Games Inbox: Are online video game fans too negative?

Thursday’s Inbox is pleased by CeX’s rumoured retro plans, as one reader mocks Sony’s attempts to make a successful live service game.

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

Negative waves
Great preview and interview of Marvel’s Wolverine, although I give equal kudos to the Insomniac guy for answering honestly. I don’t imagine Sony was expecting all the negativity from the first wave of hands-on, so I’m surprised they didn’t just cancel this second one once they found out.

I think it raises some interesting questions about what happens when the person playing a game isn’t very good at it and, more importantly, the intense negativity of fans online. I’m not trying to defend Wolverine – I liked the Spider-Man games but can take or leave this new one – but the way people just unleash their negativity for no good reason is not healthy for anyone.

I believe that’s basically what the other Insomniac guy said already. There’s enough going wrong in gaming right now without dogpiling on new games before you’ve had chance to play them. If Wolverine is no good then don’t buy it, but starting a hate campaign months before is not on.
Clovis

Unidentified leak
Well, this business with the GTA 6 leaks is very strange. For a start I don’t understand where they’re getting the information and clips from. It’s implied to be hacking but they don’t seem to talk about that and why are they only getting year old clips of the unfinished game?

And surely they don’t think that Rockstar will actually give in to their demands and release the game on disc? They’d be more likely to give GTA 6 away for free than do that. And I don’t think they can anyway, because Sony’s turned off their disc factory. There literally won’t be any discs soon.

I think these people are going to greatly regret all this, when they end up being sued to hell and back by Rockstar. And all for some pointless videos that barely show anything of interest.
Ragnor

Talking it up
I’ve really enjoyed the recent run of previews and interviews over the last week or so. Star Wars Zero Company has moved right to the top of my watchlist – had a great time with Marvel’s Midnight Suns and if they’ve tidied up some of the bloat, it sounds like a GOTY contender.
The Light Knight
PS: I trust young Jenkins took the rest of the day off after that potted plant line in the Wolverine preview.

GC: Thanks.

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Final mistake
Absolutely ridiculous that Sony has cancelled yet another live service game (or turned it into a normal game, which is basically the same thing). Turns out forcing single-player developers to make highly monetised multiplayer games is not something that works. Sony has tried it often enough now that they’ve proven that beyond doubt.

With luck we’ll find out that Fairgames has been cancelled soon and then that will hopefully be it for the whole ridiculous saga, that has ruined a whole generation of gaming for Sony.

I find the Horizon game particularly stupid because who asked for a multiplayer game of that in the first place? Especially one that changes the art style for an ugly cartoon style. The detailed graphics and creature designs were the best bit of the proper games and that’s completely ruined by this game.

We could’ve probably had a proper sequel by now if it wasn’t for this nonsense.
Kinder

Bad management
Another Star Wars game is cancelled. This is why they’re saying the cost of games need to go up. They either make a game that no one really wants and doesn’t sell enough or start to make a game and then cancel it, this is why they’re losing money. This is why they want more for games.

Maybe if they ran the company properly they wouldn’t be losing so much money and you know when the PlayStation 6 and the new Xbox comes out they’re going to be saying prices are going up because more is going into making the games. And they will still be moaning after that. Games don’t earn enough; they just need to stop wasting time and money.
David

Loss of attraction
Playing through quite a few big releases recently (it’s been a great year to be a Switch 2 owner in my opinion), especially modern Capcom titles such as Pragmata, Monster Hunter Stories 3, and the Final Fantasy 7 remake I noticed how bland the opening menus are for these games and it got me thinking about how much I miss a classic gaming staple: the attract mode.

As gaming has developed away from its arcade roots the attract mode/intro seems to be a lost art. Whether it was the awe-inspiring, iconic intro to Soulcalibur on the Dreamcast (oh the memories!) or the infectious energy of Daytona USA, a good attract screen was designed to grab you by the collar and make you drop a 20p coin.

Arcade games had to fight for your attention, so it became something of a necessity to have a draw – something to pull you in, show off the graphics and gameplay as effectively and impressively as possible. Perhaps one of the more iconic attract screens is the one of Ryu throwing a fireball towards the player in Super Street Fighter 2 or the intro to Dragon’s Lair that boomed out across an arcade floor.

There are more modern exceptions of course and I am sure readers are thinking of some now – the into to Dragon Quest 11 comes to mind.

Nowadays, with modern games leaning so heavily into cinematic storytelling, filmic pacing, and shoehorning sprawling role-playing progression systems into almost every genre, you’re usually just greeted by a sterile, almost silent start menu.

In my opinion, arcade-rooted genres like fighting and racing games always did this best, and modern gaming can at times feel like it has forgotten how to show off right out of the gate.

Do any other readers miss attract screens, and which ones from back in the day stuck with you the most?
Bristolpete

When and why
I think that theory about no Zelda: Ocarina Of Time remake news until after Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave is out makes a lot of sense. Who can ever predict Nintendo, but I know for a fact they don’t like to nobble their own games if they can help it, unlike EA (I’ll never forgive Titanfall 2).

The question of why they’ve left it so late I have no idea though. I wonder if they’re regretting it now because the summer Direct was already one of the weakest ones they’ve ever had, and a proper reveal would’ve made it a lot better. But too late for that now.
Paulie

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Enter the Collector
I’m glad to see CeX are trying to get a grasp on the retro market.

That is my bag and I love retro gaming.

As a single parent of two young girls I’ve actually relied on CeX while selling old games to get us through the week.

Their buy back is not the best, to the point they would rather give me £5 less for a NES than what they say on their website.

I had no choice, I needed the money.

I understand they need to make a profit but buying something for less than half it is worth and selling it for over double leaves a stale taste in the mouth.

This is a little bit bittersweet for me as they have helped me out, so I have no ill will towards that company and after all they are just a company just making money.

But in the same sense, I have a lot of retro Zelda and Mario stuff, from balloons and rubbish cardboard McDonald’s Mario board games to exclusive Zelda: Ocarina Of Time figures exclusive to Target (an American store) and Zelda shop demos in my collection.

I wouldn’t dream of selling these items to CeX, for how much they lowball you.

What I’m getting at is retro collectors like me are of a certain age and we quite like our collections, we are knowledgeable on how much they are worth and won’t settle for being low-balled.

I wish CeX the best but they are delving into collectors territory now and collectors can be very stubborn indeed.
freeway 77

Inbox also-rans
I really hope GTA 6 doesn’t have the dumb role-playing bits from San Andreas in it. I would’ve thought it was pretty clear that nobody liked that, so I don’t know why Rockstar would bring it back.
Mike

If Insomniac actually end up making a Squirrel Girl game, or at least putting her in another one, I think we’ll all know who to thank for that.
Manger

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