ImaJAN Media Network
MeltedJoystick Home
   Games  Members
Search +
Searching... Close  
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
  
 
  Login Using Facebook
Twitter
 
     

Backlog: The Embiggening – November, 2016

View Nelson Schneider's Profile

By Nelson Schneider - 11/06/16 at 03:29 PM CT

Welcome back to another look into the near future! Now that Halloween is over, once again, Americans will look forward to that next great commercial holiday. No! Not Thanksgiving, as most Americans don’t have anything to be thankful for (as illustrated by the election travesty that is currently going on between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton). Black Friday and Christmas will be here in but a few short weeks, forcing game publishers to rush things out the door, regardless of their state of readiness, in order to meet arbitrary deadlines. The result is, as usual, a LOT of game releases. But many of them will suffer quality control issues.

The shovelware is relatively tame for November. Someone made a ‘Digimon’ MMO, Nordic Games is channeling Ubisoft and releasing yet another unwanted/unneeded “We Sing” karaoke ‘game,’ and “Cartoon Network: Battle Crashers” seems to be a ‘Smash Bros.’ inspired Beat ‘Em Up. There’s another ‘Sword Art Online’ game based on the anime/manga series, as well as Volume 1 (so you KNOW there are plans to make more of them) of “Marvel Pinball: Epic Collection.” Soccer fans can look forward to yet another annual release of ‘Football Manager,’ this time with a touch option. Finally, the PC-like consoles are getting a port of last year’s PC release of “Star Wars: Battlefront.”

Segwaying nicely into ports and remasters, every 8th Gen console (even the WiiU!) is getting the ‘Warmastered’ edition of “Darksiders” and the PS4 and XBONE are getting another (or maybe the same one with a delayed release date, I don’t know or particularly care) compilation of ‘Assassin’s Creed’ games. Two digital-to-physical conversions are coming this month: Both the delayed release of the most-definitely-good “Steamworld Collection” and the disc-pressing of budget, B-rate comedy cooking title, “Overcooked.” Overall, it’s going to be a fairly innocuous month compared to the rest of the 8th Gen in its entirety.

Legit (non-shovelware) multi-platform releases are looking… healthier?... than they have in months. And by ‘healthy,’ I don’t necessarily mean ‘good,’ I just mean that there are a large number of them and that the releases fall into a number of different genres/styles. Actually, November’s multi-plats can be easily divided into three layers of strata.

The top layer of November multi-plats features a predictable annual release of a new ‘Call of Duty’ PvP FPS, this time dubbed “Infinite Warfare” (So, what? It’s named after the United States’ foreign policy?), as well as the long, long, long time coming release of “Final Fantasy Versus 13 15,” which looks like the worst entry in the series since “Final Fantasy 8” (yes, I will be skipping it, even if it eventually comes to Steam). Regardless of quality, those bitterest of enemies, the FPS fanboys and RPG fanboys, will be out in their respective tribes buying-up these games and fighting about them all over the Internet. I expect both games to move a LOT of units… and to be crap.

The middle layer of November multi-plats features two sequels for crappy 7th Generation games nobody really asked for: “Watch Dogs 2” and “Dishonored 2.” Maybe those sad souls who started gaming last-gen have some fondness for these IPs, so they might move some copies… but they won’t gain a lot of mindshare.

At the bottom of the November multi-plat barrel there lies some Indie/retro/arcade stuff that will face impossible odds releasing against juggernaut names like ‘CoD’ and ‘FF.’ “Super Dungeon Bros.” looks like a stylish, modern “Gauntlet” clone, but it does support 4-player local and cross-platform coop, so it’s likely I will end up playing it out of desperation, despite my lack of love for “Gauntlet.” “Pac-Man Championship Edition 2 + Arcade Collection” looks to bring more of the modernized arcade experience from “Pac-Man Championship Edition” to the table… and little else (if you love ‘Pac-Man,’ it’ll be a must-own). Then theres… “Stern Pinball Arcade.” Yes, let’s release a no-name Pinball game against the new ‘Call of Duty’ and ‘Final Fantasy!’ Clearly if someone isn’t interested in those games, they will love some crappy Pinball! No. Finally, the PS4 and XBONE will be sharing custody of “Earth’s Dawn,” a no-budget, no-name title that, from what I’ve heard and seen, seems to take unfortunate inspiration from “Salt and Sanctuary,” and therefore from ‘Dark Souls.’

November’s exclusives are looking relatively numerous as well, though PC is the only platform getting the goods, with “Owlboy,” “Tyranny,” and “Xanadu Next,” all of which will find their way into my backlog once they go on sale. Sony is getting mostly Visual Novels up the butt, with “Root Letter” (which I think was delayed from a slated release a few months ago) and the next part of the ‘Steins;Gate’ series. Both VN’s will be on PS4 and Vita. Sony will also be getting a new J-Fighter for the PS4 and PS3 (LOL), but it’s just another ‘BlazBlue’ sequel, so there’s nothing to get excited about. Microsoft’s Xboxen are getting… NOTHING! All is well in the world! The WiiU is getting one miserable third-party release in “Runbow Deluxe Edition,” while the 3DS will be bringing the thunder with the newest and greatest (more likely samiest) ‘Pokemon’ iterations: “Sun” and “Moon” (which will likely cause Niantic’s “Pokemon GO” to hemorrhage even more users). The 3DS will also be bringing the rain, with new, samey iterations of both ‘Mario Party’ (WHY WON’T IT DIE!?) and ‘Harvest Moon.’

November’s VR releases have, expectedly, begun to taper-off after the launch of the PSVR. PC VR platforms (namely the Vive and Rift) are getting a fair number of unimpressive-looking titles, including “Lifelique VR Museum,” “Staircase of Darkness,” “The Diner Duo,” “Above,” and some Dorito’s-themed shovelware. PSVR is getting “Robinson: The Journey” and “Eagle Flight.” In other words, VR isn’t worth buying yet… on any platform.

There are a large number of extant videogame franchises where I feel that, if you’ve played one, you’ve played them all. ‘Pokemon’ falls into that category, but it has been some time since I last played “Diamond/Pearl/Platinum,” so I’d be game for another run… if “Sun/Moon” is also a launch title for the Nintendo Switch. Other than ‘Pokemon,’ the presence of “Owlboy,” “Tyranny,” and “Xanadu Next” as PC exclusives just reinforces why I was willing to give PC gaming another try after hating on it for so long. I go where the games I want to play are, and right now, they are mostly on PC.


Backlog Embiggened: +4

Share:    
MeltedJoystick Gaming Blog RSS Feed
Comments
0 comments
Name: 

Avoid spam Captcha: Sign Up + or Log In +   



 

Bloggers

Previous Blog Posts

Archive

All Posts

March 2024

February 2024

January 2024

December 2023

November 2023

October 2023

September 2023

August 2023

July 2023

June 2023

May 2023

April 2023

March 2023

February 2023

January 2023

December 2022

November 2022

October 2022

September 2022

August 2022

July 2022

June 2022

May 2022

April 2022

March 2022

February 2022

January 2022

December 2021

November 2021

October 2021

September 2021

August 2021

July 2021

June 2021

May 2021

April 2021

March 2021

February 2021

January 2021

December 2020

November 2020

October 2020

September 2020

August 2020

July 2020

June 2020

May 2020

April 2020

March 2020

February 2020

January 2020

December 2019

November 2019

October 2019

September 2019

August 2019

July 2019

June 2019

May 2019

April 2019

March 2019

February 2019

January 2019

December 2018

November 2018

October 2018

September 2018

August 2018

July 2018

June 2018

May 2018

April 2018

March 2018

February 2018

January 2018

December 2017

November 2017

October 2017

September 2017

August 2017

July 2017

June 2017

May 2017

April 2017

March 2017

February 2017

January 2017

December 2016

November 2016

October 2016

September 2016

August 2016

July 2016

June 2016

May 2016

April 2016

March 2016

February 2016

January 2016

December 2015

November 2015

October 2015

September 2015

August 2015

July 2015

June 2015

May 2015

April 2015

March 2015

February 2015

January 2015

December 2014

November 2014

October 2014

September 2014

August 2014

July 2014

June 2014

May 2014

April 2014

March 2014

February 2014

January 2014

December 2013

November 2013

October 2013

September 2013

August 2013

July 2013

June 2013

May 2013

April 2013

March 2013

February 2013

January 2013

December 2012

November 2012

October 2012

September 2012

August 2012

July 2012

June 2012

May 2012

April 2012

March 2012

February 2012

January 2012

December 2011

November 2011

October 2011

September 2011

August 2011

July 2011

June 2011

May 2011

April 2011

March 2011

February 2011

 
Log In
 
For members wanting to use FB to login, click here
remember me
 
 

What Members Are Doing

Comments about...

New Game Reviews

NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams game review by Megadrive
Sunset Overdrive game review by Chris Kavan
The Vagrant game review by Chris Kavan
Honkai: Star Rail game review by Chris Kavan
Assassin's Creed IV: Black... game review by Nelson Schneider
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands game review by Nelson Schneider
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart game review by Nelson Schneider
Cthulhu Saves Christmas game review by Nick

New Game Lists

Backlog by Nelson Schneider
Top Wii Games by Megadrive
My Backlog by Chris Kavan
Games I Own: Switch Digital by dbarry_22
Top Nintendo (NES) Games by Nick
Backlog by Matt
Top Game List by SIngli6
Top Game List by Jonzor

 

 

 

Contact Us Public Relations MeltedJoystick Friends    

Advertise and Business

Contacts Us

Jobs

About us

SiteMap

 

Support Us

FAQ and Help

News and Press

Terms of Use

Privacy

Hitfix.com

Amazon.com

OVGuide.com

   
Are you sure you want to delete this comment?
  
Are you sure you want to delete this blog?