Cheerful Ghost Roundtable

First impression: GTAV Online?! Wow! I played it a little, but not very much. I don't think there were enough people around to do most of the online missions. I do like the character I created, I think he kind of looks like me and Squall. I'm looking forward to seeing what you have to say about that and Oblivion! I played GTA V and Oblivion at about the same time. Well, I played GTA V at night so as to carefully not expose my son to it. Hehe. I should shut up and watch this video. =)

Tim! It's good to know you're WhiteboySlim! *fist bump* For what you said about GTA V and playing while kids are sleeping. Also for the Pokemon mention. Gaming Dads unite!! LOL

Hehehe, I didn't have much trouble creating my GTA Online character and am actually pleased with what I have. My PSN name is GregoPeck, feel free to send me an invite.

Travis, the only issue I had with Oblivion is that one spot there in the south where the terrain narrows and it says, "you cannot go that way." I didn't like having to repair my gear, but once I mastered that skill, it wasn't that much of a pain. I think I agree with a friend who said that Oblivion was harder than Skyrim. I remember how often I died in Oblivion, but then again, once I got to a certain point, things were ok.

Oh, Jon! Thanks for mentioning me! I just heard that while you guys were talking about Pokemon.

Couple notes on the episode:
1. We forgot to discuss pricing on Steam machines! One complaint about the Steam Machines is that some of them are priced in the thousands. But there are different machines for different budgets (One as low as $499 if memory serves me correct). So I don't think that'll be a huge problem.
2. Alienware is saying that you actually CAN mod their steam machine, it just wont' be easy. Source: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2014-01-23-alienware-wont-prevent-users-from-modding-steam-machine

@GregoPeck I'll probably be on GTA online tonight after the kids to to bed (around 8pm pst). I'll send you a friend request when I get home and invite you to the Cheerful Ghost crew.

Awesome, Tim! My son's bed time is also 8pm, but he hasn't had school all week due to the weather. I did, however, play the game a little bit while he was around, but I've denied his request to play it. He's 9.

I'm back to continuing to watch the video (I had to run out for an appointment and some grocery shopping).

Hey, RedChocobo! Awesome name, although I prefer the blue ones. Hehehe. I've heard of Project Zomboid, but only because in one of the random comments Minecraft says when starting up I've seen, "Try Project Zomboid." I've also seen it say, "Try Terraria."

Tim, I noticed that you're on the West coast (lucky!), and I'm on the East. In fact, I believe Jon is, too. Travis and I are here on the East Coast. So, I'll have to take your time into consideration (4 hour difference).

I'm envious of you two Westerners! But that's cool, Cheerful Ghost, from coast to coast!

@RedChocobo: I've looked into Kerbal space program and it looks really cool, but maybe a little more complicated than I want in a video game. If it's ever part of a bundle or massively discount I might pick it up though. Project Zomboid, however, looks awesome. I will get that one once it's a little further in development, possibly after they add multiplayer. And yeah, we did end up mentioning a lot of main stream games this time. That's because my new years resolution was to sell out. :P j/k

It says a lot when straight up rum tastes better than the egg nog.

I can't quite think of my Top 3 of 2013, but maybe a Top 5. Batman Arkham Origins, Minecraft, Oblivion, GTA V, and Terraria are all on that list (not necessarily in order).

That story is going to haunt me for awhile.

With special guest: My cat's butt.

I think one of the biggest advantages that console gaming has over the PC market is that guarantee that a game you buy for your console will just work (well, after some updates usually). We'll see how Valve handles things like minimum requirements for certain games.

It's pretty cool hearing you guys talk about Terraria. I wasn't as excited about the new patch as you, only because I just started playing with the new release. It's still awesome and the more I hear about it, the more I want to get back into the game. Some of the drops you mentioned (like the Slime Staff), are new and unknown to me. I pretty much agree with you about containment of Corruption or Crimson, but I never found a reason to try to stop it, I just let it go and thought it was cool.

I think I probably like the characters of GTA V more than Travis. I thought Franklin was more of the "good guy," Trevor was the crazy "bad guy," and Michael was in between the two. Still, I liked all three main characters, I thought they were cool. I wasn't fond of some of the other characters (like Trevor's ICP-looking friend and Maude). Poor Lazlow, though. Still, the game did have plenty of "nasty" (to put in in a more PG way) people and so some of the characters were that much more fun to "take out." As Franklin (spoiler alert!) I didn't kill Trevor or Michael, I chose to take out Steve instead, since he suggested I kill one of my cohorts, plus he was one of the "nasty" characters (meaning he violated the Wil Wheaton philosophy). I did enjoy the game and thought it was beautiful and fun, but too short. I've barely spent any time in GTA Online, but that may change soon. I was, however, pleased with the character I created. Ok, that said, I'm going to get back to watching the video.

Jon, I like how you just mentioned the Kindle Lending Library as I was thinking of that as you're talking about Steam. I think that would be a cool thing to do, to be able to share games with people.

Damn it! That's twice the placeholder image has been me. WHY DOES THE CAMERA LOVE ME?

I like this console talk and history of. I thought I'd add mine. My cousin had a NES, I didn't have one, but I had the original Gameboy, which my cousin had also. During that time I played the NES with my cousin and friends. The same goes for the SNES. Also, in my high school years, I had a Sega Game Gear. I still want a Genesis. I'd say in the mid-90's I was more of a PC gamer when I got my first Windows PC, previously I was playing games on our Commodore 128D (C64 backwards compatible). Before I went off to college, I got a N64, was great and I was still involved in Nintendo handheld gaming. Then, I went to college and was introduced to the Final Fantasy series, especially FFVIII. That's when I got my first PlayStation and then later PlayStation 2. There was one point while I was still in college where I had all three major consoles, a PS2, an XBox, and a Gamecube. Since then, I've owned multiple versions of a Nintendo handheld (such as the Gameboy Advance, Gameboy SP, and probably at least 3 generations of the DS). I now have a Wii, 3DSXL, and a PS3. Oh, and even though I got rid of my original XBox, I got one again in recent years, only so that I could play Buffy the Vampire Slayer again (which I also own the Gamecube version of). Lately I'm back and forth between the handhelds and console. I should also mention that I have 2 generations of the PSP, which I hardly touch anymore. Minecraft and Terraria have kind of gotten me back into PC gaming again, but I haven't really done much PC gaming in recent years (I need to upgrade my hardware, which for some unknown reason I find myself reluctant to do).

Wow, Travis, you mentioned Duke Nukem Forever! I agree with you, it's not all that great. I did play through it, but it didn't appeal to me as greatly as Duke Nukem 3D did. I've thought about trading in Forever, but I know I won't get much back on it.

LOLing @ Travis!!!

Thanks, guys for quoting Will Wheaton. If only the rest of the Internet could follow that one simple piece of advice.

Good stuff guys, especially for a first episode! After watching the video, I'm even more bummed that I missed out! I mean, I had bathed and everything... ;)

You don't even want to know how many hours I've put into my top game. It's depressing even for me.

Jon, you remind me of Layne Staley (lead singer of Alice in Chains), maybe it's your hair and facial hair style. Anyway, I'm enjoying the 2nd (for me) Roundtable discussion and look forward to seeing more!