Angry Puppy

We just got our review copy of Rock Band 2, complete with wireless drum kit and guitar, or as I like to call them, Kodos-proof drum kit and guitar. It came a little late for episode 35, so watch for our review next week, and you might even recognize one or two AfterElton vloggers among our test subjects.

There happened to be a few music/gaming items in my RSS reader these past few days, so in what appears to now be a quasi-weekly thing, I offer you another Friday link dump.

If you’re not into the devil’s music that is Rock Band, Guitar Praise Solid Rock also just came out. Unfortunately, there aren’t any Faith + 1 tracks, but unlike Rock Band, you’ll never inexplicably have to play Bon Jovi’s “Wanted Dead or Alive” three times in a row. Really.

There are thousands of variations on Portal’s ending theme “Still Alive”, including the insomnia-induced mandolin version I was tinkering with last week. But here’s something a little different. Instead of re-interpreting the music, Vimeo user Trickster gave us some amazing typographical visuals to accompany the original version. [redacted 2008.09.23: The original video is no longer available. YouTube version substituted.]

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In our latest episode, Marc “points out” that I’m a Nintendo fan, and by “points out” I mean “mocks”.

OK, so maybe it’s true. Mental Floss has a quiz called “Super Mario Bros. Villain or Obscure Dinosaur“. I only missed one, and sadly, I didn’t have to guess: I remembered all those little beasties from my many hours with various Marios. I won’t tell you which one I missed, so you can go take the quiz yourselves.

Oh, and though I’m not sure where it originally comes from, that cosplay Birdo picture is something disturbing from a post by this week’s guest, Flynn De Marco on Kotaku. So, you can thank him for your nightmares or fantasies, as the case may be.

[Via Neatorama]

Friends,

As some of you may know, Nintendo hosted a Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournament in several US cities, with the finals taking place today in New York.

Since we live only a few blocks away, I thought I’d lazily wander over ten minutes beforehand and snap some pictures for you. I knew there would be a lot of people, but I assumed that the participants would be in some kind of registration line, while viewers would be able to walk right in. The multi-block line I found proved me wrong.

Persevering in the face of journalistic hardship (or something), I took my place at the end. I soon discovered that Nintendo tournament lines are not for the faint of heart.

A camera guy shoved his instrument into my face, taunting, “How does it feel to be LAST?!” (I really hope that he was from some no-name press, because I don’t want to end up looking surly in background footage on Attack of the Show.) One lady, her fake sympathy betrayed by her sing-song voice, strolled by, mocking, “The guy at the front of the line says he’s been there since Thursday. You’ll never get in!”

Among these tribulations, there was one ray of light. A really nice kid in front of me, probably taking pity on the middle-aged guy at the end of the line, offered me his spot, saying, “I just want to watch, Mister. You can go in front of me.” Awww…

When the Best Buy rep came to tell us that there would probably be no room for bystanders, I knew it was time to head home. The tournament is starting as I write this, so good luck to the participants.

For the rest of you, Super Smash Bros. Brawl will be available tomorrow. You can pre-order now from Amazon.

VG Cats has been around for a while, but in case you haven’t seen it:

Basically VG Cats, or Videogame Cats, is a webcomic about videogames along the lines of Penny Arcade. Though the last year or two I’ve tried to focus the comic towards Video Games parodies rather than two gamers. And totally random stuff when I’m bored.

There was recently a cute Cooking Mama parody (how can you not?), but I wanted to show one from the archives which is more suited to this blog. For everyone who has ever wanted to punch that Toad at the end of every Super Mario Bros. level, here’s another alternative (click to enlarge):

Who knew Mario was a bear‽

California-based Jean Baudin is a really talented bass guitarist with some great stuff up on his MySpace page - both solo and with the band Nuclear Rabbit. Be sure to check out “Vanishing” and “Vanishing Gameboy Remix”.

I found him on YouTube playing the grooviest version of the Super Mario Bros. theme song I’ve ever heard.

Here’s a bonus Legend of Zelda theme for you:

Judging by this Pac-Man bass on his site, I don’t think he minds being associated with video games. I definitely recommend heading over to his MySpace page, though. Mario on YouTube is fun and shows his skill, but don’t let it overshadow the original music.