Games Inbox: Were the next-gen consoles a mistake?

Force of habit
I found myself agreeing with a lot of what was said in the Reader’s Feature about Sony sticking with the PlayStation 4 instead of making the PlayStation 5. Microsoft had an excuse to make the Xbox Series It just seemed to happen because that’s what they usually did at that point in their previous console’s life.

No one seems to have tried to get longer generations, except, as usual, Nintendo. What better idea has a PS4 Pro Ultra been than a PlayStation 5? I don’t know and Sony never will unless they actually try. I think they’re just risk-adverse, but as usual that means you’re potentially ignoring the potential to do things better.

I think we certainly could have benefited from keeping the graphics in the same place for a generation or two until there was a cost-effective way to take advantage of them. Those opportunities have now clearly been missed, but I suspect there are now more than a few people at PlayStation who think the next generation was a bad idea.
Virgil

Unknown competitors
I agree that another Dead Rising remaster is the last thing I want Capcom to waste their time on. But if it is just a remaster, then hopefully it is a fairly small project in terms of the use of their resources.

I actually have some hope that there will be a new Marvel Vs. Capcom, because even with Sony owning the X-Men license, I imagine they’d be quite willing to share a little bit of the profits if it meant they got to release a style of game that they clearly couldn’t make themselves.

What I love about the games are the more obscure characters that Capcom just throws in. Like what was Shuma-Gorath doing in Marvel Super Heroes?! That’s why I love Tatsunoko Vs. Capcom so much, because I have no idea what even half the characters are, but I can just feel the love that went into turning them into fighting game characters.

So yeah, it would be nice to see Squirrel Girl or someone else from Marvel, but I’m more interested in the Capcom side of things, to see who they unexpectedly put in the spotlight.
Xan

Rise further
It’s a shame that Dead Rising is only a remaster. I’d love a remake with more of the open world element of 3 and 4, but without the brutal Christmas spirit of 4. Also lose the super infected; they irritate the hell out of me.

If the remaster does well, perhaps Capcom could make a new entry with actual intelligent AI. For me, the best part of Dead Rising was having eight characters with AR-15s that completely hosed every boss you fought. Hopefully that stays in.
Bobwallet

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Terrible bosses
RE: Stellar Blade. I really enjoyed it and it was my game of the year, but the boss fights are a nightmare. I’m usually one to just grind through if I have to, but the unidentified Naytiba just got me and I switched to story mode. I feel like a slob for doing it, but I’m tired of having to spend ages tinkering with his health just to throw instakill fireballs at me and let him die.

That’s why I’m not getting the Elden Ring DLC. I just can’t be bothered to die over and over again to annoying bosses at this point.
Simon

Ancient origins
You know, sometimes you just quote a few slogans and things from the past. Well, my wife and I still say ‘OL Yade’ and ‘I keep for you’ regularly, usually when we give each other random things.

Thanks to your review, we just found out that we’ve been saying this for over 20 years, as I bought the original Beyond Good & Evil based on your original review!

I feel very old now, but glad to hear the game is still holding up.
Tincanmemory (gamertag/PSN ID)

Not naming names
It seems very sincere and real considering what Shigeru Miyamoto said about Nintendo ethics. When you’re dealing with wildly changing trends regarding the public’s spending on the end product, it’s not hard to see that even the corporate sheep are working hard and committed to being able to compete with other ‘faster and trendy ‘ business ethics, which try to use the lightning in the bottle formula to keep up with others. When I talk about others, I’m talking about the faceless money people. We know the big brands.

There’s no way I can guess what they’re up to. I just hope they make Satoru Iwata’s memory a Mario triple jump in every success. I would be a happy man if I had invested heavily in 2000.

It’s been a great time to be a gamer and I’m really looking forward to the future as long as the passion continues.
D Dubya

Mediocrity at mid table
I’d say Black Flag isn’t really close to being the best of the series, classic or otherwise. I’d say Assassin’s Creed 2 was easily the best of the old school games, with the best setting and characters, and streamlined but enjoyable stealth and action.

I actually have a soft spot for Unity, but I think the more modern role-playing style games are the best and they’ve all been good so far. For me, Mirage was a pretty disappointing step back.

As far as I’m concerned, Black Flag is strictly middle table fodder. The pirate angle is good in theory, but I found the story quite plodding and the ship battles are fun, but a bit dumb in terms of realism.
Ishi

Dream scenario
I love that this guy is optimistic about a Dreamcast 2 in the Reader’s Feature this weekend. It’s clearly not going to happen, and I think he knows that, but it’s a fun idea. I do think that in a few years, when streaming is a little easier, this kind of thing could happen.

The idea of ​​every publisher having their own subscription service, like EA Play and Ubisoft+, seems to have cooled off in recent years. I assume they realize that everyone has had enough of subscriptions by now. But they still love selling all their games to fans without anything else getting in the way.

Digital sales can save the stores money, but you still have to pay Microsoft or Sony a percentage, on top of the licensing fees. So all that goes away when the Dreamcast 2, to use the example in question, comes out and you’re only paying for that game and the games directly to Sega.

Now, nobody wants a console — virtual or otherwise — for every publisher, but there’s incentive for the companies. They might be put off because that style of doing things doesn’t really work on TV, but that’s true for Disney+ and a few others.

Does this mean I think we could have a real Dreamcast 2 in the near future? No. But in the distant future? I might have been able to see it, but who at that point could even guess what games it would run?
Lesker

Inbox is also running
I love how nine Assassin’s Creed games in development seems like a huge exaggeration at first, but when you dig into it later it turns out to actually be an understatement.
Karel

If Bend is working on a live service game, why didn’t they just make it a Days Gone game? It’s not like people don’t like zombies even if they haven’t played the original game.
Wreaths

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The small print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic inboxes on the weekend. Reader letters are used on a merit basis and may be edited for length and content.

You can also submit your own 500-600 word Reader’s Feature at any time by email or via our Submit Stuff page. If you use this text, it will be featured in the next available weekend slot.