dantebk

Me too! It's all of course very silly, but my personal favorite part of GOTY is the actual Top 10 where they debate placement and inclusion of all their favorite games.

I like this part every year: They spend a ton of time trying to narrow it down to like 12 games, and then someone, probably Jeff, says, "So the order the games are on this doc, is this just the list then?" and then someone, probably Ben, says "Swap X and Y, and I'm good with it", and someone else, probably Brad, comes in, "Over my dead body are you swapping those games!" and then the true fun commences.

@sergio: Wow, that's so funny. I tried it and it worked... eventually. What a crazy system. Hopefully a year from now all these UI things will be corrected and we won't even remember the weird launch window jitters.

I'm having a good time with my PS5. Loved Astro's Playroom, and having fun with Bugsnax and Miles Morales. I think I'm the only person who didn't think it was all that crazy big. It fits in my TV stand horizontally with a little room to spare. It's about the same size as my (soon to be donated/sold) 4K Blu-ray player, though an inch or two thicker.

The Xbox Series X, on the other hand, I did not buy, because it's shaped like a PC instead of like an A/V unit, and with its smallest dimension being 6" it will definitely not fit in my TV stand. Unfortunate.

I do echo what the GB crew have said about the PS5 UI though. It's a bit weird how many ways it feels like a step backwards. The trophy page is unusable, no patch notes, harder to put into rest mode, and this morning I went to look at their "black Friday" sales and I couldn't find a section in the PS5 store app to simply see everything that's on sale. Hopefully they will hear feedback and work on updating some of these things (though with backwards-compatible PS4 games still having patch notes, I'm thinking that was a deliberate choice for some reason, and not merely an oversight).

@inevpatoria: Yup, the twin bosses of Elysium is as far as I've gotten. I just spent 20 keys to get the next couple mirror upgrades, but now seeing them am not sure if they will actually make me any better at the game. Maybe I should just save up for the next death defiance.

Still a lot of games I want to play, but some of the Top 10 contenders for me so far (presented in the order I played them):

• Ori 2
• Last of Us II
• Journey to the Savage Planet
• Samsara Room
• Spiritfarer
• Moon
• The Room VR
• Paradise Killer
• Astro's Playroom

I have a list of about 15 more 2020 games I want to play, so who knows what my final list will be like. I am assuming Giant Bomb's GOTY will be Hades, though I don't expect it'll be in my own Top 10. I have done like 15 runs and I still can't get to level 4. Insert facepalm emoji here.

I made my first Super Mario Maker 2 level!

It's called Goomba Factory Tour, and it's as it sounds: Mario takes a tour of the local Goomba factory. If you decide to check it out, please be sure to put on your hard hat before entering the factory.

Course ID: WGM-G5G-HGF

It's a Super Mario World level (and so yes, I'm aware they are "galoombas", but I like the word "goomba" more), that is fairly traditional in style, with moderate difficulty and the most minor of puzzling. I don't think it will give the average player too much challenge, but I imagine it'll take a few attempts to get the hang of everything. There is a checkpoint before the hardest bit.

If you play it, please let me know, and I'd be happy to reciprocate.

1. Dead Cells

2. God of War

3. Red Dead Redemption 2

4. Monster Hunter: World

5. Call of Duty: Black Ops 4

6. Tetris Effect

7. Hitman 2

8. ASTRO BOT Rescue Mission

Wrecking Crewl: D0FC-0000-00A0-BBF5

An homage to Mario's days as a construction worker, "Wrecking Crewl" has elevators, conveyor belts, dudes throwing wrenches, dudes throwing hammers, a door puzzle, and a bomb puzzle. It is not intended to be unfairly difficult, but is intended to be challenging.

Don't forget to grab the helmet before you enter!

I have a construction-site themed level I'm pretty happy with, if you're still looking for levels to play.

Wrecking Crewl: D0FC-0000-00A0-BBF5

It's designed to be challenging, but not unfair. No trick deaths or doors to nowhere or anything like that. Mostly straightforward, but with some minor puzzle elements.

Absolutely heartbroken today. I have been listening to Ryan in podcasts and in videos for over seven years now. I credit the Hotspot and On the Spot and the Bombcast and all those Quick Looks with so many countless hours of pleasure -- not just due to their actual (funny, interesting) content, but also from exposing me to so many fantastic games that I might not have tried otherwise. I feel like I lost a friend today.

Of course I feel bad for his real-life friends, and I feel (incredibly) bad for his wife, but I feel bad for Ryan, too. I'll be at California Extreme this weekend, and Ryan Davis won't, and that fucking sucks.