November 07, 2006
PS2 I Love You
Rose and I have finally acquired a PlayStation 2 (just in time for the PlayStation 3 to come out). It was free, but we couldn't get it to work for a while; this weekend I finally figured out that it was because we had the wrong power cord for it. Anyway, this means that we'll be busy with the original Guitar Hero and don't necessarily need to run out and buy Guitar Hero 2 the day it comes out...tempting though that is (especially now that I know that one of the bonus tracks is "Trogdor"). I also picked up Dance Dance Revolution Supernova, and after playing both these games, it occurred to me -- now that we've proved there's a market for both (1) games where you dance and (2) games where you rock out, could someone maybe make some dance games that have better music? Or, at the very least, offer you the option of turning off the voice that says the same five things over and over again? I get it, I'm not an ordinary fella, I move so smoothly, now SHUT UP ALREADY. (Maybe there is an option for this and I just haven't found it. If anyone out there knows the secret, I beg you to tell me.)
Posted by Francis at 03:58 PMDid you by any chance also win that Da Vinci Code promotion from Eurostar? That's how I got my free PS2 with the wrong power cord! A guy e-mailed me weeks later apologizing for sending the UK one. More weeks later, I finally got the US one and sent the UK one back at their request.
Posted by: Tyler at November 7, 2006 05:43 PMIn re DDR Supernova, according to CyricZ's FAQ on GameFAQs, in the Options menu, under Sound Options, you can set "Voice" to "No Voices".
Posted by: Matthew Sachs at November 7, 2006 05:43 PMOh, and DDR: Mario Mix for the GameCube had an option to turn off that voice.
Posted by: Tyler at November 7, 2006 05:46 PMIn case you weren't already aware, a bunch of the vocals on Guitar Hero are done by the NPL's own Murdoch.
P.S.: I love watchin' you dance!
Posted by: Rubrick at November 7, 2006 05:47 PMTyler: No, I got it from my friend Charles, who had a spare one. (He's the game reviewer for the NY Times, so he has tons of gaming equipment.) But he hadn't used it in a while, and I guess he grabbed the nearest power cord without realizing it wouldn't work. When I figured the problem out, I was in instant-gratification mode and decided it would be more satisfying to buy a new cord at my nearest game store than to wait to go over to his apartment and hope to find the right cord.
Matthew: You are my hero.
Rubrick: I did know that (he's on "Take Me Out", "Ziggy Stardust", "Crossroads", and "No One Knows"), but I don't know how many he does on the new one. At least two, according to Spelvin.
Posted by: Francis at November 7, 2006 05:53 PMWhile I am having lots of fun playing Guitar Hero 2, the only thing to recommend it *over* the first one is its practice mode, where you can do just the hard parts of songs and/or play them at slower tempos. (Which is helpful because geez that Pretenders song is fast.)
Posted by: Aaron at November 8, 2006 12:41 PMWell, the other thing that Guitar Hero 2 has going for it is its cooperative mode, which is lots of fun. (I haven't played enough to know whether the bass and rhythm guitar parts are available for solo play.) And the inclusion of Dick Dale's "Misirlou" and Rush's "YYZ" is also a selling point, at least as far as I'm concerned.
Posted by: Francis at November 8, 2006 12:46 PMAlso, "Psychobilly Freakout". Between Horton Heat and classic Heart, Matthew Sweet... I mean the game is just so good.
Posted by: bpd at November 14, 2006 01:23 PM