Band of the Month: Machinae Supremacy

So the planned band of the month for February didn't work out too well. Here's the replacement. Remember that band Anamanaguchi that I mentioned a few weeks back? Remember how awesome they were? Well these guys are 10x more awesome. They are a self-defined SID Metal band from Sweden that kicks major ass. What is SID Metal, you ask? Machinae Supremacy uses a SID chip in their music. That's the sound chip from the old Commodore 64 video game system. You'd think with a name like Machinae Supremacy they'd be some sort of really heavy screamo band. But no, these guys sing about, cover, and have even contributed to video games. The best way to describe their sound is F-Zero. Like I said, awesome.

This Man Can Operate A Chainsaw!

Not only did he do that with a chainsaw, he did it while wearing a hockey mask! I want one.

Plastic Beach Megamix

If you're wondering, the songs are:
1. Intro
2. Superfast Jellyfish
3. To Binge
4. Stylo
5. Rhinestone Eyes
6. On Melancholy Hill
7. Welcome to the World of the Plastic Beach
8. Plastic Beach

Superfast Jellyfish

I love that little guy!

Top 12 Favorite Games of the Naughts: Fuzunga's Picks

I said before that I was going to do some of these decade posts and then never did. So I figured better late than never. It's still only February, after all. So here's my top twelve favorite games of the last decade. It was originally going to be ten, but just couldn't knock off those last two.

Breaking News: Nintendo Owns the Summer

In completely unexpected news (perhaps it's just because I wasn't aware Nintendo was holding a media summit today) Nintendo announced two of it's biggest releases of the year will be arriving way sooner than expected. Super Mario Galaxy 2 will release May 23rd and Metroid: Other M will release June 27th. In addition, Monster Hunter Tri will be available April 20th and the new Sin and Punishment is releasing June 7th. Those last two aren't high on my priority list but, hey, the more hardcore Wii the better, right? Click here for new Other M shots. Click to view the full post to see a new trailer for Super Mario Galaxy 2.

THE FUTURE

Crazy, crazy Japanese people. Leave it to them to make the world's most advanced exoskeleton and then have it look like it's from an anime. What you see above is the HAL 5, or Hybrid Assistave Limb. This baby uses electrodes to sense electrical impulses from muscles and sends them to an onboard computer analyzes them and sends this information to servos of the suit to mimic the user's movements. And it's got a 100 volt battery at the waist to power the whole thing. In plain english, you put it on and you can lift five times what you normally can lift. There is also a varient for legs only which increases strength by ten. It's currently still in the testing phases, but they're now available for limited rent. Check out the video of the thing in action by viewing the full post.

Adventures in Sex City

Well this is the weirdest thing I've heard in a while. The Middlesex-London Health Unit in Canada has developed a game to "educate" about STD's. I assume it's to educate kids, though the game provides a warning that it's "for mature audiences only." Go figure. Anyway, that's all fine and dandy until you see the game. Here's a video of Joystiq's Justin McElroy trying the thing out:



Yeah, I warned you. It all seems to... silly to be real. If you really want to, you can play it here.

PSA: Buy Darksiders, Get Free Stuff

If you purchased the game Darksiders when it first released, you may have opened it up to find a slip of paper with a code that stated in all caps "DO NOT DISCARD" with a small message with instructions to check out the game's website for more information. You may have gone there only to find a "Check back soon" message. Well, now we know what it's for. If your copy of the game came with one of these slips (and not all of them did) you can visit this page to receive a free copy of Red Faction: Guerrilla for the 360 or PS3 and a bonus DVD for the game. How awesome is that? Well, technically this stuff will run you $4.99 for shipping, but Red Faction for $4.99? Yes please! 

If you didn't get a slip but still bought the game, don't lose hope! You too can get Red Faction for free. Details here. This offer is good until March 7th. 

A comment on the BioShock review that wouldn't fit in the comment box

I agree that their are a lot of flaws in the game (like crappy controls in shooting) and such. But there was also something about it that people really loved. I personally never beat the game because I lost interest in it, with its irritating repetition, witch says something about the game on its own, but I have a feeling that we are going to be seeing these kinds of trends of 'ehhh' games getting way to much recognition. Like, say, all of the Call of Duty Modern Warfare games. People, who aren't really gamers or even play games much, find a game that is extraordinarily simple to play and tell all their friends, who usually don't play games either. They all go out and buy this game and it gets great ratings and sales from the people who usually don't play games. And the makers of the game sas to themselves "Well, I don't know what we did right, but apparently people like it, so lets make our next 5 games just like it." So they stop foccusing on certain parts of the game and just foccus on the parts that people responded well to. Untill they get to the point where the people playing the game don't even care about the story and only play online (modern warfare). I'm not saying that Modern Warfare 2 online isn't fun, because that would be a blatant lie, it is a lot of fun, but that is because it is a simple shooter that has been polished untill it competes with the sun for shine. Basically what I am saying that these "amazing" games arent that amazing, they are just picked up by people who dont usually play games, so the sales go way up. WOW that was a long comment.