Review Round-Up: Spring 2026
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 05/31/26 at 03:25 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:
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 attempted to enjoy a new-old Turn-Based RPG in “Lost Odyssey,” but it has been a bit of a slog – made worse by my self-inflicted insistence on playing it in the Xenia Edge emulator on CachyOS Linux.
Mario vs. Donkey Kong (Remake) – 3.5/5
Spiritfarer: Farewell Edition – 4/5
Chris’ Review:
Chris completed the first of his Backlog Ablutions – and the longest one – but much to my chagrin, he didn’t like it as much as I did. He’d better hurry up and finish his other two Ablution titles before “Grand Theft Auto 6” comes out and keeps him occupied for the rest of the year.
Pampas & Selene: The Maze of Demons – 4/5
Greedfall – 3.5/5
Nick’s …
Backlog: The Embiggening – June, 2026
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 05/24/26 at 03:27 PM CT
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’s take a look at the few meager droplets falling on us in June that we’ll have to make due with until – or if – things start to get better.
Over half of the new releases in June fall into the Shovelware category, with three of the four major sub-types represented. In Licensed Swill, there’s a ‘Star Wars Monopoly’ game. In the Annualized Swill category, EA is pooping out another ‘UFC’ entry. There are no super-casual non-games, at least... but there are a couple of Noteworthy Ports: “Gothic,” and ancient (and terrible) Fake RPG is getting a remake, and the 30th …
Can Windows 11 K2 Stave-off the Year of the Linux Desktop?
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 05/17/26 at 03:19 PM CT
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, bloggers, and influencers have heaped negative press on the disastrous leadership of Satya Nadella that the Redmond tech giant is actually starting to partake in some introspection.
First, the Xbox Division forced out the old leadership (Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond) and replaced them with Asha Sharma, a former AI CEO with no gaming experience. At first this seemed like a dubious play and an admission that Xbox was completely dead, with Sharma sent in to liquidate what she could and write off the rest. However, in the handful of weeks since she took command of the Xbox Division... things …
Bungie is in a 3/4 Billion Dollar Hole
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 05/10/26 at 02:55 PM CT
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 decisions, with Xbox teetering on the brink of destruction, and all its hopes pinned on a new, non-gaming executive at Xbox, while Sony is already adopting the same kinds of hubristic behavior it always adopts when it thinks it doesn’t have any competition.
But Sony really doesn’t have anything to crow about, considering that it assigned a $200 million “impairment loss” to Bungie in the face of falling “Destiny 2” player counts and recurring revenues. Recently, that loss was re-adjusted... by more than double its original assessment, bringing Bungie’s total impairment loss to $765 million. That’s over THREE-QUARTERS OF A BILLION DOLLARS!
Of …
Backlog: The Embiggening – May, 2026
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 05/01/26 at 01:21 AM CT
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’s coming down the (sewer) pipe in May.
Oof! There’s quite a bit of Made-to-be-Mocked shovel-ready crap coming in May... and ALL of it falls into the Licensed Swill category (or maybe we should start calling it Licensed Slop to keep up with trendy terminology). There’s yet another ‘LEGO Batman’ game, a ‘Bluey’ game, and the first new ‘James Bond 007’ game in a coon’s age (with no movie tie-in to be seen... which seems dubious), all hitting multiple platforms. PC is getting the timed exclusive release of a new ‘Nickelodeon Sports’ game (other platforms will be assaulted …
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