I wish that amazon deal included preorders! Probably would have gotten several sets.

Dekudeals.com says Death's Door was 25% off during the christmas sale. Devolver Digital (the publisher) games go on sale pretty often.

Sifu is getting some good reviews. Like a AAA version of a beat em up game. Poor release date though! Should have waited a month or two for people to have gotten through the upcoming blockbusters.

Instead of Mario Kart 9 we are getting 48 new courses for 8!

Chrono Cross remaster is cool too. I still haven't played that one.

Well, 48 remastered old courses, but still! Double the already crazy number, so 96 total when they last wave is released in Winter 2023. (Almost 2 years worth of updates for an 8 year old game! LOL.)

I'm... fine with it. But MK9 should be a launch title, or at least very early window release into Nintendo's next console cycle. Trying to top MK8 now though is like the next Smash trying to top Ultimate. Like... How? The character and course numbers are pretty insane.

Was REALLY hoping for Mario Party Superstars DLC though. Not looking too likely now, if I had to guess.

Splatoon 3 in Summer is nice to know. Seemed the most likely release window, but confirmation is always nice to see.

Triangle Strategy has a new demo that features the first 3 chapters, and the save will carryover to the main game. I might wait for the main game though, not really that far off.

Watched the whole thing.

Splatoon and Kirby look awesome!

And Portal on Switch for an unusually reasonable $20.

Switch volleyball might be cool. Kinda wish they just did a whole game of that lol.

Triangle continues to impress but launces at a bad time for me.

Dont really care about Strikers or Xenoblade but I know many others do.

I'm surprised they're releasing another Xenoblade so "soon". I know it's been rumored/speculated as an upcoming release for a minute, but it's the second on the Switch (and third since the Wii U). (The second game also had a large DLC expansion, if I recall.) I haven't played them, but I know they're very long, expansive games too, so quite the accomplishment for them.

Kirby does look good. I think my husband will be interested in getting it, so I'll probably play it if he decides to pick it up.

Really looking forward to Splatoon 3. I don't want to say I'm anticipating it more then Breath of the Wild 2, but it's very, very close. NOT looking forward in trying to get my hands on the very likely amiibo that will be released with it!

I'll say that I am anticipating Splatoon 3 more than any other Switch game this year.

I've been dying to rebuy 2, but have held off cause I know Splat3 will be that much better if I do.


On Xeno, don't forget they released Xenoblade X right at the end of the Wii U cycle, and they've ported the original over to 3DS and Switch as well. That team has been very busy! At this rate Shulk is gonna wind up in Mario Kart 8!

Monolith Soft might be the most important Nintendo acquisition of the 2000s, at least since buying them in 2007 from Bandai Namco.

Besides their own games, they've assisted Nintendo with every Animal Crossing, Splatoon, and Zelda game since 2011.

Horizon Forbidden Wilds has an 89 on meta.

Very good obviously, but some of the reviews have me a bit concerned. Looks like they went the route of The Witcher and recent Assassin's Creeds, where the worldmap is so big that you couldn't possibly explore everything. The first had a huge world full of shit to do, but I was able to get the platinum trophy in about 3-4 weeks as opposed to Never.

What does sound great is the designs of the new beasts. Can't wait to fly on a robot pterodactyl or swim with a robot mososaur. Apparently the melee combat has been much improved too, though I assume we will all be mostly using our bows. I'll definitely still get it on Friday, but am now looking forward to Elden Ring more.

After about nine months, I FINALLY got the final cipher in Returnal to earn the platinum trophy. Took forever, but ended up coming at the perfect time since I A) needed stuff to play while waiting for Horizon Forbidden West/Elden Ring and B) Need stuff to delete to make room for those two games.


On Game Pass I've been messing around with Bug Fables: The Everlasting Sap and just defeated the chapter two boss. It's a fun enough game, like a 7.5/10, but I think I'd have enjoyed it more if played before Death's Door. Compared to that, Bug Fables very much comes off as "well fine, I'll make my own Paper Mario game ... with blackjack and hookers!" But ... it also scratches that itch and captures the magic of those first two games. So job well done? Just doesn't take its influences and shape them into a new masterpiece. I will happily make my way to the end of Bug Fables though, and probably even take on whatever the developers do next whether it be a sequel or new IP.

Cyberpunk has apparently been fixed and optimized for the new systems. Even after all that is happened, I would try it at the $25 sale price ... but why in the world did they decided to release it now?? Did anyone tell CDPR that Spring 2022 was going to be one of the most absurdly packed seasons in gaming history?

Horizon Forbidden West always looked fun. Certainly among the exclusives on the "wish to play" list. And makes me wonder how much money has been lost on Cyberpunk. From its botched release, to being pulled, to needing fixed and released again...

I have a question in case you see this before I buy anything. I'm *probably* going to get an Xbox Series S soon (maybe even today/this week), as I'm definitely going to pick up AC: Valhalla at some point (see below: maybe today/this week). Odyssey largely plays very well on my Xbox One S, but it does crash sometimes. Origins would crash on rare occasions (a handful of times in a ~70 hour time period), but I'd say Odyssey crashes at least once every ~5 hours.

Anyway, I'm going to assume Valhalla will crash just as much on my One S, but probably even more often. I can handle it fine if it's how Odyssey plays on my One S, but if I buy it and it either performs worse, or especially if it crashes even more, I'd be particularly annoyed. So not wanting to risk that experience, therefore it seems like a good time to go ahead and get an Xbox Series S since they're in stock near me. (They usually are, but sometimes they're sold out for several weeks at a time still.)

Anyway 2: The Ultimate Edition of Valhalla (digital) is marked way down at GameStop right now (but only it for some reason at $47.99), and considering I'd get the Season Pass anyway, it seems like too good a deal to pass up. I'm sure it'll go on sale at some point down the road, of course, but perhaps not when I get to the point of playing it.

So my question (good grief, sorry about all that): If I buy the digital version of Valhalla (Ultimate Edition) for Xbox on GameStop right now, can I redeem the game at a later date on my eventual Xbox Series S?

But I'm also curious about something else... I checked to see if the sale is going on anywhere else, and it is on the Xbox Store but ONLY if you're a Gold member. I'm not. Does the GameStop sale bypass being a Gold member? Like, can I still get it for the sale price and redeem it?

I've never bought a digital game from Gamestop, but with psn credit they will usually just send an email with the code in it. One thing you check before buying the Ultimate - is all the dlc actually included? I know they have this super massive one lined up for this year that was originally supposed to be its own game.

I really like my S and think it will work great for Valhalla. Starfield? We shall see lol.

I was weak and bought Cyberpunk. The first 30-40 minutes were so cool! ... Then it crashed and sent me back to the last autosave - 10 minutes ago.

Well I guess I have no one to blame bit myself. I hope that this was a one time thing though, as it did happen in the cutscene between the prologue and true start to the game.

There needs to be a documentary about that game. Hopefully that was just a random occurrence though...

I looked into the Ultimate Edition for Valhalla and it won't include the upcoming Dawn of Ragnarok expansion. It includes the two previous DLC expansions (the Season Pass material) and some bonus extras (gear, mount, etc.). If the Ragnarok expansion really is over 40 hours and basically another game though, not exactly a surprise it's separate.

But I imagine some gamers who bought the Ultimate (or even Gold) editions at launch for full price will be a little salty. Thankfully, I would absolutely never buy these editions at full-price (the DLC expansions aren't even out until a good bit after launch anyway.) I'd much rather wait ~6 months to a year (admittingly, a long time for many) to get everything for half the price or less, and save like $60/70 or more (I got Odyssey Gold Edition for $15 in Fall 2020, $85 off!)

So... buy the Series S now while it's in stock near me and while Valhalla (Ultimate Edition) is 60% off (because I'd most likely get the Season Pass anyway) and wait weeks/months to play them as I won't be done with Odyssey anytime soon (guessing I'm maybe halfway through now at 65 hours and haven't even began the DLC expansions), or just wait until that time and hope the Series S is in stock and a sale is going on for Valhalla again.

And Triangle Strategy comes out in 3 weeks. You have a lot more on your plate over the next month or two than I will though, so I don't envy you there. Hoping reviews for Elden Ring are excellent. It's a game I may end up getting down the road.

Yeah they might end up releasing the Ultimate Ultimate Edition with Ragnarok, which will then go on sale all the time because its ubisoft and thats how they do business.

Hey, I enjoy their sales! I wonder if it's frustrating for gamers who buy at/near launch though. It makes no sense to really buy at full price 6+ months after release on any of their games.

And that does sound pretty likely, honestly, at least after a few months. They'll get the $40 from the most diehard fans first though.

I did read while looking into all this the past couple days is that Ubisoft, after a year of its release, managed to compress (is that the word?) the file size of Valhalla down to around ~40gb from its ~70gb on all platforms with no performance/quality issues. So that will be nice, especially for Series S owners. It requires an uninstall and redownload to those that already own it, but no biggie there to free up ~30gb.

Makes one wonder if most/all companies can reduce the file size of their games as they continue to increase in general, and digital continues to rise in popularity. Does a game need to be 70, 80, 100gb+? Probably not if they take the time to lower them down, even if it's post-launch.

Well, looks like GameStop is going to have some Xbox Series X bundles tomorrow at many locations. What convenient timing! If the article I'm reading is correct, this is the first restock the Series X has had anywhere in a month.

I think it's the same one you shared a month or two back, with the second controller, Game Pass (3 Months), and $50 GS gift card. This is truly the ONLY bundle I'd actually go for.

I'll swing by the closest GameStop and see how it goes in the morning. Won't get my hopes up, but if one is available, awesome. If not, Series S it is and that's fine.

Yeah it's a solid bundle. I'm glad they stopped forcing people to pay full price for games they overstocked (I'm looking at you Far Cry 6.)You can get game pass cheaper but $45 for 3 months is still easily worth it - Forza Horizon 5 costs more than that on its own. And then the gamestop credit is just as good as cash if you're planning to get Triangle on day one. I hope you get lucky!!

Didn't need to make a decision on this after all! Husband got up really early this morning and bought the last Series S our local Walmart had in stock. Really easy to set up, with almost everything just transferring over. And it's even smaller than I realized--no need to reorganize the entertainment stand.

And got Valhalla (Ultimate) while it was still on sale at GameStop. By the time I even get to it, and eventually beat it/complete it, I'm sure the upcoming DLC will be apart of Ubisoft's frequent sales, so no biggie having to buy it separately at some point. Tempted to install Odyssey on it though since it's apparently a title that can be optimized for S/X.

I'll consider Game Pass. I know it's an exceptional deal, I (we) just don't play a lot of games. And when we do, it's usually just one or two at a time and for an extended period.

Have you played/tried No Man's Sky? While just browsing the Game Pass title and sales page we came across it. I've heard of it and everything, but no little about it. I seem to recall it didn't live up to expectations? I don't think I'd be interested, but the husband seemed excited from the trailer we watched.

Nice! I have not once regretted getting my Series S and that's coming from a guy who already had a big boy PS5.

No Man's Sky is a great example of Game Passes value. It wasn't my thing at all, but if I'd paid real money for it I'd have felt compelled to stick with it for longer than one play session. But with Game Pass I don't have to stick with games I don't like just because I've already spent money on them. Delete!


I think the Game Pass trick that I used still works though. Basically, if you sign up for one month of Game Pass Ultimate then it will convert ALL of your remaining Xbox Live Gold time into Game Pass time. I got two years for $120 ... $5 a month.(and even that was with full price gold, which is easy to get on sale if I'd been more patient.) Microsoft knows about this, they have for awhile, but they have chosen to not fix the glitch since all they care about is getting people hooked on Game Pass (and it worked for at least one guy!)

Early reviews for Elden Ring are exceptional. Of the 16 reviews currently posted (that I saw), 12 are perfect scores, while the other 4 are 9s.

The best part: I saw one reviewer (not sure from where) say he's up to 500 hours and hasn't beaten it yet.

EDIT: 97 on MC after 45 reviews now!

97 for Elden Ring.

I'm really enjoying Cyberpunk (very buggy still, but hasn't crashed again in eight hours), and haven't even started Horizon Forbidden Wilds yet ... But the video game world is about to grind to a halt in 35 hours. That new Series S of yours is going to get its first test!!!

Gamespot called it "Death Of The Wild"

What are the chances we posted about the same thing at the same time?

I'll certainly pick it up... but maybe not immediately. I still want to "finish" Odyssey and begin Valhalla sometime in the next couple weeks. We'll see though. Taking a break from AC to play Elden Ring in between could be worth it to avoid any possible burnout on AC.

Played for an hour. Would have gone longer but my power went out.

First impressions: Death of the Wild indeed.

A group of enemies are on the horizon, at least eight of them surrounding a campfire and blocking the way I want to go. Hmm, I don't really have enough supplies yet to draw them away one by one and easily pick them off. What shall I do?

While I'm considering this and barely paying attention, a giant Red Dragon descends from out of nowhere and clears the entire group. Well that's conveinant. Except for the fact that those dudes weren't who the dragon is after. It was me! A giant red bar fills the bottom of the screen and this overworld boss fight is on.

Me: Nope.

I ain't fighting no damn Red Dragon with beginner gear. So I ran away and found some flying critters that went down in two hits instead. Big manly man showed those trash mobs who was boss!

I feel like the entire game is gonna be filled with stuff like this. I knew it was gonna be a big world, but damn... This is Open As Fuck. Praise the Sun!