We are going to do this years Cheerful Ghost GoTY Awards similarly to last year with a fun new addtion. Please submit your nominations in the comments along with the category they should go in. On December 24th i'll take all the nominations and put out a 3 polls where we can all vote for the winners. Like last year we will have the "2015 Triple A Game of the Year", "2015 Indie Game of the Year" and the all new "2015 Update of the Year". Games that quality for the "Update of the Year" are games that received a significant update or were ported to a new platform in 2015. Games such as Hearthstone(The Grant Tournament, The League of Explorers) & Terraria (1.3 update) quick someone nominate those games!
Thanks for taking part in the GoTY process and I hope 2016 is a great year in gaming!
Azurephile Super Member
wrote on 12/19/2015 at 01:43am
Update of the Year: Terraria 1.3 Early Access GotY: Ark: Survival Evolved GotY Noms: Fallout 4 and The Witcher 3 I'd kinda like to nom. Legacy of the Void, but I've hardly played it, which will probably change soon.
I think it'd be cool if some of us made a post on the site talking about our favorite games that we've played this year. This includes games that are new or ages old.
jdodson Admin Post Author
wrote on 12/19/2015 at 01:56am
Are we submitting single nominations for each category? If so, my nominations are:
Indie: Rocket League
AAA: Psych! I'm nominating The Talos Principle. Fallout 4 is epic, but it's practically the only AAA game I played this year, besides Destiny, which makes me feel kind of ashamed. I feel like I would nominate Bloodborne, if I had only played it :(. Maybe I'll go rent it tomorrow...
Update: Terraria, especially since it was my first time playing.
Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number Crypt of the Necrodancer Broken Age Undertale Nuclear Throne
Azurephile Super Member
wrote on 12/21/2015 at 08:03pm
Every year GameFAQ's polls become a competition between games, people vote on which is better. Final Fantasy VII usually wins, or at least makes it to the end. This year it was defeated by Undertale. I downloaded the demo and briefly played it.
Join us on December 23rd @ 6p PST for a special Cheerful Ghost Roundtable livestream where we discuss our thoughts on the new Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. We start each show talking a bit about what we have been playing in video games and then our main event, Star Wars. We will have a spoiler free section and then move into spoilers but fear not, you will be warned before we get spoilery.
You can watch the live stream and let us know by following the URL below and clicking "Yes" to watching it.
Azurephile Super Member
wrote on 12/17/2015 at 10:30pm
I think I'll have to skip this episode until I watch the movie, due to spoilers.
jdodson Admin Post Author
wrote on 12/17/2015 at 10:36pm
We will have a segment of the episode spoiler free. We will say when we move into spoilers!
Azurephile Super Member
wrote on 12/17/2015 at 10:40pm
I know, I read that part.
jdodson Admin Post Author
wrote on 12/17/2015 at 10:56pm
Ok. It will be recorded so you can catch it after you see it if you want!
Azurephile Super Member
wrote on 12/18/2015 at 12:00am
Yeah, I figured. =) I don't know when I'll see it. I would like to know what you guys thought of it, whether or not you liked it and/or whether or not you liked it better than the prequels.
jdodson Admin Post Author
wrote on 12/18/2015 at 12:48am
Leaving to see it in the next 12 minutes so i'll know in the next couple hours
They're... not terrible. Just majorly disappointing after the originals.
Azurephile Super Member
wrote on 12/19/2015 at 01:44am
Well, I've decided to take Vinny to see the movie tonight in 3D. So, I'll probably join the conversation after all. =)
jdodson Admin Post Author
wrote on 12/19/2015 at 01:55am
That sounds great!
Azurephile Super Member
wrote on 12/19/2015 at 05:44am
Well I thought the movie was good, but our 3D experience was horrible. I don't know what was wrong, whether it was the glasses or the projector, but it was hardly 3D. It was more like "beer goggles" vision. But, I liked the movie and so did Vinny. =)
I need to watch it again (and again, and again) but I'm thinking it's at least number 3, maybe number 2 for me. But that could just be the hype. It's so significant for me because it's the first Star Wars film I've seen in theaters for the first time that didn't disappoint me, so I'm still riding that high.
If you want to join this conversation you need to sign in.
Many Star Wars fans are marathoning all the Star Wars films before they see The Force Awakens. Seriously, I sort of respect that sort of thing but it doesn't really work for me. In days past i'd do that and then go see the new film with the fresh thoughts of the old ones in my mind. Often it creates a very hard situation where since the thought of the other films are so fresh, I compare it more than I would if some time has past since my last viewing. That said, if you can marathon films and enjoy the new ones, more power to you and if you want to do it faster than ever check out the fan edit above of all 6 Star Wars films at the same time.
Star Wars week continues with this hilarious new Saturday Night Live short. They really capture the disparity between kids and nerdy adult toy collectors. I really want to keep all my awesome stuff behind glass too because dammit, these toys are not for playing with!
"When we first started designing hardware at Valve, we decided we wanted to try and do the manufacturing as well. To achieve our goal of a flexible controller, we felt it was important to have a similar amount of flexibility in our manufacturing process, and that meant looking into automated assembly lines. It turns out that most consumer hardware of this kind still has humans involved in stages throughout manufacturing, but we kind of went overboard, and built one of the largest fully automated assembly lines in the US. Our film crew recently put together a video of that assembly line, showcasing exactly why robots are awesome."
As more manufacturing comes back to the US it will look a lot likes Valve's robot manufacturing Steam Controller plant. Apple has a plant similarly to this that makes the new Mac Pros and they are looking into moving more things stateside as well. It's really interesting to see these plants in action and I wonder how economical this is vs the current method of manufacturing in China.
For even more information on Valve's Steam controller manufacturing check the link below.
This 60 minutes inside look features John Williams scoring the new Force Awakens opening scene. It also features and interview with JJ as well as an all new never before seen scene with BB8 and Rey. It's a scene from the film and doesn't spoil anything, but skip over this entire video if you want to avoid seeing parts of the film beforehand. The tone and feel of the shot is 100% Star Wars and if the whole movie is like this, we are all in for a good time!
Star Wars The Force Awakens releases this week and like many I have had my tickets pre-ordered for a few months now. Thursday can't come soon enough but to keep us all in the mood until we see it, I'll be posting about Star Wars and Star Wars in gaming all week. So ignight your lightsabers and count those midichloreans because this Falcon has a new hyperdrive!
Jack and Rich reviewed EA's latest Star Wars Battlefront and I have to say that I entirely agree with how they look at the game. It's pretty. Very pretty and the music and sound effects are great. The shooting is also good but at the end of the day it didn't really do much for me. EA put forward a solid effort but after playing a few matches in the beta I wasn't interested it continuing with it. Which is good because my love for Star Wars may have seen me buy it at some point and I would have been seriously bummed for doing that. If team shooters are your thing then this is worth looking into but if they are not then you might just want to try a demo.
Play Hearthstone! Play Hearthstone! Play Hearthstone!"
It's nice to see Blizzard getting in the holiday spirit with Hearthstone. Then again, it's not too hard getting excited for something that makes more money than Donald Trump. To celebrate Winter Veil Blizzard is replacing the standard Hero greeting with a special Winter Veil line as well as decorating the boards with a nice festive theme. They are teasing more to come, which might take the form of a fun Tavern Brawl or ... possibly ... some free stuff? If Winter Veil Claus brings us all a free pack or two that would really make the holiday bright!
The last part of League of Explorers just unlocked today making the whole adventure and card set available and now wonder what people are thinking of the new League cards? At first I was a bit harsh on the expansion as I felt it came quick on the hells of The Grand Tournament. But it's been a very fun set of boss fights and the new cards are all very interesting. I wonder for you what are the cards you are having the most fun playing with? I'd say the most immediately useful to me are the Jeweled Scarab and Tunnel Trogg. I've built a deck around Reno Jackson and whereas it's awesome to have it come out and take you back to a full 30, sometimes he doesn't always come around when I need him. So far I have access to the first two tiers and will finally unlock the last two when I grind enough quest gold for it. So far i've been entirely free to play, which is fun but I don't have access to everything quite as fast as others that bought the adventure outright.
So, one thing I noticed is that there's 10 extra packs when you buy 40, so it's $50 for 50. I did that just now. I pulled 8 cards I didn't have yet lol. 7 were golden versions, 1 legendary I didn't have (I did pull a 2nd ragnaros). Then I disenchanted the rest and gained over 3200 dust so I crafted two more legendary cards.... all in all, can't complain.
I finished the heroic mode today and gained the new card back (and the rest of the cards). I haven't played yet with these weeks cards, but so far, I like Ethereal Conjurer, Entomb, Jeweled Scarab, pretty much any discover card is awesome and good for value. The spider, the mech, all card advantage. Thinking of crafting gold versions of some of them (then they give "discover" gold cards).
If anyone needs tips on the boss fights, I'd be happy to share my tactics.
Good expansion
jdodson Admin Post Author
wrote on 12/11/2015 at 08:33pm
> so I crafted two more legendary cards.... all in all, can't complain.
What cards?
Entombed Spider is great and works really well in Hunter beast deck. It added so much to it already. That and Glaivezooka.
Was talking to a friend and we both think this will be the new model for Hearthstone going forward. A yearly expansion + adventure in that order plus anything new they plan on adding, not sure what that would be though
Don't remember exactly which two, I have a few new ones I've crafted lately. I got the 2 good mage ones (I already had pulled the flame tank thing), and the dragon that gives +5 spell damage.
I'm kinda running out of legionaries to care about. I do have epics I need though. I had only pulled 2 giants, so I'm working on getting those now. Frost Giant seems decent in a control deck. In priest or warrior I easily use my ability over 10 times, so those would be 0 cost 8/8s w/o me having to be at 10 life, or having cards in hand, or full board... I may try them out.
Hmm, well HearthPwn is a really great site to read up on decks/ideas/cards. I haven'r used it too much, but it's cool for comparing your decks vs others similar to see what others try (and see how popular they are with the community). You can search for decks filtering down to certain card combos.
Epic just announced that it will be launching a new MOBA in 2016 called Paragon. From the gameplay trailer above it looks like it pulls some elements from Gears of War, Unreal Tournament and their iOS game Infinity Blade. If you are a MOBA fan 2016 will be a good year as 2K's Battleborn is coming out as well as the very popular League of Legends, DoTA 2 and Heroes of the Storm are getting more attention than ever.
Paragon will launch in 2016 to a paid early access and then later with a summer beta on PC and PS4.
Seems like everyone is trying to get a MOBA and a card game out. It makes sense, they see where the money is, but I do wonder when the well will run dry.
Is Battleborn a MOBA? I'd say it has elements of it, but it's different enough so that it isn't. I played the beta and it certainly didn't feel MOBAish. More team shooterish. Like TF2/Overwatch with some MOBA elements.
Either way, MOBA lovers who also like team shooters will love it :D
jdodson Admin Post Author
wrote on 12/09/2015 at 06:14am
They describe it as a hero shooter but it has heavy MOBA elements.
If you want to join this conversation you need to sign in.
You can file this in this "what the..." section but apparently the Super Mario Theme has official Nintendo sanctioned lyrics. See if we take our time machine and go back to 1985 Nintendo fans submitted lyrics for the theme song to a Japaneese radio contest. The winner was selected and the song pressed to a vinyl record that someone later recorded and posted above. Some awesome person at Destruction later translated the song to English and what follows will really give you a deeper understanding of Mario and the entire series.
Oh and the title of the song? Go Go Mario of course!
"Today, full of energy, Mario is still running, running Go save Princess Peach! Go! Today, full of energy, Mario runs Today, full of energy, jumping! Today, full of energy, searching for coins Today, keep going, Mario!
Get a mushroom - it's Super Mario! Get a flower - it's Fire Mario!
Goomba! Troopa! Buzzy Beetle! Beat them all! Mario is always full of energy and strong!
[Spoken] The only one who can reverse the spell that has captured the Mushroom People is Princess Peach. But Princess Peach is hidden underground, in a far-off castle. Ah, the days of peace... if we could once more return to those days... to save Princess Peach and bring peace back to the Mushroom Kingdom, that is why Mario is on his journey today.
Today, full of energy, Mario is still running, running Go and beat the Koopa tribe, go! Today, full of energy, Mario runs Today, full of energy, jumping! Today, full of energy, searching for coins Today, keep going, Mario!
Get a star - become invincible! Quickly, go save Princess Peach!
Lakitu! Blooper! Cheep Cheep! Beat them all! Mario is always full of energy and strong!
Today, full of energy, Mario is still running, running He's made it to the castle and gets fireworks! Lightly sidestepping the Hammer Bros. Show the last of your power, Mario! It's been a long journey but it's nearly at an end You've done it, you've done it! You've defeated Bowser!
Princess Peach says "Thank you" Mario's got a great big heart!
Mario's adventure is over for now, but Mario's dream lives forever..."
You know what? These lyrics are bull shit! The REAL song lyrics are from the Super Mario Super Show and they go:
Swing your arms from side to side Come on, it's time to go! Do the Mario! Take one step, and then again. Let's do the Mario, all together now! You've got it! It's the Mario! Do the Mario! Swing your arms from side to side Come on, it's time to go! Do the Mario! Take one step, and then again. Let's do the Mario, all together now!
Come on now, just like that!
And they were sung by none other than Lou Albano himself!
Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member
wrote on 12/07/2015 at 05:32pm
Update of the Year: Terraria 1.3
Early Access GotY: Ark: Survival Evolved
GotY Noms: Fallout 4 and The Witcher 3 I'd kinda like to nom. Legacy of the Void, but I've hardly played it, which will probably change soon.
I think it'd be cool if some of us made a post on the site talking about our favorite games that we've played this year. This includes games that are new or ages old.
Thanks Greg. I do plan on doing my own list.
Are we submitting single nominations for each category? If so, my nominations are:
Indie: Rocket League
AAA: Psych! I'm nominating The Talos Principle. Fallout 4 is epic, but it's practically the only AAA game I played this year, besides Destiny, which makes me feel kind of ashamed. I feel like I would nominate Bloodborne, if I had only played it :(. Maybe I'll go rent it tomorrow...
Update: Terraria, especially since it was my first time playing.
Triple A: Fallout 4
Indie: I was lacking in indie games this year.
Update: Terraria, Hearthstone
Mobile: Fallout Shelter, Hearthstone
Another Mobile nom: Crashy Road. No, not Crossy Road. That one got all the acclaim last year. :D
Oh! A nod for Mobile and Update: Monument Valley. It was released last year, but got DLC this year. Monument Valley is a masterpiece.
AAA:
Witcher 3
SC2: Legacy of the Void
Fo4
Fallout Shelter
Mario Maker
Updates:
Grim Fandango: Remastered
BioShock Infinite (Linux port)
Hearthstone
Indie:
Hotline Miami 2: Wrong Number
Crypt of the Necrodancer
Broken Age
Undertale
Nuclear Throne
Every year GameFAQ's polls become a competition between games, people vote on which is better. Final Fantasy VII usually wins, or at least makes it to the end. This year it was defeated by Undertale. I downloaded the demo and briefly played it.
I've heard nothing but good things about Undertale.
Also I don't really pay attention to gamefaqs polls, because they're usually gamed heavily by whichever forum is more popular at the time.