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Introversion is allowing early access to its new game Prison

Introversion is allowing early access to it's new game Prison Architect http://www.introversion.co.uk/prisonarchitect/

I received an email today from introversion (makers of Uplink, Darwinia, and DEFCON) announcing alpha access to their newest game. It really sound interesting and I have enjoyed all of their other games... (I just wish they followed the Minecraft alpha pricing model where it's much cheaper to buy the alpha instead of the kickstarter model where you pay full price and more to help fund it)...

Here's the full text of the short email:

Now in Alpha!

The creators of Uplink, Darwinia and DEFCON, Introversion Software, proudly present the world's first lock 'em... Read All

jdodson Admin wrote on 10/02/2012 at 01:30am

Interesting! I liked Darwinia and Uplink quite a bit. Interested in checking out the demo for this when the game drops.

Tungsten wrote on 10/02/2012 at 10:15am

Ya, great Dev (did you guys ever nuke Santa in Uplink?). The name sounds a bit Facebook Gamey, but with Introversion doing it it will probably be pretty good.

jdodson Admin wrote on 10/02/2012 at 12:09pm

Never nuked Santa, in Defcon? I want to now.

Tungsten wrote on 10/02/2012 at 10:18pm

Defcon, sorry. Wrong game. Ya, if you have a game that takes place on 12/25 you can nuke santa. It was part of the whole "Steam Christmas" thing last year.

jdodson Admin wrote on 10/02/2012 at 10:43pm

Awesome. I should do that, sounds rad.

SANTA!

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When I found out Portland had a Retro Gaming Expo I Had to Volunteer!

When I found out Portland had a Retro Gaming Expo I had to be part of it. To hang out with other like minded geeks and talk about some of the coolest things ever made? I had to do it.

Originally I wanted to volunteer up a storm and hang out the entire weekend, but things being what they are starting a new job, I couldn't commit to the full schedule. I had a few hours today(Saturday) and I was able to help out. When I arrived at 8.30 AM people were already lining up and I was excited to see so many people in attendance. I wasn't sure what to expect as it was my first year and I was happy to see so many happy geeks in lines.

My first job was to hold a sign directing people... Read All

Timogorgon Member wrote on 09/30/2012 at 04:06am

Dude these pictures are awesome. I'm sure it cost an arm and a leg, but I really want that game collection. Especially the NES, SNES, and N64 games. :D

That pixel art was really cool and the level prints were kind of amazing! I seriously want an Earthbound and Chrono Trigger print!

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 09/30/2012 at 05:00am

The collection did cost a few gold coins :D

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 09/30/2012 at 05:02am

In fact, one vendor claimed to accept Rupees and I considered making a joke about currency from India and the I realized that wouldn't have been funny at all.

Timogorgon Member wrote on 09/30/2012 at 07:02am

That gameboy station is kind of awesome too. Think the wife will let me put one in the living room? The kids will love it!

BR Supporter wrote on 09/30/2012 at 02:21pm

That collection is HUGE, I wish I could own that many games of any system, not to mention having a collection that large of retro games. I would love to just go through and look at all the games. I would especially love to get my hands on the N64 games. That is one of the first systems I ever played and I loved all the games on it; they were so well thought out. I still have my N64 console and play it from time to time.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 09/30/2012 at 03:09pm

I see no problems with putting that in a living room. Always lights up... Nice conversation starter!

hardeyez wrote on 09/30/2012 at 05:15pm

I'm really surprised that the devkits are available. Especially the PS2 one. As a developer/publisher you never actually bought the hardware, you just rented it for $25,000 (the price varied a bit and dropped over the life time of the hardware, and there were eventually 2 models -- the normal model and the Performance Analyzer model which was awesome at showing you an incredible amount of detail about how your code ran on the hardware). I saw studios close up shop and Sony asking for the hardware back... They never wanted anyone not covered by contracts to touch the hardware. I guess some slipped through the cracks.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 09/30/2012 at 06:16pm

Yeah, I didn't know the hardware was so restricted to use. Figured cause you paid so much you'd get to keep it. Apparently not :D

Travis Admin wrote on 10/02/2012 at 02:35am

Dude.

DUDE.

I need to fly out there like this minute.

Jacob_Richardson wrote on 10/02/2012 at 02:38am

I didn't get a huge look at all the pictures. I made sure to check out that retro collection though. I know there's probably thousands of great games in there if i look hard enough but what stood out was harvest moon 64! Best in the series and my first one. I was just trying to play some harvest moon recently so it caught my eye. I still own the game cartridge as well.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/02/2012 at 02:40am

Awesome. Still trying to figure out with retro game to tear into next. My money is on Earthbound. :D

Jacob_Richardson wrote on 10/08/2012 at 07:52am

Completely old post BUT I just wanted to note. I've been playing through tons of retro games as well. Earthbound is also on my radar. As are the other MOTHER games.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/08/2012 at 10:23am

Anyone try the fan translated Earthbound?

Timogorgon Member wrote on 10/08/2012 at 06:44pm

I've tried out the fan translated Mother 3 (Earthbound 2). I sunk maybe about 5 or 6 hours into it so I didn't get terribly far into the story, but it was fun. I stopped playing mainly because I got sidetracked with other stuff, but someday I'll go back and finish it.

Jacob_Richardson wrote on 10/08/2012 at 10:11pm

Yep those are the ones I meant. Can't wait to try them. I love translated old games.

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I think I have finally hit a good note with my Gunzerker.

I think I have finally hit a good note with my Gunzerker. My strategy is to hit every side quest before I continue the main quest line. This means I get some great guns from the missions but I also get other loot as well. For instance, I just completed a quest line called "Eternal Flame" where these cultists worship Lilith, the Siren from Borderlands 1. It's a fun, messed up and quirky quest and by the time you finish it you get an amazing shield. The shield has a fairly high armor rating but it has an awesome ability in that when it depletes it creates 4-6 massive fire explosions around you. It took a few times to remind me "oh right, this is a good thing that is... Read All I think I have finally hit a good note with my Gunzerker. My strategy is to hit every side quest before I continue the main quest line. This means I get some great guns from the missions but I also get other loot as well. For instance, I just completed a quest line called "Eternal Flame" where these cultists worship Lilith, the Siren from Borderlands 1. It's a fun, messed up and quirky quest and by the time you finish it you get an amazing shield. The shield has a fairly high armor rating but it has an awesome ability in that when it depletes it creates 4-6 massive fire explosions around you. It took a few times to remind me "oh right, this is a good thing that is happening" because when it starts I strafe around thinking I am being hit with a rocket or grenade. Beyond the fact that I am not entirely used to its ability, it is a fantastic shield.

I haven't sunk a ton of time in Borderlands 2 but I have put more time in the last few days and I am now level 14. All the guns I currently use have elemental damage(yay) and have to keep a fairly varied arsenal because of a pretty awesome addition to Borderlands 2. Enemies have elemental types such that if there is a fire enemy and you hit him with a fire gun it barely does anything. I really enjoy this as it requires you to switch up guns a few times in a battle if there are multiple enemy types.

With that, I am getting much more savvy to which weapons to use against certain enemy types in which situations. Corrosive to drop an armored enemy quick, fire against unarmored and shock if you want to drop a shielded enemy fast. No idea why, but during the original Borderlands that never really sunk but it does now. I imagine because it matters more now?

I enjoy the loot drops in Borderlands 2 more compared to any other grind loot game I have played, save perhaps the original Borderlands. You don't go too long without finding a few great weapons and I find that it is really hard to part with certain guns over others. I mean, its a great problem to have, but compare to say... Diablo 3 where the majority of stuff you get is trash, Borderlands 2 shines.

As I opened the post with, I think I have hit my stride for the Gunzerker and as such I don't die too often. I enjoy the difficulty and having to adopt different strategies for different situations. Looking forward to playing the game more and digging deeper into the other classes.

The above image is a picture I snapped during my PS3 play through. It is a skeleton of a huge fish covered in snow I found just wandering off somewhere.

Hello guys, I just wanted to let you guys know I started a

Hello guys, I just wanted to let you guys know I started a giveaway of the game Cubemen for any members of the Cheerful Ghost steam group. This is a cheap little game I picked up since it was on sale and decided to grab the 2 pack and let someone else try out this very small game. I've played it for about an hour and I got to say its a fun little game. It takes only about 1 minute to install and is definitely worth the cheap price. It is kinda like a rts/td game. If you want to watch a video there is one on the steam page.

Anyway go ahead and enter the giveaway if you want right here: http://www.steamgifts.com/giveaway/KFSLD/cubemen

Remember that it is only open to... Read All

So I was at Target today and noticed that the Nintendo 3DS

So I was at Target today and noticed that the Nintendo 3DS XL was out. I must say that it's huge and beautiful... I had to drag my daughters away from it, so I have a feeling it's going to the top of birthday and Christmas lists.

So my quick take -- the screens are MUCH, MUCH bigger than before (they claim 90% bigger and it definitely looks it). I can't really tell about the weight as it had a gigantic metal harness strapped to it (lovely anti-theft mechanism). It seemed thinner than the old one, but that could just be an illusion as it's so much bigger. Now I wonder if they ever changed their "buy the games for every device" policy or if the kids will have to rebuy all... Read All

hardeyez Post Author wrote on 09/28/2012 at 03:56am

http://www.nintendo.com/3ds/features/#/compare

Tungsten wrote on 09/28/2012 at 10:13am

If they didn't come out with a new one each year, I think I'd be more likely to purchase a new DS. I can't stand the hardware cycle!

BR Supporter wrote on 09/28/2012 at 07:18pm

I haven't bought a new DS since the original slim DS. If that was even what it was called. I'm just not as big into handheld games as I used to be.

jdodson Admin wrote on 09/28/2012 at 09:29pm

I do prefer awesome experiences to games. I want to buy a hand held system and its the Vita or now the 3DS XL. I've tried the Vita and was somewhat uninterested, ill give this a go now when I am in a store next.

Like Tungsten I am a bit unhappy they iterate so much over the same hardware and lose some features I thought were awesome. Like if I want a DS that plays advance games(I do) ill need an old one. I guess all console makers play the obsolescence game pretty quickly now too, Sony being another.

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I want to love the Wii U. My passion for video game started

I want to love the Wii U. My passion for video game started with the original Nintendo and continued to the Super Nintendo. Nintendo has been a large part of gaming for most of my life. That said, the Wii U isn't catching my excitement.

The always amazing video game YouTube celeb boogie2988 has a new video rant as Francis, a character he does on his channel about the Wii U(video above). After a hazy start the rant is spot on with much of how I feel(warning, it is an intense video with some colorful humor that may offend some).

I like the end of the video, where he whimpers to the camera that he will get the Wii U because he loves Nintendo so much even with all its... Read All

Hello again! I was thinking about this today and I wanted to

http://synergizmo.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/characters.jpg

Hello again! I was thinking about this today and I wanted to know your guy's opinion. So here it is:

Who is your favorite video game character?

Simple enough. I want to know what character, in any game, you absolutely love. I don't care if you think he/she is hilarious or if you just like the character development of your certain person. I'm just curious to see what people think a good character is.

Personally, my favorite character relates to my favorite series. Garrus Vakarian from the mass effect series. I love this character because of the amazing thought that went into him. He has a backstory and not to mention you have him on your team throughout all three mass... Read All

jdodson Admin wrote on 09/27/2012 at 02:48am

That's cool, I haven't played Mass Effect but heard great things about it. He must have been awesome to have made such an impact.

I am going to think about this and get back to you about it. Love the question, but yeah, I don't know right now. The hard ones take some thought :)

BR Supporter Post Author wrote on 09/27/2012 at 03:01am

Yeah, Mass Effect did a great job at actually making you care about your crew. There are tons of things you can talk to them about and if you bring them with you on a mission they have their own unique comments about what is going on.

jdodson Admin wrote on 09/27/2012 at 08:11pm

After thinking more about this I believe it is Chell. She is a strong protagonist and I respect that about her. In the comic the description of her in her file is that "she never gives up." Something awesome about that and being able to take GlaDOS's continual punishment.

BR Supporter Post Author wrote on 09/27/2012 at 11:54pm

I wouldn't know much about her. The only time I've played either of the portal games was at a friends house and I didn't pay much attention to the story at the time.

jdodson Admin wrote on 09/28/2012 at 02:34pm

Your Dad in Fallout 3 is prob up there too. Liam Neeson's acting is superb and I was very attached to his character.

BR Supporter Post Author wrote on 09/28/2012 at 03:29pm

Your father is pretty cool. He is somewhere up top on my list too. Fallout 3 had good writing period. Having a good voice to record the good writing makes it that much better.

jdodson Admin wrote on 09/28/2012 at 04:09pm

It really does.

Timogorgon Member wrote on 09/29/2012 at 07:29pm

I kind of like the silent protagonists like Link, Ness, Crono, etc. It's probably because I project myself into those characters, but that's part of the fun of video games, right?

I also really like Cloud from FF7. Not because of the huge sword, or the cool motorcycle (but those help.) I like the big reveal about his real back story that comes late in the game. Plus how many other main characters do you know of that failed miserably in their childhood dreams of becoming a hero and suffer from multiple personalities? It's a shame they made him so bland and brooding in Advent Children.

I've also always liked Samus (power armor is cool!) but now that I'm a Dad to two girls I've come to really appreciate any female character who's not just there as a romance option or as the princess to be rescued. Not only is Samus the main character but in most games she's the only protagonist and she's about as bad ass as you can get!

Timogorgon Member wrote on 09/29/2012 at 07:33pm

Oh, and I forgot to mention Kreia from KOTOR 2. She was a really cool, complex character. During my first play through I wanted her to be on my side (both in my personal feelings and in how I picked dialogue options/actions) but never really felt like I could completely trust her. The writing and voice acting for her character were also top notch.

jdodson Admin wrote on 09/30/2012 at 05:03am

Yep, one of the reasons I like Chell so much in Portal. Strong female lead.

vdogmr25 wrote on 10/01/2012 at 04:57pm

I'm gonna go silent protagonist too. The Kid from Bastion is probably one of the best characters ever. It helps that the game as a whole is a story-telling masterpiece, but with the Kid, there was just enough choice in the story to give you a different character depending on how you played the game.

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I was thinking something today I wanted to hear your

I was thinking something today I wanted to hear your thoughts on.

Skyrim or Fallout 3? I have been making my way a bit at a time through Skyrim and whereas its a great game, I think I liked Fallout 3 a bit better. At least, so far I do.

Skyrim has had some amazing moments, but I guess I prefer the end of the world games where you are born in a vault.

That said, what did you like better Skyrim or Fallout?

BR Supporter wrote on 09/26/2012 at 02:48am

Hmm, that's a hard one for me. The elder scrolls games and the fallout series are probably my favorite games besides mass effect. If I had to choose I'd probably say fallout 3 because I liked the story much better. Skyrim`s story was alright but didn't captivate me as much as fallout did.

Tungsten wrote on 09/26/2012 at 09:53am

VATS is awesome, and I hope it makes its way into other RPG's. That said, I connected a lot more with the characters and stories in Skyrim.

Jacob_Richardson wrote on 09/26/2012 at 05:40pm

There used to be some rpg's back in the day that let you target body parts individually. It was a lot of fun. VATS was cool to see it in slow motion though.

Missile_Drop_Kick wrote on 09/27/2012 at 01:55am

Fallout all the way. I know we've talked about Skyrim in person (face to face). I never went on a wild killing spree in Fallout because I was bored. I did in Skyrim.

Will_Owens wrote on 10/30/2012 at 02:50pm

I've never "gotten" an Elder Scrolls game since Morrowind. I tried to like Oblivion and Skyrim, but just didn't care at all. I'll try Skyrim again sometime since I bought it. It may be because I played Fallout and Fallout 2 as a younger man, but the setting seems infinitely more interesting than the normal fantasy stuff that's been around the block and back a hundred times. Maybe it's just easier for me to relate to a character that's living in the same world as me interacting with people as they would act after a disaster rather than with people who live like Nordic lumberjacks?

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 10/30/2012 at 09:18pm

Nordic lumberjacks :D

I have heard awesome stuff about Morrowind and I owned it A LONG time ago but it never played on my PC well so I gave it to a friend. That said, people speak highly of it and with it being so cheap and the mod communities continuing attention to it it is something I am going to get eventually.

Skyrim is good, but I don't know, something about it lends me to play it less than I did Fallout 3 so far. At some point I imagine ill play more of it, but with Borderlands 2, Doom 3 and now Minecraft(sort of late on this one) I have tons of stuff.

That said, I had some awesome moments with Skyrim and enjoy the world quite a bit, even though it might be a Nordic Lumber Dream! :D

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This evening I downloaded the Torchlight 2 demo on Steam and

This evening I downloaded the Torchlight 2 demo on Steam and decided to give it a shot. Right away I noticed that the menus were pretty different from the original Torchlight. Not a huge deal, but it wasn't immediately apparent how to exit the game the first time I launched it. Its the upper right corner and is greyed out, I didn't see that the first time through.

I created an Ember Mage and liked the character customization. After creating my character I was quickly in the game killing things. I was surprised how differently it played from the original Torchlight. One main difference is that your character moves very fast around the screen. Its very smooth and I like... Read All This evening I downloaded the Torchlight 2 demo on Steam and decided to give it a shot. Right away I noticed that the menus were pretty different from the original Torchlight. Not a huge deal, but it wasn't immediately apparent how to exit the game the first time I launched it. Its the upper right corner and is greyed out, I didn't see that the first time through.

I created an Ember Mage and liked the character customization. After creating my character I was quickly in the game killing things. I was surprised how differently it played from the original Torchlight. One main difference is that your character moves very fast around the screen. Its very smooth and I like the character pacing much better than the original Torchlight or Diablo 3 even. Which is another thing about Torchlight 2, the game is really really smooth. Compared to Diablo 3, which lags the first few minutes in game, moving through Torchlight is like butter.

I like that you are not merely relegated to dungeon crawling in Torchlight 2. The outdoor environments are a welcome addition to my style. After I made it to town I got a few quests and headed out straight for the first one. After taking them down one by one I noticed the enemy and game difficulty ramp up considerably. My third quest in I met up with something like 5 champion mobs protecting the quest ending. They didn't pose a huge challenge but they did take a while to kill and all in all it was very fun.

I stopped playing around level 8 (before I stopped I snapped the pic above) and really enjoyed the game. I would say largely, Torchlight 2 is a big improvement over Torchlight. That said, I had a few nits with it as I felt the graphic style of the original was a bit better than Torchlight 2. As with the first game occasionally my character was behind the forefront graphic and the ghost/outline thing is hard to play through. Again, small things because overall the game was very fun.

No reason to not check it out as it will play on most under computers and the demo is out now on Steam!

MoonWyrd Supporter wrote on 11/23/2012 at 06:58am

With everything that's been going on in my life I completely forgot about Torchlight II. Thanks for the write up. I'm going to have to checkout the demo. Once Steam finishes downloading the internet, that is.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/23/2012 at 08:15am

Yeah you can nab the demo now and pick up the full game at a bit of a reduced price during the Steam Autumn Sale now.

MoonWyrd Supporter wrote on 11/23/2012 at 05:21pm

Silly me, I failed to note that the Mac version hasn't been released yet. Guess I'll have to boot up the Winders box sometime in the next couple days to check this out.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/23/2012 at 06:31pm

It will get ported to Mac eventually they said. Hadn't heard of an ETA though.

MoonWyrd Supporter wrote on 11/23/2012 at 07:35pm

Yeah, that's what I gathered from the FAQ. I don't mind checking out the demo on Winders, but I dislike depending on it for long periods of game play. Too many crashes.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 11/26/2012 at 05:19pm

Just picked this up during the sale, $10? Yes please. Hoping for a Mac port at some point. A few expansions might not hurt either.

MoonWyrd Supporter wrote on 12/03/2012 at 03:12pm

Finally had a chance to checkout the demo. Quite fun so far. Very reminiscent of D2. Not likely to be coughing up the $$ for the full game until I fine a new job, though.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 12/03/2012 at 04:12pm

We might have you covered as soon we are going to run a Torchlight 2 contest! Woot.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 12/04/2012 at 03:28am

Here it is: http://cheerfulghost.com/panickedthumb/posts/781

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This is a ridiculously simple game, but Im hooked! I

http://a3.mzstatic.com/us/r1000/060/Purple/v4/b8/76/19/b876194c-2aee-f6f9-9e14-bd1240dafbde/mzl.fjwukqve.320x480-75.jpg

This is a ridiculously simple game, but I'm hooked! I recommend it as a time killer.