Never Discount the Jiggle Factor

They Must Surely Be Learning

2009-11-13T18:04:35Z

The rest of Sgt. Pepper gets DLC'd for The Beatles: Rock Band next week, and it appears HMX is responding to the many gripes over how Abbey Road was sold. Every track from Pepper will be available individually for all systems and the cost of the full "complete the album" pack is $13.50. That's $3.50 cheaper than Abbey Road and you get about two more minutes of content. However, it doesn't appear there will be an option to play "Good Morning Good Morning", the "Sgt. Pepper" reprise and "A Day in the Life" as a medley. I wonder if they're saving money on licensing that way.

I'm still not too keen on getting the whole Pepper album as it doesn't seem terribly Rock Band-friendly (How do you chart "When I'm Sixty-Four"?), but this makes it a little more tempting.

Party Like It's 1999

2009-11-10T18:30:33Z

A dub-only Blu-ray? Really? Am I in high school again?

This could be a bad omen. US anime Blu-rays are rare enough already, but this indicates what American distributors have been saying for a while: Japanese licensors are reluctant to have newer shows put out on BD in the US. The concern is "reverse importing". If a show is selling in America for half the price of the Japanese release, why wouldn't a Japanese buy the American release (especially since US BDs are not region locked in Japan)? Removing the Japanese language track from the US release might do the trick. And with anime Blu-rays selling well in Japan, (and American fans having largely convinced themselves that anime has no monetary value), I can only fault them so much for wanting to make a little money off their work.

Things I Learned From My First Attempt At Sewing

2009-11-10T00:16:00Z

1. I need sharper scissors.
2. Even so, ugly raw edges on pattern pieces aren't a big deal because they'll be hidden anyway.
3. When in doubt, think inside-out.
4. A Large-sized pattern is much larger than you think.
5. You'll regret ignoring the pattern's request for stretchy material when you get to the neck band.
6. On a related note, a straight stitich is much harder to remove than a zigzag.

My first cosplay, I glued together from existing elements. My second, I purchased online. Feeling I'd reached the limits of what I could do with "found" items and feeling more fondness towards the costume I "made" than the one I bought, I decided to try to make the next one myself from scratch. What's the next one, you ask? I've told a handful of people what it will (likely) be, but my superstitiousness won't let me make it official until it's more or less a done deal. Sorry, no hints.

Alright, one hint: I'm looking at videogame characters this time.

I bought a sewing machine a few weeks ago, pored over the manual and practiced a bit with the generous amount of unused fleece left over from the making of muppet-Karasu. After picking up handful of cheap patterns from my local Hancock Fabrics, I dove right in. I decided to make a simple shirt for my first attempt. If I could use it with the final costume, gravy. If not, I'd at least get valuable sewing XP out of it. I made it in the pattern's Large size because A.) I wanted it to be a bit bulky, and B.) so as to not destroy the pattern cutouts should I wish to use them again (better to start too big than too small). The tricky part was discerning what the pattern instructions were talking about. I had to google a few sites to be sure I understood what was meant by "right side", "wrong side", "raw", "selvage" and so on. Putting the pieces together felt like a brain puzzle. When stumped, I put the instructions down and used my common sense. "In order to make sure that only a seam is visible on the outside, where does the stitch go?" I enjoyed arriving at those "Eureka!" moments when it finally made sense.

The only real disaster was the neck band. Because I used a non-stretchy polyester (on a pattern intended for sleepwear), I ran out of neck band with 5 more inches to cover. Not only that, it being non-stretchy also meant I couldn't fit my head through it (which, hindsight being 20/20, I should have tested before trying to attach it to the shirt). Not wanting to junk the whole thing, my quick fix was to add a 5" extension to the neck band towards the back of the shirt (which would be obscured anyway in the final costume). Now, it has a neck band, and my head can fit through it, but it's a huge neckhole like on a Naruto character's shirt. I could easily make a cut in the obscured back and resew it or button it or velcro it or glue it to make the neck smaller. Tonight, I sew the side seams and hems and find out just how huge the L size really is.

The end result is neither a amazing garment, nor a hideous joke and possibly even usable given my laziness. Anticipating that I would outright fail a shirt or two before getting the hang of it, it's an encouraging first effort.

These Days Are Better Than That

2009-10-28T18:33:55Z

U2
Oakland Coliseum
Wednesday, June 16th, 2010

Got my ticket.

As I Was Saying...

2009-10-27T16:21:22Z

Actual line from an e-mail I got from Red Octane's Guitar Hero Store:

Guitar Hero Van Halen features Lenny Kravitz, Weezer, Foreigner, Queen and Blink-182

And Van Halen too!

Netflix on PS3

2009-10-26T22:44:25Z

Despite Microsoft's crowing earlier this year that Netflix streaming was exclusive to Xbox Live, Netflix announced today the streaming service is coming to PS3. The trick that will allow Netflix to continue honoring whatever exclusive contract it signed with Microsoft is that the streaming will not be added to the PS3's UI through a firmware upgrade. Instead, the service will be accessed when a special BD is put in the disc drive (free to all Netflix subscribers; I already have my request in) that will connect the user to Netflix via BD-Live. Clever, that.

Actually, I've been streaming Netflix to my PS3 for a while using a media server program called PlayOn, though I've streamed far more Hulu with it. Perhaps this direct connection will improve the video quality and make instant Netflix more appealing.

My Weekend That Was ("Space Travel Turns Me On!")

2009-10-26T18:10:23Z

I was disappointed to find that so few people online had bought the Abbey Road DLC. Over and over, I'd see the Abbey songs greyed out on the select screen (the indicator that not everyone in the group owns it). I was hoping to play through the medley at least once with a group (if for no other reason than to finally obtain the 1,000,000 point trophy). Well, I did get to play the medley online once, where I was plagued by the batteries going flaky on my drums requiring several mid-song resets, but the cherry on top was the vocalist in my group failing out at the end of "The End", tanking the whole thing after 15 minutes of work. I had fun anyway, but the trophy still eludes me...

It'd be nice HMX could add a matching service for online play, where you could ask it to find players who own a specific DLC.

My brother borrowed Batman: Arkham Asylum from a friend and between Friday night and Sunday afternoon, I blew through the whole thing. Despite the overwhelming positive reviews, the demo didn't impress me much, but I think that was because it didn't give me a sense of the game's scope. There's a nice variety of activity and lots of nooks and crannies to investigate if you don't want to barrel through the main story. Sure, the story suffers from the typical comic-based videogame's fanfiction-y compulsion to shoehorn in as many villains as possible and the final fight is a tad silly, but I was hooked from beginning to end. And having Batman, Joker and Harley Quinn played by the same actors from the superb Fox cartoon made things even better.

Speaking of the Fox cartoon, for a long time I had no idea that Harley was created for the show. Knowing little about the Batman comics, I assumed she came from there. As it turns out, fans responded to the character so well (film director/comic nerd Kevin Smith named his daughter Harley Quinn Smith), they started writing her into the comics.

The glorious capper to my weekend was the webcast of U2's concert from the Rose Bowl over YouTube. With no VGA input on my TV or HDMI output from any of my PCs, I watched it on my 10" netbook while it was hooked up to the big speakers I use my PS3 with. The way I saw it, the tiny screen was an accurate representation of the nosebleed seats I likely would've had if I were there. The stream only hiccupped a few times on me and it sounded quite good. The opening three tracks from No Line on the Horizon were spectacular and I loved them dragging out more obscure songs like "The Unforgettable Fire" and "Ultraviolet (Light My Way)". Only real flop was a more drum-driven version (Larry walking around with a conga!) of "I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight", which wasn't a great song to begin with and sounded chaotic. This is the first U2 concert I've sat through in a long time that didn't have "Bullet the Blue Sky", "Pride (In the Name of Love)" or "New Year's Day" in the setlist. Not complaining, just observing. The webcast was a nice substitute for the fact that L.A. and Vegas were the closest venues they played to here on this tour... what's that? They're coming to Oakland next June? Well, alrighty then.

Breathe
Get On Your Boots
Magnificent
Mysterious Ways
Beautiful Day
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
Stuck in a Moment That You Can't Get Out Of
No Line on the Horizon
Elevation
In a Little While
Unknown Caller
Until the End of the World
The Unforgettable Fire
City of Blinding Lights
Vertigo
I'll Go Crazy If I Don't Go Crazy Tonight
Sunday Bloody Sunday
MLK
Walk On
One
Where the Streets Have No Name

Ultraviolet (Light My Way)
With or Without You
Moment of Surrender

Oh! Download

2009-10-23T22:49:09Z

The release of the remaining tracks from Abbey Road for The Beatles: Rock Band brings up a curious problem for HMX: They might have got it right the first time. In selecting the initial on-disc setlist, HMX did a good job picking not only a good mix of the Beatles's entire career, but picking songs that would work well in Rock Band and give all four parts something interesting to do. But is it possible there aren't too many well-balanced tracks left in the Beatles' catalog?

On paper, Abbey Road was a good first pick for their release-DLC-by-album strategy. I'd wager it is the most popular album among casual fans of the group (consider that with 6 tracks already on-disc, it is the most represented Beatles album in the game) and serious fans have been dreaming about the chance to play "the medley" since the game was announced. Perhaps the hype was too much to overcome. "Maxwell's Silver Hammer" is often viewed as Road's weakest track, and it doesn't stand out much in the game either. "Oh! Darling" has killer vocals and drums, while also featuring the easiest Expert guitar part I've seen in Rock Band, including the Stephen Colbert song. Meanwhile, "Because", which has some of the loveliest vocals in music, is the first TB:RB track without a drum part. The medley is fun, but I was hoping for something transcendent. Instead, I felt more like I was listening to it more than I was "playing" it (perhaps a sign that I should up the difficulty).

And so I wonder how much of future DLC will be like this: one or two "instruments" are great fun, while the rest are pretty blah. I hope further performance of Abbey Road will increase my enthusiasm now that my expectations have crashed back down to earth. In any case, I trust my instincts as to what should be good for the game, and assuming HMX doesn't pull any weird mandatory purchase crap like they did here, I'll try to be a bit more selective in the future.

And on that note, my top ten desired (as yet unannounced) songs:

1. Hey Jude (probably everyone's number one)
2. Strawberry Fields Forever
3. The Ballad of John and Yoko
4. Happiness is a Warm Gun
5. All Together Now
6. Lady Madonna
7. She Loves You
8. We Can Work It Out
9. Let It Be
10. Help!

I think they'd all be good fits for the game, even the ones that are more piano/organ driven.

Baby, You're a Rich Man Too

2009-10-19T18:40:09Z

The $16.99 price stands for the "full album" download of Abbey Road. If I'm reading this press release right, only "Maxwell's Silver Hammer", "Oh! Darling" and "Because" will be available for individual purchase on PS3/360, making all the medley elements (and "Her Majesty") exclusive to the album pack. Meanwhile, Wii owners can buy all the tracks individually (the answer to my earlier question about "Her Majesty" is $1), but do not have the option of buying a full album pack (and would pay $2.50 more if they want all the tracks) or of playing the medley uninterrupted.

Yeah, I'm still going to get it, dammit.

Looking to the future, I doubt I'll get the full Sgt. Pepper pack. The remainder doesn't seem very Rock Band-friendly. Only "A Day in the Life" screams must-buy to me and that's mostly for vocals as there's almost nothing for the guitar to do (I expect a lot of piano mapping there). Rubber Soul looks more promising with four gotta-haves ("Norwegian Wood", "You Won't See Me", "Nowhere Man" and "In My Life"), but I'm not sure I need every track. I hope how Abbey Road is being sold isn't the start of a trend of "album-exclusive" tracks.

Every Kramer Entrance Ever

2009-10-18T05:41:25Z

It's hypnotic.

You Never(?) Give HMX Your Money

2009-10-17T01:18:17Z

IGN revealed the tracks for the DLC release of Abbey Road will be broken up like so:

"Maxwell's Silver Hammer"
"Oh! Darling"
"Because"
"You Never Give Me Your Money"
"Sun King/Mean Mr. Mustard"
"Polythene Pam/She Came In Through the Bathroom Window"
"Golden Slumbers/Carry That Weight/The End"
"Her Majesty"
"Abbey Road Medley"

So they grouped together the songs in the medley that flow directly into each other. (For those of you not versed in The Beatles, the "Abbey Road Medley" consists of all the songs from "You Never Give Me Your Money" through "The End" and runs about 16 minutes.) It's nice that the mini-medley of Slumbers/Weight/End can be played outside of the full medley, as is often done on the radio and in Paul's concerts. I'm very curious to see how much HMX will charge for "Her Majesty" considering it only runs 23 seconds. Though arguably no one's going to get it who isn't already getting the full album.

Speaking of cost, IGN says the cost of the DLC is "still being finalized" which has me cautiously optimistic that they listened to our complaints about paying 17 bucks for 24 minutes of content. The way the songs are grouped, you can get all the tracks for 16 bucks at standard RB pricing and the full album costs are usually a buck or two cheaper than getting the tracks individually. Though the ability to play the medley uninterrupted can only be purchased with the full album, which may factor into the price. We'll see.

Katie Vick: Back From The Dead

2009-10-16T23:01:56Z

I think there are at least three people reading this post who would instantly recognize the name Katie Vick. For those who don't, she was the center of the storyline that turned me off pro-wrestling years back, perhaps for good. I don't remember all the gory details and I don't feel much like looking them up, but the gist of it was that Triple H accused Kane of killing his girlfriend a long time ago and burying the truth. In a "hilarious" skit to mock Kane, Triple H dons a Kane mask and humps a mannequin representing the dead Katie. The punchline of the scene was Triple H with some goo in his hands proclaiming, "I screwed your brains out!".

Anyway, the reason I bring it up now is pure schadenfreude at how Katie Vick is being used against the Senate campaign of WWE CEO (and sometimes onscreen character) Linda McMahon. Gotta love how WWE's response was to remove the YouTube clips for copyright reasons. It may seem like a cheap shot, but I have to agree: I question the judgment of anyone who'd put something like that on that air thinking it was a good idea.

Golden Slumbers

2009-10-16T05:21:09Z

Gold-starred "Octopus's Garden" and "If I Needed Someone" on Bass. As of this post, I'm 114th on the leaderboard for the latter song. Yay me.

EDIT: And "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" (Wowzers, I'm 45th!)

Oddly, I got 100% on "I Feel Fine" on Expert and used all the available Beatlemania/Star Power/Overdrive, but didn't gold-star it. A second try got me a higher score of about 600 points, but still no gold stars. Hrmm.

You've Got Your Legos In My Rock Band

2009-10-12T19:46:57Z

As much as I've praised Harmonix's approach to music games, the existence of Lego Rock Band stands as the greatest "yeah, but..." to my appreciation. With Activision going for a more family-friendly audience with the upcoming Band Hero, it makes sense for Harmonix to try the same. It still feels a little hokey though. Since they're targeting a new audience that doesn't already own RB, they could at least put the LRB songs up as DLC for the rest of us. Yes, you can buy LRB and export the songs, but what if you only want 3 or 4? Looking at the full setlist that was posted today, I can see maybe going for "Ghostbusters", "Every Little Thing She Does is Magic" (one of my favorite songs, but doesn't it have no guitar?), "Song 2" and "The Final Countdown" (Illusions, Michael!), but I'm not going to pay $60 (+ $10 export charge) just for those.

It was announced that LRB will have access to the same DLC store as regular RB, albeit a filtered version that only makes "approved for all audiences" tracks available. With age tiers now coming into play, I'd like to see Harmonix move in the other direction and start offering uncensored versions of songs. Right now, songs are either radio-edits (sample lyric from Alice in Chains' "Man in the Box": "Shove my nose in spit") or have the curse words blanked out completely (sample lyric from Tenacious D's "Master Exploder": "My voice is [long pause] POWERFUL!!!") Since the game doesn't penalize using wrong words or singing where there are no lyrics, players doing vocals can use salty language at their discretion. But it'd be nice to have the uncensored tracks available for when you're playing guitar or drums by yourself so you don't have wince every time you hear sanitized vocals.

A Little Better All The Time

2009-10-11T00:55:57Z

I'm happy to report I earned gold stars on two non-Colbert songs:

GUITAR: "She Sells Sanctuary" by The Cult
DRUMS: "Take Me to the River" by Talking Heads

Alright, so neither song has a difficulty higher than '1' for those instruments, but baby steps, you know.

UPDATE: Just gold-starred "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" on Guitar in The Beatles: Rock Band. That felt good.

EXTRA BUMP: And "Yellow Submarine" and "Twist and Shout" and "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds".

My Trophy Courtesy of The Colbert Nation

2009-10-05T04:48:24Z

I'm getting better at Rock Band drums, but still only stick my toe in the harder difficulties on special occasions. So I was pleasantly surprised when without planning it, I earned the trophy for getting 100% on an Expert drum part. All thanks to "Charlene (I'm Right Behind You)" by Stephen and the Colberts (which is free to download!), a song that only runs about 75 seconds and on Expert is no harder than most Medium parts. You might say that's a coward's way of earning it. Me, I like to think of it as a gift from Stephen himself. Now when can we download "He's Singin' in Korean"?

RB DLC 10/1

2009-10-01T19:52:18Z

Sweet, an Alice in Chains pack. Good shit. Despite hearing it on the radio way too much in the 90s, "Man in the Box" is one of my favorite RB2 tracks, and one that I can sing pretty decently if I say so myself (and no one else will). The new DLC is a 5-pack with two songs from their new album that just came out this week, but a blind buy doesn't interest me. The classic tracks ("No Excuses", "Rooster" and "Would?") are all gold though. If they add more AiC in the future, I'd like to see "I Stay Away" and "Heaven Beside You" myself.

I also grabbed Radiohead's "My Iron Lung", which I should've grabbed much earlier on principle as it's the only Radiohead DLC available at the moment. Love the drum part on that one. I got enough store credit for one more song. Was thinking of getting David Bowie's "Heroes", but can't decide if it's worth getting a cover version. Maybe I should get The Who's "Baba O'Reilly" and "Who Are You" to complete the CSI opening theme trifecta.

"He was the lead singer in a rock band, Horatio."
"Looks like..." [sunglasses on] "...he won't be making an encore."
YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!

A Post About Nothing

2009-09-28T22:25:28Z

When amassing seasons of Seinfeld on DVD, I'm sure someone asked me what the point was since it's on TV all the time. Well, once you decide to cut cable out of your life, your DVD collection gets a lot more useful. I just finished revisiting Seinfeld again, wondering if it would hold up. It's been 11 years(!) since it ended, and every time Seinfeld is brought up in online discussion, someone always brings up how so many episodes are dated because they'd be resolved in seconds today thanks to cell phones. Another question is whether one can view Kramer's antics without thinking of Michael Richards' famous n-word tirade from a few years back. The answer to both issues: Kinda.

The thing I noticed after watching and adoring Arrested Development was how slow Seinfeld felt by comparison. To be sure, AD took a lot of cues from Seinfeld. Both shows feature borderline unsympathetic characters who make little-to-no effort to fix their flaws. Both shows juggle multiple wacky storylines that converge in unexpected ways at the end of the episode. And both shows are obsessed with their own continuity with frequent callbacks to previous gags (plus, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss guest-starred in four episodes of AD). But AD feels like Seinfeld with a triple-shot of caffeine. Removing the laugh-track, adding a useful narrator and having a cast of 9 regulars allows AD to move at an insane clip. Maybe too insane, because AD was not ~~nearly as~~ successful as ~~Seinfeld~~.

And then there's the final episode. After it first aired, I don't think there was ever such a palpable sense of letdown after so much hype, at least, until it was eclipsed by The Phantom Menace a year later. My own reaction hasn't changed much. Despite a lot of amusing cameos, it just isn't funny. It feels like a term paper making a judgment about the characters' misanthropy that some college kid thought would be oh-so-clever if he wrote it in the format of an episode. "The Finale" is built upon the mistaken premise that Jerry, George, Elaine and Kramer were never punished for their selfish tendencies, and thus the good samaritan trial is their much-deserved, long-in-waiting comeuppance. The problem with this is that EVERY episode of Seinfeld was about them getting their comeuppance. You can say Seinfeld's about rotten people, but you can't say it's about rotten people who never fail to get what they want. They fail all the time and it's funny. I'm not sure what punishment Larry David thought they were lacking when he wrote "The Finale", unless he really believed they deserved jail time, in which case, lock us all up: we're all sick people.

I don't guffaw at the show the way I used to, but I'm still rather fond of it. I feel about Seinfeld today much the way I feel about Evangelion. They meant a lot more to me in my high school years than they do now, but I can't deny that, for a time, I thought they were the greatest thing ever and it's hard to imagine ever going too long without rewatching them.

A Day In The Life (First Impressions)

2009-09-10T19:44:22Z

Short review: If you like The Beatles and you like playing with fake plastic instruments, you'll love The Beatles: Rock Band.

- The first thing I noticed taking the manual out of the case was that there was a serial number printed on the back. Whoa, could this mean that the songs of B:RB might be exportable at a future date despite previous statements to the contrary? You see, while it was cool that Harmonix made (most of) the songs from RB1 exportable for use in RB2, I imagine they kicked themselves for not restricting it to a one-disc-for-one-account basis, which made it so that gamers who jumped into the franchise with RB2 merely have to rent or borrow RB1, pay the $5 export fee and get a lot of songs for super cheap. Guitar Hero World Tour saw this, and put a serial number on the back of its manual that is required for exporting songs for use in GH5. I figure I'm not the only one who wondered if that was the case here, as Harmonix quickly issued a statement proclaiming the serial number "doesn't do anything", though I don't see a flat-out denial for future possibilities in there. Tomorrow never knows...

- Speaking of GHWT, it's nice to see the Harmonix can also steal a good idea when they see one. Namely, adding a three-second countdown after unpausing before the song starts again. They also made it much easier to turn on "No Fail" mode, if you're so inclined. I do wish they made it easier to switch instruments without having to go back a few menus, but that's more an annoyance when playing solo when you wouldn't have friends to swap with. Also, load times are much faster than RB2.

- I love the load screens. For the live venues, you'll often hear a Beatle introducing the song you're about to play for the crowd. In the studio, you'll hear them warming up for your song. This is an awesome little touch that makes me want to hug the game a little more.

- The Beatles don't get booed if the stage if you tank a song as in the other RB games; the song just stops and a "Song Failed" screen pops up. In other words, The Beatles didn't fail, it is you who have failed The Beatles. Mighta been funny if after failing a song they all turn to the "camera" and give you a very disappointed look.

- One "award" I forgot to present in my post on the setlist was the "They Picked That Over This?" award which easily goes to the inclusion of "Boys" over "She Loves You".

- They removed the freestlye fills used to activate Overdrive (called "Beatlemania" in B:RB) on drums, and instead cue activation to designated green notes. I like this idea as it better preserves the rhythm of the original songs and I hope it carries over to future RB games (maybe allowing fills as optional).

- Hammer-ons and pull-offs are much easier here than in RB2. I've read that RB2 will be patched soon so its HOs/POs will act similarly.

- When playing vocals, you have the choice of selecting "Solo" or "Harmonies". Harmonies displays the two or three, uh, harmonies of a song, any of which can be sung for points, while Solo only displays the main vocal line. I recommend Harmonies even if you're the only person in the room. I chose Solo for "If I Needed Someone" and was totally thrown off when I went into the higher pitch of John and Paul's backup vocals but the game wanted me to stay in George's lower pitch the entire time.

- In a few songs ("Helter Skelter", for one) the vocal track actually moves up and down onscreen when major octave changes happen. Though weird at first, it's a good confidence booster (and maybe a gentle reminder that as long as you hit the right note, it doesn't matter if your vocal range is not as good as Sir Paul McCartney's).

- I find that I really enjoy singing George songs. I think it's because his range is not as great as John or Paul, but a bit more melodic than Ringo. Just right. I'd get "I Need You" from Help! if they put that up as DLC. Help! has a number of songs that would've been great for the game and it's odd that only one ("Ticket to Ride") was included here.

- I share the main gripe of every review I've read: 45 songs is not enough. It's a great selection, and there really aren't any any duds (even songs I'm iffy about like "Good Morning Good Morning" are kinda fun), but it sure don't last long. One of the game's trophies even encourages you to blow through the story mode (which means playing every song) as quickly as possible. Yes, I earned it late last night. DLC will gradually, and profitably, fill the gaps, but in many ways, B:RB feels like a tease, that first taste to get you hooked. I think it worked.

Tomorrow Never Knows (Day Before Launch)

2009-09-08T19:24:13Z

Apparently, Harmonix are as nerdy as I am: "I've got blisters on my fingers" is a scored "talkie" phrase on the vocal track for "Helter Skelter" in The Beatles: Rock Band.

And here's a kinda amusing look at what might've been if the Guitar Hero people made the Beatles game instead:

Talking Heads RB DLC impressions

2009-09-04T17:13:19Z

If nothing else, Rock Band has motivated me to blog more than anything else in a while. So I grabbed the entire Talking Heads DLC pack for Rock Band and tried each song once or twice, and here are my quick impressions:

"And She Was"
Played on: Drums

It's the most straightforward pop song of the set and the one I'm least likely to listen to outside of the game, but as I guessed in my previous post, it's actually pretty fun to play. The drums in all the other songs are incredibly repetitive, but this has a decent variety of activity.

"Crosseyed and Painless"
Played on: Drums, Vocals

There's a great intensity to this song, but it reveals the limitations of RB's vocal judging. You're not really supposed to perform the song in your own style, but mimic the original vocals as closely as possible. So if David Byrne stutters, you have to stutter in the exact same place. It makes singing feel more technical than it should be. I also got caught up in performing the song as I remembered it from Stop Making Sense, which sometimes had me singing a different pitch than the studio recording used here.

"Take Me To the River"
Played on: Drums

Though I wished earlier that the faster live version was used, the slower studio version is a nice contrast to the quick tempos of the other four songs in the pack, and much of the rest of Rock Band's catalog for that matter.

"Girlfriend is Better"
Played on: Guitar, Vocals, Drums

Another case where I'm way more familiar with the Stop Making Sense version than the studio version. I had no idea that the original synth solos were so noisy. I tell ya, if they released the entire Stop Making Sense as DLC, I'd grab it instantly. RB already has studio versions for 5 of the songs from the film...

"Once in a Lifetime"
Played on: Vocals, Guitar

Boy, the chorus sure takes a lot of breath control. As I also previously guessed, the guitar part is really light here. I really should try bass on these songs next time. Some of those parts sound pretty cool.

I'm glad I chose Rock Band

2009-09-03T03:15:31Z

I took some time to decide whether to get the Rock Band 2 bundle or the one for Guitar Hero: World Tour. Since both sets would work with The Beatles game and were going for about the same price, my inner debate focused on the drums. I was really looking forward to playing fake drums and I liked GHWT's more "realistic" drums due to the inclusion of two raised "cymbals", while cymbals are an optional add-on for the RB kit. But the more I thought about it, the less drums factored into my decision. I simply found I respected Rock Band more than Guitar Hero.

I respect that Harmonix opted to put most of their energy this year into The Beatles game when they just as easily could have churned out a quick cash-in with Rock Band 3 on the side. I respect their emphasis on DLC, rather than pushing some $60 track pack every three months. I respect that most of RB1 can be imported into RB2 so that you don't have to change discs to play (almost) all your music. I respect that they did the 4-player band thing first. I respect that they were the ones who made Guitar Hero what it was in the first place. I respect their respect for the artists.

Which brings me to Kurt Cobain "singing" other groups' songs in Guitar Hero 5:

I'm not even that big a Nirvana fan, but there's something disturbing and stupid and lame and depressing about this. Doesn't this represent the kind of corporate bullshit Cobain was known to have despised? It's not like players really look at the performers that much anyway with all the scrolling colored buttons to focus on. So what the hell is the point of this? To me this video symbolizes what's wrong with Guitar Hero; whatever they think will help sell the brand overrides any other consideration, even good taste. It's been noted that you won't be able to import music from the other RB games into The Beatles' one (sorry, you can't make their avatars play No Doubt's greatest hits), and though I'm sure the Beatles' estate had a lot to do with that, I'd like to imagine such an insult would never have occurred to Harmonix.

I chose Rock Band and I have no regrets. Other than maybe not being able to play "The Touch".

And #45 is...

2009-09-02T22:28:15Z

..."The End".

The Name of This Game is Rock Band

2009-08-31T19:31:56Z

So yeah, I'm loving Rock Band and it's loving me back with the announcement of a Talking Heads DLC pack being released this week:

"Crosseyed and Painless"
Excellent choice and not an obvious one; I think this will be the most fun song in the pack.

"Take Me To The River"
Nice, but I wish we could play the groovier and faster live version from Stop Making Sense.

"Girlfriend is Better"
Great song, but there isn't a lot for the guitar to do unless they make it play the synthesizer parts.

"Once in a Lifetime"
One of my all-time favorite songs by any group, but it's another one that's light on the guitar.

"And She Was"
Not one of my favorite Heads tracks, but it's a good fit for the game.

Personally, I would love to see "Life During Wartime" offered if only because it'd be super-dorky-fun to re-enact the "aerobics routine" from the Stop Making Sense performance of the song.

Weekly RB: Beatles Post

2009-08-26T21:53:37Z

Good article from the New York Times about Harmonix and the making of The Beatles: Rock Band: While My Guitar Gently Beeps

This bit reinforces why Harmonix rocks:

But last month Harmonix announced that it will license software tools and provide training for anyone to create and distribute interactive versions of their own songs on a new Rock Band Network, which will drastically expand the amount and variety of interactive music available. [...] The Rock Band Network is so potentially consequential that Harmonix went to great lengths to keep its development secret, including giving it the unofficial in-house code name Rock Band: Nickelback, on the theory that the name of the quintessentially generic modern rock group would be enough to deflect all curiosity.

LOL