jdodson | Cheerful Ghost

Nintendo Zappers "Shopped" in Movies

Nintendo Zappers Photoshopped into movies has been making the rounds on the intar-tubes and I felt it was worth sharing. Something seems awesome about seeing the Terminator holding out the classic orange plastic light gun.

http://www.behance.net/gallery/Zappers/5951853

Let's Play: Super Star Wars

For today's Retro Tuesday radness I am sharing with your my latest Let's Play: Super Star Wars. I make it through four levels bulls-eying Wamprats and slaughtering Jawas. No, I didn't play as the Empire I was the farm boy from Tatooine.

I took a swing at this lets play once before but was seriously clobbered in the Sand Crawler level to the point that it wasn't fun to watch. So I played it up a bit and came at it fresh with this much more interesting video. Ultimately my rustiness took hold and stopped the video inside the Sand Crawler.

I put Super Star Wars pretty high on my list for really good Star Wars games next to Tie Fighter, Yoda Stories and... not much else. I have heard the Bioware Knights of the old Republic games were superb but I have yet to take them for a spin.

I want to apologize to everyone because during the video I say I am a pretty big "Star Trek" fan when I meant to say "Star Wars." When someone realized it I immediately subjected myself to a self imposed force choke.

Travis Admin wrote on 11/28/2012 at 04:07am

There are a ton of awesome Star Wars games. The Dark Forces/Jedi Knight series is a masterpiece. The Battlefront games are incredible, and yeah the KotOR games are supposed to be awesome. The Force Unleashed games were good mindless fun, but not much in the way of substance.

Overall I think I prefer Star Wars games to the movies themselves.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/28/2012 at 04:47pm

I don't know, I love the films myself I don't think any game I have played is better than the films yet.

I still need to play a battlefront game.

Travis Admin wrote on 11/28/2012 at 08:49pm

I loved 4-6, the prequel trilogy is a bit iffy. After playing Dark Forces/Jedi Knight, Kyle Katarn became my favorite Jedi, and I really hope he shows up in the new movies.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/28/2012 at 09:56pm

I agree the originals are the best of the lot by a lightsabers margin. I saw you nabbed the Star Wars pack on Steam that has Dark Forces, I think I have a new goal for the Holiday or Summer sale.

Travis Admin wrote on 11/28/2012 at 10:25pm

The reason I got that one, to be quite honest, was that I have almost all of those games in iso and burned CD format. I wanted to go legit.

Travis Admin wrote on 11/28/2012 at 10:27pm

I will say that the original Dark Forces and Jedi Knight are probably a little hard to play these days. The graphics haven't aged well. If you jump in with Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast, you'll get Quake 3 level graphics (on the Quake 3 engine, actually).

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/28/2012 at 10:55pm

Quake 3 graphics are fine to me. I can even do Ocarina of Time but that actually does age well due to Nintendo's use of solid colors instead of bad textures.

Travis Admin wrote on 11/28/2012 at 11:14pm

Nintendo are the kings of graphics that age well.

I don't suppose Jedi Knight has aged *that* poorly: http://i2.listal.com/image/826134/600full-star-wars-jedi-knight%3A-dark-forces-ii-screenshot.jpg

Dark Forces is a little worse: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/c/ce/Dark_Forces_Gameplay.png

It's weird, first you had Dark Forces, then Dark Forces 2: Jedi Knight, then Jedi Knight 2: Jedi Outcast, at which point they just dropped Dark Forces altogether. That's not as confusing as what Squaresoft did with the Final Fantasy numbering in the US.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/28/2012 at 11:16pm

Yeah. Well, I have been playing the original Doom on PS3 (Doom 3: BFG) and I think the original Doom aged really well. That kind of looks similar to Dark Forces.

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Double Fine Amnesia Fortnight Winners Selected

Four games were selected for the Humble Double Fine Amnesia Fortnight event. Spacebase DF-9, Hack n' Slash, The White Birch, and Autonomous.

The game for the video I featured in this post above is the one I am most interested in, Spacebase DF-9. It seems in a way like Sim Tower in space, something that would be totally awesome. Regardless, all the games look really interesting and I wonder what will come from The White Birch and others.

I hope much rad-sauce comes from this and other companies follow suit. If you have a relationship to your customers why not make them part of your creative cycle?

The White Birch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2mGjI80x_eo

Hack n' Slash:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3KwSb74nBI

Autonomous:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nbnz0J_ex1E

Now on My Christmas List: Hyrule Historia

Mark this down as things I just recently found out about that now alter my Christmas list. Hyrule Historia is an upcoming joint venture by Dark Horse Comics and Nintendo that outline the history of Hyrule and seem to tackle its history. Relevant snip from the Amazon product page:

"Dark Horse Books and Nintendo team up to bring you the limited collector's edition of The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia, containing an unparalleled collection of historical information on The Legend of Zelda franchise. This handsome book contains never-before-seen concept art, the full history of Hyrule, the official chronology of the games, and much more! The limited edition of Hyrule Historia looks like it could have been pulled off the shelf of one of the sages in Hyrule. The faux-leather hardcover bears the symbol of the Gate of Time, debossed, on the cover, and gold gilded pages. The limited collector's edition of The Legend of Zelda: Hyrule Historia is perfect for the hardcore The Legend of Zelda fan!"

This book will solve many mysteries as its been somewhat of a unknown to how the games fit in with the history of Hyrule. I have read many articles and watched videos but always felt it a bit odd as Nintendo hasn't really officially talked about it much.

You can pre-order the book on Amazon here:
http://goo.gl/bT4ig

Wanted to share with you a Angry Video Game Nerd segment he did on the Zelda timeline. It was originally not something he originally wanted to release, but later did and I am glad because its quite good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHIP9UtkQDQ

Is this something you might pickup or have you moved on from the Zelda games?

Had Me At Steam Sale

I figured I would hold off on getting any new games this Steam sale. That was until I saw Torchlight II for $9.99 and Dragon Age Origins for $8.99 and... well... I picked them up.

Cool thing about Torchlight 2 is that my character from the demo holds over to the real game. Torchlight 2 is pretty fun and offers a challenge on Normal mode from the start. With a proper Single Player, LAN and Online Multiplayer it sends itself into a different zone than I have become used to with Diablo III. That said, I picked the Bezerker expecting a fairly normal Tank class. I am still pretty low level and already the class is different that I expected. I am only a few levels into the class but already he seems like a Tank/Mage class with some shape shifting elements.

Wanted to pickup Dragon Age Origins for a long time now as I heard it was fantastic. Figured $9 was a good price to give it a spin.

Gary_Butterfield wrote on 11/26/2012 at 06:41pm

Torchlight 2 is my all time favorite Diablo-like, bar none. I'm not specifically a fan of the genre, however, so take that with a grain of salt.

I'm sort of alone in really disliking Dragon Age Origins. Modern Bioware has great companions and dialog but garbage play, in my experience.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/26/2012 at 07:41pm

Torchlight 2 is very well done. It gets high marks being well priced and easy to play even compared to Diablo 3.

I have heard good things about DAO. I really loved Neverwinter Nights and its expansions, hoping this is similar. How much of DAO did you play? Was it on PC or console?

Jacob_Richardson wrote on 11/27/2012 at 03:33am

I don't think your alone in disliking it Gary. I too own DAO but, felt like it was lackluster in gameplay. It had interesting characters and story which made me force my way through it. It wasn't really enjoyable through the whole thing. I think a lot of people overlooked the basic combat because of the characters and it being a new IP. New IP's are rare to come by and it's always better if they at least get a second shot. Although with DAO2 they did a terrible job.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/27/2012 at 03:50am

Yeah, I didn't hear awesome things about DA 2. It seems to have gotten the "EA Treatment."

Jacob_Richardson wrote on 11/27/2012 at 08:54am

Well they tried to improve the gameplay. It was as bad as Gary makes it out to be. However they didn't do a good job and they made the story lackluster as well. So it lost the only good thing it did have going for it.

Gary_Butterfield wrote on 11/30/2012 at 04:44pm

I played about 2/3 of Dragon Age Origins and about 2/5s of Neverwinter Nights. I made the mistake with NN of doing the main campaign, which takes so long to ramp up. The first area where you're visiting the different quarters of the city is unending and bland, I thought.

This is coming from being a huge fan of the Baldur's Gate games. The combat there is interesting and tactical, without resorting to MMOery like in DA:O. To each his own, however. It's got a good story, interesting lore and wonderful voice acting.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/30/2012 at 06:59pm

I felt most of the NWN campaign to be bland but I completed it all. I think what kept me playing was the gameplay and settings. The expansions were better, Hordes of Underdark being the best.

You planning on picking up the new Baldur's HD Remake?

Gary_Butterfield wrote on 11/30/2012 at 08:06pm

Depends on what is added. I'm in a wait and see holding pattern.

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New Site Design Live

As you can now see, the new site design is now live! I have been at it for the last few weeks working on getting things just so and I am happy with the results.

I am going to look for a replacement color for the notification menu purple in the upper right for when you have outstanding notifications. There may be a few other things I fix over the next few days as well.

I hope you like the new design and let me know what you think of it!

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 11/25/2012 at 10:52pm

Looks great on my Samsung Galaxy!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/25/2012 at 10:57pm

Great. I tested it a lot on Mobile! Well the iPhone I do t have an Android.

Travis Admin wrote on 11/26/2012 at 03:56am

Dig it. With the design conforming to screen size, I have HUUUUGE youtube videos, but that's kinda cool.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/26/2012 at 04:14am

Yep they take up the maximum width they can :D

If It is distracting I can dial it down some.

BR Supporter wrote on 11/26/2012 at 04:36am

Mobile version works great. I love the new design. I'm using a galaxy s2 by the way.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/26/2012 at 05:12am

Awesome, good to know thanks!

Jacob_Richardson wrote on 11/27/2012 at 03:35am

I love it as well. As I am using a laptop I don't normally use when browsing the site I can't determine if this is a new change or if this is this particular computers fault. I will confirm when I go home in a few days.

The issue is that the box you type in is incredibly small I can't read what i'm writing or what it looks like. Very hard to scroll as well.

Keep up the awesome work on the site though.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/27/2012 at 03:48am

The comment box was quite small. I just increased it to a good height for mobile and desktop just now :D

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/27/2012 at 03:50am

I also make the Ghost in the header a bit larger as well as a few other tweaks here and there.

Jacob_Richardson wrote on 11/27/2012 at 08:53am

It's perfect thanks for fixing it.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/27/2012 at 03:44pm

No problem.

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StarCrafts Episode 15: Attention Seeker

The hits keep rolling from the guys over at CarbotAnimations. If you dig what they are making, they are now selling TSHIRTS and also have a video showcasing how an episode evolves over time.

TShirts:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cs3AUOITKn0&list=SP0QrZvg7QIgpoLdNFnEePRrU-YJfr9Be7&index=14&feature=plcp

StarCrafts Speed Animation 1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lt9_P8jalig&feature=youtube_gdata

Anúna Choir Perform Diablo 3 Soundtrack

"In July 2012 at Dublin's National Concert Hall, Anúna performed two pieces, "Black Soulstone" and "Incantation" written by US composer Russell Brower from the soundtrack Diablo III. Soloists are Lucy Champion, Miriam Blennerhassett, Rory Musgrave and Michael McGlynn."

This is a very good performance version of Russel Browder's great soundtrack. The Diablo 3 Soundtrack tops my list of great video game soundtracks to come out over the last few years and this choir sings these songs well.

It takes a bit to get started so skip ahead 35 seconds if you so desire.

One Seriously Under Appreciated King pt. 1

Since I have some time this holiday I decided to do a few Let's Play videos to share with you all. One game that tops my list of sweet Super Nintendo Games I feel needs WAY more attention than it does is King Arthurs World. King Arthurs World is a lemmings clone that takes the formula and creates a great war strategy game for the console. The game is so well done I am somewhat surprised this war game formula wasn't copied and recycled.

I make my way through 7 of the training missions and get back into the groove. The fun and creativity of this game shines through and I had a blast playing it. I will continue to do Let's Plays of this game and will do each one of only one stage from here on. If memory serves I went as far as the Goblin levels so hopefully, with enough Let's Plays I will beat the game :D

Did you ever play King Arthurs World and if so what did you think of it? If you haven't tried it, I recommend giving it a shot!

Let's Play: Steam Big Picture Mode

With all the Steam on Linux news Valve is pushing pretty hard into to break into your living room. I know most of us have heard of the new Steam Big Picture Mode but we might not have all seen it in action. Recently it showed up on my Mac Steam client so I took a few minutes to make a video showing off what it looks like.

Overall, Steam Big Picture Mode is beautifully usable. Its so well designed for a first effort it really showcases the huge difference between Valve and the traditional console makers: Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony. Sony just pushed a pretty large update to the Sony Online Marketplace and its better, but doesn't come close to the first version of Steam's Big Picture Mode.

What do you think of Steam Big Picture Mode? Does this seem like something you might find pretty easy to use or do you prefer the current console offerings?

Regardless, Steam's Big Picture Mode doesn't throw as many ads at your as XBox Live. Something I find pretty interesting considering you have to pay for XBox Live and have advertising thrown at you so prominently.

jdodson1

2761 Posts

Nintendo Zappers "Shopped" in Movies

Let's Play: Super Star Wars

Double Fine Amnesia Fortnight Winners Selected

Now on My Christmas List: Hyrule Historia

Had Me At Steam Sale

New Site Design Live

StarCrafts Episode 15: Attention Seeker

Anúna Choir Perform Diablo 3 Soundtrack

One Seriously Under Appreciated King pt. 1

Let's Play: Steam Big Picture Mode