The Tuesday letters page recommends Screamer despite the relatively high price, as one reader laments the rising cost of amiibo.

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Full Spectrum warrior
Really enjoyed the Reader’s Feature at the weekend about Ant Attack and I agree it was a classic that needs more recognition today. It’s definitely one of the best games on the Spectrum but it had me thinking about what my actual favourite is.

I’d say Elite, Chuckie Egg, Knight Lore, and School Daze are all up there, but I think my favourite might be The Great Escape. Another great isometric game but so complicated for Sir Clive’s tiny little 48K monster.

There’s not really anything like it nowadays, which is probably true for most of the games I’ve listed. I’m still upset there isn’t a modern Elite game on consoles and stuff like Knight Lore… I guess modern action adventures are in the same area but nothing has ever been quite the same since all these old UK developers gave up the ghost.
Franky

Back to front
We wall knew something funny was going on with Resident Evil Requiem’s story and ending and I think it’s just as simple as they were running out of time to make it out for the 30th anniversary. It’s such a shame because for the first six or eight hours of the game are pretty much perfect, then it slowly bleeds out.

It’s not enough to ruin the game or anything but when you get that close to nailing it, it feels really frustrating. I think it’s too much to hope for a director’s cut that retcons things but maybe next time Capcom should consider making the games backwards – starting with the final scenes and boss battles and working back from there.

Also, I cannot believe it’s not relatively easy to find someone in Japan that’s good at making boss battles. There must be ex-Treasure people and the like everywhere. It’s weird that’s been a problem with the series basically from the beginning.
Focus

The Legend of Elden Ring
Video game movies are not something I’d normally get excited about but it looks like Elden Ring could be the one to break the curse. I know they’ve been getting better lately but they’re still not actually good, but I hope that this could be the one, especially if Alex Garland is a fan.

The set footage isn’t much to go on but it does look exactly like the game so that’s got to be worth something, even if it is a fairly easy thing to recreate at that scale. It sounds like it and the Zelda movie might come out at more or less the same time, which is going to be interesting.

I imagine to ordinary movie reviewers they might seem very similar concepts, but I can guess which one is going to come out better – and it’s not the one by Nintendo.
Bluek

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Rising prices
I have just bought the Mario & Luma amiibo, which is my first amiibo I have bought with the new higher prices. I have attached a couple of photos so readers can compare their size with the cheaper amiibo. The Mario & Luma amiibo cost me £24.99 including delivery, the Super Mario amiibo on its own cost £12.99 and the Tom Nook one cost me £10.99.

As you can see, the packaging for the Luma amiibo is quite a bit bigger than the lower priced amiibo. I have included a Switch game in the photo so people have an idea how big the amiibo are. I bought the new amiibo as I am a big fan of Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2.

I will be more selective of what amiibo I buy in future, because of the new higher prices. I hope the amiibo for Resident Evil Requiem are not £24.99 each, as that will be £50 to own them! Nearly as much as purchasing the game!
Andrew J.

GC: The prices are shocking but we’ve got to admit, that Mario & Luma one is nice.

Too much money
That is very surprising to find that Take-Two has laid off their whole AI team. You would’ve thought they would’ve kept it going just to tick a box when attracting investors, but maybe they really don’t need the money.

If that is the case, and it’s not just that the boss has a pet hate, I wish we’d see this in other things they do. Like wasting money on weird ideas and indie games. But I can’t remember the last time Take-Two published anything that wasn’t just a sports game or something from Rockstar Games.

They might not need an AI department but you always need new and interesting games. Heck, I’d settle for a new Bioshock if nothing else.
Danson

Man attic
After making an obvious and cheap gag about the size of the PS5 Pro yesterday, I felt it only fair to show you can fit these modern consoles in quite easily under the TV and while big don’t quite deserve the reputation they seem to have.

This modest space, an attic conversion, has a PS4 Pro, PS5 Pro, Xbox Series X, plug tidy box behind the Series X, Switch 2 behind the TV, PlayStation VR 2 in a case behind some classic gaming tat and all the controllers, games and charging leads in the box. The TV stand was £50 five years ago from Argos.

I will say though both the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 look better stood up but I can’t imagine that’s the most convenient why for most to store them. So for me make the PlayStation 6 and Nextbox with horizontal as the design focus.
Simundo

Luck of the draw
I don’t know if it’s on sale or if it’s that dynamic pricing but I got Astro Bot off the PlayStation Store on Saturday for £32.99.

It’s as good as everyone says it is. Been a while since I’ve enjoyed a game this much. Holds up very well against Super Mario Odyssey.
Tom Thomas

GC: We think it’s dynamic pricing (which is disgusting) as it’s £42.59 for us, at a 29% discount.

A real scream
I bought Screamer over the weekend, as I love arcade racers and I’ve been loving it. My only issue with gameplay was the twin stick turning, which I just couldn’t get the hang of. But thankfully you can map both sticks just to the left stick and it was a gamechanger, it feels much more natural. So if anyone is put off by the controls you can change them.

There’s a lot of mechanics to learn, which offers strategy to the racing, but another nice touch is in private matches or split-screen you can turn off anything that others feel complicated and just have a standard racer, which is cool.

The biggest problem is the price. £60 is a lot for a racer which is trying something new and I feel it’s putting a lot off. I managed to pay for half of it with Microsoft Points, so it only cost me £30. I think it should have been £40 and it looks like the game is suffering because of it, which is a shame as it’s up there with Split/Second: Velocity and Blur for me.
Rob

GC: We agree entirely. It’s a great game but the price is a big ask for an IP most people have never heard of.

Inbox also-rans
That Jesus: The Journey game has got to be some kind of failed superhero game they found the code for or something. Like you said, I don’t see how this stuff gets on PlayStation Store in the first place. Can I just upload some pirated ROMs and Sony will leave them up for six months until they realise what they are?
Campbell

Never heard of the dude that died but Double Dragon was always a favourite of mine when growing. So kudos to Yoshihisa Kishimoto and shame he went so relatively young.
sniperboy

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The Monday letters page discusses how to handle a Zelda: Ocarina Of Time remake, as one reader thinks Sony should copy Nintendo’s approach to making movies.

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

No show
I’ve seen some new rumours about the Mass Effect TV show at Amazon, which I’d completely forgotten was a thing. Apparently, they want to change the script so that it’s easier to get into for non-gamers. I can’t help thinking that’s probably a bad thing for authenticity, which is not a direction you would’ve expected after Fallout proved how important it was.

I’m not really that interested in the show though, as I can’t imagine it’d ever do the games justice, given what kind of budget it’d have to have. But it’s sad that we’re hearing more about the show than we are the new game.

I know EA said last year that it hasn’t been cancelled but I’m not sure I believe them. Is this not cancelled, like Beyond Good And Evil 2 isn’t cancelled? All I’m asking for is a sign of life and I’m not seeing anything, including any leaks about it being shown this summer. If It’s not, then I think I’ll just give up hoping for it. And then I’ll probably play through the trilogy remaster one last time…
Zeiss

Remaking expectations
Nice Reader’s Feature at the weekend, about what to do with a Zelda: Ocarina Of Time remake. I’m still not convinced it’s going to happen and if it does my guess would be it ends up as basically an upgraded version of the 3DS remaster.

The idea of a Capcom style full-on remake sounds ideal, but I just can’t imagine Nintendo paying for that or even wanting it. It doesn’t seem their style at all. If that is what they go for though I will be very impressed, as it’s something I couldn’t imagine them doing in any other generation.

I just hope that, whatever it turns out to be, they don’t sand off all the interesting stuff. Like the reader said, the weirdness and unexpected horror moments were a bit part of the appeal and would be sorely missed if taken out.
Godgem

Peace offering
I’m not sure what to think about the rumours of a new Uncharted game. First of all, I’m shocked that Sony has been so slow to even announce one, given they did have that movie (which I assume is never getting a sequel now). I get that Naughty Dog didn’t want to make it, but do I believe that they would change their mind?

Ordinarily no, but we’re in difficult times at the moment and I can’t imagine that cancelling The Last Of Us Online was something Sony was all that happy about. They allowed Naughty Dog to do it but Naughty Dog agreeing to make a new Uncharted as a way to make amends makes sense in theory. Whether that’s what’s going on, I guess we’ll have to wait and see but they can’t let the franchise die off.
Olliephant

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Unofficial price
The PS5 Pro is nine hundred and ninety-nine pounds on Amazon.

I’m struggling to see how the PlayStation 6 launches for less money. I started gaming in the mid-70s, first with Pong and then Atari VCS. I obviously still like my games.

But after paying for the hotel, a grand is good enough spending money for a pretty tidy weekend in Amsterdam. No way I could justify that to myself for a console.

How much of this do you reckon is Sony trying to recoup some of what it lost on that live service stuff they crashed out on?
Tom Twice

GC: That’s just a third party seller, not Amazon themselves, who seem to have run out of stock. Sony sees no additional money if a console is sold above the RRP, that’s the retailer’s business.

Blade of nostalgia
I will never understand why Microsoft got rid of the Xbox 360 dashboard and blades. They’re the only iconic thing the Xbox has ever had, in terms of interface, and they’ve got steadily worse with every change.

I realise that’s a very Microsoft thing to do, especially in terms of Windows, but I’m not surprised to see people trying to recreate it. I think they brought it back for the 25th anniversary a while back too? I don’t know to be honest, I haven’t owned an Xbox in a long time and nothing they do has made me want to reconsider that.
Kosco

Parts and labour
As a commenter correctly pointed out with my weekend feature, the law of supply and demand relates to price, which I should’ve qualified at the start. The central issue, though, is with long term investment and the lack of flexibility to adapt to changes in the economy. While small price fluctuations can occur in the short term, as an effect of demand, the price at which a console sells for largely reflects production costs, specifically the cost of labour.

You get a sense of why labour costs are decisive whenever completing games such as GTA, Resident Evil or The Legend Of Zelda and the seemingly endless roll call of credits. Or, when to cut costs, there are mass layoffs.

The price at which the PlayStation 6 does eventually sell at when launched will not be determined by what consumers are willing to pay but mainly through labour costs over the duration of the cycle, from inception through to production and everything in-between. The fallacy in the law of supply and demand is that price is determined by whether a product is desirable and what relatedly people are prepared to pay, not the labour costs which determine the commodity’s value (hence why AAA titles tend to sell at a higher price than those made by small independent studios).

This is also why, even if there’s little demand for it, having already committed considerable amounts of capital, the PlayStation 6 will likely be launched in the next year or two to pay for all that labour and ideally profit from it. Sony could of course cancel it, as they did with The Last Of Us Online. They could, of course, exit the industry altogether.
Ciara

That old joke
Picked up a PS5 Pro before the price hike. Stuck it by the sofa as it didn’t quite fit in the TV cabinet.

Looks nice, very artistic.
Simundo

Hollywood synergy
I think the Super Mario Galaxy Movie was fine; my two kids certainly enjoyed. The post-credit reveal was a surprise though; I wonder if it’s hinting that the third movie will be a homage to Super Mario Land? As far as I understand we didn’t learn who exactly was trying to kidnap Rosalina in the first place so that could be a continuing plot point.

The important thing is that the movie has been another big success and that is going to encourage Nintendo to do even more, obviously, and also incorporate the changes into the games. I doubt it’ll be long till the film’s big lore drop is mentioned in a game and I expect all the characters to start looking like their movie versions sooner or later.

But because everything is so close to the games anyway that’s really not a problem, especially if it means bringing back more forgotten characters like Wart or even, if I dare say, Fox McCloud.

Star Fox was dead as a dodo before the film came out and now suddenly everyone’s talking about it and actually looking forward to the prospect of a new game this year. That’s got to be an absolute win for Nintendo and exactly the sort of benefit they would’ve been hoping from for these films.

I agree a live action Zelda is a lot harder sell, especially as they’re not using a well-known director or actors (a classic case of Nintendo penny-pinching I’d imagine) but we’ll have to see. At the moment they’re two for two in terms of hits.

It makes you wonder why Sony has been so slow to do the same thing, although they already tried that with the Ratchet & Clank movie and that’s really the only thing they’ve got that’s family friendly. Xbox hasn’t even got that.
Lucre

Inbox also-rans
Just found out that Little Mac and his coach from Punch-Out!! are in Super Mario Galaxy Movie, in the montage sequence with Yoshi in the city. Samus Aran’s ship is confirmed to be in it too, just like GC said. The film might be lightweight but the cameos are a lot of fun, if you ask me.
Wotan

The problem with Pokémon Pokopia is it may be too good. I can’t believe how addictive it is and I’m already far more interested in DLC for it than I am Winds and Waves.
Derbel

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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.

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With Nintendo rumoured to be planning a remake of one of their most beloved video games, a reader suggests a number of changes for a modern version of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time.

Nintendo don’t make a lot of remakes, but it’d be wrong to say they don’t ever do them. They are usually for more minor games though, like Super Mario RPG and a few Kirby games. It’d also be wrong to say there are never leaks about their upcoming games. It’s not common, unlike with other publishers, but it does happen – with Donkey Kong Bananza having been leaked years ahead of time, even if the information was a bit vague.

The latest leak didn’t really have any information though, beyond the fact that a remake of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time is coming. There’s no hint of who’s making it or how far it’ll go in changing things. Will it be a Resident Evil 2 style deal or something closer to the 3DS version of Ocarina Of Time, which was really just a remaster.

I have no idea, but naturally I’m hoping it’s as big budget an effort as possible, which seems likely if it’s supposed to be their key Christmas game. If it is that kind of effort though that implies changes – just like the Resident Evil remakes – and I have some ideas for what they could be.

I will say from the start, that I’m hoping the changes will be relatively minimal. I don’t think there’s any need to change the combat or (with one exception) the dungeon designs, but there is a lot of fine tuning that would be useful. However, another thing I don’t want them to change is the creepiness and weirdness of the game, which is more extreme than most of the modern ones – so it’ll need actually scary ReDeads and keeping the Forest Temple as it is.

The first change I’d make is simple: voice-acting. The most recent games have been slowly adding more but while I absolutely agree that Link shouldn’t talk everyone else should. It just spoils the immersion when they don’t, and I don’t believe they have it that way for any reason other than Nintendo don’t like spending money on actors.

Another big decision is the art style. It’s hard to tell whether the original was meant to be photorealistic or not, given the limited tech, but while it’s close I’d say it was stylised a bit and it should stay that way. Looking at character faces in particular, you can see a subtle cartoonish effect and I’d like them to keep that.

Some basic changes would be making Hyrule Field bigger and/or filled with more things and generally ensuring that the whole game is just one big open world, just with the same design as the original. That should be no problem given the last two games.

One of the biggest problems I can foresee is that Ocarina Of Time is a lot more complicated than a modern game, especially in terms of dungeon puzzles. It wasn’t considered particularly hard at the time but nowadays people aren’t going to be used to the lack of hand-holding.

The infamous Water Temple is going to flummox any younger gamer, so I think that either has to be changed or, and this would be my preference, they have alternative versions of the dungeons and maybe the game as a whole, with a lite mode that’s easier and simpler and the full fat version.

There’s a lot of other stuff that could be added, like new side quests (the original doesn’t actually have many), more monsters everywhere (again, there’s not many, which is probably because of the limitations of the N64), and maybe even a new dungeon (a lot of fans think there should’ve been a Light Temple).

On a story note, I’d also like some clarification on what happens to Navi at the end, hopefully leading into a tease about a Majora’s Mask remake. I never liked that her fate was never revealed.

Considering how beloved the game is and how many later ones copied it, especially Twilight Princess, I don’t envy whoever gets the job of doing the remake but I can definitely say that I will be there day one.

By reader Onibee

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The new Super Mario movie is already breaking records, despite a critical mauling, but does the Nintendo formula really make sense when applied to motion pictures?

Shigeru Miyamoto is one of the most important creative geniuses of the last century. As the creator of Mario and Zelda, and innumerable other Nintendo characters and franchises, it is impossible to imagine the modern video game world without his input, and yet until very recently he had no experience in making films.

He’s also not directed a console game in decades (he’s 73 at this point) butinstead he’s busied himself with being a producer and ensuring a new generation of talent. That changed when Nintendo got into the movie business, and he was credited as the co-producer of 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

The film was a massive hit but a critical failure, with this month’s The Super Mario Galaxy Movie likely to end up as one of the worst reviewed major releases of the year. That is not a situation he will be used to, but since he didn’t take any notice of the criticism from the first film it seems fair to assume he doesn’t care – especially as the new movie has already been a major hit, right out of the gate.

I watched the film on opening day, along with my autistic nine-year-old nephew, who seemed to enjoy it even more than the first movie – even though his favourite, Donkey Kong, didn’t have a starring role. He squealed with pleasure every time a character he recognised appeared and often shouted out (but not too loud) their name.

It wasn’t just him though, half the audience seemed to be doing this, with the loudest laughs and noises of recognition coming from what were clearly adults. Everyone seemed thoroughly entertained and I have to say I enjoyed it more than the first, with everyone given something to do, despite the surprisingly large cast, with Peach, Luigi, Bowser, and even Fox McCloud all enjoying several moments in the sun.

There was a certain amount of character development for Bowser but in truth all the characters are paper thin; although that’s still substantially more rounded than the video games, where they’re just colourful avatars with little or no discernible personality. Not only is that not a flaw – nobody wants to have to stop playing an action game like Super Mario to watch a cut scene – it’s always been the attitude of Miyamoto, who insists on paring down the linear storytelling to a bare minimum.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is many things but it’s certainly the most authentic video game adaptation of all time. The characters look and act exactly as they do in the games, down to the smallest background details and even mimicking specific gameplay elements – in one case to the detriment of what little character growth Mario shows (I can’t be specific because it’s right at the end).

Miyamoto’s insistence that the cameos of Fox McCloud and Pikmin (I’m sure I saw Samus’ gunship too) are not leading up to a Smash Bros. movie are hard to believe given how random some of them are, especially the one in the final battle which makes absolutely no sense and is given no context whatsoever, even to people who know what it is.

So you have a movie that is both blatant product placement (rumours of a new Star Fox game are now very easy to believe) and an endless stream of memberberries, where there’s no joke or clever excuse for a character’s appearance… they’re just there, with no explanation, and you’re supposed to get enjoyment from that alone.

I’m not surprised to see some film critics decrying the death of cinema, after having watched the film, because I can absolutely see their point. Especially as anyone not familiar with the games is going to find it all absolutely baffling.

The Galaxy Movie might be nonsensical, but it has at least some kind of emotional heart, with a likeable line-up of characters. It also doesn’t have the incongruous pop music of the first film and despite all the different characters none of them is the screeching, overly talkative and infeasibly incompetent boob that most animated movies seem to consider a necessisty. There’s also virtually no potty humour or fart jokes.

Clearly, it gets nowhere near the artistic or philosophical highs of the best Pixar films but that’s not what it’s trying to do. Many balked at the idea of Nintendo teaming up with animation studio Illumination in the first place, given how low brow the Minions films are. But it’s now clear why they did. Whatever faults they might have, Illumination movies are always far more abstract than their peers, with less focus on storytelling and plot. And as far as Miyamoto is concerned that’s a positive.

There are multiple sequences in the movie where it’s just an elongated action scene, often based very closely on an existing game and… they’re all great. There’re no stakes, because you know no one’s going to get hurt, but they’re very competently shot and framed and genuinely exciting. Like a family friendly John Wick.

Miyamoto is not interested in exploring the personality of Mario, because he doesn’t really have one, and yet you still get a bit of new lore and Peach in particular is portrayed far better than almost any of the games, especially the asinine Princess Peach: Showtime! (That’s not entirely fair as the usual joke with Peach is that she’s so hilariously old-fashioned and borderline sexist that she wraps around again to being cool, but that’s never going work in a modern movie).

Miyamoto doesn’t like stories in his games, and he apparently doesn’t like them in his films either. And they are his films, so he can do what he likes with them, especially while they continue to make money. Could there have been a way to make a proper movie with more complex humour? Almost certainly, since all you have to do is follow the lead of Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, but that’s a fairly niche corner of Mario’s gameography.

The intention with these movies is to recreate the joy of playing the games on the big screen, of turning something interactive into non-interactive entertainment and still having it inspire some of the same emotions. Story and character complexity are not a part of it because they’re not part of the games either and while Miyamoto is in charge that’s very unlikely to change.

How long the franchise can remain popular, given how many different game references they’ve already packed into the last two films, remains to be seen but the real worry is what happens with The Legend Of Zelda movie. It seemed an immediate mistake to make the film live action, not only because of the difficulty that will create bringing the world to life but because having barely any plot or characterisation is going to be a lot more off-putting in live action.

There is more story to the average Zelda game, compared to Mario, but not that much more and so either the film is going to have to add a lot of padding or you’re going to end up with some weird indie style experimental film with more vibes than dialogue.

Nintendo’s move into movies – and theme parks and other merchandising opportunities – is very purposeful and it’s been going on for years now. As Miyamoto plainly stated in a recent interview, the number of people playing console video games is not increasing and yet the cost of making games is, so new revenue streams are needed from somewhere.

So far, the plan to become a movie studio has worked perfectly, but while it’s easy to understand why the film has not reviewed well it would be a mistake to regard it as artless or overly cynical. It’s simply the formula for making Nintendo games applied to a movie and while you wouldn’t want that all the time it is a fascinating divergence from the norm.

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It was always going to be a massive hit, but what does the success of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie mean for future Switch 2 games.

When the first Super Mario animated movie launched in 2023, it was met with a critical drubbing yet was so beloved by audiences that it became the most profitable film of the year and one of the highest grossing animated movies ever made.

Its sequel, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, has so far been met with even harsher reviews (its Rotten Tomatoes score is 42% compared to the first movie’s 59%), but that’s done nothing to deter fans or hamper its box office performance.

It only came out in cinemas yesterday (Wednesday, April 1) and has yet to release in Japan, but it’s not only have had a stronger opening than the first movie but the biggest opening day of any movie so far this year.

According to Deadline, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has made at least $34 million (£26 million) in its first day, which is more than the $31.7 million (£24 million) the original Mario movie made on its first day.

It’s also surpassed Ryan Gosling sci-fi movie Project Hail Mary’s opening day earnings, which made $33.1 million when it launched on March 19.

Deadline notes that The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has also had the best April Wednesday opening of all time, which is an oddly specific record. The question now is what sort of legs the movie will have but with little in the way of competition in the next few weeks it’s likely to continue to do very well.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie grossed $1,360,847,665 (about £1.03 billion) by the end of 2023, making it the second highest grossing movie of the year behind the live action Barbie movie.

Currently, the highest grossing movie of 2026 is Chinese sports comedy Pegasus 3 at $632,040,000 (£479 million), with Project Hail Mary in second place at $330,412,913 (£250 million).

If The Super Mario Galaxy Movie makes as much money as its predecessor, that would handily make it one of the biggest movies of 2026. Distributor Universal Pictures is said to be forecasting the sequel will make $186 million (about £141 million) in its first five days.

That’s less than the $204.6 million (about £155 million) the first movie made in the same time frame, which suggests its total earnings, while likely still massive, won’t reach the same dizzying highs as the first movie.

What will be interesting is what kind of impact the movie’s success will have on game sales. Nintendo purposefully re-released both Super Mario Galaxy games last year to drum up excitement for the movie, so they’ll no doubt see a bump in sales.

We won’t know until Nintendo shares a update itself, in a future financial report, but it’d make sense as Nintendo reported a boost in sales for Mario related games after the first movie came out.

Nintendo had a new Mario game prepped that year, in the form of Super Mario Bros. Wonder, which was announced and launched several months after the movie.

Surprisingly, that doesn’t seem to be the case this year. Granted, Nintendo hasn’t shared firm plans for the second half of 2026, but it was recently rumoured that the next big Mario platformer isn’t until at least 2027.

Instead, the new movie does more to promote Star Fox, of all things, through protagonist Fox McCloud’s cameo, with a new Star Fox game reportedly planned for this summer.

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The Tuesday letters page argues that gaming is still great value for money, as one reader thinks Bethesda should stick to making TV shows.

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Trust issues
Last gen I would’ve taken it for granted that Sony know what they’re doing, as a general of thumb and definitely when it comes to something like not charging too much for the PlayStation 6. But at the moment… I just don’t have the level of faith in them anymore.

Apart from anything, the PS5 Pro, and its recent price rise, shows that they’ve gone off the deep end when it comes to prices. Now, the PS5 Pro is supposed to be a high-end machine (even though I’m not sure that’s a particularly good idea) but would that stop them from trying to charge as much as they can for the PlayStation 6? I’m not so sure.

The PlayStation 6 may not be more expensive than a PS5 Pro but that’s about all I’d be willing to bet on. The whole world of console gaming has got too expensive but if there’s one company that’s going to dial that back I wouldn’t bet on it being Sony, especially since they’re doing so well at the moment and obviously feel unstoppable.
Franky

Strange decision
Like the other reader said, it’s strange to see so many detailed Nintendo leaks, but given the sources you can’t really argue against it at the moment. I’m also all for a new Star Fox game but it seems another strange priority, in a string of strange priorities for the Switch 2.

Why is there Star Fox and Pikmin confirmed for the new Mario movie but not Metroid or F-Zero? They’re both much older sci-fi franchises for Nintendo and technically Metroid has crossed over with Mario before in Super Mario RPG! And by the time the movie would’ve been planned, they would’ve had no idea Metroid Prime 4 would be a flop, so it’s a real puzzler.

It could just be a surprise but at this point I think there’d be more people that would recognise Samus Aran rather than Fox McCloud, maybe even Pikmin too. Not for the first time I hope Nintendo know what they’re doing, because despite what some people think, they’re not always right.
Cordon
PS: Maybe the reason Nintendo hasn’t announce a new Animal Crossing is because they knew Pokémon Pokopia was covering similar ground. Although they can’t have know it’d review quite as well as it did.

Hidden talents
Just seen the latest figures for how well the Fallout TV show has done in its second season and I have wonder if I’m the only one that doesn’t get it? The show is fine, I’m not saying it’s bad, but to me it doesn’t stand out in any particular way. I’ve watched all the episodes and didn’t regret the time I spent on them but, then again, if I had never seen it I would feel I was ever missing out.

It just seems such a weird thing to be so popular. But then I suppose being middle of the road and inoffensive is probably the secret to success for most things. So… well done Bethesda, I guess?

The fact that they still haven’t managed to release so much as a remaster since the first season blew up is kind of hilarious though. They’re so slow and out of touch it’s kind of funny. I really think that Bethesda might be a lot better at making TV shows than they are games. They’re definitely a lot quicker at it.
Lamar

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Lively comments
Not complaining but genuinely interested as to the reasons why the site doesn’t have a comments section for articles.

I assume revenue is generated by advertising, so impressions, hovers, CTR?

I read this article and was tickled by how intentionally provocative it was. My guess was you published it because it was prime material to generate engagement. When I scrolled down and saw no comment section, I was at a loss. Perhaps posted because it made you all laugh?

Would you not get so much more traffic by letting readers respond and then refreshing the page, looking for replies?
Nick Jacobs

GC: All our articles have comments sections, including that one. If you can’t see them it’s probably because you’re using an adblocker or similar plug-in. Please don’t do that.

Limited preview
I saw a few different websites/journos had a preview with Saros last week. Was hoping you did too and I’ve been waiting for an article on it from you. Was that the case or are you due a preview before it’s out in a month’s time?
Lizardpudlian

GC: We’re afraid not. Sony does very little in the way of press nowadays and there were only two or three UK sites that got to see Saros. That didn’t include us, Eurogamer, or many others. It’s still one of our most anticipated games of the year though.

Helpful progress
In response to John’s query yesterday about exploration in Minishoot’ Adventures, the next dungeon should be marked on the overworld map (even if you haven’t collected the specific map fragment for that area). Fairly early on, you can rescue a character who returns to your home base and will mark all the places of interest on collected map fragments. There’s another character in your home base – again accessible reasonably early on – who sells a compass that shows on the map when a location has been fully completed.

With those, it should be a little more straightforward to pick up the game after a break and identify where you’ve been and where you’re supposed to go next.

Navigation can be confusing, but you earn an upgrade around the mid-game that makes traversing the map much easier (there’s also an item you can obtain that grants fast travel back to your base). The biggest thing I felt was missing was dungeon maps, particularly when going back to find all the collectables. But none of the dungeons is so sprawling that it becomes anything more than a minor gripe.

I hope you reach a point where the upgrades let you enjoy the game a bit more, because there’s a lot to like!
Needlemouse91

Helpful character
There is some help for John in Minishoot’ Adventures. There’s a ship/robot/guy (whatever your species is) that you can find who takes up residence in the hub village.

It’ll update your map for you and indicate places where there’s still something to nab and put ticks on caves and whatnot that you’ve rinsed clean. I’ve been using this to grab additional upgrades to make life easier for myself. I think I’m in the final dungeon now and around 60% completion, so I could probably stand to go treasure hunting for a bit before finishing.
EuclidianBoxes

Entertainment per pound
Managed to snag a second-hand PS5 Pro disc edition for £480 just a few days before the price increase was announced. Considering I brought my PS5 Slim disc edition over a year ago for £300 I reckon if I sell it I’ll probably get more than I paid. I also managed to sell a few graphics cards a few years back. I got about 50% more than I paid when they rocketed.

All in all, it’s been a cheap decade of gaming for me compared to when I was a kid buying N64s, Saturns, and the like. I think people forget that there is always resale value in anything you buy – physical anyway – and while I’m glad I’m in a position where I can afford to splurge now and again. and I haven’t been hit by the recent increases. it’s always worth remembering that for the entertainment I get out of my gaming, compared to buying a coffee or going out for a day it’s relatively cheap per hour.

I bought Resident Evil the other day for £58, played around 36 hours and then sold for £40, that’s less than 50p an hour for that experience. Obviously, prices going up years after the generation is crazy and I’m not saying there is anything good about that, but with a little bit of savvy shopping I honestly think gaming is pretty cheap nowadays.
P B

Inbox also-rans
Just beat Resident Evil Requiem and I have to agree that the last couple of hours are definitely the worst. The final boss is terrible and makes no sense, and neither does why Grace is important – especially as it seems to contradict what happened at the beginning of the movie. Great game but it feels like Capcom were force to rush the ending for some reason.
Golem

Never mind a new 3D Mario, why have we still not got a follow-up to Sonic Frontiers? Even if you didn’t love it, I thought it was universally acknowledged as the best 3D game? I would’ve expect a quick sequel not a long wait like this.
Leestonair

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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.

You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

MORE: Games Inbox: Is there really going to be a Zelda: Ocarina Of Time remake?

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The Monday letters page is appalled at the idea of another PS5 price rise, as one reader questions how a Star Fox revival could work.

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Too good to be true
If the rumours hadn’t come from such good sources I wouldn’t believe the news of a Zelda: Ocarina Of Time remake, simply because that seems far too straightforward and obvious. It’s exactly what fans want and that’s something Nintendo almost never does.

I would be amazingly happy if it did happen, but I’ll continue to be dubious until it gets an official annoucement. My dream is that they get Capcom’s Resident Evil remake team to make it. Can you imagine how good that would be? Especially after how well Requiem works on the Switch 2.

The worst case scenario is if they get some no-name team, like the ones that did Link’s Awakening, to make it and it’s all some semi-cheap cash-in. I would not put this past Nintendo as they don’t like spending money and you would assume the main Zelda team is busy right now.

Of course, the question is why didn’t they announce this for Zelda’s 40th anniversary, especially with console sales on the slide, but I’m sure we’ll never get any sensible explanation for that. On balance, I believe the remake is real but I don’t yet believe it’s a good idea.
Onibee

Foxed again
So it looks like Nintendo is pretty dead set on making a new Star Fox, huh? Even if you don’t believe the rumours, putting him front and centre in the new Mario movie is a very strange move if it’s not for a specific reason. I’m all for it but I am dubious as to what it will be and who’ll make it.

The problem with Star Fox is that the first two games – the good ones – are pretty simple updates of the old 2D shmup formula. Star Fox 64 had 3D movement with all-range mode, but it was very limited and I’m not sure how far you can push that and stay mainstream.

The reason the other games have failed is not so much that they were bad but that they diluted the formula so much it didn’t really mean anything anymore. What is Star Fox? Is it a 3D shmup or is it just any random game as long as you have the same characters in it?

That second approach has clearly not worked and I hope Nintendo realise that and take things back to basics.
Starch

Rich customers
I don’t even know what to think about the PlayStation 5 price rises. It says it all when I’ve forgotten whether this is the second or the third one. I do think it’s probably not the last though.

It’s pointless saying it would be madness to release the PlayStation 6 anytime soon but despite that being how everyone else sees it Sony are not going to listen. The world does not need or want an even more expensive console that does nothing except add AI slop (I agree with the Reader’s Feature that a DLSS 5 style tech is very likely).

There’s absolutely no logic to it but it’s not going to stop them because they’ve just got it into their heads that as long as some (rich) people will buy it, it doesn’t matter how many poorer people they lose along the way. Well, count me out, that’s all I can say.
Gritt

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Quick reminder
I recently downloaded Minishoot’ Adventures and whilst I initially enjoyed the game’s exploring, I soon gave up.

There seems to be little or no ability to know where you’ve been in the game. I don’t get to play games as frequently as others so it’s often a few days or a week between sessions, so I’ve completely forgotten where I’ve been and where I’ve got to go. It’s so frustrating.

Is this a shared frustration? You alluded to it in your review, but I just find it such an impediment to my enjoyment. It doesn’t help that the regions look very samey too.

Do you have any tips to help with this?
John

GC: There’s no real way round it, apart from making notes. We mentioned a feature in our re-review of Pokémon FireRed and LeafGreen, that reminds you of the last four things you did when you load the game up again, after stopping. That’s the sort of useful idea that is still not commonplace 22 years later and there’s no reason why.

Better late than never
I’m really glad that Silent Hill f has done so well, that now it’s getting crossovers with other horror series and manga with new endings and all the rest of it.

I admit that I thought announcing all these games was a waste of time and the series was doomed but I’m happy to be wrong. I guess sometimes just throwing enough stuff at the wall until it sticks does work.

Although hopefully they have got into a grove now and Townfall will be good as well. If it is and that’s three good games in a row (maybe four with the remake of Silent Hill 1) that will be quite the comeback.
Grackle

Balancing expectations
With all the doom and gloom around Switch 2 sales, I think people are forgetting what Nintendo forecast when it launched the machine and actual sales figures.

When they launched the machine they predicated it would sell 15 million units by March 2026 and last official sales figures suggest it has already sold 17 million units by the end end of 2025, so it’s already best it’s own estimates by 2 million with three months to spare.

Nintendo did increase the forecast to 19 million units after strong initial sales, so if you were to take that into consideration then they only need to sell 2 million between January and March 2026. And let’s not forget that it was only in February that they kept the 19 million forecast, by which time they would know if it’s tracking to hit their targets – they can’t knowingly mislead shareholders unless they are looking to get sued.

That’s not to say the Bloomberg reporter is flat out wrong – producing 6 million units a quarter means they would be looking to sell 24 million in any given year, which is crazy numbers in the current climate. And maybe Nintendo gave themselves a reality check that they are producing more than they need to, rather than suggest the Switch 2 is a sales flop.

Also, with the EU stating electronic devices need to have user replaceable battery going forward that could be another factor to slow down production of current model, to move capacity over to a revised model.

Basically, not everything needs to be doom and gloom all the time, and it’s OK to take reports with a pinch of salt if they are not backed by hard data.

Either way we find out in a few weeks when the next set of financial results are released (and maybe I’ll have custard on my face).
Anon

GC: It was Nintendo’s own president that admitted Christmas sales in the West had been ‘slightly weaker’ than expected. The question isn’t what’s happening but how serious a problem it is for Nintendo – and you’re right that, at the moment, the answer is probably not much at all.

The Elder Scrolls 6: Bohemia
For anyone hankering after a new Elder Scrolls game can I recommend Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2.

Just picked it up in the PSN sale and while it starts out pretty difficult, I’m really enjoying the first person exploration and levelling up by doing. Definitely worth a look.
Matt (he_who_runs_away – PSN ID)

Life is strained
In addition to Shahzaib Sadiq’s concern regarding the quality of Life Is Strange: Reunion, he said, ‘but if it is another disappointment from Deck Nine, that is the final nail in the coffin.’

Sadly, I think the damage has already been done, starting with Double Exposure.

I’ve written in to the Inbox three times regarding my love for Life Is Strange, Before The Storm, and True Colors but in one of those emails, I expressed my own worries around the time Double Exposure was being revealed officially.

I said having Max as the main protagonist – something some of the fans wanted, but not me – was probably a bad idea, as I felt it was watering down and taking away the magic of what we loved of the first game, à la Ellie in The Last Of Us. And now they’ve bought back Chloe, which looks like they have either run out of ideas or simply given in to fan demand, which in turn may leave a permanent bad mark on their character.

The series now appears to be reliant on these two fan favourites, that they are now at risk of being overexposed, if you will.

I also mentioned in one of the aforementioned emails that some story characters are best confined to the one game/film they originated in, because actually sometimes, the wonder and speculation of what happened to them is better than what we actually know due to official canon.

I never played Double Exposure and just won’t ever, because I feel this game series has become a Donnie Darko/Ginger Snaps type thing where the first film was great but subsequent films told a story no one wanted to hear or cared for in the first place.

I sometimes feel we gamers don’t really know what we want…
LeeDappa

Inbox also-rans
Excellent interview with Jesper Kyd, GC. He’s always been my favourite video game musician and I had no idea he, or half the companies he talked about, go back so far.
Purple Ranger

GC: Thank you.

A £90 price increase for all PlayStation 5 console is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. I can’t believe that me buying one at launch turned out to be the cheapest option. And yet I still feel like I was conned somehow.
Grendel

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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.

You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

MORE: Games Inbox: Will there be a Super Smash Bros. movie?

MORE: Games Inbox: What is the best 2D Mario platformer?

MORE: Games Inbox: Is the Nintendo Switch 2 becoming a failure?

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A remake of The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time will allegedly launch this year, to mark the series’ 40th anniversary, but not a new 3D Mario.

Nintendo’s Christmas game for 2026 has been the subject of much speculation this year, with the common assumption being that a successor to Super Mario Odyssey is the obvious choice.

The announcement of Pokémon Winds and Waves for 2027 only solidified this belief, but it seems like Nintendo has another firecracker in store for the Switch 2 later this year.

According to reliable insider NateTheHate, who accurately leaked details on the Switch 2’s launch, Nintendo is planning to release a remake of The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time ‘in the second half of 2026’. He’s also leaked several other games from Nintendo’s line-up, with his information being corroborated by VGC.

There are no details on the scope of the remake, or confirmation that it is definitely Nintendo’s big Christmas game, but it stands to reason it’d have to be a substantial overhaul if it is – especially if it’s a Switch 2 exclusive.

Nintendo released a minor Ocarina Of Time remake on the Nintendo 3DS in 2011, which featured updated graphics, stereoscopic 3D, and quality-of-life improvements. The Nintendo 64 original from 1998 is also available on Nintendo Switch Online, so another remake will have to sport some decent improvements to encourage people to lay down cash.

If it turns out to be the reimagined version we’re all hoping for, it’ll certainly be a big deal. The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time is widely recognised as one of the greatest, and most influential, video games of all time.

A remake makes sense to celebrate The Legend Of Zelda’s 40th anniversary, although it is peculiar that Nintendo hasn’t announced it already. The actual anniversary has already passed (February 21) and a small teaser may have helped drive lagging Switch 2 sales in the West. It would also give those Zelda Lego sets some added context.

While a Zelda remake appears to be on the cards for 2026, NateTheHate ruled out the chance of a new 3D Mario arriving this year. ‘One game that will not be releasing in holiday 2026 is 3D Mario,’ he said on the latest episode of his podcast. ‘3D Mario will be releasing in 2027.’

If that’s true, that means a 3D Mario and Pokémon Winds and Waves will be arriving in 2027, which is a pretty big double whammy. It’ll also mark 10 years since the release of the last 3D Mario game, Super Mario Odyssey, which is pretty crazy to think about.

There have been other Mario games released over the years since, though, including Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Super Mario Maker 2, and Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury.

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The Friday letters page enjoys the madness of the Tomodachi Life: Living The Dream demo, as one reader doesn’t have the time for Crimson Desert.

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Assembling the team
Seeing Fox McCloud in the new Mario movie was a genuine shock to me. I know the Pikmin were already in it, but I thought that was just Miyamoto giving his favourite franchise a cameo (they’re also at the Super Nintendo World in L.A.). But Star Fox? That makes a cameo by Samus Aran now very possible, if not probable.

I get that the space setting is being used as an excuse to get them together, but I’ll bet quite a bit of money that the next Mario movie finds an excuse to include Zelda and other fantasy characters like Fire Emblem.

To me, a Super Smash Bros. movie is now inevitable. We are witnessing the build-up to the original Avengers all over again, but this time with Nintendo characters! Now all we need is some new games to go along with them and I would be very happy with a new Star Fox and Smash.
Badgerman

Delaying the inevitable
I really don’t know why publishers bother holding back review copies when they know the games are going to get reviewed anyway and reviewers are then probably going to go into them assuming there’s a problem from the start.

Gamers too, because even if Life Is Strange: Reunion’s good (or more likely okay) the name has already been through the dirt. Starfield never recovered from its initial bad press, for the very good reason that it’s not a very good game. Even if it had someone got good reviews, nothing would’ve changed that.
Lumpy

Slow-mo train crash
$300 million to make a new video game? That’s more than most movies! And people wonder why the games industry is in trouble. In 40 years we’ve gone from one person making a game in his bedroom as a hobby to bloated ‘epics’ that are so expensive they have to sell tens of millions of copies to turn a profit. Oh, and they take so long to make you can only have one every five years (at best).

I think it’s clear at this point that no publisher is making any attempt to fix this problem and at some point the house of cards is going to collapse in on itself and who knows what will be left after that. It’ll be awful but we all see it coming and as upset as I’ll be I definitely won’t be surprised.
Focus

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Forbidden love
RE: Alex the cousin lover. Is it just me who finds that the Japanese obsession with adopted siblings, (i.e. stepbrother/stepsisters entering relationships) is a whole lot weirder than the second cousin thing?

You may only see your second cousin/extended family once maybe twice a year, at family dos or gatherings, it’s exciting, a thrill ride, something different to the everyday… your stepsis/bro well, they are your sisters and brothers, you see them every day, you love, you hate, you grow together… but ultimately, they’re ya sister or brother!

There’s something to get all keyboard warrior-y about… also, who’s Alex?!
big boy bent
PS: Loving Pokémon Pokopia. However, I’m a little stuck on Bleak Beach. Prof. Tangly says bring more light; I’ve connected all the street lamps, they’re on, but the story isn’t moving on? Any hints, anyone? Maybe I’ll ask my second cousin!

GC: Have you connected the power cables up to Peakychu’s machine? He’s the key to the end of that quest.

Second thoughts
About a week or so ago, I wrote into the Inbox with a photo of my Switch in the bin, after going through my backlog.

Just to let everyone know it has been taken out of the bin since playing the Tomodachi Life: Living The Dream demo and the whole game has now been pre-ordered from MyNintendo.

Looks like there’s still life left in the ol’ hybrid yet…
LeeDappa

GC: We hope you didn’t make it say anything rude.

Max closure
It’s rather disappointing to see the fact that there won’t be a review of Life Is Strange: Reunion from GC this week. It’s released today and there’s no reviews to be seen anywhere. Which is a personal shame for me, because I’ve actually downloaded all the titles to my Ally X and I’m currently playing through the first title. Essentially the introduction of Max and Chloe, and the beginning of the franchise as a whole.

Maybe it was the negative critical reception to Double Exposure that has scared Square Enix from receiving the same outrage or outcry of disappointment, that they’re being silent over this title’s reception. I don’t really know the facts and I certainly can’t tell the whole story, but if it is another disappointment from Deck Nine that is the final nail in the coffin.

As far as the narrative of Reunion is concerned, I’m hoping it ties into the events of the first game. Especially the events carried out by Mark Jefferson. He was such an important character and I’m really hoping for closure. Maybe he’s dead in his prison cell or even sentenced to life behind bars. We need to know his fate for definite.

Because if Reunion is the end of the franchise, or at least the end of Max and Chloe’s story, it involved Mr Jefferson at the end of the day; even Nathan Prescott played a huge role. It was those events that led to Max and Chloe breaking up, after all. So I’d surely tie the events of the first game into the story of Reunion. Because I’d just like to have that needed closure and hopefully a happy ending for Max and Chloe.

If GC is able to have a review out for the game, could you guys please let me know if Mark Jefferson or Nathan are at least mentioned and there’s some ties to the first game? Or if it has moved on completely and the story is just bland and uninteresting? Maybe not a satisfying conclusion. I look forward to the review.
Shahzaib Sadiq

Always one
Totally agree with everything the reader said yesterday about the flaws of Metacritic. They really should just do a top critic version because it’s almost useless otherwise. Just take a look at it now and there’s one single review for Life Is Strange: Reunion and, you guessed it, it’s from a no-name site and very positive.

Considering what GC told us about the review copies I think we all know just how reliable that score is. And yet it’s going to be included in the final meta score, which really doesn’t seem fair, whether the game turns out to be good or not.
Gorf

Out of time
It’s a shame that Crimson Desert was underwhelming overall, as I can see that it has its fans with some streamers and others not quite so much. It’s hard to see the pull for me and committing the time for the game is not possible, if I believe my confidence is just a little below par for dedicated gaming sessions.

The problem I have is the many hours I’ve had in Dragon’s Dogma, Death Stranding, Dragon Age, and many others with exploration involved. I also will include Assassin’s Creed games, as Valhalla nearly wiped out the passion I had for the series, after enjoying Creed games for many years.

Before I found out the company behind Crimson Desert, I thought it was done by the Assassin’s Creed developers, as I thought I saw so many of its gaming mechanics being used in the game. When I found out I was pretty surprised for sure.

Another game it reminds me of is Zelda: Breath Of The Wild, for again the climbing and of course the cooking. And like Breath Of The Wild, a story not being the most engaging part and the sub-activities being the ones of interest, strengthening your character. I think Crimson is definitely borrowing a few ideas from these other franchises that have been popular.

Like another questionable product by Nvidia and their DLSS 5 technology! What I can’t understand is how DLSS 5 devs can say lighting changes the textures and look of a gaming character! It appears makeup has been applied or a more stylish five o’ clock shadow and skin textures which unfortunately reminds me of AI creations and not a creation from a skilled development team.

Anyways, definitely a lot of heated discussions recently in the gaming industry and I will be keeping my eyes and ears open for further developments into the above topics.
Alucard

Inbox also-rans
Have you heard about the new FromSoftware sequel featuring its first Colombian protagonist and brutally hard timing? Shakira: Shadows Dance Twice.
Bll

It’s a good job I like Bluey, because if it wasn’t for that the Xbox Partner Preview would’ve been a total wash. It was nearly as bad as the recent Nintendo Directs.
Cone Dash

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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.

You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

MORE: Games Inbox: What is the best 2D Mario platformer?

MORE: Games Inbox: Is the Nintendo Switch 2 becoming a failure?

MORE: Games Inbox: Is Crimson Desert being underrated?

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The Monday letters page is keen to find out what happens after Resident Evil Requiem, as one reader has no sympathy for Crimson Desert players.

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Marathon effort
The thing that gets me about this weekend-only Marathon business is how Bungie have less than zero respect for people’s time. We’ve all been saying that about games for a while now but level-grinding to unlock something you can only play for eight days a month is crazy too me.

Never mind what you’re supposed to do if you happen to work over the weekend (I often have to come in on a Saturday) but I guess that just makes the ones that do get to play it even cooler, right?

As if the ugly graphics weren’t putting enough people off, this actually kills any though I had of ever giving it a try. I don’t know whether the game is going to be successful or not – it seems to be doing okay but not great – but when I play a video game it’s not so it can become a second job for me.
Zeiss

Marketing spend
Is it only me that gets constant adverts for World Of Warcraft’s new expansion, every time I go on YouTube? I have no interest in the game, I’ve never played it or visited a website about it, and I’ve certainly never watched a video on it, but I get spammed with ads for it constantly.

The weird thing is I get very few other ads about games, despite that being one of my favourite things. Fortnite is about the only other thing I get a lot, which probably says a lot about how much these companies are spending on advertising compared to everyone else.

I’m a big Resi fan and have been watching a ton of videos about it lately, but I never saw a single ad for Resident Evil Requiem. That doesn’t seem to have affected its sales but I wonder what would’ve happened if it had been shown everywhere?
Logan

Risk and no reward
I’ll be honest, I don’t think I’ve got any sympathy for anyone that pre-ordered Crimson Desert and is now regretting (or, more likely, pretending to anyone that will listen that it’s good, actually). A too-good-to-be-true game from a developer with no experience in the genre, or anything much except one MMO, should send those alarm bells ringing straight away.

If you’ve got £55 just lying around, that you can afford to gamble on a game being good, based on virtually nothing, then I don’t think you can really complain about anything. I’ll wait until the game is cheap… and then spend the money on something else, because it sounds awful.
Spency

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Single option
I don’t think the PlayStation 5 still beating the Switch 2 in sales is too much of a surprise. Nobody is going to buy an Xbox Series X/S at the moment so if you want triple-A games then the PlayStation 5 is the only option.

The Switch 2 is a great console but it’s not going to be the first choice for anyone but families and hardcore Nintendo fans. That is still a lot of people, but I think there’s always going to be more wanting to play the best-looking versions of the latest games.

Resident Evil Requiem on the Switch 2 looks good but it’s still not as great as the PlayStation 5 version. But it’s not just graphics. Nintendo’s online services are still very limited compared to Sony and Microsoft. Who wants to play EA Sports FC on Switch 2? And you still can’t play Call Of Duty, despite all Xbox’s talk.

If you’re into games even just a bit you can’t make do with just a Switch 2, so your only options are a PlayStation 5 or a PC.
Kimble

Pokémon Endgame
Loved the Reader’s Feature about Pokémon Pokopia. I’m what I guess you’d call a lapsed fan and haven’t really been into the series properly since the DS days. I took a chance on Pokopia, after all the good reviews, and I’ve been loving it.

I almost got teary eyed at the end, especially when I realised there was tons of stuff I could still do, and that’s before getting into the Minecraft stuff or Animal Crossing style home improvement. Really excellent game and all the better because it was a surprise. More of this please, Nintendo!
Colin

Future fashion
Nice Reader’s Feature about what the next mainline Resident Evil should be, although I doubt even Capcom knows yet, as the success of Requiem probably caught them a bit off guard. If the rumours are right, we’ve got remakes of Code: Veronica and Resident Evil 1 coming first, so it’s obviously a long way off.

I’m more than up for those but Resident Evil 1 again seems like the perfect time for another soft reboot, with Resident Evil 10 following after that. As to what it will be I think there’s two main problems: do you change the characters and do you change the gameplay?

Considering how popular Grace seems to be I think there’s no doubt that Capcom can still make fun new characters, without having to rely on the old ones. In terms of gameplay though, Requiem was pretty traditional really and people loved that. Probably a lot more than if it had been open world or co-op or whatever.

So as much as we can predict anything at the moment, I think you’ve just got to look at what’s successful now, before they start making the new game. If people had hated Requiem and were demanding something new then that’s probably what Capcom would’ve done, but that’s not how it is right now.

Games taking longer to make is bad in so many ways but one that I think not a lot of people mention is that you start making them based on current trends and then by the time it’s finished who knows what will be popular. That probably explains a lot of live service games.
Cubby

How they do it
Just wanted to say that I really appreciate the behind the scenes videos in Resident Evil Requiem. I guess I already knew that’s how they did the tech but it’s really nice to see a fairly long segment broken down like that.

Although I wonder how long until time-consuming and expensive things like that are just faked with AI, because it’s ‘good enough’. Crazy to think that 30 years ago the same franchise had tank controls and characters that looked like something out of Minecraft. Happy birthday Resi!
Winston

Front loaded
That’s me finished Resident Evil Requiem on all three difficulties. It’s safe to say it is superb, with amazing graphics, fun gameplay, and a pitch perfect tone.

I still can’t help feeling it could have been even better though. To my surprise, as a big fan of Resident Evil 4, my favourite sections of the game were Grace’s. They’re really tense and atmospheric, with the Rhodes Hill Care Centre making for a wonderful setting. Having zombies with personalities works brilliantly and I wish they had doubled down on the idea with even more variety.

The second half of the game has more generic and returning enemies from the series, which seem a bit uninspired compared to those in the first half. There is too much fan service in general towards the end, especially with the bosses, and I would have preferred to see more original ground broken. I’m not convinced we even needed to return to Raccoon City at all, I’d have preferred to stick around Rhodes Hill with perhaps more institutions/buildings nearby to explore.

It’ll be really interesting to see what direction they take for the next game. I know they experimented with open world for this one and I think that might be the way to go to reinvent the series again. Can’t wait to see!
Ryan O’D
PS: My favourites are:

1. Resident Evil 4 remake
2. Resident Evil 2 remake
3. Resident Evil 1 remake
4. Resident Evil Requiem
5. Resident Evil 7

GC: We think it’s fair to say most, if not all, Resident Evil games are better in the first half than the second.

Inbox also-rans
This business about the EU Switch 2 model made me realise how happy I am that region locking is a thing of the past. What a dumb idea that was.
Focus

Crimson Desert might be a bad game but I tell you one thing, it’s made me really keen on playing a new The Witcher, just from looking at the videos. Hopefully the rumours of new DLC this year are true.
Kryzer

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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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