Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

GOG.com announces an optional, DRM free client: Galaxy

GOG is joining the ranks of PC Game clients like Steam and Origin with GOG Galaxy, a purely optional client to let you manage your GOG library.

This will automate game downloads, automatically update your games, let you show off your achievements to your friends, etc. But it is in no way mandatory, and if you choose to use it, you don't have to be online for any offline features.

This is exciting news. I always loved GOG for being a DRM-free option for buying games, but hated the loss of the convenience Steam provides. Steam kinda controls the board in the PC gaming marketplace these days, so I hope this provides some extra competition to make the whole scene even... Read All

Mortal Kombat X Looks Like A Fighting Game Killer

It's a pre-rendered fight scene but even if the game looks half that good with some of the mechanics they showed, it should be fun. I played a bit of the latest Mortal Kombat incarnation and I was a pretty big fan.

Hopefully it skims a nice balance between doing service to the old characters and game as well as bringing something new to the table.

The game will ship in 2015 on PS3, PS4, 360, XBox One and PC.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 06/05/2014 at 01:21pm

That was probably the most brutal game trailer I've ever seen! Jeebus! Poor Sub-Zero...

While some of that is pre-rendered, I'd be willing to bet that the fighting from the side-view perspective is pretty close to what they'll be able to pull off in-game on the new consoles, if they aren't doing it already. Might be a stretch, but I wouldn't be surprised. It's just nice to see Mortal Kombat back in the spotlight, after such a long string of crap games.

I enjoy fighting games with the company of good friends. Most of the time I get my ass handed to me, unless I'm Paul Phoenix or Ryu. Then it's 50/50. I wanted to pick up the last MK or Injustice, but there isn't as much incentive to play, without friends nearby.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 06/05/2014 at 03:11pm

*watching* "That's not that brutal of a traile.... oh wait. Yeah, that's Game of Thrones worthy"

I love fighting games when company is over, but I'm also looking forward to the online gameplay.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 06/05/2014 at 08:44pm

Yeah, it's hard to make of this what will be real and what won't be. If it's about half of what's show then i'll be pretty happy.

I agree, with you scrypt, fighting games are best played with friends.

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Are All Games Worth $60? Uhm, No, Not Really.

Boogie2998 is one of the YouTube personalities I enjoy watching. Not only do I enjoy his Francis character rage against the latest video game news, but I enjoy listening to his commentary too. In this latest vlog he talks a bit about AAA pricing and dat $60 price tag. I agree with him that not every AAA game is $60 and he notes that will most likely or is already changing.

He also notes that he felt, to make the game FEEL like it was worth $60 that the fetch quests in Wolfenstein were tacked on. He also though missions were added in to make the game longer and give people more value. Whereas I don't feel that when I play it myself, I can see the criticism. Often time... Read All

Hotline Fortress 2: Wrong Number

I am not a huge Team Fortress 2 fan, but this mashup trailer of the Hotline Miami universe with the Team Fortress 2 universe is pretty epic.

That said, it is also pretty violent so be forewarned.

Compare it to the original Hotline Miami 2 trailer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=exg_OxsaHyY

Awaiting Arrival - Tangiers

"Tangiers is a tense stealth game set within the confines of a dark, self-destructive world. Disregarding the analogue, 'puzzle' trappings common to third-person examples of the genre, Tangiers closely follows the emergent 'immersive sim' mould of Thief. While reverent to the roots of the stealth genre, Tangiers also exists as an homage to the darker avant-garde of the 20th century. Unfolding as the player progresses into a world built in the shadow of William Burroughs, J.G. Ballard, Dada, Early Industrial and many, many others."

Features:

Sandbox, shadow based stealth gameplay closely modeled on the Thief series (not the fourth one).

Steal language, re-using it to... Read All

XCOM Coming to SteamOS/Linux This Summer

Remember when the tide started turning and publishers were coming on board to port more games to SteamOS and Linux? I do too, because that time is now as seen in this latest news of XCOM Enemy Unknown coming to Linux. 2K has tapped Feral Interactive to do the port, which is interesting considering they port games to Mac.

If this is a broader move by 2K to port successful titles to SteamOS/Linux this will make for a very interesting year.

Fan Recreation of The Another World Intro

When I first saw the intro scene for Another World, I was really impressed. The kind of 3D graphics it showcases blew my mind as it seemed computer graphics had leaped years into the future. I really liked playing the demo of Another World and then the full version at my friends house, but due to not having the full version I never beat it.

Can't tell you how many times I watched this intro scene and played the first parts of this game. To this day, I am pretty good at jumping over the worm and dodging that wolf thing at the beginning of the game because that's about as far I made it.

Checkout a fan recreation of the original intro scene above. The recreation is pretty... Read All

Cheerful Ghost Will Publish It's First Game By Years End

I started Cheerful Ghost because I wanted to create a place where I could talk about video games with my friends. When the site shipped it needed to do three things: hold my video games to my list, allow me to write about any game in my list and share that conversation on the everyone on the web. As the site marched on we started interviewing people in gaming, the Cheerful Ghost Roundtable started & the event system was built. Over the last year I have been involved in the Portland Indie game scene and in our last Roundtable episode, was able to get Will Lewis, the founder of PIGSquad to join us.

As Cheerful Ghost has evolved as a community we have become much... Read All

scrypt Supporter wrote on 06/03/2014 at 01:51am

Interesting. I could see a bit of a conflict of interest, and ambiguity where a review from a community member might be mistaken as advertising. Will the community arm and the publishing arm fall under the same "Cheerful Ghost" name? That sounds... challenging.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 06/03/2014 at 01:52am

I do think it's a cool idea, the publishing!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 06/03/2014 at 01:56am

Thanks for the input.

Cheerful Ghost is a great community site that will also be publishing games. The trick in that no video game site, to my knowledge has ever done this. Can we do it right? I am confident we can and am open to ideas people have on it.

The site will get a few changes to support the games better and before I do anything i'll run them by a few people. If you want to be on that list i'd love to discuss them with you.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 06/03/2014 at 02:17am

This is interesting news, indeed! I'm curious as to what this entails and I may need to do some research on my own about video game publishing so that I can better understand this news. I'm looking forward to seeing more about this new aspect of Cheerful Ghost and I'd be glad to help out.

Travis Admin wrote on 06/03/2014 at 03:04am

Exciting stuff! I can think of few things in gaming more rewarding than bringing awesome stuff to gamers.

Side-note: do we use the word "awesome" too much? :D

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 06/03/2014 at 03:08am

@Travis: Cut down on the awesome's per minute in the release. And yeah, I do use that word to much.

Sungorth wrote on 06/03/2014 at 05:19pm

hopefully i didnt skim too much - whats the game? Genre, developer ..

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 06/03/2014 at 05:31pm

@Sungorth we aren't talking about the game yet, but don't worry.. we will.

That said, I can say that it's fun and will ship on Windows, Mac and Linux.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 06/03/2014 at 06:05pm

This is great! I really can't wait to see what happens!

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 06/03/2014 at 07:10pm

What parts of video game publishing will CG be participating in (licensing, marketing, financing, etc.)?

scrypt Supporter wrote on 06/03/2014 at 07:14pm

It really is a cool thing, and I hope it really takes off! Sorry to be an initial naysayer. It was a rather unexpected post :D. I guess we aren't like most other video game sites, not strictly 'journalists', per se, nor bound by any such creed. I think you can make it happen, and the bit about clarity would be a good thing. Exciting times! :)

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 06/03/2014 at 08:08pm

@scrypt Conflict of interest was one of the first things I asked about to Jon in person. It's a totally legitimate question :)

Timogorgon Member wrote on 06/04/2014 at 01:35am

Say whaaaaaaaaat? That's crazy, and awesome, and awesomely crazy. Damn it, I think I used awesome too many times...

Does this mean you can go to E3? Or maybe send a CG representative? Like someone who already loves games and lives in California? :D

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 06/04/2014 at 01:44am

Yeah it was a bit unexpected. Honestly as I was writing it and then thinking about it after I posted, it was surprising to me to. Surprising in that it's so odd for a game site to publish games. Because of the kind of community Cheerful Ghost is, it makes more sense but it still kind of loops me sometimes.

That said, lets keep talking and if anyone has any ideas to make it better, let me know.

GregoPeck: What we are doing is partnering with people making games to help them get the word out. So i'll help them get it on digital game stores, figure out pricing and the like. Also figure out how to talk about the game, make some videos of it, help them refine it some and take care of a ton of other hard to see details. Basically help them such that they can focus on making the game great.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 06/04/2014 at 01:46am

WhiteboySlim: I imagine after we publish a few games it will open up for us to go to events we didn't go to before. As to which, no idea but if E3 presents itself and I can't go, i'll think of you.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 06/04/2014 at 02:22am

That's cool, Jon. It sounds like you're focusing on the marketing aspect of it. I think it's a cool idea! I'm not familiar with many digital game stores and don't know how many there are, but I imagine Steam is one of the big ones to consider.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 06/04/2014 at 04:04am

Steam is on my list for sure.

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Retro Game Challenge 2 fan translation completed

I just dusted off my Nintendo DS and made sure it still worked.

Retro Game Challenge (the western title for Game Center CX: Arino no Chōsenjō), was one of the best games I played for the Nintendo DS. There was a sequel, only released in Japan, that I've been longing for ever since.

The game series is based on the TV show Game Center CX, or Retro Game Master in Kotaku's translation. It's a charming show that is hard to find in the US, unless you know Japanese. Arino, the host, interviews people in the gaming world, and plays through classic games. You can check out the first episode here-- definitely not the best but the easiest to find with subtitles:
... Read All

Prison Architect Alpha 21: Prisoner Drug Addition & Reform

"Prisoners can now take drugs (typically smuggled in through visitation), and develop addictions. Addiction gets stronger with each use of a drug, and prisoners go into withdrawal if they do not get their drugs fix quick enough. Some prisoners arrive with existing addictions, other prisoners try drugs when bored or dissatisfied. All drugs have a chance to cause an overdose, which is lethal unless immediately treated by a Doctor.

Two new Reform programs have been added to help combat drug addiction:
- Methodone program, a chemical suppliment that helps remove the craving of addicted prisoners
- Alchoholics anonymous meeting, a group therapy session aimed at reducing the... Read All