The Tuesday letters page hopes there’s a trade-in offer if the PS6 comes out soon, as readers enjoy Astro Bot and Space Marine 2.

To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Clear as mud
So, this whole GTA 6 delay saga has been quite the journey. I was immediately reminded of the reader the other day who was saying he wished insiders would just say what they know or say nothing at all. I now have no idea whether the Bloomberg guy is hinting there might be a delay or just saying it could happen, theoretically. Well, duh. It could happen to any game. What’s the point of saying that unless you know something specific?

I wouldn’t be shocked if there was a delay until 2026. Rockstar games almost always have delays and I’m not sure anything that’s happened so far counts. It’ll be a shame for sure but after 11 years what’s another six months or so?

I do find it odd that we’ve not had a second trailer yet and I wonder if that’s an indication of a delay? We’ll be coming up to the one year anniversary of the first trailer soon and I would’ve thought we’d have had more long before that.

But if the game’s delayed and they bring out a new trailer now… well, they probably don’t want four or five main ones before the game’s out or people might get sick of it all (the hype that is, not the game).

Who know what’s really going on though, except that I know that none of these insiders are making it any clearer.
Austin

Early preview
So, the PS5 Pro is finally going to be announced but what exactly are we going to learn in nine minutes? Here’s a preview of the event: a bunch of technobabble meant to hide the fact that you can’t see any practical difference in the performance and then some overcomplicated explanation from Mark Cerny about something that will never happen (remember all that stuff about the SSD changing the way games are designed or mapping your ear for 3D audio?).

There’s no way I’m buying an upgrade console unless it’s super clear what the improvements are going to be and I’m not holding my breath on that one. And even if it did somehow seem super worthwhile there’s no new games to play on it anyway. I mean, what is it going to do to improve Astro Bot or the now redacted Concord?
Lofty

Ugly truth
Yeah, release a PlayStation 6 as soon as possible, providing they offer a trade-in for your barely used PlayStation 5. This would be the only fair way for consumers not to feel ripped off. The environmental benefits would be massive also.

Sony have borked this gen. Ugly hardware and poor game catalogue. I normally get the slim versions of their consoles since PlayStation 3 but the slim PlayStation 5 is a dog and there’s nothing pushing me to get it.

Buck up your ideas for next gen.
Bobwallett

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Creator-led development
I find it hilarious that the Days Gone director is exactly the sort of thin-skinned out-of-touch crank that I would expect to make a game like that. I know we often don’t get to learn about much about the people who make our games, but his personality seems to fit the game perfectly.

The only other examples I can think of is that Shigeru Miyamoto seems a generally happy fellow and CliffyB is exactly the sort of blokeish extrovert I would’ve expected to come up with Gears Of War.

It makes me wonder if game developers are like that thing that says pets look like their owners. Although that doesn’t seem to work with the Dark Souls guy, as he always seems quite normal and jolly.
Tacle

Character flaws
I’ve been playing Star Wars Outlaws over the weekend and I have to say I enjoy it. I went in with lowered expectations, reading all the reviews, but I’d say the more positive ones, like GC’s, are accurate for me.

The main problems I think are the characters. Kay and ND-9 are both not interesting and they’re the leads. Some of the side characters are better but there’s a big Harrison Ford shaped hole where the protagonist should be. Also, Kay’s haircut never stops being distractingly ugly, I think it’s interesting how seemingly trivial things like that can affect your feelings about a game.

The problem is not so much that Kay is not Han Solo but that there’s no equivalent of the relationship between him and Chewie. That was the best bit of the otherwise awful Solo movie but Kay and Nix just isn’t the same. It’s not clear how intelligent Nix is and he’s treated mostly like a pet, whereas Chewie was an intelligent being, you just couldn’t understand him – but Han could.

They should’ve made more effort to make ND-9 like him, but for most of the game he doesn’t even seem to like you. He also has a boring voice and doesn’t talk like any other droid in the Star Wars universe. So yeah, it’s a decent game but a lot of the details aren’t quite right.
Focus

More please
I am a Warhammer fan and apart from Dawn Of War have been disappointed with the games set in the 40,000 universe.

However, I had been following the Space Marine 2 release and, after playing it since last Thursday, can honestly say I love it!

The look and feel is sublime. I have found myself just taking screenshots throughout. The combat is visceral and addictive and when you get it you can tear past hordes.

The customisation is already pretty good, although some bits which need to be added are already on the dev list, such as extra colours, emblems, bespoke customisation (like knee pad patterns for White Scars), coloured lenses, etc. I would also love to see more of everything! More levels, more enemies, more classes.

The fact that the base game is so good and there is a lot more to come is a good sign and I would urge anyone on the fence to give it a go. It is honestly really good!

For the Emperor, brothers!
Tom

GC: It seems to have sold well so far, so more should be on the way.

Secret payments
I’m kind of shocked how little Rockstar pays to have music in their games. Seems like they treat it as if it’s an honour to be in it, which I’m sure it is for some bands but some old 80s rocker is not going to care, they just want to see the moolah.

Shame, as that’s a good song but it is another interesting peak behind the curtain at how much things really cost in games, and why certain things do and don’t happen.
Ulaii

Hopeful success
These past few months I’ve not really done a lot of gaming. Life has been finding a way to get in the way and I’ve needed to focus my attentions elsewhere, but on Friday I picked up a copy of Astro Bot – mainly with my children in mind who’ve been checking the countdown on Astro’s Playroom every day, waiting for it to come out.

We spent the day together playing it on Sunday and I have to say that it’s one of the best platformers that isn’t a Nintendo game that I have ever played and I mean that as the highest form of praise possible. It oozes that same magic that you get through the Super Mario games and I think that they way that it utilises the DualSense particularly reminds me of the way that Super Mario 64 utilised the trident controller so well.

In the whole debate about Astro Bot, Concord, and all online vs. single-player I think we can only assume that Sony will keep being Sony. I think that they will keep throwing cash at the lucrative online space until they either get something to stick or they lose so much money that they have to abandon the idea.

I just hope that the inevitable success of Astro Bot at least re-emphasises the importance of single-player experiences to their success, because when they are this good Sony are almost untouchable.
Rickandrolla (PSN ID)

GC: Astro Bot’s success is far from inevitable, but let’s hope for the best.

Inbox also-rans
A new game called Yakuza Wars is going to be announced at Tokyo Game Show? Excite! Oh, it’s a mobile game full of gatcha nonsense? The ups and downs of the games industry!
Gambon

So Monday was the ninth of the ninth, or the day the Dreamcast launched. I don’t think Sega did anything but there were some leaks about their new reboot games, if that counts? Happy birthday (even though you’re dead) Dreamcast!
Whistler

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The small print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.

You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.

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MORE : Games Inbox: Astro Bot on Xbox, PlayStation 6 in 2026, and Atomfall on Game Pass

MORE : Games Inbox: Astro Bot game of the year 2024, Space Marine 2 bloat, and PlayStation 6 imminence

MORE : Games Inbox: Switch 2 announcement this month, Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom gimmick, and Concord lessons

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PS5 designer Mark Cerny is to host a special technical presentation this week, as months of leaks and rumours finally come to a head.

Sony isn’t saying what their new online event is about but it’s very, very obvious to anyone that’s been paying attention. The PS5 Pro has been an open secret for well over a year now (especially after Sony themselves leaked it) and it seems that this Tuesday will be the point at which it is finally, officially announced.

The technical presentation will take place at 4pm BST on Tuesday, September 10 and will be hosted by PlayStation 5 architect Mark Cerny.

Although there’s no doubt that the PS5 Pro will be the primary topic of conversation it’s unclear whether anything else will be discussed, especially as the term technical presentation seems fairly narrow.

There’s no strong agreement on when exactly the PS5 Pro will be released but it’s widely expected to be either October or November.

Equally, it’s unclear how much it will cost, but it will certainly be a shock if it’s not north of £500.

What will also be interesting is how the upgrade console will be marketed, as it’s unclear how much Sony will promote it as improving frame rate and how much emphasis it will put on its new DLSS technology.

Despite all the excitement over the PS5 Pro, the last gen equivalent of the PS4 Pro only accounted for around 10% of all PlayStation 4s sold. That’s despite it having the selling point of properly supporting 4K resolutions, so the PS5 Pro may fare worse if it can’t carve a clear niche for itself.

Rumours had already suggested a reveal this month, with a State of Play a week or two after. That’s looking increasingly likely and would mean that Tuesday’s event is only talking about the hardware – although it may touch upon general 30th anniversary celebrations for the PlayStation brand.

However, not only does the PS5 Pro not yet have a clear selling point but no new games will be released alongside it, in order to demonstrate its new abilities.

Last week’s Astro Bot was the last first party Sony release of the year and is not itself a graphical powerhouse, which is a very odd position for the PS5 Pro to be in.

The chances of a new game being announced out of the blue seem remote, given there’s been no leaks to suggest such a thing, so it’s going to be interesting to see how Cerny talks around that issue.

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Sega’s latest entry in the Like A Dragon franchise has been leaked online and it’s not quite what anyone expected.

There’s a good chance that this year’s Tokyo Game Show will be the most significant in over a decade, with Sony’s possibly unveiling the PS5 Pro there and far more publishers hinting at major announcements than usual.

That’s no doubt in part because E3 is no more but at the moment it’s all hints and guesswork and the reality of the situation, as is so often the case with these types of events, may end up being a disappointment.

It definitely will be when it comes to Yakuza Wars, whose name was previous leaked via a trademark filing, after Sega confirmed that the developer would be announcing their next game at the show. The only problem is Yakuza Wars is a mobile game, with what looks like AI artwork.

Previously, fans had speculated that the game might a real-time strategy or musou style game, or perhaps something to do with the Sakura Wars franchise, but in the end it’s none of those things.

A series of ads and banners have appeared on Facebook in China, seemingly before they were supposed to, confirming that the game is a mobile app subtitled Dragon Among Men.

The translation of its description describes it as involving ‘innovative strategic war gameplay’ as you ‘fight side-by-side with classic characters such as Kiryu Kazuma, Kasuga Ichiban, and Majima Goro, and write your own legendary story in the underworld world.’

It all looks horribly tawdry, and is no doubt filled with in-app purchases, with some fans even suspecting the artwork is created by AI, although that’s not certain.

There’re no clear descriptions of the gameplay but one image shows a map of what seems to be Tokyo and it appears very likely that gaining new characters involves a gatcha element (i.e. paying to unlock randomly selected new allies).

The only possible silver lining is that it’s not clear that developer Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio is the one making Yakuza Wars, so it may not actually be the game they promised to unveil at the Tokyo Game Show.

Although, if they’re not involved in Yakuza Wars it’s not clear what else they might be working on, whether that might be another mainline entry, a new spin-off, or something completely unconnected to the franchise.

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GameCentral plays Nintendo’s latest entry in the Mario Party franchise and enjoys the game’s unusual new online modes.

We’ve long been of the opinion that Mario Party does not get the credit it deserves as a classic multiplayer game. It’s true that the games have been quite variable in quality, with the post-N64 entries being mostly disappointments, but ever since Super Mario Party on the Switch the series has reasserted itself as one of the best family friendly games on any console.

We’d go further and say it’s one of the only franchises we’ve experienced that can happily entertain a group of people of literally any age or level of gaming experience. For those in the know, it’s long since replaced the tedium of Monopoly as the family game of choice at Christmas and we’re sure this new entry’s release date, so close to the big day, is not a coincidence.

One of the main problems with the GameCube era games is that they always had to have a gimmick, which always managed to dilute the core concept. The most encouraging thing about Super Mario Party Jamboree is that it has no gimmick, just a promise of more boards, more mini-games, more characters, and more modes than any previous game. Some of the online options are certainly unusual though and we got to see them all in a recent hands-on preview.

Although there are lots of different game modes, intended for different lengths of playtime, the main concept behind Mario Party is that of a virtual board game, where you move your characters (now including Pauline and Ninji) around according to dice roles. Your goal is to get to the space that contains a star, which you can buy with coins collected by winning mini-games or from random board events. The person with the most stars at the end of a set number of turns is declared the winner.

It seems straightforward when we put it like that, but Mario Party on your own is one of the most miserable experiences in gaming. With three other people though it’s hilarious, as you all try to cheat and double-cross each other by using power-ups, that can do things like steal coins or change your position. Meanwhile, playing the mini-games frequently demands unfair 1 vs. 3 matches or for team or free-for-all games to have you all gang up on the current winner.

There are seven boards in Jamboree, two of which are remakes from Mario Party and Mario Party 2 – similar to how Mario Party Superstars worked. The one we played on was brand new and called Mega Wiggler’s Tree Party, featuring a giant version of the familiar caterpillar creature sleeping in the middle of the board. You have to walk on its back to get anywhere and can move it around to the disadvantage of your opponents.

Although the board element is important to give structure to the game, Jamboree is sensible enough to keep it running at a fair clip, with power-ups and event spaces but nothing that bogs you down too much. It understands that it’s all anticipation for the mini-games, of which there is now a pool of 110 that are picked at random at the end of each round.

All have amusingly punny names and necessarily simple controls, with a number of them using only motion controls (each person only needs a single Joy-Con to play). So, for example, Hot Cross Blocks has you trying to make it to the other side of a lava flow by dropping Tetris-shaped tiles in front of you, Sunset Standoff has one player firing a Bullet Bill into the screen at the other three players, and Shuttle Scuttle has you trying to move up the screen in a spherical spaceship while avoiding obstacles with motion controls.

Not only was there not a dud amongst the dozen or so mini-games we played but all of them were brand new, even if some were similar to previous games or based on familiar Mario exploits – such as Lumber Tumble where you’re running along trying to avoid Bowser minions destroying the log platform you’re running on.

As well as the main party game we also got a go at a number of other modes, with Daily Challenges matching together three similarly themed mini-games together. We don’t know if Nintendo had picked these beforehand but the three for us were all food-based.

So we had Cookie Cutters, where you’re trying to cut biscuits out of a mould as quickly as possible; Sandwiched, where you’re shrunk down and trying to avoid falling sandwiches; and Prime Cut, where you have to cut a steak exactly in two while working in tandem with another player – something we found strangely satisfying when we got two perfect scores in a row.

Although the main party game can be played online there are also two brand new online-only modes, including the 20-player Koopathlon. Here, everyone is competing in a race around town and how quickly you move around the board game style places depends on how well you play the small set of mini-games that appear.

Koopathlon seemed fine, if probably not quite worth the effort of setting up a match for, but the other online-only mode, Bowser Kaboom Squad, was more interesting. Like all the modes it’s just a different context for playing the mini-games but this time you’re running around a little map trying to find bombs, to charge a cannon that can fire at a giant-sized Bowser, who’s wandering around trying to squash you.

This was a lot of fun and with just enough nuance – as you also avoid the other enemies and let other players do the hard work of breaking down crates filled with bombs – that it doesn’t feel too trivial.

We had great fun with Jamboree and we’re certain we will do with the full game too. It’s not an easy franchise to create sequels for, because all you want is more of the same, just where all the details are different – in terms of new mini-games and boards. The entries that deviated most from the original formula are the most unpopular, but this seems to get the balance of new and familiar just right.

Local multiplayer games are sadly very rare nowadays, but Super Mario Party Jamboree proves that the ability to cheat and taunt your friends and family feels surprisingly wholesome when you’re doing it face-to-face.

Formats: Nintendo Switch
Price: £49.99
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo Cube (formerly NDcube)
Release Date: 17th October 2024
Age Rating: 3

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Getting your song into GTA 6 may not be as lucrative as you’d expect, as it’s confirmed 80s classic Temptation won’t be in the game.

GTA 5 is estimated to have cost around $265 million to develop, which at the time made it by far the most expensive video game ever. Even now, 11 years later, only a few games – such as Spider-Man 2 – have exceeded it and yet there are rumours that GTA 6 will end up costing a staggering $2 billion.

That may not be true but it’s not especially surprising, given that GTA 5 made $1 billion in just its first three days on sale. Whatever the exact numbers involved, it’s clear that it’s a very expensive production – but that doesn’t mean developer Rockstar Games is being generous in paying the creators.

There’s previously been no clue as to how much it pays the various artists that appear on its in-game soundtrack but judging from an angry tweet from Heaven 17 member Martyn Ware it’s not very much.

Ware was, and occasionally still is, part of the synth-pop trio Heaven 17 and recounted on Twitter how he was approached by Rockstar about including their 1983 hit Temptation in GTA 6.

How much did Rockstar offer Heaven 17?

‘Naturally excited about the immense wealth that was about to head my way, I scrolled to the bottom of the email,’ recounts Ware.

‘It was $7,500 – for a buyout of any future royalties from the game – forever. To put this in context, Grand Theft Auto 6 [he no doubt meant GTA 5 – GC] grossed, wait for it… $8.6 billion. Ah, but think of the exposure. Go f*** yourself.’

$7,500 is just over £5,700, but unless others speak up it’s impossible to know what Rockstar is paying other artists. It does suggest though that it’s probably next to nothing for the less well known ones, for who the exposure would be more useful.

Ware was clearly not the right person to approach though, as he points out that he’s been personally involved in artist rights advocacy for 20 years.

Ware revealed he suggested a $75,000 (£57,350) flat fee or a ‘reasonable’ royalty, but Rockstar refused.

When some suggested that the increased exposure would lead to earning more money via Spotify, as players looked up the song, Ware pointed out that a million additional streams would result only in a ‘pitiful’ $1,000 (£760) extra.

As always seems to happen – including with a GTA community figure at the weekend, claiming to know about a GTA 6 delay – instead of finding his insight interesting, gamers immediately started attacking Ware and calling him a fool for turning down the deal. At which point he stopped replying.

2002’s GTA: Vice City was acclaimed for its 80s soundtrack and there’s been some speculation as to how GTA 6, which has the same setting, will handle its music – considering it seems to be set in the present day.

Ware’s comments suggest that Rockstar is keen to include classic 80s tunes, although it’ll probably be limited to a specific retro radio station.

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Not everyone is excited about all the cameos in Astro Bot, as the co-director of Days Gone attacks developer Bend Studio for supporting the game.

Astro Bot is the most critically acclaimed video game of the year so far (not counting Shadows Of The Erdtree) with cameos of 150 different characters, from Sony and other publishers’ games.

The only problem with the Sony characters is that very few of the most well-known ones are family friendly, with even Nathan Drake reduced to running around with a gun that shoots softballs. It’s a bit weird to have characters from The Last Of Us in such a cheerful game, with zombie apocalypse title Days Gone also being an odd inclusion.

Nevertheless, improbably named protagonist Deacon St. John, and his motorbike, are in the game as collectible characters/items, but original co-director John Garvin is not happy about it.

All of the cameos in the game are essentially normal robots, all of who look like Astro Bot, cosplaying as the original characters. In Deacon’s case that means a baseball hat and a beard.

Strangely, none of the characters are named, so sometimes it’s not entirely clear who they’re supposed to be, but the addition of the motorbike makes this one obvious.

Garvin doesn’t seem to have played the game, but he responded to a tweet from Days Gone developer Bend Studio, who posted a drawing of Deacon’s bot watching two robot dogs playing on a beach.

Since he no longer works at Bend, Garvin responded angrily, saying: ‘Kinda sad that Deek has been reduced to promoting other games … well done Bend Studio! Way to protect your legacy!’

https://twitter.com/John_Garvin/status/1832243904172978646

When he was told to calm down, he started to get nastier, writing: ‘Haha, I see my character reduced to a cartoon schill promoting some small game and I’m being harsh? Sit down, my brotha, adults are talking.’

‘I don’t know Astro Bot and wish them well, but not at the expense of Days Gone,’ he later added.

Deacon’s voice actor, Sam Witwer, insisted that he’s going to buy the game now, after seeing the artwork, but it’s been clear for a while now that Garvin has not taken the relative failure of Days Gone well.

Although not a terrible game, it reviewed worse than most other Sony first party titles and is not getting a sequel, with Sony implying it didn’t sell well enough to justify it.

Garvin complained that it sold just as much as Ghost Of Tsushima, which reviewed better, and then seemed to get even more bitter and angry as it became clear Sony is not going to reverse their decision.

In December 2022 he complained about ‘woke’ reviewers who he claimed had never even played the game, although he quickly deleted the tweet when he couldn’t provide any examples.

Before that, he’d actually blamed fans for the game’s failure, implying that not enough had bought it at full price.

Since Bend Studio is now working on a new, currently unannounced, project it seems very unlikely that there’ll ever be a Days Gone 2.

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New sources claim that there is no sign of a GTA 6 delay at the moment, but they don’t rule one out in the future.

As if the story about a GTA delay till 2026 couldn’t get any stranger, Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier – generally regarded as the most reliable source in the games industry – has reported back on the rumour and his comments are surprisingly ambiguous.

He claims that he spoke to six separate developers and they said they had not heard anything about a delay. That doesn’t necessarily mean there isn’t one though and Schreier qualified his statement by saying, ‘Bad news: it’s a big, ambitious game and could very well slip! Too much time left to say anything definitive.’

It seems strange to leave open the possibility of a delay even though six different contacts said there wasn’t one, but if that’s a hint that they think one is inevitable then there could be more drama to come…

Original story:

Rumours of a GTA 6 leak have been doing the rounds and it’s caused a lot of friction amongst some of gaming’s most well-known insiders.

As far as official sources are concerned GTA 6 is going to be released in the second half of 2025. There’s no more specific date than that but, considering Rockstar Games has waited this long, it wouldn’t be the most surprising thing if the game ended up being delayed until 2026.

That’s exactly what Liam – a well-known figure in the Grand Theft Auto fan community – has suggested over the weekend, stating that Rockstar has already decided on a new ‘early to mid-2026 release window’ and that the PC version will be out around 12 to 18 months after that.

There’s nothing particularly unbelievable about that but Liam has no evidence, claiming only that the information comes from ‘multiple devs across two studios’, as he insists he is ’99.9% positive’ that the details are accurate.

This all happened on Saturday evening, but quickly after other people started to get dragged into the story, with Liam implying that respected Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier would comment on the rumours the next day.

Surprisingly, Schreier did tweet about it multiple times, but only to say that he didn’t know one way or the other whether the rumour is true.

Well-known industry analyst Daniel Ahmad then got involved in the same thread, which only further signal boosted the whole story, despite nobody offering any additional information beyond Liam’s initial tweet.

Other GTA community figures then began attacking Liam and in a new tweet he complained that people had been ‘sending me threats’.

This subsequently led to exactly what you’d expect, with recriminations all round and at least a minor backpedalling of the initial rumour.

‘If I’ve been foul played here, and that’s a big if, I apologise. You all know I wouldn’t tweet anything unless I was very confident,’ wrote Liam in his most recent tweet.

‘Nothing malicious or spread of misinformation was intended. Let’s just wait it out now and see if any other news outlets come forward.’

So far they have not, but then there have been very few reliable leaks from Rockstar over the years, with a report from Schreier in 2022, that confirmed the setting was Vice City, being one of the few to have been prove correct.

Even with the infamous Rockstar hack, relatively little solid information was obtained and with the reveal trailer last year confirming almost nothing that hadn’t already been guessed at the game is still largely a mystery.

A second trailer should offer much more concrete info, hopefully including a release date, but there’s no clue as to when that might be released, except presumably sometime before the anniversary of the first one on December 5.

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The Monday letters page is fed up of needlessly vague Switch 2 rumours, while one reader is excited to play Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom.

To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Bad timing
I know this is silly to even ask, and I know what you’re answer will be instinctively, but… do you think there’s any chance Astro Bot might come out on Xbox at any point? I’d really love to give it a go.

Have to say I’m hugely regretting my switch to Xbox this generation, now that they’ve started putting games out cross platform. Have always been happily PlayStation previously but Game Pass swayed me this generation.

Like many other writers to the Inbox that’s a mistake I won’t make again.
Chris

GC: Well… it’s more likely than Super Mario appearing on Xbox.

Forgotten generation
I see a lot of people reacting badly to the idea of PlayStation 6 coming out in the 2026 and I can’t blame them. It’s not that it’s too soon, it’d be the usual six years we always get, but that we’ve only really had two ‘normal’ years out of this generation, when Sony was working at anything like full capacity. Obviously, the pandemic wasn’t their fault and yet the first two years were still way better than the last two.

If sales of the PlayStation 5 are falling there’s one obvious reason for that: no exclusive games. How someone with the experience of Sony can fail to realise this I don’t know. Do they think people are going to be queuing up to buy it this Christmas for Concord? Or even Astro Bot? Which has got zero advertising and I doubt most ordinary people have even heard of.

I get the feeling the decision has already been taken though and I do take the point from the Reader’s Feature this weekend, where they said that it would be a useful reboot for Sony. It should’ve been easy to avoid his situation but fine, considering the trouble they’re in now bringing out the PlayStation 6 in 2026 and forget the PlayStation 5 ever happened. As absurd as it sounds, I believe that is now Sony’s gameplan.
Cauli

Press reset
I’ve no words. Well, I do. What nonsense. Another console?! Dear me. There was a time when a device had a life, developers got to know the system, and by the end (roughly six years a time) pushed the thing to the max and folks were happy to move on. Now?! Well, there is no way today’s consoles can be pushed to their limits. The development costs simply say no. So a more advanced PlayStation?! Insane.

It’s at its limit unless something changes. Gaming needs a rethink, a reset I believe. Indie gets it. Smaller but more advanced games is the way to go. Also, with that development costs drop, prices drop. In the old days I had and played 20 to 30 games a system. Today? four to five is what folks get?! And that’s 300-ish notes today. Insane. A reset is required.
Neil

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One world
Really enjoyed the preview and interview of Atomfall.

So glad an actual English post-apocalyptic game is being made, especially when Fallout London won’t become official, like the Black Mesa mod did, and benefit from paid income.

Did GC get an idea for how big the Atomfall world is at all, and if it was one big map, or linked areas?

Also, can’t believe it will be on Game Pass, the subscription is definitely good value for this gamer.
Tundrastrider

GC: You only seemed to have a single physical map, similar to how maps worked in Metro Exodus. We couldn’t say if that was the whole game but everything we saw was part of a single open world.

Filling the void
The weird thing about the Switch 2 rumours at the moment is that the logical choice is to make the announcement in January and February. But since Nintendo never does want anyone expects does that means they’re going to do something that seems a bad idea? From their business point of view anyway, I want to know what it is as soon as possible.

I do object to the vagueness of some of the rumours though, by people that should apparently know better. In the same podcast about the September rumours the guy said the Switch 2 was dual screens, which he said could mean either like the DS or… that it can play portable or on the TV like a Switch.

That is two completely different things. It’s such a range of options why even bring it up? When there’s a vacuum of information then absolutely anything gets such sucked in to replace it.
Boney

In the red
Microsoft’s increased profits are indeed down to Activision Blizzard. I think they would have been in the red without the acquisition. But they’ve now got far more IPs to make money from, other than Call Of Duty. Doom: The Dark Ages looks like a hit. Indiana Jones, and so on. Yes, Xbox and PlayStation are going in different directions for now. Sony will be happy to take their 30%, whilst Microsoft make most of their profit from PlayStation. Think about that for a moment. It’s kinda lazy. If you can’t beat them, join them!

As I stated, I think PlayStation will learn more into PC and maybe the occasional Switch 2 port. You stated Sony need to sell their consoles. Absolutely, they don’t have the amount of studios or bankable IPs Microsoft now owns. The leaked Insomniac documents indicated how much Disney were taking from Marvel licensed games, like Spider-Man.

Sony need to bring back old IPs like SOCOM. They’ve got plenty to choose from. Dropping Factions 2 was a bonehead move, in light of Concord. Who knows what the hell Microsoft are doing? Other than killing the Xbox brand. But in terms of profits, it’s going to get crazy when the next Fallout, Elder Scrolls, etc. join their money-making scheme.

Will Sony become the green-eyed monster, that’s my question? Totoki seems the sort of executive who will pay attention. A desire for more original IP is an indication of where his head is at.

I will add, Activision Blizzard is an asset. This isn’t a case of Microsoft needing to make the $69 billion back immediately, otherwise they would never have made the purchase in the first place. The idea is Activision Blizzard is a better investment than leaving the money in the bank to gain interest.

It has put pressure on Phil Spencer to justify the purchase, however. Which obviously means increasing profits. Not necessarily paying back the investment, like some loan. If the investment doesn’t retain its value. Then they have a problem. But if Microsoft were to sell Activision Blizzard tomorrow, to say Amazon or Apple, it would be for more money than they paid for it.
Si

GC: The acquisition cost them $75.4 billion. That’s more than the gross national product of Panama. Doom and Indiana Jones are not going to even scratch the surface of that.

Day one, year 2025
Just a quick email to say that Capcom and Microsoft have solved the MT Framework problem regarding Capcom’s up and coming fighting collection games.

They will now be coming to Xbox platforms in the first half of 2025. Can’t wait to play Rival Schools and Power Stone on the big screen alongside all the other included games. They will both be a day one purchase for me.
Chaosphere616

Solo careers
Excellent preview of The Legend Of Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom, along with Astro Bot being given a warm welcome by critics. It does show that the gameplay is always king, no matter the age group that the graphical style appears to be appealing to. I personally loved Astro’s Playroom introduction of the PlayStation 5 and found it fun and very well designed, with great game design physics with the controller use.

The same can be said for all games where characters and storylines take second place to actual fun gameplay. The Link’s Awakening remake was fantastic and the cutesy style graphics were great to look at and so rich and vibrant, which is what appears to be the same in Echoes Of Wisdom. The videos I’ve seen of Zelda’s gameplay and GameCentral’s description of their time on the game is why I need Nintendo in my life.

It is the magic formula of maybe not a massive amount of new gameplay ideas but definitely some new ones and, most importantly, refining and fine-tuning familiar types of gameplay ideas which will still appeal to the general community.

Nintendo’s Mario, Luigi, Link, Zelda, and basically a lot of their Super Smash Bros. panel of characters just never seem to retire! It’s the different developers who have created the magic, while advancing the gameplay ideas to keep in time with the gamers of today.

So, the fact that at last Zelda has the starring role, and Link takes a step back like he did with the amazing Freshly-Pickled Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland game on the Nintendo DS, shows that, like Mario, Legend Of Zelda also has a panel of characters going solo. Echoes Of Wisdom looks very open-ended in solving puzzles and taking out enemies, like the main core game, but with a definite unique quality not usually seen in the Zelda main games.

So here’s to gameplay taking the lead and hopefully people will try these games and not be put off by the more family friendly graphics.
Alucard

Inbox also-rans
So this is the state of modern day gaming, is it? You now need a launcher to launch a launcher, to launch a game? I haven’t played a Call Of Duty title on PC for a good number of years, so you can imagine my surprise at all the steps you have to go through to get the Black Ops 6 beta running after it had finished downloading through Battle.Net!
PsillyPseudonym

Well, I’ve bought Astro Bot after your review and gotta agree with you, it’s a fantastic game. But the bosses are too easy. Hopefully they will do a New Game+ where the bosses are a lot harder, but I do love it. Great game and so fun.
David

GC: Yeah, the bosses are a bit too easy. It’s really only the optional levels that are hard.

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GameCentral’s monthly round-up of the best in smartphone gaming includes a sci-fi style point ‘n’ click adventure and a surprisingly original Tower Defence game.

This month’s mobile releases include Phantolex’s refreshingly novel take on word games, the excellent Monster Train+ emerging on Apple Arcade, and Ocean Keeper’s highly addictive brand of roguelite twin-stick mayhem.

Ocean Keeper: Dome Survival

iOS & Android, £2.99 (RetroStyle Games)

Tanking around under the sea in a four-legged mech, your job is to defeat an endless stream of attackers in this roguelite twin stick shooter – before using the 90-ish second gap between waves to pillage undersea caves.

The pillaging works a bit like Dig Dug or Mr. Driller, using your diver’s drill to mine in search of seams of loot, which you can use to upgrade your mech’s weapons and skills. It also nets you meta-currency for permanent upgrades between runs. Linger too long though, and your mech will get pummelled in your absence.

Nicely designed, and benefitting from a wonderfully addictive upgrade path, its touchscreen controls work more than well enough in the slow-moving sub-aquatic environment.

Score: 8/10

Monolith

iOS, & Android £6.99 (Animation Arts)

You’re Tessa Carter, expedition leader for the Intergalactic Mining Corporation, and now amnesiac survivor of a crash landing on a barren alien world. Using anything you can find in the smoking wreckage you need to figure out what happened and try and escape.

Doing that involves delightfully traditional point ‘n’ click adventuring. Search rooms and lockers, combine items in your inventory, and occasionally just try everything you can think of until something works.

If there is a complaint it’s that Tessa has a severe case of verbal diarrhoea, but you can tap to skip dialogue if it gets too much. It’s a good story with original music and pleasing sci-fi artwork.

Score: 7/10

Towerful Defence: A Rogue TD

iOS & Android, Free – remove ads £9.99, (Mini Fun Games)

The tower defence genre has been around for ages and at this point in its evolution innovation is rare, making Towerful Defence’s multiple departures from the norm all the more impressive.

Played with a single turret, enemies approach from all sides to be dispatched not only with guns and mines, but a melee-style rotating sword, which you power up using a succession of buffs and extra powers.

It brings us no pleasure to report that despite its wonderful spirit of invention, runs tend to be a little too reliant on luck, and many of the power-ups are either poorly explained or don’t actually tell you the bonuses they confer. On the plus side, there are some great ideas at work here, and it’s received multiple updates in its first few weeks, that have improved things even further.

Score: 6/10

Phantolex

iOS, Free (Green Tea Gaming)

Phantolex is a devilishly clever word game played against a computer-controlled ghost. Starting with a blank space, you take turns putting down letters. The objective is to force the ghost to spell a real word before you do.

The obvious dodge is just to add letters that could never spell a word, but if you think the other player’s doing that you can challenge them to spell out the real word they were thinking of. Fail, and they lose a point.

Layering in new rules as you go through each run, Phantolex is smart, brain-teasing, and regularly throws up vocabulary-testing surprises – even if occasionally those are head-shaking omissions in its dictionary.

Score: 8/10

Bogey Royale

iOS & Android, free (93bases)

With a simple and appealing top-down view, and a pared-back interface that lets you aim, curve, and take your shot with one finger or thumb, Bogey Royale is all about getting your ball onto the green, as the game takes care of putting for you.

That means you can comfortably play 18 holes during an ad break or while waiting for the kettle to boil, which is exactly what you want from a mobile game.

It’s free-to-play, so you’ll have to deal with regular attempts to sell you stuff, but we certainly didn’t see any need to spend money; the game’s masterfully designed central mechanic proves alluring enough all on its own.

Score: 7/10

Monster Train+

iOS, included with Apple Arcade subscription (Good Shepherd)

Originally released in 2020, Monster Train’s roguelike deck builder has you defending Hell’s last hope of survival against the dastardly forces of Heaven.

You do that in turn-based battles that span the four storeys of your train, with enemies moving up a floor each turn if they survive. Winning rounds requires a mixture of the luck of the draw, and an incredible variety of stat-boosting synergies between cards.

Polished, deep, and near-perfectly balanced, it’s possibly the only game to outshine Slay The Spire, itself a classic of its genre, and arrives on Apple Arcade with all content intact.

Score: 9/10

Diner Out

iOS & Android, included with Netflix subscription (Netflix)

Rebuild your family’s restaurant business by completing customer orders and merging various ingredients to produce an expanding catalogue of menu items.

Merge two blocks of ice to get ice cubes. Merge two of those to get an ice bucket, then a cooler, then a fridge, and so on. With limited space in your inventory, you need to shuffle items around to complete sets of orders.

Cozy it may be, but also insufferably bland, and for some reason, in its conversion from microtransactions to being free with Netflix, its energy system remains unchanged, so you’ll have to wait hours for it to recharge before continuing. A rare misstep for the streaming giant, most of whose games are excellent.

Score: 4/10

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A Reader’s Feature advises Sony to release the PlayStation 6 sooner rather than later, in order to rethink their entire approach to gaming.

At first, I wanted to write in about Astro Bot and Concord but then I realised everyone was going to do that and, really, what can you say? Concord was exactly the failure it deserved to be and Astro Bot was exactly as good as you’d expect if you’d played the previous games. Neither of these things should have been surprises to anyone, but somehow they were and Sony seemed the most shocked of all.

I don’t know what they’re going to do now, since admitting mistakes isn’t really something execs are known for, but at the same time all this has been going on there’s been stirrings about the PlayStation 6 being relatively imminent. Nothing very specific but I don’t think we really need any rumours anyway.

Microsoft is talking about a next gen Xbox officially, so if that means it’s arriving in the next year or two Sony aren’t going to wait any longer than that for the PlayStation 6. With Xbox on the ropes the last thing they’ll want to do is give them a chance to recover.

Of course, that’s applying logic and common sense where it may not exist, but assuming Sony isn’t completely crazy they must be well into plans for the PlayStation 6 and it’s probably going to be out by at least 2026.

I’m not interested in the console itself, as I assume any improvement in graphics will be minor. There’s also a good chance it’ll be a portable hybrid, although I’m not sure how they do that and make it more powerful. Microsoft may give a first clue as to how that problem is to be tackled though, so we’ll see how that goes.

Lots of people are saying that it’s too soon for the PlayStation 6 and in theory I agree with them. Since the first two years of this gen basically don’t count, thanks to the pandemic, it’s ridiculous to release a new console now, considering there’s been virtually no new first party games in the last two years either.

Sony has made an absolute disaster of this generation, as far as I’m concerned. They’ve managed to be both obsessed by live service games and incapable of making any. They wanted 12 by 2026 and Concord was the first one… and it lasted precisely two weeks.

One theory, that I find believable, is that Jim Ryan ordered all the first party studios to make live service games, then he was kicked out, and now they’re going back to making single-player games. I don’t know how true that is but clearly nothing is being produced at the moment and nothing is currently scheduled for the future… these things take time to turn around.

Whatever is coming out next year and beyond it’s hard to believe it’ll be more than one or two big name games, maybe Wolverine and something else. The whole conveyor belt of games, including the process of announcing them and looking forward to them, is completely broken. It needs to be reset.

This whole generation has been a complete wash for PlayStation and they need to start over. So, the obvious thing is to push for the PlayStation 6 as soon as possible. Get it out as soon as you can and have a good launch line-up with a steady stream of new games after that. In other words, exactly what we have been lacking the last several years.

It doesn’t matter what the PlayStation 6 is or does, it just needs to be an excuse to draw a line under the current mess and do something better. Ideally it would see Sony end its damaging obsession with PC games too. The appeal of a console is greatly lessened when you can get the same game on other formats, you only have to look at Xbox to see that.

I’m assuming Sony don’t just want to be a PC game publisher, so if they have higher aspirations I strongly hope they will release the PlayStation 6 as soon as possible and get back to being a proper console manufacturer and video game maker.

By reader Johnson

The reader’s features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.

You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. Just contact us at gamecentral@metro.co.uk or use our Submit Stuff page and you won’t need to send an email.

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