News Flash: It’s not a bad thing to play old games

The games industry moves ridiculously fast. This year alone, there have been so many great, HUGE games to play. From Zelda: Breath of the Wild to Horizon: Zero Dawn; Persona 5 to Splatoon 2; Nioh to Nier: Automata, we have been spoiled with a ridiculous amount of amazing games that I haven’t had the time […]

Unpopular Opinion: Games Should Be More Expensive

For the last decade, a standard edition of a full retail release of a new video game has been $60. The price point was somehow agreed upon as the new standard ever since the PS3/Xbox 360 era (Wii games were at $50 during that time). With the start of the PS4/Xbox One generation, I fully […]

Listen to Your Game: The Importance of Music and Sound in Video Games

Video games are largely a visual medium; it is half the name of the industry after all. However, just as the visuals of a game can play a key role in your immersion in its world, so can the soundtrack. For some people, a good soundtrack can make or break a form of entertainment. I’m […]

Big PlayStation Store sales this week!

So today starts a new sales week for the PlayStation store, and there are some big titles with deep discounts that you should scoop up. The deals are even sweeter if you’re a PlayStation Plus subscriber. The first game I wanna talk about is Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor: Game of the Year Edition. This huge […]

The great video game debate: Physical vs. Digital

Pretty much since the Summer of Arcade on Xbox Live Arcade back in 2008 highlighted digital-only titles like Braid and Castle Crashers, the video game industry has slowly – sometimes painfully – been shifting toward an all-digital future. There are quite a few different ways to look at this; in theory, this should reduce the […]

My first blog! E3 2017 Predictions

Hello world! If you’re reading this, welcome to The Joyful Gamer blog. My name is Ryan and I’ve been an avid gamer for as long as I can remember. I love the adventures they take me on, the experiences I’ve had with friends and family while playing them, and the challenges and memorable moments they’ve […]