General Discussion [ Page 76 ]

Playstation Network Adds Free to Play

These days I typically use my PS3 for Netflix, Bluray and the occasional split-screen game with a friend. That sai sometimes I download a demo, install it and sooner or later get around to playing it. PC gaming has really eaten away my console ambitions. Recently I was checking out the PSN Store for no particular reason when I noticed a new section for Free to Play games. Right now they only have a handful of games, but I imagine over time that number to grow quite a bit. Free to Play is an already pretty big on mobile and PC, makes sense it come to console but I wasn't really expecting to see it happen this generation.

Right now the Free to Play games they have are:

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Ghostbuster Brothers

Our favorite plumbers cross streams with the Ghostbusters in this incredibly-made fan film. I expected to be annoyed by this, truth be told, but was left grinning.

Signal Boost Ep. 2

I accidentally hit a Kickstarter theme this week. Unwritten, a clever rts; Homesick, a new survival adventure game; and Blade Symphony, a sword based fighter. Check it out.

Gabe Newell: Reflections of a Video Game Maker

Very cool talk Gabe Newell of Valve gave at The LBJ School of public affairs. 9 minutes in and HAD to share this!

What do you think about his thoughts on economics? Found it really interesting some artists have "real jobs" at big game studios but make more money selling hats in TF2. I agree with him, post-internet many corporations are changing for sure!

krcDeuce Supporter wrote on 02/07/2013 at 03:51pm

Where Gabe gets me thinking about myself is more in relationship to my role in a company or a team. Sometimes I think of myself as my title, and not the collection of all the things I'm capable of. Sure, I'm good with systems and networks, but I can also do some programming, and maybe some graphic art, or definitely playing or engineering music. So, why do I continue to respond to things with, "that's not my job"? I'm bigger than my title.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 02/08/2013 at 02:08am

I think we are what we do and what we can accomplish. Before last January I wasn't a game writer or someone that interviewed people in the industry. Now I am.

krcDeuce Supporter wrote on 03/05/2013 at 09:44pm

That's how I'm getting myself thinking too. Before two months ago I wasn't a game developer. Now I am.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/06/2013 at 02:10am

Totally. Looking forward to what you guys come up with!

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Next episode of WOFF! is all about game music!

http://a.tgcdn.net/images/products/zoom/a8f6_zelda_ocarina.jpg

Specifically old game music.

Have any stories, opinions, feedback on old video game music and sound? Last generation or before? Please share!

http://duckfeed.tv/contact/

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/30/2013 at 12:19am

Whoa? Thanks for sharing, starting to think about things now.

Gary_Butterfield Post Author wrote on 01/30/2013 at 12:35am

We'll read your stories and play your songs! We just want something substantial about how a piece of music or sound design affected you, contributed to the experience, reinforced the narrative, etc.

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/30/2013 at 12:38am

I think I can do that. Already had a few songs in mind for a bit now, so I just need to write it up.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 01/30/2013 at 12:52am

Rad, when do you need submissions by?

Gary_Butterfield Post Author wrote on 01/30/2013 at 02:16am

Thursday, 5pm PST! Thanks, guys!

Travis Admin wrote on 01/30/2013 at 02:24am

Do you want our stories here or through the contact form? Both? Either?

I have a thought.

Gary_Butterfield Post Author wrote on 01/30/2013 at 05:08pm

Contact form is easiest for us.

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/31/2013 at 04:06am

Ok submitted my stuff. 4 songs in total. Hard to nail it down to a few.

Gary_Butterfield Post Author wrote on 01/31/2013 at 05:09pm

Sweet, thanks Jon!

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/31/2013 at 05:15pm

No problem Gary, it was fun to do. Hard to break it down to a few and it was strange because I had to wrap my mind around "this isn't songs of the year." :D

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 01/31/2013 at 10:00pm

So far I just submitted one... it's a little obscure, but so rad. I'll see if I can think up anymore before today's deadline!

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/31/2013 at 10:14pm

I want to know what one, but I also want to hear the episode and be surprised... :D

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 01/31/2013 at 10:28pm

It's from a Genesis game! Which just made me think of Sonic the Hedgehog. The music in that game wasn't that memorable, but all the sound effects were! Collecting coins, jumping, busting through things/enemies... for some reasons those sounds make me nostalgic :)

jdodson Admin wrote on 02/04/2013 at 05:12pm

When will the episode drop?

Gary_Butterfield Post Author wrote on 02/04/2013 at 08:43pm

Thursday, listener response episode the following Thursday!

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 02/04/2013 at 08:53pm

Sweet :)

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Cheerful Ghost 1 Year Anniversary

1 year ago today I had a party at my house celebrating the launch of a new game site called Cheerful Ghost. The initial concept was born out of a few problems I had with gaming. I had a ton of games but no way to share that list with anyone. I also wanted to talk to awesome people about the games I loved but I couldn't find a place anywhere that made sense to do that. I also realized as I was online and read things about other games no place tied what everyone said about a game together. For instance, if I went to a game site it wasn't easy to view all the posts and information for a single game like Super Mario Brothers or Starcraft. I also didn't like gaming sites I... Read All 1 year ago today I had a party at my house celebrating the launch of a new game site called Cheerful Ghost. The initial concept was born out of a few problems I had with gaming. I had a ton of games but no way to share that list with anyone. I also wanted to talk to awesome people about the games I loved but I couldn't find a place anywhere that made sense to do that. I also realized as I was online and read things about other games no place tied what everyone said about a game together. For instance, if I went to a game site it wasn't easy to view all the posts and information for a single game like Super Mario Brothers or Starcraft. I also didn't like gaming sites I saw as no normal person seemed to matter much. Paid journalists were front and center as the focus of many sites and as such normal people were relegated to the comments section which are often lame areas to talk about games.

So starting with some simple ideas I started out to solve these problems I had. I started with a pen and paper and started drawing the site I wanted to use. I sketched out my ideas over a few weeks and showed it to my friends. After getting a good response to my drawings I spent mostly every second of my spare time over the next 4 months building the initial launch of Cheerful Ghost. I started with a few design goals but one was that the site HAD to work the same on phones, tablets and desktops. I hate using sites that suck on phones and tablets. I opened up the site for 2 week beta period and after that on January 28th I formally launched http://cheerfulghost.com.

Thinking back on what I launched with I am kind of embarrassed as the site you see now is much much better. Some say that if you don't launch a product a bit embarrassed you are launching too late. If you can imagine one thing that sucked at launch was that you couldn't see the current post stream! You had to click around twice to see peoples latest posts. After fixing that mistake I also added some new features like auto-magic adding of PSN & Steam games, a ton more post embeds, post titles, an entire visual site redesign and more.

As I look forward to the next year I have a bunch of stuff I want to do but my ultimate goal is to grow the Cheerful Ghost community. I want to thank everyone for being part of one of the most awesome parts of my life. Deciding to build Cheerful Ghost was a good idea and spending the time to make it what it is now has been totally worth it!

BR Supporter wrote on 01/29/2013 at 02:41am

WoooHoo! Congratulations Jon, on such a fine site. Just so you know, I have it set as my homepage on my phone :)

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/29/2013 at 02:44am

Thanks @BR I am glad it works out in that way. I also have CG as a little icon on my phone home screen too :D

SignalWarden wrote on 01/29/2013 at 03:02am

You did a good job and I'm glad to be here. If you need any help with it moving forward don't hesitate to ask.

Travis Admin wrote on 01/29/2013 at 03:32am

Glad to have been a part of it. Thanks for bringing us together.

Timogorgon Member wrote on 01/29/2013 at 05:08am

I'm really impressed how far the site has come in just one year. It's been a fun year, and it'll only get better!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/29/2013 at 04:32pm

Thanks guys, it has been fun hanging out with you all.

@SignalWarden, ill email you about it. Love to hear your ideas.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/30/2013 at 01:35am

As an aside, this trophy is being retired today:

http://cheerfulghost.com/trophies/59/awarded

:D

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Geek Love: A New Geek Reality Web Series

Interesting new web series from IGN called Geek Love. The featured episode above covers Brittany as she takes part in "Sci-Fi Speed Dating" a new Comic Con staple. The show is interesting because it reminds me of some reality TV shows and doesn't wallow in being cynical or douchey.

The aforementioned episode features Brittany a well adjusted teacher trying to find love with someone who shares a similar love for gaming, movies and comic books.

I kind of am not entirely certain of the format or concept, but appreciate it being genuine. Seriously wondering your thoughts about Geek Love so please sound off in the comments!

ep 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQ5iwGApwLM
ep 2:... Read All

Dat Firehose: Gun Commando, SC2 Preview & More

Ripstone recently released Gun Commando a retro flavored shooter for the Playstation Mobile Platform. Video featured above is seriously channeling some awesome Doom energy!

Blizzard recently dropped a really interesting preview of whats coming in Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm. The post focuses a bit on multiplayer, the story and Zerg additions.

http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/game/heart-of-the-swarm-preview/

GoG recently released Neverwinter Nights 2 the complete pack. Obsidians take on this BioWare property currently has a 4.5 out 5 star rating on GoG.

http://www.gog.com/gamecard/neverwinter_nights_2_complete

You can now download some really interesting ringtones for your... Read All

Magical Game Time Vol. 1

"Download the entire collection of Magical Game Time comics in one massive 139 page PDF for whatever you’re willing to pay! This PDF also includes unfinished comics, sketches, character drawings and pretty much every video game related comic that I’ve done to date."

I really appreciate the art of Zac Gorman because it really captures how I felt as a kid playing video games. His un-cynical take on that era of my life is really quite beautiful at times and is fairly unique in gaming culture.

Recently he released Magical Game Time Vol. 1 which is a collection of all the art on his site. The PDF starts at $1 so there is little reason not to pick it up!

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The new Xbox is going to be EPIC, people!

Cheerful Ghost has received an insider tip from an anonymous Microsoft employee with some new info about Redmond’s next console offering. According to our insider leak Microsoft is working on a new console called “Xbox.” While this may lead to some confusion considering it shares a name with Microsoft’s first console, it makes sense as a brand, as you’ll see below, with the plans Microsoft has for it.

Xbox is not only going to be a console but a platform for future gaming devices, such as the X Surface. This will be a new gaming tablet, not running on standard Windows 8 or RT, but on a new gaming focused OS that has the familiar Metro interface, but powerful enough for... Read All Cheerful Ghost has received an insider tip from an anonymous Microsoft employee with some new info about Redmond’s next console offering. According to our insider leak Microsoft is working on a new console called “Xbox.” While this may lead to some confusion considering it shares a name with Microsoft’s first console, it makes sense as a brand, as you’ll see below, with the plans Microsoft has for it.

Xbox is not only going to be a console but a platform for future gaming devices, such as the X Surface. This will be a new gaming tablet, not running on standard Windows 8 or RT, but on a new gaming focused OS that has the familiar Metro interface, but powerful enough for console-level games. This will allow for more incremental upgrades as new X devices are released, making the Xbox a hub for all your gaming hardware.

“Microsoft is really pulling out all the stops and this console will be its biggest release to date” our source went on the record to say. “The Xbox will allow you to play games, listen to music and do what you love so much better than anything that came before it.” And with a CPU spec increase of 3X it leaves little to the imagination that this will be something special.

I’m sure consumers will jump at the chance to buy new devices year after year to play all the games coming out, and this is a perfectly reasonable choice for Microsoft after their tablets and Windows 8 have been so poorly received. And the confusing naming convention seems like a bad idea on the surface (no pun intended), but I’m sure Microsoft knows what they’re doing!

We will keep checking in for more in the coming days where we will report everything that gets sent to our inboxes, totally raw and unfiltered-- we don’t worry about little things like vetting our sources! Want to share some info about the new PS4 that has the processing power of IBM’s Watson supercomputer and is controlled exclusively with Donkey Kong Jungle Beat bongos? We’re ready to believe you!

For more info: http://x-surface.tumblr.com/

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/24/2013 at 02:52am

Looking forward to it being able to play music!

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 01/24/2013 at 09:32pm

Very cool, can't wait to learn more!

David_Woods wrote on 01/24/2013 at 11:05pm

Aaaaactually, this disappoints me. IMO the benefit of consoles in the past has been their focus. There's been a little deviation in the last generation in the form of their respective network offerings, with expanded media options, but their main focus hasn't deviated from being a game console. To hear "Xbox is not only going to be a console" sends shivers up my spine. It sounds like the business/enterprise side of MS is starting to infect the gaming division. I liked it better when they were separate.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 01/24/2013 at 11:10pm

David, please pay close attention to the last two paragraphs and read the source at the bottom of the page. I think you may have missed some important bits.

And congrats again, btw! Very happy for you.

David_Woods wrote on 01/25/2013 at 04:10am

Wow. LOL.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 01/25/2013 at 09:54pm

Don't worry D_W, I was fooled too, just didn't want to admit it lol

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