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Games Inbox: Worrying GTA 6 will be delayed till 2026, Xbox rumour madness, and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth-GameCentral-Entertainment – Metro
The Monday letters page wonders if Helldivers 2 counts as one of Sony’s six live service games, as one reader gives Super Mario Bros. Wonder 10/10.
Do you trust it’ll be out by 2025? (Picture: Rockstar Games)
The Monday letters page wonders if Helldivers 2 counts as one of Sony’s six live service games, as one reader gives Super Mario Bros. Wonder 10/10.
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Bad management
I don’t think I can bring myself to comment on the inanity that is Microsoft’s handling of the multiformat rumours. I’ll just say that I definitely agree with the Reader’s Feature from the weekend, suggesting Phil Spencer isn’t up to the job. This is what he’s getting a seven-figure paycheck for?!
Instead, I want to concentrate on a story that was almost ignored last week, where Take-Two hinted that GTA 6 is not going to be out until after March next year. I don’t know any other way to interpret what they said, which raises the prospect of GTA 6 constantly being delayed for the next couple of years – which given how most games work wouldn’t be much of a surprise.
After the whole carry-on with Xbox at the moment I don’t look forward to GTA 6’s release date being dangled in front of us for months on end, until it inevitably gets delayed into 2026. At the moment all we hear about is how many game developers are being laid off and how much their bosses make. I think it’s pretty obvious who should be laid off, because the incompetent management that seems to be standard in gaming is just infuriating.
Scoob
Interactive movie
Playing the Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth demo and it’s a lot of huge cut scenes. I’m torn, modern games seem to love making it a more cinematic experience, but I just don’t have the time or patience to sit for hours. I think I just feel jaded after Final Fantasy 16, which has probably gone down as a dud just based on how little people are talking about it less than a year after release.
Not sure I can face £70 for a game that’s 60 hours but probably could have been 40 with a speed up button. But at same time, Final Fantasy 7 was one of my favourite games, if the remake is brilliant then I should get involved.
In short very excited for your review, my personal prediction is an 8 but wouldn’t be surprised to see a 7.
Michael, Crawley
GC: We gave Remake an 8, have you not played that?
Bill of change
I just read the overly dramatic piece about Microsoft going multiformat.
I am the biggest Halo fan going and I’d be happy with it going to PlayStation or even Nintendo if it means more Halo (but please ditch 343). I just don’t trust Microsoft at all long term – there will be some sort of ulterior motive which makes them money at the expense of everyone else.
They are pushing for the all-digital future and does anyone really want someone like Bill Gates running things? Nintendo aren’t perfect but I hope they resist this digital push from the corporate virus and just carry on as they are.
Bring back the console wars – put a cartridge in the console and that’s it.
Simon
GC: Bill Gates hasn’t worked at Microsoft for over 20 years now.
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Bats entertainment
The best superhero game? Batman: Arkham Asylum, always Arkham Asylum. Sure City was bigger, but Asylum was intricate. City was all streets and skyscrapers, with about three buildings you could actually explore. Asylum, I feel, had more and certainly they were more intimate, with everything connected by vents and underground passages.
Asylum made me feel like the world’s greatest detective and goon smasher. The satisfying crunch when you slammed a grunt’s face into the ground, finishing your 74 hit combo, or clearing a room without being seen, as the remaining scallies get more and more terrified as they get picked off like eyes on your fries!
The Riddler puzzles were excellent and taxing. The bosses… epic, when Ivy escapes her cell… oh hell! The Joker taunting Bats every step of the way. I even rated how the batsuit took damage. From character cameos to the love that’s put into the lore and the details in the biographies of your rouges gallery… just a spectacular superhero game and one that along with City, I often sit down for a replay of. I’m Batman!
big boy bent
Pacifist mode
So I’ve just recently bought a PlayStation 5 and also Alan Wake 2, as I was a big fan of the first game. I’m currently 12 hours in and not long arrived at Watery. I think I need to find the screwdriver. All was going well until I encountered some enemies.
For some reason I can’t fire any of my weapons. I have reloaded previous saves but I’m having the same problem. I’ve had a google but I can’t find anything. Is this supposed to happen? The thought of having to start all over again fills me with dread! I was enjoying the game up until this point. Any help would be appreciated.
Isaac M
GC: It sounds like a bug, but not one we’ve ever heard of before.
Completing the test
I haven’t been playing many games for the past few years but Super Mario Bros. Wonder reminds me why I played games in the first place. I managed to complete the Final Final Test after around 200 attempts, and I couldn’t believe it.
I give the game a 10/10, it’s Nintendo at their best.
I think Nintendo’s next console will see them move more to digital and leaving the physical behind, even though they are pretty much the last to keep releasing physical games. The next console will probably have less physical releases, which is a shame.
I am all for physical games but I am an old skool gamer. Thankfully I’ve built a robust Switch library that has a vast range of games on it that will keep me going for a long time. It’s Nintendo’s best console, because it has good first party and third party support after the SNES, even though I have a soft spot for GameCube and Game Boy Advance.
Now on to Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom, then Resident Evil 4 on my Steam Deck.
scatterbrain
Retconned plans
Just read GC’s review in progress of Helldivers 2, which was a great read, as always. It got me wondering whether this and Foamstars, also just releasing this month, might count towards Sony’s previous plans to have 12, now six, live service games by 2026, or whenever it was?
Neither Helldivers 2 or Foamstars are by Sony first party developers, to my knowledge, but was Sony’s previous (or diluted) strategy of flooding the PlayStation 5 with live service games anchored on them being first party titles or just console exclusives? If it’s the latter, then Helldivers 2 and Foamstars should count towards this arbitrary target.
If the forgotten Destruction AllStars also counts towards the six live service games by 2026 target, has Sony released half of the games for this strategy without acknowledging this fact in any way?
Personally, live service games don’t interest me, so I’m a lot more interested in hearing what their first party developers will be releasing in the way of single-player games (or any games!). Currently, with no first party games on the horizon, except Wolverine in 2026, going by the leaks, I’m questioning whether to trade-in my PlayStation 5 to fund the Nintendo Switch 2, once Nintendo announces it and its launch games.
Hubert
GC: The announcement was made after Destruction AllStars came out, so it’s hard to see how that counts. Foamstars isn’t published by Sony, so that surely doesn’t either. Helldivers 2 could be retconned as one of the six, because at least they publish it, but the original announcement was clearly meant to imply Sony were making the games.
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Lost formats
Xbox and PlayStation; what are the two main players up to right now? It’s bewildering.
Xbox is running around chasing their tail, like a clueless polar bear in Saharan heat, while Sony are sipping mojitos by the pool doing nothing at all.
To quote David Essex, ‘Oh what a circus’.
Chevy Malibu
Identity crisis
Good feature from Ashton Marley. I agreed with most of his points. The truth of the matter is Xbox hasn’t had a system seller since Halo 3. The hype for the Halo games used to be huge events. The same for Gears Of War. Those were their crown jewels, which have been mishandled, ever since their original creators departed. 343 Industries could inspire a thesis on how not to handle a big IP. Gears Of War became a shadow of its former self once Cliff Blezinski was no longer involved.
All these billions they’ve spent on studios would have been better spent on re-acquiring Bungie and Epic Games before they became huge. Hindsight is 20/20. Where I don’t quite agree with the feature is on Phil Spencer. Some are forgetting the hand he was dealt, by his predecessor, Don Mattrick. During that period, Microsoft were considering letting Xbox go, until Phil Spencer convinced Satya Nadella otherwise.
I don’t entirely blame Phil Spencer for being hoodwinked by Starfield. The preview event had many of us excited. If rumours are true about Sony trying to acquire exclusive rights for Starfield, then they were duped also. Whilst I agree there has been some glaring errors, particularly over messaging. Producing great games is the only remedy. It takes a strong leader to deliver on a vision.
Sony’s template has its detractors. But there is a clear identity and expectation from gamers. It’s the same for Nintendo. Once Halo lost its identity, so did Xbox. Nintendo don’t miss when it comes to their tentpole releases. PlayStation mostly deliver also. With Xbox, there isn’t the same confidence to deliver.
Anon
Inbox also-rans
I agree that Phil Spencer has got to go. A decade in charge and this is the way he celebrates the anniversary? I’ve never seen such a disaster play out in slow motion.
Korbie
I like the Reader’s Feature idea about the Switch 2 staying purposefully low powered. I’m just not sure how much I believe that’s what Nintendo will do.
Lentz
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MORE : Weekend Hot Topic: What’s your favourite superhero game?
MORE : Games Inbox: Xbox leaving the gaming industry, Suicide Squad madness, and Nintendo Switch 2 reveal
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