Backlog: The Embiggening – October, 2024
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 09/29/24 at 02:32 AM CT
Welcome back to another look into the near future! We’re back in the “spooookiest” month of the year, but right now the only things that are scary are the ineptitude of our elected officials and the dismal quality of monthly videogame releases. Zombies won’t get the chance to eat my brain on Halloween if the neverending stream of political ads and shite game releases cause it to shrivel up and disintegrate!
Oh, EFF-ing, EFF! There are even more shovelware titles than there were last month: Over 20! And we’ve got all three categories represented to boot. In the Licensed Swill category there’s a LOT of stuff. There are games based on TV shows, like “Totally Spies! – Cyber Mission,” “Monster High: Skulltimate Secrets,” “The Smurfs: Dreams” (a show that’s been off the air for generations), “Nick Jr. Party Adventure” (really a whole TV network), “Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero,” “SpongeBob Squarepants: The Patrick Star Game,” “Sword Art Online: …
Sony Prices the PlayStation 5 Pro at $700 in a World Where No One Needs PlayStation
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 09/22/24 at 03:52 PM CT
I don’t know if Corporate Personhood is like the curse of immortality where the recipient/victim still ages and decays while living forever, or what. It seems that Sony might have Super Alzheimer’s Disease… or maybe they’re just retarded. One of those two things needs to be true in order for the corporation to justify selling its upcoming release of the PlayStation 5 Pro mid-gen upgrade for a whopping $700! That makes the Giant Enemy Crab-laden PlayStation 3 launch price of $600 look tame by comparison, especially with the PS3 being crammed full of cutting edge technology like a Blu-Ray drive and the multi-core Cell Processor, while the PS5 is… just an off-the-shelf, mid-range PC running a proprietary Sony OS. AND it doesn’t even have an internal disc drive anymore, so if you throw down for one of those, it’ll be MORE than $700!
It seems that Sony may be releasing this refresh of their already-unnecessary 9th Gen console to coincide with their 30th Anniversary as …
New “Steam Families” is Mired in Caveats
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 09/15/24 at 02:53 PM CT
Back in 2013, Valve introduced a feature in their PC gaming storefront, Steam, called “Steam Family Sharing,” which allowed relatives (and friends) to share their Steam libraries with each other, with the burdensome restriction that if a friend or relative was playing a game from your account, you couldn’t play ANY games in your account without kicking the share-ee out of their game first.
In March of 2024, Valve announced that Steam Family Sharing was going to be replaced by a re-designed take on the feature, simply called “Steam Families.” Allegedly, Steam Families would solve that glaring flaw in Steam Family Sharing by taking each copy of each game in a familial group and treating them separately, effectively transforming the collective game pools of all family members into a single pool, operated like a public library, in which each game license can be “checked-out” by any family member without impeding other family members from playing anything else in the …
Can We PLEASE Stop with the Hero Shooters, Already?
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 09/08/24 at 02:37 PM CT
Last week, something completely unexpected drifted into my Steam feed: A recommendation by a curator I follow called “Coop Cowboys” for a new game being developed by Valve…. Yes, you read that right! VALVE, the parent company of Steam, responsible for such incredible games as “Half-Life 2” and “Portal 2” is dipping a timid toe back into the realm of actual game development again after the disastrous launch and inevitable failure of their digital Trading Card Game, “Artifact” in 2018 and the well-received-but-limited-audience launch of their VR-exclusive ‘Half-Life’ spinoff, “Half-Life: Alyx” in 2020.
Valve’s new game is simply titled “Deadlock,” and based on the recommendation by Coop Cowboys and the vaguely-interesting-from-a-thematic-perspective screencaptures available on the upcoming game’s store page, I got overly excited. Just a few days later, people in the invite-only Beta test revealed that “Deadlock” is not the next great …
Review Round-Up: Summer 2024
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 09/01/24 at 01:26 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:
My gaming slowed to a trickle over the Summer. I found myself terribly disappointed by the two brand-new Japanese games backed by celebrated directors (who both died shortly before the games released) that I bought for closer-to-full-price than I’ll usually even think about. Indeed, a full half of my reviews ended up being for coop games the Crew completed together. I’ve got “Unicorn Overlord” and the third volume of “DragonLance Destinies” up next on my list of media to consume, but I’m still up to my chest in redecorating, so I’ve put off starting either of those for nearly a month.
“Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heros” – 2/5
“Warhammer: Chaosbane” – 2/5
“Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge” – 4/5
“Sand Land” – 3/5
Chris’ Reviews:
Chris has had plenty of time for …
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