General Discussion [ Page 49 ]

GOG.com Looks Back at 5 Years of DRM Free Games

"As a new year begins, and with 5 very successful years in the digital gaming market, GOG.com takes a look at its past."

I dig GOG's style as a company and wish them a happy 5 more years. It's a really easy site to navigate and when you find the game you want to buy, it's available DRM free. Many GOG.com titles come with digital art, game book PDF's and the game score which makes buying from GOG special. One of the reasons I picked up the Neverwinter Nights collection from GOG was to finally have Jeremy Soule's amazing score in my collection as I couldn't find it from any other source.

Awesome Games Done Quickly 2014

Speed runs for cancer research. Seriously check this stuff out. If you choose to donate, your dollars enter you in various drawings and determine various runs (like which ending to take). Proceeds go to the Cancer Prevention Foundation.

Humble Indie Bundle X

The new Humble Indie Bundle is out. This one includes To the Moon, Joe Danger 2, Papo y Yo, Bit Trip Runner 2, and if you beat the average, Reus and Surgeon Simulator 2013. If you got there early, you could also snag Starbound if you paid $10 or more, but those are long gone. There were 1000 of them and they were gone in a minute or so. I've been wanting to check out Reus and Papo y Yo for a while now, so I'm glad to jump on board.

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/07/2014 at 09:24pm

Reus looks like a game I'd like. Might be a good time to try a runner game too :D

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 01/07/2014 at 10:27pm

Oh yeah. Runner 2 is tons of fun. So is Runner 1 for that matter. When we were moving last, I was in the middle of Bit Trip Runner, and I seriously hooked up the Wii (it was a Wii exclusive at that point) before even connecting the internet so I could play it while taking breaks from unpacking.

vdogmr25 wrote on 01/08/2014 at 12:56am

Papo and Yo and Surgeon Simulator are awesome. Glad to finally pick them up.

dynamicInception wrote on 01/22/2014 at 01:27am

This was an awesome bundle, but I had no idea they did special promotions for the first people to purchase! Guess I should start refreshing at 9:55 every other Tuesday from now on...

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/22/2014 at 01:45am

Hahahaha, yeah. This one was pretty wild and with the amount of people that came to collect the special, pretty intense. I am actually pretty interested in the latest audiobook bundle. Some of the books look really interesting and I really enjoy listening to "books on tape."

dynamicInception wrote on 01/22/2014 at 06:20am

I agree! I've read Blood Meridian and A Heartbreaking Work and if the rest of the books are as good as those I will be really impressed. But I made another rookie mistake by not picking them up this morning. I didn't realize the average is dynamic and it went up $2 throughout the day (thankfully still an amazing deal)!

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/22/2014 at 06:34am

Yeah, the audiobook average does seem to be higher than the last bundle. Then again, I don't mind paying more for things that are really great.

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Valve Shows Off Steam Machines at CES

"Alienware and Valve, the developers of the world's largest online gaming platform and the creators of the Half-Life franchise, have been collaborating on designing the first dedicated Alienware Steam Machine gaming console."

Valve is showing off the Steam Machines that will release in 2014 right now at CES. As it turns out, Alienware is one such brand to enter the Steam Machine mix and I am really happy about this. Dell's Alienware might be a bit on the expensive end but it provides a pretty great value for your gaming dollar. Alienware has said it's Steam Machine will feature an Intel CPU and Nvida chip but not much more as they plan to talk more about it in detail... Read All

Game/Show: Most Exciting Games of 2014

Game/Show is back in 2014 with a list of games they are excited about seeing this year. I am curious to see how Jonathan Blow's The Witness will be as well as the new Thief game.

That said, the video is missing any kind of video game clips and I wonder if this has to do with YouTube's new policy in regard to Let's Plays and reviews? I hope not as this episode, while good, lacks the fast pacing the entire first season had.

Come See Our Booth At The NWCGE Video Game Swap Meet

"PRGE is proud to present the Northwest Classic Games Enthusiasts video game swap meet at the Portland Doubletree Hotel on January 18, 2014. We are taking it old-school...back when it was all about getting buyers and sellers together to help build buyers collections and help sellers find good homes for their extras while preserving the cultural and historical aspects of videogames. Nothing fancy - just games, games and more games.

Doors open at 10:00 AM until 7:00 PM. Admission is $5.00 at the door. The event is child-friendly so bring the entire family"

Cheerful Ghost will have a booth at this years Northwest Classic Games Enthusiasts Swap Meet in Portland. Since... Read All

Travis Admin wrote on 01/05/2014 at 04:51am

Pick me up a copy of Actraiser while you're there! ;)

Travis Admin wrote on 01/05/2014 at 04:56am

Also seeing that rack of games has me drooling a bit.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/05/2014 at 06:42am

I'll take more pictures this year than I did at PRGE 2013. I also need to come up with a few things I want to nab. Maybe some old Mario comics, Nintendo trading cards and some old Nintendo Power magazines.

dynamicInception wrote on 01/22/2014 at 12:53am

I haven't signed in here since the Retro Game Con and can't believe I just missed this by a couple days! Going to have to keep a closer eye out from now on. Anyone know of any other gaming events in the Portland area that I should know about?

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/22/2014 at 01:44am

I'll be posting about the events that Cheerful Ghost has a booth at OR I attend as a "regular person" for sure. The next event I am going to and trying to get a booth at is Gamestorm 2014. It's a pretty awesome event if you love board & card games or LLARP's.

http://www.gamestorm.org/

dynamicInception wrote on 01/22/2014 at 06:14am

Awesome, thank you! Gamestorm looks pretty cool actually - I've only just recently started getting into more tabletop gaming so I might have to give it a try, though it's been kind of an intimidating world to get into so far. Would you say that PGRE and the game swap are the main events around as far as video games are concerned?

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/22/2014 at 06:33am

Game events in Portland? Yeah, I'd say so. There are PIGSquad game jams and such, but those are for people wanting to make games.

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OpenEmu, or why I'll never need an emulator on PC again

I've had a clear separation for a while now: Windows is for gaming, Mac is for everything else.* Well, in about an hour of testing I've determined that emulation of older consoles has a permanent home on my Mac. I hate the word "game-changer" but it's hard not to use it when talking about OpenEmu.

OpenEmu is essentially a front-end for other emulators, but no other manual downloads are required. Upon the first run, it asks you which systems you want to emulate and downloads the cores for them. On many systems, you can even dig into the settings and choose which core you want to use. Some people prefer ZSNES to SNES9x for example, and this is an easy configuration... Read All

My review of the Gamboy 2DS and Help me pick out games!

So one of the things I got for Christmas was this shiny new 2DS. I've spend about a dozen hours with the thing and wanted to share my thoughts on it. I also need to start getting some games for it and would like the input of my fellow CG users!

First up, my review.

When the 2DS was first announced many of us thought it looked big, ugly, and a little unwieldy (you can see the original discussion here: http://cheerfulghost.com/WhiteboySlim/posts/1567). I'm happy to report that, although it's still a little ugly, it is much easier to hold to and play than I had originally thought. Having used an iPad before I would say I have a much easier time with the 2DS than I do the... Read All So one of the things I got for Christmas was this shiny new 2DS. I've spend about a dozen hours with the thing and wanted to share my thoughts on it. I also need to start getting some games for it and would like the input of my fellow CG users!

First up, my review.

When the 2DS was first announced many of us thought it looked big, ugly, and a little unwieldy (you can see the original discussion here: http://cheerfulghost.com/WhiteboySlim/posts/1567). I'm happy to report that, although it's still a little ugly, it is much easier to hold to and play than I had originally thought. Having used an iPad before I would say I have a much easier time with the 2DS than I do the iPad. It definitely has a certain heft to it, but it's not too bad. The longest stretch of time I've gotten with it was between 1 and a half to two hours and I didn't really get tired of holding it. I don't own a 3DS, so I can't show you a comparison between the two. Here are a couple photos showing the 2DS next to a DS though:

Next to the DS (w/DS open): http://i.imgur.com/pFbyDWy.jpg
Next to the DS (w/DS closed): http://i.imgur.com/F19XIr2.jpg

As you can see, it's slightly smaller than the DS when open, but considerably larger than the DS when closed.
(On a side note, that is my daughter's gameboy, thus the bedazzled Princess Peach and blue crayon mark on the screen.)

My only real complaint about the system is that it is just slightly too big to really be that portable. I can't fit it into my pocket, which makes my chances of bumping into the people via Street pass pretty low. The one time I did take it out with me I stuck it in my wife's purse. :P

The buttons feel good and the control stick is light-years ahead of the one my PSP has even thought they're roughly the same design. And I say this as someone who actually really loved the PSP. Where the PSP control stick felt stiff the 2DS is nice and smooth but still snaps back into the neutral position when you want it to. It is also slightly textured and your thumb sticks to it nicely.

It's hard to comment on the screen because I only have one 3DS game so far (Pokemon Y) and the graphics on it are pretty cartoony. But for what it's worth Pokemon looks really, really good.

Over all I really enjoy my 2DS. It's turned out to be a much better system than I was originally expecting and I'm looking forward to expanding my game library and spending more time with it.

Speaking of which... I need some suggestions on what games to get! As I mentioned before I currently have Pokemon Y and I've ordered Fire Emblem Awakening on Amazon but have yet to receive it. Leave your suggestions in the comments! (I'm mostly interested in 3DS games but feel free to suggest some stellar DS games too!)

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/01/2014 at 09:35pm

The only other game i'd think to play on the 2DS(i'll admit I don't know about most of the games it has) would be the new Zelda Link Between Worlds.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Legend_of_Zelda:_A_Link_Between_Worlds

Apparently it's a sort of sequel to Link to the Past, which is pretty interesting.

That said, I want to get a gaming handheld, but as I was explaining to Adym today as we were talking about this post, I don't want to buy another closed piece of hardware. On one hand I totally want to buy new games from Nintendo, like Pokemon X/Y and the new Zelda game. I also want to play my old NES games and don't want to pay Nintendo yet again for the same games on every new system. That said, maybe some day it will be trivial to hack or something? I hope so because i'd love a modern Nintendo system.

Travis Admin wrote on 01/02/2014 at 03:02am

I always said it would never happen to me, but it has. I can't really see a point for a handheld console when my phone does mobile gaming.

Seriously, I may not get a hardcore experience, but I can waste time with my phone. I can enjoy Rayman running through the jungle or build some basic Terraria stuff wherever I am in the world. When I want to have a deeper experience I can hit up my PC or a console. I just can't justify a portable purchase until there are a significant number of games I want to play that I can't get anywhere else.

(But if someone wants to get one for me, I'd totally take it.)

Also, [pedantic mode]It hasn't been called Game Boy since the Advance era. It's just Nintendo DS, 3DS, 2DS, etc. these days. But really that's almost like Kleenex at this point. If it's a portable Nintendo console it's a Game Boy.[/pedantic mode]

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/02/2014 at 05:17am

I'd like to do some mobile gaming, I really don't like doing it on my phone. Valve did say they would get into the mobile space so.. Maybe a Steam Boy is in my future?

Ok that sounded odd.

Timogorgon Member Post Author wrote on 01/02/2014 at 07:47pm

As far as hackable systems, I've heard you can hack the DS, although I've never tried it. I did hack my PSP and I had every intention of loading up some NES and SNES emulators on there but, sadly, my PSP is on it's death bed and dying a slow painful death.

I actually don't really use my GAMEBOY 2DS as a portable system much. I didn't with my PSP either. Because they are not tied to a TV and have a sleep function it is pretty much the best gaming option I have open to me as a parent of 3 small children. At least until they go to bed. :P

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/02/2014 at 10:31pm

"I actually don't really use my GAMEBOY 2DS as a portable system much." Good point and really I just want to use mine not connected to the TV at home too :D

Travis Admin wrote on 01/02/2014 at 11:14pm

I haven't used portable systems outside my house in years either. It's just annoying that the screen is so small for home gaming. Like I want to play the new games but I'd prefer to have them on my TV. I might get a Vita TV instead of an actual Vita because of that.

Timogorgon Member Post Author wrote on 01/03/2014 at 12:31am

I'm pretty happy with the size of the screen on the 2DS. Again, I don't know how it compares to the 3DS but the top screen is quite a bit larger than my DS. Plus with having two screens there's a lot of total screen space to make use of.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 01/03/2014 at 04:04am

I'm glad to see your review of the 2DS, it entices me to write my own review of the 3DSXL (Zelda Edition) that I recently got. I thought the 2DS a bit odd because it doesn't fold like a normal DS. In your review, you said that fact makes it less portable. Now that I remember, I did put my son's 3DSXL into my pocket and it seemed to be a good fit. After a quick look at your image, it looks like the top screen is bigger than the DS, this seems to be a trait it must have gotten from the 3DS as it's top screen is bigger than the bottom. It looks like the bottom screens are the same size, however. Is that a regular DS or a DSXL?

I'm glad you like the new control stick. I remember when that came out as an add-on. I like it, too, actually. Although, while I played Luigi's Mansion Dark Moon, my thumb started to get sore. However, since I started playing Pokemon X today, I'm not noticing that issue. The control stick does feel smooth.

I also liked the PSP. I got all of the Final Fantasy games for it. I think the biggest issue with the PSP was loading time. I have not decided to upgrade to a Vita.

Back to the DS, I've had one since the original model came out (and it's around here still some where, I think, although I also think a hinge is broken). My son and I also have a DS (the 2nd model) and a DSLite each. I think something happened to my DSLite though as the sound seems to be a bit messed up.

I have not yet played The Legend of Zelda: A Link Between Worlds, but I do have Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks. Although I have not yet bought Animal Crossing: A New Leaf, I recommend it or Wild World. I was introduced to Animal Crossing on the Gamecube and fell in love with it. I also have the one for the Wii.

Anyway, I'll keep checking out what you review and say about your 2DS and what games you get into. I've also collected almost all of the Final Fantasy handheld games. The only ones I think I'm missing (for handhelds) is Final Fantasy V and Final Fantasy XII: Revenant Wings. Oh, one more, Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo Tales, which I enjoyed, but my son has lost our copy. =(

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Code Monkeys

So it's not actually a game, it's a television show, but it's game related, and I wanted to share it with everyone :)

Code Monkeys is South Park meets The Office meets Nintendo.

The plot of Code Monkeys revolves around the fictitious video game company GameaVision (a play on companies like Activision and Intellivision) and its eccentric employees, mainly the slacker Dave and his high-strung friend Jerry. The entire series takes place in the Silicon Valley city of Sunnyvale, California during the 1980s. The humor of Code Monkeys relies on crude humor and stoner comedy to convey the numerous references to video games, past and present, but mostly games from the 8-bit era.... Read All

Archive.org brings classic games to your browser

https://ia801002.us.archive.org/35/items/consolelivingroom/playing_atari_2600.jpg

Through use of the JSMESS emulator system, which allows direct access to these programs in your browser with no additional plugins or settings, these games can be enjoyed again. Simply click on the screenshot or "Emulate This" button for each individual cartridge, and on modern browsers the games will just start to run. As nostalgia, a teaching tool, or just plain fun, you'll find hundreds of the games that started a billion-dollar industry.

Archive.org's Console Living Room has launched, bringing a ton of classic games from the Atari 2600 and 7800, the Colecovision, The Odyssey, and The Astrocade.

These classic games are an important part of gaming history. I'm glad... Read All