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I Went To PAX Prime 2014 And All I Got Was This Imgur Album

Been posting a flurry of things about some of the games I saw this year at PAX 2014. This isn't about any game specifically, but a place to dump all the pictures I took. They didn't all turn out as works of art, but they do highlight some of the cooler things I saw. One thing the pictures don't capture is how insane and crowded PAX Prime is. The crowds being the prime reason why I can really only handle the event for one day.

That said, it was fun attending and there really isn't anything quite like it. Click through my imgur album below and also realize the order of photos is reversed.

http://imgur.com/a/CdsO2

Risk of Rain To Get a Huge Update In a Month

http://riskofraingame.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/screenshot163.png

Risk of Rain is a great indie side scrolling rogue-like that features some really amazing visuals and gameplay. Saturday at PAX Prime my friends in the Portland Indie game community wanted to play a new version of the game and I went with them. They were showing off a build of the game they have yet to release featuring a new character, the Chef. The Chef is a Bender-esque robot that features a special ability that shoots out a bunch of cleavers in every direction. It looks like a cool addition to the game and everyone that played it seemed to really enjoy it.

I talked to some of the Risk of Rain developers about possible Linux and Mac ports as well as supporting the... Read All

I Played Super Meat Boy Forever At PAX Prime And I Sucked

I attended PAX Prime this year on Saturday and perused a ton of new Indie games. One game that caught my attention was Super Meat Boy Forever. I was alerted to it by Travis and saw it at the Indie Megabooth. I watched a few people play it and immediately realized how great this game will be. When I first heard that Team Meat was working on a possible mobile Meat Boy game I didn't think it would work. After watching Super Meat Boy Forever and playing it, I can say that unless they change the game from what I played to make it worse, this game will be great.

In a world of really lame endless runners, Super Meat Boy Forever propels the genre forward by creating richer... Read All

If an Attack on a Compound Occurs That No One Sees...

So, I'm just now finishing Wolfenstein: The New Order, and was quite pleased with the bulk of it, but I have a couple questions. Firstly, am I supposed to beat the game on Uber to get a more complete ending? If not, are we to presume that B.J. dies, or does the sound of the helicopter after the credits imply that he was rescued? Secondly, and more importantly, I totally thought the whole thing was going to be some dream or hallucination, due to the events that happened shortly after the Nazis "shut down" the asylum at the beginning of the game. When you are running around in your hospital gown, killing lots of Nazis, the colors on the screen change drastically from... Read All

Travis Admin wrote on 08/30/2014 at 01:49pm

I don't think they would do the "it was all a dream" thing. It would cheapen it significantly. I think the ending was left ambiguous because it works well as an end to BJ's story, or as a great segue into a sequel.

scrypt Supporter Post Author wrote on 08/30/2014 at 06:33pm

What do you make of the lighting change in the asylum when BJ comes out of his dormant state? I especially thought it interesting that there were several references to the shrapnel still lodged in his brain. There were other comments to, by Fergus, that I thought sounded like he was implying that the situation near the end of the game was ideal for BJ due to him being a Nazi killing machine, compounded with the fact that almost the entire world was now Nazi's (I'll have to go back and listen more closely to what he says).

jdodson Admin wrote on 08/30/2014 at 07:11pm

You know it may have been. That might be how they bring the world back to normal? Glad you wrote this bEcause I honestly hadn't considered it.

I _HOPE_ ey are going to do some DLC because I'd love more of the game.

scrypt Supporter Post Author wrote on 08/31/2014 at 07:30pm

Playing through again through Wyatt's timeline is proving interesting. With my perks leveled up as they are, Uber doesn't seem as crazy as I thought it would be, but I'm assuming will be pretty brutal against Mecha-Deathshead. I really like Wyatt's story, so far, even if the "choice" interaction seems a little more contrived here. Wyatt feels guilty for the people that died under his command, I get that, but he also seems like a thoughtful, more empathic soul than, say, Fergus, and the animosity toward BJ for the choice that he made doesn't feel quite as believable. I really like the implication of "J" and what he brings to the story. One of the better game+ experiences I can remember.

scrypt Supporter Post Author wrote on 08/31/2014 at 09:38pm

One thing that really sucked, was going through the submarine. It just made me wish MachineGames would make a Bioshock game.

jdodson Admin wrote on 08/31/2014 at 10:18pm

Yeah, I bet they'd do a great job with it too.

jdodson Admin wrote on 08/31/2014 at 10:19pm

I saved Fergus in my first playthough(I think most people did) and want to play it again saving Wyatt. Interesting they let you choose so you could come back and replay it.

Sounds like you liked the Wyatt choice better as far as the story went?

scrypt Supporter Post Author wrote on 09/01/2014 at 01:30am

Again, I've been drinking (see your latest PAX post), but I think I do like Wyatt better. Fergus is a bit of a downer. Wyatt has a small breakdown when you get to that "choice" FMV, but otherwise, he's a really positive person, despite the hell that's around him. I think, in terms of how I would rather handle a situation (like Nazi's taking over the world), I'd rather have a positive view of the hell I'm in, as opposed to being bitter. Not that Fergus is a bitter character through and through, but he leans on it hard sometimes. Which might just come from age. They've both seen, and been through, some shit. They both have a reason to hate the world and the people they hold responsible for leading them to it. Wyatt just seems to handle it with a bit more grace. The impact to the story, though quantifiably small, is enough to make the experience uniquely different.

scrypt Supporter Post Author wrote on 09/02/2014 at 11:47pm

"J" is definitely the best reason to play Wyatt's timeline :D

jdodson Admin wrote on 09/03/2014 at 01:35am

Yeah, I didn't see that character at all when I played the game. Good reason to head back to it.

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Diablo III 2.1.0 Patch Drops - Are You Heading Back To Play?

What's included in patch 2.1.0? In short: Seasons, Greater Rifts, Leaderboards, The Cesspools, Treasure Rooms & balancing. Oh and...

"An additional Stash Tab is now available for all players with Reaper of Souls."

Awesome.

Read about all of the features of the Diablo III 2.1.0

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/blog/15487814/patch-210-now-live-8-26-2014

Blizzard seems to really be enhancing the game for hardcore Diablo players to give them even more content than before. With the changes, are you planning on heading back to Sanctuary? As a special bonus to help get players back this week, Blizzard mentioned that..

"To celebrate the arrival of this major content update, all... Read All

GOG Now Sells DRM Free Films

GOG.com just launched an interesting new feature: DRM free films. Starting with a few movies like "Indie Game: The Movie", "Minecraft: The Story of Mojang", "Gamer Age" & "The Startup Kids." If you head over to GOG right now you can download two films for free "TPB AFK: The Pirate Bay Away From Keyboard" and "The Art of Playing."

Movies, coupled with Linux support and the upcoming GOG Galaxy, GOG is really becoming a first class digital game service. I hope the DRM free films movement takes off and we see more great content come to it.

http://www.gog.com/movies

Dungeons And Dragons Is a Real Serious Problem

When I grew up I heard that Dungeons and Dragons was an evil game that was created by Satan as a gateway to the occult. The idea was that if you played it your mind would be invaded by evil and that evil would take root in your soul such that you might one day worship Satan or vote for a liberal president.

These kinds of videos remind me that some people still think odd things about the world. When I cast a spell in Skyrim or make Mario shoot a fireball, I don't spend time trying to figure it out in real life(mainly because it's impossible). I would love to live in a world where magic was real so I could be the oldest student at Hogwarts(or it's United States sister... Read All

Timogorgon Member wrote on 08/26/2014 at 05:14pm

Still waiting for my Hogwarts acceptance letter... Yup... Stiiiiiiill waiting...

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 08/26/2014 at 05:50pm

Me too...

scrypt Supporter wrote on 08/27/2014 at 04:28pm

I love the part at the beginning where he says that the kids are into things that "we know absolutely nothing about," even down to how to turn the machine on. It's interesting how many people will come from that position, and yet proceed to judge, based on appearances, conjecture, fear, tradition, in the name of what's right, just so that they have something to say against whatever is going on. Why are we so defensive, as a society? What is it that we think will happen if we open our minds before we open our mouths?

Orionnoir wrote on 08/27/2014 at 05:23pm

Scrypt nailed it. Ignorance breeds fear. Its easier to yell 'devil' when you encounter something you don't understand and in this case CONTROL the minds of the children and take them away from the fold in which they want to KEEP them. But I am just free thinking here without trying to name names... Man this stuff fires me up... lol

Ben_Dodson wrote on 08/27/2014 at 07:19pm

I agree. Fear of the unknown gets people to do weird things. As jdodson said we grew up with the explanation of "It is wrong". Leaving things with that sort of explanation (as a father of 5 kids that I am) promotes a justifiably "Why?" question. We need to understand and not throw rocks at kids and their form out entertainment. With the age of this video now adults. It also gives us a chance to see how inventive and creative people can be in their world around them. With out D&D I do not think we would have had some our most amazing and favorite games we all grew up with and experience to this day. Brining out creativity in people is always something we need to do. And if you disagree with what it promotes. That's good. Stay away. Let the dreamers dream and build us an even better world to live in.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 08/27/2014 at 07:23pm

I agree, D&D really did influence a ton of the awesome games we have now. Neverwinter Nights, Magic, etc. I really appreciate how games build on that sort of thing.

Then again, one could argue that ALL of that is based on Tolkiens work too. I mean, yeah, if shooters are "Doom clones" then fantasy stuff is a "Tolkien clone."

/i love the hobbit book so much

Ben_Dodson wrote on 08/27/2014 at 07:25pm

Yes, roots go way back. I am sure Tolkien was inspired by something as a child to bring his imagination to a level where amazing things came from.

Keep Dreaming!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 08/27/2014 at 08:23pm

I think he said Beowulf. Oh yeah, memory does serve.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._R._R._Tolkien's_influences

MoonWyrd Supporter wrote on 08/27/2014 at 08:25pm

In case anyone is interested National Geographic did a rather interesting show about Tolkien's influences. A good deal of the info is here - http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngbeyond/rings/influences.html.

I thought the bit about "...some social misfit off in the corner playing D&D..." I played D&D for years before I met someone I would have characterized as a social misfit. But as has been pointed out, he is speaking out of ignorance. I can only imagine how horrified these folks must have become be the like of UltimaOnline, EverQuest, and WoW.

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Super Time Force Ultra Comes To Steam August 25th

After it's initial debut on XBox 360 and XBox One, Super Time Force is coming to PC on Steam August 25th. The Steam release is not only adding "Ultra" to the name but is getting a ton of new content.

"STFU brings all the insane time-travel action of Super Time Force to PC along with brand new bonus content including: 50 new Helladeck challenge levels, inter-dimensional Ultra Force powers and 3 super-awesome, super-secret new characters! STFU is the ultimate in personal computing time travel technology!"

The Iconic Double-Barreled Shotgun

Take a trip through the history of one of the most iconic weapons in video games, the double-barreled shotgun. After hitting the scene in Doom II the double-barreled shotgun has been used in tons of shooters. It's a great gun, but in shooters of late the reload time has been a bit higher than i'd prefer. That said, there isn't anything i'd rather have at the Zompocalypse.

Cheerful Ghost Roundtable - Listening

Every other Wednesday, a few of us here in the Cheerful Ghost community come together and talk about video games and the industry that produces them. This week, with the events that have transpired in our country, we felt it necessary to focus our attention on bigger issues. However, as we discussed the episode as a group, we were humbled by the weight of it all, our thoughts heavy on what the family of Michael Brown, and the city of Ferguson, are going through. We concluded that it would be much more productive to push that focus away from our own voices, and listen closer to those, not just in Ferguson, but around the country, that need to be heard. We hope that you... Read All