Games Inbox: Anticipating how powerful the PS5 Pro will be

Pro tip
Considering how expensive it’s going to be I really expected the PS5 Pro to be capable of something more than just 4K and ray-tracing. The current model can do both these things, I know not usually at the same time but even so, it sounds like such a minor improvement. 8K is even worse, since I bet only a tiny percentage has the TV necessary to even see it – and that’s if it makes a difference, which I doubt it does.

I don’t see any sign of Microsoft releasing a mid-gen upgrade and I like to think that’s because they don’t see any point. There’s no reason for it other than to make a quick buck, but I think that’s going to hurt Sony once people realise the PS5 Pro doesn’t really do anything substantial.

With these consoles, they always end up saying things like twice as powerful but that doesn’t really mean anything when all that power instantly goes into 4K and then everything else ends up being the same. Buying a PS5 Pro because you haven’t got a PlayStation 5 already I can understand, but I would be very surprised if many people ended up buying both.
Hollice

Pay to leak
Aren’t we going to be drowning in Starfield spoilers if some people can play it five days early? Seems a weird game to want to do that with, as it’s going to create a lot of bad blood with those that didn’t pay for the expensive collector’s editions and just wanted to play it on Game Pass.

This is basically pay to win but with single-player games and it’s becoming increasingly common nowadays. It’s easy money for the publishers but seems very hypocritical given how much effort they put into getting people to take down leaks and videos and such.

So they don’t want people to know about their games in advance, unless they make some money out of spoiling everything first? Maybe in the future leakers could pay them a fee and just reveal whatever they want.
Benson

Stage two
As a gamer who has been around since the start of the video game revolution, I find it hard to believe that the current crop of game designers seems to believe in a concept from the arcades so that they model their games after it. I’m referring to the simple proposition that level 2 must always be so difficult, because it was that way in the arcades!

Why is this dangerous to the industry? Because it could actually lock a portion of the audience out of gaming!

Potential gamers who just want to have fun may purchase a game only to find that, early on, they can’t make any progress, and give up on the game; perhaps give up on gaming completely.

Now, it has been stated by some folks that those gamers are just not trying hard enough, or perhaps not working hard enough. Why has it become necessary for fun to equate to work? Certainly not in the modern games I’ve found enjoyable!

What these gamers apparently don’t realise is that arcade owners wanted customers to plug in more tokens and accomplished this by making level 2 very difficult. There is no longer any need for this in gaming. And the danger for the industry is that new gamers could expect that videogaming is fun rather than work, and when they no longer are having fun, the industry could easily lose them as a customer.

Furthermore, difficulty levels are programmed into games, and this is already supposed to take care of the fun vs. work problem.
Frank Eva

GC: It’d be helpful if you gave some examples of what you’re talking about. Apart from anything, being divided up into discrete levels is becoming increasingly uncommon.

E-mail your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Legend of the Grid
So, it was interesting to read Jay’s thoughts on the state of racing games at the moment.

Anyway, I’m pretty sure exactly what he’s after exists: Grid Legends.

Story mode: check
Ravenwest: check

It’s similar to other GRIID games, so if he wants that kind of stuff give it a go.

I do kind of get where he’s coming from, but for me racing games have never been better, but all I want from a racing game is realistic physics and tracks, and being able to race against other people. I’m not fussed about stories and upgrades and all that.

Anyway Jay, check it out! It’s Codies, but it’s EA what with having been bought out…
The Dude Abides

Invented problems
I would get a PS5 Pro but only if it was a lot more powerful and some extra features like wireless charging. As for the Switch, I’m not putting it down but to me the graphics are something that’s been the same for decades. Don’t get me wrong, it’s Nintendo, but for me new hardware should mean upgrades on every level, not just how it looks. But the Switch 2 it’s meant to be as powerful as a PlayStation 4, which let’s be honest in a handheld, that’s fantastic, and the screen should be an upgrade as well.

As for Xbox, I’m not sure about Starfield. Looks fantastic, but it will be filled with in-game purchases. I know it’s not been announced, but sooner or later they will drop in. So it’s either play 18 hours a day or spend real money and £480 to play that one game. Isn’t worth it.
David

GC: You have literally just made that up about Starfield.

Comfort gaming
Dirtystopout, thank you for your Reader’s Feature at the weekend. I hope you’re continuing to feel better.

As someone who is disabled and also has mental health issues, I just wanted to suggest something that has helped me to continue to enjoy gaming.

While I enjoy the challenge of a harder difficulty and the sense of achievement I get from beating a game, I also regularly just play games on the easiest setting just to have fun.

I also have favourite games which are comfort games for me. For example, Resident Evil 4 – I’ve played that game so many times since it came out in 2005. I’ve beaten the hardest difficulty, I’ve unlocked the Handcannon by 5-starring all the Mercenaries maps with all five characters. But I will regularly return to it and just for fun blast through it with my saved inventory of infinite rocket launcher, Chicago Typewriter, and Handcannon. The Ganados don’t stand a chance and it’s a lot of fun!

Try not to worry about failure, step back, return to a game you know well and/or try a game on easy for a while. Have fun and then maybe you’ll want to return to tougher challenges later on!

Wishing you all the very best!
LastYearsModel

Dead and loving it
Thanks to the Wii U I can still play old lightgun games and I thought I’d play The House Of The Dead 2 for a bit of nostalgia from the Dreamcast days. The second level is probably my favourite level of all time – great music and so many different paths to take. It really is great.

Hot topic idea: favourite game level.
Simon

GC: Yes, okay. We’ll give that a go.

Dead men serve no lawsuits
RE: Hi-Rez voices of the dead. It was an interesting read, and it isn’t difficult to see why it’s a contentious issue.

But it is difficult to see why it would be a thing in the first place. How many people would actually care if a game had a different voice actor because the usual actor had passed away? It would be really cold to demand the developer replicate their voice regardless of how family might feel.

CGI Peter Cushing as Tarkin in Rouge One annoyed me no end, it still does. His estate had to have agreed but whether it was family or some kind of trust they had no way of knowing if he would have been okay with it, anymore than I can know he wouldn’t have been. But that technology was a long way off when he died, so I can say he didn’t give permission for something like that while he was alive.

My love of horror movies is a direct result of watching the Hammer movies every Saturday night when I was a kid. Peter Cushing and Christopher Lee cemented a place in my heart from those films.

Seeing a computer-generated version left a bad taste and it still feels disrespectful. A load of Star Wars fans loved that Tarkin was in Rouge One. I really didn’t.
Mitchell

GC: It’s a thing because publishers don’t have to pay people when they’re dead. The credits of Rogue One indicate Cushing’s estate had agreed to the CGI version.

Inbox also-rans
Interesting review of Baldur’s Gate 3 from GC. So it’s not the perfect 10/10 some were describing it as after all? Now I’ve got to wonder whether they were purposefully ensuring that people only got to played the first section on purpose, so it’d get better early impression.
Goldman

The Baldur’s Gate 3 Metacritic score is already down to 96 after your review. I wonder whether it will go down even further? I knew the game was too good to be true.
Crespo

This week’s Hot Topic
The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader Simon, who asks what is your favourite level or set piece in a video game?

Many games nowadays don’t have levels as such, but any distinct section of a game will do, including areas or missions in an open world game. What was it you enjoyed so much about the level and how did it compare to other elements of the game, especially the sections immediately before and after it?

Have you played a game where one level was significantly better than any other part of it and did you still feel the game was worth playing just to experience that?

E-mail your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

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.