| Is Sarah Palin a gamer?

Just a heartbeat away? God I hope not.

Wait, what do computers have to do with that video Ryan? Is that shit not real!? Did they piece that together from his Ghandi performance or something!?? o.O

Ben Kingsley as Ian MacKaye.

Pretty rad. I wish I was better with computers I would totally do things like this.

Yeah, Rock Band is not much of a challenge when it comes to the guitar. You are 100% right that they're more for party gaming/fun; Guitar Hero is the series you play when you are an expert shredder. RB2 is slightly harder than RB1 I guess but still, I haven't failed out of any songs yet (although the solo on Man in a Box was pretty tough). I'd honestly stick with drums for single player.

Rude, you HAVE TO go back and beat that final level of Braid! It's really not that hard, certainly compared to what came before (you just need to do things as fast as possible) and has a VERY cool ending. Then you gotta go back and get all the secret stars! Including the one that takes 2 hours to get... /sob

| Rock Band: Degraded

From a purely solo studio musician guitar players point of view, the guitar experience of RB is getting stale for me. I think the root of my problem is that the songs in the game are better suited to be played in a group/band format and are designed to be enjoyed as a party-style experience.

Sure, playing Eye of the Tiger was novel as the first song and got me fired up to play the game because I was eager for the experience of RB. Playing it again as a challenge set instantly became boring because (for me) it is mind-numbingly simple and repetitious. This simplicity problem spans almost all the songs I have encountered so far (I just played through the songs in Dublin and London last night).

There have been a few songs that are just so much fun to play despite their simplicity (Journey, Jimmy Eat World, for example) and I totally get into the song I forget it is actually boring from a gameplay perspective. The real problem is that so many of the songs are boring in their own right, that I can do nothing but focus on how boring they are to play and how much I wish the song, or my life, would end so I could stop.

I see the songs as 2 things: puzzles to figure out and conquer, or good-time simularockstar experiences. If the song sucks at both, then I am wasting my time.

AND ANOTHER THING, I d/l'd a few metal songs to sort of beef up my challenge level (All That Remains pack 01, Machinehead, Devildriver) and beat all of them on my first go at expert. I am not tooting my own horn here, I am just concerned that the game as a guitar game for me is possibly dead because these songs are rated 5 star difficult on guitar, and I didn't fail out on any of them.

All this being said, the story MOSTLY changes completely when looking at the game from a drum perspective. I have muted the drums somewhat and moved the kit to the garage so I can play at night. I think I will give the game one more night to impress and challenge me on guitar and if it is akin to grinding murlocs for a random drop, then I may hang up the axe and go all drum all the time.

I have been thinking about singing some songs too.... *shudder*

| Pitch Black 3: Chronicle for Leibowitz

The world with the rings in Braid was the only place I had to look up a solution as well (and I HATED myself after for doing it.) I never beat the "braid" level at the end, but someday I'm sure I will.

Did you pick up Castle Crashers!? That shit is fun as hell.

Rad, didn't know there was a new Stephenson book out. I'll def track it down.

Hey Ja-El! Sorry we missed you last weekend.

We picked up Rock Band 2 as well. So far, a good time, although we're only a couple clubs into the game. Eye of the Tiger is super fun to play on Expert!

I had a weird day. I've been having a lot of eyestrain lately, so I went to the doctor this morning, not realizing that they would end up dilating my eyes and therefore I'd have to end up taking the day off. I ended up sleeping until 2:00, waking up to eat some chips and salsa and then falling asleep again. Feels like college or something.

Things I've been enjoying lately:
- Braid. Really fun, I only looked up the solutions to a few puzzles at the end (ring world) when I got sort of exasperated. I also looked up a story guide after completing it -- wow, all that stuff went totally over my head. Good moody game.
- Warmachine. It has been enjoying a mini-Rennaisance lately. So fun!
- Descent. We're finally nearing the end of our epic campaign. Saturday's session was actually one of our most fun yet, way better than the last one (which kind of turned into a festival o' defeatism on the part of the non-Action Team players). I think the odds are in my favor as the evil Overlord, but it feels sorta close.
- Anathem. Neal Stephenson's new book. Very strange sci-fi novel taking place in a convent in an alternative universe. It's good to read something sci-fi by him again. Like his recent books, slow to get going but really interesting once it does. Kind of reminds me of Chronicle for Leibowitz.

| RBI 2

For Eric's eyes only: Go into the game modifier screen, enter a special code, and all 84 songs will be unlocked instantaneously. The code happens to be the same unlock code from the original Rock Band: Red, Yellow, Blue, Red, Red, Blue, Blue, Red, Yellow, Blue.

Boom.

Yeah, I got it too and it's pretty neat. Kinda wish I had friends to play this shit with (or real life friends who use Live /emocry) but as a solo jammer it's pretty thrashin. Some awesome songs, some fucking horrible songs, it's got it all.

The first song you play when you start the game is Eye of the Tiger. How fucking awesome is that!? And then I just played ALive by Pearl Jam - pretty neat.

I made my guy look like a broke-ass Cobra Commander - I'll take a pic one of these days soon - it's pretty funny.

Damn Johnny, only here till the 20th!? I was hoping you were here for a couple of months. Well, I'll catch you next time - give a good headsup if you have it.

| Rock Band Deux

- Picked it up yesterday, and forgot how much I dislike the RB guitar controller. Not enough to buy a Guitar Hero one yet, hopefully the Guitar Hero World Tour Controller will scratch that itch. My 30 second review is that the game is good, so far the songs are good (Anyway You Want It - Journey being the most fun song to play ever), and the ability to World Tour solo and switch instruments is a mixed bag. It is great fun to do the 'roleplay' aspect of the game, but the downside is the whole random setlists where you get stuck playing the worst songs you hate but need to play like 5 in a row or you fail.

Another plus, you can import all the Rock Band 1 songs into the game! Huzzargh!

All in all, a super sexcellent game and purchase that will have me playing the one man studio musician in my garage for a long, long time. A good, solid game for fans of the genre.

- I really don't like the guitar at all. As I type this, my fingers and hands are reminding me of how old I am and how playing long sessions with a crappy Rock Band guitar will fatigue and hurt after a while.

- Hit level 63 with Docnorvell a few nights ago! ABBBOOOOOSCHHHHHH!!!!! Also, got to play with Kasiopaeia for a little but a few nights ago, haven't seen her since, and have yet to see Borst, Blurst, or Fashionista, but I am ever hopeful!

- Picked up this little game called How to Host a Dungeon (look it up on BGG). It basically is a set of processes and flowcharts that creates a dungeon over time. So it starts when the ground was solid, then throws in some reasons for anything to want to settle there (mineral deposits, etc.) Then sort of simulates and builds civilizations year by year until they fail for whatever reason and leave their dungeons behind only to be settled by another civ for different reasons later. You basically draw a representational map as you roll some dice and add some fluff. In the end you have a dungeon location that is there for a reason, and has a history. I have played it a little it at work, but it needs some space and uses counters for certain parts so I have not gone too far into the process. I think it was a $5 pdf download. Check it!

Just arrived bro! but my trips fairly short, from the 10th of september, and will stay until the 20th. It's already been 2 nights and time goes so fast.... feels like the weeks gonna go by really quickly. This last weekend, I wanted to go gaming in SF with the action team, but my brother decided to fly in from New York for the weekend, so I'm hanged out with him instead. Will probably buzz Aaron again sometimes this week to at least try to hang out and chat for a bit.

When can you make it down Rude!? You can stay in my house/apartment if you don't have other plans. Call me if ur seriously thinking about scooting up here.

*- Edit: Hey, sorry for the late post. I actually typed the above this afternoon, but then about halfway through, I went out for lunch & shopping for a new cell phone. Trying to get a 8700G Blackberry (older model).

So yeah, let's get some strippers in SFO. I don't know if Jon or Aron would be up for such an endeavor, but I think it would be great!