I’ve been kind of mum on this game since Apple Corps, MTV, and Harmonix announced their exclusive partnership to create it.  I knew that they would treat the game with care and it obviously shows from the looks of this trailer.  The only question is how willing would I be to shell out more dough for more fake plastic instruments to litter my apartment?  The answer is not willing at all.  Though, I wouldn’t mind having that Hofner bass!  Hear that Harmonix?  Send it to me!

Last month the announcement had been made concerning the Norwegian duo Röyksopp and the release of forthcoming record titled Junior.  Well, we also had a chance to listen to a track from the new album called “Happy Up Here,” which happened to be one of the catchiest songs I had yet to hear so far to kick off 2009.

The video for the single recently premiered and featured a very iconic image (well, if you play video games that is): The pixelated aliens from Space Invaders!  Reason enough to post just for that, but the video is actually quite good as well.  Maybe Phoenix’s video for “1901″ will feature Pac-man or Galaga in retaliation.

MP3: Röyksopp :: “Happy Up Here”
MP3: Röyksopp :: “Happy Up Here (Boyz Noize Remix)”

One of my favorite things to watch while I was at work from week to week was The 1UP Show, and when it was announced that the brilliant people behind the show weren’t brought on to continue when the UGO purchase of 1UP occurred — well, it definitely was a very sad moment for many, including myself.

Keeping up with all of the new endeavors that these ex-EGM/1UP staff members are embarking on is almost like keeping up with a distant family member or something.  They were a special group of individuals, who brought a unique and satisfying approach to video game journalism.

In the case of The 1UP Show, the producers behind it have premiered an episode of their new show called “CO-OP,” along with their new production company’s website, Area 5.  You can subscribe to it on YouTube if you enjoy what you like.  Though, plans have yet to be cemented as to whether or not this will continue as subscription-based or just a free download.

You can watch the first of the two-part episode above where many 1UP alumni gathered to discuss their favorite games of 2008.

Through the use of Twitter, i’ve also managed to find out that other ex-EGM/1UP staff have also created their own podcasts — “Rebel FM” and “Geekbox” — both of which have ignited the iTunes podcast charts since their respective debuts.  It’s great to see these guys continue to on, and as a gamer, I will continue to follow whatever these guys do.

8:05: Well, looks to be the end. Had a lot of fun checking out the game. I’m pretty sure noone was visiting the site during this, but that’s okay! Cheers to the guys at 1UP for streaming this to everyone. I think they’ll post the recording sometime this week as well, so i’ll post that on this page whenever that happens.

8:02: The most boring match of the night. This is how 90% of people really play Street Fighter.

7:58: I think Abel is the last of the brand new characters. Kinda bummed that this whole thing was only an hour. Would love to see more.

7:54: Oh my soul, that Rufus character is so awful. I’m seriously cracking up here. I wonder how the hit box works on his stomach.

7:51: This Ryu vs Ken thing is getting boring. Someone play Zangief or Dhalsim. You know what else would be awesome? If they brought back those little mini games in between where you beat up the car and smash barrels!

7:47: What in the world is that level they’re playing. It’s either an evil laboratory or some weird rave.

7:44: C. Viper, another new character. Never really liked her design, though. Seem to fit more in a SNK game than Street Fighter.

7:39: It’s nice to see most of the ex-1UP staff there playing. Especially after all that went on with UGO buying the company. Working at EGM/1UP used to be a dream job of mine

7:37: Shane is providing a convincing argument to learn how to play Rose. I never really learned to play many of the Alpha characters.

7:30: EL Fuerte — didn’t see one special move, outside of that throw. Looks like he moves quick, but also seems to play kinda lame.

7:28: Nice, one of the brand new characters. Never seen a good Balrog player before either.

7:23: We have a Dan appearance! The worst character ever. Cammy is right up there too in my opinion.

7:21: M. Bison used to be so broken when they let the boss characters playable in Championship Edition. Psycho Crusher spam, so lame.

7:20: Richard Li vs. Greg Ford — gonna be a good match. Use some different characters please!

7:17: Hah! A rematch! Guile was pretty much the first character I learned to play. That’s not a positive thing because Guile was pretty terrible in the hands of a complete nub. I remember getting my ass kicked by someone playing Ken and I tried to be a badass and leave the game even though I wasn’t dead yet. Didn’t save face at all.

7:15: I’d really like them to use focus ability more, now that the parry mechanic has pretty much been removed. I’ve read that it can deflect fireballs too.

7:13: Nice job Greg Ford with Ryu! That guy playing Ken was kicking ass. It’s nice to watch experienced people play.

7:10: Animation looks so smooth, not as fast as SFII Turbo, but that’s fine with me. Hope this bring all the casuals back.

7:07: Ken vs Ken — I expect to see a lot of people using Ken, he’s just universal favorite.

7:05: Look how much of the screen the fireball animation takes up. Keeping distance with them is going to be huge.

7:03: It’s starting! got a huge glass of orange juice to drink during this. Hopefully someone is watching this too on the blog. Let me know!

Update #2: Bringing this post back up to the top as 1UP will finally be showing this tonight! Stick to this screen at 5 p.m. pst, as I will definitely be live blogging during their live stream. Feel free to discuss in the comments section during this as well.

Update: Apparently it’s been postponed. No word when it will be rescheduled. Bummer. It also appears that 1UP has been sold to UGO Entertainment. R.I.P. EGM, very sad day.

Just reminding folks that we do in fact talk about video games here on TYS from time to time.  If you consider yourself a gamer, and played video games from the early 90’s onward, than you should at least know the name of Street Fighter II. In a few hours, 1UP.com will have their first game night of 2009, kicking things off with a live stream of the latest iteration of Capcom’s legendary fighting game, Street Fighter IV.

I’ll be keeping my eyes glued to this one for the entire duration, so i’m going to embed the video stream here on the blog.  I may even live blog during it if enough people who read this site are interested in discussing it in comments and such.

Here’s the lowdown of information from 1UP, including a segment of the last episode of the 1UP show from last month:

1UP’s Game Night: Street Fighter 4
Time: Tuesday, January 13, 2009, 5 p.m. PST

And we’re continuing our SF4 coverage into the new year by playing it on the first Game Night of 2009, streaming live on January 6, 2009 at 5 p.m. PST. We’ll show you the features exclusive to the console versions, including new stages and new characters Rose, Dan, Gen, Sakura, and Fei Long.

Heard about Titan Studios’ Fat Princess last summer, and really dug the simplistic art style for this capture-the-flag style type of gameplay. As evident by the title, you’re not capturing any kind of flag, but an obese regal woman. It pits two 16-player squads against each other, while also infusing elements of real-time strategy (Command & Conquer), team-based multiplayer (Team Fortress 2), and good old-fashioned top-down action-RPGs (think Zelda: Link to the Past).

Soon after the game was announced, a bit of controversy appeared surrounding the titular character of the game, as feminists groups were none to pleased with the idea of saving an overweight woman. It’s part of the gameplay as her captors are tasked with feeding her cake found throughout the level, which in turn makes her difficult to move. Definitely a topic I would not rather touch, but it’s a debate that has been out there in the open over the past six months.

via Playstation.com
Frantic and fun, Fat Princess pits two hordes of players against each other in comic medieval battle royale. Your goal is to rescue your beloved princess from the enemy dungeon. There’s a catch though: your adversary has been stuffing her with food to fatten her up and it’s going to take most of your army working together to carry her back across the battlefield.

Personally, I think the game looks like a lot of fun regardless, and it’s definitely the shot in the arm that the PS3 needs to start off the new year. I’ll be quite honest, I rarely play my PS3 at all outside of playing DVDs I get from Netflix. I still love playing video games, but I won’t go rushing to play everything that comes down the pipe anymore. You can check out some recently released gameplay videos that gives a nice glimpse into what this hybrid game is all about.

MP3: The Mountain Goats & Kaki King :: “Thank You Mario, But Our Princess Is In Another Castle”

After Kotaku’s news yesterday of a big announcement coming from Apple Corps and MTV of an “exclusive agreement to develop a global music project,” I was prepared to jump into this post praising the music gods that The Beatles were going to be making its way to Rock Band 2 at some point.  Well, it’s not quite a Rock Band 2 announcement as I would’ve hoped, as another Kotaku article has gone up today in regards to a teleconference that was held between Apple Corps, MTV, and Harmonix that announced an exclusive partnership to create an all-new video game built from the ground up that would feature music from the Beatles.

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’m not sure what to think of this personally, as on one hand I can understand how much of a landmark deal this is considering how difficult it has been with licensing the Beatles’ music.  I mean, you still can’t even buy their music on iTunes!  On the other hand, I honestly don’t like the idea of a stand-alone Beatles game.  Guitar Hero already implements this with such bands as Aerosmith and Metallica, and besides my complete disinterest in either of those bands, you’re really limiting the amount of people that would want play, even with such a juggernaut as the Beatles.

There’s still a glimmer of hope for Rock Band, though, as the article mentions that no one was prepared to discuss Beatles music coming to the game, but they also didn’t flat out say it wasn’t either.

What do you folks think about this?  First the Beatles, now what?  The Polyphonic Spree?!

*sigh* only in my dreams…

It’s been a long time since i’ve mentioned anything video game related here on the blog, but frankly, since the day I traded in my Xbox 360 for a PS3, I haven’t played anything in months.  That’s all about to change as this month brings forth both Rock Band 2 and LittleBigPlanet to the console.  I’ve been a huge supporter of Rock Band since it’s inception, so there’s nothing really to add about that, but everything i’ve seen of LittleBigPlanet has me foaming at the mouth.

The game’s promise of limitless customization offers nearly endless possibilities of gameplay, and i’m sure everyone will want their very own Sackboy and Sackgirl toy.  LittleBigPlanet can’t possibly get here soon enough, just watch these videos below to prove my point.

Read the rest of this entry »

For those that haven’t been playing Rock Band much (like myself), you’ll be pleased to know that Harmonix finally came through on their promise of full-album downloads this past April, starting with Judas Priest’s Screaming for Vengeance. The plan seems to be one entire album per month, as May introduced The Cars’ 1978 self-titled debut record. That’s all fine and dandy, but June brings upon us an album that just guarantees the dusting off of my faux instruments in anticipation. According to IGN, The Pixies’ classic 1989 album, Doolittle, will be available to the masses during the week of June 24.

Considering the game came packaged with “Wave of Mutilation,” I was secretly hoping that we would eventually get some kind of full album from the band. Prices for Xbox live will be 1520 Microsoft Points ($19) for the entire album, or individual songs which will be priced at 160 Microsoft Points ($2). That price may be a bit high, but considering I was paying nearly $21 for a CD five years ago, this isn’t exactly a hard price for me to swallow. Here’s the list of tracks below, along with a couple of MP3s to sample for yourself.

“Crackity Jones”
“Dead”
“Debaser”
“Gouge Away”
MP3: “Here Comes Your Man”
“Hey”
“I Bleed”
“La la Love You”
MP3: “Monkey Gone To Heaven”
“Mr Grieves”
“No 13 Baby”
“Silver”
“Tame”
“There Goes My Gun”

This is a really fantastic Zelda video that i’ve been meaning to post, but just never got around to doing so. It’s a bit rough, though obviously done with care as the combination of Zelda, legos and stop-motion animation is just a lovely sight to behold. No doubt that a lot of time was put into this. It hits most of the classic trademarks, like the iron boots and the hookshot, except for the fact that Link suddenly becomes a righty after he comes out of the water. If you were wondering about the excellent choice in music during the video, it’s from an orchestral soundtrack of Ocarina of Time. Alright, back to lazy Sunday afternoon napping for me!

There’s been a void left unfilled in my gaming since the purchase of my Xbox 360. That being the complete lack of Japanese RPGs on the console. I’ve had Lost Odyssey on my list since it’s announcement, and despite all the negative press the game has garnered, I’m still remain a bit optimistic that it won’t be complete rubbish. I mean come’on, we’re talking about a RPG from Hironobu Sakaguchi, the father of Final Fantasy. It has to be at least decent right? That being said, Blue Dragon was pretty terrible….so who knows.

Now, this trailer for Lost Odyssey….what the fuck. I’ve seen this commercial about fifty times now, as the marketing push for this game seems to be something fierce. My first reaction towards it had absolutely nothing to do with the actual game that’s shown during the trailer. Don’t get me wrong, it looks beautiful and the editing is top-notch, but I couldn’t get over the fact that I was actually hearing Jefferson Airplane’s “White Rabbit” blaring over it.

At first, I didn’t think the song made much sense to include with the commercial. But after being beat over the head with seeing this many more times; it’s actually kind of refreshing. Normally, some really lame J-pop song would be attached to this, which would induce lots of groans from myself. I wonder if the trailer happens to be anymore appealing to the general viewer because of this song. Whoever the marketing guru is that decided to put this song in the commercial, he/she certainly has some balls.

“White Rabbit” :: Jefferson Airplane

“White Rabbit” (Jefferson Airplane Cover) :: My Morning Jacket