Games Inbox: Justifying a PS5 Pro purchase next year

The Friday letters page thinks Nintendo would be fine to announce the Switch 2 this year, as one reader is upset to hear about Lance Reddick.

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Expensive purchase
With all the speculation on the Nintendo Switch 2 at the moment people are forgetting that we’re also likely to get the PS5 Pro next year as well. Sony themselves has hinted about it and I wouldn’t be surprised if it was announced in June, they may even release it early and have it out for Christmas.

The question I have for myself, and other readers, is it really going to be worth spending another £500 on? That is a lot of money right now and if all it’s going to do is a more reliable 60fps I’m really struggling to justify it. I’m not a fan of these mid-generation upgrades, they seem like more of a cash grab than most DLC and yet I’m sure Sony just see them as easy money, which I guess they are.

I don’t know if Microsoft will do one as well, they probably will as they always seem to want to try and counter anything Sony does, whether it’s a good idea or not. I really can’t see myself paying all that money so soon after the PlayStation 5 launch and yet if I don’t I’m permanently going to be thinking my console is second best. Upgrade consoles suck.
Joss

No more
I didn’t actually know that Lance Reddick was dead, so I’m a bit gutted about that. He was great in Quantum Break. As good as he was though I don’t think he could have saved the ever decreasing returns of the Horizon series. Like the reader said recently, it somehow manages to make robot dinosaurs boring, and it’s primarily because of its characters.

They’re all such super serious non-entities, I just can’t bare to listen to them talk, which is a bit of a problem in a game like this. Unless Lance Reddick was going to start improving I don’t think it would’ve made any difference him being co-lead. Although I imagine it’s going to be even worse now without him. It’s just not a very interesting franchise and Guerrilla should at the very least try something new as well, if not ditch it entirely.
Pr0metheus

Day one-ers
Personally, I don’t see the harm in Nintendo announcing a follow up to a Switch this year to release next year. I’d argue almost anyone purchasing a Switch for a Christmas gift will be doing so for a child and that it’ll probably be as an entrance console. There’ll be a few others replacing existing models or just looking to get in at the end of its life, now there’s a full line-up of Nintendo staples. These people aren’t really the target market for launch day tech and will either be unaware or unbothered about any news of a successor.

The day one-ers will be there for launch – and will likely have been there the first time round too – this has always been the way.
Matt

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Sequel obsession
I thought you might have got it wrong or been exaggerating about Beyond Good And Evil 2 being in development for 15 years but no, it really has. In fact, it’s probably at least 16 because it was only 2008 when the first trailer was shown, so they must’ve been working on things before that.

I loved the original as much as anyone but as far as I know it wasn’t successful and it was completely Michel Ancel’s baby, and he left the company years ago, so what’s the point? Nobody’s going to buy the sequel and it’s probably not going to be very good.

To me this is the most extreme example of publishers being obsessed by sequels no matter and yet never giving original games a chance, and often cancelling them even if they started. Just think how much money must’ve been wasted on this over the course of 15 years, and it’s still going! How many smaller, original games could’ve been made instead during that time?
Lutz

Inauthentically good
In the world of Sonic fan games something incredible has happened. Project 06, a complete recreation of Sonic 06 with good gameplay, has had its third release, which means you can now play through every stage as every character from the game.

I attach the trailer below and remind you that just one person has managed to make this!
Sunny

GC: But if it’s not terrible, it’s not very authentic is it? (It looks surprisingly good.)

Portable only
I noticed that Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection went straight to number one in the Japanese charts, which seems pretty crazy from a UK perspective but also very welcome. I used to love those games as a kid and yet had pretty much forgotten about them until this collection popped up.

If it was meant as a way to see if people were still interested in the games I’m going to assume that counts a pretty clear answer and that we’ll see new entries soon enough. I just hope that when it happens they don’t try and do some big budget 3D game and instead stay true to its mobile origins.

I really miss the days of Nintendo portables, as they used to have very different games to anything on a home console, Battle Network being a case in point. The Switch is portable but in general its games are made for the TV first and foremost and you don’t generally get the weird and wacky DS games anymore, outside of a few indie games.

I’d love if Capcom led the way and made something that was a bit lower budget, mostly 2D (or isometric), and just laid down some limitations for itself to keep the focus on gameplay and not graphics. I don’t know if they will but I’d be much more impressed by a new game if it looked closer to the old ones and not a modern 3D game.
Dobby

Unexpected crossover
They have some new T-shirts in to pre-order on the UK Nintendo Store, which is a combination of Splatoon 3 and Zelda, Link or Gannon. Just bought the Link one.

Sometime soon they will have Splatoon/Zelda keyrings that you can get with Nintendo Points only, plus £1.99 postage. They are not in stock currently.
Andrew J.

Switching allegiance
I thought I’d weigh in on the whole PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X debate. I turn 40 later this year and my wife has kindly suggested I treat myself to a new console to celebrate. I currently own a PlayStation 4 (and Switch) and up until roughly a year ago I was pretty much 100% sure I’d go PlayStation 5 when I eventually upgraded… but the last 12 months have changed my mind.

Sony’s almost total silence on new games just seems really weird now and I’m also a bit fed up of all the sequels. Don’t get me wrong, they’d be crazy not to have done follow-ups to God Of War and Horizon Zero Dawn, as they were massive sellers (and money makers), but it just feels (to me at least) like there’s not much new or fresh in the pipeline. I’m about a quarter of the way through Horizon Forbidden West and I just feel a bit like I’ve played it all before. I’m also worried I’ll feel the same way about the new Spider-Man game.

This has made me decide that I’m 99% certain I’m going to go for the Xbox Series X now. I’m really excited to try Microsoft Flight Simulator, Forza Horizon, and Forza Motorsport and I’m hoping Starfield will live up to the hype too. I know it’s probably because I haven’t owned a Microsoft console since the Xbox 360 but I just feel like it offers me something a bit different and new. Plus, Game Pass (for now at least) is incredible value and appeals to me a lot more than PS Plus.

If Sony announce 10 brilliant upcoming games in their June showcase, I might have a late change of mind, but for now I’m firmly in the Xbox Series X camp.
WigglyBlade

Inbox also-rans
If you buy 100 video games and the best one you can find to talk about is Bubsy… I’m going to guess the others probably aren’t very good. Just a hunch.
Futterman

Why is it that a 10 second demo knocked up by some fan looks better than any Pokémon remake Game Freak has ever done? This stuff is getting embarrassing now.
Focus

This week’s Hot Topic
The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader Roland, who asks if you could reboot any series what would it be?

What franchise are you currently unhappy with and what would you do to fix it? It could be a soft reboot, which keeps the the same continuity but focuses on new characters and gameplay or a hard reboot that doesn’t necessarily keep anything from the previous games.

What are your main issues with the franchise at the moment and why is an ordinary sequel unlikely to fix them? Do you think the reboot could’ve been avoided if changes were made earlier or do all series need them from time to time?

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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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