I want to thank everyone that came to our booth at this years Portland Retro Game Expo. Wick and I enjoyed talking with people about the game and seeing what cool stuff people picked up. I also want to applaud the 6 winners of our ranked ladder, some of those scores were no small feat!

Portland Retro Game Expo is my favorite convention of the year because the community and vendors are so much fun. This year I came to the expo with a goal. Replace my broken Gameboy. Beforehand I made the choice to buy a Gameboy Advance SP as it plays original Gameboy games as well as advance games. The backlit display and nicer form factor make the Advance SP a much better Gameboy and after looking at a few booths I bought one from Alex Hobizal. I also picked up the Zelda Four Swords / Link to the Past cart. Link to the Past on Advance is a great port and so far I am noticing a few graphic and musical changes to accommodate the Gameboy hardware but largely it is a nearly perfect port. Alongside those purchases I picked up Kirbys Dreamland in the original box, Gameboy Golf, Metroid II Return of Samus and Namco Museum.

http://i.imgur.com/NaHMEfF.jpg

Another booth I checked out was GraceWorks Interactive. They were showcasing retro bible games like Super Noahs Ark 3D, Spiritual Warfare and Catchumen. While I am no longer religious I played the hell out of Wisdom Trees games such as Spiritual Warfare and Bible Adventures. It might be my child-like nostalgia blinders, but I had a ton of fun playing those games and they have a special place in my gaming heart. GraceWorks had some stickers from the original promotion of those games I grabbed. It's awesome people still have those in stock and are selling them. I also picked up a pearler bead Moogle from Final Fantasy VI at the Mel Paradise booth.

http://i.imgur.com/ClQFmam.jpg

Oh and did I mentioned I won a raffle and won the Zero Point arcade cabinet. I need to figure out a way to get it into my garage but after that you should all expect a review of it. It's kind of awesome to think that i'll have an honest to God actual arcade cabinet in my house. I bet when it's actually in my house it will feel more real, it's still really shocking I won.

http://i.imgur.com/KFthexu.jpg

If you want to peruse the imgur album of pictures I took from the event check the album below. Look forward to seeing you at next years expo.

http://imgur.com/a/BVik7

https://www.etsy.com/shop/MelParadise
http://www.graceworksinteractive.com/

The new Star Wars Force Awakens trailer dropped. I liked it but it surprised me. We now have a few questions answered in that Finn was/is a Stormtrooper and that Kylo Ren(the sith in the trailer) wants to finish what Darth Vader started. It shows a ton more footage and what I imagine is some of John Williams new score. Han Solo seems to be discussing the force with Finn and Rey which is odd because I always imagined people knew what happened after the battle the moon of Endor.

I really don't know where this movie is headed and at this point, I don't think that's a bad thing.

If you don't drop your thoughts on the trailer in the comment section the dark side will win. Also, what do you think Darth Vader started that Kylo Ren wants to finish?

Gaming on Linux has a great wrap up of early Steam Machine and Steam Controller reviews. One of the reviews that stood out to me was the one from Engadget. It's immense and I recommend you pour over it.

"I used to laugh when I saw Linux users scramble to build compatibility layers to play "real" PC games. I chuckled when Valve CEO Gabe Newell lambasted Windows 8 as a "catastrophe for everyone," proffering Linux and SteamOS as a viable alternative. It seemed so far-fetched, so silly. Truth be told, I'm still laughing -- but now it's because I'm enjoying myself. The Alienware Steam Machine has some growing pains, but it's fun. Lots of fun."

Looks like a solid step in the right direction and from all the reviews i've read it seems Valve is patching bugs in a good clip as they come up. It's not a matter of IF I will pick up a Steam Machine but when. I'll wait a bit to hear what people are experiencing and then decide what to get.

http://www.engadget.com/2015/10/15/alienware-steam-machine-review/
https://www.gamingonlinux.com/articles/several-sites-publish-their-thoughts-on-steam-machines-the-steam-controller.6077

*update*

PCGamer has a great review dedicated to the Steam Link worth checking out.

http://www.pcgamer.com/steam-link-impressions-fantastic-in-home-streaming-for-50/

If you find any other early reviews of Steam Machines and the Controller drop them in the comments.

I like the new Fallout 4 trailer because it mixes a fun 60's song with live action and possible in game art. At least I hope some of that CG is game art, it would have the final game look incredible. Fallout 4 drops on November 10th and it would be a day one purchase for me if not for Starcraft 2 Legacy of the Void. As much fun as shotgunning both games at once, I don't think I am up to try as it might make my brain explode.

A couple days ago Blizzard announced that Warsong Commander was getting a nerf and we've talked about it a bit already. I think all Hearthstone players wanted to see the Grim Patron Warrior deck get a nerf but after Blizzard talked about Warsong Commanders changes some people voiced some displeasure. No nerf is going to make everyone happy but is changing Warsong Commanders ability that big a problem?

For folks not in the know Blizzard is changing Warsong Commanders ability from:

"Whenever you summon a minion with 3 or less Attack, give it Charge."

TO

"Your Charge minions have +1 Attack. "

But some people feel this nerf is bad for Hearthstone in general as seen in a recent article from PCGamer.

"Before Patrons became the target of vitriol from the average ladder player and Twitch stream viewer, Face Hunter, Zoo and other aggressive decks were the main point of complaint. What stopped these decks from dominating the meta if not the rise of Patron Warrior? Maybe we should be taking a minute to thank the Patron players for farming those pesky aggro players out of existence. "

If any love exists for Patron players I don't think it's still around. To me, the deck feels a bit cheesy but on the other hand it's nice to have a strong deck from cards you can pickup easily from Naxxramas and Blackrock. I urge you to watch the developer reasons for the nerf in the video above and then the article at PCGamer below. After that drop your thoughts in the comments.

http://www.pcgamer.com/why-the-warsong-commander-nerf-is-actually-bad-for-hearthstone/

I still think nerfing Grim Patron Warrior is a good think and this change wasn't terrible but it makes Warsong Commander less interesting to the point I am not sure it will be played much anymore. It's sad for a standard card to be less useful but I understand Blizzards rationale even if it's not universally loved.

http://us.battle.net/hearthstone/en/forum/topic/19288409377

Hey Everyone,

Cheerful Ghost & Starship Rubicon will have a booth at this years Portland Retro Gaming Expo. This Expo looks blow the doors off the last one with over three thousand tickets already sold! They plan on even more people attended so if you want to lock in your ticket, click the link below. Wick and I have our new booth ready to go and are excited to have people check it out. We are also having a daily Starship Rubicon ranked ladder where the top 3 scored players will win a free copy of the game! So stop by, play the game to get ranked, grab a free sticker and remember that Wick loves selfies so make sure to ask him to take as many with him as you can!

I also plan on replacing my lost original Gameboy or upgrade to a Gameboy Advance SP. Still not sure which, but I am leaning to the SP.

Portland Retro Gaming Expo is October 17th - 18th at the Portland Convention Center. More details at the website below.

http://www.retrogamingexpo.com/

The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddess is now on tour and they recently stopped by The Late Show with Stephen Colbert to rock out a pretty cool piece from the show. The arrangement here is pretty solid as well as the players themselves. A few years back my friend had the idea to take me to Video Games Live, which is a similar thing save one important point, it wasn't good. Nintendo entering the mix seems to have upped the quality considerably and I give them huge props for doing it well.

Nintendo Published a History of Zelda Documentary that was originally released to Japan. A few years ago some members at Zelda Informer translated it and posted it to YouTube for your viewing pleasure. It's a really great run through of the series and winds things up talking about Wind Waker and a very lengthy discussion with the games creator Shigeru Miyamoto. The captioning isn't large so you might have to squint some but it's a good documentary I recommend.

Head on over to the time machine because it's time to hit the nostalgia button!

Broforce will launch on Steam October 15th and will add a whole slew of campaign missions set to defeat the devil. Wait... as in king Diablo himself? Like Satan incarnate?

The full launch of America’s favorite freedom simulator will include a new set of challenging campaign missions as the bros charge into Satan’s stronghold for a final confrontation in hell with the dark lord himself!

Oh hell yes.

So grab that American flag and your favorite beer to cozy up to Steam because the devil needs a freedom paddlin'.

Rarely a day goes by where I don't play a few matches of Hearthstone. It's a great game and I still find the matches engaging and fun. I recently just got to a point where I have 4 decks that net me consistent wins in Casual and I felt they were worth sharing. Feel free to share your decks too, i'd love to see what people are playing with.

First things first, I am a free to play pleb that's only been seriously playing since the game dropped on mobile. Also these decks are not put together to be competitive on ranked. I play enough ranked to get the new card back but I am not good enough to do well there. Someday perhaps, but not right now.

Paladin Control Deck

My most recently thrown together deck is my Paladin control deck. This is an odd one for me because I don't think like a control player so this is a good deck to practice with. I looked up good Paladin decks and sort of borrowed some elements from other popular control decks and improvised a bit. I feel bad playing this deck because I hate these cards and how they well they work together. I guess another way to say that is that i've been on the other side of this deck and really didn't enjoy it so I feel bad.

http://i.imgur.com/Io2ww0j.png

Something Awesome - My Longest Running Shaman Deck

I used to have an irrational love for Shaman. It wasn't the best class and didn't stack up well against nearly everything else. After The Grand Tournament and the additions to Shaman I focused this deck on totems and it does way better. This deck wins less that my other decks but it's fun to play and the end of exceptionally long matches can be really satisfying. Plus having a ton of totems on the board and then buffing them all to insane numbers is incredible.

http://i.imgur.com/tsWnHtI.png

Grim Patron Warrior - What Else Can You Do With Warrior?

So I have a Grim Patron Warrior deck like everybody. I don't enjoy playing this deck but I use it to get Warrior wins for my daily quest gold. I feel dirty typing that because Grim Patron Warrior is both the most played deck and the most hated. It doesn't take that much skill to play and if you get the right card draw it's game for most people in casual mode. Still it's a solid deck and you can't argue with it's effectiveness.

http://i.imgur.com/H7iXXSs.png

Quick Beast - Not That Quick But It's Deadly

My Quick Beast deck is my second longest lived deck and was also kicked up a few notches after The Grand Tournament. It's somewhere between an aggro deck and mid range deck. It's biggest weakness is it's lack of card draw and it doesn't respond to things as well as my other decks. That said the beast combos are awesome and Webspinner and Ram Wrangler give this deck an incredible amount of random chance to do some very fun things. Some people knock Hearthstone for allowing so much random chance but for someone that loves gambling when it doesn't matter(like a freemium game) I love it. Bringing out a Ram Wrangler for 5 and getting a King Crush is epic shit and everyone should experience that feeling.

http://i.imgur.com/QeWDyiS.png

So what do you think? Anything recommend? Realize I have a fair amount of cards but not everything so some suggestions I might not be able to pull off. Also, what decks are you running and have you found anything you seriously recommend I try?