Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

GOG.com to support Linux in the Fall

In the best-news-of-the-week department, GOG.com has announced that they will be adding a slew of Linux games in the fall. When Linux support launches, expect at least 100 games with Ubuntu and Mint supported fully (which means Debian and its variants should work as well with a little encouragement). More games and a wider base of supported distributions will be added later.

It's important to note here that they will be bringing in games that already have a native Linux version, as well as porting new games to the platform.

For quite some time now (years?), Linux support has been the #1 requested feature on GOG.com. Good to finally see the "in progress" badge on it.

For... Read All

New Gauntlet Game Announced for PC and SteamOS

I have been itching for a new version of Gauntlet for quite some time and it seems WB Interactive is tapping Arrowhead Studios to the task. They have announced the game will initially ship on PC with Steam and later come to SteamOS.

Snip from the press release...

"... Gauntlet, a completely modernized action RPG version of the celebrated dungeon crawler, will be available this summer via Steam for PC, offering full support for SteamOS and the upcoming Steam Machines shipping the second half of this year."

The trailer for the game looks like a nice next step for Gauntlet but I am curious how they will improve the hack in slash formula the game invented so long ago. What... Read All

Star Trek Online Captain's Log Stardate 03.15.2014

https://pwimages-a.akamaihd.net/arc/0e/ca/0eca5ace8d5a729917152fbb680e0d921388694932_775x480.jpg

I started to play Star Trek Online months ago on the older computer that I built. It wasn't pretty. Once I got the new PC, I decided to try it out and it was so much better! I was still in the tutorial, which I was able to almost finish, except I got stuck. Instead of staying on the space station, I beamed down to Starfleet Academy, thinking that's where the Admiral was that I was supposed to talk to to end the tutorial. I was wrong and I was stuck. My beam to ship icon was grayed out and I had no way to get to where I was supposed to be. I did some Google research and found out that others came across this bug as well and it didn't seem as though I had any option to... Read All

Valve unveils the new Steam controller

The new model seems to address some of the complaints people had with the last version. There are now traditional buttons next to the touch pads.

I was worried with how some games would work with the new controller, but at the same time I was looking forward to seeing how the strange and unique layout would work for PC games that, by default, only use mouse and keyboard.

So good and bad, I suppose. I'm still intrigued by it and can't wait to get my hands on it.

More details at Ars: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2014/03/valve-replaces-steam-controller-touchscreen-with-new-analog-face-buttons/

jdodson Admin wrote on 03/14/2014 at 10:29pm

This looks great, I love the addition of the new buttons. According to the video at Steam Developer Days them taking off the touch screen reduced the overall price and let them use standard batteries that the user can replace.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 03/14/2014 at 10:57pm

Yeah, the Dev Days talk on the controller was super interesting. I really enjoyed hearing how they've come to this design. I can't wait to try one out!

jdodson Admin wrote on 03/16/2014 at 06:41pm

I think if I had one bequest for the Steam controller it would be a headphone jack.

jdodson Admin wrote on 03/16/2014 at 06:42pm

We are Linked from this article: http://journal.wearebunker.com/post/79765816778/this-is-a-beautiful-evolution-in-a-product-design

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 03/16/2014 at 08:55pm

A headphone jack would be perfect.

jdodson Admin wrote on 03/16/2014 at 10:20pm

It really would be.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 03/17/2014 at 03:23pm

Is this the final design? I agree with a headphone jack addition. Since the Dualshock 4, it's annoying that all controllers don't come with it.

jdodson Admin wrote on 03/17/2014 at 05:10pm

I don't know about final but this is the latest for sure.

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Free Money on Steam!

http://gameaxis.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/steam_community_market-1024x576.jpg

So I'm still getting the hang of all things Steam, and last night I realized I could sell my steam cards! I listed about 50 of them, most for about $0.05, but some more and some less(there's a handy pricing graph, so you can see what has sold for what price). I woke up this morning to find 35 emails from Steam, one for each card sold lol. So far I've made $2.29. Not a ton, but it's free money!

Are There More Secret Levels To Super Mario Brothers?

Game Trailers show Pop Fiction recently produced a really great episode about the secrets of Super Mario Brothers. In this episode they find out if there are more secret levels in Super Mario Brothers than just the minus worlds. It's a very technical episode and goes over mechanisms on how people found these levels and how you can go about playing them now.

If you love Nintendo lore and knowing as much as you can about Super Mario Brothers you need to watch the video linked below, your inner nerd will thank you.

http://www.gametrailers.com/full-episodes/bbcd7o/pop-fiction-episode-35--the-lost-levels

Travis Admin wrote on 03/14/2014 at 01:57pm

No freakin way. I wouldn't really call -1 a secret world, it's more a bug than a secret, but I'm still all over this.

Also, *Travis pushes his glasses up on his nose* he got through the wall in world 1-2 the hard way. Ducking makes it harder to pull off.

I'm going to have to check this out when I can watch it with audio, but even without I'm already intrigued. I can't wait to test these out over the weekend!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/14/2014 at 02:18pm

Well, finding these levels isn't really something you can do with the standard game as it involves using Tennis and a Nintendo without the lockout chip. The minus worlds were a bug as are these too BUT I appreciate how they were found and that people are still hacking on these old games.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/14/2014 at 04:26pm

Ah damn. I have Tennis, but (again without sound) I didn't realize you needed an NES without the lockout chip.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/15/2014 at 02:32pm

OK having watched it finally, with audio, I want a toploader even more. Or perhaps I'll attempt to take the lockout chip out of my spare NES.

But back to my point about what the video calls a secret, there's a lot of disingenuous language in that video. It probably isn't intentional but it gives the wrong idea. The words "secret," "lost," and "hidden" keep being used but they're neither. The video makes it sound like Miyamoto put 255 worlds in there and just never turned them on or something, rather than what actually happened-- there are 8 worlds and bumping the world number past that makes the game bug out in a unique way. 255 is just the maximum value of the byte. If that's a secret, then modifying Firefox's memory as it's running to call it Mozzarella Firebox is also a Firefox secret. This is really not as big a deal as I'm making it but there you go. :)

Don't get me wrong though, I still dig the video. I love the explanation of how using Tennis (probably other games as well) fakes the system into bumping the world number past 8. I had noticed some games save some data through a reset and always wondered how. Now I know!

And this plays on the same kind of thing as the Game Genie. With the right codes, you could access these as well, just by using the same codes you would use to start at world 8, only bumped past the actual max. In fact some of these seem to do just that: http://supermariogamegenies.webs.com/

I used to attempt to write my own game genie codes. Most of them did nothing noticeable, locked up the game, or made things worse, but some were incredibly useful. I had the book of course but I had pages of codes that I wrote myself. I guess I was learning about editing memory and hex long before I realized what those even were! There was one that started me in an almost unplayable world, with the -1 designation like these. I really wish I knew where those codes were now to see if that's what I actually did.

I love that in Mario 2 (the lost levels in the US) there's a world 9 that pulls from some of the effects that showed up in these bugged-out levels. I'd actually like to see a 2d Mario game where the dimensional structure is breaking down or some other crazy plot reason and you can play through overworld levels that have been flooded, etc. With NES Remix on the Wii U, that's actually something I could see crop up, in 20 second segments anyway.

It's kinda sad that this kind of thing is mostly lost now. With these massively designed levels in most games, just changing a single value in memory really can't bug out a level to the point of creating that kind of experience.

So that was kinda long. In conclusion: Awesome, I wanna do it!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/16/2014 at 10:23pm

"The words "secret," "lost," and "hidden" keep being used but they're neither. The video makes it sound like Miyamoto put 255 worlds in there and just never turned them on or something..."

Yep, your right. These are not extra levels just a bugged out way to play the game.

I'd love to try this too but i'd need to get the top loader NES too. Maybe they omitted the lockout chip because at the top loader came out the NES was at the end of life.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/17/2014 at 02:03am

I was thinking about that the other day. Since Tengen and so many others had figured out a way to overload the lockout chip, maybe they just gave up. Since the lockout chip was no longer doing what it was intended to do, it would probably save a little money to just omit it altogether.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/17/2014 at 05:08pm

I bet it saved a bit of money for sure. Plus, like you say, if it's easy to get around what's the point? I guess maybe keeping licensees paying?

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Is Dark Souls the Future of Videogame Storytelling?

"Videogames generally suck when it comes to storytelling. Their stories are often ineffective, clumsy, or just plain unnecessary. And so many cutscenes!!! We're disengaged, and it breaks our immersion. WE want to play the game, not have it told to us. Enter Dark Souls: the plot may seem threadbare, but when you dig in, whole new backstories and depth begin to emerge as you interact with the things you find. Is this the future of storytelling? Or should games even be TRYING to tell stories?"

This episode of Game/Show is pretty interesting as it brings up a point that was made in a recent Cheerful Ghost Roundtable, typically games contain pretty bad stories. Jamin talks... Read All

scrypt Supporter wrote on 03/14/2014 at 09:16pm

It seems that there are two things being discussed here: Games with poor story material (Far Cry 3, per the video), and games that tell their stories poorly (a majority of games). I do love it when games introduce story elements through discovery, but I don't think that Dark Souls is the first to do this (Ico, Portal, Bioshock?). Dark Souls uses diagetic elements to tell it's stories, but there is a balance of the mimetic, as well (cut-scenes, npc dialogue, allowing player notes, etc). Bioshock did this to a great degree, though it was heavier in the dialogue department. Both of these games, and others, lend themselves well to the silent protagonist, which, as we might remember, has also been a topic of critical debate. The point, I think, is to make the game you want to make. Asking whether games should even be trying to tell stories, seems ridiculous. Some people make games that have stories. If your game has a story, you should certainly try to tell it, in whichever way suits the play of the game. There are many ways to tell a story. I don't think that video games should have one specific way.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/15/2014 at 04:40pm

I agree, there can be many ways to how a video game tells a story. One recent example of a really unique game was Little Inferno. I don't want to spoil it, but it had one of the best narratives and total switcheroos in recent memory. In fact I rank the few hour experience I had with the game up there with one of the best movie or book experiences of all time.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 03/15/2014 at 08:45pm

I really like Little Inferno. It has that same kind of Portal depth to it, where you have this fairly simple, somewhat comfortable, beginning that leads you into a deeper, unsettling mystery. They are both very linear games, but the timing used to give you, or allow you to find, certain pieces of information, grant the illusion of independent discovery.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 03/15/2014 at 09:01pm

Another story that I really like is Beyond Good & Evil. Most of it's story progression is told through cut-scenes (If I remember correctly. It's been a while), but there were areas that you could walk around and listen to conversations, or radio broadcasts, or observe objects that would give you a greater sense of the whole story. Plus, the musical score went a long way toward doing that, too.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/16/2014 at 10:24pm

I've heard really great things about Beyond Good & Evil but I have only played the Beyond Good & Evil HD demo when it was re-released on the PS3. The game was fun but I never picked up the full version.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 03/17/2014 at 04:17am

It's good. Really good. I'll totally let you borrow it anytime you like, if you have the ability to play Gamecube games.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/17/2014 at 05:09pm

I can play Gamecube games on my Wii. That said, I have a few console games I want to play before it. Like Read Dead Redemption. I've heard great things about that one.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 03/17/2014 at 06:28pm

I've only made it as far as the path opening up to Mexico in RDR, which, I hear, is where it really gets good. It's a beautiful game, and a lot of fun to play. I doubt you'll be disappointed.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/18/2014 at 03:12am

Awesome. I have heard so many great things about the game I doubt I will be. My only gripe is that it isn't available on PC, it would be much more convenient to play it that way.

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Blizzard Drops A New Video Showing the Crusaders Abilities

Not gonna lie, I am excited about Reaper of Souls launching in two weeks. That said, when I see something new drop about the expansion, I want to share it and this latest video showcasing more about the Crusader is pretty awesome

It seems the Crusader is very similar to the Diablo II Paladin except he seems to bring a few Barbarian like things to the table. It seems the Crusader has "auras" but also seems to have an ability that makes him almost giantlike.

Are you getting Reaper of Souls when it launches and if so will you play the new class? I know I will be.

Dong Nguyen speaks about Flappy Bird

The somewhat reclusive creator of Flappy Bird recently accepted an interview with Rolling Stone. In it, he discusses the ups and downs of creating a hit mobile game.

I have to admit to a slight addiction here, folks. I've criticized the game and Mr. Nguyen on the site before, and I still stick by those criticisms. The game is derivative and unimaginative, and its creator handled criticism very poorly. I still believe that. However, upon the news that it was being removed from the various app stores, I re-snagged it just in case I changed my mind. Well, I have. Kinda. The art is incredibly derivative, going farther than just homage, and the mechanics are identical to a... Read All The somewhat reclusive creator of Flappy Bird recently accepted an interview with Rolling Stone. In it, he discusses the ups and downs of creating a hit mobile game.

I have to admit to a slight addiction here, folks. I've criticized the game and Mr. Nguyen on the site before, and I still stick by those criticisms. The game is derivative and unimaginative, and its creator handled criticism very poorly. I still believe that. However, upon the news that it was being removed from the various app stores, I re-snagged it just in case I changed my mind. Well, I have. Kinda. The art is incredibly derivative, going farther than just homage, and the mechanics are identical to a game that's a decade old, but the game is still damned addictive. It plays very well on the human need to see a number go up, and the difficulty sits right on the same Super Meat Boy edge of what is too frustrating.

All that being said, it's interesting to hear from Dong Nguyen about what's been happening in his life. Some of the messages he received are just mean, and some were concerning to him. At all the criticism over the addictive nature of the game, he said "At first I thought they were just joking, but I realize they really hurt themselves." The feeling of success could easily be negated by thinking you've legitimately hurt someone with your creation. I mean really, if you had 10,000 people singing your praises and a single person who mentions failing responsibilities due to something you created, which are you likely to listen to?

The decision to take the game down makes more sense now, and I'm glad he agreed to a rare interview. If you managed to miss the game and want to play the original (not one of the thousands of clones), there's hope. Mr. Nguyen has said he may put it back up, but if he does there will be a Wii-style reminder that you should take breaks from it.

The full interview can be found at Rolling Stone: http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/the-flight-of-the-birdman-flappy-bird-creator-dong-nguyen-speaks-out-20140311

That's my personal high score in the image, by the way. Beat it if you dare!

Valve bringing Direct 3D to Linux

Valve has pulled code straight from the belly of the beast (by which I mean DOTA2) to bring ToGL to the world. ToGL is a translation layer to convert Direct3D code to OpenGL.

The code is being released as-is, and isn't necessarily ready for prime-time, but it can hopefully be used by other game developers to bring their D3D-only code into the OpenGL world, enabling future porting to Linux.

This is great news for the gaming community looking to get a Steam Machine, and obviously a good decision for Valve. It's nice to see a developer contributing back to the community with good code. I hope to see more games building on this to expand the Steam Linux library, as I'm... Read All