Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

I played Age of Empires Online when it launched a year ago

I played Age of Empires Online when it launched a year ago but it didn't stick with me. At PAX this year someone handed me an Age of Empires Online card and recently redeemed it on Steam and gave the game another go. Before I had to download the game through Games for Windows Live but it is now all managed through Steam. You need a Games for Windows Live account but if you already have an XBox account that may work as well.

I encourage you give Age of Empires Online a shot because the game is very fun. They recently released an update that fixes some gripes people had with the game at launch. The game has since adopted a model similar to League of Legends in that you... Read All

Decided to take a break from Skyrim and the PC and decided

Decided to take a break from Skyrim and the PC and decided to play a console game. I decided to start a new game on 2009's Wolfenstein by Raven/iD. Back with I picked up the game I was gaming about 99% on my PS3 but now I am about 80% PC. Right away I noticed the 720p graphics and some lagging game-play at times. The game is very well done, its just not as sparkly as the PC games I am playing right now. I do have it on the PC and will try it out to see how different the versions are.

Raven/iD really polished the game on the ps3 into a really fun shooter. They added some fun mechanics to the game in the way of gold you can collect for in game item upgrades. You also get... Read All

Travis Admin wrote on 09/13/2012 at 01:38pm

I really hate that you can't get this on Steam anymore. I guess because the publisher pulled support? I was looking forward to it.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 09/13/2012 at 02:09pm

Yeah, at some point I saw it on Steam but it's not available anymore. Publishers was Activision... I think they have games on Steam.

Jacob_Richardson wrote on 09/14/2012 at 04:35am

Well Activision was recently let go from Blizzard East weren't they? That could have something to do with it. Some type of right issues or something. I've always wanted to play Wolfenstein and I'd probably agree with you 100% jdodson. There is no substitute when it comes to fps games. Having 60fps and a mouse to aim with makes them immeasurably more enjoyable.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 09/14/2012 at 05:55am

Yeah the PC version is much more smooth. If you wanted, you could go box copy off Amazon. Or wait for Steam to catch back up.

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With the passage of September 15th we will see an end to the

With the passage of September 15th we will see an end to the Cheerful Ghost Borderlands 2 Haiku Contest. We have been very pleased with the results and have had fun reading and voting on your entries! Please get all your friends to vote and your submissions in by Sept. 15th @ 4p EST.

You can read over the original post here:

http://cheerfulghost.com/jdodson/posts/485

Someone asked for some clarification on the rules for entry. Specifically if we would allow someone to win if the Haiku was not properly formatted. After conferring with the other judge on this contest and reading the original wording we have decided that we will allow a improperly formatted Haiku to win this... Read All

The Borderlands 2 character skill trees have been posted on

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.joystiq.com/media/2012/09/borderlands2skilltree.png

The Borderlands 2 character skill trees have been posted on the official website. There's even a skill tree calculator you can use. :)

http://www.borderlands2.com/us/#characters

Man, I was already torn between the Soldier and the Gunzerker characters, and now the Assassin and Siren abilities look really cool too!

jdodson Admin wrote on 09/08/2012 at 08:10pm

Doesnt seem to work on the iPhone, when I get to my desktop I'll try it out. I was thinking Gunzerker too but I am open based on this.

BR Supporter wrote on 09/08/2012 at 08:48pm

I will be playing Axton, the commando character. I like the idea of being able to place down a totally destructive turret. The turret enables axton to be support and yet still deal good damage himself. I just like the fun mix of support and dps.

Tungsten wrote on 09/08/2012 at 11:22pm

The assassin is the way I'm most interested in. He looks pretty cool.

Axel_Mller wrote on 09/09/2012 at 01:05am

Woah. What's with the picture? Is that what you see when you open the skilltree? What about being able to see your character in realtime? D:

jdodson Admin wrote on 09/09/2012 at 04:42am

No it's the skill tree online selector.

Axel_Mller wrote on 09/09/2012 at 03:51pm

Oh. I'm a dummy. Sorry.

jdodson Admin wrote on 09/09/2012 at 04:52pm

Honest mistake.

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Dark Messiah is a great game for those of you who like games

Dark Messiah is a great game for those of you who like games with fun combat. This is a linear game and does not have any open world experience. If you can't stand linear games then I must say: play it anyway. The combat of this game is just so fun that you can't turn it down. Its about a 6-8 hour experience and comes with a multiplayer aspect of the game(although not many people play it anymore). An example of the combat that makes it fun is the magic. One of the spells you can use is ice, which when you cast it onto the ground, it creates a slippery surface that makes your foes slip and fall onto the ground. Since the game is a bit older, the ragdoll physics are... Read All

So Ive decided to start up a discussion on all games

So I've decided to start up a discussion on all games japanese related. This is not to comment about anime or manga or characters. Just games. Talk about your favorite japanese games. Your games you were saddest never made it over seas. Or ones that are rare and that you'd Recommend.

I'll start with a few of my favorite series:
Super Robot Wars SRPG
Soma Bringer ARPG
Seiken Densetsu 3 ARPG (Secret/Legend of Mana 3 for you non japanese literate)
"Tales of" games and their offshoots. A/RPG hybrid

Honorable mention:
Uncharted Waters series (it really only remained popular in asia and still today is one of the best sea faring series of all time)

jdodson Admin wrote on 09/07/2012 at 11:59pm

I'll comment on Uncharted Waters and few other games after what first came to mind after you mentioned Japanese games.

It's funny because Japanese games for so long in my early gaming life dictated how I viewed what games were. And you know, it might seem strange but ill list of some badass Japanese games:

Super Mario Brothers
The Legend of Zelda
Donkey Kong
Final Fantasy
Romance of the Three Kingdoms

So really, Japanese games ruled gaming and my life for damn near half of it. I got into programming because of games and dreaming about one day making them.

Anyways, kind of got all wild eyed and sentimental for a minute there, anyways.. :D

jdodson Admin wrote on 09/08/2012 at 12:13am

Uncharted Waters and all other Koei games are pretty unqiue and a few made it into my all time most beloved games list.

Romance of the Three Kingdoms 2 [ To my mind one of the most perfect strategy games, holds up well now too. ]
Genghis Khan 2: Clan of the Grey Wolf: Wrote about my love for this one here: http://cheerfulghost.com/jdodson/posts/191

I played Le Emperor and rented Uncharted Waters on the Super Nintendo. I really like Uncharted Waters, the ship trading, upgrading the ship and traveling around the wold. It was a really fun idea I haven't had as much fun with in a modern game like it(I guess Sid Meyers Pirates is sort of similar?).

Koei still makes stuff and they released a version of Romance of the Three Kingdoms on the iPhone, one of these days ill break down and get it but I don't want every second of the day spend playing it so.... It waits, un-purchased. :D

Tungsten wrote on 09/08/2012 at 01:09am

I never played too many of the japanese ones. Seiken Densetsu had a spot on my emulator for a while, and I quite enjoyed it. Dragon Force on the Saturn (woah, that brings me back) was quite a good time, and most certainly very Japanese. I've always wanted to pick up the translation of shining force III... but other than that I've been pretty western.

Jacob_Richardson Post Author wrote on 09/08/2012 at 01:24am

i agree with you there tungsten i too wish to pick up the shining force III translation thats a classic. Romance of the three kingdoms is amazingly fun as well. Romancing Saga is a completely different game but also unbelievably amazing. Pirates! that most people are familiar with is nowhere close to as good as uncharted new horizons was. Sorry pirates! fans out there.

Travis Admin wrote on 09/08/2012 at 04:10am

Here's a game (series really) that might not get mentioned so I feel I should: Katamari Damacy. These games are so addictive. The mechanics are so simple, you pick up smaller objects so that you grow and can pick up larger and larger ones. You start of picking up thumbtacks and end up rolling up entire galaxies!

Insanely fun, insanely addictive, and insanely frustrating. The new one released on the Vita is quite literally the only thing that makes me want to buy a Vita.

Jacob_Richardson Post Author wrote on 09/08/2012 at 04:21am

Oh man Katamari Damacy is great but when you get game over? Man seems like a childrens game but thats simply terrifying. Love the music tho. daaaa-dadadada haha

Travis Admin wrote on 09/08/2012 at 04:28am

Yeah the King of all Cosmos does not tolerate failure. I mean, even when you hit your size goal he isn't too happy with you unless you do around 200% usually. Such a hard father.

Jacob_Richardson Post Author wrote on 09/08/2012 at 04:39am

For real and I think he can also be considered a mass murder. As he does kind of turn the entire world into a big shining ball of fire (i.e. a star)

Travis Admin wrote on 09/08/2012 at 05:04am

Well, from all of the absolutely bizarre flavor text you can see on items and such in the game, it seems like being rolled into the katamari is somehow euphoric. So at least they all went out happy.

Jacob_Richardson Post Author wrote on 09/08/2012 at 06:55am

hahahaha ya. that game is what happens when your high and decide to make a video game. such a funny game

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 09/08/2012 at 04:37pm

I have a Katamari demo on my xbox from years ago. It's so unique and mesmorizing that I'll probably keep the demo forever.

Timogorgon Member wrote on 09/08/2012 at 05:23pm

Uncharted waters was awesome! I actually picked up Pirates! because it looked like an updated uncharted waters.

As far as games that didn't make it stateside, Seiken Densetsu 3 and Mother 3 were my two big ones. Luckily they both were fan translated. :) I also just picked up a fan translated version of Brigandine Grand Edition which I haven't tried yet but I'm excited about. I've heard Bahamut's lagoon was a good SNES RPG that never made it stateside, but I've never seen or played it.

One of my favorite tactical RPG games is Disgaea, and it is VERY Japanese, lol. Here's the trailer for the first game in the series (and my favorite in the series so far): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOsvsyIElRI
The game is absolutely insane in just about every way. There are so many different ways to improve your characters and make them more powerful that I had to kind of force myself to stop working on leveling them up and actually go do the main storyline at one point. The game is also genuinely funny. My wife liked it when I would play the game when she was around because she enjoyed the cut scenes so much.

And of course my childhood was ruled by Japanese video games: Zelda, Mario, The Final Fantasy series, Chrono Trigger, Secret of Mana, Mega Man, Metroid, etc. :)

jdodson Admin wrote on 09/08/2012 at 06:12pm

Secret of Mana. So good. So very good.

Chrono Trigger is on my list of shame for games I haven't played much of or beaten....

Please don't judge me.

Jacob_Richardson Post Author wrote on 09/08/2012 at 07:33pm

@Jdodson you should check out one of the steam greenlight games called secret of grindea. looks like kind of a funny name based on the sterotypes of ARPGs however it basically looks like a revamped and newer version of something like secret of mana but it has 4player co op

@Whiteboy I remember buying both Disgaea and La Puccell Tactics together on ebay when it was like impossible to find for ps2. They were so expensive. This was before the DS and PSP remake. Nippon Ichi really is a savoir of old-school styled SRPG's

Jacob_Richardson Post Author wrote on 09/08/2012 at 07:35pm

Also bahamut lagoon is pretty cool and worth playing. Its a rather typical SRPG except you have dragons that you can feed and depending on what you give them they get different stats and evolve in different ways.

Also can't believe I didn't mention Lufia II. Lufia II is probobly one of my greatest games from my childhood or of all time. Anyone else played and beaten it?

Timogorgon Member wrote on 09/08/2012 at 07:41pm

I've never beaten it, but I have played Lufia II. That's another great game! I should go back and finally beat that one. :) I think the farthest I ever got was I the tower that randomly generated new floors. I don't know how far into the game that is though.

Jacob_Richardson Post Author wrote on 09/08/2012 at 08:03pm

The soundtrack is very cool as well. Not sure how to embed a video but this is an AMAZING orchestral version of one of the songs in the game. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHpgHXghgLw

Jacob_Richardson Post Author wrote on 09/08/2012 at 08:03pm

P.S. for those who dont want spoilers and want to finish or play the game. Do not read the comments. Unless you already have played other lufia games.

TonyJapMayo wrote on 09/16/2012 at 05:55pm

Nice post, I'm here =P There are too many Japanese games that are good.. I mainly play their PSP games.. From Monster Hunter that takes a while until we get the English version, the new Digimon Frontier n many other games..

n yeah, Disgaea, one of the best..

Btw don't forget Rockman/Megaman too =)

Jacob_Richardson Post Author wrote on 09/16/2012 at 06:38pm

Ah Monster Hunter Is up there as one of my favorite game series. I've sunk probably 1000hours into that series

jdodson Admin wrote on 09/16/2012 at 07:27pm

Wii version worth picking up? Heard good things about it but I haven't snagged a Wii Title since Just Dance 3.

Jacob_Richardson Post Author wrote on 09/16/2012 at 07:33pm

the Wii version is what i started on. I loved the game immensely. It's a bit old now but its still the last monster hunter we've ever received in the US. It is challenging as heck though. If your not ready to spend some time trying to learn a weapon style and get pretty darn good at it; it's probably not worth it.

However, If your looking for a game with challenge amazing animation and some of the best group play out there. I'd say it's amazing and a definate must own.

jdodson Admin wrote on 09/16/2012 at 07:48pm

Split screen group play or online? How does it work.

Going to look into this one, getting more good Wii games would be cool.

Jacob_Richardson Post Author wrote on 09/16/2012 at 08:00pm

its online. I think the online servers are up. its been awhile. It had like lobbies you join.

jdodson Admin wrote on 09/16/2012 at 08:12pm

Good to know, thanks!

TonyJapMayo wrote on 09/17/2012 at 03:13am

If you like horror, they have some great horror Japanese game too on Wii.. E.g. The Grudge / Ju-on.. Tried that on my friend's Wii, twas fun =)

Jacob_Richardson Post Author wrote on 09/17/2012 at 09:36am

I think one of the best "secret" horror games is on the gamecube. Eternal Darkness. Believe that was it. You have sanity and as you get scared more and more your guy literally starts to look creepy as hell and you start hearing things. Look it up.

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Bethesda just released more details of what will be shipping

Bethesda just released more details of what will be shipping with Doom 3: BFG Edition. A snip of some interesting bits:

"ONLINE multiplayer for Xbox 360 and PS3:

DOOM: 2-4 players per map
DOOM II: 2-4 players per map
DOOM 3 and Resurrection of Evil: 2-4 players per map
Lost Mission: N/A

OFFLINE multiplayer for Xbox 360 and PS3:

DOOM: 2-4 players per map
DOOM II: 2-4 players per map
DOOM 3 and Resurrection of Evil: N/A
Lost Mission: N/A

PC Multiplayer:

On PC online Multiplayer for DOOM 3 and Resurrection of Evil is 2-8 players.
On PC there is no multiplayer options for Doom and Doom II."

Bummed that the PS3 version won't ship with split-screen multiplayer. Bethesda notes that the... Read All

Travis Admin wrote on 09/07/2012 at 07:11pm

Why. the. hell. is there no Doom 1/2 multiplayer on PC?

BR Supporter wrote on 09/07/2012 at 08:18pm

I feel like the PC should have more content then the consoles considering it is a much better system. Lately, I feel as though the PC players have been getting jipped. They never seem to put as much effort into the PC version of games.

Travis Admin wrote on 09/07/2012 at 09:31pm

I can understand some PC game having less, but it's obvious that all of these started on PC, so you'd think it would make the most sense that the PC version would have all the bells and whistles.

Jacob_Richardson wrote on 09/07/2012 at 11:15pm

True thats a huge disappointment as me and my brother BR and some friends are really looking forward to playing multiplayer together. Doom was such a classic in my generation i remember playing it when i was young.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 09/08/2012 at 12:03am

Doom was a classic for me as well(its why I keep posting about it). I carried my floppy of it around with me everywhere so I could play it wherever I went.

It is unfortunate that the multiplayer is out for Doom and Doom 2 on PC. I understand the reason but yeah... Pretty lame. I am getting it first on PS3 so ill have it but it would be pretty awesome to go through it with you all in co-op. That would have been fun.

Jacob_Richardson wrote on 09/08/2012 at 01:32am

This is a bit offtopic but have you seen the "remake" more like "remastered" version of baldurs gate being made? I've always wanted proper multiplayer support for easy playability with friends. If the multiplayer is easy to access this time around I'll have a blast with it as I don't like controlling 6characters by myself.

Travis Admin wrote on 09/08/2012 at 04:11am

Jon: "I understand the reason but..."

What's the reason? I don't understand it at all, and would appreciate some enlightenment :)

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 09/08/2012 at 06:10pm

panickedthumb: They released Doom & Doom 2 for XBox and it included multiplayer. I imagine the multiplayer had some console only elements to it. In the article, they list that as the reason I believe.

Jacob_Richardson: I did hear about the remake and plan on picking it up when it ships as I never played Baldurs before.

Travis Admin wrote on 09/08/2012 at 08:19pm

Ah, I didn't see that in the article. Still, you could do multiplayer over dialup on PC back in the day ;)

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

It's true. I think it's sort of a cop-out but it's less servers they have to sort out I imagine. At least LAN would have been something.

Travis Admin wrote on 09/08/2012 at 08:33pm

LAN or splitscreen even. I don't know how possible that would even be on the old code, but I imagine it's a "new" engine or at least updated enough to run properly on new machines. You can do splitscreen multiplayer with two mice and keyboards on some PC games these days.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 09/08/2012 at 08:38pm

I know, but it's also a matter of time and the return on that time spent. I'd do it personally but I'm not sure the time constraints at iD.

Ah well, well always have the Doom open source projects.

Travis Admin wrote on 09/09/2012 at 01:31am

Some of those are amazing too. I haven't even looked into them in about 5 years, but back then they were already amazing.

I know what I'm doing with my Sunday.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 09/09/2012 at 04:42am

Let me know what you find :D

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This game, man is it fun. Think of GTA with much better

This game, man is it fun. Think of GTA with much better EVERYTHING. The fighting is extremely challenging and very fun. The story so far has interested me, I won't give any spoilers, but the story keeps you guessing and wondering what will happen next. I really enjoy this and I recommend it if you like games like GTA and Saints Row.

Tungsten wrote on 09/06/2012 at 11:56pm

I keep seeing it everywhere. I just figured it was an odd title translation for one of the Yakuza games. I'm a big fan of the sandbox games, so I'll have to check it out.

jdodson Admin wrote on 09/07/2012 at 03:14am

Yep, this game must have a zillion dollar advertising budget because I see it everywhere as well. If there is a demo ill download it on Steam.

Tungsten wrote on 09/07/2012 at 01:36pm

Japanese main character = Yakuza game.

Apparently I'm a racist. Sorry about that.

Travis Admin wrote on 09/07/2012 at 07:12pm

I've heard since this is a British game that you can really screw yourself up in real life by playing this too much. You get out and try to drive on the left side of the road.

BR Supporter Post Author wrote on 09/07/2012 at 08:21pm

Well it takes place in Hong Kong, but yeah, it is hard to get used to. I always end up ramming a car head on(in the game) cause I pull out and drive on the "wrong" side of the road.

jdodson Admin wrote on 09/08/2012 at 12:08am

I love that they didn't Americanize it. But, well it could be frustrating to hit so many cars all the time.

Do you go to jail for that?

Tungsten wrote on 09/08/2012 at 01:10am

Ha. Chinese. Wow I'm bad.

BR Supporter Post Author wrote on 09/08/2012 at 02:43am

The cops will chase you, but most the time you just back up and drive away. There are cops but they can only chase you if they personally witness the crime you did. So, if there are no cops around, you have less of a chance of getting caught.

jdodson Admin wrote on 09/10/2012 at 04:06am

I downloaded and tried this game on Steam.

Sucked pretty bad my first time. I think the game might be easier with a controller. The keyboard / mouse doesn't seem awesome for this game. The fighting wasn't too bad but I died pretty easily.

Haven't played a ton of GTA or Arkham Asylum so this kind of thing was new to me. I might download it on the PS3 or plug in a controller to give in another go.

BR Supporter Post Author wrote on 09/10/2012 at 03:50pm

I heard from a friend that the demo was very glitchy. Like they didn't release an updated version of it to go with the game.

Travis Admin wrote on 09/10/2012 at 04:18pm

jdodson, I know you don't have an XBox, but you should get a wired 360 controller for PC. Since they're so popular, most games will ship with controls geared directly to the 360 controller so you don't have to do any special configuring.

jdodson Admin wrote on 09/11/2012 at 12:38am

Hmmm, I have a controller. Two actually. Not an XBox wired controller, but I imagine they will work similarly?

jdodson Admin wrote on 09/11/2012 at 03:00am

Yep it worked and it had a pretty large impact on the game as it was easier with the controller. So smooth. The buttons are 1, 4, 3 & 2 so I was lost as to what to press, but I figured it out pretty quickly.

Think ill do this for more games.

Will_Owens wrote on 10/29/2012 at 07:23am

Really enjoying this game, captures the feel of Hong Kong very well. I hope they make a sequel that takes place in other areas after the success of this one. The missions are fun and the fighting system makes it much better than the GTA4 style shoot and drive away situations.

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heres my haiku..im not english,so sorry if the syllables

here's my haiku..i'm not english,so sorry if the syllables counting is wrong,i've used a program for that,blame him.

fast steel breaks the sky
a crimson flower blossoms
a beautiful thing

Fun is learning the ROH in your FUS from the Greybeards.

Fun is learning the ROH in your FUS from the Greybeards. Awesome is learning how to run really fast as a Dragon Shout and then using it right away. Rad is entering a sweet catacomb and having some statues rise out of the water.

The above screen grab is right out of a sweet moment where I entered the "final chamber" of a dungeon trying to find something for the Greybeards. As I entered the room statues rose up from the water and I was really having fun with it. Bethesda is good at crafting those moments and I sure felt that at times with Fallout 3.

That said, I made the tough choice the other day to travel WITH A COMPANION! Seriously though, I want to be the loner in... Read All Fun is learning the ROH in your FUS from the Greybeards. Awesome is learning how to run really fast as a Dragon Shout and then using it right away. Rad is entering a sweet catacomb and having some statues rise out of the water.

The above screen grab is right out of a sweet moment where I entered the "final chamber" of a dungeon trying to find something for the Greybeards. As I entered the room statues rose up from the water and I was really having fun with it. Bethesda is good at crafting those moments and I sure felt that at times with Fallout 3.

That said, I made the tough choice the other day to travel WITH A COMPANION! Seriously though, I want to be the loner in Skyrim. I want to travel the endless expanse by myself, survive off the land and catch butterflies all by lonesome. That's the way I want to play my Dragonborn, she is a loner than can take on the world. Thing is, the game is really hard that way and I won't drop down the difficulty. So I capitulated and now I roll with Lydia. Lydia is a very apt knight person, she follows me around and joins the battle and keeps quiet. From time to time she clears her throat but I think deep down she knows I prefer keeping to myself in Skyrim.

And I do. Sometimes ill just walk a direction because I can. A few times a cougar or bear sort of just runs out of the brush and scares the shit out of me. A few times it ended in my death, but not while Lydia is on the case. I send those bears straight to Yogi in heaven. (ask me more about that if it makes little sense. I readily admit it doesn't even make much sense to me).

Recently I read an article from Time online about some new awesome Skyrim mods. Read it here, its pretty cool.

http://techland.time.com/2012/08/31/the-10-best-new-skyrim-mods-for-august-2012/#bear-musician

The Skyrim community keeps bringing the awesome, but a few noteworthy points:

A Bear Musician Mod? Thank you Zeus!

A Space Travel Mod? I hope it comes with Chewbacca as the pilot!

A Frost Flame Spell? Jeez guys, what next an "up down" jump?

Skyrim footprints? I do have a lot of RAM free I guess!

Left hand rings? Cool.

Bat vampire travel? Only if I can make it so I sound like Count Chocula when I turn!

Skyrim School of Witchcraft and Wizardry? Holy %#$$ing $@#$ that is incredible. Hogwarts in Skyrim? Big Harry Potter fan so that sounds incredible.

Seriously though, that stuff really does look cool and Skyrim on PC keeps on being one of the best games you can buy due to the community alone. Hope it has an even longer life to it in the coming years!