Meanwhile, on Nintendo systems “confirm” is A, which is in the same position as O (circle), and “cancel” is B, which is in the same position as X (cross).

1) This was obviously intended to be Kojima’s take on a Bond song.

I’ve become increasingly convinced that social media has had a net-negative effect on society. In the past, people like Ms. Greene would just stay in their holes, and we could safely ignore them. But now they have a free soapbox, and the means to connect with other crazy people who agree with them.

Someone should tell those “peaceful Suffolk County residents” that it’s too late to get invited to speak at the RNC.

I go with Fancy Feast. Have you seen how classy their commercials are?!?

Transistor is one of my favorite games of all time, and it’s in no small part due to the soundtrack and Ashley Barrett’s amazing vocals. “We All Become” is currently my ringtone, but everyone should do themselves a favor and listen to “Paper Boats” and “In Circles” as well.

You’re assuming that Microsoft would pay MSRP for the AMD components, which—no, not even close. I think they’re definitely selling it at a loss, but using the price of consumer components isn’t really a good comparison.

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Here’s the $10 million question: Is this system going to get the actual next-gen versions of XBOX games, or will there be an “optimized” (aka worse) version just for the S?

Yeah it’s hard to make a case for this over the Switch at that price point, especially if next-gen games don’t end up running as well as on the X. Game Pass, I guess?

Here’s the thing, though—if this isn’t outputting 4K, and it’s likely that the games won’t look as good as the X, and Halo isn’t coming out until 2021, you could probably make a better case for the Switch at that price.

This is targeted at people who either (a) aren’t video game enthusiasts or (b) just want a Game Pass machine.

where the A&W 1/3rd pounder lost to McDonald’s more expensive 1/4 pounder because it’s 1 bigger?

Can’t we just make fun of both?

I wonder if this ends up being part of the eventual marketing push for XCloud.

I think you’re severely overestimating the general public. The Wii U came out in 2012.

You’re not alone. SMG1 had a better hub, and is probably Nintendo’s best ever attempt at adding story to a Mario game. Plus the levels are better designed—there’s more of an effort to hide multiple stars in each level (a la Mario 64), instead of SMG2 just throwing every possible idea at the wall.

Those other things you mentioned weren’t a season-long theme—this is the first time they’ve gone for that level of integration. I agree with you about Fortnite being a “kitchen sink game,” but it unfortunately seems like they’re leaning more toward “gimmick” seasons than trying to tell a cohesive story, especially…

She’s one of the characters Marvel is going to start pushing (starting with a Disney+ show), so it makes sense to give her some visibility here.

On a related note, Hitman (2016) is free on EGS starting today until September 3. If you’ve never gotten around to playing it, it’s absolutely worth your time.