Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

That Firehose: 365 Project, Gaben Password +Whales

Gabe Newell recently gave out his Steam username and password to showcase Valve's latest identity protection. Gaben's password is moolyftw and I am wondering how many people have tried to access his account since he published it?

Space Whale: Whale From Outerspace wins the award for the coolest space name. Never realised I wanted to play as a space whale until now.

http://thecodebar.abertay.ac.uk/gameprojects/spacewhale/

Interesting new video making the rounds about someone who played 365 indie games in a year. After watching it briefly I now realize how many games are made I don't even know about.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d7_eAMeQfwo

Q&A w Alix Stolzer about Legend of Dungeon

Legend of Dungeon is fun new rogue-like that was recently released on the Humble Store. I picked it up and was instantly taken with its unique look and fun gameplay. It is in my "regular rotation" of games I am currently playing and I can say that, for me, it works flawlessly on Mac and Linux(so far I haven't actually played it on PC). I reached out to Alix Stolzer, one half the amazing Robot Loves Kitty Indie duo that created Legend of Dungeon and other lovely games such as Tiny Plumbers.

Since I sent out the questions to Alix, Legend of Dungeon has been successfully Greenlit on Steam and the game has continued on to garner more fans and positive reviews. I want to... Read All

New Indie Royale Bundle -- all Greenlight games

Ok, so I haven't bought an Indie Royale bundle in a while, but this one is great -- a set of Steam Greenlight games that are all crazy and look really fun (for < $5 the price can't be beat)

Defiance: One Giant Leap, or an Awkward Stumble?

To be fair, the new television show Defiance seems like exactly my cup of tea. Dystopian America? Check. Aliens? Check. Created by the guy responsible for Farscape? Hells yeah. Upon watching the Pilot, I kind of feel like someone jumped into my brain and made a show pieced together from everything I grew up on.

I had the pleasure of taking part in the Beta for the game version of Defiance. I walked away from it not overwhelmed, but sufficiently impressed. On PC, it seems to simply be another offering in the somewhat over-saturated MMO market, offering aliens and assault rifles in place of ogres and swords. Where it seems to shine, on the other hand, is in the fact... Read All To be fair, the new television show Defiance seems like exactly my cup of tea. Dystopian America? Check. Aliens? Check. Created by the guy responsible for Farscape? Hells yeah. Upon watching the Pilot, I kind of feel like someone jumped into my brain and made a show pieced together from everything I grew up on.

I had the pleasure of taking part in the Beta for the game version of Defiance. I walked away from it not overwhelmed, but sufficiently impressed. On PC, it seems to simply be another offering in the somewhat over-saturated MMO market, offering aliens and assault rifles in place of ogres and swords. Where it seems to shine, on the other hand, is in the fact that is not PC exclusive. Console MMO gaming is, admittedly, a bit of an anemic genre, with (on PS3 at least) only a handful of offerings, such as DC Universe Online and FreeRealms, both F2P, and sadly it shows.

I am no stranger to the MMO. Like many of you, I had my phase of WoW addiction, and am no stranger to Guild Wars or even Everquest (For those of you just joining us in the genre, Everquest was the digital equivalent of cocaine back in the day. Then World of WarCrack came out, and it sadly was never the same.) So far, Defiance seems to be able to stand on it's own two legs as an MMO offering, and it gives some insight as to how a Borderlands MMO would feel. Like many others, there were some hiccups in the early days, but that is nothing new to the genre, and network errors seem to have worked themselves out.

I find myself a fan of both aspects of this unique concept. The show is one giant ball of my nerdy obsessions, and the game is a solid offering, though maybe not the very best out there. However, I find myself wondering how these two aspects will end up blending. Will it be Chocolate and Peanut Butter, with two great tastes that taste good together? Or are we looking at salsa and ice cream, with two great things that might just make you sick if you blend them?

It seems a smart idea to set the two aspects in different parts of the same world, given the fact that the live-action television show has to be recorded months in advance, and can't exactly turn on a dime if something goes unexpected in the game. This separation, though, is exactly what worries me. Defiance was touted as an all-encompassing experience. It's a game you can watch! It's a show you can play! Given the story we have so far, though, there is a bit of room to worry about how well these aspects will blend. Defiance, which has set up roots in what was once St. Louis, Missouri, stands as an independent city-state, free of government any higher than the town's mayor. It seems a bit like this may be the norm for much of the country, if not the world. The show seems to be mostly confined to the (quite literal) bubble cast around this city.

Early advertising made large promises, telling us that how we played the game will affect what we see on the show. From the get-go, this seems like the concept of the show is a choose-your-own adventure book, with the MMO acting as the options on the bottom of the page, to see where your options lead you. While it is still a bit too early to tell, I'm starting to get the idea that the 'interactivity' between them may be guest characters from the show popping up in the game, or a passing line of dialogue in the show that a handful of players will collective go "Hey! I got that reference!"

I will keep an open mind, but I am sufficiently worried that the biggest, coolest aspect of the show/game hybrid may very well go the way of the Virtual Boy, with a lot of money going to a half-baked concept. Regardless, both aspects seem to be sufficiently awesome if consumed separately. I feel like, even if the cross-media interactivity bombs, each individual aspect is string enough to stand on its own. Still, it would be fantastic to hear Julie Benz make a moving speech about the heroes of the latest battle of San Francisco, AssBlaster69 and DirtyDirtySanchez...

Just Saying....

Your Game List 2.0

The original idea of Cheerful Ghost was simply a way to share your list of games with the world. As the idea evolved it became a place to tie all conversations about games together. It also started becoming more of an awesome game community and it evolved to what it is today.

As time has passed your game list has grown but I haven't done much to make your game list more exciting or something you might go back to curate. I have just launched the new GAME LIST 2.0 BETA and I seriously recommend you check it out.

new stuff:

Each of your games has a flow. Wishlist -> Own -> Backlog -> Playing -> Played -> Completed. Update right on the list and it magically... Read All

Blue_Element wrote on 04/19/2013 at 06:54pm

Awesome update! But... I still can't remove games from my list. :'(

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/19/2013 at 07:01pm

That's still coming and on the list :D

Blue_Element wrote on 04/19/2013 at 10:50pm

Yay! :D

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/19/2013 at 11:03pm

Yep. I want a few games off my list too, so yeah its coming.

Blue_Element wrote on 04/20/2013 at 05:00am

Can you add "Starseed Pilgrim" for Mac and PC to the game archive list thing?

Blue_Element wrote on 04/20/2013 at 05:00am

I just got it today on Steam, and it is SO fun!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/20/2013 at 06:45am

Awesome, added: http://cheerfulghost.com/game/24254

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/20/2013 at 05:20pm

Ok @Blue_Element: you can now delete games in your list that you haven't posted about. Wee, now I need to do some pruning myself :D

Blue_Element wrote on 04/21/2013 at 12:37am

YAY!!! Thanks! :D

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/21/2013 at 01:07am

Yeah dude, no problem!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/22/2013 at 02:32am

Ok @Blue_Element you can now turn off game list auto importing. I added that back in just for you :D

Blue_Element wrote on 04/23/2013 at 01:09am

Thanks! :D

Blue_Element wrote on 04/23/2013 at 01:14am

Wait, how do I do that exactly?

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 04/23/2013 at 01:16am

Click notifications in upper right / Edit Profile. The toggle is above the Steam, XBox and PSN boxes.

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Lets Play: Kickstarter Demo for Chasm

In my latest Lets Play I tackle the Kickstarter Beta for Chasm. I also dial it up a notch by doing some on-the-fly in game voice dialog for the NPC's*.

The Chasm demo isn't very long but paints a good picture of how well polished the game is and what we can expect when it ships.

* Please don't judge me because I am strange. Ok well, maybe a little.

What Is Starbound? New Video Explains Much.

YouTuber's VenGoose Gaming just released a video cut up of all the released Starbound information. Its a really good primer on what we know the game will be and comes with some really nice in game visuals to give you a good picture of it.

Apparently I need to post every bit of Starbound information imaginable so bear with me until launch. During that time I may also rename the site to Cheerful Ghostbound, but you know, I might not... :D

http://www.youtube.com/user/TFGoose

Bethesda's big announcement is Zwei

The Vine videos over the past few days were leading up to Shinji Mikami's survival horror game Zwei. Mikami is the creator of Resident Evil, and Zwei is his first project with his new studio, Tango Gameworks, a division of Zenimax.

So mystery solved. It's not a new Elder Scrolls or a new Fallout so stop poring over those videos for hints :)

Source: http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/04/18/shinji-mikamis-new-game-revealed-tomorrow

Gary_Butterfield wrote on 04/18/2013 at 09:17pm

BOOOOOO I WANTED FALLOUT 4

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 04/18/2013 at 09:22pm

Well crap. Survival horror is my least favorite type of game, so I'll likely be skipping this one.

Gary_Butterfield wrote on 04/18/2013 at 11:34pm

I actually love Survival Horror but Fallout is my favorite game series of all time. But it's not like FO4 isn't coming, so I'll just chill.

jdodson Admin wrote on 04/18/2013 at 11:41pm

Its a bit anti-climactic for me too. I am sure Zwei will be good and they really did achieve a good amount of buzz about it, so mission accomplished.

But yeah, id rather have Fallout 4 too.

BR Supporter wrote on 04/19/2013 at 02:05am

I think most people can agree fallout 4 would've been better. :/

Ah well...

SignalWarden wrote on 04/21/2013 at 02:10am

This wouldn't really be horror survival. More straight horror, like the original RE. People have been screaming for RE to go back to its roots instead of being a Die Hard video game. This could be a chance for the original creator to do justice to the genre. As for the Fallout hopes, it's my favorite franchise as well. That being said, ZeniMax bought out the entire team that was working on Zwei and folded them under Bethesda, so the team that would be making FO4 is still available to do so. There is hope.

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Chasm is a Great Upcoming 2D Sidescroller

Back this on Kickstarter!

As I was perusing the Kickstarter games section I came across a new project called Chasm. Chasm is a retro 2D pixel-art RPG styled after Super Metroid and Diablo. Really though the idea was compelling because we all loved Super Metroid and the mashing that with Diablo sounds epic. And come to find out they also have a Windows, Mac and Linux demo for us to all try. I like this new movement with Kickstart projects to provide a playable demo.

The demo isn't very long but I played it start to finish on my Macbook and it is superb. So great, I plan on doing a Let's Play about it in the next few days. You __REALLY__ should try the demo and consider backing this project. They... Read All

Why Persona 3 is still relevant

https://d233eq3e3p3cv0.cloudfront.net/fit/c/1600/672/0*Mc2Dxwi1vL5WWmZx.png

I'm in my thirties. I've spent an entire slice of life playing computer/console role playing games. Final Fantasy, Everquest, Dragon Quest, you name it... if there was a way for me to kill a goblin and steal his loot, I was in the line to do it.

Even so, I'm totally burned out on them. Just the mere mention of a vorpal blade which would grant me 10+ attack and 4.5+ critical chance makes me want to turn off the game and never come back. For years, I've been trying to find that spark again, to come upon a game that would make me feel like when I was a kid. And, through an emulated version of a PS2 game, available over the playstation network, I found it.

Persona 3 is not... Read All

Travis Admin wrote on 04/18/2013 at 03:05am

Perhaps I should try this. I've found myself in the same boat as you lately. JRPG's (though that genre is getting harder to define) just don't hold my interest the way they should. I tried to replay one recently and some of the core mechanics just annoyed me to no end.

I've heard some good things about the series, and that it really kinda creates its own genre, and based on what you're saying that's true.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 04/18/2013 at 08:41am

While I've never completed a Persona game (or any of the Shin Megami games, for that matter), I'm a huge fan of the gameplay and style. I think I've started Persona 3 five different times, just to revisit the soundtrack! That and the artwork; I love, love, love Soejima's artwork. I agree with caffo, these are great games, and worth your time. The combat can be a little repetitive; fairly standard turn-based attacks, spells are cast through your Persona, but gathering and "upgrading" the Personas (almost like spell forging) can be quite fun. Building Social Links is more than just dating simulation, but it has some of those aspects (when communicating with certain characters).

I'd personally recommend Persona 3 FES for Ps2 rather than the portable version for PSP/Vita, as the mobile version doesn't have the beautifully animated cut-scenes or the freedom of movement around the environments.

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