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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!

Borderlands 3 Is Coming!

Here it is... the first Borderlands 3 trailer and it looks like a crazy next step for the series that rocketed the shooter looter mechanics into orbit. So much so that it seems like this game will feature entirely new game worlds and not take place on Pandorda. Gearbox didn't drop a ton of new details about the new game but there are some to be gleaned from the trailer and many characters make a return such as Lilith, Sir Hammerlock and Rowland (with a sax solo obviously).

Borderlands and Borderlands 2 Are Getting A 4K Re-Release "Wub Wub"

We are living in the age of the video game re-release where a game company or publisher takes an older game, maybe not even that old and dusts it off, upgrades the textures and makes it easier to play on modern systems. As a huge fan of retro games I think it's great so many games are becoming easier to play. Recently Gearbox had a huge PAX East presentation and two bits of news were that Borderlands and Borderlands 2 The Handsome Collection are getting 4K remasters. If you own Borderlands on Steam this new version will be applied to your existing version for free and if you have the Handsome Collection it's also a free upgrade.

The Borderlands 4K remaster is a bit... Read All We are living in the age of the video game re-release where a game company or publisher takes an older game, maybe not even that old and dusts it off, upgrades the textures and makes it easier to play on modern systems. As a huge fan of retro games I think it's great so many games are becoming easier to play. Recently Gearbox had a huge PAX East presentation and two bits of news were that Borderlands and Borderlands 2 The Handsome Collection are getting 4K remasters. If you own Borderlands on Steam this new version will be applied to your existing version for free and if you have the Handsome Collection it's also a free upgrade.

The Borderlands 4K remaster is a bit more than a graphical overhaul, with the included new features it's a lot like a new Borderlands game. According to PCGamer:

"As well as a minimap in the style of Borderlands 2 which you can switch on or off, the inventory system will be simplified, and you'll automatically pick up items found on the ground like ammo and health.

There are more fundamental tweaks to the game, too. The game's final boss has been altered for a tougher, more rewarding challenge, and to make it a more "engaging" encounter—we'll have to give that a try before we know exactly what impact that makes.

The SHiFT player rewards are also coming to the game—anyone who's played Borderlands 2 or The Pre-Sequel on PC will get 75 free Golden Keys, as well as two random new weapons when they create a new Vault Hunter. Six new legendary weapons have been added to the game, too, which you can unlock by hoovering up Golden Keys or by defeating bosses. More customization options are being added for player characters, too, with five swappable sets of head gear for your Vault Hunter available at the start. "

The original Borderlands on PC has always been a bit shaky, and I can't wait for this new version to give it the love it deserves. I found the loot drops and story to be more my style in the original Borderlands and I can't wait to jump back in to the fresh new version to see how well it translates.

https://www.pcgamer.com/borderlands-game-of-the-year-edition-is-coming-to-pc

WarCraft & WarCraft II Are Finally On GOG DRM Free!

Today GOG.com released the WarCraft Bundle which includes WarCraft and WarCraft II: Tides Of Darkness + Beyond The Dark Portal expansion. Much like the Diablo re-release earlier, you can choose between two version of WarCraft II which is the original Battle.net edition or the revamped version that works better on modern computers.

The GOG release below talks about the anticipation of the 25th anniversary of Warcraft which may imply that they will launch the WarCraft III HD Remaster around that time. I hope that includes a mention of a WarCraft IV but I wonder if Blizzard is interested in making that kind of game again?

"In anticipation of the upcoming 25th anniversary... Read All Today GOG.com released the WarCraft Bundle which includes WarCraft and WarCraft II: Tides Of Darkness + Beyond The Dark Portal expansion. Much like the Diablo re-release earlier, you can choose between two version of WarCraft II which is the original Battle.net edition or the revamped version that works better on modern computers.

The GOG release below talks about the anticipation of the 25th anniversary of Warcraft which may imply that they will launch the WarCraft III HD Remaster around that time. I hope that includes a mention of a WarCraft IV but I wonder if Blizzard is interested in making that kind of game again?

"In anticipation of the upcoming 25th anniversary of Warcraft, we brought you the real-time strategy classics that started it all Warcraft: Orcs and Humans and Warcraft II Battle.net Edition, including both the original Tides of Darkness and the Beyond the Dark Portal expansion. Starting today, players can once again explore these universe-defining games as they become available digitally and DRM-free for the first time ever!

Warcraft: Orcs & Humans takes players back to the original battle for Azeroth, challenging players to pick a side and raise an army of human or orcs capable of bringing ruin to their enemies. Warcraft II and its expansion take the battle to the high seas with a host of naval units, and introduces more of the races that make up the Alliance and the Horde, bolstering the human and orc forces with elves, trolls, dwarves, and more.

The first part of the legendary series plays and feels just like the original from 1994, it’s just updated to run flawlessly on modern operating systems. Warcraft II Battle.net Edition, similarly to the release of first Diablo on GOG.COM, comes in two versions, which players will choose from the launcher. The classic one allows for the authentic experience and a fully functional multiplayer with Blizzard’s Battle.net online gaming service. The updated version comes with a number of fixes to provide full compatibility with modern machines as well as hi-resolution support and upscaling."

https://www.gog.com/game/warcraft_bundle