Year in Review: 2013
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 12/29/13 at 03:40 PM CT
The year 2013 has come and gone. Every year has its great successes as well as things that didn’t quite go as planned. Let’s take a look back at what the past year brought us:
Top 5 Fails
5. Google Becomes Evil, Implements Draconian Youtube Copyright Enforcement
One would think that a company whose motto is “Don’t Be Evil” would endeavor to always serve as a vox populi in the face of other companies who want to stifle everything from Free Speech to Freedom of the Press in the name of keeping trade secrets and turning massive profits. Yet Google has already begun the slow decline into Evil, as all enormous companies inevitably do. In 2013, Google reworked the way copyright infringement claims work on Youtube – the most popular video-sharing site on the web. What does this have to do with videogames? Well, in the wake of these changes, writers, commentators, critics, and ‘Let’s Play’ performers – all of whom use sizable chunks of in-game footage in their …
I’m Gettin’ Nuttin’ for Christmas (and I’m Totally Okay with That!)
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 12/22/13 at 07:13 PM CT
This year marks the first time in (approximately) 24 years that I have refrained from providing a written Christmas Wish List for my family. I started this tradition at around age 10 when my tastes and interests really began to solidify, and after a first disastrous year of receiving videogame-related gifts in the form of things my Troll Dad thought would be good, such as “Sky Shark,” “Cobra Triangle,” and “Jaws” for the NES (all of which I hated and later sold). Every year between then and now, my Christmas has been filled with a loot-splosion of games I specifically wanted to play, and every year I received almost everything I asked for.
So what changed? Have I finally grown up at age 34? Have I lost interest in what has been my hobby for the vast majority of my life? No, nothing so dramatic or unrealistic. Instead, what has changed is that I don’t really NEED anymore videogames. And with games crossed off the list of things I could request as Christmas presents, …
Videogame Music: A Feast for the Ears
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 12/14/13 at 01:56 PM CT
As I graduated high school and moved onto college, I had great dreams for my musical future. Not only was I the most talented musician (saxophone) in my entire high school, but I managed to convince the music teacher to let me compose a piece for performance during my final senior concert.
Unfortunately, college level music education quickly taught me that I was not better than anyone or anything. Faced with endless hours of singing and piano (neither areas of music in which I had any interest or inclination), I never saw a single true composition course, as those were reserved for those stout souls who managed to survive the first two years of what was dubbed the “Music Academy.” Needless to say, I quickly became fed-up with the whole situation, accepted a minor in music instead of a major, and switched to Humanities.
But what was it that made me want to study music in the first place? I certainly had no illusions of wanting to be the next Billy Ray Cyrus, Backstreet Boy, …
Backlog: The Embiggening - December, 2013
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 12/07/13 at 10:51 PM CT
Welcome to another look into the near future. The end-of-year trend of a single massively mainstream multi-platform release each month has come to an end. Indeed, releases in general seem to have ground to a halt as the shovelware developers have already blown their collective load and are just waiting for the cash to come pouring in (and since retailers have refused to allow returns of opened videogames for nearly 30 years, once it’s in, that money will be permanently trapped and used to craft yet MORE shovelware). Let’s take a look at the last minute stragglers that will make it out the door in 2013.
December is giving us a single piece of licensed crap, based on the ‘World Series of Poker.’ And it’s not even new, but a port from the Xbox Live Arcade!
Even in non-shovelware, “AAA” gaming land, there are only a few releases… and NONE of them are new! Instead, “Deadfall Adventures” is porting from PC to Xbox 360, “Painkiller: Hell & Damnation” is porting …
Review Round-Up: Fall 2013
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 12/01/13 at 11:40 AM 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:
After last quarter’s extremely short supply of staff reviews here at MeltedJoystick, Fall seems to have allowed things to ‘fall’ back into place. I focused on playing through some of my shorter games (or games that I thought would be shorter) while the staff plugged-away collectively at both the epic MMO undertaking of “Dragon Nest” and the local undertaking of “Dragon’s Crown.” And we managed to finish them both! On the whole, I ended up playing a lot of good-but-not-quite-great games this quarter, with only one breaking the 4.5 star barrier.
“Bastion” – 4/5
“RAGE” – 4/5
“PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale” – 2/5
“Dragon’s Crown” – 4/5
“Dragon Nest” – 4/5
“Glory of Heracles” – 2/5
“Bioshock” – 3/5
“Anodyne” – 4.5/5
“Okamiden” – 4/5
Chris’ …
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