Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

When in Doubt, Shift

When in Doubt, Shift

My game play habits have shifted from PC to console back to PC again for my entire life. When I was a wee lad my parents bought us a Commodore 64 then a few Christmases later, our first Nintendo. 4-5 years ago after primarally playing PC games for years I picked up a Wii. A year or so later I nabbed a PS3 and I was primarally a console player up till recently. Fast forward to now and I am shifting back to the PC starting with the release of Lord of the Rings Online Free to Play and then Diablo 3 and now the amazing Steam sale.

Ive shifted to now 90% of my gaming happens the PC and I only go to the consoles occasionally or for BluRay or Netflix.... Read All

Travis Admin wrote on 07/20/2012 at 03:33am

Same here. I didn't get in on the last generation until late in the cycle. I was pretty much PC only until grabbing a PS1 for the Final Fantasy games, then PC only until I played a friend's copy of Guitar Hero. From then on I had a lot of catching up to do on the PS2 and GameCube and then that spilled into current gen. But now that we are toward the end of this console cycle, I find that my very modest PC plays all the games I care about, often better, and almost always prettier. It is quite amazing that medium quality Skyrim is slightly better than console Skyrim (short of some pop-in).

This will probably be where I stay until the first or second price drop of the next console generation. The only caveat is exclusives. As long as Nintendo is in the hardware market, the next Mario or Zelda isnt going to show up on PC.

jdodson Admin Post Author wrote on 07/20/2012 at 02:30pm

From what I have seen of the next gen consoles, the Wii U seems interesting but nothing gnaws at me to get it. Perhaps the PS4 or XBox 3 would but we still don't know what those will be. If they both have BluRay it will be a tough choice but I still prefer to not pay for an Online service.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 01/24/2014 at 07:38am

Awesome! The first computer I had was a Commodore 128D (backwards compatible with the C64). I played around with that until we got out first PC in '95. Back in those days, I was predominately a handheld gamer (I had a Gameboy and a Sega GameGear) and then a PC Gamer (Doom II, Wolfenstein, and Command & Conquer). I think it wasn't until I went to college that I became more of a console gamer, which I am now. Lately, I've gone back and forth between handheld, PC, and gaming with Pokemon X, Terraria, and Batman: Arkham City Origins (to name the most recent games I've played).

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Video Game Cakes Are Magically Delicious

As I trawl teh intrarwebs I come across many things. Some interesting, some boring and some I don't want to ever think about in my lifetime. One such thing falls in the realm of interesting and "huh?"

A site called Game Ranx collects and lists certain kinds of game related information. One such list is "25 Best Video Game Inspired Desserts."

http://www.gameranx.com/features/id/7555/article/25-best-video-game-inspired-desserts/#p12

The Gears of War cake... kind of scary. The Zelda cake? Awesome. I get older soon, hopefully my friends bring Skyrim or Metroid cupcakes. That or I cut them loose. I think I draw the friendship line with themed desserts.

What can I say? Its a VERY Suda game. It has all that

What can I say? It's a VERY Suda game. It has all that goodness that often feels like a Quentin Tarantino flick converted to a game, and that's hardly a bad thing. I'm enjoying what I've played so far- and I don't regret buying the game one bit. Pom poms, chainsaws, and zombies have never been so fun. I don't think that's even been done... but hey- Zombies Ate My Neighbors on the SNES had a cheerleader to save and chainsaw enemies! Back me up here... right? Right.

The controls would be my biggest gripe, as well as camera angles. This is nothing I haven't seen already in a Suda game, especially No More Heroes. The combat can get a bit button-mashy, but that's this type... Read All What can I say? It's a VERY Suda game. It has all that goodness that often feels like a Quentin Tarantino flick converted to a game, and that's hardly a bad thing. I'm enjoying what I've played so far- and I don't regret buying the game one bit. Pom poms, chainsaws, and zombies have never been so fun. I don't think that's even been done... but hey- Zombies Ate My Neighbors on the SNES had a cheerleader to save and chainsaw enemies! Back me up here... right? Right.

The controls would be my biggest gripe, as well as camera angles. This is nothing I haven't seen already in a Suda game, especially No More Heroes. The combat can get a bit button-mashy, but that's this type of game. NMH also had this sort of feel, rapidly shaking and tapping Wii Remote buttons to help a downed Travis Touchdown recuperate and continue to kick ass. However, Juliet(our lovely protagonist, voiced by Tara Strong) seems to get knocked down a fair amount if fighting in the midsts of zombie packs. If you get tackled, you're going to be mashing the B button until released. I ended up doing this a lot so far. The game does offer reprieve though- you can also use the B button prior to being surrounded and dodge to make your counter attacks. I found that extremely useful, but this isn't mentioned til a little ways into the first part of story mode.
And, from reading a review in Game Informer after buying the game, as much as I usually don't agree with GI- I do agree that the misogynistic slurs are downright "meh" and distracting in the game, and they're from random students you have to save, and/or the zombies themselves. Constantly hearing these just becomes super tiring... another thing I agree with from the GI review- it sounds like someone just learned "no-no" words and went to town like an idiot with it.

I digress, though- the game is absolutely charming and wonderful when it wants to be. It feels like an over-the-top(even more) Buffy the Vampire Slayer. I found myself laughing out loud at the TV when I used Juliet's special meter power, to hear the cheerleader anthem "Mickey" coming from my speakers.What draws me into this game is what matters- and that's the sheer quirkiness, and the satisfaction of zombies being murdered joyously with cheers, pom poms, and chainsaws to the head resulting in zombies spewing rainbows. Righteous.

Portal 2: Jumpsuit

As I figure out how to capture video to show everyone my Terraria world, he is a video of a real life Portal 2 jumpsuit! I am going to try to convince my wife this should be her Halloween costume.

Hmmmmm, I wonder what odds Vegas would give me on that happening? Longshot or 2 to 1?

Recently BioWare released Mass Effect 3 Extended cut and to

Recently BioWare released Mass Effect 3 Extended cut and to celebrate released the soundtrack for free. I haven't played any of the Mass Effect's but I dig video game soundtracks so I picked it up. Its superb music and if you like that sort of thing I recommend you get it.

http://social.bioware.com/me3ecsoundtrack.php

Just got more excited about this game! Kinect voice

http://asset1.cbsistatic.com/cnwk.1d/i/tim/2012/06/07/81e2632d-ee94-4679-91f2-0c218e75e637.jpg

http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-21539_7-57448715-10391702/hands-on-with-madden-13-at-e3-kinects-killer-app/

Just got more excited about this game! Kinect voice commands! Now I'll be able to sound like a real QB calling out audibles. Rock on.

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/17/2012 at 12:26am

Wow, thats really cool. Looking forward to seeing this in action.

Timogorgon Member wrote on 07/17/2012 at 06:55pm

How are the voice commands on the Xbox, do they actually work ok? Every other voice activated tech I've ever used sucks pretty bad.

AdamPFarnsworth Post Author wrote on 07/17/2012 at 07:03pm

My daughter loves using the Kinect's voice commands and it seems to work well. I've stayed away from it, as pressing buttons just seems simpler to me, but barking out plays will make me have to try it out!

Timogorgon Member wrote on 07/17/2012 at 07:06pm

Voice commands (or any kind of control scheme) seems like it usually gets shoehorned into a game when it really doesn't improve or add anything. I could see this working well for an NFL game though, where calling out commands to your players actually makes sense.

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/18/2012 at 12:09am

Don't name your players swear words!

AdamPFarnsworth Post Author wrote on 07/18/2012 at 05:53am

LOL

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Ive gone to the Halloween Horror nights for the past two

I've gone to the Halloween Horror nights for the past two years, and it is SO MUCH FUN! I was actually going to pass on it this year and try one of the other theme parks, but now that they've announced a Silent Hill themed maze I have to check it out. :D

So I’ve been a bit absent from the Cheerful Ghost community

So I’ve been a bit absent from the Cheerful Ghost community for a little while, and it’s largely because I decided to pick up FFXI again. Now that I’m about two weeks into my return to the game I wanted to post some thoughts on how the game has changed since I quit in 2009.

Leveling:

Leveling in FFXI use to be a long process. After soloing yourself to about level 10, you needed a full group (six people) in a balanced party of 1 tank, 1 healer, 1 support, and 3 damage dealers and a good camp to farm higher level monsters (higher levels gave more XP). If you had a good party you could expect to gain a couple levels per night of solid leveling. Holy crap has that changed!... Read All

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/17/2012 at 12:38am

Sounds like they really have spent time cleaning up the games steep difficulty. I wonder if their answer to WoW's quick level ramp was a quicker one? Oh well, plenty of room for both game experiences!

What class/race are you?

Timogorgon Member Post Author wrote on 07/17/2012 at 05:27pm

I'm a male Hume (human) from the city of Bastok. My highest job right now is Warrior, but I have yet to unlock most of the advanced jobs. I was a Samurai last time I played, and I kind of miss it, so I might start leveling that when I can unlock it. I was also considering Paladin, but we'll see. One of the things I like about FFXI over other MMO's is that I can level every job on one character if I want to.

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/18/2012 at 12:08am

Thats a cool thing to be able to do. Swhat I dug about Fallout and Oblivion, you can do whatever you want you don't decide classes, you just sort of put time into those abilities.

Dungeon Siege was similar.

Timogorgon Member Post Author wrote on 07/18/2012 at 07:20pm

The leveling in FFXI is a little different. It's not that you're every job all at once and you just pick and choose your skills like in Fallout, each class (called "jobs" in FFXI) has its own separate level. For example, at the moment when I'm a warrior I'm level 32, once I switch my job to Monk I'm level 15. You only gain XP for whatever job you currently are. You also get to pick a subjob, which grants you stat bonuses and gives you (mostly) all the job abilities/spells of your subjob up to half your current jobs level. So when I'm a 32 Warrior I can set monk as my subjob and get bonuses to my HP, Str, etc. and I have all the monk abilities up to monk 15 (it would be 16, but I haven't leveled monk that high :) )

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/18/2012 at 11:21pm

Interesting system. Cool because you can pick whatever you want.

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A few quick Steam Workshop mods to get you started in

http://cdn.steamcommunity.com/public/images/sharedfiles/Skyrim_Background.jpg

A few quick Steam Workshop mods to get you started in Skyrim

I'm assuming some of you are playing Skyrim for the first time now, since it was half-off for the Steam Summer Sale. (How over budget are you all, by the way?)

While TES Nexus is still the best place to get mods, Steam Workshop makes it so easy to automatically download them and install them.

If you're in the market for a new house, there are plenty to choose from. My personal favorite is a Dwemer Airship called the Asteria. This player house is beautifully done, very detailed, and has plenty of storage space. My only qualm is the lack of usable bookshelves, but everything else makes up for it. ... Read All

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/16/2012 at 05:04am

Awesome, gonna start my game soon! Do you recommend a texture pack?

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 07/16/2012 at 04:51pm

As an almost purely console gamer, the thought of mods is completely foreign to me. Are they allowable changes to the game? I love Skyrim, but have been kinda jealous of all the mods I've seen for the PC version.

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/16/2012 at 04:59pm

Basically whatever people can think of they do. My only desire is they dot ruin any main or side story quests and are purely additive. So far, they seem to be in that realm or at least the ones I've seen.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 07/16/2012 at 05:49pm

But that doesn't "void your warranty" or anything like that?

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 07/16/2012 at 06:30pm

Not at all. Bethesda provides the tools people use to make mods. It's encouraged.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 07/16/2012 at 06:30pm

Think of it like free DLC, created by the players.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 07/16/2012 at 07:12pm

Dude, that's rad. Someday I might need to buy a decent computer.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 07/16/2012 at 08:35pm

One other thing to note, at least with Bethesda games, using mods and/or console commands does not disable achievements.

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/16/2012 at 08:43pm

Oh good. I mean the game is a pretty large sandbox if they put too many rails on it it wouldn't be as cool. Good it's as opened up as it is. Can't wait to fusrodah a Rabbit!

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 07/16/2012 at 10:24pm

Just be careful when attacking chickens. Seriously.

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 07/16/2012 at 10:32pm

We all learned that lesson in Link's Awakening ;-)

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/16/2012 at 10:40pm

Thanks for the tip. They swarm I take it?

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 07/16/2012 at 10:48pm

No, that was just a joke. Go ahead and attack!

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 07/16/2012 at 11:51pm

Chickens don't swarm, but it's like they're marked as townsfolk or something, because everyone gets pissed and comes after you.

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/17/2012 at 12:25am

Oh, ok thanks! I don't typically play a game the first time breaking laws and stuff. I played Fallout 3 and got the best Karma.

Kind of want to do it again and blow up Megaton though.

Timogorgon Member wrote on 07/17/2012 at 05:22pm

I'm definitely getting this when I can afford a better PC. Maybe my Christmas list this year will just be a bunch of computer parts. :)

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 07/17/2012 at 10:10pm

What's the record so far for post with the most comments? Cause this one has a bunch :)

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/17/2012 at 11:59pm

Wow, I don't know, Ill run a query and see.

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/18/2012 at 12:06am

This is now the post with the most comments seconded by this: http://cheerfulghost.com/Tungsten/posts/169

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 07/18/2012 at 03:14am

Jon, just FYI, there's no real Karma system in Skyrim. You have a record of your highest bounties in all the different holds, but no fame/infamy like in Oblivion. People will remember your deeds though.

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/18/2012 at 06:06am

Good to know. Wonder how I'm going to play it? Though I did hear you can't pick a good or bad side because there really isn't one?

AdamPFarnsworth wrote on 07/18/2012 at 07:42am

Exactly. You'll see (:

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 07/19/2012 at 03:42am

You can be clearly evil or clearly good, but there's a conflict that you pick a side on that isn't 100% clear. I won't spoil it, but I will tell you that I've gotten into days-long arguments on reddit about which one is the "right" one. :)

How do we rank now? Most comments yet? :)

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/19/2012 at 04:33am

The day I checked it was the number one conversation. So yeah, now its the number onedest deluxe!

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/20/2012 at 06:20am

Ok yeah wow apparently killing a chicken is a massive crime. I had to go to Whiterun, talk to a guard, pay a fine and then the villagers stopped hating me.

Killing a hunter? Fine? A chicken? YOU FIEND!

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Terraria: A Shocking Amount of Awesome For Such a Low Price

Recently picked up a few games from this years steam sale. The Bethesda pack, Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2 and Terraria. I started Terraria because it was a smaller download than Skyrim or Left for Dead and haven't stopping playing it! Its only $5 during the summer sale and I heartily recommend you get it.

I started out having no idea what I was doing and watched a tutorial video saying I should build a house to survive the night. I did that and survived. Then I built my house underground. Then I created a huge mine. The I started chopping down trees and planting more. Then I realized I could build a stone house/castle in the sky (picture above). Then I wanted to see how... Read All