miffy495

If you've got an Xbone, just grab Rare Replay. It's still great on there, and the whole package is awesome.

Oh, I am hopelessly addicted to all forms of Picross. Didn't even figure it was worth mentioning that it was an instant buy for me.

I'm sorry, but both of these answers are probably going to disappoint: 1. There are sales here and there, but it's nothing compared to what Steam and PSN do. Especially for first party games, which barely ever get discounted at all. If it was made by Nintendo (and let's be honest, if it's 3rd party and on multiple consoles, most people are going to play it on something else), you can expect to pay full price unless you're buying from a physical store. 2. Switch has zero backwards compatibility options right now. The only re-release I can think of off the top of my head is Mario Kart 8 (which is incredible, so that's good). Honestly, if you're interested in Back-compat, the WiiU is your place to go. You can get digital versions of almost everything you'd want to play from the NES, SNES, N64, GBA, DS, and Wii on there, and if you have a Wii disc you can just throw it in and it will work. It also has the HD remasters of both of the GCN Zelda games, which are very well done. On Switch the only thing that's happened so far are all of the Arcade Archives games that Hamster has put out independently, which means a shit ton of Neo Geo games and an upcoming handful of Nintendo's 80s arcade games (Mario Bros is out now, more to come). I'm holding out hope that the Virtual Console will show up and give me all of the retro goodies I can handle. I even bought one of those 8BitDO pads in anticipation, what with the Switch not having a proper D pad. All that's been said so far is not a reason to be optimistic though. ...This sounds really down on the Switch. I still am absolutely in love with the console. I've been alternating between Rabbids and Golf Story as my main games over the past few weeks, with Picross thrown in here and there. Stardew Valley came out on Thursday as well, which is probably something else I'm going to have to check out soon. I'd been waiting for the Switch version since I was already late to the party on that one anyway and it seems like a great fit. It really is a great system, it just so happens that both of your questions have kind of bummer answers.

Picked it up on a whim, just finished doing a few sidequests around the caveman courses. This game is SO DAMN GOOD. I laughed enough that my girlfriend gave me a dirty look (she's writing a paper in the next room) and the mechanics are very satisfying. I finished the intro 9 hole course with a -6 (six birdies, three pars), and like 4 of my birdies were chip-ins that feel really good to get. I am actually really bad at putting, I think. Any tips would be appreciated. I get that the slope impacts things, but is there any way to tell how much (aside from guessing) or is that just something you'll get a feel for over time? I really like some of the weird challenges too. I just did that thing on the caveman course before I turned it off where you have to do the same hole 4 times, once only hitting fairway, once only hitting rough, once only hitting DEEP rough, and once only hitting sand traps. Playing an entire hole with the mindset of "THE FAIRWAY IS LAVA!" and having to just hop bunker to bunker was super fun and a really neat twist. Looking forward to playing a bunch more of this. ...for the record, I never said I didn't like golf video games, just that Mario Golf on N64 and GCN didn't click with me and those were all I'd tried.

Man, the vast majority of this list is going to be a total shot in the dark. I usually don't spend that much time on games, and have only ever got into a couple of multiplayer ones. The only one I know for sure is Rocksmith 2014 is my number one by about 8x what I've spent with game #2. 1. Rocksmith 2014 2. GTAIV (played a lot of multiplayer...) 3. Fallout 3 4. Rocksmith 5. The Witcher 3 6. GTAV ...and now we get into total guesses. 7. Portal 2? (I beat it and it's co-op twice each) 8. Assassin's Creed Black Flag? (I got 100% on all the side islands, so I played a whole bunch) 9. Just Cause 2/3? (probably at least one of these. I put in a lot of time) 10. Saint's Row The Third? Ok, let's check this fucker out: Image cuts off, but New Vegas is 46 hours. Weird, my guesses were way more off than I thought. I was sure I had over 100 hours in Fallout 3 (played it and all of the expansions to 100% completion). Maybe the tracking has changed since then or something? Also, Mass Effect 2 should probably be somewhere on there after 3 100% playthroughs over the years. I think this is just making me question the accuracy of Steam's tracking more than anything else...

So I know this isn't TECHNICALLY about the Switch, but anyone else get a SNES mini? I'm kind of blown away (ign.com) by how sophisticated Star Fox 2 is for a SNES game. Everything else is a known quantity (but I've never played Secret of Mana and never played a legitimate version of Super Mario RPG, so that's awesome!), but man: Star Fox 2 would have completely rocked my world in 1996, and is still really impressive now. Randomly generated mission structure, a constantly running timer while you're making strategic decisions about which missions are most vital in the defense of Corneria, MECHS! This shit is cool, held back only by the fact that oh my god the frame rate tanks so hard sometimes because of all the things it's trying to do. Anyone else giving it a go?

I never played that and have never clicked with any golf games ever, having only even really tried a couple of the console Mario Golf games. Still, the idea of a sports RPG is intriguing to me. Is it worth a shot? What is the appeal/loop here?

Man, I don't think I've played L4D since about 2011. I'd be interested if it fits into my schedule. Curious to see how it would hold up...

Hey, remember last November when twmac and I spent a lot of time lamenting the tragic missed opportunity that was ReCore? That question about giving it another year to become amazing? Well, they took another year and at least added in a bunch of the stuff that was missing... So a few weeks ago (apparently) Microsoft dropped the "Definitive Edition" of this game. I just discovered this tonight while browsing the Live store because there was exactly zero publicity about this release. Turns out it was even a free update for us existing owners (even of the disc edition, as I just popped my disc in and it worked fine). That T8-NK that was so conspicuously missing from the game is now in, as are 10 dungeons that are brand new. I played the first of them tonight on a whim and I think I'll be going back to see the rest. I still have incredibly mixed feelings about ReCore. I loved so much about this game, but there was so much broken or unfinished about it. It still makes me angry a little because if they'd done right by everything that was good in this game, it would have been my GOTY last year by a mile. Instead it will always be a "man, what if this had worked?" throwback to those weird and innovative PS2-era games that I loved so much. I certainly don't mind dipping back into this unbelievably flawed but interesting thing for a few more hours, and here's your public service announcement that the "finished" version of the game is now out, because I may as well let you know if Microsoft isn't going to.

Ha, I was just coming here to post about Inside. I played it for an afternoon and didn't finish it. I should do that.

Yeah, if you're on PC the store is terrible. XBone is fine though, despite loading times, for those who have that option.

I too have a Victorinox set! Got it as a housewarming gift ages ago and I still love them to death. So nice to cook with!

I like it, I think. It's obviously gorgeous, and I think the boost system in the combat is kinda cool. I haven't played a "new-traditional" JRPG (like, ACTUAL TURN BASED, not a semi-action RPG like Xenoblade) in a long time, not counting Dragon Quest remakes, so I'm interested. It was really cool that the demo was meaty enough that I could play for an hour and a half, recruit the second character, explore a map, and find SIDE-QUESTS all for free. And that's just having played the Primrose start. I may still go back and see what the dude has to offer story-wise. Voice acting was terrible, though.

I am super choked about the loss of Miiverse. I think it was such a great and unique part of Nintendo last generation and was shocked that the Switch launched without it. I get that they want to erase the memory of WiiU, but we could at least keep one of the best things about it. For me, it wasn't about game integration, but about documenting. I have travelogues of my playthroughs of Earthbound and Paper Mario that I took through the Miiverse screenshots, and when I attempted to do the same thing with BoTW on Switch, I immediately stopped because the only place that I could upload to was facebook/twitter and I didn't want to annoy people with that. Keeping it contained to a games platform allowed me to save and post whatever I felt like because I knew that the only people who would see it were also using a Nintendo system to view it, so they wouldn't be annoyed by it. I'm going to have to ask Nintendo for that zip file of my posts to keep those journals. I had a really good time with them. Farewell, Miiverse.

How did you know I turn 30 this year?

So I got and paired an 8bitdo controller in anticipation of Nintendo one day actually putting some back catalog stuff on the switch. It's pretty dope, but I don't really have anything aside from Puyo Puyo Tetris that I think would make good use of it. I don't have any of those ACA NeoGeo games yet, or other retro arcade games. Closest I've got is Shovel Knight and I feel like I've had my fill of that for a while. What recommendations do people have for games that cry out for a good d-pad/retro controller on the Switch?

I'm letting them choose. I have enough chairs for everyone, but also a few standing desks, some yoga balls, stools, etc. Part of the "full hippie" thing. Choose the seat you're most comfortable with!

Man, stay safe out there, Texas-based thumbs. I am a weekend away from starting my fifth year as a teacher and have spent the last few days setting up for the kids who will be arriving on Tuesday. Last year, I was recovering from a nightmare class that dominated my 2015/16 school year and was so tense and defensive that I felt like I wasted the first 3 months with a class that turned out to be incredible. I don't want to make that mistake again, and so am swinging (arguably too hard) in the other direction. We're talking a meditation corner for kids who need it, optional yoga balls for sitting if they don't want to use their chairs, an instrument rack with some of my less-expensive instruments on it for kids who are done their work early and want to mess around with a banjo, etc. I have described it to my colleagues as "going full hippie". I'm a little nervous about it, but also excited by the potential and know that if I don't at least try it out for a couple of months I'd always be curious about how it may have gone, so here we go. Bring it, 2017/18 school year.

I enjoyed it well enough, but the end-game boss rush frustrated me to the point of quitting, so I never finished it. It was a good game to pick up at launch on my Switch though, and served me well on a couple of airplane rides this summer.

God, I got this on sale forever ago and still haven't started it. Must get on that.

Except, like, an ending.

That's how I've felt watching Steal My Sunshine as the only person on the entire team who seems to realize that you can spray while running is Abby. Watching Vinny try to do that chain chomp level this last episode nearly killed me.

Yeah, there are way too many games now that come out and my first thought is "man, but what if this were on the SWITCH and I could just take it to bed with me when I was done on the TV for the night?"

That's exactly how we felt when I brought my switch to a Canada Day party so we could play Jackbox. At one point it was set up on the kickstand a patio table in my friend's backyard while we played ARMS and we suddenly realized: "Shit, we're the douchebags from the commercial right now..."

Yay summer games! After quite a while back, I'm definitely down for a bunch more Overwatch. Missed all of those summer skins last year (didn't get the game until the Christmas sale), so I'm looking forward to good times and dope loot boxes.