ChrisBardon

They already solicited a deluxe HC for the Hickman stuff for Oct/Nov, so I ordered that. Looking forward to it!

Is it still officially beta? I know they have the beta app that lets you download games (in addition to going through the store). So far it seems OK, and I've played a few games on it already, but hopefully it gets standardized going forward. Being able to cross save between PC and Xbox is great for times when someone else is using the TV the Xbox is connected to, and I'd really like it for Dead Cells.

Well, if that list is to be believed, that's a boatload of old content to start with, so it's a promising start? I suppose you have to leave something for year 2. Maybe the kind of thing they have to pull in a curator for? They have short content in there, so the platform will obviously be able to handle it.

One thing I've noticed with gamepass stuff though: games that support both PC and console do NOT appear to all support cross saves. Hopefully this is something that gets rectified. For example, Guacameelee 2 did cross-save, but that was also built as PlayAnywhere, which also meant that buying the game gave you both versions. If all those cross platform features are tied together, it might mean that devs can't do cross save without cross buy? Actually, that might be an interesting test-can a user with the console-only gamepass download a playanywhere game on PC?

Have they said anything about putting old animated shorts etc on there? It'd be neat to have something like the old treasures discs. Maybe a section where you could choose from individual shorts, but also do things like shuffle and curated playlists. Would be a neat way to surface the content.

That's great-looking forward to playing it! I probably would have bought it eventually, but getting access to it as part of a subscription I already have is even better.

This sounds pretty similar to what Xbox/Playstation are doing, which is OK, but still not great. At least one platform holder needs to figure out how to let you go multi-console and multi-profile. If I bought my kids their own switch lites for example, they wouldn't be able to play anything I bought under my account. Microsoft is really close with their ability to associate accounts as family members, but I don't think it's quite there yet.

This is still on game pass, so I started it over the weekend (thinking that it'd probably disappear at some point). Seems good so far (only just past the plane crash), but man do they like getting Lara in claustrophobic spaces.

Comes with free Smilex gas too?

I actually owned the Messenger on Steam already (after it came up in a bunch of GOTY talk last year), but hadn't gotten around to it yet. It's on GamePass as well now (at least on PC), and it's a pretty awesome throwback to NES Ninja Gaiden games. Very good soundtrack, and a decent level of challenge that so far (I think I'm about 80% complete) has only had a few points where things are edging into massocore territory. Looking forward to playing more of it! Anyway, worth a look, especially if you have gamepass.

I still don't know why, in 2019, there's still the expectation of a getting your console online tax. I actually skipped Mario Maker 2 because I didn't want to pay 50 bucks a year for another online service that I'll probably barely use (because you need the family plan if you have multiple profiles). Subscriptions for games like Tetris 99 and the retro games fine, and services like GamePass are a great idea too, but aren't we past the point where basic online access should be a "premium" feature?

Yeah, I just wasn't sure about the original set. Looked it up, and it was indeed $300 US (3104 pieces), so the new one is more than double with slightly more pieces, most of which seem to have gone into the frame.

There's a designer video for the star destroyer: That answers at least one question-the interior frame is MUCH better than the old version, and I'm sure this one will be significantly more stable. The detailing on the sides also looks different-in some ways better, but in others more sparse than the original. The side cannons are an improvement though, and the dish assembly on the bottom is new. I think if you go back to 2002, Lego was still trying to figure out how to design these huge consumer scale sets. They were either building smaller, simpler consumer products, or big installation pieces where brick count wasn't an issue, and even longevity wasn't always a concern for some temporary displays. They've gotten much better at it. Still, I think that original Star Destroyer was something like $300, so this is probably almost double the price.

So the next Star Wars UCS is a new Star Destroyer: https://brickset.com/article/45598/75252-imperial-star-destroyer-announced! Not sure whether I'll end up getting this, but probably not. I already have 10030 from 2002, and while this looks nicer, it's not something I think I need (or have space for) two of in the house. That being said, it is interesting timing since I just repaired the Star Destroyer last week. The original design used magnets to hold the bottom plates on, which were in turn attached to some technic beams that weren't really up to the weight. Basically, the weight of the back section of the bottom plates was held up by two magnets and 6 studs' worth of friction, which just isn't enough. It really needed another vertical brace or something on the inside, so it'll be interesting to see how the superstructure of this model looks. I'm sure someone is going to post a comparison video soon enough. For everyone that doesn't already have a star destroyer though, this looks like a great set. Really pricey though. Same list as the Falcon for fewer pieces. Still, it does look cool on a shelf.

Both of those are fantastic. I beat Celeste, but gave up on the B sides.