Friday, November 30, 2007
Playing With America
Today I decided to test out the online portion of Rock Band to see if Harmonix really did manage to live up to their promise of providing a lag free experience with no delay for anyone while playing the game. For the most part, they nailed it, as the experience of playing with other people (at least in North America) seems about 95% problem free, with the occasional hiccup such as people's own connections dropping out on them, or the inevitable Bail Out when you've been playing too long and it's time to take a break.
I'm not entirely sure exactly how the hierarchy for finding other people to play with works. If you're not playing with friends who are all agreeing to jam together and are simply waiting for an invitation, then you use a "search for other players" option. When this happens and other people fill the spaces up, you might be the "leader" or you might not, I have no idea what determines this. All I know for sure is that the leader is the one that actually controls which songs are going to be played. Sometimes I got to be the leader, other times, we found ourselves simply being band members.
It was an interesting experience. The Wife has currently created her singer to look a like a bit of an Ice Queen/Gothic Lolita/Maid type. I think that the folks we were playing with (who judging from the number after their names were likely sharing a console the way we were) immediately saw the Wife's singer and figured, "Oh, so someone thinks she's a girl, eh?"
As a result, they went for a band called Flyleaf with song, I'm So Sick, which is quickly coming be one of the most dreaded songs for vocalists in the game. Witness:
Much to their surprise, the Wife nailed it, and after that they went through a series of increasingly more difficult songs trying to shred her vocal cords, until they got to Metallica's Enter Sandman and somehow failed to realize that they might not actually be good enough themselves to play it, causing their own failure out of the song within seconds of beginning, before the Wife could actually get a chance to sing. Not that it really would have mattered, I've seen her nail that song on Expert too. Over the course of the evening this same exact pattern would end up repeating multiple times; the new players--if they were leader--would see that the vocalist was female and without fail, they would go straight over to I'm So Sick to see whether the song could be passed or not. Either the people who do this just want to see if the singer is really a girl or not, or else they're kind of mean-spirited and want to put a girl through one of the tougher songs in general just for having the audacity to be a girl playing a boy's game, I'm not sure which. That's the only really strange, consistent behavior we found during our playtime during the evening though, this obsession with making girls sing that song. Quite often once the song was passed, a lot of female vocalist songs would be subsequently chosen.
On the whole, it's a neat experience, and if you get a good bunch of people, it's pretty amazing watching them in action. We managed to get ourselves tagged as Band Leader for a while, and we had a wicked drummer on occasion that was just cruising through Expert in a truly frightening manner.
I'm really just looking forward to folks I'm already friends with with PS3s to get with the program and pick this game up. Playing with decent strangers is a lot of fun, but I can only imagine who it'll be playing with friends around the world.
And one of these days, I'll have to actually make a non-Rock Band related post and talk about that trip to Maine in more detail...
Today I decided to test out the online portion of Rock Band to see if Harmonix really did manage to live up to their promise of providing a lag free experience with no delay for anyone while playing the game. For the most part, they nailed it, as the experience of playing with other people (at least in North America) seems about 95% problem free, with the occasional hiccup such as people's own connections dropping out on them, or the inevitable Bail Out when you've been playing too long and it's time to take a break.
I'm not entirely sure exactly how the hierarchy for finding other people to play with works. If you're not playing with friends who are all agreeing to jam together and are simply waiting for an invitation, then you use a "search for other players" option. When this happens and other people fill the spaces up, you might be the "leader" or you might not, I have no idea what determines this. All I know for sure is that the leader is the one that actually controls which songs are going to be played. Sometimes I got to be the leader, other times, we found ourselves simply being band members.
It was an interesting experience. The Wife has currently created her singer to look a like a bit of an Ice Queen/Gothic Lolita/Maid type. I think that the folks we were playing with (who judging from the number after their names were likely sharing a console the way we were) immediately saw the Wife's singer and figured, "Oh, so someone thinks she's a girl, eh?"
As a result, they went for a band called Flyleaf with song, I'm So Sick, which is quickly coming be one of the most dreaded songs for vocalists in the game. Witness:
Much to their surprise, the Wife nailed it, and after that they went through a series of increasingly more difficult songs trying to shred her vocal cords, until they got to Metallica's Enter Sandman and somehow failed to realize that they might not actually be good enough themselves to play it, causing their own failure out of the song within seconds of beginning, before the Wife could actually get a chance to sing. Not that it really would have mattered, I've seen her nail that song on Expert too. Over the course of the evening this same exact pattern would end up repeating multiple times; the new players--if they were leader--would see that the vocalist was female and without fail, they would go straight over to I'm So Sick to see whether the song could be passed or not. Either the people who do this just want to see if the singer is really a girl or not, or else they're kind of mean-spirited and want to put a girl through one of the tougher songs in general just for having the audacity to be a girl playing a boy's game, I'm not sure which. That's the only really strange, consistent behavior we found during our playtime during the evening though, this obsession with making girls sing that song. Quite often once the song was passed, a lot of female vocalist songs would be subsequently chosen.
On the whole, it's a neat experience, and if you get a good bunch of people, it's pretty amazing watching them in action. We managed to get ourselves tagged as Band Leader for a while, and we had a wicked drummer on occasion that was just cruising through Expert in a truly frightening manner.
I'm really just looking forward to folks I'm already friends with with PS3s to get with the program and pick this game up. Playing with decent strangers is a lot of fun, but I can only imagine who it'll be playing with friends around the world.
And one of these days, I'll have to actually make a non-Rock Band related post and talk about that trip to Maine in more detail...
Labels: Rock Band
Thursday, November 29, 2007
The Tour Continues
The Wife being able to sing at Hard and Expert on Rock Band is really helping things move in a way I hadn't anticipated. The latest tally of our progress now shows that out of 18, 561 bands currently competing on the planet, we are now #43. Maybe it ain't the top ten, but hell, it's a lot further ahead than I thought was possible.
Also, we just got a Bowie 3-Pack today that includes Moonage Daydream, Heroes and Queen Bitch. Heroes in particular is quickly growing into a favorite of mine for the guitar, because that riff is just Damn Catchy. The fact that the Wife is just as much into this game as I am is both a pleasant and vaguely disturbing surprise, but to paraphrase The Exorcist, "The power of Rock compels you!"
The Wife being able to sing at Hard and Expert on Rock Band is really helping things move in a way I hadn't anticipated. The latest tally of our progress now shows that out of 18, 561 bands currently competing on the planet, we are now #43. Maybe it ain't the top ten, but hell, it's a lot further ahead than I thought was possible.
Also, we just got a Bowie 3-Pack today that includes Moonage Daydream, Heroes and Queen Bitch. Heroes in particular is quickly growing into a favorite of mine for the guitar, because that riff is just Damn Catchy. The fact that the Wife is just as much into this game as I am is both a pleasant and vaguely disturbing surprise, but to paraphrase The Exorcist, "The power of Rock compels you!"
Labels: Rock Band
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
No Limb Independence
I actually managed to get a little work done today for the new stuff for my agent, so guilt was not an issue. On the other hand, my right leg is now sore from entirely too long a session playing Rock Band with the drums. The good news is Easy and Medium are now done, although it was kind of touch and go towards the end of Medium. Part of the problem, especially for songs I knew pretty well was the old Guitar Hero problem of "phantom notes" where I knew drum beat should come in, and I'd try and hit it, which registered as false on the easier, more simplified note charts of these easier levels. But when I tried a song on Hard, I actually found it was somehow easier, and then, in a fit of insanity, jumped straight into Expert and actually managed to survive the first songs in as well, which surprised the hell out of me, considering the first time I tried I Think I'm Paranoid, I got shut out half-way through when I first foolishly took it on upon first booting up the game.
As to be expected, the big trick to surviving the later levels is going to be getting better limb independence. One of the big things screwing me up right now is the fact that my hands and feet want to act at the same time, so, if I need to hit the kick pedal twice, but only have to whack at the high hat once during that double kick, my hand wants to knock at the high hat twice as well. It's gonna' take some doing, but I think I can manage it. I don't have any aspirations to become a drummer, but the motivation to actually play and survive Expert is there. Like with Guitar Hero, once you get to playing at the Hard and Expert levels and are banging away pretty much note for note, suddenly, the game takes on a whole new level of fun. Especially with songs I know well and really like. I'm particularly motivated to try and get Maps by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs down. That's got a whacky, fun drum beat that only really comes into its own in Expert.
Oh well. All in good time.
I actually managed to get a little work done today for the new stuff for my agent, so guilt was not an issue. On the other hand, my right leg is now sore from entirely too long a session playing Rock Band with the drums. The good news is Easy and Medium are now done, although it was kind of touch and go towards the end of Medium. Part of the problem, especially for songs I knew pretty well was the old Guitar Hero problem of "phantom notes" where I knew drum beat should come in, and I'd try and hit it, which registered as false on the easier, more simplified note charts of these easier levels. But when I tried a song on Hard, I actually found it was somehow easier, and then, in a fit of insanity, jumped straight into Expert and actually managed to survive the first songs in as well, which surprised the hell out of me, considering the first time I tried I Think I'm Paranoid, I got shut out half-way through when I first foolishly took it on upon first booting up the game.
As to be expected, the big trick to surviving the later levels is going to be getting better limb independence. One of the big things screwing me up right now is the fact that my hands and feet want to act at the same time, so, if I need to hit the kick pedal twice, but only have to whack at the high hat once during that double kick, my hand wants to knock at the high hat twice as well. It's gonna' take some doing, but I think I can manage it. I don't have any aspirations to become a drummer, but the motivation to actually play and survive Expert is there. Like with Guitar Hero, once you get to playing at the Hard and Expert levels and are banging away pretty much note for note, suddenly, the game takes on a whole new level of fun. Especially with songs I know well and really like. I'm particularly motivated to try and get Maps by the Yeah Yeah Yeahs down. That's got a whacky, fun drum beat that only really comes into its own in Expert.
Oh well. All in good time.
Tuesday, November 27, 2007
Monday, November 26, 2007
Touring The World
Unsurprisingly, aside from a few errands on Bloor, almost no work was done as I continued my World Tour in Rock Band. Surprisingly, the Wife was a willing accomplice in this, and took up the vocals, kicking it up from Easy to Hard, thus allowing us to experience the full Band World Tour Mode, since it only allows you complete access if you're playing on a minimum of Hard.
I don't know how long it will last, but the Wife is now #6 on the planet for singing Celebrity Skin on the Rock Band leader boards. Man, I was IMPRESSED.
Unsurprisingly, aside from a few errands on Bloor, almost no work was done as I continued my World Tour in Rock Band. Surprisingly, the Wife was a willing accomplice in this, and took up the vocals, kicking it up from Easy to Hard, thus allowing us to experience the full Band World Tour Mode, since it only allows you complete access if you're playing on a minimum of Hard.
I don't know how long it will last, but the Wife is now #6 on the planet for singing Celebrity Skin on the Rock Band leader boards. Man, I was IMPRESSED.
Labels: Rock Band
Sunday, November 25, 2007
Rock Till It Hurts
My right shoulder is already protesting in anger from too much abuse at the guitar and drums. But it's incredibly difficult to stop. Rock Band now possesses me in a big, BIG way. I've already bought a three pack of songs from The Police as well as My Sharona. I've also found to my horror that my Percussion Freaks skills from the arcade drumming game have seriously atrophied from the years without practice and I'm going to have to work to get my foot/hand coordination back.
I've also found that after getting used to how the Fender Strat plays (ie, play it like a GUITAR, not like a guitar controller) the responsiveness of the thing is amazing, and it feels so good in my hands that I'm finding it hard to go back to the old Guitar Hero controller. It's an amazingly solid piece of equipment that can almost pass for a real guitar. Even the Wife has gotten into the act, and is now doing a solid piece of singing, actually being able to hold her own on Hard mode. I've also recruited the Upstairs Neighbor to join the band and that means that the World Tour mode is now open to me. While it's true that people who can easily 5-star songs on Expert in Guitar Hero will find the guitar portion of the game not challenging at all, I can barely finish Freebird on said mode, so the game is still kicking my ass for certain songs.
But the thing that really puts a smile on my face (aside from playing something seriously kick ass like the guitar in Gimme Shelter by the Stones) is when everything comes together and the crowd starts singing along with the song. All of a sudden, for those moments, you ARE a rock star, and it's a guilty, delicious, virtual feeling.
My right shoulder is already protesting in anger from too much abuse at the guitar and drums. But it's incredibly difficult to stop. Rock Band now possesses me in a big, BIG way. I've already bought a three pack of songs from The Police as well as My Sharona. I've also found to my horror that my Percussion Freaks skills from the arcade drumming game have seriously atrophied from the years without practice and I'm going to have to work to get my foot/hand coordination back.
I've also found that after getting used to how the Fender Strat plays (ie, play it like a GUITAR, not like a guitar controller) the responsiveness of the thing is amazing, and it feels so good in my hands that I'm finding it hard to go back to the old Guitar Hero controller. It's an amazingly solid piece of equipment that can almost pass for a real guitar. Even the Wife has gotten into the act, and is now doing a solid piece of singing, actually being able to hold her own on Hard mode. I've also recruited the Upstairs Neighbor to join the band and that means that the World Tour mode is now open to me. While it's true that people who can easily 5-star songs on Expert in Guitar Hero will find the guitar portion of the game not challenging at all, I can barely finish Freebird on said mode, so the game is still kicking my ass for certain songs.
But the thing that really puts a smile on my face (aside from playing something seriously kick ass like the guitar in Gimme Shelter by the Stones) is when everything comes together and the crowd starts singing along with the song. All of a sudden, for those moments, you ARE a rock star, and it's a guilty, delicious, virtual feeling.
Labels: Rock Band
Saturday, November 24, 2007
Friday, November 23, 2007
Fresh Maine Lobster
And it was good. Incredibly messy, but good. I kind of feel bad, because the In-Laws showed me the lobsters were about to dine on, and one of them was staring forlornly with this, "Why? Why are you doing this to me?" look on its face. That was probably the one that tasted so good for.
And it was good. Incredibly messy, but good. I kind of feel bad, because the In-Laws showed me the lobsters were about to dine on, and one of them was staring forlornly with this, "Why? Why are you doing this to me?" look on its face. That was probably the one that tasted so good for.
Labels: Travel
Thursday, November 22, 2007
Gobble Gobble Round 2
So stuffed with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie and clam chowder that I am going to burst. Nausea from too much food in full effect. Must... sleep... off...
So stuffed with turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, pumpkin pie and clam chowder that I am going to burst. Nausea from too much food in full effect. Must... sleep... off...
Labels: Travel
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Around Town
A quiet day in Maine. REALLY quiet. The fact that there are no sirens, trains, or drunken people singing loudly in the dead of the night is unnerving. Did some shopping, bought some gear with our Much Stronger Canadian Dollar, and met an Aunt-In-Law who will be hosting the Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. Also realized that Uncle-In-Law has a gigantic high-def TV but doesn't really know what HDTV is. I anticipate a long lecture tomorrow about the basics of progressive scan television...
A quiet day in Maine. REALLY quiet. The fact that there are no sirens, trains, or drunken people singing loudly in the dead of the night is unnerving. Did some shopping, bought some gear with our Much Stronger Canadian Dollar, and met an Aunt-In-Law who will be hosting the Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow. Also realized that Uncle-In-Law has a gigantic high-def TV but doesn't really know what HDTV is. I anticipate a long lecture tomorrow about the basics of progressive scan television...
Labels: Travel
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
Welcome To New England
Where the sun sets EXTREMELY fast. I was caught off guard by how quickly it got dark here.
The flight was uneventful, save for me making some unanticipated progress on Wipeout Pure for the PSP. I hadn't expected to do as well as I did, and am now motivated to keep playing.
Also, I stepped outside the home of the In-Laws as a big brown UPS truck showed up, and when I got out the door, the lady in brown (hereafter known as Bringer Of Miracles) dropped this in my hands.
For once, as this American holiday draws near, I truly give thanks.
Well, except for the whole not-being-able-to-actually-play-it-for-four-days thing...
Where the sun sets EXTREMELY fast. I was caught off guard by how quickly it got dark here.
The flight was uneventful, save for me making some unanticipated progress on Wipeout Pure for the PSP. I hadn't expected to do as well as I did, and am now motivated to keep playing.
Also, I stepped outside the home of the In-Laws as a big brown UPS truck showed up, and when I got out the door, the lady in brown (hereafter known as Bringer Of Miracles) dropped this in my hands.
For once, as this American holiday draws near, I truly give thanks.Well, except for the whole not-being-able-to-actually-play-it-for-four-days thing...
Monday, November 19, 2007
Flying For Turkey
Last post before bedtime and waking up at 4 am just to get down to the airport in time. The destination? Maine. The reason? The very domestic and Uber Middle Class excuse of spending the holidays with the In Laws. In this case, American Thanksgiving. I've been told that aside from the Mother, Father and Sister-In-Law that I already know very well, there will be an Aunt and Uncle that want to see who their niece got married off to, and this will involve much turkey, pumpkin pie, baby back ribs and lobster. Hopefully not all at once. I'm interested to see how this goes since it will be the first time in years I've been to a small town, and my first time in Maine. And of course, there's Rock Band waiting for me at their home.
Oh hey, speaking of Rock Band...
It's only fitting that since this a Thanksgiving occasion, the next Rock Band video is a performance by Iron Maiden of their famous "We were killed by your stupid white people" song, Run To The Hills.
Last post before bedtime and waking up at 4 am just to get down to the airport in time. The destination? Maine. The reason? The very domestic and Uber Middle Class excuse of spending the holidays with the In Laws. In this case, American Thanksgiving. I've been told that aside from the Mother, Father and Sister-In-Law that I already know very well, there will be an Aunt and Uncle that want to see who their niece got married off to, and this will involve much turkey, pumpkin pie, baby back ribs and lobster. Hopefully not all at once. I'm interested to see how this goes since it will be the first time in years I've been to a small town, and my first time in Maine. And of course, there's Rock Band waiting for me at their home.Oh hey, speaking of Rock Band...
It's only fitting that since this a Thanksgiving occasion, the next Rock Band video is a performance by Iron Maiden of their famous "We were killed by your stupid white people" song, Run To The Hills.
The "If I Had The Money Game"
Today I was the playing the above game and decided that If I Had The Money, and I wanted to actually get an exercise bike, I would probably forego the usual kind and instead shell out a few thousand dollars for a machine I used to see in Singapore arcades:
The game to the left is called "Propcycle" by Namco. It is the one and only time in my entire life that I have actually been motivated to exercise.
The way the game works is that you sit on a silly looking, yellow exercise bike that has been wired into the arcade cabinet. You play a young boy who has built a flying bicycle. The only catch is that the bike is actually powered by your pedaling, so once you launch off the pad, your sole means of staying aloft is your own real, physical stamina at being able to maintain pedaling. As you play the game, you will engage in a variety of activities such as chasing after balloons and running through them to pop them, or a simple timed lap, where you just follow the floating rings through the air and try and cruise them as they add precious seconds to your rapidly diminishing timer. I found the game extremely novel, and actually a bit of fun to play in Singapore arcades. However, a major obstacle to my enjoyment of the game was my own lack of physical fitness. Being a typical gamer, once I was given an actual objective (like get to the finish line, as opposed to "bike in place for 20 minutes") I completely forgot about any aversion I may have had to exercise or exertion and simply concentrated on trying to achieve my goal. Unfortunately, where my hands can keep me sustained in gaming action for hours at a time, my body as a whole is really only good for a few minutes, and after 2 or 3 rounds of this game, I would usually find myself out of breath and exhausted, for the simple reason that I'd notice the clock was ticking, or that the finish line was in sight, and I would go full out into a mad pedaling spree to finish up the level. Unlike simply pushing a button rapidly, this is not something your recover from mere moments afterwards. It's the only game I've ever seen that made one of the people I hung out with actually throw up outside the arcade because they'd pushed themselves too hard, too fast in their effort to finish.
Apparently, after doing some checking, the game is considered neither a high demand item, nor a vintage collectible, so right just now, if you were crazy enough to actually want to buy it, a Hong Kong importer is willing to sell it for the astoundingly reasonable price of $2950, which is a pretty amazing amount when you consider that if you were a supremely geeky young gamer that actually took the time to call up arcade vendors in the 80's (I'm not saying I did that, just, y'know, in case you WERE one of those kids that looked through the Edmonton yellow pages to find that only about 6 companies in the city did it in the mid-80's...) and asked them about the prices on full cabinets, the average game of Q*Bert cost about that much as well, let alone a laser-disc behemoth like Dragon's Lair.
Today is also the last before our trip to the USA. With any luck, this will be the final day in which I don't have Rock Band in my life. Speaking of which...
Since this is the next to last day before our Thanksgiving trip, today's Rock Band video is brought to you by Canadian band Rush with their song, Tom Sawyer.
Today I was the playing the above game and decided that If I Had The Money, and I wanted to actually get an exercise bike, I would probably forego the usual kind and instead shell out a few thousand dollars for a machine I used to see in Singapore arcades:
The game to the left is called "Propcycle" by Namco. It is the one and only time in my entire life that I have actually been motivated to exercise.The way the game works is that you sit on a silly looking, yellow exercise bike that has been wired into the arcade cabinet. You play a young boy who has built a flying bicycle. The only catch is that the bike is actually powered by your pedaling, so once you launch off the pad, your sole means of staying aloft is your own real, physical stamina at being able to maintain pedaling. As you play the game, you will engage in a variety of activities such as chasing after balloons and running through them to pop them, or a simple timed lap, where you just follow the floating rings through the air and try and cruise them as they add precious seconds to your rapidly diminishing timer. I found the game extremely novel, and actually a bit of fun to play in Singapore arcades. However, a major obstacle to my enjoyment of the game was my own lack of physical fitness. Being a typical gamer, once I was given an actual objective (like get to the finish line, as opposed to "bike in place for 20 minutes") I completely forgot about any aversion I may have had to exercise or exertion and simply concentrated on trying to achieve my goal. Unfortunately, where my hands can keep me sustained in gaming action for hours at a time, my body as a whole is really only good for a few minutes, and after 2 or 3 rounds of this game, I would usually find myself out of breath and exhausted, for the simple reason that I'd notice the clock was ticking, or that the finish line was in sight, and I would go full out into a mad pedaling spree to finish up the level. Unlike simply pushing a button rapidly, this is not something your recover from mere moments afterwards. It's the only game I've ever seen that made one of the people I hung out with actually throw up outside the arcade because they'd pushed themselves too hard, too fast in their effort to finish.
Apparently, after doing some checking, the game is considered neither a high demand item, nor a vintage collectible, so right just now, if you were crazy enough to actually want to buy it, a Hong Kong importer is willing to sell it for the astoundingly reasonable price of $2950, which is a pretty amazing amount when you consider that if you were a supremely geeky young gamer that actually took the time to call up arcade vendors in the 80's (I'm not saying I did that, just, y'know, in case you WERE one of those kids that looked through the Edmonton yellow pages to find that only about 6 companies in the city did it in the mid-80's...) and asked them about the prices on full cabinets, the average game of Q*Bert cost about that much as well, let alone a laser-disc behemoth like Dragon's Lair.
Today is also the last before our trip to the USA. With any luck, this will be the final day in which I don't have Rock Band in my life. Speaking of which...
Since this is the next to last day before our Thanksgiving trip, today's Rock Band video is brought to you by Canadian band Rush with their song, Tom Sawyer.
Saturday, November 17, 2007
More Typing
Still have not finished retyping out all the things I need to and bringing them over to my desktop computer, but hopefully that will be done today. We are now officially keeping farmer's hours, having gone to bed at a little after 7 pm, and having a proper farmer's breakfast at 5 am. Getting to the airport on time on Tuesday morning is not looking like it's going to be a problem. Staying up past 9 pm however...
And now, back to Rock Band.
Strange whacky news has been ensuing over the weekend. Canadians in particular are now in the middle of a tug of war of confusion as local retailers (or at least some of them) have changed their sale date for the game YET AGAIN, only now they're putting it back to November 20th, while others are still keeping their sale date to December 17th, causing many panicked, hardcore music game fans to cancel local pre-orders, pay ridiculous amounts of money to get it shipped from the USA (or worse yet, take a huge risk on buying out eBay pre-orders) and then canceling THOSE orders once again as the news from retailers shifts back to November 20th. In short, many Canadians are now exhausted with financially and mentally with having to keep up with the merry go round of shifting dates.
Also, some of those lucky Americans that took advantage of the stupidity of some retailers and got the game early were purchasers of the PS3 version. So far the news coming from them is ALL BAD. For starters, people that bought Guitar Hero III solely for the purpose of having a bass guitar for Rock Band may in fact be totally screwed. Early reports are that the GHIII guitar DOES NOT work with Rock Band after all, despite earlier assurances from Harmonix that it would. There are also reports surfacing that yes, for people that own Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero II and Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80's, you will, in fact, have to keep that PS2 around. The new Fender Strat controller still won't work with those games. Oh well, I guess Sony manages to keep the PS2 alive a little bit longer with this move. Probably means that some point when my current PS2 dies, I'll have to go out and buy another one just to keep playing my old Guitar Hero games.
As Rock Band moves closer and closer to release date (THREE DAYS!), I also find myself getting more than a little annoyed at the ignorance a lot of gamers display. But then most gamers play simply to enjoy and don't follow the ups and downs of the industry. Nevertheless, I still find frustrating in the extreme when I see people looking at Rock Band and dismissively saying, "I can't believe how pathetic these guys are, they just ripped off the creators of Guitar Hero! Bastards!" And then drop amazing comments like refusing to buy the game, because they want to support the makers of Guitar Hero and not be traitors to the brand.
I really, really, REALLY hope that somewhere on the Rock Band box is a sticker or something that says, loudly and clearly, "FROM THE MAKERS OF GUITAR HERO," because it strikes me as intensely unfair that people would punish Harmonix for being brave enough to try and evolve, and support Neversoft, who took the series AWAY from the creators, and turned it into an ugly, deeply flawed, commercial venture that succeeds because of what Harmonix laid out previously, not because of the silly new additions Neversoft made to it in an effort to destroy the music playing experience--I still don't understand why they hate the idea of letting players feel like they're playing music so much--and make it feel more like a videogame that involves beating someone else rather than simply bettering your own skills. Why Activision thought it would be a good idea to give the series to a company that hates music so much and believes the only "legitimate gaming goodness" in the world comes from beating an opponent into submission is beyond me.
And finally, here's a video, taken from the Harmonix website that shows off the performance animation for the characters in Rock Band. Harmonix took out all the play-meters and just left the background game engine intact so viewers could see the characters at work.
Still have not finished retyping out all the things I need to and bringing them over to my desktop computer, but hopefully that will be done today. We are now officially keeping farmer's hours, having gone to bed at a little after 7 pm, and having a proper farmer's breakfast at 5 am. Getting to the airport on time on Tuesday morning is not looking like it's going to be a problem. Staying up past 9 pm however...
And now, back to Rock Band.
Strange whacky news has been ensuing over the weekend. Canadians in particular are now in the middle of a tug of war of confusion as local retailers (or at least some of them) have changed their sale date for the game YET AGAIN, only now they're putting it back to November 20th, while others are still keeping their sale date to December 17th, causing many panicked, hardcore music game fans to cancel local pre-orders, pay ridiculous amounts of money to get it shipped from the USA (or worse yet, take a huge risk on buying out eBay pre-orders) and then canceling THOSE orders once again as the news from retailers shifts back to November 20th. In short, many Canadians are now exhausted with financially and mentally with having to keep up with the merry go round of shifting dates.
Also, some of those lucky Americans that took advantage of the stupidity of some retailers and got the game early were purchasers of the PS3 version. So far the news coming from them is ALL BAD. For starters, people that bought Guitar Hero III solely for the purpose of having a bass guitar for Rock Band may in fact be totally screwed. Early reports are that the GHIII guitar DOES NOT work with Rock Band after all, despite earlier assurances from Harmonix that it would. There are also reports surfacing that yes, for people that own Guitar Hero, Guitar Hero II and Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80's, you will, in fact, have to keep that PS2 around. The new Fender Strat controller still won't work with those games. Oh well, I guess Sony manages to keep the PS2 alive a little bit longer with this move. Probably means that some point when my current PS2 dies, I'll have to go out and buy another one just to keep playing my old Guitar Hero games.
As Rock Band moves closer and closer to release date (THREE DAYS!), I also find myself getting more than a little annoyed at the ignorance a lot of gamers display. But then most gamers play simply to enjoy and don't follow the ups and downs of the industry. Nevertheless, I still find frustrating in the extreme when I see people looking at Rock Band and dismissively saying, "I can't believe how pathetic these guys are, they just ripped off the creators of Guitar Hero! Bastards!" And then drop amazing comments like refusing to buy the game, because they want to support the makers of Guitar Hero and not be traitors to the brand.
I really, really, REALLY hope that somewhere on the Rock Band box is a sticker or something that says, loudly and clearly, "FROM THE MAKERS OF GUITAR HERO," because it strikes me as intensely unfair that people would punish Harmonix for being brave enough to try and evolve, and support Neversoft, who took the series AWAY from the creators, and turned it into an ugly, deeply flawed, commercial venture that succeeds because of what Harmonix laid out previously, not because of the silly new additions Neversoft made to it in an effort to destroy the music playing experience--I still don't understand why they hate the idea of letting players feel like they're playing music so much--and make it feel more like a videogame that involves beating someone else rather than simply bettering your own skills. Why Activision thought it would be a good idea to give the series to a company that hates music so much and believes the only "legitimate gaming goodness" in the world comes from beating an opponent into submission is beyond me.
And finally, here's a video, taken from the Harmonix website that shows off the performance animation for the characters in Rock Band. Harmonix took out all the play-meters and just left the background game engine intact so viewers could see the characters at work.
Dead Platforms
A minor--but by no means insurmountable, though extremely annoying--hitch has occurred in what I thought was going to be a straightforward task. One of the things that my agent is asking for to keep my material updated is the original synopses I wrote for the earlier novels. Unfortunately, those synopses are not on the current computer, and were scattered across two old laptops that I'd used during my time in Singapore. The first and older, was a badly manufactured local product with broken hinges on the monitor (meaning it could no longer stand on its own power and needed the screen to be rested against something behind it, like a stack of phone books). The other was the laptop I moved onto after the first started to fall apart.
The problem was trying to get said files off of these two laptops.
In the case of the first laptop, the broken monitor hinge had also cut the wires that connected the monitor's power to the laptop. It still worked, but ONLY if the angle of the monitor were adjusted to some arbitrary degree that the wires would properly connect and the monitor would work. Once I'd managed to achieve that, I tried transferring the files off by use of a 3 1/2 disk (you remember those, I'm sure...) except that, to my horror, I found that the disk drive no longer worked. It whirred, gurgled and made all kinds of interesting mechanical noises, but it failed to be detected by the computer, let alone format a disc for use.
In the case of the second laptop, it still worked as well, but, being slimmer and designed for portability, its 3 1/2 disc drive was external. I plugged that in, and it too failed to work. Both of these laptops were manufactured a few years before USB ports became standard features in computers, so I can't even just plug in a USB flash memory card and transfer the data off that way.
Which leaves me with the old school solution; I dragged out my most recent laptop, which DOES have USB ports built in, set up beside the first laptop which, after much fiddling, I managed to get working with its screen, and then, for fear of losing the "magic," left it exactly where it was and broke out the newer laptop to use those touch typing skills I somehow had the foresight to pick up in high school (I figured at the time if I was going to be a writer, I should learn how to type. Probably the last time I ever used logic in my life) and managed to re-type my synopsis for my first novel.
Now I am going to do the same for the second today, and spend the rest of the time tidying up all this new stuff I have to give the agent, including my new blurb, reflecting my married status, new home in Toronto and--although it's still a few days from now--by dedication to Rock Band.
Oh hey, what a segue! SPEAKING OF ROCK BAND...
IGN has now released the first online review of the game. It's a bit weird how they approached it. First, they have different individuals that chose to specialize in different instruments give their take on each one, and then a final review of the game itself is given, totaling up an impressive six pages. This in itself is not what I find to be the weird part. I suspect that there may have been fears of being accused of being Harmonix fanboys, since they spend the majority of the six pages concentrating primarily on the flaws of the game. For every single instrument and for the game in general, they talk about what really bothers them about the game, and what potential pitfalls gamers face when they pick it up. They make almost sound like they don't like the game very much... and then they give it a 9.4, decisively beating Guitar Hero III which, in their reviews, they had nothing but good things to say about, and, if their write-up is to be believed, was a very nearly flawless game which they gave an 8.9 to.
This is not to say that they bash Rock Band out of all reason, they obviously don't, they have a great deal of love for the game. But I suppose that because the game is fairly expensive, and because some of their comments are based on the pre-production controllers they got (they weren't big fans of the new guitar) they decided it would best to say "trust us, the game is good," and then get the relevant concerns out that people who have to drop the dollars might want to know about since it's a much heavier investment than a typical game.
They have also posted a video review which takes much the same tack as their written review, although the lack of score makes it out to seem like they don't quite like the game as much as their final score would indicate.
A minor--but by no means insurmountable, though extremely annoying--hitch has occurred in what I thought was going to be a straightforward task. One of the things that my agent is asking for to keep my material updated is the original synopses I wrote for the earlier novels. Unfortunately, those synopses are not on the current computer, and were scattered across two old laptops that I'd used during my time in Singapore. The first and older, was a badly manufactured local product with broken hinges on the monitor (meaning it could no longer stand on its own power and needed the screen to be rested against something behind it, like a stack of phone books). The other was the laptop I moved onto after the first started to fall apart.
The problem was trying to get said files off of these two laptops.
In the case of the first laptop, the broken monitor hinge had also cut the wires that connected the monitor's power to the laptop. It still worked, but ONLY if the angle of the monitor were adjusted to some arbitrary degree that the wires would properly connect and the monitor would work. Once I'd managed to achieve that, I tried transferring the files off by use of a 3 1/2 disk (you remember those, I'm sure...) except that, to my horror, I found that the disk drive no longer worked. It whirred, gurgled and made all kinds of interesting mechanical noises, but it failed to be detected by the computer, let alone format a disc for use.
In the case of the second laptop, it still worked as well, but, being slimmer and designed for portability, its 3 1/2 disc drive was external. I plugged that in, and it too failed to work. Both of these laptops were manufactured a few years before USB ports became standard features in computers, so I can't even just plug in a USB flash memory card and transfer the data off that way.
Which leaves me with the old school solution; I dragged out my most recent laptop, which DOES have USB ports built in, set up beside the first laptop which, after much fiddling, I managed to get working with its screen, and then, for fear of losing the "magic," left it exactly where it was and broke out the newer laptop to use those touch typing skills I somehow had the foresight to pick up in high school (I figured at the time if I was going to be a writer, I should learn how to type. Probably the last time I ever used logic in my life) and managed to re-type my synopsis for my first novel.
Now I am going to do the same for the second today, and spend the rest of the time tidying up all this new stuff I have to give the agent, including my new blurb, reflecting my married status, new home in Toronto and--although it's still a few days from now--by dedication to Rock Band.
Oh hey, what a segue! SPEAKING OF ROCK BAND...
IGN has now released the first online review of the game. It's a bit weird how they approached it. First, they have different individuals that chose to specialize in different instruments give their take on each one, and then a final review of the game itself is given, totaling up an impressive six pages. This in itself is not what I find to be the weird part. I suspect that there may have been fears of being accused of being Harmonix fanboys, since they spend the majority of the six pages concentrating primarily on the flaws of the game. For every single instrument and for the game in general, they talk about what really bothers them about the game, and what potential pitfalls gamers face when they pick it up. They make almost sound like they don't like the game very much... and then they give it a 9.4, decisively beating Guitar Hero III which, in their reviews, they had nothing but good things to say about, and, if their write-up is to be believed, was a very nearly flawless game which they gave an 8.9 to.
This is not to say that they bash Rock Band out of all reason, they obviously don't, they have a great deal of love for the game. But I suppose that because the game is fairly expensive, and because some of their comments are based on the pre-production controllers they got (they weren't big fans of the new guitar) they decided it would best to say "trust us, the game is good," and then get the relevant concerns out that people who have to drop the dollars might want to know about since it's a much heavier investment than a typical game.
They have also posted a video review which takes much the same tack as their written review, although the lack of score makes it out to seem like they don't quite like the game as much as their final score would indicate.
Labels: Games, Novel Writing, Rock Band, Writing
Thursday, November 15, 2007
More Writing Stuff
I have to sift through old laptops and go searching for files that have been scattered willy nilly in the wake of two hard drive crashes in as many years for manuscript files, plot synopses and other assorted Writerly PR things. I got an e-mail from my agent asking to update all my stuff, and to send him digital copies of all the previous books since a lot of publishers have apparently realized that the 21st century occurred and are now finally embracing digital formats for novels. I don't know whether that means he actually has any publishers requesting to see the files, but still, who am I to argue? I also have to update my blurb on his website, since the last time I submitted it, I was a) in Singapore b) incredibly bitter and c) not remotely married. All these things have dramatically changed in the time since I wrote it, so I need to get on that. Oh, and finish that kid's novel I'm working on.
And... just because you didn't possibly think you'd get a post out of me without seeing something Rock Band related--FIVE DAYS! YEEEEEES!--here's a video side-by-side comparison of songs that appear on both Guitar Hero III and Rock Band, but played on Hard. For some reason, Games Radar, the creators of the video, then made a bizarre leap of logic, saying that GHIII's hard was equivalent to GHII's Expert, and that RB's Expert was equal to GHII's Hard. I'm not entirely sure how you make that leap of logic when you play both games on Hard, and then arbitrarily make a decision about one game's hard level based on playing it, then another about the other game's Expert level WITHOUT playing it, but oh well...
I have to sift through old laptops and go searching for files that have been scattered willy nilly in the wake of two hard drive crashes in as many years for manuscript files, plot synopses and other assorted Writerly PR things. I got an e-mail from my agent asking to update all my stuff, and to send him digital copies of all the previous books since a lot of publishers have apparently realized that the 21st century occurred and are now finally embracing digital formats for novels. I don't know whether that means he actually has any publishers requesting to see the files, but still, who am I to argue? I also have to update my blurb on his website, since the last time I submitted it, I was a) in Singapore b) incredibly bitter and c) not remotely married. All these things have dramatically changed in the time since I wrote it, so I need to get on that. Oh, and finish that kid's novel I'm working on.
And... just because you didn't possibly think you'd get a post out of me without seeing something Rock Band related--FIVE DAYS! YEEEEEES!--here's a video side-by-side comparison of songs that appear on both Guitar Hero III and Rock Band, but played on Hard. For some reason, Games Radar, the creators of the video, then made a bizarre leap of logic, saying that GHIII's hard was equivalent to GHII's Expert, and that RB's Expert was equal to GHII's Hard. I'm not entirely sure how you make that leap of logic when you play both games on Hard, and then arbitrarily make a decision about one game's hard level based on playing it, then another about the other game's Expert level WITHOUT playing it, but oh well...
Labels: Novel Writing, Rock Band, Writing
Wednesday, November 14, 2007
To Begin With... Everything
Which is what Russel Hammond answered William Miller in Almost Famous when asked, "What do you love about music?" Except of course I'm changing the question to, "What do you love about Rock Band?"
More news rolling out as the Final Days (SIX DAYS!) approach. In the USA, the game has already shipped to stores in advance of its "street date" (meaning the day on which a product is officially supposed to go on sale) to some of the more bigger, more clueless stores, and enterprising gamers have been taking advantage of this by going in, asking about the game, being told, unsurprisingly, "Oh, it's in the back," and then asking to buy the game, usually involving forking over a little extra cash when the register rings it up as "Not To Be Sold Yet," or talking animatedly to the clueless staff member to distract them when the message comes up on the till. I have already seen pictures of people playing the game at home. It pains me.
Also, Harmonix has also finally announced the pricing on downloadable content, or DLC as the kids call it, and the prices are surprisingly reasonable. A "three pack" of songs is going to cost $5.50, including full compatibility with guitar, bass, vocals and drums. If you choose to buy a song individually, you're going to pay $1.99. These prices will fluctuate depending on the song, with some individual songs (like, say, the old bonus tracks from Guitar Hero) going for as little as $0.99, and some of the higher profile songs (like, maybe, hopefully, Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven?) weighing in at $2.99.
This is a nice break from the Swill Merchants at Activision who charge $6.25 for a three pack... and that's it. Their strategy is to put one "high demand" song on every three pack, and scatter these around to force gamers to spend upwards of $18 to get three songs they really like spread out across nine songs. Once again Activision, I hope you get the karma coming to you for what you're doing to music in your bid for software supremacy.
And finally, here's the complete "compilation video" of all the songs that will appear on the final game.
Which is what Russel Hammond answered William Miller in Almost Famous when asked, "What do you love about music?" Except of course I'm changing the question to, "What do you love about Rock Band?"
More news rolling out as the Final Days (SIX DAYS!) approach. In the USA, the game has already shipped to stores in advance of its "street date" (meaning the day on which a product is officially supposed to go on sale) to some of the more bigger, more clueless stores, and enterprising gamers have been taking advantage of this by going in, asking about the game, being told, unsurprisingly, "Oh, it's in the back," and then asking to buy the game, usually involving forking over a little extra cash when the register rings it up as "Not To Be Sold Yet," or talking animatedly to the clueless staff member to distract them when the message comes up on the till. I have already seen pictures of people playing the game at home. It pains me.
Also, Harmonix has also finally announced the pricing on downloadable content, or DLC as the kids call it, and the prices are surprisingly reasonable. A "three pack" of songs is going to cost $5.50, including full compatibility with guitar, bass, vocals and drums. If you choose to buy a song individually, you're going to pay $1.99. These prices will fluctuate depending on the song, with some individual songs (like, say, the old bonus tracks from Guitar Hero) going for as little as $0.99, and some of the higher profile songs (like, maybe, hopefully, Led Zeppelin's Stairway to Heaven?) weighing in at $2.99.
This is a nice break from the Swill Merchants at Activision who charge $6.25 for a three pack... and that's it. Their strategy is to put one "high demand" song on every three pack, and scatter these around to force gamers to spend upwards of $18 to get three songs they really like spread out across nine songs. Once again Activision, I hope you get the karma coming to you for what you're doing to music in your bid for software supremacy.
And finally, here's the complete "compilation video" of all the songs that will appear on the final game.
Labels: Rock Band
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Shopping In The Morning
Is extremely hard to do when your body is saying, "Dude, it's midnight. Go to sleep."
Nevertheless, that is what happened earlier today, when dragged our sorry selves down to Bloor to run a few errands, send out some mail, buy some groceries, and shop at th Evil, EVIL bookstore that has too many things we want at prices we can afford. Since one particular movie is an HD-DVD exclusive (at least for now) I had no issues with picking it up, and we are now the owners of this:
Since I haven't seen the movie, I'm going into it with only the vaguest idea that it's supposed to be good. Though having enjoyed Shaun of the Dead immensely, I can't imagine that it would be too terrible a film. The premise is solid, and hopefully more of that Clever British Humor is on display.
And, just to keep the momentum going, there's this:
SEVEN DAYS!
Is extremely hard to do when your body is saying, "Dude, it's midnight. Go to sleep."
Nevertheless, that is what happened earlier today, when dragged our sorry selves down to Bloor to run a few errands, send out some mail, buy some groceries, and shop at th Evil, EVIL bookstore that has too many things we want at prices we can afford. Since one particular movie is an HD-DVD exclusive (at least for now) I had no issues with picking it up, and we are now the owners of this:
Since I haven't seen the movie, I'm going into it with only the vaguest idea that it's supposed to be good. Though having enjoyed Shaun of the Dead immensely, I can't imagine that it would be too terrible a film. The premise is solid, and hopefully more of that Clever British Humor is on display.And, just to keep the momentum going, there's this:
SEVEN DAYS!
Labels: Mean Streets Of Toronto, Movies, Rock Band
Monday, November 12, 2007
More Disjointed Days
Having only been conscious for a very short while, there's not much to talk about...
Except, of course, Rock Band. We are now, for all intents and purposes exactly one week away from the sale of the game. In America. Earlier today there was finally an official announcement from Harmonix saying that the French/English language issues on the packaging have held up the game's release in the Great White North, and Canucks will be getting the game on December 17th in three flavors; Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Playstation 2. The only versions available at this time will be the "Special Edition" which includes the game, one guitar, one microphone and one drum set, or the game all by its lonesome, for people that already have a guitar and aren't interested in purchasing all the other instruments. Single bundle combos will go on sale next year.
This another one of those times when it really pays off to be a cynic and have no faith in multi-national companies, as I can still look forward to the game arriving at the doorstep of the In-Laws when we go down next week, so aside from some painful moments of caressing the box and reading the instructions, I'll still be able to actually play the game by Saturday when we return home.
And, just to keep things going, here's Yet Another Rock Band trailer:
Having only been conscious for a very short while, there's not much to talk about...
Except, of course, Rock Band. We are now, for all intents and purposes exactly one week away from the sale of the game. In America. Earlier today there was finally an official announcement from Harmonix saying that the French/English language issues on the packaging have held up the game's release in the Great White North, and Canucks will be getting the game on December 17th in three flavors; Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and Playstation 2. The only versions available at this time will be the "Special Edition" which includes the game, one guitar, one microphone and one drum set, or the game all by its lonesome, for people that already have a guitar and aren't interested in purchasing all the other instruments. Single bundle combos will go on sale next year.
This another one of those times when it really pays off to be a cynic and have no faith in multi-national companies, as I can still look forward to the game arriving at the doorstep of the In-Laws when we go down next week, so aside from some painful moments of caressing the box and reading the instructions, I'll still be able to actually play the game by Saturday when we return home.
And, just to keep things going, here's Yet Another Rock Band trailer:
Labels: Rock Band
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Strange Days
Having just woken up before midnight, there's barely anything to talk about at all. Before bed, coffee was purchased at a local shop in the neighborhood, some of the children's novel was written, that's about it, really.
And, to keep the Rock Band fever going, here's a quick video of some of the venues that players will find themselves performing in...
Having just woken up before midnight, there's barely anything to talk about at all. Before bed, coffee was purchased at a local shop in the neighborhood, some of the children's novel was written, that's about it, really.
And, to keep the Rock Band fever going, here's a quick video of some of the venues that players will find themselves performing in...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Lost In Loveless, Novel Writing, Rock Band, Writing
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Again With The Bizarre Sleeping Hours
Sleeping and waking hours are once again in disarray as we try to get back onto the day cycle so that we can reasonably interact with The In-Laws when we visit them on the 20th in the USA. As a result, we woke up at 9 pm today. However before we went to bed, we did venture out in the morning into the crisp, chilly bowels of Chinatown to do a supply run on those Asian ingredients that you just can't buy out in the middle of Nowhere, USA, that the In-Laws have been desperately craving, and only had a taste of when they visited us a few months back. While shopping, I laid eyes on the Single Most Awesome Translation of "You break it, you bought it" I have ever seen in my life. In Singapore, they write in a very faux-British, "Once broken, considered sold." In the Chinese grocery store we found ourselves in, I guess they must have just run it through Babelfish or something, because it came out:
Destroys Oneself Compensates.
That is genius.
We are now only nine days away from Rock Band. Anticipation has taken on the consistency of cholesterol in my arteries that threatens to block a vessel and cause some kind of stroke. Here is a sample of some of the Incredible Badness that is going to rock North America when the Non-Musically Inclined get a hold of this monster:
Sleeping and waking hours are once again in disarray as we try to get back onto the day cycle so that we can reasonably interact with The In-Laws when we visit them on the 20th in the USA. As a result, we woke up at 9 pm today. However before we went to bed, we did venture out in the morning into the crisp, chilly bowels of Chinatown to do a supply run on those Asian ingredients that you just can't buy out in the middle of Nowhere, USA, that the In-Laws have been desperately craving, and only had a taste of when they visited us a few months back. While shopping, I laid eyes on the Single Most Awesome Translation of "You break it, you bought it" I have ever seen in my life. In Singapore, they write in a very faux-British, "Once broken, considered sold." In the Chinese grocery store we found ourselves in, I guess they must have just run it through Babelfish or something, because it came out:
Destroys Oneself Compensates.
That is genius.
We are now only nine days away from Rock Band. Anticipation has taken on the consistency of cholesterol in my arteries that threatens to block a vessel and cause some kind of stroke. Here is a sample of some of the Incredible Badness that is going to rock North America when the Non-Musically Inclined get a hold of this monster:
Labels: Mean Streets Of Toronto, Rock Band
Friday, November 09, 2007
You Guessed It...
The Rock Band madness continues, with IGN showing off a new bonus song that will be included in the game. I haven't actually seen the South Park episode in which this songs appears, but hey, if it's South Park, how bad can it be?
Just ten more days!
The Rock Band madness continues, with IGN showing off a new bonus song that will be included in the game. I haven't actually seen the South Park episode in which this songs appears, but hey, if it's South Park, how bad can it be?
Just ten more days!
Labels: Rock Band
Thursday, November 08, 2007
The Countdown Continues
Now with only 11 days left until the game ships, Harmonix has made an announcement about future songs that will appearing as downloadable content once the game hits stores. My. GOD.
Now each song has a link to its respective youtube video.
Police pack (Masters)
Roxanne, Synchronicty II, Can't Stand Losing You
Queens of the Stone Age pack (Masters)
3s and 7s, Sick Sick Sick, Little Sister
Metallica pack:
A three or six song pack, no songs announced yet
Black Sabbath pack (Covers):
N.I.B, Sweet Leaf, War Pigs
David Bowie (Masters):
Moonage Daydream, Heroes, Queen Bitch
Punk Pack (Buzzcocks Cover, Rest Masters):
Ever Fallen in Love by Buzzcocks, I Fought the Law by The Clash, Rockaway Beach by The Ramones
Single Songs:
Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Juke Box Hero by Foreigner
My Sharona by The Knack
Cherry Bomb by The Runaways
Bang a Gong (Get it On) by T-Rex
Joker and the Thief by Wolfmother
Brass in Pocket by The Pretenders
My Iron Lung by Radiohead
Buddy Holly by Weezer
As to be expected, Activision/Neversoft is doing the exact same incredibly bad job with supporting Guitar Hero III with DLC, pretty much the way they abused GHII users the last time around on the Xbox 360. Unfortunately, they are forgetting that they're now going up against an MTV-backed Harmonix, so I fully expect that Rock Band's incredible range of songs is going to kick those bastards in the teeth they way those swill merchants deserve. I say again, Activision deserves everything that comes to them when they kill the rock for the sake of bucks.
Now with only 11 days left until the game ships, Harmonix has made an announcement about future songs that will appearing as downloadable content once the game hits stores. My. GOD.
Now each song has a link to its respective youtube video.
Police pack (Masters)
Roxanne, Synchronicty II, Can't Stand Losing You
Queens of the Stone Age pack (Masters)
3s and 7s, Sick Sick Sick, Little Sister
Metallica pack:
A three or six song pack, no songs announced yet
Black Sabbath pack (Covers):
N.I.B, Sweet Leaf, War Pigs
David Bowie (Masters):
Moonage Daydream, Heroes, Queen Bitch
Punk Pack (Buzzcocks Cover, Rest Masters):
Ever Fallen in Love by Buzzcocks, I Fought the Law by The Clash, Rockaway Beach by The Ramones
Single Songs:
Fortunate Son by Creedence Clearwater Revival
Juke Box Hero by Foreigner
My Sharona by The Knack
Cherry Bomb by The Runaways
Bang a Gong (Get it On) by T-Rex
Joker and the Thief by Wolfmother
Brass in Pocket by The Pretenders
My Iron Lung by Radiohead
Buddy Holly by Weezer
As to be expected, Activision/Neversoft is doing the exact same incredibly bad job with supporting Guitar Hero III with DLC, pretty much the way they abused GHII users the last time around on the Xbox 360. Unfortunately, they are forgetting that they're now going up against an MTV-backed Harmonix, so I fully expect that Rock Band's incredible range of songs is going to kick those bastards in the teeth they way those swill merchants deserve. I say again, Activision deserves everything that comes to them when they kill the rock for the sake of bucks.
Labels: Rock Band
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
And To Continue With The Rock Band Obsessiveness
Now that it's officially less than two weeks before the game goes on sale, I am pretty much doing a Hyperactive 8 Year Old Shuffle as the waiting goes from faint buzz in the back of my brain to a searing agony culled from the flaming pools of hell itself. To ease the pain, here is yet more Rock Band related marketing as MTV begins its media blitz with a not-as-funny-as-Spinal-Tap "rockumentary" about the fictional band, "Rock Band Band." However, they did get Many Moore, Dave Mustaine, and that Evanescence chick to put in cameos...
Now that it's officially less than two weeks before the game goes on sale, I am pretty much doing a Hyperactive 8 Year Old Shuffle as the waiting goes from faint buzz in the back of my brain to a searing agony culled from the flaming pools of hell itself. To ease the pain, here is yet more Rock Band related marketing as MTV begins its media blitz with a not-as-funny-as-Spinal-Tap "rockumentary" about the fictional band, "Rock Band Band." However, they did get Many Moore, Dave Mustaine, and that Evanescence chick to put in cameos...
Labels: Rock Band
Tuesday, November 06, 2007
Vintage
My PS3 must hate me. A 21st century machine that can fold proteins and has some of the best looking games I've seen to date... And I keep abusing it by giving it things to chew on that are far, far beneath it. The Wife decided that today was the day, and so she dragged me down to the vintage game store she found, and we did not walk away empty handed. Being in that place was scary. They had a shelf with old consoles, and standing in front of that thing, it was like my entire childhood was suddenly put before my eyes. The old Atari 2600 with wood grain paneling. The Mattel Intellivision, my hated for during the 80's for being the "rival" console (now replaced in 2007 with the Microsoft Xbox 360) the Colecovision, a 32K monster that I whiled away many an hour at friend's houses playing Donkey Kong and Zaxxon, the SEGA Master System, the first console I ever bought with my own money. The SEGA Genesis complete with SEGA CD module and deck, on which I played games like Lunar: The Silver Star Story, the Super Nintendo, where I first played Final Fantasy VI. The 3DO, a system so ahead of its time (it used CDs first) that when it first debuted on the market, it sold for $700. It was kind of eerie looking at all that tech, and realizing that at one time or another over the last 20 or so years, I either owned, played or coveted all this stuff, and now here they were, like museum pieces that were quaint examples of a more innocent time. Of course, we didn't leave empty handed, and now, much to the horror of my PS3, we have these games for the machine to play:
This one is a particularly bitter pill to swallow in some respects. I actually owned the game previously, and remember shelling out $120 in Singapore dollars to play it. Unfortunately, a few years back, I foolishly loaned it to someone who, when approached for a return of said game (and my original Metal Gear Solid) said that he didn't know what I was talking about, and insisted that he didn't have it.
Now I have it again, and it's quite an eye-opener to see it in action after all these years. The pre-rendered CG cut-scenes that made me nearly cry with wonder can be easily rendered in real time by the system that's playing it. Although that doesn't lessen the impact of one of the most shocking plot twists in gaming history. It's good to have it back again, even if my version is a "Greatest Hits" reissue, rather than the original one.
Final Fantasy IV is the first FF game to appear on the Super Nintendo, and is still noteworthy for its story, even if its mechanics seem quaintly primitive by today's standards. There weren't many games that started out with you playing the role of a morally ambiguous bad guy sort who eventually sees the light and fights for good, but this was one of the first.
It's weird to go back and see the incredibly humble roots that the FF universe began with. Even FFVII is already showing a remarkable level of polish and cinematic awareness, but this game, running on something that would barely be considered a console by today's standards, manages to pull off a lot of interesting mechanics and plot points simply by virtue of the fact that the developers were forced to get clever as a result of the limitations of the console. It's interesting to go back now to this game and see how much of it required some imagination on the part of the player, as opposed to the gorgeous CG-laden cut-scene fests that gamers have become accustomed to today. I don't think it would be possible for anyone below the age of 20 to be able to play this anymore.
And finally, Chrono Trigger, which also originally appeared on the Super Nintendo, but much later in its life cycle, with greatly improved graphics, compared to FFIV. This game is one of a few that are frequently cited in Top Ten and Top Five lists for Greatest RPGs Of All Time. I am shocked to say, however, that while I remember playing it, and even finishing it, I have almost no recollection at all about the story, except that there's lots of time travelling involved and one of your buddies is a frog. The character designs, by famed artist Akiray Toriyama of Dragonball (the anime) and Dragon Quest (the game) fame also did duty on this RPG, for a definitively 80's, slightly more buoyant, juvenile feel. There are something like 12 endings to the game, though, so this game has an immense amount of replay value. Seriously, they just don't make 'em like THAT anymore...
And on a final note, Harmonix has gone and overhauled the official Rock Band Website in preparation for the game's debut. There is tons of stuff in there now. It pains me to absorb all that extra content, and yet, I can't stop watching... Just 13 days and then the pain of not having Rock Band ends, only to be replaced by the pain of having it but not being able to play it for four days. My God, the singer can crowd surf... guitarist and singer can lean back to back and sing together... I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE...
My PS3 must hate me. A 21st century machine that can fold proteins and has some of the best looking games I've seen to date... And I keep abusing it by giving it things to chew on that are far, far beneath it. The Wife decided that today was the day, and so she dragged me down to the vintage game store she found, and we did not walk away empty handed. Being in that place was scary. They had a shelf with old consoles, and standing in front of that thing, it was like my entire childhood was suddenly put before my eyes. The old Atari 2600 with wood grain paneling. The Mattel Intellivision, my hated for during the 80's for being the "rival" console (now replaced in 2007 with the Microsoft Xbox 360) the Colecovision, a 32K monster that I whiled away many an hour at friend's houses playing Donkey Kong and Zaxxon, the SEGA Master System, the first console I ever bought with my own money. The SEGA Genesis complete with SEGA CD module and deck, on which I played games like Lunar: The Silver Star Story, the Super Nintendo, where I first played Final Fantasy VI. The 3DO, a system so ahead of its time (it used CDs first) that when it first debuted on the market, it sold for $700. It was kind of eerie looking at all that tech, and realizing that at one time or another over the last 20 or so years, I either owned, played or coveted all this stuff, and now here they were, like museum pieces that were quaint examples of a more innocent time. Of course, we didn't leave empty handed, and now, much to the horror of my PS3, we have these games for the machine to play:
This one is a particularly bitter pill to swallow in some respects. I actually owned the game previously, and remember shelling out $120 in Singapore dollars to play it. Unfortunately, a few years back, I foolishly loaned it to someone who, when approached for a return of said game (and my original Metal Gear Solid) said that he didn't know what I was talking about, and insisted that he didn't have it.
Now I have it again, and it's quite an eye-opener to see it in action after all these years. The pre-rendered CG cut-scenes that made me nearly cry with wonder can be easily rendered in real time by the system that's playing it. Although that doesn't lessen the impact of one of the most shocking plot twists in gaming history. It's good to have it back again, even if my version is a "Greatest Hits" reissue, rather than the original one.
Final Fantasy IV is the first FF game to appear on the Super Nintendo, and is still noteworthy for its story, even if its mechanics seem quaintly primitive by today's standards. There weren't many games that started out with you playing the role of a morally ambiguous bad guy sort who eventually sees the light and fights for good, but this was one of the first. It's weird to go back and see the incredibly humble roots that the FF universe began with. Even FFVII is already showing a remarkable level of polish and cinematic awareness, but this game, running on something that would barely be considered a console by today's standards, manages to pull off a lot of interesting mechanics and plot points simply by virtue of the fact that the developers were forced to get clever as a result of the limitations of the console. It's interesting to go back now to this game and see how much of it required some imagination on the part of the player, as opposed to the gorgeous CG-laden cut-scene fests that gamers have become accustomed to today. I don't think it would be possible for anyone below the age of 20 to be able to play this anymore.
And finally, Chrono Trigger, which also originally appeared on the Super Nintendo, but much later in its life cycle, with greatly improved graphics, compared to FFIV. This game is one of a few that are frequently cited in Top Ten and Top Five lists for Greatest RPGs Of All Time. I am shocked to say, however, that while I remember playing it, and even finishing it, I have almost no recollection at all about the story, except that there's lots of time travelling involved and one of your buddies is a frog. The character designs, by famed artist Akiray Toriyama of Dragonball (the anime) and Dragon Quest (the game) fame also did duty on this RPG, for a definitively 80's, slightly more buoyant, juvenile feel. There are something like 12 endings to the game, though, so this game has an immense amount of replay value. Seriously, they just don't make 'em like THAT anymore...And on a final note, Harmonix has gone and overhauled the official Rock Band Website in preparation for the game's debut. There is tons of stuff in there now. It pains me to absorb all that extra content, and yet, I can't stop watching... Just 13 days and then the pain of not having Rock Band ends, only to be replaced by the pain of having it but not being able to play it for four days. My God, the singer can crowd surf... guitarist and singer can lean back to back and sing together... I CAN'T TAKE THIS ANYMORE...
Labels: Games, Rock Band, RPGs
Monday, November 05, 2007
YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!
OH MY GOD. I FINALLY BEAT FREEBIRD ON EXPERT...
There is nausea. Happy nausea that comes from a body that is finally unwinding after seeing the failure screen a million buzillion times. The kind of nausea that says "you will pay for this in the morning." The kind of nausea that says "Congratulations, can we die now?" My hand feels like it's going to strangle me in my sleep for what I made it do to achieve this, but finally, OH THANK THE GODS, FINALLY... That song is actually done...
I have my battle-axe. Today, I sleep the sleep of the just. And the terminally, stupidly stubborn.
And it is time to say goodbye to my Gibson SG. I feel like someone just shot my dog. I don't know, maybe the thing was already on its last legs, and ready to die, but stubbornly holding on for my sake. Immediately after finishing Freebird I tried playing with it again... and my whammy bar no longer works. I can still move it, but it no longer gathers star power or distorts the note. The timing is eerie. If I didn't know any better, I'd say it was sheer will power and loyalty that kept the thing going, and now, it's task done, it finally allowed itself to die.
It was a good guitar. I will miss it...
OH MY GOD. I FINALLY BEAT FREEBIRD ON EXPERT...
There is nausea. Happy nausea that comes from a body that is finally unwinding after seeing the failure screen a million buzillion times. The kind of nausea that says "you will pay for this in the morning." The kind of nausea that says "Congratulations, can we die now?" My hand feels like it's going to strangle me in my sleep for what I made it do to achieve this, but finally, OH THANK THE GODS, FINALLY... That song is actually done...
I have my battle-axe. Today, I sleep the sleep of the just. And the terminally, stupidly stubborn.
And it is time to say goodbye to my Gibson SG. I feel like someone just shot my dog. I don't know, maybe the thing was already on its last legs, and ready to die, but stubbornly holding on for my sake. Immediately after finishing Freebird I tried playing with it again... and my whammy bar no longer works. I can still move it, but it no longer gathers star power or distorts the note. The timing is eerie. If I didn't know any better, I'd say it was sheer will power and loyalty that kept the thing going, and now, it's task done, it finally allowed itself to die.
It was a good guitar. I will miss it...
Labels: Guitar Hero
Sunday, November 04, 2007
Quiet. Occupied
Finished off the GameAxis articles for the month, and started on some stuff for the kid's comic. In an effort to keep the momentum going (just a little over two weeks now!) here is a video of songs that appear in Rock Band. It's not quite up to date, but it still covers the majority.
Finished off the GameAxis articles for the month, and started on some stuff for the kid's comic. In an effort to keep the momentum going (just a little over two weeks now!) here is a video of songs that appear in Rock Band. It's not quite up to date, but it still covers the majority.
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Creating Comics, Journalism, Rock Band, Writing
Saturday, November 03, 2007
80's Weekend
The only event of note was finally ending Daylight Savings Time. Other than that, it was a pretty quiet day, with a visit with all the neighbors, and an 80's movie marathon consisting of Monster Squad, The Goonies and Beetlejuice. Ah, the memories. Sometimes I think that the 80's were the last decade where it was possible to make innocent movies like these for a pre-teen age group.
Or maybe they still do and I just don't pay attention anymore...
The only event of note was finally ending Daylight Savings Time. Other than that, it was a pretty quiet day, with a visit with all the neighbors, and an 80's movie marathon consisting of Monster Squad, The Goonies and Beetlejuice. Ah, the memories. Sometimes I think that the 80's were the last decade where it was possible to make innocent movies like these for a pre-teen age group.
Or maybe they still do and I just don't pay attention anymore...
Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Movies
Friday, November 02, 2007
The One To Watch In 2008
There is a new game coming in 2008. Big surprise that. But this is not just any game that is designed to appeal to a traditional gamer-base. No, this game could be something truly special. This game could be brilliant. This game will also likely sell nowhere near the number of copies it deserves. It's coming to the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. It is called Brütal Legend. Why should you care?
Two words. Tim. Schafer.
And now, witness:
There is a new game coming in 2008. Big surprise that. But this is not just any game that is designed to appeal to a traditional gamer-base. No, this game could be something truly special. This game could be brilliant. This game will also likely sell nowhere near the number of copies it deserves. It's coming to the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. It is called Brütal Legend. Why should you care?
Two words. Tim. Schafer.
And now, witness:
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Another Boring Day
Wrote articles. Did some shopping in the neighborhood. Downloaded new stuff off the Playstation Store. Oh, and I forgot to mention the Wife bought this for herself yesterday:
For people that don't know their Final Fantasy-lore, the creature on the left is known as a "Tonberry." It is a cute little lizard thing that wields a tiny butcher's knife. This seemingly harmless creature is the bane of any encounter in a FF game simply because it has an obscene number of hit points (think 9999) and slowly advances towards you with each turn as you try in panicked fashion to pummel it. If it should manage to get within striking distance of your character, it pokes you with that little knife which means instant death. It is the Wife's favorite FF monster. She could not resist when she saw this, and bought it a funky vintage gaming store on Bloor and Spadina. I think she scored major points for a) being a girl and b) being a girl that actually KNEW what this was...
Wrote articles. Did some shopping in the neighborhood. Downloaded new stuff off the Playstation Store. Oh, and I forgot to mention the Wife bought this for herself yesterday:
For people that don't know their Final Fantasy-lore, the creature on the left is known as a "Tonberry." It is a cute little lizard thing that wields a tiny butcher's knife. This seemingly harmless creature is the bane of any encounter in a FF game simply because it has an obscene number of hit points (think 9999) and slowly advances towards you with each turn as you try in panicked fashion to pummel it. If it should manage to get within striking distance of your character, it pokes you with that little knife which means instant death. It is the Wife's favorite FF monster. She could not resist when she saw this, and bought it a funky vintage gaming store on Bloor and Spadina. I think she scored major points for a) being a girl and b) being a girl that actually KNEW what this was...Labels: Boring And Insipid Posts, Games, Gaming Industry, Journalism, RPGs, Writing
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