Speedrunner frozenflygone snacks through this unique Candy Box 2 run in a sweet 20:51 time. I’d never considered a clicker game would make for an interesting speedrun but this run delivers. If you haven’t heard of Candy Box 2 and want to take your hand at the clicking action we have a version you can play right now on Cheerful Ghost too.
Quake is back with a proper remastered version by Night Dive Studios & all new campaign by MachineGames! If you have Quake on Steam on the Bethesda launcher your version will automatically upgrade. I have Quake on the Bethesda launcher and was happy to see the game update and I checked it out and it looks and feels fantastic. There is a new feature in this version of Quake where you can download Quake add-ons and right now Quake 64 is the only thing you can download. If how iD Software has treated Doom is an indicator I imagine they will add more Quake mods over time that will make it easy for fans to experience even more of this classic.
This new version of Quake is in 4K on all systems that can support and also has widescreen support, enhanced character models dynamic lighting, anti-aliasing, depth of field and includes each of the official Quake expansion packs: “The Scourge of Armagon” and “Dissolution of Eternity,” as well as two expansions developed by the award-winning team at MachineGames: “Dimension of the Past,” and the all-new “Dimension of the Machine.”
“ Updated for modern platforms, this version of Quake features up to 4K resolution and widescreen support on compatible platforms, enhanced models, dynamic lighting, anti-aliasing, depth of field and more, bringing the shooter and both its expansions to a new generation of players.
With the power of Add-ons, players will have tons of free levels to play, with the re-release receiving post-launch support for the best community-made content.”
Azurephile Super Member
wrote on 08/20/2021 at 02:11am
I saw Quake under the section of "What's New" under "Home" in Steam and wondered why, thanks to you now I know. I've played Quake kind of recently, so I don't know that I'll play it again soon. I saw a video of it and it looks nice, though finding a comparison video isn't turning out as well as I'd hoped. I've found other videos comparing games that got remastered with their original graphics side by side and that makes the contrast really stand out.
My only question is if the expansion packs have their original soundtrack. The good news about this (which you already know) is that you can download those soundtracks and add them to the game quite easily. I'm pretty sure you have a post here about that.
Thanks for sharing this news!
jdodson Admin Post Author
wrote on 08/20/2021 at 02:20am
I got Quake for free with the Bethesda launcher last Quakecon so it was fun to see it update to Quake remastered today. The TLDR; on the update is that, out of the box, it does everything you have to hack to do that I had in my post. It selects the proper settings by default, adds the Nine Inch Nails soundtrack and everything. It's also coming out on Switch, Xbox, Playstation and the like in a very worthy edition that requires much less fuss to play.
It also comes with all the expansions and an entirely new campaign which I think I'll check out.
Azurephile Super Member
wrote on 08/20/2021 at 02:42am
Sweet! Whoa a new campaign?! That might be worth checking out!
Speaking of remasters....I haven't reported it yet, I thought I'd wait until it's officially announced, but I recently read that supposedly we're getting some GTA remasters. I think it's GTA 3, Vice City, and San Andreas. It'd be really nice if they'd remaster the copies some of us already have, instead of making us pay extra for it. Although, paying extra for a remaster makes sense anyway. So, it's cool that this Quake remaster is free for those of us that already own the game. I think I also got Quake for free the same way you did, I could be wrong though.
Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member
wrote on 08/20/2021 at 04:12pm
Limited Run Games will be releasing physical versions of quake for the ps4 and switch. They go on sale next week and will be available for about a month.
I have been playing this new Quake and it’s really good. For a quick no-effort way to play, it’s definitely the best I’ve played. I’m sure there are some third party engines that can do it better but the entire absence of effort for this, plus cross platform multiplayer and achievements… it’s pretty great. I’ve seen that the new expansions are the same format as the old ones so they can be played in third-party engines which is awesome.
And yeah Will, I didn’t even realize that vinyl was rare. The Walmart in the town I work has had it for months now, and just the other day I decided to price check it and saw that it was basically out of stock everywhere and going for a lot more than retail, so I nabbed it. Glad that others will get the shot too
jdodson Admin Post Author
wrote on 08/27/2021 at 02:27am
> I have been playing this new Quake and it’s really good. For a quick no-effort way to play, it’s definitely the best I’ve played. I’m sure there are some third party engines that can do it better but the entire absence of effort for this, plus cross platform multiplayer and achievements… it’s pretty great. I’ve seen that the new expansions are the same format as the old ones so they can be played in third-party engines which is awesome.
Agreed. Quakespasm is very good but this seems to make more choices I appreciate by default a bit better (no pixel smoothing by default). They also upres the menu graphics so it isn't so small and Night Dive did a graphical "glow up" that makes things a hint nicer.
Randomizers in the Speedrunning community are ROM hacks that breathe life into certain old games where a random experience can create a very thrilling run. Recently Games Done Quick showed off a run by Skybilz in The Legend of Zelda Consternation Randomizer which takes the original NES game and mixes up the items with a few other fun bits. In the run you can watch above, Skybilz plays through the Zelda randomizer twice and there are some really fun turns in level 9. Randomizers really flex a Speedrunners game knowledge and require a very deep focus on all the games items, levels and what's required to get to "go mode" which is having all the items such that you can complete the run.
Magic The Gathering is a classic collectable card game that continues to be the most popular of it's kind. Even during COVID it's more popular than ever and in 2019 Wizards of the Coast launched Magic The Gathering Arena to pitch the game in a new way to compete digitally with other digital card games such as Hearthstone and Gwent. I've tried earlier incarnations of Magic the Gathering in a digital form and found them to be severely lacking in that the user experience made the game a chore to play. Magic the Gathering Arena takes the Magic ruleset and streamlines the experience to make the game more accessible. I'm not an Magic expert so I'm not aware if any rules were changed in the digital form but it feels like the whole Magic experience.
Magic the Gathering Arena is free to play and as such I think folks should be wary that it might fall into the trapping of more modern free to play predatory game leanings. For instance, as someone that played Hearthstone in it's original form all the way through and then left due to the game becoming more focused on needing to buy packs, Magic Arena feels more than fair if you want to play for free. Right away Magic drops you into a set of tutorial modes that familiarize you with the base game such that you can earn a pretty solid deck for each color. After that you can play quests to earn gold to buy packs and unlock dual color decks that offer you even more ways to play. Right now I have 7 decks they have given me for free and seem to be able to unlock more as I play the game. I imagine you could construct even more decks from the free cards you get too, but as a Magic newb I'm not sure i'd have great results with that yet.
If you want to checkout Magic Arena it recently came to mobile on iOS, Android and you can also play it on PC and Mac on the Epic Game Store. Not only can you unlock a hefty amount of free decks but right now you can use the code PLAYDnD to unlock 3 new packs from the Dungeons & Dragons meets Magic in the Forgotten Realms expansion.
Recently Hungry Goriya reviewed the classic Wisdom Tree NES game Spiritual Warfare. Spiritual Warfare is a Zelda clone where a Christian Warrior takes on the evil spirits in their community and eventually goes to Hell and kills the Devil. I grew up Christian and my parents wanted me to be exposed to games with a more Christian focus so they bought me Spiritual Warfare in thick of the classic NES era. I played this game constantly as a kid so much so that I had every secret memorized and could be the game start to finish in a handful of hours. Spiritual Warfare is one of the better Zelda clones on the NES and where it's not revolutionary the items and zones are fairly memorable.
The Angry Video Game Nerd dedicated an episode to Wisdom Tree games and I felt his light focus on Spiritual Warfare did the game a dis-service. Is the game ham-fisted with it's Christian message and how you approach evil in your community? Oh yeah! Is it kind of funny and incredible at the same time? Very much. I'd say Spiritual Warfare exudes some of the best qualities likened to some of the best "bad films" in that it's earnestly doing it's thing while nearly satire in itself. I'm not approaching my genuine love of this game in any ironic way, I really enjoy this game and embrace it for it's very earnest pitch and also enjoy thinking about it's message from a more modern perspective.
Steam Deck is Valve’s latest hardware announcement that looks to put a PC in everyone’s hands. Similar to the Switch, Valve is building a handheld that runs Steam + Linux and looks to allow users the ability to play their Steam library and install whatever else they want including Windows. Steam Deck comes in three SKU’s and is available for pre-order right now with a $5 initial deposit.
I’m not quite sure if I’ll buy one in the end, but I’ve already pre-ordered the 3rd option (faster storage and anti-glare screen). For quite some time I’ve been very interested in Valve consoles and for someone to make a big play in the PC space with a handheld and this seems like it might be it.
Looks like Steam Deck will start shipping later in the year and I’m curious what everyone thinks about it?
The work on Proton makes a lot of sense now. And they say they’re working to have every game on Steam playable in Linux via Proton by the launch. If they can pull that off, I will ditch Windows.
I’m not sure I have a use case for this, I want it because “ooh new toy” but I don’t know that I’d really use it. I’m just glad it exists because the Proton work has made Linux gaming so much better in a very short time.
jdodson Admin Post Author
wrote on 07/20/2021 at 10:03pm
Huh. You know, if Proton does do that maybe I will too. I really keep Windows around for gaming and general web surfing. Heading back to a Linux Desktop would be killer.
Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member
wrote on 07/21/2021 at 06:16pm
Wait and see for me. Valve doesn't have the history of supporting their hardware for long.
Azurephile Super Member
wrote on 07/22/2021 at 12:50am
I recognize the game on the screen in that screenshot! It's Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order, which I'm playing now and think I'm about to finish, so I may have my review written and posted soon.
Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member
wrote on 07/22/2021 at 01:29am
I loved Fallen Order, despite it being sluggish on my launch xbox one.
Azurephile Super Member
wrote on 07/22/2021 at 01:31am
One thing that's impressed me about this is the use of NVMe, which I think is great! I haven't experienced NVME vs. SSD yet, but I expect I'll be able to do so next month. I think I can imagine a day when HDDs are phased out and SSDs become more widely used, and I think the newest generation of consoles shows that. But, I can also imagine the day when NVME is used instead. From my understanding, this will greatly improve loading times and performance. From there, it's kind of difficult to imagine what would come next. Maybe they some how find a way to improve on NVME technology. (Yes, I see these are listed as NVMe SSDs and I've separated the two, because in my mind they're different, though my knowledge of the tech is a bit limited as I've begun to learn about both technologies in the last two years.)
Azurephile Super Member
wrote on 07/22/2021 at 01:38am
I had a problem with two cinematics, but I learned that people with RTX 30 series GPUs and the game on an SSD have had the same experience. Other than that, I've only seen sluggishness maybe twice so far and I think I'm near the end of the game. Hopefully since they're showing it, it means that the system is powerful enough to play it, which will be impressive. What they should do is put it to the real test, play Ark: Survival Evolved on it. LOL!!!
Yeah my new PC has an nvme SSD and the difference is really that it isn’t slowed down by SATA standards as far as I can tell. They can keep making the drives themselves faster but they’re limited by SATA cable throughput. The nvme drive just slots right into the motherboard
Azurephile Super Member
wrote on 07/22/2021 at 07:57pm
Awesome that you have one and yeah, I know that they go straight into the mobo. I had to look at a list of compatible ones for mine and I finally found one I'm planning to buy soon. I'm planning to clone my SATA SSD to it, but then I won't know what to do with m SATA SSD. I have an old HDD in there for files like documents. I wish my Alienware's 2TB HDD didn't die, that was a lot of storage. My SSD and the NVMe I'm getting are both 1TB, while the old HDD I'm using is 320GB.
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The Summer Games Done Quick charity speedrun has begun and if you love watching people play videos games fast and supporting incredible charities, this for you. You know, even if that might not sound like it’s your thing I’d recommend clicking the play button above to give a random speedrun a few minutes.
Summer Games Done Quick donations go to support Doctors Without Borders which is a fantastic charity that brings medical help to the places in the world that are in need. So if you have a few minutes to watch some fun runs and a few bucks to chip in make sure you do!
Summer Games Done Quick runs from July 4th - 10th.
Azurephile Super Member
wrote on 07/08/2021 at 07:43am
Charity is definitely cool. This particularly catches my interest, because of GTA3. I really loved that game when it came out. I couldn't get enough of it. I had played a little bit of GTA and/or GTA2, but GTA3 really put the game in the spotlight for me. I enjoyed Vice City and San Andreas, too, when they came out. There were some GTA games for the PSP, too, which I also enjoyed. Although, I never did get my hands on Chinatown Wars.
I liked GTA4 and it's expansion packs, but I've only completed all three once on PS3. It was probably the first or at least among the first games I bought when I got my PS3. I have it on Steam now and I did start playing it at one time, but I didn't play it very long. Looking at it now, Steam says I've spent just less than 3 hours playing it. I had it installed recently, but uninstalled it since I hadn't gotten to it, found other games to play instead, and needed the storage space (my SSD is only 1TB, unlike the 2TB HDD I had for the Alienware, which unfortunately both the PC and HDD died two years ago).
Now we have GTA5 and it blew away everything else. I imagine it has to be the most popular in the series and even almost 7 years later, it remains popular. I imagine this could be in part because it was released for the next generation of consoles. That was nice, too, because it got some improvements.
Part of it's continued popularity probably also has to do with GTA Online. I played GTAO a little bit, but I was turned off by it, because of other players. It wouldn't take long for someone to kill you once you stepped out of your residence. I revisited GTAO last year, because there was a quest you could do which rewarded you with a special gun for Red Dead Redemption 2. Once I finished that, I was done with it.
Back to this, it's interesting. I still wonder how someone could speed run through the game and a simple search on Google tells me it's been done in about an hour. Wow! I didn't look into the details of how that's been done, but I still find that amazing.
I'm glad these modern GTA games are on Steam, I have them all, though I haven't played them much. I'd still like to go back and play some of them again. I remember trying to replay San Andreas when I got it on Steam, but I had an issue with the mission where you have to use the hydraulics on your car. The controls just didn't seem to work, but I later read how you're supposed to do it.
Anyway, I just thought I'd share my thoughts. I'm interested to know what anyone else here thinks about this and the series in general.
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During Nintendo's E3 Nintendo Direct we got word of a few Zelda game bits most notably Breath of the Wild 2 is coming next year and Nintendo will release a Zelda game and watch this November. If you remember I picked up the Super Mario Bros. Game and Watch and love it. Do I have Super Mario Bros. already? Yeah, yeah of course, but it's fun to get old games in new forms and I never had the old Mario Game and Watch so why not this one? Apparently Nintendo wanted to do one better in that the Zelda Game and Watch which seems to take the original concept and kick up a few notches. Not only does it come with The Legend of Zelda but also The Adventure of Link and the original Link's Awakening. This is an incredible lineup and surprising as I really only expected The Legend of Zelda would be present. Including three classic games raises the value of this but they are keeping the price tag firm at $50.
Many of the pre-orders are all sold out but I hope Nintendo re stocks these as everyone that wants one should really be able to buy it without going through resellers.
"Play The Legend of Zelda, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening (Game Boy Version), and a special Game & Watch edition of VERMIN (Link Version)! It also has a playable clock and timer!"
Azurephile Super Member
wrote on 06/17/2021 at 07:28am
Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member
wrote on 06/17/2021 at 10:41pm
I got one preordered at Best Buy. Easier to get than Metroid Dread CE & Amiibo.
Azurephile Super Member
wrote on 06/18/2021 at 12:01am
What is "CE?" I only saw "Metroid Dread." Is "CE" what they're calling the "Special Edition?" I looked it up, briefly, but I didn't find the answer I was looking for. I just saw it's name, but I didn't quite see a mention of what "CE" stands for or what makes it different than "Metroid Dread." Looking it at makes me miss amiibos.
With Sony not involved in E3 this year as well as the continuing effects of COVID have caused this years event to be very different. E3 always seemed to be overstuffed with gaming news but with this one it seems like all the announcements have been at a sustainable clip. E3 always felt like a fire hose and this year it's more like a fun lawn sprinkler that's out in the yard just the right amount of time. I'm going to lightly cover some fun bits and if you saw something you wanted to mention, drop it in the comments.
Halo Infinite
I'm not sure how, but Halo Infinite multiplayer looks a bit more interesting than the brief single player they showed. I'm still quite excited that Halo Infinite ships with free multiplayer on PC and XBox at launch. I'm not entirely sure what game modes multiplayer will support but it seems there will be a form of capture the flag at a minimum. Another fun aspect of the free to play multiplayer is that since it's free to play on XBox that won't require a Gold or Games Pass subscription to play(yay me).
Starfield
The Microsoft + Bethesda event started out with the reveal of Starfield and the new release date of November 11th 2022. I'm not quite sure what the game will be about but it was a fun trailer and if the actual game looks like that we'll all be in for a treat. Not only will Starfield drop by next years end but Microsoft mentioned it's a PC + XBox exclusive. We all knew when Microsoft bought Bethesda that this meant many of the games would be XBox exclusives and it looks like each new game will be. That said, with the quite low cost of owning a Series S and Games Pass I wonder if it really matters to everyone?
Bethesda Will Not Quit Fallout 76
I'm happy to say that Fallout 76 looks to be getting two new expansions featuring Steel Dawn and The Pitt. Fallout 76 had a somewhat rocky launch but Bethesda has continued to work on it and it's grown to have a fairly large community. I plan on picking it up on the XBox this holiday season on sale and if anyone has any suggestions on which version to get let me know.
Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope
Ubisoft revealed Mario + Rabbids: Sparks of Hope which is a new entry in the real time strategy Mario + Rabbids series. I picked up the original Mario + Rabbids game and found the actual real time strategy game play to be incredible. I didn't like the overworld part very much as it felt like a bad version of a Mario game and I just wanted to race to the next strategy fight. The new game looks to feature the same overworld maps and hopefully this time around the over-worlding is a bit more fun.
Microsoft is Game Pass
Which each game Microsoft showed at its press event it seemed it was a day one Game Pass game. Microsoft also noted that for quite some time, Game Pass subscribers would get a new Game Pass game launching. I imagine Microsoft will license other titles along the way making Game Pass an incredibly good deal in gaming. When each new game can cost from $60-$120 depending on which version you buy, Game Pass seems like a steal. I haven't really spent a lot of serious time considering getting Game Pass but it seems like such an incredible value it seems hard to avoid.
We still have a few days left of E3 and I haven't quite watched every stream or read every press release so if you found something interesting let me know in the comments!
Azurephile Super Member
wrote on 06/14/2021 at 03:41am
Thanks for posting this! I was thinking of making a general post about some E3 things I found interesting. I did see that Starfield trailer. I found some other things, though, so I'll share those links below.
Stranger of Paradise Final Fantasy Origin is interesting as it goes back to the first game in the series: https://youtu.be/XltPKOYQDHY
And in case you missed it from my comment in another post, here's the Diablo II Resurrected Street Date Trailer: https://youtu.be/DttPBtsZ5fc
jdodson Admin Post Author
wrote on 06/14/2021 at 03:42am
Diablo II Resurrected looks very exciting. As I said in the other thread I'm not sure which version I am going to get but with cross platform saves maybe it doesn't matter?
Azurephile Super Member
wrote on 06/14/2021 at 03:43am
As I said in that other thread "PC Master Race!" LOL
Azurephile Super Member
wrote on 06/14/2021 at 09:40am
Oh and there's some cool Far Cry 6 coverage, too. I haven't watched all of it, but this trailer is interesting (especially after seeing Giancarlo Esposito as Moff Gideon in The Mandalorian, which is the only role I've seen him play): https://youtu.be/QQtaY_xKejo
Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member
wrote on 06/15/2021 at 09:39pm
Metroid Dread!
Azurephile Super Member
wrote on 06/16/2021 at 06:25am
Metroid 5 aka Metroid Dread. I had no idea what Will_Ball was talking about, but I found this trailer. It's like classic Metroid side scrolling with modern high quality graphics and some new abilities and such. Coming 10/8/21: https://youtu.be/4tYzveufd9Q
While it's not currently the biggest online multiplayer game out there right now (PUBG Anyone?) Fortnite is still going quite strong. When Microsoft allowed multiplayer for free to play games to not require an XBox Gold membership Fortnite was the first game I downloaded. Frankly, in 4K 120fps, playing Fortnite on XBox is the best way to play it. The game on the Series X is so smooth and lag free it feels like a massive upgrade and with the enhanced visuals the game whole experience can be quite serene. So much so that playing Fortnite in the mornings or at night has become a kind of meditation.
Hey friend, things are hard out there but playing a game where you jump out of a bus and parachute far away from the fray is the ticket! Feel like everyone is against you? Well friend in Fortnite Battle Royale they really are but you have a sporting chance and while you are searching for guns and shields you can stop to look at the trees or listen to the birds chirp. Need to swim through a river or lake to stalk someone to snipe them from behind? Enjoy the fresh dip in the water, emerge on the other side and shoot them in the back of the head! Then look to your left and catch a butterfly!
I'm not saying everyone plays Fortnite this way or that it's even the best way to play it. That said, it's nice to stop and catch a butterfly or listen to birds even if 100 other people want to kill you as fast as possible.
Note: I tried to find a simple video of someone walking through Fortnite Battle Royale quietly but didn't find anything so this Fortnite / Enya video was the best I could find. You're welcome!