A couple days ago I wrote a few thoughts about my new ASUS ROG gaming laptop. It's a nice piece of hardware and if you are looking for a nicely priced portable gaming machine it's worth a look. That said for my most immediate computing past I've mostly used Mac OS and Linux and as such i'm not the biggest Windows power user and I recently learned something you might find useful.

Set Your Power & Sleep Mode To High Performance

One mistake I made when I first got my laptop was to mess around in the power and sleep mode control panel and set it to "power saver." It seemed like a reasonable selection as I figured Windows would switch into "high performance" mode when a game started and then drop back to the default "power saver" mode automagically. Come to find out that's not how Windows works and when you set the power mode to "power saver" it causes your graphics card and CPU to always switch to the lower power option. On my ASUS ROG that means that it will constantly use the integrated Intel card instead of the nvidia one and ignore a couple CPU cores.

So make sure to set your laptop to "high performance" by default in settings and if you kick back on the couch surfing the web you can click the battery icon in the lower right to temporarily switch Windows into power saver mode while it's on battery power. When you plug the laptop back in it will automagically switch it back to high performance mode to run the laptop in all it's gaming glory.

It's nice that I finally figured this out as during the last few days I've got terribly low frame rates and performance in any game I've played on it and it's disturbed me quite a bit. I nearly thought something was wrong with my hardware then I discovered this power mode and how it can cap your gaming performance.

You can read my thoughts on the ASUS ROG:

http://cheerfulghost.com/jdodson/posts/3061/one-month-with-the-asus-rog-gl552vw-dh74-gaming-laptop

If you have played The Legend of Zelda Link to the Past inside and out and are looking for something new you might want to download the Link to the Past Item Randomizer. It's a Windows program that generates you an unique ROM that randomizes all the items in the game among all in game chests. The first chest you open might contain the Master Sword or the Hookshot but since it's random, you never really know till you open it. It's a cool speedrunning project to give the community something new to challenge themselves and also memorize the location of nearly all the in game chests and how to get to them.

"This is a simple program that moves around items in the Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past (ALttP). It is used for racing the game.

When racing the game, it is suggested that each player play the same seed to ensure a level playing field."

https://dessyreqt.github.io/alttprandomizer/

I'm not gonna lie, originally I wanted to buy a Mac laptop. I like the Apple hardware, build quality and software better than nearly all of the Windows alternatives. And even though I may love Apple's products I don't love the price because when you buy Apple you pay a premium for it. And with that price and quality premium you also lock in to your hardware specs. Apple used to allow upgrades to it's laptop harddrives and ram after your initial purchase but that is no longer the case. I want a system that's reasonably priced, is mobile and something I can upgrade when the time is right. Playing games well is also important to me so after a bit of searching I finally pulled the trigger and bought an ASUS ROG laptop.

Show Me The Specs

The ASUS ROG was in the right price and spec zone as it features an Intel Core i7-6700HQ 2.6GHz, 16GB RAM; 1TB 7200RPM + 128GB SSD harddrive & an NVidia GeForce GTX 960M -w 4GB VRAM. The OS runs on the SSD which means this thing boots up wickedly fast. The ROG features an HDMI port so plugging it in to my desktop monitor and TV is a breeze and after a bit of learning on my part I figured out how to rock a dual monitor/laptop screen setup in Windows 10. I went with the 15" laptop as 17" seemed way too large for a laptop and since the hardware of both sizes is nearly identical, I think the smaller size was a better choice. The ROG also features a nice illuminated keyboard that really helps with typing in the dark. In general the laptop hardware is solid in nearly every respect but I do have a couple gripes with it. The black finish is very neat looking but it's also a fingerprint magnet. It's not too bad but I do have to wipe it down from time to time because the smudges bother me. The other annoying part of using the ROG is that if you bend it slightly on occasion the DVD drive opens. Originally I thought i'd use the DVD drive more but apparently I don't use it at all so the only time the drive ever opens is on accident.

Beyond those minor issues the ASUS ROG is a very solid and powerful laptop. It's not too heavy has a good build quality to it and is very enjoyable to use.

Apparently, Windows 10 Is Pretty Good

I'll be honest, I am not a huge fan of Windows or Microsoft. This is mostly because I found the Microsoft of the 90's to be really bad in terms of it's anti-competitive behavior but recently the company has come around a bit. Windows 7 was a pretty good Operating System and after using Windows 10 for a month I can say that it's pretty easy and isn't too annoying to use. That said it phones home more than E.T. so if you don't want Redmond knowing when you go to the bathroom, I suggest you run SpyBot Anti-Beacon. The ROG also comes with a ton of crap-ware installed and that takes a bit to get removed but after all of that is gone and Windows isn't calling Bill Gates every 5 minutes, it's a solid experience. I can't honestly tell if Windows 10 performs better than 7 but I haven't noticed any slow downs in any games or actions on Windows 10.

This Thing Plays Games Well Too

If you want the biggest bang for your buck in PC-land you shouldn't go with a laptop. I went with a laptop because I wanted to play games and have a very portable system. I also wanted a machine I could hack Cheerful Ghost code using Linux and the ASUS ROG does that really well. It also plays games well, but again, if you want more power for your dollar go with a regular ol' PC. That said, I was able to max out StarCraft II with zero issues and the ROG can also play the new Doom game in 1080p without dropping below 30 FPS.

After using the ASUS ROG for a month I can say that i'm really happy with my purchase. It's a solid system for the price and it plays all the games I want to at a very acceptable speeds. It's comfortable to use on the couch and slides right in on my Desktop and works great with my monitor, keyboard and mouse. If you are looking for a nicely spec'd laptop that plays games well you might want to look into the ASUS ROG GL552VW-DH74.

I just watched a very impressive Diablo Summer Games Done Quick 2016 run by Funkmastermp where he blows through the game in 20 minutes. This is pretty impressive considering the very slow character run speed in the original Diablo and that Funmastermp never gets his character over level 3. Funkmastermp uses a frame timed item dupe to get a ton of gold to buy enough mana potions and items. At one point he needs to get a teleport scroll tome and has to talk to reload the game and talk to Adria over 50 times.

This is a really good run and if you are a fan of Diablo something you should watch.

If you grew up pouring through each issue of Nintendo Power then the Internet Archive might be your new best friend. They recently put each issue online to view and download for your nostalgic retro gaming needs. Nintendo Power discontinued all publications in 2013 but in it's 90's prime, it was the best way to learn about Nintendo games. My favorite parts of the Magazine were the comics and tips and tricks section where you could learn cheat codes and other secrets to your favorite games. The popularization of the Internet made magazines like Nintendo Power largely obsolete in favor of wikis and game sites but that said, it's still awesome that each issue is available to read.

https://archive.org/details/nintendopower

**UPDATE**

Nintendo booted up their lawyers and now the issues of Nintendo Power have been removed from Archive.org. Hopefully Nintendo can release them digitally or allow a collectors edition reprinting to meet demand.

http://www.polygon.com/2016/8/8/12405278/nintendo-power-issues-disappear-from-free-online-archive

It seems the rumors of the new Hearthstone Adventure being in Karazhan were true as Blizzard announced the upcoming adventure "One Night in Karazhan" to the audience at ChinaJoy. One Night in Karazhan will feature 4 new wings you can unlock for 700 gold or buy the whole adventure for $20. As you can see from the trailer above, One Night in Karazhan has a very cool disco party vibe that looks like it pulls many influences from Disneys Beauty and the Beast as well as the John Travolta's disco classic Saturday Night Fever. After the darker tone of Whispers of the Old Gods us getting a more silly party styled adventure seems like a nice change.

As with all Hearthstone adventures the first wing will launch August 11th, the second the week after and they will continue to release at that pace until the final wing launch. This adventure is different in that they are offering everyone a free prologue mission that will unlock two free cards for everyone! So even if you don't plan on picking up the whole adventure, playing through the free mission for the two cards seems like a pretty good deal!

I've scoured the web for more details about the expansion so if you are interested keep reading!

If you are interested in watching Hearthstone designer Ben Brode talk about the new adventure in the recent ChinaJoy twitch stream, you can watch it below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4w5Yaqrkszk

Redditor Nostalgia37 is keeping a spreadsheet up-to-date with all the Karazhan cards as they are unveiled by Blizzard. So far 9 of 45 cards have been revealed and they all look like they will have a pretty big impact on the meta. As the Karazhan gets closer to launch i'll be talking about the cards I am most interested in .

https://www.reddit.com/r/hearthstone/comments/4v60mk/the_marvelous_prerelease_reveal_chart_all/

PC Gamer has a interesting playthrough of one of the missions of One Night in Karazhan. I recommend muting the audio.

Thttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g7e_Udn88E8

I'm a huge StarCraft fan from way back. I tore through the original games and more recently, StarCraft II Wings of Liberty, Heart of the Swarm and Legacy of the Void. I'd thought that would be all of the single player content we'd get from StarCraft II until they announced the Nova Covert Ops missions. They launched the first 3 missions and I was happy to give them a good review. So it's nice to finally know that the next 3 missions are dropping on August 2nd. The game picks up where the last missions left off which continues your search for the terrorist organization, The Defenders of Man. I don't want to say more as that's already a light spoiler for the first three missions but it's sort of akin to saying the Rebellion fights the Empire in Star Wars (spoilers if you haven't seen Star Wars).

As with any official StarCraft campaigns i'll give you my take on it after it launches and I blast through it.

If you want to read my review of the first Nova Covert Ops 3 missions, check that out below.

http://cheerfulghost.com/jdodson/posts/2878/starcraft-ii-nova-covert-ops-mission-pack-i-review

Last year Re-Logic announced Terraria Otherworld, a game set in the Terraria-verse that contains more RPG styled gameplay. The initial concept and game shown seemed solid and most Terraria fans were interested in playing it when it launched. As you may have noticed, there hasn't been a ton of news on the Otherworld front and we now know why that is. Terraria Otherworld is getting quite a bit of re-work to bring it up to the level of quality Re-Logic is comfortable with. This means that the game will come out much later than they initially anticipated but it should be that much better for it!

"To keep it short and simple, at the beginning of this year, we undertook a full in-depth review of the project versus our standards, expectations, and vision for the game. It was pretty clear to us at the time that Otherworld needed quite a bit of work - and even a good bit of rework - in a number of areas in order to hit that mark.

We then spent some time in detailed discussion among ourselves and also with Engine Software in regards to how best to get things to where they need to be. We then made a list of requested reforms and changes and such. As a part of this, the project team at Engine now has a new lead designer and art lead along with other changes made to better align to our vision for the game. On top of that, our two teams have laid out clearly what needs to be done and are pushing forward executing towards that roadmap to deliver the game we expect - and our fans deserve - as soon as possible."

The game is getting some pretty sizable visual updates as well as gameplay enhancements and more. This should make for a more polished game at launch, something most fans will appreciate. The nice part here is that there was no promised deadline or early access fans to annoy, just the game getting the attention it deserves.

"We will work hand in hand with Engine to keep up the momentum on the work and rework in the weeks and months to come. We are confident in this new approach - but rest assured that we will remain closely involved and will make sure that Terraria: Otherworld gets finished in a way that will be worthy of the Terraria name.

We don't have a date to give you - our focus is on getting the game done right first and foremost. That said, expect it to be a while still - there is a lot of work to get done and done right. As we know more, we will share it - so expect a return of spoilers (though maybe not every few days as before ;) )."

http://forums.terraria.org/index.php?threads/terraria-otherworld-bringing-you-up-to-speed.47302/

Doom: The Board Game is the most beloved Board Game I have. Kevin Wilson's 2004 survival classic is one of the most authentic video to board game creations i've ever played. For the Marines, each game is a nail biter as instead of dungeon exploration and the collection of loot your goal is to escape Mars base alive. Today Fantasy Flight dropped news that they are rebooting Doom the Board Game with an all new design to pair up to the recent Doom remake.

"Fantasy Flight Games is proud to announce the upcoming release of DOOM: The Board Game, a completely redesigned tactical combat experience for two to five players based on Bethesda’s blockbuster video game, DOOM.

Glory Kill your way to victory as one of the United Aerospace Corporation’s elite marines or grab control of the legions of demons threatening to take over the complex. Each side of DOOM’s asymmetrical gameplay introduces an entirely unique way to play, whether you're struggling to save Mars from being overrun by Hell’s most merciless demons or fighting to crush each marine and conquer the planet once and for all. You and up to four friends will play through a series of missions, the marines attempting to achieve a variety of objectives and the invader orchestrating a barrage of savage demon attacks against them. While the marines can respawn after death, they can only do so a set number of times before the demons claim victory over the mission, threatening not only the UAC’s operation, but the survival of humanity as a whole."

It seems the biggest difference is the new Doom game is less survival run and gun and more of a tactical objective based game.

"DOOM provides two operations of six missions each for your invader and marines to battle through. Every mission takes place on a unique map and presents a different set of objectives and threat levels. The objective cards designated for each mission describe the victory conditions for both the team of marines and the invader, in addition to all associated special rules. The marine’s objectives can vary from securing the battle area to collecting valuable assets, while the invader has just one goal—to kill the marines…repeatedly. "

I'm very excited to know more about this new version as the original has a very special place in my heart and I hope this new game captures how great the original one was.

https://drafts.fantasyflightgames.com/en/news/2016/7/28/the-invasion-is-imminent-1/

According to some very interesting rumors the Nintendo NX might be a tablet with detachable controllers (seen above) that sports an NVidia processor that you can plug into your TV that will take some kind of flash-like game karts. What this basically means is that, if true, Nintendo's next console will be a fairly powerful system while rooted in a touch interface with a traditional controller attached.

If you've been following the site for a while now you know we talked about some of the things we all wanted to see in the NX back in March. In my article I said i'd love it if Nintendo offered a Netflix styled game download system and that the NX should be some mobile experience you could fling to your TV. Looks like we might be getting something better than I envisioned and I am very interested to know more about it.

https://cheerfulghost.com/jdodson/posts/2833/a-couple-thing-nintendo-s-next-console-be

As with most things Nintendo, this device will be tied into their ecosystem and it seems that the rumors explicitly strike out that this is an open Android system. Still, this seems to at first glace, harmonize Nintendo's future in that if the NX will be their console and handheld offering this makes it a nice system to purchase if you want to experience all of the new Nintendo games.

Until Nintendo talks more about the NX these are unconfirmed rumors but they all seem to point to a very interesting system I want to know a lot more about. What do you think, does this seem like something you might be interested in getting and does this leaked design seem like a good way to play games?

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2016-07-26-nx-is-a-portable-console-with-detachable-controllers