Jason Schreier reporting for Kotaku:

The struggling video game retail chain GameStop told all of its stores this afternoon to stay open even in the event of state or city lockdowns to protect against the covid-19 pandemic, emphasizing that it is “essential retail” alongside groceries and pharmacies and should therefore be exempt from enforced closures.

“Due to the products we carry that enable and enhance our customers’ experience in working from home, we believe GameStop is classified as essential retail and therefore is able to remain open during this time,” the retailer said in a memo to staff this afternoon, obtained by Kotaku.

“We have received reports of local authorities visiting stores in an attempt to enforce closure despite our classification. Store Managers are approved to provide the document linked below to law enforcement as needed.”

…

Meanwhile, GameStop employees all across the United States have feared for their safety in the wake of the company’s misguided responses to the covid-19 crisis. “Been with company almost a decade,” one told Kotaku this afternoon. “This is indefensible.”

Said document is revolting:

While GameStop is best known as a provider of gaming and home entertainment systems, we also offer a wide array of products and devices that are important to facilitate remote work, distance learning, and virtual connectivity. As millions of Americans face unprecedented challenges adapting to virtual learning, working and interaction, there is significant need for technology solutions and we are one of many providers of these products that are remaining open at this time. Schools, businesses and families are now suddenly dependent on being able to connect through technology. While there are many businesses and organizations far more critical than ours, we believe we can have a positive impact during this very challenging time. The health and safety of our employees and customers is of utmost importance and we have and will continue to take extensive precautions consistent with CDC guidelines. We are complying with all state, county, city and local ordinances and we will continue to adjust to any future developments.

What’s perhaps the most despicable part of this is the “technology” angle. I’d wager a bet having your computer or smartphone repaired ASAP is a bit more critical in a time where we are “suddenly dependent on being able to connect through technology,” yet the largest retailers/repair centers in the world have shut their doors in the name of public safety.

GameStop is a garbage company.

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[UPDATE]: Later on March 20th, Kotaku reported that GameStop began closing stores in California. A single state.

On March 21st, GameStop decided to close all of its stores, offering curbside pickup at select locations.

Their reluctance is flat out gross.

Scott Allen reporting for The Washington Post:

The NBA and NHL seasons, which were suspended last week due to the novel coronavirus outbreak, will resume — in video game form — in the coming days. Monumental Sports Network and NBC Sports Washington on Friday announced that they will broadcast hour-long simulations of the Wizards’ and Capitals’ previously scheduled regular season games using NBA 2K20 and NHL 20, respectively.

I don’t see this as something that will be successful. Just a bit of fun during a growing and tumultuous problem for sports franchises, players, and employees, as well as broadcasters, advertisers, and bookies.

What may have been a success would have been a virtual March Madness tournament.

On March 12, as soon as the NCAA canceled March Madness due to COVID-19, I became eager to tweet that exact idea. Upon researching, to my surprise, there hasn’t been an EA Sports NCAA Basketball game since 2010. Tweet canceled.

An “I called it” would have been in order had I blogged or tweeted this idea. My wife is my only alibi. Alas, I’ve been neglecting Zero Counts. Lesson learned.

Daniel Ahmad, senior analysts at Niko Partners, regarding Nintendo’s FY19 Nine Months Financial Results Briefing:

Also worth pointing out that according to our estimates the Nintendo Switch passed the Xbox One in hardware shipments during the holiday quarter last year.

The Xbox One is not too far behind, but it has only taken Switch 34 months to achieve what the Xbox One did in 74 months.

Nintendo reports that they have shipped 52.48 million Switch units since launch. It’s estimated that Microsoft has sold 46.9 million Xbox One units since launch. 5.58 million more units in nearly half the time.

On the Playstation front, while it’s been a back-and-forth race, it took Sony over 37 months to ship the same number of consoles as the Switch.

Here’s an updated chart for perspective:

The Switch also appears to be leaving it’s older sibling—the 3DS—in the dust:

Star Wars is about balance. Light versus Dark. Jedi versus Sith. One versus one. Should the Force fall out of balance, chaos ensues.

The Rise of Skywalker epitomizes balance — balance in story; balance in heritage; balance in its namesake.

This will not spoil. It is intended to be read after viewing the film. This is due to a balance in context versus content.

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It is fun to watch J.J. Abrams play in the sandbox of Rian Johnson before him, as it was fun to watch Johnson play in the sandbox of Abrams before him.

Abrams built up what Johnson tore down, and thus Abrams is challenged to rebuild from those pieces. To construct a cohesive narrative, Abrams must construct something cohesive from the rubble Johnson laid before him.

Like Empire after Hope, Johnson laid waste to the monomyth laid before him. He’d done away with nearly every construct setup before him. Rey’s parents are nobodies. Snoke was an easy kill. Luke’s saber means nothing. Like an angsty teen, Johnson throws away legacy. He wants to define his own path. The Last Jedi is punk.

By blowing The Force Awakens to hell, the return to its author had to be nothing but a challenge. Abrams is forced to not only to piece together loose ends, but also tie it up with a satisfying bow.

If Kylo’s helmet is a symbol for this third act, The Rise of Skywalker is the valiant effort to salvage the pieces it was born from.

Fast vs. Slow

The Rise of Skywalker is fast. Maybe a little too fast. Fast to the point where it feels like it’s doing its best to ignore The Last Jedi. It simply wants to snap into The Force Awakens, working as it’s own Star Wars trilogy second and third acts in a single film. But as soon as one feels that way, there are questions and weight from The Last Jedi that must be answered — Jedi books, helmets, and Force ghosts, etc.

The Rise of Skywalker is slow. This is a third act that feels like a single film full of third acts. It’s relentless, but moves at a slower pace than that of The Last Jedi. There is less plot than there is filling gaps or doing the grunt work of attempting to reconstruct Johnson’s deconstruction. By the end, I had a hard time remembering the beginning or even caring about it for that matter.

Big vs. Small

The Rise of Skywalker is big. This film above all other Star Wars films feels massive. The scale of the fleets. The cinematography of the ships. The velocity of light-speed chases. The variety of planets. The sheer magnitude of the shots is breathtaking. Impossible odds haven’t felt so impossible since the first front on the Death Star in A New Hope.

The Rise of Skywalker is small. The relationships feel small. Where The Last Jedi expands familial, friendly, and sexual bonds, The Rise of Skywalker contracts them into a focused few. The stakes stay within the family. The stressors are on individuals. Our heroes and their connections to each other and themselves are at the heart of this story.

Fan-service vs. Familiar

The Rise of Skywalker is fan-service. Every “I” dotted”. Every “T” crossed. The Rise of Skywalker pays tribute to the series to date as a whole. Yes, to the point of eye-rolling, but that could be seen in The Force Awakens, between the Death Star 3.0 (Starkiller Base) and the new Cantina band. The Rise of Skywalker goes above and beyond these callbacks by embracing Johnson’s (or even Gareth Edwards’ (Rogue One)) ideas and even playing them up every now and again. Anything seems possible in the Star Wars universe, and if I surrender to the idea that this is all make-believe, I’m ok with that.

The Rise of Skywalker is familiar. While the fan-service is welcome, we’ve seen this story before. None of the encounters feel magical. None of the cameos feel surprising (save for one, maybe two). The Last Jedi and The Force Awakens before it did a great job shocking the audience with unexpected moments, be it live-action puppeteering or reappearances of deceased characters. The Rise of Skywalker has plenty of fun, but it feels like we’ve been there before.

Rise of Skywalker

Between these three aspects — fast and slow, big and small, fan-service and familiar — it may be the speed that gets in the way the most. I struggled to care about the characters. I remember them from the previous films, but I did not have time to reconnect with them. If The Rise of Skywalker has shown anything, it’s that Johnson is the gravity to Abram’s lightness. The Last Jedi made us feel the depths of characters and the internal demons they were facing. The Rise of Skywalker seemingly doesn’t have time to dwell on that and tries to race to the finish line, soon realizing it still has another hour of story to tell.

Where The Rise of Skywalker shines is in its balance. There is balance in how Abrams and Johnson handle the saga. There is balance in the pace of each of the films. But speaking to The Rise of Skywalker in particular, the title speaks to balance most of all.

Cameron Faulkner at The Verge:

Nintendo has announced its Black Friday deals, and chief among them is a $299.99 Switch console bundle that includes a free download code for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. This deal will start on Thursday, November 28th, and will be available at several retailers. So far, we’ve seen it confirmed in Target’s Black Friday ad, but expect it to pop up at the other major players, like Best Buy, Walmart, Amazon, and more. 

Getting a free game with the Switch is great, especially one that’s as good as Nintendo’s popular kart racer, but there’s some fine print with this deal that you may, or may not, care about. You’ll only get the free game with the HAC-001 version of the console, the original launch model that has been superseded by a new version with vastly superior battery life (a range from 4.5 to nine hours versus the original’s 2.5- to 6.5-hour claim, depending on the game). 

…

This deal might read as a way for Nintendo to clear out its remaining stock of launch units without cutting the price, but thankfully, the older version is no less capable, and crucially, no less fun to play on.

I’m willing to bet Faulkner is correct here.

I’ve written about Nintendo’s use of Mario Kart 8 as a unit mover. For the Wii U, it was used as a final Hail Mary to reinvigorate Wii U sales with not only the game, but a very early review embargo and a free additional game. For the Switch, it was a the first widely recognized party game to offer local multiplayer support, allowing early Switch adopters to showcase the console’s unique modes of play ahead of the holidays, namely table-top mode — the mode that allows two local players to play anywhere, each leveraging a single Joy-Con as a controller and prop up the Switch as the screen.

Here we are on the other end of the spectrum. With the wild popularity of the Switch and a relatively new SKU that boasts better battery life, what better way to exhaust stock of the original SKU than to throw in arguably the most polished, popular, and accessible game in Nintendo’s library for free.