Backlog: The Embiggening - April, 2013
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 03/31/13 at 01:44 PM CT
Welcome to another look into the near future. April is for fools, and it looks like they will have plenty of new games to buy for full price this month!
The initial Spring bloom of licensed drek is still trickling on this month, though at a significantly diminished rate. While site member Jonzor left a comment expressing his disappointment about the oversight of “LEGO City: Undercover” releasing for WiiU last month, this month we’re making it up to him and announcing the immanent release of the 3DS tie-in-for-the-tie-in game, “LEGO City: Undercover – The Chase Begins.” With all these tie-ins-for-tie-ins, spinoffs, and excessively-appellated game titles, the Fat Cats at the top of Big Gaming aren’t really doing a whole lot to prove they still make products worth caring about. Outside of LEGO Land, the other big licensed April releases are both multi-platform and rated T for Teen. The rebooted “Star Trek” movie franchise is getting a rebooted “Star Trek” …
Vaguely Related Review: The Aimon Elite
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 03/24/13 at 02:34 PM CT
Back before I decided that a good motion controller was the solution for the ailment of PC game interfaces designed around archaic keyboard and mouse controls, I experimented in taking the advice given by the “Glorious” PC Gaming Master Race: Instead of trying to screw around with a controller, what I needed was to find a good mouse.
But I just couldn’t take the Master Race’s advice to its natural conclusion. I was itching to play a new Indie game I had purchased, “Legend of Grimrock,” but was unable to find a happy solution. My Gyration Airmouse and wireless keyboard failed to provide a positive gaming experience, as the Airmouse didn’t provide the required precision whilst wielded in the air, and the keyboard was too big (despite being a mini-keyboard) and kept falling off my lap. I had yet to discover the joys of Xpadder, and the game in question didn’t support an Xbox 360 controller natively. The solution to my dilemma, I figured, was to find a gaming-specific …
Will Always Online Games Destroy Gaming Life as We Know It?
Chris Kavan - wrote on 03/23/13 at 11:13 AM CT
Scandal! Anger! Absolute hate! For those of you who have been living under a rock, March 05, 2013 was supposed to be the day EA gave us the next thrilling chapter in everyone's favorite city building saga, SimCity. Instead it has turned into a nightmare of epic proportionss. So bad, EA had to pony up a free game to smooth things over. But it hasn't stopped the landslide of epic hate that has been flowing from the Internet since the day of release.
The funny thing is, didn't we go through this a year ago - you know, with Diablo III? Granted, I think Blizzard Entertainment handled things about 1 million times better than EA has - plus Diablo III has a very respectable reviews whereas SimCity has been slammed by players and critics alike for being, well, pretty terrible. If you're going to pull this kind of crap to make people be online, the least a company can do is make a game that people actually enjoy playing.
I myself didn't really have that big of issue with Diablo III - my …
Xbox Durango Possible Specs Leaked
Nick - wrote on 03/20/13 at 01:58 PM CT
It appears we may now know a little more about what project Durango hides beneath it's speculative veneer. Everyone wants to know what Microsoft is going to have for it's next gen Xbox console, code named Durango. It appears the site VGLeaks has published what is believed to be a leaked installation for the new Xbox's documentation. This documentation has some interesting things in it, but who knows if this is actually real, or just an old copy long since changed. Either way, here is a quick run down of the most interesting points.
1. Durango will have improved hardware so it is more powerful, including a better CPU, GPU, and larger hard drive. Not that interesting, cause an Xbox basically is a computer, of course a new one is going to be better!
2. Every Xbox will have a mandatory Kinect sensor that has to be used. That way game makers know they can use the technology in their games and no gamer is left out. What it actually means is Microsoft (big brother) can watch …
The 7 Worst Types of Gaming Fanboys
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 03/17/13 at 03:31 PM CT
For everything that exists, there are fanboys. Thanks in large part to the Internet and its ability to bring people together based on common interests, fanboys (and fangirls) have been able to unite and form pocket communities where they can feel safe in knowing that everyone around them loves their favorite thing as much as they do.
The problem with fanboys is when they try to interact with the rest of the Internet or with people in the real world. In these situations, fanboys come off as abrasive, annoying, and, quite frankly, a little bit insane. Here is my list of the 7 worst types of fanboys I’ve encountered. Hopefully the knowledge provided here will help others identify these fanboys early on, and thus avoid being sucked into the quagmire of a fanboy argument.
7. Pedo-Taku
Who They Are:
While regular Otaku have been around for decades, and are known for their adoration of all things J-pop, Pedo-Taku are a relatively new phenomenon spawned out of Japan’s …
Backlog: The Embiggening - March, 2013
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 03/07/13 at 02:53 PM CT
Welcome to another look into the near future. With March comes Spring! The long, cold, dead months of Winter have passed us by, leaving us with the promise of rebirth and renewal. The same can be said of videogame releases: March is the traditional release month for delayed games that missed their holiday deadlines. So in March, we’re getting the awesome-looking “Dragon’s Crown” and the long-awaited “Pikmin 3”… oh… no we’re not, as both of those games had their releases pushed back EVEN FURTHER. Oh well, let’s see if there’s anything salvageable amongst the rest of the crap…
Terrible licensed games and shovelware look to have been reproducing as prodigiously as the bunnies of the upcoming Easter/Vernal Equinox holiday. Every platform under the sun is getting a game based on “The Croods” (a CG movie about cavemen) and the aging HD Twins are getting a new ‘Naruto’ game (Is that annoying bastard STILL getting new episodes?). Not to be left out of the …
Review Round-Up: Winter 2012
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 03/03/13 at 12:13 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:
Winter saw our co-op gaming increase significantly from the previous quarter, thanks in large part to the release of the WiiU. Of course, after blasting through 3 WiiU games, we’re out of ammo now and the system will be collecting dust until at least June (provided “Pikmin 3” doesn’t get pushed back again). Outside of co-op games, I went hardcore Indie during the Winter, experiencing a wide range of quality (or lack thereof) in the process. I also continued diligently chipping away at my backlog, chiseling out a significant amount of the 5th and 6th Gen layers of strata.
“Super Mario Bros. X” – 5/5
“Torchlight 2” – 3/5
“The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings – Enhanced Edition” – 3/5
“Beyond Good & Evil HD” – 2.5/5
“Brave Fencer Musashi” – 2/5
“New Super Mario Bros. U” – …
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