jdodson | Cheerful Ghost

Vote In The 2016 Cheerful Ghost Game Of The Year Awards

Hey everyone. After collecting all the entries for this years Game of the Year, I have them now in poll form for you to vote on. Thanks to everyone that added games to the list.

Triple A Game of the Year:

http://www.easypolls.net/poll.html?p=58674561e4b0b90e31f33e87

Indie Game of the Year:

http://www.easypolls.net/poll.html?p=58674645e4b0b90e31f33e8a

Update/DLC Of the Year:

http://www.easypolls.net/poll.html?p=586746b6e4b0b90e31f33e8d

Mobile Game of the Year:

http://www.easypolls.net/poll.html?p=58674706e4b0b90e31f33e8e

Please select your top games and the winner will be the highest voted game. I will also list out the others so we all know how it turned out.

Voting will be open today until January 1st so feel free to share this out with your friends!

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 12/31/2016 at 07:13pm

Voted!

Travis Admin wrote on 12/31/2016 at 08:49pm

+1!

This will be better than the Steam awards, in which almost none of my picks won.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 12/31/2016 at 11:50pm

I agree with Travis, only one of my picks in the Steam awards won and that was Doom. Even if my own picks don't win, I feel like we have a much better selection!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/01/2017 at 02:28am

Too bad we don't have any "I voted" stickers.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 01/01/2017 at 04:49am

> Too bad we don't have any "I voted" stickers.

Yeah, because at least here we can be proud of it and know that our vote actually counted or stood for something.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 01/01/2017 at 09:09pm

I couldn't help myself... http://i.imgur.com/16hT0Tl.png

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 01/01/2017 at 09:24pm

Lol, awesome

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/01/2017 at 11:05pm

I love that.

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2016 Cheerful Ghost Game Of The Year Awards Nomination Thread!

It's time for the 2016 Cheerful Ghost Game of the Year Awards Nomination thread. Please drop your nominations for the following categories below:

Triple A Game of the Year

Indie Game of the Year

Update of the Year

Mobile Game of the Year

I'll close nominations on the 30th so get your suggestions in now! If by some happenstance we get no nominations or two or less for one category we will drop it for the year. If you are curious what last years winners were, you can check that out below (spoiler alert Fallout 4 and Rocket League won)

http://cheerfulghost.com/jdodson/posts/2753/cheerful-ghost-2015-game-of-the-year-awards

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 12/28/2016 at 09:41am

For me, Ark is still my GotY. But, it's over a year old now. So, I'd like to nominate Doom for Triple A GotY. I only spent 45 hours playing, but I love it. Great soundtrack, great fun! I think for Indie GotY, I'd like to nominate No Man's Sky. The Foundation Update deserves Update of the Year, too. NMS took a beating this year and came back shining (w/ the Foundation Update).

However, Far Harbor (Fallout 4's DLC) deserves an Update of the Year nomination, too.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 12/29/2016 at 05:41am

Awesome, those make sense to go on the list.

My noms:

Indie Games:

Punch Club
That Dragon Cancer
Stardew Valley
Hyperlight Drifter
Starbound
The Witness

Triple A

Mighty No. 9
Dishonored 2
Doom
Overwatch

Update of the Year

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim — Special Edition
Hearthstone - Whispers of the Old Gods
BioShock: The Collection

Mobile

Super Mario Run
Crypt of the Necrodancer Pocket

Travis Admin wrote on 12/29/2016 at 05:48am

Just to clarify-- Update of the Year can include DLC correct? It may be prudent/helpful to call it Update/DLC of the Year.

How do Early Access games work for this? Ark was up for a nomination in 2015 but it hasn't even been released yet. At one point the CG awards were about our favorite things we played this year, which doesn't require release dates to be within the year. That said, that would allow Pong to get it.

At any rate, here are my nominations. I haven't played all of these but they all seem like they should get a nod in the nominations.

AAA: Doom, Skyrim SE, Fallout Shelter, Civ 6, Dishonored 2, Overwatch

Indie: No Man's Sky, Owlboy, Stardew Valley, The Witness, Firewatch

Update: No Man's Sky, Terraria, Fallout's Far Harbor

Mobile: Pokemon Go, Super Mario Run

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 12/29/2016 at 06:11am

Update can include DLC.

If Ark hasn't been released then let's not put it on the list. Sorry Greg, it will be on for next year.

Fallout Shelter was released in 2015, but it can be an update nom.

Travis Admin wrote on 12/29/2016 at 06:32am

Fallout Shelter was released for PC in 2016! :D

Travis Admin wrote on 12/29/2016 at 06:40am

Also Jon-- wasn't Mighty No. 9 indie? It was kickstarted. It looks like their publishers are just distribution partners and nothing else.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 12/29/2016 at 07:00am

Ark is still in Early Access and I nominated it last year. It's still my game of the year! It was just released for the PS4, so technically it could perhaps come back this year, but since I did it last year, I'm moving on.

Anyway, I'm glad Jon and Travis have finally spoken! :)

Doom is an amazing game! I really enjoyed it! It made me feel like a bad ass. It gave me a unique feeling and I freaking' loved it! The soundtrack is amazing as well, which I listened to a few time on YouTube.

No Man's Sky took a lot of crap/negativity. One thing I recall was that NMS is about as wide as an ocean, but as deep as a puddle. The Foundation update made it even deeper. I still think it's a great game. There's still plenty for me to do!

scrypt Supporter wrote on 12/31/2016 at 04:23pm

Sorry, I've been a little distracted lately. I totally missed this post for nominations :(.

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Still Can't Get The NES Classic? Check Out The Retro USB AVS!

"The NES Classic is the hot ticket item of the holiday season and it's currently sold out across the country due to the high demand. Nintendo is working on supplying retail stores with the mini NES, but a full restock isn't expected to take place until after Christmas. Fortunately, there's an alternative for retro gamers seeking an HD 8-bit experience that's more authentic than the popular Nintendo plug & play console. In this Cygnus Destroyer special, we take a look at the RetroUSB AVS."

The Retro USB AVS was all over the Portland Retro Game Expo this year and looks to be one of the best ways to play your NES games on your HD TV. It sports a premium price but ships with a few cool features like built in Game Genie support, online North America Scoreboard, 4 NES gamepads and NES and famicom support.

http://www.retrousb.com/product_info.php?products_id=78

Some Information About Your New 3DS And What Games To Get With It

Recently I was gifted a NEW 3DS for the holidays and with many people that are new to the system I'm not sure what I should get for it. One of my favorite YouTubers Metal Jesus has a great 3DS buying guide that covers all the systems and some of the games you might be interested in.

One of the reasons I wanted a new 3DS is that it plays the newer 3DS and older DS games. I really think one area Nintendo shines is mobile games and being able to start collecting and playing DS games is something i've been wanting to do after the Gameboy and Advance. As we are approaching the upcoming era of the Switch it's a good time to pickup older DS games cheap while there is a fairly high supply and low demand so if you're interested, check it out.

Happy Holidays To All!

I want to wish everyone a very Happy Holdays and I hope you spend it with amazing people. Some of us will be opening some presents from Santa so if you get anything particularly noteworthy feel free to share it in the comments.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 12/25/2016 at 05:29am

I reacted the same way when I got my N64 for christmas, but I was 20.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 12/25/2016 at 05:32pm

I got the NES Classic! (It's super fun, but I'm just impressed my wife found one!)

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 12/25/2016 at 09:28pm

Awesome Adam!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 12/26/2016 at 01:12am

Damn lucky Adam.

The main fun stuff I got was the new 3DS and a few movies like The Hateful Eight and Star Trek Beyond. The new Metallica album and the Breakfast Club on Bluray. Can't wait to watch Bender smoke it up in HD!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 12/26/2016 at 02:09am

The new 3DS also doesn't come with a charger. I remember something about that a while ago. I guess it works with the old ones and they don't include it. Not expensive but annoying as it's my first DS.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 12/26/2016 at 02:17am

Yeah the new 3DS no charger is lame.

I got a PS4 slim with uncharted 4.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 12/26/2016 at 04:19am

Lucky guys! Gaming wise I got a $30 Gamestop gift card, which I'm thinking of taking to Gamestop and buying $30 in Steam gift cards. LOL Gaming wise, my son got an ocarina from his mom! He also got a Skylanders thing, but it's for XB1/360 (which we don't have), so it's going to get returned for something else.

Oh and as for the N64, I remember that Christmas when I got mine. I got enough money for Christmas that I went to Wal-Mart and bought one. It was sometime around or after high school (which ended in '98 for me). I still have it!

Travis Admin wrote on 12/26/2016 at 07:14am

That's super lame that the 3DS doesn't come with a charger, since it's a proprietary connector.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 12/26/2016 at 07:21am

@Travis, I agree. I read about that issue and forgot about it. Since I have already paid for a 3DS and 2 3DS XLs, I already have more than one charger for the 3DS family, so that mattered little to me. I seem to remember reading that they did that to reduce the cost of the system (which is currently about $200), although it seems like a charger would be only a slight cost and not including one just seems like a stupid idea.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 12/26/2016 at 04:19pm

I forgot about the charger too! I already had a charger, so I didn't think much of it. I would have rather paid a few more dollars for a bundled in charger than not having one. Think of all the poor kids (and Jon) that get one as a present and then can't use it due to not having a charger. Sometimes I just don't understand Nintendo.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 12/26/2016 at 04:22pm

Did you get any 3DS games Jon?

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 12/26/2016 at 05:49pm

Besides immediately going to Amazon for a charger I also bought Ocarina of Time 3D and Yoshis New Island. I already got a few old DS games like New Super Mario Brothers from Goodwill and that's a really fun game.

I will get the Link Between Worlds and a few others st some point too.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 12/26/2016 at 05:50pm

Also there are a ton of demos for the 3DS which should keep me occupied for awhile. Demos, remember those?

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 12/26/2016 at 06:51pm

Yeah! I know Nintendo has demos, because I've downloaded some of them from their online store. I haven't played OoT 3D, but I bet it's pretty sweet (as the original and other ports are). I have Link Between Worlds, or at least I bought the golden Triforce 3DS XL that came with it. Well it was really a code I had to enter to get it downloaded from the store.

Jon, did you get the New 3DS XL or just the New 3DS? Apparently that "New" model you got has better hardware. I was told that the Hyrule Warriors game for the 3DS doesn't play well on the original system, but works fine on the "New" model.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 12/26/2016 at 07:28pm

The New 3DS so not the XL and it was a Black Friday special for $99, so a pretty good deal.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 12/26/2016 at 07:29pm

Man, "Nintendo hard" is a real thing! These games are fun, but I kinda feel like I'm banging my head against a wall when playing them lol. I am determined to play through Zelda II, but it's really slow going! (Zelda II is a super smooth game though. The controls feel really good)

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 12/26/2016 at 08:01pm

What have you played so far? Zelda 2 is really rough. I've never beat it myself.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 12/26/2016 at 08:33pm

OMG Zelda 2 is freaking hard. I never was able to figure it out when I played it on the NES. I finally found another way to play it (many years later) with cheats and then looked up what I was supposed to do. I really don't know about that game, it's perhaps one of the most mind boggling games I can think of!

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 12/27/2016 at 05:23pm

So far my favorite games are Zelda 2 and Final Fantasy. I've played (and loved) FF 2, 3 and 7, but never played the first. It appears it's going to be a long grind (I made my 4 person team to be, 1 black magic, 1 white magic and 2 fighters. I really had no idea what I was doing, but it seems to work) as my team is going to need to level up A LOT before even going through the first dungeon/castle. But I love the sounds! It's kind of a "duh" now, but the FF sounds originated in the original! I was pleasantly surprised to find this out :)

I've tried out most of the other games, and my wife laughs at me when I play for 1 minute, the feels impossible, and I press Resart and go to a different game :)

Travis Admin wrote on 12/27/2016 at 05:37pm

Which ones feel impossible Adam? "Nintendo hard" is definitely a thing :D

Travis Admin wrote on 12/27/2016 at 05:47pm

Please note: I'm not asking so I can say HAHA YOU SUCK I'm interested in hearing which ones, as an adult, feel impossible. Our interpretation of difficulty has changed since the 80s. I think we were more willing to grind something really hard when we had all the time in the world and only like 15 games to choose from.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 12/27/2016 at 06:43pm

Don't worry, my wife already says that to me, all the time...
Looking back at the list, the only game that feels *impossible* is Super C. The controls feel bad for Ice Climber and Kid Icarus. I might not bother playing those again. I get Galaga and Gradius mixed up, but both were too difficult to put much effort in. Ghosts'N Goblins and Megan Man 2 felt really hard, but beatable (I got through a couple Mega man levels before getting interested in trying something else). Both Castlevania games seemed fun, but didn't keep my attention. I'll come back to those at some point. Kirby and Tecmo Bowl were way too easy, I stopped playing them quickly after starting but will probably pick them up at some point when I'm bored. Zelda 2 is super hard, but fun enough to keep trying. Final Fantasy is grinds, but I'm giving it time.

So I guess the only *impossible* game is Super C :)

Travis Admin wrote on 12/28/2016 at 04:40am

Kid Icarus is one of my faves, clunky controls and all. I can see why you might lump it in with that (tangentially)

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 12/28/2016 at 05:08pm

I need a Game Genie Classic now ;)

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Don't Wait For The SNES Mini, Build It Now With The Raspberry Pi 3!

A few days ago I posted about a Kickstarter project to make a handheld system that can play retro games built on the Raspberry Pi. If you are interested in building the ultimate retro emulator to hook up to your TV pparently building a Raspberry Pi console isn't too hard and Gizmodo made an awesome video about it. You can even buy a kit that includes all the parts you need right now on Amazon for $70 while we are all waiting for that NES Classic to be back in stock. I don't recommend you pirate all these games but if you want a one stop shop to play all the games you do own, this is a great option.

https://www.amazon.com/Raspberry-COMPLETE-Starter-Black-16GB/dp/B01EKBJ1I6/

Lifehacker also has a pretty good guide below if you need a step by step in text to read.

http://lifehacker.com/the-advanced-guide-to-setting-up-a-diy-game-console-wit-1790381861

All Of The Classic Mega Man Games Are Coming To Mobile In January

Mega Man I-VI are coming to Android and iOS this January. Don't misunderstand me, I really have fond memories of Mega Man 2 and 3 but I'm not sure how well these games will play on a phone? I suppose the controls are fairly simple but Mega Man has a fairly tight control scheme so i'm a bit concerned the translation will be worthwhile. Still, accessing these classics in a new way is a good thing and I hope they will be great ports.

Prison Architect Gets a Surprise Update For The Holidays

Introversion said that Prison Architect was complete and wouldn't be getting more features and a couple months later... more features! It's a prison miracle and what new things did Santa Warden bring us? Prison staff needs!! Just what we always wanted! Well, maybe not for me but it's a really neat feature and also optional which means if you don't want to worry about it in your current or upcoming prisons you won't need to.

"This frosty December, we give you guard needs: no longer can you treat your hard working prison officers as robot gaolers. They're going to need their own toilet and canteen and your staff room is about to get a whole lot busier....

Failure to look after their needs will result in a whole gamut of industrial accident that's going to have a very bad effect on the welfare of your prison."

http://forums.introversion.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=60364

If You Need More Retro In Your Life The Raspi Boy is For You

Back this on Kickstarter!

If you've been looking to get more into retro gaming on the go and Raspberry Pi you might want to check out funding the Raspi Boy Kickstarter project.

"The idea came when I saw on internet projects of "GameBoyZero", awesome raspberry pi based consoles. I was amazed, but it looked pretty difficult to build one, it was a 3 months work and over 100€ for all components! And last, you need an old gameboy to rip open.

RaspiBoy is conceived such that everything fits together perfectly and the build is a 5 minutes task without soldering!

The RaspiBoy comes as a kit, with easy mounting tutorial PDF and video. Don't worry ! It's super easy and we will guide you step by step. It's very much like a puzzle ! Moreover I hope you will find the tutorial interesting as there will be lot of interesting facts on product design, PCB design, prototyping and so on! "

Cheerful Ghost Roundtable S4 E7: Rogue One A Star Wars Story

In this special episode of the Cheerful Ghost Roundtable we talk the new Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and wax philsophic about ATAT walkers which some question the utility of(not naming names). This episode features Cheerful Ghost community member Adam who is filling in to bring his take on what he's been playing(FTL) and his thoughts on Rogue One.

We break the review in two and start things fresh spoiler free so rest assured that if you watch start to finish we will give you plenty of time to bail during the spoiler section.

Bullets for your pleasure:

Westworld - Apparently people are watching this HBO show?

Super Mario Run - Is Nintendos latest game great or merely good? Something else? Perhaps.

Rogue One - It's the main event and may contain a star war or two.

Travis Admin wrote on 12/21/2016 at 03:35am

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J2ywJQUnBOM

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 12/21/2016 at 03:54am

I skipped out on this because I didn't bother to ask if it was going to be spoiler-free, I just assumed it wouldn't be. So, I'll ask before watching, was it? I'm interested in the Cheerful Ghost opinion of it. Did you all like it? I mean, I am a rare one that enjoyed the prequels, so I'll probably like it. LOL

Travis Admin wrote on 12/21/2016 at 04:00am

It's spoiler-free for the first 20ish minutes. We all liked it even though there were some missteps. It does a good job of tying the prequels to the original series and it's really well done.

Don't expect a normal Star Wars movie. It's dark for Star Wars.

Travis Admin wrote on 12/21/2016 at 04:00am

Also Katie points out that with Adam on the panel, you really need to up your beard game, Jon.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 12/21/2016 at 04:08am

Hahahaha. I'll take it under advisement.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 12/21/2016 at 04:26am

That was a lot of fun!

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 12/21/2016 at 05:25am

Doh! I just saw in the post that this Roundtable is in two parts. I obviously didn't read that when I asked my question.

Thanks for the head's up and opinion, Travis. I'm kind of surprised by the "dark for Star Wars" comment, because I thought Episode III and VII were dark, but I didn't dislike them. But, that's 2 out of 7 movies, so that kind of barely makes the series "gray."

Hahaha if I was on the panel, that would be a +1 to Jon upping his beard game. I have one, too.

Travis Admin wrote on 12/21/2016 at 03:43pm

Hmm you make a good point with episode III being dark. I mean Anakin straight up murders children (spoiler alert). Rogue One just feels more gritty. I guess it's that it's about military operatives performing a military op.

I really didn't think episode VII was dark, though. There were dark things in it but it was handled in a non-dark way I guess.

The don't think this is a spoiler but just in case spoiler alert: Really the "dark" in Rogue One is that the good guys aren't always good.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 12/21/2016 at 05:27pm

Oh yeah, something I brought up but didn't explain fully (and this isn't a spoiler, it's a thought for Episode 8). I said "What if Vader was working with Snoke the whole time?" but didn't really get into why I thought that. In Episode 7, Kylo Ren says something along the lines of "I will finish what you started" to Vader's helmet. Does this simply mean building a Death Star like weapon and making the universe submit to him, or something more? I wonder if Vader could have had some other plan that wasn't shown in the original trilogy. (It's not likely, but fun to speculate about)

scrypt Supporter wrote on 12/21/2016 at 11:41pm

Good show, guys! Awesome to see you in there, Adam. Sorry I couldn't make it. I think you guys covered most of the things turning in my head, but there are a few things that came to mind after watching this and another review. I don't want to post spoilers, so I'm working on a supplemental that I'll try to post soon, or maybe something else entirely... O.o

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 12/22/2016 at 03:49pm

Leaked photos from the Rogue One sequel (Mainly Speculation - Possible Spoilers)
http://m.imgur.com/gallery/sZQUt

scrypt Supporter wrote on 12/22/2016 at 03:56pm

That's awesome. I love the Internet.

Will_Ball Game Mod Super Member wrote on 12/22/2016 at 07:39pm

I enjoyed Rogue One. On my entertained, not entertained movie scale, I was entertained.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 12/22/2016 at 08:22pm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsqJFIJ5lLs

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 05/07/2017 at 06:34am

I finally watched Rogue One and this Roundtable! I agree with you all that it was a good movie. I didn't have high expectations for it, in fact I was quite baffled with it right away (before seeing it) because we pretty much already know the plot and what happens. But, it was good. Travis said it was "dark" and after watching it, I can see that perspective. It certainly is! I was not expecting so much death. I liked that Death Star guy/commander who returned from the original trilogy. I didn't noticed he was CG. I also didn't noticed Leia at the end was CG, too. I did wonder how they got those people in the movie. They both looked fine at first glance, so I'll see how that holds up when I watch it again.

I liked the two characters that worked together, the blind guy, and that one with a huge gun. They were cool. Oh and I'm not very good with remembering Star Wars character names.

Comparing to The Force Awakens, I think I like Awakens more than Rogue One. I also like the Star Wars pre-sequels, probably more than anyone else I know. If I were to watch the Star Wars movies again, I'd probably start out with the pre-sequels, then Rogue One, and then the original trilogy. As for rating each movie, I don't know. They're all good to me.

I also watched Arrival, which was better than I expected. It was deep and quite different from other ET movies.

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jdodson1

2745 Posts

Vote In The 2016 Cheerful Ghost Game Of The Year Awards

2016 Cheerful Ghost Game Of The Year Awards Nomination Thread!

Still Can't Get The NES Classic? Check Out The Retro USB AVS!

Some Information About Your New 3DS And What Games To Get With It

Happy Holidays To All!

Don't Wait For The SNES Mini, Build It Now With The Raspberry Pi 3!

All Of The Classic Mega Man Games Are Coming To Mobile In January

Prison Architect Gets a Surprise Update For The Holidays

If You Need More Retro In Your Life The Raspi Boy is For You

Cheerful Ghost Roundtable S4 E7: Rogue One A Star Wars Story