The morning Inbox is still trying to imagine the perfect Doctor Who game, as one reader tries to catch up on nine months of missed gaming.
To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk.
Next gen conspiracy
I know there’s a bit of disagreement over this but as far as I can see the general consensus is that the PlayStation 4 is quite a bit more powerful than the Xbox One, but what are the chances of developers taking advantage of that? Wouldn’t it be far more sensible – from a business point of view – for them to make games to the lowest common denominator, i.e. the Xbox One?
And rather than paying for exclusives wouldn’t it be in Microsoft’s best interests to bribe publishers to do that anyway? We’d never know, and probably Sony wouldn’t either. In fact I’m not convinced that hasn’t happen this gen already with PlayStation 3.
I know gamers have a habit for reaching for conspiracy theories, but the lead-up to this next generation has been such a dog’s dinner already I’m afraid that even when it gets going all the important stuff will be decided in shady behind the scenes deals.
Tom Meadows
If you build it, they will come
VVVLTRFTW. When I read RedHotBrick’s letter about the Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney film, I was immediately excited. Then when I read his recommendation to watch it as group it got me thinking, that someone should arrange a showing, then I thought why not me?
There are course a number of things to sort out, one of which is the level of interest. In my head I’m thinking about fairly large gathering, maybe even a charity event, but if the interest isn’t there I don’t think there is anything wrong with a more select gathering.
So if you are interested in seeing the film, or even better if you interesting in making an event happen, please get in touch. (I know you don’t publish e-mail addresses, so please put whatever you need here, my Twitter address is Mr_Ydir)
Mr Ydir (You’re Doing It Right)
PS: There is a English subtitled version available so that it one potential problem already overcome!
GC: We don’t print email addresses but we’re happy to forward them on to you, if that’s what the sender wants.
The Last of Evil
So I’ve just completed The Last Of Us and despite some iffy artificial intelligence, minor glitches, and frame rate issues aside it’s been a largely positive experience with some of the best cinematic this generation. I’m not sure if continuing the story of Joel and Ellie is really required in a sequel – if Naughty Dog are to do one I’d much rather they focus on new characters in new settings, after all a virus that’s taken over the world gives them endless possibilities.
Talking of viruses, if any developer could drag Resident Evil out of its current predicament and take it successfully back to its roots I’m sure Naughty Dog could. But realistically how likely could an alliance between them and Capcom be given that Sony own the studio – or rather do they own them outright?
Sam
GC: Naughty Dog is a wholly owned subsidiary of Sony Corp. So no chance whatsoever.
E-mail your comments to: gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk
The gaming outback
Since last October when my last Xbox 360 failed to read my Assassin’s Creed III game disc and all my other games, I took it upon myself to take a break from gaming after 23 years and in the last nine months a lot has happen. I got a promotion, married the woman of my dreams and now the sound of tiny feet are just round the corner, so with the late nights/early morning feeds due, I beg the peg for a Xbox 360 for my birthday just to make the late feeds more enjoyable if I can’t get back to sleep.
But I’ve been in the gaming outback I’ve heard about the big things in the gaming world like the Xbox One and PlayStation 4, but as for which games are worth my time over the last nine months I have no idea. So I come to you GameCentral, please can you name me five retail games. Any game is game but they have to have 20+ hour’s gameplay, thanks.
SideSwipe49 (gamertag)
PS: Huge Transformers fan.
GC: Well, the simplest thing to do would be to peruse the GameCentral and Readers’ Top 20s of 2012 and 2013. The 2012 charts are here and you’ve just reminded us to update the 2013 one here.
The Doctor is out
I think the trouble with making a Doctor Who game is one of budget and target demographic.
BBC Worldwide will never be generous with budgets for a ‘commissioned’ game so developers are hamstrung before they start and will never be able to make the game Doctor Who deserves.
If the game is targeted at the kids market it would inevitably be too simplistic and end up being most un-Who-like, probably with the Doctor running around shooting Cybermen with a sonic screwdriver in a platformer type game. If it’s aimed at the grown-ups it would probably be worse as they would simply lack the finances to make a game which could compete in a world of Mass Effects and Uncharteds.
So the solution? Licence it out to someone who can build a game loved by both children and adults (and can play together in a Doctor/companion co-op). Someone who can treat a well-loved series with the care, respect and humour the fans demand. Someone with experience and reputation in this area.
Ladies and gentlemen I give you… Lego Doctor Who.
ZOMBIE_JAY (PSN ID)
GC: You’re exactly right, except that we still think Telltale Games are the only ones likely to be able to do the concept justice. Especially as they’re used to working on a low budget. Not only are there no Lego Doctor Who toys but those Lego-ish micro-figures will probably ensure there never is.
Tribute band
RE: DMR. Isn’t Skyrim already a loose adaptation of the A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) novels? Practically every aspect of the plot and every faction is based on aspects of the novels. It’s a blatant tribute to this well established series. It’s just set in a more colourful, less gritty universe.
It’s one of the aspects I dislike about Skyrim (despite putting in 120 hours), the world just feels like a shallower, glossier version of the existing fantasy world(s) it’s based on. The clunkiness, clichéd plot/script and lack of depth kept me aware I was playing a game.
Fallout bypasses this by having a bit more of a sense of humour.
@PjDonnelli
Catch up on every previous Games Inbox here
Four options
RE: DuckOfDeath82. As you’ve discovered, PlayStation 3 hard drives are encrypted to the machine they were installed in and can’t be used on another PlayStation 3 without reformatting them.
If you want to transfer all your saves across to a new machine and swap the drive to that new machine then you have the following options:
1) Copy the saves individually to an external USB drive, swap the drive over to the new machine, reformat it and copy the saves back on. This is a very time consuming way of doing it and won’t transfer copy protected game saves (e.g. Demon’s Souls, Street Fighter IV and some others).
2) Use the PlayStation 3 back-up feature to create a backup of the whole machine on an external USB drive, move the hard drive over, reformat it and then restore the backup to the new machine. Again you’ll lose the copy protected saves though.
3) Delete loads of things from your PlayStation 3 until you can get it down to less than 12GB. You’ll be able to keep all the game saves as they’re pretty small but you’ll probably need to delete all your installed games and media. Turn both machines on at the same time and do a direct machine transfer. Then do a backup of the new machine to an external USB drive, swap the hard drives over and then restore the backup. You’ll keep all your game saves but will need an external USB drive and this option isn’t any good for people whose old PlayStation 3 has died as you need both to be on at the same time.
4) Subscribe to PlayStation Plus (something every PlayStation 3 owner should do as it’s a great deal, or just use one of the occasional free month trials) and copy all your saves to your plus account. Swap the hard drive into the new machine, reformat it and copy all your saves back out of Plus. You can do this with copy protected saves too. Again this is a bit of a time consuming approach but at least you don’t lose any saves.
Those are really the only options so I hope one works for you.
Stever (PSN ID)/b0bb1ns (Nintendo ID/Steam ID)
Working holiday
I just thought I’d share this pic with GC and its readers. It looks like the Mario Bros. have taken another vacation from the Mushroom Kingdom, this time to my fair city of Edinburgh, to relax and enjoy all the fun the Edinburgh Festival has to offer before no doubt having to go off on another adventure to rescue Princess Peach!
HighFlyingBird (Nintendo ID)/ColdRoses (PSN ID)
Inbox also-rans
Just taking a look at your release schedule for the past few weeks – Kingdom Hearts 1.5 HD Remix seems to be missing. It’s due September 13, I believe.
Rich
GC: We only do the next six weeks in detail, but we’ll make sure to include that when the time comes.
Can we have a Hot Topic for readers to state their top three most anticipated games for the remainder of the year?
Radon 4
GC: Yes, that should be a good one. We’ll run it after Gamescom, when the line-up should be set in stone.
This may seem a bit random but I wish they’d do another X-Files game. Both stars are too old for it now but they could easily do voiceovers and continue the show that way.
Mansfield
Saw a friend at the cinema today, so I said ‘I’ll see The World’s End with you.’
adfeggans
This week’s Hot Topic
With time travel so much in the news at the moment the topic for this weekend’s Inbox is what historical period would you most want to see a new game set in?
It can be part of an already existing series if you like (such as Assassin’s Creed) or a licensed title (such as Doctor Who) but tell us what setting you’d like it to have and why. What characters would you like to see represented, including famous historical ones, and what kind of game would it be?
What changes would the setting force on the gameplay and how do you think it would work in terms of standard action elements such as shooting or other forms of combat? If other games set during the same period are rare – or have never been done – why do you think this is and how would you overcome the perceived problems?
E-mail your comments to: gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk
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