
Well, here it is: Push Square's first ever Mailbox feature, where we publish (and reply to!) letters from our readers.
This new, monthly feature gives the Push Square community a chance to have their thoughts curated right here on the site, complete with insight from the editorial team.
If you want to send us a letter, please use the Contact page and select 'Reader Letters' as the subject.
Every month, we'll pick out a Star Letter — the writer of which will win a one month subscription to our ad-free Supporter programme.
Without further ado, let's see what our first mailbag has in store...
Push Square Mailbox - January 2025
Astro Bot a New Mascot
I just wanted to write in and say I think PlayStation have something amazing on their hands with Astro. I played it, Platinum'd it, loved it, then my son saw the box and became obsessed. He's three and we have sat and played it again bonding over this amazing little robot.
It's got to the point where I went to local game shop to get cardboard advertising, and for Christmas I bought him a plush and the controller. Seeing him open them is now a treasured memory. I really think, given the support and backing, in the not too distant future we might be going to the cinema to watch an Astro Bot movie.
- James
We're with you on this one, James. There's just something so pleasing about Astro's rounded robot design... And based on the personal experiences of several Push Square staff members, the bot really has been a hit with kids — and that's always a good sign when it comes to building an iconic mascot!
Just like you, we can't wait to see what's next for Astro Bot in general.
PS1 Memories

Hi team,
With the advent of the new Push Square mailbox, I think it'd be pretty cool to get a rundown of one of your other starts... each member of the team's first memory of PlayStation existing.
I first got my PS1 in 1999 for Christmas after witnessing Crash and Spyro at various friends' houses. But my first experience came a few years earlier. I was obsessed with Sonic the Hedgehog, being a SEGA Mega Drive owner.I was with a childhood friend from primary school and telling him all the Sonic games and toys / memorabilia I had at the time, and he said he had a "Sony PlayStation". Being the little kid that I was, I exclaimed in shock: "A Sonic Police Station?!" and imagined in my head, a Batman Gotham City jail playset but with Sonic.
I never got to see this Police Station, but I did realise what he actually meant months later after I'd seen / owned the Sony PlayStation for myself.
It's amazing where our brains can go when we've never heard of something before and learn of it for the very first time.
What's your first memories of even the words "PlayStation"?
- kevinm360
For most of us here at Push Square, the original PlayStation was this cool new thing that took our schools by storm back in the 90s. We never quite confused it with a police station — although we can see the resemblance! — but there was definitely an air of mystery to the console itself.
And much like yourself, some of us were introduced to the system through friends; having our tiny minds blown upon seeing crazy games like Crash Bandicoot, Tekken, and Metal Gear Solid. At the time, the PlayStation really did feel like a glimpse into a future with unlimited potential. And in a way, it was!
What Happened to Twisted Metal?
Happy New Year, everyone!
I wanted to reach out about a Sony franchise that has been dormant since 2012: Twisted Metal. With the recent success of the TV show, do you think Sony has any plans to bring the franchise back? It feels like the perfect time for an epic revival, especially as a standout entry in the 'Games as a Service' genre.
What are your thoughts?
- Tyler
Well to be honest with you Tyler, we had expected a new Twisted Metal to have been announced by now — but a report from last year said that a live service Twisted Metal title had actually been cancelled at PlayStation Studio Firesprite.
From what we understand, this project was still in pre-production, but its rumoured cancellation would explain why PlayStation never pushed on from the Twisted Metal TV show you mentioned.
It's a real shame, because we tend to agree that the old-school car combat property is perfectly poised for the multiplayer, live service space.
Why The Witcher 4 Starring Ciri Was the Right Decision

Whatever direction CD Projekt Red ventured after declaring Geralt of Rivia not the main protagonist of The Witcher 4 would’ve hit resistance. Because of the Witcher 3: The Wild Hunt’s massive success, the expectations for its sequel’s lead grew rampant. Despite some clamoring for a new protagonist unrelated to the current timeline, fan favorite Ciri took the mantle from Geralt at The Game Awards 2024.
Whether one’s read the books, watched the Netflix adaption, played all of the games or only TW3, Ciri’s overlaying importance to the world is undeniably massive. The contrasts between Geralt and Ciri are immense. Female Witchers aren’t exactly commonplace. With commoners discounting Ciri, she must prove herself capable compared to Geralt whose looks alone grant credibility.Geralt is reserved, stoic and keeps to himself whereas Ciri would interfere to save everyone at all costs, damn the consequences. Both share a quick wit while Geralt’s sarcasm differs from Ciri’s snarky yet naive attitude.
Ciri’s own combat style explores new possibilities. From attack speed and dodging centric or magic and elder blood focused, potential builds are intriguing considerations outside of the Witcher’s silver and steel swords, signs, potions and mutagens. CDPR can develop Ciri’s combat to feel both unique yet still similar and true enough to The Witcher formula.
Despite Geralt not being the main protagonist, side quests, monster hunts, and storylines could revolve around him and other fan favorites. Old faces combined with Ciri building her own rapport of allies that carries over in future games would keep the world fresh and familiar while she slays monsters one village at a time.
Ciri as the new main protagonist is a slam dunk decision in my eyes. But enough from me; say your thoughts on The Witcher 4 in the comments section!
- CWill97
One thing's for sure: it'll be very interesting to see how CDPR writes Ciri in terms of tone and personality, now that she's in the lead role.
Geralt's (video game) story came to a near perfect end in The Witcher 3, and so a new direction was always going to be necessary. Truth be told, though, we had always thought that making Ciri the protagonist seemed too... obvious.
But the reveal trailer for The Witcher 4 did get us hyped, and at this point we wouldn't bet against CDPR when it comes to crafting fantastic characters. Plus, like you say, Ciri has such a rich and detailed background to pull from.
Hopefully we won't have to wait until 2030 to get our first real glimpse of this new adventure...
Why Doesn't PlayStation Do More Crossover Games?
Having played Astro Bot (again) and Sackboy's Big Adventure over Christmas it got me thinking, why don't PlayStation make more crossover content or games? They have enough IP to do this as shown with Astro Bot and the nostalgia trip it was which for me one of its main talking points.
They could make a proper game that includes multiple characters, for example a platformer that crosses Sackboy / Astro Bot / Ratchet etc, or another PlayStation All-Stars or even a party based game similar to Mario Party. I'd even settle for a PlayStation Warriors spin-off.
- UltimateOtaku91
Potential crossovers always make for interesting conversation, don't they?
Especially over the last decade or so, crossovers in games have become more and more popular. Whether it's limited time events in live service titles, or crazy guest characters in fighting games, it's clear that crossover content sells.
And so we totally get where you're coming from. Given Sony's long-reaching catalogue of properties — many of which have lay dormant for generations — we do wonder whether PlayStation's leaving money on the table.
For what it's worth, we wouldn't mind seeing someone have another crack at PlayStation All-Stars...
The Problem with Live A Live

I just purchased Live A Live on PS5 and it's an awesome game. I wanted to ask what is the pronunciation of the title.
Is it like both live as in living life or live like 'live on TV'? I've been thinking about it and don't want to butcher the name.
Thank you, Push Square.
- Michael Campbell
First of all, Michael, thanks for asking the important questions. Upon reading your letter, we realised that we actually had no idea how to properly pronounce Live A Live, so we did some research.
And by research, we mean that we went and trawled through all of the Live A Live trailers to see whether it ever gets said.
Thankfully, it does! It's officially pronounced Live A Live... er, as in, live on TV. Or being alive. Live A Live!
Why Do Classic Games Still Release Without Trophies?
You know, since Disney, Crystal Dynamics, Embracer Group (THQ Nordic, Crystal Dynamics, Plaion) and even Oddworld Inhabitants started to add Trophy support updates to their PS1 and PSP games on Plus, I wonder what's the hold up regarding Trophy support for said PS1 and PSP games from Capcom, Bandai Namco and Team17?
Who wouldn't want to earn the Platinum trophy on Tekken 2, Dino Crisis and all the PS1 Worms games? I even tried contacting Team17 about it, but I never got a response ever since. I mean, we know Sony's first-party games get these from day one and these are retroactive for third parties, but still. I was personally hoping to Platinum Star Wars Demolition and Worms World Party if those would ever get Trophies.
And on the topic of Disney, I'm surprised they don't realise (unless they actually don't care, which is actually *un*surprising) they own a slew of Ignition Entertainment games, including Archer MacLean's Mercury, as their Indian division bought up their stuff after Ignition went belly up.
I suppose that fact must have slipped their mind. Still, what's taking the other guys so long to add those shiny trophies, while Sony's own titles get these from the get-go?
- Kamil Drews
Kamil, don't get us started on the seemingly random nature of Trophy lists. This has been annoying us ever since the Trophy system was first introduced, and it still boggles our brains that there aren't any set rules for publishers and developers to follow.
Granted, Trophies are now mandatory in new releases — and have been for years — but like you say, classic PlayStation titles can still launch without a single Trophy to unlock. And then some games just refuse to have a Platinum for no good reason!
Baffling, especially when you consider that this lack of Trophies will result in fewer sales. There are plenty of people out there who buy games for the Trophies. When will publishers realise this?
Okay, we're ranting now, but we hope that our mutual frustration has helped ease your pain.
Push Square, From the Future!
I love Push Square because it's PlayStation news from the future. Just around the time I go to bed (11 PM) on the East Coast of the USA, Push Square is publishing news for the following day. If it's Tuesday, there will be a few articles from Wednesday I can read before I go to sleep.
When Push Square is the first to break news of the PS Vita 2, I'll know before the markets open in America so I can use my life savings to buy Sony stock (or a single PS Vita 2 memory card).
Thanks Push Square.
- Vincent
Thanks for giving us a fresh perspective on our news publishing process, Vincent. It's nice to know that we're part of your routine! And don't worry, we'll break that PS Vita 2 news just for you.
But because we're from the future, we'll give you an exclusive scoop right now: the Vita 2 doesn't actually use memory cards. It's got its own tiny, 20GB SSD that costs upwards of $750 to replace. Thank god for that!
The Underappreciated MediEvil 2

Can I just say how happy I am that MediEvil II is FINALLY getting a re-release? The game introduced me to one of my all-time favorite game characters, Sir Daniel Fortesque, back in the early 2000s.
The first MediEvil has been remade, reimagined and re-released so many times. Give me that darkly humorous, Victorian era adventure... with Trophies this time!
- Ty the Sega Guy
Yeah, we've always felt that MediEvil 2 is a bit underappreciated. The first game is obviously beloved as a proper PS1 classic, but the sequel never quite hit the same, even though it was met with equally positive reviews when it released in 2000.
As you mention, the Victorian setting definitely sets its apart, along with a greater emphasis on story and characters. We're glad it's getting a second chance, for Sir Dan's sake!
Push Square: It's All in the Name []STAR LETTER[]
Dear Push Square,
I’m pleased your company’s leaders decided on the name “Push Square”. It just wouldn’t seem right to call you Tap Triangle, Squish Square, Caress X, or Oblige The O.
Now Tickle The Trigger? Well, you might have had something there with that one, but not everyone’s perfect. Anyway, thank you for being you, Push Square!
Saluting the square,
- jgrangervikings1
Your letter gave us all a good laugh, jgrangervikings1. We've never doubted Push Square as a name, but we must admit, 'Caress X' and 'Tickle The Trigger' are incredible alternatives. We've chosen not to comment on 'Oblige the O'.
Just for you, we hunted our esteemed editor Sammy Barker down and forced him to recall the moment that he came up with the Push Square name, all those years ago.
Here's what he had to say:
"Basically I’d decided to do a PlayStation website, but I didn’t want it to be called like PS3 News or PlayStation Life or anything like that.
I really was drawing blanks for months until I thought of pressx.com which is usually what you do to start a game, but that was taken so I considered presscircle.com (too long). I also didn’t like how presssquare.com looked (three s’s).
Funnily enough, my dad was playing God of War 2 at the time, and one of the QTEs was square, so I told him to “push the square button”. I realised that didn’t have the three s’s and was available so I settled on it!"
Thanks to everyone who sent us a letter this month! Even if your letter hasn't been published, there's a chance that it'll feature in a future article — so don't be disheartened!
If you want to send us a letter, use our Contact page and remember to select 'Reader Letters' as your subject. Letters must be 300 words or less.
What are your thoughts on this month's Push Square Mailbox? Feed us even more opinions in the comments section below!
Comments 35
@CWill97 great letter about Witcher IV! The decision on making Ciri the main is the right one. Even though it was obvious it would be considered, I’m sure it’ll be met with some of the same backlash we’ve seen with female main characters.
@jgrangervikings1 “Push Square” is cool. But I prefer “Press Square” as we essentially “press” buttons on the controller, not “push” them.
Great new segment Push Square! Great way to start the year!
@kevinm360 Whilst I never called it a police station I do remember discussing the new console with mates and thinking what rubbish name it sounded like a toy, and how wrong we were!
Once I got to play on one there was no going back, Ridge Racer and Tekken were the first games I played on it (launch games I think) and it was the first time I genuinely thought this is just like the arcade!
Great feature Push Square and perfect reading for a Sunday, keep em' coming.
@ShogunRok any chance you can add the users profile name below their letter so we can more easily reply to that specific topic?
Lovely first mailbox, gang!
Some thoughts from the submissions:
Nice to see the community engage with the mailbox idea in a positive way.
@Mostik At the moment, we can only include the name that people use on the contact form — we don't see email addresses or anything like that.
But something to consider for the future, for sure.
@Brundleflies21 agreed. Positivity is so sparse around here that… Never mind. I’m doing it now lol.
my thoughts on Astrobot good game yes, its the 5th astrobot game
"terrible trophy lists"
I was sure this was going to be a long surrealist rant by that dude that's obsessed with the FF7 Rebirth trophy list
I can assure you, no one in good faith has an issue with Ciri being the lead. I prefaced “in good faith” because I’m sure there are people out there who have that as their sole issue. However, anyone who finished 3 could see Ciri as the new protagonist coming from a mile away and, anyone I know, were excited.
The actual issues people have are first, the redesign to make her less attractive. It sounds silly but it also LOOKS silly to take an objectively attractive character and redesign her like this. It definitely reeks of the current trend going on with female characters these days. Second, the fact she’s a Witcher. I know the games are separate from the books but it goes against the established lore and the only explanations can be that they’re ignorant of the lore (which is bad) or they don’t care and want to earn “Girl Boss” points from certain groups (also bad).
Those are the actual issues people have, not just Ciri being the protagonist alone. I would be stoked if it was Ciri as the protagonist but they left those two issues alone.
@DadJKP Lol I'm for attractive characters and Ciri looks great and gritty here, especially with her becoming older(Obviously). Lets keep in mind that this is a CGI trailer and Geralt looked much different compared to the Witcher 3 reveal. Also CDPR stated that this game is where Ciri is about to become a Witcher so we'll obviously see how she does it through the grass trials
Super cool and a big shout to the Vincent post!! Also east coast US. So I share the same sentiment regarding getting my PS news "early" lol.
I am quite excited to see Ciri in the Witcher 4. Anyone who was following the stories in game could see her becoming the main focus a mile away. My expectation is that Geraldt will take up the Vesemir role going forward & I am ok with that personally.
I always get annoyed when people complain about lore in a fictional setting and use it as a justification to not change anything.
It's fiction they can do anything they want that fits the narrative they want to tell.
Most of the time this sort of complaint is just a justification to cover some other narrow minded nonsense that a person has and they don't really care about the lore or characters in the first place.
Only just jumped back into PlayStation after a long absence. My kids are obsessed with Astro’s Playground, so Astrobot is on my radar (when I can get it for a reasonable price). Very ‘Nintendo but Sony’ vibes from what I’ve seen.
Ciri as the protagonist in Witcher 4 is a no brainer. Anyone who has read the books could see her importance, though I can understand people’s disappointment due to how popular Geralt is. Again, if you are familiar with the books she has a huge amount of development, a character arc and a well developed personality that completely sidesteps ‘girl boss’ criticism. I know there are supposed to be only male Witcher’s so I just hope that whatever is the reason that Ciri is the exception is suitably clever and satisfying.
My first PlayStation memories actually started fairly neutrally. I was a SEGA Mega Drive owner at the time of the PS1’s release. I had no interest in the Saturn, as SEGA had burned many fans with the mess of the Mega CD and 32X. I didn’t feel I could trust them to deliver. The N64 was still a while away. The PS1 was popular at school, but so were family PCs and ours could do anything the PS1 could do and more (I played Tomb Raider, Resident Evil 1&2 and Dino Crisis on PC) so it just didn’t seem that impressive. The N64 ended up being my choice and I have no regrets (4 player multiplayer every weekend with my friends on Goldeneye and Mario Kart). However, PS2 was my next system (alongside the GameCube) and was with me for a long time. I was able to go back to the PS1 games I missed (the first game I played was Resident Evil 3 as I couldn’t afford any PS2 games!) and now with PS5 I am able to do the same with PS4 games too.
Great idea. I love Metros game section and it's reader letters section so this is definitely going to be appreciated.
Much love for including mine in the first newsletter 😎😎 It’s great to see a lot of readers here pumped for The Witcher 4!
This was actually a fantastic read. Upon initially reading of this plan I smirked at it's 'twee'ness, but you guys actually pulled it off!
As for Kamil Drews' letter, and your response, trophy lists can be great at encouraging players to play a game they wouldn't have considered (everyone NOT dying in DDLC was a relief), or highlighting additional content, but (having recently ponied up for Plus Premium for a few months) classic trophy lists seem a lot haphazard, and, more broadly, I'm tired of games having stupid trophies that render a list incomplete forever more (looking at you, GT5), or trophy lists that are too cryptic to know what the hell you do to get them (FS22?).
Great job Push Square and friends!
This is very fun to read, keep it up...
Just wanted to say I'm glad you guys decided to try this feature, it makes for a good read (and, selfishly, thanks for giving Medievil 2 a shout).
Great first issue! 👏
This is a brilliant addition to the site - really enjoyed this first go!
I think what really makes Astro Bot tick with adults and kids more than the physical appearance is the "sounds" he makes. His little taps as he waddles, his baby speak etc. the way hes says something like "GO, GO, GO!" When doing the time trial levels.
It is what made Mario so memorable for me, that jump noise, the sounds of question mark blocks, 3D Mario's "Wa-hoo", "Yip-ee" etc.
@ShogunRok can people who were chosen for January’s mailbox submit again for February or are you guys trying to give others a chance? I have a fun, more broad topic I’d love to write about but don’t want to overstep. Thanks for giving us readers a chance to shine and great work everyone who got chosen 🤩🤩
About Twisted Metal, considering the tv show season 2 gonna air this year, i think Sony gonna try to make a new game again. The market for "Vehicular Combat" is pretty empty right now.
But it's a shame with Destruction AllStars. It's pretty much the same concept as Twisted Metal but with less interesting characters and vehicles.
This was a fun read. Great addition.
Totally agree about Astro Bot, wonderful mascot for the PlayStation.
Re: Ciri anyone complaining about her as the protagonist CLEARLY hasn’t read the books which may be called “The Witcher” but, aside from the short stories, alternate between Geralt and Ciri. Geralt may be the lens through which events are primarily viewed, but the whole story revolves around Ciri.
There are of course questions to be answered about how she became a Witcher, whether she undertook the trial of grasses etc. but that is part of the story that will no doubt be told in the game. Looking forward to it.
Lastly I was laughing at the alternative PushSquare names, thanks for the giggles.
This was a great read and really good to see so many different topics discussed. Loved it!!
Letters must be 300 words or fewer!!!!!
Good selection of letters though! A good start to this initiative. Kudos.
Great job with the mailbox.
I can't wait for a Ciri-led Witcher 4. Love the books and the previous games, I'm excited to see what CDPR come up with.
@CWill97 Yep, feel free to write in again even if you've been published before.
There might be times where we mark letters for later articles, too, so there are no immediate limits to worry about!
Love the story about how the Push Square name was coined.
@Marquez Agreed!
I never understood and considering the success of Witcher 3 on PS4/5 why they didn't remaster the first two for the PS5 at least. Seems a missed opportunity and would beat Naughty Dog etc re-re-releasing something.
Ciri looks fine in the trailer, not sure why the hate? It's not like she's been at the pies like Aloy or whatever that was in Outlaws...
Tbf I haven't and will not touch Dino Crisis because it doesn't have trophies.
I remember that Nintendo Life had an article or something on the pronunciation of Live A Live, so I went looking for it and found that it was a poll and that it was 3 years ago now or something. The passage of time keeps throwing me for a loop.
But the page is here if anyone wants to take a look.
https://www.nintendolife.com/features/poll-so-how-do-you-pronounce-live-a-live
Anyway, as for names for Push Square, I'm partial to Squish Square.
Loved reading through this great stuff!
My story of mishearing "PlayStation" as "Police Station" as a child has now been immortalised for future generations. 😂
Thank you all contributors for a great article and for us all being part of a great community.
Hey @jgrangervikings1, you've been sent your Star Letter prize via email.
I'm writing this comment just in case the email ends up in your spam folder or something.
Thanks!
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