The Wednesday letters page is frustrated that publishers are not making the games people want, as one reader laments the retirement of Nobuo Uematsu.

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

No competition
For myself, I have been very disappointed by EA Sports FC. We’re only two games into the ‘new’ franchise and it already feels like a lazy crash grab. I don’t feel the first one made any special effort, that wouldn’t have been in FIFA 24, and this year’s is right back to feeling like a DLC upgrade.

I really wish eFootball or some other rival could give EA some real competition, because at the moment they have absolutely no reason to do better, since people will line up to buy their games either way. And I admit I’m one of them. I want to play as my favourite teams so what am I going to do? Dig out my PlayStation 2 and go back to PES? (Not that that had the teams anyway.)

I have very little faith that FIFA know what they’re talking about when they say they’re going to make their own game, but I think the only real hope for shaking things up is if they team-up with 2K and make a whole new series. It’ll mean microtransactions and other scummy practices but it’s not like EA Sports FC is much better as it is.

I just hope they give it a decent name, apart from anything else. EA Sports FC is so lame to say and to type out.
Monson

Under the radar
I don’t shirk away from saying I’m a gamer, as no one outside our bubble knows how bad some people that game and use social media can be. We seem to be insulated by the lack of interest from the outside world. All of the drama and death threats seem to go unreported by the mainstream media.

I only hear about that stuff on this site. It must be years since I’ve heard games mentioned negatively on any TV-based news outlet. Usually, it’s a murder-based mention but even then it’s still rare.

So chill out, no one else knows how awful we really are.
Bobwallett

The one and only
Absolutely loving Silent Hill 2 at the moment and I take back everything I ever said about Bloober Team (except for them having a terrible name). I’m nearing the end now, but it’s got me wondering whether they’re going to do remakes of any of the other games?

Silent Hill 3 might not be as good as the second one but I’d still say it was a superior survival horror and in the top three of the series. The other one is the original but the problem there is it would end up looking very similar to Silent Hill 1 but with a different, and not as good, story.

I think that probably rules them both out, which is a shame in a way because now we’re back to having no good Silent Hill games to look forward. Perhaps it should always just have been the second one and nothing else.
Lempton

Pro fence sitter
I’ve been on the fence regards the PS5 Pro. Whether I’d get it or not.

I just wondered if you will be getting one to review as I’d really like your opinion on it?

Loved the Mike Bithell interview and I’m super interested in his Tron game. Will be keeping my eye on that one.

What an incredible gesture from Julian. If the N64 hasn’t been taken I sure would love to ask for it. My nephew missed the N64 era. Happy for you to send on my email.

Keep up great work GC.
Bertie1 (PSN ID)

GC: Thank you. We assume Sony will send a PS5 Pro, but we’ve not heard anything yet. As you can imagine, we’ve had many people asking after Julian’s retro collection, so we’ll send them on to him later today.

Forgotten birthday
Has anyone mentioned already that The Suffering was 20 this year? I’d just like to give a tribute to my favourite PlayStation 2 game.

This was a real all-round-value video game. It had a dark and captivating story, mean action, good humour, and it was quite long for good measure and not drag. A real pity that it’s unlikely this would be given the remake treatment. It’s one of the best candidates. The Suffering, I still salute.
Henry

GC: Warner Bros. owns the franchise now, if you want to petition them for a remaster.

Cross-generational
I have to agree that the appeal of Mario Party is severely underrated. I played the 2018 game with an 82-year-old grandad, a seven-year-old niece, and me and my wife last Christmas and we all had an excellent time and will no doubt play it or the new game this Christmas as well.

I think sometimes we can lose sight of the kinds of game that are actually popular with ordinary people and what sells and doesn’t sell. Concord lasted two weeks, Mario Party has been around for 26 years. One is a game nobody wanted and the other is one that, as uncool as it might seem to some people, something people have loved for decades.

You were right to bring up that survey about co-op and single-player games in the review, as I’ve thought about that a lot recently and how companies just aren’t making the games people want or enjoy. They’re just trying to get the next Fortnite and they literally don’t care about anything else.

You can see it also in the Bandai Namco news, where they were throwing everything at mobile and online games and letting single-player games suffer for it, even though they were the popular ones. This has been going on for a while now and I still don’t get the sense any of the publishers are learning anything.

Publishers aren’t fulfilling audience demands they’re all just trying to be the one unique case that makes easy money, rather than just settle down and do something more sustainable.
Bailey

The day the music died
On the commute home from work I was listening to the soundtrack for Final Fantasy 7 and reading some gaming news. A very sad coincidence then that I read that Nobuo Uematsu is retiring from composing for video games.

Fanatasian: Neo Dimension will be his last game related project. Truly a sad day. Hopefully he’ll still compose the odd track here and there but what an indelible mark he’s left on video game music. A true giant and we should all be grateful for his output, even those who may not enjoy the games he’s scored.
Sill82

New old ideas
Like any fan I’m trying to stay optimistic about the thought of more Halo, but I don’t know how realistic that is given it’s still basically the same developer. My big advice though (as if I should be listened to!) is that the next game should be a full reboot.

Not a modern soft reboot, where it’s more like a sequel, an actual reboot where nothing else that has come before counts anymore. They can still start with a remake of Combat Evolved if that’s the way they want to go but you should be able to play the next game with absolutely no knowledge of any other Halo game.

I’ve played them all and even I’m not sure what was going on in Halo Infinite, which is terrible given that was supposed to be a soft reboot. No half measures this time, start from scratch and try and rebuild the game’s reputation. For me the success of the new game will be based on how much distance it puts between it and what’s come before.

What I actually expect to happen though is just a straight remake before they move into more vague remakes of the next two games. I don’t think it’s going to work though. That kind of storytelling and action is not going to fly nowadays and even as a fan I’m sick of fighting the Covenant.

Halo needs to be new and exciting again, not just a nostalgia fest.
Trepsils

Inbox also-rans
I was just wondering if you were going to review the Undisputed boxing game? I was a big fan of the Fight Night games and need to a boxing game to scratch that itch, but I want to wait to see if you review it first.
Adam_Lion_23 (PSN ID)
PS: Can we bring back Inbox magic for a Jak And Daxter remaster for the PlayStation 5 please?

GC: We’re probably not going to, no.

In your opinion, what are the chances of Nintendo releasing a home-only version of the Switch 2? If they had done this with the original Switch, i.e. a home console with no portability factor and with an accordingly lower price, I would have bought one by now.
Francis

GC: Without knowing what the Switch 2 is, especially in terms of power, it’s impossible to guess. If you put a gun to our head we’d say it was unlikely.

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Bandai Namco has become the first Japanese publisher to lay off developers this year, although their approach is very different to Western companies.

We’re still not at the end of the year and already over 13,000 people have lost their jobs in the video games industry in 2024. The reasons for this are many and complicated but the simplest explanation is that companies hired too many people during the pandemic and recklessly convinced investors that the increased sales during lockdown would continue.

The problem is not that publishers are suddenly losing money but merely that their business is not showing enough growth, and the simplest short term solution for that is to lay off staff and see an increase in profits as a result.

That’s exactly as short-sighted as it seems but, because Japanese companies don’t put the same emphasis on infinite growth, they’ve been immune from the same problems… until now.

Bandai Namco has become the first Japanese publisher to cut staff, although they’ve done so in a typically Japanese fashion – not by instituting layoffs but by putting a reported 200 staff in ‘expulsion rooms’ and giving them no work to do.

As strange as the practice seems, it’s relatively normal in Japan, as leaving of your own accord looks better to a future employee. It may sound like paradise to some, but it apparently gets old very quickly, with a Bloomberg report suggesting 100 staff have quit so far. However, Bandai denies using the rooms.

Bloomberg suggests execs are trying to cut the staff at Bandai Namco Studios from 1,300 to 1,100 and while that’s not confirmed the publisher has admitted that some recent projects have been ‘discontinued’ based on ‘comprehensive assessments of the situation.’

The news comes despite the recent unexpected success of Elden Ring and this month’s Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero selling 3 million copies in just 24 hours. That’s perfectly in keeping with the actions of Western publishers, such as GTA publisher Take-Two, who laid off more than 500 staff despite making over $2.2 billion in profit.

Interestingly, it is mobile and online titles which are described as being the biggest problems, with Bandai Namco closing titles such as Blue Protocol and Tales Of The Ray, resulting in a ¥21 billion (£108 million) write-down.

Square Enix, which, despite no mass layoffs, has previously been the only Japanese publisher suffering in a similar manner to Western companies has also closed down a number of mobile titles recently.

Even more so than in the West, smartphones are the predominate format in Japan but recently there’s been signs that the mobile market has peaked worldwide, coinciding with a string of failures with live service games – most obviously Sony’s Concord.

This is believed to be a result of oversaturation and the fact that people simply don’t have time to play dozens of live service style games, that constantly demand your attention.

Nevertheless, it seems as if the cancelled projects at Namco Bandai are primarily for console video games, although the report is vague in its description of games that would’ve featured characters from Naruto and One Piece.

However, another reportedly cancelled project is one that was commissioned by Nintendo, which will certainly have been a console title. It’s unclear what the game was but Bandai Namco has collaborated with Nintendo many times over the years, on projects ranging from Star Fox Assault to Super Smash Bros.

Whether these de facto layoffs are the start of a new trend in Japan, or just a one-off, is unknown but it seems clear that this year’s tally of industry job losses is still not complete.

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A divided fan base, weaker sales, but stronger player numbers paint a murky picture for the launch of EA Sports FC 25.

EA Sports FC 25 certainly aimed to impress, when it came out on September 27, introducing a new 5v5 game mode called Rush and adding a new AI system to make teammates smarter.

It also completely revamped how you use tactics, with new ways to set your team up with and without the ball.

Change isn’t always welcome though, and the game’s reception, from both critics and fans, can be summarised as mixed, but better than EA Sports FC 24.

When it comes to how many fans have bought EA Sports FC 25, launch sales for this year’s title dropped by 4.6% compared to EA Sports FC 24.

Despite this, EA Sports FC 25 was still the best-selling video game of September, according to Gamesindustry.biz’s Christopher Dring.

In one of the episodes on the site’s podcast, however, it is revealed that the Ultimate Edition of the game, which let you play it before the official release date, saw sales increase by 6% in the UK, compared to EA Sports FC 24.

While Xbox and PlayStation don’t release data for how many fans are playing their games, SteamDB does reveal the number of active PC players.

According to the site, 110,000 people played EA Sports FC 25 on the first Sunday after launch, compared to the 82,000 who played EA Sports FC 24 on the same day last year.

However, player numbers for EA Sports FC 25 on PC dropped by 12,000 in the following two weeks, from Sunday to Sunday, which is more than the 4,000 decrease last year’s release saw in the same period.

What is trending up, however, is critic reviews, as EA Sports FC 25 has scored a rating of 77 out of 100 on Metacritic, compared to EA Sports FC 24’s 75.

The score is much more generous over at OpenCritic, where this year’s release has a 76% critics recommended rating, compared to EA Sports FC 24’s 59%.

Fan opinion is far worse reading, however, with a user review score of 2.8 out of 10 on Metacritic for EA Sports FC 25, even if that’s more than EA Sports FC 24’s 2.4.

The overall score on Steam is ‘Mixed’, with 7,600 out of the total 14,500 reviews being labelled negative, with comments equally polarising.

‘Initial thoughts: I gotta say, movement is much more fluid and more responsive. Is it worth the price? H*** no. It’s more like a good update for previous the FC,’ says Pero.

‘It’s an improvement over the last couple of years that much is clear,’ UK Craigie says.

‘Instant uninstall, what a terrible game. Played FIFA my whole life and it seems to be getting worse and worse,’ Wooblay says.

Over decades of yearly releases, FIFA/EA Sports FC has become the most popular football simulator in the world and satisfying all of the millions of fans will always be an impossible task.

Despite this, senior producer Sam Rivera told GameCentral, ahead of the release of EA Sports FC 25, that they’re always looking at what the fans want.

‘With a franchise such as FC, ensuring we’re staying true to what our players know and love, and being authentic to the beautiful game itself, is incredibly important,’ he said.

‘However, we’re also acutely aware that we have to constantly innovate with each new entry to the series. Throughout the whole planning and development process for FC 25, we’ve been constantly listening to player feedback.’

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MORE : Doctor issues sexual health warning ahead of EA Sports FC 25 launch

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Tickets go on sale this Friday for PlayStation The Concert, a new ‘state-of-the-art’ live show featuring music from video games such as God Of War and The Last Of Us.

Sony is taking the 30th anniversary of the original PlayStation very seriously, with the release of (now sold out) PS1-insipired limited edition consoles and a range of controllers and other promotional items.

The publisher has also just announced that it will be launching what’s called PlayStation The Concert, a live music show that will tour the world.

Premiering in Dublin in April 2025, before going on a world tour through 2026, the ‘state-of-the-art’ live show will offer music from titles such as God Of War, The Last Of Us, Ghost Of Tsushima, and the Horizon series with tickets going on sale this Friday.

‘It’s a brand-new state of the art and groundbreaking arena show which will celebrate the iconic music from some of PlayStation’s biggest games with some incredible staging,’ the organiser says.

Curiously, despite being part of the the 30th anniversary celebrations, there is currently no indication of any games being featured that weren’t released either on the PlayStation 4 or 5. Whether other, older, titles will also be acknowledged is unclear.

The show will travel globally, visiting over 200 cities, starting in Dublin on April 15, with these UK dates to follow:

Tickets can be bought on the PlayStation website starting Friday, October 18 at 15:00 BST.

‘An innovative multi-screen design, combining advanced LED and projection technologies, will enhance the event and deliver the most iconic moments and imagery from these games,’ the organiser says.

‘Coupled with surround sound, the show delivers breathtaking visual and audio depth, creating an immersive experience that will allow the audience to relive their gaming adventures like never before.’

Although this is the first to be given prominent PlayStation branding, similar concerts have been held before, such as the one conducted by Eímear Noone earlier in the year.

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MORE : PS5 30th Anniversary Collection consoles are already £8,000 on eBay after instant sell-out

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The latest entry in Nintendo’s virtual board game series has more characters and more mini-games than ever, and even a few new ideas.

Mario Party is not something you expect to see on a list of the best multiplayer games of all time but as far as we’re concerned it deserves to be there. Clearly, it’s not a hyper competitive online game like Call Of Duty but that’s the point. Super Mario Party Jamboree focuses on online play more than any other previous entry but it’s still by far the most fun when played with four people in the same room, all arguing over who cheated and what’s not fair.

A recent survey revealed that local multiplayer games remain extremely popular with most people, and yet they’re extremely rare and it’s almost unknown for a major publisher to release one. It’s a shame, because not only is it far more sociable than playing online but it’s the best way to introduce non-gamers to the world of video games. And, in that respect, Mario Party has been serving as an ambassador for over 26 years.

The series has varied greatly in quality over that time, depending on how many pointless gimmicks each particular entry is burdened with, but ever since its Switch revival, with 2018’s Super Mario Party, Nintendo has kept things sensibly straightforward, culminating in Jamboree, which is undoubtedly the best Mario Party so far.

The last release in the series was 2021’s Mario Party Superstars, which was essentially a remake compilation of boards from earlier games. This is a direct sequel to the 2018 game though, in the sense that it’s a full-bloodied game with all-new boards and lots of new features.

If you’ve never played a Mario Party game before, the concept is purposefully uncomplicated. Each game features a number of virtual board games, not in the modern sense of complicated pseudo role-playing games but something closer in complexity to Snakes and Ladders. There is no single goal though and instead you’re trying to get to the space with a Super Star on it, which can be bought with earned coins – once acquired a new star then appears somewhere else on the board.

You set the number of turns before you start, as you and three others endlessly tour around the board and the winner becomes the player with the most stars at the end of the game. Each board has different elements, such as one in which you drive around in a racing car or another where the tide goes in and out and a volcano explodes, but they all work in the same basic way.

There are additional complications, such as shops where you can buy power-ups to increase your number of dice roles or nobble your opponents, but new for Jamboree is the idea of ‘buddies’. These work as AI companions, whose abilities vary slightly depending on who it is – out of the wide array of playable Mushroom Kingdom characters on offer – but it’s always things like increasing your dice role or letting you buy two stars at once.

If the game was just that it wouldn’t hold anyone’s attention for long, but the other main element is that after each round you play a mini-game with the other players, either a free-for-all, team game, or 1 vs. 3. These generally only last a minute or two but considering there’s 110 of them (a considerable increase from the 80 of the 2018 game) it’s amazing that there’s almost no duds.

At the same time, there’s nothing that’s likely to be evolved into a full game but it’s all good, silly fun. There’s one where you’re trying to race along a rickety platform as Shy Guys try to knock you off with timber logs, a 1 vs. 3 game where one player is using a plastic mallet to steal coins off the others, a free-for-all where you’re running around a Super Mario Galaxy style planetoid activating flags, and a team game where you’re trying to collect coins while jumping on a seesaw.

A minority of mini-games use motion controls, from a mini-triathlon to a competition to bang nails into a plank, and while they work fine you can choose to turn these off if you want. In fact, the whole game is highly customisable, with a whole Pro Rules set-up that removes some of the randomness for anyone that resents the reliance on luck.

The mini-games might be simplistic but there’s so many of them, and the presentation is so varied and amusingly bizarre, they never fail to entertain. Or at least that’s true when you’re playing against other people in the same room. There is an online option but it’s really not the same, while playing on your own, or even with just less than four human players, is an exercise in misery.

That said, Jamboree does offer a lot more to do on your own than usual, with a quasi-story mode based around exploring the boards without a time limit. It’s not thrilling but a surprising amount of effort has gone into it and, like most of the additional modes, it’s an excuse to play the mini-games in a different context.

These other modes strip out the boardgame element to focus on just the mini-games but two major new online options extend things even further. Koopathlon has you competing with 20 people on specially selected mini-games, while Bowser Kaboom Squad is a lot more involved and has eight people running around a town trying to collect bombs to fire at a giant ‘imposter’ Bowser.

On top of this are three other completely random local modes that just seem to be a result of Nintendo messing around with motion controls and seeing what they can come up with. Toad’s Item Factory is a fun little puzzle game for up to four players, while Rhythm Kitchen is a rhythm action game with some unexpectedly extravagant presentation.

Meanwhile, Paratroopa Flight School is a cross between Pilotwings and the wing cap levels from Super Mario 64. Here, you fly around by flapping and angling your arms, while competing in Crazy Taxi style matches or trying to collect Parabiddybuds in competition with another player.

With seven separate boards (including new remakes) and more characters and mini-games than any previous game, Jamboree is bursting with content. Some of it is locked at first but even though there’s what’s essentially a battle pass it’s usually quite unclear what you’ve got to do to unlock them. Getting the two extra characters (Pauline and Ninji) seems especially random but that’s barely a quibble.

No one would pretend Super Mario Party Jamboree is doing anything radically new, but this is certainly not a low effort sequel. There’s more content than ever before and some of the ancillary modes are genuinely a lot of fun. There’s a reason the series has lasted this long and as far as board game staples go this is vastly more entertaining than the traditional family game of Risk.

Mario Party has an important role to play as a gateway game, where everyone can enjoy it no matter their age or video game experience. There’re very few other titles you can say that about and that gives Jamboree real purpose, beyond just being a fun and silly mini-game collection.

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

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Dr Disrespect might struggle to find a new home if he isn’t remonetised on YouTube, as Kick co-founder Ed Craven shuts the door on a potential deal.

After years of speculation about his mystery Twitch ban, back in 2020, Dr Disrespect recently admitted that the reason he was banished from the platform was because he had messaged a minor.

The admission resulted in him being kicked out of the game studio he co-founded, while losing thousands of fans and being demonetised on YouTube – where he started streaming in 2020.

Dr Disrespect hasn’t been remonetised on YouTube yet and there has been speculation of him moving to another platform, but that won’t be Kick, as its co-founder says it ‘would make zero sense’.

When asked if Kick would consider offering Dr Disrespect a contract to stream on his platform, despite the recent controversy, co-founder Eddie Craven said on his own stream:

‘Making a deal with Dr Disrespect, from a financial and business perspective right now, would make zero sense.

‘It would do more harm for Kick and it’d be a waste of money at this point in time, is my opinion. Without getting into drama, just looking at it from a business perspective, it’d be a waste of money.’

Dr Disrespect has reapplied for monetisation on YouTube, but it appears that it’s still under consideration, with no statement from either side yet.

Not long before the controversial streamer was outed for texting a minor,Dr Disrespect revealed that he turned down an £8 million-a-year contract to stream on Kick last year.

He added that it would take $50 million (£40 million) to get him to move to Kick, because he felt ‘established’ on YouTube.

If Dr Disrespect doesn’t get remonetised on YouTube, he might struggle to find a new home, now that Kick has distanced itself from him.

He’s also permanently banned on Twitch, which doesn’t leave many other options, outside of TikTok and Facebook, which aren’t well known for video game livestreaming.

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The huge demand for the PlayStation 5 Limited Edition appears to have caused technical difficulties for Argos, who are cancelling ‘some’ of the pre-orders.

Last month, Sony revealed that it’s celebrating PlayStation’s 30th anniversary by offering fans the chance to get their hands on new PS1-inspired console bundles, with pre-orders going live a week later.

Unsurprisingly, most of the PlayStation 5 bundles sold out almost immediately, and even less of a surprise, many immediately went up for sale on eBay by scalpers, for as much as £8,000.

Fortunately, last week, some retailers restocked and started taking on more pre-orders, but Argos is now cancelling some of them because they were ‘processed incorrectly’.

On Monday fans started posting messages they’d received from Argos, saying there was a ‘mass cancellation’ of pre-orders, with no further explanation.

However, when some fans contacted Argos about this they were told that the cancellation email was sent in error, and that their order was still valid.

Today, however, Argos has confirmed the bad news, that ‘some’ of their pre-orders have indeed been cancelled.

‘We saw huge demand for the PlayStation 5 30th Anniversary Limited Edition console and unfortunately had to cancel some orders, after they were processed incorrectly, Argos told Eurogamer.

‘We have contacted the customers affected to tell them how sorry we are for the disappointment this has caused and confirm they will receive a full refund.’

Argos hasn’t released a general statement about the glitch, or who might be affected, so it seems that the only way to know for sure, if your pre-order is still valid, is if you haven’t received any information about it – or by contacting Argos directly and asking them.

If you missed out on the initial and restock pre-order periods for the PlayStation 5 30th Anniversary Edition console, it appears that the ship has now sailed, as retailers are no longer taking orders.

The same goes for the PlayStation 5 30th Anniversary controller and the PlayStation Portal Limited Edition, which will probably not come back into stock again.

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MORE : New 30th Anniversary PS5 and PS5 Pro consoles are very grey and boring – and that’s great

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The Tuesday letters page is worried about the future clouding gaming could bring, as one reader wonders what FromSoftware’s next game is.

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

Multi-generational gaming
I think the most interesting thing from that Pokémon hack is the information that the next game is going to be cross-gen, which is probably the only substantial news we’ve had about a Nintendo Switch 2 game so far. Unfortunately, because Game Freak are known for being so backwards in terms of technology, it’s hard to know whether this will be commonplace when the Switch 2 comes out or if it’s just for Pokémon.

Given all the talk of backwards compatibility though I’m going to guess that it will be common and that, just like PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, most or all games will be cross-gen for the first few years.

I can’t say I’m very happy about this, as I would’ve liked to see what Nintendo could do with more power, but unfortunately Microsoft and Sony has made this approach the standard now. You could also infer that maybe this means the Switch 2 isn’t going to be that much more powerful anyway, although that might be a bit of a stretch.
Tolly

Hacked off
I obviously feel bad for all the people whose personal details are now in the hands of weirdo fans but isn’t it weird how most of these hacks never actually reveal anything surprising? The fact that Game Freak are working on a new Pokémon game for Switch 2 is not much of a revelation, and while it being cross-gen is definitely interesting, that’s also something that could easily change before release.

Other than that, what was it all for? To know about a bunch of movies that may or may not happen. And remember, this is Nintendo we’re talking about there so they are going to go full ninja lawyer on whoever did this. The last person that crossed them ended up owing them $14.5 million and that was only for piracy. Imagine what they’re going to push for when it comes to these hackers, they’ll have them shot into space!

The only one of these that actually proper details was, not Rockstar, but Insomniac. Although none of these ever have dates attached to anything. Makes me wonder if publishers just decide that at the last minute, and don’t really have much of a clue most of the time.
Galston

Convenient excuse
It was obvious streaming would be the next thing Microsoft turns to, after it was clear that console sales were tanking, but I really don’t see how it’s ever going to become a big deal given what Wi-Fi is like at the moment. That means you can’t play your games on your move, you can’t play them at all if you’re in the country, and you’re probably going to have tons of lag and glitches even if you do live in London. Especially as, in my experience, Xbox Cloud Gaming works worse than other similar services like Nvidia.

But then I thought occurred to me, what if it is successful? What if, as you say, people just put up with it and after all these years of slowly improving specs, where 4K and 60fps are now almost a standard, we just start putting up with tons of lag, unreliable controls, and glitching views.

Sound unlikely? The main benefit of streaming is convenience and in my experience convenience means all other positives are always ignored. We destroyed the entire concept of buying games as physical media purely to avoid having to get up and change the disc. I’m worried what people will be willing to put up with just so they don’t need a console.
Purple Ranger

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PlayStation Wii
I understand where the Reader’s Feature, about the PlayStation 5 being the worst PlayStation console, comes from but for me I don’t think it’s anywhere near that clearcut. I think the most interesting thing about that the console is I have no idea how it’s going to end up.

I have no idea how long it’s going to last, how many exclusives will be released for it, and what proportion will be traditional single-player games. Can anyone claim to know any of these things? I doubt it, because I have a hard time believing Sony knows either.

The PlayStation 5 is an enigma: hugely popular but by the time it got to its halfway point Sony just gave up on it and went into minimum effort mode. There’s only one other console I can think of like that and weirdly that’s the Wii. A console that ended up being quickly forgotten and has one of the worst reputations of any Nintendo console.
Cody

Rumours from From
I know Shadow Of The Erdtree was this year but I’m still impatient to learn what FromSoftware are working on next. Do we have any idea at all? I’m not even sure what I’d like them to do, I just know I want more.

It’ll be interesting though, because this will be their first game since Elden Ring blew up and they really entered the big leagues. So if it’s going to have an even bigger budget, as it inevitably will, what will it be? Something completely different or what they have been doing turned up to 11?

I don’t know why I’m asking these questions, as I’m pretty sure nobody knows, but I can’t wait to find out anyway.
Bruce

GC: They were hiring for a new giant robot game, but it seems a bit late for Armored Core 6 DLC, so it’s probably a seventh entry – but that’s likely to be several years away at this point. There’s no clue as to what their next game will be.

On the buses
So, I was an excited and curious fellow, taking a second holiday in Norway. I’d just been to Turkey and hated the overbearing heat and uninteresting locations. At least my Steam Deck OLED kept me great company, until I left it stranded on a bus. I spent days hoping I’d hear from the bus company but luck wasn’t on my side. I purchased the system the first day the model went on sale and I vigorously used it, even more so than my PlayStation 5.

I was on my way to a fjord cruise when I accidentally left it behind and it still haunts me today. I’ve been careless enough to lose valuable items before: my college ID, keys, my wallet and bank card. But I always managed to replace them and learn as much as I can from my mistakes. This is my most expensive mistake and I can’t see fit to ever argue against the fact that I won’t see my lost system again. I can only replace the handheld with something stronger, faster, and overall more value for money.

I’ll be honest, as much as I did love and cherish my OLED it had its issues. From the disappointing performance of Hogwarts Legacy to Starfield looking like a PS1 game at low settings. That’s why I can fathom the fact that I may have to save for a more powerful system. So far, my heart is set on the ASUS ROG Ally X. I’ve heard great things about it but it is pricey, but an upgrade will always come at a price. Sony knows that better than anyone.

The lesson Valve need to learn is that they may very well have to upgrade their system as soon as possible. If I’m not even considering re-purchasing their system because of technical weaknesses that’s quite the flaw. One truth is certain though, I’ll purchase the Ally X and do absolutely everything in my power to never repeat my mistake ever again. At least, I can try.
Shahzaib Sadiq

No way out
I don’t know what’s worse for Bungie, if the Destiny mobile game flops or if it succeeds. If it flops then Sony will think Destiny is even more of a has-been franchise and if it succeeds then they’ll think that they can still make money off Destiny without needing Bungie. It’s a Catch-22 situation.

I worry that too much damage has been done already and that when Marathon is an inevitable failure, Bungie will be chopped up and made a support studio for other live service games. Sony has hinted as much already. And that’s assuming Sony even carries on making live service games after all this, as I’m sure there must be many questions as to whether it’s working out for them. It’s not a good situation.
Swany

Free to a good home
I’ve been clearing out my parents’ loft and have found my old N64, PS1, all the games I had for each, and a load of gaming magazines from the 90s. Wanted to check if any of the folk here were interested in any/all, and if so if GC were able to please help put us in touch?

The N64 and all games are boxed (excluding the three at the front of the photo, although I do have three different boxes, no doubt to a swap which became permanent!). The N64 also has the memory expansion, and I distinctly remember writing in to Digitiser to say how cheeky Nintendo were by not building this into the original console!

All the PS1 games are boxed, although the console itself isn’t (I bought it and most of the games second-hand from a mate).

Controllers/memory cards/cables, etc. are all there, happy to provide specifics to those interested. I believe everything works, but nothing’s been used for nearly a quarter of a century and I don’t have the technology to check.

All free to a good home.
Julian

GC: If anyone wants it, we can pass on their email to you.

Less

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Inbox also-rans
I always use ShopTo for my day one games. They even offer (I think) £5 credit back if it’s delayed. Only had one instance where I’ve had to use that!
SlideAway1983 (PSN ID)

I’m surprised that Hogwarts Legay has never had any DLC up till. I guess they got the developer working on the sequel ASAP. Curious to see how quickly that means we’ll see it, as you almost never see that kind of turnaround anymore.
Ansel

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If you’re looking to pick up the next two big Nintendo Switch games this Christmas, a new deal can save you a sizeable amount of money.

The Nintendo Switch is over seven years old at this point, but it’s still going strong, with a great Christmas line-up of Nintendo exclusives.

The Legend Of Zelda: Echoes Of Wisdom has already proved to be a great evolution of the traditional Zelda format, and is a worthy first outing for Hyrule’s princess in a protagonist role. That game though, which launched last month, is only the first Nintendo title coming out this autumn.

The other two games are led by Mario himself, with Super Mario Party Jamboree and Mario & Luigi: Brothership, and there’s a pre-order deal which can save you 25% on both.

In what’s becoming a regular deal at Currys, if you pre-order either game and use a specific code at the checkout, the price will be reduced to £37.49 from £49.99. If you’re planning on buying both games, that’s a saving of £25 in total.

For Super Mario Party Jamboree you’ll have to be quick as the game comes out Thursday, October 17. If you pre-order through Currys before then, and use the code JAMBOREE25 at the checkout, you’ll receive the discount.

As for Mario & Luigi: Brothership, it’s the same process but with the code BROTHER25, which will knock down the price to £37.49. You have more time to get this discount, as the game isn’t released until November 7, 2024.

While Currys offers the cheapest price, there are other deals elsewhere, with additional pre-order extras. On ShopTo, Super Mario Party Jamboree costs £40.85 and comes with a star pin, while Mario & Luigi: Brothership costs £39.85 with a keychain.

There are other extras if you pre-order through the official Nintendo store, but naturally these are more expensive, with the priciest being a Mario Party bundle, complete with snack bowls, pen holders, a blanket, and coasters, which costs £92.48. You can check out all the cheapest deals below.

Cheapest UK deals on Super Mario Party Jamboree

• Currys – £37.49 with pre-order code JAMBOREE25
• ShopTo – £40.85
• Amazon – £42.99

Cheapest UK deals on Mario & Luigi: Brothership

• Currys – £37.49 with pre-order code BROTHER25
• ShopTo – £39.85
• Amazon – £42.99

Super Mario Party Jamboree looks set to be the most robust Mario Party game in some time, with a new 20-player online mode and over 110 mini-games.

Mario & Luigi: Brothership, meanwhile, is a role-playing game in a similar vein to Paper Mario and Super Mario RPG. This is the latest instalment in the Mario & Luigi series, with the last new entry being 2015’s Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam.

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MORE : Pokémon Gen 10 game for Nintendo Switch 2 revealed in massive Game Freak hack

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The three most recent Call Of Duty games are all going to be available to stream via Xbox Cloud Gaming, with Black Ops 6 available from day one.

Over the last 12 months it’s become clear that Xbox’s console business is in dire straits. Sales have been steadily plummeting since last Christmas and Microsoft has essentially admitted defeat this generation, by starting to release some of its games on PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch.

Although a next generation Xbox has been announced, there are reports that Microsoft is already giving up selling the Xbox Series X/S in the Middle East and parts of Europe, where the brand has never been popular.

This would be an utter disaster for Sony or Nintendo but for a company the size of Microsoft it’s not necessarily the end of Xbox at all. In fact, it may end up merely hastening the start of a new era, based on cloud gaming that doesn’t need a console – which is exactly the future that is being hinted at with this new Call Of Duty announcement.

The release date of Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 is Friday, October 25 and from day one the game, along with last year’s Modern Warfare 3 and the free-to-play Warzone, will be available via cloud gaming to stream on almost any device that you can connect a controller to.

Compatible devices include PCs, mobile devices (including Steam Deck and its many imitators), select Samsung TVs, Amazon Fire TV, and Meta Quest VR headsets. The Switch and PlayStation 5 are not listed, but the less Xbox is perceived as a direct rival the more likely that becomes.

The only catch is that you need to be a Game Pass Ultimate member to stream the games via the cloud, which costs £14.99 a month.

On top of that, there’s the intractable problem that playing via the cloud requires a fast and stable Wi-Fi connection, and if you haven’t got that then you’re not going to have much fun.

That is the fundamental problem that Microsoft has to deal with, especially as it means people in less built-up areas are less likely to be able to use it comfortably than those in large cities.

There’s nothing anyone can do about that until Wi-Fi technology and coverage improves, although you’d be surprised what some people are willing to put up with in terms of performance – even in a multiplayer game.

If you’re a Game Pass Ultimate subscriber, there’s information about how to get Modern Warfare 3 up and running here, which will no doubt be updated further on October 25.

Although Microsoft owns the whole of Activision Blizzard, and all their many games, very few of them have so far made it to Game Pass.

It was at first assumed that all of the Call Of Duty games would quickly become available but that’s proved not to be the case.

One possible reason is that Microsoft doesn’t want to split the audience between multiple different Call Of Duty games, when they’d much prefer they just be playing the last one or two, plus Warzone.

However, the technicalities of Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard may also be a factor, especially in the UK where Microsoft was forced to sell its cloud gaming business to Ubisoft, in order for it to be run here.

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