The Tuesday letters page examines the legacy of the Nintendo 3DS, as one reader is glad there’ll be no Xbox equivalent to PS5 Pro.
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Simply the best
Nice review of Mario & Luigi: Brothership, GC. I Don’t think I’ll be getting it, but it’s nice to know the Nintendo Switch will be going out on a relative high. It really has been an amazing console and I think there’s good arguments to say it’s the best Nintendo console ever and maybe even the best console off all time.
I don’t think there’s any question that it’s Nintendo’s best, given the non-stop conveyor belt of classic games, with almost every major franchise getting best or near-best entries (just don’t mention F-Zero). But the console itself is also amazing in its own right, with the detachable Joy-Cons, and portable and TV modes.
Admittedly, there’s very little third party support, which is why I’m happy for some people to say it can’t be the best ever – but for me it is. If Switch 2 can repeat the trick and get third party games on top… now that could be the console to end all consoles.
Lurgie
One of a kind
RIP the 3DS. I can’t say it was my favourite Nintendo console but it was definitely still a good one. This was the point where Nintendo realised that dedicated consoles had reached their natural end and they were sensible enough to just let it go and try something new instead, which led to the Switch.
Funny that we should get stories about the last (probably) first party Switch game and the death of the 3DS on the same day but that’s natural progression for you. Nintendo said the Switch would last 10 years and we all laughed but now we see they weren’t exaggerating at all, they were spot on.
I don’t think they ever put a prediction on the 3DS but it never lasted as long as the DS, for the above reasons, but I think it had a fine history. It’s been mentioned a bit recently but strangely I find myself thinking mostly fondly about StreetPass. That was such a weird and unique addition to the 3DS that we may never see the likes of again. I kind of like that, the opposite of endless sequels.
Burnside
Just say no
What I love about the PS5 Pro is how it’s obviously going to be forgotten about five minutes after it’s released. I mean, who ever talked about the PS4 Pro once it was out and everyone realise it didn’t make any real difference (and no one bought it anyway)?
I’ll criticise Xbox for a lot of things but not getting drawn into making an Xbox Series Y mid-gen upgrade is a very good idea. Their line-up is confusing enough for ordinary punters and I like to think they realised that the whole concept of an upgrade console is a cash grab that doesn’t need to happen.
The Bishop
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Just one more hour
Last night I picked up Vampire Survivors on the Switch. I’d kept my eye on it since its big win at last year’s BAFTAs, but currently on sale for little over a few quid, this past weekend was as good a time as any to take the plunge (not that it’s ever more than £4 at full price).
And what a game! I’d heard it was addictive, but this went further than I was expecting. I spent my first couple of goes figuring out how the game actually works and strategising the best way to survive. I soon unlocked a few new characters and a plethora of upgrades and made it my mission to survive for at least 10 minutes.
After a couple more attempts, I made it to 12 minutes. ‘What a great way to spend half an hour,’ I thought, before noticing that it had been over two hours.
James
Non-exclusive games
It’s not being particularly controversial to say that exclusives are absolutely key to selling consoles, particularly at the start of a generation.
That said, exclusives matter to Sony and Nintendo and Microsoft, but to us gamers how much do they actually matter if there are good games to be played on your console of choice? We’ve had a couple of cracking years for games, does it really matter who makes them?
Exclusive games are absolutely a reason to go for one console over another but once you’ve made your choice you could theoretically love a specific console, even without any exclusives at all, as long as its life coincides with some great years for games. The Xbox 360 was a little like that for me.
Matt (he_who_runs_away – PSN ID)
GC: It matters if they stop making them.
Terrifying proposal
Sad to see that Slitterhead is a dud but I’m very suspicious of any game that is that secretive before launch. They never turn out well, it seems, since if they didn’t have anything to hide they would’ve done more previews, etc. Although to be honest I don’t think Forbidden Siren was very good and Silent Hill 2 is so much better than the first one. If you ask me the guy’s non-horror games are much better, with Gravity Rush.
The main problem though, which you talked about in your review, is that we’ve had one of the biggest batches of horror games in years and all of them are these weak-willed modern style of horror that’s, at best, a bit spooky. Obviously, I have not played them all but when a horror game has a 15 rating or lower you know something’s up. Assassin’s Creed games have an 18 rating and the only thing horrific about them is the bloat.
I just wish a plucky indie developer would make something that blew the other big budget games out of the water, but we haven’t really had that either. We need the video game equivalent of Terrifier or The Exorcist or something else that is off the chain and is only interested in freaking you out, not just making you mildly nervous.
If you’re making a horror game, make it horrible. If you’re not going to then just don’t bother. I just hope Alien Isolation 2 turns out well enough to prove a game can be big budget and frightening at the same time.
Dashonede
Everything or nothing
I’m no fan of censorship but I can’t say I’m especially upset about any country banning games like GTA 5, which are so frequently bought by children. As a parent I’d rather no one gets to play it than it be played by so many impressionable children.
It’s like Call Of Duty: technically it’s an 18-rating but traditionally it’s filled with nothing but teenage boys. I’m not surprised that if they’ve all left for Fortnite and elsewhere that Black Ops 6 suddenly feels like a new game without them.
Merion
No time for caution
Horizon Zero Dawn is a weird franchise. I don’t think anyone hates it, but I also find it very hard to imagine anyone loves it. It’s very well made but it’s also very… above average. Some things are great, like the graphics and how you fight the robot dinosaurs but everything else is kind of mid, without ever being bad.
I do agree that it could probably do with being a bit more ‘fun’, in terms of the tone and the characters, and maybe that’s where the Lego game is going to go. But I can’t imagine them continuing with its style into the standard games, even if that probably would be a good idea.
I’d play a third game but what I like best about Horizon is that it was at least a big budget new IP. I now wonder whether we’ll see one of these on the PlayStation 5, since all we’ve had so far are sequels and remakes. I guess you could say Wolverine was a new game, but it’s hardly a new IP, and it’s a shame that all the recent new ones, like Horizon and Ghost Of Tsushima, were on the PlayStation 4.
I’m not as angry with Sony as some at the moment but for me the big problem with releasing so few games is that it doesn’t leave a space for new IP. I get new franchises are a risk but if they only have one big game every year they’re never going to make that something risky.
Zeiss
Inbox also-rans
I’d mock GTA 6 fans for their ridiculous theories and predictions but I’m genuinely beginning to feel for them, given how long it is since they’ve had any news. Rockstar really is stringing this out.
Gocko
I do appreciate how GC keeps beating the drum for Sony to do something about Bloodborne, it really is a mystery why they seem to hate it so much. And why hasn’t there been any talk of a movie? Not that I particularly want one but if rubbish like Days Gone can why not Bloodborne?
Xenu
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