2D sidescrolling MOBA Awesomenauts has had a very long life and looks like it's getting a shot in the arm as it's going entirely free to play this coming May 24th! If you have the base game and all expansions you will get the new "unlock all nauts" pack which gives you access to all current and future Awesomenauts. They are also adding a new currency Awesomepoints you get by gaining experience you can use to unlock new Nauts, customized droppods or portraits.

Nearly every MOBA is free to play and this update makes sense with the kind of game Awesomenauts is and I hope the community is open to the change.

https://www.awesomenauts.com/upcoming-content/

In 2013 we interviewed Robin Meijer from Ronimo games about Awesomenats and I pictued him certain Awesomenauts matchups with other fictional characters that is well worth a read.

http://cheerfulghost.com/jdodson/posts/1548/int-w-robin-meijer-of-ronimo-games-awesomenauts

The huge revamp to Heroes of the Storm is out and Blizzard is handing out 20 free heroes to everyone for logging in and selecting the pack you want. I went with the brawlers pack as I've enjoyed playing with Stitches and have wanted to try Muradin Bronzebeard for a bit now. Heroes of the Storm 2.0 added loot chests that unlock for you when you level your character so when you log in if you have any levels unlocked you will get some loot chests! Ultimately the Heroes 2.0 update makes unlocking skins, taunts and mounts a bit more accessible to free to play players and adopts an Overwatch and Hearthstone like loot system.

Heroes of the Storm is a free to play Blizzard brawler that is out now on PC and Mac and if you want to unlock the hero pack you should head over and check it out!

http://us.battle.net/heroes/en/heroes20/megabundles/

If you are curious to learn more about what Heroes of the Storm is Blizzard has a nice page dedicated to teaching the games core concepts you might be interested in.

http://us.battle.net/heroes/en/blog/20720242

As part of the upcoming StarCraft remastered release Blizzard dropped an updated version of Classic StarCraft with revamped Battle.net classic support, LAN play and a modern build that works on newer systems. Recently I downloaded StarCraft on my PC and Mac and tried it out and put simply, Blizzard did an amazing job porting this classic game to modern systems.

If you are looking for a version of StarCraft with updated visuals you might want to wait for StarCraft Remastered that is coming this summer. If you are looking for a modern build of the classic game with a streamlined interface that works incredibly well on modern systems for free you should check this out. Many of the old problems with classic StarCraft have been fixed, like needing to tunnel ports to enable classic Battle.net play and Blizzard also removed some strange networking options for multiplayer no one uses (like serial connections). The game is presented in 4x3 and the games original low res art(by modern standards) is kept but doesn't seem to mess up your desktop by putting your computer in 640x480 resolution. It's a nice touch and makes the whole new game build experience really solid and fresh. Blizzard also wrapped the whole new StarCraft install process in a fancy new theme that looks a lot like their modern Battle.net client. It's sad that StarCraft doesn't show up in the modern Battle.net client but one reason why this might not happen is that classic Battle.net games aren't compatible with newer Battle.net and don't have features like cross game chat and the like. That or Blizzard is saving a spot in the new Battle.net client for StarCraft remastered. Not sure which but at some point it might be nice to get all classic Blizzard games in the modern client.

The classic StarCraft game we all love is present and both StarCraft and Brood War campaigns are there for you to play... for free. I really like that Blizzard is giving out the original StarCraft for free and if you want the updated Remastered edition you can get that and both versions will be compatible with each other in terms of multiplayer. I appreciate companies giving these classic games a fresh coat of paint and when they release them for free it's like an early Christmas present.

You can download StarCraft on Windows using the link below:

https://www.battle.net/download/getInstallerForGame?os=win&locale=enUS&version=LIVE&gameProgram=STARCRAFT&id=27575673.1487036775

You can download StarCraft for Mac using the link below:

https://www.battle.net/download/getInstallerForGame?os=mac&locale=enUS&version=LIVE&gameProgram=STARCRAFT&id=27575673.1487036775

If you want to delve a bit deeper into the history of StarCraft development, Blizzard has a very interesting retrospective article you can read below.

https://starcraft.com/en-us/articles/20719767

Metal Jesus has a new video out about games that made him rage quit. A couple games they mention are Trigger Happy Havoc, Destroy All Humans, Grand Theft Auto Flying Levels & Animal Crossing Amiibo Festival. As I was watching the video one game came to mind for me which is the original Binding of Issac. When I saw the game I thought it was just a really unique retelling of Zelda but when I played it was one of the first rogue-likes I played and as such was very hard and unforgiving. I wasn't sure why you couldn't save your progress and that when you died everything you collected went away. Later on I realized that rogue-likes do that and have come to since really enjoy the game and the genre. Another game recently that made me quit with anger recently was Starbound. I've talked about my disappointment with that games rollout and when it hit 1.0 I decided to give it fresh start. I don't think enough time had passed for me to come at it with fresh eyes because when I saw how many crafting tables I had to create to create basic items I just stopped right there.

Gwent is one of the latest digital card games by CD Project Red the creators of the Witcher series and GOG.com. Gwent: The Witcher Card Game is pulled straight from The Witcher III and is now a stand alone free to play card game available on GOG Galaxy. Recently I got to try Gwent and it's a really interesting take on the digital card game genre. At a high level you need to beat three rounds against your opponent by having more attack power on the board. You can do this in many ways and some rounds you might want to push on so you can win in the later ones making it a very strategic and interesting game.

If you want to try out the Gwent beta hit me up in the comments and i'll hand out beta keys to the first 3 people that want one!

Rumors are circulating today about Nintendo launching a SNES Classic this Christmas in the same spirit as the NES Classic reboot that was so popular it was later cancelled before I could buy one. It's a great idea and something Nintendo should do but... you know... if we can get one. Hopefully Nintendo will be able to meet demand but if they don't and I don't really hold out hope for that, it should be another strange disappointment ride with a very abrupt end.

Because you know, that's how Nintendo rolls sometimes. The SNES Classic is rumored to launch sometime around Christmas and I am interested in hearing what you think about the prospect?

http://www.theverge.com/2017/4/19/15354680/nintendo-mini-snes-launch-christmas

If you're a fan of Star Wars you've seen Rogue One and if you still buy films you might be interested in picking it up. Recently I bought up the special 5 disc Collectors Edition at Target and if you are looking for a nice collectors item with some extra special features, it is something you should look into. Disney has worked with a few retailers to bring out a few unique versions of Rogue One and I chose the Target Collectors Edition because it's the only one that came with two extra behind the scenes extras. Personally I love watching behind the scenes special features and generally pick whichever copy has them. When Disney released The Force Awakens last year Target also got the extra behind the scenes version YET the packaging was inferior/not great and the extra special scenes were online only. That caused more than a couple fans to complain as those features were not advertised as digital only so for Rogue One's release this year Target and Disney upgraded the packaging as well as included a bonus DVD disc with the extra features.

The two extra behind the scenes features are "Digital Storytelling" and "Inside the Creature Shop" which give a better look at how the movie was made but I don't feel they are must watch unless you need to watch every bit of behind the scenes footage. The standout part of the Target Collectors Edition is the absolutely incredible packaging that will look amazing on your shelf if you are into that sort of thing. If you watch your movies digitally Rogue One also comes with a digital code to redeem your movie with Disney and push it to nearly any movie store you can think of.

If you're a Star Wars fan and love to collect these films this is something you need to look into ... at least until Disney releases another edition with the conspicuously missing directors commentary, deleted scenes and other behind the scenes features that somehow didn't come out with the first release.

http://www.starwars.com/news/rogue-one-a-star-wars-story-arrives-soon-digital-hd-blu-ray

If you read Cheerful Ghost regularly then you know of our love for FTL and one big part of what makes that game so special is the music by Ben Prunty. Ben just recently released a new collection of music he wrote as part of his live music production Twitch stream called "Music Workbench" on Bandcamp.

"During Music Workbench, I make music live on twitch, talk about my creative and technical processes, and answer questions from viewers. The purpose of the show is to help demystify the music production process, which too often is seen as pure wizardry.

Music Workbench happens every Saturday at 2pm Pacific Time at twitch.tv/benprunty"

The album is a perfect chill album for working or kicking around the house and starts off with "Retro Punch" a smooth downtempo electronic track that layers on more interesting stuff until it's final ending notes. The next track Colored Lines might well have been an outake on the FTL score and was a fun addition to the album.

You can listen to all of Music Workbench on Bandcamp right now by hitting the link below.

https://benprunty.bandcamp.com/album/music-workbench

Season 11 of Mystery Science Theater 3000 has dropped on Netflix and all 14 episodes are ready to watch for your riffing pleasure. The first episode of season 11 riffs on the 1961 Danish monster movie Reptilicus and it's a great first start to the season! Reptilicus is a perfect "good bad" movie that is interesting enough but bad enough to feel just right for MST3K.

While I can't comment yet on watching the rest of the season I can say that the first episode is a great start that seems to carry on the legacy of the show into a new era. One huge upgrade for the new season of MST3K is that it is now shot in 16x9 aspect ratio. With the original 90's show it was filmed in the 4x3 TV aspect ratio which cut off the sides of the films. The aspect ratio coupled with the low res quality of the original TV shows was always part of the charm of the original show and I wondered if the switch to HD would detract from the campy flavor of MST3K? Watching the the first episode of the show in crisp HD was better than I thought and the hand crafted feel of the sets, puppets and ships really works.

Jonah, Hampton, Barron, Felica & Patton do a great job as the new cast and they feel at home on the show while brining something new to it. The only thing I am still getting used to with the new show is separating the voices of Jonah, Tom Servo and Crow as sometimes they really sound like each other. With Joel, Mike and the bots their voices were so distinct that it was easy to tell the difference between them but the new actors are taking some time to hear separate in my mind when they riff.

I never thought we'd get a new season of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and after excitedly backing it and now seeing the show I couldn't be happier. The new season on Netflix should bring the show to an entirely new audience and I hope it gains enough popularity to get renewed for a second season because that's something the world needs.

You can watch the return of Mystery Science Theater 3000 right now on Netflix.

In celebration of FEZ 5th birthday today Polytron had a series of Tweets about the game and one mentioning that FEZ will be coming to iOS this year! The reveal trailer above doesn't mention much about how the game will work but if they get the controls just right it might be great.

FEZ is a special game that features one of the best game scores of all time and once upon a time was getting a sequel that was later cancelled. I hold out hope that FEZ 2 might still be coming or will come back in some form but at least we have FEZ, which is one of the best platformers i've played in quite some time.

https://twitter.com/Polytron