Games Inbox: The best way to deal with a video game lag

Thursday’s letters page is intrigued by the Astro Bot director’s defense of the PS5 generation, as a reader is unimpressed by Hideo Kojima’s views on AI and sequels.

Games Inbox is a collection of letters, comments and opinions from our readers. To join the discussions yourself, email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Annual goal
Like Simundo, I have hundreds of games in the backlog. I’ve been lucky enough to have every major home console and handheld (except Xbox Series X) since 1994, and I have a lot of games for many of them. I was lucky (foolishly) to buy the majority of these on launch day, so I want to get my money’s worth.

However, because I was working full-time until 2020, I only had a fraction of the time to play. It’s been a pleasure to make progress in the Games since I retired earlier this year. I like to complete a game 100% or as close as I can. But progress is slow because many games are extensive.

With my slow progress in mind, I was listening to a recently recommended podcast and one of the podcasters surprised me when they said they’ve “accumulated credits on over a hundred games every year since 2020.” I found this comment astonishing.

I’d be lucky to finish dozens of games a year. Am I useless at games? I know I’m not as good as I used to be, but the comparison to the podcaster is surprising. Should I hang up my controllers? Hopefully I never will, because I still really enjoy gaming.

I would like to know your completion rate, can you advise me?

Okay, I better get back to work on it.
Ed

Talk fast
Interesting to see the Astro Bot guy actually addressing the complaints about this generation. That has to be the first clear answer we’ve gotten from anyone at Sony in the last five years. He basically admits that the graphics have barely improved, which is clearly true, but to suggest that it was all worth it for DualSense and fast loading is just plain stupid.

By the way, almost no games (except his) make good use of the DualSense and even many games don’t load particularly quickly if they are not properly optimized.

This generation is completely out of touch, although I admit I’m not sure whether they should try to start over or postpone it and try to do better.
Cranston

Public access
You don’t have to read much between the lines to see that Microsoft has already admitted that the next generation Xbox will be ultra expensive and basically just a PC, just like the rumors said. (Honestly, I can’t remember a single rumor about Xbox that turned out to be untrue – that place leaks like a sieve).

As far as I’m concerned, that’s as good as giving up consoles. Even if they get some form of emulation going, it’s not a console in the first place, and the whole point of consoles is that they’re relatively cheap and all have the exact same specs. This doesn’t sound like it will work either, you’re just paying too much on a PC with similar specs because it has an Xbox badge on the case.
Kimble

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Do as I say, not as I do
The more I think about Hideo Kojma’s comments about AI, the more hilariously hypocritical they seem. That guy just released a sequel, where one of the specific complaints was that it was too similar to the last one, and now he’s saying you should just give up all the sequels so AI can make them?

So which one of Metal Gear Solid 2, 3, 4, 5, Portable Ops, Peace Walker and all the rest should have been made by AI, Mr. Kojima? Or let me guess: your games don’t count because they’re super innovative and special, unlike everyone else’s sequels.

This is so ridiculous for someone who has been making games for almost forty years and yet has only worked on six different franchises in that entire time. If you want to use AI, fine, go ahead, but talking about sequels like they’re disposable trash when that’s all you ever earn is pretty rich.
Benson

Double decker
Many things have been mentioned about the Nintendo DS emulation on Switch 2.

An obvious one for me is using Switch 2 game share and another Switch (1 or 2) for the second screen.

They could even release an overpriced add-on like a Virtual Boy thing to click two switches together. Make a huge DS.

Magic in your mailbox? Because I would absolutely buy it.
Yes-zero

GC: That was the rumor from a few weeks ago, which suggested that there would be two physical screens, as one of three possible options to emulate the DS.

Not worth the wait
RE: Backlog and Harvester are 30 years old. Harvester was made available digitally on Steam and GOG in 2014. I bought it in a sale last year for £1.19. I haven’t had it in 30 years and was waiting to play, that would be something. Especially since a factory sealed box version of the game is requested thousand dollars on eBay.

I bought my first, and probably only, gaming PC in 2018. That’s when I first started buying some games for PC. GOG has been great for legitimate access to some of the best or curious PC games I haven’t played yet.

PC gaming from the 90s really interests me as it was quite different from the console games of the time and quite out of reach for me. Had to visit friends in the 90s to play PC or Amiga games.

The games are often just the original release emulated in DOSBox or whatever, so it has that charm or grittiness of games released a long time ago.

That’s why I love Nightdive’s work on that era of PC gaming. Remakes or remasters are my favorite way to play old games. I’m also looking forward to finally playing the Super Mario Galaxy games with the remasters. The first game is now almost twenty years old.

Also worth remembering: if you understandably baulk at paying 70 smackers RRP for game day one, you can buy and play games whenever you want.
Simundo

GC: Harvester is rightly infamous for its sex and violence, but it’s really not a very good game. However, the 90s were certainly a golden age for PC gaming, with plenty of innovative exclusives from major publishers – something you never see today.

Exclusive T-shirt
That Nintendo pop-up store sounds like there’s a lot of fun stuff, but I don’t think I can stomach the inevitable lines. I do hope they have a permanent store set up, because I visited the one in New York and not only does it have a lot of cool merchandise, it’s also a sort of focal point for fans, with small displays of rare items and events like watching a Nintendo Direct (I think I only know that from watching reaction videos on YouTube).

It would be really nice to have all that in the UK and I’m not sure I really understand what the downside would be from Nintendo’s point of view. They might even get around to printing a T-shirt with the word ‘London’ on it.
Boogie

Inevitable upgrade
I see people discussing the PlayStation 5 and looking to the future. Namely the PlayStation 6 and if it does indeed launch in 2027 or 2028. I’d say it’s definitely a possibility by the time 2027 rolls around. It would have been a run of over seven years for the PlayStation 5 and I would say this is similar to that of the PlayStation 4, from 2013 to 2020.

Personally, I’d say I don’t regret the upgrade five years ago. The time was right and the pandemic didn’t exactly make each day easy or memorable. It was essentially a plague at any time. That said, I’d be lying if I said the lack of exclusivity has actually made it a much tougher sell for many consumers.

With the aggressive focus on live service titles and the development time between first-party games, it was a rather flawed generation. Unlike the PlayStation 4, the PlayStation 5 was quite disappointing in a number of areas. So I understand the hesitation of some to upgrade.

That’s not to say there haven’t been fantastic exclusives. Returnal is a favorite for many and for GC; Astro Bot met expectations; The remake of Demon’s Souls as a launch title really reinvigorated the concept of remaking a Souls title and perfected the formula. I’ve also started playing Ghost Of Yōtei and Death Stranding 2 is waiting in the wings. So it’s a mix of both sides of the coin.

I can’t say what the PlayStation 6 has in store for us consumers. We haven’t even seen a prototype or sketch yet. So it’s a mystery to every player and to myself. I’ve said it before: I’ll be there day one, no matter what the final product looks like. I just hope it’s a period where Sony has learned to do better by then, and not have any regrets. Yes, that was a reference to God Of War.
Shahzaib Sadiq
PS: Currently playing Ghost Of Yōtei, Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 and Ninja Gaiden 4.

Inbox is also running
I have to be honest, I think you got a perfect score for Jurassic World Evolution 3. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good, but there’s something missing from it, maybe there will be a big DLC ​​that will fix it, but gotta be honest, I love it.
David

GC: 8/10 is a very high score? Although it’s one that Jurassic World Evolution 3 only just got, as we almost gave it a 7/10, just like the last one.

I’m constantly shocked at how popular Borderlands is. If you like it, don’t let me stop you, but the entire franchise seemed tired 13 years ago.
Rolo

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