The Wednesday letters page doubts whether any Nintendo Switch 2 rumour is true, as a reader worries what will happen to MachIneGames if Indiana Jones is a flop.
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Favourite ‘Station
A strange sort of anniversary for the PlayStation. I see we didn’t get any announcements or a State of Play or anything, which means in the end the only thing of note was the new retro start-up sequence for the PlayStation 5, which I have to admit is pretty cool.
Hopefully Sony have more important things to worry about now though, especially with all these rumours of a PS5 Portable. I’m not sure I understand them though, because if that’s a long way off then what’s the PlayStation 6 going to be? Does that mean there won’t be a PlayStation 6 or that it’ll be like the GameCube to the Wii, where they basically stayed the same power from one generation to the next?
No one knows but one sensible question we can ask, which I’ve been pondering this week, is which is the best PlayStation console? As important as it is I can’t say it’s the first for me and I doubt many people would say PlayStation 3 or 5. So that puts it down to 2 and 4, in my book. I’m not one to let nostalgia cloud my judgement but I’d say it’s pretty obviously the PlayStation 4, thanks to its amazing catalogue of games. Curious to know what other people think though.
Joemon
Ouroboros of news
So, we have more leaks from China that seem to imply that the Nintendo Switch 2 looks and works like the original. I’m not saying that’s unlikely but how do we know these new cases, which are clearly not official, are not just copying the rumours and trying to get ahead of the game? People will probably buy them anyway – or at least that’s what the makers will think – so whether they fit the console is going to be irrelevant.
I just feel like we’re going in circles with the Switch 2 rumours and we have no guarantee that any of it is true. I mean, none of it was for a reveal this year and while I understand plans could’ve changed, I doubt they did and that it was probably always Nintendo’s plan to say nothing this year and just have everyone talking and theorising for as long as possible, building up the hype but never really knowing what’s going on.
Tacle
Foot soldier
RE: Foot obsession. I never think of Quentin Tarantino, It’s definitely Miyazaki I’m thinking of.
At first, I thought it was a running joke from the r/shittydarksouls subreddit. But when I started a fresh playthrough I started noticing bare feet all over the shop.
Not just that, but in some cut scenes, particularly Morgott and the divine dancing lion, the camera zooms in on their bare feet and kind of lingers, longingly for a moment.
Enia isn’t shy about swinging them in the Tarnished’s face and that’s just off the top of my head. When you are aware of it you start noticing it.
I don’t remember it in Bloodborne or Dark Souls 1 and 3 but apparently the bare nekkid feet are in that as well.
I’m telling you, the FromSoft games are all about the divine nature of feet.
P.Ella
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Second birthday
Talking of 30ths. Need For Speed’s European 3DO release was 30 years ago on the 2nd of December 1994.
I had a 3DO, as a joint present with my brothers. It’s considered one of the worst consoles released but I loved it, and it had some excellent games. Going from the SNES to the 3DO felt like a big jump.
I think it’s part of why the first PlayStation doesn’t hold a huge place in my personal gaming highlight reel. I’d tasted 3D gaming before the PlayStation showed up on these shores, along with FMV and pre-rendered footage.
The arcade games I wanted most in the home experience were Sega’s. It’s a shame Sega couldn’t quite convert that stellar arcade form to the home consoles. Then the N64 turned up and that’s where my focus was for the rest of the ‘90s.
My first strongest gaming memory of PlayStation is the Metal Gear Solid 2 demo. But a Sony console wasn’t my main console until last gen, with the PlayStation 4. But I write this now surrounded by a PlayStation 3, PS4 Pro, PlayStation VR, PS5 Pro, and PlayStation VR2. Sony’s machines are where 90% of my gaming has been done for a decade now.
Simundo
Clash of the titans
Long time reader of GameCentral, first time writer. Really enjoyed the recent article on the importance of the original PlayStation. 30 years ago, and it only seems like yesterday. Ridge Racer was great but not a patch on Sega Rally!
I actually think the NES (in Japan and especially the US) has had a greater longer-term impact. Without Nintendo rescuing the market after Atari tanked, would PlayStation have even existed? Maybe. Maybe not. Glad the two companies are going strong.
Dan A
GC: It is the other obvious contender, but the market crash was limited solely to the US and the NES in general was not widely successful in Europe. The original PlayStation was a worldwide phenomenon and changed almost every aspect of gaming at the time.
Risks and consequences
Everything I’ve seen and heard about Indiana Jones And The Great Circle makes it sounds great but like many have said I can’t imagine it selling well, especially not when it’s only an Xbox exclusive. Combine that with the last Indiana Jones movie being a flop and my biggest concern is what’s going to happen to MachineGames, who have been working on this for ages, but I don’t think have really had a major hit since the original Wolfenstein reboot, since I don’t think the second one did that great – or we would’ve had another one.
We’ll have to wait until Indy is out on PlayStation 5 as well, but if that flops on that too is Microsoft going to shut down MachineGames? How much leeway are they going to give any of their developers from now on? They shut down Tango Gameworks despite them making a critically acclaimed game that can’t have cost much money, so who does that mean is safe?
This is the problem with giant companies buying developers, because the developer will always be small beans to them and an easy sacrifice for that year’s sales results. We’re seeing the same thing happen with Bungie, where Sony paid a lot of money for them but doesn’t seem to care what happens to them now and is almost certainly going to break the studio up and move the people around to other projects. It shouldn’t be allowed.
Tony T.
Origin of Evil
I remember the first PlayStation with such fondness. Tomb Raider, Gran Turismo, and WipEout all felt like life-like graphics at the time and, of course, Resident Evil was way ahead of the time. Although it used pre-rendered backdrops, such a game of horror had never existed…
I never got on with Metal Gear Solid gameplay though, just not for me. Magical times. Have a great safe Xmas and thanks for everything over the last year all the best.
TWO MACKS
GC: Actually, Resident Evil took almost all its gameplay and presentational cues, including the static backdrops, from Alone In The Dark, which was released four years prior.
Nothing but new
I really hope that FromSoftware is not distracted by Sony trying to buy them or changing how they work, because I’m really looking forward to seeing what they’re going to do after Elden Ring blew up for them. Shadow Of The Erdtree was great as well but what’s exciting about now is that they’ve said they’re not doing a sequel, Dark Souls is already over, and Sony hates Bloodborne.
So that means that whatever’s coming next has to be something new. They’ve said they’re working on multiple games so even if some are remasters or spin-offs the odds are that they are making at least one new IP, as they’ve often done in the past.
I really do think FromSoftware is my favourite developer working today and I’ve never been disappointed by anything they’ve ever done (well, I never got to play that VR game). I’m sure we’ve got some remasters on the way, and the rumours of Dark Souls 3 sounded believable enough, but I just want them to be pushing forward and always trying new ideas.
I realise most of their games are broadly the same but there’s still a huge difference between Bloodborne and Elden Ring, so I want to see them do something else amazing and new too.
Gordot
Inbox also-rans
I’m loving the original PS1 start up theme on the PlayStation 5 for the 30th anniversary. Sony really need to make this a permanent option. Inbox magic, do your stuff.
Solaire of Astora
RE: Waxman’s letter about vampires in video games. Might I suggest he try out Vampyr, which is a pretty decent game where you play as the vamp and sounds exactly like what he’s after.
Sam
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