7 posts tagged “mtv”
Do you tend to like music in particular genres, or are your tastes all over the place? What are your most and least favorite musical genres?
My favorite genres of music tend to be the ones that I can play on Rock Band, you know, the kind I can paddle away at obsessively with a gaming guitar peripheral.
So I'm shamelessly manipulating today's QOTD to fit what pertains to my current and only interest, Rock Band. This is an entirely legitimate answer however, given that just about every song of any genre becomes awesome when you are performing it in the game. For instance despite my typical disregard for most varieties of hard metal songs by my day to day musical standards, when I'm fiendishly pumping out arpeggios and I can hear the virtual crowd sing along to my music all those standards instantly melt away.
In other words, I've had it for a day, I've been playing it occasionally for over the past few months and I'm obsessed. Plus, my avatar has a shaved head and looks like Tank Girl. I spent $1,000 dollars in gig-money to get that look, and she kicks ass. Kudos to Raf and my singing little sis for the awesome jam session last night!
First things first! If you havn't glazed over my previous post please take a look and if you can help out, I'd really appreciate it!
Now...for Cooking Mama!
When I first encountered the almost psychopathically kawaii glare emitted by the female chef mentor in Majesco's Cooking Mama: Cook Off for the Wii, I had little to no understanding of what a 'cooking' game could possibly entail.
Lacking the culinary skills to begin with (hey, I'm a college-kid and subsist on ramen and quick-dials to the pizzeria), it took me a while to adjust to slicing, dicing, and meat grinding. But with a little practice, I'm no longer culinarily (is that a word?) challenged. Hey, Cooking Mama herself said that I was, “Wonderful! Better than Mama!”
In fact, I have been entered into the Cooking Mama's Cook Off gaming competition to be held this Saturday, March 31 at the Nintendo World store in Rockefeller Plaza. Will I aptly make the G-Hole crew proud and become a virtual iron chef? Shall I be utterly owned by a Cooking Mama obsessive who can mince polygonal shallots effortlessly? Only time will tell. Though I hear they're serving complimentary deserts at the event, so there's no question I'll be partaking.
For more on gaming and gaming culture, check out MTV's Gamedrop!
While your local mall rats are busy pawing their greasy fingers over Emo 1-UP Mushroom sweatbands and run-of-the-mill "retro gaming" T-shirts, feel free to turn your nose up and stroll on over to the I am 8-bit exhibit as a cultured alternative. I am 8-bit, originally displayed in 2005, serves up the more refined examples of gaming culture through a collaborative display of paintings, sculptures,and interactive art inspired by the classic games that have deeply impacted gaming pop culture over the past few decades.
A recent Game Informer interview with curator Jon Gibson reveals what to look forward to at I am 8-bit’s exhibit in its third year, with mention of a work that’ll match the awe of the giant 8-foot NES controller from the premiere show. Gibson also yields some interesting views on gaming as an art form, as informed by concept art developed for games that is never seen by the larger public:
Well, anyone who knows me in the industry is well aware that I love concept art from games — especially looking at modern stuff. Shadow of the Colossus, God of War, Psychonauts — all these games have amazing concept art that stands separate for the awesomeness of the games themselves. It’s ironic that a handful of the artists in the show actually conceive all that art…There is consistently great art out there in the game industry, and paying tribute to that is an important step, I think, to other industries like film and music taking gaming seriously as an art form. Most people just think games make themselves.
Plug that information into your brain sockets folks -- games are
art! So if you’re in the So-Cal area, be sure to check out the exhibit
at Gallery Nineteen Eighty Eight in Los Angeles, opening April 17
through May 12, 2007. Can’t round up enough clams to get a ticket out
there? Then take a sneak peak at last year’s exhibit in episode 6 of The G-Hole.
For more on gaming and gaming culture, check out MTV's Gamedrop!
Violence in video games has become a hot media topic as gory, cinematic fight scenes and guns with chain-saws make more frequent appearances in today's most popular games. Historically, Nintendo has withstood toiling competition with other game corporations by not choosing the violent path, designing playful combat with butt bounces and spinning turtle shells as a refreshing alternative to bullets and hand grenades.
In a recently translated interview, from CNN's TV show Talk Asia this past December, Nintendo's president Shigeru Miyamoto reveals his personal philosophy on gaming violence and his particular concerns for children gamers:
"My personal thought is, and I think it is the same with Nintendo, that before thinking about how to handle violence in video games, I think it is important to think about pain people feel. For example, you would not laugh at people with disabilities. There are bullying problems in Japan. Looking at the overall picture, it is important to understand and feel the pain that people might have. We make our games based on that philosophy, using means other than violence. But we also have to take a careful approach, even in the circumstances when we are not portraying direct violence. I think it is always important to give children a product with a careful approach."
So sorry to dissapoint folks, but I think we can thus safely assume that Marcus Fenix will not make a cameo in the upcoming Super Smash Brothers Brawl (despite floating rumors of his on and off affair with Samus Aran). Seems for now Nintendo will keep its hands clean of the bloodlust.
For more on gaming and gaming culture, check out MTV's Gamedrop!
Ah, St. Valentine's day. We may all be accustomed to the more
commercial tradition of chalky candy hearts and overpriced roses, but according to
the Legenda Aurea (circa ye olde days of
1260), before St. Valentine was beheaded after refusing to deny Christ, he
valiantly cured his jailer's daughter of her blindness. Sigh. How
romantic.
We may not all have the capability to restore sight to our loved ones, but fear not: there are many other ways to feel the love on this Valentine's Day, particularly for our beloved next-gen consoles. Luckily, the handful of muses over at poetwii have masterfully composed several heartfelt poetic tales of romance, hard love and gamers' lust for the Nintendo Wii. With plenty of haikus and limericks, poetwii evokes some of the most tender moments of gaming, guaranteed to make Wii lovers a little more twitterpated than before.
And now dear readers, a short excerpt from poetwii to set your hearts ablaze:
"Lovers' Quarrel"
Bemused the others all may be
Whenever I press A+B
And dangle you
precariously.
You kicked me out and took my key,
And think you got the best of
me.
But who will save your precious Mii?
For more on gaming and gaming culture, check out Gamedrop!
Well folks, it turns out that I'm getting a little more involved in the larger blog-o-sphere everyday. Following my internship with MTV, the lovely folks over at the MTV Games department have kindly asked me to help them write for Gamedrop, a gaming blog about gaming, culture, n3rds, and all that follows. Since I have a certain tendency to write about gaming on this blog anyway I'll be cross-posting my written work to share with teh Voxers I heart so dearly. Furthermore, if any of you Voxers have gaming tips or interesting gaming culture tid-bits you'd like to share, I'd love to write about it.
Goodies for the Crafty Gamer
To uncover a multitude of gaming treats simply type "video games" or other gaming-related words (Nintendo, Final Fantasy, etc.) in the search bar. My personal favorites include a set of Super Mario Boo coasters, a Bubble Bobble pin, and a heartwarming crocheted Katamari keychain, all of which are sure to receive respectful nods from any passing hardcore gamer. Now its up to you to do the rest of the treasure hunting! Arrrrgh!
So as it turns out, the reason why I've been playing so many video games and spotting celebrities from time to time is because of my most hip gaming internship at MTV. That's right, believe it or not MTV has a gaming department that focuses on gaming trailers, reviews, and culture. In addition, they produce an online show called 'The G-Hole' which features gaming goodies and behind the scenes interviews with gaming developers, along with an occasional celebrity trying to game it out (aka Scissor Sisters playing guitar hero and the like). Blair Herter (who some of you may recognize as the host of some MTV aftershows) and Sir G (the coolest gamer on MTV's 8th floor) host the show along its way.
This week is gamers week on MTV and on Wednesday night at 8 PM the G-Hole is broadcasting their very first episode On-Air. Since I've been an interned helper throughout the course of developing this show, I have to give my props out to it. Gamers, and anyone else who is interested, please check it out! The more viewers they can get, the better chances the G-Hole has of making it to the bigger on-air screen (aka, so MTV isn't just about Parental Control and adolescent make out dates). The episode itself has some fun material, including features on upcoming Wii games, user made content, and a segment about arcades in Japan.
Unfortunately, there will be no hidden shots of .tiff. in the footage (only of my intern counterpart who can be seen in several segments of the episode), but if you look closely at the Opera man singing about what he'd do for a PS3, you can observe the cape that was lovingly picked up by yours truly. Woo! Go me! The cape I bought from a store showed up on the tv!
