Games Inbox: Is the Nintendo Switch 2 getting too much hype?

The Monday letters page is impressed by Xbox Play Anywhere, as a reader argues Indiana Jones And The Great Circle isn’t a great movie adaptation.

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Past mistakes
I think people are getting a bit too overexcited about the Nintendo Switch 2, considering we still know very little about it. The Reader’s Feature at the weekend made some good points but we’re only assuming it’ll have good launch games. What if it’s like the GameCube or Wii U and it doesn’t? We have no way of knowing and trying to guess isn’t going to get us anywhere.

We also have no idea how much it’s going to cost and while Nintendo do tend to be sensible about prices I remember the N64 as ridiculously expensive and they had to cut the price just a few months after launch, so it’s not like they haven’t made that mistake before.

It’s worth remembering that the PlayStation 5 has been more successful with no games, just relying on Call Of Duty and FIFA as usual. That’s all the average gamer cares about and there’s no guarantee they’ll be interested in anything the Switch 2 is selling.
Zax

One or the other
Like everyone else, I find Microsoft’s plans for the next gen Xbox impossible to guess at. The way I see it though there are two main possibilities, the first being that they know it’s just a niche thing but they’re doing it so they don’t lose anymore current customers, and their precious subscriptions.

The other is that they do genuinely have something groundbreaking and they think it’s going to change their fortunes big time. Although not only can I not guess what that might be but, as has been pointed out, where does that leave their multiformat plans?

There is a third option though and that’s that they’re full of it/actually deluded/just making it up. I’m going to be generous though and assume the answer is one of the first two.
Benjy Dog

Half missing
Although I do think it’s a pretty good game, I do not think Indiana Jones And The Great Circle is a particularly good adaptations of the movies. There’s only two vehicle-based action scenes and they’re both very short. One is barely a minute and is basically just an on-rails shooter. If the movies had just been that and him punching people endlessly then there’s no way they would’ve been popular.

The script is good – the bit with Indy pretending to be a priest in the confession box is the best gag – but to me it feels like it’s missing half of the DNA of the films. Maybe they should’ve created a third person view for driving vehicles and had that as a recurring thing. An Indy game without him riding a horse or damaging a big Nazi vehicle just isn’t right for me. Also, there was no mine cart chase.

The way it is now, everything’s on foot and there’s no real invention to the action. Still better than the last two films though.
Dougal

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Just one more hit
Why is it when I picture Sony and Ubisoft’s boardroom meetings it involves someone acting like a sweaty gambler, beginning for just one more go, one more roll of the dice. How many failed live service games is going to take before they give up. Five? 10? Never?

I just don’t get it. Both of them have had one hit and while successful it’s not like Helldivers 2 and Rainbow Six Siege have turned the world upside down. I’m sure it’s nice to have a regular source of income and all that but it’s literally like a gambler where you think getting lucky once somehow means it’ll happen again.

Hearing that Ubisoft’s big plan is to make even more open world and live service games just makes me think even more that they’re not going to make it to the end of the year. Not in one piece anyway, and they’ll only have themselves to blame.
Baulder

Poking the bear
We all like to be armchair CEOs but one of the newer things to boogle my mind lately is small companies purposefully aggravating massive companies that they really shouldn’t be upsetting. First it was Genki with the mock-up of the Switch 2, that ended up with Nintendo lawyers paying them a visit – as if that wasn’t the most obvious outcome imaginable from that situation.

And now you have this guy in charge of a PC company I’ve never heard of spilling his guts about the release date of GTA 6 on PC. Maybe it’s not quite as easy for Rockstar to get revenge on him but I’ll bet they’ll try anyway. Like Nintendo, they’re not exactly known for playing nice when someone upsets them, so why say anything?
Pinky

Saved by the app
I’m enjoying Citizen Sleeper 2, but annoyingly there’s a bug on Xbox when you get to Wellspring. The camera seems to rotate around your rig rather than the planet and as a result there’s no way to select the location needed to progress the story. Because of what’s happening at the time you also can’t leave the planet, meaning you’re stuck.

I don’t know if this happens on PlayStation as well, but if you’re on Xbox there’s good news. As it’s a Play Anywhere game you can very easily open the Xbox app on a PC, click the button to install the game, your progress instantly syncs, and then you can complete the section and then switch back.

In a perfect world the bug wouldn’t exist, but as it does this just adds another reason to be able to switch devices.

Also, as far as the Xbox app goes. I’ve never used it before, but it was really simple. I don’t really get why some people won’t buy a game unless it’s on Steam. Surely none of the launchers are that bad to the extent you’d skip a game you wanted because of it.
Tim

GC: We’ve never understood that either, people get so angry about it.

Physical gone
Why have Sony only released the Days Gone remaster digital only? It’s a kick in the teeth to collectors and like 40% of their fanbase that still buy physical copies. Glad I stayed away from PlayStation 5 if this is how they treat their customers.

I’m aware it would need online and patches and updates but some people like stuff on a shelf.

Grumpy old geezer.
Bobwallett

GC: It does seem an odd decision, especially as they went to the trouble of adding new content to the remaster – so it’s not the case that it was just a quick cash grab.

Worth a watch
Elden Ring Nightreign doing a Warzone style of co-op, including shrinking areas, was definitely not what I would have predicted or probably wanted, but can’t see why not for those who like PvP style gameplay.

I can’t say I’ll be interested in this, as I am always a single-player gamer and never did any player versus player in any Soulsborne games! But it definitely seems good to watch from a content creator’s stream on Twitch and YouTube. This does sound good, as it’ll be great for a different type of co-op outside of the usual summons against bosses from the regular games. Definitely will be following the development of this for sure.

Regarding the review of Tomb Raider IV-VI Remastered, this is also not going to be on my list as even when the originals released I had become quite content with Lara’s adventures until the new survival styles of Crofts recent adventuress. The development of these newer games demonstrates that change can be a good thing, and it also shows in a pretty good movie with Alicia Vikander as the Tomb Raider.

Also, whilst I am discussing the franchise, I definitely recommend Netflix’s animated adventures of Lara Croft, which is a pretty decent Tomb Raider series, whether you’re a big fan or just slightly interested in the franchise. They are solid archaeological inspired stories taking her across the globe, whilst introducing some very good characters and lore regarding how they come to be in her life.

The action is great to watch and incorporates what a classic Tomb Raider game would have. They are also voice-acted really well, including the ever reliable Richard Armitage from the Castlevania series and Logan from Marvel’s Wolverine podcast. So definitely interesting news, even though Elden Ring Nightreign and the remastered Tomb Raider probably won’t be probably on my playlist. I’ll definitely be watching the content via streaming and content creators sites for sure though.
Alucard

GC: There’s no player vs. player in Nightreign, only co-op.

Inbox also-rans
Even just thinking about Tomb Raider: The Angel Of Darkness makes me angry, such a terrible game. I got it for my birthday and was not happy.
Fader

Just saw the new Captain America film (it’s okay) but it made me think what’s happened to that Iron Man game that EA said it was making. Is it still happening?
Scooter

GC: They haven’t said they’ve cancelled it, but nothing has ever been shown of it.

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The small print
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