The morning Inbox wonders about Zelda motion controls as yet another reader fondly reminisces over Jurassic Park: Operation Genesis.
To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk
The third choice
I pre-ordered a PlayStation 4 recently. I could only get the Killzone bundle even though I have zero interest in first person shooters. It dawned on me that I was just buying into the hype. I’ve got a PlayStation 3 and I haven’t even played the likes of The Last of Us, Dishonored or interesting oddities like El Shaddai and Catherine. Current gen still has so much to offer me, and I’m only just catching up.
I’ve just cancelled my pre-order and decided that I’d rather wait until The Witcher 3 is released. I’m hoping it turns out to be as amazing as I expect.
Not wanting to be bereft of a new console, I’ve just ordered a Wii U instead. I know that I’ll probably end up having a lot more fun with Rayman Legends and Super Mario 3D World than I would with Killzone. I actually can’t wait to play local co-op. It’s heartening to see Nintendo’s efforts in keeping the fire of local co-op alive.
DM
Zelda in motion
After living abroad for almost three years, I finally returned to the UK for a short break. Most importantly, this time, I was able to take my Wii when I left again. After a spot of eBaying (another thing I haven’t done for three years!), I’m now belatedly getting stuck into Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Zelda: Skyward Sword. The question I want to ask is, ‘Will the thrill of motion controlling a sword be absent in Zelda Wii U?’. I’ll be very sad if this turns out to be the case!
ttfp saylow (gamertag)
GC: We will be just as interested as you in finding out, as we were great fans of the motion controls in Skyward Sword.
Confirmation bias
GC, I’ve been wondering, certain bigger American review sites (none in particular, but more than one) seem a little off to me. The reviews read more like advertisements. And the scores tend to be high. Always for certain games too… for instance, anything by EA or the Call Of Duty franchise. The thing I was wondering is, are these sites paid for their reviews? I know you won’t be able to answer definitively, but what does your gut say?
Have any publishers ever offered to grease the wheels a bit in return for a favourable review? What about review events? It strikes me as odd that they are conducted under scrutiny of whichever company does the game…
For instance, I’d be willing to bet that multiplayer games are played on closed networks, so you can’t judge what they are actually like once in the wild (à la Battlefield 4 and it’s horrific PlayStation 4 launch Stateside). Does that not mean a review would be, essentially, false? Cheers from a curious, cynical gamer.
StalinsEpicTash (gamertag)
GC: We have little insight into how the American press works but we’ve never heard of any direct evidence of bribery from journalists here or abroad. It’s impossible to review a game under launch day conditions whether at a review event or not, as things usually don’t go wrong until the game is out. But even if you did wait until the game was released before you reviewed it (which most readers would complain was too late) how long do you give it? A couple of days? A week?
The most common reason most game reviews are inflated is because that’s what many gamers want, even if they don’t recognise it consciously. They don’t want to hear a game they were looking forwards to is no good, or have it implied they’ve got bad taste. They want to hear that their gut instinct was right in following a particular game and, ideally, confirmation that everything they like is great and everything they don’t like is not. Luckily most of our readers aren’t so insecure.
E-mail your comments to: gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk
Change the number
Dear David Jenkins, I am very disappointed in you! How could you not award Super Mario 3D World a ten! How dare you! Your Nintendo fanboy privileges have been revoked here at the Mario club, and as a result of your actions the Mario-branded Christmas stockings we intended to send you as a gift have been sent to Eurogamer instead, due to them having the sense to give the game a 10! I bet fifty quid on GC giving the game a ten down my local bookies! You owe me some moolah!
You wrote that the only cons in the game were poor use of the GamePad and… annoying save messages! Bloody save messages!? I’ve started a petition at www.getalife.com calling, nah, demanding that you re-review the game and give it a 10! If not, you’ve just made a powerful enemy today!
Galvanized Gamer
GC: Now that you’ve reminded us how annoying those save messages are you’re right, we’re amending the review: it’s now an 8/10.
Second console
I am so grateful for the great reviews of Super Mario 3D World, as I finally have the justification I’ve been looking for to purchase a Wii U. If Nintendo can successfully position its console I see many gamers choosing either a PlayStation 4 or Xbox One and then supplementing their core game console with the Wii U.
After all, Nintendo still makes the kind of games you can’t play anywhere else. On the subject of 3D World, it is an extension of the 2.5D style seen in its 3DS predecessor, Super Mario 3D Land. Does this mean that Nintendo is splitting core Mario games into three distinct gameplay styles from now on?
We’ll have the 2D style of the New Super Mario Bros games, the 3D style of Super Mario Galaxy and whatever follows it, and now the ’2D mechanics on a 3D plane’ style of Super Mario 3D Land and World. That’s a lot of Mario and I can’t help but feel like a majority of gamers still prefer the games that adhere to the Super Mario 64 lineage the most.
David from San Francisco
GC: Three distinct styles does seem to be the implication, with Nintendo insisting that they haven’t given up on the 64/Galaxy style. The problem is though that they sell much less than the 2D games, so we’d imagine 3D World was created as a compromise to that.
Zelda in motion
After living abroad for almost three years, I finally returned to the UK for a short break. Most importantly, this time, I was able to take my Wii when I left again. After a spot of eBaying (another thing I haven’t done for three years!), I’m now belatedly getting stuck into Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Zelda: Skyward Sword. The question I want to ask is, ‘Will the thrill of motion controlling a sword be absent in Zelda Wii U?’. I’ll be very sad if this turns out to be the case!
ttfp saylow (gamertag)
GC: We will be just as interested as you in finding out, as we were great fans of the motion controls in Skyward Sword.
Googly eyes
A little bit off topic this letter but I just wanted to comment on a point you made in a recent article/review/feature (I can’t recall which it was!) regarding the quality of art direction in the majority of Rare games, or lack thereof, as you put it.
While I do concur that some of the art direction in their work, with particular reference to the N64 era, has been a bit of a mixed bag, I must profess my admiration for the job they did on the first Banjo-Kazooie game. It really captured my imagination as a youngster, the artists on the game sculpting a very distinct, cosy almost, richly detailed and atmospheric world, peculiarly British in feel and vibe I felt. It was very different from (the admittedly wondrous) art design on Nintendo’s own Super Mario 64, which was always very apparent to me.
I think It could perhaps be suggested that it was the highly competitive nature of the various different teams within Rare at the time, despite some obvious cross pollination (Banjo-Kazooie/Donkey Kong 64/Conker, etc.), that resulted in some slightly clunky stylistic choices and obvious misfires e.g. Jet Force Gemini.
The same problem can be seen to a lesser extent amongst the internal Nintendo development teams and the disparity between the phenomenally imaginative and beautifully realised work of the Tokyo developed Galaxy games, and the blander, generic art of the New Super Mario Bros. games.
Maybe an idea for a future Hot Topic: favourite art direction in a game?
Johnny Lemsip
PS: Chuffed to see Super Mario 3D World turn out so well, but I’m still slightly reluctant to fork out for a Wi iU for just the one game I’m really keen to play. Keep up the good work.
GC: Don’t get us wrong, we love Rare’s output of that period. Blast Corps, GoldenEye 007, Diddy Kong Racing, Perfect Dark, Conker’s Bad Fur Day are amongst our favourite games of that generation. We stand by our comments about their art direction, but as you say they did give their games a distinct charm of their own.
Nintendo crossover
Sometimes in the GC Inbox I see a similar question to this: ‘Why isn’t there a home console Pokemon game like Skyrim?’ And I’ve been thinking about how it could be done and not take focus off the portable versions. It needs a different approach than a normal Pokémon game. So here is my idea, let’s make it a Mario and Pokémon RPG. Intrigued are you? Good.
The way I see it starting is like this: Bowser has his Magikoopas doing their thing and for some reason make a dimensional tear and find the Pokéland (I’ve no idea what its called) and Bowser being Bowser decides he wants more minions, land and power. Maybe even a different woman to steal?
Then Mario finds the dimensional tear at Bowser’s castle when searching for Peach, again. You’d play as Mario obviously (or anyone from Mario universe I suppose) and you should be simply let loose in Pokéland. Add in some cooperation from Pokémon for Mario, and indeed Bowser (thinking Mewtwo for him), and you’ve got yourself one hell of a game.
So if Nintendo actually read this then make it happen. You have the character models, sound effects and even extensive knowledge how all of the above move/interact/personify themselves.Go nuts with this idea. Hell, you can even make it compatible with whatever portable version of whichever Pokémon game is out at the time so Mario can have more Pokémon helpers if you like.
Here is a simple idea which won’t upset sales of standard Mario and Pokémon games. It will also give gamers something new and what they asked for. Here’s hoping Inbox magic can conjure something up. And let’s face it, if this was made how many Wii Us would it sell?
Dan Wolfshead
Catch up on every previous Games Inbox here
Tyke Tycoon
In regards to the Jurassic Park Tycoon game, I have fond memories of Operation Genesis on the Xbox. I remember reading a gaming magazine (can’t recall which) and they had a preview of it. Jurassic Park is one of my all time films so reading about this game set my fuse off. I picked it up from GAME the day after release and spending all weekend on it. I absolutely loved it. There was just something about it that I found so relaxing. Whether it being the chilled music, the distant sounds of birds chirping, the sound of the sea or even the odd bark from the dinosaurs. It really drew me in. The graphics were a little cartoony, but getting to use the rides were brilliant. I loved having the underground viewing dome in the Raptors nests and being about 2 feet away from them.
It was the feeling of being charge of the magnificent creatures and tending to their welfare. Feeding them, giving them medicine. Even the little details like the glowing lights on the fences. Occasionally, if I felt a little evil, I would fill the park up to its maximum capacity of visitors and then just knock the fences down of all the carnivores and let them feast!
There is a similar game on iTunes simply called Jurassic Park. You build your park and hatch your dinosaurs. Thing is, after a while it gets a little boring as you only really collect coins from them which enables you to build further attractions, etc. and new dinosaurs. Nothing else much happens. Plus, it’s one of those annoying apps that only work if it can connect to 3G.
On a separate note, my gaming life has now changed. Being the proud owner of a gorgeous seven week baby boy, my gaming time has been significantly cut. My girlfriend does let me have a few nights online on my Xbox 360, be it playing alone or with friends. I have told her I do miss the days of when I could sit in my pants all day Saturday and play. But, I wouldn’t change it for the world.
So I would just like to say to Julie (aka Sexy Bum) that I do appreciate the times you let me play on my Xbox 360 and let me hang curtains from the windows in the conservatory to keep the light out and that you really are the best mummy in the world and when Joe is old enough, I will tell him how much you care for him and that you said it’s OK for me to play Xbox Two with him all day and watch Star Wars and play with Lego.
MitchLive (gamertag)
Inbox also-rans
I find it absurd that you need an Xbox Gold subscription to use the browser, 4oD, 5 on Demand and especially Netflix, since it requires its own subscription anyway on Xbox One and Xbox 360. Any other device requires just a broadband connection.
small123
If you or fellow GCers can help with this little question. Say if I pre-ordered a PlayStation 4 would it be possible to pick one up at the midnight launch event? Also, any hints for attending one of them?
PatlaborAVX0
GC: We imagine so, or at least it would be simple enough to check with the shop. Although at the moment it’s only likely to be supermarkets that have any stock left.
Here’s a nice free game that viewers might like to play.
Luma
I spotted David Jenkins playing poker in the Touch Force 2007 machine under the pseudonym of Brian. Doesn’t he scrub up well.
Elvis_presently
This week’s Hot Topic
The Xbox One is released this Friday, which means there’s only one obvious point of discussion for this weekend’s Inbox: are you buying one and if not why not?
It’s a been a bumpy ride for Microsoft since the Xbox One’s unveiling in May but none of that matters if at the end of the day people still buy their console – so we want to know your reasons for either buying an Xbox One this year, waiting until later, or refusing to buy one at all.
What are the most and least appealing elements of the console to you, and how do you feel about key controversies such as the price, the power, and the inclusion of Kinect? What do you think of Xbox One’s games line-up, both at launch and beyond, and what are your predictions for how it will fare in the years to come?
E-mail your comments to: gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk
The small print
New Inbox updates appear twice daily, every weekday morning and afternoon. Letters are used on merit and may be edited for length.
You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word 4Player viewer features at any time, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.
If you need quick access to the GameCentral channel page please use: www.metro.co.uk/games
