Lucky Day

Well, whaddya know; I got early access to the NXE, too.

Full impressions in a bit. For now, I'll say that it's pretty snazzy, and playing games off the HDD is fantastic, but the layout does take some getting used to.

ALSO: so glad I re-rolled a new character in Fallout 3.

Can't Talk About It

Heard on Major Nelson's podcast a couple weeks ago that Microsoft would be pre-releasing the New Xbox Experience to a small percentage of the respondents of a specific survey. For some reason, I was utterly convinced that I would be one of those lucky people, and was actually a bit crushed when I wasn't. A week or so later, they gave out even more pre-release NXEs, and I again missed the cut. The NXE officially launches in 7 days, though, so I guess I can wait another week. I'm not sure why I was getting so bent out of shape over it, though.

On the other hand, I got an e-mail from __________ last night, telling me that because I'd downloaded the free __________ PS3 dashboard theme about 3 or 4 months ago, I was now eligible to participate in that beta program.

Maybe my luck was starting to turn around, after all. Maybe I'd finally be able to talk about something substantive and new here instead of just listing all the games I play.

Except, according to the beta EULA, I'm not sure if I can talk about it... here.

1. As a condition of your participation in the Trials, you must:

a. keep the contents of the Trials, including any information, software and service in connection with ___________, confidential as between you and us and not discuss any portion of the Trials with anyone beyond your close friends and family and other Trialists. You shall not discuss or disclose any portion of the Trials with any third party who is a competitor of ___________ or is linked to any news, press or information service (whether on television or radio, in newspaper or magazines or via the Internet or any other online medium) without the express, prior, written consent of ___________.

See, the phrase "anyone beyond your close friends and family" is what's tricky, here, because I'm not sure anybody reads this blog besides people who actually know who I am. But the internet is the internet, and I'm pretty sure this blog is Google-able, and I don't feel like getting sued.

Understand, it's not even like I have that much to say about it. The truth is, there's really not very much to talk about.

Consider me even more skeptical than I already was.

Keeping my fingers crossed, though.

So there.

The Greatest Thing (take 2)

I have been guilty of using excessive hyperbole for pretty much my entire life, which can (obviously) lessen the weight of any endorsement or criticism I might have. That said, eventually, we will all look back on the sum of one's experiences and be able to say, "That was the greatest thing I ever did," "that was the most fun I ever had," "that was the shittiest thing I ever saw."

So I won't say that playing drums yesterday afternoon in Rock Band 2 for 5 hours while my wife played guitar is the most fun I've ever had. "Fun" is an incredibly subjective term and is therefore almost impossible to define with any degree of specificity.

If I were to say, however, that my experience yesterday afternoon playing the drums in Rock Band 2 while my wife played guitar was about 1000 times better than I thought it would be, and actually made me feel like I was really playing the drums which is something I've always wanted to be able to do, and basically let me live out my secret drum-playing fantasies in all their sweaty glory, and that it will probably be my favorite gaming moment of the year and maybe make the leap into my top 5 gaming moments of all time, I think that would be fair.

I would estimate that in 95% of all the band rehearsals I've ever had over the last 15 years - and this is no exaggeration - I've managed to squeeze in at least 10-20 minutes of drum-kit time, which is usually whenever the drummer leaves the room. I would never pass myself off as a gig-worthy drummer, but I can keep a steady beat and can generally get a pretty good groove going. I take a certain amount of pride in my drum machine prowess, and almost all the drumming on my recent recordings has been "live", not pre-programmed.

The point is, I've always loved playing drums. And I got to feel like I was actually playing drums yesterday, and it was awesome.

I should back up here and clarify the record. Just a few days ago, I wrote about my disinterest in music games, and specifically my reluctance to buy Rock Band, even though all of my gaming friends love the hell out of it. The biggest obstacle, though, was my wife; I didn't want to spend that much money if she wasn't going to play it with me, and she's always been somewhat reluctant to play those kinds of games.

But then, this past Saturday, I was at an anniversary party for some friends of mine; they had rented out a private karaoke room at this sushi place in the East Village and hooked up Guitar Hero to the projector. And as we all got into the spirit of the thing, I could see she was starting to melt a little bit.

With some minor cajoling, she gave in. And so I traded in a ton of old games and was able to procure the full Rock Band 2 package, and it only cost me about $30.

[Games I Traded In:

• Dead Rising
• Call of Duty 4
• Dirt
• Eternal Sonata
• Kameo
• Lego Indiana Jones
• Pure
• Saints Row 1
• Lego Star Wars: Complete Saga
• Rockstar Table Tennis
• Tiger Woods 09

Alternately, I probably could've just traded in my Wii, for all I use it these days. I am not a fan or supporter of the used games market, but, hey: I have no problem using it to my advantage.]

My brief time with Guitar Hero World Tour at the karaoke bar was enough to seal the deal, in terms of brand loyalty. Both GH and RB are functionally identical in terms of gameplay, but there's just something about GH that just turns me off. Maybe it's the gratuitous product placement, or maybe it's the way everything is laid out, but everything in GH just screamed out "CASH-IN". Whereas Rock Band 2 feels a lot more... I don't know... awesome. My wife and I named our band "Lilo and Two Poots" after our dogs (and their farts), and seeing the bandname on logos and posters randomly appear in the game totally cracked us up. Every once in a while we'd try a "Mystery Setlist" and we'd start playing these awesome songs that weren't yet appearing on the set list creation screen, and after every song we'd instinctively reach over and give each other a high-five.

I can't tell you how awesome that is, to be high-fiving my wife after getting 5 stars on a Jane's Addiction song.

And to think, I was planning on writing a thing about Gears of War 2 today.

State of the Console Warzzzzzzzzzzzz

Most of my most productive creative thinking comes in the shower. And during this morning's shower, I had an idea for a SFTC blogpost - taking a general lay of the land in the console war. 2008 is my first holiday season in which I have a vested interest in every console and handheld, and so I finally have as complete a sense as I'll ever have of what my options are as a consumer.

Problem is, I pretty much knew how it was going to end even before I turned off the water. And this chart of each console's attach rate pretty much speaks for itself.

Let's face it: the Wii is a joke. I knew it was a joke even though I wanted one so desperately, and now that I have it, the only time I even think about it is when the stupid Mario Kart Wheel is taking up valuable real estate on my shelving unit. The last game I was genuinely excited about for it was freakin' Boom Blox. Did I really spend $500 on a stupid Circuit City bundle for this? Is Wii Music really the big Wii holiday title? I read a quote this morning that sums it up quite well - this is from Sega's Darren Williams:

I think on one hand the Wii has become the most expensive board game on Earth - it's the kind of thing that families will play at Christmas, and probably won't play again throughout the remainder of the year.

The PS3, on the other hand, has started to come into its own. Its roster of exclusive titles is still pretty minimal, but Little Big Planet is pretty great, and I'm looking forward to trying out Resistance 2 this weekend. If nothing else, though, it is a fantastic BluRay player and I take my movie watching very seriously.

That said, LBP's troublesome online service (as well as the problems I've heard regarding SOCOM) only serve to highlight the problems with Sony's online network. Many people have talked shit about Xbox Live and how you have to pay for it when you can have it on the PS3 for free, but here's the thing: Xbox Live actually works, and when it doesn't, it gets fixed pretty goddamned quickly.

Which brings me to the 360, of course, which is in its heyday. Gears of War 2 dropped today, only a week or so after Fable 2, and the NXE arrives in 12 days. (It should be noted that the PS3's much-discussed HOME thing still hasn't arrived, and its purpose still hasn't really been clearly stated; meanwhile, the 360's dashboard is getting a complete makeover with tons of new features and everybody's getting it before Thanksgiving.) The vast majority of my gaming time is on the 360 these days, and I'm not even sure why anymore. I'd hate to think it was only because of Achievements; I'm not nearly the whore I was for them last year but I still kinda pay attention to them.

I would discuss the state of the handhelds, but it's too depressing. My PSP collects dust and my DS doesn't fare that much better.

The Greatest Villain Of Them All

Obama's victory on Tuesday has had me alternating between being euphoric and scatterbrained, both often at the same time, but life is slowly starting to return to normal - especially since I just got my confirmation e-mail letting me know that my Amazon'd copy of Gears of War 2 should arrive at my office tomorrow afternoon.

I didn't expect to be this jazzed about GoW2; frankly, I expected to be waist-deep in Fallout 3 and only put in Gears as a change of pace. But I've been getting that half-glazed look in my eye whenever I think about it, and I'm starting to foam at the mouth a little.

Anyway. This post is not about that. This post is about the forthcoming Sega Collection that's dropping in the spring. I've written a bunch of times about my fondness for the Sega Genesis, and of my memories of playing Streets of Rage and Golden Axe with my younger brother. This collection is pretty robust, and apparently there might be even more games on the disc than just the 40 listed.

One notable omission, though, is Road Rash 2. Granted, it's not a Sega first-party title, so it wouldn't be on this disc, but it's a game that I very closely associate with the Genesis. It was a motorbike racing/combat game, and my brother and I were very much obsessed with it.

In fact, here's an IM conversation I just had with my brother about it:

Jonathan: Road Rash!

i loved that game

Jeremy: what was the name of the evil opponent, who was always a pain in the ass to take down?

Victor?

Venom?

something with a V

Jonathan: Viper

Jeremy: VIPER

holy christ

Jonathan: that fucker

Jeremy: i hated that asshole

Road Rash featured whatever it was that passed for rubberbanding AI in those days, and Viper was basically the AI at its most evil. Viper was always the rider you'd be dealing with the most in the latter stages of each race; Viper would hit you with chains and knock into you and always be right on your ass, and if you ever successfully knocked him off his bike, you pretty much guaranteed yourself a stress-free cross of the finish line.

And what I love about it is that Viper had no face, no voice, no memorable lines of dialogue in the pre- and post-race flash screens, not even a discernable gender; Viper was just the AI opponent who was the biggest pain in the ass to beat, and we assigned him the worst qualities of humanity we could think of as reason enough to destroy him.

I love that even now, 20 years later, the fire of our hatred still burns for this nameless, voiceless enemy.

Fable 2 Wrap-Up

I finished Fable 2 last night. I'm not done with it, necessarily; there are still a few side quests I'd like to finish and some Achievements I'd like to pick up, but I finished the story and for all intents and purposes I am the ultimate goody-goody badass I'd set out to be. (In addition to my blue glow, I also seem to be covered in tiny flies, which is odd since I don't recall getting my character that dirty.)

It's a fun game but it's marred by some technical problems that never stopped being annoying, and the story turns out to be more generic and bland than I'd feared. The game is also pretty easy, which isn't necessarily a bad thing but I probably would've enjoyed a bit more challenge. I was able to buy what appear to be the most powerful weapons in the game pretty early on, and so I pretty much mowed through everything without too much trouble.

The game is most certainly NOT revolutionary, regardless of what Peter Molyneux says. Almost every game worth its salt features moral choices these days, and many of them look prettier and load less frequently. I did not fall in love with my dog, as much as I wanted to; in fact, the dog started to get annoying. I'd gotten my dog to be a level 5 treasure hunter, and so I wouldn't be able to move more than 10 feet without my dog barking about something stupid in the other direction. Certainly I would feel bad after a big fight when my dog would be whimpering and limping, but - again - the technical problems in the game would make it difficult for the controller to register that I was hitting the button to heal my dog, and so it became a bit of a pain in the ass: "Hey, dog, I'm healing you! You're right in front of me and I'm healing you and it's NOT WORKING."

I'm glad it's out of the way, at the very least; I'm still a little intimidated by Fallout 3 but I'd like to get back into Saints Row a little bit more before Gears drops on Friday.

Rock Band: Beatles

The big news this morning is of the new Beatles music game, currently slated for a Holiday 2009 release.

During a teleconference being held by Apple Corps, Ltd and MTV this morning, the two companies, along with Harmonix, announced an exclusive partnership to create a brand new video game featuring the music of the Beatles. This seems to be a new game that will allow friends and families to experience the music of the band in an all new way.

Other than a brief mention of Rock Band during the teleconference, so far no mention has been made of the band's songs coming to Rock Band or Rock Band 2. In fact, Harmonix's Alex Rigopolis stated during the call that this is not a Rock Band expansion pack, but an all-new game title built from the ground up.

The game will be a journey that will take you through the entire Beatles catalog, from the first album to the last. There will be an interactive music performance involved using music controller peripherals, but they stress that the game is not a Rock Band title. Visual exploration of the Beatles will be a big part of the game, though they were not prepared to discuss more on that at this time.

I've got a lot to say about music games, most of which I've probably already said a million times before. I've been playing music since I was about 3; my parents were both musicians and I can't really remember not playing music. (My parents were classical musicians, though, and so they had a pretty big influence over the music I listened to when I grew up; they weren't very keen on rock music. One thing we could all agree on, however, was The Beatles, and how awesome they were.)

Anyway. My point is that, as an actual musician, the Guitar Hero / Rock Band games don't necessarily appeal to me; I already have real guitars, and my personal aesthetic when it comes to music is not on shredding ability but songcraft and arrangement. What I liked about Guitar Hero 2 (my first dabbling in this genre) was the song selection, and specifically how they deconstructed the guitar parts so you could really get inside the part and see how it interacted with the song as a whole. And on the flipside, my biggest frustration with Guitar Hero 3 (well, one of many) was that I would fail songs (on Medium difficulty) that I could actually play, on a real guitar; the emphasis was on shredding, not on feeling like you were part of a band. (The other big frustration were the boss battles, which were totally fucking ridiculous. If I were actually on a stage and engaged in a real guitar duel, and my opponent came over and detuned my guitar while I was playing, or futzed around with my amp, I would punch my opponent in the face and then take their guitar and break it over their head.)

I've never played Rock Band 1 or 2, mostly because (a) I don't really feel like I need to, and (b) they're expensive and I don't necessarily have the real estate in my apartment to house them. But I've certainly wanted to play them; the RB games have a far better selection of songs than the post-Harmonix Guitar Hero games do, in my opinion, and from my perspective, song selection is pretty much the most important issue in this genre.

Which is why a Harmonix-produced Beatles game is so fascinating to me. I know the Beatles catalog pretty much inside and out - well, certainly for everything from Rubber Soul onwards - and none of those songs are terribly difficult to play; George was not a shredder, and Ringo was, well, Ringo. So the appeal of playing a Beatles-themed music game can't be about racking up zillions of points; instead, the appeal is that almost everybody has an intrinsic knowledge of at least a few Beatles songs, and that being able to play them - being able to get inside of them, subconsciously absorbing how the songs are constructed and arranged - is an experience that, until now, not many people have ever really thought about besides music nerds.

My biggest question, then, is what they're going to do about the keyboards and crazy sounds. Once the Beatles started smoking pot, going to India, and hanging out with Bob Dylan, everything changed, and I mean everything; they stopped writing catchy pop songs and instead starting breaking down boundaries that nobody had even conceived before. How are you going to play "Hey Jude" or "Let it Be" without a piano? Better yet, how are you going to play "A Day in the Life" without an orchestra? Or "I Am the Walrus" without inhaling a sheet of LSD? Will there be a George Martin mini-game, where you have to build all sorts of crazy shit in order to capture the sounds that John Lennon wants to be able to hear when you're trying to play "Tomorrow Never Knows"?