The Friday letters page promotes Thank Goodness You’re Here! over GTA 6, as one reader dreams of Resident Evil Village.
Changing strategy
These sales figures for the Xbox in Europe are apocalyptic, there just isn’t any other word for it. They’re shockingly bad and all the more so because they should be doing well, right in the middle of the generation and just coming off the back of Starfield. Instead, they’re going backwards.
I just don’t see any future for Xbox anymore as a console. There’s literally no point when they’re already the biggest publisher in the world, now that they’ve bought Activision Blizzard. This is the opposite of Sega and the Dreamcast. Instead of having no money and being forced to give up making hardware, Microsoft have all the money in the world and should just use it elsewhere.
Activision and EA don’t feel incomplete because they don’t have their own console, so why should Microsoft? We’re always told there’s more money in software than hardware so they shouldn’t really care but something tells me they’ll still see going third party as a humiliation and won’t do it, which will only hold the Xbox brand back.
No one likes or is loyal to Activision, Microsoft should take advantage of that and make Xbox synonymous with gaming and keep Sony in check that way, rather than continuing to fight a battle they can’t win.
Cranston
Evil upstairs
5:30am, Thursday the 14th of December. My wife wakes me, as I’ve been shouting out in my sleep, fending off a shrieking older woman I dreamed we found living upstairs in our house.
Rewind eight hours and I’d just played the first 30 minutes of Resident Evil Village, that included a recap of the events of Resident Evil 7 – the exploits of the deranged Baker family.
I don’t like to think I’m that suggestable but am gonna just strap myself in for the remainder of my playthrough.
P. Thomas Donnelly
Quadruple dipping
I’m sure I won’t be the only one saying this but the developer saying GTA 6 is harder to release on PC, really?
So the game developed, compiled, and refined on a PC is harder to release on that format then a console?!
That’s before you even factor in that current consoles are just striped down PCs and any PC that’s being used to play new release will have specs far exceeding that of current consoles.
Rockstar know by having to release many people will double-dip (buy the game on two formats). That’s fine, just be honest about it!
Photo-unrealistic
The tech and animations in GTA 6 look extraordinarily advanced and all but I just want to draw your attentions to the Day of The Devs indie showcase a while back, because there were some notable games that were revealed and shown more of.
I love the look of this quaint, quintessentially British indie about a salesman venturing into a small English town and becoming embroiled in a series of weird and amusing activities. Thank goodness for the charming inverse of photorealistic games!
Galvanized Gamer
Last chance saga
I really hope Sega’s plans with all these classic revivals works out because this is basically their last chance to get it right. You can’t mess them all up and then start again a year or so later, people won’t stand for it. And if you give it five years, to let the stink fade away, the people that remember the game’s from the first time are going to be collecting their bus passes.
We’ve no way of knowing whether it’s going to work out or not, but more than knowing who’s making the games I want to know what kind of budget they’ve got. At least half of them look like very low budget indie fare and there’s an obvious reason for Sega to want and try to keep the costs down, but do these on the cheap, with no chance to live up to the potential and, again, you’ve ruined your big moment.
A lot can go wrong here and I really have no idea how it’s all going to end up.
Taylor Moon
Minimal upgrade
So, I’m speaking for a lot of people, mostly the fans and streamers, when I say that I’m looking forward to what the PS5 Pro has to offer. Obviously, it hasn’t been formally announced yet. It hasn’t been confirmed yet, we’ve only heard of the rumoured specs. It’s probably about a year away, or close to a year. But it sounds ridiculously powerful, from what we have seen so far.
It could very well, allow for 8K gaming and with GTA 6, releasing in 2025. We may well have a title that could demonstrate these specs. But I’m hoping that Sony demonstrate a will to actually make more effort, this time. I never brought a PS4 Pro. I didn’t see the reasoning behind it, because the changes were minimal. Based on what I heard and read from users.
So I know Sony will charge over £500 for the Pro and I’m praying, hopefully, that they listen this time around. I’ll be ordering this and handing my vanilla console to my little brother.
Shahzaib Sadiq
Free correction
Quick message to say sorry I got that wrong about a free game every day from Wednesday, 13th December on Epic Games Store. I got confused as they were giving the game (Destiny 2 Legacy Collection) away free on Wednesday, instead of from Thursday as normal.
There is another mystery game for free on Wednesday, 20th December. Destiny 2 Legacy Collection is free until Wednesday, 20th December.
Andrew J.
Emotional ending
Just completed the story of Final Fantasy 16 tonight and while I’m not a massive fan of the combat (too easy) by the end I’m a big fan of the story and it even stirred a bit of emotion in me!
I am a bit confused at at least three hints during the game, that it’s set in the same world as Final Fantasy 9 but not much more than that!? Did anyone else notice any?
The three I spotted were:
The hideaway is the ship called invincible in Final Fantasy 9 – someone says it in the game, I didn’t just make that up!
There is book in a hut someplace which makes reference to ‘the shimmering isle’, which is in Final Fantasy 9 and transports you to the other planet (Terra).
The red planet in the sky next to the moon is Terra in Final Fantasy 9 but called Metia in Final Fantasy 16
I was holding out hope for more references but in the end very satisfied with the story. Worth the £50 or £60 I spent, as that’s easily £1 an hour.
TommyFatFingers
GC: There are sizeable expansions to come, so maybe things will be expanded upon there. Or perhaps the rumoured remake of Final Fantasy 9 will pick up the thread.
Inbox also-rans
In my opinion Phil Spencer has to go at Xbox. He’s been in that position for 10 years and nothing has improved and now we find out it’s only getting worse? His plan is not working and we need a new one.
Encule
Am I misremembering or did the director of the two Star Wars Jedi games not leave Respawn? That’s not a good a sign. I wonder why he left and where he’s gone?
Coolsbane
GC: Stig Asmussen, yes. He left in September, not long after saying he wanted it to be a trilogy. He hasn’t turned up anywhere else yet.
This week’s Hot Topic
The 2023 Game Awards happened last Friday, revealing not only the award winners but the usual suite of new trailer reveals, but what did you think of it?
How much notice do you take of the award nominees and, in general, do you think the winners were justified this year? Do you think there’s a better way to organise the awards and do you feel there are any categories that should be added or removed?
What do you think of the emphasis on new trailers and announcements and does this enhance or diminish the award ceremony? Is the large amount of advertising distracting or an understandable necessity to fund the event?