Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

The Summer Sales Continue on The PSN & Amazon

Continuing the season of great video game sales Sony has entered the mix with its Summer Blast Sale. It has a few titles on sale at different times including the Ratchet and Clank Collection, Mortal Kombat, Scott Pilgrim VS The World, The Simpsons Arcade Game and Alice Madness Returns. Sony is also marking down a few digital films such as The Dark Knight, Inception, The Expendables and Toy Story 3.

Its cool to see these PSN digital titles get marked down and also see some movies added to the mix. Might be a good chance to pickup a few games on the PS3.

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2013/07/01/psn-summer-blast-hot-discounts-starting-tomorrow/

Not to be left in the cold,... Read All

I Always Feel Like...

I get the same feeling when I see certain people on Facebook as well. That said, to this point I haven't ever seen my arch enemy. I attribute that to good algorithms.

Dragon Age: Inquisition

There is a new Dragon Age game in development by EA that looks interesting. The trailer features Morrigan, one of the characters in Dragon Age: Origins. Dragon Age 2 was reviewed poorly and because of this I wonder how EA will handle this latest incarnation.

Are you interested in the upcoming Dragon Age: Inquisition?

scrypt Supporter wrote on 06/30/2013 at 07:49pm

Dragon Age 2 got a bad rap, I think, because most people wanted a more polished Dragon Age: Origins. The combat in DA:O was frustrating, and the AI not as intelligent as you'd like it to be, but the character building and varied story arcs made it rich and inviting. The fans seemed to take offense that this richness was left behind in favor of a more action-oriented, linear game. DA 2 actually reviewed well with the media, probably because, objectively, it's a pretty good game. The fact that it feels nothing like DA:O, and shows little association with the original characters, makes it feel like less of a sequel, and more like a smaller sub-story, like Dark Fury in the Riddick series, or Halo 3:ODST. Bioware/EA set the fans up by putting that number "2" in the name, which everyone hopes will mean "more of the same, and better." In this case it meant "This is not the sequel you were looking for, but it's still a good game on it's own merit. We probably should have named it something else." It might not have sold as well, but the expectation would have been more realistic. Regarding DA: Inquisition, until we see gameplay, the best I can say is that it's really cool to see Morrigan again. Her story is a big part of what I loved about the first game, so my hope is for some resolution there. The title seems to imply a dark conflict elicited by some schism between the Chantry, or the Templar Order, and the Circle of Magi. I just hope it brings back that richness from Origins. At the very least, with Frostbite 3, it should be gorgeous to look at.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 07/01/2013 at 04:15am

I you bring up a good point about peoples expectations of Dragon Age 2. I enjoyed the first game but the didn't love the fighting and walked away from it because of how that all worked. With smaller battles it worked well, but they slammed more guys into them and it became really hard to work out a plan to win.

I loved the story and Morrigan was part of what I really liked. Perhaps I should pick it back up and turn down the difficulty to just enjoy the story elements that were so fantastic.

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Looking Back at The Wii

Nintendo's Wii brought me back to serious gaming. The Wii wasn't a system aimed at the serious gamer but at the time it acted as a gateway for me to the PS3 and then later back to the PC. I look at the Wii fondly and still have it under my TV and don't imagine it will be displaced for quite some time. I was thinking about my history with the Wii and have been thinking about how it has impacted gaming.

The upcoming months to the Wii's release were interesting as many people I knew that were lapsed gamers were interested in gaming again. At the time the only games I played were those I could get to run in Wine or had a native Linux port. Because of this I wasn't a... Read All Nintendo's Wii brought me back to serious gaming. The Wii wasn't a system aimed at the serious gamer but at the time it acted as a gateway for me to the PS3 and then later back to the PC. I look at the Wii fondly and still have it under my TV and don't imagine it will be displaced for quite some time. I was thinking about my history with the Wii and have been thinking about how it has impacted gaming.

The upcoming months to the Wii's release were interesting as many people I knew that were lapsed gamers were interested in gaming again. At the time the only games I played were those I could get to run in Wine or had a native Linux port. Because of this I wasn't a serious gamer as playing games this way was difficult. The Wii seemed interesting to me as I hadn't played a new Mario or Zelda game in years and the motion controls were something pretty unique. Wii Sports looked really interesting and it was a console my wife seemed interested in. To that point Nintendo interested me in ways Sony or Microsoft couldn't with the PS2 and Xbox. Those systems were popular with many, but I wasn't terribly interested in them at the time.

After the Wii was released it was immediately being sold on EBay and Craigslist for crazily marked up prices. I skipped the initial Wii craze and bought one when it was reasonably easy to get from a store. When my wife and I decided we wanted to buy one we would call local stores in the morning to see if they had it in stock. One morning on a Sunday I found a store that had it in stock and I immediately headed over to buy it. I took pictures of the whole event and unboxing of the system. This was well before unboxing videos were popular on YouTube and I still have the pictures in my digital collection. It was a really exciting day and we were very happy to finally play it.

We bought the Wii and Wii Play. At the time Wii Play came with the game and an extra controller. Combined with Wii Sports and Wii Play we were pretty enveloped in the Wii for quite a few months. When friends came over, we would play the games and it was a great system to have at a party.

One the reasons I got the Wii was its backwards compatibility with the Game Cube, a system I wanted but never had. I nabbed The Sonic Mega Collection, Wind Waker, The Metal Slug Anthology and Metroid Prime.

The main games I played the most on my Wii were Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart Wii and Twilight Princess. All good games and I was happy with them all.

When Netflix came to the Wii via the Netflix DVD the Wii became more popular than our DVD player. Being able to stream movies and shows to the Wii was incredible and when the Wii app was launched it changed how we watched TV and Movies. To this day using Netflix is the thing we do on our consoles more than playing games. Netflix has given them a much longer lease on life than they otherwise would as well and I imagine for many this is true.

The games that we have played on the Wii in the last few years have been Just Dance 2, 3 and 4. While they are far from hardcore they are fun at parties where there is beer involved. In fact, for a few years, they were a staple for many of the parties I attended with friends. If you haven't tried them, I recommend you give them a shot. I don't listen to pop radio so many of the songs I heard for the first time in Just Dance.

I recently picked up Tetris Party Deluxe which is a fantastic 4 player Tetris game that gave the Wii a new lease on gaming life. Currently the Wii serves as a backup Netflix device for when the PS3 isn't able to connect. Its a great system and still has a spot under the TV for the foreseeable future. Some gamers look back at the Wii with a bit of hostility due to its non-hardcore nature but as I wanted gaming experiences it couldn't provide I looked elsewhere happily. For that the Wii came to do it did it well and for that I think it was a great system.

Continuing Dev. Adventures of Stardew Valley

http://stardewvalley.net/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/JUNE2013_3.png

ConcernedApe the one man development whirlwind bringing us Stardew Valley has posted another development update. The post covers the addition of flowers and the updated art for tools and player animations.

The game is looking very polished and I can't wait to try this when it ships. As always, when a launch date is announced I will let you know.

http://stardewvalley.net/mini-dev-update-7/

Worthwhile DOS Games Infographic

Our friends over at Night Dive Studios created a great infographic showing really noteworthy games on DOS. It features classics such as Doom, Warcraft 2, Starcontrol, Full Throttle, Out of This World, Scorched Earth and others.

check it out here:

http://www.nightdivestudios.com/images/list-of-worthwhile-dos-games.jpg

https://www.facebook.com/NightDiveStudios

Broforce: The Upcoming 2D Shoot Fest

"Broforce is a hyperviolent action platform game. It features 90′s blockbuster movie action heroes making up the Broforce team- an under-funded vigilante paramilitary organisation – saving the world from satanic alien terrorist investment banker businessmen in non-stop, fast paced co-operative strategic mayhem filled with more action and explosions than anything else, ever."

After watching the Broforce trailer I was intrigued. Being able to play as Brommando, Rambro, BA Broacus, Bro Hard, Brodel Walker, Brade, Bro Dredd, MacBrover, Snake Broskin, Indiana Brones, The Brominator, Bro in Black & Brobocop is like my 80's childhood dream come true.

Do your soul a favor... Read All

Indie Game Apalooza With The Greenlight Supershow

Robot Loves Kitty, the amazing awesome factory that created Legend of Dungeon and other Indie hits is organizing the The Greenlight Supershow. This all day Twitch stream will feature a ton of awesome indie games currently on Steam Greenlight. Featuring such radery as Chasm, Ray's The Dead, Castaway, Broforce, McPixel, Delvers Drop & More this event is a must watch.

You can join the Cheerful Ghost event and add it to your calendar for a helpful reminder of when it happens and where to go.

http://cheerfulghost.com/jdodson/events/28

http://robotloveskitty.com/supershow/
http://www.twitch.tv/robotloveskitty/

System Shock 2 Giveaway

Hello folks! We're back with another giveaway. This time we are excited to hand out System Shock 2 the classic horror shooter by legendary developer Ken Levine. If you are looking to pick this game up to add it to your Steam collection or are curious about checking out this classic after playing Bioshock we are here to help you out!

We are giving away a copy on Steam Gifts as per usual to drop in one lucky person's Steam account on July 9th. Head over to SteamGifts to enter:
http://www.steamgifts.com/giveaway/q39V8/system-shock-2

For another chance to win the game, simply comment below. We will choose 9 comments purely at random, assigning a numerical value to each entry... Read All

CapnCurry Supporter wrote on 06/26/2013 at 10:49pm

That's a surprisingly creepy graphic at the top of this post, here - I've never had my hands on System Shock 2, but I'm intrigued!

FaeDine wrote on 06/26/2013 at 10:49pm

Sweet. I've been meaning to try this game for ages. Here's my comment for a chance to win ;)

Trungel wrote on 06/26/2013 at 10:51pm

Would be great to win this awesome game.

semifamous wrote on 06/26/2013 at 10:52pm

I'll enter for a free game. Sure. Why not? Thanks!

uchristensen wrote on 06/26/2013 at 11:36pm

I remember passing up a banged up copy in a store long ago and regretting it ever since. So want this.

Ashton_Frigate wrote on 06/27/2013 at 12:07am

I've wanted one. thanks for the chance!

Chris_Legasse wrote on 06/27/2013 at 12:25am

Used to love this game back in the day.

Wick wrote on 06/27/2013 at 01:01am

Cool! I finally signed up for an account to enter this, I've been wanting to play SS2 for a while.

Christian_Murphy wrote on 06/27/2013 at 02:45am

I've always wanted to play SS2 :D

Jennifer_McMurray wrote on 06/27/2013 at 03:00am

I've been interested in trying this ever since Night Dive Studios negotiated the rights. Thanks for the chance to win a copy. :)

scrypt Supporter wrote on 06/27/2013 at 04:02am

System Shock 2 is the bees knees!

Blacktric wrote on 06/27/2013 at 07:02am

Thanks for the giveaway guys!

Arch_Stanton wrote on 06/27/2013 at 08:04am

They've killed my men... and now they've killed me... I'm holding my guts inside of me with both hands. This is bigger than my little life, the lives of my men, and the lives of the people I was forced to kill. Resist! Humanity demands it! Resist!

Xiphan wrote on 06/27/2013 at 08:11am

Awesome, my favourite game of all time! I would love to have a copy of it on Steam! :D

Krychek wrote on 06/27/2013 at 11:51am

Groovy!

Sally_Brown wrote on 06/27/2013 at 12:00pm

Best game ever

MeP wrote on 06/27/2013 at 12:07pm

Let's see if luck is with this one.

oasis789 wrote on 06/27/2013 at 01:11pm

Look at you, hacker: a pathetic creature of meat and bone, panting and sweating as you run through my corridors. How can you challenge a perfect, immortal machine?

Lou_MacDaddyo_Pattinson wrote on 06/27/2013 at 01:16pm

Thanks, I'd love to play it.

Steam username: 999flame.

Aya_Brea wrote on 06/27/2013 at 02:13pm

I heard much of this game but never had the chance to play it, as I got my Pc with age of 20 I already missed many classic games like System Shock 2! So I would be really happy to win a copy here! :3 Thank you for the chance to win such an awesome gem of the past. :3

Timogorgon Member wrote on 06/27/2013 at 04:17pm

I'll add my name into the contest. I've never had the chance to play System Shock 2, but i hear good things about it. :)

Sarai_Addams wrote on 06/28/2013 at 02:02am

Hope I win.

Drabit wrote on 06/28/2013 at 02:09am

There we go, I loved system shock back in the day, spent ages combing over the demo and loved having a full copy, it sadly got damaged a few years ago though and would love this as a replacement.

GaryYam wrote on 06/28/2013 at 07:30am

Thanks . I heard that this game is great .

Pesegato wrote on 06/28/2013 at 08:53am

Indeed it is.

Who_Wants_Bagels wrote on 06/28/2013 at 01:15pm

Man, this game sounds awesome. I've always wanted to try it out.

Arturo_Garcia wrote on 06/29/2013 at 02:53am

Had this game when it first came out. It was awesome then. I'm sure it's still awesome now. Wish I knew where my original copy went. =/

Glotzeulor wrote on 06/29/2013 at 10:17am

System Shock is pure awesomeness! So thanks for being awesome and making such a great giveaway!

RichieBerry wrote on 06/29/2013 at 01:05pm

System Shock 2 looks like a really cool game. Thanks for giving it way!

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/01/2013 at 04:25am

Thanks to everyone that has entered so far.

PS "Who_Wants_Bagels" is an amazing name :D

Who_Wants_Bagels wrote on 07/01/2013 at 01:02pm

Thanks. I appreciate the complement. :)

Darek_Kubale wrote on 07/02/2013 at 07:36pm

Thanks for this giveaway :)

shockwave wrote on 07/03/2013 at 04:01pm

thanks for the giveaway!

Tom_Davies wrote on 07/04/2013 at 12:15am

Thanks! Looks sweet!

Watoosh wrote on 07/04/2013 at 02:10pm

I've heard nothing but good things about SS2, so I'm thinking I ought to play it. I can hardly call myself a true gamer without going through the classics first :)

P4INKILL3R wrote on 07/04/2013 at 06:34pm

thanks for giving away system shock 2!

gl@all

Soup wrote on 07/07/2013 at 08:07pm

I remember how awesome this game was back in the day. Thank you for your generosity!

Kincyr wrote on 07/08/2013 at 02:28am

I have the original CD-ROM version. even to this day, this game is still a masterpiece

User_Name wrote on 07/09/2013 at 01:37am

Thanks for the giveaway!

micha_Milczarek wrote on 07/09/2013 at 06:32am

one of my favorite old games

Cyborg_Kaiten wrote on 07/09/2013 at 01:03pm

Thanks for the giveaway!

Rumbaler wrote on 07/09/2013 at 01:08pm

I heard this game a lot from Yahtzee from Zero Punctuation. Always wanted to try it and see what it was all about.

Christian_Sanchez wrote on 07/09/2013 at 02:19pm

thanks

Cyril_Rambini wrote on 07/09/2013 at 03:34pm

Played some of it when it was abandonware but lost that copy. Would love to check it out again!

Permafry_42 wrote on 07/09/2013 at 03:56pm

Definitely would love to finally have the chance to play this classic!

Tee_Huynh wrote on 07/09/2013 at 05:23pm

Awesome game. Throw back to the older PC gaming days. Awesome thing you guys are doing and very generous! Don't know much about you guys (your site) but with this giveaway I'm very intrigued and will show you guys the love and respect your giving the community :)

keep up the awesome work!

TifaValentine wrote on 07/09/2013 at 05:28pm

Ohhh I sooo want to play this one *__* already heard of it maaaany times!
Really good thing, guys, giving away such a lovely (and terrifying?) game. Tbh, I found out this site because of the giveaway, but this might make me want to check more about you guys. (well, I already made an account.. so why not give it a chance? :0 )
Keep it up! :)

Gaughranorama wrote on 07/09/2013 at 06:12pm

Thanks for the giveaway lads. Great game that I've not played in a long time....

Fragger wrote on 07/09/2013 at 06:50pm

I hate to admit it, but I do not own a single copy of this great game. =( I mean, I have played it, but never the whole way through.. So, it would be pretty nice to win one of these. =P

Thanks for the chance! =)

Juan wrote on 07/09/2013 at 06:54pm

Thank you for the chance to revisit this timeless PC classic. And of all the days, winning it on July 9th would be truly special.

Rat_Florin wrote on 07/09/2013 at 08:41pm

Thank you very much for creating this giveaway. Good luck everyone!

_176 wrote on 07/09/2013 at 08:48pm

Thanks for the chance!

foreone wrote on 07/09/2013 at 09:23pm

Yay i want this for more than 10 years.

kirmizi wrote on 07/09/2013 at 09:37pm

thank you!

deniz wrote on 07/09/2013 at 09:53pm

Thank you! hope i win it :)

HunterAddams wrote on 07/09/2013 at 10:05pm

Thanks for the chance ^^

Ano_Dyne wrote on 07/09/2013 at 11:22pm

Yes! Old 'puter with Shock 2 got fried, never got around to going back... such a creepy game.

Jellophile wrote on 07/09/2013 at 11:34pm

Never got around to playing system shock, wouldn't mind the chance.

da_gaymer wrote on 07/10/2013 at 12:00am

Was really surprised when this was re-released on Steam. In a positive way, of course, since this is a genuine classic; one of the best games of all time.
Thanks a lot for the chance!

adktz wrote on 07/10/2013 at 12:02am

A classic! Very difficult too...

Jay_Tripathi wrote on 07/10/2013 at 12:11am

I hope i can finally play this :)

thejadefalcon wrote on 07/10/2013 at 12:12am

Thank you very much for the chance, guys! I've only ever played the first one for a short time, but I've always read System Shock reviews and tales with GREAT interest!

Tony_HaKs wrote on 07/10/2013 at 12:14am

I want this game :)

Wilson_Wong wrote on 07/10/2013 at 12:27am

I would love this game, never tried it before. Thanks for chance guys.

kninja wrote on 07/10/2013 at 12:28am

This game looks great. Hope I get a chance to play it.Thanks for the giveaway.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 07/10/2013 at 01:23am

Congrats to the winners!

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Tiny Barbarian DX - Why Did It Have To Be Snakes?

If any of you have memories, fond or otherwise, of games like Mega Man or Ghosts 'n Goblins, you'll feel right at home in Tiny Barbarian DX.

You are a Conan-esque barbarian, muscling through dungeons and temples, and an amazing amount of snakes, to rescue the girl from a quite powerful wizard (who seriously has a thing for snakes…). Gold coins are collected and enemies slain to increase your high score, while a timer haunts from the top right of the screen, measuring your progress, or mocking it, as the case may be. There is no leveling, no gained abilities, no upgrades, none of that RPG nonsense here. No, its just your phalangeal dexterity, a trusty sword, and a mean... Read All If any of you have memories, fond or otherwise, of games like Mega Man or Ghosts 'n Goblins, you'll feel right at home in Tiny Barbarian DX.

You are a Conan-esque barbarian, muscling through dungeons and temples, and an amazing amount of snakes, to rescue the girl from a quite powerful wizard (who seriously has a thing for snakes…). Gold coins are collected and enemies slain to increase your high score, while a timer haunts from the top right of the screen, measuring your progress, or mocking it, as the case may be. There is no leveling, no gained abilities, no upgrades, none of that RPG nonsense here. No, its just your phalangeal dexterity, a trusty sword, and a mean elbow drop.

The thing that I love to hate about these types of murder platformers, I mean games, is that I get this feeling like they really do know me. They know that I secretly love to fail a lot in my interactive experiences. Like, A LOT. Try to jump from that chain to the ledge, and there's an incoming snake ball. Dodge the snake ball next time, then there's the flying spear. In one area where I had already spent way too much time memorizing patterns of flying death, and changing strategies in some vain hope of moving forward, I had managed to make it to the checkpoint. With one block of health left, a short sigh of relief turned bitter when I hadn't gauged that final leap, and I landed right into a pit of spikes, the exit a mere few blocks away. Now that's the childhood agony I remember! My successful play through netted a total of 73 deaths. I think I started swearing out loud at around 46, unless it was death by snake which usually triggered it's own set of expletives. Thankfully, Michael Stearns knows how to make it all worthwhile. Even in my many deaths I couldn't wait to see what was coming next.

I played through with a gamepad, and while support for that is a recent feature, the controls were tight, which is essential in any platformer, but more so in one that punishes players who lack precision in their execution. There were one or two instances where I thought there was an issue with not being able to move or attack how I intended to, but I don't know how much of that is bugs, or just my rusty hand eye coordination. I noticed it most in the brief animal riding sequences, which I didn't much care for anyway.

I need to say a quick word about the soundtrack, and really the sound design of the whole game. Good, good stuff here. Jeff Ball is working some serious magic, and I totally dig it.

There is a lot of fun to be had with this first chapter of Tiny Barbarian DX. It's beautiful to look at, and fun to play, with a good amount of challenge. While it is a short ride, there's a king-of-the-hill style Horde Mode to keep us busy until the next chapter comes (how long can you survive?). Three more chapters are planned, part of the game purchase bundle and downloadable when available. They have a great foundation here, and I'm really looking forward to the rest of the experience. One request for the future: Please go easy on the snakes.

Check out the interview that jdodson had with designer Michael Stearns, if you haven't already.

Official website: www.tinybarbarian.com
Jeff Ball music: www.jeffedwardball.com
Cheerful Ghost dev interview: www.cheerfulghost.com/jdodson/posts/1392