Does Valve Have What it Takes to Enter the Console Wars?
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 12/16/12 at 02:36 PM CT
Gabe Newell has recently stated to Kotaku that Valve is working on a “Living Room PC.” While the details are sketchy at best, the consensus is that this Living Room PC will compete with 8th Generation consoles in a more direct and in-your-face way than PC gaming ever has done in the past. Based on the things that Gabe, Valve, and Steam have done in the past year, the results could either be amazing or catastrophic.
According to Gabe’s statements, he is both excited about the potential of Steam Big Screen Mode for Linux and anticipating hardware makers to start building and selling PC configurations specifically designed for use in the living room. While PCs configured for use in the living room have been around for years under the moniker of “Home Theater PCs” instead of “Living Room PCs,” Valve specifically wants to build a Living Room PC with a tightly controlled environment. Supposedly, the use of PCs in the living room will provide much more flexibility to …
Review Round-Up: Fall 2012
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 12/08/12 at 07:17 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:
Fall proved to be nearly as dire as the Summer for our co-op reviews. We only ended up playing one fully co-op game (“PixelJunk Eden”), while dabbling in two others (“SoulCalibur 5” and “Nintendo Land”) and starting (but not finishing) another (“Torchlight 2”). Outside of co-op games, I was finally able to put the entirety of my Wii’s library to rest (experiencing games ranging from mediocre to spectacular in the process), clear the rest of the ‘PixelJunk’ out of my backlog, and dig into an incredible Indie RPG.
“The Last Story” – 4.5/5
“Overlord: Dark Legend” – 3.5/5
“Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: My Life as a Darklord” – 3/5
“PixelJunk Eden” – 2.5/5
“Pandora’s Tower” – 5/5
“SoulCalibur 5” – 3/5
“PixelJunk Shooter 2” – 4/5
“Cthulhu Saves the World” …
WiiU Owners Reject "AAA" Gaming?
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 12/08/12 at 03:13 PM CT
My own observations of the WiiU's WaraWara Plaza have shown that almost everyone who owns a WiiU is playing "New Super Mario Bros. U," while just a handful of Miis gather under "Black Ops 2." It seems that Kotaku, who actually have staff members who own those unappreciated-by-WiiU-owners titles, have been able to apply some hard numbers to the WaraWara Plaza Mii distributions.
~700 people playing "Black Ops 2"?
~30 people playing the newest "Madden NFL"?
These numbers sound appropriate based on my esteem for those games/franchises. Too bad the other platforms with those games aren't putting up similar numbers. Of course, considering how huge the numbers for these games are on the Xbox 360, I can't help but wonder two things:
Why aren't these games Xbox 360 exclusives?
Why does Nintendo care so much about getting this particular type of third-party support for the WiiU?
Who Wants to Set a New Guinness World Record for Marathon Gaming?
Chris Kavan - wrote on 12/04/12 at 07:27 PM CT
I like to think that I'm pretty passionate about gaming. I did sink over just over 240 hours worth of time into Skyrim, earning the Platinum trophy. However, that was over the course of several months time. Imagine me doing that same feat in one continuous play through. It would take that kind of dedication, effort (and, I imagine just a hint of madness) to match the efforts of one Okan Kaya.
Seems this Australian was so excited for the release of Call of Duty: Black Ops II that he not just broke the old record, he obliterated it. Luckily, Guinness has rules that accompany such a feat: that is, one is allowed a 10 minute break every hour - and any accumulated time can be carried over. That means you don't have to worry about winding up like this or this or this. That's right - support and rules are there to keep you alive, (relatively) healthy and sane. But there are a few things holding me back.
For one, I can't honestly think of a game I would want to play for over 135 hours …
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 …
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