Michigan versus Notre Dame today. The game starts at 2:30. And I am due in at work at... 2:30. This sucks. Hard.
I know this, however: If Notre Dame wins, then God has forsaken me.*
*just kidding, God.
Saturday, September 12, 2009
Friday, September 11, 2009
Finished Story Mode in The Beatles: Rock Band
Awesome stuff. Playing The End as the final song was excellent. I can't wait for the Abbey Road DLC to drop so I can play the entire Abbey Road side 2 medley together.
Laurel's dance class
Unfortunately the class is in a very small room and only the dancers and teachers are allowed in. There is a tiny window in the door and that is the only place to see in, so I could not videotape a single thing. Laurel did very well in her first class, which has both ballet and tap dancing. Most of the other kids in the class seem to have taken dance lessons before, but Laurel did not appear to behind them from what I could tell. The kids were a little unruly, which really threw Laurel off. When class was over she said she liked the dancing but not all of the class. We are going to see how the next class goes and if she still feels uncomfortable than we may try to get her in a different class. I think she'd be fine in this class once she got used to it, but once she makes up her mind about something she can be very bull-headed. She comes by that honestly, I am ashamed to say.
I'll have more updates as the year goes on. Hopefully she will give it a real go because she loves to dance and she is really good at it, if I may be so bold.
I'll have more updates as the year goes on. Hopefully she will give it a real go because she loves to dance and she is really good at it, if I may be so bold.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
The Day After 9/9/09
Hey, that's a punny title referring to the release date of TB:RB and the Beatles' song The One After 909! How clever am I? SCORE!
OK, seriously, here are my day-after thoughts. I played the game for a good 5-6 hours last night. All I can say is I had an absolute blast. It's definitely the most fun I have ever had with a music game. It's not a game that is going to overly impress the Guitar Hero gods who can master every song on the hardest difficulty. This game is about having fun, and it delivers in spades. Simply put, there is nothing out there that equals the joy of playing guitar (or bass) and singing at the same time. It has to be experienced. It's like a high. It is the closest I will ever come to playing live in a band. Now I am not saying that this even comes close to playing a real instrument in a real band. No one would ever make that kind of an argument. But this simulates the experience of performing - of singing and playing - about as well as I can imagine. And it is tremendous fun.
I played the drums for a bit and the kit is nice and solid, better than the RB1 kit. I do wish there were drum fills like in RB1, but the developers wanted to stay true to Ringo's drumming, which I understand. Barb played drums on quite a few songs last night and she got noticeably better as we continued. She came in completely cold and by the end of the night she was scoring in the mid 70's. That's pretty damned impressive.
Like everyone else, I wish there were more songs available. The set list is damned good, though I could do without a track here and there (I Dig A Pony, anyone?) Albums are scheduled to be released on the 15th of October (Abbey Road), November (Sgt. Pepper) and December (Rubber Soul). While that is extremely cool (Abbey Road and Rubber Soul are 2 of my favorite albums of all time), I wish they were being released sooner as I will be wearing out the tracks on the disc before then. And I am seriously hoping that while we are waiting for the albums to drop that individual songs - singles or B-sides - are made available in the meantime. Penny Lane would be an awesome one to drop on us, for example, with Paul's swirling bass line.
This is a game that will keep me interested for a long time, as long as Harmonix keeps putting out more music. The Limited Edition bundle was quite pricey and really not worth the money unless you are a Beatles fanatic like me. I had to have the Hofner bass (my other RB guitar is wired, too) and I really like the better-built drum kit. The mic stand is essential for playing and singing at the same time and it is a nice stand. But you could probably pick up a cheap one somewhere and not have to shell out for the bundle. And you'd think that for the $250 price tag that they could have made the mic wireless, but you'd be wrong. It's not a big deal at all to me, but this bundle was not cheap. It was absolutely worth it to me, but probably not to 99% of the population.
Overall the game itself gets a solid A+ from me. That is hardly shocking to anyone that knows me, but it is well earned. There is simply nothing better than playing as one of the Fab Four, singing songs that you know and love and having the time of your life as you do so.
OK, seriously, here are my day-after thoughts. I played the game for a good 5-6 hours last night. All I can say is I had an absolute blast. It's definitely the most fun I have ever had with a music game. It's not a game that is going to overly impress the Guitar Hero gods who can master every song on the hardest difficulty. This game is about having fun, and it delivers in spades. Simply put, there is nothing out there that equals the joy of playing guitar (or bass) and singing at the same time. It has to be experienced. It's like a high. It is the closest I will ever come to playing live in a band. Now I am not saying that this even comes close to playing a real instrument in a real band. No one would ever make that kind of an argument. But this simulates the experience of performing - of singing and playing - about as well as I can imagine. And it is tremendous fun.
I played the drums for a bit and the kit is nice and solid, better than the RB1 kit. I do wish there were drum fills like in RB1, but the developers wanted to stay true to Ringo's drumming, which I understand. Barb played drums on quite a few songs last night and she got noticeably better as we continued. She came in completely cold and by the end of the night she was scoring in the mid 70's. That's pretty damned impressive.
Like everyone else, I wish there were more songs available. The set list is damned good, though I could do without a track here and there (I Dig A Pony, anyone?) Albums are scheduled to be released on the 15th of October (Abbey Road), November (Sgt. Pepper) and December (Rubber Soul). While that is extremely cool (Abbey Road and Rubber Soul are 2 of my favorite albums of all time), I wish they were being released sooner as I will be wearing out the tracks on the disc before then. And I am seriously hoping that while we are waiting for the albums to drop that individual songs - singles or B-sides - are made available in the meantime. Penny Lane would be an awesome one to drop on us, for example, with Paul's swirling bass line.
This is a game that will keep me interested for a long time, as long as Harmonix keeps putting out more music. The Limited Edition bundle was quite pricey and really not worth the money unless you are a Beatles fanatic like me. I had to have the Hofner bass (my other RB guitar is wired, too) and I really like the better-built drum kit. The mic stand is essential for playing and singing at the same time and it is a nice stand. But you could probably pick up a cheap one somewhere and not have to shell out for the bundle. And you'd think that for the $250 price tag that they could have made the mic wireless, but you'd be wrong. It's not a big deal at all to me, but this bundle was not cheap. It was absolutely worth it to me, but probably not to 99% of the population.
Overall the game itself gets a solid A+ from me. That is hardly shocking to anyone that knows me, but it is well earned. There is simply nothing better than playing as one of the Fab Four, singing songs that you know and love and having the time of your life as you do so.
Wednesday, September 9, 2009
The Beatles: Rock Band impressions
Got it today and (surprise surprise!) I love it. First, the guitar controller (Paul's Hofner bass) is very nice. It's a bit more solid than the normal gaming guitars and it's a beauty. The Start button has been a little touchy for me; it didn't want to work at first and I kind of have to manipulate it a bit to get it to work now. But I think it will be okay, so we'll see.
The drums looks solid. I like the heavy duty foot pedal. I have not played the drums yet though so I cannot comment on how they work.
For the first time in one of these music games, I was able to play and sing at the same time. I have always wanted to be Paul McCartney and now I can be! I aced Getting Better (though the guitar was set to Easy and it really was easy) with the vocals set to medium. I had the mic stand set up and I was just a rockin'. This was a fantastic thing, I gotta tell you.
I have started story mode and gotten out of the Cavern Club and onto the Ed Sullivan Show. I played the guitar solo on Can't Buy Me Love (I have always loved that) and smoked it. I have two more songs there and then I'll be moving on again.
I played a bit of quick play mode and I played Get Back (awesome guitar bits) and sang I've Got A Feeling. The only way I can hit the high notes is with a very silly sounding falsetto but it hits the notes perfectly. Still, I think I'll be singing songs like that in private.
I'll have more thoughts as I dig deeper into the game. I only wish my buddy Pete from up north was here. We'd be jamming big time!
The drums looks solid. I like the heavy duty foot pedal. I have not played the drums yet though so I cannot comment on how they work.
For the first time in one of these music games, I was able to play and sing at the same time. I have always wanted to be Paul McCartney and now I can be! I aced Getting Better (though the guitar was set to Easy and it really was easy) with the vocals set to medium. I had the mic stand set up and I was just a rockin'. This was a fantastic thing, I gotta tell you.
I have started story mode and gotten out of the Cavern Club and onto the Ed Sullivan Show. I played the guitar solo on Can't Buy Me Love (I have always loved that) and smoked it. I have two more songs there and then I'll be moving on again.
I played a bit of quick play mode and I played Get Back (awesome guitar bits) and sang I've Got A Feeling. The only way I can hit the high notes is with a very silly sounding falsetto but it hits the notes perfectly. Still, I think I'll be singing songs like that in private.
I'll have more thoughts as I dig deeper into the game. I only wish my buddy Pete from up north was here. We'd be jamming big time!
Finished Batman: Arkham Asylum
Terrific game, first class all the way. Compelling story, tremendous production values and very easy to pick up and play. As I said earlier, this will be a Game Of The Year finalist for me. One thing, and this may be because I have been in Beatles: Rock Band countdown mode for nearly 9 months, is that I am not compelled to go back and play it again. At least not right now. Usually a game as good as this has me wanting to dive right back in, but not this game at this moment. That is not a knock on this game in the least, just a feeling I have about it as of now.
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
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