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 – October, 2019

View Nelson Schneider's Profile

By Nelson Schneider - 09/29/19 at 05:04 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 that I’m aware of. We’ve also got a tie-in to the ‘Zombieland’ movie franchise, a tie-in to a Chinese movie about the Monkey King (WHY?!), a Switch port (natch) of a ‘Digimon’ game, a couple of old-ass Disney ROMs bundled together with a price tag (because, of course Disney and Nintendo think the same), and “Asterix & Obelix XXL 2,” a sequel to a 3D Platformer from the PlayStation 2 era that’s based on a European comic strip. Personally, I have plenty of false nostalgia for ‘Asterix,’ as I think it looks like the type of thing I would have eaten up as a kid (or even as a middle-aged fart), but, alas, my ‘Murrican citizenship prevented me from reading it. Maybe one day…

The next shovelware category is annual crap. We’ve got both an annual Sports game in ‘WWE Wrestling,’ as well as an annual release of ‘Call of Duty’… which ISN’T EVEN A NEW GAME THIS YEAR! It’s a port of an OLD ‘Call of Duty’ game! Talk about not respecting your audience, even a little…

Lastly, we’ve got casual trash. Ubisoft’s got a new ‘Let’s Sing’ game focusing on country music, and Nintendo has a new retarded, gimmicky exercise game, “Ring Fit Adventure,” that involves sticking your Joy Cons in a plastic ring and… doing stuff with it, I guess. NOPE!

You think that was a lot of shovelware? Then hold onto your pants, as the ports, remasters, remakes, and rehashes will blow them right off of your ass! There are a whopping 25 (!) old games being released as though they were new (typically with a commensurate price tag attached) that aren’t explicitly crap. And guess who the main culprit is, once again? Yes! The Nintendo Switch, which will be responsible for 9 of those ports all on its lonesome, and sharing quite a few more with the PlayStation 4 (and a couple with the XBONE). Switch is getting “Vampyr,” “Wargroove,” a compilation of ‘Resident Evil’ games, “A Hat in Time,” “The Witcher 3,” “Everspace,” “Call of Cthulhu” (which is based on a tabletop game, and thus not shovelware), “Sniper Elite 3,” and a remake of “BurgerTime” (one of Chris’ favorites) called “BurgerTime Party!” Shared with the PS4 and/or XBONE are “Disgaea 4,” “Forager,” a compilation of the first 3 ‘Trine’ games, “Another Sight,” “The Alliance Alive,” a remaster of “Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz,” “Children of Morta” (a detestable chunky-pixel Roguelite), “Slay the Spire,” “Northgard,” and two compilations of Infinity Engine games from Beamdog: “Planescape: Torment: Enhanced Edition/Icewind Dale: Enhanced Edition” and “Baldur’s Gate: Enhanced Edition Pack.” The only good news out of all of that portage is that unrepentant console peasants will finally have to opportunity to play four of the best the only four good PC games from the ‘90s. Of course, the old King of Ports, the PlayStation 4, isn’t quite done yet, as it will be getting a remaster of “MediEvil” (a crappy PS1 game) and a port of “FrostPunk.” With the XBONE, PS4 will be sharing a reboot of “GRID” and ports of “The Bard’s Tale 4” and “Tropico 6.”

Incredibly, October’s jam-packed release schedule still has room for a healthy 16 genuine, legitimate, new multiplatform releases. “Ghost Parade” looks like a generic platformer with some faux-Vanillaware art to lure folks in. “Sparklite” looks like a genuinely interesting throwback Action/Adventure title. “Close to the Sun” looks like someone wants to reinvent ‘BioShock’ only without any of that icky FPS gameplay. “The Outer Worlds,” on the other hand, looks like Obsidian wants to keep making ‘Fallout’ games, even though Bethesda owns that IP and inXile owns the ‘Wasteland’ IP… but since Microsoft now owns both Obsidian and inXile… *MIND CRUSH* I’ve been excited about “Indivisible” for YEARS already, and it’s finally being released, yay! “Yooka-Laylee” is also getting a sequel, for those niche 3D Platformer fans who still exist. Sadly, it all goes downhill from there, with a new ‘Atelier’ game and “Destiny Connect: Tick-Tock Travelers” by NIS (the latter of which seems destined – pun intended – to cause trauma come Christmas when all of the cute, little ‘hardcore’ gamers cuss-out their grandparents, saying, “Yo, Granny, why you git me dis gay JAY-ARR-PEE-GEE when Ah wunted “Destiny 2: Shadowkeep?!” The tears will be delicious.) in the RPG category; “The Ninja Saviors: Return of the Warriors” in the retro sequel category; “Street Outlaws: The List,” “The Fisherman: Fishing Planet,” and “Soccer: Tactics & Glory” in the Sports-like category; “Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville” and “Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Breakpoint” in the Shooter category; and “Root Letter: Last Answer” and “YU-NO: A Girl Who Chants Love at the Bound of this World” in the Visual Novel category. At least there’s plenty of diversity there, so there will definitely be something for everyone (and plenty of things for no-one).

Even with all the games we’ve covered already, there are still 9 exclusives coming. Unfortunately, they’re almost exclusively – pun intended, again – as far from system-sellers as you can get. PS4 is getting “ The Legend of Heroes: Trails of Cold Steel 3,” which should finally put that god-awful pile of anime tropes to bed; “ Pool Nation,” which was supposed to come out last month; and “ Concrete Genie,” a PlayStation VR Adventure game that sounds more like something you’d buy to fix cracks in your driveway. The Switch is getting “ Into the Dead 2,” a port of a sequel in a FPS series developed for mobile phones; “ Spirit Hunter NG;” “ Killer Queen Black,” a new dose of PvP idiocy; “ Gun Gun Pixies,” a new Light Gun shooter that was also supposed to be released last month; “ Trine 4,” which isn’t really an exclusive, but more of a ‘first out the gate’ scenario for a guaranteed multi-platform game; and “ Luigi’s Mansion 3.” XBONE is getting NOTHING, as it deserves.

If you load a broadside cannon with a barrel filled with an even mix of watery excrement and grapeshot, you’re guaranteed to hit your target with at least a few actual bits of ammunition. Due to October’s hefty release schedule, I’m actually excited about playing a record number of new games. I might wait to see if “Asterix & Obelix XXL 2” gets a PC port before buying it on Switch, whereas “Luigi’s Mansion 3” won’t give me the luxury of picking my platform. “Sparklite” and “Indivisible” are already on my Steam wishlist just waiting for a sale, while “The Outer Worlds” is also on my Steam wishlist, but I’ll be stuck waiting an entire year for it to come to Steam, since Epic paid Microsoft for an Epic Store/Windows Store exclusivity deal. Of course, with a big, open-world shooter like that, I’ll be waiting for all the bugfixes anyway…

Backlog Embiggened: +5

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

Assassin's Creed IV: Black... game review by Nelson Schneider
Ginga Force game review by Megadrive
Tiny Tina's Wonderlands game review by Nelson Schneider
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart game review by Nelson Schneider
MechWarrior 5: Mercenaries game review by Chris Kavan
Rage 2 game review by Chris Kavan
Cthulhu Saves Christmas game review by Nick
The Legend of Zelda: Breat... 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?