I just created a new Let's Play video. The idea of this one was that I would pick a direction in my first Minecraft world to explore. Part of the awesomeness of Minecraft is how open and expansive the worlds are. Its impressive.

I wasn't sure how long I would be out exploring, but the video spans two Minecraft days. Since I don't mark my path, I return to my house by getting killed.

Enjoy.

Forever enshrined in history is the story of Action 52 games and The Cheetahmen. Action 52 games made a NES cart that packed in a total of 52 games and one such addition to the mix, Cheetahmen has caught on to achieve NES Retro infamy. In a series of events not entirely clear to me a few thousand copies of a prototype print of Cheetahman 2 were found in an old Action 52 storage area. These were later put on EBay and currently fetch for a high price.

A bit about the original Action 52 cart as reviewed by the amazing Angry Video Game Nerd:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hwmoJkHS-2E

Intro Greg Pabich, the Wizard behind the recent Cheetahmen 2: The Lost Levels Kickstarter. This Kickstarter looks to bring Cheetahmen 2 a modern pressing and revive a lost cult classic. I was able to talk to Greg and ask him about the recent Kickstarter and the history of the Cheetahmen.

jdodson: Hi Greg, thanks for taking the time to talk to me about Cheetahmen. When I was at the Portland Retro Gaming Expo your Cheetahmen Booth caught my eye and I wanted to talk to ask you about the Cheetahmen and its history.

The legacy of Cheetahmen starts with Action 52, a company that made a game cart that included 52 games, Cheetahmen being the 52nd game. I wonder if you could explain for us how you were involved with Action 52 in the beginning.

Greg Pabich: A long story. Let's just say I got lucky. Actually, because of the dark side of active enterprises and the missing millions, it's best not to discuss this in detail.

But, it had a basis in a legitimate interest i had in being the U.S. distributor for an action packed multicart called Action 52 back in late 1990.

jdodson: When you realized you had a few thousand Cheetahmen 2 carts in your possession how long did it take you realize what you had?

Greg Pabich: Not accurate. I had one copy of a prequil game and made several thousand copies to sell (Cheetahmen: The Creation) thankfully, I have only a few hundred left after a very successful launch in 2011.

jdodson: You are accepting a video game legacy award and are on stage with Kanye West. He interrupts you and says: “Yo Greg, i’m really happy for you imma let you finish but Shigeru Miyamoto had one of the greatest games of all time!” What does Greg Pabich do?

Greg Pabich: I say "that shig, he one smart dude" then I take my award and Gangnam Style dance off the stage.

jdodson: Cheetahmen 2: The Lost Levels Kickstarter was a success, congratulations on that. Do you plan on selling Cheetahmen 2: The Lost Levels outside the Kickstarter to people that couldn’t participate at some point after the game ships in December?

Greg Pabich: Yes, I will have a few hundred games to sell because to get the price down to the lowest possible level for the kickstarter backers, I had to commit to the purchase of approximately 2,000 games, boxes labels, comics, etc.
I also had to make the minimum qtys in two other colors for the super duper collector sets (those that come two in the special box)

These games will be sold at a significantly higher price than the kickstarter units.

jdodson: Action 52 was planning on the Cheetahmen being a big hit akin to the Teenage Mutant Ninja turtles and according to legend had an action figure line planned. Did they have any prototypes or any initial first draft concepts created?

Greg Pabich: Yes, I am working with a noted game designer/company to produce a limited edition action figure set to coincide with future releases (2013).

jdodson: As Cheetahmen 2: The Lost Levels is nearing release, the legend of the Cheetahmen lives on. I wonder what made you come back to the Cheetah-verse again?

Greg Pabich: It's the music. I have never not had that tune playin' in my head since I first heard it……

jdodson: I wonder, in your opinion when you felt The Simpson’s jumped the shark? Should they continue the show or let its legacy rest with some of the greatest TV of all time?

Greg Pabich: How could I go on without a new episode each week?

jdodson: Many people seemed to have negative feelings to Cheetahmen 2: The Lost Levels Kickstarter. In fact, Angry Video Game Nerd and his partner pulled support after they were initially involved with the Cheetahmen 2 Kickstarter video. As you navigate the seas of this negative attention what are your thoughts about it and does it affect how you continue on?

Greg Pabich: Correction!!!
The AVGN did not pull support for this project. After some trolls started to make a fuss on his website, Mike, disabled the comments; a move that just inflamed the trolls even more. With all of us involved on a plane to the CGE show in Las Vegas and out of touch, Mike posted a less than artfull video trying to explain the AVGN's position. Realistically, the explanation video could have been better, but as soon as we landed and posted written info (and my own video) about the costs involved, most of those who had legitimate questions were satisfied that the project was legit; surprise- the trolls never shut up!

The AVGN posted his own video explaining, as we have all said throughout the project. "contribute to this asonishinging project if you want to; don't contribute if you don't want to."

Btw, the AVGN, Pat the NES Punk and The Game Chasers were not paid to appear in that Kickstarter video. They did it because they all were previously tied into reviews of Action 52 and the Cheetahmen story and wanted to do their part to keep retro gaming growing.

Although I heard some of the most incredible lies/tales about the project and myself, the backers will all have the last laugh as we ship the rewards in December as promised and the trolls who tried to ruin the fun for thousands of Cheetahmen fans will slink away and hide under their rock.

jdodson: You have dropped some information that you will be releasing a Cheetahmen game on iPhones and iPads. I wonder, will this be a port of some version of the original or a new creation?

Greg Pabich: Going to be spending big bucks to develop a totally new Cheetahmen game. ( also, as an early backer of the ouya Kickstarter project, we are planning a version for this new and exciting platform….)

jdodson: Do you have any plans to release a more modern version of Cheetahmen on consoles or the PC?

Greg Pabich: See above.

Our friends at Suckerfree Games have plans for a Cheetahmen 3 for the XBox 360 and PSP. Going to be spending big bucks to develop a totally new Cheetahmen game. ( also, as an early backer of the ouya Kickstarter project, we are planning a version for this new and exciting platform….)

jdodson: I told my younger sister(she is 16) I was giving you an interview and she wants to know what your favorite Pizza place is?

Greg Pabich: Like everyone, it is a small place around the corner…. It's called "Joes".
Hold the anchovies.

jdodson: Cheetahmen is panned as a very difficult game due to its gameplay and various bugs. What is your personal best going through both games?

Greg Pabich: I have never played it. One does not have to play it, one has to live it………

jdodson: As you are fixing the Cheetahmen 2 for the Lost Levels are you correcting the jump bug that allows you to jump over entire levels?

Greg Pabich: We did not change a thing that gives it its unique character.
Only made all levels play through and made it affordable( because of the price, even the people that own an original are afraid to put it in a console to actually play it)

jdodson: Any plans to branch out into other avenues of gaming? Have you considered releasing other games or are you focused only on the Cheetahmen and its legacy?

Greg Pabich: There is enough about the history and mystery of the Cheetahmen to keep me busy for a long, long time…………

jdodson: Which of the Cheetahmen do you most identify with? Hercules, Ares or Apollo?

Greg Pabich: I am the best of all three (although some think I am closer to Dr. Morbis)

jdodson: I have an idea I want to leave with you Greg.

SON OF CHEETAHMEN: A BOND REKINDLED! The “bond rekindled” part is negotiable, but the idea is there is a Cheetahkid who is the son of the Cheetahmen. Its ambiguous which is his Dad and should be played for humor value and frankly they might all be his Dad who knows... Point is, he is a Cheetah kid and he kicks... a lot of ass!

Greg Pabich: Like it because it then forces us to come to grips with a fabulously hot Cheetahgirl!!!

jdodson: He will also have an awesome catch phrase like “BY THE ENERGY OF MY ROOTS AS THE SON OF CHEETAHMEN” and “GOOD WILL ALWAYS KEEP PACE AND EVENTUALLY DEFEAT EVIL AT LEVEL 9!”

Greg Pabich: Sounds like you have seen "Galaxy Quest" as many times as I have.

jdodson: Lets see... he is smaller so you won’t have problems having him duck like the original games. Maybe he can have a special ability to call his Cheetah Dad’s for help for a few seconds to clear a difficult game screen or open locked doors to progress.

jdodson: Greg, I really do appreciate you taking the time to answer my questions and wonder if you want to say anything before we wrap things up.

Greg Pabich: I really hate trolls!!!!
CHEETAHMEN FOREVER

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/343248998/cheetahmen-ii-the-lost-levels

I think the new site re design is going well and decided to create the video showcasing a bit about it. The new design isn't a totally new shift, its a evolution and I think is an improvement over the original.

Sound off the in comments with your thoughts. I plan on starting the work to integrate the new design into the site soon so get your feedback in!

The video quality isn't stellar, for a higher res screenshot of the new design clicky click:
http://i.imgur.com/SdUBC.jpg

I have a lot of game demo's I need to ry. I dusted off the recent XCOM demo I had in my queue recently and it was a surprising amount of fun.

Full confession as I haven't played any of the original XCOM games. So I don't have much in my mind in terms of if the game follows the originals legacy or anything. If you played the original and then this recent version shout out in the comments or another post, I am interested how that turned out for you.

XCOM is a turn based squad game. Basically its similar to something like Final Fantasy Tactics or the like where you take turns against the computer to overwhelm them. But don't let that absolutely bad description fool you, the game is pretty intense. The demo comes with a few missions and some compelling story to give you a good taste of what the game has in store. I enjoyed the intro missions and they really teach you how to play the game and then kick you into the action.

My only gripe about the game was really a demo limitation in that I couldn't save any progress. I didn't quite finish the demo in an hour or so but it doesn't allow you to save. That means when you come back to it you have to start at the beginning. I imagine this isn't a problem in the full meal deal.

One interesting feature I noticed as I was reading about the game on Wikipedia is the game comes with an interesting multiplayer mode. You start with an amount of points and can allocate them on certain things as you wish and go head to head with another player. Reminds me of dueling when I think about how that would play out.

In between your missions you have a base you can use to upgrade your units and do other stuff. The part of the demo I played didn't go too deep into that but it was cool to be able to see your upgraded units in your base. Oh right, XCOM brings an interesting feature to the table in that if you have units that survive missions they gain XP and get better. So you can have a badass vetran soldier you use in every battle. Just have to be careful because if they die it is permanent.

That all said install and play the demo as its available on Steam and the consoles(I played it on Steam) and let me know what you thought of it. In a world of mostly shooter games, its nice to get a tactical turn based game with some honest to God fun strategy elements to it.

According to a recent Tweet by iD's John Carmack it looks like the Rage modding tools will be released really soon. Interested in seeing how this breathes some life back into Rage. I was really excited about this game and it would be awesome to see what the community can do with this.

I think one of the best parts of Rage was the split-screen co-op "Legends of the Wasteland." I also really liked the death match car combat as well. To the end of the game it got a bit stale, but overall I rather enjoyed Rage.

https://twitter.com/ID_AA_Carmack/status/260529465636040704

I was gifted a copy of DoTA 2 from vdogmr and I just wanted to say thanks for that. Ill give it a shot and of course, report back my findings :D

Thanks again!

Bethesda just announced a new expansion for Skyrim called "Dragonborn." As always it will be released on XBox 360 first for a mere 1600 Microsoft points($20).

The trailer boasts Dragon mounts and a new quest line for Skyrim where you find out your not the only Dragonborn in Skyrim. From the video I couldn't tell if this new Dragonborn is evil or not? I guess he/she must be because they wear some pretty scary armor. That said, it could be like the Arnold Schwarzenegger & Danny Devito film Twins. Plenty of "Ill be back" references and your Dragonborn twin yelling loudly.

That or something about evil resurrected and a bunch of stuff hanging in the balance or whatever.

Not to say it won't be awesome though. :D

Twins Trailer(YouTube has everything!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6EXZF5rcli8

Borderlands 2 is quite a lot of fun. As I continue on with it I keep running into quests and events that make me smile. The loot I am collecting is pretty bad-ass too. Compared to other loot based games like Diablo 3, Borderlands has it beat in my view. I never feel like any weapon I collected in Diablo 3 held any advantage over another save attack power going through it the first time. I have nabbed a few items now in Borderlands 2 that are not just overpowered awesomeness, but have unique abilities that actually can change how you play the game.

For instance, I got a shield that when depleted, explodes a few times. When the shield depletes and the explosions start I jump further into the fray. This can be used to totally level a room and is quite a bit of fun to boot. Sometimes it doesn't work, but death isn't a huge deal in Borderlands. Paired with the Gunzerkers healing when you pop into Gunzerk mode, this shield ability is pretty powerful. I held it for quite along time until just recently I picked up a shield that has a chance to absorb bullets and return them to my inventory. All this awesome stuff and I am only level 15.

Came across two quests I thought were really awesome I wanted to share. "Splinter Group" is a quest where you head off to kill mutants. You have to start off by getting a pizza from Mad Moxi's to deliver. The mission starts out with you killing mutant rat men and finally end off taking down 4 dude talking mutants with ninja weapons. The gun you get for completing this mission looks an aweful lot like the Ninja Turtle van as well. As you start the mission there is a QR code on the Pizza Box and after a ton of screwing around got it to translate on my phone to:

"Wise man say, forgiveness is divine but never pay full price for late pizza. -Captain Picard"

Another such themed mission was a serious nod to Top Gun and it was fun to notice the person that gave me the quest was called "Loggins."

http://borderlands.wikia.com/wiki/Splinter_Group

In keeping with the spirit of the very infrequent "State of the Ghost" posts I add yet another to the mix. Going forward I plan on doing about 4 a year talking about the nuts and bolts of what's going on and what we have brewing on the site.

Overall I am really happy with how far Cheerful Ghost has come since I launched the site this year in January. Ill paint a larger picture at the year end with how far we have come, but needless to say I am really proud of Cheerful Ghost as it sits today. Since the site is still so young if you have any suggestions or recommendations forward I would love to hear them.

Last month I added a lot of stuff to Cheerful Ghost to clear out some long needed features to make it easy to start up some new awesome stuff we will launch very soon. Before I get into the upcoming features currently in the works, lets discuss what I rolled out last month:

1. Posts now have titles. Its funny because people have been asking for this since the site first launched. I thought it was nothing important so I kept dismissing it as something we needed. Over time I realized that being the ONLY person that felt we didn't need post titles was a bad idea, so I gave you what you wanted. I sort of did it thinking no one would use it but... since its launch its has been used in 100% of all new posts proving without a doubt I can be wrong about what features we actually need :D After using the post titles myself, I can say they are an awesome addition and I am glad people kept pushing on that one. I think this proves that if enough people want something and are vocal about it, it will be added. Post titles now work with our Atom Feed, Emails & Google Searches and when you share a post to Facebook and Google+ the title is incorporated in the content.
   


2. If you come to the site on a popular Holiday you will get a trophy. So far I have added Trophies for All Hallows Eve, Turkey Day & Leprechaun Day. As more holidays approach, I will add more. If you have a holiday you think should be memorialised in trophy form, let me know. Yes, I will add a trophy for Star Wars Day. :D


3. If people haven't come to the site in a few weeks we send out a email letting them know the most popular conversations that happened since they were away. I send this out every two weeks as to not be annoying. We now randomize between 5 or 6 different subjects for the email. I don't want to give the impression the content of the email is always the same because the subject line was. Now the subject will be different enough to hopefully let the user know the content of the email is new and interesting.


4. We were having a problem with certain people posting content a few users and myself didn't think was awesome. I implemented a system to "bury" a post. Basically it means that a buried post won't be visible to anyone on the main or corresponding game page. The post will be visible to the originating user and on the users personal area. 99% of posts are fine, occasionally some are not and this is just a way to ensure stuff on the main page is awesome for everyone.


5. Tungsten, Panickedthumb & WhiteboySlim are site moderators. Basically this allows them the ability to bury posts and add and edit games in the Cheerful Ghost database. Wherein its not new they are moderators, they can now bury posts along with me.


6. I experimented with adding video embed support for Twitch.tv. Basically I can't get a good method to ALWAYS display the video feed to browsers on your phone, tablet and desktop. What I ended up doing is displaying a Twitch graphic pointing the user to the twitch content on the site. I don't love this solution, but I like it more than displaying a broken box to people on iPhones and Androids. Eventually Twitch will provide an embed that will work on all clients and when they do I will be the first to incorporate it.
   


7. I had to migrate the database of the provider we host the site with. The free database plan we were on was no longer valid because of all the data the site stores. I guess tracking 26k games all the posts and comments take up more space than they felt should be under the free plan. :D
   
8. I also fixed a few bugs and made some improvements to the overall site look and feel as well as a bunch of other stuff I don't remember off hand.

I cleared this list off because I wanted to put us feature wise in a good place for something I have wanted to do since the site launched in January.

Cheerful Ghost is getting a visual upgrade. First off I want to let you know that the site will not lose any functionality you love. I am merely taking the design we currently have and making it better. Since I am the lone developer you have been stuck with the best visual design that I could muster. For not being a designer I am pretty happy with how it turned out but I want the site to be "moar awesomerz" in its visuals.

Yesterday I started the process of working with the new design made with the amazing Twitter Bootstrap Framework(http://twitter.github.com/bootstrap/) and after showing it to a friend I am really happy with the direction. What I am doing is recreating the main page in HTML and making sure it works well on phones, tablets and desktops. When I complete the initial design and mockup I will post a "Lets Play: Cheerful Ghost Design Edition" to show you what I have cooked up.

After the design is tweaked and I feel it is awesome enough, ill spend a week or whatever cutting up the site to operate with the new design. After the bugs are all ironed out ill push it out for everyone to enjoy.

The reason I want to give the site a visual lift is because I want the visuals of Cheerful Ghost to be as awesome as the community and the content we create together. For many months I have considered what to do about this and think I am on a pretty good path, but I look forward to your input here when I post the visual "Lets Play" video showcasing the new goods.

Thanks for reading and if you have any thoughts about the above, please let me know.

I am a big Totally Rad Show fan. Love me some Jeff, Dan and Alex. I enjoy what they have to say about Video Games, Comic Books and Movies.

On such recent review for Dishonored really interested me in checking it out. I have more games than I know what to do with now, but when a Bethesda deal comes around with Dishonored included I will pick it up.

Did you nab this game? What are you thoughts on it?

Haven't played a stealth shooter yet, so this would be my first. Oh and when I pick this up, it WILL be on PC.