I am not a huge Team Fortress 2 fan, but this mashup trailer of the Hotline Miami universe with the Team Fortress 2 universe is pretty epic.

That said, it is also pretty violent so be forewarned.

Compare it to the original Hotline Miami 2 trailer:

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

Remember when the tide started turning and publishers were coming on board to port more games to SteamOS and Linux? I do too, because that time is now as seen in this latest news of XCOM Enemy Unknown coming to Linux. 2K has tapped Feral Interactive to do the port, which is interesting considering they port games to Mac.

If this is a broader move by 2K to port successful titles to SteamOS/Linux this will make for a very interesting year.

When I first saw the intro scene for Another World, I was really impressed. The kind of 3D graphics it showcases blew my mind as it seemed computer graphics had leaped years into the future. I really liked playing the demo of Another World and then the full version at my friends house, but due to not having the full version I never beat it.

Can't tell you how many times I watched this intro scene and played the first parts of this game. To this day, I am pretty good at jumping over the worm and dodging that wolf thing at the beginning of the game because that's about as far I made it.

Checkout a fan recreation of the original intro scene above. The recreation is pretty accurate and does the original game quite a bit of justice.

You can watch the original here. The original brings a lot more subtle and lonely horror and is a bit better in my opinion. That said, it's nice to see different versions of classic game scenes.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G1EGP2EyWe0

I started Cheerful Ghost because I wanted to create a place where I could talk about video games with my friends. When the site shipped it needed to do three things: hold my video games to my list, allow me to write about any game in my list and share that conversation on the everyone on the web. As the site marched on we started interviewing people in gaming, the Cheerful Ghost Roundtable started & the event system was built. Over the last year I have been involved in the Portland Indie game scene and in our last Roundtable episode, was able to get Will Lewis, the founder of PIGSquad to join us.

As Cheerful Ghost has evolved as a community we have become much closer to the Indie Games movement and as such am happy to announce that by years end we will publish our first Indie Game.

As I have been thinking about this announcement I decided the best way to convey the information is to break it up into two parts. Feel free to read it all or just the relevant bits for you.

What Does This Mean For The Cheerful Ghost Community?

If you love Indie Games, this will give you a better look at them as we will have a unique perspective of the games we will publish. I have talked to a few community members before this announcement to get a list of concerns they had and because of this I think we will get the balance right between talking about awesome stuff and not being annoying.

One of the things community members have mentioned is transparency about what games we are publishing. Since I love talking about stuff I love, this seemed like a no-brainer. We will note on the site if a particular game you are looking at is published by us so there is no confusion what is going on.

We will still be covering other games as we are currently have no plans to change that. Ultimately anyone can post an article to Cheerful Ghost and if it isn't junk or SPAM it gets promoted to the main page. This won't change because we publish games.

What Does This Mean For Indie Game Developers?

As we have been talking to the developer of our first game we are publishing I have been thinking a lot about how to approach publishing. I want to create a system where it's easy to join as a creator. As someone who created this site and plans on making video games too, I want to create a system that I would want to join. Because of that I think way we approach publishing is pretty special.

Most publishers make you sign away the exclusive right to publish your game until the end of time. With us, it's a few years and developers love this.

Most publishers take a huge cut of the game price, leaving you with little in return. With us, you get the biggest slice of the pie and developers love this.

We will take care of helping Indie Game developers get their games out on all the digital game stores we can and work to promote their games. Since we start with a vibrant community, this allows us a pretty unique perspective to do good work.

If you are making something amazing, we would love to know about it to see if we can help you release it.

A Few Ending Thoughts

Cheerful Ghost is walking humbly into an area very close to our hearts. The independent games movement is one that I am really passionate about and I can't wait to help game developers release great stuff. At the end of the day if Cheerful Ghost can make Indie game developers happy by helping them find an audience of people that love the games they build, we are doing what we set out to do. Hopefully you are intrigued by this news and if you have any questions, feel free to drop them on this thread or send them to me directly.

-jon

"Prisoners can now take drugs (typically smuggled in through visitation), and develop addictions. Addiction gets stronger with each use of a drug, and prisoners go into withdrawal if they do not get their drugs fix quick enough. Some prisoners arrive with existing addictions, other prisoners try drugs when bored or dissatisfied. All drugs have a chance to cause an overdose, which is lethal unless immediately treated by a Doctor.

Two new Reform programs have been added to help combat drug addiction:
- Methodone program, a chemical suppliment that helps remove the craving of addicted prisoners
- Alchoholics anonymous meeting, a group therapy session aimed at reducing the psychological dependence on booze."

Introversion is a company I would point to as doing the Greenlight/early access game model right and it just keeps getting better. For this next month they are going to be focusing on fixing bugs and if you had one you wanted to see fixed, you can head over to the Introversion bug tracker and vote for it.

http://forums.introversion.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=48851

So Broforce looks great. Shooting, killing, pixel art, tons of bad-ass characters to play as. What's not to love? Honestly the game looks really awesome and I want to pick it up, I just have this new aversion to games on Steam Greenlight. That said, I played a few minutes of Broforce at a friends house and it was fun for the few minutes I played. My friend mentioned that the game needed more Bros as well as levels which fits a common complaint on Steam in the game is too short. This update adds 3 new bros as well as new game mechanics, levels and an update to Indiana Brones. Oh and the new mech? Awesome.

Valves news to delay the launch of Steam Machines until 2015 makes sense when you think about it. The Steam Controller has received some pretty mixed reviews so far and seems to have taken quite a bit longer to perfect than Valve originally may have thought.

"We’re now using wireless prototype controllers to conduct live playtests, with everyone from industry professionals to die-hard gamers to casual gamers. It's generating a ton of useful feedback, and it means we'll be able to make the controller a lot better. Of course, it's also keeping us pretty busy making all those improvements. Realistically, we're now looking at a release window of 2015, not 2014.

Obviously we're just as eager as you are to get a Steam Machine in your hands. But our number one priority is making sure that when you do, you'll be getting the best gaming experience possible. We hope you'll be patient with us while we get there. Until then, we’ll continue to post updates as we have more stories to share. "

Ultimately I want my Steam Machine to be awesome and if pushing it out another year can do that, so be it. We have in home streaming now, you can download SteamOS and install it if you want and Living Room mode works great. So, if someone were so inclined they could go ahead and build their own.

Can't say i'm not a bit upset by this news, but ultimately I want it to be great and hope things come together with the Steam Controller.

http://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamuniverse#announcements/detail/1820891223906967821

Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel is the new game from Gearbox that is a prequel to Borderlands 2. Featuring a playable Claptrap, the pre-sequel looks to be an interesting version of Borderlands. If you need more Borderlands, this is something you should take a look at.

Are you interested in picking up Borderlands the Pre-Sequel?

Did you know that Handsome Jack was just a placeholder name but since 2K loved it so much they kept it in? Now we are both smarter.

In the last roundtable I mentioned that Stardew Valley is one of my most anticipated Indie games of 2014. I have been following the games development since I first heard about it and have been really happy with the progress it's made. It's a long time coming, but with the recent bout of disappointments i've had with super early access games, I appreciate the long brew Stardew Valley has taken.

Stardew Valley music is shaping up well. The songs seem to fit the game well and I especially liked the theme song.

https://soundcloud.com/concernedape/stardew-valley-theme

One of the unique features of Stardew Valley is that it is a country life game that features the ability to partake in county festivals like...

"Egg Festival - Everyone gathers in town for a celebration of new life after a long winter. The festival concludes with an egg hunt.

Flower Dance - The townsfolk congregate in a secret meadow to feast and socialize. The young people pair up and participate in a time-honored tradition, the “Flower Dance”. It’s your chance to show a special someone that you care… just hope that you don’t get rejected!

Luau - The summer luau is one of Stardew Valley’s most beloved events. The beach is decked out with tropical adornments and a huge buffet is provided for everyone to enjoy. The Regional Governor makes a special trip each year to see what the valley has to offer… something that Mayor Lewis takes very seriously. The highlight of the luau has to be the potluck soup… a huge, simmering cauldron full of ingredients provided by the community. (screen shot above)

Dance of the Midnight Jellies - On a warm summer night every year, the midnight jellies pass through Stardew Valley on their long migration home.

Harvest Fair - A celebration of the harvest season. Artisans, farmers, and craftspeople alike prepare exhibits to show off their hard work from throughout the year. A panel of judges awards medals to those with the most compelling displays."

ConcernedApe recently spent some time working on another project, but is back to working on the game full time. I appreciate that he is taking the time to stop and enjoy life, yet focus on the game at the same time. I think i'd rather have Stardew Valley released a bit later and have him be happy and not-stressed than see the game ship tomorrow.

Can't wait to play the final version and hopefully, we can all play it this year!

If you want to listen to all the music for Stardew Valley composed so far:

http://stardewvalley.net/dev-update-16/

Even more updates:

http://stardewvalley.net/dev-update-17/