Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

Street Fighter X Mega Man to release Dec 17

You read that correctly. A new 8-bit Mega Man game that pits our blue hero against the characters from Street Fighter.

It drops Dec 17 on PC, FOR FREE, in celebration of both franchises' 25th anniversary.

I feel like I should say more but at this point you should probably just drool over the video. Enjoy!

Valve does have plans for a SteamBox! ...Kinda.

Gabe Newell gave an interview with Kotaku last night where he discussed the possibilities available for PCs in the living room. In summary, Gabe says that Valve's current goal is to make PCs better for the living room. The next steps for them are to get Steam out of beta on the Linux platform, and get Big Picture Mode working well for Linux, which will give them more flexibility for their own hardware.

He doesn't think Valve will be the only players in the game though. Newell expects other hardware providers to join in as well, selling PC's that connect to your TV and play Steam games right out of the box, and these PCs will be competing directly with consoles.

This is... Read All

jdodson Admin wrote on 12/09/2012 at 05:36am

I really hope this pans out to be awesome. I saw how this would work with Portal 2 on PS3. Buy one game, play everywhere you can. I got a PS3 game and a copy for Steam on PC. I played the single player on my console, then when they released the map editor I made those on PC. It was magical and I want more of that. Steam console should allow this.

Plus Steam is way more awesome that the current console generations. Even the next gen won't be as awesome as a Steam summer sale. I see the NextBox and PS4 doing more with digital but with the same prices and same kinds of DRM we have now.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 12/09/2012 at 06:07am

I tend to agree with you there. Signing into Steam when launching Portal 2 on PS3 was a moment of clarity for me. It was a realization of what *could* be. I'm not sure this will work to make that more common, but if this new hardware is treated like a console by those selling it and buying it, the effect will be similar.

And yeah, there will be a bigger focus on digital distribution next gen, but I can't imagine the big console providers going for the massive sales like Steam.

jdodson Admin wrote on 12/10/2012 at 06:42am

I don't either, they can do sales now to compete but they don't. Its as if consoles are immune to market forces. Well, they are because you can buy a game second hand and it can be marked down after launch. That said, the digital component doesn't seem to slide much. I remember when they had a sale on the Pixel Junk games and you could get em' all for cheap. I was going to spring for them all but was stopped by how hard it was to give my PS3 money to buy it. Seriously, after 35 minutes of trying I stopped.

Much simpler to pay Steam.

jdodson Admin wrote on 12/10/2012 at 07:03am

This has been making the rounds today: http://games.slashdot.org/story/12/12/07/182217/valve-begins-listing-linux-requirements-for-certain-games-on-steam

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 12/10/2012 at 02:32pm

That's odd, I've never had trouble with purchases on the PS3. Do you remember what the problem you were having was?

jdodson Admin wrote on 12/10/2012 at 02:57pm

Not knowing how to give them my money in the checkout process.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 12/10/2012 at 03:48pm

Hmm, I've always hit "add funds" or whatever it's called, popped in my cc info, and told it how much to add. I've actually always been impressed with that process. But without seeing what you saw, who knows what the problem could have been...

jdodson Admin wrote on 12/10/2012 at 04:31pm

I don't think you can do that during the checkout process. Which later I realized you need to add funds before you checkout, or at least appeared to be the case.

Oh well, I saved a few bucks anyway.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 12/10/2012 at 04:49pm

Nope, that's where I always add mine. Go to check out, it tells you that you don't have enough funds, so you hit add funds and it takes care of it for you.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 12/10/2012 at 05:25pm

You may need to add a credit card to your account first, though. I'm not 100% sure.

jdodson Admin wrote on 12/10/2012 at 09:56pm

Yeah, it was something... Next time I might just buy a PS3 card at the store and redeem that. After the breach I am not really in love with giving them my CC info.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 12/10/2012 at 10:16pm

That's a very good point. It can happen to anyone though, MS, Steam, Amazon...

In Sony's case, it seems there was some significant fault to place on them for having less than stellar security, but I think after that they straightened up. At least I hope they would. They should be having yearly (if not more often) internal and external penetration tests and audits to make sure that kind of info can't get out again.

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Dat Firehose: Elder Scrolls Online & Portal on TI

Bethesda's Elder Scrolls Online Team recently released a story from the ESO Universe. This one focuses on Jorunn the Skald-King:

http://elderscrollsonline.com/en/misc/leader-profile/ebonheart

Some awesome people released Portal for the TI Calculator. Video linked above. Nab the code for your TI:

http://www.omnimaga.org/index.php?action=downloads;sa=view;down=841

THQ stock jumped 40% after its latest Humble Bundle went live:

http://m.pcgamer.com/2012/12/03/thqs-stock-rises-nearly-40-thanks-to-humble-bundle

Some have noted the Wii U is better for Indie Games. Great even:

http://games.slashdot.org/story/12/12/03/1549213/cheap-indie-games-make-wii-u-a-better-value

Crysis 3 specs... Read All

Great Moments in World Building Vol. 1: Dishonored

http://www.gamefreaks.co.nz/wp-content/gallery/dishonored-screenshots-april-27/dishonored-06.jpg

The Link's Awakening discussion made me think of this. World building is one of my all time favorite parts of video games and I wanted to start a series/discussion about concrete, specific moments that contribute to it. It's easy to say, "Oh, I was just totally lost in the world of Ico, it's so ethereal and wonderful!" It's much harder to point to specific moments and assets.

So I want to talk about my 3rd or 4th favorite game of the year, Dishonored. Dishonored creates an incredible world, a "whale punk" setting that I've never seen before. But I want to mention, specifically, food in dishonored. Just like in Bioshock, you can constantly chomp on bits of food to regain... Read All

jdodson Admin wrote on 12/08/2012 at 01:16am

Those are some really great design choices for the game. I was thinking about world building today actually as I was watching a YouTube video showcasing how to play Dwarf Fortress. It was interesting because part of Dwarf Fortress is starting the game and watching time pass quickly. At some point you stop the world flying by and say "I want to start my game at this point in the worlds history." Trees grow and fall as do mountains and entire cultures. Its a really interesting process.

Its interesting because lately I have been playing Minecraft that has these elements too. Its a world and the story is how the world evolves and how you interact with it. From what I gather Dwarf Fortress logs the history of your world in terms of who is born and what happens to them. Its an interesting concept for a full procedural world.

Lately I have been playing a bit of Lord of the Rings Online. Its a free to play MMO and its pretty well done. Recently I went into the Barrow Downs and had a quest where I had to talk to Tom Bombadil. It was interesting because when I entered his house he was dancing around the room. Dancing isn't too popular unless its a Just Dance game, but from what I remember of the Hobbit books he was a dancin' guy. I went on a quest at his bequest and after killin a bunch of stuff, I came up to a Boss fight I couldn't win. He came in a zapped it and the quest ended by him telling me to avoid the dark corners of the earth and stay in the light.

Thing is I don't disagree with him, but I wonder how interesting Lord of the Rings Online would be if I avoiding fighting, a major staple of questing.

Will_Owens wrote on 12/09/2012 at 03:15am

I enjoy world building a lot, but it seems like there are two ways to do it. One is to present a back story about the environment and what makes it up. This is often too overwrought and makes the whole mythology unbelievable. Games like Dragon Age pour it on very thick through codexes and, even though it helps to flesh out the world, it doesn't seem organic. Then I think of games like Fallout or STALKER where the environment is only presented but I am forced to fill in the gaps. Hints and small stories can be dropped to make it more realistic, but my own imagination often fills in blanks much more interestingly than writing could. I guess I just like being left out of the loop a little bit because I don't know what's going on in THIS world that much either. If I know all the information, it just doesn't seem right.

jdodson Admin wrote on 12/10/2012 at 06:39am

I think that's a good point Will. I am currently playing Skyrim a bit at at time. They have tons of books all over the game you can read. I think that is pretty cool for some, but I don't really attach to it.

Gary_Butterfield Post Author wrote on 12/10/2012 at 05:05pm

My favorite games end up doing both. They're both optional and likely to be missed by a lot of players but you can choose your poison. The 3d Fallout games are great at this and an entry is forth coming.

jdodson Admin wrote on 12/10/2012 at 09:57pm

Look forward to reading it.

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Game Stop: Episode 7

In this action packed episode with those wacky kids at The Game Shop, the Game Shop loses power! I am pretty impressed with how much they are able to do with just a Game Shop and a few characters.

Quake II Turns 15 Today!

This just in from the "I am getting old Department" it seems Quake II marks its 15th birthday today! Bethesda and iD Software rang in the occasion with some interesting tidbits from iD's Tim Willits.

Only three artists made all the 2D and 3D art for the entire game.

One of the original suggested names for QUAKE II was WOR, but the game’s fast-paced, tactile feel felt closer to a QUAKE game than a new franchise.

‘The Edge’ (Tim’s favorite deathmatch level in QUAKE II or any other game), has over 50 trick jumps possible in the map. Tim only designed two of them, and the rest were discovered by the QUAKE II community.

... Read All

Isaac Rebirth News & Mewgenics Update

Edmund McMillen of the Super Meat Boy & Binding of Isaac fame dropped some news on The Binding of Isaac Rebirth. Recently he had a Formsping Q&A on his blog and you needed to be made aware of the details. Your welcome in advance.

"-Rebirth is a totally remade game based on the flash version of the binding of isaac + wrath of the lamb.

-The game is being produced and developed by Nicalis, the guys who did all the cave story remakes and the VVVVVV port.

-Nicalis is working on the port for Ps3/Vita and PC (steam) and is also currently talking to MS and Nintendo about releasing on their platforms. we are also looking into an iOS version if its not garbage.

-The remake... Read All

Travis Admin wrote on 12/06/2012 at 02:50am

Oh hey, I didn't know he did both of those. I should have guessed based on the art though.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 12/06/2012 at 05:23pm

Right. He is pretty busy right now. Isaac remake, Mew-Genics, Meat Boy Mobile and something else... But I don't rightly remember right now.

Gary_Butterfield wrote on 12/06/2012 at 11:54pm

Get out of my dreams and into my car! My only misgiving is the no online multiplayer. Anyone on the Watch Out For Fireballs steam group knows I have put a whopping 350 fucking hours into isaac. Now, maybe 50 of this is idle time but this remains my go to comfort game.

New Isaac is very, very good news for me.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 12/07/2012 at 12:41am

Have you done a lets play with Isaac? 350 hours means you must be good at it and id like to see someone awesome play that game because its all real life tears when I play it.

Looking forward to this version.

Gary_Butterfield wrote on 12/07/2012 at 12:52am

I hate to brag but I'm actually awesome at it. The problem is my let's play software thing needs a program to export in direct x to work.

Gary_Butterfield wrote on 12/07/2012 at 12:53am

I really wanted to do a one-off let's play/beginners guide for it. It's been done to death but I've personally given out like 10 copies of that game.

Gary_Butterfield wrote on 12/07/2012 at 12:55am

What do you use for Let's Plays? Wanna send me a email?

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 12/07/2012 at 02:08am

I will.

beansmyname Supporter wrote on 12/07/2012 at 10:50pm

This is awesome news. The flash version runs horribly for me on almost every machine I've tried it on. In fact, the Linux port from the Humble Bundle runs worse. Fullscreen's not an option, so maybe this rebirth will allow me to finally finish the game.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 12/07/2012 at 11:41pm

Yeah, it seems like Rebirth is written in something non Flash to help out there.

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A Few Stracraft Bit-lets: New Starcrafts & Dev Q&A

New Starcrafts cartoon short released, linked above. So many times I was foiled by that lone air unit when the brunt of my army had no anti-air. This is why I am not a pro Starcraft player. Fun game though.

Continuing with the Starcraft 2 dev Q&A Blizzard recently posted Part 7:
http://us.battle.net/sc2/en/blog/7994699

I thought this question and answer were particularly interesting(yeah, I sort of follow the Starcraft lore and all that):

"Question: Are Tassadar and the Overmind one now?"

"Answer: Not now, no. But something like the Overmind does not die instantly. Some synapses may fire for a time as it fades away. And at the moment of impact for both of these... Read All

Torchlight II Contest Entry.

I never played any Diablo games, so when a friend recommended it to me I wasn't sure what to expect. He said it involved a lot of hack-and-slash and equip gathering. It didn't seem very amusing, but I decided to give it a shot. Boy was I wrong.

First of all I loved the art style for not being so serious, it was a new experience to me, so it made it all seem less intimidating. I soon found myself playing for hours and never wanting to stop. I do confess only having 3 character choices (and no gender options) bugged me a little, but nonetheless I happily played as an Alchemist, with a wolf for a pet. I spent a lot of time fishing too, and I loved loved loved the shape... Read All

A legendary RPG overlooked by most gamers.

Twelve short months ago, I began playing Planescape: Torment in an effort to motivate my writing and completion of stockpiled games on my Backlog Killer blog. (www.backlogkiller.com) I chose it as my first game because friends, Watch Out for Fireballs, were playing it for one of their episodes and I wanted a little support for finishing such a long game. Even though I had finished it when I was in high school, I wanted to complete it again to see if anything about the game had changed for me. Boy, was I in for a surprise.

Planescape: Torment is an isometric RPG using the Infinity Engine of Baldur's Gate fame. It is based on the Dungeons and Dragons Planescape universe... Read All Twelve short months ago, I began playing Planescape: Torment in an effort to motivate my writing and completion of stockpiled games on my Backlog Killer blog. (www.backlogkiller.com) I chose it as my first game because friends, Watch Out for Fireballs, were playing it for one of their episodes and I wanted a little support for finishing such a long game. Even though I had finished it when I was in high school, I wanted to complete it again to see if anything about the game had changed for me. Boy, was I in for a surprise.

Planescape: Torment is an isometric RPG using the Infinity Engine of Baldur's Gate fame. It is based on the Dungeons and Dragons Planescape universe in which an infinite amount of dimensions or "planes" intersect at one focal point: the city of Sigil where the game takes place. You play as the Nameless One, a scarred and weathered fellow who wakes up in a mortuary with no memory of the past. Sound like standard video game fare? Here's something else to add into the mix: you cannot die.

I mean this in the most literal sense. Every time The Nameless One dies in combat or for any other reason, he awakens in the mortuary to continue his quest to discover the past. Along the way, you meet many other colorful characters who each have their own back stories and motivations for following you. These include a half-demon thief, a fallen angel, an ancient warrior, and (my favorite) a floating, wise-cracking skull named Morte. Working together, you must work backward to piece together your past and uncover the true nature of your soul so that you can rest in peace forever.

What makes Torment so different from almost every other RPG is its dedication to TRUE role playing via dialogue and moral choices. This isn't a Dragon's Age choice of good, evil, or neutral. Torment lets you choose everything from promising to do good to the most evil option, in my opinion, lying about doing good to get what you want. The game lets you choose exactly what character you want to play with no systemic repercussions about your choices. If you can live with what you've done... that's another matter altogether.

I wholeheartedly recommend Torment, but be warned: it is a LONG game. It will probably take at least thirty hours to finish, and that's only if you try to find some of the extra content. If you see all there is to see, I would set aside 50 to 60 hours. The game remains one of my favorite PC gaming experiences and I hope to return to it periodically to revisit its intense and touching story.

Find out: "What can change the nature of a man?"

I have written my thoughts and experiences with Planescape: Torment on my blog, The Backlog Killer. (http://www.backlogkiller.com/2012/01/2-planescape-torment.html)

You can purchase the game for the low price of $9.99 on Good Old Games. (http://www.gog.com/gamecard/planescape_torment)

Travis Admin wrote on 12/05/2012 at 03:31am

It sounds like I need your site. I have a backlog a mile long.

jdodson Admin wrote on 12/05/2012 at 06:19am

Awesome, from your write up this game sounds great. The only BioWare RPG I have played thus far was Neverwinter Nights and it had some of what you mention.

I am wondering though, recently Baldur's Gate Enhanced Edition was released and I wanted to play that. That said, if you had to direct someone to start would you say Baldurs or Planescape? I want to start one of them and go through it, wondering which one you suggest?

Will_Owens Post Author wrote on 12/05/2012 at 08:14am

It really comes down to what you want out of the game more: combat or story. The story in the Baldur's Gate series is pretty good and typical fantasy fair, but the combat is a very well balanced and fun part of the game. On the other hand, Torment is almost all story and hardly about combat at all. In fact, the combat in the game is pretty much trash and could have been tossed out completely. I speculate in my review that the team may have been forced to put combat in, even if they originally didn't plan to, because it came out after Baldur's Gate and is an Infinity Engine game. It can get a little annoying in my opinion.

So, your options are pretty much as follows:

Story-- Planescape: Torment

Mix of Story/Combat: Baldur's Gate

Or, if you want full combat with almost no story: Icewind Dale (which I love)

Will_Owens Post Author wrote on 12/05/2012 at 10:17am

*fantasy fare -- The editor

jdodson Admin wrote on 12/05/2012 at 04:40pm

Thanks Will, that helps. Still mulling it over. Let you know how it turns out.

Just read this today:

http://colinmccomb.com/?p=157

Gary_Butterfield wrote on 12/05/2012 at 05:35pm

See my tweets for my response. I think Will is underselling how much better Torment is in terms of writing and story. Baldur's Gate has a good story and great mechanics. Torment is probably in the top 3 best written games ever and has a setting that is bursting with imagination and character. They're both mandatory at some point, but your individual tastes can determine which one comes first.

jdodson Admin wrote on 12/06/2012 at 12:27am

Makes sense, I am thinking Torment due to the focus on story.

Thanks guys!

Will_Owens Post Author wrote on 12/07/2012 at 01:02am

I very well may be. As for writing, I can't think of many other games that do have as competent and impactful writing. Actually, what suggestions would you have on that front, Gary?

jdodson Admin wrote on 12/07/2012 at 03:19am

For me the game that stuck with me the most is Link's Awakening. I played it again a few years ago and none of its impact was lost on me.

Gary_Butterfield wrote on 12/07/2012 at 04:51pm

I love Link's Awakening but not for the writing. I think the writing in most of the Zelda/Mario games is more or less almost non existent. Note, it still has a very enchanting story but it's not one presented through writing.

Off the top of my head: The Walking Dead, Alpha Protocol, Fallout 1, 2 and New Vegas and Dear Esther (though it's barely a game).

It's hard not to confuse world building with writing. Is something like Dishonored well written? Well, yeah, but most of the good will I'm feeling towards the writing is actually the mythology/world building aspect.

jdodson Admin wrote on 12/07/2012 at 05:26pm

Good point about LA. I sort of hitch onto it for the feelings I get when certain things happen. I think they handle simple scenes like Link an Marin sitting and talking well. They cover the concept of loneliness and the loss well. I think in the end the simplicity of the storytelling and its notion of things not being what they seem.

I love that game.

Gary_Butterfield wrote on 12/07/2012 at 06:00pm

Oh, it's great. The only flaw I find in it is that it's easy to not know what to do next. I would like a little more direction. Other than that, it's my 2nd favorite Zelda game (after A Link to the Past).

jdodson Admin wrote on 12/07/2012 at 06:02pm

I agree, I couldn't remember how to get into the Catfish's Maw so I needed guide help.

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Street Fighter X Mega Man to release Dec 17

Valve *does* have plans for a SteamBox! ...Kinda.

Dat Firehose: Elder Scrolls Online & Portal on TI

Great Moments in World Building Vol. 1: Dishonored

Game Stop: Episode 7

Quake II Turns 15 Today!

Isaac Rebirth News & Mewgenics Update

A Few Stracraft Bit-lets: New Starcrafts & Dev Q&A

Torchlight II Contest Entry.

A legendary RPG overlooked by most gamers.

Valve does have plans for a SteamBox! ...Kinda.