The morning Inbox praises Destiny’s social experience, as one reader ponders the missing missions of GTA V.
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To talk or not to talk
As I get stuck into Darksiders II, which is shaping up to becoming the best free Games With Gold so far, I can’t help thinking about what Nintendo have in store for us in the next home console Zelda… and also whether Link will finally get a voiceover!
ttfp saylow (gamertag)
Now playing: Darksiders II and Gears Of War 3(!)
GC: An interesting question, but you haven’t stated what your position on it is.
Strategy match
Hey GC and friends. Just want to put out a word of praise for the great PS Vita game Frozen Synapse Prime, and would like to give out my PSN ID to any fellow GCers that would like to add me and play online, as it is quite hard to find a match.
The few matches I have had have been truly tense battles that last a few days taking turns but immensely satisfying when a strategy comes together and a joy to watch play out in real-time in the replay.
Bucke7head1337 (PSN ID)
GC: We’ve not played the PS Vita version but the PC one was indeed great.
Missing in action
In a recent story about the new version of Grand Theft Auto V the retail guy who saw the preview was convinced that the game must have been made for PlayStation 4/Xbox One and had been scaled down to fit onto PlayStation 3/Xbox 360.
If this is true it may be the answer to something which has been bothering me about my PlayStation 3 version. When I entered the docks on a mission, a cut scene gave me a glimpse of a full size submarine. Later in the game I came back to this area to see if I could get on board and take it out to sea. Alas, it was still under construction and my dreams of doing a ‘Red October’ were dashed.
Similarly, one of the early trailers seemed to show a mission involving a jet fighter. There were jets in the finished game but they didn’t feature in any missions. Is it possible that with the increased processing power of the new generation of consoles we will see this game as it was intended with a sub that can be launched and some missions which include jet fighters just as San Andreas did?
Mousechime
GC: We doubt it was made for the next gen consoles, but we can certainly imagine it being designed for a high end PC. Which amounts to the same thing for the purposes of what you’re saying. And now you mention it, it is odd there was no jet fighter story mission. It was very prominent in that early trailer.
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Social gaming
There has been a lot of talk about Destiny recently, both good and bad and both here and elsewhere, and I think the game has been misjudged somewhat.
First and foremost, yes most of the criticism of the game is right. Yes, the story is terrible; yes, the game has ‘locked content’ based on level; yes, the game is nowhere near what it could have been. There is probably a lot more that is probably true about it as well, including the massive comparisons to Halo in all but name.
It did strike me as a game that I would get bored with easy, and that even made me stave off finishing all the story missions on the basis of once they are done then that’s it. But recently I have finally unlocked the true fun factor behind the game: friends. A good friend of mine was online every now and again and I never paid too much attention to that until about a week or so ago. Inviting him to play the weekly strike and he accepted, and since then I have had some of the most fun I have had since, well Halo online.
The fact we can just sit and chat to each other, or recruit others into our party is great, we can discuss the game and work together. Most importantly his higher level has made me improve as well, changing guns out my comfort zone and seeing the game become easier as a result.
Even for example today, I was playing the daily mission and having someone drop in at the end and helping out from my friends list (if from here then I thank you) makes the game a great social game away from simply match making and chatting in a party. There is nothing more fun in failure then recruiting four other random people and chatting away whilst you fail over and over at the Vault of Glass, but knowing you are doing it as a team rather than because you have to be together.
That is the true fun factor in Destiny and playing it limitedly and not for hours every day makes the game a pick up and play and most importantly fun game to play.
Sacred innocence (PSN ID)
Art vs. artist
Just wanted to put my twopence worth in on a letter from Dark Sapphire, with regards to Phil Fish. I remember watching Indie Game: The Movie one late night a while ago, I found the film a fascinating watch. The mateys behind Braid and Super Meat Boy were compelling to listen to. However Phil Fish came across as a bit of a git if you ask me.
I have played FEZ since and after it’s difficult birth I was expecting something a bit better than mediocre, again my opinion and one that might be tarnished by my views on Mr Fish. Some might say I am being harsh but the man’s constant ‘woe is me’ ramblings really got up my nose.
On a completely different note, it’s my actual bona fide birthday today! It’s extra special because I have thought for the last 12 months that I was gonna be 33 where, as It has been brought to my attention recently, I am in fact going to be 32! A whole year given back to me, what better present can you ask for? Apart from a race-car bed obviously!
Stay frosty everyone!
SolidPete82 (PSN ID/NN ID)
GC: A very happy birthday to you!
Ask the experts
In response to writer mallymoon’s letter. Try Racketbot, which has good coverage of retro titles and their values. It’s an American site, it covers some variants and special editions. I cannot see reference to the games you mention but you could ask the question on one of the forums. I hope this is helpful.
Ooohhh yeahhh (gamertag/PSN ID)
GC: That does seem very helpful, thank you.
Sow’s ear
Bradmartin1066’s letter highlighted why we don’t have any decent video game movies. All of the worst talent in Hollywood has dominated the genre and buy up the rights to any forthcoming game and suck it down into their whirlpool of mediocrity.
When you have washed up B-movie actors passing back and forth between dodgy, tax-evading production companies and directors like Uwe Boll and Paul W.S. Anderson what more can you expect.
If every racing game was made by the worst developer in town we’d have people saying it was impossible to make a decent racing game wouldn’t we?
Speaking of Paul W.S. Anderson, if anyone wants a good laugh then watch the recent Pompeii. It is the most unintentionally hilarious film I’ve seen in years. Me and my wife laughed more than we have in most recent comedies. Imagine a poor man’s Gladiator mixed with a poor man’s Titanic and a pinch of The Horse Whisperer and you have the idea. Kiether Sutherland gives the stand-out comedy performance of the year.
On the subject of sore fingers I think I really might be getting old. Playing Split/Second again recently (best arcade racer ever?) I’ve found I have to take breaks between races so my trigger finger doesn’t cramp up. This never happened last time I played it. Worrying.
@PjDonnelli
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The tipping point
I don’t buy this vague notion that retailers are somehow forcing Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo into inflating the price of digital. It makes absolutely no sense and I can very much imagine it’s a bit of a red herring thrown out by all involved. Retailers don’t want to draw attention to the alternative (and inevitably dominant) competition by discussing its current and future state and the argument that they are needed to sell the actual machines is just nonsense of the highest order.
I don’t doubt the number of hardware units shifted by GAME, Amazon, ShopTo, etc. will be the leading route of getting the machines to the consumer but they aren’t exactly in a position to play hardball. There’s general retailers, supermarkets, the manufacturers official sites (Apple don’t exactly struggle getting their hardware sold do they?). What exactly are they going to say to Microsoft or Sony? ‘Well, unless you agree to sell your games, on your own store at vastly inflated prices just to make us look good and keep us in business for another couple of years, we’re not going to sell your machines and we’ll forego our £40 profit per machine just to y’know, teach you a lesson and, erm, show you how much you need us.’
Yeah right. Also, that’s hugely illegal in Europe and in essence is price collusion.
I’d say at the moment it’s the fact that it’s a relatively new avenue of retail (for full price console games anyway) and there’s quite a lot of ground rules to be set in this area – how much are people willing to pay for the ease of digital, does exclusive content work for increasing sales, pre-order figures, increase in sales with price drops, etc.
All new technologies also come with a premium figure attached until the number of sales bring it to its tipping point where it becomes mass market and the pricing tends to tumble. Don’t forget that this is all also going to be tied into the quality of people’s web connections and download speeds too, and things aren’t quite there yet for the majority of the population.
Plus, at the moment I don’t think it’s viewed as the manufacturer’s primary source of income and so they’re just happy to price as high as possible and get what they can before they turn their full attention to it when the consumer market is fully ready.
I do however think that there may be a point in the future (at least in this country) for the competition commission to investigate how these games are sold to us. If everything is digital and tied to only one store front per machine how on earth can this be viewed as anything other than a monopoly? If literally the only place to buy Uncharted 6 is from Sony’s digital store then that’s not gonna fly in this country is it?
Looking up at all this I’m guessing it’s all going to be a bit long for a letter but you know, rant over.
Matthew
GC: It’s really not that new, Microsoft and Sony have been selling retail games as digital downloads for very many years now. And a pricing tipping point is only relevant with physical goods, there isn’t some expensive-to-rent warehouse filling up with unsold digital downloads. That said, we did make it clear that the prevailing theory is unproven; but we don’t find any of the other alternatives any more plausible. We’ll try asking Jim Ryan next time we see him.
Inbox also-rans
I’m beginning to come around to the idea of 2014 being a bad year for games. It’s the middle of October and I can’t say anything out at the moment really takes my fancy.
Gadfly
I have a spare Pokémon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire demo code if anyone wants it. I somehow managed to get my hands on four of them. Can’t wait for the game though.
J3PTA (gamertag)/JTamaX2 (NN ID)
GC: That’s very good of you, we’ll pass it on to whoever sends us the best picture of a pokémon made in MS Paint (or equivalent).
This week’s Hot Topic
Given all the negativity surrounding gaming at the moment this weekend’s Inbox asks what’s your happiest video game-related memory?
It can be any moment from any time, although you’ll get extra kudos points if it happened this year – just to try and up the positivity. Perhaps it was simply an enjoyable single-player adventure, or a multiplayer game with friends? Maybe it was a chance to connect with a new friend or relative? Or an amusing or heart-warming incident that wouldn’t have happened without video games.
Do you regard games as a positive influence in your life and have they ever helped you through a difficult period, or had any other live-changing impact? What is it about games that makes them different to other forms of entertainment and is there anything that could get you to stop playing them?
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