MeltedJoystick.com Gaming Blog

Square-Enix and the Concept of “Awareness”

Sun, 06 Jul 2025 13:36:14 -0500

It’s no secret that “Clair Obscur: Expedition 33” made a bit of a splash with its release earlier this year. It was also one of the games that made my list of titles to get excited about in 2025, primarily by virt...

Backlog: The Embiggening – July, 2025

Sat, 28 Jun 2025 20:24:27 -0500

Welcome back to another look into the near future! We are, once again, right smack in the middle of the Summer Games Drought, with only the miserable offerings of various non-E3 digital game showcases to keep us looking toward the future. It’s no wonder publishers are so hung-up on porting and remastering old games, when there’s next to nothing truly new to look forward to. Of course, the ...

The Ghost of Consoles Future

Sat, 21 Jun 2025 21:37:00 -0500

I saw a random video essay the other day that went into detail about how the PlayStation 5 feels like a console that doesn’t really exist, even though it was released 5 years ago. Yeah, FIVE years in, which, in the days of Electronic Entertainment Exposition – would dump an incredible amount of info about upcoming releases into the Games Journalism pipeline, drowning the public in cinematic trailers and giving special access to playable demos to trusted members of the press. Sadly, we don’t have much o...

There’s a New Nintendo Console, and I Couldn’t Care Less

Sun, 08 Jun 2025 15:44:32 -0500

Nintendo just released the Switch 2. It’s such a mainstream commercial product release that the legacy media networks all deemed it worthy of mentioning during their evening World News broadcasts. Yet, as someone who cares about gaming more than most other topics, I just can’t get excited about this thing. We all know the “Cons” list going against the Switch2: last time: Nelson’s Reviews: I finished the second of my 3 Backlog Ablution picks… and was sorely disappointed by it. Other than that, Chris and I got through two pretty good couch-coop ‘Van...

Backlog: The Embiggening – June, 2025

Sun, 25 May 2025 15:52:08 -0500

Welcome back to another look into the near future! May was surprisingly Spring-like as it brought the first season of the year to a close. With Spring in the rear-view mirror, it’s time for us to watch the Games Industry go into its annual state of spastic catatonia known as the Summer Games Drought. With our mild Spring, is there any hope for a mild Summer as well? Or are we doomed to be confr...

Nintendo’s New Draconian EULA Gives THEM Perpetual Ownership of ALL Switch 2 Handhelds

Sun, 18 May 2025 13:08:58 -0500

Oh, dear. We’ve gotten used to the status quo of Nintendo living in the past and constantly waging a losing war against Games Preservation of ROMs of games from their ancient and obsolete consoles. Meanwhile, Sony has been on the cutting edge of terribl...

You Want Console Price Drops? Have Some Price Hikes Instead!

Sun, 11 May 2025 16:35:49 -0500

Oh dear, it looks like Trump’s idiotic tariffs (import taxes that he still doesn’t understand how they work) and trade war are already hitting gamers in the wallet. Hot on the heels of Sony’s overpriced PS5 Pro announcement and Nintendo announcing an <...

Bye-Bye Polygon: The Latest Victim of the “New” Media Collapse

Sun, 04 May 2025 17:26:19 -0500

News broke this past week that the second-worst site for gaming news, reviews, and information, Polygon, had been sold by parent company Vox Media, and faces a 20% staff layoff and potential shutter...