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The bumper-sized Monday Inbox has some discouraging words for Red Dead Redemption 2, as one complains about Breath Of The Wild’s story.
To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk
Job lot
Well I have to hold my hands up guys, but before you judge me please hear me out first… last Thursday I received seven, yes seven, PlayStations, two Digital Editions and five disc versions. They were all pre-ordered back in September from two retailers, Very and GAME. To be fair, when I pre-ordered them all I did so just in case some of them didn’t come.
The philosophy of ordering so many was also if they did all come in on release day then I can sort out other people that probably haven’t managed to get one, including my older sons who have my two grandchildren that are also gamers of 10 to 14-years-old and obviously my younger son for his Christmas present.
Then you had my younger son’s best friend, who I also sorted out with his parents so he can game share with my son. Both my neighbours have teenage kids, so that’s another two that went, and that finally leaves one more left and, no, it didn’t end up on eBay either!
It actually went to one of my friends who has a nine-year-old boy with learning disabilities. When all the PlayStation 5s arrived one lot came from DHL the other lot from Royal Mail. I couldn’t believe it and, to be fair, almost two months ago I forgot how many consoles I actually ordered in the first place. Until the big day arrived I told everyone concerned if everything goes to plan and all the PlayStation 5s get delivered safely I guaranteed the people I had on my list and as time got nearer and nearer to launch day the emails kept coming, etc.
So I was fairly confident they were all going to arrive and so I got the money off everybody who was waiting for one (RRP of course). Again, I was surprised at actually how many ended up in my house, it’s kind of crazy when you think about it, what with all the stories you hear. But just imagine if I was a scalper, how much money I could have actually made by ripping people off; the readers just here alone on GC not being able to get hold of a PlayStation 5.
I felt really gutted and guilty for them, knowing I managed to get seven in one day. I’ve never mentioned anything before about all this as, like I said earlier, until last Thursday arrived I didn’t have a clue what actually would arrive, if any, even after receiving official email confirmations to let me know they’ve been despatched and money had been taken out the account for the ones that came from GAME.
I really do hope that Microsoft and Sony do have more of their next gen consoles available before this side of Christmas. Not for the scalpers going on eBay but for all the little Johnnies who wants a shiny new next gen console on Christmas Day.
JAH
GC: We don’t understand what either retailer was doing allowing someone to buy multiple consoles, that seems extremely unfair.
Virtual tank controls
I think I’m as sceptical as most other readers have been when it comes to a Resident Evil 4 remake. But I guess the VR rumours make a certain kind of sense?
The preferred control scheme for VR games still seems to be click at a location, move there automatically, and then stand in place to aim and shoot at things. And that’s not a million miles away from the way you’re supposed to play Resi 4. I’d be happier to see that, than to suddenly see Leon circle strafing his way round the game.
Before the VR rumour I would have probably guessed that they would have been making it end-to-end co-op with Luis/Ashley/Ada rotating in and out as player two. Which I wouldn’t have minded seeing either – some of the co-op ideas in Resident Evil: Revelations 2, like the character without the gun being the only one who could see the weak points, were pretty inspired!
Reversible Sedgewick
GC: This is an interesting point, we hadn’t thought of that.
Doorstop tracking
Having had previous delivery problems with my Amazon order for £100+ worth of 4K UHD films (got delivered to someone else but eventually got them after a rather angry phone conversation from me) I followed my PlayStation 5 tracking with rather more attention than I would have before. The van driver pulled up across the road from me, pulled out a PlayStation 5 sized box. Here we go, I thought, PS5 here you come.
The driver proceeded to walk up my neighbour’s path with said box and came back down the path empty-handed. The thoughts going through my head can’t be printed as expletives were flying out of my mouth. I shouted across to the driver and spoke to him, showed my tracking details. He then went back up the path and got the box and said sorry my device says it should be delivered there. I said that was nearly a very expensive mistake.
Shall I use Amazon again? Most probably but will follow the tracking like a hawk.
Happy gaming.
GHH69
E-mail your comments to: gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk
Hit the roof
Reading your story about Amazon, I’m one of the lucky ones. I ordered my PlayStation 5 on Thursday, 17th September and I kept tracking my order, it kept saying between 7pm and 10pm. Then at 5:30pm my neighbour banged on my window, saying there was a parcel at my door. Rather than knock and walk off, leaving my delivery at the door, he decided just to dump my order without knocking. I was so lucky but I got in touch with Amazon and went mad at them. I’ve even cancelled my Prime membership and will buy my games from GAME online.
For them that managed to pre-order and were ripped off by delivery drivers, make a complaint, hit the roof if you have to. You never know, they might, and it’s a big might, be able to get one sent out in the next few days. I don’t get why a driver would risk their job for a PlayStation 5.
David
For the want of a controller
While most gamers are wanting their PlayStation 5 or Xbox, or are lucky enough to have one and playing now, I on the other hand only wanted the controller.
Steam has the basic support for the controller and PlayStation 4 Windows is working on full support, but the haptic feedback I’d expect to either be a long way off or not at all or emulated in some form.
It’s a nice controller thou’, comfy in the hand and weights slightly more than the PlayStation 4 one did, but I like it. Will be using it for Cyberpunk 2077, not long to wait now!
POB
A discouraging word
RE: unpopular opinions. This one is rather easy. Red Dead Redemption 2. I initially was perplexed as to why I found its gameplay, mission structure, control system, and story so sub-par, considering every single review heaped so much praise upon nearly everything this game did. I then was told that it’s a slow starter and takes a while to get going.
I was 25 hours in and every single mission was identikit and I could already see where the predictable plot was steering me. It was only when I took up the courage to go onto Metacritic user reviews that I found, in-between all the 10s and 0s, a large amount of gamers who were voicing the same concerns and scoring it between 5 and 7. Which is where I feel it belongs.
There’s always been a tendency to think that game journalists are subservient to Nintendo or Rockstar but I’ve never really been outraged at scores handed out but Red Dead Redemption 2 really did change my mind. It’s so flawed in so many areas and nearly all of them never mentioned by any websites. The idea that nearly every review failed to point any of them out is absurd.
Zelda: Breath Of The Wild isn’t perfect but there are no glaring faults like there is in Red Dead Redemption 2. It plays like a video game which you can eventually master and appreciate. Red Dead Redemption is a completely muddled mess of some good ideas, some bad ideas and some truly terrible ones stuck in a blender, which was then praised as a masterpiece. Now off to bed with no supper GC!
Wonka
PS: You were one of the few who pointed out flaws.
GC: We’d already begun to turn against the game by the time the PC version came out. It’s certainly not a title that has aged well in our memories.
Out of power
I received my PlayStation 5 yesterday and did not receive a power cable either.
While I had the PlayStation 4 cable to fall back on it did mean I was unable to transfer my data over, as I needed to run both consoles simultaneously.
I tried calling Sony support line to request one, but after being on hold for two hours the call timed out. The second call died after being on hold for 40 minutes and I was unable to even connect to the number thereafter. I’m still without a power cable and no further forward.
It’s pretty disappointing such issues occur and I was happy to put my issue down to a one-off quality control issue but the fact there is another reader with the same problem and their helpline seems to be bottlenecked with others makes me think this may be a little more widespread than I thought.
I just hope (as mentioned before) that the same doesn’t happen to a family Christmas morning that are new to the PlayStation ecosystem and do not have another cable to hand.
Huw
Demon’s cable
I too got my PlayStation 5 on release date with no sign of an AC adaptor in the box! I had sold my PlayStation 4 to fund the PlayStation 5, so that was a no go. Luckily, I have a PlayStation 3 and the power lead for that worked fine.
I only have the PlayStation 3 to play one game: Demon’s Souls. I like that my PlayStation 3 was able to help me play it again yesterday! Haven’t attempted to get through to Very to find out what happened, but it was a strange relief to find out I wasn’t the only one.
Daniel Savage
Valhalla, we are not coming
I brought Assassin’s Creed Valhalla from The Game Collection on PlayStation 5 and they had a mix up and didn’t send me the PlayStation 5 version and got offered the completely upgradable PlayStation 4 version.
I’ve now tried to upgrade to the PlayStation 5 version and it isn’t giving me the option to do that? Just tells me I need to pay £59.99 and no option to upgrade for free. It does seem to be an issue from an internet search but can’t find out why and if it’s going to be fixed.
Can anyone help? It’s the gold edition of Valhalla.
Omen66
GC: Have you tried Ubisoft’s Twitter support account?
ShooterBox Playroom
Well, I’ve got to say I’ve had an absolute blast playing Astro’s Playroom, not only a fun platformer but the nostalgia factor was just incredible.
Watching the robots re-enact past PlayStation games got my thinking, I can see how they could do a Nintendo version but for the life in me I couldn’t picture a Microsoft one! I suppose they’d just be shooting each other every time.
Liam
TV Foundry
Some gamers may find this YouTube channel useful. HDTVTest have been great at explaining the best TV settings for Xbox Series X, so expect a PlayStation 5 best set-up soon. The subject is rather dry, but not as dry as Vincent’s sense of humour, who often makes his videos entertaining. Watch him for a while and you’ll be treated to some laugh out loud moments.
Interesting the PS5 HDMI 2.1 is capped for some reason. The Xbox Series X 4K Blu-ray player has some issues with black levels too. If there’s something not quite right, this guy will find it. Think the Digital Foundry of TVs, only with some comedy gold.
Anon
Snubbed at the awards
I’ve just seen the game of the year nominations for The Game Awards. Ori And The Will Of The Wisps not even being nominated is a huge omission in my book.
Did it sell well by the way? I’d love to play more in the future, but it seems to be getting overlooked a lot and it hasn’t really broken into the mainstream from what I can tell from afar.
Jez
GC: Since it’s on Game Pass that’s kind of a moot point, but apparently it’s been played by over 2.8 million people. The bigger problem is that developer Moon Studios has started a new, non-Ori project.
Even the gameplay
I know this is 100% an unpopular opinion but I’m absolutely convinced gaming sites and reviewers add a +10 onto all Nintendo games when it comes to reviews.
Case in point Zelda: Breath Of The Wild. Now, I fully admit it is a masterpiece. Music, setting, even gameplay are all incredible.
But the story is the most bland, vanilla thing in the world. All other games would get 10-20 points knocked straight off for having an average story.
Then there’s the fact that a game released in 2017 still has garbage weapons that break which leads to the most infuriating gameplay experience in existence! Again, any other game would be slated and again, no problem, it’s a Nintendo game!
The nostalgia points Nintendo get is ridiculous!!
paul (aka jellybelly100!)
GC: The quality of story in Zelda is about as important as the car handling in The Witcher. Also, your nostalgia theory makes no sense as Breath Of The Wild is completely different from the previous games and the one group of people that tend to dislike it the most are Zelda traditionalists.
Catch up on every previous Games Inbox here
Don’t look, feel
So I’ve three opinions of which I imagine none are too popular.
Firstly, I’ve bought every FIFA game for the past 10 years or so and prefer it to Pro Evolution Soccer. I know it’s superficial but been able to play with officially licensed teams and in the official kits and stadia is a big draw for myself. Also, I’ve tried to play Pro Evo a few times but honestly prefer the gameplay in FIFA. I know EA can sometimes be anti-consumerist with microtransactions and pay to win but other companies behave in similar ways and seem to not get anywhere near the amount of grief. Personally, I just stick to career mode not Ultimate Team.
My second opinion is I don’t understand the love for The Witcher 3 and CD Projekt Red. I’ve tried it a few times and don’t understand the appeal. Some of the side quests are interesting, especially the characters. I particularly enjoyed the Bloody Baron’s storyline. However, the combat is fine at best and for me the game is far too bloated, with seemingly no end in sight, which is why I gave up. I also found the inventory menus baffling and had absolutely no idea when it came to potions.
Also, regardless of my view of The Witcher 3, I can’t understand the amount of love for CD Projekt Red. Don’t get me wrong, Cyberpunk 2077 looks great and I’ve pre-ordered my copy. But it looks nothing like The Witcher and even before we saw any footage people were ready to declare it the best game ever.
Even now I can’t understand how people can describe CD Projekt Red as one of the best developers in the industry. Putting my feelings about The Witcher 3 to one side I can understand that I’m in the minority and many view the game as one of the best of all time. Even so, surely a games developer needs to have a string of hits, not just the one success, before they can be considered one of the industry leaders?
Finally, my last unpopular opinion. I just don’t get the fuss with frame rates. Maybe it’s because I’m a console rather than PC gamer. I think I read somewhere that because PC gamers tend to sit closer to a monitor than console gamers sit to a TV frame rates are more noticeable. Also, that developers have certain techniques when making games for consoles such as motion blur that again make lower frame rates less obvious.
Maybe YouTube doesn’t do it justice and I need to see if for myself but then again, I’ve not noticed any difference in remastered games, such as The Last Of Us, that offer increased frame rates compared to the original.
Perhaps I just have rubbish eyes but, honestly I can’t see any difference on any of the videos I’ve watched between 30 or 60 frames per second.
matc7884
GC: The primary appeal of a high frame rate is the smoothness of the movement and controls, not how it looks on-screen. That’s why 30fps is fine in more cinematic or slow-paced games but a detriment in fast action games.
Inbox also-rans
My wife’s birthday was last week and she was very upset when Amazon delivered the gift I had ordered for her. Instead of the air fryer she had asked for, some rotter had stole it and put a PlayStation 5 in the box instead. The cheek of some people.
MRHBK
Jet Force Gemini was the best N64 Rare game. I put in more hours than I did with GoldenEye 007.
TomBloodySizer
Are you planning to review Cyberpunk 2077 on the PlayStation 4? With the rumours that the latest delay was caused by issues with the PlayStation 4, I’ll be interested to see how it plays before purchasing. Also, how does Spider-Man: Miles Morales play on the PlayStation 4? I’m not planning to get a PlayStation 5 till late next year, when hopefully there will be some decent bundles! Keep up the good work!
D1NE5H_K (PSN ID)
GC: Our intention at the moment is to review it on both PC and PlayStation 4, although we’ll have to see how things pan out. We only had a brief go on Miles Morales on PlayStation 4, but it seemed fine. Which is as you’d expect given it uses so many of the original game’s assets.
This week’s Hot Topic
The topic for this weekend’s Inbox asks what is the most impressed you’ve been by something from the next generation of consoles?
It can be the consoles themselves, the games, the controllers, or a service or feature that wasn’t present in the previous generation. What gives you the most encouragement for the future of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S and why?
Do you feel that the new consoles are making a better impression at this stage in their life than previous formats or do you think they’ve been a disappointment so far? What are you hopes for the immediate future (the next six months or so) and the longer term?
E-mail your comments to: gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk
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.
You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.
You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.
MORE : Weekend Hot Topic, part 1: Unpopular gaming opinions
MORE : Games Inbox: PS5 first impressions, DualSense love, and Spider-Man Remastered upgrade path
MORE : Games Inbox: PS5 delivery day, Cyberpunk 2077 on PS4, and Call of Duty: Cold War error messages
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