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You can get £12 off the brand new Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare III today, as no game is safe from the Black Friday discounts.

After two years of only minor deals, because the Xbox Series X and PlayStation 5 were still new, this year’s Black Friday has seen price cuts on literally everything video game related, including brand new games that have only been out for a few weeks.

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare III launched on November 10 and yet it has seen price cuts at many retailers, even if they’re not as big as those for some older games.

The best deal at the moment is £57.99 for the PlayStation 5 version, which is down from the RRP of £69.99. Although there are also some major bargains to be had if you buy the game as a bundle with a new console.

These are the best prices at the moment for Black Friday, on each format. But bear in mind there is no last gen version of the game – just a single Cross-Gen Bundle (so Activision can get away with charging you £70 even if you’ve only got an Xbox One or PlayStation 4).

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare III on PlayStation – £57.99 at Argos

Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare III on Xbox – £58.89 at Amazon

There are no PC discounts that we’ve been able to spot, so don’t get the new game confused with the original 2011 Modern Warfare 3, as some fans trying to review bomb the game did.

Another cheap way to get hold of the game is to buy a new console at the same time, with several deals for the game and a PlayStation 5 or Xbox Series X (but not Series S).

Cheapest Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare III console bundles

Even though they’re at two completely different stores there’re very similar deals for both next gen console, which means you’re not only getting the console for cheaper than it’s supposed to be but the game comes essentially free.

PlayStation 5 console + Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare III – £399.99 at Argos

Xbox Series X console + Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare III – £399.00 at Currys

These deals will likely continue on until at least Cyber Monday but that’s only assuming the stock lasts till then, so if you’re interested we’d take advantage of these bargains while you can.

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MORE : Black Friday 2023 best of the best UK gaming deals for PS5, Xbox and Switch

MORE : Best Black Friday deals for PS5 and Xbox controllers are up to 35% off

MORE : Best Xbox Black Friday 2023 deals include a console for £190 and games at 50% off

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The UK’s biggest gaming retailer has now slashed its prices on the newest consoles and games for Black Friday, which kicked off today – November 24.

It’s become the norm for Black Friday to become so much more than just a single day, or even week – with some retailers opting for a month long shopping holiday.

Amazon have been giving their customers daily deals all week long – meaning our cards have taken quite the hammering.

We’ve covered the PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo stores and their best offers already, as well as Amazon – and now it’s time to look at dedicated games retailer GAME.

The major retailer is offering heavy discounts on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and most of their biggest games (or at least it is while stock lasts).

GAME now offers the PlayStation 5 console for £389.99, which is £90 off the usual price. The retailer’s Xbox Series X offer isn’t far off at £369.99, which saves you £70.

If you want to spend less, then the Xbox Series S Starter Bundle has now been slashed from £249.99 to £199.99, which comes with three months of Game Pass and is currently the best Xbox deal in the country.

The best deal for the PlayStation 5 is £349.99, which is a saving of £130 on the usual price. The catch is that you have to buy it through GAME’s Frasers Plus Price deal (Frasers Group is the parent company of GAME), which involves a credit check.

GAME PS5 and Xbox Series X console bundle Black Friday deals

There are also several console plus game bundles on offer, such as:

• Xbox Series X plus free Diablo 4 pack – £379.99

GAME PS5 and Xbox Series X console video game Black Friday deals

That’s only the consoles and bundles, though. GAME has a wide catalogue of games on sale too, including the newly released Starfield.

• Starfield (Xbox Series X/S) – £42.98
• God of War Ragnarök (PS5) – £29.98
• Hogwarts Legacy (PS5 & Xbox Series X/S) – £34.98
• Persona 5 Launch Edition (includes SteelBook case) (PS5 & Xbox Series X/S) – £24.98
• Mario + Rabbids Sparks Of Hope (Nintendo Switch) – £17.98
• LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga (Nintendo Switch) – £22.98
• GTA 5 (PS5 & Xbox Series X/S) – £19.98
• Mortal Kombat 1 (PS5 & Xbox Series X/S) – £30.98

• NBA 2K24 Black Mamba Edition (PS4 and 5 & Xbox Series X/S) – £39.98
• Dead Island 2 Pulp Edition (PS4 and 5 & Xbox Series X/S) – £29.99
• Resident Evil 4 Remake Standard Edition (PS4 and 5 & Xbox Series X/S) – £27.98
• Assassin’s Creed Mirage (PS4 and 5) – £32.98
• Sonic Superstars (PS4 and 5 & Xbox Series X/S & Nintendo Switch) – £32.98
• Life Of P (PS4 and 5 & Xbox Series X/S) – £39.98
• Payday 3 (PS5 & Xbox Series X/S) – £22.98

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If you’re looking to buy an Xbox console or games this week then there are plenty of tempting offers at major discounts.

If you’re shopping for Christmas gifts or just looking to treat yourself, this year’s Black Friday has some particularly good bargains, now that both next gen consoles no longer have stock problems.

There are already over 1,000 Xbox games with reduced prices for this year’s Black Friday, with heavy discounts on even big name titles such as Diablo 4 and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.

Now that Black Friday is finally here, the various retailers are beginning to compete more fiercely over prices, which is good news for everyone looking for a bargain.

In terms of consoles, the best price you can get for an Xbox full stop is the Xbox Series S Starter Bundle for £189.00 (down from £249.99) at Amazon.

But if you want the more powerful Xbox Series X you can find it at most retailers, including the Xbox store, for £359.99 (a saving of £120). Although the Xbox store also offers a refurbished Xbox Series X for £329.99.

But hang on… we have to talk about console and game bundles too, which often offer more value than the console on its own.

Best Xbox bundles this Black Friday

• Xbox Series X – Forza Horizon 5 Bundle – £369.99 at Smyths
• Xbox Series X with free Diablo 4 – £379.99 at GAME
• Xbox Series X and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Bundle – £399.00 at Currys
• Xbox Series S Console and EA Sports FC 24 Game Bundle – £269.99 at Argos

Best Black Friday Xbox game deals

With so many games on sale during Black Friday, there are plenty of tempting offers for both new and old titles.

• Starfield – £42.99 at Amazon and Currys
• EA Sports FC 24 – £34.99 – at Xbox
• NBA 2K24  – £34.99 at Xbox
• Madden NFL 24 – £34.99 at Xbox
• NHL 24 – £41.99 at Xbox
• Life of P – £39.99 at Amazon
• Mortal Kombat 1 – £29.99 at Amazon
• Street Fighter 6 – £24.99 at Currys
• Assassin’s Creed Mirage – £29.99 – at Currys
• Diablo 4 – £41.99 at Amazon
• Payday 3 – £21.99 at Smyths, Currys, and Amazon
• Assassin’s Creed Valhalla – £14.99 at Xbox
• Hogwarts Legacy – £28.99 at Very
• Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2 – £11.99 at Xbox
• Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War – £22.74 at Xbox
• Cyberpunk 2077 – £29.99 at Xbox

• Cyberpunk 2077 & Phantom Liberty Bundle – £51.99 at Xbox
• Remnant 2 – £24.95 at Amazon
• Control Ultimate Edition – £8.74 at Xbox
• Sonic Frontier – £19.99 at Amazon
• Dead Island 2 Deluxe Edition – £38.99 at Xbox
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor – £41.99 at Xbox
• Redfall – £17.49 at Xbox
• Resident Evil 4 – £24.95 at Amazon

• The Elder Scrolls Online Collection: Necrom – £19.79 at Xbox
• Borderlands 3 – £8.99 at Xbox
• Microsoft Flight Simulator – £35.99 at Xbox
• Red Dead Redemption 2 – £18.14 at Xbox
• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice – GOTY Edition – £29.99 at Xbox
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition – £6.99 at Xbox
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition – £10.49 at Xbox
• Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater™ 1 + 2  – £19.99 at Xbox

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The big day is finally here and there’s a mountain of great deals to chose from, including cheap PS5 and Xbox consoles and great Switch bundles.

For the last couple of years Black Friday hasn’t been all that great for video games, as the Xbox Series X/S and PlayStation 5 were still brand new and there was no need for shops to offer a discount on the consoles (if they even had them in stock) or in many cases the games.

Now that both have celebrated their third anniversary there’s a lot more bargains about, for both hardware and software, and so we’ve drawn up this master list of all the best deals.

A lot of stores have the same prices, as they try and make sure nobody has the advantage over them, but you’ll find there’s usually one that’s always slightly cheaper.

Black Friday started over a week ago for many retailers but there’ll probably still be some new deals today, so we’ll update this article if there are any good ones.

If you notice any bargains we haven’t mentioned then do contact us via the email address at the bottom of the page. Likewise, if any of them change or go out of stock let us know and we’ll update the list.

Cheapest PS5 console deals for Black Friday 2023

• PS5 console – £349.99 at GAME (requires credit check)
• PS5 console – £379 at Very and EE Store
• PS5 Slim Digital Edition console – £389.00 at Currys
• PS5 Slim Disk Drive – £99.99 at Amazon and Very

Cheapest PS5 console bundles for Black Friday 2023

• PS5 console + Spider-Man 2 – £399.99 at Argos
• PS5 console + Modern Warfare 3 – £399.99 at Argos
• PS5 console + EA Sports FC 24 – £399.99 at Argos
• PS5 console + extra DualSense controller – £399.99 at PlayStation Direct
• PS5 console + extra DualSense controller + EA Sports FC 24 – £409.99 at GAME (credit check required)

Cheapest PS5 video games for Black Friday 2023

• Spider-Man 2 – £59.99 at Very and Amazon
• Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – £57.99 at Argos
• EA Sports FC 24 – £34.99 at PlayStation Store
• Assassin’s Creed Mirage – £29.99 at Smyths and Currys
• Hogwarts Legacy – £28.99 at Argos at Currys
• Diablo 4 – £41.99 at PlayStation Store
• Mortal Kombat 1 – £29.99 at Currys
• Street Fighter 6 – £30.79 at PlayStation Store
• Final Fantasy 16 – £32.99 at Amazon
• The Last of Us Part 1 – £43.99 at Very
• Payday 3 – 21.99 at Amazon and Smyths
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor – £29.99 at Amazon
• Resident Evil 4 – £25.00 at Amazon
• God Of War Ragnarök – £43.39 at PlayStation Store
• Grand Turismo 7 – £29.99 at Argos
• Uncharted: Legacy Of Thieves Collection – £17.85 at ShopTo
• Elden Ring – £35.95 at Amazon
• Horizon Forbidden West – £24.95 at The Game Collection
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart – £39.95 at Amazon
• Cyberpunk 2077 – £23.99 at PlayStation Store

Cheapest Xbox Series X and S console deals for Black Friday 2023

• Xbox Series X console – £359.99 at Amazon, GAME, and most other stores
• Xbox Series X console (refurbished) – £329.99 at Microsoft Store
• Xbox Series S Starter Bundle – £189.99 at Amazon

Cheapest Xbox Series X and S console bundles for Black Friday 2023

• Xbox Series X + Diablo 4 – £369.99 at GAME
• Xbox Series X + Forza Horizon 5 bundle – £369.99 at Smyths
• Xbox Series X + Modern Warfare 3 – £399.00 at Currys
• Xbox Series S console + EA Sports FC 24 – £269.99 at Argos

Cheapest Xbox Series X and S video games for Black Friday 2023

• Starfield – £42.99 at Amazon and Currys
• EA Sports FC 24 – £34.99 – at Microsoft Store
• Assassin’s Creed Mirage – £29.99 – at Currys
• Hogwarts Legacy – £28.99 at Argos
• Mortal Kombat 1 – £29.99 at Amazon
• Street Fighter 6 – £24.95 at Amazon
• Diablo 4 – £41.99 at Amazon
• Remnant 2 – £24.95 at Amazon
• Payday 3 – £21.99 at Currys and Amazon
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor – £29.99 at Amazon
• Resident Evil 4 – £24.95 at Amazon
• Dead Island 2 Deluxe Edition – £38.99 at Microsoft Store
• Cyberpunk 2077 – £29.99 at Microsoft Store
• Cyberpunk 2077 + Phantom Liberty – £51.99 at Microsoft Store
• Microsoft Flight Simulator – £35.99 at Microsoft Store

Cheapest Nintendo Switch console deals for Black Friday 2023

Switch OLED Neon Blue/Neon Red console – £279.95 at Amazon

Switch standard Neon Blue/Neon Red console – £249.95 at Amazon

Switch Lite blue console – £189.99 at Amazon

Cheapest Nintendo Switch console bundles for Black Friday 2023

Switch OLED console + Mario Kart 8 + Super Mario Bros. Wonder – £329.99 at GAME

Switch OLED console + Mario Kart 8 Deluxe + 3 months of Nintendo Switch Online – £269.85 at ShopTo via eBay

Switch standard console + Super Mario Bros. Wonder + Sonic Superstars – £299 at Very

Switch standard console + Nintendo Switch Sports + Super Mario Bros. Wonder + 3 months of Nintendo Switch Online – £289.99 at Currys

Switch standard console + Nintendo Switch Sports + Mario Kart 8 + 3 months of Nintendo Switch Online – £279.99 at GAME

Switch standard console + Nintendo Switch Sports + 3 months of Nintendo Switch Online – £259.99 at Amazon

Switch standard console + Super Mario Bros. Wonder – £259 at Very

Nintendo Switch Lite + Animal Crossing: New Horizons – £194.99 at Argos

Cheapest Nintendo Switch video games for Black Friday 2023

• Super Mario RPG – £39.99 at Currys
• Super Mario Bros. Wonder – £39.99 at Currys
• Sonic Superstars – £34.99 at Amazon
• The Legend Of Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom – £44.95 at Amazon
• Metroid Prime Remastered – £24.99 at Nintendo Store and Argos
• Kirby And The Forgotten Land – £39.99 at Amazon
• Pokémon Scarlet – £39.99 at Amazon
• Pokémon Violet – £39.99 at Amazon
• Xenoblade Chronicles 3 – £29.99 at Amazon
• The Legend Of Zelda: Skyward Sword – £39.99 at Amazon
• Pokémon Legends: Arceus – £39.99 at Amazon

• Metroid Dread – £30.05 at Amazon
• Animal Crossing: New Horizons – £39.95 at Amazon
• Super Smash Bros. Ultimate – £47.99 at Amazon
• Super Mario Party – £36.99 at Amazon
• Super Mario Odyssey – £33.29 at Nintendo Store
• Mario Kart 8 Deluxe – 37.99 at Amazon and Smyths
• The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild – £41.99 at Nintendo Store
• Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope – £14.99 at Currys and Smyths
• EA Sports FC 24 – £27.49 at Nintendo Store
• Monster Hunter Rise – £19.95 at The Game Collection
• No Man’s Sky – £19.99 at Nintendo Store
• Red Dead Redemption 2 – £32.99 at Argos

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MORE : Best Black Friday deals for PS5 and Xbox controllers are up to 35% off

MORE : Best Xbox Black Friday 2023 deals include a console for £190 and games at 50% off

MORE : Steam Black Friday 2023 sale has 84% off Battlefield 2042 and 40% for Diablo 4

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The Friday letters page is uncomfortable with Rockstar not allowing its developers to become famous, as readers anticipate the GTA 6 trailer.

To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Too much temptation
So I’ve got maybe £400 to spend over Black Friday and I’m thinking I should get a new console. All I’ve got at the moment is a PlayStation 5 and a gaming PC so I’m looking at either an Xbox Series X or a Switch.

The problem is though, is that if I get an Xbox I don’t gain access to any new games. However, I won’t have to worry about upgrading my PC any more, which is a benefit because it probably needs a new graphic card. So there is a good argument for getting an Xbox.

The Switch will give me access to dozens of games I can’t play on other systems, most of which have been very well reviewed. The problem there though is that I’ve never really owned a Nintendo console before (we had a N64 at uni but that’s it) and I don’t have much emotional connection to the games. Also, it could end up getting replaced next year by the Switch 2.

I know what people will say, that I should just save the money, but that phrase about money burning a hole in your pocket… it’s a real thing, I just feel the urge. I’ll see how things go today but I think I’ll get a Switch.
Vern

Unknown geniuses
I really don’t buy Rockstar’s excuse for why they let any of their developers get any publicity. Seems to me they just want to keep them buttoned down and chained to their desk, without out getting any idea about being famous (or headhunted). I guess as long as you’ve got Rockstar on your CV that’s going to be a benefit but beyond that you could work your whole life there, make the most popular games ever, and no one would have a clue who you ever were.

Knowing that they forced that guy to shut down his blog, even though I’m not sure they have any legal basis to do so, leaves an extra bad taste in the mouth. What does it matter that he told us they were working on a zombie game for six months, 20 years ago? What harm could that possibly do?

I’m looking forward to GTA 6 as much as anyone but Rockstar themselves have always seems a bit off to me and this week’s revelations don’t make them look any better. The irony that the game calls itself Rockstar Games is not lost on me.
Gordo

We warned you
I have a confession to make. I downloaded the Sony Pictures app on my PlayStation 5 and then did something even worse than that. I went and watched the first two episodes of Silent Hill: Ascension. I’d read the scathing reviews, but morbid curiosity got the better of me and well… it really is utterly terrible.

Where do you start when nearly everything in it is execrable? From not being remotely scary to woeful animation, ugly art direction, flat characters, bad dialogue, lip syncing errors, incomprehensible motivation, inexcusable slowdown, not to mention scene transitions being a three second black screen reminiscent of data loading off a PlayStation 2 disc.

Is there a worse way for an iconic series to return? I’ve not done anything other than watch it, as I’ve no intention of being fleeced of cash for this hot mess, but although the third episode is available and entirely free to watch I’m already on the bus home. It deserves to sink into the abyss with a 60 ton anchor on it to keep it down there.

Heaven forbid what the remake of Silent Hill 2 is going to be like.
Wonk

E-mail your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Jumping in
So, I finally did it. Merely days after contributing to the last Hot Topic, and declaring this generation a waste, and that I was going to wait until GTA 6 before taking the plunge… I bought a PlayStation 5.

The Black Friday deal was too good to pass up: a PlayStation 5 with Spider-Man 2 bundled for £399. I genuinely feel as though I got the last deal from Argos in my area, they were sold out everywhere shortly after ordering it.

My thoughts are… mixed. if GC will allow it, I might write a Reader’s Feature about my experience.
Rangersingh (PSN ID)

GC: Sure, please do.

Live on stage
While acknowledging that real stage invasions are wrong and very worrying, I would love for there to be an announcement at this year’s Games Awards which comes about through a set-up which sees Bill Clinton rush the stage and demand to play the game. While he is being escorted from the stage, Geoff Keighley would jokingly admonish him and have him thrown out, before returning to face the audience and stating… ‘For the rest of you, here’s the world premiere of GTA 6!’

All we need is Rockstar to pay Clinton 50 quid to play his part. I will accept a tenner for my idea (I’m willing to drop to a fiver given the current economic crisis) and we will have ourselves the best game reveal ever!
Scott, Fort William

Not from From
I had to read Penfold’s Thursday inbox letter twice and I’m still none the wiser, if those choices of developers to work on the Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic remake were serious.

Lies Of P selling a shed load doesn’t make it a good game or equate to its developer being talented enough to do Knights Of The Old Republic justice.

Koei Tecmo? Aren’t they ones that make those shonky and mindless licensed button mashers based off established franchises?

This has to be sarcasm, surely?
Mitchell
PS: Just like Stephen, my friends and I had a lot of fun with Street Racer on the SNES to the point of obsession. Underrated game that was.

GC: Since he was talking about Lies Of P, and action role-playing games in general, we assumed he meant the Nioh team at Koei Tecmo. For our money, Nioh 1 and 2 are still the best Souslikes not made by From.

Instant discount
Buy a console deal through Very, choose to pay with VeryPay (their finance option), and you get 20% off your first order.

So I just got the OLED Switch Mario Kart bundle deal for £242 instead of £299. Paid off the VeryPay bill the same day, then closed my VeryPay the day after. Bosh. Bargain.
Robby C

Bringing down the walls
I think we’re all expecting the lawsuit against Sony to end up in Sony’s favour. It will be deemed that Sony shouldn’t have to allow other stores, as it’s a closed system and even if 30% is excessive they have the freedom to charge that.

However, it will be interesting if in game purchases gets any focus as there’s no technical reason for purchases to go through Sony at that point. DLC requires a download and Sony’s involvement, but other things like a Just Dance+ subscription do not. The store is solely used for the game to validate a purchase, but just like a Netflix subscription you could pay on a website and then sign in.

I see this as less justified on Sony’s side. Forcing games to have the PlayStation Store as an option is reasonable, but I don’t see any reason devs shouldn’t be allowed to also use alternative payment gateways with different prices on each. After all, as a consumer, we are effectively paying a price for the content and a price for the transaction service. It’s not really much different than choosing Visa, Mastercard, and Amex which can affect the price you pay.

The same goes for Xbox and Nintendo too.
Tim

GC: And Apple. Walled gardens have been the online standard for decades and it seems only now that government agencies are realising that.

Inbox also-rans
GC, when is The Game Awards on and is it being broadcast live online?
David

GC: You’ll see it advertised as December 7 but it’s actually 1am GMT on Friday, December 8 once you factor in the time difference. It’s broadcast live on YouTube, Twitch, and elsewhere.

Why is it that when I look back at the PlayStation 4’s lifespan, it seems as if it lasted just three years? But when I look back at the PlayStation 3’s, it seems like it lasted 10?
Henry

GC: You were younger when the PlayStation 3 came out. Both consoles lasted exactly seven years before being superseded.

This week’s Hot Topic
The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader JesseM, who asks what is your favourite 16-bit video game?

So as to not get bogged down in technical details, we’ll accept any game from a fourth generation home console, so that includes the Mega Drive, SNES, PC Engine, Neo Geo, and peripherals like the Mega-CD. We’ll also accept any PC games or coin-ops released between 1987 and 1993, plus the Amiga and Atari ST home computers.

What is it you like about the era and how do you think its best games stand up to modern titles? Does your favourite have a modern day equivalent and if not what would you imagine it’d be like?

E-mail 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: The best Black Friday 2023 deal, The Game Awards predictions, and Zelda remake timeline

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The Rockstar Games website has started to remove all mention of the Social Club, as it seems GTA 6 will be getting a new online service.

Back in 2008, to coincide with the launch of Grand Theft Auto 4, the Rockstar Games Social Club was launched – an online service that allowed you to track your in-games stats, access multiplayer options, and act as an authenticator for playing online.

The same basic system was used for GTA 5, without any rebranding, but it seems that it will not survive the launch of GTA 6.

Rockstar has promised the first teaser trailer for GTA 6 will premiere in ‘early’ December but it’s still a mystery as to when the game itself will launch, although the decommissioning of the Social Club may imply it’ll be sooner rather than later.

The only obvious guess for when the trailer will debut is December 8 at The Game Awards, at which point it’s likely (but by no means guaranteed) that the game will become available for pre-order.

If Rockstar is planning a next gen replacement for the Social Club it’s likely that you’ll also be invited to sign up to that, in readiness for the game.

Whether the replacement will do anything before GTA 6 is out is impossible to say, but it’s highly unlikely that the stats and data from the Social Club will be lost – there’ll just be accessed from the new service.

What that new service will be called is a mystery, as it’s currently referenced only as ‘Rockstar Games Platform’, while the Social Clube webpage still remains active.

One of the big questions about GTA 6 is if and how it will interact with GTA Online. Will there be a GTA Online 2 that’s completely separate or will you still be able to play the existing game world from the new game?

Rockstar has offered no clues and there’s been very little in the way of leaks when it comes to the online side of things.

It’s not even certain that the online mode will launch at the exact same time as the single-player, as the first time round there was a few week’s wait between the launch of GTA 5 and GTA Online going live.

Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, and follow us on Twitter.

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There’s now an even better deal for a Switch OLED console and Mario Kart 8 but it may not last till the end of Black Friday.

Not only do Black Friday deals often go out of stock after a few days (thereby never actually making it to Black Friday) but as retailers see what prices their rivals are promoting, they tend to change theirs to compete.

Previously, the best Nintendo Switch bundle deal was the OLED Model and Mario Kart 8, plus three months of Nintendo Switch Online, for just £299.99 – which a number of different stores had at the same price.

Now, however, ShopTo has taken the same bundle and reduced the price to just £269.85, although given some of their other Black Friday deals it may not last for long.

ShopTo previously had the cheapest standalone PlayStation 5 console deal, at £359.95, but that’s now gone back up to £421.85. So the same thing could happen to this Switch bundle once it begins to sell out.

However, since it isn’t actually Black Friday yet, other retailers may still be holding back from their final price cuts. Although the probability is that we’ve seen most of the best bargains already.

Cyber Monday is much less of a thing than it used to be, now that Black Friday has taken over the whole month, but there’s still a chance there could be more and different deals then.

There are currently three models of Nintendo Switch – the original, Lite, and OLED Model – and there’s no sign of Nintendo discontinuing any of them, since they’re all sold at different price points, whether it’s Black Friday or not.

There is the possibility, some would say probability, that the Switch 2 will be released next year but it’s unlikely to be until autumn at the earliest.

It’s also perfectly possible the new console won’t be out until 2025, not least because most assumptions about Nintendo’s plans usually turn out to be wrong.

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MORE : Best Black Friday deals for PS5 and Xbox controllers are up to 35% off

MORE : Xbox Series X and S consoles are 25% off for Black Friday 2023 – £120 cheaper

MORE : Wolverine PS5 game is out 2025 with ‘darker, violent tone’ and Asian setting claims leak

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The creator of Devil May Cry is not optimistic about the future of Bayonetta but he is interested in working on Viewtiful Joe and Ōkami.

Hideki Kaimya’s surprise exit from PlatinumGames – the developer he helped to found – still has no real explanation, with little evidence of whether it was acrimonious or not, or if he had a specific plan for what he’d do afterwards.

He’s previously said he will stay in the games industry, but what made his departure all the more surprising was that he was deep into development on new game Project G.G., whose fate is now unknown. On top of that, he had also just begun to talk about a long term, nine game plan for the Bayonetta series.

Answering fan questions in a new video blog he refenced that plan as the ‘Bayonetta Saga’, but admitted that, ‘it seems like I may have to take the full saga to the grave with me. It’s a shame. It’s not like I own the Bayonetta IP, but I suppose those who do will probably keep it going.’

Despite critical acclaim, the Bayonetta series has never been particularly successful commercially, with the sequels only happening thanks to Nintendo’s involvement as publisher.

That makes it difficult to guess whether Platinum will continue the series or not, as while each sequel had a different director, Kamiya had a supervisory role in all of them.

Most of the other comments from the video are about non-gaming subjects, such as his love of aquariums and hot springs but at the end he reads out a question about potentially working with Capcom on a Viewtiful Joe or Ōkami sequel.

Kaimya, and many of Platinum’s other senior staff, previously worked at Capcom, with those two titles being amongst the last they worked on before leaving.

As director of both games, Kaimya has a strong attachment to them and has often spoken about his desire to make an Ōkami sequel in particular.

‘I’d love to work on them if I ever get a chance. I actually had the story for a third Viewtiful Joe all thought out. I’ve always wanted to make it. I wonder if Capcom would let me make another Viewtiful Joe…’ he muses in the new video.

‘Ōkami, too. I feel like I left that unfinished, so if we could make that happen as well, I’d be happy. Capcom I’m waiting for your offer.’

As with anything Kaimya says, it’s hard to tell how serious he’s being, especially about wanting Capcom to call him, but taken at face value he seems very keen.

The only other gaming related snippet from the video is a reference to the manga Cobra, whose creator Buichi Terasawa recently died. Kaimya is apparently a fan, but the actual question was about a new video game adaption of the anime by French company Microids (the same publisher behind the recent Flashback 2).

Kaimya was vaguely aware of the game, but unless he’s a really good actor there didn’t seem to be any indication he was involved.

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MORE : PlatinumGames’ Hideki Kamiya is proud of the term JRPG

MORE : Bayonetta Origins: Cereza And The Lost Demon review – Platinum prequel

MORE : Bayonetta 4 is already in the planning stage implies series creator

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You can get official PS5 and Xbox controllers for as little as £39 in the current Black Friday sales.

Black Friday means business when it comes to gaming – literally and figurately – but it’s not just consoles and games that get big discounts, as so do controllers and accessories as well.

We’ve already covered the best deals for PlayStation 5 consoles and games as well as the equivalents for Xbox Series X and S but there’s also plenty of bargains to be had for official and third party controllers.

Considering how expensive the official ones are usually, getting a third or more off the usual price is very helpful, if you need a new one or enjoy playing local co-op.

At the moment the best deal you can get if you’re looking for a PlayStation 5 DualSense wireless controller is at Very (white) and Amazon (camo grey), who both sell them at £38.99 (down from £59.99, so a 35% discount).

Xbox wireless controllers have seen a £15 discount, as they’re reduced from £54.99 to £39.99 across the board, from the Xbox store to Amazon. Both retailers also offer the luxury of a large selection of colours to choose from.

Amazon also offers a third party wired Xbox controller for £21.24 (down from £29.99), which is compatible with Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S.

Although charging stations for controllers aren’t very expensive in the first place, there are also some small discounts on those. Currys is offering a double charging dock for Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S controllers at £13.97, while Argos has a dual charging station for PlayStation 5 controllers at £17.99.

Although it may look like PlayStation controllers have bigger discounts, that’s only because its controller and charging station is normally more expensive. Both PlayStation and Xbox actually have near identical sales, in terms of the percentage size of the discount.

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MORE : Xbox Series X and S consoles are 25% off for Black Friday 2023 – £120 cheaper

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MORE : £6.3 billion PlayStation lawsuit could see UK gamers receive up to £562

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The secrets behind James Bond homage Agent and a previously unknown zombie game have been revealed by a former Rockstar North developer.

Grand Theft Auto Is arguably the biggest media franchise in history and yet there is almost no information about who made the games or what it’s like to work at developer Rockstar North. Rockstar founders Sam and Dan Houser give the very occasional interview (although Dan has left now) but that’s it in terms of official communication.

Why Rockstar is like that has never really been explained (something about not wanting individuals to seem more important than the team as a whole) but they tend to get very upset if anyone breaks the enforced vow of silence, which explains why former technical director Obbe Vermeij has had to stop updating his blog.

Although it’s still live, it now only contains a few dry, technical details, whereas earlier in the week it was filled with secret information about the mythical Agent, a multiplayer mode for GTA 3, and a previously unknown zombie game.

Agent was originally announced as a PlayStation 3 exclusive back in the summer of 2007. Although the only thing that was officially revealed was a logo and the fact that it was set in the 70s during the Cold War.

Vermeij states that the game had a heavy James Bond influence (its codename was Jimmy), with plans for the game apparently starting off with a demo of a ‘hang glider and a car turning into a submarine or something.’

Apparently, it was to have been more linear than GTA and include locations such as Cario, a French Mediterranean city, a Swiss ski resort, and a ‘big shootout with lasers in space’. So not only very James Bond but very specifically the campier Roger Moore era – which seems a surprising choice for Rockstar.

At first, fully half of Rockstar North were working on the game, for more than a year, but progress was slow and it began to be seen as a distraction from working on GTA 5. Jimmy was then passed over to another, unnamed, Rockstar studio before being completely abandoned.

Because Rockstar never confirmed that Agent had been cancelled speculation carried on for years that it was still happening, but in reality it seems it was only really in active development for a relatively short period.

None of that is unusual for video game development, where projects get cancelled or redesigned all the time, but Vermeij’s other big revelation is a previously unsuspected zombie game codenamed Z.

Z was based on tech created for GTA San Andreas and was set on a ‘windswept foggy Scottish island’. (One of the most frustrating aspects of Rockstar’s secrecy is that only hardcore fans realise that Rockstar North is based in Scotland, especially as it’s the only studio whose location isn’t part of its name.)

Although there’s no suggestion that it was a survival game in the modern sense it does sound an awful lot like DayZ, as you had to secure fuel for vehicles and avoid constant attacks from zombies. Development lasted even less time than Agent though, and Rockstar abandoned the idea to work on GTA 4 instead.

The final big revelation is that, at one point, seminal PlayStation 2 game GTA 3 was supposed to have multiplayer options, including deathmatch. This involved dragging other players out of cars to kill them but while it did work it was glitchy and Rockstar gave up as they’d run out of time to finish the game.

Vermeij left Rockstar in 2009, so there’s no hoping he’d know anything about GTA 6, but the blog is still live at the moment, if you want to read his non-controversial revelations.

According to him, he got an angry email from Rockstar North about ‘ruining the Rockstar mystique or something’.

It seems likely he was going to discuss more secrets in the future but according to him, ‘this blog isn’t important enough to me to p*** off my former colleagues in Edinburgh so I’m winding it down’.

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MORE : GTA 5 single-player DLC and Bully 2 referenced in leaked code

MORE : GTA 6 delayed until 2025 hints Take-Two as fans expect The Game Awards reveal

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The Thursday letters page suggests widening the net for Knights Of The Old Republic developers, as a reader enjoys Daytona USA 2.

To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

A good haul
This Black Friday is proving pretty good for me. Although there’s always that awkward moment where you’re not sure whether to get a game now, while it’s still in stock, or wait until the actual Friday in case there’s something even better. Since nothing much has changed in the last few days I’m going to assume that we’ve seen pretty much everything now, bar maybe a few more console bundles.

I’ve used the opportunity to stock up on top-rated games from earlier in the year, so I’ve got Resident Evil 4, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Street Fighter 6, and Metroid Prime Remastered. I’m only upset that there’s no physical version of Baldur’s Gate 3 or I bet I could’ve got that cheap too.

They all had similar discounts, so it’s hard for me to say what the best deal is so far, but since Resident Evil 4 is the only one I’ve played so far, and it’s great, I’ll say that one. If I didn’t have one already, I’d say all these deals for a PlayStation 5 for £360 are the actual best though. Just think how far we’ve come from when they were being scalped for £1,000!
Korbie

Knights of P
Considering the length of time games take to make we’re obviously not going to see the Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic remake for four or five years. Or more likely we’ll never see it, because it sounds like the whole thing is already cursed.

If I was Lucasfilm I would just give up on the idea and commission a new game from someone that knows how to make action role-playing games. BioWare are too busy right now and Obsidian are owned by Microsoft but what about someone like the Lies Of P team?

I liked the game but it’s hard to get Bloodborne out of your mind while playing it. They’ve clearly got talent so I’d like to see them given a chance with some else and kind of forced to stop copying From. Lucasfilm should think more out of the box. Star Wars is popular everywhere, not just America, so why not ask Capcom or Koei Tecmo?

Stop messing around with third rate developers and concentrate on quality. You can get whoever to write the story but the game itself has to be good.
Penfold

Zelda Cinematic Universe
I think the animation in that Zelda animation thing is a bit too choppy but the general idea is good and I’d certainly be interested in an Ocarina Of Time remake that looked roughly like that. I agree it’s the obvious way to continue the old formula and something that people would actually want, without being a cash grab.

I’d actually go a bit further though and take a Final Fantasy 7 Remake approach where the stories are changed and everything starts to connect a bit more. The Zelda timelines exist but they’re something only hardcore fans know about.

Why not address them in a game and have them combine into one? Then you could revisit each of the games, remake them, and add in connections to make them all seem more like part of an ongoing story. The only question is how you handle the 2D games, as making them 3D may undermine may undermine the actual 3D games. Link’s Awakening worked out well though so that’s probably the approach to take.
Zanch

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Kart blanche
Bit late to the party on this (catching up on the Inbox) but in response to Garry’s question on the next best Mario Kart after 8, my absolute favourite and contender for best in series is the one title he failed to mention: Mario Kart: Super Circuit. I think Nintendo got the course design, size of characters and karts in relation to the courses, and playability spot on with this iteration.

I’ve always thought Mario Kart 64 as one of the weakest in the series, as the courses were so big and wide compared to the size of the karts – you could be driving on your own for long stretches without jostling with another kart, it just seemed more sedate and less frantic. This was never an issue with the SNES original, and Super Circuit was even more perfect. So that gets my vote.

The king of all kart racers however was Street Racer. Oh, how I have longed for a remaster or re-release of some kind. In the next Mario Kart you should be able to bash your opponents off the track using the L and R buttons.
Stephen (Switch code: SW-0066-5918-0407)
Currently playing: Worms

GC: Well… that letter sure had a twist ending.

Rolling start
I bought Like A Dragon Gaiden recently, mainly because of Daytona USA 2. I’ve wanted to play this at home since playing it in the arcade on holiday many years ago. Anyway, this is a bit nostalgic too, like writing into magazines with cheats. I don’t know if it’s common knowledge that if you hold Start while selecting the track you will get the track mirrored. And if you hold brake while selecting the car you can drive the track in reverse. You can do mirror and reverse at the same time too!

There is also the timed lap mode (the game actually tells you how to access this) if you hold Start while selecting the transmission. All of these add quite a bit of variety to the original tracks.

Now let me get back to playing the advanced track, I can’t get enough of it, the music and the sheer imagination in the track design, there’s nothing else quite like it.
Dan

Enough for now
RE: Focus and Alan Wake 2 being discounted on PC already. Alan Wake 2 is an Epic Games store PC exclusive, as Epic funded the game’s development and marketing. They have a Black Friday 33% off coupon that applies to anything over £15 and runs to the 28th of November. That’s why Alan Wake 2 is £27 on PC and not because its’s been specifically discounted due to underperforming.

Didn’t personally find any massive bargains in the sales myself but did pick up some games. As the PlayStation Store sale didn’t have anything I really craved I decided to support a couple of newly released indie games, that I’ve been highly anticipating, in Teardown and walking sim The Invincible.

Over on Switch a couple of games on my Wishlist had modest 30% discounts, so added them in Zelda: Link’s Awakening and The Case Of The Golden Idol with the DLC packs.

Having also picked Super Mario Bros. Wonder and also picked up and platinumed Alan Wake 2, which reflecting on I did really enjoy bar the combat, I intend to not pay attention to new releases for sometime.
Simundo

One gen or another
After loading up GTA 5 on Game Pass I noticed it was the Xbox One version, then remembered it was actually on an Xbox 360 I originally played it.

With the level of detail and graphics Rockstar will obviously put into GTA 6 I predict a 30fps lock on console, with a beefy GPU to power it on PC. Perhaps I’ll wait till it re-releases in a generation or two.
Phil

Take a guess
I think most gamers tune into The Game Awards for the announcements and trailers. I can’t imagine many gamers really care what game wins. The following are my predictions:

If Nintendo don’t announce Switch 2, I think they may provide a date for the big reveal. Maybe even a montage (vertical slices) of what to expect from their next gen console.

We know Baldur’s Gate 3 will be announced for Xbox at the show. I strongly suspect it will drop into Game Pass during the show.

Harrison Ford might make an appearance on stage to introduce first gameplay of MachineGames’ Indiana Jones game for Xbox/PC. We usually get at least one big celebrity at the show, so Harrison is a solid bet if Indiana Jones is featured.

Hellblade 2 combat. The game has popped up at The Game Awards a number of times before, so it makes sense it will be there again, along with a release date.

The Last Of Us Factions. There’s been lots of rumours about it being on ice. But if it isn’t, it would be the perfect opportunity to at least provide a teaser and reassure fans.

Finally, GTA 6. Will it be shown at The Game Awards? Rockstar don’t really need the event to get a large audience, so I’m 50/50 on this one. I’m inclined to think Rockstar will do their own thing, but I’ll be happy to be proven wrong.

Will GC be doing a predictions article? I’m curious what others think may or may not make an appearance.
Anon

GC: We’ll probably do a preview feature but there’s not really much to go on for most of the predictions, beyond a flip of the coin.

Inbox also-rans
Why oh why did you mention at the end of your Flashback 2 review that the original’s 31 years old? You made me feel like an old man.
Henry

Pokémon might still be around in 100 years but I seriously doubt there’ll be anyone left to actually play it.
Mitchell

This week’s Hot Topic
The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader JesseM, who asks what is your favourite 16-bit video game?

So as to not get bogged down in technical details, we’ll accept any game from a fourth generation home console, so that includes the Mega Drive, SNES, PC Engine, Neo Geo, and peripherals like the Mega-CD. We’ll also accept any PC games or coin-ops released between 1987 and 1993, plus the Amiga and Atari ST home computers.

What is it you like about the era and how do you think its best games stand up to modern titles? Does your favourite have a modern day equivalent and if not what would you imagine it’d be like?

E-mail 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: Was Alan Wake 2 a flop, GTA 6 trailer predictions, and Wolverine supervillains

MORE : Games Inbox: Zelda: Ocarina Of Time turns 25, Spider-Man 2 vs. Miles Morales, and Ico 4 hopes

MORE : Games Inbox: Buying a Nintendo Switch for Black Friday 2023, Mario Kart 9 DIY, and Bluey Xboxes

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Next year’s Call Of Duty will be set during the 1990s, with developer Treyarch having much longer to work on it than any previous game.

Most Call Of Duty games leak out months or even years before they’re officially announced and we’ve known since July that next year’s entry is another Black Ops game by developer Treyarch.

Not only is that an easy guess, because we haven’t had a new one since 2020, but the rumours first started thanks to a couple of images accidentally leaked by Activision themselves.

Now a new source suggests that the game will ‘attempt to explore a nuanced narrative of the Gulf War.’ However, the best news is that the game has been ‘long in development’ – so hopefully it won’t just be dressed-up DLC, like this year’s Modern Warfare 3.

It’s unclear what the name of the game is, with Windows Central hesitantly describing it as Black Ops 6. However, since the last game was called Black Ops Cold War it seems very likely the new one will simply be called Black Ops Gulf War, which was already suggested in previous rumours.

Supposedly, the game’s story campaign will place, ‘a critical focus on different participants within the conflict. It will dovetail into the end of the Cold War era and explore some of the consequences therein.’

Previous rumours suggested that former SAS Major Peter Ratcliffe, writer of the book The Eye of the Storm, will be one of the main characters. The leaked images showed a F-117 stealth fighter and what appeared to be Saddam Hussein’s palace. Knowing how Call Of Duty story campaigns usually go, you can probably piece together the rest yourself.

There’s no new information on the multiplayer but Windows Central repeats previous rumours suggesting a number of remastered maps from previous Black Ops games will be included, such as fan favourites Grind and WMD.

A more traditional Zombies mode is expected, that will be round-based rather than this year’s open world affair – which isn’t surprising as developer Treyarch were the original creators of Zombies mode.

Perhaps the most surprising new information is that the game will feature a ‘large pre-order early access bonus’, allowing you to play the whole game several days early and some modes weeks before the official release date.

Modern Warfare 3 already did this, allowing those who pre-ordered to play the story campaign – the most heavily criticised aspect of the game – a week before anyone else.

The longer development time will hopefully ensure a higher quality game than this year, as it becomes the first entry in the franchise to be published since Microsoft bought Activision Blizzard and Sony’s marketing deal for the game expired.

That’s not expected to make any significant difference though, with Microsoft insisting there’ll be no exclusive content or early betas, but it will likely be the first time any of the series is available on Game Pass from day one.

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MORE : Call Of Duty Modern Warfare 3 sales down 25% after lowest ever Metacritic score

MORE : Modern Warfare 3 pulls broken maps from game hours after launch

MORE : Modern Warfare 3 was made in 16 months as developers forced to work weekends

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If you’re looking to buy an Xbox console or games this week then there are plenty of tempting offers at major discounts.

If you’re shopping for Christmas gifts or just looking to treat yourself, this year’s Black Friday has some particularly good bargains, now that both next gen consoles no longer have stock problems.

There are already over 1,000 Xbox games with reduced prices for this year’s Black Friday, with heavy discounts on even big name titles such as Diablo 4 and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor.

Now that Black Friday is getting closer, the various retailers are beginning to compete more fiercely over prices, which is good news for everyone looking for a bargain.

In terms of consoles, the best price you can get for an Xbox full stop is the Xbox Series S Starter Bundle for £189.99 (down from £249.99) at Currys and Amazon.

But if you want the more powerful Xbox Series X you can find it at most retailers, including the Xbox store, for £359.99 (a saving of £120). Although the Xbox store also offers a refurbished Xbox Series X for £329.99.

But hang on… we have to talk about console and game bundles too, which often offer more value than the console on its own.

Best Xbox bundles this Black Friday

• Xbox Series X with free Diablo 4 – £369.99 at GAME
• Xbox Series X – Forza Horizon 5 Bundle – £369.99 at Smyths
• Xbox Series X and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Bundle – £429 at Currys and Amazon
• Xbox Series S Console and EA Sports FC 24 Game Bundle – £269.99 at Argos

Best Black Friday Xbox game deals

With so many games on sale during Black Friday, there are plenty of tempting offers for both new and old titles.

• Starfield – £42.99 at Amazon and Currys
• EA Sports FC 24 – £34.99 – at Xbox
• NBA 2K24  – £34.99 at Xbox
• Madden NFL 24 – £34.99 at Xbox
• NHL 24 – £41.99 at Xbox
• Life of P – £39.99 at Amazon
• Mortal Kombat 1 – £29.99 at Amazon
• Street Fighter 6 – £24.95 at Amazon
• Assassin’s Creed Mirage – £29.99 – at Currys
• Diablo 4 – £41.99 at Amazon
• Payday 3 – £21.99 at Smyths, Currys, and Amazon
• Assassin’s Creed Valhalla – £14.99 at Xbox
• Hogwarts Legacy – £28.99 at Argos
• Call Of Duty: Black Ops 2 – £11.99 at Xbox
• Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War – £22.74 at Xbox
• Cyberpunk 2077 – £29.99 at Xbox

• Cyberpunk 2077 & Phantom Liberty Bundle – £51.99 at Xbox
• Remnant 2 – £24.95 at Amazon
• Control Ultimate Edition – £8.74 at Xbox
• Sonic Frontier – £19.99 at Amazon
• Dead Island 2 Deluxe Edition – £38.99 at Xbox
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor – £41.99 at Xbox
• Redfall – £17.49 at Xbox
• Resident Evil 4 – £24.95 at Amazon

• The Elder Scrolls Online Collection: Necrom – £19.79 at Xbox
• Borderlands 3 – £8.99 at Xbox
• Microsoft Flight Simulator – £35.99 at Xbox
• Red Dead Redemption 2 – £18.14 – 67% off at Xbox
• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice – GOTY Edition – £29.99 at Xbox
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition – £6.99 at Xbox
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition – £10.49 at Xbox
• Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater™ 1 + 2  – £19.99 at Xbox

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MORE : EA Sports FC 24 half price on PS5 store for Black Friday 2023 – and get 30% off PS Plus

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If you want to see an animated Legend of Zelda movie, or a remake of Ocarina Of Time, this new fan-made footage may be as close as you get.

It’s not impossible that the recently announced Zelda movie will turn out well but it’s certainly a tall order, given all the intrinsic problems with a character that never usually talks and a series that has little in the way of complex narrative.

There’s also the unique tone of the Zelda games, which are more serious than other Nintendo titles but still full of whimsy and silliness, of the sort it’s hard to imagine being replicated by a Hollywood movie.

An animated or CGI film would seem to make more sense and the fan-made The Legend Of Zelda: Castle Town is essentially both things at once, while also hinting at what a next gen Zelda game could look like.

Castle Town has been made in Unreal Engine 5 and purposefully evokes the magic of hand drawn Studio Ghibi films. It’s also meant as a celebration of the 25th anniversary of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time. An important milestone that Nintendo completely ignored (and yet they went nuts over the 35th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. – go figure).

To avoid getting sued by Nintendo (although that could still happen) the footage is not presented as an actual film but as if it’s a playable game, as Link takes a look around Castle Town and bumps into the likes of Malon, some Deku Shrubs, the Happy Mask Salesman, and Fi from Skyward Sword.

There’s no real narrative but according to creator RawnLink it took four months and 600 hours to make, working all on his own.

We’re not sure the purposefully choppy animation necessarily replicates the Studio Ghibli look he was going for, but it’s an undeniably impressive achievement, especially for one person.

Thanks to the 25th anniversary there’s recently been more talk amongst fans of whether Ocarina Of Time deserves a remake and what that might look like.

This certainly hints at one possibility, as well as raising the question of how a new Zelda game could work on the Switch 2, even if at the moment we have no idea what kind of game it would be or what the technical capabilities of the new console are.

The new movie may also have some influence on the franchise’s future direction, but for now there’s really no clue what the future of Zelda will look like.

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MORE : The Legend Of Zelda live action movie announced by Nintendo and Sony Pictures

MORE : Nintendo denies all Switch 2 rumours as Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom sales hit 19.5 million

MORE : The next Zelda game will have a brand new open world Hyrule says Nintendo

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The Steam Autumn Sale is offering huge discounts on PC games, from new releases such as Starfield to classics like Portal 2.

PC gamers had to wait until Tuesday evening for Steam to launch its Black Friday sale, while PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo started as early last Friday – an entire week before the actual Black Friday.

We’ve been hard at work looking for great deals since then, with a £350 PlayStation 5, a £190 Xbox Series S starter bundle, and a £299 Nintendo Switch OLED bundle among them.

It’s now time to look at PC giant Steam and its offerings, where we found Starfield at a discounted price and Portal 2 at just 85p.

Steam hosts big sales for each season of the year, and although its current discounts are under the banner of ‘Autumn Sale’, it’s pretty much a Black Friday event in all but name.

The bad news is that Steam hasn’t (at the moment) put a discount on its new OLED, or its older LCD, Steam Deck handheld, but the good news is that it has more PC games on sale than we can count.

Here are the best Black Friday sales we could find on Steam, with the sale due to end on Tuesday, November 28 at 6pm GMT.

• Cyberpunk 2077 – £24.99 – 50% off
• Starfield – £47.99 – 20% off
• EA Sports FC 24 – £29.99 – 50% off
• NBA 2K24 – £22.49 – 55% off
• F1 23 – £23.99 – 60% off
• Hogwarts Legacy – £29.00 – 40% off
• New World – £13.19 – 60% off
• Battlefield 2042 – £7.99 – 84% off
• Marvel’s Spider-Man Remastered – £29.99 – 40% off
• Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales – £23.99 – 40% off

• Life Of P – £39.99 – 20% off
• Remnant 2 – £29.39 – 30% off
• Street Fighter 6 – £32.99 – 34% off
• Mortal Kombat 1 – £41.99 – 30% off
• Diablo 4 – £35.99 – 40% off
• Mass Effect Legendary Edition – £9.99 – 80% off
• Dead Space – £24.99 – 50% off
• Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice – GOTY Edition – £24.95 – 50% off
• Portal 2 – £0.85 – 90% off
• Microsoft Flight Simulator 40th Anniversary Edition – £35.99 – 40% off
• Titanfall 2 – £3.74 – 85% off
• Stray – £16.49 – 34% off

• Prey – £2.49 – 90% off
• Control Ultimate Edition – £8.74 – 75% off
• Doom Eternal – £6.39 -60% off
• Call Of Duty: Black Ops 3 – £14.84 – 67% off
• Resident Evil 4 – £32.99 – 34% off
• Dishonored 2 – £2.49 – 90% off
• Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 – £15.99 -60% off
• Red Dead Redemption 2 – £19.79 – 67% off
• The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – £6.24 – 75% off
• Star Wars Jedi: Survivor – £35.99 – 40% off
• Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order – £6.99 – 80% off
• Star Wars Battlefront 2 Celebration Edition – £6.99 – 80% off

• It Takes Two – £10.49 – 70% off
• Forza Horizon 5 – £24.99 – 50% off
• No Man’s Sky – £24.99 – 50% off
• Fallout 76 – £6.99 – 80% off
• Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy – £12.62 – 75% off
• Need For Speed Heat Deluxe Edition – £5.99 – 90% off
• Dave The Diver – £13.59 – 20% off
• Batman: Arkham Origins – £3.74 – 75% off
• The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition – £6.99 – 80% off
• Assassin’s Creed Odyssey – £9.99 – 80% off
• Dragon Ball FighterZ – £6.74 – 85% off
• Civilization 6 – £4.99 – 90% off
• Anno 1800 – £12.49 – 75% off
• Ori and the Will of the Wisps – £8.24 – 67% off

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MORE : Elon Musk says he was one of the top Quake players in the world – others say he wasn’t

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The dead speak! Despite rumours that the Knights Of The Old Republic remake has been cancelled the suggestion now is that it’s still alive.

Lucasfilm Games has seemed to be pretty on the ball since their recent resurrection, the one exception has being asking low budget remaster developer Aspyr to remake BioWare classic Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic.

How anyone thought they’d be able to do that is a mystery, but it was no surprise to hear they were quickly taken off the project and that an unnamed Saber Interactive developer in Eastern Europe was put to work on it instead – even if that still seemed inadequate for what was being asked.

Rumours from earlier in the week suggested the remake had been cancelled, or at least that no work was currently being done on it, but according to a new source that’s not the case and active development is continuing.

There’s a certain hierarchy of sources going on here, as the rumour about the game being cancelled came from Jeff Grubb, who is usually, but not always, correct.

However, Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier has probably the best track record in gaming, and according to him the remake hasn’t been completely abandoned – although it may end up that way eventually.

‘‘Is it alive?’ and ‘Will it ever actually come out?’ are two very different questions. A third is ‘If it does ever come out, what will it actually look like?’,’ he said on the forum ResetEra.

‘That said, I’ve talked to two people at Saber who both say they’re still currently working on it, so I don’t believe that the comment that it isn’t being worked on ‘in any way’ right now is true.’

According to Grubb’s earlier comments the game, ‘seems deader than dogsh** because that game feels like it cannot happen without a partner like Sony, because Sony is out, and because Lucasfilm doesn’t like spending money on games anymore.’

The problem here is that there’s never been any official announcement about any of this and while Sony implied that their delisting the announcement trailer was merely a music rights issue, they never took that opportunity to assure fans that the project was still going ahead.

The whole concept seems intrinsically flawed, as a full remake, for one of the most acclaimed Star Wars games of all time, is a massive undertaking that requires huge numbers of people, money, and time.

Getting Aspyr, or even Saber, to make it is like asking your local handyman to build a skyscraper, and it’s baffling how Lucasfilm thought this would ever work out.

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Two videos and a hideous image show how an unknown man used Amouranth’s driveway as a toilet.

Believe it or not, streamer and OnlyFans model Amouranth’s most recent scare is only a follow-up of a series of uncomfortable situations at her own home since she shot to fame.

In the last year or so she’s had to endure events such as a porch pirate stealing her Amazon parcels in broad daylight, a stalker trying to break into her house, and an unknown *fan* sending her £57,000 in cash.

But this time Amouranth’s security camera caught something… different, in what she calls the ‘grossest’ thing she’s ever caught on camera.

Amouranth posted two 10-second videos to her 3.7 million followers on Twitter that show a blurred out man approach the front of her house, squat down, and defecate on her property.

Not only that, the streamer also posted a photo of his work, taken by her cleaner who had to handle the outcome.

Amouranth also posted the picture of the excrement, saying: ‘I can’t (don’t want to) tell if it’s even real or some dumb prank.’ Which is a good point, as it could be fake. But considering the lengths some viewers go to get her attention, it probably isn’t. We won’t publish the photo here, because it’s gross.

Some fans on Twitter replied with concern, asking her to contact the police. Others just commented on the sheer bizarreness of it all.

She hasn’t said if she’s talked to the police about the incident, but in the past Amouranth has had to employ a security guard at her house, as a result of stalker threats, as it seems cameras aren’t deterring them.

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A UK tribunal has blocked Sony’s attempts to dismiss a class action lawsuit that accuses them of abusing ‘PlayStation gamers’ loyalty.’

Despite all the complaints about a lack of announcements, and the soon-to-be exit of their boss, Sony has had a good year, with PlayStation 5 console sales through the roof and Spider-Man 2 proving a major success. But 2023 is suddenly about to take a turn for the worse for them.

Last year, a lawsuit was filled against Sony by consumer rights campaigner Alex Neill, which accused them of charging too much for PlayStation Store items.

It was a class action lawsuit, which potentially means that any of the 8.9 PlayStation customers could be compensated if Sony loses the case. Sony thought they’d already had the lawsuit thrown out, but today a tribunal has decided that it can go ahead.

Although common in the US, class action lawsuits in the UK are rare for consumer products, but the argument here is that Sony used the fact that it has complete control of the online store to insist on terms and conditions which Neill contends are anti-consumer.

The lawsuit suggests that not only does this result ‘in excessive and unfair prices’ that are ‘out of all proportion to the costs of Sony providing these services’ but the 30% cut it takes from publishers and developers is also unfair.

None of this is unusual for a closed system like the PlayStation Store, which works in the same general way as equivalents for Xbox and Nintendo Switch. The lawsuit also makes similar arguments to those heard in Epic Games’ failed legal battle with Apple.

According to Sony’s lawyers, via Reuters, the lawsuit is ‘flawed from start to finish’ but their attempts to have it thrown out have so far failed.

‘This is the first step in ensuring consumers get back what they’re owed as a result of Sony breaking the law,’ said Neill. ‘PlayStation gamers’ loyalty has been taken advantage of by Sony who have been charging them excessive prices for years.

‘It is significant that the competition court has recognised Sony must explain its actions by ordering them to trial. With this action we are seeking to put a stop to this unlawful conduct and ensure customers are compensated.’

In theory, if Neill wins, anyone that bought a digital download from the PlayStation Store between August 19, 2016 and August 19, 2022 could be in for a payment of between £67 and £562, plus interest.

There’s no indication that what format you bought them for makes a difference but given those dates it would certainly include both PlayStation 4 and 5.

Even if Sony loses the case though, it is likely to take several years for any payment to happen, as they’ll surely fight the judgement every step of the way.

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16-bit classic Flashback finally gets a modern sequel by the original director but it’s not quite what fans have been hoping for.

Ideally you wouldn’t start any video game review with a preconceived notion of what it was going to be like but, unfortunately, that’s impossible if the franchise or developers are already something you’re familiar with. Flashback was one of our favourite games on the Amiga, back when it was released in 1992, but it’s not the anticipation of a sequel that coloured our view going into this game, it was the knowledge of what every other Flashback title has been like since then…

A spiritual successor to Another World, with a similar art style and 2D platforming action, the original Flashback was a hugely impressive action adventure that was many years of ahead of its time, in terms of its cinematic presentation and open-ended gameplay. It got a sequel, called Fade To Black, a few years later, which was a fully fledged 3D adventure a full year before Super Mario 64 and Tomb Raider.

Alas, its 3D movement and camera system weren’t all they needed to be and both it and Flashback were quickly forgotten. There was a remake of Flashback in 2013 but it was terrible and seemed to completely misunderstand the appeal of the original, despite the involvement of original director Paul Cuisset. He’s also in charge of Flashback 2 and that’s what we were afraid of.

The problem with any modern game trying to continue a once classic franchise is that for many of these 90s titles a large part of the original appeal was that they were cutting edge in terms of both visuals and game design. The immediate problem with creating a modern counterpart is that they very rarely have the budget necessarily to mirror the original and, because it’s purposefully playing on nostalgia, there’s no incentive to innovate.

Even games like the Doom reboot struggle with this problem but whereas that and Doom Eternal did manage to carve out a separate identity for themselves Flashback 2 struggles to justify itself from the very first moment.

Despite already having had an official remake the plot in Flashback 2 still manages to be almost identical to the original. You’re still controlling Conrad B. Hart in the 22nd century, and you’re still battling shape-changing aliens trying to take over the planet.

Much of the structure is similar too, with your first instruction after the initial tutorials being to get a job and earn some money. That’s fine, as that sort of thing is still unusual for an action title, but so much of the game’s time is spent repeating ideas or locations from the first game it’s a wonder Conrad doesn’t drop dead from déjà vu.

Even that wouldn’t be so bad if Flashback 2 didn’t end up doing everything worse, such as replacing The Running Man style TV show with a simplistic mech-battling mini-game and ruining the jungle section by having a hopelessly incompetent AI companion follow you around, that constantly needs to be nannied past every obstacle.

The key problem, from the point of view of those that haven’t played the original, is just how shonky everything to do with the controls and action are. The game is no longer strictly 2D, as you can now move into the screen as well, at least to a small degree, but this adds nothing other than frustration, as you stumble about, trying to position yourself at the right point to make a jump or interact with an object.

Combat should be a simple case of point and aim, since it’s obviously influenced by dual stick shooters, but it all feels horribly imprecise and fiddly. Worse, it’s often not even clear whether your gun is working or not, because of the poor audio and visual feedback. We’d swear nothing was coming out of the business end half the time, but we’ve no idea why (it’s probably a bug, but we’ll get to that later).

Except during stealth sections, when they suddenly have the eyes of a hawk, enemies are almost completely mindless. However, not only do they attack in overwhelming numbers, but you take damage very quickly and in a busy gunfight are left applying medkits almost every 30 seconds or so, which speaks to how poorly balanced everything is. Even more so once you realise that dying gives you the option of either carrying on from the last save point or just magically regenerating on the spot.

The animation, one of the highlights of the original, is awkward and clunky, with the low frame rate making movement feel syrupy and unsatisfying (and this was on a PlayStation 5, the whole thing must be a slideshow on the Switch). Meanwhile, the bugs range from low level glitches and getting stuck in the scenery to enemy encounters not triggering properly and missing mission objectives.

Catch it at the right moment and the graphics don’t look that bad, and are certainly reminiscent of the colour palette and designs of the original, but it’s obvious that the game’s twin problems are a lack of budget and a rushed release.

Presumably the latter was a result of trying to get the game out in time for Christmas but never mind a lump of coal in your stocking, this is more like a visit from Krampus and all his monstrous cohorts. The original Flashback was excellent, but we’ve given up hoping anyone can reinterpret it for the modern era, with even indie homage Lunark being a disappointment.

Lunark is at least better than this official sequel but sometimes it’s better to let things go and just remember the good times, which for Flashback was a very long time ago.

Formats: PlayStation 5 (reviewed), Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X/S, and PC
Price: £34.99
Publisher: Microids
Developer: Microids Studio Paris and Microids Studio Lyon
Release Date: 16th November 2023
Age Rating: 12

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The Wednesday letters page is glad that Elon Musk hasn’t bought a video games company yet, as a reader contemplates 100 years of Pokémon.

To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Still asleep
I realise it wasn’t for everyone, and the original wasn’t a major hit itself, but I do worry that Alan Wake 2 has been another flop. Like you say, telling whether a game has done well or not is very hard nowadays, especially if it’s digital-only, but what worries me is that I never hear anyone talking about it, either here or elsewhere on the internet or, god forbid, real life.

It’s like the wider world doesn’t know it exists, which is very likely the case. What’s also concerning is that it’s already getting a major Black Friday discount to £27 on PC, which doesn’t sound very healthy either. I suspect if it had been given a physical release it’d be one of the most heavily discounted games of the month.

Poor old Remedy, they never seem to have any luck. I suppose that’s not true when it comes to Epic Games having their back, which is definitely a win, but in terms of anyone actually bothering to play their games I’m not sure they’re doing any better than before.
Focus

One step behind
Pokémon is planned to last for hundreds of years? I just envisage everything else being perfectly real, running on a holodeck or plugged into your head, and Game Freak has only just got up to PlayStation 5 quality.

But seriously the whole franchise needs to be put on ice for like five years (barring spin-offs and whatever) while they create some new tech and get the priorities straight. That will never happen, obviously, so I’m not sure where any change is going to come from.

Also, that guy pretending to answer the question about the tech problems is hilarious. It’s just a word salad that means nothing and has absolutely zero to do with the question he was asked. That’s execs for you, I guess.
Willden

The future of business
It is so weird to think of Elon Musk, richest man in the world, wasting his early life being bad at Quake. It’d probably be better for the world if had decided to become a pro gamer or started up his own company or something, but that would definitely be gaming taking one for the team.

It does make me wonder though, what the next generation of business execs are going to be like when they grow up. I bet video games didn’t even exist when Jim Ryan was growing up but if the next billionaire techbro gets into a position of power are they going to be buying up developers just for the LOLs or to troll whatever console they don’t happen to like?
Tasker

E-mail your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Super villains
Can’t see Wolverine facing down Stilt Man or Paste-Pot Pete (Trapster as he became) – they are primarily Daredevil and Trapster is a Human Torch/Fantastic 4 protagonist, but it would be quite amusing I suppose.

Personally, I would quite like the idea of a game set in Madripoor during his Patch days. I actually quite like the idea of trying to keep your identity under wraps and only getting out those claws if you absolutely had to. A great cast of characters too. Almost like a detective story with added claws. Alternatively, Japan (as per the first Wolverine limited series), there’s a lot you can do there.

And as for ‘edgelord’… Well yes, it’s Wolverine, you know, ‘I’m the best at what I do ‘ and all that.

Anyway, it will be interesting to see what they come up with.

Have fun gaming y’all!
The Dude Abides

Fried bacon
Sadly, the Hogs Of War Kickstarter failed to get funded as they only raised £47,478 but their goal was £150,000. With Kickstarter, for those who don’t know, it is all or nothing, so the developer will receive no funds from the raised amount.

I have backed 25 Kickstarters and one Fig crowdedfunded one too. As I said before, I have only had two fail to get funded out of 26. The developer of Hogs Of War are very upbeat and still plan to go ahead with the game and they have said the Kickstarter has raised the profile for the game with all the interest.
Andrew J.
PS: I have just had the new Splatoon Triple Pack amiibo characters delivered from Nintendo Store and the manta ray in it looks amazing and is very big; the two characters that come with it are OK. No wonder it cost £38.99, as it looks really high quality.

I’m sure it’s just a glitch
He might never have ever said it but I feel confident in saying that Shigeru Miyamoto would definitely agree with the idea that, ‘A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad.’ It was interesting to see how the quote just seemed to spawn itself but what really struck me was GC’s comment that CD Projekt has proven that the quote is no longer accurate.

On the one hand you could say that it means that every game can be saved, as long as the foundations are good, but on the other it also means that there is absolutely no incentive to get things right the first time. Who cares? It’ll still sell the same and you can start making money from it straight away. To quote Dick Jones: ‘Who cares whether it works or not?’

This is a sad state of affairs and as good as 2023 has been for games it’s unfortunately true that the number of broken games at launch is only increasing. I fear that CD Projekt getting away with Cyberpunk 2077 and now showing no obvious remorse has set a bad precedent that more and more companies will follow.
Wolf Cloud

No excuse
Nice review of the Atari 2600+. I won’t be getting one as I have an original. I’m sure anyone interested in buying one would already have an original Atari and if not they could pick one up for a similar price as the new one.

Berzerk is not an Atari game, it was made by Stern Electronics so Atari would have had to pay a licence for it. That doesn’t mean they can get away with charging £25 for it, especially when you can pick up a loose cartridge from eBay for around £7! Merry Christmas to you and your many readers!
Tim Keeling

GC: As far as we understand the Atari 2600 version was published and developed by Atari themselves. As you say though, £25 is pushing it no matter what.

Before the storm
Maybe it’s the troll in me, but I can’t help but wonder what fans will do if the GTA 6 trailer is just the logo and a shot of Miami. I mean, it could be, right? That’s what teasers often are for movies and games.

I doubt it though. It probably won’t be all that long, but I imagine it’ll blow the doors off in terms of graphics and we’ll be talking about it for months. Maybe people don’t remember what it was like in the run-up to GTA 5’s release but it was nuts and people were going crazy for every little detail.

And the best thing? It pretty much lived up to the hype. Say what you like about the game itself but in terms of the graphics and game world, which is what you’re really judging in the trailers, it was better than people expected.

Does that mean GTA 6 will be? No, but given Red Dead Redemption 2 and how long they’ve been working on this I don’t expect anything other than excellence.

We’re moving towards a post-GTA 6 era now, people, and things are never going to be the same again…
Thingmy

Inbox also-rans
So if Fortnite goes back into decline as soon as they switch away from all the retro stuff are they just going to keep repeating that first Chapter again and again forever? I’ll be like Star Wars.
Crellin

Just thought I’d share this Toys ‘R’ Us advertisement from 16 years ago! £75 for a new N64 release and £55 for a new PS1 game. I’ve never complaining about a price of a game again.
Adam_Lion_23 (PSN ID)
Currently playing: Hogwarts Legacy and Super Mario Galaxy

GC: Those are American game boxes, there are even Genesis games at the bottom – instead of Mega Drive. We’re not sure if it’s Canadian or US dollars but it’s definitely not £75.

This week’s Hot Topic
The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader JesseM, who asks what is your favourite 16-bit video game?

So as to not get bogged down in technical details, we’ll accept any game from a fourth generation home console, so that includes the Mega Drive, SNES, PC Engine, Neo Geo, and peripherals like the Mega-CD. We’ll also accept any PC games or coin-ops released between 1987 and 1993, plus the Amiga and Atari ST home computers.

What is it you like about the era and how do you think its best games stand up to modern titles? Does your favourite have a modern day equivalent and if not what would you imagine it’d be like?

E-mail 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: Zelda: Ocarina Of Time turns 25, Spider-Man 2 vs. Miles Morales, and Ico 4 hopes

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Epic Games has confirmed that Eminem will indeed be part of the Fortnite Chapter 4 finale next month.

As is always the case, the leaks were true and Eminem is indeed coming to Fortnite next month.

There are no confirmed details yet, just talk of him taking over Icon Radio, but three skins are expected to be released at the same time: Rap Boy, Slim Shady, and Marshall Never More.

If you wear the Marshall Never More skin to The Big Bang event on December 2, that ends the season, you’ll also get an extra fourth skin, named Marshall Magma.

Original story:

Epic Games has started teasing The Big Bang event to end Fortnite Chapter 4, as well as the long-awaited Lego tie-in and a new racing mode.

Chapter 4 of Fortnite is set to end on Saturday, December 2 at 7pm GMT. That much is official, but at the moment Epic Games isn’t saying anything else. There are long-standing rumours of a Lego collaboration and two new game modes, but it seems there’s yet another secret being prepared.

Fortnite leaks are almost always accurate because they’re based on datamined information from the game itself, but in addition to that the official artwork for The Big Bang seems to include visual clues that match up exactly with the existing rumours.

These include a microphone and guitar, to represent a new rhythm action game mode by the makers of Guitar Hero, a tyre that’s thought to be a nod to a new racing mode, and what appears to be a llama made out of Lego.

A Lego collaboration was announced some time ago, except nobody ever said what exactly it was. The rumour now is that it’s a creative mode that works something like Minecraft, which will be permanent and not just for the duration of the next season.

Lego themselves has been teasing their involvement, with a close up of a brick-built llama that is almost certainly going to be sold as an actual product. Whether they’ll have a whole line of Fortnite sets is unknown, but it seems hard to imagine they won’t at least do a Battle Bus.

As with the rhythm action game, nothing substantial is known about the racing mode except that it’s apparently a collaboration with Rocket League maker Psyonix, which is a bit odd because Rocket League doesn’t actually feature any traditional racing.

The final revelation, which hasn’t been hinted about until now, is that Eminem is due to be part of The Big Bang and will have a virtual concert to play out the end of the season and chapter.

Not only have dataminers uncovered artwork from within the game’s files but at least two character skins, which you’ll probably have to pay for.

The end of Chapter 4 will also mean the end of Season OG, the retro-themed spectacle that has, after years of decline, suddenly seen Fortnite breaking player records.

What’s going to happen once people get off the nostalgia trip remains to be seen, but it wouldn’t be surprising if Chapter 5 tried to continue the theme to at least some degree.

To get ready for The Big Bang, Fortnite will be taken offline at 5pm GMT on December 2; the Fortnite Blog has further information, including how to watch the event itself.

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As Black Friday itself approaches, a new PS5 deal has cut £120 off the price of the console – and this time without any catches.

Technically, the cheapest PlayStation 5 deal this year is still at GAME, where you can buy the console for just £350. However, that’s only as part of a Frasers Plus Price deal, which involves a credit check and a buy now, pay later arrangement.

However, for just £10 extra you can get a PlayStation 5 with no strings attached and available to buy right now for £359.95. (Update: They must’ve started running out of stock, as the price has now risen to £421.85)

The deal is from ShopTo on eBay and while they claim to only have limited stock they’ve already sold over 730 consoles since the offer went live.

Most Black Friday deals started last Friday but at first they didn’t include much in the way of console deals, but since Monday we’ve seen major price cuts for both the Nintendo Switch and Xbox Series X/S.

The question now, is whether there’ll be even more consoles deals the closer we get to Black Friday itself.

There might be more bundles, but it seems relatively unlikely that the console on its own will go any lower than this – or the shops would be making no profit at all.

The PlayStation 5 is in a unique position this year, in that the original model is being phased out in favour of the new PS5 Slim.

They’re both functionally identical but because shops are trying to get rid of old stock it may be that the console deals this year are better than next year, when shops will have less incentive to sell cheaply.

There are similar discounts on the Xbox Series X/S but because Microsoft’s console has been trailing Sony’s so far this generation it’s seen sizeable price cuts too. Which has proven to be a bit of a perfect storm for bargain hunters.

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Elon Musk has been reminiscing about his days as a champion level Quake player, although that’s not quite how his contemporaries remember it.

It’s long been known that Elon Musk is a fan of video games, even if the games, and other gamers, aren’t a fan of his. He recently streamed footage of himself playing a Diablo 4 character called IWillNvrDie, where he died several times, and apparently he was booed off stage at a recent Valorant event.

He was also a background character in Cyberpunk 2077 and offered tips for Elden Ring, but the latest revelation is that he was one of the top Quake players in the world back in the late 90s. Or at least he says he was.

‘At one point I was maybe one of the best Quake players in the world. I actually won money in what I think was one of the first paid esports tournaments in the US, we’re doing four-person Quake tournaments and we came second,’ he told podcaster Lex Fridman.

‘I was the second best person on the team, and the best person… we were actually winning, we would’ve come first but the best person on the team, his computer crashed halfway through the game so we came second. But I got money for it and everything. So basically I got skills. Albeit, you know, no spring chicken these days,’ says Musk.

The actual best Quake player in the world is undoubtedly Dennis ‘Thresh’ Fong, who has mentioned Musk being involved in the early esports scene before.

‘Elon Musk, he’s known as a huge gamer, we used to play on the same Quake server, almost every day I’d see him on: Zip2 was his username,’ he said in an interview with DJWheat three years ago.

‘He wasn’t very good, but he’s still an OG – he’s legit when he says he’s a gamer,’ revealed Fong. ‘I saw him every day on this Quake server and a good buddy of mine ended up being the CIO [Chief Information Officer] for every one of his companies.’

Other fans online have also mocked Musk’s claims but it’s less clear whether they were around in the 90s or are just assuming he’s lying.

Given the whole idea of esports didn’t really exist back then, and certainly nobody was keeping any records, its hard to tell exactly how much Musk is overstating his abilities.

There weren’t any proper international tournaments in those days, and barely any national ones for the US, so while he probably did okay in local events, especially as part of a team, he’s undoubtedly imagining he was better than he was – both then and now.

At the moment he seems more obsessed with Diablo 4… and the fact that major companies, including Ubisoft, are pulling their advertising over concerns about antisemitism on Twitter, where Musk himself has been accused of sharing an antisemitic post.

Both Xbox and PlayStation have already removed Twitter from their consoles, but that was over increasing the licensing fee for the API. Musk threatened to sue Microsoft over the issue but so far there’s no indication he has.

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The head of The Pokémon Company hopes that the franchise will go on long after his death and potentially continue forever.

Pokémon is approaching its 30^th anniversary in the next few years and despite the inevitable ups and downs it’s still one of the most successful video game franchises of all time, especially once you add in all the merch sales.

Last year’s Pokémon Scarlet and Violet represented the ninth mainline entry in the series, with the first entirely open world game map and… lots of bugs and glitches.

We recently got the chance to play the second and final slice of story DLC for the games, after which it’s reasonable to imagine that a new game (but probably not a mainline entry) will be announced next year. But according to the comments of The Pokémon Company COO Takato Utsunomiya. that will be far from the last one.

Nothing lasts forever, but with some veteran video game franchises, such as Pac-Man and Super Mario, having already had their 40^th anniversary, and Atari recently celebrating their golden jubilee, you begin to wonder if some series will literally never end.

That’s certainly what Utsunomiya hopes, as he revealed, ‘Our goal is to keep Pokémon alive for hundreds of years – making sure it survives well past our lifetimes.’

While musing on how to expand Pokémon’s appeal he pointed out how the age of the franchise has become a major benefit:

‘I think in the past, we had two separate audiences – younger kids and adults – but now we’re starting to see a family audience where they’re enjoying the experiences together,’ he told The Guardian.

‘It’s easy to just focus on adults: they have a lot of disposable income, you can see their reactions in real time on social media … But we need to make sure that we are still keeping the younger kids interested,’ he added.

Speaking of adult fans, Utsunomiya was also asked about the increasingly poor reputation of the games, and developer Game Freak, on a technical level. Not just in terms of bugs but the fact that the games always look noticeably less impressive than most other Nintendo first party titles.

‘Regardless of whether we publicly respond, we’re always paying very close attention to the feedback and conversations happening in the communities,’ said Utsunomiya.

‘There are certain aspects where we can’t always be 100% aligned with what parts of the community are asking for and what we want to provide. But we do this with the desire to keep Pokémon going for a very long time, and I believe that the fans and players are aligned with us in that respect.’

It seems clear to many fans that Game Freak is understaffed and overworked but while Utsunomiya wasn’t asked about that, you can see from the above quote that it’s very unlikely he would have responded candidly if he had been.

The next mainline entry will likely be on the Nintendo Switch 2, which will hopefully raise the game’s technical ambitions, but even with simmering resentment from hardcore fans it’s unlikely to stop the franchise going on for decades more to come.

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The second DLC expansion for Pokémon Scarlet & Violet looks set to feature the game’s most challenging content to date.

The first half of Pokémon Scarlet & Violet’s DLC expansion, The Teal Mask, had a lot going for it, but it was held back by a lack of difficulty and the ongoing technical issues fans have complained about since the base game’s launch.

The second slice of DLC, called The Indigo Disk, is due next month and having played a small section of it, it seems at least one of those issues will be addressed. The bad news is that it’s not the performance problems.

It’s too early to tell how the final package will perform but even in our short time with it, we witnessed choppy frame rates and awkward graphical pop-in. We didn’t expect these sorts of issues to be resolved until the next mainline games but it’s still a shame they’re set to remain a part of Scarlet & Violet’s legacy.

On the plus side, The Indigo Disk promises to offer the sort of challenge that was missing from The Teal Mask, and which will hopefully make it a more substantial post-game adventure than even what was available in the base game.

First things first, whereas The Teal Mask was akin to a school trip, The Indigo Disk functions more like a student exchange programme, as you visit Blueberry Academy, which has a particular focus on pokémon battles. It also has its own underwater Terarium consisting of four biomes, home to more pokémon that were excluded from the base game, including, for the first time ever, all the starters from previous games, from Bulbasaur to Sobble.

Much like the base game’s overworld, it’s easy to get distracted and lost while exploring the Terarium, as you continuously spot new pokémon, areas, and items.

The biomes are rather lacking in personality, though. The entire area is just one big circle and, from what we saw, none of the are are visually interesting, barring random structures made of cubes which stick out like a sore thumb.

The savannah, for example, looks like any typical desert area, with the only noteworthy thing about it being the pokémon that inhabit it. This is perfect for collectors, though, who only care about filling their pokédex.

With any luck, the story will pick up the slack. So far, the premise simply involves battling against the school’s own elite four, comprised of unusually experienced students, which is quite the downgrade after The Teal Mask’s attempts at tackling deeper themes.

However, unlike Sword & Shield’s DLC expansion, the two halves are inextricably linked (you can’t even start The Indigo Disk without beating The Teal Mask), with certain characters set to return so, with any luck, The Indigo Disk will carry over unresolved plot threads.

However, the main draw, as we alluded to earlier, comes from the challenge. One of The Teal Mask’s problems was that you could easily breeze through it with an endgame team; something most players would already have in the possession. That team, however, may very well struggle in The Indigo Disk and you’ll have to regularly rethink your strategies with every major battle.

Wild encounters will likely be a non-issue, but they can still prove dangerous. The weakest pokémon we encountered were around level 50 and you can run into fully evolved pokémon that ususally never appear in the wild. On top of that, common variety trainers boast pokémon upwards of level 70 and higher – although the real challenge comes from The Indigo Disk’s emphasis on double battles.

These popped up occasionally in the base game, but every trainer encounter we experienced in The Indigo Disk was a double battle, meaning you need to take into account having two targets at once and ensuring your own party members are compatible with each other.

Some trainers also make use of held items or have teams that take full advantage of the double battle format, like one trainer that sent out two pokémon with the Intimidate ability, meaning our starting pokémon’s attack was seriously nerfed from the get-go.

Our preview ended with a chance to take on Amarys, the first of the elite four, and while her prerequisite challenge was hilariously easy (you just fly Koraidon/Miraidon through a set of rings like it’s Spyro The Dragon), we were taken aback by how ruthless she was in battle.

We’re not allowed to reveal the specifics of her team, but it felt like an actual competitive team someone would use, rather than a random assortment of high level pokémon.

It’s the sort of team that could force newbie players to do proper research into team synergies, held items, and abilities rather than brute force their way to a solution. Amarys sets a strong precedent for the rest of the DLC and hopefully it’ll be a hit with those who felt the base game was too easy.

Although The Indigo Disk doesn’t look like it’ll meaningfully fix Scarlet & Violet’s more glaring issues, everything about it so far seems tailor-made for hardcore fans who love catching more pokémon and winning tough battles.

On its own, that’d be fine enough but when combined with The Teal Mask, this could make The Hidden Treasure Of Area Zero one of the more meaningful post-game additions and hopefully serve as a new baseline for future DLC plans.

Pokémon Scarlet & Violet: The Indigo Disk launches for Nintendo Switch on December 14.

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‘A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad,’ has always been attributed to the creator of Mario but he never said it.

Despite his huge influence on the video games industry, and the high regard with which he is held by other developers, Shigeru Miyamoto – creator of Mario, Zelda, and much else at Nintendo – rarely gives interviews or does anything much to share his wisdom publicly.

One of the few exceptions has been the phrase, ‘A delayed game is eventually good, but a rushed game is forever bad.’ That certainly sounds like something he’d agree with but while it’s been attributed to him, no one has ever been able to work out when he first said it – for the simple reason that he never did.

It now seems most likely that it was Siobhan Beeman, who worked on the Wing Commander franchise at Origin in the 90s, that uttered the phrase, or something close to it, for the first time, at GDC (Game Developers Conference) in 1996.

Beeman’s comment in 1996 wasn’t exactly the same, as she’s recorded as saying: ‘A game is only late until it ships, but it’s bad forever.’ Although she doesn’t claim to remember the exact wording anyway.

A subsequent comment from GT Interactive producer Jason Schreiber, in an issue of Gamefan from June 1998, is similarly close: ‘A good game is only late until it ships, a bad game is bad forever.’

According to website A Critical Hit!, the first time the exact quote was ever used, and attributed to Shigeru Miyamoto, is a Usenet post in October 2003, by someone calling themselves Charles E. Hardwidge and complaining about the game Judge Dredd: Dredd Vs. Death.

However, there are early posts that also reference the quote and attribute it to Blizzard and, as far back as 1998, either Nintendo or Rare (the poster isn’t sure which was supposed to have said it).

According to Beeman, the reason for this is that the general sentiment was common amongst game developers of the era (this was back when consoles didn’t have patches and those for PC games were difficult to distribute) and so it’s impossible to know who came up with the general concept first – most likely it was several different people thinking along similar lines.

This is exactly the way things work with quotes and popular expressions outside of the games industry, many of which have been around for centuries and yet often end up being attributed to a specific person, who many never have uttered them – often an expert in the field or someone already known for pithy comments (it’s usually either Winston Churchill or Mark Twain).

What’s interesting about the games quote is that not only is it still relevant (although CD Projekt may feel they’ve beaten its logic with Cyberpunk 2077) but Valve found Gabe Newell was recently quoted using a slightly less elegant version of the phrase.

‘Late is just for a little while, suck is forever,’ he said in a new Half-Life 25th anniversary video, although it’s unclear if he was trying to remember the original quote or purposefully rephrasing it.

Newell also had another gem in the same documentary, where’s he’s talking about realism in games, and recalls various conversations with developers about the subject.

‘Somebody [would] say, that’s not realistic and you’re like, ‘Okay, what does that have? Explain to me why that’s interesting.’ Because in the real world, I have to write up lists of stuff I have to go to the grocery store to buy. And I have never thought to myself that realism is fun. I go play games to have fun.’

It could do with being streamlined into something a bit more quotable, but given enough time that will probably happen naturally, even if it ends up being attributed to the wrong person again.

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CD Projekt has confirmed that Cyberpunk 2077 and Phantom Liberty are getting a new physical release next month.

It was obvious the original leak was real and now CD Projekt has officially announced it via Twitter, although they’ve not said anything about the price or the contents – just that it’ll be out on December 5.

It seems pretty obvious that it is just Phantom Liberty, and all the many patches, that are being added though, with no sign of any new content.

The Ultimate Edition will be released both digitally and physically for Xbox Series X, PlayStation 5, and PC. The PC version is just a code in the box but it seems the console versions do come on a disc. [Update: The PS5 version only has Phantom Liberty as a download, unlike the Xbox version, oddly.]

Big news… Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition arrives on December 5th in digital AND physical form for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC!

Experience the original #Cyberpunk2077 story as well as a new spy-thriller adventure in the #PhantomLiberty expansion in one package. 🔥 pic.twitter.com/IOBPCdTXFU

— Cyberpunk 2077 (@CyberpunkGame) November 21, 2023

Original story:

CD Projekt’s plan to have a Game of the Year Edition of Cyberpunk 2077 and Phantom Liberty includes physical editions for PS5 and Xbox.

As popular as digital downloads may be, they do have one major drawback: it’s not as much fun to unwrap a download code on Christmas Day as it is an actual box.

It’s therefore no coincidence that the rumoured release date for Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition is December 5, even though there’s been no official announcement so far. In fact, it’s only a surprise that there wasn’t some kind of more expensive collector’s edition as well.

CD Projekt did previously say they were planning a Game of the Year style version of the game, including DLC Phantom Liberty, so in that sense the reveal of the box art is long overdue.

The contents of the Ultimate Edition only mention Phantom Liberty, so while it’s possible that the new release does feature some minor new DLC there’s nothing mentioned on the cover.

Although not confirmed, previous leaks claim that the Ultimate Edition will be out on December 5 and cost $59.99 in the US. That will likely translate to £60 in the UK.

If that date is accurate then an official announcement is probably only days away, which is no doubt how the box art managed to leak in the first place.

Although a disaster upon its original release in 2020, Cyberpunk 2077’s reputation has slowly improved over the years, as more and more patches have been released.

The game’s still not exactly bug free but its rating on Steam is now Very Positive and the DLC Phantom Liberty has been very well received and is nominated in multiple categories at this year’s The Game Awards.

More importantly for CD Projekt, the game has now sold over 25 million copies and Netflix anime Edgerunners has been such a hit that a live action project is also planned – although it’s so far unclear if it’ll be a show or a movie.

Phantom Liberty was always intended to be the one and only story expansion for the game, with CD Projekt now keen to move on with a sequel. That’s not going to arrive anytime soon though and it’ll probably at least two or three years before you see or hear anything about it… unless there’s another leak.

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Discover the best PS5 bargains this Black Friday, including Hogwarts Legacy for £29 and Assassin’s Creed Mirage for just £30.

Black Friday is still days away and yet most of the deals for that day are already online and in fact may be out of stock by the time you get to the day itself.

We’ve already combed through the list of options for Nintendo, and found lots of tempting offers, such as a £299 Nintendo Switch bundle with Mario Kart.

Doing the same for the PlayStation 5 turns up just as many tempting offers, from both Sony themselves and other retailers, including standalone games, consoles, and bundles of both together.

When we sifted through GAME earlier we found a PlayStation 5 console deal for £350, which is £130 off the original price, and that’s still the cheapest console we can find (although you need to buy through the Frasers Plus Price scheme, which includes a credit check).

But the next best price for a disc version PlayStation 5 is £379.99 at Very, with the digital version coming in at and extra £10 on top of that.

Although they won’t beat the saving of a £350 PlayStation 5, the console and game bundles at Argos and GAME could be a better option if you want to get a new game at the same time, especially as there’s one for each of the most recent big name games:

• PlayStation 5 with EA Sports FC 24 bundle – £399.99 at Argos and GAME
• PlayStation 5 with Spider-Man 2 bundle – £399.99 at Argos
• PlayStation 5 with Modern Warfare 3 bundle – £399.99 at Argos
• PlayStation 5 with EA Sports FC 24 and Spider-Man 2 – £459.99 at GAME

As for individual PlayStation 5 titles, there are lots of big discounts from the PlayStation Store and other retailers, such as:

• EA Sports FC 24 – £34.99 at PlayStation
• Spider-Man 2 – £59.99 at Very and Amazon
• Spider-Man: Miles Morales – 21.99 at Currys
• Hogwarts Legacy – £28.99 at Argos at Currys
• Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 – £57.99 at Argos
• Grand Turismo 7 – £29.99 at Argos
• Cyberpunk 2077 – £23.99 at PlayStation

• Assassin’s Creed Mirage – £29.99 at Smyths and Currys
• Mortal Kombat 1 – £29.99 at Currys
• Street Fighter 6 – £30.79 at PlayStation
• Elden Ring – £35.95 at Amazon
• God of War Ragnarök – £43.39 at PlayStation
• Payday 3 – 21.99 at Amazon and Smyths
• Madden NFL 24 – £34.99 at PlayStation
• NBA 2K24 Kobe Bryant Edition – £34.99 at PlayStation
• Diablo 4 – £41.99 at PlayStation
• GTA The Trilogy (Liberty City + Vice City + San Andreas) – £27.49 at PlayStation

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The Tuesday letters page asks whether video games can get so old they’re no longer playable, as one reader recalls Fable 2’s episodic release.

To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

25 years young
Anyone that doesn’t want to feel old better buckle themselves down because get this, Zelda: Ocarina Of Time turned 25 on Monday. It wasn’t released in the UK until December 11 but officially the game is now 25 years old. How time flies, eh? Nowadays a different Zelda game is regarded as the best game ever made but for me it will always be Ocarina Of Time.

I think I was in my early 20s when I first played it. I had been relatively indifferent to video games up to that point. I’d enjoyed them, owned a Mega Drive, and played with friends but it wasn’t something I was all that interested in. I played Ocarina Of Time on a cousin’s N64 and I was blown away. The graphics, the scale, and the open-endedness of it all… it blew me away.

It wasn’t just a tech demo though. Everything was so intricately designed and fun that it’s still playable today. However, I do feel it’s time for a full remake. For me this is the perfect way to go back to the traditional formula, while continuing the new style with the mainline games.

I would’ve aimed for the 25th anniversary, really, and perhaps Nintendo were before the pandemic, but I think it’s important because, as GC were discussing with the Atari 2600+, games can get so old that they’re hard to appreciate unless you played them originally. I don’t want Ocarina Of Time to be like that and I’d like to see it reclaim its crown as best game ever from Breath Of The Wild.
Zidane

You had to be there
Your Atari 2600+ review (and somewhat related to this week’s Hot Topic) made me think of a question for younger GameCentral readers, let’s say anyone born this century: What do you think of older games and how far back can you go and still find them enjoyable?

I was born in 1990 and our first gaming system was a Commodore 64, quickly followed by a Mega Drive. It was amazing to watch gaming go from basic to more detailed 2D, the start of 3D games with the N64 and PS1, the start of console online play with Xbox Live, and into the modern HD era.

I consider myself somewhat of a retro gamer these days (I have a mini NES, SNES, and Mega Drive and Wii/GameCube set up and play them as much as my Switch) but I find that games older than the NES are just too dated to be enjoyable (e.g. Atari 2600 games).
I also find most PS1 games difficult to enjoy these days due to the muddy 3D graphics. I’m curious to know if my retro tastes are simply due to what I grew up with or if, e.g. GameCube games are still fun for younger gamers.
Barry

Daily grind
Pay to play has been around for a long time already. Especially games like World Of Warcraft and other MMOs. I remember paying £50 for Wrath Of The Litch King all the way back then. On top of that, £9 for 30 days play time. But the game was constantly updated and new content was made and produced long after the game was released.

If GTA 6 Online would have a subscription service I’m betting it’d still sell millions of copies at £70 and have enough people playing. If I’m honest, the one thing that put me off GTA Online was the amount of grind required so they could sell those ridiculous Shark cards.

I went back a few times to do some of the new content but felt like the grind up was always too much. If they cut down the grind and keep the content coming out. It’ll be a perfect solution for people who want to dip in and out of the online component.
Anon

E-mail your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Short and sweet
After finishing Spider-Man 2 I decided to dip back into a New Game+ playthrough on Miles Morales and have to say that while I loved Spider-Man 2 and it’s almost assured a place in my top three games for 2023, I am of the opinion that Miles Morales is actually the better all-round experience and better game.

For me, Spider-Man 2 is really let down by the final third, where it becomes boss fight after boss fight and the main story becomes something of an afterthought, whereas Miles Morales manages to stay coherent all the whole way through, as a result of it being a much tighter experience.
Rickandrolla

GC: We’re not sure you’re wrong.

Papa John’s Hearty Mushroom Skewer
One part of the Sony deal with Nintendo on the Zelda movie, which hasn’t been touched upon, is the conflict of corporate interests that’ll possibly bring about some interesting Easter egging. Anyone who’s sat through some of Sony Pictures’ output knows how cynical and blatant some of their product placement can be. Just watch Ghostbusters 2016 and whatever the last one was called to see, not only their own products but also large food chains, etc. in full view.

However, I can’t see Nintendo not dropping in their own product placement and nods to Nintendo history. Hopefully all this corporate shenanigans will lead to some bizarre compromises. An Ellie lookalike Zelda in a Walmart themed Kakariko Village browsing the Nintendo Switch PlayStations, where the miniature Stay Puft marshmallow men are dressed as Goombas. Ganondorf eating Korok Seed flavoured Pringles on top of a Sony VAIO.

As long as there’s no Paul Blart: Mall Cop references I’ll lap it all up willingly.
Wonk
PS: No trailer for a Knack movie either.

Bricks and mortar
Like Chris, I had a Steam account I needed to recover when I purchased a new MacBook. It had been many years and my bank card number has changed a few times, yet Steam were asking for me to provide the last four digits and wouldn’t accept anything else.

Thankfully, a visit to my local bank branch paid off as they were able to go back and retrieve old card numbers to about 10 years or so, if I remember correctly, so I supplied Steam with these numbers and they finally accepted that it was my account. Hope this helps.
Chaosphere616

Bit missing
Not gonna lie, I’m disappointed in you. So, this week’s Hot Topic is for 16-bit games… brilliant! As someone who started gaming in the 8-bit era I have many fond memories of gaming on my Amiga.

Wait what? What do you mean it’s consoles, arcade, or PC only? I’m sure it’s an oversight GC, but I reckon us Amiga and ST owners are now feeling unloved by our favourite gaming website.

Anyway, as long as you promise that you still love us old Amiga gamers and our old format is allowed, I reckon it’s one I can definitely contribute to.

Yours feeling left out.
The Dude Abides

GC: We’ve let ourselves down.

Fabled download
Mastadonner’s article over the weekend was pretty interesting, but the idea for how a new pay-for-what-you-play model could work reminded me of a similar idea that was actually partially implemented but now has pretty much been forgotten. So yeah, remember when Fable 2 was released episodically in 2009? The first episode was free and let you progress all the way to the gates of Bowerstone, which were paywalled (paygated?) off, so that gave you like two hours worth of the game for free.

The idea was you could purchase episode 2 or purchase the full game to continue the story. I think they released episode 2 but they never got to episode 3 (it was meant to have 5 episodes if I recall correctly) and the whole idea was abandoned pretty quickly.

I think the main reason it failed was because most people who played episode 1 had decided by the time they got to the end of it whether they wanted to play the rest of the game. At that point you could pick up a copy preowned for like £15-20, so folk weren’t gonna shell out the £40 for a full digital copy or whatever the price was going to be for all the episodes. So yeah, Zelick may want to look into this as a case study for what not to do with a model like this.
Sunny

GC: You’re right, we had forgotten all about that. It’s an interesting comparison, although buying anything other than indie games digitally was rare at that point.

Shi is four
Just learned that Shadow Of The Colossus was originally going to be an online multiplayer game and that the working title for it was Nico (Japanese for two + Ico).

Trico in The Last Guardian was named for similar reasons – I’d never put that together before. Thought a few others may also find that interesting!
Julian

Good clean fun
Rolled credits on Spider-Man 2 yesterday and overall had a fabulous time doing so. The story is the high point (no spoilers here!) with the usual completely OTT superhero goings on mixed in with a quite touching story about friendship. I think merging a story ostensibly about an eight foot Russian running amok and an alien symbiote with some genuinely emotional beats involving the main characters is no mean feat. Insomniac struck an excellent balance I thought, and the 20+ hours it took me to get through the story were never dull.

The biggest improvements on the original to me were the side activities, which are varied in both gameplay terms and also size of task, with a couple of the meatier stories very worthwhile indeed, and yet a couple of them being nice two minute palette cleaners between main missions. The other improvement was the traversal – already the best bit of the game – the addition of web wings and the spider-jump adds in a sort of mini-game where you try not to touch any building or the ground as you swing, dive, and glide your round the map as fast as possible. The fast travel is incredible, but I never wanted to use it at all.

I’m not the greatest fan of the combat, which I think is perfectly fine, but always felt like a slight chore to me, so I ended up putting the enemy health down a touch in the (extensive) difficulty options. Despite that, it still took me 20 hours to finish the story, which got me thinking about that Reader’s Feature where the author beat the game in 14 hours and then wrote about how short it was.

14 hours is an incredible rush to be in for that game, and if anyone did read it and be put off by the length for the price, I would say that is not particularly close to the experience most people will have.

Overall, the game reminded me of a Mission Impossible or James Bond film. Tremendous fun and very well made action flicks but they won’t trouble the Oscar’s ceremony Best Film category – and there’s nothing necessarily wrong with that. Sometimes you just want to have fun and Spider-Man 2 certainly delivered that for me.
Henshin Agogo

GC: All he needed to do is turn down the difficulty, like you did, and you could probably rip through it even more quickly. And no, we don’t see the point either.

Inbox also-rans
The Wolverine game already seems very edge lord to me. Does this mean we’re not going to see him in yellow spandex? I’ve never understood the desire to take superheroes seriously. I hope he gets to fight Stilt Man or Paste-Pot Pete or someone.
Asbeston

Speaking of not having any idea whether games have done well or not I have no clue about Borderlands 3. It seemed to come and go very quickly but I’m assuming it sold good?
Cliffy

GC: It’s sold over 18 million copies, which is very good for a game which, as you say, nobody ever seemed to talk about much.

This week’s Hot Topic
The subject for this weekend’s Inbox was suggested by reader JesseM, who asks what is your favourite 16-bit video game?

So as to not get bogged down in technical details, we’ll accept any game from a fourth generation home console, so that includes the Mega Drive, SNES, PC Engine, Neo Geo, and peripherals like the Mega-CD. We’ll also accept any PC games or coin-ops released between 1987 and 1993, plus the Amiga and Atari ST home computers.

What is it you like about the era and how do you think its best games stand up to modern titles? Does your favourite have a modern day equivalent and if not what would you imagine it’d be like?

E-mail your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

The small print
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MORE : Games Inbox: Buying a Nintendo Switch for Black Friday 2023, Mario Kart 9 DIY, and Bluey Xboxes

MORE : Weekend Hot Topic: Three years of the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S

MORE : Games Inbox: Video games industry in crisis, The Elder Scrolls 6 timeline, and PS5 SSD upgrade advice

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More evidence has emerged that Rockstar was at one point working on Bully 2 and single-player DLC for GTA 5… but not anymore.

It’s 17 years since the release of Bully, aka Canis Canem Edit, and during that time there’s been a near constant stream of rumours about a sequel, and absolutely nothing in the way of official announcements.

The general consensus is that efforts to make a sequel were started and then abandoned at least twice during that time. Now, however, it’s very difficult to imagine it ever being made, given how much it’d cost to develop to modern production standards. A spark of hope does still remain though, as a reference to Bully 2 has been found in leaked files for GTA 5.

It’s not clear how recent the program database for GTA 5 is and it’s hard to guess, since it references games as old as Midnight Club: Los Angeles but as recent as Red Dead Redemption 2.

There’s nothing unusual about one game’s files mentioning other unrelated titles, as developers will often reuse code and features between games, especially when many of Rockstar’s titles have similar mechanics.

Although it’s impossible to tell for certain whether the version of Bully 2 it’s referring to has been cancelled or not that is the safe bet, especially as the other big reveal is what seems to be unused ideas for GTA 5 – including single-player DLC.

Thanks to the unexpected success of GTA Online, the single-player campaign never did get any DLC, but rumours have long suggested that there were plans for it originally.

Fans trawling through the code have found references to Trevor using a jetpack, which is believed to have been something planned for the DLC but then later reused as part of the Doomsday Heist mission for GTA Online.

There’s also references to something called CNC, which is believed to be Cops ‘n’ Crooks, a planned GTA Online game mode where one side would play as the police and the others as criminals. It was supposedly cancelled following the murder of George Floyd by police officers in 2000.

Ultimately, all the datamining does is reveal things that never happened and now probably never will, but it’s still interesting to see how much goes on behind the scenes at developers, and yet is never officially announced or acknowledged.

Email gamecentral@metro.co.uk, leave a comment below, and follow us on Twitter.

MORE : GTA 6 hacker gets hacked back – may have Bully 2 footage too

MORE : Bully 2 was supposed to be at The Game Awards claims Rockstar insider

MORE : Why Rockstar’s Bully is an overlooked classic – Reader’s Feature

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