Backlog: The Embiggening - June, 2012
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 05/31/12 at 10:51 PM CT
Welcome to a new monthly feature on MeltedJoystick, in which I take a look at the games coming in the next month, then weep at the fact that my backlog just refuses to get any smaller. Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately, at least for me) this month’s new releases look mostly like uninteresting swill. Let’s get down to it.
It wouldn’t be a month in modern gaming without the release of at least three First-Person Shooters, and June looks like it won’t disappoint with the releases of “Inversion,” a Tom Clancy game, and “Borderlands 2.” For those who like to see their character’s back, there’s also the Third-Person Shooter, “Spec Ops: The Line.” Yawn.
And a month never goes by without huge publishers smearing licensed garbage across every platform capable of running it (or a version of it). This month we’re being graced with the presence of “Madagascar 3: The Video Game,” an iCarly game, “Brave: The Video Game,” “Lego Batman 2,” and “The …
Review Round-Up: Spring 2012
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 05/28/12 at 02:01 PM CT
Welcome back to another installment of the MeltedJoystick Review Round-Up. Here’s what our staff has reviewed since last time:
Nelson’s Reviews:
The MeltedJoystick staff found ourselves burning through a LOT of multi-player games this quarter… so much so that we’re running out of new things to play! When not playing couch-co-op with the rest of the crew, I found myself playing through a host of abominations. I also got my retro on with both a spiritual successor and a direct sequel to two of my favorite old-school dungeon-crawlers. Sadly, only one of those games rose to the occasion.
“Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One” – 3.5/5
“Castle Crashers” – 3/5
“White Knight Chronicles II” – 2/5
“Rayman Origins” – 4/5
“The Kore Gang” – 2/5
“Castlevania: Harmony of Despair” – 1.5/5
“Rygar: The Legendary Adventure” – 2/5
“Kirby's Return to Dreamland” – 5/5
“Legend of Grimrock” – 4.5/5
“Spore Hero” – 3.5/5
“Stonekeep: …
10 Game Sequels that Pooped on their Originals
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 05/19/12 at 06:41 PM CT
Sequels: Love them or hate them, they are a fact of life in creative media. There is always another story to tell for a given setting or groups of characters. It’s easier to tell a great story when free to focus on the story, rather than the nuts-and-bolts and stuff that goes on behind the scenes. Sometimes sequels are great, building upon the original and hammering out the bad parts until there is nothing left but burnished gold…
But sometimes sequels go completely astray from what earned their originals enough praise from critics and consumers to warrant said sequel. Here’s a list of the worst offenders, which, instead of honoring their originals and building on what made them great, pulled-down their metaphorical pants and evacuated their bowels in the worst possible way.
10. Duke Nukem Forever
While I am of the opinion that it’s impossible to make poop worse by pooping on it, Chris informs me that “Duke Nukem Forever” completely defiles the original “Duke …
The Dark Side of Indie Game Development
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 05/13/12 at 03:05 PM CT
Last week, I gushed about independent game development and how Indie was the sole hope for the future of a medium becoming increasingly consumed with and motivated by profit. Yet even such a noble pursuit as Indie development can be corrupted by the desire to turn a quick buck. One need only look at the ‘libraries’ of smartphones and Xbox Live to plainly see that there is an overwhelming amount of crap produced by nobodies hoping to become the next “Angry Birds” Guys. These Indie ‘developers’ are treating game creation like gambling: If they buy enough lottery tickets, they’ll have to win big eventually, right? Wrong: The House (in these instances, Apple and Microsoft) always wins.
Indie developers need to be constantly vigilant, watching themselves to ensure they don’t act like Big Gaming publishers… because they aren’t Big Gaming publishers. Indie developers don’t have the reputations or the venture capital to release trash, market it to death, and get …
Independent Development and the Last Crusade
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 05/06/12 at 09:03 PM CT
The game industry is at a crossroads. What was once an entirely niche endeavor done by geeks, for geeks, has become a Big Business. What was once an artistic endeavor has become a commodity. What was once made on a shoestring budget now costs millions of dollars. Game development has changed, and in changing has lost everything that it once was.
When I look back at the history of videogames and my relationship with the medium, I recall a time, not so long ago, when game publishers were also developers. Everyone self-published their game software, thus they were only beholden to themselves. During this time, these developer-publishers built-up the reputations they continue to rely on. Good reputations are important in any business, and there were numerous stand-outs in the game industry whose excellent games made me come to trust them to produce great software time after time. I was a loyal customer to Nintendo, Capcom, Konami, Squaresoft, Enix, BioWare, InterPlay, Sierra, and even …
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