Dear Future Gamer,

I think that Neil Clowrey (FG32) has overlooked some of the funnier games on the market. Take Grim Fandango and Discworld Noir, for example. Along with The Curse of Monkey Island I think these are some of the funniest games to grace the shelves of any games store. Neither will be available on the consoles, though.

I don't agree that a game must be funny to be fun. Do racing games need to be hilarious? No, and neither do shoot 'em ups.

On the console vs. PC debate, both have their good and bad points. Joypads are not needed for many games on the PC, so there are less available. Consoles are cheaper by far, and so are good in that respect. I think that the N64 has got to catch up on some recent games. Quake II has not yet been released on that platform, whereas it was released on the PC more than a year ago. But GoldenEye is a great game, and so is Ocarina of Time.

Andrew Dunn

FG: Certainly, the wittiest games are to be found in PC adventures, and the aforementioned Grim Fandango and Discworld Noir are good examples. But such is the emphasis on arcade action, a whole generation of gamers may be unaware that videogames can actually have as strong a narrative as books or films. For instance, how many PlayStation owners have checked out the excellent Broken Sword games? Let's hope that publishers continue to fund the development of narrative adventure games.