Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

Portland Retro Game Expo 2013

Just wanted to let you know about some awesome stuff. October 5th - 6th is the Portland Retro Gaming Expo and I am happy to report that Cheerful Ghost will be showing this year. We will have a booth to showcase the site, sell Cheerful Ghost swag packs and are stuffing free stickers in each attendee bag. I am also excited to say that as a special bonus, we are sharing the table with Sleep Ninja Games, the awesome folks making the crazy great game "Monsters Ate My Birthday Cake."

I seriously encourage anyone living in Portland or its surrounding territories that loves retro games to stop by the booth and say hi. Not only will you be able to get an above average dose of... Read All

The Retron 5: 9 Classic Systems in One

I just found out about a cool new retro system coming out this December called the Retron 5. It sports compatabiliy for the NES, SNES, SFC, Genesis, Famicom, Gameboy, Gameboy Color and Gameboy Advance. It will be available at launch for $99 and will support scaled output at 720p over HDMI.

I know what just got added to my Christmas list!

http://hyperkin.com/blog/2013/09/hyperkin-to-release-retron-5-on-december-10-2013/

Valve is teasing something

http://cdn2.store.steampowered.com/public/images/promo/livingroom/00_planet_image.jpg

http://store.steampowered.com/livingroom/

They're discussing Big Picture Mode and talking about living rooms, so I can only assume this has something to do with the Steam Box. Looks like, as of this writing, we're 71 hours away from the first announcement.

UPDATE: Geoff Keighley tweeted that Valve sent him an email saying that there will be three separate announcements next week.

I'm going to just come out and predict this now: Half-Life 3 will be announced. If it isn't, I'm one more incorrect guess in a sea of thousands, but if it is... I CALLED IT!

OK, in all honesty I would love that, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

beansmyname Supporter wrote on 09/20/2013 at 05:59pm

I'm a cranky, old bastard and tend to be the first to criticize something. It's my way of remaining skeptical and reserving judgment for later. However, I have so little to criticize about Valve's approach to bringing their console to market.

Valve is throwing pieces out there, little scraps for the wanting to feed on, and waiting for reactions from community and media. Since they don't have an existing console to support nor a legacy to uphold, Valve is doing what they can to ensure the released product has strong support at launch.

jdodson Admin wrote on 09/20/2013 at 08:45pm

Yeah, they should announce a new game and set of games to launch with this console too. For instance, I have heard about a DoTA 2 console port. If I were them i'd seriously consider doing some kind of exclusivity on HL3 and DoTA 2 console to the Steambox for a bit.

Kind of wondering if Valve would ever do that, but it might give people more reason to check it out. Or some kind of Linux/Console HL3 exclusivity would interesting. Linux exclusive, so odd to even say that :D

But yeah, so excited about this, it's going to be a long weekend :D

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 09/20/2013 at 08:46pm

Linux exclusive HL3 is kinda what I'm hoping for whenever HL3 launches. At least for like a week.

jdodson Admin wrote on 09/20/2013 at 08:48pm

Exclusive for some time yeah, might be good to get some people thinking in that direction. I wonder if they did that what kind of impact it would have on gaming?

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 09/20/2013 at 09:03pm

As long as it's not long. I hate the 6-month timed exclusivity you see frequently. Give a platform a nod if you like, but don't make people suffer :)

jdodson Admin wrote on 09/20/2013 at 09:04pm

Right. Not too much suffering :D

beansmyname Supporter wrote on 09/21/2013 at 12:39am

Just had a similar conversation about Linux-first exclusives on the SteamLUG community discussions. Sadly, the requirements from Greenlight, which is the method for game submission to Steam, still have a minimum requirement of Windows operability. Also, do not forget the 1% revenue factor. To ignore the large base of Windows users would be to do your own game a disservice.

Open should be about inclusivity not exclusivity. Ideally, games could be released for a multitude of platforms with cross-play being a side effect of having used standard libraries or having developed with cross-compatibility as a firsthand goal.

The issue with a lot of traditional marketing is how blind it is to the idea that there is a lot of room in the ocean of available customers. It's not necessary to corner or own a market any more and I get the impression that Valve knows this. The Steambox just has to sell enough units to justify its continued production, not overwhelm and overtake the PS4 and XBOX One.

shockwave wrote on 09/21/2013 at 06:37pm

I'm just hoping for a steambox, if I can get all my steam library hooked up to my tv with a controller, id be a happy man.

beansmyname Supporter wrote on 09/22/2013 at 09:06pm

@shockwave There is a slim-to-none chance that your entire Steam library (unless you run Linux exclusively) is going to be available at launch...or ever. It is clear that Windows' only interest to Valve is revenue. That market is just too large to ignore. However, Gabe has said several times publicly that Linux holds the future of gaming.

That being said, maybe Travis is onto something: HL3 - Cross-platform at launch, but console exclusive to the Steambox.

shockwave wrote on 10/23/2013 at 07:10am

@beansmyname, I could have sworn I read that that gaming streaming would be available to allow all games to run, circumventing Windows Licensing issues with Steambox. I've seen various demos of the technology, the only hurdle looks to be whether or not you can use the host computer at the same time.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 10/23/2013 at 08:24pm

Streaming yes, but that depends on you also having a beefy gaming rig somewhere in your house.

beansmyname Supporter wrote on 11/02/2013 at 04:39pm

@shockwave My understanding of the streaming is that your gaming PC will stream to the Steam Machine then to the TV. I misread your statement as an expectation of your entire library running natively. That is unlikely to happen.

jdodson Admin wrote on 11/02/2013 at 05:23pm

Having all the games run Steambox native would be pretty epic though. /dreams

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Diablo III Console & PC Comparison

Diablo III released on console recently and like many people that have it on PC, I didn't buy it. I have been curious to try it as Blizzard made many changes to it that are not in the PC version. I was able to do that because Blizzard added a Diablo III demo to PS3 and XBox 360 which takes you all the way to the Skeleton King. I have been playing the PS3 demo over the last couple of days and wanted to write a bit about the differences between the console and PC version.

the long road to the controller

Originally I figured porting Diablo III to consoles would be strange because of the game controls. Diablo III has a pretty rich interface with hotkeys, character... Read All

Travis Admin wrote on 09/20/2013 at 04:00pm

RE: Difficulty modes

PC has this too, with Monster Power. You actually have more control of this on PC than you do on console, for some reason. I'm not sure why they didn't just port Monster Power straight over.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 09/20/2013 at 04:25pm

Interesting. Maybe because Monster Power makes no less if you are not familiar with the game and how it started on PC? Difficulty modes are easier to understand and then just handing out greater rewards because of them is a good idea.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 09/20/2013 at 04:26pm

Oh and I forgot to also say, you get loot when you complete certain missions. It's a nice change and I got some great stuff that way.

Travis Admin wrote on 09/20/2013 at 04:34pm

"you get loot when you complete certain missions."

That's awesome. I generally prefer the loot-flow in the console version, which makes sense since they tuned it more (half of what they're doing with Loot 2.0 on PC is already in the console version) but I never actually noticed getting loot rewards for missions somehow. I only played through half the demo, though.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 09/20/2013 at 04:36pm

Yeah, I got some gear a few times, the last time I remember getting it is when I saved Cain. I am not all the way through it myself but plan on sinking a bit of time here and there to finish it. I really enjoy this version of Diablo III and hope they release a "TV Mode" for the PC release which plays just like this.

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Wizardry 6+7+8 Giveaway

Greetings,

We're back with another giveaway from our friends at Night Dive Studios! This time we're excited to give away three games at once, Wizardry 6, 7 & 8!

To enter, simply comment below. You can just say hi, tell us a joke, post a video for your favorite band, whatever you like! On October 3, we will choose 9 people that have commented, purely at random, assigning a numerical value to each entry and using random.org to determine the winners. We will then PM the winners with the Steam key to unlock the winnings.

In addition, we're giving away a copy on SteamGifts. Head over there to enter as well!

http://www.steamgifts.com/giveaway/k4pwB/wizardry-6-7-and-8

We are... Read All

Tim_Robbins wrote on 09/19/2013 at 10:32pm

Thanks a lot for the giveaway, have wanted to try wizardry.

SignalWarden wrote on 09/20/2013 at 12:42am

I've been away from here too long. I'd love to get my hands on Wizardry again. It's been ages.

Artur_Fajkowski wrote on 09/20/2013 at 12:52am

*simple comment* :)
Thank you for the opportunity to win these games!

Yak wrote on 09/20/2013 at 12:59am

It's a travesty that I've never played Wizardry.

MistressLiliana wrote on 09/20/2013 at 01:24am

I would love to leave a comment for you!

hardeyez wrote on 09/20/2013 at 02:54am

nice! cg rulez!

AutoCat1000 wrote on 09/20/2013 at 03:44am

O.O Oh plz let me win!

Mallorn wrote on 09/20/2013 at 06:25am

Thanks a lot! I really would like to play this, it has been ages ago but I have fond memories of these series

Osiris11235 wrote on 09/20/2013 at 07:25am

Hi! Thanks!

CapnCurry Supporter wrote on 09/20/2013 at 07:35am

I remember the first Wizardry. That game was so hard I came to regard it as a party-building simulator; I never made it past the first level.

Wartinald wrote on 09/20/2013 at 02:27pm

Thanks for this giveaway, I've always played M&M, but Wizardry looks very good.

Gauss wrote on 09/20/2013 at 10:15pm

Thanks for the giveaway!

javierieh wrote on 09/20/2013 at 11:52pm

This game is gold, i'd love to have it on steam. Thank you!

JDF wrote on 09/21/2013 at 07:29pm

Really cool giveaway, thanks.

Jung_MY wrote on 09/22/2013 at 01:16am

THanks for the giveaway!

jaelte wrote on 09/22/2013 at 07:48am

Blue jaelte needs Wizardry -- badly... And Gauntlet, apparently.

coolman1776_ wrote on 09/23/2013 at 08:39am

sweet. i've only played wizardry 8, maybe the other ones can help me understand what the hell was going on.

Emory_Myers wrote on 09/23/2013 at 09:47pm

I'd like to win, throwing my helmet into the ring.

Slim_Wiggins wrote on 09/24/2013 at 08:24pm

I remember playing this with my brother growing up. Good times and one of the greatest RPG series ever.

Nathaniel_Krautkramer wrote on 09/26/2013 at 11:45pm

I'd love to win copies of these. I've played the earliest games, and some of the latest incarnations, but missed a bunch in between. This would help fill in that gap :)

Tommycide wrote on 09/28/2013 at 04:13pm

Thanks a lot to both Night Dive Studios who are doing a stellar job in bringing old games which were in a legal mess to GOG and Steam, and to you for making this great giveaway! :D

JFBallz wrote on 09/30/2013 at 02:59pm

Thank you for this cool giveaway!

Jon_Bojsen_Kvaerndrup wrote on 09/30/2013 at 09:04pm

Oh the good times I've had with these games! Damn I'm old :D

Gustavo_Silva wrote on 09/30/2013 at 11:45pm

One of the best games ever made. Thank you very much!

FunkDaddyMac wrote on 09/30/2013 at 11:49pm

I love the Wizardry series. LOVE THEM!

Christophe_Insilico wrote on 10/01/2013 at 02:16am

Excellent game serie, you guys rock !

FaeDine wrote on 10/01/2013 at 05:00am

Wow, I love seeing some of these classics come back!

Gleikara wrote on 10/01/2013 at 11:46am

Hi, this is a simple comment. ;)

Supster wrote on 10/02/2013 at 02:25am

My reaction when I found out I won Wizardry http://i.imgur.com/hKmUq.gif

Fragger wrote on 10/02/2013 at 07:33am

Man, I would really love to have these games! When I saw that they were added to Steam I was pretty darn excited. =P

Anyway, thanks a lot!

gaidalcain85 wrote on 10/02/2013 at 12:49pm

I loved Wizardy 8!!! I hope I win these!! lol, i am a complete sucker for old school style RPG's :D

Docwe_Weirdocz wrote on 10/02/2013 at 04:05pm

You can screw a bat if you hang upside down,
You can hump with a whale but there's a chance you might drown,
You can try with a dragon but the risk is not small
Oh, the hedgehog can never be buggered at all.

- Signed: "Wizzard" ;)

bVork wrote on 10/02/2013 at 05:11pm

I love how they just used the old marketing blurb for Wizardry 6 on Steam.

FULL-COLOR ANIMATED graphics
DIGITIZED sound (NO add-on cards required)
HARD DISK supported

thawks wrote on 10/02/2013 at 10:08pm

I remember playing Wizardry 7 with my uncle when I was a kid... well, watching him play, anyway. I'd love to play it again and soak in the nostalgia. c:

Nhor wrote on 10/03/2013 at 12:24pm

I've heard a lot about these series but still I wasn't sure about buying Wizardry simply because of its age. It would be awesome if I won it, thanks in advance :D

Marko_Krivokapic wrote on 10/03/2013 at 02:05pm

I guess I'm not late? Also thanks...

ElPolloDiablo wrote on 10/03/2013 at 05:48pm

You're a wizard Harry! I want this game so i can cast the glass-be-gone spell.

penispalms wrote on 10/03/2013 at 06:33pm

Thanks for the chance!

Samppa wrote on 10/03/2013 at 06:51pm

Thanks for the giveaway, I love old-school games (and games made in the style of older games in general) like Wizardry and Avernum.

Jonathon_Wisnoski wrote on 10/03/2013 at 07:29pm

Thanks

Zabaton5 wrote on 10/03/2013 at 07:53pm

I played the Wizardry series when I was 14 or so on my Apple II+. I'm excited to see its making a come back, and would love to introduce my 9 year old daughter to it. If she will take a break from Terraria long enough...

louskrad wrote on 10/03/2013 at 09:04pm

thanks for the giveaway

EvilBrett wrote on 10/03/2013 at 09:24pm

Thank you! Would love to give these a try :)

Tobias wrote on 10/03/2013 at 10:45pm

thanks

Anton_Udorin wrote on 10/03/2013 at 11:49pm

i remember theese fucking rats :D when i'm playing ninja solo :D thx for giveaway!

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Delver Let's Play: Teleport Switch

I made a Let's Play for Delver, a new 2D retro styled Rouge-like. It's all fun and games till I get wiped out by a Teleport switch. I plan on doing a few more of these to see how far I can get.

Link's Awakening: The Overworld Map

Someone awesome person decided to create a map of the entire overworld of Link's Awakening. Looking at it all in its Gameboy pixel glory is pretty awesome to behold but I also realize how small the overworld really is. That said, it takes quite some time before you have the ability to go everywhere and in the game it really does feel larger than it actually is.

Hand's the best part of the overworld in Link's Awakening was Animal Village. I also had a pretty high appreciation for the part where you collect leaves to enter the slime dungeon.

Portland Retro Game Expo 2013

The Retron 5: 9 Classic Systems in One

Valve is teasing something

Diablo III Console & PC Comparison

Wizardry 6+7+8 Giveaway

Delver Let's Play: Teleport Switch

Link's Awakening: The Overworld Map

Knights of the Old Republic Fast Facts

A Taste of Something to Come...

Starbound Grappling Hooks!