The Thursday letters page is unsurprised God Of War: Sons Of Sparta was unremarkable, as one reader is enamoured by fan remakes of Pokémon Red/Blue.

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

Console apocalypse
So, um… all this stuff about memory and electronic components getting bought up by AI companies seems pretty bad, right? Like, really, really, bad? This guy talking about potentially a decade of problems presumably knows what he’s talking about, given his position, and that is going to be a nightmare for gaming. Never mind smartphones and everything else.

Do we even know if Sony and Nintendo are safe? They’re not gigantic companies like Microsoft and electronics is pretty much all they do beyond games. Maybe all three will go third party at the same time! I’m not really sure what companies he’s hinting at that could go under, as I’m not sure who counts as a smaller business, but it’s clearly not good news, no matter what happens.

There’s so much going wrong with the games industry, and the world in general, at the moment and yet it seems like it could still get much worse and very quickly. In the worse case scenario you’re talking about consoles, and gaming PCs, being impossible to manufacture for several years.

Whether that would last for a whole decade I don’t know but that’s an industry ending problem. I hope you’re all into retro games, because that might be all we have soon!
Oz

Monkey paw
So I guess one of the big victims of these memory shortage problems is going to be all those PC handheld gaming devices from companies I’ve never heard of. If even Steam Deck has only sold a few million I hate to think what some of these others are pushing. Even the Xbox Ally one, which I have literally not heard mentioned again even once since it came out.

That’s going to affect the rumoured Xbox portable and the PlayStation one too, to the point where they might just cancel them completely, because I imagine they involve a lot of custom chips – even more than if it was just a home console.

I’m sure no one but them knows the full details but this is all very bad news and yet… if you didn’t want there to be a next generation so soon your prayers have been answered. But you know the problem with being careful what you wish for, since now the PlayStation 6 might not arrive until 2036!
Korbie

Next in line
Like a lot of readers I’m looking forward to hearing abut the third Final Fantasy 7 remake game but I’m also wondering what might get the remake treatment after that is all finished up with. Do they even consider Final Fantasy 7 Remake to be a success is the first big question and I’m not sure what the answer is, other than there’s a good chance it might be ‘not really’.

They definitely seemed to have cooled on the idea of a Final Fantasy 9 remake, as there were rumours like crazy around that for a while. That was only meant to be a lower budget remake too, so that might be an indication they’ve already had it with triple-A remakes.

For me the obvious choices for Final Fantasy are 6 or 10, although personally I’d prefer 12. Final Fantasy 6 would require a completely new game, so I don’t think that will get the treatment. 10 is going to be a big job too, so I’m not honestly sure any of them will get remakes.

I’d love Chrono Trigger, but I think that’s the same problem as Final Fantasy 6, and so I think maybe the most likely is Kingdom Hearts, especially with a new game coming up to promote. Or maybe the answer is none of them. If a big budget Final Fantasy 7 remake only sells okay, what chance does anything else have?
Ochreblue

Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Fan suggestion
I agree that this year is Game Freak’s big chance to turn around Pokémon in terms of the quality of the games and the technology behind them. I don’t know how likely it is, but if they don’t try this time I’m not sure they ever will.

Although most people imagine some kind of amazing high-tech open world I prefer the idea of something closer to the HD-2D style, that’s a mix between modern and retro graphics. There have been a lot of fan mock-ups with this idea over the years and while I don’t think any of them are perfect I’d rather go with something like this but keep it more of a top-down view.

Unless Nintendo is going to spend GTA 6 style money on it I don’t think there’s any point making Pokémon 3D. It’s got to be stylised and it’s got to be more like the wonder of the original Game Boy games. We might get that for a future remake but I’m afraid the next mainline game will just be another low-tech, janky knock-off.
Taylor Moon

You can dig it
Great Reader’s Feature about A Game About Digging a Hole at the weekend. I instinctively knew I would get some form of enjoyment out of it. Digging, collecting ore, selling it, upgrading equipment, and digging deeper? Absolutely all over it for £3.64.

Spaced out on Tramadol for a back issue last night, played for over two hours and it was an almost religious experience. Well not quite, but highly recommended to all other readers, especially for the price.
Whiskeyjack11

Fighting multiverse
RE: Lee Dappa. The closest you’ll get to playing all versions of Street Fighter 2 in one place, as one game, is not on the 30th anniversary collection of Street Fighter 2 but actually on the 35th anniversary collection labelled as Capcom Fighting Collection.

This release features Hyper Street Fighter 2: The Anniversary Edition. You can choose fighters from all versions of the Street Fighter 2 editions in one package.

Choosing World Warrior Ken from the original will give him extra strength, no super move, and he will be a palette swap of Ryu. Choosing Ken from Street Fighter 2 Turbo: Hyper Fighting will give him his longer range dragon uppercut and air whirlwind kick and still no super move.

Choosing Street Fighter 2 Turbo’s Ken will give him his flaming dragon punch but less damage, and thus more reliant on combos. But he will have his super move to use and the power bar for it at the bottom of the screen. This would apply to all characters across the games so you can have World Warrior E. Honda vs. Street Fighter 2 Turbo’s version of Blanka, for instance.
Nick The Greek

Online ban
I always wondered why companies don’t just lock a game out until the day it’s released, to avoid all these leaks you always get. It’s literally every game but they never seem to care. But surely it could just work like pre-loading, where you have the game but you’re not allowed to start playing it until the right time.

I guess you could buy the disc and then purposefully keep the console offline, and get around it that way, but who wants that much trouble? And besides, most games don’t seem to work without a day one patch anyway. At the very least a timer would cut the problem down, but the companies don’t even seem to try.
Flint

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What it looks like
I know they say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover but God Of War: Sons Of Sparta was an out of the blue shadow drop, it had what looked like terrible graphics, and it immediately looked inferior to about a 100 other Metroidvanias you could get instead. And as a bonus it was by some developer I’d never heard of, who’s biggest game was a Five Nights At Freddy’s spin-off.

I feel you have to be very optimistic given all that, to the point where I could probably sell you some magic beans. It’s not a question of whether it’s rubbish or not but if you want to spend a fair amount of money and a lot of time beating it, and I definitely don’t want to. Talk is cheap but time is not and at the moment I haven’t time for 10/10 blockbusters, let alone deeply average Metroidvanias.

I feel there’s plenty of interesting things an indie dev could’ve done with a low budget God Of War game and a 2D Metroidvania with Young Kratos seems like the absolute least exciting option. You could’ve had a game where you played as one of the Valkyries, you could have had a literal god game where you’re populating Midgar with humans, you could’ve had an archery thing with Arteus, heck you could’ve had a sledding simulator and it still would’ve been more interesting that what we got.

I know it was the safe option, but when the best option was probably not making a spin-off at all there’s no point going for the boring and obvious choice.
Campbell

Inbox also-rans
So Highguard has outlasted Concord, but by the sound of it it’ll be lucky see the weekend, so it’s really only going to beat it by a matter of days.
Goops

I really hate that Microsoft switched the buttons round on their controller compared to Nintendo’s. Why do so silly a thing and make it so difficult to switch (no pun intended) between the two consoles. I can never remember which is which way round.
Mobert

GC: They were copying Sega, who they were very cosy with in the initial years of the Xbox.

Email 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.

You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

MORE: Games Inbox: Will Resident Evil Requiem be worth getting?

MORE: Games Inbox: When will the PS6 be out?

MORE: Games Inbox: When will Super Smash Bros. be on Nintendo Switch 2?

At the CES trade show, NVIDIA today announced DLSS 4.5, which introduces Dynamic Multi Frame Generation, a new 6X Multi Frame Generation mode and a second-generation transformer model for DLSS Super Resolution, so gamers can experience the latest and greatest titles with enhanced performance and visuals.

Over 250 games and apps now support NVIDIA DLSS 4 technology, with this year’s biggest titles adding support, including 007 First Light, Phantom Blade Zero, PRAGMATA and Resident Evil Requiem at launch.

In addition, RTX Remix Logic debuted, expanding the capabilities of the Remix modding platform to enable modders to trigger dynamic graphics effects throughout a game based on real-time game events.

Plus, NVIDIA ACE technology demonstrated in Total War: PHARAOH showcases how AI can assist players in navigating the complexities of the game’s many systems and mechanics.

In PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS, PUBG Ally powered by NVIDIA ACE adds long-term memory, evolving its intelligence and capabilities.

And G-SYNC Pulsar monitors are available this week, delivering a tear-free experience together with a perceived 1,000Hz+ effective motion clarity and G-SYNC Ambient Adaptive Technology — all setting a new gold standard for gamers.

NVIDIA DLSS 4.5 Will Power 4K 240Hz Path-Traced Gaming

NVIDIA DLSS 4.5 introduces Dynamic Multi Frame Generation and a new 6X Multi Frame Generation mode.

DLSS 4.5 can generate up to five additional frames per traditionally rendered frame, dynamically boosting performance and enabling 240+ frames-per-second gaming with path tracing using GeForce RTX 50 Series GPUs. This delivers the smoothest gameplay experiences yet. Dynamic Multi Frame Generation and 6X Multi-Frame Generation are expected to be available in spring of this year.

A second-generation transformer model for DLSS Super Resolution also arrives with NVIDIA DLSS 4.5, bringing state-of-the-art image quality to over 400 games and apps for all GeForce RTX GPUs. The second-generation transformer is available to try now via the NVIDIA App for all GeForce RTX GPUs. Learn more.

Over 250 DLSS 4 Games and Apps Available Now

DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation launched at CES last year with 75 games and apps supported. Now, more than 250 games and apps are supported, including 2025’s most-played titles, such as ARC Raiders, Battlefield 6, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Where Winds Meet.

New and upgraded titles announced today that will support the latest GeForce RTX technologies include 007 First Light, Active Matter, DEFECT, Phantom Blade Zero, PRAGMATA, Resident Evil Requiem and Screamer. Learn more.

Next-Generation G-SYNC Pulsar Gaming Monitors Available Now

The launch of G-SYNC in 2013 revolutionized displays and gaming, introducing Variable Refresh Rate (VRR) technology that all major display manufacturers now incorporate. This meant gamers no longer had to experience screen-tearing glitches when optimizing for responsive gameplay.

G-SYNC Pulsar displays mark the latest evolution of NVIDIA’s pioneering VRR technology. Through the invention of variable frequency backlight strobing, they deliver effective motion clarity of over 1,000Hz, significantly increasing the clarity and visibility of content in motion so gamers can track targets with increased precision and maintain consistent smoothness in gameplay.

In addition, new G-SYNC Ambient Adaptive Technology uses a built-in light sensor, letting users automatically tune color temperature and brightness for optimal viewing at any hour, day or night. Learn more.

RTX Remix Logic Brings Dynamic Graphics Effects to Classic Games

Many iconic PC games remain beloved for their unforgettable stories, characters and gameplay. However, as technology advances, their visuals can become dated, making it harder for gamers to immerse themselves in the titles.

NVIDIA RTX Remix, a modding platform for RTX AI PCs built to reimagine the graphics of these timeless classics with cutting-edge path tracing, lets longtime fans relive their favorite adventures in stunning visual detail, while opening opportunities for a new wave of players.

A new RTX Remix update — RTX Remix Logic — will be available later this month via the NVIDIA App. Remix Logic is a logic system for making RTX Remix mods visually reactive to the moment-to-moment, in-game action, equipping modders with 900+ configurable settings to trigger dynamic graphics effects based on a wide variety of in-game events.

Historically, modifying a game’s graphics in response to real-time game events was restricted to those with source code or engine access. RTX Remix eliminates this barrier so modders can customize visuals across 165+ classic games without touching the original engine code. Learn more.

NVIDIA ACE Powers New AI Teammates and Advisors

Non-playable characters (NPCs) traditionally follow strict rules designed to provide scripted interactions with players. NVIDIA is expanding the NVIDIA ACE suite of AI technologies to turn conversational NPCs into autonomous game characters that use AI to perceive, plan and act like human players.

Creative Assembly, creator of the award-winning Total War franchise, is experimenting with NVIDIA ACE in Total War: PHARAOH to power a new, dynamic AI advisor that assists players in learning the game’s many systems and mechanics.

By processing the player’s prompts, current game state and data retrieved from the game’s complex database, the advisor delivers real-time, context-aware guidance that adapts to what the player is doing, while staying in-character and faithful to the game’s lore and time period.

KRAFTON is adding long-term memory for PUBG Ally — an NVIDIA ACE-powered AI teammate in PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS that allows players to issue commands and communicate plans of attack or other tactical maneuvers with each other.

With long-term memory, the Ally can remember previous performances and gameplay interactions, and inject commentary into their responses that refers to past events. PUBG Ally will initially be released as part of a limited-time user test event in the first half of this year via PUBG: BATTLEGROUNDS Arcade for players using English, Korean or Chinese.

GeForce NOW Expands RTX Cloud Gaming Across More Devices

NVIDIA continues to push the limits of PC gaming accessibility with new GeForce NOW updates unveiled today at CES, delivering GeForce RTX 5080-class performance to an even broader range of devices. Gamers can now experience ultrahigh-fidelity RTX visuals through new native apps for Linux systems and Amazon Fire TV Sticks. This answers top community requests.

New support for hands-on throttle-and-stick flight control peripherals provide immersion in simulation titles, enabling precise input and smooth streaming responsiveness for flight and space combat games. GeForce NOW also introduces streamlined single sign-on for Gaijin titles, minimizing setup time and getting players into their favorite experiences faster.

GeForce NOW’s ever-expanding library continues to grow with day-and-date cloud launches of major upcoming titles — including 007 First Light, Active Matter, Resident Evil Requiem and Crimson Desert — ensuring that gamers can stream the latest blockbusters the same day they arrive on PC, all powered by NVIDIA RTX technology. Learn more.

RTX AI PCs Accelerate AI Video, Image and Text Generation

At CES, NVIDIA announced a wave of AI upgrades for GeForce RTX GPUs and laptops that unlock the performance and memory needed for developers to deploy generative AI on PC, including:

• Up to 3x performance and 60% reduction in VRAM for video and image generative AI via PyTorch-CUDA optimizations and native NVFP4/FP8 precision support in ComfyUI.
• RTX Video Super Resolution integration in ComfyUI, accelerating 4K video generations.
• NVIDIA NVFP8 optimizations for the open weights release of Lightricks’ state-of-the-art LTX-2 audio-video generation model.
• A blueprint for generating 4K AI video using a 3D scene in Blender to precisely control outputs.
• Up to 35% faster inference performance for SLMs via Ollama and llama.cpp.
• RTX acceleration for Nexa.ai’s Hyperlink new video search capability.

These advancements will allow users to seamlessly run advanced video, image and language AI workflows with the privacy, security and low latency offered by local RTX AI PCs. Learn more.

See notice regarding software product information.

The Wednesday letters page asks when the next PS5 State of Play will be, as one reader sticks up for Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour.

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

Bad idea
I’m always fascinated to read about really bad games but the problem is that, unlike a bad movie, most people never really get to play them. You can play games you don’t like, sure, but you’ve really got to be skipping your homework to end up buying the video equivalent of The Room by accident.

I don’t think even GC or most reviewers play the absolute worst games, because what would be the point? It’d just be some hentai rubbish on the Switch eShop or a broken indie game on Steam. Never anything as interesting as MindsEye, which I’d have to pay real money to experience, before presumably finding out that the reviews are truthful.

I’ve been trying to think of the worst game I’ve actually paid any money for and I think it must be The Good Life, which I bought because I really liked Deadly Premonition. I was hoping it would at least be so bad it’s good, but it was just boring and broken. There was nothing entertaining about it at all, which I guess is probably true of MindsEye too… but that thought still fascinates me.
Badgerman

One to go
Never mind about the first Nintendo Direct of 2026, I’m waiting to see the first State of Play. We know that Xbox has something planned for the early year but it’s always more of a mystery with Sony.

Although at least we have something to look forward with them this year, in Saros and Wolverine. Considering who’s making them I’m pretty certain they’re going to turn out good, which is instantly a far better line-up for the year, than Sony has had for a long time.

It’s probably just a hiccup, and I doubt Saros will sell that well, but two or three quality first party games a year is all I ask. Announce one more before the spring and this year’s quota will already be I the bag!
Purple Ranger

Shadow drop
Why are so many people saying the Prince Of Persia: Sands Of Time remake is going to come out on January 16? I’ve seen that date so many times now and everyone seems to think it’s real, but as far as I can work out Ubisoft has said nothing.

I’ll be absolutely shocked if it comes out that soon, considering we haven’t ever seen anything proper of this version of it. I’d be much less shocked if the remake never happened though. It’s been so long and I’m not sure there’s really that much demand for it.

But Ubisoft did finally get Skull And Bones out, so maybe they just like to see an idea through to its end. Here’s hoping (I think, I’m a bit worried what they’ll do to it).
Demmo

GC: There was a rumour of that date before The Game Awards in December, but nothing was announced. Some people still seem to believe it though, despite the fact that it would be commerical suicide to release it in nine days, without any prior marketing.

Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Hallucinating madness
I feel like the world has gone mad at the moment, when it comes to AI. Am I really the only one that notices that it doesn’t work? Sure, it can spit you out a picture of something, with gibberish language and three-armed people, but so what? Who actually wants that? Especially as it’s so obvious it is AI.

Searching on Google is now much less reliable than it used to be and ChatGPT lies and hallucinates like a drunk politician. But because it’s making some fat cats rich (it doesn’t make money itself, it’s all about the investment) we suddenly have to use it for everything.

This Sony patent about having AI watch TikTok videos to ‘learn’ how to play game is madness. Ignoring the fact that it’s clearly not going to work, why doesn’t the developer just record a run themselves and use that. It’d take them what, a few hours at most? And they’d be doing it anyway for playtesting.

It’s exactly what Nintendo did for their system which, as you rightly point out, they got bored of very quickly, presumably because nobody used it. Because why buy a game just to have the console play it for you?
The Bishop

Each to their own
I see Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is next to bottom on Metacritic’s list of Switch 2 games.

Personally, I enjoyed the delve into the detailed workings of the Switch 2.

Yes, you do need the camera to fully explore but I had that anyway.

As a great lover of the incredible build instructions of Nintendo Labo I see Welcome Tour as a very well made insight to the Switch 2.

Nintendo Life’s review of Welcome Tour is similar to what mine would be.

Happy New Year to all.
Goldenlay

Direct excitement
Nintendo hasn’t had a Direct in February for the last two years, but I think that was just because the Switch 2 was coming. They had it pretty consistently before that, so I’m hopeful they’ll do one again this year.

The reader on Tuesday was right that Mario Kart World is a very sensible and suitable launch game, but I think most long term Nintendo fans would still say that it’s a bit of a disappointment and missing that classic Nintendo magic, even if it is still ‘good’.

My hope for the Direct is not anything specific, just that it not be the minimum effort we’ve seen so far. Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza felt like the only reveals at the Switch 2 unveil, even though they weren’t. Because who ever cared about Drag x Drive or Kirby Air Riders?

We need more games to get pumped about, to make the console seem like it’s worth it, but I’m afraid we’ll just get that new single-player Splatoon game and a few more unwanted spin-offs and special editions. I realise games take longer to make nowadays but I thought Nintendo were clever enough to work around that.

I’m beginning to worry that they’re not and that this is going to be a very underwhelming generation for them.
Koffey
PS: I just remembered that new Fire Emblem game. They’ll probably talk about that too, which doesn’t seem very exciting either.

Noisy neighbours
He didn’t knock my door down, but I did have the neighbour asking if I was ‘all right’ after getting a bit overexcited with Call Of Duty a few years ago.

I hadn’t really thought of how much noise I was making, since I had my headphones on, but apparently I was ‘cussing and cursing’ and they were worried some kind of fight was going on or that I was generally just a wrong ‘un. To be honest, they were probably right.
Tez

The big five
Well, you weren’t lying about the list of top games being a depressing one. I wasn’t sure what to expect but having the exact five games be the most popular, in almost exactly the same order, from one year to the next is very worrying. What’s worse is that I doubt that it was any different going back at least… five years? Maybe more?

Even worse than that, I doubt it’ll be any different for at least that length of time in the future. Video games aren’t like movies anymore. They’re not something you do where you’re always looking for something new you haven’t played before. Now they’re just these five games, and maybe a few others, that have existed for a decade or more and will go on for so long as anyone of us can imagine.

Other games sill exist alongside them, obviously, but I worry that for younger gamers that fact is going to be increasingly ignored and that for a more casual younger person there’s absolutely no reason to bother seeking out other games that aren’t just one of the ones in the list.

And then to add another problem on top, you’ve got the fact that if something new does come along, it’s still a very similar type of game. Arc Raiders is probably the biggest new title in a while but it’s still an online shooter (and I don’t think anywhere close to Call Of Duty or anything).

It’s a very worrying state of affairs that I cannot see changing for any reason in the future.
Cranston

Inbox also-rans
I never upset a neighbour while playing a game but more than once I’ve managed to startle my cat two foot into the air when failing to beat a boss in Elden Ring. She still loves me though.
Rendel

Since Konami is trying to bring back its old games, I wish they’d do a new Yie Ar Kung-Fu. No one else ever seems to have heard of it but I have very fond memories of that on the Commodore 64.
Focus

Email 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.

You can also leave your comments below and don’t forget to follow us on Twitter.

MORE: Games Inbox: When is the first Nintendo Direct of 2026?

MORE: Games Inbox: What video games will you play over Christmas?

MORE: Games Inbox: Will 007 First Light be a good game?

The Monday letters page hears from one parent that tried to teach their kids to play ‘proper’ games, as Neon Inferno is criticised for its gameplay.

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

Humanity is dead
The use of AI is a hot topic in all walks of life at the moment but surprisingly it seems like gaming is one of the places that’s resisting it the most. I’m all for that but I am surprised, given how high-tech gaming is by default.

It’s turning up in all sorts of games at the moment. Call Of Duty: Black Ops 7 and Arc Raiders have been the most high-profile that I’m aware of (little indie companies that can’t afford to pay a real artist, right?). But I also read that Let It Die: Inferno has a lot of it. So much for Grasshopper Manufacture’s mott of Punk’s not dead, right?

Personally, I think it’s disgusting and there’s only two real situations: either you’re a disgustingly rich company looking to cut costs and lay off people or you’re a small indie company that can’t accept the limits that everyone else deals with, so they just add to the problem in the belief that their use doesn’t count.

I really dread what the next gen is going to be like, when Microsoft really starts pushing all this stuff. Curious to know what other reader’s think though.
Focus

The f is for free
RE: Black Friday. I got myself Silent Hill f last week or was it the week before? Off of the Xbox store, as soon as it reduced in price from £70 to £55, I used the Microsoft Rewards to knock another £50, off so five quid in the end!

Haven’t even played it yet, as I was growing more and more frustrated with Blue Prince. Gave up once I realised I would need to build a pool and a pump room and a boiler room and then build a chain of rooms with vents all the way to the pump room and drain the reservoir and make it all the way to the antechamber and have enough stamina to make it back all the way to the start and achieve all this in one sitting, all the while relying on the RNG to spawn the rooms you want/need… So yeah enough, thank you.

Now I’m on CloverPit, a demonic fruit machine with never ending debts and that one more spin hook… one day I’ll get around to Silent Hill and its creepy fog. Does it still have creepy fog?
big boy bent

GC: Yes.

Two-dimensional thinking
I’ve just looked at Neon Inferno in your newsletter, and it’s truly a good-looking game. It’s the Emma Bunton (I’m showing my age) of scrolling shooter games. I used to own an Amiga and ST at different times, and every other game was a scrolling shooter.

Neon Inferno has Operation Wolf undertones, which you could tell from the video you linked to. I hope they make another one with better gameplay. Back then in the late eighties I used to think of games being just sprites, just hardware scrolling, everything a young programmer would think, not in terms of the story, just as it being a technical trip… games were never tales to tell, they had to be good gameplay-wise.
Dave Diamond

Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

A year out
I’ve just got the latest Edge magazine and I see they have an advert for this month’s Retro Gamer, which features the 20th anniversary of the release of the Xbox 360 on the front cover, with a feature inside. I always remember The Gadget Show previewing the Xbox 360 and one of the things that stuck in my mind was that the presenter said you could drive towards the spectators in Project Gotham Racing and they would react to it!

Also, with the Edge magazine they have included a Zelda 40th Anniversary 2026 Calendar. I was going to ask Game Central what was the original release date for Zelda in 1986 in the UK? I am hoping for some Zelda remasters or remakes around the anniversary next year!
Andrew J.

GC: Zelda was originally a Famicom Disk System release in Japan, which is why its 40th anniversary is February 21, 2026. The first cartridge releases were in the West, on August 22, 1987 in the US and November 15 in Europe.

Maximum cuteness
I stumbled across a game over the weekend called Cotton Fantasy on the Switch in the sales. It’s basically a shoot ’em-up with cutesy graphics and an easy going difficulty level.

After reading a few reviews I quickly realised that they call these games a cute ’em-up a term new to me, even though I’ve been playing games for nearly 50 years!

Anyway, I like shoot ’em-ups but I don’t have a time, the patience or, reluctantly, probably the reflexes for those hard as nails games. So this really fits my bill, I just want a great blast on a game that doesn’t take itself too seriously and I want to feel good afterward. After all that is why I started gaming in the first place.

I had Trouble Witches on the Xbox 360 years ago, which is very similar and I know it’s soon to be released on the Switch over here, so my eyes are wondering in that direction.

My question is, can any other readers recommend anything similar on the original Switch?

Many thanks in advance guys.
freeway 77

GC: We’ve never heard that term either. Someone must’ve just made it up for that game. Traditionally, the cuter a retro game the harder it tends to be, so there’s not much else that comes to mind.

Technical requirements
Regarding John needing a TV for films and games for under £1,000 I’d recommend anything but Samsung, as they stubbornly refuse to adopt Dolby Vision and once you’ve seen Dolby Vision, you really can’t un-see it.

As for recommendations, LG seem to offer the best of value and here is a good choice within his price bracket.

Here are some important technical details for both films and games:

Panel bit depth: 10-bit
HDR formats: Dolby Vision IQ, Dolby Vision, HDR10, HLG
Response time: 0.1000 ms
Panel frequency (Hz): 120 Hz (VRR 144 Hz)
Motion processing: OLED motion
Local dimming: Yes
Pixel Resolution: 3840 x 2160
Backlit: OLED

Panasonic or Phillips are not to be sneezed at either, as most of these have Dolby Vision. If you want the best motion handling in the industry though you’ll need a Sony TV. That’s what I rock with personally and I wouldn’t be without it.

Hope John finds a TV that suits him.
Charlie H

Bullet Refutation
RE: Danganronpa series. I’ve always been a massive fan of the games (apart the last chapter of the third game, that ruins the whole series) and they got me into the whole visual novel genre, e.g. Steins;Gate is another classic.

I never really got into Ultra Despair Girls when it came out, though, due to the change in genre and the stop/start gameplay. I have dug it out for another try though and I’m really enjoying it second time around. The soundtrack is excellent and I’m really enjoying the interactions between Komaru and Toko – they are genuinely funny at times. Toko was always one of my favourite characters of the series and she is great in this.

With the Switch 2 re-release of 2 with the extra content, do you know if it’s a Switch 1 release as well?
Simon

GC: Danganronpa 2×2 is multiformat. So it’ll be on Switch, as well as Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, and PC.

Kids today
Totally couldn’t agree more with the weekend feature by Soldat. But don’t agree from down to parenting.

I have two teenagers, and video games for them translates to Roblox, Minecraft, Fall Guys, and a whole other bunch of blah blah not real games (no actual progression to new levels, beating a final boss, etc.).

I do try and push the other many hundreds of games I have. I go as far as putting a controller in their hands for something and saying, ‘play that’.

For my kids, it all falls on deaf ears, because they just aren’t interested. Massively fits with them also doomscrolling random TikTok and YouTube shorts.

They only want short and quick experiences.

My kids (despite my best efforts) just don’t seem to have the attention or desire to play a ‘proper’ game.

They aren’t even interested in the lightgun thing I got a Reader’s review put up for previously.
Si-zero

GC: Fall Guys? That’s so old school.

Inbox also-rans
Funny seeing how popular Kirby is in Japan. There even seems to be quite a gap between there and the US, which usually likes most NES games equally. I guess Kirby’s brand of cuteness just really appeals to his home audience.
Cornst

Just wanted to thank you, as others have, for the Sektori review. Never heard of it up until then but it’s one of the best arcade style games I’ve ever played. Absolutely top notch stuff.
Gordo

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