Thanks, Justin! Cousins was so horrible in the first half I went to bed in the third quarter thinking I was done for.  Wow. Can't believe I pulled that off.

It's been a fun season. Good luck to Brent this weekend.

Xbox offers a free game to celebrate 300 backward-compatible titles

Xbox is celebrating the addition of the three BioShock games to the Xbox One's backward compatibility catalog by offering one for free to everyone: Lost Odyssey.

Larry Hryb, better known as Xbox Live's Major Nelson, tweeted out the offer this afternoon. Lost Odyssey will be available for free until Dec. 31. Additionally, the JRPG Blue Dragon also is available for purchase online. Previously the two titles had been backward-compatible only by putting the original Xbox 360 disc in the tray.

Yesterday, Phil Spencer, the head of Microsoft's Xbox division, noted that nearly half of all Xbox One owners use the console to play backward-compatible games. The feature launched in November 2015, and since then all of the games offered for Xbox 360 in the Games With Gold program have been backward-compatible titles.

What an absolute cluster**** of epic proportions Nintendo pulled on this one...seriously think of how many units they could have sold...what a bunch of idiots

I almost bumped this thread yesterday due to this quote from Reggie at Nintendo in a story at CNET:

Fils-Aime acknowledged the NES Classic shortages. "Every day there's more going into the retail channel. The overall level of demand is certainly greater than we anticipated, that's why we're suffering through the shortages out there in the marketplace."

Hard to gauge demand when they refused to take any preorders on this thing at all.

On the Mini NES, he says, "We saw the NES Classic as an opportunity to engage with millennials, gen-Xers, boomers, people who had played those games back in the day, but life had gone by, and they had somewhat walked away from gaming. It was a great way to re-engage them, and our belief is that by re-engaging them, it creates an opportunity for Super Mario Run, it creates an opportunity for our 3DS business, it creates an opportunity for Nintendo Switch, because all of a sudden they're recognizing what they knew 20 or 25 years ago: they love Mario. They love Zelda. They love all of our classic IP, and they're re-engaging with it right now."

Hard to engage with it unless you've got $200+ to spend on one on eBay, or unless you want to spend hours and hours waiting outside of a store in the middle of the night. . .

There are a handful of LEGO games which have been made BC (Batman, Pirates of the Caribbean, and SW: The Complete Saga), so it's a possibility, but it's been a while (Feb. 2016) since the last one was added.

The Xbox website has a place to vote/leave feedback on what games go BC, but what effect that really has is anyone's guess, as it's generally up to the game's publisher if/when a game goes BC. But leaving feedback can't hurt, you know?

LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures

LEGO Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues

I would guess we'll see one or both of those games eventually, but it may be a while. Perhaps as we get closer to Indy 5 in 2019.

So this thing is out tomorrow. Good luck finding one if you want one. I hear tell Nintendo made a total of twelve of them.

Quote

REDMOND, Wash., July 14, 2016 – If you see a Nintendo Entertainment System on store shelves this holiday shopping season, you haven’t entered a time machine. (Unless everyone around you is wearing acid-washed jeans and neon leg warmers. If that’s the case, you may have unknowingly walked through a rift in the space-time continuum.) The most likely scenario is you are setting eyes on the Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition, launching in stores on Nov. 11 at a suggested retail price of $59.99. That’s right: The NES is back! But this isn’t the same NES that you fondly remember. This new nostalgia-fueled system is a near-identical, mini replica of Nintendo’s original home console and plugs directly into your high-definition TV using an included HDMI cable. The console comes complete with 30 NES games built in, including beloved classics like Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Metroid, Donkey Kong, PAC-MAN, and Kirby’s Adventure.

“We wanted to give fans of all ages the opportunity to revisit Nintendo’s original system and rediscover why they fell in love with Nintendo in the first place,” said Nintendo of America President and COO Reggie Fils-Aime. “The Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition is ideal for anyone who remembers playing the NES, or who wants to pass on those nostalgic memories to the next generation of gamers.”

The system comes packaged with an HDMI cable, an AC adapter and one NES Classic Controller, which is patterned after the iconic design of the original NES controller. But you really just want to know the full list of 30 games, right? Feast your eyes on the fantastic collection of NES classics included with each and every system:

Balloon Fight™
BUBBLE BOBBLE
Castlevania™
Castlevania II: Simon’s Quest™
Donkey Kong™
Donkey Kong Jr. ™
DOUBLE DRAGON II: THE REVENGE
Dr. Mario™
Excitebike™
FINAL FANTASY®
Galaga™
GHOSTS’N GOBLINS®
GRADIUS™
Ice Climber™
Kid Icarus™
Kirby’s Adventure™
Mario Bros. ™
MEGA MAN® 2
Metroid™
NINJA GAIDEN
PAC-MAN™
Punch-Out!! ™ Featuring Mr. Dream
StarTropics™
SUPER C™
Super Mario Bros.™
Super Mario Bros. ™ 2
Super Mario Bros. ™ 3
TECMO BOWL
The Legend of Zelda™
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link™

There’s a little something for everyone: a nice mix of timeless favorites, cult classics and maybe even some games that you never got around to playing. Each is sure to bring back memories and produce plenty of new ones. You can even enjoy playing several of these games with two players by attaching a second NES Classic Controller, which will be sold separately at a suggested retail price of $9.99. A Classic Controller or Classic Controller Pro can also be used (each sold separately).

When connected to a Wii Remote controller, the NES Classic Controller can also be used to play Virtual Console NES games on a Wii U or Wii system. Playing these retro games using a retro controller makes the experience that much more authentic. And if you ever need to step away from the NES Classic Edition in the middle of a tough level (or take a break to call one of Nintendo’s helpful Game Counselors*), don’t worry about losing any hard-earned progress. Each game has multiple suspend points, so you can start where you left off at a later time, no passwords needed.

What’s old is new again with the Nintendo Entertainment System: NES Classic Edition. Relive past glories. Finish off that boss you never beat. Save the galaxy and rescue the princess!

*Please only call if you have indeed entered a time machine. The Game Counselor program no longer exists in 2016.

BC additions since last update:

• ARKANOID Live!
• Battlestations: Midway
• Bayonetta
• Bound By Flame
• Call of Duty 3
• Call of Duty: World at War
• de Blob 2
• Dragon's Lair
• Eat Lead: The Return of Matt Hazard
• Encleverment Experiment
• Every Extend Extra Extreme
• Fun Town Mahjong
• Guwange
• Jurassic Park: The Game
• Lost Odyssey
• The Maw
• Of Orcs and Men
• Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords
• Puzzle Quest 2
• Puzzle Quest Galactrix
• Qix++
• Silent Hill: Downpour
• Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
• Tour de France 2011
• Toy Story 3
• Virtua Fighter 5: Final Showdown
• Word Puzzle

Added to backwards-compatibility since the last update:

• Bejeweled 3
• Bomberman Live: Battlefest
• Boom Boom Rocket
• Castle of Illusion Starring Mickey Mouse
• Call of Duty 2
• DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue
• Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon
• Forza Horizon
• Gatling Gears
• Joust
• Mr. Driller Online
• New Rally-X
• NIN2-Jump
• Shank 2
• Syberia
• Triggerheart Exelica

Also, why do publishers make you download the entire game even if you have the physical disc because they have patches. Does that mean the physical disc is so flawed that it is completely unplayable upon release? Have they ever heard of Quality Control?

The Xbox One doesn't play Xbox 360 discs directly. It's all done through software emulation. The physical 360 disc only serves as a validation tool - that the disc is in the machine. It doesn't do anything beyond that. It's similar to how game installs worked on the 360.