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The Wednesday letters page argues that digital games can be cheaper than physical, as readers applaud Count Binface’s stance on Shenmue 4.
Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email [email protected]
Sci-fi vs. fantasy
Like everything else in gaming, it seems a very slow crawl towards a new Witcher game. I was hoping the new DLC would be this year but I suppose 2027 will have to do. I’ll be surprised if The Witcher 4 is out before 2029 though, if they’re not even thinking of showing it till next year.
I shouldn’t complain though as at least you can be sure they’re not rushing it. Cyberpunk 2077 has been such a big hit in the end that they can afford to take their time, which I’m glad of. Although personally I could never get on with Cyberpunk. I much prefer fantasy to sci-fi and so I had a hard time comparing the two.
Curious to know what other readers think but my opinion is that The Witcher 3 is significant better in terms of the story and characters. I just couldn’t get on with everyone being awful in Cyberpunk. I will admit the combat is not great in The Witcher 3 but I’m not sure it’s all that much better in Cyberpunk, even though it’s first person. Perhaps the new The Witcher 3 DLC will settle the issue for good.
Rostie
Old rivals
I’ve been playing the Mega Drive version of Sonic 2 the last couple of days, via my Nintendo Switch Online subscription and being a massive 16-bit gaming fan naturally I was comparing it to Super Mario World on the SNES (their UK release dates were only around six months apart).
I can see why a five minute blast could have convinced many image conscious kids back in the day to purchase a Mega Drive, due to the exhilarating speed and high tempo music of the games featuring the trendy blue hedgehog, but it unquestionably lacks the depth, longevity, and wonderful playability of Super Mario World.
Still, two excellent games, which have both aged brilliantly.
Arteta26Legend
A world of its own
Counter-Strike skin economy is genuinely insane; it impresses me that if you’re not playing Counter-Strike, you won’t know about it. The total market cap of skins is in the billions; there are even tens of businesses that thrive solely on people trading skins.
The skinradar.gg website shows 43 marketplaces that provide players with a platform to trade and a good chunk of them see millions of people visit monthly! What other game has such a pull? Counter-Strike is such a unicorn of gaming; it is literally the Pokémon of in-game skin collecting.
Rimvydas
GC: It is crazy. Especially as the skins always seem so unremarkable.
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Damp squid
So I see another big divide between US and UK reviewers over Splatoon Raiders. IGN gave it a 9 and The Guardian was as low as 2 out of 5. Obviously I haven’t played the game but it’s very hard to understand how it can get that high a mark if it’s all just stuff we’ve seen before. If these linear levels you describe really are like the one from the mainline games I already know they’re a waste of time.
Making a single-player Splatoon is a bit weird just as a concept but to make it with no story and basically no new ideas seems like such a waste of time. To be honest, Splatoon 3 was already a bit of a con, given how little it did that was new. That’s very unlike Nintendo and I feel the direction of the franchise is worrying, given how original it was when it first came out.
I’m assuming it’s going to be at least two or three years before we get Splatoon 4, which is going to mean something like a seven year gap since Splatoon 3, which was itself a bit of a minimum effort. I feel the idea that Nintendo is playing 4D chess with its release schedules just doesn’t hold up. They’re just blundering along making weird decisions, exactly how it looks.
Misko
Put a ring on it
I hate to agree with that Valve developer but he’s right about people being much too late to start complaining about digital games now. The vast majority of people made their choice years ago and it sure wasn’t physical copies. I’m still shocked we collectively allowed second-hand sales on the high street to stop being a thing and looking back that was probably the death of physical right there.
Even if Sony hadn’t made their annoucement this year it was blindingly obvious that the PlayStation 6 was never going to have a disc drive, so what was everyone going to do then? By that point digital sales would be at least 90% so was everyone going to suddenly start complaining as if they didn’t know which way the wind was blowing?
I’m not saying this is a good thing, I wish physical media was still a thing, but we’ve sleepwalked into this future and have no one to blame but ourselves.
Zeiss
Wasted chance
What a lovely surprise to see England’s finest MP-to-be demand a Shenmue 4. Even if it is just a cameo, the Shenmue fans are nothing if not creative in their desire for the series to continue; just thinking of the Times Square advert a couple of years ago and being awarded the most influential game of all time by BAFTA, for example.
Man, I wish Sega would throw Yu Suzuki a bone and allow him to continue the series; heck I’d gladly back a Kickstarter again if needs be.
The Binface video put a big smile of my face and given the state of the gaming industry at the moment, that’s always a good thing.
-bcdcdude
GC: It would have helped if Suzuki hadn’t made Shenmue 3 such a baffling waste of time. It’s one of the biggest squandered opportunities in all gaming.
Striking while the iron is cold
Count Binface can have my vote if they get Shenmue 4 released but in other news, there’s a physical release of Shenmue 3 enhanced available for order on Argos, Amazon, and other sites on Switch 2, Xbox, and PlayStation 5.
It’s disappointing story-wise but nice to see it getting another release.
Mark Matthews
GC: We mentioned this in our story on Count Binface; Shenmue 3 Enhanced doesn’t have a release date but it’s meant to be out this autumn.
Counter deal
RE: matc7884 and £240 to buy a collection of Assassin’s Creed games on PSN. Using this price tracker I make it £120.19 to buy all those games on PSN, when they have been on sale. Assassin’s Creed Odyssey has been on sale for between £8.24 and £16.49 32 times since January 2023.
You can access all of them with DLC plus loads more games on Ubisoft+ Premium for £15 a month. With regular sales, sub services, and game sharing accessing games cheap with digital downloads is no problem.
Don’t get me wrong, the concerns about less competition from physical for the PSN store are real. I think competition from other competing platforms and market conditions will keep prices in check but understand why others don’t. Will the sales and deals dry up?
I also think the loss of resale values needs to be better compensated for on PSN. Maybe a Steam-like refund policy or try before you buy demos for all games.
But now, and historically since digital took over, there’s only been one operator on the market whose games you can’t access anywhere near as cheaply as the others and that’s Nintendo first party games, which are primarily bought physical.
Nintendo have, with the Switch 2, started selling games cheaper digitally. But that’s upset people who feel Nintendo is forcing people on to digital rather than just passing on the savings to the customer from the removal of the retailers cut. Stores took the decision to match the £41.99 digital price of Star Fox.
Simundo
GC: Actually, the percentage of digital sales on Nintendo hardware is 67.2%. That’s lower than PlayStation and Xbox but on the increase.
Inbox also-rans
We’re getting close to August now and there’s no sign of any more information on Zelda: Ocarina Of Time. I think it’s pretty obvious this is going to be a late autumn release, but we’ve seen even less of it than GTA 6. Nintendo might be weird but they like pre-order money as much as anyone. When are we going to get a dedicated Direct?
Duke
GC: It’s Nintendo. It could happen tomorrow or in two months’ time.
Just found out that Darkest Dungeon is 10 years old, that’s wild. Anyway, they’ve released some new DLC for it which I’ll try and check out – love that game.
Morrie
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