I'm an Engineer and built the video game community Cheerful Ghost and text based mini-MMO Tale of the White Wyvern.
2744 Posts
I wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving! As you all tuck into eating more turkey than you should I was wondering what we will all be playing and watching this weekend? Linked above is my ritual MST3K Turkey Day marathon and they are starting out with the Swedish classic “The Day The Earth Froze!” I’ve been playing a lot of The Adventures of Link and that’s been really fun to play(check my review on it later)!
Wanted to share this NES Review by YouTuber Killian Experience before we all enter the Thanksgiving holiday. I laughed out loud so many times watching this review because of how inventive the jokes and commentary is. If you like Red Letter Media Plinkett Reviews or other deconstructive reviews you need to watch this!
And if playing the first hour of Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp is telling, this entry into the Animal Crossing franchise won't let you down! As I was running around in-game with my newly created Animal Crossing buddy I realized that I wasn't too deserted by the games amazingly plush graphics or storytelling. I've seen some people on Twitter make themselves cry tears of joy at the launch of this game but as a pretty reasonable Nintendo fan who hasn't said goodbye to my love for Nintendo because I haven't felt like they've run around or hurt me. I've really known Nintendo for a long time and I think my hearts aching for more Nintendo franchises on mobile. But I think everyone knows on the inside what's going on and we know that Nintendo likes to make games and we we're gonna play them. And if you asked me how I was feeling about Nintendo getting into mobile I would say that I hope you're not too blind to see a Nintendo that's going to do ever more here. And seriously because if Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp is an indicator Nintendo is never gonna give mobile up.
PixelJunk Monsters is one of the original tower defense games that was caught in the early Indie craze. It's been ported to a ton of systems after it's initial PS3 launch and has been in a handful of Indie Bundles as well as getting a Wii U port. Recently it's creators, Q-Games have dropped a Kickstarter for an entirely new version of PixelJunk Monsters that's free to play on mobile called PixelJunk Monsters Duo.
"Fans have been clamoring for the return of PixelJunk Monsters and we've been listening! We want to bring it to them and hopefully to a whole new group of players as well! Allowing anyone to pick up and play Monsters on their phone is one of the best ways to do that.
We've decided to make the project a free-to-play title in order to make it easier to keep new stages, islands, monsters, and other features coming as fast as we can whip them up. But it's going to be a big undertaking--and we need your help!
One of the coolest things we have planned is the introduction of card and deck based gameplay, used to place towers, bombs, special effects, and more! Collect cards to unlock more powerful items and defend the Chibis against tougher and more dangerous monsters."
I don't think i've heard of a Kickstarter to fund a free to play game but if you are a fan of PixelJunk Monsters and want some amazing swag there are a lot of backer rewards for you. Very excited for a new PixelJunk Monsters game and I hope the free to play aspect doesn't get in the way of it being great!
"Fans have been clamoring for the return of PixelJunk Monsters and we've been listening! We want to bring it to them and hopefully to a whole new group of players as well! Allowing anyone to pick up and play Monsters on their phone is one of the best ways to do that.
We've decided to make the project a free-to-play title in order to make it easier to keep new stages, islands, monsters, and other features coming as fast as we can whip them up. But it's going to be a big undertaking--and we need your help!
One of the coolest things we have planned is the introduction of card and deck based gameplay, used to place towers, bombs, special effects, and more! Collect cards to unlock more powerful items and defend the Chibis against tougher and more dangerous monsters."
I don't think i've heard of a Kickstarter to fund a free to play game but if you are a fan of PixelJunk Monsters and want some amazing swag there are a lot of backer rewards for you. Very excited for a new PixelJunk Monsters game and I hope the free to play aspect doesn't get in the way of it being great!
"Net neutrality is the principle that Internet service providers and governments regulating most of the Internet must treat all data on the Internet the same, and not discriminate or charge differently by user, content, website, platform, application, type of attached equipment, or method of communication. For instance, under these principles, internet service providers are unable to intentionally block, slow down or charge money for specific websites and online content."
The Internet is one of the best inventions of humankind and if it didn't exist I wouldn't have a job. It's reach is vast and there is no end to how future humans will use it and have it better their lives. Cheerful Ghost was created because it was rather easy for me to cobble together some code and make something that allows us all to read these words i'm typing. I could do it rather easily because of the open source code of so many I built on and extended and the standards and protocols that govern the Internet. Alongside that foundation is also the fact that just because Cheerful Ghost is a small web community it can still exist in a larger world with huge billion dollar web businesses like Facebook, Google and Apple. The fact that Cheerful Ghost barely makes enough to keep the "server lights on" and Facebook making more money than a small country doesn't matter much because both sites are just as easy for you to access. One part of that is because Net Neutrality has made a system where even small communities like us can exist.
That said under the current FCC Chair Ajit Pai who was appointed by the United States President Donald Trump wants to repeal the rules governing Net Neutrality. Below are his own words on the subject.
"Under my proposal, the federal government will stop micromanaging the internet, Instead, the F.C.C. would simply require internet service providers to be transparent about their practices so that consumers can buy the service plan that’s best for them"
The problem with this rationale is that it gives Telecoms the ability to do things that make it harder for Cheerful Ghost and other small sites with micro budgets to exist needless to say the kind of world where you need to pick an Internet plan "thats best for you" which may as well be codewords for more expensive Internet packages.
I encourage you to delve more deeply into this subject and have cobbled together a couple links below to know more and take action. I don't typically write about US politics here much but this issue is very important to Cheerful Ghost and the current and future voices on the Internet.
https://www.savetheinternet.com/sti-home
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/21/technology/fcc-net-neutrality.html
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/11/today-and-every-day-we-fight-defend-open-internet
https://www.aclu.org/issues/free-speech/dont-dismantle-net-neutrality
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_neutrality
The Internet is one of the best inventions of humankind and if it didn't exist I wouldn't have a job. It's reach is vast and there is no end to how future humans will use it and have it better their lives. Cheerful Ghost was created because it was rather easy for me to cobble together some code and make something that allows us all to read these words i'm typing. I could do it rather easily because of the open source code of so many I built on and extended and the standards and protocols that govern the Internet. Alongside that foundation is also the fact that just because Cheerful Ghost is a small web community it can still exist in a larger world with huge billion dollar web businesses like Facebook, Google and Apple. The fact that Cheerful Ghost barely makes enough to keep the "server lights on" and Facebook making more money than a small country doesn't matter much because both sites are just as easy for you to access. One part of that is because Net Neutrality has made a system where even small communities like us can exist.
That said under the current FCC Chair Ajit Pai who was appointed by the United States President Donald Trump wants to repeal the rules governing Net Neutrality. Below are his own words on the subject.
"Under my proposal, the federal government will stop micromanaging the internet, Instead, the F.C.C. would simply require internet service providers to be transparent about their practices so that consumers can buy the service plan that’s best for them"
The problem with this rationale is that it gives Telecoms the ability to do things that make it harder for Cheerful Ghost and other small sites with micro budgets to exist needless to say the kind of world where you need to pick an Internet plan "thats best for you" which may as well be codewords for more expensive Internet packages.
I encourage you to delve more deeply into this subject and have cobbled together a couple links below to know more and take action. I don't typically write about US politics here much but this issue is very important to Cheerful Ghost and the current and future voices on the Internet.
https://www.savetheinternet.com/sti-home
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/21/technology/fcc-net-neutrality.html
https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2017/11/today-and-every-day-we-fight-defend-open-internet
https://www.aclu.org/issues/free-speech/dont-dismantle-net-neutrality
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Net_neutrality
Neverwinter Nights is a classic PC RPG that came out in 2002 and still has a very active community. One reason for the large community so long after the games release is because BioWare built up an incredible set of game building tools allowing anyone the ability to build campaigns, persistent worlds and basically anything you could think of. Lots of community content still exists and persistent worlds are still played now.
Recently Beamdog announced that they are going to release Neverwinter Nights Enhanced Edition with some new features such as:
* Improved Display: Your portrait, combat bar, inventory, and other UI elements adjust in size based on your chosen resolution including 1080p and 4k.
* Advanced Graphics Options: Pixel shaders and post-processing effects make for crisper, cleaner visuals. Enable contrast, vibrance, and depth of field options as preferred.
* Community Endorsed: Original developers have teamed with key members of the Neverwinter Nights community to curate important fan-requested improvements to support players, storytellers, and modders.
* Backwards Compatibility: Works with save games, modules, and mods from the original Neverwinter Nights. A galaxy of community created content awaits.
Looks like the the game will be optimized for larger monitors and some enhancements recommended by the community. Curious to see if more comes but right now it seems like a pretty nice set of light enhancements to a classic game.
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2017/11/20/beamdog-announces-neverwinter-nights-enhanced-edition-for-pc.aspx
Recently Beamdog announced that they are going to release Neverwinter Nights Enhanced Edition with some new features such as:
* Improved Display: Your portrait, combat bar, inventory, and other UI elements adjust in size based on your chosen resolution including 1080p and 4k.
* Advanced Graphics Options: Pixel shaders and post-processing effects make for crisper, cleaner visuals. Enable contrast, vibrance, and depth of field options as preferred.
* Community Endorsed: Original developers have teamed with key members of the Neverwinter Nights community to curate important fan-requested improvements to support players, storytellers, and modders.
* Backwards Compatibility: Works with save games, modules, and mods from the original Neverwinter Nights. A galaxy of community created content awaits.
Looks like the the game will be optimized for larger monitors and some enhancements recommended by the community. Curious to see if more comes but right now it seems like a pretty nice set of light enhancements to a classic game.
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2017/11/20/beamdog-announces-neverwinter-nights-enhanced-edition-for-pc.aspx
Plants VS Zombies is one of the best games to come out of 2009. For me it really kicked the tower defense genre back into gear and solidified PopCap as a solid studio that made incredible games. That is until EA bought them and then things changed... but for a time PopCap made some of the best casual computer games well before the mobile craze hit.
If you wanted to experience Plants VS Zombies for the first time or maybe come back at it again you can get the Game of the Year Edition free on EA Origin. When PvZ originally hit I played the demo and immediately went out to buy it from the store, you know back when people did that but now it's even easier and it's totally free.
https://www.origin.com/usa/en-us/store/free-games/on-the-house
If you wanted to experience Plants VS Zombies for the first time or maybe come back at it again you can get the Game of the Year Edition free on EA Origin. When PvZ originally hit I played the demo and immediately went out to buy it from the store, you know back when people did that but now it's even easier and it's totally free.
https://www.origin.com/usa/en-us/store/free-games/on-the-house
In LGR's latest review he takes a look at the PC benchmark that some consider a game Crysis at it's 10 year anniversary. Crysis doesn't feel 10 years old but apparently Wikipedia seems to think it is so it's a good time to take a look back at how good of a game it was and if it holds up. I never could actually play Crysis as I never had the kind of PC back then that could run it. It seems like a pretty cool game and I didn't know that it was the spiritual successor to the first Far Cry. If you want to play Crysis now LGR notes that you should pick it up on GOG DRM free as the Steam version STILL uses SecureROM and locks you out after 5 installs. That seems really crazy to lock someone out of playing a game after 5 installs but apparently it's still a thing and still attached to the Steam version and it's getting some negative reviews because of it.
For the next 4 days the Humble Care Package Bundle is running a special 100% charity bundle where the proceeds go to the Red Cross, Doctors Without Borders, GlobalGiving, Direct Relief and Save the Children. For a fixed $30 amount that goes to those charities you get... need to flex my fingers a bit because there are quite a few games here in Starbound, Darkest Dungeon, Minecraft: Story Mode, Stardew Valley, Move or Die, Duck Game, Her Story, She Remembered Caterpillars, Stronghold Legends: Steam Edition, DreadOut, Pony Island, Mighty No. 9, The Incredible Adventures of Van Helsing, Arma: Gold Edition, Grey Goo, Sorcerer King: Rivals, Shadowrun Returns, Kholat, Primal Carnage: Extinction, Lakeview Cabin Collection, The Park, Magicka, Machinarium Collector's Edition, Jump Stars, Fearless Fantasy, No Time To Explain Remastered & Psychonauts.
Darkest Dungeon & Move or Die seem to have limited Steam Key availability so head over to get it soon if you want to pick up those games in this bundle and let me know if you plan on picking this up.
https://www.humblebundle.com/care-package
"Hurricanes in the Caribbean and in Texas. Wildfires in California. Earthquakes in Mexico. In the wake of multiple large-scale natural disasters and the increasing effects of climate change, we humbly recognize our responsibility to the global community. Alongside developers and creators, we are bundling a care package of much-needed funds for emergency relief.
This special one-week bundle features over $385 in amazing games for just $30. 100% of your payments will be split equally between Direct Relief, the American Red Cross, GlobalGiving, Save the Children, and Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Humble Bundle will proudly match the first $300,000 raised."
Darkest Dungeon & Move or Die seem to have limited Steam Key availability so head over to get it soon if you want to pick up those games in this bundle and let me know if you plan on picking this up.
https://www.humblebundle.com/care-package
"Hurricanes in the Caribbean and in Texas. Wildfires in California. Earthquakes in Mexico. In the wake of multiple large-scale natural disasters and the increasing effects of climate change, we humbly recognize our responsibility to the global community. Alongside developers and creators, we are bundling a care package of much-needed funds for emergency relief.
This special one-week bundle features over $385 in amazing games for just $30. 100% of your payments will be split equally between Direct Relief, the American Red Cross, GlobalGiving, Save the Children, and Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF). Humble Bundle will proudly match the first $300,000 raised."
After completing New Super Mario Bros. on the DS I've been wanting to try the next installment on the Wii aptly titled New Super Mario Bros. Wii. At this years Portland Retro Gamine Expo I picked New Super Mario Bros. Wii for $13 along with a raft of other old games and just recently put it in my Wii and have been playing it for the last week. Like Mario Kart, New Super Mario Bros. Wii is an improvement over it's former DS predecessor. It contains the same basic gameplay and the Wii version stacks on the DS version with better graphics, extra mechanics and the inclusion of 4 player split-screen co-op. One thing I noticed right away is that New Super Mario Bros. Wii is more difficult than the DS version, which is a welcome improvement in that's it doesn't feel too punishing.
To add more replayability to the levels occasionally Bowsers minions will capture a Mushroom Kingdom Toad and you can head back to a level you completed to save it. If you do this you can get a shot at a Toad House giving you a crack and collecting items that you can use in the overworld to help you start out better in certain levels. This overworld item mechanic first showed up in Super Mario Brothers 3 and it feels really great to have it come back here. This really makes New Super Mario Bros. Wii feel like a proper sequel to the old NES Mario games and it seems like that's what this series is trying to do. Mario Galaxy and now Mario Odyssey seem like sequels to Mario 64 while the New Super Mario Bros. franchise is keeping the old 2D Mario platforming alive. I hope New Super Mario Bros. continues on to the Switch as it has had a few installments on each system including the Wii U and 3DS that I heard were really good that I plan on picking up at some point.
So far i've completed World 1 and if you've played a World 1 in a Mario game it's pretty similar to that. In fact New Super Mario Bros. Wii sticks to a very similar level format to the DS version in that the first and second worlds are themed similarly. From there the themes verge but if you are expecting a radical departure from past games like Mario 3 or NSMB DS you will be disappointed. There is plenty of level creativity on display here and many times in World 1 I was in awe at what Nintendo was able to accomplish with it's level design. But the bread and butter of a good Mario game is gameplay and enough challenge to be interesting and New Super Mario Bros. Wii has that in spades.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii so far, is a great platformer and if you have a Wii kicking around and want to play a good Mario game you can get this used at any game store or Amazon.
To add more replayability to the levels occasionally Bowsers minions will capture a Mushroom Kingdom Toad and you can head back to a level you completed to save it. If you do this you can get a shot at a Toad House giving you a crack and collecting items that you can use in the overworld to help you start out better in certain levels. This overworld item mechanic first showed up in Super Mario Brothers 3 and it feels really great to have it come back here. This really makes New Super Mario Bros. Wii feel like a proper sequel to the old NES Mario games and it seems like that's what this series is trying to do. Mario Galaxy and now Mario Odyssey seem like sequels to Mario 64 while the New Super Mario Bros. franchise is keeping the old 2D Mario platforming alive. I hope New Super Mario Bros. continues on to the Switch as it has had a few installments on each system including the Wii U and 3DS that I heard were really good that I plan on picking up at some point.
So far i've completed World 1 and if you've played a World 1 in a Mario game it's pretty similar to that. In fact New Super Mario Bros. Wii sticks to a very similar level format to the DS version in that the first and second worlds are themed similarly. From there the themes verge but if you are expecting a radical departure from past games like Mario 3 or NSMB DS you will be disappointed. There is plenty of level creativity on display here and many times in World 1 I was in awe at what Nintendo was able to accomplish with it's level design. But the bread and butter of a good Mario game is gameplay and enough challenge to be interesting and New Super Mario Bros. Wii has that in spades.
New Super Mario Bros. Wii so far, is a great platformer and if you have a Wii kicking around and want to play a good Mario game you can get this used at any game store or Amazon.
I'm hoping to get in some time with the FFXV multiplayer expansion. You know, once I wake up from my turkey induced coma.
I downloaded and played the free Wolf2 demo. I also played some Minecraft, and my daily TES:Legends and Faeria. Later, I got really into Faeria, so I spent a few hours playing it. Words With Friends is a daily thing for me, too.
A little Ruiner, some Prey, and the ever-present Rocket League.
Mainly Animal Crossing on the iPhone. Some Mario + Rabbids.
I got Mario Maker on 3DS and that’s been really neat. My levels aren’t great and follow no pattern but it’s fun just to see what you can do.
Mostly idlers. A bit of SC2 co-op when friends are online. Thanksgiving MST3K is the best idea, though.
It was a good lineup. Play the news that season 12 is coming to Netflix was awesome to hear!
Haven't watched much of the new seasons yet. I should get on that.
> Haven't watched much of the new seasons yet. I should get on that.
It's a really fun season and does justice by the legendary run of the original show while moving it forward for a new audience.
Super Mario Odyssey for me this weekend. Absolutely stellar so far. I don't think it hits the magic of Galaxy 1 or 2, but that was basically peak Mario. Each game does something unique with how powerups work, and this time they work by taking over the creature you throw your sentient hat companion on. Damn these premises are weird.
The Switch is a nice console too. Everything has that Nintendo production value, much like Apple, where it just feels like everything was manufactured perfectly. And then also just like Apple there are one or two software quirks that have you scratching your head.
Poor Wolfenstein 2 keeps getting backburnered. And Horizon Zero Dawn is shivering in a corner wondering where I've gone.
Mario Galaxy was really a special game. Might be, story wise, one of Nintendo’s best.
Travis, if you are looking for a switch friend, my code is: SW-3340-4301-0747
I legitimately didn't know there was a place for Switch friends :D
I'll get on that!
Mine is SW-2203-2113-5548 for any other Switchers