MeltedJoystick.com Gaming Blog

Of Games and Passes and the Intersection Thereof

Sun, 19 Mar 2023 15:31:31 -0500

Microsoft has had a shockingly good few years recently with regard to positivity surrounding their gaming endeavors. Perhaps they have finally managed to shake off the stigmata of their terrible early versions of Windows and their identity as primarily an office-based software developer, as more and more people forego office PCs and just do everything on their phones. Regardless, for the first ti...

He’s Everywhere VII!: MOAR Pokemon Edition

Sat, 11 Mar 2023 16:30:21 -0500

It’s March, again, and that means MeltedJoystick’s favorite fur-bearing, idiosyncratic cryptid, Chris, is another year older, and another year more set in his ways. Last year, I listed a number of D&D “Monster Manual” denizens that remind me of Chris, but this year, I’m going to do a sequel to the second ‘He’s...

Review Round-Up: Winter 2022

Sun, 05 Mar 2023 15:19:04 -0500

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 got off to a roaring start in 2023, finishing 10 games, including ALL of my Backlog Ablutions...

Backlog: The Embiggening – March, 2023

Fri, 24 Feb 2023 23:38:42 -0500

Welcome back to another look into the near future! Winter and the last dregs of 2022 are officially behind us, once again, as Spring spoings into our lives, bringing with it superstitious Paschal holidays, seasonal allergies, crazy weather, and probably a whole bunch of terrible videogame releases. Let’s check on that last one… We’re starting off Fiscal Year 2023 with corporate publisher...

Live Services: Not So Lively Anymore

Sun, 19 Feb 2023 15:32:41 -0500

Just a few years ago, every Games Industry publisher and their dog was trying to get in on the hot fad of Live Service gaming, where a slow, steady drip-feed of grindable content keeps players engaged and playing a single product for years upon years. Live Service gaming is, ultimately, just the latest incarnation of an Ind...

“Hogwarts Legacy” Reveals Insane Media Bias

Sun, 12 Feb 2023 17:07:55 -0500

“Hogwarts Legacy,” the brand new game from Warner Bros. based on the ‘Wizarding World of Harry Potter’ by British novelist, J.K. Rowling, just released. What should we expect from a new Licensed piece of shovelware based on a series of novels aimed at children-through-teens? Well, according to Wired Magaz...

D&D Now Stands for ‘Debacles & Disasters’

Sun, 05 Feb 2023 17:15:41 -0500
Wizards of the Coast had a very busy January, as the Hasbro subsidiary and owner of the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop RPG since 1997 set about the process of… burning itself to the ground. It all started with Wizards’ new President, Cynthia Williams – a typ...

Backlog: The Embiggening – February, 2023

Sun, 29 Jan 2023 16:32:21 -0500
Welcome back to another look into the near future! February is already upon us, as 2023 gets off to a rocky and tumultuous start. As tech and media companies hemorrhage staff via mass layoffs, how will that affect the quality and quantity of game releases? It won’t! We’ll still be drowning in crap. We’ve got a light shovelware load coming in February, with one particularly big release in...

New Year’s Backlog Ablutions 2023

Sun, 22 Jan 2023 16:36:42 -0500
The results of the last year’s New Year’s Backlog Ablutions are in! It’s official: For the first time since we started doing the Backlog Ablutions Challenge in 2019, ALL of us managed to succeed! Of course, I was done by May, while Nick barely squeaked by, submitting his review for “Metroid Dread” on December 3...

Backlog: The Embiggening – January, 2023

Sun, 15 Jan 2023 16:24:20 -0500
Welcome back, once again, to another look into the near future! 2023 is here, and both We the Gamers and the Games Industry itself have the opportunity – and excuse – to start afresh. Will gaming turn over a new leaf in the new year? Or will we get stuck with the same corrosive trends, slowly eating away at us like cosmic entropy? I’m not a gambling man, but I’d bet on the latter… Is...