Backlog: The Embiggening – October, 2019
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 09/29/19 at 04:04 PM CT
Welcome back to another look into the near future! October is just around the corner, and that means Halloween has already been on the public’s mind for… err… two months. But still, October is the month for scaring the crap out of each other, and the overwhelming number of upcoming releases certainly has me unnerved. Especially due to the continuing trend of shovelware and ports dominating everything. At least both of those categories have something in the that could be considered “good” with the right mindset.
Repetition is one of the keys to learning, so let’s go over it again kiddies: There are three types of shovelware. The cynical tie-in game based on another IP (that is not already a game), the annual release that comes out every year whether it’s needed or not, and the super-casual non-game. October has all three in spades.
For licensed swill, we’ve got a game based on the ‘Ice Age’ movie franchise, even though there isn’t a new one of those coming …
The ONLY 3 Subscriptions Worth a Damn
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 09/22/19 at 03:17 PM CT
Oh, great. This week Apple Computer announced that they will be adding yet another subscription gaming service to the ever-increasing pile, alongside the likes of Microsoft Gamepass, EA Access, Uplay+, Google Stadia, PlayStation+, and Nintendo’s thing. The sad part is, no matter what each company’s force of deluded fanboys might spout in the feverish midst of their White Knighting and/or shilling, NONE of these subscriptions are actually worth the powder to blow them up. Meanwhile, the gaming community and what remains of the free gaming press have grown decidedly cynical about the whole thing.
And the cynicism is well deserved, as subscription services are increasingly offering little to nothing of value, especially when compared to outright buying digital media licenses. With corporate America expecting consumers to stack subscription upon subscription upon subscription, customers are being bled monthly for alarming amounts of cash, while getting only temporary ephemera in …
Fragmenting Digital Ecosystems Re-Open the Sea Lanes for Pirates
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 09/15/19 at 03:42 PM CT
When Electronic Arts and Ubisoft launched their respective digital storefronts, launchers, and gaming clients in 2011/2012, they, in essence, created a wedge. When lumberjacks use wedges, it’s to amplify mechanical force and split a single large log into two (or more) smaller portions. Most recently, Epic Games has donned the plaid flannel shirt and stocking cap of legend, shoving their own wedge in with the others and thoroughly beating on it. The result is a heavily-fractured PC gaming ecosystem that requires a separate third-party program to half-assedly pull the splinters back together into something resembling the original log.
Other media has suffered even more severely through these acts of splitting and fragmentation, and are now beginning to reap their just desserts. When Netflix was the only game in town for movie and TV show rentals and/or streaming, everyone used it, everyone loved it, and everyone felt like they were getting their money’s worth out of their ONE …
Vaguely Related: The Hurto Diet
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 09/08/19 at 04:01 PM CT
MeltedJoystick’s favorite fur-bearing creature, Chris (a.k.a., Hurto, a.k.a., THEdisgruntleddwarf), has been on a low-carb, low-sugar ‘keto’ diet for a few months. On this diet, he must refrain from eating most staple foods, which all contain tons of carbohydrates, including bread, potatoes, and rice. While this, obviously, interferes with our weekly gatherings, as it is now like having a kosher Jew or practicing Hindu in the group, who must avoid certain foods (and thus certain restaurants), the results have been overall positive, with Chris losing a little over 20 pounds of pure grease and looking slightly less spherical.
Of course, any restrictive diet is difficult to stick with after a certain amount of time, and, recently, Chris has hit that threshold, with “cheat days” sneaking in more and more often. Nick continually badgers Chris about this, pointing out that a single cheat day will keep him out of ketosis for upwards of a week. I’m more pragmatic about the …
Review Round-Up: Summer 2019
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 09/01/19 at 09:51 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 Summer quarter saw me playing mostly crap. While I did manage to knock the last game off my list of New Year Backlog Ablutions and had a decent time dusting off (and repairing) the old Dreamcast to replay “Armada” with the guys on Local Coop Night, the rest of the Summer wasn’t nearly as pleasant, with two major Indie FAILS and, most recently, a dismal Switch slog that saw another franchise added to my permanent Ignore List.
“Song of the Deep” – 4.5/5
“RiME” – 2.5/5
“Armada” – 4/5
“Jotun” – 2/5
“Far Cry 5” – 4/5
“Xenoblade Chronicles 2” – 2.5/5
Chris’ Reviews:
THE Disgruntled Dwarf is still chipping away at his backlog of games, all in full view of the general public, but was quite disorganized when it came to actually getting reviews done. As such, despite the fact that I …
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