Maybe I’m too young (‘86 represent), but I didn’t realize GamePro even had a show on TV in the early ’90s. Not only does it ride the Bill & Ted “bandwagon” but also manages to give out one of the single most hokey and complicated protips I’ve seen.
I’m so, so glad we’ve moved away from this gamer image era. Of course, now we’re just a bunch of fat shut-in slobs or something, which may or may not be an improvement.
Not only can Little Big Planet be used to recreate childhood gaming favorites like Duck Hunt or Contra, but it’s got plenty of sack love for modern music too. Like Lady Gaga. Which is good, because it gives me an excuse to draw your attention to this cute-ified machinema port of Bad Romance. Read the rest of this entry »
There are few redeeming factors that Cruisin’ USA has going for it, but the arcade racer will always have a special place in my heart for this tune alone. That and the bug-splatter parts. I know, I’m very mature.
What’s your game music guilty pleasure?
I was going to write a review of id’s latest iPhone release, but let’s be realistic: it’s Doom, you already know what you’re getting yourself into. If you just want to shoot demons and zombie soldiers on Mars and in Hell on your iDevice then go for it. It plays well and has local multiplayer, and if Wolf 3D Classic is any indication will have user-created map support at some point down the line. And, dare I dream, mods? Maybe not, but the rest is cool beans with me.
What is not cool beans is the way id bungled the presentation in this version. Read the rest of this entry »
I’ve spent a good amount of time with the diminutive DS release of Lego Rock Band and came away thoroughly impressed. It’s a nice return to form of the Amplitude/Frequency style of music game and as such it’s probably the best of the multi-platform attack.
Few licensed games make as good a use of their source material as Lego Rock Band. The Danish toy line may at first seem like a bizarre match for the series, but it’s a charming fit that those who have ever built a plastic pirate ship can’t help but smile over.
Sound too gushing? Check out my full review for why.
Bowie has had a lot of looks over his long and fabled career, so it’s no surprise to see that he’s got yet another one in the pipes.
Blocks.
The man who defies definition will be joining Iggy Pop in the upcoming family-friendly Lego Rock Band as a playable little guy during his included track “Let’s Dance,” fittingly decked out in period-correct attire.
Yet another reason to look forward to this one.
Chiptune music, video game-inspired music in general, has always been faced with the stigma of its seemingly nerdy origins; even its name sounds cold and alien to those who fear the large amount of buttons on a Wii remote. Telling your friends that you hop on YouTube and listen to the Duck Tales NES music or YMCK’s Pictobits remixes has never fallen inside the realm of mainstream understanding; it’s more of a clique thing, really, something that only appeals to those who’ve spent all too much of their time conquering Dr. Wiley’s nefarious bots.
If none of these references are making any sense to you, I’d like to welcome you to my point.
But retro and 8-bit, like so many other relics of the 80s, are making a comeback, one whose impact can be felt all throughout gaming’s digital download services and brings with it a little bleed-over into popular art and music. Enter Anamanaguchi. Read the rest of this entry »
This track is a few years old by now I suppose, but I didn’t come across it until this past summer when it randomly appeared on my brother’s iPod and got my head bopping.
It’s a pretty ridiculous tune and one that probably wouldn’t have the same humor associated with calling non-dancers “rapists” if it was in English. But hey, it’s not and damn if it isn’t dancey.
Oh man, do I love Halloween. Horror movies, themed candy, killer costumes and scary music; that’s a time of year I can get behind!
And there is really no better way to completely saturate your waking moments with spooky things than with a kick-ass playlist, and even though we’re in the early stages of October you might as well start building it. I’d like to help. Read the rest of this entry »
Style over substance is a dangerous choice in game development; Grasshopper Manufacture’s GC/PS2 release Killer 7 had some wild design elements and a certainly unique aesthetic, but it couldn’t save the somewhat murky rails-not-rails gameplay. No More Heroes, also a Grasshopper game, suffered some of the same pitfalls.
Enter WET. Full of style but without the new ideas of a Grasshopper title, it’s easy to brush it off as a Croft-meets-Max Payne knockoff with a healthy dash of Grindhouse thrown in. And that’s pretty much all it is. But so what? Read the rest of this entry »
