The Wednesday letters page wonders what is going on behind the scenes at PlayStation, as one reader praises Final Fantasy 7 Remake.
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Fake renaissance
I’ve seen a lot of people arguing that video game movies are a lot better than they used to be, and the Borderlands film is just a glimpse back at the bad old days and not how things are now. But what movies are people talking about when they say that? The Last Of Us and Fallout are always the first examples given, but they’re not movies. They’re eight-ish hour long TV shows, that are completely different to any movie.
Super Mario Bros. Movie was very successful, but it wasn’t very good and the Sonic movies are barely any better. Uncharted was just a very mid action movie, that wasn’t a particularly big hit. What else are people talking about? Detective Pikachu? Warcraft? One of the Resident Evil films?
As far as I can see video game movies are exactly as bad as they’ve ever been and Borderlands is just a typical example of that. Video game TV shows have got a lot better, I’ll agree to that, but I think we’re a long way from any film about a game winning an Oscar.
Scooner
PS: For my money, the best is still the original Mortal Kombat. At least it had the same plot, characters, and tone as the game it’s based on, which is still extremely rare for a live action film. Not even the Pokémon film got that right.
Schrödinger’s live service policy
I didn’t realise the dates for Jim Ryan and that other exec leaving lined up so closely to The Last Of Us Online being cancelled. I have no idea if they’re connected but you’re right that it sure is suspicious timing, especially given these latest comments about heads rolling.
One thing I will say is that the announcement by Naughty Dog definitely read like they were celebrating, like they won a battle or at least an argument. And if they’re working on multiple single-player games I guess they did.
But really, I don’t care what happened or what execs were or weren’t kicked out. I just want to know what Sony’s policy is towards games now. Are they still all in on live service games? If they’re not, why won’t they announce anything? If I didn’t have a PlayStation 5 already I wouldn’t buy one now because of the uncertainty. I don’t understand how Sony can think this is a good idea for how to carry on.
Docraga
Out when it’s done
Gears are certainly turning at Nintendo, in regards to the Switch 2, but as usual they’re playing it all incredibly close to their chest. I don’t feel GTA 6 is really going to be a factor in their decisions, but I do think they’ll just generally want the console out in the first half of the year rather than the second, so they can establish the concept and iron out any problems ahead of Christmas 2025.
If it’s not going to be out until after March I think that only leaves April and May as practical choices, as trying to launch a new console during the middle of the summer games drought is just a non-starter.
That seems to narrow things down very well, except Nintendo will quite happily delay the console into the autumn or even next year if they feel the need. I haven’t seen anyone else mention it but surely one of the obvious reasons the date isn’t known yet is because it all depends on whether their games are finished.
Remember, Nintendo delayed the launch of the N64 because Super Mario 64 wasn’t ready yet. I’m sure they’d do the same again.
Onibee
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Given up
$2 billion to make a video game sounds like madness but I didn’t know that about GTA 5 making $1 billion in the first three days. Can you imagine how much GTA 6 is going to make, with the extra pent up demand (and the fact that things are more expensive now)?
Suddenly $2 billion just seems like a sensible investment, that will almost instantly be paid back. It’s crazy how GTA 6 is on such a completely different scale to anything else in the games industry, even though in terms of gameplay there’s not really anything special about it.
That’s not a knock, in terms of the open world design there’s nothing like but creating a smaller scale GTA feels like it should actually be pretty easy. I’m surprised companies don’t even really try any more. I can’t really think of a proper GTA clone, or anything similar to it, for ages now.
Holdem
Reset the franchise
That forehead on the main character in the Dead Rising remaster is hilarious. I think it’s too much, considering nobody else looks as weird, but I salute Capcom for doing it anyway.
I think the simple reason for Dead Rising always underperforming is that it’s thought of as an Xbox franchise, which obviously less people had. If it had just been multiformat from the start I think it would’ve been more successful but when you’ve had such a long-running series that has never really had its moment, like this, I think you’ve got to accept that it’s probably never going to happen.
Starting again at the beginning is probably the best bet though, so I might get it when it goes on cheap.
Heathcliffe
Moderate surprises
I’ve seen Geoff Keighley saying there will be some new game announcements at Gamescom but do we know what any of them are? Borderlands 4 seems possible but apparently it’s not going to be there? Resident Evil 9 also needs an announcement, but I’ve not heard anything to say it’ll be next week.
It would be odd if Sony were to have something there and not at one of their own events, so I’m not really sure what to expect, except probably disappointment.
I will be watching though, as I love a good reveal event, even if most of the ones lately have been kind of disappointing. I’d really appreciate a Kingdom Hearts 4 trailer but obviously that’s much more likely for Tokyo Game Show, although it’s probably still not going to happen this year.
Maybe we’ll get some nice surprises instead, those are always the best. Except maybe we could see Bioshock 4? Just ideally not via a pre-rendered trailer.
Chucky
Doing a Poochie
Nice to know that the new Alien movie is going to be inspired by Alien Isolation to at least a small degree but I wish there was at least a small story connection, given we’re never getting a sequel. It’d be too complicated to show what happened at the end of the first one, although I guess they could just pull a Poochie and say she returned to her home planet. It would be anticlimactic but at least they could draw a line under things.
Isolation is such a frustrating game. If it was half the length and had a proper ending I’m convinced it would’ve been accepted as an all-time classic.
Freezy
The past is the future
I’m sad to see that the Final Fantasy 7 remake trilogy doesn’t seem to have been a very big hit. I don’t know if they’re going to lose money on it or anything like that, but it definitely seems to have been a disappointment financially.
I think that’s a real shame, because as far as I’m concerned it’s one of the best things Square Enix has ever done and an excellent homage to the originals, that might even end up being better in the end.
The graphics are phenomenal, the battle system is excellent, and I’m perfectly fine with the changes to the story so far. They could mess it up in the final entry but there’s no way it would’ve been as good if everything was exactly the same as the original game and you were predicting every plot twist and action scene.
I just hope that Square Enix can put some of the same skills into Final Fantasy 17 when it appears. I found 16 to be very disappointing and still haven’t finished it yet. It takes itself far too seriously for my liking and doesn’t have nearly as much variety and detail as the remake.
I guess it’s probably a good idea to have multiple styles that are popular but for me the future of Final Fantasy should be the remake of the 27-year-old PS1 game, which seems a little odd but it’s true.
Garner
Inbox also-rans
I have just had a fairly brief play of the Bakeru demo on the Switch eShop, it looks pretty decent for those of us starved of a Goemon fix. Do you think you are likely to be reviewing it when it is released?
John Atkinson
GC: Yes, we’ll try to.
If I was angry as some people seem to be about Helldivers 2, or whatever other online game is under fire, I think I just wouldn’t play it anymore. Not only are these people playing the same game endless they’re not even having fun while they do it.
Legro
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