Burning_Spear

@EarthboundBenjy Agreed. Atari has mastered the practice of getting folks to continually repay for the same things. I still have my 2600 and cartridges, in addition to a few Atari collections and the PS2 Activision one, but it's so much more convenient to have them all in one space on the current console.

@Ganner I've had my eye on Snow Runner. Probably better to pick it up for my PS4 Pro, would you say? How much do the season packs add?

@Rykdrew I had unexpected spare time tonight and finally beat Gold stake, the Violet Vessel included. It's a special night in Balatro Country!

@Ganner Oh, man, glad to meet a fellow Balatro addict. What are you working on now?

I've unlocked all the decks and beaten every stake but Gold, which I've been attacking for a few weeks. Last week I had it. Perfect joker build. Six hands available for every round. Everything in order. I was there. At the finish line. And then the Ante 8 boss was The Violet Vessel, with its insanely large blind. The cards went cold, and I narrowly lost. If any other blind had popped up, I'd be a well-rested man today. Alas, Balatro.

Gold stake has opened a whole new world for me. I'm now figuring out ways to use and weaponize jokers and tarots I never previously considered.

I did almost six and a half hours on Balatro last night. So I'm down until Sunday-night Balatro.

This game is insanely addictive and starting to push its way into consideration for top-five status in my Switch rankings.

@OrtadragoonX I agree that Nintendo did a poor job of highlighting the Wii U Gamepad's second-screen functionality, but I'll submit that Mario Maker wasn't the only game that did it well. I still miss it in the current versions of Splatoon, and Nintendo used it to great effect in Nintendoland.

Skeptical of this, but if it's true, it's disappointing that Nintendo would not have solved the issue of adding a joycon D-pad.

This was Nintendo at its best, paying homage to a great franchise and its loyal fans. So much love, care and time put into free DLC!

An unbelievable send-off, Nintendo. The Grand Festival was an amazing piece of work and a huge salute to the game and all of us who love it.

SPLATFEST and Balatro!!!

I like the idea of designing games so that they can be entirely completed in a manageable amount of time.

One of the things that's difficult for me — particularly as someone with OCD — is maintaining the mindset that I won't complete every objective, see everything there is to be seen, etc. I often say I will just play for the core experience, but then it becomes a quest to do everything that ends with 75 hours played, a bunch of stuff still undone, disappointment, and other games that were never played as a result. So, for me personally, if completionist times were reduced, I'd be happy.

I was waiting for the PS5 Pro to upgrade from my PS4, but at THAT price — and without a disc drive — "I can do without the rock 'n roll," as Mick Shrimpton famously said.

Balatro, Splatoon and maybe a bit of MK8 Deluxe. Enjoy, everyone!

They are en route from Best Buy at this very moment!

I don't think we need to even think about this. Of course it will be backward-compatible with a device that will undoubtedly have sold more than 150 million units when its successor launches. That's too many people potentially waiting to make a purchase; too many lost software-sale opportunities.

Yet another weekend of Balatro and the two Splatoons. I've unlocked all the Balatro decks, so the next hurdle is the gold stake.

Splatoon 2 and 3 and Balatro!!!

@Oppyz666 I'm planning/hoping (procrastinating) to create shelf space for my CRT to get all my post-Atari retro consoles set up. What are you using to split all those connections? Any recommendations?

And I thought I was the bomb with five: Switch, Wii U, Wii, PS4, PS3. Anybody got a spare 400 splitter cable?

Splatfest and Balatro!!!

@Spider-Kev When the Switch reaches 160 million units sold, Jim Ryan will say the real number is 165 million.

@beltmenot Yes, but it hasn't shipped yet. At least mine hasn't.

@anoyonmus Echoing what @Neckcrane said and adding that you DO NOT need to understand poker to play and beat this game. Once you play a couple of runs, it becomes simple to understand but with so many strategical options. You and I could have an entirely different approach to winning. So many risk-reward decisions and thought-provoking choices.

Crazy-addictive game!!! There's so much to unlock and beat with what we have now, but new variations will still be most welcome. I double-dipped for the physical version because I always want this in my possession.

@Axecon 2026 seems right to me too. It gives 3 another couple years of sales, and it provides a nice year-two momentum booster for Switch 2 and its online subscription service.

Probably a sentimental nod to the Squid Sisters for their "splatastic" debut in the original, but I may just have to go with Callie and Marie for their humorous banter in 2. Decisions, decisions.

The two Splatoons and maybe two or three Balatro runs.

The original Metroid gets a lot of criticism, but one of the things I enjoyed most was mapping it myself. Same for the original Zelda. I think that's what you would do it if you were actually in such a situation in real life. I realize modern games are more convenient and probably more fun with easily accessible maps, but I found the cartography of Metroid and Zelda a big part of the fun. As for Kraid, well, that's another story.

Splatoon and Balatro!

@wazlon My favorite game in the Yoshi series. Enjoy it!

Looking forward to the little blue dot appearing next to NSO every single time I fire up my Switch.

"I know a lot of people looked up to us, Jackpot, and me personally."

Ummmm ... get over yourself. We all play games. You're just like us, except racist.

Balatro and Splatoon!!!

@KillerTan98 Nice! I may be the only other person who has both of those games.

Splatastic. Just SPLATASTIC!

Balatro and Splatfest!!! Balatro has completely sunken its teeth into me. I'm still trying to unlock all the decks.

@Nagi Me too. I ordered it July 30 of last year.

Beach man all the way. Cabbage Beach on Paradise Island. Dickinson Bay in Antigua. Palm Beach in Aruba. Prove me wrong.

Just learned I won't be going to an event that would have taken most of Saturday, so it figures to be a weekend divided somewhat evenly between Balatro, which has completely sunken its teeth into me, and Splatoon, because ... well ... it's Splatoon.

OCD and ADHD can make gaming or anything a slog. Doing things repetitively to unnecessarily perfect or complete a particular objective, obsessing to the point that one game takes many hours away from others, losing interest after dozens of hours and merely a boss or two short of the game's completion. Sheesh, I'm getting tired just writing this.

I tried Balatro for the first time this week and have not been able to stop. So addictive!

For those who are too young to have experienced those days, GameBoy Tetris was THE thing in the early '90s. If you saw someone playing a GameBoy in public, more likely than not it was Tetris. In the minds of some of the uninitiated, Tetris was the actual product and the GameBoy was just the plastic it came in. I remember bringing mine into work when I got it, and though I left it in my bag to play during my commute, one of my friends would take it and play at the office. Not surprisingly, his tenure there didn't last long.

@Cut3Panda-SNES64DD Why keep referencing the Wii U? Microsoft is also in stronger position than the Virtual Boy and the Dreamcast. But it's miles behind Nintendo today and still chasing Sony. The point remains: If MS is moving former exclusives to other consoles, the Xbox creeps toward irrelevancy.

Let's face it, Microsoft's future is Game Pass and PC. Anyone who can't read the Xbox writing on the wall needs glasses.

Amazing game. I put more than 200 hours into that. Time to turn to the sequel.

Wii and GameCube games just don't seem retro to me. I would say, for now, the dividing line is the N64, PS1/2 period — before we had robust online, downloadable games, rechargeable controllers and DLC. I think of those as modern conveniences and hence, all games before then retro.

Toward that end, I think putting a time frame on what's retro doesn't work. To me, it's more of a feel of modern versus old, and that can change according to the progress of technology.

"Teeming commercial hub of the city."

Open toilet is more like it. Bring a mask ... and not for Covid.

Is there anything original about this company?

"I am going to preorder this game at the nearest gamestop just to be safe."

@Papery0shi Get there quickly on release date to make sure they don't open it and play it first. Remember, that's considered "new" at GameStop.

Could this be a concern about breaking street date? Or perhaps a punishment for past transgressions in that regard?

Not mentioned in the review is that the missions frustratingly often don't register as completed. It's so inconsistent that I rarely even bother with the missions: What's the point of taking a risk if I'm not even going to get the reward?