Dear Future Gamer,

Oh dear, Kenneth (FG29), you seem to have completely missed the point with Aliens vs Predator. Firstly, how many original game genres can you think of? Hmmm? Well, is it any surprise that most games can be described as "just xxxx from xxx years ago with better graphics?". For example: AvP is just Quake from three years ago with better graphics. Quake is just Wolfenstein from four years ago with better graphics. Wolfenstein is just Ant Attack from eight years ago with better graphics.

You see? It's a pointless criticism of a game to say it is just xxx with better graphics because you forget the fact that a game needs to be FUN, ie. enjoyable so you actually want to play it. So because Quake was as much fun to play as Wolfenstein for me, I ignored all the snide comments from people with low spec machines who couldn't play it, mainly because my machine was also low spec, heh.

Secondly AvP was always going to be a massive success because of the huge marketing force behind it. You don't seriously think Fox would let two of its biggest licences go unnoticed? Slapping Aliens and Predator on the box is bound to tempt any sci-fi, first-person shooter junkie who's browsing WHSmiths on a Sunday.

Thirdly, the thorny issue of release dates. While it is obviously annoying that games which are complete are withheld from the shelves, there are some good reasons why this may be. Possibly just to get people massively eager to buy the game so it goes straight to number one in the charts. Maybe because they have some internal wrangles to sort out or, more likely, there are some annoying bugs, or the code isn't optimised for low spec machines.

Thus delaying the release for this last reason would be a good thing. Remember the bug-ridden SiN release? No-one wants to go home and find they have to download a patch so their game will actually work, especially if they don't have an Internet connection. So Kenneth, try not to be so impatient, if the game's good it'll be worth waiting for. Syndicate Wars was worth the wait apparently...

James Hollidge

FG: You're right in saying that most games around have been influenced by earlier titles and that doesn't surprise any of us who've been playing games for a while. There is a lack of innovation with only the occasional new release attempting to do something different, and though this can be disappointing there are still loads of games being released - influenced by earlier games or not - that are great fun to play and, as you say, that's the important part. Your point about games being delayed for a myriad of reasons is also true and yes, sometimes, games are worth the wait. Syndicate Wars certainly was.