January 30th 2024.
Concord is a term that has been thrown around quite a bit lately, with many people wondering what exactly it entails. In fact, the Tuesday letters page has even asked what the future holds for the makers of Returnal, with one reader proposing a post-apocalyptic Call Of Duty game. If you want to join in on the discussions, you can email us at email. It's great to see the conversation flowing!
Speaking of Concord, I am personally feeling quite positive about Sony's actions so far this year. Despite the frustrations from last year, I think they are making a genuine effort to improve. We've already been treated to a revealing preview trailer and now they've announced a State of Play event earlier than ever before.
I don't think it will be a groundbreaking event, but I do believe they will try to match the success of the Xbox Developer_Direct, which was well received by fans. Unfortunately, it seems they don't have a standout title like Indiana Jones, but they do have a few interesting games in the works. These include Stellar Blade, Rise Of The Rōnin, Death Stranding 2, Silent Hill 2, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, and a rumored Until Dawn remaster.
The wildcard in all of this is Concord, a multiplayer shooter that doesn't sound very promising and is likely a live service game. Will Sony be able to generate excitement for this game? Or will it just be met with a shrug of indifference? It's hard to say without more information, but I am definitely interested to see how things play out and if Sony is truly making an effort to win back fans.
Now, let's focus on a different topic. As a veteran gamer, I can't help but think about what Housemarque is up to. I'm currently playing and thoroughly enjoying Returnal, although it can be frustrating at times. The lack of difficulty options and the roguelike nature of the game can make it challenging to progress, especially when you lose all your weapons and upgrades.
For example, I was stuck on the Nemesis boss in Biome 3 for a while and had to take a break from the game for a few days because I couldn't bear the thought of starting over again. But eventually, the game called me back, and I couldn't resist its fun and addicting gameplay. Thankfully, now that I've reached Biome 4, I will respawn there after each death, making it less frustrating.
On a side note, I want to give a shout out to all the older gamers who can still handle difficult games. I'm 52 years old and still going strong!
Moving on to a different game, I'm surprised that Call Of Duty hasn't released a post-apocalyptic game yet. I would love to see a game that combines the elements of The Last Of Us and Mad Max with the fast-paced action of Call Of Duty. It could be set in the future after a natural disaster, World War 3, or even a pandemic. As long as the technology is believable, I believe it could succeed and surpass the disappointment of Infinite Warfare.
In other news, PlayStation recently confirmed that State Of Play is back, and I couldn't be more excited. It's the first glimpse into what Sony has in store for us in 2024. Unfortunately, I recently sold my Xbox Series S, and I have to say it was long overdue. I hardly used it compared to my PlayStation 5 and Steam Deck, and the games just didn't look as good. I won't even get started on how Starfield looked on the system, it was a major disappointment.
Since I purchased the Steam Deck OLED model, I rarely even turn on my Xbox Series S. With all games available on PC and looking and performing better, there's no reason for me to use it. I recently sold it for £80, and I have no regrets. However, I am looking forward to Wednesday's event, and I hope Konami will finally reveal Silent Hill 2.
After reading all the comments about Xbox laying off 1,900 staff members, I can't help but think it was a greedy decision. They just spent $69 billion, and now they need to start making that money back quickly. So, they got rid of staff as soon as possible to start saving money.
It reminds me of the time when Kraft bought Cadbury's and couldn't lay off the staff, so they started shrinking chocolate bars to save money. However, in the gaming industry, getting rid of staff can lead to a drop in quality, which we've already seen with Call Of Duty before the layoffs. I fear that Xbox may have made a costly mistake and that Call Of Duty may not survive in the next five years because of it.
Lastly, there have been many rumors about the upcoming Switch 2, and I can't help but feel that they are slightly underwhelming. We already knew about the 8-inch LCD screen, and it's probably necessary to achieve PlayStation 4+ power in a portable device. However, I am interested in the possibility of Nvidia being a partner and providing cutting-edge hardware. With Nintendo's timeless art direction, their games could look modern and impressive without the huge budgets of other developers. I can't wait to see what the future holds for Nintendo!
Concord - have you heard of it? That's the question the Tuesday letters page is asking. One reader has suggested a post-apocalyptic Call Of Duty game from the makers of Returnal. If you want to join in with the discussions, you can email us at email. It's a good start to the conversation.
I have to say, I've been quite frustrated with Sony's actions last year. But I am somewhat encouraged by their actions so far this year. We're not even in February yet and we've already had a pretty revealing preview trailer. And now, we're even getting a State of Play earlier in the year than ever before.
I'm not expecting any groundbreaking announcements, but I do believe they will at least try to match the success of the Xbox Developer_Direct. They must have noticed how well it was received by the public. However, they don't have a standout title like Indiana Jones to showcase. So instead, they are planning to showcase a variety of different games, including Stellar Blade, Rise Of The Rōnin, Death Stranding 2, Silent Hill 2, Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, and the rumored Until Dawn remaster.
But the real wildcard is Concord. As a multiplayer shooter, it doesn't sound very exciting and it's most likely a live service game. Will Sony be able to make it appealing to a large audience? Or will it just be met with indifference? We don't have enough information to say for sure, but I'm definitely interested to see how things play out and if Sony is finally making an effort again.
Moving on to other topics, I wanted to give a shout out to all the veteran gamers out there. I'm currently playing Returnal and it's a challenging game, to say the least. The difficulty level cannot be adjusted and it's a roguelike game, so every time you die, you have to start over from the beginning, losing all your weapons and upgrades. I was stuck on the boss of Biome 3 for a while, and it was frustrating to the point where I had to take a break from the game for a few days. But eventually, the game's fun gameplay kept calling me back and I finally managed to defeat the boss.
Now that I've reached Biome 4, I will respawn there after each death. So hopefully, it won't be as frustrating from now on. And just to give some context, I'm 52 years old and still able to progress through difficult games.
Moving on to another topic, I'm surprised that Call Of Duty hasn't done a game like Call Of Duty: Apocalypse. It would be like The Last Of Us/Mad Max meets Call Of Duty and set in a post-apocalyptic future. It could be after a natural disaster, World War 3, or even a pandemic or alien invasion. As long as the technology is not too far-fetched, I believe it could be successful where Infinite Warfare failed.
On to other news, PlayStation has confirmed that State Of Play is back and I'm really excited to see what they have in store for us. It's the first glimpse of what Sony is working on for 2024. But first, the bad news. I recently sold my Xbox Series S and it was a decision that was long overdue. I never found myself using it as much as my PlayStation 5 or Steam Deck. The graphics quality is just not up to par and the game selection is quite limited.
I won't even get started on how Starfield looked on the system. It honestly felt like I was playing on an Xbox 360. I had high hopes for the game, but it turned out to be a major disappointment. Bethesda could learn a thing or two from companies like Larian Studios. But there's no need for me to rant, as I'm sure most of you already know.
Ever since I got my Steam Deck OLED model, I rarely ever boot up my Xbox Series S. Every game is available on PC, and it looks and plays much better on there. So why bother playing on the Xbox for just 5 minutes? I received £80 for it, which I think is a fair price to never have to lay eyes on Starfield again.
On a final note, I'm really hyped for Wednesday's event, but I'm really hoping that Konami will come through and announce Silent Hill 2.
After reading all the comments about Xbox letting go of 1,900 staff, there's only one reason why they would do that - greed. They just spent $69 billion and they need to start making that money back as soon as possible. So they decided to get rid of staff in order to save money.
It reminds me of when Kraft bought Cadbury's. They couldn't lay off the staff, so instead, they reduced the size of the chocolate bars to save money. But in the gaming industry, when you get rid of staff, the quality of games tends to suffer. We've already seen a drop in quality in Call Of Duty before the layoffs. I have a feeling that Xbox has just wasted $69 billion, because when a game's standards drop, people stop playing it. I wouldn't be surprised if Call Of Duty is no longer around in five years, thanks to Xbox. And if it does survive, it will only be because Xbox is throwing more money at it.
There have been a lot of rumors about the Switch 2 lately. But honestly, most of them were already speculated on last year. The 8-inch LCD screen was rumored, and it's something that I would expect from a new model. Even with recent technological advancements, Nintendo will still need a bigger device and battery to achieve PlayStation 4+ power in a portable console.
I believe the reveal of the Switch 2 will be quite underwhelming. They will probably just confirm all the rumors that we've heard so far. However, when it comes to the hardware, the small details will be what interests us the most. Things like how they managed to achieve such high output with a sleek and efficient design, unlike the bulky handheld PCs that are currently on the market.
I enjoyed the article on Nintendo's future last week. Something that wasn't mentioned is that Nintendo actually has an outside partner and cutting-edge hardware technology, which has a vested interest in making the Switch 2 a success. And that partner is Nvidia. With AMD dominating the other consoles, Nvidia has motivation to bring their latest and greatest technology to the table to compete. They also have one of the best streaming platforms with GeForce Now.
I believe we will see a collaboration between Nintendo and Nvidia, with custom solutions for DLSS upscaling, ray-tracing, AI processing, fast file transfer, and memory speeds. When combined with Nintendo's timeless art direction, their games could end up looking modern and cutting-edge without having to spend $250 million or more on a budget, like some other games. However, it may create an issue for third-party ports that were built on different hardware.
Lastly, I want to mention that I'm a big fan of the 360° articles. They offer a unique perspective and it's great to hear from multiple gamers. Keep up the good work!
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