Easter Eggs
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 04/08/12 at 03:34 PM CT
Easter Eggs have been a part of videogames for as long as videogames have existed. While the initial Easter Eggs – the ones that defined the term – were more vanity pieces where the programmers slipped-in an inside joke or other small, hidden detail, the concept evolved over time. The term soon became associated with hidden goodies and bonus features in a game that could be unlocked by dedicated players. Easter Eggs reached their height during the last two generations, in which games like “GoldenEye 64” and the ‘Ratchet & Clank’ series featured formalized menus to help players keep track of their discovered Eggs and to activate/deactivate the associated features.
But now that dear old Easter Bunny has been bought-out by Big Business with an interest in maximizing profits. Few 7th Generation games contain Easter Eggs or unlockables, instead holding back those fun, silly options as paid add-ons via DLC. Extra costumes, extra music tracks, extra equipment, extra levels: …
Disposable Gaming
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 04/01/12 at 02:46 PM CT
For most people who proudly call themselves “Gamers,” videogames are more than just a timewaster. For these people, among whom the entire MeltedJoystick staff (okay, maybe not Alex) counts ourselves, videogames are a beloved hobby. Gamers enjoy playing, collecting, analyzing, and replaying the games in our libraries. Those of us who have been gaming for a long time can go back and replay old favorites and compare them to new releases, experiencing the ways in which game developers improve or worsen their craft over time and observing the evolution of gameplay mechanics.
In this way, classic games from the 8-bit and 16-bit eras are like classic works of literature: Modern readers may only care about “Twilight,” “Harry Potter,” and “The Hunger Games,” but without earlier works ranging from Greek and Roman myths to Shakespearean plays, modern literature wouldn’t exist. Some of these aged writings are still eminently readable today… some are not. But by looking at …
Nintendo-Hard
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 03/25/12 at 12:28 PM CT
The MeltedJoystick team has been playing quite a bit of “Rayman Origins” lately, which is a challenging, traditional 2D Platformer. The fact that this game has a bit of challenge to it has prompted Nick and myself to get into an argument about whether or not it should be classified as ‘Nintendo-Hard,’ with Nick voting in favor and me voting against that designation.
So what exactly is Nintendo-Hard? No, it’s not what occurs in a Nintendo Fanboy’s pants when he sees a mint condition copy of “Little Samson” in a pawn shop for $5. Nintendo-Hard is a term applied to 8-bit games on the classic Nintendo Entertainment System (which was commonly called just ‘The Nintendo’ by its users). Typically Nintendo-Hard games weren’t even made by Nintendo themselves (though there were a few), but by other long-haul Japanese developers like Capcom and Konami, or even clueless Westerners.
According to TVtropes: “The game mechanics that make a game "Nintendo Hard" were often …
Noli Me Tangere!
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 03/17/12 at 03:37 PM CT
According to Christian mythology, the risen Jesus yelled, “Noli me tangere!” when one of his disciples tried to touch him to confirm that he was real and not an apparition. Whether you believe that or not, Jesus did get one thing right: Touching is bad.
Specifically, I’m referring to the current trend for every game console, computer, and other electronic gadget to incorporate a touchscreen. While touchscreen gaming began mostly as a Nintendo gimmick with their DS handheld, the fact that Apple hopped on the finger-friendly bandwagon has prompted technology hipsters to proclaim it the BEST. TECH. EVAR., which, of course, has prompted everyone else in the gadget industry to adopt the technology, whether it makes sense or not, just to get their hands on some of that sweet hipster cash.
I admittedly don’t have a lot of experience with touchscreen-controlled gaming, simply because my experience with the DS has been so profoundly negative as to turn me off on portable gaming …
Vaguely Related: ReDigi
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 03/11/12 at 02:28 PM CT
The advent of the digital marketplace has done a lot for intellectual property peddlers, drastically improving their ability to put media in front of consumers’ eyeballs. By cutting out scores of middle-men, digital distribution enables a la carte purchases where once albums and bundles reigned supreme, places Indies toe-to-toe with Big Media, and allows for overall lower prices due to the removal of physical packaging and minimum production numbers. These changes from the standard retail model are good for both producers and consumers.
However, all is not rainbows and roses. Thanks to increasingly desperate and tyrannical overreaching by the producers of intellectual property, the copyright system has become a legal minefield, shrouded in a tangled morass of poisonous webbing. While it may be easier to purchase intellectual property than ever before thanks to digital distribution, it is now more dangerous to even think about intellectual property than ever before thanks to the …
10 Forgotten 8-bit Games that Need a Remake/Reboot
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 03/03/12 at 03:58 PM CT
The 3rd Generation of consoles was home to a lot of innovation and creativity in game design. Games were an entirely new canvas upon which to paint entertainment, with only the barest of design paradigms laid-down by Generations 1 and 2. Yet for all its freedom and newness, the 3rd Generation was not without its problems: Crushing difficulty due to the ‘arcade mentality,’ sloppy controls that made even interesting games unplayable, and terrible Engrish (or lack of text altogether) that made everything a guessing game with completely inscrutable rules and goals.
Modern games have evolved beyond the flaws of yesteryear (and, in the course, developed a host of flaws of their own), with many long-running franchises experiencing every evolutionary bump in the road. Yet the 3rd Generation also was home to a number of intriguing games that never developed into franchises, thus becoming frozen in the past. Here’s a list of 8-bit games that I’d like to see re-created with a fresh …
Review Round-Up: Winter 2011
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 02/26/12 at 05:33 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:
I reviewed a broad variety of things, including two non-traditional FPSes and the most over-hyped game in the Wii’s library. I also got the chance to experience the full breadth of Wii MotionPlus ‘enhanced’ controls.
“Lost in Shadow” – 3/5
“Red Steel 2” – 4/5
“Create” – 4/5
“The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword” – 3/5
“Trine” – 3/5
“Dungeon Defenders” – 3.5/5 (4.5/5 for the superior PC version)
“Portal 2” – 5/5
Chris’ Reviews:
Chris is deeply submerged in the world of “Skyrim,” a game which, he tells me, he should be ready to review sometime in June. In the meantime, he managed to squeeze in a Rhythm game he has already mastered on another platform and a short platformer, alongside our two staff co-op games for the quarter.
“Dungeon Defenders” – 4/5
“Rock Band 3 …
The Great Videogame Crash of ~2013?
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 02/18/12 at 03:05 PM CT
Videogame development has been in a state of flux for the past few years, moving from a niche business to a bank-busting industry seeking to find a home alongside the other forms of Big Media. Yet this incredible prosperity came with a lot of growing pains. This generation has seen more hardware failures than any other, this generation has seen publisher greed lead to crackdowns on used games and a variety of unethical sales techniques like Day-One DLC, games are released buggy and unfinished, nobody knows what to think about smartphones and their massive libraries of cheap & terrible games, and while more games are being released now than ever – especially from Western developers – there are few stand-out titles that are impressive now AND will withstand the test of time.
To me, the current videogame market closely resembles the one built-up by Atari (delenda est!) that lead to the Great Videogame Crash of 1983. Yes, I may have been 3 years old at the time and completely …
Value Added?
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 02/12/12 at 03:24 PM CT
This generation of consoles has seen numerous changes – with most of them coming in the form of things I dislike. One of the most obtrusive changes is the way in which online functionality has permeated every facet of our consoles. Once stand-alone bastions of simplicity, consoles have become just as dependent upon the Internet as PCs.
Had online functionality been implemented in a console-minded fashion – that is, simple and unobtrusive – it would have been an obvious choice for the title of “Best New Innovation” of the generation. A simple and free service to provide matchmaking for online games, mandatory software patches, and a digital marketplace: This is the bare minimum of online functionality, and it’s all we really need. Yet the recent greed of the game industry has lead them down the dark and twisted path of “software as a service,” in which they bleed users dry through subscription fees and microtransactions while simultaneously driving users insane …
The Gristmill
Nelson Schneider - wrote on 02/05/12 at 04:07 PM CT
I have noticed a disturbing trend in games this-gen. Not just my favorite genre of RPGs, but many genres, including strategy and even FPS, have become increasingly focused on one gameplay mechanic: Grinding.
Grinding was introduced long ago in the first RPGs. Games like “Phantasy Star,” “Dragon Quest,” and “Final Fantasy” all involved grinding, but it was a side effect of the then-new mechanic of improving the character’s skills instead of the player’s. Grinding was a necessary evil as developers worked to find the right balance of challenge and playability in their games. If battles were too easy, players could blow through the game with no effort. If battles were too hard, a few hours of grinding would take care of it. It was ‘better,’ it seemed, to err on the side of challenge.
The 16-bit era brought us balanced RPGs, still the only genre to feature grinding, that could be completed using only the points accumulated from battles fought naturally through …
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