jdodson | Cheerful Ghost

Gearbox released an image of Gaige the new Mecromancer class

Gearbox released an image of Gaige the new Mecromancer class for Borderlands 2 as she appears in game. The Mecromancer will finally be released October 16th for anyone that pre-ordered Borderlands 2.

Gearbox just released the first in game echo log for Gaige: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ijs-FEk3OIk

Gearbox has been talking about the Mecromancer for sometime and as such I am really looking forward to trying her out. I think I am a bit more interested in her class than the other in game classes I haven't tried yet.

When she drops will you give her a shot or are you more interested in your current character? Maybe another character you haven't tried thus far?

BR Supporter wrote on 10/06/2012 at 06:01pm

I'm really excited for the mechromancer. She is most likely going to be my favorite along with axton. I've always been a fan of summoning classes in any games, and the mech just looks awesome.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/06/2012 at 06:35pm

I do too. I played the Witch Doctor in D3 as well as the ol Necromancer in D2. I like summon classes quite a bit.

PETS!

BR Supporter wrote on 10/07/2012 at 01:22am

I loved the necromancer is Diablo 2. I spent so much time as that class. One of my favorite classes in any game period.

I too also love pets.

Travis Admin wrote on 10/08/2012 at 04:51am

I'm looking forward to her, but I have to say, I'm glad the character you're playing doesn't talk much, because the echo log was slightly annoying.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/08/2012 at 10:22am

It was on that line for me, but yeah it's good they only talk a little bit when they crit something.

If you want to join this conversation you need to sign in.

I just watched this Retroactive video on Kid Icarus for the

I just watched this Retroactive video on Kid Icarus for the NES. Kid Icarus was one of those games I always wanted but never wanted enough to ask for it for my Birthday or Christmas(the only times I could get games as a kid). I had a NES hint book(all text) that explained how to do well at the first few levels of Kid Icarus and I read the text imagining how the game would look and play.

Did you play Kid Icarus or any of the later incarnations?

Travis Admin wrote on 10/05/2012 at 03:05am

I got it for like a buck at a yard sale when I was a kid. One of my favorites.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/05/2012 at 03:21am

Wow. That was a good deal. Did you beat it?

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 10/05/2012 at 06:30pm

I think I rented this one a bunch, but never owned myself. I remember using cheat codes on it to beat it, I think.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/05/2012 at 06:49pm

ICARUS FIGHTS MEDUSA ANGELS

Travis Admin wrote on 10/07/2012 at 08:14pm

I managed to beat it once. It's so incredibly frustrating at times. Getting turned into an eggplant was one of the most annoying things in any video game I've ever played.

If you want to join this conversation you need to sign in.

Cubemen is Awesome Tower Defense Fun

Tonight I just tried Cubemen for the first time and in a nutshell, it is awesome tower defense fun. The game graphics are very reminiscent of Minecraft or Darwinia and fit the game style very well. I opened the game up on my Mac laptop and it played very well with no lag or slow down at all. I imagine it would even run on a low powered PC. That said, I tore into the first few levels and was actually able to figure the game right away.

The game is fairly simple, you are the blue Cubmen and the red Cubemen are coming at you and want to over run your base. So... you need to defend it from them and as such you have a few Cubemen you can build to help you. You can move your Cubemen around so if you put a mortar Cubmen in a spot and you think he would be better somewhere else, you can. I really like this aspect of Cubemen as most tower defense games ONLY allow you to place a tower in a static spot.

The game starts you in an easy mode, which was fun but I imagine it can ramp up pretty quick as it comes with a ton of levels and the last levels are in Insane mode.

If you dig retro styled multi-platform Tower Defense games you need to check out Cubemen. It also has a multi-player mode I wanted to try but I didn't see any games I could join.

Thanks BR for allowing me to win the game in his give away contest! Looking forward to playing it more.

A fun GIF outlining what certain games would be like if they

A fun GIF outlining what certain games would be like if they had a super easy mode.

BR Supporter wrote on 10/05/2012 at 12:04am

hahaha, I love the mortal combat one. That would probably be the only fight I would be able to win. I'm so bad at fighting games.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/05/2012 at 01:52am

I am pretty bad at fighting games as well. I have Mortal Kombat IV on PS3 but its mostly just button mashing with my friends.

Tungsten wrote on 10/05/2012 at 10:57am

Bayonetta had a one button mode.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 10/05/2012 at 06:32pm

Dude, I want to see some special moves from the wheelchair guy!

Jacob_Richardson wrote on 10/08/2012 at 09:08am

Ah that was hilarious. I second the need for wheelchair fatalities. Maybe he would just roll over your face. Nitros?

If you want to join this conversation you need to sign in.

If you grew up in the NES golden year then you may well

If you grew up in the NES golden year then you may well remember the infamous Konami Code. One site online has cataloged all the other sites that use it and what secret easter eggs occur when you enter it in.

http://konamicodesites.com/

Awesome to see so many people implementing this bit of game history where they work.

A bit more information on the code and its history:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konami_Code

RadaR wrote on 10/04/2012 at 06:43am

If you own Borderlands 2 on the PS3 or XboX gearbox has gone to the effort to fit in the konami code alog with thousands of other little things; like Micheal M (a borderlands fan that died of cancer at the age of 22) he was put in Borderlands 2 as an NPC that gives a free gun when you see him. I love how gearbox spends so much time with Pop-Culture references and eastereggs. ;p

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/05/2012 at 03:08am

I just Googled that, yeah it looks like it unlocks wub mode but it doesn't actually do anything. Cool they added it though, Gearbox is awesome.

Tungsten wrote on 10/05/2012 at 10:58am

Off topic: wasn't gearbox at one time associated with Valve?

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/05/2012 at 12:16pm

After searching for it, this is the only thing I could find: http://imgur.com/r/gaming/Phv5d

Tungsten wrote on 10/06/2012 at 12:29pm

Ah, they made the two expansion packs for the original half-life:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-Life:_Opposing_Force

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/06/2012 at 03:21pm

Oh no kidding... That makes sense then.

If you want to join this conversation you need to sign in.

I hear many people mention that video games are more

I hear many people mention that video games are more expensive than they were in days of yore. Its interesting as this image has recently surfaced to somewhat dispel that idea. Some games cost in upwards to $70 in certain markets depending on the launch system and demand for it.

I don't mind the $60 if the game is worth it and now games can be MUCH less if its digital. Do you think games cost too much? What was the most expensive game you have both recently and ever?

BR Supporter wrote on 10/05/2012 at 12:25am

I feel like games are a bit too expensive right now. Most major games are $60 which is quite a lot compared to the more indie games that are $20(little more/little less depending on the game type). I don't see why games need to be $60, most indie companies that sell their games cheaper seem to do fine as long as the game is actually good. Also, the fact is that soon most games will be all downloaded digitally. Selling a game digitally is much cheaper than selling a hard copy(disk,case, and any booklets). At least with the hard copy they have to account for all the stuff they include with the game. So the profit isn't going to be as much as a digital download.

All in all I guess I'm saying if you sell a hard copy of the game for $60 its alright, but once you start selling digitally for $60, your just being completely greedy. No digital download needs to be $60 to make a good profit.

BR Supporter wrote on 10/05/2012 at 12:28am

Also, I forgot to add stuff about dlc. Now they are starting to make dlc at the same time the game is being made then selling it for another 10 to 20 bucks. So that brings the total up even higher than before. Mass effect 3 is one of the games that did this. They released the Ashes to ashes dlc at the same time they released the game and gave it a price of $10. This caused the total of the game to become $70 if you wanted the full game. That is just greedy EA for ya.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/05/2012 at 03:21am

I agree, $60 for a digital only triple A game is too much. I've heard the reason why they can't drive the digital price
lower at first is because of contracts with stores.

I hope that changes in the future. Or just charge less, like CS:GO or Torchlight 2 pricing :D

Tungsten wrote on 10/05/2012 at 11:00am

I remember Sonic and Knuckles being ridiculously expensive. The justification was that it let you play the other Sonic games as Knuckles. Pretty awesome idea btw. It was like DLC before DL's.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/05/2012 at 12:17pm

Oh right, didn't that cart have a open top to put the other games on so it could change the code or something?

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/05/2012 at 12:18pm

Yup: http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sonic_%26_Knuckles

Jacob_Richardson wrote on 10/08/2012 at 09:18am

Honestly I feel like that picture in particular may be taken out of context. For instance, http://www.play-asia.com/paOScore/19-71-99-49-en-15-gundam.html take a look at how expensive those games are. Ya some places have them way hiked up then they were at the time but, most places were pretty cheap. I got a lot of my super sega games for like 20dollars. Sega Saturn in particular has reasons for being so pricey. As out of japan it did horribly and the number of copies was exceedingly low for games.

If you want to join this conversation you need to sign in.

This just in from the land of things that needed to happen

This just in from the land of things that needed to happen yesterday: 8-bit Gangnam Style. If you haven't been initiated to South Korea's own Psy and his video masterwork, please do so now:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=tWbKmS69PBM#!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psy_(rapper)

Kingdom Rush was recently released for the iPhone and being

Kingdom Rush was recently released for the iPhone and being a fan of the original browser Flash game installing it was a no brainer. It being free also helped as well. Since Kingdom Rush had an iPad port it was fairly inevitable that there would be a port to the iPhone and after playing a few levels I can say the wait was worth it. Occasionally the map doesn't fit the size of the phone and the game lets your flick around the map to see areas you couldn't otherwise. That said, the port is nearly flaweless and in not time I was enjoying myself protecting my Kingdom from invaders.

Tower Defense is one of those game types that does well on a touch screen device. Tapping to select the tower you want to build is simple enough but Kingdom Rush ups that a notch by tossing the invaders at you at a quicker pace. If you don't feel the game is fast enough, you can tap to allow the next wave of invaders to come faster and if you do so, incur a bonus of reinforcement units.

The game picks up on the pretty popular freemium model by allowing you the ability to collect gems and spend those on in game bonus items. If you want to purchase them with real money, you can. As with many freemium games you need not pay to win, that said I could see where it would help you out quite a bit.

If you have an iPad or iPhone you should download Kingdom Rush as it is a really fun high quality tower defense game. The ability to replace levels with different challenges adds to its replay-ability and its fantasy theme make it more fun that most of its kind.

I just watched an interesting documentary Ive heard quite a

I just watched an interesting documentary I've heard quite a bit about titled Indie Game: the Movie. It basically follows a few indie game developers through development ups and downs in really interesting documentary style. They focus on the team that made Super Meat Boy as well as the developers that made Fez. They also talk to the developer that made Braid as Braid ushered in the new wave of Indie game development on XBLA.

The movie is very interesting and if you can check it out, I recommend you do. I felt it was a little long but that was my only negative to the film. The soundtrack is fantastic and the camera work stands out to me as some of the best I've seen in a documentary yet.

If you love video games or ever want to make them, you need to watch this!

http://indiegamethemovie.com

Update: Indie Game the Movie is now stream on Netflix!

When I found out Portland had a Retro Gaming Expo I Had to Volunteer!

When I found out Portland had a Retro Gaming Expo I had to be part of it. To hang out with other like minded geeks and talk about some of the coolest things ever made? I had to do it.

Originally I wanted to volunteer up a storm and hang out the entire weekend, but things being what they are starting a new job, I couldn't commit to the full schedule. I had a few hours today(Saturday) and I was able to help out. When I arrived at 8.30 AM people were already lining up and I was excited to see so many people in attendance. I wasn't sure what to expect as it was my first year and I was happy to see so many happy geeks in lines.

My first job was to hold a sign directing people to purchase tickets. There were a few other volunteers holding signs and directing people to will call and other whatnotery. It seems all the volunteers I met had some love for gaming and are involved in it. One such nice person person I met was Clifton. I actually remembered seeing Clifton at PAX this year. As it turns out he is a game designer and is working on a game called Clobbr and you can play it right now @ http://clobbr.com/

http://i.imgur.com/Nca7z.jpg [ because you want to see a fairly blurry photo of the sign I held ]

After the expo opened up and the line cleared I headed to my first major volunteer assignment of answering questions and looking knowledgable at the Auction Booth. It was a fun experience and I enjoyed talking to all the people that came to ask questions or just talk about gaming. The items that got the most attention were the Ps2 & GameCube dev kits as well as a pristine Virtual Boy as part of the entire collection lot that was up for auction.

A few items from the Auction Booth I was extremely happy to be standing around:

http://i.imgur.com/6Vqby.jpg [ Factory Reconditioned Atari Computer System ]
http://i.imgur.com/lcEK8.jpg [ This was one entire collectors lot for auction, no reserve ]
http://i.imgur.com/NUcfI.jpg [ The SNES library from the lot ]
http://i.imgur.com/5vZnD.jpg [ Final Fantasy II & III ]
http://i.imgur.com/DaGuw.jpg [ Chrono Trigger & Earthbound ]
http://i.imgur.com/5hdqt.jpg [ Super Star Wars & The Rest of the Amazing Trilogy ]
http://i.imgur.com/2bkq0.jpg [ A bit of this and that... The Rob the Robot is the Japaneese version. ]
http://i.imgur.com/N0l7U.jpg [ Yep, thats Sunday Funday... ]
http://i.imgur.com/dIGdO.jpg [ A Ps2 & GameCube Dev Kit ]
http://i.imgur.com/Yg3ZY.jpg [ Yes, you are playing with power... ]

At 2pm I had someone relive me and I was able to hit up the show floor and check out the rest of the exhibitor hall. If you lust for all things retro and dream in 8-bit, the Retro Gaming Expo show floor is your heroin. Due to my brain being in an unfortunate state this morning I forgot to bring cash with me and as such suffered greatly as I couldn't buy anything... Oh well, I snapped a few rad photos so I can judge myself later.

http://i.imgur.com/oAsqt.jpg [ One Exhibitor was printing off Level Screen Posters from Games. Earthbound. ]
http://i.imgur.com/rS7zd.jpg [ Super Mario Brothers Level Print ]

Many exhibitors were creating 8 and 16 bit art pieces from a craft supply I have seen but can't put a name on. Can you guys help me figure out what these little plastic bits are you put together, heat up and they stick to form things? That said, the stuff the artists made out of them was stunning:

http://i.imgur.com/WHqjH.jpg [ A Super Metroid 16-bit collage ]
http://i.imgur.com/gyOvv.jpg [ More of the above ]
http://i.imgur.com/XcZAY.jpg [ A large assortment, I dig the Secret of Mana pieces ]
http://i.imgur.com/ukA7a.jpg [ These presentations really looked fanstastic. One day something like this will sit over my mantle ]
http://i.imgur.com/Tu7lY.jpg [ This was hands down the coolest piece at the show. A 16 bit art creation from Final Fantasy II. Fantastic. ]
http://i.imgur.com/h597K.jpg [ Not made from the same plastic, these were made from wood ]
http://i.imgur.com/x9ZxS.jpg [ Wooden tiles make this Boo stand out ]

Oh right and many people were selling The Secret of Mana. I had to take a picture, you know, because... I love this game.

http://i.imgur.com/uigJV.jpg [ The Secret of Mana. Skip you next vacation, play this instead ]

A few vendors were selling other awesome bits from my childhood I never thought I would ever see again.

http://i.imgur.com/6XzSe.jpg [ The Original Nintendo Trading Cards in the packaging. Proof there is a God ]
http://i.imgur.com/pLOhd.jpg [ Super Mario Brothers 2 Disk System. I don't believe this came to the states. I really dig the packaging ]
http://i.imgur.com/5zQbQ.jpg [ Didn't every school have the Apple II? I didn't see any Oregon Trail ]
http://i.imgur.com/mRBZ6.jpg [ This original GameBoy station was for play in the free play Arcade area ]

I talked to many people and made some friends along the way. I'll be posting more about some of the individual booths I found awesome in the next few days. If you have time to hit up the Portland Retro Gaming Expo 2012 tomorrow you should, it is awesome. If not pencil in time for next year, you will not regret it. I look forward to having more time to spend time volunteering next year and meeting more awesome people. And, if I am in luck I will remember to bring money so I can something awesome on my mantle.

The full album of all the photos I took is available for you to persue on imgur right here:

http://imgur.com/a/HOPpp

-
http://www.retrogamingexpo.com/auction.php

Timogorgon Member wrote on 09/30/2012 at 04:06am

Dude these pictures are awesome. I'm sure it cost an arm and a leg, but I really want that game collection. Especially the NES, SNES, and N64 games. :D

That pixel art was really cool and the level prints were kind of amazing! I seriously want an Earthbound and Chrono Trigger print!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 09/30/2012 at 05:00am

The collection did cost a few gold coins :D

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 09/30/2012 at 05:02am

In fact, one vendor claimed to accept Rupees and I considered making a joke about currency from India and the I realized that wouldn't have been funny at all.

Timogorgon Member wrote on 09/30/2012 at 07:02am

That gameboy station is kind of awesome too. Think the wife will let me put one in the living room? The kids will love it!

BR Supporter wrote on 09/30/2012 at 02:21pm

That collection is HUGE, I wish I could own that many games of any system, not to mention having a collection that large of retro games. I would love to just go through and look at all the games. I would especially love to get my hands on the N64 games. That is one of the first systems I ever played and I loved all the games on it; they were so well thought out. I still have my N64 console and play it from time to time.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 09/30/2012 at 03:09pm

I see no problems with putting that in a living room. Always lights up... Nice conversation starter!

hardeyez wrote on 09/30/2012 at 05:15pm

I'm really surprised that the devkits are available. Especially the PS2 one. As a developer/publisher you never actually bought the hardware, you just rented it for $25,000 (the price varied a bit and dropped over the life time of the hardware, and there were eventually 2 models -- the normal model and the Performance Analyzer model which was awesome at showing you an incredible amount of detail about how your code ran on the hardware). I saw studios close up shop and Sony asking for the hardware back... They never wanted anyone not covered by contracts to touch the hardware. I guess some slipped through the cracks.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 09/30/2012 at 06:16pm

Yeah, I didn't know the hardware was so restricted to use. Figured cause you paid so much you'd get to keep it. Apparently not :D

Travis Admin wrote on 10/02/2012 at 02:35am

Dude.

DUDE.

I need to fly out there like this minute.

Jacob_Richardson wrote on 10/02/2012 at 02:38am

I didn't get a huge look at all the pictures. I made sure to check out that retro collection though. I know there's probably thousands of great games in there if i look hard enough but what stood out was harvest moon 64! Best in the series and my first one. I was just trying to play some harvest moon recently so it caught my eye. I still own the game cartridge as well.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/02/2012 at 02:40am

Awesome. Still trying to figure out with retro game to tear into next. My money is on Earthbound. :D

Jacob_Richardson wrote on 10/08/2012 at 07:52am

Completely old post BUT I just wanted to note. I've been playing through tons of retro games as well. Earthbound is also on my radar. As are the other MOTHER games.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/08/2012 at 10:23am

Anyone try the fan translated Earthbound?

Timogorgon Member wrote on 10/08/2012 at 06:44pm

I've tried out the fan translated Mother 3 (Earthbound 2). I sunk maybe about 5 or 6 hours into it so I didn't get terribly far into the story, but it was fun. I stopped playing mainly because I got sidetracked with other stuff, but someday I'll go back and finish it.

Jacob_Richardson wrote on 10/08/2012 at 10:11pm

Yep those are the ones I meant. Can't wait to try them. I love translated old games.

If you want to join this conversation you need to sign in.

jdodson1

2755 Posts

Gearbox released an image of Gaige the new Mecromancer class

I just watched this Retroactive video on Kid Icarus for the

Cubemen is Awesome Tower Defense Fun

A fun GIF outlining what certain games would be like if they

If you grew up in the NES golden year then you may well

I hear many people mention that video games are more

This just in from the land of things that needed to happen

Kingdom Rush was recently released for the iPhone and being

I just watched an interesting documentary Ive heard quite a

When I found out Portland had a Retro Gaming Expo I Had to Volunteer!