jdodson1

Joined 01/23/2012

I'm an Engineer and built the video game community Cheerful Ghost and text based mini-MMO Tale of the White Wyvern.

2755 Posts

https://i.imgur.com/oAru7DE.jpg
Today Nintendo dropped the details of it's Switch online service and it looks quite interesting. I don't love that consoles charge you money for online play as that's typically included in the price of PC games. That said, the way Nintendo is rolling it out isn't too shabby because the first year of service will just be $20. But what do you get for that first year?


  1. Online Play

  2. 20 NES games with added online play

  3. Save data cloud backup

  4. Nintendo switch online app & special offers


I haven't heard great things about the online app & special offers just sound like discounts on things we'd already get. The interesting part is the 20 NES games with added online play and if you look at the list, it's a great list of games such as Soccer, Tennis, Donkey Kong, Mario Bros, Super Mario Bros, Balloon Fight, Ice Climber, Dr. Mario, The Legend of Zelda & Super Mario Bros 3. So basically you get access to most of the games on the NES Classic included in your subscription? Sounds like an amazing benefit to me but i'm wondering if this list of games rotates or if they keep adding to it over time? If it's the latter then it could mean that Nintendo will eventually offer a compelling back catalog of retro games that come included with a Nintendo online subscription which if they keep adding games could be an incredible selling point of the Switch.

https://www.nintendo.com/switch/online-service/
https://www.nintendo.com/switch/online-service/nes/


If there was any question if Rage 2 looked good that’s been answered in the gameplay featured in this new Rage 2 trailer. They are boasting a fully open world, something the original Rage lacked(it was more of a hub world system) as well as the ability to drive any vehicle you see. Visually this does look like the best kind of follow up to Rage and doesn’t look to entirely wipe the original game away as Rage 2 picks up 50 years after the events of the first game.

One part of the original Rage I enjoyed was the multiplayer co-op system. I played a lot of split screen co-op on the PS3 and then on PC online with Travis. Hopefully Rage 2 brings this back because it was a very unique component that focused less on twitchy multiplayer and more about working together with a friend.


The new Rage 2 announce trailer dropped this morning and features a cacophony of visuals that are tonally similar to the original game. I don't love the live action parts of the trailer but i'm also not a marketing expert i'd just prefer to see gameplay. There are a few gameplay glimpses scatted throughout that look incredible and if you want even more of that Bethesda is launching a gameplay trailer tomorrow. It's a good idea Bethesda is releasing these Rage 2 trailers now before E3. There are a lot of games announced at E3 and doing this beforehand gives Rage 2 a chance to shine during a news lull. I think the original Rage game was way better than it reviewed and during the run up to the Rage 2 I launch plan on coming back and giving it a second look. We've been taking a second look at some older but not really that old games such as Borderlands 2 on Cheerful Ghost Radio and I think we might give Rage the same treatment.


I should have posted this at the top of the month but somehow this news big got buried. That said, iam8bit and Capcom are partnering up to release two new repro collector carts for Mega Man 2 and Mega Man X for $100 each. I imagine a lot of Mega Man fans are pretty excited to get a new pressing of Mega Man and since these carts are in limited quantities what more could a collector want?

"Capcom and iam8bit are kicking off “Mega May” with the announcement of two nostalgic Mega Man collectibles: the Mega Man 2 - 30th Anniversary Classic Cartridge and Mega Man X - 30th Anniversary Classic Cartridge. These brand new, limited edition reproductions are now available for pre-order on iam8bit.com for $100 each. Units are expected to ship late September 2018.

Each game is a Limited Edition of 8,500 units. Each cartridge comes in one of two available colors: Opaque Light Blue (7,500 units total per game) and Translucent, Glow-in-the-Dark Blue (1,000 units total per game). Cartridge colorways are randomly inserted into sealed, unmarked boxes so each package is a surprise.
"

https://store.iam8bit.com/collections/mega-man-cartridge-collection


After the Switch dropped and it was obvious that is was really popular I started thinking that Sony, Microsoft and even Valve might want to get into dedicated mobile gaming handheld market. With everyone having handy access to very powerful smartphones the market could get crowded but one thing Nintendo showed me that if you do something right, people will buy it. I'm not gonna lie, I've wanted a dedicated PC gaming handheld for a while and would love it if Valve made one. That all said the people over a Digital Foundry made a video recently wondering if Sony would make the Switch equivalent for the PS4. The long story seems to be no and if they did it would just be a sequel to the Vita. A Vita successor might be awesome and worth a release but the value of the Switch is that it's the current Nintendo console and a handheld, which is harder to do with the PS4 or XBox One mostly due to power constraints giving Nintendo a huge advantage.

"Is Switch truly one of a kind, or could Sony - and indeed Microsoft - create their own console hybrids? Rich explains why it's actually more likely that Switch could step up to challenge those consoles rather than the other way around."


Nintendo is finally bringing back the NES Classic as it promised and we now have a date to expect it.

"#NESClassic Edition will return to stores on June 29! This system and the #SNESClassic Edition system are expected to be available through the end of the year."

Good news to everyone that wasn't able to get a NES Classic or is having a hard time securing a SNES Classic! That said, I imagine you could take the "available through the end of the year" to mean Nintendo might discontinue them? I gotta think that they don't mean that but... well if you want one, now's a good time to get one. I know the NES & SNES Classics mostly sit unused for most but I play them a lot and we've been dedicating one Cheerful Ghost Radio segment per month to cover games on the NES Classic.

Now i'm just wondering when Nintendo is gonna drop the word on the N64 Classic?

https://twitter.com/NintendoAmerica/status/995831060826030080
https://www.nintendo.com/nes-classic/


https://i.imgur.com/bEwafiU.jpg
"The Steam Link app, slated to launch the week of May 21st, allows gamers to experience their Steam library of games on their Android (phone, tablet, TV) and iOS-based (iPhone, iPad, Apple TV) devices while connected via 5Ghz network or wired Ethernet to a host system (Mac or PC), with Android access initially offered in beta. The Steam Link App will feature support for the Steam Controller, MFI controllers, and more across both platforms."

It's a good thing when you can play your games in more places and soon we'll all be able to stream out Steam games to our phones and tablets. I have a crazy fast 5G wireless router and a wired PC and when that's streaming to the Steam Link on wifi in the living room it's a great streaming experience. Soon my iPhone 6S will be able to play my Steam games and i'll be able to use my Steam Controller to play them? If it works well that sounds honestly pretty awesome and sort of begs the question...

Is Valve Gonna Release A Linux Steam Handheld?

With the Nintendo Switch doing so well and Valve founder Gabe Newell recently saying that they admire what Nintendo does as a company with hardware and software I wonder how closely they are looking at making a competitor to the Switch? Steam now has a bunch of native Linux apps, great controller support and now the ability to stream games that are not on Linux over wifi.

STEAM HANDHELD CONFIRMED?

Hardly, but it's fun to dream.

Also, I have Apple TV I think now I don't need to have my Steam Link connected to my TV anymore. If the app is just as good this would free up an HDMI port and make everything a bit simpler. When the apps drop expect to hear a few things from me about them.

Oh and they are also releasing a Steam video app so you can stream all your movies on your phone or tablet. Not sure i'd buy a movie on Steam but it's pretty neat anyway.

https://store.steampowered.com/news/39998/



The original Legend of Zelda on the NES may be one of the most influential adventure games of all time. Because of this legendary status it has a very competitive history in the speedrunning community. That said, lots of time has gone by with some of the original speedruns not being broken and this video by YouTuber Summoning Salt explains why.


Recently I read a Reddit AMA with Jennifer Blanc-Biehn and Michael Biehn because i'm a big fan of Micheal's films. A fan asked about a follow up to FarCry 3: Blood Dragon and his Jennifer had this to say...

Question: Have you been approached about Blood Dragon 2? The first was one of the best pieces of content I had ever played and a lot of it was because of your deadpan performance as Rex Power Colt.

Answer: He Did the sequel


As well as...

Question: Hi Michael Biehn! Any news on Blood Dragon 2?

Answer: He did the sequel it’s digital


I was surprised that a Reddit AMA could drop such a huge news bomb and so far this doesn't seem to have been picked up in the games press yet. A couple things you can take from all of this is that Ubisoft is in fact working on a sequel to Blood Dragon and Michael has recorded his parts for it. Like the first game it's going to be a digital only game which given where the state of gaming is now, makes total sense. Blood Dragon is one of the better FarCry games and i'm still making my way through it and since it was so beloved by fans it makes total sense for it to get a sequel. I'm betting it will be based on the FarCry 5 engine which should make it a really beautiful game.

https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/8gqld7/were_jennifer_blancbiehn_and_michael_biehn/