Backlog: The Embiggening – November, 2019
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 10/27/19 at 04:31 PM CT
Alas, in this world of corporate corruption where our government by-and-for the People is railed against by our own politicians, who inform us that “private” ownership puts things in the hands of the people, whereas “public” ownership puts things in the hands of some evil, bureaucratic entity (when, in reality, that’s the exact opposite of the Truth), it’s no surprise that November is known primarily for the phenomenon of Black Friday, rather than the day that comes before it. Indeed, there is often so little to be thankful for…
But this year, Black Friday is destined to be a non-entity, as the corporate retail machinery started to panic-grind into high gear a month earlier, moving the official start of the Winter Holiday Shopping Season to mid-October. What’s next? I’ll be getting X-mas gifts for my birthday in August?
Much like the Spice in the world of ‘Dune,’ the shovelware must flow. And flow it will in November. There are no unnecessary annual …
Fear and Loathing
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 10/20/19 at 04:31 PM CT
With Halloween – the Druidic celebration co-opted by both the Catholic Church and American Consumerism over the centuries – just around the corner, it’s impossible to step into any public space without seeing its festive trappings everywhere, as people revel in the indulgence of the supernatural, even as increasingly few Westerners believe in any of it. For those who regularly follow the blog here at MeltedJoystick, it should come as no surprise that I am quite dismissive of Survival Horror videogames, and, indeed, the entire Genre (with a big “G”) of Horror in general. This stance puts me strongly at odds with my brother-from-another-mother-(and-father), Chris, who obsessively loves Horror and has since we were elementary school kids.
I struggle to understand the idea of “scary = fun,” as I spent far too much of my childhood in abject terror, and it was decidedly NOT fun. As a kid, I fully believed in the supernatural and paranormal – not just at Halloween, but …
Can Anyone Legitimize Mobile Gaming?
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 10/13/19 at 03:08 PM CT
Mobile gaming is a massive, multi-billion dollar industry, yet it has been a plague upon the world since its very inception. While a few Japanese developers, like my once-beloved Square-Enix, tried to migrate traditional gaming to the mobile space of feature phones via cheap episodic titles like “Final Fantasy 4: The After Years,” which originally released in February 2008, it wasn’t until the iPhone App Store and Google Play (formerly known as the Android Market) came blazing onto the scene later that same year that the modern concepts of the smart phone and the app were truly born.
In spite of the huge amount of money mobile gaming generates, it is well-known among Core Gamers as a hive of scum and villainy. Mobile versions of beloved IPs like ‘Diablo’ are met with heckling and derision. We’ve caught onto the fact that mobile games are shallow imitations of the ‘real’ games we care about, with cynical monetization tacked on. Hell, even non-game software, like …
Five Inscrutable Things the Games Industry Still Does in 2019
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 10/06/19 at 04:31 PM CT
5. Draconian DRM and Treating Customers Like Criminals
It’s the eternal tug-o-war between corporations and customers. No matter how many studies, or sales models, or anything else rooted in facts proves that anti-piracy measures accomplish nothing, and that giving users of digital/electronic products a slick, easy experience with no hoop-jumping required is better for everyone on both sides, corporations still acts like feudal lords or totalitarian dictators. They probably do it because IP rights in the civilized West haven’t been reformed significantly since 1662. Sadly, with the renewed focus on the Chinese “stealing” American ideas, I don’t think any upcoming reforms will actually take things in the right direction.
4. Releasing Licensed Tie-In Trash for Every Kids’ Movie/Show
We have known since at least 1982 that licensed games based on movies, TV shows, and… dog food are untrustworthy, to say the least. Yet even this year, in 2019, we’ve gotten our fair …
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