Burning_Spear

This was inevitable, as Xbox is part of a larger company that ultimately answers to stockholders, who likely have long been wondering when they would see the balance-sheet return on Spencer's spending spree. Eventually it's about turning a profit, and you're not going to do that by selling consoles at a loss and restricting triple-A games that cost hundreds of millions of dollars to develop to less than 50 percent of the gaming community.

I need to beat the Jokerless challenge to 100 percent Balatro. I got Completionist++ last weekend and zipped through the other challenges this week.

I unlocked the DKCR theme in Tetris 99 last night. One of my favorite themes. The music fits perfectly, in my opinion. I felt like it had me totally focused.

I also want to get back in shape on Splatoon. I played a little recently for the first time since the Balatro addiction really took hold, and boy, am I out of condition.

Three-day weekend. I promised the Spear-ess some together time, but I also hope to finally start something new.

I'm fine either way as long as that infernal little blue icon is not constantly imploring me to open the app to see the latest avatars or to tell me I've earned another 20 platinum points for doing who knows what? I ... despise ... notifications.

B-A-L-A-T-R-O. There just can't be enough awards for that game.

"... though given Atari's strong history with physical releases, we can probably expect a boxed version later down the line ..."

I'm sure we'll see Atari physical releases, re-releases and re-re-releases down the line across every console that ever appears hereafter.

@Ganner You know what? I love playing Balatro, especially after a long day. There's no physical skill required. I can just sink into my chair, put my feet up, enjoy a cup of tea and get lost in the game.

But I'm starting to miss other games, such as Splatoon. I haven't been in the Splatfest at all this weekend. So I think once I find that last elusive joker, I'll start bouncing around with a bunch of games ... until the Balatro update with the new jokers arrives later this year.

What little gaming time I have remaining this weekend will be spent pursuing Completionist++ on Balatro. I have 149 of the 150 jokers gold-stickered, so the game is now part roguelike and part spot the difference, in that winning a run is almost secondary to scanning shop after shop for the one joker without a gold sticker, which, by the way, has been hiding for at least five hours.

I want to get in some Splatfest too.

@Ganner Still going heavy on Snowrunner or mixing it up?

I so enjoyed MiiVerse and miss it very much when I boot up my WiiU. It really did feel like I was entering a bustling room of Nintendo friends (and a few crass idiots) every time I turned on the console

I'm nearing the finish line for Completionist++ in Balatro. I'm better than 95 percent of the way there, needing gold stickers on only seven of the 150 jokers.

I also downloaded Tetris Diamond from the Japanese eShop and want to give that a try, as I've never played it before.

@WiltonRoots Jah bless.

One of the best games I've ever played!

I wonder if the affected employees were told they "need to feel comfortable with not having a job."

@somnambulance You're one joker ahead of me. It's almost reaching the point at which it's more difficult to find a non-gold joker than it is to win the run. All but three of my outliers are uncommon or rare.

I'm still going after Completionist++ on Balatro. I'm 90 percent of the way there, needing to gold-seal only 15 of the 150 jokers.

If he wants me to buy more games he shouldn't have made his so ridiculously addictive!

I'm still pushing toward Completionist++ on Balatro. I'm more than 80 percent of the way there. But with the three-day weekend, I may use some of the extra free time to get a new game going on the side.

I think the leaks only would have been "damaging" if they had spoiled a transformative element — e.g., the Wii U Gamepad or the 3D feature of the 3DS — or if they had teased some transformative feature that ultimately wasn't part of the console. In this case, for me at least, I think they actually prepared me to expect very little change.

Maybe clarify what type of security risk? Someone hacking my personal data? Wedding crashers? A Russian airstrike?

Balatro and maybe a little Splatfest. I'm still grinding away at Completionist++ in Balatro, with more than 75 percent of the jokers gold-sealed. It's a fierce challenge!

I have one of the "original" Hyperkins. They're pretty good and much sturdier than the OG Rock Band controllers. I will probably pick up another as I still play the Wii Rock Band entries from time to time.

I haven't had time to play yet but expect to put in at least a few hours toward reaching Completionist++ on Balatro. I've been adding a joker ot two to the Gold collection every day, so it still seems like I'm making progress. Happy holidays, everyone!

The music doesn't do much for me. I prefer something more intense or upbeat for Tetris. But the tetriminos are bright and easy to see against the backdrop, which is always a plus for me, as some of these custom themes make it difficult to see the gaps in your stack.

I played a bit of Tetris 99 last night to unlock the Zelda skin. This is one of the better ones. Otherwise, I've been plugging away toward Completionist++ on Balatro and will likely stick with that until after Christmas, when I should have the time to get into something new.

I'll have to try this. It looks like the top-down iteration I loved in Tetris Axis on the 3DS

@NintenGuy What I said was that PS4 and PS5 have sold 100 million combined during the Switch's lifetime. So based on your numbers, that's 181 million total. According to VGSales, PS4 sold 60 million by March 31, 2017, roughly the Switch's launch date. So that's 121 million since the Switch launch. OK, so I was off by 20 percent. My intent wasn't to short the PS sales but to note that Switch has had its success in a period in which 100 (121) million people invested in another, more expensive console, not to mention XBox sales. Not trying to start another console war — and I said there were arguments for both consoles — but was just presenting a counter to the person who said PS2's numbers were more impressive because of the time in which it was on the market.

@DwaynesGames It seems like it cut off in mid-November. My totals on my console list are greater than those on the Year in Review.

Balatro: 400
Does it sound like I have time for anything else?

But for the record, Splatoon 2 is second with 59 hours and Mario Kart 8 is third with 44.

@-wc- Agreed there. It seems like there aren't as many fresh ideas these days and that publishers are relying far too much on re-releases and sequels.

@-wc- There are other variables to consider too, though, such as the competition in the space (PS4 and PS5 have sold 100 million between them while Switch was doing its thing), smartphone competition, and the PS2's sales that were solely for its use as a DVD player. You can make an argument in favor of either console.

Pending Jim Ryan's updated U.S. sales count, to be announced in his next interview.

By PEGI's logic, media outlets should never report crime, as it teaches the skills necessary to commit crimes.

Absolutely ridiculous decision. If anything, knowledge of poker leads one to Balatro, not the other way around. And Balatro's tutorial has no mention of poker. If you don't already know it's based on poker hands, how would you be moved to go from Balatro to poker?

Not cool for them to be revealing this stuff ahead of the official announcement, if they are indeed doing that. I wouldn't have bought their product anyway, but they're now on my list of companies to forever avoid.

For now, I'm chipping away at Completionist++ in Balatro. I've gold-tagged more than 20 more jokers in the past week, so for the moment it still feels like there's regular progress being made. I'll probably start something new during the holiday period.

More to celebrate about Balatro on a night we're already celebrating Balatro. Easily the best game I've played in years.

"... to 'ensure indie game developers are not hindered or discouraged from pursuing their creative ideas.'"

Interesting take on copying.

I unlocked the classic Tetris theme in Tetris 99 last night, and more importantly, I got on a huge roll in Balatro and finally achieved Completionist+. So I expect I'll be knocking around in a bunch of games the rest of the weekend, maybe start chipping away at C++.

He left us way too soon!

Translation: We wanted your holiday money more than we wanted to deliver a complete product.

And what about the people who played it in dysfunctional form for seven months? I suppose rush jobs are the norm these days.

My backlog is saying, "Don't you dare!" And also, "Stop it with Balatro already!"

I guess Ubisoft just has to get used to not owning their studios.

@BIG3 Indeed, DQ11 does have a GOAT vibe to it. A super-interesting story and world to experience!

Same as usual for me: I'm chasing Gold stake on my 13th Balatro deck this weekend, with only two more to go after this. Completionist+ status in sight!

Ubisoft's version of Tom Nook will operate a rental shop instead of a store and will implore the player to "get used to not owning" their furniture and clothing.

"Looks like you've got your eye on that Opulent Rug, yes? That's 25 bells a day, quite a bargain, yes, yes."

I'm nearing Gold on my 10th deck in Balatro and hope to make good progress toward the 11th this weekend.

Bingo! Finally upgraded my Switch Micro SD to 1 TB, from 512GB. The old card will be on garden leave until Switch 2 debuts.

Balatro, please, so the past 280 hours of my life will be validated.

Here we go again: Half way to Gold on my ninth deck in Balatro after random chance finally bestowed upon me the elusive joker I needed for Completionist status last week.

Hey, Phil, did you ever think "other platforms" may have their own red lines regarding hosting your rent-a-game service??? I'll own my games, thanks.