Backlog: The Embiggening - December, 2012
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 11/30/12 at 01:51 PM CT
Welcome to another look into the near future. The holiday season is now upon us. You know what that means? Tons of last-minute releases from developers and publishers who are desperate to get their products on store shelves in time for a Christmas purchase!
…
Well, that’s what the holiday season USUALLY means. This year, December’s releases are surprisingly, frighteningly sparse.
After barraging us with dozens of releases for the last two months, the creators of licensed games and shovelware are finally taking a break. December is giving the PS3 and Xbox 360 compilations of the individual episodes of “The Walking Dead” (not to be confused with next year’s “The Walking Dead: The Video Game”) which have been appearing on Steam for several months (and, according to Zombie Expert Chris, are actually good). The PS3 and Xbox 360 are also getting a single new exclusive licensed game each: A ‘Power Rangers’ Kinect game for the 360 and a ‘Lord of the Rings’ …
WiiU First Impressions
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 11/30/12 at 01:44 AM CT
I have officially owned a WiiU for exactly one week. Unfortunately for me, the shipping on the two extra games I ordered online was a little slow, so I haven’t had a chance to play them yet. Fortunately, my WiiU is the Deluxe Set that came with a “game” right in the box: “Nintendo Land.” After playing the pack-in game and messing around with the WiiU’s other features for a week, here’s what I think of the first Generation 8 console.
The fact that Nintendo is selling the WiiU in two configurations is nice, but ultimately meaningless. The price difference between the $300 WiiU Basic Set and $350 WiiU Deluxe Set isn’t enough to make anyone say, “Gee, I can’t afford $350, but I can totally swing $300! Let’s do this!” Especially because the WiiU Basic Set doesn’t come with any games or demos, meaning anyone buying a Basic Set will have to drop $60 for a game (or $40, if they’re buying “Sonic and All-Stars Racing Transformed”), making the end cost …
The Epic Wii U Unboxing Ceremony - MeltedJoystick Style
Chris Kavan - wrote on 11/25/12 at 08:58 PM CT
I have a feeling that just about everyone and their dog is by now aware that Nintendo has unveiled their latest console in the form of the Wii U. Thanks to Satoru Iwata, current president of Nintendo, we were also treated to a very formal unboxing ceremony, introducing the world to this next generation console.
But the team here at MeltedJoystick realized there was a great untapped potential. There are plenty of Wii U unboxings floating around YouTube from various people/sites, but none had as much fun as the staff around here making their own version of the unboxing:
This took a surprisingly amount of work to make - and much thanks goes to Matt Meyer for his skills behind the camera and also his hours spent editing our tribute (or parody if you will) video to the original Iwata unboxing. Here is a breakdown of our very own labor of love:
Opening: As befitting, a traditional bow to greet your audience. I have to mention adding the gong was totally my idea - you're …
The WiiU Gamepad has a Dead Pixel Problem
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 11/25/12 at 02:39 PM CT
According to page 52 of the WiiU Operations Manual, “Due to the characteristics of liquid crystal displays, a small number of pixels may not illuminate or may always stay lit. This is normal and not considered a defect unless the number of pixels that don’t function normally increases over time.”
Bull.
Dead pixels are a manufacturing defect. Some screen makers have a zero-tolerance policy for this kind of mistake. Apparently Nintendo isn’t one of them. Instead, they put a nice disclaimer right there in the manual to cover their butts legally and remove their obligation to replace Gamepads under warranty until a certain mysterious threshold of dead pixels manifest (according to the rumblings of the Internet, in the case of the WiiU Gamepad, the required number of dead pixels is 3).
I don’t have 3 dead pixels. Or 2. I have a single dead pixel sitting off-center, right there under the “d” and “C” of “Find Recommended Connection Type.” It’s not terribly …
Wii Win the 7th Generation
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 11/23/12 at 05:31 PM CT
The next year or so will see the final decline of the 7th Generation, as the remaining competitors wind-down support for their current-generation hardware in order to produce 8th Generation hardware to compete with the recently-released WiiU. So, as Generation 7 – one of the weirdest and most fiercely competitive hardware generations ever – grinds to a halt, it seems only appropriate to announce the winner: The Nintendo Wii.
I could gush about the Wii’s mind-boggling sales figures or the record profits Nintendo raked in through 2008 thanks to the Wii, leading the company to find itself perched atop an enormous pile of cash. But I won’t. I could do the damage control dance as fanboys of other platforms point out that the Wii’s enormous sales dropped precipitously starting in 2009 (disregarding the fact that that’s what happens once everyone on the planet owns a game console and aren’t forced to buy replacements due to shoddy build quality). But I …
Sony PS3: 7th Generation or Bust
Chris Kavan - wrote on 11/21/12 at 01:07 PM CT
I did not line up to buy the PS3 on the day of launch. In fact, for the longest time the only 7th Generation system I owned was the Nintendo Wii. Let's face it, when the PS3 was launched, the price was a bit on the ridiculous side. But thanks to good old Uncle Sam, who decided everyone deserved a nice refund, I did my part for the economy and dropped money on the system. And while the Wii initially got my attention, as the end of this generation approached, the PS3 has by and far been the system I have put the most time and effort into.
I have to say that one of the main reasons I was drawn to the PS3 has nothing to do with games. Sony was a big proponent of the Blu-Ray format, and, as the battle with HD DVD started to heat up, Sony decided to include a Blu-Ray player built in to the PS3. To me, that was a huge draw. Even years later, I still buy plenty of plain old DVDs, but if I do get a Blu-Ray - my PS3 is my player. Right there is a huge advantage that Sony has over both the …
Why Everyone Else is Wrong: a Case for the Xbox 360
Jonzor - wrote on 11/21/12 at 10:51 AM CT
Who “won” the 7th Console Generation? I guess that depends on what you think “winning” is. Does making the most money “win”? How many points is having the most popular game worth? Is losing all of your online community’s personal information through a FREE online service better or worse than a paid-for online service that doesn’t give your info away and shut down for a month?
Your opinion of which console “won” probably boils down to a shockingly small number of variables. Maybe you like RTS games and MMORPGs more than anything else. No one’s going to convince you that anything other than the PC won. Maybe you like shaking spray paint cans that your grandmother and little sister can also enjoy. Well, the Wii is the only console the three of you will ever need.
A lot of people will make this more complicated than it needs to be... muddy the water to try and confuse you. Ultimately be unable to remove their biases from the discussion. So the first …
The New PlayStation Store: What Horrors Hath Sony Wrought?
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 11/17/12 at 04:26 PM CT
After the latest PlayStation 3 hack was revealed, Sony pushed through a whole bunch of updates, both to the PS3’s Cross Media Bar and to the PlayStation Store. Nick believes these updates to be desperate attempts by Sony to avoid having their current home console violated by pirates in the same way that their late PlayStation Portable (PSP) was. I honestly don’t know if that is the case or if the timing of the hack and this string of updates is a coincidence.
What I do know, though, is that the new PlayStation Store interface is an unholy abomination. The original PlayStation Store was decent. It was fairly snappy and free of clutter, with one big promotional box on the front page. It had clear categories for games, DLC add-ons, movies, and all the other minor pointless stuff that nobody cares about (like PS3 Dynamic Themes and 49-cent PSN avatars (because, obviously, it would be insane to let people upload their own avatars, like Steam does, for example)). It further broke …
The FPS is Dead... Long Live the FPS!
Chris Kavan - wrote on 11/14/12 at 12:09 PM CT
Even though there may be people who disagree, the FPS genre is not only here to stay, it's apparently more popular than ever. Sure, you can complain that all the games are the same: brown, bland with a focus on multiplayer where you're more likely to get tea-bagged by a 12-year-old, who is spouting some racist slurs at you, than anything else. But despite this generic characterization, it seems that people just don't care - and, in fact, two recent releases may just be the shot-in-the-arm the video game industry needs.
If you haven't been playing attention, the video game industry has been been in a slump. I don't know about you, but 11 months of declining sales is bad no matter what business you happen to work for. Yet November looks to finally reverse this trend - and not just because of the WiiU.
I'm talking about two juggernauts of FPS glory being released within weeks of each other: first up, we have Halo 4, which has already broken records as the best-selling game in the …
Sequels vs. DLC: Make Up Your Minds, Devs!
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 11/11/12 at 02:49 PM CT
When it comes to milking the success of a popular game, devs and publishers can go one of two ways. The first, and most steeped-in-tradition option, is to crank out a sequel… then another… then another. While this has worked for a long time, it also builds up a set of expectations around a long-running franchise that can lead to catastrophic backlash if any given sequel doesn’t live up to its pedigree. Case in point: The ‘Final Fantasy’ and ‘Legend of Zelda’ franchises are well into the double-digits, and have both suffered high-profile flops this-gen. Sequels that stray too far from their original formula or feel like slap-dash rehashes thrown-together just for the sake of generating some quick revenue damage a franchise’s reputation at worst, or feel tired and spread-thin at best.
The alternative to constantly running on the sequel treadmill is the relatively new concept of downloadable content. DLC can create the same quick revenue stream (at a smaller price per …
Square Enix Now a "Complete Failure." I Wonder Why...
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 11/08/12 at 11:26 AM CT
One of the former bosses at Squaresoft has been tweeting gloom and doom about the merged monstrosity, of which his company is one of the component parts (along with former Squaresoft competitor, Enix, and Western publisher, Eidos).
I wonder why Square Enix is such a failure... maybe because they made a craptastic entry in their signature flagship franchise and, instead of cutting their losses, insisted on cranking out two more direct sequels to the abomination? Maybe it's because they sit on their hands and barely produce any new games, and when they do produce something, it's bad, weird, or completely out of character for its existing franchise?
Let's discuss what's wrong with Square Enix in the comments!
How Much Would YOU Pay for a Pristine Copy of Atari Air Raid?
Chris Kavan - wrote on 11/06/12 at 09:41 PM CT
I know I'm not alone in that I like to collect items. Other members of this site have quite the game and strategy guide collection themselves. However, there comes a point in time when you have to decide what kind of collector you're going to be: casual or hardcore. You will know when you step over that line - if you spend as much on a video game as you would a new vehicle, that's hardcore.
Take this recent example of what is regarded as the rarest game for the Atari 2600: Air Raid. A near pristine copy was found (the only known copy with an intact instruction manual) and was sold for an Atari Record - and actually the record for any non-prototype, non-competition video game, ever. So, how much you ask? How about $33,433.30.
What is the most you've spent on a game? For me, at least recently, I dropped $149.95 on the collector's edition of Star Wars: The Old Republic (which I have yet to play, sadly). I thought that was a pretty good chunk of change for a single game - even …
Wreck-It Ralph: Finally a Video Game Movie That Works
Chris Kavan - wrote on 11/04/12 at 01:13 PM CT
Hollywood has hurt me too many times. Why is it so hard to make a decent movie out of an existing franchise? I mean, it's right there - character, story, action, emotion (most of the time) - all you have to do is come up with an interesting and novel way to present that to audiences. But has Hollywood really ever had success with that? Well, let's see what we have had up to deal with up to this point in time:
Remember this?
Or this?
Or THIS?
If you do, I'm sorry, because those are all examples of how easy it is to take a great video game and turn it into a terrible film. Even the movies that I thought were OK - Silent Hill, Resident Evil, Tomb Raider - are just that: OK. They don't add anything to the video game experience. They are mediocre at best - entertaining, but ultimately empty.
But, this weekend, I'm happy to report a movie finally captures the spirit of video games and manages to make a film that doesn't just work as an animated film, not just a video game …
Backlog: The Embiggening - November, 2012
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 11/03/12 at 02:23 PM CT
Welcome to another look into the near future. The holiday build-up continues this month as developers endeavor to get as many titles as possible onto the shelves of bricks & mortar retailers in time for Black Friday.
The overwhelming assault of licensed games continues, with the immense list of titles playable on every viable platform (as well as dead platforms like the Wii, DS, and PSP) stacking up to form the foundation for a veritable Tower of Babel to confuse, coerce, and appeal to buyers’ worst judgment. In November we’re getting games based on Nickelodeon TV horrors like “Big Time Rush,” “Bubble Guppies,” “Dora the Explora,” and “Victorious.” Not to be left behind, Cartoon Network is contributing a portion of awfulness as well, with new “Ben 10” and “Adventure Time” titles. Outside of those two big IP mills, November will also see new releases covering “Dragon Ball Z,” “NASCAR,” “Winx Club,” “The History Channel,” “LEGO Lord of …
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