Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

Even the Ocean To Release Summer of 2016 As New Site & Trailer Drops

Joni and Sean and the two part super group behind the Indie Zelda-like Anodyne are close to releasing their follow up Even The Ocean. Even the Ocean is a story based side scroller where you "follow Aliph, a technician for Whiteforge City, as she investigates a recent string of power plant failures..." It features an interesting power mechanic that you can balance to use in your favor situationally. From following the game in it's early stages it looks to have changed some but it still looks great.

When the game launches i'll post more but you can find out more by checking the games website.

http://www.eventheocean.com/

We also talked to Joni and Sean back in 2014 about... Read All

Square Enix Giving Away David Bowie Game Omikron The Nomad Soul

Beloved musician and entertainer David Bowie recently passed away to the grief of many. It's hard not to see the effects of Bowie's long career in music and pop culture. Many may not know but David Bowie was featured in a game called Omikron: The Nomad Soul.

"Responding to the desperate pleas of a mysterious character from another dimension, your soul must enter the dark and futuristic city of Omikron. This heralds the beginning of an epic adventure through an increasingly strange and dazzling parallel world, trying to solve the many puzzles that prevent you escaping alive. Think, fight and interact with the immense gaming environment to defeat the menacing demons that... Read All

Hearthstone Dailies For Ghosts: Episode 1 The Show Begins

One goal of 2016 is to do more Cheerful Ghost video projects. Keep the Roundtable going strong, do more local developer interviews and game streaming. I love Hearthstone and I know some of you do too and thought it might make sense to do a new Hearthstone series where I play the game and talk a bit about it. Specifically i'll be focusing on grinding my Hearthstone gold dailies, talk about the game in terms of strategy to help people understand the game a bit more and learn that they can do pretty well playing the game for free. In this first episode I grind out one of my daily quests while playing 3 ranked matches. I talk about and use two of my new decks specifically... Read All

Video Power!

I was not aware of this game show, but as a 90's kid, it would have been my favorite, easily.

If you've not seen it before, I recommend you check it out. It's pretty "rad."

At least check out the theme at the beginning.

Word.

(Also it includes all the commercials, which are an amazing 90's time capsule as well)

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/15/2016 at 05:03am

I __LOVED__ video power as a kid. I watched it as much as I could and really wanted to be on the show. The best part was at the end when the kids ran all over the place and grabbed whatever games they could. I always dreamed about how awesome that would be to be able to grab as many games as possible.

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/15/2016 at 05:08am

Watching this show is something else, I had the intro memorized and wow it's got that incredible 90's rap thing going for it.

Word.

I wonder if this guy was hyped on Coffee, he is really amped for each take. Never really noticed that as a kid, I was just really excited to be watching it.

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/15/2016 at 05:10am

They guy with the guitar isn't actually playing it. The music is all beats and keyboards. He looks "Polly Shore Amazing" holding that guitar though.

Travis Admin wrote on 01/15/2016 at 05:02pm

This is so incredibly 90s. I had forgotten this show existed. I wanted to go through that course and grab games. I remember as a kid being annoyed with kids getting terrible games and passing up great ones. At least the winner in this one got Duck Tales and Batman, two of the best.

As for "hyped on coffee"-- I'm thinking another word that starts with C. They cut out all the times he rubbed his nose or sniffed. This was the early 90s after all, everyone was doing it :D

The commercials in this are amazing. I remember some of them. That Honey Nut Cheerios commercial hit me right in the nostalgia.

And wow, the "fashion" choices, and the 90s mullets.

I was a 90s kid, basically. Born in 81, but I came into who I am in the 90s, and feel the most attachment to that decade. It doesn't seem that long ago, but things like this show just how far back that was.

Travis Admin wrote on 01/15/2016 at 05:09pm

Huh, I wonder if this was the start of eSports.

AdamPFarnsworth Post Author wrote on 01/15/2016 at 05:21pm

This and The Wizard

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/15/2016 at 08:11pm

I think it could have been an early start to eSports and I think the Wizard and the Nintendo World Championships really helped that along for sure.

Having the commercials really does make this video something very special, I remember many of these. I always thought that eastport pack was something really cool but it was just a bag that had a Gameboy in it.

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ASMR Reads 90's EGM Magazines While Whispering

YouTuber ASMR made this video where he pages through Electronic Gaming Monthly while he whispers his thoughts about them. His channel is dedicated to him doing playing games, crinkling plastic and going through magazines while whispering. If you were really excited about looking over some EGM magazines while someone softly talks to you, get ready for an amazing time!

Decided to share this because this was so different I had to share it with somebody.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 01/14/2016 at 02:42am

I dig ASMR. I've been listening to a few different "asmrtists" (I think that's what they call themselves) for years, mostly female, to help me fall asleep. For me, I chalk it up to being an introvert. When I was a kid, and my parents would have people over at the house, one of my favorite things to do was grab a coloring book and hide behind the couch against the wall. I loved the sound of everyone talking, and me in my little world, coloring away. That's what I get out of ASMR. No tingles, unfortunately :).

Travis Admin wrote on 01/14/2016 at 03:55am

Yeah, ASMR videos are just creepy to me. It's like something out of a nightmare.

For more about what we're talking about, if you aren't in the know:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autonomous_sensory_meridian_response

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 01/14/2016 at 07:33pm

I hadn't heard of ASMR until watching this video. I think it could be relaxing, but the consonants popping drove me crazy. I decided to jump around YT for other ASMR videos, and I kinda hate them all for the same general thing. Whispering is cool, but I really don't like consonants, nor tapping/crinkling/noise making that they all seem to like to incorporate.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 01/14/2016 at 08:58pm

I avoid the crinkling. Tapping is alright, as long as it's gentle, and not thrashing the object at hand. I usually listen to these videos with earbuds at very low volumes, so it's never too jarring. This one is one of my favorites: https://www.youtube.com/user/KaylaSuzette .

It can be a little weird, for sure. The roleplay, for me, is unnecessary to the experience, but I'm sure it's fun for the actor to come up with a script of sorts, rather than talk about what they had for breakfast, or other personal things.

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Watch Speedrunner Yagamoth Beat The Secret Of Mana in Less Than Two Hours

We've shared some absolutely incredible speedruns and this one is no exception to that tradition. Speedrunner Yagamoth was present at the 2016 Games Done Quick charity drive which raised 1.2 million dollars for the prevent cancer foundation. His speedrun is of the 90's classic I am currently playing called the The Secret of Mana. Secret of Mana is an old Square game that is a real time hybrid that mixes Zelda and Final Fantasy elements. As Yagamoth runs through the game he talks a bit about it and how he uses glitches to achieve a faster run. Under two hours is a really impressive effort as my current game is well over 15-20 and I just unlocked the final Mana... Read All

Can You Tell Me How To Get, How To Get To Greenland?

http://static.gamespot.com/uploads/original/416/4161502/2457321-population.jpg

AdamPFarnsworth gives this an astounding "Must Play" on the Ghost Scale

This achieves something special, and it would be a shame to miss it.

AdamPFarnsworth gives this a "Must Play" on the Ghost Scale

This achieves something special, and it would be a shame to miss it.

Plague Inc. is a strategy-simulation game in which the player controls a plague which has infected patient zero. The player can choose between various game-modes, plagues and viruses, and complete the objective set by the game-mode by evolving the plague and adapting to various environments. The objectives include, but are not limited to: Infecting and killing the world's population with a pathogen, enslaving the world's population with the "Neurax Worm" or converting the world's population into zombies with the "Necroa Virus". However, there is a time pressure to complete the game before humans, the opponent, develop a cure for the plague.

I just discovered this game... Read All Plague Inc. is a strategy-simulation game in which the player controls a plague which has infected patient zero. The player can choose between various game-modes, plagues and viruses, and complete the objective set by the game-mode by evolving the plague and adapting to various environments. The objectives include, but are not limited to: Infecting and killing the world's population with a pathogen, enslaving the world's population with the "Neurax Worm" or converting the world's population into zombies with the "Necroa Virus". However, there is a time pressure to complete the game before humans, the opponent, develop a cure for the plague.

I just discovered this game (it came out in 2012 originally) and have been really enjoying it! Basically you start off with a disease (depending on the level you're playing it could be a bacteria, a virus, a fungus or many other pathogens, each with different abilities) and you control how it evolves to infect and kill the entire human population.

You have three different areas to evolve the disease in: Transmission - How the disease infects people (could be spread by animals or blood or just in the air or water), Symptoms - How the disease affects people (starting with minor symptoms like coughing or rashes, working up to total organ failure) and Abilities - How the disease fights to stay alive (ability to survive in extreme climates and drug resistance to name some ways)

As your disease progresses, humans will notice it. If you develop your symptoms too early, the humans might find a cure before you have time to spread to everyone. But some symptoms also help spread the disease quicker, so it's a fun balancing act to find creative ways to kill everyone off.

In addition to the standard play modes, there are really unique scenarios. I played one called Santa's Little Helper. Here's the synopsis in game: The world is dark and gloomy. Boring governments worldwide have banned holidays, laughter and celebrations. Humanity has forgotten how to have fun - people dress in grey and spend all their time working. Luckily, the Neurax Worm has teamed up with Santa and is determined to infect the whole world with joy and happiness. In this scenario, you try to infect everyone with a brain controlling parasite that causes them to be happy. If people get too happy, the government notices and tries to find a cure. You can send planes full of "presents" from infected countries to uninfected countries to spread the parasite faster.

Other scenarios I've played have included a resurgence of the Black Death and the Simian Flu (from the new Planet of the Apes movies). In the Simian Flu, not only are you mutating the virus to spread and kill humans, but you also can work to increase ape intelligence and lethality. Unfortunately the Simian Flu scenario was just a sampling. I'll have to buy the various scenario expansion packs eventually.

I don't normally spend money on mobile games, but this is one I think I will. There's so much variety in play on this, I think I can get a lot of bang for my buck.

I definitely recommend checking this game out if you haven't yet!

Diablo III Patch 2.4.0 Drops Next Week Adds New Zone, Armor Sets, Dungeons and More!

"Miles off the coast of Westmarch lies an island that many believe to be little more than legend. Cut off from the rest of Sanctuary’s developed civilizations, Greyhollow was once the center of a grand empire. Often times, such isolated societies grow and advance at incredible rates, and Greyhollow was no different. Its citizens devoted their cause to a mysterious and, as is often the case in Sanctuary, completely evil being. For reasons still unknown to this day, this unimaginably advanced society collapsed, leaving ruin, chaos, and a lingering curse behind."

Diablo III is still getting some major attention from Blizzard and the upcoming 2.4.0 patch contains a bunch... Read All

Travis Admin wrote on 01/11/2016 at 10:54pm

Whoa, they're adding new locations without charging for an expansion, that's great post-launch support. I wonder if it's a teaser for the next expansion.

I guess we can expect one new class and act, since that's what RoS added.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/11/2016 at 10:57pm

True, that said they are not rolling in loot 2.0 or adventure mode, which was a huge revamp of the original progression system and a ton more content plus changes to the online requirement(you are still required to be online but the PC client caches a ton more). So my thought it they will have time for more content? I could be wrong, but it's a nice thought.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 01/13/2016 at 01:11am

Are you guys speculating on a new expansion or is that really expected? I think I'd definitely buy one, assuming it adds to the single player game. As I've stated before, I really do enjoy Diablo III (including RoS), much more than I expected. I'm not sure if this new patch will get me to jump back in. Eventually I'll probably check it out. There are numerous additions I still have not yet experienced, since I've pretty much only focused on Campaign Mode. I did play around a bit with Adventure Mode, though.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/13/2016 at 01:23am

We are talking about an expansion that they haven't discussed.

I'd recommend heading back to d3 at some point to nab the kanai cube. It's like the horadric cube from d2.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 01/13/2016 at 01:40am

Are there sources hinting at an expansion, or are you guys doing some wishful thinking?

Yeah, I know about both, but only by name. I've only very briefly played D2. I remember reading about the Kanai Cube, but I don't remember what I read about it. LOL

Travis Admin wrote on 01/13/2016 at 03:44am

They said early on they were planning on two expansions.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/13/2016 at 04:34am

Frankly if they want to keep launching D3 expansions i'll keep buying them as long as they look good.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 01/13/2016 at 06:06am

@Travis Awesome, I wasn't aware of that.

@Jon I agree!

I found another video going over what's new. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8exDyPoV3fg

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/14/2016 at 06:20am

Here is a nice post on Kotaku about all the new stuff you might want to check out:

http://kotaku.com/eight-cool-things-in-diablo-iiis-new-patch-1752672498

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 01/14/2016 at 06:26am

Wow cosmetic pets pick up gold and Keywardens are shown with an arrow if they're around. That's cool, stuff! Jumping back into the game and playing with the new patch sounds like a cool idea, but now that I have a character of every class and both genders, I'm not sure which one to choose. LOL

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 01/14/2016 at 05:52pm

I started my first Denon Huntress a couple nights ago and I am having a blast playing the game. I also loaded my old SnuggyBunny Witch Doctor and found they've really changed up the skill system significantly since d3 launch. He plays like a totally different character now.

With that, the Demon Huntress is great and I am just going through the story again. It's been a really fun time. I might switch back to an existing character to try Greyhallow at some point though OR just wait till I get there with my DH.

Travis Admin wrote on 01/15/2016 at 05:37pm

I've never heard anyone call the female Demon Hunter a "Huntress" before :D

Greyhallow is a big area but it's not huge. You can get through it all pretty quick.

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Final Fantasy IX Coming to PC

http://media.ignimgs.com/media/ign/imgs/minisites/topN/rpgs/top-100-rpgs_final-fantasy-ix.jpg

Final Fantasy IX is coming to PC via Steam!! I would like to know if you have any of the PC versions of Final Fantasy. I'd also like to know what you think of them and if they have "special features." While I have at least one version of almost every Final Fantasy game, I'm thinking I should get them through Steam.

"The PC version of Final Fantasy IX looks like it will let players turn off random encounters with enemies. According to the Steam page, it features seven game boosters including high speed and no encounter modes.

Additional features include achievements, autosave, and high-definition movies and character models."

Minimum PC System Requirements:

OS: Windows... Read All

Travis Admin wrote on 01/11/2016 at 03:49am

" I'd also like to know what you think of them and if they have "special features"

Yes they do, some of them. The Steam store page will tell you. Like magic boosters, etc. in Final Fantasy VII and VIII.

Travis Admin wrote on 01/11/2016 at 03:54am

Also that processor for "recommended" is insane for this. There's a world of difference between the minimum and recommended CPU. If you need an i5 to max out a port of a game that came out that long ago, there are some issues in the porting process. I imagine it's not accurate and is the CYA stuff that everyone seems to put into system recommendations.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 01/11/2016 at 05:02am

Yeah, I noticed some special features when I looked at the games on the Steam store. That was after I wrote this post, though. One thing I noticed was that "Chocobo World" is included in the FFVIII Steam version. I'll probably get it soon. Watching the video on that Steam page made me shed some tears. I really love that game. "Melodies of Life" is stuck in my head now, too, from watching the FFIX video.

Good point about the system requirements.

Are you going to get it?

What do you think about the Final Fantasy PC versions?

Travis Admin wrote on 01/11/2016 at 02:51pm

I won't get IX for a while. I'll wait for a sale.

I have VII and VIII on Steam but never played them. Though I did dust off my original Final Fantasy VII PC release and install it last year with a graphics mod, just to check it out. Didn't play much.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 01/11/2016 at 04:37pm

I bought VII on Steam a year or two ago and played it once. Unfortunately, the groundbreaking awesomeness that VII was really should have been left in the past. It just didn't translate well into a modern gaming environment. I still remember the game fondly, but did not enjoy picking it back up.

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/11/2016 at 05:18pm

People consider VII to be one of the best games of all time. It might be but I've never played it. Like Adam said the graphics in my eye don't translate as well as 2D pixels do now. It's in that original PlayStation graphics zone where early 3D was great for the time but not as timeless for me.

That said I want to play VII at some point just to see what it's all about.

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/11/2016 at 05:19pm

People harshed on the 64 at the time compare to this PlayStation but I think the graphics of that system due to its space limitations means the games hold up far better.

Travis Admin wrote on 01/11/2016 at 05:35pm

Yeah, VIII works much better these days on my eyes. IX would probably be even better.

But we have a VII remake to look forward to!

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/11/2016 at 05:52pm

Wow my second comment there is horribly written. Don't comment and phone kids!

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 01/11/2016 at 06:28pm

I will definitely take a look at a VII remake.

And Jon, I didn't think it was possible to have a lower view of you, but you just successfully lowered yourself with that horribly written comment. I judge you. :feelsgood:

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 01/11/2016 at 08:22pm

I am guilty of being (or at least having been) a Final Fantasy fan boy. While the rest of FF fandom raves over FFVII, I am more into FFVIII. Travis was the one who introduced me to FF when we were college roommates and it was with FFVIII. I fell madly in love with that game. Don't get me wrong, FFVII is fantastic, great, and I love it, too, but it captures my heart slightly less than FFVIII. I love Rinoa mostly, but I also love other characters. I've felt that I've identified with Squall, even though I've never been an orphan. People have also said I kind of look like him. I also have various "action figures" from the game and I have a life-size replica of his Gunblade, along with some cos-play (low quality) jewelry such as the rings he and Rinoa share along with his necklace.

As for FFIX, I loved it, too, and I played it also while Travis and I were roommates. It does touch my heart as well. "Melodies of Life" is a touching song. Although I love the game, I still remember a few things that were tedious, like in the beginning doing the jump rope with Vivi, trying to earn something special.

It's been a while since I've played any Final Fantasy game, especially the classics I-IX. I did try it out maybe in the last 2 or 3 years on my PS3 and 50" Plasma TV. I think I made it quite far and was grinding on the Island Closest to Heaven and the Island Closest to Hell, but I didn't finish it.

I agree that it's difficult to go back to some of these games with archaic graphics, especially after becoming used to modern graphics, which are much more appealing. However, I'm still thinking about it. Visiting "Chocobo World" in FFVIII is something I've never been able to do, which I can apparently do with the PC version.

I am looking forward to the FFVII remake. I think that game could get me to buy a PS4. FFXIV, I believe is supposed to be coming out this year, which is tempting. FF Type-0 is on Steam, but I've read at least one review saying that it's a bad port from the Vita.

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/11/2016 at 10:19pm

> And Jon, I didn't think it was possible to have a lower view of you, but you just successfully lowered yourself with that horribly written comment. I judge you.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 01/13/2016 at 01:13am

@Travis it looks like you own almost every Final Fantasy game on Steam. I'd love to know what you think of them, assuming you've played them. Also, let me know if you've tried to play them using the XBox 360 controller. As I said, I have various versions of many of them for PSX, PSP, and DS. I even have the NES cart for I and two SNES carts (II and III I think). But, I think having them via Steam would possibly be great.

Travis Admin wrote on 01/13/2016 at 04:01am

I only have three of them, 7, 8 and 13. There are way more on Steam, I hardly own almost every one, though I'd like to have more.

But I've only played a bit of VIII and I don't remember it well. I do remember thinking it looked better, but I didn't play much.

Travis Admin wrote on 01/13/2016 at 04:02am

(I've played all three elsewhere, though, I just got them on Steam for future-proofing)

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 01/13/2016 at 05:56am

Ah my bad. I thought I saw that you owned more of them, I was obviously wrong. I guess I saw the two and my mind just filled in the rest. Hehe

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 01/19/2016 at 08:07pm

FFVIII looks so awesome on the PC! I'm so happy and impressed! The models are the same, but the main ones have been updated and are much less pixelated. Some of the background is pixelated, but it is irrelevant background. The game does look like it got an HD remaster. I've just started and about to head to the Fire Cavern with Quistis. I just thought I'd jump out of the game for a second to post this. I also want to change my button configuration, because I always swap FFVIII's Cancel and Menu buttons.

I also got FFVII, which I will play when I'm done w/ VIII. I'm hoping that IX also got the HD remastered look.

Travis Admin wrote on 01/19/2016 at 09:14pm

Spoiler alert: The steam store page has screenshots and features, so you can see "high-definition movies and character models" as one of the features, and then look at the screenshots to confirm it. :D

So yep, IX did too.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 01/19/2016 at 10:57pm

Sweet! I'm loving FFVIII's new look! I wonder if I should wait until X arrives on Steam to get it or get the PS3 version. The Kingdom Hearts games are tempting, too.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 04/14/2016 at 07:33am

I just got an email saying FFIX is now on Steam (because it's in my wish list)!!!!!

jdodson Admin wrote on 04/16/2016 at 04:00am

Yep, it's out and seems to be getting really great reviews!

Recently I started Final Fantasy VI and it's been very fun.

Azurephile Super Member Post Author wrote on 04/16/2016 at 06:07am

Well #1, I loved it when it came out on the Playstation, #2 it looks so much better now (at least the character models and CG scenes), and #3 I picked it up for a discounted price of about $17.

There are also Steam achievements and in-game "cheat" modifiers you can use, although I never found the game to be extremely difficult.

Anyway, I'm glad you're enjoying FFVI. I was playing FFV on Steam, but haven't played it in a while.

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Our New YouTube Channel Cheerful Ghost Art

For the last couple years we've been going strong with the Cheerful Ghost Roundtable which is a monthly live stream video roundtable show where we talk about all manner of geekery and video games. Recently we've been advertising the livestream more and had a great time in the most recent episode about Star Wars: The Force Awakens. I've also been doing more with video as seen in my recent interview with Wick as well as Let's Plays and Cheerful Ghost mini videos. I've updated our Cheerful Ghost YouTube channel, organized everything into tidy playlists and we just recently added our new YouTube channel art as seen above.

I want to thank Scrypt for working on the amazing... Read All