The evening Inbox learns more about the misery of movie VFX houses, as one reader misses the chance to recommend a new Wii U bundle.
To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk
Out of gas
Now that Mario Kart 8 is out and earning all the praise I wonder whether Sega is ever going to make another Sonic & All-Stars Racing sequel? I don’t own a Wii U and am not going to buy one just for one game, and certainly not when I feel Sega’s game is so good. Played on a PC the graphics are amazing and at least as good as anything I’ve seen from the Wii U game.
Since nothing’s ever been announced and the game never seems to have sold that well I’m guess another one is probably out of the question but for me I always preferred Sega to Nintendo and it’s sad to think that basically their entire legacy is now no longer viable. Like they can barely even get Sonic games to sell anymore.
So sad. I kind of wish someone else would buy them out and do something with it all, but I just guess their time has passed and every year there’s less and less people that remember when they were something other than a PC publisher.
NikoFever
Sold out
So I was just going to email you and tell you about a deal on GAME that had a Wii U with four free games including Mario Kart 8 (so five games if you add in its offer) for just £250. Only it’s already sold out and they’ve taken it off the site. To me this is just further proof that people are interested in the Wii U, at least now that it has some decent games, and it’s only the marketing and price that’s keeping them back.
Well, not even the price really, just a decent enough bundle. Nintendo has been pretty rubbish at that so far though and I’m worried that they won’t really bother this Christmas and will be just satisfied at doing better than before. But put in Mario Kart 8, Smash Bros, and maybe a couple of other lesser games for £250 and I think it could really clean-up.
Michael K.
The longest journey
I am going on holiday next week and that entails a long car journey, which in turn gives an opportunity for new games on my iPad. Are XCOM, Civilization, Another World, and Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic decent ports for iPad? Keep up the good work.
Will
Currently playing: Pokémon Y and Zelda: A Link Between Worlds
GC: XCOM is an excellent port, almost the whole game, but if you mean Civilization Revolution 2 we weren’t impressed with that at all. We haven’t played the other two on iPad, but like any action game we can’t imagine Another World works very well. Knights Of The Old Republic is probably a much better better, but perhaps a reader can comment in more detail.
Real racing sequel
I’ve been playing GRID Autosport a lot the last couple of weeks and have to say it’s the best racing game I’ve played in a long time. I’m really enjoying the career and online modes. I’ve read a lot of comments by gamers not bothering with this game because of the mess that was GRID 2, Codemasters should have released this game instead of the last one as it would have done a lot better and saved Codemasters the backlash.
But they have only themselves to blame. Anyone who enjoyed the original GRID should give this one a go, in some aspects I think it’s a better game than the original and I played that game to death up until last year.
On another note, I went to a friends and had a go on his PlayStation 4, I have to say I was fairly impressed except that he’s had it only a few months and all three of his controllers have got the rubber on the analogue sticks starting to come off and he’s not a heavy gamer. I just wondered if this is something Sony are going to sort out as I’ve read a lot of other
gamers having the same problem.
When you consider how much these controllers cost it should be a priority of Sony to sort it out and is really putting me off getting the console especially as in every shop I’ve been in to play on the console there’s no rubber on the controllers either, but the Xbone controllers have always been fine.
robbie.j
GC: It was a problem with a certain batch of them apparently, ours have always been fine.
The patient fan
I got a shiny new pad from Sony on Monday. I guess they couldn’t fix the old one’s thumbstick pad. Very pleased with the whole process. Would recommend anyone with a shoddy pad to get in touch with them. Time to get back on Dead Nation as I wait for Oddworld: New ‘N’ Tasty, which I now hear will be £2 cheaper and come with some extra pre-order style goodies for early adopters. More good vibes from the developer and I really hope it’s a success for them.
On the subject of pre-order bonuses; definitely not going to start pre-ordering from a certain retailer for the privilege of a skin or map pack/weapon. I think those minor kind of things should be unlockables in games and really don’t affect my buying habits.
The extra levels in Alien Isolation though are a different thing. They sound great, link directly into the games set up and are proper fan service. So their exclusion from the standard edition, to my eye, fragments the game. I’m a massive Alien fan who bought Dark Horse comics circa ‘92, was obsessed with the Alien 3 production, even paid for an alternative script pre-Internet. But I personally would be prepared to wait for the inevitable ‘complete’ edition due spring 2015.
Keep up the good work.
AWB-78 (PSN ID)
Late night reveal
Heads up to all the admirers of the Fatal Frame/Project Zero games, aka one of the greatest survival horror franchises of all time. the latest version on the Wii U is to be revealed on Thursday the 17th at 1.30pm Japanese time, so that’s 5.30am UK time! I can’t wait!
But I swear, if the GamePad isn’t used to reflect the ghost-busting camera obscura in the game then… agrhhhhhh!
Galvanized Gamer
PS: Inbox magic for a Western release of Fatal Frame(much better name than Project Zero) Wii U!
The waiting game
On expensive download prices: Microsoft and Sony don’t have to compete with the retailers. They won’t lose much by leaving them available for download and they don’t have stock to shift, they will already have their cuts from the retailers and anything downloaded by the eager/lazy is free money. On the bright side it will be much easier to find older games in the future if they keep a full digital backlog available.
Peter
GC: That’s not the issue. Microsoft and Sony daren’t sell cheap downloadable games, as traditional retailers would revolt and refuse to stock physical games. Games companies are just waiting until physical sales are a small enough piece of the pie that they can afford to rock the boat.
Don’t do it yourself
I am rather intrigued by Mario Maker for the Wii U. I have always enjoyed Mario’s 2D games and have always wanted to make some levels. So, do you know if you can make multiple levels, worlds, and secrets exits? Or is it more basic than that?
Also, do you think you may be able to trade levels online with friends? I know it’s not out until next year, but any info would help please.
Dark.Anima.X (gamertag/PSN ID/NN ID)
GC: We wondered that about secret exits/worlds, but nobody seemed to know when we played the demo. You can definitely share levels online though. However, to be honest the concept doesn’t really excite us and we lost interest in the preview after just a few minutes.
Off the grid
My PlayStation 3 recommendation for Peter would be Valkyria Chronicles. It is a tactics game like Fire Emblem but does not have a grid. Instead you get a meter for how far you can travel.
It is one of my favourite games of the generation and also has a somewhat disappointing PSP sequel. (Two sequels if you include the third game, which was not released in Europe).
PazJohnMitch
Catch up on every previous Games Inbox here
Negative effect
In response to John Ryan’s letter regarding the Lorne Lanning interview and film visual effects companies, the company that did the Life of Pi effects were Rhythm & Hues and you can watch their documentary here. As with the Lorne Lanning interview it is fascinating, sad, and depressing.
In a nutshell when a film is being developed the many effects companies have to bid for the effects work, they are all desperate for the work competing against each other so they all put in the lowest bid they can for the amount of shots needed.
Once a bid is accepted then that’s it, the director/producers can then request additional shots months later and the VFX company has to basically do the extra work – which can constitute hundreds of man hours for no extra payment as the price has been agreed. But their artists still need paying.
It’s a similar situation to the video games industry where artists regularly move from one company to the next as they need a regular wage. This documentary is trying to spread the word and eventually cause change in how companies and their staff are paid.
Rolph
Inbox also-rans
Just tried NormCJ’s finger in the ear routine (to get the Pac-Man sound effect). Alas, it didn’t work. All I got was a ringing sound and a perforated eardrum.
Richumz (gamertag)
I just found my old plastic Guitar Hero guitar. So strange to think how quickly these went out of fashion…
Inky
This week’s Hot Topic
The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader Dominic, who asks what’s your favourite smartphone or tablet game?
Whether iOS, Android, or Windows Phone it doesn’t matter, and you can include versions of games that originated on consoles or elsewhere. You can even include a mini-review if you like (no longer than 100 words please) and a top three if you can’t quite decide which is best.
But we also want to know what you think of mobile games in general and whether you play them a lot, only when other games are impossible, or not at all. The iPhone is seven years old this month, so what do you think of its legacy and influence on the games industry as a whole?
E-mail your comments to: gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk
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