I picked up the new Xbox Elite Controller last week and have been using it as much as possible ever since. I really like the series one Elite that I had with only a few minor gripes. I wasn’t a fan of the paddles on the back as I found myself hitting them accidentally. This series two controller has a bunch of updates but I’ll just mention the ones that jump out to me after a few days of playing. 

Luigi's Mansion 3 is about as pure as gaming gets. It's like a pearl, formed by a process of gleaming polish, accreted around a fundamental kernel: that vacuuming is fun. And it is.

I've tried for a few days now to understand the term Sweaty (adj.), sometimes utilized in the noun form Sweat. That is to say, a Sweat is someone who Plays Sweaty and moistens game lobbies such that the lobby itself becomes a Sweaty Lobby. This is a lobby where some of the participants care so much about the outcome of the match that they endeavor to win the round by utilizing perks and weapons. There is some nuance to the position, but it's not actually solvable. People have different reasons for playing games.

There were many possible configurations for this strip, but ultimately we decided that the version which was most pure should reign.

I was talking about it on Wednesday a bit, this network horseshit I was trying to manage with Xbox Parties, and the censers and assorted warlock crap I discovered to resolve it. But I didn't stop being mad. So now there is a strip about it also, in the same way you might place a poultice against an infected gum I hope that it will draw the poison out.

I bought the new Modern Warfare long before all the Blizzard controversy. Personally I thought they made a terrible decision when they banned Blitzchung and and even worse decision when they lied about the reasons in their PR bullshit after the fact. I have been a Blizzard fan for decades but I think it’s very clear that this is not the same company it used to be. With that said, I think that there are a lot of people at Activision/Blizzard who are just trying to make cool games and they have nothing to do with these stupid business decisions.

Last year, Call of Duty was like three different games on one disc - three separate experiences with three separate progression systems. That's one way to do it. It was like having access to three distinct buffets simultaneously, yet still being bound by the volume restrictions inherent to a finite creature. I tried a bit of each, and loved Blackout - I think Blackout is probably the best BR there is. Kiko still plays every week. I had the same kind of fun with the regular multi that I usually have, which is a fair amount. It's just something I do with my friends, like, I dunno. Pickleball. It's a place I go to do a thing.

I've played through the intro of Outer Worlds, and came away impressed and just generally warmed by the experience. It's unfortunate that it sounds so much like Outer Wilds. Every time I type it, I'm like… is it the other one? At least they're both amazing; it's not like there's one you need to avoid. I advocate wholeheartedly for this newly christened Outerverse in its entirety and I think it's standing on firm legs.

Shroud is one of the streamers I actually, like… watch. I knew about Ninja because I'm a living, conscious being, I've seen him play and felt wonder, but after Apex Legends hit I watched me a ton of Shroud as he more or less defined excellence there. And now he's joining Ninja at Mixer. Which will ultimately have the same effect, I'm sure. But it is incredibly fun to talk about.

Super Spin Digital is a company based in Melbourne, Australia - a place which is some call "Melbs," which sounds vaguely plural. As though it were possible to have more than one Melb, and thus a word was required. This team was formed from talents extracted from Halfbrick responsible for effortless fun like Fruit Ninja and Jetpack Joyride, and this might be why their new game Spin Rhythm XD feels like a fundamental entry in the Rhythm genre even though it literally just hit Early Access. I have games that never left Early Access; I have games that emerged from Early Access no better than they entered it. I think we've all played the Beta that we bought much later in a bloom of optimism, the bugs we reported fully secure, perhaps even canonized.

After multiple aborted attempts, both on my part and his deep knowing that The Witcher is awesome, Gabe is finally digging into The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. But, like… on the Switch.

There were a lot of questions during the Aussie Q&As from a person whose first name started with M and their last name started with K. They involved… well, take a look at the strip.

I got home from Australia yesterday in something like a Cordyceps infected state, maddened but somehow also lethargic, too dry in some places while unforgivably rank and greasy elsewhere. When I get down to the very bottom of my reserves, I'm lucky to have a level of consciousness that is up to most of the things society asks of us with virtually no resource requirements. It just handles it. My actual self, the one that writes these, just has to float in a sac and gain strength.

I've been trying to take more time to draw for fun recently and here is the result. I'm 100% hooked on Destiny again and it feels great to be back on the moon kicking ass. If you've been away for a while I recommend jumping back in and giving Shadowkeep a try.

This was the fortieth PAX, which means it was my fortieth PAX. A couple things about that.

You aren't going to believe this, every neuron in your brain will shriek at the revelation. But we live on a sphere(!!!). I thought I was the only one having a hard time with some of this stuff, so I asked Kiko to perform some feat of chrono-cognition for me. He's my rock, but he couldn't map time appropriately either. He just sat down slowly, with his hand on his knees, shaking his head as though he were remembering "the war."