jdodson1

Joined 01/23/2012
  Admin

I'm an Engineer and built the video game community Cheerful Ghost and text based mini-MMO Tale of the White Wyvern.

2705 Posts

Minecraft Trails and Tales Coming June 7th!
The new Minecraft 1.20 Trails and Tales update is coming this June 7th!

For all the information on what’s included check this:

https://www.minecraft.net/en-us/article/trails-tales-update-coming

Looking From Something To Play? Try The Street Fighter 6 Demo!
"Capcom transitions the Street Fighter franchise onto its excellent in-house RE Engine, so how does it look across consoles old and new? Tom checks out the recently released demo running on current and last-generation PlayStation consoles, plus there's a look at Xbox Series consoles too. Specs and performance may change with the final game - but this is how the game's shaping up via Capcom's own public-facing demo code."

If you have an XBox S/X, Playstation 4 or 5 or a PC running Steam you can download and play the new Street Fighter 6 demo! Remember those? You can play two of the new characters and try out the new avatar and world fighting mode against other players in the demo. Capcom is giving everyone the chance to try out the new goods and I appreciate them for it as not many big game companies release these kinds of demos.

https://www.streetfighter.com/6/en-us/demo/

Mortal Kombat 1 Looks To Reboot The Series With So Much Blood!
Mortal Kombat 1 was announced today and looks to reboot the series entirely and was announced for a September 19th launch. It seems the Fire God Liu Kang is rebooting the Mortal Kombat-verse and whereas the game looks very Mortal Kombat-like they are promising a new re-visioning of the game.

"Mortal Kombat 1 ushers in a new era of the iconic franchise with a new fighting system, game modes, and fatalities!"

The trailed doesn't really get specific on any new game mechanics but I'm interested to know more about how they are bringing the series into a new era. I thought Mortal Kombat 11 was incredible and offered a really fun modernization on the game, frankly I'm not sure what more they could do but I'm open to a new "punch your friend in the face game" while we are hanging out together. One big part of Mortal Kombat 11 was the extra DLC characters such as the Terminator, Rambo and Joker. Hopefully this version of the game comes with quite a few memorable cross-over characters too! Hopefully Nintendo allows Pikachu and getting Eric Cruise from Mac and Me would be ideal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K5le9sYdYkM

Rome Returns In Age of Empires II!
"This new expansion brings classic Age of Empires style and gameplay as a brand-new self-contained experience with all 16 original Age of Empires civilizations and the new Lac Viet civilization.

Conqueror your enemies through three new, fully-voiced campaigns, improved AI, and historically driven gameplay, all while unlocking new achievements on your Xbox or Steam account. Plus, get the bonus Romans civilization in Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition!"

Microsoft released Age of Empires II: Definitive Edition which is a complete remaster to the original Age of Empires II with new visuals and a game core for modern PC's and 4K displays. It hit the scene in 2019 and Microsoft has continued to support it with updates, DLC and now with a new expansion Return of Rome. If I had my way Age of Empires would continue on indefinately and Microsoft seems to be doing that with a steady drip of Age of Empires II releases as well as as Age of Empires IV with seasons.

Mighty DOOM Is Wicked Fun!
jdodson gives this a solid "Rad" on the Ghost Scale
This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.
jdodson gives this a "Rad" on the Ghost Scale
This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.
Mighty DOOM is the latest franchise shooter entry that dropped on iOS and Android phones as a free to play game. Even though I first played DOOM as Shareware sometime ago, this is the first DOOM game that I can think of that's a free to play mobile game. After blasting my way through the Demon Hordes in Mighty DOOM for a day I'm happy to say the game is a worth game that earns the DOOM name.

One of my fears with mobile free to play games is how annoying the gameplay will be to get you to pay money. I don't fault developers for doing what they need to do to pay rent, that said, I prefer buying games up front. That said, that's not how things often work on phones so free to play it is and Mighty DOOM is nice in that it doesn't seem like you need to pay for anything. Well, I could see a time where advancement might be so slow that paying makes sense, but I imagine i'll stop playing before that becomes a problem.

Mighty DOOM is a top down bullet hell shooter where you play through each stage one level at a time. I'd say Mighty DOOM feels more like a space shooter like Galaga than the traditional DOOM first person gameplay. That said, the bullet hell styled game play is on point and there is quite a bit of strategy you can employ in each stage to keep the gameplay fresh. There is a progression system by which you collect coins to upgrade your weapons and armor. Some weapons and armor have different abilities that can change your gameplay well worth experimenting with. For instance, if you want to stand back and shoot things from afar you should level up the rifle but if you want to get in close for more close quarters DOOM gameplay, you need to upgrade the shotgun.

So far, I've barely scratched the surface of Mighty DOOM and it's already a lot of fun. If past Bethesda mobile games like Fallout Shelter or Elder Scrolls: Blades are an example, Mighty DOOM should have a long life slaying demons ahead of it.

Starfield Blasts Off On September 6th!
Bethesda released a video today letting us know the September 6th release of Starfield. This may be the only new game I'm interested in playing this year. Last year I made a goal to play more games than I buy, and as part of that have artificially limited myself to the purchase of three games all year long. So far I bought nothing, but Starfield may be it. That said, I still have a three month Game Pass subscription I have yet to activate, so either way, playing this game looks good.

Besides Skyrim in space, I really don't know much about what this game may be? I'm sure it's not "Skyrim in space" but Bethesda hasn't released a whole lot of details which they seem like they are going to start doing with a Starfield Direct on June 11th.

Curious who all will be playing this at launch? Let me know in the comments.

https://bethesda.net/en/game/starfield

The GoldenEye Re-Release Is Good
jdodson gives this a solid "Rad" on the Ghost Scale
This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.
jdodson gives this a "Rad" on the Ghost Scale
This is fun, with very few issues, and is well worth your time.
I enjoy great remakes of classic games I love. In 1997 GoldenEye 007 on the Nintendo 64 was the first shooter some played and for many, the first taste they had of how incredible multi-player gaming can be. I had many get togethers with friends over GoldenEye and remembered how badly I got wrecked by the people that actually had a Nintendo 64. Even though I wasn't very good, GoldenEye was incredible and recently Microsoft announced that they were remaking it for Switch and XBox and it dropped some time ago. If you purchased the digital copy of the Rare Replay Collection you'd get it free otherwise you can buy it or it seems to be included in your Switch Online subscription. Luckily I got the Rare Replay Collection cheap on sale some time ago, so I was able to download GoldenEye to my XBox.

Bottom line it, it's a good remake but falls short of being great. It brings back the game you love with a modern control scheme, 16x9 graphics and 30 fps gameplay. But it doesn't do a lot more and I feel like when you compare this to Night Dive Studios remakes like Quake or the Blizzard StarCraft remake some time ago, this seems barebones. I don't mind a spartan re-release and this is the classic game, but a few more touches would have been nice, like glowing up some of the graphics a bit.

Still, the single player game is just like you remember and the split screen multi-player on XBox brings back the nostalgia and offers a fun alternative to the fast paced modern shooters of today. If you have fondness for this classic or want to check out an important entry in gaming history, you need to play this.

What Are Your Top Switch Games Played By Hours?
Metal Jesus dropped a video recently where someone asked him what his top played Switch games were. It's an interesting question as it's not a best of or favorites list, it's just the top games you've played on the system. I was curious what my top Switch games were and I suppose it's not too surprising:


  1. Link's Awakening Remake: 30 hours or more

  2. Diablo III: Eternal Collection: 25 hours or more

  3. Super Mario Maker 2: 20 hours or more

  4. Fortnite: 20 hours or more

  5. Minecraft: 15 hours or more

  6. Minecraft Dungeons: 15 hours or more

  7. New Super Mario Bros Wii U Deluxe: 15 hours or more

  8. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: 10 hours or more

  9. Shredder's Revenge: 5 hours or more

  10. Super Mario 3D World + Bowsers Fury: 5 hours or more


Let me know what your list is in the comments!

Mighty DOOM Drops on Mobile Next Month!
Mighty DOOM is an all new top down mobile DOOM game coming to iOS and Android March 21st. Frankly, shooter games that are translated to mobile using tap to aim controls always feel a bit wonky to me. I appreciate that Mighty DOOM looks to change up the traditional shooter gameplay and feature a top down sort of bullet hell approach using a more animated style of graphics. As with all mobile games, the devil will be slayed in the details of how the free to play aspect will work. I imagine this won't be a pay for mobile game and in some way we will be buying skins or using some kind of currency to purchase timer unlocks. Either way, it's awesome Bethesda is continuing to release DOOM games and I'm really curious to play this one and see how it goes.

What do you think of the Mighty DOOM trailer? Let me know in the comments.

The Cowabunga Collection Is Totally Tubular!
jdodson gives this an astounding "Must Play" on the Ghost Scale
This achieves something special, and it would be a shame to miss it.
jdodson gives this a "Must Play" on the Ghost Scale
This achieves something special, and it would be a shame to miss it.
Right now, my 6 year old son and I are re-watching the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon bit by bit. The show starts incredibly strong with a first season that is basically a mini-series origin story that is way better than it has any right to be. After that, season 2 keeps incredibly strong and now I'm in season 3 which is where the shows writing, animation and such starts to really wane. It's a great show still, but the quality has backed off considerably and even many of the original voices of the Turtles change from episode to episode. This original cartoon show was the base for how we look at the Ninja Turtles now and nearly all the games in the recent Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Cowabunga Collection pack of classic Turtles games.

The Cowabunga Collection features 13 classic Turtles games but for the sake of this review, I've only really focused on two games. The original Ninja Turtles arcade game and the Capcom NES Ninja Turtles game. To me, both are retro classics and the NES game being hard as hell and the arcade game being of the best brawlers of all time that served as the base for last years Shredders Revenge.

Firstly, the presentation of the Cowabunga Collection is top notch. Each game is easy to flip through on the main menu, I just wish the game had the system the game was from listed with the game. For instance, there are two versions of Turtles in Time for the Arcade and SNES. I get that the 4 player version is the Arcade version but a tag saying that could help clean up any confusion.

The emulation used is perfect and I noticed no input delay or lag when I played the game. In playing the original Capcom Ninja Turtles NES game, the emulation keeps the original NES lag when they are too many enemies on the screen and they also offer an option to hack the game to fix all of that. That said, the games feel perfect and that's not something we can always get with these re-releases.

I picked up the Cowabunga Collection on Switch and X-Box and so far I've only played it on Switch and it's damn near perfection. Getting these classic games collected all in one place is really awesome if you want to re-live these with friends and don't have 50 bucks in quarters and a local arcade handy. Now if they just release all the old Simpsons games on one pack, including the Arcade game I think I'll be all set.