Cheerful Ghost: Discussion Forums

Earl Sinclair performs Hypnotize by The Notorious B.I.G.

Earl's got some mad swagger.

Lip syncing is so much easier with puppets it turns out!

Smash Into The Next Level Of Street Fighter Championship Ed

I found this totally awesome old Genesis promo video for Street Fighter II Special Championship Edition. So much amazing 90's cheese. Plus it's also fun to watch an old take on a classic game the time it came out even if it's from the horses mouth.

Guild Wars 2 is incredibly cheap through March 8.

PSA: If you're tried one of the free weekends and liked what you saw, but you were waiting for it to be really, incredibly cheap, now is your opportunity.

http://buy.guildwars2.com/store/gw2/en_US/html/pbPage.buyguildwars2?cid=88:5::::Global:40::

$10 for regular, $15 for the Deluxe edition. Since there's no monthly subscription, this is as close to totally free as it's likely to get.

jdodson Admin wrote on 03/07/2015 at 03:37pm

I've heard the reason it's so cheap now is because they are releasing an expansion soon. Still, there is a ton of game here and $10 is less than my portion of dinner last night.

Yeah, I'm getting it today too.

jdodson Admin wrote on 03/07/2015 at 04:14pm

Which version did you get?

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 03/07/2015 at 04:17pm

Deluxe. I read that it's normally $20 to upgrade to the deluxe version, so while I'm not sure if the extra $5 is worth it, it's at least a better gamble than standard price!

jdodson Admin wrote on 03/07/2015 at 04:21pm

Right, I just picked up the game. I'll download it this weekend, let me know what server you register on.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 03/07/2015 at 07:42pm

Whiteboyslim and Adam, you guys liked it last time. You in? :)

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 03/08/2015 at 01:33am

Everyone, join the Anvil Rock server! :)

Timogorgon Member wrote on 03/08/2015 at 03:45am

Just picked it up. I probably won't be on tonight but I will try and at least get it installed. :D

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 03/08/2015 at 06:11am

Good luck. It's up to like 25 gigs.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 03/08/2015 at 06:03pm

I'm going to pass, I can't justify buying a game (even at this price) that I likely will barely play.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 03/08/2015 at 09:20pm

Wow, super cheap! Thanks for the heads up!

jdodson Admin wrote on 03/08/2015 at 09:48pm

Downloading it now. 25 gigs. Zing. I think bandwidth overages are more expensive than this game.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 03/09/2015 at 12:20am

Yeah it's a big download.

I'm thoroughly enjoying it so far. It's very straight-forward, which sets it apart from Final Fantasy XI, the only other MMO I've put a ton of time into. You really learn your way through the game, the progression is satisfying.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 03/09/2015 at 12:21am

That said, I'm level 11 out of 80 at the moment, so that could change. But so far I love it.

jdodson Admin wrote on 03/09/2015 at 12:37am

I think we need to setup an Event and co-ordinate the server we should join and times people might be on.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 03/09/2015 at 02:32am

An event, you say?

http://cheerfulghost.com/Travis/events/74/games-club-guild-wars-2

scrypt Supporter wrote on 03/10/2015 at 10:05pm

scrypt Supporter wrote on 03/10/2015 at 10:07pm

Godd@mnit. I missed it. That really sucks.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 03/10/2015 at 10:20pm

Ah, yeah it does! $10 is way better than $40. $15 is WAY better than $60. Hopefully they'll have another big blowout sale when the expansion shows.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 03/10/2015 at 10:44pm

I couldn't do it until today. So sad! They'll do it again.

They... have to...

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Heroes Of The Storm Beta Key Giveaway

http://www.loadthegame.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/heroes-of-the-storm.jpg

Blizzard sent me a few Heroes of the Storm beta keys and I have a few left and wanted to give them to anyone that wanted one. Drop your request in the comments and i'll send you a site message with the key.

**EDIT** All the keys have been sent out

dannytron wrote on 03/06/2015 at 02:52am

I would love a key. I've been looking forward to this game for a while.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/06/2015 at 02:54am

@dannytron: key sent.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 03/06/2015 at 06:41am

This is a pretty fun game. I've only played one match after the tutorial (still a practice match) and won pretty easily, but had a lot of fun doing it.

I'm not crazy about the Saturday morning cartoon-like banter in the tutorial, but other than that, this was a fun experience. I will be coming back to this game as I have time :)

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 03/06/2015 at 06:42am

Played as Malfurion

Alcyonneus wrote on 03/06/2015 at 02:03pm

I will be happy to have a key^^ if u have one. thx

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/06/2015 at 04:42pm

Sent

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 03/06/2015 at 08:18pm

You were right when you said the game is like Dota 2 and fun. I probably spent more time playing it than I have Dota 2. I thought the story was cool and interesting, that Blizzard characters were brought together in a realm to battle. This isn't exactly new (take a look at Smash Bros. and Dissidia Final Fantasy for instance), but it's still cool. I played through the tutorials and I played Practice mode with each available character. It was fun as each character has their own abilities, attributes, and phrases familiar with those that have played their games. There are a few Blizzard games I have not played, so I'm not familiar with all of them.

I noticed a few bugs that weren't really major. I noticed a visual bug, with a weird square tile perhaps not properly rendering. The only other bug I noticed was just kind of annoying. The game often said things that weren't correct. For instance, at times it told me I had died, when in fact I didn't. These were kind of minor and probably easy enough to fix.

I'll probably play the game again. I'd like to see what I can do as a solo gamer, as that's the kind of game I'm used to playing. I didn't really play the game any differently, pretty much going straight forward towards the enemy base. Many of the maps have their own "perks" to achieve, which I think I could spend more time to focus on. Although, I noticed my NPC teammates going for these things on their own. On many of these, you can unleash a beast that becomes your character for a period of time.

_305 wrote on 03/06/2015 at 10:48pm

please can u send me a key

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/06/2015 at 11:32pm

Sorry _305 all the keys have been sent out.

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Early Access

Hello, my fellow Cheerful Ghosts. I just thought of a new discussion topic, that I think could generate some dialogue. I want to know what your thoughts are on Early Access games. I'm curious as to what your opinion and experience with them has been. Have you been disappointed or delighted with any? Are there any Early Access stories you'd like to share?

I continue to watch my interest in them increase. For instance, Starbound, Salt, and Stranded Deep. I think they are good games and I'm looking forward to watching their development. I think that's the good part of it, knowing (or hoping) that there's new content coming and bug fixes to be applied. The bad part is... Read All

jdodson Admin wrote on 03/04/2015 at 05:33am

My experience with Early Access has been limited to a few titles and I really can't comment on anything new. Overall it seems somewhat hit or miss, but there are great standout successes.

Starbound - I was disappointed with it and since then haven't really tried it. Even the recent update. I kind of want to put a bit more time down and try it when it's closer to 1.0. That said you and a few of my friends have had a blast with it.

Prison Architect - As seen through my continued coverage of all the Alpha releases on the site, it's obvious I love this game. Whereas many of the continued updates increase the games complexity, for serous fans of the game this gives them WAY more to do. I'll admit when I got into the game at the time I hit the top of what I could do in a week and with the new updates you have a ton of more game. I'd say Introversions Prison Architect is a good example of Early Access done right.

Broforce - Whereas I don't own this due to my aversion to Early Access they keep adding great stuff to the game and from what I have played it's already pretty great.

Darkest Dungeon - This game REALLY makes me want to break my "no early access" rule and buy it. I've watched some streams and it seems incredible already.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 03/04/2015 at 05:42am

I was a bit aware of your opinion on this subject, but it's good that you spelled it out here. I was aware of how you felt about Starbound. I don't blame you, honestly. It was fun after a while, but then I hit a "ceiling" and it got boring. The newest update added more to the game, which I think resolved that "ceiling" issue. It gave purpose to exploring other planets and collecting things, which I thought was definitely needed. Still, it's incomplete, but I'm looking forward to seeing how it develops further.

I also knew that you loved Prison Architect. So, yeah, I can see how Early Access can be hit or miss.

So far my only disappointment (not including previously mentioned Starbound "ceiling") has been with Edge of Space, but it's been a while since I've played it, so I should give it another try.

I've been watching at least one person on YouTube play a few different Early Access titles, which has gotten me interested in them. Still, it's a bit of a gamble. That's why game demos are great, because you can try them out before deciding to buy them.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/12/2015 at 02:46am

I think with Early Access, demos should be more prevalent. That way you can demo the game in its current state and decide if it's a gamble you want to take,.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 03/12/2015 at 02:51am

I agree, Travis, sadly it doesn't seem like many of them release demos, or at least that has been my experience. Luckily, Salt (an Early Access game I wrote about) has one. I wish other games would follow that example.

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The State of Linux Gaming in the SteamOS Era

I found this Ars Technica article on the state of Linux Gaming worth recommending. It notes the sad state of Linux gaming not too long ago and how there are a ton of choices now that Valve has entered the market.

As someone that was Linux only back in the day I can say that running the few native games was fun, yet extremely limiting. I had success running some games in Wine but it was never great and I couldn't get the full power out of my hardware. Things are much better now, even if the article outlines how imperfect Linux gaming is.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2015/02/the-state-of-linux-gaming-in-the-steamos-era/

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 03/04/2015 at 07:04pm

Although I haven't used Linux in a long time and therefore don't pay attention to the gaming news for it, I found a link in my email I thought I'd share with you.

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2363780/linux-gaming-rising-7-big-name-pc-games-that-now-call-linux-home.html#tk.nl_today

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/04/2015 at 09:00pm

Yep, those are there for sure and Valve just dropped a SteamOS/Linux sale today bringing many games to SteamOS/Linux.

http://store.steampowered.com/sale/steamos_sale

Crazy to see games like Batman, Payday 2 and Saints Row make it to Linux.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 03/04/2015 at 10:26pm

Wow, that's pretty awesome!

Travis Admin wrote on 03/12/2015 at 02:45am

And BORDERLANDS. That's a huge series, and now they have their two big games right now on Linux. I never thought I'd see the day where some of the few games I want on Linux that *aren't* there already are from id Software, and major publishers were supporting it. Come on id! You were the chosen one!

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Magic Leap

http://www.engadget.com/2015/02/25/magic-leap-explainer/

Can't wait! Although shining light directly in to my eyes sounds unhealthy....but I am willing to give it a try to ride a dragon or fight orcs!!

Game Theory: Is Link Dead in Majora's Mask?

This video makes sense and makes the game look pretty deep.
What do you think?

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/20/2015 at 04:12pm

I am going to promote this to main, it's a great video.

As to if Link is Dead in Majoras Mask? I don't know, the evidence presented in the video is pretty compelling and I think there is something to it. It might all add up to a game that is about loss and not Link being dead, but Link being dead makes for a much more interesting theory.

With games like Majoras Mask and Links Awakening i'd be willing to say that some Zelda games have a darker subtext, but it's hard to know what the writers intent was without asking them. That said, some gamesters think that analyzing a game should happen outside the writers intent which is something I find a bit odd.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 02/20/2015 at 05:42pm

I think it's great to look at a creative piece of work (art, music, film, games, etc) and see what you see. It's an interesting discussion of "This is what I made" vs "This is what I see."

That said, this is a pretty good argument :)

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 02/20/2015 at 06:04pm

Also, "Spokain" lol

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 02/20/2015 at 07:52pm

Yeah, I thought I should have posted it to main. Thanks for promoting it, Jon. Good points, too.

I agree with you, too, Adam. If we think about video games as pieces of art, then certainly discussion of the game is open to interpretation.

I liked this video, that's why I shared it. I noticed some subtle hints to death when I played it (like the name of the town being "Termina"), but I didn't think too deep about it. The guys in the video do take a deep look into the game and show some compelling evidence to their theory.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 02/20/2015 at 07:58pm

I don't remember if I've posted it here before or not (and I'm too lazy to go check), but another great deep look at a game is Game Theory: Super Smash Bros TRAGIC Hidden Lore http://youtu.be/g_2OPd25FOw

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 02/20/2015 at 08:58pm

That was really, cool, Adam! I'll have to check out more of their videos some time.

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Game Difficulty

I'd like to see what you think about game difficulty. How hard or easy to you like your games? Do you like being able to adjust the difficulty level? Do you like a challenge?

I've been thinking about this in recent months because of I've been playing Hyrule Warriors and Smash Bros. (Wii U). Honestly, when I'm playing a game, I want to have fun, that is my priority. I want to enjoy my gaming experience. However, there are many games that offer challenges, some of which can be down right frustrating. Sometimes, I get really frustrated and therefore have to take a break from the game to calm down and relax a bit. Sometimes, I just have to search the Web for strategies and... Read All

Timogorgon Member wrote on 02/14/2015 at 10:49pm

I have no shame in admitting that I rarely set the difficulty on games to hard. I usually play normal or easy, depending on the game. My game time these days is pretty limited, so when I do play I want to 1) not be frustrated and 2) feel like I made some progress in my game. If I keep dying and repeating the same area over and over, that's not fun for me. It really does depend on the game I'm playing though. Some games are plenty difficult even on easy (looking at you, FTL).

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 02/14/2015 at 11:56pm

Thank you very much for showing me that you feel the same way about playing games ("not be frustrated"). I like progress, too, just like in real life.

That said, I know you often play FTL, which makes me think you're either really good or a glutton for punishment. Hahaha. You're probably way better at the game than I am, I'm sure you've clocked in more hours on it. Still, it is fun. Some games it just takes some experience or "Googling" to figure it out and get better and then it becomes more fun.

Thanks for paying attention to the Forums!

Timogorgon Member wrote on 02/15/2015 at 04:15am

I still usually play FTL on easy, but that's partly because I'm still trying to unlock the Crystal ship, which requires beating the game with both the A and B layout of every ship (except the Lanius one). Otherwise I would start playing on the harder difficulties and seeing how far I can get. I think that's the last thing I need to unlock, since I think I have the B and C layouts of all the ships now.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 02/15/2015 at 04:20am

Wow, I'm impressed, but seeing how often you play the game, I'm not too surprised. I'm not sure what I have to unlock, I know I've unlocked very little. I also always play on easy. At least one Roundtable discussion I watched mentioned how hard the game is even on easy. That's the thing about "rouge-likes." Hehe. Still, I have not beaten the game. I may have made it to the end once. Still, I think the game is another Cheerful Ghost favorite. I should play it more.

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/15/2015 at 11:04pm

On game difficulty. Like you, I play games for escapist fun. So the more fun and engrossing, the better. After playing Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm and having a blast playing it, I realized I don't need a game to be challenging to be fun. In fact, SC2 HoTS might be the easiest single player game i've played. Kerrigan is REALLY overpowered and the advantage her powers give you are really great in the single player. I had so much fun I never really thought to increase the difficulty, I had a good time just being overpowered.

That said, I do enjoy some challenging games too like Binding of Isaac, Hotline Miami and others it's just at the end of the day I like having fun with good gameplay and stories.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 02/15/2015 at 11:25pm

Yeah, I really enjoyed Heart of the Swarm for the same reasons. It was fun with Kerrigan being overpowered! It reminds me, now, of a mission in Red Alert 3 (Uprising, I think) where you get to be this psychic girl who is pretty overpowered, too. Similar missions, similar fun!

When it comes to games like the Dooms and Quakes, I pretty much always entered into "God Mode." I had fun playing that way. I also cheated on the Resident Evil games (the ones that I got for the GameCube). I must have gotten a GameShark for the GameCube to do that. I found a "hack" to cheat on the Wii for Resident Evil 4, but the game crashed at a point and I wasn't able to get through the rest of it.

****BTW, Jon, did you get see my last PM?****

Timogorgon Member wrote on 02/22/2015 at 07:19pm

It really does vary from game to game though. Like trying to play Halo on easy is kind of ridiculous, the enemies practically fall over dead just by you looking at them. :P Sometimes setting the difficulty higher is more fun, especially if you feel like you've mastered the game on easy and now you want it to feel challenging again.

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Jam Sessions Commercial Is Not Rated For Everyone

Jam Session is a Nintendo DS game that was released in 2007. The game is rated "E for Everyone" but featured the above commercial in an Australian ad campaign. The game may not have a classic, but this amazing commercial lives on,