Tuesday’s letter page wants tips for classic Dreamcast games as a reader tries to get their hands on a PS5 digital edition.
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taking sides
One side effect I’ve noticed, of so few new games being released right now, is that the rivalry between PlayStation and Xbox has faded into the background. The Last Of Us Part 1 came out, it was controversial, and yet I haven’t noticed Xbox fans really taking advantage of it, probably because they know their machine has no business.
If you ask me, the rivalry between Xbox and PlayStation has always been a bit tepid and uninteresting. We all know that the best console war was between the Mega Drive and the SNES, for all sorts of reasons: surprisingly different games given the technology, with different specialties; completely different marketing styles; and no clear winner, with one or the other slightly ahead in each country.
It’s the perfect battle, plus in those days hardly anyone could afford both, so you were forced to take sides. I had a Mega Drive, so I have to say it was better, but I secretly coveted SNES games like Super Metroid and the Donkey Kong Country games. Great memories of a bitterly fought war. Curious to know which side of the fence other readers were on.
pointer
layers of concern
Getting Bloober Team to do the Silent Hill 2 remake seems like such a bad and obvious choice. Sure, they’re one of the few developers who specialize in horror, but that doesn’t mean they’re good. The Medium was terrible, and especially since it was trying to be like Silent Hill and it completely failed. Now they’re making an official game anyway.
Layers Of Fear is also overrated, if you ask me, and while I haven’t played their Blair Witch game, it didn’t get great reviews. It’s just a remake, so if they follow the original game closely enough, maybe they can do it, but I’m not sure.
Silent Hill won’t get another chance at a big time like this and I’m worried that Konami will screw it up by hiring the wrong people. I can see why a remake makes sense at this stage, but I’d rather see a new game and that probably won’t happen if this first dip in the water is a dud.
nagon
At least you get £5 off
I played the new version of The Last Of Us and initially took the time to look at the graphics, but they never amazed me as much as when I first played the updated version years ago. Unlike Horizon Forbidden West and Immortals Fenyx Rising, which constantly had me in awe of the gorgeous visuals.
I was also surprised at how much of the story I remembered and quickly grew bored, perhaps because it’s so linear in design. I kept playing until I got to the part where Ellie was still wandering in full view of the enemies and they were completely ignoring her. I thought this would have been fixed as most games now don’t have this problem.
In the end I went back to Horizon and gave my copy to a friend who has a new baby and has more important things to spend £65 on. Not a waste as he is enjoying it as he never played the original.
sixpacx
CG: At least you get £5 off.
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Maxi Dreamcast
It took me a while to accept the fact that we’ll never get a Dreamcast Mini, but I finally bit the bullet and bought myself an original on eBay last week.
I never had a Dreamcast the first time, but I traded my N64 for my friend’s for a while. I played Sonic Adventure and Shenmue and he played Zelda: Ocarina Of Time and Majora’s Mask. I would have loved to have one of my own, we all know how the Dreamcast ended, but I remember he made me very emotional when it came out; it seemed much more powerful than the other two home consoles available at the time.
I bought Sonic Adventure, Shenmue, Jet Set Radio, and Power Stone, all of which were pretty affordable. Shenmue 2 is the only other game that is definitely on my shopping list right now. Would anyone have any strong opinions on which games I should definitely try and play? Is Soulcalibur going to do something for me that Soulcalibur 2 didn’t? I don’t really like shmups/scrolling shooters and I have Skies Of Arcadia Legends so I won’t bother with that but I’m really open to anything else.
Charlie
CG: Our favorites include Rez, Bangai-O, Power Stone 2, Marvels Vs. Capcom 2, and Samba Da Amigo. Though we’re not sure what they’re looking for nowadays.
admit your pleasures
I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed reading this weekend’s article on Saints Row, it’s good to hear different points of view as surely as long as the player enjoys it that’s all that matters. I’m a bit fed up, to be honest, with people talking about the console wars and how they sell this console or buy another, so this was a refreshing change. Personally, I don’t think there have been as many options for players as there are now. Having been playing for so long and remembering paying stupid money for Mega Drive games (one or two a year tops), I’m very happy to have a massive backlog of games.
I was trying to think of any critically panned games I’ve enjoyed against the grain and wondered if this had been a hot topic before. It would be interesting.
Wayne
CG: We’ve tried a couple of times, but never get many responses. We guess that nobody likes to admit that they enjoy games that others consider bad.
Wrong way
Thanks to those at Underbox who offered some suggestions to get Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 2019 and Black Ops Cold War working on my Xbox Series S.
I couldn’t test the suggestions because I refunded both games.
Turns out they are not on Steam for PC and I had to buy them through the Blizzard store. The campaigns were downloaded for Modern Warfare 2019 and Black Ops: Cold War.
Both ran smoothly and ran surprisingly well on my modest video card without ray tracing.
I have now completed the Modern Warfare campaign and will tackle the remaining title below (I only launched it to test that it works).
I really hope other games don’t have this problem. The reason I’ve enjoyed consoles is their simplicity (and uniqueness). Turns out my PC was easier on this one!
Commodore Fan
external problem
Like Commodore Fan, I’m also having the same issue with Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2019. I’m on Xbox Series X and it’s still asking me to install content that’s already installed (I even have the disc). I had no problem on my Xbox One S. I’m not sure what causes it, but I’ve seen a suggestion (on that link GC posted) that says don’t install it on an external hard drive.
My copy is currently installed on an external hard drive. I think I’m going to uninstall everything and then reinstall it to internal storage or my Seagate 2TB card. I’ll post again if that works.
Chaosphere616
analog preference
I’m trying to get a PlayStation 5 digital edition, which since the console is a behemoth, at least scales it down a bit. That’s my logic behind wanting a digital-only PlayStation 5 anyway. I refuse to pay speculation prices or for some crazy package. I know that GC sometimes provides notifications on stock alerts, so I’ll be keeping an eye on your site for any updates. If you could ask about the digital PlayStation 5 in particular, I’d really appreciate it.
The standard PlayStation 5 is available from many retailers, such as GAME, who offer their usual bundles to inflate the price. However, the digital version seems to be very rare. Perhaps the recent price hike will encourage Sony to release its digital console in large numbers?
It stands to reason that the digital console would be less profitable initially, which is why Sony has been reluctant to restock that version. But I wonder if the retailers are also to blame, since digital sales do not benefit them. At this rate, I can also look forward to the inevitable PlayStation 5 slim.
Later
CG: There is a stock checker here, but it definitely seems to be a low priority for stores and/or Sony.
Inbox also ran
I would love for Naughty Dog to be making a fantasy game, as that would finally snap them out of their grim obsession right now. Except what’s the stake, the game would still be super serious and ‘punished’ with unicorns disemboweling bad guys and the like.
shuggs
I’m glad to hear that Microsoft has made power saving mode the default on Xbox. It certainly wasn’t when I bought my pitch machine, which I always thought was off at the time.
bucket
This week’s hot topic
This weekend’s inbox topic was suggested by reader Dennis, who asks which retro video game has aged the best.
Retro games are big business today, but so are remasters and remakes, which aim to make older games more palatable to modern audiences, but which game do you think holds up better and remains as playable as always?
How well do the graphics hold up and why do you think they have lasted better than other contemporaries? Do you still play the game in its original form and if there was a remaster or remake what would you change?
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the fine print
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