So it’s Friday… and you’re sitting in your cubicle staring at the clock or your MySpace page or the ceiling… pretty much anything other than the work your supposed to be doing. You know what you need? Video game inspired music. Yep. Here Comes a New Challenger from GameMusic4All is going to get you through to the weekend. Here’s the scoop:
Here Comes a New Challenger is an album looking to create bridges and close gaps between the many varied but all incredibly talented areas of Video Game Inspired Music. From nerdcore, to chiptune, to VG rock, and even folk, rap, and remixing. Every song on this album combines two or more musicians, some of which never even heard of one another before this album. All these artists are influenced by many different things, but all come together for their love of video games. On this compilation we show that video game inspired music is diverse, strong, and of course, musically entertaining.
You can download the album for free here, but if you’ve got a few bucks, show some love by donating some cash to the cause. The download gets you 22 (!!!) AWESOME songs, album art and lyrics. I’m so excited to listen to this and find all these artists I’d never heard before. Favorite track? F-Bombs and 1-Ups FTW.
Man… I’ve been crazy busy and haven’t posted doodly squat/checked my blog comments this week. So when I logged in today, I had like 72,000 spam comments (ok maybe 17). WTF is it with these spammers anyway? And when did they get a conscience? At the top of about 5 of the comments, I saw some variation of this message:
I deeply apologize for this spam.
But here you REALLY can buy the lowest price (insert drug name here)!!!
I liked the service as well.
WTF?! You deeply apologize for this spam? Then fuck off, dude! Don’t post it! I moderate all my comments before they get posted on my site unless you have an account set up - so the only person these spammers are reaching is ME. I don’t want tramadol! I don’t need a penis enlargement! I have no desire to see old grannies doing nasty things.
What I DO want is to talk about how FRIKKIN AWESOME GTAIV multiplayer is. I finally had a chance to play with some friends over the weekend (not just some random emeffers) and dude… it was incredible. I have NEVER laughed so hard while playing a video game in my frikkin life. We had a scooter race. We raced boats. We rescued a boss together and tried to blow up a boat. Best time? Cops and Robbers multiplayer. You can set up the game however you want… 6 robbers/1 cop… 3 robbers/3 cops… whatever. The objective for the robbers is to escape and the cops are trying to stop you. OMG. SO. MUCH. FUN. The first round, I was one of 3 robbers… and all 3 of us looked like we were 87 years old. We were laughing so hard it was difficult to play. We called ourselves the “Old Man Brigade” and stole a mini van to get away. We joked about everything from being late for the Early Bird Special at Luby’s to breaking hips… my face started hurting from smiling. I think I even snorted a few times. I can’t wait to play again! There are TONS of multiplayer games to start and within each type of game are even more options. There really is something for everyone. I <3 GTAIV.
So… I started the GTA4 disc with the idea that you’d be able to start a multiplayer challenge right away. Instead I got the intro movie (which was very well done and awesome BTW) but instead the game just started up automatically. You are Nikko. Niko? Whatever. You’ve got this cousin who is a total douchebag named Roman and he’s constantly demanding that you bail him out of trouble. The best part is that you don’t have to. A couple of times already I’ve chosen “titties” over him. Which is badass. So anyway, I got this invite through my Xbox Live email to join a multiplayer game. YAY! So I join, but the problem is - the guys playing are more interested in snagging a helicopter and flying around than they are at actually playing a GAME. That’s okay, I suppose, as long as you are ALSO interested in learning the multiplayer dynamics - which I got the impression they were NOT. “Hey! I can come pick you up in my helicopter and show you some crazy shit, yo!” is not impressive to me. If you are interested in ACTUALLY playing the game, PLEASE send me an invite, I’m down. But if you are only sending me an invite to “show the cool jumps you can make in this car” - don’t bother.
I just picked up my copy of GTAIV. It’s still wrapped in the ridiculously hard to remove shrink wrap and sitting in front of my keyboard. I pre-ordered my copy from Lackluster (I know, I know…) and on Saturday, when I placed the order, they asked “Do you want the Special Edition or the regular one?” I asked “What’s the difference?” They said “Oh, you get a duffel bag or something… It’s twenty bucks more.” Having looked at my bank account about an hour earlier and knowing I didn’t even really have the $60 to spend on the actual game, I wimped out and went for the regular one. Today, I started thinking, “Game Dame, you are an idiot. You have been waiting a ridiculously long time for this game and you should jump at the chance to get GTAIV swag.” So I decided that when I went to pick it up, I’d act like I’d ordered the Special Edition and see if I could get away with it.
I went in and plopped my card on the counter. “I’m here to pick up my Special Edition pre-order of GTAIV.” The manager looked confused. But she normally looked confused, so I didn’t worry too much. “Hrm… uh… special edition for the 360? You sure?” “Absolutely.” I lied. She looked through some boxes. “Well, I only got one special edition order, and they just picked it up…” I acted shocked. “Seriously? No WAY! You… you sure??” I made her look through 5 or 6 more boxes while I kept my fingers crossed. “Yeah, here’s your copy right here.” BLAST!!! I was screwed. But at least I tried to go for gold, right? I settled for my plain Jane copy and got a framed picture I will proudly display in my cube tomorrow.
The drive back home seemed extra long. I hit every red light. Got stuck behind every Grandma in a Caddy that lives in Dallas… but I finally made it. And now, it’s time to open the package up…
DAMN YOU, SECURITY SEAL!!!! Where’s my xacto??
Yessss… I’m in. Aw mannnn…. I was REALLY hoping for a GTAIV sticker. Bet the Special Edition people get one. Dammit. Oh well, still retardulously excited about the whole thing. Alright… time to see what this multiplayer is all about. I’ll be online in about 20 if you’ve got GTAIV and want to find me.
OK, I think it’s a pretty widely accepted fact that my nerdiness goes way back. I mean WAAAY back to games like Math Blaster and Typing Tutor. Mom and Dad were always fans of the educational games when I was growing up, and I didn’t complain. I loved ‘em. Today, I got a little blast from the past mixed with some modern goodness when my friend Mike sent me the link to Type Racer.
I could’ve bookmarked it and played it later, but the name itself was too intriguing. Could it be? A moderinized Typing Tutor. Oh yes… and then some. I actually had permission to leave work a little early today, but instead, I stayed here over an hour past cut time playing this damned game. I can’t stop. It’s just… so good.
If you ever played typing tutor games in the past, this one follows the same formula:
Type as fast as you can.
Don’t screw up or you can’t go to the next word without fixing your typo(s).
Improve your average WPM (words per minute.)
But it throws in a couple of new elements: competing against random players on the Type Racer site OR friends through an app you can stick in your Orkut, Hi5 or MySpace account PLUS amazing passages. I typed quotes from Pulp Fiction, Snatch, A Clockwork Orange, Naked Lunch, Blade Runner and a couple of good songs from U2. SO… not only are you racing against others in real time to get the highest WPM, you’re going “DAMMIT DAMMIT DAMMIT, what’s this quote from! I KNOW I know it!!!!” (It doesn’t reveal where the quote is from until the race is complete.)
SO… go play this game… then see if you can beat my mad typing skillz.
She’s 10 years old and she’s a one girl band who rocks Carry On Wayward Son. The audience doesn’t give her much applause at the end, which is totally not fair. So I’m going to post her here and give her some props. You go gurl.
When she's not busy blowing the heads off of enemies to get to the next level, she's usually playing video games.
