This week our Musical Monday is all about video games and first up I've gotta confess my newest gaming obsession, League of Legends. I started playing about three weeks ago after seeing some friends were playing it. I love playing multiplayer games and teamwork, especially with friends, so I hopped on the bandwagon. So far, my favorite champions to play are Support Alistar, Hybrid Carry-Mage Kog'Maw, and Tanky Garen. I hope that I can live up to my friend's expectations on the Fields of Justice.
"V is awake." Hideo "Frickin'" Kojima is a master game maker and loves to play with his audience's expectations. This is the first time that I can truly appreciate his mind games, because this is the first time I can really, really call myself a Metal Gear Solid fan awaiting the announcement of a new Metal Gear Solid. Phantom Pain has been teased for a while, but it wasn't revealed until recently that it is, in fact, Metal Gear Solid 5.
The mystery surrounding the game is palpable, the new game engine is pretty impressive, but the first question I want answered is..."if not David Hayter, than who?"
This would be time to get a little nostalgic and teary-eyed if I hadn't already accepted the downfall of music gaming with plastic instruments a couple of years ago. I suppose I need to explain my relationship with the biggest rise and fall of a subgenre in the last generation.
It started with getting my sister Guitar Hero 2 for her birthday. It didn't take long for us to bond over the game. The game that cinched our relationship with the subgenre was Rock Band. The guys who made Guitar Hero 1 and 2 possible, Harmonix, split off and began making their own games-- and not only were they awesome, they created a party game experience that couldn't be topped. With a singer, two guitars (one for guitar/one for base) and a drumset allowed you to simulate the band experience. Anybody could try Rock Band and everyone I could get to try it...did. Even my Grandpa.
Rock Band became an innovative series, adding instruments, adding more and more downloadable tracks, and finally allowing users to upload their own songs. Guitar Hero was still around and the genre became crowded by copycats that, blatantly, sucked. It was only a matter of time before people grew tired and moved onto the next thing. Rock Band hung around, releasing content, despite their last big release being way back in 2010.
But after a few years, Rock Band saw less and less attention as my sister seemed more and more busy. The plastic instruments lie in a corner of our entertainment room and, occasionally, I glance at them with nostalgic desire to return to a time when I could belt out hits (yes, I was the guy who sang), with my sister on bass/guitar, and two other friends picking up the pieces as we rocked for hours and hours.
It's been over 5 years since Rock Band 1 hit the shelves and, as of March 31, they released their last song to the Rock Band network, "American Pie". Time will tell the future of this subgenre and the giant that really made up the backbone of this party ain't going now where. Now, enjoy a picture of my dog sitting in front of my rockband stuff from a few Christmases ago...
