I was just talking to @scrypt on Steam about this and I am wanting to ask you all as well. Now that I have completed Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm what should I play next? I mean, I am totally getting Age of Empires II: HD but, beyond that, what should I play?

A few thoughts on games I could buy:

* FTL
* The Walking Dead
* Dishonored
* FarCry 3

Games I own I haven't started yet:

* Bastion
* Fallout: New Vegas
* Braid

So what do you think I should play next? Ill make a choice based on your suggestions and let you know how it turns out.

So I beat the single player missions of Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm. This time I put it away in less than a week, which is a personal best. I drew out Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty to take 2 weeks to complete because I wanted to savor the game more. I can't say which experience was better, but I am a bit biased to Heart of the Swarm. Not sure if its because it was a better single player experience or because I just played it.

tone & story

Tonally the two flow well together. Wings of Liberty single player might be a tighter game and overall a bit better experience but Heart of the Swarm takes it up a few notches. All said, I really appreciate the ambition of Heart of the Swarm and really fell over the more grand set pieces and story arcs. If you read my previous tear down of my progress at about 1/3rd of the way through the game I was a bit mixed on it. By the end I was sold entirely on the game and felt it really delivered a solid punch.

For reference here is my first writing about the game:

http://cheerfulghost.com/jdodson/posts/1086

I can say what I experienced to that point was an intended part of how they were telling the story. I think they wanted to grate on you a bit as to what was happening to Kerrigan and it totally worked for me. I will say that they open up her Character such that she really did have a character arc and it was VERY well done. Not to say it wasn't campy at points, but its pulp sci-fi, its going to have those elements.

gameplay

The single player missions are very good in Heart of the Swarm. Its hard to say how they stack up to Wing of Liberty, because Wings may have had nearly perfect scenarios. Heart of the Swarm is great, and the stronger points were that you felt like a total bad-ass. They also nailed the Swarm aspect of the Zerg and a few missions you get a ridiculous amount of Zerg to play with. Since the Zerg are my jam, yeah it really worked for me.

One of the final missions features a pretty cool set of conditions. You have to destroy a shield and hop back and forth between playing as a Hero sneaking around blowing up energy stations and Kerrigan building a base and attacking the Confederacy. Its a great game-play mechanic and worked very well.

My only minor gripe was that the game is easy. As I have poured over the Intarwebs, it seems most people agree on this point. It also was a bit more "handholdey" than I require after playing Starcraft for so many years as well.

final thoughts

Frankly I can't wait to start Wings of Liberty again and play Heart of the Swarm afterward. But, like my viewings of Star Wars, I stagger myself so it doesn't lose some of its magic. If Legacy of the Void is just as good then I imagine I will come back to play the campaigns again every so often. Some games I enjoy so much I come back to them and play them multiple times. Dungeon Siege, Link's Awakening, Final Fantasy IV, Doom 3 and now SC2. I can't wait for Legacy of the Void.

At some point I might write more of my thoughts in spoiler form, but for now I want to keep it relevant but accessible.

"Earlier this week, I read about that awesome dad who edited Donkey Kong to let his daughter play as the Princess. I wished I had someone who could have done that for me. Then I remembered. I'm an adult now. If he could work it out, I could too.

I'm hobbyist animator and my boyfriend is a professional video game programmer. I sent him the article and I asked, "How do I do this?"

"I think he's just using an existing rom editor, so he just went in and changed the sprites."

"I want to switch around Link and Zelda."

That got his attention. We'd been talking about a Zelda-centric game ever since the first Tropes vs Women in Games video was released. He's a huge fan of the series and really wants to see a game completely based around Zelda. The series could use a shake-up like that. "

Thinking the next time I play the original Zelda that it would be fun to play as Zelda! I know no one here has ROM's but if you were so inclined, the steps are included on Kenna's blog.

http://kennastuff.blogspot.com/2013/03/zelda-starring-zelda-story.html

Its pretty good too, regenerates and only costs 3 mana? Not bad.

Means the only way this thing goes bye bye is with some kind of lock down or exile.

I just rolled out a new feature many of you have been asking for called "post tracking." Post tracking is the star to the right of the comment button. The star lets you know by it being highlighted or not if you are tracking a post.

If you track a post you will get notifications whenever anyone comments on the post. If you want to stop getting notifications on a post, click the star to stop tracking it.

If you create or comment in a post you will automagically track it.

Tracking specifies you and everyone else's interest in the post over time. You might be interested in a post in the beginning and over time might want to exit the conversation. You also might just want to follow the banter on a particular post without adding to the mix. With this feature, you can now do all of those things.

Its a new thing and as such might be buggy in some way, if you see anything out of sorts let me know.

For many years I have wanted a mobile gaming handheld that is better than my iPhone. For some the iPhone is an amazing device for gaming and it has some great games, but I find the touch interface to be a bit limiting. So much so that I find the original Gameboy to be a better gaming device than the modern iPhone. I know some may not agree, but its not about the power of the system or the graphics its about the games, gameplay and controls. Maybe my mind is forever set on thumb controls for mobile games, maybe its just a better way to play them?

Even if the touch screen can be made to work with an old game port, often its totally crapped up to the point of being a terrible version of its former self. Checkout my review of the Secret of Mana iPhone port I wrote some time ago for more of my thoughts about that. I do a side by side comparison of the iPhone version and in the end I had to stop playing it because it attacked my soul.

http://cheerfulghost.com/jdodson/posts/259

I have spent many evenings scouring the internet for a handheld that makes sense for me. I want to run the games I already own on my NES and Super Nintendo and don't want to buy them again. I want to run Doom and Quake too. You know, normal nerdy shit. I don't mind a store where I buy games either, as it turns out I love buying games that are awesome.

Recently the GCW Zero was successfully Kickstarted and is nearing a normal retail launch soon. From all I have read, this looks like the device for me. Totally unlocked from the start, it runs Linux and can do much. Has the form factor of a PSP or DS and looks to be quite powerful. I have heard the device will sell for around $160 or so and that sounds reasonable.

When they release more details about when it becomes available for purchase, ill let you know.

http://www.gcw-zero.com/

GameStorm is March 21st-24th at the Hilton in Vancouver Washington. I am going to be speaking on a few panels this year about some really cool topics. Ill also be frequenting the event over the weekend in between my panel time as well with my laptop hacking on Cheerful Ghost when I can.

If you are planning on attending GameStorm you should totally let me know so we can hang out. Plus this will be my first set of speaking engagements about Video Games since I launched the site.

The Panels I Will Be Part Of:

* What's On Kickstarter Right Now: Friday March 22nd @ 11am. http://schedule.gamestorm.org/sessions/708
* Community Organizing: Friday March 22nd @ 3pm. http://schedule.gamestorm.org/sessions/712
* How to Run a Crowdfunding Campaign: Saturday March 23rd @ 2pm. http://schedule.gamestorm.org/sessions/719
* Long Distance Gaming: Saturday March 23rd @ 5pm. http://schedule.gamestorm.org/sessions/722

Love to see you there!

Bear with me people, Starcraft: Heart of the Swarm was released and apparently I love it. Apparently I like sharing bits related to it that I find awesome. So yeah, Starcraft.

PC Gamer covered the HoTS launch with a few videos that are pretty awesome. The one above featured above features the actor that played the voice of Jim Raynor. They also posted a longer video that covered more of the launch event you can watch below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngTFih13HXk#!

"I won't give up on you Starcraft, so don't give up on us!"

"Valve's Gabe Newell was honoured with the Academy Fellowship at the British Academy Games Awards in 2013 for his outstanding and exceptional creative contribution to the Games industry."

Yeah, that makes sense. Under Gabe's wing Valve has done amazing things with its games and Steam. The video above, starts with a nice mashup of some of Valves more amazing titles and then goes right into his acceptance speech, which is quite awesome. It follows up with a fun interview where he talks a bit about Valve and its growth.

They asked about Half-Life 3. Watch the video for the answer.

A Torment Kickstarter? Now Lord British is doing a Kickstarter? Pretty good day for RPG's indeed. If you loved Ultima, this looks to be the next installment in rad. A bit from the Kickstarter page:

"Richard Garriott, the award winning designer and creator of the Ultima franchise, makes his triumphant return to the genre that earned him a place in the Hall of Fame and a Lifetime Achievement Award. Shroud of the Avatar is the first installment of Richard’s new vision and represents the reinvention of the classic, fantasy role-playing which he pioneered. A fantasy role-playing game that will focus more on player choices and discovery than on level grinding."

They have some more in depth videos on certain things on the Kickstarter page itself. The Kickstarter aims at 1 million and they have already raised $860k so with 24 days to go they have a hefty lead.

What do you think of the Shroud of the Avatar Kickstarter?