Whether through board games, pen-and-paper RPGs, or video games – gaming has always been a part of our household.  Like most families, we also watch movies and television together, but the interactive nature of playing video games is something that we truly cherish.

I fondly remember when The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild first came out, and both of my daughters were old enough to play.  The original game, The Legend of Zelda, was one of the first games I had when I was around their age and it was nice to share that with them.  Even though it’s a single-player game, the three of us sat on the couch battling monsters and trying to solve puzzles together. We took turns trying different strategies, while the other two shouted out suggestions.  We were talking, laughing, using our brains, and practicing how to share.

But not all games are appropriate for kids.  When they were younger, they were very curious about a different game I was playing that also involved riding around on horseback.  That game was Skyrim.  Skyrim is rated M for Mature and has plenty of content that isn’t appropriate for young kids.  I did, however, let my oldest sit on my lap and ride around on the horse.  If she ran into a combat situation, we paused the game and I explained that some parts weren’t for her before she would scoot off, somewhat disappointed that it wasn’t just a horse-riding simulator.

From their very earliest years, they knew that some games were for them – and some weren’t (yet).  They also knew that their father was not only making that determination as their dad, but also was behind the black-and-white letter that was on the front of the game’s box.

What Makes Up a Rating?

Most parents’ jobs don’t involve evaluating video games for age appropriateness. But that is precisely what I do for a living at the ESRB as its Senior Vice President of Ratings. ESRB assigns age and content rating information to video games and apps to help parents decide which products are appropriate for their kids.

There are three parts to the system:

Rating Category
The Rating Category suggests whether a game may be appropriate for a certain age group. That doesn’t necessarily mean the game is designed or intended for that age group — just that the content is suitable. There are plenty of E-rated games that might still be too challenging or complex for a young child.

Content Descriptors
These provide more detail about what players will encounter in a game and ultimately what content led to the Rating Category assignment. In the case of Breath of the Wild, one of the Descriptors is Fantasy Violence. That means the game includes combat or action sequences that aren’t realistic or something you’d encounter in everyday life — such as battling a rock monster rather than a human foe. On the other hand, Skyrim has a Descriptor for Intense Violence signaling to parents that the violence is more graphic and/or realistic looking.

Interactive Elements
While not relevant to all games, Interactive Elements inform parents about non-content features that may be important to know before their child plays a game. For example, if a game allows players to communicate with others, you’ll see “Users Interact.” If it offers in-game spending, you’ll see “In-Game Purchases” or “In-Game Purchases (Includes Random Items).” These notices help families understand the kinds of interactions or transactions a game may include, allowing parents to plan ahead, discuss household rules around video games, and set parental controls to back them up.

For physical, boxed games, ESRB also provides Rating Summaries — short paragraphs that go a step deeper to describe in more detail the content of the game and the context in which it is presented to the player. These are especially helpful for parents who want more insight into why a game received its specific Rating Category and Content Descriptors.

Staying Involved

Sharing time in front of the TV with a controller in hand has created some of our most memorable family moments.  Lately, we’ve been playing through The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom (the sequel to Breath of the Wild).  Their hand-eye coordination has now surpassed my own. They are more likely to take the controller away from me instead of relying on me to get them through.  They’re growing up.

Playing together has helped us stay connected and maintain open communication about games — what they’re about, why we enjoy them, and what’s appropriate for different ages. When parents understand what their kids love about games, it becomes easier to set household rules around playtime, online interactions, and spending.

For example, my younger daughter has been increasingly interested in Roblox over the past few years. Talking with her about why some of the experiences on Roblox resonated with her helped us talk about appropriate online interactions with others, what’s off limits, and more. For more information on establishing household rules and starting constructive conversations around video games visit ESRB’s Family Gaming Guide.

As mentioned, if you’re looking for a way to reinforce household rules, nearly every device that can play games — from consoles to smartphones — includes built-in parental controls.

These tools make it simple to:

• Manage what your kids can play, based on the ESRB-assigned age rating.
• Set time limits and control when games can be played.
• Restrict with whom they can communicate.
• Limit or block the ability to make in-game purchases.

Visit ParentalTools.org for step-by-step parental controls guides to help parents get started setting controls.

Ultimately, playing games together led to a lot of quality time for me with my daughters, and it’s one of the best ways to connect as a family.

The post Level Up with ESRB: Talkin’ Ratings – Family Game Time appeared first on ESRB Ratings.

With news that Switch 2 sales have started to slow, a reader is worried that complacency and poor planning is spoiling the prospects for Nintendo’s new console.

Last year, the big story was that the Switch 2 had become the fastest selling console of all time. I think a lot of people found this a little odd, because there didn’t seem to be that kind of excitement behind it, but then Nintendo’s main audience isn’t necessarily hardcore gamers, so I think some of the appeal was lost even on long-term fans.

After launch, Donkey Kong Bananza was great and… the rest wasn’t. I didn’t get Pokémon Legends: Z-A but it seems to have got only mildly positive reviews. I did get Metroid Prime 4 though and that was a crushing disappointment, even though I thought I’d still appreciate it despite the flaws.

We’re now in 2026 and the only games that have a release date are Mario Tennis Fever next month and Pokémon Pokopia in March, not the most existing of games, I don’t think anyone would pretend. Beyond that you’ve got Yoshi And The Mysterious Book and a new Fire Emblem, which I’d also venture are not the most widely popular of Nintendo franchises.

They’re niche games, basically, and so was Kirby Air Riders, Hyrule Warriors, and Metroid Prime 4. I can see the logic in that that meant you had a Zelda and Kirby game for the launch year, but I think these games are only likely to put people off the main franchises, more than anything else.

I read with interest the report this week, about how Switch 2 sales have slowed, particularly in the US, and that Nintendo thinks that because it didn’t have any big Western games. I’m pretty sure that’s not the problem, so I can’t wait for that overreaction to make things worse. It wasn’t because the line-up was too Japanese it’s because it was niche games that aren’t popular in the West. I’d say that was a distinct difference.

And now that we are out of the launch year can we just admit that having no Zelda or Mario, or even the slightest hint of one, was a massive mistake. Given how well orchestrated the Switch 1 was I would’ve thought that repeating the same tricks would’ve been easy, but Nintendo seems to have ignored every lesson of their very long history.

We’ve got the 40th anniversary of Zelda, 30th anniversary of Pokémon, and a new Super Mario movie coming up soon and, as far as we know at the moment, no major games to tie in with any of them. Missing one anniversary is a mistake, missing three super obvious opportunities like this reeks of incompetence or being complacent.

I don’t know which it is but the more you look back at the Switch 2 with hindsight the more it seems like it was all rushed, with very little planning… which makes no sense, as Nintendo had all the time they needed to get ready and were not working under any kind of time limit.

I hate to say it, but they’re exhibiting Sony style arrogance, where they seem to think a minimum effort will be enough and that because their last console did well they don’t have to try so hard with the next one. I would never have guessed that’s how they’d be with the Switch 2, but I don’t know how else to explain it.

If there is a Nintendo Direct in February it needs to unveil a new Mario, some kind of Zelda game, and ideally a new IP. I do not want to sit through a 50 minute showcase telling me that they still don’t understand what was good about Mario Tennis 64 or that they the budget for the next Fire Emblem has been increased to £10 and a packet of crisps.

Unfortunately, I would be willing to bet that the second description is a lot closer to what eventually happens and that people are going to feel even more worried about the Switch 2’s future after the Direct is done.

By reader Gordo

The reader’s features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.

You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. Just contact us at gamecentral@metro.co.uk or use our Submit Stuff page and you won’t need to send an email.

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The Friday letters page laments the death of Guitar Hero and rhythm action games, as one reader claims Final Fantasy 8 is his favourite entry.

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

Perfect timing
It’s hard not to read the report on GTA 6’s progress and not be worried about another delay. My gut tells me they will hit the November release date, just because it’s a good time of the year and people are beginning to lose patience but just imagine what would happen if they released GTA 6 and it was a buggy mess or not that great.

Cyberpunk 2077 proves you can come back from anything, but the press will have a field day with GTA 6 if it doesn’t live up to expectations. And it took a long time for Cyberpunk to recover, during which there was talk of CD Projekt being sold off, so I’m going to guess that’s not the sort of reaction Rockstar and Take-Two want.

The idea that they’ve not yet started polishing does worry me though. It’s easy to assume from that, that either the game’s going to be delayed until 2027 or it will be buggy. The GTA 3 remasters show Rockstar can put out janky rubbish if they think they can get away with it, but I just hope that they have contingencies for all this and realise that not only does GTA 6 need to be perfect but it also has to actually come out at some point.
Zeiss

One or done
I really hope that Fable turns out to be good. It seems so long since the idea of a reboot was first talked about and we’ve seen so little of it in the meantime. Playground Games do good work with Forza Horizon, so I’m hopeful it’ll work, but those are two very different kinds of games.

I imagine that was part of the problem, in it taking so long, but if this doesn’t impress then that’s going to be the end of the franchise, and whatever team was making it (they’ll keep the Forza Horizon people).

It’s really terrible how so often nowadays the failure of a single game can mean the end of a whole franchise and hundreds of job losses. Here’s hoping that the Developer Direct goes well and isn’t a Suicide Squad style disaster.
Wotan

Turbo milking
Maybe I’m just slow but for me Guitar Hero was the point that I realised that the companies in charge of gaming really haven’t got a clue what they’re doing. Activision could’ve kept that franchise running forever – it was super popular when it came out and non-gamers loved it – but instead they ran it into the ground at warp speed and the whole thing was over in just a few years.

I doubt that this new game will do that well because nowadays plastic guitars are just associated with a weird fad that quickly became uncool, but that didn’t have to happen. If they’d taken their time and tried to innovate, they would be more than a one franchise company and music games might not have been killed off before their time.
Focus

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Seasonal gaming
I know it’s unusual, and there is the problem of whether you can get back the same voice actors, but I really like the idea of coming back to a game after a decade or so and giving it new DLC. A new sequel is a good excuse but I’m happy for it at any time, especially when it’s a game as good as The Witcher 3.

I’d love to see new expansions for Skyrim or anything from FromSoftware. Or definitely the story DLC that games like GTA 5 and God Of War never got. If companies are so keen on live service titles then they could create something like it just by constantly giving single-player games new content. I’d much rather that than watch them waste millions on another identikit online shooter.

I never liked the idea of episodic gaming but if they can make them more like TV seasons, where you get a new expansion every year or two, I think that would be a lot more appealing to most people. If the new Witcher 3 expansion is successful then maybe we’ll see it set a trend.
Brammo

Good publicity
I am fascinated to see what MachineGames will be allowed to get away with when it comes to Wolfenstein 3. Things are a lot different now than they used to be and for me the big question is are Bethesda going to sanitise the new game or are they going to push for it to be as anti-Nazi as possible, in order to get as much publicity as possible. We won’t know until there’s an annoucement, but it could go either way.

Speaking of MachineGames, I hope they get to make a Quake game too. It seems like they were training for that for years and I was really looking forward to a single-player game in their usual style, with optional multiplayer, just like the original game. A Rainbow Six Siega knock-off is absolutely not what I want to see from them next.
Limpton
PS: Also, where’s that second bit of Indiana Jones And The Great Circle DLC?

Power paradox
I also think there’s a reasonable (let’s say 50/50) chance of seeing a new mainline Zelda trailer this year. Something less than a minute long and not really showing much, just like they usually do. But show a new Link and a glimpse at a bit of new landscape and you’ll have fans talking for years (including me).

I do think it’s weird that the 40th anniversary is in barely more than a month, though, and there’s no new game. Come to that, Pokémon’s 30th anniversary is also next month, and they don’t seem to have announced anything for that either. Missing one anniversary is no big deal but Nintendo seem to be doing it more than not now, to the point where it just seems completely random when they do acknowledge one.

I think we have to accept that we are in a new era where Nintendo is suffering all the same problems as everyone else and they can’t put out new games as often as they used to. Things take too long now, for everyone, and presumable they’re more expensive for Nintendo too.

That’s not the end of the world, except I worry it’s going to make them more worried about experimenting. We’ve had not a hint of a new IP yet for the Switch 2 (no, Drag x Drive does not count) and I’m not sure who’d bet on when the next one will arrive.

I get that they have to pay the bills, like any other company, but I’m beginning to wish the Switch 2 hadn’t been that much more powerful after all.
Keef

Hateful eight
In all these years I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone talk about remastering Final Fantasy 8, which confuses me as I thought it was generally pretty well liked. Was that just me and the game is secretly hated or something?

I imagine the game’s not easy to remaster, because of the pre-rendered backdrops, but 9 had them as well and there’s been lots of rumours of that getting a glow-up. Admittedly that doesn’t seem to have happened yet, but I’d rather have had 8 anyway.

Am I the only person who thinks it’s their favourite Final Fantasy? I won’t say it’s the best, because it’s probably nostalgia talking, but it is the one I think of first when I think of older games.
Molb

Unknown presents
A little late to the party when it comes to what I got for Christmas, but I wanted to share my experience of opening gaming presents in front of family who don’t game at all.

My wonderful wife got me two gaming presents this year that I had asked for. On the day, when it was my turn to open a present, I first happily opened Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, the title of which alone made many eyes glaze over. I briefly explained that it was 2025’s Game of the Year and allowed the present opening to continue.

My turn came again and I open NiGHTS Into Dreams for the Sega Saturn ‘with the special controller you need to get the most out of the game’. Cue the bemused smiles and lack of follow-up questions.

Needless to say, I’m very excited to play both of my gifts. However, when the other side of the family came on Boxing Day and asked what I’d got for Christmas, I showed them the lovely dressing gown and slipper combo I’d received instead.
Ed

GC: NiGHTS Into Dreams is definitely a nice present, it’s worth quite a bit now.

Inbox also-rans
I wish I could be optimistic about the new Life Is Strange game but the last one was such a disaster I’m not sure I’ll even bother trying it. One of the worst sequels I’ve ever played.
Gibson

I’m not going to argue over Mortal Kombat Mythologies being a terrible game but I will say that the Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection was really good. I appreciate the amount of work they put into it and that even the bad games were included. Completeness matters!
Lang440bell

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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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MORE: Games Inbox: What will be the next big Nintendo Switch 2 reveal?

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

The Thursday letters page wonders if Arc Raiders can continue to outsell Battlefield 6, as one reader wonders what the Final Fantasy 7 trilogy collector’s edition will be like.

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

Summer dreamin’
I am also resigned to Nintendo’s next big announcements being underwhelming. I’m not sure we’ll even get much this year, since they’ve actually revealed quite a bit already, even if nobody’s that excited about Mario Tennis and that weird Yoshi game they wouldn’t explain.

Add Splatoon and Fire Emblem to that and I don’t think you can really hope for a major annoucement until the summer. Of course, you can’t guarantee anything with Nintendo, but with the Switch 2 selling well and plenty of games on their cards they’re really in no rush.

Still, as a fan, I can’t help but try to imagine what they’ll announce next. I do think it could be a new Zelda. It’s three years now since Tears Of The Kingdom, and they announced that a long time before it came out. Add in the 40th anniversary and I think there’s actually a reasonable chance of a teaser trailer this year. Just to keep the pot boiling, so to speak.

I also notice that that online game they were playtesting a few years ago still hasn’t been announced. I don’t think it’s ever been clear what it is, but a new IP would be a nice thing to hear about right now.
Onibee

Three-way fight
Interesting to see how well Arc Raiders is still doing and that it’s ahead of Battlefield 6, even if that’s also done well. It does seem to me that the hype for Battlefield has cooled pretty quickly though. Redsec didn’t seem to catch on at all and it’s definitely Arc Raiders that was the biggest shooter of last year, with Battelfield second and Call Of Duty a distant third.

I’ll be interested to see how this evolves over the course of the year. Will Arc Raiders be a flash in the pan? Is the race close enough that Battlefield 6 could overtake it? What will happen to this year’s Call Of Duty? Even if it’s good, will there be too much damage to the name that it’s still a flop?

I gotta admit, when it comes to Call Of Duty I am a bit of a hater, so I’d be very happy to see it knocked down a peg or three.
Josh

Radioactive bugs
For me the problem with a Fallout remaster, whether it’s 3 or New Vegas, is that Oblivion is still in an absolute state, with no sign of it being properly fixed, and I’d bet large sums of money that any future game will be as well. Bethesda are just incapable of making a game that’s not a janky mess. Which is really annoying when otherwise they’re really good.

Nothing’s going to stop them from releasing Fallout remasters, not with the Amazon show being so popular, but please just wait for it to be finished first. The amount of time we’ve been waiting for New Vegas in particular, it’s just ridiculous to put it out and it’s a buggy mess that needs six months of updates to work properly.
Focus

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Deluxe celebration
I wonder what Square Enix will do once all three Final Fantasy 7 remake games are out? Obviously, they’ll try and bundle them up into one purchase but how much would they charge for it? Surely not £180 or anything close to it, and yet if it was much cheaper it’s going to really upset anyone that bought the originals at full price.

A part of me can’t help but hope they go whole hog though, with a collector’s edition that includes new content and characters and comes in some kind of crazy box with a statue and merch.

And before you peg me for a money wasting loony, I would say that I’d never usually buy that sort of thing. But I love Final Fantasy 7 and the first two remakes have been fantastic, so I’d really like to celebrate the end of it all in style. Somehow, I feel that Square Enix will be happy to take my money.
Coyotemac

Expensive year
40% of the world’s DRAM (RAM) output being bought Is frightening. Apparently, that will double the price of what remains and that’s how much will it cost now, as less is available; as the year goes on the price can only increase.

I can’t see, on a practical level, how the next gen consoles are not delayed but because the problem is that it’s needed for AI, the need for RAM will only increase. Just crazy times.
TWO MACKS

Technical limitations
I think the worst game I ever bought was Donkey Kong on Atari 2600. It was about £30, which was a lot back then! I saved up and sent my cheque/postal order to a mail order company, then had to endure the two week wait until it arrived. I was bitterly disappointed.

It only had two of the screens, the arcade version had four. Graphics and gameplay were pretty awful too. I should have read a review first but had to have it, as it might have taken magazines up to two months to review it! I listened to a podcast recently, where they interviewed the programmer. Turns out he had a 4K cartridge to fit it all into, which is a tiny amount of memory!

If the software company had given him 8K, he could have fit all four levels in, but more memory meant less profit for them. Also, he had to make it in about two months so they could get the game on the shelves ready for Christmas. I now understand how it turned out like it did.
Tim Keeling
PS: I’ve played Mario Kart World for 270 hours so far! That’s mainly on online Battle Mode, which is crazy addictive!

Eternal regret
RE: Badgerman. The worst game I ever bought was Eternal Darkness for the GameCube.

Despite the good reviews I really disliked it due to the instant high difficulty, confusing storyline, and frustrating gameplay. There is nothing worse than developers making your character limp and shuffle around when you are low on health, as you just become an even easier target for enemies!

The game was exchanged soon after, using GAME’s useful exchange or refund policy back in the day.
Adams6legend

Interestingly bad
It’s questionable whether it counts as the worst game I’ve ever bought, as it was hardly the main reason I bought the collection, but I recently played Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero on the Mortal Kombat Legacy Kollection, and if anything N64 Magazine were being generous awarding it 9%.

Pretty much every decision was baffling. It’s a platform game where you press up to jump and left trigger to turn around. As you move forward your character is positioned about 80% of the way along the screen, so you can’t see what’s ahead.

Half the traps are unavoidable unless you’ve been hit by them already and memorised where they are, and there are points where the necessary way forward looks identical to one of several instant kill holes in the same area. Also, despite starring Sub-Zero, most of the bosses are completely immune to ice attacks.

At least the live action cut scenes were entertainingly camp. I also played Special Forces but that was just incredibly boring rather than even interestingly bad.
TGN Professor

GC: We’d say that counts, especially as it is genuinely one of the worst games ever.

Inbox also-rans
That Detroit: Become Human story is really weird. I get that the game’s cheap, but £3.40 isn’t nothing. Did people really not have anything better to spend their money on than that?
Joffers

I was ready to call that Red Dead Redemption 2 ‘mystery’ a stupid fan conspiracy but that is actually pretty wild. Strange it’s not been noticed before. I definitely didn’t know there was similar stuff in GTA 5 as well.
Gordo

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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.

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

MORE: Games Inbox: What’s the worst video game you ever bought?

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Developed by Wishes Ultd., Greg Lobanov, Alexis Dean-Jones, Lena Raine, Madeline Berger, and A Shell in the Pit, Chicory: A Colorful Tale is a top-down adventure game in a coloring book world full of vibrant, animal-like characters. In the world of Picnic Province, Chicory, superstar artist and wielder of the Brush, is missing, and all the color in the land vanished with her. As Chicory's biggest fan, players are tasked with picking up the Brush and filling in for her, using their newfound painting powers to explore, solve puzzles, make friends, and draw on anything. It's the perfect blend of The Legend of Zelda's iconic puzzle-solving progression and Animal Crossing's cozy charm, and yet it is still somehow one of the gaming industry's best-kept secrets.

Being a collector can mean many things. Most associate physical media collecting with geeks surrounded by bookshelves of video games that will never get played. Others will hold five PlayStation games in their hands and feel just as much pride in their collection, however small it may be. We hold on to our discs and cartridges even today, as they hold the memories of our experiences. In some cases, an actual memory card holds the record of an actual beautiful memory associated with the game. Whether it's the game that had a best friend coming to your house every day over a blistering summer or the game that finally got your parent to enjoy your favorite hobby with you, only a physical copy will hold those memories.

Displayed below are artifacts held dear by our SUPERJUMP writers, and the memories they contain.

Nathan Kelly

I present my copy of the Wii version of The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. I remember my first experience with this game. I was at the house of one of my mom's friends as a kid, and I didn’t have too many people to hang out with at the time. I was just eating some party snacks or something, and upon entering the living room, they had a copy of Twilight Princess just sitting on their Wii. Immediately, I was sold by the foil art cover. Being a PlayStation kid, I had no idea what The Legend of Zelda even was at the time, but I had only ever seen two other boxes that looked nearly as good as this one: Kingdom Hearts and Kingdom Hearts 2, my favorite games ever at the time.

My family had a Wii that they had bought, hoping that it would get the kids up and moving (still a highlight of that console and something that the Switch has mostly left behind). I went to my dad and practically begged him for a copy of Twilight Princess, which he insisted that I would have to pay for myself. I used a collection of roughly 1,200 US nickels that a grandparent had given me at the time. I felt bad about this trade for a number of years. But as I grew older, I never gained an appreciation for coin collecting, so the only regret I still have over this is paying back my dad in a rather annoying currency.

I was so excited to actually have the game in my hands as I eagerly popped it into my Wii. I played through the opening village and admittedly ran into a problem. Like many others at the time, I was too confused by the opening village area to actually trigger the events to go on the rest of the adventure. In my defense, you have to get a cat to follow you by fishing and then get it to chase you around; It was cryptic for a child. I put it down for a while, but eventually my dad came to me and mentioned how we went through such a hassle trading nickels for a game that I didn’t even play. This got me to actually sit down and play through the rest of the game, and I’m glad I did. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess is the greatest Nintendo action RPG I’ve ever played, and I doubt that I’ll ever trade it away.

Mike Wilson

It can be incredibly challenging to name your favorite game when someone asks you to do so. In theory, this is something that could always be changing. If you’re a massive fan of the Zelda franchise, you know there will always be the next one coming, and it has a chance of supplanting your past favourite. But when someone asks about your most important game ever, well, that’s something else. We’re talking not just preferences, but something more meaningful and tangible, something that is part of your gaming history.

Historically, I’m a Nintendo nerd. Raised on Hylian princesses, Italian plumbers, and Kongs called Donkey, I had an incredible upbringing in the gaming world.

So it’s a huge surprise, even to me, that perhaps my most important game is, in fact, Virtua Tennis on the Dreamcast.

I was Nintendo through and through. I always got to play on my friend’s Mega Drive, but at no point did I ever consider it superior to my SNES. Then SEGA threw a curveball and released the futuristic (for its time) Dreamcast. Incredible 3D graphics, amazing CD-quality sound, access to the internet, and still my favourite little thing, the VMU.

Being the underfunded young man I was when I bought the Dreamcast, I wasn’t able to pick up many games. I obviously had to buy the Blue Blur in his first mainline 3D outing in Sonic Adventure, but outside of that, I didn’t have anything else.

Thankfully, there was the Official Dreamcast Magazine (ODM) here in the UK, and for the first time as a gamer, I was able to play demo discs. As an owner of the N64, I was always jealous of other console users with their demo discs from magazines, and now here I was, doing it myself; incredibly exciting times for this Nintendo fanboy.

ODM issue 17 gave us Dream On Volume 18, consisting of two videos of upcoming games and four demos for me to enjoy: Sega Extreme Sports, Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX, Ducati World, and, most bizarrely, my most important game, a demo of Virtua Tennis.

As with a lot of SEGA games at the time, it was a port of their arcade version from 1999, but it now allowed multiplayer madness in the home. I didn’t have a clue about this or the arcade version at the time, and I didn’t care; I was just excited to play something new that wasn’t Sonic.

And play I did; I enjoyed choosing one of the then-famous players and seeing who I felt was more accommodating to my play style. I enjoyed playing a best-of-three sets with the computer, and I absolutely loved playing with and dominating my friends.

Just to prove how incredible the VMU was, as you played the game, there would be a little matchstick equivalent of the game happening on the screen of the VMU. Who needed a massive TV with incredible graphics when you have a tiny pocket-sized one that does the same damned thing?

This demo of Virtua Tennis was exciting, fluid, and just simply fun. It wasn't overly complicated and was so easy to just jump right into, even if you were a novice. This game kept me engaged with the Dreamcast; it kept the system alive while I saved up for an actual new game or waited for something for my birthday. 

It seems bizarre that this bite-sized demo, of all things, I consider to be my most important game, but I see it as something that truly opened up my gaming mind to things outside of just Nintendo. It taught me that even the simplest of things can be engaging and provide hours of smile-producing fun. 

To this day, I always make sure to get the latest system from each company so that I can play all games from across all the systems. Although Nintendo had my heart from the early days, SEGA stole it from them right at the end.

Eventually, I was able to get Shenmue, and my word, did this really make the Dreamcast my most beloved console of all time. But whereas Shenmue made me fall in love with the Dreamcast, it was this small demo of Virtua Tennis that made me fall in love with gaming beyond Nintendo.

PJ Walerysiak

I was declared a traitor by my brother and cousins when I bought myself a PlayStation back in the early 2000s. We were a Nintendo family; how dare I turncoat for a competing console?!

It wasn’t a desire to forsake Nintendo that drove me towards buying a PS1, for I would always love them. It was a desire to have something of my own. The Super Nintendo and N64 belonged to my older brother, and he would regularly exercise his dictatorship over their use. Being seven years younger, I could do little to stop him.

I eventually saved up enough money from my paper route and made the leap. I bought a PS1, Crash Bandicoot, and Final Fantasy 7. I had never experienced a game like FF7 before, so ripe with deep narrative and heavy themes, somewhat beyond what my eleven-year-old brain could fully comprehend.

There was a story here far beyond saving the princess/realm/universe, complete with characters whom I bonded with over dozens of hours. It felt like I had discovered a vital element that I was missing before. I needed more!

I immediately became hooked on RPGs, especially Final Fantasy. I devoured FF8, then FF9. When I saw Final Fantasy Tactics in the store one day, I bought it without a second thought.

And once again, a veil was lifted from my adolescent brain, revealing to me an incredibly detailed medieval fantasy world of political intrigue, class warfare, treachery, and sacrifice. Characters had their naivety laid bare, their values challenged and demonstrated through combat. Systems of government and economics were exposed and torn apart through sharp rhetoric. Again, I could not grasp the full depth of its arguments, but it felt profound even then, as if the lessons buried within were relevant to life and I could hopefully decode them someday.

All of this was built upon the most foreign game design I had ever encountered. Every game I had picked up until then felt intuitive, even if I blasted through tutorials. With youthful hubris, I reckoned myself smart enough to figure this game out quickly.

Boy, was I WRONG.

Why were my attacks missing so often?!! Why couldn’t I move my character as far on this grid as the enemy could? Did that guy just destroy my armor? What the heck!!! I gave the protagonist the same birthday as me, but why in the world did that matter?

I shelved FFT for a few months, frustrated after being confronted with my own naivety and defeated so soundly in Dorter Trade City time after time.

But it had a hold on me, pulling at me to give it another shot. So I resolved to take the time to learn. Thus, a lifelong love of this game was born, and I learned a lesson about my own capacity. I hadn’t realized that a game could teach me more about myself.

I got my best friend to try it out, and he enjoyed it just the same. In future sleepovers, I would bring my PS1 over and we would play FFT literally all night, trading the controller in 3-hour shifts. The person not playing would either catch up on sleep or help the other as a consulting tactician.

I would go back to play FFT every few years and found that each time the story and its themes hit me in a new way. Even today, as I’m playing through the recently released Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles, I’m taking screenshots of lines of dialogue that feel FAR too relevant to today’s political atmosphere and class inequality.

When I think back, attempting to pinpoint what games were pivotal in stoking my love of storytelling and desire to write, FFT is chief among them. FF7 may have opened my eyes, but FFT opened my mind and continues to do so today.

Young PJ would be happy to know that I finally understand everything that this wonderful game offers and all that it has given me.

Jahanzeb Khan

More than any of the latest, increasingly expensive gaming tech, Atari has been responsible for rekindling my love for video games and their rich history. The launch of the + Platform really opened the door for both lapsed gamers and newcomers to connect with Atari's history. Both the 2600+ and the 7800+ consoles are designed to play nearly all cartridges right out of the box. Not only the old cartridges that are out in the wild, but even modern homebrew releases from publishers like Atari Age. Atari themselves have even been commissioning and publishing new releases, not just reprinting their legacy software but even brand new ports, such as the recent 7800 port of Tiger-Heli.

For me, the + Platform really opened up a whole new world of gaming and game collecting, and being able to play these ancient cartridges on hardware that connects with ease is just one of the coolest gaming alternatives. One of my favourite things to do is to go out and hunt for Atari cartridges, and I've done this every chance I can get when exploring Melbourne or visiting any city in Australia. I'm often amazed to find some really good hauls in the most unlikely spots, and more often than not, I can get them at a pretty good price. If you're going to a retro game shop, chances are that the business owner will know what the games are worth, and so you want to head into pawn shops and thrift stores that are not gaming-specialised, where you are likely to find a random haul of old games that they'd rather get rid of quickly. Oh, and you can always count on your local Rotary Club op shop to give you the best possible deal on games! 

In my many hunting adventures, I've stumbled upon some really rare Atari games, especially when it comes to the North American releases that were released much later in the lifecycle of the original 2600 VCS console. One of my favourites is this copy of HERO, an adventure platformer that was truly ahead of its time. It was like Metroid before Metroid was even a thing. I was on a trip to Sydney and about to board the train to the airport to catch my return flight, when I suddenly had this weird hunch to check out a random pawn shop in Chinatown. 

I'm glad I listened to my sixth sense because the secondhand jewelry shop had a random assortment of cartridges tucked away in a corner. I think the owner was surprised that I was interested in buying these, and so I paid nearly nothing for them. My haul from there included the aforementioned HERO and lesser-known 2600 ports of Rampage and Double Dragon. HERO in particular is quite expensive and hard to find in Australia, and so it's the thrill of discovering these hidden gems in the wild (at a great price!) that makes Atari game hunting one of my favourite travel pastimes. 

After set video leaks popped up online over the weekend, we now have our first official look at both Link and Zelda in The Legend of Zelda movie.

The photos were released on the Nintendo Today app this morning, and they show Bo Bragason as Princess Zelda and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth as Link in full garb. And honestly, they both look pretty incredible.

The photos were shown in a short video on the app, confirming again the May 7, 2027 release date for the long-anticipated live-action adaptation of the beloved Nintendo franchise. Hopefully, we can get the full HD version of the photos online soon.

Interestingly, the pictures show Zelda in a costume similar to her appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and not some more classic designs like from earlier games in the series. Link's, meanwhile, appears to feature more of a design similar to his appearance in The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. As of now, plot details of the movie are under wraps, but there is plenty of source material for the film to pull from.

The film comes as a partnership between Nintendo and Sony Pictures, and will be directed by Wes Ball, best known for the Maze Runner film trilogy. The movie is now in full production and being shot in New Zealand, and production is likely to last through the spring before heading into post-production and editing.

What are you hoping to see from The Legend of Zelda movie? I'm not the biggest Zelda fan myself, but maybe the movie could convert me (and likely some others). I think both of these young, unknown actors look great in the roles so far, but let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

Update on Nov. 17 at 9:40am CT: Nintendo has posted the full images online and we've added them to the article above.

The post First official look at The Legend of Zelda movie shows Link and Zelda looking pretty spot-on appeared first on Destructoid.

The Legend of Zelda franchise is building up to something timeless for its 40-year anniversary. Nintendo’s official social media accounts have unveiled a new trailer for a Legend of Zelda LEGO set featuring an iconic scene from Ocarina of Time.

The Friday letters page thinks there’s too many Modern Warfare and Black Ops games, as a reader wishes Rockstar would make games other than GTA and Read Dead.

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

Mr Sheen
I’ll say one thing for Rockstar, they are pretty good at keeping a lid on rumours. That new delay for GTA 6 came out of nowhere and we don’t seem to have any idea why it happened. I’m sure the needing ‘more polishing’ excuse is technically true but that is some pretty poor product management if their estimates were out by 18 months.

I know if we made that sort of mistake at work we’d be in serious trouble, but I suppose GTA 6 is such a guaranteed hit that Take-Two almost don’t care, although I doubt they’ll want this to happen again.

I can’t help but wonder what specifically the problem is and I suspect it’s getting everything running at a good frame rate and resolution. Those graphics in the trailer look amazing and while we all know Rockstar are great at that sort of thing they do almost look to good to be true. My guess is they’ve basically finished the game but it’s all running at 20fps or something, and that’s why they need the delay to get it up to speed.
Janson

Christmas is cancelled
Another massive GTA 6 delay is one thing but now think about the mess this is going to cause for other publishers. Now it doesn’t matter if they come out in May but anything that was aiming for a Christmas release should pack up shop right now. What is Call Of Duty going to do now, if it’s coming out within weeks of GTA 6? If Black Ops 7 underperforms this could cause real problems for Activision, having two disappointments in a row.

I don’t think there was any games with a confirmed November release date but apart from Call Of Duty, exclusives Marvel’s Wolverine and Fable were both probably aiming for that time. I don’t know what happens to them, if they come out early or get delayed into 2027, but GTA 6 is going to create a massive black hole in the release schedules, again.
Wotan

Beyond GTA
13 years between GTA 5 and 6 is crazy. That’s literally two console generations that have gone by and no sequel and virtually no other Rockstar games of any kind. Remember when they used to make all sorts of other things, like Bully, and Midnight Club, and The Warriors? If they were ever thinking of going back to that (which I doubt) that’s definitely been postponed for another year, thanks to the new GTA 6 delay.

I want to see GTA 6 as much as anyone but I also want to see Rockstar do something new. I don’t need a Red Dead Redemption 3 – I don’t see how it’s ever going to look significantly better than the current one and I’d much rather they do something completely new, like pirates or sci-fi or something. Anything, even a new ping pong game.
Grackle

Semi-portable
There’s an obvious appeal to streaming video games but the idea of doing that on a portable still makes no sense to me, because you can’t be portable with it! How’s it going to work on a train or taxi or whatever? You’re not going to whip out a PlayStation Portal in the middle of nowhere and start playing because you need a stable, good quality wi-fi. So you can only really use it at home.

I know in this case Sony are just experimenting and seeing what works but Microsoft seem to think it’s an actual good idea, even though it doesn’t seem to be practical at all. The problem with streaming has nothing to do with hardware or games companies, it’s entirely down to wi-fi infrastructure and I don’t want a portable console where it doesn’t work in 60% of locations.
Golem

Cheaper Pass
Been reading on and off for a few years but don’t remember ever posting.

I was wondering if you or anyone else in the GC community know what the best way to get Xbox Game Pass Ultimate is? As in cheapest.

I know lots of the old methods are no more, but I am not sure if I should just buy through the Xbox store, wait for a sale on the Xbox store, or do something like CDKeys or the like. Any thoughts?
Geoff

GC: That’s a question better suited to readers and we’re sure someone will try and help. We will say you’re likely to get some good deals during Black Friday though, which basically lasts most of the month now.

Empty schedule
Anyone really yearning for some new FromSoftware action or any new Soulslike at all? One minute it seemed like there were clones everywhere and now it’s like a ghost town. Elden Ring was three years ago now and we still have no idea what they’re working on now, let alone when it will be out.

There is The Duskbloods, but it’s a Switch 2 exclusive, it’s multiplayer, and we haven’t seen anything on that since the reveal, so it’s probably been delayed or something.

Since it is Switch 2-only there’s got to be something else big that From is working on, if not several things, but what is it and why are they being so secretive? I don’t remember a time when they were ever like this before so either they’re just super behind or they have some kind of really big deal to announce?

Whatever it is, the real reason is it’s just more proof of how long new games take to make nowadays and I’m getting real sick of it. Quality is always better than quantity but you’ve still got to have some kind of balance.
Fdender

90% old
I’ve recently been watching some Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom videos online. Is the emphasis still on weapon battles and exploring dungeons and caves? There seems to be a big focus on building machinery and moving items around in the air here and there via vast and confusing menus and methods.

Give me an old skool style Zelda any day of the week, like the excellent Link’s Awakening remake on Switch.
Adams6legend

GC: Breath Of The Wild and Tears Of The Kingdom are the only games in that style, so you’re spoilt for choice if you only want the older type of design.

Breaking the cycle
I don’t really care about the best Black Ops, I think it’s high time Activision invented a new kind of Call Of Duty game. The last new one was WW2, and I wouldn’t say that even really counted. It used to be we got three different games being released in each cycle: Modern Warfare, Black Ops, and something else. Although it wasn’t even always the first two, as Infinity Ward and Treyarch used to do new stuff sometimes as well.

The last several years though it’s just been the same old series again and again, sometimes two years in a row. There’s lots of reasons why Call Of Duty seems to be falling in popularity at the moment, but I think that’s a big one that’s often overlooked.

It’s not like any of the games are that much different as it is, no matter which series it is, so making them all just Modern Warfare or Black Ops is making it even more obvious that nothing is changing and the whole concept is stuck in a rut.

I believe that’s one of the main reason Battlefield 6 has been popular. I don’t think it’s even that great, and it’s definitely not doing anything new, but at least it’s different to Call Of Duty.

For me, Arc Raiders is much more interesting than either, exactly for that reason. I don’t know how much longevity it’s got yet but at least it’s doing new things in a new world. Call Of Duty hasn’t done that for years.
Goldrick

Inbox also-rans
I wish Bandai Namco would bring back Soulcalibur. My suggestion would be to bring the characters into Tekken and get people interested in them again through that. I miss Ivy and Voldo and all the rest.
Kabobz

I wonder if games like Resident Evil Requiem and 007 First Light are going to delay now that GTA 6 isn’t going to be out in May anymore? Lot of publishers going to be changing their plans now, for sure.
Trepsils

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