1 year ago today I had a party at my house celebrating the launch of a new game site called Cheerful Ghost. The initial concept was born out of a few problems I had with gaming. I had a ton of games but no way to share that list with anyone. I also wanted to talk to awesome people about the games I loved but I couldn't find a place anywhere that made sense to do that. I also realized as I was online and read things about other games no place tied what everyone said about a game together. For instance, if I went to a game site it wasn't easy to view all the posts and information for a single game like Super Mario Brothers or Starcraft. I also didn't like gaming sites I saw as no normal person seemed to matter much. Paid journalists were front and center as the focus of many sites and as such normal people were relegated to the comments section which are often lame areas to talk about games.

So starting with some simple ideas I started out to solve these problems I had. I started with a pen and paper and started drawing the site I wanted to use. I sketched out my ideas over a few weeks and showed it to my friends. After getting a good response to my drawings I spent mostly every second of my spare time over the next 4 months building the initial launch of Cheerful Ghost. I started with a few design goals but one was that the site HAD to work the same on phones, tablets and desktops. I hate using sites that suck on phones and tablets. I opened up the site for 2 week beta period and after that on January 28th I formally launched http://cheerfulghost.com.

Thinking back on what I launched with I am kind of embarrassed as the site you see now is much much better. Some say that if you don't launch a product a bit embarrassed you are launching too late. If you can imagine one thing that sucked at launch was that you couldn't see the current post stream! You had to click around twice to see peoples latest posts. After fixing that mistake I also added some new features like auto-magic adding of PSN & Steam games, a ton more post embeds, post titles, an entire visual site redesign and more.

As I look forward to the next year I have a bunch of stuff I want to do but my ultimate goal is to grow the Cheerful Ghost community. I want to thank everyone for being part of one of the most awesome parts of my life. Deciding to build Cheerful Ghost was a good idea and spending the time to make it what it is now has been totally worth it!

As I continue the series of Cheerful Ghost Community Interviews the next person up is @WhiteboySlim. I really dug this interview as we both have a similar history of games we grew up playing. I want to thank @WhiteboySlim for doing the interview!

jdodson: Are you interested in any of the next gen consoles? Wii U, PS4, NextBox or the Steambox?

WhiteboySlim: I’m interested to see what they all will offer to be honest. I haven’t had any hands-on time with the Wii U, but I would like to see it in action to see if it’s any good. I’m also very interested in the Steambox. Valve has done some really cool stuff with Steam, and I can’t wait to see what they will bring to consoles. Plus I have a lot of games on Steam that I would love to play on the TV. As far as Sony goes, I’ve owned every generation of playstation so far and even have a PSP, so I’ll be interested to see what the PS4 looks like.

jdodson: Is there any console you are interested a bit over the others?

WhiteboySlim: Definitely the Steambox because it’s new. I hope Valve shakes up the console gaming scene for the better. :)

jdodson: Why don’t we have flying cars now? What's holding back this back?

WhiteboySlim: Maybe I think this because I’m from southern California, but I think flying cars would be a bad idea. People crash into each other all the time but at least they’re (mostly) restricted to the roads. Just think how bad it’ll be if people were crashing into buildings.

jdodson: WhiteboySlim has a list of the best 5 video games of all time. Please share your list with the Ultraverse Interpipes 4000(p.s. thats whats Hipsters call The Internet).

WhiteboySlim: Oh wow, I don’t know if I could narrow it down to that small of a list. I definitely have a soft spot for the SNES era RPG’s, so games like Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger, FF3/FF6, and Earthbound are very high on my list. I also usually play through FF7 once every year or two. I’ve been playing a lot of Borderlands 2 and I love it. Several Zelda games could go in this list. The first Disgaea is awesome. I’ve sunk hundreds of hours into FF Tactics both on PSone and the PSP remake. I’m already well above 5 games, so I’ll just stop there.

jdodson: I am curious what Zelda titles you would put on the list?

WhiteboySlim: The original, for being the one game probably most responsible for turning me into a lifelong gamer. A Link to the Past for general awesomeness. Links Awakening for the story and a bittersweet ending that actually evoked a genuine emotional response from me. Personally, I place Majora’s Mask slightly ahead of Ocarina of Time. MM tried some new things that had never been done in a Zelda game before and I think it worked really well.

jdodson: Link’s Awakening was like that for me as well. Its such a simple game, yet very powerful. As games come and go this one has stuck with me above the others, I think for its simplicity and the overall outcome of your actions.

WhiteboySlim: Very few games leave me haunted by the choices I made. In order to win the game and escape the island you have to wake the Wind Fish, but doing so means all the inhabitants disappear. Did they die? Were they ever real to begin with? It’s deep, man.

jdodson: What’s your favorite Mario suit or power?

WhiteboySlim: The Kuribo’s shoe from Mario 3! It only showed up in one stage, but it was awesome. :)

jdodson: Such a strange thing to only put something in on level. I wonder if it was someones pet project or what? Did some searching, found a good description of it but no history.
http://www.mariowiki.com/Goomba's_Shoe

jdodson: The Final Fantasy series is pretty long running with the original launching back in 87. Any game in the series stand out to you above the rest?

WhiteboySlim: FF3/6 and FF7 are my favorites in the series, with FF2/4 right behind them. FF9 is underrated in my opinion and another of my favorites. After 9 I think the series as a whole went downhill pretty quick. FF12 was pretty good despite some faults, but still doesn’t really hold a candle to the better games in the series. It’s not part of the “main” Final Fantasy series, but FF Tactics is one of my favorite games of all time.

jdodson: Recently I finished watching “The Last Starfighter.” I loved the film from when I was a wee lad and I think it stands up pretty well now. FINISH THIS!

WhiteboySlim: Oh man, I haven’t seen this movie since I was a little kid. I don’t even remember much about it. Is it on Netflix? I might have to look this up.

jdodson: Whom do you tackle first? Snake Man, Needle Man, Spark Man, Hard Man, Top Man, Gemini Man or Shadow Man?

WhiteboySlim: It’s funny you should ask this. After many years of not playing any Mega Man games I tried to pick up Mega Man 3 again. I forgot how brutally difficult these games were! To answer your original question, for whatever reason I always went after Magnet Man first.

jdodson: What game are you playing right now? Please respond with a Haiku.

WhiteboySlim: F.T.L. space battles! / Borderlands 2 gunzerking! / Minecraft, must build more!

jdodson: What about F.T.L. do you love? It has garnered quite a bit of attention lately, what keeps you coming back to it?

WhiteboySlim: The game is a really great blend of RPG, strategy, and simulation elements all wrapped up in a challenging game that is very easy to pick up and play for short periods of time. FTL and Minecraft are my go-to games when I only have a short period of time to play. Currently I’m trying to unlock the various different spaceships in FTL.

jdodson: I don’t know if there is anything as seemingly overpowered as the Green Gecko Gem. Except Bowser totally ignoring it. I don’t know, what did you think of this Mario comic and its ending? To this date this is the most memorable comic book story I have ever read.
http://www.mariowiki.com/Piranha-Round_Sue

WhiteboySlim: Well you see, early in the comic they say that “only the strongest enemies” can break through the green gecko gem’s protection. I’m assuming that’s why Bowser had no trouble grabbing Piranha-Round Sue but the lesser enemies couldn’t touch Mario when he had it. :) I love this comic too, so much in fact that I have read it to my kids as a bedtime story.

jdodson: You have been with the site since the very beginning. I wonder how you look at how the site has progressed over the last year? If you could do one thing with the site, what would that be?

WhiteboySlim: I think it’s awesome! The site is great, and I’ve enjoyed all the posts by all the users. I especially liked the haiku contest you had awhile back. As for new features, I’d like to see tools to help plan out game nights and CG events.

jdodson: As luck would have it, after I complete the thing I am working on now with the site, the next thing will be what you describe! Yay!

WhiteboySlim: Awesome! MOAR gaming nights!

jdodson: What do you think about the modern incarnations of the Final Fantasy series?

WhiteboySlim: Based on my previous responses, you probably won’t be surprised when I say I’ve been pretty disappointed with the modern FF games. If anything, the last couple installments in the FF series are prime examples that great graphics don’t make a game. They’re beautiful, but they’re just not that much fun. I think a big part of the reason I don’t like the newer FF games is that the characters are bland at best and straight out annoying at worst. (This comic comes to mind: http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2009/8/26 ) Even worse, the villains are also pretty boring. I will give Square Enix credit for not being afraid to experiment with their gameplay though. They are constantly trying new and different things, although usually with mixed results. Still, I keep hoping with each new Square game that they’ll manage to recapture some of the fun of the older games. :)

WhiteboySlim: On a related note, something I miss from older RPG’s is the ability to rename the characters. It’s a minor thing, but I always liked renaming the characters after people I know. To me, it made the adventure feel more personal.

Seems like Valve is giving out a ton of DoTA 2 invites and I have 5 to give away for anyone that wants them. Just ask in the comments and I will hook you up!

Interesting new web series from IGN called Geek Love. The featured episode above covers Brittany as she takes part in "Sci-Fi Speed Dating" a new Comic Con staple. The show is interesting because it reminds me of some reality TV shows and doesn't wallow in being cynical or douchey.

The aforementioned episode features Brittany a well adjusted teacher trying to find love with someone who shares a similar love for gaming, movies and comic books.

I kind of am not entirely certain of the format or concept, but appreciate it being genuine. Seriously wondering your thoughts about Geek Love so please sound off in the comments!

ep 1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sQ5iwGApwLM
ep 2: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_G-RdjJP-4o
ep 4: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnXvsxNhoRw

Ripstone recently released Gun Commando a retro flavored shooter for the Playstation Mobile Platform. Video featured above is seriously channeling some awesome Doom energy!

Blizzard recently dropped a really interesting preview of whats coming in Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm. The post focuses a bit on multiplayer, the story and Zerg additions.

http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/game/heart-of-the-swarm-preview/

GoG recently released Neverwinter Nights 2 the complete pack. Obsidians take on this BioWare property currently has a 4.5 out 5 star rating on GoG.

http://www.gog.com/gamecard/neverwinter_nights_2_complete

You can now download some really interesting ringtones for your phone right now off the Borderlands 2 site. The ringtones featuring the voices of Claptrap, Mr. Torgue, Sir Hammerlock & Tiny Tina.

http://www.borderlands2.com/us/#downloads

The YouTuber @MrDanINSANE released a interesting Binding of Isaac fanimation. I don't see many of these and felt it was worth sharing.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pavAh_cvTYQ

"Download the entire collection of Magical Game Time comics in one massive 139 page PDF for whatever you’re willing to pay! This PDF also includes unfinished comics, sketches, character drawings and pretty much every video game related comic that I’ve done to date."

I really appreciate the art of Zac Gorman because it really captures how I felt as a kid playing video games. His un-cynical take on that era of my life is really quite beautiful at times and is fairly unique in gaming culture.

Recently he released Magical Game Time Vol. 1 which is a collection of all the art on his site. The PDF starts at $1 so there is little reason not to pick it up!

http://magicalgametime.com/post/41366415973/magical-game-time-vol-1

Wanted to share the next rad video from Carbot Animations. This one is fun because I just played a few matches and totally owned the Air with the Corruptor. Takes a bit to get out but once you have a few its GG for most other air units.

http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/game/unit/corruptor

Make sure you checkout my recent interview with Carbot Animations Jon Burton:

http://cheerfulghost.com/jdodson/posts/905

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.