Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

Plan Your Next Prison Break in The Escapists

The Escapists is an interesting game on Kickstarter right now. Made by the same author of Spuds Quest, The Escapists is setting out to be the ultimate prison break RPG.

"* Schedules: To escape you'll have to work around the strict prison schedule as best you can to avoid any unwanted attention from the guards.

* Crafting: Weapons and tools can be crafted together using everyday things you find or steal around the prison. Just beware of cell shakedowns. Read more about crafting

* Reputation: The way you interact with fellow cons and guards affect how they treat you. Those on your side could help you out in a fight, overlook if they catch you doing anything unusual, or... Read All

Know Your Enemy: A Great Video History of The Goomba

"How well do you know your enemies? That's the question we set out to answer in our premiere episode of Know Your Enemy. Join us as we take a look at one of our favorites: The Goomba, from the Super Mario Bros. series."

Awesome new YouTube series "Know Your Enemy" debuts with a classic Mario enemy, the Goomba. Providing some really great history to the character as well as it's many cultural and game appearances. Whenever I see one of those little guys I just want to stomp on it. Good thing they are not modeled after an actual thing in real life.

Resolutiongate: Xbox One games only running 720p.

Uh-oh…

Microsoft just can’t seem to catch a break. First there was its underwhelming E3 unveiling, then a massive backlash from fans over its restrictive DRM and used game policies, privacy concerns over its always-on kinect camera, and its price tag coming in $100 (in the US) higher than its rival Playstation.

Now reports are coming in from various sites indicating that some key mutli-platform titles are looking considerably worse on the Xbox. Eurogamer reports that “Our Battlefield 4 Face-Off preview reveals a 50 per cent resolution boost on PlayStation 4 with no appreciable compromise in effects or performance in single-player gameplay, while Infinity Ward's Mark... Read All

PC Gaming Master Price

One meme in gaming that makes me chuckle whenever I read it is "PC gaming master race." Beyond the fact that it is somewhat juvenile, it isn't too far from the truth. Not that consoles aren't awesome or even better than the PC in some ways(any game on the PS3 will always work on the PS3, no upgrades needed) but as PC gamers we have it pretty darn good. One area where the PC shines above and beyond our console sisters and brothers is amount of games available and price. Because the PC is an open platform and digital distribution being as popular as it is, the PC is exploding with games selling for cheap.

The Humble Store

Most of us know and love The Humble Indie Bundle... Read All

jaelte wrote on 11/17/2013 at 08:38am

Green Man Gaming (http://www.greenmangaming.com/) is a pretty decent site as well. They almost always have a 20% off coupon code available, and they sometimes throw out a 25% code (and/or sales on select games) that stacks with it. I've been able to purchase XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Dishonored, and the new Tomb Raider from the site for less than I could find anywhere else (including Steam sales) at the times I bought them.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/17/2013 at 06:35pm

Awesome, thanks for the tip. Checking them out now.

hardeyez wrote on 11/21/2013 at 11:19pm

Also http://www.indiegamebundles.com/ will show you all the active bundles across a bunch of sites. I've bought several off http://www.indieroyale.com/ and http://groupees.com/

Deals aren't strictly limited to PC though... I've picked up great console titles at Target on clearance for silly pricing (not quite bundle by definitely < $10). You just have to check the clearance each time you drop by. Also, the selection is weird, so are just overstock so it's surprisingly new stuff, and some is much older... But it's fun to find a gem :)

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Mario and Fafa Play The Classics

In a world of the same kind of Let's Plays, wouldn't it be awesome to have puppets do it instead? Mario and Fafa, the awesome duo from Glove and Boots did an awesome two part series where they play retro games on the Wii. In part one they play Mario Brothers, the original Japaneese Mario Two(The Lost Levels in the States), Pacman, Double Dribble & Excitebike. Part two features Altered Beast, Splatterhouse, Mike Tyson's Punch Out & Ice Hockey.

The video also reminds us to wear our Wii controller strap. For safety.

Part two:

http://youtu.be/amxlexAIbhs

The Firehose: EQ Next Crafting, Ragnarok Online & Symmetrain

Sony recently released a Dev diary(video above) talking about Everquest Next and how they approach mining and crafting. EQ Next will be free to play and will be strongly influenced by Minecraft.

Ragnarok Online is a popular MMO that came out in 2003 and later on in it's life became free to play. It recently came to Steam on PC to serve your dungeon crawling needs.

http://store.steampowered.com/app/215100/

Symmetrain is an interesting new iPhone game where you tap to select the differences in the terrain as your train chugs along the tracks. It's a pretty interesting idea and seems to fill the "I want to kill a few minutes" game itch.

http://youtu.be/FUh-S8pm5jE

Game/Show: Will Videogames Become A Controlled Substance?

"Videogames are addictive. FACT. But how seriously should we take gamer addictions? There is scientific proof that brain scans of excessive gamers are similar to drug addicts, and addiction to videogames can even destroy lives, just like alcoholics or junkies. And with advancements in technology, game developers are continuing to create games that are EVEN MORE engrossing. Should we worry about gamers, or possibly even regulate the industry?"

Whereas I don't agree with any industry regulation for video games, the idea of video game addiction is interesting to me. No question some people get wrapped up and spend way too much time in video games, take for instance myself... Read All

Great Super Metroid Retrospective by NESComplex

I don't know if I would say Super Metroid is the best video game of all time, but it ranks very highly on my top list of awesome games. NESComplex does a great job showcasing the game and talking about its place in the Metroid timeline. If you haven't played Super Metroid you should at least watch this video to find out why this game is as beloved as it is.

When this game launched there weren't a ton of dark games with a really compelling story. Super Metroid really nailed making you feel like the game world was real and that the story and elements have weight. This game went off to spawn the Metroid Prime series, which decided to change the series into a 3D first... Read All

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 11/14/2013 at 07:01am

A fun video to watch.

I agree with a lot of his points. Exploring to find hidden power ups was a great reason to keep playing. But, I couldn't help but think about the Zelda games when he talks about how incredible it was to have things like an interconnected world, permanent power ups and maps. I don't think the Zelda games had an overworld map, so I suppose that's somewhat different, but a lot of these same points can be applied to Zelda as well. I feel like I'm repeating myself and saying the same thing over and over and making the point multiple times.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/14/2013 at 04:30pm

Link to the past had an over world map. As did Links Awankening. That staple continued on to the modern titles.

Timogorgon Member wrote on 11/15/2013 at 12:15am

Although it wasn't really all that helpful, the gray box in the top left of your screen in the original Zelda showed your relative position in the overworld. http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/3/3a/Legend_of_Zelda_NES.PNG

Of course once you went into a dungeon the gray box was replaced by the dungeon map (once found).

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Will The Steambox Survive A Hit From An Axe?

In this video appeal to Valve founder Gabe Newell, Francis asks to be let into the Steam Console beta. Who wouldn't want that right? He poses some very interesting questions about the durability of the Steambox and the new Steam controller. Specifically if the new Steambox will be able to survive a hit from an axe. He also wonders if the new Steam controller will be able to survive being thrown against the wall, you know because Super Meat Boy is hard.

Stardew Valley Won't Ship In 2013

ConcernedApe just posted on information in regard to Stardew Valley shipping this year that isn't awesome.

"I know earlier this year I estimated that the game would be done before 2014. Well… I have to say that I will probably not be able to meet that estimate anymore.

I’ve always been a little uncomfortable giving release estimates for Stardew. It’s stressful to build up hope for a specific release date, knowing that I might have to disappoint everyone by pushing it back. And i’m definitely guilty of being a little too optimistic about development timetables. Ultimately, though… I think most will agree with me that a slow-cooked, polished game is better than a rushed,... Read All ConcernedApe just posted on information in regard to Stardew Valley shipping this year that isn't awesome.

"I know earlier this year I estimated that the game would be done before 2014. Well… I have to say that I will probably not be able to meet that estimate anymore.

I’ve always been a little uncomfortable giving release estimates for Stardew. It’s stressful to build up hope for a specific release date, knowing that I might have to disappoint everyone by pushing it back. And i’m definitely guilty of being a little too optimistic about development timetables. Ultimately, though… I think most will agree with me that a slow-cooked, polished game is better than a rushed, quick release."

I agree, it's better to deliver a polished game than something rushed and buggy. This game ranks high for games I am really interested in getting my hands on. That said, there is a pretty huge amount of awesome games out right now, so I think I can find something to occupy my time until Stardew ships, hopefully in 2014 but there is no word on that right now.

ConcernedApe did talk a bit about how far along the game is, which is pretty good news.

"How complete is the game? Well, there are still a couple of features that I haven’t even begun yet… but, they all should be relatively minor in terms of development time. Other than that, there is a lot of polish and fleshing-out to be done before it’s ready. There are also some technical (i.e. not involving actual in-game content) things which I *might* need to do before release.

So, while the game is definitely “mostly done”, there are still plenty of things that need to be finished before I am comfortable releasing it. I am still working as fast as I possibly can without compromising on the quality of the game (and also while maintaining my own sanity, for those of you who saw me playing Terraria on Steam recently :p ). Thanks to all of you for being so patient, compassionate, and supportive during this process… I really do appreciate it!"

If you are interested in some new game details, ConcernedApe also shared some really interesting information about the characters you can date and possibly marry in game. So check it out, link below.

http://stardewvalley.net/dev-update-12/