Steam is Becoming Darwinian by Design
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 03/25/18 at 03:31 PM CT
Recently, I took some time away from videogames to do something I haven’t done since college: Read non-fiction. Among the several books I read between the Holiday Season of 2017 and now was “The God Delusion” by evolutionary biologist and prominent anti-religion advocate, Richard Dawkins. One of the shortcomings in the American education system – and at the very root of the whole Evolution vs. Creation faux-debate – is that Darwinist systems are never explained particularly well to our Public School students. At least it wasn’t explained particularly well to me… or Chris or Nick, as we all attended the same high school with a Biology teacher who actively promoted Creationism, disbelieved Evolution, and gladly handed out laughable-in-hindsight videocassettes promoting a religious worldview.
“WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH VIDEOGAMES?!” I can hear raging forth from the less enlightened.
It turns out that our digital gaming storefronts are currently in the midst …
Games “Like”
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 03/18/18 at 05:08 PM CT
I have a history of making a fuss about RPGs and the definitions of certain real and imagined subdivisions of my long-time favorite genre. I’m not going to rehash any of those arguments today, though. However, my reasons for demanding clarity, reason, and logic in the definition of RPGs radiates out from that one genre to encompass the whole of videogames as a hobby and a community. Genres and terminology are being diluted, and with this corruption of language, we are left with confusion, frustration, and lack of clarity and direction.
What brings me to the topic of the decadence of videogame terminology, once again, is the current cooperative game the MeltedJoystick Crew has been playing on Monday nights: “Shadow Warrior 2.” This game has affected me in a way no other shooter has before. It’s ostensibly an ‘old-school’ ‘fast-paced’ FPS with lots and lots of action and gore, yet as one of the world’s leading haters of the ‘DOOM,’ ‘Quake,’ ‘Heretic,’ …
Beware the Coming Tide: 5 Dominant Mobile Genres
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 03/10/18 at 03:52 PM CT
With the end of 2017 bringing a storm of Trump-like ‘Fire and Fury’ from gamers and gaming journalists alike in the face of EA’s and Warner Bros.’ escalation of loot-box-based microtransactions in $60 games, it feels like there is indeed an ethical push-back from Core Gamers against the deplorable predatory monetization practices that have been used to target the Casual Gamers of the mobile phone App Stores since game-like Apps first started appearing in those venues. I fear, though, that it is only a matter of time before the corporate overlords of the “AAA” games industry try some other mobile-inspired angles to gain access to all the money in the world. Here’s an outline of what I perceive as the 5 major ‘genres’ of mobile gaming which could (or already have) bleed into ‘real’ gaming and ruin things for everyone.
5. The Nostalgia Mash-Up Gacha Machine
I’ve talked about this mobile genre quite a bit already, largely because these are the only mobile …
Review Round-Up: Winter 2017
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 03/04/18 at 02:29 PM 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:
This Winter, I got the opportunity to christen my Yule Switch… which was really the highlight of the quarter. Both Switch games I played are excellent, while the things plucked from my backlog of both PC games and Fanslated ROMs didn’t impress nearly as much.
“Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor” – 4/5
“Spore” – 3/5
“Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle” – 4.5/5
“Warhammer: End Times - Vermintide” – 2/5
“Super Mario Odyssey” – 5/5
“Live A Live” – 3.5/5
Chris’ Reviews:
Guess who didn’t finish “No Man’s Sky!” Guess who didn’t finish “The Witcher 3: GotY Edition” on PC! Guess who finally submitted reviews for co-op games from last quarter! If you guessed, “Chris,” YOU WIN! In between his bouts of attempting to become a streaming superstar on Twitch (make sure to check out …
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