I hope your week has been treating you well. As I've said week after week my favorite thing about Audio File Friday is getting to getting the chance to showcase as wide a variety of musical genres as possible. When I started this feature nearly a year ago I never thought that I'd find even half of the music I have. But through it all one of my favorite things to see is still a full orchestra going to town on the classics.
Groups like Team Hideo and the Video Game Music Choir have taken steps to bring their fresh take on gaming music arrangements to new audiences. What a challenge it is, though, to put together such grand performances. Especially when the necessary sheet music is hard to come by.
This week I'll be taking a look at the multi-talented Mr Trent and his spectacular gaming arrangements. Somebody give this guy his own personal orchestra to conduct, because he could definitely use one.
When I was but a wee Swede, the arcades were where the cool (and not so cool alike) kids went to mingle, drink copious amounts of caffeinated beverages, and of course, lay waste to one another in the latest fighting game. I gave them all a go: Killer Instinct was the visual marvel of its day; Samurai Showdown caused me to fall madly in love with SNK, and indeed, I even pumped quarter after quarter into the positively asinine Primal Rage - mainly on account of the fact that it featured a murderous dinosaur that shot fire, and despite my childhood aversion to the typical "masculine" mold, the Y chromosome compelled me to find anything involving dinosaurs, fire, or the joining of the twain, utterly irresistible.
Yet there was a schism between the two most popular games of the day: Street Fighter II and Mortal Kombat. Typically you picked one crowd or the other, and while I had a passing appreciation for the former - though it will always remain in my memory as "Chun-Li and some other d**chebags that aren't Chun-Li" - I tended toward its more grisly counterpart.
So for those in my camp, or those who don't feel the need to be stupidly partisan when it comes to video games (for the record, I actually do enjoy the Street Fighter Series), you can take a little trip down nostalgia lane with Mortal Kombat: Arcade Kollection, which features the first three games in the series. While available to PS3 and 360 owners since August, Steam is now selling bundle for $8.49 - 15% off the normal price of $9.99. It's one of those things that causes me to entertain the notion of buying a controller for my PC, given that when it comes to fighting games, keyboard controls are rather, shall we say, unpleasant. Still, for those who don't mind - or those who already have a USB controller for their internet machine - check out Mortal Kombat: Arcade Kollection at this link!
You guys like quirky puzzle games starring the recently dead which document their attempts to discover the truth about themselves while also saving the still living, right? Of course you do, which is why Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective came to iOS today. Just for you.
Starring the freshly murdered Sissel, players guide the spirit through an investigative adventure, attempting to unravel the mystery of his death with the help of a living girl, Lynne. Unfortunately, everyone around Sissel has a tendency to die, most of all Lynne, so his ghostly abilities of object possession and time travel are needed to steer them in the right direction.
Created by Capcom and lead by Shu Takumi, the guy responsible for the Ace Attorney series, Ghost Trick was promptly ignored in sales when it first released in January 2011. Fortunately, this spunky standout in the Nintendo DS library refused to die quietly (pun intended, yes) and now haunts the App Store in both trial and full versions. $9.99 for a full priced DS game shouldn't be overlooked, especially when the game was a hidden gem of last year.
In the history of PC gaming, The 7th Guest and The 11th Hour are renowned for being landmark titles, and they're two adventure games that I regret never playing. Well, all that is about to change, because those two classics of videogame horror are going to be coming to GOG.com in the near future!
"Trilobyte games will be always recognized by the tense atmosphere, solid brain-teasers, great cinematic sequences, and orchestrated music," said managing director Guillaume Rambourg. "The 7th Guest and 11th Hour are a splendid addition to GOG.com catalog and we're thrilled that they've finally taken their place on the ever-growing list of great games available through our service."
Trylobyte's 7th Guest and 11th Hour are both full of live-action video, pre-rendered 3D graphics and music scores that simply couldn't be contained on the usual floppy discs, and had to be distributed on the newfangled CD-ROM format. Of course, now you'll be able to simply be able to go over to GOG.com and download them in minutes for just $9.99. I just wish they had a release date more specific than "in the near future!"
I thought that the Nintendo Zone was a great addition to the 3DS system, what with the offers of free videos and whatnot to promote games. But the thing is, you actually have to go somewhere where you can activate it. It won't work from your home internet connection. I've had my 3DS alert me that it's available when I'm passing through the 14th Street subway station, but I'm not about to hop off the train just to check it out! And I don't like coffee, so I've never gone to hang out in a Starbucks to explore it either. But I keep meaning to, because I honestly have no idea what the Nintendo Zone actually contains.
Well, it's about to contain a whole lot more, because Nintendo has just announced that they're adding some new content to the Zone. Starting February 6, they're going to add playable demos of Nintendo 3DS games and a dedicated Pokémon section that will feature news and information about the games as well as full-length episodes of the Pokémon TV series!
Nintendo Zone is available in over 29,000 locations at restaurants, coffee shops, hotels, airports (I love the fact that my 3DS will give me internet access at airports for free!) and malls all over the US and Canada, so I honestly have no excuse not to check it out except that I'm exceptionally lazy!
As fellow travelers on the great cyber-plane know, there's some well-warranted annoyance at the thought of identical pricing for both physical and digital copies of video games. It's a simple notion: With the costs of manufacturing, shipping, and printing eliminated, savings should be passed on to the consumer. After all, the refrain "costs will be passed along to the consumer" is echoed every time something threatens a company's bottom line (i.e. taxes and non-prison labor), and as a matter of fairness (hold your chuckling), the corporate world should reward lower-cost customers with lower prices.
Luckily, this has come to pass in Japan, where digital downloads of Vita titles are roughly $10 cheaper than their rectangular, physical counterparts. Now, it seems that those of us on this side of the pond shall share in the spoils of Capital. Game Informer recently quoted an SCEA representative, who confirmed that "there will be a discount," on digital downloads; however, the representative refused to give an exact price, stating only that details are forthcoming.
I've always had a love-hate relationship with this "downloadable" bother: On the one hand, I like the idea of the PSN having all my games backed up; unfortunately, retrieving said games becomes somewhat of an ordeal, given the time spent downloading said title - call me old fashioned, but I enjoy the simple task of popping a game into my console - and limited space, particularly Vita games being quite a bit larger than their PSP counterparts.
So what do you think, gamers? Does the prospect of a discount make you any more inclined (assuming you're presently disinclined) to go the digital download route, or will you, like your humble and obedient servant, stick with your old man ways (seriously, get the f**k off my lawn) and resists the charms of Lady Modernity? Sound off in the comments section below!
Nintendo previously bundled a pink 3DS with a copy of nintendogs + cats, but now, just in time for Valentine's Day, they're offering it as a stand-alone handheld at the normal retail price of $169.99. There's really not much more to say about it except that if you were waiting for a pink version of the system to buy one but didn't want to buy the bundle with the game, now's your chance! Although honestly, the sale points that Nintendo put in the press release are kind of hilarious in the way they try to make it seem like a perfect Valentine's Day present for your sweetie:
With the system's built-in camera, sweethearts can each use their system to capture and share 3D photos and videos of romantic outings this Valentine's Day - and always.
The new Swapnote™ application, which is available for download from the Nintendo eShop at no cost, lets users create and send customized 3D love notes to their sweethearts from their Nintendo 3DS.
The adorable virtual pets in the nintendogs™ + cats game can bring out players' sweet side and make great portable companions on those lonely days when they're apart.
Users can share creative passion with their beloved by playing downloadable games such as Pushmo™ and Freakyforms™: Your Creations, Alive!, both available from the Nintendo eShop, and by exchanging QR codes to show off their heartfelt handiwork.
The multiplayer modes in the Mario Kart™ 7 game invite players to get their hearts and their karts racing on a wild array of 3D Mario-themed courses.
Capcom has declared that their open-world action-adventure game Dragon's Dogma will be hitting Xbox 360s and PlayStation 3s on May 22 in North America, and May 25 in Europe.
I played a demo of the game at ComicCon, and it was quite impressive, if a bit overwhelming (demos sometimes are, especially when they're RPGs). There will also be some pre-order bonuses if you're interested. GameStop is offering a "Pawn Upgrade Pack" which will provide the player the ability to rent higher-level AI partners from the beginning of the game. And Best Buy's "Armor Upgrade Pack" and Amazon.com's "Weapon Upgrade Pack" will offer higher-level armor and weapons respectively from the outset to give you a little more of an advantage. Capcom is also promising full support for the title post-release with DLC featuring additional quests and weapon/armor upgrades.
Of course, the real bonus feature for Dragon's Dogma will probably be the redeemable token that will let you download the demo of Resident Evil 6 demo earlier than anyone else. And if you're torn between systems, the Xbox demo of RE6 will be available on July 3, a full two months earlier than when the demo hits the PlayStation on September 4. (September 5 in Europe) Not sure when the demo will be available for regular folk who don't have the early access...
It's another light-ish kind of week for the DLC for Rock Band, with just three tracks being released. Although to be fair, I don't mind if they have to skimp a little in order to keep up the frequency. I'd rather have weekly updates of a few songs each than wait longer to get more songs at once. In the end, you end up with the same amount anyway, right?
This week, Harmonix adds an '80s classic with Tears For Fears' "Head Over Heels" as well as some '90s pop punk with "Fat Lip" and "Still Waiting" from Sum 41.
The songs are only available separately for $2 each, and "Fat Lip" is the only one with the optional $.99 Pro Guitar and Pro Bass expansions. Oh, and the Tears For Fears song is the only one with keyboards this week. Those punks don't know how awesome keyboards can be!
The Middle Ages: They were simpler times, back when the "male hindquarters" equivalent of a high five was comedy fit for royalty. Yet as history tells us, every decent medieval comedy act was followed by a frost spell grenade, the destruction of a ship, and of course, the obligatory "assassination by decapitation" of said royalty.
Such is the crux of the Xbox 360 trailer for The Witcher 2. PC gamers have been exploring its splendor for some time, but for those like myself, owning what those in the business call "a glorified electric abacus, barely capable of running Qbasic," are left with only the 360 to whet our collective appetite for action, adventure, and polyamourous protagonists that are full of what the kids (no longer) call "baditude."
So for those hoping to follow the continuing adventures of Baron Von Sexy Geralt, but find your computer woefully inadequate, The Witcher 2 will be released on April 17th. In the meantime, be sure to check out the trailer! It's stylish, rather stunning, and most importantly, delivers an epicness of pants-wetting proportions.
Well, I was miserably sick last week. I mean, miserably. So I didn't do a lot of gaming. Sure, towards the end of the week, I got in a little Skyrim, and even almost killed myself trying to do a new Dance Central song. But for the most part, it was streaming cheesy movies on Netflix. And I discovered that the Xbox 360 Kinect voice controls are a thing of beauty when you're weak as a kitten!
Since Harmonix revealed the DLC for Dance Central for the entire month of February, I've decided not to just lump it in with the Rock Band update like I did last week. I'm not going to just sit on this info and dole it out week by week! You'd find it out elsewhere, and I want to be the one to give you the good news!
First up, tomorrow, January 31, will bring Cee Lo Green's "Forget You." Yeah, I know. You want the uncensored version. Me too. But you can always sing the real lyrics as you dance your ass off, because either way, it's gonna be fun to dance to! Its difficulty is Simple, and the DC Choreographer is Devin Woolridge.
On Valentine's Day, February 14, you can download "Say Hey (I Love You)" by Michael Franti & Spearhead. It's difficulty is Simple, and the choreographer is Ricardo Foster.
Then, on February 21, you'll bring all the boys to the yard if you download Kelis' "Milkshake," with choreography by Marcos Aguirre. Be warned, the difficulty is Tough!
And to close out the month, one of the most requested songs by the Dance Central community, "Party Rock Anthem" by LMFAO ft. Lauren Bennett & GoonRock. The choreography is by Torey Nelson, and the difficulty is Hardcore.
Personally, I'm all over three of these four. (I don't really know "Say Hey") Especially "Milkshake." And as cheesy as it is, "Party Rock Anthem" is goofy fun, and should be awesome to shake a groove to! The tracks will all cost 240 MS Points each, but they're offering "Party Rock Anthem" early through a Best Buy promotion. Of course, to take advantage of it, you can't already have the game. Because if you buy Dance Central 2 at Best Buy starting yesterday, you'll get a code to download the track from the Xbox LIVE Marketplace ahead of the late February release date. Oh well! Guess I'll have to wait until then!
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