Cheerful Ghost: An Awesome Community For Gamers

The Mega Sg is The Latest Zero Lag 1080p Retro Sega Remake From Analogue!

If you love retro games and want a pristine HD experience usually you can buy a clone system that emulates the games well but can introduce latency or emulation artifacts you might not want. Typically Speedrunners and folk that prefer playing on original hardware play retro games as they were originally intended but those retro systems are limited to analog video, something that doesn't look great on modern displays. Analogue decided to solve this problem by not emulating the original video game hardware in software but by creating chips that recreate the original systems bit for bit. To-date Analogue has released a version of the original NES, Super Nintendo and now... Read All

Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker

Star Wars Celebration is upon us and during the Episode IX panel Lucasfilm unveiled the new teaser for Star Wars Episode IX titled "Rise of Skywalker." One of my friends is waiting to watch the teaser until we see Endgame in the theater so I'm not going to spoil any of the teaser details in this post but we can in the comments.

After this teaser I'm more excited for The Rise of Skywalker than Endgame or any other movie this year. It's the end of the Skywalker Saga but not quite end of the Star Wars franchise. I've heard news from Lucasfilm and Disney that after this movie they are going to take a break from making films and focus on TV shows on the new Disney+... Read All

Borderlands Game of the Year Edition Enhanced Is An Incredible Update To Borderlands!

Borderlands is one of the best shooters I've ever played. The story, loot and gameplay are fantastic and started a new wave of looter-shooters that continued with Borderlands 2, Destiny and The Division. I was elated to learn that Gearbox was going to release a new 4K remaster of the original Borderlands and the best part is that Gearbox has added new features and quality of life enhancements making it even better.

I'm gonna clip out some new features that Gearbox brought to Borderlands to make it easy to see all the new stuff:

"* A Borderlands 2-style mini-map, which you can toggle on and off, has been added to complement the original compass
* Substantial improvements... Read All Borderlands is one of the best shooters I've ever played. The story, loot and gameplay are fantastic and started a new wave of looter-shooters that continued with Borderlands 2, Destiny and The Division. I was elated to learn that Gearbox was going to release a new 4K remaster of the original Borderlands and the best part is that Gearbox has added new features and quality of life enhancements making it even better.

I'm gonna clip out some new features that Gearbox brought to Borderlands to make it easy to see all the new stuff:

"* A Borderlands 2-style mini-map, which you can toggle on and off, has been added to complement the original compass
* Substantial improvements to the inventory system—such as allowing you to “lock” weapons or mark them as “junk”—simplify item management
* Items like ammo, money, and health now auto-pick up from the ground
* Rewards Ready: With the addition of the SHiFT player rewards program, you can now use Golden Keys to unlock special in-game items and rewards. Returning SHiFT users who’ve played Borderlands 2 or The Pre-Sequel on PC will receive 75 free Golden Keys, as well as two randomly selected all-new weapons, for their first newly-created Vault Hunter.
* Added Firepower: A new set of six named, custom-skinned Legendary weapons make the base game’s arsenal even deeper. Beat bosses or gather Golden Keys for a chance to collect ‘em all.
* Badder Boss Battle: In direct response to fan feedback, the campaign’s final boss encounter has been adjusted to be more engaging, challenging, and rewarding.
* Cosmetic Customization: For the first time, you will be able to customize your Vault Hunter beyond simply selecting a color scheme. Each of the four available characters has five brand new cosmetic heads unlocked and equippable right from the start of the game."

After the new Borderlands released for free to everyone that had the original on Steam, I installed it and transferred over my original Borderlands characters. I decided to start fresh with a new character and I'm glad I did because I forgot how great the start of Borderlands is. Right away the Borderlands 2 style mini-map and auto-pickup of items is just what Doctor Zed ordered and makes the game feel so much better. Truth be told the original mechanics weren't bad, but these enhancements just make the game that much nicer. There is also a huge golden key chest in the middle of town and with 75 keys to start, you have a lot of options for some great weapon finds. That said, I don't typically use the golden keys as I've found they make the game a bit too easy, that said they are here now which is a nice addition. Gearbox is also tweeting golden keys for Borderlands often so if you want more, you can get them.

The 4K visuals are stunning and the new build of the game makes Borderlands feel like a brand new game. The addition of character skins is also really neat and already I've customized my character a bit to make the game a bit more fun. It's not something I found essential in Borderlands 2 but it's a nice way to look a bit different to friends in multiplayer.

Whenever I came back to Borderlands on PC I never felt like that version gave the game the credit it deserved and it seemed like more attention was put into the PS3 and XBox 360 versions. Borderlands 2 changed this as the PC version was first class and now, the original Borderlands is just as incredible. And frankly with all the Epic store exclusive business, maybe returning to the original adventure through is the best choice?

https://steamcommunity.com/games/8980/announcements/detail/1767008477036180317

Cheerful Ghost Radio Episode 54: Cowlitz Gamer's for Kids 2019

In this episode, Jon and Will Ball talk about their experience at Cowlitz Gamer's for Kids and share their finds.

Bethesda Celebrates 25 Years of Elder Scrolls With A Retrospective Doc

Recently Bethesda celebrated 25 years of The Elder Scrolls franchise and released this retrospective documentary as a companion piece. Sorry I was a bit late to get this to you, but I've been working on the upcoming Cheerful Ghost game that will launch this summer.

"Join us as we reminisce some of the unforgettable moments, stories and even real-world relationships that both the developers and community have made in Tamriel. Here’s to the countless more tales remaining to be told in Tamriel!"

My Early Thoughts On Elder Scrolls Blades

Bethesda released The Elder Scrolls Blades to early access a couple weeks ago and recently let anyone with a Bethesda.net account access to it after the initial beta period. When I saw the game enter early access on iOS I rushed to download it only to have a quick intro fight and have the servers tell me I wasn't allowed in the beta quite yet. After sending a request to join I was let in the next day and was really excited to give the latest Elder Scrolls game a try.

Blades has been one of my most anticipated games on 2019 because Bethesda did such a great job with Fallout Shelter I figured Blades would be just as incredible. After playing blades off and on for a few... Read All

The Lost Levels Is Coming To Nintendo Switch

At this point many of you know Super Mario Bros. 2 released in the USA wasn't the version they had in Japan. The original Japanese Super Mario Bros. 2 was later included in Super Mario All Stars on the SNES in the USA as The Lost Levels and has seen a few re-releases on the Game Boy Color and Wii Virtual Console. Nintendo recently let word drop that The Lost Levels is coming to the Nintendo Switch Online alongside Punch Out!! featuring Mr. Dream and Star Soldier.

I haven't played a lot of The Lost Levels but I do plan on playing this when it comes out on April 10th and maybe I'll be able to get my Cheerful Ghost Radio co-hosts to do a special episode about it. We've... Read All

Borderlands 3 Is Bringing The Mayhem September 13th!

Today Gearbox unleashed the release date for Borderlands 3 on PC, XBox One and PS4 of September 13th to some fairly unhappy PC fans. Typically Borderlands PC fans are a happy bunch as the game has quite a few benefits to the PC port in increased FOV sliders and detail options but publisher 2K has decided to go with a six months PC Epic Store exclusive meaning that you can't buy Borderlands 3 on PC via Steam at launch. This has led many PC fans to be quite upset and has tanked the review scores of Borderlands 2 as some are venting their frustration in Steam reviews.

All told I'm not too surprised Borderlands 3 is an Epic Store exclusive but it does give me pause as to... Read All

Speedrun Sessions Is Coming To Portland: My Interview With GrandPOObear!

Ever since I’ve been into speedrunning GrandPOObear has been one of the most exciting runners to watch. His ability at speedrunning Mario is legend and that sportsmanship landed him a recent sponsorship by Red Bull seeing him join a roster of incredible athletes. GrandPOObear is also one of the runners in the Games Done Quick charity speedrun, which is the premier speedrunning community event that now happens three times a year. Recently GrandPOObear announced Speedrun Sessions which is a unique event coming to Portland April 4th at Ground Kontrol. Along with GrandPOObear the other runners at the event are Oatsngoats speedrunning Super Metroid and Andy speedrunning... Read All

Cheerful Ghost Radio Episode 53: The Lost Archives - RADICAL VIDEO GAME REVIEWS WITH FRIENDS EXTREME

Recently Jon was going through some old boxes in his attic and came across a very special tape, a recording of RADICAL VIDEO GAME REVIEWS WITH FRIENDS EXTREME from April 1992 where we review Super Mario World on the SNES!