Games Inbox – How do you get rid of a mobile game addiction?

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Kick the habit
The experience was wonderful. Reader’s Feature at the weekendThe state of mobile gaming. There are a few decent games out there (I’m currently enjoying Vampire Survivors and Marvel Snap! thanks to GC’s recommendations) but they are few and far between, given the sheer volume available.

I’ve just this weekend stopped playing Disney Magic Kingdoms – a freemium tapper game that launched in 2016 – after 2,430 consecutive days. I’d always accepted there was premium content (I’ve easily spent more than £500 on the game over the years), but what used to be staggered has now become so aggressive.

The tipping point for me was the introduction of 90-day season passes at £17.99 a time, in addition to a barrage of events that encourage microtransactions to stand a chance of obtaining the content. Even before that, I can’t remember the last time playing the game (if that’s even the right term) was actually fun and not just a habit.

I know there are (rightly) discussions about loot boxes, but they barely scratch the surface of what’s happening. Companies hide behind the fact that their games are – technically – free-to-play, while knowingly taking advantage of compulsive behaviour. It’s such a shame the potential of mobile gaming quickly became rotten to the core. What’s worse is that there’s no incentive for it to get better because unlike other platforms fated by poor software, smartphones aren’t going anywhere.
Needlemouse

Forgotten horrors
With horror games making a revival, personally I’d like to see a The Suffering remake. It was a fascinating take on the genre, I thought. Enemies based on how they died in prison, the backstory of the island itself, the fact you’re not an everyday man but someone who can take care of themselves makes the whole combat element bit more believable.

I enjoyed it more than the sequel, must admit. Is there any way to find out who is the rightful owner of these rights?
Liam

GC: It was originally released by Midway, but Warner Bros. now owns the film. Monolith Productions bought Middle-Earth Shadow Of Mordor maker Surreal Software.

Just stop
Good Reader’s Feature on the Horizon games over the weekend, but it’s not just Guerrilla that flog the horse to death.

Activision with Call Of Duty, Ubisoft with Assassin’s Creed and EA with FIFA. It is a crime that all are guilty of, even the Naughty Dog. You have to ask why they do it.

The answer, of course, is we keep buying it and that doesn’t give anyone, developer or publisher, an incentive to do anything different. If it ain’t broke, they don’t fix it, is the old maxim. That’s why indie games have come to the fore in recent years. Sometimes, small developers are in the garden shed. I like to think that they are as creative as possible and can take risks. Papers, Please, and Dicey Dungeons, two great games, have no sequels, and are both self-contained. There are many pitfalls in indie and mobile gaming, but they still dare to dream.

Some big publishers are realizing the hard way that single-player games have a market. EA’s Star Wars license is an excellent example. It was completely wasted until Fallen Order, which turned out to be pretty good. They even took it off for the horrible Obi-Wan Kenobi series. Ubisoft & Activision should stop and rethink their franchises. Naughty Dog must make something completely new, that feels more like an open-ended sandbox to expand their storytelling.

The only conclusion we can draw is that if we stop buying franchises, the developers will have other options. Give them a break, and maybe they will come back later. Capcom has done the same thing with Resident Evil. After a long period of not much new and some soul searching, they finally returned to their creative roots. After being a dead duck series, Resident Evil 2 and Biohazard have revived interest. We now have a glorious new Resident Evil 4. It can be done.
ZiPPi

GC: Ironically, even the most beloved indie sequels are notoriously not selling well.

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Same old story
Christmas games thoughts… I loved the first 2 Bayonettas but I just can’t get into 3. All the fights are with large monsters, so you can’t see what Bayonetta is up to half the time, no easing you into the combat and teaching you combos or unlocking them, so half the time you’re just button mashing.

Each fight is won by summoning large monsters with a basic moveset. Once that timer expires, you can just keep playing until you can summon again. And the story is not only garbage it also interrupts what you’re doing constantly with cut scenes.

My other Christmas game was God of War Ragnarök which I’m finding the complete opposite – good story, and a good unlock tree so you learn how to fight, and it really punishes you for just going in and trying to hit them hard, you’ve got to be tactical.
Bruisemonkey

GC: Are you implying the story in the other Bayonetta games weren’t also ‘garbage’?

Additional information
RE: Meestah Bull. You may have overlooked some important information that would help you answer your question.

What resolution do you plan to play at? Do you only use your computer for gaming or for other work purposes? Do you want to see frame rates above 60fps? Or are you content with this as a ceiling.

If you’re aiming for 4K you’re going to be GPU bottlenecked anyway, so extra processing power will be redundant at a certain point.

The new Ryzen 5 7600 is probably a happy medium, generally, if you’re not looking for extremely high refresh rates or don’t intend on using the PC for lots of content creation. The motherboards can be upgraded for a while.
Kiran

RE: Meestah Bull. You may not know the score, but you might be lucky enough to be able to upgrade only your CPU. If you have a large budget, you will need a new motherboard and compatible RAM. Intel is known for changing the socket layout all the time. This means that you will need to buy new boards every few generations, while AMD keeps theirs.

To keep the cost down, visit the website of the motherboard manufacturers to see which CPUs you can upgrade.

You can also check YouTube for the latest GPUs. They’re huge, so you might need a new case when you upgrade again in the future. I’ll be keeping my GeForce RTX 3070 until they sort that out.
Bobwallett

Catching up
As a kid, I always wanted a Game Boy, but I never got one. However, I still have my Game Boy Advance and I’ve recently decided I’d like to go back and pick up some of the essential games for the OG Game Boy – but what were the real killer apps? Tetris is the obvious choice, but what should I look for?

Any suggestions on how to expand my Game Boy Advance collection would be greatly appreciated. I traded in a lot of good but forgotten games back when the DS era began, but I still have Astro Boy and Street Fighter.

Advance Wars is already on your wishlist.
FoximusPrime81 (gamertag/NN ID/Twitter)

GC: For the original Game Boy, we’d recommend the Super Mario Land/Wario Land series, Donkey Kong, Monster Max, and Gargoyle’s Quest. Metroid 2 and Link’s Awakening are also great, but both have modern remakes. There’s also Capcom’s Zelda: Oracle Of Seasons and Oracle Of Ages, but those are only for the Game Boy Color. As for the Game Boy Advance, we’d recommend Rhythm Paradise, Metroid: Zero Mission, Zelda: The Minish Cap, and an imported copy of Drill Dozer.

Fool’s errand
Nice to see Switch 2 rumours are back in the limelight for the new year… trying to predict Nintendo is usually a fool’s errand, but it is kinda fun since they’re the most unpredictable of the main players. It’s easy to predict that the Super Switch/Switch Advance/SwitchU would be available by the end 2024, and will be a more powerful hybrid device. Nintendo did merge its portable and home console game development some time ago, after all, and DLC for multiple current titles ends this Christmas, so the analysts can’t have kudos for those.

What they’ll do about backwards compatibility, and those cartridges, I think could be the most interesting aspect. The Wii U failed since it couldn’t take existing Wii owners with it. How can Nintendo convince 100,000,000 Switch owners to upgrade? One obvious way is to launch with big-name franchises like Metroid Prime 4 or Mario Kart 9. But, it’s possible to improve your existing library of games. It isn’t their style to put out patches to make last gen games run at 4K and 60fps, but maybe it should be this time? Knowing Nintendo though they’ll expect you to pony up full price for enhanced ports of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild et al in 2028…

On a similar note, it’s quite amazing how much money Nintendo have left on the table with the current console, shown by the fact I can’t just go onto the eShop and buy Super Mario Galaxy (seriously, just take my money and give me the game you’ve ported already). Perhaps the rumors of Metroid Prime and 3D Zelda HD ports from GameCube eras will be true. They need something to keep the Switch running after they have moved development resources to the new console. Could be a nostalgic Christmas on Switch this year…
Marc

GC: The Wii U was fully compatible with the Wii U and its controllers.

Solid is the only thing that matters
I would like to reply to the Reader’s FeatureThe Last Of Us was described by one reviewer as a bad game. If you break down any game, from Mario to Elden Ring, the player’s actions can appear rudimentary. Try describing to a non-gamer what you do in a Mario game for instance, because it’s easy to make even the greatest games appear simplistic. Leaping onto characters heads or bouncing off scenery to collect stars doesn’t factor in the timing, precision, and planning those actions take. The Last Of Us is no exception.

Whilst I’m not suggesting The Last Of Us’ gameplay is anything more than solid if viewed in isolation, it’s how it perfectly supports the story which is most impressive. Stealth which takes planning, a lack of resources to make you feel vulnerable, and enemies who punish mistakes – it all adds to that sense of immersion. Any suggestion that interaction is lacking in some way I find disingenuous.

Although the TV show has been a success, it was clear that the movie’s cinematic nature made it inevitable that the game would succeed. After so many failed projects, which includes ‘cinematic games’ like Uncharted, it’s clearly no easy task and shouldn’t be diminished.

Where I do partly agree with the Reader’s Feature is that the storyline of The Last Of Us is indeed derivative and the ending is what elevated it beyond the usual zombie tropes. The narrative’s compelling nature, execution, and character story arcs are what set it apart. It’s very easy to have a reductive view on a game’s achievements, which is what the Reader’s Feature was guilty of.
Anon

GC:Uncharted was financially successful, far more than most videogame movies. Also, the Reader’s Feature was clearly talking about the level of interaction with the story, which is zero.

Inbox also-rans
John Carpenter hasn’t made a decent film in more than 30 years, I’m not surprised no one wants him to make Dead Space. He is still a master when it comes soundtracks, so get him in there.
Crenshaw

So the GTA 6 rumours have started but I’m still holding on to the fact that it could well be announced this year for real, probably with absolutely no warning. I don’t seem to remember any rumours about Red Dead Redemption 2?
Benson

GC: We don’t recall any either.

This week’s Hot Topic
The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader Onibee, who asks what video game protagonist would you like to swap games with?

Pick any two games you like, regardless of whether they’re in similar genres or not, and swap the lead character. What would happen, and would it be enjoyable?

Is this something you’ve thought of before and how important do you think the lead character is to a game? Are there any you’ve been put off from purely because of the protagonist and whose abilities have you most wished you had in another game?

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More: Weekend Hot Topic: Most anticipated video games of 2023

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