The Friday letters page is curious about the rumours that Microsoft will sell the Starcraft IP, as one reader is surprised at the new streaming limits on Game Pass.
Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email [email protected]
Twice the shows, half the excitement
I can’t help but laugh that on the same day you run a story about Sony having the stated business plan to nickel and dime long-term fans, as they admit they’re not making any effort to promote the PlayStation 5 anymore, we then get the laziest, most boring and pointless State of Play ever.
If they announced that Final Fantasy 7 Revelation was going to be the mic drop in advance, as a way to warn you that it wasn’t going to be much of a show, then they couldn’t have done better, because what a complete non-event!
I’m struggling to even remember now, what was shown, except the GTA 6 controllers and another trailer for Wolverine. And why was there an ‘Asian’ State of Play straight after, when that one had Western games in it and the Western one had Japanese games? There was barely enough new information in either of them to justify a blog post, let alone two showcases.
I’d say Sony need to make more effort but apparently they don’t so… tough luck on us fans I guess.
Focus
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Rough State
Wow, those two State of Plays were rough. Everything hinted at them not having much to show but wow did they underdeliver. Sony says it doesn’t have to market the PlayStation 5 anymore and I guess this is proof of it. They’ve got almost nothing to sell themselves but what does it matter if people have got no choice, between the useless Xbox and expensive PC.
I don’t see anyone watching those and getting excited about dropping hundreds on a shiny new PlayStation 5 but likewise, if Sony is only focusing on existing fans now what are we expected to be excited about? Because I can tell you it’s not Wolverine and Until Dawn 2.
GC warned that they probably wouldn’t talk about anything that wasn’t out soon this side of Christmas but even so that was a very lame showing. It’s like anti-excitement and makes me wonder whether I shouldn’t bite the bullet on a gaming PC after all.
Golash
It’s good to talk
Very interesting to hear from The Blood Of Dawnwalker director just a few days before the game’s launch, which as you say is not something you normally see. You said you were getting the chance to do more interviews recently and you were right. I’ve enjoyed them all so far and was surprised that it even included Marvel’s Wolverine – when I can’t remember any interviews for Spider-Man 2.
My question is why have there been more lately? It seems like you’ve had more interviews in the last three months than the whole of last year.
As for The Blood Of Dawnwalker, it seems to have had a decent launch on Steam, which is the only way you can really track these things in the early days, so I wish them well. I’m not quite as enthused about the game as the dev was, but I respect his enthusiasm and the fact that he put his money where his mouth is, in terms of setting up his own company and not going the easy route.
Blevin
GC: We really don’t know why there have been more interview opportunities lately. Obviously, publishers want to promote their games but for the last few years it’s seemed they decided that interviews, and in many cases hands-on previews, didn’t help that. We can only hope their change of heart is a permanent one.
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Revolving doors
I’d have to agree that the sensible decision for reviving Tomb Raider would’ve been changing the developer. Crystal Dynamics are talented, and I didn’t hate the previous trilogy, but I didn’t love it either. You could feel they were running out of steam by the end, as they were forced to put in more and more fan service, as an admission that the tone of the first games was all off.
I don’t know who would make the games instead, but since they’ve been discussed in the Inbox lately I’m tempted to say someone like PlatinumGames. I feel they’d emphasise Lara’s athleticism and would take the game away from its boring stealth game of the reboot trilogy.
To me it just makes sense to have different developers tackle the games. When you’ve got a long-running film series like James Bond or Mission: Impossible, it’s not the same director every time. You might get one doing two or three in a row but they never stay on longer than that and I think that’s for the best.
Limpton
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Hard limit
I’ve just read online that Game Pass is getting play limits on cloud gaming, is this true?
It’s meant to be coming in November and for the cheapest tier you get 15 hours of streaming play. Surely Xbox isn’t doing this, because if they are subscribers are going to hate this.
David
GC: It does seem to be true, yes. The limitations are 15 hours on Ultimate (not the cheapest tier), 10 hours for Premium, and just five hours for Essential. Microsoft say this will impact only 4% of Game Pass subscribers, which implies that 96% of people don’t playing streaming games for that long. But if it’s that unpopular it beggars the question of why Microsoft bothered to introduce the limits, if so few people are exceeding them.
Automatic support
Count me in as another person that’s going to snap that Alien Breed compilation up as soon as it comes out, in part because I really used to like the games (well, I only played the first two) and also because it just seems a good retro celebration and I want to encourage more of that sort of thing.
It’s really strange to see Commodore come back as a company, when I think we went most of the last 35 years without ever hearing its name. I know it’s not really the same company as it used to be but if it means more recognition for the games I played as a kid then I’m all for it.
And also count me in for the suggested Bitmap Brothers and Sensible Software compilations, as that would be an instant pre-order for me. I’d probably even go for an Ultimate Edition if they did one.
Grackle
A right State
I think when you start your video game showcase – the big one before Christmas – with a trailer for an 18-rated horror movie, that’s probably a sign that you’re not taking your job seriously.
Sony has fallen so hard in my estimation this generation and this latest State of Play was just embarrassing. They’re back to doing these shows out of obligation, instead of because they’ve got anything to actually show. The idea that they’ve got any kind of pride in their line-up is right out the window, but that goes without saying.
Xane
Change of owner
I see some interesting rumours about Microsoft selling Starcraft to Nexon, because it’s really big in South Korea. I used to like the games too, although I’m not sure whether there are still devs around with the talent to make real-time strategies anymore; they’d almost be having to learn from scratch again.
This makes me wonder who else Microsoft might be thinking of selling off their games too. Perfect Dark seems the most obvious one because they’re obviously not going to do it again and they already have a game half made by Crystal Dynamics. I don’t know if they could afford to buy it but maybe a publisher like EA could do it on their behalf? I liked the original Perfect Dark and I thought the footage they showed of the new one looked promising, so I was gutted when it was cancelled.
I could see them selling off Fable too, if the new one doesn’t do well, because let’s face it, it probably won’t. Halo and Gears Of War and Forza are the core of Xbox now, so I’m sure they’re not going anywhere but I’m not sure you could say the same for much else. Maybe Nintendo would be interested in buying Killer Instinct, it used to belong to them and they haven’t got a proper fighter at the moment.
Zeiss
Inbox also-rans
Just beaten Star Wars Zero Company and loved it. The last quarter or so of the game is especially great and I really came to love my crew. I really hope there can be a sequel and DLC because I want more than just playing it on hard (although I am just about to do that now).
Cobalt84
They must be really worried about how well Final Fantasy 7 Revelation is going to sell because it’s everywhere at the moment. I liked the first two games but it’s getting to the point where I’ve just heard too much about it lately. Let me know again when it’s actually out.
Iggie
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