The Wednesday letters page reminisces about the heyday of GAME and its midnight openings, as one reader bids farewell to it Xbox Series X.
Half the price, twice the number of viewers
Interesting to hear the Saber Interactive guy talk about games needing to reduce their budgets and do away with the £70 price tag. I completely agree on both points, but I really can’t imagine the EAs and Ubisofts of this world going along with that.
It seems to me that the problems we’re currently seeing could easily be solved by just taking a step back and reducing the budgets, but apparently that’s just too much to ask? I guess it’s a general business thing but reeling in previous excesses seems like something most companies are just completely unwilling to do.
Halve the budgets and halve the prices and I’m certain that you’d see a huge rise in the number of people buying them. Worried there’s no growth in console gaming? Maybe if people could actually afford more than a few new games a year that wouldn’t be a problem.
Keef
No one at the wheel
It is a shame the Switch 2 wasn’t released this year after all, as I do feel there’d be a lot less negativity if we had that to look forward to and awesome next gen Nintendo games. At the moment, it’s hard to be positive when so little is on the cards and Sony and Microsoft are both acting so suss.
I did like the Star Wars Outlaws trailer, so that’s good, but what we’re missing at the moment is some industry leadership. I’ve seen Sony pretend that’s their role, but they’ve been so awful the last year or so that they can never claim that again.
I think it also proves that Nintendo can’t step into their shoes either. No matter how good Nintendo’s games and hardware are they’re too obsessed with doing their own thing to be an industry leader. I think the lack of authority is making the current situation worse, with publishers seeming just as directionless as Sony, even though they’re not technically doing anything wrong.
Poindexter
The Last Jedi
I really liked that Star Wars Outlaws trailer. I’m not sure about the main character, who seems a little too obviously good to be a scoundrel, but I love the graphics and the scale and the Star Wars-y nature of it all. As long as it reviews well then I am definitely interested in picking it up, even if August is such a weird release date for a big game it makes me wonder if something is up.
My bigger concern is that this may be one of the last big budget, amazing looking single-player games. Sony has been cutting down on them for a while now, but EA only just announced it was and Xbox still has a whole bunch of games to get out, before it can change direction.
I’m not sure what Ubisoft’s plan is, but if Outlaws does well I’ll be very interested to see if it gets a sequel.
Hobbie
Cross-gen barrier
The phrase ‘biggest technological leap ever in a generation’ is interesting because you wonder would it could end up being. It’s nice knowing it’s in an internal memo, as that suggests it’s the target they’re setting for people working on it.
However, I believe none of us will be very surprised if we do not agree with the final results matching the statement. We also need to think about the practical aspects of this. They have committed to having Call Of Duty run on the Switch/PlayStation and since they have started experimenting with other games being available on multiple platforms, they cannot build something completely different and still release it on those platforms.
I also expect the trend of games being designed to work on older hardware to become even more common with the next generation of devices. This further limits the possibilities of a technological leap.
Tim
GC: Those are some very valid points.
Good old days
If I’m completely honest, I'm surprised GAME is still in business. It feels like just yesterday they were open at midnight for the release of a top game, usually Call Of Duty or GTA 4 or 5. There was nothing like waiting outside a shop in the middle of winter, waiting for 12.01am so they could start selling it. And then as soon as you got the game, running out of the shop to get home and start installing and updating it.
The only problem is that was 20 years ago. Now people can't be bothered to walk to the shop to buy the game (and get it cheaper) but would rather pay extra so they don't have to get up to change discs. Those were really great days.
David
Lost glories
So GAME is facing difficulties and the future of the company does not look too good. I haven't bought any games from them in ages. I used to be a regular customer, going all the way back to the days when they were known as Electronics Boutiques. I'm sure Mike Ashley will blame their troubles on the digital era, which I can partly agree with as it must have had a big impact. But I still buy a lot of my games physically. So why did I stop?
That’s simple, they became too expensive compared to Asda, Amazon, and Currys. Also, charging an extra £5 to pre-order a game they will already have in stock is a complete joke. Stopping trade-ins was the final nail in the coffin for me.
My local store is hidden away on the top floor of Sports Direct, so I think it has been largely forgotten about by the high street shoppers anyway.
So, I have fond early memories and I feel sad about how it has ended up. It’s the end of an era, as I cannot see any way back for them now and can see them closing down altogether eventually.
Tony- -1975 (PSN ID)/SW-4453-8520-2043 (Switch)
Exacerbating the problem
It seems pointless for Sony and Microsoft to plan next generation consoles if all these hi-res 4K games are already too expensive to develop for the current generation of consoles.
Will the extra graphical power actually be used often enough (if at all) to justify new consoles? I don’t really include Nintendo in this, as they are always about creativity and innovation when they release new hardware.
adams6legend
Attic attack
Let me start by adding some background: I’m 39 and have been playing computer games since the Mega Drive came out, and have owned PlayStations, Xboxes, and Nintendo. I’ve never considered myself a hardcore gamer, but in my younger years I did enjoy spending many hours playing Call Of Duty and various racing games. I currently own an Xbox Series X, but since its release my interest has steadily decreased, mainly due to me being more of a casual gamer which seems incompatible with what Xbox offers these days.
I was looking forward to this generation, but when I want action-packed games that can be completed in 10-20 hours, all I found was a bloated mess that took months to complete and made me feel like I was holding down a second job. The gameplay was repetitive and most of it unnecessary, which quickly took the fun out of it for me. Even my once trusted format of racing games, like Forza Motorsport, was a massive let down (I've never been more disappointed in a game).
The issue for me is that games are too long and require hours and hours just to get anything out of them. Even Forza fell into this trap and targeted people who spend lots of time with tuning and building cars, whereas I just wanted to race. It's no longer the series I enjoyed playing.
Yes, games should progress, but to me this is the wrong direction. They just aren't accessible to a lot of people anymore. I have no problem with people who enjoy grinding and putting all of their time into games; if that's your thing, then fair play to you. But I imagine when you get older and have a family like I do, this demographic gets a lot smaller. Some of us just want the big games but in a way we can enjoy them.
For instance, can many people say that Starfield is great the way it is, and if it lost 20-40 hours of its content it would ruin the game completely? That's why I've decided to take a break from my Xbox. It's just not the same anymore, and I can't remember the last game I really got into and enjoyed.
Maybe it's time for me to move on to other things, maybe our paths will cross at some point in the future and my excitement for what Xbox can offer comes back. But for now Xbox, this is goodbye. Thank you for the memories.
Shaun
Inbox also-rans
Paying £70,000 for a copy of something as ordinary as Castlevania is just an offensive use of money. I like to think if I had that sort of cash to throw around, I'd put it into something more worthwhile than something you can play on a dozen different systems for only a few pounds. Is it just me or is Bungie starting to hint that there might be a Destiny 3 after all? I'm not sure how much I care after all this time, but I know I'm certainly done with Destiny 2.
RoryB
The small print
Gofer
To submit Inbox letters and Reader'
The Wednesday letters page remembers the glory days of GAME and its midnight openings, as one reader decides to say goodbye to his Xbox Series X.
