That's right, after countless hours of the purest joy and entertainment, my Xbox 360 finally gave up on living. In the middle of an intense fight between humans and locust in Gears of War the console suddenly stopped responding. "Big deal", I though, "I just have to turn it off and on again". When I do that, those dreaded lights suddenly appear before, mocking me, laughing at me, while all my dreams shatter and tears start to form in the corners of my eye...
Ok, enough bullshit, but the fact is that, while I spent some months barely touching my beloved 360 (lack of games and money to buy them), the fucking bitch had to stop working right when Call of Duty 4, Mass Effect and many other great games are released. Like our wise Father once said: "Oh bloody hell! Fuck arse and bollocks!".
At least the Microsoft support is known for being quick, efficient and free. Already called the support line and now I just have to wait a couple weeks to have my baby back (or a new one, in case mine is FUBAR)(that's "fucked up beyond all reason", folks).
By the way, more than 1000 visits so far! Ok, 800 to 900 are probably mine, but what the heck, it's impressive nonetheless!
I know what you're thinking, for a gamer's blog this sure has lots of music in it, but I just had to share this with the world. Thanks to a new user of my beloved PTGamers forum, I discovered this most excellent cover of REM's classic, Losing My Religion. Speaking of the original song, it's one of those rare cases of "lighter" music that I really like, and one of the few that made it into my almost metal exclusive music library.
Still, there's nothing like the heavy guitars and guttural vocals of metal, so why not mix the two? That's exactly what Graveworm thought with this most excellent cover. I have to admit, at first it seemed like a poor attempt to "metalize" the song, but after listening to the song over and over again I started to notice the changes in the background music, how well the two vocals combine and specially how great this cover really is. Now I'm addicted. I still prefer the original version, but this sure is one hell of a cover!
For other great metal covers check out Blind Guardian's version of To France or Nightwish's cover of Pink Floyd's High Hopes (I so love this song...).
The internet sure is amazing. Just when you think you've seen it all, something like this appears:
Yup, that's System of a Down during a concert at Big Day Out, performing the theme song from The Legend of Zelda series of videogames, although with some "unusual" lyrics...
Found this while searching for some live versions of Suggestions, one of my favourite songs from those guys.
So, Serj's solo album is finally out and I already have a copy. After the fucking brilliant single Empty Walls and the...hmm...ineresting The Unthinking Majority, I really didn't know what to expect. Was the quality of Empty Walls the rule or the exception? Well, I'm happy to say it's definitely the rule! There are a couple of songs that I don't really like (Money and Baby), but there are more that enough awesome songs on this album to make us forget about SOAD's hiatus.
Speaking of System of a Down, in comparison this is a lighter album in terms of guitars and such, but has so much more powerful vocals! We all know Serj for his awesome vocal tricks, but maybe because this is a solo album he definitely let his vocal cords go wild. Examples? Lie Lie Lie or Prayse the lord and pass the ammunition.
Other great themes are Sky is Over and Saving Us, which has one fucking powerful chorus, so whether your a SOAD fan or just like Serj's unique style, you definitely have to listen to Elect the Dead. You can start right here:
I already knew System of a Down were on an extended hiatus, but I had no idea their singer, Serj Tankian, was preparing a solo album. I found it today, while watching a video about using Portal's gun on Half-Life 2. I didn't know the song but immediately recognised the singer's voice, so I immediately searched for it in my System of a Down albums. But, guess what, it was nowhere to be found, so I looked for it on the web and finally discovered it was not a SOAD song but Serj Tankian alone. Now I'm waiting for the album, Elect the Dead, to come out, since that song is bloody brilliant.
On a side note, this place looks fucking dead! Besides gnome, who kindly left a comment in every single post, and blackhole, a fellow PTGamer, who wrote on the cbox the other day, it seems like no one cares for this little forgotten corner of awesomeness. Well, that's not totally unexpected since all I post are my ramblings, but...I don't know, I guess I was expecting more love from our little community... ah, fuck it, at least I can still use this as a diary of sorts...
I think that's what the Tekken name means... Anyway, it's been a slow week and the most exciting thing that happened was, obviously, Tekken 5. Being a fan of the series since Tekken 3 (great game) I don't know exactly why I waited so much to try this game. Maybe because at the time I was busy playing something else, I guess...
Well, but now I'm playing it, and it's awesome! It's easily the best Tekken game since 3, if not better! But what makes it so good? Well, for a start the sheer amount of content. There's 30 or so characters to choose from, each with its own story, there's the Devil Within mode which plays like a 3D action/platform game, and then there's perfect ports of the arcade versions of Tekken 1, 2, 3 and StarBlade! And, of course, not forget the usual modes like Story, Arcade, Team Battle, Time Attack, Survival or Training.
Not enough? Well, there's also the money you receive from playing these modes that you can use to buy accessories for your characters, and don't forget the Theater mode were you can watch the character's endings, most rendered in beautiful CGI, and the game's songs.
But what's content without a solid gameplay? Of course the one in Tekken 5 won't please everyone, but it's quite enjoyable and it represents a return to the game's roots, discarding some innovations present in Tekken 4 in favour of old favourites, like the endless arenas.
And then there's the graphics... Wikipedia says: "The graphics in Tekken 5 are sometimes referred to as the best on the Playstation 2 platform." You're dead right! The game's just gorgeous. The characters move fluidly, the arenas are beautifully created and the destructive elements are a great. Just look at it:
Of course, due to youtube's limitations, the actual game is much better
So, you're looking for a good 3D beat'em up? Look no further, for Tekken 5 is great in every way. Easy to learn, difficult to master, pretty addictive and with potential to entertain you for lot's of hours, this is a game everyone should try.
Besides being the title of Chidren of Bodom's last album, which I managed to loose before even listening to once, the title of this post can also describe my blog. Yeah, I know, it's been ages since I last wrote something, but not only I've been pretty busy lately, also nothing special happened. Well, besides 25th September, that is...
That day marked the release of Dethklok's first album! Don't know who Dethklok are? Well, they're basically a virtual band, stars of the TV show Metalocalypse, an adult-oriented cartoon with a dark humour not suited for everyone (I have to admit, although I love their music I'm not really a fan of the show). Although a virtual band, their music is just great, something fans noticed from the very beginning, but until now all we could do to listen to this great songs was capture the audio from the episodes or listen to some clips on their MySpace page. Both ways are not practical and limited, since the songs from the shows were always short (1-2 minutes).
Fortunately now those days are gone, thanks to the release of all of our favourite songs in audio-quality, full-length, arranged versions! There are also exclusive songs, that I don't remember seeing before, which is great!
So, what can I say more about The Dethalbum? Well, the first time I saw the tracklist I was somewhat disappointed to see that 2 of my favourite songs were left from the main album, being available only in a bonus cd. Also, when I finally put my hands on the album, I noticed that this tracks were different from what I was used to.
Anyway, all this suddenly disappeared when I started to listen to the other songs. Both Murmaider, the 1st track, and Fansong, the 6th, are bloody brilliant, and all the songs in between are pretty awesome too! In fact, the first 6 songs are so good that I haven't played the rest of the album yet, but I bet there's more awesome songs waiting.
Here's a quote from a review over at metal-archives.com:
"The best thing about this album though is not it's great riffs and solos, Gene's drumming, or the vocal hooks - but the variety of metal on this disc. There is literally something for everyone here. There's brutality, beautiful melody, orchestral score, 80's metal, blues influence, and alot of accessibility. I wouldn't be surprised if they started selling this at local Wal-Marts, if they aren't already. (It would be great to get some mallcore kids into the real metal scene) This is the metal record for the whole family if you will, 38 flavors besides vanilla - one of those albums we get once in a decade. It truly is an amazing album. Hopefully they can top this, should they release another album. But personally, I think that will be hard to do."
So, interested now? If you are, you can check out their MySpace (I personally recommend listening to Duncan Hills Coffee and Blood Ocean) and, or course, there's always youtube:
- Murmaider
- Fansong
- Thunderhorse (did you know this was a bonus song in Guitar Hero 2?)
By the way, in a somewhat unrelated matter, rumour has it that Iron Maiden are coming to Portugal in 2008! OMFG!!! If this is true one of my life goals will be completed next year!
Welcome friends! Welcome to my personal blog, where you may find articles about the most various things. Videogames should be a constant presence here, but expect to see the occasional movie or music album review, for I'm a fan of all forms of entertainment. Also expect to see everything that comes to my mind, since this is my own blog I feel free to post all the shit that I want.
Now, have a seat, grab a beer and read what goes in my mind...
