Xbox 360 console
Xbox 360 – the best ever? (Microsoft)

The Monday letters page asks what’s next for FromSoftware and Soulslikes, as one reader has an unlikely theory about Emio.

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Best of the best
There’s been a lot of reminiscing about the Xbox 360 lately, in light of Microsoft’s dubious plans for the future, and I have to admit I also look back at the old console with a lot of fondness. Some have said it’s their favourite ever, which got me thinking about whether it was mine too.

It’s definitely up there. I think the other main contenders are the SNES, the PlayStation 2, and the Switch. The SNES, while definitely the best of the retro era, obviously doesn’t have a lot of genres that are on other systems, including computer systems at the time, so for me that’s out. The PlayStation 2 is the absolute golden era of the early 3D phase but going back to its games can be a bit of culture shock.

The Switch is probably the overall winner, but since it’s still going I’m going to pretend that means it doesn’t count yet. So in my opinion, the Xbox 360 is the best console ever, or at least the best retro one. It was innovative, it had great exclusives, and a wide range of game types – exactly what you want from a classic console.

Microsoft should’ve built from there, adding more Japanese support, but unfortunately they focused on Kinect instead and nothing from them was ever as a good again. Still, nobody can take the Xbox 360 era away from them, as it’s still my favourite.
Franky


Scary bargain
Regarding the reader’s letter about their cheap games bundle last Friday. I noticed that SOMA is on sale in the PlayStation Store for £2.39! I don’t think anybody could say no to this opportunity. The Amnesia collection is also going for £3.59. These deals are until July 17.

There is also a Frictional games bundle including the aforementioned plus Amnesia: Rebirth and Amnesia: The Bunker for £51.79, but I would advise patience since these two games, individually, have also been heftily reduced in the past. These deals only seem to apply to PlayStation 4, so I’m not sure if they can be played on PlayStation 5 but I can’t imagine why not.

For anyone worried about soiling their smalls then the money saved would easily cover the cost of washing detergent.
D Dubya

GC: Those are excellent deals, we’d recommend both. Not all the Amnesia game are good, but The Bunker is the best since the first one. They’ll all work on PlayStation 5.


Exclusive rumour
At the risk of being way off the mark with the very vague live action teaser for ‘Who is Emio?’ I’m going to predict a local multiplayer game that encourages households to have more than one Switch to get the best out of the game.

Something like Cluedo, a murder mystery type of thing.

It’s a wild guess I know, but the live action trailer featuring somebody with a bag over their head could be any one of us and the close up on the four fingers could signal a player count.
Bad Edit

GC: Have you ever considered a job as a video game rumourmonger?


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Home rivalry
To me, Xbox are about to give up on the console market and if the rumours are true, and they’re only bothered about North America then what’s the point of a new console? I know they have said they’re working on one, but they do a U-turn every three months.

Now Game Pass is out on Amazon Fire stick there is no need for another console from them. Will be far cheaper bringing Game Pass to other devices, which is a shame with Sony being the only home console on the market they could charge what they like for PlayStation Plus and their games.
David


Gibberish talk
I picked up the Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door remake because my TV doesn’t have a SCART socket anymore, so it was a good way for me to play it again.

Does the original have that annoying blub noise when people are talking? I don’t know what else to call it but it’s just so annoying I am struggling to play it – I’d rather have silence.

It’s awful.
Simon

GC: Yes, that’s the same as it always was. If you don’t like that, make sure you never play Banjo-Kazooie.


Retro rocket
Rocket Knight Adventures: Resparked came through the mail for me this Friday just gone, from Limited Run Games. I had pre-ordered it ages ago for the PlayStation 4. It is a crime that the original title never found a home on any 16-bit mini-console. It comes with three games: the two Mega Drive instalments and the SNES version of the sequel, which I don’t think was ever released in this country? Either way, I never had a SNES back in the day, so it was new to me.

The SNES title seems like business as usual except now the bad guys are dog-like. Or jackal-like, maybe. Also, they can transform into their canid form from the rocks in the first level! Creepy.

Also included was a nice little comic book. A housemate of mine had never seen the giant mech boxing match before, so I decided to show him the game. Now in my early 40s and not having played any of them in at least 15 years, I was very rusty and had to make liberal use of the rewind feature! It probably didn’t help that I started on it after 9pm either.

It’s still great fun to this day, even if my middle-aged bones protested afterwards. Loudly. It’s probably the best thing Konami has done in a very long time. I mean, they at least had to allow it to happen, right?
DMR

GC: Sparkster was released in Europe, back in 1994.


Virtual upgrade
I see there is a free update for the Gorn PlayStation VR game for PlayStation VR2, which GameCentral had a good review of.

This is the first time I have had a free update on PlayStation VR2, as either you have to pay to upgrade or there is no option. I am happy to pay to upgrade if it means PlayStation VR games I have bought are playable on PlayStation VR2. Here’s a trailer for Gorn which is quite humorous.
Andrew J.
Currently playing: The Touryst (PS5 version)


Change of scenery
So I’ve finally beaten Shadow Of The Erdtree and that means I’m now up-to-date with all my FromSoftware games and all the Soulslikes I have interest in at the moment. Given it’ll be a while till the next one I thought I’d try and take stock of where we are right now with the genre and what I’d like to see next.

My first thoughts are that I definitely feel the open world works. I was against it at first but by mixing in legacy dungeons as well I thought it worked perfectly and added a lot more options to how you tackle things. However, I would like a change of setting. As much as I got into the lore and working out what was going on, it wasn’t really very different to Dark Souls and I can’t see what George R. R. Martin is supposed to have added to it.

Personally, I agree that it’s long overdue that we see a sci-fi setting. There’s plenty of ways that From could maintain a Gothic atmosphere with sci-fi and although there is a question of how the combat would work, since you don’t want to be shooting people from a mile away with a laser, I’m sure they could think of something.

Just recently we’ve had Dune, which relies almost entirely on melee combat, so you only have to think up an excuse and you’re there. Warhammer 40,000 is also heavily melee-focused too, even Jedi and lightsabers, so I don’t think that’d be too much of a problem.

Steampunk might be a good compromise too, or maybe some kind of alternative fantasy setting like underwater or Ancient Greece, where all the myths are real. What I’m saying is that Elden Ring has perfected the gameplay, as far as I’m concerned, so now it’s just a question of varying the presentation.
Goober


Inbox also-rans
I like the idea of a reverse Switch Lite for Nintendo’s next console, with more power but not portable. I can’t see them doing it though. They’ve never been interested in attracting that kind of crowd or unnecessarily expensive hardware.
Johnson

So not exactly game related, even though they have certainly inspired and appeared in many games since, but which order would you put these, possibly the greatest four great action films, in: RoboCop, Die Hard, Aliens, and Predator? (That’s my order by the by.)
Liam

GC: That’s difficult, especially as RoboCop has qualities beyond just being an action film. But, okay… Aliens, Die Hard, RoboCop, and Predator.


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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.

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