jdodson | Cheerful Ghost

The Alienware Alpha Coming This Holiday 2014 Season

If you follow Cheerful Ghost news, it's no surprise that I am looking forward to buying a Steam Machine. Alienware just dropped the details of it's Alienware Alpha that is shipping this holiday season.

"The Alienware Alpha console will ship with Windows 8.1 which, through a custom software interface exclusive to Alienware, can be easily navigated with the included Xbox 360 controller — no mouse or keyboard required. The Alpha console is also SteamOS and Steam Controller READY, and designed to easily integrate with the highly anticipated launch of each.

The Alienware Alpha console will start at $549, and will begin shipping in time for the 2014 Holiday Season."

Well, yeah, it makes sense that Alienware has decided to continue on with it's console efforts even though Valve has put off the official launch of SteamOS and it's Steam Controller till 2015. In the meantime, it seems Alienware is moving full speed ahead on it's console and has decided to replace SteamOS with Windows 8.1 and a XBox 360 controller.

You might think Alienware might be ditching SteamOS or the Steam controller and according to them, that is absolutely not the case and according to a recent Forbes interview with Alienware they said...

“Steam Machines aren’t dead, they are absolutely pursuing SteamOS and the controller 100%,” my Alienware rep explained. “They refuse to release something that is not ready, and we commend them for that. But we want similar things: For the PC gamer to choose what the hell they want and play how they want to play.”

Alienware has also talked a bit about the internals of the Alpha in that it will consist of user replaceable components and a custom build nvidia GPU. I imagine the reason for a custom GPU is to make it fit in the small case and for this reason it doesn't seem replaceable. That said, the Alpha will also ship with an Intel CPU, 4GB DDR3 memory & 500GB hard drive.

All told I was pretty bummed when I heard Valve was pushing back it's Steam Machine efforts a year but it seems Alienware is still moving forward and I think that's a good idea. Alienware has said the hardware will ship SteamOS and Steam Controller ready so if you want to go ahead and get it, you can use it as a proper Steam Machine later. The launch price for the Alienware Alpha will be $549.

http://www.alienware.com/landings/alpha/
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jasonevangelho/2014/06/11/alienwares-alpha-is-a-gaming-pc-with-the-dna-of-a-console-and-its-the-real-deal/

Activision Gives A Serious Nod to Destiny Coming to PC

http://cdn3.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/34275931/destiny_e3.0_cinema_960.0.jpg

Read an interview today with Eric Hirshberg of Activision publishing about Destiny coming to PC.

"It is [a good fit], and it's something we're talking about and looking at very carefully, and obviously it makes a lot of sense with the genre and the type of game it is," Hirshberg stated.

"You know, developing on PC is a different animal than developing for consoles and so we just want to make sure that we're putting one foot in front of the other and getting it right, and that it's of the highest possible quality. But obviously I see the same things about the natural fit."

This seems to be a serious nod that a PC port will come for Destiny and if is the case will it change if you get a next gen console?

http://www.polygon.com/2014/6/12/5805296/Destiny-e3-PC-release

scrypt Supporter wrote on 06/15/2014 at 11:54pm

If they could ever get it to the point that the multiplayer was cross-platform, then I'd consider picking up for PC. Destiny is going to have a lot of MMO type interaction, and most people are going to want to play with their friends, so you usually go with the system that most of your friends have. There have been a few games that I've bought multiple copies of on different systems, to try to be flexible in those situations, but it never really worked. You spend time on the PS3 with Borderlands 2, then your friends on Xbox 360 are leveling their characters at a pace that you can't keep up with, and vice versa.

I'm sure they will bring it to PC at some point, but I don't know many that would hold out for it. I can't imagine that it would be released on PC within this holiday season, and the thing about Destiny is that it will sell systems. I had the chance to participate in the Alpha demo this weekend, and it looks and feels amazing. They are catering to a wider audience than just Halo or Call of Duty fans. If I didn't have a PS4 already, I'd certainly pick one up before Destiny arrived.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 06/16/2014 at 05:16pm

Totally. Destiny, to this point, was the reason to get a PS4 if I were to get one. Now that they are all buy saying it's coming to PC, i'll wait. Makes sense though, sell it on consoles then later on PC. It's not a bad model, if a bit annoying for some that buy it twice.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 06/17/2014 at 05:58pm

I wouldn't hold my breath, is all I'm saying ;). I'd be willing to bet that a major contingency in bringing it to PC is how the sales figures look in September and the following holiday months. Another key quote from that article: "...And you asked how are we dealing with the complexity of developing for so many platforms, how about one more on top of that?" More platforms, more problems. The good news seems to be that Bungie is investing in Destiny for the length of this current console cycle, so I'm sure there will be opportunity to jump on at any point. I'm curious, how long would you wait, though? A year? Two years? What if it never actually came to PC, would you be okay with skipping it altogether?

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 06/17/2014 at 06:33pm

I would be ok with skipping it if the only way to play it would be buying a console I otherwise wouldn't.

If they do or don't port it, that would be fine BUT I do want to play it, just not to the tune of $560 dollars.

I've invested a bit in my PC and like that ecosystem quite a bit. I also like my PS3 but if it wasn't for Bluray it wouldn't be used much. Kind if like my Wii. Again, great systems and I have no regrets but if I look at the games I played on them: the orange box, fallout 3, wolfenstein 2009, borderlands, borderlands 2, portal 2, etc all of these are PC titles too.

In the last few years this sunk in and I have switched over. Not to make this a PC vs console discussion, but one about my gaming habits.

But all that said, I won't hold my breath and I don't mind waiting. Plus, if my friends get a Ps4 it would give me more reason to come over and play it with them.

If it does come to PC I also hope it comes with cross system play too.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 06/17/2014 at 07:48pm

One thing they have mentioned that they are working on, is the ability to transfer your player profile from older systems to the new. When asked if that included cross-platform upgrades, Bungie said it's a wait-and-see situation, with the ball mostly in the platform holders hands. An interesting scenario would be PS3 and XBox players being able to transfer their characters to a PC version, if they wanted to leave the old system behind but still get the next-gen experience. What would be even better is if they offered a server log-in, like most MMOs and MOBAs do, where you could log-in from anywhere, on any platform, and continue your progress. I can't really see it happening, but it's fun to dream.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 06/17/2014 at 08:36pm

Save/character sync is magic and I hope they implement it in some form. In some games it's effectively DRM but with others it's kind of like "sync up if you can" and I like that stuff quite a bit.

This game has a mad huge budget, if it makes a ton of money who knows where it could go? Maybe they will add it in a future DLC set.

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The History Behind Grim Fandango With Creator Tim Schafer

"The makers of Grim Fandango discuss the development of the beloved adventure game and how Double Fine Productions plans to release the original classic to a contemporary audience."

Hot of the E3 news that Double Fine will be re-releasing Grim Fandango on the PS4 and Vita is this new documentary by 2 Player Productions featuring Tim Schafer. Grim Fandango is a classic adventure game and seeing more on it's history and development is seriously cool.

Miniverse Is Coming To iOS Very Soon!

As I am out taking the message of Cheerful Ghost to the masses I meet many awesome people doing cool stuff. While I was boothing at the last few events I met a local Portland developer working on Miniverse, a new iOS space game. The game contains a very unique premise and set of game mechanics that are really fun and well worth checking out. As someone that doesn't have a lot of fun with mobile gaming, I was surprised with how much I enjoyed it.

Recently Ryt Games sent me a poster of the game and I wanted to share it in it's awesomery.

Miniverse will drop June 30th on the the iOS App Store so prep your app buying fingers.

http://miniversegame.com/

Civilization V Is Now On SteamOS/Linux

"Aspyr Media is pleased to announce our first Linux and SteamOS title, Sid Meier’s Civilization V. The SteamOS release includes all Civilization V DLC and expansion content, including Gods & Kings and Brave New World.

This release targets SteamOS on current gen hardware. Additionally, we're working towards supporting Ubuntu 14.04 as well as additional video cards in future updates.

Here’s where we need your help! To improve Civ V and future AAA games on SteamOS, we're looking for feedback. Tell us below what's working great or what's not working. If you're having any problems, please contact our support directly at http://support.aspyr.com/tickets/new"

Aspyr has ported a ton of games to Mac including BioShock Infinite, Borderlands 2, Civ V, Starwars Knights of the Old Republic & Call of Duty. Now they are getting into the SteamOS/Linux porting game, which is great news. Can't wait to see what they port next!

http://steamcommunity.com/games/CivilizationV/announcements/detail/1787114954235229948

Travis Admin wrote on 06/13/2014 at 03:09am

I'm glad to see Aspyr jumping on the Linux train. From what I hear, this implementation isn't perfect but it's quite good.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 06/13/2014 at 03:44pm

Aspyrs Mac Ports are really good. I played much of BioShock Infinite on the Mac. Hopefully they will fix some of the bugs so it's a pretty seamless port.

MoonWyrd Supporter wrote on 06/24/2014 at 12:50pm

One thing I noticed immediately was that that leader intro screens are animated on Linux. The is missing on OS X. Not a big deal to game play, but a nice environmental touch.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 06/24/2014 at 11:05pm

Great. I wonder why they did that? Maybe a newer version of SDL supports something a bit better than the one they used on the OSX version?

I also noticed that the title is a bit misleading. It wasn't JUST Civ 5, it was 4 and all the expansions too, at least it seemed to be the case when I opened up Steam on Linux.

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Hotline Miami 2 Will Ship With A Level Editor

Not a ton of great news out of E3(yet) but there has been some and this is definitely one of them. Hotline Miami 2 will ship with a pretty fully featured level editor. In a E3 developer Q&A the Dennation Games folks mentioned that they are working on Steam cloud sync for our levels making it easy for us to all share our creations.

Aperture Tag Is A New Portal 2 Mod Coming This Summer

"Aperture Tag: The Paint Gun Testing Initiative is a Portal 2 Mod. It's time to think with Gels! The Portal-Gun is gone, and the test must go on! Grab the Paint-Gun Device and solve the test chambers in ways you've never solved them before."

Any reason to get back into Portal 2 is a good one and this looks to be a very good one. Exploring more of the paint based mechanics, Aperture Tag also ships with a few other things too:

A new 27 maps campaign!

A new character with full voice acting!

Custom paint gun model!

Custom Soundtrack!

That said, this doesn't seem to be the only Portal 2 mod on Steam. "Thinking with Time Machine" is another such mod that is out now.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/286080/

Dislike The Game So Much You Spend 452 Hours Playing It?

I see many reviews on Steam like this. They basically give the game a bad review but play it... a lot.

So you dislike the game, don't recommend it but you suffered through it for 452 hours? Games I don't like get a few hours at most.

I don't entirely understand many parts of gamer culture, this kind of thing in particular.

Travis Admin wrote on 06/08/2014 at 08:39pm

It may be that there's a bug with reporting the time played on that. But that said, "keeps crashing" isn't necessarily a reason to give it a thumbs down anyway. I would first assume something was wrong with my setup rather than the game.

Travis Admin wrote on 06/08/2014 at 08:41pm

You see this with Diablo III all the time too. "I have all six classes farming Torment VI and now there's nothing to do, this game is terrible." Disregarding the hundreds of hours you had to play to get there.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 06/08/2014 at 10:07pm

Travis: Yeah thats kind of what I mean. I've heard of people having reporting bugs, but not like this. That said, maybe it was 200 hours of horrible, horrible time and this person needs to be liberated.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 06/09/2014 at 03:43am

Would be interesting, too, to see if time spent in the SDKs registers as game time.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 06/09/2014 at 04:10am

Huh, yeah, I don't know.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 06/09/2014 at 04:20pm

Perhaps they did enjoy the game, then a patch broke it? Or they might have children/family members that do enjoy the game through the crashes.

I think I have hundreds of hours of play time on Railroad Tycoon because my daughters enjoy it, and will sometimes not close it out when done playing.

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Retro News: Parents Upset Over New Super Nintendo Console

"In 1991, local newsstation reports Nintendo released their successor to the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) in America. But the parents wasn't too happy about it. The parents thought Nintendo was exploiting their children into buying new and expensive hardware for new games when the improvements to the new hardware were obvious."

It's fun to look back at video games to see how far we've come. I watched this news clip from the 90's that made me laugh a bit. I still remember the first time I played Super Mario World and experienced the Super Nintendo for the first time. The music, graphics and controls were very good. We got a Super Nintedo a few years after launch and to this day is one of my more memorable Christmases. Glad we didn't have a video camera as my reaction was mostly a ton of excited screaming.

I was pretty happy.

Travis Admin wrote on 06/08/2014 at 12:34am

Wow, that 80's hair! (OK, early 90s hair, but still)

But yeah, I remember reading about how people said the printing press was going to be the downfall of conversation, the radio was going to ruin the world, television was rotting our brains, and so on. This is just an extension of people not understanding technology.

But as for the SNES, I just bought one for the first time about 5 years back. I went from NES to Genesis, and while I LOVE the Genesis I was a bit bummed out that my parents wouldn't get me another console. I don't regret my choice, the Genesis is the bees knees, but it was great reliving a lot of the experiences I had at friends' houses when I finally got an SNES of my own.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 06/08/2014 at 02:48am

Those were the days, right? I think the news was run by Satan back then, so I wasn't allowed to watch it, but I do remember the SNES and it's heavenly 16bit glory. And the hair.

Travis Admin wrote on 06/08/2014 at 03:58am

" I think the news was run by Satan back then, so I wasn't allowed to watch it"

That sounds like a story in and of itself.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 06/08/2014 at 04:08am

His parents weren't the only people that thought stuff like that. I couldn't go trick or treating because of that. Early on in my gaming years I couldn't play Mario 2 and had to stop playing Zelda because they had magic and potions.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 06/08/2014 at 05:06am

Smurfs, He-Man, Depeche Mode... It all came from the fiery depths.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 06/08/2014 at 06:08am

Ah yeah, He-Man. That was the first thing that was excised from my child years. I had the sheets and the toys then we went to a different church or something, I don't entirely remember I was very little.

No more He-Man sheets or toys.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 06/08/2014 at 07:00am

Was this something from Fox News? It seems like something they would report. LOL I didn't get a SNES until my college years, I believe, same with the NES. I still don't have a Genesis, though I want one. I was, however, lucky to have a cousin that had a NES and a Genesis and friends that had a SNES. I got the Gameboy, the first one. I got a Game Gear during my early high school years.

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Mortal Kombat X Looks Like A Fighting Game Killer

It's a pre-rendered fight scene but even if the game looks half that good with some of the mechanics they showed, it should be fun. I played a bit of the latest Mortal Kombat incarnation and I was a pretty big fan.

Hopefully it skims a nice balance between doing service to the old characters and game as well as bringing something new to the table.

The game will ship in 2015 on PS3, PS4, 360, XBox One and PC.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 06/05/2014 at 01:21pm

That was probably the most brutal game trailer I've ever seen! Jeebus! Poor Sub-Zero...

While some of that is pre-rendered, I'd be willing to bet that the fighting from the side-view perspective is pretty close to what they'll be able to pull off in-game on the new consoles, if they aren't doing it already. Might be a stretch, but I wouldn't be surprised. It's just nice to see Mortal Kombat back in the spotlight, after such a long string of crap games.

I enjoy fighting games with the company of good friends. Most of the time I get my ass handed to me, unless I'm Paul Phoenix or Ryu. Then it's 50/50. I wanted to pick up the last MK or Injustice, but there isn't as much incentive to play, without friends nearby.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 06/05/2014 at 03:11pm

*watching* "That's not that brutal of a traile.... oh wait. Yeah, that's Game of Thrones worthy"

I love fighting games when company is over, but I'm also looking forward to the online gameplay.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 06/05/2014 at 08:44pm

Yeah, it's hard to make of this what will be real and what won't be. If it's about half of what's show then i'll be pretty happy.

I agree, with you scrypt, fighting games are best played with friends.

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jdodson1

2746 Posts

The Alienware Alpha Coming This Holiday 2014 Season

Activision Gives A Serious Nod to Destiny Coming to PC

The History Behind Grim Fandango With Creator Tim Schafer

Miniverse Is Coming To iOS Very Soon!

Civilization V Is Now On SteamOS/Linux

Hotline Miami 2 Will Ship With A Level Editor

Aperture Tag Is A New Portal 2 Mod Coming This Summer

Dislike The Game So Much You Spend 452 Hours Playing It?

Retro News: Parents Upset Over New Super Nintendo Console

Mortal Kombat X Looks Like A Fighting Game Killer