Posts tagged editorial 
Joystiq isn't scoring reviews anymore, and here's why
Ever since we started publishing reviews here at Joystiq, we've striven to deliver the most timely and definitive critiques we can. The word "definitive" is important in this conversation, because things don't get much more definitive than a review score. The very purpose of a score is to define so...
We're paying for broken games, and it's unacceptable
There was a time when you bought a game, pulled it out of the box, popped it into your device of choice, and that was it. In today's video game industry, however, a single game isn't even the end product. Now we have downloadable content and expansion packs – and don't forget to buy the seaso...
Editor's Note: We Are Always Fighting
We are always fighting. The first video game I ever played, Space Invaders, rendered fighting in a sickly green hue, with squid-like aliens descending down the bulbous surface of a beige monitor. As much as I admired their patient and orderly see-saw attack pattern on our planet, it made it easy...
Editorial: Steam Machines are nonsense and Valve is cool with that
At 9:30 on the first morning of CES in Las Vegas, Tuan Nguyen walked into the Engadget media trailer carrying two cardboard boxes, each large enough to hold an adult cat. He placed the boxes on a table in a back room and asked me for something to cut through the tape holding them closed. He eventua...
Editorial: SimCity, Diablo 3 and a review of customer service
I don't like writing game reviews. I'm a news guy, comfortable moving within and reporting on the binary conclusions of business in the video game industry. Reviews are emotional. Always have been. With SimCity and Diablo 3, I think the already tempestuous machine of game reviews in this industry ...
Editorial: I love Super Crate Box and I hate virtual buttons
Guys, I want to like Super Crate Box on iOS so, so much. I really do. Vlambeer's latest release is a port of the truly wonderful (and completely free) PC, Mac, and Winnitron 1000 game that I've devotedly recommended to friends and readers repeatedly since playing it at last year's GDC. In shor...
Editorial: 'I'm tired of saving the world'
Heavy Rain asks us "How far would you go to save someone you love?" Few games bother with this sort of question because the answer is intensely personal. Most games would rather task you with saving the world than with rocking a baby to sleep or patching up a failed relationship. This intransigen...
What makes JRPGs worth playing
This is a column by Jason Schreier dedicated to the analysis (and occasional mocking) of his favorite genre, the Japanese role-playing game. Whether it's because they're too antiquated or just too niche, he believes JRPGs don't get enough attention in the gaming industry today. It's time to change t...
Editorial: Lay of the 3D Land
Eric Caoili loved the stereoscopic effect in Super Mario 3D Land. In this article, he explains why it was so good -- and why it shouldn't be a priority for other 3DS games. Since the 3DS's launch, many gamers and reviewers have complained about the lack of titles that use the handheld's ster...
Editorial: The broken, sputtering launch of Battlefield 3 online multiplayer
Let's play a little game, folks. Here are three separate quotes from EA/DICE, each given soon after the launch of a major Battlefield. Can you tell which is for Battlefield: Bad Company 2, which is for Battlefield 1943, and which is for Battlefield 3? No Googling! "Despite having a major in...
