Games Inbox: Was The Games Awards 2024 a disappointment?

The Tuesday letters page is still confused about the Xbox🅠 multiformat policy, as a reader imagines what gaming will be like in five years.

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PLEASE NOTE: We are currently preparing our content for over the Christmas𓆉 period and will need a number of Reader’s Features, so if you’ve been meaning to write one but never quite got round to it we could do with as many as possible before Monday, December 23.

Second impressions
🔯I’ve had a few days to contemplate it now and I’m not sure The Games Awards was actually as good as it first seemed. It’s not the fault of the event, which I thought was the most enjoyable to watch that it’s been, but just that all the announcements were kind of underwhelming.

🐷The Witcher 4 was probably the biggest deal but that just underlined that it won’t be out for many years. Naughty Dog’s game was technically big news but it wasn’t a very exciting trailer. More Elden Ring is always welcome, but I agree with the reader yesterday that it was probably just repurposed DLC.

ꦑThings like Onimusha and Ōkami 2 are all well and good but they’re years away too. There was really very little that’s coming out soon or will solve the problem of so few big name games are coming out next year. The lack of GTA 6 and the Switch 2 really hurt it, especially as no new GTA 6 trailer means a delay is now possible. I’m not sure I’d rule one out for the Switch 2 either.

Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo all need to have their own showcases pronto next year. The Game Awards has done what it can, but it’s not enough.
Titus

Just talk
More than ever I just don’t understand why Microsoft isn’t clear about what it’s planning to do with multiformat games🔯. I heard it explained that the reason it seems so random at the moment is that some studios are better set up for making multiformat games than others, and so Microsoft are just letting it happen organically, before they make it mandatory in the future.

🅺That’s okay, if that’s true I get it and that sounds perfectly reasonable. So if that’s the case why not just tell us, rather than leave it to some self-important insider that may or may not be right?

It’s the same problem with Sony: a total lack of communication that makes them seem either aloof or incompetent, and usually both. Why cannot they see this, is what I have to wonder. What’s wrong with having a State of Play, or whatever Xbox calls theirs, and just explaining what they’re doing, instead of this endless speculation, which surely they must see is doing them more harm than good.
Gorf

Good timing
Enjoyed Lagger’s Reader’s Feature꧒ at the weekend, where he said he will only play shorter games due to not having the time for anything where the main story will take longer than 10 hours. I’m in a pretty similar situation, and whilst I do enjoy a longer game, these are few and far between. For example, I played Zelda: Breath Of The Wild during lockdown, Final Fantasy 7 Remake two years ago in that blissful period between jobs, and Rebirth earlier this year when I was lucky enough to get that time again. Not sure when I’ll be able to play the finale (surely, given its themes, to be called Reunion?) – it’s not like I can plan my career around game releases!

🧸There’s been loads of games out in the last few years that I’ll never get round to, most recent of which is the amazing looking Metaphor: ReFantazio, but I just don’t have 80-odd hours to put into it. Well, I do, but for me that’d be over a period of about six months. Like Lagger, I generally prefer something I can complete in a handful of sessions, or something I can play co-op with my wife (we’re currently playing though Lovers In A Dangerous Spacetime, which I can highly recommend).

Enjoying the new look of the site by the way and the increased number of more in-depth pieces (particularly liked the feature on why there aren’t more games based in the real world a few weeks ago) – keep up the good work! And thanks for another year of great coverage – still the best on the internet in my opinion, and with an excellent community. Merry Christmas to you all!
Julian

GC: Thank you very much. And you’re right, Lovers In A Dangerous Spacetime is a great co-op game.

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Dawn French Of War
My Christmas letter submission:

Just wanted to share my favourite Names In Games:

Tom Raider
Norman’s Sky
Alan Is Awake
Mark Is The Ninja
Gary & Mark Of The Wolves
Rachel & Clark: Drift Apart

And a takeaway curry bonus:
Armored Korma IV: Fries and a Rubicon
Bll

GC: Norman’s Sky is amazing.

3D in two dimensions
🐎Are you doing a review of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Rita’s Rewind? I’d seen mixed reviews and it’s not cheap for this sort of retro styled game, so I was hoping you were going to review it.

It looked great in the previews, with the super scaler style sections looking like peak late ‘80s to early ‘90s Sega arcade games before polygons took over.
PE

GC: Your wish is our command.

Time travel
🌼I’m about to open a café and will be working six to six every day and then doing overtime on top of that back of house. I don’t think I’ll have time for video games anymore. It’s a five year lease and I hope to come out the other side with a little bit of cash and some free time again.

🧸What do I want to see in five years’ time when I return to my favourite hobby?

🔥PlayStation 6 – I guess this will be out by 2030. I just hope I can run games at full spec and no loading times. My PlayStation 5 got a bit choppy while playing Cult Of The Lamb the other day… not exactly a graphical powerhouse of a game.

VR – I’ve had a few VR headsets but I’m looking forward to what will be available in five years’ time.
♊I want something with no wires, that works outside. The only game I want is Battlefield on VR – helicopters, tanks and snipers. That would be amazing.

🐽I’m hoping at least one amazing new IP pops up out of nowhere and takes the world by storm. The last one for me was Demon’s Souls and I’m a bit bored of that style now.

꧋Really, I just hope VR takes off in a big way but don’t think it will until the games are addictive enough, have precise movement capture, and are graphically on par with other consoles. They also need to figure out how to run around and feel immersed instead of just pressing up.

♑Guess I’m going to miss Final Fantasy 7 remake disc 3. I got bored of disc 2 and stopped playing in the jungle area.

ℱAnd I’m going to miss so much Call Of Duty that when I get back to it I’ll probably not be able to keep up anymore.

See you in five years.
Merry Christmas
Tommyfatfingers

GC: Good luck!

Northern delights
🤪Bit late to the party here but was looking through for something casual to play in my PSN library and noticed I’d downloaded Thank Goodness You’re Here. Well, what a delightfully strange and wonderfully funny game.

Absolutely bonkers, done in two sittings, on the same grim dark Sunday afternoon. The humour’s non-stop, the jokes are easy to miss, but the rhythm based bit at the end had me laughing out loud and I found myself tapping the ‘X’ button after it had finished, brilliant.
Zombiekicker

Hope for the future
🦹I enjoyed the 2024 Game Awards show, as I knew I would, and there was quite a bit to come away with. It’s always a great occasion and Geoff Keighley is always on target, and I get a good feeling from him. The music performances are always good, with the chosen tunes matching the gaming medium and Snoop Dogg, as we know, being a gamer himself, was always going to be a hit.

🥃The best reveal for me though, game-wise, was Ōkami 2 and, quite frankly, was to me a game that didn’t need a sequel, as the original had such a complete end game that the tale of Ōkami was and is the perfect game! But there are a lot of legendary tales in Japanese mythology that quite frankly I would love to see how this new game will interpret them and along with the unique art and gameplay visuals is definitely going to be on my list of interest for the future.

🦄Death Stranding 2 is good to have been selected for a nominee list, but how far in production that is at the moment, unfortunately Hideo Kojima did not say. But good to know it’s in development and obviously the mind-bending nature of it is going to be awesome to experience, like the first game.

🐟Astro Bot definitely deserves a win, as gameplay is what makes this game so good and that is why we play in the first place, for most of us. I said before how the clever introduction experience to the PlayStation 5 was a pleasure to experience, and the fact a full game with even more amazing depth of gameplay is now available and won Game of the Year is very encouraging indeed.

💧Another category I like is best gaming score and soundtrack and of course no arguments from me that Final Fantasy VII Rebirth took the winning position for this section. I recently saw the concert version in the Royal Albert Hall with full motion videos on the big screen behind the orchestra of which was my forth experience of this show and definitely one of my favourites. The FFVII Rebirth soundtrack fulfills everything I want from a soundtrack and will be very hard to beat when part 3 is released.

🍃Other notable mentions go to The Outer Worlds 2, Sid Meier’s Civilisation 7 introduction, and obviously not forgetting Harrison Ford taking the surprise star role stage appearance, which was up there with Keanu Reeves a few years ago. This is especially true on the back of the very successful Indiana Jones And The Great Circle game, which has definitely remained true and loyal in regards to the source of inspiration and the requirements for the needed gameplay to make this a proper exciting and immersive game.

So, here’s to another year gone by, a successful 2024, and a great way to end with this most awesome of entertainments – proving once again how relevant our hobby still is and will continue to be. Good times again.
Alucard

GC: Death Stranding 2 is supposed to be out next year.

Inbox also-rans
Requesting some Inbox magic to have a modified ‘cast to TV’ button on Switch 2, which allows for a secondary display on the handheld for inventory, maps, etc. but most importantly an Advance Wars: Dual Strike port/sequel please.
Bad Edit

I think the easiest way to judge how good a game is, is how hooked you are in progressing it. Going by the fact I’ve just spent most of my free time this weekend playing Indiana Jones, I think it’s safe to say it’s a really good game.
Tim

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The small print
New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers’ letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.

You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader’s Feature at any time via email or our Submit Stuff page, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.

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