I think Chum nailed what has been my little soapbox initiative to refer to them as Environmental Narratives (where the surroundings provide the story), and I would strongly encourage you to adopt that as an official description, as you will feel so much better.

I was once reminded that a $60 board game is inherently not different in value to a $60 video game, especially considering the hardware of (most) $60 board games don’t become obsolete. Now my primary concern with each new tabletop experience is the storage space, and my secondary concern is whether I can find anyone…

One last question: How does Transistor fit in the gameplay style of Diablo III, and will I save some time and money by going with the former? I know the latter is a somewhat seminal work, but if I can get my isometric battle fix without having 100 hours of slog and $60 of cash outlay, is it OK to skip it?

Good morning! I don’t know if everyone is hungover, figuratively or literally, from The Game Awards [and Premieres], but as someone that doesn’t get to play 90% of the big games that come out, it’s a good way for me to feel more connected to everyone here by having the same experience. For that, I see the positive…

Wow. I’ve not seen much of Transistor, but you have really helped sell me on it with your description. Thanks!

This is a really fun game, but “painting” associated with “shark” before “museum”...

I’m disappointed that I wasn’t really able to contribute this year - my favorite games from this year were ones that were already mentioned, and primarily for reasons also mentioned.

Virtua Fighter on 32X was, oddly enough, considered by most at the time to be superior to the Saturn version! Sure, the polygon count wasn’t as high, but it played smoothly, solidly, and quickly. I think it was the crown jewel of the library...I still have it, and it really is still great.

If you manage to play an hour per $10 spent on a game, then you are at least within an order of magnitude of what one might spend going to a movie, and I would consider that a successful use of your time. Get it to 2 hours, and you’re pretty much in parity.

That’s a great description of what the intent of a “fitness game” really is, Will:to get someone to pretend they like getting their heart rate up. I prefer my fitness game software to be actual fitness - for me, nothing beat EA Sports Active 2 on the Wii, with its heart rate monitor and acclerometers on an arm and leg…

I bought Wario Ware Gold on 3DS, and started playing a little of it. It was my first one since the original, and it immediately reminded me that I was a basket case playing the first one on GBA if I wasn’t in the zone....

Your talk of Xenoblade Chronicles helped tip me back into grinding on Xenoblade Chronicles X, so I’m with you there! I hope to make Level 40, keeping my sanity, by the end of the weekend! (Spoiler alert: only one of those will occur, and I’d put my bets on “the end of the weekend”.)

I think it’s fallen by the wayside. Dr. FlimFlam was carrying the standard for it for a while, but I think it was postoned due to lack of interest.

Hi! Good to see you here, and miss having you clean house on our MK8 on the 8th events. Hope you’re well, and I’m back in my Wii U right now, too...I never bought the DLC for Breath of the Wild...I thought I’d save it for when I got a copy for Switch, but I’ve been going back and forth on that, because I really want…

I have yet to knuckle down and buy Super Mario Odyssey yet for my Switch, so I’ll probably be where you guys are in about six months or so...

Well, last weekend was slightly different than I expected - even with 48 hours on the Splatoween, I still didn’t make King, but my side won, so that was nice. Time to get back to normal play, where I want to grind for ability chunks so I can tweak gear to my liking.

I would suggest that being a “filthy casual” is not necessarily a rut, unless you are having problems being happy while you play. If that’s the case, then I’d suggest doing one of those social offers, even if all it does is cleanse the palate before you find the next exciting narrative! Engage with that friend about…

I would like to see that, too! The only reason the AI can lose in Rocket League is because the programmers assign it values and restrict access to the engine to prevent it. Give it full access, and it could never lose. Look at aimbots - there’s proof right there that we can never defeat a robot army, because their…

I was honestly thinking Rocket League as well, but I also can’t fully embrace it because I’m quite certain a team of ‘bots could totally dominate any human opponent, simply because the ‘bot would be able to play the ball to near perfection every time once it had possession.

Yes, absolutely keep up the pressure, because as soon as it stops it will never re-start...never. Any long-time separation will lead to the “reunion” meeting where more time is spent catching up than doing any actual activity.