Games Inbox: Is the Fallout TV show better than the games?

Better than the games? (Picture: Courtesy of Prime Video)

The Monday letters page thinks gaming has never been better than it is now, as one reader is disappointed by the Alone In The Dark reboot.

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Better than the real thing

I binge watched the Fallout TV series and have to say it’s the best video game adaptation yet. There’s been other good TV shows based on video games, but Fallout is another level. I like the Fallout games, but I wouldn’t say I’m a huge fan (I prefer The Elder Scrolls). Dare I say it, the TV series is better than the games. They nailed the aesthetic and tone, whilst providing interesting plot threads and plenty of humour. I was encouraged by the trailers, but it surpassed my expectations. It’s a must watch.

Anon

Was pleasantly surprised by the new Fallout TV show. Especially when I heard it was Jonathan Nolan directing. So far though I am willing to commit to episode two. Episode one had it all: the sounds and sights, the gore and the tech. At this moment I’ll give it seven thumbs up.

Bobwallett

The wrong Fantasy

I’ve been very sad to see suggestions online that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has sold much worse than the first remake game. I know there are a few reasons to explain this, such as the original coming out during the pandemic and the middle parts of trilogies always doing the worst, but even so, it’s very disappointing given how good the game is and what kind of message this is going to send to Square Enix.

For me, Rebirth is the best Final Fantasy since at least Final Fantasy 9 and I love everything about it, but especially the whimsy and the craziness of it, which is far more interesting to me than the way Final Fantasy 16 tried to take itself so seriously, with its boring game world and plot.

Unfortunately, that seems to have done a lot better though, so I guess we can look forward to more Game Of Thrones rip-offs and less Japanese wackiness.

JColeman

No fiddling

In response to TheMadMonk82, who in Friday’s inbox mentioned that they ‘long for the days when you just put the cartridge in your console and played,’ they are absolutely right that Nintendo are the best currently for plug and play. However, I’ve recently rediscovered the simple joys of playing through Evercade. No grinding or fiddling (unless you want the look of a CRT monitor), just slot in a cartridge and play.

I picked up a Super Pocket just after Christmas, loaded with a bunch of Capcom arcade classics, as well as some arcade collection cartridges. I followed up with a copy of Full Void, which although available digitally on other formats comes physically on the Evercade ecosystem, complete with a manual and prelude comic strip in the box. It’s just like being back in the early 90s.

Jimmy C

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Talking next gen

I was thinking about what Microsoft could mean when they say their next gen will be the biggest leap forward ever for gaming and I realise that the most obvious guess is that they’re simply full of it.

But I assume they wouldn’t have said that without some idea that they could deliver on it. So what could they mean? The obvious assumption is AI but why would that need a new console to work? ChatGPT works on basically anything and I thought the computational power came through the cloud.

Maybe I’m wrong on that but either way I wonder if the big leap Microsoft is talking about is in-game characters that can talk like real people. Not the sort of leap that you expect from new consoles, but it would be pretty amazing. Does that seem likely to anyone else?

Plazdude

Name of the gameI agree with the Reader’s Feature calling for a Zelda spin-off where you actually get to play the character the series is named after. I also agree that that would be a lot more interesting than just swapping to her during a mainline game. Especially if it’s going to be open world, people are just going to resent having to play as Zelda and not Link.

Or maybe they wouldn’t if you first establish her as an action character in her own game. Maybe then they’ll be demanding to play as her more. I’d especially like to see her magic abilities expanding on, which we’ve probably seen more of in Smash Bros. than actual Zelda games.

Cosgrove

Not horrible

I definitely agree with GameCentral’s Alone In The Dark review and whilst it’s good and playable, a generation of games have been released prior and kind of made the horror element a bit hit and miss. Did the original Alone In The Dark game have a Lovecraft themed story or is it the more recent games?

For me, as a Stranger Things fan, it was fun to control David Harbour as an investigator called Carnby. Excellently cast and maybe understated in regards to his usual performances but it’s fine with me. His Indiana Jones style is quirky and fun enough.

The gunplay is passable, and just good enough to enjoy, and the puzzles are your usual type of mechanisms which are mostly amusing to work out. The game does feel like something between indie and a bigger budget title and I can’t imagine this game setting off the franchise again in any new resurgence of any sort.

It’s just hard to know how to take a horror game into a new direction, with unique settings and atmosphere. It’s difficult like the horror movie industry currently, but for now we need maybe more Lynchian weirdness instead or a mixture of genres.

Hard to know where to go, but this game is playable and fun if you don’t expect too much. It’s a fairly solid game with interesting places to explore in a variety of locations, and characters which are interesting enough to find out where they lead the story. Worth checking out for sure.

Alucard

GC: The original Alone In The Dark was heavily influenced by Lovecraft, but while it did have a few specific references to the mythos the reboot is much more explicit in terms of using actual characters.

Open goal

Given how little else is coming out this year, and the spectre of GTA 6 next year, I wonder how much Nintendo is kicking themselves that they couldn’t get the Switch 2 out this year. If it wasn’t possible then there’s nothing they could do about it but it would’ve given them a clear field in terms of hype and people’s money.

I was about to say I’m sure the Switch 2 will sell anyway, but then you think of the Wii U and realise that nothing is guaranteed. I’m reasonably sure they won’t make that mistake again though.

Delbuy

Spoilt for choice

As a 40-year-old, who has been gaming as long as I can remember, I was reminiscing with a friend the other day about gaming past and was watching some all-time greatest games for various systems, from Master System and NES all the way up to current gen. The strange thing was, however, whilst watching the earlier ones I was perplexed at how many games I remember playing. Now, obviously I was a child in the SNES days and barely a teen once N64 had arrived. How on earth did I play/afford so many titles?

I’m not one to play games retroactively, so how did this happen? I then remembered that some were borrowed through friends, but a lot were also rented from my local video store. For a couple of quid, I could play the latest games. And then there was good old Electronic Boutique. They used to have a 14 day, no questions asked return policy. My local would even allow store credit without a receipt, a system I took full advantage of by taking a six month old battered N64 game box in with nothing but a smile and walking out with the next new game.

Now I know this is a gaming site, and we all love our chosen hobby, but whenever everyone gets upset about subscriptions, free-to-play, or whatever I really don’t understand it. While wonderful for us, the rental or second-hand market kills developers as much as piracy. One copy of a game can literally serve unlimited customers, digital-only is a wise move.

The game market is growing enormously and obviously companies will want to attract new non-gamers with gimmicks and hooks but I strongly believe, for the traditional gamer, that gaming is better than it ever has been. There are so many bad titles and bad things around now, but I find that if you want a traditional game console that plays a traditional style of game you’re really spoilt for choice.

I only buy the games I want, barely play online and still play the way I did back in the glory days. And people having such a huge selection of games at hand is only a good thing in my book

Phil

GC: Rentals never influenced game design choices, subscriptions and being free-to-play does.

Inbox also-rans

I’ve noticed there’s been a spate of readers’ letter talking about being surprised or disappointed by a game they bought, because they didn’t read a review beforehand. Am I the only one that thinks this is crazy? Or all these people so rich that they don’t have to worry about making a mistake?

Benjydog

I’m just wondering if you have you heard of a game called Withering Rooms? And if so, are you planning a review? I’ve heard good things about it, which is surprising as it’s a mix of genres by the sounds of it. The combat looks clunky, but the premise seems interesting.

Liam

GC: We hadn’t up till now, but it looks like it’s riffing on Clock Tower. We’ll take a look and see if it’s worth a full review.

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The small print

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