The Friday letters page worries that the whole games industry has lost its way, as one reader looks forward to The Plucky Squire.
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Purchase influence
I wrote into the Inbox a few weeks ago saying I was planning on upgrading to the current gen later this year and was leaning towards an Xbox Series X over the PlayStation 5. I did say I'd wait for the summer showcases before I made my final decision though. and Sony seem to have made it for me! I can't believe how underwhelming their showcase was. I wasn't expecting them to announce 10 first party games or anything but after saying the showcase was the official 'second phase' of the PlayStation 5 life I was expecting pretty big things and can't help but feel massively underwhelmed.
Spider-Man 2 looked very pretty and everything but it seemed very QTE heavy and I wasn't blown away by the 10 minute demo. But to not really announce any other major PlayStation 5 exclusive single-player games really shocked me. I wouldn't have been that excited by it, but I at least expected Ghost Of Tsushima 2 to be shown, along with a couple of other new exclusives. But nothing? I can only think GC are right and Sony are holding back their big exclusives until the Activision Blizzard deal is sorted?
All Microsoft really need to do now is confirm that Starfield is definitely coming out in September and maybe announce one other exciting Xbox exclusive on 11th June and I think that'll be my decision made: Xbox Series X it is.
Wigglyblade
GC: To be fair, Sony didn't say anything about a second phase, that was insiders.
Another quiet year
As Sony's first showcase in two years, which are not State of Plays and meant to be about first party stuff, that was also given billing as some sort of next phase of PlayStation 5, the showcase on Wednesday night was terrible.
I'm can't remember which of those live service games were Sony's to be honest and for me the Spider-Man 2 gameplay trailer was visiting a well-trodden and generic path. I had the Uncharted 4 gameplay trailer in my head when watching it, but watching that back that game looks more interesting seven years ago than Spider-Man 2.
I couldn't care less about Spider-Man 2, from the trailer I feel like I've played that type of game many times already. If you do care though it looks as slick and well made as you would expect a Sony first party game to be. The idea of them putting out a Redfall is incomprehensible to be honest. I'm sure it will do extremely well.
The positive was that all the studios I care about, like Bluepoint, weren't present so it's a case of what not being at the showcase was the disappointment, rather than what was shown was bad. Does again though make you scratch your head as to why it was given the big sell. I'm not too put out though or have alarm bells ringing about it being an indication of Sony's focus on new ventures like GAAS. Just seems like it's a bit of a quiet year for Sony in the main.
Favourite games for me were The Plucky Squire and Teardown.
Simundo
This week's Hot Topic
The subject for this weekend's Inbox was suggested by reader Lamont, who asks where do you usually play your video games?
Do you have a specific room set aside for them or is it just the living room or bedroom? Is your television set-up specially designed for games and what do you in terms of the sound system and storing the consoles and controllers?
If you do have a special room, does it have a lot of games related merchandise and decoration in it? If it doesn't do you wish it did?
E-mail your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk
The small printNew 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.
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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