Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

The joys of Gaming as a couple

Let me share with you all my favorite thing about this game. Since the original Deus Ex well over a decade ago, the main draw of the series has been the ability to choose your route through any given area. I pride myself on my (admittedly lackluster) stealth skills, and as such, made a point of taking on the terrorist mission early in the game (The one where you had to rescue the hostages and defuse the bomb) with a decidedly low-profile approach. I had some difficulty navigating the room just outside the hostages without being spotted, and eventually just paused and walked away in frustration. My wife asks me to run around the corner to pick her up a snack from our... Read All

scrypt Supporter wrote on 03/27/2013 at 02:32am

Sharing passions, or even just being able to communicate and understand those passions, is a valuable thing in any relationship. Very cool that you have this!

Travis Admin wrote on 03/27/2013 at 03:08am

That's awesome. My wife games, but not as much as me. She loves watching me play some games though, and is really digging Bioshock Infinite.

jdodson Admin wrote on 03/27/2013 at 04:04pm

Grenades and Throat Punch? Awesome. :D

jdodson Admin wrote on 03/27/2013 at 04:06pm

Some of the coolest moments in gaming happened during my play sessions with Half-Life 2 and Portal 2 playing on the couch with my wife beside me reading or doing a puzzle. Her reactions to the game were pretty awesome.

I recently ran through the Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm BluRay and watched all the cinematics and she was really interested in the story and how it turned out. She seemed to dig Kerrigan and Jim's story too. LEGACY OF THE VOID CAN'T COME SOON ENOUGH!

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 03/27/2013 at 04:34pm

That is so rad man!

Just last night I was at my girlfriend's house, and we were going to watch The Golden Girls (something I'd never thought I'd say, but check it out, it's pretty fantastically funny) and before we did, I threw in her copy of Grand Theft Auto 4. We had a blast just running around the city, punching people's cars and causing a riot. Gaming with a partner can be a ton of fun!

I suppose that should be obvious to me, looking back at my childhood. Gaming with friends is what every day revolved around. I remember putting my Super Nintendo in my backpack after school and biking to my friend's house so we could play games together. Not to mention all the Super Street Fighter 2 and Killer Instincts battles I had with my brother :)

Travis Admin wrote on 03/27/2013 at 06:56pm

Don't knock the Golden Girls. That show was hilarious!

Sparklepop wrote on 03/27/2013 at 07:17pm

That is awesome!

I wish my boyfriend was awesome like that. We play WoW together but if it's any other game, if I get stuck, he just laughs at me. He never helps or will even hint about how to get around something. *grumblegrumble*

And Golden Girls is awesome! I wanna be like them, when I grow up. =)

Timogorgon Member wrote on 03/28/2013 at 05:32am

Gaming as a couple is awesome! My wife and I use to play MMO's together, but now we mostly stick to co-op console games like Borderlands. We're still working on Borderlands 2, but our gaming time together is a little more rare now that kid #3 is here. :)

Nick_Donahoo Post Author wrote on 03/28/2013 at 07:08pm

Ooh. tempted to get the wife interested in Borderlands. Hadn't thought of that before. I think I have the first one somewhere. Wonder if she'll dig playing Lilith.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 05/07/2013 at 06:38am

I finally got around to watching trailers for this game. It seriously could be a movie. Looks spectacular!

Travis Admin wrote on 05/07/2013 at 12:57pm

It is, I'd say it's one of my favorites of the past few years.

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Revamped Profile Pages & More

We launched a revamp to everyones Profile page as per the list of features we had slated to release this month. The new design is much more distinct than the old one and highlights certain things the old profile page didn't. If you are new to the site, this might be what you are used to, but for people that have been on the site for longer this will be a pretty big departure.

A few examples to look through:

http://cheerfulghost.com/BigBadGoat (the avatar alone is worth the price of admission)
http://cheerfulghost.com/Travis
http://cheerfulghost.com/scrypt

We also now have a much better feedback form now. The old one was simply a Google Doc Form that backended to a... Read All

This was a Triumph.

Hello, *Insert Test Subject Name Here*, and welcome to the Aperture Labs Modular Testing Facility. You are no doubt the pride of *Insert Test Subject's Hometown Here*. For this next test, we have replaced the defective test facility with a live fire course designed for military androids.

A few days ago, I made the discovery that my wife had never experienced the majesty that was the original Portal. A few dollars on steam later, we set about remedying this unfortunate oversight. "So, what the heck is this? A First-Person Puzzle game?" She asked me, a bit incredulous. "That sounds kind of dumb:"

Having not steered her wrong on games before, she was willing to give me... Read All Hello, *Insert Test Subject Name Here*, and welcome to the Aperture Labs Modular Testing Facility. You are no doubt the pride of *Insert Test Subject's Hometown Here*. For this next test, we have replaced the defective test facility with a live fire course designed for military androids.

A few days ago, I made the discovery that my wife had never experienced the majesty that was the original Portal. A few dollars on steam later, we set about remedying this unfortunate oversight. "So, what the heck is this? A First-Person Puzzle game?" She asked me, a bit incredulous. "That sounds kind of dumb:"

Having not steered her wrong on games before, she was willing to give me the benefit of the doubt. She delved into Aperture Labs, oblivious to the trials and tribulations ahead of her. She hears the calming tones of GLaDOS pushing her along, encouraging her to continue testing. She laughed as she realized lining up a pair of portals on the ceiling and floor makes for a lot of speed, and the right portal afterwards sends her ceiling-bound. Promises of cake kept her moving to the next test chamber,

Then came the Rattman. She stumbled upon a broken section of wall, and curiosity got the better of her. "What's this?" She wondered aloud. "The Cake Is A Lie? But she promised!" Suddenly, that wide-eyed joy was replaced with a hint of concern. She wondered who to trust. The dulcet tones that have led her every step of the way so far, or the hasty, erratic graffiti obviously scrawled by a desperate, if not mad man. We moved on, a bit uneasier, but still completely enthralled.

By now, we've met most of the cast. GLaDOS has been whispering in our ear the entire time, and the Rattman has left his mark on our test chambers. As she stepped out of the elevator, our last cast member introduced itself. Muck like our beloved Chell, it is silent, resilient, reliable, and a little bit adorable. The Aperture Science Weighted Companion Cube has found its way into our lives, and she couldn't be happier. As she smiles and hops along with her new friend, I'm filled with an increasing sense of dread, knowing what comes next...

To Be Continued.

jdodson Admin wrote on 03/27/2013 at 12:05am

For sure. When I lost the companion cube I remember my wife was in the room and she was like "Hey, wait what, YOU DIDNT HAVE TO DO THAT!" I was like, "yeah I think I did." Funny how nearly everyone reacts badly to that scene.

Have you played Portal before?

Nick_Donahoo Post Author wrote on 03/27/2013 at 12:42am

I played it years ago. I was surprise when I realized she hadn't. I was watching her more than the game, It's kind of a surreal experience knowing the twists when the other person doesn't.

jdodson Admin wrote on 03/27/2013 at 01:01am

For sure. Before Portal 2 came out I played the original again. It was still very fun and enjoyed myself.

Have you played Portal 2?

Nick_Donahoo Post Author wrote on 03/27/2013 at 01:14am

*ahem* I'm in SPAAAAAAAAAAAAAACE!

Um, yes. I have. It was a masterpiece. And half of it was voiced by Nolan North, who you might recognize as the voice of EVERYTHING. I have a thing for good voice acting, and this was incredibly well done. Absolutely everything was right about it. I should be doing a write up of my wife's first playthrough. Heck, that might just become a thing. "My Wife Plays ____" The story of a gamer sharing his lifelong passion with his until recently non-gamer wife.

jdodson Admin wrote on 03/27/2013 at 01:15am

Hahahaha that sounds awesome.

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DRM: Its 2013 and it Still Won't Die

Recently Tommy Refenes posted on IndieGames.com about Piracy and DRM and you really should read it.

http://indiegames.com/2013/03/team_meats_refenes_apathy_and_.html

Its a well written piece and he brings up several points I want to highlight.

“We are closing in on 2 million sales and assuming a 10% piracy to sales ratio does not seem unreasonable. As a forward thinking developer who exists in the present, I realize and accept that a pirated copy of a digital game does not equate to money being taken out of my pocket.”

He goes on to say...

“In the digital world, you don't have a set inventory. Your game is infinitely replicable at a negligible or zero cost (the cost... Read All

Sparklepop wrote on 03/26/2013 at 07:09pm

Agree 100%. And this isn't a hard concept to understand. Well, at least not for us little people.

IceMice wrote on 03/26/2013 at 10:42pm

i'm just gonna be sharing this over on facebook now...

scrypt Supporter wrote on 03/26/2013 at 11:13pm

This is good stuff. I like Tommy's article. The argument that piracy equals lost sales never made sense to me. Value and respect go hand in hand, and the idea of creating something valuable, rather than creating a product that you put a value on, is an essential concept. Radiohead experienced a similar thing with their pay-what-you-like digital release of In Rainbows:

http://www.nme.com/blog/index.php?blog=10&title=did_radiohead_s_in_rainbows_honesty_box_&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/27/2013 at 12:02am

I picked up that Radiohead album and for me, yeah it brought with it a new way of thinking about buying stuff. They should have tagged it better and added album art BUT it opened peoples eyes to a new way to delivering the rad.

I think people in the ivory towers of mega-videogame-corp-o-tron don't understand that paying customers are not evil. I don't pirate software but I have a shitload of Steam titles. You can't invent DRM that works with me cause I don't pirate games, I buy them. I have met people that pirate as a way of life, they just want free stuff, no amount of coaxing will get them to think otherwise.

Anyways ill get down off the soapbox :D

Travis Admin wrote on 03/27/2013 at 03:49am

I'm OK with certain DRM. Steam is fine. It's something that you have to be logged into, or have logged into in the somewhat recent past, in order to play. It's totally unobtrusive and doesn't put up roadblocks every step of the way.

But like you and everyone else has said, if it's good enough, it's going to be broken and spread all over the net. They aren't punishing pirates in any way, they're punishing paying customers.

If I download a movie I open it and it starts playing. If I buy one it takes at least a minute or so to get through all the crap to get to my movie.

If piracy is providing a better product than you are, you're doing something wrong and need to change your model.

scrypt Supporter wrote on 03/27/2013 at 06:28am

"If piracy is providing a better product than you are, you're doing something wrong and need to change your model."

That is exactly true.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/27/2013 at 04:03pm

@Travis: I think there is a difference between "always online DRM for single player games," "online multiplayer games" and Steam.

* Always online DRM: Must be online to start start and play single player game.
* Multiplayer Online Game: Games like WoW and DoTA 2, must be online to play, kind of the point of the game.
* Steam: Must download game before you play it. Can play most games offline unless its like DoTA 2 or some other online multiplayer game.

Just because you need to download something before you play it doesn't mean its DRM, that's like saying Firefox is DRM'ed too. Does Cheerful Ghost employ DRM because you have to be online to use it? :D

Travis Admin wrote on 03/27/2013 at 04:15pm

No, Steam is DRM because you have to sign into Steam in order to play most of the games you have purchased. There's a significant difference between always online DRM and Steam, I wasn't trying to equate the two, but Steam *is* a kind of DRM. Or I guess more correctly, DRM is a part of Steamworks. It isn't just a download manager for your games, it provides its own DRM for publishers to use. This is most notable in (for me) its only downside-- If you've signed out incorrectly or if you've failed to install an update and sign in once afterwards, you can't use Steam offline and you are locked out of your games.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/27/2013 at 04:16pm

The relevant bits from the FAQ:

"Steam's DRM solution (called "CEG" by Valve) is just one of many Steamworks components game developers may use, alongside achievements, cloud saving, the workshop, matchmaking network code etc.; just like with all the others, implementing it is not required to distribute a game on Steam. A game can use the other Steamworks features and still remain DRM-free."

But in effect, the list of games that choose not to use it is very small.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/27/2013 at 04:38pm

Huh. Well, I didn't know they did that. So yeah, apparently it is. It seems just like a download manager to me and I have played offline to boot.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/27/2013 at 04:45pm

Yeah I've played offline a bunch, in fact I may have once or twice... heard about... a friend... sharing accounts with people to and after signing in blocking Steam via the Windows firewall to force it offline so two people could play single player games on the same account. But it requires that sign-in, and if Steam ends abruptly or thinks it needs to do something you're screwed until you sign back in.

I think you have to sign in once every 60 or 90 days for offline mode to continue to work as well. Can't remember the cutoff.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/27/2013 at 04:54pm

BUT! I think it speaks volumes about Steam's DRM implementation that it was so unobtrusive you were unaware that there was any DRM there. It's DRM done right. At this point DRM is still a necessary evil if we want games from most publishers, and Steam has a way to do it almost transparently and without being detrimental to the customer.

Travis Admin wrote on 03/29/2013 at 03:24am

For some reason it just now, more than a day later, occurred to me that my previous comment could be taken like "haha you didn't know Steam had drm you stupid head." That wasn't my intention at all- just pointing out how well that Steam had implemented it, so that it's almost entirely transparent to the user.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 03/29/2013 at 03:39am

I didn't take it that way :)

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Bioshock Infinite Giveaway winners!

http://img.wallpaperstock.net:81/bioshock-infinite-wallpapers_24451_1920x1200.jpg

First off, congrats to our winner on SteamGifts! That winner isn't online at the moment, but once all the dust has settled from that giveaway and it's delivered, I'll edit this post for proper congratulations.

Now, what you've all been waiting for! This has been the hardest contest to judge. It came down to two entries. We were in agreement on who the top two were, but we agreed that both were equally awesome. So we decided to flip a coin to pick. BUT THEN we decided to throw that coin out the window and just buy a second copy!

Congrats to our two winners, Sparklepop and Nick_Donahoo!

Nick's post was beautifully written, and anyone who had yet to play the game could get... Read All

jdodson Admin wrote on 03/26/2013 at 01:22am

Congratulations to @Sparkelpop & @Nick_Donahoo! I want to also thank everyone for entering, you guys are all wicked awesome!

BigBadGoat wrote on 03/26/2013 at 01:23am

Well deserved winners. Congrats!

Sparklepop wrote on 03/26/2013 at 01:36am

Thank you so much! I am literally freaking out right now!

Thank you so much! I never win anything so to win a game in a series that is my top 5 of all time is incredible!

Oh...happy...dance....incoming!

Sparklepop wrote on 03/26/2013 at 01:37am

I also tried to get out raiding tonight in WoW so I could still be happy...even though wiping forever tonight won't phase me, I think!

Nick_Donahoo wrote on 03/26/2013 at 01:38am

If you kind folks would excuse me, I think I just wet myself. going to go change my drawers, and possibly do a silly dance.

Brandon_Waters wrote on 03/26/2013 at 01:40am

Grats all!

jdodson Admin wrote on 03/26/2013 at 01:41am

@Nick_Donahoo: Hahahaha, well you know if you did it would be cool because its the Internet and its not like anyone would know unless you said... oh wait. :D

Spencer_Lingo wrote on 03/26/2013 at 01:51am

Congrats lads! Now I'm left wondering how many people entered...

jdodson Admin wrote on 03/26/2013 at 01:53am

@Spencer_Lingo: Id say around 30 on the site, but that's just a guess.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 03/26/2013 at 04:08am

Congrats to the both of you! Very good posts!

mate211 wrote on 03/26/2013 at 05:47am

Congrats! :)

Jason_Kabir wrote on 03/26/2013 at 08:56am

Nicely done chaps!

samauditore522 wrote on 03/26/2013 at 05:59pm

congragulations !

Nick_Donahoo wrote on 03/26/2013 at 08:10pm

many thanks to everyone with their kind words. I doubted I was going to stand a chance, and I still feel like SparklePop trumped me, so the generosity of the folks that run this site is absolutely astounding. Ask my wife, I was still doing a silly dance about it this morning.

Sparklepop wrote on 03/26/2013 at 08:56pm

Yes, thank you for all the congratulations!

I'm still happy dancing over this. (But come on, who doesn't happy dance?!)

Nick_Donahoo wrote on 03/26/2013 at 09:01pm

Hey, I still am, too...

IceMice wrote on 03/26/2013 at 10:37pm

congrats :P

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I Dig My Hole, You Build A Wall.

This is one of my favorite games ever and if you haven't played it yet, read no further, get it, and give it a play through.

Bastion (Supergiant Games) can be played on just about everything, from Xbox/PC to Google Chrome and I wish more people have played this game. There are so many things to say about it, where do I even start? From the beginning, I suppose.

Upon starting the game, you wake up in your bed as "The Kid" in the aftermath of the Calamity that has ripped your world apart. And it's up to you to create a world where you and the people you meet along the way can start a new life.

The entire play-through is narrated by a man named Rucks who will help to guide... Read All
This is one of my favorite games ever and if you haven't played it yet, read no further, get it, and give it a play through.

Bastion (Supergiant Games) can be played on just about everything, from Xbox/PC to Google Chrome and I wish more people have played this game. There are so many things to say about it, where do I even start? From the beginning, I suppose.

Upon starting the game, you wake up in your bed as "The Kid" in the aftermath of the Calamity that has ripped your world apart. And it's up to you to create a world where you and the people you meet along the way can start a new life.

The entire play-through is narrated by a man named Rucks who will help to guide you. It may seem like having your every action narrated would be more of a hindrance than help, but it is done so in a way that adds so much to feeling of Bastion (and it doesn't help that the voice over actor has a voice like lemonade on a hot summer's day, lol). The game tells such a beautiful story, full of hope and perseverance. I probably would have played this game even if it didn't include such awesome everything else. ("It's frightening to think how much the human voice has done to distance Bastion from the crowd." - Edge [9/10])

One of the biggest points for this game, at least for me, is how Supergiant Games knew that a well placed song or melody can add volumes of depth and emotion to a game or a cut scene. The music selected for Bastion is spot on, managing to evoke a range of emotions and serve in pulling you deeper and deeper into the world of Caelondia (the city in which the game takes place). If you can get your hands on a copy of the game that includes the soundtrack, I highly recommend it (it really is worth the few extra bucks).

Combined with all this are absolutely beautiful graphics, detailed and very colorful. Had Bastion not been done in it's cartoon-y style, being so colorful would have been an eyesore. But the way they managed to pull it off, every "zone" is something out of a fairytale,

With 2 different difficulties to play on with an arsenal full of weapons, you can really play this RPG in a way that best suits you (don't forget the Proving Grounds to try out each of your weapons and hone your skill!).

Give it a try and you won't believe that this game only took 2 years to complete with only 7 people working on it (yes, 7, that's not a typo)! I already can't wait for the new title from Supergiant Games, Transistor, set to release in 2014.

It's time for SHOVEL JUSTICE!

Back this on Kickstarter!

Shovel Knight is a new game coming out later this year for PC, Wii U, and 3DS. It's being headed up by Sean Velasco, who is responsible in part for Contra 4, the new A Boy and His Blob, and Double Dragon Neon. This guy knows retro games.

Shovel Knight looks like a perfect amalgam of Mega Man, Duck Tales, and Castlevania. It obeys the NES color pallet for that authentic 8-bit feel, but you can tell the NES may not have been able to push this.

Everything about this trailer screams awesomeness to me. The music is perfect, the graphics are gorgeous, and the gameplay looks incredibly fun, if tricky.

Sparklepop wrote on 03/25/2013 at 10:53pm

That actually looks pretty awesome. Love the "retro" feel to it!

Nick_Donahoo wrote on 03/25/2013 at 11:11pm

High hopes for this. Was a big fan of the old-school feel of Scott Pilgrim, and was utterly disappointed by Retro City Rampage. Hope this hits the nostalgia spots right.

Sparklepop wrote on 03/25/2013 at 11:45pm

I wanted the trailer again after showing it to a friend and just can't get over the fact that his weapon is a shovel. Did you happen to see anything on a release date?

Brandon_Waters wrote on 03/25/2013 at 11:45pm

I'm in if the price is right and the difficulty doesn't kill me. As I get older my tolerance for hard games is close to zero - that said I did awesome with Super Meat Boy. Off-topic: I am pleased to see your site on mobile is pleasant and useable!

Brandon_Waters wrote on 03/26/2013 at 12:56am

Watched the trailer again. I'm sold at $4.99!

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 03/26/2013 at 12:58am

Brandon-- yeah mobile is a big deal, we (well, Jon) designed it so that mobile users didn't get shafted.

And I'm ok with really stupid-hard games as long as they're fair. I think Super Meat Boy is fair. It's one of the hardest games I've played, but you know it's your fault when you die in that game, and that you can work it out. And there's no better satisfaction than getting a level right after dying 50 times.

Brandon_Waters wrote on 03/26/2013 at 01:02am

Exactly SMB taught me from my mistakes and it never cheesed me - when I died it was MY fault (mostly). SMB is the perfect example of how a game can be hard yet rewarding. It's actually an amazing example of how to slowly train players to be better at the game and learn it's mechanics (portal is another)

jdodson Admin wrote on 03/26/2013 at 01:36am

This game looks epic. I really like the Duck Tales feel of this one. No idea what the price point will settle at, but this looks to be a day one purchase for me.

@Brandon_Waters: Glad the site works well on your mobile device. Its been a design goal since day one and I am going to keep that going forward.

jdodson Admin wrote on 03/26/2013 at 01:38am

Also can't wait to dispense some justice in the form of a shovel. Such a strange and awesome concept.

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Rise, Rapture! Rise!

In anticipation for Bioshock Infinite, I got it in my mind to sit down and play where it all started. I put in the game, survived the plane crash, and swam to the Lighthouse for the first time in years. I found myself humming along to 'Beyond the Sea' while waiting for the bathysphere, oblivious for just a moment to the horrors that awaited me. I still found myself with a sense of wide-eyed wonder as Rapture laid itself out in front of me, actually gasping as a whale swam between 'skyscrapers'. I took the trip, and even had a sense of hope as the neon lit above me. "All good things of this world flow into the city."

Of course, as soon as the lights went out, I... Read All In anticipation for Bioshock Infinite, I got it in my mind to sit down and play where it all started. I put in the game, survived the plane crash, and swam to the Lighthouse for the first time in years. I found myself humming along to 'Beyond the Sea' while waiting for the bathysphere, oblivious for just a moment to the horrors that awaited me. I still found myself with a sense of wide-eyed wonder as Rapture laid itself out in front of me, actually gasping as a whale swam between 'skyscrapers'. I took the trip, and even had a sense of hope as the neon lit above me. "All good things of this world flow into the city."

Of course, as soon as the lights went out, I remembered exactly why I love this game. The sinister voices, the slinking shadows. The innate sense of wrongness in this sunken city. I was taken to being awestruck at the shell of this new world, to seeing how the inside has rotted, all in the course of a few seconds, and it still gives me a chill. This, however, did not hold a candle to the first time I heard the voice of Rapture's lord and benefactor, Andrew Ryan. In one moment, we go from hearing how grandiose his dream started, to witnessing firsthand how the cancer of this sunken city has even affected the man a the top of it, I am the ultimate outsider. Atlas, the kindly voice on the other end of the radio, is my only friend in the entire world, and every other person in the entire city is looking to take my entrails, and make a lovely hat out of them.

The cap of the opening act of this game came in the form of meeting my first Big Daddy. In my first play through, I has only caught glimpses of these behemoths in the game, and had been terrified by the promo material. These beasts were huge, and terrifying, and utterly inhuman. They oozed violence, and were about as cute and cuddly as a rabid badger. Coming back, it was no easier. If anything, It was harder to approach these beasts, not because I have fought them before, but because at this point, I am totally unprepared. I have fought these monsters without problem when we were on equal footing. If given a chance to prepare, and take the fight on my own terms. Looking at my meager handgun, a few paltry shotgun shells, and plasmids that I has just started to be good with, I was firmly in David and Goliath territory. The true horror of this was that I has to start the fight. I was a non-entity to this hulking beast, and he would remain neutral as long as I would.

The truly incredible part of this set piece was the knowledge that between myself and the Big Daddy, I was the monster here. They were simple, mostly mindless beasts. Their entire purpose in life was to protect their Little Sisters, and cared for nothing outside of that. I go from wandering stranger to the idiot kid that pokes a bee's nest hoping for honey. I've not felt a greater, scarier, or more emotionally charged fight than my first Big Daddy. Not even the Dragons of Skyrim gave me that same rush. Instead of shouting "FUS-RO-DAH!" at my foe, the best I can muster is a "Please, God, Don't Kill Me!". Even knowing what was coming this latest time around, and having been through it all a few times before, this fight still caused me to pause, set down my controller, and reflect. Even now, it took a few moments to get my hands to stop shaking and my heart to find a regular beat. I had nightmares that night of drills and diving suits.

Rise, Rapture! Rise! I know I'll keep coming back.

I have hope that BioShock Infinite will start on as high of an emotional note. Even if it doesn't, the look and feel seems epic enough to keep my attention. Having a shoot-out with a mechanical, chain-gun wielding George Washington? Sign me up!

Note: This was written for the BioShock Infinite Contest held just prior to the release of BioShock Infinite. Even though, it was a blast to revisit Rapture, and I'm glad the folks here at Cheerful Ghost gave me an excuse to get back in the ol' bathysphere.

Eat Game Live: Make Food Inspired by Games

"Eat Game Live is what happens when you let a gamer into the kitchen. I was sick of eating trash all day, so I decided to learn how to cook. My goal of this blog was to write recipes for people in my situation: gamers who just want a good meal. I try to keep my food healthy without sacrificing flavor."

Eat Game Live has some really cool recipes on the site themed around some awesome games like Starcraft, FTL, Dark Souls, Borderlands and more.

http://eatgamelive.com/category/starcraft
http://eatgamelive.com/category/faster-than-light
http://eatgamelive.com/category/darksouls
http://eatgamelive.com/category/borderlands

The photos of the dishes look really good and I might try... Read All

Beat Hazard: Gameplay Powered by YOUR Music!

This is yet another one of my favorite unsung hero of a game.

Beat Hazard (Cold Beam Games) is an awesome experience powered by your music. After a quick setup of importing all of your sound files (it's super easy to do, just point Beat Hazard to the appropriate directories), you are ready to delve into a world that reminds me of Asteroid on LSD.

You play as a little fighter jet running your way though a psychedelic colored space, pew pewing at everything from giant balls of space rock to space worms to other little fighter jets. But the awesome thing that makes this game come alive is the fact that it is powered by your music. The waves of enemies and the how they... Read All

jdodson Admin wrote on 03/25/2013 at 02:53am

I nabbed this in the recent bundle and have heard great things about it. Wondering how the game changes if you replay the same song? Is it the same thing or does it hangs it up a bit?

Sparklepop Post Author wrote on 03/25/2013 at 03:24am

Pretty much, it's the exact same thing. But with so many different modes, you get a different experience each time.

CapnCurry Supporter wrote on 03/25/2013 at 05:27am

I've had a delightfully unique experience with this game, because my playlist is very clearly not what the game developers had in mind for this. At first, I had trouble figuring out what the game play / music connection actually was, but after a few rounds I started to figure it out. If the music is just right, it goes from action-movie sequencing of beats-to-action and takes on a feeling of bona fide choreography.

Also, it's *hilarious* to see what the game is willing to interpret as a dramatic enough swell in intensity to warrant a boss fight in, say, a Gregorian chant.

Try taking something like these for a spin:

Dance with the Balamb Fish (Final Fantasy 8 soundtrack) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XV42kmH7zc0
Oompa Radar (Goldfrapp) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fw1LqE-GBAA
Let's Talk Dirty in Hawaiian (John Prine) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=siuxtvEndLE
Polkarama (Weird Al) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tY9BaOXFXtA
Veni Sancte Spiritus (Gregorian Chant) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3pU34vUoO9g

Sparklepop Post Author wrote on 03/25/2013 at 05:47am

I've also had some great experiences with the music.

For instance, anything by Explosions in the Sky is enough to completely confuse it!
And I will try out those songs next, thanks for that!

Sparklepop Post Author wrote on 03/25/2013 at 09:22am

Me playing Beat Hazard to Veni Sancte Spiritus (Gregorian Chant).

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

CapnCurry Supporter wrote on 03/25/2013 at 06:01pm

Awesome! I love how the mellower songs just change the whole pace and feel of the game. Nice screencapture, too - what software are you using for that?

Sparklepop Post Author wrote on 03/25/2013 at 06:59pm

It was Fraps. I'd used it once a long time ago but still had an outdated version.

I know that there are some products out there that work waaay better, but since I'm playing on a few years old Dell laptop, I can only screencapture while in less graphically intense games without buggering my fps all up.

(I don't sleep and was really bored last night, if that wasn't obvious, lol.)

beansmyname Supporter wrote on 03/25/2013 at 08:32pm

This game has a permanent place in my constantly-evolving Top 10 list. Maxed out all the trophies on the PS3 version in about a week because I played so damned much.

I really enjoy switching genres when playing Normal Mode or attempting to play through an entire album in Survival Mode. Have yet to survive an entire VAST album, but one of these days...one of these days.

In addition to the different game modes, power-ups provide extra variety to keep the game exciting. Power-ups are earned by collecting money to purchase them. They modify things like number of enemy-seeking missiles you fire, how much ammo you start with, how often bonuses appear and so on. You're limited to equipping only a few powerups at a time, so there's a bit of strategy tossed in there as well.

Game soundtracks work pretty well, too:
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=82355323
http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=82355231

Sparklepop Post Author wrote on 03/26/2013 at 12:31am

I actually found that game soundtracks are amazing for any game that imports your own music. Because of that, I always try to get the soundtrack versions of games, if they're available.

jdodson Admin wrote on 03/26/2013 at 01:14am

@Sparklepop: I do too. Ill even pay a few bucks more to get the score with the game. For games I love its a really awesome addition.

beansmyname Supporter wrote on 05/11/2013 at 05:13am

Sorry for the bump, but that's one of the things I appreciate about the various indie bundles. Most of them offer soundtracks in addition to the games themselves.

jdodson Admin wrote on 05/11/2013 at 05:25am

Bumping old posts is totally awesome, I do it from time to time just for fun :D

And I agree, the game scores are a big reason I pick up bundles too.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 03/20/2014 at 09:07pm

Part of this week's Humble Bundle! I had honestly forgotten about this game, but now I'm excited to check it out!

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