Ultrace’s Profile

Every Friday I do it to myself. I tell myself, "Self, don't go and read the DLC feedback thread today. You'll just come away sad, you know you will." And yet, still, as soon as I read the DLC announcements (and then pass that info in an e-mail to my wife in case she hasn't seen it yet), I cruise on over and I look. And I become disillusioned in humanity all over again.

When did it become the norm for people to expect things out of the blue and then become disappointed when the thing that they expect to happen (for no reason at all) does not happen? People saying they "expected" everything from the Rolling Stones to Disturbed, and then bemoaning that they didn't receive them. People who expected Harmonix to "counter" the Muse announcement from Activision--as if Harmonix can turn their DLC plans on a dime. People who expected AC/DC, Led Zeppelin or some other nigh-untouchable group when such things would likely have been trumpeted beforehand.

The turnover at Harmonix must be horrific indeed; the sheer number of people who understand so intimately the inner workings of the company--including how much they pay for licensing, how easy it is to code the game, and the reasons why they make any change to the game or release any song--indicates that Harmonix must have let about 3,000 people go since the game was released. There's just no other explanation for people so convinced that they know what they're talking about. Further evidence to this theory is that they never respond when presented with facts or other evidence about the company that disproves their theories, which must be part of the non-disclosure agreement associated with their termination.

But all of these pale in comparison to the Chicken Littles: those who believe that because this week's offering is not Guns n' Roses/Van Halen/Fill-in-the-Blank, that surely the end is nigh for Rock Band, or at least the end for that person's playing of Rock Band. I and my wife must be blessed with a unique ability to look at songs each week and just ask ourselves if the song is fun. Would I like Paradise City or Panama or Comfortably Numb? Sure, sign me up and at a premium price if you like. But when songs come out that I don't know (which includes all of this week and next week), I can sit down, listen and choose from there. With every Guitar Hero game since the first, I have learned about all manner of music I did not know, and Rock Band is no different.

All in all, it's probably a good thing we have the DLC Feedback threads, so the craziest, most ignorant (and sometimes both) posts can be corralled into one spot. Prolonged exposure is not advised; wonder if Sean and Johnlok get hazard pay...

Friday, May 2, 2008

Well, what the heck... If people are actually going to read these blogs, why not post in one every once in a while. Unlike other venues (such as Livejournal), people here are actually likely to care about what I think about Rock Band... Or perhaps not. At the very least, it's a spot where I can voice views without being drown out in the sea of people who are too concerned with the sound of their own digital voices than any sort of logic.

I was recently pleasantly surprised and a little disappointed by the album announcements recently. Judas Priest? Cool, they were in previous GH games and should provide some great fun. The Cars? Okay... Although it doesn't have my favorite songs by them, [i]My Best Friend's Girl, Just What I Needed[/i] and [i]You're All I've Got Tonight[/i] promise to be poppy fun. As for the Pixies... Eh. I listened to this album and wasn't blown away at all. But others are happy, so good for them.

What disappointed me wasn't just these albums, but the concept of albums in general. I'm hard-pressed to think of an album that contains enough solid songs to justify releasing the whole thing. In sitting and talking with my wife, we discussed this and I couldn't come up with a single album (excepting [i]The Wall[/i]) that would fit this criteria. I initially offered [i]Appetite for Destruction[/i], but in retrospect I can only think of 4 songs off the album, which means clearly it didn't stick with me as the be-all, end-all.

This isn't a case of "It's not what I wanted so bleah," it's more like "I can't think of anything I'd want that would justify this concept." [i]1984[/i] by Van Halen? Excellent pickings, but better as selected singles. The announced [i]Who's Next[/i] and rumored [i]Nevermind[/i]? Both good albums with some truly monumental songs, but on the whole just not there. Perhaps I'm too hard to please. I'm all about the B-sides, heck, even the C-sides (yeah, I just made that up) in some cases--heck, near the top of my list of song wish list is [i]Secret Messages[/i] which was a commercial flop--but a whole album of someone's filler songs just appears to be overkill. If there were some special mode that took advantage of it, perhaps, but just as songs, it doesn't gel for me. As I tell everyone else though, speak with the wallet, and that's what we'll be doing...

On the plus side, the selection of these artists--The Cars, Judas Priest, and with recent grabs like Blondie and the B-52s, it does go to show that I'm very lucky that my tastes match up a lot with whatever decisions the folks behind RB's DLC process make. It gives me a lot of hope that we'll eventually not only see AAA-rated stars, but hopefully continue to see those who are less prominently in the spotlight.

Tuesday, April 22, 2008