June 26, 2009

Tossing My Hat into the MJ Tribute Ring


It says a lot about my web viewing habits that I first heard about Michael Jackson's death through a game site. As I've processed his passing throughout the day (and done my share to aid last.fm's spike of song plays) I've tried to think of his impact on my game playing. Like any self-respecting gaming child of the 80's I played the ever-loving snot out of Moonwalker for the Genesis and pumped several dollars worth of quarters into its isometric arcade counterpart. It's Robo-Michael. Who can resist that?

Still MJ has been somewhat absent from modern gaming, with the exception of the to-be-expected rhythm game appearances (themselves far too few - although trying to actually sing decently like Michael is its own genre of comedic buffoonery). Fortunately we live in the era of the custom playlist so I submit for your approval my suggestions for songs to include in your custom soundtracks for games that allow it if you need a little more MJ in your life:

Burnout Paradise - Beat It
Several different racers offer custom soundtracks and by and large any song with a nice driving beat would work, but Beat It is especially appropriate given the more urban feel of Paradise. Besides, doesn't being the marked man whilst cranking this one sound immaculate?

Flock - Leave Me Alone
The video for this one's got quite the trippy, psychedelic carny vibe that melds well with a trippy, psychedelic alien abduction vibe. Can't think of any other tune for herding defenseless sheep. (Bonus: the dancing elephant man scene haunted my childhood!)

High Velocity Bowling - Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough
70's bowling league vibe meets disco. A spare made in heaven.

Little Big Planet - Speed Demon
You might think this song better suited to a racing game (SARBC perhaps?), but you can make racing games in LBP too! The claymation goodness of the video screams LBP and the beat reminds me of some of the tunes in the Savannah levels.

Magic Ball - Remember the Time
Yes, I actually bought this game off the PSN. No, it's not worth the money. But I've got it now and if I want to chill a little bit to some rather laid back Arkanoid-style action this ain't a bad pick. Period costumes ftw!

Mortal Kombat vs DC Universe - Bad
Much like the pairing of MJ and inner-city West Side Story-like cool this clash of titanic IPs was probably best left to fanfic - but we love it nonetheless.

Noby Noby Boy - In the Closet
Um, not gonna touch this one ;)

Pain - The Way You Make Me Feel
There ain't much in the way of punk/ska/oy!oy! music to go along with Pain in MJ's back catalog (unless he went through a neo-punk phase I'm not aware of). Thus we'll have to stick to the lyrically appropriate. You knock me off of my feet!

PixelJunk Eden - Baby Be Mine
Not the most well known of MJ's songs, but the laid back synth beat is perfect for swinging around on the end of a thread and getting your grow on.

PixelJunk Monsters - Smooth Criminal
Just imagining those little monsters marching along to this one makes me squeal with glee. Those crafty criminals, they'll get their due!

Street Fighter IV - Wanna Be Startin' Something
My guilty pleasure. I'd give anything to be able to use custom soundtracks in online games. Mamma say mamma saw my moccasin - to your dome! (Oh yea, and you're a vegetable!)

Super Stardust HD - Heal the World
Perhaps I'm bordering on ironic-douchebag territory here, but come on, you are trying to save the world here (of course 99% of games have that general idea). This song really belongs in Flower - if only it had custom soundtracks.

Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket Powered Battle Cars - Off the Wall
Lyrically appropriate. Think of a lovely roller disco ballet - of the supersonic acrobatic rocket powered variety.

Wipeout - Another Part of Me
Nice driving synth beat in this one, very reminiscent of the early techno that characterizes the franchise. Best reserved for endless mode on the easier tracks where you can just go on autopilot and live in a trance.

June 16, 2009

Yinz Come Back Now, Hear?



I'm officially a Yinzer. You may have noticed my rather lengthy absence from blogging and would be forgiven for thinking I had met my prediction of falling off the face of the interwebs after a scant few months (just two, really? had you no faith at all?). But, in fact, my life has been a whirlwind of change the past few months - physically, spiritually, and emotionally - which has resulted in my transformation from southerner to northerner. Or midwesterner. Or eastnorwester. Whatever it is you call Pittsburghers (apparently western PA is it's own classification).

No doubt some of the details of this transformation will leak out over the course of future blog posts (any tips for thematically linking life-changes to gaming are appreciated!). For now I'll try to slowly get back into the swing of things and catch up on all of the great blog conversations I've only skimmed. Fortunately I've got a grip (is that appropriate slang up here?) of half-finished posts I began over the past months to kick start my return to PEEGing.

That said I'm not letting you get out of this post without some post-emo-existential gaming ranting.

Michael Abbot once wrote about the clarity of focus that comes from travel when you are limited to your portable devices. This isn't travel per se (though I have logged many hours into Patapon 2) but a major move and while I do have my PS3 available it is hooked up to a gloriously low-def television at my girlfriend's place. In fact, due to packing the wrong set of cables for a time I had to use component cables on a composite connection which - while doable - results in a PS3 output in old-school black & white! There's something to be said for getting down to just the bare essentials in SFIV - and not spending 20 seconds narcissistically deciding what color outfit to pwn your opponent with. Moving from my rather respectably sized, widescreen, HD, epilepsy inducing purveyor of next-gen eye candy to a modest, boxy CRT in no way diminished the joy of SFIV (the same can't be said for my atrophied skills after a two-week hiatus). That's a great testament to the primacy of game mechanics. I wonder if I would have just as much fun playing online with hitboxes alone.

I can't think of a single other PS3 game I own that would hold up well under similar graphical degradation. LittleBigPlanet relies on the tactile look of it's scrapbook objects to draw you into its world. Flower is just depressing without the element of color (as emphasized in the second dream). Word on the street is that you shouldn't even bother with PixelJunk Eden unless you have an HD screen to pick out those pixel-sized particles of pollen.

But SFIV reigns o'er all with it's wonderful online play and poke, prod, and decieve game mechanics (it's certainly not the compelling narrative that keeps me coming back!). I'll take it monochrome on a green, scan-lined background if need be. Any other current-gen games you can say the same for?