Games Inbox: Are video games too expensive for young people?

The Friday letters page asks whether there’ll ever be a new Perfect Dark game, as readers fail to share EA’s optimism for Battlefield 6.

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Losing the future
I’m not surprised at all to hear that younger people are spending less on video games, and a lot less by the looks of it. I know from how cash-strapped my boy is and £70 for a video game is nowhere near the top of the list of things he wants to be spending money on.

His friends seem to be the same but more than that he just never really got into games the way anyone reading this probably did. I made a point of not trying to push him into liking what I like but I needn’t have worried, as he showed little real interest once he grew up and seems to regard traditional gaming as an old-fashioned thing.

He’s played Minecraft and Destiny and Fortnite, and things like that, but more as a way of talking to his friends online than to really play the games properly. Looking at him I can see why companies are so desperate to make a live service game but also how pointless it is, because they’re not really interested in the game, just the community it creates.

Publishers are training whole generations of young people not to bother paying for video games, or even to play them properly, and that is obviously going to bite them on the ass sooner or later.
Tepes

Accurate predictions
Remember when people were trying to pretend it was fearmongering, saying that the Activision Blizzard acquisition would lead to job cuts? 6,000 people in less than two years is just disgusting. It’d be terrible whatever the situation, but it also clearly means the end of Xbox.

Going multiformat is one thing but with what games? Who’s going to make their games if they keep laying everyone off? And I see the rumours (which have got everything right so far) say this isn’t even the final round of layoffs!

People say Xbox is turning into Activision, but I don’t think they realise just how accurate that is. The whole Xbox brand is based around Call Of Duty now and the future is going to see anyone that isn’t involved with creating it either laid off or turned into a support studio. Well done, Phil! You’re doing great!
Benjy Dog

Not that shocked
The games industry really is shocking. I don’t know what’s worse: Microsoft and the other big players regularly axing jobs or Romero Games instantly firing everyone seemingly within 24 hours of losing some funding.

Were they running the company that badly that they knew they’d face instant bankruptcy if they didn’t? It’s not like they’re young inexperienced people, that don’t know the risks. And you’d think for a company with a bit under 100 employees there would be more of a personal feeling of responsibility to them and to work out a plan. But instead, it seems like they just decided to cut everyone while they find another partner. And as usual, it’s the people actually making the game taking the hit.
Tim

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Hope springs eternal
I’ve been playing quite a bit of the Perfect Dark remaster recently, as well as doing the campaign of Halo: Combat Evolved (via the Master Chief Collection), having never played the original.

Perfect Dark still holds up very well, with its level design and gun variety. Halo, on the other hand, seems to be of its time, with several parts a slog to get through (I finally get to experience why the Library level was so poorly received back in the day).

With the cancellation of the Perfect dark sequel and Halo having struggled to make a comeback in recent generations, it’s a sorry state of affairs for these two franchises.

Is it safe (and sad) to say Perfect Dark will never return?
ttfp saylow (gamertag)

GC: Never say never, but it’s very hard to imagine it making it a comeback within the next 10 years.

Warts and all
People can be disappointed with some of the things in Mario Kart World and I get that – it’s not quite what I imagined either – but dammit it is a ton of fun. I’ve just spent all afternoon playing Knockout Tour online and while I didn’t win a single one, I had a ton of fun.

It’s just a great game and while there’s obvious ways it could be improved that doesn’t mean what’s there isn’t good. I’m happy with it and so is everyone I’ve played it with.

I do wonder why Diddy Kong isn’t in it though. Is he going to be added when the new game comes out as well? My only real complaint would be that if they do have a DLC plan I wish they’d just tell us.
Astrokraken

Back to the future
Sounds to me that something pretty serious was going on behind the scenes at The Last Of Us show and I’m going to bet I was because of the bad response to the second season. It was very obviously a major step down from the first one but whether that was because they weren’t listening to Neil Druckmann or because they were I don’t know.

So either he walked away or was kicked out, I don’t know if we’ll ever find out but hopefully that’s Naughty Dog’s gain. I imagine the terrible state of Sony in the last few years must’ve made the idea of making a prestige TV show a lot more appealing, but if Sony are shifting back to single-player games maybe he feels this is the time to get involved again.

His previous games speak for themselves, but every successful person gets to the point where they start believing their own hype and Intergalactic has the whiff of that about it. We badly need a new story-based exclusive on PlayStation 5 though, so I hope it turns out to be a good one. And the other secret one, whatever it is.

I feel like everything Sony has been doing this gen has been pulling away from the PlayStation 4 and while everyone’s hoping that they U-turn on it all they’ve never said they’re going to. I don’t think they’ve even admitted things have changed.

The further we get away from it, the more obvious it is that the PlayStation 4 was the sweet spot for Sony and probably gaming as a whole. Amazing graphics but just cheap enough to make and turn a profit. I can only hope we get back to that soon but in these last few years we’ve already lost Xbox, so who knows what other disasters are coming.
Casper

Call of Battlefield
I used to play all the Battlefield series. They were fantastic and the graphics were phenomenal. Then came Battlefield 2042, what an absolute disaster… disappointing! I am sure I am talking for hundreds of thousands of other players.

The battleships were fantastic but the game had too many players going all over the place. Just too many players, it was a mess… a disaster. Look at how Call Of Duty does it.
Anon

Summer gaming
Some excellent summer games choices by GC viewers and awesome to have Mario Kart World have Wave Race style courses. Although this summer may be taken up by another game designed by a certain Kojima character.

I think, generally speaking, the second Death Stranding game has been accepted by most gamers as another classic, which is probably incomparable to anything else other than the first game in this series.

I’ll be getting stuck into this game soon but even though I’ll be avoiding spoilers, I would be very surprised if it meant anything as by the time I get to that point in the game, I’d probably have context and only then understand it… possibly understand it!

Straight away, from a brief play of Death Stranding, the controls and menu functions are reminiscent of Kojima’s design methods for the last couple of decades, with the familiar sounds and cursor operations all ringing true to Metal Gear and other games by the famous designer.

Things I noticed are graphical moments which always make me double take, such as the lifelike characters models, which have definitely come a long way since the last title. I came in on a Twitch content creator’s stream recently and saw a photo opportunity with three girls and literally thought they were real people on the screen, until I realised it was Death Stranding 2 I was watching.

The concept of what is technically a walking simulator at first has always fascinated me. I can’t wait to see the new methods of transport you get to experience as the world’s exploration opens up to the player.

Obviously, the other main draw is the acting by some very well-known actors including Troy Baker, Elle Fanning, Léa Seydoux, and of course Norman Reedus. These actors and the others show the seriousness of the game Kojima imagines and wants shown to play out the far out and deep nature of the tale.

Of course, the music will be epic and well thought out, plus the original score taking us through the many moments of cinematic events. So chuffed to finally be playing another game of the year contender with another big congratulations to Hideo Kojima the dream maker, continuing to take us on a journey through his unique mind.
Alucard

Inbox also-rans
I wish I was Phil Spencer. I could do whatever I want, get paid millions, and then when everything goes wrong and none of my plans work… absolutely nothing happens.
Focus

Xbox is one thing but when I see crazy things like having 100 million people playing Battlefield 6 I begin to wonder whether there’s anyone sane in charge anywhere in the games industry.
Bagley

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