Just found an awesome video made with Valve's Source Film Maker called "The Turret Anthem." It features turrets from Portal and Portal 2 and contains a cool song and a great animation sequence cut together with Valve's Source Film Maker.

Up vote it on Steam here:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=122130516

Looks awesome, I really hope this comes to PC.

Anyone going to pick this up on a console when it comes out?

http://terraria.org

Seems to be that some companies are filling the gaming lull by releasing epic game trailers and as Blizzard just dropped the opening Cinematic for Heart of the Swarm. As the Cinematic played out I was like "What is going on, in Wings of Liberty she..." and then they did that switcheroo at the end which was awesome.

Blizzard storylines contain pretty similar elements I've noticed. In Warcraft you had Arthas who was corrupted by the Undead and became Litch King. You have a similar story in Diablo III. In Starcraft Kerrigan is corrupted by the Zerg. This is a first time that I know of in Blizzard-dom where such a corrupted character might become good again. Blizzard seems to stick with this notion that good people can turn bad by no act of their own, at least in the case of Diablo III & Starcraft. Its good that such characters can come back, or at least in Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty they serious nodded to it.

Recently I saw an amazing Kickstarter for a new gamed called "Monsters Ate My Birthday Cake." The game focuses on amazingly lush visuals and a puzzle styled game play similar to early Legend of Zelda Games. I immediately had to know more about the Kickstarter and Sleep Ninja Games the company behind the magic.

jdodson: The “Monster’s Ate My Birthday Cake” Kickstarter page reminisces of the time before the Wiki where we shared secrets and game lore by word of mouth. What lore or secrets have been burned into your brain you can’t shake?

Justin Baldwin: It's been a long time, and I remember it for tons of games. I really more or less want to try to bring that experience back, I miss it. The best example I have is that I'm a pretty big Mortal Kombat fan, I remember talking to other kids about all these random crazy codes and things that you could do to make characters naked, or some kind of secret crazy fatality. Most kids were making it up, but it still was fun to imagine stuff like that in a game. And I remember trying for hours to find stuff like that. We are kind of tempted to make fake submissions to sites for cheats, and plan on hiding some interesting easter eggs in the game.

jdodson: How was it collaborating with Disasterpeace for the soundtrack? Did this collaboration changed how you built the game?

Justin Baldwin: Actually we just brought on Disasterpeace about two weeks ago, so sound and music are just now starting to happen. I'm sure it will change some of our approach and presentation of things within the game. He is great to work with, and a super talented man I might add.

jdodson: Your Kickstarter Features 5 inch collectable monster figurines for certain backers. Could you describe the process from design of the figure to how you go about manufacturing them?

Justin Baldwin: I actually have two friends, Eric Haskell and Sebastian Cortes, who are both special effects artists. They are great artists so I asked them if they might be willing to take this on. I supplied them with turn around art of some of the favorite characters based on a Facebook poll we did. They basically took over from there, made the originals out of clay, created a mold from that and cast and painted those bad boys. We still have more to make based on how many are ordered. These will also be numbered so you know they are the limited ones and come with a nice letter of authenticity.

jdodson: Why is the Internet so fascinated with Cats?

Justin Baldwin: Haha, I don't know. Honestly, I'm a dog person. I have two. Cats just don't do it for me, they are too independent. You'd think with the stuff I like I'd be on the whole cat band wagon but…not so much.

jdodson: How did the three of you initially meet and at what point did it become obvious you should make your first game together and start Sleep Ninja Games?

Justin Baldwin: Brandon and I have been friends since we were kids. We've been friends for a good 20 years. So when I say we are influenced by our memories from childhood with video games, we shared those together. Which I think is great! Brandon got pretty into programming and introduced me to things like Flash and what not when we were about 14. That pretty much started our whole path in life really. Alex and I actually met when I was about 19 or so. We were both in different bands at the time and we did quite a few shows together. We had been collaborating on some music and story elements for another game idea that we have on the back burner. I showed them both this idea I had for this game, mostly just some art concepts and this idea of expanding on the Zelda style puzzle mechanic. We then decided we should set some time aside and really peruse making a game of our own.

jdodson: What is the tech behind “Monster’s At My Birthday Cake?”

Justin Baldwin: It's actually nothing overly complicated. It's programmed in C# and we are using the Unity3D engine to run our game. It has great platform scalability and amazing performance. I create all the art in Illustrator and animate them in Flash. We then create sprite sheets out of those and import them to Unity. A lot of the effects are being done with Unity's particle engine. But I won't get to into it, we'd be here a while...

jdodson: You guys provide a ton of totally awesome backer benefits already but one thing I appreciate is that you also let people know what you can provide if the Kickstarter goes over the goal. I hope you guys are able to reach this level. No real question, thanks for being extra awesome.

Justin Baldwin: We thought it would be helpful and think it's important to be accountable for any extra funds we raise. We also made a nice reward chart for people so they could easily see what they will receive.

jdodson: You scale the mountain and “Monster’s Ate My Birthday Cake” ships. What’s next for Sleep Ninja Games?

Justin Baldwin: MAMBC still has a way to go, but we have another game lined up and already have done a lot of concepting and story work for it. I think people might be surprised how different of a style our next game is going to be. I'll just say it's pretty heavily influenced by Blade Runner, Ghost In The Shell, and all things cyberpunk.

jdodson: In the Kickstarter video there is a section of game play where you can buy certain items for in game coins. I wonder if you could talk a bit about this mechanic and how it impacts the game play.

Justin Baldwin: Basically, you will come across coins that you can collect, and a lot of these will be hidden in secret spots, out in the open, or dropped by defeated enemies. Throughout the game you will find different monster shops where you use coins for merchandise in two tiers:

1. Generic items: When you discover a new friendly monster in the game, they will usually want something before you can unlock them as a playable character. You have two strategy options; some key items will be hidden in levels throughout the game and you will have to try and get to them or find them. The other option is that shops will sell some of the key items, obtaining the right one will allow you to gain the allegiance of that monster friend. For instance, Eek, the cut little neon bat monster, wants to gobble up a "glowbug" in order to join Niko on his quest.

2. Upgrade items: You can also spend coins on items that can give your monsters permanent bonuses to their skills. For instance, if you buy the "Golden Uni-Horn" upgrade for Prizzy, the fluffy white monster with a rainbow unicorn horn, it will give him a bonus of an increased chance to have enemies drop coins if they are defeated with his rainbow vomit beam attack. Yes, I said rainbow vomit beam attack.

jdodson: I want to thank you for taking the time to talk to me and wish you luck with the Kickstarter! The game already looks fantastic and I hope you go beyond your goals!

Justin Baldwin: Thanks! We hope so as well. We want to support as many platforms as possible.

http://sleepninjagames.com/

Hello Friends,

I totally dig Starcraft. So much so that I pre-ordered the Collectors Edition of Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm. The collectors edition packs in the game soundtrack, making of DVD/BluRay, art book and other digital bits. A week or so before the launch of Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm I plan on doing a video un-boxing of all my Collector Edition's to share with everyone.

That said, since I pre-ordered the game I was given access to the beta and decided to take it for a spin. They are only making the multi-player aspect of Heart of the Swarm available for Beta customers so I won't be able to comment on the Single Player until game launch in March. That said, I played two matches as the Zerg, my race of choice.

The two new Zerg units I played around with were the Viper and Swarm Host. The Viper is a flyer that can move enemy units closer to you. So if an enemy ship or unit is hitting you from a distance you can pick it up and lift it closer to you. It was fun using the Vipers to bring enemy fliers inside my Hydralisk swam and watch them die. Allowing the Zerg more methods to mess with an enemy is an awesome thing. The other new Zerg unit is the Swarm Host which is a siege unit that when burrowed spawn Locusts that spit acid. While interesting, I never found the right formula to use Swarm Host to the point where I loved it but I imagine I just need more time with the unit.

Heart of the Swarm doesn't seem to add any new structures or change any of the other multi-player game mechanics that I noticed.

Looking forward to talking more about the single-player of Heart of the Swarm when the game is launched in March. Speaking of, are you planning on picking up this expansion?

Pre-Order the Game on Amazon and get early Access to the Beta:
http://goo.gl/6uCOl

http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/game/unit/viper
http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/game/unit/swarm-host
http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/game/heart-of-the-swarm-preview/
http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/game/ (section on the new units to Heart of the Swarm)

The other day I wondered what hidden bits of rad one would find by looking through the files Steam installs for the games I played. What I found was pretty interesting as some games install some cool files and stuff they don't advertise. Understand that all I did to find this information was click around in in my Steam games folder for this information. I recommend you do the same and post your findings to this post or make your own post about it.

Together lets find all the awesome stuff in our Steam games.

But first the steps to finding Steam game Easter Eggs:

1. Open Steam


2. Go to your game Library


3. Right click on a game and select Properties


4. Select the LOCAL FILES tab


5. Click the BROWSE LOCAL FILES button


6. A file window will open, peruse the filesystem taking note of anything you find interesting. PDF's, Soundtrack File's, Viewable Art, etc.


7. Share on Cheerful Ghost to make everyone's life more awesome, give yourself a pat on the back for being a good person

The Hidden Rad I Found In My Steam Games:

Age of Empires Online: sound/music/* folders contain MP3 files of all the playable in game Culture's soundtracks. sound/amb/ folder contains all the Ambient sound played alongside the music as mp3 sound files.

Borderlands 2: WillowGame/Splash/PC/Splash.bmp the Borderlands starting 2 splash screen.

CaveStory+: data/base/* contains all the BMP game art as well as soundtrack in OGG.

Counter Strike: hl2/media/valve.avi the opening valve intro video. hl2/resource/* the true type font Valve uses. cstrike/sound/admin_plugin/* .WAV files for certain in game actions. cstrike/resource/* all the guns in counterstrike as a true type font!

DoTA 2: dota/resource/cursor/* the in game cursor files.

Dragon Age: Ultimate Edition Bonus/* folders contain the game Soundtrack and Desktop Wallpapers. data/launcher folder contains the launcher art as well as a WMA file of the music that plays over it. docs/ folder contains a few readme bits EULA and patch notes.

Everquest: The base directory contains mp3 in game soundtrack files. AudioTriggers/default/ contains in game mp3 event sound files. help/ directory contains all the in game help files as web-browser view-able HTML. sounds/ directory looks to contain all the in game sounds as mp3 files. storyline/ directory contains in game story elements as text files. voice/default/ directory contains all the game voices as mp3 sound files.

Gratuitous Space Battles: data/bitmaps/backdrops/ directory contains the in game space battle backgrounds as JPGs. data/bitmaps/races/ directory contains a JPG image of all the in game races. data/bitmaps/ui/loadscreens/ directory contains all the game load screens as JPGs. data/deployments/ directory contains all the in game scenarios as text files, in fact most of the game can be configured by editing text files all over this game folder. data/sounds/ directory contains all the in game sound effects and music as OGG files.

This post will be added to as we find out about more games so dive in to your Steam library and let me know what you find in the comments or create your own post!

After watching this I am WAY more excited about Mew-Genics than I was as this soundtrack seems totally level 50 max level awesome-rad.

CAT FIGHT, CAT FIGHT! So very catchy.

Yeah, this will be a day one purchase for me and I have no idea what the game is about yet.

One of my friends on Twitter @groveronline asked me what I thought of a recent Reddit post by KR4T0S, an industry insider with some knowledge of the next generation console hardware. Its a really interesting read and I recommend you check it out.

http://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/16tttt/orbis_unmasked_what_to_expect_from_the_nextgen/c7zfgtg

I want to respond to a few points he brings up:

"If both the 720 and PS4 are running AMD CPU's then that is a revolution, what that means is every developer working on consoles and PC will have a grip on the architecture of all three platforms. The 720 is a Windows PC, the PS4 is a Linux PC. I was wondering how Valve were going to convince developers to put money into developing games for a Linux, they don't need to anymore, Sony just did that for them, porting to Linux just became trivial, you shouldn't be surprised if in a couple of years you end up seeing Max Payne 4 released simultaneously for your Windows or Linux PC, Steambox, 720 and PS4."

and this

"It's sort of like Sony and Microsoft are working together but indirectly, they both understand making porting so cheap and easy it's practically trivial benefits them and it benefits the entire industry. Then Valve come along and say "hey let's get our x86 OpenGL Unix box out there" around the same time as another x86 OpenGL Unix box with a remarkably similar architecture is coming out, I think Valve knew something we didn't."

If Sony is in fact using Linux as the operating system of the PS4 then its entirely possible Valve knew this. They are in a pretty awesome spot as a game developer that can potentially get access to next gen hardware that also runs Steam. Carmack mentioned in a Tweet or article somewhere that iD has access to next gen console hardware right now, I can't imagine Valve is in a different spot. If Sony is indeed doing this, hat tip to Valve as it would be the right time to move to Linux even if some "game journalists" are confused by them doing it. Also, if they has some special time bound NDA with Sony to not build hardware, it would also make sense why they are having partners do it first.

"Last thing I want to say about this is that it seems like Microsoft and Sony are taking different approaches. Microsoft are going with slower DDR RAM but more of it, they seem to be "saving" a lot of RAM for OS functions, in other words it looks like Microsoft have some sort of plans, maybe Kinect 2.0 or something. Sony on the other hand went with less RAM but it is faster GDDR RAM and Sony are also seemingly spending more money on the GPU. In other words the way it looks the PS4 will be engineered to be a pure gaming machine with more power, the 720 will fall in between the PS4 and Wii U in terms of power. It's interesting though because Microsoft are intent on saving a lot of money on memory and GPU from the looks of it and then they allocate a lot of RAM for some sort of software function. I'm thinking maybe it might actually be true that Kinect 2.0 is going to ship with all 720's, I thought it would be too expensive but considering how much they would save by going for slower RAM and a lower powered GPU and the fact that they are allocating a huge 3GB to software functions Kinect 2.0 makes sense."

So it seems Sony might be shipping with a high powered gaming deathstar and Microsoft shipping with a more service/application/Kinect heavy system. If true I am finally glad the consoles are verging away from each other a bit. I hope Sony provides enough functionality in the PS4, I think people are expecting it to run much more in the way of apps than the PS3 does.

"The first version of the next generation consoles should draw less power than the first version versions of the 360 and PS3 which means there probably won't be a power brick and the cases might be a little smaller too. With sufficient RAM resolution becomes "cheap" so you won't be sacrificing much visual detail by going to a higher resolution, in other words 1080P and 60 FPS should be the standard across the entire board. You should have a sleek quiet little box that sits under your TV, has power gating so when you are Netflixing it sips only a tiny amount of power but stays quiet and relatively cool even when it's running full power."

Frankly not hearing a jet engine level sound coming from my console when I am watching Netflix would be awesome. The PS3 isn't terribly loud but it doesn't need to generate enough heat to cook eggs for me to watch a film. I am happy some good power saving measures are coming into focus for the next gen.

Thoughts and what I am Looking For in the Next Gen:

• I want to buy a game once and play it anywhere. When I got Portal 2 I was given a glimpse of a world where I bought a game on the PS3 and it followed me to the PC. I think two companies could actually pull this off and its Microsoft and Valve. My money is on Valve doing this first and Microsoft playing catch-up later but I could be wrong. Valve is also better positioned because gamers like Steam. Its possible Microsoft could merge the XBox and PC stores to solve this problem but I am skeptical.


• More restrictions on next gen consoles won't make me happier as a customer. I've heard the next gen consoles will use cd-key based methods to ensure games are not resold. Limiting the benefits to a console, like loaning your friend a game, isn't going to make me buy it faster. And yes, I swap games with my console friends.

In the end I am really heartened by KR4T0S post as the direction Microsoft and Sony are headed seem reasonable to me. I am still uncertain what direction I am taking in the next gen console wave, but I am now much more happy about it coming. Thanks @groveronline for tipping me to this awesome article!

The next entrant in the Cheerful Ghost Community Interview series I have been doing is Will Owens. Will is the creator of Backlog Killer, a blog dedicated to completing his large pile of awesome games.

jdodson: You are playing through Ultima Underworld right now. How is that going?

Will Owens: Slowly but surely. Ultima Underworld is actually one of the two or three games that motivated me to begin writing the Backlog Killer blog last year. The problem of too little time and too much to play remains, but I now have a system that allows me to focus and not be distracted by other games that may be laying around, too. I usually only have the opportunity to play games three to four hours during the week and having the goal of blogging my experience really cuts down on any anxiety that may spring up about deciding what to play during this limited time. I wish I had more time to write and play because content output is important for a blog's survival, but I'm doing the best I can.

As for the game itself, I am having a complete blast. I have only logged about five or six hours and just completed the first level of the dungeon, but I am anxious to play more. The game plays surprisingly well for being twenty years old and also makes me feel super old knowing it came out while I was in elementary school. It has grabbed me more than many modern games I have played because of its complexity and unclear nature. That's not to say I don't enjoy any modern games, but I am always drawn to experiences that don't do much hand holding and let me do whatever I want so that I can discover the mechanics and systems all on my own. This can be taken to the extreme if things get too complex, but I have always preferred to be left alone rather than artificially stifled and forced to learn things in a ham-fisted tutorial. Having ironed out most of the problems and getting used to the interface of Ultima Underworld, I hope to complete about one level each week. Who knows, if I get some extra time I may be able to do even more!

jdodson: I remember playing Out of This World and loving every second of its cinematic creativity. Recently I read this and was transported back to how awesome that game was. http://magicalgametime.com/post/40111290173/line-work-from-my-five-page-tribute-to-another Have you played anything that time-warped you back to this kind of experience recently?

Will Owens: Dark Souls and Demon's Souls were huge for me in that they reminded me of older gaming experiences I had as a kid rather than any singular game. Because I played so many older games in my youth, I am very sensitive to many influences that have continued into modern games and have become semi-obsessed with finding ones that recapture these feelings. I always remember being dropped in the middle of games with little to no instructions regarding what I should be doing. I guess some older examples are Wizardry, System Shock, and Ultima. Even though you are given an idea of what the goal is, there is no indicator telling you where to go or what to do. This usually led to exploration that made the world seem bigger and more interesting. Dark Souls did the same thing by dropping me into the game with minimal instructions and left to my own devices.

Another example of its influences are overpowered enemies placed just outside of the starting area to tell the player "don't go here!" without actually telling the player with a narrator or physical gate. Wizardry and Might and Magic did the exact same thing and is a much more satisfying deterrent than an artificial barrier because you can come back and whip those same monsters later. I hope more games will trust players to invest at least a little effort into enjoying the game rather than sticking with the current hand holding trend. I think this philosophy of game design has gotten a little out of hand.

jdodson: Is there any game you can think of that doesn't get as much attention as it should?

Will Owens: This is a tough question, but I would probably say the original System Shock. I remember playing the demo of the game with friends late into the night and being impressed at how many innovative things it did. What kills me is that many modern games get regaled for doing things that System Shock did almost twenty years ago such as implied story telling from the environment, plot twists, immersive environments to explore, and deep story lines. It is a little difficult to get into now because the controls and user interface were being developed when 3D action/RPG/adventures were just being sussed out, but it is still worth playing. Its combination of puzzles, action, and story presentation via audio logs was brand new and deserves to be experienced by everyone. Especially since blockbusters like Bioshock and Skyrim would not exist without it and owe a lot to the mechanics and storytelling methods it introduced.

jdodson: What was the last film you saw? What did you think about it?

Will Owens: The last movie I saw in the theater was Skyfall. I thought it was pretty good and seemed to push the idea that you need a strong hero to take care of things instead of bureaucracy. It was slickly shot and kept me engaged, but I don't think I enjoyed it as much as others. The last movie I watched in general was the original Django. I've seen it many times but wanted to see it again before seeing Django Unchained since it doesn't come out here until January 17th. Although it has many of the tropes of spaghetti westerns, it is uncharacteristically nihilistic taking place in a town that looks like hell on earth with a sense that literally nothing exists outside of it. It's violent, powerful, and one of my favorite westerns of all time.

jdodson: I have http://www.backlogkiller.com in my feed reader and enjoy your writings about games you are going through. I wonder where the idea for the site came from? Will there be a point where your backlog will be killed?

Will Owens: I was motivated to begin the blog when I realized I had bought far too many games while going through some difficult times a few years ago. Many of these were overly complex and time consuming games that I used to lose myself in, but they eventually became a pile of shame that seemed insurmountable. I would always get analysis paralysis when deciding what game to play and ended up doing nothing and feeling worse about it. Writing a blog was a good system to organize my playing and has served me well since I started.

The inspiration for the project came from several sources. The most direct inspiration is from the CRPG Addict (crpgaddict.blogspot.com) who is attempting the HUGE task of playing every RPG developed for the PC. I didn't want to go that far, but his success in generating discussions and thinking about game mechanics was interesting and I wanted to use the blog to discuss how the games relate to me and see how others felt. When a game really touches something deep in me I get very inspired and just spitball tons of ideas that stick. It's great therapy. When the game doesn't inspire these thoughts I still enjoy talking about its mechanics and what they mean to games and the experience. The voice of the blog is always changing but is mostly inspired by some humor I enjoy (although I restrain myself a lot for the blog) and the openness of other producers like Gary Butterfield, who is also a friend of Cheerful Ghost and hosts several notable podcasts, also influenced me. I figured if he can be open about his life to strangers, why can't I? It has really helped me feel better about myself and dig deeper into what games can be.

As for actually finishing the backlog? I don't know. I still buy games fairly regularly and add them to the list. I will probably keep writing as long as I am enjoying it because the key is to have fun and get over the anxiety of all these unplayed games. I can't see it finishing for a long time.

jdodson: Are you playing any other games alongside Ultima right now?

Will Owens: I don't have much time to spend playing games; I only get a few hours on an average week. To manage this time, I usually have two games going at once. One would be the game for the blog I play when I have lots of time in a block (Braid was an exception) and a second I play when I have ten or fifteen minutes to kill. Right now I am filling those shorter times with The Binding of Isaac which I am enjoying a lot. It covers many of the bases I love such as high difficulty, unique vision, and player autonomy to discover mechanics. I have also been playing Spec Ops: The Line after lots of recommendation about its commentary on games, but I must not have made it to that part yet because I'm still just shooting dudes. I will admit, I have been cheating a little on my longer play times by going back to Dark Souls… but you can chalk this up to "research", maybe.

jdodson: Your posts on http://www.backlogkiller.com are really in-depth, I wonder about how long does it take you from concept to post?

Will Owens: When I first started the blog, I took assiduous notes and quickly saw it was not sustainable. I generally come up with the concept for the next post while I am playing and run with it from there. I never outline or have a rigid structure. My process has never worked that way and I feel much better about my work when format and content crystallize from a single core idea I want to get across. Posts are usually completed all at once and generally take less than an hour to write. I'll do proofreading and editing a few times and try to include reference links while posting, so the whole process usually involves about two hours of work for each post which isn't too bad. Finding the time to actually do it is what is tough. Many times I will complete it during my lunch hour at work.

jdodson: Nintendo needs an idea for a new game and they have no ideas. You have full creative control and they need an idea, what game do you lead them to make?

Will Owens: This is the hardest question and one that I wouldn't feel comfortable answering since I'm not a game designer, but if I were forced to design the game it would have to feature motion mechanics that illustrate AND solidify the main idea or plot of the game. I feel like those two elements need to come together to form a game that feels complete in some way.

jdodson: If you could add or change one thing about Cheerful Ghost what would it be?

Will Owens: I like the format of the site and think it is easy to navigate. I guess the only thing I can think of would be if by some miracle you could connect the game auto-update feature to GoG. I have so many games on there I don't even want to think about starting to add them to my profile's list. Otherwise, I think it's simple and efficient.

jdodson: I will see if that possible, I like that suggestion thanks.

jdodson: Do you think its possible you could be able to pull off a Binding of Issac run as well as Gary? I watch his runs and its like watching Magic Johnson play basketball, I can dream but it seems so far away from where I am right now with the game.

Will Owens: I think it's possible for anyone to become an expert at almost any game with enough practice. Games that require hand eye coordination and fast reactions have a higher skill level threshold that may fall outside of some players' abilities, but enough experience can produce a player with expert knowledge. I do think games with more twitch requirements (Quake 3, Unreal Tournament, etc.) do require something extra to be a truly transcendent player, though.

Games with severe leanings toward strategy, thinking, and planning can be mastered by anyone with enough practice. In my opinion, games like Dark Souls, Nethack, and simulations can be conquered by almost any player. It just depends on how much you want to dedicate yourself to the game to learn all the ins and outs so that every situation is covered. That can be a huge hurdle and I understand if people give up and say "it's not worth it". It's probably not if you don't care about it, but, from personal experience, practice will always lead to success and I don't consider myself to be any better than an average player.

My first winning run of Isaac felt pretty close to Gary's videos, but he has far and away more knowledge about the game than me. I just got lucky with items and rooms. Watching his videos is actually what got me through the wall by inspiring me to think differently about the game's mechanics. Just like other roguelikes, once you are aware of all the rules and can bend them to the breaking point, it becomes very easy to win most of the time. Winning every time will always be impossible, though.

jdodson: Any video game music stand out to you above the rest? Anything you have heard from a modern game you loved?

Will Owens: I've always loved music produced in trackers that sound a lot like music in older video games, so I do find myself listening to it from time to time. Even though I was never particularly a fan of the series, I liked many of the old songs from the Mega Man series (especially Dr. Cossack Stage 2 from Mega Man 4). Ninja Gaiden also had some of my favorite songs with its emphasis on drum patterns and bass lines.

My favorite modern game soundtrack has always been Arcanum and I can't see that changing for a long time. It is scored with four piece chamber music that is melancholy and beautiful. It evokes the feeling of the game expertly and stands by itself as some of my favorite music to listen to while relaxing. It is also freely available with the blessing of the composer, Ben Houge. 'Tarant' is my favorite piece from the game.

jdodson: If you could put together your ultimate Humble Bundle what games would you pick? Limit it to five games. You can add three if people pay over the average for good measure.

Will Owens: A very tough question. I would probably put out a must play of older or classic games that epitomize or changed a genre. I would probably include the Zork series, Doom, System Shock (1 or 2), Baldur's Gate 2, and Myst. For extra games I may include good games that have taken those ideas to the extreme like Bioshock, Morrowind, and the original Modern Warfare. Even though there may be better games that exemplify certain genres, these would be my picks… I feel bad about leaving out Quest for Glory, though.

jdodson: I have heard that Avatar 2 will take place in the oceans of Pandora. For that matter Cameron plans to do another 3 Avatar films and has stated that's all he will be working on for the rest of his career. I am not sure this is a question.

Will Owens: I thought Avatar was a bad to average movie that looked gorgeous, much like Crysis as a game.

jdodson: I want to thank Will for taking time to do the interview.

http://www.backlogkiller.com/
http://cheerfulghost.com/Will_Owens/

Recently I watched Dungeon Siege: In the Name of the King on Netflix. I know many would immediately dismiss this film as a terrible Uwe Boll film but in a fit of interest I decided to watch it. First off the film is not great but I reject the notion that its as bad as people make it out to be.

As I was watching the film I was wondering if it was intentionally funny because this film is very campy. Truth be told, I love camp as I consider films like Time Cop and Soldier to be really fun movies. How could the film not be knowingly campy casting Burt Reynolds as the King? When I first saw him on the screen I laughed, it just seemed such an odd choice.

That said, this movie did do a few things right. At times some of the shots in this film look quite good. Seriously, some of the shots are really pretty. The final battle between the protagonist and Ray Liotta was fun. At one point the protagonist and his compatriots are in the forest and meet up with some women that travel entirely by swinging on vines. Its really comical as the vine travel is so entirely unrealistic they might have well just not removed the stunt cranes they were hanging on from the shot.

Jason Statham takes the lead role in this film and provides one of the better performances. I only had a few problems with his character and it really just involved some poor dialog choices and that his name was "Farmer." The reason for that is that you start as a farmer in the original Dungeon Siege game. The film attempts to explain this by stating that Jason Statham calls himself Farmer because that's who he wanted to be.

So how does this film stack up to the Dungeon Siege game? Since I loved the original game so much, it was interesting to watch the movie and stack it up to the game. The movie is loosely related to the video game in a few ways. First Jason Statham starts out as a farmer, like in the game. Second off his village is ransacked by The Krug right away which again, fits with the game. But as the movie gains some steam it starts going off in a different direction. The Krug really only serve to provide the protagonists things to kill but you know, that's really what they were in the game too. In the end I would say for what little story the original Dungeon Siege game did have, the movie keeps tabs on it reasonably well.

If you wore out your VHS Tapes of Street Fighter starring Jean-Claude Van Damme then you should give this movie a shot. It isn't perfect but it has its moments and some of them are actually pretty fun. Oh right, its available to watch entirely on YouTube and is linked above, for the Kingdom of Ebb!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_the_Name_of_the_King:_A_Dungeon_Siege_Tale

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timecop
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soldier_%281998_American_film%29