The latest documentary from Noclip is out and it's all about the history of Half-Life. Noclip wasn't able to talk to anyone from Valve about the game but managed to create an incredible documentary from interviews with Geoff Keighley, Scott Smith, Randy Pitchford and a lot more. One thing I learned while watching this is that Gearbox got It's feet wet as a game developer making a ton of Half-Life expansions and then jumped into their own IP to create the Borderlands franchise. The doc covers Half-Life, Half-Life 2, Counter-Strike and other Half-Life mods and maps as well as Episode 3 and Mac Laidlaw's Epistle 3 as well as fans trying to finish up the Half-Life story themselves. It's a great Half-Life love letter and clocks in at 1h 47m so set some time aside!

"What happens when one of the most revolutionary series in video games suddenly goes dark? To celebrate its 20th anniversary, Noclip hits the road to investigate the legacy of Half-Life and the incredible community working to keep the dream alive."

After watching this documentary I re-read Marc Laidlaw's Epistle 3 and saluted the Half-Life series without Episode 3. Marc's ending was spot on even if left me with a bit of a low feeling. Sometimes things can't be wrapped up in a bow and in the case of Half-Life maybe it's better that way?

http://www.marclaidlaw.com/epistle-3/

Good morning Ghosts! Today is fairly special as we are launching the Cheerful Ghost BBS 1.4 Update: The Desktop Games Pack! This themed game pack is focused on the old school Desktop Games Packs of yore and specifically harkens to the Microsoft Entertainment Packs of the 90's. These three open source games are pretty special and very addictive so brace yourselves!

2048

Designed by Italian web developer Gabriele Cirulli. The game's objective is to slide numbered tiles on a grid to combine them to create a tile with the number 2048. However, one can continue to play the game after reaching the goal, creating tiles with larger numbers.

2048 has been described as very similar to the Threes! app released a month earlier. Cirulli himself described 2048 as a clone of Veewo Studios' app 1024, who has actually said in the description of the app to be a clone of Threes!

Play 2048 on Cheerful Ghost:

https://cheerfulghost.com/games/twentyfourtyeight

Description of 2048 by Wikipedia:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2048_(video_game)

Hextris

No Desktop games pack would be complete without Tetris and since we've all played Tetris, I felt including a Tetris inspired but not quite Tetris game would be interesting. Hextris is Fast paced HTML5 puzzle game inspired by Tetris that you must play! If you like hard games, this one's for you.

https://cheerfulghost.com/games/hextris

Hextris was finished (gameplay mechanics refined, game polished, UI redone, marketed, etc) by Logan Engstrom (GitHub: @meadowstream, Twitter: @logan_engstrom) and Garrett Finuncane (GitHub: @garrettdreyfus) over 3 months.

Minesweeper

Minesweeper is a game where you clear a rectangular board containing hidden mines without blowing yourself up! Created by Reed Jones to thematically feel like it's running right from your Windows 95 Desktop! This game is very cool and feels beat for beat just like the original Minesweeper I grew up playing.

https://cheerfulghost.com/games/minesweeper

The Cheerful Ghost Games BBS is now at version 1.4 and has 12 awesome games for you to play right now in your web browser from old school DOS BBS titles to more modern takes on that genre. If you haven't tried them out I recommend you head over and check them out at the link below!

https://cheerfulghost.com/games

Counter-Strike Global Offensive just went free to play with the addition of it's all new Danger Zone Battle Royale mode. So Counter-Strike is going... Fortnite? Well, sort of, Danger Zone is a mode where you jump in to an area and fight it out with everyone else or in a squad but it's at a much smaller scale with each match having a max of 18 players. But much like Fortnite or PUBG, Danger Zone has you collect weapons and items to shoot it out with other players until the last gamer is standing.

As the update went live I downloaded CS GO to give it a shot and found the whole game download process and install to be fairly quick as the game is only about 17 gigs. After the game started it perfectly set itself up and I was in and playing an old school CS Dust 2 round with bots in no time. After playing the classic Counter-Strike I cut my teeth on in the early 2000's I decided to give Danger Zone a shot. Took me a handful of minutes to get into a match and after a few minutes of waiting around in a map for everyone to start, the game began. I collected a few items, some cash and had a drone deliver me an item I purchased. After picking up a few more items I had a tussle with another player and was killed handily by them. I wasn't the first person to die, but 12th.

After a couple more matches I'm happy Danger Zone is a new mode but more happy that Counter-Strike Global Offensive is now free. I'm kind of kicking myself for buying it a few years ago as I haven't really played much of it and for my usecase it makes more sense as a free to play game. That said, it's cool now that the base Counter-Strike game is free to play for anyone and it makes sense too as CS GO has had the micro-transactional lootbox to get weapon skins thing going for it for a long time. Plus it will be awesome to be able to play it with any of my friends regardless of if they own it.

"Introducing Danger Zone — a fast-paced battle royale game mode built on CS:GO’s tactical gameplay where players use their wits, skill, and resources to fight to the finish. Play solo, or work together as a squad of two or three!

CS:GO is now FREE TO PLAY

So there’s never been a better time to bring in your friends.

All players who played CS:GO before today’s update will receive a commemorative Loyalty Badge they can display on their profile. You were there from the beginning, so show it off! Additionally, all existing CS:GO players have had their accounts upgraded to Prime Status.

As before, Prime Status matches you with other Prime Status players. Additionally, your Prime Status will give you access to the new Souvenir MP5-SD | Lab Rats (available by earning XP while playing Danger Zone matches) and the all new Danger Zone Case."

https://steamcommunity.com/games/CSGO/announcements/detail/1709576801693341616

I don't have time to play each new release in gaming, but in some rare cases I'll make the time and Rage 2 is one of those games I'm gonna make time for. The open world trailer dropped tonight during The Game Awards and I was happy enough to watch it and then nab the link on YouTube to share with you here. The game looks even better than what they previously showed and the artistry shown in how the trailer is cut is superb. My only question is how much like the real game is this? If they can deliver on most of what we see here this game is going to be bloody great.

Oh and the Russo Brothers just came out at The Game Awards making a finger snap joke and delivered the win for on-going game of the year and Fortnight won! No surprise there, Fortnight owns the gaming world right now and it's a well deserved win.

"The wasteland of RAGE 2 is your playground – your very bloody playground –and in a world where there are no rules, insanity rules. Go anywhere, shoot anything, explode everything. RAGE 2 will be available on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC on May 14, 2019."

Psychonauts 2 is an upcoming game by Double Fine and just today received a new official trailer! Rasputin is back and this time he's not at Summer Camp anymore and much of the game seems to take place in Psychonauts headquarters! The trailer is big on plot mystery which makes the anticipation for the final game all the more fun. One thing I've come to love about Double Fine is the game narratives are always top notch. The last Double Fine game I loved my way through was Broken Age and I felt like the second half was way too obtuse puzzle wise but the story was great and I wanted to finish the game simply to see how things turned out. I wasn't disappointed in Broken Age and Psychonauts 2 looks to deliver on the core Double Fine strength of a fun game world and narrative experience.

The new year is fast upon us and as such a new year of 2019 gaming predictions need to be made! This year we're going to do things a bit more fun in that all our collected Cheerful Ghostradamus 2019 predictions will be read aloud in our upcoming New Years episode! If you want to be part of the gaming festivities please read the following.

How To Be Part of the Cheerful Ghostradamus Radio 2019 Predictions Episode

You're a gamer and as such have an opinion on things you'd like to see happen in gaming in 2019. Maybe you have a thought as to what might happen that you don't want to happen but you feel might anyway. Take those thoughts, write them down and send them to us in a few ways.

1. Send me a private message on Cheerful Ghost. This is a good way to send me your ideas and keep the surprise private for the other listeners.
2. Email them to me. You can get my email address on the Cheerful Ghost about page so send those predictions along!
3. Comment on this thread. It's an easy option but the surprise for some might be lost.

Retrospective on Our 2018 Predictions

Firstly, I'm terrible at telling the future of gaming. That's not gonna stop me from making more predictions this year but my one lone wish to see a Nintendo 64 Classic did not come true.

Will Ball got close with his Virtual Console on the Switch prediction. Virtual Console on the Switch is not coming but the online service + NES games is a start and Nintendo is only going to keep adding to it over time. Will was right on though, the Switch was the number one console of 2018.

Travis struck out wanting to know more about Final Fantasy VII remake. It seemed like such a slam dunk too, why wouldn't we learn more about the game? Cheerful Ghostradamus knows for sure.

I'll have to ask Adam about this prediction because I don't know enough about the industry to score it. "VR will continue to become more and more valuable in architecture and engineering design and presentation to clients."

Travis pretty much hit the nail directly on the head with his prediction about loot boxes save one detail. "While we certainly haven’t seen the end of loot boxes, the Star Wars: Battlefront 2 outcry will make EA rethink their purpose a bit and others will hopefully follow suit, making pay-to-win hard to find in a game you have to pay for up front." Whereas this murdered EA during that time, I'm not sure how much pause it's giving other developers?

At the time I found Wills prediction about The Last Jedi funny because we hadn't seen the height of the backlash yet. At that time it was fairly mild and it only got worse over time. I personally loved The Last Jedi and find the whole fan reaction to be quite sad not that people don't like a movie but the depths some go to voice that. That said, this didn't happen and it doesn't look like it will. "What would a Cheerful Ghost article be without some Star Wars? After the fan backlash of The Last Jedi, and JJ’s carefully laid plans being ripped apart, Lucasfilm will release a JJ Abrams’ cut of The Last Jedi. This will set up Episode 9 so it can be true to JJ’s vision. It will also make The Last Jedi the highest grossing movie ever."

Whereas I'm not going to cover each prediction I wanted to end on one that i'll just respond to with a chuckle. "Travis: Valve will learn to count to three and we’ll get news of either Half-Life 3 (unlikely), Portal 3, Team Fortress 3, CounterStrike 3, Left 4 Dead 3, or DotA 3."

Read them all below.

https://cheerfulghost.com/jdodson/posts/3595/cheeful-ghostrdamus-2018-gaming-predictions

The second Captain Marvel trailer just dropped on the Internet and I wanted to share it here for you to watch and comment on. Captain Marvel takes place in the 90's as Carol Danvers aka Captain Marvel heads back to Earth for reasons unknown with some incredible super powers.

MCU Lore Because Why Not?

I'm not gonna pretend i'm the person with the most Marvel knowledge but it seems Captain Marvel's Kree connection is a huge focus on this trailer and I remembered something about the Kree from past MCU films so I looked it up.

Yondu had a line from Guardians of the Galaxy 2 about being enslaved by the Kree.

Yondu: "I was a Kree battle slave for twenty years when Stakar freed me."

Seems Ronan from the original Guardians of the Galaxy was a Kree and not a particularly nice one.

"They call me terrorist. Radical. Zealot. Because I obey the ancient laws of my people, the Kree, and punish those who do not. Because I do not forgive your people for taking the life of my father and his father and his father before him. A thousand years of war between us will not be forgotten!"

Are all Kree bad? Apparently not but it seems they aren't viewed well in the Galaxy so Captain Marvel might not be fighting for the right side? Who knows, but the movie looks incredible so I guess we'll see.

http://marvelcinematicuniverse.wikia.com/wiki/Kree

Oh and the "Something from my past is the key to all this" reminded me of George Lucas saying something similar about Jar-Jar Binks.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bz-SaMu8k3w

I'm pretty sure that's a hot take connection you won't see anywhere else so you're welcome for that and I imagine we'll see a Gungan crossover in the MCU soon enough.

I thought Anodyne was one of the coolest Indie games to come out in 2013 and was happy to hear Anodyne 2 is in development. Recently developers Analgesic Productions have released more details of the game and one big one featured in the linked video above, is the ability to switch between 3D and 2D game modes. The 2D game graphics are in the style of the original game and the 3D looks very reminiscent of early Playstation or Nintendo 64 games.

"Anodyne 2: Return to Dust is coming early 2019 for Windows and Mac OSX. Much like Final Fantasy, there's no need to play Anodyne 1 to understand Anodyne 2's story, but longtime fans will find connections to Anodyne 1! It's also available on Steam."

https://analgesic.productions/

Bethesda recently tweeted that Elder Scrolls Blades isn't going to launch this year and that it's coming early in 2019. Elder Scrolls Blades is one of my most anticipated games (it looks awesome) and it's a bit unfortunate to hear it's pushing out a bit but if the game is better for it then why not?

"The Elder Scrolls: Blades will release in Early 2019 for iOS and Android devices. We are incredibly excited for you to play Blades and you can still sign up for Early Access at http://PlayBlades.com ."

https://twitter.com/ElderScrolls/status/1068225011163504640

If you frequent this site you know I love watching speedruns. I think a great speedrunner is not only skilled at the game they are playing but can also explain the history of the run as well as how certain strategies were discovered. Certain YouTube channels do breakdowns of Speedruns and their history and Summoning Salt is one of the best. Check out the historical breakdown of the Super Mario Bros. 3 100% Speedrun above and learn about Mitch Flower Power and the rest of amazing runners that have traded the world record over the years.

If this speedrun historical breakdown isn't enough for you, strap in because in a couple days i'm going to post my final 2018 GDQ Express wrap up series and one run features Mitch and Grand Poo Bear speedrunning Super Mario Bros. 3 co-op!