Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

Madcoaster is a fun runner clone I have been enjoying

Madcoaster is a fun runner clone I have been enjoying lately. iPhone as of when I write this, sorry Droids! Its published by Chillingo, the company that brought us such greats as Angry Birds and Cut the Rope. A bit of an aside, Chillingo has created a ton of mobile games, you should thumb through the list sometime, its very impressive.

As I said earlier, Madcoaster is a runner clone like Robot Unicorn Attack or Jetpack Joyride. Where it differs is in style and tone. You collect coins and can upgrade your coaster, but the coin and item store is not pushy. Madcoaster is less punishing than other runner type games which is why I think its more fun. Collecting coins is one... Read All

A great, simple android version of the classic Risk game.

A great, simple android version of the classic Risk game. You can play against up to 6 players computer or human. In the free version you're passing the phone back and forth, but it's still fun. My 11 year old daughter, who's never played Risk (I know, I've failed as a parent) loves this game too.

There's a Skynet option, which makes the computer more likely to attack humans. I've not tried it on that mode yet. I don't want my phone learning how I attack...

So my wife and I use to play FFXI from 2004 to around 2009. We've decided we are going to relive the glory days (so to speak) and pick FFXI back up at least until Summer is over and have some fun going through all the low level stuff on a new character. I know at least one other CheerfulGhoster out there had FFXI too, so I wanted to extend an invite to anyone who wants to join us on the Cerberus server. My character name is Taion and my wife is Ktara and we're currently based in the city of Bastok (but we have the means to bring you to us if you want to start somewhere else for any reason.)

If anyone has never played FFXI before but wants to join us, let me know and... Read All

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/07/2012 at 09:53pm

Whats the monthly on FFXI?

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/07/2012 at 10:00pm

http://www.playonline.com/ff11eu/envi/charge.html

$12 a month? If I am reading that right for the character fee and monthly.

Timogorgon Member Post Author wrote on 07/07/2012 at 10:35pm

Yes. The $20's to buy the game comes with your first month though

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/07/2012 at 10:56pm

Oh cool. Hmmmmmm. Tempting!

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 01/24/2014 at 07:34am

You're talking writing about XI, but the game listed is IX. LOL I played XI for a while and found out that that's not really much for solo gamers. I'm glad for the friend I found, that helped me through some of the game. I remember starting out in Windy, where my friends were supposedly on one server. I finally made it to Bastok, where they actually started out. I actually won the Wings of the Goddess DLC from the FF Wiki, but have not yet played it.

That said, as I've asked Travis, do you have any thoughts on playing the new FF MMORPG (I think it's XV)?

Timogorgon Member Post Author wrote on 01/24/2014 at 06:13pm

Oops! Yeah this was suppose to be listed under FFXI. :P

Bastok represent! That was my starting city and my favorite of the 3 starting towns (we had Cid!). What server did you play on? I was on Cerberus under the name Taion.

I've looked into the new FF MMO, and while it looks cool I highly doubt I'd be able to play it enough to justify the monthly subscription. I would love it if they'd offer a free to play weekend or something though so I could give it a try.

Azurephile Super Member wrote on 01/24/2014 at 07:49pm

I believe I was on Bahamut.

jdodson Admin wrote on 01/24/2014 at 07:51pm

WhiteboySlim: You can change it by editing the post. I've been adding titles to all these nekro'd posts myself :D

Timogorgon Member Post Author wrote on 01/24/2014 at 07:52pm

Done!

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I need a little help. I cant decide which copy of

I need a little help. I can't decide which copy of Borderlands 2 to pre-order. Ive pondered for a month+ now and I can't do it. I am leaning to the Standard Edition on PS3 at Gamestop for the extra goodies, but should I get a collectors?

All the versions are listed here:
http://www.borderlands2.com/preorder/

What do you think? Did you pre-order it? If you what did you get?

I am going to make a choice and pre-order this weekend, a little help would be nice.

The last weekend my wife and I watching the trailers before

The last weekend my wife and I watching the trailers before Pixars latest film Brave when we saw the trailer for "Wreck it Ralph." Wreck it Ralph is a Disney movie where the main character is a bad guy from an old coin-op video game. Looks like Disney licensed a few classic video game villans such as Bowser, Zangief, M. Bison, Dr. Robotnik and a Ghost from Pac-Man. I also thought I saw a nod at Diablo, but ill let you watch the trailer for yourself :)

Wreck it Ralph is voiced by the amazing John C. Reilly and Sarah Silverman and looks fantastic. Not a lot of video game movies come out and less look as good as this do.

Interested in checking this out?

iPhone vs. Android-- My take on the long debate I have been

http://blog.domaintools.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/android-v-iphone.jpg

iPhone vs. Android-- My take on the long debate

I have been using an Android phone through work for a year now, and
when it came time to replace my personal phone last week I got an
iPhone. I've been digging in to both, and I wanted to share my
experiences.

First: I hate fanboy arguments. Android vs. iPhone is the new PC vs.
Mac, Gnome vs. KDE, Playstation vs. XBox, Mario vs. Sonic... I just
say, use what's right for you. There are always going to be differing
opinions-- I just don't understand the hatred for the other side.

At any rate, lets get down to business. I'm not going in-depth on any
of these, just hitting some high points. I hope to generate some
discussion where we... Read All

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/07/2012 at 12:39am

Cool post. My thoughts:

Multitasking: This isn't documented well, but basically if you exit an iPhone app the OS gives it about 10 minutes to do its thing and quit. If it doesn't quit on its own, the OS kills it to preserve your battery. IF its a service it can request CPU time when the OS give it some, but its every so often to save battery life. Certain kids of apps can be backgrounded and still run, like audio apps to access to sound API etc.

I wish Apple had better web accessibility. Google does win over Apple in this way. Apple is very iTunesy, which is fine but not amazing in all cases.

I agree with you on upgradability, with Apple you know you get a few major revision of iOS on your gear. I have the 4S and know that I have about 3 more iOS versions before they cut me off, maybe more. I really wish my Android kin could get something similar without modding!

I agree that gaming is a bit better on the iPhone due to publishers. I wish that wasn't the case, but I did get the Rage and Doom 3 app for iPhone and they were fun to play. More and more though the apps you cant play on Android are really in the minority. Ive never like device exclusivity though, publishers need to love Android and iOS equally :)

I sort of crack wise with my Android kin but think both devices are fine, I prefer iPhone and don't plan on moving to Android any time soon. I agree id like a few more choices with the iPhone but its so good its not a huge problem.

David_Woods wrote on 07/07/2012 at 03:05am

Pretty much the same as my experience as well, although my only iOS experience is with an iPod touch. Couple of notes:

Ice Cream Sandwich is a GREAT update. It has the multitasking switcher you're wanting. For older versions though, you can usually hold down the 'home' key to see most recent apps, which is more or less the same thing.

Another thing to consider is the Nexus series. While it feels like you can just compare Android and iOS, what you're really forced to do is compare Android and iOS-on-the-iPhone/iPod/iPad devices. There's no other way to use it, which is why Apple is so readily updatable. (that, and the fact that they pretty much have the carriers by the balls and can make any demand they want) It's true that Android devices are painful to update, if you get to at all, EXCEPT for the Google-sanctioned devices. Then it's more like the Apple experience. Not as nice, still, but much closer.

Another negative I would have to give Apple is the app ecosystem. There is WAY too many its-free-but-not-really freemium style applications. My daughter gets hooked on an app, only to be told that she has to pay to continue to play it. Or use real money to buy tokens for a game. It feels like a scam almost. I can't trust anything that says 'free' in the app store. Android app experience feels ... maybe 'cleaner' is the word. I like to browse Google Play for new apps, and go in expecting to find something fun for free. In the App Store, I don't touch it unless I'm looking for something specific because it feels dirty.

Travis Admin Post Author wrote on 07/07/2012 at 04:25am

Playing around with random games in Google Play, I've run into the same kind of free-but-not-really stuff. That's actually the one thing I do prefer about Apple's App Store-- if it says "Top in-app purchases" you know that you are getting led down the path of microtransactions, and you can check those out to see how crucial they are.

I do agree though that it feels quite scammy at times. There's a free Adobe photo editing product on the App store that looks fantastic until you realize that it's crippled until you buy at least $10 worth of add-ons.

jdodson Admin wrote on 07/07/2012 at 05:55pm

Freemium games are mostly annoying. Occasionally a good one comes by, like Tiny Tower, but yeah the majority are un-awesome.

I recently played a game called Tiny Tower. Its a fun puzzle game and only give you a certain amount of turns per day. I wanted to buy it but I had to do some kind of in app transaction for like $4 to unlock unlimited turns. Yeah no. They could have just released a demo version and I would have happily paid $2 or something for the full game. Something about in app transactions I really don't like. Feel like someday I won't be able to get my stuff back or something.

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Bashiok, Blizzard community manager recently posted this on

Bashiok, Blizzard community manager recently posted this on battle.net to address some peoples thoughts on the Diablo 3 endgame:

"We recognize that the item hunt is just not enough for a long-term sustainable end-game. There are still tons of people playing every day and week, and playing a lot, but eventually they're going to run out of stuff to do (if they haven't already). Killing enemies and finding items is a lot of fun, and we think we have a lot of the systems surrounding that right, or at least on the right path with a few corrections and tweaks. But honestly Diablo III is not World of Warcraft. We aren't going to be able to pump out tons of new systems and... Read All Bashiok, Blizzard community manager recently posted this on battle.net to address some peoples thoughts on the Diablo 3 endgame:

"We recognize that the item hunt is just not enough for a long-term sustainable end-game. There are still tons of people playing every day and week, and playing a lot, but eventually they're going to run out of stuff to do (if they haven't already). Killing enemies and finding items is a lot of fun, and we think we have a lot of the systems surrounding that right, or at least on the right path with a few corrections and tweaks. But honestly Diablo III is not World of Warcraft. We aren't going to be able to pump out tons of new systems and content every couple months. There needs to be something else that keeps people engaged, and we know it's not there right now.

We're working toward 1.0.4, which we're really trying to pack with as many fixes and changes we can to help you guys out (and we'll have a bunch of articles posted with all the details as we get closer), and we're of course working on 1.1 with PvP arenas. I think both those patches will do a lot to give people things to do, and get them excited about playing, but they're not going to be a real end-game solution, at least not what we would expect out of a proper end-game. We have some ideas for progression systems, but honestly it's a huge feature if we want to try to do it right, and not something we could envision being possible until well after 1.1 which it itself still a ways out."

Few things.

1. We are a "ways out" from PvP. Dang. I was hoping that would come soon. Oh well, hopefully when it drops its really awesome. Kind of wonder if Blizzard bit off more than it should have releasing Diablo 3 when it did? Oh well the game is great and hope PvP adds quite a bit.

2. 1.0.4 Wonder what this will entail? More drops? Eagerly anticipating.

http://us.battle.net/d3/en/forum/topic/6019511928#17

What are your thoughts on Diablo 3 and its endgame? Still a great game or needs love?

Adam Ellis, a Portland blogger recently wrote about his

http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7138/7502685008_f0cb10deec_o.jpg

Adam Ellis, a Portland blogger recently wrote about his early and some recent experiences with video games. Its a well written post about Final Fantasy 6, 7 Earthbound, Fallout 3 and Skyrim. Fun read and the art helps give it personality.

http://www.booksofadam.com/2012/07/i-want-to-play-game.html

To everyone in the United States, Happy 4th of July!

As I was considering what I wanted to talk about for todays

As I was considering what I wanted to talk about for todays Retro Tuesday I decided to talk about one of my favorite video game movies. When I was a wee lad I dreamed of competing in a video game tournament*. To be crowned the best in all the lands on Nintendo would have been one of the coolest things to happen to me. Video game companies like Nintendo understood this and released a few video game TV shows and movies to capture this, one such movie was The Wizard.

The Wizard was filmed in 1989 and stars Fred Savage, Christian Slater, Beau Bridges, Luke Edwards and Jenny Lewis. A bit of movie trivia, Jenny Lewis who played the love interest of Fred Savage in the Wizard... Read All