Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

My Nexus Player Review: One Fantastic Set Top Box

Google recently released the Nexus Player, a high powered Android set-top box. Sporting a Quad-Core 1.8GHZ Intel Atom Chip, 1G of RAM, 8G of storage, a nice bluetooth remote and a hefty 3D chip the Nexus Player is a steal at $100. The Operating Syste running on the Nexus Player is Android TV, a living room UI built on top of it's latest Android Lollipop. After using Android TV for the last few weeks I can safely say that Google has done a great job bringing this to market. The interface is intuitive, quick and useful and as a first iteration device, Google has done a fantastic job.

The Nexus Player is first and foremost meant to stream media to your TV. Up front,... Read All

Interview with Starship Rubicon creator Wick & Jon Dodson

Space! It’s dangerous out there.

December 12th marked the release of Starship Rubicon, a game that hundreds of Kickstarter backers have been waiting two and a half years for, as well as a slew of fans since who have had to make due with the teaser trailers. But Starship Rubicon is noteworthy for another reason: it's the first title published by Cheerful Ghost, marking a new endeavour not only to write about great games, but also to publish them.

After I dove in and experienced the game, from the difficult but not unfairly punishing combat, to the satisfying soundtrack by indie game musician Beatscribe, to the funny quips by the tutorial computer -- I was tickled pink.... Read All

Cygnus Destroyer Resumes Wisdom Tree Series w Sunday Funday

Don't we all want to consume every video about the infamous Wisdom Tree NES games? Apparently I must and really enjoyed Cygnus Destroyers latest verdict on Sunday Funday. If you didn't know, Sunday Funday was a slightly less challenging reskin of Menace Beach. Since Cygnus Destroyer drop the details in his video I won't repeat much more here except to say, if you are interested in learning more about infamous NES classics, you should check the video.

I also just realized he uses the same pointing picture to title each of his YouTube videos. Not a huge complaint, just something I noticed.

A Humble Thank You - $50 million for charity

The Humble Bundle community has helped provide funding for more than 50 charitable organizations, including Child's Play Charity, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, the American Red Cross, charity: water and Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières. These contributions have helped people with disabilities enjoy games, provided emergency medical aid, funded health care, brought books to schools in Africa, brought clean water to developing countries and much more.

"We never imagined after the first Humble Indie Bundle that we might one day reach this milestone," said John Graham, co-founder and COO of Humble Bundle. "It is hard to truly comprehend the magnitude... Read All

Majora's Mask on 3DS. Was it worth it?

I thought i would touch on this subject since i'm currently playing through the game on N64, and share my opinion on the recent revamp of the classic for the newest Nintendo handheld.

In advance, my opinion is very biased for two reasons. One, i don't own a 3DS and will not buy one simply to play this game. Two, as one or two of you may know, i'm very involved in the collection, preservation, and of course playing of classic console games.

That being said, I think this remake will be pretty freakin cool, because Majora's Mask is one of my all time favorite games. Perhaps not as cool as the original though, because face it, it's the exact same game run through a filter... Read All

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 12/17/2014 at 07:27am

http://www.nintendo.com/games/detail/l0_gKWzYFEFKk0MmdUSHMxOJkZg7Z-Rn

Ocarina of Time was released for the 3DS in 2011 (see link above). I believe in the recent video of the upcoming Zelda game for the Wii U, they said that they made some enhancements to the 3DS version of Majora's Mask (see WhiteboySlim's link below).

http://cheerfulghost.com/WhiteboySlim/posts/2320/new-footage-from-the-next-zelda-game

I never played either of these games on the N64. I actually didn't play them until they came bundled with other previous Zelda games as a pre-order bonus I got for Wind Waker (the GameCube version). I think both games are great, though. Sadly, my Wii U won't play GameCube games, so I'd have to hook up my Wii or GameCube to play them. I do own a 3DS, but the only Zelda game I have for it is Link Between Worlds. Also, i do not have the Wii U version of Wind Waker.

It would have been cool to see Wii U remakes of those N64 games, but I imagine they're so small that they'd have to find something else to fit on the Wii U disc. Perhaps that's why they released the games for the 3DS, but that's just my theory.

jdodson Admin wrote on 12/18/2014 at 04:15am

> what is your favorite Legend of Zelda game?

Hands down, Links Awakening. I play that every few years.

> Was this the game that Nintendo should have re-made?

Majoras Mask, for many, is a far superior game to Ocarina of Time. Since i've really only played Ocarina and a _BIT_ of Majoras Mask I am not such a gamer, that said Majoras Mask is a pretty popular game. So on one hand, does everyone that loves MM already own it and have played it a bunch? Sure. But the remake option does open up the game to a whole new audience and people that might not have access to Nintendo 64 hardware like we do.

> Should they have gone all the way and re-released it for the WII-U?

One good part of releasing it on the 3DS is the smaller screen size means it's a bit easier on the eyes whereas getting the image on a 1080p screen might not look as great. So, yeah, a possible re-release on the Wii U might be great and if I think I know Nintendo, they will.

As to why Nintendo chose this first? My thought it because, over time, Nintendo has re-released Ocarina of Time a bunch of times. So, maybe they were finally coming around to MM fans.

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New Steam Controller Design Surfaces

Valvetime has found a new Steam Controller design in the latest Steam beta client. From the Valvetime site:

"The new design, shown below, appears largely similar to the previous iteration and features an analogue stick, four main buttons, and two touch pads.

The most striking change from previous designs is the appearance of a four-point directional guide on the left touch pad. It's not entirely clear just yet how the four-point guide will be used or what it's main purpose is, but we'd imagine the left pad may now feature as a softer, more diverse alternative to the standard D-Pad by offering more directional input than just the standard four-points of motion."

I love... Read All

Cygnus Destroyer Judges Wisdom Tree Games Exodus and Joshua

Cygnus Destroyer is quickly becoming one of my most watched YouTubers. He is continuing his series on Wisdom Tree games with Exodus and Joshua. This was a good episode and features a game I could see myself enjoying as a kid. As always he delivers his verdict and it might not be what you think.

I can't wait till he reviews Spiritual Warfare and Bible Adventures. I don't care what anyone says, those games are good. Not great, but I love them both.

Check Out The Beatscribe Starship Rubicon OST!

Starship Rubicon is a great Roguelike with challenging gameplay great retro 2D art. That said, Rubicon also features some killer music by a fantastic Indie musician. The OST for Starship Rubicon was composed by Beatscribe featuring 6 in game tracks and 2 remixes.

Head over to Bandcamp and check it out!

https://beatscribe.bandcamp.com/album/starship-rubicon-ost

You can check out some of his thoughts on the revamped OST as well.

https://beatscribe.wordpress.com/2014/12/15/cheerful-ghost-and-wick-release-starship-rubicon-with-beatscribe-ost/
https://beatscribe.wordpress.com/2014/09/29/wick-studios-and-cheerful-ghost-to-release-starship-rubicon-with-beatscribe-ost/

Starship Rubicon Release - Lead Humanity To New Earth!

Today is the release of Starship Rubicon and I couldn’t be happier. When I talked to Wick about publishing the game I didn’t expect that it would evolve to what it is today. Releasing a game is new to us both and we are both excited about what comes next. Getting the game in the hands of gamers and giving it the widest exposure possible is our goal and it all starts with you. If you haven’t already, I urge you to pick up the game play it and let us know what you think. If you like it, share it with your friends.

We are happy to be selling Starship Rubicon on our website, itch.io and Desura. We will be working with other game stores to sell the game and if there are any... Read All Today is the release of Starship Rubicon and I couldn’t be happier. When I talked to Wick about publishing the game I didn’t expect that it would evolve to what it is today. Releasing a game is new to us both and we are both excited about what comes next. Getting the game in the hands of gamers and giving it the widest exposure possible is our goal and it all starts with you. If you haven’t already, I urge you to pick up the game play it and let us know what you think. If you like it, share it with your friends.

We are happy to be selling Starship Rubicon on our website, itch.io and Desura. We will be working with other game stores to sell the game and if there are any you love, let us know! If you buy the game on www.starshiprubicon.com one benefit of that is that when we are Greenlit, you will get a Steam Key.

That said, we are still going with our Steam Greenlight campaign, so if you haven’t already head over and give us an upvote!

http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=331311253

For everyone that is not already familiar with the game, Starship Rubicon is a space shoot-em-up that modernizes the physics and mechanics of Asteroids combined with the ship modification and roguelike elements of FTL.

In Starship Rubicon, Earth has been casually destroyed by a mysterious race of space-faring invertebrates. You are a fighter pilot whose cryopod has been collected by a possibly-insane AI, who has placed you in the unenviable position of being humanity’s savior. Shanghaied and alone, you must gather the remaining human survivors and traverse the surprising biodiversity of deep space to find a new home.

Key Features

Quick Gameplay - Pilot your ship in fast-paced shoot-em-up, featuring a unique approach to arcade physics and controls.
Customize Your Ship - Upgrade your ship with a Tetris-styled hangar bay as you find weapons and items on your quest.

Randomized Universe - Make your way through a diverse galaxy as you encounter interesting new lifeforms. Each play session generates a new path of enemies, allies, and items.

Casual Roguelike - When your ship blows up, that’s the end of the line for that game. However, if you collect enough crystal shards by the end of a sector you can save your ship to re-launch it on another level.

A Fleet Of Ships To Play - Do you prefer fast ships for run and gun? Do you like something that takes a punch but isn’t as agile? Start the game with 3 different ships and spend shards to unlock more ships with unique abilities!

Mod-friendly - Since ships and weapons are exposed in simple external .lua scripts, modding and creating your own content only requires a text editor!

Starship Rubicon is available for purchase on PC & Mac on www.starshiprubicon.com

If you are wanting even more of the Starship Rubicoin experience you can listen and purchase the Soundtrack by BeatScribe on Bandcamp: https://beatscribe.bandcamp.com/album/starship-rubicon-ost Oh Yes!

I just wanted to finally mention that due to some technical issues, the Linux build of Starship Rubicon will come a bit later than we wanted. We plan on releasing it and it will be as good as the version on PC and Mac it just needs a little more time in the oven.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 12/15/2014 at 09:16pm

I played the "final beta" again today and I was surprised that I made it passed one level. I learned a few things the last time I played, but that's probably because I sadly haven't spent much time playing the game. One of the things I learned was to stop firing so that the shields can come back on. I also think using the left SHIFT key feels natural and am glad that the controls feel right. I seem to be better with the third ship. It's big and has more armor.

Congratulations, again, on the release of the game. I hope it's a success!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 12/15/2014 at 09:19pm

> I seem to be better with the third ship. It's big and has more armor.

The Zukov is also a ship I really like. That said, lately I've really enjoyed using The Warbird.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 12/15/2014 at 11:00pm

Yeah, you're right. The Warbird is cool, too.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 12/17/2014 at 07:34am

I'm getting better at playing the game! I've beaten 2 or 3 levels now. The farthest I've reached was with the first ship.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 12/17/2014 at 04:28pm

That's great Greg. I think the furthest I've gotten to date is level 5? That level is pretty tough

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 12/17/2014 at 06:10pm

After I posted, I made it to the Sol system. I suspended and saved that game though, so I still have to continue.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 12/19/2014 at 08:24pm

Well, I've completed the Sol system. My current game is suspended and saved, an option I enjoy. I've still learned a lot about the game. Now, I make sure I collect all the little blue dots before I go to the next battle area. I'm using the first ship a lot more as it seems better balanced and has great shields. I've also been able to repair quite a few times and add on upgrades in the hanger.

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Starbound Winter Update Trailer. Shows Novakids, New Items++

Starbound just dropped a new trailer showing off all the things coming in the Winter update. They claim the Winter update will come in January, but as with all things it could slip some.

What do you think of the video? Will you head back to Starbound after this update? This video seems to feature much more of the content we were promised when we originally backed the game last year.

I've been fairly mixed on Starbound so far but one thing I am not mixed on is how amazing Curtis Schweitzer score is!

From mollygos:

"As Finn noted yesterday on Twitter, we’re trying to push these updates to the unstable branch next week and, depending on how that goes, pushing them to the... Read All

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 12/15/2014 at 02:39am

Last night, I watched a video about the Coffee Quest by Paul Soares Jr. (if you haven't noticed, I frequently check up on the video's he's uploaded to YouTube). I was thinking of playing Starbound today (I've done the nightly builds), but I didn't get around to it. Instead, I played Hyrule Warriors. However, I am looking forward to how Starbound has changed since I last played the nightly build (months ago) and how the stable version will change. I know you like the score, Jon, but I'm frankly tired of it. I want new music! Still, I've been keeping up-to-date with the game's progress by checking the game's website here and there.

Travis Admin wrote on 12/15/2014 at 04:20am

The score is incredible. I had forgotten just *how* incredible until watching the video.

But wow, they've made a ton of improvements since the last time I played. I look forward to getting back into it, but I may wait until the final releases instead of jumping in now.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 12/15/2014 at 03:30pm

I think I might check out the changes in the Winter update. Not sure if i'll play a ton of it, but if I do, i'll be talking about it here

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 01/29/2015 at 12:29am

The new stable update will be available soon. I've started playing the nightly build and am currently working on a new post. Here are details of the new stable update: http://playstarbound.com/hark-a-stable-update-v-upbeat-giraffe/

It's time to get back into Starbound! I'm very happy to report, in short, that the game is worth getting back into. I've been enjoying it and am working on a much more in-dept post about my most recent game play.

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