chibi-Robo games really that good? We can’t say we have a burning desire to play any of them again.
Own goal
If it hadn’t been the marketing boss himself talking I would never have believed that stuff about Microsoft having a much smaller budget in Europe than PlayStation. How is this possible? The way Microsoft waste money surely it must be pocket change for them to outspend Sony?
I do not see any situation where spending that $69 billion on marketing wouldn’t have done more to help Xbox then wasting it on Activision Blizzard. That hasn’t done anything but give them control of a profitable company. Consoles have gone down, still no one’s interested in Game Pass, and there’s no clue what they do next.
For me this all goes back to Phil Spencer. If things have been this bad for so long, in terms of bad translations and a lack of advertising on the mainland why wasn’t this the first thing he changed? I mean, the translations… how much effort does that take? One bilingual guy for a couple of days would’ve sorted that out and yet they’re relying on Google Translate instead? That’s just surreal.
I’ve got no axe to grind with Xbox but the people in charge of it are very hard to take seriously. These aren’t tactical mistakes or being outmanoeuvred by Sony, this is just self-sabotage.
Ragu
Rest of the world
So, my jaw hit floor reading your article yesterday, where Microsoft say they don’t have as big a budget as Sony to advertise.
So, buy multiple studios, then Activision Blizzard – spending billions, then won’t advertise the console those games are going to be on. Couldn’t make it up.
TWO MACKS
GC: It’s madness.
Sign of the times
I think this weekend’s article sums up today’s gaming perfectly. Bring a 26-year-old game back to life to promote the newest console. Not getting at the writer at all, hopefully you realise that, however it sums up gaming today perfectly in my opinion.
I know this site and most readers still love gaming but for me it’s mostly gone wrong. Overpowered and overpriced hardware and software rule. Machines you cannot really fully utilise and develop for, too powerful. You know the overpriced bit is true when the most popular games are free to own (note, I said own). You know overpowered is true as no machine now gets developed to the max anymore. Remember development teams pushing every last bit out of a computer or console, recently? Remember when that happened?
I still game but rarely on today’s big games. The recent Spider-Man and God of War being the exceptions, along with many bits of Nintendo fun. And God Of War was a bit of a push, thinking back. However, something like Inside or Limbo… happy days. Fantastic and fun. And this is crucial, not 100 hour epics with infinite paths and possibilities. Note, can be played on a phone or a top-end machine too, graphics fantastic as they perfectly fit the game.
The capability of the hardware has exceeded the capability of developers to fully use such, I think. I cannot see how they possibly can now? And in constantly making new hardware every five years it gets worse each generation. It was mainly graphics we saw get the development/improvement, the size and possibilities of games too, but it was the graphics that showed development. But now?
I’m ancient. Late 50s. I was there when home game machines first launched. Grandstand TV, handhelds that were basically dots on a screen. The arrival of the much-loved Spectrum. It changed everything. The innovation that inspired is impossible to imagine today. The way programmers pushed those machines is something we won’t see again.
The best of those games are testament to the fact developers made games fun. Remember fun? It’s been missing for a good while in 90% of games. I can’t imagine today two teenagers hunched over a 14 inch Amstrad plotting how to conquer a single screen on Jet Set Willy (hello Garry, if you’re still with us!).
Circling back I think the wish for an old Zelda game made prettier says it all. Indeed, how much of today’s gaming is old games (or ideas) made prettier and how long can you keep doing that?
I think games need to be cut back. Made fun again. Made by people. Not development teams of hundreds of folk who don’t know each other. Would music ever be made like that? Made to be played and finished. Like, completed by the player. Then get another one.
Anyway, this is too long and could have been longer. I love games but I think it’s not great just now and will get worse before getting better. Off to sunny Edinburgh now to have two hours of fun retro gaming in the museum. Galaxian and co. now a museum exhibition, but I will have fun.
Neil
Inbox also-rans
Why does Microsoft keep making all these cool console mods and controllers and then not selling them? Just using them as competition prizes. I think people might be onto something when they say they’re not very good at marketing.
Lossy
Hang on. We have a Reader’s Feature about Capcom Vs. games at the weekend and the very next day one of the old ones gets re-released out of the blue? Inbox Magic is powerful stuff.
Granville
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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.
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