MeltedJoystick.com Gaming Blog

What’s a “Super Game”?

Sun, 07 Jun 2026 14:32:55 -0500

Earlier this week, news broke about what Sega has been up to for the past few years of... nothing. It seems that the one-time second-place platform-holder has been working on a concept for a so-called “Super Game” for the last several years, to the neglect of literally everythi...

Review Round-Up: Spring 2026

Sun, 31 May 2026 15:25:20 -0500

Welcome back to another installment of the MeltedJoystick Review Round-Up. Here’s what our staff has reviewed since last time: Nelson’s Reviews: I finished my second and third Backlog Ablution obligations... and didn’t really play anything else. I’ve still been enjoying “Warframe,” and I’ve attempte...

Backlog: The Embiggening – June, 2026

Sun, 24 May 2026 15:27:16 -0500

Welcome back to another look into the near future! Summer’s nearly upon us, once again, and from the look of things, this year’s Summer Game Drought is going to be a dire one. The entire Industry is in chaos, with one debacle after another putting the future of every major platform on a questionable foundation that seems like it could erode-away entirely without even a moment’s notice. Let�...

Can Windows 11 K2 Stave-off the Year of the Linux Desktop?

Sun, 17 May 2026 15:19:56 -0500

For the last couple of YEARS, it has seemed like Microsoft was entirely impervious to any and all criticism of their endeavors with changing Windows into an AI-and-advertisement-infested disaster and crashing Xbox into the ground in a misbegotten attempt at proving that Software as a Service is still a good idea that will rake-in steady profits hand-over-fist. Fortunately, enough tech journalists...

Bungie is in a 3/4 Billion Dollar Hole

Sun, 10 May 2026 14:55:53 -0500

Ah, it seems like it was just yesterday when the stupid one-upmanship of the Console Wars saw Sony spending nearly $4 billion to secure Bungie as a first-party PlayStation studio after Microsoft spend $69 billion in order to feed Activision-Blizzard to the Xbox Division. Both platform-holders seem to be regretting their dec...

Backlog: The Embiggening – May, 2026

Fri, 01 May 2026 01:21:25 -0500

Welcome back to another look into the near future! Spring is almost over, which means Industrial Gaming should start winding down for the annual Summer Games Drought. What with the global economy in chaos, will we see our Industry continue to stay the course with its traditional – and not particularly successful – ritualized behaviors, or will we see a shake up? Let’s take a look at what’...

Final Fantasy is in a Catch-22 Situation

Sun, 26 Apr 2026 16:39:27 -0500

Alas, ‘Final Fantasy’ has been in freefall for FAR too long now, as I’ve pointed out previously. Each time a new game is announced, there’s the fleeting possibility that it will redeem the last TWENTY YEARS of flops and garbage, but it never m...

Gaming’s Newest Curse: Dynamic Pricing

Sun, 19 Apr 2026 15:53:47 -0500

It seems that we are just flat-out not allowed to have nice things, peace, or happiness anymore. Just when it seemed that Industrial Gaming had already plumbed the deepest depths of enshittification, something new is on the horizon, and it seems that Sony is leading the way into even greater hostility toward its customers. As reported by Be...

Amazon Luna to Follow Google Stadia on June 10

Sun, 12 Apr 2026 14:59:26 -0500

Remember Google’s disastrous attempt at transforming gaming into a Cloud-based experience? Remember how it flopped after a single year and how Google kept it going as a backend service for a while after that before shutting it down altogether? We...

Microsoft: Co-Pilot is Mandatory, but “For Entertainment Only.”

Sun, 05 Apr 2026 21:48:51 -0500

It seems that ever since Windows 11 launched, Microsoft has been obsessed with cramming their AI assistant, Co-Pilot, into every facet of the OS, including bizarre and nonsensical appearances in such barebones programs as MS Paint and