The Wednesday Inbox wishes there were more football games to rival FIFA, as one reader asks why rumours have got so accurate during the pandemic.
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I’ll buy that for a high price
I have to say I’m not entirely sure the complaints about GTA Trilogy Definitive Edition being too expensive are all that fair. In general, I agree that £70 (or £65) is too much but we’re talking about remasters of three massive games here and as long as they can demonstrate the games aren’t just boosted to 4K and 60fps I think that’s pretty fair.
I don’t know if you’ve played GTA 3, or any of the others, lately but the thing plays like an absolute dog. I certainly wouldn’t want to be the one to update it to modern standards but if that’s what they manage to do then I think £65 is reasonable.
It’s been the truth for a long time now but there’s a real question with working out value for money for games nowadays. Between microtransactions, bloated open world games, and DLC being held back for later there’s no easy way to say a game is or isn’t worth it. Some games that are £60 or £70 are absolutely worth it, or more, while some that are £10 aren’t. The answer is probably to have much more variety in prices, but I think in this case the high price is justified.
Chumley-Warner
The best of Samus
Very happy to say see Metroid Dread doing so well, both critically and commercial. I’ve got it and an OLED model booked in for my birthday at the end of the month but I’m curious what readers and GC think is the best of the series? Super Metroid and Metroid Prime are widely accepted as 10/10 games so I guess it’s third? Or maybe Zero Mission is?
Like you said in your review, it’s a very high quality franchise with only a few duds – and most of those quite recently. I like that the way back for it was just to go back to the roots and make a good Metroidvania, no massive gimmicks (the whole robot thing seems a fairly natural evolution of Fusion) and just good solid game design. Or at least that’s what I’m read, I hope it turns out that way when I play it myself.
Dorf
PS: Next step for rehabilitation: F-Zero!
GC: We would probably have it as the third best, behind Metroid Prime and Super Metroid. Zero Mission is great as well though, so we’d have to play them all again to be sure.
No secrets
I’m not in the slightest bit surprised about the GTA remasters costing £70. The thing I’m more interested in is why the boxed versions aren’t going to be out this year for next gen. That sounds like a lot of missed money at Christmas and is basically the only part of the rumours that I don’t necessarily believe.
I am amazed though at just how many rumours there are nowadays and how accurate they are. I realise GC is cherry-picking the believable seeming ones but even so I can’t remember the last time something was announced that hadn’t been previously leaked.
It’s not like the internet is new or anything so what has happened in the last year or so that’s changed how things work? Covid obviously, but why should that make rumours more commonplace? I can only assume that it’s either friends or family members finding out what someone is working on at home or just the fact that people not all being in the same place any more means that information is just getting spread out and more and leaking through the gaps.
Grackle
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20 years of objections
Another big anniversary that many probably didn’t notice, but has not gone unnoticed by Capcom, is that it was the 20th anniversary of Ace Attorney on Tuesday. Never a big seller but I love those games and it’s one of the few that my girlfriend enjoys as well.
There seem to have been some physical events in Japan, plus an anniversary website with some new merch that’s probably impossible to get hold of here.
No new game announcements but the fact that they made that amount of effort is encouraging to me. I would’ve loved to have seen Phoenix as the final Smash character.
Pinky
Banana decision
The thing I’ve never understood about Fortnite is why it doesn’t have any memorable characters. I know it has got some named ones but it’s only really hardcore fans (aka my son) that know who they are and Jonesey is the only one that they actually seem to push in the cut scenes and so on.
Not that I care either way but I can’t help imagining they’ll regret that when it comes to things like making a movie or cartoon show, which probably would’ve happened a lot sooner if there had been proper characters to base it around.
When they inevitably try to cast Chris Pratt there won’t be any outrage because nobody will know or care who the character even is. At most they’ll go, ‘I didn’t realise the banana had a name’.
Kramer
Metroid puns
I almost Kraid tears of joy at the news that Metroid Dread is off to a great start in the UK by already becoming the fastest selling entry in the series since Metroid Prime (and that’s not including digital sales). And it seems to be charting very well around the globe. Talk about an E.M.M.I.diate success story.
Now I’m no clairvoyant or anything but I’m going to predict it goes on to sell around five to six million copies by the end of March 2022. Inbox magic.
We could be looking at a future where the series remains in a state of prime commercial viability for a long time. Now go out and support this wonderful, super influential franchise. Samus has returned!
Galvanized Gamer
PS: Obligatory admission: Having finished it a second time, around a year ago, I still maintain that Metroid: Other M is a subpar Metroid game, with some painfully contrived moments, but still a very competent action adventure game with some good combat mechanics and memorable set pieces and bosses. It’s a 6.5 to 7/10 game in my eyes.
DadJokeCentral
Thanks GC and Mcfly1888 for the game suggestions, it seems like there’s loads of good retro/indie games to choose from. I also recently noticed that one of the games I was looking forward to on the Wii U back in the day (Rive), got released on the Switch instead so that’s a bonus.
Poor joke of the day: Why has it taken Nintendo this long to release a new Metroid game? Because Metroids drain energy!
Netwoim
Play the football
It’s been a while since EA have released a title without FIFA in the name.
It reminds me of when they had all the spin-off games. I remember having The F.A. Premier League Stars on my PC around 1999-2000. It had only English league teams and a system of earning stars to upgrade player stats.
I also remember FIFA: Road To World Cup 98 and World Cup 98 being out. Unfortunately. World Cup 98 wasn’t on the Saturn and I didn’t have a PC yet. So I have never played that one.
It’s interesting that there are so few footie titles nowadays. On my Amiga alone I had Sensible Soccer, Sensible World Of Soccer, Total Football, Striker, Goal!, Kick Off 3, Football Glory, Eat The Whistle. and John Barnes European Football.
The good old days (well, maybe not Kick Off 3).
Commodore Fan
Inbox also-rans
It’s an old meme on Reddit and I’m obviously not the first to notice, but reading the GC article about the GTA remaster was quite jarring when I read that three GTA games were released on PlayStation 2 but GTA 5 has been released on three generations of consoles.
Mitchell
GC: If you count PSP ports Liberty City Stories and Vice City Stories, technically there were five.
After spending a few hours playing Metroid Dread I’ve discovered that I’ve become quite obsessed with colouring in all the tiles on the map screen when Samus enters each room/location. Was wondering if anyone else is also doing this? Is it OCD or am I just weird?
Smokin_Monkey
This week’s Hot Topic
The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader Bernardo, who asks what is your favourite platform game?
It can be a 2D or 3D platformer but which have you enjoyed the most and why? Do you enjoy the genre in general and are you happy with how it’s evolved over the years? What do you think have been some of the best new ideas to appear in recent years and how do you hope things will change in the new generation?
You can include games that are parts of other genres, such as Metroidvanias, as long as the platforming is the main gameplay element.
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The small print
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MORE : Games Inbox: PS5 prices on eBay, Joy-Cons part numbers, and Battlefield 2042 colour blindness
MORE : Weekend Hot Topic, part 2: Favourite video game sound effect
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