New from Blizzard Activision....

In the wake of the success of Guitar Hero, coupled with the perceived threat of Rock Band, Blizzard Activision have announced the next step in interactive entertainment:  Theremin Hero.



Now you too can wave your hands around like a knob trying to play along with such tracks as Good Vibrations by the Beach Boys, Invincible by Muse, and...um.... The Midsommer Murders theme song...

"Bugger," said a rep for the company, upon seeing the dearth of theremin-based songs.  "We really should have thought that out a little better.  I wonder if that guy who suggested Cowbell Hero is still on the market..."

It's getting close to midnight...

Actually, it's after midnight now, but when I thought of this title for the post, I couldn't resist.

I'm a little insomniated at the moment (which would explain my use of the word 'insomniated') so I thought I'd just bounce a few random observations into the blogsphere and see what falls back down.

First off, while wandering through the streets of Melbourne today, I noticed a despicable phenomena sweeping the younger members of the population.  It's an affliction affecting the hair, and it seems to induce it to shorten and stick up all over, while remaining relatively long in the back.  It's not an old-school mullet as such, but I don't think it's an eviolved form of the emo-spawned asymetrical haircut.  No, gentle readers, it's as we feared: like the Black Plague, the mullet has mutated into a new, more terrifying form, and has encouraged a hole new generation to have it "business out front, party out back"!!!!

I have many (too many, in some people's opinion) irons in the fire when it comes to creative endeavors.  As well as the book (insert shameless plug for Alterblog here), I've had a few ideas for games kicking around in my head for a few years.  Some board-based, some card-based, but owing to my goldfish-like attention span with things like this, I never seem to get any of them off teh ground.  It can be frustrating, because like most creatively-minded people, I would like to be able to someday earn a living (and in my case, support a family) with my craft.  While most of my research has indicated that I've got approximately a snowball's chance in Hell of getting published as a writer of urban fantasy, I've not looked into spruiking my non-writing related stuff to toy companies.  I guess that could be something to look into at a later date...

On a final note, here's some links that will allow you to wile away those boring hours at work:
Penny Arcade
Questionable Content
Ctrl-Alt-Del

Oh, and one other thing...

This is a shameless plug for another one of my blogs, one which I've been meaning to set up for a while. It's called AlterBlog - La Plata, and it's a fictional blog featuring people from the world of my unpublished Gods and Monsters series of novellas. The reason for this is twofold. One: it means I'm writing, even when I'm not actually working on my books. And two: I need all the buzz and publicity I can get. We can't fall arse-backwards into a publishing contract, you know...

So, if you feel like supporting a struggling artiste, swing on over and take a look.

Game Report: Guitar Hero 3 (Wii)

So, I've been hearing a lot about Guitar Hero, and I thought I'd give it a try, what with it finally coming out on Wii. As my lovely wife will attest (or indeed, anyone who heard the girlish giggling and alternate barrages of swearing this past weekend) I frickin' loooooove it!

Although I do play the 'real' guitar, I thought I'd start on Easy and, after a few false starts, I was off and running in career mode with my cutting-edge band, ///F (pronounced k-k-k-eff). Although hampered in the early rounds by songs I didn't know, I still managed to chock out some crankin' tunes. But the aforementioned girlish giggling didn't occur until the end of the second round, when I was pitted in a no-holds-barred, old-skool scratch battle against Tom Morello (who just happened to be in the crack-den of a bar we were playing in - what are the odds???). After seeing him off in short order, I was invited to join him in a celebratory jam. The song? What else, but Bulls On Parade.

Cue the giggles.

Luckily enough, as the rounds (and difficulty) progressed, so did the number of songs I knew. Cherub Rock? Pfft, whatever. Knights of Cydonia? Matt Bellamy, I am thine equal (at least on the field of Guitar Hero). Welcome to the Jungle? I kicked Slash's butt in the battle, then shredded for the imprisoned masses. Cult of Personality?..... Damn you, Living Colour! Damn you to hell!

Speaking of hell...

In true rock-star fashion, the final round took place within the very bowels of the Underworld itself, with the band's souls on the line. This was where my dream came true, ladies and gentlemen. This was where I had to pause, release my death-grip on the guitar, and take a moment to ponder the pinnacle of rock greatness upon which I was perched.

I was Tom Morello. Playing Number of the Beast, by Iron Maiden. IN HELL!!!!!!

(gasp, gasp, wheeeeeeeeze.... I'm okay. Really, I'm fine...)

After that little performance, and facing down Lou himself in an epic battle featuring the Primus version of Devil Went Down To Georgia, I found myself staring down the barrel of the much-lauded crowning glory-song of the game: Through The Fire And Flames, by Dragonforce. Even on easy, I found myself trying to tie my fingers in knots in order to keep up. And there's videos out there with eight-year-olds doing it on Expert? Either they've got eight fingers, or I've got a long way to go...

I guess the only downside that I can see is the relative shortness of the actual game. On Easy, you have to complete a minimum of three songs in each level, meaning you actually only have to play about thirty in total to get to the end (I'd check, but I can't be bothered Googling, and my wife's using the TV at the moment). And while I completed the Easy version in a weekend, the step up to the Moderate version (which adds the fourth fret to the playing shenanigans) is still a little to steep for me to try. Add this to the fact that you have to play the same songs again, and the longevity isn't really there. Enh. I guess I'll just have to wait until they release Rock Band for the Wii, then (hey, a guy can dream...)