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Cheerful Ghost Radio Episode 82: High Score Review (first half)

In this episode we're dusting off our favorite old consoles as we take a trip back to the early days of gaming, in our review of Netflix's new documentary series, High Score. For this review, we covered the first 4 episodes.

Modern Marvles: The History of Video Games

The History Channel is one of my favorite channels on YouTube, I've been watching it a lot lately. Anyway, I stumbled upon this video and thought I'd share it here. Surprisingly, I did learn some things. A lot of this I knew about, but it's pretty nice to watch a documentary on the history of something you've experienced most of your life. If you're like me, it will take you down Memory Lane. So, give it a watch!

What do you think about this video and the history of video games? Do you have a long, fond, and memorable history with video games? Feel free to share your thoughts!

Analogue Pocket Pre Orders Start August 3rd

Pre Orders for the Analogue Pocket will go live August 3rd @ 8am PT. The base system will play Gameboy, Gameboy Color and Gameboy Advance games and be priced at $200 and will ship with a raft of other add-on gear and some entirely new features that look to make the system even better than we originally thought. I'll clip the spec sheet below:

* Compatible with Game Boy, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance game cartridges.
* 3.5" LCD. 16001440 resolution. 615ppi.
* 360 display rotation (tate mode)
* Variable refresh display
* Rechargeable lithium ion 4300mAh battery
* 6-10 hour gameplay time & 10+ hour sleep time 9
* All buttons mappable
* Stereo speakers
* micro SD card... Read All

Cheerful Ghost Radio Episode 80: The Life Update, Summer Edition

The year 2020 has been with us for approximately 57 years now. Experts are still at odds on the specific amount of time it's been. But we're still here, and we're back this episode to tell youwhat we've been playing and watching in the absolute hellscape of 2020, and also to dish about the Fallout TV show that may be filmed if there's ever a time when it's safe to be around people again. Plus , we talk COVID-19, Black Lives Matter, and other things hitting us hard in this nightmare of a year.

FYI: There are Final Fantasy VII Remake spoilers from 47:25 to 52:50 so please skip that part if you want to play this and haven't.

Plus Travis mentioned Daveed Diggs and how... Read All

The Humble Fight for Racial Justice Bundle is Another Great Way to Grow Your Backlog and Support Racial Justice

The itch.io Bundle for Racial Justice has just finished up, raising over $8.1 million, and now Humble is out with their version of this.

There are currently 50 games and 25 books, too many to list out here, but a few highlights are in the image above.

This is a starting price of $30 if you want to get the goods, but it's well worth it. Head over to Humble and support a very worthy cause!

https://www.humblebundle.com/fight-for-racial-justice-bundle

Support Racial Justice and Get Thousands of Dollars Worth of Games for $5 (Minimum)

There's a massive bundle on itch.io that will probably continue to grow. At the start, a few days ago, there were only a few dozen games in this bundle. Now there are 740+ works total (not all games, but a huge majority) from 560+ creators. All proceeds go to two non-profits fighting for the cause of racial justice, and I can't think of anything more worthy of our support.

I'll let the itch.io copy speak for itself:

We live in a time of racial injustice, inequality, and police brutality against black people. We hope that everyone takes a stand in any way that they can. We’ve partnered with creators from all across our platform to support organizations that are working... Read All

Cheerful Ghost Radio Episode 78: The Episode Where We Tell You The Future of Gaming

You may not know this, but we recently unlocked latent psychic abilities, and in this episode we are here to tell you exactly what's coming to gaming in the next ten years. But this episode is not the most important thing right now.

While we usually boost ourselves on social media when we drop a new episode, but this time we aren't doing that. Right now, the world is hurting. If the pandemic wasn't enough, the senseless murder of George Floyd has resonated throughout the world, and this seems like the wrong time to try to boost ourselves. We hope this episode provides you with a welcome distraction, but we aren't going to try to spread it around. Instead we'd like to... Read All

2020's Best Monitors for PC Gaming: A Digital Foundry Guide

Recently I purchased a new Ultra Wide monitor as I am Software Engineer by trade and work from home. I've been doing that now for 8+ years and also provide myself all of my peripherals, monitor, desk, chair and office. About the same time ago I purchase a Dell Ultrasharp that has run like a champ from job to job and StarCraft II to Rage 2 over those 8 years. I recently started a new role at Salesforce and decided that after 8 years it was time for a new monitor. In the end I went with a fresh new Dell Ultrasharp Ultra Wide and it's a dream. It's not something i'd recommend for gaming but if you are looking for a new gaming display Digital Foundry has a great video... Read All

The Rise of Virtual Sports and ESports

I used to play a lot of fantasy sports. You'd generally pick a team of players (football, basketball, baseball, etc) from all the guys playing that day, and then as they compile stats (points/rebounds/steals/etc in basketball, passing yards/catches/touchdowns in football, just to name a few), you get a cumulative point total for your team.

But now there aren't any sports being played...
at least no sports being played by humans.

In the video above you'll see 2 virtual NBA games being simulated by a Playstation. No one is playing the characters, it's just a simulation. (My wife thinks this is the dumbest thing ever lol) On the various fantasy sports apps, before the... Read All I used to play a lot of fantasy sports. You'd generally pick a team of players (football, basketball, baseball, etc) from all the guys playing that day, and then as they compile stats (points/rebounds/steals/etc in basketball, passing yards/catches/touchdowns in football, just to name a few), you get a cumulative point total for your team.

But now there aren't any sports being played...
at least no sports being played by humans.

In the video above you'll see 2 virtual NBA games being simulated by a Playstation. No one is playing the characters, it's just a simulation. (My wife thinks this is the dumbest thing ever lol) On the various fantasy sports apps, before the games, you can choose lineups, just as if they were real games, and then watch along and root for "your" players. The website https://www.awesemo.com/ has been running both NBA and NFL simulations, and I've found it really fun to watch along with. And really, I don't see much of a difference in passively watching real players play games, or simulated players play games (my wife strongly disagrees and thinks this is the dumbest thing ever lol)

I'm not really into NASCAR, but today I stumbled upon eNASCAR/iRacing, and I might become a full-time fan. Actual NASCAR drivers race virtually against each other, using realistic multi-monitor simulators on their computers. The graphics of the simulation look really, really good.
Here's an example of what a race looks like (this was on FOX, and had real racing commentators) https://youtu.be/g75HghckIyY?t=474
And here's an example of what their racing setups look like: https://youtu.be/nHDH0pL_qBM

There are a ton more Esports/Virtual Sports out there. I've seen Virtual Golf (sometimes there are simulated players like Happy Gilmore and Shooter McGavin lol), Virtual Baseball in addition to various Virtual basketball and football simulations. And fantasy apps are venturing into Reality TV as well. You can create a "team" of players for the show Survivor, and you get points for things like Wins Immunity/Cries on camera/Catches Seafood.

And of course League of Legends has had fantasy sports for years now. Here's a post Jon wrote back in 2014 https://cheerfulghost.com/jdodson/posts/2043/league-of-legends-gets-the-fantasy-football-treatment

Almost all the Virtual/ESports contests are free to enter, and many allow multiple entries, so you can try different lineups and see how they score. It's a fun thing to fill the time with, and occasionally you can win 5-10 cents lol. My favorite app is FanDuel, which you can download from any app store, or go to this website https://www.fanduel.com/

Cheerful Ghost Radio Episode 77: Breaking Down Over the Next Consoles

How better to spend your time in quarantine than listening to us talk about the next generation of consoles? We dive into the next generation and talk about what Microsoft and Sony might bring to the table. But first, we update you all on how we've been coping with the pandemic and all the stuff we've been playing and watching.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 04/17/2020 at 03:52am

I heard the new consoles will feature ray tracing. I also saw something about the PS5 will probably have limited stock during it's first year.

But..... #PCMasterRace!

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 04/18/2020 at 09:25pm

I'll have to listen to this soon. I realized the other day that I have no idea what the current consoles are, nor what's coming next lol

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 04/18/2020 at 11:44pm

@AdamPFarnsworth Gigaflops!

jdodson Admin wrote on 04/19/2020 at 02:07am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-77xulkB_U

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 04/19/2020 at 03:50am

I had a feeling I knew what that youtube link was going to be before I clicked it.

Glad to know I was right! :D

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 04/19/2020 at 03:58am

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 04/19/2020 at 07:27pm

Actually, I meant teraflops as you can see here: https://www.polygon.com/2020/3/31/21187430/ps5-xbox-series-x-specs-comparison-next-gen Here's a brief article with an included video about what's a teraflop: https://www.polygon.com/2016/6/14/11932910/what-is-a-teraflop-explainer I think it's a different calculation than what I'm used to seeing regarding GPUs and CPUs where they're measured in megahertz or gigahertz. In a way, I kind of feel like "teraflops" is a bit of a "buzz word" to make the new consoles sound super amazing (and they may very well be). I haven't dived into their details as my interest in them isn't great, but I'm glad they're finally getting SSDs, Since I got one last summer, I realized just how awesome they are, if for nothing else other than greatly speeding up the load time from power off to desktop (at least in my Windows 10 experience). So, at least just being where the OS resides, it can give a dramatic performance increase. I think this is perhaps the single most important hardware upgrade someone could make to make their PC feel faster or notably improved

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 04/19/2020 at 09:01pm

LOL! Yeah, I think we all knew what that YouTube link was going to be ;)
I've listened to about half the podcast, and I'm glad that it sounds like everyone's doing as well as can be expected!

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 04/19/2020 at 10:29pm

Also, as far as what I'm watching, some good trash on Netflix is The Circle (so far I've watched the original and Brazil, and now I'm watching France).

It's the perfect show right now, as we really are living in The Circle.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 04/19/2020 at 11:26pm

The killer feature im hoping will go well is streaming. My company (engineering/architectural) has moved to 90% virtual machines using Workspots (Microsoft Azure). I am drawing complex 3D models, and aside from a few hiccups when rolling out the new computers, my virtual experience is better than when I worked on my local computer in my office. I hope Microsoft is able to utilize what they've learned in Workspot, and really nail the streaming environment. I've not bought a system since the Wii U, but if I could get a high-powered game streaming service, I might look at getting back into hard-core gaming.

jdodson Admin wrote on 04/19/2020 at 11:56pm

I think Microsoft will have some really interesting with Game Pass. Or at least I hope it will.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 04/20/2020 at 02:50am

I think you accidentally a word

Some really interesting...?

;)

jdodson Admin wrote on 04/20/2020 at 03:07am

I ACCIDRNTLY NO

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 04/22/2020 at 08:38pm

I will probably get the Xbox Series X first. I have the OG Xbox One and it is a little sluggish playing Fallen Order. I want to upgrade to a One X, but I figure it is best to wait for the Series X.

jdodson Admin wrote on 04/23/2020 at 02:14am

https://thumbs.gfycat.com/InsignificantInfiniteArrowcrab-size_restricted.gif

jdodson Admin wrote on 04/23/2020 at 02:15am

☝️Wins the award for the oddest named GIF image compared to what it actually is.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 04/24/2020 at 01:13pm

Yeah gotta love those gfycat random names. I think it's always two adjectives and an animal.

jdodson Admin wrote on 04/24/2020 at 08:16pm

That’s way more fun than some random hexadecimal

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