"In this episode we examine the Ms. Male Character trope and briefly discuss a related pattern called the Smurfette Principle. We’ve defined the Ms. Male Character Trope as: The female version of an already established or default male character. Ms. Male Characters are defined primarily by their relationship to their male counterparts via visual properties, narrative connection or occasionally through promotional materials."

Anita Sarkeesian continues her tropes series this time focusing on the "Ms. Male Character" video game trope. Interesting history of some popular Ms. Male Characters as well as gender representation in games.

Organ Trail is a really great retro remake of the old Oregon Trail game from the Apple II era. As a kid I played The Oregon trail a ton and loved speed-running the game as the Banker from Boston. That said, Organ Trail is a nearly spot on remake that reminds me of the original while doing something very unique.

the goal

The goal of Organ Trail is to escape from Washington DC during the Zombie Apocalypse with your party and travel to the safe haven that is free of Zombies. You start the game with 4 people in your party and a station wagon. The game allows you to outfit your party with supplies and this is the first chance you have to drop your strategy into the game. Do you go for more bullets and less food? Do you go for a little bit of everything instead?

Personally I go for a few more bullets, no food and try to get about 3 of each car parts. Immediately I start scavenging for food as it isn't too hard to obtain. I make some trades and once I feel like I am ready, I start the journey.

the graphics

One of the things I enjoy the most about Organ Trail is the graphics and art style. Organ Trail mixes the big blocky sprites from the Apple II and NES. One main staple of the game is scavenging for supplies and the game provides a few back drops that change as you make your way across the zombie infested US landscape. Some people might fault the game for being "too old looking" but I find that part of the games immense charm.

platform support

Organ Trail is ported to just about every platform that matters with Mac, Linux, PC, Android and iOS. I've played it on Mac and Linux and it runs great on both platforms. The Mac has a slightly better interface for selecting what resolution the game should run in as I didn't notice anything like that on Linux. That said, the Linux version works very well and I saw no particular issues with it.

gameplay

The majority of Organ Trail plays like you would expect. A few menus confused me but after a few times through the game, it was fine. One fairly large gripe I have with the game is in with the gun targeting. I expected the game to work like the original Oregon Trail, you just lined up the gun and shot it. Organ Trail changes things up by making you line the player up and clicking and dragging back to the player to shoot. I imagine the gameplay is this way to make it work similarly on Phones and Desktops but on the Desktop it is just strange. I have figured out a pretty good work around for scavenging and do very well now, but I would prefer a simpler interface. That said, it's the games only major flaw as I see it and it is something you can easily work around.

final thoughts

The game difficulty modes are really fair but for your first game I recommend playing on easy. Going through first on easy allows you to get used to what the game throws at you and its not so hard as to be soul crushing.

Organ Trail is an absolutely amazing game. I would consider it a nearly perfect game if not for some gameplay issues listed above. Organ Trail fits the spot for a game that is a ton of fun if you want to kick back on the couch and its a game that I imagine i'll be playing for quite some time.

http://i.imgur.com/ulqDSYO.png
http://i.imgur.com/Gt3DPIc.png

The Escapists is an interesting game on Kickstarter right now. Made by the same author of Spuds Quest, The Escapists is setting out to be the ultimate prison break RPG.

"* Schedules: To escape you'll have to work around the strict prison schedule as best you can to avoid any unwanted attention from the guards.

* Crafting: Weapons and tools can be crafted together using everyday things you find or steal around the prison. Just beware of cell shakedowns. Read more about crafting

* Reputation: The way you interact with fellow cons and guards affect how they treat you. Those on your side could help you out in a fight, overlook if they catch you doing anything unusual, or give you access to certain favors/jobs, and assistance.

* Digging: Get hold of a shovel (or various other digging spoons) and you can start working on an escape tunnel. Of course you'll need some lights and timber supports below ground if you plan to survive. Just make sure you make it back for the guard patrols- and that the hole is hidden! Read more about digging

* Character Stats: Train your agility and strength in the gym, or spend your free periods in the library boosting your intellect. All such skills play a part in your escape as well as your survival inside the prison. Read more about stats.

* Combat: When it comes to crunch time, you might have to engage other inmates or guards in combat. If one of them finds your escape tunnel you will probably have to overpower, bind, and stash them in the hole you've been digging below your cell. If it's a guard, taking his uniform might come in handy.

* Gangs & Friends: Be careful who you pick fights with- some of the inmates might start plotting against you with their gang-mates and friends."

I love Prison Architect so playing a game from an entirely different angle sounds really fun. The game has already been funded but if you want to get in on the Kickstarter there are only 9 days remaining. Right now The Escapists is planned for PC only.

"How well do you know your enemies? That's the question we set out to answer in our premiere episode of Know Your Enemy. Join us as we take a look at one of our favorites: The Goomba, from the Super Mario Bros. series."

Awesome new YouTube series "Know Your Enemy" debuts with a classic Mario enemy, the Goomba. Providing some really great history to the character as well as it's many cultural and game appearances. Whenever I see one of those little guys I just want to stomp on it. Good thing they are not modeled after an actual thing in real life.

One meme in gaming that makes me chuckle whenever I read it is "PC gaming master race." Beyond the fact that it is somewhat juvenile, it isn't too far from the truth. Not that consoles aren't awesome or even better than the PC in some ways(any game on the PS3 will always work on the PS3, no upgrades needed) but as PC gamers we have it pretty darn good. One area where the PC shines above and beyond our console sisters and brothers is amount of games available and price. Because the PC is an open platform and digital distribution being as popular as it is, the PC is exploding with games selling for cheap.

The Humble Store

Most of us know and love The Humble Indie Bundle and can't wait to partake in the sweet bundles of magical bits. The Humble folks keep going strong and just launched a new way to get great games cheap. The Humble Store is the latest in discounted games, donating 10% of the sale to charity. Featuring some awesome Triple A and Indie titles, the Humble Store provides Steam Keys for the games you buy and often a DRM free download to boot! With the Humble Indie Bundle, Humble Triple A Bundles, Humble Weekly Sale and brand new Humble Store I imagine many gamers credit cards are wearing thin.

https://www.humblebundle.com/store

GOG.com

GOG.com is an awesome site dedicated to Retro, Indie and Triple A titles that all come DRM free. Supporting Windows and Mac, GOG.com is like a digital locker for your games. I have personally picked up Neverwinter Nights super cheap with a ton of other awesome retro games. GOG.com recently launched a charity bundle of their own and almost always runs awesome sales like its current DRM Free Fall Insomnia Sale.

http://www.gog.com/

Minecon Indies

After Minecon, the Minecon Indies site popped up and featured all the games that showed at this years Minecon. They put on a pretty awesome contest and gave away some awesome games that showed at Minecon. I expect to see more popup Indie game sale pages like this around cons and other awesome stuff. You can still look through the store and pickup some really great games.

http://mineconindies.com/

The Game Music Bundle

The Game Music Bundle departs from the traditional game bundles and focuses on game music. The Game Music Bundle 5 featured the music from Monaco, FTL, FEZ, Gunpoint, Leisure Suit Larry & World of Goo. If you donated over the minimum you could get all of the FEZ remix albums, extra Monaco tracks, The Forge, Anodyne and Little Inferno scores. Since I love game music scores, seeing this kind of bundle is pretty awesome.

http://www.loudr.fm/gamemusicbundle

The Free Bundle

But what if you want games but don't want to pay? The Free Bundle has you back by collecting some interesting free indie titles. The new Free Bundle 10 should be coming out any day and I am interested to see what it has. Some people release their games for free and this is a great way to showcase them.

http://www.thefreebundle.com/

Steam

Yeah, you know I like had to mention Steam. The Steam Autumn Sale is right around the corner and nothing showcases "rabid gamer" like a Steam Sale. One thing I miss about past Steam sales I haven't seen in a year or so is publisher packs. I hope they make an appearance for this years Holiday Sale, but for people that haven't experienced it, imagine nearly every game a publisher makes at a very crazy price. One year I picked up Skyrim, Fallout New Vegas, Brink and a few other Bethesda games for 50 bucks. Even if publisher packs don't make a comeback, Steam sales are epic things of legend and each one seems to get me to spend money I wasn't expecting to.

jdodson's Final Thought

I have been gaming on my PC since ZZT on DOS and because of that, I have a ton of games. It seems a bit strange to drop $60 for each new game that comes out when I just picked up the recent WB Bundle that featured FEAR, FEAR 2, Arkham Asylum, Arkham City, Lord of the Rings, Scribblenauts, Mortal Kombat Arcade, Guardians of Middle Earth and more whatever price I want to pay. Most of those games are a few years old now but it puts a brand new $60 purchase in perspective. Won't it just be silly cheap later?

Consoles can't seem to beat the pricing of the PC because there is so much competition in digital game stores. Kind of hard for Sony to compete with itself in terms of pricing on its own store and because of this, its sales are pretty meager. Also remember, when I say PC gaming I mean anything that runs games thats not a console. I do a ton of "PC gaming" from my Mac laptop and Linux and plan on doing much more when Steam Machines drop. But I wonder what I we will call that? It will be a PC in your living room, but... Well, who knows what we will call it, it will still be awesome.

PC Master Race may be a hyperbolic premise, but I can't help but agree with some of the idea. It's a great time to be a PC gamer and things ain't getting worse.

In a world of the same kind of Let's Plays, wouldn't it be awesome to have puppets do it instead? Mario and Fafa, the awesome duo from Glove and Boots did an awesome two part series where they play retro games on the Wii. In part one they play Mario Brothers, the original Japaneese Mario Two(The Lost Levels in the States), Pacman, Double Dribble & Excitebike. Part two features Altered Beast, Splatterhouse, Mike Tyson's Punch Out & Ice Hockey.

The video also reminds us to wear our Wii controller strap. For safety.

Part two:

http://youtu.be/amxlexAIbhs

Sony recently released a Dev diary(video above) talking about Everquest Next and how they approach mining and crafting. EQ Next will be free to play and will be strongly influenced by Minecraft.

Ragnarok Online is a popular MMO that came out in 2003 and later on in it's life became free to play. It recently came to Steam on PC to serve your dungeon crawling needs.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/215100/

Symmetrain is an interesting new iPhone game where you tap to select the differences in the terrain as your train chugs along the tracks. It's a pretty interesting idea and seems to fill the "I want to kill a few minutes" game itch.

http://youtu.be/FUh-S8pm5jE

"Videogames are addictive. FACT. But how seriously should we take gamer addictions? There is scientific proof that brain scans of excessive gamers are similar to drug addicts, and addiction to videogames can even destroy lives, just like alcoholics or junkies. And with advancements in technology, game developers are continuing to create games that are EVEN MORE engrossing. Should we worry about gamers, or possibly even regulate the industry?"

Whereas I don't agree with any industry regulation for video games, the idea of video game addiction is interesting to me. No question some people get wrapped up and spend way too much time in video games, take for instance myself and the last Terraria 1.2 update.

I don't know if I would say Super Metroid is the best video game of all time, but it ranks very highly on my top list of awesome games. NESComplex does a great job showcasing the game and talking about its place in the Metroid timeline. If you haven't played Super Metroid you should at least watch this video to find out why this game is as beloved as it is.

When this game launched there weren't a ton of dark games with a really compelling story. Super Metroid really nailed making you feel like the game world was real and that the story and elements have weight. This game went off to spawn the Metroid Prime series, which decided to change the series into a 3D first person platformer.

My first Metroid game was the original for the NES and I liked it quite a bit, but it was very hard to figure out how to progress to beat it. I later got to play Metroid on Gameboy, but again, never could actually beat it due to how hard it was to figure out where to go next. Super Metroid marked the first time I ever beat a Metroid game and for that I was pretty happy.

What was the first Metroid game you ever played? Did you make it to Super Metroid and if so what did you think of it?

In this video appeal to Valve founder Gabe Newell, Francis asks to be let into the Steam Console beta. Who wouldn't want that right? He poses some very interesting questions about the durability of the Steambox and the new Steam controller. Specifically if the new Steambox will be able to survive a hit from an axe. He also wonders if the new Steam controller will be able to survive being thrown against the wall, you know because Super Meat Boy is hard.