The Tuesday Letters page has an unusual tip for saving money on Xbox and PS Plus, as one reader is disappointed with the new Splatoon 3 presenters.
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Exception to the rule
To reply to TommyFatFingers. I hardly ever buy games on launch day. I think the last time I did that was what Call Of Duty was a decade or so ago (Black Ops 2, maybe?) because the stores were always doing crazy deals to drag people in, so I probably got it for £25 with my Tesco shop or so. I usually just wait for things to drop in price or go on sale, and rely on my ridiculous backlog to pull me over for the quiet periods. But for one game I might have to make an exception: Return To Monkey Island.
I’ve mentioned it here before, that it’s a game I’ve been hoping for for almost 25 years, ever since I first played the original two and found that Curse Of Monkey Island wasn’t the third game planned by Ron Gilbert. I had long ago accepted the fact that it would never happen, so unless the reviews are absolutely terrible, that will be my first day of launch, a full-priced purchase in many years.
Sparky de Yako
Budget wisely
In response to TommyFatFingers’ letter. There are a few games that I want to buy at full price.
Splatoon 3. I love Splatoon 2 and now I’m in Asia. So I plan to play a lot more Splatoon now that I’m hopefully in a more populated area for this game. I’ve already signed up for the Splatoon 3 tournament release date.
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. I skipped Call Of Duty last year because of the WW2 setting and didn’t really enjoy the beta. But if the beta is good and the DMZ mode has a good hook, I’ll buy the new one on day one. I also play Warzone with my friends, so Call Of Duty gets a lot of mileage for me.
Mario + Rabbids Sparks Of Hope. The first game was brilliant and they hold enough cachet with me that they would have to do something incredibly bad with the game not to buy it.
Zelda: Breath Of The Wild 2. It’s Zelda, it’s Nintendo. I have confidence.
You may be wondering why I intend to pay full price for these games. Planning doesn’t necessarily mean I do. I will still read the reviews and see images before handing over my money. Same as Tommy Fat Fingers. I plan it so I can budget. I sit down and think, ‘These are games I’ll probably want to play on day one’, and then I set aside the £60-70 each.
Anthony Daniels
Law of diminishing hosts
I can’t wait for Splatoon 3, but the worldwide Splatfest has let me down a bit because the hosts of Splatoon 3 are absolutely terrible.
In 1 we had Squid Sisters Callie and Marie, making small talk while announcing the stages. You saw their reactions to each other’s jokes.
In 2 we had Pearl and Marina, almost as cool but less chatter.
In 3 we have Shiver, Frye and Big Man. Terrible generic names. I mean, big man? When the stages are shown it’s just on the TV holding Big Man, you don’t see Shiver and Frye’s chat and reactions.
The worst part is Frye’s design, it’s like they created a character that strictly uses the basic geometry shapes. Horrible.
JDB
GC: Callie and Marie was also a much better pun.
Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk
Simple explanation
I recently played Rage 2. I thought the fights/firefights were absolutely fantastic, never got old. Really fun, the rest of the game was terrible of course. It was annoying to be honest, that gunfights were so good with everything else around it being sloppy.
A letter on GC today mentioned Mad Max, a game that has never been on my radar, so I googled your review.
Please explain to me how the same developer made these two games?
One is fantastic on foot and really very terrible in vehicles. The other is fantastic in vehicles and really terrible on foot.
Once you’ve taken elements of both games gameplay and put them together, sprinkle in a little Obsidian’s writing and imagination and you’re on to a potentially great….
Oddly enough, Bethesda is connected to all three.
Razzledazzle
GC: Rage 2 was co-developed with id Software, so they handled the first person combat and Avalanche did the open world stuff. Mad Max was probably another in-house team too, not to mention the budget differences between the two games.
Specialized Locations
I know this may be a gray area for some, but does anyone use foreign stores to buy games or subscriptions? For example, I got three years of Game Pass Ultimate for £48 by buying Brazilian Xbox Live and then using the £1 upgrade to turn it into Game Pass. I also use sites like Gamivo and Eneba to pick up Xbox games for sometimes half the price of what they sell. For example, I got Elden Ring on release for £24.
There are also sites where people in certain countries send you the game by gifting it to you, then you change your region via VPN or the console and redeem the code. Using the same method on PSN via Turkey, I got two years of top tier PS Plus (they don’t do the streaming level) for £44 and I can play and access the games and all the PS Plus benefits by setting up my console like the home one.
I’ve been doing this for about four or five years, mostly on Xbox (because it’s easier), and sharing games with a friend cuts everything in half. I was just wondering how many people, if there are others, are also doing the same thing?
AreOhBe85 (gamertag/PSN ID)
Kick while they’re down
It’s pretty clear that the PlayStation 5 hasn’t changed its price in the US as it’s the main region for PlayStation and the Xbox is very competitive at home. Some gamers have suggested that Xbox should lower their console prices to give Sony a nosebleed, but I don’t see that as very realistic as they are now cheaper in all regions except the US. However, if Xbox has a discless Xbox Series X in the works, now would be the time to release it.
I wouldn’t be surprised if we hear some news about a cheaper (all-digital) Xbox Series X soon…
Anonymously
goodbye video
Very sad to see the news about Oliver Frey passing, the makers of the Bedroom to Billions documentaries have made a tribute video for him as he has done a lot of artwork for their documentaries.
Andreas J.
PS: The free games on the Epic Games Store are currently Destiny 2, Ring Of Pain and DLC for Knockout City. You have until 4:00 PM on Thursday to claim the free games and content.
Discovered gem
Just a quick warning that you might want to check out Islets if you have some leeway in your grading schedule. Yes, it’s another indie Metroidvania, but it takes the default template and runs it, so we’ll do it and with the absolute minimum of friction.
It’s not an absolute world topper, but it’s about everything exactly as you would want from these types of games. It’s my first real hidden gem of the year.
Mat
GC: We’ll see if we can fit it in, but we’d love to welcome a Reader’s Feature on it if you have time.
Gotta go fast
Warning: Potential spoilers for Sonic Frontiers, a game most of us won’t play, but will instead point and laugh.
So these days most developers just present the build of a game they have ready to go, then limit the amount of time someone can play. Logical, because it saves resources, because nobody has to build a demo and everyone can concentrate purely on making the game the best possible. And while we all enjoyed the demo discs from our youth, they’re pretty much redundant at the moment with the popularity of cloud gaming and Steam’s two-hour return policy, essentially giving us all a chance to ‘try before you buy’. .
Hilariously, one player at Gamescom managed to get all the way to when Knuckles appears in Sonic Frontiers, reportedly in three stages. All the ‘demo’ players had 15 minutes to play before being interrupted, but this player took it pretty far. Honestly, how Sega didn’t realize this could happen given that Sonic games have always attracted speed runners is pretty mind-boggling, but it gives an interesting insight into the issues of not making good demos for a game.
Perhaps the time limit should only be an option for demos downloaded from digital stores, and developers should create real demos for game shows/conventions to avoid this kind of problem.
Sunny
GC: We’re starting to think that every time Sega makes a Sonic game, they immediately erase it from their memory when it’s done. It would explain a lot.
Inbox is running too
I know many countries are looking into the Activision Blizzard acquisition to see if it’s fair, but should all countries agree and say it’s okay to proceed? Or can the deal not go through if a country says no?
David
GC: No, but they can restrict how Activision Blizzard can operate in their country. But if it’s a big market, especially if it’s the US, the whole deal would probably get canceled.
So happy to hear that Sony is putting its money into buying mobile developers and will immediately put them to work making live service games. If there’s one thing that comes to mind when I hear the word PlayStation, it’s money-grabbing live-service mobile games designed purely for the 1% of people who spend money on them.
sir sarcastic
This week’s hot topic
The topic for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader Pinky, who asks what do you do when you’re stuck in a video game?
As technology has changed, so has the way people deal with difficult games, either because they’re stuck in a puzzle, don’t know where to go, or simply because it’s too hard. So what do you usually do? Looking for text-based help online, watching a video, asking a friend, or something else?
Do you still buy physical guides and if so, is that mainly for help with playing the game or more as a collector’s item?
Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk
The fine print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes on the weekend. Letters from readers are used on a merit basis and can be edited for length and content.
You can also submit your own 500 to 600 word Reader feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which, if used, will be featured on the next available weekend.
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MORE: Games Inbox: Saints Row and the Worst Game of 2022, Dead Island 2 Surprise and GTA 6 Unofficial Chat
MORE: Weekend Hot Topic: Your Favorite Open World Game
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