|
|
Add one part satire to two parts sincerity. Sprinkle on a couple of rants. Stir liberally.
RSS feed coming soon!
Daily Blah FAQ
Who are you?
I'm the newly-appointed Future editor at Business 2.0 and the former San Francisco correspondent for Time Magazine.
Wow, so does this mean everything you write reflects Time Inc's opinion? Or do you perhaps have some sort of standard disclaimer to the effect that it doesn't?
Naturally, the opinions contained in this blog are not those of my employers. In fact, some opinions may be the polar opposite of my employers. Some may be the same, for all I know. Hey, it's not like I ask my employers their opinions about everything in the news, okay? Let's just say that if this were a Venn diagram with one circle marked "my opinions" and the other one marked "my employers' opinions", there would doubtless be some overlap. But neither I nor my employers are able to pinpoint exactly where that overlap is.
What is this Daily Blah thing?
An experiment for a column I wrote about blogging back in December 2001. All these years later, I haven't been able to kick the habit.
If it's called Daily Blah, how come you don't ... hey, wait, you're writing every day!
See? Told you I'd try harder.
Mister, you talk funny. Are you one of them furrners?
Why yes I am, as it happens. I was born, raised and educated in Great Britain. I've been living in the U.S. since 1996 and identify as British.
I say, old chap, you forgot the "u" in "colour."
No I didn't. I may identify as British, but I am also an American journalist writing for an American audience about mostly American issues. These two different sides of me are a constant source of tension. Nevertheless, Daily Blah will adhere to American English grammar and spelling.
Praise for Daily Blah:
"It is fun to watch the author's navel-gazing joy." - Sunday Times (UK)
"It's really funny and informative." - Dave Eggers, author
"The Blah is becoming a daily destination for me." - Richard Marsh, Playwright
"I like it, and I don't." - Fiona Hogg, Teacher
"Better than Xanax." - Lessley Andersen, journalist
"Dude, lay off the crack pipe." - Souris Hong-Porretta, gamesmith
Friends, Bloggers, Countrymen ... lend your ears to these people. I come not to bury them, but praise them.
Arik
Bill
Dan
Cole
Emily B
Emily G
Helena
Jee
Jewelz
Kaila
Kathryn
Mac
Robin
Slim
Souris
Mr. West
My TIME articles
All magazine articles (subscription required for older stories)
Online column index
|
|
|
|
|
Daily Blah for... Tuesday, October 21, 2003
Sing, Sing, Sing
Everyone who comes to visit the house tends to assume I have a serious videogame addiction. I don't. It's just that game companies send me so much freakin' product in the hope that I might accidentally review some of it. (The better a game actually is, the less likely it is that the company will have to send it -- I'm more likely to ask for it myself, in case it is the greatest game in a generation and I do actually have to review it. Which means my shelves are stuffed with all sorts of crap, most of it still shrink-wrapped).
I do, however, like videogames. Usually I like them more in theory than in practice. It's like how the vast majority of Hollywood movies suck because they pander to the kinds of genres, styles and sequences that have worked in previous films, while successfully excising the soul of anything still worth watching. The games business is just the same. Right now most of it is stuck in the soup-brained belief that only teenage males want to play videogames. As a former teenage male myself, I didn't use to have so much of a problem with this (although I like to think that even then, I could tell the crap from the gold).
But my passion for the genre is intact. When I find a good game, an original game, an enjoyable game, I fall for it hard. And I have fallen, in the last week, for Karaoke Revolution. You know, I am sure, of Dance Dance Revolution, the pad-dancing game that's been sweeping arcades across the western world for two years now? The one where you have to match the arrows on the screen by stomping on the appropriate arrows on the floor at the right time? (It's a great workout, by the way; I highly recommend DDR as a way to get fit without all the strain of actually feeling like you're getting fit.) Karaoke Revolution is the same idea, but with voice. You plug a headset into your PlayStation 2, and then you have to sing the notes of each song at the right pitch for the right length of time.
I can almost hear the swiveling sound of your eyes rolling at this idea. Trust me, it's so much better than that sounds. You don't have to learn musical notation; these notes aren't on any recognizable stave. They roll gently across the screen as tube-like bars, swerving up or down as the song dictates. An arrow in the bottom left-hand corner represents the pitch your voice is at. All you have to do is move that arrow to where the tube is. Easy. It's like any game, except you're playing it with your vocal chords instead of your thumbs.
The song selection is surprisingly good, seemingly designed to appeal to the old as well as the young. Chronologically speaking, it starts at "When a Man Loves a Woman" and "You Really Got Me", progresses through "Billie Jean" and "Bizzare Love Triangle" (the idea that New Order is now Karaoke fodder reminds me of when P and I were shopping at Home Depot a few months ago: "True Faith" came on the in-store stereo, and I had a sudden "we're getting old" moment at New Order being treated as home-renovation musak), and ends with 21st century fare like "Complicated" and "Addicted." I have to say it was a shock to find how much of the modern stuff I simply don't know; fuddy-duddys like me are reduced to singing old-school classics like "It's the End of the World As We Know It (And I Feel Fine)." Ah, those were the days, when the only lyrics sung slowly enough for understanding were in the chorus.
But most importantly, the game is simply well produced. The backing singer and music is not the original, yet you'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference. Your chosen on-screen singer bobs his head and bops around in the most delightful way. As you progress through levels, he or she starts off singing at a house party, belts out a number on a station platform in the Tokyo subway, tries one at a county fair, and finally (if you're good enough) headlines at a large stadium. And the crowd! There's nothing like hearing them cheer, and watching them start to wave their hands to the music, after you nailed a phrase or two. A lot of teenage pop dreams are going to be launched with this game.
As with all karaoke, it is of course vitally important that you (and any non-computer generated audience you might have) sink a couple of beers before attempting this game. Lubricating yourself is essential to removing the inhibitions that prevent full-throated gameplay. It is also the only way that you will actually think you're a good singer and ignore the fact that you simply sang Cher's "Believe" on the easiest, and most forgiving level possible.
|
|
|
|
