Video games: Does being great at "Guitar Hero" really mean anything?

We've been wondering this, if only because it shows, yet again, that people who want to live vicariously through their rock 'n' roll idols have been able to since the beginnings of the "Guitar Hero"/"Rock Band" age really can sort of go and gain marginal amounts of fame for it.  Which makes us a little more than ill.

And, so, when news just broke that a 14-year-old from Texas set the Guinness Book world record for the "Guitar Hero" game (seriously reminding us here of the whole "Super Mario Bros. 3" contest in "The Wizard") and has since gotten himself a sponsorship deal, we got to thinking about whether or not this translates to pretty much anything at all of value.

We mean, sure, bragging about video game prowess is something we've all done at one point or another (we, for instance, used to get quarters to buy lunch in middle school killing kids at "Street Fighter 2"), but getting sponsored for video games?  This is in The New York Times.  Which is, of course, retarded.

Danny said he had destroyed about 80 plastic "Guitar Hero" controllers in the last nine months with his intense play, which is the subject of a regular live webcast (at ustream.tv/GH3Phenom) and which recently earned him an endorsement deal with a gaming team and event promoter, eMazingGaming.com.

“When you’re hitting that many notes and playing that fast, it just terrorizes the controller,” said Scott Johnson, 45, Danny’s father.

(mp3)    Hot Water Music - Rock Singer

Godspeed!

Video games: Presenting...the "Guitar Hero: Metallica" commercial

James, Lars, Kirk and Rob (he's still the bass player, yeah?) get all animated for their last gasp at keeping hold of their fleeting fanbase with this, the next iteration of the massively popular "Guitar Hero" game series.  You can play only on guitar or choose to do it with a full band.  No word yet if a therapist is one of the game's characters or if there's a level where you're required to cut your hair, but we'll keep you posted if that's the case.  Can't wait to jam out to classic Metallica epics like "Nothing Else Matters", "Enter Sandman", "The Unforgiven" or "Master Of Puppets"?  Well fear not, because the game is set to be in stores within the next few months.

(mp3)    Justice - Final

Godspeed!

Video games: Daft Punk, Justice, others get in on "Tap Tap Dance"

Ah, the iPhone gaming industry is getting more and more electro-credible as the days go by. With the addition of the likes of Daft Punk, Justice, Digitalism and Moby, we can't hardly wait for all of the scruffy hi-top'd kids to show up in the NYC party scene and, instead of the usual looking bored and texting their friends, they'll be playing along to "Technologic" or "Pogo".

The new version of the rhythm game, called "Tap Tap Dance", features songs by five EMI acts -- Moby, the Chemical Brothers, Digitalism, Daft Punk and Basement Jaxx -- as well as independent acts Justice, Junkie XL, Soul Magic Orchestra and Morgan Page.

(mp3)    Daft Punk - Human After All (Sebastian remix)

Godspeed!

Video games: "Guitar Hero World Tour" + KFC = epic fail?

Let this be an open letter from your friends at THE CULTURE OF ME to your arteries.  If you're ever feeling inclined to take in about 1,000 calories and then think you'll totally be jumping around your living room with a faux guitar, shredding to a bunch of songs you'll probably never hear on the radio (Metallica and Oasis's new records notwithstanding) in the newest in the Guitar Hero series, "World Tour", do yourself a favor and just don't.  We mean, seriously?  This is your marketing department hard at work, Colonel?  Wow.  Just, wow.

(mp3)    Tiedye - Nothing Else Matters (Metallica cover)

Godspeed!

The Examiner counts down the "Top 10 Hip-Hop Songs That Sample Video Games"

(photo by Richard Alexander Caraballo)

Hip-hop and video games have always had a symbiotic relationship whether it was rappers rapping about beating each other down in NBA Live, participating in Madden and Street Fighter tournaments or actually sampling game music for their tracks.

Go here for the full list and let us know in the comments section if you think they missed any.

(mp3)    Random - Spontaneous Devotion

(mp3)    Bit Shifter - Hexadecimal Genome

Godspeed!

News: Beat Hawthorne Heights at "Halo 3"

In honor of being the game system Xbox's featured band this month (does that count for something?), the boys in Hawthorne Heights will be giving their fans the chance to "frag" the shit out of them this Thursday evening.

The band members will be online playing Halo 3 on August 7 from 8:00 – 10:00 P.M. eastern time (5:00 – 7:00 P.M. Pacific).  Look for the gamertags HHeights GWF1 and HHeights GWF2.

The band (who recently got back together with evil empire Victory Records) have a new album in stores called Fragile Future.  It's available as of today.

(mp3)    Hawthorne Heights - Dead In The Water

Godspeed!

Video: That "Grand Theft Auto" ad featuring LCD Soundsystem

We finally saw this "GTA IV" ad, which has been airing in the UK since the game's ridiculously heavy press launch, on US terrestrial television this morning at 3.   Ugh.   On TBS.   Don't ask.  Oh, James Murphy.  When will you stop being so savvy?  Also, any time you want to invite us to shoot at Santo's, that'd be cool.

(mp3)    LCD Soundsystem - Get Innocuous! (Soulwax remix)

Godspeed!

News: "GTA IV" has a soundtrack

The record, dubbed Liberty City Invasion: Music From And Inspired by Grand Theft Auto IV and curated by DJ Green Lantern hit digital outlets today and will more than likely set some sort of record (aside from blog coverage, that is) much like the game already has.

Says Green Lantern, "From making mixtapes, to being on the radio, to touring with the biggest artists on the planet, and then for the biggest video game title to solicit me to create exclusive music is something most people could only dream about, it’s like a graduation.  Rockstar Games understood what I bring to the table as far as not just presenting music, but creating music.”

Tracklist:

01 Styles P – What’s The Problem
02 Busta Rhymes – Where’s My Money?
03 Wyclef, Uncle Murda And Mavado – Informer
04 Joell Ortiz And Dante Hawkins - Alone
05 Jim Jones And Juelz Santana – Bustin Shots
06 Maino – Get Away Driver
07 Uncle Murda – Anybody Can Get It
08 Fabolous And Fat Joe – I’m So Fly
09 Qadir – Nickname
10 38 Special, Fever & Dwayne – Streets Raised Me
11 Clipse Feat. Re-Up Gang – 9mm
12 Heltah Skeltah Feat. Buckshot – Cant Trust Em
13 Red Café – Stick’m
14 Immortal Technique – Parole
15 Tru Life – Wet Em Up
16 Johnny Polygon – Price On Your Head

(mp3)    Re-Up Gang - Bring It Back

Godspeed!

Asthmatic Kitty artists create genius soundtrack to Audiosurf

In Audiosurf, you race down a futuristic and colorful highway. The highway, the traffic patterns, and the scenery are all synchronized to the music you have chosen from your own collection. You earn points for clustering together cars of the same color on the highway, and can compete with others on the internet for the high score on your favorite songs. Audiosurf builds a highway for any music CD, MP3, iTunes M4A, WMA, or OGG song you choose, so the experience that you have is totally up to you.

The kids at Asthmatic Kitty (what up, Sufjan?) decided to cull through their friend's/labelmates' catalogs to create the best possible scenario for pleasurable and consistent play with this F-Zero-cum-Guitar-Hero game.  What you end up with is the perfect in-game/out-of-game mix of atmospherics and soundscapes this writer can think of at the moment.

Tracklist:

01 The Beauty - Pushin' Like the Daises
02 Dosh - Naoise
03 Fantastic Mr. Fox - Paths
04 Grampall Jukebox - The Girl Ain't Preggers
05 aspects of physics - s.id
06 Seth Kauffman - Not Much Left to Give
07 Ero Gray (aka Papa Alabaster) - Entrances, Ends of Trails, and Entrails
08 actuel - Sleeping Nagoya
09 Bizzart - Liquid Beast
10 Ablerock - Face of the Earth
11 Son Lux - Étude
12 Rafter - Sassy
13 Sufjan Stevens - Year of the Boar
14 Mansbestfriend - Missile Defense
15 zygote - American Love Conspiracy

Godspeed!

News: Carrie Brownstein (Sleater-Kinney) plays "Rock Band" for Slate

Dudes, Carrie Brownstein is everywhere these days.  Since S-K went on a hiatus (that nearly broke our hearts), she's been blogging for NPR, working a day job for Portland ad agency Wieden+Kennedy and has also been working on a comedy/music act with SNL's hilariously sort-of-creepy guy Fred Armisen called ThunderAnt.  Add writing for Slate.com to that list now.  Brownstein recently completed what could be a life-changing review of the new video game "Rock Band" for the online magazine.  It's wonderful.  You should read it directly after finishing this blog post.  We can't bear for you to miss it.  It's halcyon.

After drumming along while Brad sang a respectable version of Radiohead's "Creep," he left me alone with the console. I have never had more than a passing interest in video games. Growing up, we weren't allowed to have Atari, Coleco, or Nintendo. And though I enjoyed a few hours of Super Mario Bros. at friends' houses now and then, no permanent affection for the medium took hold. Once Brad left my house, I immediately packed up the system and my TV and moved everything to the den. Now I could relax, wait to play until the party I'd planned, and return to my refined pre-Rock Band life.

The feeling of superiority was fleeting. At approximately 8 p.m., I plugged in a guitar, selected solo tour mode, and played Rock Band for three hours straight. I was sweating, quickly developing a callous on my thumb, and had a splitting headache. Still, I could not stop. My "band" had worked its way up from our hometown of Paris all the way to New York! We had a manager, a tour bus, and were able to afford better clothing and fancier instruments. Even though some of my band mates—all avatars—had green dreadlocks or belly button rings (things that I usually find offensive), it didn't matter; we were good, we were going places. And probably the best part about the tour with my Rock Band band was that even though I went to sleep feeling like I had been inside a shopping mall for the past few hours, I slept in my own bed that night.

You can read the rest of the article here.

(mp3)    Sleater-Kinney - Entertain, from the The Woods LP

Godspeed!