Archive for the ‘Music’ Category

There are times when people pull insane stunts in multiplayer and make me feel like a 90-year old impotent, senile loser, me playing the way I play (which isn’t too bad, but its no monster kill streak) and them doing stuff that I thought was damn near impossible. And then there’s Chris Chike (known in the legendary Guitar Hero III circles as Iamchris4life) who make me feel even worse, if such a thing is even possible.

The teen, known for setting a GH3 Guinness World Record of 840,647 points, on what is unarguably the hardest, damndest song in the game, “Through the fire and the flames”, has now managed to beat his own record - this time, scoring a perfect 100% on the song on Expert, earning 987,786 points and an obscene, heart-attack-inducing, finger-stiffening 3722 note streak. As if that wasn’t enough to make you (and me) hide under the nearest rock for the next billion, billion years, he’s gone ahead and recorded the whole thing on video, so you can now commit seppuku with your guitar controller and end the pain once and for all. That is, after your eyeballs pop out of their sockets and start behaving like bouncy balls.

Talking about the video, which is one of the most viewed videos on YouTube (with over 1.6 million views and still counting.. fast), Chris has said:

I was almost in shock when I finished the song and had hit the 100%-I am so glad I caught it on video or even I wouldn’t have believed it happened. It feels great to have accomplished it, and it is exciting to see so many people online watching me get a perfect score on the hardest song in the game.

Which I suppose explains the two loud swears I heard at the end - the one in the video itself, and the louder, more profane one escaping my own mouth as the unreality of what I’d just seen set in. Go ahead, watch the video and meet me back at my place so we can all emulate Heaven’s Gate. Gamer-style, of course.

Bah, too much hate going around lately. But like an every-so-often intoxicated Robbie Williams once said, “Let love be your energy.” Nothing better to loosen up with the recently released soundtrack to whats easily the best original side-scrolling 2D beat ‘em up since the days of Guardian Heroes and Mischief Makers. Yes friends, Noitu Love 2’s got the groovy beats to keep this mangy mofo from vindicating through extreme hyper-ventilation. And I don’t even need no stinkin’ paper bag.

.. Anywho! Scroll all the way down to find the appropriate link. Stick these in your AudioSurf playlist, and let the good times roll.

Many moons ago, EA Amplify (a music community-driven portal hosted by the big-name game publishers of the same initials) held an artist talent search for the Asian Pacific region, including countries such as Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Singapore, South Africa, China, and of course, India. That was all the way back in 2007. But just a month ago (after sorting through no less than 619 bands), the winners were announced and Indian music group CYANIDE got the top honors. They’ll be offered an exclusive contract with EA and Sony BMG, and will get the chance to work on upcoming projects from either companies’ side. Not bad for a group who entered the contest on a whim! Hit the jump, as we have a small chat with lead vocalist and guitarist Rohan Solomon on their recent winnings.

(more…)

Now that I have your attention…

I’d like to make it absolutely clear that I do not hate Guitar Hero 3. Nor GH1 or GH2. In fact, Guitar Hero is probably one of the best games out there that money can buy. Enjoy the game alone or get together with a bunch of friends. Drunk ones are better. But the game is quite literally for everyone - at any time, at any age.

But what’s got me pissed off, is that while Guitar Hero 3 for the PC is a good game you can invest your hard earned cash into, it’s also something that pretty much asks you to reinvent the wheel and buy a new guitar controller! Now while this may sound retarded (how are you supposed to play the game without a guitar!!? I hear ya), it’s just a tad insensitive towards the good folks who have Guitar Hero 1/2 and their controllers. Why on earth would I want to buy 2 guitar controllers for 2 different systems!? Sure, the 360 is a different story, but for the poor saps who want to enjoy the game on the PC - there is no hope. You MUST buy the controller.

Now here’s my problem - I’m not a cheap bastard. Well, OK, so I am. But the game ought to respect the fact that if I’m plugging in my PS2 GH controller via a USB connector, it better recognize it! But no! So if you can’t afford a second controller, you play with the effin’ keyboard!

The question really is - why couldn’t Neversoft or Aspyr build in support for a GH PS2 controller via USB? It’s no big deal - I mean Frets on Fire can do it, right? So the only other way you can get around this is by installing a program such as Pinnacle Game Profiler or something similar. Go through the pain of mapping each key to the buttons. Get humiliated because of the obvious lag for the game to pick up the controls and the ultimate realization that there is no whammy bar support! It sucks.

I wish game companies learnt a lesson or two from the Indie scene. Low budgets give us great games or at least a flawless gameplay experience. Sadly, with all it’s good looks, (crap songs), mega endorsements and hi-res models, Guitar Hero 3 for the PC has left me with a bitter aftertaste. I don’t want to buy it for a console because I have GH1 & GH2. I don’t want to buy a new controller because I have one. One that can work, if supported.

I want to uninstall the game and ask for a refund. Goddamn. Frets on Fire is better.

Looks like the Scots are putting their own unique spin on the gaming world. After awarding the first Unreal Tournament III world record, the folks over at the Guinness World Records are now coming out with the Guinness World Records Gamers Edition 2008 on February 8th, 2008. Meant to be a collection of astounding videogame-related records, the book will carry detailed profiles on the best videogames ever made, interviews with record holders and a ton of awesome trivia that should prove to other people how big a videogame nerd you are - like knowing, for example, that Faiz Chopdat has served the “Longest Prison Sentence For Playing A Computer Game” after refusing to turn off his Tetris game while on board an airplane and instantly becoming my lord and master.

But wait, that’s not all, if you’ve been boasting all your life about kicking ass in Guitar Hero, here’s your chance to put your money where your mouth is by taking part in the very first Highest Scorer on Guitar Hero World Record attempt. All you gotta do is cosplay like your favorite guitar hero and end up on February 6th, 2008 at Paris, London, New York, Toronto, Los Angeles or Australia and prove you’ve got what it takes to to be the best damned GH player in the world. According to the official rules:

Players will rock in pairs to one song before passing on to the next Guitar Hero, with just 15 seconds changeover between jams! Paris will kick off proceedings followed by the London, New York, Toronto, LA and Sydney. Players will also be given the chance to form a group and compete for the highest score set by a 6 people playing one guitar, with each person allocated a key and the strum bar to play!

I suppose if you suck at that, you could try showing the world how you’re the best when it comes to 100%-ing every song on Expert with the standard Xbox 360 controller… and then get fed through a straw for the rest of your life…

Everybody seems to be celebrating this time of the year. Except us, of course, who’re working harder than ever on the Game of the Year awards and getting those awesome prizes out to you guys. But it looks like the Valve team wants to wish us a very Orange-y Christmas this year, especially if you look at the nice little security camera footage that’s being aired from inside the secret Aperture Science Holiday Vault - complete with the Gnome, the Weighted Companion Cube (aww!), the cake, lots of supply crates and a cute little turret hiding near them all, just begging you to go for the cake.

You can watch the video online here, or download the Flash Video file (Flash Player required) straight off our site here.

Download Aperture Science Holiday Vault 07 Surveillance Video (FLV/20.5 MB)

And that’s not all, you can also buy the official Orange Box OST off the Valve Store now, with great music from Episode Two, Team Fortress 2 and Portal, along with a special version of “Still Alive” by songwriter Johnathan Coulton and singer Ellen McLain, which isn’t available anywhere else. Or if you want to spend just on your games, they’ve even got the greatest holiday promotion going where you can pick up great games at 10% to 50% off their usual prices. Good tidings for everyone!

Okay, seriously. The one single word that came to mind when I saw this track listing was “w00t”! This has easily got to be one of the best track listings for a game and any game that features a song by Killswitch Engage absolutely must deserve props.

The EA website has confirmed today that some of the tracks included on the new Burnout game include “My Curse” by Killswitch Engage, GNR’s “Paradise City” (how convenient!), Seether’s “Fake It” and Jane’s Addition’s “Stop!” as some of the tracks that will be featured in the game.

FINALLY!!

(more…)