Wednesday's letters page expresses surprise that Sony has not announced an official GTA 6 and PlayStation 5 console bundle, while another reader looks forward to a new Dizzy game from the original creators.
Christmas is cancelled
One reader admits they don't understand what's going on with GameStop and the PS5 Pro prices, but they're sure it's a taste of things to come. With GTA 6 barely more than a month away, they note decisions will have to be made soon if you haven't got a console to play it on, which companies and scalpers will make as expensive as possible.
The reader is still very surprised that no official GTA 6 and PlayStation 5 console bundle has been announced. They know a few stores have sold them together but they were expecting a unique box and maybe a bit of extra DLC. It seemed a dead cert when the marketing deal with Sony was first announced, but if they're going to do it, they're leaving it very late. They would've thought a PS5 Pro bundle would've been put up as the most desirable gift for Christmas, but they assume now that they just haven't got enough to go around.
Zombie overkill
Another reader says they really enjoyed playing Teardown and on consoles they recently added multiplayer. It has so many fun modes and reminds them a lot of playing Forge mode in Halo 3, which they and their mates spent hundreds of hours on. The only problem is if you want to join randoms; they all only seem to want to play Zombie Horde mode, which they're so bored of.
They think this is part of the problem with the games industry, in that it's just mostly kids playing the same type of games, so companies aren't bothered taking risks with anything else or bothered to add other modes.
Rob Episode One
One reader would like to echo the love for Star Wars: Galactic Racer, which is so far exceeding their expectations. It's super fast, not a bug in sight, and amazingly nostalgic if you're a prequel kid. It seems to be doing quite well too, which is a relief. They're a reasonably big Star Wars fan but admit their biggest interest in the game doing well is whether it will convince Sony to make a new WipEout or Nintendo a new F-Zero.
There are those rumours of Sony wanting to revive old PS1 era franchises, so they're hoping WipEout has a reasonable chance. Although they're not sure who they'd use to make it. They doubt Nintendo pays much attention to how other people's games are doing but it definitely can't hurt for them to see that similar games are successful. They love future racers and it's been a real shame they've fallen out of fashion.
Ruby anniversary
Another reader just read the letter from John about Fears Reloaded, which brings back some memories, and notes the game is looking very nice. They say this year has been a wonderful time for retro gaming. Not only have we had the Alien Breed 35th Anniversary collection but Apidya' Special released fairly quietly at the end of last month and is a wonderful modern remake of the Amiga game. Then you have Dizzy on the horizon with a surprise announcement for the 40th anniversary.
These high number anniversaries make them feel old but it's good to see this all happening. They wonder if Sega is doing anything for Alex Kidd's 40th next month.
Two year limit
One reader doesn't imagine there's many people on here that care much about NBA 2K25 but they call it disgusting that they're shutting the game down after two years and aren't even letting you play the single-player of the game you've bought. And apparently this has been going on for years? So presumably most people are fine with it. It really does seem like we have the video games industry we deserve a lot of the time. So much of it is a rip-off but people just put up with it.
They remember when 2K were rumoured to be getting the FIFA licence, now EA doesn't have it? They may still get it for all we know, so who would be willing to go along with the two year rule if it was football? They don't imagine many people are playing EA Sports FC 25 right now, so they're sure 2K won't see it as a problem. You've got to be doing bad when you make EA look like the good guy.
Opposites attract
In response to Big Boy Bent, one reader says they'd actually say give Donkey Kong Bananza a chance. They felt the same, even after the great reviews; they thought the whole destruction aspect would annoy them. Turns out it became one of the greatest games they've ever played. They actually think it's better than Super Mario Odyssey! It's one of the few games they've ever played that completely reinvigorated their love for gaming. A masterpiece in their humble opinion.
As for GTA 6, they feel we live in such a different time now compared to when San Andreas came out. Also, the financial and cultural power of GTA 6 is too big for anyone to ban it. Even if an actual government tried to, they'd be met with opposition just based on how much money a game like this generates for the economy. They think Rockstar will just laugh and enjoy all the free publicity. It is a game they're very excited about though. People say it doesn't seem to be doing much new but having an open world with this amount of detail, interactivity, and polish has never been done before. Even every single character is individually created and has unique dialogue, elements like this could only be possible with a budget and time frame like GTA 6 has.
They're hoping we're finally going to get a GTA where each individual element, from the shooting to the driving to the minigames, are as solid and fleshed out as they would be in a more focused linear game. The element they're most looking forward to though is how we can influence Jason and Lucia's appearance/character. It will be interesting to play one as a professional criminal type who doesn't kill, goes to the gym, eats and sleeps well, and is attentive in the relationship. And then play the other character as a grubby, overweight psycho who leaves a trail of dead bodies and does lines of coke before each mission whilst being a bad partner. It'll be interesting see how the two personalities clash. They feel trying different combinations will be great fuel for replayability and also for content when it comes the streamers.
Prime Video
One reader hasn't completed Cyberpunk 2077 yet, but they saw yesterday that Cyberpunk: Edgerunners Season 1 on Blu-ray is currently £21.22 in the Amazon Prime sales, so picked it up for that price. When it first came out it was £34.99 and recently the price dropped to £24.99 and then to the new price of £21.22 for the Prime Sales. So good price.
Loss of Control
A reader was a fan of Alan Wake 2 and more so the original Control. Therefore Control: Resonant was a day one purchase for them. However, they can't help but wish they'd listened to your review. Whereas the original game had tight narrow corridors and office space it felt quite claustrophobic and when you went into a room you didn't know what enemies you might face. It felt almost like a horror game at times. The open world of the sequel feels quite dull and lifeless in comparison and although they find the way it plays with gravity quite interesting, and one of the better aspects of the game, they find getting from point A to point B to be perplexing. They seem to spend most their time trying to figure how to get to the next quest marker.
Their main issue though is the combat. They enjoyed the gunplay and the service pistol of the first game was a great weapon. Also, the powers pushed things to the next level. In the newest game though they feel like they're just hitting the same button repeatedly. There seems to be no nuance or complexity to the combat. A sequel for them should expand and refine the gameplay of its predecessor but for them the new Control feels a step back. It's not a bad game as such but a disappointing one. They don't know if others feel the same.
GC: They took a very odd direction with it. We get they didn't want to repeat themselves, but we found it inferior in every way to the original.
Inbox also-rans
As someone that played Watch Dogs Legion, out of curiosity because it was set in London, one reader would not recommend it, director's cut or not. They can't believe anyone involved in the game had ever been to the UK, let alone London.
Another reader asks if Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls was a flop after all, and says poor Arc System Works, they thought this was going to be their big breakout Western hit. Hopefully they'll be all right.
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